Chapter 16: The Truth Revealed
After school, somewhere inside school district 7, they walked on the side of the busy city under the noon sun. Two girls, shoulder to shoulder.
Shirai Kuroko and Misaka Mikoto.
They were young ladies of Tokiwadai Middle School, the object of adoration for all girls in Academy City, but for some reason, both their hair was ruffled and messy—the harmful side effect of their brawl.
Mikoto, slumping tiredly, ran a hand through her hair to fix it. "...You know, you can't just dropkick someone in the face fully naked! You were so open and unguarded that I froze up instead. Seriously."
"Hee-hee. I've begun to understand you recently, Onee-sama. It may be absurd to challenge a superpowered Electromaster to a fair fight, but there's a lot of moisture in the shower room, so you can't use your electric attacks because they might cause short circuits! But my greatest miscalculation was not realizing you knew how to fight dirty with your bare hands!"
Shirai ended with a regretful tone and grinned drily. Neither looked anything like someone raised under Tokiwadai's founding principle: to produce people who could function in the real world even during their compulsory education.
Shirai swung her flimsy bag from side to side and continued smiling defiantly.
"Oh, Onee-sama. Do you not think the two-piece set on display over there would suit you perfectly rather—Ow! I know quite well that you have been all about the queen look this year—Ow, ack?!"
Mikoto was pulling on Shirai's right ear, but she looked happy about it.
"I'm pulling on your ear, here. How are you making such calm recommendations?... Hey, what?! You can see through eighty percent of that lace underwear. You'd only choose something like that to make people laugh!"
"This store does specialize in underwear, however, so would it not be more natural for them to stock professional underwear rather than unprofessional underwear?"
"...You make it sound like you're an expert on the topic, Kuroko."
"I, of course, specialize in many things that have the potential to bring the color of embarrassment to your cheeks, Onee-s—Ow!! ...Y-you mustn't keep doing this. This sort of relationship is starting to be rather thrilling. Fu...fu-fu. I suppose having Onee-sama grab part of my body in broad daylight and making me moan is a perfectly valid form of entertainment!"
"Kuroko? If I pull your ear anymore, it'll tear off and we'll make a mess."
Mikoto smiled and stretched Shirai's ear out, but she hadn't overlooked one thing. When Mikoto had glanced at the two-piece lace set she'd recommended to her, she'd blushed and hurried to peel her eyes from it. Shirai grinned, very much happy at having seen Mikoto's profile filled with embarrassment, but she suddenly had a thought and noticed Mikoto had, at some point, begun looking at something else with a serious look on her face.
"?"
Shirai, vaguely interested, looked in the same direction.
There was a crowd of people surrounding a certain restaurant, but they didn't seem to be waiting for their turn or anything. They were randomly crowded around the restaurant entrance and windows as if they were watching something inside.
Narrowing her eyes at the restaurant window, she could see a familiar girl with white hair...
"What is happening there?"
"..."
(An electric reaction...one of the sisters inside. That's bad...)
Mikoto didn't respond to Shirai. Instead, she pressed her right leg and started running toward the restaurant.
"Wait, what's the matter, Onee-sama?"
Confused, Shirai followed behind.
Part 2:
As Misaka and Shizuri stood face to face, the atmosphere in the restaurant began to change. The gentle hum of conversations and the clinking of cutlery seemed to fade away as an eerie stillness settled over the room.
Suddenly, the lights in the restaurant flickered, and a soft crackling sound filled the air. Plates and utensils on the tables began to vibrate, and some of the electronic devices started malfunctioning, emitting sparks of electricity.
(She is an electromaster too, and a higher level one...)
A bead of sweat started to appear on Misaka's cheek as she realized her situation.
She let her anger take over, causing her to forget the place they were in right now. There were so many people around, and if she started a fight here, so many would get hurt.
"Oh? What's with this reaction? Don't tell me you suddenly lost your determination or..."
Shizuri's eyes scanned the worried faces of the people around.
"You're just as pure as the original, huh? But unfortunately, I am different."
"Tch..."
"Um, c-can you please not fight here?"
"Hmm?"
"?"
they turned their glance toward a woman, who seemed to be the Waitress at the place. her hands slightly trembling as she held her notepad.
"Please, I-I understand you might have some disagreement, but we can't have any fighting here. It's a family restaurant"
"Ah...Misaka Sorry about that-"
Her words trailed off as she noticed the smile on Shizuri's face. the woman started to point her finger at the waitress slowly.
And Misaka's eyes widened as she felt the change in the air's electric charge. She knew what Shizuri was planning to do.
In swift moves, Misaka surrounded her body with an electric field and swiftly aimed her hand at the woman's head.
"Eh!"
But her hand didn't reach; rather, it would be better to say it suddenly vaporized Mid air. There was a small green shield of energy between her arm and the woman's face.
Swiftly pulling her hand back, Her hand was gone, and Before she could think about her next move, a high-speed beam of light pierced her right leg, making her lose her balance.
"Gh!! What in the..."
before her body would hit the ground, a swift leg kicked her head, sending her flying toward the end of the restaurant.
The impact was so strong that several tables and chairs were knocked over, and some dishes shattered on the floor.
The people inside the restaurant gasped and screamed in surprise and fear, some rushing toward the exit to get away from the escalating conflict.
Shizuri stood tall, a wicked grin on her face. "And we are done," she declared triumphantly.
She slowly lowered the leg she had hit the girl's head with but...
"!!!?"
She swiftly kneeled to the ground, grabbing her leg. It was swollen, and blood could be seen on it.
"W-What the fuck did I just hit..."
Shizuri's wicked grin faded into a look of surprise and disbelief. She bit her lip, bearing the pain as she turned toward her gang.
"Frenda, give me a hand here - Huh?"
Her words trailed off as her eyes observed the scene before her - her gang on the floor unconscious, with Rikou being the only one who was not, but her nose was bleeding so much, she was close to following her friend.
The girl who was with the clone, stood in front of them, her long black hair flowing behind her back as she glanced down at them.
"Judgement! Don't Mov...Onee-sama!?"
Not long after, a new voice called from the entrance. A girl with two curly pigtails stood beside the entrance, her hand reaching for the armband in the other hand as she pulled it, revealing the word "Judgment" written on it.
Shizuri didn't give any attention to the newly arrival as she was in a bad situation.
She wasn't sure if it was because she had let her guard down, but she suddenly felt someone behind her. She turned around to see a hand wide open, just a few inches away from her face, as if it were about to grab her head but stopped at some point.
The hand slowly started to pull away, reaching the back of a certain girl's head - Misaka scratched the back of her head as she sighed.
"Aisa we have to leave, Misaka thinks she caused her sister another problem, says misaka as Misaka voice is tinged with nervousness"
Aisa nodded in understanding
Misaka fixed her eyes on the original. Shirai between them, her mouth wide open as her head moved back and forth between the two similar figures.
"T-Two of Onee-sama?"
Misaka pulled a check from her pocket and wrote a few numbers before handing it to the waitress, who was in shock.
And in the next moment, she broke running to the window, and Aisa followed behind.
"W-Wait, where are you running?"
Shirai swiftly grabbed Mikoto's hand and teleported away, following the clone and Aisa, leaving the ranked 4 motionless in shock.
"Ummm... are you okay-"
"THAT BITCH!!"
The waitress's words brought her back to reality, and she screamed, cursing with all her might.
Part 3:
Leaving the bus, her prominent forehead was flanked by two fringes of her long, black hair, which was neatly kept.
A girl dressed in the Tokiwadai Middle School uniform, with her jaw hidden behind a fan.
"The procedures for transferring take a surprising amount of time, don't they? The famous Tokiwadai Middle School... I, Kongou Mitsuko, shall make that name shine with even greater brilliance!"
Mitsuko declared loudly, her chest swelling with pride, though it didn't last long as there was no school in front of her, only a busy street filled with people going about their daily lives, and cars loudly passing by.
"Ah... There is no school here... Did that bus take me to the wrong place? No wonder buses are just a low class of transportation; they can't do their only job right. Well, whatever."
She closed her fan and reached for her skirt pocket, pulling out a folded-up map.
"Ah, let's see. I suppose I should be in District 7, and the school should be in the south, which means..."
The map was huge, which made her struggle to open it up fully. She wasn't even sure if she was holding it in the right way.
"AHH... Could it be I am actually lost? Ekk!!"
Her words trailed off as someone rushed by, causing the map to cling to their face.
"Sorry!!!"
"W-Wait, my map! EKKK!!"
Again, another girl rushed past, and this time it made her fall onto her butt.
"Sorry"
"...My map... I am lost..." She extended her hand in a last plea before giving up and lowering her head in defeat.
...
Misaka sprinted across the busy street, with Aisa following closely behind.
She had truly had enough of fighting, and all she wanted now was a day off to relax. Staying any minute longer in this restaurant would just ruin everything.
And then there was the fact that one of her sister's friends had seen both of them together, which made things even worse.
Inside, she wondered if the original would be mad at her.
She swiftly took a sharp turn into a narrow, dimly lit hallway, with Aisa's footsteps echoing behind her. The two of them navigated through the labyrinth of alleys and shortcuts known only to those who lived on the fringes of the city.
"You guys can really run so fast,"
(Oh... Crap...)
At a sudden moment, a spot in front of them, where no one was there just a moment ago, now held two figures standing tall.
One with two curly pigtails and the other with brown chestnut hair, both dressed in the summer Tokiwadai Middle School uniform.
Shirai was gazing at both of them with a serious face, while Mikoto was just avoiding their gaze awkwardly.
"So... why are there two Onee-same here, and why is one wearing a wig... wait, a wig, you're from back then!" Shirai exclaimed, her eyes widening in realization.
Misaka lowered her eyes to the ground for a moment before shifting them back toward Shirai.
"Ummm... Hello, Misaka is Misaka Mikoto's cousin. Misaka came here to study and become a Level 5, just like her sist-cousin, Says misaka as she held a serious expression."
"Cousin - then why did you pretend to be Onee-sama back then?"
"Misaka was planning to surprise her s-cousin because Mikoto didn't know Misaka was here -"
"Just stop. It's no use lying more," Mikoto interrupted her expression a mix of concern and frustration.
Misaka's clone let out a defeated sigh, her shoulders slumping, "S-Sorry...Misaka didn't mean to - "
Mikoto sighed and placed a comforting hand on her clone's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. That's not your fault."
"Onee-sama? What is happening here?"
"Well..." she turned toward Shirai, her voice hesitant, "The truth is...?"
She comes to a sudden stop as Aisa suddenly falls to the ground, unconscious.
"W-Wait, is she okay - ?"
Once again, Mikoto's words trailed off as a rumbling stomach sound filled the place.
"Huh?" Both Shirai and Mikoto reacted in unison.
"Ah, she didn't eat her meal. That would happen sometimes, so don't worry. She would wake up once she eats something, says Misaka as she takes a look at her friend."
"Huh?"
Chapter 16: The Truth Revealed
After school, somewhere inside school district 7, they walked on the side of the busy city under the noon sun. Two girls, shoulder to shoulder.
Shirai Kuroko and Misaka Mikoto.
They were young ladies of Tokiwadai Middle School, the object of adoration for all girls in Academy City, but for some reason, both their hair was ruffled and messy—the harmful side effect of their brawl.
Mikoto, slumping tiredly, ran a hand through her hair to fix it. "...You know, you can't just dropkick someone in the face fully naked! You were so open and unguarded that I froze up instead. Seriously."
"Hee-hee. I've begun to understand you recently, Onee-sama. It may be absurd to challenge a superpowered Electromaster to a fair fight, but there's a lot of moisture in the shower room, so you can't use your electric attacks because they might cause short circuits! But my greatest miscalculation was not realizing you knew how to fight dirty with your bare hands!"
Shirai ended with a regretful tone and grinned drily. Neither looked anything like someone raised under Tokiwadai's founding principle: to produce people who could function in the real world even during their compulsory education.
Shirai swung her flimsy bag from side to side and continued smiling defiantly.
"Oh, Onee-sama. Do you not think the two-piece set on display over there would suit you perfectly rather—Ow! I know quite well that you have been all about the queen look this year—Ow, ack?!"
Mikoto was pulling on Shirai's right ear, but she looked happy about it.
"I'm pulling on your ear, here. How are you making such calm recommendations?... Hey, what?! You can see through eighty percent of that lace underwear. You'd only choose something like that to make people laugh!"
"This store does specialize in underwear, however, so would it not be more natural for them to stock professional underwear rather than unprofessional underwear?"
"...You make it sound like you're an expert on the topic, Kuroko."
"I, of course, specialize in many things that have the potential to bring the color of embarrassment to your cheeks, Onee-s—Ow!! ...Y-you mustn't keep doing this. This sort of relationship is starting to be rather thrilling. Fu...fu-fu. I suppose having Onee-sama grab part of my body in broad daylight and making me moan is a perfectly valid form of entertainment!"
"Kuroko? If I pull your ear anymore, it'll tear off and we'll make a mess."
Mikoto smiled and stretched Shirai's ear out, but she hadn't overlooked one thing. When Mikoto had glanced at the two-piece lace set she'd recommended to her, she'd blushed and hurried to peel her eyes from it. Shirai grinned, very much happy at having seen Mikoto's profile filled with embarrassment, but she suddenly had a thought and noticed Mikoto had, at some point, begun looking at something else with a serious look on her face.
"?"
Shirai, vaguely interested, looked in the same direction.
There was a crowd of people surrounding a certain restaurant, but they didn't seem to be waiting for their turn or anything. They were randomly crowded around the restaurant entrance and windows as if they were watching something inside.
Narrowing her eyes at the restaurant window, she could see a familiar girl with white hair...
"What is happening there?"
"..."
(An electric reaction...one of the sisters inside. That's bad...)
Mikoto didn't respond to Shirai. Instead, she pressed her right leg and started running toward the restaurant.
"Wait, what's the matter, Onee-sama?"
Confused, Shirai followed behind.
Part 2:
As Misaka and Shizuri stood face to face, the atmosphere in the restaurant began to change. The gentle hum of conversations and the clinking of cutlery seemed to fade away as an eerie stillness settled over the room.
Suddenly, the lights in the restaurant flickered, and a soft crackling sound filled the air. Plates and utensils on the tables began to vibrate, and some of the electronic devices started malfunctioning, emitting sparks of electricity.
(She is an electromaster too, and a higher level one...)
A bead of sweat started to appear on Misaka's cheek as she realized her situation.
She let her anger take over, causing her to forget the place they were in right now. There were so many people around, and if she started a fight here, so many would get hurt.
"Oh? What's with this reaction? Don't tell me you suddenly lost your determination or..."
Shizuri's eyes scanned the worried faces of the people around.
"You're just as pure as the original, huh? But unfortunately, I am different."
"Tch..."
"Um, c-can you please not fight here?"
"Hmm?"
"?"
they turned their glance toward a woman, who seemed to be the Waitress at the place. her hands slightly trembling as she held her notepad.
"Please, I-I understand you might have some disagreement, but we can't have any fighting here. It's a family restaurant"
"Ah...Misaka Sorry about that-"
Her words trailed off as she noticed the smile on Shizuri's face. the woman started to point her finger at the waitress slowly.
And Misaka's eyes widened as she felt the change in the air's electric charge. She knew what Shizuri was planning to do.
In swift moves, Misaka surrounded her body with an electric field and swiftly aimed her hand at the woman's head.
"Eh!"
But her hand didn't reach; rather, it would be better to say it suddenly vaporized Mid air. There was a small green shield of energy between her arm and the woman's face.
Swiftly pulling her hand back, Her hand was gone, and Before she could think about her next move, a high-speed beam of light pierced her right leg, making her lose her balance.
"Gh!! What in the..."
before her body would hit the ground, a swift leg kicked her head, sending her flying toward the end of the restaurant.
The impact was so strong that several tables and chairs were knocked over, and some dishes shattered on the floor.
The people inside the restaurant gasped and screamed in surprise and fear, some rushing toward the exit to get away from the escalating conflict.
Shizuri stood tall, a wicked grin on her face. "And we are done," she declared triumphantly.
She slowly lowered the leg she had hit the girl's head with but...
"!!!?"
She swiftly kneeled to the ground, grabbing her leg. It was swollen, and blood could be seen on it.
"W-What the fuck did I just hit..."
Shizuri's wicked grin faded into a look of surprise and disbelief. She bit her lip, bearing the pain as she turned toward her gang.
"Frenda, give me a hand here - Huh?"
Her words trailed off as her eyes observed the scene before her - her gang on the floor unconscious, with Rikou being the only one who was not, but her nose was bleeding so much, she was close to following her friend.
The girl who was with the clone, stood in front of them, her long black hair flowing behind her back as she glanced down at them.
"Judgement! Don't Mov...Onee-sama!?"
Not long after, a new voice called from the entrance. A girl with two curly pigtails stood beside the entrance, her hand reaching for the armband in the other hand as she pulled it, revealing the word "Judgment" written on it.
Shizuri didn't give any attention to the newly arrival as she was in a bad situation.
She wasn't sure if it was because she had let her guard down, but she suddenly felt someone behind her. She turned around to see a hand wide open, just a few inches away from her face, as if it were about to grab her head but stopped at some point.
The hand slowly started to pull away, reaching the back of a certain girl's head - Misaka scratched the back of her head as she sighed.
"Aisa we have to leave, Misaka thinks she caused her sister another problem, says misaka as Misaka voice is tinged with nervousness"
Aisa nodded in understanding
Misaka fixed her eyes on the original. Shirai between them, her mouth wide open as her head moved back and forth between the two similar figures.
"T-Two of Onee-sama?"
Misaka pulled a check from her pocket and wrote a few numbers before handing it to the waitress, who was in shock.
And in the next moment, she broke running to the window, and Aisa followed behind.
"W-Wait, where are you running?"
Shirai swiftly grabbed Mikoto's hand and teleported away, following the clone and Aisa, leaving the ranked 4 motionless in shock.
"Ummm... are you okay-"
"THAT BITCH!!"
The waitress's words brought her back to reality, and she screamed, cursing with all her might.
Part 3:
Leaving the bus, her prominent forehead was flanked by two fringes of her long, black hair, which was neatly kept.
A girl dressed in the Tokiwadai Middle School uniform, with her jaw hidden behind a fan.
"The procedures for transferring take a surprising amount of time, don't they? The famous Tokiwadai Middle School... I, Kongou Mitsuko, shall make that name shine with even greater brilliance!"
Mitsuko declared loudly, her chest swelling with pride, though it didn't last long as there was no school in front of her, only a busy street filled with people going about their daily lives, and cars loudly passing by.
"Ah... There is no school here... Did that bus take me to the wrong place? No wonder buses are just a low class of transportation; they can't do their only job right. Well, whatever."
She closed her fan and reached for her skirt pocket, pulling out a folded-up map.
"Ah, let's see. I suppose I should be in District 7, and the school should be in the south, which means..."
The map was huge, which made her struggle to open it up fully. She wasn't even sure if she was holding it in the right way.
"AHH... Could it be I am actually lost? Ekk!!"
Her words trailed off as someone rushed by, causing the map to cling to their face.
"Sorry!!!"
"W-Wait, my map! EKKK!!"
Again, another girl rushed past, and this time it made her fall onto her butt.
"Sorry"
"...My map... I am lost..." She extended her hand in a last plea before giving up and lowering her head in defeat.
...
Misaka sprinted across the busy street, with Aisa following closely behind.
She had truly had enough of fighting, and all she wanted now was a day off to relax. Staying any minute longer in this restaurant would just ruin everything.
And then there was the fact that one of her sister's friends had seen both of them together, which made things even worse.
Inside, she wondered if the original would be mad at her.
She swiftly took a sharp turn into a narrow, dimly lit hallway, with Aisa's footsteps echoing behind her. The two of them navigated through the labyrinth of alleys and shortcuts known only to those who lived on the fringes of the city.
"You guys can really run so fast,"
(Oh... Crap...)
At a sudden moment, a spot in front of them, where no one was there just a moment ago, now held two figures standing tall.
One with two curly pigtails and the other with brown chestnut hair, both dressed in the summer Tokiwadai Middle School uniform.
Shirai was gazing at both of them with a serious face, while Mikoto was just avoiding their gaze awkwardly.
"So... why are there two Onee-same here, and why is one wearing a wig... wait, a wig, you're from back then!" Shirai exclaimed, her eyes widening in realization.
Misaka lowered her eyes to the ground for a moment before shifting them back toward Shirai.
"Ummm... Hello, Misaka is Misaka Mikoto's cousin. Misaka came here to study and become a Level 5, just like her sist-cousin, Says misaka as she held a serious expression."
"Cousin - then why did you pretend to be Onee-sama back then?"
"Misaka was planning to surprise her s-cousin because Mikoto didn't know Misaka was here -"
"Just stop. It's no use lying more," Mikoto interrupted her expression a mix of concern and frustration.
Misaka's clone let out a defeated sigh, her shoulders slumping, "S-Sorry...Misaka didn't mean to - "
Mikoto sighed and placed a comforting hand on her clone's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. That's not your fault."
"Onee-sama? What is happening here?"
"Well..." she turned toward Shirai, her voice hesitant, "The truth is...?"
She comes to a sudden stop as Aisa suddenly falls to the ground, unconscious.
"W-Wait, is she okay - ?"
Once again, Mikoto's words trailed off as a rumbling stomach sound filled the place.
"Huh?" Both Shirai and Mikoto reacted in unison.
"Ah, she didn't eat her meal. That would happen sometimes, so don't worry. She would wake up once she eats something, says Misaka as she takes a look at her friend."
"Huh?"
