AN: I've got nothing to say, except SORRY for the long wait. Seriously, I just got too lazy...

In apology, I'll make this a bit longer than my usual 1,000-word, short-as-hell chapters.

..

Fortunately enough for a certain unlucky teen, shopping for clothes and accessories were the last thing on Saten Ruiko's mind.

On the other hand, she wasn't short on plans, either. She had pulled him into a certain family restaurant, and sat herself down at a table next to the windows. He sat on the other side, smiling awkwardly. "Saten-san? Why did you bring me to a family restaurant?"
The middle-schooler tilted her head, lowering the menu. "Why not? This place is nice, and the food is good. It's where I always meet up with my friends."

Nodding slowly, Touma looked around the shop, taking in the peaceful atmosphere. "Yeah, I guess you're right…"

The two sat in silence, Saten because she was mentally planning what to do for the day, and Touma because he was thinking about the day before. Suddenly, both of their phones rang, and the duo picked them up immediately.

"What's up, Uiharu?" Saten spoke cheerfully, hoping for news on the Level 0. "Didja find him?"

"Not quite, Saten-san," came the swift reply. Hesitating slightly, the petite girl continued. "We got a lead, but it's unlikely it'll be successful. At least, not today."

"Well, where is it?" she queried, wondering if there was anything she could find out for herself.

"The teacher from yesterday should know where he lives, so we're heading to her house."

"Got it! Thanks, Uiharu!" Saten chirped, smiling widely. If it's within District Seven, it should fit into her plans perfectly. Maybe she'll drop by, surprise Uiharu a bit. It was with this positive attitude she continued chatting with her best friend, beaming brightly.

On the other side of the table, however, Touma was having a… less than pleasant surprise. Courtesy of your one and only Tsuchimikado, of course.

"WHAT?! Why are they- When did you- Today?!" the high schooler spluttered, choking on the water he had just drank. "Why in the world did you tell them I, of all people, can help them?"

"Well, you always seem ready to help anyone in need, Kami-yan. And don't you owe me a favor for yesterday?" If anyone was listening (aka Kamijou Touma), they could hear the clear humor in the reply.

"You didn't do anything!" he protested, knowing exactly what the spy was referring to. "Rather, you sold me out!"

"And that's gonna make you make people sleep in the street, nya? So unmanly, Kami-yan!"

A vein appeared on Touma's head as he sought a back door to this unlucky situation. After a moment, he caved in. "Fine. You win, dammit. But I'm getting you back for this!"

Sighing, Touma ended the call, and looked up to see his companion do the same. "Something just came up, but my roommate can probably handle it for now. I might have to go back early, though."

This caused Saten to frown, but she refrained from asking what it was- with great difficulty, of course. She knew that these things tended to be a bit… personal. "Alright. Then, next stop, the batting center!"

..

Surprisingly enough, Touma found that he actually enjoyed Saten's company, to say the least. Her love for baseball was interesting, not to mention her insatiable curiosity. The lack of misfortune, as impossible as it may seem, didn't hurt, either.

"So, where are we going now, Saten-san?" he asked, walking besides the person in question as he checked his watch. 'I'll probably have to leave after this. The plane arrives soon, and they'll have to adjust to the time here as well.'

On Saten's part, she had found out many things about her new friend. For one, he seemed to keep a relatively depressed aura around him, yet never seemed surprised at anything unlucky that happened to him. As a matter of fact, he actually seemed more cheerful than ever, exclaiming "Wow! This is the least amount of misfortune I've had in a while!" at one point.

She sweatdropped as she thought of all the trouble her fellow Level 0 must get into, plain-looking as he may be.

Shaking her head free from those thoughts, she spun around, grinning. She put a finger to her lips, smiling as she replied, "Nope! It's a secret!"

He sighed dramatically, making her smile widen. She had found that she liked teasing him, his reactions drastically different from Uiharu's. Promptly, she turned to face forwards again, this time in an over-dramatic imitation of a march.

"Come on- you have to leave soon, right?"

..

Uiharu watched warily as two of the adults she respected most got drunk.

Badly.

Of course, Komoe-sensei was there too, just as drunk as the other two- which looked quite ridiculous, given her young appearance.

After calling Saten, Konori-senpai, Yomikawa-sensei, and Uiharu herself had left for Komoe-sensei's place. After encountering no problems whatsoever, the group of four had set out for the Level 0's apartment.

As expected, he wasn't there. So, they returned to the pin-haired teacher's house and immediately got drunk.

And here they were, still drunk.

Just as Uiharu finished that thought, Komoe pulled out another bottle of beer, her face blending in nicely with her pink hair.

"God, how much booze do you have, Komoe-chan?" Yomikawa exclaimed, red face a-blazing. "You must drink more than I do!"

In reply, the small woman pouted, pouring generous cups of the drink for the two of them. "It's not my fault! You might be used to action, being in Anti-Skill and all, but Touma-kun is a trouble magnet of another level altogether! I'm gonna have a heart attack one day!"

Yomikawa shrugged, burping loudly. Waving an empty bottle in the air, she cheered her sentiments readily. "Hear, hear! He even ended up participating in Anti-Skill's business! If he wants to help out that badly, join us already!"

Muttering in agreement, the two continued gossiping until they dozed off, joining Konori on the floor.

Bewildered, Uiharu now realized she was the sole coherent person within the building, and it didn't seem like they were waking up anytime soon.

Quietly, she remained seated as she thought about what to do. 'There's no way I can leave them alone… Well, at least tomorrow's Sunday, so there's no school.'

Fidgeting slightly, she snapped to attention as the doorbell rang, hurrying to open the door.

"Ah… Who are you?"

..

"Dammit, where is that hacker?" Kazuo exclaimed, hands on his head as he paced the room. "Don't tell me this… Uiharu person is actually a Level 4 or something!"

Fuyuko shook her head in reply, leaning back in her chair to observe her friend with amusement. "No, she's a Level 1. Maybe it has something to do with who we sent?"

This caused Kazuo to freeze in his tracks. Raising an eyebrow, he gestured for her to continue.

Tilting her head, Fuyuko spoke with a slight tone of confusion. "Didn't you know? Reido has a tendency to get… sidetracked…"

Slowly, the redhead's jaw slid open. "What! Then why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought you were in the same class as her? Isn't that why she's even here?!" the purplette protested, eyes open wide in confusion. "Didn't you have a plan or something?"

Kazuo shook his head rapidly. "No, I didn't she's a model student, for Christ's sake! I hardly knew anything about her, it was my friend who brought her into the fold!"

"What!? Dammit!"

..

Slowly, Touma was beginning to recognize the place he was being brought to, and wasn't averse to voicing his thoughts. "Huh, I kinda recognize this place. Why're we here, Saten-san?"

Saten giggled excitedly, but refused to reveal anything more than, "You'll see, Kamijou-san!"

Abruptly, she turned to her right and began to climb a certain red stairwell, Touma not far behind. As soon as they reached the top, the duo followed the path, which clung to the right side of the building, only to find two other people at the door, which was already open.

Just as Saten and Kamijou came into view, the short girl standing outside sneezed loudly. Rubbing her nose, the unknown person introduced herself cheerfully, two cherry-red ponytails dangling behind her.

"Ah, my name is Reido! Sorry for sneezing in your face, someone must've been talking about me..."

The latter of the two, an equally-small black-haired girl, saw her first. "Ah Saten-san! You came after all!"

The now-identified Reido turned around, and saw who she was talking to. A frown crossed her face, and she sighed a bit before speaking. "Sorry… This was supposed to be clean and neat, but Fuyuko-chan told me to capture the girl no matter what… So you'll have to sleep a bit!"

Without further ado, a ball of ice around the size of a baseball seemingly formed in her hand, which she threw at a surprised Saten.

However, all three of the girls were equally surprised when the alarmed girl was forcefully shoved to the side, a certain high schooler taking her place. Even more surprising, was the sudden disappearance of aforementioned projectile, which was accompanied by the sound of shattering glass.

Uiharu's eyes widened in recognition, Saten covered her mouth in an unreleased shout of panic, and Reido's eyes narrowed. The latter was the first to recover.

"You… how did you do that?"

Touma's eyes imitated hers, but refused to answer the question. Instead, he posed some of his own. "Why did you try to hurt Saten-san? Who told you kidnap… whoever that is?"

This vague reference was followed by a hand motioning to Uiharu, who blinked out of her surprise at the movement. "Wait, you're the person from yesterday! The guy that ran away!"

Silently, Touma racked his brain for any memories involving this young girl… with a flower headband… and a Judgement… armband…

"Dammit!" he shouted, making everyone jump. "Just my luck! Today was just fine, no major mishaps, and now a Judgement member is being kidnapped by an esper! What the hell!"

Unfortunately for our favorite main character, this was not the end.

"Wait, wait, wait…" Saten said, holding her hands out in front of her. Slowly, she pointed at the stranger. "You're a kidnapper, that I get. But why do you know Uiharu?" She said the second part pointing at her new friend.

Then, her brain started to piece the information together, and her eyes widened. "You're the-"

At that moment, Reido lost all patience. "Oh, come on. Enough of this already, I need to end this quick!"

Then, the Level 3 activated her ability again, this time as she grabbed her objective, hoping to weaken her, maybe freeze her.

Instead, nothing happened.

"What?!" her eyes nearly popped out of her head, and she stared at her hand. "That's the second time- is my ability failing now?"

Out of the corner of her eye, a flicker of movement caught her attention, and she jumped back onto the railing as a right arm occupied where her head was just then.

"You're not hurting anyone," Touma growled, bracing himself for another attack. "Not if I can help it!"

Deciding that, if her ability wasn't working, taking on three people barehanded, with unknown abilities, wasn't a good idea.

"I'll be back!" she shouted, jumping off the railing and disappearing into a bush. "Ow, that hurt!"

Sweat-dropping at the alleged kidnapper's childish antics, the trio sighed in relief, exchanging glances.

Then, they realized their situation. Touma was the first to react, his prior experiences allowing him to react quickly.

Without hesitation, he jumped off the railing as well, shouting a quick "Sorry!" to Saten.

Then Saten decided to jump off in chase of him, determined to confront him on the matter of the Level 0.

Finally, Uiharu unfroze, and hesitated as she stared after the disappearing form of Kamijou, Saten a few feet behind him. 'If she gets in danger again…' was her mindset as she ran down the stairwell and after the two.

"Dammit! Now I'm gonna be late to pick up Kanzaki and the others! She's totally gonna kill me!"

..

Reido Natsume, Level 3.

Current School: A Certain High School.

Ability: Freeze. Allows her to automatically freeze anything she touches with her hands, within reason.

Note: Was countered by Uiharu's Thermos Hand, which maintains the temperature of whatever she touches, and by Touma's Imagine Breaker (Duh).