Shirai sat obediently beside Misaka-senpai, while on the other side, Saten was buzzing with curiosity like an overeager kid.
Even though they'd just seen what looked like a proper young lady's room, Saten's excitement hadn't faded one bit—her eyes kept darting around, taking in every little detail of the room.
Hmm, as expected of the legendary Tokiwadai dorm. Misaka-senpai's room really seemed to fit Saten's idea of how a proper young lady's room should be.
Natsume Sonoko sat across on the bed, head tilted upward, staring at the ceiling without moving. Every now and then, her gaze drifted toward a piece of black fabric in Saten's hands.
"Saten, what are you doing?" Uiharu asked worriedly, watching as Saten pulled a clothing chest out from under one of the beds.
"When you visit a friend's place, it's only natural to do a surprise inspection," Saten replied seriously.
"Saten, you can't just go through other people's things! Didn't we already look through plenty of Natsume-san's boxes earlier?" Uiharu tried to stop her, a hint of panic flashing across her face.
"This is different! Don't you want to know what kind of fashion sense these proper young ladies have?"
Natsume Sonoko sat quietly in her spot, taking in this rather unusual exhibition with a sense of novelty.
She breathed a quiet sigh of relief inside—thank goodness she had quite a few boxes of her own.
Though no one said outright who owned these clothes, judging by how sheer some pieces were and their overall style, Natsume could tell at a glance they belonged to that scheming Teleporter.
In the end, they pulled out a certain missing cartoon-patterned pair of panties from Shirai's clothing chest. Under Misaka-senpai's formidable dough-kneading skills, Shirai's cheeks were stretched and pulled with rhythmic intensity.
"I've got an idea! Let's look through photo albums! I'm really curious about what everyone was like in elementary school," Uiharu suggested, clearly excited by the idea.
"Ooh—now that's a must! I want to see photo albums from Natsume-san, Shirai-san, and Misaka-senpai!"
Saten's eyes lit up as she spoke, one hand clenching into a determined fist held high in the air.
"Huh, we're doing that too?" Natsume Sonoko mumbled, a little dazed. She'd thought just snacking and reading manga together would've been plenty.
"Is this what Misaka-senpai looked like as a kid?" Natsume peered curiously at the little Railgun in the photo. She looked so tiny, but seriously, way too adorable.
"Is this your elementary school entrance ceremony? So Misaka-senpai went to school here even back then?"
"So Misaka-san was already such a lady even as a child," Uiharu marveled, looking at the photo of a little Misaka wearing a princess dress and looking very serious.
"It's not as amazing as you all make it sound," Misaka-senpai said, a little embarrassed.
After finishing Misaka-senpai's album, and under everyone's expectant gazes, Natsume Sonoko reluctantly went back to her room and fetched the album from her desk cabinet.
The moment she returned to Misaka-senpai's room, four pairs of intensely curious eyes locked onto the album in her hands.
"So cute!" ×4
The moment Natsume opened the first page, all four of them gasped in admiration almost in unison.
"Are these Natsume-san's parents? They look so young," Misaka-senpai asked, pointing at one of the photos.
In the picture, Natsume Sonoko wasn't even a meter tall, laughing happily as she stood between two people, holding one of their hands with each of hers. Behind them stretched the massive wall of Academy City.
"This was taken the first time I came to Academy City. Six years have gone by in a blink," said twelve-year-old Natsume Sonoko with a sigh, as if lamenting how quickly time had flown.
"So Natsume-san used to wear braids too," Saten remarked, looking curiously at the photo of Natsume in the album.
"Yeah, I did have braids back then," Natsume nodded. But since braids were way too much trouble, once she started living on her own, she switched to a simple bun for convenience.
As she kept flipping through the album, another photo appeared—this one showed a younger Natsume Sonoko standing next to a slightly older boy with light golden hair. The background was a wide-open field and woods, clearly not inside Academy City.
"Is this Natsume-san's older brother?" Shirai asked, sounding surprised.
"He's a distant cousin. Last time, I finally managed to get an outing permit and stayed at his place for over a week," Natsume recalled.
Getting an outing permit in Academy City was tough. Not only did you have to fill out three application forms, but they also injected a tiny tracking device into your body.
Natsume really hated that rule—sometimes she just really wanted to go home.
Even though when she did go home, there wasn't always anyone there. Natsume's parents were always busy, hardly ever around.
"Oh, there's a name here," Saten said, as if she'd discovered new territory, pointing at the small, clear writing below the photo.
"So Natsume's brother is named Natsume Takashi?"
"Yeah, that guy's name always reminds me of something, but it's just a coincidence," Natsume said with a touch of feeling.
No Nyanko-sensei, no Book of Friends—not the real Natsume Takashi, in other words.
Finally, it was Shirai's turn, but Shirai was a woman who lived in the present. She outright stated that she didn't own anything like a photo album.
"I'm not like the rest of you. Rather than looking back on the past or dreaming about the future—indulging in nostalgia or fantasies I can't change—I'd rather focus on the present moment and work hard to build a wonderful future. That's the resolve I've made. The goal in my heart will never stop."
Shirai rested a finger on her chin, a look of firm determination on her face, like a warrior living bravely in the now, making plans every day for the sake of her ideals.
"Oh, found a photo album! Is it this one?" Saten, crouching by the bookshelf, pulled out a strange-looking album.
"Stop! Anything but that one!" Shirai followed Saten's voice and saw the album in her hands. Suddenly, cold sweat broke out on Shirai's face. "Wait, that's—!"
"Onee-sama's Secrets."Natsume Sonoko glanced at the title on the cover, noting the enlarged character for "secret" on the back.
Sure enough—evidence of secret photos, kept boldly near the victim. Shirai really was a fearless warrior.
"Oh my—Misaka-senpai sleeping, bathing, changing clothes, feeding a cat…" Saten sounded astonished. It was basically a Misaka-senpai encyclopedia, and from the angles, they all looked like they were taken secretly.
"Kuroko, rather than the past or the future, you really need to face the present moment. Someone has to pay for their actions—just what is the meaning of these photos?!"
The pressure around Misaka-senpai intensified again, as if an internal pressure valve was about to burst. She pinched Shirai's reddening cheeks and began kneading them vigorously.
"It's a misunderstanding, Onee-sama!" Shirai put on a pitiful expression, then continued righteously, trying to cover up the photo incident.
"My feelings for you are so sincere, Onee-sama! Don't you know what day it is today? I thought everyone came here to celebrate this very day."
"Today? Celebrate?"
"Oh, now that you mention it, today is the one-week anniversary of meeting Saten-san and Uiharu-san, and also the one-month anniversary of meeting Natsume-san," Misaka-senpai said, raising a finger as if she'd just remembered.
The expectant look on Shirai's face instantly vanished. She lost her balance and slumped to the floor, face blank, as if she'd just seen another Natsume Sonoko.
"And also, today is the one-month anniversary of me meeting Shirai-san too," Natsume Sonoko added from the side, seeming to feel some inexplicable sympathy for the overzealous Teleporter.
"I see. In that case, today is also the one-month anniversary of me meeting Kuroko," Misaka-senpai said, catching on belatedly after hearing Natsume's words.
"Onee-sama, you finally remembered! Kuroko is so happy!" Shirai crouched on the floor, wiping away nonexistent tears, her eyes brimming with joy.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.