Chapter 18

'The winds sure feels nice today.' I thought as a gentle breeze caressed my frame. 'It was the right choice to eat lunch up here.'

My lunch consists of Rice and karaage with a side of stir-fried vegetables. Eating with friends is fine and all, but eating by my lonesome is also good. That's why I'm currently on the rooftop of the school. Not having to worry about other people intruding my privacy since the rooftop is normally locked, --Save for another individual with a mutant quirk that makes them awfully a lot like a harpy. Thank goodness that they aren't bird-brained and understood that I eat here for some peace and quiet.-- which is ironic since that eating here is against the rules and I'm a part of Judgment.

Not only is this area a good spot for some solitude, but this place also provides a good vantage point for surveillance.

I'm still keeping an eye out for those bullies that picked on Uiharu. It hasn't been a long time since the incidents have 'stopped' and I'm not gonna believe that people change that fast.

Light-hearted teasing is fine and all but people can get offended over the most ridiculous things at times.

Hormones and teenage angst is normal and it's bad enough that boys can get into fistfights or girls resort to destroying things in secret and spreading rumors, but adding quirks into the mix? Oh boy...

Quirks can undergo a sudden awakening and/or mutation during great physical, emotional or psychological distress. Each person has the potential to suddenly cause a spontaneous disaster anywhere, anytime.

That's why Judgment is divided into different branches to accommodate various schools. We would be the ones to suppress and put down any troublemakers before they cause a catastrophe or, at the very least, until Anti-skill arrives.

In fact, a few days ago in a neighbouring district, there was a bullied kid that suddenly awakened his quirk and cause a wide scale sandstorm. Pacifying the kid was the easy part, multiple sanitation bots and volunteers were still cleaning up the sand from the streets for a while.

*Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing*

'Breaks over. Gotta go back.' I thought as I packed my lunchbox and jumped down the metal fence of the roof and slid further down the wall... All the way to the ground floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

School ended and half of the class went out to either their clubs or go somewhere else, the other half stayed behind to chat with their friends and exchange gossip.

Haru already went ahead to attends his Tea ceremony club and he seemed giddy about it. Although, my seatmate has been staring into space for a while now which has been getting me a bit worried.

Saten walked Infront of her desk and looked at her face. From the expression she has, she most likely noticed the same thing I did. "Uiharu?... Something wrong?" She asked.

Turning over to her, I also called out. "Hey, you good? You've been out of it for a while now..."

"Huh?" She snapped out of it. Looking around the room, she realised that classes are over. "...I just got lost in my thoughts for a bit." She smiled.

Saten thought for a moment before- "Ah! Is it because of the rumors?" She exclaimed. "Apparently, a well-liked upperclassman was also robbed by the invisible robber! That makes her the third person to get targeted from our school alone." She explained to me. "A lot of people got angry but since they naturally couldn't take it out on the criminal, Uiharu was picked on since she's part of Judgment!"

Saten turns to look at Uiharu. "Did I guess it right?" Uiharu was quiet as she looks down on her desk. She wasn't crying, but she seemed to have some thought in her head.

"I'm a part of Judgment too, How come they didn't confront me about it?" I pondered out loud.

At that, Saten gave me a wry smile. "Well... You're not exactly easy to approach..."

"...But aren't we doing the best we can at Judgment?" Uiharu's doubtful voice brought both our attention. "Didn't Konori-senpai said it was up to Anti-skill?... But we-"

*CLAP*

"Now, now... There you go again, being all gloomy!" Saten said with a wide grin. That grin gave my a bad feeling so I discreetly stood up. "Didn't the rumors also say that the robber's hideout is somewhere in the 19th district? What do you say about some late-night exploration!"

"Eh? but-" "No Buts! And you! Shuzenji! I see you, Don't sneak away!"

I clicked my tongue at being found out and went back to my seat. Saten points a finger out me. "You can't possibly leave two defenceless ladies out late by themselves, right? You'll be our escort!"

Before either me and Uiharu got another word in, Saten was already at the door. "Let's meet up at the usual family restaurant! See you two tonight!" She waved goodbye and disappeared just as fast as she appeared.

"Well..." I turned to Uiharu. "See you tonight, I guess?"

"You're going?!" She all but screeched.

"With that look in her eye? No way she's gonna bail halfway. " I shrug. "Come on. We still have work to do before tonight."

She lets out a sigh before resigning herself to her fate.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that evening when the streets aren't all that empty.

I take a deep breath and fill my lungs with the chill air of the night. Wearing my favourite red capelet with red and black clothes underneath, I would make for an odd sight in any normal scenario. Right beside me is Saten who's in her casual wear of a dark blue shirt with a dark coloured shorts to pair.

Because we are literally neighbours, I couldn't quite pretend that I lost track of time and don't attend. No doubt that if I did that regardless, she'd climb over into my balcony and knock from there --Which she did even though I had no intention of bailing on them-- as she all but drag me out of the comfort of my own home.

Well... Not that I can leave either of my friends to fend for themselves at night. Who knows what they'll encounter during their expedition. Thugs and delinquents are reason enough to worry, but what if they face something of a supernatural nature?

'Geez, what am I, their mother?...' I inwardly grumbled but then realization struck. '...Wait, did I just set up a flag?'

Saten brought us to the agreed-upon location, which was a quaint little family restaurant. Entering inside we made our way to Uiharu who was still wearing her school uniform and happily indulging herself to a parfait.

We make our way over to her and sat down. 'Since we're already here I might as well order something.' I thought as I grab the menu from the middle of the table.

"Glad both of you made it!" Saten said enthusiastically, ignoring my deadpan stare "So to cut to the chase, rumor has it that our suspect is hiding somewhere in the 22nd sector and we'll be the ones to find them! Any questions?"

Uiharu raised her hand. "Yes, Uiharu ask away!"

"Ano... How exactly are we going to find them?"

"Good question! To answer that: we'll just be going around till we find something." She said "And tomorrow's the weekend, so we don't have to worry about not getting enough sleep and dozing in class!"

Deciding to play along, It was my turn to raise my hand. "Yes, Shuzenji-kun?"

"And if we did find the culprit, what then?" I said before taking a taking a bite from the cheesecake I ordered.

"Take them down, obviously!" Saten said while punching the air. "If we do that, it'll look good on both your records, right? And wouldn't it be cool and exciting, catching a villain like a true member of Judgment you see on the news?"

"Any other member of Judgment would reprimand three students out late after curfew." I whispered to Uiharu to which she just giggled a bit.

She then turns to address Saten. "In any case, we would have plenty of walking and exploring ahead of us so why not order something to fill up, Saten-san? We wouldn't want to go out on an empty stomach, do we?"

"Good point." She beamed and waved at the waitress. "Excuse me, I'd like to order!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~

District 19 is located at the northeastern part of Academy city. It is unknown when and how, but somewhere along the way the district apparently failed in its development and has been in decline ever since, seemingly going through some form of urban decay. Despite this, there are still residents and most likely a working school there.

Moreover, obsolete technology or 'technology that won't be seen in the market today' are being re-researched in the district, things like vacuum pipes and steam engines. There is also apparently a rumor where the district was purposely abandoned in order to make use of it for testing ground for old technology.

There are various shops which have been set up in the district, housed within metal shipping container shops.

A place that's on the brink of becoming a ghost town is also a breeding ground for negative emotions and spiritual energy. It's almost like the equivalent of the slums region for Academy city with how little people there are. Fortunately, even while rundown, the place is still relatively sanitary.

...Although the usual pests are still appear here.

"Is this really alright?..." Uiharu timidity asked as she watched me pile up the group of delinquents.

"Should be. These guys aren't doing anything too bad and we can't exactly make any arrest as we're currently off-duty, not to mention we're also kinda breaking a few rules ourselves." I tell nonchalantly her.

"No luck...These guys didn't know anything about the invisible robber either." Saten sighed. "We already asked everyone we came across and got nothing. Should we also check the neighbouring districts?"

"It would have been easier if most of the Security cameras weren't broken." Uiharu added and checked the time, yawning. "It's getting pretty late too... Should we call it a night and head back?"

"I'm fine with whatever." I said.

"Alright fine..." Saten pouted. "But we'll definitely search again tomorrow! With Haru this time!"

"Speaking of Haru, he's totally getting along with the other members of his club, isn't he?"

"Yeah and-"

Deciding to head back, we started chatting and talking about small matters to stave off the sleepiness. Making our way out of the 19th district.

When the distance was far enough, I address the two of them. "On second thought, you guys go on ahead. I think I dropped something back there."

"Really? We don't mind wait for a bit."

"No. It's fine." I declined. "You girls go on ahead. See ya tomorrow." I then left in a hurry, not giving them a chance to say anything else.

"How suspicious..." Saten narrowed her eyes. "Wanna follow him and see what he's hiding?"

"Saten-san..."

"Let's go~!" She said as she pulled Uiharu's arm.

The reason I left in such a hurry and couldn't hear what the girls said was because the miasma was unnaturally thin. This would have been a good thing if not for the emotional fluctuations in the air.

This murky sensation that's stubbornly sticking to anything it touches has been overloading my emphatic senses for a while now. It's making me feel the most sick I've ever felt.

This would only mean that a miasma catalyst somewhere has most likely developed further into a monstrosity by now. With Academy city's size and lack of people who can deal with the problem, it's no suprise that one or two places has been overlooked.

Since I cannot locate it with by feeling it's emotions, I'm left with only my sight to find the source. Not wanting to waste anymore time, I made multiple heads and sent them to the sky. Although it would be difficult to do fine control of their senses, they shall notify me when any abnormalities have been detected in the area.