Temperature Control in Academy City

"Don't say things that can cause misunderstandings anymore!" Senior Misaka said emotionally, narrowing her eyes.

Let's ignore for the moment the Shirai Kuroko-san who was crouching with her head in her hands, and judging from the twitching muscles at the bottom of her eyebrows when Misaka-senpai attacked, it seems that the pressure has increased recently. Although Shirai-san should not be blamed for everything, 70% to 80% of it is deserved.

Natsume Sonoko silently recalled the recent posts about vending machines, and counted them since the day when Shirai-san moved into Misaka-san's room. The number of posts seemed to be increasing at a momentum like a tornado destroying a parking lot.

The scene inexplicably became harmonious. Natsume Sonoko was standing there thinking about what words to use to ease this rather awkward situation when she heard footsteps behind her.

Natsume Sonoko suddenly felt someone patting her back. When she turned around, she saw a little maid with a peaceful smile.

"It's Tsuchimikado-san, long time no see." Natsume Sonoko broke away from the harmonious atmosphere just now and said to Tsuchimikado Maika, who appeared behind her at some point.

"Natsume-san, it's not been long since we last met. We just met in the restaurant yesterday." Natsume-san said in a leisurely tone, raising a finger. As soon as she finished speaking, she slightly pinched her maid skirt with both hands and gave a standard maid salute to everyone.

Chapter 28: Tohno-san wants to borrow comics

Although Tsuchimika is still just an apprentice maid, she is an outstanding student that Ryouran Home Economics School is proud of in every aspect.

She excels in some aspects, especially the dishes she makes herself, which are far better than other apprentice maids.

"Hello, Tsuchimikado-san." Senior Misaka pulled Shirai Kuroko-san, who was squatting on the ground with her head in her hands, and then spoke.

"Good morning, Tsuchimikado-san." Shirai Kuroko rubbed his head and stood up, glancing at Natsume Sonoko-san as he spoke.

Natsume Sonoko felt the resentful gaze of Shirai and looked back at someone with some dissatisfaction.

"Tsuchimikado-san, are you here in the student dormitory today to help repair the circuits?"

Misaka remembered that a few days ago, Tsuchimikado was helping to repair the circuit in the student dormitory with a multimeter, and couldn't help but ask.

"No, my work has come to an end. Now is my private time for a walk. You know, maids are not robots."

Her tone was carefree, as if she was camping in the wild. Tsuchimikado had a dimple at the corner of her mouth, as if to show that she was a unique maid with her own personality.

Tsuchimikado slightly adjusted the cuffs and neckline of her maid skirt, and tied a small bow tie at the neckline that was woven with a unique technique, making her look full of energy.

This is fundamentally different from the awakening achieved by stimulating the capillaries through low temperature. This is a state of motivation that comes from the inside out.

"Tsuchimikado-san finished his work so early?!"

Natsume Sonoko showed a look of genuine shock, as if the teacher had just handed out the holiday homework yesterday and before she had even written her name on it, the good student next door had already finished it.

Originally, Natsume Sonoko was still feeling proud of herself for getting up early, but there are always people better than you, and Natsume Sonoko found that her experience was still too shallow.

"I'm responsible for the bread for breakfast. By the way, today's bread is baguette and banana bread. I'll still have to help when it's breakfast time."

Tsuchimikado thought for a moment and continued, his face full of confidence when he talked about the bread he made.

"But Natsume-san, you got up very early today." After answering Natsume Sonoko's question, Tsuchimikado said in a compliment.

"Why does everyone have to repeat it?" Natsume Sonoko said weakly.

Five minutes later, Natsume Sonoko returned to her dormitory 210 and opened the door with her key.

Tsuchimikado Maika followed Natsume Sonoko slowly, with a hint of expectation in the corners of her eyes, her eyes bright and lively.

"Tsuchimikado-san, do you really, really want to see it?" Natsume Sonoko's face was solemn, as if she was reconfirming Tsuchimikado's decision.

Seeing Tsuchimikado nod firmly, her gaze became serious and complicated, and Natsume Sonoko squatted down and looked under the bed.

Natsume Sonoko bent over and dragged out two large boxes from under the bed with difficulty. She gently patted the non-existent dust, and then slowly opened the code on the box.

Each box is filled with at least hundreds of comic books, covering a wide range of genres including passion, comedy, youth, adventure, and girls.

Natsume Sonoko usually likes to read comics and occasionally buys a few books, but as time goes by, she has unknowingly stored hundreds of them.

Fortunately, Natsume Sonoko always keeps the spines of comic books facing upwards, so she doesn't need to flip through them one by one. She can quickly find her target by running her fingers across the spine.

After a while, Natsume Sonoko handed Tsuchimikado several comic books called "Pillar Slayer".

"This is the comic we were talking about last time. It seems to be very difficult to buy in Academy City now." Natsume Sonoko said solemnly. It took her a lot of time to put together this complete set of comics.

In the science-rich Academy City, all kinds of ghosts and gods are restricted topics. Even though this comic is very popular outside, it is rarely seen in Academy City. If you want to see the complete content, you have to go to the underground comic store to find it.

"Yes, it's this comic. I've been looking for it for a long time but can't find it. I can only find a small part of it on the Internet."

"The big adventure of brother Tanjiro and sister Nezuko sounds very exciting."

Tsuchimika said happily, and her leisurely tone unconsciously became cheerful.

"Tsuchimikado-san, I'm telling you this comic is not suitable for minors. It's very violent, with lots of fighting and killing, and there are ghosts that eat people. It's not scientific at all. You won't be able to sleep if you read it at night."

Natsume Sonoko said with some concern that although she was also a minor, she was a person who had traveled through time after all, and was a mental adult in any way.

Tsuchimikado looked at Natsume Sonoko suspiciously, as if he didn't quite believe what she said.

"It's true, people were hacking with knives inside, and blood was all over the floor." Natsume Sonoko felt that she was being suspected, and hurriedly recalled the above plot to give advice.

"Okay, I've made up my mind. In exchange, how about I help you clean the room today? It's still a long time before breakfast, so I'm sure I can make it in time."

Tsuchimika blinked her eyes, took a few comics in her hands, and her whole body seemed to be burning with the soul of a maid. She pulled Natsume Sonoko and started cleaning the house, exchanging labor for comic books. It was really like Tsuchimikado's style.

"It's really surprising that your room is so clean, Natsume-san. It's worthy of being a young lady's room."

Sitting on the bare bed, Tsuchimikado looked with some amazement at Natsume Sonoko who was cleaning the corners of the sofa with a cleaning cloth.

After cleaning carefully, Tsuchimikado suddenly felt that he could only fill in the gaps. The room was really quite clean, but at someone's strong request, the sofa had to be cleaned by Natsume Sonoko herself.

Suddenly remembering his ambitious plan to teach Natsume Sonoko how to clean when they first met, Tsuchimikado's face turned red.

"Of course. My hygiene is at the super high school level, even the dorm supervisor praises me." Natsume Sonoko, feeling somewhat proud, silently cleaned up the potato chip residue in the corner of the sofa, and then she could not help but speak.

"I perform high-temperature disinfection in the room every few days. Bacteria, mold and the like have no time to hide from me." Natsume Sonoko dusted off her teddy bear and said to herself. Everyone has some degree of mysophobia.

Natsume Sonoko's sofa and teddy bear are also disinfected regularly at high temperatures, but there seems to be a little burnt mark on the teddy bear's butt.

Very good, the little bear was also very clean. I took out a lot of things from the little bear's stomach and checked them carefully. They were also clean and there was no debris.

Tsuchimikado jumped a few times on the bed before finally sitting comfortably on it.

"Natsume, you never sleep in a bed? There's not even any quilt on your bed?" Tsuchimikado asked curiously. If everyone didn't sleep in a bed and didn't use quilts, the workload of housework would be reduced a lot.

"I do use it sometimes, but I don't really like big beds. Although the sofa is not big, I feel safe sleeping on it."

Natsume Sonoko touched the non-existent sweat on her forehead and explained that the sofa was also super soft, and there was no need to fold the quilt and make the bed every day.

"In that case, Sonoko, aren't you afraid of falling while sleeping?" This was another tricky question, but it didn't stump Natsume Sonoko at all.

"I'm not afraid at all. The sofa is concave in the middle when you sleep on it, so how could I fall down?" Natsume Sonoko answered without thinking.

"It's really soft. What material is this sofa made of?" Tsuchimikado stood up and touched Natsume Sonoko's sofa with some curiosity. With a slight force, his entire arm tended to sink.

As soon as he sat down on the sofa, Tsuchimikado-san sank a few inches from it, as if he was buried in it.

"It's very comfortable, right? This is the sofa I spent a long time choosing before I decided to buy it." Natsume Sonoko said somewhat complacently, and then she dived into the sofa.

....Ordinary dividing line....

Natsume Sonoko got up early and was forced to clean the room for half an hour. She left the student dormitory at about the same time as usual.

Natsume Sonoko touched her bulging belly and couldn't help but sigh in her heart, thinking how nice it was to have a maid friend.

I recalled today's schedule again. There are no classes like etiquette class in the morning, so I don't have to worry about eating too much.

Without waiting for the school bus, Natsume Sonoko has decided to ride a bicycle to school. Due to the influence of senior Misaka, wearing safety pants when riding a bicycle has become a common practice.

As a weirdo who wears a skirt and rides a bicycle, Natsume Sonoko always criticizes the inappropriate school uniform system of Tokiwadai Junior High School, saying that students should have the right to freely choose their clothes before and after school.

Feeling powerless and furious, Natsume Sonoko, a marginalized person, could only complain silently in her heart. After all, she was just an ordinary student.

In the entire school garden, it is rare to see girls like Natsume Sonoko who go out by bicycle. Maybe this is because she is unique.

Riding a bicycle through the streets and alleys, Natsume Sonoko was concentrating on observing her surroundings. Having learned from the experience of almost hitting Tsuchimikado-classmate last time, Natsume Sonoko paid more attention to safety when riding.

Chapter 29 I have such a big bicycle

There were many vehicles passing on the road. When passing the traffic lights, Natsume Sonoko stopped her bicycle from a distance and walked across the zebra crossing.

There was still some time before class, so Natsume Sonoko thought about finding an ATM to check her balance and withdraw some cash.

In fact, Natsume Sonoko doesn't have many places to spend money. Three meals a day, clothing and accommodation are all provided by Tokiwadai Middle School. There is also a free school bus service, so Natsume Sonoko doesn't have to worry about food, clothing, housing and transportation at all.

On weekdays, Natsume Sonoko's consumption is mainly concentrated on snacks, games and bulk commodities. For example, the bicycle that Natsume Sonoko is riding now is her biggest consumption in recent times.

"I have to buy a better laptop this time. Tablets are nice to use, but they don't have the same pleasant feeling as typing on a keyboard." Natsume Sonoko thought secretly. As a veteran who has been on the Internet for many years, she deeply understands the truth that if you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools.

There are so many technological products in Academy City, and the price of computers is not high. Compared with the bulky desktop computers, Natsume Sonoko prefers laptops that are easy to carry. After buying a laptop, it will be more convenient to search for learning materials on the Internet.

Even a high-end laptop with excellent performance in all aspects is not priced too high in a specialty store, and the actual cost is not that much.

Ignoring the fact that Natsume Sonoko wanted to buy a laptop to look up study materials, when she passed by a cosmetics store, Natsume Sonoko was surprised to find that through the window, she actually saw Shirai classmate who was carefully selecting cosmetics.

Ms. Shirai threw her head over the lipstick counter, concentrating on choosing the lipstick color she liked. A strange smile appeared on her face, and she was immersed in an inexplicable state of happiness, as if her spirit had been greatly satisfied.

Looking at the various packaging bags piled at the feet of classmate Shirai Kuroko, it seems that she has achieved a lot in this period of time.

We just met in the student dormitory, and we've only been apart for half an hour, but he's already bought so many things. Shirai-san is really efficient.

"Isn't Shirai-san very busy lately? How come she still has time to buy cosmetics? Could she be planning another date?"

Natsume Sonoko thought secretly that when she saw Shirai's unusual behavior, she had a feeling that a storm was about to come. This feeling came out of nowhere, and she couldn't help but worry about Misaka-senpai.

She didn't come when we went shopping or to the supermarket a few days ago, and today she secretly bought cosmetics that are strictly prohibited by the school. There is really something wrong with Shirai-san.

As a planner, Shirai seems to be brewing new plans after his dating plans fail again and again.

Passing by a cosmetics store, Natsume Sonoko rode her bicycle far away in a cloud of dust. Because there were many pedestrians on this road, the dust raised by Natsume Sonoko was actually not much, just a little faster than walking.

Not long after, Natsume Sonoko finally found an ATM machine that could be used. Since ATMs in convenience stores require a small handling fee, Natsume Sonoko always likes to withdraw money from public ATMs.

After stopping her bicycle on the side of the road, Natsume Sonoko had a look of anticipation on her face. She opened the closed door of the ATM machine, inserted her bank card, entered her password, and checked her balance.

There are a lot of zeros, I won’t reveal the exact number here, anyway the Japanese yen is not very valuable.

After carefully checking the balance, she found that it was not much different from what she expected. Natsume Sonoko roughly calculated her expenses and then withdrew some cash from the ATM.

The cash in Academy City is different from the Japanese yen circulating in the outside world. The coins here are made by the Academy City Mint and are equipped with anti-counterfeiting IC chips, so there should be no counterfeit banknotes.

Natsume Sonoko put the money into her small wallet and then stuffed the wallet into her schoolbag. The whole process was smooth and it only took about two minutes to get out of the ATM's closed door.

However, just when Natsume Sonoko was about to ride her bicycle, she was suddenly dumbfounded, her brows slightly frowned, as if she felt something was wrong.

It must be that I opened the door in the wrong way. Natsume Sonoko turned around several times in the same place, and then, unwilling to believe it, reopened the closed door of the ATM machine and came out, but still couldn't find the whereabouts of something.

"Where is my bicycle? Where did such a big bicycle go?" Natsume Sonoko stood there with her schoolbag, one fist clenched tightly, as if she was having a fierce self-struggle in her heart.

"Impossible, there must be something wrong." Natsume Sonoko's mind was a little confused, and she stood there blankly in a daze.

....***Gorgeous dividing line***....

"Natsume-san, Natsume-san, why do you look so distracted today?"

In class, Wannei Kinuho looked at Natsume Sonoko with some concern. Natsume seemed to be a little bit off from the beginning of class until now. He gently touched Natsume Sonoko with his elbow and then said in a low voice.

This is different from the usual Natsume-kun, who usually doesn't slack off.

"Natsume Sonoko, you come and solve this problem." At this moment, the math teacher picked out Natsume Sonoko and pointed to a question on the blackboard and said.

Natsume Sonoko walked up to the podium with an expressionless face. Since she was not tall enough, she could only tiptoe to write the answers on the blackboard. However, there was still a dazed look on her face, which made people feel inexplicably concerned.

"Very good, not only is it the correct answer, but it is also very simple and convenient." The math teacher nodded with satisfaction.

"What's wrong? You seem strange today, Sonoko?"

Just when Natsume Sonoko sat back in her seat, Wannai Kinuho, a classmate beside her, patted her on the shoulder and asked quietly.

"Wannai-san, do you know what it means to have your cake and eat it too?" Natsume Sonoko turned her head blankly and said softly to Wannai Kinuho-san.

"Hmm? I don't understand." Wannei Kinuho obviously couldn't keep up with Natsume Sonoko's train of thought.

"I lost my bicycle this morning, and it was almost time to go to school. I had to choose between looking for the bicycle and going to school." Natsume Sonoko explained, her stiff expression changing in an instant, her eyes revealing an "I'm so angry" look.

"So Natsume-san was running to class?" Wannei Kinubo seemed to understand something, but said something completely irrelevant.

"No, I asked the discipline committee for help. It was Shirai Kuroko who brought me to school. If I ran here, I would definitely be late, and I couldn't get a taxi in such a short time."

Natsume Sonoko said honestly. Although she asked Shirai-san for help again, Natsume Sonoko definitely didn't think of Shirai-san as a tool, as they were all on their way to school.

Although Shirai was a little unhappy when she knew that it was someone else who called the Discipline Committee, she still rushed to the scene with her bags, which made Natsume Sonoko feel inexplicably touched.

"It's amazing that Shirai can actually lead people to run so far. He is worthy of being the only person with spatial abilities in our school." Wannei Kinubo said with some surprise.

"Did Shirai agree to help find the bicycle?" The two of them chatted casually, and Wannei Kinuho finally asked the most crucial question.

"I agree. After school I will go to the 177th branch where Shirai is to retrieve the surveillance footage." Natsume Sonoko thought for a moment and replied. It was logical to retrieve the surveillance footage when something was lost.