Within minutes, the shopping center was nearly cleared out. Only Su Mo's group showed no intention of leaving. Naturally, Index stuck with him. As for Mikoto—curious by nature and trusting Su Mo's judgment—she hesitated briefly before deciding to follow him too. Near the elevators, they ran into Uiharu Kazari, still wearing her Judgment armband. Spotting Su Mo and the others, she looked genuinely surprised.
"Misaka-senpai? Su Mo-sensei? Why haven't you evacuated yet?" As a member of Judgment, her job was to help clear the building. She was currently checking the upper floors to ensure no stragglers were left behind. Running into Su Mo again was unexpected.
"Evacuate?" Mikoto picked up on something odd in Uiharu's wording. If it was really just a circuit problem, that wouldn't be the way she'd phrase it.
"So there really is an incident, isn't there, Uiharu?" Glancing around and seeing no bystanders nearby, Uiharu answered in a hurried tone.
"Satellite surveillance detected an acceleration of graviton activity. This matches the pattern of previous 'Graviton bombing' cases. It's highly likely the bomber has chosen this building as their next target. An explosion could happen any moment."
"So please, Misaka-senpai, you all need to evacuate immediately!" Though Uiharu knew Mikoto was a Level 5 and that Su Mo was too, in a public safety incident, they were still considered civilians who shouldn't be put at risk. It was her responsibility as Judgment to protect them. Technically, incidents like this should have been handled by Anti-Skill. Uiharu herself was only helping evacuate people because she happened to be nearby when the order came through. Hearing this explanation, Mikoto couldn't help glancing back at Su Mo. "So it really is a Graviton bombing…"
"Wait—'really'?" Uiharu immediately picked up on her wording. "Misaka-senpai, do you have a lead?" Gathering information didn't count as endangering civilians, so asking for clues was within her scope.
"No… not really," Mikoto admitted, shaking her head. "Su Mo-sensei was the one who pointed it out." If he hadn't mentioned anything earlier, she wouldn't have noticed the abnormality. Immediately, Uiharu turned toward Su Mo.
"The bomber's ability is the same type as mine," Su Mo explained casually. "The gravitons detected by satellite? I can sense them too."
"That's why I'll handle this incident. Finding the culprit shouldn't be difficult."
In this timeline, Mikoto didn't know Kamijou Touma. Without him accidentally resolving the incident, there was a real risk someone could get hurt if she messed up. But Su Mo had other reasons for getting involved too. Nunotaba Shinobu's research would conclude tomorrow. Preparations were nearly complete. It was almost time for Mikoto and the others to uncover the truth behind the "Level Upper" project. Su Mo's expression turned cold. "And force Kiyama Harumi out from behind the scenes."
"B-but…" Uiharu Kazari hesitated. Even if Su Mo's ability was well-suited to the situation, tracking down the culprit wasn't supposed to be his responsibility. Just as she was struggling internally, she felt a warm hand gently rest on her head. Looking up, she saw Su Mo.
"No buts. When students are risking their lives, a teacher retreating isn't my style." Using his status as a teacher left no room for argument. As expected, a rule-abiding student like Uiharu immediately fell silent and obeyed.
They had barely finished speaking when the sound of small footsteps echoed through the hallway. A little girl, perhaps six or seven years old, clutching a frog plushie, ran toward Uiharu. "Big sister Judgment officer! A big brother told me to give you this toy!"
Seeing the child run up innocently and hand over the plushie, Uiharu instinctively stepped forward to accept it and lead the girl to safety. But the moment she moved, she noticed something was wrong—the plushie twisted unnaturally, as if being crushed by some invisible void, collapsing in on itself.
Having studied multiple case files on the "Graviton Explosions," Uiharu immediately recognized the phenomenon. This was the prelude to an imminent blast. "It's a bomb!" she cried, pupils contracting in shock, and lunged forward to throw the toy away. But she was too far—she wouldn't make it in time.
"Don't worry. I've got it." A calm, reassuring voice spoke. Su Mo stepped in front of her, reaching out to seize the collapsing plushie directly from the girl's hands. Incredibly, the half-collapsed plushie began to reverse itself, restoring its original shape as if time had rewound. Uiharu was left stunned. Could a bomb already primed for detonation really be stabilized like that?
No… considering the culprit was likely another gravity manipulator, it wasn't impossible for someone like Su Mo, a Level 5 with broad application of his abilities, to forcibly neutralize the reaction. After securing the plushie, Mikoto pulled the confused little girl behind her to safety. Su Mo calmly examined the toy, pulling a small aluminum canister from inside.
"So this is the bomb's core?" The true culprit behind the Graviton bombings had augmented their "Quantum Shift" ability to level 4 using the level upper device. However, their power only worked on aluminum. That's why they needed specially prepared devices like this to trigger their explosions. Although limited, the bombs packed power far greater than standard grenades. Before the gravitons could fully activate, Su Mo forced them back down with his own gravity control, preventing the explosion entirely.
"This is despicable… using an innocent child like this!" Uiharu's face twisted with anger. She didn't care about her own danger—what enraged her was the criminal exploiting a child. Based on the detonation range, the little girl wouldn't have survived. Even if the culprit wanted to lash out at society, targeting children was unacceptable. Mikoto felt pure fury as well. If Su Mo hadn't been here, her friends—and that innocent child—could've been severely injured. Possibly worse. Just imagining that outcome made her want to drag the bomber out with her own hands.
After confirming that the little girl was unhurt and not particularly frightened, Mikoto knelt beside her. "Can you tell me what the person who gave you this toy looked like?"
"I remember! He was a big brother with glasses!" The child, still unaware of how close she'd come to death, answered cheerfully.
"Anything else?" Mikoto pressed. One description wouldn't be enough to track the person down, so she tried asking for more details. Unfortunately, the child's ability to describe people wasn't great, and her answers were vague. While Mikoto frowned in frustration, Su Mo had already moved to the window nearby. He looked down at the street below, where a large crowd had gathered to watch the commotion.
"Generally speaking, culprits like to watch their handiwork from nearby."
Mikoto followed his gaze and frowned. "But there are so many people… how are we supposed to find them?"
"Numbers don't matter. It's not difficult to spot the culprit." Su Mo raised the plushie in his hand slightly. "Out of all those people, only one knows this thing is actually a bomb." Mikoto's eyes lit up. "Ah! So, you mean…"
"Exactly. Time for a little deception." Su Mo smiled faintly. "Though… I'll need a certain fast-moving 'mount' to help out." Before Mikoto could react, a blur of pink twin-tails dashed into view. "Uiharu! Be careful! The bomber's targeting Judgment officers—" Shirai Kuroko, who had rushed over in a panic, froze mid-sentence as she registered the scene before her. "…Su Mo-sensei? Why are you here?" She looked genuinely shocked. Before she could process further, Mikoto grabbed her arm and pulled her close.
Though Kuroko had a lot she wanted to say about Su Mo calling her a "mount," the reality was that she was the perfect person for this role. After Mikoto whispered a quick explanation, Su Mo casually tossed the green frog plushie out of the third-floor window. Because the toy was soft and fell from only a moderate height, it wasn't considered dangerous. Most of the crowd simply shifted slightly to avoid it, thinking it was just debris.
But among them, only one man recognized the plushie's true nature. The moment he saw it, his face turned pale, and he shoved people aside, bolting toward the nearest alley. No one understood better than him how terrifying the Graviton Explosions were. He had barely taken a few steps when something heavy slammed into his back. Kaitabi Hatsuya was flattened against the pavement, groaning as a petite figure in Judgement uniform pinned him down, snapping handcuffs around his wrists.
"Bomb maniac, you're under arrest." Following Su Mo's instructions, Shirai Kuroko disarmed the man, tossing his bag far away, then spoke coldly to the subdued culprit beneath her heel. "Panicking at the sight of a single toy and trying to flee? If you want to make excuses, you'd better come up with a flawless one."