A head of lavish, fluffy princess curls in royal purple, skin delicate and fine as porcelain, and eyes that looked especially adorable whenever she widened them with effort.
Hokaze Junko-senpai had received a complete education in aristocratic etiquette; every gesture of hers exuded elegance and nobility, making her the very picture of a true young lady within Tokiwadai Middle School.
A certain bun-girl, who considered herself a proper young lady as well, waited listlessly on a bamboo-woven chair in the garden, her expression dazed as she watched the princess-curled senpai not far away, who was clasping her hands together with a soft, closed-mouth chuckle.
Just comparing them a little, the Misaka-senpai nearby looked like your average, everyday middle schooler you could find anywhere.
Her rough-and-tumble demeanor was almost boyish, and in terms of ladylike poise, she was completely outclassed—the gap was plain to see.
She'd thought Shokuhou-senpai was already an exceptionally fine example of a young lady, but it turned out there was someone even more impressive.
This made Natsume-san feel she'd found a new goal in life to strive toward.
"Become an outstanding Tokiwadai young lady"—that was the grand ambition Natsume-san had set for herself upon entering Tokiwadai, and even now, it followed her daily life like an obsession.
Too bad, no matter how much Natsume-san paid attention to her demeanor or put on airs, at best she could only reach the level of a "qualified" young lady—meaning she merely looked the part.
"Ugh, I just can't muster any energy at all."
"Sorry for the trouble, Senpai."
With a crackle of electricity over her body, Misaka-senpai—who had once again thrown her internal electrical signals into chaos—finally stiffened and fell straight back.
Fortunately, the quick-reflexed Hokaze Junko beside her caught her in time, saving her uniform from getting dirty.
Even with a specialist giving such close, personal guidance—with Hokaze-senpai even generously sharing some of her formulas, as if holding nothing back—the Railgun still faced serious adaptation issues. She constantly had to tweak the formula's parameters to match her own body.
It was a lot like when Natsume-san herself, after obtaining information on a similar ability, could get it to a usable level fairly easily—though whether she could use it safely was another matter entirely.
"This is perfectly normal. Although our abilities share some similarities, their underlying mechanisms are ultimately different. Whenever you try to interfere with your motor nerves, Misaka-san, any slight misstep can cause flux disorder, leading to muscular abnormalities."
"But once you've studied the books and materials I've prepared for you, and you've mastered how electrical signals flow during various bodily movements, you should be able to use that excess electricity in your body to achieve quite a good strengthening effect."
"For now, what you should do is first establish a stable magnetic field outside your body, then try to guide the internal currents to distribute evenly throughout, without touching the part of the formula related to motor nerves. That should solve the problem of you leaking electricity now and then."
Hokaze-senpai smiled patiently as she explained, watching her temporary student with clear pleasure.
To build a closer relationship with the Railgun, Hokaze-senpai had worked hard to play the role of teacher—all with the aim of bringing this Railgun and her Queen closer together.
So frustrating. Even though she'd specially prepared those Gekota theme park cards before, Misaka-san didn't seem to grasp her intentions at all.
It looked like there was still a long way to go before Misaka-san could develop a conditioned reflex for serving the Queen.
"Now that I think about it, being a teacher isn't so hard after all."
No sooner had she spoken than a thought popped into Hokaze Junko's mind.
Although there'd been a few hiccups, she was quite satisfied with Misaka-san's progress.
It seemed she might actually have a talent for teaching and nurturing others. The idea made Hokaze Junko wonder if she should become a teacher when she grew up.
In fact, a large portion of students in Academy City aspired to become teachers—Natsume-san was much the same. Probably because teachers were the group they interacted with most easily and held in high regard.
In contrast, hardly any of them were interested in becoming researchers. Those stiff-faced folks always trying to experiment on them were the worst—a pretty common sentiment around here.
But aside from realizing teaching wasn't so hard, it also mattered that her temporary student was plenty clever.
After all, Misaka-san was one of Academy City's proudly-ranked Level 5 espers.
When her Queen often muttered about Misaka-san being "all brawn and no brains," that was only relative—relative to the wise and learned Queen, that is. In truth, Misaka-san's learning ability could easily surpass ninety-nine percent of the students in Academy City.
Still, what surprised Hokaze Junko was that the Railgun's body had developed such a strange issue—it almost felt like watching a battery leak.
Could it be that Misaka-san had recently undergone some modification experiment, resulting in an irreversible abnormality?
Hokaze Junko couldn't help but wonder. Even as speculation, she knew it was entirely possible.
The city they lived in wasn't exactly warm and fuzzy; instead, it was filled with brutally pragmatic distinctions between "useful" and "useless."
The tendency to treat people as mere objects was a mark of the city's cold, unfeeling nature.
Having spent so long in the Ideal institute, she understood some things all too clearly—which was why she was so desperate to find a powerful protector for her Queen.
"By the way, Natsume-san, you're not only involved in club activities but also juggling Judgment work—isn't that too much?"
After helping the Railgun rest to the side, Hokaze Junko turned with a smile to the bun-girl who'd been idling nearby.
She had quite a strong fondness for this eighth-ranked Level 5. Partly because she was her kouhai, but more so because of the girl's unclear, complicated relationship with the Queen.
Those rumors circulating on the school forum a few days ago, about Level 5s fighting—she didn't believe them at all. But just like with the Queen's side, this bun-girl had also kept tight-lipped about what happened that day, making it hard for outsiders to learn the truth.
Then again, that day in District 7 had been incredibly eventful. The overwhelming dark phenomena in the sky had been visible even from the School Garden.
"Of course it's tough, but that's just life."
"If you choose your own path, you follow it through even if you're crying. If you ever feel like you can't go on, it just means that person lacks guts."
Prompted by her senpai's words, Natsume Sonoko found herself musing aloud, sighing over her own hectic life.
Alright, so even if she was mostly slacking off in both club and Judgment work, hardly accomplishing anything all day—she could still talk a big game.
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T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL