Misaka Mikoto stared unimpressed at the boy in front of her. The idiot was apparently trying to save her. He was cute. So, that was a point. But he was also an idiot, ten negative points.
“What were you doing?” She asked.
“Being a good Samaritan by protecting the delinquents?”
He tensed and glanced back, “the fact that they stopped chasing after me means…”
‘Oh, good, he is finally connecting the dots. So, maybe he isn't a total idiot,’ Misaka Mikoto conceded in her mind.
“Yes, I burnt them all,” she said coolly.
She took out a coin and charged it. She looked at the black-haired boy.
“Hey, catch this,” a coin was shot. It left a blinding light. An attack capable of great damage. However, the boy positioned his right arm in front of him. The attack was dispersed.
“Imagine Breaker,” she softly muttered. She could see the boy in front of her getting tense, confirming her suspicions.
“I didn't expect to encounter another wielder of this power. I have heard of rumours of course, but didn't expect this,” she said with a cocky smile. However, her eyes, they looked at him with intense scrutiny. As if trying to reach into his soul.
“Hmm…catch this,” she took out a coin and tossed it casually toward him. He tried to catch it but stumbled and could only pick it up.
“What is this?” He asked.
“A lucky charm. I promised your father I would give you one if I ever encountered you,” she said.
“Wait, you know my father?” Kamijou Touma asked in surprise.
“I have met him quite a few times. Quite friendly and charming. Even managed to weasel a favour out of me. Anyway, keep that coin with you. Even that accursed right arm of you shouldn't be able to dispel the luck inside it,” Misaka Mikoto explained. Then, she left, leaving only mist behind.
Kamijou Touma looked at the place where the girl once stood. He had known who she was the first time he met her. It would be hard not to with how famous Tokiwadai’s Rail Gun was. That was precisely why he tried to help the gangsters. As much as Rail Gun was famous, she was also famous for being ruthless. He looked at the coin, tossed it in the air and caught it with his right arm. His right arm pulsed. As if something inside his right arm was fighting against the coin. His eyes widened in surprise, this was the first time something like this happened. Before, whenever he used his right arm, all Esper abilities and mysterious phenomena burst easily like poking a bubble with a needle. Now, though, the coin was actively resisting his arm. Suddenly, a sharp pain caught his attention and he dropped the coin in shock. He looked at the coin in disbelief. As expected of a Level-5, they were all characters who couldn’t be underestimated just because they seemed simple. He picked up the coin from the ground and left, too. In his heart, he was a bit hopeful that his luck would truly turn for the better.
Misaka Mikoto looked at the statue in front of her. A little girl in a mask waving a flag with a cast of characters surrounding her and supporting her. Today was a day full of nostalgia it seemed.
10 years ago
Greenland
A girl in a lily flower theme mask ran across the field. There were many noises. Of tanks shooting shells. Of men fighting and dying. Of espers throwing themselves at the unified army of many nations. She felt something and shouted.
“Shield!”
A giant translucent shield shining in soft green light sprung into existence. Not long after, a volley of missiles hit their location and the entire area was swallowed in a fiery sea. Around the explosion, many Espers and soldiers who were fighting could be seen dying, whether from the blast or the heat. Fortunately, they were quick with the shield, so they were unharmed. The girl looked around in worry. She could see some Espers surviving. However, there were only a few of them left now. They had been fighting for nearly a week now. The nations were persistent. Sending their soldiers after them, day after day. They fought valiantly, even against 1 to 100. However, this wasn’t simply sustainable, even if the girl had been replenishing their energy and healing them constantly. They started this battle with a thousand Gemstones. Now, there were only a few hundred left, even while being constantly supported with enough healing to grow back limbs in minutes.
“Are you okay?” She asked the giant bear of a man who created the shield.
“Don’t worry. With your support, I can still hold out,” he said, but his face was pale, and he was sweating. The constant bombardment was getting to him, too. The governments had been bombing them since day three of this battle. Thanks to the strong shielding ability of Joseph, the bear-like man with blonde hair and soft green eyes, they could still withstand it.
“Good, quick, we need to-” *Bang*
A gunshot sounded. Even on this battlefield, she could hear it as clearly as day. A lone bullet travelled through the air and pierced through the strong shield of Joseph that had been withstanding artillery without many problems. Time visibly slowed down in the girl’s perspective as the bullet struck Joseph in the head. In an instant, he was dead.
The girl wanted to cry, but she couldn’t. She needed to do something. Anything!
She looked through all the essences available to her in an instant. However, there was nothing that could bring back someone dead to life. Only, things that could bring someone alive to death.
“You!”
She looked at the woman who walked through the battlefield without a care in the world. A scar could be seen slashed across her face. Her piercing blue eyes were like a predator stalking prey. Stern and deadly.
“So, this was the one who was giving the Ally Forces troubles? A little kid?” The woman talked to herself, then, she pointed her gun again, “Sorry, kid. No hard feelings, okay?”
The masked girl scowled. She called upon her deadliest essences and started to shape them. She looked at the woman and the gun, which screamed wrong to her senses…
Misaka Mikoto suddenly woke up with a gasp. She sighed tiredly. It had been a while since she got those dreams. Then, again, she had not imagined she would meet a wielder of Imagine Breaker, again. Like this. And to think, he was the son of that old man.
‘Heh,’ Misaka Mikoto smiled in irony. How fitting. For a weapon that once killed his best friend to be inherited by his son.
“Misaka-San,” a voice suddenly startled her out of her thoughts. There, her roommate, Shirai Kuroko walked in. She was a level-4 Esper and an officer of Judgement, a student-based law enforcement, which sounded all wrong if you didn’t know the context. She was also a source of her headaches. For some reason, this student forced her way into this dorm, kicking out her previous roommate and remaining here.
“Shirai-San,” She greeted her back.
“This morning, Judgement found a group of gangsters piled up near the iron bridge. It had been deduced that an Esper with Electromaster ability is responsible,” Shirai Kuroko said with a tone of something, most likely blame. However, Misaka Mikoto let it pass through her. If she denied and denied it, no one could say otherwise.
“I see. Does Judgement want to invite me as a consultant since I am the strongest Electromaster in the Academy City?” Misaka Mikoto let confusion show on her face. It was delicious to see indignation slowly forming on her face.
“Hmph! Please remember that vigilantism is strictly against the law. Don't make me arrest you, Onee- Misaka-San,” Shirai Kuroko said those words and left. Misaka Mikoto sighed in amusement while looking at her retreating back. Now, back to preparing for school.
Another uneventful day of classes. A shame those thugs from last night didn't offer much in terms of information.
“For homework, write an essay on the Seven-day War and how it affects the politics between Espers and government factions”.
Before she knew it, the teacher had already left. Since this was the last class of the day, Misaka Mikoto packed her things and began to walk along the long lines of students towards the exit.
Level Upper, it was a mysterious device said to increase the abilities of Espers who used it. There were enough delinquents who were displaying power beyond what they should be capable of that she had to take this seriously.
“Huff, huff,” the man ran wildly through the alleyways without looking back as he panted. Spontaneously, he tossed back slash-like things from his palm. The projections hit buildings, trash cans, and power poles, slicing them without much problem. At the top, a lightning-clad figure dashed toward him. When the figure saw tell-tale signs of electricity, he gritted his teeth in frustration as he shot out a volley of wild slashes everywhere and continued to run.
“Ahhhh~, leave me alone, you psycho!”
Suddenly, the figure landed in front of him. The figure extended an index and the entire alley was enveloped in a sea of electric arcs.
“Psycho? Me? I am not the one who went out every weekend, chopping out innocent boys and girls,” Misaka Mikoto incredulously replied.
“So what?! They deserve it! If they didn't humiliate me and spread rumours about me everywhere, I wouldn't have to go out and kill them. It's all their fault!” The man argued back. Full of confidence, “so what? So what if I love the most beautiful girl in my class? Does that mean I deserved to be bullied? Do you even know what they did to me? They made me drink toilet water!” Now, he was crying.
…Misaka Mikoto was speechless. She didn't expect that backstory. She could sympathise with him to an extent. If that happened to her, she wouldn't go to the point of killing, but they wouldn't escape lightly either. She inhaled a long breath discreetly.
“...Okay, buddy. I don't know what to say to that, but don't you first want to tell like school teachers and the like, instead of, I don't know, chopping them into tiny pieces and feeding them to fishes,” Misaka Mikoto said. However, what she got wasn't an intelligible response but a bestial growl.
“Uohhhhhhh~” The man’s eyes turned pitch black and an unstable A.I.M field started to form around him. From near him, small, spatial tears started to form. If anyone went near him, they would die from paper cuts.
“Well, this is a first,” Misaka Mikoto commented. She shot a bolt of electricity towards the shrouded man, but it was cut apart even before it reached him. Misaka Mikoto contemplated her own signature move, but that would draw too much attention. Instead, she felt around her pocket, and a cold metallic texture greeted her. A coin. She flicked it. It flew with decent speed and started to accelerate. Everywhere near the coin, the space began to stabilise. The coin then hit the man square in the temple and he collapsed.
Misaka Mikoto eyed the damage he caused.
“This case is more serious than I imagined if this is what Level Upper could give to a mere level-3”.
Something piqued her sense. She immediately put on a mask.
“I am with Judgement. Surrender!” A girl with twin tails, Shirai Kuroko appeared on top of her. Misaka Mikoto stepped aside. Shirai Kuroko took out her darts to shoot. However, she froze when she saw the masked figure covered in flowers entwined cloak.
“You…you,” she tried to form coherent words.
The figure just smiled and put an index near her mouth. Then, she disappeared. As if an illusion.
“Shirai-San, are you okay?” a glasses-wearing girl in a Judgement armband asked her colleague who seemed to be spacing.
“I am okay. But I think… I will need to report this”.
“Report what?”
Shirai Kuroko looked back at her intently, “I think… I just saw one of The Greats in Academy City”.
“One of The Greats?!” The girl screamed in shock, “what are they doing here?! No, no, no,... What have these scientists done now? Which one did you see? Maybe, this won't be too bad”.
“The Illuminator”.
The girl fainted.