Kuroko Shirai and Ruiko Saten arrived at the branch within half a dozen or so minutes, settling on their branch's floor in the office building. It was a little mischievous of them to not register their comings and goings with the receptionists, but it was an oversight that they could amend whenever they went home for the day.

The distinctive shrill from Kuroko's teleportation, as well as the first and second pair of feet landing on the ground, made enough noise to capture the attention of one of the occupants of the office.

"Shirai-san, Saten-san?!" Yoshika said loudly from, what Kuroko assumed was, the computer desks. The clatter of headphones upon those desks confirmed her assumption, and the young blonde girl came into view from behind one of the many filing cabinets. She was wearing her school uniform as well, a simple white shirt with a grey skirt, accented by a black and red striped tie, as well as her signature red-framed glasses.

"That's us!" Ruiko declared, patting down her own shirt to remove any creases. "Had a good day?" She then asked politely, striding up to the blonde who had stopped by the end of the short hallway. The girl nodded her head.

"Yeaaaah, class was a little boring but, eh."

"Yeah it's like that sometimes." Ruiko nodded and smiled, completely understanding the bore of the classroom. "Anyway, I have a task for you. Well, for you and Uiharu-san."

"Oh? Is that why you were out?" Yoshika asked, watching Kuroko walk by the two girls into the office proper. She was searching for Kazari, who had either not heard the commotion, was in the bathroom, or relaxing in the rest area with her earplugs in.

"Yup, we were looking over the incident sites for the missing persons case. We've spotted a pattern, but we also need the camera footage analysed." Ruiko explained to the young girl, who nodded her head and listened attentively.

"Mhmhm, we can do that, for sure." Yoshika said, confirming her readiness to tackle her role in the case. "What did you find?" She then asked curiously, wondering what new detail had sprung up.

"There are camera blind spots, so we're guessing that the assailant or assailants are scouting areas to conduct their kidnappings or what-not." As she spoke, Ruiko beckoned the young girl back into the office, who duly followed. Ruiko led the girl back to the computers.

"Ahh, and you want me and Uiharu-san to see if we can find anyone snooping about in the prior days?"

"Yuuuup, a tedious task I know, but it's all we have so far." Ruiko said with some resignation at Yoshika's correct conclusion. The small blonde waved it off with a smile.

"Nah, it's alright to be honest, we'll handle it." Yoshika said reassuringly, finishing it off with a thumbs up.

"Thank you. I'll relay the same thing to Uiharu-san if Shirai-san doesn't."

"Gotcha."

The pair parted for their respective work stations after that, settling back into their chairs. Ruiko, on her way to her desk to then sit down on her comfy chair, seriously began to question what all the fuss was with Yoshika. Kohaku-san seemed to be a perfectly normal yet intelligent girl. She had the usual feelings about school that most young teens had, though had an unbridled enthusiasm for her Judgement duties… but was that even an outlier? It was not like Kuroko and Kazari felt similar at times during their young to mid-teens, because they certainly did.

Even now, Ruiko could vividly remember the passion that the pair had for their Judgement work and role, yet bemoan an upcoming, droll test or the terror of a dorm supervisor punishing them if they were late, no matter if they had just saved a civilian from injury or even death.

In Ruiko's mind, it was strange to think of Yoshika as anyone other than a very bright, helpful hand at the branch. She could even see them becoming friends in time.

A few minutes passed in silent contemplation, listening to the sounds of a keyboard being used while booting up her own laptop. Ruiko had some admin to do as well as some notes to write up and share with the other branches working on, or interested in, the missing persons case she was spearheading.

Then the sound of footsteps came about from the other end of the office. Coming round the corner was the duo of Kuroko and Kazari, and it appeared that they were in mid-discussion, their mouths moving and a hand or two gesticulating as they spoke. Ruiko noted how upbeat they looked, and the Level 0 figured that they were catching up rather than discussing anything serious.

It made Ruiko feel a little warm inside. It was nice to have the crew back together after the week-long worries over Kuroko's health and the slight fretting over Yoshika. The two paused by Yoshika, at Kazari's prerogative rather than Kuroko's, and now the conversation had extended from two persons to three. Ruiko had a mind to join them, a little buzz up her spine and a big smile threatening to break out, unrestrained and totally unprofessional.

But the ringing landline phone on her desk interrupted that train of thought.

The digital blaring caught the attention of Kuroko for a moment before the auburn-haired girl turned her attention back to the chatting computer wizards, before it stopped altogether when Ruiko picked up the object. She placed the phone by the side of her head.

"Ruiko Saten, 177 Judgement branch administrator here." Ruiko said into the device in her usual professional greeting, waiting for the voice of one of the receptionists to chime in as per usual.

But instead a voice she did not expect to hear came out of the other end, a little cocky, a little too friendly given the time that had elapsed since they had last spoken. It came out in a provocative drawl, the beat of the syllables slow, teasing, almost creepy, like her ear drums were being molested by an all-too-close stranger on the street.

"Heya Saten~"

On instinct, Ruiko chucked the phone from her ear and mouth to the polished wooden desk, the plastic device clattering and cracking at the plastic seams.

The attention of the other three girls in the women was immediately directed towards the loud and sudden noise, and they noticed how Ruiko's face had blanched into a deep white, her eyes wide and her pupils dilated in fear. Her hand and arm froze in position, only moving through the trembles that vibrated around her bones.

Kuroko was the first to move, her brow furrowed with an ever creeping concern. The teleporter was sharp in her thinking. She could think of little that would provoke such a reaction from the confident and ever-beaming woman, except for one thing.

"Don't tell me…" Kuroko said under her breath, striding towards the phone that lay bruised on the desk. Her chest flared up inside of her, a powerful heat flaming within her belly and all the way up to her heart, and that core of fear rumbled within her. Ruiko sat at her chair still, slightly shaking in shock and surprise, unbelieving yet frightened.

Kuroko reached for the phone, picked it up, and brought it to her ear and lips.

"Railgun."

"Correct, correct Angel, well done!" A mockingly congratulatory voice rang out through the static. "I'm sorry for giving Saten-san a scare, but I just wanted to catch up, it's been so long~." Mikoto said in a manner that Kuroko found to be utterly and completely unconvincing.

"Your definition of 'catching up' is very, very loose."

"Heh, what can I say, you're just so cute when my electricity is buzzing inside you."

Kuroko felt queasy. It was such an odd way of phrasing it, even with the knowledge that Mikoto was playing with her. For Kuroko, it felt like she was twisting this worn and rusty knife, invoking her old mannerisms against her with, what Kuroko felt was, a sly, implied innuendo. Mikoto continued to feel like a completely different person, with the small familiarities dwarfed by whatever had changed within her.

"How did you even get access to this number? It's a secure line." Kuroko asked with curious frustration, turning to look over her shoulder at Kazari to give her a knowing look. The flower-crested girl instantly knew what Kuroko's wine-red eyes were saying, dashing to the computers to begin a trace. Even though she feared that the teleporter would give chase, she felt it was her duty to conduct her task.

"I borrowed a government phone." Mikoto said simply.

"From who?"

"From one of the agents spying on you, of course."

Mikoto said it as if it were the most obvious answer in the world, but Kuroko's agape mouth signalled the complete opposite. The tidal wave of disbelief was quickly halted however as the words quickly processed within her brilliant mind.

Kuroko near-instantly remembered those two odd persons at the crime scene of the raid she intervened in, and how out of place they were. Their images flashed before her eyes, wearing simple suits and shades. The look was so stereotypical that it would have been a wonder to Kuroko if she had forgotten them.

So Mikoto had caught one of them?

"How do you…" Kuroko started, but a strangled breath of air escaped her. It was all so strange. "What do you mean?"

"I assume you've seen some strange lookin' people lookin' at you for the past few months, right?"

And again Kuroko was stunned. It was true, she had seen more of these people around her, but she assumed that it was, mostly, in relation to the cases she had been involved in. A part of her thought that, maybe, Anti-Skill were eyeing her up, so she paid no mind to it.

Mikoto continued.

"Naturally, their position in the hierarchy of this shitty city means their phones can access the private networks. So I, heh, 'borrowed' one."

"...what have you done?"

"Do you really want the details?" Mikoto's teasing, dancy tone added to the unsettlement that Kuroko felt even just hearing the voice of her former best friend. "It might provoke one of your justice-filled tantrums." And the provocation did not stop, biting at Kuroko's demeanour, pushing her towards the brink of breaking her near-absent patience.

"Enlighten Kuroko." The teleporter forced out, an old tick of hers emerging from her tongue.

"One of these 'secret admirers' was keeping tabs on you and Saten-san today. Now, obviously, only I am allowed to stalk you…" Mikoto spoke of her stalking as if she had a monopoly on it, the open admittance of which was not something Kuroko appreciated. "...so imagine my delight when I found out his knees were made of metal!" She then said after a pause, somehow managing to make Kuroko feel even more appalled at the ominous implication.

"You're sick." Kuroko dismissed the Level 5's cheery disposition, her tone almost flat but hinting at her disgust. Ruiko watched the teleporter's face constantly morph, from frustration, anger and stress to disgust, shock and horror.

"No no no, he's sick. Having no kneecaps ain't good for ya, you know?"

"Stop this, Mikoto." Kuroko demanded in a low, quiet voice, unimpressed with this application of her magnetic manipulation aspect of her Esper powers. She heard a small chuckle on the other end of the phone, followed by a taunting coo.

"Ooo, my name again huh?"

Kuroko bit on her lip, forcing down her rage over Mikoto's stabbing provocations, though she was not completely successful.

"I told you not to kill again. I don't care if they're criminals, or if you twist it into some screwed up rationale of 'protecting me' as you seem to be implying; it is a disgusting way to garner my attention."

Kuroko's voice was low and cutting and her face twisted into a deep scowl. There was a deep, guttural fury within her, and her trembles of fear and trauma had transformed. Now, with each word that was uttered by Mikoto, Kuroko vibrated more and more in sheer anger.

There was a pause.

For a few moments, Kuroko could only hear faint breathing.

Then Mikoto laughed.

It was not the maniacal, deluded laugh that Kuroko would have thought would come from this new - but not improved - Railgun. It was soft, and it had a strange tone to it. It failed to calm her anger however, instead only adding a tinge of fresh confusion within her.

Some seconds passed before Mikoto spoke again, the strange tone still evident as she continued her chat with the teleporter.

"...you… heh, you really don't know why they're keeping eyes on you, do you Kuroko?" Mikoto asked in that soft voice. A part of Kuroko swore that it was caring and concerned, a legitimate window into the friend that she once knew, but her anger buried those feelings. The teleporter instinctively shook her head.

"I don't, and right now you are the bigger problem on my plate, quite frankly."

"Ah, gonna hunt me done are ya?" Mikoto countered the dismissive response, and her attitude shifted back to that cocky, taunting one . "Bet you already have Uiharu-san on the case, hm?" At the mention of her best friend, Kuroko looked over to the flower decorated woman. To Kuroko it did indeed appear that the computer genius was working on the computer, likely triangulating wherever the phone signal was coming from.

"Don't worry, I'll make it easy for her, I wanna chat with you anyway."

"I'm not going to 'chat' with you, Mikoto." Still looking at Kazari, Kuroko moved to bring the phone back to its holder. As the black plastic phone distanced itself from her, she could hear the final taunting, teasing words of Mikoto Misaka.

"Oh how ru-"

The phone cut out as it settled upon the base it was connected to, silencing the Electromaster on the other end.

Kuroko let out a long, drawn-out sigh. Kazari looked away from her computer screens, as did Yoshika from her own seat, to look upon the teleporter. The girls eyed her cautiously and with worry. They saw the deep disgust and fearsome fury etched within her face, with Ruiko glimpsing it too as the Level 4 straightened her neck. She saw Kuroko's brow twitch as she attempted to calm herself but, in the end, Kuroko could do nothing but explode.

"Damn her!" Kuroko raged, slamming her right hand into the firm wooden desk. Ruiko yelped in shock, and the sound of objects rattling on the desk filled the room, acting like a cymbal accompanying the drum-like bang from the teleporter's fist upon the brown, slightly cracked wood.

Kazari stood up from her chair in a rush. The chair wheeled back a little, slightly twisting from the momentum of the speed that Kazari raised herself from the seat.

"What has she done?" Kazari asked, her tone firm in order to fully grasp the attention of Kuroko. The teleporter replied promptly, though she continued to look at the desk that she had just abused.

"She's killed again, this time some Anti-Skill agent."

"But why? What's the incentive?" Kazari followed up, perturbed by the unusual development. Kuroko raised her head, turning around to look over to the dark-haired girl again.

"She's doing it to get my attention, to get me to come to her." Kuroko bemoaned, and she almost sounded weary were it not for the angry tone dominating her voice. Ruiko, having listened to the back and forth, had her own thoughts to share.

"But an Anti-Skill agent? That doesn't match the prior murders!" Ruiko said, and Kuroko again turned to face the administrator of the Judgement branch.

"She says they're keeping eyes on me, like Anti-Skill don't keep an eye on Judgement members to begin with."

Yoshika could hear the disbelief and denial in Kuroko's voice as she looked on from behind Kazari. The young girl was not sure if the other two dark-haired women heard it, but her gut told her that the dismissive attitude was more a cover than a genuine response to whatever The Railgun had told her.

The blonde found the whole thing… interesting. There was still a detachment between her and the other girls, especially with the ever distant Kuroko. Yoshika figured that was the reason for her picking up on that slight, hidden hesitation in the teleporter's voice, that aura of doubt that, whatever Misaka had said, held far more weight than Kuroko was letting on.

"I don't get it." Ruiko said. "This can't be the same Mikoto Misaka that we ate crepes with, that we teased over her Gekota collection, that saved us time and time again." She pondered and reminisced, herself now oozing with denial, seasoned with nostalgia and sadness.

Kuroko remained silent, and that silence persisted for a few moments as the other girls waited for the teleporter to say something. They were being polite and expectant. But when no words came, and with Kuroko continuing to look away from their gazes, Yoshika chimed in.

"We have got to know her reasoning for all this, there has to be a reason." The blonde girl said. She knew she lacked the context and interaction of the other girl's past relationship with the Level 5, but she felt it was a sound investigative point to make. Kazari happened to agree, humming and nodding her head.

"Something has changed her, surely?" Kazari commented, semi-rhetorical, but hoping for some kind of theory to emerge from the ether.

Suddenly the sound of a deep breath emanated from the quiet, brooding teleporter.

Followed by a short pause.

"...I don't care."

While Yoshika was mostly impassive at the statement, Ruiko and Kazari felt stunned.

"Kuroko?"

"Kuroko… you can't mean that."

"I do mean that." Kuroko rebuked Kazari's sympathetic but disbelieving response, leaving her speechless. Kuroko said it in such a cutting way that it left the flower-crested girl speechless. It was the complete opposite of how Kuroko treated this topic before, remembering the times that she and the group had their light, tentative discussions on The Railgun.

Sensing the awkwardness and tension, Yoshika attempted to speak up again, trying to steer the conversation into a more professional stance.

"Shirai-san-"

"No, right now, I don't care." But Kuroko instantly cut off the young blonde girl, refusing to give way. "Right now, I care about beating her into a pulp."

"..."

The atmosphere in the office shifted again, twisting into something far darker. Kazari and Ruiko eyed the teleporter very, very carefully. They had seen Kuroko angry before, but not to this scale. She seemed apoplectic.

She felt dangerous.

"...Kuroko?" Ruiko felt obliged to speak, to intervene. "What Misaka-san did to you recently was awful, but if we can get her to talk-"

"Have you found her yet, Uiharu?" Now honorifics were being dropped completely, such was the impatience, such was the single-minded pursuit of Kuroko as Ruiko was spoken over. Her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish, her words evaporating from her tongue. Kazari attempted a reply to Kuroko's questions with a hesitant stumble.

"Um, yeah, but we should talk about-"

"Where is she?"

"Kuroko-"

"Uiharu!" Kuroko shouted, her voice raised, her patience completely snapping. Kazari looked aghast while Ruiko and Yoshika eyed the deteriorating circumstances with a deep-seated concern and discomfort. Maybe in the past, when she was younger, Kazari would have relented.

But while Kuroko looked nigh-menacing, Kazari would not back down.

"N-no! I'm not just going to tell you because you're screaming at me!"

"And I am not going to talk to a monster that finds it amusing to kill people and to torture me, both physically and mentally!" Kuroko roared, frustrated at her best friends arguing. "She's changed, Kazari! That's the reality of it! I'm not going to feed into her childish attention-seeking, I'm going to do my job!"

As Kuroko continued to rage at Kazari, Ruiko rose from her seat, hitting the palms of her hands on the desk to attract the attention of the seething teleporter. Kuroko quickly turned around to face the serious, determined look of Ruiko.

"You are not thinking straight, Kuroko, you're letting what happened all those years ago cloud your judgement." The accidental choice of wording was not lost on Ruiko, given how relevant its meanings were, nor was the stinging scowl on the teleporter's face.

"Say that again."

The narrowed eyes, the contempt in her dare, completely shook the dark-haired girl. Instantly, Ruiko lost her courage and confidence, and she quickly faltered.

"I- look, everyone has their reasons, and our role at Judgement is to investigate criminals too, not just fight them." Even as she calmly and carefully explained her meaning, Ruiko still felt that she was still stuck over the line that Kuroko felt she crossed. She swallowed as Kuroko's sharp gaze failed to weaken. "I'm sorry, seriously, just, surely-" Kuroko turned on her heel again, completely blowing off the stammering Ruiko.

"Uiharu, where is she?" Kuroko then asked, her voice flat, her expression bored but expectant.

"..."

But Kazari was still utterly unconvinced. She did not feel comfortable revealing that information, even as the teleporter's falsely flat face beamed daggers into her.

"Kuroko, you're a Level 4 going up against a deranged Level 5." Ruiko said from behind, regaining at least some of her composure. "Teleportation is a busted power, sure, but you can't seriously be looking for a fight here." She attempted to convince the teleporter, genuinely flattering her as she did so, hoping that the sense she spoke would get through to the embittered Level 4.

"Saten-san, I am asking Uiharu-san a question." The tone was condescending and cold, she hardly even moved when addressing the woman behind her. Now Ruiko snapped, groaning in exasperation and rolling her eyes.

"Oh for-

"Fine, here, if you want to get yourself killed." But Kazari gave up before Ruiko could say anything more, wanting to stop another shouting match, turning the monitor to show the triangulated position on the map. "She's around the missing person site in District 19. But before you teleport to your death, just think about Misaki-san, think about-"

A swoosh, shrill and flicker.

Kuroko was gone.

Kazari's dismay was replaced with astonishment.

"Wha…"

"Fuck me, man." Ruiko swore as she moved away from her chair and desk, her hands flying to head. "She's lost it too now. I know it's a running joke that we say she has a death wish but…" She sounded incredulous as she paced near the windows behind her desk.

"She…" Kazari tried to speak, struggling to process the stunning, high-adrenaline verbal spat. She spoke slowly. "I-I don't think we could have said anything to stop her, but-"

"I'm alerting Anti-Skill." Yoshika interrupted, completely out of the blue, and both of the older girls turned their complete attention to the youngster. Kazari turned her chair around to face the blonde.

"Kohaku-san?"

"Surely it's the best course of action, Uiharu-san, and we can't just sit here and do nothing either." Yoshika tried to bring back a professional aura to the office; they were all on duty after all. Ruiko, however, was unsure.

"I don't know." She shook her head. "Misaka-san will just blitz them, we'll just be causing unnecessary casualties." Ruiko argued, but the desperate face of Kazari clearly disagreed.

"We can't just do nothing though!"

"Gah, I know!" Ruiko replied in dismay, throwing her hands in the air and pacing even faster. "Shit!"

Ruiko and Kazari felt stuck, trapped. If they agreed with the suggestion to bring in Anti-Skill, they risked sending people to their early graves. But if they left Kuroko to fight Mikoto alone, she would surely suffer a similar fate to what happened over a week ago.

Or worse.

Silence, for a final time, settled upon the office.

Yoshika Kohaku added to that silence, watching the two carefully, adjusting her red frames before turning back to the computer monitor.

Thinking.

Thinking…