Mental Out, Shokuhou Misaki.
As one of the mere two Level 5s in Tokiwadai Middle School, ordinarily someone this lofty wouldn’t have anything to do with an ordinary Level 3 student.
Even though my family is backed by the Tenshouin Conglomerate, Shokuhou Misaki has no need whatsoever to approach me over it—in fact, Shokuhou Misaki’s family is quite well-backed too.
Even if it can’t match the Tenshouin Conglomerate, it isn’t far off.
But the fact is, this girl just has to run counter to common sense.
She’s a Level 5, yet she’s always clinging to me, a perfectly ordinary Level 3.
Maybe in other people’s eyes, Tokiwadai’s two Level 5s and I are jointly called Tokiwadai’s three pillars, but knowing my own capabilities, I’m not foolish enough to actually count myself as someone fit to be named alongside Shokuhou Misaki.
And Shokuhou Misaki probably thinks so too.
At Tokiwadai Middle School, Shokuhou Misaki, the other Level 5 Misaka Mikoto, and I each have our own faction.
Of course, neither Mikoto nor I have much interest in these so-called factions, so the factions behind us formed on their own.
Shokuhou Misaki is different, though—she places a great deal of importance on factions within the school.
So toward Mikoto, a fellow Level 5 rival, Shokuhou Misaki takes a jab at her figure every single time they meet.
That’s right—though Tokiwadai is a middle school, here, neither my figure nor Shokuhou Misaki’s has developed like a middle-schooler’s.
So Shokuhou Misaki and I are known as the “Queens,” while Mikoto’s nickname is “Princess”… Come to think of it now, that’s downright ironic.
It’s a wonder Mikoto’s gone this long without blowing up.
As for her attitude toward me, Shokuhou Misaki is so warm it’s a bit much for me to handle.
Every time she sees me she clings to me like she’s seeing her best friend, and I have no idea what her aim is.
My guess is that this girl most likely wants to snatch my faction or something—yet sometimes when I offer to hand my faction over to her, Shokuhou Misaki always narrows her eyes and refuses, which leaves me a little exasperated, because the only reason I made that offer was to get free of her clinging faster.
Actually, I originally had no complaints about Shokuhou Misaki’s clinging—I could just ignore her, after all.
But not long ago, after this Shokuhou Misaki discovered, in an accident, that I could actually resist her ability, she started giving me headaches. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
Every time she sees me, before anything else, she leads with a mental shock by way of greeting… Maybe for a Level 5 like Shokuhou Misaki, dropping a mental shock anytime is no big deal, but I’m only a Level 3 after all.
Though the researchers say my command over my ability is no less than a Level 5’s, if this keeps up over the long term, my processing power won’t be able to keep up, and it’d be a real problem if I ended up an idiot.
At that thought, the look in my eyes as I regarded Shokuhou Misaki turned a bit ugly.
I really couldn’t muster any goodwill toward someone who could turn me into a vegetable at any moment:
“If you’ve got something to say, say it quick, Shokuhou Misaki. I still have to get to class.”
“Don’t worry. As Tokiwadai’s ice queen, even if you cut class for a whole day, countless schoolgirls would cover for you…”
Shokuhou Misaki still stood on the stairs, blocking the path I had to take, a faint smile on her face.
“Speaking of which, I really do envy you, Yurika. Every single person in your faction feels something for you that almost surpasses a kouhai’s adoration for a senpai.”
“…”
I was instantly exasperated.
This bearing of mine that keeps unconsciously attracting the same sex gives me a headache too, but there’s no way for me to deliberately change it—setting aside whether it can even be done, even if it really could be changed, it’d probably be a massive undertaking.
So I could only look at Shokuhou Misaki, at a loss.
“If you’re going to keep talking nonsense, please move aside. I’m going to class.”
“All right, all right, I’ll stop joking with you. This time I really do have something to discuss, Yurika.”
Shokuhou Misaki pursed her lips, seemingly expressing displeasure at my lack of a sense of humor, then turned to fix those star-shaped pupils on my eyes, a trace of excitement in her tone:
“Yurika, your family’s Tenshouin Conglomerate has gone bankrupt, hasn’t it?”
“Yes… so what?”
Not many people know I’m the daughter of the Tenshouin Conglomerate family; Shokuhou Misaki counts as one.
So even though the Tenshouin Conglomerate’s bankruptcy would stir up some discussion at Tokiwadai, few people would connect it to me.
There are plenty of young ladies at Tokiwadai, but not many will go around loudly broadcasting their identities.
I’d caught the trace of excitement in her tone.
Shokuhou Misaki’s family’s outside business interests shouldn’t have any conflict with the Tenshouin Conglomerate, and even if the Tenshouin Conglomerate went bankrupt, it couldn’t bring her any real benefit—so it shouldn’t be something that’d excite her:
“Yes, so what?”
The Tenshouin Conglomerate’s bankruptcy had blown up into a big deal, and I hadn’t planned to hide it, so I admitted it.
Then I watched Shokuhou Misaki’s face suddenly flush rosy.
“What’s this got to do with you?”
“Cough cough, of course it’s got nothing to do with me. But, Yurika, you must be in quite a bind right now.”
Shokuhou Misaki seemed to notice she was losing her composure a little, and coughed a few times to bring her tone back around,
“Without the Tenshouin Conglomerate, your allowance now only covers tuition, right? Living expenses and the like must be pretty difficult—prices in Academy City aren’t exactly low.”
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
I was a bit baffled.
Shokuhou Misaki had spent all this time analyzing my situation, and what was she trying to get at?
Going by how she normally acts around me, she clearly wasn’t trying to mock me or anything—so Shokuhou Misaki definitely had some other purpose.
“Ahem, actually, I could provide you with your everyday living expenses and such…”
For some reason Shokuhou Misaki’s face had gone a little red, and the look in her eyes as she watched me turned a bit strange, which I didn’t quite understand:
“But you have to join my faction!”
Well—so it wasn’t my faction she was after; she’d set her sights directly on me… I pressed a hand to my forehead, a little helpless.
But to be honest, I felt a bit ashamed—because I was tempted by Shokuhou Misaki’s offer.