DISCLAIMER:
-This story is written on this time line: after the Railgun Daihasei festival (with everything canon happened before).
-Everything that happens in this story disregards what happens after the festival in the canon novel and is written without knowing it.
-I will post a chapter weekly (friday) so stay tuned :D
-Join our Shadow Crafter Discord Community to share art, memes and anime stuff!
LINK IN BIO!
In the previous episode:
(You may need this zoom to read this one, we are sorry u.u" )
Will our hero go down the stairs as fast as he needs?
Read the next chapter and you'll find out
Ty Eleuphii for the amazing comic, we all love you <3
«Guys, do you hear me? It's an emergency!»
«Kuroko! Where are you?! Why didn't you immediately share your position?» Mikoto asked nervous.
«Don't worry, Onee-sama. I haven't met Siren Head but... an injured and in a fugue state person. She couldn't manage to recover yet, so she couldn't tell me what happened but I suppose it's a new victim. I already called an ambulance. I'll make sure she gets safely brought to the hospital before keep going on the researches.» Kuroko reported then she hung up.
Meanwhile, Fran kept scouring his zone using the signals received by the shadows; he checked various alleys in few minutes but a particular one caught his attention. At the district's border, there was a narrow road where no shadows were going in or out since a long time; it was an uncrowded area, but it was worth a try.
From the outside of the road, everything seemed quiet but, as soon as Fran embarked on the path, he heard someone screaming in the distance.
«It's time! There may be someone under attack there!» Fran quickly ran to help the victim, but what he saw went beyond his imagination.
On the first side, a boy in agony and screaming on the ground, injured, and on the other side, in front of him, a Siren Head taller than the one he knew about from the video Saten showed them earlier, but there was more. Its body was made of metal, not wood, and its hands were actual sharp bolt cutters.
«T-this can't be possible... this is not the same... I need to be focused now, there's no time to worry!» Fran tried to put aside his doubts and fear and, using a long but thin shadow centipede, he pulled the injured boy away from the danger and brought him in a safer spot, as far as possible from the monster; he quickly turned his transmitter on and called the rest of the group. «Guys, I-» But he didn't even have the time to open his mouth, something slimy and elastic hit his pin and made it fall to the ground, breaking it; from the monster's speakers, it could be seen a frightening twisted teethed mouth from which a very long and drool covered tongue was coming out. After destroying the transmitter, the tongue went back for more and started strangling Fran, but he was strong enough to prevent himself from choking and fighting the tongue back. «Damn it... this was really an unexpected turn! If I had my reflexes on, I could have easily stopped the attack with a shadow... a mouth inside the speakers and a ranged attacking tongue... who could even imagine something like this?! Whatever... I'll crush you with my centipedes!» Fran ordered to his own shadow to become a centipede to bite and cut away the tongue of the monster, but the shadow insect got slammed away by a powerful slap from the creepy creature; Fran tried again several times but Siren Head always managed to parry the hits.
«Tsk... I have no time to waste... I have to save that bo-»
«AAAH! The monster! It's still here! Help me! I can't move my leg!» the injured guy yelled as he was slowly dragging himself away with his arms only.
«What?! He is okay now? He was under the effect of the Siren Head's laments, but not anymore... does this mean... is it changing its target?!» Fran couldn't realize this in time when he saw the monster's mouths wide opening towards his direction.
«You've never been anyone priority... you'll never be...» these were the first robotic words Fran heard in his mind; the boy started sweating and losing strength, resulting in having more difficulties in resisting to the tongue's strangling around his throat.
« Worthless. Meaningless. Superfluous.» Those three words became an haunting and painful refrain inside of Fran's head and his consciousness was turning more and more weaker as the volume kept rising.
«Bastard... you take advantage from your victims' fears to make them lose their mind! It won't work on me... you guys did a really good job creating a monster this big... I'll use every inch of its huge shadow to destroy it!» Fran ordered to craft a centipede as big as the monster's shadow, but nothing happened.
«What?! I can't... control-Ugh!» the pain was too sharp and Fran couldn't breathe anymore; in addition to the terrible words in his head, the cry of a little boy started echoing. It was his own when he was a child.
«" You've never been anyone priority" huh...? These are the last words I'll hear as I die...? Yeah... they hurt much more than this tongue...» Fran surrendered to the strangling, the end was coming and he was about closing his eyes, but a ray of light ascended in front of him like it was a shooting star waiting for someone asking their last wish; a Railgun hit disintegrated the tongue and completely pierced the monster's body. Fran fell on the ground, freed, and began coughing and spitting saliva, trying to breathe again.
«Fran-san! Thanks goodness, that was close! Take your time, it's alright now!» Mikoto rapidly jumped to his aid and, after helping him getting back up, she stood ahead ready to protect him.
«Huh?» Though, Siren Head was already gone; even the remaining tongue's pieces dissolved inexplicably.
«Well done! Teleport it away! You managed to do it just in time! If I see your creepy toy touching a friend of mine again... its ugly face won't be the only one turning into a contemporary artwork!» Mikoto shouted around, threatening and furious.
«M-Misaka-san... thank you, again...» Fran said panting and lowering his voice on the last word.
«Luckily... the coordinate given by Uiharu were right.» Misaka said as she sighed with great relief.
«Uiharu? What did she do?» Fran asked, still visibly upset by his lethal choking experience.
«This was an actual blessing... that tiny moment in which you activated the transmitter was enough for her to find where you were...» Kuroko suddenly appeared at Mikoto's back and she jumpscared in direction of Fran.
«Kuroko?! You gave me an heart attack!» Misaka exclaimed shaking, she thought the monster came back again.
«Oh... my apologises, Onee-sama. I just wanted to be as fast as possible. I checked the surroundings and it seems there is no one worth a suspect. Oh, yeah... and for you I've called an ambulance, are you okay?» Kuroko asked to Fran, trying to hide her big concern in vague words.
«Y-yes... I don't think I'll need it. What about that boy?» Fran asked, pointing to the blood trail left on the ground by the escaped guy.
«He's fine, I already helped him and left him to the first aid operators.»
«I see... thanks again, girls. You acted impeccably.»
«No need to reiterate it! As soon as we realized your transmitter broke, Uiharu-san used every legal and not method to track you down... she was actually amazing!» Mikoto explained satisfied.
«Yeah, she really was... and you were it too. If it weren't for you...»
«Stop right there...!» Mikoto intervened anxious, but flattered too.
«I'm sorry, I can't... it looks like Siren Head... is bloodthirsty too now.» Fran reaffirmed and all the three of them looked at the red painted floor with distress.
The two Tokiwadai students pressed Fran to let the first aids operators check his health status to make sure he was actually fine and the boy accepted reluctantly; after they said there was nothing to worry about, the group went back to the Judgment office and everyone reunited to discuss.
«I'm so glad you made it out unharmed, Fran-san! I was so worried!» Uiharu started, smiling sincerely.
«You really saved me, Uiharu-san! One day, I'll repay you... but first, we have to decide how we are going to face this upcoming problem...» Fran answered, lowering his eyes and sighing.
«Did you discover something interesting during the encounter with the monster?» Mii asked curious.
«I didn't really discover it... it simply showed up in front of my face. Siren Head already turned different from the one we saw on the video Saten-san showed up before our departure for the mission. The body, its hands and the speakers replacing its head too... everything slightly but clearly different from its original version! There's only one thing left for sure: that monster someway evolves...» Fran explained while spinning his mobile on his fingers to relief some stress.
«I saw it too...» Mikoto intervened by rising her hand. «Before someone thinks Fran could have mistaken what he saw because of the tension of the situation he was into... the moment before I hit it with my Railgun, I noticed those differences too and this caused me so much anxiety I used more power than usual... maybe we could have caught it if I had acted smoother.» Misaka exclaimed, visibly gripped by regrets.
«You have no fault, Misaka-san. I'll tell you some, I'd much rather be here complaining how few clues we have than swimming underground with worms eating my face... it was on me, I haven't fought well and I let the monster take advantage of it.» Fran replied, regretful as he was too.
«You couldn't do much more! You were getting chocked and it's not simple using your esp power when you are in pain... next time we'll crush it, together!» Mikoto exclaimed determined, then she approached her fist to Fran, waiting to be returned.
«T-true... you are right. We'll have our payback...» Fran moved his hand and lent a very weak brofist but Mikoto didn't really notice, she thought he was just really tired. Truth was, Fran wasn't being fully honest with them and he wasn't going to tell them everything he knew.
«I was completely able to control and attack with my shadows in that moment, the issue was another thing... that monster's huge shadow couldn't be materialized... and this happens for only one reason...» Fran though frustrated, as he looked towards Saten with concern. «And it's because I can't use living beings' shadows! I can't believe it... maybe Saten-san is right thinking it is a real monster... maybe I am the lunatic one, wanting to see everything through rationality. Anyways... this won't change the situation. I won't tell anyone this little detail... this may be a selfish attitude, precluding everyone to think this guy may be an actual monster... but the investigations have to be led on logic first. We can't just surrender to the idea the horror story is real life, not before finding any other hints. I could be wrong too... the fact it is a living being does not exclude it may have been artificially made by espers, or also, in a laboratory... so many possibility, too many...!»
«What do you think, Fran-san? Fran-san...? Were you listening to us?» Kuroko asked as she slightly raised her voice; the boy apologised and shook his head in embarrassment.
«I'm sorry, girls... I feel exhausted and for a person like me who always has few hours of sleep... is really demolishing. I think I'll go back home earlier today.» Fran said, then he stood up and went for the door.
«Of course... no problem. One last thing... we have to give up and request some support from Anti Skill. If that monster really wants to kill now... students are risking too much and we can't afford keeping this slow pace.» Kuroko said, telling Uiharu to start sending them a message from her pc.
«I fully agree... do it.» Fran opened the exit and walked out, but stopped right on the doorstep. «Huh... before I leave, Saten-san. Could you send me the video you showed us today? I'd like to watch it with more time once I get home, so I can see all the difference that were between this Siren Head and the one that attacked me.» Fran requested, pointing to the mobile in the girl's hand.
«Sure! Actually, I'll give you this!» Fran saw a quick notify on his phone and checked it; the message sent by Saten included a link of a website. «They posted the video on this indie website created to analyse the urban legend and the Siren Head encounters in Gakuen Toshi! Other than that video, there are lots of witnesses, even if... many of them are clearly made up! Anyways, they could be helpful too, right?»
«M-more of less... I just want to be able to find the video easily.» Fran replied, embarrassed by Saten's enthusiasm.
«You will! It's very popular on the home page obviously! Well... also the first post ever on the website! That one is everlasting, that fanart of the monster is so creepy!»
«Saten-san... how can you find so much weird stuff everytime?» Uiharu asked resigned.
«Jeez... Saten-san... I can understand your hobbies, but don't you think this website is a dumpster? People telling fake stories while students get hurt for real now...» Kuroko affirmed exasperated.
«Ehy! Don't pick on me on this site! It already existed since many days before the last events and It was all about creepypastas on the Siren Head in Academy City. I was one of the first subscribers so I can confirm. Yesterday, the site exploded of visits due to the crazy word-of-mouth between the attacked students and their friends, so it turned into a kind of new social where you can tell anybody about your experience of meeting the monster.» Saten replied, showing to Kuroko the website's creation date as an irrefutable proof.
«Alright, Saten-san... I'll check it out, thanks.» Fran, smelling an annoying and useless discussion in the air that would have just dried his energies more, quickly thanked them and left.
The one room apartment of the student house where Fran lived wasn't in the second district but neither too far from the Judgment office; a little more than thirty minutes on foot were his daily routine and also the chance to have an enjoyable walk with good music in the earphones, now even more pleasing than usual since he needed to heal his eardrums from the horrible cries the monster played directly in his brain.
Arrived home, Fran rapidly closed the door behind him and dived face down onto his bed with his three soft pillows; the room was somehow tidy and clean, except for the desk with his pc gaming station that abounded with many empty biscuits packs and cold tea cans.
«I really want to play right now... I'll think about that thing later.» Fran lazily got up the bed, picked up a new tea can from the fridge and comfortably sat on his gaming chair. «Oof... Yomikawa treats me like a king.» he said out loud, then his looks went to the empty cans next to the second monitor. «I'll throw you away once all the space is filled... otherwise I'd have to get up more times than one. Efficiency is key! Huh... am I really talking to cans right now...? I need a game immediately... I'll just stay here a little bit.» that little bit of gaming lasted until 2 A.M, counting a pause for takeout dinner.
«Aaaaah! I really needed this sense of relax, now I'm feeling dizzy though... thinking that I was already tired... If I was in shape, I think I would have stopped on sunrise.» Fran yawned and picked up his mobile. «Shirai-san and Uiharu-san didn't contact me the whole time... this means that after mine, today the Siren Head's aggression stopped... may this be thanks to Misaka-san's hit? Was it so powerful it had to retreat the whole day? Luckily, this hour the curfew is up and very few students are around... there shouldn't be attacks during night. About this...» Fran remembered the website Saten sent him and went copying the link from the message to eventually use it on his pc; the homepage was a black screen with a creepy drawing of the monster and its name written in red, many other tiny bloody red writings were bringing to different contents offered by the site and finally there was a detailed board with today's hottest topics.
«Here's the video I was looking for. Indeed... as I remembered, completely different body... absurd...» Fran exclaimed as he saw the amateurish movie again. «Let's read some users' crap.» the boy started enjoying the made-up stories of the subscribers but without losing the focus on the ones that seemed interesting and plausible.
«" I met Siren Head today. It forced me to get closer to its speaker and told me it'd make me listen the most terrifying and disgusting scream of my life but then it played Never Gonna Give You Up of Rick Astley and started dancing on my face."
.... Well, can't really say I didn't expect to find trolls on a website like this... this post has so few likes? It also was so difficult finding it between this huge amount of ridiculously fake witnessing. There are so many obviously made up stories, yet they are way more popular than funny jokes and memes like this one which instead seem to be avoided and not appreciated. The average user on this site really wants to read and tell actual and serious speeches on the monster, without caring if they are fake or not.» Fran thought by himself after a pleasing laugh but his joy completely turned off once he read the following post.
«"Siren Head kills you by forcing you to hear its lament while it strangles you with its very longue tongue coming out from its speakers, which are actually hungry jaws." And this... what does it mean...? How can this user know this?! We haven't published any information... it could only be someone from Judgment and Anti-Skill but what the heck is he doing on this dumb site?! Saten...? No, she is a fanatic but not that stupid to betray us. Or maybe... Uiharu and the others made them public after I left! I have to call her!» Fran quickly grabbed his mobile and called Uiharu, even if it was late at night; he made it ring for quite some time, making numerous calls too, but eventually the girl answered.
«Fran... san...? How can I help you? Aaaah...» Uiharu asked yawning and with sloppy voice.
«I'm sorry for calling at this hour, of course... but do you maybe know if the information about my witness of what happened to me yesterday were somehow shared?» Fran asked impatient.
«Huh... we just gave it to the Anti-Skill but they assured us they would've acted starting from tomorrow... so, if I'm not mistaken, they shouldn't...» the girl answered.
«Don't be this vague! Remember! I know you are sleepy right now but please, its importa- Huh...?»
«Fran-san...? Are you there? Oh, he hung up... is he somnambulist? He seemed kinda anxious, though... well, whatever! Goodnight!» so Uiharu fell in her sleep again, no difficulties.
«T-this is not possible... this post... was published yesterday on 12.30 P.M... its hours before my encounter! It must be an error, it MUST!» Fran starter tearing his room apart just to find the pen drive where he collected all the data about the aggressions happened before that day to analyse them again.
«Actually... I remembered well... no other encounter shows the characteristics Siren Head had on mine... how did this guy know this new things on the monster before it even showed to us?! Before even happening?!» Fran began watching and checking every single previous post searching for answers, so he found a second creepy comment.
«"Siren Head denies you from escaping its cries by injuring your leg with its shape claws". This comment was written yesterday morning... but the first attack recording someone being injured is the one of Kongou Mitsuko that was scheduled on noon... this one too, it was somehow predicted! There's no other solution! They must be the ones who created the monster! They are the only one who can know the creature's new abilities in preview... wait, what is this?» Fran noticed that both the comments he analysed were marked by a weird little star that distinguished them from the others.
«This symbol means that this post was shared by the website admin and pinned to the top of his profile page.» Fran clicked on that admin's profile and remained shocked by what he saw; his page was filled of other users comments that the admin shared on his page by using the same line every time: "I saw it too, it's true." The most frightening thing, though, was that the group of collected posts represented the evolution stadiums that Siren Head had achieved during this period and before, but they were always published on an antecedent hour of the one when the monster actually appeared like it was described in the comment.
Fran, incredulous and scared by the unpredictability of what he was reading, decided to scroll down to the first post on that profile: it was the famous creepy fan art Saten was talking about, being also the first content on the website ever.
«The various monster's descriptions belong to many different users. It would be nonsense for a single guy building so many accounts if he wanted to hide himself, in such an unpopular site too... they really are all different persons... came to this point, I can only suspect the admin himself... but what kind of twisted guy is he...? His nickname is...?!» the second Fran read that name, a chill went down his spine and he petrified and stopped breathing for the tension; his teeth were shaking and their annoying sound was resonating in the empty room.
«The Siren head... the fact it was an already know legend on the internet, that the first post ever was a well-defined image of it... in order to make it easier for the users to use their imagination... thanks to which they started building theories and customizing its aspect... the admin chose the best ones and shared them on her own page to make sure everybody could know them and accept them as truth. That would explain why memes, exaggerations and not plausible things were hidden or refused... she wanted the monster to have a clean-cut and universally known identity, neither too much ridiculous nor sophisticated... just because this way everyone could have actually believed to its existence... creating a huge group of fanatics wanting to see it and wishing it to be true, exactly what she needed... so the creature was born for real, it's an actual living being so I can't control its shadow... UnicornDreamer! You decided to land your first strike at last, Chiara?!» Fran had finally discovered the truth behind the presence of Siren Head; it was the person who he feared the most since he arrived in Gakuen Toshi, the one who wanted to use the Sisters cloning for her crazy plans. That one girl with night blue starless sky hair, desert arid sand yellow eyes, who seemed to always have the expression of a cold fish and can't stop talking about rainbows and unicorns just as he said to the clone to make sure they would stay away from her.
«If I want to stop her... I absolutely have to stop the information sharing about the Siren Head... Otherwise, her power could become unmanageable... first, I have to ask Uiharu-san to hack and cancel that website!»
-
«What the hell is happening through the city streets?! Why there are so many Anti Skill agents escorting students and blocking the road?» next day, Fran joined the office by yelling; all the girls were there, even the two not belonging to Judgment.
«F-Fran-san...? Yesterday we agreed to let Anti-Skill help us managing the students' safety, remember?» Uiharu replied, confused by the boy's inconsistent attitude.
«And that's how they help us? By frightening people even more with this ready-for-war army out there?! Now even the ones who knew nothing about the monster will be aware of it and start fearing it.» Fran exclaimed in distress. «And so it'll become even more powerful! If things keep going like this, dealing with the website will be pointless!» he thought flustered.
«But... this is exactly what we need, people to be aware of what they may face. I don't get it, Fran-san... did you sleep enough? Uiharu told me about you going mental at 2 A.M... maybe you are still tired due to the encounter with Siren Head... or maybe you were just hiding us a silly part of your personality this whole time?» Kuroko added with an evil smirk.
«Do I look like someone in mood for jokes?! Damn it, you can't understand... whatever!» Fran left the office and ran upstairs on the rooftop.
«Wow... I turned him a little bit mad... I was just kidding...» Kuroko said annoyed.
«Where did he go...?» Uhiaru asked.
«Don't worry too much, friends!» Mikoto intervened with decision. «Fran-san is acting weirder than usual lately, true, but just remember he always helped us in all the ways he could and most of the time we didn't even realize it. I learnt we can trust him!»
«Onee-sama... so many wasted compliments on a random prick... but, if you say so... whatever, let's start! Uiharu!»
«Gotcha!»
Fran nervously grabbed his phone and typed Yomikawa's number.
«Fran-san? What about this direct call out of nowhere? Something happened?» she asked.
«Immediately stop this ridiculous security plan! It will only make things worst!» Fran yelled to the phone without holding back.
«Jeez... manners, boy! It may be true I'm kind of a relevant person here but I'm still just an agent. The brass decided to act like this, I can't complain.» Yomikawa replied irritated.
«You have to try! Do everything in your power to stop this that's nothing but a show! The most important thing is defeating Siren Head! There is no time to act modest. If is it you talking to the chief, he could maybe consider your opinion and lower down this dramatic measure.»
«Dramatic? Show...? Fran-san... not only you're disrespecting a superior, but also talking nonsense. I'll forgive you just because you sound really stressed, but I'll ask you some questions. What should we do then? How can we help the students? Do you have a path? Suspects?»
«I... tsk...» Fran stopped talking and swallowed a bitter pill. «I still can't reveal anything about her... not yet.» he thought helpless.
«I'm sorry, Fran-san. We can't actually build an entire operation on some vague intuition of yours, even if I'm the first one who would have trusted them. However, your theories aren't more important than the safety of my students, I can't sacrifice any of my children on your baseless hypothesis. Understood? I still don't get how having more men to help could make thing more dangerous. Well, now I have to get back to work.» Yomikawa closed the call and Fran clenched his teeth in anger, he wanted to slam his mobile on the ground but he managed to hold back since he didn't want to break the new one he bought.
«If only she knew she's just condemning to death the same students she wants to protect so much... Sh*t!» Fran opened the exit by punching the door and went back to the office; Uiharu and Kuroko were on the pc with Mii while Saten and Mikoto were chatting by themselves.
«Fran-san? Is it alright? You look very upset...» Mikoto asked turning worried after seeing the bright red on his right fist; her kindness was at least enough to slightly calm down the boy's nerves.
«Forgive me, I didn't mean to be rude... I'm just a bit... frightened.» That was the first time the girls saw Fran in such a fragile and insecure state, the first time he looked like the one waiting for advices and paths to follow.
«I-it' okay... however, just snap out of it! I like you better when you are an unlovable and arrogant prick!» Kuroko said trying to relief some tension, indeed she made everybody smile. «Since you left for a moment, I'll show you where we've been at. Look!» Kuroko invited Fran to watch the two monitors of Uiharu's computer.
«Are those... IDs? Esper's IDs? Or victim's?» The boy asked clueless.
«Both! This time the Uiharu-Saten duo was really helpful!» Kuroko added enthusiast.
«Well... I can see Uiharu-san, but Saten-san... emh...» Fran didn't know how to finish his sentence without sounding offensive, but he didn't notice he already was.
«Hey! What are you implying?!» Saten asked wrathful, threateningly approaching the boy.
«N-nothing... I was just curious... except for the urban legends hobby, I don't know you really well so I'm not aware of your other qualities... many, I suppose...» Fran recovered at his best.
«Well, you don't need to know. She has none, indeed. She's just lucky we ended up in her subject.» Kuroko said salty.
«Shirai-san! That's mean! You'll make me cry!» poor Saten said as Mikoto tried to cheer her up with her usual kind shoulders pats.
«Thanks to Saten's help, we managed to study that Saten Head website better and found two interesting starting points. First, many of the posts describing the monster's aspect were timed on moments before the hours when actual attacks where the creature had that aspect were consumed! We can easily conclude the creators were inspired by the stuff written on the site to evolve their Siren Head.» Explained Kuroko and Fran remained speechless.
«Amazing... they came up to the same conclusion of me in this short time... I underestimated them. Anyways, they don't know that the one behind this was immediately able to create the monster right thanks to that website... it has nothing to do with being inspired. If only I could talk...» Fran clenched his Fists and nodded, asking to continue.
«Second, we studied that site so much that we managed to find some cancelled comments. Our Uiharu never disappoints!» Kuroko affirmed satisfied.
«Cancelled comments?! About what?!» Fran asked surprised.
«They were apparently authentic witnesses dating back to the very first attacks of the creature, during which victims only suffered from the mind laments, without actually seeing the monster.» Kuroko answered and Fran lost himself in his thought, but got out finding the answer he was searching for.
«But I really can't understand, Shirai-san... why did they cancel those old posts? They weren't offensive neither too stupid to read...» Saten asked aloud.
«The answer is really easy, Saten-san. That's because those posts wer-»
«They were true.» Fran intervened, interrupting Kuroko. «Siren Head wasn't born complete. It began by being some simple creepy noise playing in unlucky people's mind passing through dark alleys. In those old posts there are real witnesses of first users of the sites, who probably were the first victims too. The criminals behind this needed them to start the legend but they had to cancel the stories as soon as possible. That's because by reading those comments again we can track back what kind of esper power started the rumors of the Siren Head before becoming a detailed and particular shaped monster. From my fast first read... I can dare to say it all started with a telepath!»
«That's exactly what I was going to tell but... okay, the smart prick is back. Tsk...» Kuroko exclaimed puffing.
«Do you have any suspects already?» Fran asked as he was focused on reading the data on the monitor.
«That's the difficult part... it's not easy tracing victims' real identity from their nicknames only... but...»
«Uiharu-san! Compare these two users' profile pics!» Fran abruptly interrupted Uiharu's explanation and everyone gathered around the pc to hear what he was going to say.
«So lucky... these two girls both used an actual photo of them and, even if the quality is not that good to identify their face, the school uniform is clearly visible! It's possible that the original esper is someone really close to the first victims' usually attended places, like schools! » Fran said.
«They have the same uniform too! It can't be random! Two victims so close.» Uhiaru added, then she managed to find the school's name and the students database. «It's an high school... with low level esper students. It doesn't' seem to be any telepath though... I was ready to bet the suspect was a jealous classmate...»
«The idea of searching nearby the victims was good, maybe someone who hated them for an X reason... but it seems we were wrong. Let's move on the other users.» Kuroko suggested and Uiharu was going to reset the searching data.
«We were not wrong!» Fran intervened and grabbed Uiharu's hand before she could click; she blushed and started bubbling for an explanation. Fran let her go and looked her straight in her eyes.
«School is not only students.» Those words made everyone chill; Uiharu immediately expanded the search to the staff database and finally had a result: a telepath, professor, level three, Mental Burn.
«His power can alter the present thoughts of people to make them feel uncomfortable, like they are ill and depressed... guys, it's a compatible power!» Uiharu exclaimed as she stood up her chair in excitement.
«Uiharu! Immediately give me the address! Ask for an arrest warrant and inform Anti-»
«Let me deal with him.» Fran grabbed Kuroko's hand this time and tried to detach her Judgment armband but she stopped him before he could have done it.
«Fran-san?! You don't want to take all the credit for this, do you?! Both me and Uiha-»
«I beg you, Shirai-san.» Kuroko saw Fran's eyes burning of exasperation and that also he couldn't stop cold sweating from his forehead; she gave up and freed the grasp on her armband.
Fran took note of the coordinates on his mobile and departed to his destination, without saying goodbye to anyone.
The girls looked at each other searching for an explanation but it only turned to be an awkward moment; only Mikoto had guts to talk.
«I'll tell you again. Trust him. I feel it, he's not lying or deceiving us. When he has something in mind, he also cares for all of us. I know it, I felt it on my skin and I still haven't thanked him enough.» she exclaimed, then turned towards Kuroko in search of her support.
«Onee-sama is right. If he wanted to go alone so much it's probably for a precise reason he'll reveal to us later, acting cool and stuff like usual... Aaaah, he pisses me off! Men, more like windbags! Actually, I'm glad he is gone! We can breathe better without the stench of ape!» once again, Kuroko's annoying but funny attitude relieved the anxiety in the air.
While all the girls were laughing and making fun on poor Kuroko, someone strongly knocked on the front door; Mii stood up going to open and check so she told the others she would have been quick and to wait her to keep going on the case.
«Can I help you?» the Senpai asked the guests.
«Yes, I think. I'm looking for someone named Fran or something, I know he works here.» Kamijou Touma replied.