A Certain Magical Index: The Primal Spirit Descends to My Side

At the end of the school day in the evening, Haru Shiori finally finished her duties as a disciplinary committee member. She changed into a cool pink ruffled dress, picked up some snacks, and went to Saten Ruiko's dormitory.

"Sorry to bother you, Saten-san~"

"Welcome~" Saten Ruiko bent down, casually lifted the hem of Hina Haru Kazari's skirt, and greeted her underwear with great joy.

"Aaaaah—!" Because both of her hands were holding snacks, Uiharu Kazari could only let Saten Ruiko do whatever she wanted.

After entering Saten Ruiko's room, Uiharu Kazari sat diagonally opposite Saten Ruiko, at a distance. She pressed her hands to the hem of her skirt and sighed repeatedly.

"Ugh... Saten-san takes advantage of my hands being full of things to do whatever she wants..."

"I'm so sorry..." Saten Ruiko clasped her hands together, squatted down in front of Uiharu Kazari, admitting defeat and apologizing, while glancing at the plastic bag. "What did you buy?"

"I bought some snacks...it's rare for me to stay overnight..."

"Is this even considered a snack?" Saten Ruiko looked at the strawberry oden in her hand, which was still steaming hot, and there was even a toothpick attached to the side of the jar.

"Huh? Saten-san, you haven't tried this before? The strawberries that have absorbed the oden broth and become soft and tender, combined with the sweet and sour juice inside, are truly amazing..."

"Oh...so that's why you wore a strawberry patterned dress?"

"It has nothing to do with that!"

Saten Ruiko's phone rang. She opened it and saw that it was Shirai Kuroko calling, so she pressed the answer button.

"Hey? Shirai-kun? Ah...it's okay...yes, Haruhi is here too...um...okay, goodbye..."

"What's wrong?"

"Shirai-kun said she wanted to come here..."

"What are you doing...?"

"have no idea…"

As soon as she finished speaking, Shirai Kuroko teleported into the room, carrying her schoolbag and shoes, and landing on the tatami mat wearing white socks.

"I have a question to ask..."

"Wow! So fast!"

Shirai Kuroko placed her shoes in the entryway before sitting back inside. She glanced at Uiharu Kazari, who had already begun her investigation, then looked at the documents that had been sent to her, her brow furrowing.

"All the victims were ability users, the vast majority were women, most were mid-to-high level ability users, and the majority were concentrated in the Seventh School District..."

"It's like this..." Shiori Uiharu's reply was brief, her hands constantly typing on the keyboard.

"We've found out... In the past two weeks, within the Seventh School District, there have been a total of seventeen reported cases of 'feeling monitored' through police reports, school counseling records, and anonymous forum posts. The victims' identities are..."

"What is it?"

"They are all female ability users, aged between fourteen and seventeen... Most of the cases come from Tokiwadai Middle School, totaling six cases, accounting for one-third of all cases."

Shirai Kuroko's eyes suddenly turned cold. She looked at her phone, which was checking the status in her hand, and unconsciously clenched her fist.

"What type of abilities does the victim possess?"

"Investigating...Found it...In the six Tokiwadai cases, the victims' abilities were: electric current manipulation, electromagnetic wave perception, electric shock manipulation, electro-ion field manipulation, electrostatic control, bioelectric detection..."

She stopped what she was doing and just stared blankly at the screen.

Current manipulation, electromagnetic wave sensing, electric shock, electro-ion field manipulation, electrostatic control, and bioelectric detection.

Every single one, or rather, all of them.

They are all users of electric abilities.

"This is too obviously targeted... If it's a coincidence, the probability is even lower than Academy City being hit by a meteorite..." Shirai Kuroko muttered to herself, wondering if this was a smokescreen, or if the culprit was just that stupid.

At the same time, Shirai Kuroko's phone rang.

"This is……!?"

The afternoon sun streamed through the cafeteria's floor-to-ceiling windows, casting glaring patterns on the floor. Misaka Mikoto pushed open the cafeteria door, and a wave of heat hit her, a stark contrast to the coolness of the indoor air conditioning, causing her to squint.

She did not return to her dormitory.

Shirai Kuroko was still on the phone at the end of the corridor, her voice low, but Mikoto could feel that gaze following her back until she turned the corner. The feeling of being watched didn't disappear after leaving the cafeteria; instead, it became even clearer, like a thin needle pricking the back of her neck—not painful, but making her uneasy.

"I'll find out for myself..."

She muttered to herself, quickening her pace as she walked east along the commercial street of the Seventh School District. The street was quiet; the afternoon heat had driven most people indoors to air conditioning, with only a few students hurrying by under their parasols.

Mikoto's gaze swept across the buildings on both sides: a convenience store, an arcade, a fast food restaurant, and a used bookstore with a "Closed" sign.

There was nothing there—no suspicious people, no shifty eyes, no footsteps following you. But the feeling lingered, like a thin film clinging to your skin, impossible to shake off.

She stopped, pretending to bend down to tie her shoelaces, her eyes quickly glancing behind her. The street was empty, only the heat shimmering and refracting on the asphalt.

"Tsk..."

Mikoto straightened up, a faint spark of electricity flashing beneath her bangs. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. It was the same yesterday in the shopping street, and it was the same today in the cafeteria. Those gazes weren't accidental; they were targeted.

"So, the target is 'me'...?"

She bit her lip, and a thought suddenly flashed through her mind. Saten had mentioned before that there was a little-known shortcut in the Seventh School District that could bypass the main street's surveillance cameras and go directly to the back of the used bookstore street.

It was a few days ago, when they were having a parfait at a family-run restaurant, that Saten Ruiko casually mentioned it. At the time, Saten was flipping through an urban legend magazine, pointing to an article about "hidden passages in Academy City," and said excitedly, "It's said that some alleys are worker tunnels left over from the construction of underground facilities, and you can't find them on the map at all! If you can find them, you can cross half of the school district without anyone noticing!"

Mikoto just smiled at the time and didn't think much of it. But now, this information has suddenly become useful.

If that alley really exists, if that alley really can avoid surveillance cameras and being seen...

She took out her phone, found Saten Ruiko's number, hesitated for a moment, and then pressed the dial button.

"Hey? Misaka-senpai?" Saten Ruiko's slightly surprised voice came from the other end of the phone, accompanied by the crunching sound of potato chips being bitten. "It's rare for you to call me first!"

"Saten-kun, I have a question for you," Mikoto said quickly. "Where is that shortcut you mentioned in the alleyway located in the 7th school district?"

"Huh? A shortcut through the alley?" Saten Ruiko paused for a moment, then her voice trembled with excitement. "Ah! You mean that passage that goes through the back of the used bookstore street? It's right next to that oden shop on the east side of the shopping street. There's a very narrow alleyway, mostly blocked by vending machines; you can't see it unless you look closely. After going through it, you'll pass over an abandoned drainage ditch, and then come out through the back door of a closed laundromat, which leads directly to the north entrance of the used bookstore street!"

"I understand, thank you!"

"Huh? Misaka-senpai, are you going there? That road is really dark at night, and I heard that recently..."

Mikoto hung up the phone before the call was finished. She put away her phone and turned to walk towards the eastern section of the commercial street.

Their pace quickened even more than before.

The curtain of the oden shop swayed gently in the hot air, and the vending machine at the entrance emitted a low hum. Mikoto walked around to the side of the vending machine and, sure enough, saw a narrow alleyway, just wide enough for one person to pass through. Tall residential buildings lined both sides of the alley, their facades covered with old air conditioner units and rusted pipes, blocking out the sunlight and making the alley dim.

She went in, and the alley was deeper than she had imagined. The ground was damp cement, moss grew in the corners, and the air was filled with the smell of old rust and damp earth.

After walking about twenty meters, the alley turned right, and the view opened up slightly. Ahead was an open drainage ditch with a rusty iron plate spanning it. The other end of the plate connected to an iron gate half-hidden by vines.

Mikoto stepped onto the metal plate, which creaked loudly, the sound particularly jarring in the quiet alley.

Just then, that feeling returned.

Mikoto looked up abruptly, but there was nothing behind her.

Above the drainage ditch were the gaps between the apartment buildings, the sky cut into a narrow blue band. There was nothing there, no one at the window, no one on the edge of the rooftop. But that gaze felt like a tangible weight, pressing down on her head, shoulders, and the back of her neck.

Her heart clenched suddenly.

"In the back...?"

Without hesitation, Mikoto slammed her right foot onto the metal plate, using the momentum to leap forward. At the same time, she stretched out her right hand, instantly activating the electromagnetic force. The steel skeleton inside the wall clearly appeared in her perception, and the magnetic lines of force, like invisible ropes, wrapped around it, pulling her upwards.

Her body traced an arc in the air as she stomped her feet repeatedly on the vertical wall, using magnetic attraction and propulsion to sprint forward along the wall in a way that almost defied the laws of physics.

The wind whistled in her ears as her gaze swept quickly across every window, every balcony, and every corner where someone might be hiding.

No, nobody is watching her.

But she could feel that the gaze moved with her the moment she moved, like an invisible hand, always locked on her back.

Mikoto gritted her teeth, and when she reached the end of the alley, she suddenly changed direction, using magnetism to launch herself onto the exterior wall of the building opposite. She then slid along the wall, rounded a corner of a building, and circled back to the ground from the other side.

She landed with her knees slightly bent to absorb the impact, making almost no sound. Then she turned and rushed back towards the entrance of the alley as fast as she could.

If the line of sight is coming from behind, then going around to the back of the building and re-entering through the entrance might create a time difference and allow you to see the true face of the stalker.

She rushed out of the alley and back to the oden shop. The vending machine was still buzzing, and the street was still deserted. She quickly reached the alley entrance and used the magnetic force to rush in again.

She moved softly, her breathing shallow. She pressed herself against the wall, slowly moving forward, her gaze fixed on the gap in the sky above the drain. Then she saw two figures standing on the metal platform above the drain.

It was a maintenance passage connecting two residential buildings, rarely used. The person was dressed in dark clothes, slender, and appeared to be a woman. She was looking down at the drainage ditch below, seemingly searching for something.

Mikoto's heart skipped a beat.

It's her!

She was about to rush out, but just as she took her first step, a familiar voice came from behind her.

"Hey! What are you doing here!"

Mikoto's body stiffened.

She slowly turned her head and saw a middle-aged man in a security guard uniform standing at the alley entrance, hands on his hips, his expression serious. She recognized the face. It was the security guard who had caught her and Touma Kamijou on the shopping street yesterday afternoon, mistakenly believing they were on a date.

"Ah..." Mikoto's lips twitched slightly. "Y-it's you... What a coincidence..."

The security guard frowned, took a few steps closer, and scanned Mikoto and the dimly lit alleyway with his eyes. "It's you again? Why are you using your ability in an alleyway again this time?"

"No, no! I didn't do anything!" Mikoto quickly waved her hands, forcing an awkward smile. "I was just... passing by! Yes, just passing by! This alley is a shortcut; I was on my way back to the dorm!"

"Taking a shortcut?" The security guard looked at her suspiciously. "This alley leads to the back of the used bookstore district, which is in a different direction from the Tokiwadai dormitory. Are you sure you're going back to the dormitory?"

"Uh... well..." Mikoto's smile froze on her face as her brain raced, trying to come up with a plausible excuse. "It's... it's an urban legend... yes! It's an urban legend..."

But just then, a voice came from behind the guard, calm and clear, with an undeniable certainty.

"No... This isn't some urban legend, it's outright criminal activity..."

Mikoto and the security guard turned their heads at the same time and saw Shirai Kuroko standing in the light at the alley entrance, her school uniform skirt swaying slightly, her left hand holding a cell phone, and her right hand in the pocket on the side of her skirt.

"Kuroko?!" Mikoto exclaimed, her eyes widening in surprise. "How could you...?"

"Big sister, you're being too reckless..." Shirai Kuroko walked into the alley at a leisurely pace, "Knowing full well that the target was an electric-type ability user, you still came to this secluded place alone..."

"Well……"

"But now is not the time to discuss this..." Shirai Kuroko did not reply, but turned her gaze to the security guard, then looked past him to the figure standing on the iron platform above the drainage ditch not far behind him.

She looked to be around thirty years old, with short, light brown hair tucked behind her ears. She wore a dark gray short-sleeved shirt and black trousers, with a security guard's bulletproof vest over them.

Shirai Kuroko stared at her and slowly spoke: "Security officer, the lady beside you is the culprit behind the recent 'feeling of being watched' incident in the Seventh School District. The person behind the urban legend 'Big Brother is watching you,' am I right? Security officer and former head of ability development at Long Point School, Ms. Jonan Asaki?"

"What...what did you say...?"

The security guard turned to the woman beside him. "What's wrong, Chengnan? Do you know her?"

"No...that..."

"The gaze that makes Onee-sama uncomfortable... is essentially electromagnetic waves, right?" Shirai Kuroko pulled a cell phone from her skirt pocket. "Originally, power users like Onee-sama possessed the ability to discern various phenomena related to their abilities..."

"In other words, there are various electric fields, magnetic fields, and electromagnetic waves in nature. Whether they like it or not, people with abilities unconsciously deal with these phenomena. You can use this to your advantage and create a device that emits wavelengths that make them most uncomfortable, making the receiver mistakenly think it's someone else's gaze."

"What...what evidence do you have!"

"A truly intriguing paper, 'On the Special Perception of Power-Generating Individuals and Its Application'..." Shirai Kuroko didn't reply, but instead unfolded her phone and turned the paper on display. The paper prominently featured the name of Jonan Asahi.

"And... there's something strange about this..." Shirai Kuroko put away her phone and disappeared from the spot. When she reappeared, she was already behind Jonan Asahi, her hand reaching under her bulletproof vest and pulling out a device. Then she instantly teleported back to her original position.

"This machine... could you explain what it's used for?" She paused, looking at Cheng Nan Chao Lai with a hint of teasing.

"Hey... Chengnan, what's going on here?" The guard couldn't believe his eyes; his teammate on patrol was actually a criminal.

"So..." Misaka Mikoto spoke from behind the two, lightning flashing on her forehead. "You're the mastermind behind this incident?"

"After constantly experimenting on other ability users within the same system, and following the 'Imagine Manipulator' incident, I finally set my sights on my older sister... In this city where 80% of the population is students, and as a security guard during a period of heightened security... it would be easy for me to come into contact with ability users, wouldn't it?"

"Damn it—!" Cheng Nanchao, seeing that all his plans had been exposed, immediately reached behind his back with his right hand, took something from his belt, and threw it into the air.

The rough green paint, along with the textured surface resembling pre-made fragmentation grooves and the long handle on the side, almost certainly confirms that this is a hand grenade.

Shirai Kuroko reacted instantly, running forward to teleport Misaka Mikoto away from the alley. She herself slipped while trying to teleport the security guard, but was caught in the guard's arms and shielded from the explosion.

It turned out that it wasn't an exploding grenade, but a stun grenade that flashed white light and emitted a powerful sound wave.