Chapter 2: Encounters.
"Ah, I feel so refreshed!" exclaimed Misaka after stepping out of her shower.
The young girl had just changed into her usual uniform, with the Tokiwadai symbol sewn around her heart.
The corridors of her middle school were buzzing with activity, and Misaka could hear that most of the students were discussing the arrival of the new natural espers, but she couldn't exactly hear what they were saying.
Kuroko was not far away and caught up with her friend after changing.
Misaka couldn't hide the fact that she still held a grudge against the latter after she tried to jump on her while she was showering thanks to her teleportation, and the electromaster glared at her.
Don't try that again! " She warns in a murderous tone.
Kuroko looked embarrassed and a little frightened, obviously fearing she'd take another electroshock.
"I don't intend to. I promise Onee-sama!"
Misaka sighed, annoyed.
The two students headed for the entrance hall; as it was the day of the Level assessments, the two espers had the rest of the day free.
"I wonder how the tests went for the two new students." Misaka asked pensively.
"Curious Onee-sama?"
"It's not every day you get a visit from a natural esper... a gemstone."
It's true that the existence of natural espers, also known as gemstones, was still sometimes questioned by some of the city's students: that was how rare the phenomenon really was. There were rumors that a Level 5 could be a gemstone, but Misaka didn't know if these rumors were true. After all, she knew neither the identity nor the power of all Level 5 espers.
Kuroko nodded.
"I'm sure we'll have the answer soon. I have heard that they are indeed two siblings. The Kageyama brothers, if I remember correctly."
"You already know their names!" Misaka exclaimed.
Kuroko looked proud.
"I'm part of Judgment, I remind you! It's perfectly normal for me to pay attention to this kind of thing."
"You may be right...still, you take your role as judgment agent very seriously!"
"Of course! It's essential to find out about the exceptional espers arriving in the city from outside! I still can't believe they're natural espers!"
Misaka nodded, it was indeed hard to believe, but their existence proved that it was indeed possible.
"Too unlikely? I seem to have heard rumors of similar cases." Misaka replied.
"Me too, rumors, but nothing more! To have two of them in the city at once... It's still strange. Plus, they're brothers!"
Misaka agreed.
How could they have obtained their power without going through the power curriculum?
Probably an expert scientist in the field of espers would have been able to answer this question, but that didn't alter the fact that the phenomenon was out of the ordinary.
The two friends continued their way, wondering what they were going to do today. Kuroko intended to introduce one of her friends and colleagues from Judgment to Mikoto: a certain Uiharu Kazari.
She had just arrived in the hall when Misaka spotted someone.
Sitting on a bench, and wearing a completely dejected expression, was a boy about his age, looking utterly banal with his black bowl haircut and college uniform.
He seemed to be resting after his tests, drinking a bottle of fruity milk ,from a nearby vending machine.
"Hey, isn't he?" Misaka asked in surprise.
Kuroko followed her friend's gaze.
"Wow, he's the famous natural esper! Talk about a disappointment!" Kuroko commented not impressed at the boy's banality; she seemed to have expected a character as extravagant as a manga protagonist to turn up, but instead there was a boy who could have gone unnoticed wherever he went.
Misaka glared at her.
"Don't be so harsh! We should probably at least go and say hello to him. The poor guy looks a bit down; perhaps the test didn't go well for him"
"Wait Onee-sama..." Kuroko tried to protest, for whom the idea of her idol even talking to a boy seemed revolting in the extreme.
But Misaka had already left, striding confidently towards the young boy.
Mob was brooding... he had excelled in every area apart from the physical tests where he had performed poorly, but even that hadn't been able to change his result.
Level 5! The psychic had trouble understanding why it was so important to give others an arbitrary level.
He'd always tried not to rely on his powers to get things done, and they'd never really made life easy for him! He thought of the body improvement club and all the friends he'd had to leave behind when he came here from his hometown.
Progress towards Mob explosion: 34%.
The boy didn't have time to mope any longer, for he heard someone speak to him.
"Hi! Are you the famous natural esper?" A feminine voice asked him gently.
Mob looked up to see that a girl wearing a Tokiwadai uniform was standing in front of him.
He felt his cheeks redden slightly; she was really cute!
The teenager could feel his heartbeat quicken, and he had to concentrate to overcome his fear and anxiety.
Mob was shy with girls after all.
"Er... natural esper? I guess so." Mob was surprised she called him that, but if the majority of the city's espers had obtained their power through experiments it made sense as an appellation. "I'm Kageyama Shigeo, nice to meet you! Mob replied shyly, awkwardly introducing himself to the young girl who seemed to be his age.
Seeing the effect, she was having on the teenager, Misaka was suddenly reminded that she was addressing a member of the opposite sex, and her cheeks flushed in turn.
"I'm Misaka Mikoto! Nice to meet you, Kageyama!" She replied, obviously also a little embarrassed.
"You can call me Mob if you like!" Replied the boy.
Misaka seemed a little perturbed by this nickname, but smiled kindly, which made Mob's heart leap into his chest.
Another girl rushed up behind Misaka, looking slightly irritated for a reason that eluded Mob.
"You're talking to the Ace of Tokiwadai! The third most powerful level 5 in all Academic City!" Commented the other girl with a pompous air.
Misaka turned and gave her friend a stern, electric look, even generating a few sparks, clearly not appreciating her intervention.
"No need to intimidate him!" She growled, clearly annoyed by her friend's remark.
Mob was astonished, a level 5: just like him!
"Don't pay any attention to her, she's Kuroko, my friend."
Kuroko quickly introduced himself, and Mob returned the courtesy very formally.
"She's telling the truth about one thing. I am indeed level 5: an electromaster, I can control electricity!" Misaka announced, explaining her power to Mob with a tinge of pride.
"Cool!" Mob exclaimed with sparkle in his eyes. He didn't seem intimidated, but rather admiring. Like someone reacting to a friend showing him an interesting feat or a neat magic trick.
This reaction seemed to surprise both girls slightly.
"So, did your assessment go badly? Disappointed with your results?" Misaka asked curiously, seeking to comfort Mob.
The young boy was going to have a hard time explaining his position; everyone here seemed to want to become more powerful. On the opposite he wasn't interested in the strength of his powers, far from it.
"You could say that..." He replied hesitantly, not sure how to phrase his answer so as not to arouse suspicion.
He was going to have a hard time explaining that he'd lost control of his emotions and hadn't been able to hold back his power.
Her answer seemed to generate even more questions in the two girls, who looked at each other in astonishment.
Misaka seemed to understand that things hadn't gone well for him.
"I'm sorry you didn't get the results you were hoping for. But don't be discouraged!" Misaka seemed inspired and was obviously trying to motivate him. "I started out level 1 and was able to move up thanks to my efforts! If you work hard, you'll be able to get stronger and stronger! Believe me!" She gave him a benevolent smile, clearly having understood the opposite of the situation Mob was experiencing.
He was basically on the same level as her, but he'd never had to work hard for his powers, they'd always been there from birth.
They had been part of his life, whether he wanted them to be or not.
He hesitated to correct her, after all hiding his level wasn't going to be possible for long, seeing her try to cheer him up and try to comfort him, he felt bad not telling her that he was actually already very powerful, but how on earth was he going to explain his position to them?
He couldn't understand why she had sought such powers. It reminded him of Ritsu; he too had always wanted powers but had only recently obtained them.
"And as a result, what level do you have?" Misaka had seized the opportunity to ask before Mob could explain his situation.
How could he announce that...
Mob decided it would be better to be honest - after all, he'd never tried to hide the existence of his powers in the past.
"I didn't really fail my tests... In fact, it's quite the opposite." Mob began to explain.
Misaka and Kuroko didn't seem to follow his explanation.
Mob blew out a breath.
"I'm categorized as a level 5!"
Misaka and Kuroko stood dumbfounded for a few moments, unable to realize what Mob had just announced.
"Is something wrong?" Mob asked innocently.
Misaka was the first to react.
"Wait a second...You mean you're Level 5? Are you serious?" Electromaster asked in confusion.
Mob nodded.
"I know it's not easy to believe, but my powers are actually quite powerful, but I didn't feel like drawing attention." Mob explained with a sigh. "I guess I failed!" He added, a little demoralized.
Kuroko seemed the most confused, finding it hard to believe that someone as ordinary as Mob could be Level 5. Misaka, for her part, didn't seem to understand why he was depressed if he'd reached Level 5 in the first place.
There was a heavy silence, as both girls struggled to reconcile the image of the ordinary boy with his Level 5 status.
"Are you kidding? How's that possible?" Kuroko asked incredulously.
Mob nodded, as he wasn't in the habit of joking after all.
"I was told I was classified as Level 5, there were even quite a few administrative staff from the city and loads of scientists who had come to see my tests... It was pretty stressful!"
Some were members of the Academy City Board of Directors, and they had explained to Mob that he had been classified Level 5 by unanimous decision, and that this decision was final. Mob didn't understand who these people really were, but they seemed to be important, which meant that his powers were of great interest to the city.
It didn't please him at all that he was already attracting the attention of the authorities.
But there was nothing Mob could do now; he'd have to get used to being one of the few Level 5s in the city.
The two girls were still stunned by the news and didn't really seem to know how to react.
"Woah! Wait a second...you've really been rated Level 5?" Misaka asked, seeking confirmation that she'd understood what Mob had told her.
Mob nodded, confirming to the esper that she had understood him correctly.
The girl looked a little lost.
She seemed to have trouble accepting what Mob was saying.
"Excuse me for reacting like this, but it's rare for me to be able to meet someone of the same Level as me. I find it a little hard to believe that someone who's just arrived in the city could be directly classified Level 5, no offense."
Mob could sense a form of doubt in Misaka's voice, as if she still didn't really believe he was telling the truth.
The teenager didn't know what to say. People often doubted his powers before seeing them, and he'd thought maybe that would have changed here, but apparently, he'd been wrong.
Kuroko was still in shock and seemed to doubt the veracity of Mob's powers even more than Misaka.
"And what kind of ability do you have? If you're really level 5, that must mean you're awfully powerful!" Misaka asked, her tone more serious and tinged with a hint of hostility that Mob didn't fail to notice, she seemed a little on edge to know that a new esper of the same rank as her had just arrived in the city.
Progress towards Mob explosion : 36%.
Mob was slightly perturbed by the hostile atmosphere following his announcement; it seemed that the subject of levels was of great importance in this town.
"Um... I'm a psychic. I use telekinesis!" Mob replied anxiously, trying to synthesize the essence of his psychic abilities.
Once again, this astonished the two schoolgirls.
"A psychic? What do you mean by that? Can you control gravity with telekinesis or something?"
Misaka seemed a little lost.
The term psychic seemed unfamiliar to them, perhaps they'd never encountered one before.
The espers created by the city were not identical to the psychics Mob knew, even if they functioned in a similar way.
The boy remembers that the City Administration had formally forbidden him to divulge any details about his powers or other psychics he'd met over the course of his life, including Claw's attempt at taking over the world. Although he initially thought that this restriction was intended to ensure the safety of both espers and psychics, part of him wondered if there wasn't another motivation behind this decision not to reveal the existence of psychic powers to the various espers in the city.
In any case, Mob knew he'd get into trouble if he said too much.
He preferred to avoid causing unnecessary problems.
"Something like that... I can levitate objects without touching them."
"So some kind of gravity mastery... I've met telekinetic before, but none that come close to level 5 though!" Misaka continued, still a little skeptical.
"If he is level 5, that must imply that his range or accuracy must be exceptional," commented Kuroko, who also still seemed to doubt the veracity of Mob's claims.
"Uh... if you like, I can show you, my powers." Mob offered shyly.
This seemed to suit the two espers, as they still seemed genuinely doubtful about the boy's true Level.
Mob prepared himself, deciding to demonstrate his psychic powers to prove the truth of his words.
Suddenly, a wave of energy enveloped the boy as he raised his hand in the air, and the bottle of fruity milk he was holding flew up, lifted by an invisible force, a strange energy now seemed to surround the whole boy.
The liquid in the bottle spurted out of its container but was held aloft by the same strange force.
Mob made the object levitate a little, sending the bottle and its contents flying over their heads, before catching the bottle and putting all the liquid back inside without even spilling a drop.
He had done this without having to concentrate particularly hard; for him, this kind of use of his powers was simple, almost innate, like breathing or knowing how to walk.
Both girls seemed quite impressed by the spectacle they had just witnessed.
Even their reaction wasn't as extreme as that of non-esper; they were used to supernatural abilities, after all.
Nevertheless, they now had tangible proof that Mob did indeed have powers.
"I can do a lot more than just make a bottle fly. But I don't really have much here to demonstrate my powers, I don't feel like causing trouble by doing more to be honest." Mob explained calmly.
It was Kuroko who reacted first.
"This level of control, this precision…and a single drop spilled! Interesting! Quite impressive, although I don't know if it shows whether you're Level 5, but it's an intriguing power."
Misaka seemed to agree, her face showing that she was impressed, but that she was also thinking about all the possibilities this power could offer.
"Do you know how it works? Do you manipulate gravity? Forces?" began a curious Misaka, who really seemed to want to get a clear answer from Mob.
Mob had never really asked himself the question; in fact, it seemed that his powers were difficult to explain by any physical or scientific phenomenon, which went against the grain of almost all the city's espers who based their abilities on precise scientific phenomena.
He didn't really know what to say to Misaka.
He couldn't say too much, but he also had to be able to give her an explanation.
Suddenly, a familiar voice interrupted their conversation.
"Is something wrong, big bro?" Ritsu asked, staring at the two teenage girls who seemed to be questioning his brother. He had guessed that Mob was in trouble.
Mob shook his head.
"No, everything's fine Ritsu!"
Ritsu seemed to have overheard the exchange with Misaka and Kuroko, and seemed ready to intervene if they were too inquisitive with Mob.
Shigeo was a little embarrassed that his little brother was so protective.
"Sorry, Ritsu," Mob continued, "I know you wanted us to be discreet... but I've achieved level 5." Mob announced to his brother.
Ritsu had already understood and sighed heavily.
"There's nothing we can do about it! I had a feeling it would end up like this..." He suddenly turned back to Misaka and Kuroko, and although he looked friendly, he was clearly showing the two girls that he wasn't going to let them torment his older brother by coming between them and Mob.
"I'm Kageyama Ritsu, pleased to meet you."
The contrast between him and his brother was quite stark, and it seemed to unsettle both espers.
The two girls introduced themselves.
"I don't know what you're talking about with my brother, but I'd rather you didn't bother him too much about his powers." Ritsu tossed, more particularly to Misaka, who seemed to be the more curious of the two girls.
His tone, though cordial, hid a kind of aggressiveness, like a warning to the electromaster.
Ritsu seemed to know who she was, surely having read up on the subject of level 5s before coming to the city.
Misaka seemed to get his message, but didn't let the situation get out of hand, refusing to let him dictate how she should behave.
"Really? And why is that? Is it a taboo subject?" She glared at him.
Tension seemed to have risen a notch.
Misaka didn't seem to appreciate Ritsu's passive-aggressive tone, and the latter didn't seem inclined to let Misaka question his brother. The fact that he was standing up to one of the city's most powerful espers didn't seem to impress him in the least. As usual, Ritsu was stubborn.
Mob had no desire to sit back and do nothing.
"Ritsu! It is okay! They weren't bothering me!" Mob corrected, not wanting to see the exchange degenerate into conflict; his brother was too prone to overprotect him.
Ritsu knew that his older brother didn't like to use his powers excessively and had taken to trying to preserve his sibling from having to give in to his powers, something Mob abhorred.
Ritsu didn't seem completely satisfied, but seeing his brother correct him, he decided not to reply to Misaka's remark.
"Sorry Misaka, Ritsu is a bit protective of me... we've had problems in the past and he just wants to preserve me. He doesn't have any bad intentions." Mob explained as he glanced at Ritsu, letting him know not to try to pick a fight with the two girls.
Misaka raised an eyebrow, not 100% convinced, she seemed to want to know a little more about the psychic but hesitated to ask more questions.
"It's just that the day has already been stressful enough for both of us... It's our first day in this city after all." Ritsu explained calmly.
Misaka pouted... She surely wanted to know more about the new level 5, but she didn't want to press Mob any further either.
She seemed a little embarrassed, having just bombarded Mob with questions: but a new Level 5 in the city was really an important event.
She nodded, agreeing not to make Mob and Ritsu uncomfortable by continuing to question them any longer.
"I suppose me and Kuroko could give you a quick tour of the area. Seeing as it's your first day..." Misaka offered, her cheeks a little crimson.
She seemed to want to start afresh.
"Onee-sama..." Kuroko began to protest, seemingly horrified to see her precious idol consorting with boys even if it consisted of a simple friendly stroll, but Misaka cut her protests short with a simple hostile glance.
Kuroko seemed frustrated, but didn't comment further, reluctantly agreeing to show the Kageyama brothers around the city.
Ritsu huffed, reassured that the situation had calmed down a little.
"Really?" asked Mob, who was apparently very happy to be able to discover more of the city and make new friends.
The boy's innocence disconcerted Misaka, who surely hadn't imagined he'd be so enthusiastic.
"I have no objections," added Ritsu.
"Perfect!" Misaka declared jovially.
After a morning spent carrying out their tests, the four espers headed out of the building and into The Academic City.