It all started with just wanting to get some knowledge about electromagnetic barriers from her senpai, but the gain ended up going a bit beyond Natsume Sonoko's expectations.
From basic current formulas to methods of generating magnetic fields, Misaka-senpai casually lectured for what felt like ages, then earnestly warned her kouhai to be careful and not recklessly try unfamiliar derivative abilities.
But thanks to a certain confidence she couldn't really explain to others, the girl with the bun wasn't as timid and hesitant as she'd been when first encountering high-risk derivative abilities.
Instead, she picked up these basics quite quickly, which helped her a great deal in refining her electromagnetic barrier.
"Oh, I'm here already."
Snapping back to attention, Natsume found herself already in the bustling downtown district.
The closer she got to that windowless building, the livelier the surroundings became. There were no schools in this area, just lots of shopping streets and office buildings. Even the number of adults seemed higher here than elsewhere.
A cleaning robot was spinning in place, looking like it had run into some trouble.
The pseudo-ghost girl, who had been pondering some important matters, looked up and realized the path ahead was blocked by a dense crowd. Even an advanced robot with automatic navigation would probably struggle to get through such a packed flow of people.
At that moment, the wild currents dancing around Natsume Sonoko's body also calmed down, to avoid accidentally harming any innocent bystanders.
"Crazy fan, right? To do something so terrible."
"To think the one attacked was Arisa."
"Arisa? That singer who's been really popular lately?"
Clear snippets of conversation rose from the crowd. The situation had already attracted quite a few folks who loved a good spectacle.
Pushing through the crowd, one could see a familiar Judgment officer firmly restraining a visibly agitated young man with red-rimmed eyes.
Nearby, scattered records and a toppled speaker lay on the ground. The pink-haired girl wearing a white newsboy cap seemed a bit dazed by the sudden event.
Come to think of it, this wasn't the first time Meigo Arisa had encountered a sudden incident, so she wasn't overly panicked, though it was the first time something had happened during a street performance.
But just like usual, aside from a few knocked-over items, no one around her was hurt. It had to be said, it was another one of those small miracles.
"Shirai-san, are you okay?"
Meigo Arisa asked with concern, looking at the Judgment member who had been hit by the assailant's materialized sound waves but had only ended up taking a tumble.
She knew this Judgment member—a friend of Misaka-san and Natsume-san—but hadn't expected her to appear so promptly. The moment this suspected saesang attacker showed up, Shirai Kuroko had appeared as if she'd been lying in wait all along.
"I'm fine."
"And you, the caught-red-handed criminal, stay put!"
Shirai Kuroko, though a bit dusty and disheveled from her fall, offered a ladylike smile. Even if she looked rather embarrassed, she couldn't let elegance and composure slip.
As she spoke, she pressed down hard on the struggling boy's arms with both hands; some standard Judgment techniques worked well on ability users who were already subdued.
"Just as I thought, he has them too. Indian Poker."
Shirai Kuroko suddenly seemed to remember something. Her hands lightly brushed against the boy's pockets, and several playing cards emitting an unusual gleam appeared in her hand.
"Was it this thing that caused the commotion?"
Frowning slightly, Meigo Arisa didn't fully understand Shirai-san's meaning, but she could guess the gist of it.
She'd heard of these cards too, but her heart was set on music; she had little interest in something that promised wish-fulfillment through dreams.
"There's no concrete evidence proving it yet, but there have been an unusual number of incidents lately, likely all connected to Indian Poker."
She was being somewhat vague; Shirai Kuroko didn't want to reveal too much information to uninvolved parties.
Actually, she didn't know that much herself. Most of what she knew came from that older, unmarried female teacher who had been hanging around Judgment Branch 177 the other day.
"I see. But Shirai-san, were you just coincidentally in the area?"
Coming back to her senses, Meigo-senpai asked curiously. She had felt from the start that the other girl's arrival was a bit too quick.
While Judgment officers often showed up where incidents occurred, appearing right as the incident happened was still surprising.
"Just a coincidence, don't worry about it."
A somewhat awkward smile suddenly flashed on Shirai-san's face as she waved her hand dismissively, her words becoming slightly evasive.
But just as Shirai Kuroko tried to drop the subject, an uninvited guest stood elegantly within the crowd, a Judgment armband on her arm, as she stepped into the incident area.
One good thing about being a Judgment member was that you wouldn't be stopped as an unrelated person when an incident occurred.
Of course, exceptions were made when encountering certain by-the-book Anti-Skill teachers.
"Meigo-senpai."
Without even a glance towards the dust-stained Shirai Kuroko, a certain bun-girl cheerfully greeted Meigo Arisa.
Come to think of it, since their brief meeting during the nighttime parade of the recent Daihaseisai, she hadn't had much chance to see this senpai who loved performing everywhere.
Out of fondness for this senpai, the normally non-star-chasing Natsume Sonoko had even changed her phone's ringtone to Arisa's new song.
"Ah, Natsume-san."
The corners of her mouth lifting, Meigo-senpai showed a beautiful smile, feeling considerable affection for this kouhai.
Facing the life-devouring Cold Light, heading to the space elevator to stop an impending world-ending disaster—though very few knew what exactly happened that day, the final outcome was that everyone escaped danger.
This bun-kouhai might seem ordinary, but she possessed courage and conviction beyond the average person, and she was also very cute.
"When you have some free time, let's have afternoon tea together."
Waiting on the spot for the Anti-Skill armored truck to arrive, Natsume-san chatted with her senpai for a long while, mostly about trivial everyday matters.
Clearly, while Shirai-san was seriously handling the incident, Natsume Sonoko was once again slacking off as per usual.
Since her teammate was so capable, as the secret weapon meant to hold the fort, of course she could do whatever she wanted.
However, Natsume-san was somewhat concerned about the Indian Poker appearing in this incident. Whether it was Shokuhou-senpai's warnings or the abnormalities with Hokaze-senpai, the shadow of Indian Poker was present in all of them.
Compared to the nanomachines spreading through the air, the gradually fermenting issue of Indian Poker was undoubtedly more pressing.
"You know, Shirai-san has been acting a bit strange these past few days. So secretive, no idea what she's up to."
"Even though the guys attacking Skill-Out have pretty much all been caught."
Thinking of something, Natsume Sonoko cast a suspicious look.
Coming and going at all hours was one thing—she was usually like that anyway; going a week without getting caught by the Dorm Supervisor even once was considered a miracle.
But recently, even Misaka-senpai mentioned that Shirai-san seemed to be dating someone, and even she wasn't quite clear on the details.
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T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL