Springtime of Our Youths

Chapter 1

June 17th 2004

It's another night in Academy City, a city of 2.3 million people in the western part of Tokyo where 80% of the population are students. In a dimly lit alleyway a girl with brown coloured hair and eyes, wearing a Tokiwadai uniform with a shortened pleated skirt sits relaxed with her back against the wall while surrounded by a bunch of high school-aged boys who seem to be annoying her

A few of the delinquents were trying to hit on her while the rest were keeping the coast clear for any anti-skill or judgement officers while also keeping people from coming too close. "FU~~~~ They actually came to hit on me. What a Bunch of morons... Oh well... If they get too noisy, I can just let them have a taste of my electric shock. There are people passing by but I can't blame them for not doing anything, after all, in this city everyone is trying to fend for themselves. Someone who helps a stranger and stands up for justice, even if such a person did exist. That person must be an idiot" the girl thinks to herself while surrounded by delinquents.

Unsuspectingly she hears an unknown voice. "Oh~~~Found her, found her", that voice belonged to an ordinary-looking boy whose only distinguishing characteristic was his spiky black hair and blue eyes. He had shown up out of nowhere and seemed to be talking to her. "So you were here all this while" As he said that he grabbed her left hand with his right hand.

Normally Misaka's body emits EM waves that can act as a radar that allows her to sense her surroundings but as an unfortunate side effect, it makes it impossible for her to pet animals as they are scared by the EM waves that she emits. But once the boy grabbed her hand she was unable to feel anything, as if her ability had stopped working. That startled her but she collected herself fast enough so nobody could notice.

The boy after grabbing her hand started gently dragging her away from the group of delinquents, she had decided to go along with whatever that boy had planned due to being curious about what his ability could be and really wanted to ask him, getting rid of the annoyances was just a bonus. Once they had gotten far enough, the boy releases Misaka's hand from his hold and he seems pretty proud of himself "That went way better than I thought it would, normally with my luck something is always bound to go wrong" the boy says sighing in relief that his plan didn't end up backfiring on him. "So, who the hell are you and most importantly, what is your ability," the girl asks, "Ah, my name's Kamijou Touma and I am a level 0" the boy says honestly. "There's no way you are just a level 0, you must have some kind of ability. When you grabbed my hand I felt as if my ability had shut down" the girl says while slightly raising her voice. "Ehm, that would be right hand, it can cancel out any esper powers, even my own which is probably why I'm labelled as a level 0 as I don't even have an AIM field, which in fact makes me the weakest level 0 out there. Also, you never introduced yourself, if u don't mind I'd like to know the name of the girl I just helped out".

"My name is Misaka Mikoto, you've probably heard of me before. Academy City likes to use me as their poster child."

"So, you are the Railgun? I wouldn't expect to see someone like you surrounded by delinquents like that and especially this late. Doesn't Tokiwadai also have a stricter curfew for its students? You'll probably get into trouble if you get caught."

"Random guys annoying me is something I've gotten used to and if they try to go too far I just zap them, which would've probably been the fate of those delinquents from before. About the curfew, Tokiwadai is pretty annoying, they are all about having us focus on our studies and stuff like so they try to cut down on our free time and anything they consider a distraction from our studies, it's pretty annoying honestly."

"Well my school is the dictionary definition of ordinary, but at least it's pretty relaxed when it comes to rules, we don't even have to wear our uniforms properly while we are at school and most accessories are allowed. One of my friends is always wearing sunglasses and a Hawaiian t-shirt."

"Well your school at least sounds fun, I am thinking about going to a more relaxed high school once I graduate from Tokiwadai. Having to follow all these rules is pretty taxing. Anyway, I think I need to get going, I don't know for how long my roommate can keep covering up for me."

"Okay then, goodnight Misaka-san"

"Wait, before I go, could you give me your number? Even though your help wasn't needed I'd still like to repay you for earlier."

"I don't mind the sound of that."

Mikoto then gives her Gekota cellphone to Touma and he gives her his normal cellphone so they can put their contact numbers on each other's phones

"Huh, a Gekota phone? Aren't you a bit too old for that ?"

That comment makes Misaka blush a bit

"I've had it for years and it's still working, so why change it ?"

"Good point, but I would expect an ojou-sama like you to be buying the latest phone model every year. Looks like you aren't like those kinds of people."

"Hey I just don't like wasting money, there's nothing more to it."

Once they were both done they returned their phones and both started heading back to their dorms for their night as it was already way past curfew and would get in trouble if they were to be caught by anti-skill.