Rustle, rustle.
Natsume-san's sneakers were immediately coated in a layer of dust as she tread lightly over the gritty ground.
Fortunately, Tokiwadai's gym uniform didn't include long pants, so with a little care, she didn't have to worry about getting them dirty.
The last thing Natsume-san wanted was to have to go all the way back to school later just to fetch a spare change of clothes.
A faint frown touched her face. With her ability being interfered with, she didn't dare use air pressure to blow the dust away from her feet, afraid that even the slightest misstep would send clouds of it billowing up.
"It should be right around here," she murmured, peering intently at her surroundings, her eyes—set in a face framed by a bun—darting this way and that.
Cupping her pointed chin, Sonoko Natsume focused on the pervasive interference affecting her powers, her thoughts racing with certainty.
There was no way Shokuhou-senpai could have outrun those attackers—physically, even Sonoko herself was more capable.
Although this place wasn't too far from the juvenile correctional facility, for someone like Shokuhou-senpai, making it all the way here couldn't have been easy.
She must have really pushed herself, Sonoko thought with a pang of sympathy, her expression turning serious as she pictured the older girl gasping for breath.
Her mind whirred, but then her gaze abruptly snapped toward a particular spot, as if her thoughts had somehow merged with reality.
She hadn't been searching for long when her heat map, now suppressed to a mere twenty-meter range, picked up something.
"Natsume-san, do you have any water? I'm dying of thirst."
Shokuhou-senpai's voice, already veering toward the loud side, echoed conspicuously in the empty structure, immediately drawing the attention of something—or someone—unseen.
Leaning weakly against a wall, a golden-haired girl stood, her uniform dust-streaked and disheveled.
She spoke with visible effort, her body slightly hunched, one hand pressed to her stomach as if in pain. Her expression was a mix of embarrassment and worry, and with every unsteady step, she looked on the verge of collapsing.
She seemed to have rested for a while, but the break had only left her with severe cramps in her thighs and abdomen, making her wobble unsteadily. She appeared utterly drained.
"Water? Of course."
Sonoko's mind blanked for a second before she quickly snapped back to attention.
Seeing Shokuhou-senpai safe, the weight pressing on her heart suddenly lifted.
She tried to summon a little water from the air, but found even that simple act was now a struggle.
Within this field of interference, everything that usually came so easily had become difficult.
And the intensity of the disruption seemed stronger than Natsume-san had anticipated. The outer layer was the weakest; the further in she went, the more oppressive it became.
Thank goodness for the buildings offering some shelter.
The layer of soil she'd brought in from outside had steadily dwindled; by the time she reached the entrance of the transfer station, less than a tenth of it remained under her control—the rest lost to the overwhelming suppression of her ability.
"What a hassle. You're truly a reliable one, Natsume-san."
Watching the bun-girl fumble for a moment before finally managing to produce a water ball no larger than her fist, the dust-smudged blonde upperclassman gave a faint smile. Her starry eyes crinkled slightly at the corners, and it was hard to tell whether she was referring to the water or something else.
"No need to be so polite! It's the least I can do. Besides, I promised Hokaze-senpai I'd find you and bring you back."
Sonoko responded in a fluster, her cheeks instantly flushing.
She still hadn't built up any resistance to praise, especially when it came from one of the seniors she looked up to.
"But Shokuhou-senpai, we should get out of here quickly. The suppression in this area is too strong."
Natsume-san soon composed herself, speaking with concern. She hated this place.
It just went to show that some of Sonoko Natsume's suspicions were always on point.
Espers might be powerful, but this city had plenty of ways to deal with them. Perhaps only by becoming that so-called Level 6 could one hope to break free from some of those constraints.
From Natsume-san's current perspective, a Level 6 was already unimaginably powerful.
After all, the ultimate goal of the Level 6 Shift Project was to create an Absolute Esper.
In the eyes of those mad scientists, it was something that couldn't be achieved without extreme measures—the possible pinnacle of esper development technology.
In comparison, a Level 5 was just a watered-down version.
"There's no rush. The reason I chose to hide here is because I've been tagged. Even if we leave, the AIM Diffusers—the machines suppressing our abilities right now—will still follow me like a shadow."
Shokuhou-senpai cradled the water, which was already gathering dust, and took a small sip, then began drinking in tiny, careful mouthfuls.
Just as Sonoko had suspected, Shokuhou-senpai was being tracked by some kind of diffuser.
"At least twenty unidentified models of AIM Diffusers have been deployed in this area. Even if a single unit can only weakly disrupt ability operation, their combined effect is enough to reduce even a Level 5 to an ordinary person."
"Whoever can mobilize resources on this scale must have significant backing. And they've already pinpointed my movements."
Her expression grew grave. More than being trapped, the golden-haired senior was preoccupied with figuring out how her pursuers had found her in the first place.
From the very start, she'd made sure to draw all suspicion toward her fellow third-year, Misaka Mikoto. If anyone was investigating, the Railgun should have been the one to draw all the attention.
"Maybe that foreigner leaked it," Natsume Sonoko suggested, raising her hand. She was, after all, a girl full of prejudices.
The only person who had ever managed to change her preconceived notions was her teacher, Kiyama Harumi-sensei.
"Not him. He didn't know about my plans today." Leaning against the wall, Shokuhou-senpai shook her head.
Waves of dizziness kept washing over her—whether from the diffuser interference or sheer exhaustion, she couldn't tell.
"Then, is it possible… that Shokuhou-senpai was one of their targets from the beginning?"
Watching the conflicted expression on the senior's face, the bun-girl ventured timidly. She was certain she wasn't the leak.
If there was no mole, then one of the strongest possibilities was that the senior herself had been a target all along—not unlike the situation with the Misaka clones.
Only someone who had been monitoring Shokuhou-senpai's movements from the start could have anticipated her every reaction, maybe even guided her actions deliberately.
"Me? A target?"
Shokuhou-senpai tilted her head, a trace of bewilderment crossing her lovely features.
Her golden hair was streaked with grey dust, the small pouch hanging at her neck was slightly torn, and the normally radiant girl seemed… ordinary.
Maybe, apart from their supernatural abilities, they really weren't so different from ordinary people. That feeling was especially strong now.
"Shokuhou-senpai, what exactly happened at the juvenile correctional facility?"
"And who were those people who attacked you? I saw middle schoolers, high schoolers, maybe even college students. That's not normal."
Natsume-san sensed the dire situation Shokuhou-senpai was in, but she needed to understand just how far things had gone.
And then there were the attackers—spanning all age groups. That in itself was deeply suspicious.
--+--
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.