Episode 09 - Majority Report
In the hospital, Mikoto and Kuroko meet with Dr. Harumi Kiyama to discuss the Level Upper cases. Before they can start, however, she complains about the heat and takes her blouse off. Kuroko, appalled, hastily makes her put it back on. Kiyama suggests they go somewhere cooler to talk.
Elsewhere, Uiharu meets up with Saten, who is unusually cheerful about something. She tells Uiharu that she's found something long sought-after, while brandishing her phone's music player. Uiharu is confused, but Saten says she'll explain later.
Having relocated to a restaurant, Kuroko and Mikoto ask Kiyama whether she knows anything about Level Upper. Kiyama says she doesn't, but expresses interest. Kuroko speculates that Level Upper may have some kind of neurological effect which is causing these mysterious comas. Just then, Uiharu and Saten arrive, and are interested to find the others talking about Level Upper. Saten looks excited, and is about to show the others her phone when Mikoto says that Judgement is considering arresting anyone with Level Upper in their possession. Kuroko explains that she's worried about its possible side effects, but refuses to elaborate, saying the investigation is ongoing. She also remarks that Level Upper users seem prone to committing crimes. Saten looks worried and puts her phone away; as she does so, she knocks her drink over, spilling it onto Kiyama's stockings. Once again, Kuroko has to frantically prevent Kiyama from taking her clothes off on the spot.
After they leave the restaurant, Saten heads off on her own, looking miserable. She thinks to herself that she doesn't want to give up what she worked so hard to find, especially if it means her dream might come true. As she wonders what to do, Mikoto follows after her and asks if she's all right. Saten smiles awkwardly, saying that as a Level 0 and a civilian, she can't be of any use in this case. She puts her phone away again, briefly dropping her good luck charm as she does so. She tells Mikoto that her mother gave her the charm before she came to Academy City, but it can't really protect her or bring her success. After all this time, and in spite of everyone's expecations, she's still only Level 0. Mikoto tells her that levels don't make any difference, but Saten doesn't answer.
At Judgement the next day, Uiharu does some searching online, and compiles a list of locations where it's rumored that Level Upper is being traded. Kuroko heads off to investigate them all.
Meanwhile, Saten is walking along a quiet street, debating whether she should just erase the Level Upper file. Passing by a derelict building, she notices several shady-looking individuals demanding more money from someone trying to buy Level Upper. When he can't meet their demands, they start beating him up. Ducking out of sight, Saten takes out her phone to call Anti-Skill, only to find that her battery is dead. She hesitates, then goes and tells the thugs to stop, trying to bluff by saying that Anti-Skill are on their way. Their leader doesn't buy it, grabbing her and shoving her violently against a wall.
At that moment, Kuroko shows up — it seems that this is one of the sites she's investigating. She immediately takes on the thugs, easily incapacitating two of them. The leader isn't intimidated, and charges at Kuroko. To her astonishment, she is unable to dodge his attacks; he ends up kicking her right through a window and into the derelict building.
He pursues Kuroko into the building and evades all her attacks. She realizes he has an ability which lets him bend light around himself, obscuring his position and movements. After they end up on the fifth floor, she gives him an opportunity to surrender, which he refuses. Accordingly, Kuroko runs along the windows and teleports the glass panes into all of the building's support columns, neatly slicing them and causing the building to collapse.
After teleporting the stunned thug back to the street, Kuroko demands that he hand over the Level Upper. She is baffled when he offers her a digital music player, but he says that Level Upper is an audio file.
Anti-Skill arrives and places the thugs under arrest. Saten watches from the sidelines before slipping away, once again looking miserable. She's glad Kuroko is safe, but reflects on how much difference there is between the two of them, even though they're both girls the same age. Espers and Level 0s live in different worlds.
As Saten walks, brooding, she runs into a trio of old friends. As they chat, one of them mentions hearing about Level Upper. After a moment's hesitation, Saten turns to them and says that she has one with her...
Tropes
- Badass Boast: When Kuroko first confronts the thugs, she tells them "I'll be hazardous to your health today". And later, after the head thug refuses to surrender, she calmly tells him to say his prayers because she's about to crush him. (She is correct on both counts.)
- First-Name Basis: Saten's friends address her as Ruiko, the only people so far that we've seen do so (besides her family in the Flash Back). This implies they've been friends since elementary school.
- Innocently Insensitive: Mikoto, realizing that Saten is having self-esteem issues about her lack of ability, tries to cheer her up by saying that levels don't matter. While Mikoto means well, Saten's reaction makes it clear that it's the last thing she wants to hear from one of the most powerful and privileged top-level espers in Academy City.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Kuroko unknowingly manages to make matters worse several times throughout this episode. First, her zero-tolerance attitude towards Level Upper stops Saten from telling the others about the one she found, thus preventing her from getting any helpful advice. Second, her decision not to tell Saten and Uiharu about the comas means that Saten has no warning about what the consequences might be. Finally, her dramatic takedown of the thugs, while it does save Saten from that situation, leaves the poor girl's inferiority complex worse than ever and is what ultimately drives her to her decision.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The would-be Level Upper customer that Saten tries to defend isn't seen at all after Kuroko shows up. It's unclear if he fled or was picked up by Anti-Skill.
- Would Hurt a Child: The leader of the thugs is more than willing to hit Saten (or worse), and flat out threatens to kill Kuroko.
