To Aru – Railgun/Index

Touma's Secret

Disclaimer: Don't own these characters. Yada yada.

*Spark. Sizzle*

The time had long since passed midnight, but in a deserted alley, it was brighter than it had been in the middle of the day.

*Spark. Wirr. Biri biri biri.*

The reason for that was one Misaka Mikoto, also known as the Level 5 esper "Railgun", unleashing a staggering amount of electricity from her body that would blind anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in the vicinity, not to mention the ill-effects of the electricity itself!

*Biri biri. Sizzle. Sizzle. Sizzzz*

Finally, the voltage died down returning the alley to be illuminated softly by the moon alone. Breathing heavily, Mikoto looked at the one who had been at the receiving end of her electric charge: a young man with spiky black hair who, despite his nervous state, was completely unharmed.

He didn't even look tired! The bastard.

Gingerly, the bastard – erm – young man peeked out from behind his arms which were crossed in front of him in a protective gesture.

"…Are you done yet?" The young man, Kamijou Touma, asked hesitantly as he prepared to shield himself again at the slightest twitch from the female esper.

"……*huff, huff*" Mikoto breathed heavily, tired from her continuous use of electricity. Even though she said nothing, her eyes practically screamed with things to say, and so, Touma waited patiently.

"….*huff, heave*"

"You know… We really got to stop doing this." Touma began as Mikoto still tried to catch her breath. "This is the third time this week you drag me into one of your "decisive duels". Do we HAVE to run around all night again? Frankly, I just want to go home and sleep."

"Sh-Shut up!" Mikoto finally managed in between breaths. She sucked in one deep gulp of air before exploding (verbally, not electrically) at him. "You always wheedle your way out of our battles! Tonight we'll settle things once and for all!"

"…I'm so unfortunate." Touma sighed weakly to himself before meeting Mikoto's gaze. "I don't know about you, but I don't recall going out of my way to make you my enemy. Why are you so hellbent on fighting me anyway? You're like one of the strongest people in the entire city while I'm just a common Level 0. Surely there are other people better suited to be your arch-riva-Ach!"

Touma didn't get to finish as Mikoto let lose a small electric charge at him. Like all the other of the girls' attacks, it dispelled harmlessly as he batted it with his hand on reflex.

Mikoto however looked like she had just illustrated a point.

"See?!" She snarled, frustrated over the fact that this was the norm when it came to their "duels". "There's no way a Level 0 could just smack away my attacks like you can! Even among the higher levels there are few who could do anything remotely like that!" She shouted, pointing at him accusingly.

"Well, yeah, that's certainly true, but…"

"Enough! No more dodging the issue! Why doesn't my electricity work on you?! Tell me! What is your ability?!"

……

A gust of wind blew down the alley as the two teens stood facing each other. After a few moments of heavy silence, Touma replied in a subdued tone.

"Do you really wanna know?"

"Yes! Tell me!"

Touma sighed again, but then straightened up, looking serious.

"Well, you see… I'm not exactly an esper, per se. My "ability" is something else all together."

"Not an esper? That's impossible! What else could you possibly be? Stop bullshitting me and tell me the truth!"

"I'm not lying!" Touma suddenly barked, causing Mikoto to halt in her tracks. After a few seconds Mikoto replied in an awkward tone.

"W-Well then… If you are NOT an esper, then what ARE you?"

At that, Touma slowly raised his right hand until it hovered next to his head. At the serious look on his face, Mikoto swallowed nervously.

……

"I'm…"

"Yes?"

Touma then suddenly grabbed the side of his face and pulled as he flatly declared; "I'm a rubber-man."

"Ghe!!" Mikoto recoiled bug-eyed as she saw him stretch his cheek far beyond what should be humanly possible. "Wha-wha-wha-wha-wha-WHAT the HELL is THAT?!"

"I told you. I'm a rubber-man." Touma repeated as he released his cheek, allowing it to slap back in place like, yes, rubber.

"That's not - I mean, that's not – I mean, it isn't possible – I mean… What the fuck?!" Mikoto stammered as she pointed at him accusingly, not able to believe how this situation had suddenly turned so bizarre.

"Oh, but it's true."

"Giku!" Mikoto gulped at his dark tone. Suddenly the alley seemed so much darker.

Before her, Touma was slowly stalking towards her as everything from his expression to his speech suddenly seemed uncharacteristically sinister.

"Do you understand now, Biri-biri? This is why you have never managed to harm me. This is why you could never HOPE to defeat me!" He taunted as his smile grew darker and darker. "My body is made of the one thing you can't affect with your power."

"N-no, I… What's with you all of a sudden?" Mikoto asked as she started to back away nervously.

The dark jack-o-lantern smile on Touma's face grew disturbingly wide.

"It's been fun playing around with you, Biri-biri. But now that you know the truth I guess it is indeed time to settle things once and for all!"

"I… I…"

"Gomu Gomu no… ("Rubber-rubber…")" Touma chanted as he pulled his arms back in a charged stance – and then shot them forward as he shouted "Grapple!!"

Mikoto could do nothing but stare in horror as the arms stretched several feet, closing the distance in an instant as the greedy hands made to grab her.

"No. No! NOOOOOOOO--"

"--OOOOOOOH!!!" Mikoto finished screaming as she shot up in bed.

Hyperventilating for several minutes, Mikoto finally took in her surroundings, realizing she was in her and Kuroko's dorm at Tokiwadai Middle School.

"A dream…? It was a dream?" She breathed before she started to laugh awkwardly. "O-Of course it was a dream! A-ha ha ha ha. I've just been reading too much manga. There's no way that… that IDIOT could have a power like that! Ah ha ha ha. R-right…?"

……

Mikoto shuddered in the quiet room before her mood switched gears.

"That bastard... I'm SO gonna kick his ass the next time I see him!" she growled as she clenched her blanket between her fingers. She could still feel those grabby hands taking hold of her. Those disgusting, perverted….

….

Waaait a minute.

With a quick tug Mikoto pulled away her blanket from herself, revealing Kuroko underneath clinging to her body like a proverbial leech.

"Mmmh, munyah~" Kuroko mumbled happily in her sleep as she buried her head into Mikoto's torso. "Onee-sama, your small breasts are the best~ Munyah."

……

A vein bulged angrily on Mikoto's forehead.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY BED, KUROKOOOO~!!!?"

*SPARK! SPARK! BIRI BIRI! SIZZLE!*

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--AAHNN~!!"

From outside, electric flashes could be seen illuminating one of the rooms of the school.

"Ghaa-ha!!" Touma exclaimed as he jerked awake in his bed.

Gathering his breath, he slowly picked up a manga-volume from the floor, staring at it accusingly.

After a few silent seconds, he tossed it away sighing, "I've gotta stop reading this stuff right before going to sleep."

Landing open on the floor, the manga's pages displayed a fight between a rubber-man and a character literally made of lightning.

Gomu Gomu no…

END

Author's notes

My first "To Aru, Etcetera"-fic. I kinda like the novels and mangas about these two, but the anime's - particularly the Railgun-one - left me severely disappointed. J.C. Staff, you've lost your touch.

The manga both Mikoto and Touma refer to is of course "One Piece", and to be quite honest I kinda like the idea of a Railgun AU-setting where Touma actually IS a rubber-human. Any takers?