"I don't want to hear any more arguments," He sighed, looking at the indifferent teenager sitting in the chair opposite him. He needed to be very careful in her presence. One wrong word and she could blow him apart into nothing. Splitting atoms were as easy as breathing to her. "You're going to enroll in Academy City. We can't have any more accidents."

"Fair enough," The girl said, standing up, causing the man to jump. "But I just have one request." A small smirk crawled over her lips. Her green eyes twinkled against her black hair. She was going to have fun with this.

The school halls echoed loudly as she walked down them, holding her head proudly despite how much she hated everything she was. Her green eyes scanned the hallways, looking over and memorizing each student's face instantly. Nothing could escape her. It was quiet as she scanned the campus. All was silent. It was Saturday, so other than students who lived in the dorms, there weren't many people there. Suddenly, she felt her nostril twitch. She smelt something strong here. And it was close.

Go find it, Lakin, The voice toyed inside her head. You know you want to. You know who that power belongs to.

Lakin shakes her head, trying to ignore the voice's tempting tone. With her eyes closed and rounding a corner, she accidentally bumps into somebody, falling backwards. There was a thud and something landed on top of her. Her eyes sprang open, meeting with a pair of similarly surprised light brown eyes cast within curtains of the same color. The crimson tinge was visible in her cheeks, but she was frozen solid.

"Um, I'm sorry," Lakin stammered, standing up before helping the girl up. She was shorter than Lakin, who was about 175 cm. "I wasn't watching where I was going and I-"

"It's f-fine," The girl said, swiping some of her short hair out of her eyes and looking away, still blushing.

"Are you okay?"

"You kind of broke my fall," The girl reminded, the look on her face speaking of immediate regret after she said it.

"Onee-sama," The girl who was watching the two said, her hair tied back in two pigtails. "Why's your face all red?"

"Shut up, Kuroko." The girl murmured.

"Sorry if I'm mistaken, but do you two go to school here?" Lakin asked.

"We do," The girl said, finally looking back at her. She stuck her hand out slightly awkwardly. "I'm Misaka Mikoto."

"Misaka Mikoto, eh?" Lakin said, taking her hand. She instantly recognized the name of course. A level 5 Esper was uncommon for someone at such a young age.

"That's me," She said. "Who're you?"

"Lakin," She said, smiling. "Lakin West. I just transferred here."

"It's odd to hear students transferring so late," Kuroko said. "But I suppose they made an exception for you."

"Hm, why's that?" Mikoto asked.

"You don't know?" Kuroko asked, watching Mikoto shake her head. "Silly Onee-sama. Lakin West is a Level 5 Esper whose parents were part of the planning of Academy City."

"That's true," Lakin said. "But they died when I was very young."

"It's an honor to meet you, West-san," Kuroko said. "Oh, but there's no school today. It's the weekend."

"I can see that," Lakin smiled. "But could you point me in the direction of the dorms?"

"Sure, they're right over that way," Mikoto said. "Will you living on campus?" She instantly regretted saying it.

"Yes," Lakin said politely. "Though, it appears I won't be doing much on my first day here."

"Nonsense!" Kuroko said in a friendly tone. "Onee-sama, can't we please take West-san to see the rest of the district?"

"I don't see why not," Mikoto said, watching Lakin cautiously out of the corner of her eye.

Lakin smiled, knowing full well she was doing it for the same reason Lakin was doing it. Level 5 Espers are dangerous and unpredictable. They both knew they would be keeping a close eye on each other for a while.

"If your parents were a part of the planning, why aren't you already living here?" Kuroko asked.

"My foster parents didn't want to send me here. They lived in Tokyo." Lakin said as they strolled through the crowds of people.

"Why did they decide to send you here now?" Mikoto asked, still watching Lakin with an air of curiosity.

"I don't know." Lakin said, looking up at the skyline. "Maybe they finally just agreed that it was a good idea for me to leave Tokyo. You know, Academy City is pretty much the only thing I have to remember my parents by. Well, that and this scar." She said, pointing to the scar over her right eye. She smiled nonetheless.

"Ah, I see." Kuroko said. "Now, you're a Level 5 Esper and I've always wondered what your power is."

"I have power over small things." Lakin smiled. "But I'd prefer to no tell anyone yet." She cast a glance at Mikoto. "You can't really be too quick to trust, right?" It was almost as if she were talking directly to the other girl.

"Well, we've almost seen most of the district," Mikoto changed the subject. Lakin only smiled more. "Is there anything we've missed?" She looked at Kuroko.

"Well, there's always the Windowless Building."

"Hm, that's here?" Lakin asked, extremely interested. "Can we go see it?"

"Well, there's not much there," Mikoto said. "Why do you want to see it?"

"It just sounds interesting." Lakin said. "A building with no windows is like a square with no corners: just odd."

"I suppose."

"Well, it's not too far, actually," Kuroko said. "If we hurry, we can go there and then still have times to go back to the Dorms."

"Actually, one of you will not be returning to the dorms." A deep voice said from behind them.

Mikoto and Kuroko turned, looking at the boy who had presumably spoken to them. He was wearing a long, white jacket with a blue and white shirt underneath and black pants. His eyes were a sea green color and he had short blonde hair that stuck out in wisps from under his black knit hat. He was smiling a dazzling white smile.

"I finally found you!" He pointed at them. "I knew you wouldn't be too hard to find. Level 5 Espers are very easy to sniff out."

"Onee-sama, he's here for you!" Kuroko said.

"You won't be wiggling away this time. Who would've thought you'd been hiding here under our nose the whole time?" The boy asked, pulling out two handfuls of needles. "But this time, I'll be sure you don't slip away again."

"Hiding?" Mikoto asked, confused. Was this boy not searching for her. "Who's been hiding?"

"I'm afraid I'm the guilty party in that statement," Lakin admitted, stepping forward. She faced the boy with anger in her eyes. "Are you his newest toy?"

"Not new, but better," The boy said, smiling as he saw Lakin face him. He noticed the other two girls. "What's this, Lakin? Making friends?"

"Shut up," Lakin said. "Why don't you just leave before you get hurt?"

"Sorry, Lakin," The boy said, poised to throw his needles. "But I've been assigned to make sure you stop breathing!"

"How troublesome," Lakin sighed, rubbing her temples. "You're truly getting on my nerves. Would you at least agree to do this somewhere else if you insist on trying something so useless?"

"West-san," Kuroko said. "Who is this boy?"

"He's my hardheaded foster brother," Lakin said, looking at him disdainfully through half-lidded emerald eyes. "Brink."

"If you think its for the better," Brink said. "But face it, Lakin, you were always only second best." This statement brought anger into Lakin's stance and eyes. "And this time, I'm going to make sure I don't disappoint The Father again!"