Tsukasa only gave the group a simple explanation of Cursed Energy.
When Ruiko Saten learned that jujutsu was an inborn talent and not something a person could learn later, her mood sank at once.
She became completely listless.
Her dream of becoming someone special through a different path had ended before it had even begun.
That disappointment made her sigh again and again.
“Saten…” Seeing her friend like that, Uiharu Kazari gently patted her shoulder to comfort her.
“Actually, being an esper isn’t really that—” Mikoto Misaka was just about to say something, but Tsukasa cut her off with a cough.
“Ahem.” Mikoto glanced at him without thinking.
When she saw him gently shake his head, she felt confused, but she still stopped herself.
At the same time, she thought over what she had almost said.
After thinking about it for a moment, Mikoto felt embarrassed.
To Ruiko Saten, that kind of comfort would have sounded more like mockery.
It would have been like a successful person telling someone who had failed that success did not matter, even if she had not meant it that way.
She gave Tsukasa a grateful look, then turned back to Saten a little carefully.
Ruiko Saten, Uiharu Kazari, and Kuroko Shirai were some of Mikoto Misaka’s few close friends.
Naturally, she cared about them and worried about how they felt.
“Mm~ It’s okay, Misaka.” Ruiko Saten noticed Mikoto’s concern and forced a smile.
She shook her head to show that she did not mind.
“Well, there’s no need to rush.” “Just believe in yourself.” Tsukasa gently patted Saten’s shoulder as he spoke.
“Believe in myself?” Ruiko Saten tilted her head, still confused.
“That’s right, Saten!
I’m sure you’ll awaken a power of your own one day,” Uiharu Kazari said with a serious look.
“Well, if you all say so, then I’ll believe in myself too.” Ruiko Saten turned around and gave them a bright smile.
The mood lightened again.
Only Tsukasa knew what was hidden underneath that smile.
Living in this city as an ordinary person while carrying her family’s expectations had already placed a quiet pressure on her.
That pressure had been building for a long time.
Once it reached a certain point, it would burst out all at once.
The sun sank in the west, and evening arrived.
The twilight dyed the sky gold.
Everyone said goodbye and split up at a crossroads.
“Oh, right!
There’s a sale on canned mackerel today.” “Uiharu, go on ahead.
I need to stop by the convenience store first.” Ruiko Saten suddenly remembered the sale.
After calling out to Uiharu, she dashed off like the wind, leaving Uiharu standing there by herself.
The convenience store.
Ruiko Saten rushed inside, grabbed a basket, and ran straight to the canned goods section.
There, she spotted the last three cans of mackerel on the shelf.
She let out a sigh of relief and could not help blurting out, “Lucky!
My luck is amazing!” She quickly reached out and dropped all three cans into her basket.
Then she hummed to herself as she headed toward the register.
“Stop right there!?” A girl’s shout suddenly came from behind her.
Ruiko Saten turned around at once.
Standing by the shelves was a small blonde girl with a cute face, staring right at her.
Ruiko Saten looked around, then pointed at herself uncertainly.
“Are you talking to me?” “Yes, you!
Those things in your basket…
if I’m not mistaken, those are cans of mackerel, right!?” “Eh?
That’s right.” Ruiko Saten answered, still not sure what was going on.
“Give them to me!?” The blonde girl lunged at her like she had not eaten in days.
Ruiko Saten was caught completely off guard and got knocked over.
Thinking she was about to slam into the ground, she shut her eyes tightly.
But the pain she expected never came.
She slowly opened her eyes.
The blonde girl had already jumped back like a startled rabbit and hurried away with fear written all over her face.
Ruiko Saten turned in confusion and cried out, “Mr.
Tsukasa!?” “What a coincidence.
You came to buy something too?” Tsukasa lifted the basket in his hand and smiled.
“Yes…
ah, thank you.
Otherwise, I would have fallen.” Ruiko Saten quickly stepped out of Tsukasa’s arms and thanked him in a flustered voice, her face turning red.
“Where do you think you’re going, Frenda?” Tsukasa glanced at Frenda, who had already started sneaking toward the door.
“I…
I…
I wasn’t going anywhere, Lord Tsukasa.” Frenda shivered and hurried back, her voice trembling.
No one who had seen that battle could help but fear Tsukasa’s strength.
He was the monster who had completely overwhelmed Academy City’s Number One.
Not to mention the four members of ITEM, who had witnessed the whole fight with their own eyes.
Their fear-driven loyalty had already reached a new high.
“Apologize,” Tsukasa said casually.
“Eh…
no…
wait!?” Ruiko Saten was about to say it was not necessary, but then she froze.
Frenda had already dropped to her knees with her forehead pressed to the floor.
“I’m truly very sorry!?” Frenda shouted so loudly that everyone in the store turned to look.
Ruiko Saten was so embarrassed she wanted to disappear on the spot.
Before the crowd could keep staring at Frenda, the doorbell rang again and again.
A group of students wearing Judgment armbands rushed into the store and shouted, “We are Judgment.
Everyone, please evacuate the convenience store.” “Um, did something happen in our store?” the manager asked nervously.
“We’ve detected accelerating graviton activity.
There may be a bomb planted in this store.” “A bomb!?” The moment they heard that, everyone understood the danger.
The crowd immediately rushed outside.
Only Tsukasa, Ruiko Saten, and Frenda remained where they were.
“Please evacuate at once,” the female Judgment leader warned as she stepped forward.
“It’s too late,” Frenda said quietly as she stood up and smoothed out her skirt.
“What?” The female Judgment officer was just about to ask what she meant when the space at the back of the store began to distort from the accelerating graviton activity.
“Run!?” One of the Judgment members noticed it first and shouted for the others to get out.
But in the next instant, a huge explosion roared through the store.
The shockwave swallowed all three Judgment members.
When the dust finally began to clear, the female Judgment leader realized in shock that the area around her had not been affected at all.
But this was not the time to think about that.
She rushed toward the center of the explosion.
There she saw her three companions lying in blood.
The one closest to the blast had lost an arm.
The female officer forced down her fear and called emergency services with trembling hands.
current girlfriend: Ruiko Saten suitors: Mikasa Kokoro Shizuri Mugino Rikou Takitsubo Saiai Kinuhata Frenda Seivelun Kaori Kanzaki