This work is based (mostly) on the work of Kazuma Kamachi and other writers. A translation from Baka Tsuki was used in its creation and I claim no ownership over their work. Please Read, Review, and Enjoy.
… Really now… Did I really need to be lectured for half an hour just because my Level didn't go up? I know this the third month in a row that my performance with my ability hasn't improved… But it's not like I've had a lot of time to practice using it.
As he thought this, Kaname Tomohisa scratched the back of his head and sighed in a melancholic way. In his hands was a sheet of paper that had text detailing results from a variety of tests that had been run on the boy that day. However, of all the text on the paper only the heading at the bottom held any meaning to the student. It read in bold characters: System Scan Results: Esper Level: 1.
Tomohisa sighed yet again and began to look at the other people walking by him. As was normal in Academy City, Tomohisa was surrounded on all sides by students, though since he was in a more central area of the city most of the people around him were in different grades and went to different schools.
Yet despite the differences between the people walking on the street, everyone had pieces of paper that said similar things to the one Tomohisa held. The reactions to these pieces of paper were different of course, and could be grouped into 3 broad categories.
The first category was excitement over the results, which was generally shared by students who were younger than Tomohisa, who was a first year in middle school, or at most two years older. Even as he watched in silence, Tomohisa saw a group of elementary school students talking excitedly with each other about how much they had grown.
The second category of reactions was the melancholic ones, much like the one that Tomohisa had. These reactions were generally shared by Espers who had not shown any improvement for some time.
The final category, and the one that worried Tomohisa the most, was reacting to the paper in anger. As he watched, Tomohisa noticed one person in particular, a high schooler that looked like the textbook definition of a delinquent. He watched as the older student looked at his results with disgust, crumbling it up and throwing it away before disappearing into one of the alleyways of the city.
Tomohisa watched the high schooler go with a wary eye before sighing again and fishing through his pockets for his phone.
… Really now… Is it really going to be one of those days? I understand feeling sad at the results… but still.
Finding his phone, Tomohisa quickly pulled it out and opened up his messaging app to the start screen. He instantly hit the most recent tab for the app, which was titled 'Shirai-san'.
'Shirai-san. I would just like to check are we still meeting up today to write that report? It's looking like idiots are going to be out and about today due to the System Scan. Don't you think that we should check in with Senpai before doing anything?"
Tomohisa's hit the send button on his phone sighing and keeping an eye out on his surroundings. As he looked around he saw many more people going over their system scan results with the first two reactions, but every once in a while he saw someone walking around with a pissed off look on their faces.
Within moments Tomohisa's phone buzzed, indicating that he had received a message. He opened up his phone app quickly and began reading Tetsuya's message to him, while keeping an eye on the surroundings.
You don't have to worry about it Tomohisa. I've already contacted Senpai and he said to simply keep an eye out for any suspicious activity. So it does look like we should keep with our original plan.
Tomohisa sighed at Tetsuya's response and briefly wondered if everything would be alright if he left it like that. He typed up a new message to Tetsuya and sent it with a hesitant press of a button.
'I see… Well if that's what Senpai said I guess we have no choice but to accept it. So I'll meet you at the restaurant over in the Twelfth District, right?'
Tomohisa patiently waited for a reply as he continued to walk down the street, diverting his path somewhat so that he could take the short path to his and Tetsuya's meeting place. Two or three minutes passed before Tomohisa received a response.
Sorry Tomohisa but could you go ahead to the restaurant without me? I just noticed something a bit… scary. I'll just take care of that and then I'll meet you there.
Tomohisa raised an eyebrow is confusion, and attempted to type up a response to Tetsuya.
'Well… Okay then Tetsuya-san. I guess I can do that… But are you sure…'
Tomohisa stopped typing suddenly, beginning to turn around on the feeling that there was something going on behind him. However, just as he was halfway through turning his head when he heard a voice and it took him less than a moment to recognize the voice. When he did he felt a sense of dread once he did.
"To-Mo-Hi-Sa!"
Tomohisa felt a slight breeze against his chest after turning his head far enough to look in the direction of the voice, where he found no one who looked like they had been the one talking to him. In fact, as Tomohisa looked at the people walking down the street near him he found that many of them were looking directly at in, their faces made up collectively of expressions of confusion and embarrassment.
Tomohisa slowly turned his gaze down to his chest, already guessing what had happened with dread. It only took a second of staring at his uncovered chest to confirm his guess, and leave himself with zero doubt as to who it was that caused this.
"… Saten-san…"
Tomohisa said this in almost a whisper, but it was filled with such anger and bitterness that it made the other passersby shiver in fear. The voice that had yelled out Tomohisa's name before his shirt disappeared now spoke again, this time coming from behind the boy.
"Oh come on now Tomo-chan, don't sound like that. If you should be angry at anyone it should be yourself, for leaving so many openings for me to exploit. For a person in Judgement, you are very bad at examining your surroundings."
Tomohisa turned his entire body so that he could look behind himself, the direction he had been walking in previously. The person who had clearly stolen Tomohisa's shirt stood there, the shirt in question slung over his shoulder, and a smile on his face.
The moment Tomohisa laid eyes on the person, his expression became tinged with a mixture of anger and annoyance.
"Saten-san… Could you please explain to me why you have my shirt in your hands? While I seriously doubt that it was for a good reason, I will listen to your explanation."
Ruriko Saten chuckled at his friend as he looked at him with a rather smug look on his face. He ran his free hand through his short and spikey black hair before gesturing at his friend with an air of mischievousness surrounding him.
"Ah… You're mad aren't you Tomo-chan? Sorry, I had just thought I should have cheered you up since you looked like you were feeling a bit down."
Tomohisa put a hand over his face as if to contain the absolute rage he felt at that moment, sighing at the idiocy of his friend.
"Saten-san… Why do you think that stripping me of my clothes in the middle of a crowded street would cheer me up in any way? Do I look like I'm some sort of exhibitionist?"
Saten looked as if he was seriously contemplating something before nodding his head in an agreeing motion. Slowly a grin began to form on Saten's face as he reached his free hand up to his own collar.
"Then how about this Tomo-chan? How about we both lose our shirts? Wouldn't that make you-…!"
Saten did not get to finish speaking, as his joke was promptly cut off by when Tomohisa's fist collided with his friends face.
"… Come on now Tomo-chan. Even if you didn't like my prank, it was still just a joke. There's no reason for you to be that angry about it, especially considering the fact that you almost knocked me out."
Tomohisa sighed as he shot Saten a gaze filled with the annoyance that he felt for his friend.
"Saten-san… Sometimes I just don't know what it is you thinking about. I must ask this for the sake of our friendship… Is it at all possible for you to act seriously?"
Saten grinned back at Tomohisa as he rubbed his cheek where the other boy had punched him. Sighing, he again put on an expression as if he were contemplating something important.
"Well… If I had to say I was overly serious about anything, it would have to be music releases. If I miss even one I feel like my soul breaks apart a little… Oh! That reminds me. A CD I've been waiting for is coming out today. That's the reason why I was coming to see you. I want you to tag along with me."
Tomohisa looked at Saten with a look of pure confusion.
"Sorry… but why would you need me to come with you to buy a CD? Couldn't you have done that without having to bother me?"
Saten began to rub the back of his head as he grinned over at Tomohisa, and Tomohisa realized that the trickster wanted something from him.
"Well… For the first 100 people who buy a CD they get part of a set of goods that, if you get the entire set, will get you into the special concert that the artist is holding in a few months' time."
Tomohisa put a hand over his face and sighed into it, shooting an annoyed look over at Saten, instantly realizing what was going on.
"And let me guess… This is a concert for that one idol isn't it? The one that you have a now famous and creepy obsession for. What was her name again?"
Saten shot Tomohisa a glare that was as if he had been personally offended by what the other boy had said.
"What the hell Tomo-chan?! How in the world could you call the feelings for Luka-chan creepy? They are pure feelings developed by watching over her career. As a side note, this next CD is an important one for her as it's the first one that will be advertised worldwide after the success of her international tour. If it goes well, then she might be able to become a world renowned star."
Tomohisa sighed and waved a hand at Saten in a dismissive manner.
"Okay, Okay. You've made your point. Could you stop being a creep for a few moments so that I could keep my lunch down?"
Saten again glared over at Tomohisa as if he had been insulted.
"Again, why are you again saying that my feelings are creepy? If anything is creepy it would have to be your obsession with the Level 5's. Admiring those pieces of trash that just flaunt their power without any care for human life has to be the stupidest thing in the world."
As soon as Saten said that it was Tomohisa's turn to look offended at what was said, looking at his friend with an insulted gaze.
"Now hold on a second there. When did it become bad to admire the Level 5's, the pinnacle of Academy City? Why can't I think that people who I want to become like are worth admiring?"
Saten shook his head in response to Tomohisa's poke back at him, sighing as he looked at him with a disapproving glare.
"Come on now Tomo-chan, you have to realize that every esper above Level 3 are some of the worst individuals in the world. Don't you have to deal with esper's abusing their powers on a regular basis?"
Tomohisa angrily glared at Saten, gesturing at his friend in anger.
"Saten-san… Please don't give me any of your inferiority complex bullshit. Judgement does not have to deal with espers who abuse their power. At worst my shifts with Judgement involve me dealing with delinquents who feel just like you do."
Saten looked at Tomohisa with a glare of wordless annoyance, opening and closing his mouth several time before sighing out his rage. After giving up Saten looks around himself and gestures at Tomohisa.
"So then Tomo-chan… Could you please tell me why we are here? Is this not the place that you have been warning me about the other day? You know… The area that was crawling with delinquents?"
Tomohisa sighed again and also looked around the surrounding area himself, more to look out for anything out of the ordinary than to check his position.
The two friends were now walking down the one of the sidewalks in the 12th District, the scene almost the exact same as where they had been earlier. There were still students walking down the street, some clutching the system scan results in excitement, while others were simply tossing them away without a care. Once in a while there was the occasional delinquent looking person walking down the street, glaring menacingly at the people holding onto to their system scan results with excitement. They were not making any motions towards causing problems, so Tomohisa simply let them be.
Tomohisa shook his head and turned back to look at Saten, who was still looking at Tomohisa for an answer.
"I don't really remember referring to it as crawling, but yes, it has become rather dangerous around here as of late. Judgement and Anti-Skill have theorized that it is some new gang that has been operating in the area, so both organizations have increased the number of patrols around here. There have been several minor incidents and many of those involved with them have been detained, but so far nothing really bad has happened."
Saten nodded in response to Tomohisa's explanation, even though his face's expression showed that he was quite worried about something. He took one more look at the surrounding area before questioning Tomohisa again.
"So… Tell me something Tomo-chan. Why are we going to a place where you wouldn't normally go unless you had a large group?"
Tomohisa shot an annoyed glare at Saten before sighing and continuing to look at the area around the two of them.
"Well… The reason I am going here is because, one, Judgement wants any free officers to stick around just in case something does happen, and, second, I am meeting Shirai-san here so that we can write up a report on a case from earlier. You are coming with me because… Why are you coming with me again?"
Saten gave Tomohisa an offended look, but it was that was more mocking as he had a smile on his face.
"Come on now Tomo-chan. There is no reason for you to act like that. I'm coming with you to keep you company until Luka-chan's CD is available."
Tomohisa now turned his entire body to look at Saten, an overly annoyed look on his face as he glared at his friend.
"In other words, 'I have absolutely nothing else to do, so to not be bored I've come along to annoy you to no end'. That's what this is, isn't it?"
Saten grinned over at his friend and gave him the thumbs up in the most mischievous way possible.
"Yep. That's the best way to put if I've ever heard it Tomo-chan."
Tomohisa put a hand over his face and nearly growled at his friend in his rage.
"Saten-san… Do you hate me or-…!?"
Whatever Tomohisa was going to say in his rage was suddenly cut off by the distinct sound of arcing electricity, and the shout of someone that was a mixture of pain and terror. Everyone on the street around the two friends stopped and looked around, trying to find the source of the noises with a concerned look on their faces.
Suddenly, coming barreling out of one of the nearby alleyways was a delinquent, running at full force as if his life depended on it. He collapsed onto his hands and knees, taking deep terrified gulps of air as he looked around the street in a desperate panic. He then began to shout out to anyone that would listen.
"He- Help me! Please! The- There's some crazy Esper bastard chasing after me! That… That bastard… He… He got my…"
As everyone on the street looked at the delinquent in a mixture of surprised confusion, Tomohisa instantly sprang into action. His hand automatically dove into his bag and pulled out a green armband with a shield icon on it, the symbol of Judgement. Putting it around his upper arm, Tomohisa ran to the side of the delinquent and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"Please sir, try to calm down and speak clearly. I'm with Judgement and can help you, but I need to know everything."
The delinquent looked up at Tomohisa with a look of both relief and gratitude, a look that Tomohisa was unaccustomed to receiving from delinquents.
"Thank god… Judgement… Please, you've got to help me! That Esper bastard… He attacked me and my friends out of nowhere… and then… and then…"
The delinquent collapsed into a pile of rambling and sobbing, making it so that Tomohisa could not decipher any useful information from him. Clicking his tongue, Tomohisa looked up at the people surrounding the scene and looking on passively.
"Someone! Call Anti-Skill and give them our location. Also try to leave the area as quickly as possible. If the Esper is still around it will mean that this area is-…!?"
Just as Tomohisa was about to finish his orders, another voice spoke out and made so that his was cut off. The voice was not speaking louder than Tomohisa's, but it spoke with such a weight of tone that it somehow made it seem like it was the only voice speaking.
"There you are… Really now… You just have to give me the longest chase of my life, didn't you?"
The delinquent instantly reacted to the voice, crawling away from the source as fast and as far as possible. The delinquent then balled himself up in a fetal position while shivering in fear.
Tomohisa turned to face the source of the voice, which was the alleyway that the delinquent had run out of.
And as he looked into the shadow covered crevice between two buildings, Tomohisa felt his breath freeze in his throat.
Due to the shadows cast by the buildings that formed the alleyway, Tomohisa could not accurately make out the features of the person walking out of the alleyway, but due to the occasional flashes of blueish white electricity originating from the person's right hand, Tomohisa could make out two things for certain.
First was that the person was a boy maybe a year older than Tomohisa, probably in his second year of middle school. Second was that he had an annoyed expression on his face, and that it was directed directly at Tomohisa or, more accurately, the armband on Tomohisa's arm.
"Damn… Judgement… Of course they would show up now."
Tomohisa suddenly took a deep breath once the fellow middle schooler spoke, and realized that he had not been breathing or thinking at all during the time that they had been looking at him. Once he had regained control of his body and mind, he directed both at examining the esper and his power.
The first thing that he noticed was that the outfit that the boy was wearing belonged to one of the more prestigious schools in Academy City, and it only took Tomohisa a second to name it.
Isn't that… A Tokiwodai Uniform? What would someone from one of the five best schools be here?
Even though he could not believe it, Tomohisa had no choice but to accept that it was a Tokiwodai Uniform due to his familiarity with it. The gray dress pants, white short sleeved shirt, and tan sweater vest all matched the uniform that Tomohisa had to deal with almost every day.
As for the power that the boy had, it was so blatantly obvious that Tomohisa did not even have to try and guess as to what it was. As bluish white sparks of electricity flew off the Tokiwodai student's right hand, they raced out to any nearby metal surface where they struck and disappeared instantly.
Tomohisa clicked his tongue in a bit of annoyance as he put the facts that he had together in his head.
An Electromaster from Tokiwodai huh? Damnit, why did this have to happen right before I was supposed to meet up with Shirai-san?... Well… the only choice I have right now is to try to solve the situation diplomatically.
Tomohisa cleared his throat and tried his best to lock eyes with the Tokiwodai student in the alleyway.
"Electromaster! Stop using your power immediately! Give me your name and class at Tokiwodai and submit yourself to-!?"
The Tokiwodai student shot Tomohisa a glare of annoyance that caused the Judgement officer's voice to stop in his throat. Once Tomohisa had stopped talking, the Tokiwodai student began speaking.
"So… Judgement guy… Could you please move out of the way?"
Tomohisa felt as if the ability to speak returned to his mouth, and once he regained it, he muttered the first thing that came to his mind.
"H-Huh? Move?... Ar-Are you talking to me?"
The Tokiwodai student nodded his head in a short, basic nod at Tomohisa, gesturing towards the delinquent who was now in a fetal position behind the Judgement officer.
"Yes… I am talking to you. Could you move so that I am able to beat the living shit out of the scum behind you? I wouldn't sit well with my conscience if I hurt you, a person who is uninvolved, along with scum of the earth like him."
Somehow, after listening to the Tokiwodai student's demand, Tomohisa grew defiant toward his fellow middle school student, glaring at him with a gaze full of righteous fury.
"I'm sorry, but I cannot allow that to happen. I'm certain that Anti-Skill is already on their way, and I'm certain that you know full well the consequences of attacking a person with your powers in broad daylight. If you surrender now, you might get off with being detained for the rest of the day."
The Tokiwodai student glared at Tomohisa before he sighed and shrugged in what could only be grudging realization.
"Typical Judgement… You arrive at the end of the entire situation, and then you think you are the one able to say what is going on. Of course I understand that in normal circumstances, I would look like the one causing problems, but this is still annoying to no end."
Tomohisa looked at the Tokiwodai student with a gaze of confusion, completely unsure what they were talking about.
"I… I don't know what you're going on about, but please just surrender already! We don't want this to turn into something bad, so please-!?"
The Tokiwodai student shot Tomohisa a glare that again stole his ability to speak. Once Tomohisa was quiet, the student began to speak again, this time pointing toward the delinquent yet again.
"Let me make this clear to you. All in all, I'm the victim in this situation. That piece of filth and his friends that I 'attacked' were actually attempting to extort money from me by threatening me. Once I started beating the shit out of them they were quick to change their mind about continuing that."
Tomohisa felt a bit of cold sweat roll down his neck as he continued to stare down the Tokiwodai student, moving to more aggressively stand between the student and the delinquent.
"If what you say is true, then I can understand your anger… but I still don't agree with the way that you are handling the situation! Just calm down and-…!?"
The Tokiwodai student loudly sighed in a way that made Tomohisa's speech cut off. The student raised his right hand, which began to arc more aggressively with sparks, and pointed it directly at Tomohisa.
"Listen… not to be rude or anything… but I'm tired with your bullshit right now. Now I'll give you two choices… Move out of my way… or get hurt along with the scum you are protecting."
Tomohisa bit his lip as his brain fired on all cylinders as he began to think of ways out of the rapidly degrading situation.
What in the world do I do? I can't fight him, and I can't just give up the guy to him. Isn't there any way to-…!?
At the moment that Tomohisa was going to complete his thought, a familiar voice spoke out, and when it did it filled Tomohisa with dread.
"You see now Tomo-chan? Didn't I just say that all Esper's above level 3 are pieces of trash that just like to flaunt their power in whatever way possible? I don't see why you tried to negotiate with him in the first place."
Tomohisa slowly turned his head to look directly at Saten, the person who had spoken, and wordlessly looked at him in shock. Saten, who had been silent for the past few moments, was now looking at the Tokiwodai esper with an expression on his face that was a mixture of annoyance and mischievousness.
"Really now… I'm really surprised at the complete lack of self-control you espers have. I must ask… can you go even a day without going crazy with your power's? Because whenever I see an esper like you all they ever do is-…!?"
Just as Saten was reaching the conclusion of his rant, there was the sound of arcing electricity and a single bluish white lance of energy raced by the student's face. Instantly beads of sweat began to form on Saten's face as his expression froze in place.
The Tokiwodai student sighed as the wild light show that was going on around his right arm subsided. He once again glared at Tomohisa, his patience clearly close to snapping.
"Am I going to have to repeat myself?!"
Just as the Tokiwodai student finished talking and Tomohisa felt his heart beat rapidly in fear, there was yet another voice that spoke out, obviously responding to the conversation.
"Aneki… I guess I should really stop you now, shouldn't I?"
The Tokiwodai student went wide eyed and began to look around the area for the person that they had spoken, but finding no one. Tomohisa also began to look around for the source of the voice, because he recognized the voice as soon as it began to talk.
… Shirai… san? I really hope that is him, because he might just be able to solve this in the state it's in now.
It was in the moment after Tomohisa thought that when all of his hopes of solving the situation peacefully were dashed against the rocks.
Suddenly appearing in the air directly above the Tokiwodai student, a person fell feet first on top of them, sending the student to the ground face first.
Tomohisa looked at the scene where the esper had been shoved directly to the ground with his mouth agape, and a cold sweat rolling down his neck.
The person who had landed on top of the Tokiwodai student looked down at his victim with a grim expression. Sighing, he reached up and grabbed ahold of the green armband wrapped around his right arm and faced the crowd.
"I am with Judgement! Everyone please vacate the area. This will now be looked after by Anti Skill once they arrive."
After addressing the public, who was now moving away from the scene rapidly, the new person looked towards Tomohisa and smiled.
"Well Tomohisa… How are you today? I know this is a bit earlier than when we agreed upon, but… Oh well."
Tomohisa glared at the person with an expression of pure rage as he ran a hand through his hair.
"Kuroko-san… Why in the world did you do that?!"
Shirai Kuroko, a middle schooler around Tomohisa's age with pinkish hair that reached down to his chin, looked at his partner with a smile, reaching up and rubbing the back of his head with a sigh.
"What… I thought that was a suitable way to end this. The person has been put out of commission and no one was hurt. Isn't that a satisfactory ending?"
Tomohisa gestured to the person underneath Kuroko's feet in an almost aggressive way.
"Sure it's fine now! But what happens when that guy decides to-…!?
Tomohisa had just tilted his head to look down at the person Kuroko had knocked down, and found that the person had all the symptom of a person who had been knocked out.
He's… so weak… How in the world could a person so intimidating get knocked out so easily?
Kuroko chuckled at Tomohisa's reaction and gestured to the person at his feet as well.
"We don't have to worry about him getting up anytime soon and getting angry. He may seem all big and scary, but if you hit him with a good sneak attack, he goes down instantly."
Tomohisa was reminded by the matching uniforms that the Kuroko and the student at his feet were wearing that the two of them went Tokiwodai. Obviously they must have some knowledge of each other.
"Well then… do you know anything about this guy Shirai-san? We should have a little bit of info for Anti-Skill once they get here to arrest him."
Kuroko gave Tomohisa an embarrassed sidelong look as he reached up to scratch the back of his head. He looked solemnly down to his feet and sighed.
"Well… I don't think we should worry about this gut getting taken in… If anything we have to think about a way to calm him down once he wakes up."
Tomohisa tilted his head to one side in confusion, his stomach becoming upset at the wording of what Kuroko just said.
"Shirai-san… Why don't you think that this person will be taken in?"
Kuroko looked at Tomohisa with a confused look and then a look of realization graced his face.
"Ah… That's right. You've never meet him before have you?"
Kuroko reached down and grabbed ahold of the unnamed student short brown hair and drug his face up into the light for Tomohisa to see.
"This is Misaka Makoto… and he is the third Level 5 in Academy City."