A Certain Bizarre Incident

[Verite]

Accelerator and Tsuchimikado would walk quite a ways from the market that was already near Misaka's position before Accelerator had even left. The two young men walked in silence for the most part, Accelerator's hand tucked into his pocket while the other used his crutch to help him walk, seeming to only want to get whatever Tsuchimikado wanted over with, while the other was far more nonchalant, holding his head up high and his arms folded behind his head, before the sunglasses-wearing teen would glance towards Accelerator.

"So... You're not, like, shacking up with her, are you?~ Because I mean, she--"

"With a flick of the wrist, I can break every single bone in your body."

"--Never mind."

This was going to be a long walk.

---

While Worst would collect the needed items at the market by herself, the process itself seeming uneventful at first, a man would come out of the blue and accidentally bump into her, making a small, surprised grunt as he would do so. Staggering back a bit, as he didn't seem to notice her, the man would quickly gather his bearings and clear his throat.

Upon inspection, the man almost looked Caucasian, judging by his pale skin and blonde hair, but his face had something Japanese about it. He stood nine centimeters taller than Worst, and sported a suit that was, of all colors, lavender, rather than a standard white, black, dark blue, or something like that. He certainly didn't look like he was from around here.

"Ah... I'm very sorry, young miss. Are you alright?" He asked, seemingly concerned, though it was a little hard to tell at first because of how strangely calm his voice was.

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

"Ahh, Misaka's bored."

Without Accelerator around, the mundaneness of the task really hit her. She'd gone out on the trip in the first place pretty much solely to bother him, after all. Without him around, her motivation was shot. Still, she preferred eating to not eating so she reluctantly continued the process of shopping.

bump

Having to take a step or two back from the impact, Worst quickly scanned him. It wasn't impossible for her to bump into someone, but she liked to imagine that she was more aware than that. Even if someone wasn't paying attention, she was, and would thus avoid them. Unless she wanted to bump into them, or something strange like that. In that way, simply bumping into her was suspicious in its own right. Though that ended up being nothing compared to his appearance. It wasn't unheard of for non-Japanese to be in Academy City exactly, but the pale skin and blonde hair made him stand out quite a bit. The Hawaiian shirt guy's name was Japanese, so she'd automatically figured he'd simply dyed his hair to go with that ridiculous look of his. This guy's seemed more natural.

Were he not pale, his height might have made her think he was a bodyguard type of some sort thanks to his height. Thanks to her own fairly strange manner of dress, wearing an ao dai in Academy City, the suit's strangeness escaped her, but the hints of Japanese descent on his face did not. Visiting family, or something more devious? She liked to imagine the latter.

"Sure," Worst gave him a curt wave and response of affirmation.

Well, even if he was suspicious looking and sounding, she wasn't really in the mood to pick a fight or anything.

...

But somehow she didn't feel like she should totally ignore him. Maybe a quick question before going on her way. Besides, if she took longer here, maybe Accelerator would come back before she finished, and she could pester him some more about whatever business the strange Hawaiian shirt guy wanted with him.

"Though, Misaka is curious. Did you dye your hair? Or are you from out of town?"

@Verite​

 

[Verite]

With that, Tsuchimikado would continue to lead on Accelerator in silence, the two apparently not having much to say, or at least, it would seem that way as Tsuchimikado was somewhat wary of what he would even say to the Number One. Hmm... There wasn't really much to comment on when it came to ITEM. Etzali and Musujime were all mostly doing their own things again so maybe they were... unofficially disbanded? Or on hiatus? Tch, what a bother.

Eventually, Accelerator would be led to a strange place. He wasn't sure if he could call it subtle or say that it stuck out like a sore thumb; the place in question being an empty construction site, or at least, a place that was once a construction site. At first glance, there wasn't anything that stuck out about the place, except... the dead body obscured by a white cloth. Huh. Well, that was something.

Upon reaching the corpse, as though it were something Tsuchimikado had intended to show Accelerator from the very beginning, he would uncover the cloth, revealing the deceased to be a woman, likely somewhere in her twenties to thirties, implying that she was one of the few adults that resided in Academy City.

"... Hmph."

Accelerator hardly reacted to the sight of the corpse alone, besides an ambiguous grunt, but something was definitely wrong. Perhaps it was just him, but it didn't take a genius to take note of certain things about the scene. Most notably, the lack of any force, like Judgment or even Anti-Skill, in the area would imply that someone else had discovered the body. Like Tsuchimikado's boss-man, whoever the hell it even was anyway, wanting to cover it up, but the million-dollar question would be "Why?"

Perhaps that in itself was enough to make Accelerator just a tad interested.

"A dead body, huh? So what's so special about it? If it's not the person who died that's important, then... I assume we have some crazy worm on the loose?"

"Well, before I get into the nitty gritty... Tell me, Number One, do you notice anything strange about the state of the body?"

"You mean besides the fact that the body is in a place like this where it's gonna inevitably found?"

"I have reason to believe that she... fell. Likely from the building next to us, though..." Tsuchimikado let out a sharp whistle, "She dropped a long way. And at such an angle too. Anyway, go on."

Narrowing his eyes, Accelerator leaned forward a bit to examine it, before he saw it.

"It looks like she got blown to hell like some mad bomber got to her, a struggle is apparent given the bruise on her neck, yet the thing that sticks out the most is..."

"... It looks like her hands were cleanly sliced off. They're nowhere to be found."

---

The man raised an eyebrow when he would hear Worst speak in the third person, but despite a somewhat uncomfortable look that would be driven away somewhat quickly, he wouldn't comment on that, at least not immediately. Glancing up, he'd run his fingers through his blonde hair, before diverting his attention back to Worst.

"My hair... Ah, no, I was born with it. Though... Yes, I suppose I would be considered... from out of town," he said, looking around the place with a somewhat troubled expression for whatever reason, pocketing his hands, likely a result of the man seemingly being nervous, as can be supported by light sweating on his part, though one could argue that it was a result of the heat. Eventually, taking one hand out of his pocket, he would hold his chin in thought, one finger in his own mouth, as though he was... biting his own nail.

"This place is... interesting, but not exactly like beautiful Morioh that I'm used to."

After a while, he would clear his throat, focusing his attention back on Worst.

"... Ah, where are my manners? Your name is... Misaka, I presume? My name is... Kira. Yoshikage Kira."

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

His reaction to her speech pattern wasn't unexpected. Talking in third person was usually considered fairly childish, and as far as appearances went, she seemed to be a high school student. It seemed he had the tact to not bring it up, though, so Worst decided not to either. That wasn't a big deal.

What she did find strange were his body language and the name of the town he'd mentioned.

"Misaka has never heard of 'Morioh.' Is it some small town, or something?"

She scratched the back of her neck as she tried to recall a town by that name. Nothing, even with the Network. Her own knowledge being lacking was annoying, but understandable. None of the nearly 10,000 clones having even heard of it, though, was unlikely enough to raise suspicion. And with the way the grown man seemed to be fidgeting almost like a child who'd done something wrong, she could say with practical certainty that something was up with this strange, foreign blonde.

There was no solid evidence, but this was the kind of man who dealt with shady things. The dark side, perhaps not of Academy City, but of this "Morioh" he came from. Though, then again, it wasn't impossible for Morioh itself to be a lie. Her two options were to exchange the small talk and leave, or confront him and find out what exactly he was up to. If Accelerator were around they'd almost certainly end up doing the latter, but alone she didn't feel as motivated to do anything about it.

Decisions decisions.

Her arm fell to her side, resting at her hip as she answered his introduction.

"Call me Worst, it gets confusing if you call Misaka Misaka." There were far too many "Misakas" for that to pan out. "Yoshikage Kira, huh? Well, what'd you come to Academy City for anyway? Morioh's some city out in the country, right? Misaka thinks the scientific Academy City would drive people like you away."

@Verite​

 

[Verite]

"From what we can assume by examining the crime scene and the area around it, I think the woman down here was chased up a stairwell in one of those unfinished buildings nearby by the culprit, and there's a blood trail that indicates that that her--"

"Blah blah blah," Accelerator interrupted. Math and physics may technically be his specialty, but he wasn't dumb when it came to other stuff. Except for the part where he didn't know what Chicken Marsala was.

"Yeah, I can piece it all by myself. She was chased to the roof where she fell down here, and either died on impact, or died because she was blown right off the roof. Either way, the state of the body suggests that her hands were removed by him after she died, meaning that he went through all the trouble to walk back down to the ground level to take it off, but... Why leave the evidence right here? Unless..."

"Musujime stumbled upon the scene before he could do much more than take off her hands," Tsuchimikado answered, crossing his arms, "Shined her flashlight right at him and it scared him off. He blew up the air around him with invisible bombs, rendering her unable to get to him before he got away. Still at large. This was all just today, I should mention."

"I see... So a crazed Esper with a need to harvest hands, huh? Haven't--"

"Actually, that's the thing... I don't think he's... from around here."

...

"Wait... you don't mean...?"

---

"Morioh is... a quieter town. A peaceful town," the man who called himself Kira replied, folding his arms behind his back, "Not like this place. And... I don't know how I got here. It is... quite distressing," he said, breaking into a small cold sweat, which he would try to conceal by wiping it off his brow with his hand.

He raised an eyebrow when Worst would start talking, but he seemed to at least get that her... nickname was Worst. Seemed a little derogatory, but it wasn't his business, and he wasn't going to make it his.

"Believe me, this... is definitely not my scene," Kira said, continuing to nervously fidget about, his eyes avoidant of Worst as he fiddled with his hair, "But... Before I can think about how to get home, I need to find someone. Have you seen a young girl, perhaps around your age, with dark red hair and twintails... wearing some... ah, less than modest clothing. You see, my niece can be quite mischievous, and can snake away from me when I'm not looking."

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

Worst raised an eyebrow, giving Kira the kind of condescending look that said "Really?" as he declared he had no idea how he got here. Some grown up just waltzed into Academy City without meaning to? Was that even possible? She wasn't sure, but the probability wasn't exactly 0. Probably.

"You got dementia already, old man?"

He didn't seem that old, but if he was forgetting things like that his early...

Though as he mentioned a niece, most people probably would've just thought he was looking for a rebellious niece that didn't want to hang out with her uncle or something. Worst might have believed it as well were it a normal person saying it. But he set off all kinds of alarms in her mind. Nervous, doesn't know how he got here despite supposedly looking for a niece at the same time, she simply didn't believe him at this point. But that just brought her full circle. She still wasn't sure what she felt like doing.

"Misaka hasn't seen someone like that." She shook her head as she replied honestly. "You might want to keep a closer eye on her, or some...unkindly people might get their hands on your little niece, kukuku."

Well, even if she apprehended him or something, she certainly didn't want to have to talk to the cops or something. Best to just leave him alone to his devices, if he felt so inclined. Maybe she could tell Accelerator about him. Whenever he came back.

@Verite​

 

[Verite]

"Not from this world, yes," Tsuchimikado nodded, a grave expression on his face for once replacing his signature cat-like smile, crossing his arms, "We think his sudden appearance in here as something to do with the residual power of the Right Hand of the Crimson Moon, meaning that Fiamma of the Right has become active somewhere again, or..." He began to trail off.

"Or what?"

"... Nothing. It's nothing," he shook his head.

"Whatever, I don't give a shit where he came from! If he's just some mad bomber then, why the hell do you need me to clean up the mess? Can't someone else like Etzali or even Musujime by herself handle this guy?"

"The thing is... From what Musujime told me, not only is he more than just a mad bomber, his power is generally invisible except to him, and if he can see it, maybe those who read his brain signals can see it, like Shokuhou, or..."

"... People like the Railgun, who can read those electric brain signals."

"People like Worst..."

---

Giving a somewhat unamused and deadpan look at Worst after her condescending quips, she would be able to see Kira's hand and eye twitch for a second, and then... a strange sight. With her Radio Noise, an electromagnetic wave could be seen suddenly appearing beside Kira, though it registered in the world as what Worst would be able to see as a giant blur (resembling heat waves that one would see in blazing hot Summers) in the air in the shape of a body with... cat ears.

Kira himself simply stood there silently for an almost uncomfortable moment, the "wave" in the air seen only by Worst simply floating there for a moment, before it would suddenly disappear as abruptly as it had appeared, mysteriously sinking into his body. Some people would perhaps call that an evil spirit or something like that, but who could tell for sure what Worst had actually seen?

Eventually, Kira would finally speak, this time in a somewhat lower voice.

"... I see. Well, I shall go back to looking for her then. Thank you for at least listening, Miss... Misaka. I should be on my way then in that case."

He didn't look very thankful though.

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

Worst's eyes widened just slightly as her esper ability recognized something incoming. Something that could only been seen through Radio Noise. As her eyes moved to look at what was causing the feedback, she saw a strange blur in the shape of a stranger body. Exactly what kind of esper power was that supposed to be? And why was he threatening it on her? She knew she'd intentionally been quite abrasive, which was par for the course on her part anyway, but did he plan to attack her just for that? What sort of attack was this?

A stray spark flew from her head as she subconsciously prepared for combat. If they were going to fight, she wasn't about to give the enemy the first attack, and she especially wasn't going to get hit unaware. Though fortunately, it seemed, he didn't act on whatever impulse had caused him to activate his ability in public like that.

"Misaka said to call her Worst, right? Whatever, Misaka doesn't really care what you want to call her. See ya."

With that, she put both hands on her cart to try to move on past the strange man. Messing with someone potentially dangerous didn't benefit her in any way, and the #1 wasn't around anyway, so she didn't particularly feel like fighting. Speaking of him, though, maybe she could complain to him about the suspicious guy later to blow off the steam the conversation had just built up.

@Verite
​

 

[Verite]

"Well, I wouldn't worry about her if you think she's in great danger. Getting Musujime to pick her up right now. She'll be in good hands."

"Yes, I trust her in hands that have probably groped many little boys," he said sardonically, before following up, "Though... I'm assuming that if you're sending her after her, then you still need something from me?"

"It'd be problematic if a guy not from this world, meaning no one around can identify him, would just die, or so says the boss man. Apparently a theory that he hopes he's wrong about, but doesn't want to take any risks, y'know?"

"... Uh-huh? So what do you want me to do about it?"

---

Wordlessly, Kira began to walk away, his business done with Worst. Still, when he would pass by her, she couldn't help but feel a strange "menacing" aura from him, like there was something definitely sketchy about him. Either way, it didn't seem like there was much she could do about him, so perhaps it was best to let him be.

With that, as Worst would continue to shop by herself for the requested items, Accelerator still gone for the moment, she would eventually find herself stopped once again by someone. This time, however, instead of bumping into someone, a hand from behind would reach forward and tug at the back of her clothes, just barely noticeable enough for her. Standing behind Worst would be a young girl, perhaps around her biological age, with twin ponytails and rather... revealing clothing. At least, for someone who was out in the open, standing in an area not touched by the Dark Side of Academy City.

Though then again, the market was a dangerous place. Killer cabbages could be anywhere.

"Y-Yo... Uh, would you happen to be a Sister by any chance?" The girl asked, a surprisingly intense look in her eyes as she would gaze upon Worst, her posture somewhat stiff for some reason.

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

At the tug, Worst looked over her shoulder.

"...And you're the niece?"

Well wasn't she the social butterfly today. The girl now approaching her certainly resembled the description the obviously suspicious man had provided Worst. Worst highly doubted she was actually his niece or anything, but it also couldn't just be a coincidence that the girl Kira had described appeared shortly after meeting Kira himself.

Crossing her arms, she turned around fully to meet her gaze. Ugh, too tense. She wasn't always like that, was she? Still, intensity aside, Worst liked the look in her eyes. They weren't those of someone clean, if her choice in outfit wasn't enough to demonstrate that.

"So, what do you want?"

She figured her face was enough of a real answer to the girl's question.

@Verite​

 

[Verite]

"... The what?"

The twin-tailed girl would only give a blink of confusion at Worst's initial words, raising an eyebrow and giving her a weird look for a brief period of time, before shaking her head a little and clearing her throat, focusing her gaze back on Worst.

"I'll take that as a yes. If you look like that, then you've gotta be the one Tsuchimikado talked about."

"God, he was right... The one Misaka with a chest bigger than mine, huh..."

She cleared her throat again.

"Name's Musujime. Say, you didn't happen to run into a creepy tall-ish blonde man in a weirdly colored suit, did you? He's sort of... apparently a murderer. A really strong one at that."

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

It seemed the girl wasn't so slow so as to not recognize a Sister when going about looking for one. Catching what she muttered under her breath, Worst smirked and gave her a knowing look. If one met her gaze for too long, one might see some condescension in there too.

"Musujime. So do you know Misaka's name, since you were out looking for Misaka?"

As the loosely-clothed girl got down to business though, Worst scratched the side of her head, seemingly annoyed.

"Misaka just passed him. A murderer, so that's what Misaka felt from him. He's an esper, right? He thought about using his power on Misaka, looked like astral projection or some advanced telekinesis or something. What level is he?"

@Verite​

 

[Verite]

"The Right Hand of the Crimson Moon. You remember the little ordeal with that, right?"

"Tch. Who could forget World War III?"

"Weeellll, you see..."

This was going to be a long-winded explanation, Accelerator could already tell.

---

Musujime's complexion seemed to pale just a bit at Worst's answer, as though her confirming her meeting with the man called Yoshikage Kira was something that made her heart drop. And it sorta did a little, though the fact that Worst was still alive meant that a bullet had been dodged. Not just one bullet, actually. Many, many close calls were had, and Worst probably didn't even know it!

Putting her hands on Worst's shoulder so suddenly, Musujime's intense gaze grew even more intense as she looked into the Sister's eyes for a moment. "... We need to go. If he left you alive, there's a reason, I'm sure! I'll fill you in as we go! I'll just say for now... His powers may be at the stage of a Level 4, but he's far more dangerous than perhaps even a Level 5 or so if you ask me, if only because of his behavior!" She would exclaim, getting off Worst and then proceeding to grab her arm and attempting to drag her towards some place, presumably out of the busy market.

The thing was, she was having a hard time with it, given she was smaller than Worst in at least three senses of the word.

"Nngh! ... Come on, just follow me!"

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

Worst resisted slightly as the twin-tailed girl tried to drag her off, just enough to prevent her from getting pulled. Crude, violent, or even downright murderous behavior didn't really scare her. Especially if he was only probably about as strong as she was. In terms of danger level, even Worst was probably usually more dangerous than that goody-two-shoes original. She was horribly outclassed in esper ability, but it was the mindset that made the danger. Like when that same level 5 had gone on a rampage to stop the Radio Noise project. That was dangerous. That was when a level 4 like her could no longer keep up in being dangerous.

So just a slightly more "loose" level 4 was nothing to worry about. Especially when common company for her included the #1 esper in Academy City. A level 4 would be put down by anti-skill or some other esper acting out alone soon enough.

But before all of that, Worst didn't even know who this person was, name aside, or where she was trying to take her.

"You're in a real hurry, aren't you? Misaka doesn't know you, and we're in a public store. That's probably the 'reason' he didn't attack. Misaka would be impressed if he had the balls to kill Misaka in public like this. But.."

Straightening her back and running a hand through her hair, she started to allow Musujime to take her along for the ride.

"...Misaka likes the look in your eyes. Can't be less interesting than shopping anyway, kuku."

The cart with the items she'd picked up remained alone. Sorry, chicken marsala.

@Verite​

 

[Verite]

...

"Oh, yeah. I guess that's true..." Musujime responded to Worst's first statement. She had the almost embarrassed kind of look on her face, like she felt stupid at the moment, but when Worst would continue speaking from there, she'd shake her head and revert back to her previously urgent expression on her features.

"A-Alright, let's go then! Besides, can't let any of the other people hearing what I got to say!"

With that, she would lead the Sister out of the crowded marketplace and into a more secluded alleyway kind of place, where they would hopefully be free of any nosy noses. Fortunately, it wasn't too far away from the market, so once their business would be done and cleared up, Worst could just go back to her shopping, right? Oh, one could only hope.

Leaning against the wall, sitting beside Worst, she began to speak again.

"Okay, here's the deal. From what that damned Tsuchimikado cared to tell me, that blonde guy... He isn't from this world. Ever since World War III, there have been small instances of this happening. An anomaly would appear in this world, thanks to the power of the Right Hand of the Crimson Moon, whatever the hell that is, which the boss up in the Windowless Building would usually be able to correct," Musujime began to explain, crossing her arms and legs as she'd speak.

"At first, they weren't anything special. Usually a lost rat, or hell, even less, sometimes just some leaves. But, not wanting to leave anything loose for whatever reason, the boss would make absolutely sure that they came back the way they came. However... Somehow, through some means even Tsuchimikado couldn't tell me, a few managed to slip past Crowley. But they weren't just rats or anything, they were human... Or at least, they were human in appearance. Because whoever they are, they've got even him spooked, rumor has it."

"Rumor has it" was only an expression of course. There weren't many rumors about the head of Academy City himself that concerned what exactly he was planning or how he felt about certain matters.

"So we've got guys like that man I mentioned running around. Wouldn't be so much of a problem if he'd cooperate, but... Well, I guess I really shouldn't hold out for nice things to happen."

She let out a brief, defeated pout.

"Anyway, you get the gist of it so far? I'm only at liberty to tell you all this because Tsuchimikado says you're privy to this kind of info for whatever reason. How well do you even know him anyway?"

However, just around the corner, unbeknownst to Musujime, a certain blonde man with purple clothing leaned against the wall, intently listening to every word the twin-tailed young woman said, the humanoid cat-like figure appearing beyond him, ready to strike should he deem the moment necessary.

Of course, with that kind of figure out in the open, by extension, he was also letting out a significant amount of electrical energy, possibly stemming from his brain having to maintain the figure.

"..."

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

Settling against the wall with Musujime, Worst crossed her arms as she listened, nodding every so and then as the information was dumped on her. Even she couldn't hide her surprise at the man supposedly being from another world. Just the idea of it made her want to laugh. But it didn't sound like a joke, what with how tense and anxious the girl had seemed the whole time. Not to mention something getting past Crowley himself was something she wanted to believe anyway. Even the head of this city couldn't get everything to dance to his tune, huh? If nothing else, she could enjoy that much in this...event. Enough so that she let a vulpine smile crack her face.

"Misaka gets it. Mr. Murderer slips under that Crowley's nose, from some other place Misaka doesn't know about, and he's messing with his plan. Misaka can't say that doesn't sound interesting." She uncrossed her arms and stood up straight from the wall, throwing a sideways glance towards the other girl, tilting her head a little as she thought about the question. "Misaka just met him today so...not at all?"

Before she could get a response from Musujime, a familiar sensation came through Worst's Radio Noise. One similar to the one she'd experienced back at the market, a rather topical bit of electric "noise." But based on how Musujime was acting, it didn't seem like she'd noticed. Well, he was around the wall, after all. With his secret out, was he planning to kill the both of them? They were alone now, after all. Ironically, running off like this had put them into more danger than when she'd spoken with a murderer without knowing it.


Now the Sister just had to figure out a way to alert the other girl without giving it away to Kira.

"So, what do you need Misaka for? Do you want to find him, or something? Misaka wouldn't mind, as long as there's compensation for Misaka's efforts."

@Verite​

 

[Verite]

"Hmm, you don't know him at all, huh? Not even a name or--?"

Wait, what.

"C-Compensation?! I should be the one getting compensated here! The stupid mission Tsuchimikado gave me was more like to protect you while he'd give the gist of it to the Number One to let him deal with the situation! If anything, the point of all this is so that you can be wary and avoid him, and I'm supposed to be your bodyguard!"

...

Musujme started meekly poking her index fingers together. A sign of a sheepish attitude.

"T-Though I guess I'm not doing this right... Not my fault I've never been a bodyguard to a pretty strong person in their own right before! From what I've heard anyway..."

"A-Anyway! Stupid Tsuchimikado told me that it'd be troublesome if you ended up dying in the crossfire between the man and ITEM. Something about the Accelerator possibly going berserk and indiscriminately fucking everything up in a furious rampage... or something. How close are you two anyway? Never thought the Number One would let anyone get close to him. I mean, that's what that vector shield is for, right? So no one can get close to him unless he lets it happen," Musujime said. Her demeanor became more business-like and less overly nervous, the small woman taking a breath and leaning against the wall, arms still crossed. Unaware of the man's presence, it almost seemed like her guard was down at the moment.

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

This girl didn't even know his name, huh? She sure knew a lot about him for not knowing his name of all things. Was he that secretive? He sure gave his name out to her easily enough. Maybe it was a fake name? She wouldn't put it past a serial killer.

Though as Musujime overreacted, in her opinion, to her proposed compensation, the Sister couldn't help but cackle as she switched between shouting and being shy.

"Hehh, a little girl like you is supposed to protect Misaka? You know Misaka is a Sister, right? Misaka is a level 4. Are you even an esper? No, wait, you'd have to be, if a kid like you is a bodyguard. Though Misaka isn't even a year old..."

It also seemed that whatever her power was, it wasn't useful for keeping track of the man, which seemed a little counter-intuitive to her, but that wasn't any of her business. No, wait, if they assigned a Level 4 a bodyguard, that meant he was actually pretty dangerous, didn't it? She didn't want to bother tracking the killer down or anything troublesome like that, but she didn't want to die either. It seemed that, by some bizarre coincidence, she had no choice in the matter.

Though as she listened to the rest of what Musujime had to say, the clone smirked, that line of thought temporarily derailed. She leaned forward, placing an arm on the shorter girl's shoulder as she placed her mouth near the other girl's ear. Uncomfortably so.

"Ah, the Number One and Misaka? Hmm, Misaka will leave it to your imagination~" Taking a pause simply to observe the girl's reaction, she quickly followed up with the other reason, besides teasing, that she'd done this. "Yoshikage Kira. You're the body guard, but you don't even know when the enemy is near. Misaka is sooo scared."

She kept her voice low, not playful like she'd led it off. She moved her head back far enough for Musujime to be able to see her eyes, which were aimed at the corner Kira was hiding behind at the moment. Better to have allies in a fight than not to.

@Verite

​

 

[Verite]

"H-Hey, I'm not a kid! I bet I'm way older even biologically than you! I-It's not my fault that you were manufactured with those little advantages!" Musujime said, apparently getting flustered a bit when Worst would speak somewhat condescendingly towards her, the shorter girl promptly poking Worst in the chest with a stern expression, her other hand rested on her hip.

Still, when Worst would lean in and violate her personal bubble so suddenly, Musujime's forced gusto would disappear as quickly as it had materialized, the twin-tailed young woman's face flushing just a bit as her eyes widened quite a bit, both reactions more out of surprise from being encroached upon so suddenly, even if it was from a girl, than anything else. After all, she didn't have any reason to be actually flustered, since she was more firmly comfortable with her orientation.

...

Just not when Tsuchimikado (and occasionally Accelerator) would slander her with such derogatory titles like "shotacon."

Still, when Worst would subtly warn Musujime of the man's possible presence, she'd get the hint, wising up quickly and nodding, talking softly back, ignoring the jab at her. "H-He's... Where?"

Hoping that Worst wasn't once again pulling her leg, Musujime began to quietly draw her corkscrews and flashlight with both hands.

@Kaykay​

 

[Kaykay]

"The corner. Misaka can sense in an electrical signal coming from over there." Worst stole a quick glance at Musujime's choice of weapons before continuing. "If you have any useful information on him for Misaka, now would be a good time to share."

Fighting without knowing the enemy's power wasn't smart, but sometimes you didn't have the luxury of choosing when to fight. With how close he was, Worst had no doubt that he'd heard everything they'd been talking about. Would a serial killer just let people who knew about him run free? If she was him, she sure wouldn't.

Backing off entirely from Musujime once the twin-tailed girl had gotten a chance to say her piece, the Sister began slowly inching towards the corner, small sparks of blueish electricity visible from her bangs.

Then suddenly, she realized she had no idea what her supposed bodyguard could do.

"...What do you do, anyway?"

@Verite​