Chapter 13: Out of the Loop

The price I paid for my three-day unauthorized stay-over was, naturally, quite heavy.

When I steeled myself and returned to the dormitory, what awaited me was a so-called “sub-mission,” a disciplinary action from the dorm supervisor.

By the time my neck was twisted, shoulders twisted, waist twisted, knees twisted, and even my ankles twisted, I completely forgot about acting like “Reicia-chan” and ended up wailing in pain. I feel like I was talking normally too… Is that bad? Did they realize I’m not who I’m pretending to be…? Well, I wasn’t told anything in particular, so I guess it’s fine.

And after subjecting me to the full display of her champion techniques, the dorm supervisor informed me that I’d be serving a fifteen-day penalty cleaning program.

The “Out-of-Dorm Penalty Cleaning Program” meant scrubbing every water-related facility in the outer dormitory, inner dormitory, and school buildings. Seriously, this wasn’t funny.

And all of this was done in front of a large crowd of students. It was a public execution, plain and simple—“Even this person ends up like this if they break school rules,” that sort of warning.

But honestly, for Tokiwadai’s strict standards, where disappearing for three days without permission could’ve landed me a suspension or worse, getting off with just some grappling techniques and cleaning duties was incredibly lenient. The dorm supervisor’s actually really kind. Realistically, I probably should’ve gotten an academic penalty or suspension, even if it is summer break.

In any case, thank you, Dorm Supervisor. I truly reflected on my actions. From now on, even if I pull something reckless, I’ll make sure to go through proper channels first. Seriously.

By the way, after it was all over, and I was sobbing from the humiliation of breaking character and screaming in front of everyone, the dorm supervisor came over with a deeply moved expression and said, “…You’ve grown, Black Guard.” …Well, Reicia-chan probably couldn’t handle getting grappling techniques and screaming in public anyway.

Whether developing a tolerance for slapstick humor counts as “growth” is… highly questionable.

“…Ughhh… My muscles hurt so badly…”

Yesterday was the fifteenth day.

It’s been over a month since I possessed Reicia-chan’s body. More precisely, today marks day thirty-seven since my consciousness awakened. I think I’ve gotten quite good at speaking like a high-class lady. At least I don’t freeze up anymore from forgetting to use formal language on the spot.

Also, there’s been zero contact or interference from the magic side. I figured since I was involved with the Index incident, I’d get scouted by Misawa Cram School or something… so I was kinda on standby while doing my punishment cleaning. But before I knew it, the day was almost over, and when I hurried to go outside, the dorm supervisor caught me and physically restrained me.

…Wait, was that incident the one where it’d be bad if any espers other than Kamijou got involved? …Or was that the Oriana case?

…Well, either way, after finishing my penalty cleaning program, I was savoring the bliss of a “nothing-to-do day” for the first time in a while.

Ahhh… A holiday spent lazing around on a futon—what a blessing. Tokiwadai Middle School doesn’t give out summer homework (according to diary info), so there’s no crushing pressure of looming assignments creeping up behind me either.

…Speaking of which, I wonder if Kamijou’s alright…? If it played out like the novel, did he end up losing an arm or something? Well, it would’ve reattached quickly, but it must’ve been a brutal fight. Aureolus lost his memories too… Not that I can think of anything I could’ve done differently.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…Huh!? Did I just doze off!?

No good, no good. Reminiscing about the past is fine, but falling asleep again is dangerous. From my experience, messing up my sleep cycle leads to my entire summer break vanishing before I know it.

Reflecting too much and screwing up my sleep rhythm defeats the purpose of relaxing.

So, I forced my sore body up, got dressed to shake off the drowsiness, and stepped out of my room.

At the exact same moment, I heard a door open next door.

“Ah.”

“Oh my.”

“…My, my.”

…Why does this scenario feel familiar?

Well, at least this time I managed to react properly.

Chapter 2: I Don’t Care About Failing - Crazy_Princess
Episode 10: Out of the Loop

Incidentally, I later learned that the letter I’d sent to the dorm supervisor had been completely useless.

Of course it was. If they actually didn’t search for me just because I wrote, “I’ll be back in August, so don’t look for me,” Tokiwadai’s security would be a total joke. Apparently, they’d checked Reicia’s private resorts and similar locations, but didn’t investigate Komoe-sensei’s place.

Guess my choice to stay inside to avoid an attack from Stiyl and the others paid off. Also probably helped that they scattered all those warding runes.

And the one who told me all this was—

“…Feels like it’s been a while.”

The girl standing before me, Misaka Mikoto.

“Indeed. I’ve been stuck on that penalty cleaning program, and it seems you’ve been away from the dorm quite often as well, Misaka-san.”

“That program’s such a blatant insult to us. That demon hag hides behind the rules to oppress the students way too much.”

“Oh my, Shirai-san. Is it really okay to say that?”

“Whatever do you mean? The dorm supervisor shouldn’t be anywhere nearby.”

“No, according to rumors, the outer dormitories at Tokiwadai have pipes built into the walls that function like speaking tubes, allowing the dorm supervisor to eavesdrop on idle student chatter…”

“…………………………………………What…did you just say…!?!?!?”

“Just kidding.”

“Y-YOU WRETCHED WOMAN…!!!!”

Slipping in a light joke, Kuroko’s face turned from pale to bright red as she groaned.

Next to Kuroko, who was on the verge of dying from sheer character breakdown, Mikoto couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.

“Haha, but you’ve really changed too, haven’t you?”

Hearing Mikoto’s comment as she wiped the corners of her eyes, I couldn’t help but feel a jolt of surprise despite knowing it was a situation of my own making. Unconcerned with my internal panic, Mikoto continued speaking.

“Just a month ago, I couldn’t even imagine you being on the receiving end of the dorm supervisor’s ‘discipline.’ That woman’s the type who picks and chooses who to ‘spoil,’ after all.”

“…Does that mean, considering how often I get twisted around, I’m actually favored by the dorm supervisor?”

I ignored Kuroko’s grimacing expression and pressed on.

“Even now, you’re making little jokes like this… That’s a huge change. Really.”

“…Thank you. Hearing that is… quite encouraging.”

…Well, I haven’t even touched base with the other faction girls yet, though…

As I was thinking that, I happened to notice some small cuts and scratches on Mikoto and Kuroko’s bodies. Partly to change the subject, I asked Mikoto,

“…Um, Misaka-san, Shirai-san, did you get injured?”

“Oh, this?”

Mikoto scratched her cheek as she answered.

“Well, a lot happened… Sort of like how you had your unsanctioned stay-over.”

“…I see, so we both had our share of troublesome affairs to deal with.”

That reminded me—this was around the time Mikoto got caught up in that random release poltergeist incident. Come to think of it, when I was running all over the place with the punishment cleaning program, I remember wondering why there had been so many earthquakes lately. I just brushed it off as “oh well, Japan,” but…

So basically, up until yesterday, Mikoto and the others were busy cleaning up the aftermath of the random release poltergeist incident.

…Since this world isn’t following the anime continuity, Kongou-san isn’t around… so who handled her parts of the incident? I can’t recall all the details, but I’m pretty sure there was a scene where Kongou-san tried really hard and got saved or something, right?

“…If anything ever troubles you, don’t hesitate to tell me, alright?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“Onee-sama, we should get going!”

I figured someone probably overexerted themselves to make up for Kongou-san’s absence… maybe Kurozuma busted out of jail and rushed in to help or something… As I entertained those thoughts, Kuroko, now recovered, was tugging on Mikoto’s arm.

“So you had urgent business to attend to. I’m sorry for holding you up.”

“It’s fine. I was just planning to go buy some travel goods.”

“…Travel goods?”

“You know, for the ‘extended field trip’ at the beginning of September? They haven’t decided the destination yet though.”

“Oh, right.”

With that reminder, it all clicked for me.

The Extended Field Trip.

From September 3rd to the 10th, selected students from Academy City were sent on expeditions across the world—basically like an academic excursion, though on a global scale.

Each destination formed a group of about twenty students, accompanied by Anti-Skill security officers. From what I’d heard, it was more or less a glorified school trip.

Though it’s called a “worldwide expedition,” apparently most of the destinations were various American cities with historical ties to Academy City’s founding. You’d think they’d at least send people to allied nations like England.

Anyway, it seemed Mikoto and Kuroko were participating in that extended field trip.

Reicia-chan, however, wasn’t. Her diary even had a rant about it: “I wasn’t chosen, but that electro-shock girl and her little lapdog were? What blatant favoritism from the higher-ups!”

“That sounds like fun. I’ll be expecting some souvenirs, you know.”

Well, personally, I didn’t really care if I went or not…

“There’s still twenty days to go. Isn’t it a bit early to think about souvenirs?”

“Twenty days will fly by. Especially during long vacations… Honestly, I felt like those fifteen days just disappeared. Lately, even a whole week passes by in a flash…”

“Um… Reicia-san? Are you sure you haven’t been possessed by something weird?”

Mikoto asked, her tone shifting into polite speech, clearly a bit creeped out.

…Oops, I guess I let something old-man-like slip out.

But honestly, it’s true—time starts flying faster as you get older. I heard somewhere it’s because, the longer you’ve been alive, the shorter each moment feels by comparison—something like that.

“W-Well, anyway, we should get going.”

“Yes, see you around.”

With that brief exchange, we each went our separate ways.

…Punishment cleaning was finally over. At last, I could get to the “main event.”