Natsume Sonoko let out a soft sigh, her breath sending ripples across the surface of her coffee. The milk and coffee swirled together, black and white intertwining like a piece of art.
Finding plain coffee a bit too bitter, she had tried adding a generous amount of milk and several sugar cubes.
Without realizing it, she'd ended up with an overly sweet drink.
Holding the cup in one hand, diligently blowing to mix the milky coffee, Natsume Sonoko's eyes kept drifting involuntarily towards the two people beside her, who were radiating a rather strange atmosphere.
"So, you're saying you want to use your well-mannered, sensible friend here to fulfill your... perverted desires."
Misaka-senpai's tone grew increasingly heavy, the corner of her eye twitching slightly as if bearing pressures unfit for her age.
"It's not like that... I mean, that's not..." Shirai-san stammered, visibly nervous and sweating profusely.
Even with most of her face squished in Misaka-senpai's grip, Natsume Sonoko could clearly sense Shirai-san's guilt.
"Just reading this content is enough to make my stress levels skyrocket!" Misaka-senpai's anger erupted.
She pinched and kneaded Shirai-san's cheek, stretching it like pulling on a piece of dough.
"Ouch, oww! You've got it all wrong, Onee-sama!" A glistening tear welled in the corner of Shirai-san's eye, as if she were suffering some great injustice, her mouth continuously offering excuses.
"...Well, if it's for a friend of yours, Kuroko, I suppose there's no helping it."
The gloom hadn't entirely lifted from Misaka-senpai's face, but her tone softened as she sat back down, speaking with a hint of sullenness.
She shot an apologetic glance towards Natsume.
"I'm really sorry. Today was supposed to be for celebrating your Level Up," Misaka-senpai said apologetically to Natsume Sonoko.
"It's really no problem! More people just means more fun, I don't mind at all," Natsume Sonoko hurriedly waved her hands, dismissing the concern.
To be honest, she had been really looking forward to this offline fan meet-up organized by Misaka-senpai.
Among the group was the super fan Shirai Kuroko, the rational fan Natsume Sonoko, the idol fan Kazari Uiharu, and Saten Ruiko, who was currently still more of a casual fan.
"Onee-sama!" Shirai-san's voice was brimming with emotion and excitement, her eyes practically forming heart shapes.
She seemed about to use her Teleport to latch onto Misaka-senpai, but was ruthlessly interrupted by Natsume Sonoko.
"Shirai-san, are they the fans of Misaka-senpai you mentioned?" Not giving Shirai Kuroko a chance to disrupt the cafe's peaceful atmosphere, Natsume Sonoko pointed towards two girls outside the window who were looking around curiously.
The 'Constant Temperature Shinigami' Uiharu Kazari and the 'Rising Current' Saten Ruiko had arrived together within Natsume Sonoko's line of sight.
Uiharu-san had short black hair and wore a floral hairpiece, which from a distance made it look like she was balancing a vase on her head.
She wore the summer uniform of Sakugawa Middle School, complete with a red scarf-like accessory at her chest, and a very obvious look of nervousness on her face.
"So this is the place, Uiharu?" said the girl next to her, Saten Ruiko, who also wore the Sakugawa Middle School uniform.
She had long, shoulder-length black hair and wore a hair ornament shaped like a five-petaled white plum blossom. She looked up at the cafe's signboard not far away.
"Mhm, Shirai-san said to meet right here," Uiharu Kazari confirmed, her voice soft, weak, and sweet.
"Let's go greet them quickly, Shirai-san. We shouldn't keep them waiting," Natsume Sonoko said to a somewhat deflated Shirai-san.
She downed the rest of her coffee in one go, then turned her curious gaze to properly observe the two girls outside.
Outside the cafe, the offline fan meet officially began.
An awkward silence seemed to hang in the air.
Natsume Sonoko stood opposite Shirai-san, looking up at the sky. Misaka-senpai stood with her arms crossed, head bowed. To the side, the Sakugawa Duo exchanged bewildered glances.
Shirai-san's gaze shifted between everyone, seemingly also unprepared for so many unrelated people showing up today.
"Anyway, let me introduce everyone. This is Uiharu Kazari, a first-year at Sakugawa Middle School, and also my partner in the Judgment," Shirai-san, as the main organizer of today's fan gathering, naturally took on the role of introducer, gesturing towards Uiharu Kazari.
"Ha-, it's nice to meet you. I'm Uiharu Kazari," said the girl with the flower wreath, her hands nervously pressing down on her skirt, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks.
"And this is..." Shirai-san's gaze moved to Saten Ruiko, standing beside Uiharu Kazari.
Like Natsume Sonoko, she fell into the category of unplanned, unrelated personnel.
"Hello, I'm Uiharu's friend, Saten Ruiko. Anyway, I just kinda ended up tagging along somehow. For what it's worth, my ability is Level 0," Saten Ruiko said, placing a hand behind her head, a cheerful smile on her face.
Her gaze somewhat awkwardly avoided Natsume Sonoko, who was blinking curiously as she scrutinized the two of them.
"Saten-san, what are you saying?" Uiharu-san flusteredly interjected, looking all flustered.
Natsume Sonoko, listening intently to the introductions not far away, suddenly had an idea. Tiny ice crystals flickered into existence on one of her palms.
As water vapor condensed in Natsume Sonoko's hand, two exquisite ice sculptures appeared, perfectly capturing the likenesses of Uiharu-san and Saten-san.
"Natsume-san, what are you doing! It's your turn to be introduced!"
Shirai Kuroko planted her hands on her hips, looking displeased at Natsume Sonoko, whose mind seemed to be wandering off doing other things.
This girl had been superfluous from the start!
"This is Natsume Sonoko, a first-year at Tokiwadai. It's hard to believe a little shrimp like her is in the same grade as me, but it's the truth."
"Now that I think about it, I heard she's only eleven this year," Shirai Kuroko offered this blunt commentary about the girl with the bun hairstyle.
"It's nice to meet you all. I'm Natsume Sonoko. I'm very happy to know everyone," Natsume Sonoko offered no rebuttal to Shirai's comments.
Among the group, Natsume Sonoko was indeed a head shorter than the others. Even she herself had to admit she was seven or eight centimeters shorter than even Uiharu.
But Natsume Sonoko had special confidence.
Her current lack of height was purely due to her age. By next year, she should be able to shoot up like crazy. Maybe she'd even catch up to Misaka-senpai by then.
"Hello," Uiharu-san looked curiously at the Natsume Sonoko before her: the neat Tokiwadai uniform, the exquisite bun hairstyle, the black school bag in hand, the obvious dark circles under her eyes, trying hard to put on a dignified air, but she really did look so young.
"For you. A little gift," Natsume Sonoko placed the two ice sculptures into the hands of Uiharu-san and Saten-san.
The sculptures were about the size of a finger, yet intricately carved to resemble the two girls, even down to the individual strands of hair, rendered vividly.
"It looks just like you, Uiharu! So pretty, even the petals on your head look exactly the same," Saten Ruiko exclaimed in surprise, examining the sculpture in her own hand while also commenting on the one in Uiharu's.
"Thank you, Natsume-san. We really like this gift," Uiharu-san said earnestly, pulling Saten Ruiko along as she thanked Natsume-san, the small present seeming to have really hit the mark.
"You're welcome. It's just a little thing," Natsume Sonoko said with a serious expression.
"Uiharu-san, Saten-san, I'm Misaka Mikoto. Pleased to meet you," Finally, it was Misaka-senpai's turn for self-introduction.
She seemed to have shaken off her earlier distress about the fans, a warm smile appearing on her face.
"Pleased to meet you."
"Pleased to meet you," Uiharu-san and Saten-san spoke in turn.
Just as everyone finished introductions, Shirai Kuroko, who had been waiting somewhat impatiently to the side, stepped into the middle of the group.
She flipped open a notebook, its contents somewhat scribbled and modified, looking like Shirai-san's battle plan had been hastily revised in a short time.
"Now that everyone's introduced themselves, even though the original plan got a bit disrupted, I'll still be in charge of today's itinerary..." Shirai-san's voice grew increasingly excited, an unnatural flush rising to her cheeks again.
The more she spoke, the more it reeked of conspiracy.
Just as even Natsume-san was starting to feel Shirai-san's rearranged schedule was rather dubious, Misaka-senpai beside her seemed to be trembling with anger, a fist the size of a sandbag suddenly connecting with the top of Shirai-san's head.
"Ow, ow, OW!" Shirai-san demonstrated masterful head-clutching, squatting defense techniques, clutching her head and rubbing the sore spot.
Uiharu-san and Saten-san watched, mouths agape, forced smiles on their faces.
Natsume Sonoko was currently considering the actual itinerary. Both the arcade and the large shopping mall seemed like good options in her mind.
As for Shirai Kuroko's fate, Natsume Sonoko was somewhat used to it by now. Compared to a 100,000-volt shock, Shirai-san was getting special leniency from the restraining Misaka-senpai.
"Staying here is a waste of time. Anyway, let's just go to the arcade," Misaka-senpai declared, her thumb pressed against her chin. A moment later, she unconsciously placed her hands on her hips.
"The arcade?" Saten Ruiko asked, a bit uncertain.
"Mhm, mhm, that's a really good suggestion. As expected of Misaka-senpai," Natsume Sonoko was very satisfied with the arcade proposal; it was also within her area of expertise.
Video games, comics, arcades—you start talking about that, and Natsume Sonoko with her dark circles under her eyes suddenly isn't tired anymore.
"Don't underestimate the value of arcades, you know. They can help improve personal calculation skills and reaction times," Natsume Sonoko spoke from deep experience.
For example, with certain two-player fighting games, Natsume Sonoko could completely design multiple combo sequences for the characters used by both sides in her head, even achieving flawless KOs. Not only did she have fun, but she also grew stronger herself.
And not to mention anything else, the safety factor there was greatly increased. After all, the arcade, in a way, could be considered Misaka-senpai's personal arsenal.
A whole warehouse full of Railguns—now that's something to be afraid of!
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.