Ruiko folded her arms across her chest, quite proud of her conclusions... and then Uiharu started looking through Esper profiles on the computer. Naturally, Ruiko leaned over beside her to peer at the screen and get a good look at who might be the culprit... even if she was still sure it was like the rumor said, and it was some kind of ghost doing all the knocking out and powering up and that kind of thing. A few bios went by, until the person who seemed most likely came up.

"... Huh, so he's dead?" Ruiko inclined her head to the side slightly as she mused on the deceased nature of the culprit. Well, that made things a bit different... of course, that meant... "So he can't be the culprit..."

The black-haired girl straightened and folded her arms with a smile. "Unless he's the ghost!"



So the most likely perpetrator was dead, then? Or... at least, recorded as dead. Part of Mikoto couldn't help but question it. Was this the work of the Dark Side of Academy City again? They could have altered the records... No, no, she couldn't just assume it was something like that. Though if it was...

There would be a way to stop it. There had to be a way she could stop it. Even if it wasn't the work of someone in that darkness, she'd find some what to stop it then, too. Just trying to force these kinds of things on students in the city... what kind of person thought of something like that? What kind of person though something like that was okay? Mikoto felt she knew the answer to that question, but deep inside she knew she couldn't stop questioning it.

Mikoto's serious expression faded somewhat when she noticed that the black-haired girl was still trembling and panicking. The experience must of really shaken her... She just kept looking down, too, somewhere near Kuroko's legs. The poor girl really must be terrified. She smiled at her.

"It's okay, you're safe now," said Mikoto, "So don't worry about that guy."

Murakawa Torako

"H-hey, I'm not entirely sure if that's a smart idea. You know, at all. There's probably a safer way to research this, don't you think...?"

"it's perfectly safe! After all, if it's already happened to other people, then there's clearly no problem, right?" Crossing her arms smugly, Beatrix continued, "frankly, I can only see an upside! Unless getting knocked out hurts a lot. ...Er, did the legends say anything about that...?"

Tora wolfed down the remaining quarter of the burger, chugging down the juice, before replying. "Of course not! Only that they passed out. So we can be level 5s as well! As expected of Chibiko, braver than senpai here."

She became quiet all of a sudden, as she stared at her empty plate. Looking up, she started eying Kyouma. "Senpai. You're treating us right?"

---

Uiharu Kazari

Kazari stared at the result.

The only one matching the description seems to have been dead for a while now. That was quite unsettling to say the least.

"... Huh, so he's dead? So he can't be the culprit..." Saten said. Then with a satisfied look she knew all too well, Saten gave her conclusion. "Unless he's the ghost!"

"Ahaha, I wonder about that..." Giving her usual smile, she started searching for more information about the lab, or to be more specific, what it was doing and what happened during the accident. Surely there had to be a report somewhere about it.

Kyouma sighed at Torako's bravado, unable to comprehend why such an illogical action would be the best one here. After all, in a city of science, the only things that made sense were ones that could be explained; that was how science was, after all.

"There's no need in particular to be trying to beeline for a 5, you know. If it was that easy, then I'm pretty sure at least 9/10 of the student population would be there..." he trailed off before gulping. "Which would mean that the city'd have a force that could literally wipe a nation off the face of the planet. It's extremely unlikely."

Torako's mention of him picking up the bill, though, caused a bead of sweat to form on his forehead. He had come to assume that everyone would pay for their own dish...

"Er... Well... I guess...? I'll pick up the bill as long as you two don't go testing this on your own. I'll be doing my own research on the side, so just let your senpai handle this for now." he said, glancing at his half-finished steak.

"...Damn. It's like it regenerates or something. Scary."

Beatrix silently poked at her meal, head turned downward in an attempt to hide the small flush on her cheeks. The bravery comment had taken her by surprise, and was trying not to look obviously delighted with the praise. Besides, her bravery was totally obvious! Much like her good looks, genius, generosity and awesomeness! To compliment someone like Beatrix was simply to yell obvious phrases to the heavens!

And of course, the idea of officially being recognised as a Level 5...

Potential unconsciousness aside, why was Kyouma so nervous about this, anyway? Maybe everyone else was just cowardly! Not everyone could be as great as herself, wasn't that why Beatrix was so clearly above everyone else?
Deciding that her meal was never going to be consumed in its entirety, the arrogant girl opened her bag to find her wallet, and upon seeing the manga volumes piled inside, finally remembered why she had come out in the first place. Nervously glancing at Torako and Kyouma, Beatrix found it extremely awkward to just hand them over now...

"...Sure, fine then..." she mumbled at Kyouma, closing her bag and setting it beside her chair. With a quick shake of her head, she finally chuckled, giving Kyouma her arrogant glare that tended to accomapny her self-absorbed words, "well, if you would finish your food like a good boy, we wouldn't have to delay! Honestly, it's just a little meat."

Said the girl that had eaten the least out of the three of them.

"Well, um... I didn't sense any large canine animals with my senses... I couldn't detect a viable heat signature of warm-blooded mammals and both hearing and sight couldn't find anything out either... I think the guy had an ability that made you see things that weren't there if that was the case." Though Sakie wasn't a Sherlock Holmes by any means, she could come along an answer such as this easily enough once she had enough insight to mull things over. "But still, to scare a young girl like you to this extent..." The high schooler murmured in a low tone as she looked over the tiny girl with a hint of worry in her eyes before reaching down and wrapping her arms about the girl once more to give her a comforting cool down hug, still very in the dark about the girl's inner nature. "You're safe now." Suffice to say, things were very soft and warm for the girl due to their respective heights and certain geographical locations.

Unfortunately, the data trail for whatever had supposedly (yet not actually, if this was indeed the person in question) killed Jun turned cold quickly: it had been some small lab involved in AIM research, and consequently its destruction had been of little enough impact that nobody had really made a big fuss about it. Exactly why a place investigating something so non-volatile had detonated apparently wasn't worth investigating--either a cover-up, or so obvious at the time that it hadn't been recorded in the available files.

Then, of course, there was the other problem: Saten jumping to a conclusion that could in no reasonable way be supported, "The idea of it being a ghost rather than this delinquent surviving is laughable. Moreover, we have no evidence that he is linked to the recent disappearances."

Or leads, without going through the alleys themselves--all they could do is wait for something more to happen.

Annette hummed as she shifted in her seat, glancing over to watch as Uiharu did her work. The girl certainly seemed good with computers, a useful skill that should be present at every Judgment Branch. At least that was one less thing for her to concern herself with, given the skill presented in the rapid search and return.

Sadly, what they returned was less than helpful. So, the only known esper who could have done this was dead, eh? Well, that made things trickier, and left them without suspects as to whom the perpetrator might be. It was a pity that the Academy City camera network was basically useless inside alleyways, or else they could have simply seen the entire incident.

At this point though, she was not willing to descend to Saten's level of thinking that it was a ghost of all things. Such superstition didn't suit Academy City, of all places. "Well, it could possibly an Esper with the ability to copy someone's abilities," she mused out loud, head bowed slightly in thought. "Though it seems unlikely that they would have held on to the same power for so long." It was better than thinking that it was a ghost.

She turned her attention to Nadeshiko then, gesturing to the computer screen and the picture of the man displayed there. "Was this the person who attacked you," she asked in a pleasant tone of voice, aimed at calming. SHe didn't have much hope, but it was worth a shot, right?

Nadeshiko couldn't help but blush as the electric girl smiled at her. She was so pretty, after all, and her smile was so cute, and her thighs had looked so soft... But she didn't have much time to dwell on this, as Sakie had decided to give her a hug.

...Oh god her boobs are so big and soft and warm and amazing and...

The tiny girl's cheeks were bright red as Sakie pulled her into her bosom, and... She couldn't help it, really. She didn't want to screw up her chance again, and she could always make it seem like an accident, right? Slowly, a trembling hand made its way to Sakie's backside, and lightly squeezed...

...And then squeezed rather tight when Annette suddenly addressed her. She hadn't meant to do it. It was out of shock, but... But it wasn't that bad, really...

"Um... Um, um, w-well um um..." Reluctantly pulling her face from Sakie's chest, Nadeshiko took a look at the computer screen and... Well, she didn't usually make a point of remembering the faces of boys, but after what that delinquent had tried to do to her she wasn't going to forget him any time soon. "Um... Y-y-yeah, that... Th-that's the... The g-g-guy um yeah eheheh..."

Ruiko grinned. Naturally, to her, the fact that the perpetrator definitely appeared to be the same as in the pictures meant that the rumor was correct. There was a ghost causing all this trouble! She didn't really know how to stop a ghost, but... this was Academy City, right? They probably had some kind of... anti-ghost project or something! That had to be the case, right? Well, regardless, she simply felt really pretty pleased that everything was fitting the rumor so perfectly. After all, the idea of a ghost going around and messing with Espers totally wasn't completely impossible and far-fetched, right?

Right.

Of course, Ruiko got a bit distracted when she noticed that the smaller girl was squeezing the taller girl's... rear for some reason! Whoa, were they a couple? Obviously it wasn't a problem, but that was pretty bold...

Ruiko paused for a moment and eyed Uiharu's skirt. No, that'd be hard from this angle... Oh well, she'd have to wait to try something like that out!



So the guy who did it looked just like the guy who was killed in the accident? ... More and more, Mikoto couldn't help but question if there was something going on there. It wouldn't be the first time that something shady like that had gone on by far. But... the only way to really be sure was to find out more evidence, and it didn't look like there was going to be anything they could turn up too easily right now.

The girl was still pretty shaken, too, the taller girl had hugged her...

"There's no wa-..."

...

Was... was she squeezing the... her...

Blushing red, Mikoto quickly turned away. That... that had to be an accident, right?! There was no way anything like that could have... could have...

It... it was an accident right?!

Misaka was spared the worst possible outcome--Kuroko taking a cue from the shorter and much more generally perverse girl--due to the Judgement agent's leaning over Uiharu's shoulder to memorise the apparently-not-dead criminal's face. Then, straightening up, the teleporter returned to her own seat: there was far more boring work to be doing, and she could hardly wander around the alleys hoping that the delinquent was still anywhere nearby.

Murakawa Torako

"Er... Well... I guess...? I'll pick up the bill as long as you two don't go testing this on your own. I'll be doing my own research on the side, so just let your senpai handle this for now."
"Yay~ Free food!"

The last bit didn't bother her. After all, if Kyouma didn't know, then it didn't happen. It was... what was it again? The name of that theory where upon something being observed it exists? But the main point was, there really wasn't anything he could do to stop her if he didn't know.

Tora looked over at their meals, only hers apparently finished down to the last bite. "Ahaha~ Take your time, I'll wait and.. AH!"

A glance at her watch told her it was almost time for her 10 km run. After which, she would have barely enough time for a shower before her study time and curfew. The supervisor there didn't really mind her breaking the curfew, but the knowing looks and the talks about how she's already became an adult was kinda unbearable.

"Sorry for the bother." She stood up and bowed slightly towards the two. "But I need to dash now. I'll miss my curfew otherwise." She leaned over to Beatrix and patted her head. "Be nice to Kyouma senpai now. I'll play with you tomorrow alright?"

With a last wave goodbye, she went out the restaurant and started jogging in one direction. Odd, she felt like she had been running the whole day. There had been quite a lot happening too. She met that kid who apparently lives alone, or... was her parents out? Well, a very independent kid nonetheless. And most importantly, she learned that Kyouma can't see behind him. Oh how she would gloat over her friends on that.

"Eh? Why did I go out today again?"

Some rumors about something granting people level ups in alleys or something. It wasn't as if she really believed it exists, but it was just that if it does exist, she wouldn't forgive herself if she couldn't at least say she tried to find it. With an aside look at her watch, she quickly restructured her usual jogging routes to involve as many alleys as possible.

---

Uiharu Kazari

"Uhnn.... This is kinda annoying."

Kazari was focusing hard on the computers now, bringing up a lot of windows and tabs to no effect. Not even a full detailed report on what happened. Just that there was an AIM experiment that failed, and a large number of people that apparently have died.

"Shira..i?" Shirai had already disappeared, most likely returning to patrol the alleys and investigate while the incident was still fresh.

Annette was certainly taking after the role well, all things considering, though uh... that girl over there was kinda... . She shook off those thoughts and addressed the two.

"Well, we have information on our perpetrator, so you can leave the rest to us." Though to be honest, she didn't know how they could catch someone apparently dead. There was something very strange about all of this.

Kyouma stared at Torako as she bolted out of the restaurant before sighing, pulling out his wallet and leaving his ID card on the table as the waiter came to pack up his and Beatrix's meals to go.

"Well... I know what my next dinner's gonna be. Breakfast too. Maybe even lunch. Man, leftovers really are convenient..." he joked before glancing at the door again. "Though... What was that about a cur...!"

Almost as if the shock from the mention of the word 'curfew' had a delayed reaction, Kyouma rapidly pulled out his phone and glanced at the time. Shoot- she wasn't kidding about that. Even if time wasn't exactly late, the fact that he wasn't exactly used to the area meant just a few more minutes wasted before getting back to the dorm. Darn; he had hoped to gather some more information, too.

Thanking the waiter as he returned with his (and Beatrix's) packaged meals, Kyouma quickly returned his ID card to its original position in his wallet and grabbed the steak before saluting to Beatrix and leaving the restaurant and beginning his walk home. Was it too late to go pick up a new book...?

Sakie wasn't certainly expecting the girl to molest her then and there in front of everyone else. To say she was embarassed would be an understatement, considering how red her face was and how much tremors the poor high school student was emitting. And then Nadeshiko continued to grip her butt whilst talking to other people! No, this would not do at all. Behind her glasses, Sakie's eyes narrowed as she began unconsciously emulating Mikoto in punishing perverted girls. The air about her was instantly brought down until she could see her breath vapors escaping with every breath, and limited so that only the tiny girl was encamped in that territory. All feelings of tenderness and care had flitted out the window. "I humbly request you to not perform such an indecent action on a stranger in public, please. It's quite unbecoming." If anything, her formerly warm tone was now even icier than the cold zone she called up about Nadeshiko.

Annette frowned as her gaze shifted from Nadeshiko to the picture of the man on the screen. So, she had been attacked by a dead man? Either ghosts actually were involved, which she doubted, or it seemed that the reports of his death had been exaggerated a bit. She would leave that to those working here, specifically Uiharu, to figure out. After all, she wasn't technically on the job yet.

She noted the...less than pleasant action going on rapidly thereafter, especially as the temperature began to plunge, though it didn't really affect her. It did earn a sigh those as she glanced from Nadeshiko to Saten, and then to Kuroko. "My my," she said with a sigh, her head falling slightly. "It seems that this Judgment branch does bring out the pervert in people, doesn't it?"

A chuckle then, before she smiled at the apparently terrified girl that had come to them in the first place. That wasn't their primary concern after all, at least not hers. She expected that the other girl had more of an issue with it, as evidenced by the current usage of powers.

As things stood though, there was no more reason for her to stick around, and she nodded in agreement to Uiharu. "We'll bring your attacker to justice," she confirmed, though that was dependent on several factors. But for now she would sit, and observe, and see what otherwise happened.

Once again, Torako was rushing off somewhere. Beatrix had to wonder why she was always in such a rush. Or, she would, but she was too busy totally-not-blushing from the headpat, her gaze fixated rather intently in the table.
H-hmph! I'm not a child, you silly imbecile! Beatrix tried to say, but all she did was mumble inaudibly, and only looked up when Torako had left the restaurant.
Her bag still sitting on her lap, Beatrix realised she had failed to hand over the girl's payment. That was... annoying. Now she was going to have to waste precious time looking for that girl again!

...Oh well, as long as she wasn't too hard to find, Beatrix was willing to tolerate it.

A waiter had apparently bagged her leftovers, and although Beatrix couldn't see herself finishing the thing any time soon, she took it anyway, and soon parted with Kyouma in an amicable manner ("You! Make sure to heed my call, should I require your service in the future!"). Beatrix slowly walked in the direction of her dorm.

Despite the lack of school due to the time of day, Tokiwadai's inexplicably strict clothing requirements--much the same as they had over the summer--meant not being able to wear anything other than the uniform itself. Though sometimes grateful because it stopped her onee-sama from wearing any of the embarrassing things that she would otherwise be bound to pick, an inability to dress nicely for Misaka was rather frustrating...

Today, with the weather being unusually nice for the season, they had ended up once again in the plaza, buying crepes from what had to be one of the most relentlessly optimistic businessmen in the city, though perhaps he had branched out into selling food more suited for the current weather than sweets. Not something that Kuroko knew for certain... after an incident, onee-sama had been rather 'insistent' that she be nowhere near the purchase.

Which meant that, with Mikoto being the one buying, she was currently sat close to the road on her own.

It was hard to say why crepes would get sold this time of year. But it was a remarkably nice day and it wasn't as if crepes somehow stopped being sweet just because of the time of year. So there was certainly no reason to pass them up. Handing over the money for both her crepe and one for Kuroko(after all, Kuroko was both her friend and someone prone to potentially tampering food if it was going to Mikoto with 'computer parts', so there were multiple reasons to handle all this herself), Mikoto took both in her hands. They were nice and warm in the packaging, and the Electric Princess of Tokiwadai was quick to return to her friend nearby.

"Oi, Kuroko," she called, "I've got the crepes."

"Ah... that was the worse."

Nothing came out of the alleys save some stray cats. Cute but some of them were vicious. Still cute though.

Having abandoned the idea of searching through alleys for some variant of the Level Upper yesterday, she wore instead her usual Nagaten uniform, having her own activities to do in the school. Torako walked slowly through the street, taking her time getting to the school. After all, taking down old posters and putting up new ones wasn't exactly a job deciding the fate of the world.

"Ugh... why'd I even volunteer to help the student council?"

Originally she had thought to gain a few extra points for being such a good volunteer, but the way the council worked the volunteers was tiring to say the least. Ah such a pain.

Tora caught the sight of two Tokiwadai students as she walked, her smile twitching slightly. Tokiwadai... So full of themselves and their powers, all of them level 3 or higher. She pulled out a small coin, and took a deep breath. Perhaps she could use her own abilities to set up a good prank.

Amplify. That was what her power was classified as. Its use was to amplify cause or effect to double its value, though her current limitation was that she needed to actually be touching anything she wanted to amplify. Perhaps amplify the effect of a her strength pushing down a knife so she could cut vegetables easier, or amplifying her exerted force on a jar lid to open it easier. And while she can amplify the magnitude of an Esper's power to double, doing so was rather dangerous. People amplified with her abilities did not feel any different, making it very dangerous when they use their powers normally. Tora and her friend burning off all their clothes weren't a joke after all; if her friend didn't catch herself in time, both of them could have been dead by now.

Thinking hard for a moment, she eventually gave a sigh and laughed to herself. Tora can't really think of a good prank to do with her ability. Perhaps it was just as well; she'd make them regret their hubris in another way. Tora can't think of a way right now, but she was sure it would come. Hopefully.

Giving up the idea of a prank, she cheerfully flipped the coin, as she started walking again.

And fumbled majestically as she tripped, flipping the coin forwards fully amped in her surprise, the coin smashing through one of the crepes the girl was holding.

"Ah." Tora started sweating profusely. "That.. I.. this is not..."

'Moving', for an extremely limited amount of actual movement and a lot more mental arithmetic, to collect the delicious treat from her onee-sama's hands almost got Kuroko blasted with an unusually high speed coin, her sudden position change putting her only slightly offset from the money's trajectory.

Though splattered with cream and other bits of filling, the teleporter didn't react at first, temporarily stunned over the loss of what part of her had been instantly treating as a treasured gift (for all that she waas going to completely devour it) until her mind hit on a far happier coincidence: there was now only one dessert yet two people to eat it.

"This must be fate's way of showing we should share, onee-sama," the girl said far-too-brightly, before getting a far more lecherous grin and looking down at the mess splattered across her chest, "Unless you want to eat the other crepe off Kuroko"

Mikoto held the crepe out as Kuroko teleported towards her... and then only briefly detected the approaching metal before the coin went clear through the crepe and splattered cream and filling everywhere. Well, mostly onto Kuroko. For a few moments, Mikoto stood bewildered as she held the sad, destroyed remains of the tasty snack in one hand, her own crepe totally unharmed. Her eyes went from the ruined crepe to the direction of the coin, ultimately falling upon what appeared to be the girl who had tossed it looking rather shocked herself. Had it been an accident? It seemed unlikely given how targeted the coin appeared, but...

Mikoto sighed.

"Did you trip or something? Jeez, the chances of something like that..." she complained, unsure of just how much she could blame the older girl. It did seem like an accident, and so when she spoke her tone was disappointed rather than angry. "It's not like I can go up and ask for another one..."

Though... maybe it was intentional? That coin had hit awfully hard...

"Sorry Kuroko..." she began, before glancing at the other girl, "Did you-"

Mikoto cut herself off when she saw that expression on Kuroko's face. Share? Oh no, she knew exactly how her twintailed roommate would take something like that! Sharing food with Kuroko would lead only to perversion! And.. and even worse eat... eating the crepe off of her body?! Flustered at the embarrassing, perverted suggestions, electricity crackled around the Third-Ranked Level Five's head.

"Suggesting... something so perverted... you...!"