"Where is this place…?"
Noon.
Mikoto Misaka walked into Tokiwadai Middle School's cafeteria. She didn't grab any lunch; instead, she headed straight for Shokuhou Misaki, who was surrounded—as usual—by a group of other high-society girls.
"Hmm?"
Seeing Mikoto approach, Misaki's starry-eyed entourage assud trouble was brewing.
Misaki gently pressed the remote in her handbag. Instantly, the surrounding students stepped between Mikoto and Misaki, blocking her path.
Mikoto stopped and spoke up:
"Shokuhou Misaki."
Misaki studied her, curious about what this tomboy might say next. But she never expected Mikoto to bow her head.
"Please…help !"
"???!"
Misaki blinked, stunned. It was the first ti she'd ever seen this tomboy—soone who'd always butted heads with her—speak so humbly, so…desperately. It left Misaki speechless.
"…"
Monts passed with no reaction from Misaki. Mikoto's gaze darkened, taking her silence as refusal.
"I'm sorry for bothering you."
She turned to leave. That was when Misaki finally snapped back to her senses.
"Wait!"
She called out, hesitating a second before saying,
"Alright, let's talk."
Misaki led Mikoto to her private "territory," telling everyone else to leave. The two of them sat face-to-face. Misaki rested her chin on her clasped hands, peering at Mikoto.
"So, what do you need from ?"
"…"
Mikoto exhaled slowly and said,
"I want to tell you…a story."
"A story?"
Misaki raised an eyebrow, sounding impatient.
"I hope it's not so cliché or bore, or I'll be very annoyed."
"Mm…"
Mikoto began with how she'd provided her DNA to researchers as a child. The instant she ntioned that, Misaki's face flickered imperceptibly. Mikoto didn't notice.
As Mikoto went on to talk about the clones, Misaki's expression grew dark, her fists clenching as though suppressing sothing.
Finally, after Mikoto explained everything, she lifted her head:
"Shokuhou Misaki… If I said all of this is true, and it's what happened to —would you believe it?"
"…"
Misaki kept her head bowed, silent. Mikoto couldn't see her face. Her only response ca in a subdued voice:
"If it's true… what do you plan to do about it?"
"I'm going to put an end to this experint!"
Mikoto answered without hesitation.
"Ah…aha…"
Misaki gave a chilling laugh, shoulders trembling. Then she raised her head, glaring at Mikoto with rage in her eyes:
"That's it? Then…what about those with defects, or those who got disposed of, or flat-out killed? All those Misaka Sisters—don't you owe them remorse? An apology?!"
No longer able to restrain her fury, she shot to her feet, shouting at Mikoto.
"You…"
Mikoto stood there, dumbfounded, watching Misaki's features distort with anger—and spotting the gleam of tears at her eyes. She didn't understand why Misaki was so furious, nor how she imdiately knew about the "Misaka Sisters" when Mikoto's story hadn't spelled out everything. Then it dawned on her.
"You know about the Misaka Sisters?!"
"…"
At this point, Misaki saw no need to pretend. She took a breath, forcing her anger under control, and sat back down.
"Yes, I know more than you think. I also know about the Level 6 Shift Project."
"What?!"
Mikoto's eyes widened. Her first suspicion—
Does that an you're involved in it, too?
"Ah."
In response, she only got a mocking laugh from Misaki.
"Follow . I'll show you sothing."
Without further explanation, she got up and headed for the door.
"…"
Mikoto didn't hesitate to follow. Clearly, Misaki knew sothing.
Walking behind Misaki, Mikoto wanted to ask her questions multiple tis but held back. Misaki said nothing. They arrived at a seemingly quiet building. Moving through a series of inspection corridors, they stopped in front of a sealed door.
"What is this?"
Mikoto couldn't contain her curiosity.
Misaki cast her a quick glance.
"You'll see soon enough."
After inputting a passcode plus fingerprint and iris scans, the door slowly slid open. An icy gust rushed out. Inside, Mikoto saw all sorts of strange chanical equipnt attached to glass containers. But then she glimpsed the contents of those containers—
She froze.
"That's…?!"
Row upon row of liquid-filled glass tubes, each holding a figure identical to her—a girl clad in a white hospital gown.
No, wait…
They weren't her. They were the Misaka Sisters—her cloned "sisters."
"Why do you have Misaka Sisters here?!"
Seeing so many of them, Mikoto felt her fury spike, electricity crackling around her. She turned a suspicious glare on Misaki.
"Ah."
Misaki sneered.
"Angry? Furious? Vengeful?"
"Shouldn't you be blaming yourself the most? If you hadn't given your DNA, they wouldn't have been born to suffer."
"…"
Her sarcastic retort didn't enrage Mikoto—it felt like cold water dumping on her anger, making her think more clearly.
She inhaled deeply.
"I'm sorry. I got carried away. But if you brought here, you're not just trying to provoke , right?"
"Hmph."
Misaki huffed.
"At least you're not too dumb to see that."
She gestured at the tanks.
"You know what these are, right?"
"…Misaka Sisters…"
Mikoto spoke heavily. She was seeing them in creation tanks for the first ti.
"Why are they here?"
Misaki regarded Mikoto coolly.
"This is the 'Talent Workshop'—my territory. And these sisters… I saved them from the labs you wanted to destroy."
"What?!"
Mikoto was stunned. Sothing she hadn't been able to do, Misaki—soone Mikoto considered "unrelated"—had sohow pulled it off?!
~~~
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