Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed chapter 1, now here's two.

Chapter 2

The next day began like any other ordinary day would. Mijuse awoke at 7:00 AM in the morning to get ready for school like most students do. He would shower, brush his teeth, and get ready for the day. Mijuse had no roommates to talk to or any who would bother him, so he slept soundly for the most part. And the school work was not much a hassle, either. He'd struggle with some things every now and again, and would sometimes just not be able to pay any kind of attention to what the instructor was teaching them all about. Mainly, he'd be focused on what kind of treatment he'd recieve on his way to the next class.

Being targeted by thugs was one thing, it was a normal situation for the kid. Due to his small dimeaner and his non-threatning appearance, he'd settle as an "easy" target; however, other students' harassment was another. He'd be walking to class carrying nothing but what was on his back and eventually, some bully would want to pick a fight with him. Mijuse would stand there contemplating and trying to ignore everything being said about him, rude comments about him being stupid, being some sort crimester, a failure of sorts and even a rumor about him being a homosexual simply due to his features. Being a level 3 esper, he sure had the power to shut some of those kids up, but he'd rather not stoop down to their level and hurt them worse than he knew they could hurt him.

For the most part, he was successful at ignoring them sometimes, other times, not so much. Sometimes, just holding it all in would make it rougher on him, but unlike most other days, today he was left completely to himself. This gave him a good sense of relief, and he thought he'd go out today to see if he could find the Railgun and maybe try talking to her some more. To befriend a level 5 esper... That is something not many people can just do, though... He almost let his head fall towards the ground as he sat down at a table with his lunch tray. He was sitting outside and it was currently the lunch break at Sakugawa Middle School. He stabbed his fork into the rice and devoured a bite. Not far behind him, sat two other girls who were chit chatting rather loudly. They were talking about going on some shopping trip with two other friends of theirs at the Seventh Mist.

"Yeah, I hope they have those rings there, I've been wanting to buy one for ages!"

"But, Saten, you know those things are too expensive. Have you even seen the prices yet?"

"They could be having a special sale, and I could probably get one with these cash cards I've been finding!"

The girl named Saten giggled as her friend gasped loudly. Mijuse turned his head with a raised eyebrow. Cash cards? Are they talking about that silly rumor about finding cards with money on them in those alley ways? Is it true?

"Saten, you were supposed to turn any in you found to Judgement! Why do you still have some!"

"Judgement, huh?" Mijuse said to himself. So she must be a member...

"Oh, that's right. I forgot you were in Judgement, Uiharu..." She didn't mean it.

"Of course I am, how could you forget a thing like that!"

So she is a member... Mijuse took another bite of rice. Oh to hell with this, I need to get out of here so I can stop this eavesdropping. I can't help they are talking so loud, but I really don't want to listen to it, either... The boy picked up his tray and began to walk away.

"So, are we still going to invite Shiria and Mikoto along, or what?"

The esper stopped in his tracks. Did they say "Mikoto"? Do they know Mikoto? He turned towards them as the girl, Saten, nodded.

"I don't see why not, you think Mikoto will come with us today, though? She's been acting unlike herself a lot these days."

"I don't really know, but there is no harm in asking, is there?"

Mijuse, deciding not to just stand around any longer, turned around and made his way to the table the two girls were sitting at. He approached them as Saten was nodding her head to her friend's question.

"I don't see any harm in it, the worst she could say is no."

Mijuse reached them. "Hello there..." The two girls stopped their conversation and looked up at him. Saten brightened her face and smiled at him.

"Hey, what's up." She put a hand up, then put it down with a wave when the question was finished.

"I couldn't help but over hear your conversation... and I heard you guys were going down to Seventh Mist." Mijuse told them.

"Oh my, were we really talking that loud?" Saten said, raising her hands to her mouth whilst exchanging a glance with Uiharu, who scratched her head with a doubtful look on her face.

"I don't really know, Shirai doesn't like guys to be around us much."

Mijuse's eyes dulled. Figures... I should have never even thought about asking the question to a group of girls... "Oh, well, thanks, I guess you knew what I was going to ask, didn't you." He raised a hand behind his hand and scratched his hair with a smile. Uiharu had nodded.

"Well, you were going to ask if you could come with us, right?"

He let his hand fall. "Precisely..."

"I'm really sorry..."

"No-no-no, don't stress over it, hehe..." Mijuse waved his hand in defense. "I was just going to head over there myself today and I just wondered if maybe we could go over there together or something like that, but it seems you have other meetings planned, so I'll just see you later." That was a lie.

"Oh, well..." Uiharu looked to her side. "Maybe you can just come with us-"

"Nah, that won't be neccesary. Besides, it'd look awkward if I was to walk alongside a group of girls anyway..." Mijuse quickly made his escape, he had to get out of that awkward situation itself. I should have never asked... He approached a lone table and sat down, resuming to eat his lunch.

The time was past 7 PM, the level 3 esper decided it would be best not to go to Seventh Mist after all. He didn't need to catch the attention of those two girls and possibly Mikoto again. Infact, after spending time thinking about it, Mijuse thought it'd be best if he never looked for her after all. He walked the crowded streets of Academy City with both hands in pockets and his head to the pavement, watching his feet cross over dirty tiles of sidewalk concrete. He sighed. "What to do, what to do..." Curfew was approaching for the students, and he didn't need to be late again. "I probably need to just go home..." He stopped infront of a book store, and looked up into the glass doors. Shelves of books stood cleanly infront of the doors and he decided to walk in.

He picked up a random book and flipped the pages to see its contents. Nothing really interesting stood out as he scanned the pages, then he flipped it closed and put it back. Deciding he was wasting his little time, Mijuse slowly paced out and back onto the streets. Then, a woman's voice sounded off from speakers that were strategically placed all around the city with an announcement.

"Curfew will commense in thirty minutes. We advise all students to return to their homes immediatly. That is all."

Mijuse rubbed his head, then slumped against a pole as he place his hand back inside his pocket. "Geez, what a drag... Well, I better get going." Mijuse turned around to see a grocery store not far from his location, but what caught his real attention was the smoke pillar rising far beyond it. "What on earth?"

In the distance, a black smoke bellowed into the dark sky, and he could see the reflection of a sort of fire from other buildings near it. For a while now, some sort of report has been going off on the television new stations about research facilities being attacked by an unknown entity. Mijuse shook his head, deciding against going to see what was happening. The authorities would handle it no problem. He turned around, and headed to where he was supposed to go. With a heavy sigh, he headed for the dorms.

The next day was off, and school was out. It had been a hard day related to classwork, and some homework had found its way onto his person, but he could deal with that after curfew. Mijuse was walking down a nice sidewalk, merely enjoying his peace when a cry sounded not far behind him. He stopped and blinked as the crying of a child continued. The esper turned around with a "hmm" and saw a small girl sitting on the sidewalk holding onto her red shin. Mijuse turned around and walked to the small girl, and upon reaching her, knealt down on his ankles.

"Hey, are you okay?"

The small girl ceased her whimpering to look up at him. "Huh?" Mijuse smiled at her lightly.

"You're hurt, aren't you?" The girl looked around, then put a hand to her head, and gave a quick nod. "I thought so... Come here." He took her into his arms with a smile and turned to the park, walking to a lone bench. The two neared it and he set her down on it as she gave a slight whimper. "Shh..." Mijuse put a finger up to his lips to illustrate silence. "Now, stay right here, I'm going to get something to put on that scrape, alright? Do you have any parents around?"

"They're at home..." she said slowly. Mijuse scratched his head.

"I should have figured." He pushed himself up. "Alright, stay there." Mijuse walked away to look for a quick convenience store that would hold some sort of bandage and disinfectant spray. Luckily for him, there was one not far from his location. He entered inside and quickly picked up a bottle and a small box of bandages. After paying for the items, he exitted the store and headed for where he left the small girl, but he found nobody there. He blinked, confused as to where she could have gone. He looked left, nobody was present. Then right, still nothing. Shaking his head, he decided to let bygones be bygones. "I really should have figured..." He sighed and let the bag hang from his side and continued to walk the previous route he had before he was set off track. "Oh boy..."

He later entered into the lunch district and entered a small cafe. He glanced around to see not many tables were filled, not really paying attention to the guests, then headed to the front counter. A cashier quickly took his order for a milkshake and he decided to seat himself not far from the register, then he saw her, Mikoto Misaka. He stopped abruptly, the bag in his tow shaking from the abrupt stop. Mijuse blinked as he stared at the level 5 he met just the two days ago, then he gulped. Yesterday he had wanted to meet her, but later lost his courage and instead became afraid of seeing her, remembering how he set her off last time and made her leave. He decided it would be best to just wait for his drink and then leave. He turned around to avoid her gaze and walked to the counter calmly.

"Um, ma'am..." he said, holding up a finger.

"Yes?" the cashier said.

"Could you make that shake to go..."

"Oh, yes sir, we will." He briethed lowly, and looked over at Mikoto. Her head was hung down again, but this time she was with other people. He then took notice to her uniform.

Tokiwadai? She's from that famous rich school, no doubt. They only accept powerful espers... No way I could even hope to talk to someone like that again, last time I was just lucky, but from now on, I need to just stay out of her way... Mijuse looked at the other girls. The one across from her had two pig tails in her lighter colored hair and she was wearing the same uniform. She must have been a close friend and a powerful esper. He then turned to see the other two and instantly recognized them. What the!? Is that Saten? Then... that means the other must be Uiharu... He turned away, being sure to not catch their attention lest he look any longer. He'd leave right now, but he already payed for the milkshake and it would only get attention if he were to withdraw his order now. So, he decided to wait patiently.

"Ok, here you are, sir. You're vanilla milkshake, ready and waiting." the clerk said.

Calmly, he reached his hand out and took it. "Thankyou. He turned, took a sip, then proceeded out the door. I hope I don't run into any of them again...

He walked back to the dorms, deciding today was just another day, and to avoid anymore confrontations of any kind, he'd just get his homework done with and go have a nice long sleep. Mijuse walked along the sidewalks, taking sips of his milkshake every so often until he came across a strange noise. The noise was disgusting and ripe, it sounded like something had been squished, like an old egg or a dog. He stopped and looked to his side to find a dark long alley way. A brief scream entered his ears, which made him erk back breifly, dropping his drink. His eyes widened, was somebody being attacked!? No, he had to call the authorities about this. He reached for his cell, but found nothing there.

"What? Where's my phone?" He looked around his person and then heard another scream. His eyes widened with struck fear and he quickly looked into the alley. He had no time, he had to save this person now. With a dash, he ran into the darkness, trying to track down where the scream had come from. Hopefully someone else with a phone would have heard it and was calling for help now, the least he could do was find who the attacker was and hopefully save the victim, and if the worst was to come, he could atleast identify the assailant to the police when they got there.

He ran and made numerous turns, just how big and twisty were these alleyways anyway? He had never seen one this huge before. Mijuse kept running and running until the air began to smell foul. The stench stung his nostrils, and he came to a screeching halt, holding his nose with both hands. "What on earth?" He looked around, but found nothing in the barely lit passage. He must have been getting close, but this stench was unbelievable, it smelt like something had died here a long time ago. He pushed forward, was the victim even still alive? The alley got deeper, and his eyes began to tear from the foulness in the air.

What happened here, where are they? I can't see or hear anything now, why hasn't anybody else heard it yet. Surely if someone else did, cops would be coming. Then suddenly, another blood hurdling scream loudly clashed into his ears. It jolted him something fierce, what was that? Was that what a murder sounded like. He looked behind him, then ran. That is where they were, he had to get there before anything more happened. Time was of the essense and he was short on it, he had to save her, every person only got one life after all, and it was nothing to be taken lightly. Where is she, where could they be? Then, suddenly, he came upon it.

Slowly, Mijuse came to a stop as he saw a silhoutte, no, two shadows in the far distance. One was holding the other by the neck as the hostage struggled to lift her hand to his arm. It looked like parts of her legs were missing from the looks of it, and loose strings were hanging down from her limbs except the arm. Mijuse's eyes shook as the assailant reached his hand into her mouth and pushed it deep in. A scream, a horrible cry filled the air and was briefly muffled. Mijuse clamped his ears shut, he didn't imagine it to be anything like this. He did not even consider what was really happening here, someone was being killed! He looked down to the floor, quivering in his spot, trying to fight off the horrible and sick sounds that followed the scream.

Oh, God, what is happening here! No, I have to go, I have to get out of here and report this! I can't fight, what am I kidding, I can, but I can't see this! I can't deal with this! Mijuse looked up to see the shadows gone. What the? He blinked again to clarify his sight. The two were gone, and everything was silent. Nothing but the songs of faint birds were present high above. "Wh-where did they go? Did what I just see really happen?" He stood up straight, then turned around. Nothing was present. He shook his head and slowly walked forth with an unsure smile. "No... that didn't happen... Nothing like I just saw really ha-happened..." He walked out of the small branch alley and turned a corner to see the path he was previously on. With a nervous chuckle, he walked out and soon came back to the street. Nothing happened, nothing really happened... I was just hearing things, that's all. He laughed lightly. "Nothing like that happens and then suddenly disappears with out a trace..." He looked to his shoes with a crooked grin, then proceeded forward, never wanting to recall his illusion.