Her thoughts drifted away from that night half a month ago, returning to the warm dining table at the Parker home.
Aunt May was still adding food to her plate, murmuring, "Eat more, Mikoto, you're still growing."
Uncle Ben watched her from the side with a smile, his eyes gentle.
Over the past half month, this kind of scene had become a daily routine.
Mikoto lowered her head to pick at the food on her plate, while mentally tallying her "assets."
After that night, the blue interface before her eyes became a secret that only she could see. She had long since grown accustomed to pulling up this interface in her mind at any time.
[Guardian Faction Player: Misaka Mikoto]
[Current Total Reputation Points: 14000]
Compared to the initial eight thousand points, the extra six thousand were mainly thanks to Peter's two friends.
Just a week ago, Peter, with a kind of awkward excitement like he was "showing off a new family member," introduced her to his best friends.
"Harry, Gwen, this is Mikoto, my—my little sister." The boy had scratched his head, his cheeks slightly flushed, trying hard to put on the airs of an older brother.
The girl named Gwen Stacy, with her beautiful long blonde hair and bright smile, had almost immediately won Mikoto's favor.
She was like a big sister next door, holding Mikoto's hand and curiously asking various questions about life in Japan, her eyes devoid of any rejection or wariness, only pure friendliness.
[Detected key plot character "Gwen Stacy" favorability reached "Trust," obtained Reputation Points: 3000.]
And the other one, named Harry Osborn, was a completely different style. He wore well-tailored designer casual clothes and had a handsome, if slightly rebellious, face.
When they first met, he sized Mikoto up with a scrutinizing gaze, a cynical smile hanging on the corner of his lips.
"Parker, where did you kidnap such a cute Japanese doll from?"
Peter immediately got anxious: "Harry! She's my little sister!"
Mikoto just raised an eyebrow and said nothing. She had seen this kind of rich boy attitude plenty of times in Academy City.
However, after she responded calmly to all his jokes and probing with the elegant posture honed at Tokiwadai—enough to make any young lady feel ashamed—Harry's gaze changed.
From initial flippancy, it turned into genuine appreciation and curiosity.
[Detected key plot character "Harry Osborn" favorability reached "Recognition," obtained Reputation Points: 3000.]
It turned out that building good relationships with the "key characters" of this World was also a shortcut to earning reputation points. Mikoto silently noted this down.
Of course, the most important progress in the last half month wasn't meeting new friends, but that she had finally shed her status as an "illegal resident."
The Parkers had gone to great lengths for this.
They were law-abiding citizens who didn't want to use any underhanded methods. Uncle Ben, using his meager salary, consulted several lawyers, but the answers he got were discouraging.
For a sixteen-year-old girl without any identity records to obtain legal citizenship, the procedure was as difficult as ascending to heaven.
Just as they were at their wit's end, a turning point appeared.
After Gwen learned about this, she went home and told her father.
Captain George Stacy, the Police chief of the New York City Police Department.
A few days later, a middle-aged man in a trench coat with a serious expression knocked on the Parker family's door. He didn't bring any aides, coming only as "Gwen's father" to visit the family of his daughter's friend.
He asked in detail about Mikoto's "background"—a tragic story that the Parkers and Mikoto had fabricated together about a "distant Japanese relative who encountered a shipwreck, leaving the girl as the sole survivor but with memory loss."
Mikoto kept her head down the whole time, acting like a timid patient with post-traumatic stress disorder, her acting so superb that she almost believed it herself.
Captain George Stacy listened in silence, then glanced at the file he had brought regarding the robbery.
In the file, the injury report of the robber was listed as top secret, with the coroner's conclusion being "the palm was vaporized instantly by some unknown Gauss kinetic energy weapon."
His gaze lingered on Mikoto for a full ten seconds, seemingly wanting to see something in this seemingly harmless girl.
But in the end, he just closed the file and said to the worried Parkers: "I will handle it. This child needs a normal environment to grow up in."
With the special approval of the Director, everything became smooth and unimpeded. A week later, a brand new ID and social security card with the name "Misaka Mikoto" printed on them were delivered to Mikoto.
"That's wonderful!" Aunt May hugged Mikoto, weeping with joy, "You can finally go to school with Peter!"
Uncle Ben also excitedly patted Peter on the shoulder: "Peter, at school, you have to take good care of your little sister."
And just like that, Misaka Mikoto, former esper of Academy City, now a regular middle school student in Queens, New York, officially enrolled in Midtown High.
However, she was a freshman, while Peter, Harry, and Gwen were already seniors about to graduate.
"Hey, Peter." Mikoto nudged the boy beside her, who was still daydreaming, with her elbow. "The chicken wrap on your plate is getting cold."
"Huh? Oh!" Peter snapped out of it and hurriedly picked up his knife and fork. He had been like this lately, zoning out from time to time, sometimes even staring blankly at the corner of the wall, not knowing what he was thinking about.
Mikoto glanced at him but didn't ask further.
Ever since they became "siblings," Peter had entered a strange "older brother mode."
Every day, coming and going from school, he insisted on walking with Mikoto, under the guise of "protecting his little sister." At school, whenever any boy looked at Mikoto twice, he would cast a vigilant gaze, like a puppy guarding its food.
Once, the school's notorious bully, Flash Thompson, intentionally tried to bump into Mikoto in the hallway to show off his dominance.
Peter was just about to rush over, but saw that Mikoto didn't even stop, nor did she give the other person a glance, just walked straight past.
Flash's sturdy body bumped into Mikoto's petite shoulder, but the scene of the girl being knocked flying, which he had anticipated, did not happen.
Instead, Flash himself, as if he had hit an invisible wall, let out a yelp, stumbled back several steps, and landed on his butt, his expression more dramatic than if he had seen a ghost.
The surrounding students were stunned.
Mikoto just turned her head, swept him with a look like she was looking at trash, and said indifferently: "Don't you have eyes when you walk?"
After saying that, she walked away, leaving behind a dead silence and Flash, who was clutching his shoulder, doubting his life.
From then on, the entire Midtown High knew that the pretty Japanese transfer student among the freshmen was not to be trifled with.
And Peter Parker, this newly promoted "older brother," finally realized that his protection—seemed a bit redundant.
However, this didn't stop him from continuing to fulfill his duties as an older brother. For instance, at this moment, seeing that Mikoto had finished the food on her plate, he immediately asked eagerly: "Mikoto, do you want more? I have some here."
"No need, I'm full." Mikoto wiped her mouth with a napkin, leaned back in her chair, and showed a satisfied expression.
It had to be said, Aunt May's cooking was truly excellent.
Looking at the smiling faces of this family, Mikoto felt a strange sensation in her heart. It was very warm and very grounded.
She knew that this peace was only temporary. On that system interface, the red skull icon of the [Raid Faction] was like a thorn, constantly reminding her of the dangers of this World.
She needed to become stronger and earn more reputation points. Not just for that exorbitant ticket home, but also to protect this hard-won warmth before her.
"Alright, kids," Uncle Ben stood up and began to clear the dishes, "Go do your homework, especially you, Peter. College applications are coming up soon, you can't slack off."
"Got it, Uncle Ben." Peter replied and also stood up to help.
Mikoto jumped off the chair, said "I'm done" to Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and turned to go back to her room.
Closing the door, the room was filled only with the orange light emitted by the desk lamp.
She sat at her desk but didn't take out her textbooks. She had already finished the homework for Midtown High in class.
She reached out and lightly swiped in the air.
The blue virtual interface appeared again.
Her gaze skipped over the dazzling array of goods and landed on the "Bond Summoning" list.
Familiar names and avatars lay there quietly, followed by a long string of despair-inducing zeros.
Her finger slowly slid over the list, finally stopping at the name that made her feel flustered.
[Touma Kamijou — Summoning Reputation Cost: 1,000,000]
One million—
Although it was still an unreachable number, compared to the four million for Kuroko and the others, it seemed—a bit closer.
"Idiot—"
She muttered softly, her cheeks burning slightly.
As if venting her frustration on herself, she slammed the system interface shut.
The room returned to silence.
Mikoto lay on the desk, burying her face in her arms.
She missed home.
But she also knew that until she saved enough for the fare home, this place was her home.