Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 002

"July 17, Part 1" (七月十七日①) is the second chapter of the Toaru Kagaku no Railgun manga series, published on March 20, 2007. This is the first of two chapters that took place on July 17 in the Toaru Majutsu no Index timeline.

Misaka Mikoto gets a chance to become a member of Academy City's well-known student-based crime fighting group Judgment, and she finds herself involved in a case of a missing bag. Although looking like a simple case for her, she approaches the incident with caution, especially after certain incidents involving explosives placed in everyday items like bags have been occurring recently.

Synopsis
Inside Joseph's Coffee and Restaurant, a disgruntled Misaka Mikoto vents out her frustration over her friend Shirai Kuroko's constant nagging about her personality and even her choice of underwear. Meanwhile, her companion, Uiharu Kazari, tries to calm her down, seeing that Mikoto has already stirred quite a commotion inside the restaurant.

Soon, Kazari mentions that there has been news of incidents involving explosions which occur in Academy City recently, which are called "graviton incidents", after the substance involved in those incidents. According to her, the culprit chooses to target everyday items such as stuffed animals and child's bags lately, and she even mentions that members of Judgment have been injured in the blasts. Kazari's attention is soon shifted to the towering fruit parfait that she ordered a while ago, but before she could enjoy herself with the tall glass of fruits, Shirai Kuroko appears to reel her in, telling her that they have little time to slack off.

Mikoto could only watch as Kuroko pulls away Kazari from her sweet snack. Then, a girl wearing the armband of Judgment calls Mikoto and tells her to come with her. Mikoto is initially confused, since she never knew the girl in the first place, and she was unable to pull herself out of this situation.

Minutes later, as the stubborn Judgment girl pulls Mikoto into their assignment, Mikoto tries to tell the girl that she is not a member of Judgment. However, her explanations are ignored, and the girl continues to assume that she is a new recruit of Judgment.

The Judgment girl soon explains their assignment. According to her, they are supposed to look for a small children's bag with a floral design. At that moment, Mikoto remembers Uiharu's story about the "graviton incidents" and how children's bags have been involved in these cases recently. Realizing that it might involve the safety of human lives, Mikoto decides to play along for the meantime.

It turns out that Mikoto would end up regretting that she would let herself be bossed around by the Judgment girl, who took her to cramped spaces, asked her to carry her by the shoulders, and let her bake under the summer sun.

Soon, they head to a playground filled with children, and Mikoto, despite lacking some rest after what happened to her during the day, is forced to set aside rest for later. Mikoto thinks that evacuating the children would be a safe option, but the Judgment girl thinks that it's no such place do to such a procedure. Mikoto then finds her patience tested by the children, who started to flock around her and ask questions... especially those which are related to her shorts. A flustered Mikoto tries to explain to the children her reason for wearing shorts, while the Judgment girl finally gets a lead on where the bag is. And it is in the jaws of a dog.

The Judgment girl quickly trips as she tries to give chase to the dog, and Mikoto decides to pursue the dog instead. She knew that simply running towards the dog would be useless, so she decides to use her electricity to startle the dog. Then, Mikoto leaps onto the dog and latches on to it. However, the bag is no longer on its mouth, and is instead flying towards the nearby fountain. Mikoto decides to sprint once again, boosted with her lightning, and lands on the shallow fountain, with the bag now on her hands.

Kuroko, who just arrived, soon asks what is going on with Mikoto drenched in water and wearing a Judgment armband, while Kazari and the owner of the missing bag follow closely. The Judgment girl, despite Mikoto's warnings that it might be a bomb, hands over the bag to the girl who actually received the bag as a present from her parents, and in spite of the confusion that happened, the Judgment girl commends Mikoto's effort in retrieving the bag. Mikoto soon finds herself showered with compliments and thanks, much to her embarrassment.

Then, Kuroko decides to tease Mikoto about wanting to join Judgment, to which Mikoto strongly rejects.

That afternoon, Mikoto decides to visit a convenience store to read some manga. Meanwhile, a certain unfortunate boy ends up with no money after his cash card was swallowed whole by the ATM. Soon, their eyes meet, and the "rivals" recognize each other.

Adapted To
This chapter was adapted into the second episode of the Toaru Kagaku no Railgun anime series, with some changes to particular details.
 * In the anime series, Uiharu is not susceptible to flu, and thus, is not seen wearing a flu mask during the episode.
 * The anime series changes the character who would pull Mikoto into Judgment duties for a day. The role was originally given to an unnamed girl from an unknown school, while Konori Mii takes the role in the anime series.
 * Kuroko discovered Mikoto's misadventures as a Judgment-for-a-day at noon in the manga, while this revelation occurred in the anime series at late afternoon.

Characters
By order of appearance
 * Misaka Mikoto
 * Uiharu Kazari
 * Shirai Kuroko

New Characters

 * Unnamed Judgment member
 * Naoya
 * Hazamaya Kana
 * Kamijou Touma (official introduction, unnamed)

Abilities

 * Electromaster (Railgun-variant) - Misaka Mikoto, Level 5

Locations

 * Academy City

New Locations

 * Joseph's Coffee and Restaurant

Cultural References

 * refers to a frozen dessert made from a base of sugar syrup, egg, and cream. Parfait means "perfect" in French.

Unanswered Questions

 * Who is the certain unfortunate boy?

Quotes

 * Misaka Mikoto: Is she my mama?! - to Uiharu complaining Kuroko