Hovering in the air, her feet twenty centimeters off the ground, her brilliant mind had once again seized the high ground.
Out of a desire to heal, save, and protect her schoolmate, Natsume Sonoko attempted to confront this inexplicable AIM diffusion field.
Based on her previous experiences, as long as her methods were appropriate and her skill precise, it wasn't impossible to directly eliminate this bizarre field.
But before she could even make a move, Natsume's expression froze abruptly. She instantly lost her balance.
"Ah, wait a moment, Natsume-san."
Amidst Hokaze Junko's flustered movements, the certain bun-headed girl slipped and pitched forward. In the next second, the two collided without any surprise, tumbling down in a heap.
"Oww, oww, owwie."
Her head knocked right against the senior's forehead, immediately raising a small, red bump. Clutching her head, Natsume Sonoko started making a fuss.
Hokaze Junko, who had taken the full impact of Natsume's charge, stood there looking utterly innocent, her frame barely swaying at all, appearing completely unharmed. She simply used both hands to firmly steady the bun-headed girl.
"You're really quite careless, Natsume-san. Does it hurt?"
"Please don't just crash into people so recklessly. It wouldn't be good if you got hurt. If that adorable face of yours were injured, I'd feel terribly responsible."
Gently setting the bun-headed girl down, Hokaze-senpai checked her injury with concern before speaking.
As an esper capable of enhancing her own body and rapidly recovering from injuries, Hokaze-senpai's physical prowess was comparable to a human-shaped truck, far surpassing certain other espers who'd complain after just walking a few more steps.
Hokaze-senpai probably represented a rare type of esper in Academy City who were difficult to defeat by simply destroying their bodies.
"Eh... Mm."
Her face flushing inexplicably, Natsume-san nodded with a hint of embarrassment.
Hokaze-senpai is really so kind, no wonder she's so popular at school. But feeling responsible is completely unnecessary...
Ah, right! That AIM diffusion field!
Breaking free from her momentary mental confusion, a peculiar, god's-eye view enveloped the area around them. Her computational power began to multiply rapidly, consuming itself at an alarming rate.
That field seemed to be exhibiting some strange characteristics. While attached to Hokaze-senpai's own field, it also seemed capable of moving around her in a certain way.
She had originally intended to try and make contact with the thing, but was startled by its sudden, close-range 'attack,' which caused her to lose her balance and crash into Hokaze-senpai.
"See? I knew little Sonoko could see me."
"Otherwise, she definitely wouldn't have been so startled as to bump into Junko-chan."
The invisible aggregate of the AIM diffusion field spoke with a hint of pleasure, its emotionally rich voice almost indistinguishable from a normal person's, like it had successfully pulled off a prank.
"Don't startle Natsume-san."
A look of helplessness appeared on Hokaze-senpai's face as she covered her mouth, speaking carefully. Miss Ghost always found it hard to stay idle.
But her gaze lingered on the bun-headed girl in front of her, thinking thoughtfully.
Earlier, Natsume-san said she felt top-heavy, like something was pressing on her... That did seem somewhat similar to her own situation.
Although the extra Miss Ghost she seemed to have acquired didn't appear to have any weight.
These contradictory, flawed pieces of information made it difficult for her to figure out the connection, ultimately attributing it to their communication still not being clear enough.
"Speaking of which, you two have been acting strange since a while ago."
Having noticed the oddity some time ago, a bewildered Misaka Mikoto leaned in and asked.
After just resting a short while, the weakness caused by the formula earlier had completely subsided. However, the suspicion on Misaka-senpai's face was impossible to hide.
Just two minutes ago, they were discussing abilities, but the atmosphere seemed to have shifted abruptly.
"Really? You're overthinking it, Misaka-san. Natsume-san was just concerned about me."
Waving her hand, Hokaze-senpai hurriedly spoke up, a trace of realization unavoidably crossing her face.
She had been far too impatient, almost failing to see the bigger picture.
Winning Railgun's favor was the top priority—a crucial method for securing the Queen's future.
Although investigating Miss Ghost's identity was also important, there was absolutely no need to cram both matters together.
"Hehe, Misaka-chan's confused look is so amusing too."
Flying a loop around Misaka-senpai's head, then pressing close to examine her face for a moment, Miss Ghost observed everything curiously, then returned contentedly to her host.
She always held immense enthusiasm for this world.
"Miss Ghost is really quite familiar, isn't she."
Hokaze-senpai couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Using overly affectionate nicknames for people you've just met was undoubtedly a sign of excessive enthusiasm.
Moreover, Miss Ghost seemed to have an unusual curiosity about the several Level 5 'sisters'.
Then again, these 'sisters' stood at the pinnacle of Academy City. Basically, anyone living in Academy City would inevitably be curious about their status. It seemed Miss Ghost must have been a student in Academy City before.
After spending this time in contact with the strange Miss Ghost, a rather indescribable feeling had grown in Hokaze-senpai's heart.
To live in the city as a drifting, anchorless ghost, not knowing your own past or identity, unable to see your family... wasn't that just pitiful?
The stronger this thought became, the more determined Hokaze Junko felt. She would help uncover Miss Ghost's identity.
She had already searched through the list of Tokiwadai students who had died accidentally in the last ten years, and was gradually expanding that scope to the entire School Garden area.
She'd even included students who were declared dead after being sent to juvenile correctional facilities for crimes, but had found nothing.
So, she needed to expand the investigation range further.
This gave Hokaze Junko a headache. Academy City wouldn't readily open its databases to a student. Even using the resources of Shokuhou's clique, achieving this would be very difficult.
"Ah, that's right, we should continue with our ability practice."
"Natsume-san still needs to consult Misaka-san about electromagnetism, right? We can discuss my matter another time."
Abruptly changing the subject, Hokaze Junko forced a slight smile, holding the bun-headed girl's hand.
Hokaze-senpai decided to put the topic of Miss Ghost on hold for now; the current situation wasn't really suitable.
She had plenty of time. Investigating an identity didn't require a race against the clock. It was better to handle the matters of the two 'sisters' in front of her first, and incidentally raise their favorability.
Then, in the future, she could openly invite the Queen and Misaka-san out together.
Besides, Miss Ghost's issue wasn't something that could be explained simply. She could arrange to meet Natsume-san separately for afternoon tea tomorrow or another day.
Afternoon tea was, after all, the proper way for young ladies to discuss important matters.
Leaving the School Garden, her chin propped in her hand, Natsume Sonoko wore an expressionless look that clearly indicated she was preoccupied.
In order to figure out the abnormal state of Hokaze-senpai, Natsume Sonoko had spent quite a while sticking close to the senior, 'getting a feel' for the situation.
Amidst Hokaze-senpai's increasingly flushed cheeks, a certain someone successfully earned herself an invisible title: the 'Tokiwadai Groper'.
She was almost certain now. The lessons and experience Natsume had gained through numerous past encounters couldn't keep up with the changing times.
That AIM field simply had no so-called mass or shape. It couldn't be directly touched by people or energy. One could probably call it an indescribable thing.
This made Natsume Sonoko thoughtful. It was highly likely a new form of AIM diffusion field she had never encountered before.
Furthermore, judging from Hokaze-senpai's initial cooperative attitude shifting later to evasion and changing the subject, Natsume Sonoko put her brain to work and boldly speculated: Hokaze-senpai was very likely being coerced by that field.
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T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL