"Ah, Misaka-senpai, so you're all at the bathhouse."
Pressing close to the glass railing beside the curb, Natsume Sonoko quietly watched the figure of Yumiya-senpai disappear into the distance.
Phone in hand, she was talking with Misaka-senpai.
"Natsume-san, you should come join us for a bath. The water temperature here is just perfect," Saten Ruiko's voice chimed in from the other side of the line, a note of pure relaxation in her tone.
"A bath together, huh? That does sound pretty nice."
A flicker of interest crossed Natsume Sonoko's face. It was clearly an appealing idea.
Even though her body always maintained a constant temperature, a nice, relaxing soak in a hot bath every now and then was still a wonderful thing.
"But Natsume-san, are you finished with your business over there? We were just debating whether or not we should bother you," Misaka-senpai asked, her voice full of concern.
"It's over. That senpai has already left. And... she was a bit different from what I'd imagined."
As she answered, Natsume Sonoko instinctively glanced in the direction Yumiya-senpai had gone.
Their dinner and conversation had been quite enjoyable, but Natsume Sonoko understood perfectly well in her heart that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, their paths wouldn't cross too much in the future.
Maybe they'd exchange greetings if they saw each other again.
A certain bun-girl knew exactly what kind of person Yumiya-senpai was.
A student capable of joining the Dark Side was definitely not as simple as she appeared on the surface. The sniper rifle hidden beneath her sleeves was very real.
It was just that another side of Yumiya-senpai was unexpectedly... pitiable.
"It's a bit of a distance, but I'll be right over."
A smile naturally found its way onto her face as Natsume Sonoko pushed all those complicated thoughts aside.
She'd had the idea to try and persuade Yumiya-senpai to leave the Dark Side, to live a normal student's life, but in the end, Natsume Sonoko hadn't breathed a word of it.
If Yumiya-senpai was willing to leave, or even could leave, she probably wouldn't need anyone else's nagging.
She could only hope that everyone could just get along peacefully from now on.
As for the so-called Dark Side... if light exists, then darkness will always coexist.
This world really is complicated. As hard to pin down as that brat Conan.
"We'll be waiting for you. Febrie says she misses you too," Misaka-senpai said with a laugh.
"Sonoko-neechan, come quickly! Let's take a bath together!"
That was Febrie's sweet, clingy voice, sounding like she was right next to Misaka-senpai.
Hanging up the phone, a trace of confusion flashed across Natsume Sonoko's face.
The world changes too fast. After just a few hours apart, Misaka-senpai and Febrie seemed to have gotten surprisingly close.
'Alright, time to get a move on.'
Rubbing her slightly full stomach, the girl's brow furrowed. Being full probably wasn't ideal for flying.
Natsume Sonoko had originally planned to fly over, but now she thought it better to ask Mister Robot for a lift instead.
'Strange... Mister Robot seems so listless today.'
Standing on a white cylindrical cleaning robot, Natsume Sonoko suddenly noticed something odd about the machine beneath her feet.
Even though she'd clearly set the destination, it stubbornly went its own way, as if its control programs had failed.
She tried several others in succession, finding similar issues with all of them.
"No help for it. I'll have to walk over for now."
Jumping down from the white cylinder, a look of surprise appeared on Natsume Sonoko's face. This was the first time they'd malfunctioned since she'd discovered this new use for the cleaning robots.
"Strange... these robots all seem to be heading in the same direction." Natsume Sonoko's pupils widened slightly.
She hadn't noticed it at first, but after trying several robots, it suddenly struck her—they were all moving in a uniform direction.
The bun-girl immediately fell into deep thought. Go take a bath first? Or follow them and investigate?
This kind of multiple-choice question obviously couldn't stump the clever Natsume-san.
Without hesitation, Natsume Sonoko followed behind the robots. Their direction of travel just so happened to be along the way to the bathhouse anyway.
The path twisted and turned, but the cleaning robots' speed wasn't affected. They soon arrived inside an abandoned factory.
Contrary to Natsume Sonoko's expectations, the factory was deserted. There was only a single small construction robot and a considerable number of powered suits, neatly arranged.
The construction robot was busy removing a specific part from the cleaning robots—small, purple, glass-container-like devices. Something seemed to be inside them. These were then installed onto the powered suits.
'Using the cleaning robots as cheap transport, are they?'
'These are shared public property. This is just too much.'
For some reason, Natsume Sonoko found herself inexplicably bothered by this.
The next second, Natsume Sonoko reactivated her invisibility, entering 'Assassin Mode'.
But the moment she vanished, she remembered something.
'These powered suits... they seem related to the plot.' Fragments of memory connected in her mind.
'Febrie... Powered Suits... Nunotaba-senpai... These purple containers... and the Research Exhibition.'
Natsume Sonoko frowned. 'There's definitely a big problem here.' A feeling nagged at her—Febrie might be someone's target.
She raised her hand slightly. The construction robot was blown over and sent skidding across the floor. Three of the purple glass containers landed in Natsume Sonoko's hand.
Within seconds, the powered suits that had just been equipped with the purple containers, as if receiving a remote signal, collectively whirred to life.
However, unable to locate a target, the powered suits just scurried around chaotically inside the not-so-spacious abandoned factory.
"Is it just these robots? Whoever's hiding behind this is really cautious."
Natsume Sonoko still hadn't found anyone or anything other than the machines. She decided not to hold back.
She reached out her hand and made a clenched fist. A chorus of sickening crunch and creak sounds erupted from all the powered suits.
When she opened her hand again, their heads and limbs flew apart, scattering into piles of scrap metal.
Natsume Sonoko had accomplished this using air manipulation. But from the perspective of security cameras or any method that couldn't directly sense air currents, it would look like the work of a telekinetic—though the principles behind the two abilities were worlds apart.
A mess of robot parts littered the floor, many twisted into unnatural shapes. Even the purple glass containers installed inside were shattered.
Natsume Sonoko didn't just leave the robots as they were. The appearance of weaponized powered suits in District 7 was something that needed to be reported to Anti-Skill, no matter what.
After calling it in to Anti-Skill, Natsume Sonoko finally set off for the bathhouse again.
Leaving the scene as the involved party wasn't ideal, but she figured she could finish up at the baths before Anti-Skill arrived.
Standing before the entrance of the bathhouse, named 'Yu Valley', Natsume Sonoko looked around with considerable curiosity.
To be honest, she rarely visited this type of traditional bathhouse, so she felt a sense of novelty.
Walking down the central aisle of the bathhouse, she saw a neat row of massage chairs.
On one of them, the 'masseuse' Shirai Kuroko was diligently working on someone's feet.
Her technique was skilled, her work attitude serious, but her face held an expression of utter despair.
"So the Dorm Supervisor is here for a bath too..."
A look of mild astonishment crossed the twin-bunned girl's face upon seeing the Dorm Supervisor here.
And it seemed Shirai-san had been press-ganged into service. What an unexpectedly tragic turn of events.
"Ah, Natsume. It seems this establishment is quite popular," said the Dorm Supervisor, clad in a yukata, pushing her glasses up.
"It's my first time here, actually. I won't disturb you any further, Ma'am."
Natsume Sonoko said this quite earnestly, carefully avoiding meeting Shirai-san's deeply resentful gaze.
Perhaps worried she might share Shirai-san's fate, Natsume Sonoko unconsciously quickened her pace towards the changing room.
'Poor Shirai-san. She really has it tough.'
Changing into a yukata, she loosened the band holding her bun, letting her long hair fall onto her shoulders.
With her hair down, her previously light bangs now covered her eyebrows, changing her overall appearance considerably.
Slipping into the bathhouse's provided sandals, she stood on her tiptoes to place her clothes into a high storage locker.
'Honestly, these lockers are just too tall.'
Once everything was settled, Natsume Sonoko slid open the central glass door leading to the baths.
A wall of white steam greeted her, making it hard to see clearly inside.
The concentration of moisture in the air here was perfect for her ability. It was just like her Mist Concealment technique.
A certain bun-girl could instantly create hundreds, even thousands, of icy weapons, hiding them all within this thick, concealing mist.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.