The white cleaning robot spun in circles, tirelessly weaving through the crowded streets.
While passing a crosswalk, its external sensors keenly detected what appeared to be a soda can near the mouth of a nearby alley, rolling deeper into the lane at a speed of ten centimeters per second.
The instant it was detected, the robot's wheels instantly changed direction. Driven by the core logic of its internal processor, it smoothly sped toward that deserted corner.
With a whir of colliding air and the sound of its chassis spinning idly, it completely vanished into the deep, narrow alleyway.
Sitting atop the recently captured white disc-shaped object, a slightly preoccupied Natsume-san felt her mood improve a bit. It seemed she had a particular fondness for hunting cleaning robots.
After learning the 'proper usage' for cleaning robots from Tsuchimikado-san, Natsume-san had saved quite a bit on train and bus fares. It could truly be called an essential trick for frugal living.
"Shokuhou-senpai, have you noticed... Hokaze-senpai has been acting a bit strange lately."
"How should I put it... Ah, right. For example, she's been secretly covering her mouth and muttering to herself."
Maintaining a ladylike sitting posture, Natsume-san's small leather shoes rested on a layer of invisible air currents. She held her pale yellow phone, typing out text with a serious expression.
Although convenient methods like voice input had long existed, Natsume-san always felt that using them missed the essence of sending texts or emails.
To avoid drawing excessive attention, situations like this could generally be assumed to mean she had activated her 'invisibility mode.'
On the other end of the phone was a golden-haired girl whose laziness and excessive sugar intake were leading to a bit of pudge.
She'd heard that girl had recently started trying to exercise and lose weight, even ordering some diet products a few days ago. A truly admirable determination.
Setting aside Shokuhou-senpai's sudden diet plan for now, Natsume-san was clearly more concerned about Hokaze-senpai. After all, Shokuhou-senpai would probably give up in the end anyway; maybe she bought them just to comfort herself.
Natsume-san understood her just as well as Shokuhou-senpai understood Natsume-san.
But Natsume-san was pondering how to explain the anomalies with Hokaze-senpai. She had no concrete evidence for something like Hokaze-senpai's AIM field being interfered with, so after some thought, she opted to use more observable examples.
Today, Hokaze-senpai had been very cautious, even covering her mouth when muttering to herself. But for certain people, this action was completely ineffective and instead added to the strangeness.
Still, to spare Hokaze-senpai's feelings, both she and Misaka-senpai had pretended not to notice.
"So Sonoko-chan noticed it too."
"The change in Hokaze is quite special. I've been hesitating about whether to intervene or not."
"Speaking of which, Hokaze did something quite rare yesterday—she broke curfew and came to 'surprise' me late at night. Especially surprising was that she was wearing a strapless evening gown and heavy makeup, saying she'd come specifically to show me. It gave me quite a shock."
Inside the dormitory of School Garden, Shokuhou-senpai had just brewed a cup of extra-sweet, high-sugar, high-calorie black tea.
She glanced at the yoga mat that had been delivered earlier, then with a clear conscience took a few gulps, a serene smile promptly appearing on her face.
She'd just start her weight loss efforts earnestly in the evening. For now, it was just a normal young lady's afternoon tea. No need to let minor matters disturb her afternoon.
"Eh, that really is unexpected."
Natsume-san was momentarily stunned as she silently sent the message, clearly feeling she really didn't understand that senpai very well.
She seemed so prim and proper, such an excellent young lady. Who would have thought her actions could be so bold?
Sneaking out after lights-out, wearing clothes other than her uniform, wearing makeup, 'surprising' a classmate at night... tallying it up, she'd broken a whole bunch of school rules at once.
Of course, if you don't get caught, it doesn't count as breaking the rules.
But this also made Natsume-san fall silent, an image of a certain pair of chestnut-brown twin tails swaying in the wind inexplicably popping into her head.
Could this be some kind of inevitable fate?
"Sonoko-chan, it's not what you're thinking."
"Hokaze has... something about her. Normally, she's a good student of the same type as you, Sonoko-chan. It's just that child can be quite stubborn sometimes, and her tsundere side is no less pronounced than anyone's. But her abilities ultimately aren't as independent and capable as yours, Sonoko-chan, which makes people worry about her unconsciously."
Squinting her eyes as she typed, Shokuhou-senpai clearly didn't prefer voice input either. However, unlike Natsume-san's situation, Shokuhou-senpai was relatively inept with handling electronics.
As an old hand at peeking into others' memories, Shokuhou-senpai had obviously taken a look inside Hokaze Junko's head as well. It was her way of caring for her friend.
For espers, ordinary moral concepts often didn't apply. After all, it was illogical for an esper to not use their ability simply because others objected.
If they stopped using their abilities, many espers would find themselves in very dangerous situations.
Thus, a unique moral code for espers was born. The key distinction lay in whether one could adhere to their own bottom line, not in what others thought about the abilities themselves.
"If I were to explain it in terms even Misaka-san could understand, it's that Hokaze has encountered something akin to a ghost. The kind of ghost we usually talk about. At least, that's what Hokaze believes."
"And from the signs I've gleaned from Hokaze's memories, we can currently infer that the other party possesses abilities similar to possession or body control. So far, it hasn't shown any hostile or dangerous signs, and seems to hold a great deal of fondness for Hokaze."
"Moreover, Hokaze has been busy lately trying to find out the identity of this 'ghost lady.' It seems they've already become friends. So, Natsume-san, you don't need to worry too much. But just leaving it alone also feels a bit... unsettling."
Shokuhou-senpai continued typing, sharing the intelligence she'd gathered with Natsume-san.
However, her typing speed seemed to slow down. It looked like typing so much at once was quite a challenge for the senpai.
The business with the Indian Poker wasn't cleared up yet, and now there were these new, murky matters, and they involved a member of her own clique.
"So, should we try knocking Hokaze-senpai out?"
On the other end, a certain bun-girl offered a suggestion, picturing in her head the way that senpai had tried to change the subject earlier.
Now she understood what Hokaze-senpai had meant earlier by 'ghost.' So that mass of AIM field was manifesting to Hokaze-senpai in the form of a ghost.
So that meant... human consciousness could potentially reside within an AIM field?
Strange knowledge was increasing.
"Knock her out and then interrogate her? I never knew you played such a strange role, Sonoko-chan."
"Anyway, the other party's specialty seems to be psychological. I'll handle it."
Shokuhou-senpai sighed, feeling her kouhai's ideas were becoming more and more inscrutable.
Having placated the bun-girl, Shokuhou-senpai hadn't planned on letting anyone else handle internal clique matters to begin with. This was the work of the Queen of her faction.
Plus, she needed to find an opportunity to have a proper talk with Hokaze.
If Hokaze had come to her proactively to explain the situation, maybe she could have let it be. But the more that child tried to solve things on her own, the more it made Shokuhou-senpai fret internally.
In fact, Shokuhou-senpai was almost certain that her stubborn, tsundere comrade had absolutely no intention of seeking her help.
Just as she rarely interfered in the clique's internal affairs, the clique members rarely troubled their Queen with their personal problems. Both sides maintained a peculiar balance.
If only everyone could rely on her a bit more, like Natsume-san did, then she wouldn't have to be so torn about respecting their feelings.
"How could I not know what's on Hokaze's mind? But that's precisely why it's so troubling."
"And that flat-chested muscle-brain... how could someone like that compare to my Hokaze? I really don't know what she's thinking about all day."
Muttering to herself with some irritation, Shokuhou-senpai helplessly put down her phone.
It wasn't just the matter of the ghost lady; she also knew about Hokaze Junko's attempts to play matchmaker between her and Misaka Mikoto.
The whole thing about feeling she lacked the power to protect her, so she took it upon herself to find a stronger power that could, and ended up setting her sights on Misaka Mikoto.
It was almost laughable. Since when was the Fifth Ranked of Academy City so fragile as to need someone else's protection?
Making decisions without her consent, privately arranging things, even thinking that she looked cuter with a bit of pudge, and then the groping during last night's 'surprise'... Shokuhou Misaki would find the time to pay her back for all of it.
That's right, she'd punish Hokaze by making her eat a hundred super-spicy, tongue-numbing cream puffs. And beforehand, she'd have to hide all the water and drinks in the clique.
But, just like her bun-haired kouhai, Shokuhou-senpai also cherished the good intentions of others. So, she often deliberately pretended not to know anything.
'Academy City's Strongest Actress,' Shokuhou Misaki, gazed out the window at the azure sky with complicated emotions. She'd originally just wanted to be an idol-type, but her abilities just didn't allow for it.
And the more she knew, the more she had to play dumb. That was the only way to maintain the place she relied on for survival, to sustain the fragile social connections of a Mental Out user.
But playing dumb didn't mean actually being dumb. Shokuhou-senpai's little schemes were rather cute in their own right.
If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain.
Piloting the white cylinder, Natsume-san climbed a steep sixty-degree slope. Her field of view suddenly opened up, and she hastily swerved away just before nearly colliding with a passerby.
It had to be said, the cleaning robot's recognition capabilities were far too excellent, requiring no extra effort from Natsume-san.
Perhaps it was precisely for this reason that Tsuchimikado-san had crowned it Academy City's best mode of transport.
"Speaking of which, Misaka-senpai's formulas are really simple and easy to understand. They must be highly efficient versions, simplified multiple times over."
Sitting on the cleaning robot, traces of electricity crackled and buzzed around Natsume-san's hand.
As the current flowed in an orderly fashion along specific paths, a magnetic field unconsciously formed around Natsume-san's pale palm.
She had merely tweaked a few basic current formulas obtained from her senpai, attempting to use a microscopic perspective to replace parts of the ability interference differences caused by Personal Reality.
After reducing the operational efficiency of the formulas somewhat, a set of current formulas she could safely use was nearly complete.
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T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL