"... Ahhhhh…. Really now… Is there anything in the world better than drinking a nice cold can of turnip and strawberry juice on a hot day? … Well… I could actually think of a few other flavors I would prefer… but I can definitely say that this is in my top 20."
… To be honest with you, I would probably prefer for you to be drinking something… Anything else at this moment. It's not that I have anything against the two flavours… It's just that the thought of the two together…
At the moment that he was thinking that, Makoto watched as the purple haired woman took a sip of the concoction that somehow qualified as a drink, and he had to focus everything he had on keeping himself from retching in disgust.
It had been a few minutes since the two had abandoned walking around in the afternoon sun aimlessly for the pleasure of sitting in the shade provided by the rather tall building that made up this section of the city.
Makoto had somehow managed to convince the purple haired woman from stripping every 5 seconds for the low price of buying her the 'drink' that she was currently consuming. She had still been tight lipped about where she needed to go, or why she needed his help, but at the very least the Level 5 did not have to cover her up in embarrassment every time he turned to look at her.
Letting out a sigh as the urge to retch passed him by, Makoto looked back at the purple haired woman to see her staring off into the sky with a blank, absorbed in thought expression on her face, can hanging just at her lips as if she was about to take a sip from it.
… Well now seems as good as time as any to get some sort of answers out of her.
Makoto loudly cleared his throat as a way to get the woman's attention before he began talking to her.
"So… Not to be the kind of person to really push you… But also seeing as how I have a limited amount of time… Could you please tell me where the hell you need to go or at least explain what was happening with that bitch from earlier?!"
The purple haired woman was shocked back into awareness by Makoto's throat clearing and subsequent swearing, and she turned to look over at the level 5 and glared over at him.
"My… You have quite the mouth on you. I was wondering why you and that girl from earlier had such a hatred for each other, but now I think I understand perfectly why she despises you."
Makoto grimaced in response to this, gesturing up into the air as if he were directing it at the black haired girl.
"Don't try and make it out like I'm the sole reason that me and that girl hate each other. She actually shares most of the blame for the current state of our relationship, her and her 'has to stick her nose in everything' attitude."
The purple haired woman looked at Makoto with a look of passing interest, before shaking her head and sighing.
"That sounds… like you might have an interesting story to tell me… But let's just put that to the side for now shall we? Now… you asked for an explanation… but let's actually start with some introductions."
… That is not what I asked you for, but fuck it. It's a good enough start, and it at least gives me a name to give to Kuroko so that you can be caught.
The purple haired woman, either choosing to ignore the annoyed look on Makoto's face or to not notice it at all, gestured toward herself with her free hand.
"My name is Ayase Yue, and I am a journalist affiliated with the Yukihiro group."
… The Yukihiro group…? If I'm remembering correctly… Isn't that the group that has been investing into various parts of the national industry for the past 10 year? I didn't think that they owned a publication of any sort, though when I think on it I guess a company that big and that diverse must have something akin to one. In any case...
Makoto lazily gestured to himself.
"Well my name is Misaka Makoto, and as you can probably guess I'm a student living here in the city."
After introducing himself Ayase Yue looked at him with a look of genuine interest rather than one of slight annoyance.
"Misaka Makoto… ? Are you… Are you perhaps The Misaka Makoto, as in the third level five ever categorized?"
Makoto gave Ayase a blank stare for a few moments before his gaze transformed from one of annoyance to one of slight admiration.
"That is… interesting. Normally people who hear about how I'm the third level 5 of Academy city just assume that means that I am the third strongest level 5 in the city. You… Have actually done your research."
Ayase smiled over at Makoto and even gave a slight showy bow towards him.
"Well I would be a very bad journalist if I didn't at least do my research. And on that note, I would like to do another facet of my job and interview you about-...!?"
Before she could finish talking she caught herself in the middle of her sentence, grimacing to herself as she shaked her head in a manner of disgust.
"Ah… I can't actually do that now can I? I still have this appointment that I have to get to, and I'm already running behind on my schedule. Uhmmm… Is it possible for me to get your contact info just in case we could do that interview?"
Makoto nodded at Ayase and gave the journalist his email address, which she accepted gratefully. Makoto, now very much interested in the conversation, leaned in toward Ayase.
"So… Ayase-san. Might I ask what it is you are researching now?"
Ayase had a thoughtful yet hesitant look on her face as she contemplated Makoto's question.
"I… Listen. As a journalist who is currently not affiliated with Academy City, my actual access to information is quite limited due to the higher ups wanting to control the information. And also as a journalist, a person who makes a lot of money from having exclusive information, I am very wary about handing out said information."
Makoto frowned in a bit of disappointment, but he completely understood Ayase's reasoning.
Ayase though, with a smile on her face, continued speaking after explaining her position.
"But I guess I should be fair and give you something. After all you have agreed to give me an interview and will help me to my appointment. The story that I am working on with this appointment is about AIM's. You do know what-..."
Makoto cut off Ayase with an answer to the question she hadn't finished asking.
"AIM's, or by their proper names An Involuntary Movement diffusion fields, are energy fields that are released by espers unconsciously. My class has covered that subject last year."
Ayase nodded, with a look of slight annoyance on her face for not getting the chance to explain the topic.
"Well… Yes that is exactly it… So the piece that I am writing isn't really about what AIM's are, though I am going to have to include a bit of a preamble about the topic, but rather about how these can be put to use by Academy City. The main idea floating around about the topic is some sort of instant identification system for espers, so to better police them…"
Ayase's explanation trailed off as she slowly began to realize what she was saying, looking over at Makoto with a worried and apologetic expression on her face.
Makoto simply shrugged off the obvious attack on esper rights and instead began to focus on helping Ayase.
"So I'm guessing that you are heading over to the AIM research center for this appointment of yours? I don't see how you or that girl from earlier could have possibly missed it, even with her idiocy."
Ayase sighed in response to that and shook her head.
"Well we did end up at the main AIM Research Center, but it actually turns out that I had to go to the AIM Analytic Research Center, which neither I or the girl from before knew where that was. It didn't help that the receptionist didn't seem to know that I had an appointment with their branch of the city either."
Makoto looked slightly surprised at the mention of the AIM Analytic Research Center, recognizing that name almost instantly.
"The Analytic Research Center? I know exactly where that is. It was actually the place where my level was upgraded from level 2 to level 3."
Ayase looked at Makoto with a look of surprise that changed into a grateful smile.
"Really now? Well then… Could you please the way then?"
Makoto nodded at the request and the two stood up from where they sat and walked off into the city.
… I swear I am pretty sure this is all Makoto's fault… I am one hundred percent sure that I am suffering because of Makoto right now.
Resisting the powerful urge to sigh at that moment, Kuroko looked over at the massive pile of paperwork that was sitting on his desk, almost mocking him with how much work he had to do.
This giant pile of work was due to his handling of the capture of Juufuku Mito, which despite his best efforts to spin the situation of the capture in his favor, due to the obvious signs of 'outside' assistance. With this undeniable fact in the forefront of his superiors, Kuroko had been saddled with most of the grunt work of his Judgement station for the past week, wearing his already frail patience to its limit.
… You know… If I could at the very least look forward to a nice, relaxing end of the day, one where I wouldn't get blowback from all the shit that Makoto does, I might be able to deal with all this a bit better… But no… No. Makoto had to go and get in a fight with fucking Orimura of all people… I wish I could just die now and save myself the suffering I'm in for.
Restraining yet another sigh, Kuroko reached out to take a pack of papers from the top of the stack, quickly filling out the things on the paper and on the digital document that he could without consulting any other source of data.
The Judgement agent had gotten halfway through this time consuming process when hs suddenly felt a hand placed on his shoulder, with a jovial voice accompanying it.
"So… I see Takamachi-san still has you working on that mountain of shit… You know… You'd think by now that he would be a bit more forgiving with 'your' antics."
Turning his head in the direction of the hand on his shoulder, Kuroko looked up to see his senpai, Konori Mao, standing behind him, offering him a can of cold juice.
Kuroko accepted the juice from his senpai, popping it open almost instantly and taking it a long sip from the can before finally letting out the sigh that had been building in him for the past day.
"You know just as well as I do that there is no way that Takamachi-san would ever give me a break on anything relating to 'my' antics. The straight laced bastard would have probably saddled me with this even if only a single hair was out of place on that guy's head."
Mao chuckled a bit before sitting down at his own desk, which was right next to Kuroko's, conveniently ignoring his own pile of work.
"Well… You know how most of the Anti-skill supervisors are. Most of them come from some sort of military background, so they are used to working in a very controlled environment, so going to having middle schoolers as their underlings is a bit…"
Kuroko sighed again and set the can of juice down on his desk, hanging his head in a depressed manner.
"So it's all my fault for being so 'immature' that I can't stop my friend, who could probably turn me into a paste on the concrete if he wanted to, from going crazy whenever he gets angry… Oh god why do I have to be alive right now? Could I just go curl up and die somewhere to escape this misery?"
Mao chuckled again at Kuroko's spiral into depression as he finally turned his attention to his own work, picking up a packet of paper to look through. After a few moments, he grinned over at Kuroko.
"Well… At least you are having a better time than Tomohisa and the rest of the Judgement agent's out there right now, looking for that serial bomber and maybe one second away from death."
Kuroko paused in his work, looking up at the grinning Mao with a blank expression on his own face.
"... You know… Mao-senpai… I do know that you have a sadistic sense of humor from time to time… but… That has to be one of the worst jokes you have told in a while."
Mao looked at Kuroko for a moment with a blank, unsure gaze of his own before a look of realization slowly began make its way across his face.
"Oh… Oh thats right… You have been stuck doing the stuff that Takamachi-san swamped you with. That's why you don't know about the bombings…"
Kuroko's expression changed to one of complete shock at the realization that Mao was indeed not telling a joke.
"What… What in the world has been going on with these bombings then, and why have I not heard about them going on?"
Mao let out a sigh as he leaned back in his chair, his obvious jovial mood slowly draining from his face.
"Well… let's start with the first part of that question shall we? These attacks as they are now being called apparently started over a month ago, though back then they seemed more like pranks based upon the amount of disturbance they caused. The first recorded instance of these attacks was a popping sound and a bit of smoke coming from a planter on a main street, and ever since then various random explosions have been going off, and no demands have been given to anyone because of them."
Kuroko began to scratch his chin, his mind slowly taking in the information that had been presented to him, processing it in order to better to ask questions.
"So… Has there been any real commonality in the attacks? Like similar targets, similar time of day... anything similar?"
Mao thought for a few moments before answering.
"Tell me Kuroko… Have you heard about DIME's before?"
Kuroko scratched his head for a moment before shrugging over at Mao.
"Uhmmm… I don't really know about what you might be referring to… Might it be something to do with those american coins?"
Mao chuckled in response to Kuroko's answer, shaking his head as he began to answer.
"Well… I guess you are on track when you were talking about metal, but no it has nothing to do with coins. DIME's are Dense Inert Metal Explosives. Long explanation short, these bombs are basically tungsten dust launchers that are supposed to kill people within an extremely short range. And the reason this is important is because around many of the bombing sites, there seems to be a thin layer of tungsten coating everything."
Kuroko raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"That seems… like it would be very easy to easy to track and be far more publicized. I mean… I can already see the title of the news story right now. 'Military Bomb goes off in the middle of civilian district. Do we need more regulation against military development?'"
Mao nodded at Kuroko.
"Yeah… That would probably be the case if it was actually a DIME, though unfortunately it isn't. While the existence of tungsten at the explosion site makes it seem like it was a DIME, the lack of any container or deaths make it seem like it wasn't. Also Anti-Skill is trying to control the information getting out because they believe that the bomber might be doing this for publicity since no demands have been sent."
Kuroko grimaced at the thought of his superiors controlling information flow, but after a moment sighed in resignation.
"Well… that might be for the best actually… Seeing as how they probably wouldn't want to cause a panic amongst students either. On that note… Has Anti-skill looked into whether or not it was an esper that caused the explosion? Considering the situation that seems to be the most logical conclusion."
Mao shook his head again.
"Anti-skill also had that idea and has been looking into espers with powers similar to what was happening, but it very much seems that all the ones that are able to do something like this have an alibi for when the explosions were going off."
Kuroko nodded at his senpai, his thoughts drifting off due to that explanation.
… But wait… Haven't there been incidents recently where the perpetrator is an esper with a power much higher than what they were supposed to be? Couldn't that also be the case for this one as well?
At that moment Kuroko looked over at the pile of paperwork, and the question of figuring out this puzzle fled from his mind instantly.
Ah well… This isn't my problem right now anyway. As long as Makoto manages to stay out of this problem, I'll be fine. And what are the chances of him getting into yet another shitstorm in one day?
