Chapter 15: Bicycles and safety pants are a better match

In front of the bank near the Exchange Plaza, a barefoot man with half of his pants burned off was trying to tap dance. The ice layer on the ground was chasing him like a maggot on his tarsal bone. If he relaxed even a little, he might find himself frozen to the ground.

Next to him, a girl stood, pinching her nose as she stared at him covetously. If God were to grant him another chance, he'd be unwilling to rob a bank again—anything to avoid this embarrassing situation.

Disciplinary committee member Shirai felt no sympathy for the two criminals frozen in place before her, but she was surprised to find that among the bank robbers, there was actually a high-level angry ability user.

"Bastard, do you think I have no way out?" The angry ability user's power caused the space around her to compress, leaving her with almost no room to move.

He threw several fireballs fiercely at the ground, scorching the road surface black. The intense heat from the fireballs began to dissipate, causing the ice crystals on the ground to melt away.

With the immediate threat of being frozen temporarily removed, the angry ability user hurled a fireball directly at Kuroko, who didn't hesitate. The fireball twisted in the air, transforming into a long fire dragon that lunged toward Kuroko.

"I'll burn you to ashes! Don't think you can escape," the ability user snarled, accelerating the fire dragon toward her, the heat waves almost reaching Shirai.

"Gone?"

Just as the flames were about to collide with her, Shirai disappeared from sight. When she reappeared, she was already facing the angry ability user.

"Damn space ability user!" The fire ability user's face twisted in horror. Shirai disappeared again, reappearing behind her in the blink of an eye. It was an attack almost impossible to defend against.

Using the momentum of gravity, Shirai's leather shoe collided with the fire user's head, knocking him off balance and causing him to crash to the ground.

In an instant, Shirai appeared in front of the fallen criminal. With a swift motion, she brushed the armed belt on her thigh, producing several metal arrows between her fingers.

Activating her space ability, Shirai-san shot the metal arrows through the fire user's clothes, pinning him to the ground.

The ice on the ground quickly reformed, finishing the job by freezing the fire user's palm to the ground.

"If you continue to resist, this thing will move directly into your body," Shirai-san said slowly, with a ladylike smile, holding a metal arrow in front of her.

"Tsk." The angry ability user seemed to have given up and lay on the ground without moving. From his peripheral vision, he could still vaguely see two of his accomplices lying on the ground in the same predicament.

The security guards arrived late. Tessou Tsuzuri, the security officer, was concentrating on directing several criminals toward the armored car. Despite the sunny summer day, the three of them were shivering, their skin unnaturally red, as though they had been frozen.

Shirai explained the situation to the security guards, while the others helped calm the frightened crowd.

"Natsume-san, I think we need to have a serious talk."

A space fluctuation appeared again, and Natsume heard the rush of wind in her ears. A brown-haired girl with twin ponytails, wearing a discipline committee armband, appeared beside her.

The incident was nearly settled. Kuroko felt it was necessary to explain to someone that she couldn't just casually participate in Discipline Committee activities.

"Although I'm very grateful to Natsume-san for helping me twice, it will cause trouble if you keep participating in Discipline Committee activities without permission," Kuroko said seriously, smoothing her messy hair.

Clearly, Kuroko had guessed who helped last time. The only likely suspect was the one with the temperature control ability.

"Isn't it the duty of the Discipline Committee to maintain discipline and law and order in the school? The 177th branch, where Kuroko-san is stationed, should only be responsible for Sakugawa Junior High Girls, so Kuroko-san, you don't have authorization either," Natsume Enako said suspiciously, eyeing Kuroko, who was speaking so seriously.

"You troublesome person, you're quite knowledgeable about the Discipline Committee's duties. Anyway, a student like you, with no authority, causing trouble will easily attract the attention of the security guards or even higher-ups," Kuroko said helplessly, touching her forehead.

"But I never admitted I did it. The surveillance video can prove that I didn't. I was always cheering for you, Kuroko, by the bench," Natsume pointed to the surveillance equipment near the square. With the surveillance footage as evidence, she insisted that she had nothing to do with it.

Natsume Enako wasn't one to seek trouble. If the school or the security guards got involved, there would surely be a conversation or an investigation.

She stood obediently in the crowd. When had she helped the Discipline Committee? Maybe it was just some enthusiastic ice ability user in the crowd. If there's no evidence, she could easily deny it.

Natsume considered this her ideal model: participating in a real battle, exercising her abilities, helping her friends, and avoiding any trouble.

"You, a student without authority, don't need to get involved in this incident." Kuroko pursed her lips, showing a helpless expression, and didn't intend to continue questioning someone who knew nothing about the situation.

The scene in the communication square finally came to an end, and the five of them arrived at the video game center.

Since Misaka was a frequent visitor there, the waitress had already prepared free drinks for her.

They played from noon until sunset. Natsume skillfully grabbed the latest model of an electric robot from the claw machine. Only then did she contentedly hand the remaining game coins to Misaka, who was desperately trying to grab the Gekota puppet on the other side.

"I'm so frustrated. I was so close!" Misaka's face was full of conflict as she looked at the Gekota puppet toy in the claw machine and continued inserting game coins.

Some electric sparks crackled around Misaka's body, signaling that her patience was almost at its limit.

"Got it, got it!" After throwing nearly ten game coins, Misaka finally snagged the Gekota puppet. A joyful smile appeared on her face, and she jumped out of the arcade again.

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On Sunday, the air felt a little lazy.

With the first rays of sunlight, Tokiwadai students' daily routines began again.

Even on Sunday, the routine of Tokiwadai Middle School remained unchanged. Wake up at 7:00, have breakfast at 7:30, which completely put an end to any thoughts of sleeping in.

Except for a few clubs, most clubs didn't have any activities scheduled for Sunday.

Beside the flower bed at the entrance of the student dormitory, Natsume took a deep breath of the fresh morning air and focused on the book of internal documents from the discipline committee in her hand.

Flipping through the book titled Basic Fighting Skills Simplified Edition – Discipline Committee Member 23rd Revision 6.13, Natsume appeared a little frustrated. As expected, it was difficult to find anything useful in books bought from roadside stalls.

Of course, Natsume wasn't planning to change careers and join the Discipline Committee, nor was she considering abandoning her own skills or developing her physical potential just because she admired Kuroko's handsome figure.

It was completely Natsume's plan to kill two birds with one stone: learning fighting skills while exercising her body. However, after reading the entire book, she found that the fighting combos in the video game center weren't as reliable as she had hoped. The first few pages she flipped through were all very similar. If she had the chance, she would definitely teach that profiteer a lesson.

After tossing the book into the dormitory, Natsume hopped on her bicycle and prepared to head out.

There was nothing important today. Her small club of four was also peaceful.

The rumor of the stripping woman had become popular on the urban legend website. With many witnesses, this urban legend had now topped the hot search list on the website.

Maeda Kana had been very active in the group recently. She seemed to be energized by the popularity of the hot search and appeared particularly excited.

It wasn't convenient to ride a bicycle in a standard pleated skirt, but according to Tokiwadai Middle School's regulations, students were required to wear school uniforms outside of school, in the dormitory, and during winter and summer vacations.

Therefore, following Misaka's advice, Natsume Enako had bought the same safety pants as Misaka. Now, she felt much more comfortable and found it easier to ride her bike.

The bicycle moved steadily down the street, stopping at red lights and going at green lights. She got off and pushed the bicycle when crossing the zebra crossing. Natsume, who strictly followed traffic rules, rode toward the school garden.

During the physical examination yesterday, Kongou, whom she had only met once, had invited Natsume to attend a tea party today.

Tea parties were the most common social activity for young ladies, and as someone who wanted to be a qualified young lady after entering Tokiwadai, Natsume knew she couldn't avoid such social events.

However, thinking of enior Kongou's somewhat domineering demeanor, Natsume felt that it would be difficult to follow the other party's train of thought. She didn't know how many people would attend the tea party, and as it was her first time being invited to one, she felt a little nervous.