Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter Seventy One: Model of my Backroom Deals
Beta:
Argh. This is a total waste of my time. Naru couldn't help complain to Kurama as she posed for the latest in a series of shots with a fellow model who was a blonde in her early twenties with blue eyes named Ishiwata Chikage as a mother daughter pair visiting famous Chinese landmarks. In this particular shot that being the Great Wall, which was rendered with lifelike precision courtesy of the Vishkar Conglomerate's holodeck as part of a tourism advert that would feature in a campaign to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of diplomatic relations between the City and the People's Republic of China and to promote further cooperation and trade.
I don't disagree with you. Kurama offered comfortingly. But you don't have a choice in this, not when a Director ordered you to take part.
And that's one of the big reasons I hate this. Naru griped as she and Ishiwata-san changed poses. I betcha old man Tsugutoshi only got me to do this because he's still butthurt over the damage to the Monet School of Art when we fought those ink-using magicians.
Well, the guy is quite the connoisseur of the fine arts. Kurama allowed. Though be honest with me Naru, what's really got you so upset?
It's just the hypocrisy you know. Naru replied with a mental sigh even as she smiled brightly for the cameras. We all know the real reason for this little photoshoot is so the Chinese can broker a blackmarket deal to buy some Powered Suits, seeing as the head of their delegation is secretly an agent of the Chinese Ministry of State Security and all.
Apparently the Chinese had been having difficulty with the development of their own Powered Suits and had finally decided to swallow their pride enough to ask the City, the people who pioneered the technology, for assistance.
He can't just be a simple agent if you and this woman are pulling double duty as security. Kurama corrected. You're a Level 5 and she isn't exactly a no name on the Dark Side either even if she's not exactly a member of the big leagues.
Yeah. It comes from mainly pulling bodyguard jobs. Naru concluded as she shot her fellow Dark Sider a glance. You don't get a chance to stand out as much. Plus she works solo and that's a disadvantage all on its own.
"Good job, Namikaze-kun, Ishiwata-san," the Board's chosen patsy for this farce said from the holodeck's observation room. "We'll be changing scenes to the shots in the Forbidden City now, so go change into the outfits we picked out for that and be back in ten minutes."
"'Kay~!" Naru chirped with faux cheerfulness.
"Gotcha!" Ishiwata-san replied in a more genuinely cheerful voice before turning to look at Naru with a teasing smile. "I saw you looking at me at the last bit there, Namikaze-chan. What's up?"
"Nothing, just thinking this whole thing is a pain is all." Naru replied honestly as they both began the walk to the changing rooms. "I mean they don't exactly need both of us for this."
"Oh~! You're just so adorable!" Ishiwata-san cooed. "You're complaining about it but still doing your job like a true professional. That's so cute. You're so cute, Namikaze-chan~! I wish I could adopt you! Then we'd really be mother and daughter!"
"Please stop. It's disturbing." Naru begged, truly unsettled at how happy this woman could behave. "You always get like this when we work together."
Ignoring her with the ease of practice, - This was hardly the first time she'd worked with Naru. - Ishiwata-san just kept going.
"I'm totally going to use my Indian Poker Maker to record today for posterity's sake! I never want to forget how darling you looked today, Namikaze-chan~!"
"You do remember that the tech is patented, right?" Naru reminded the older blonde with a growl. "You'll get in trouble if you're caught using a bootleg version. You should know just how protective Eden Corp is of its intellectual property."
Protective is an understatement. Kurama chimed in with a shudder. If your bestie's lawyers don't bleed her dry for the high crime, then she'll likely make a personal visit and introduce her to some Particle Waveform High-Speed Cannons.
"Then Saten-sama shouldn't have let the designs for the Makers leak." The woman said with a teasing smirk and almost looked like she wanted to pinch Naru's cheeks. "Besides, are you gonna tattle on me, Namikaze-chan?"
"If you make the card like you threatened? Totally."
"Poo! You're no fun." Ishiwata-san said with a pout.
"Only because you're not funny." Naru grumbled, ignoring the pout masterfully. "You're annoying."
"You're a tough audience." Ishiwata-san shot back with aplomb.
Gritting her teeth to avoid lashing out and vindicating the older blonde with a response, Naru kept quiet. Something that caused Kurama, the traitor, to start chuckling, apparently amused by Naru getting riled up by Ishiwata-san's teasing. This earned him a mental glare from the Level 5, which, much to her annoyance, just had him laughing even harder!
Everyone's against me all of a sudden. She thought with a pout of her own.
"No need to get sulky, Namikaze-chan~!" Ishiwata-san said with a look of faux worry that was betrayed by the mischief swimming in her eyes. "Tell Chikage-nee what's got you upset? Was it that Nagatenjouki Academy beat Tokiwadai in the Daihaseisai for a second year in a row despite your fantastic performance?"
"Gah! Do you have to remind me?" Naru said, puffing up her cheeks at the reminder of the loss.
She worked really hard to get them the points needed to win! But the stupid try hards at Nagatenjouki just ruined it! They could bite her loli ass! The dumb place didn't even have a single Level 5! It was embarrassing how the school with four of the Level 5s still somehow managed to lose! If only they had gotten a few more wins!
"There, there, Namikaze-chan~!" Ishiwata-san said as she playfully patted Naru on the head. "If it's any consolation, despite their win they still sacked their Power Development Supervisor again for failing to produce a Level 5. Wow! Your hair is silky~"
"That's no consolation at all!" Naru whined, even as she slapped the older blonde's hands away.
For some reason, her outburst just had the older woman doubling over in laughter. Naru would've asked Kurama what the hell was that funny but he was busy laughing his ass off too, leaving her standing there in confusion.
"What by Science is so funny!?"
A couple hours later, the photoshoot had finally wrapped up for lunch and Naru found herself in the changing rooms once more as she changed back into her Tokiwadai uniform which had changed to reflect the shift in the seasons. The winter uniform swapped out the summer uniform's skirt for a longer checkered blue version with black and tan criss-crossing lines and had added a tan buttoned jumper that was a shade darker than the summer vest.
All in all, Naru found the winter uniform quite tasteful. Just like the summer version. Tokiwadai definitely knew how to design good uniforms. Unless you were Sempai, who had a fetish for shorts under the skirt. Sempai was just weird like that.
The uniforms weren't the only thing that Naru was finding tasteful. Vishkar's remodeled changing room was another. In contrast to the rather spartan, almost department store-style layout it had the last time she'd visited with her friends, they'd upgraded the facilities so that it now resembled a school locker room more than anything else. It even had showers now!
She probably could have changed in the aforementioned shower stalls but the familiarity of the environment had her changing out in the locker area like she would have back in school. It's not like anyone was there to see her except Ishiwata-san and despite her teasing personality, the other woman was a professional and wouldn't violate her privacy.
Sadly, just as that thought crossed her mind, said privacy was promptly violated as a male high schooler, complete with his school uniform and hair dyed a deep maroon suddenly ran into the changing room.
Naru who was still only in her dress shirt and undies at this point did the most natural thing any girl in her position would have done and screamed bloody murder.
Perhaps because she was older, Ishiwata-san, despite being in only her underwear, reacted more sensibly. She still howled like a banshee, but unlike Naru she actually used that as fuel for her ability, Sonic Conductor, and amplified her scream into a sonic blast that she directed at the boy.
Reacting instinctively, the boy created a large swirling ball of some kind of liquid around himself as a protective barrier just before he was slammed into a wall, which proceeded to greatly soften his impact. The protective sphere shattered at the impact, but it had succeeded in significantly reducing the blow and instead of becoming a smear on the wall, he was just left dazed.
Naru blinked in surprise at the boy managing to do that. Ishiwata-san's ability was deadly. Naru had seen proof of that first hand! Yet, here he was tanking it!? That was pretty damned impressive.
And how the hell did he even manage to conjure liquid from nowhere like that?
I don't think that's what it's doing, Naru. Kurama corrected. From what I can tell, it's more like he's drawing gases from the surrounding air and changing it into something else, using the centrifugal and centripetal forces of that sphere he created to facilitate that.
Oh! So his power combines aspects of Mix Master and Volcanic Ball.
Yup. Kurama agreed. I think we read about it before when we were trawling the Bank. It's called Alchemy Ball I think.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The boy wailed and ran out of the room. "I just wanted Naru-sama's autograph!"
And as he fled, a squad of security robots chased after him with flashing red and blue sirens jutting out of their bodies.
"Repeat, repeat! Halt and step away from student 000926! Halt criminal scum!"
Huh, these security robots just get more aggressive by the year, huh?
"Did Vishkar get a new model for their security robots?" Ishiwata-san asked as the door to the changing rooms slid closed and she casually pulled on her sweater. "I don't think the standard models have police sirens sticking out like that."
"Think so." Naru blinked as she buttoned up her shirt. Wanting to keep her body a little safer from prying eyes.
"By the way, Namikaze-chan, I must say that you have terrible fans." Ishiwata-san said as she zipped up her long pleated skirt.
"Tell me about-" Naru said as she too finished up with her own skirt, only to be cut off when the sound of gunfire suddenly reached their ears.
Without wasting a second, Naru finished securing her skirt and rushed towards the door just behind Ishiwata-san, who having hastily grabbed her harmonica from her purse, was already racing towards the sound of the fighting.
Time to do my real job.
It didn't take them long at all to find the source of the disturbance. Naru and Ishiwata-san literally ran into them as they made their way towards the holodeck's observation lounge in the form of a group of gunmen trying to get away with the unconscious Chinese agent/diplomat as a rearguard engaged in a running gunfight with the more overt elements of today's security detail.
DA!? Really!? Naru thought incredulously as she instantly pegged the outfit that the gunmen were a part of. It wasn't difficult to do. Not when they were sporting their group's distinctive helmets with retractable visors, which displayed a red outline of jagged teeth. Said outlines were supposed to only briefly appear when the visors were lowered if Naru remembered correctly, but it seemed since the last time she'd tangled with these Anti-Skill rejects they'd changed it to show all the time.
You can ask why they did it from whoever survives after you beat the shit out of them! Kurama chided. In the meantime, get in there before that idiot fan of yours gets himself killed!
Right. Naru sent back as she teleported the remaining distance to the skirmish between the DA remnants and her fan, who was using his ability to create a large ball of what looked like swirling ice around himself to protect himself from their gunfire.
"What are you still doing here?" Naru chided her fanboy as she unleashed a whipping wind that coiled around several of the DA flunkies that were attacking them before proceeding to suck the oxygen right out of their lungs, causing them to faint.
"S-Sorry!" The boy stammered out as he sent blobs of various liquids shooting out of his ball to rain down on a group of goons. Whatever chemical he was firing causing whatever it hit to either burn or rapidly rust.
Huh, that's decently impressive. Naru mused as she created a chakra barrier to block a hail of gunfire.
"Just try not to get shot. Even if you're a perv, I'd rather you not die." Naru bluntly told the high school boy.
Suddenly, the whole lot of DA goons in front of them collapsed to the ground, clutching their ears in pain and the fan looked at Naru in confusion.
"Naru-sama, did you do something?"
"No." Naru replied and glanced at her fellow model. "Ishiwata-san, what did you do?"
"Burst their eardrums by amplifying the sound of their own gunfire to sonic boom levels." The blonde said as she tapped her harmonica against her chin. "They were making so much noise, I didn't even need to use my harmonica to make one of my own."
"Oh! Good one!" The younger blonde smiled as she teleported over to the unconscious Chinese diplomat. "But don't let your guard down. There's still their rearguard."
"I know. I can hear them coming." Ishiwata-san replied with a nod. "Want me to go deal with them while you get the package somewhere safe?"
As she checked the diplomat over for injuries, Naru briefly considered the matter before nodding. "Yeah, just let me finish checking him over and I'll teleport him out of here. Don't want to risk moving him if he's got any serious injuries."
"B-By DA's Dogma!" One of the previously thought disabled DA goons shouted suddenly as he pulled a ball shaped grenade from a pouch on his utility belt and tossed it to the ground.
Immediately, Naru felt like her head was exploding as the familiar effect of the AIM Jammer took hold.
"Shit! AIM Jammer!" Naru hissed as she clutched her head. "Fanboy! Shut down your ability now!"
The warning came too late however and the boy's protective sphere of ice exploded outward, sending shards of deadly hail flying in every direction.
Naru acted quickly, and grabbed the nearest DA goon to her to use as a human shield for her and the Chinese diplomat. Ishiwata-san seemed to have had the same idea and had pulled another of the idiots to serve as her own impromptu barrier.
How the hell did they get that!? Naru cursed as the danger passed and she threw the very dead human shield she'd used aside.
They were once backed by the Board of Directors, they probably got it then. Kurama reasoned, even as Ishiwata-san surprised her by pulling a gun from under her sweater - Where had she hidden it? She'd seen her put it on and she hadn't been wearing a holster underneath! - and shot the AIM disruptor.
The older woman's aim was true as two shots drilled through the device and ended its high pitched wailing that disrupted their powers.
Naru! The diplomat! Kurama shouted in warning and Naru pushed the man aside just in time to avoid the bullet the DA goon that had thrown the AIM Jammer grenade had tried to put in his skull.
Well that one's dying horribly. Naru decided as the bullet whizzed by her own head, causing a burn along her cheek that her regeneration handled.
"Eat fire, you reject." Naru told the gunman as she spat a fireball at him, setting him alight and reducing him to a charred corpse in seconds.
Of course that's when the DA's rearguard had to catch up to them, saw their comrade's painful demise and decided to take offense.
"These guys are really bugging me." Naru growled as she fed her chakra into the air, easily contaminating it with her energy. The winds started to coil around her once more, catching bullets and funneling them back at the attackers. Though that hardly seemed to faze them thanks to their full-body armor. They weren't wearing true Powered Suits but the combat armor they had was pretty damn close and the bullets bounced off it harmlessly.
"Let me, Namikaze-chan." Ishiwata-san said even as she raised her harmonica to her lips and blew out a simple song.
"Is that Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars!?" Naru asked incredulously, even as Ishiwata-san used her ability to transform the notes of the song into a series of sonic bursts that she used to send the DA goons flying hard into the walls. Repeatedly.
The Level 3 just shrugged.
How embarrassing to be defeated by a children's song! Ishiwata-san was vindictive, huh?
"Uh, Naru-sama, Moderu-san? I think they're unconscious. You can stop bashing them against the walls already."
"Yeah, shame that." Naru dryly quipped.
A couple hours later, the photoshoot was over at last and as Naru and Ishiwata-san walked back to the changing room from the holodeck for the final time that day, she was pleased to spot the crazy fan from earlier was there waiting for her with a security guard escorting him just outside the changing room.
"Just give me a minute to change out of this, okay?" She offered the older boy with a smile as she followed the older woman into the changing room.
"Of course, Naru-sama." The boy said with a smile and nod as Naru passed him.
"Eh, Namikaze-chan is way too nice." The older blonde pointed out as the door closed behind Naru. "If it were me, I'd have the Mind Alteration Team wipe away his lolicon obsession of you while erasing the firefight from his head."
"That would be an abuse of our privileges." Naru told her pointedly. "Besides, the boy helped us during the fight. He deserves some kind of reward."
"Ah, is it that Namikaze-chan is a Tsundere for her lolicon fans? How scandalous!" Ishiwata-san teased as she began to shimmy out of the dress she'd put on for the last shots of the photoshoot. "But seriously, why bother rewarding him? I mean, we didn't need his help."
"True, but he still helped despite the danger. His life was on the line, he deserves some praise." Naru countered as she unzipped her own dress and stepped out of it, glad that unlike Ishiwata-san she'd not been saddled with something skintight like she had. Apparently the marketing team who'd dreamed up the shots had thought that a mother taking her daughter out to dinner at a fancy restaurant would choose to dress in something more suitable for guy hunting at a nightclub.
I betcha the team was made up of a whole bunch of sex starved guys.
Or they were just adhering to the old adage that sex sells. Kurama countered. You can't deny that the woman looked like a bombshell in that little black dress they chose for her.
Maybe, but she doesn't hold a candle to Shu-chan or Arisa-chan.
Meh. You're biased.
Biased and proud!
Kurama rolled his eyes at her for that but Naru ignored him, choosing instead to continue her conversation with Ishiwata-san.
"Besides, if we messed with his memories too much, his mind might not take it well or did you forget that bit of Telepathy 101?"
"You're too nice, Namikaze-chan." Ishiwata-san said with a giggle as she slipped on her casual clothes. "To think you'd actually worry about the mind of a crazy lolicon fan."
"Just doing the right thing here." Naru said honestly.
For some reason, this just made Ishiwata-san burst into stitches.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Naru said to her fan as she stepped out of the changing room a few minutes later, now dressed in her uniform.
"It wasn't a problem, Naru-sama." The boy said with an earnest smile.
"So you wanted an autograph, right?" Naru confirmed.
"Yes, Naru-sama." The boy said as he pulled out a marker and a copy of the promotional brochure by the School Garden's Chamber of Commerce that prominently featured photos of her. "Could you sign this for me?"
"Sure." The blonde loli cheerfully informed him. "So, what's your name? And no, before you ask, I will not be signing your butt too."
The older boy stammered, face red at the notion. He looked away shyly and said, "I'm, uh, Kansha Mitsuki. I-It's nice to meet you, Naru-sama!"
"Got it. Give me a second." Naru said as she took both the marker and the brochure.
"To Kansha Mitsuki. Thanks for being a fan. Yours sincerely, Namikaze Naru." She said out loud as she wrote the words onto the brochure, making sure to sign her name with a little extra flourish. "Here you go!"
The noise he made as he accepted both his marker and the now signed brochure back could only be described as mystical in nature.
"Thank you, Naru-sama! Thank you!" He said, as tears of joy literally flowed down his face.
His over the top gratitude left her feeling uncomfortable. She could already feel he was going to write a fanfic of this encounter. At least it would be without the firefight. Hopefully.
But despite it all, she maintained a polite smile. Her publicist would've been proud.
Maybe I should have done what Ishiwata-san suggested and messed his memory up. This is just too much. Naru thought as she watched the overexcited boy run off clutching the autograph to his chest like it was some great treasure.
"-And that's how my modeling gig/mission got weird." Naru told the Trinity gang as they hung out in Joseph's where they had met up for dinner. "Anything interesting happen to you guys?"
Mikoto-sempai, Uiharu-chan and Shirai-chan all shook their heads but Rui-chan smirked.
"Out with it Rui-chan." Naru said, shooting her best friend with a narrow eyed look. "What did you do?"
"I reached third base with Accel today." Rui-chan revealed with a grin.
"What!?" All four of the friends gasped, causing everyone in the restaurant to look at them disapprovingly.
After a quick round of apologies to their fellow diners, Naru turned to look at her best friend sternly.
"You got proof?" Naru said with her arms crossed.
Rui-chan clutched her skirt for a second but Uiharu-chan thankfully grabbed her hand before she could lift it and hissed in a scandalized manner. "Saten-san! We're in public!"
"But Naru-chan wanted proof." Rui-chan said with a pout.
"Yeah, any proof you can give without flashing your panties?" Sempai asked with a twitching eyebrow.
Rui-chan considered this for a moment before she pulled out her phone and shoved it under her skirt. There was the clicking sound of her triggering her camera and then she pulled it out to proudly show the picture of a hickey half covered by her panties.
"Tadah~! Proof!" She said proudly.
Sempai was so red in the face at the picture that Naru was genuinely worried she might pass out from all that blood rushing to her head. Thankfully Shirai-chan was on the case and trying to calm her down, that meant Naru was free to give Rui-chan some gentle reminders.
"You better wear some shorts for a little while until that hickey fades. Wouldn't want someone accidentally seeing it and making a fuss. You're not going to disappear it with your regeneration, are you?"
"You're probably right," Rui-chan said with a disappointed nod even as she deleted the photo. "And no way am I getting rid of it prematurely, it is my badge of honor."
"You're mean, Saten-san," Uiharu said with a pout. "You had me babysitting your girls so you could go make out with Accelerator-san!"
"Sorry Uiharu but you know how little alone time Accel and I get." Rui-chan said, sounding genuinely apologetic.
"I know, which is why I'm not too mad." Uiharu said with a sigh. "But you better pay me back and tell me all about it."
"I will," Rui-chan promised her other best friend.
"Wish Shu-chan and Arisa-chan were more daring. I wouldn't have lost out to you if they were." Naru declared with a pout of her own.
"Sequenzia-san and Meigo-san not daring? Don't you three do BDSM play a lot of the time? And didn't you already reach third base during the Daihasei?"
"I did," she said with a brilliant blush. "But I didn't think to get a hickey down there."
"Setting aside Namikaze-san's risque fetishes," Shirai-chan said with a shake of her head. "Because if nothing else she and her girlfriends are taking things comparatively slow."
"Much to my frustration," Naru grunted and crossed her arms.
Ignoring her, which was just rude, Shirai-chan kept going. "Saten-san, I have to ask this, as both your friend and as a Judgement Officier, you and Accelerator-san aren't planning to have sex soon are you?"
"No," Rui-chan said, shaking her head. "Though, I should remind you that age of consent here in the City is 13 and my birthday is coming up-"
"And you're going to celebrate by losing your V-Card?" Naru asked, her eyes wide.
"I suggested it," Rui-chan said with a pout. "But Accel said no. He got persuaded by Kaa-san and Yomikawa-san to not take me up on the offer until I am at least sixteen. Something about how my mental state and fear of abandonment is pushing me to go too far, too fast in our relationship to make sure Accel doesn't run off on me. Not that I'm actually worried about that. And that we should slow down."
"And they're wrong? About how you two should slow down, I mean." Shirai-chan asked with a raised eyebrow. "You two have only been dating for a few months and he's already giving you a hickey below the waist."
"That's not fair," Naru chimed in to defend her bestie. "Plenty of couples, even those our age, moved faster than that."
"She's right," Uiharu-chan added, nodding.
"They don't have the kind of mental baggage you do, Ruiko." Sempai said earnestly. "Just be careful and slow down a little, okay?"
"I will," Rui-chan agreed. "I've already promised Kaa-san that I'll remain a virgin until at least sixteen like she wanted. But beyond that… Well, there's still plenty of things we can do outside of penetration."
Shirai-chan and Sempai both sighed in resignation.
"That's true," Naru said, ignoring the two prudish roommates. "Anything you tried or wanna try that you think Shu-chan, Arisa-chan and I would like?"
"Okay~! Enough talk about your sex lives you two!" Sempai said snappishly as she recovered some of her wits. "Have pity on us poor singles would you?"
"Hai Sempai~!" Naru chorused alongside Rui-chan as they shared a cheeky grin.
"Good! Now let's talk about something else!" Sempai declared decisively.
Exchanging a private look with Rui-chan and Uiharu-chan that wordlessly communicated the intent to continue their previous conversation later, they allowed Sempai to shift their discussion onto more mundane affairs.
Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!
A rather short chapter, but we wanted to give a peek at the life of Naru without some Incident going on. Just a terrorist attack in all honesty. Writing Naru dealing with a fanboy was certainly a treat though. At least this one wasn't a Yandere serial killer this time around. Hope you enjoyed the modelling!
Nameless: It's also a way to expand the cast a little by introducing a friend, or at least an acquaintance, for Naru on the Dark Side. Something that we felt was a little lacking. Besides that, the chapter was really just a chance for us to show a little of Naru doing some modelling. Of course, considering who she is, such jobs will always have something a little extra to them.
You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!