"Ah! Shirai-san!" Uiharu Kazari panicked when she saw her friend and colleague stomping over in a visible rage. Uiharu quickly glanced at the clock on the cafe wall.
"You're ten minutes late!"
"Oh no! I forgot to report in because I stayed here too long! I made such a silly mistake," Uiharu flustered. She had only planned to accompany Saten to look for her Senpai and thought half an hour would be enough, but she had unconsciously lost track of time while chatting.
"Forgot? Uiharu, how could you make such a basic mistake? As expected, you're still only a half-baked amateur," Shirai Kuroko walked over with her hands on her hips, speaking with deep dissatisfaction.
But when Kuroko turned and noticed Takahashi Yuuya sitting at the table, she froze, her eyes widening in absolute shock.
"It's you!"
"Hm? Oh, I remember you. You were the girl at the buffet last time..." Yuuya smiled politely, his gaze playfully scrutinizing her.
"My name is Shirai Kuroko. You'd better remember it well. I, as a Judgment officer, will never let a villain like you get away with your crimes!" Kuroko declared with a heavy hint of hostility and arrogance.
'I never expected to run into him here,' Kuroko thought, her blood boiling. 'He's the Eighth Level 5! A monster-like Multi-Skill user, and the culprit who caused that stadium riot and almost got Onee-sama invited for tea by Anti-Skill!'
'Moreover, he has an incredibly ambiguous relationship with my Onee-sama! I've seen her chasing after this bastard several times, and they even had a secret rendezvous in the park twice! That despicable ape!'
Thinking of this, Kuroko's eyes suddenly turned red like an enraged bull, and she ground her teeth audibly.
'Hold back, Shirai Kuroko,' she chanted internally. 'Although you really want to stomp on his smug head, you are a righteous Judgment officer. You absolutely cannot stoop to the level of this kind of guy.'
She rationally convinced herself that her restraint was for justice, and definitely not because she couldn't beat a Level 5 in a fight.
"Shirai-san, why are your eyes so red? Are you sick?" Yuuya asked, feigning innocent concern, while secretly chuckling to himself. Those red eyes and the way she seemed ready to bite his head off but was forcibly holding back—it was hilarious.
'Should I tease her a little?'
"I am perfectly healthy. How could I possibly get sick? But sir, you should be careful not to catch a cold from drinking too many cold drinks~" Kuroko's eye twitched slightly as she spoke, emphasizing each word. 'Is this guy trying to pick a fight with me, Shirai Kuroko?!'
Wait a minute...
Kuroko suddenly stopped glaring and actually took in the scene. A cafe. Drinks. Sitting across from a girl.
'This scene... this looks exactly like a date!'
And who was the other girl? She wasn't Onee-sama.
Kuroko paused for a moment as a multitude of chaotic thoughts popped into her mind.
'Is this really a date?! Betrayal?! Two-timing?!'
Kuroko instantly lost all hostility towards Yuuya. Instead, her eyes lit up with an absolute, manic delight.
'Great! This is a super rare opportunity! This scumbag is a real scumbag! As long as I properly document this evidence, I can make Onee-sama realize that all men are cheating trash!'
'Then my Onee-sama will give up on men entirely! Hahaha! Whenever Onee-sama is heartbroken, as long as I, her loyal Kuroko, take the opportunity to comfort her and stay by her side, she will realize her true feelings and marry me!'
Kuroko suddenly puffed two streams of air from her nostrils, her whole body surging with excitement like a bull in heat. Various highly delusional images flashed through her mind.
Fantasy Misaka Mikoto: 'Kuroko, this is our 10th wedding anniversary. Cheers!'
Fantasy Misaka Mikoto: 'Kuroko, I can't believe we've already entered middle age together. Thank you for your companionship.'
Fantasy Misaka Mikoto: 'Thank you for being with me throughout my life, my beloved Kuroko.'
Kuroko was utterly lost in her own fantasies, a trail of drool dripping from the corner of her mouth as she giggled disturbingly.
Uiharu stared in disbelief at her suddenly strange-looking colleague, quickly waving a hand in front of her face. "S-Shirai-san?!"
"Hehehe..." Kuroko snapped out of her daze. She quickly wiped the drool from her mouth and instantly whipped out her smartphone. With an air of righteous indignation and the utmost seriousness, she began rapidly snapping photos.
"Uh..." Saten Ruiko's lips twitched slightly. 'This person is Uiharu's colleague? She doesn't look well mentally. What happened? Why did she suddenly become like that?'
"Pfft..." Yuuya couldn't help but laugh at Kuroko's expressions changing a dozen times in the span of a few seconds.
"I'm taking pictures! I'm securing the evidence!" Kuroko aggressively snapped photos of Yuuya and Saten from various angles. Click! Click! Click!
"Oh my god, Shirai-san! What are you doing all of a sudden?!" Uiharu asked in a total panic, mortified by Kuroko acting so inexplicably and without any manners.
"It's all fine. Okay, mission accomplished," Kuroko replied calmly and righteously. She then grabbed Uiharu by the arm. "Okay, come with me, Uiharu! We're already late, or we'll get points deducted!"
After saying that, she shot a highly smug, triumphant glare at Yuuya, and then vanished in a flash of teleportation.
"...Eh?! They're gone!" Saten exclaimed in surprise. "A Spatial Esper?"
Snap! A camera flash came from outside. Saten looked over and saw Kuroko pressing her phone against the cafe's glass window from the street, secretly taking one last photo before teleporting away for good. Saten was immediately embarrassed.
'Uiharu really has a... unique colleague,' Saten thought, sweating.
At this moment, only she and Yuuya were left at the table, and the atmosphere in the cafe suddenly became very quiet. Saten suddenly felt a wave of shyness wash over her.
She could easily liven up the atmosphere when Uiharu was around to bounce off of, but now that it was just her and Senpai, it felt exactly like a real date. It was incredibly awkward.
"Um... Senpai," Saten awkwardly didn't know where to put her hands. He had just kissed her to activate her ability, which made the isolation feel even more intense. Her hands nervously twitched under the table.
"Is it awkward for you to be alone with me, Saten-san?" Yuuya asked with a slight smile.
"N-No! That's not it at all!" Saten quickly denied.
"I understand. Besides, I actually have some very important business to attend to. See you next time, Saten-san," Yuuya said with a warm smile. Then, his figure vanished instantly.
"Uh..." Saten was left stunned in the empty seat. A sudden pang of sadness welled up inside her chest. 'Was Senpai angry that I was being so awkward?'
...
At the same time, Yuuya appeared outside the borders of Academy City.
"Tokyo... this is the first time I've left the City limits," Yuuya said, looking around the normal, non-scientific cityscape with his hands in his pockets.
He opened his System Map, filtering out the low-level drops and looking at the various Treasure Chest icons scattered across Japan. He finally focused on the highest-level Treasure Chest currently available in the world.
"103,000 Grimoires. Here I come to collect them."
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