The Legend of Level 0 in Academy City

Looking at this harmonious scene, Inoue Hideka couldn't help but sigh, "What a beautiful morning!"

During breakfast, Inoue Eika explained Kanzaki Kaori and Stiyl's identities to Index. Although Index had no similar memories, she believed that Inoue Eika would not lie to her.

Index simply smiled and said that as long as they didn't hurt Touma Kamijou and Eika Inoue, she would consider them friends.

After breakfast, Inoue Hideka went back to her dormitory. She wondered if Misaka Mikoto would still come to piano lessons after what happened yesterday.

If it were in the dorm, you'd at least need to explain it properly!

But how can I explain it? It's true that she drew the doujinshi, and it's also true that Misaka Mikoto saw the doujinshi on the table.

Inoue Hideka felt like he was in a situation he couldn't clear his name even if he jumped into the Yellow River!

Chapter Forty-Eight: Only My Railgun!

When Inoue Hideka arrived at the dormitory entrance, she indeed heard the sound of a piano. She opened the door and went in, only to see Misaka Mikoto, who had been sitting on a stool playing the piano, suddenly stand up.

Her usual complexion began to slowly turn red, and she stammered, "I...I...I just want to learn that song...um...there's a summer festival at Tokiwadai next month, and...I'll be performing on stage, so..."

Inoue Hideka felt that Misaka Mikoto's words might have taken two minutes to finish, and she stammered as if she were constipated, but Inoue Hideka finally understood.

Next month, there's a summer festival at Tokiwadai, and Misaka Mikoto is required to perform. Misaka Mikoto hasn't decided what to perform yet, so she's putting aside yesterday's embarrassment to learn the song that Inoue Hideka thought was good.

"Phew!" Seeing that Misaka Mikoto did not bring up yesterday's events, Inoue Eika breathed a sigh of relief and naturally did not want to embarrass herself by bringing it up.

"In that case, I'll give you the sheet music today. I remember you can play the violin, right? You can play it on the violin too!" Inoue Hideka said, walking to the table and taking out paper and pen to start writing.

"Huh? How did you know I can play the violin? I don't think I've mentioned that before?" Misaka Mikoto said curiously.

"Huh? Maybe Shirai-san mentioned it?" Inoue Hideka's pen paused suddenly as she wrote, and she hurriedly gave a vague explanation.

Why do I always unconsciously talk about these trivial things!

In fact, Misaka Mikoto did mention this incident. She unconsciously whispered it when she first started learning piano, but both of them had obviously forgotten about it.

"Really?" Misaka Mikoto was suspicious for a moment, but she didn't delve into it and sat down to continue practicing the piano.

The two of them tacitly avoided mentioning yesterday's events, which was for the best, at least avoiding awkwardness.

After finishing writing the score, Inoue Hideka handed it to Misaka Mikoto, saying, "Since you were the one who first performed this piece, how about calling it 'Only My Railgun'?"

"This is the first time it's been released? Could it be that you composed this piece?" Misaka Mikoto took the sheet music and looked at Inoue Hideka in surprise.

"Well, I guess so?" Inoue Hideka felt a little guilty and was too embarrassed to admit it directly, so she gave a vague answer.

"I never expected you to be so talented in this area!" Misaka Mikoto praised Inoue Hideka insincerely. "But, is it really okay to have a name like that?"

At this point, Misaka Mikoto blushed slightly again. "Only My Railgun" translates to "Only My Railgun," and putting aside how embarrassing the meaning of the name is, the fact that Inoue Hidekazu composed a song named after her title is enough to make her feel awkward.

"It's alright, it's settled then!" Inoue Hideka made the final decision. This song was originally called "Only My Railgun," and if he changed the name on his own, he was afraid that if he returned to Earth one day, he would be crushed on the beach by Misaka Mikoto's fans.

"Oh, right, Misaka-senpai, don't forget your promise to sing it after I finish writing the lyrics!"

For some reason, Misaka Mikoto felt that Inoue Hideka's smile was a bit sinister and seemed to have very ill intentions.

"Ah~~ I know~~" Misaka Mikoto said softly, her voice filled with panic and unease.

"Then you should hurry up and learn the piano well, and I'll fill in the lyrics. Come on, I'll teach you!" Inoue Eika said, standing up to sit next to Misaka Mikoto.

"Ah!" Misaka Mikoto, her face flushed, hurriedly stood up and tried to get away from Inoue Eika. However, there was Inoue Eika's training sandbag to her left. In her panic, she bumped into the sandbag and was thrown towards Inoue Eika by the recoil.

Inoue Eika was standing to the right of a person's distance from the wall when she was suddenly slammed into it by Misaka Mikoto, her head hitting the wall directly.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" Inoue Hideka clutched her head, looking at Misaka Mikoto who was clinging to her, and said speechlessly, "What are you doing, Misaka-senpai?"

Misaka Mikoto's face turned bright red with embarrassment, almost steaming. How could she possibly say that she suddenly stood up because she didn't want guys who read erotic comics to get close?

Just as she was about to get up from Inoue Hideka, she was startled by a sudden sound coming from the doorway.

"Click!" Saten Ruiko opened the door and saw Inoue Eika leaning against the wall with Misaka Mikoto lying on top of her. She was stunned.

Ah! Inoue Hideka covered her head in distress. Why now?

Yes!

I didn't tell Saten Ruiko where we'd eat lunch this morning. Following her usual routine before summer vacation, Saten Ruiko always ate lunch and dinner at Inoue Eika's place, with Inoue Eika providing the ingredients and Saten Ruiko doing the work.

What am I going to do now?! It feels like my wife caught me cheating, but it really wasn't my fault! Who would have thought something like this would happen!

Misaka Mikoto was stunned when she saw Saten Ruiko. She never expected that someone other than Inoue Eika would be able to enter without knocking, let alone that it would be her friend Saten Ruiko. What she least expected was that her friend would see her in such an awkward situation!

"Anyway, get up first, Misaka-senpai!" Inoue Eika said helplessly. This kind of thing needs to be explained clearly after calming down.

"Ah!" Misaka Mikoto stood up in a panic, stammering, "Sa-Saten-san, it's not what you saw, I..."

"Isn't it great! I like Misaka-senpai too! It's okay, I don't mind!" Saten Ruiko looked at Misaka Mikoto's flustered and shy appearance. Although she didn't understand what had happened, she still smiled and comforted Misaka Mikoto.

"Huh?" Misaka Mikoto was taken aback by Saten Ruiko's words. What did she mean? What did she mean by not minding?

"Well, well! Anyway, Misaka-senpai, don't be shy!"

"N-I'm not shy at all!" Misaka Mikoto said, turning her head to the side with a blush.

Looking at the two ignoring her, Inoue Eika felt incredibly annoyed. What did Ruiko mean by this? Why didn't she seem jealous at all?

Rubbing his still aching head, Inoue Hideka walked to the bedside and sat down. He wanted to stay away from Misaka Mikoto.

"Is it time to cook, Ruiko?" Inoue Eika sat on the bed looking at Saten Ruiko.

Saten Ruiko was carrying several bags, which looked like they contained ingredients or something similar.

"No, because I wanted to make some delicious dishes, which would take a long time, so I came early," Saten Ruiko said to Inoue Eika as she put the things in the kitchen.

"Huh? Does Saten eat here every day?" Misaka Mikoto asked, looking at Saten Ruiko with such practiced ease.

I wanted to ask this last time when I came with Shirai Kuroko and the others, but I didn't have a chance then, so I left the question until now.

"Hey, stop calling me 'this guy' and 'that guy' all the time! I've never called you 'BiriBiri,' I've been respectfully addressing you as 'senpai'!" Before Saten Ruiko could speak, Inoue Eika interrupted with a displeased look.

"You can call me Inoue, junior, or even Eika, it's all fine, but don't call me by the same names you use for Touma!" After the incident of pretending to be Misaki Shokuhou's boyfriend, Inoue Eika was extremely disgusted with being a substitute for Kamijou Touma.

"Hmm... Hmph!" Seeing that Inoue Eika seemed genuinely angry, Misaka Mikoto ignored the "Bip-Bip" part and said aggrievedly, "Then I'll just call you Inoue, okay?"

Chapter 49: Everyday Life!

Seeing that Misaka Mikoto had given in, Inoue Hideka stopped pursuing the matter.

He got up, sat down at the table, and started drawing a comic. The weekly magazine had contacted him before, wanting to adapt "Naruto" into an anime. He was going to draw a theatrical version and ask the editor to see if the theatrical version could also be adapted into an anime later.

Misaka Mikoto sat on the stool and continued practicing the piano.

Saten Ruiko poked her head out from the kitchen. "Misaka-senpai, are you staying for dinner today? We have some new dishes!"

"Okay!" Misaka Mikoto stopped what she was doing, walked to the kitchen, and asked Saten Ruiko, "Do you need my help, Saten?"

"It's okay, I can do it myself. You go ahead and do your work, Misaka-senpai," Saten Ruiko said with a smile to Misaka Mikoto, washing and peeling the potatoes in her hands as she spoke.

"Okay, then thank you for your hard work, Saten!"

"Misaka-senpai is too kind! Unlike that guy, who only knows how to eat and never helps!" Saten Ruiko said, glancing towards Inoue Eika outside the kitchen.

"Hehe, Saten, you two have such a good relationship!" Misaka Mikoto said enviously.

"How could that be? Misaka-senpai and Eika are very close!" Saten Ruiko's lips curled into a mischievous smile as she continued, "Look! You and Eika are always bickering, but you've never really gotten angry, have you?"

"No way! Me and that guy... we didn't!" Misaka Mikoto turned her head away embarrassedly, her face turning red awkwardly again.

"Hehe! Misaka-senpai is so cute! Her thoughts are written all over her face!" Saten Ruiko laughed even harder when she saw that Misaka Mikoto had indeed blushed.

"S-Saten-kun, what are you saying! I-I'm going to practice piano!" Misaka Mikoto said hurriedly as she left the kitchen, giving Inoue Eika a hateful glare as she passed by.

As Saten Ruiko washed the chili peppers, she muttered to herself, "Misaka-senpai is so cute!"

Inoue Hideka was drawing the first Naruto movie, 'Snow Princess Ninja Scroll'. He had only drawn the beginning when he couldn't remember a detail, so he simply put the manga aside, took out another piece of drawing paper, and started writing the sheet music.

"Misaka-senpai, stop for a moment, I want to try this piece," Inoue Eika said to Misaka Mikoto, who was immersed in the piano.

"okay!"

Inoue Hideka sat down in front of the piano, placed her fingers on the keys, and gently plucked the strings. Slow and melodious music immediately emanated from the piano.

Misaka Mikoto sat in the chair, listening to the slow yet wondrous melody. She was slightly moved, as if she could see a vast open space with only a piano and a person playing it alone. The surroundings were blank, and she played and listened alone. Only a city floated in the sky, highlighting the loneliness and sorrow of the one person and the piano.

The melody slowed down, yet it sounded even more sorrowful.

Why do I feel sad?

As the song ended, Misaka Mikoto touched the corner of her eye. "Huh? Why are you crying?"

"Misaka-senpai, how is it?" Inoue Eika asked, looking up at Misaka Mikoto.

"Yes, it sounds beautiful, but it's also very sad."

“Yes! It’s a very sad song. How about Misaka-senpai gives it a name?” Inoue Hideka understood. He deliberately slowed down the tempo to make it sound so sad.

"Huh? I named myself?" Misaka Mikoto pointed at herself in disbelief.

"Okay! Come on!" Inoue Hideka smiled encouragingly.

"Hmm... Let me think. When I listened to it, I felt very lonely, as if I were in an empty field. Hmm, I could vaguely sense something floating in the air, a city or something..." Misaka Mikoto pondered seriously, stroking her chin.

"Like Castle in the Sky, is it?"

"Castle in the Sky? Ah! Yes! How about calling it Castle in the Sky?" Misaka Mikoto exclaimed with delight, as if she had discovered a new continent.

"Okay, good!" Inoue Hideka smiled with satisfaction. He asked Misaka Mikoto to name the instrument so he could see how well it would sound. Judging from Misaka Mikoto's reaction, it should be pretty good.

"Here, this is the sheet music. To thank Misaka-senpai for naming it, I'm giving the sheet music to you!" Inoue Hideka handed the sheet music to Misaka Mikoto.

"Um... thank you!" Misaka Mikoto didn't refuse; she really wanted it. She put the sheet music away and thanked him softly.

"Eika, could you take this dish out for me? I need to start making the next one." Saten Ruiko's voice came from the kitchen.

Inoue Hideka responded, handed the piano back to Misaka Mikoto, and got up to walk towards the kitchen.

On the counter was a plate covered with a lid. Saten Ruiko was putting oil in front of a wok, and near the window, a stew pot was steaming and emitting a fragrant aroma.

Inoue Hideka walked over to Saten Ruiko, reached out to wipe the sweat from her forehead, and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Ruiko."

Ignoring Saten Ruiko's surprised look, he gently touched her forehead with his lips.

"Ugh... What are you doing? Eika! Misaka-senpai is still outside!" Saten Ruiko blushed and pushed Inoue Eika aside.

With a slight smile, Inoue Hideka said nothing, and carried the dishes out.

Then she went back to the kitchen, took out three cups, and brewed three cups of her treasured black tea.

A glass was placed on an empty spot on the kitchen counter. Saten Ruiko smiled gently when she saw Inoue Eika's action.