The afternoon air along the riverbank felt refreshingly crisp.
All around, the chattering voices of the Sisters could be heard, discussing this and that. A certain someone who'd made a big promise was starting to feel a bit troubled.
"Hello. Misaka 9982 says you will provide us with accommodation, explains Misaka 10000, coming specially to express her gratitude."
A girl wearing military-grade goggles—useful for spotting stray ions—nodded politely.
"Misaka 9980 is somewhat concerned about this student's financial situation, but nonetheless wishes to express her thanks," said another.
"Actually, she's just worried about insufficient research funds, clarifies Misaka 9983, putting on a pitiful face in an attempt to gain sympathy."
Yet another Sister approached, a strange smile playing on her lips as her eyes darted sideways.
"I understand," Natsume Sonoko said, rising to her feet with a determined look. "From now on, I'll take responsibility for your living arrangements."
She wasn't just going to stop the experiments; she was going to help these Sisters escape poverty.
Until the Sisters gained official recognition from Academy City, they had no income to speak of.
In the eyes of the higher-ups, they were little more than cheap, disposable lab equipment.
So, stopping this particular group of Sisters from participating in the experiments was mostly a symbolic gesture—a small comfort.
The researchers could always just clone more. It was a difficult contradiction to resolve.
Even if all these Sisters went missing, it would, at best, disrupt the researchers' schedule. Eventually, they'd still have to confront the darkness of the experiment head-on.
But before facing that darkness, the immediate problem staring our someone in the face was finding these girls a place to live.
"First things first, we need to solve the housing issue."
Sonoko's first thought was her own dorm. If she took the sofa, there were two empty beds. She'd initially thought the number wouldn't be so large, but that option was clearly impossible now.
Of course, she didn't want to trouble anyone else either, so finding an outside apartment was the only way.
Having just received her scholarship for the month yesterday, Sonoko felt her confidence return. Having money really did feel different.
Most residents of Academy City were students living in school-assigned dorms, and even faculty had their own dedicated housing.
Consequently, the demand for private apartments wasn't very high—supply exceeded demand—which kept rent relatively low.
Naturally, this didn't apply to commercial shopfronts.
Renting a place big enough to squeeze in over twenty people… if you ignored location and convenience, you could snag an old three-story apartment for around ¥150,000 a month.
Factoring in utilities and daily necessities, the total would probably run over ¥200,000 monthly—just a bit less than the average office worker's salary.
Two hundred thousand yen was still within our certain someone's budget. As a Level 4 in Academy City, Natsume Sonoko's scholarship was significantly higher than your average salaryman's pay.
Stepping out of the real estate agency with a satisfied air, a set of keys now in hand, a certain someone had just rented out a small apartment building in School District 7.
It was fairly common for students to rent apartments in Academy City. Showing her student ID even netted her a discount—the Tokiwadai Middle School ID really was quite useful.
The rental contract wasn't finalized yet. While Sonoko was a bit lacking in life experience, she knew the basic rule of inspecting a place before signing anything.
So, keys in hand, she led the veritable army of Misaka Sisters toward the apartment building. They could treat it as a preliminary viewing. If they liked it, they could move in straight away.
The small apartment building showed its age, the exterior tiles tinged with yellow, but it looked reasonably sturdy.
It had two floors with six small rooms in total. Each came with water, electricity, air conditioning, and a bathroom. Tacking on the necessary Academy City housing insurance, fire insurance, and a bunch of other miscellaneous fees, it averaged about ¥20,000 per room.
Twenty thousand yen was still quite a sum—after all, it was about what Sonoko usually spent restocking supplies during a supermarket trip.
But for Academy City, this price was a pretty good deal—or so Sonoko believed. She'd managed to spot this gem amidst a sea of listings demanding twenty-five or even thirty thousand a month.
According to the agent, each room was about sixty square meters, and the stairways and corridors weren't counted as shared area. Fitting four Sisters per room wouldn't be a problem.
Arriving in front of the building, Sonoko glanced around. If she remembered correctly, there were three security cameras in the vicinity, so the safety factor was decent.
"Misaka 9982 seriously proposes that whoever reaches a room first gains ownership of it," declared Misaka 9982, her arms full of assorted items, the violin case on her back effectively blocking the staircase to the second floor.
"Misaka 10000 agrees with this proposal. Four people per room means only twelve people can live on the second floor," nodded Misaka 10000, who was good at math, quietly edging closer to the stairs.
"But you don't have the keys yet."
Watching the swarm of Sisters charge upstairs, Sonoko was dumbfounded. Honestly, she couldn't quite follow the Sisters' logic.
What was so great about the second floor, anyway? All those stairs to climb. The first floor was much better. If possible, she'd rather have her own dorm room switched to number 110.
Surrounded by the press of Sisters, Sonoko found herself swept along with the crowd up to the second floor.
The staircase was externally attached, the steel railings rusted and flaking. With the whole group trampling up it, the structure let out an alarming creak groan, making one wonder if it was about to retire honorably on the spot.
By the time Sonoko made it up, a dozen-plus Sisters were already lined up formidably in front of the rooms on the second floor. She counted—exactly four in front of each door.
"Misaka 9988 proposes deciding room assignments via rock-paper-scissors."
"Misaka 9999 agrees with 9988's proposal."
"Misaka 9998 expresses refusal and reveals a smug expression."
The Sisters who failed to secure a spot on the second floor had no choice but to accept the rooms on the first floor. But even after the rooms were allocated, a new problem seemed to have cropped up.
"Natsume-san, Misaka 9982 has successfully acquired room ownership. Please entrust the key to me," said one.
"Misaka 9979 is the most suitable person to hold the key," argued another.
"But there's only one key per room. I can't split it between four people," Sonoko said hesitantly.
"Misaka 9988 proposes again using rock-paper-scissors to decide key ownership."
Wordlessly, Sonoko inserted all six keys into their respective doors, then shouldered the bag she'd brought with her.
Looking back, she saw the Sisters had split into six groups and were using rock-paper-scissors to determine who got the key.
She had initially thought the matches would be over in an instant, but the final result was… tragically drawn-out.
Natsume Sonoko waited idly by the stairwell for a full hour.
The fact that their rock-paper-scissors games could end in a tie for a solid hour was astounding enough, but they were maintaining a blistering pace of two rounds per second. The total number of matches had already shattered the seven-thousand mark.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 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.