Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:RailgunSS3 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 1===

The boom of bursting gunpowder and the shriek of shattering glass pounded on their ears.

The large, electric motorcycle had its engine sound effect deactivated, so it drove off while hiding within the din its riders had caused.

Misaka Mikoto was one of Academy City’s seven Level 5s and the strongest of the Electromasters. If she had abandoned all else and focused on hijacking the engine, she might have been able to stop the motorcycle before it could escape.

However.

“Ugh, really?”

She could still hear the sound of glass shards hitting the floor.

A shotgun had been fired in from outside and it had fired more than once. If Mikoto had not used magnetism to gather the restaurant’s equipment and form a large shield, who knows how many people would have died.

The atmosphere inside the restaurant had entirely changed.

The world Sakibasu Yuri had been gently creating had been erased by a vortex of crude violence. The screams and cries of the other customers and the staff were like someone mercilessly scratching at the invisible scab with their nails. The noise was so brutal it brought to mind the idea of an acoustic weapon. You realized that sound could create something like this when brought in the negative direction.

Shirai Kuroko spoke while carefully brushing the glass shards off of her head.

She attached a distinctive armband while she did so.

“Uiharu, start by checking for any injuries.”

“Of course.”

“Preserve the scene at the same time. This is too much for Judgment. Keep your eyes open to make sure no one disturbs the scene before the adults from Anti-Skill can arrive.”

Shirai often took action beyond her authority, but Judgment members like her were technically only meant to mediate trouble between students at their own schools. They were not meant to investigate serious criminal activity occurring in the city.

“What…?”

Another girl in a Tokiwadai Middle School winter uniform was dazed.

That girl was Sakibasu Yuri.

“What happened?”

Since she belonged to that prestigious powers development program, she had to be at least Level 3, but despite the common misconception, having a higher level did not necessarily make you stronger in a fight. Her power was Carbon Search, which let her precisely measure carbon isotopes. It would be cruel to ask her to battle a shotgun with that.

Trembling in fear was the correct response.

Uiharu and Saten, on the other hand, did not seem afraid at all, but that was because it was all so sudden that their fear had yet to catch up with them. That was dangerous too. In that sense, Sakibasu Yuri’s neutral and normal emotional response may have put her a step ahead.

“Kuroko.”

Mikoto briefly called her underclassman’s name.

Uiharu and Saten were here, but so were plenty of onlookers both inside and outside the restaurant. She whispered in Shirai’s ear to make sure not to cause any unnecessary waves.

“(Based on what I felt hitting the shield, the shotgun blasts were not targeting everyone in here indiscriminately. They were clearly changing the angle of the shots as they drove past to target a single point. And that point was our table.)”

“(A modified silent bike and a specialist firearm. Did they not use an esper power because they do not have one, or because they were afraid we could work out their identity by doing a mechanical search of the Bank? Either way, they put a lot of effort into this. A shotgun scatters lots of small balls that do not match the gun’s caliber, so it is hard to identify the weapon using rifling marks like you can with a handgun or rifle… I doubt this was something they suddenly decided to do for kicks.)”

“(Let’s list off every reason we can think of why someone would be targeting us. Of course, I can think of countless reasons why someone would go after a Level 5.)”

“(If we’re going there, I’ve earned more than my fair share of grudges with my Judgment work. Although not many of them would have the temerity to pay me a visit with a shotgun in hand.)”

“(Then could it be about the Stativarius? But in that case, it’s odd that they made no attempt to steal the violin from Sakibasu-san. No matter how tough the case, a stray shot could easily break the instrument inside.)”

“(It is also worth noting that this was shortly after I destroyed the violin’s legend.)”

At any rate, it took a bit of time before the volunteer teachers of Anti-Skill arrived. First, some officers out on patrol arrived in a special vehicle made by modifying a sports car, then a group with specialized forensic tools arrived in a large minivan.

Men wearing tough-looking bulletproof jackets approached Shirai. They likely chose her because of the armband on her right upper arm.

“I’m Maeda and this is Inoue. We have taken control of the scene, but we would like your signature on the official records. Use this tablet.”

“Understood…”

“Once that is complete, go get yourselves looked over at the hospital. Even if none of the bullets hit you, gunshots can harm your inner ear at close range.”

Did they seem so oppressive because they were adults and teachers? Those distinctions could be more powerful than the people wielding them realized. To Shirai Kuroko, the single-year differences between upperclassman and underclassmen were an impassable expanse, so she was not going to complain to these people who lived in another world altogether.

However.

Something gave her pause just as she moved the stylus toward the thin LCD screen.

“Also, Sakibasu Yuri. We have already received authorization from Tokiwadai Middle School, so please board this car.”

“Eh…?”

“Again, we already have permission. We have also contacted your dorm. Do I have to spell it out for you? I will fulfill our requirement to provide an explanation to minors, but we believe you to be a material witness. We would like to ask you for some details about this incident.”

“Eh, eh!? Why!? A material witness!? You mean you think I am a criminal!?”

She snapped back at the man, but the helplessness in her body language was impossible to miss. Her black kneesocked legs were pressing together nervously.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Skill officer sounded exasperated.

“We just want to speak with you. If you ask me, refusing just makes you look more suspicious.”

“You’re lying!! You need to actually answer my question!!”

“All we can do is arrest and question suspects. It is the prosecutors who decide whether or not a suspect is indicted and it is the professional and lay judges who hand down a guilty verdict in open court. In other words, I cannot answer your question.”

“That isn’t what I meant!! You keep dodging the issue!! Why, um, would I be…!?”

“The Stativarius Ainsel.”

The black twintail girl’s shoulders jumped when she heard that name.

Her breathing grew erratic and her eyes widened, so the adults continued speaking while carefully observing her.

“We hear you possess a famous violin that goes for hundreds of millions at auction. We have also received several witness accounts saying you have been showing it off wherever you go. And just a few hours ago, you failed to get the result you wanted in an exam using that Stativarius.”

“Yes, but…”

“Why would you be enjoying a meal with the very person who humiliated you like that? If you have enough money to purchase a Stativarius, then you could easily hire some thugs. So why are you here? Was it perhaps to provide accurate information on the target’s location?”

“No! Um, I wasn’t-…!!”

“This is no more than speculation. So how about we go discuss the details in a locked room?”

The Anti-Skill officer’s arm reached out to grab the very same slender arm that had been playing the violin just a moment before. And he moved with enough force that he very well might twist her arm around and handcuff her if she resisted. In fact, it almost looked like he was intentionally treating her roughly so she would fight back and give him the “justification” he wanted.

However.

No, perhaps this was the natural result.

Someone slapped the back of the Anti-Skill officer’s hand.

But it was not Sakibasu Yuri.

It was Shirai Kuroko of Judgment who had been listening in from a step away.

The aura of an adult clearly sharpened in displeasure, but that girl was not cowed. She moved between the adult and the child as if to protect the suspect.

Sakibasu was even more surprised than the Anti-Skill officer.

“Shirai…-san?”

“Angering her so she makes the first move and you can arrest her for interfering with an official’s duties? What a cheap move. That means you don’t actually have the kind of solid evidence you claim to. Of course you don’t. You rushed here after first hearing of the incident, so you did not have time to do any real questioning. The Stativarius? The exam and reports of her showing it off? I bet all you did was search for likely terms on the social media accounts and blogs for her and those around her. What kind of official investigative agency accuses people based on hearsay from the internet? To be honest, it makes me doubt your character.”

“In Anti-Skill, we gather all relevant information and use that to reach a highly objective conclusion.”

“My, such wonderfully meaningless words. Then do you know the exact price used to purchase the Stativarius Ainsel at the center of this discussion? Everyone keeps saying ‘hundreds of millions’, but if you have actually questioned the auction official, surely you must know the exact amount, including handling and intermediary fees, that would not have been reported in the online news. Oh? What’s the matter? You seem to be sweating an awful lot. Does this mean you do not know the answer?”

“Do you have any idea whose side you are taking here? Besides, Anti-Skill has far greater authority than Judgment. A mere child has no right to criticize our actions.”

“Do not make me laugh. I have not yet electronically signed this tablet. Whatever the custom might be, I have yet to hand over the right to investigate.”

“That will get you nowhere.”

“Judgment’s primary job is to mediate conflicts between students at our own schools. If this really was the result of the Stativarius Ainsel or the elective exam, then Tokiwadai Middle School is at the root of it all. That makes this my jurisdiction! I apologize, but which school do you teach at? I certainly do not recall seeing you around Tokiwadai.”

“You’re seriously going to cover for the suspect in a serious incident involving a shotgun!? When you yourself were nearly shot and killed!?”

“This is my jurisdiction, so I refuse to give it up. Back off, outsider. If you insist on illegally arresting and confining a Tokiwadai student without gathering sufficient evidence first, then the criminal I must fight is standing right before my eyes!!”

A quiet sigh followed.

There had been two Anti-Skill officers. The other one, Inoue, lightly struck the head of Maeda, the one glaring at Shirai Kuroko.

“If that’s how you want to do this, then try solving this without leaving Judgment’s jurisdiction. But no matter how inconvenient the truth you discover, you are obligated to report it to us.”

“…Of course.”

“And outside of that – by which I mean, outside your school – we will perform our own investigation. The instant we have more solid evidence against Sakibasu Yuri, we will be back to speak with her, so keep that in mind. We will do this Tokiwadai’s way this time, but you can’t reject our request once we discover an inconvenient truth in our outside investigation.”

“There’s nothing you can do.”

Someone cut in with a voice like a starving dog.

This voice was the polar opposite of violin music and it inspired a rough feeling in the ears of those who heard it.

“You’ve already made up your mind about this. You aren’t covering for her because there isn’t proper evidence. You just want to believe your friend is innocent, don’t you? Hah! There’s no way you can perform a fair investigation with that magnet tugging your thoughts in the wrong direction!!”

“Maeda.”

That was the end of it.

The Anti-Skill pair had said their part, so they left.

…Although Inoue gave them a secret nod while calming Maeda down.

For one thing, the School Garden was protected by its own unique system, so not even Anti-Skill could so easily force an investigation where they pulled out all the desk drawers and tore up all the carpet. There was too much powers development tech that had to be protected.

They had never really expected that to work.

If they were lucky, their accusations would have been enough to get Sakibasu Yuri to go with them. But even if they were not lucky, they could still find a way to arrest and indict her if they found a link to her while investigating the crime scene, the route used to acquire the weapon, or whatever else.

Anti-Skill would trample on people’s hearts and tear them to shreds for nothing more than that. That girl had finally escaped the curse of the Stativarius and was starting to acquire her own sound, but they had rejected all of that.

Shirai Kuroko let out a soft sigh.

“Don’t worry, Sakibasu-san. The adults aren’t actually targeting you as much as it might seem. That was what they call the good cop, bad cop routine. By assigning themselves those roles, they hope to manipulate us into trusting the ‘good cop’ and shake the connection between us. Remember that it is an act and don’t let it get to you.”

“Eh? Eh???”

The girl with curly-tipped black twintails had no idea what was going on, so Mikoto waved at her too.

“To put it another way, they get nothing as long as you don’t react. They have nothing solid against you. Tokiwadai is impregnable, so Anti-Skill can’t charge in and stuff everything they want into cardboard boxes.”

That said, this still affected Sakibasu Yuri’s situation. Sooner or later, it would get out that she was Anti-Skill’s top suspect. It was even possible the adults would intentionally leak that information online to set things in motion. A suspect was not the same thing as a criminal, but the normal people on the streets and the bored people online tended to overlook that fact. If nothing was done, people would begin digging up every last piece of personal information on her and it would all be listed on message boards and aggregation sites that anyone in the world could read.

And even if the authorities later came out and said “Whoopsie-daisy! We were wrong! Sorry about that!”, the online harassment from all around the world would not go away. Never, ever.

She was in a state of limbo and hanging on by a thread.

…But this also meant she was not protected by the official system meant to protect suspects. If there were any unusual openings or loopholes, there was a chance she would be targeted by the professional media and by amateurs hoping to show off on social media.

The snowball had been placed at the top of the hill.

They had to reveal the truth and remove all suspicion from her before it wobbled and started rolling.

They had to work even faster than the adults.

“We’re going to be busy…” said Mikoto.

“Yes,” agreed Kuroko. “Uiharu, we will need your support from the information end of things.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!!” Saten eagerly raised her hand. “You can rely on me for information too!”

It all came together smoothly, like this was the natural outcome.

No one protested.

A real shotgun had appeared without warning. The difficulty of acquiring specialized tools like the gun and the motorcycle suggested they might be up against more than an individual. It was also possible this was a rational enough criminal to intentionally avoid using their esper power. The risk was quite high. Even now, the slightest opening could get the girls killed with their first move.

And yet.

Sakibasu Yuri was at the center of it all, but she felt like she was in the eye of the storm. She could not touch the powerful winds blowing around her and she only felt left behind and bewildered.

“Um, uh, why?”

Because Shirai was a Judgment member?

Because Sakibasu was a fellow Tokiwadai student?

No. Shirai Kuroko put her hands on her hips, breathed from her nose, and gave her answer.

“Not one of us needs a reason to do this. Aren’t you the same?”

Now, it was time for the counterattack.

They would accept this challenge. And they would not allow the adults to go back on their agreement after the fact.