When canon and boredom collide, the story begins…
Part 1
It's lunchtime at a certain high school, and like students often did, many split off into groups of "haves" and "have-nots". That is, those who had homemade lunches and those who didn't—had to rush off to the cafeteria before all of the good food was sold out.
Of the students left in the class room, three boys in particular were getting into a heated debate.
"Rice balls; it's gotta be rice balls made from scratch to show how devoted she is!" Pressing closely to his classmate's desk, the blue-haired Aogami Pierce relished in his fantasy as he answered the question of "What makes a good homemade lunch?"
"The best part is, they don't even have to be made well! In fact, it'd be even better if there were a few poorly made ones; evidence that she made tons and TONS of them and slowly got better while making them just. For. Me."
The self-described fanatic rolled his head around while hugging the desk like it was a physical substitution of a girl in his imagination.
Kamijou Touma didn't really appreciate having his desk molested in such a manner.
"Nah, what's the point of getting food if it wasn't good in the first place? Sure, I'd give in to eating a few bad lunches at first, but there's no way I'd let it go on until I start getting digestive problems!"
Leaning back in his chair, the spiky-haired teen sighed and shuddered at such a thought. "I wouldn't mind her just buying me lunch instead. Heck, I could just make the lunch myself, right? It's the thought that counts…the thought!"
"Tsk, tsk, Kami-yan, are you just upset that no one ever goes out of their way to make food for you? You see my Maika-"
"Shut up, we know!" "Shut up, we know!"
The other two boys growled irritably at the blond-haired third member of their group, Tsuchimikado Motoharu. It was one thing to tolerate the sunglasses wearing teen's comments about his half sister, but it was another to always get the same bragging story.
"And girls make food for me all the time!" Touma added in a still annoyed tone of voice.
The other two laid their eyes on him for not realizing the underlying meaning of that comeback.
"Well it's a given that those with harems will have certain perks, nya!"
"Tsk, I keep telling you I don't have a harem…"
"Geez you guys, I can't believe you're so into perpetuating that boyish fantasy of girls making you food."
Unable to continue eating her lunch of green, yellow and red vegetables with brown rice and tofu-infused with chicken breast strips without commenting, Fukiyose Seiri glared irritably at the "Delta Force" comprised of Tsuchimikado, Aogami and Kamijou.
Seated opposite of where she sat was a longhaired girl named Himegami Aisa, who slowly decided to tuck away the notes she was writing on Touma's food preferences while her friend continued.
"Oh yeah? Then what kind of food would you make a guy you liked?" Kamijou thoughtlessly blurted out, like an adventurer rushing into a cavern potentially covered in riches without looking out for any traps or dangerous pitfalls.
"You dumbass, my point was that I WOULDN'T do something like that!"
"Nya, then what food would you want a guy to make for you then?"
"OH! Nice turnaround, Tsuchimikado!"
At first taken aback by the turned-around question, the well-endowed Fukiyose crossed her arms under her well sized chest and thought over her answer. Of course, there was no way she would admit she'd love to be given all of the different foods that were made up of healthy ingredients that she had neither the time or money to get, without any hidden agenda or reason to do so other than truly caring for her health and well being.
"So this guy you're imagining…is he getting to second base for being so good to you, nya?"
"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT IDEA!" Grinding her teeth, Fukiyose searched around for something heavy to throw at the smirking blond teen.
"Yeah, Tsuchimikado, what second ba-" because he had turned away from the angered girl, Touma took the full force of a hard-covered textbook thrown into the back of his head which was originally aimed at the still-smirking Tsuchimikado.
Rubbing the back of his sore head, Touma arched his eyebrow when he picked up and read the title of the weaponized object. "Tsk… what is this…'How to get the Oblivious Teen'?"
"Ah, my book!" Aisa cried out helplessly with a heavy shade of red coloring her face.
"You know, I also wouldn't mind getting a foreign girl to offer me a dish from her homeland." Aogami Pierce turned his attention toward Tsuchimikado.
"Oh yeah, that's also a great scenario, huh?" Tsuchimikado responded with a nod. "Something that seems so bizarre but ends up being a favorite dish, nya…"
While Touma was busy being attacked by both Fukiyose and Aisa for what he still couldn't realize was his current possession of the "How-To" book in his hand, like clockwork a certain silver haired girl found herself strolling into a certain spiky-haired teen's classroom.
The students, upon seeing this girl who wore not a high school uniform but a white nun's habit, took no particular action toward the girl who was obviously not a student.
"Oh hey, it's Kamijou's little Sister!"
"Hey there, little Sister!"
"Did Kamijou forget something again, little Sister?"
Her random appearances in the classroom having long since become commonplace, Index, while carrying a small kitten in her arms, traipsed about with minor irritancy toward being referred to as "small".
Of course, she did not stop the students who felt embarrassed at causing such a cutely annoyed reaction in the girl from offering her parts of their homemade or store bought lunches.
"Touma!" the nun rushed forward at the boy being assailed by his two classmates, "you forgot to make me food…again! I thought…me and Sphinx…were going to starve!" It was difficult to take the girl's claims seriously when they were said in-between bites of recently acquired portions of others' school lunches.
The cat simply mewed in agreement.
"Tch…" Touma casually pushed his lunch, which he had yet to actually bite into since the beginning of the break, slightly away from the still-to-be-satiated Index. "I'll be doing grocery shopping later, Index. Besides, what happened to those leftovers from last night? There was at least two days' worth of food!"
'And that's keeping your appetite in mind!' Touma dared not to say this part out loud.
It was lucky for Touma that he happened to be next-door neighbors with Tsuchimikado and therefore by extension his sister Maika. Maika was not an ESPer but attended school in Academy City to train as a maid at Ryoran Maid School and just so happened to have had a cooking test coming up the other day.
While Tsuchimikado was the primary (and willing) guinea pig for her cooking, Maika's strive for perfection led to an enormous amount of leftovers that would probably have gone to waste if it was all kept at their apartment.
It was thus a stroke of good fortune that the Tsuchimikado siblings kept the often hungry and poor Touma and Index in mind and gave them the leftover food which was overall exceptional in quantity and nutrition.
"I ate it." She answered unhesitatingly.
"Argh! What was the point of me labeling those containers for each day if you were just going to eat it all!"
"Touma! You shouldn't be getting mad when it's your fault there wasn't enough food to eat past breakfast!" Index responded in a stern manner.
"'Breakfast'? That was all just breakfast? You're such a glutton, Ind-w-w-wait Ms. Index please don't punish this poor Kamijou Touma for calling you names by chomping on my HEAAA-!"
Part 2
As lunch was nearly over and haven had her full of other people's lunches, Index began to leave when a pink-haired child that was actually not a child rushed into the room.
Within a second of her walking in the school bell rang, signaling the end of break and a sign that the students had to return to their seats.
"S-sister, could you please leave Kamijou and the others alone for now? Class is starting again."
It was an almost weekly occurrence that Tsukuyomi Komoe had to shoo away the silver haired nun, since there wasn't anything she could do to prevent her coming back again the next day.
"Hmmm…alright…"
By this point in time, Index was already past being stubborn about leaving and did as she was told, if at least begrudgingly, after getting a confirmation from Touma that he was going to be shopping before coming back to the apartment.
After Index had left, Komoe sighed and turned her attention toward the class.
"I know it's a bit sudden," the teacher who strongly claimed to be an adult said, "but I was just told today that we'd be having a new transfer student."
Such an announcement brought up a predictable stir in the students as they murmured and made guesses about the transfer.
"Well…" Komoe shifted nervously as she glanced toward the open door, "you can come in now."
As soon as the teacher called out toward the hallway, a brown haired girl wearing another school's uniform walked into the classroom. Without taking notice at the other students, the girl approached the teacher and turned in a robotic manner to face the rest of the room.
Even with as slight a movement as her turn was, the heart-shaped necklace the girl wore swung and jingled with a soft chime.
"Isn't that a Tokiwadai uniform?"
"But Tokiwadai is a middle school, right?"
The class murmured about while a pair of blue and yellow haired teens pumped their fists into the air for the new student being a girl.
"What…is she doing here?" Touma gasped in abject horror of the transfer student's identity.
"This is something Onee-sama wears, so this Misaka has decided to wear it as well' Misaka explains her choice to wear this form of dress."
With a quick response that Mikoto was sure to approve of, the girl with a heart-shaped necklace turned and shot an obvious "OK" with her fingers and thumb, which only caused the spiky haired boy sitting at his desk to panic and wave his arms crazily to get her to stop doing so.
"If you could just quickly introduce yourself, Miss Misaka..."
"Yes. You may use the given name 'Jun'' Misaka says with a bow according to custom."
'This is the first time I've heard of her having a given name…' Touma cracked a small grin as he thought back to how the Sisters had acted when he first came to know about them.
The thought of them developing their own given names, no matter how they came about, was a welcoming change. Especially since he sincerely meant when he said that every Misaka clone was the only one in the world back on that August 22nd.
"Because of the sudden notice, we'll have to do your full self-introduction another time in order for my lecture not to be pushed back." The pink haired teacher explained apologetically and scanned the desks that populated the classroom. "So, Miss Misaka, you can sit over next to Kami-…WAIT! NO! I-MEANT-FUKIYOSE-SEIRI!"
"HEY!" Touma jumped out of his chair and slammed his fists against the table. Though not actually incensed, Touma felt a sting prick at his ego from how fast the small teacher retracted her original seating plan and tried to move the Sister into a farther seat as though he was declared to be someone with a very particularly contagious strain of cooties.
"EH?" Shocked at being yelled and glared at so intensely by the teenager, the demure pink-haired teacher hid slightly behind the transfer student girl; a move much uncharacteristic of a self-proclaimed adult.
"The hell, Kamijou? Don't scare Komoe-tan like that!" a blue haired teen threw a bundle of paper at the instigator.
"Like you need another girl for your harem, Kami-yan!"
"I KEEP TELLING YOU GUYS I DON'T HAVE A HAREM!"
Part 3
It had only been a few weeks, but after haven just returned from her doctor's appointment, Kuroko was finally allowed to stop applying her burn ointment.
It was a particularly expensive sort, too.
Not only was it pain soothing and scar removing, it was odorless and great for skin rejuvenation to remove wrinkles, crow's feet around the eyes, bags under the eyes and freckles.
Inspecting herself in the mirror, the twin-tailed girl nodded at how she looked (and felt) a year younger, an absurd thought given her age as a middle school student and natural youthful cuteness to boot.
It just so happened that there was nothing like a bit of vanity to boost one's self esteem after feeling like a mummy wrapped in medical gauze for weeks on end.
There was even a special body gel to continue the process of her treatment without the threat of infection from the harsher soaps and cleansers that would accompany traditional bathing. The anti-bacterial body gel was unfortunately not available as an odorless composition.
Despite the hundreds if not thousands of times she had experienced being struck by the lightening fury of her roommate, it appeared that Kuroko's last endeavor for "skinship" ended in large scale damages to their room (to be paid by the school) and electrical burns for herself. Fourth degree burns.
There was also trauma-related memory loss on top of that. The hospital had a psychologist on its staff and readily sent him in to check on her mental state but it appeared there was nothing troubling about her condition. Of course, there was no way that Kuroko would tell a doctor or psychologist or even psychiatrist of a very vivid dream of being sandwiched between two Misaka Mikoto.
In any case, for all intents and purposes Kuroko was healed mind and body, a new crop of presentations and exams were on the horizon and her Judgment work had begun to pile up on account of her absence.
There was only so much Uiharu and Konori were able (and willing) to do.
With fortuitous timing, three light raps drew the girl's attention toward the door as soon as she was finished putting on the jacket to complete the Tokiwadai Middle School's winter uniform attire.
Though it was a school day, Kuroko remembered that her roommate Misaka Mikoto had left earlier than usual that morning.
It felt completely familiar somehow, to the point of déjà vu to walk toward the door despite it being her roommate to check up on her.
In fact this scene was very familiar to Kuroko as though she had read a scene similar to this in a story before, while placing her hand onto the doorknob.
Upon opening the door, Kuroko's body had a miniature spasm when she recognized the pair of brown eyes that was so identical to her roommate's.
Being able to discern the differences though, the corner of Kuroko's lip twitched when she focused on the pair of military-grade goggles covering the girl's bangs.
The only thing out of place from her grainy memory of a few weeks ago was the women's magazine tightly clutched in the arms of the girl standing before her.
The teleporter's eyes bulged and like a lab mouse afraid to latch onto the cheese with wires attached to it, she jumped back in fearful regret of opening the door in the first place.
"…Misaka…" Kuroko's skin tingled all over as though she was afflicted with body-wide sunburns that chastised her for playing outside all day without putting on UV protective cream. "…JUN!"
Reflecting on what was supposed to be fictional trauma Kuroko squatted low to the ground with her hands clutching her head while coming to terms with reality.
It was a dream.
There wasn't two Misaka Mikotos who bickered about "32" or some such. Misaka Mikoto was an only child, wasn't she?
A tomboy-ish electromaster with no peer who wore childish underwear and shorts under her skirt and loved Gekota the frog mascot and did not wear military-grade goggles…
The only daughter with a college student mother and a world-traveling father… (It was important to know this much as a sign of sincerity of her feelings toward the Level 5 ESPer.)
"...Jun?" The short haired brunette squeaked. "Um, no, the 'Jun' you are regarding of is 10032.' Misaka says while recalling the origin of that name in the memory databanks. This Misaka is referred to as Misaka 19090' Misaka says to correct the misunderstanding."
Saying this while pointing toward herself in a meek manner, the clone's eyes lit up with subdued panic, like a beauty pageant contestant realizing after answering that she completely misunderstood the question while standing in front of thousands of people in the audience.
"Oh! Uh no, not Misaka 19090! A-and please disregard Misaka mentioning Misaka 10032!' Misaka says anxiously while attempting to redact her introduction!"
Quickly rifling through the pages of the magazine, the girl settled on a predetermined page and timidly tapped her finger on a portion of text. "Kate!" she said with a bit of glee while sounding out the word. "…not Jun or Misaka 19090 but Misaka Kate!' Misaka says to finalize the previous correction."
"E-eh?" Kuroko was so lost at this point that she was unsure if she was supposed to be confused or not.
"Th-then did I still imagine meeting a Misaka Jun when I actually met a Misaka Kate? Or did I hallucinate seeing a sister after being attacked by Onee-sama but still ended up right about a sister existing? O-or did a sister manifest from my imagination, after it was charged by the sheer power of Onee-sama's electricity!"
"…" The self-introduced Misaka Kate could not come up with a quick enough response to this sudden blitz of questions.
"Hmmm…"
It was then that a furious number of stomps rushed closer from the hallway, as a second short haired brunette beauty slid into view. "D-DAMN IT, KUROKO! YOU'RE JUST IMAGINING EVERYTHING!" Mikoto screamed out with a pant as a crackle sounded out between her fringe.
"Stop, Onee-sama!' Misaka begs while trying to prevent a recurrence of events!" the Sister unexpectedly jumped in front of the twin tailed girl, opening her arms out in an obvious effort to shield her from an oncoming attack.
"Oh…" Kuroko couldn't help but be enchanted by the smell of the girl's hair standing in front of her.
"W-what are you doing?" Stopped in her tracks, Mikoto froze in place at the clone's perplexing actions.
"Yes. Just the question I was about to ask, Ms. Misaka. Not using your powers while inside the dormitory, are we?"
Mikoto's body froze at the cold voice that spoke from behind her.
Making a slight leap into the room to create a distance from the open door, she spun on her toes to face back toward the hallway again and both she and Kuroko automatically stood rigid at the sight of the Dorm Mistress.
Wearing similar painted-on smiles, the two girls simultaneously bowed in a stiff manner.
Leaving the Sister without a clue as to how to act, she followed their lead just seconds after they motioned in an effort to not be out of place.
"H-h-how do you do, Dorm Mistress…?" Mikoto greeted in a shaky voice as Kuroko copied her silently in making a slight head tilt. "Using our powers? Nooooo, of course not, heh…heheh…because you see, we both have electricity powers so…i-it was a slight discharge between us sisters and our electricity powers! Just a discharge!"
Raising her hand, the two girls winced just slightly while the woman moved to adjust the frame of her glasses before crossing her arms over her torso in a stern but ladylike manner.
"You already probably know but apparently failed to inform me that your sister has been allowed to transfer into our school." Like an executioner who was told at the last minute by telephone that a prisoner had just received a pardon from the governor, the Dorm Mistress leered toward the barely breathing girls.
"I expect you to take care of your sister, Ms. Misaka. As it is a special case coming straight from the Board that even the Chairman has orders to follow, so I'll have to allow it.
"I'll simply take out my frustration by giving you and your roommate demerit points."
Closing the door, the woman had disappeared as quickly as she showed up.
"…"
Like they had reached the surface after taking a deep dive into the water, the two girls finally managed to exhale and begin breathing normally. They even began exchanging slight grins as the tension seemingly wiped away Mikoto's previous intent to attack her roommate in an effort to wipe her mind again.
"So…you're really transferring into Tokiwadai?" Mikoto looked toward her clone.
"Y-yes…' Misaka answers while enjoying being able to personally meet you for the first time…" the Sister answered sheepishly.
The wires in Kuroko's head were all but certainly crossed as her eyes drank in the sight of the two girls before her. "Onee-sama…Can she sleep with me tonigh-"
A burst of electricity crackled from her fringe. "SHUT UP KUROKO!"
Part 4
School had finished and what was a number of mishaps and misunderstandings involving Misaka 10032, now known as Misaka Jun, as she navigated her way through a high school class.
In terms of academics and the actual curriculum the Misaka clone had no trouble at all as she used the maximum of her Testament "upbringing" as well as the Misaka Network to answer questions whenever she was called upon.
It was especially prudent of her to have done so as, according to 13577, she would have been in dire straits in regards to how she was perceived as "the new girl"; especially one who was not only a transfer but also supposedly a middle-schooler.
Most social norms and mores were also available through both Testament and easily researchable through the Network, but application of the current standards of behavior, as well as the real-time "modern-age advice" found from multiple source texts scoured by 13577, 10039 and 19090 was challenging to say the least.
To be urged to be participatory in the lecture and recitation periods yet overhear many comments from her new classmates about her first impression from wearing a Tokiwadai Middle School uniform was contradictory and confusing.
Another overwhelming feat was Misaka quickly finding herself the company of the students during breaks in the class, being asked questions as well as shielded from many of the boys by the girls.
Although 13577 was quick to warn that there may be some hidden agendas in the friendly nature of the other students toward her, the teenager maga—the "source texts" she researched also cautioned becoming taken by paranoia.
"High School is a battlefield" noted 13577 in a stern manner through the Network.
Despite that, it was an astounding feat for the classmates to be able to switch from being livid and violent towards each other over the most superficial things like spoken gaffes—such as blurting a comment about Fukiyose Seiri's large breasts (which led to an immediate and disproportionate level of counterattack—and coordination failure—such as falling into a compromising position under Himegami Aisa (which led to an immediate and disproportionate level of counterattack).
Kamijou Touma was unfortunate enough to be the victim in both cases.
It was the prime objective for Misaka Jun to protect the spiky haired boy because of recent events, but also as her own personal drive to see the one who fought for their as well as their "Older Sister's" sakes. Thus, it was important to keep close observation on Kamijou Touma.
"Why are you following me home?"
The teen whose hair resembled a black hedgehog turned to face the brunette, who had already changed into the blue girl's uniform of his high school.
"The hospital is currently too far away in order to make a timely departure for school. Your apartment on the other hand, from analyzing the geography and calculating all potential routes was determined the next best place to stay' Misaka tells as such to divert your attention from other possible motives."
Touma didn't even hesitate to respond.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no…no, no, no, no, no…no. There's just too much potential danger should that sort of scenario be allowed to happen."
"If you are referring to Onee-sama, then rest assured Misaka will make sure she is not made aware' Misaka says in simpler terms that Misaka will destroy any incriminating evidence
"Hold it there; first off, I can't trust you when you can't even say that while looking me straight in the face. Second, what you said is inappropriate even if you could say it to me while looking straight into my eyes. Third, Mikoto isn't the most immediate reason why I can't take you in."
The Misaka clone couldn't help but take note of Touma being able to say her "older sister's" name when she wasn't around.
"In fact, I'm not even sure why you wanted to start going to school. Couldn't you have gone with Mikoto?"
The girl didn't even hesitate to respond.
"Misaka wanted to be with you.' Misaka admits, while covering her blushing with her hands."
In Touma's mind, he could only think of such a confession a result of the girl's relatively isolated upbringing. Until very recently, none of the Sisters thought of themselves as human, or even had any goals outside of being killed in an experiment.
So because of the sudden opportunity given to them from not only an extended expectancy, but exploring into the world and giving into their curiosity, the teen couldn't help but feel sort of privileged to be able to help such a group earnestly learn and become comfortable about living.
Well, that and the fact that he was completely oblivious to the feelings of this Misaka, much less the feelings of girls all over the world.
"…Ok I'm not sure about letting you stay for a night, but…I can let you stop by for a bit while I ask for some people in mind who could take you in."
Misaka Jun sighed at the boy's complete miss in opportunity.
Without further ado, Touma set his key into the dorm apartment's doorknob, as it had taken him until they were on this floor of the building to confront the Sister following behind him.
"I'm home!" the boy sighed and stepped inside. Leaving his shoes at the entryway, Touma sought to rush as fast as possible to the kitchen to start cooking dinner, in order to distract his ever-loafing "roommate".
"Eh! Why is short-hair here?" Index, lying on the floor close to the television set like a lion lazing about under a tree to hide from the high-noon sun in the Serengeti, became more active while showing dismay at the sudden intrusion of her pride lands by someone she least expected.
The "short-hair" in question of course, was actually referring to a certain Level 5 ESPer whom Index had met several times before.
"No, that's her sister…Jun." Touma answered in a hurry, undaunted from his task to completely sideline the potential danger to his scalp with his vegetable stir fry with day-past-fresh Matsutake mushrooms.
"Oh….EH! Why is short-hair's sister, that girl who dragged you out before, here?"
Touma could only curse Index's perfect memory under his breath, which was able to recall when this particular Sister came to their apartment suddenly on September 15 asking for help, hoping not to be overheard.
"She's just stopping by while I made a call to help her find a place. I didn't want you to worry if I didn't come back when I said I would."
Then again such a lie was much easier than saying "she followed me home", Touma thought while taking out his cell phone.
"You can sit in the living room with Index."
Though nodding at the invitation, the brunette only took a single step into the apartment dorm and stayed close to where Touma was.
That was when she took notice of the small kitten playing at Index's feet.
Sorting through his list of contacts, his eyes settled on one name in particular that had already been a great refuge for stragglers. Selecting the number, Touma waited as the dial tone rang in his ear.
"H-hello!" an excited voice sang into his ear, not for a moment hiding any of the characteristics of its owner even over the phone.
"Komoe, I need your help. I sort of have someone in need of a place to stay."
"Eh? Kamijou?"
Though partially ruffled by the familiarity her student took by calling her by her first name, the teacher, who had rushed to pick up her landline phone amidst a mess of beer cans, take-out and cigarettes that would kill any sort of innocent perception of her character.
Her innocence aside, as a teacher, Tsukiyomi Komoe immediately noticed the seriousness in her student's request that awakened her concern. "…does it involve the Sister?"
Komoe never enjoyed the strange affiliation her student had with the silver haired nun. He was a young, hot-blooded male and despite all of his sincerity, Kamijou Touma had on more than one occasion come into dire situations—intentionally or not—with the opposite sex.
If it weren't for sheer kindness accommodating nature toward whatever their situation was, the pink-haired teacher would have given into the responsibility charged to her as an authoritative figure and sought out better living arrangements for the girl.
Kamijou Touma, not knowing any of this running through his teacher's mind, thought that Tsukiyomi Komoe's keen instincts came through and already figured something was up with her newest student, the transfer girl who introduced herself as "Misaka Jun"
"Yeah, well, you see the thing is…" His breath of relief from enjoying how understanding the woman on the other line was cut off when he spied what seemed to be the Sister he had in mind stepping into Index's territory with a calculated recklessness without permission from the lioness.
An oppressive feeling emanated from the two despite the half-polite glances and idle chatter going on between them.
Whereas males would try to intimidate the other or use showy forms of sizing someone up, Misaka Jun and Index seemed cordial and eager to fawn over Sphinx with smiles between them.
Of course as an animal, Sphinx knew better than to rely on sight and sound alone to realize the true nature of the intense high level battle going on between the two girls.
Without making even a mew for help, the cat glanced toward Touma across the room as if it were saying "Please, I don't want to be torn to shreds! There are still so many wonders of this world I've yet to see!"
"Geh!" As a male who suffered a curse known as "misfortune" Touma knew all too well how dangerous it was to interfere. To that end, the teenager gritted his teeth and turned away from the cat's desperate plight lest he succumb to his empathy.
"Kamijou? Is everything alright?"
"Oh, sorry…as for my problem with the Sister, it's as you've guessed…"
"I see. If you don't mind me being honest, I always felt you had to have met under strange circumstances. I agree that some better living arrangements should be found." It was too risky a situation for a boy and a girl to be living alone together, Komoe thought to herself.
"As expected, you really know how to get straight to the point." Touma laughed nervously at the concise observation from his teacher. It was true, meeting Misaka Jun, or that is, the Sisters who were all supposed to be fodder for an experiment to create a Level 6 ESPer. In addition to that, Touma didn't know how he'd be able to support two squatters in his apartment while barely able to feed himself and just Index.
"I'm sorry, Kamijou, but I already have someone staying over at the moment." The soft voice on the other line admitted with a bit of hesitation. "But no worries, I'll make sure that the Sister has a better place to stay than with you!"
"That's…kind of you…" Touma tried to keep his groan quiet at how rude that sounded.
'Would that BirBiri be willing to let her sister stay over at her dorm?' Touma frowned as he began walking toward the living room.
Index, who felt she had held back long enough from punishing Touma for not returning to the apartment with the promised grocerices, pounced on the unsuspecting spiky-headed gazelle.
Between the Lines 1
In the dark premises of an underground parking garage, populated by cars cast under a sparse number of long rectangular ceiling lights, a group of figures have met nearby a set of overly large white RVs.
As though purposely keeping out of sight and staying close to the shadows the group, some of whom are carrying bags while others armed with rifles, makes sure that no one else who they did not recognize knew of their meeting.
Each of them looks around at the others, taking note of who is present as they form a circle.
With only a nod, the four carrying large black duffel bags set them down and proceed to unzip them open in timed unison.
Two others step to help each of them set up the equipment fitted into the bags, unfolding a set of four tripods, extending and inserting telescopic poles and placing atop a rounded box-like structure, each the size of a toaster or projector, and looks like a modified x-ray machine with two tubes sticking out of two adjacent sides.
In all, four identical sets of machines have been placed around the group at equal distances from each other, five meters to the left and right and across from any of the other machines, and each machine's tubes are aimed at another machine at each corner of the formation; the group has essentially set themselves within a perimeter of the machines.
Another nod, and each of the machines are turned on, whirring to life and each of the figures seem less anxious by this, though tension still exists in the air.
The device that was procured had a simple function: to interfere with electronic communication.
They do this by being wirelessly connected to any similar unit, acting like an invisible fence that, like a wireless collar for dogs, sends vast amounts of concentrated energy of varying wavelengths through to each machine.
Of course the major difference between the two types of devices is the matter of whether the dog is alive or not.
This kind of technology can only exist in a place like Academy City.
Taking care not to be caught in the crossfire of the four machines that not only jams and disrupts communications that stem from hidden electronic devices to even the vibration of air through speech but also causes damage to any active electronics in the vicinity because of the high amounts of energy that will surge into them, the group is fully convinced that their meeting cannot be recorded or surveyed, as even machines the size of atoms are possible to make in a scientifically advanced place like Academy City.
There are some unintended consequences of using these portable Electronic Magnetic Pulse projectors.
As any nearby electronics will sustain damage from the vast energies produced by the machines, none of the group has brought their pairs of military-like electronic goggles.
As any form of communication outside of the EMP projector fence is jammed, letting unit 20001 know of their concrete plans would have to wait until another secure meeting could be formed, without raising suspicions as much as possible.
In fact, the very operation of the EMP projector had an immediate impact on the Underline system, so though the content of the meeting would be unknown, the disturbance in the system would in itself be an alert as to where they were as a giant hole in the City's surveillance capabilities was being created.
"We are secured' Misaka # 13577 says in order to begin this meeting. 'We shall start with discussion of Phase one."
Without needing to glance at each other, two of the Misaka clones knew it was their turn to report.
"Infiltration is successful and integration into the environment is at 32%' Misaka #10032 approximates"
"Um…Infiltration is also successful and integration is at…4%...' Misaka Kate—uh, no—#1909-"
"Less than 10% integration rate?' Misaka #10777 displays worry at #19090's progress"
"M-misaka is finding difficulty to transition into the school because of its very inclusive social structure!' Kate says with frustration at being made a celebrity!"
"And why Kate?' Misaka #13577 says after observing the chosen given name"
"Well, th-this magazine said…"
"Indeed.' Misaka #10039 says once noticing this discrepancy. 'It does not follow the template set by Onee-sama with #10032' Misaka explains her conclusions."
"As it was an act of desperation on Onee-sama's part, enforcement of such a template seems arbitrary.' Misaka #14458 states her position."
"And besides, for some reason #10032 has been advancing far too much in comparison to the rest of us.' Misaka #10744 adds with some envy."
The Sisters glanced at the brunette who had received a heart-shaped necklace and was even acknowledged as Misaka Jun by a certain spiky-haired teen. Not to mention that she was staying at his apartment as a part of her mission.
"#10744 makes a startling observation' Misaka #13577 says upon seeing such an unfair situation. 'Perhaps it would only be right if a rotation of assignment was instituted' Misaka #13577 suggests while signing herself up as next in line."
"Denied.' Misaka #10032 uses her delegated authority from the Administrator. 'In addition to being the eldest Sister as well as the winner of 'Rock-Paper-Scissors' this Misaka has several legitimate claims to enjoy her given role."
"So as the loser of all of her matches, #19090 is considered to have the least desirable role?' Misaka #14458 says in an attempt to find a fault in #10032's logic."
"But Ka-er, Misaka #19090 really don't mind being with Onee-sama!' Misaka #19090 says to stunt the idea that being with Onee-sama is undesirable!"
"Can we finish the report so we can go to sleep now?' Misaka #10339 says with a sigh as fatigue has begun affecting her patience."
"Agreed; as Phase one is continuing on schedule, priority is now placed toward the success of Phase two before Phase three can begin' Misaka #10032 says to continue the meeting"
"Phase two is also currently underway, as about 58% of installation is complete.' Misaka #13577 reveals the status of progress of the other Sisters."
"Understood' Misaka #10032 nods and earnestly tries to fight feelings of uncertainty"
Hopefully they would manage to set up the [FIREWALL] system in time…
Author's Notes:
- Sequel to "Sister Act!", it's not necessary reading but I'll be making references to it.
- All characters belong to Kazama Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura as author and illustrator, respectively.