Ajime Kyouko arrived at the entrance of the 177th Judgment Branch office and opened the door as she staggered in with an injury on her leg. There, she saw Konori Mii and Uiharu Kazari having a break with a cup of tea.

Both occupants looked at the doorway and saw Kyouko standing limply. She was clearly in a bad shape.

"Ajime-san!" Uiharu rushed towards Kyouko, grabbing her arm and put it over her shoulder, supporting the injured cryokinesist to her designated chair.

She helped Kyouko to be seated on a chair and the latter looked up at her. "Uiharu-san... Where's Misaka-san and Saten-san?"

"Saten-san told me she's going to go spirit hunting with Misaka-san."

Kyouko sighed. "Saten-san... Always getting herself in such situations."

"Ah!

Ajime-san! You should worry about yourself more!" Uiharu went to the counter, grabbing the first aid kit for Kyouko.

While remained in her position, Konori looked at Kyouko. "What happened during your duty?"

"I was attacked." Kyouko said as Uiharu put on gloves, washed the other's gaping wound on her leg thoroughly and applied betadine with a cotton wool. "I don't know what it was, but they were first delinquents and then they transformed into … something."

"Transformed? As in their body changed shape?"

Kyouko nodded. "They had the form of a humanoid lion and a shark."

"Is that some kind of an ability? Like Metamorphose, perhaps?"

"I haven't seen one with such ability. If they were metamorphose users, why do they need flames to change form or to make their attacks stronger?"

Uiharu had finished wrapping the white bandage around Kyouko's wound. "We can check the Bank for confirmation. And please remove your vest and blouse."

Kyouko complied, slowly removing her light brown Tokiwadai vest as the wound on her arm and shoulder were reacting even to the simplest movement. Soon, she dropped her vest onto the floor and unbuttoned her blouse with her other hand that was fine and placed it above the vest, prompting for Uiharu to treat the fresh wounds.

"Ajime-san, tell us the descriptions of those delinquents and we'll check the Bank. You should stay here and recover." Konori said. "Leave the rest to us."

"Right."


Mikoto, Shirai and Saten were walking towards the 177th Judgment Branch.

Mikoto told Saten everything about her ordeal and the reason for her uncharacteristic attitude for the past few days. Of course, anything that was related to the urban legend was an instant awe for Saten.

"Then," Saten began. "What do you think of the youkai?"

Shirai's heart beat again with a loud thump and her face was red as a tomato. It was a sudden question. She was curious and very nervous of what Mikoto thought of her. Cold sweat ran down her hands as she waited for Mikoto's reply.

"What do I think, huh." Mikoto mused. "Well, at first, she's persistent and annoying. But as time passes, she grew to be kinder... and even cute..."

Toward the end of her sentence, Mikoto's voice started to lower to a whisper and blushed.

Saten laughed. "I think that kyuubi, um, Shirai Kuroko was it, is also cute. I mean, look at the fox ears on top of her head."

She raised her hands to her head, mimicking the said ears. "It wiggles in a way that no one can resist. But, how is she taking this? About the false accusation."

"She said that she didn't want to go back yet until she finds a way to stop it."

"It's hard, isn't it? That heavy feeling of being betrayed by everyone that once trusted you..."

Soon, they arrived at the said Judgment branch, located on the second floor as stated by the sign in front of the five-story building. They went to the said floor and opened the door to the office.

"Those delinquents did not have an ability like that. Both were Level 0 espers who dropped out of school."

Hearing Konori's voice about a certain delinquent, Mikoto asked as soon as she, Shirai and Saten entered the room, "What about the delinquents?"

Konori, Kyouko and Uiharu stopped whatever they were doing and turned to look at their friends who just arrived.

"Misaka-san!"

Kyouko, ignoring her wounds that was recently wrapped in bandage by Uiharu due to some sort of adrenaline that rushed into her, immediately went to Mikoto and grabbed her shoulders violently. "Were you hurt somewhere!? Did you have any cuts!? What were you doing while I was on duty!?"

Every word that came out of Kyouko's lips was followed by a little too harsh shaking.

"Wait- Kyouko- stop- I'm- perfectly- fine-"

Kyouko froze after hearing Mikoto's condition, she had been frantic and uneasy after hearing that two of her close friends were targeted. After seeing them, and confirmed that they were fine, she calmed down. "I heard you were targeted by two delinquents."

"Two delinquents?" Saten asked as Mikoto was recovering from the dizziness.

Kyouko told the two what had happened during her duty, and how she had known the plans down to the battle and the injuries.


"Seriously, Kamakiri... You and your stupid high-on-drugs personality."

Inu was displeased by how Kamakiri failed on his final objective: capture the long haired girl. Considering how Kamakiri always lost his sanity whenever he got too excited, he had half-expected the result.

Kamakiri cleared his throat, and his calm demeanor returned.

"Anyway, we'll resort to Plan B." He declared in a serious tone. "We'll send a few soldiers to capture some little friends. Prepare the memory flames."

"Yeah, yeah." Inu stood up. "I'll get to it."


An eerie silence permeated the office. After Kyouko had finished her recount of the incident, Mikoto accidentally mentioned that they were not ordinary delinquents, but youkai who wanted to hunt for the targeted heiress.

Realizing what she said, Mikoto bit her lip. In order to protect them, she didn't tell them anything about the youkai or even Shirai.

Mikoto was forced to tell the truth only when Yoshiki appeared. However, it was now too late to take back everything.

"Misaka-san, what do you mean by youkai?" Uiharu said.

As soon as she realized that she accidentally slipped up, she turned away from everyone in the room, unsure if she should tell them the truth or not.

Shirai rested a hand on Mikoto's shoulder. "It's okay, Onee-sama. Tell them."

A sad smile formed Mikoto's lips. "Okay then..."

The others occupants of the room stared at Mikoto with a mixture of curiosity and worry as they wondered whom was she agreeing to.

Mikoto looked at her friends. "I... I will tell you guys something..."

25 minutes later

"So you're saying that you were 'falsely' accused of killing a thousand of the population, and now you're being hunted down?" Konori asked, trying to absorb and understand the information that Shirai had told them.

"And so, the leader sent these youkai soldiers so as to capture you?" Kyouko added.

Shirai requested to take over Mikoto's body to explain her crisis better. For others, it was weird to hear Mikoto speaking in a very refined and polite tone. It seemed like she was a different person all over that could qualify for an 'ojou-sama'.

She nodded in confirmation of their questions and made sure she was hearing it right.

"By the way, how do we defeat those youkai you were talking about?" Kyouko asked.

"For someone like you, it would be nigh impossible unless that youkai fights you in its natural form. Dealing with their weakness in a human body is not easy. If you have any experiences with exorcism, you can extract the youkai from the body, but not defeat it altogether."

Academy City is a city of science and so, Spiritualism isn't something that is known here. People had realized that they could call spirits. But they realized that not all had good hearts. Majority of the spirits had wicked heart that would harm anyone until an exorcist came and release the spirit from the body of the victim.

Soon, there were gifted people who could see them. Those people said and considered that they were spirits who did not want to pass on and wanted to fulfill a task. Thus, they had made an organization dealing with possessed people and lost spirits.


Inu knelt on the solid ground, exhausted as he gasped for air.

"Damn those soldiers you've sent, Kamakiri..."

Kamikiri was also in a similar situation as he knelt on the ground, gasping for air, "I didn't expect them to be that stubborn."

"Are you sure they'll take their job seriously?"

"They did not come here after learning about it for no reason, Inu."

"I suppose..."

"C'mon, let's do our part and make our lord happy that he'll grant our wishes - punish the one who betrayed us."


Academy City was covered in warm orange sky as dusk approached. Students were now walking back towards their own dormitories as the curfew draws near.

Saten and Uiharu were in front of the latter's door of her dorm room.

Uiharu turned around from the door and looked at Saten. "See you tomorrow, Saten-san."

"Yeah. See ya.

Oh yeah, I forgot something."

Uiharu tilted her head to her right, wondering what could be the matter.

Saten bent down and held the end of Uiharu's skirt, flipping it high up into the air.

"Today is... Gekota?"

An awkward silence followed as Saten analyzed the design of the panty that Uiharu wore. A few minutes later, a scream was let out.

"HYAAAAA!"

Uiharu's dorm room opened from the inside. It was Haruue Erii, who was wearing her usual pink dress, at the doorway.

"What happened?" She asked.

Both Saten and Uiharu looked at her.

Saten put a hand at the back of her head sheepishly. "Hahaha, nothing. Just the usual."

"Saten-san! It's not something that is or should be a usual occurrence!" Uiharu scolded in defense.

"Anyway, I have to go back to my dorm." Saten said, ignoring Uiharu's scold. "Have fun!" She waved the two goodbye and walked away into the corridor.

As soon as Saten left, Uiharu entered her dormitory room and dropped her school bag beside the double deck bed.

"Is Judgment work really hard?" Haruue asked curiously.

"Sometimes. It's really case dependent so it's uncertain how easy or hard work in Judgment is." Uiharu replied as she removed the ribbon on her blouse.

Before Haruue said anything, they heard a knock from the door.

Both girls looked at the door. "A visitor? At this time?" Haruue went to it and held the doorknob, twisting as it clicked and pulled the door towards the room.

Before her, was a male middle school student from their school. She did not recognize the student and thought it was someone from another class.

"Umm... What brings you here?"

The last thing she saw a grin that almost looked like it reached his ears.


At Tokiwadai Dormitory outside School Garden, Room 208.

Mikoto and Kyouko were in their nightwear, sitting on their respective bed across each other.

Kyouko still couldn't take all the events that happened today. Being a scientific city that did not acknowledge anything supernatural or just someone that cannot be explained by science, it was overwhelming: From the explanation of what a youkai was to even the talk with the fugitive youkai (who introduced herself as Shirai Kuroko as she remembered it) that was using Mikoto's body. The youkai even mentioned she had not learnt how to exit bodies properly yet and had slammed Mikoto's head on the desk.

Now, she looked at the only other occupant, her roommate. Mikoto was currently in a state of trance and was deep in thought.

Suddenly, it seemed as though someone had interrupted her train of thoughts when she started to speak angrily.

"W-Wait! Kuroko! Stop rubbing my stomach like that! ... I- said- stop!"

Mikoto released an electric shock and hit something or someone in thin air.

"Geez, when did you start being aggressive?"

A bitter smile formed Kyouko's lips. She couldn't hear what was Shirai doing or saying to her roommate. Mikoto was lucky she could hear and see Shirai. It was encountering spirits may be unbelievable for a person like her who disregard events that couldn't be proven by science, but she was jealous.

She remembered what Same told her during the battle.

Remember this, kid, stop poking your nose where it doesn't belong. Knowing too much only spells trouble for you.

Was Same talking about Mikoto's current situation? Or was it to protect those who were partially involved?

Then she remembered something. It may had been quite some time, but she still felt the unusual aura from the elementary student she saw.

"Umm... Misaka-san?"

Her voice was soft and uncertain. Noticing this, Mikoto calmed down and looked at her.

"That time... when I first caught you with that elementary student... was he really possessed?"

"Kyouko... why are you asking that?"

"I know it's been some time already, but I just can't forget about it. When I saw him, I suddenly felt scared and shaky. Of course, being a Judgment member, I couldn't let it rule over my confidence. That boy... felt unusual."

Mikoto nodded. "Yeah. He was possessed. When it first happened, I was confused too. I did not know what to do, but I was glad that Kuroko was there and protected me from that attack."

"I see..."

Kyouko clenched her hands into fists. Even if she cannot see those youkai, she made a resolute vow to continue to aid Mikoto: directly or indirectly. As a Judgment officer, her duty was to protect students from the bad guys.


The next day, at Tokiwadai Middle School's swimming pool.

Wannai Kuniho swam to the front end of the pool and touched the edge of the ground.

Awatsuki Maaya approached her as she hoist her body up and sat. The long haired girl handed her a sports drink.

"Congratulations on your new record." Awatsuki said as she sat beside Wannai.

"Ah, thanks Awatsuki-san. It was nothing."

"Awatsuki-san! Wannai-san!"

Both girls looked behind them as they saw a member of swimming club approaching them.

"Nemoto-san, what brings you here?" Wannai said.

"Actually, I have a favor to ask..."


Saten arrived at 177th Judgment Branch office. Uiharu and Haruue were not in class today. She tried contacting them from Uiharu's phone to check if they were sick, but no response came and decided to check the dorm room herself. Worry came over her and so, she went to check the office after school was over.

This only got her more worried as she only saw Konori sitting on her desk, typing on her laptop. She closed the door behind her and approached her.

"Konori-senpai... have you seen Uiharu and Haruue-san?" She asked, her heart beating faster as she thought of the dreaded things that could or would have happened to them.

Konori stopped typing and looked at Saten. "No... why?"

"Today... they were not in school. They didn't even answer my call as well, so I thought they were here."

"Did those two go somewhere else off after Uiharu-san went back?"

"It was unlikely for them to go somewhere else once its curfew."

"How about you wait here until they come here?" Konori suggested.

"...I guess so."

Saten sat at a couch and sighed. Maybe Uiharu was just out shopping with Haruue. But she couldn't get off the hunch she had since morning. Something was off.

Both occupants looked at the door as they heard a click, creaking towards the room. They stared at the person at the doorway.

"Ah, Saten-san, what brings you here?"

It was Ajime Kyouko.

"Ajime-san, have you seen Uiharu and Haruue-san?" Saten asked.

Kyouko closed the door as soon as she entered. "Eh? Aren't you always with them in Sakugawa?"

"That's the problem. Neither of them were present in school today."

"Tried contacting them?"

"I did. I also checked their dormitory, but they were not there."

Kyouko sat at her designated work desk and opened her laptop. "I'll track Uiharu-san's GPS and -"

The door was abruptly forced open as the girls looked at it. Standing at the doorway was a male high school student. He wore a blank expression.

"Umm... What's wrong?" Saten asked, her voice frail.


"Hya!"

Both Awatsuki and Wannai yelped as they hit the ground 2 meters from above. Their hands and ankles were bounded by a thick rope on their backs. Their mouth was also gagged by a white cloth. Beside them were Uiharu and Haruue.

"Hahaha!" Inu's voice boomed the warehouse. "What's with that look, Kamakiri? Have you turned transsexual and possessed a girl?"

"Stop laughing, you dogshit."

Inu flinched at the insult. "What!? You wanna fight!?"

"I never said I want to fight! Where the hell are you getting those conclusions!?"

"Oh, so dogshit isn't an insult in your dictionary?!"

"As if calling me a trans just because I possessed a girl was not an insult! Besides, how would I infiltrate an all-girls school in a male body!?"

"Act like a pervert!"

Kamakiri had the urge to kill Inu now. Inu had been more stubborn than the other two youkai that they had entrusted their next plan to. Arguing with the stubborn headed dog brain would only raise his blood pressure and so, might as well just calm down and move on.

"Anyway, we'll wait for the two to capture the remaining victims we need."


"Really... when will you learn how to get out of my body on your own?"

Mikoto sighed as she walked in the streets with Shirai. Both were heading to Seventh Mist as Mikoto decided to do some shopping.

"Until I go back and teach myself how to. Not all youkai knows how to get out of the body themselves."

Soon, they reached their destination and entered the mall and headed for an accessory shop filled with various accessories from various franchises, including Gekota and Kirugumar.

Mikoto smiled brightly like a child as she went in the shop and went for the counter.

"Do you have a special Golden Gekota strap!?" She asked, her eyes shone with bright stars.

The person at the counter sweatdropped at Mikoto's act. Too childish for a middle school student, she thought.

"Yes, we have the limited edition golden Gekota strap." She replied with a bright smile.

"Yay~"

Meanwhile, Shirai, at the doorway of the accessory shop, was dumbfounded at how Mikoto's actions were so different from morning until now. Due to an uncontrollable feeling known to humans as love, she had the tendency to hug Mikoto randomly out of nowhere, although she would always receive an electric treatment afterward.

Every time she thought of love, she wanted to erase the thought away, but the more she tried, the stronger the thought became.

But now, Mikoto was acting like a seven year old child who looked like she was in some toy heaven. In this case – Gekota.

'I-I never thought of Onee-sama could act like a sugar high seven year old... To think that most people her age would be like a teenager with a lot of curiosities in their life... Such childish taste!'

After receiving a small box that contained the limited edition special golden Gekota strap, Mikoto took out a ten thousand yen bill and gave it to the counter.

Putting the box in her bag, Mikoto walked up to Shirai. "Let's go, Kuroko."

"Eh? Where to?"

"We're going back to the dormitory. I still have homework to do."

Mikoto walked away from the shop they were in and Shirai followed suit.


"Alright. Which one of you is a computer geek?"

Kamakiri's possessed female body's voice boomed. Inu and the other two youkai possessed humans, Kaeru and Gokiburi, bit their lips as they tried their best to not laugh at how Kamakiri looked ridiculous at possessing a human girl. Inu even suggested to be careful as the girl could be a trap.

Kamakiri heard about it and grabbed Inu's collar. "Hey dogshit, if you can use your mouth for such nonsense, then maybe you can start helping me."

"F-Forgive me... Haha... I couldn't resist suggesting... Haha... about it..." Unable contain his laughter, Inu burst into laughter, as the other two youkai did the same.

Fed up with the stupidity that Kamakiri's companions only seemed to have, he summoned his long, sharp green sickles on his wrist and placed both on each youkai's throat.

"If all three of you can only act as stupid bastards, then I could kill all of you right here, right now."

Inu, Kaeru and Gokiburi stopped laughing and their bodies shook in fear with only Kamakiri's use of a sharp, deadly tone. They gulped in unison as they stared at the sickles that Kamakiri raised to their throats.

"A-Alright... we'll get serious..." Inu croaked with his broken voice.

Kamakiri removed the sickles and dismissed it in green flame. He looked back at the captured girls before him.

All seven of them were lined up, restrained from moving as their wrists and legs were bounded by a thick rope and their mouths were gagged by a white cloth tied on their lips. Kyouko, on the other hand, received scrapes as a sign she had tried to escape from the eventual capture with Saten and Konori.

"Umm... Kamakiri, what were you asking again?" Inu asked, his cluelessness obvious.

"I asked if any of these girls is a computer geek."

"Hmm... If I remember correctly, I think that it is the flowerbed girl." Inu said as he looked at Uiharu. "Yup, it's definitely her."

"Kaeru, remove that cloth on her." Kamakiri commanded, looking at the poker-faced possessed human beside Inu.

Kaeru nodded and slowly untied the cloth from Uiharu.

She glared at Kamakiri. "What are you planning to do with us?"

"My, my. Such as rude girl. I removed that cloth because I want answers, not questions."

"Even if you want them, I won't give it to you."

"Looks like I have to say it directly." Kamakiri sighed, knowing that arguing with the flowerbed girl wouldn't get things anywhere. "I demand answers. If I get one, I'll get your dear friend and she may be able to save you. If not..."

Uiharu flinched at Kamakiri's statement. She knew what he meant - it was obvious.

"Or should I say, your dear close friend, Misaka Mikoto?"

Everyone was surprised at Kamakiri's knowledge of their friend's name except for Saten, who was clearly angry at Kamakiri. Awatsuki and Wannai were very confused at the turn of events. They did not know what kind of situation they were in; they had been forcefully caught up in it.

"How did you know -"

Uiharu was cut off when Kamakiri raised his finger. "Tsk tsk tsk. I made up an incident because I'm tracking somebody. I planned to meet her because of some issue that she got herself into. So, if you would answer my question obediently, I would gladly ask her to come here and have all of you saved. Simple as that."

"Why should I trust you?"

"Do you have a choice?"

Uiharu decided that answering his question would be best. "Alright, let me hear this question."

"Where is this place?"

...Silence.

It was a very long silence that brought the atmosphere down. It was as if time had stopped for everyone. No one dared to make even the slightest sound and they could only remain still and quiet as the magnitude of the question was out of the calculations that not even a seismometer could read it.

"D-District 10. According to the database, this is the only abandoned warehouse in this district..." Uiharu said.

"I see. Contact your friend and tell her to come here."

Kaeru took this as a sign to remove the rope that bounded Uiharu's wrist. She obediently grabbed her phone from her pocket and started to type a message for Mikoto.

No one ever tried to comprehend Kamakiri's question. It was a serious question, according to his tone. But the girls felt like slapping their palm into their faces.


Mikoto was doing her homework leisurely as Shirai was sleeping on her bed. Tokiwadai always gave difficult homework for their students since they were an elite school, unlike neighborhood schools such as Sakugawa.

A ringing melody interrupted her work as she looked at her Gekota phone placed on the table.

She grabbed the phone and flipped it open.

"From Uiharu-san?"

She opened the message and read:

Misaka-san, please come to the abandoned warehouse at District 10.


A/N: Cliché thing, I know. Hostages and all.

I really had so much fun writing Kamakiri and Inu. What can be more amusing than having two characters with complete opposite personalities? If you're interested, drop me a PM so there will be special chapters with these two and their antics and special guests from the cast. Hilarity ensues.

I was serious when that golden Gekota strap was worth 10,000 yen. After all, it's limited edition and golden. Unless it was a limited edition pink Dora the Explorer watch. Toodles~

Is there a translated version of the notes that Kuroko wrote at the beginning and end of volume 3 of Railgun manga? It states how she fell in love with Mikoto that was not mentioned anywhere in anime or light novel. If none, I need a Japanese translator and ask for translation. Drop me a PM and I'll give you a link.

Credits to CrossFaded and werewolf2005 for beta reading the chapter. (I really should stop procrastinating.)