"But if she can use Teleport, why didn't she just teleport herself away from the start?"
As a rather puzzling thought occurred to her, Natsume Sonoko immediately began turning it over in her mind.
Natsume-san had just witnessed Misaka-senpai chasing that ability user all the way here, never expecting the culprit to be a spatial ability user of the same type as Shirai-san.
Her observations of Teleport users—which really just came from spending a lot of time with Shirai-san—suggested that if they were truly determined to escape, even a Level 5 wouldn't have many reliable options.
But Teleport users had a cooldown period; that was their greatest weakness. It's why Shirai-san often prioritized calculation speed over pinpoint landing accuracy.
If, instead of using relatively gentle freezing, she had opted to completely shatter the woman's mobility during that vulnerable window, the situation would've unfolded quite differently.
Though, given Natsume-san's temperament, that was highly unlikely. At most, she might've employed some shock therapy.
Having gained power far beyond ordinary people, harming others had become an easy thing to do.
Natsume-san had always been reluctant to resort to extreme measures.
"Natsume-san, what are you doing here?"
Misaka-senpai had used the opportunity to catch up, looking slightly surprised as she glanced at the human-shaped ice sculpture embedded in the wall. She'd already pieced together what must have happened.
"There was a traffic jam back at the park—turned out the traffic lights were malfunctioning. I had a feeling it might be you, Misaka-senpai, so I came to check."
Natsume-san's face wore a slightly dazed expression as she answered honestly.
Hearing the almost excessively frank words from the bun-girl, a faint blush suddenly coloured Misaka-senpai's cheeks, and she couldn't help but grimace.
'What do you do when your underclassman catches you red-handed after you've done something bad?'
'Need answers ASAP. This is urgent.'
"Misaka-senpai, what exactly happened back there?"
Natsume Sonoko looked up, her gaze serious as she studied Misaka-senpai's face.
Seeming to sense the intensity of Sonoko's stare, Misaka-senpai's expression faltered slightly.
"That ability user and her accomplice stole the remains of the Tree Diagram. It seems they're trying to smuggle them out of Academy City."
"And according to them, someone within Academy City is attempting to reconstruct the Tree Diagram to restart the Level 6 Shift Project."
After a moment's hesitation, Misaka-senpai finally spoke.
"The Tree Diagram was destroyed?"
As if hearing truly shocking news, Natsume-san's jaw went slightly slack.
'Wait, isn't the Tree Diagram in outer space? Did some country or organization deploy an anti-satellite satellite? Or maybe they launched a railgun from orbit?'
"We can't be 100% sure yet. After all, all this information comes from them. But we can be certain that whatever is in that case is important."
Misaka-senpai shook her head, though inwardly she was starting to lean toward the idea that the Tree Diagram had indeed been destroyed.
"Then should we go after them?"
Natsume-san peered down the gloomy alleyway, but the ability user had long since vanished into its depths.
As for restarting the Level 6 Shift Project, Natsume-san privately thought the possibility was rather slim.
She'd run into that white-haired guy once after the experiment was terminated, along with Last Order—Misaka 20001.
That Accelerator didn't seem like he had any intention of continuing the experiments. And from what she'd heard from the Sisters, Misaka 20001 and the white-haired guy seemed to be on surprisingly good terms.
In Natsume Sonoko's view, without a viable test subject, the plan had no real chance of being implemented.
"If their goal is to take the remains out of Academy City, then there's no need for us to fight them. Let's just head back. I heard from Tsuchimikado-san this morning that there's cake for dessert today."
Forcing a slight smile onto her face, Misaka-senpai gently patted Natsume-san's shoulder before speaking.
"Really? We're not going to chase them?"
A strange expression flickered across Natsume Sonoko's face. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
"Really. Let's just hurry back. Speaking of which, Tsuchimikado-san's culinary skills keep improving."
Misaka-senpai said once more, her smile becoming a little more genuine this time, though a shadow still lingered in her eyes.
Time and again, she'd dragged Natsume-san into her own messes.
Misaka-senpai didn't want this underclassman endangering herself for her sake anymore.
If what that Teleport user said was true, then in a way, they had actually done her a favour.
Whether she destroyed the Tree Diagram's remains herself or let them take it out of Academy City, the end result seemed largely the same.
But for Misaka-senpai, unless she personally ensured that such a thing was completely out of reach, she couldn't truly rest easy.
'Seems the same, no real difference?'
How could such an ambiguous outcome ever satisfy the Railgun?
Even if the chance of revival was minuscule, she had to shatter every last possibility.
Back then, to stop the experiments, Misaka-senpai had destroyed over a dozen research facilities and even staked her life in a battle against Accelerator.
"Alright then."
Natsume Sonoko nodded blankly, like an emotionless nodding machine.
"But Misaka-senpai, weren't you out shopping with Shirai-san earlier?"
She asked as they walked, still feeling a bit concerned.
Though something still felt off, she reluctantly accepted Misaka-senpai's suggestion.
As for Shirai-san, the bun-girl was actually quite concerned about her—after all, she was a very useful tool... ahem, classmate.
Back when Natsume had injured her leg, Shirai-san had practically carried her to and from school every day. And whenever she needed help with something, she usually turned to her.
"Kuroko?"
Misaka-senpai seemed momentarily taken aback.
"We were shopping earlier when Kuroko suddenly got a call from Uiharu. She said it was Judgment work and left in a hurry."
As she spoke, a trace of inexplicable irritation surfaced on Misaka-senpai's face.
'Judgment work? It couldn't be related to that robbery just now, could it?'
'No way, what are the odds of that?'
Besides, while chasing that spatial ability user, Misaka-senpai had actually called Shirai Kuroko. Everything on her end seemed to be proceeding smoothly.
Lost in her thoughts, Misaka-senpai unconsciously quickened her pace, leaving Natsume Sonoko even more bewildered.
'Misaka-senpai is acting really strange today.'
--+--
T/N: 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.