Episode 02 - The Daihasei Festival
Mii Konori visits Kuroko in the hospital and tells her not to push herself too hard. Kuroko worries that Uiharu might be feeling partly responsible for her injuries, and says she wants to get back to work soon for her sake.
Soon, the Daihasei Festival begins, with the opening ceremony broadcast around the world. Up in front of the cameras, Gunha Sogita and Misaki Shokuhou recite the athlete's pledge... at any rate, Shokuhou gamely tries to, while Gunha veers off-script, starts ad-libbing about "guts", and then finishes with explosions.
As events get underway, Saten tells Uiharu about a hot new rumour: with so many espers clashing together, their powers will interact to create a rare metal found nowhere in nature: Shadow Metal. Kuroko shows up, in a wheelchair, and scolds Saten for chasing silly urban legends. The conversation is cut short as they notice a TV screen nearby showing Mikoto, who is about to take part in the three-legged race with Kongou. As in all Daihasei events, espers are allowed to use their powers — but as a Level 5, Mikoto is forbidden from using electrical attacks. All the same, after an exciting race, the Tokiwadai pair emerge victorious. As they watch on the TV, Saten and Uiharu are happy but Kuroko is still bitter that she couldn't be Mikoto's partner.
As they talk, Saten notices a brown-haired girl in a track suit having trouble with her new phone (a fancy compact model like Kuroko's). Saten helpfully goes over to show the girl how to use it; on seeing her, the girl reacts with shock. When Saten asks what's wrong, the girl says it's nothing and thanks her for the help. Saten looks curiously at her and asks if they've met before, but the girl quickly denies it. As Saten and the others leave, the girl calls someone who addresses her as "my young Aztec lady" and says this will be her first assignment for "MEMBER".
On another street, Misaka 10032 is also watching the event broadcasts. She remarks to her cat that she's not a student and therefore isn't allowed to participate in the festival.
Elsewhere, Mikoto meets up with Uiharu and Saten, who congratulate her on her victory. As they talk, Mikoto's mother Misuzu shows up, and the two girls are surprised at how young she seems. Mikoto wonders if she can go back to the dormitory to change before her next event, as her gym clothes are quite dirty after the three-legged race. She lets slip a remark about her "penalty game" with Touma, which piques the others' curiosity. Misuzu starts trading gossip with Saten and Uiharu, much to Mikoto's embarrassment.
After watching some events, Wannai and Awatsuki are wondering if they lack the "killer instinct" they see among other students. Wannai claims she's never so much as lost her temper. The two join several other Tokiwadai students who are getting ready for the next event; Mikoto hasn't arrived yet, which is causing some worry.
Misaka 10032 passes nearby, trying to convince herself she's not sad about being excluded from the festival. Wannai and Awatsuki see her and mistake her for Mikoto, dragging her off to join them for the next event. Wannai lends the Sister a set of gym clothes, and offers to watch her cat for her.
Meanwhile, Mikoto is hurrying to the scene, having hastily rushed back to the dorm for fresh gym clothes. She approaches her schoolmates, but notices Misaka 10032 is with them and hastily ducks out of sight.
Another group of students is preparing for the same event nearby. One of them, a smug-looking boy named Baba, is talking on the phone to someone else, saying he'll "render her powerless" as requested. The person on the other end, a girl with twintails and wearing a skull-shaped pendant, says she'll see what MEMBER is capable of.
Tropes
- Absurdly Youthful Mother: Saten and Uiharu are shocked to learn that Misuzu is Mikoto's mother rather than her older sister.
- All There in the Manual: The reason Xochitl seems to recognize Saten is because they met a couple of weeks earlier during the events of the Railgun SS: Liberal Arts City side story novel. Xochitl's present appearance is a disguise, hence Saten's failure to recognize her, although she does ask if they've met before.
- Continuity Nod: Again, this episode has several:
- To the Liberal Arts City side story (see All There in the Manual, above).
- Misuzu mentions having run into Touma and Mikoto talking about their penalty game earlier — this happens in Index II episode 8, which is taking place concurrently. Similarly, Uiharu says she saw Mikoto with "a spiky-haired boy" in the scavenger hunt.
- Konori and Kuroko talking about Uiharu's connection to Kuroko's injuries is another reference to the incident with Awaki Musujime in Index II.
- Expressive Hair: When she accosts Saten, Kuroko's hair is waving around like Medusa's snakes.
- Foreshadowing: Wannai and Awatsuki have a light-hearted conversation about how they never get angry. A few episodes from now, they will most definitely get the opportunity.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: The call history on Xochitl's phone displays the name Hakase ("Professor"). Viewers/readers of Index may recognize this as the name used by the leader of the dark side organization MEMBER.
- Handicapped Badass: Kuroko spends most of the episode going about in a wheelchair, which will continue for the next several episodes as well. As we shall see, this will not hinder her a great deal.
- Having a Blast: Gunha's powers allow him to create multicoloured explosions, although nobody is quite sure how. He uses them to punctuate his speech because, well, he's Gunha.
- Idiot Hair: A strand of Misuzu's hair stands up and starts waving about when she's asking about Touma.
- Power Perversion Potential:
- Konori uses her X-ray vision to peek under Kuroko's clothes while discussing her injuries. Judging by her embarrassed reaction, Kuroko sees it as this trope; Konori just smirks in response.
- One of the espers in the three-legged race uses her rodent control to have hamsters crawl into their opponents' clothes and pull off their underwear. To be fair, they were supposedly aiming for the band tying their legs together (which would have inflicted an automatic disqualification).
