"What did you say?!" Anya sprang from her chair and spun around, her big pink eyes wide as she glared at Damian with puffed-up cheeks.
"Don't look down on Anya! Anya's really brave! You didn't see anything, Second Son, so why are you making things up?"
"Oh? Is that so?" Damian lifted his chin, looking even haughtier. "Then tell me, what Ninjutsu did you use to subdue the pirates? Or did you scare the bad guys away with that weird smile of yours?"
"I... I..." Anya was at a loss for words. She really hadn't used any impressive Ninjutsu. She'd relied more on her powers and luck, along with Himawari and Klee covering for her.
Hurt welled up inside her. Tears quickly gathered in her big eyes, and her lips began to turn down. Her "Waku Waku" was on the verge of becoming a full-blown wail.
"Damian!" Mikoto Misaka immediately stood and hurried to Anya's side. She pulled the pink-haired girl, who was about to cry, into her arms and gently patted her back.
At the same time, her sharp brown eyes swept toward Damian. A small but unmistakable spark of electricity crackled at her fingertips. "You talk too much! Is picking on Anya that much fun?"
Damian froze under Mikoto Misaka's glare. When he saw that Anya really was about to cry, the mockery on his face vanished. A faint blush crept up to his ears.
He looked away awkwardly and muttered, "What a pain."
But he said nothing more, turning his head toward the window instead.
In a seat by the window on the other side of the classroom, Kondo Conan took in the whole scene.
He pushed up his glasses helplessly and returned to the mystery novel in his hands, one far beyond an elementary schooler's reading