Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Item2 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 1===

It was August 5.

“Bam, bam, bam!! Bam, bam, bam, bam! Go, go, Hoooshiiiyaaamaaa!! The girls have pulled into the lead in this country. Their ratings have finally surpassed the boys tournament this year. Welcome back to Academy City’s high school girls baseball tournament. The District 2 representative is Tonami Technical High School – a first-timer in this tournament after converting away from a boys school three years ago. Their Level 4 Breaking Ball Princess is showing signs of fatigue after throwing several fouls in a row, but they still aren’t swapping her out. Meanwhile, their opponent is the District 15 representative – Hoshiyama Girls, known for producing videotubers who outperform TV personalities. Their 4th batter is 2nd year Muraki. Can her Move Sensor accurately read the spin of the ball? Now, here comes the 7th pitch. And it’s a hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!! The runner moves from 2nd to 3rd – no, wait. She’s accelerating with her Kick Spike to take it home! Roarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!! Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam!!!’

Takitsubo Rikou was watching TV while expressionlessly eating salted corn on the cob by holding it on either end, but then she noticed an emergency warning displayed at the top of the screen.

“Typhoon 11 is on track to make landfall on the east coast of Honshu, Japan. All Academy City residents should monitor the latest weather information and adjust any plans to head out.”

Kinuhata Saiai blinked twice and gave the TV a puzzled look.

“Takitsubo-san, what district is your school in? Super which team are you rooting for?”

“The one that’s losing.”

She didn’t sound like she cared all that much.

Takitsubo appeared to be constantly switching which team she supported while squirrelishly filling her cheeks with corn. Her Body Crystal case had been blown up during the attack on their apartment, but a new case was now sitting on the edge of the table. That was one less thing to worry about.

Kinuhata looked to the TV again and sighed.

“Isn’t it super hard to watch this stuff when you live in the shadows? They’re the lucky ones. Seeing those bright and shining success stories is like watching something that’s forever out of reach for you.”

“Why does that bother you?”

Takitsubo sounded legitimately confused.

“Well, maybe it’s not an issue for you and your ultra rare AIM Stalker. Meanwhile, I super don’t get anything from my connection to the #1. Because it’s incomplete. No matter what I do, I only have brute force going for me. I’m just a mass-produced product that only has control over super common nitrogen.”

Takitsubo expressionlessly tilted her head.

“Kinuhata, are you familiar with the Four Bioelements Cycle?”

“No, super what is it?”

“Hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen. Almost all life on Earth goes through its life moving those four components through breathing, photosynthesis, eating, decaying, and more. It’s the foundation of the food chain.”

“…”

“Directly controlling nitrogen means you have the possibility of tearing down one corner of the Four Bioelements Cycle. That means you could influence the entire cycle. In other words, ''you either directly or indirectly have the chance of becoming a queen who holds all life on Earth in her grasp.'' If a rare lifeform that doesn’t need any of those four elements were to stand in your way, you could threaten the majority that are under your control to attack and eliminate that lifeform.”

Kinuhata Saiai smiled a little.

“You’re super exaggerating.”

“Maybe so,” admitted Takitsubo. “But you could describe Mugino’s Meltdowner as nothing more than the power to control common electrons. I think esper powers are all in how you use them. Strength and adaptability are what matter – not what it is you control in the first place.”

On the TV, allowing a run must have thrown off the pitcher’s focus because she threw another hit. Apparently the high-level espers accepted by the sunny world had their own troubles.

“And, Kinuhata, isn’t it lucky we found another hideout so quickly? They say a typhoon is coming, so we might have been forced to fight the rain and wind outside.”

“But it was a super close call, wasn’t it?”

Kinuhata felt the floor shook below her. That was only an illusion, of course.

The blimps with giant screens on their side were used for more than ''just'' advertisement. The gondola hanging below the rugby-ball-like gasbag contained a large hotel and a 5-star restaurant. The idea was for it to function as a flying luxury hotel that gave a view of Academy City at night. Takitsubo’s corn was fancy room service, not something bought on sale at a supermarket, so Kinuhata wasn’t interested in learning how much it had cost.

They were staying here for more than just Mugino’s fancy tastes.

“After all, it’s summer break, so all the ordinary hotels and inns are full up and only these stupid expensive rooms are left. If we were only a little slower, I bet we super would’ve been stuck out in the typhoon.”

“Mugino is great at searching out little-known rooms like this. For whatever reason, she never has trouble finding them.”

“Oh, I get it. They are VIPs who keep rooms reserved so they’re super available even during the busiest times of year. Oh, god. That super rich girl cut in line, didn’t she?”

“And you’re benefiting from it now.”

That said, this would be for nothing if their enemy blew up this hideout too. If they didn’t want to find out what it was like to be weather girls doing an on-site typhoon report, they had to go on the offensive and eliminate the threat.

Ainame Caroline and Tachiuo Mary.

That researcher and successful experiment both surpassed Mugino Shizuri by definition.

“Apparently Honey Queen wasn’t just an online marriage scammer.”

“I still can’t super believe she’s only 10. Still, it would be super more accurate to say she was an industrial spy who was after her targets’ research data. She just decided the online marriage scam would lure them in a lot better than a phishing email with a malicious attachment.”

And instead of someone trying to steal the tech they couldn’t create themselves, she was trying to steal her own crucial research data back from the dark side lab that had kicked her out.

(Still, I have to super wonder what that girl did. A gruesome dark side lab isn’t going to freak out over something like human experimentation, so how do you get them to kick you out for being immoral?)

“A scammer is an expert at cutting their target off from accurate information and controlling their target psychologically.”

“Super what about it?”

“That she chose that method could mean she was worried if she didn’t use it. I could understand that if she used to work among those grownup dark side researchers at her age. But why would she choose marriage out of all the different options? Does she just want to make a mockery of ordinary love, or is she actually starved for it?”

Kinuhata was secretly impressed.

Takitsubo was always so perceptive. It wasn’t clear if this came from her power or if she was analyzing people’s expressions, words, and actions, but she was already working at revealing their enemy’s internal motivation after one short encounter. Kinuhata felt ashamed that she had still been trapped by the strange “legend” their enemy had created about herself.

“Of course, if we look at the entire Honey Queen team, then the marriage scams aren’t their only MO. They have also destroyed thick locks by brute force to steal hard disks from a bank safe deposit box or from an armored car in transit. Could that have been the mask girl called Tachiuo Mary? Plus, there could be more we aren’t aware of. Maybe some important research data has been stolen but no one has discovered it yet.”

“So you’re saying Honey Queen is a group of ''secret data thieves''?”

That intellectual-sounding description felt at odds with the actual threat they faced.

Those two were an underground researcher and test subject who were stealing pieces of research data stored across the city and using it to strengthen themselves.

Those monsters had outplayed ''the'' Mugino Shizuri and easily knocked her out.

“Do you think we can win? To be super blunt.”

“''The explosion of the crashed truck wasn’t anything special.''”

The question didn’t have much meaning, but the track suit girl still replied calmly and quickly.

Was that the difference between a newbie and an experienced member?

Takitsubo’s opinion had rapidly eliminated the curse of the enemy’s “legend” from Kinuhata’s mind.

“I don’t know if she used her power or sent a signal from her phone, but all she did was hit Mugino from a blind spot, which kept Mugino from reacting quickly enough. Our Level 5 was defeated. That much is true, but keep in mind what actually happened and don’t let it rattle you. That ''trick'' was something anyone could have done if they had as thorough a knowledge of Mugino’s behavior.”

The only real difference there was one of experience.

In other words, Ainame Caroline had built up more experience with that Level 5 than Takitsubo Rikou had supporting her. If anyone should feel ashamed, it was Takitsubo, not a newcomer like Kinuhata.

So the track suit girl would not try to place the blame on Kinuhata Saiai’s shoulders.

This was an issue she had to overcome herself.

“No one is unbeatable. Which is why Item lost here.”

“…Right.”

“But ''that means you can say the same thing about those two.'' What we need now is information and a strategy. If we can gather the appropriate equipment and come up with a specialized plan, we can defeat them. Kinuhata, let’s repay them for the lesson they taught us here. With plenty of interest.”