A Scientific Urban Detective.

Chapter 1006 explains that it is a cover-up.
Seeing Lin Wuming adopt a serious attitude towards her, Misaka Misuzu suddenly felt that she had lost a lot of fun in teasing him, clicked her tongue slightly, and showed a bored expression.

But then her eyes darted around, and she pretended to recognize Lin Wuming only now: "You must be Lin Wuming, right? Mikoto often mentions you. But, your leg—excuse me—is there something wrong with it?"

Misaka Misuzu looked down at Lin Wuming, who was standing in front of her, and said, "Because in the photos that Mikoto sent back, Wuming was always standing, I didn't recognize you right away. Sorry!"

That's a plausible reason.

Misaka Mikoto already knew that Lin Wuming's legs were actually fine; his insistence on using a wheelchair was more of a habit and a way to maintain his public image. Therefore, she naturally wanted to leave a good impression on Lin Wuming in front of her family, so the photos she sent back were all of Lin Wuming standing.

It can only be said that first impressions and preconceived notions are extremely important. Lin Wuming has encountered similar situations more than once—when he occasionally stands up and moves around, others seem to not recognize him.

So it's not surprising that Misaka Misuzu didn't recognize him earlier.

Misaka Misuzu then asked, "But how did Mumei recognize her? Did Mikoto also show you her mother's picture?"

“No, there are no photos or anything like that.” Lin Wuming shook his head. “It’s just that your aunt and Mikoto look very alike, and you are obviously older than Mikoto, so…”

"Ugh, it's so rude to talk about a woman's age so easily." Misaka Misuzu narrowed her eyes, deliberately putting on an angry expression. "I can be Mikoto's older sister too!"

Are you still bothered by the way you were addressed as "sister" and "aunt"?
It seems... the mother's personality is worse than the daughter's.

Lin Wuming silently shook his head. In his experience, the best way to deal with this situation was to adopt a serious attitude and give a foolproof reply.

“I can’t be mistaken, because as far as I know, Mikoto doesn’t have any sisters…” As soon as he said that, Lin Wuming’s heart tightened.

In that instant, it wasn't an illusion; Lin Wuming did indeed see a glint of light flash in the woman's eyes.

“Is that so? So you don’t have any sisters…” Misaka Misuzu stared intently at Lin Wuming. “But I just saw a girl who looked a lot like Mikoto… no, I should say exactly the same as her, which is why I got lost.”

"What are your thoughts on this situation, Anonymous?"

"Huh? Oh... I didn't know there was such a thing..." Lin Wuming replied casually. "Perhaps you're overthinking it. What you saw before was actually Mikoto herself, right?"

While speaking here, Lin Wuming said to Misaka 9988 through his clone: ​​"Immediately notify Mikoto that her mother has noticed something is wrong. Tell her to be prepared and not to give anything away later."

Misaka Mikoto had already received the message and was rushing over as quickly as possible. Therefore, Lin Wuming was prepared to cooperate with her and continue to cover up the lie.

Lin Wuming wasn't good at lying, but that didn't matter. He didn't need to lie; he could just change the subject.

“Well, Mikoto has participated in many competitions, so it’s normal for her to choose this kind of alleyway as a shortcut to make things easier,” Lin Wuming said. “Besides… Mikoto is actually very familiar with these kinds of alleyways, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

“That’s true. That girl has always acted very boyish, and sometimes it really makes me worry about her future…” As if forgetting the probing earlier, Misaka Misuzu scrutinized Lin Wuming with a stern look. “Speaking of which, from the very beginning, Wuming-kun has always called that girl ‘Mikoto.’”

“Yes,” Lin Wuming nodded in acknowledgment. “You’re very observant.” “After all, it concerns my daughter, how could I not be serious?” Misaka Misuzu said, then suddenly asked, “So, how far have things progressed between you two?”

“…Huh?” Lin Wuming turned his head to look.

Lin Wuming was actually mentally prepared for this kind of problem, and to some extent, it was even intentionally guided by him.

—How can Misaka Misuzu's attention be easily diverted without bringing up a bombshell topic?
However, he was still somewhat surprised that Misaka Misuzu asked the question so quickly and directly.

"Mother! What are you saying?!" Fortunately, Misaka Mikoto finally arrived at that moment.

Hearing her mother and the nameless senior talking from afar, Misaka Mikoto's blood boiled instantly, and she didn't care about anything else. She rushed over with genuine emotion, as if it were not fake.

"No... in front of this nameless senior, don't talk about strange things!" He grabbed his mother's arm and dragged her aside.

Misaka Misuzu smiled as she looked at her daughter and asked, "Why is it a school uniform?"

"Huh?" Misaka Mikoto looked confused.

"Uh, isn't today the sports meet?" Misaka Misuzu explained softly, "Shouldn't you be wearing your sports uniform? So why are you still in your school uniform? Just now, Wuming said you have a lot of events to participate in."

Misaka Mikoto's face immediately stiffened, and her heart tightened—could it be that the younger sisters that her mother saw earlier were wearing sportswear?
—There's nothing wrong with your clothes.

Suddenly, Lin Wuming's voice came to my ears.

This relieved Misaka Mikoto and made her resist the urge to look back.

“Outside of competitions, we still have to wear the uniform; it’s a school rule, after all,” Misaka Mikoto explained. “Besides, I’m the school’s ace, so I have to set a good example!”

“I see,” Misaka Misuzu nodded, then asked, “What’s this in your hand…”

“This…” Misaka Mikoto raised her hand, holding a military-grade night vision device she had just borrowed from Misaka 9988. “It’s an auxiliary device specifically for Electromasters, used to observe electromagnetic waves—a research institute asked me to help improve this device, which is why I brought it along for testing. By the way, I was just testing it in this area…”

—Finally, the explanation is over!

Misaka Mikoto breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately retorted, "Mother, what are you doing here? Weren't we supposed to meet at Family Side?"

"It's because I saw you, Mikoto. But I didn't expect you to completely ignore Mom and just run away..."

"I really didn't notice it at the time," Misaka Mikoto said with a dry laugh. "Besides, you see, I had to both adjust the equipment and participate in the competition, so I was really busy."

(End of this chapter)