The harp was exquisitely shaped, elegant and highly artistic. As Selene's fingertips plucked the strings, gentle notes drifted through the vast hall, echoing endlessly.
The two instruments complemented each other perfectly, elegant and pure, crystalline as pearls.
The duet was not particularly loud, yet every note reached the ear with perfect clarity and balance. The tones were as limpid as morning dew, at times tender and at times mysterious, soft as a rainbow and overflowing with poetry. Listening to them felt as though all the beauty of nature had gathered before one's eyes.
Beneath the warm, rhythmic lighting, the jet-black evening gown formed a striking contrast with Selene's flawless skin, making her complexion appear even fairer and more alluring. Her eyes shone like priceless blood diamonds.
Before the stage, everyone had gathered throughout the spacious hall, some standing and some seated, immersed in the gentle, beautiful music and its incomparable tones.
Even Saten Ruiko, normally the liveliest and most restless among them, had fallen quiet, completely absorbed in the performance.
Shirai Kuroko, meanwhile, sat in an armchair with her body involuntarily leaning forward. Her trembling fingers were pressing the camera shutter so quickly that they almost left afterimages. One moment she was grinning foolishly, the next she wore a shy, troubled expression, making her look rather strange.
Soon, the performance came to an end. Selene and Misaka Mikoto slowly walked backstage one after the other as the spotlights faded. Yet everyone still seemed reluctant for it to end, lingering within the long-lasting resonance of the melody.
"Hm... Doesn't Misaka-senpai always complain that Selene-senpai almost never participates in any of Tokiwadai Middle School's fun festival activities...? But no matter how I look at it, the two of them were incredibly coordinated. It didn't look anything like their first time performing together."
Her body still unconsciously swaying to the rhythm Selene had used while plucking the harp strings, Uiharu Kazari looked toward Saten Ruiko beside her and murmured softly.
Unlike Selene, Misaka Mikoto, despite also being a Level 5 esper, had not received nearly as many privileges. Aside from required courses, she still had to participate in electives such as flower arrangement, musical instruments, home economics, and extracurricular investigations. She was also kept firmly under the thumb of the "One-Punch" dorm supervisor.
Selene's privilege of freely arranging her time after completing her required classes, even being permitted to stay out overnight, had more than once made Misaka Mikoto cry out that the principal was unfair!
Of course, she was only venting.
"Judging by how Misaka-senpai and Aunt Misaka reacted, this really should have been something they decided on the spur of the moment."
Saten Ruiko tilted her head in thought. "But if it really was spontaneous, and they reached that kind of seamless coordination on their very first attempt... that's incredible."
"As expected of Tokiwadai's young ladies..." Saten Ruiko said, nodding to herself in agreement.
"Right, right..."
"Ahem..." At that moment, a cough interrupted Uiharu Kazari and Saten Ruiko's increasingly enthusiastic praise. Shirai Kuroko and Shokuhou Misaki both wore somewhat unnatural expressions.
At this rate, those two were going to praise them straight into the heavens.
Embarrassing as it was to admit, Shirai Kuroko, as a member of Judgment, had mastered highly proficient grappling and close-combat techniques. That was the elective field in which she specialized. She had certainly studied musical instruments and knew how to play them, but if you asked whether she could reach that level, the answer was simply no.
As for Shokuhou Misaki...
Although she came from a wealthy family and was an elegant, high-class young lady, when it came to musical instruments, forget comparing her to Selene. Even Misaka Mikoto's violin skills were beyond Shokuhou Misaki.
Did people really think learning an instrument was easy? Even the piano, which didn't look especially strenuous, was still physical work.
And with Shokuhou Misaki's athletic ability... well, she would already be panting after running slightly faster than usual. That went beyond what could be explained by simply being bad at sports.
Were they really just listening to music...? Look at their expressions.
Shokuhou Misaki swept her gaze around the room. Mother Katy looked moved enough to wipe away tears. Touya Kamijou and Shiina Kamijou exchanged a glance filled with affection. Misaka Misuzu narrowed her eyes dreamily, seemingly reminiscing about her youth...
Looking at Saten Ruiko and Uiharu Kazari, who were happily chattering away, Shokuhou Misaki could almost be certain that everyone had received exactly the feeling they wanted from the melody.
As expected. Through the performance, Selene deliberately separated the message and conveyed something different to each person.
She did not dwell on that realization for long. Shokuhou Misaki's gaze grew grave, filled with visible conflict. She murmured as though seeking confirmation, while her clenched, trembling hands revealed the unrest in her heart.
Because the information and images she had received from Selene's performance were completely different. Her earlier "immersion" had not been intoxication at all, but unwillingness and fear.
Through the melody, Selene had forcefully delivered an order to her: cease every related operation. Order Ketz Nockleben to stop investigating.
Whether it was the attempted intrusion into the urban legend website Auribus Oculi Fideliores Sunt, the investigations into the Radio Noise Project and Level 6 Shift Project, or her investigation of Kihara Gensei and the "remnants" of the Clone Dolly Workshop...
Selene had seen every one of her little moves!
...
At that moment, backstage, Misaka Mikoto, having changed back into her school uniform, tiredly placed the violin into its case.
"Don't ask me to do that again. That feeling of my limbs becoming foreign objects that don't belong to me is seriously uncomfortable."
It was obvious that the duet onstage had flowed so flawlessly because Selene had coordinated and guided Misaka Mikoto.
There had been no other choice.
Misaka Mikoto had indeed learned the violin and was quite skilled at it, but she had never heard the piece, didn't know the score, didn't know its musical style, and hadn't rehearsed even once beforehand. With her knowing absolutely nothing about it, there was no way they could have played in perfect coordination normally.
Of course, to coordinate the duet, Selene had merely asked Mikoto to lower her electromagnetic defenses and then subtly guided some of the nerves controlling her fingers. There were no side effects, and Selene had never touched her brain, but Misaka Mikoto still found the sensation deeply unpleasant.
It reminded her of Shokuhou Misaki. Mental control was, in some respects, an ability that attracted even more criticism than pure physical destruction. After all, nobody wanted someone else rummaging through them from top to bottom without even realizing what had happened.
Directly transmitting the score and the memories required to perform it into Misaka Mikoto's mind would not have been difficult for Selene. But she knew that Mikoto's greatest taboo was allowing mental abilities to touch her brain. Even transmitting nothing more than a musical score would cross that line, so Selene had no intention of asking for trouble.
If the brain was off-limits, then she would simply control and subtly adjust the fingers holding the bow instead.
"Thanks." Selene waved a hand and stored the harp inside her treasury, then lightly patted Mikoto's shoulder. "If you hadn't suddenly decided to put on a talent performance, Misaka, I really wouldn't have thought of such a gentle way to convey it for the time being."
"I didn't decide to put on a talent performance! My mom did! I couldn't talk her out of it!"
After snapping indignantly, Misaka Mikoto showed a confused expression. "Convey what...? How come I don't know anything about it?"
Hearing that, Selene merely smiled radiantly. "There's a saying that music is humanity's most beautiful language for conveying feelings." Without explaining further, she beckoned. "Come on. All that's left now is eating and drinking."
"Oh? Now that sounds good. So which ridiculously expensive chefs did a rich bastard like you hire this time?"
"Every one you can think of."
"Tch... What a waste of money."
"You think they're doing it for free?"
"Huh?! What do you mean? Don't tell me we have to pay?"
"Of course not. It's another kind of payment."
"Are you some kind of Riddler?"
Misaka Mikoto was speechless. Couldn't she just say things directly?
"Aaaah—! Onee-sama!"
They had only just stepped out from backstage when a girl's bell-like voice suddenly rang out from nearby. Misaka Mikoto's expression immediately froze, as though someone had shoved an icicle down her back.
The corner of her mouth twitched.
Because a certain unidentified creature with brown twin-tailed hair and sparkling eyes was making heavy, pig-like snorting noises while clutching a camera and rubbing herself against an armchair with a blissful expression.
The moment Misaka Mikoto saw the camera, how could she possibly not know what had happened? But with all the elders present, she couldn't exactly blast the pervert with lightning. "Kuroko!!"
Watching Misaka-senpai storm over and seize Shirai by the cheeks, making the girl let out muffled mmph, mmph noises, the long-haired Saten Ruiko broke into an awkward sweat. Still, after knowing them for this long, she had mostly gotten used to scenes like this and no longer found them particularly surprising.
"Misaka-senpai, Selene-senpai, you're finally here!"
"Mmm... so delicious..."
Carefully cutting apart an exquisite little pastry that looked like a work of art and placing it into her mouth, Uiharu Kazari let out a sweet, blissful sound.
Selene wasn't sure whether it was her imagination, but the little flowers on Uiharu's head seemed to bloom even more brightly, swaying happily back and forth.
"Ah, Senpai, your performance was amazing! That harp must be really difficult to learn, right?" The moment Uiharu noticed Selene, she immediately snapped out of her blissful daze.
"Not really. If you want to learn, I can teach you."
That wasn't a lie. Selene herself admittedly had little innate musical talent. If asked to compose music, she would probably rely mostly on imitation, reproduction, and copying. But she possessed Eden's Signet of Gold, belonging to the greatest singer and musician of an entire era.
Still not enough?
Fine. Load the composite Type-Moon world. Load Swirl of Honkai. Search the Throne of Heroes. Load Da Vinci's Saint Graph, Mozart's Saint Graph, Beethoven's Saint Graph, Chopin's Saint Graph, Strauss' Saint Graph...
Give Selene a little time to filter through them, and forget humans. She could load the musical knowledge of elves, beastmen, merfolk, aliens, even goblins and countless other nonhuman races.
Ta-da! The greatest musician in the entire Holy Selene Empire, the grand master of the music of all races—Her Majesty Selene had arrived!
Teaching one little Uiharu would be more than enough.
Selene rubbed Uiharu Kazari's little head and withdrew her hand in satisfaction. Thanks to her temperature-regulation ability, it was soft and warm, perfect for patting.
"But are you two seriously only eating cake?" Looking at the piles of desserts and cakes on both their plates, the corner of Selene's eye twitched.
"Sweets go into a separate stomach, so they should be eliminated first," Uiharu Kazari answered solemnly.
"Weight is a girl's taboo, and big servings of meat and greasy food are the enemy." Saten Ruiko crossed both hands into an "X" with absolute righteousness.
Uh... eating like that, the calories from cake and cream aren't exactly lower than meat and carbohydrates... Well, whatever. As long as you're happy.
For Selene, who had long since transcended concerns about maintaining her figure, eating was no longer necessary for survival but simply a pleasure. She genuinely couldn't understand their perspective. Stuffing yourself with fat and carbohydrates was what made eating satisfying.
"Enjoy yourselves."
Looking at the two who had already transformed into "cake fiends," Selene quietly withdrew.
Regrettably, as the host, she couldn't sit at the children's table.
"Mom?"
Suddenly, Selene frowned slightly. Mother Katy was staring directly at her with reddened eyes, looking almost like a hunter who had spotted her prey. Selene instinctively called out to her, and then came a smooch.
Selene's vision went dark. Knowing what the warm softness pressed against her face was, she didn't resist. Ah, the "facial treatment" she hadn't experienced in years.
"Mom, although I've reached the age when it's time to spread my wings... if you don't mind, I'll always be your daughter."
As Selene spoke, Mother Katy's arms tightened around her even more.
...
Above them, Academy City's sky remained brilliantly illuminated. Continuous rows of electric bulbs, neon lights, and laser lights stained even the low-hanging night sky in countless colors.
Happy moments always passed like flowing water. It felt as though they had only blinked, yet the gathering had already reached its end.
"I can still drink! Mikoto, trust your mother! This is an adult's competitive spirit! I can still drink!"
In front of a taxi, Misaka Misuzu, her face flushed and her sense of direction already completely gone, shouted loudly.
"Drink, drink, drink—drink my ass! You're too noisy! Mom, get in the car already!" Misaka Mikoto's face was equally red, although hers was from embarrassment. It took nearly all her strength to finally stuff her mother into the taxi.
After programming the taxi's service robot with the route to the hotel and sending her mother away, Misaka Mikoto immediately let out a sigh of relief.
Her mother became extremely troublesome whenever she got drunk.
How troublesome?
When drunk, regardless of who the other person was, she would cling to them relentlessly until she got whatever information she wanted. As long as the person was younger than her, regardless of whether they were male or female, she would even "kiss them," which was why Misaka Mikoto hadn't dared let anyone help her.
Seriously. She knew perfectly well that her alcohol tolerance was terrible, yet she still insisted on drinking. All appetite, no ability!
"And Selene, you're obviously still underage. How can you drink alcoh... Oh, you're Austrian. Our drinking laws don't apply to you."
"Aunt Misuzu's alcohol tolerance is really terrible. She was the one who started egging everyone on, yet she went down after a single glass." Nearby, Selene, having just seen Saten Ruiko and the others into their taxis one after another, still looked somewhat unsatisfied.
Bright moonlight fell across her exquisite features. Beneath the night sky, several strands of hair hung beside her temples. Viewed from the side, her face had lost some of the delicate warmth it possessed inside the hall, replaced by something deeper and colder.
"So you deliberately kept me and..." Walking over to Selene, Misaka Mikoto glanced toward Shokuhou Misaki, who stood silently beneath the doorway not far away, and looked confused. "What's wrong with her?"
She had no idea what had happened. Ever since Shokuhou Misaki emerged from backstage, she had suddenly become incredibly gloomy.
"What are you imagining? I have no interest in internecine fighting." Selene smiled. "As for the answer... there. He's already here."
Bzzzz—!
In the next instant, a tidal wave of killing intent surged forth like crushing atmospheric pressure, forcing Misaka Mikoto to stagger. At the far end of the road, a towering figure had appeared.