Author's Notes: Darn, I amaze myself at how I can procrastinate studying for my final exams. So far, I'm done with two subjects and I have another two more to go next week. I hope everything will go smoothly. This one took a bit of time figuring out some plot elements to add. Anyway, hope you enjoy the read and review. Thanks.

Chapter 12: Kiharas

"I'm glad to see your fine making it out."

"I am glad to see you as well. Your resources were very useful. It has been a while Uncle."

"Indeed. You understand that these kids do not understand the significance of the science we perform."

"Leave them to me. I have an old score against these kids."

Name: Kihara Jiro

Age: 62

Height: 160 cm

Weight: 50kg

Nationality: Japan

Race: Japanese

Profession: Scientist

Previous involvements: Project FUZZY, EXE Project, SYSTEMS project

Current Project: unknown

Current Status: unknown

"That's what I managed to dig out from the official databanks." Uiharu presented her findings in the Judgment 177th office. The ones present are Misaka, Kuroko and Yori. Saten had other activities to do and Touma has…a sale to rush to.

"That's hardly anything useful…" Kuroko mulled over the information. Misaka remained dead quiet in apparently a sour mood.

Kihara... Misaka's thoughts emanated. It reminded her of Kihara Gensei. He is also involved in the SYSTEMS project, the one that Kiyama Harumi was involved. How is this Kihara Jiro related to the project? She didn't know from the fragments of memory that was passed to her.

Konori read over some other material. "It appears that this Kihara Jiro is the younger brother of Kihara Gensei, another scientist on the run." Bingo. That explains something.

"So what's so important about him?" Yori put a question into their investigation. "What are these projects about?" Misaka twitched an eyebrow. She wouldn't want them to know about the atrocities committed during the SYSTEMS project. It would be better to leave it be.

Uiharu gestured the universal don't know sign. "They are highly restricted, accessible only by the Board of Directors. I can't get anything about it." Misaka released a sigh of relief.

"You seemed relieved by that Onee Sama." Kuroko pointed out that oddity.

Misaka said hastily. "It's nothing! I'm just tired after all." She waved her hands frantically in emphasis of that. Kuroko left it at that.

"Then…" Yori continued the discussion. "I suppose we'll have to find him to get the answers. Where do we start?"

Kuroko noted. "You're deciding things very quickly don't you think? It's not even confirmed right now that the lead authority is him."

Yori was adamant about putting it aside. "Maybe but this is our one lead we have. I'll go with it even if it leads me nowhere." He turned his attention to Uiharu. "Anyway where can we find him?"

"From the information I gathered, one of his labs is possibly in a big house at the 19th District."

"That is just a rumour. We might be breaking and entering an innocent's home." Kuroko warned the consequences.

"Then we don't break in….we can just take a peek." Yori winked his real eye. Kuroko rolled both of hers. Misaka raised an eyebrow. Yori sure is treading on dangerous planes.

"How are we going to do that?" Uiharu asked. "There are surely bound to have a lot of cameras there." A rich man's place without security cameras is heresy.

"Hmm…" Yori pondered on the plan. "This way might work…"

While the small group in Judgment office 177 are making their move, several women are having a very active discussion in the library of the Necessarius base of operations. It isn't something of emergency such as war. It isn't something complicating as logistics. It isn't even important for the regular tasks they perform. It is all just a discussion about the female emotions… confidential to the likes of men.

Sherry Cromwell raised an eyebrow as she settled her teacup onto its coaster. "I may have caused a ruckus in Academy City but that doesn't make me an expert on esper abilities." Before her across the table is a particularly troubled younger girl. She is mulling over an issue while fiddling with her purple hair.

"I don't know who better to refer to other than you. You have the most experience about espers excluding those who are unavailable right now. Secondly, you are the librarian of Necessarius. I'm certain you should know something."

Sherry replied. "Being a librarian makes me a specialist on ancient magic items, not modern science. Well, go on with these symptoms." Itsuwa explained her troubles that started since the day she met Kamijou Touma. "Hmm…" Sherry analyzed the data given. "Increased heartbeat and day dreaming of the event…that doesn't add up."

Itsuwa nodded. "I don't know why I'm envisioning the face of Kamijou Touma often as well. I don't understand this at all." Sherry mulled it over with her greater experiences of life and Western magic. Add a dash of anti esper experience too.

Sherry felt a tingle of a headache from great focus. "Unfortunately…I don't have an answer to that." Someone else answered from afar.

"It's attraction." Eyes turned to see Orsola Aquinas standing by the door. She was holding a plate of cupcakes in her hands. She explained her answer in detail. "You are attracted to him after he saved you from that incident."

Itsuwa felt her face go red. "Eh…but that incident is nothing really." Itsuwa was only caught off guard, otherwise she'd improvise a defence against the esper.

Orsola smiled as she took a seat beside them. "We women easily get attracted to men who saved us. It's the romantic and natural thing to occur."

Itsuwa was at a loss. "You're saying that I'm attracted to Kamijou Touma?"

"Yes." Orsola gave another smile while offering a cupcake to Itsuwa. She accepted it as Orsola added. "It probably won't go away until you resolve it."

Itsuwa asked as she peeled the liner from the cupcake. "How do I solve it?"

"It's simple. You both communicate and see how things go. The final result is either you both will fall in love or you two break apart." Itsuwa cringed at that. Romance is really a new thing for her. After all, she's been training how to fight and use magic for most of her life along with some living skills. "Love is a very beautiful thing."

Sherry noted. "It is but…Stop spilling crumbs on my desk!"

So this is love. Itsuwa thought as she took a bite from the cupcake. "I'll give my best to it." Behind the doors of the library, a certain silhouette is hiding. Its fist tightened in surprise.

Don't tell me she's after him too?

"I can't believe we're doing this." Kuroko pinched her nose in a futile attempt to avoid the filthiest of smells entering her nostrils. Misaka was also doing the same thing. Uiharu will be supporting from afar as usual. They're inside the cargo section of a garbage truck. Yori easily bribed a driver scheduled to retrieve garbage to just let them into the truck and forgetting to compress the waste materials. Now, all kinds of rubbish where may be decaying or not is around and under them.

"You want in, this is in." Yori said, also uncomfortable with the situation.

"I feel like throwing up." Kuroko rested her head against the metal wall only to regret it. She felt something sticky on her hair and she pulled the green dirty stuff in disgust. Yori started fiddling with twitches of his unnatural eye.

"Let's see if there's any useful tools here…" His mechanical arm's skin parted slightly to let a small fan to deploy its stand and fins. It operated at relatively low speeds as the three watched.

"Um…what is that…suppose to be?" Misaka asked.

Yori gave a very bad answer. "That's an air freshener."

Kuroko exploded. "WHAT KIND OF SENSIBLE PERSON INSTALLS AN AIR FRESHENER INTO A MECHANICAL ARM?" The amount of wind generated by it is horribly abysmal. It's going to be one short yet long stinky ride.

Minutes later with no further attempts to fight the stinking problem, they are through the gates and into the mansion grounds, judging by the short stop of the truck. The sneak team kept their mouths and noses shut as they wait for the time to get out.

A minute later, the truck stopped for good. Kuroko opened the blueprints of the place that Uiharu provided beforehand. From the Judgment office, she'll try to receive any critical information from them. If possible, she'll gain access into their systems and support them directly. The cargo hatch opened and it is time to start.

The place composes of three buildings. They are the main house, the motor pool and the garden cathedral. These three cover a span of hundred meters, a small but luxurious commodity in the space deprived city. Right now, they are just behind the main house.

Yori triggered his time flow. This way, they'll have more time to get back to the truck if they did find nothing after all. They hugged the sides of the wall as Kuroko pulled the handle of the nearest door into the main house.

She looked out for anyone while Misaka read the map. The Electromaster pointed forward, the needed direction to the basement. That would be the likeliest place for a secret plan. They passed through the grandeur dining hall but nobody was around.

Kuroko leaned against a wall as she peeked out a corner into a hallway. It was empty with a T junction down the end. They made haste, passing by simple artworks hung on the wall. The basement door is out in the open at the main hall. She grit her teeth. That's a lot of people. Half a dozen people are at the main hall, lounging around at the three sofas. They appear to be researches concluded from the lab coats they donned.

She tried to think of a plan. How to get past them? She can't see beyond the basement door. Any risk of teleportation through it could get her crushed into a pulp. Fortunately, divine intervention assisted. A pair of researches got off the sofas and back presumably to work. One tapped in the code at the keypad at the basement. It opened and revealed its open hallway interior. They closed the door but it presented Kuroko with enough information for her solution. The thickness of the door is standard. She turned around and teleported Misaka, Yori and herself beyond the door. Now in a blue hallway, they made their way quietly.

Two years ago…

Aweo Dum Dum Dum…Ba dum da dum dum dum...

The music of techno played in the small room of an Academy City student named Yori Tamotsu. The powerful laptop computer played the mix of beats and tunes at a reasonable level to the human ear. Yori is now a year older. It's been a year since he has been in the Wolf Hounds. His physique has taken an upgrade, slimmer, leaner and stronger. He has read a high number of books to brush up his mind on combat tactics and techniques. However biology of age still limits his development. Dangerous as he may be, to a fully grown man, he is still…a kid.

Yori worked his upper body muscles as he made the last push up for his training regime. Masaru Akihiko had put him through a rigorous workout schedule in order to bring him to combat fitness. The stress that it inflicted on his body is akin to actual military basic training. There was no yelling drill instructor in his face but a certain note was given. If you want to live in the business, you have to prepare hard to survive. You live or die in every test you partake in this world of killing. There is no retake.

He did however have an advantage for he is now considered a level two for esper abilities. His unnatural speed will help a lot. The others think it is just speed but Yori already understood his real ability. Nevertheless, he'll keep it a secret. Sweat filled his brows as he got up to his two feet. He wiped them off with a white towel before wrapping them around his neck. He sat down on a simple black leather chair and read the display of his computer.

YOU HAVE MAIL!

He opened it up and read the details. I got another assignment for you. This one will be a hard one but it shouldn't be a problem. Sadao and I will cover another equally difficult job. Initial deposit's in your account already. Details appended. By Masaru.

Yori read the details. Kin Orochi, some competition to the Takao family. They're handing over a reward of 100 grand USD. That looks juicy alright. Security is world standard, nothing Academy City like. He gazed over his new weapons. He had retrieved the two accessories from his deceased uncle. What better way to give Takeo payback than the weapons of the man he murdered? He had italicized them Speagle and Devil's Trigger. If only money would make finding Takeo a lot easier. His quest so far has been rather stagnated. Information regarding his parent's murderer is close to none. He isn't famous in the underworld. His name is just one out of so many types of names there is. All he has is just that Takeo is still in Japan. All this…just for Takeo.

Time Stamp: 8.00 P.M. Tokyo.

Yori felt the raindrops touch his face in the dark sky. The torrent of water isn't too heavy. Umbrellas plopped open in resistance of the common people to get home in a relatively dry manner. He is wearing a pure dark tonight for the operation. Black pants and jacket, brown shirt and shoes. His green hip pack bearing reserve ammunition is hidden under his jacket, a small bulge but nothing too odd. Sure one bullet is all that it takes but it never hurts to have more for the moments of shit hitting the fan.

He stood up tall on the roof of a thirty storey tall building. He used a pair of binoculars for a better look at a particularly open restaurant. His target is somewhere inside. All he needs to do is get in and give a headshot. It has to be public following a requirement of the hit. He found his target, having an exquisite dinner at the seventh floor. He knows just the trick to get it done. He made his way down and prepared to do a new trick.

Kin Orochi was enjoying the dinner with his mistress in the restaurant Laplace. He was interrupted by a phone call. "Who is this?"

"The Takaos have a message for you."

"What kind of message is that?"

"Look outside."

Kin turned outside to face the glassy windows. A young boy flew up from below. His velocity slowed to level face to face with Kin. He raised a pistol. "They say good bye." He could see the boy pull the trigger in slow motion.

CRACK!

Yori let gravity take over and fell down in his escape as the glass shatter and so along is the flesh of Kin Orochi. Yori stabbed the glass with the wakizashi in a reverse grip. It shattered and stabbed into the blue carpeting, stopping his rapid descent instantly. Using his blade as a focal point, he climbed his way into the fourth floor. He smirked as he started his escape. That was quite a show. What he didn't expect was something large to smash through an entire wall to hit him. The young assassin was thrown against another concrete wall with a painful grunt.

That knocked the wind and bearings out of him as he heard. "So this is the assassin…damn small piece of cake." Yori glanced up and barely avoided a stomp to his face. Yori smashed his fist against the knee, forcing a stumble of the opponent above him.

Yori picked himself off the floor. I got to get out of here. His mission is already complete. There is no use staying around or fighting this person. He is on the clock to get out before more reinforcements arrive. He ran for exit, kicking open the door and flew down the stairs. "Come back here you brat!" He heard that yell before a follow up of a shotgun blast.

Try shooting this! He activated his time flow, accelerating two times his maximum speed. He was down the steps and out the stairwell at the first floor in seconds. He however did not expect to be slammed from the back and out the window. The shattered bits of glass cut into his face as he fell hard onto ground floor and onto the main road. Onlookers surprised at the initial commotion are getting more surprises with his painful exit. Yori was surprised himself. How did he hit me? It isn't bullets, it was physical impact. He had almost no time to dodge a blow to his face by a knee. Yori skid across the wet floor, aiming his pistol simultaneously. His target has already vanished.

How the hell is he so fast? Yori activated his time flow and sprinted again. There are too many civilians around. He'd like to avoid casualties in the process as he sought to deal with this enemy. He shot up the wall of the building with gravity three times less effective and is on the roof in a real second. His eyes scanned for his pursuing enemy. Could it be…esper enhancement?

The answer to his thought was deadly.

BANG! BANG!

Yori didn't even feel it hit him. The last thing he knew was him flying off a building towards the muddy floor below. Everything then went black.

"Thank you so much for your introduction regarding the new pulse stabilizer." A doctor in the Tokyo hospital praised.

A certain frog faced doctor accepted the gratitude. "It is our duty as doctors to help our patients at our best. This knowledge will definitely be of very good use for every doctor in the world."

"That is certainly true. If only we can impart skills as efficiently as well. I would certainly enjoy reviewing your healing touch." Heaven Canceller chuckled as the doctor's pager rang. It is a common signal for an emergency. "I apologize for an emergency case has appeared."

Heaven Canceller offered his services. "I'll help. Let's deal with the new emergency." The few doctors rushed towards the emergency wards.

The relatively young doctor demanded critical information from the attending nurse. "What's the situation?"

The attending female nurse described. "Patient has taken shotgun rounds to the chest. He has lacerations and possibly broken bones as well. EKG is turning critical!"

"Prepare the defibrillator! How many entry wounds are there?"

"There's about three dozen with high possibility of deep penetration! He's losing blood fast!" The doctor felt a pang of dread at that. Those are a lot of bullet wounds. One shot from the shotgun alone is enough to kill a man. Two or more shots depending on the range are overkill. Add the other injuries and this kid should be dead a while ago.

Seeing hesitation, Heaven Canceller took over. "Get the correct blood and I'll operate. I will save this patient."

"Hello..." Yori snapped out of his dream state as Misaka waved a hand in front of him. "You back with us now?"

Yori nodded. "Yeah… Sorry for that."

The researchers the trio followed were still oblivious to them. The hallway became a helical stairs going round and deeper into the ground. After what is to be approximately four to five floors, the stairs opened up to a medium sized room at the ceiling height of twice their bodies. The walls are a dull boxy grey, giving somewhat a spaceship kind of feel.

The two researchers went left to what apparently is an open test area. Kuroko lead the group towards the right for the corners and small pathways for safer espionage. This place looks like a testing facility.

Yes indeed Kuroko Shirai. From a dark corner, they saw the large number of observation and testing equipment. A huge control room is overseeing the large orange circle of the testing area with its large pane window. At the wall to the left of the circle are a set of human sized targets.

"What are they testing?" Yori asked softly.

"I don't know." Kuroko gave her lack of strong ideas. It only had people and measuring equipment, not anything that's about to be tested.

"It's coming." Misaka said and true to her word, it did. It is eight feet tall with the bulkiness of a weight lifter. It is white with thick mechanical blocks for its humanoid limbs. Its black hands are easily two times larger than a human. Its legs were blocky and inelegant. Its mass certainly could reach hundreds of kilograms. Its red eye on the abelos head was passive and unchanging. "A robot…"

"They're trying to weaponize these eh." Yori was observing the four feet long Gatling gun its hands were holding. "That looks like some real firepower."

"They're going to manufacture these against Academy City?" Kuroko was astonished at the technology and resources their opposition has. How better to destroy something than from the inside. She started taking photos with her camera. "This needs to get out." The weaponized robot appears to be ready for its experiment. The researchers cleared the area around the mecha and headed for the control room presumably. It raised the Gatling gun and fired continuously. The paper targets were completely decimated by the barrage of a thousand rounds a minute.

Yori observed the damage done as the gun spun to a halt. "Precision is give or takes five centimetres deviations. That's really consistent and accurate."

"We can't let them mass produce these." Misaka fiddled for her coins. "A surprise attack now will end this." The door that the researches disappeared through opened again. This time, a purple suit of armour exited. Its head is exposed, revealing its pilot. "It can't be!"

Kuroko had a shock. "How is she here?" The familiar blue eyes. The apricot coloured hair. The thin frame glasses. Therestina Kihara flexed the mechanical arm of the suit. "Isn't she supposed to be in prison?" The robot started looking around with its eye, apparently in some new mode. It looked to the far left…right at them. "Uh oh." The upper part of its left arm extruded a barrel before a missile shot flying at them.

Yori stepped forward with his pistol and fired. The missile blew up, scattering pieces onto the floor in an explosion. Their cover is blown now. "I suppose the cat's out of the bag."

Therestina said in amusement. "We have a rat in here." When Kuroko and Misaka got out from cover, she was startled with fury. "You two!"

"I suppose it's a bad thing to see you fine and well Therestina." Kuroko displayed her glamorous self.

Therestina took a whiff of the air. What is that horrible smell?"

Kuroko glared at Yori. "You're going to get it Yori." The gunman merely shrugged. She handed Yori her cell phone. "Get to the surface and pass the data to Uiharu."

"Oh come on, you're better suited for that." Yori seems…reluctant.

Kuroko won't take a no for an answer. "Just go Yori. We have an old affair to deal with."

"I won't have…" Yori's voice was cut off as she teleported him out of the facility and back to the garbage truck. So much for that…

"Now with that settled…" Kuroko brandished her nails. "It's time to play."

"I'll make sure to kill you brats this time!" Therestina yelled as she charged. The robot started firing its Gatling gun at them. The two espers split ways left and right. Therestina went after Misaka, giving full delegation of the robot to Kuroko.

Kuroko sprinted, teleporting her nails to disable the big gun. The nails reappeared into the critical mechanisms, causing it to fail. Upon being useless, the robot discarded it and another weapon appeared. It had turned back for its missile launcher and fired. Kuroko dodged by teleporting away from its trajectory.

Misaka dodged the striking metal blows of the large suit before her. She struck back using electricity to no effect. Therestina laughed at the failure of the attack. "This suit is electrically resistant, specifically designed to fight against you." She retrieved a robotized version of a knife from a compartment at the left thigh. The right hand retrieved the railgun at the back. "Now die!" Misaka grit her teeth at the deadly weapons presented against her.

Therestina has both range and close quarter advantage. She stepped side to side and backwards to avoid the slashes that just desired her flesh. Her raw attacks will not work just as that and she needs setup time for the Railgun. She needs to buy that time. She used electromagnetism to forcefully repel Therestina but only several feet. "This armour has a magnetic flux generator. I can easily use it to stop that!" Therestina aimed the Railgun which is already charged and fired.

Kuroko didn't like her state right now. Her nails are all expended. She had disabled the missile launcher with the remaining nails she had. Now all she has is her two hands against a root that's armed with a very big blade. She teleported about, keeping her distance and attacks as random as possible whenever she could think of an effective one. That's it! She went upclose and teleported the mech straight into the wall. The weight of dirt will crush it easily!

The wall broke, allowing the robot to dig itself free. Her plan didn't work out. The amount of damage done is superficial. How can it move despite being entirely restricted by such immense weight of the earth? The answer became clear. Its eyes shot a red beam of high heat powered laser. If Kuroko didn't twitch her neck in time, she'd have lost her head in a thermal vaporization. So that's what it is! She scanned around for a useful counter. She found it.

Kuroko teleported herself up towards the control room. She touched the glass panel and teleported it to the robot. 11th Dimension physics force the separation of the two materials that are having positional conflicts. The robot's chassis was severed into half. It lost its leg as the glass shattered into pieces. The robot however still wasn't down for the count. Kuroko teleported it again this time straight down seventy metres. This time…it didn't get out of its early grave.

Misaka doesn't have enough time to dodge the shot. She pulled the measuring devices at the side and become her shield. It was barely enough to slow it down until her magnetic flux managed to slow it down to a full stop. A blunt cylindrical metal core the size of a palm plopped to the ground.

She pulled the several metal pieces from the broken devices and fused them with electricity. She now has a raw physical weapon. Therestina and Misaka went for more close quarter combat. Neither are experts in the art of swordsmanship but whatever technique they know will decide their life or death. Therestina's height and bolstered strength gave a very lethal advantage. Misaka had the advantage of blade length, flexibility and manoeuvrability. It's all down to that one hit.

Misaka pulled away after barely deflecting a slash. She leapt up for a death from above strike. Therestina blocked it easily but it was not what Misaka truly intended after all. Misaka slammed her shoulder into Therestina's right arm, forcing the release of the Railgun.

She summoned into her hands as she backed away. "Have a taste of your own weapon." Normally such a gun depended on extremely powerful capacitors to be a power source. For this case, she IS the power source. "Ha!"

Therestina charged in the attempt to kill during the charge up time. Sparks arched around Misaka as the Railgun reached max charge. She fired point blank as the blade is millimetres away from her neck. Newton's third law tells the rest.

Kuroko admired Misaka's handiwork. "Seriously Onee Sama, you should have gone all out." Therestina's chattered armour rests under the self made crater on the wall. Add some sparks and smoke to that too.

Misaka dropped the gun. "There's no need to take her life if I can help it. I'm not a murderer."

"Good answer." The girl turned to see a purple haired woman in similarly coloured body armour. Anti-Skill has arrived.