"Things we think are cool!" shouted Kyoko, grabbing Yui by the arm, hoisting it up into the air. Yui had a dull expression on her face. Her other hand was open, ready to grab Kyoko's arm and force it down.
"Kyoko, stop stealing our host's shticks," said Yui.
"Oh, no, you can do it," said Mio, nervously flipping through the pages of Kyoko's girls' love Mirakurun doujin. "This art quality is really top notch for a middle schooler."
"Has anyone seen Mai?" asked Yuuko, looking inside every storefront.
"Yui, let's try this one more time," she said, raising her arm to the sky. Yui went along with it, holding her arm limply.
"Things we think are cool!" shouted the two, Yui much less enthusiastically.
On a nearby TV, a promotion for the latest Mirakurun DVD started to play. The magical girl was seen throwing attacks out of her wand, blowing up the alien invaders with a sparkly flare. On a shadowy precipice, Rivalun, her baggy pants just sultry enough for an early morning TV slot, held a similar wand.
She leaped toward Mirakurun, and the two's wands clashed in combat. Sparks flew around them, turning into a crystalline backdrop. The frame froze as the commercial ended. Kyoko posited her and Yui in front of the big screen TV.
"Oh, Mirakurun!" said Kyoko.
"Clap clap clap," said Yuuko, slowly applauding, "Not bad for a newbie. You're a little too early if you think you can steal my limelight. Mio?"
"Not now, reading," Mio said, flicking Yuuko on the forehead. Yuuko felt a large bump appear on her face, and a small stream of tears rolled down her eyes.
"So, what do you want to see next?" asked Yuuko.
"Whatever you want. This place is awesome!" said Kyoko.
The two high schoolers and the two middle schoolers pressed onward towards the shrine. Yuuko was taking them towards a different shrine, because the last one she had visited was under construction for some time. She hoped nobody would bring that up in the course of their journey.
"Nano, Nano!" said the Professor, "Let's go to the aquarium!" Her lab coat was too big for her young frame, and her untidy orange hair was being blown about in the wind. She had a bag of snacks, recently bought from the shopping district, tucked underneath her arms.
"I don't know if we have enough money for that," said Nano. Nano Shinonome was, in most respects, an ordinary girl. Her hair was soft to the touch and her skin was warm and flexible. The only thing setting her apart was the large screw on her back.
"But I want to go to the aquarium! They have sharks there! Robot sharks! Maybe you'd appreciate the coolness of sharks more if you saw one that was like you!" said the Professor.
"I'm trying not to let anyone know that," said Nano, putting her hand behind her head.
Trailing behind Nano was a teacher from Tokisadame High. She had chosen to wear her lab coat in public today, having heard that they were trendy off in Akiba. It might help her blend in with the crowds. Kana Nakamura wanted to figure out how Nano functioned. Her interest had only increased since she learned an eight year old created her.
She was holding a bottle of water in her hand. "Robots aren't good with water, right? I've never seen Shinonome go out to swim. Maybe that's her weakness." She squeezed her water bottle tightly in anticipation, spilling a bit of it on her coat.
Nakamura walked between the storefronts, trailing the scientist and her creation. She was so focused on looking ahead that she forgot to look to the side, and bumped into a woman her age, dressed very similarly. She had brownish-gray hair that covered one of her eyes, and was wearing a low cut top in addition to her labcoat. The two recognized each other instantly.
"I thought you were thrown out!" the two said at the same time.
At Tokyo University, Nana Nishigaki and Kana Nakamura were in different classes. They had seen each other in the Dean of the Science Department's office several times for illicit activities. Each had only heard rumors about the other and, when they graduated, barely on time, they never heard from each other again.
"I got a job teaching," they said at the same time.
"I'm in the middle of an experiment," said Nakamura, "One of my students is a robot, and I need to find her so I can..."
Nishigaki leaned in to Nakamura's ear and whispered something lewd. Nakamura's face turned bright red. "What sort of person do you think I am?" she said.
"I was here with the Student Council. Their president Rise... one of my favorite students... is looking at high school applications, and we thought we'd try this place out. She told me she had something she wanted to see. Who knew I'd meet another scientist here?" said Nishigaki.
"You may have a degree, but that doesn't give you free reign," said Nakamura, "I'm not going to let you get your hands on Nano. She's too important a scientific touchstone for you to randomly blow up!"
"I'd study her before I blow her up," said Nishigaki, tracing out a female outline with her hands. "At least I'm upfront about it. Everyone heard the stories of Nana the killer. How many students have you tranquilized? Ten? Twenty?"
"It's not that many," said Nakamura. "I need to work on my traps more."
"Now who's the unethical one?" said Nishigaki playfully.
The Professor could feel the glare of someone from behind the gate that led into the shopping district. She had pale ghostly skin, red eyes, and long, black hair. Yet, she didn't look scary. The Professor curiously approached her. "Nano!" she called out, "I'm going to play with her new friend!"
"Okay!" shouted Nano, "I'll be making a brief stop by the shrine. Make sure you're still here when I get back."
"Bye-bye!" shouted the Professor.
As Nano walked off into the distance, two older ladies following after her in a not at all suspicious way, the Professor started talking to the girl with the ghostly visage. The silent girl waved to one of the women in lab coats. Her voice was so quiet it was barely audible.
"Do you know her?" asked the Professor.
"..." said the girl.
"Cool!" said the Professor, "The Professor didn't know there were other scientists here. What's your name?"
"..." she said.
"Rise Matsumoto. Can I call you Rise?" she nodded in response. "I'm the Professor. I like sharks and Nano and snacks. What do you like?"
"..." said Rise.
"I don't know what that means," said the Professor. "Say, do you want to go to the aquarium?"
Rise nodded in return. She bent down and hoisted the young scientist onto her shoulders. The two new friends walked off in the direction of the aquarium, the Professor humming a song from her childhood. Rise joined in, an inaudible chorus that only the two of them could understand.
Nakamura and Nishigaki continued trailing Nano until they neared a shrine. There was a large group of people up ahead. Nano only stuck out because of her screw. Whatever was going on inside the circle, they couldn't tell. The two scientists went up the steps of the shrine, finding a rocket launcher, still fully loaded, resting idly on the steps.
"Did this come from Shinonome?" asked Nishigaki, picking up the hefty weapon without problem.
"I... wouldn't know," said Nakamura, "I've never actually gotten a chance to study her. I think that might belong to Tachibana."
"Why would a student have a rocket launcher? Don't be silly," said Nishigaki, "Maybe I can tinker around with this a bit. Shinonome's not that far from here. We just need to set this missile so it can track her and then subdue her."
She reached inside the weapon and pried apart one of the shells, adding a few microchips she had been carrying around in her pockets. She did the whole thing with such a casual air that Nakamura was unsure of how to react. Before loading the shells back into the weapon, Nakamura reached for a tiny box in her breast pocket, packed with technology to keep its contents stable.
"What's that?" asked Nakamura.
"What's what? Just a little nitroglycerin. I use it in all my experiments," said Nishigaki. She reloaded the launcher, placed the tracking sight over her eye, and aimed it at the girl with the wind up screw. "Ready... fire!"
Kaboom.