After putting her own spun-dried clothes back into her small bucket, she also helped by placing Juufuku-san's clothes inside.
She had only squatted for a short while, yet Natsume Sonoko's calves were already threatening to go numb. She couldn't help but stand up to stretch her body.
"Good evening, Natsume-san."
"Good evening."
Suddenly addressed by an unfamiliar upperclassman, Natsume-san snapped back to attention and hurriedly returned the greeting.
These abrupt greetings were becoming more frequent, causing Natsume-san some minor trouble, though it was still far better than the situations she faced within the School Garden.
"By the way, Natsume-san, where did you go today? I tried calling, but couldn't get through."
Once the passing upperclassman had left, the attention returned to Natsume-san.
Juufuku Miho, while operating the washing machine's control panel, asked with a hint of concern.
"Well, today I went up to the space elevator. It's a pity I didn't get to properly look around, but it was really fascinating."
Glancing around, Natsume-san lowered her voice conspiratorially.
"And there was no antimatter experiment accident at all. The news totally lied about that. My phone probably didn't work because there's no network in space. Should've used a satellite phone instead."
Natsume-san thought for a moment, then shared some of what she knew with Juufuku Miho.
"I see. Weren't there any dangers on the space elevator?"
Juufuku Miho suddenly seemed a bit worried.
"Of course there were dangers, but I handled them all. In the end, I even subdued that loli president from the Orbit Portal Company."
Smirking rather proudly, Natsume-san declared this with an air of importance.
"So impressive."
Juufuku-san's mouth opened slightly, a timely expression of surprise on her face.
"Um, for the three-legged race during the Daihaseisai, do you have a partner yet, Juufuku-san?"
Remembering something else, Natsume-san asked.
"Yes, I do. It's third-year Hikigaya-senpai."
"Oh, that senpai."
"Mhm, she's a very kind person."
True to form, Natsume-san devoured another heaping bowl of rice at dinner tonight. It was a miracle her weight never seemed to increase.
She also incidentally helped solve the problem of the strawberry on Shirai-san's cake, which she had no appetite for.
Thanks to Natsume-san, Juufuku-san had been incorporated into their trio, though her relationship with Misaka-senpai and the others wasn't particularly close.
Come to think of it, Juufuku-san was a transfer student, and combined with the previous incident where she'd attacked Tokiwadai students, she hadn't made many friends at school yet.
However, she got along quite well with Wannai and the others, and had subsequently joined the school's swimming club.
"Konori-senpai just got back. She wants us all to go help renovate the branch tomorrow."
Sitting by the window in the Tokiwadai cafeteria, Shirai Kuroko shot a glance at a certain sneaky culprit who had stolen the strawberry from the cake, then listlessly propped her chin on her hand.
The Judgment Branch 177 office was currently in complete disarray.
Aside from the previous deliberate damage, most of the chaos stemmed from dealing with the aftermath of the Cold Light incident.
Even with Arisa helping to maintain order, numerous incidents, both large and small, had occurred throughout District 7.
From major robberies to minor thefts, Uiharu and the others were now running around busily. Surprisingly, though, not a single injury had been reported.
And a certain Teleporter, currently classified as injured and in need of rest, had been unceremoniously kicked out after a discussion among several Judgment members.
Of course, this exclusion didn't extend to a certain freeloading Judgment member with her hair in buns.
"Eh? But Kanzaki-san said she'd cover all the damages, right? So couldn't we just hire a renovation crew? The cost would probably only be a few hundred thousand yen."
Tilting her head, Natsume-san felt this wasn't good news.
Although she was directly responsible for the branch's pitiful state, Natsume-san also had her own plans for the weekend.
Tomorrow was Saturday. The original plan was to visit the space elevator with Misaka-senpai and the others.
But with the elevator sealed off, the main task for tomorrow had changed to either going to the arcade with Misaka-senpai or reading manga at the convenience store.
No matter how the world changed, people trying to make a living would still open their shops on time.
As for why Misaka-senpai was always part of the plan, Natsume-san was shouldering an important mission.
Together with Shokuhou-senpai, she needed to find those who were investigating from the shadows and attempting to control the Misaka Sisters.
Reiko was like another self. Having lived with the Sisters for so long, they were no different from her own friends.
Since Natsume-san's ability to find information was rather lacking, the focus had remained firmly on her onee-sama, the Railgun.
"Konori-senpai thinks that if we do it ourselves, we can save most of the renovation costs. Part of the compensation money can be used to buy better furniture and equipment, part can be used to get Uiharu a higher-performance computer, and maybe we can even get a proper desk for you too, Natsume-san."
"Besides, we're the ones who wrecked the branch while she was away. As compensation, hard work is absolutely necessary. Only sweat can restore everything. Spending money to have others do the work is a very irresponsible attitude."
Dropping the hand supporting her chin, Shirai-san mimicked Konori-senpai's tone, enunciating every word carefully.
It was like the various offenders Shirai-san had caught; most were sentenced to community service or similar punishments.
Only the more serious cases were sent to juvenile reformatories. This illustrated the importance of labor.
"Konori-senpai is so frugal."
Unable to hide her surprise, Misaka-senpai nodded in agreement.
"And I get a desk too?"
It seemed she'd heard some excellent news. Natsume-san's eyes lit up, her overall morale instantly increasing by fifty percent.
Although she was also a Judgment member, and considered herself quite competent, she had always been in a sort of 'free-range' state.
There had never been a desk for her, not even a fixed workspace. Every time she went to Judgment Branch 177, she could only sit on the sofa, occasionally getting some supplies from Konori-senpai.
Even if Natsume Sonoko had little actual use for a desk—its primary function would probably be for taking afternoon naps—she still felt incredibly pleased.
"One more thing. Those trophies of yours are gone."
Observing the other girl's jubilant expression, Shirai-san added.
"Eh?"
"At the time, your stuff was piled in the storage heap, covered by that broken cheerleader headlamp of yours. When I went back to the branch later, it had all disappeared at some point."
Nodding definitively, Shirai Kuroko felt it necessary to investigate this theft.
Even though they just looked like ordinary brooms and fans, a certain bun-haired girl seemed to care about them a great deal.
"If they're gone, they're gone. I didn't have much use for them anyway."
Hesitating for a few seconds, Natsume-san seemed to recall the existence of those trophies.
Her original plan was to have the magical girls help clean up the Judgment branch before returning the items to them. It seemed they were quite cunning.
But as if she'd lost all interest in those things, Natsume-san's attention was now completely focused on her new desk.
The sunlight in the sky finally faded completely, letting nightfall descend upon this exceptionally safe city.
Busy developing her personal formula, Natsume-san suddenly sat upright on the sofa, then tiptoed over to her bed and pulled out a box of cookies from underneath.
As everyone knows, developing esper abilities is a task that consumes immense physical and mental energy, requiring frequent sugar replenishment.
After restoring her sugar levels, she scurried back to her desk and scribbled some inspirations using her peculiar cipher before satisfactorily putting the notebook back in its place.
Only after bustling about for a good while did the certain bun-haired girl finally close her eyes obediently.
Hovering in the space between dream and wakefulness, Natsume-san's consciousness steadily sank inward, as if entering the realm of the soul.
It felt parallel to her physical body, both entities occupying the same place yet seemingly existing in different spaces.
No longer dwelling on the fragmented memories within her soul, Natsume-san began trying to perceive the soul itself.
This was called seeing the essence through the phenomenon. Natsume-san's level of understanding seemed to have improved noticeably.
She still found nothing.
Natsume-san simply couldn't perceive that microscopic world's existence. It was as if today's peculiar perception had been nothing but an illusion.
--+--
T/N: 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.