"We'll call this a draw, alright?"
Chinatsu asked Accelerator with a smile. He didn't respond verbally, only giving a soft hmph before starting to walk out of the Research Institute.
Seeing this, Chinatsu shrugged helplessly and also walked out. The two of them passed through the now-shambolic hallway and stepped out of the Research Institute amidst the sound of crunching debris.
Outside the Research Institute at this moment, a large number of Judgement Members and Security Team personnel had gathered, having rushed there after receiving reports from the public.
However, because the target was a Research Institute with significant status, they did not have the right to enter without authorization from the higher-ups.
Among them was Shirai Kuroko, an official Judgement Member. The longer she waited, the heavier the inexplicable sense of unease in her heart became.
She briskly raised a hand to press the high-tech earpiece on her ear, contacting Uiharu Kazari, who was currently sitting in the Judgement Branch office, via a private signal.
"Uiharu, is there still no response from above?"
"No, it's really strange. The speed of granting permission this time is too slow. This Research Institute isn't even one of those in the core circle."
Sitting in the branch office and rapidly tapping on the keyboard to contact the higher-ups, Uiharu also showed a confused and melancholy expression. Normally, permission would have been received by now.
Receiving Uiharu's helpless response, Kuroko could only continue to wait, until two people walked out of the Research Institute where the explosion had occurred, looking as if nothing had happened.
"Onee-sama?!"
Kuroko looked at Chinatsu among the two in shock. Almost instantly, she activated her ability to cross the police line and teleported to Chinatsu's side.
"Onee-sama! So the Research Institute you said you were going to this morning for an ability check was this one! How did an explosion happen? Are you hurt anywhere, Onee-sama!"
Kuroko nervously activated her ability repeatedly to check every corner of Chinatsu. After noticing that Kuroko seemed to be taking the opportunity to grope her during the check, Chinatsu landed a precise knife-hand strike on Kuroko's head.
"Don't touch me all over!"
"Okay..."
Kuroko puffed out her cheeks with a look of grievance, clutching her head with both hands. As her gaze drifted toward Accelerator beside Chinatsu, her pupils couldn't help but tremble.
Danger!!!
Kuroko instinctively took a step back. Although she couldn't explain this sense of danger, she trusted her intuition; it had been that way since she was a child.
Accelerator glanced sideways at Kuroko. He didn't care about her fearful reaction, instead focusing his gaze on Chinatsu again.
"Your name is Misaka Chinatsu, right? You're strong. I hope to have the chance to fight you again when you're going completely all out."
With that, Accelerator quickly turned and walked away, leaving behind a cool and aloof silhouette like a chuunibyou.
Chinatsu watched this scene with dead fish eyes, then calmly activated that invincible skill that makes anyone stop again.
"Wait a minute."
In the face of Chinatsu's command-like call, even Accelerator stopped in his tracks. He turned back toward Chinatsu with a look of confusion.
He saw Chinatsu with a speechless expression, one hand covering her forehead while the other pulled a phone from her pocket, the screen flashing with a communication interface.
"Fight again? No problem. But you wouldn't want to be called out by these Researchers next time to put on a beast-fighting performance for them, would you? Besides, what era are you from? Don't you even know how to exchange contact info privately?"
"..."
------------------------
There are already 70+ chapters available on my Patreon!
The story will continue to update 1 chapter per day on Webnovel,
while early access chapters are posted on Patreon.
Maybe it's not worth it today but it could be later
[email protected]/Kazenova223
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"