A Certain Freezing Esper: Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own To Aru Majutsu No Index or To Aru Kagaku No Railgun. I only own any original characters that appear in this story.

The double doors of a department store automatically opened, a boy walking out. The sun was blazing down onto the town of Academy City. The boy, Rai Saito, didn't seem to pay the abnormally hot weather any mind. It had been two days since his fight with the gang leader. Having recovered from his illness, he had decided to go out after school and buy a replacement umbrella. In his right hand was a plastic bag. Inside was the newly bought umbrella. You must be asking yourself, "Why is it in a plastic bag? Surely he can handle carrying one umbrella to his dorms." It wasn't that simple you see. Rai was extremely embarrassed by this particular umbrella.

'I can't believe they didn't have any other umbrellas on sale…' Rai thought with a frown, wishing to hurry up and deposit the umbrella in his room as quickly as possible. The umbrella in question is pink, with cat faces printed on the whole outside of the umbrella. 'I got so many strange looks too…' He didn't really care about what kind of umbrella it was. As long as it shielded him from the rain, but that still didn't mean it was any less embarrassing. The street Rai was walking along was almost completely devoid of people. The umbrella may have been in a plastic bag, but that didn't quite conceal it completely. Thus the reason why there were barely any people around was that Rai was taking the long way back to his dorms. As Rai was walking he noticed a shoulder lengthed brown haired girl, a bag strapped on her left shoulder, and goggles on top of her head. The girl was blankly staring up at a tree. Following her gaze, Rai spotted a black cat lying down on a branch. Rai looked at the girl again. She was wearing the Tokiwadai uniform.

"M-Misaka-san?" Rai questioned, walking over to get a closer look. Sure enough, it was Misaka. Rai couldn't quite put his finger on it, but she seemed different. Misaka didn't seem to take notice of him. Rai looked back up at the tree. The cat seemed to be stuck. The tree was too tall for either Rai or Misaka to be able to get it down. Rai handed the plastic bag over to Misaka to hold on to. Rai knelt down on one knee, and placing his palm on the ground, exerted some energy. A column of ice appeared beneath Rai, propelling him upwards. Once the ice column was high enough to where he could grab the cat he stopped exerting energy. Grabbing the cat, he jumped off the ice column. Rai hit the ground wobbling a bit.

"H-Here you go." Rai stuttered out, handing the black cat to Misaka. Rai held out his hand, as if waiting for something. Misaka looked at Rai's hand blankly.

"'What?' Misaka asked, tilting her head to the side in a questioning manner." She spoke in an emotionless voice.

"U-u-um, my umbrella…" Rai trailed off, pointing to the plastic bag she was holding.

"'When you handed me this bag, the bag and its contents, had become my property.' Misaka clarifies, holding the bag in a protective manner." She held it close to her. "'And how do you know my name?' Misaka questioned, as she becomes apprehensive of the pale boy in front of her."

"W-w-what! Don't you remember me from two days ago!" Rai panics. She couldn't have forgotten about him already. "And w-w-why are y-you suddenly talking in t-t-third person?"

"'I understand now.' Misaka said, a look of revelation dawning on her face, as she bows." She bowed politely to Rai. "'I am Misaka Imouto. Misaka's younger sister.' Misaka introduces herself joyfully."

'I didn't know she had a sister. The resemblance is uncanny! They must be twins…' Rai concluded. Rai in turn also bows, introducing himself.

"I-I'm Rai Saito. I m-m-met your sister two d-d-days ago when she was being h-h-harassed by a group of thugs." After the introductions were over they stood straight up. Rai scratched the back of his head, looking away. "A-A-Anyway, you c-can keep the umbrella. I-I-It suits you better."

'She probably liked the design anyway… Maybe Seventh Mist Mall will have some umbrellas in stock…' Rai thought, staring at the ground and cupping his chin. He didn't really want to have to walk all the way there, but if he had too…

Misaka Imouto put the umbrella in the school bag on her left shoulder. Rai looked over as she zipped up her bag, a glint inside her bag catching his eye. He thought he saw a gun in the bag. He immediately discontinued the thought. Being that 80 percent of the total population of Academy City is students, selling guns to ordinary citizens is illegal. One would have to join Anti-Skill if they wanted to attain one. 'It's rare to find an ordinary citizen who owns a gun legally. Let alone someone who is selling them…' A small black figure sped past Rai. He turned around just in time to see the cat run down an alley. It appeared the black cat had escaped Misaka's arms.

"'Wait.' Misaka said, frantically chasing after the cat, concerned about its wellbeing." Rai hastily followed. If the cat happened to get stuck in a tree again, Imouto would need his assistance. The duo followed the cat down many twists and turns throughout the city's alleys, inadvertently knocking over a few trash cans in the process. Coming in close to the cat, Rai jumped forward, arms outstretched in an attempt to grab it. The cat quickly dodged left into another alley. Rai missed the cat, falling face first onto the ground.

"I feel like this is going to be my whole day…" Rai groaned out, lifting his face off the ground.

"'Put your back into it.' Misaka said encouragingly, as she tries to help." Misaka stretched out her hand. Rai took the hand as Misaka helped him to stand up.

"T-T-Thank you." Rai blushed. Misaka nodded her head and quickly chased after the cat, Rai trying his best to keep up.

Rai and Misaka were now sitting on a bench in the middle of the park, Misaka on the left and Rai on the right, both covered with sweat and breathing heavily. Rai wasn't tired from the heat. That was the least of his concerns. It was the physical labor of having to chase a feline through the confines of Academy City for about an hour. The Misaka twin, on the other hand, was very much tired from both.

"Maybe… if… we… wait around… the cat…will...come back…on it's… own." Rai theorized, out of breath.

"'Perhaps…' Misaka…gasped…out… wishing for a...refreshment…" Rai scanned the area, seeing if there was anything nearby that sold drinks. He noticed a food cart selling shaved ice. A long line of people were standing in front of it, apparently wishing for the same thing. Rai let his breath catch up to him before saying.

"I'll buy us some shaved ice. What flavor do you want?"

"'What flavors do they have?' Misaka asked, beginning to contemplate what she wanted."

"N-Nevermind…I'll just get you what I'm having." Rai sweat dropped. There were too many flavors. It would take a while for him to list all of the flavors, let alone remember what all of them were. Rai got into the back of the line and waited for his turn to order. After 10 minutes, he had finally gotten the two cups of shaved ice. Giving one to Misaka, he sat down next to her. He scooped out some of his shaved ice and took a bite. Both shaved ices were blue.

"'What flavor is it?' Misaka asked, eyeing the frozen treat."

"It's Blueberry." Rai nonchalantly stirred his shaved ice. Misaka scooped some shaved ice up with the plastic spoon provided from the cart. "Be careful. It'll give you brain freeze pretty easily." Rai warned. Misaka took a bite. Immediately flinching as she swallowed the shaved ice, feeling a sting of pain in her head. Once the pain went away she found she rather liked the flavor.

"'It's good.' Misaka commented, enjoying the flavor of the shaved ice." Rai nodded his head in agreement. It was, in fact, one of his favorite flavors. While they were eating, a black blur landed in Rai's lap, almost making him drop his cup.

"I-I was right!" Rai exclaimed, stunned to see a black cat looking up at him from his lap. The cat began to purr, rubbing its' head against his stomach.

"'It appears to like you…' Misaka pointed out, a hint of jealousy in her voice."

"Nah, it's probably just because its' hot. You could say I'm naturally cold." Rai informed Misaka, placing his cup of shaved ice next to him. He put his right hand in front of the cat's face, letting the feline sniff it. The cat in response purred and rubbed its' head against the palm of Rai's hand, seeming to enjoy the contact. "See." Rai petted the cat's head. He suddenly stopped, feeling warmth on his left shoulder.

"'It is cold.' Misaka exclaimed surprised, rubbing her face on the appendage and enjoying the coldness." Rai froze, feeling numerous eyes staring at him. Some people were looking at them 'awing' and 'oohing'. Others were disgusted, silently telling them to 'get a room'. To them they probably looked like a couple on a date in the park. Rai noticed a couple of them pull their cell-phones out, obviously wanting to take a picture of them.

"U-U-Um, Imouto-San… p-people a-a-are s-staring…" Rai blushed, shifting his eyes from left to right. Misaka didn't seem to hear him. "N-N-Now that I've helped y-you find your cat, I-I'll be going to the Seventh Mist Mall n-n-now…" Rai tried to stand up, but was immediately stopped by Misaka holding him down, her shaved ice now abandoned.

"'I do not wish for you to leave.' Misaka said, not wanting the sensation of cold to end." Rai felt even more stares. The cat looked up at him from his lap, meowing. If he was going to get out of this situation, he would have to compromise.

"I-I-If you let me go…I- I'll buy a-anything you want at the Seventh Mist Mall…" Rai proposed. Sure she didn't act like most other girls, but perhaps she still liked shopping. The feeling of numerous eyes on him was beginning to make him feel very uncomfortable. He did have quite a lot of spending money, though Rai felt guilty spending it willy-nilly. He just wanted to get out of this situation quickly. Misaka lifted her head off his shoulder, interested in the proposition.

"'Anything?' Misaka asked, seeking confirmation." Rai sighed, nodding his head. Misaka stood up and picking up the cat, began to walk towards Seventh Mist Mall. Rai quickly followed behind, relieved to finally be rid of the countless people staring at them.

The two were now standing in front of the glass doors of the shopping complex, people walking along the streets going about their daily lives. The building itself had the words 'Seventh Mist Mall' proudly displayed in front of it. You could probably find just about anything in the giant mall. Rai looked at his cell-phone. The time displayed on the screen was 5:21. It had taken him and Misaka Imouto around 15 minutes to walk to the Seventh Mist Mall from the park. He had exactly 1 hour and 39 minutes to get done what he needed to do. Rai stared up at the building.

'Plenty of time to have Imouto-san decide on something to buy, for me to buy an umbrella, and get to the dorms before curfew.'' Rai thought. 'As long as everything goes according to plan…' Rai sweat dropped as he felt familiar warmth on the left side of his body. Misaka was leaning her head against his shoulder, enjoying the chill. Rai blushed. "I-Imouto-san… w-w-we're already at the mall… the i-i-inside is a-air-conditioned…" The cat Misaka was holding rubbed its' head against his shoulder as well.

"'Then what are we waiting for?' Misaka inquired, impatiently waiting to enter the cool atmosphere of the shopping complex." Her voice was a bit muffled from her face being on Rai's shoulder. Rai looked away embarrassed.

"L-Let's h-head in..." Just as they were about to enter the mall, a voice was suddenly heard.

"O-Onee-sama!" Rai, turning to his left, saw a girl with twin pig-tails tied up with red ribbons and wearing the Tokiwadai uniform, running over to them. He figured it was one of Imouto's friends. Rai sensed something in the air.

'Level 4? But from where?' Rai thought surprised, frantically looking around for the source. He suddenly felt his body shift unexpectedly, as everything in front of him turned upside down. "Oof!" With a thud, Rai suddenly fell to the ground. Confused, Rai stared up at Misaka Imouto from his position on the ground. Next to Misaka was the twin-tailed girl, inspecting Misaka, seeing if she was harmed. Rai could guess how she had managed to get to them so quickly, and particularly why he was on the ground. "A-A-A Teleporter!" Rai thought aloud.

"Onee-sama, what are you doing with this man?" The twin-tailed girl spoke. She seemed to be jealous for some reason. Misaka ignored the question.

"'Who are you?' Misaka cautiously asked, preparing to take action." Imouto seemed to think she was an enemy for attacking Rai. The cat in her hands jumped out of Misaka's grasp and sat on the ground. Misaka slowly moved her now free hand to her bag. Rai, seeing this, panicked.

'Was that really a gun I saw earlier!' Rai thought, eyes widening.

"Why are you acting so strange, Onee-sama? It's me Kuroko. You're acting like you don't know me." Kuroko had a concerned look on her face. Misaka's hand stopped before they touched the zipper. She seemed to realize something.

"'I'm Misaka's sister. Misaka Imouto.' Misaka explained, trying to clear the situation up." Kuroko lifted an eyebrow and put a hand on her hip.

"Onee-sama, you and I both know that you don't have any sis— "Kuroko was cut short by the blaring sound of an alarm trilling in the air. It was coming from across the street. Looking over from his position on the ground, Rai saw two people standing over an ATM. Both people were wearing very rugged looking clothes and bandannas to conceal their faces. One seemed to be manipulating the machine without touching it. This action seemed to somehow send dollar bills spewing out from the dispenser. He wore sunglasses, and had brown wavy hair. The other seemed to be manipulating the dollar bills in mid-air into a brown sack, which also seemed to float in mid-air by itself. This man, who had black combed back hair, seemed to be moving everything as if it were connected with strings. Rai felt something in the air.

'It seems like those two people are Espers. I can't tell which is which, but one seems to be a Level 3 while the other is a Level 4.' Rai thought to himself, slowly getting off the ground. Regardless of what level they were, Rai knew they had to be stopped. Rai stuck his right arm out, preparing to unleash a volley of ice blasts, hoping to take them by surprise. He immediately stopped as Kuroko took a step forward, brandishing a green arm-band around her upper right arm, a white shield printed in the middle of the band. An expression of utmost seriousness graced her features.

"Stop, you're under arrest!" Kuroko shouted, tugging at her arm-band for emphasis. The two thieves turned around. Rai couldn't see his mouth, but he could tell the man wearing sunglasses was smirking. The other man didn't seem to be bothered. All of the people who were walking the streets were now gone, knowing that things were about to get violent.

"Hahahaha! It seems Judgment is here faster than I thought they would be. Usually they're pretty late! I guess Judgment isn't sleeping in today!" The man wearing sunglasses laughed out. Kuroko grew angry hearing this. 'How dare he laugh at Judgment so casually!' Kuroko thought, disappearing in a flash. Rai felt something in the air.

'A level 3? It doesn't feel like it's coming from these guys. Is there a third accomplice?' Rai thought looking around. Appearing in front of the sunglass wearing man, Kuroko stretched out her hand to touch him. The man stayed calm and gracefully sidestepped to the left of her hand, seeming to predict what she was going to do. The man put his right hand to her side, surprising Kuroko.

"Gotcha!" The man chuckled. Rai shot out an ice blast hoping to distract the man long enough for Kuroko to get away. Rai sensed the same third esper again. The man with shades put up his left hand, wind forming around the hand like a barrier. The ice blast was easily deflected with a flick of his wrist. A bolt of electricity was shot from behind Rai, aimed at the brown haired man. Rai felt the same third esper, but this time it felt unbalanced, almost as if the esper was panicking. The brown haired man quickly propelled Kuroko back with a gust of wind, knocking her to the ground. He then quickly brings up his hand to defend himself from the bolt of electricity. The man was not as jovial as he was before.

"It looks like it's 3 on 3 now." Rai smirked, looking behind him to see Imouto with her hand raised, sparks flying from it. The two thieves were surprised by this statement.

"How did you know there was another one of us?" The black haired man questioned surprised.

"Instinct I guess you could say and guessing from what I've seen so far. It's telepathy." Rai continued. "He's probably somewhere high up where he can see everything and inform you guys of anyone that planned to stop you, along with what powers they potentially had… quite a good plan if I say so myself." Rai deducted. The two sides were about even. One side had a Level 4 and two Level 3s. The other, being Rai and co, had two Level 4s and a level 2.

"Tch, it's not like you knowing that will change anything." The brown haired man spat out. "This should be a breeze!" The man seemed to laugh at his own joke, sending a blast of wind from his hand. Rai noticed small scratches being made on the ground where the blast was traveling. If even one hits them he could tell it would be fatal. Rai shot out an ice blast from his hand. The two attacks collided, canceling each other. Rai saw Kuroko begin to move.

"Wait! Don't act hastily! The third member can see your every move. You barely managed to get away from him without sustaining too much damage…" Rai warned. He's not sure she would win if she took them head on.

"What do you expect me to do! Just stand here and play with my thumbs?" Kuroko shouted, pissed off. Rai was startled by the sudden outburst.

"N-n-no, I don't. But I hope you'll let us h-help you a-a-at least." Rai stuttered out, now scared of the girl. Kuroko noticed this and calmed herself before continuing.

"I can't have that. You and Onee-sama are civilians." Rai suddenly became irritated.

"Just because I'm not apart of Judgment doesn't mean I don't have the ability to help!" Kuroko's eyes widened in surprise, but this only lasted for a second and was soon replaced by a look of resolve.

"It's fine I can take care of them." Rai could see that Kuroko was a very prideful and stubborn person. He knew she would go to great lengths to stop them. Her sense of justice was just that way, but…he didn't want to see her die just because of that.

"The only thing that makes us different from you is an arm-band. If an arm-band was needed to save anybody then everybody would be doing it." Rai courageously spoke. After all, he wasn't going to allow some rules dictate who he could or could not help. Kuroko sighed, realizing he wasn't going to back down.

"Fine, but don't complain if you get hurt." Rai nodded smiling. He now had her full support.

"'What should we do?' Misaka asked, ready to begin." Imouto put her helmet over her eyes. Rai began to think. They had an extra fighter. The thieves had a lookout who could bark out orders instantly should that person see anything. Where the third thief is located is still a mystery. There are too many tall buildings around and Rai didn't know how far the esper could communicate to his cohorts. Rai wasn't sure about Kuroko, but he knew he and Imouto could attack from afar. If they could attack from a distance then they could potentially distract the two thieves, or back up Kuroko should she need it. He wished to try the former, as the latter could potentially harm Kuroko if she was caught in the crossfire. By simply taking out one of the thieves Rai could let Kuroko find the third thief and arrest that person before they could run away. Rai silently summarized his plan to both Kuroko and Imouto. They both agreed to support him. Rai smiled.

"Then let it begin." Rai quickly shot out a blast of ice towards the black haired Level 3. Rai could feel the powers of the mysterious third accomplice. The black haired man pointed his hand at a nearby trash bin. The trash appeared to float in mid-air as if attached to strings. The man swept his arm out, the trash can barreling towards them. The attacks collided. The trash bin was frozen and shattered on impact to the ground.

"Telekinesis…" Kuroko thought aloud. The two thieves could attack from afar just like Rai and Imouto. Rai notice the brown haired man pull out a bead. The man pinched the bead and aimed it at Rai. The metal sphere shot forward with a gust of wind. On instinct, Rai formed an ice wall in front of him. The bead hit the ice wall, shattering it and falling to the ground. The brown haired man suddenly broke the display window of the electronics store behind them with a gust of wind.

"There, partner, you have some new toys to use!" The brown haired man laughed. The other nodded, smirking. The black haired man proceeded to throw a TV at them using his telekinesis. Imouto was able to destroy it with a bolt of electricity before it came anywhere near them. The other man pulled out more beads from his pocket and shot them one after the other. Rai put up another ice wall. Only this time the wall was much wider and thicker. The beads embedded themselves in the wall, making cracks as they hit. Kuroko put her hand near her thigh. Rai noticed some white stakes strapped to her leg. Kuroko raked her hand across, teleporting them. The two thieves were notified of this action. Not sure where the stakes would come from. The brown haired man made a cyclone of wind around him and his partner. The white stakes appeared a foot away from the men and were quickly engulfed in the mini-tornado.

"Hahaha! Can you hear it! The howl of the beckoning wind!" The brown haired man shouted crazily, his arms spread out. One did not need to see behind his sunglasses to know he craved blood. The man stopped the tornado. The black haired man quickly used his telekinesis to stop the stakes in mid-air and moved them in front of the brown haired man. The brown haired man quickly touched them one by one, shooting them back at their source. Rai knew that one of them would instantly break the already crumbling ice wall in front of him, due to them being quite a bit larger than beads. An idea struck him. This was their chance. He wouldn't have time to tell them what he was going to do. He hoped they could trust him. Rai swiftly moved his hand up, creating another wall. This wall was different from the previous ones. It curved at the top, concealing them from view if someone were to be looking down from above.

"Shirai-san, teleport us to the telekinesist!" Rai commanded, a faint white aura forming around his right hand.

"But won't that—" Kuroko was interrupted.

"Trust me!" Rai looked Kuroko in the eyes with determination. Kuroko nodded, placing her hand on both Imouto and Rai. They teleported right before the stakes hit the newly formed wall, shattering it. Rai felt himself become weightless, almost as if he were flying. Rai couldn't sense the third accomplice's power.

'Great, we've gone unnoticed!' Rai felt his body hit solid ground again. They were right in front of the telekinesist. Rai instantly brought his right hand forward, touching the man. Rai let loose all of the energy from his hand. The sudden coldness shocked the man into unconsciousness, a large patch of ice now visible from where Rai had touched him. They had managed to take one of them down. The group turned towards the last thief. The thief was only a few feet away from them.

"Shirai-san, go find the third thief, we'll take care of him!" Rai commanded. Kuroko looked over towards Imouto concerned. Rai smiled at this. "Don't worry. I'll make sure she doesn't get hurt." Rai added. This seemed to comfort her slightly.

"Very well, I'll leave him to you." Kuroko nodded, teleporting away in search of the mysterious third member. Rai and Imouto silently stood before the wind esper, waiting for a response from him. When they didn't get one Rai was the first to speak.

"Soon your accomplice will be caught. Will you back down?" More silence. It was beginning to unnerve him slightly at how silent the man was being. Compared to how he was acting earlier. Slowly he heard a slight chuckle that turned into a full blown laugh.

"HAHAHAHA! I'm not worried about her! She was already running away long before the stakes hit that ice wall of yours! I know I've lost! But if she gets away then I have nothing to worry about…" The man's smile slowly drifted from his face. The man now wore a solemn expression, the wind around him slowly picking up. "Can you hear it… the howl of the beckoning wind?" Rai was stunned. From behind the man's glasses dripped blood. It almost looked like he was crying.

"'What's happening to him?' Misaka asked, wondering if the man is ill."

"I-I don't know. I can't see behind the sunglasses." Rai responded, quickly recomposing himself. This man was clearly afflicted with something, and it was making him go insane. They had to stop him before he did something in his mentally disturbed state. Rai could sense something in the air. It was coming from the man. He wasn't able to discern what Level the man was anymore. A feeling of nausea filled Rai as he felt this new sensation. The brown haired man sent a powerful gust of wind towards them. Rai fired off a powerful ice blast and with his other hand, in a fluid motion, created a wall of ice. The ice and wind hit each other; the wind quickly overtook it and hit the wall of ice, shattering it.

'If I hadn't sent out that ice blast the wind would have tore straight through the wall…' Rai thought worriedly. Imouto quickly pulled out a gun from her bag. Thankfully, Rai had sent Kuroko out to find the third person. It was, after all, against the law for Imouto to own a gun.

"Be careful with that Imouto-san. We don't want to kill him…" Rai warned. Imouto nodded her head, putting her eye in the scope and aiming for his rib cage. The man quickly formed a violent tornado-like barrier around him, picking up debris and nearby rocks. Rai would have to distract him long enough for the man to put down the barrier; this action would allow Imouto to get a shot in. Rai took a few steps forward. The man, with a flourish of his hand, immediately sent out a blade of wind. The wind seemed much more refined, like the edge of a blade. Putting up an ice wall wouldn't do any good; neither would weakening it with an ice blast. Rai felt a burst of power behind him, followed by an electrified bullet zooming past him, missing his cheek by mere inches.

The bullet hit the very middle of the blade; this action seemed to have interrupted the flow of air the blade had created around itself, dispelling it. The bullet lightly fell to the ground.

'That must be like the Railgun except weaker… I'd hate to see a Level 5 version of that…' Rai mentally shivered. Rai calmed himself and swung his arm high in the air. A sharp pillar of ice a foot away from the man grew out of the ground. The man dodged in time, but was forced to dispel his barrier, in order to make a faster get away. Imouto shot a bullet, piercing the man's side. Rai followed up by firing an ice blast at the same wound, covering it, to keep it from bleeding profusely. The man fell to the ground, his sunglasses scattering a few feet away from him. The faint clatter of them hitting the ground gestured towards the end of the battle. Rai cautiously walked over to him and looked in the man's eyes. His eyes were still bleeding from the tear ducts.

"'What is wrong with him?' Misaka inquires." Rai bent down and lifted up the man's eye lids. They were extremely bloodshot, his pupils dilated, tiny purple almost black lines protruding from the outside of his eyes. Rai hadn't seen anything like this before. Rai checked his pulse to make sure he was still alive. The man's heartbeat was very faint. Rai suddenly became worried that the man may die. Rai felt Kuroko teleport next to him.

"Did you find the third thief?" Rai inquired.

"They got away." Kuroko answered Rai's question. She then looked over at the man, surprised. "What's wrong with him?"

"It could be a brain tumor. Earlier he asked us if we could "Hear the howl of the beckoning wind". Brain tumors are known to give auditory hallucinations, but… I've never heard of one that made you bleed from the eyes…" Rai put two fingers on the man's wrist. "Whatever it is, it somehow made his esper powers stronger." Rai stood up. "We should probably get him to a hospital. His heartbeat is very faint." Just as he said that, Anti-Skill appeared on the scene. There were many Anti-Skill officers now filing out of the vans. One of the officers walked up them. It just happened to be the same officer Rai talked to not long ago, Yoshikawa.

"Oh, it's you from that Speed Esper incident." Yoshikawa recognized Rai. Rai nervously nodded, wondering if he was in any trouble.

"No time. We need to get this guy to the hospital. He seems to be suffering from a disease. There's another man-" Kuroko pointed over to the second thief. "—over there." Kuroko quickly explained the situation to Yoshikawa as her men were apprehending the thieves, especially about how one of them had gotten away. Yoshikawa understood and ordered a squad to try and track down the third thief. Anti-Skill quickly left. This left Rai, Kuroko, and Imouto alone. Rai looked at his cell-phone. The time was now 6:18. He had time to buy himself an umbrella… or…

Rai sighed. 'Have Imouto-san pick something out…' He didn't really NEED the umbrella right away. The forecast did say it wouldn't rain for a few days. Then again… it seemed wrong a bit too much these days… He wondered why.

"Anyway, we have time to pick out something you want as I had promised earlier." Rai spoke, looking towards Imouto-san, who was now holding the black kitten in her arms. Kuroko's mind raced to figure out why Rai would promise something like that…unless…

"ARE YOU GOING OUT ON A DATE WITH ONEE-SAMA!" Kuroko shrieked. This startled Rai and made him blush at what she had suggested.

"N-N-N-N-No! I-I only promised to get her something if s-s-she would let me leave the p-park to come to the m-mall! W-W-We aren't dating!" Rai explained profusely. From what Rai could tell Kuroko seemed to be very protective over Imouto. Or perhaps it was Misaka? Rai still wasn't sure. Kuroko, earlier, didn't seem to believe Imouto when she said that she was Misaka's sister.

'But why would she hide something like that?' Rai cupped his chin in thought. 'Is there something Misaka-san is hiding? Why would she go through the trouble of hiding the fact she has a twin sister?' It didn't make sense to Rai. He would have to confront her later if he ever got the chance. His reverie was broken by the mewing of the black cat in Imouto's arms. Rai looked over at Imouto only to see the black cat escape from her arms and run down a nearby alley, followed by Imouto chasing after it. Rai sighed. The cat sure was adventurous, he wasn't sure if he had enough energy or time to help her chase the cat anymore. That battle took a lot out of him. 'Anyways, surely Misaka-san has a reasonable explanation. The things I've heard about the Railgun are many, but none of them ever said she was stupid...' At this point, Kuroko had her face quite close to Rai's, eyeing him down. Rai took a few steps back. Only for Kuroko to take a few steps forward. Rai blushed. "W-W-What?" Kuroko narrowed her eyes.

"So, you must be Rai Saito, the one that 'helped' Onee-sama from that speed esper." Kuroko seemed to put emphasis on 'helped'. Rai nodded his head in response, sweating. "Hmmmmmm…" Kuroko seemed to be thinking about something. "What were you doing with Onee-sama in the first place?"

"W-w-well, originally, I was just h-helping her to catch that black cat." Rai sweat dropped. "Unfortunately, i-it seems to have run away again…" Kuroko stared him down some more. 'Maybe I should get another umbrella some other time…' Rai was beginning to feel very uncomfortable. Rai turned to begin walking back to his dorms. This surprised Kuroko.

"Where are you going? I thought you wanted to come to the mall? Unless…" Kuroko eyed him suspiciously. "What you said was a lie…"

"N-n-no, i-i-it's just that… um… it's a-almost curfew you see… I can g-get it another time." Rai laughed awkwardly. There was a moment of silence between the two of them. Rai could feel Kuroko's stare piercing him, as if searching to see if what he said was the truth. "I-I-I'll be going now." Rai, again, turned to leave.

"If you want, you can stop by the Tokiwadai dorms and pick up your umbrella." This made Rai stop and turn back around to face her.

"What?" Rai gasped, surprised.

"I said, you can come by and pick up your umbrella. You were trying to buy another umbrella, right?" Kuroko cocked an eyebrow.

'How did she… wait, she's probably roommates with Misaka-san. That'd make sense.' Rai figured out. "Maybe some other time… right now I should probably head back to the dorms…"

"Very well." Kuroko nodded and teleported away. Rai stood there for a few moments and let out a sigh of relief. "Another long day… I hope this doesn't become a habit." Rai, tiredly, began the trek back to his dorms.

Somewhere in District 7…

A 19 year old man yawned, looking around at the many structures Academy City had to offer. The man scratched his head, further messing up his brown spiked hair. His brown coat seemed to dance slowly, a slight breeze sweeping through Academy City as it always does, the wind churning the turbines that powered Academy City. The man was not a local resident of Academy City and was only here on business. His brown eyes scanned his surroundings. He seemed to be thinking hard about something. His face was soon replaced with a look of boredom. He shrugged.

"Planning things ahead of time was never my specialty. I'm not quite that focused." The man took out a picture. It showed a black haired, blue eyed, boy staring back at him. It was a picture of Rai Saito. It appeared it was taken for his student ID. "Kinda pale… Either way this shouldn't be too bad." It did not matter who or what the job was. After all he was quite efficient at odd jobs. As long as it didn't last long and gave him plenty of money, he really didn't care. His stomach growled. "Now that I think about it I'm getting kind of hungry…" He placed a hand on his stomach. His attention was soon placed upon a nearby takoyaki stand. His eyes seemed to glow in delight as he smelled the delicious aroma exuding from the food stand. He licked his lips and walked towards it, a hungry look in his eyes. "First fun, and then business." He took a seat at the stand. "I mean, after all, it's been a while since I've been back. Maybe I'll go check out the mall later… hmmmm." He cupped his chin in thought, looking at the menu. "Decisions, decisions…"