August 31, 8:40 AM.
"Sorry, did you wait long?"
A girl's voice from behind made Kamijou and the other two stop their battle right before the climax, with their faces showing impatience from the interruption. Of course none of them had promised to meet up with a girl, so they were all bitterly thinking, (Oh, is there a pretty boy idol around here or something? Either way, it has nothing to do with us, bastard!)
But after thinking about it, today was August 31st, and there was nobody else around here…
"?"
Just as Kamijou tilted his head in uncertainty...
"I asked you if you waited long; did you not hear me!?"
Kamijou's back, around the level of his waist, was slammed by a girl charging at full speed. After a loud boom, Kamijou and the girl both went rolling along the footpath.
"D-dammit, who the hell did this to me… eh? Why does it have to be you, Misaka?"
"…(What do you mean by why does it have to be me!? Ah… no, anyway, please play along!)"
Mikoto's whisper made Kamijou's eyes spread wide open, and he said something like "Ah?". On the other hand, Aogami Pierce and Tsuchimikado's reply was…
"What? K-Kami-yan got hugged by a Tokiwadai student! After a miko, a nun, and Komoe-sensei, there's another new Kamijou legend!?"
"…Kami-yan, just how many hidden female characters do you have in your route?"[6]
The two's comments made Mikoto shake in anger. But she didn't reply; her actions were completely different from her usual demeanor. As a Level 5 Electromaster, she normally would send off many bolts of electricity when she got mad, regardless of where she was.
"Ah, uh… Misaka-sama, what's going on?"
"…(Shh! Don't talk… Oh, dammit! The distance is too far, so he didn't hear the talking over here. So these three weren't actually that loud? Fine…)"
Mikoto stared off somewhere, and softly clenched her fists. A puzzled Kamijou followed her line of sight. Standing further down the footpath and looking slightly lonely was a cool-type boy. He didn't know how to react to Mikoto's sudden and mysterious act, and had frozen.
"Get off already!" said Kamijou; he looked impatient on the outside, but his heart was pounding furiously.
After a deep breath, Mikoto yelled, "Ahaha! Sorry I'm late! Did you wait long? To pay you back, I'll treat you to something, so please forgive me!"
"…Wha?"
Mikoto was speaking loudly. Kamijou, was speechless. For Tsuchimikado and Aogami Pierce, time stopped. And the cool-type boy embarrassingly shifted his gaze away.
Suddenly, *Bang*, all the windows of the Tokiwadai Girls' Middle School Dorm opened simultaneously.
"Ah…"
Mikoto's smile froze. The students standing next to the windows were whispering excitedly to each other. The girl with twin ponytails, Shirai Kuroko, was in a state of shock, her mouth opening and closing but with nothing coming out. After a while, a mature woman's silhouette showed up in one of the windows—apparently the dorm's highest manager.
The mature woman seemed to be saying something, though her voice was too quiet and far away for Kamijou and Mikoto to hear her. But the two could imagine what the frightful statement was:
"Interesting, you dare to rendezvous in front of the dorm with a boy. That's some courage, Misaka."
"Ah… ahaha!" Mikoto's face was scarily contorted. "Ahahahaha! Uhuhuhuhu!"
Mikoto let out a strangled laughter, grabbed Kamijou's hand, and left the scene at a speed that was literally equal to that of flight. Kamijou, who had no idea what was going on, was dragged further and further away.