Author's notes:
Here I finally go again (but the first time in another than the Claymore universe)!
First of all I'd like to say that I neither own the world this story takes place in, nor the official characters that are part of it. But I do own own the original characters I introduce (which will be Steve Lasalle (Rasāru Sutību) and Lillaine "Lilly" Lasalle (Rasāru "Riri" Rirāine) at the moment) .
This is my first time using Japanese honorifics, introductions and suchlike, so if anything feels weird, does not make sense or does not fit the way the official characters address each other in the Anime (which is my reference), please tell me about it!
Content-wise this story takes place between the first and second season of "A certain scientific Railgun", but might create an alternate Universe.
I am not going to update this on a fixed schedule; but if and what kind of feedback I get will have an influence.
But, for now, please enjoy the first chapter of A certain scientific Telepath!
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Edit: Minor changes in spelling and punctuation.
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Chapter 1: A certain transfer student
Though it was still early in the morning the ado in Academy City was already busy. Wherever one looked he could see boys and girls of all ages on their way to school. However, though Academy City, the technologically most advanced city on earth, and its many students, so-called Esper that could use supernatural abilities, were special in many ways most of the people there had pretty normal daily lives.
So, even though there were only thirty minutes left before school would start, a certain girl was still curled up under her blanket, sleeping like a stone. From her room footsteps that were getting closer to the room's door could be heard. Shortly after they stopped the girl's door was silently being opened, right before a man carrying a bucket of water and having a towel hung over his left shoulder entered the room.
His cold gaze rested on the lump under the blanket on the girl's bed. Slowly it wandered towards the clock to confirm the time and then it slowly wandered back to the lump under the blanket on the girl's bed. His left hand then firmly grasped the handle of the bucket he was carrying while his right hand grasped the bottom of the bucket. Getting a steady stance by placing his left foot in the front, he, while getting ready to splash the water over the still sleeping girl, grunted "What time do you think..." and then, as he fully unleashed the force of the cold water in the bucket he was carrying, clearly reaching the point of no return in terms of considering his method of waking the girl again, yelled: "IT IS?"
Outside of the house the high-pitched scream of a young girl could be heard, startling a bunch of middle school girls that were just passing by.
In the middle of the girl's room now stood said girl, drenched from head to toe, heavily breathing after having gotten up faster then never before in her life. While her stance alone gave the impression of an upcoming murder, her glare, which was throwing daggers at the man who had just woken her up in a rather drastic manner, supported the murderous intent present in her room.
"First of all," she hissed, "we need to talk about your methods of waking me up. Second," she continued while covering her upper body with her arms, "turn around when seeing a girl in a situation like mine. And, most important of all," she deadpanned while having a dead serious expression, "how come you don't fantasize about me at all?"
The man threw the towel into the girls face while sighing. "Sorry, but I am not interested in kids."
At that very moment the girl took a metaphorical arrow to her chest.
"Also," he added while turning around, "there's nothing about you to fantasize about."
A second arrow impaled the girl's chest.
"And," he deadpanned while leaving the girl's room, "school starts in twenty-seven minutes."
Snapping out of it the girl took a look at her alarm clock, letting out a shocked "Shoot!" as she realized he was right.
Exactly five minutes and thirty-six seconds later the girl, fully dressed, her long brown hair perfectly combed, carrying her school bag, dashed down the stairs, taking a brown paper bag out of her housemate's hand and, while slipping into her shoes, waved with her right hand which was holding the bag containing her lunch and said: "Later, Steve!"
Before Steve could answer "Take care, Lilly," the girl had already dashed out of the house.
He also stepped out, lit a smoke and watched the girl shoot through the street like an arrow. "Really," he whispered to himself, "have I been like this at that age, too?"
"Ah, good morning, Rasāru-san!" a voice greeted him from behind.
He turned around to recognize Lilly's former teacher, which he greeted: "Good morning, Daigo-sensei. No morning-classes today?"
"No, due to certain circumsances I had to take the day off and have someone take over my class for today," he replied. He also took a look at Lilly, who was getting smaller and smaller in the distance.
"What do you think, Rasāru-san, will she be okay in Tokiwadai?"
"Well," he replied after taking a deep drag of his cigarette, "she has had issues because of her ability. I think it's for the better if she goes to a place where she is surrounded by other ability users such as herself."
Daigo broached the subject again: "but won't she still stick out, even there?"
"Indeed she will," Steve answered him, "but she will manage. I trust her that she will."
"I see" Daigo replied with a faint smile on his face. "I wish her the best of luck."
"Shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot" Lilly was shouting with every step she took as she was racing against the clock. 'It's my first day there and I am really going to be late' she panicked in her thoughts.
Ten meters away from an intersection the pedestrian lights suddenly turned red. 'I got no time for that!' she shouted inwardly.
Right before she reached the pedestrian crossing all cars that were about to cross her path suddenly hit the brakes, resulting in honking and shouting everywhere.
"Sorry!" Lilly shouted as she dashed over the crossing.
One of the drivers who suddenly had stopped blinked a few times. "What have I been doing?" he whispered to himself, as another honking sound reminded him to get going.
Upon entering the school grounds of Tokiwadai Middle School Lilly took a short look at the school clock. "Shoot shoot shoot" she shouted yet again as she realized she had only three minutes before the start of the first lesson.
Fortunately she encountered several other students on the hallway which she easily got the location of her classroom from. 'Sometimes this ability is handy' she thought while rushing past a teacher who, about to shout to not run on the hallways after her, suddenly forgot that he wanted to do that. 'Sorry about that' Lilly apologized inwardly.
As she finally could see the door to her classroom she appalledly noticed that a teacher was about to open the classrooms door. 'Sorry again' Lilly apologized in her thoughts, as the teacher suddenly stopped every movement. Due to that Lilly touched the door a little earlier than him.
"I am first," she declared out of breath, "so," she continued before rising her head to meet the teacher's gaze, "I am not late!"
A moment of silence followed.
'What is going on out there?' she could hear the thoughts of one of the pupils inside. 'What is with this girl?' she could hear the thoughts of the teacher right in front of here.
'Shoot' Lilly thought.
The teacher, however, cleared his throat and dutifully asked: "So, you are the transfer student, Rasāru-san?"
Lilly, grasping the situation again, straightened up and instantly answered: "Yes, sensei!"
"I see. Please wait outside for a moment, I'll call you in in a minute."
"Good morning everyone," the teacher said after placing himself behind his desk, in front of his class. "Today we are to welcome a transfer student from Sakugawa Middle School. Please come in!"
The door opened and in walked Lilly. Quite nervous she placed herself in front of the class. For a moment she took in the thoughts of her new fellow students.
'She looks foreign. Where is she from?'
'She's all sweaty, has she run late?'
'She's cute with that slight blush!'
'Why'd she transfer here in the middle of the second semester? Has she had trouble at her old school?'
'I wonder what kind of ability she has!'
'Not as bad as I thought it would be' Lilly thought. So she took a deep breath before introducing herself: "I am Lasalle Lillaine. I used to live in the United States and came to Academy City three years ago. I transferred here because, as an ability user, my teachers thought it would be better for me to learn together with other ability users. I am looking forward to learning together with all of you. Please treat me kindly!"
The teacher pointed at a seat next to a girl with two curly pigtails which where held in place by two red ribbons. While walking towards her assigned seat she listened to the thoughts around her again.
'That explains her western looks.'
'She's so tall!'
'Still, in the middle of a semester?'
'Indeed, very cute. How she has two strands run over her collarbones and how her bangs look so wild. And yet she seems like a rather stiff person. No comparision to Onee-sama, though!'
The last thoughts were followed by indecent thoughts and images that should not be described in detail here.
Lilly's face turned to a deep red as she stood next to the culprit – her new desk neighbor, the girl with the two curly pig tails – Shirai Kuroko, as Lilly could read in her memory. Slowly Lilly sat down.
As the thoughts of Kuroko did not improve in terms of decency, Lilly turned towards her and inwardly shouted 'Stop those indecent thoughts already, Kuroko!'
'Aww, but I am just thinking of my Onee-sama a little' was what Kuroko thought as an answer.
At that moment Lilly's heart stopped for a little. Also, in sudden realization, Kuroko slowly turned around to Lilly, having a rather dull expression on her face.
'Why do you know what I am thinking?'
A metaphorical arrow impaled Lilly's chest.
'How do you know my name?'
Another metaphorical arrow hit Lilly's chest.
'And how come only I heard you shout?'
Third arrow. Dead flag raised.
Instantly Lilly's face turned towards the blackboard. While sweat was running down her face and neck in Niagara-Falls-fashion she opened a book and started writing what was on the blackboard.
'You are aware that it is your textbook your are writing in?' Kuroko thought.
Lilly's view went down to realize that Kuroko was right. 'SHOOT!' she screamed inwardly. And suddenly the whole class, including the teacher, was staring at her.
Awkward silence followed.
'I am dead' she thought.
Slowly and shakingly rising her hand she stumbled: "I may not be in the best shape today. I even wrote in my textbook accidentally. Please allow me to go home for today and try again tomorrow. Thank you."
In no more than half a minute she had packed her things and ran out of the classroom.
'Mind reading and telepathy, eh?' Kuroko thought. 'What an interesting girl.'
A heavy cloud of grief was hanging above Lilly as she walked through a shopping district of Academy City. It's presence was so heavy that it was felt by those around her, earning her pitying looks.
"I can never go back there" she mumbled with a monotone voice.
The people she passed warily backed off from her.
'This was the worst debut I could have had there. Why is it always me who screws up so badly? Though I am always giving my best it always turns out like that. Shoot. Really, shoot.'
"Oh, if that isn't Rasāru-chan?" a familiar voice caught her attention.
Lilly's gaze met the one of her former teacher. "Daigo-sensei? What are you doing here?" she asked slightly startled.
"That I should be asking you. Why aren't you at school?"
She blushed at that. "You see," she stumbled, "I screwed up. Again."
"So this is what happened" Daigo reacted to Lilly's summary of what had happened on her first day at school. He took a sip of the coffee that he had bought from a vending machine. "And now, Rasāru-chan, you are giving up because of that?"
Lilly's gaze was stuck on the can of orange juice she was holding. Giving up was of course not an option, she knew that. But then again, she would be embarrassed beyond good and evil by going there again.
"What should I do, Daigo-sensei?"
Without a second thought he answered: "Face your problems, like you always have."
Her facial expression turned a little sadder.
"I know it is not easy for you. But if you always let yourself be scared because of things like that you won't make it easier."
"I know that already" she said, a little louder than before. "But it's not as easy, you wouldn't understand. If they know that none of their secrets is safe from me, how would they ever be able to bond with me? They will always be afraid of me using one of their secrets against them."
Daigo sighed. "Don't let it drag you down, Rasāru-chan. Though your concerns apply to people without any skills, I don't think it is a problem concerning people who have skills themselves. Though your ability is indeed special, it's not like people who know how it is to have an ability will resent you for it."
A short pause followed, before he added: "Also, I also do not have any issues with you, well knowing that you know everything about me."
"He," Lilly chuckled, "I expected you to say that. You are probably right. What am I grieving for? It's not like I could do something about it but to live with it, right?"
Daigo nodded.
The sound of a gunshot destroyed the atmosphere.
Instantly Lilly was on her feet.
"Rasāru-chan?"
"I am sorry, Daigo-sensei. I need to go" she said and ran off towards the direction the shot came from.
"Wait!" he shouted, running after her.
'It's close by!' Lilly concluded, according to the thoughts and feelings of the people around here. 'I am getting closer!'
After turning around a corner she picked up thoughts along the lines of 'A robbery at that bank?' and knew where she had to head to. Daigo was trying to follow her, but had soon lost track of her fast movements.
'Sorry, Daigo-sensei,' she thought, 'I might not be good with other people. But this is something I can do!'
After arriving at the bank she was able to get a clear view of what was going on. 'I see. Three culprits, all of them armed. Four hostages taken. Anti-Skill not informed yet.'
She let out a sigh. 'Shoot. Guess it will be me doing this again.'
Casually she walked into the bank that had not yet being closed down due to the bank employees being to scared to do that. The moment she got in, a gun was pointed towards her.
"Leave kid, this is no play ground!" the one pointing the gun towards her shouted.
'Most certainly not' she telepathically told him.
Before he understood what was going on he let go of the woman he had taken hostage and was pointing the gun at his right shoulder. And then he shot. He completely destroyed his shoulder joint, leading to him dropping his gun and collapsing because of the pain.
Thunderstruck at first, then mad, one of his accomplices shouted: "What the fuck are you doing?"
'Don't blame him' Lilly spoke to his and the third culprit's brains directly. 'If you give up now you will be spared this.'
"What is with this girl?" the third one shouted to the second one while pointing his gun at her.
"A Level 3 at least. She's from Tokiwadai!"
Regaining his cool the third one shoved aside the man he had taken hostage and also threw away his gun. "This is interesting, for I am being a Level 3, too" he said with a confident grin while walking towards Lilly.
Before he could reach her, though, a bullet shot from his accomplice went straight through his right lung, leading to him collapsing and coughing up blood.
"You... traitor..." he hissed at the second culprit before passing out.
The last one of the robbers had completely lost track of what was happening and why. All he could think of was pointing his gun at the girl that supposedly was responsible. Said girl was only giving him a cold look.
"What are you? WHAT ARE YOU?" the panicked man yelled.
"Ah, I am very sorry," she apologized, "I have yet to introduce myself. I am Lasalle Lillaine, the sixth of seven Level 5 Esper. My ability is the Infinite Network. I permanently am connected to every brain in the world – not as an equal, but as the host. I sincerely apologize, but you were unlucky to encounter me here. Surrender at once or face the consequences!"
The man was shaking heavily. 'A Level 5, no way! How unlucky could we possible be?' The grin of a madman appeared on his face as he, drenched in cold sweat, declared: "So what? You think I am scared now? Be proud of your Level 5 status as long as you can, for it will end right this instant!"
Another shot was to be heard. Lilly had closed in to him already.
'I aimed at her head! I clearly did!'
In slow motion he could see the girl's fist come closer to his face.
'Why did I miss?'
Impact.
'What kind of devil is she?'
"Hey, Uiharu," Kuroko called out for her friend after entering the bureau of the 177th Branch Office of Judgement.
"Ah, Shirai-san, how has your day been?" Uiharu answered with her usual quiet yet sweet voice.
"Well, we got a new classmate. She's a little strange, but I guess we'll get along with her. Did anything happen around here?"
"Well, there was a robbery at a bank, but the only people hurt were the three culprits" Uiharu explained.
"I see," Kuroko said while letting herself plop onto her chair, "so Anti-Skill took care of it?"
"That is not the case" Uiharu explained.
"Huh?"
"Apparantly everything had been taken care of before Anti-Skill even arrived," Uriharu continued her explanation. "According to eyewitnesses it was a rather tall girl with straight brown hair from Tokiwadai."
Kuroko stopped short for a moment. "Straight, brown hair, from Tokiwadai?"
"Yes?" Uiharu confirmed.
"When has the incident taken place?"
"Around ten in the morning."
'I see,' Kuroko concluded in her thoughts, 'all Tokiwadai students should have been in school around that time. The only one that was missing was...'
"Her name appears to be Rasāru Rirāine, by the way."
"Huh?"
"One of the witnesses remembered her name. According to the database she is a student that used to attend Sakugawa Middle School. Also, she is the sixth Level 5 Esper of Academy City. Her ability is the Infinite Network, which enables her to connect with every brain on the world, to read it's thoughts and memories, as well as to change them to an extend" Uiharu explained toroughly. "Ah," she added, "she has started attending Tokiwadai Middle School today."
'As I thought. Aw, geez, I already have Onee-sama to take care of, and now there's another Level 5 to randomly rush into those kind of things?' She let her upper body fall onto her desk. "How do I deserve that?" she complained sighing, which got her no more than a confused look from Uiharu.
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Author's notes:
There we go. I honestly have no certain idea where this is going to go, but please feel free to dismantle what I have done so far. I am looking forward to your opinions – and I hope you enjoyed.
Spoiler (might be subject of change):
A certain Telepath will meet a certain Railgun.