A Certain Unknown Mob
I'M ALIVE!
My deepest apologies, my dear readers; real life work and my other projects are keeping me away from this story... And I can't really promise the next update will be soon either. My muses are all over the place and I'm simply focusing on what is right in front of me first and foremost. Without further ado, enjoy!
Chapter 5: First Conflict
The walk through the Academy City turned out to be pleasant so far for the Kageyama siblings. They had been introduced to several hotspots for students, famous sights, and restaurants that were worth trying in future. The hormonal part of their mind, being pubescent teenage boys they were, which they would keep for themselves - the company of four attractive-looking girls was a very nice bonus.
They finally had arrived at a local park where everyone had chosen to follow one of Mikoto's whims - a small crepes shop that gave collectible keychains of Gekota, a mascot character that resembled a smiling frog, much to everyone's amusement.
Who would have thought the mature-looking electromaster had a childish taste?
"The queue is pretty long…" Ritsu remarked at the line of people standing before the shop. "Either the crepes are that good or this Gekota thing is that popular."
"Might be both, though I'm leaning towards the latter." Kuroko replied with a small amused smile.
Shigeo then spoke up, "Um… Should we try another place?"
"Well…" Kuroko trailed off as she, along with the others, glanced at Mikoto, who was still looking intently at the Gekota advertisement board next to the shop.
"I think we don't have a choice here. Sorry about this, you two." Kuroko concluded with a small sigh.
"No, no, it's fine." Ritsu replied with a polite tone, "We're the ones that have been imposing. Tell you what, you girls can go find a seat, we'll stay here and take your orders."
"No, please, you don't have to go that far!" Uiharu refused bashfully. "You boys can go get us seats, we'll take the queue here."
"Then how about this?" Ritsu then held up a finger, "You girls get us some drinks from a nearby vending machine and a seat, we'll get your treats?"
"That's…" Ruiko blinked, "Not a bad deal. I'm fine with that. Uiharu?"
"Well… If you insist, then." Uiharu looked hesitant at first, but she nodded eventually.
"Then it's settled." Kuroko nodded as well, before she turned to her idol, "How about you, sissy?"
"Hm? Oh, I'll just stay here too. No biggie, I want to browse through the menu anyway." Mikoto replied with a quick smile before she returned her attention towards the menu board…. Or the same Gekota advertisement board, much to everyone's further amusement.
"Brother?" Ritsu never forgets to address Shigeo's opinion.
The said brother looked as passive as ever, but he brought up a hand giving an 'okay' sign, "No problem, Ritsu."
"Alright, then. We'll see you later- Oh, um… What kind of drinks do you guys like?" Uiharu then asked.
"Thanks, I'll have whatever that's cold." Mikoto waved.
"I'll go with soda." Ritsu smiled with a small shrug.
"...Something milky, please." Shigeo nodded imploringly.
"Got it! See you in a few!" Ruiko saluted before she went off with Uiharu and Kuroko.
A few minutes after they split up, the Kageyama siblings plus Mikoto were standing in line in front of the crepes store, slowly, but surely moving a few steps forward every few minutes.
However, for some reason, Shigeo could not help but feel something intense looming behind him. He glanced behind to see Mikoto standing quietly behind him, but she looked like she could barely wait until her turn at the counter.
Ritsu himself only quirked an eyebrow at the sight, but decided to keep quiet.
Shigeo was not sure what to do, but the time he had spent with friends and enemies back home had provided a modicum of social skills.
"Um… Would you like to swap spots with me?" Shigeo dared himself to ask the electromaster.
Mikoto blinked at the boy before she quickly schooled her features, "Ah, no, no! I'm fine!"
Shigeo stared at his fellow level-5 for a few more seconds before he simply turned back. "...Okay, then."
It took some time until Mikoto arrived at the counter, after Shigeo had made his own purchase and received the advertised Gekota key-chain, which he was eyeing as Mikoto made her order.
"I'm sorry, but we just gave out our last key-chain…"
By the next second after the staff had spoken, both Ritsu and Shigeo blinked at the sight of Mikoto slumping on the ground, her expression was heart-broken.
"Err, are you okay?" Ritsu asked with a sweat-drop, but Mikoto only replied with a small whimper.
Darting his gaze between the sad girl and the keychain in his hand, Shigeo then crouched down while offering the merchandise, "Um, would you like to have mine?"
"Um, no, I-!" Mikoto was about to refuse out of reflex, when her eyes darted between Shigeo and the Gekota. "...Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. You can have it." Shigeo replied with a small smile.
"Thank you!" Mikoto then gingerly accepted the offer, and the siblings could only watch as the supposedly 'elite' admired the merchandise in her grasp with starry eyes.
Hell, she even skipped her steps as they returned with everyone's orders.
At the very least, the siblings did not find the sight unpleasant whatsoever.
The group was then enjoying their purchased treats.
While Mikoto was busy keeping the ever-pestering Kuroko at bay, the rest of the girls and Kageyama siblings were sitting on two separate benches.
"How's the crepes, brother?" Ritsu asked as he munched his own.
"It's good." Shigeo replied after swallowing a bite.
The younger brother then looked up at the sunny sky, "Academy City is awesome so far, isn't it?"
Shigeo also looked up, "...Yeah."
The siblings then looked to the side, where Mikoto was sharing her own crepes to Ruiko, which ended up eliciting an over the top, envious reaction from Kuroko.
"Say, brother…" Ritsu asked, "How strong do you think Misaka-san is?"
It was thanks to the siblings past experiences in dealing and fighting with various Espers, that they had developed something akin to a sixth sense, in which they could tell by a glance that an Esper is powerful.
Shigeo hummed as she stared at Mikoto, who was in the middle of berating Kuroko, "She's strong, stronger than most of the others back home."
Ritsu nodded in agreement - if someone on Misaka or Kuroko's calibre were their friends or god-forbid - enemies back at home, their clash with Claw might have ended up very differently.
However, their musing was soon cut short when they suddenly heard an explosion occurred not far from their location - the booming sound was enough to force Ritsu and Shigeo cover their ears.
"What the hell?! Brother, are you okay?" Ritsu exclaimed before turning to his brother, who nodded.
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The siblings then noticed that Kuroko had equipped a green armband - her Judgement armband, and was talking with Uiharu, who soon also equipped her own Judgement armband.
"What's going on!?"
Shigeo asked as the siblings approached the girls.
"We're going to find out! Both of you, please stay clear and get to safety! Help is en route!" Uiharu replied with a serious tone before she made a call to the Anti-Skill.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Ritsu then asked.
"Stand back, you two! You too, sis!"
Kuroko replied with a tone of authority as she stood in front of what appeared to be a bank with a gaping hole at the entrance.
"This is our job as Judgement to maintain order. Civilians should just sit tight and watch." The level-4 said with a confident wink.
The boys then saw three adult men running out from the building with several duffle bags full with cash. They could not run very far as Kuroko suddenly appeared in front of them.
"Stay where you are! I am from Judgement! You are all under arrest in charge of robbery and property damage!" Kuroko declared while showing her armband.
The robbers stared at the teenager for a few seconds before they burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! If a girl like you is a part of Judgement, the cops are surely desperate!" The robber at the upfront then charged at Kuroko, "Get out of the way, lil' missy! Or you'll get hurt!"
Seeing the man was about to run over the girl, Shigeo was about to extend his hand and use his telekinesis out of reflex, when Ritsu placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
"Ritsu…?"
"Let's watch first, brother." Ritsu said with a calm voice as his eyes did not leave the scene, "I think Shirai has things under control there."
Shigeo then looked at Kuroko, who did not show any sign of panic or distress whatsoever as the man closed the distance between them.
True to Ritsu's intuition - Shigeo's eyes widened when Kuroko easily stepped aside, grabbed the man's wrist and flipped him over using Aikido, slamming the man's larger body to the ground.
When the man was lying on the ground, Kuroko waved her hand on her skirt; then Shigeo and Ritsu saw nearly a dozen of nails suddenly appeared and impaled the edge of the man's clothes through the concrete ground, effectively restraining him.
Where did those nails come from?
Both brothers could not help but be curious.
"Amazing!" Ruiko was more vocal with her reaction at Kuroko's display of skill.
"As expected of Kuroko." Mikoto simply nodded in approval.
The brothers then noticed that the other two robbers began to hesitate after seeing one of their own getting apprehended. One of them then revealed himself to be another Esper, as he conjured a fire ball on his palm.
This time, Shigeo believed that he had to do something or things would get out of hand. Even Ritsu was unable to stop him anymore as the Shigeo extended his hand towards the Pyrokinetic and activated his power.
Back with Kuroko - she was ready to teleport away from the line of fire when she suddenly found the Pyrokinetic robber stopping himself abruptly from throwing the flames at her - the said flame had been snuffed out as well.
"What the hell's going on!?" The robber himself also appeared to be as confused as she was, as his body suddenly felt an invisible force keeping him still. Not only that, his body was also being lifted from the ground.
Kuroko watched the second robber floating helplessly - Telekinesis? But who…?
She looked around, and soon she found Shigeo was extending his hand at the robber, his hair was rising slightly.
The others who watched Shigeo's handiwork, could only stare at the boy.
Stopping and lifting a grown man from that distance? That's a level-5, alright - Mikoto mused as she was quite impressed at Shigeo's control.
"Shigeo-san, I appreciate the help, but please leave this matter to us officials! Civilians like you are not supposed to get involved!" Kuroko lightly chastised.
Shigeo was slightly taken aback, "Um... sorry. Should I... let him go?"
Uiharu quickly replied, "No, no! It's not like you're doing anything wrong, please just keep him restrained for now."
Shigeo then put the robber's body on the ground, allowing Kuroko to restrain him.
"Err, where's Ritsu?" Ruiko then asked as she noticed the younger Kageyama was no longer by Shigeo's side.
"Over here."
Everyone then turned, seeing Ritsu approaching with a boy walking anxiously and very close to his side. What really caught their eyes was the sight of a man floating behind Ritsu - the third robber who was struggling to break free from Ritsu's telekinetic grip.
"Whoa…" Ruiko could not help but to remark.
"Ritsu-san as well…" Kuroko sighed exasperatedly.
"Sorry, I found this guy trying to sneak away in the middle of commotion." Ritsu informed.
"And the child?" Kuroko asked.
Ritsu glanced at the boy beside him, "Oh, this boy apparently got separated from his group. He's supposed to be on a field trip with his schoolmates."
"...Right, just put the man down on the ground, I'll take care of the rest." Kuroko replied before turning to her fellow Judgement, "Uiharu, can you escort the boy? His teacher is probably worried sick as we speak."
"Y-yes, got it!" Uiharu then did as she was told.
"With all of this commotion, I think we should just head back to our branch office." Kuroko told the Kageyama siblings, "Do you two still want me to brief you about joining Judgement?"
Soon, everyone was situated within the 177th Judgement Branch Office. Ruiko, Mikoto and the Kageyama siblings were sitting in the small guest lounge while Kuroko and Uiharu finished their report and other paperworks regarding the robbery case earlier.
Mikoto, who had visited the place several times whenever she ended up involving herself into Kuroko's line of work, was admiring her newly acquired addition of her Gekota collection.
Ritsu was calmly fiddling with his cell-phone, browsing through news sites, while Shigeo was absent-mindedly scanning around the room.
Ruiko - being the only 'normal' person, felt awkwardly out of place, as her eyes darted around the Espers sitting with her. She nearly winced when her eyes met with Ritsu's.
"Are you okay? You look… nervous, for some reason." the younger Kageyama asked with a concerned tone.
For a second, Ruiko found herself not sure what to make out of Ritsu's attention on her.
"A-ah, no, I'm okay!" Ruiko replied with an awkward smile, "This is just my first time being here, at the Judgement office, y'know? Kind of nervous, I guess."
"Oh… I guess I'm with you, then." Ritsu replied with a nod, in which Shigeo also mimicked.
"No need to worry here." Mikoto said with a calming tone, "They might have some power around, but in the end, Judgement members are still students like us. Think of them as class representatives, or maybe student councils but on a little higher scale."
"You don't seem worried. Have you been here before, Misaka-san?" Ruiko asked.
To her credit, Mikoto looked slightly embarrassed, as she looked away while scratching her cheek, "Well, I might have been in trouble or two…. Not exactly my proudest moments."
She then turned to the siblings.
"By the way, I saw how you guys man-handled those robbers. So your powers are telekinesis?"
Shigeo and Ritsu shared a quick glance after hearing Mikoto's question. After spending a good while in Academy City, both of them had learned that the way the Esper powers work in the city was way different than what they knew before moving in.
Per usual, Ritsu took care of the talking while keeping things close to the chest, "Pretty much, though my power is nothing compared to my brother here."
Mikoto nodded, "Yeah, I can tell. It takes a highly precise control to use telekinesis on people without accidentally hurting them; and you can do this from the beginning?" She asked, turning her gaze at Shigeo.
The older Kageyama hummed while looking down on the table, "Well… It just came to me before I knew it, although it's hard to control sometimes."
"Tell me about it." Ritsu mused, "There are way too many to count when you accidentally bent all of our spoons and utensils beyond repair."
Shigeo let out a weak chuckle as his face was slightly flustered in embarrassment.
"Accidentally….? Are you saying that you've been… breaking objects?" Ruiko asked with a quirked eye-brow.
"It's nothing bad, I assure you." Ritsu intervened, "But as my brother said, he used to have hard times in keeping his powers under control. He's been getting better ever since. But speaking of power..." His eyes then darted to the other level 5 in the room, "Misaka-san, what is your power, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Electrokinesis." Mikoto easily replied while holding up two of her fingers, generating a small spark of electricity in demonstration, "It basically allows me to manipulate electricity… Though, if I'm being honest, your telekinesis sounds more useful in daily life."
"I… actually find our ability to be cooler than ours, though." Ritsu commented.
"You tell me, but cooler and stronger abilities aren't equally useful." Mikoto countered. "Look at Kuroko for example; her teleportation is one of the things I find more convenient than mine."
"I… can see your point there." Ritsu nodded thoughtfully.
On the other hand, Ruiko was feeling even more out of place; what was she, a talentless level zero, even doing among these elites?
Then again, she glanced at Shigeo, who simply watched his own brother talking with Mikoto when he himself was the level-5 one.
Well, at least Ruiko could take a little comfort in not being the only wall-flower here.
"So, mind telling me about where you came from?" Mikoto changed the topic to keep the conversation going.
"Ah, we're from a small town… Ever heard of Seasoning City?" Ritsu replied.
Ruiko perked up at the name, "Seasoning City…. Are you talking about the place where the Divine Tree appeared?"
"Divine Tree? What's that?" Mikoto asked with an intrigued tone.
Neither of the girls knew - both of the boys froze when Ruiko mentioned the Divine Tree.
"It's a rumour that came out on the internet a while ago - a giant broccoli-shaped tree sprouted out from the middle of the town. Locals believed the tree's appearance was some kind of miracle, since it just appeared out of nowhere. The tree garnered a lot of followers for some time before it just vanished over a single night. It was quite a hot topic that time."
"Huh…" Mikoto then turned to Shigeo and Ritsu, "Do you remember anything about that Divine Tree thing?"
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"Err… Um…"
Seeing Shigeo's nervous reaction, Ritsu quickly came to the rescue, "To be honest, it's up in the air. Many people have no recollection of anything related to the Divine Tree after it vanished. Neither of us remember much."
"Ah, I see…" Ruiko replied dejectedly and browsed through her cell-phone again. Mikoto merely hummed, feeling there was something else behind Ritsu's answer, but chose not to press it.
"Oh, since we're talking about Seasoning City…" Ruiko's face then brightened up - finally, a topic that she could contribute, "There are other stuff I want to talk about you guys beside the Divine Tree, that okay?"
Ritsu and Shigeo exchanged another brief glance before nodding, "Sure, ask away."
"Let's see…." Ruiko glanced at her phone before asking, "Is it true that your place has even more Espers running around?"
Her question garnered some odd looks from the boys, and a questioning look from Mikoto, who asked, "...What brought this up? Espers outside Academy City is not impossible, but…. Are you saying there could be more?"
"Well… I've been looking through stuff and most of them have one thing in common - supernatural phenomena, sightings and some people claimed they saw something out of superhero movies. I mean, just look at this!"
Ruiko then showed the screen of her phone, which was playing a video - the image was shaky and not on high-quality, implying that the footage was taken by some random passer-by in the middle of chaos.
However, even with low-quality, the siblings could tell the footage was too familiar to their liking.
"I managed to download this video before it got banned and taken down from the website. What do you think?"
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What do they think? Shigeo and Ritsu did not expect the fiascos they were involved with, had become news and urban legends that big. The footage showcased an entire school ground being lifted to the sky during Shigeo's clash with Teruki Hanazawa; the battle between Ritsu and their allies against Ryo Shimazaki; Reigen's conference press, and Shigeo's final clash with Touichiro Suzuki.
"Those are…. Quite crazy stuff there, Saten-san." Ritsu managed to reply with a small, brittle smile, while Shigeo was looking nervous.
"Yep, they are. So? You guys know anything about it?" Ruiko pressed.
However, before the siblings could have said anything, Kuroko and Uiharu had returned from their work.
"Sorry for waiting." Kuroko said. "The work ended up taking longer than expected. Sister~!"
As soon as her eyes landed on Mikoto, Kuroko's proper persona was quickly replaced with her eccentric clingy girlfriend, as she pounced towards the Electromaster who only sighed and zapped the teleporter to the ground.
Seeing the supposedly prim and proper Judgement member twitching on the floor, Ritsu and Shigeo turned to Uiharu, "This is going to be a recurring sight, isn't it?"
"I'm afraid it is." the level-1 replied with a small sigh, before her expression lit up slightly, "Oh, that's right! You said that you are interested in joining the Judgement, correct? Let me introduce you!"
The guests then noticed that there was another person following Kuroko and Uiharu into the room; a girl who looked a few years older - probably a high-scholar, wearing glasses on her face.
"This is our chief, Konori Mii." Uiharu introduced, before she turned to the supposed person in charge, "Chief Konori, these are the boys Shirai-san and I told you about, Ritsu Kageyama and his brother, Shigeo."
"A pleasure to meet you." The chief of the 177th Branch Judgement Office smiled amiably. "So this is the rumored newest level-5."
She approached and offered Ritsu her hand, which the latter accepted.
"Nice to meet you too, but… I'm just a level-3. My brother here is the level-5 one." Ritsu corrected while gesturing towards Shigeo who nodded in greeting.
"Eh?" Konori blinked, her eyes darting between the boys before her cheeks darkened in red. "O-oh, I'm so sorry, I thought you'd, um….. I-I meant no disrespect!" She formally bowed once at Shigeo.
The girls smiled and giggled in a mild amusement while Ritsu simply took it in stride with a calm smile on his face. Shigeo, however, was not even sure what the older girl was so flustered about.
"It's alright, Konori-san. Shall we?" Ritsu beckoned.
Uiharu and Ruiko were allowed to go ahead home while Konori and Kuroko handled the briefing about Judgement work and recruitment with the Kageyama siblings. Mikoto had also opted to go on ahead back to her dorms.
After parting ways with the Electromaster, Uiharu and Ruiko were currently walking towards their own quarters under the dusk sky.
"Whew, what a day…." Ruiko commented while stretching her arms up - meeting powerful Espers and watching them stop a robbery in broad daylight was not something she could see every day.
"Tell me about it." Uiharu nodded in agreement, before she turned, smiling at her best friend, "Still, today was a good day, wasn't it?"
"I suppose…" Ruiko replied while staring at the sky.
"The level-5s we have encountered so far were nothing like we imagined, right?" Uiharu asked.
Ruiko found herself smiling at the thought - the Kageyama siblings, particularly Shigeo, was surprisingly humble with their view about the usage of their power; while Mikoto's attitude towards them was far from arrogance - the strongest Electromaster was nothing but friendly and casual towards them.
Then, Uiharu found Ruiko abruptly stopped on her tracks. "What's wrong, Saten-san?"
"...I forgot to press them for answers." Ruiko replied.
"What answers? What did you ask them about?" Uiharu asked in return.
"Did you know, Uiharu?" Ruiko turned to her friend with an excited look, "Those boys are from Seasoning City! That place I told you about before! Where the Divine Tree appeared!"
"Eeehh…"
Uiharu could only brace herself for another fit of Ruiko's rambling about rumours and urban legends… Again.
oXo
"I'm back…"
Meanwhile, later in the evening, Kuroko had finally arrived back in her dorm.
"Welcome back," Mikoto easily replied while drying her damp hair after shower. "So? How's the interview? Are those boys joining after all?"
Kuroko merely sighed and fell unceremoniously onto her bed. "It's still up in the air." She replied, "Though, I have to admit that their abilities will help us a lot should they join…."
Mikoto raised her eyebrows slightly in interest, "I sense a 'but' for some reason."
"It's…. About the older sibling, Shigeo." Kuroko replied, "I personally have nothing against him, but the whole thing about him just doesn't sit right with me."
Now Mikoto's interest was piqued, "Care to elaborate?"
"To begin with, I am still skeptical about this whole 'gemstone' term." Kuroko turned to lay on her back, "The idea about someone receiving his power on a silver platter without having to work for it…."
Mikoto sighed softly, "Not that I understand what you're getting at, but Shigeo doesn't seem the type who lets his power get over his head, does he? At least that seems to be the case to me so far."
"That's a silver lining, alright." Kuroko conceded with her own sigh. "Also, despite being a level-5, Shigeo Kageyama was too passive; he doesn't talk much, and his younger brother ended up doing most of the talking when we asked them questions. Speaking of the younger brother…" Kuroko then glanced at her roommate. "What do you think about his power, sis?"
"His power? Like the way he manhandled that robber, you mean?" Mikoto asked - which was replied with a nod by Kuroko, before she hummed in thought, "I think he's quite powerful to lift up an adult like that."
"...And that's the thing. The registry said that he's level 3, but in my opinion, telekinesis of that scale is…. Rather powerful for a level-3."
"You mean there's an error during his system-scan?" Mikoto asked.
"Either that, or he held himself back intentionally, or an uncommon case of someone who's in the middle of levelling up. We are planning to look into his system-scan information more thoroughly tomorrow."
"Huh…" Mikoto relaxed on her own bed, "So, the verdict…?"
Kuroko then sat up, "Despite the kinks in their character, they're alright. The abilities those siblings possess can definitely help our work and people. We'll just see what happens in the future."
In their apartment that night, the Kageyamas were having dinner together.
"So…" Shigeo, in a rare instance, began the conversation by asking, "What do you think about today, Ritsu?"
Swallowing his dinner, Ritsu replied, "I have to admit… The idea of joining the Judgement is…. More tempting than I expected."
"So are you going to join them?" Shigeo asked with a somewhat excited look.
"Are you?" Ritsu shot back with a somewhat hopeful expression.
The older Kageyama stared at his brother's face before looking down at his yet unfinished dinner. "I'm… not sure if this is the right thing for me to do."
"I personally think this can be good for you." Ritsu commented, "We get to meet people, learn more about this city, and we can actually use our power to do good."
Shigeo only hummed in return.
Ritsu's smile then softened, "...But still, I think it is still the best if you decide on your own." His eyes then met his brother's, "You are a good person, brother. You've learned and grown up a lot even before moving here. Whatever you decide, I'll respect that."
Shigeo stared at his younger brother for a few seconds before he smiled, "Thank you, Ritsu. I cannot ask for a better brother myself."
The rest of the night was spent by the two siblings discussing and contemplating what had transpired to them so far.
Now, what should I do with these two brothers? Let me know in your reviews and comments! No flame, please.