A/N: That stuff about "Project Bebop" has been removed
Chapter 18: A certain detective's origins
Following the meeting, we all agreed to separate and make our own. Oni-chan sent everyone a text containing Tsuchimikado's last known location and asked that everyone reconvene at GROUP's headquarters.
"This way, we don't have to travel in a two-van convoy," he said, "We don't want to tip anyone off that help was on the way. Let's meet in the lobby, away from prying eyes."
Yomikawa-san offered us a ride to Branch 177 office, and Oni-chan, me, Misaka-san, Shirai-san, Uiharu-san, and Saten-san all piled into her van. I sat in the back, sandwiched between Oni-chan and Shirai-san. Misaka-san was riding shotgun this time and Uiharu-san and Saten-san sat in the middle, playing games on their phones. Unfortunately, all the windows in the back were covered, so I couldn't even see where we were going. Bored and with nothing to do, I asked the question that had been bugging me this whole time.
"Shirai-san," I said.
"Hmm?" She looked up from her phone.
"Yesterday, you said that you trusted Oni-chan with your life. What did you mean by that?"
"Urk!"
"Geh!"
Both Oni-chan and Shirai-san jumped at my question. Both had twisted smiles on their faces as though I had struck a nerve. I was about to withdraw my question when Saten-san put down her phone and turned around. "Actually, I want to know too, Shirai-san!" She said cheerfully, "How did you go from drop-kicking him and calling him names at every opportunity to calling him your partner-in-crime and trusting him with your life?"
Shirai-san glared at Saten-san. "You already know what happened," she growled, "You were there when it happened."
"Yeah, but I still want to hear the story from you," Saten-san said, still smiling as brightly as ever.
"Me too!" Uiharu chimed in, "Kamijou-senpai too! I also want to hear about how all of this detective business got started."
Oni-chan and Shirai-san looked at each other. Oni-chan shrugged. "I guess there's no harm in that. Many of them are friends now."
Shirai-san rolled her eyes. "Honestly, you make friends too easily. Most of them are just professional connections for me."
Oni-chan shrugged, "True enough. Why don't you start?"
"Well fine," Shirai-san sighed, "It's a long story, and—"
"Kuroko!" Misaka-san barked sharply. Shirai-san jumped at her name and slowly turned her gaze. "Yes, Onee-sama?"
Misaka-san stared back at her, suddenly very stern. "Leave my family members out of this, understand me?" She shifted her gaze towards Oni-chan. "You too! It's disturbing that Index already knows. Don't go telling anyone else, okay?"
Shirai-san and Oni-chan nodded at the same time.
"Yes, of course."
"As you wish."
Shirai-san sighed, "Okay, like I said, it's a long story, and I don't really know where to begin. Maybe I'll start with Kamijou-senpai's week before he left high school."
Side Story part 1: Shirai Kuroko
"Following Chairman Aleister's passing, Accelerator was chosen as his successor. Kamijou-senpai returned to Academy City after so many adventures and took a long hard look at his own situation.
"He had barely done any work at school, and there was just a month left to the term. Even if he could finish all his work in three to four weeks, he would only scrape by with a 40%, which was far lower than the passing grade. Of course, that meant that he had to repeat the grade, whether he wanted to or not. After discussing the situation with his teachers, he decided to take the rest of the school term off and try again in the spring.
"He also wanted to help out in the clean-up effort, as Academy City was still recovering from the information blackout. Komoe-sensei recommended that he join Judgement. Accordingly, she set up a meeting with Yomikawa-sensei and Konori-senpai to advise on Kamijou-senpai's next steps. I remember that day well, because I came along as witness. Konori-senpai was understandably befuddled with this unorthodox endeavor. Letting a high school drop-out join Judgement was just unheard of. Yomikawa-sensei, though, was more supportive.
"'Even though your grades are in the toilet, your service to Academy city has been outstanding," She said, "Oyafune-dono, whom you know as one of the board of directors, has personally recommended you to our cause. She has unsealed some documents that covered your exploits abroad, especially those concerned with certain European affairs. Somehow, she knew that you would be joining our ranks.'
"She bowed in deference, 'May I personally thank you for bringing World War III to a speedy end. Thanks to your efforts, we stopped a needlessly costly war before it could steal away so many lives.'
"'Thank you, that is very nice of you to say,' Kamijou-senpai said, bowing as well.
"In the following week, Kamijou-senpai had to go through basic training and a crash course on all of Judgement's normal regimen. What others had to do in thirty days, he had to accomplish in seven, and he had to learn everything from martial arts, Academy city's penal code, street-by-street layout of each district, and proper etiquette when interacting with public officials, foreign dignitaries, Anti-skill officers, average citizens, visitors, and criminal delinquents. It's a good thing he dropped out of school, or he wouldn't have been able to digest all the knowledge at once. He passed the training with flying colors and joined Judgement's 177th branch upon Konori-senpai's recommendation.
"Now, you have to understand, back in the day, my relationship with Kamijou-senpai was different…and complicated. To me, he was nothing but an upstart meddler with no future in Judgement and a level 0 rookie who got involved with affairs that didn't concern him.
"Worst of all, he was a rival-in-love with Onee-sama. You saw how they bicker over the smallest things and routinely push each other's buttons. I've never seen Onee-sama interact with anyone else like she interacts with him. The way they argued like an old married couple and the way they knew what the other was thinking made my blood boil. Sometimes, she even zapped him just because he pissed her off, and she never bothered to hold back her powers, because she knew that he would simply block her attack like it was nothing. I have always proclaimed myself as Onee-sama's herald and number two. To think some troglodyte could come and usurp my throne—"
"KUROKO!"
Shirai-san and I both jumped. Shakily, she asked, "Yes Onee-sama?"
Misaka-san was blushing furiously. "Can we move on? This is getting really embarrassing!"
Oni-chan's face was scarlet as well, though he tried to hide it with his hands. Meanwhile, Uiharu-san and Saten-san were giggling like gossipy hens. Yomikawa-sensei looked back at us through her mirror.
"I find your portrayal of me disturbing," she said, "I don't recall being that deferential to Kamijou-kun."
"Ahem!" Oni-chan coughed loudly into his fist. "Why don't I take over the story?"
…
Side story part 2: Kamijou Touma
"It's true that Shirai-san deeply despised me, not just because of our history together, but also because of our different methods when dealing with criminal delinquents. In short, we were diametrically opposed towards one another.
"Shirai-san favors the full-frontal assault. The first thing she does when confronting suspects is to flash her armband and proclaim her identity as a Judgement officer. She has always been proud to project her authority to whomever opposes her.
"I, however, disliked even wearing the armband. As soon as people see it, they brand me as a dangerous foe, not to be trusted. It's needlessly confrontational, keeps people on guard around me, and paints a target on my back for enemies to shoot at. Hence, I kept my armband hidden under a jacket and only revealed it when I needed the extra authority."
"Shirai-san understands my objections now, but back then, she only saw this as cowardice and disrespect. In her eyes, Judgement officers ought to be proud to even receive the emblem. Hiding it away was like trampling on Judgement's honor.
"She also hated my habit of 'consorting with the enemy'. Back then, when I was building my irregulars network, I routinely went into the darkest neighborhoods to visit and make friends with Skill-Out members. It helped that I had Hamazura's guidance. As an ex-leader of Skill-out, he had influence with the other gangs and could introduce me to a few other members. Konori-senpai too was invaluable to this endeavor. This way, I could create this network of informants to help me in various cases. Otohime, you saw that binder of missing persons in my dorm room. Half of the people in there have been found because of these secret supporters.
"Shirai-san of course, didn't see it that way. Like Fukiyose, she had seen me talking to Skill-out leaders and thought I was joining the gang. In other words, Shirai-san thought I was going rogue. Naturally, she reported me for compromising the team."
…
"Impossible!" I gasped, "There's no way my Oni-chan could turn to villainy like that!"
Shirai-san squirmed in her seat. "It's not my proudest moment. I couldn't stand watching him slip into the darkness to visit thieves, drunkards, and rapists. I didn't even consider them as anything but the enemy. I thought he was turning traitor, and I hated him for it."
Shirai-san sighed. "I still think you're too quick to trust them," She said, "Hamazura-kun's rap sheet is a mile long, and he's harmed so many people in the past, espers and non-espers alike. The help we're getting from him won't redeem him in most people's eyes."
"I know," Oni-chan nodded, "He's done many strange and terrible things in the past, during the dark days of Battle Royale and during the horrible days of World War III. He's also saved a great number of lives, sometimes even at the risk of his own. Every day, he is atoning for his sins and wiping out the red in his ledger."
"I'm aware of that now," Shirai-san sighed again, "Anyway, let me continue the story."
Side story part 3: Shirai Kuroko
"Konori-senpai chewed me out for reporting Kamijou-senpai without her permission. She even threatened suspension for my actions. Looking back on it now, I think it was lucky that she had intercepted my report before it could move up the chain of command. Otherwise, my actions would have precipitated the very outcome I wanted to avoid: the complete dissolution of branch 177. The secret pact your Oni-chan had with Konori-senpai and Yomikawa-sensei would have caused a horrible scandal, and our Judgement branch would have been jeopardized.
"In any case, Konori-senpai assigned Kamijou-senpai and me on joint missions to foster a better understanding between us. Of course, I only saw it as punishment for the things I had done, when I only had Judgement's best interest in mind. Why was I being punished for trying to uphold Judgement's integrity?
"We were assigned the crucial task of accounting for the new theology schools in District 12 for the census. The judgement branch there, 512, was having trouble collecting information about the students attending. Sometimes, fights would break out between officers and the school's staff members. Sometimes, they would only find an empty building with no teachers or students in sight. More often, they would find themselves in other parts of the city, without any ideas of how they got there.
Someone in the higher government body caught wind that Kamijou-senpai was working in Judgement, and she asked him personally to intervene. Somehow, she knew that he was the boy with the powers to cancel other people's powers. Consequently, she contacted Branch 512's leader, Yanagisako Aomi, who then contacted Konori-senpai."
"You knew that this person was a she?" I asked.
Shirai-san nodded. "We asked if Yanagi-senpai could send the recorded call to us for analysis. After all, you can never be too careful. Clearly, the caller tried to hide her identity, but Uiharu was able to remove the voice modifications. We found that the caller sounded like a girl and Kamijou-senpai recognized it as one of his former classmates."
"Amazing!" I said.
Kuroko laughed. "Don't thank me. Thank Uiharu! She did all the work!"
The girl with flowers in her haired beamed from her seat.
Suddenly, Yomikawa-sensei turned to us and said, "Sorry to cut your story short, but we'll be arriving at our destination soon."
Sure enough, the yellow-brick building came into view. Yomikawa-sensei pulled into the garage, and we all got out.
"You have five minutes," she said, "Get whatever you need, and then come back here. The place where Tsuchimikado disappeared to is pretty far from here, so we have to hurry."
"Hai!"