Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter Seventy Three: Indian Poker! Collect Them All!
Beta:
In a modest studio apartment, a yellow eyed middle school aged girl with vertically striped hair, alternating between light and dark from a dark stripe at the middle of her frontal fringe and a face with a darker section of skin across the right side of her face sat working at her computer. Despite being at home, she was dressed in a lab coat over a school uniform, both primarily black and white. The only sign that she was indoors and not at some formal event was the pair of swirly glasses she wore as she worked on improving the schematics for her mother's prosthetics.
"I'm getting nowhere!" The girl, Kuriba Ryouko, said with a frustrated sigh as she took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "I need to take a break and clear my head a little."
With that decision in mind, she leaned back from her computer and let her eyes wander aimlessly over her room where they quickly settled on the mug her mother gave her before she came to Academy City and she started to reminisce.
When she was little, Ryouko had been caught in a building collapse and only survived due to a lung transplant from her mother. Her mother had a weak body even before the incident and was far from healthy afterwards. Thus in a bid to help her mother recover, Ryouko dedicated herself to researching cyborg technology in order to learn the techniques needed to do so.
She was just starting to make headway when her mother's condition took a downturn as she developed pulmonary edema and an associated infection. Desperate to get the data she needed to help her develop the cyborg replacements for the affected organs, Ryouko had gotten herself involved in a truly dangerous experiment-
Her trip down memory lane was abruptly interrupted when her front door was suddenly kicked in.
"Wha-!?" She shouted in shock as she spun towards her door and saw heavily armed paramilitaries swarm into her apartment and level their guns at her.
"On your knees and hands up where we can see them!" One of the soldiers barked and a terrified Ryouko leapt to her feet and obeyed.
Another soldier came over and pulled a set of zip ties out of his hip pouch that he proceeded to use to tie a now scared witless Ryouko's hands behind her back.
"Wha- What is going on?"
"Kuriba Ryouko," a stone cold feminine voice said as the paramilitaries by the door parted to allow its owner to step through Ryouko's ruined front door. "You are under arrest for the creation and distribution of a controlled product."
Ryouko gulped as she recognised the girl who was walking towards her radiating menace with every step. Those blue eyes, that long hair and the distinctive hair clip were unmistakable. The girl that was about to pass judgement over her was the third ranked Level 5, Saten Ruiko.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about, Saten-sama." Ryouko tried, even though she knew it was likely futile. After all, that [Multi-Skill] was one of the best information brokers in the City was an open secret.
"Don't play coy with me," Saten-sama spat as she threw a spread of Indian Poker cards in front of Ryouko. "Do these jog your memory?"
I'm doomed. Ryouko thought as she paled at the sight of her creations.
"You are going to behave right?" Mikoto couldn't help but tease her little kohai as they walked towards Kiyama-sensei's house. Her eyes glanced over to the street as they did, noting that the battle scars from Kihara Gensei's home invasion during the Daihasei had been repaired including, her electromagnetic sense told her, its extensive defensive systems.
"I always behave. Unlike you, Lonely Heart Sempai." Naru huffed, cheeks puffed out as her own eyes scanned around. No doubt checking up on things with her own esoteric senses.
Thank goodness the attack happened when most of Kiyama-sensei's staff were on leave for the Daihasei and none of them got caught up in the mayhem. If anyone had gotten hurt during that time…
Mikoto tried to withhold her shudder, shoulders only shaking a bit at the reminder of all the poisonous power that had been pumped through her body via the Misaka Network during the climactic battle of the Incident.
"Oi, Sempai~ Earth to Sempai~" Naru said as she waved her hand in front of her face with a quizzical look on her face.
"What?" Mikoto asked, a touch grumpy, even if she was glad to have been pulled out of her dark musings.
"You look like you need the ladies room. Just hold on, we're literally here."
...The little-! Mikoto thought as her eye twitched in agitation, but judging from the impish look on the damn Usagi's face, that was exactly the reaction the rascal was looking for.
Honestly, why were her kohai just the worst at times?
Mikoto couldn't stop the slight smile from spreading across her face though. She knew Naru was only doing what she did out of a place of concern for her. "I think I'm fine, you lousy brat."
"If you say so~"
"There you two are. What was the hold up?" Ruiko said to them, walking out the gate of her home with a tilt of her head. "You should have been here two minutes and thirty seven seconds ago."
Naru moved to open her mouth, but Mikoto covered it. "Just taking in the air, Ruiko."
Ruiko rolled her eyes at that, unimpressed.
"Come on, let's not keep Kaa-san waiting."
"Right behind you, Rui-chan." Naru said with a smirk as she and Mikoto trailed after Ruiko as she led them into her house, over to the stretch of nondescript wall that hid the elevator down to the labs below it and afterwards through the utilitarian, almost sterile corridors of the underground complex to a meeting room.
All along the way, Naru and Ruiko chatted idly about mundane things like the Daihasei and school. For her part, Mikoto just enjoyed the company. It felt good in a way. Just… being together. The past few days had been trying for sure, but Mikoto felt she was finally bouncing back into the swing of things.
It was whilst reveling in the companionship of her friends, that they arrived at the conference room where Kiyama-sensei was waiting for them.
"Ah, welcome everyone." Kiyama-sensei said as she bowed her head in greeting, getting a round of greetings in return.
"Now for why this meeting was called." She continued once all the greetings were exchanged and everyone was seated. "Recently, Oyafune-sama has tasked me to convert a certain desperate scientist's tool into something useful for the City's people. Between this and running the Level Upper Networks, my lab's pretty much stretched thin."
The woman shrugged as if saying 'what can you do?'.
"So with that, my news to all of you is that I'm aiming to start up a company, Eden Corporation, to better manage my efforts."
And what I would like to know is what this has to do with me and Naru?
Kiyama-sensei held up a remote and used it to activate a monitor along the wall that displayed the rough outline of a company building that looked pretty simplistic but fit the scientist to a T. Judging by the look on Ruiko's face, she had some complaints about the rather plain design though.
"We'll be a full-blown corporation to make things easier when sourcing for funding and in hiring staff. Within strict guidelines of course." The woman said the latter part with a frigid tone. Having seen first hand where being lax on both those fronts could lead, Mikoto had no doubts that she'd been extra vigilant to ensure no one used either avenue to abuse what she was building.
"Well, that's pretty cool." Mikoto admitted as it sounded like something that would be a boon to the City if she was honest. With someone like Kiyama-sensei leading a company, she could be sure that it was a moral one at least. Something which was a rarity in the City.
"Yeah, cool, but why are you telling us?" Naru asked, cutting to the heart of the matter. Mikoto knew that not everything had to be some kind of scheme, plot or front? Then again, in the Chibi's line of work… Maybe it was right of her to be suspicious.
Kiyama-sensei had a smile on her usually tired face as she looked at the young blonde and replied. "That's simple. I would like to make a deal with both of you. In your case, Namikaze-san, I would like access to your Capacity Down data so I can develop it into a non-lethal weapon we can sell to Anti-Skill."
The Usagi frowned, her nose wiggling as she considered the offer.
Undeterred by the cool reception, Kiyama-sensei persevered. "I'll even offer you a share option for the deal."
Naru's eyes glimmered, not with greed, but certainly interest. Mikoto knew that look all too well.
"And how much are we talking about? I don't just sell my data for chump change, Sensei. Even to my bestie's mother." The Number 2 informed with a guarded look.
Mikoto understood why. She had been there and it bit her back hard.
Kiyama-sensei raised her hands in a placating gesture. "I assure you it will be quite generous. But I'll need my business managers to talk with your trust fund's managers. It's not like either of us know how much Yen these things would go for. But I won't short change you, I promise. Ruiko would pout to no end if I did."
"Kaa-san!" Ruiko flustered, looking upset and pouty all at once.
"Ah, too late." The scientist sighed with a weary, but teasing smile.
"Hm, well since you are much better than the spleen openers this City offers. I guess I can agree." Their Usagi replied, feigning disinterest. Mikoto could see the underlying enthusiasm she had at the idea though. She was just playing hardball. It seemed that Naru could smell the Yen in the water. Was she that money oriented or did she just want a foot in the door of the budding Eden Corp?
Feeling left out, Mikoto decided to speak up.
"I'm guessing I'm here for a similar deal too?" She deduced. After all, having three of the Level 5s being part of a company sounded better than just two.
"Caught that huh? Well I do have something in mind for you, Misaka-san. Or more specifically, I was hoping for your blessing to ask the Sisters to work for Eden." Kiyama-sensei said with a smile, looking rather proud. "This would give them a steady income while granting us access to the vast computing power of the Misaka Network. Order-chan actually recommended it to me last week to snag an extra cookie."
Ruiko narrowed her eyes. "So that's what led to the Great Cookie Rebellion. Kaa-san it took days to clean up the mess that the girls caused!"
The Great Cookie Rebellion!? Just what the hell did Order-chan do!?
"Oops?" The scientist said as she blinked in innocent confusion.
Mikoto contemplated this with a knit of her brow. The deal that Kiyama-sensei was offering sounded good, really good in fact. Maybe they could even leverage it to get a few more of the Sisters to return to the City. She would like to meet the rest some day after all.
"I'll have to ask for their input." Mikoto confessed. "They are their own persons after all. So it'll be up to them to decide."
"By all means, ask them. Just so you should know, I did just that as, like you said, those girls are their own persons. However, they wanted their Onee-sama's blessing."
Should I? It's a good deal, but…
"How would you pay them? I mean, they're considered underage aren't they?" Mikoto asked, wanting more details before she committed her sisters to anything.
"Yes, and their lifelong expenses are covered by the City out of a trust set up for them to manage the reparations the Board of Directors wrangled out of the labs that participated in the Level 6 Shift experiment." Kiyama-sensei explained, incidentally answering a question about how her sisters' daily expenses were covered that Mikoto had been wondering about for ages. "As part of the tentative deal that we've worked out so far, Eden will set up a separate trust fund for the Sisters like the ones that manage the incomes gained by the various Level 5s from the use of their images in various media and the compensation they receive for assisting in research programmes. Unlike the existing fund, it will pay out in full to its beneficiaries when they reach their majority. A fund that will, at the Sisters' insistence, include you, Misaka-san, as a beneficiary. It will be into this trust that payments for their services will be made, including a one time stock option."
"Wow… With that the Sisters would pretty much be set for life wouldn't they?" Naru noted with a whistle.
"They already were," Ruiko said with a shrug. "Their original trust was set to cover their lifelong expenses."
"Yeah, but I've seen the amount of money in that trust. It's a big number but considering the number of Sisters out there, their monthly stipends aren't actually that big. It's why they're mostly so spartan about everything."
Spartan? Her sisters? Considering the equipment that some of them like Conspiracy Nut ran around with… Then again, most of that probably came from Maniple. She knew the City Sisters' guns did and she suspected the weapons her other sisters owned - And she'd seen for herself that every last one of them was armed courtesy of the Clone Wars Incident. - had come from a similar source.
Namely whatever shady arms dealer Ruiko could put them in touch with. Mikoto thought with a grin for her brunette friend. She knew her sisters appreciated being able to defend themselves and after what they'd been through during the Level 6 Shift, Mikoto heartily approved of them being able to do so.
"This deal will fix that and give them more cash to play around with."
"Wait, Naru, you looked into my sisters' finances?" Mikoto asked, looking at her blonde kohai sharply. "When? How?"
"I asked around," Naru said with a shrug.
"I am Order-chan's guardian." Ruiko said with a shrug as well when Mikoto turned to her questioningly. "Not that she's actually touched any of the money due her in the original trust. I more than cover her expenses."
"Yes, you do." Kiyama-sensei agreed. "But we're getting off topic. Misaka-san, so how about it? Will you give your approval to the Sisters assisting Eden Corp?"
Mikoto gave the matter another round of thought before nodding.
"Yeah, I don't see any downsides to it."
Kiyama-sensei smiled at that.
"To the success of Eden Corp!" Naru said suddenly, raising a can of her favourite canned drink, strawberry milk, in imitation of a toast.
Where- Mikoto began to think only for a can of her own favourite, an iced coffee, to appear in front of her.
"To the success of Eden Corp!" Ruiko said as she clinked her own can of boring old ramune soda against Naru's and they both shot her an expectant look.
Rolling her eyes, Mikoto played along and tapped her own can against theirs and repeated the toast. "To the success of Eden Corp!"
Kiyama-sensei looked on in amusement as the three of them pulled their cans back, popped them open and with a loud cheer of "Kanpai!" downed their drinks in one go.
"And that's how you celebrate a business deal!" Naru said as she burped in a very unladylike manner.
Ruiko giggled at her antics but Mikoto just rolled her eyes.
Honestly, the Usagi was such a ham!
Sitting with her best friend as they hung out at a cafe, Kazari could only marvel at the small deck of Indian Poker cards that Saten-san had gifted her in the lead up to their product launch by Eden Corp.
"Wow! These things are amazing, Saten-san. Kiyama-sensei has outdone herself again." Kazari told her friend honestly. "A simple card that through scent can trigger specific dreams and thus enable dream learning? That's really incredible."
"It is," Saten-san agreed. "Though it wasn't Kaa-san that developed it. Indian Poker is the invention of a scientist named Kuriba Ryouko."
"Maybe," Kazari allowed. "But it was Kiyama-sensei and Eden Corp who turned it from a potentially dangerous thing into the great educational tool it's shaping up to be by putting in the proper safeguards."
Saten-san shrugged.
"All we did was keep the production method for the cards a secret and introduced a regulatory body for the issuance of the cards. In fact, the latter was largely the work of Kaiba Seto, the man we hired to be Eden's CEO."
"You're being too humble again, Saten-san." Kazari said with a sigh.
Honestly, her friend was always like this. She just couldn't accept praise even when it was deserved. And the worst part? Saten-san just couldn't see it, which was why she was looking at Kazari with a look of utter confusion.
Well, that just means I have to keep working on her doesn't it?
Ruiko was heading home after seeing Uiharu off for her shift at the Judgment 177th Branch Office. She was in fact just stepping out of the quaint little brickwork building and was preparing to begin the series of teleports home when her phone rang.
A call from Shinobu-san? Ruiko thought as she cocked an eyebrow as she read the Caller ID with some emulated Electomastery and pulled her phone out of her skirt pocket.
"Hello Shinobu-san, what have the twins done now?" Ruiko asked without preamble as she leaned against the stairwell that led up to the Judgment 177th Branch Office.
"Good afternoon, Saten-sama." Her twins' nanny returned with an exasperated sigh. "And could you buy some canned mackerel for dinner on the way home? The twins are insisting we eat some for dinner tonight."
"Canned mackerel? Why?" Ruiko asked, blinking in confusion. She would've pumped her intelligence databases for clues as to why, but sometimes just asking provided the answers more readily.
"They just watched a programme on TV that claims it helps enhance beauty and now insists that everyone in the house should have some so we'll all be more beautiful."
Ruiko groaned. Janie and Febrie were far too gullible. It was something that they needed to work on, and Ruiko was tempted to use this as an opportunity to do so but thought better of it. The tantrum she'd have to deal with if she did wasn't worth it. Not for something as minor as this.
This is a passing fad anyway. They'll forget it by next week at the latest.
"Alright," Ruiko said with a groan. She might've conceded to getting what the twins wanted but that didn't mean she had to be happy about it. "I'll buy some on the way home and cook up something with it for dinner."
"You'll cook?" Shinobu-san asked, mildly surprised. "The girls will like hearing that. You know how much they like eating their Mama's cooking."
Ruiko allowed herself a happy smile at the reminder of how much her daughters appreciated her. It warmed her heart.
"Yeah, and remember to get ready for Order-chan and Accel to join us for dinner too. You know the twins will call their Onee-chan and brag about it. Order-chan will certainly drag herself and Accel over."
Shinobu-san chuckled. "She will."
"Okay, I'll head over to the supermarket now. See you when I get home. Bye."
"Bye, Saten-sama. See you in a bit."
As it turned out Ruiko's decision to head over to the supermarket right away was a prescient one as by the time she arrived, its stock of canned mackerel had almost been completely depleted. As it was, she managed to grab the last two cans.
"Honestly, all this over some nonsense on a TV programme?" Ruiko said with a roll of her eyes to the cashier as she checked out.
"I know right, miss." The high school aged girl, probably a part-timer, manning the cashier said with an amused grin even as she scanned Ruiko's purchases. "But it's cleared our shelves, so I can't say it's a bad thing."
"True. And since I'm here buying some for myself, I don't really have room to complain."
The older girl offered a polite smile at that, carefully avoiding commenting either way and instead finished bagging the two cans she'd purchased.
"That'll be-"
Before the cashier could finish though, she was drowned out by a loud cry of dismay from behind them and they, and everyone in the supermarket really, turned to find its source. Which turned out to be the familiar petite form of Frenda Seivelun collapsed to her knees and staring in horror at the empty shelves where the store's canned mackerel usually sat.
"Why!? How!? My canned mackerel!" The Scandinavian bemoaned piteously.
Ruiko exchanged a look with the cashier who just returned a lost look. Sighing, Ruiko used her emulated Electromastery to make her payment electronically and picked up her bag of purchases before walking towards the still distraught looking Dark Sider.
"Seivelun-san," Ruiko said, tapping the older girl on her shoulder.
Acting with the instinct as behooved her status as a member of the elite ITEM outfit, Seivelun-san spun out of her reach immediately and back to her feet before falling into a defensive stance all in one smooth motion.
"S-Saten-sama?" The blonde asked, blinking her alluring blue eyes at Ruiko in confusion. Ruiko was happily attached but she could still recognize that she found the Scandinavian girl attractive. That was partly because she resembled Naru and that made her comfortable, but just less childishly cute. Not entirely so, of course, because Seivelun-san had that in spades too. She just had a slightly more mature air that Ruiko found charming.
And yes, Ruiko did in fact appreciate the feminine form as much as she did the male. Just because she had a boyfriend didn't mean she couldn't look.
"Yes, it's me." Ruiko said with a nod. "Are you looking for canned mackerel? I'm sorry but it's sold out. I bought the store's last two cans."
She raised her shopping bag to indicate what she meant. For a moment, Seivelun-san stood frozen in indecision, her eyes tracking from Ruiko's shopping bag to her face repeatedly as she visibly struggled to make up her mind on what to do.
"I see," the high school dropout said with an impressive professionalism despite the strong sense of disappointment Ruiko could sense from her through her emulated empathy. "I'm sorry for causing a scene, Saten-sama. I'll be on my way now."
"Wait," Ruiko said, before the older girl could walk away. "I'm curious. What was with your reaction just now? Why do you want some canned mackerel so badly? Did you watch the TV programme about its beauty enhancing properties too?"
"Is that why it's sold out?" Seivelun-san asked, looking at the empty shelves with a frown.
"Yes," Ruiko informed her with a nod. "I personally don't believe any of it but Janie and Febrie do and I'm humoring them."
"You're a good guardian," the blonde said with a nod.
"Thank you," Ruiko said, smiling at the praise. "Though if it's not about that TV programme, why do you want canned mackerel?"
"Because if I don't eat some in a while, I get bad palpitations," Seivelun-san said, clutching her heart theatrically. "And my limbs start shaking and I hallucinate."
"You do know that you're describing the symptoms of an addict undergoing withdrawal, right?" Ruiko told her dryly.
"That's why I need my canned mackerel!" The Dark Sider insisted.
Ruiko shook her head in dark amusement.
"Yeah, you're definitely addicted. So I'll take pity on you. Why don't you come over to my place tonight? I'm cooking something with these for dinner." Ruiko said, shaking her shopping bag meaningfully.
"U-Uh, I appreciate the offer," Seivelun-san said hesitantly. "But can't I just go elsewhere to buy my mackerel?"
Ruiko pouted, feeling slighted that her generous offer was being refused.
"O-Okay, okay! I'll come for dinner." The blonde backtracked quickly. "Thanks for the offer."
"Great!" Ruiko chirped, pleased with her offer being accepted and grabbed Seivelun-san with her free hand. "Let's go now. You can help me cook."
Skirt, check! Cute stockings, check! Beret, check! Mental checklist to avoid looking at flipping Accelerator sitting across me, not check. Very, very not check. Nega-check!
Frenda could admit it. She was having a mental meltdown at the idea of having dinner with the Number 1. The infamous Accelerator having decided to come over for dinner at Saten-sama's house too or more accurately having been dragged there by the tiniest of the Misaka clones: Last Order, the Heart of the Misaka Network. A girl who despite her importance looked and acted Fremea's age, having shown up dragging her "Papa'' whilst declaring that she wanted a share of her "Mama's home cooked dinner".
Frenda had been out of it since they'd arrived, too busy trying not to pee her panties in worry.
"S-So, what are we having tonight?" Frenda tried her best not to stutter, but she was nervous gosh darn it!
"Curry for tonight." Saten-sama reminded her from the kitchen, shooting her an amused grin at the question. Which was fair. Frenda knew full well what was for dinner. She helped cook it! "Pretty simple, but simple is fine. Right?"
"Sounds good to me. You can't go wrong with curry!"
"Why is Melter Hag's token blondie here again?" Accelerator asked with a gruff tone.
"I ran into her at the supermarket, Accel. We talked and I invited her. Now don't be rude or you're getting a smaller serving." Saten-sama informed her boyfriend as she began serving everyone's portions of the mackerel curry rice that she and Frenda had prepared.
"Tch." The pseudo albino scoffed, looking away as he rested an elbow on the table, cheek resting in his palm.
No way this is happening. Is this really real? Nope, erasing it from my mind for the sake of my sanity. Frenda coached herself. She'd done it plenty of times when Mugino got freaky scary about stuff.
With that in mind, Frenda decided to pretend that the terrifying Number 1 wasn't sitting across the table from her and instead turned her attention to her hostess.
"And thank you for inviting me over, Saten-sama." Frenda said genuinely as the younger girl placed her serving in front of her. "I appreciate it."
"Don't mention it." Saten-sama returned with a smile that Frenda couldn't help but return.
The more and more Frenda just talked with the terrifying [AIM Sovereign], the more the Level 5 felt… more like a regular girl. Or one that was trying her best to be one.
It was sorta cute in a way.
"But for reals, you are actually a pretty good cook." Frenda couldn't help but gush as she took a spoonful of the meal.
Seriously! Was there nothing this girl couldn't do?!
Even Mugino wasn't this much of a try hard, and she was a super try hard to begin with!
"Really? Like you saw just now, I just followed the recipe to be honest." Saten-sama said with a shrug as she took small bites while her daughters ate at a ravenous pace, leaving their little faces all messy in the process and prompting that twiggy nanny of theirs to scold them for their lack of manners.
"Probably to the absolute degree." Accelerator groused with a small smirk. "How many decimals were you off this time?"
"...To the ninth." Saten-sama pouted, cheeks colored a cute rosy tone.
There was perfectionism and then there was… Level 5s really were the nuts of the nutsos.
Even Kiyama-sensei agreed if her chuckle at her daughter's expense was any indication.
The Scandinavian knew better than to comment though and so decided to just focus on her meal. And of course get seconds and even thirds while she could, Frenda was a growing girl after all. Plus Saten-sama's cooking was really good. Sadly, the meal quickly came to an end and the night grew late.
"Thanks for the meal. It's good to know I got a bit of a foodie buddy. Maybe we can, uh, well…" Frenda trailed off, cutely twirling her fingers together as she smiled awkwardly as she stood in the entryway of Saten-sama's house as the Level 5 showed her out for the night. She didn't want to presume, but hey! It was hard to find a good foodie buddy.
"I would like that." Saten-sama smiled and took out a card from her skirt pocket, handing it to Frenda. Flipping the blank card over, it revealed a phone number. "If [Meltdowner] gives you any issues about tonight, tell her she can come and find me. Also, that's my personal number so you can contact me if you just want to chat or maybe come over for another dinner. It was nice."
Frenda flashed a megawatt smile and tipped her beret at the Level 5. "Sounds like a plan to me! See ya, Saten-sama!"
"Bye, Seivelun-san."
"Oh, just call me Frenda. All my friends do." Frenda told the Number 3 with a grin as she slipped the card she'd received into a hidden pocket in her skirt where she secreted her ID and other essential cards. Saten-sama's personal number was just as precious after all.
"If you insist." Saten-sama said with a smile. "Then see you around, Frenda-san."
"You too!" Frenda replied with an enthusiastic wave goodbye before turning and with a skip in her step, headed off. Her mood light and her heart swelling with happiness.
It was nice to make another friend.
It was a couple of days after the dinner she had with Academy City's number one power couple. In between those times, Saten-sama and Frenda had exchanged a lot of texts about the most mundane things and through it all, despite them both being Dark Siders their work was never even brought up!
It was nice to just be able to feel so normal and the blonde relished it. Sure, she had friends that weren't Dark Siders. But those friends didn't know the real her. Saten-sama did and still treated her like a normal girl, not judging her in any way for it. That was something that Frenda cherished most of all.
Which was why as she looked through the selection at one of the dozens of Indian Poker dealerships that had popped up all over the city since the educational tool's roll out, she felt comfortable pulling out her phone to text the Level 5 about some of the sillier cards she'd found.
"Seriously? Maid Training? Bust Upper? Chopstick Tool Usage? And is that Optimal Sleep Positioning?" Frenda read as she typed into her phone.
[Whats with these sklz?! Card Stacking, Bust Upper, Chopstick Tool Usage? Platform all over the place!] She sent via text to her friend, Saten-sama. And wasn't it amazing to call her that?
Yobou Banka, member of the elite Dark Side outfit led by the Number 4 ranked Level 5, Kakine Teitoku or as he was more infamously known [Dark Matter], SCHOOL, sat in his unit's headquarters hooked up to a series of computers via his power focusing and enhancing headset as he used his psychokinesis. A set up that allowed him to trawl through the City's vast information networks in a bid to locate any references of Indian Poker cards that might contain information on the Tweezers that SCHOOL was looking for at the direction of their aforementioned Level 5 leader.
As of late, the City's scientists had been using the technology to backup their knowledge on its easy to recover and transferable format and Kakine hypothesized that some of the scientists who had done so might have let slip some information that might lead to the Tweezers' location. It was slow going though. Even if Kakine's guess was correct, the scientists would be careful in making any mention of a device as valuable as the Tweezers. Especially when the attachment-type manipulator for microscopic object interference could be used to grant its user access to the Superintendent General's personal nanobot-based spy network, UNDER_LINE. Which meant they would only ever refer to the device euphemistically, something that made finding references to it much, much harder.
"The card we want is probably located in the secure repository of cards provided to the City's scientists in Eden Corp's HQ." Banka commented idly as he marked said corporate HQ down as his primary target. "But there are other targets that might potentially be worthwhile exploring as well."
The screens in front of him flashed as he ran through the most likely of these before settling on a series of text messages being sent between a pair of heavily secured phone numbers discussing a Chopstick Tool Usage Indian Poker card. He had almost dismissed it entirely but the fact that what could readily be an euphemism for using the Tweezers was being exchanged between two numbers who despite his best efforts he was unable to crack gave him pause.
All he'd managed was roughly triangulating the location of the less secured of the two numbers. But that was enough...
"We should at least check it out." He decided at last. "Since it's our best bet, I'll go handle the repository. Yumiya can handle whoever these people are."
"Hm, hm, hmmhmh~" Frenda hummed as she walked down the mall thoroughfare towards a nice little coffee shop she was going to meet Saten-sama at. The Level 5 having replied to her message about some of the sillier Indian Poker cards she'd seen at the dealership earlier with an offer to hang out under the thinly veiled excuse of explaining Eden Corp's reasoning for their inclusion in their product line.
Really, hanging out with the Level 5 had been a breath of fresh air to her. Being friends with a girl that knew about her work, so she could be honest around her, and someone that wasn't a teammate or a lackey was just so novel! Technically Saten-sama was superior in strength and clout along with being from another team, but semantics!
Just as she was about to turn the corner and into the section of the mall that contained the coffee shop where they were to meet, she felt a sharp bloom of pain explode from her shoulder as she tipped forward, but her feet planted themselves, keeping her balanced. Blood leaked from the wound as her mind caught up to the pain.
Oh, I was shot. She realised. She was the only one though, as there was barely a trickle of blood and she doubted any of the other pedestrians around her even noticed the small stain it was making on her blouse. By the curious looks they shot her they probably thought she tripped.
Instincts kicked in as she belatedly realised that someone had just tried to kill her and in a burst of speed she rounded the corner. She was just a tad too slow though and was clipped in her forearm by another bullet before she made it behind cover.
Shit! Where? Where are they? How did they get that angle? A power? Frenda thought furiously as she surveyed the crowds which were now looking at her with moderate concern. Ugh, stupid sheep.
Shit! We can't do this here. If civilians get dragged into this, the higher ups will have my head!
She ducked as a bullet struck near her feet, making her wince as she almost got debris in her eyes from how close it was. Apparently, her mysterious attacker wanted her to run.
She was loath to oblige, but considering she couldn't even see where her attacker was, she didn't have any other options.
"Damnit," She cursed as she broke into a run.
And they're a sadist to boot. Why can't we have more professional assassins anymore? Frenda bemoaned in her mind. Then again, I'm one to talk… I like playing with my targets too if I can manage it.
Even if it sometimes got her into trouble, like that time she'd fought the [Railgun] and had her own explosive dolls turned against her. That had been embarrassing as all hell! Especially because it had ended up with Mugino having to save her.
The reminder of her dolls gave her an idea though and she ran into a conveniently located toy store and quickly snuck her way through the large department store. Leaving a few surprises behind her as she went. Nothing fancy, just a few of her explosive dolls rigged up to some tripwires and discreetly scattered in her wake. She doubted her attacker would fall for the trick, but they would slow them down a tad as they either made a detour around them or defused them.
And that's my chance to strike! Frenda thought with anticipation as she crouched behind a shelf near one of her little traps.
A small group of high school girls was walking towards it and Frenda was getting worried. Where was the assassin? Surely, they wouldn't dare let the civilians trigger the bomb! That would get them in deep trouble with the Directors!
Chicken. They're playing a game of chicken with me. Frenda realised.
Whoever moved to defuse her bomb first would give away their position and make themselves a target to the other.
I just don't have to lose. Frenda thought with conviction as the civilians walked ever closer to her trap, completely oblivious.
Come on! Show yourself! She wanted to scream even as she counted down the distance till the clueless girls set off her bomb.
They were just a few feet away when the bomb went off as the sniper shot the trip wire. The blast was low yield, Frenda wasn't stupid enough to use anything too powerful in such a civilian rich area, and sent the civilians into a panic but the blonde ignored that and quickly pinpointing where the shot that severed the tripwire came from, threw a handful of her personalised pyramidal micro explosives in its direction. They detonated, throwing up a massive smokescreen that covered her as Frenda ran in the direction searching for her opponent.
It was not to be, however, as she was barely twelve feet from her little hiding spot when she was shot in her side, causing her to lose her balance and almost crash to the ground. She caught herself in time though and pushed herself out of the way in time to avoid a shot to her spine.
Both those shots came from a completely different direction from the one that took out the tripwire! How!? Frenda thought as she ran for her life.
Either the sniper was somehow able to manipulate the trajectory of their bullets or they were insanely good at repositioning quickly without being noticed. It was theoretically possible to do the latter if one was fit enough, Frenda supposed, running from the two angles where those sets of shots came from wasn't impossible but to do it unnoticed should be! Helped along by an Esper ability perhaps?
Something to figure out after I beat the shit out of this asshole! Frenda decided as she zig zagged, barely avoiding another couple shots aimed her way that instead hit the floor and created small clouds of shattered masonry at their impact.
"Frenda-san, need some help?" Saten-sama's voice whispered into her ears suddenly, through what the Scandinavian theorised was probably some audiokinesis. "Yumiya Rakko seems to be giving you some trouble."
"Yumiya Rakko? SCHOOL's sniper? That's who's hunting me?" Frenda hissed as she ducked around a corner and a section of its masonry exploded in a tiny puff of smoke as the sniper's latest bullet missed. That the shot would've kneecapped her if she was only a second or two slower was neither here nor there.
"Yup. So do you want my help?"
"Yes, please!" Frenda practically begged. Sure, she'd probably be able to pull out a win eventually. But not without getting shot up even more and if she could avoid that with a little help from her friend, then her pride could go take a hike.
Besides, I really want to know what the heck SCHOOL thinks it's doing attacking me like this!
The hunt was something that stirred Yumiya Rakko's aching heart.
The thrill brought a broad smile that spread from ear to ear on her face as she moved through the crowd like a lioness stalking her feeble prey.
For taking away her chance, her perfect chance to be with her school associates, to rise out of her long obscurity, her prey would pay! All the better that it was a fellow Dark Sider. That just gave this hunt more of a challenge and made the eventual pay off all the sweeter.
The girl with long black hair in two pigtails, golden eyes and dressed in a black full bodysuit over which she wore a long-sleeve shirt, a black skirt and a pouch belt licked her lips at that thought. At the sight of her opponent lying defeated and bleeding out on the floor. It was an image that honestly got her a little wet between the legs.
Oh! I am going to need new panties when this is done. Rakko thought with amusement as she continued to stalk her prey when suddenly her muscles seized and she lost control of her body as it froze in place.
A whisper on the wind tickled her ear, coming like a sharp hiss.
"Don't scream." The voice commanded, but the brunette would not be commanded. She was the hunter! She opened her mouth anyway, but found that her voice had been stripped from her. "Or you can try. As you can see, it won't work though."
Like a puppet on strings, her limbs started to move at the direction of her body jacker. Her movements were jerky at first, but they quickly smoothed themselves out into her usual gait. It was frightening how her attacker so quickly managed to duplicate her usual manner of walking. So well in fact that no one even noticed anything amiss as she was walked against her will into a service passage behind the public areas of the mall.
And before her was her prey, all bandaged up and Saten-sama of the Trinity of all people standing beside her.
Rakko was proud to say she only nearly peed in her tights in terror at the sight.
Saten-sama, in all her characteristic elegance, walked up to her, placed a hand on her cheek and whispered. "What does SCHOOL want with Frenda-san?"
Rakko knew if she didn't answer, she would disappear. This time forever.
Yet, she was a professional. She had standards. She would not compromise them even if she was up against a Level 5!
Her lips were as sealed as her creed! So she defiantly maintained her silence even in the face of the beautiful monster standing before her.
Saten-sama released a small sigh, looking disinterested in what Rakko felt was a grand stand against a giant. Muu, how pedestrian.
"If you aren't going to answer after I tried being polite, I'm going to have to be rude. Remember, this is your fault."
What was Saten-sama being rude? Torture? Flogging? Flay-
Rakko screamed as the answer presented itself and she felt as if an ice pick was twisting inside her mind. Thankfully, the pain disappeared as soon as it came. It nevertheless managed to rip away all the strength left in her legs.
Yet with Saten-sama still in control of her body, she continued to remain standing. Oh, and she did pee herself this time. How unpleasant.
"Frenda, I need to make some calls. I'm really sorry our hang out ended up as work stuff." The Level 5 confessed, looking put out. "Let's get you to a hospital for those bullet wounds, just to be safe. Even with all that Medigel, I don't want to risk an infection. Who knows what this fecal matter laced her bullets with."
"I'm sorry about this." Her prey hung her head, looking like a sad little puppy.
Neither Saten-sama nor her prey were paying her any mind! It seemed even when captured, Rakko was to play the background character. How cruel!
Saten-sama waved off her friend's apology though.
Why!? Why is it that someone as infamous as Saten-sama can manage having friends but I can't!?
"No worries. We'll just meet up another time once you're all better."
The two made to leave, but Saten-sama paused, turning back to Rakko with a bored look on her face.
"Oh, one last thing."
Their eyes met and the ice pick returned and this time, it brought friends.
By the time they were done, Yumiya Rakko was left nothing but a drooling husk that collapsed to the floor.
"Yo, Rui-chan, what's up?" Naru asked cheerfully as she slipped into a seat across from her best friend in a tea shop in the School Garden on a balmy autumn afternoon.
Huh? Kurama said, unexpectedly.
What's up, Kurama? Naru asked her partner curiously.
I dunno. Is it just me or does your best friend look a little different today?
Naru frowned at this and took a good look at Rui-chan. Come to think of it…
"You heard about my run-in with Yumiya Rakko?" Rui-chan asked as she pushed a cup of Naru's favourite pu'er tea at her, pulling her from her thoughts before she could pin down what exactly had changed about her bestie's appearance.
It's probably nothing. She concluded. She's probably switched up something with her makeup or the like.
"Yeah," Naru nodded, frowning a little at the fact that her bestie had chosen to meet up to discuss business of all things. "Surprised you didn't kill her or leave her brain dead to be honest, not after what she did to Frenda-chan. I mean, we all know you like her."
Everyone but the girls in question. Kurama added with a snort.
Hey, that's not what I meant! I meant as friends. Rui-chan has Accelerator already.
Who can read emotions again?
Wait? Are you saying-
Yes. Kurama said bluntly. It's just the beginning of attraction at this stage, but I've seen enough of it among you humans to know where it could lead.
But Accelerator-
What about him?
"Yes, she's a friend." Rui-chan agreed, pulling Naru away from her conversation with her partner. "But we all know the stink that Kakine will cause if we off a member of his outfit."
"Yeah," Naru agreed with a wince. "Even though he'd just replace her like it didn't matter. He's a hypocrite like that."
"That's nothing new." Rui-chan said with an elegant shrug before taking a very ladylike sip of her Earl Grey tea.
Damn… Someone has started to take being an ojousama very seriously I see. Naru thought with amusement.
"Anyway," Rui-chan continued after daintily returning her cup to its saucer. "Whilst I was dealing with Yumiya, Yobou Banka broke into and stole some sensitive information from the Indian Poker Card Repository in Eden HQ."
"What information?" Naru asked with a frown. What was valuable enough to [Dark Matter] that he would break the unwritten rules and mess with another Level 5's operations without provocation?
"Based on what was taken? It appears that the Number 4 is after the Tweezers."
"Those things? Oh fuck." Naru hissed in irritation. "Kakine's end goal must be UNDER_LINE. Does he have a death wish or something?"
Ruiko nodded. "Could you pass the word to your boss? I've told Oyafune-sama of course but she doesn't exactly have the Superintendent's ear. You have more clout with him and you know more about that system than I do."
"Yeah, sure, ugh, that is going to take up an entire day just getting through the bureaucracy to arrange a meeting with someone who will take me seriously. Stupid matter creating nimrod. I want to rip his leg off now." Naru pulled at her twintails, fuming. "Sadly, I'm not sure what they can do to stop Kakine if he's determined enough. Unless he wants to kill him, which he doesn't, all the Superintendent can really do is send him a scolding message."
Ruiko made a noise of agreement as she slid down her seat a little. "Agreed."
"Though~" Naru sing-songed with a foxy grin. "We can remind him not to mess with us. We do have a rep of our own to maintain, so he needs to take a reasonable hit in recompense for attacking you, no?"
Her bestie perked up at this, looking curious. "What do you have in mind?"
Naru flashed a rather demented smirk and leaned forward. "Put me in touch with Maniple and you'll see my dear Ruiko, fufufu."
"Hm, alright, if you say so." Ruiko answered with a frown, looking a tinge worried but ultimately accepting. "Though after you make your calls let's go shopping or something. I'm feeling like getting something new for my wardrobe."
"I was at this store the other day that sold these cute little skirts. I'm sure we can find one that'll make Accel go red in the face."
"I'm in!" Ruiko said, her eyes lighting up in anticipation at the prospect.
And another good deed was performed.
Yumiya Rakko was walking from the nearest light rail station towards the skyscraper containing SCHOOL's lair after school one day. She would honestly be much rather trying to break through her social awkwardness and trying to befriend some of her schoolmates as part of her efforts to become the school's idol as was her long cherished dream, but with her recent run-in with Saten-sama she knew she had a target on her back. One she blamed entirely on Banka! If that idiot hadn't screwed up and sent her after one of the Number 3's friends she wouldn't now have to fear retaliation from the Trinity and be forced to walk around armed with her rifles much less head over to SCHOOL's base everyday after school to minimise the risk of being ambushed.
Number 3, Number 2, Number 5...aaah, to think I made so many enemies just because of one little scuffle. It's not fair! Banka totally owes me for his screwup! Not even looking into the owner of the phone before sending me after them!? What a fumble!
Rakko was mulling over how exactly she was going to get her teammate to pay her back for landing her in hot soup when her nose picked up the unmistakable smell of a sniper rifle. Well, she couldn't be sure it was a sniper rifle but she could definitely smell the faint traces of a well used gun, the unique mix of cordite and metal smells was a dead giveaway, and since she'd not spotted one in her vicinity, her best bet was a sniper rifle.
How, you might ask, could she smell something with such precision? Was it an Esper ability? Nope, she was a Level 0. Her insanely acute sense of smell was instead classed as an Out-Of-System Skill like Imagine Breaker, a skill that the City's System Scans could not detect or in her case was not technically outside the realm of human possibility.
Readying herself for a fight, she tensed her arms and prepared to fire off the rifles hidden under her sleeves when she got the chance as she used her borderline superhuman sense of smell to try and sniff out where her potential attacker was.
She was saved the trouble of tracking down her opponent when her danger sense screamed at her and with a sudden jump back, she avoided a perfectly aimed headshot, an act that gave the other sniper's position away. Spinning in her opponent's direction, she raised her left arm and fired a bullet off. Her rifle, even the longer ranged one built into the left arm of the bodysuit she wore under her school uniform, was only intermediate range though so she honestly had no hope of hitting her enemy but that was never her intent.
That should force them to relocate. Rakko mused as she broke into a run into a side alley and began taking a meandering path towards the more populated area around the light rail station. There's no way I can win a proper sniper's duel. I need to get to a crowd.
Then she could use her second Out-Of-System Skill and disappear into a crowd. With the ability to completely erase her presence, she might actually be able to completely throw off her attacker if she made it to a crowd. If not, if they had some way to track her that her skill didn't counter, then at the very least the other sniper would think twice before taking a shot in the middle of a crowd.
She was just about to make it to the main street when a bullet impacted the ground at the mouth of the alley she was running down, pulling her up short.
That the shot wasn't aimed at me means the other sniper wasn't able to get into position to draw a bead on me yet and was forced to just cut me off. Rakko realised with a frown as she spun on the balls of her feet and ran down one of the many branching back alleys that was so common throughout the City for some reason. How the hell is whoever they are keeping up with me so well? Judging from the trajectory of the shots, they're shooting at me from the rooftops. That means they need to move between rooftops, but even with the best parkour skills in the world this is too quick! Am I dealing with a teleporter? Or more than one shooter?
A quick sniff of the air and a desperate dive around a corner to avoid the shot her danger sense was screaming at her was coming, narrowly avoiding a bullet to the brain again in the process, gave her the information she needed. No, there were only the traces of one set of guns, a rifle and a sidearm. And more importantly, the air stank, at least to her, of consumed jet fuel.
Whoever her opponent was had a bloody jetpack.
That's just so unfair! Rakko whined as she pulled out the two things from her briefcase-style school bag that were the only reason she hadn't ditched the bag yet.
"Eat rockets," she hissed angrily under her breath as she fired off the two Handheld Anti-Tank Missile Warheads that she'd extracted out of her schoolbag.
That she'd have such weapons must've caught her opponent by surprise because they actually hit them, blowing up a section of some building's rooftop and sending the woman, and it was clearly a woman, in a specialised Powered Suit tumbling down from the roof and into an ungainly sprawl, her sniper rifle landing away from her.
"Got you," Rakko smirked as she ran at her prone opponent as she reached into her skirt pocket and with the ease of practice pulled out from the secure secret section within a set of small metallic pyramids reminiscent of the micro explosives that the Number 3's friend had used in their fight which she proceeded to toss the other sniper's way.
They went off but instead of exploding, they released a localised EMP (electromagnetic pulse) that should handily disable the other woman's Powered Suit. Rakko usually used her EMP micro bombs to disable electronic surveillance equipment but had sometimes been forced to use them like this too, to take out whatever pesky high-tech toy an opponent or prey might have at their disposal.
"No, I've got you." The woman said as she unexpectedly pushed herself up to her feet and fired off her sidearm all in one smooth motion. "I work with the [Railgun]. All my equipment is shielded against an EMP as standard."
Rakko's body jerked, and she blinked for a moment as she looked down to see the hole that the shot had carved cleaned through her torso from chest to back. Her school blouse and blazer were being stained with the rich scent of blood. She loved that smell, and now she was wearing it like a fine perfume.
"Ah." She acknowledged and staggered back, pressing back into a wall as she felt her energy leaving her. Was she in shock? How amateurish. Rakko tried to move her legs, but it felt like she was three times her usual weight for some reason.
Was it because she was eating too many snacks lately? She should really cut back on those.
She slid down the wall despite her best efforts to stay standing and landed on her rump.
Oh, my skirt is going to be so dirty! She thought for some reason even as her delicious blood streamed down her chest and pooled under her. Another scent came to her, the smell of fresh bronze being struck from the chamber.
It was like smelling a batch of fresh cookies.
"G-Going to f-finish me off at c-close range?" Rakko managed to force out through the blood filling her lungs and dribbling out the corner of her mouth and down her chin. "How honorable."
"You were a good opponent. You deserve as much." Her killer, who her fading mind recognised as Ylva-san from Maniple, said as she walked over with her drawn pistol and her sniper rifle now slung securely over her back. "If not for my EMP shielding, you'd be the one finishing me off."
"W-Why thank you." Rakko said with a bloody cough. "B-Before you put a b-bullet through my brain, do me a f-favour?"
"What?"
"T-Tell S-Saten-sama that she's a bitch for not doing t-this h-herself." Rakko wheezed.
Ylva-san did not reply, just raised her pistol and with a pull of the trigger put Rakko out of her misery.
"Ah, well, it wasn't long and dragged out, but I guess the little bitch died as she lived. A sad pretender." Naru shook her head.
Considering she had next to nothing that could get through your sniper's Powered Suit's armor, did you expect anything less?
I guess not. But she could have managed to give Ylva-san a good chase at least.
And achieve what exactly? Kurama retorted. Her only chance was aggression. If she could blast through the Powered Suit with her missiles or disable it with those EMP grenades of hers, she might've pulled off a win. She was gambling on that. Otherwise, well… We saw what happened.
Couldn't she have waited for the rest of SCHOOL to come help her? She's like literally a stone's throw from their base.
Do you honestly expect that psycho to care enough to intervene? Plus he's not stupid, he knows what us attacking her meant.
"Finding a replacement for her will be a pain, you know that right, Namikaze?" The sadly familiar voice of Kakine Teitoku, leader of SCHOOL and the Number 4 ranked Level 5 said, as he flew down to land behind Naru on a set of literal avian wings like some wannabe angel. The clearly Dark Matter forged constructs disintegrating into a mass of white feathers as he walked towards her.
"Oh? Did she hit a little distress button?" The blonde mused with faint interest as she turned to her side to face the Number 4. "I guess even a little mouse can make noise."
"I think she was more of a cat than a mouse." The Dark Matter user with shoulder-length dirty blond hair snorted, looking relaxed but his eyes told the lie as they reflected his annoyance well enough.
Plus she could feel his anger at the slight he just took, all that riled up pride and arrogance rolled into one. What a tiny little boy he really was.
"Whatever," Naru dismissed with a careless shrug. "This was a reminder to respect the boundaries. You know not to mess with your fellow Level 5s but did so anyway. Don't do it again."
"And why is the Trinity issuing this reminder and not [Meltdowner]? Isn't Frenda Seivelun one of hers?" [Dark Matter] asked through narrowed eyes. "Or are you three trying to poach her?"
"She's our friend and your little mouse attacked her when she was meeting up with Rui-chan which you should know since I'm sure she told you what my bestie did to her." Naru told him with a glare. "That makes it our business."
"Noted." The Number 4 said with a nod. "As is your reminder. Take your pet sniper and leave before I decide to take what you've done as a slight."
"Like you could take me in a fight." Naru said with a snort. "But yeah, I'm not in the mood for a brawl so we'll go. See you around [Dark Matter]."
"You as well, [Laughing Joker]."
Naru shot the asshole a crimson eyed glare at the use of her most hated moniker but he was unfazed and she was forced to settle with a parting growl before teleporting away to go pick up Ylva-san. As much as she wanted to break a few bones and teach him a lesson, she wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of rising to his bait.
A few days after dealing with Yumiya, Naru teleported to the School Garden to meet up with Ruiko once more to discuss it. She would've met up with her sooner but unfortunately she'd been busy dealing with Kakine filing a complaint to the Superintendent for the 'unprovoked attack' against his organisation. Something that had involved being called in by her boss to answer for it. Thankfully, Crowley took her side after she'd explained herself. She was in the right, she was sure. But you could never know with the [Silver Star].
As she walked into the cafe where they'd agreed to meet up, Naru spotted her bestie's familiar head of hair and walked up to her with a smile.
"Alright, so good news, Ylva-san took care of that yapping dog finally, so we just-" Naru paused, blinking in confusion and shock as her mind struggled to register what she was looking at.
Wow! Kurama said, summarizing Naru's own thoughts on the matter quite nicely.
Her eyes were glued on Ruiko's boobs. Out of the whole Trinity, Uiharu-chan and Shirai-chan, Ruiko had always had the biggest bust. Being a high B-cup. B-But not by this large a margin! Now she was a decent C-cup at least! Probably D or bigger! Had she been hit by the boob fairy or something!?
"Did you just jump two cup sizes overnight!?" Naru said at last, unable to hold it in any longer as she slid into her seat.
"Only one and not overnight." Ruiko admitted as she crossed her arms under her breasts and pushed them up to further emphasize them.
"How!?"
"Bust Upper." Ruiko said with a grin. "It is one of the Indian Poker cards. I pulled rank as an owner of Eden to get a copy."
"T-That's cheating! You might as well have used plastic surgery!" Naru said, crying foul.
"Oh? Does someone want a copy? I'm sure Sequenzia-san and Meigo-san would be thrilled."
"I'll have you know they're purists. They prefer me au naturale. And enjoy cupping my B-cup. Plus my booty is more their thing."
"My new boobs are natural too, you know." Ruiko told her with a cheeky grin. "This is all thanks to some perfectly natural techniques."
"No, they're cheap, like their cheating owner. Hmph!" Naru huffed, crossing her arms over her smaller bust. She did not have breast envy. Nope! Not at all!
"Why did you do it anyway? Trouble in paradise?" Naru asked, setting aside her annoyance in favour of genuine worry. If Accel hurt Ruiko… Well, she didn't know how, but she'd find a way to kick his ass.
"Not at all." Ruiko said with a reassuring smile. "Accel is a boobs man. I just felt like giving him something more to look at, that's all. That and well…"
"Well what?"
"I always thought my boobs were on the small side." Ruiko confessed with pink cheeks. "I always wished they were bigger and now they are."
"What? No! They were beautiful." Naru informed her firmly. "If I didn't have my dream girls I would have hit on you for them alone! Also your hair."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence but yeah, I like having these bigger ladies." Ruiko said as she patted her newly expanded bust lightly. "So do they look good?"
Naru touched her own B-cup bust a little. "Y-Yeah."
"I did say I could get you a Bust Upper card of your own if you wanted."
"Only if Shu-chan and Arisa-chan say yes. I don't want to change myself without their input. It doesn't feel right."
"Whipped." Ruiko teased.
Naru looked away with a bright red blush. What she and her girlfriends did in private was none of her friend's business!
"Oh! I have an idea." Ruiko said suddenly.
"What?" Naru asked nervously. She did not like the mischievous gleam in the [AIM Sovereign]'s eyes. It was too much like her own when she was planning something terrible.
"Let's go show off my new breasts to Sempai. Betcha her reaction will be priceless!"
And it was indeed priceless. As was the way Sempai begged for a Bust Upper card of her own. Thankfully both Uiharu-chan and Shirai-chan had the good sense to be with Naru on this one and stuck to being 100% as nature intended. Though she had to admit that Sempai's new C-cup was really nice. Thank Science though that Ruiko still ended up bigger than her by the end of it or they'd never have heard the end of it from their Lonely Heart Sempai.
She was bad enough as is!
Omake: The Opinions of Ordinary Salarymen
Whilst two thirds of the Trinity were discovering the wonders of Bust Upper, Kurozuma Wataru was spending his evening in a bar frequented by employees of Kiyama Labs and Eden Corp. The Stoic Jouchan wanted him to help her find out what her employees thought of her company and he had been happy to oblige.
So here he was, sitting in a discreet corner of the bar drinking a glass of Musashino Milk and listening in on the conversations of a few groups of said employees.
First up for the night were a group of Kiyama Labs staff seated in the booth next to his own.
"Can I just say that I am loving how we're being redeployed now that the Labs are being restructured thanks to the formation of Eden Corp and the transition into a proper conglomerate?"
"Yeah, me too." One of the first man's buddies said. "I really hope that being deployed away from the compound under the Kiyama household will mean we won't be caught up the next time the Trinity's enemies decide to target Saten-sama's home. We only escaped this time because Kiyama-sensei gave everyone the Daihasei off."
"I know right." The third member of their group agreed. "That attack was pretty damned vicious too since all the defenses around Kiyama-sensei's house got wrecked and had to be replaced."
"Yeah." "Tell me about it." His two friends said, echoing his sentiments.
They're complaining but none of them have even mentioned anything about quitting and finding work elsewhere. Wataru noted as he kept listening for a while longer. That's good.
Deciding he'd heard enough from this group, he turned his attention elsewhere and settled on what looked like a bunch of new Eden Corp middle managers at the bar chatting over some beers.
"My concern is that we have fingers in too many pies." One of the suit clad men commented.
Wataru had to agree. The list of things that Eden got up to was pretty damned long for a company as new as it was.
Whilst he was thinking this, the man continued.
"We're working on developing tech for Anti-Skill like those combat drones we are basing off those used by the [Drone Queen] and the Capacity Down system we got from the Number 2's Power Development Team. Then at the same time we have the Educational Tool Division, who are working on things like Indian Poker and Level Upper. Then the AIM research labs. And to top it all off we even have the paramilitary unit and intelligence operations we run in support of the City's military. That's a whole bunch of very different divisions with not a lot of overlap."
"It certainly seems like we're trying to dabble in as many industries as possible." Another of the middle managers said with a frown. "But this is Academy City. Isn't pursuing cutting edge science in every imaginable field the norm."
"That may be true. But what's our direction? Our core business to fall back on is what you're getting at?" Another one questioned while taking a long swig of his drink.
"Exactly!"
"We're still in our growing phase, guys." The second guy said, "We're a young company just getting its feet wet as it were. We need more time to find ourselves. Besides that we have so many avenues of income is a good thing. If something happens to one, we can rely on another."
"That's true I suppose." A fourth man, who had remained quiet till now, spoke up. "But things would be so much more stable if we could pick a core business to focus our efforts on. We don't have limitless resources, we need to prioritise where we spend them."
"That's right." The first guy said, nodding enthusiastically.
As the quartet of managers began discussing the merits of each of Eden Corps' divisions and which was best suited to becoming its core business, Wataru tuned them out. They were starting to use business jargon that went way over his head. Instead, he just made a mental note about their concerns so he could include it in his report to the Stoic Jouchan.
At the same time, he searched the pub for the next group for him to focus on and settled on a group of scientists sitting at a bar table nearby. The trio, from the design of their lab coats Wataru pegged as being part of the Indian Poker development team, were talking about, of all things, the Bust Upper Indian Poker card!
"I feel like we should be worried about how the card is impacting and/or surfacing body image issues. Plus, what if someone prepubescent gets it?" One of the scientists said with a worried frown.
"I've looked over the data." His colleague, the only woman in the group, said with a shrug. "There is no need to worry. The techniques only work on post pubescent girls. If someone too young or is male gets their hands on it and uses the techniques it teaches, nothing will happen. Well, for the males at least. The girls might develop slightly bigger breasts than they would otherwise when puberty sets in, but that's not harmful."
"That's good. I think my parental side is getting to me. Sorry." The first scientist apologised, looking sheepish.
"It's a perfectly valid question, nothing to worry about."
"There is still the issue of body image issues though." The third scientist said with a shake of his head. "The card is one of our most popular products. Sales for it has outstripped supply by a significant margin. So much so that we have preorders that cover the next three batches already. Are there really that many females who want bigger breasts?"
"In a word? Yes." The female scientist said, crossing her arms under her own substantial bosom. "Why do you think almost 70% of all female staff across Eden Corp have either used it or are on the waiting list for their copy of the card?"
"Well that explains your new figure," the first scientist said with a roll of his eyes. "At least you're more restrained than some of our colleagues. I barely noticed your expanded bustline at first. Not like with some of those who went up two cup sizes over the course of a week."
"Same," the other male scientist said. "On both counts."
The woman scientist just shrugged. "I have more confidence in my looks than most. Always have. And as for your concerns about body image issues, don't worry about it. They're natural. Every woman faces it to one extent or another. Bust Upper is functionally no different than say skin whitener or makeup, it is just more effective."
"That's true." The first scientist said with a nod.
"I suppose. Though I still think we should do something. I know that sales are already restricted to those over twelve years of age. That only limits misuse by minors, which as you said isn't really all that big of an issue. We should do more. Raise the card's price at least, to better discourage those who might buy and use it on reckless impulse. That can't be healthy."
"And a higher price would reflect supply and demand better." The woman agreed. "But that's up to the Sales Department to decide, though I suppose we could send them a suggestion?"
As the trio started brainstorming how to word the email, Wataru tuned them out. What was so difficult with just being upfront and saying what they wanted? Why use all the fancy words and phrasing that the three scientists were throwing around?
Scientists are weird. Wataru concluded as he stood from his seat, deciding he'd heard enough and that it was time to head off to deliver his findings to his boss and her mother.
"Morning Stoic Jouchan, Stoic Jouchan's Kaasan." The redhead greeted in his usual carefree way as he held out a flashdrive with his findings. "Nothing too bad really. Pretty standard stuff."
The mother-daughter duo just nodded in remarkable sync even as the Stoic Jouchan took the flashdrive from him and plugged it into the computer connected to the projector of the conference room in the underground complex under their house, before proceeding to pull up his reports from the drive. Both women looked it over, occasionally pointing at some line or another on the projection against the wall that he made note of.
When they got to the part about how some of the staff were relieved to be redeployed away from the underground complex the three of them were currently in, the Stoic Jouchan turned to her mother with a smug smirk. Seems Namikaze-ojou was rubbing off on her.
"I told you so, Kaa-san."
"Ah." The usually sleepy scientist sighed. "Yes, yes you did. In hindsight, having all our operations and the Trinity base in the same place was a mistake. I had hoped that consolidating everything in one place would save us some money."
"Yes, at the expense of our staff's peace of mind and thus productivity." The Stoic Jouchan countered. "Just look at how relieved they are now that they're moving?"
"Fine, I accept my mistake." Kiyama-sensei conceded with a pout.
The Stoic Jouchan actually preened at that. Like literally puffed up her now quite substantial chest and smirked triumphantly.
Damned. I might need a new nickname for her soon.
"But," she said, still radiating smugness. "I think the biggest issue for us at the moment is the worries about Eden Corp's lack of direction. Kaasan, I think we need to decide on a core industry or come up with a growth roadmap and then announce it to the public. That should do wonders to boost both staff and investor confidence."
"You're right." Kiyama-sensei agreed with a nod. "I'll bring it up with Kaiba-san in the next meeting of Eden's Board and see what we can come up with."
Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!
And so it is all coming together. The girls now have a solid business foundation to not only support them, but use their knowledge to lead to new discoveries or marvels for the market. And the Sisters get jobs to boot. Yay them! And yes, we did make Seto Kaiba Eden's CEO because flippin' Kaiba is not just a dragon fetish man who plays children's card games, he is a damn good businessman and that works perfectly in Academy City. He'd certainly be able to match the intelligence levels of at least the City's mid-tier scientists and that discounts his amazing business sense.
Nameless: I love worldbuilding! Don't you?
Rakko, of course, met her fate. She picked a fight she didn't know she shouldn't and paid for it with some Trinity retribution. Ah well, despite how terrifying she is in the setting, she was backed into a corner and got shot down.
Nameless: Yeah, if you stopped to think about it, Rakko is a very scary opponent. Too bad canon and the circumstances here don't really give her much of a chance to show just how utterly terrifying fighting her can be. Honestly, it's just her bad luck to continually find herself facing people who are bad matchups for her: Frenda who with a similar fighting style can dissect her methods; Ruiko who is just too OP for her; and Ylva whose combi of equipment and skills were practically a hard counter of her own. But put her against say Kuroko? She'd just disappear into a crowd and casually fill the Teleporter with bullets and kill her before she can even find her attacker.
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