On the street near Sakugawa Middle School's dormitory.
Natsume Sonoko stared wide-eyed at the crowd around her, her expression growing more serious by the second.
Sure enough, Misaka-senpai and Shirai-san had long since vanished into that vast sea of people, leaving only one slow-reacting girl standing there dumbly, gazing at the bustling crowd.
Honestly, it was to be expected. Given how fast Misaka-senpai and the others moved, the chance of catching up after leaving five minutes late was about as high as that same someone winning first place in the hundred-meter dash.
"I think the restaurant was somewhere in the southern part of District 7," Sonoko murmured, recalling what Uiharu had said earlier, a thoughtful look in her eyes.
It's so far… Maybe I should just head back to the dorm.
With Misaka-senpai and the others there, it should be fine, right?
That disloyal, lazy thought lasted all of one second in Natsume Sonoko's mind before she ruthlessly shoved it aside.
District 7 was the largest in Academy City. If she had to cover that much ground, Sonoko decided she'd need a little help from technology.
At the train platform near Sakugawa Middle School, Natsume Sonoko deftly bought a ticket. Even though losing track of Misaka-senpai and the others was disappointing, she wasn't about to give up so easily.
Sometimes, though, technology wasn't all that convenient.
Maybe because it was a bit late—peak hour for students heading home—the train kept stopping to pick up more passengers, and the back-and-forth cost her more time than she'd expected.
By the time she reached the family restaurant, the sky had grown even darker, and the streetlights around were flickering on one by one.
"I haven't been around here much."
Sonoko looked around with curiosity, frequently spotting groups of high school students passing by. Exploring unfamiliar areas could be pretty nice sometimes.
This area felt different from where she lived. Most of the schools nearby were high schools, making a middle schooler like her something of a rarity—kind of like how things were around Komoe-sensei's neighborhood.
"That's strange… Shirai-san looks a little off."
She'd finally arrived at the family restaurant. Peering through the glass wall outside, Sonoko's jaw dropped slightly, her face clouded with confusion.
What in the world happened?!
Was Shirai-san being mind-controlled?
And she'd even taken off her Judgment armband.
Just as she was hesitating, wondering if she should look around for a certain Mental Out-senpai, a rapid tapping sound reached her ears.
Thump.
Thump-thump-thump.
Even from outside the window, Sonoko could hear the frantic thumping. Through the glass, she saw Shirai, looking utterly drained and hopeless.
She was banging her head against the table at an alarming rate—about thirty times a minute. Her hair hung loose, her bangs covering her eyes. At a glance, she seemed on the verge of exploding, exuding an aura of a defeated, utterly withdrawn creature.
"Welcome, miss."
Nodding to the waitress, Natsume Sonoko entered the restaurant, schoolbag in hand. She located Shirai first, then took a seat across from her.
"Shirai-san, what's wrong?" she asked, patting Shirai's shoulder with concern. Shirai lifted her head, eyes red and teeth gritted.
With visible effort, Shirai pointed a finger toward another part of the restaurant. There, the Railgun senpai was clasping her hands together, speaking animatedly to a group of high schoolers.
"Really? You'll really tell me about the Level Upper?" Misaka-senpai's voice was so sugary it sent shivers down the spine, making Sonoko's hair stand on end and plunging her into a deep, existential train of thought.
Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing here?
Misaka-senpai was truly full of surprises. Her face was a mask of desperate eagerness, perfectly playing the part of an ordinary student desperately seeking the Level Upper, trying to pry information from a bunch of clearly delinquent-looking high schoolers.
Of course, it might've been more convincing if one could ignore the Tokiwadai Middle School uniform she was wearing.
"But I can't just hand over the Level Upper for free, can I?"
"If it's money, I can pay a bit…"
Tuning out the meaningless exchange between Misaka-senpai and the delinquents, Sonoko hesitated for a moment before ordering a matcha ice cream, topped with some chocolate.
To be honest, Sonoko didn't think Misaka-senpai was in any real danger. Instead, her mind drifted to other matters.
The Level Upper incident had been brewing for a while now. If a certain researcher could finish her analysis before things got worse, maybe all the subsequent troubles could be avoided.
Sonoko, who always preferred happy endings in novels and games, was being a bit idealistic. From her perspective, she naturally didn't want her friends to face any danger.
"But… I'm at my wit's end! How am I supposed to explain this to my family?"
Misaka-senpai covered her eyes with her hands, looking utterly dejected, even managing to summon a few glistening tears.
Sonoko suddenly remembered Tokiwadai's drama classes and theater club. She glanced sideways at Shirai.
Yep, she really was the odd one out—seems like everyone around her had started taking acting lessons on the side.
"Ugh, fine. Stop your blubbering, it's annoying. I'll tell you." One of the high schoolers stood up, looking down on the Railgun with a condescending gaze. It was almost impressive how convincing Misaka-senpai's performance was.
"Thank you." Behind her concealing hands, Misaka-senpai's lips curled into a slight smile. It seemed she was confident the information was as good as hers.
"Let's take this outside. It's not convenient here," the delinquent said, and his group filed out after him.
Sitting across from Shirai, Sonoko watched the delinquents leave with curiosity. Honestly, she thought they were incredibly brave.
"Shirai-san, aren't you going to follow them?" Sonoko asked, looking at the listless girl still slumped on the table.
"No. I want to be left alone."
"Then I'll stay too." Sonoko sat quietly, eating her ice cream. It was pretty good—she'd give it a 90. She pulled out her phone and browsed the web for a bit.
Without realizing it, she'd almost forgotten why she'd come here in the first place. Having a reliable teammate really did take a load off your mind.
About ten minutes later, everything went black.
Not in the sense that someone had knocked her out, but in the literal sense.
All the lights in the family restaurant suddenly cut out. The registers, computers, air conditioning—everything shut down.
Groping in the dark, Sonoko turned to look out the window. Sure enough, it was pitch black outside too. The streetlights, which should have been on by now, were all dead.
The nearby shops, traffic lights, dormitories—everything had lost power all at once.
"Shirai-san, we should go." Sonoko patted Shirai's shoulder again, speaking gently.
"Did Onee-sama cause trouble again?" Shirai finally stood up, immediately grasping the situation, her tone weary.
With an intangible ripple in space, Shirai grabbed Sonoko's shoulder, and the two abruptly appeared in a nearby alleyway.
The ground was rough and scarred, clearly the site of a recent intense fight. As for Misaka-senpai's opponent, they were already lying unconscious on the ground.
[Academy City Management Facility. District 7 Power Substation. Unauthorized Personnel Prohibited.]
Passing by a nearby warning sign, Sonoko quickly understood the cause of the blackout.
"It couldn't be helped! How was I supposed to know this was here? The area looked like a normal shopping street," Misaka-senpai grumbled, walking ahead with her schoolbag in hand. She suddenly reached out and smacked the warning sign in frustration.
Earlier, during her all-out fight, Misaka-senpai had unleashed a wide-area electric attack… and the rest was history.
"Really, Onee-sama, you're always so reckless. This is exactly why I didn't want you involved in the investigation," Shirai said with a sigh, following closely behind Misaka-senpai.
"Uiharu and the others lost power too."
In the dim twilight, the glow of her phone illuminated Sonoko's face as she walked, still scrolling. "Looks like the blackout's pretty widespread," she remarked, sounding surprised.
--+--
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.