There are plenty of reliable espers, and Natsume-san is quite honored to have become one of them, a standout representative among the students of Tokiwadai.
"Ah, it's really not that great. I just pay a bit more attention, that's all."
A certain bun-girl wore a slightly bashful smile, looking rather pleased.
It wasn't really vanity or anything like that—she was just naturally a bit weak against praise.
Natsume-san was quite popular among the first-years at Tokiwadai. Everyone was pretty familiar with this side of her personality: gentle, easy to talk to, and very polite.
It was a bit hard to imagine that a girl like her could be the subject of such twisted, vicious rumors online.
Of course, if you saw another side of Natsume-san, your impression might change quite a bit, but it still wouldn't be anywhere near as outrageous as the internet made it out to be.
"Mhm."
The figure in front gave a slight nod and responded softly, still diligently carrying out her duty as the flag bearer.
Even though the truth was a bit different from what Arisugawa-san imagined, achieving a similar effect was good enough.
Just as she'd told her mom before, Natsume-san had, unsurprisingly, gone ahead with her plan.
By altering the refraction of light around her, she could interfere with cameras and recording devices—similar to how a lens gets fogged up with moisture.
The degree of alteration wasn't too extreme, though.
Cameras farther away were affected more, but for the Tokiwadai students close to her, the impact was minimal. At most, they might feel there was something a bit unreal about Natsume-san's face.
Luckily, everyone was busy with the formation march and didn't have time to scrutinize others, so no one noticed.
To avoid unnecessary issues, Natsume-san had been maintaining her ability on herself since the opening ceremony began.
Natsume-san was that rare sort of girl who elevated all kinds of safety measures to a daily routine—no matter what she did, it wasn't really surprising.
She focused on developing defensive and escape skills, while taking a much more casual attitude toward offensive ones, so her combat effectiveness was always a bit unpredictable.
But when it came to weaker opponents, Natsume-san could always settle things decisively.
Whether against magicians or espers, she posed a significant threat.
If it were her own athletics-challenged senpai, Natsume-san was confident she could handle her in under three seconds—provided she wasn't spotted first, of course. That was just how matchups worked.
It was the same with espers like Shirai-san, who used teleportation. Caught off guard, even Shokuhou-senpai would have a hard time dealing with it.
Speaking of which, Natsume-san didn't know the full range of Shokuhou-senpai's abilities, but it was probably much farther than her own radius of a hundred meters or so.
But Shokuhou-senpai needed to use a remote to control people, which added another limitation.
There was no single strongest esper in Academy City. With enough information and preparation, even Accelerator could be defeated.
The method Natsume-san used to defeat Accelerator last time was based on the most basic piece of intel: that he was human.
So, Natsume-san was very careful about protecting her own information.
Pulling her thoughts back, she noticed the Daihaseisai opening ceremony was already more than halfway over.
One formation after another began their parade, and Natsume-san even spotted Meigo-senpai in the ranks of Kirigaoka Girls' Academy.
She'd thought about saying hello, but the situation was a bit special now, and Natsume-san didn't want to draw too much attention.
"And now, entering the grounds is the student formation of Private Tokiwadai Middle School..."
The announcer's voice echoed around them. As the Kirigaoka formation moved off, the presenter began introducing Tokiwadai's contingent.
Not long after the Tokiwadai formation set off, the eyes of the spectators in the main arena—along with all kinds of cameras—instinctively focused on them.
As one of Academy City's most prestigious schools, the only one with three Level 5 espers, and one of the top five favorites to win the Daihaseisai, Tokiwadai's popularity was unimaginably high.
The enthusiastic atmosphere made the flag bearer, Arisugawa-san, blush bright red. She barely managed to steady her nerves before leading the Tokiwadai formation into the designated parade area.
"It's starting."
Natsume-san perked up a little too, following closely behind Arisugawa-san.
--+--
With grit that surpassed ordinary people—even if his bones broke, he could grow them back through sheer determination—he possessed an unimaginably powerful ability.
This guy, the gemstone known as Sogitia Gunha, seemed to have a serious flaw when it came to memory.
After failing to recall his pledge speech, he successfully derailed the Daihaseisai opening ceremony.
He improvised a speech all about guts, thrust his arm up with overwhelming spirit, and a torrent of multicolored smoke burst out behind him, engulfing the entire pledge platform and sweeping up his temporary teammate, Shokuhou Misaki, who was standing nearby.
It was the final stage of the Daihaseisai opening, yet the biggest problem had come from the pledge-taker himself—a truly unexpected turn of events.
"I-It's happening...!"
A sudden sense of déjà vu hit her. Having already finished the formation parade, Natsume-san was stunned by the scene, and she couldn't help but look with some sympathy at a certain Shokuhou-senpai who seemed to have lost all hope.
At the same time, fragments of memory seemed to connect in her soul, aligning with the scene before her.
Staring blankly for a moment, Natsume-san's thoughts drifted.
If the pledge-taker paired with Sogiita Gunha hadn't been Shokuhou-senpai—if it were someone with a shorter temper—they'd probably be fighting by now. That would have been a real Daihaseisai disaster.
Natsume-san, for her part, after the initial shock, found it all pretty normal. After all, that guy's memory really wasn't the best.
"Shokuhou-senpai, are you okay?"
"It's a relief you weren't hurt."
In a rest area of the main arena, Natsume-san asked with concern, a trace of worry on her face.
Members of Shokuhou-senpai's clique had already arrived, but they were waiting quietly at a distance, watching the interaction between the two Level 5s.
It was the Daihaseisai opening ceremony, yet it felt like a terrorist attack had hit—the whole venue was filled with hazy, colorful smoke.
Multicolored air molecules drifted around them, making the surroundings seem strangely surreal.
No one could have guessed that the seemingly ordinary guy, Sogiita Gunha, had such a terrifying smoke ability, dyeing the very air in multiple hues.
"I'm fine."
Her whole body seemed listless, her hands drooping at her sides.
A certain golden-haired girl forced a weak smile as she met Natsume-san's gaze.
She'd been determined to capture everyone's attention, but in the end, that guy stole the show. Well, at least her main objective was probably accomplished.
"I've always been curious, Shokuhou-senpai, why did you agree to be a pledge-taker?"
Seeing that Shokuhou-senpai seemed okay, Natsume Sonoko hesitated for a moment before speaking up. It was a question she'd wanted to ask for a while.
As she spoke, Natsume-san silently calculated her time. She had about twenty minutes or so to reach the venue before her first event started. After the event, it would be lunch break.
Her first event was the one-kilometer run. As long as she could use her ability, it wouldn't be too difficult for Natsume-san.
The most annoying rule was that both feet had to be in contact with the ground, or the result wouldn't count.
"To attract everyone's attention, of course. If I'm busy preparing for the Daihaseisai pledge, then those attacks on the Dark Side bases obviously can't be linked to me."
Leaning against the wall, Shokuhou-senpai took out her remote and used it on the clique members nearby, stating this as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"But I assume you haven't told Misaka-san about our plans, have you, Natsume-san? If she acts on her own, it would cause me a lot of trouble."
After answering Natsume-san's question, the golden-haired girl pressed the remote against her chin, a thoughtful look on her face.
"Of course not."
Natsume-san muttered under her breath, though there had been a time when she really wanted to tell Misaka-senpai.
Her gaze lingered on the controlled clique members nearby, understanding that Shokuhou-senpai didn't want them to know about these matters.
Is this a form of protection?
Keeping uninvolved people out of it, Natsume-san mused.
"Is that so? I trust you on that, Natsume-san."
A barely perceptible smile played on her lips. This senpai knew exactly what kind of person her kouhai was.
It was only after understanding someone's thought patterns and behavioral principles that this golden-haired girl would choose them as a partner.
Even though a certain Railgun had a special connection to the Sisters, because of the electromagnetic barrier preventing memory reading, she had, for the time being, become the convenient scapegoat for this senpai.
But clearly, this kouhai before her met her requirements in many ways.
Most importantly, her optical-based ability was a tremendous supplement for the golden-haired girl.
The ever-present cameras and related ability users were one of the biggest obstacles to her operations.
"I've always wondered, Natsume-san. Back when you so readily agreed to join my plan, aside from your concern for the Sisters, was there also an element of trust in me?"
Bringing up the past unexpectedly, the golden-haired senpai asked with a faint, amused smile.
It had been a long time since she'd used her ability on Natsume-san. Unless she deemed it absolutely necessary, she wouldn't cross the line and invade someone's privacy without limit.
Just like how Natsume-san wouldn't use thermal vision to spy on everyone's daily lives in the dorm.
This senpai also had her own rules for using her ability, adhering to certain boundaries. But when it came to Natsume-san, those boundaries seemed to be set even higher.
"I suppose that's part of it, yes."
Natsume-san hesitated, thinking it over. Both reasons were true.
If Shokuhou-senpai hadn't shown up so suddenly back then, she probably would have tried to take down that blond foreigner and his accomplices herself—after all, they were snooping around the Sisters so suspiciously.
Natsume-san was sensitive to that kind of thing. Insecure people always tended to magnify problems, especially since the Remnant incident had happened not long before.
--+--
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.