Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Mental Out SS (section)

===Part 8===

Going all the way back, it had begun with Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

To perfect her performance as Fairy King Oberon, Shokuhou Misaki had wanted to learn about the male mind firsthand. …Or so she claimed as an excuse to leave the no-boys-allowed School Garden that weekend.

They understood her reasoning.

But the Queen of the largest clique was the very peak of the sheltered girls who were meant to be strictly protected by the School Garden’s no-boys-allowed rule. Even in the dorm, her room was in a special area.

The clique girls who worked as her bodyguards were not about to let her contact a random gentleman found wandering outside.



“You mustn’t leave the School Garden and approach one of those fearsome wolves, Queen!” (Wavy Blonde)

“Out of the question. Have you forgotten why no boys are allowed here?” (Black Hair and Glasses)

“Queen, Queen, Queeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!!” (Ringlets)



(Hm, what a pain.)

She could have tried to run off, but she did not want to play a hellish game of tag with that extra-large party set of super strong girls. Tokiwadai was supposed to be populated by sweet and gentle girls, so what was with this intimidating and heavy atmosphere? She had worked so hard to gather the game pieces she needed to set up an unbeatable lineup on the board, so why was her own ultimate party turning against her now?

“Sigh. I take the throne of the biggest clique and now my own people backstab me. You know you’re shining bright when you learn how Oda Nobunaga and Caesar must have felt☆”

And so Shokuhou grabbed her TV remote. For starters, she messed with that pain-in-the-rear intimidating group so they would see Shokuhou Misaki as Misaka Mikoto and vice-versa. Once those powerful pursuers had run off after the wrong person, the #5 girl slipped away.

But…

“Found you, Queen☆”

“Pant, pant. Wh-why can’t I ever lose you, Kobayashi-san!?”

“There is nothing you can do when I know it’s coming. You use your remotes to aim your Mental Out, so as long as I keep an eye on your visual range, I can easily avoid it.”

“…”

“I am a third year and you are a second year. I can never hope to compete with your level as an esper, but we both have mental powers. Hee hee. You did begin developing your power before arriving at Tokiwadai, but have you forgotten that I was the one who taught you several tricks for making practical use of your power, ''my adorable little Shokuhou-chan''?”

Shokuhou clicked her tongue and swiftly aimed her remote, but the Kobayashi smiling there was in fact a reflection in a wall-sized mirror for gymnastics or ballet.

She was always so meticulous and cautious.

And they had known each other long enough that she could predict what Shokuhou would do.

<Once I have established a telepathic link, not even you can hide your position from me. There is no escape, Queen.>

Shokuhou heard Kobayashi’s voice in her head.

Shokuhou could do anything related to the mind, but Kobayashi only had telepathy and so she had worked hard to develop as many uses for it as possible.

In some cases, she could partly outdo Shokuhou.

(Trying to make yourself seem important by claiming to be my teacher? Going to go around telling people you taught the famous Mental Out everything she knows?)

“Of course not. I am not that shameless. I am merely a third year, which makes me your big sister in life – just like so many other girls in Tokiwadai☆”

Kobayashi smiled and returned to her physical voice.

Of course, she could still hear Shokuhou’s mental voice and chose exactly the words that would most irritate the Queen.

“If I called the rest of the clique here, that would be checkmate, but is that what I should do? I have to admit a curiosity in this person you were willing to go to such lengths to meet. So how about it? May I accompany you in place of the rest of the clique?”

The bob cut girl raised her index finger.

And the classy upperclassman girl made a suggestion.

“But what if I were to stand out front and you hung back while you learn about the male mind? ''Various interests would love to get their hands on you,'' so you must constantly consider your own safety. Plus, you have Mental Out. This way, you will not directly contact the gentleman, which should just barely convince the rest of the clique.”

“Hm.”

(It isn’t like he would remember it even if I did meet him face-to-face. But there is a chance he will remember what I say if I say it through Kobayashi-san. A slim chance ability, but one worth testing, I would think.)

<nowiki><I</nowiki> can hear everything you are thinking, Queen. Including some important sounding hints.>

(Well, I know this is going to be a pain regardless, so I can bring Kobayashi-san into this and then erase every memory related to him afterwards.)

<Again, I can hear you!>

Kobayashi bristled and yelled in Shokuhou’s mind, but Shokuhou’s mind was made up.

This memory would be hers alone.

She had made that decision from the day she had learned she couldn’t share such memories with him.

<First, I will need a long blonde wig and color contacts. I already have the uniform, but I will need the gloves and socks too. …That handbag is from a luxury brand and a limited edition product, so acquiring an identical one on short notice would be difficult. I can convince our costume girl to make a quick mockup. Should I also wear thicker soles and pad my bra a bit? Queen, I will also need to know your underwear brand and what shampoos or perfumes you use.>

“I really don’t think you need to be so thorough, but I will leave those quality decisions up to you. For one thing, there is no real way this can fail. If you say you are Shokuhou Misaki, he should believe you. ''Because it’s hard to spot a fake when you can’t remember what the real one looks like''.”

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