Trinity of Tokiwadai

by Engineer4Ever

Three very different girls. Each a powerful Esper in the miraculous city of superhumans, Academy City. Together these heroines and their friends explore the wonder and mystery of their City and its Dark Side as the Trinity of Tokiwadai.

3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index

The Trinity of Tokiwadai

Chapter Three: Graviton Towards Friendship

Beta: Itherael

---

Uiharu Kazari was taking a pleasant stroll from the bus stop to the Judgement 177 Branch Office for her shift as a Judgement agent.

Shuffling through the crowd of students heading home after school, the girl that wore a headband made of artificial flowers weathered the heat and spotted the office building where the Office was located in. It was a quaint old-school five story brick building nestled between two modern skyscrapers and the mere sight of it brought a smile to her face. It elicited in her a whole host of pleasant memories of the times she spent there. Times happily working alongside Shirai-san and Konori-sempai.

Walking up towards the second floor office, she opened the door. "Hello."

Despite her greeting, she received no answer. It seemed she was the first to arrive for her shift. Making her way to her work station at the very back of the office, she placed her bag to the side of her computer and booted it up. While room was filled with the calming whirl of her personal PC coming to life, Kazari contemplated how lively it had been for her lately.

She used to be so lonely. She was a girl who had trouble making friends due to her timid nature. Add to that the uncertainty that surrounded coming to Academy City, making her even more stressed and thus more closed off than usual. It was sort of expected that she had failed to make any friends at all in the first few years since coming to the City.

A smile came to her face as she idly typed in her password.

That had changed completely once she had met Saten-san though.

---

~ Flashback ~

With school done for the day, the young girl was walking to the bus stop to head home, pondering how things were going for her so far as she did.

It was the last term of elementary school and she was almost twelve years old! She was going to start middle school next year! She was so excited! Unfortunately, with all the time she had devoted to her Judgement training and her computer skills, she had little time to research what middle school was right for her power development.

But now, it was the perfect time to think about it and make a decision.

For a fleeting moment, the thought of applying to Tokiwadai crosses her mind, yet she quickly dismisses this idea from her mind as the reality of her situation hit her. "As if they'd take a lowly Level 1."

Still, a girl could dream right?

Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed something odd.

In the park she was passing by, a girl just seemed to be drifting around, as if she was lost or looking for someone. Knitting her brow, Kazari figured it was her duty to help the girl out. She pulled out her Judgement armband and slipped it on.

"Excuse me!" Kazari called out, jogging over to the girl, who turned to face her. "Hello, I'm Uiharu Kazari, a member of Judgement. You look lost, do you need help?"

"Hello." The girl, with blue eyes and long black hair, said in a monotonous voice. "I'm Saten Ruiko."

Uiharu's eyes went wide as she recognized the name. It was the name of the No. 3 Level 5!

It can't be that Saten Ruiko, right?

"Are you lost, Saten-san?" Uiharu pressed forward.

Even if she is that Saten Ruiko, I'm still Judgement and she does look like she needs help.

"No." The possible Level 5 said in the same robotic tone. "I was merely wandering the city to kill some time."

"Kill time? Don't you have any sort of after-school club to attend or something?"

"I don't go to school," Was her reply. "Not yet."

"Huh?" Uiharu asked, confused by the response.

"I was just adopted. My new mother is still sorting out my schooling."

"So you just wander the city in the meantime?"

"Yes."

"And your mother allows this!?" The Judgement agent asked incredulously. "Isn't that dangerous? You're what, twelve?"

"So are you." The strange girl said tilting her head to the side in what might be confusion, though it seemed forced, as if she was just imitating the motion.

"I'm eleven and three quarters." Kazari affirmed. "That's not the point though, I can take care of myself. I'm a member of Judgement after all."

The other girl gave a forced shrug, almost as if she was just going through the motions again. "I am a Level 5. Not much can hurt me."

Kazari felt frozen where she stood… for obvious reasons.

L-L-Level 5?! The young member of Judgement screamed in her mind. She was really a Level 5! She really was that Saten Ruiko! She was lecturing a Level 5 of all people? Kazari only knew some details about the level 5s, mainly about how powerful they were and how they could, with their awesome power, theoretically destroy whole armies. With that it mind, it was easy to forget some of them were roughly her own age due to how grand they were compared to the rest of the 'lowly masses' of Academy City.

"Ah! Well, ehem." Kazari coughed into her hand, trying desperately to regain her composure. "Well, still! Even if you are a Level 5, it is my job to help you."

"...With what exactly?"

Kazari pondered just what she could do as well. She looked around the park, they were a bit too old to go play on the equipment. A jingle tickled her ears and she eyed the ice cream truck across the park and smiled.

"You said you needed to kill time?"

"I did…so?"

"How about I help with that?" Uiharu offered tentatively. "Maybe we can spend time together? We can meet here, it's a good place." Gesturing to the ice cream truck, she shot the other girl a cheeky smile. "It even has ice cream."

The Level 5 turned to eye the truck and nodded slowly, as if uncomprehending of what it meant. "I see no problem with that."

"Alright! Let's go!" Kazari cheered and grasped the other girl's hand. "I'm getting strawberry with chocolate fudge and nuts, you?"

"Vanilla?" The more powerful esper said a little uncertainly.

~ Flashback Ends ~

---

"Hehe." Kazari laughed to herself and looked at the picture tacked near her computer. It was a selfie of herself and Saten-san eating ice cream, she herself was smiling while the Level 5 looked like she was trying to force one out herself and failing miserably.

They bonded and talked for days in that park, like it was their personal hangout spot.

---

~ Flashback ~

Ever since that first day they had met a week ago, Uiharu had lived up to her promise to help Saten-san kill time and had persistently met up with the other girl every day. Even over the weekend!

Over that time, the Judgement agent had noticed something. Saten-san's behavior was very odd at times. She kept her parts of their conversations short, replying in short sentences at best. And she had difficulty expressing her emotions physically. She tried of course, but it was so clearly forced.

Now after a week of friendship, Kazari felt it was the right time to ask about it.

"Saten-san, can I ask you a question?" Kazari tentatively asked, as she and her new friend, the Level 5 Saten Ruiko, ate some ice cream as they walked from their usual meeting spot in the park to their favorite restaurant for some lunch.

"Of course, Uiharu-san." Saten nodded encouragingly as they reached their destination and a waiter guided them to a booth. "You did not even need to ask."

"Even if it's a little sensitive?" Kazari pressed hesitantly as she slipped into her seat.

Saten froze a little, her version of considering things, but there was none of the visible signs of confusion that most people would have shown. She had just completely stopped moving.

"Yes." The Level 5 finally said after a long moment.

"Well, can you tell me why you act so strangely?"

Saten turned to look at her in an almost robotic fashion, her movements was so stilted. She looked deeply into Kazari's eyes, like she was reading her soul, or at least trying to. Considering what she was capable of, the Level 1 wouldn't dismiss that possibility.

That was, of course, if the 'soul' was a real thing, which nobody in Academy City believed it was.

After another long moment, Saten finally replied.

"It is a byproduct of my power."

Kazari blinked in confusion. Saten continued though undeterred.

"When I emulate a esper's AIM field and through it their power, I also emulate their Personal Reality. This includes shades of themselves: their thoughts, feelings, and memories."

Kazari's stomach lurched as she tried to imagine something like that. That was tantamount to letting someone, or at least as Saten-san put it: a shade of them, possess her to use their power, didn't it?

She wanted to say something, to offer some comfort but before she could speak up, Saten-san pressed on.

"My power does not let me forget these templates either. These shades, all of them I've ever encountered, exist forever in my mind."

Kazari gulped.

"It got crowded very quickly." Saten said with a hint of bitterness, this time sounding genuine. "The shades began bleeding into my mind, making me think and act in ways that I know I would never do on my own accord."

That means-

"It was driving me mad." The Level 5 confirmed the younger girl's fears. "I needed something to stay sane. So I created a system. I emulated a computer system. I sorted the shades away as if they were individual files or apps, grouped them into folders with other related powers and locked them all away."

"A computer-"

"Yes. But this came with a price. Maintaining this system takes up a lot of computational power, power that I otherwise would have used to process emotions, social norms and the like."

"You're not a computer though." Kazari told the Level 5, her chest felt tight at her friend's confession.

Saten-san gifted her with a grim smile. "If that's true, then I don't know how to act any other way. I-It's the only method I know to keep myself sane."

Kazari grasped the troubled girl's hand tightly, squeezing it with as much force as she could. The other girl grunted. "There! You felt that, computers don't feel, but you did. So no, Saten-san, you aren't a computer! You understand me!? You're not!"

The Level 1 felt amazed at herself, raising her voice, being stern? It was completely out of character for the shy girl. But if this was what she had to do, then she'd do it without hesitation. If Saten-san was having trouble, then she'd do her best to be there to help.

It's what friends do!

"Uiharu-san… You're making a scene." Saten-san whispered. "I'm not dampening the sound anymore, I took down the barrier after my explanation."

Sound dampening barrier? What?

Clearly sensing her confusion, Saten-san added to her explanation. "I didn't want to let everyone know about my power, just you. But it's down now, so please calm down. People are looking at us."

"Eh?" Kazari blinked, still a little lost, and looked around, the other patrons of the restaurant were staring at their booth. "Ah! Sorry!"

As she bowed to the other customers, she heard a giggle escape Saten-san's lips.

"Don't laugh at me, Saten-san!"

~ Flashback Ends ~

---

Uiharu looked at the wallpaper of her desktop and couldn't resist the smile that once more stretched across her face. It was a screenshot of a spread of brochures from the various top schools of the City.

Going through those with Saten-san had been a very memorable experience. It had led to the event in which they truly cemented their friendship after all. When their friendship was proven to be reciprocal.

---

~Flackback~

"Sorry, excuse me!" Kazari called out as she wiggled through a crowd in a panic. "Late, late, I'm late!"

She had just left her school after having been delayed and was rushing to meet up with her friend, Saten-san. Kazari nearly barreled into a garbage can at the speed she was going, but was stopped by an invisible grasp. Sighing in relief, she said. "Thank you, Saten-san."

The Level 5 walked over and placed her back on her feet. "You shouldn't run into trash cans."

At least her humor has improved. Kazari dryly thought and brushed her skirt. "I was delayed, sorry for being late."

At her bow, Saten-san waved it off. "It's okay, let's just get started. You wanted to help me pick which Middle School I should go to, right?"

"Of course."

Strolling over to their favorite restaurant, the two settled down for the long haul and spent the next hour and a half discussing which of Academy City's many prestigious middle schools that had tried to entice the Level 5 to join their cohorts was the best choice.

"So you think Tokiwadai is the best then?" Saten-san asked for confirmation as they concluded their discussion.

"Yes!" The member of Judgement said with stars in her eyes. "It is the school. It's an Ojou-sama paradise!"

At Saten-san's weirded out look, Kazari pulled back her starstruck admiration for Ojou-samas and cleared her throat. "Plus! There are already two other Level 5s there."

"Why would that matter?" Saten-san asked with a frown.

Tilting her head, Kazari gave her a reassuring smile, "Well maybe they can help you, that's why."

Saten-san nodded uncertainly. "If you say so."

"I do."

"Then I'll go there then." Saten-san said after a moment of further contemplation.

"Just like that?" The level 1 blinked, "Based on my opinion?"

"Of course, I trust you," Saten-san admitted earnestly. "So Uiharu-san, can I ask you why you were late today? I was worried."

"Ah, well." Kazari offered a weak smile. "I was just held back by some of my friends at school."

Saten-san sat straighter at this and shot Kazari a skeptical eye.

She let the matter drop though, and didn't push the issue. Kazari was thankful for that.

---

Kazari was leaving her school the next day on her way to meet up with Saten-san when she received a pleasant surprise.

"Yo, Uiharu-san." Saten-san greeted her, appearing out of nowhere! Looking shockingly casual while doing it too, she even had a half finished soda can in her hand as she leaned against one side of the school's gate.

"Ah! Saten-san, don't scare me like that!" Kazari scolded, her heart racing at the surprise.

"Oi, Uiharu, who's this?" One of her classmates asked rudely.

"This is my friend, Saten Ruiko-san." The Judgement officer said, a hint of pride in her voice.

"What? Like that Saten Ruiko?" "The Level 5?" "No way! Why would she be with a Level 1 like you?"

She looked towards her friend, whose eyes were narrowed just a bit. For a moment, the younger girl worried that the Level 5 would do something reckless. But she instead just took a gulp from the soda as another floated up from the ground beside her and headed towards the Level 1.

"Eh? For me?" Blinking twice, Kazari asked in mild confusion. Saten-san just nodded and so she grasped it. The can was chilled to just the right temperature. Shocked, she looked up at Saten-san and waited for an explanation.

"Mm." Saten-san smiled as she obliged. "I kept it cool with some cryokinesis, since it was hot today."

The Level 5 finished her own can and tossed it into the air behind her. The aluminum can immediately began to corrode and melted into nothingness long before it got anywhere near touching the ground.

Kazari's classmates', who had been bullying her for months now, jaws dropped as they gawked at the display of multiple powers which confirmed that Saten-san was really who she said she was.

"So where do you want to go hang out?"

Kazari smiled, shaking her head. "The usual is just fine, Saten-san."

"Then off we go!" The Level 5 said with enthusiasm as she grasped the other girl's shoulder and teleported them away to Joseph's Coffee and Restaurant.

At the door of their usual favorite restaurant, Kazari couldn't help but ask, "How did you know?"

Saten-san smiled a little and said. "Well, I did some research and decided to help you out a bit. That's what friends do for each other, right?"

At her uncertain look, Kazari smiled and gave her friend a great big hug. "Yes, they do. Thank you, Saten-san." Pulling away after a few seconds, Kazari raised a finger. "Though you should remember that I am still a member of Judgement after all. I can take care of myself."

Saten-san just smiled and held up her hands at the small lecture. "Hai hai, Judgement-chan."

~ Flashback Ends ~

---

"Uiharu, stop daydreaming! It's time for our patrol." Shirai-san shouted right into Uiharu's ear.

"Ow!" The computer prodigy shouted at the sudden interruption to her ponderings. "Shirai-san! Don't do that. Why did you suddenly shout at me like that?"

"You weren't paying attention to me when I called you before. I didn't have a choice." Shirai-san lectured her, poking Kazari's forehead. "You have to be more aware of your surroundings."

"Oh! Sorry about that."

Kuroko nodded. "Just get ready to go. Our patrol starts in a few minutes."

"Hai!"

---

A few minutes into their patrol, the two girls from Judgement found nothing to be out of the ordinary. At least, by Academy City standards.

"Uiharu, you better not let your mind wander like you did earlier. Out on patrol, we'll need to keep our eyes peeled for anything suspicious." Shirai-san explained, her eyes bouncing between every nook and cranny as they walked. "Even the tiniest detail can point us to someone who needs our help."

"Mm!" Kazari nodded as she rapidly typed on her phone. "I'm already following the feed from the local security cameras, Shirai-san! We won't miss anything."

"As expected of you, Uiharu." The teleporter nodded in approval.

They kept a good pace during the patrol, though they stopped a few times to offer help to people on the street. Some were asking for directions, Shirai-san even lectured someone about littering, and on one occasion they had to settle a potential fight between a few rowdy students.

Kazari smiled as it was just a regular day in Judgement despite being on patrol while a dangerous bomber was on the loose.

As they stopped at a corner, waiting for the traffic to stop so they could cross the street, Kazari looked at a nearby store and gazed upon a pretty frilly dress that screamed at her love of Ojou-samas.

A giggle passed her lips as she thought of Misaka-san in it, but shook that thought away. The [Railgun] was way too much of a tough girl to ever wear something like that. Smiling to herself, she recalled when they had all went to the arcade once, Misaka-san had ended up hollering at the game machine she was playing the whole time as it ate her tokens.

Hehe, she really is a pretty down to earth kind of girl.

"What are you giggling at, Uiharu?" Shirai-san asked, nudging her with her shoulder. "The light's changed, we can cross now."

"Oh! Sorry." Kazari flushed. "I was just thinking of Misaka-san in that dress, but realized she probably wouldn't wear it."

Shirai-san looked over her shoulder as they crossed the street. "Hm, Onee-sama could do better. She needs something more mature than cute."

"Hm, maybe."

"Though why are you thinking about MY Onee-sama in cute outfits?" Shira-san furrowed her brows, her tone implying suspicion. She stared at the level 1 for a few seconds before shrugging her shoulders, "Anyway, did you manage to pick up on anything despite your musings?" Shirai-san asked her curtly.

"Oh, uh, nope! Everything is perfectly fine so far, Shirai-san."

The twin tailed girl nodded. "Good."

They made it to the other side and turned the corner, walking pass some vending machines. "Best keep hydrated. I looked up the weather, apparently it's going to be 30 degrees celsius today. Plus our route is pretty long today."

"It's a good thing these are fake." Kazari patted her flower headpiece. "Or they'd have wilted by now."

"Indeed, so what do you want?" The Teleporter asked, holding up her wallet. "You paid last time, so it's my treat this time."

"Coffee milk." The tech wiz replied as she moved towards a tree for some shade. Once again, the Level 1 looked around her while she waited for her friend to bring over their drinks. Looking across the road she saw a store that caught her attention. It was a tech store that had on display the latest consumer robot, a toy in the shape of a large dog.

Seeing the robot immediately brought Saten-san to mind. It was unfair to her friend, but Kazari couldn't help it. Not with how famous that hated moniker of Saten-san's was.

As thoughts of Saten-san filled her mind, Uiharu began to compare her to Misaka-san. The [Railgun] could be said to still be basically a normal person, but loathe as the computer expert was to admit it, her best friend was most assuredly not. She lived up to her moniker a little too well. With the emotionless way she carried herself and her oftentimes mechanical mannerisms, she came across as a robot, just like that dog in the store window. One that was just masquerading as a human. Often not very well to boot.

And it's all because of her ability. Kazari mused sadly. For all the power it's given her, it's also taken away so much from her. Her humanity… Stripped away by something that most would consider a blessing!

It's totally unfair! The middle schooler reasoned as she glared at the tech store and the robot that had set off this train of thought. Why couldn't Saten-san have a ability that didn't hurt her, something like Misaka-san's or Namikaze-san's?

Shaking her head to dislodge her anger, Uiharu looked away to stare at her phone and its wallpaper. It was a selfie of Saten-san and herself out shopping, one of Kazari's many attempts to help her best friend to humanize herself more.

Getting angry at fate for what it did to Saten-san won't help anything. All I can do is live up to my promise and help her rediscover her humanity.

She nodded her head in determination.

And there's nothing, nothing at all, that will stop me.

"Ei!" Kazari squeaked as she felt something cold on her cheek.

Except a cold drink can it seems... Uiharu thought ruefully.

"Ui-ha-ru." Shirai-san said in an annoyed tone, dangling the coffee milk in front of her. "Please, pay attention. Your absent mindedness today makes me wonder whether it would have just been better to leave you back in the office."

"B-B-But!" Kazari sputtered, trying to come up with an excuse as she took the offered drink. "I-I was thinking about some new hardware upgrades that might help my systems back at the 117th Branch! I swear!"

The Level 4 made a doubtful sound, but didn't press the issue. "Very well, but keep a vigilant eye on the feeds if you will."

"H-Hai!" She nodded earnestly and popped the tab on her can, taking a sip.

"Time to move!" Shirai-san ordered after a moment and began to walk forward.

"We just stopped though!" Kazari frowned, quickly trying to gulp down her drink.

Her friend just flipped one of her twintails. "We cannot doddle, Uiharu."

Kazari withheld a whine and followed after her, tossing her now almost empty can of coffee milk away into a nearby trash can. As she caught up with her partner, she did a quick sweep of the surrounding area via the cameras and found nothing out of the ordinary. Relaxing a little, she tuned in on her more immediate surroundings.

"Hey, did you hear about the new movie?" A couple of older girls said as they passed the Judgement duo.

"That one? Oh yeah, I hear it's pretty good!"

"We should see it next time after school."

"Sure!"

New movie? Kazari pondered, when was the last time she actually saw a movie? Looking up, she spotted a big billboard that featured a movie about an angel and a devil, which were thus prominently featured on the advert. There was even a store nearby selling some merchandise.

"Judgement-onee-san! Can you help me." A young boy walked up to them, holding up a map.

"Ah, most certainly." Shirai-san said with a smile as she knelt down to talk to the boy. "Where are you trying to get to?"

As Shirai-san helped the boy, Kazari looked at the poster with a sad look. She would even go as far as relying on unscientific methods like angels and devils if it could help Saten-san.

Still, I wonder what the movie is about? Maybe I should ask Saten-san. She seems to know everything. She eyed the halo and fluffy white wings bits of an angel costume hanging in the window of the store. Amusement filled her as her thoughts shifted. Or maybe Namikaze-san would know more, she's pretty trendy after all. Besides since she's quite the 'angel', this might just be right up her alley.

The angelic motif of the costume greatly fit the girl after all. With her innocent looks, coupled with her serene smile and beauty? It was nearly a perfect match.

She looked to the right of the angel costume and noticed a set of red devil horns and leathery wings. She sweatdropped a little and couldn't help but realize that this particular outfit would fit Namikaze-san as well. With how scary and devious the blonde could be, and just how she ruthlessly teased their little group? It wasn't hard to fit the blonde into the devil's role.

Not to mention her gluttonous stomach. That just had to be a demonic trait! Kazari thought with a sniffle. It just wasn't fair with how much sweets Namikaze-san could eat, that she somehow managed to still look so petite and fit.

"Uiharu!" Shirai snapped, painfully pulling on Kazari's cheeks. "Pay. Attention!"

"I'm swrry! I'm swrry!" The flower wearing girl protested. It seemed Shirai-san had sent the young boy on his way with the proper directions and had caught her daydreaming again. And was none too happy about it.

"No you aren't! I'll be sure to give Konori-sempai a full report on your lack of attention just so you could think about seeing a movie!"

Her cheeks finally freed, Kazari rubbed them. "I-It's probably not even that good."

Her friend just gave her a menacing glare, which made the Level 1 gulp.

"This is your last chance." The twintail girl warned. "Let's head towards the food court down the street. We can pick up some gossip along the way and try to filter anything useful over dinner."

"Dinner? Is it that late already?"

"Yes it is." Shirai-san responded with an exasperated sigh. "You've been so distracted that you completely forgot the time, didn't you?"

"Ehehehe!" Kazari laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry."

Sighing, Shirai-san just shook her head. "Let's get going."

Kazari just nodded, knowing that her partner was mad at her. It wasn't all her fault though, she had a lot on her mind!

"You are paying for the food this time." Shirai-san added sharply.

"Hai…" Kazari could already feel her wallet going on a diet now. She was sure the Teleporter was going to order something expensive.

She slumped her shoulders, but nevertheless followed her friend along dutifully.

They came to a traffic light, and as Kazari followed the blinking lights, she felt her mind wander once more.

I guess Saten-san, Misaka-san and Namikaze-san are like that traffic light. Misaka-san is green since she's so normal; Saten-san is red because she's so inhuman; while Namikaze-san is yellow because she's somewhere in-between as she's weird but not overly so.

She was brought out of her thoughts, not by Shirai-san this time, thankfully, but by a voice calling out from nearby.

"Take this!" A feminine voice exclaimed, only to be followed by a thunderus boom.

As the sound of the explosion died out, the two girls froze and exchanged a wide eyed look. Screaming filled the air as students ran away from the blast or ran towards it out of curiosity.

"Uiharu, let's go!" The Teleporter ordered and grasped her shoulder, teleporting the two girls towards the scene.

They landed by the smoking area and Shirai-san shouted out. "Halt! This is Judgement-!"

She was stunned into silence along with the Level 1 as they saw a familiar petite blonde, stomping on a large bellied man. He was slightly singed, and so were about a half dozen other men lying on the ground nearby.

"O-Ohime-sama~!" He groaned out as Namikaze-san repeatedly stomped on him.

"Urasai! Ero! Pervert! Hentai! Lolicon!"

Kazari had never seen the Number 2 so angry before.

"J-Judgement has arrived!" Shirai-san called out again, gaining Namikaze-san's attention. She turned to them, a scary look on her face before it quickly shifted into a look more befitting a scared little rabbit instead of a fearsome Level 5.

She disappeared, teleporting right behind the Level 4, clinging to her back while her pigtails flailed around in a tizzy. "Shirai-chan! Arrest them! Arrest them!"

At her demand, Shirai-san let out an annoyed sigh. "Namikaze-san, I thought you were more responsible than this. Honestly, pulling an Onee-sama. Since when have you started imitating her? You were the culprit behind that explosion, weren't you? This is a waste of Judgement's time!"

Namikaze-san puffed up her cheeks. "They're my stalkers! They've been tailing me for five blocks now as I was shopping. They even took pictures of me and I think one of these ero-bakas even followed me into the bathroom. I was defending my maiden's honor!"

Speak of the devil and she cometh. Kazari giggled to herself quickly.

"This is no laughing matter, Uiharu!" Shirai-san complained, trying to peel Namikaze-san from her back. "Namikaze-san, please!"

"Arrest them!"

"Namikaze-sama!" One begged, who creepily had blonde bunny ears on his head, as he feebly tried to get up. "Punish me more, my ruthless Hime-sama!"

All three girls' faces heated up at those words.

"Urasai you filthy hentai!" She warned. "Or I'll break your legs!"

"Step on me more, Naru-hime!"

Namikaze-san stomped her feet repeatedly behind her fellow Tokiwadai student, like an angry rabbit funnily enough. "Gah! I hate eros like you! Leave me alone!"

Kazari decided to play diplomat here and approached the downed stalkers and gently lectured them. "Excuse me, but can you please leave Namikaze-san alone? It's very wrong to stalk a little girl you know? If you continue, then I'll have no choice but to call Anti-Skill."

"I say toss them into a dark hole and throw away the key." Namikaze-san grumbled, glaring at them in disgust.

A few of the stalkers nodded in understanding. While a few others looked reluctant.

"And please leave all cameras behind." Shirai-san added, glaring down at them. "We will personally delete all illicit pictures. You may come to the 177th Branch office to collect them tomorrow."

They all started to groan and complain at this, but Namikaze-san's mood seem to turn fouler, her sharp eyes looking almost deadly.

"Now!" She barked the order like an owner would to a dog.

The stalkers did as they were told, looking oddly happy.

Namikaze-san teleported once more and hugged Kazari tightly. In fact, she lifted her off the ground. "Uiharu-chan, you're the best! I'll buy you three cakes in the Garden for this. No! Five!"

At hearing this, the tech wiz's eyes became literally starry-eyed.

---

Across the street was a teenaged boy sporting glasses and grayish-brown hair. He was dressed in a school uniform with a pair of headphones over his ears as he listened to his favorite music. One of his hands was stuffed into a satchel he was carrying, as he toyed with the items within.

Looking at the pair of Judgement agents helping out a Level 5, he felt his anger steadily grow.

And where were they when I needed help?

He closed his fist around something in his satchel.

I could get my revenge, right here, right now.

The sight of the Level 5 gave him pause though.

No. I just need to be patient. Attacking them now, with a Level 5 here, will just get me caught. Long before I get my revenge.

His eyes narrowed as he eyed that Judgement girl with the flowers in her hair.

And I know who I'm targeting next.

With a sinister smile on his face, he walked off, dreams of revenge percolating through his mind.

---

"Beginning with the first victim a week ago," Konori-Sempai said as she begun the briefing on the spate of Graviton Bombings for the 177th Branch. "The force and scale of these serial graviton attacks have been increasing."

Kuroko sucked in a worried breath at hearing that and shot Uiharu a look. It was clear that her partner shared her concerns.

"We have been unable to recognize any pattern in their time or location," Konori-sempai continued with the briefing, as photos of the evidence from the case flashed onto the screen of the conference room. It showed images of seemingly random items such as a fragment of a spoon, torn up bits of a aluminum can, and bits of what had been a teddy bear. "And even after using psychometry to examine the articles left behind, we still don't have any leads."

Damn! Kuroko cursed in frustration, biting her thumbnail in the process. This situation was just getting out of hand. She glanced towards Uiharu, who also had a concerned look on her face.

"To prevent any more casualties, we are working with Anti-Skill. This will help as tighten security across the City and allow us to more easily solve this case."

At the end of the briefing, Konori-sempai added. "We'll take a five minute break and then proceed with patrol schedules and quick response protocols to handle this case. For safety's sake, we have a few new additions to our current protocols."

Hmm… If we're working with other groups like Anti-Skill already then why don't we bring in more help too. Maybe we can bring Saten-san in as a consultant? She knows more about esper powers than even specialists. With that knowledge I'm sure she'd be a great help. Maybe she could even help us identify a suspect using that AIM tracking aspect of her ability. It's something to bring up at least.

As Kuroko tapped her pen idly in thought, Konori-sempai walked over to her and Uiharu. "Hey."

She gave them a tired smile. Not surprising really, many of the senior Judgement officers had been pulling late nights on this case recently. "Are you two holding up well? You had a scare the other day I heard."

"It was just Namikaze-san defending herself." Uiharu told their sempai.

"Please tell [Maniforce] to avoid causing any more explosions for a while, could you?" Konori-sempai placed her hands together in a playful begging manner.

"Don't you mean from henceforth, Sempai?" Kuroko pursed her lips.

"Most Level 5s are hard to manage or so I hear. So we little folk have to avoid stepping on their toes too much sadly." Their sempai shrugged.

"Saten-san isn't like that!" Uiharu heatedly protested.

"Or Onee-sama… Mostly." Kuroko added when she took note of the disbelieving looks she got. "Though Namikaze-san is a wild card as most of the time she just does whatever she pleases."

Uiharu laid her head on the table. "And that's teasing us most of the time. Ruthlessly."

Konori-sempai giggled. "Well, it's good to know not all the Level 5s are holier than thou about themselves. Be sure to bring them by some time, it would be nice to meet them."

Uiharu jumped at the idea. "Of course!"

"It would be nice to show Onee-sama the office." Kuroko mused.

Konori-sempai clapped her hands. "Great! Well, get ready."

She pointed to the doorway the other Judgement officers were returning from. "Break time's over."

"Hai!" The two younger officers replied.

---

"Hello!" Saten greeted as she swung the door to the 177th Branch Office open, spending only a little effort to override the security functions that kept out intruders with her powers. "You in here, Uiharu?"

It was the weekend, and the Level 5 had barely seen her best friend all week. So she had decided to drop by.

"Saten-san?" The aforementioned girl cried out in surprise as she poked her head out from behind a shelf full of packing boxes that hid her workstation.

Before Saten could greet her friend, the office's other occupant addressed her. She was a high schooler, at least judging by her uniform, with short black hair and was wearing glasses. She had great proportions and was very well-endowed. Based on Uiharu's descriptions, this must have been her superior, Konori Mii-sempai.

"You're Saten Ruiko aren't you?" The older girl said as she stood to greet her.

Saten nodded robotically. Despite all the good things Uiharu had told her about the older girl, she was still a stranger and Ruiko was never comfortable with those. Not anymore. She could never trust them.

"Heh, well, welcome to the 177th Branch. Any friend of our little computer wiz is always welcome." Konori-sempai smiled warmly with genuine fondness, as if she had known Saten for ages. It felt weird, but also...nice. "Though next time, could you not bypass our security like that? Or else I'll have to arrest you." She ended this with a playful wink to show she was just teasing. At least that's what Ruiko thought she meant. She still wasn't very good with these kind of things.

Ruiko just nodded.

"Saten-san, what are you doing here?" Uiharu asked as she walked over.

"You've been working really hard lately, so I thought I would take you out for lunch or something."

"Lunch? But I still have-" Uiharu began only to be cut off by her superior.

"Whatever you're working on can wait till your next shift. It's a Saturday and your shift is over. Go enjoy yourself."

"Eh? I still have a few hours left-"

"Do I need to make it an order?" The bespectacled girl said as she crossed her arms and stared down at Uiharu authoritatively.

"No, Sempai."

"Good, now hussle and enjoy yourself for me, will you?" Konori-sempai ordered while ruffling Uiharu's hair affectionately.

"Hai, Sempai!"

Saten's face gave a tiny smile at the scene. Uiharu was lucky to have such a nice boss, she highly approved of Konori-sempai's work style.

As the two middle schoolers left the office, Saten smiled at her friend.

"Hey Uiharu, want to hang out tomorrow too? We could go to Seventh Mist and do some shopping."

Inviting her out is the least I can do. After all, I'm the one indirectly responsible for all the work that's been keeping her so busy lately.

Guilt clung to Ruiko's heart as she forced herself to look cheerful, at least for Uiharu's sake.

"I'd love to, Saten-san, but I'm just too busy."

Saten tried to pout. It was supposed to help convince people didn't it? Namikaze-san tended to do it all the time to get her way. From the look Uiharu was shooting her through, her pout fell far from the mark though.

"I'm really sorry, Saten-san. But I just can't. Not when there's a mad bomber on the loose."

Darn. So her pout was a failure after all. Maybe she should go home and practice pouting in the mirror before trying again? It would help her facial muscles if nothing else.

Maybe she should pull in Namikaze-san for some tips?

After all, you just have to bribe her with sweets and she'd do practically anything.

---

It was another busy day for Uiharu and Kuroko as the Judgement partners worked diligently at the 177th branch to try to dig up some clues to the Graviton Bombing case that had preoccupied them so much lately. The duo were currently clustered around Uiharu's customized computer at the back of the office, reviewing all the available evidence in a bid to find new leads.

"Oh bother!" Kuroko complained as she rested her chin atop Uiharu's head, both staring at the computer monitor. "If only we had a little more to go on!"

"Yes, indeed. All we know is that it has to be a Level 4 or higher esper."

Kuroko pulled away to stroke her chin in thought. "But [The Bank] says there are no matches found. Perhaps it's an esper who had a dramatic leap in power over a short period. Like that eyebrow girl."

Uiharu looked annoyed, perhaps even a touch darker at the mention of the girl who had attacked her in their previous case. "No, that's impossible. Besides, she only went up one Level to Level 3. There's no way someone registered in [The Bank] could have jumped more than one Level without anyone noticing."

"I suppose you're right. That would be impossible." Kuroko conceded. "Going up one Level could be explained by some kind of breakthrough but more than that? Impossible. And there are no Level 3s who fit the bill. So that's another dead end, I guess. And there are no Level 3s who fit the bill either."

Uiharu flashed her a smile. "Perseverance! Let's go over the fragments left behind from the top."

With a few rapid keystrokes, she brought up the compiled data on the case so far. In response to this, Kuroko gained a determined look of her own. "Absolutely!"

As they sifted through the data they had, Kuroko tentatively brought up an idea of hers. "Perhaps we should ask Saten-san to aid us as a consultant? Her AIM sensing would be most helpful in this matter."

Uiharu shifted in her seat, her diligent digits stopping their previously tireless track across the keyboard. "I don't want to cause Saten-san any trouble. This has got nothing to do with her, it's a Judgement matter."

"But Uiharu, she could-"

"Please Shirai-san," The tech wiz pleaded, looking down. "I feel bad enough that she had to get involved with the Tokiwadai Hunt case."

Kuroko wilted at the pleading, when Uiharu shot her a determined look too, she conceded with a sigh. "Well, okay. If you're that against it. It was just an idea I had."

It seemed Uiharu was utterly resolved that Saten have as much of a normal life as possible it seemed.

The Teleporter couldn't help but smile a little to herself.

It looked like Judgement's little wallflower was growing up.

"Alright, let's get back to going over the data." Uiharu said as they both continued looking at the case from scratch one more time.

---

Mikoto walked down the street, a frown on her face. "Looking for a fight? Geez, Kuroko, I'm not like that at all."

Pouting at the way her roommate had implied she was some fight junkie, and all because she was nice enough to offer her help to the obviously stressed and overworked girl, if even a little.

Talk about unfair.

As the [Railgun] continued to pout, she looked across the street and saw a familiar face. Smiling, she waved and called out. "Saten-san!"

Her kohai vanished a second later.

"Misaka-san." A disturbingly monotonous voice greeted from right besides Mikoto's ear, causing the Electromaster to nearly jump out of skin.

"Ei! Don't do that!" Mikoto scolded, glaring at the black haired girl.

For her part, the other Level 5 just tilted her head in apparent confusion. She looked so unfeeling that Mikoto almost believed her, but the barest hint of a smirk gave her away.

Coughing into her fist, Mikoto asked. "You want to get a drink?"

[Multi-Skill] shifted a bit, an unsure look on her face. Well, unsure for her anyways.

Honestly, Mikoto mused to herself in amusement. If I wasn't hanging out with her regularly lately, I'd have completely missed it. She's so hard to read, no wonder people call her [The Robot].

"Come on, my treat." The Electromaster bribed with a small smile.

Saten gave a small nod after a minute, a literal minute, of consideration before the two headed over to a little outdoor cafe in a nearby park where they purchased some drinks. After retreating to a table under a tree, Mikoto sighed. "Things must be hard on Uiharu-san like they are for Kuroko, huh?"

Saten just nodded as she methodically sipped from her drink.

"Let me guess, Uiharu-san told you not to get involved either right?" Mikoto rolled her eyes.

"Uiharu informed me that the matter didn't concern me and demanded that I should not get involved." Saten said with obvious sadness, looking off to the side.

"Geez, Kuroko was the same!" Mikoto tilted her head back to look at the tree above them. "'This is a Judgement matter.' She told me, as if I was going to run in and do something about it."

As Mikoto took a sip of her drink, Saten said. "Don't you usually get involved somehow?"

The older girl choked on her drink a little. "It's not like I go looking for these problems! They come to me!"

"That's one way to explain it I suppose." Saten said skeptically, before her shoulders slumped and she continued in a dejected tone while looking down. "I really wish that we could help them somehow."

She keeps avoiding looking into my eyes. Mikoto observed. She must feel guilty for not being able to help Uiharu-san.

The brunette offered a sympathetic look. After a moment, she grinned. "We might not be able to help, but we can at least relax a little. I mean, there's no reason for us to stress about it, right? Thankfully, that damned Usagi isn't here. So we can enjoy the peace while we can."

"I like having her around with us, actually. You two are rather comical together." Saten said as she stirred her drink.

Mikoto's eye twitched. "What are we? A slapstick duo?"

"Yes, definitely."

The [Railgun] nearly fell out of her seat at the fast and brutally honest reply. Instead, she just laid her face on the table in resignation.

And between the two of us, I'm probably the comedic foil. The Number 5 realized with a groan.

After dwelling on that fact for a moment, she was struck with an idea that caused her to abruptly straighten in her seat with a smile. "Hey, how about we invite everyone to go shopping tomorrow? Those two could use a break I think."

"Does that also include Namikaze-san?"

Through gritted teeth, Mikoto replied. "I swear I'm going to regret this, but yeah. That Chibi too. She is our friend too, I guess…" She averted her gaze and muttered. "...Somehow."

She got a wooden smile for her troubles as Saten commented. "I think you like having Namikaze-san around more than you care to admit."

"What?!" Mikoto sputtered, pounding a fist on the table. "That, that's utter nonsense! Like I would!"

Seriously, the damn blonde just loved to poke fun at her. Just because Namikaze was cute as could be didn't mean anything. It was outweighed by far by that damn monstrous side of hers that was a terror and just pissed Mikoto off like nothing else.

She was going to give that lop eared brat a thrashing one day for all the teasing she did.

Why couldn't Namikaze just stick with being cute?

"Heh. Kaa-san was right, you are a Tsundere."

That line broke Mikoto's train of thought, making her look wide eyed at her kohai. Anger built up around that last hated word, one she heard used to describe her far too often, and she snapped with a narrowed gaze.

"Urasai!" The Electromaster screamed with indignation.

---

Naru spread her arms out as she took in a deep breath as she and her friends stood in front of the mall in the Seventh District, Seventh Mist. It was one of the City's most popular shopping malls, especially among the female demographic as it was known for having some of the best and most affordable boutiques.

"Ah! Seventh Mist!" Naru exclaimed joyfully. "My fifth home!"

"How many homes do you have?" Misaka-sempai asked blandly.

Naru winked at her. "That's a se-cr-et~!"

Misaka-sempai just snorted at her, clearly unimpressed. She just didn't get it, probably because she was too much of a stick in the mud.

"Still, Sempai." Naru giggled into her hand in a lady-like fashion. "I heard from Shirai-chan about your little stint in Judgement. What happened? Didn't make the cut and got kicked out after only one day?"

Her hot-headed sempai looked ready to punch her out, but her cheeks were a bright pink as she also shot a look to Uiharu. She did after all take the poor girl's armband.

Said girl moved between the two Level 5s.

"Speaking of Shirai-san." Uiharu chimed in, clearly trying to redirect the conversation. Naru let her, she'd already gotten her kicks in and was satisfied for now. "It's sad that she couldn't make it."

"Missing our dashing Sempai trying on clothes?" Naru snickered. "She must be pulling at her twintails."

"Who's dashing?" Misaka complained with her hands on her hips.

"Well, since you're so tough and manly, many of the girls at our school see you as the princely type. Or the tomboy princess I guess." Naru tapped her chin in thought, trying to decide which was a better description for the chestnut haired girl.

The older girl clenched a fist, holding it up as sparks danced across her forehead. "You're just asking for it today. Don't push it."

"Actually, Shirai-san is currently trawling [The Bank] for potential suspects in the Graviton Bombing case." Saten-san added in 'helpfully'. "Based on footage from multiple sources she appears calm. I doubt she is reacting like you describe Namikaze-san."

[Maniforce] nodded at this numbly, even as she felt on edge at what Saten had just revealed.

Is she always spying on us? Seriously? She better not be checking in on me when I'm doing my research, how voyeuristic. I have enough people keeping tabs on me as is.

From the way Misaka-sempai tensed, she felt the same. Uiharu-san however seemed unfazed by the whole thing, almost as if she was used to it.

"Boo, Saten-chan is no fun." The blonde pouted. "Let me dream here."

Despite what she said however, she still nervously took a quick look around to see if there was any cameras or anything else that looked suspicious. Thankfully, nothing set off alarm bells. She did however notice a rather creepy fellow staring at them from across the street as he held a frog plush, smiling like a loon.

Great, another lolicon. Naru whined in her mind. No! She was not dealing with this today. She was going to have fun, shop, and tease her friends till they fainted from embarrassment!

And that wasn't in any particular order either.

"Come on, let's hit the fourth floor. I hear they have a sale going." The blonde said in a chipper voice, in a hurry to get away from the awkward conversation.

Running ahead, she forced the others to follow after her. Saten, the cheating cheater, just used some fancy spatial manipulation bullshit to allow them to keep pace even though they just strolled behind her.

And Saten wondered why Naru said she was no fun.

As they rode the escalator up, Uiharu asked, "Namikaze-san, you seem excited today. Why is that?"

Naru held up a finger. "Uiharu-chan, that's as if asking why the sky is blue! I love shopping. It's a straight out hobby of mine. You want to know where a sale is. I'll know. You want to know where to find a certain type of item. I would know." She smiled confidently, proud of herself. "I am the Shopping Crusader! Always looking for the right price for the perfect goods."

"You do realize how dorky you sounded there, right?" Misaka-sempai snidely commented.

"Says the Gekota Dork Queen."

"...Point to Namikaze-san." Saten said in her usual monotone, though there was the barest hints of amusement.

"Whose side are you on!?" Their sempai snapped at the black haired Level 5, before turning to glare at Naru with her arms crossed. "How can you even afford such a hobby anyway? I've seen some of the stuff you wear, it's all really pricey stuff, like out of fashion magazines pricey."

Naru shrugged as she bounded up the escalator. "I work hard, so I play hard. Simple as that."

"And what part-time job pays enough to have you parading around with a different branded handbag every other week?"

Naru offered a mysterious wink. "Oh you know, a small job here, a small job there."

"...I'm not the only one finding this shady, right?" Misaka-sempai whispered. Uiharu nodded in agreement.

"Yes you are. I know where she works." Saten commented offhandedly, before her best friend could say anything.

The blond Level 5 kept her smile up, but it became a touch dangerous as she sent Saten a warning look.

"Really!?" Uiharu and Misaka both shouted in surprise as they looked to her classmate in shock.

Saten shrugged and replied. "She does some modeling for Tokiwadai and some businesses."

At least she knows not to blab. Too much, at least.

"Oh! I've seen some of those pictures." Uiharu said dreamily, as her fascination with ojou-samas caught up with her again. "She looks so pretty in those. The lolita ones were my favorite."

In contrast to the flower wearing girl's enthusiasm, Misaka-sempai just frowned.

Well, unlike Uiharu-chan, she'd know that modeling doesn't pay that well. Not on the small scale I do it at least.

Thankfully her sempai couldn't comment on it as Uiharu had started asking all kinds of questions about modelling that Naru was more than happy to answer. If for no other reason than because it seemed to distract Misaka-sempai as much as it did herself.

Though she did curse Saten for opening that darn Pandora's Box.

Misaka-sempai was the type of person to snoop into other people's business. So there was no way that she would let this go.

Hell, she'd probably ask about it at the worst possible time. Fuck you, Murphy.

Fortunately, the blonde was distracted from this depressing train of thought as they finally arrived at the floor they wanted. Looking around the fourth floor, she quickly spotted what she intended to be their first stop.

The lingerie store.

Naru was all smiles at this.

"I've got some stuff I need to pick up. Who wants to join me?"

Misaka-sempai and Uiharu flushed, while Saten looked disgruntled.

"We came all the way here, just so you could get some new panties?" The Electromaster wrinkled her nose.

"Oh no! I'm not the only one who needs it." Shooting the older girl a knowing look, she continued. "Sempai is a growing girl after all. So she'll need to stop wearing those moscot panties sooner or later. Why not now?"

"My panties are perfectly fine!" The chestnut haired girl shouted with a bright red face. "Why do I even bother replying!?"

Ignoring Misaka-sempai, Naru turned to the level 1 among them. "And Uiharu-chan probably needs some too."

"Eh?! Me?!"

Naru giggled into her hand. "With how much Saten-chan flips your skirt, you can't just be showing those childish ones! No, while you no doubt carry that adorkable personality, I can definitely see you wearing something sexy. Like a lacy garter belt with some stockings. If you wore something like that, you'll knock the boys dead for sure!"

Uiharu flushed crimson at that suggestion, and if it was physically possible, she would probably have had steam coming out of her ears too.

"Stop trying to influence the rest of us. You're the risque one here. I would dare say even more so than Shirai-san." Saten shot back a tiny flush gracing her face.

Naru was unsure if Saten was blushing because she was embarrassed or angry. It was incredibly difficult to read her.

Oi! Kurama, give me a mood check on [The Robot], will ya?

Mm, I don't feel like it. Her lazy no good tenant replied. Did you seriously wake me up just for this?

Yes, I did. You stupid lazy fuzzy butt.

Night.

It's two in the afternoon!

The only reply she received was the sound of snoring.

Ugh, he was utterly hopeless, that blasted fox. She could punish him, but from experience, it wouldn't do much good really. Sure he'd be more obedient for a little while, but she'd let her guard down after a while and he'd just go back to being a lazy ass. It was a pain to keep him in line all the time, so she had learned to live with his laziness. It didn't mean she liked it though.

Naru looked at Saten with a proud look on her face and said. "It just means I'm more mature than you girls."

She even followed this with an ojou-sama-like hair flip of one of her pigtails.

"Mature my butt." Misaka-sempai dryly quipped.

"Well, not everyone needs to hide their big butts in shorts."

Misaka-sempai's eyes went wide at the jibe and twisted around to take a self-conscious check of her butt.

Naru grinned. "Made you look!"

"Gah! I'm going to get some pajamas." The [Railgun] stormed away, grumbling about rabbit stew of all things.

How odd.

"So you girls not getting anything?"

Both Uiharu and Saten shook their heads.

"Then I guess let's follow sempai."

"You're not getting anything, Namikaze-san?" Uiharu curiously as the trio followed after the oldest member of their group.

"No, I get my stuff from a more mature store. Shirai-chan took me there, remember?"

"...I have to learn to stop asking questions." Uiharu told herself aloud in a deadpan voice.

They moved on and found Misaka-sempai staring at a display mannequin wearing a set of childish pink pajamas with colorful flowers dotting it.

Excitedly, the older girl turned to the others. "Hey, look, these are so-"

"What a childish pair of pajamas."

"I wore something similar before when I was in elementary school." Uiharu added as she examined the pajama set.

Seeing the direct hits her sempai was taking because of her love of cute things, Naru decided to join in. "I could pull them off, but I think they're too sugary cute for my tastes."

She stifled a giggle at the brief defeated look her sempai had, though to the Electromaster's credit, she quickly recovered.

"S-Sure! Now that we're in middle school, we can't wear stuff like this, huh?" The [Railgun] held her chin, nodding in understanding. "Mm-mm, nope, nope."

Naru tried her hardest not to burst out laughing. Her sempai was just too easy to tease. It was almost as if the chestnut-haired esper was born to be the butt of jokes.

"If you're sure Misaka-sempai." Saten said after a moment. "Then could we go look at some swimsuits? Kaa-san told me that I need a new one, apparently our washing machine ate my old one."

"I think the swimsuits are over there." Uiharu pointed towards the seasonal clothing.

"I'll come!" Naru smiled. "I want to find a super cute swimsuit since Awatsuki-chan invited me to go swimming with her and some friends."

"That sounds nice. Let's go." The flower wearing girl said.

Naru walked with them as both she and Saten noticed their sempai staying behind, probably to try on the pajama set. Neither truly commented on it, as this was ammo for them as is.

Sifting through the racks looking for her size, Naru was having trouble picking between a black or orange bikini when she noticed someone talking with Misaka-sempai at the other end of the store.

Someone that Naru recognized instantly, and wished she didn't.

[Imagine Breaker].

A tall, spiky black haired, plain looking guy. You'd think he was just a regular high schooler, but Kamijou Touma was so much more than met the eye.

Muscles tensed, her grip cracked the hanger in her hand and she noticed Saten was also on edge. In fact, her classmate seemed to be far more tense than Naru was.

Is she really that frightened of [Imagine Breaker]?

"Are you two okay?" Uiharu's voice snapped them out of their personal thoughts. With a quick glance, both agreed that it was best not to interact with Kamijou Touma if they could help it.

Naru grabbed a cute orange and white one piece and said. "Hey, I want to try this one? Think you can tell me what you think?"

"Are you forgetting that I'm the one who needs a swimsuit?"

"And I said I needed one also."

"You just want a new one to add to your collection. I need one to replace my only one."

"I was going to model for Uiharu-chan. Not many get a free show, you know." Naru stuck her tongue out at Saten. "It's a privilege."

Saten just shook her head in a vaguely dismissive way. "I have a better figure than you. If watching us model swimwear is a privilege than me doing so for Uiharu is the real highlight."

"Hmph! Decent figure is more like it. You've still got plenty room to grow."

"It is still better than yours." Saten shot back. "Do you want to compare three measurements?"

The blonde put a finger to her lips, smiling. "I would probably lose since I'm still growing, but I know all the right poses."

Saten promptly began pulling off some modelling poses.

"How?" Naru frowned.

"Powers plus info-gathering." Was her instant reply.

"You are so haxors."

[Multi-Skill] nodded.

Well, at least she's honest and upfront about it. Naru acknowledged with a mental sigh. It made getting mad with the other Level 5 over her annoyingly convenient ability difficult.

"Whatever, you may have some moves, but I'm still the cute one." The blonde puffed up her cheeks as she crossed her arms around the suit. "Just you wait, once I hit my growth spurt I'll be drop dead gorgeous like Mama."

Uiharu looked a little confused at their squabbling, but nevertheless wore a huge grin on her face for some reason.

"It's so good that you two get along so well." The Level 1 chimed in.

"Huh?"

Saten apparently understood where her best friend was coming from and with a shake of her head just ignored her, picked out a pretty simple bikini and stalked over to the changing rooms to try it on.

"At least pick something with a little razzle dazzle, Saten-chan." [Maniforce] complained. She insisted she had a better figure, so show it!

The other Level 5 just ignored her.

Typical.

After trying on a few suits, getting applause from Uiharu for each one, the girls picked their favorites and walked back to find Misaka-sempai.

Much to Naru and Saten's relief, it seemed that [Imagine Breaker] had left.

Seeing the older girl so down, Naru couldn't help but ask. "What happened to you?"

Misaka-sempai looked at the group tiredly. "It's nothing."

"Upset your boyfriend left you behind?" Came Naru's unavoidable tease.

Her sempai went rigid, her face burning, she locked wide eyes with Naru.

"W-What?!" She squeaked. "H-He isn't my boyfriend! He's not! No way would I want some jerk like that to be my boyfriend!"

"Oh?" Naru cocked her head to the side and innocently added. "Weren't you two hanging out at the riverbank the other night."

Misaka-sempai looked like she was struck in the gut.

"Holding hands, being close, looking ever so lovey-dovey~" She added with a kissy face.

Uiharu and Saten stared at the red faced Mikoto in surprise. "I-It's not what you think! She's just twisting words around!"

With a sly smile, Naru added. "He was twisting you alright."

"Gah!" Misaka-sempai's hands tugged at her short tresses in frustration. "Shut up!"

Naru was just getting into the groove of teasing her cute sempai when Uiharu's phone suddenly started to ring.

Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

Maybe you ate something that didn't agree with you? The confused and sleepy sounding voice of her tenant replied.

---

Ruiko was enjoying how Namikaze-san was seemingly effortlessly riling up Misaka-sempai. Their interactions where utterly hilarious to watch. It was almost enough to distract from the growing worries she was feeling from the increased activity in the network in the local area.

Ever since she'd detected the spike, she'd been debating with herself about whether she should say something. She could have easily spun it off as her detecting something with her myriad of emulated sensory abilities after all. But fear over the potential that doing so would somehow implicate herself and jeopardise the plan kept her from speaking up.

And now as Uiharu's phone started to ring, she just knew that her hesitation was about to come back and haunt her.

"Yes, hello-?"

"Uiharu!" Shirai's voice blared from the phone for all of them to hear.

"There's been an update on the Graviton attacks! One of Academy City's surveillance satellites has picked up an explosive acceleration of gravitons!" Ruiko heard Shirai-san say from the other end of the call through the use of some Electromastery to intercept the radio waves that carried the call.

"W-Where was it spotted?" She inquired.

"Anti-Skill officers in the area are responding immediately, but you have to come back at once."

"But where was it spotted?!" Uiharu demanded in a shout.

"A clothing store called Seventh Mist, in the Seventh School District."

"Eh? Seventh Mist…? That's perfect! That's right where I am now! I'll start an emergency evacuation at once!" She hung up her phone with a click and looked to them all with a calm visage.

Both Naru and Misaka tensed at the mention of an emergency evacuation and looked to Uiharu with concern. On her part, Saten just froze her expression in a bland look, something she had plenty of experience with, as she struggled to shove away her fear for her friend and guilt.

"Please listen and don't panic. We know where the attacker's next target is. It's this store!"

"I-It's what?" Misaka-sempai looked stunned.

Namikaze-san however looked annoyed. "Oh hell no. Why does something have to happen whenever I try to have a good time?"

"Misaka-san, Namikaze-san, begging your pardon, but could you two please help with the evacuation." Uiharu turned to her next. "Saten-san, can you-"

"I'm staying with you." Ruiko stated firmly.

I'm not risking you getting hurt. Not in an incident that I helped cause.

Uiharu looked hesitant for a moment, but after a searching look, sighed and conceded with a resigned nod.

Don't worry, Uiharu. I'll keep you safe.

"Hai, Uiharu-chan." Namikaze said as she looked to Misaka-sempai. "Oi, Sempai, let's get going and herd the sheep."

"They aren't sheep." Misaka-sempai scolded the blonde as she followed behind her.

"Says you."

---

In a rather impressive show of preparedness, the full evacuation of the mall only took a little under five minutes. As she made sure the last group of evacuees, a small group of staff, was safely outside the building, Naru rolled her shoulder. "Geez, I feel like I need a shepherd staff after that."

"I do see some grays." Misaka-sempai told her, smirking at her.

Her eye twitched at the jab, but seeing who was running towards them, Naru just grinned. "Oh look, your boyfriend's coming up behind you."

"Like I'm going to fall for tha-"

"Oi! Biri-Biri!" Kamijou Touma shouted as he came to a stop behind her sempai.

"Biri-Biri?" Naru's smile threatened to split her face.

"Urasai." The [Railgun] hissed at her, before turning to look at the boy.

"Have you seen that little girl?" He asked, a frantic look in his eyes.

"Huh? I thought she was with you!" The older girl exclaimed.

Little girl?

"She's not outside." He looked at her seriously, "She could still be inside."

"What is she doing?!" Misaka-sempai said as she headed for the door.

"H-Hey!" He called after her as he gave chase.

As Misaka-sempai and [Imagine Breaker] ran back into the mall to find the missing child, Naru felt her curiosity get the better of her. Letting it drive her, she followed after the two of them to see how this whole thing would turn out.

---

As the evacuation was completed, Uiharu and Saten did a final sweep of the mall to ensure that they had not missed anyone in the process. So far they had not found anyone, but they still had quite a few stories to go.

Saten knew they would find something eventually, she could sense the bomb somewhere in the building. She couldn't pinpoint it more than that though, not without hacking into the bomber's mind via the network and reading his thoughts. That was something she just couldn't do, not without giving away the existence of the network. She'd tried tracking the gravitons that powered the bomb but none of her sensory powers had the precision to get a fix beyond 'somewhere in the building'. They were simply not precise enough when it came to the difficult to detect gravitons.

As they finished with their search of the mall, Uiharu pulled out her phone and made a call to Shirai-san.

"The evacuation is complete." The level 1 informed.

"Get away from there this instant! The only human casualties incurred in past attacks were Judgement! The culprit's actual target is any Judgement officer in the observed area! Their target this time is you, Uiharu!"

"Eh?"

While Uiharu simply gasped in surprise, Saten practically had a heart attack at the news.

Uiharu is the target? We need to get out of here!

Just as Saten was calming down her erratic heart and worked out how to best get Uiharu to safety without upsetting her, she heard a young voice calling out.

"Onee-chan!"

Spinning around to see the source of the voice, Saten saw a little girl running towards her and Uiharu with a frog plush clutched in her hands.

A plush that Saten realized immediately was the bomb. As the girl neared, the gravitons around the toy spiked so greatly and quickly that even her dull sensory powers were able to detect it.

Reacting immediately, she shifted her AIM field, discarding the patterns for the sensory abilities she'd held so far and shifting into one for telekinesis. With an application of will and a burst of rapid-fire computation, her newly emulated power answered her call and ripped the bomb from the girl's arms and flung it away from all three of them.

It was to this scene that Misaka, Namikaze, and [Imagine Breaker] arrived. Rounding the corner of the hallway behind the girl who had fallen to the ground as a result of the suddenness of what Ruiko had done.

Uiharu ran up to the girl, checking on her for any injuries but not before sending Ruiko a confused and angry look, but she steeled her heart and ignored it as she turned towards the bomb.

"Get behind me!" She called out as she swiftly swapped her emulated abilities and began furiously raising as many barriers as she could just as the frog started to sink into itself.

The new arrivals were obviously caught off guard by what Ruiko had done and only now as they saw the bomb detonating did they act. Well most of them anyways, Namikaze just smirked and did nothing, no doubt knowing things were under control.

Her sempai on the other hand, had not fully recomposed herself and in an uncharacteristic moment of clumsiness, she fumbled the draw of one of the arcade tokens she used as ammo for her Railgun, which she was clearly planning to use to destroy the bomb before it could fully unleash its payload.

As such, it was only [Imagine Breaker] that managed anything productive. Without a word, he stepped in front of the bomb. Much to Ruiko's annoyance, this meant he ran through and thus destroyed layers of the barriers she'd created to shield everyone from the bomb with that damn supernatural negating right hand of his.

Damn his stupid hero complex. I had this covered! Ruiko griped even as she reconstructed the barriers he'd destroyed, just in case. You're just creating more work for me!

Focused on her task, she just spared the boy an annoyed look.

Just as Ruiko finished repairing her barriers and Misaka-sempai drew a second token, the explosion went off thunderously.

---

Kaitabi Hatsuya, the so-called Graviton Bomber, stood among the crowd of evacuees and curious bystanders outside Seventh Mist and admired the explosion from his latest bomb. Smirking at the strength of the explosion, he turned away, all the while thinking about how his power had grown and was still growing.

Incredible! Outstanding! I'm getting so much better. I can control the power more and more! He thought as he chuckled to himself. I'm almost there. Once I can handle a few more of them-

"I'll take out those useless Judgement folks and those punks too, blowing them awa-!"

He was just walking through a back alley, to avoid the crush of the crowd on the main street and the suspicious eyes of the authorities that would definitely be responding to the bombing, when he suddenly found himself being flung hard into a wall, face first.

He began to slide down the wall but before he dropped more than a few inches, he felt himself grabbed in a telekinetic hold once more and harshly spun around. His back slamming hard into the wall even as he was lifted off his feet, his sling bag filled with his ammunition slipping from his shoulders.

Finally catching a glimpse of his attacker, he gulped in terror.

Standing before him with a murderous glint in her eyes, was a girl with long black hair and an iconic flower shaped hairclip pinned to the right side of her hair. The unforgettable mark of the Level 5, [Multi-skill].

"W-What's going-"

He couldn't even finish his sentence as the concrete beneath him liquefied and he sank in. A moment later, it solidified, trapping him in the wall. His bag of ammunition well out of his reach.

"You tried to kill Uiharu." Her voice was monotone, yet it sent chills down the high schooler's spine. Flight or fight instincts took over and he wanted to flee, he wanted to flee so badly, but he couldn't move.

All his limbs were firmly encased in the concrete of the wall.

"Wha-"

He was interrupted again as a fork from his satchel flew into his mouth, stabbing his tongue. He howled in pain as she stepped into his personal space to look him right in the eyes.

"Shut up! You have no right to speak." His tormentor said in that ice cold voice of hers. "You like blowing things up do you? Why don't I try blowing up your head then? Give you a taste of your own medicine."

The fork between his lips began to quiver, his eyes bulging out of their sockets as fear gripped him in ways he never knew before now. He stared into her eyes, dark and empty blue… They couldn't possibly be human.

She didn't bat an eyelid as the fork exploded in a small blast that shredded his tongue and showered his face with shrapnel. He screamed through his mangled mouth, the pain too much to bear.

"She's only a Level 1 you know, but Uiharu's power can be pretty dangerous if she raised her Level. In fact, why don't I give you an example."

She placed one hand on his ruined face and his scream jumped up an octave. Her hand was burning hot, and his ruined flesh cooked as she used it to painfully cauterise his wounds. Her other hand pressed against his groin. In another situation having a pretty girl do that might have turned him on. After all, she was effectively caressing his face while pressing against his groin. She might have been only twelve, but there was no denying that she was hot!

Unfortunately, the hand on his nethers was freezing cold, so much so that he quickly began to lose feeling in his whole lower body.

"Stop thinking of me like that you twisted psycho." The Level 5 warned as she took a step back from him. "Hmm… You remind me of someone, and that gives me an idea."

A cruel smirk spread on her previously emotionless face.

"I learned this little trick from him, you might have heard of him. Number 1?" She forced her finger into his arm, his flesh parting effortlessly at her touch, and began twisting it around as she fished around for something. "Ah. There's a blood vessel." Smiling in satisfaction, she returned her attention to Hatsuya's face. "I'm going to reverse your blood flow until your heart explodes! Doesn't that sound fun?"

She was like some monster come to life as she laughed in a high pitched tone, her eyes dilated and crazy.

"Bye bye Bomber-san~!"

Resigned to the fact that he was about to die, Hatsuya closed his eyes. When he didn't die he gingerly opened his eyes to find himself encased in a fiery blue dome of energy that had separated him from his attacker. The Level 5 looked as surprised at this development as he was, her eyes wide. It didn't last though, as they narrowed and she turned to level a furious glare at a figure strolling towards them from further in the shadowy alley. "Take this down right now, [ManiForce]!"

At that moment, his small savior strolled out of the shadows with a casual air as if she had been there the entire time.

"Oi, Saten-chan. You got your shots in. Give it a rest and leave it to Anti-Skill and Judgement to sweep up."

"...He tried to hurt Uiharu, he needs to die!" She screamed, stomping her foot and causing the ground to crack.

The Number 2 just replied with a bored blink. "Oh? And what's Uiharu-chan going to think of your little crusade? Think long and hard."

The Number 3's shoulders trembled, her fierce look fading into a conflicted mask.

"You're trying to stay away from this side, remember? You're doing decent at scrubbing your hands so far, but you do this?" Number 2 gestured to him with a wave of her hand. "You're as much the monster as you were then. That blood stays."

Her features softened as [Multi-Skill] inhaled sharply through her teeth.

"Just stop. For Uiharu-chan's sake alright, Saten-chan?"

Saten's shoulders slumped, and turned away from him entirely. Shooting him one last glare, she teleported away.

The dome of protection went down and the Number 2 walked over to him to glare down at him.

"Just so you know, I was protecting her from herself. Not you, you piece of shit. I'd kill you, but that would be a waste of effort that could be used elsewhere." She looked over her shoulder. "Oi, Sempai. Stop skulking in the shadows."

As the recognizable figure of [Railgun] stepped into view, the bomber wanted to cry. Now the Number 5 is here? Why? Why are so many Level 5s all together?!

"...What the hell, Namikaze?" The [Railgun]'s voice trembled as she looked at his beaten form, her fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles looked white.

"Stop being naive, Sempai." Namikaze looked right into her eyes. "Do you understand how important Uiharu-chan is to [Multi-Skill]? She's basically Saten-chan's anchor to any semblance of sanity. Anyway, our shopping date is shot so I'm going to make a move. See ya, Sempai."

With that she blinked away.

The [Railgun] stared at him long and hard, making him shake. Was she going to hit him too? Like all the other cruel power users?

Thankfully, she just turned around and stalked off with her fists at her side.

"Hm, Namikaze-san is a better friend than I thought. You should be thankful to that girl, she saved your life after all. If Saten-san had her way, well, we wouldn't be talking right now would we?"

A twin tailed girl appeared before him much like how Number 2 disappeared. "I'm placing you under arrest. You won't be seeing the real world for a long time. Judgement will see to that."

He wanted to spit at her, he wanted to curse them all, but he could only hang his head.

He should have Leveled Up more.

---

Kuroko stood at the site of the explosion observing as forensics technicians from Anti-Skill were busy gathering evidence from the scene. It was quite the sight, with a tightly contained cone of destruction amid the otherwise pristine mall.

This is pretty impressive. To be able to keep the destruction so contained like this, Saten-san's barriers must have been quite powerful. Especially considering how powerful the bomb was.

"Shirai-san."

Speak of the devil. Kuroko mused in amusement as she turned to the sound of the voice only to spot the aforementioned Level 5 strolling over. With Uiharu and a little girl ahead of her, running excitedly towards her.

"Uiharu." Kuroko greeted her partner with a smile. "I'm glad you're alright, truly."

"I'm fine. And it's all thanks to Saten-san." With that she turned to the little girl. "Right?"

Together her partner and the little girl, sung out a cheerful, "Right!"

Saten shook her head. "I didn't do anything special, really."

"Saten-san, you are being far too modest. You did great today. If not for other matters I would be asking you to join Judgement."

And by that, she meant her way of handling the culprit. Don't get the Level 4 wrong, she wanted to brutalize him just as much as her other friends did for what he tried to do to poor Uiharu. Thankfully, her moral code kept her from lashing out in such way.

Saten was sadly not as in control of herself as Kuroko initially thought.

"Yo! Glad you two are safe and sound." Namikaze-san smiled at Uiharu and the little girl as she walked over. "Even I got nervous at that explosion."

Kuroko eyed the blonde with a critical eye, as she re-assessed her opinion of her. She'd previously thought the other girl was an immature brat that relied on her status as a Level 5 to do whatever she wanted. Today though, Namikaze-san had actually been able to talk a nearly crazed fellow Level 5 down. Truly a powerful gift. Perhaps she had a future in negotiations? Now if only she could keep that mature front at other times too.

"You were calm as could be." Saten-san pointed out.

"...Well, fine." The blonde puffed out her cheeks. "Call my bluff. I just didn't want to say I had utter confidence in your abilities. It might go to your noggin, Saten-chan."

I take back everything I thought about her being mature.

"Namikaze-san must you be so grating towards Saten-san, especially today when she's the hero?"

The blonde Level 5 smiled at Kuroko, like she knew something she didn't. This must be why Onee-sama was always annoyed by the girl. It was as if she always knew some dirty little secret the rest didn't.

"Saten-chan gets easily embarrassed from being praised so much. I'm just being thoughtful for her sake."

"She's right." Saten-san nodded. "I didn't do anything special. She could have easily done something about the bomb as well."

Kuroko just exhaled through her nose. A confused Uiharu just seemed to nod along with Saten-san's words.

"I don't care what you Onee-chans think!" The little girl shouted, adding in her two cents. "I think Saten-oneechan is my hero."

With that the girl wrapped Saten-san in a tight hug. The usually emotionless Level 5 was startled by the sudden hug but recovered quickly and returned it while patting the girl's head lightly.

That's surprisingly maternal of her. The teleporter thought to herself as she blinked in surprise.

"Daw." Onee-sama said with a smile as she walked over.

Despite her surprise, Kuroko couldn't help but agree. Seeing Saten-san being so expressive was heartwarming. A sentiment that was shared by the others in their little group too if the smiles on their faces were anything to go by.

"Okay, I need a picture of this. It's too cute." Namikaze-san said, pulling out her phone to take some pictures.

And Namikaze-san just has to go spoil the moment.

---

That night as Saten sat in the modified Testament machine and performed maintenance on the network, the Level 5 pondered the day's events.

Today was a close call. If things were just a little bit different, Uiharu might have been killed.

Ruiko knew that the experiment was necessary. To help her family, she had to set aside her morals and follow through with the plan.

Still, doubt crept into her mind. Uiharu was nearly killed today because of Level Upper.

Yes, she and her Kaa-san only put it out there for people to use and weren't responsible for how people used it. But, if any others were like that bomber idiot, how many more people could be harmed? She didn't want to hurt people anymore, but it seemed to be the only thing she was good at.

"The progress with the calculations have slowed lately." Kaa-san commented as she looked up from a computer monitor.

"They are proving more intensive than we originally thought. Even with the unexpectedly high number of nodes we have in the network, it's still not enough." Ruiko explained in a detached way, the majority of her focus on carrying out the various maintenance checks and updates/repairs to the network while another significant chunk was distracted by her worries.

"Is there a workaround?" Kaa-san asked with a concerned frown. "We can't let this take too long. The longer we take, the more likely the authorities will intervene."

Their little experiment was unauthorised after all and if they didn't finish it soon, the authorities might step in and put a stop to it before they could finish what they needed.

"We could increase the load we put on the individual nodes." Ruiko hesitantly suggested.

Kaa-san pondered this for a moment before giving an equally hesitant nod.

"That might work. However, doing so might take up too much computational power from the nodes and leave them in comas."

"Yes, but it's the only way to keep things on schedule."

Really though, I just want this over as soon as possible. That way there'll be less of a chance for a repeat of the Graviton bombing incident.

"I suppose so." Kaa-san agreed with a sigh.

"Then we're agreed?"

"Yes."

I hope we're doing the right thing.

---

Ba-ba-ba-boom! Chapter three rolled in and is here to stay! Soon my readers, the climax of the Level Upper arc will leave you in shock and awe! Thanks to the writing team once again. Be sure to welcome our new Beta Itherael! Yay! We still have Axios, but he covers the PJO side of things.

Now to start, Flashbacks...Flackbacks for days! Sorry for that, but we needed to establish a lot of stuff between Saten and Uiharu. They never really said how they met after all, so we played it to our own tastes.

Uiharu is easily distracted huh? We wanted her to compare the Level 5s somewhat and categorize them. Hope the analogies were good enough. I personally liked Naru's angel/devil motif.

Nameless: It's also a bit of a parody of these kind of situations that's so very common in anime. You know, where the characters suddenly end up going on info-dump flashbacks and internal monologues. Well, this time we had Kuroko play the part of the serious person in the situation and point out how absurd the situation could be if someone kept getting distracted.

And yes, Naru used the Talk no Jutsu on Saten. That scary broken power lives! She may not be the Knucklehead, but she's got her charm points on her. As Kuroko noted...and washed away a second later. That's just how Naru is, a great person one second, a whiny Ojou-sama the next. Don't ya just love her?

Nameless: Hope you all enjoyed Saten losing her cool on Kaitabi. It was incredibly brutal, she shattered his jaw and castrated him (though this was implied rather than shown). But take into account how Naru describes her relationship to Uiharu and you get an idea of why this might be justified. In fact, taking that into consideration I think we might have let him off easy.

Don't forget the burning face dude, scary~! We tried not to make it torture porn, hope we didn't fail on that front.

Now, smash that review button in the face and tell me what ya loved! Naru's teasing (a personal fav), Saten going cuckoo, or Uiharu's daydreaming? Now no flames and peace off my peeps!