Temperature Control in Academy City

"Uh!"

An inexplicable cry came from the depths of Shirai's heart, and she stood there as if petrified. Her purple combat uniform turned pale because of Shirai, and the drink in the goblet in her hand spilled unconsciously.

"I'm sorry, please wait a moment." A hand grabbed Shirai's collar from behind, followed by the sound of the door being slammed shut.

Natsume, Sonoko and the others looked at each other in bewilderment. From time to time, they could hear the sound of hard objects being hit and someone wailing from inside.

"Is Shirai okay?" Saten Ruiko said uncertainly, with a hint of surprise on her face. Everyone was a junior high school student, but Shirai was the only one who was different and liked to wear clothes that made her look mature.

"As expected of the eldest lady of Tokiwadai, you're so mature." Hatsuharu accepted it quickly and thought it was a sign of maturity. Perhaps she was influenced by those girls' novels.

"It shouldn't be a big deal." Natsume Sonoko had almost gotten used to Shirai's crazy behavior, so she replied.

The closed door slowly opened after about three or four minutes. Perhaps feeling that it was impolite to turn away the guests, Misaka-senpai looked apologetic.

"I'm so sorry for being rude." Senior Misaka took a deep breath, suppressed the nameless anger in her heart, and glared at Shirai, who was sitting helplessly on the bed after changing into her school uniform.

"Excuse me." ×3

"There's a huge difference between Misaka-senpai's dormitory and Natsume-san's dormitory." Hatsuharu said with emotion, touching the white and soft quilt on the bed, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It's great that Misaka-senpai and the others don't sleep on the sofa.

Chapter 36: An essential part of visiting a friend's dormitory

Shirai-san was sitting obediently next to Misaka-san, and on the other side was Utsuharu-san, who was like a curious baby.

Even though she had just visited a room that looked like that of a young lady, Hatsuharu was still in high spirits, and her eyes could not stop looking at the furnishings in the room.

Well, it's worthy of being the legendary Tokiwadai dormitory. It seems that Misaka-senpai's room fits Hatsuharu's definition of a big lady's dormitory.

Natsume Sonoko looked up at the ceiling, sitting motionless on the bed opposite, occasionally her eyes wandering to the piece of black cloth in Saten's hand.

"Saten-san, what are you doing?" Hatsuharu said with some concern as she looked at Saten-san who had just pulled out a suitcase from under a bed.

"Since we're at a friend's place, we'll naturally have to do a surprise inspection," Saten-san replied seriously.

"Saten-san, you can't touch other people's things. Didn't you just look through many of Natsume-san's boxes?" Hatsuharu-san wanted to stop Saten-san's behavior and a look of anxiety appeared on her face.

"That's different. Doesn't Uiharu-san want to know about the young ladies' taste in clothes?"

Natsume Sonoko sat there silently, visiting a special exhibition with some curiosity, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief, fortunately she had a lot of boxes.

Although the owners of these clothes were not directly stated, from the transparency and style of the clothes, Natsume Sonoko could tell at a glance that they belonged to someone who had deliberately moved through space.

Finally, Misaka-senpai's lost cartoon fat and two were found in Shirai-san's suitcase. With Misaka-senpai's powerful dough-kneading skills, Shirai-san's face was pulled rhythmically like dough.

"I've thought of it. Let's look at the photo album. I'm very interested in everyone's elementary school life." Utsuharu suggested, obviously very interested in this.

"Oh----, this is an essential part. I want to see the photo albums of Natsume-san, Shirai-san, and Misaka-san."

Saten-san said with sudden realization, clenching one hand into a fist and holding it high in the air with great momentum.

"Hey, is there still this segment?" Natsume Sonoko said a little dazedly. It was obviously quite fulfilling for everyone to just eat snacks and read comics.

"Is this what Misaka-senpai looked like when she was a child?" Natsume Sonoko looked at the little Misaka-senpai in the photo curiously. She looked really young, but so cute.

"Is this the entrance ceremony for elementary school? So Misaka-senpai went to elementary school here."

"It turns out that Misaka was such a ladylike girl when she was little." Looking at the serious little Misaka wearing a princess dress in the photo, Hatsuharu couldn't help but exclaim.

"It's not as exaggerated as you say." Senior Misaka said a little embarrassedly.

After looking at Misaka-senpai's photo album, under everyone's expectant gaze, Natsume Sonoko reluctantly returned to the dormitory and took out the photo album from the desk cabinet.

As soon as I took it out and returned to Senior Misaka's dormitory, I was surrounded by four pairs of curious eyes, staring at the album in Natsume Sonoko's hand.

"So cute." ×4

As soon as Natsume Sonoko turned the first page, the four people around her immediately exclaimed in surprise.

"Are these Natsume's parents? They look so young." Senior Misaka asked curiously, pointing at one of the photos.

Natsume Sonoko in the photo is less than one meter tall. She is standing between two people, laughing, holding one person's hand, and behind her is the huge wall of Academy City.

"This was taken when I first came to Academy City. Six years have passed in the blink of an eye." Twelve-year-old Natsume Sonoko couldn't help but sigh, as if she was lamenting that time passed too quickly and more than six years had passed in a flash.

"It turns out that Natsume-san also had pigtails." Saten looked at Natsume Sonoko in the photo curiously.

"I did wear pigtails at that time." Natsume Sonoko nodded and admitted. However, since braiding pigtails was too troublesome, Natsume Sonoko started to wear a convenient bun after living alone.

The album kept flipping through, and soon there appeared a photo of little Natsume Sonoko and a little boy who was slightly older than her and had golden hair. The background was a vast field and woods, obviously not inside Academy City.

"Is this Natsume's brother?" Shirai asked in surprise.

"He's a distant cousin of mine. I finally got permission to go out last time and stayed at his house for more than a week." Natsume Sonoko recalled.

It is difficult to obtain permission to go out in Academy City. Not only do you have to fill out three application forms, but you also have to inject a tiny transmitter into your body. Natsume Sonoko hates this rule even though she sometimes really wants to go home.

Although there may not be anyone at home after returning home, Natsume Sonoko's parents are very busy people and you may not see them all day long.

"Oh, there's a name on it." Saten discovered a new world and pointed to the conspicuous small words below the photo.

"So Natsume's brother is called Natsume Takashi."

"Indeed, this guy's name always reminds me of something, but it's all coincidence." Natsume Sonoko said with emotion.

Without the cat teacher and the Book of Friends, he is not the real Natsume Takashi.

Finally it was Shirai's turn, but Shirai was a woman who lived in the present and she directly stated that she didn't have any so-called photo album.

"I am different from everyone else. Instead of looking back at the past or dreaming about the future, or making some memories or fantasies that cannot be changed anyway, I would rather stare at the present moment and work hard to create my beautiful future. I have made up my mind, and the goal in my heart will never stop."

Shirai-san put his fingers on his chin, a determined look on his face, like a fighter who lived bravely in the present and made various plans for his ideals every day.

"Oh, I found the photo album. This is it." Student Saten squatted beside the bookshelf and found a strange photo album in it.

"Stop, that one is the only one that won't work." Shirai looked in the direction where Saten's voice came from, and saw that Saten was holding a photo album in her hand. Suddenly, cold sweat started to flow down Shirai's face, and he spoke in a panic.

"My elder sister's secret." Natsume Sonoko looked at the title on the album with great care. There was an enlarged word "secret" on the back.

As expected, the evidence of the secret filming was placed openly near the victim. Shirai is truly a fearless warrior.

"Oh, the way Misaka-senpai sleeps, takes a bath, changes clothes, feeds the cat..." Saten said a little surprised. This is completely an encyclopedia of Misaka-senpai, and judging by the angles, it seems that they are all candid shots.

"Kuroko, you should really face the present moment more than the past or the future. Someone will always have to pay the price for their actions. What on earth are these photos about?"

Misaka-senpai's pressure increased again, and the pressure valve in her body was about to be broken. She pinched and rubbed Shirai-senpai's red face.

"This is a misunderstanding, onee-sama." Shirai showed an aggrieved look on her face and continued righteously, trying to cover up the incident with the photo.

"I am so sincere to Onee-sama. Onee-sama, don't you know what day it is today? I always thought that everyone came here to celebrate this day."

"Today? Celebrate?"

"Oh, by the way, today is the one-week anniversary of my acquaintance with Saten-san and Utsuharu-san, and it's also the one-month anniversary of my acquaintance with Natsume-san." Misaka-senpai held up a finger and said with sudden realization.

Shirai-san, who originally had an expectant look on her face, suddenly lost her balance and fell to the ground with a dull look on her face, as if she had seen another Natsume Sonoko-san.

"Also, today marks the one-month anniversary of Shirai-san and I knowing each other." Natsume Sonoko on the side also spoke up, as if she inexplicably sympathized with someone who had tried too hard to move through space.

"I see. In that case, today marks the one-month anniversary of Kuroko and I knowing each other." Senior Misaka realized it belatedly, and after hearing what Natsume Sonoko said, she finally remembered something.

"Onee-sama, you finally remembered. Kuroko is so happy." Shirai squatted on the ground and wiped away her non-existent tears, her eyes full of joy.

Chapter 20 is about computer accessories ( comments plus more)

In a dormitory 208, Natsume Sonoko stared blankly at Shirai, a classmate who was improvising in front of her.

Watching Shirai's expression change from dull to happy, from happy to aggrieved, and then from aggrieved to depressed, when she lowered her head, her bangs fell, covering Shirai's eyes, and the whole person's style immediately changed, like a helpless little girl with a broken heart.

"Maybe we shouldn't have come today." Saten suddenly said, and looking at Shirai's depressed look, she seemed to feel a little guilty.

Hatsuharu, who was standing by, also felt a little overwhelmed and could only nod silently.

"Hatsuharu-san, Saten-san, please don't think like that. This has nothing to do with you." Natsume Sonoko noticed that something was wrong with the atmosphere around Hatsuharu and the others, and immediately comforted the Osakawa duo who didn't understand the situation.

As for Natsume Sonoko, she didn't feel any fluctuation in her heart and even wanted to open a bag of potato chips.

Forget it, it’s better to just sit still in such a serious situation.

Natsume Sonoko moved her eyes away from the potato chips on the desk, blinked and continued to look at Shirai-classmate. No matter how many times, Natsume Sonoko could always learn something useful from Shirai-classmate.

Shirai-san took out a can of red bean soup from somewhere, opened the can and drank it all in one gulp, just like an adult who is quitting drinking to relieve his sorrow.

"How can I not be jealous? Onee-sama clearly remembers everyone's anniversary, but she forgot the full moon anniversary of me and onee-sama. Kuroko's heart is broken." Shirai-sama seemed to be drunk, with a look of self-abandonment on his face. He sighed deeply and staggered a few steps like a drunk.

"Shirai-san---" Hatsuharu called out worriedly.

"Shirai-san." Natsume Sonoko also murmured, and seemed to be getting into the role.

"Today is the full moon anniversary of the day that onee-sama and I were connected by the red thread of fate."

Shirai-san dropped the can of red bean soup and began to speak excitedly, his eyes buried under his bangs, looking a little depressed.

"On this day a month ago, Kuroko and Onee-sama met by chance, became roommates by chance, and lived here together. For a month, we supported and understood each other, ate together, slept together, went to school together, and shared each other's joys and sorrows."

Shirai-san said this in a low voice, as if she was reminiscing about every moment of living with Onee-sama.

"Right here, in this bedroom, lies everything about Onee-sama and Kuroko's lives!"

Shirai suddenly raised her head, her pupils dilated unconsciously, tears filled her eyes, and her tone became firm and rapid.

"But, onee-sama... you didn't even remember such an important day. It's all your fault, onee-sama." Holding her face with her hands, Shirai couldn't help crying. Her twin ponytails kept shaking, and she looked extremely aggrieved.

Natsume Sonoko stared at the swaying twin ponytails with wide eyes. According to the Stanislavsky system, Shirai-san has undoubtedly entered a state of selflessness.

"Isn't Shirai-san a discipline committee member? I haven't heard that he has signed up for the drama club?" Natsume Sonoko thought to herself, her thoughts starting to wander a little.

"So, it's all my fault."

A helpless expression appeared on Misaka-senpai's face, and she clenched her fists as if trying to suppress her emotions.

"No, Kuroko didn't mean that. I just hope that onee-sama will pay more attention to Kuroko." Shirai showed her big watery eyes, looked up at Misaka-senpai and said.

"Also, you've been getting one thing wrong from the beginning," Senior Misaka said angrily.

"You were the one who insisted on moving in at the beginning, weren't you?"

“It’s not accidental.”

"It's not the red thread of fate, and it has nothing to do with all of this."

"What do you mean by sharing each other's joys and sorrows?"

"It's obviously you who has been making me angry! My stress is about to explode." Senior Misaka took a few steps forward aggressively.

"Onee-sama, I suddenly remembered that there is an urgent matter at the Discipline Committee. There are new clues in the serial bombing case." Shirai's momentum suddenly stagnated. Her originally aggrieved and depressed face revealed a look of panic. She subconsciously took a few steps back towards the door.

"Uchiharu-san can prove it for me. I really have something to do right now."

"Stop, you dare to say such a thing, it's really infuriating."

Misaka-senpai rubbed her hands together and walked slowly towards Shirai-san with firm steps.

"It's just a difference of opinion. Besides, I just want to simply celebrate this anniversary with my sister."

Shirai-san finally managed to escape from Misaka-san's clutches, and she defended herself with some far-fetched arguments.

"There is a kind of pain that hurts just by looking at it. Shirai-san's perseverance is truly terrifying." Natsume Sonoko thought secretly, but Misaka-senpai has also been very restrained. After all, she has not used her ability yet.

Natsume Sonoko didn't know what to say about how she had angered Misaka-senpai four times in one day. In the small dormitory 208, there was actually a hidden talent like Shirai-san.

Wherever there is a sleeping dragon, there will be a phoenix. After looking around and seeing that there was no candidate for the phoenix, Natsume Sonoko reluctantly turned her attention back to Misaka-senpai.

Fortunately, it only happened four times. If it happened one more time, Natsume Sonoko felt that Misaka-senpai might really go berserk. At that time, there would definitely be lightning flying, sparks splashing, thunder raging, and silver snakes dancing.

"Ding dong, ding dong."

The communication device next to the door suddenly made a sound, and a strange male voice came from inside.

"This is a courier. Is this room 208, Ms. Shirai Kuroko's room?" The unfamiliar voice came from the communication device, attracting everyone's attention.

In the student dormitory of the seventh district of Tokiwadai Junior High School, in addition to the dormitory warden with level 6 combat power, the surveillance and security robots around the dormitory are regular security measures in the student dormitory.

Without the status of a student, staff member, or the guidance of an internal student, ordinary people cannot enter the student dormitory of Tokiwadai.

It was because of Natsume Sonoko and Misaka-senpai that Hatsuharu-san and Saten-san were allowed to enter the student dormitory.

The communication device installed in the student dormitory can not only communicate clearly with people outside the door, but also has a very important function, which is to communicate with people who cannot enter the student dormitory.

In the reception room outside the student dormitory, there are several machines installed that can directly connect to the communication devices of each dormitory in the student dormitory. Outsiders can use these machines to communicate with the students inside the student dormitory.