Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 021

"August 15, Part 1" (八月十五日①) is the 21st chapter of the Toaru Kagaku no Railgun manga series, released on May 27, 2009.

Synopsis
The chapter opens with Misaka Mikoto exiting from a convenience store, after dabbling in her past-time of reading copies of manga without buying them. As she sits down and eats a sandwich, disappointed by the week's manga, she meets Hazamaya Kana and other children from again.

Mikoto is drafted into playing with the children and, due to being provoked by some of their comments, goes all out despite her opponents being elementary school students. Kana brings up that Mikoto is an electricity-using esper like her friend Nao, though Nao is only at the level of creating a spark. Kana asks Mikoto if she and Nao could communicate through radio using their abilities, to which Mikoto replies that it isn't possible due to the interference of the city. However, she does bring up that with people with a similar brainwave pattern should make a network possible (and also brings up the 'Level Upper' as well). A Gekota badge on one of the children suddenly catches her eye and Mikoto asks where she got it. Travelling to the gachapon machine in the shopping street, Mikoto starts repeatedly using the machine in an attempt to get a Gekota badge, even asking the other children to change her notes into coins. After buying every badge in the machine, she starts using the machines in front of the station and eventually wins one there (after filling multiple baskets with badges). After winning the badge, she suffers from shopper's regret, not knowing where she could wear the badge without feeling embarrassed.

The alarm indicating the end of school hours sounds. As she's walking with the children, Mikoto suddenly feels a power similar to her own. The chapter ends with her running to the source of the power, meeting with Misaka 9982 under a tree.

Adapted To

 * Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S Episode 04

Characters
In order of appearance:
 * Misaka Mikoto
 * Hazamaya Kana
 * Misaka 9982

New Characters

 * Nao

New Abilities

 * Electromaster - Nao

Locations

 * Academy City

Referbacks

 * The bag incident from Toaru Kagaku no Railgun Manga Chapter 002 is depicted in one panel.

Cultural References

 * (or gachapon) refers to a type of vending machine in Japan that dispenses capsule toys, as well as to the toys themselves.

Unanswered Questions

 * Why is Misaka 9982 looking up at the tree?