Ha.
The sky was so dark, night had pretty much fallen.
'Reiko' walked along the deserted path, accompanied by Misaka 9982, who had the air of a seasoned working adult.
Draped over Misaka 9982's back was an oversized cloak that didn't match her stature at all, part of it trailing on the ground.
Her thumb bore a skull-shaped ring, her lower abdomen sported a Gekota badge, and her forehead was adorned with a special pair of goggles.
Wearing her Tokiwadai Middle School uniform, Misaka 9982 strode down the street, swinging her arms cheerfully in a wide gait.
As the inheritor of all the belongings left by the delinquents of Academy City, after a certain girl had washed her hands of the whole affair, these items—once the symbols of those hoodlums—had become Misaka 9982's personal possessions.
"Are all the streetlights here broken?"
Slightly parting her lips, 'Reiko' felt a wave of drowsiness wash over her. It wasn't sleepiness transmitted from her main body, but rather, Reiko herself was simply exhausted.
She had accompanied one of her roommates, Misaka 9982, for cellular adjustment today, waiting there the entire day and only returning now in the evening.
To save time, they had taken a shortcut. This little path was all twists and turns, exceptionally deserted, and lacked any streetlights.
"Reiko's observational skills are indeed sharp, Misaka says, pretending to wear an expression of admiration."
Misaka 9982's eyes narrowed, the corners of her lips quirking up at a forty-five-degree angle, her gaze subtly flicking towards a distant corner.
"Eh, thank you for the praise, Misaka-san, but that expression of yours isn't one of admiration at all."
'Reiko' offered a slight mental complaint, thinking this roommate of hers could be quite a handful sometimes.
But everything was getting better.
The Misaka Sisters' emotions were growing richer and richer, which was undoubtedly very good news.
After the emotional program was implanted, although they hadn't yet reached the level of ordinary people, nearly all the Misaka Sisters had shown growth in their emotional capacity.
Even Misaka 9982 had recently taken a liking to watching all sorts of movies, especially those Hollywood action blockbusters.
With the Level 6 Shift Project halted, any potential signs of its restart were being nipped in the bud by various factions. Even Accelerator had become an opponent of the project.
However, even though the project was stopped, Natsume Sonoko had discovered a problem.
After meeting Little Misaka last time, Natsume Sonoko learned that there existed a control center among the Misaka Sisters: Misaka 20001.
This control center could directly influence all the Sisters.
For some reason she couldn't quite figure out, that white-haired guy was actually willing to adopt Little Misaka, and Little Misaka was willing to go with him. By the looks of it, they were getting along quite well.
Though somewhat reluctant to admit it, the matter was settled: The #1 Level 5 was responsible for protecting Little Misaka.
"I should go visit Little Misaka sometime, see how she's doing."
'Reiko's' consciousness diverged across both bodies, both expressions turning pensive and thoughtful.
As for Accelerator's address, there was no need to worry. They could just ask the Misaka Sisters; they could all access Little Misaka's memories within the Misaka Network.
"Natsume-san, did you remember something again?"
On the other side, the conversation with Yomikawa-sensei was still ongoing.
Yomikawa-sensei shifted her gaze from the purple container someone had provided and asked, somewhat curiously.
"Nothing, I was just thinking about when to go visit a friend."
Natsume Sonoko was startled for a moment, quickly waving her hands in denial.
They walked the path until it grew dark, the only light left coming from the moon and stars.
At a turn in the little path, Misaka 9982 suddenly looked up.
"Reiko, do not proceed any further, Misaka advises with considerable seriousness."
Slightly taken aback, 'Reiko' stopped.
Although her ability hadn't been properly developed, leaving her computational power at Level 0, Reiko's Personal Reality already existed.
Reiko and Natsume-san shared basically the same Personal Reality, both possessing the ability to control temperature.
With a ready-made formula and a Level 5 master to control it, as long as she used the bio-computer inside her body to run the formula calculations, a small-scale thermal map was fed back from the bio-computer into the brains of both Reiko and Natsume-san.
So, by utilizing the bio-computer within her body, Reiko's body could also use the ability, albeit limited by the range of influence possible from Reiko's end.
Other issues, like precision and ability activation, could be handled remotely by Natsume-san without any problem.
"So many people, and all delinquents."
'Reiko' frowned, realizing the situation wasn't simple.
Delinquents were common in Academy City. They'd lain low for a while after the last Public Safety raid, but now they were starting to sprout up again like weeds.
These delinquents seemed to have come prepared, each holding weapons like baseball bats or wooden clubs.
Their combat power rating was probably around five.
"Boss, we finally found her! It's this girl who took our Skull Ring, and that cloak looks like the one from the Black Dragon Gang."
Over ten delinquents surrounded them. The leader looked only high school age, but he was forcing a ferocious expression onto his face.
"I see. You wish to steal my belongings, Misaka states, feeling no internal alarm whatsoever."
Misaka 9982 tilted her head, staring at these delinquents with hollow eyes.
"What do you mean your belongings? These are clearly the property of the Skull Evil Gang! Only the leader is permitted to wear them!"
The head delinquent's face darkened, but he tried hard to maintain his composure.
Judging by the uniform, she seemed to be a student from Tokiwadai. But as the leader of the largest delinquent gang dominating the Mizuhara High School area of School District 7, he had reasons he couldn't back down. He was staking the honor of the Fifth Generation Leader of the Skull Evil Gang!
This was the last treasure left behind by his senpai who went off to university. Having finally gotten a lead, he absolutely could not give up here.
"I remember now. So this is what I couldn't recall."
'Reiko' instinctively glanced at the items on Misaka 9982's person, then remembered the things she'd previously entrusted to Misaka 9982's care, and suddenly felt a sense of realization.
But it wasn't a big deal, just some old, worn-out stuff. Now that she remembered, she could just find time to return it later.
As she thought this, both of her faces simultaneously showed a hint of guilt.
Even though Misaka 9982 had been flaunting that skull ring in front of her every day, someone had been completely unmoved, clearly having forgotten all about it ages ago.
"No. These are my possessions, Misaka states with absolute certainty."
No sooner had she finished speaking than Misaka 9982 looked utterly convinced.
"Damn it! Don't think you can look down on us just because you're an esper!"
The Fifth Generation leader roared, and his underlings rushed forward all at once, a scene all too typical of delinquent fights in Academy City.
Just as 'Reiko' was about to try using her own body to attempt the suffocation technique, she saw Misaka 9982 charge forward.
One punch sent a delinquent's front teeth flying. A sharp high kick connected with another's chest. The crimson cloak fluttered in the dimly lit street.
It was like a tiger rushing down the mountain.
There was a distinct sense of watching a Hollywood action blockbuster as Misaka 9982 plunged into the crowd, displaying exceptionally high combat prowess.
After all, from the very start, the Radio Noise Project was designed to create weapons of war. Every Misaka Sister was a trained soldier.
The Sisters weren't just implanted with knowledge of various firearms and martial skills; they also possessed the experience gained from their repeated battles with Accelerator.
The only thing was, she didn't use her Electromaster ability at all during the entire fight. Even so, it was a complete domination of these delinquents.
The ground was a mess, littered with delinquents lying haphazardly every which way.
The Fifth Generation leader, leaning against the wall with difficulty, was helped to his feet by a few of his lackeys.
'This level of combat skill... even without using abilities, she completely crushed us.' The Fifth Generation leader gritted his teeth. His gaze grew firm, as if he had made some decision.
"So cool." Someone's eyes were wide with shock, looking rather amazed at Misaka 9982's results.
The fight died down. Misaka 9982 still wore an expressionless face, but the slight upturn at the corner of her mouth betrayed her.
"Reiko, great success. Misaka says rather proudly."
They passed through the little path strewn with incapacitated delinquents, and soon saw lights up ahead.
And just then, those same delinquents, supporting each other, caught up from behind.
"Please wait!" the Fifth Generation leader called out loudly.
"Since we were unable to reclaim the Skull Ring, and you defeated all of us in single combat... please become our leader!"
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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.