"Huh?" Arata froze for a moment, then raised his hand with a bright smile. "Yo. I didn't expect to run into you here, Saten-san. Are you here with friends?"
"I didn't expect you to remember me, senpai." Saten Ruiko scratched her head and laughed innocently, then introduced her best friend, Uiharu Kazari.
"This is my friend, Uiharu Kazari."
Early spring sunlight made Uiharu seem even more timid. She unconsciously clasped her hands in front of her skirt, lowered her head shyly, and spoke in a soft, sweet voice.
"N-nice to meet you. My name is Uiharu Kazari." Her fingers nervously intertwined.
She was extremely nervous. It was her first time meeting a Level 5. Saten was amazing. She could chat and laugh so naturally with a Level 5 senior.
"Hello, Uiharu. What a cute junior." Arata looked at the shy girl, paused briefly, and could not resist reaching out to pat her head. The artificial flower hair clip brushed against his fingers. If it were not for the texture, he might have thought it was real.
"Mmm." Uiharu's cheeks instantly turned bright red. A Level 5 had just patted her head.
"Senpai, you're doing it again. You touched my head last time too. You shouldn't casually touch a girl's head, and Uiharu is very shy." Saten Ruiko said as she gently pulled Arata's hand away.
"I… I'm not especially shy, Saten." Uiharu waved her hands hurriedly, taking two small steps back in flustered denial.
"You say that, but your face is as red as a tomato."
"No it's not!" Uiharu protested.
"Haha. Sorry, sorry. My fault. I just couldn't help it when I saw such cute juniors. I absolutely didn't mean anything strange. It's more like an older student's protective instinct." Arata said with a straight face, holding up his phone with an expression of complete innocence.
"Senpai, are you saying you treat us like little kids? We may be first years, but we're proper middle school students." Saten placed her hands on her hips proudly.
"Right, right. Twelve or thirteen year old middle school students." Arata said casually, his gaze briefly lingering on Saten's well developed figure before he looked away.
Saten's cheeks flushed slightly. "Arata-senpai, do you remember the Chinese phrase you taught me last time? I learned the real meaning now."
"Really?" Arata looked at Saten's slightly reddened face and righteous expression and immediately understood that she had figured it out. Even with his thick skin, he felt a bit awkward.
"That's great. Yes. That's great."
"Even though senpai teased me, you also helped me that day. So we're even." Saten said generously, her natural optimism instantly easing the atmosphere.
"I never expected a Level 5 to be like this. When I found out that night that you were the eighth Level 5, I was really shocked." Saten added innocently.
"Level 5 espers aren't quite how I imagined, but senpai is very cheerful," Uiharu said sweetly.
"What did you imagine a Level 5 to be like?" Arata asked.
"Well, there are only eight Level 5s in Academy City. They must be incredibly cool. Using their abilities like superheroes in manga, defeating villains everywhere." Uiharu clasped her hands in front of her chest, eyes sparkling.
"That's manga logic. Reality is different." Arata coughed lightly. Misaka Mikoto might resemble a heroine, and Sogiita Gunha definitely acts like one, but the others are closer to ultimate weapons. As for the female Accelerator, she was more like a walking calamity than a superhero.
"I see…" Uiharu lowered her head slightly in embarrassment.
"Senpai, I heard an urban legend that you were originally a hidden Level 5 and only recently got exposed. Is that true?"
Saten's curiosity was burning again. Anything mysterious immediately caught her interest.
"Urban legends?" Arata raised an eyebrow. He used to browse those rumor forums about Academy City, but lately he had been too busy collecting character cards.
"Yeah. Look at this, senpai." Saten excitedly pulled out her phone, tapped a few times, and leaned closer to him.
"Let me see."
Arata leaned in and blinked. He had not expected to see himself listed among Academy City's urban legends.
"The hidden Level 5 in Academy City has finally been revealed."
"Academy City has allegedly been concealing several Level 5s who deliberately suppressed their AIM diffusion fields and concealed weaknesses during Power Curriculum Program evaluations. Recently, one such Level 5 was accidentally exposed during testing. He is said to be from a certain high school..."
"This is nonsense." Arata twitched slightly and scrolled down, only to find even more fabricated details.
"Is it true, senpai?" Saten asked eagerly.
"It's fake. The higher an esper's level, the stronger their AIM diffusion field. That cannot be completely hidden. As for me, I was originally evaluated as Level 1 Telekinesis. My ability suddenly advanced to Level 5. Even I don't fully understand why." Arata shook his head.
"Oh. That's disappointing. I thought Academy City was secretly hiding multiple Level 5s. Now I'm less interested." Saten said with exaggerated dejection.
"Saten, you just like the topic. You don't actually care how many Level 5s there are, do you?" Arata said with amusement.
"Senpai, interesting topics are a girl's second life." Saten declared confidently.
"And Uiharu feels the same?"
"N-no. I just think it's interesting. Very interesting." Uiharu said modestly.
"Senpai, you suddenly went from Level 1 to Level 5. Is there some secret to improving one's ability level? No, no, I'm not trying to pry into your Personal Reality." Saten blinked innocently before hurriedly clarifying herself.
"A secret? There is one, actually. Come to think of it, as your senpai, I haven't given you any small gifts yet." Arata smiled as he noticed the fleeting inferiority complex hidden in Saten's eyes.
"A gift?" Saten and Uiharu exchanged surprised glances.
"Look."
Arata pretended to reach into his pocket, but in reality he retrieved two palm sized Kongming Locks from his spatial storage. Each intricate wooden puzzle sphere contained an ability crystal sealed inside.
"What is this?"
"It's called a Kongming Lock. Similar to a three dimensional puzzle. It requires the correct method and sufficient intelligence to open. The item sealed inside is something even espers would desire. I'm giving these to you."
Arata extended his palm toward them with a bright smile. "This Kongming Lock is a toy obtained from a one star character card, perfect as a small gift."
...
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