Following the sound, Shokuhou Misaki made her way forward.
Even though she was heading toward another research lab that technically had nothing to do with her, she encountered no obstacles along the way. Whether it was her own Third Research Lab, "Internal Evolution," or the Second Research Lab across from it, "Ideal Ability," the staff who passed by all behaved as if they couldn't see her at all, walking straight past without a glance.
After spending a little time navigating the corridors, Shokuhou Misaki finally arrived at her destination.
Inside the specially reinforced training ground, a young girl unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks, her body moving wildly as she trained in martial arts, but her movements were completely unstructured—more like an ordinary child clumsily imitating fight scenes from television. They appeared awkward and stiff…
—That was, of course, if one ignored the sheer impact produced by her movements.
Every punch and kick stirred up violent gusts of wind—literal gales. Even standing outside the training hall, Shokuhou could clearly hear the shrill howling sounds echoing from within.
Hanokaze Junko looked like a living, human-shaped storm.
The hardened armor plates laid across the floor and walls visibly warped under even the slightest contact from her limbs—some of them cracking outright and shattering.
The researchers all stood far away, not daring to approach her lightly.
Before seeing it with her own eyes, Shokuhou Misaki could never have imagined that such terrifying power could be unleashed by the slender limbs of a girl.
No wonder the vibrations and noise from this experiment could be felt even in the neighboring building.
Still, compared to the image from Kobayashi's memory, the girl before her was somewhat different. Her hair was braided into two thick plaits, and she wore protective goggles to keep flying debris from injuring her eyes. She looked a bit rustic—if one ignored the mountain-splitting brute strength, her first impression was that of a gentle, approachable country girl.
The human storm did not rage for long before it abruptly came to a halt.
Without warning, the girl clutched her head and collapsed to the ground, groaning uncontrollably.
The nearby researchers showed no surprise at all, skillfully pushing a stretcher forward to deal with the situation.
Seeing the pain on Hanokaze Junko's face, a few fragmented images suddenly flashed through Shokuhou Misaki's mind. They were incomplete, fleeting—but within Kobayashi's memory data, there was indeed an image of Hanokaze Junko like this.
Shokuhou Misaki knew what she had to do.
She stepped forward as if no one else existed, signaling for the people around the stretcher to move aside. She stopped in front of Hanokaze Junko and looked down at the girl, who was gritting her teeth with her eyes tightly shut, desperately enduring the pain.
Shokuhou knew exactly what Junko was experiencing—side effects from excessive esper usage, manifesting as severe headaches.
And by coincidence, this was precisely the kind of symptom she could handle.
"It'll only be temporary relief, though…" Shokuhou murmured as she bent down and gently pressed her forehead against that of the unfamiliar yet familiar girl before her.
—Just like in the memory data.
"Eh?"
The sudden easing of the pain left Hanokaze Junko momentarily disoriented.
She opened her eyes, only to see another girl's face right in front of her.
"Wha—?!"
After freezing for a moment, Junko suddenly snapped back to her senses. Like a rocket launching, she shot straight off the stretcher, leaping backward to put distance between herself and Shokuhou.
"D-don't—don't come near me! The power inside me will tear you apart!"
Startled, Shokuhou Misaki blinked and rolled her eyes, but she didn't take Junko's reaction too seriously.
"You really should take better care of yourself," Shokuhou said, her expression slightly dazed.
"Don't keep pushing yourself like this… After all—"
She smiled faintly.
"—even you yourself will belong to me in the future."
"Eh? W-what are you talking about?" Hanokaze Junko asked in confusion.
"Are you… Shokuhou Misaki from the Third Research Lab?"
Shokuhou casually waved the remote control in her hand without offering any explanation, then turned and walked away.
Only then did the researchers rush forward.
"Hanokaze Junko, are you okay?"
"Huh? You recovered unusually fast this time, didn't you?"
No one noticed Shokuhou Misaki as she left the laboratory.
Hanokaze Junko felt a strange sensation lingering in her chest. She opened her mouth as if to say something—but no words came out.
Seeing the researchers crowding around again, she hurriedly waved her arms.
"Don't come any closer! My power will hurt you!"
Outside the lab, hearing the girl's voice, Shokuhou Misaki narrowed her eyes slightly. Her shining, star-like pupils seemed to truly glow.
"Verification… successful," she murmured, licking her lips as a flame ignited in her heart.
"At least this part of Kobayashi's memory data is real."
"Then what about the other parts?"
"Can they be judged as true as well? I'll need to continue verifying…"
"And also," Shokuhou thought as she walked forward, deep in contemplation,
"I only saw part of the information during our last contact. I'll have to find another chance to meet Kobayashi again~."
—First things first, she would get along better with the kids from the Second Research Lab.
And then there was Mitsuari Ayu. After having her chance at advancement stolen, she seemed to frequent the Second Lab quite often as well.
Maybe I should get along with her a little too~ Shokuhou thought lazily.
…
Meanwhile, Kobayashi followed Yomikawa Aiho to her residence.
It was located in District 7, within the Anti-Skill personnel-exclusive apartment complex "Family Side," Building Two, thirteenth floor—a spacious 4LDK apartment. For a single woman, it was impressively large and luxurious.
According to Yomikawa's explanation, this apartment complex also served as a real-world testing site for building technology. It had cooperative agreements with multiple universities and research institutes, which resulted in substantial rent discounts.
In addition, all the security systems installed throughout the building were unreleased prototype models, swapped out periodically for testing purposes.
As a result, even the residents themselves couldn't always tell what kinds of security devices were currently installed.
In terms of safety, it was practically flawless.
Not only that, many of the furniture and appliances inside the apartment were also the latest models developed by various research institutes, placed here specifically to gather user feedback.
"To put it bluntly," Yomikawa said as they entered, gesturing at the high-tech equipment around them,
"Our situation isn't fundamentally any different from yours before. We're all just 'lab rats' for those research institutes."
Kobayashi didn't seem particularly bothered.
"Academy City itself is just one gigantic laboratory," he replied calmly. "There's nothing to fuss over."
"Fair point," Yomikawa nodded. She wasn't the type to dwell on details anyway.
"In any case, from today on, this is your home, Nana-kun. Don't hold back—go ahead and start your new life properly."
"Yes. I'll be in your care from now on," Kobayashi said, giving a small bow from his wheelchair.
(End of Chapter)