It had been a week since she spoke with Miss Usami. It had been three days since she got her leg out of the cast. She was able to walk normally now, always a hard worker, learned to walk in three days, she didn't use a cane even once. Her arm would need another week to heal, but now she had a bit more mobility and that was something nice. She was at the library when she overheard one conversation regarding one of the teachers.
–What did you say? –Eh? Tanuki-sensei left a lot of homework for Friday –Not about that. But why do you call her Tanuki? –Misaka still repeated herself the story about the ESPer girl who tried to be a hero and instead received a lesson from a tanuki and a beating from many monsters –Yuu… someone started calling her like that in class. Now the nickname had stuck –Yuuka was the one who put the nickname on her? –Misaka saw how the girl stopped saying the name when she saw the cast on the arm –Y-yes… Sorry I forgot –No need to be. It's nothing that can't be fixed –Misaka laughed, a true laugh for a lesson she had learned. She needed to work harder, the standards were rising.
–Are you one of her classmates? Is she the same way she was with me? –the girl shook her head –I am in class with her yes. She is quiet but nice when you ask her something. Though she doesn't speak to anyone. –Wasn't she always stuck to another girl? –We don't know what happened… But they don't speak to each other now. –Wait I was forgetting. Who do you call tanuki? Our homeroom teacher. Dr. Sumireko Usami –she expected that answer. Was she truly a raccoon dog? It was impossible, legends said they could disguise themselves as humans though.
She went with haste to her room, she even forgot her stuff on the table she was working on. –Kuroko! They call her tanuki! –her friend was napping, Usually she would be busy after school but Judgement was lax on her now that she nearly got killed –Usami! Her class calls her tanuki! –Kuroko got completely awake from what she had heard –So do you think she is the woman in her story?! Is it a metaphor? –We need to investigate… Anyone will believe us. This is too much of a coincidence –Why don't we just ask her? –Do you think she would tell us? –It was argument enough to get them moving. Who would have information on Usami Sumireko?
They both know Sumireko is a researcher. So her name should me mentioned in documents of ESPer development. Kuroko had to go find some documents in the library. Meanwhile Musaka went to a place thar brought much sorrow to her, the lvl6 shift project ruins. In there she might find a document with a clue about Sumireko's past or who the ESPer in the story was. They knew it had no use knowing if Sumireko was a tanuki, it was even a silly idea, but it amused them look for that kind of information.
One of the oldest documents Misaka had gave her some insight. The document dated from even before Accelerator was born, one of the first experiments in Academy City. There it talked about a lvl5 with great potential, a female ESPer whose psychic powers seemed to have reached the top. There it talked about a probable state, a new level, but it wasn't known at the time if she was likely to reach that level or not. The paper's name referred to the ESPer girl as "Urban Legend" and the researcher looking for a way to make her reach a new level was Sumireko herself. Misaka called her friend.
–Hey Kuroko, I found a clue. A really old document mentions an ESPer with abilities beyond what was thought to be the limit. The name of that girl is "Urban Legend" Miss Usami was in charge of the experiments herself. Maybe this is the girl she was talking about. –Big sister. I would like to see that document. I'm going to be looking for some references to that name anyway. Please let's met back at school. –Alright then bye –she hung up.
Back in their dorm they put together all the information they had found. The document she found was the first in a bundle of reports filed by Sumireko, she was the one who actually started the project to shift a lvl5 up. To Misaka's relief she found that Sumireko's name suddenly disappeared when they thought of the method of committing genocide to get a lvl6. The first project was closed shortly after. The real name of the girl was never mentioned.
–Wait this is from 2025! This thing is from the same year my father was born –Kuroko stared at the first document talking about "Urban Legend" –Miss Usami is very old. She sure has lots of money to stay that young –Misaka had thought of that too, but retarding the aging process of the very wealthy was something common from nearly a century ago –What have you found Kuroko –Well big sister, there is practically nothing but legends about this girl. Some reports file her as a pirokinetic ESPer, others as a psychic, others as a mind reader, telekinesis, aquakinesis even one electromaster. This "Urban Legend" you mention is more than one ESPer, I refers to a group of various ESPers. The part that doesn't fit is that for this project to be true it means they had to be all lvl5…
–Please don't say it… –I know big sister. It is something hard to swallow. I think all of this "Urban Legend" people are dead, they were killed after the project was closed –Then that story is indeed dark –Kuroko was trying to keep herself together to look good in Misaka's eyes, but she felt so sick she had to puke. Why would anyone kill so many lvl5 ESPers, maybe they tried to make them all kill each other and make the survivor a lvl6.
Misaka and Kuroko now wished to make this known, so everyone could see the respected researcher as who she truly was, a murderer. Now their plan needed more people, they had to take this to a greater extent. Their plans were interrupted by a knock on the door, the girls hid the documents under the bed. –May I come in? –It was Sumireko again –Y-yes please –Misaka gulped, was their room bugged?
Sumireko walked in and stood up in front of the girls –Enough detective games for now. Why don't you look for the whole story before you get some conclusions? –Don't try to hide it, we know it already! –Sumireko sighed, they were indeed convinced of their own story –If you look for snakes you will find them when you see ropes –Misaka couldn't stand the cynicism in Sumireko, she started to spark –Well this was my mistake for telling you the story.
–You didn't think we would find your secret? –I thought you would find it! You stopped midway and started getting your own conclusions –Sumireko got hit by one of Misaka's sparks. Instead of flinching or fainting she received it, and then placed her hand on the ground where it spread rendering the charge useless. –You have to promise me this will stay a secret. Even to your closest friends. –They didn't answer, she had done something they didn't expect her to do
Sumireko lifted her hand with its palm up from it a flame started to glow, it was a blue flame with a bright glow. –Please wait –she made the flame disappear, then she walked to the bathroom and made the shower run without touching it, she made the water stop mid air, then back into the shower and closed it. She walked back to the room and sat down besides the girls. –The story had no lies. It was all true, even the tanuki part.