Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:RailgunSS3 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 2===

“Fuck this! Fuck that! And fuck her most of all!!!!!”

Afterschool, Shirai Kuroko was slamming a metal bat against white balls at a District 7 batting cage. In what may have been derived from sushi-making robots, this batting cage used a pitching arm with actual fingers, so it could throw breaking balls.

Saten Ruiko looked exasperated as she calmly watched from behind the safety net.

“Shirai-san sure is acting wild today.”

“Is she? She does so many bizarre things that I’m not sure this is worse than usual.”

“Uiharu-san, I’ve been defending you against rumors that you’re secretly a black-hearted person, so please don’t make me regret standing up for you.”

“Shirai-saaaan! We can see your underweeeear!”

“Wow, the world is a big place. I don’t even know what to call underwear that perverted!!”

They had come here instead of the usual family restaurant because Shirai Kuroko was feeling frustrated. Saten had suggested using this nearby batting cage, but Shirai was swinging the aluminum bat at the baseballs with such ferocity you would think she was trying to slice them in two.

“Argh!!”

After an angry outburst, the girl in question stomped over with bat in hand.

She had completed the three sets of three balls. The pitching machine stopped and the LCD screen displayed her various results such as batting average. She tended toward right fly balls and she had some trouble with forkballs that flew straight toward the high inside corner before dropping down.

She spun the bat around by twisting her wrist and childishly pouted her lips toward the LCD screen.

“A vintage instrument? The world’s finest sound? Argh, I don’t care!!”

“Wow, Shirai-san’s venting at us without bothering to explain anything.”

“And these are called purple silk butterfly open-back panties! I must always wear the finest lingerie so I am ready for Onee-sama to have her way with me anytime and anywhere!!”

“I didn’t want an explanation of your perversion!! Your mom must be crying, Shirai-san!!”

“I can’t stand it. I just can’t stand it. The memory alone is pissing me off. I get enough credit from Judgment activities that I honestly don’t really care how I rank in the elective exam. As long as I get a passing grade. But I can’t stand the thought of that black spiral twintail girl lording it over me with some exaggerated laugh!! What did I ever do to deserve this!? Is dealing with this kind of pain-in-the-ass supposed to be my duty as a public servant or something? Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

She vented for even longer without really explaining.

The other two girls realized they could not get through this just by nodding in agreement, so they looked behind them.

“M-M-Misaka-san. A little help please.”

Misaka Mikoto seemed interested in the kitchen space for the snack area at the very edge of the batting cage facility. She had her hands pressed against the glass divider while intensely focused on the junk food you could not get at their normal family restaurant: yakisoba, okonomiyaki, grilled rice balls, and anything else that could be cooked on a giant grill. The round indentations on one edge were probably for takoyaki. But she did not seem that interested in eating the food. She was instead enjoying the performance the cook put on with the spatula while cooking it all. That meant her back was fully turned on Shirai Kuroko the Lost Lamb.

“(Misaka-san is ultra dry, so wouldn’t that be like pouring oil on the Shirai-san fire?)”

“(I think that’s just how she shows her love.)”

While Saten and Uiharu whispered to each other, Misaka Mikoto finally turned around to respond. She had apparently succumbed to the temptation and bought some takoyaki from the big-sisterly festival-style cook.

“Hm, you know what, Kuroko?”

“Yes? Uh, woof, woof!!”

“You said her violin is a Stativarius, right?”

“Ugeh!? A Stativarius!?” shouted Uiharu while bristling at the thought.

Saten did not seem to recognize the name. She was unlikely to hear about something like that unless it carried a strange legend about each of its owners dying under suspicious circumstances.

“What’s that?”

“Simply put, it’s a violin that goes for hundreds of millions of yen at auction.”

“Bff!? Hold on, I thought we were talking about a middle schooler here! We are, aren’t we!?”

“Yes, we are, Saten-san. I’m glad you noticed. But this is prestigious Tokiwadai Middle School we’re talking about! I bet they spend stupid amounts of money without batting an eye! They’re the loosest girls in town when it comes to their pocketbooks!!”

Shirai gave those two a look, but they paid her no heed.

Saten kept the whispered conversation going with Uiharu.

“But isn’t it kind of messed up that they can get a good grade by buying a vintage instrument instead of through their hard work or practice?”

“How you go about getting that antique is probably part of the fierce fighting between those rich girls.”

Shirai was growing increasingly worried about what kind of classy space-time was developing in those girls’ minds.

Misaka Mikoto did not bother addressing that as she used a toothpick to pop a takoyaki in her mouth and fiercely fought with it because it was hotter than she expected.

“Hot, hot! So what’s this Stativarius’s name?”

“Ainsel!!”

“Munch, munch. I had a feeling.”

She somehow managed to swallow the takoyaki and rubbed her temple with her index finger.

“You said she got it through some special connections, but she probably meant Shokuhou Misaki.”

“What?”

“She’s the Queen of Tokiwadai’s biggest clique and she’s my biggest enemy. I’ve never heard of this Sakibasu Yuri girl before, but that could mean she’s a new member of the clique. I do know the name Stativarius Ainsel, though. This might be a proxy war between Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki. She’s probably trying to settle things once and for all by pitting our underclassmen against each other.”

“Ghh.”

The crazed bat-wielding twintail girl (equipped with a see-through butterfly) hung her head and groaned.

Except…?

“You mean I was targeted because I am your favorite? Heh…heh heh. Ah ha ha ha! I was wrong about you, Sakibasu Yuri!! That I can accept, so how about it, Onee-sama!? It’s time we made our official debut as a couple!!!!!”

“Stop forcing a positive interpretation. This was more like a random attack than anything.”

Mikoto was clearly exasperated, but she did not like the sound of this either. Someone had been targeted for being her friend. Any kind of retaliation could cause things to escalate, but at the same time, Academy City’s #3 Level 5, Railgun, did not have the kind of reserved personality that would let her ignore this.

If they were under attack, she was not about to hold back.

The best option was to thoroughly defang the enemy so they could never try this again.

“Kuroko, this is just about the elective exam, right?”

“What about it?”

“I’ll help you.”

She had learned her lesson last time, so Mikoto blew on the next takoyaki before tossing it into her mouth. Uiharu and Saten widened their eyes at her words.

“Eh? But isn’t this an important exam? Is an upperclassman like you really allowed to help an underclassman like Shirai-san?”

“We’re not talking about the System Scan to measure our powers. We’re allowed to support each other to an extent with our classroom learning. The regulations can differ between subjects, but I doubt it will be an issue for a non-powers elective. Otherwise that girl – Sakibasu-san was it? – wouldn’t be allowed to use a special violin she got from the #5.”

“Makes sense, I guess.”

“But, Misaka-san, that Stativarius is a world-famous violin, right? It’s on the level of the Almati and Guarnari violins. No matter how much money you spend in your fancy world, you can’t beat its sound, can you?”

Uiharu knew a bit about this, but Mikoto gave her the look of a mischievous schemer.

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“?”

“There’s no rule guaranteeing you a sound worthy of the high price you paid. A Stativarius doesn’t sound good because it’s expensive; it’s expensive because it sounds good. Get that backwards and you’re in for a rude awakening. Also…”

“There’s more?”

“The Stativarius Ainsel could easily fetch hundreds of millions at auction. No one would doubt the superiority brought by that price tag. …So what could be more fun than showing it who’s boss using a commercial or handmade instrument?”

Silence fell.

The number of mischievous grins grew to four.

Just as many toothpicks reached into the box of takoyaki Mikoto held.