Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Railgun Chapter1 (section)

===Part 1===

The School Garden was a no-boys-allowed area of fancy girls’ schools located in Academy City District 7.

It was a strange place best described by the quote “above average is average here”. The European-style scenery had its safety and style boosted in every single detail and it was full of brand-name bag and accessory shops despite only a limited number of people being allowed in. That meant the entire corporate group had decided being a single rich girl’s favorite shop was more profitable than catering to the high foot traffic in the prime commercial real estate near a train station. How removed from ordinary time and space was the School Garden, you ask? It wasn’t unusual to find a middle school girl walking along the sidewalk while pulling on the reins of a white horse, its hooves clip-clopping along behind her.

The best of the schools there was Tokiwadai Middle School.

But even the upper classes spread rumors during their break time. Or maybe people like that were even more worried about titles and reputations than anyone else. Whispered voices rippled through the hallway of the Western-style school building.

“Oh, my, my, my☆ Is that Shirai Kuroko? She has made a name for herself in Judgment.”

“White Spring Holdings is a nationwide monster in convenience stores, drug stores, shopping centers, and casual stores.”

“Doesn’t she work as a herald for the #3 Level 5, Misaka Mikoto? Impressive work for a 1st year.”

She could only be described as strutting down the hallway.

But for the girl with chestnut twintails, this was normal.

(Hmph. It’s not like worrying about rumors is going to help you improve your skills.)

So Shirai paid no heed to the voices around her.

Even in the crowd filling the hallway between classes, she could easily make out that one back in the same uniform as anyone else.

That was Misaka Mikoto.

“Onee-sama?”

She called quietly from a distance.

No response. Mikoto didn’t notice her. That meant this was her chance. Hidden in the crowd, Shirai Kuroko licked her lips and silently activated her Level 4 Teleportation.

“Onee-sam-gwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?”

Her cry rocketed up in pitch when a high-voltage current pierced her body. Her body drew an unnatural curve through the air like she had performed a double jump.

Misaka Mikoto did not even look back.

“I knew you were there.”

“Heh heh heh. Should I take that as an admission that we are connected on a deeper level and any feelings we hold are mutual?”

“How can you say that while convulsing on the floor? And sprawled out to boot.”

Mikoto’s cold voice was the usual as well.

But that wasn’t enough to get Shirai Kuroko down.

(Today is the Friday of my dreams.)

Yes.

Today was special.

(Onee-sama will spend all 48 hours of this weekend with me, her roommate! For two precious days, we will truly live together!! Eh heh heh. My preparations are flawless. I have everything from an enjoyable board game to an aphrodisi- ahem, I mean a strange foreign supplement drink to carry out my perfect love plan that is guaranteed to let me score!)

“Hey, Kuroko.”

“Um, yes!? Wh-what is it, Onee-sama?”

“Why are you acting so weird?”

Mikoto tilted her head with obliviousness on her face.

She must not have discovered the secret death game modifications Shirai Kuroko had made so their dorm room’s door could not be opened from the inside or outside without her permission.

“Have you heard of those Forest Light coolers? Instead of cooling things with ice, they use a chemical coolant and a big motor, so it’s more like a handheld fridge.”

“No, but that’s a camping company, isn’t it? Were you planning on becoming a camping girl in this high-tech city?”

“Ah ha ha. I was just thinking owning one would make it a lot easier to stay up all night. The dorm’s food is good, but they only serve it at set times, so I was hoping for a fridge and a microwave. But there isn’t room to hide a big appliance, so the dorm manager would discover them right away.”

“Staying up all night, you say?”

“But with something the size of a cooler, I could pull out a nice cold can of tea whenever I wanted. Oh, or I could keep a shortcake around. The options are endless! We could say goodbye to this restrictive lifestyle where we can only drink water and go to bed after light’s out. This is our way to rebel against the dorm manager!! Ooh, I bet I wouldn’t sleep at all during the weekends.”

(Th-there isn’t a hint of indecent thought when she talks about what she wants to do while staying up all night. Is that a halo I see behind her? I feel like such a weak person for coming up with this plan. Gasp!?)

Shirai shook her head.

Don’t let the heartwarming mood get to you!! How long are you going to let “being a decent person” get in your way, Shirai Kuroko!?

“Oh, I almost forgot.”

“Forgot what, Onee-sama?”

“You said your phone’s account was broken, right? But you hadn’t gotten around to resetting your profile?”

“Y-yes. You apparently have to visit the carrier’s service counter to do that, but I can still send messages with a social media app, so I’ve been putting it off. What about it?”

“Since she couldn’t reach you the usual way, Konori-senpai of Judgment told me to pass on a message. If you’re on social media, you should just friend her so she can contact you there.”

There was a reason Shirai used an invite-only social media site. If she was friends with Konori, Uiharu, and other people she worked with in real life, she couldn’t relax and talk freely on there. But her Onee-sama did not understand this because she was a loner with no interest at all in joining an online community (even though she could freely hack into whatever community she wanted).

But she had a bigger issue to worry about.

She knew this wasn’t a message she wanted to hear, so she needed to prevent Mikoto from speaking another word. And with that making the perfect justification, it was time to seal those lips with a kiss.

But Shirai couldn’t quite muster the courage, so Mikoto continued with a smile.

“She says your martial arts proficiency is dropping. You should really thank her because she’s offering to sacrifice her entire weekend to help you retrain.”

All sound vanished.

Light spread out before her eyes, erasing the scene around her.

After passing on the message, Misaka Mikoto left. Shirai hadn’t even heard her beloved Onee-sama’s parting words.

“…”

Shirai Kuroko was left all alone in the world.

She slowly collapsed in the middle of the hallway, hung her head, and bit her lip. The stream of students parted around her and some gave her worried comments from afar. Those polite and kind girls failed to consider that being treated with such care could be the most painful thing of all at times.

Was she going to give up? Today was the Friday of her dreams. She had waited so long for this weekend. She had modified the dorm room’s door and window, checked and rechecked the flowchart she had written up to cover every possible eventuality over the coming 48 hours, and even set up a pink gas. But now it was game over before GM Shirai Kuroko could even attempt at reaching paradise? Really? Misaka Mikoto was the Railgun and she had a physical sixth sense using microwaves, so do you have any idea how difficult it was to set all that up without her noticing!?

She already knew the answer.

The words spilled from her slanted lips.

“…You’re dead.”

Konori Mii.

I must murder that ultimate busty glasses girl to reach my goal!!