Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 103

"Spy" (間者) is the 103rd chapter of the Toaru Kagaku no Railgun manga series was released on March 27th 2018.

Synopsis
Mikoto, Kuroko, and Saten (with Yakumaru close by) manage to find the Girls' Building instead, and notices that it has been unlocked and other people have already entered it. Mikoto notices something with the doors but thinks nothing of it after Kuroko calls her. Meanwhile, the girl with the long sleeves is being chased by mobile weapons but is rescued by the man in the tanuki mask, which he points out to her is a tanuki mask since she mistakes him for a bear. Meanwhile, with Mitori and Dolly, Mitori mentions something off with the jailbreak as it seems the facility is only focusing on one kind of security against them knowing there are multiple types of people who want to break out of jail. Mitori wonders where the guards are like in the previous Juvenile Hall where there guards in Powered Suits. Mitori tells Dolly to be careful but just then, they are approached by a Type: Giant Centipede robot.

Back with the Kouga School ninjas, they too have come across a Type: Giant Centipede robots and have managed to defeat them. Seeing how they could easily take down the building's defenses, Shuri orders her group to split in three: Sakata and Asai, Yasu and Tsurigane, and herself on her own, ordering them to gather information for the benefit of the Kouga. While walking along, she notices Misaka Mikoto and decides to follow her. She pretends to be a little girl whose big sister took her to the trial and manages to convince the group to allow her to tag along, though Mikoto seems to notice something off. Shuri mentions that Mikoto is the famous Level 5 Railgun and wonders if Kuroko and Saten are high-level espers as well. Saten tries to pretend she is though she gives in and sadly states she is also a Level 0.

Now far off, Yakumaru notices Mikoto's group taking in Shuri and is annoyed by her as she would be more of a burden. Moreover, she notices that there is something off about her, in experience as someone who deceives people. Added to this, she also notes that there is also something off with the girl in the long sleeves as no girl naturally says "hawa hawa", and the guy in the tanuki mask is off too. Back with the two however, the boy reveals that the mask is based on a character in Win Win Sentai called Ponkichi-kun, and goes on to detail his character traits. Suddenly they are attacked by mobile weapons and as they are too many of them, he advises the girl to hide behind the corner. She however finds that she is being attacked by a camera with tasers. He rushes toward her to protect her but he is later shocked for his trouble by another camera. He falls, and the girl asks if Mr. Bear is alright, to which he once again corrects her to say that he is a Tanuki.

Major Events

 * Misaka Mikoto, Shirai Kuroko, and Saten Ruiko manages to find the Girls' Building and enter it. Yakumaru continues to follow them.
 * Oumi Shuri and her group enter the building as well, and commands her group to split up and she herself later deceives Mikoto and her group to allow her to tag along.
 * Kouzaku Mitori and Dolly enters the building as well.
 * The girl with the long sleeves somehow enter the Girls' Building on her own and allies herself with the man with the Tanuki mask.

Characters
By order of appearance:
 * Shirai Kuroko
 * Misaka Mikoto
 * Saten Ruiko
 * Yakumaru
 * Raifu (unnamed)
 * Yamashiro Shoubu (unnamed)
 * Dolly
 * Kouzaku Mitori
 * Asai
 * Tsurigane
 * Sakata
 * Oumi Shuri
 * Yasu

Abilities

 * Kouga School Ninjutsu - Oumi Shuri
 * Electromaster (Railgun-variant) - Misaka Mikoto, Level 5 (referenced)

Locations

 * Academy City
 * 2nd Reformatory (Juvenile Hall)

Referbacks

 * This chapter confirms all the identities of Shuri's team, all of whom will die later in Baggage City.
 * The powered suits which are used by the old reformatory seem to be MPS-79s.

Cultural References

 * In the girl's building of the Juvenile Hall, two guys wear backpack which looks like upside-down Proton Pack from Ghostbusters.
 * Ponkichi-kun is an obvious parody of Ponkichi in Pom Poko, Japanese animated film by Studio Ghibli.
 * The, also known as the is a subspecies of Asian racoon dog. It has been significant in Japanese folklore since ancient times.

Unanswered Questions

 * What did Mikoto notice about the building?
 * Did Mikoto notice something was off with Shuri?
 * Why exactly does building not have guards?
 * What exactly is the secret behind the girl with the long sleeves and the man in the tanuki mask?

Quotes

 * Yamashiro Shoubu (in response to being referred to as a bear): "...I am a tanuki."