There were many Middle school and High school students at the road in front of the train station.
As every school had an opening ceremony today, all the students who were released had gone out to the streets to play in the afternoon, and a certain corner of a train station in front of a large department store was exceptionally squeezed.
Shirai Kuroko was amongst this packed crowd.
She was about as tall as an ordinary Middle school girl, and her tea-colored hair was tied into two ponytails. She couldn't be considered pretty, but she could be considered cute. She was wearing the Tokiwadai Middle School uniform, and she had an armband on her right arm.
The armband had the word "Judgment".
Judgment was a security group that specialized in taking down espers; it was a group that was similar to a police riot force. All Judgment members were espers, and in contrast to Judgment, the security forces of teachers that were equipped with the latest weapons were called Anti-Skill.
The security was divided into two systems in order to let both sides check on each other and prevent internal corruption. Besides these people were basically just 'students' and 'teachers', and nobody could guarantee that there wouldn't be people who would abuse their authority like bad cops.
(…Really, why can't they just separate the entertainment facilities a little further? Didn't the creator of this city have any psychological sense of transport and environment?)
As a fellow 'student', Shirai grumbled, her mind seemingly forgetting the land prices and customer gathering effect.
Like many others, Shirai hated to be in crowded places. Though it was nearing the end of summer, the weather was still hot. There was a special reason why she would come to this hot and crowded place in front of the train station.
(Found her…)
Shirai was staring at a person 10m in front of her. She took out her phone and compared the person with the photo on the phone. The foreign looking woman seemed to not notice Shirai's presence as she brazenly walked through the crowd, seemingly forgetting that she was being pursued.
Before 7 AM this morning, there were two unknown intruders in Academy City at different parts of the walls.
As one of them was under the jurisdiction of Anti-Skill, as a Judgment member, Shirai wasn't really clear about it. All she knew was that it was a student who was registered under Academy City. Maybe it was a corporate spy?
Shirai was in charge of chasing after someone else.
The photo on the cell phone screen was an enlarged image of what the surveillance camera caught. The blond woman actually attacked from the 'entrance' of Academy City, forcing her way in and causing 15 people to be wounded, 3 severely injured.
At the moment, Academy City had already launched a 'special alert status', which was also known as 'red alert'. It had already sealed off access from outside, and all the Judgment members had requested leave and were now looking for the intruder.
Just like that, Shirai Kuroko had not even attended the opening ceremony as she continued to patrol the streets for several hours…
(At this point, according to standard protocol, I should request for backup, evacuate the people and then carry out the arrest. But it'll be too time-wasting; I'll probably lose the best chance to arrest her.)
Shirai muttered as she continued to keep her eyes on the target, who continued to move forward.
Though the security's divided into two systems, normally speaking, the ones at the frontlines weren't Judgment members, but Anti-Skill. That was logical, since Judgment members were all students. Shirai's orders were just to 'find the intruder', and the rest of the work was to be done by Anti-Skill. However…
(I can't let Anti-Skill handle this. Seeing the current situation right now, there're already so many injured people. Better for those without abilities to fall back.)
Shirai thoughts were based on the self-belief of being a Level 4. To her, those teachers who needed to strap themselves with lots of weapons were really weak.
Shirai didn't wish to let Anti-Skill get work that they couldn't take. If Anti-Skill, who came to help her, were injured, she would have nightmares at night. If so, she might as well go fight herself.
She reached her hand into her pocket.
What she took out was something similar to a mini-handgun, but the barrel's more than 3cm. It was a special gun that fired signal-type bullets.
(Really don't want to use this…I'll have to write a report when I use it.)
Shirai raised the gun and pointed it at the sky. She then squeezed the trigger.
With a comical 'BAM' sound, a lipstick-size metal cylinder slowly rose 7m in the air.
Then, with a sudden boom, the glaring flash scattered from the metal container. All the pedestrians were terrified by the sudden burst of light as they covered their eyes with their hands and rooted to the ground.
But at that moment, everyone's actions were rather swift. Once the shrieks and roars subsided, everyone immediately moved towards the nearby buildings, even the university students and the teachers abandoned their cars and headed into the buildings.
Every resident of this city would know this.
This was an evacuation order that the security forces would let out. It meant 'there will be a battle here, so please don't be involved in the gunfight that'll start within 30 seconds'. The originally busy road in front of the train station was now completely empty.
Only Shirai Kuroko and the woman were left.
The woman who was in the middle of that flash didn't run or shriek, instead merely stood around casually.
They were about 10m away from each other.
Shirai stared at that woman.
One could tell that she was a suspicious woman. She was wearing a black-based robe that had white laces and butterfly knots all over the place; maybe it could be considered a gothic outfit. It should fit a blond haired green-eyed girl really well.
That woman had blond hair, but her skin was really rough.
She should be more than 25 years old, and it seemed like she hardly took care of her hair, as it popped up like a lion's mane. Her skin was brown, but it didn't match the sunlight. Her robe looked rather old; not only was the cloth tattered, the white laces were now yellowish. Basically, she couldn't be considered a beauty, but there was some wildness to her. She looked like a woman who had the illusion of a luxurious gothic lifestyle completely destroyed.
"Please don't move, my name is Shirai Kuroko, and I'm a security member tasked with protecting this city. You're under arrest. I believe I don't need to explain further, right?"
However, the blond Godiva hair woman didn't respond to Shirai's words.
The decadent, emotionless woman just moved her neck slightly and looked around. It seemed like the disappeared citizens were much more interesting to her than Shirai.
After 5 seconds, she finally turned to look at Shirai.
"Ending search…you really added quite some trouble for me."
The woman's voice had some contempt in it, and it seemed like she hadn't expected to see an opponent at all. Shirai couldn't even twitch her eyebrow before the woman quickly reached for something in the tattered sleeve of that old black gothic robe—
—At that moment, Shirai Kuroko was already right in front of the woman.
The 10m distance between both of them was erased by Shirai.
The casual expression on the woman's face was now mixed with a little surprise.
However, Shirai didn't intend to explain further, because there was no need to. This was the Level 4 Teleport ability.
Shirai Kuroko reached her hand out and grabbed the woman's wrist that was covered by the tattered lace.
Then, the woman unknowingly landed on the ground. There was no pain, no impact, and more importantly, no memory of falling. Basically, Shirai just used her Teleport ability to teleport the woman to the ground the moment she touched the woman, but to the woman who didn't know what was going on, this may have seemed like some mysterious judo technique.
The woman seemed tired even as she dodged. Just as she rolled on the floor and intend to stand up…
"I told you—"
DONKA DONKA DONKA! The hi-speed impact of a sewing machine needle-impact-like sound could be heard.
Looking closely, the woman's robe and all the excessive cloth on the dress were pierced through with 12 needles, and the woman was stuck on the ground.
"—Not to move. Don't you understand Japanese?"
Shirai said silently.
That was also an attack that used the Teleport ability. The needles that were hidden underneath her skirt were instantly teleported to the targeted location. They not only had the rapid-firing power of a machine gun, as they were moving from space to space, they wouldn't be blocked by anything, and there was no need to worry about anyone getting hit by the shots. It could be considered a dangerous way to attack.
However,
Even after seeing such power, the woman remains unmoved.
Only…
The mouth on the mask-like face slowly and silently extended to both sides, forming a long smile that reminded one of a Kuchisake-Onna.
"What…?"
Instead, it was Shirai Kuroko who was surprised as she frowned.
Suddenly, a huge explosion occurred behind her.
"..What's going on…?"
Though Shirai was shocked, she didn't have time to look back. The entire asphalt road rolled up, causing Shirai to be tossed high into the air. Shirai finally managed to look behind after landing on her back.
A giant arm.
It was just like a long-necked dragon that probed out of the water. There was a long 'arm' grown out of the road that was longer than 2m. This 'arm' was shaped like a human's, but the materials were asphalt, bicycles, road signs, anything that was around. It was like something that was shaped from clay, a mechanical arm that was attached to heavy machinery when a demolition work was under way.
Shirai frantically tried to escape from the place, only to find that her ankle was stuck into something.
The ground and the 'arm' rose up, causing the fragments of asphalt to gather together, and Shirai's ankle just so happened to be stuck in it.
(…Ah…uu…to think that this outsider's… an esper…?)
The force on her ankle got bigger as Shirai's expression inadvertently worsened.
Turning back to look, the woman who was pegged onto the ground seemed to be holding some white-chalk like thing as she wrote something strange on the ground.
Those weren't signals that research labs use, but they looked like some random magic codes.
Maybe it was like a cell phone that used short and simple buttons to replace long codes; and maybe she prepared some special codes to hypnotize her and hijack my powers. Shirai, who didn't know anything about magic, could only use what she knew to analyze the situation in front of her.
(This…isn't good…got to hurry up and stand up…!)
Shirai tried to regain her composure, only to find out something.
The 'arm' that extended from the ground had a raised portion, and Shirai's ankle was stuck in it. The lump was shaped in a circle, and it looked like a human head.
Her ankle seemed to be bitten by the 'teeth' of the asphalt road.
(Damn…it…)
Shirai's ability was called Teleport. It was not limited to 3 dimension rules, so she could move about freely within space.
However, there was a weakness to this ability. Though the phrase 'to teleport within space' sounded simple, the theory behind it was to get away from the 3 dimensions, find her position in the 11th dimension, and then calculate the vectors to teleport. Such calculations complexity couldn't be compared to the simple commands that ordinary espers would have, like 'fire a fireball', 'fire electric strikes'.
So once she was in pain, anxious or confused, or when she was unable to remain calm, she would lose her calculating ability and thus wouldn't be able to use her Teleport ability.
The 'teeth' on the asphalt road brought a clattering sound as it occupied a smaller area, and Shirai was already screaming in pain.
(Ah…ack…uu…!)
She just needed to teleport away in order to escape, but she was unable to think properly due to nervousness.
Looking closely, the woman on the ground was revealing a slight smile as she merely scribbled on the floor with her wrist moving the white chalk. The giant 'arm' seemed like it was being controlled as its movements were slowly changing. It seemed like it was changing angles to squash a worm on the floor.
Shirai understood this, but she was unable to move.
The sharp pain and the fear of death affected her calculation ability, causing her method of teleporting away to be rendered useless.
It was like having a key to a nuclear shelter, only to lose the key.
The woman waved the white chalk in the air, drawing curvy lines on it, and the five fingers of the 'arm' tightened. The 'teeth' that were biting on Shirai's ankle exerted even more force, causing her to close her eyes in pain.
PAPAPAPAPAPAPA!!
She closed her eyes, and could only hear a spine-chilling ridiculously-loud noise.
But that was not the sound of Shirai's ankle being bitten off.
It was also not the huge 'arm' that was made of rubble slamming down.
But the sound of the 'arm' being sliced off.
(Ah…ah…?)
This sudden strike caused Shirai to open her eyes in shock.
The 'arm' was sliced off horizontally. Before she could even look clearly, the 'teeth' that's holding Shirai's ankle down got destroyed, releasing Shirai. Shirai's body inadvertently rolled back after regaining her freedom. The cut parts instantly collapsed upon impact and scattered in all directions, forming back the original shape.
BOUM…! The sound of bees buzzing about that was magnified several hundred times echoed through her ears.
Looking closely, something that looked like a black whip and yet like a long sword extended about 10m in the air. This was the thing that was making the bee buzzing sound. Looking closely, it was formed by iron sand. The large amount of iron sand was being manipulated by magnetism as it vibrated.
Basically, it was a hi-speed chainsaw.
Zzz! With an air-ripping sound, the iron sand returned to the owner.
(Hold on…manipulation…magnetism…? Don't tell me…!)
Shirai Kuroko coughed violently as she tried to take in more oxygen and turned her head around.
The one standing in front of her was…
Misaka Mikoto.
'Ding', a soft metal sound could be heard.
It was actually the sound of Mikoto flicking a coin with her thumb. The coin slowly, slowly, flipped above Mikoto.
Mikoto said,
"Though I don't know why you're fighting—"
The sliced off 'arm' stood upright, forming a large pile of rubbish. However, this tower seemed like it had its own will as it collapsed falling, aiming at Shirai Kuroko.
But at that moment, the coin returned back to Mikoto's thumb.
"—BUT I WON'T ALLOW YOU TO HURT MY FRIEND!"
At that moment,
The one hit from Mikoto, also known as the 'Railgun', caused the coin to travel at 3 times the speed of sound. It heated up due to the friction with air, forming an orange laser as it hit the '2-staged tower'. The large impact destroyed the 'main tower', and the 'head' was also affected as it exploded to smithereens.
BOOM! The terrifying explosion could be heard after a delay.
The surrounding area was covered with smoke, but the strong wind pressure that was created scattered the dust away. This was the after-effect of the Railgun compressing the air.
(Am…amazing…)
Though Shirai was still wary of the surroundings, she was focused on something else.
(The strong winds created by the shockwave already far surpasses what a wind esper can do. Onee-sama's ability's too terrifying, too stunning!)
On the other side, Mikoto slowly walked towards Kuroko, as if the danger was over.
"Ah, Kuroko. No need to be so jumpy now. That large arm was a diversion. It wasn't the Railgun's power that caused the explosion; the arm self-destructed. See, that stupid woman ran away when the smoke's flying about."
Mikoto slightly stuck her tongue out as she stretched her arm out and pointed a finger.
Shirai turned back to look. The woman whose robe had been pegged down by the metal needles had already disappeared. Pieces of black robes remained on the ground, and they looked like the remains of cement.
"Oh ya, who's she? Since you're chasing her, it means that it's part of Judgment's work, right?"
"Mm, yeah. Seems like she's an intruder…onee-sama…"
At this moment, Shirai's legs wobbled as she held onto Mikoto.
"Hold on, oi! What's with you having this kind of weird fantasy even at this moment…"
Mikoto remained stunned for a while before thinking of pushing Shirai away. However, she did not do so.
Shirai was gently grabbing onto the thin summer vest.
Mikoto could already tell from this small area that Shirai's body was trembling slightly.
"Really can't be helped with you."
Mikoto sighed softly as she wondered…
If at this moment, if she was the one trembling, what would that boy say?
"Kuroko, you really like to take things into your own hands. How can you take down that kind of enemy? The Law never stipulates that you have to fight your enemy alone, you know."
Mikoto understood that the words themselves didn't have any meaning to it. The significance was in the actions and the feelings she was trying to convey.
"Just look to me for help if you can. Once you see that something's wrong, just contact me and don't wait till things get out of hand. Don't think that this will cause much trouble to me. The more dire the situation when you ask me for help, the more it proves that you trust me. I won't refuse at all."
Mikoto patted Shirai's head gently.
At that moment, the kouhai who had leaped into Mikoto's arms said,
"…Fufufu…such a rare opportunity. To approach onee-sama in this situation, I can enjoy this wonderful chest…fufu…fufufufufu…!"
"WHA? AH…EH? HOLD ON…I…I'M SERIOUSLY COMFORTING YOU HERE! YOU'RE TREMBLING DUE TO EXCITEMENT!! KUROKO!!?"
Mikoto blushed as she shouted, but it was too late.
Shirai Kuroko wrapped her arms around Mikoto's back, pressing her face into her beloved onee-sama's chest as she rubbed into it.