An entire hour had passed by the time she returned from the care facility. It was supposed to be a simple trip to pick up a few pieces of equipment, yet somehow, so many unexpected things had managed to happen.
Still, for Natsume Sonoko, it was the best possible outcome—the situation had been resolved smoothly, and everyone seemed satisfied with the result.
Dolly remembered Mitori, and she remembered Misaki, too. Now she was making plans to travel the world, to see the ocean and the Northern Lights.
Some of the regrets from the past no longer seemed to weigh so heavily.
"So Shokuhou-senpai has a side like that to her, huh?"
"Now that you mention it, I was pretty surprised too—but it's not like I can't understand it."
Sonoko wasn't watching where she was going, her head tilted up as she gazed at the sunlight reflecting off the glass of the buildings. A vague, indescribable feeling welled up inside her.
In her mind, Shokuhou-senpai had always been so composed, so in control of her expressions—rarely, if ever, had she seen her so upset she was nearly choked up.
Today, though, she'd caught more than a few glimpses of a different side to the older girl.
Then again, a second-year was only about two years older than her. Why did she always assume the other girl had to be mature and strong? Maybe that was asking a bit too much.
Heck, even she—the girl with the round bun hairstyle—had plenty of immature moments herself.
Like when Shirai-san got locked out of the student dorm and had to stand around in the cold, she'd sometimes gleefully help adjust the wind speed or add a little snow effect just for fun.
'With Shokuhou-senpai and the others looking after Dolly, there's no need for me to worry. So now… where should I go to grab some fo—ahem—to maintain public order?'
Shaking off her slightly giddy mood, Natsume Sonoko decided not to dwell too much on everything that had just happened.
She was glad she could help—that was enough. She wasn't the type to stick her nose into everything.
'I still owe Reiko some takoyaki, so I should probably head to the festival grounds in District 7 first.'
Her eyes lit up as she casually flagged down a whirring, rumbling cleaning robot nearby, once again embracing her role as the friend to all machines.
Using her ability to get around all the time wasn't exactly something to encourage. Besides, with such convenient transportation available, she quite enjoyed cruising down the streets on a robot.
"Where did you run off to? I finally managed to free up some time to spend with you today! And you made me wait this long?"
A blonde girl wearing a beret stood with her hands on her hips, glaring. Dressed in overly mature and sexy black stockings and a miniskirt, she was furiously scolding a doll-like girl who looked completely lost.
In the Dark Side, if you didn't keep to the schedule, you could be punished—or even eliminated. Any promise or task had to be completed on time. This just wouldn't do—she had to properly teach this little sister of hers that life in this city wasn't so simple.
"I think she went camping, with Komaba and them. Hamazura and Hattori were there too, mew."
Fremea tugged at her older sister's skirt, her sapphire-like eyes darting around as she spoke in a placating tone.
Well, they called it camping, but they'd only sat on the grass for a little while before coming back. None of them even wanted to spring for soda. Still, as long as Komaba was around, it was fun enough.
Just then, a light but steady breeze swept through, causing a wobbly cleaning robot to accidentally flip up Fremea's skirt. Frenda almost pulled a missile out from under her own skirt right then and there.
--+--
A Dark Side girl lecturing her little sister; a vendor hawking dubious dream cards;
a clueless member of the Skill-Out trying to uncover the truth; chattering schoolgirls from prestigious academies out shopping; and a ghostly girl riding a cleaning robot.
A spiky-haired boy was being dragged by Index toward an expensive ramen shop. She'd been craving the thousand-yen-a-bowl noodles for ages. With a pained look, the boy pulled out his last thousand-yen bill—only for a sudden gust of wind to snatch it away.
"Such misfortune~~~~!" A truly despairing wail instantly filled the air.
Back at the Misaka Apartments, Reiko was happily munching on the takoyaki her sister had bought for her. In the end, under the eager gazes of the other Misaka clones, she generously shared the snack with her roommates.
Peaceful days were filled with leisurely crowds. Even the Judgment members were soaking up the festive atmosphere. This was the everyday life Natsume Sonoko knew so well.
"Hello, ma'am? I've arrived."
Standing in the bustling center of District 15, Natsume Sonoko tilted her head back, staring up at a fifteen-story building, her mouth slightly agape in awe.
The fifteen-story structure was practically a dwarf compared to the surrounding buildings, squeezed inconspicuously between towers that soared over twenty floors.
But this was District 15—saying land was worth its weight in gold here would be a gross understatement.
To put it another way, the area was protected by three semi-independent emergency mobile units, separate from the Anti-Skill roster.
These units were branches of Anti-Skill, but they weren't official public institutions of Academy City.
In other words, they were security forces jointly established by several dozen major corporations in the area—similar in nature to the Black Crow units formerly under the Orbit Portal Company, just registered under Anti-Skill's name.
Anti-Skill could technically mobilize them if needed, but in reality, they were private forces, primarily carrying out tasks assigned by their respective companies.
However, once the Daidouji Group purchased this place, they would have to join the local corporate alliance and shoulder part of the security force's maintenance costs.
Truthfully, forming an independent security unit wasn't impossible, but it was beyond the reach of smaller companies.
It required not only top-tier personnel and advanced tech equipment but also official backing—something only giants like Kongou Airlines, the former Star Ring Foundation, or Higuchi Pharmaceuticals could manage.
But back to the point—Natsume Sonoko had received a call from a certain lady and had been summoned here.
From the bits of information she'd gathered during the call, it seemed today's negotiations had gone unusually well—suspiciously well, in fact.
The building, which should have strained the Daidouji Group's cash flow to purchase, was now being sold at a discount, perfectly fitting within budget. There was no need to look for other, cheaper alternatives anymore.
A toy company didn't actually need that much space. They could easily set up a few automated factories in a cheaper area like District 10 for production. A two or three-story office building would normally suffice.
But she also planned to build a supercomputing lab here, which required a relatively spacious, secure, and private environment. Sharing a building was out of the question, and they needed robust security—making this district the ideal location.
Come to think of it, the first choice had always been the School Garden in District 7, but there was simply no way to buy any property there.
Or rather, the companies and organizations permitted to operate there were all part of Academy City's overt ruling class.
--+--
T/N: 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.