So this is my first real Railgun fanfic; I did two or three oneshots a little while back, but this is my first shot at a multi-chapter for this franchise. This story has already been completed, as it was my NaNoWriMo novel for 2017, and as such will be uploaded at a consistent biweekly update schedule every other Tuesday.
The cover image is that one scene in the "Real Force" animation sequence.
Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Kagaku no Railgun. Nor do I, in any way, shape, or form, intend to pretend that I do.
Academy City. A city located somewhere in Japan with a population of over two million, eighty percent of which are students. People from all over the world come to this city that has over a twenty-year gap in technological advances than any other city for one purpose and one purpose only: to learn to become an esper and further hone their skills as an esper.
But this city holds a dark secret deep within; one that is only known by a select few of the population. In the everlasting quest to create stronger and stronger espers, the higher ups in the city aren't above making a handful of sacrifices along the way. A quest that has affected everyone in the city to some extent, whether they were even aware of this or not.
And one person had played a central role in trying to end the suffering in the city. Someone who pushed herself beyond her limits time and time again to set things right. To make a change for the better that the city truly and desperately needed.
This person's name is…
"Misaka-san?"
Startled out of her train of thoughts, Misaka Mikoto looked around her to see the source of the voice that had called her name. It didn't take her too long to do so, and she relaxed when she found her close friend right beside her.
"Sorry, you looked a bit out of it," Saten Ruiko smiled apologetically before going back to digging through her purse in an effort to look for something. Mikoto looked on with curiosity, silently wondering what her friend was doing this time; despite having known each other for several weeks already, Mikoto still had difficulties reading her friend more often than not.
It was a beautiful day today, the sun shining high above in the sky managing to keep everybody warm but not too much so. Mikoto had been unsure as to how to spend this day in the morning when she woke up, but Ruiko had come over and invited her for a walk through the city. Mikoto, who didn't have any plans for the day anyway, had agreed almost immediately after Ruiko had offered the idea to her.
Not too long after leaving Tokiwadai and the pair had found this recently opened café that, upon Ruiko's insistent urging, the two of them decided to try it out. The interior of the café was decorated nicely, giving off a warm autumn-ish feel with it through the brown furniture and decorations; normally resulting in a very dull atmosphere but this café managed to make it work.
While waiting for Ruiko to find whatever it is that she was looking for, Mikoto took a moment to read through the menu's options one more time. She thought that she had her order already decided, but the choices were all so enticing. From the diverse choice of cakes to the different types of drinks, Mikoto had trouble choosing which to get.
"Finally!" Ruiko's shout of triumph brought Mikoto back to reality, urging the third-strongest esper in the city to turn to see what Ruiko was holding. Unfortunately for Mikoto, Ruiko was holding it in such a way that nobody could see what it was, Mikoto included.
"Um, Saten-san? What is that?" Mikoto asked carefully, pointing at Ruiko's hands as the words left her mouth. She tried to come over as aloof and casual, but everybody in the café who was even only paying a little attention to them could easily tell that Mikoto was dying to know.
"Febrie called me the other day to tell me that she and Janie are doing great," Ruiko smiled, managing to hide the pang of sadness in her heart from mentioning the name of her friend. As she opened her hands to reveal what was in it, she added, "Oh, and she sent me this. Isn't this the cutest?"
In Ruiko's open palm lay her phone, but it was obvious to Mikoto that it was what was on the phone's screen that mattered. Leaning forward, Mikoto could see a picture showing a very crude drawing of two short, blonde girls smiling brightly in front a big building.
Seeing this picture was enough to put a smile on Mikoto's face as well.
"I-It sure is…" Mikoto managed to mutter softly, her mind drifting to another place entirely; to the time when they had to take care of the two Chemicaloids and, of course, to the fight unlike any other to protect Academy City only days after first meeting Febrie.
"How long has it been again?" Mikoto wondered out loud as she tried to recall, but she didn't come too far as her mind was drawing a blank here. Mikoto saw Ruiko take her phone in her hands again and look at it while fingers flew across the screen, probably to try and check the date.
"About two weeks," Ruiko mumbled softly, sounding slightly shocked herself, "That's weird… it sure felt a lot longer, wouldn't you agree, Misaka-san?"
Unfortunately, Ruiko would never find out what Mikoto's answer was as it was at that moment that the waitress came by. A girl with pure white hair that she had tied in two sets of braids draping over her shoulders stood there with a smile and wearing a brown top and a pastel-colored skirt. She couldn't be a lot older than either Mikoto or Ruiko from the way she looked.
"Welcome, you good lassies! What would you like me to whip up for you two today?" the waitress said in a high and very energetic tone, but it was what she said that caught both Mikoto and Ruiko off-guard. It took a while for the waitress to realize why she was getting such weird stares from the two, but when the waitress eventually did she apologized profusely, "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I did it again!"
"I-It's okay…" Ruiko chuckled softly, clearly amused at the waitress' way of greeting them. After a brief period of silence, Ruiko tried again, "Uh… may we order now?"
"Ah yes, of course!" the waitress said hurriedly, fumbling around to get her tablet out before turning to the two seated friends, "So, what will it be?"
"A honey lemon cheesecake…" Ruiko trailed off as she scanned the other side of the menu. Her gaze lingered on a specific point on the card and she shrugged, "And a lime soda for me. What about you, Misaka-san?"
"Make it two of both, please," Mikoto said simply as she took the menu from Ruiko's hands and returned it back to its rightful place, ignoring the look that she was getting from her friend entirely.
"So that will be two honey lemon cheesecakes and two lime sodas, right?" the waitress repeated, looking at both Mikoto and Ruiko for confirmation of their order. When both girls nodded, the waitress smiled and bowed, "All right, please wait for a little while and we'll bring your orders to you in a bit."
Mikoto and Ruiko waited until the waitress had left and was taking the orders from a different table before they started talking again.
"She was… interesting…" Ruiko chuckled softly as she looked over Mikoto's shoulder to try and watch the eccentric waitress a bit more. When she left her field of vision, Ruiko sighed dejectedly before turning to her friend again, "So, Misaka-san… a lime soda?"
"I-It's fine, right?" Mikoto asked defensively, missing the amused look on Ruiko's face in her effort to maintain her public image. Quickly, but a lot weaker, Mikoto added, "Besides, I already had six cups of coffee this morning, so I don't think having any more would be a good idea."
"That many?" Ruiko breathed out, partly in shock and partly in amazement, "I mean, I don't have a say in what you order. It's just that I didn't quite see you as the soda drinking type, Misaka-san."
A distinct memory flashed through Mikoto's head, demanding all of her willpower to keep a straight face as she avoided eye contact with Ruiko. As Mikoto pushed the memory of the vending machine incident that happened not too long ago away, the two of them fell into a comfortable silence.
Mikoto was about to open her mouth to try and break the silence when Ruiko had stood up abruptly, startling Mikoto in the process.
"Uiharu! Shirai-san! Over here!" Ruiko waved excitedly to something behind Mikoto. When Mikoto finally turned around to look, she found out that Ruiko was right when Mikoto saw two exhausted Judgment members slowly walking to where they were.
Once they reached the table that Mikoto and Ruiko were sitting at, it didn't take long for the two girls from Judgment to join them. Kuroko plopped down very unladylike by Mikoto's side with a loud groan while Kazari slumped down beside Ruiko, equally as gracious as Kuroko if not more so. The uniforms of both girls were muddied and covered in the dirt and the armband of Kazari, Ruiko noticed when Kazari reached for the menu card, was slightly ripped.
"Rough day today?" Mikoto asked sympathetically to Kuroko while Ruiko was going over the different options on the café's menu with Kazari.
"You don't say, Onee-sama… Uiharu and I are tasked with the clean-up after our battle with STUDY Corporation several weeks ago," Kuroko sighed, propping her head on the top of her arms as she looked into the distance with an empty look in her eyes. With an exasperated intake of air, Kuroko added, "It was straight up torture… we are only now starting to make some progress, but we still have a long way to go."
"Wait, everything?!" Ruiko exclaimed, having heard what Kuroko had said and looking frantically between Kuroko and Kazari for an answer, "Isn't that too much? I mean, it wasn't really your fault that they attacked, right?"
"While that is true, it is our responsibility to make sure our district is in working order," Kazari said in a serious tone before Kuroko could, the teleporter only nodding in confirmation before resting her forehead on her arms. When she saw that Ruiko was about to open her mouth again, Kazari quickly added, "I know what you want to say, Saten-san, and no, we can't. The other branches in this district are all busy with their own problems, so we have to get things back to working order by ourselves."
"Thank you for that extra bit of information but that wasn't what I was going to say," Ruiko chuckled as she motioned towards the menu, "Since I think our waitress is coming our way right now, I wanted to ask if you already know what you're getting ."
The other three girls looked up in time to see that Ruiko was right: the white-haired girl who took Mikoto's and Ruiko's orders earlier was standing by their table with a full tray in her hands.
"Sorry for the wait; two honey lemon cheesecakes and two lemon sodas," the waitress smiled as she gently placed the items in front of Mikoto and Ruiko. Tucking the tray under her arm and taking out her tablet again, she turned to the two newcomers with a bright smile, "And I see that your friends have arrived now, too. Have you already decided on what you wanted to order?"
"I will take what they had, please," Kuroko said, motioning towards the orders of Mikoto and Ruiko before resting her forehead on her arms again. As the waitress took note of what Kuroko had said, Mikoto couldn't help but wonder whether Kuroko really wanted these, just wanted to be the same, or was too lazy to look through the menu herself.
"And I will, uh… um… what should I get?" Kazari wondered out loud as she looked between the menu to her friends to the waitress and back to the menu again. After a few seconds had passed and Kazari still couldn't make up her mind, she turned to the waitress with an embarrassed smile, "Is there anything that you recommend?"
"Hm… let's see…" the waitress trailed off as she folded her arms in thought, seemingly unfazed at the question as if she were used to hearing it, "We have a lot of different types of cakes if you are interested in those. From more traditionally normal cakes like the cheesecake that your friends ordered to more exotic ones like the chocolate and red velvet one. We also have other kinds of sweets, the plate of ginger cookies being my favorite."
As the waitress continued listing the café's specialties one by one, Kazari's eyes drifted towards one specific word on the menu card. Ruiko, who was sitting by Kazari's side, had to cover her mouth with both hands to keep her composure when she, too, saw what Kazari was looking at.
"I'll take a large strawberry parfait, please!" Kazari announced, shamelessly cutting into the waitress' words before turning back to the menu. With a shrug, she added, "Yeah, just a large strawberry parfait for me."
"Thank you for your order, please wait a moment until your orders are ready," the waitress bowed before excusing herself away from the group in a hurry. Both Mikoto and Ruiko noted the slightly disappointed look on her face, but neither could bring it up before she had left.
Kuroko and Kazari slumped down once again almost immediately after the waitress had left them and they didn't need to keep up their front anymore. This left the four of them in a somewhat tense silence that neither Mikoto nor Ruiko knew how to break.
With no way to get a conversation going, Mikoto and Ruiko accepted this air to be the condition in which they would spend their afternoon in and started to take little bites of their cakes. As they all remained silent, the tension between them all only grew over time.
It was only a matter of time until somebody snapped…
"Oh, come on!"
Three pairs of eyes turned to look at the source of the voice that exclaimed those three words, waiting silently and with bated breath to find out what was going.
"This is the first time that we've been able to sit down together for a long time, and you're all acting like this?!" Ruiko exclaimed in an exasperated voice before pointing directly at both Kazari and Kuroko, "Misaka-san and I both know that you two are busy with the Judgment work that you two have to do, but can't we all at least have some fun when you two are finally off duty?"
"Saten-san…"
As Ruiko slowly but surely realized what she was doing, and apologized for speaking so bluntly and out of turn, the other three girls fell into a silence. This one, unlike the previous one that Ruiko had just broken, wasn't a heavy one; instead, it somehow felt warm and accepting.
The silence was eventually broken, but not by someone from their table.
"Sorry to keep you waiting!" a cheerful voice said as a brown-haired girl came to their table with a tray that was covered almost completely by Kazari's parfait. While she looked to be significantly shorter than the other waitress who had been serving them up until that point, she didn't seem much older than the previous waitress. When the brunette saw Kazari's wide eyes, she giggled before placing the enormous glass in front of her, "I think it is safe to assume that the parfait is for you, miss?"
"Yes, thank you very much!" Kazari cheered gleefully as she pulled her treat closer to her. Even though Kazari was still seated, making her a lot shorter than she actually was, the large parfait still managed to completely block her view of Kuroko who was sitting on the other side of the table.
"And since she didn't ask for either of the remaining orders, does that mean that they are for you?" the brown-haired waitress smiled, directing the question to Kuroko. When Kuroko nodded in confirmation, the waitress carefully placed Kuroko's order in front of them before bowing, "I hope you enjoy your orders."
"Um, if you don't mind me asking…" Ruiko trailed off, catching not just the waitress' attention but also of Mikoto and Kuroko, "Where did the other waitress go? I can't see her anymore."
"Oh, she already went home, her shift ended two minutes ago," the reply came with an apologetic smile. When she saw Ruiko visibly deflate, the waitress added quickly, "If there is anything you wanted to tell her, you can tell me and I'll pass the message on to her."
"Just tell her that we said 'thank you' and that we wish her a pleasant day," Ruiko said with a sigh before realizing her mistake. Hurriedly, Ruiko added, "Oh, and you too, of course."
"Thank you very much," the waitress bowed with a bright smile, taking her leave after bidding her farewell.
And, somehow, the waitress did the unthinkable; she managed to take away the dark and gloomy air that hung in the air around the four friends. Or maybe it was because Kuroko and Kazari finally had something to focus their attention on aside from their exhaustion.
"That was not the only thing that you wanted to tell her, was it, Saten-san?" Kuroko asked suddenly after a few moments had passed since the four of them were left alone again. When Ruiko looked at Kuroko with an expression of genuine shock and surprise, Kuroko decided to elaborate on what she had just said, "You always have this look in your eyes when you found something that you really wanted to talk about, like a spark or something. This time was no exception."
"Well… the truth is that I heard a rumor floating around the net the other day," Ruiko admitted sheepishly while scratching her cheek with her index finger. After a momentary pause that lasted several seconds, Ruiko continued, "But don't worry about it! It was just a rumor, so it really shouldn't be anything big."
"You say that…" Mikoto trailed off with an awkward smile, recalling some of the other 'urban legends' that her friend had brought up in the past. She shook her head to try and get rid of those thoughts when she felt a series of vibrations in her pocket, "Ah, I'm sorry. I'll be right back."
Unfortunately, Mikoto wasn't the only one to have received a call that demanded her immediate attention.
"Shirai-san?" Ruiko looked up from her cake when Kuroko stood up after checking her own phone, "Judgment calls?"
"It would seem so, yeah…" Kuroko sighed, adjusting her Judgment armband as it had gotten askew while she was in the café. After putting some money on the table to cover her expenses, she turned to Kazari, "Uiharu, let's go. Konori-senpai will scold us if we are late again."
"B-But…" Kazari stammered, looking between the stern look on her partner's face to her barely eaten parfait and back again to Kuroko, "My parfait…"
"You will get your chance to eat another parfait, I am sure," Kuroko said as she grabbed Kazari by the upper arm and dragged her away from her parfait. Before leaving the café, Kuroko took one more moment to turn to Ruiko with an apologetic smile, "I am sorry, Saten-san… Both Uiharu and I would have liked to stay here longer, but duty calls. Tell Onee-sama when she returns that I am sorry we had to leave so suddenly."
It wasn't long until Kuroko started dragging a wailing Kazari away, but it did take her more time and effort than she would have wanted it to take to actually get her out of the café. Even after leaving the building, Kazari's cries for her parfait could still be heard inside.
While all of that was going on not too far from her, Ruiko was simply swirling her soda around with her straw in an effort to not have to watch her friends leave. If she was being truthful to herself, she knew that it wouldn't be long for everybody to go; even though Ruiko had hoped that it would have taken them a little bit longer to do so. Fortunately for Ruiko, she wouldn't be alone for long this time.
"Sorry about that," Mikoto apologized as she sat back down, taking a moment to look between the chairs previously occupied by Kuroko and Kazari and to the now gloomy Ruiko. It didn't take long for Mikoto to put the pieces together, "They had to go again?"
Ruiko nodded stiffly before letting out a groan of pent-up annoyance and irritation. As Mikoto gave her a sympathetic smile, Ruiko said, "It's just not fair… we finally are free, we finally don't have to deal with bad guys and Shirai-san and Uiharu still have Judgment work to do. Even during the weekends!"
"Kuroko and Uiharu-san both knew what they were getting into when they first joined Judgment," Mikoto tried to cheer Ruiko up and, from the looks of it was at least somewhat successful, "As their friends, we should be supporting them where we can. Right, Saten-san?"
"I guess you're right, Misaka-san…" Ruiko finally relented with a sigh, causing Mikoto to smile knowing that Ruiko would be feeling better now. That was when Ruiko remembered something, "Misaka-san, who was it that called you?"
"Uh, well… it was…" Mikoto stuttered, not knowing how to tell Ruiko. When she saw the look in Ruiko's eyes, Mikoto added with a sigh, "It was my sister. She wanted to see me so she asked me to come visit her later."
Ruiko had a blank look on her face for several seconds, almost as if she didn't quite hear what Mikoto had said, but then smiled when she remembered the… interesting… sister that Mikoto had.
Mikoto quickly ate the remainder of her cake, having noted that Ruiko had finished hers already, before turning to her friend, "I guess that is it for today. Sorry, Saten-san. Today didn't really turn out like we had hoped it would."
"That's okay," Ruiko tried to reassure the third-strongest esper of the city with a smile, though she had a feeling that Mikoto wasn't buying her façade. Instead, Ruiko tried again by adding, "Say hi to your sister for me—us, okay?"
Mikoto nodded in reassurance before getting back on her feet. With a quick goodbye, Mikoto also left the café after a short discussion of who was paying. A discussion that Ruiko quickly lost as Mikoto kept insisting to make up for how bad the day had turned out.
This left Ruiko all alone, something that she knew would happen again but wasn't expecting to have happened so soon.
"Miss? Is everything all right?" a warm yet careful voice asked Ruiko, causing Ruiko to look up to see the worried brown eyes of the brunette waitress that brought the orders of Kuroko and Kazari earlier. With a hesitant smile, she added, "You looked worried there for a second."
"Don't worry, I'm fine. Thank you for asking, though," Ruiko smiled, genuinely glad that the waitress cared so much about her and hoping that the waitress was being treated well by her friends and family.
"Oh, before you go," Ruiko called out to the girl who had already turned around and was about to walk off. Curious, the brunette waited for Ruiko to tell her why she had stopped her, which Ruiko finally did, "I have a favor to ask…"
About one hour had passed since leaving the café, and Ruiko found herself in front of her dorm room with a plastic bag containing the remainders of Kuroko's and Kazari's orders in hand. Ruiko let out a sigh, releasing the exhaustion from her body in one simple action before rummaging through her pockets for her keys.
Ruiko unlocked the door to the room, opened it gently with her foot and stepped in while taking off her shoes. After putting the bag on the table, Ruiko went straight to the curtains and opened them, basking the room in the bright and warm light of the afternoon sun.
Her room, despite being messier than it usually was as Ruiko had left fairly abruptly earlier, was still a lot cleaner than the room of the average student. Despite this, she still took a moment to tidy up at least a little bit.
It wasn't long until Ruiko was satisfied, all the books returned back to their rightful places and the bed made yet again. The floor was cleared of any random objects and a large trash bag that had been filled about halfway was placed right by the door.
"Now that all of that's done…" Ruiko trailed off, looking around her with a smile of satisfaction before her eyes landed on her computer. It didn't take very long for her mood to drop like a ton of bricks.
"I'm sorry, Shirai-san, I really couldn't tell you after all," Ruiko mumbled to herself as the computer booted up, the bright light of the screen casting half of Ruiko's face in the shadow of the other.
Ruiko felt bad about not telling her friends the truth, but even she wasn't sure if she would have believed those rumors herself if she were in her friends' shoes. Even so…
The computer finally loaded up, and it brought up the site that the twelve-year-old was skimming through the other day. A forum where people from all around the world could share urban legends with other people who were interested in learning more about them.
"Where was it…?" Ruiko thought out loud as her eyes scanned the screen for that one word that she had seen the last time she had checked this site. A part of her was starting to wonder whether she had imagined it or not, but it was at that moment when she finally found it again.
"'The unlikely pair between a bright brunette and an eccentric white-haired girl takes Academy City by storm'," Ruiko read as she scrolled through the post, "'These two girls, while seemingly only working together as a pair, have become one of the most popular cafés in their hometown. They have now built branches all around the world including, most recently, Academy City'."
Letting out a sigh of relief that she didn't just made it up and making a mental note to bring it up with her friends when she meets them again, Ruiko was about to shut down her computer again when she saw it.
Two words, written in big white letters at the top of the screen.
Ruiko's curiosity got the better of her and, before she knew what she was doing, she had already opened the link.
And that wraps today's chapter! I hope you all enjoyed what it had to offer, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!