Chapter 9
Part 1
Shirai Kuroko closed the door to the Judgment office with a quiet sigh.
She was holding a small stack of documents in her hand as she was walking down the hallway.
She was supposed to bring these to the student council for approval of all the participants.
The Research Assembly truly was more of a pain than anything.
Shirai was just about to make a turn, but somebody appeared around the corner.
A beautiful, feminine voice reached her ears.
"My, excuse me."
The Judgment girl twitched and quickly stepped to the side.
A group of five other girls passed by her while giving her polite smiles.
They were no ordinary students, however, and Shirai recognized them right away.
Gorgeous, tall, mature and graceful. They were all 3rd-year students.
(Akiyama Izumi's clique members.)
Shirai thought to herself while staring at the group walking away.
The clique leader herself was not present, however. Instead, the group was being lead by a beauty with platinum blonde hair. She had always been seen together with Akiyama, so Shirai assumed she was the clique's right hand.
Akiyama hadn't been showing up at school lately, but her clique seemed to operate as usual. Her project for the Research Assembly was supposedly the reason why.
Shirai turned around and continued walking.
Yes. Almost all of the cliques of Tokiwadai were bursting with excitement for the upcoming event. The bigger the clique, the bigger ambitions and (naturally) budget.
Akiyama Izumi's clique was number 2 in terms of pure numbers.
But Shirai still wondered why make all this commotion.
She understood the importance of events like this for the very ambitious and special students who were already thinking about their futures as adults. Winning a significant scientific award at such a young age would probably guarantee them their dream school, but even then..
She did not understand why sink so much money into all of it.
She was aware of the fact that Tokiwadai students could get a little ridiculous sometimes.
But what she had seen in those documents was still shocking to her.
Renting out an entire power plant for a scientific school project was definitely an overkill. Why would she need that much equipment when Tokiwadai was already providing more than enough of it?
Would this really be the biggest scientific project ever, like the rumours were saying?
To be frank, Shirai did not care.
Truly, all of this commotion only meant more paperwork for people like her.
(Those girls that broke the curfew yesterday better hurry up with these documents.)
Part 2
"Phew!"
Ogura Iori was wiping her forehead while walking down a hallway.
Three other girls were accompanying her on her journey from door to door.
Thankfully, they were already done with clubs.
The flower arrangement club, the arts club and the newspaper club, among many others, had all filled their respective spreadsheets regarding advertisement stalls. They were all providing services for the promotion of clique projects, like making flower statues, creating booths and writing about them in the school newspaper.
And, naturally, everything required detailed verification and documentation.
Ogura and the others could not have been happier that all this torture was finally over.
Now, it was time for the other half of the assignment.
The cliques.
They needed to collect all the information regarding their equipment, facilities and the projects themselves.
A tired smile appeared on Mizushima Sayuri's face.
"Thank goodness this is done. I think the clique documents are gonna be much easier to collect now."
Minami flipped her hair.
"We'll see how secretive they'll be about it." She uttered slightly annoyed. "Some of these girls treat this event super seriously so they probably won't give us all the details."
"We're gonna have to squeeze out as much as we can for our essay."
Ogura flipped a page.
"Thankfully the Shokuhou and Gaouin cliques are not participating this year so we can already cross them out." She said as she was looking at the papers in her hand. "But there's still the Akiyama clique and it just so happens to be the first on the list."
Minami Himeka scoffed quietly.
"It's the biggest clique out of all that are participating and their project is the most anticipated one, so I'm not surprised they're first on the priority list."
This reminded Ogura of something.
She turned in Hisakawa's direction and spoke to her from behind the shoulder.
"Oh right, Ayako, you're in the Akiyama clique. Maybe you can tell us something about the project before we go in and talk to them. Maybe something that they wouldn't want to share?"
Mizushima nodded in agreement.
"That would save us time, as well."
But Hisakawa Ayako gave them a troubled response.
She scratched the back of her head and smiled nervously.
"What's wrong?"
"Well..." She uttered in an unnatural tone. "You see, I'm not really that high up in the clique hierarchy. I was never involved in the making of the project, like many of us. Only the second and third in command are in the know, and even then, Akiyama-sama has been keeping them out of the power plant lately."
Minami Himeka frowned at that.
"Is she really that scared of her project leaking? Is it really that serious?"
But Hisakawa did not know the answer.
Nobody did.
"She must have all the power plant staff working for her, right?" Ogura said sarcastically. "So she doesn't need her clique members."
"So you're saying she's cheating."
The blonde-haired girl simply shrugged her shoulders and raised her eyebrows.
"She's a Tokiwadai girl, after all. We're known for paying our way to the top."
Minami was side-eyeing Ogura this whole time.
"Well, some of us are, for sure."
"Sometimes you just need to open your wallet really wide to secure the victory and besid- wait, Minami-san! What did you mean by that?"
"Shh!"
Mizushima Sayuri was pressing her index finger against her mouth.
Hisakawa pointed at the door in front of them.
"We're here! Be quiet, you too."
"Oh! Oh, my!"
They were standing right in front of the Akiyama Clique's room. The big, wooden doors leading to it even had a golden plate displaying the clique's name.
It was as fancy as Tokiwadai would allow it to be.
Its aura was a little intimidating. It may have been because the clique was so mysterious and secretive and none of the girls, besides Hisakawa Ayako, had ever talked to any of the members.
Even though Minami Himeka was well-acquainted with most of the 3rd-years, even she had never exchanged a word with any of the Akiyama Clique girls.
All of them were so inaccessible it felt awkward to even knock on the door.
Would that be too unmannerly for those mature, prim and proper ladies?
All the girls standing in the hallway exchanged a nervous glance.
"I think you should be the one to go first, Ayako."
"Why meeeee?"
"Well, you're a member of the clique! They know you!"
Hisakawa was clearly not comfortable with the idea.
"What's wrong?"
"W-Well, I mean.." She uttered awkwardly while stuttering. "Inoue-san and the other 3rd-years are probably in there.. M-Minami-san, you go first! You're friends with a lot of 3rd-years!"
The wavy-haired girl was taken aback.
She wanted to argue, but she had to compose herself.
She took a deep breath and flipped her hair.
"My goodness, it can't be helped, huh?"
She took a couple of small steps towards the grand doors and outstretched her arm.
She gently knocked twice and pressed the handle, opening the door slightly.
"Hello, excuse us, is this the Akiyama Clique?"
A beautiful feminine voice responded to her on the other side of the door.
"Ah, yes. Please come in."
She let out a tiny sigh of relief and quickly fixed her hair. She gestured to the other girls with her hand.
They followed Minami inside.
They noticed an especially strong smell of antiques upon entering the room. It was very spacious and old-school-looking, with wood panelling all over the walls and a chandelier hanged on the ceiling. An interior perfectly ordinary for Tokiwadai standards, but still incredibly chic and charming.
The doors closed behind the group of four, who were standing under a big chandelier.
A gentle smile greeted them and a beautiful young lady stood up from a sofa.
She had been sitting next to a marble fireplace along with three other students, each holding a teacup.
During these lazy days of summer break, the ladies of Tokiwadai who needed to stay on the school campus were passing their time by enjoying tea and eating desserts.
But it looked like their tea break had already ended.
"Welcome, ladies. How may we help you?"
The girl greeting them had an incredibly strong, elegant aura.
She had gorgeous platinum blonde hair, which was styled into an intricate and sophisticated bob. It was perfectly trimmed and volumized, with an incredible shine to it.
She was taller than all of the girls, even Minami. Her body was very mature, with round curves which could be noticed even through the brown sweater vest.
The tiny, short skirt of Tokiwadai's uniform looked a little too provocative on her body type, which wasn't the case with girls like Ogura or Mizushima, whose bodies were petite and still developing. The young lady standing right in front of them might as well had been a high-schooler cosplaying as a Tokiwadai student.
She had big blue eyes and porcelain skin, white eyelashes and flawless soft makeup. She looked cold and icy like a snow queen, but with a somehow warm and incredibly elegant air about her.
She was like a perfect example of what a Tokiwadai lady should look like.
Minami gulped quietly and put on a smile.
"We're here for our assignment. We're doing paperwork for the Exhibition Assembly, on behalf of Judgment."
"My, that's incredible. Please, have a seat."
Her voice was beautiful, but monotone. Her facial expression had not changed even a little, either.
"Akiyama-sama is out of town today for an important meeting in District 10, so it will just be the four of us helping you girls."
She turned around and gestured with her hand in the direction of the sofas.
"Thank you!"
"Sorry for our disturbance!"
All the girls sat down among the Akiyama Clique members.
The gorgeous snow queen occupied a big, old-school armchair next to the fireplace.
She rested her hand on her large chest and spoke calmly with serene eyes.
"My name is Inoue Kaoruko. The right-hand of Akiyama-sama and second in command of the clique. I'm mainly in charge of the budget and scheduling. Currently off-duty. Huhuhu."
Ogura had never heard a more monotone laugh in her life. She raised her eyebrows and looked at Minami.
The wavy-haired girl was clearing her throat.
"We wanted to ask you a couple of question about your contribution to the Assembly and details regarding your clique's project, if you don't mind."
The mature ladies of Akiyama Clique all exchanged a glance.
The second in command responded gently.
"Of course, we don't mind."
"There's a couple of documents you need to fill as well, but feel free to ask us for help if you don't understand something." Ogura said to one of the clique members and passed them a stack of papers.
The girl with platinum blonde hair smiled.
"You girls were the ones who broke the curfew yesterday, correct?"
"H-HUH?!"
This question came out of nowhere.
Ogura and the others groaned defeated and slouched in their seats.
Minami touched her naked forehead as she began to feel intense embarrassment.
"A-Are the rumours really spreading that fast? My goodness, that.. that is really humiliating."
"Well, I just assumed you girls were tasked with this assignment as a form of punishment and I did hear from one of our members that Hisakawa-san got caught sneaking out late yesterday."
"Oh, right. The word spreads fast when you're a member of a clique, right?"
The icy young lady looked in Hisakawa Ayako's direction.
"Hisakawa-san, make sure not to get into any form of trouble from now on, okay?" She sounded weirdly scary, even though she talked in a monotone voice. "I will make sure that this information does not reach Akiyama-sama, but you need to be more careful. It does not give our clique a good look."
Ogura quickly responded while waving her hands around nervously.
"I-It really wasn't Ayako's fault, I promise! She just tagged along! It was actually me who caused all of this!"
Inoue placed her hand on her right cheek.
"Oh my, well, whatever the case was, be more careful next time, alright?" She gave Hisakawa a warm, motherly look. "Well, I think we can start with the interview. Margaret, could you fill these documents while me and Amisawa-san do a little presentation?"
"Of course."
One of the clique members stood up from her seat and went to the other side of the room with the documents.
The lady with platinum blonde hair reached inside a cabinet near her seat.
She pulled out a large tablet-looking device from it and tapped on the screen a couple times.
"As you know, we have been extensively preparing for the Research Exhibition Assembly since last year."
The other girl next to her spoke.
"Our clique specializes in energy-based research. Thanks to our leader, Akiyama Izumi, and her esper power, we have been able to discover many new properties of electrical and nuclear energy, which can be implemented in everyday life."
Minami was squinting her eyes while listening carefully.
"Hmm, interesting."
Inoue looked down at the tablet.
"We have been researching a specific phenomenon for the past couple of months in order to prepare for our project for the Assembly." She spoke in a tender voice. "By analyzing and modifying the process of magnetic resonance, we have discovered a way to transfer large amounts of power wirelessly through a very special magnetic field."
She was talking in a very relaxed and monotone way, as if she was in slow motion.
She turned her tablet around to present the screen to Minami and the others.
"We called this technology REStricity."
Dozens of diagrams and complicated 3d models appeared on the screen.
Inoue began pointing around the display with her index finger.
"By sampling the data of Akiyama-sama's ability to generate special and unique electromagnetic fields, we were able to create portable sources of those same fields, called ChargeBots, which can resonate over long distances and charge all electric devices within the area."
"The current progress of our research proves that very high outputs of power are transferrable on a large scale. Our project's goal is to be able to power an entire building just by using these electromagnetic fields alone."
"REStricity is about 50% faster and 75% more efficient than solar power and, unlike solar panels, our portable ChargeBots take up almost no space at all."
She tapped on the screen a couple times and a render of an empty high-rise building appeared.
"This special electromagnetic field can be expanded to affect large areas like buildings."
Then, a detailed 3d model of something resembling a cleaning robot popped up on the screen.
"It was only possible thanks to the sample of Akiyama-sama's ability. These ChargeBots work as small extensions or copies of her power and generate electromagnetic fields 24/7, with identical properties to the original ability."
"You could say they're like robotic mini-espers."
The four girls were listening in silence and watching the presentation intrigued.
Ogura had been holding her chin this whole time.
"Hmm... now, that is quite impressive."
"To think that data from an esper power could be implemented into a different entity and so perfectly emulated..." Mizushima spoke in awe.
Inoue Kaoruko gave her a charming smile.
"Akiyama-sama is a special case of an esper highly compatible with technology. A lot of her own calculations can be copied and implemented into all kinds of machines and robots. This is not the first project where we take advantage of that property."
Minami was twirling her hair while looking at the tablet screen.
She hummed quietly to herself and raised her eyebrows.
"So, why did you need the power plant for this specific project?"
In an instant, the screen turned black.
Inoue turned the device off and closed her eyes slowly.
"I apologize, but we cannot disclose that information just yet."
"How our research is conducted is a strictly confidential knowledge until the day of the exhibition."
Minami crossed her arms and sat back in the sofa.
"Well, if that's the law then we can't do anything about it."
The presentation was intriguing, indeed, however she could not shake off a certain feeling.
She glanced over at Inoue.
The icy girl with snow-like skin noticed it right away.
She turned in Minami's direction and stared right back at her.
"Is something the matter, Minami-san?"
"Oh, nothing." She responded nonchalantly. "I was just thinking to myself, aren't esper powers amazing?"
Part 3
Shirai Kuroko returned to an empty Judgment office.
She closed the door behind and looked at the state of the desks.
She let out an exasperated sigh.
(My goodness, Komaki didn't even bother cleaning up the mess.)
If it wasn't for the girls who had broken the curfew, Shirai Kuroko would have probably been doing her usual work at the 177th branch office.
It was located in a different part of town, outside of School Garden.
Nobody in Tokiwadai really knew why Shirai preferred that not-so-classy place over their local office right on campus. But it seemed like she had important connections over there.
The only thing she had left to do was just waiting for the group of four to come back with the documents.
Shirai was supposed to monitor their progress but she did not feel like doing it.
She sat down in her chair and started picking up papers and folders from the desk and forming a small stack.
As she was doing that, she noticed something laying beside her colleague's monitor.
It was a flyer.
...
It looked weirdly out of place, so she was staring at it for a while.
(Komaki must have left this here.)
Shirai reached for it with her hand and picked it up.
She put it closer to her face as she was eyeing its contents.
It was a printed out photo of a group of Tokiwadai students. They all had perfect hair and makeup, gorgeous facial features and elegant poses.
There was a tiny bit of text below.
"Please look forward to our exhibition at the Assembly! Exhibition available from 2 PM to 3:30 PM!"
Shirai frowned.
"Akiyama Clique's promotional flyer... Goodness, they're trying to spread the word around like it's a virus." She muttered to herself. "Honestly, pretty desperate of them."
She had no clue why this clique in particular had been gaining so much popularity.
After all, the Research Exhibition Assembly had never been one of the more exciting events in the city, so this sudden uproar seemed weirdly out of place.
Especially for a crowd like the high-class girls of Tokiwadai.
Who knew they were so invested in some scientific projects? To Shirai, at least, they just looked like additional homework.
But there were many passionate girls pouring all their soul and money into these projects.
Each clique had its own unique area of expertise and Akiyama's was energy-based research.
Shirai had never spoken to any of her girls and quite frankly did not know much about the clique itself.
And that made the whole commotion all the more strange to her.
She at least hoped Akiyama Izumi could live up to the expectations she had been setting.
She had been bested and outshined by Misaka Mikoto, Shirai's dear onee-sama, so this was her last chance to regain the spotlight before she would eventually graduate Tokiwadai.
The event was just a month away.
...
Shirai put the flyer down onto the desk and looked out the window.
(I really hope there won't be any chaos this time..)
Part 4
The sun was slowly starting to set.
"Thank you so much for your time."
"We appreciate it!"
"Goodbye!"
Polite voices of the Tokiwadai girls resounded at a Victorian-looking hallway.
Big, wooden doors closed in front of Ogura and her friends as they had left Akiyama Clique's room.
That meeting had been long and exhausting.
Nevertheless...
"Hehe~"
Ogura was proudly holding a stack of filled documents.
She smiled with satisfaction and flipped a couple more pages.
"We're making serious progress, girls. We only have three other places to visit."
Everybody sighed.
"Thank god.."
"Who's next on the list, Ogura-san?"
"Hmm, looks like the Kokuchou Clique. Second floor."
She wasted no time and pointed in the direction they needed to go.
She took a step forward and all the other ladies followed behind.
But Ogura had noticed something before.
Minami was awfully silent.
As they were walking through long corridors, she turned in her classmate's direction. A worried expression painted her face as she was eyeing Minami Himeka.
She had been acting strange ever since the girls had entered the Akiyama Clique's room.
Minami was walking forward, but she was not looking in front of her. Her eyes were on the floor, with her head lowered and arms crossed.
She was clearly troubled by some thoughts.
Ogura finally cleared her throat and spoke.
"Uhm, Minami-san?"
It took the wavy-haired girl a moment to respond.
The sound of Ogura's voice had not fully reached her brain until a couple seconds later.
"O-Oh, yes? What is it, Ogura-san?" She said nervously while uncrossing her arms
"Minami-san, is everything okay? You've been zoning out and acting weird this whole time."
Hisakawa nodded in agreement.
"Right. That's so not like you."
The young lady let out a quiet sigh in response.
"Sorry, I've just been thinking about some stuff. I don't even know why I'm so caught up in this."
"Well, what is it that you've been thinking about?"
Minami hesitated to answer at first, but she knew that holding this in was a terrible idea.
She looked up at the ceiling above her and frowned slightly.
The feeling troubling her was serious enough for her to admit to it.
She had a stellar intuition and intelligence, as any top student of Tokiwadai would.
And if something did not feel right, it was for a valid reason.
It probably wasn't right.
She opened her mouth and voiced her thoughts.
"Don't you girls think it's a little weird how that whole meeting went? Am I the only one who feels like things are not adding up?"
Ogura tilted her head slightly and gave Minami an oblivious look.
"Hn? With what? The Akiyama Clique girls?"
Mizushima and Hisakawa were just as confused.
"What about them felt weird, Minami-san?"
The wavy-haired girl closed her eyes and touched her forehead with her hand as she was trying to think of the best answer to this.
"How do I say this..." She muttered in a painful tone. "None of the things they showed us justify renting out an entire power plant, right? They just don't."
"You mean their project for the Assembly..? Hmm.."
"Now that I think about it, yeah, you might be right, but..."
"We don't know how extensive their research was, though. Maybe they just needed a bigger facility?"
But Minami simply shook her head.
She was well-versed in this field, as her ability had to do with electrical signals within the brain. Every possible information regarding electromagnetic fields had been engraved in her mind for good.
"If everything they showed us is really all they have, there is no way they would need a facility bigger than a classroom." She said bluntly. "Tokiwadai has more than enough high-end equipment and technology for this kind of project. Creating portable sources of esper's electromagnetic fields is indeed a complicated task, but it does not require a lot of resources. The main and most important component is Akiyama and her ability itself, after all."
The girls went completely silent.
Ogura looked nervously at Minami, trying to make sense of what she had said.
What could that mean? What was the reason?
Minami did not look content, either.
"So with that in mind, notice how they gave us a detailed presentation about the technology they have developed, but refused to say anything about their facility."
"Do you mean to say.."
"If they wanted to be secretive about their project, it would've been the other way around. Why spill everything about the main course, but not say anything about the less relevant parts? It seemed like the information about the power plant was more important than the project itself, that's why they were hiding it."
Ogura put a finger on her chin.
"Almost as if..."
"The power plant never had anything to do with the project in the first place."
...
Mizushima Sayuri laughed bitterly at that statement.
"I-Impossible! Everyone clearly said it was for the Exhibition Assembly!"
"Minami-san, you're unnecessarily overthinking it!"
The wavy-haired girl sighed loudly and let out a nervous giggle.
"Y-Yeah, maybe you're right. I just could not piece two and two together there, that's it." She said while scratching her cheek. "Maybe there really are other factors that we're not aware of..."
Ironically, Ogura was the only one who was not smiling.
It was because she never doubted Minami's intuition.
How could she? That girl was one of the smartest people Ogura knew.
And although most of the time Minami's perfection would only make her frustrated, this time she had made a valid point, she had raised an important question.
Truly, what about the power plant?
Ogura held her chin and closed her eyes as she began to think.
But that did not last long.
"OUCH!"
She bumped into Hisakawa's back as the girl had suddenly stopped walking.
Ogura opened her eyes and looked around.
The group was standing next to another door, this time much less flashy. It looked like it belonged to a regular classroom.
"Kokuchou Clique, right this way."
Part 5
And thus, the day continued.
The girls were repeating the same procedures every time they entered a new room.
The time was passing with each document filled.
The sun appeared lower on the horizon with each cup of tea consumed.
And, finally...
The last clique on the list pressed their stamp on the last page.
The assignment was complete at last.
Part 6
A bright orange aura filled a Judgment office in Tokiwadai Middle School.
The girl with chestnut-colored hair tied into two pigtails was leaning on her hand as she was looking out the window.
Boredom was consuming her mind.
But.
In that quiet, lonely room, a certain noise started to reach her ears.
She looked to the other side, turning her head towards the door.
The noise was coming out of the hallway on the other side of the wall.
They were footsteps of a small group of people, getting closer and louder with each second.
Shirai sighed blissfully as she already knew who it could be.
Finally, the sight she had been waiting for appeared in front of her eyes.
The door she had been checking this whole time, finally opened.
A tired, high-pitched voice spoke to Shirai.
"Hello! We're here to give back these documents! Is this the right Judgment office?"
"The one and only."
Shirai sounded annoyed.
However.
She hid her arms under the table and closed her eyes slowly.
"Please, come in."
"A-Alright!"
"Sorry for our disturbance!"
A chaotic group of four Tokiwadai students started entering the office.
Shirai began opening her eyes and staring at the young ladies in front of her as they were making their way inside.
The door closed.
A headband-wearing girl was holding all the documents in a large stack.
She took a couple of steps towards Shirai Kuroko's desk and put the papers down.
"Minami Himeka-san, correct?"
"Ah, y-yes!"
"The dolled up blonde must be Ogura Iori-san, then I assume this shorter one is Mizushima Sayuri-san, and... you must be Hisakawa Ayako-san." She said while inspecting each of the girls with her eyes. "Alright, perfect. The whole "
Judgment was strict and so was Shirai.
Ogura gulped loudly and gave her underclassman a bitter smile.
"W-We have all the documents filled by the cliques and clubs."
"Here." Minami gestured at the large stack laying on Shirai's desk.
The twintails girl slowly picked it up and started flipping through the pages.
The fruits of today's hard work and effort were being inspected by Shirai Kuroko's watchful eye.
The four ladies were standing in line, in front of the desk.
...
While looking at the various brackets and numbers, Shirai opened her mouth to speak.
"Remember that you will have to prepare the essay on all of the clique's projects for tomorrow. Watanabe-sensei asked me to check that, as well."
Minami was painfully smiling.
"O-Of course!"
The Judgment girl finally reached the last page. She bound all of them together with a paper clip.
"Alright, everything looks good." She said calmly while putting the documents inside a drawer. "I'm proud of you girls for completing this hard and time-consuming assignment. Must have been a real challenge, I imagine. But! I hope this helped you learn to never break the rules set by our school again."
"Y-Yes, ma'am."
"Good."
Shirai Kuroko acted as a teacher.
Even though she was a 1st-year talking to a group of 2nd-years, being a member of Judgment gave her authority over them.
She had no problem keeping this attitude with these girls.
She grinned.
"Great job. You're dismissed."
A wave of joy hit all of them at once as they fell to the ground in a ceremonial bow of gratitude.
"THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH, SHIRAI-SAN!"
The pigtails girl was flabbergasted. She jumped from her seat on reflex and looked at them with widened eyes.
Were they really thankful to her or were they just so overjoyed that the weight of the assignment had finally been taken off of their shoulders?
"O-Oh, c-come on! Get off the ground!" Shirai screamed with blushing cheeks.
In fact, they just wanted to thank someone that this was over.
And Shirai was the only one here. She did not help them in any way, she was just doing her job, but gratitude had to be passed onto someone.
As Ogura and the others were dusting off their skirts and slowly standing up, the Judgment girl walked towards the door.
She opened it and put a hand on her hip.
"Come on, it's almost curfew. Hurry back to your dorms! You don't want a repeat of yesterday, do you?"
"Of course not, Shirai-san!"
"Thank you again for letting us go so quickly!"
"You're my favorite Judgment member! You know that, right, Shirai-san?"
"You're the best!"
Each of the girls gave Shirai a blissful smile before exiting through the door.
"Yes, yes. Thank you. Very sweet of you girls." The pigtails girl uttered while frowning with her eyes closed.
The group of four stood in the hallway, while Shirai was holding the door.
"Thank you once again!"
"Until next time!"
The ladies gave her a polite goodbye bow and started to walk away in a gleeful step.
Shirai could already hear them giggling and talking about something enthusiastically.
Soon, their voices disappeared.
The hallway was empty, basking in the evening aura.
(My goodness, these girls...)
Shirai thought to herself as she closed the doors to the office.
She pressed her back against them as she let out a quiet sigh.
She was looking down at the floor and her brown loafers.
And...
She pursed her lips as a certain thought appeared in her mind.
She had to do something. Something she, quite frankly, did not want to do.
Shirai let the girls off the hook easily, because she did not want to waste any more of their time.
And if she had told them, it wouldn't have made any difference.
...
Something did not seem right in the documents.
She quickly walked towards the drawer where she had put them.
She sat down in her chair and flipped through the pages once more.
"There it is."
The pigtails girl was looking at a page containing lots of brackets and different numbers.
Everything seemed fine at a first glance. Every bracket was stamped and filled with necessary information, the signatures were all legitimate, so on and so forth.
But Shirai had a keen eye.
The document was filled, but at the same time it was not at all.
She was looking at a sequence of kanji characters. This was the name she had heard about.
"Facility: Nagayama Power Station..."
Part 7
"Ah, how good it feels to finally be free!"
Ogura, Minami, Mizushima and Hisakawa were walking down a flight of stairs.
The ribbon-wearing girl was stretching her arms.
The day was slowly coming to an end as the Tokiwadai building basked in the evening aura.
"Do you have any plans for tomorrow, Mizushima-san?"
"No, why?"
"I was thinking we could go shopping at the new Diouré store they opened here."
"Ah, the one at the Fashion Square? I've been wanting to go, actually."
"I've heard from some of the girls that they have a pretty good selection of items."
The two blonde girls were chatting at the back while Minami was leading the group.
They entered a big hallway, which lead to the foyer of the main school building. From there, you could go in any direction possible, as it was the central point of the building.
Minami brushed her hair off of her shoulder.
"My goodness, today was so exhausting. Hope I never get caught by the Dorm Mistress again."
Hisakawa smiled to her painfully.
"Feels like a day wasted, huh?"
The headband-wearing girl sighed deeply.
"Yes.. I was supposed to practice for my concert all week. I've been pretty inconsistent with my violin lessons lately... Probably because some people are desperately trying to keep me busy..."
She was looking at Ogura Iori from behind the shoulder.
The girl with an extravagant purse pouted.
"Not my fault you decided to tag along."
"I was forced to."
"Well..." Ogura shrugged her shoulders. "At least you'll have something to remember from this summer break."
Minami scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"Truly, you're unbelievable sometimes, Ogura-san."
The blonde girl remembered something suddenly.
She picked up the pace to walk alongside Minami.
"By the way, Minami-san, is everything okay?" She spoke quietly. "Does that thing from before still bother you?"
"..."
The wavy-haired girl responded with a brooding expression.
Ogura's eyes widened as she was looking at her classmate. That look on Minami's face was easy for her to understand.
She wanted to say something, but instead decided not to continue the subject.
They walked in silence for a moment.
"Hn? What happened?"
Hisakawa's voice reached Ogura's ears from behind.
"O-Oh, nothing."
The blonde-haired girl could not just leave it be.
The gears inside Ogura Iori's brain started to turn as she began looking around their surroundings.
They had arrived at the Tokiwadai foyer where all kinds of school cafés and dining places were situated. They were still open and operating as those had their closing time exactly at curfew.
The perfect opportunity had presented itself.
Ogura suddenly let out a big sigh and spoke in an exhausted tone.
"Ah, I'm so thirsty after all this walking! Girls, I'm just gonna go get a drink from the cafeteri- oh my!"
"What now?"
"No way! I didn't bring my wallet with me today!" She whined and rested her hand on her cheek. "I'm really sorry to ask you, Minami-san, but would you kindly pay for me?"
The wavy-haired girl was giving her a dead stare.
She wasn't even questioning why Ogura had asked her specifically.
She answered plainly.
"Sure.."
The blonde-haired girl smiled joyfully and grabbed Minami's hand.
"Alrighty! We'll be right back, girls! Just wait for us here!"
She was dragging Minami by her hand while walking towards the cafés.
Hisakawa and Mizushima were staring at the two confused. They watched them turn right and disappear behind the corner.
Ogura brought Minami to a hidden spot. They were covered by a big stone pillar reaching all the way up to the tall ceiling.
She let go of her classmate's hand and crossed her arms.
"Well? Can you tell me now? It seems important so I'd rather not sweep it under the carpet."
"So that's what you're doing? Goodness, you're really obnoxious, aren't you?"
Minami leaned against the column and crossed her arms as well.
Again, she was hesitant to answer.
But Ogura was not letting it go.
"It's about Akiyama Clique, right? I knew you weren't gonna say anything because of Ayako being there. But you can tell me now that we're in private."
Minami's eyes were wide and surprised.
Were her emotions that easy to read from the outside? Or was Ogura just way smarter than she was letting on?
The wavy-haired girl had a troubled expression on her face.
She finally spoke while looking down at the shiny floor tile.
"I'm guessing you got a weird feeling about it too, right?"
Ogura nodded.
"Only after you pointed it out. Also, compared to all the other clique projects we've seen, theirs doesn't stand out at all. Which is weird considering all the commotion around the Akiyama Clique..."
Minami Himeka grimaced a bit and held her chin.
"There is definitely more to it than what they have shown us. And I have a bad feeling about this."
"That bad feeling... you've been having it before, right? There's something else that you knew beforehand."
The blonde-haired girl was spot-on.
Minami scoffed in a defeated way and pressed her head against the stone column.
"My, my. I'm really impressed by your detective skills."
"Not that hard to deduce when I spend time with you everyday." Ogura gave her friend a sarcastic smile. "You've been acting weirdly cautious whenever the subject of this clique was raised. What's the reason?"
The headband-wearing lady spoke calmly.
"Actually, why not tell you? The only people I've talked about this with are Arakawa-san and Ishikawa-san. Thought that it would be better if it only stayed between me and the 3rd-years, but at this point you're trustworthy enough."
Ogura Iori was listening carefully. Minami looked at her as she was twirling a strand of her brown hair.
She spoke confidently.
"It's about that girl we've talked to today. Inoue Kaoruko."
Shock pierced the blonde girl's body.
She gulped quietly.
"Th-That sweet onee-san?! Why?"
Minami expected this kind of reaction from her.
She continued in a calm voice.
"I've been keeping my eye on her since the last System Scan. You know that I really don't like when something suddenly sets off my alarms, so I decided to investigate her personally."
"System Scan.. That was, like, over a week ago."
"Yes, the situation is recent. I did not want to bring it up to anyone other than my friends from class 3-A to keep my circle small. I've been sneakily trying to gain information on her from outside sources, while making sure not to bring any unnecessary attention on myself, but the word spreads very quickly around here~." Minami did a small hair flip with her hand. "She might have already caught on and become suspicious of me."
Ogura grimaced slightly.
"What did she do to make you do all this?"
The headband girl formed her lips in a tiny smile.
It was not genuine, but rather forced to hide her frustration.
Minami slowly opened her mouth and answered.
"What if I told you that... She was faking her System Scan tests?"
Part 8
There was a cold, dark office located in one of the many facilities of Academy City, built somewhere in District 7.
There were no windows or any other sources of light present in this spacious room.
Enveloped in complete darkness and creepy silence, the office had an incredibly lonely aura.
It seemed like nobody knew about this place. It looked abandoned even though it was brand new and pristine.
It did not belong to a School Garden facility, so it lacked the traditional, old-school design. The interior was instead sleek and modern, fitting in with the futuristic look of Academy City itself.
Despite that, a young lady wearing Tokiwadai's uniform was standing in that mysterious, dark room.
The office was actually connected to a giant laboratory, which could be seen thanks to a long see-through glass.
The girl was looking down at the high-tech equipment stored in that giant space. She put her hand on the glass that was dividing the two rooms.
There was as much soul in her eyes as in that lonely office.
She had the glare of a lifeless marionette hanging on by strings.
And suddenly...
She put her hand down as she heard a sound coming from behind her.
An outburst of light appeared in the room as large, automatic doors slid open.
But that girl was still facing the opposite direction.
Then...
A human voice resounded in this empty space along with click-clacking of shoes.
The echo in here was powerful.
"We're finally back. I really apologize for the delay, it took us way longer than expected."
That voice was beautiful and feminine, but monotone and cold.
The young lady entering the room bowed her head politely, but that went completely unnoticed.
Finally, the girl standing in front of the see-through glass began to slowly turn around.
In that short moment, when the light from the hallway was peeking inside the room, the young lady's appearance revealed itself.
Her thick, long twintails in the color of rich cranberry danced in the air with the movement of her head.
She locked eyes with another Tokiwadai girl, who took a proper, ladylike stance. She was inspecting her with her gem-like eyes.
"Inoue..."
The polite young lady smiled charmingly.
"Good evening, Akiyama-sama."
Part 9
Ogura Iori was stunned.
Her face was painted in an expression of utter disbelief while her widened eyes were staring at Minami.
She shook her head slowly as her body rejected that information.
It could not be true.
Minami had just accused that girl of one of the most rule-breaking acts a person could do in this city.
Going against the esper program was considered beyond rebellious. Cheating on System Scan was like forging a fake ID - it was never for a good reason.
Ogura looked around and spoke in a harsh whisper.
"(H-HUH?! ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THIS, MINAMI-SAN?! I-I MEAN, IS THERE ANY PROOF?!)"
The headband girl nodded.
"There is, but it's not solid. At the moment I don't have anything concrete on her."
Then, how could Ogura simply believe that?
But.
The blonde girl gulped loudly and got closer to Minami.
"Go on."
She wanted to hear the full story.
Minami Himeka did not hesitate. Having Ogura as her ally could be useful, so she had to share everything she knew.
"Because our abilities are very similar, we take our System Scan in the same classroom. I don't know the details regarding her ability, but from what I've heard from Arakawa-san, she's a Level 3 telepath that can read brain waves from a large distance. At least that's what she wants everyone to believe..." The headband girl said in a calm voice. "As you may know, my ability to pick up electrical signals sometimes triggers on its own. When I was in the room that day, during our last system scan, I noticed a weird brain activity nearby. Now, that's not something that happens often. Usually, I can only pick up abnormal electrical discharges like epileptic brainwave spikes without concentrating. But the signals that I was receiving were not rapid, just unusual. I had no idea how I could even sense them. They intrigued me, so I decided to investigate and look for their source. Did not take me long to find it."
"It was Inoue-san?"
Minami nodded.
"She had her ability measured at that moment. Interesting, huh? My power normally doesn't have the precision to tell what processes occur in the brain when an esper uses their ability. At least I thought it didn't. But in that moment, it seemed like our abilities had a strange form of resonance. Don't know how else to explain it other than that."
The blonde girl shuddered.
"You could feel her using her ability?!"
"More than that. It felt like I had a peak inside her Personal Reality itself. That had never happened to me before." Minami said as she closed her eyes. "Maybe it's a sign of my own ability developing beyond what it is currently... maybe it's because our abilities are so similar and work on the same principles... or maybe her brain was under some external activity and that's why my sensors were going insane. Either way, I was subconsciously receiving a bunch of signals from her."
"A-And that's how you found out she was cheating?"
"I felt bad spying on someone taking their System Scan, but something about those signals was not right. I could tell exactly how her brain was acting at that moment, and I noticed something really strange." Minami spoke and put a finger near her mouth. "Almost as if she had consciously turned off parts of her brain in order for her ability to perform weaker."
But Ogura was not satisfied with that answer.
She frowned and held her chin.
"B-But how could something like this happen without anyone noticing? After all, the teachers all have devices that analyze and measure every esper's AIM Diffusion field in real time to make sure they're using their abilities properly. There's no way she could fool Tokiwadai's high-end technology with a simple trick."
A drop of sweat appeared on Minami's cheek as she began to think.
"I wondered the same thing, but as you said, the teachers only monitor the AIM Diffusion Fields, not the brain itself. And, in the end, it wasn't her AIM Diffusion Field that had a strange activity. It was her brain."
Ogura looked at her confused.
"But it's because AIM Diffusion fields are a by-product of the espers' special brainwaves and Personal Reality. How could she mess with the core of her power without triggering any abnormalities in the Field? This doesn't make sense."
"The only possibility is... She had help from an external source. Like an esper who could modify her AIM from a distance and make it appear normal."
But that seemed like too much work and planning just to fool the teachers.
The blonde-haired girl was unnerved.
It all sounded like a lot of confusing speculation and Minami's accusations were serious.
Ogura did not know what to think of it anymore.
Was there really a malicious intent behind it?
She asked simply.
"But why would she be doing all of this?"
Minami tossed her hair to the side.
"No clue. All I know is that it has something to do with their plans for the Exhibition Assembly. It's way too coincidental that the right hand of the Akiyama Clique cheats on her System Scan when their big, highly-anticipated project is right around the corner."
"So... you think the two are linked?"
"Most likely. Yes."
The blonde girl looked down.
Sure, calling it a coincidence would be plain stupid. And acting like there couldn't had been any bad motives behind her actions was naive.
They could really expect anything from that clique which had not revealed any of their secrets to anyone.
Ogura Iori needed to dig deeper.
It was easier to brainstorm when she had Minami with her.
"If she really did go out of her way to commit the perfect forgery, there had to be a big reason behind it."
"Agreed. Setting up something this complicated requires a good plan. The Akiyama Clique really does not want the information regarding Inoue's real ability to be available anywhere. Not even in the Bank. Which leads me to believe..."
"...She possesses a dangerous ability?"
Minami Himeka nodded her head.
"It's a possibility."
Ogura closed one eye as a certain thought came to her mind.
"High-level psychological abilities usually either creep people out or make them obedient. Maybe she tried to hide the true nature of her ability to avoid any negative attention on the clique? Mm, but that doesn't justify all the set up..."
Minami looked at her classmate and let out a tired sigh.
There wasn't anything more they could gather from this topic.
What was their reason? How could the clique benefit from hiding the true ability of one of their members?
None of the girls had any clue.
"Well, whatever the case, I advise you to keep an eye on them, too." Minami spoke finally and took a couple of steps forward. "But you can't tell anyone, especially Hisakawa-san. The Akiyama Clique cannot find out that we know about this, or else they're gonna try to eliminate us."
Ogura gulped loudly.
"I-Is it really that serious?"
Minami stopped in front of her classmate and gave her an obvious glance.
"Whatever the reason for it is, it's a part of a larger plan, no doubt. Cliques play a dangerous political game in this school - once they find someone meddling with their business, they can take necessary actions to silence them. And the teachers won't be able to intervene."
The blonde-haired girl was shaking in fear.
"M-Maybe we should stay out of it, then."
"Well, there's nothing we can do ourselves. And I can't tell the teachers about this or contact Judgment without any proof. Even you had a hard time believing me." Minami spoke in a frustrated voice. "For now I'll stay on the lookout to see if anything else happens, but I doubt I'll even be able to encounter any of them at this point."
"Right. They keep sitting at that power plant for the majority of the time and Akiyama doesn't even come visit her own school anymore."
"They're trying to limit suspicion, but that in and of itself is suspicious."
"Yeah..."
...
"Hey! What are you two doing here?!"
"AAH!"
A familiar voice shook Ogura and Minami's bodies like an explosion.
Hisakawa Ayako appeared from behind the column with a scowl on her face.
A small frame of Mizushima Sayuri could be noticed as well.
"Weren't you supposed to buy a drink? It's been like 10 minutes already!"
"A-Ayako!"
Minami quickly gave her a nervous smile.
"Ahaha! Sorry, Hisakawa-san! We were just passionately discussing the importance of natural ingredients in store-bought juices and forgot completely about the time! Right?"
"Ahaha! Yeees!"
The girl with brown pigtails put a hand on her hip as she was giving them a dead stare.
"Huh..."
Part 10
It was dark out.
Shadowy melancholy enveloped the city of science as dozens of futuristic skyscrapers were shining and glistening in the night. Their light was so bright, in fact, that you couldn't see a single star in the sky.
Academy City was intimidating and eerie to many high-class girls of School Garden, who were used to brick and mortar architecture and strict security. The rules here were different and the atmosphere was a complete 180 from the all-girls district.
The sea of densely packed high-rise buildings spanning over dozens of miles was truly a sight to behold.
This was the most technologically advanced city in the world.
...
One of the many scientific facilities present in the area stood in complete darkness.
The building was large, but only four stories high. Its walls were completely covered in reflective glass. Several tall steel towers, generators and engines were built around the area, all connected to each other by transmission lines.
A power station built in the middle of the city was not an unusual sight here.
After all, no matter where you looked, you would see dozens of wind turbines spinning 24/7. The Academy City was basically a giant energy generator.
This particular power plant used the most cutting-edge technology. Long gone were the days of cooling towers and chimneys releasing massive amounts of waste heat to atmosphere. Minimal amount of high-end equipment was enough for it to function properly.
The main building contained offices on the highest floor.
Long, dark corridors and empty rooms were common here. The lights were off and the place looked abandoned from the inside.
However.
Even though their presence was barely noticeable, two people were actually occupying one of the offices.
The only source of light in this mysterious room was a smartphone screen.
A girl wearing Tokiwadai Middle School uniform was sitting in an office chair with a phone in her hand.
She had luscious cranberry-colored hair tied into twintails with silky ribbons. She had long eyelashes and mature facial features. The smell of her exquisite perfumes was filling up the room.
The other girl stood beside her, like a decorative statue which could barely even be seen in the complete darkness.
For whatever reason, the atmosphere was heavy...
The girl in the chair was using the phone to talk with someone.
She was in the middle of a call.
"Yes. Everything is going smoothly, professor." Her elegant voice resounded in the pitch-black darkness, creating an echo. "Our project is entering its final testing stage. We'll make it in time for the Exhibition Assembly without any problems."
And then...
A male voice emerged from the speakers.
"Hoho. I'm glad to hear the facility has been of great use to you. I'm eager to finally see the fruits of all your efforts."
The man on the other side of the call had an unsettling way of speaking. Strangely enough, it was impossible to tell his age from the way he sounded.
He had the kind of personality many veteran scientists of Academy City possessed, maybe due to their peculiar experiments.
The Tokiwadai lady did not seem to care, however.
She flipped her hair with frustration.
"Actually, something came up..." She spoke in an ice cold voice. "My girls just now reported to me that we unfortunately have some prying eyes in the school."
"Oh?"
"Today my clique had to give information on our project to the student council. Of course, we had all the dummy data prepared for this and all the formalities are taken care of, but... we still managed to raise some suspicion..."
The man on the phone simply laughed.
"My, my, Akiyama-kun... Don't worry your pretty little head about what the common riff-raff thinks. Remember, the only people you should be concerned with are the #3 and #5. Make sure none of the Level 5's find out about this and you won't have any obstacles in your way."
"I know."
After that short response, a gloomy expression appeared on the girl's face.
The male voice reached her ears once again.
"How is Inoue-kun's brainwave tuning working for you?"
"No issues. My ability's output has already improved by 11%..."
She spoke quietly while raising her palm near her face.
She was staring at it for a while with glistening eyes.
"Soon I'll be able to register the OmniCompressor to my own brainwaves and finally begin the experiment."
"Hm, you're progressing at a rapid pace. Good, good..." The man uttered under his breath. "The boost from Inoue-kun's brainwave resonance may be nothing compared to Level Upper, but it does have many properties that come in handy."
The platinum-blonde girl giggled.
A bewitching smile appeared on her face as she put a finger near her lips.
"Ehe~! My, that's really nice of you. But I'm only here to help us reach our goal!"
The girl in the chair looked down at the screen menacingly.
"Not even the most powerful esper in the city will be able to come close to our fully enhanced creation. They will tremble in fear and finally realize what the true purpose of science and this entire city is. The largest clique title? The strongest electromaster title? Hah, who cares about titles like these anymore? It's time to evolve into the next phase and leave the past behind. It's time to finally crush Tokiwadai Middle School and the 3rd ranked, the Railgun, along with it!"
A sinister chuckle came out from the phone's speakers.
"Akiyama-kun, your ambition and craving for dominating is your most valuable virtue. Never forget what led you onto this path and what drives you to strive for more."
The girl closed her eyes slowly and formed her lips into a satisfied smirk.
She spoke casually to the man.
"Of course, Kihara-sensei."
...
dun dun dunnnn!
omg surprise! it's back! again! oh em gee
the current railgun manga arc & the mental out manga brought me back to writing this. Tokiwadai is getting so much spotlight recently so I thought "okay this is a sign to continue my lil Tokiwadai fic" so here it isss I hope there are still some people who remember what this is about
I know it's been literal years since I started writing this fic but I'm still super interested in writing and I just wanna finish this arc which I've been planning and constructing in my head since like 2019 and I think all my ideas are refined enough to like tell a pretty good, consequent story with some okay plot? idk! But... Kuroko-centered chapter is next and I'm excited!
(btw the 1st-year Tokiwadai arc is so good like literally perfectly made for me I love all the new characters and I'm gonna do anything in my power to reference as many events and characters from that arc in my own fic and also hasekura reiri is a queen! yuppp)