A/N: I originally wrote this in 2010, without having read any of the books. Also, this one is dead in the water but I figured I'd upload it somewhere. Sorry.
Quiet, Shirai Kuroko reminded herself. You're supposed to be patient now.
She crouched low behind a box and relaxed, letting her senses project into the surrounding darkness. Distantly she could hear the low hum of fans. Moving slowly, she removed her communicator from around her ear and tugged on the small roll-up touchscreen held within, yanking it free. With swift fingers she sent a short message back to headquarters.
I hear computers.
After placing the communicator back on her ear the reply came. It was Uiharu Kazari, her friend, partner, and personal guardian angel during operations like this.
"They're on? That should be where he is." Her soft voice sounded distracted. "Down the hallway to your right there should be two windows that overlook the laboratory."
Reflexively, Kuroko nodded. Carefully she moved down the hallway, adjusting her weight to minimize the noise of her shoes on the tile flooring. The window Uiharu mentioned was low enough for her to reach and small enough to ease her worries of being spotted. Letting a bit of tension escape through a breath, she stood up and looked out the window.
The laboratory was the centerpiece of one of the earliest esper research facilities, dating back to the early days of Academy City's existence. Most of the equipment was dated, huge now obsolete cables criss-crossing the ceiling like a drunken spider's web, and a series of computers the size of family sedans marking out the room's perimeter. All of these framing a round bank of machines in the center of the room, the presumed goal of her target.
Kuroko could see a faint glow coming from the console monitors, but not much else. So many large objects arranged around the room provided ample hiding spots.
Suspect isn't visible from this location.
She spotted a set of double doors leading out of the room, swung wide open. Fantastic, she thought. No matter how fast he turned out to be she'd be able to cut off his only means of escape.
She sent another message.
I see the exit. How wide is the connecting hallway?
"About two meters across."
Kuroko bit her fingernail.
Wide enough at this distance, she decided. Teleporting was always tricky. She had to balance weight and distance while maintaining her ability to concentrate. If anything was off by a fraction, the teleport would be screwed up and likely she would be too. This one wasn't too bad, though. She just had to make sure she had a quiet landing.
Gauging the distance one last time, she jumped out the window. In the span of a second the world fell out from under her, like someone had pulled the rug out from under it. The momentary feeling of weightlessness sent a thrill through her. Teleportation had always felt like a grey area between life and death. Without the ground under her, she couldn't really be sure that she existed. Then as suddenly as it left, the world was back around her, and with a cat-like grace she landed next to the open doorway she had just been spying, still safely out of sight.
Pressing her back up against the wall, she let out another sigh of relief. She had misjudged the height by a few inches and for all her agility couldn't make the landing completely silent, but the low noise of the computers should have drowned out the impact of her shoes on the floor. She edged over to the doorway and peeked through.
Sure enough there was a solitary man standing in the middle of the computer bank, busily typing away at a console. A far cry from the unruly teenagers she dealt with on a day to day basis, he was tall and spindly man, draped in a heavy brown coat. Although his graying hair and wrinkling skin were clear signs of aging, the bright expression on his face held a childlike exuberance. A slight smile broke out across Kuroko's face as she noticed a large pair of headphones over his ears. The silver cans were high quality and heavy-looking, a large LED backlit piece slowly shifting color from yellow to red embedded in each earpiece.
Uiharu's voice came in again.
"Careful. We don't know if he's an esper."
Sure that he couldn't detect her presence she was content to watch him for a bit. His stiff posture never slackened as he continued to hammer away at the console. How boring, she thought. Kuroko's idle hands began to wander, scratching at places she didn't itch and massaging imaginary sores.
Finally, refusing to wait any longer, she stepped into the open hallway and flashed the green armband pinned to her sleeve.
"Stop," she called, "this is Judgment!"
The man turned towards her, startled. Clearly she had caught him off guard. He touched a finger to his headphones. A smile began to creep up across his lips, first slow and then budding into a confident smirk.
"Ah, we thought we smelled perfume. Evening, Miss," he said.
Kuroko clenched a fist. He didn't blink.
"This area has been designated by Judgment and Anti Skill to be off limits. You're trespassing."
The man paused, sniffing the air for a moment.
"Oh dear, you have us. We suppose we're under arrest then." He turned his back to her and held his hands up.
"You understand." Kuroko hesitated, watching for any sudden movements. Criminals didn't just outright give up like that. "Remove your jacket, place it on the floor, and take ten steps back."
He readily complied and stood silent, awaiting her next command.
"Good. Stay still."
She approached him cautiously, hands at the ready in case he tried anything. He only regarded her with a congenial smile as she bound his hands and began patting him down. She found nothing on him, save the headphones that had been sitting on his head. She gave a quick glance back towards the doorway, then spoke into her communicator.
"This is Shirai. I've apprehended the suspect. Uiharu, inform Anti Skill that we need a pickup."
Uiharu acknowledged her request and Kuroko began to lead the man out of the room.
"Shirai." He said her name slowly, like he was tasting the sounds. "We'll remember that name."
She couldn't help but shoot him a smirk and tugged on his bindings.
"Planning some sort of vengeance?" she asked.
"No, not at all." He grinned. "We think it's important to remember the names of celebrities. Say hello to the Railgun for us."
Kuroko stopped in mid-stride, and stared at him in shock. "How do you know-"
Suddenly he ducked beneath her view, hefting her onto his shoulder in one quick motion and dropping her on her back. Kuroko cursed herself as she scrambled to her feet. She should have seen it coming. As she righted herself, he worked intensely, breaking free from his bonds using a small metal spike. In disbelief, Kuroko reached for a small belt hidden underneath her skirt where she usually kept her private arsenal. The bastard had swiped it from her in the confusion.
Kuroko bit back her anger and began to pace back and forth between him and the doorway. He made no move to get past her, only watching carefully from a safe distance. He had tricked her once already and she couldn't afford to let the fight go any longer than it needed to. She figured his ability let him see how strong people are, or maybe glance into the near future. A powerful ability, but she could attack from any possible location.
Banking on that, she teleported into the air right behind him launching a fierce dropkick towards the back of his head. Her attack never landed. In sync with her teleportation, he quickly spun around and grabbed her legs as they appeared out of the emptiness and, popping his hips, swung her body into the ground. The impact forced the wind right out of her and as soon as she found her breath again, Kuroko was coughing into her hand. Blood spilled out from between her fingers, dripping out onto the floor.
She climbed to her feet and stumbled after him, clutching her chest. Her lungs felt they were on fire.
"Sorry, Miss," he said. "We already finished our job a long time ago, but curiosity got the better of us. We've never smelled a teleporter before, let alone fought one."
With that, he began to sprint for the door. Just as he reached the doorway, his right foot froze in place and, losing his balance, his face crashed into the floor. Kuroko watched him cough and blink, raising his head to see what the hell had hit him. Lodged in his foot was once of Kuroko's steel spikes.
Teleporting once more, she was right on top of him, straddling his back. The easy confidence he had shoved down her throat before was completely gone. Slowly, almost lovingly, she withdrew the spike from his foot eliciting a pain-filled howl from him. Kuroko had always favored the weapon for its simplicity. The spikes were no more than three to four inches long, easily concealable, easily replaceable, and proved equally useful for non-lethal or lethal force if the situation called for it.
She flipped him onto his back so she could look him in the eye. He saw the look in her face, and was terrified. She wasn't cautious anymore. Slowly she raised her bloody fist and let it hover in the air, making sure that his attention was completely focused on it. Satisfied that she had found the right moment, she hammered it into his face, the crunch of her knuckles against his nose easing her pain just a little bit. Not yet content, she gave him another, and another.
"Wake up already!"
Kuroko rubbed her eyes and blinked. She was in a daze, and through her blurry vision she saw a familiar face hovering above her. A reflexive yawn cleared her mind and she blinked again, finally recognizing who it was.
"Onee-sama!"
Although the two weren't related by blood, Kuroko's roommate Misaka Mikoto was a notable celebrity. As the third strongest esper to be classified as Level 5, her very existence commanded respect. Kuroko herself was a powerful esper, last being measured as a Level 4. Through a series of events the two came to be roommates at Tokiwadai Private School, one of the most prestigious schools in all of Academy City, and what originally may have been blind idolization blossomed into a close friendship, although admittedly not as close as Kuroko desired. Over the short span of time they had known each other, they were collectively involved in stopping a number of nefarious plots and schemes, and as a result she had no problem calling her "Sister."
Shaking the last dregs of fatigue off, Kuroko leapt towards Misaka, arms outstretched. Although Misaka was a year older than her, Kuroko never let décor get in the way of "true love." Misaka simply took a step to the side and let her fall to the floor.
"Kuroko, do you remember what happened yesterday?" Misaka asked.
For whatever reason, Misaka looked none too cheerful this morning. Kuroko wondered whether she had done something untoward last night, but quickly dismissed the idea. Even if she had, who was she to stifle her own natural feelings?
"Of course." Kuroko sat up and scratched her head. "I was called in by Judgment to see about a break-in around one of the restricted areas. He was adequately strong, but in the end I dispatched him and sent him along with Anti-Skill."
Even as she said the words, she wasn't completely sure of herself. The last thing she clearly remembered was beating that unnamed man in the face until she couldn't lift her arms anymore. Maybe it was a side effect of yesterday's activities, but last night was still a blur to her. Still, the explanation she gave made enough sense and even if it wasn't a complete version of what happened Kuroko figured that it had to be at least mostly true.
Misaka frowned.
"Uiharu called earlier and asked if you were alright."
Kuroko waved off her friend's concern. To her that was just Uiharu being Uiharu.
"That girl worries too much. I hope you told her that I'm quite alright." Kuroko yawned again and noticed that Misaka had her school uniform on. "Have you already showered, Onee-sama?"
"I already went to class, Kuroko. You've been sleeping all day."
Kuroko was speechless. Sleeping in and missing a day of class was no big deal by itself, but it was uncharacteristic of her.
"I'm going shopping with Saten-san. Are you sure you're alright?"
She waved off the concern again, slightly trembling as she did so. "Don't be silly, Onee-sama. I'm perfectly fine."
"Well, okay. If you head out don't forget to drop by Judgment."
"It's my first priority. I can't let Uiharu worry herself to death."
She watched Misaka head out the door and fell back on her bed again. Her joints felt stiff and even standing up she could feel pain in her midsection. She clutched her stomach. If Misaka saw her like this now, there was no way she'd let her leave the room. Brushing those thoughts aside, she forced herself to get up and began to assemble her clothes. She had work to do.
By the time Kuroko finally got to the office it was mid-afternoon. The branch office was small and lightly staffed, operating only under the three of them, but Kuroko liked it that way. It was far easier to keep clean and the environment was more intimate. She had friends and not just co-workers. Her immediate superior Konori Mii was already there, along with her partner Uiharu. As she walked in she noticed that they were handling her share of the paperwork for yesterday's arrest.
"I apologize for being late," she said hastily, walking over to her desk. "I'll get started on the paperwork immediately."
Konori turned from her work to face Kuroko, a concerned look on her bespectacled face.
"Are you sure?" she asked. "Yesterday was pretty rough. You should take it easy for a while."
"That's right, Shirai-san!" Uiharu said. "You shouldn't be straining yourself after a fight like that."
The concern of the motherly Konori and worrisome Uiharu were just as she had expected.
"Come now," Kuroko said. "It's just paperwork. My job won't be finished until it's all done, regardless."
The two didn't look reassured at all, but didn't argue with her, which was fine. Really, what was up with everyone today? Outside of the usual aches and pains that went hand in hand with Judgment work, she felt fine. She turned on her laptop and set to work immediately; pulling up the first of a series of forms she had to fill out. It was the usual stuff: name, date, branch, time of incident. The paperwork actually came as a relief. Although a small part of her was praying that their branch didn't receive any calls today, she didn't want to be stuck at home doing nothing either. Looking at it in that light the busy work wasn't bad and Kuroko finished it all much faster than usual.
Later in the afternoon, Misaka showed up along with Saten Ruiko, a classmate of Uiharu's and another close friend. Everyone brightened up at their appearance and quickly the bustle of the office melted into idle chatter.
"Hey, did anyone notice how the cleaning bots have been acting weird lately?" Misaka asked.
"Onee-sama, have you been getting free drinks out of the vending machines again?" Kuroko sighed. "Please alter your behavior to something befitting a lady."
"I wasn't, and the way I act is fine."
Saten quickly jumped in and changed the subject.
"Shirai-san," she said, "I heard you were up against a real bad guy yesterday."
"He gave me a fair bit of trouble," Shirai replied. "However, he was easily dispatched."
"That's Shirai-san for you. Very impressive!"
"Come off it, Kuroko," Misaka said. "When Anti-Skill brought you back to the dorm, they told me that you had gotten beat up pretty badly, which is why I didn't bother waking you up this morning. I figured you were just hiding it from me, but you don't really remember, do you?"
Kuroko gasped, surprised at being called out. "W-well..."
Misaka leaned in closer to her, her face contorting into a scowl. "You should still be in bed."
"Yes, well." Kuroko held her hands up. "It's the call of duty. This is war, and we are on the front lines-"
"Can it."
An intense glare at Kuroko underscored Misaka's feelings.
"He must have been really tough, to give Shirai-san trouble," Saten said.
Kuroko nodded.
"Well, his strength wasn't typical. Oftentimes they're minor things like Skill Out or Level 1 espers, maybe Level 2s at most but that man was something else."
A thought came to her.
"Konori-senpai, did Anti Skill identify the criminal yet?"
"Now that you mention it," Konori replied, "he wasn't in the Bank."
"Not in the Bank?" Misaka asked. "That's impossible. The Bank keeps records of anyone who comes through Academy City. There's no way around it."
"Could he have used the computers at that abandoned facility to remotely erase his records?" Uiharu asked.
"Maybe," Konori said.
"Well," Misaka said, "why don't we interrogate him ourselves?"
"He's in Anti Skill custody right now," Uiharu said. "Even if they let us, they wouldn't release him until processing is finished, and that might take a few days."
"We haven't encountered any Skill Out on his kind of level before," Kuroko said. "I'm sure he's an esper."
"Even if he's an esper, he still didn't show his power, right?" Misaka said. "He must not have planned on you beating him so quickly."
"Either he didn't want me to see it or he was using it and I just couldn't see what it was."
Konori adjusted her glasses.
"I'll see about getting a pass with Anti-Skill. Until then, Shirai, I want you to take a vacation. We don't know if this is part of something bigger and I want you at peak condition."