Far over at Sakugawa Middle School's support team, Uiharu Kazari had already sorted through the evidence, while her designated workhorse, Natsume Sonoko, hauled the culprit off to the nearest Anti-Skill branch in District 7.
Under the intense gaze of a certain capable Anti-Skill teacher, Natsume-san couldn't help but take a few steps back, a well-practiced, ingratiatingly obedient smile promptly spreading across her face.
Really, life was just too absurd for words.
Why did doing a good deed have to come with so much trouble? She couldn't wrap her head around it at all.
According to Shirai-san's explanation, every deployment by Anti-Skill caused quite a stir. Letting them venture into the gray zones too frequently would inevitably interfere with their plans.
That's why Natsume-san and the others couldn't just call Anti-Skill to haul the culprits away like they usually did. Instead, they had to personally deliver the offenders to the Anti-Skill branch.
It seemed their previous successful deliveries had gone a little too smoothly, lulling someone into completely letting her guard down. Otherwise, Natsume Sonoko would never have willingly walked right into the lion's den like this.
Fortunately, the Anti-Skill teacher, remembering past positive impressions, went a bit easier on her, showing some leniency during the lecture.
But Natsume-san wasn't as thick-skinned as a certain teleporter. As she was being scolded, she hung her head, questioning all her life choices.
"Natsume-san, once or twice could be written off as coincidence. But with today, this makes the third time, doesn't it?"
"And not only did you catch a perpetrator red-handed attempting an assault in a gray zone, you even had video evidence ready for prosecution. You even thoughtfully attached the victim's contact number and address. The only thing missing was a formal witness statement."
"If you try to explain this away as just accidentally stumbling upon a situation and acting heroically, it's just too far-fetched."
Hands on her hips, Yomikawa Aiho, clad in her green tracksuit, spoke with a sigh of resignation.
She knew exactly what was going on. This group of students had clearly conspired on something—they were even using similar excuses.
And when she said 'group,' she was probably referring to that chestnut-haired twin-tailed girl she'd encountered earlier, who'd also used the 'heroic intervention' excuse.
Yomikawa Aiho had just taken custody of the culprit delivered by that twin-tailed girl and assigned the standard 'one culprit, one reflection essay' homework.
Yet, not long after, here she was, faced with a bun-haired girl reporting another caught-in-the-act criminal.
It was giving Yomikawa a headache. She debated whether to give this girl the same treatment, letting her experience a taste of Shirai-san's daily grind.
While it was good to have help dealing with incidents, rules were rules. Even Judgment members, acting out of personal interest, had to follow them.
It was a consensus among all Anti-Skill officers that Judgment's authority was limited to on-campus incidents.
At most, with authorization or in emergencies, they could assist with crowd evacuation and traffic control.
She had initially found it strange that a Level 5 joining Judgment hadn't caused more waves. But now, not only had they caught someone violating the rules, they'd even caught a certain Level 5 herself.
As for Shirai Kuroko, Yomikawa-sensei didn't even want to get started.
Even after issuing a strict ban last time, that girl still did whatever she pleased. There wasn't much the Anti-Skill teachers could do about it.
They couldn't exactly impose real punishment or arrest someone just for being a little too enthusiastic about doing good deeds, could they?
In this situation, the only noticeable improvement in the reflection essays Shirai-san wrote was her penmanship. As for their actual penitential effect? Only heaven knew.
Rumor had it Shirai-san's writing style was quite good, and she always managed to come up with some new variation each time.
"Judgment members don't have the authority to enforce laws outside school grounds. Students like you, Natsume-san, with your… sensitive status, need to be especially mindful of this."
"Even if it's to protect the city we all live in, it shouldn't be students handling dangerous situations."
Mid-sentence, Yomikawa-sensei couldn't help but take a few more glances at the bun-haired girl.
Why did she have this faint feeling of bullying an honest kid?
Perhaps it was because the girl in front of her was so… disarming, unlike a certain teleporter who acted as if she had no shame… ahem… was so thick-skinned.
Now that she thought about it, Natsume-san's current getup was quite distinctive and eye-catching.
Though she looked rather dejected, which added a touch of listlessness to her appearance.
Hovering beside her head, held up by an upward airflow, was a student who seemed to have passed out, eyes rolled back. Around her neck hung a neatly organized file of documents. Her freed hands were holding some snacks bought from a street stall. She stood there, head bowed, silent.
Thankfully, they'd been invisible the whole way here, so they hadn't caused much of a scene.
"Sensei, do I have to write a reflection essay?"
The bun-haired girl asked dejectedly, her head still lowered. She knew a bit about Anti-Skill procedures and asked obediently.
She'd never expected to face this day herself. Just recently, she'd been at the branch poking fun at Shirai-san's daily routine of writing reflection essays.
"The reflection essay is negotiable. But on one condition: Natsume-san, you must tell me what you all are up to."
"And one more thing. Since yesterday, Skill-Out's movements have been very strange."
"If I'm not mistaken, it definitely has something to do with you all, right?"
Remembering something, Yomikawa Aiho said with considerable interest.
The woman who had once single-handedly wiped out Skill-Out's top three leaders bent down, looking directly into the eyes of the suddenly very guilty-looking girl.
She hadn't been able to get anything out of that certain teleporter earlier.
But seeing the incident locations from the video evidence the girls submitted, along with the blatantly entrapment-style Judgment enforcement, she could guess it was related to cases in the gray zones.
But as a teacher, she couldn't just stand by and let students handle those dangerous incidents.
So, if she wanted to figure out what these students were scheming and what they were involved in, starting with this seemingly obedient bun-haired girl was her best bet.
Based on Yomikawa's understanding of the girl before her, although she was a Level 5, she was a very compliant student—someone you could reason with properly.
Speaking of the gray zones, Yomikawa-sensei had always been concerned about them.
It was just that Anti-Skill struggled to handle cases there. Even after repeatedly deploying security robots and surveillance equipment, they were quickly destroyed.
The armed groups there treated those areas as their own turf.
Coupled with the narrow alleys and man-made obstacles littering the gray zones, by the time something happened, even Anti-Skill teams with their armored vehicles and powered suits couldn't arrive in time, let alone catch the perpetrators.
"Listen up, Natsume. Your biggest problem is that you're too hesitant, always looking ahead and behind. Show some courage! If you dare to do it, you must dare to own up to it. There's no need to hide anything from your teacher."
"Straighten your back properly and look me in the eye. Is this any way for a Level 5 to carry herself?"
Her expression suddenly turned stern, Yomikawa Aiho spoke with a serious face, though her tone remained as composed and unhurried as ever.
"Yes, ma'am!"
Natsume-san shot up ramrod straight, her head snapping up.
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T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL