"By the way."
While they were eating, Fang Li suddenly said this.
"I ran into that underclassman of yours on the way here. She seemed a little down."
Fang Li's abrupt remark made Misaka Mikoto freeze with the hamburger still between her teeth.
But that pause lasted only an instant.
The next moment, Misaka Mikoto continued eating her hamburger as though nothing had happened, replying in an offhand manner.
"That's just how Kuroko is. She's always so unpredictable. One second she's being serious, and the next she's pouncing on me like some pervert. It's not like that's never happened before."
...That really was impossible to argue with.
Just what did Shirai Kuroko usually get up to?
Fang Li immediately shook his head with a faint laugh.
"If that's all it is, then that's for the best," Fang Li said as casually as ever. "I thought maybe you, her beloved elder sister, had been neglecting her lately and made that yuri girl feel lonely."
"..."
This time, Misaka Mikoto did not answer. She simply bit into her hamburger in silence.
Perhaps Misaka Mikoto herself was aware of it.
That was precisely why Fang Li had deliberately brought it up.
"No matter what you're busy with, you should keep your relationships with your friends in order," Fang Li said leisurely. "No matter how important the thing you're doing is, your friends surely aren't worth any less than it, are they?"
"...Are you lecturing me?" Misaka Mikoto said with some irritation. "You're just some ignorant delinquent."
"That's prejudice," Fang Li retorted. "Who says delinquents have to be bad students? My grades might not be great, but they're not terrible either, okay?"
"Really?" Misaka Mikoto said, instantly looking extremely doubtful. "If your grades were decent, why would you become a delinquent?"
"Because no matter