Murakawa Torako

"Hmph! Of course I'm fine! A light trot is nothing to me! ...Still, there's no need to rush, so don't go speeding all over the place, will you? It's quite annoying."

"Okay~," Tora replied. As they walked, she started talking about a lot of things, running her mouth off regardless of the fact she barely knew the girl. As long as someone was willing to listen, she'd be satisfied. "..so then, I threw a sinker, and secretly Amplified it, but it shot off and slammed upwards to his groin instead! Man, he was walking funny for days..."

It was as if the energy that would have gone to the sprint earlier was now running her mouth. "..and so, when everyone was having fun fooling around in the game, she hit a homerun and exploded the faculty office. So thats why we.. Oh, we're here."

She stood in front of the dorm, her previous fear of being discovered long gone. After all, if her friends do discover her here, she'd only be helping this child out. "So? Do I enter?"

---

Uiharu Kazari

"That would be lovely, thank you. I'll just have some water."

Eh.. Kinda conservative, that choice, but she wasn't about to say that. Perhaps Annette had different taste or some sort of circumstances for her to make that choice.

"Alright. It will just take a minute, so please hav-" She stopped midsentence, as her skirt was suddenly raised.

"Oh, clovers... Is it my lucky day?!"

"H..HYAA~!" Kazari immediately pushed down her skirt, blushing furiously. "Sa..Saten? When did you come here?"

Saten Ruiko was one of her best friends, but she had a habit of flipping up her skirt. She was grateful to Saten for a lot of things, but she did wish sometimes Saten didn't flip up her skirt every time they met.

Annette sat patiently as she watched Uiharu going about getting the request drink, calm and considerate as always. There wasn't much else to do at the moment, so she spent the time coming up with questions that she could present in a few minutes. Knowing how this place ran would ensure a quick and efficient integration into daily affairs, which was what one should aim for.

There was a tingling sensation in her spine, but she took no heed of it, since it didn't seem strong enough to be a major event. So she'd keep an eye out and otherwise not act on it, without a cause to do so.

Her premonition abruptly and surprisingly materialized as she watched someone come up next to Uiharu and lift her skirt, taking a look at the undergarments beneath. Well, this was...unexpected, and Annette fought back a light blush of her own as the flower wearing girl reacted, understandably not amused by what had just been inflicted upon her.

"Um, does this happen often," she asked from her seat as she watched Uiharu and Saten. They seemed to be friends anyway, and it would be a good time to build up trust between herself and her new associates. It certainly couldn't hurt to find out if she obe concerned about the same thing happening to her.

Well... At least he didn't want to do that to her. That was somewhat reassuring. But Nadeshiko didn't have time to feel relieved, as, well... There was that big thing, that huge, bear-sized dog-like thing, emerging from the darkness and advancing on her. And, well... Nadeshiko was always rather timid. Even amongst rather non-threatening humans she was prone to anxiety, so when faced with this huge, snarling beast, well... It was something of an achievement that she hadn't soiled her underwear yet, honestly.

"Ah... A-aaah... Wh-what... G-g-get it a-a-away!" The tiny girl trembled, her entire body shaking in fear as the dog slowly drew nearer and nearer, snarling and growling with murderous intent. "G-get... Get it... A-a-away... P-please..."

This girl really liked to talk, Beatrix noted as they walked onward. It was tough keeping up with her story (plural?), especially when she had that evil sun bearing down on her too. Well, at least she'd deduced that this older girl was obviously a giant klutz! As long as she didn't trip and hurt her new friends, Beatrix would tolerate it.

Soon enough, they arrived at the rich girl's luxurious, outstanding, and enviable... standard-issue dorm building. Definitely far from the standards Beatrix deserved, but she was confident there was a mix-up somewhere. Any day now, she'd be moving into a ten-bedroom suite!
For now though, this was her humble abode. With a haughty "of course!" she beckoned the girl to follow her to her door and inside, where she carelessly kicked off her shoes and walked further inside. To a world infested with stuffed toys and plush dolls, going by the sheer amount lining the walls and occupying sitting space.

"Just stick 'em there," Beatrix pointed to one of the few remaining areas in her small dorm, and walked into the kitchen, assuming the courier girl would leave immediately.

Sighing, the girl gave up on the point; as much as it was her duty to reprimand Mikoto for her constantly flouting the rules, nothing she could say was going to stick. Really, her onee-sama was so stubborn... not only did she keep shocking thugs that apparently couldn't recognise the most publicised level fives, she never would stop wearing those unladylike shorts underneath her uniform. As for her obsession with a children's franchise...

Wonderful as it had been to talk with her roommate, it didn't escape the teleporter's mind that she had to be getting back to the branch office soon. Uiharu was on her own, since Konori had fallen ill at the most inopportune time. Though maybe she would like to come along, since Saten was likely to be there by now. Plus there was a quite obvious downside to hanging around...

"Onee-sama, I was wondering if you wanted to come to the office with me. After all, it looks like your antics have just shorted out all the traffic lights again, and I don't think you want to be here when Anti-Skill arrives."

---

"Now, why would I want to do that?"

The dog attacked.

"Ehehehee~"

Ruiko gave her friend a wide grin, before releasing the girl's skirt and rising to her feet. Really, it was hard to get enough of doing that kind of thing to Uiharu, there was a reason that it was the longer-haired girl's favorite method of greeting the flower-wearing Judgement officer. "I got here just a moment ago, but I saw you were distracted so I decided to make my arrival a surprise!"

Feeling that was, somehow, the appropriate level of explanation for what she had done, Ruiko happily turned towards the newcomer with a friendly smile. It seemed like she was a new Judgement Officer, and naturally, the black-haired girl felt like this meant she should get to know her. After all, she did spent a lot of time dropping by the Branch Office and hanging around. It was where Uiharu worked, after all, so it only made sense.

"Of course," Ruiko replied, still grinning, "Anyway, I'm Saten Ruiko, Uiharu's friend!"



"Eh...?"

Sheepishly, Mikoto peered out of the alleyway. While it wasn't exactly possible to see anything from her position, she could definitely hear the honking of car horns at the the occasional yell. Yes, indeed, it looked like her actions against the thugs had taken out all the nearby traffic lights. Ooops... Had she really gone that far? Mikoto thought it had only been enough to knock the thugs out, but it looked like she'd probably gone a bit overboard rather than held herself back enough. Well... they had pissed her off pretty badly...

"... Y... yeah! Let's go..."

Unwilling to be reprimanded by Anti-Skill for taking out the traffic lights, Mikoto was quick to agree to heading for the Branch Office.

There wasn't much Nadeshiko could do, as the delinquent boy just stood there and watched whilst the huge beast pounced at her. Trembling in fear, sweat dripping from all over her tiny body, her lips quivered for a moment... Before she let out a loud, high-pitched scream, one the echoed throughout the alley. There was no doubt that this was the loudest she had ever been in her life, and hopefully it was loud enough to ensure that someone would notice and make sure that it wasn't the last noise she ever made in her life.

She had heard it. That earnest cry for help that resounded nearby. Her body instinctively moved into action, legs pumping furiously as she blindly followed her instincts towards the sound of distress. All lethargy had fled her body and now her concentration was honed as keenly as a recently sharpened knife. Up ahead, a slight form was seen. Though she could not see the girl's face, she could easily gather how panic stricken and scared she was. The poor girl was even trembling in place.

Beyond the girl, there stood a man who dwarfed her. Clearly he had no good intentions if the poor tiny girl was that scared. "...What are you doing?" Sakie asked in a low but cautious voice as she placed herself between the two, providing an impromptu barrier. Her body remained tense, leg muscles coiled and ready to react at the slightest provocation and eyes focusing on the tall man.

Murakawa Torako

"Alright, excuse me then..." With that, Tora entered the place, carefully taking off her shoes where the girl did her slippers. Oddly, it looks to be just an ordinary room, whereas she was expecting some sort of lavish interior that belies the drab outside. It was filled with toys everywhere and anywhere with enough room to pile them. It was kind of a relief; Tora would be extremely nervous if it was filled with expensive things, maids and red carpets instead. She gets impulsive if she was nervous.

Placing the bags where the girl asked her to, Tora stood for a while, looking at everything. Was the girl some sort of collector?

"Eh~ This is a lot of toys, Chibiko. I'm kinda impressed." She started rummaging around under the bed.

---

Uiharu Kazari

She signed. That explanation doesn't really explain why she'd keep pulling her skirt up.

"I'm going to prepare the snacks. Please wait for a moment, you two."

It was good that they have extra mugs here, and some light snacks. Kazari completely forgot to ask Saten what she wanted though. Well it didn't matter. Saten didn't get to choose after just now, so it will just be tea like hers.

"Sorry for the wait." Kazari set the drinks on the table, as well as a small plateful of senbei, rice crackers.

"Ah, thats right." She turned to Saten after taking her drink. "This is Annette Delauney. She's transferring in tomorrow."

Hearing the girl's voice, a surprised Beatrix emerged from the kitchen, clutching a small glass of milk. Huh, she hadn't left yet? Normally, the peons acted as if they had somewhere better to be than her palace (which was just hilariously impossible, but whatever), assuming they bothered to enter in the first place. Was this motormouth really able to see the greatness of her mind, to be able to transform this cramped box into a haven for herself and her fluffy friends?

"Hmph! As well you should be!" the arrogant child swelled with pride at the praise, "after all, it's only through my genius that this decrepit pit became even remotely hospitable!"
Beatrix approached the girl, who was currently searching under her bed for some reason. After a sip of her milk, she questioned, "that's quite rude, you know! If you wanted to see my collection so badly, you need only kneel before me and beg!"

This particular collection, however, wasn't for more toys, but merchandise. Small piles of manga, anime, games and the occasional light novel took refuge under the bed, since they had nowhere else to go. Picking any two random franchises from her collection would show that she seemed to watch just about anything, from gory horror to cheesy romance.

...Not that she was likely to remember much of the former.

Annette smiled calmly, taking what she could of Saten's personality from her actions. She at least seemed like a good person, in spite of the skirt flipping, so managing things with her wouldn't be too difficult. And it was more than likely that her own ability could prevent any embarrassing events like what had just happened to Uiharu.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," she replied with a nod. Well, things could certainly have gone worse, so she would be glad for the state of affairs here.

Annette then looked over as Uiharu returned, placing snacks and drinks on the table. She picked up her water, taking a measured sip, before picking up a rice cracker and eating it in equally measured bites. There was no problem if having a few, and given that she wanted to be a good guest for her current host, it was a no brainer.

Her attention returned to Saten then as Uiharu introduced her. "Are you a member of Judgment as well," she asked. She couldn't see the armband that signified membership, but it was entirely possible that the other girl simply wasn't wearing it. It was best to not make assumptions about things if one could help it.

Kyouma stood up from the chair in front of his desk, stretching his arms as he stared down at the pile of textbooks in front of him. How long had it been since he had started studying again...? Glancing furtively at the clock on his wall, Kyouma sighed and massaged his forehead. From 6 in the morning all the way to now... Geez, this school seriously didn't let up with the workload at all, now did it? At the sound of his stomach grumbling, Kyouma sighed and quickly changed out of the bedclothes he was wearing into something more... Presentable. A white T-shirt and a set of blue jeans didn't exactly scream "Nagatenjouki Student!" to him, but that was perfectly fine. Being associated with that school on the streets was just asking for trouble, which he much prefer to avoid. Grabbing his wallet and slipping it into his pocket, Kyouma left his dorm room with as little noise as possible. Didn't want to disturb the others doing... Well, whatever it was that they did.

The streets of Academy City were as they usually were, with machines buzzing around alongside people as if they were equals in standing. It was a novelty that he never really got tired of, though the janitor bots coming too close for comfort every so often was always annoying to deal with. As he pondered where to go pick up some food for the day (thank GOD for city-funded school credit cards), Kyouma flinched. A loud, ear-piercing scream caused him to turn towards the source of the noise, but he was immediately interrupted by a girl rushing off to the alleyway from which it came from.

Well, she might not have looked like a Judgment member, but who was he to judge appearances? She probably had the situation under control...

That being said, though, what placed served good food at this time of day?

Murakawa Torako

She pulled herself out from under the bed, looking at the two magazines incredulously. They were magazines for sure, but not the sort she went looking for when she was rummaging under the bed.

"This is wrong. This is wrong, Chibiko." Tora turned to look at the girl. "Where are those sort of magazines? Isn't it kinda basic to keep them under there? Then I'd have been able to find them and you'd go 'Kyaa~ kyaa!' and I'd make some sort of tsukkomi."

She sighed, before looking over the manga thoroughly. "Eh? Kinnikuman?" Without a word more, she dug under the bed again, taking out a whole lot of the manga series. "Whoah, this is incredible, Chibiko. I didn't think you'd even have these. I'm seeing you in a different light now."

Well, she had always been a fan of the series, but she never really had the time for them, so she never owned much more than the three books in her home. Tora had been working hard to get a spot in Academy City after all, finally managing to enter Nagatenjouki on her own. For such a distinguished school, she had feared she's be kicked out the moment she was tested to be a Level 1 esper. But it seemed they had others like her, even non-espers. It was quite unlike the stuck up Tokiwadai people, where everyone is at least a level 3 esper, with a lot of level 4 espers. So having the number 1 Level 5 in their school must be frustrating for Tokiwadai, even though they have two level 5 of their own. Level 5....

"AH! I completely forgot!" Tora put down the books hurriedly. "I had to go find those people!" She stood up and sprinted towards the door, stopped halfway and came back to the girl. "Ah, sorry. I forgot about this too."

"I'm Murakawa Torako, from Nagatenjouki." She smiled as she bent down to pat the girl's head. "Call me anytime you like, alright?"

With a last wave goodbye, she exited the place, closing the door gently before running out like a hurricane down the street. Pulling the cap down, she started pacing herself as she ran down the street.

---

Uiharu Kazari

Kazari glanced over at Annette, before sipping leisurely at her tea.

Since the question was directed at Saten, she'd refrain from replying. There was a bit of data that gave her some headache when she was searching for the truth behind Saten's legends. There were some reports of people passing out, and then returning in a daze logged. While one could argue that was already known from the legends, and people swearing up and down about it, having cold hard data logged meant there was concrete proof about it. Well, at least about the fainting part. The improved esper powers could just be a placebo effect. The power of suggestion can't be underestimated.

"Hmm..." How would her power develop if she suddenly gain several levels?

The walk from the alleyway to the Judgement branch was about as uneventful as you you could hope for, which is to say that Kuroko only briefly berated the Level 5 for failing to consider that even if she was going to take out delinquents, she didn't need to do it so excessively as to cause traffic problems.

The sun was still high, and the weather good, as the two schoolgirls arrived at the building housing the office and climbed the stairs, with the smaller girl pausing at the entrance and studying the obviously-foreign girl. Being as uninformed as Uiharu to their boss's unfortunate leave of absence, she concluded that this girl was probably here to ask a request, "Is there something that Judgement can help you with, miss?"

---

Looking away from Nadeshiko, the youth made an annoyed grunt and bolted, the enormous dog melting away as if it had never been there in the first place. He didn't seem to be the most co-ordinated of people, but chasing after him was made more difficult by the rubbish and its ilk that he knocked down as he ran. That was, of course, if anyone would rather chase after some blonde delinquent than talk to the obviously terrified girl.

Smiling pleasantly, Ruiko waved her hand. While she did spend a lot of time in the Branch Office, she was hardly a member of Judgement. It was just because she had friends there. Sure, she helped out where she could, but the black-haired girl wasn't exactly any kind of official. Still, she was feeling rather mischevious at the moment, and as a result couldn't help but color her answer in a way that might embarrass Uiharu. Because, to be frank, that was always kind of fun.

"No no, I'm not a member of Judgement," she replied, still waving her hand. "I'm just here to take care of Uiharu!"

I was just about then that Mikoto and Kuroko showed up. Leaning a little to peer past the new person, Ruiko titled her head a little to the side as she greeted them. "Oh, hi, Misaka-san, Shirai-san!"



Of course Kuroko was going to give this lecture... she hadn't planned on going overboard like that! Those guys had just really ticked her off, she couldn't help it! Seriously, how many idiots were going to go preying on anyone who went into an alley by themselves... It wasn't like Mikoto could just sit there and wait. So... it was just an accident that she had knocked out the street lights, right? She hadn't meant to! At least the trip to the Judgement Branch Office was pretty uneventful... Even if the Third-Ranked Level Five could hear the honking and complaints off in the distance almost the whole way there.

When they arrived, Mikoto was surprised to see a lack of Konori Mii, and the appearance of a new girl. Saten was, of course, a common sight in the Office, and Uiharu naturally worked there... So this new girl must have needed something from Judgement. From experience, this really could have been anything. "Oh, hi."

"Ah, I see," Annette replied with a nod. Well, that was on confirmation then, and a detail she filed away for later. If this 'take care of' involved doing what she had just seen Saten doing though, it probably wasn't all that appreciated. But she couldn't judge based off of a few minutes of interaction. Who knew, maybe Saten was useful in some way that she just hadn't seen yet.

Their discussion was interrupted by new arrivals, and Annette shifted to face the two of them. One was a Judgment member, as shown by the proudly displayed arm band, while the other was not. But her face seemed familiar, and Annette struggled to recall it as 'hellos' were exchanged.

She rose to her feet nonetheless as she bowed once more, to precise angles for societal norms. "Hello. My name is Annette Delauney. I'm actually transferring in effective tomorrow," she explained, a repetition of what she had said to Uiharu before. But that was to be expected, and she had no reason to think down on them for that when they hadn't been present before.

With the name drop via Saten, and her own memories, things at last clicked into place. Her eyes widened slightly in realization before Annette addressed another bow, deeper this time, towards Misaka. "Ah, you must be Misaka Mikoto. It's an honor to meet you in person." That it was. In fact, Annette had been hoping to meet her before, but the opportunity had never arisen, for various reasons. Regardless, now she had.

Beatrix gave her servant a blank look, completely missing what the taller girl was implying. Was she talking about romance stories? How were those embarrassing? They weren't even explicit! Only, like, a bajillion kiss scenes in one of them! No way would she ever 'kyaa' over something so mundane!

...Besides, she'd already got all of the scandalised blushing out of her system.

At any rate, the girl had apparently found something she liked. Something called Kinnikuman. It sounded vaguely familiar, though Beatrix didn't really remember actually reading it. It was either unimpressive, or she simply hadn't gotten around to it. After all, she had so many things to get done! And every time the gothic-lolita thought she had finished catching up, a completely new title showed up in her collection somehow. And were most certainly not series so awful and/or traumatising that they were hurriedly wiped from her memory before she could think to dispose of the offending material.

Come to think of it, she still had to reward this girl, right? Well... might as well give her the manga, right? Not like Beatrix would miss it terribly; buying them again wouldn't be a problem, and she was hardly attached to that series anyway.
As Beatrix opened her mouth to bless her guest with good firtune, however, she suddenly rushed out, having forgotten about some errand. All Beatrix could do was stare silently as her head was patted and Torako left. At least she took the time to introduce herself. But still...

"...Hmph. Who forgets important stuff..." Beatrix grumbled, her cheeks reddening slightly. Having someone act so... friendly and familiar was a really weird experience. Not at all like the grovelling she clearly deserved. Oh well, that was fun while it lasted. With a faint sigh, Beatrix busied herself with piling the manga up once more.

Kyouma glanced at the restaurant signs in the area absentmindedly as he strolled down the street, contemplating which would be the most convenient for this time of day. He hadn't taken any time since he had been transferred over to go check out the streets (too busy studying, of course), so he had absolutely no clue what places were good, which weren't, and so on and so forth. If only he was back in a section of town he knew well- then he could just swing on by, grab some food to go and be on his way back home. But that wasn't the case anymore, now was it?

As he turned back to face the road in front of him, Kyouma noticed someone running at high speed towards him. What kind of person would...?

"Oh, it's-!" he said in momentary shock before moving to get out of the incoming girl's way. Right. That girl. One of those kouhai that he always saw standing out in the hallways as he walked to his classroom with his face buried in a book. He should've expected as much to happen to him on his first trip out in a while, though.

"Would it be better to stop her and ask her for a place to eat at...? No, that'd be too awkward. She looks like she's in a hurry, too..." he reasoned to himself quietly as he glanced at the signs once more. Geez, wasn't there anything that wasn't marketed towards kids here? Or, at the very least, something that looked relatively normal...

Even though it was gone, even though that huge, horrible thing was no longer there, Nadeshiko couldn't stop trembling. If... If that girl hadn't shown up when she did, what would've happened? She didn't want to think about that at all...

"H-haaah..."

The girl was pretty, too... If she wasn't currently so terrified, she would probably... Well, she would probably just blush and mumble incoherently at her, but still. It would've been a noted improvement on her just shaking and staring into space, honestly. It hadn't even properly clicked in that not only was the danger gone, but that there was a cute girl standing right in front of her, really.

Murakawa Torako

She zoomed past several person down the street, before a familiar face passed her.

"HAH!" Tora skidded to a stop, did a full 180 turn and sprinted towards him.

There was some disagreement with her friends for quite some time now; about how his ability works. She herself was convinced it only affected where he could see, and her friend argued it probably works in an area around him, and the rest simply divided their opinion between them. Since she was usually busy with something else whenever she met him, this would be a good time to see if he does only see where he could see, or if he could see in an area around him.

She could see him now, his back turned to her; the perfect chance to end that argument once and for all. Using her top speed, she coiled up like a spring and launched herself at him in a flying tackle.

"TEI~!"

---

Uiharu Kazari

"No no, I'm not a member of Judgement," Saten replied, still waving her hand. "I'm just here to take care of Uiharu!"

"Hmm hmm..." Kazari nodded sagely before realizing what Saten said. "Eh?"

Before she could retort however, Shirai Kuroko returned, bringing along Misaka Mikoto. Shirai looked kinda annoyed, while Misaka was looking as nonchalant as ever. Ah, she must had some boys after her again today. Odd how they keep on flocking to her. People should have figured out long ago Tokiwadai students weren't people you could just mug, much less the Railgun herself. "Ah, welcome back Shirai, Misaka."

Judging from her question, it seemed even Shirai had not heard of the transfer.