"What if the sender's name gets revealed!!!"
Hearing that, Misaka Mikoto's face instantly darkened. "Kuroko! Why on earth did you use an aphrodisiac for such a small celebration... Looks like I'll have to administer something strong to cure your perverted tendencies."
"Just like your name implies, I'll burn you into charcoal!!!" Enraged, Misaka Mikoto completely forgot about the dorm rule prohibiting the use of abilities.
BOOM! With a deafening explosion, the poor dormitory door was blasted off its hinges.
"Ahahaha! You've forgotten my ability—that's going to be quite troublesome for you!" Shirai Kuroko, now going for broke, teleported away from the electric shock and rarely fought back. "In that case, let's see who's the predator and who's the prey! If you can't accept Kuroko's love, then fight me, Onee-sama!"
Hearing this, Selene suddenly thought Kuroko had quite the yandere potential.
"Fight? You'd better explain what exactly is going on here." Just as the two glared at each other in the hallway, a calm yet authoritative female voice suddenly cut in, making their hair stand on end and sweat pour down their backs.
The moment Kuroko heard that familiar voice, she stiffly turned her head—only to see the dorm supervisor standing behind her, radiating murderous intent. Her entire body petrified on the spot.
"Explain to me—what happened to your dorm door? You should know Rule Nine of the dorm regulations: the use of abilities within dorm premises is strictly forbidden. You haven't forgotten that, have you, Shirai?" The dorm supervisor lifted her black-framed glasses slightly, her eyes glinting dangerously.
"T-t-this is quite the coincidence, D-dorm Supervisor ma'am." Turning around, Kuroko stood up straight in an instant, trembling as she stammered, "We weren't just messing around with abilities! There are... deeper reasons behind this! It's just that Kuroko and Onee-sama were, uh, playing around..."
"Oh? Playing around? I see. So that's the reason you violated the rules and used your ability... Then—are you ready to accept your punishment?" The supervisor, seeing through Kuroko's pathetic excuse, stopped listening to her fumbling words and, without hesitation, grabbed Kuroko's head and twisted.
Crack!
"Eh?!"
"Pfft?!"
A very real, bone-cracking sound came from Kuroko's neck, causing the two unfamiliar girls nearby to gasp in horror.
It was indeed quite the shocking scene—even Selene couldn't help but twitch her own neck in sympathy.
Before anyone could react, the supervisor casually tossed Shirai Kuroko aside like a piece of trash.
In Misaka Mikoto's terrified gaze, the dorm supervisor slowly walked up to her. "If we had to figure out the reason behind every violation, it would undermine the authority of the dorm rules..."
"...Where there's guilt, there must be punishment. Don't you agree, Misaka?"
Fully aware of the supervisor's temperament, Misaka Mikoto dared not argue like Kuroko did. She knew the only correct choice now was to admit fault obediently. Standing straight, she resembled a model, well-behaved middle-school girl.
Because she responded correctly from the start, she managed to avoid sharing Kuroko's tragic fate.
"H-Hai!" Gone was her usual confidence; trembling all over, Misaka replied with a quivering, tearful voice, forcing a painful smile.
No wonder she's still single in her late twenties—this aura is terrifying, Selene couldn't help but think.
Then, the supervisor's gaze turned toward the three other girls inside the dorm. Judging by their uniforms, two of them were from Sakugawa Middle School, while the white-haired, red-eyed girl looked familiar—most likely a student from the School Garden's inner dorm. So this must be one of Misaka's little gatherings, she thought.
"Hmm? You three over there—your faces look unfamiliar. You're not dorm residents, are you?" As a diligent supervisor, she knew every single student under her care.
Feeling that sharp gaze fall upon them, Selene remained calm, but Uiharu Kazari and Saten Ruiko nearly froze in terror—the 'corpse' of Shirai Kuroko was still lying right there!
"Let me explain, then. We are—" Seeing the two trembling girls unable to form words, Selene sighed softly and stepped forward.
"...That's what happened."
"Hmm, your explanation is fairly coherent. I understand now..." The dorm supervisor adjusted her glasses with a single finger, then turned toward the motionless Kuroko on the floor. "As I thought, you're the root cause of all this, Shirai. You really know how to make trouble for me."
In the end, both Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko were punished by the dorm supervisor—with pool-cleaning duty.
Selene could swear on her honor that her explanation had absolutely no intention of shifting blame or embellishing anything.
...
By noon, at the poolside—
"Damn it! This is all your fault, Kuroko! Why are we the only ones punished? Even if Uiharu and Saten got away, what about Selene? As a Tokiwadai student, shouldn't she be helping too?!"
"Ehehe... I-I actually don't mind this at all, Onee-sama..."
"Hm? What did you just say?" Misaka glared dangerously.
"Uh... Didn't Selene-senpai pay for the dorm repairs on our behalf?"
"Tch... For that kind of money, I'd gladly pay ten times the amount just to make Selene help me clean!" Misaka clenched her fist, remembering the smug, teasing look Selene gave her during lunch—it made her blood boil all over again.
"Ugh! I should've dragged her into this mess too!"
It was safe to say Misaka Mikoto's mood was terrible, while Shirai Kuroko's... was hard to read. But judging by her expression, she seemed to be enjoying their alone time.
As for what exactly happened at the pool afterward, Selene had no idea.
Because after leaving behind a note inviting everyone for dinner that evening, she had decisively taken Uiharu Kazari and Saten Ruiko with her and slipped away.
Thus, the two remaining girls grumbled as they walked toward their assigned area, took off their shoes and socks, picked up the cleaning tools, and stepped into the pool.
"This pool is huge..." Misaka Mikoto's pupils shrank as she looked around the massive area. Her knees almost buckled, and she was only saved from falling by Kuroko catching her arm.
"Are you alright, Onee-sama?"
"This pool's size is ridiculous..." Misaka nearly wanted to cry. It was even larger than the pool used for her ability testing sessions! (Selene: o(￣ε￣) Ahem, that would be my design.)
Kuroko sighed softly. As much as she enjoyed the peaceful time alone with her beloved Onee-sama, the pool was simply too big.
Seeing her reaction, Misaka rubbed her forehead. "Kuroko, I swear, you... sigh..."
"Uh... Onee-sama, let's just hurry and finish cleaning this place up." Realizing that Misaka was about to start lecturing her again, Kuroko quickly placed her bag by the edge and jumped down into the pool, immediately starting to scrub with surprising efficiency.
The cleaning continued all the way until afternoon...
"Seriously, why do I have to do this? Sure, maybe we went a bit too far, but this punishment... Cleaning a pool this big?! Isn't that just cruel and unusual?!"
Misaka sighed, resting on her scrub brush. "Half the day's already gone, and we're not even halfway done... I doubt we'll finish today at this rate."
"Now that I think about it, this really isn't fair. We should've brought Selene with us! With her abilities, she'd probably clean this whole thing in no time."
"Onee-sama, Kuroko is also quite capable..." Hearing Misaka mention another woman during what she considered their special time, Kuroko's eyes welled with tears. In a flash of emotion, she lunged forward.
Misaka instinctively dodged.
Thud!
"Kuroko, you..." Misaka could only sigh helplessly at the sight of Kuroko face-down on the ground.
"Shirai-san!" a sudden voice called out.
"Huh?" Kuroko sat up and turned to see two girls approaching.
"We heard some noise nearby, so we came to check. It really is you, Shirai-san. What are you doing here?"
"As you can see, cleaning the pool," Kuroko said with a weary smile.
"But why?"
"Even in early summer, the world remains a cold place... Anyway, what brings you two here?" Kuroko asked as she walked toward them.
"We're members of the swimming club."
"Kuroko's classmates, huh?" Misaka glanced at their figures, then subconsciously looked down at her own. A quiet sigh escaped her lips. "I already can't compare to those two, but even girls younger than me... are better developed?"
"Sigh..."