Sneaking His Way into the Multiverse (RWBY Jaune, WC-lite mechanics)

[roxss]

I love it so much!!!

 

[Vahzal Haal Rah]

Jaune Is not only learning other power systems but cultures, technologies and values.

By the time he returns to remnant his perspective would be completely different from the norm

 

[Tohu]

Jaune and Touma: unlucky heroic protagonists with density of a black hole.

Lisa and Misaka: tsundere smart assess, tired from protagonist's suicidal heroic tendeces.

 

[kalifianto]

yeah though Misaka is ALSO a suicidal, self-sacrificing action heroine, while Tattletale...

she's gonna meet Misaki and be slightly disappointed in herself on how a mind controller/Master is much more... *her*. Plans within plans. Just by *trusting* people to do what they want to and manipulating certain key variables to start the domino off.

Still, could be worse. The Science side is ironically less weird and off-putting than most of the Magic side, haha.

 

[Janusspell777]

Only Shirou Emiya is missing to have the 3 greatest Harem protagonists in history (the amount of fanfic that has the 3 of them is not normal)

and if Rin, Lisa and Misaka get together the universe would not support the tsundere energy

 

[Party2tehArth]

Finally. Quality's back on the menu. Aaaand it's finished. I need more!

Also yes. Love the mirrors of the two dense dorks. Speaking of Shirou, that could be an… interesting stop. Type-moon. Whether Fuyuki, the Clock Tower, Kara no Kyokai, or hell, Chaldea? Actually that last one might be a bit much. One multiversal/transtemporal apocalypse too far. The others though would make fun stops for J/T

Eagerly awaiting the next chapt!

 

[correcthorse666]

"Well?" asked the peeved and trigger-happy magical girl claiming to be an esper, arms crossed. "Are you going to take back your words?"

Yes, please have mercy, he intended to say, but—prompted by a nagging thought that wouldn't go away—what came out was, "Isn't this just proving my point!? What kind of person would throw a tantrum over being called childish, except someone who's childish?"

"Ohmigod, Jaune, shut up!" cried Tattletale as more electricity ripped through the room.

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Congratulations Tattletale, now you know how your friends feel about your antics.

 

[LazyAutumnMoon]

This is truly amazing and peak. Even if I have no idea whats going on

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Haha, yeah, the problem with jumping through some of these franchises is that there's so much backstory we can't see.

Thank you for another chapter. I was looking forward to your story, and it really didn't disappoint.

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I'm happy that you liked it. I'll keep doing my best.

Great to have you back! How was the vacation?

Also those phone are ridiculous!

Interesting distinction between semblances and esper powers.

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Thank you!
I loved it. Saw new sights, met interesting people, put the troubles of the world aside for a while, even had a soul-searching moment or two.
The sun rising over Mt. Fuji is truly beautiful.

So how many other tech gadgets will they take with them?

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The first hurdle is finding them. The good stuff isn't just lying around on store shelves.

This story is sublime

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I'm glad for the compliment. And that is a fine word which I must remember to use sometimes.

And yet there's still English sounding names, German sounding names, Greek sounding names, Chinese sounding names, etc.

I wonder what is current population of Remnant? We saw enough places in the show to know that it's not literally just four walled megacities but I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if they contain 80 % of total population. Still how many people could they possibly contain?

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I always put it down to a cataclysm event.

Spoiler: Expanded Explanation

On Remnant, civilization could well go in a cycle of rising and falling due to the back and forth of its two immortals. So once upon a time, other languages existed and people had a lot more land. Then, Salem wiped out most of the world, forcing the survivors to gather up in a few safe havens. Distinct cultures fell by the wayside as people in close proximity meshed and regressed. Some individual words of the different languages are retained in the lexicon, it's all considered a part of one whole now. Then let's say the cycle takes place for a few more iterations, and dozens of different tongues condenses down to one.

As for population, I guess it's a question of how many people is needed for modern office work like accounting and telemarketers to have developed, with all of them able to make a living in a market comprising of just four or five cities. Would each city have NYC numbers? Tokyo numbers? I'm leaning more towards the latter.

How many near-misses with Touma's Right Hand can there be in a single chapter!? Find out next time on Sneaking His Way into the Multiverse!

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Good spotting! I had hoped someone familiar with the setting would note those innocuous little moments.

I love it so much!!!

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Haha I'm happy you liked the story

Jaune Is not only learning other power systems but cultures, technologies and values.

By the time he returns to remnant his perspective would be completely different from the norm

Click to shrink...

You've hit the nail on the head. That is exactly the story I hope to write.

Jaune and Touma: unlucky heroic protagonists with density of a black hole.

Lisa and Misaka: tsundere smart assess, tired from protagonist's suicidal heroic tendeces.

Click to shrink...

At least the very least, Jaune can notice romance when it happens to other people. He's not too hopeless.

Only Shirou Emiya is missing to have the 3 greatest Harem protagonists in history (the amount of fanfic that has the 3 of them is not normal)

and if Rin, Lisa and Misaka get together the universe would not support the tsundere energy

Click to shrink...

Fanfic Jaune and even fanfic Shirou cannot hope to compete with the undisputed king Kamijou Touma. 10,000+ romantic interests in canon alone

Finally. Quality's back on the menu. Aaaand it's finished. I need more!

Also yes. Love the mirrors of the two dense dorks. Speaking of Shirou, that could be an… interesting stop. Type-moon. Whether Fuyuki, the Clock Tower, Kara no Kyokai, or hell, Chaldea? Actually that last one might be a bit much. One multiversal/transtemporal apocalypse too far. The others though would make fun stops for J/T

Eagerly awaiting the next chapt!

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Things in Fate are supposed to happen out of sight, aren't they? I kinda want to write a slice of life arc where Jaune and Tattletale enjoyed the most peaceful time in Fate, seeing it as a vacation, never realizing that their neighbor, that ordinary guy Shirou, was fighting for his life just around the corner.

Congratulations Tattletale, now you know how your friends feel about your antics.

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She'd never learn.

 

[Agent Orange]

I kinda want to write a slice of life arc where Jaune and Tattletale enjoyed the most peaceful time in Fate, seeing it as a vacation, never realizing that their neighbor, that ordinary guy Shirou, was fighting for his life just around the corner.

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Lisa: "Boy this town sure has a lot of gas leaks."

Jaune: "What's a 'gas leak'?"

 

[NineYetis]

The sun rising over Mt. Fuji is truly beautiful

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Glad you had a great time.

Things in Fate are supposed to happen out of sight, aren't they? I kinda want to write a slice of life arc where Jaune and Tattletale enjoyed the most peaceful time in Fate, seeing it as a vacation, never realizing that their neighbor, that ordinary guy Shirou, was fighting for his life just around the corner.

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It would be even funnier if they met Taiga then instantly understood she had gang connections and leveraged that into using the gang to turn ideas stolen from other realities into system sellable resources or whatever scam they plan for a longer stay. They get so caught in low effort gang politics/scams and slice of life shenanigans they completely miss the battle royal for an omnipotent wish granting device.

 

[Agent Orange]

It would be even funnier if they met Taiga then instantly understood she had gang connections and leveraged that into using the gang to turn ideas stolen from other realities into system sellable resources or whatever scam they plan for a longer stay. They get so caught in low effort gang politics/scams and slice of life shenanigans they completely miss the battle royal for an omnipotent wish granting device.

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I mean, Taiga is a Yakuza Princess, whether she acknowledges it or acts the part is a different story.
I would love reading about Lisa making assumptions and getting down the wrong rabbit hole because of it.
Lisa: "The whole 'wacky highschool teacher' thing is just a cover. Criminals back home - Empire capes especially - did that all the time."

 

[ExpWarlock]

Thanks for The New Chapter!!!

I mean, Taiga is a Yakuza Princess, whether she acknowledges it or acts the part is a different story.
I would love reading about Lisa making assumptions and getting down the wrong rabbit hole because of it.
Lisa: "The whole 'wacky highschool teacher' thing is just a cover. Criminals back home - Empire capes especially - did that all the time."

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I mean Jaune does attract older women...
Taiga v.s. Himbo
will Jaune get to eat Christmas Cake or will Lisa stop Taiga?!
Keep Cooking King!!

 

[KinKrow]

Friendly reminder that Sundancer is a better waifu than Tattletale.

*dabs*

 

[ArgoDevilian]

Just caught up with the story. Damn, Toaru huh? This is going to be a clusterfuck.

So, September 30th. The Invasion. An event that I swear should last way more than a single day, but is in fact concluded in a single day.
2 whole-ass volumes, and 7 anime episodes, by the way.
A single day.

We've already met Misaka (best girl) and Kamijou, now lets see how Jaune and, more importantly, Tattletale, deal with fucking Accelerator.
Tattletale is gonna learn to shut the fuck up today lmao.
Actually I wonder if Last Order would annoy Tattletale... shit, Index might do it too.

They better take the opportunity to steal repurpose a lot of tech from this world. Like the toilet.
sadly I dont see much in this world being worth a lot of credits. Mainly because the biggest part of this world are the Espers and Magicians, of which neither of them will go for.

 

[Agent Orange]

Would each city have NYC numbers? Tokyo numbers? I'm leaning more towards the latter.

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As someone commented elsewhere it's not just about the minimal number of people needed for a modern society to form. There's a big issue of feeding those numbers. Unlike on Earth either farms and ranches would have to be inside walls or farmers/ranchers would need some heavy escort while they work. Because grimm freely roam the land outside walls.

 

[Meevanhelot]

We've already met Misaka (best girl) and Kamijou, now lets see how Jaune and, more importantly, Tattletale, deal with fucking Accelerator.
Tattletale is gonna learn to shut the fuck up today lmao.

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To be honest given how she was able to figure out how Endbringers work I feel like her power is perfectly built to be able to clock Accelerator's automatic defense's weakness (where it calculates the reversing force a certain space from him and then applies it, so you can actually have his power help you hit him).

 

[ExpWarlock]

To be honest given how she was able to figure out how Endbringers work I feel like her power is perfectly built to be able to clock Accelerator's automatic defense's weakness (where it calculates the reversing force a certain space from him and then applies it, so you can actually have his power help you hit him).

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Yeah, but she'd need a big amount of both data and time to do so

 

[Meevanhelot]

Eh, It's pretty inconsistent in terms of canon 'evidence' for how much time it needs to figure stuff like that out. Based on the high end of some of the bullshit it does in canon you could absolutely have her figure it out from one reflection and it'd be believable, but based on the low end or mistakes it's also made you could argue it couldn't figure it out at all and it'd still be believable.

 

[kalifianto]

Keep in mind that AIM bullshit* (Espers) are different enough to Entity/Passenger bullshit, it'd probably take a while and some observations for her to notice Accelerator's vector manipulation .

* Magic by another name to reach God's seat is different to sufficiently advanced technology... Even when the former masquerades as the latter.

 

[correcthorse666]

Keep in mind that AIM bullshit* (Espers) are different enough to Entity/Passenger bullshit, it'd probably take a while and some observations for her to notice Accelerator's vector manipulation .

* Magic by another name to reach God's seat is different to sufficiently advanced technology... Even when the former masquerades as the latter.

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TBH it's doubtful that would slow her down. Entities' whole purpose is to find, study, and adapt to OCPs, they don't struggle with them the way fanfiction seems to think they do. Especially when dealing with strong thinker powers like Lisa's they're not gonna have any trouble functioning unless they're running into outright perception blockers.

 

[Meevanhelot]

Keep in mind that AIM bullshit* (Espers) are different enough to Entity/Passenger bullshit, it'd probably take a while and some observations for her to notice Accelerator's vector manipulation .

* Magic by another name to reach God's seat is different to sufficiently advanced technology... Even when the former masquerades as the latter.

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Eh, if we were talking about the actual mechanics behind the thing giving him vector manipulation and where he's getting the energy to do it that may be true, but there's a reason all these scientists think it's just technology, because the actual results (applying an exact opposite force in response to a calculated force automatically in order to achieve the reflection) don't break actual physics at all. It should have no more trouble figuring out what he's doing than it would if it was another shard doing it.

That doesn't mean it would figure it out super fast or not, that's still a separate issue where you could apply whatever you want and it'd arguably fit canon depiction of her power, but its origin would have zero bearing on that. We're talking about what he's doing (which is completely within the realms of what shards do all the time) not how he's doing it. Like to be honest if it wasn't quite so heavily restricted, the shard Skidmark has could probably give someone Accelerators power 1 to 1 (at least in terms of what he has at this stage in the story) and it would make perfect sense within how Worm powers work. Even the weakness is straight out of a shard's playbook.

 

[Arashi Zaros]

snip

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I hadn't read the fic and only skim some chapter (the start and recruit part with Lisa seem interesting) due to the fact it WC + Jump fic + original Jaune arc (each one tend to be very bad-a red flag if not for this interesting combination and self-aware of most of bad fics with that), though I'm still not sure about canon Jaune arc in this one here since there are reason why lots of author and reader hate him in the first place, include literally get silver spoon of opportunity (like Pyrrha help show a train him, or the 'timezone' arc that make him stay there for a long time) but still end up have nothing show for it ? (I will see if I find the comment that list most of the problem with him, it was debate about how inconsistent)
(aside from canon author write badly by deliberately keeping him as a self-insert rather than decide if they leave as support or officially promote him to main character), there are many detail base on canon like the fact the author want to use him as exposition for RWBY lore like what is aura and how it work, but do it in a stupid way to the point Jaune who literally a 'big fan of becoming huntsman' but don't even have a basic detail idea about it (while everyone, the media and their mother at least know some basic of that. Hell, what about his 'normal or combat school' like Ruby did with Signal Academy before join Beacon Academy ? That would at least 'make him know basic but not full detail-get some part wrong').

So I'm hoping you did plan properly for Jaune arc here, because after read the two chapter of he talk with Lisa, I find this interesting now (the bait and switch notwithstanding if other comment complain are right). Going to bookmark and read properly now from the start.

Last two question, what worlds were they in so far ? And do you take suggestion for world jump ? (For example PGR since the power scale are crazy, like this video below for progression, I can share video review later. Or 'Library of ruina' since it also have quite high power scale but not city destroying scale, unless it Abnormally. It could give sweet E.G.O power that go well with his Aura, just don't get into the fate of this dude ).

View: https://youtu.be/71hcSDameQM?t=403

Edit: still checking for comments, but I found one guy who sum up reason for hating canon version there (aside from canon author use him as self-insert badly). Going to read the rest after deal with IRL job but I hope you expand more on this 'canon Jaune' to be more likeable-consistent instead of this one here:
+ He's a blank state that learns way too fast and starts with a safety net of a huge pool of Aura but behaves like a moron instead of someone who genuinely tries to actually learn and grow. He has pride for some reason (which some part isn't deserved), and refuses help when offered and then the situation with Cardin happens...

 

[Tohu]

Man, imagine how depressed Jaune and Lisa would be if they ever learn that their dimensions are based on web novel/ series. And not because of all the shit that happens in canon but because of their fanbase.

 

[Lazurman]

Man, imagine how depressed Jaune and Lisa would be if they ever learn that their dimensions are based on web novel/ series. And not because of all the shit that happens in canon but because of their fanbase.

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Indeed. There is no more insufferable a fan than a RWBY fan.
<--a RWBY fan

Jaune's got enough issues without the contents of the septic tank that is r/rwbycritics living rent free in his head.

 

[FluffLord]

Indeed. There is no more insufferable a fan than a RWBY fan.
-a RWBY fan

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All fandoms have a loud insufferable group that makes the rest of the fans look bad.

 

[LazyAutumnMoon]

Jaune beheld the object before him.

It sat alone upon a pedestal, illuminated by a cone of light. A gleaming body of steel buffed to a spotless shine. Digital interfaces flashed and beeped, the suite of sensors enabling a level of care, of intelligence that was absent in its peers. Crane one's ear, and a person would hear the steady vibration of potent energy thrumming beneath the surface.

Even then, he did not get it. Not truly. Academy City tech lived decades beyond his understanding.

Kamijou Touma provided the much needed context. Standing beside Jaune, the other boy kept up a running commentary, a phone hanging on a string around his neck—the same setup Jaune employed—turning the Japanese words into English. His quiet, respectful tone bordered on a religious veneration that bled through despite the filter of a translation app.

"150 watts. That is all it takes. With the amount of electricity to run a lightbulb, this thing can achieve a temperature of 200 degrees Celcius—or roughly 400 degrees Fahrenheit—in a span of five seconds. Use it on something like an egg, and watch the egg flash fry a second later."

Jaune gulped. Those were some powerful specs. He wanted to hear more.

"Self-diagnostic. Self-cleaning. Each individual part is rated for twenty years. There would never be a need for maintenance over its lifetime. The maker set out to pursue ultra-efficiency, and they took it to the very limits."

He shivered at the notion. No repairs, no upkeep. For an otherworld traveler like him, whose circumstances denied access to critical components should things break, those features were paramount.

And what simplicity! With one press of a button, literally the barest input from human hands, the built-in computer would take over the task. A child could handle the tool with an effectiveness equal to that of a master. Jaune salivated at the thought of what results this thing can produce under his control.

"Boil, simmer, steam, bake, fry, grill, braise, roast, braise, stew, broil," Kamijou rattled on in a daze. He took an unconscious step forward, hand forming a covetous grasping gesture. "Every cooking method under the sun, complete in one package. The holy treasure for bachelor households everywhere suffering under the yoke of hungry freeloaders and opportunistic neighbors angling for a free meal." That sounded way too specific to be a hypothetical. Kamijou's knees trembled, partway to crashing to the floor in worship. "Throughout heaven and earth, this is surely the greatest rice cooker in creation. I would trade my right hand for it in a heartbeat."

The store music swelled to a crescendo in the wake of such indubitable truths. Employees applauded, basking in awe at the impromptu sales pitch that could have convinced even them to slap down money. Jaune's heart roared in want, and need, and greed—

Yeah, okay, that's enough of that. Jaune shrugged his shoulders and turned away, ready to move on.

He won't lie, the pot seemed quite nifty. He can see himself buying one for the team dorm were Beacon not existing in a state of war at the moment. Since it was, he had better to focus on the higher priorities, which encompassed a whole long list that Tattletale put together. Strangely enough, a quick mental check returned zero mention of a rice cooker anywhere. Maybe he'll come back when the maker updated the appliance with a Grimm-killing function.

"It also features a setting to keep instant ramen from going soggy."

"Hot damn!" Jaune exclaimed, spinning around in one smooth motion. That changed everything.

The rice cooker found a home in his shopping cart after he removed a few bags of purchases from previous stores to make room, nestling alongside other bits and bobs for the kitchen that he failed to acquire from Dunwall. Modern appliances, mainly. Things that would just be nice to have available in the sparse studio apartment, so as to simplify life in the day-to-day and leave more time for combat training or jumping into different worlds. Academy City was proving a great source for that sort of creature comfort, with products incorporating futuristic innovations to eliminate all the minor inconveniences present in the Remnant iterations that Jaune was familiar with, while remaining similar enough to his era of technology that he can use them without a hitch.

He would have preferred weapons, but mentioning that got him some weird side-eyes from Kamijou and Misaka. Tattletale helped clarify the issue for him there. In a Grimmless world, it's possible that the typical person might never pick up a sword or a gun in their lifetime. The monsters weren't battering at the gates.

That explanation had sounded downright unbelievable. He came to accept it as fact over the course of the last hour. Firearms didn't lay around on store shelves in Japan. The 'deadliest' inventories sold in the Underground Mall were located in the sporting goods shops and stationary stores; baseball bats, pens, knives, and the like. Small appliances and game consoles counted among the most technologically advanced items sold to the public. Part of it could be chalked down to bias since the mall, and the city itself, had been built with students as the target demographic—all 1.8 million of them, comprising 80% of the population. Civilian students, at that. They didn't have a warrior-minded subset pursuing the combat track of academia.

In the end, after wracking his brain for a solution, he gave this universe up as a loss to enjoy the day for what it was. The world was peaceful here. Happy. Quiet. Lazy days without end, free and untroubled. It's a glimpse of what Remnant may look like in the far off future. He could learn to love it.

"Crackle*

Jaune whipped his head to face the direction of the noise, eyes flickering back and forth to scan the room. On Kamijou's part, the very instant he heard the sound of electrical currents, he ducked his head and raised his right hand high. The odd maneuver seemed ingrained on an instinctive level.

When nothing struck him, Kamijou straightened up and groaned. "Are they at it again?"

Craning his neck, Jaune peered over the product shelves, alert for signs of bluish sparks flying. He found them, counting two quick bursts that were dim and under-strength, which assuaged his worries somewhat. That level of power translated to a trivial event, possibly occurring out of shock or irritation and not outright anger, going by the ever-growing compendium he had titled 'The Many Ways Misaka Mikoto Expresses Herself'.

The thing to remember was that every emotion, positive or negative, always came back to electric zaps with the girl. Biri-Biri, Kamijou called it.

He soon caught glimpses of a head of chestnut hair next to a head of blond hair, both moving in an animated fashion. "Looks like they are. Why did we think it was a good idea to let them go off on their own?"

One has a penchant to provoke. The other was easily provoked. Tattletale and Misaka formed a match made in hell for everyone else in the vicinity.

Passing the shopping cart to Kamijou, he said, "Can you look for more useful things to buy? You seem to have a pretty good eye for that. I'll go check on them, make sure they don't start a fire."

Kamijou gave a nod, and with shopping bags in hand Jaune left his new acquaintance behind to hurry through the aisles towards the opposite side of the store. The place suffered from a lack of customers, something he attributed to students being less interested in pricey home appliances when there were so many other interesting establishments in the mall. Bad for the store, good for him, as it made the room simple to navigate. Moreover…

He checked his surroundings. Nobody's in sight.

All of the bags he was holding promptly vanished into his Pocket, and Jaune continued on. He then realized that he probably should have left some out in the open to not arouse suspicion from Kamijou later, and thought about withdrawing a few bags before shoving the issue to the side. Larger concerns were on his mind.

"Crackle!*

Case in point.

"I'll be subtle, she says. That girl won't even notice what I'm doing, she says," Jaune grumbled under his breath.

Ah, well. Any details that Tattletale could glean on the 'esper development program' would be worth it. A cursory browse of the internet suggested Academy City's foremost specialty to revolve around the process of imparting ordinary people with extraordinary abilities. That sure sounded like the good stuff he's searching for. He hadn't much hope it would lead anywhere, since it also sounded like super secret information that people kept locked up tight, and a single day in this universe left him very little time to 'borrow' the mechanism to induce powers. But hey, intrigues and mysteries were Tattletale's forte so maybe she will work a miracle. The girl could be surprising.

And, she's trying her best. That alone deserved respect.

He poked his head around the corner, cautious for an errant blast of lightning, and spotted the pair of Tattletale and Misaka loitering in front of a magazine rack. They've stacked their shopping cart high with purchases to the point that most people would blanch at the cost, though that seemed to be less of a problem for Misaka, a richie rich girl who can trade for an amount of gold that no middle school student should be able to afford. Each held a product catalog from the rack in her hands despite neither paying attention to the pages, deep in conversation as they were with one another. In contrast to Jaune and Kamijou, the two girls needed no phones to translate their words, Misaka conversing in perfect 'English'. The scene was, to his surprise, quite harmonious.

"...princess carry…you're not lying?…"

They were nearly within earshot, and he craned his ear to catch their talk. The intention was to gauge how Tattletale was faring with her goal, but he discovered that the topic had nothing to do with espers, the pair having moved on to now discuss…

"Think what you like, but it's the truth," asserted Tattletale with a casual air. She quirked her lips, looking awfully full of herself. "He was so charmed by me, he swept me into his arms the minute we met, and wouldn't let go." She shook her head, shoulders shrugging. "Honestly, guys can be so pushy, amiright?"

…to now discuss matters of romance.

A curious thought niggled at Jaune. Who was she talking about?

"And then? And then?" Misaka leaned closer, her face mere inches inches from Tattletale, who glanced to the side in an unconscious tell.

"We~ell, after that we ended up at his place."

Misaka gave off a burst of static, and hid her face behind the covers of her magazine. Her eyes peeking over the top grew round.

"Just like in mom's novels!" she squealed, bouncing on her heels. A brief bout of hesitation, and she scooted nearer by another step, spellbound. "Y-You didn't go further, r-right?"

"Hmmm." Tattletale tilted her head, one finger tapping on her chin as if debating how much to reveal. The smile she wore grew wider as Misaka almost vibrated in place. Finally, she relented. "Let's just say, his bed was very comfortable, and he gave me good reasons to stay." Tattletale winked.

Misaka gasped, both scandalized and admiring in one, and began pelting question after question at Tattletale, eager to hear more even as the other girl played coy with the details.

Because there were no details. As Tattletale prattled on, Jaune leveled at her a silent, judging stare, having at last put the comments together.

In the most technical sense, she told the truth. Upon meeting, he had indeed picked her up and taken her home…the unsaid context being that she would have died under a tidal wave, otherwise. However, Misaka did not know that, and Tattletale ensured those pesky facts were left out of it, her ego steadily rising as time passed with her audience growing ever more respectful towards someone who appeared so worldly and mature.

He'd bet his sword that they did talk about espers, that Tattletale failed to follow along with Misaka's explanations and so had baited a different subject in order to compensate, ending up here where she concocted whatever she thought sounded good while banking on the other girl being unable to discern the cracks in the story.

"I can't believe you two are moving so fast…"

"Oh, it's no big deal. This is normal, nowadays," Tattletale declared in false humbleness, a subtle (and unearned) brag hidden beneath.

That struck a nerve, and Misaka grumbled, "Says you. Here I am, with nothing I've tried working." She shuffled her feet.

Unfortunately for her, Tattletale caught the action, reading far too much from it and likely from everything else thus far, inserting puzzle pieces to form a picture. She set her magazine aside, then placed both hands on her hips to regard Misaka with a knowing grin. "Come on. Don't lie to yourself. Did you really try?"

Tattletale?

Misaka faltered. She peered at the other girl with suddenly uncertain eyes.

"I mean," Tattletale continued, "You were relieved when your crush couldn't understand what you said in English, so clearly there's a part of you that's trying to hide it from him."

"What? No, why would I—"

The answer came with absolute confidence. "Insecurity, obviously. You think he wouldn't be interested."

Tattletale!

A flinch, and Misaka shrank back. An expression of hurt, lips quivering and eyes downcast, flashed by on her face. Happily, Tattletale saw that and adjusted what she was about to say, toning it down.

"Now, I can see some efforts on display here," she began in a soothing voice, before looking Misaka up and down. "The makeup's different from usual, and you could barely tell the mistakes. Alterations on the uniform, very nice, very subtle. Accessories are new—try not to fiddle with them too often, by the way." She nodded, humming. "All in all, a lot of little things. It's cute."

Did he say happily? He meant awfully. Tattletale has yet to notice the condescension dripping from every single word she spoke. Thinking it welcome, she persisted in her…praises? Criticisms?

"My advice? Go for a bold approach. Way bolder. Be flashy. Be forward. Boy's as dense as a rock. He wouldn't even notice half the stuff you did."

Back in the aisle, Jaune paced back and forth, clutching his hair, ready to bash his head against the shelves.

There's worthwhile advice there, buried somewhere underneath the poisonous spiel that came from Tattletale's mouth. It boiled down to the idea that Misaka should be honest with her feelings, and wholeheartedly pursue the person she is interested in without falsehood. Playing games may have seemed adequate to get the point across, but there always existed the possibility that the target of her affection may miss the hints she laid down—no matter how unbelievably dense the boy has to be to overlook such clear evidence.

Sounds great, doesn't it? How motivating! He can name three guys in Beacon fitting the mold, dummies that they were, who would have benefited from that wisdom.

The message really, really could have done without the sense of superiority overshadowing it—drowning it, even—which twisted whatever good intention Tattletale had into a crippling strike on anyone's confidence. It sure dealt a critical blow on Misaka, all the worse when it came from someone she was starting to look up to. Her arms fell to her sides, the product catalog dangling loosely between her fingers. Her head hung low, hair falling to obscure her features. She was shaking.

Ummm, did Tattletale make her cry?

Too far, Tattletale! Way too far! He needn't voice it aloud. She had realized it for herself, too, and stared with wide eyes.

"I thought I was helping…" she muttered.

In answer, Misaka raised a foot high, and stamped the ground. Sparks raced across the floor to make Tattletale hop a foot in the air, yelping.

Ohhhh damn, they were in for it now. Jaune braced to run out there and snatch his partner to safety. He has yet to develop a good answer for electricity—the force is similar to fire in that they played hell on Aura. It's going to be a toss-up on how he'd fare.

His analysis ran to a dead stop as Misaka lifted her head. Lightning framed her face, but in those eyes existed no anger. It was only determination that they saw.

"You were, and you're right! How could I not see it before?" She stomped the ground again, sending forth a second wave of static. "It wasn't just him at fault. I'm not trying hard enough!"

Huh. Well that's one method to do it, he supposed. Jaune exhaled a breath, and relaxed his stance to lean back on the shelf.

He already experienced for himself that Misaka was a sensitive individual—i.e. she's a bomb that lives on a hair-trigger, and can explode at the lightest stimulus. An approach of attacking her would work if the goal was to stoke a retaliatory action. Tell her she can't, and watch that she does. Not bad, Tattletale.

"Er…exactly my point." Immediately after saying that, Tattletale glanced to the side, avoiding Misaka's gaze. Events might have deviated a little (or a lot) from her actual plan, but she will own it anyhow.

Misaka missed the gesture, too invigorated at the prospect of a remedy to her troubles. She paced in thought, mind awhirl. A conclusion was reached, and she spun around, punching a fist into a palm.

"Okay. This is perfect. I'll just have to take it seriously now, and he won't stand a chance!"

"Good for you," Tattletale praised. "I'm glad I could help. So, uh, good luck with that." She sidled away from the younger girl, but her escape was foiled by two hands clamping on her shoulders.

Misaka, eyes shining, pleaded, "No, don't go yet! I still need help, and you're the most knowledgeable person I know on this matter. Please show me the way, teacher!"

"Fuck! I mean—" Tattletale tried for a smile, it coming out rather akin to a grimace. "Sure thing, girl. I got you." She sounded very unsure of that statement.

And half an hour later, Jaune had to wonder if she wasn't doing more harm than good.

As the quartet weaved in and out of one store to the next, Misaka latched on Tattletale like a limpet. Her 'taking it seriously' seemed to mainly involve pestering for details of past experiences that she can draw advice from out of the other girl, who got her chance to make things right by imparting what she knew—and a whole lot she didn't—onto her pupil.

"Brag brag brag brag," was the gist of the lesson as Tattletale followed the age old wisdom that once you've dug a hole too deep for you to climb back out, the only solution is to keep digging to the other side of the world. Thus, in an increasingly desperate pitch, she regaled Misaka with tales of her purported love life, filling the girl up with lies. Each time Jaune came back from buying stuff, the 'true stories' became wilder and less grounded in reality.

Mundane daily tasks of cooking their meals and physical training grew into encounters replete with hints of intimacy that was, in truth, not at all there. Their trips to the many universes, now they were called dates. He had apparently accompanied her to a private room at something called a love hotel (Misaka nearly fainted on hearing that), to a church ("Like a wedding!?" Misaka had whispered in hushed awe), and pet shopping for a bunny (strangely enough, it was that one that stretched the limits of credulity for Misaka). They're done anything and everything under the sun that Misaka cared to name.

All substanceless boasts straight out of a blog for teenagers to betray a dateless existence. Believable only to someone whose sum total of knowledge on romance came from those same sources. In terms of efficacy…it's debatable.

Misaka Mikoto bought it hook, line, and sinker.

"How mature! So this is the life of foreigners…"

It's really, really not.

"I shattered a man's pelvis once."

Yeah. With a bullet.

-o-​

The figures on the screen exploded in a mess of colors to light up the two boys' corner of the arcade. Jaune paused in his reloading, as did Kamijou, to watch the level's ending animation. They used the brief respite to shake out their hands, limbering up for the next phase.

Around their feet and atop the arcade machine sat a veritable sea of shopping bags. Jaune had stuffed the heaviest things inside his Pocket when nobody was paying attention, but left the lighter purchases out to deter anyone catching on. There were still so many that it gained them odd looks from other patrons of the store. Mostly him, since they saw him walk in while carrying the bulk of it.

The triumphant music of the game soon faded. The screen went dark. Jaune breathed in, then breathed out, just in time for a heavy metal beat to rise in tempo, and the new level loaded in. He raised his plastic gun and aimed down the sights, waiting. To his right, Kamijou mirrored the action. The intro animation of metal blast doors slid apart to reveal the stage.

A long tunnel stretched out before them, lined by…yuck. Jaune wrinkled his nose in distaste.

Bodies in the throes of suffering littered the area, many fused into the walls and floor. The imagery of the different stages have gradually gotten more disturbing as he and Kamijou advanced further into the game. It told the story of a world gone mad as the clock ticks down.

The game itself contained other sights that he found quite unnerving. It was not Grimm he faced today. Not zombies, robots, or aliens. None of the usual stuff he'd see in a videogame. No, as the first enemy popped out of hiding, Jaune shot a digital bullet between the eyes of a man. That's the core of the game, a reenactment of war between fellow people. Kamijou had hardly blinked at the notion.

Stylistic choices aside, the basic premise was one he knew well. Remnant's version of these arcade machines followed an identical beat. An unfolding crisis, with a hero—or a pair of heroes, in this case—mowing down the ranks of evil. Simple to understand.

On a related note, he finally learned what nazis were. They're soldiers/demon worshipers, serving a Kingdom that at some point in the past attempted to summon eldritch beings onto Earth. Users of foul sorceries, they harbored an intense hatred of life which led to all manners of horrible weapons being deployed on the populace, and had culminated in a bid by them to blow up the planet with a massive bomb, necessitating the Allies—the good guys in this arcade game— to send their forces in and oppose them with the power of gun.

Yeah. The world was…big.

He'd have to check with Tattletale on which part was exaggerated and which stayed true to life later, and maybe he'd also ask why these guys were still running around Brockton Bay in the modern day. It seemed like a situation that would just end badly for everybody.

They made their way through the level at a decent pace, though Jaune did much of the heavy lifting. Sure, he had never been considered a crack shot in Beacon's firearm course and ranked among the lower half of the gun range records, but he took heart in the fact that his attendance in the class at least translated to a better performance than a civilian.

Well, that, and Kamijou also seemed a bit distracted. From time to time, he'd glance over at Jaune, regarding him with a sense of wariness. It brought to mind the image of a cat meeting the house's new oversized dog.

"Sooo…"

"Don't believe a thing she says." Jaune's gaze did not waver from the screen; however, a tired sigh escaped him.

They'd have to work on Tattletale's indoor voice. It's already too late for Kamijou, of course. He heard all about her and his many 'feats'.

"Oh," said Kamijou, losing much of his tension. "I should have expected she was exaggerating. No way any of those things happened."

Jaune made a difficult face. Because, again, technicalities. What conclusions Kamijou drew from that, Jaune hesitated to guess, but the "Whoa…" carried the sense of a thousand misunderstandings forming at lightning speed.

The appearance of the stage boss refocused their attention on the screen, preventing Jaune from correcting the erroneous impression. As they battled the giant demon wearing a military outfit, he began to entertain alternatives. When it fell dead to the ground and vanished, he had revised the plan, putting the original on hold in lieu of studying the other boy.

The pair of Kamijou Touma and Misaka Mikoto could not be more different. He went around in a scruffy school uniform, worn-down and worn sloppily, a simple red shirt beneath of no better make. For him, image was largely unimportant and he had deemed his efforts good enough. Her uniform, on the other hand, was a fancy thing of exacting details, crisp and spotless, denoting a neat, tidy lifestyle in a high-class environment. He walked with a slouch, alongside a lazy and carefree gaze; a man of low energy in the day to day. She's a firecracker and a half, flitting from one place to another without pause, excitable to a fault. The girl was clearly into the boy, while the boy lived in a state of total obliviousness. Star-crossed lovers, of a sort, seeing as the possibility of a romance at the end of this tale was measuring between low and nonexistent. It made one despair, truly it did.

The memory resurfaced of Misaka looking so hurt and lost, and a twinge tugged at his heart. He had seen that face a number of times in his life, usually on an Annoying Blonde. It always ruins his mood.

And in this moment it decided his course. Tattletale was doing her work on the other side. Let's help her out.

The level ended, and Jaune seized the opportunity, plonking an elbow on Kamijou's shoulder. Adopting a teasing note, he said, "You know, it's been about me, me, me for a while now. Why don't we talk about you."

"I'm not exactly interesting…" Kamijou laughed a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his head, which ended up giving Jaune the most peculiar sense of déjà vu. Why did that behavior seem so familiar?

Whatever. He shook it off to push forward. "Don't say that, Kamijou. Just our different hometowns alone make anything you say new and exciting to me. Besides, I'm not asking for your life story. Our friends are discussing boys, so what say we discuss girls?" That kindled some interest, even if Kamijou tried to hide it. Sensing weakness, Jaune pressed, "Tell me, who's your type?"

Contrary to his reticence until now, Kamijou answered without hesitation. "A gentle, big-breasted, older sister dorm manager type who can cook and would greet me each morning as I go to class."

…Sorry, Misaka. He tried his best.

Vainly, Jaune parsed the statement, seeking a way to reconcile the imagined girl with the real girl. The square peg did not fit the round hole, was the sad outcome he kept arriving at. Did Misaka cook? Maybe she can start.

"Well, ah, that sounds…nice."

Kamijou nodded, dead serious.

Damn. Now he appreciated how Tattletale felt. This was harder than it looked. He couldn't make fun of her performance anymore, not when he's scraping by with similar difficulties.

The idea that he's no better at this than Tattletale rankled something fierce. Refusing to accept it, Jaune rallied, the steps to his master plan forming at the speed of thought. He leaned closer to Kamijou, grinning. "But hey! What does type matter, when you think about it?" He waved a dismissive hand to convey the relevance of Kamijou's supposed preference in the bigger scheme of things. Which was zero. "You think you know what you want, only to discover you were assuming what you want. How often has that happened in history, huh? Might as well roll a dice." He snapped his fingers, as if striking upon an epiphany (but not really). "In fact, that's exactly it! Romance is best when it's a gamble. It's putting yourself out there, and being accepting. Your future girlfriend could be anyone."

"Why are you talking like that?"

"Don't mind it."

He's simply stressing the words to make them appear more important and meaningful than they were, thus concealing the fact he has no clue what he's saying and no actual persuasive point to make. Manipulative stuff, that's all. No need to mention it.

Kamijou rubbed his chin in thought. "But, I guess you do make sense."

"I do?" He clamped down on the sheer incredulousness in his voice. "Right, yeah, of course I do! SoaskMisakaonadate."

"What?"

"What?" Jaune pointed at the arcade machine. "Look at that, the next round's beginning. Let's go fight some nazis!"

Nailed it.

"No, seriously, what was that at the end there?"

"Fuck!—I mean, I was just throwing out a completely random possibility." He waffled for a halfway reasonable excuse, landing on, "Misaka is the only other person I'm acquainted with in Academy City, and the first thing I see her do is help out two strangers. She's a good person, isn't she?"

Kamijou narrowed his eyes. Jaune sweated under the scrutiny, expression not changing one iota in the hope it would lend his statement credibility.

Then, the corner of Kamijou's mouth twitched upward in a little smile, and Jaune's near-defeated spirit poked its head out of the hole it hid in, watching intently. Could it be?

"That she is," said Kamijou, with the slightest hint of fondness.

Victory!

Well, a tiny one. But still!

Jaune cheered and pumped a fist in the air, uncaring of how it looked to the other boy. High on success, he barked out a laugh, and waggled his eyebrows at Kamijou—insinuating everything with the gesture—to earn himself a roll of the eyes as the other boy shoved him off. Kamijou followed that up with a playful right cross aimed at his side, one that Jaune smacked him on the forearm to bat down before it hit.

"That she is," he mimicked.

"Just…ugh, forget I said that. It doesn't mean anything you're implying!" Kamijou raised his toy gun towards the screen, holding back his grin and pointedly refusing to look in Jaune's direction. "Weren't we supposed to fight nazis? Let's do that."

"Heh. Works for me, dude."

It was far less than he wanted to achieve, but it was an inch taken forward nevertheless. Where it may lead, if it does, was up to Kamijou Touma.

-o-​

A sweet, lively voice rang out across the arcade, as Tattletale sauntered through the entrance in her new outfit of jeans and blouse.

"Boys, we're baaack~. Are you two having fun?"

"Nooo…" Both Jaune and Kamijou whined. The latter sat slumped against the side of the arcade machine while Jaune was half-draped on top of the front panel, crying bitter tears.

Tattletale snickered, yet to get the full picture as to their despondence but finding amusement in it nevertheless. Before she could respond, Misaka poked her head out from behind her.

Looking at their defeated forms, she asked in worry, "What's wrong?"

Her question opened the floodgates, and their complaints spilled forth.

"That difficulty spike was unfair!"

"We lost to the final boss, and now I'll never know how the story ends."

"A whole hour spent so sadistic game developers can stomp on us and laugh. Pigs to the slaughter, that's all we were born to be."

"My high score…"

"Ouch. Tough luck, huh?" Tattletale shrugged, her entire reserves of sympathy exhausted. "Anywho, come help. This is heavy." She lightly swung her arms to indicate the bags she was holding, acquired from her and Misaka's excursion to the floor below this one. Opaque, they prevented any hints of what lay within.

Jaune swept his gaze over the lot, gauging their weight by sight, then cocked an eyebrow at Tattletale. She's carrying a bit more compared to Misaka's burden, yet by his estimation it hasn't even approached the upper limit of her Aura-enhanced capabilities, small as the boost may be after stacking on her meager strength. In other words, she's being lazy. He knew it, she knew it, and she upped the ante by pouting her lips at him. With a groan, he pushed off the machine and walked over, Kamijou dragging himself to his feet to follow.

Proving that her act was a total lie, Tattletale raised the bags a little higher for them to take. She doubled down on the pouting to balance it out.

Most of the pile went to him, with Kamijou taking some from Tattletale then offering the same to Misaka, getting a shy mumbled thanks from her. Jaune used that flurry of activity to vanish a few of the ones in his arms.

Oh.

It bore repeating, that a little-mentioned aspect of putting objects in his Pocket was it allowed him to discern their size and shape.

He snapped his gaze towards Tattletale, then away in the next moment, studiously ignoring her in the vain wish she would not realize.

She did. Of course she did, and she figured out the reason for his behavior in no time. Her mouth flapped open and shut, wordless. One of the remaining bags she was holding slipped from her slackened fingers, hitting the ground with a *pomf*. The two of them stared down at it in silence, until Tattletale finally found her voice.

"Forget what you saw," she ordered, unable to look in his direction.

"Yeah," he agreed, bag-laden hands raised in a calm down gesture. "Yeah, already done." Inside his mind, he focused with all his might on the rice cooker also floating in there. Names of dishes he wanted to eat passed by in a blur to further distance him from any errant thoughts.

Carefully, he reached for the fallen bag, observing her to make sure she was fine with it. He gripped the strap just as someone else did, to lift the bag in tandem. It was Kamijou. They shared a glance.

"It's okay, I got it," Jaune said.

"Allow me," replied Kamijou at the same time.

He shrugged, and did as requested. "Alright, here you go."

"I'll leave it to you."

Both boys released the bag and it fell back to the floor with another *pomf*. They scratched their heads, wondering how the situation ended like this. Twin sighs followed, along with apologies.

Then, each boy thought to try again. In identical motions they bent down, hands outstretched and on track to grab the same spot.

*Bam!*

Their foreheads made contact first, crashing together to send them both to the floor. They rolled back and forth in mirror image, arms cradling their aching craniums.

"I'm surrounded by clowns," Jaune heard Tattletale say above him, and her voice conveyed utter resignation. To forestall another disaster, she picked up the bag herself, meeting zero mishaps.

Perhaps that had been for the best. Jaune did not trust himself to survive a third attempt at lifting a shopping bag with Kamijou nearby. In fact, that hit to his head might have caused him some lasting damage, because as he pushed off the ground, he saw a tiny Misaka running along the passageway outside the arcade.

M-Maybe it was a trick of the light, and not him going crazy. Jaune rubbed his eyes, and took a second look.

The Misaka was the right size now. Whew.

Wait.

He turned to the side to look at Misaka, who stood within the arcade, then turned again to look at Misaka, racing through the mall while carrying an object that bore an uncanny resemblance to a military firearm, chasing after a smaller Misaka.

Boy, he sure hoped the Company store had a restorative for this.

In denial, he asked, "…Misaka, do you have a twin? And a little sister about yay high?" He held up a hand at the height of his waist.

"Hah?" Misaka tilted her head, not understanding. Mentally, Jaune braced for a future fitting with a straightjacket.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Lightbulb!

Misaka hurled herself out of the arcade, skidding to a stop in the middle of the hall. Kamijou scrambled to his feet and joined her an instant later, scanning the crowd. As they found what they were searching for, suspicion transformed to recognition, then to consternation.

"What are they doing here!?" Misaka cried out.

"Is that a gun?"

Oh, hey. He wasn't imagining it. Good to know.

Spinning back towards Jaune and Tattletale, Misaka clapped her hands together and bowed her head. "I'm sorry! Something came up that we're going to have to deal with!"

"We?" asked Kamijou.

"Yes, we," she insisted."You're coming with me!" For emphasis, Misaka grabbed onto his arm.

The easygoing Kamijou relented soon enough with little protest, and that was that. Misaka let go of him, and they made their way back to meet with their counterparts at the arcade entrance. Misaka pulled Tattletale aside, their conversation held in whispers, while Kamijou wandered over to Jaune.

"I guess this is where we go our separate ways," Kamijou began.

"Looks like," Jaune said.

Having learned the custom, he performed a bow to match the other boy. A slight miscalculation almost bonked their heads a second time, avoided by an inch. A grin, and Kamijou extended his arm.

"How about a handshake? At least that will be harmless."

Cheerfully obliging, Jaune clasped his right hand with Kamijou's in a tight grip.

And then he whimpered, because all of a sudden he felt strength leave his body, exhaustion taking hold. The feeling had not grown in a gradual process, but struck him with its full force at once, a sucker punch to which he had no defense.

After letting go of the handshake, Jaune checked himself over for marks of an attack, finding none. It shouldn't be an attack, anyway. He has experienced this sensation in the past, often connected to one event.

To test it, he pinched his cheek, and pulled. It hurts a lot more than it should.

His Aura had drained away. The entirety of it, to zero. He somehow experienced Aura break, without a break. The one action preceding it was…

He slowly turned to the other boy. There existed no signs of malice on that carefree expression, no inkling of what he had done.

"Who are you, Kamijou?"

"Eh, me? I am Kamijou Touma."

Jaune shook his head. "That's…not quite what I meant. Anything special about you?"

That drew forth a bitter laugh, uncharacteristic for someone Jaune had thought to be so mild.

"Just another Level 0 to Academy city, that's all," Kamijou said. The traces of an old resentment, long-faded yet never forgotten, lingered in his voice. "They say that I'm an ordinary high school boy that can be found anywhere." His hand came up to rub the back of his head.

Tattletale had started paying attention from the moment she noticed Jaune's distress, and she now caught a teeny, tiny imperceptible lie in what Kamijou had spoken. She pointed it out, "Really? And what's with that right hand of yours, then?"

Rather than panicking at her accusation, the boy simply showed his bare hand, turning it from side to side. Unremarkable, the thing appeared no different from anybody else's.

"This? Something more troublesome than it's worth."

Misaka scoffed, crossing her arms and pouting. "And what does that make me, if I'm weaker than a worthless thing?"

"Ugh. Are you never going to let that go?"

"I'll win one day—Hey! What's with that face—"

The conversation devolved into bickering, foiling Jaune's chance to pursue the mystery of his broken Aura state. The pair seemed used to it, and the argument bore the hallmarks of an oft-discussed topic, going back and forth, back and forth without tiring, only interrupted when Tattletale pounced on Misaka.

She wrapped her arm around the other girl's shoulders, smiling like a fox while crooning devilish whispers into her ear. "So, you haven't ever beaten him in a fight. Don't tell me that's what makes your heart go all aflutter. Are you one of those meatheaded girls? Do they have to be stronger than you to date you?"

Misaka yelped. Eyes swimming, she stuttered a denial, "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh ho? Not going to be honest after all that work we put in—"

A spark flew from Misaka's forehead, striking dead center the phone hanging off of Kamijou to short out the translation.

"What was that for, Biri-Biri!?" Kamijou moaned piteously, fumbling for the device.

"Oops, clumsy me. Don't worry, you should only need to restart it." She peered up at him, angelic smile asking for forgiveness. "Teehee."

"Teehee, my foot!"

Jaune said out of the corner of his mouth. "Is that her idea of being straightforward?"

"It's a work in progress," Tattletale whispered back.

"She has a ways to go, then."

"Right?...Hang on, why do you know about that?" She paled. "How much did you hear?"

And with his pointed silence that suggested far too much, her wan pallor took on a red heat. Her face dropped into her hands, and a low keening wail ensued.

Misaka and Kamijou paused in their bickering, with Misaka asking, "Is she okay?"

"Don't mind it." Jaune waved to dismiss their concern. "In any case, shouldn't you hurry if you want to catch up with your sisters?"

"They're not exactly—" Kamijou cut himself off. "Nevermind that. You're probably right, we should go." He spun towards the door, halting midway to look back at Jaune. "Am I going to see you around?"

"Eh. Hard to say. Me and her don't plan to stay long in the city, and we're on the move a lot."

"I get it." Kamijou nodded, and threw a salute. "Well, if you come back, don't be a stranger."

And then, the pair of Kamijou Touma and Misaka Mikoto were rushing off into the crowd. Newfound friends parting for the last time. Left behind, Jaune watched them go.

A hand came up to pat his chest, soothing the pangs of an odd feeling which dwelt there.

Gladness. Regret. He was happy to have met them, sad to see them go, wanting another day. This transient lifestyle of his, ever moving onward, carried with it a toll he was beginning to wish he did not have to pay.

He shook it off the best he could, telling himself that it would be worth it in the end. The shining Beacon awaited.

In the distance, a pointy head of black hair rounded the corner, with a spark of electricity flying in the air to let him know Misaka was there, too, and that was the last he saw of them.

Heaving a long breath, Jaune stamped down on his malaise and straightened his back, forcing a smile on his face. Focus on the good time they've had, that's the key to it. He had a blast today, and there's a scroll full of pictures to remind him of those two. He'd remember this in the years to come.

Still, it sure would be nice to find something permanent. Someone who would not say goodbye.

His eyes flicked towards Tattletale. The girl had not gotten over the knowledge that her empty boasting was overheard, groaning and moaning in embarrassment. Seeing this, his smile grew to be just a little more genuine.

Mustering a cheery tone, he skipped over to her, calling out, "Tattletale! What's our plan now? Are we done? Do we put our stuff in the bathroom and keep exploring?"

Tattletale cast a wary gaze on him, searching his face for any intention to bring up subjects that shall never be mentioned in her presence from this day forth, so she decreed, and only relaxing after she found none. Satisfied, she recomposed herself before giving a reply.

"No, we're not done here. From now till midnight gives us about twelve hours, and I've got a few ideas to fill it. Keeping our haul in a public bathroom may lead to them being stolen, though, so I'd suggest checking if there's a storage service to use." She fished out a handful of coins from her new purse to show him. "Misaka traded me some cash, so we can pay for that and get a meal."

"And afterward? The things we bought are pretty great, I'll admit, but they're not all that valuable to the Marketplace. Is it even worth it?"

A smirk bloomed, haughty and lording. "Then, we are going to visit the universities in the area." A raised hand stopped the questions Jaune wanted to ask, and she explained, "Their funding comes from various big name labs and companies, and as a result they're responsible for a sizable section of the R&D ecosystem in Academy City. Funny thing is, their security tends to not be up to snuff compared to their corporate affiliates, what with forgetful professors and dumb students." Her expression turned downright evil. "Nihihi~ there's bound to be interesting things lying in the open for a pair of daring phantom thieves to liberate!"

"Tempting, very tempting." He tapped his chin in thought, considering it. "And you know this how, exactly?"

"From Misaka, again." Tattletale hesitated, making a difficult face. "She's odd. Girl's aware of a lot more of the goings-on around these parts than she let on." She brightened. "Although she's pretty careless, too. It was dead easy to get her to let slip a few juicy tidbits."

"...I feel like we need to have a talk on why it's wrong to take advantage of our friends."

"Maybe. If I'm free. In a million years." Then, she scooted closer. "Buuut?" she said leadingly. Catching the hint, Jaune obliged her. Disagreeable methods aside, she has attained insights that could earn them a payday of Points. That, at least, deserved recognition.

"You're amazing."

Tattletale preened. "I know~"

The plan thus established, they put it in motion. Through the aid of the translation app, they sought directions from random pedestrians until one person alerted them of a 'coin locker' shop situated a few blocks from the closest mall entrance. Armed with the information, they headed aboveground, stepping out into the light of day.

It's his first glimpse of Academy City proper, and walking along the avenue Jaune absorbed the details of his surroundings, unable to help an instinctive comparison, holding it up against Vale. His conclusion? The city was very like a city.

Tall, blocky buildings. Cars zooming down the streets. People traveling to and fro. It's all the same. Transplant this scene into Remnant and the day would have continued without a hitch, or so it appeared.

It's in the subtler details, that he spotted the 30-40 year gap in technology.

High above, construction workers occupied the shell of an unfinished highrise, and sunlight glinted off the bulky mechanized frames they employed to assist in carrying heavier loads. The cars drove in near silence, a cat's purr rather than a tiger's rumbling roars. A teen sped by the pair, her skateboard smoothly rolling over bumps and dips in the road by shifting the heights of each individual wheel, while in the opposite direction a businessman strolled at a brisk pace, his watch projecting a flashlight arrow on the ground in front of him to show which route to take to his office.

Little details. Little inventions. The longer one looked, the further the city would diverge from anything that they have ever seen, forming a world wholly into its own.

The coin lockers, too, operated in a manner he was unfamiliar with, though that seemed more a case of local practices than tech. The setup was simple on the whole, just different. For a start, nobody worked in the store. They walked in, and the instruction board directed them to simply pick a locker and put their items inside, closing the door afterward. After inserting the coins, the touchscreen display on the locker prompted them to make a PIN number. Then a beep, an electronic whirring of the latch slamming into place, and it was done.

Problem. Tattletale tapped the numberpad way too fast for him to discern the PIN, and she just gave him this cheeky grin when he asked what it was. How was he supposed to open the locker, Tattletale? What was the point of this,Tattletale!? Ahhhhh!

Anyway, once they understood the procedure, Jaune and Tattletale picked out a whole row of lockers for their many, many shopping bags, with Jaune emptying the ones from his Pocket to make room for their upcoming acquisitions. While he stowed them away, Tattletale set the PINs—she's using different ones too, to confuse him. In between, she did a search for places to eat near their first target.

A restaurant existed within the university's main building itself, and she was quick to book a table for them. A spot frequented by staff, students, and a host of other employees could provide them critical information on security measures and worthwhile artifacts. If they were lucky, they might even be able to snag access keys to areas that a casual passerby would have difficulty entering.

Things were shaping up, and they exited the store in high spirits.

*Thud*

They both looked to their left. A person, a policeman by the look of the gear, had collapsed on the sidewalk next to his parked van. Blink, blink, they blankly stared at him.

"The heck?" said Tattletale.

Snapping out of it, Jaune hurried towards the officer, kneeling down at his side to check if he was breathing.

"Hey, are you al—" *Thud* "—right?"

He turned in the direction of the sound. Another body had fallen to lie in a heap there.

Then, all around Jaune and Tattletale….

*Thud*

*Thud*

*Thud*

*Thud*

*Thud*...

---

Author's Notes: And we were so, so close to this being just a slice of life romcom arc.

 

[l---erddad---l]

Hmmmmm.

I see they're caught in an event of sorts.

 

[Lopezelpesado]

This continues to be the best multicrossover story ive read in a long while.

Keep cookin my guy!

 

[Mashadarof402]

Looks like someone's doing an acquisition, or an interview, and doesn't want witnesses.

 

[Bigreader]

What's the event?It's been a long time since I read this series