A Certain Unknown Mob

IT'S ALIIIIIIIVE!

Chapter 3: Knowing

It was night, and the Kageyama siblings had just finished their dinner, which happened to be a take-out from a nearby supermarket. Both of them were never really the type to cook, although both of them did attend some home-ed classes in their previous school. Ritsu turned out to be the better cook between the two, although Shigeo himself was not too bad himself, at least while his cooking would not be too good, he could make something edible enough.

The siblings had been provided accommodation not far from their current school. A simple apartment room with a bedroom with bunk-beds, one bathroom, and a living/dining room with a kitchen included. They used to help their parents in grocery shopping before, but since they were on their own now, they would need at least a couple of days to get accustomed to buy and cook their own dinner. They would receive stipends from the Academy Board and sometimes their parents periodically, so all that was left was to use them wisely.

"What a day this has been, right, Ritsu?" Shigeo said as he absent-mindedly poured himself a glass of water on the kitchen table.

"Tell me about it…" Ritsu sighed in reply as he was writing a notebook. It was only the third day of their new life in Academy City and they were already overwhelmed. At least what overwhelmed them was not something necessarily bad. In fact, Ritsu thought they might have gotten an unexpectedly good start, all things considered.

Ritsu then glanced at Shigeo, who after downing his glass of water, proceeded to heat up some water in the pot as he prepared to make some tea that he and his brother bought along with their dinner. Watching Shigeo waiting for the water to boil over, Ritsu began contemplating about the pros and cons of their current situation.

A level 3 Esper - while it was not overly strong, but it was still considered strong enough to make everyday life more convenient. However, Ritsu could not help but frown when he glanced at his older brother. He had gotten over with comparing himself to Shigeo, but having him to be recognised as level 5 was totally not part of the plan. What sort of reputation and attention would Shigeo receive once the news was out? Could they ask whoever it was in charge to conceal their levels from public knowledge? The latter question was unlikely, since Shigeo's new classmates - Saten Ruiko and Uiharu Kazari had found out, and the boys did not actually think of asking them to keep it a secret.

A few minutes later, Shigeo returned to the table with two mugs of hot tea in hand, after Ritsu looked away to avoid suspicion. "How's your diary looking, Ritsu?" Shigeo asked as he set the mugs on the table.

"Good as usual." Ritsu replied as he stopped writing to gratefully accept the drink his brother served.

The two siblings then enjoyed their own drinks in comfortable silence for a few good minutes until Shigeo broke it. "...Say, Ritsu. Do you plan to do anything tomorrow?"

Ritsu looked up from his mug, "No, not really. What is it?"

"I…. I'm wondering if we can go sightseeing around the neighbourhood… Just to know the place better."

Ritsu did not really expect his meek brother to proactively invite him to hang out, but it was actually a good thing. He mulled over for a second before he nodded with a smile. "Yes, I'd love to." Then his smile dropped into a mildly serious face. "...Another thing, though; now that we know how strong we are by Academy City standard, what should we do?"

"...I don't know." Shigeo replied after thinking for a bit. "But I think we will be fine… maybe."

Ritsu sighed, "...Nii-san, you do remember just what kind of mess we've been involved in, because of our powers, don't you?"

"Ah…" Shigeo muttered as his brother's words rang true - the Claw was a good reminder of how they had their lives hanging on a thin line, not just their lives, but friends and family as well. "...Can we ask to have our levels be kept secret or something?"

Ritsu blinked, half-not expecting the idea coming from his older brother, but then again his older brother was always improving with a surprising rate. Nonetheless, he admitted the idea did have merit. "If I'm not mistaken, you should be able to use your status as a level-5 to submit a request to the Board, but… the administrative work would still take some time for your request to take effect." He muttered for a bit before sighing. "...I guess we can give it a shot tomorrow, probably after school. Let's hope that the news hasn't spread out yet."

Shigeo could only nod in agreement at Ritsu's suggestion, as the brothers decided to turn in for the night, getting whatever rest they could get before facing the music on the next day.

31%

Much to Kageyama brothers' chagrin, news did spread out quickly, as students of Sakugawa were giving them looks of awe and curiosity on their route to the school.

"Hey, look…"

"Those siblings are the new transfer students, right?"

"Have you heard their system scan results yet?"

"Yeah, no kidding…"

"From outside Academy City, that means they didn't go through curriculum program, doesn't it?"

"Damn, they're in luck…"

To say the siblings were unnerved was a small understatement. Ritsu could only sigh dejectedly at the attention, while Shigeo was sweating a bit. After all, he was always used to being a wall-flower in Spice City; nobody would even glance at him, save for a selective few, and that was because they knew about his power. To find so many people regarding him with looks of awe, respect and even fear, Shigeo had no idea how to do about it.

35%

Shigeo then felt a hand on his shoulder, looking around, he calmed down considerably at the sight of his younger brother's supportive look. "It's gonna be okay, brother. I'm with you." Ritsu said with a reassuring smile.

Shigeo smiled a bit as he nodded. "Yeah… Thanks, Ritsu."

When Shigeo parted ways with Ritsu and entered his class, however, the chatter in the room suddenly stopped when everyone noticed the new arrival. In a blink of an eye, Shigeo found himself being swarmed by his classmates.

"Did you seriously score a level-5 on the System Scan?!"

"What's your ability called?"

"Have they assigned you any ranks? Did you happen to meet other level-5s?"

"I heard your brother was with you as well. How did it go for him too?"

Suffice to say, Shigeo was overwhelmed at the sheer amount of questions thrown at him. The attention was even worse when he first transferred in. He could only give nervous mumbles, not sure which question he could and should answer first. "Um, err… I'm- that's…"

40%

"Alright, alright, break it up, everyone! Let's give the guy some space first, shall we?"

Thankfully, his saviour arrived in the form of one Uiharu Kazari, with Saten following behind her. Shigeo actually blinked at the sight of his classmates complying, immediately dispersing and settling with looks and murmurs. "Are you okay, Shigeo-san?" Uiharu asked as she leaned slightly towards Shigeo, who found himself blushing at the flower-band girl's concerned face.

Ironically, a cute face was enough to distract Shigeo from the questioning and attention given to him a minute ago. "Y-yes, thank you very much."

"Sorry about that, Shigeo." Saten quipped as she grinned a little at him. "A level-5 in our kind of school is a super-rare occasion. Everyone will be excited about it for a while before they get used to it. So you're gonna be a celebrity until things blow over."

"I see…" Shigeo looked down, his face was still his usual poker-face as ever, but Saten and Uiharu could somewhat tell that something was on his mind, judging the way he rubbed his chin in thought.

"Is something wrong, Shigeo-san?" Uiharu asked.

"...No, it's nothing." Shigeo replied. "It's just… Uiharu-san, by any chance, are you the class-rep?"

The girls blinked at the question. "Huh?"

Thinking he might have asked something inappropriate, Shigeo quickly spoke again. "Sorry, I mean, earlier I found everyone listening to you easily enough. The same thing happened yesterday."

At Shigeo's clarification, the girls smiled. "Well, something like that…" Uiharu sheepishly replied.

"It's more than just class-rep, actually." Ruiko's smile had a hint of pride in it. "Everyone here is cool, but Uiharu here is a member of Judgement. That position ought to earn people's respect around here."

"Judgement…?" Shigeo blinked at the word.

"That's right, Judgement." Recalling that Shigeo was a new resident, Uiharu took the role to explain. "It's a term referring to student-based disciplinary committee in the whole city. Think of it as a part-time civilian patrol consisting of students from different schools, since they make the most of the Academy City population."

"Like the police?" Shigeo asked, finding the information intriguing.

"Well, not exactly, but close." Uiharu waved her hand. "Judgement members can arrest trouble-makers, but only Anti-Skill can actually take them into custody. Oh, by the way, Anti-Skill is what you'd call the police and defense force in this city. They also serve as our superiors, in a sense."

Shigeo was nodding along until Saten pressed her hands on the table as she leaned forward. "Hey, I know! Why don't you ask the Kageyama siblings to join the Judgement, Uiharu?" Her question caught both Uiharu and Shigeo off-guard.

"...Eh?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, just think of what they can do! Both Shigeo and his brother are high-level Espers, and they are going to the same school as ours. Surely you can ask them to back you up!"

"Well…. That's certainly not a bad idea." Uiharu replied as she considered. "But I'd rather not force them into something they're not willing to."

When Uiharu and Saten's gaze moved to him, Shigeo knew that he had the final say of the matter, his brother too, apparently. He hummed for a few seconds before answering. "...I'm not sure. Maybe I should talk about this with Ritsu first."

Fortunately, Uiharu and Saten were sporting understanding looks, as the former nodded with a smile. "Please take all the time you need, Shigeo-san. Being a member of Judgement can be a privilege, but it's also a big responsibility. We can't afford to recruit half-hearted members, after all."

"So, moving on!" Saten then clapped her hands, gaining the attention of her friend and her new classmate. "Shigeo, how do you feel about being the latest member of the elites?"

"...Elites?"

"Yep, you remember the power-level system, right?" Saten nodded at Shigeo's confused look. "Being a level-3 can be considered strong, and there's only seven level-5 other than you in the Academy City. They're basically the cream on the crop! You're a really lucky guy, you know!"

At Saten's boasting, Shigeo only looked on his desk. "...I'm not sure about that. I don't think having powers makes you anymore special than everyone else."

Shigeo's answer caused Uiharu and Saten to pause and give him some odd looks. The classmates who happened to hear favored to listen in. "Ooh… Why would you think of that, Shigeo?" For some reason, the boy caught something beneath Ruiko's neutral tone.

"My teacher back home taught me…" In the end, Shigeo opted to share what he learned from Reigen. "Espers like my brother and I might be different from most people because of what we can do, but in the end… I - we are humans." Shigeo paused for a second to put a hand over his chest. "People with psychic powers are like people who can run fast, people who can sing well, people who are smart and study hard, people who are funny…." Shigeo then looked down on his desk again as his tone lowered. "I myself am pretty weak. My body is weak, I cannot run as well as Ritsu, and… I didn't have many friends back home either." Shigeo then looked up. "So, I don't think I'm better than everyone else just because I have psychic powers."

Everyone was silent at Shigeo's words - they were completely different from what the norm they generally knew. Nonetheless, Uiharu and Saten found themselves looking at Shigeo in a new light. "...That's an admirable way of thinking, Shigeo-san." Uiharu smiled at the boy. "You're right; powers and levels don't make the person."

Ruiko was giving Shigeo an odd look. "Man, I gotta say I didn't see that coming from you, Shigeo." she sighed. "You said you're taught by your teacher, right? What kind of guy is he?"

Much to both Uiharu and Saten, perhaps to everyone who saw, it was the first time they saw Shigeo smiling, albeit lightly. "He's an Esper who works as a spiritual consultant, I also worked part-time under him while learning as well. His name is Arataka Reigen."

Ruiko then whipped out her cell-phone. "Let's see…. You're from Spice… Aratake Reigen… Oh, there it is; Spirit and Such Consultation Office?" She furrowed her eyebrows at the website, and after skimming through the page, she glanced at Shigeo. The webpage alone was enough to tell Ruiko that the whole spiritual consultation business sounded awfully dodgy. "So… You learned from this guy here?" She asked while pointing the website on her cell-phone.

"Well… Master Reigen can be confusing sometimes…" Shigeo could only shrug.

"But if this Reigen person did teach Shigeo about that whole philosophy earlier, I think he can't be a bad person, right?" Uiharu herself could also tell about how suspicious Reigen sounded, but she would rather look at the bright side of things. "In any case, while some people say that humility is a virtue, you shouldn't sell yourself short, Shigeo-san."

"Yeah, what she said." Ruiko nodded in agreement. "Many people would kill to be in your position, y'know."

"Kill…?" Shigeo's face gradually lost its color.

"Not literally!" Ruiko was half-amused and half-baffled at Shigeo's naivety. "My point is, you do have something that most people here don't have. So don't treat it like it's nothing!"

Shigeo stared at Ruiko before nodding, "Yes, I understand."

"...Geez, you are really serious about this, aren't ya?" Ruiko exhaled before her eyes lit up and shot towards her friend. "Say, Uiharu. About your plan this week with your partner from Judgement… Don't you think the Kageyamas can come along to watch?"

The truth was, Uiharu had been planning to introduce Ruiko to some of her friends in Judgement, but the latter felt awkward from just imagining meeting them. Not to mention that Uiharu's partner attended a bourgeois place like Tokiwadai Middle-School. Perhaps having two of her schoolmates along might help…. Hopefully.

"Saten-san, you can't treat Judgement work like a field trip, you know?" Uiharu pouted before she sported a thoughtful look. "...But then again, I don't think introducing Shigeo and Ritsu to Shiraisan is a bad idea either. Shigeo-san, would you like to come along?"

Shigeo blinked at the question, but he considered it nonetheless. "I don't mind, but can I talk to Ritsu first?"

"Of course! I also need to confirm with Shirai-san as well… Oh, we haven't exchanged our contacts, have we?" She beamed as she took out her Judgement-issued cell-phone, along with Ruiko.

Shigeo stared at Uiharu's high-tech looking cell-phone for a few seconds until he realised that the girls were waiting for him. "O-oh, right!" He said with a small panic as he also took out his own cell-phone.

The school period went by without much incident, much to the Kageyama siblings' relief, aside from the attention from their classmates. It was late afternoon, and the siblings were walking side-by-side back to their new home.

"So how did it go, nii-san?" Ritsu asked.

Shigeo could only sigh. "...I got by, somehow. Though things might take a few weeks until the staring and murmur stops. How about your side, Ritsu?"

"It appears level-3 is not that uncommon for them, so I guess I had it better than you." Ritsu replied with an apologetic smile as he patted Shigeo's shoulder. "But seriously, are you gonna be fine?"

"I'll manage." Shigeo nodded. "By the way, Ritsu. Did you hear about Judgement?"

"Ah, so you've heard it too." Ritsu nodded. "One of my classmates mentioned it to me and suggested that I should try joining. You and I, to be precise." He then gave a knowing smirk. "Do you want to join? I think we can have an organisation like that as our back-up should things go wrong."

Shigeo hummed, "...I don't know. The thing is, Uiharu-san from my class is a member of the Judgement, and she invited both of us to meet with her partner sometime this week."

"Really? Uiharu is?" Ritsu blinked before he rubbed his chin in thought. "This might be a chance for us to learn more about this city. I say there's no harm in meeting just for once, at least."

"Okay, I guess I can let Uiharu-san know tomorrow." Shigeo nodded. As they walked closer to a more familiar area, he glanced at Ritsu. "Say, I want to buy something to drink, do you want some?" He pointed at a corner, where he remembered a vending machine to be.

Ritsu shrugged, "...Sure, I can use some juice, if there's some."

As the siblings walked closer to the curve, they suddenly heard someone shouting from the direction where the vending machine was supposed to be.

"Ugh, come on! This is the fourth time a vending machine went retard on me and swallowed my cash! What a misfortune!"

Okay, my age and responsibility have finally caught up to me and life demands me to slave myself. Pray that I can acquire more free time so I can still do my own s*it, including updating my stories. Please review, constructive reviews only! Ahsoei, over and out.