Tokiwadai Middle School. Dormitory Room 208.
"Onee-sama~ Let's sleep together! Kuroko is yours from now on~!"
"Ah! What are you doing again?! Get away from me!"
"Onee-sama, let us be honest with our feelings today! Wahahahaha—!"
BZZZZZT! BANG!
A loud explosion of blue electricity ended the assault, followed by a pathetic scream.
"Huff... huff! You'd better stop now!" Misaka Mikoto stood by the bed, panting heavily. She clenched her fists, wiping cold sweat from her forehead.
"Ouch..." Shirai Kuroko lay sprawled on the floor like a crushed frog. A large, red bump on her head was literally steaming, but a disturbing, satisfied smirk still played on her lips.
"Seriously... I'm getting goosebumps." Mikoto rubbed her arms, shivering. She pointed at her roommate with righteous indignation. "Kuroko! If you suddenly pounce on me like that, you'll scare people to death! You need to get this weird personality sorted out!"
"This isn't a weird personality, Onee-sama!" Kuroko looked up, completely lost in her own delusions. "This is Kuroko's boundless love for you!"
"Seriously... I'm getting goosebumps again."
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Suddenly, Kuroko's phone rang, shattering the bizarre atmosphere.
"Huh?" Kuroko pulled out her phone. The perverted smirk vanished instantly, replaced by the sharp, serious expression of a Judgment officer. She stared intently at the screen. "Is this... a prank?"
Seeing Kuroko's sudden shift in demeanor, Mikoto lowered her guard, her curiosity piqued. "What's wrong? Why are you so serious?"
"I don't know if it's a prank..." Kuroko muttered, her thumbs flying across the screen as she checked different feeds. Her expression grew darker by the second. "It's on every website and forum. It's even pinned to the top of the Dark Web boards. What is going on? This is a massive breach of Academy City's network security."
"Huh..." Mikoto's phone buzzed simultaneously. She opened the notification and looked at it strangely.
[SYSTEM WIDE BROADCAST]
Sender: Accelerator
Subject: To the Trash of Academy City
I, Accelerator, the Strongest Level 5 in Academy City, have had enough of you idiots wanting to challenge me. To settle this once and for all: All of you lowlifes, come find me at the District 7 Stadium tomorrow afternoon. I will crush you all. If you have the guts, come and face me. I will take you all on by myself, you trash.
"Is this a prank? A challenge letter pinned everywhere?" Mikoto looked at her phone in disbelief. "Accelerator... the Number One. Supposedly able to control all vectors in the world."
As the Third-Ranked Level 5, Mikoto didn't care much about the others, but she knew their reputations. (Except for the Number Six, whom no one had ever seen).
"No, I have to check this." Kuroko quickly dialed a number.
"Wait, isn't Kuroko off duty today?" Mikoto asked.
"That's true, but maintaining order is the duty of Judgment! Being off the clock is no excuse!" Kuroko declared righteously.
"Eh~ Kuroko is quite imposing right now," Mikoto blinked, smiling softly. Despite her roommate's perverted antics, she was always deeply responsible when it mattered.
"What?! Even you can't delete it? Uiharu, what's going on?!" Kuroko shouted into the phone, stunned. A post that Uiharu Kazari couldn't delete was unheard of.
"Y-Yes! I can't delete it! I'm locked out of the admin privileges!" Uiharu's sweet, panicked voice echoed from the speaker. "This... this signature matches the hacker from last night!"
"What?! It's related to the hacker who breached the security grid yesterday?!" Kuroko's face turned pale. She vividly remembered the after-action report. Even a genius hacker like Uiharu was treated like a toddler by that intruder.
"This is terrible! Something huge is happening! Why is he issuing a declaration of war?!" Kuroko's mind raced, simulating tomorrow's logistics. With the entire city seeing this post, a massive number of Espers—especially the violent Skill-Out gangs and ambitious Level 4s—would swarm the District 7 Stadium.
...
District 7. A Skyscraper Rooftop.
"They've really got guts! Sending a declaration of war to everyone in Academy City!" A boy stood on the edge of the roof, the wind whipping his clothes. He wore a red t-shirt, a headband, and a white school uniform draped over his shoulders like a cape.
Sogiita Gunha. The Number Seven Level 5.
He looked at the message on his phone, grinning excitedly. "But doing this will definitely cause a lot of trouble for innocent people. Although they have Guts... the level of their Guts is misguided!" He crushed the phone in his hand (accidentally).
"Since they have so much Guts, I'll go and see for myself! Accelerator... let's see if you have the strongest Guts of all!" Without hesitation, he leaped off the skyscraper into the night.
...
An Underground Facility.
"Heh. This is really interesting." A young man with blonde hair and a white suit stood amidst a pile of unconscious, bleeding terrorists. He wiped a drop of blood from his cheek.
Kakine Teitoku. The Number Two Level 5.
He looked up at a hijacked electronic billboard displaying the challenge. He couldn't help but laugh out loud. "How could he be so stupid? Did the Number One's brain grow mushrooms? He actually made such a massive public commotion? Hahaha! Challenging the entire city! It might be a prank by some suicidal hacker, but daring to use my rival's name for a prank is hilarious enough."
...
A Hidden Laboratory.
The news didn't just alarm the students and Judgment. Teachers, researchers, and the City's Board of Directors were all staring at their screens.
"Hehehe..." A kind-looking old man with gray hair and a hunched back sat in a dimly lit office. He adjusted his glasses, reading the glowing text.
Kihara Gensei.
"To post something like this... a child's thinking is truly astonishing." He smiled, a sinister light reflecting in his eyes. "With so many Ability Users gathered in one concentrated area... it will be a perfect petri dish. A very good opportunity to confirm my suspicions."
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