Chapter 870: Let's Talk, Shirai Kuroko
School Garden, Tokiwadai Middle School Dormitory Area.
"Good morning, Your Majesty." Kazakiri Hyouka opened the door without permission and entered Shokuhou Misaki's room.
As expected, although Shokuhou Misaki was already awake, she still looked half-asleep, sitting in front of her dressing table in her pajamas, spacing out.
"You must have come back too late last night, not enough sleep?" Kazakiri Hyouka picked up a comb and helped Our Majesty comb her slightly messy golden hair from sleep, "Would you like a cup of coffee?"
"No," Shokuhou Misaki shook her head, "I don't want to drink that kind of thing~ Don't mind me, I'll be fine in a bit..."
"I've already submitted a leave request to the Ms. Teacher," Kazakiri Hyouka didn't insist, changing the subject, "I just don't know if Misaka Student's side went smoothly."
"Hmm..." After a moment of thought, Shokuhou Misaki said, "Don't worry, because she's going to Senior Nameless's place, Misaka will definitely do her best."
After thinking for a while longer, Shokuhou Misaki continued to ask, "Have they arrived at school?"
"They had already left the dormitory when I contacted them just now." Kazakiri Hyouka said, "With Shirai Student's esper ability, they should have arrived by now, right?"
Unlike Shokuhou Misaki and Kazakiri Hyouka, it was more difficult for Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko to ask for leave, especially getting past the dormitory checkpoint, which was very tough.
So they decided to go to school first and ask their respective Ms. Teacher directly for leave.
"Hmm?" Shokuhou Misaki's spirits immediately lifted, "Shirai Student has already arrived at school?"
"Yes." Kazakiri Hyouka nodded, "Space Movement is very fast for traveling, I believe she should have arrived in the classroom by now."
In Kazakiri Hyouka's eyes, Shirai Kuroko's role was somewhat similar to her own—both were "support" type characters.
Therefore, when contacting the other party, she subconsciously chose Shirai Kuroko.
"Quick, seize the opportunity, I'm going to corner her!" Shokuhou Misaki immediately said, "Runzi-jie, you go help me stop Misaka Mikoto, don't let her cause trouble."
"Okay." Kazakiri Hyouka nodded without hesitation, "But, Your Majesty, is there something urgent you need to see Shirai Student about?"
"Of course there is." Shokuhou Misaki placed her finger on her chin, "But as for the specifics, I'll have to wait until I've seen her."
"Eh? Shirai Student... didn't provoke you, did she?" Kazakiri Hyouka, of course, knew that what Shokuhou Misaki said was very clear: she was preparing to activate Mental Out.
"That's hard to say." Shokuhou Misaki narrowed her eyes, revealing a villainous queen-like smile.
Seeing the image of the queen in the mirror, Kazakiri Hyouka sighed silently in her heart: "Your Majesty, Shirai Student's Space Movement is very troublesome, so let's also call Hojo Ayasuzu Student later."
"That makes sense, thanks to you, Runzi-jie." Shokuhou Misaki showed a normal smile this time.
...
"So~ don't think about running away, Shirai Student~ Am I that scary? Why do you want to run away as soon as you see me?"
In the corridor, Shokuhou Misaki played with the remote control in her hand, walking towards Shirai Kuroko.
Under the influence of Mental Out's suggestion, the entire corridor was empty, with only Shirai Kuroko, Shokuhou Misaki, and Hojo Ayasuzu.
Shirai Kuroko had just sensed something was wrong and immediately tried to activate Space Movement to leave, but she was caught by Hojo Ayasuzu.
Hojo Ayasuzu's ability is Level 2 "Emotion Tuning Fork," which strictly speaking, does not meet Tokiwadai Middle School's admission requirements.
However, she achieved an actual usage effect equivalent to Level 3 or even higher by highly developing this ability.
For example, just now, it was because she "heard" the prelude to Shirai Kuroko attempting to activate her esper ability that Hojo Ayasuzu acted in time, interrupting and preventing the normal activation of Space Movement.
Shirai Kuroko looked at Hojo Ayasuzu beside her with surprise and some resentment.
Because she practiced ninjutsu, Hojo Ayasuzu had mastered many inconspicuous but effective attack methods.
The reason she was able to interrupt Space Movement just now was very simple—she indeed launched an attack, using a brief impact and pain to suppress Shirai Kuroko's mind, preventing her from activating her esper ability normally.
However, Shirai Kuroko quickly lost the desire to resent Hojo Ayasuzu.
Seeing Shokuhou Misaki pressing closer, Shirai Kuroko's face turned pale in panic, feeling like prey that had fallen into a trap.
"I said, what are you afraid of me for, Shirai Student?" Shokuhou Misaki asked again, "I won't do anything to you, besides, I haven't even activated my esper ability yet."
"Your Majesty, you look like a villain right now." Hojo Ayasuzu couldn't help but retort, "If it were me, I'd want to run away too, wouldn't I?"
"No," Shokuhou Misaki shook her head, "Hojo Student, if it were her, the first thing she'd think of would probably be to defeat me, right?"
Hojo Ayasuzu thought for a moment and nodded seriously: "You're right, Your Majesty."
"Alright, you've worked hard this time." Shokuhou Misaki said, "Now, let me have a private chat with Shirai Student."
"Aren't you worried she'll run away?" Hojo Ayasuzu glanced at the twin-tailed girl she was holding.
"It's different now, Shirai Student won't run away anymore~" As she spoke, Shokuhou Misaki looked at Shirai Kuroko, "Am I right, Shirai Student?"
Shirai Kuroko's face was stern, and she nodded silently.
Hojo Ayasuzu shrugged, then released Shirai Kuroko: "Then I'll go first, bye-bye."
Shirai Kuroko indeed showed no intention of activating Space Movement again; instead, she stood silently in place.
Shokuhou Misaki took a step forward, and Shirai Kuroko involuntarily took half a step back, then, as if remembering something, she made up that half-step, looking unwilling to show weakness.
But she still avoided looking into Shokuhou Misaki's eyes.
"You... what do you want with me?" Seeing the other party still trying to get closer, Shirai Kuroko had no choice but to speak first.
She wanted to run away, but she ultimately held back, feeling caught between a rock and a hard place, so she leaned her back against the windowsill.
Shokuhou Misaki finally stopped, then turned and leaned against the corridor wall, playing with the remote control in her hand.
The two were separated by exactly one corridor.
"Why did you run away?" Shokuhou Misaki asked again, "Yesterday too, why did you want to run away after seeing me? No, before that, why did you leave early, refusing to act with Our?"
"Because of Judgment activities..." Shirai Kuroko's voice grew softer and softer.
She highly valued her identity as a Judgment, so even though it was partly true, she still felt that using it as an excuse somewhat went against her beliefs.
"There's no why, it's just what I wanted to do." Shirai Kuroko suddenly became annoyed, "By the way, do you have to ask in such a troublesome way? Wouldn't it be more convenient to just use your esper ability?"
Shirai Kuroko felt like she was prey being toyed with.
