Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Item6 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 6===

It less than thirty seconds after Kinuhata Saiai stepped through the front door of the used brand-name products store. The security cameras inside (which used 2mm lenses disguised in the walls and ceiling to hide them from the ordinary customers) had already been deactivated of course.

“All super done.”

“I see.”

(With Offense Armor, it’s actually super hard to stop people without smashing them to pieces. It takes as much skill as cracking and frying an egg with construction equipment. A little more appreciation would be nice.)

The lack of resistance was to be expected from victims who were only being threatened into it.

But just as she was thinking that…

“Kinuhata.”

Something rolled along the floor. The metallic object was smaller than a baseball.

It was a grenade with the pin removed and lever pulled out.

Which meant only three seconds remained.

“!?”

(These are ordinary people!! And there super are other people in this area!)

Kinuhata kicked it out the window.

Then the small girl grabbed both Takitsubo and Sudori and pushed them down to the floor.

The explosive “boom!!” was unexpectedly high pitched. It was followed by a ringing sound that seemed to gradually grow from deep in her head.

The bikini girl groaned on the floor.

“Ah…kh…”

“Super bear with it.”

A grenade that scattered small fragments would have a lethal range of over ten meters. However, if you remained standing, the horizontal storm of glass shards from the broken window would leave you bloody even if you were outside the blast’s range.

And Takitsubo remained expressionless even now.

“This will draw attention. We need to gather information fast.”

Takitsubo climbed over the trashed shop’s counter and operated the online register that was really just a computer. Why couldn’t she do it all from the start?

Then she froze.

The LCD screen displayed some data that would never appear during normal register operation.

Specifically, the secret financial records that included all their criminal activity. Although Kinuhata didn’t know how to read the cryptic symbols in the spreadsheet software.

“Super what is this, Takitsubo-san?”

The look in her eyes had changed.

Her usual vacant stare was gone and she now looked like she was viewing a bug displaying bright and toxic colors.

“Kamigi Ryouichi.”

“Eh? Eh? Who’s that?”

Sudori felt left behind as usual, but Kinuhata was right there with her this time.

Kinuhata pulled out her phone and…

“Let’s see. I can find stuff on him on the open internet, so is he a super ordinary person?”

Apparently he was the president of a company that started out as a restaurant chain, shifted into food distribution management, and was now gaining a foothold in the IT realm with online shopping and a food delivery app. Just the publicly available annual sales figures were at 180 billion yen and who could say how much more he had made with stocks and such. Simply put, he was a success story of the “open” world. So much of a success he probably used terms like “Cayman Islands” and “tax haven” more than he did “thank you” and “I’m sorry”.

The official website of his restaurant group displayed a photo of a young man who looked like a grown-up delinquent in a pricey Italian suit. He had the unmistakable look of new money.

“He’s the wallet of one of the Board members,” flatly stated Takitsubo Rikou.

“…” Kinuhata’s voice was hoarse as she asked, “Are you super serious?”

Takitsubo barely changed expression. Barely.

“He said openly on a video site that he doesn’t get directly involved in politics because he finds all the rules constraining. He said not being able to go to your local festival or send a bouquet to a friend sounds like too boring a life for him.”

He certainly sounded like the confident type.

He wasn’t afraid of making enemies with the things he said.

How had he silenced his detractors in a brightly lit world where violence wasn’t an option? Most likely by using sneaky and unnaturally bloodless methods that even the villains avoided.

“But the video sites and his official social media don’t mention that Kamigi is attempting to take over Academy City by building up a position where he can influence the political world from the outside. I don’t know how successful he’s been there, but he has been adopted as a wallet by one of the 12 Board members. He is also good at manipulating public opinion and covering up inconvenient statements.”

“…”

Uh, oh.

The inexperienced antenna Kinuhata had tried her best to develop had heard enough to know this information came with considerable risk.

“Quick question. Why do you super know all of this, Takitsubo-san?”

“A bug maker told me about it. I haven’t been able to contact him lately though.”

“A bug maker…?”

Bikini Sudori sounded astonished, but her imagination was probably having trouble keeping up.

The girl with a much more precise antenna than Kinuhata’s continued.

“The Unseen Director. The 13th. He’s secretly known by a number of names, but that means he’s famous enough to earn those names yet the Board hasn’t eliminated him. They know about him but can’t stop him. That sort of villain makes for a powerful enemy.”

He effectively had as much power as the Board of Directors and he was from the “open” world.

If Kinuhata and Takitsubo of the dark side silenced him with their fists, they would likely make a wide variety of enemies. There would of course be powerful people who weren’t too fond of Kamigi, but that was no guarantee they would protect Item. They would delight in learning some dangerous criminals had eliminated their political enemy and then let the troublesome criminals go down with him. That would be the cleanest resolution.

The die had been cast.

There was no turning back.

And if they were to fight, they had to start by coming up with a method.

“But if he’s that super rich, why is he taking the risk of running a blackmail- oh.”

Kinuhata realized the answer to her question halfway through asking it.

“He isn’t after money. Is he essentially mining for safe and disposable pawns who will take any super risk he wants as long as he scares them or flashes his money at them? He’s trying to build a legal form of violence?”

“D-disposable? How can this be legal!?”

“I’m trying to help you fight him, so don’t super take it out on me.”

Kinuhata could only respond with her mouth forming a small triangle.

Item was a team of criminal girls who performed dirty jobs, but they had an unofficial connection to those higher up in the city. To put it another way, the Board of Directors had that card in their deck. And they might have many more besides Item.

In that case…

“I said he was controlling the political world from the outside, remember? Money and power aren’t the only ways to protect yourself. He will want some way to stop any bullets flying his way. So he probably wanted to create a hierarchy of people who will take on dirty jobs, right? Just to be safe.”

“Yes, safety measures need to be ready super before trouble happens.”

Just to be safe.

Being threatened into committing crimes and ruining their lives just in case a complete stranger ran into any future trouble couldn’t be fun for the blackmail victims, though.

So the blackmailer was the parent organization. And Kamigi Ryouichi’s “safety measure” used a quantity over quality strategy as opposed to preparing an elite team like Item. Although if he continued to increase the quality of his threatened agents, he might end up with an elite team eventually.

“The question is how far his trump card has been built.”

“If brute force can solve the problem, then we just need to use brute force. Super courtesy of my Offense Armor.”

It probably took a high level Esper of the dark side for brute force to be an option here.

Kinuhata kept her voice low.

“I say the question is super how we attack this public big shot. The dark side needs to follow certain ''procedures'' to go after someone like that. For example, when a job falls to Item because the media digs too deep into a personal scandal and it might start affecting other VIPs. But given Sudori-san’s situation, I don’t think we have time for an investigation to prepare for a long-term fight.”

On the dark side, you didn’t cause trouble for the “open” world.

That was an unspoken rule for those who lived in this city’s shadows.

On the basis of how much trouble a single death would cause, they really didn’t want to get involved with important and well-known people like the president of a large company, an entertainer, or an athlete. That dividing line pissed off Kinuhata as someone who was ranked lower there, but it was the truth.

That didn’t mean it was impossible.

Item had in fact eliminated some corrupt idols on a job.

But that was only after the Voice on the Phone had laid the necessary groundwork.

They didn’t have that this time.

“B-b-but.” Bikini Sudori was trembling. “We’re talking about the boss of those blackmailers, right? That’s a crime, so isn’t that enough of an Achilles heel for an important person?”

“Sorry, but we’re not talking about whether it’s legal or not. We want a scandal on a level that even a super VIP can’t wriggle out of it. Specifically, something he can’t escape by assigning the blame to a sacrificial pawn.”

“Remember, Sudori, Kamigi Ryouichi went to the trouble of putting together this enormous plan, so he will have insurance in place so he can escape if anyone tries to use it against him. Maybe he has someone with the same name he can blame, or maybe he’ll just claim someone stole his official profile or Bank ID and used them to open a bank account in his name.”

As a famous person and a corporate executive who didn’t use a stage name or handle name, there were unique strategies available to him.

The villain could use the blackmail hierarchy to order around any number of terrified people, so he could prepare as many “fall guy Kamigi Ryouichis” as he needed.

Sudori leaned forward.

“Then what do we do!? If our attack doesn’t finish this, then it’ll be his turn! And it’s not just about me! My parents are at risk too!!”

“Kamigi Ryouichi would never dream that it’s super best to have an Achilles heel without any kind of safety measure…”

Kinuhata’s phone chose this annoying time to ring.

Kinuhata pulled it from her pocket and was disappointed to find it wasn’t a social media notification. Then she could have used a trick to read the message without sending a read receipt and ignored it.

“Is this Mugino?”

“Doesn’t your phone tell you that? Where are you? Is Takitsubo with you?”

“Well, super um…”

Should she tell her? But lying seemed like it would only wrap the noose tighter around her neck. With her phone in hand, she glanced over and saw the track suit girl give a slight nod. With her usual lack of expression.

“Uh, yes. She is super here.”

“Hm? Whatever. Get your asses over here. Free time is over.”

“Eh? We have an Item job right away?”

But they had to find some way of tearing down the defenses of an irritating and (technically) non-dark-side VIP who was known as a Board member’s wallet.

Mugino seemed to be in a good mood as she continued.

“The Voice on the Phone says it’s an easy job that won’t take more than a single attack. Yet it pays a ton. Something about the client being new to this and we get to reap the benefits? I’m already in a bad mood after everything at the bank, so let’s accept this last-minute windfall and have a real feast for dinner.”

“…”

(Wow, why does she choose super now to be thoughtful!? If only she was like this every other day!)

“…Why aren’t you saying anything? Do you have other plans?”

“No, no, no, no!! I was just wondering what you’d be treating us to! I’m in the mood for some super Thai food!”

“I thought you wanted paella? But Thai’s fine too. And if we’re gonna do it, let’s get stuff as good as what they serve in the royal court. Whatever we go with, I need to blow a bunch of money on it to get out of this funk. See you in 20 minutes at the hotel.”

She hung up.

…Mugino Shizuri, the wicked rich girl, was giving some slight hints of a shopping addiction, but that wasn’t what most bothered Kinuhata Saiai as she stood there blankly with phone in hand.

“Oh…oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no.”

Sudori Sayu was shaking. Did she think they were going to abandon her? She was shaking so hard her bikini’s knots looked ready to give up the ghost, but Kinuhata didn’t bother warning her. Looking after her boobs was her own job, so she could deal with it.

But what were they supposed to do about this?

“Kinuhata, you go.”

“Why do you always choose these moments to act all responsible and start raising death flags!? You’ve known Mugino the longest, so you know better than me how terrifying she is, so why are you super pushing your luck like this!?”

“You have that backwards. I’ve known her longest, so I know best ''how to evade'' her followup questions. I can get out of it just this once, but I’m worried about you since you’re so new.”

“Ugh…”

“It’s a job, right? Mugino has switched modes. One of us missing can be passed off as a minor accident, but she’ll get suspicious if both of us are absent. …There is no guaranteed right answer here. We can only try to mentally simulate Mugino’s capricious actions. Kinuhata, can you do that?”

That was right. Kinuhata Saiai lacked the experience needed to say anything with certainty here.

When it came to bluffing or anything else, Takitsubo knew Mugino Shizuri very well.

“Don’t worry. I will take care of Sudori.”

“Kh. Don’t blame me if Mugino super finds out!!”