Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Railgun Chapter4 (section)

===Part 3===

“Oh, wow. We’re actually inside the School Garden,” said Saten Ruiko.

She looked around the Western-style street, spread her arms horizontally like airplane wings, and flapped them up and own.

“Is it true Tokiwadai sometimes has real princesses come for the entrance exam? And they ignore all the diplomatic pressure, so they fail the princess if she isn’t up to snuff? Coming here just for fun makes me feel like a socialite☆”

She was even more excited than if she were going on a European vacation. Her step was so light it felt like someone needed to grab a hold of her before she floated away like a balloon.

Mikoto, who had come to meet her, smiled bitterly.

“You’ve been here before, remember? And there really isn’t anything here worth all the fuss. Right, Uiharu-sa-”

“Dwo ho ho ho!! Since they’re banning all photography to help protect their secrets, we have only once choice here: deep breaths! Take deep breaths, Saten-san! Inhale as many high society particles as you can so we can smuggle them home with us in our lungs and upgrade the rank of our souls!! Ohhhh ho ho ho ho! I-it actually came out right? The legendary ‘oh ho ho’ laugh comes so naturally to me here, Saten-san! I feel just like Cinderella. My soul has shed the dried husk of its skin to reveal its shining true form!! Now I can boldly use the all-purpose incantation that works for everything from ‘good morning’ to ‘goodbye’: good day to you alllll!!!! Yahoo!!”

(O-oh, no. Her dopamine levels are higher than Kuroko’s right now.)

Mikoto gulped and took a step back.

She always forgot how Uiharu Kazari was normally shy and sensible but had a weird obsession with high society girls. Make the wrong move with her and you could find yourself faced with a worldview disturbing for reasons entirely different from Shirai Kuroko’s. It was like seeing someone in a cult.

But Uiharu’s ‘oh ho ho’ laughter was not cult brainwashing. It was the same principle as the Osaka dialect imprinting on the language center of the brain after only about three days in Kansai.

In fact…

“Ohhhh ho ho ho!! Once I start assisting father in managing Kongou Airlines, we will build up a global flight network and even expand into the civilian spaceflight industry!!”

“My, that sounds wonderful, Kongou-san. It is always good to have realistic dreams.”

“The final frontiers are space, the deep sea, and I suppose the human mind. With your spirit, Kongou-sama, I imagine you will conquer all three. Hee hee.”

Yeah, most of the girls walking around here talked like they were at an opera or a masquerade, so it wasn’t surprising people who hadn’t built up a tolerance would be influenced. Just like people taking a Kansai vacation, they would probably go back to their usual way of talking after returning to their normal Academy City lives.

Anyway.

“This place isn’t as great as you think it is.” Mikoto had to smile bitterly since she knew the truth. “The teachers are always busy tacking on more incomprehensible rules. That hasn’t developed into a major issue yet since the student councils of the five schools always reject them, but it sounds like the teachers are even trying to determine what material of underwear we can wear.”

“But we’re barely ever allowed in here. What was it Tokiwadai is doing again? An interview entrance exam for recommended applicants? Whatever it was, I love that they’ve opened the place up for it.”

“It isn’t that simple,” sighed Shirai Kuroko who was feeling blue.

Since she had her armband on her right shoulder, her Judgment side was showing more than her Tokiwadai student side.

“When they open up the School Garden, people who normally can’t get in will sneak inside. We have to be ready for problems. Agh, needing to suspect anyone and everyone you see is so stressful. Just let me trust in the goodness of humanity!”

“Why would anyone cause trouble? The people coming in from outside are taking their entrance exam. And these are the ones who have a recommendation vouching for them, so I can’t imagine why they would cause trouble at the school they’re trying to get into.”

Saten wasn’t convinced, but Shirai shrugged.

“If any of them compare their academic abilities, academic record, and esper level to their rivals and conclude they can’t win, they might skip out on the interview and try to memorize as much as they can about Tokiwadai’s secret esper development tech. The past records show several cases of weirdly pessimistic yet optimistic people who are so convinced they’re going to fail they focus on gathering up as many ‘souvenirs’ as they can find.”

“Eh? But Tokiwadai is a middle school, so aren’t we talking about elementary schoolers? A-are there really people so jaded at that age that they’ll give up on getting into their dream school and work as an industrial spy for some bad grownups?”

“Sateeen. When you see those child actors turning on the waterworks in front of the camera, it isn’t because something sad happened to them. And I’m sorry to say there will always be a segment of the population who are talented but refuse to use that talent responsibly.”

Saten Ruiko herself had been in elementary school less than a year ago. And her skill at deception and cunning hadn’t popped into her head the instant she moved up to middle school.

The belief that all children were pure and innocent never survived long while working in law enforcement.

If it was true that no one could change who they were deep down, then the villains were already villains as children.

A thought that did the opposite of relieve the stress of Shirai’s job here.

“Fortunately, the struggle for one of the recommended spots has nothing at all to do with extreme commoners like us. Being heiress to a giant IT company or princess to an entire country isn’t enough to get through those super strict interviews, right? I’m never going to be a part of that world, so let’s go make the most of this School Garden visit in our own commoner way!!”

“(My point was to watch out for people resorting to crime because their ‘super strict interview; didn’t go so hot.)”

Mikoto and Shirai were out and about on a weekday morning because their classes were canceled for the day thanks to the entrance exam interviews. It seemed unlikely Uiharu and Saten’s school would be out too, so Mikoto was honestly worried they were skipping class for this.

“Please follow me, everyone. My name is Akazame-sensei. Now, when we turn this corner here, you will see the next landmark: Tokiwadai Middle School’s School Garden Dorm.”

“It’s called a crepe. You can eat one for a snack or as a meal. For a meal, you can put tuna, lettuce, and crushed-up potatoes inside. I personally recommend adding some homemade mayonnaise to make it extra delicious.”

“Onee-chaaan, where are youuu?”

There was a lot of chatter.

Supposedly, the crowds during this event were large enough to cause nearby seismographs to malfunction. That apparently caused disaster warning apps to send unnecessary alerts.

Maybe it was practice for the open campus being held later on or maybe it was meant to help the applicants judge what life here would be like, but a teacher was waving a small flag like a tour guide. A lot of food trucks were parked alongside the sidewalks and streets. And on closer inspection, there were a lot of small children not wearing uniforms. There was even a sparkly new flying car being shown off as a demonstration for something or other. It was basically just a bigger version of an aerial photography drone.

Mikoto stared off into the distance.

It wasn’t often you got to see Tokiwadai’s Ace indulge in schadenfreude.

“Poor Shokuhou. People come gawk at her dorm as a landmark now. Heh heh heh.”

“Misaka-san, your dorm has it way worse since it isn’t even inside the off-limits School Garden. People can stop by to take a look or even stake out the place any time of the year. Ah ha ha. Check the map on any urban legend site and your dorm’s location always has a pin in it. If anything, yours is the bigger landmark.”

Saten’s tone was light, but Mikoto was thoroughly petrified.

Meanwhile, Shirai’s focus was somewhere else entirely. She lightly tapped on Uiharu’s shoulder to gather the attention of the other girl wearing the same armband.

“That girl has called for her sister three times now. Outsiders aren’t allowed to take videos inside the School Garden, so I doubt this is a prank video meant to see how ordinary people react. It’s safe to assume she’s lost and I would put the risk level at low. Let’s go help her.”

“Fine, but…wait. Am I even allowed to do Judgment work in the School Garden?”

Technically speaking, all law enforcement work outdoors was Anti-Skill work.

But once those two switched to work mode, they were Judgment through and through. They eliminated their own inexperienced and unreliable side as soon as they spotted a small child crying on the side of the road. They were aware the best way to make someone feel safe was to avoid showing them the ordinary weakness everyone had.

The girl had shoulder length flaxen hair. Her bangs were cut along a perfect horizontal line, which added a touch of Japanese aesthetic. She was even shorter than relatively small Shirai, but she was wearing a suit. She may have been one of the applicants here for the entrance exam interview, but she looked more like she was dressed up for Shichi-Go-San.

“We are with Judgment. I am Shirai and this is Uiharu. Is something wrong, young lady?”

“Wow, look at Shirai-san. I never imagined that pervert could sound like the host of an educational program.”

Shirai felt like murdering Saten for that, but she did her best not to let it show on her face. They taught you how to speak to small children in Judgment, but of course an outsider wouldn’t know that.

“Be nice, Saten-san. She might be a pervert, but she’s the kind of pervert who can set her perversions aside when there’s work to be done.”

“Uiharu!? You’re not even an outsider, so maybe I really should murder you!”

She heard some quiet laughter.

It came from the girl. She had been tearfully calling for her sister before, but now she was laughing. Talk about a stroke of good luck. Shirai suddenly recalled a busty track suit teacher from some joint training they did with Anti-Skill saying you could help bridge the emotional gap between yourself and someone in need of help by acting silly and pretending to make harmless mistakes.

Whatever the case, the girl was willing to open up to them now.

“My sister isn’t here.”

“Oh, so you really are lost. What’s her name? Do you have a photo? In your phone’s photo album, maybe?”

“I don’t mean it like that.”

Uiharu was better at dealing with lost children than Shirai. She crouched down to the girl’s eye level and tried to get the information they needed to search out her sister, but the girl stopped her.

The record needle hit a small scratch and popped out of the expected groove.

It flew far off course.

“''My sister has gone missing.''”