It was a very peaceful, though unusual, day for Ruiko Saten.
She was sitting with her friend Uiharu Kazari, meeting some of her acquaintances, including the quirky Level 5 esper Mikoto Misaka, also famously known as Railgun.
The day might have remained pleasant, if not for the sudden explosion of a bank across the street.
Though the robbing of the bank thereafter and the initial explosions were quite startling, the Level 4 esper who stayed with them—as a Judgment officer—easily dealt with the thugs.
When Saten thought everything was finally over, and she was getting up from where she had fallen, an argument broke out between the lady tourist guide and Uiharu near her.
From there, she learned that a boy was missing from their group.
Perhaps he panicked and ran away from the crowds.
While imagining where the boy could have gone, from her peripheral vision she caught a certain long-haired thug pulling a boy around the age of an elementary schooler from underneath a truck.
Saten initially planned to call on the others, but with Kuroko still wrapping things up, and with the caution that the guide might charge the thug if she found out what was happening, she changed her plan—
Of course, she wasn't Judgment, and she had no ability whatsoever. Even then, it'd feel worse if she were to do nothing.
Therefore, the verdict she reached was quick and decisive—she quickly sped towards the thug, planning to take advantage of the fact that he possibly couldn't have known she was coming at him.
She thought that if she pulled the boy quickly and with all her might, it might just be possible to retrieve the boy and call for reinforcements.
Because of this, and perhaps the adrenaline-induced excitement of the moment clouding her judgment, she didn't even consider the strength it would require to take something from the grip of a fully grown man.
So, when she pulled the boy, both the boy and the man gripping him didn't budge at all.
Saten's arms trembled, her cheeks burned red, and suddenly she realized just how ridiculous she must have looked grappling with a grown man twice her size.
A heavy silence hung in the air.
For Saten, it was an embarrassingly awkward moment because she came to recognize that she was something of an airhead.
She also realized with dawning horror that she had acted without thinking at all.
While for the man, it was a mix of confusion and bemusement.
He thought, "The girl must have some esper ability," and panicked silently inside... at first.
But after a few seconds of nothing happening, he quickly decided the girl before him was just that foolish.
So he pulled his hostage and continued trying to run away.
Saten couldn't allow that. Having decided to act, she could not just let go of the boy.
Finally, after a few seconds of power struggle, the man—getting annoyed—kicked her in the face.
This would have been the trigger that would have made Misaka Mikoto angry, which would lead to this thug facing the brunt of Railgun.
This was the official timeline and how things should have gone, but that couldn't happen here.
After all, if this author ripped off every canon development in the exact same way, it couldn't be called a fanfiction.
But before anyone—not even the Level 4 teleporter—could react, a lazy, drawling voice drifted out from beneath the same truck.
Pointing at the thug with his finger, he accused, "You can't do that, man..."
The thug blinked at him and was momentarily startled, stepping back.
Using his hand, Touma crawled out from the tight space while he continued speaking, "That's not cool. She's... what? Not even half your age."
His tone the whole time had no high or low, much like how someone would nonchalantly comment that fruit tastes the best when stolen from someone else.
Everyone who had their attention on the previous conflict, and even those that hadn't, were now fully invested in him.
"She's a girl too..." he concluded.
Everyone thought his speech was too ironic coming from him. Their expressions showed it as much, making it difficult to digest under the circumstances.
And though all he did was crawl out from the belly of a large vehicle, stand up slowly, and clean himself with the same relaxed manner as his voice—
It was queer how he grabbed everyone's attention with so little effort.
The thug and the boy, named Kamijou Touma, by the grace that he moved around while cleaning himself, were close enough that Touma could smell bad breath coming from the thug.
While he was looking here and there, checking to see if his clothes still had remaining filth,
He still dusted off his clothes nonchalantly, but then he suddenly lashed out—a backhand that landed on the thug's nose with a sharp crack, like an eggshell breaking.
The thug dropped his hostage and gun urgently with a grunt, clutching his face in pain, looking skyward.
"Iyaa!"
Before his brain could process what had just happened, Touma sent a right fist into his ribs, landing with a gurgled noise and bending the guy over.
"Grghh!!!"
The thug then expelled a large volume of air, along with acidic spit.
And when the man removed his hand that was clutching his nose, Touma recoiled sideways and immediately doubled down, hammer-fisting the nose he had previously injured.
The thug reeled, and for a moment, all the sensations of pain ceased from his body, only hearing the boy murmur, "Forgiveness... I couldn't have overpowered you without playing dirty."
He proceeded to take advantage of his disorientation with a quick side-kick to his left knee.
When the thug collapsed helplessly on one knee, the boy grabbed him by the hair and followed up with a quick knee to his jaw, taking care that he did not bite his tongue.
He finished the adult, around twice his volume, with an elbow to the temple.
When the thug collapse on his back, Touma lingered for a moment, with steady, nonchalant eyes, ready in case the thug was still eager to feel more pain.
Thereafter he slowly approached to check him, poking him with his feet in the same consistently relaxed way from the start.
The younger girl watched the whole situation unfold, and she wasn't sure what she was feeling.
Her hands were still clamped over her cheek, muffling soft whimpers, with dust streaking her uniform.
When Touma felt no response to his touch, the boy concluded that the thug was unconscious.
Turning his back, he saw the middle schooler clutching her face with her little hands, moisture building in her eyes.
And if you asked, "What about the elementary boy?" Well, shut up.
Not his monkey, not his circus.
Keeping the joke aside, the tour guide was already on her way, he would give attention to the girl.
Hence, Touma pulled a frilly pink handkerchief from his pocket and knelt down to brush the grit from her cheek.
Saten closed her eyes and tolerated the boy's touch, looking very subdued and docile.
After that, he changed the hanky inside out, wiped off her tears, and finally spoke.
"That was dangerous."
He touched her cheek, which was swelling a little.
"You should not have done that. You know why?..."
She nodded.
"Then tell me what you should have done."
"... Ask for help...?"
"... A good answer..."
"..." The way he spoke, it sounded as if that wasn't quite right. Even so, Saten couldn't come up with a better answer at the moment.
"... Why was it not a good choice to act out alone, therefore?"
"He had a gun..."
"And?"
"... And he was an adult."
At this point, he was already done cleaning her face, but stayed at her eye level, continuing to prod.
"And?"
"... And he was a criminal."
When she gave her final answer, he spoke no more, giving her a headpat—though Saten later suspected he was just wiping his dusty hand on her silky hair.
He stood up and planned to walk away, and he would have if not for a new challenger.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!!!"
He recoiled slightly and stopped in his tracks.
"Tch. Why are you always screaming, little girl?" Touma asked, looking back.
zzz zzzz
"STOP!!! CALLING!!! ME LITTLE GIRL."
ZZZZZZ
To everyone's surprise, including Shirai Kuroko who was fully planning to beat up the sleazy porcupine, the Level 5 esper sent shocks potent enough to vaporize a 1,000-year-old Sequoia tree at him.
Even more startling was how effortlessly the boy erased Misaka's lightning—with a lazy flick of his hand, like swatting away a fly—and he only looked mildly annoyed.
Her jaw clenched. "That damn annoying ability!"
To Kuroko, the look on Misaka's face right now was the most disgruntled she'd ever seen her.
Although she hadn't known this boy and her beloved senior were acquaintances, that was a matter she could investigate later.
"I have a name. It's MISAKA MIKOTO!"
"... Good for you... Why don't you spend your energy tending to the girl there anyway?"
Without responding to his snarky reply Misaka and Uiharu approach Saten and questioned her well being.
Kuroko as well, approached the bunch slowly, she thought she hid her anger pretty well, but the temperature of her voice was much lower than what she intended.
"Fancy meeting you here," Kuroko interrupted with a merry smile.
"You must be very proud, huh, using someone else's handkerchief you stole to pick up girls. Ha ha ha ha..." She forced herself to laugh.
But the rage of a teenage girl isn't so easily contained.
"YOU ABSOLUTE MISCREANT! I'LL END YOU RIGHT HERE!"
She teleported to his rear and immediately kicked at his head—or well, she intended to.
Intended, because the boy stopped her plan.
Turning around quickly, he caught her slender leg flying toward his head and pulled her down, dodging another roundhouse kick she sent while falling.
"I will touch you the next time you do that again. I said that, didn't I, little girl?" Touma asked.
Kuroko's arms were thin enough for Touma to restrict both with a single hand.
"UNHAND ME!!!" She struggled, trying to escape from his grasp.
The notable weakness of her esper ability, specific to Touma alone, was that she couldn't teleport out even if it was just his left hand clutching her.
"RELEASE ME!!!"
This unfiltered rage was completely justifiable, though.
If anyone were to know how many compromising situations she'd been under by this ape before her, and how much he'd humiliated her, anyone would join her to beat him up.
Especially the uncles with a yuri fetish.
The problem is that every time she tried to, it always failed, and backfired terribly.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you like me to continue, well, a power stone would be helpful to motivate me, drop comment as well.
Suggest arcs or events whatever.