1: December 15th: 7:45 A.M. Tokiwadai Private School.
Academy City, one of the most influential modern cities in the world. Current population 26 Million, yes somehow we have more people than Dehli India and yet were just labeled as a Tokyo suburb. Now 4/5 of this populace are students each here to hone their skills at science or magic. Then of course there are the espers, students with abilities that distinguish themselves from the others.
Any Esper falls into one of 6 level ratings, From Level 0 where you don't show any outward hint of an ability but you're still technically called an Esper, all the way up to Level 5 the most powerful of the group. I think you're beginning to now wonder who I am and what this is all about, well let's take this a step further.
I'm Mikoto Misaka, one of seven known Level 5 Espers currently residing in the city. Of course I've been called many things, shock princess, railgun, the ace of Tokiwadai, Sissy, and that was all mostly by my best friend and roommate Kuroko Shirai. The two of us are students at Tokiwadai Middle School, Kuroko herself is a teleporter rated Level 4 and can be a major pain.
"Sissy, are you finished yet, we've got to meet the others."
Especially when it comes to me being in the shower.
"That shampoo may have you favorite frogs face on it but it doesn't mean you can just hog the bathroom."
Only the slightest things irk me, and most of them do come from Kuroko. I rushed quickly so she wouldn't do what I knew she loved to do so often.
"Although we could stand to do this together more often."
Yep there it is the squeeze, of course the one thing I want to do would end us both. So I improvised.
"Kuroko, you could have waited till I'm out of the shower."
"Yet miss the opportunity to spend some personal one on one time with you is something I couldn't pass up."
"Well, if you let me get out and hurry up we could squeeze something in before we have to meet the others."
Without saying another word I could feel her teleport me out of the shower and back into our room. She smiled winked and went back.
"Good now I can get dressed."
I took note of the calendar while looking for the stockings in my closet. Today was December 15th, in just a mere few days our fair city starts its 17 day Holiday celebration that carries through Christmas and New Year's Eve. Around Tokiwadai however it's taken on an informal name.
"Wasilia is upon us again isn't it?"
It took around ten minutes for me to get ready and dressed, we only had one afternoon of classes left before the school gets dismissed for its 3 1/2 week break and Konori had asked us to help get Christmas gifts for the gang in the morning before said classes. All that reflecting made me start to think of what I had to get.
"One for Kuroko, Saten, Uiharu, Mom and Dad, and him…."
Finally the door opened and Kuroko walked in wrapped up in a towel.
"Ohh Sissy, you got to love the winter, it's a sheer magnitude of brilliance…"
As she spouted on about the platitudes of the holiday season I noticed a water trail coming from behind as she went to her closet. One little touch of my finger was all I needed.
"…I did figure out what to get Uiharu for Wasilia but I needed your…." The electricity did its job and dropped her dead in her tracks.
"Maybe next time you don't ambush me in the shower."
As Kuroko steadily came to her feet still in shock from my zap there came a knock upon on our door.
"Sharai, Misaka, open the door I need to speak with you both."
I threw Kuroko her uniform while I ran over and opened it. To say that we were intimidated by the head resident of our dorm was an understatement, but we knew it would be an interesting incursion when she walked in.
"Ah, I see you're dressed Misaka, where is Sharai?"
"She's dressing in the corner Mam what do you need?"
"Were the two of you going anywhere before your classes this afternoon?"
"Just helping Kuroko's superior at Judgement with an errand what's up."
"As soon as Sharai is dressed I want the two of you to meet me in the lobby. There is an important issue that we have to discuss."
"Got it."
The second that door closed I woke up Kuroko who had mixed her summer and winter unis and straightened her out. While helping with her ribbons we brought up what could be the issue.
"She's probably asking us what our plans for Wasilia are."
"Well most of the students either leave the city to be with their families or have families in the city. The rest can stay on campus if their school allows it. I mean have you heard from your parents at all?"
"No, missionary trip to Australia to set up a hospital in the low income parts in Canberra How about yours."
"They're getting to know some of my sisters at home so I figured I wouldn't want them to feel overwhelmed at the sheer number of Mikotos."
My sisters, identical clones taken with DNA from me at a young age. They didn't have that much of a lifespan, but I own them especially #10032 for their help against Accelerator.
We looked at the clock and realized we were short on time. As both of us grabbed our jackets and bags the schedule for the day seemed simple enough. What we didn't count on was just the surprise waiting for us once we talked to the head resident.
"The dorm's being shut down?" Our question was loud enough that it nearly made her cringe.
"No, not permanently just for the duration of Wasilia."
"But why," Kuroko mentioned. "There must be students who don't have relatives to visit in the duration of the Holiday Season."
"One of the students had just returned from a visit to a friend of hers in Texas and it turns out her friend was one of the Ebola cases in the States."
Our jaws dropped. "So are we at risk of getting it?"
"You two can relax, I have assurance from the city directors that she was not symptomatic at the time of her return and that none of the students at Tokiwadai are at risk of catching it. However, she was contagious on the day she returned to the dorm and remains in isolated quarantine pending her test results. But her presence required the entire dorm to undergo a complete detoxifaction and cleanup."
Now my face was one of sheer confusion. "Where does that leave us?"
"I've spoken with everyone in the dorm who had not confirmed their intentions of leaving the city, they have made holiday arrangements accordingly. All of the students, except you two."
The two of us looked at each other confused and concerned, a wrench had been thrown into our plans and now we don't know what to do. The head resident got up from her chair and so did we.
"You guys have until the 17th at 6 pm to make your arrangements accordingly. Otherwise there are a few spaces at Asunaro open, and no I will not be joining you for Christmas. Let me know before then because the hazmat cleaners will start at 8 PM that night no matter what. "
As she walked off we got our winter jackets on and headed out into the cold morning. The snow that covered the plants and grass did twinkle back into our eyes. Kuroko wasn't kidding when she said this was the most wonderful time of the year.
"So what do we do now Sissy?"
"Let's just help Konori first, we can text Uiharu and Saten to meet us after class. We already know they're not leaving the city."
Kuroko's glove met mine and we began our flight. If there is one thing to admire about her teleporting it's that when she gets far above the buildings you do feel like you're flying.
