A fully armed modern military regiment might struggle against a single esper, but a single monkey could throw the entire Shokuhou faction into chaos.
The immense restraining effect of compatibility could achieve a classic case of the inferior overthrowing the superior.
Shokuhou-senpai couldn't handle the monkey's extraordinary agility, and her own abilities were useless against animals—or even machines—that weren't human.
Despite its imposing name, Mental Out was actually one of the easier espers to deal with.
It was only for students like Natsume, who preferred investing her skill points in evasion and stealth while fiercely guarding information about her own capabilities and identity, that such obvious weaknesses were far fewer.
Especially after patching her biggest weakness with an electromagnetic barrier, Natsume could handle most situations within Academy City. Even when facing those baffling magicians, she had sufficiently powerful countermeasures at her disposal.
In other words, there were fewer and fewer abilities left that could counter Natsume's own.
The monkey, having thrown Tokiwadai into an uproar, chattered noisily as it scampered past the school building.
Along the way, it knocked over several overstuffed trash cans, then bolted headlong into the gymnasium, instantly throwing the after-school club activities there into disarray.
Because the gym was far from the main building, the girl with twin buns, who had been sitting peacefully as if fishing on a calm lake, finally felt a moment of quiet.
"Excuse me, are you Natsume-san?"
A girl with slightly narrowed eyes stood before the window, a long bow nearly as tall as a person strapped to her back. She wore a black and white kyudo uniform with a fitted waist, and her tone was inquisitive.
However, the fringe on her right side was excessively long, covering her entire right eye socket and throwing the proportions of her face slightly off balance.
"Huh? It's Yumiya-senpai."
Snapping back to attention, Natsume realized she was being spoken to—again—and by an upperclassman she actually knew.
Why "again"? Probably because Level 5s were just that popular.
Even now, Natsume still hadn't quite grown accustomed to these frequent social interruptions, but basic politeness was a must.
Now that she thought of it, this senior was Yumiya Iruka, the captain of the school's kyudo club, who had won numerous championships in various kyudo tournaments. Natsume had seen her shoot before.
But what caught Natsume's attention even more was another identity: she was the younger sister of her underworld friend, Yumiya Rakko-senpai.
At first, Natsume's relationship with Yumiya Rakko-senpai had been fairly superficial.
For some reason, back then the older girl had mostly avoided her, which had left Natsume feeling a little put out.
But after Natsume's mother had invited Rakko-senpai to dinner, the two had finally developed a normal friendship, occasionally keeping in touch via phone.
Unlike the random, nonsensical messages she used to send Juufuku-san—like "Have you eaten?"—their chats were just ordinary conversations. It seemed Natsume had matured a bit after all.
As for the "Dark Side" itself, Natsume held a deep-seated dislike for it, largely due to her repeated involvement in incidents related to dark-side organizations.
These entities, so out of place in the surface world, had repeatedly intruded into Natsume's life—it was no wonder she didn't have a favorable impression of them.
Yet, if you looked past their underworld affiliations, some of them were actually reasonable people you could talk to; they'd just ended up in the dark side for various reasons. Natsume often entertained the idea of pulling Yumiya Rakko-senpai out of that world.
The girl who had, in a way, saved her, shared meals with her, and occasionally greeted her in the School Garden—Natsume held a somewhat unique perspective on her.
Come to think of it, even before they had formally met, the two people in this classroom had already learned about each other through various channels.
Especially a certain famous first-year who had newly ascended to Level 5—she was practically common knowledge within Tokiwadai Middle School.
"A Gekota makeup pouch… So Senpai is a Gekota fan too?"
Blinking in surprise, Natsume noticed a small makeup pouch dangling from the senior's waist, attached to her kyudo uniform. An appropriately surprised expression surfaced on her face.
If you want to get closer to someone, start with what interests them.
Not that Natsume was thinking that far ahead—she was simply marveling at how widespread the Gekota fanbase was, while seizing on a potential conversation topic.
Her own magical girl, Kanamin, still had a long way to go on her quest to dominate the kindergartens, elementary schools, and middle schools.
"Yes, and I just won it in a kyudo competition, too. It's an extremely rare limited-edition Gekota item."
"Speaking of which, I really encountered an opponent that got me excited."
Suddenly covering her right eye, Yumiya Iruka's face flushed with an unusual shade of red, something seeming not quite right.
"Was your opponent that strong?"
Tilting her head, Natsume asked with some curiosity.
In her mind, this senior's kyudo skills were already exceptionally advanced.
"To think I'd get to face the Eighth Level 5 as my first target—of course it's exciting."
Yumiya Iruka stared directly at the bun-girl, who hadn't yet processed what was happening, her expression blank.
In the next instant, several intense flashes of light flooded the entire classroom.
The brightest source came from directly in front of her, aimed straight at Natsume's eyes. This was the real reason she had initiated conversation with the Eighth earlier.
Some time ago, she had thoroughly investigated the Eighth's capabilities and set up devices around the classroom capable of emitting blinding light instantly.
She had even deliberately exploited some of the Eighth's habits, like how she often rested in the classroom after PE, being not particularly athletic.
The moment she chose to launch her attack—to strike at the Eighth—a glamorous figure flashed through Yumiya Iruka's mind: a true noble young lady with elegant purple ringlets.
During her time at the Clone Dolly, that girl had been her support through the dark times—the one she idolized.
After using some Indian Poker, the intense emotions buried in Yumiya Iruka's heart could no longer be suppressed. Or perhaps she simply had no desire to suppress them at all.
For the sake of that girl she worshipped, she was about to carry out a mad plan to kidnap Shokuhou Misaki.
And the Eighth in front of her had now become an obstacle that needed to be cleared—a hindrance to the most critical part of that plan.
If the Eighth remained, once Shokuhou Misaki was kidnapped, Hokaze would undoubtedly ask for her help.
That was a predictable outcome, especially since it had already happened once during the Daihaseisai.
If that occurred, she wouldn't be able to see Hokaze fighting at her full potential. A Hokaze who relied on an esper's power was utterly pathetic, especially when she had once possessed such strength naturally.
Likewise, she would be unable to prove to Hokaze that she now had the power to protect others, and she wouldn't be able to show everyone that the Hokaze Junko she admired was truly strong.
So, before setting her plan in motion, she had to find a way to deal with the Eighth. The comrades she was working with had also agreed to this.
They couldn't avoid the Eighth forever. If anyone from the Shokuhou Clique made a call, the Eighth—that tool swayed and controlled by Shokuhou Misaki—would intervene. Better to strike first and gain the upper hand.
All the rumors within the school about the rivalry between the Fifth and the Eighth held no credibility for Yumiya Iruka, who accurately understood the Shokuhou Clique's movements. She could even get firsthand information from Hokaze Junko herself.
To prevent leaks, the kidnapping of the Fifth and the handling of the Eighth were scheduled to occur almost simultaneously.
Though taking on two Level 5s at once was immensely difficult, this plan had been a suicidal gamble from the start—equivalent to challenging all of Tokiwadai Middle School and the Board of Directors member backing it.
The fact that the Eighth had risen to her position so smoothly was partly due to that Board member's influence.
'Will we succeed?' Yumiya Iruka couldn't help but wonder.
These lights were enough to temporarily blind someone, maybe even knock out people sensitive to light. But against the Eighth, they were far from sufficient.
This was the same method she intended to use against Shokuhou Misaki, though the execution would differ slightly.
However, she had once obtained a crucial piece of intelligence from that Teleporter: the Eighth always avoided using her abilities within the school whenever possible. If she caught her by surprise, she could take down the Eighth instantly, right here at school.
She didn't want to capture or kidnap the Eighth—she just needed the Eighth to disappear for a little while.
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T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL