At the starting grounds of the Borrowed Item Relay Race—
Haruto let out a helpless sigh.
What a mess.
At this moment, he wasn't the only one with abnormal emotions.
If it were under normal circumstances, Misaka Mikoto would be thrilled at having a chance to go up against Haruto.
After all, she was born with that never-give-up personality. But now, this Misaka girl, had none of that mood at all.
Earlier at noon—
Shirai Kuroko had sneakily come over, whispering in her ear, egging her on to "conquer Haruto."
Yes, she had said it that bluntly.
Well, it was Shirai Kuroko after all.
For the happiness of her beloved Onee-sama, Shirai Kuroko was capable of just about anything.
Originally, Misaka only had a vague, half-formed sense of "boy-girl feelings." But, because of the "Sisters incident" and the "Cooking incident," she had, indeed, developed a bit of fondness for Haruto.
After Kuroko's barrage of nonsense, however—
Misaka Mikoto's embarrassment meter had instantly exploded. To the point that, even now, she didn't really dare look Haruto in the eyes.
Back to the race itself—
The so-called Borrowed Item Relay.
Contestants first had to draw a random slip of paper. The content was unpredictable, usually some tricky condition.
After drawing, the contestant started from District 9's starting point—
And had to reach the finish line at District 7's central plaza.
But the real difficulty of the race wasn't the distance.
In fact, there was no set course at all; contestants could freely decide their path.
The real challenge was:
"You must obtain the designated item written on your slip. If the designated item belongs to a third party, you must receive their consent and bring them along to the finish line."
In other words—borrowing something.
Bring the designated item to the finish line for inspection.
The first to arrive and pass inspection wins.
Time ticked on, and the race was about to begin.
All participants gathered at the starting point to draw.
The draw box was a solid black cube, made of a special Academy City lead-alloy, effectively blocking clairvoyant or X-ray style esper abilities.
When it was Haruto's turn, he pulled out a slip of paper and unfolded it—
Only to frown.
"That which, upon first sight, can still be recognized."
What kind of riddle was this?
If it's the "first sight," then how can it be recognized? To recognize something, you must already know it.
What kind of item exists in this world that you can recognize without knowing?
After a moment of thought—
Haruto's mental CPU began overheating.
So he just gave up thinking about it.
Forget it, this race could just be treated as a leisurely walk.
It wasn't like he had to win anyway.
With that mindset, once the starting signal rang, Haruto casually strolled down the streets. Since this was a Borrowed Item Relay, the race area wasn't restricted.
Anyone could enter or exit—
Otherwise, where would contestants "borrow" things from?
To ensure live coverage, every participant had a drone following them for streaming.
Haruto's lazy, laid-back attitude, combined with his lack of fame, quickly relegated him to an unnoticed corner of the broadcast.
He didn't mind in the slightest.
In fact, the guy even stopped at a food stall by the roadside, bought some snacks, and began eating as he walked.
Not even pretending to compete.
At that moment, while he was debating with a fruit seller over whether the watermelon was ripe or not—
A voice suddenly called out from behind him.
"Hello, excuse me, are you a Tokiwadai student?"
Haruto froze for a moment.
Then quickly realized why.
Because of the race, he was wearing his Star Sea Academy uniform.
Back then, Star Sea Academy had no standard uniform. After relocating into Academy City, a uniform had to be created for management purposes.
Being lazy, Haruto had simply copied Tokiwadai's design, making only slight changes to the emblem and details.
So, from the back, Star Sea Academy's uniform was nearly identical to Tokiwadai's.
Turning around, Haruto's eyes widened.
Whoa… such strong déjà vu.
The woman who had called to him continued:
"I'm a parent of a Tokiwadai student, but I get lost easily. Could you tell me the way to Tokiwadai?"
Her words deepened his sense of déjà vu.
"…Excuse me, are you Misaka Mikoto's… older sister?"
Though he asked, Haruto already knew the truth.
At his words, the woman smiled warmly.
"Oh my, thank you for the compliment, but actually, I'm Misaka Mikoto's mother. Do you know my daughter?"
The resemblance was unmistakable—
At least seventy to eighty percent similar to Misaka Mikoto in the eyes and brows. The same chestnut hair and eyes, the same aura of youthful recklessness.
The differences? She was taller, more mature,
And—most noticeably—far more well-endowed than her daughter's "airfield."
Honestly, even compared to Misaki right now, she was not lacking at all.
"So you're Misaka Mikoto's mother? I never would've guessed—Madam, you really maintain yourself well. I'm Mikoto's friend. If you're here to see her, I can show you the way."
Haruto answered respectfully.
With elders, he was always polite.
Hearing this, the woman touched her cheek, clearly delighted by his words.
"As expected of Mikoto's friend. My name is Misaka Misuzu, thank you for looking after my daughter."
Their conversation, naturally, was captured by the drone behind Haruto.
The broadcast team, seeing him talking to a "random passerby," assumed it was part of his borrowing task.
And since no other contestant had much progress yet, Haruto's small corner of the screen was suddenly blown up to full view—and broadcast across Tokiwadai's public screens.
At that exact moment—
Misaka Mikoto happened to be passing by a building.
She glanced up casually at the screen—
Ready to continue searching for her designated item—
But froze.
Wait… hold on.
She looked again.
And was completely stunned.
Misaka Mikoto: "???"
At the start of the race, she had been distracted by her jumbled feelings about Haruto.
But now?
On the live broadcast—Haruto was chatting happily with her mom.
Misaka was dumbstruck.
"...Hah!?"
The drones didn't transmit audio.
So all she saw was her mother, smiling, touching her cheek, beaming happily as she talked with Haruto.
But she couldn't hear a single word.
"You bastard! What are you saying to my mom?!"
Misaka Mikoto—absolutely lost it!
If she could've heard the actual conversation, she might not have gone full Pikachu mode. But precisely because there was no sound, she could only see the images and imagine the dialogue—
Which drove her completely crazy.
Meanwhile, back on Haruto's side—
Mid-chat, he suddenly remembered his slip of paper.
"That which, upon first sight, can still be recognized."
Wasn't Misaka Misuzu the perfect answer?
He had never met her before, yet recognized her immediately.
Talk about effortless luck.
So Haruto said:
"Madam, I'm currently participating in the Borrowed Item Relay. As it happens, you fit the requirement perfectly. Would you mind accompanying me to the finish line, to help me complete the race? Afterwards, I'll take you to see Mikoto."
Misuzu naturally had no objection.
In fact, she suddenly looked at him with a teasing, gossipy expression.
"Of course—but, Haruto-kun, hmm? Have you two exchanged Line?"
Haruto nodded.
"Yes, we have."
Mikoto had wanted updates about her Sisters' daily lives.
So Haruto had exchanged Line with her to send pictures occasionally.
But Misuzu didn't know that.
She only knew her daughter was a massive tsundere, who had never exchanged contact info with any boy her age.
"Oh my, oh my!"
She exclaimed excitedly.
In the Borrowed Item Relay, sometimes luck and brains mattered most.
With Misuzu by his side, Haruto reached the finish line of District 7—breaking the previous record for the event.
By more than seven minutes.
After inspection confirmed his success, staff immediately cheered.
Misuzu tilted her head in confusion.
"Did we just do something amazing?"
Haruto smiled, ready to explain—
But then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Misaka Mikoto charging straight at him.