"Kisaragi-san, I understand that you love that uniform, but please understand that summer is long since over! Everyone is supposed to be wearing the winter uniform already, and yet you insist on keeping the same wardrobe!"

"Listen to me well, for I will explain but once! This uniform is a part of me! It is my label! It is what I am! When people see me, they expect these clothes to be worn! It is not a simple matter of the season or time of year. The weather is fifty degrees too warm to make me deign to wear something warmer!"

"We go through this every year! It doesn't matter how cold it is, or what character you've imposed on yourself! The fact is, it's winter! And no one else cares what you wear! You can't just ignore school rules for your own convenience!"

"Such logic only works for the conforming masses—"

Mugino sighed heavily as she tuned out the unnecessary noise, losing interest in the meaningless argument that occurred on the campus of the school she was visiting.

She didn't go to this school, but she had been 'invited' to the facility on the campus that specialized in her ability. Level 5s all had their personal facilities made just to study their ability. Often enough, they were set up in various areas across Academy City, so it was natural that she would sometimes have to travel a bit to reach a few of them. Not that she enjoyed such trips.

But this trip had been somewhat worth it. On the way here, she'd gone to the movie theater with Kinuhata to watch a recommended detective movie. Mugino had not been all too interested in the crappy set up and terrible plot twist—frankly, she couldn't understand why Kinuhata enjoyed the C-rated movies so much—but the concept had somehow affected something deep inside that which made Mugino Shizuri.

Mystery…no, detectives in general. At least, the good ones. Mugino had been a part of the dark side for a long while, so she'd seen all sorts of things. However, since the very beginning, her thought process had fallen along the lines of 'because I am part of the dark side, these things happen'. Fighting, bloodshed, death, betrayal…these things happened all around her in various forms. She'd been the cause of many such situations in the lives of others. However, it was different for detectives. They didn't get involved with such things because they lived a life that came with it. No—they were simply people who seemed to draw incidents toward them like magnets. Murders, ghost haunting, century old curses, missing people…these typical and common plots seemed to flock conveniently toward detectives and detectives seemed to have a knack for solving them in the end, no matter how difficult it may seem.

Which brought Mugino to what bothered her the most. Why were the people who were the cause of such mysteries so bad at hiding them? Why couldn't they hide their tracks and commit their crimes properly? Why couldn't they perform so flawlessly, the case would never reach the detective? She knew she was overthinking it from a movie's perspective, but when one thought about it realistic, the same answer could be used in both situations.

Without the mystery, there would be no story.

If a crime was perfectly done, then the authorities would never know. No crying damsel would visit the hero's house in the middle of the night, requesting for aid. No letter would come in the mail, detailing the situation.

The perfect crime was one that never happened.

But once one started searching where no crime should have existed, wouldn't something eventually surface? A buried mystery so perfectly hidden, no one would find it otherwise?

The idea seemed ridiculous, but Mugino knew that looks could be deceiving. She regarded each building around her with mild suspicion and glanced at the faces of who she passed with wonder. They were all strangers to her, but they all had their stories. Perhaps one had just finished hiding a dead body. Perhaps another had just cashed in several stolen gold watches. One could say that the odds were low. But another could say that the odds still existed, and thus, so did the possibility.

"Agh…" Mugino muttered irritably as she scratched her scalp angrily as she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. "Why should I give a damn about this sort of thing, anyways? It's not as if that movie was even good. I already know Academy City has a bunch of stuff that it doesn't want the world knowing—I've seen my share of it."

Mugino shook her head back and forth as she tried to shake the pointless thoughts out of her head, but her curiosity held fast. To put it frankly, she was interested. She knew that the only way to get rid of the interest was to satiate it by pursuing a mystery—any mystery.

So, unconsciously, her eyes began to move against her will, searching for anything out of the ordinary. Or something perfectly normal that was made abnormal by the mere fact that it was hiding something. Using that line of thinking, anything would come across as suspicious.

Mugino was standing beside an empty playground that didn't seem to be a part of any particular school—it was a public commodity that anyone could use as they please. Mugino had agreed to meet Kinuhata here after her check-up was finished, though there was still time until the agreed hour arrived.

Hovering in the air above the district was a blimp that was mostly likely completely automatic, due to the common unmanned nature of many of Academy City's public service jobs. Considering the majority of the city's population belonged to students, there weren't all too many adults who weren't teachers or researchers who worked in the city. It would no doubt cause some economic trouble if the city of technology could not create machines to do simple jobs like float a blimp around aimlessly.

This blimp showed the current time along with the weather for the day—commonplace information. Even if Mugino tried, it would be difficult to fairly find something wrong there.

Next, her eyes visited a large electronic board placed over a nearby building.

Academy City was basically closed off from the rest of Japan, so most people wouldn't know much about Tokyo, let alone any other important cities, such as Kyoto or Akihabara. So most people—aside from certifiable otakus, such as Kinuhata, who would know such things through the internet—wouldn't know that this district that focused on electronic appliances and the like was made to resemble what Akihabara would be like before the anime culture took a hold of it.

The large screen that was mounted on the building displayed recent news for people who were too lazy to look on their phones, as most events within Academy City were posted on the forums and message boards. It was convenient and added to the futuristic nature of Academy City.

Perhaps it was due to Mugino's current state of mind, but her fake eye focused on the screen with an unusual amount of attention, long before her actual brain cared enough to register the words rolling across the screen. Once she actually paid attention, however, it caught her attention in a firm grip.

A politician from a foreign country had been visiting in order to view the Ichiharan festival before performing negotiations with Academy City's Board of Directors in regards to a liaison between the groups. Details are uncertain, however the politician's double had been kidnapped at 6:00 am. Authorities are currently in search of this man, as well as any clues toward the culprits. However, it is unsure when the double was even kidnapped or by whom, and there is no certain motive that can be identified. If you have any information regarding this man or any suspects, please—

Mugino folded her arms across her chest as she frowned in discontent as she considered what she'd just read. Something about it didn't sit right with her. Call it her intuition, but she was certain she'd accidently stumbled on something.

Perhaps she had the same aura as a detective who naturally drew cases to himself? Probably not. That was not even something to joke about. Curious or not, she wasn't going to become an idiot who mixed up reality and fiction. This was purely pragmatic just so she'd experience for herself. That way, her interests would vanish, like a small puddle facing the blazing hot midday sun.

Mugino's eyes drifted toward the playground once more, a bit of purpose now behind her actions. Two people were currently by the swing set, though neither of them seemed to be playing. One was a young man wearing a suit in a casual manner, with the tie loose and the black jacket open. He had large goggle-like glasses that seemed to avoid giving him a nerdy appearance as he pointed in the direction of the large screen with an expression that made Mugino certain he was asking questions.

The other was a young handsome man with a kind face, wearing a school uniform that was basically a tan suit and a red tie, though he wore white sneakers. Unlike his companion, he wore the outfit properly with the buttons up and the tie centered and he had a very neat and orderly appearance around him that gave him a sense of innocence.

Both looked up the moment they noticed Mugino approaching. The one in the tan suit didn't seem alarmed as he raised an eyebrow curiously, but the other's reaction was entirely different. He seemed to register her approach firmly and his expression changed entirely. But it wasn't the change in expression that bothered Mugino. It was the fact that the expression changed the way he did, as if he made a decision after seeing her face.

In other words, he did not turn around and leave because someone was approaching and it just so happened to be Mugino Shizuri. Rather, he made the decision to leave so abruptly based on the fact that it was Mugino Shizuri who was approaching.

"Hey, Goggles!" Mugino's voice raised immediately as a vein on her temple popped, heat rising to her face immediately. "Get back here! Where the hell do you think you're running off to?! I need to talk to you—DON'T START RUNNING, YOU BASTARD! I KILLED ANOTHER BASTARD WITH GOGGLES, AND I'LL FRY YOU TOO!"

Four small lights appeared around Mugino as her fury raged, as if fireflies were materializing as physical forms of her anger. Another moment, and she would completely reduce the playground nothing in an effort to keep her word when her target continued running. But after she remembered what happened the last time she tried to kill someone who was running way while blinded by her fury, she hesitated for a moment, which was enough to let the young man in the black suit escape her sights, though she would probably be able to find him easily by carving a path toward him with her Meltdowner beams.

Instead, she simply sighed as the 'fireflies' vanished, as if they were never there. She instead turned to the one in the tan suit, who was observing her with curious expression on his face, his small frown showing that he was thinking carefully. She had to give him some credit for not running like an idiot when he saw her about to explode. That would probably set her off again and get him fried without a warning.

"Who was that guy?"

"I thought you knew him." The young man shrugged honestly when Mugino glared at him when she heard his response. "He didn't give me a name."

"Oh? So you're not acquainted with him, either?" Mugino snorted in disbelief, not trusting this guy's good natured smile for even a moment. He appeared far too 'normal' to be normal. He reeked of darkness—Mugino would never mistake such a familiar stench. "Then what were you talking about?"

"This and that. Mostly that."

Mugino's eyebrow twitched at the vague response, but she let it go. It wasn't as if she really cared.

"So, what can I do for you? I guess whatever question you had for him can be directed toward me, since you don't know him any better than you know me, right?"

"Ah, right." Mugino rested a hand on her hip as she looked this young man up and down. "What should I call you?"

The man's response came a beat late, so he was probably deciding how to respond.

"Normally you begin by introducing yourself when you ask for someone's name."

"Name? I just want a way to refer to you, unless you don't mind me just saying 'you' all the time. Just call me Mugino."

"I see. Well then…yes, how about you just call me Unabara?"

His tone was too even and calm. He was being cautious around her without outwardly showing it, apparently wary of what she'd ask. His expression was now a casual smile that seemed good-natured, but Mugino knew he was using to hide his thoughts. If he gave her trouble, Mugino could easily force any information out of him by blowing off his limbs one at a time. But if he tried to hide something, that would be a good way to confirm her suspicions on their own.

"Tell me what you know about that."

Mugino pointed toward the screen in the background, referring to what the two had seemed to be talking about before.

"Ah…"

Unabara barely glanced in that direction, only blinking once in an irregular fashion to expression his surprise. His smile never faltered.

"That's funny. That other one had asked about the same thing. I suppose it must look like I know something, since I was regarding the screen so intensely."

"'The other one'?" Mugino repeated as her eyes veered up in thought for a moment, barely recalling the face of the person she'd nearly killed. "Oh, you mean him."

"Yes. So you really aren't acquaintances? How ironic."

"Then just tell me everything you told him."

"Sure." Unabara replied amiably without a change in expression. "Absolutely nothing."

Absolutely…nothing. That had been what he told the man before Mugino had arrived, and that had been what he told Mugino.

Naturally, she didn't let that go easily. She'd sent a Meltdowner beam to cross the short meter that was spanning between the two, but he was apparently very nimble. He barely evaded the beam and kicked up mulch into her face at the same time, throwing off Mugino's aim as she tried to send a second beam in his direction. Immediately afterward, he'd smartly escape using some method she was unsure of.

For whatever reason, she couldn't find him again, even as she tried to chase after him. Once she was certain she wouldn't find him nearby easily, she'd begun searching the security cameras. But strangely enough, they could not find Unabara's nicely combed dark hair anywhere.

Had he simply vanished?

"Ugh." Mugino folded her arms over her chest after she returned to the playground. Her errant Meltdowner beams had reduced to swing set to…well, nothing, so she leaned against the many metal bars that made up the half-globe that kids loved to play 'King of the Mountain' on all the time. She was mostly mad at herself for letting two sources of information escape so easily, though she was mostly annoyed that she didn't understand how the second one had escaped. She was sure both were involved somehow, but wasn't sure exactly how that was.

Next time, she'd blow their legs off the moment she spotted them. That way, they wouldn't be able to run away so quickly.

In any case, she'd at least gotten one answer. There was a somewhat good chance that her reasoning was correct. At the very least, things were not as simple and straight forward as they appeared at first. It seemed she'd caught the faint scent of something she was not supposed to find.

The only problem…well, it probably wasn't right to call it a 'problem'. It was better to refer to it as a somewhat restrictive circumstance. In any case, the only thing was that if she decided to take any action, there was a chance that she'd be butting heads with the wrong people. It was obvious that the dark side was involved—she didn't care about that. Any weirdoes who got in her way would be dealt with easily. But there was a chance that this was somehow connected to the Board of Directors—no, she was absolutely positive they were involved, but she wasn't sure how.

Well, to be fair, she wasn't going to take sides either way. She only planned to investigate things on a whim. And even if it came to taking sides, it was the original purpose of ITEM to prevent certain directors from gaining too much power. In the interest of checks and balances, her actions may take a positive effect.

Though it wasn't like ITEM was active. It was more of an excuse than anything else.

Mugino's thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of a short haired, tomboyish girl with a casual gait, walking toward playground without showing any signs of embarrassment toward the fact that a girl her age shouldn't be heading to such a place in broad daylight where anyone could see without any shame on her face.

"Hey, Mugino. Mind if I ask you a super quick question? 'What do you think of funerals?' is the simplest way to super put it, I guess."

...

It feels a bit odd, writing with Mugino in calm scenes...with the occasional burst of energy. It feels a bit out of character without Frenda or Hamazura around to abuse.

Mugino doesn't really fit the character who'd stumble upon an amazing secret by accident or because of their coincidental whim. It's true. That sort of thing fits heroes, like Kamijou-san or Sogiita Gunha. Maybe even Hamazura. But considering the life she's had, she must be just as capable as Accelerator at sniffing out this sort of thing. How she handles it, however, will definitely be different. If she continues playing the investigator, I swear, someone's going to die...

Next time, we'll learn just what is bothering Mugino so much, aside from another goggle-wearing freak. That, and some irony will become apparent. Look forward to it.