Difficulties of Being a Dense Lovesick Idiot
Disclaimer: To Aru is too awesome to be owned by someone like me XD
Summary: He never realized how much he enjoyed their run-ins in front of a certain vending machine... until one day she didn't show up.
There was an unspoken agreement between them that they would always meet in front of a certain vending machine after class. He never really knew when it started, but when he finally realized it, it had already become a habit he couldn't get rid of.
More often than not, she would be the first one in front of the vending machine either getting a drink (she almost never buys them) or already enjoying a can of whatever the faulty machinery had spat out. Then he would walk by and he'll call out to her, then she'll reply, then he'll accidentally say something that would offend her, then she'll try to shock him, and only then will they start to have a normal conversation. Sometimes, they would head to the arcade. Other times, he'd have to go grocery shopping and she'll come with. Mostly, they'd walk around the park and talk about everything and nothing at all.
It was nice, he decided, to have one normal routine outside the magic versus science fiasco that always seemed to find him.
But one day, he walked by that vending machine and she wasn't there. At first he shrugged it off, thinking that she was running late. It had happened a few times before, so he slipped a couple of coins into the machine and bought them drinks. It should still be cool when she would arrive.
Two hours and one warm coconut cider later, he decided she wouldn't be coming. He ended up going home wondering whether he should call her or not.
When the next day came and she was another no-show, he decided to message her.
It had taken him an hour of waiting before making up his mind, and another half hour of mulling over what to say. At first, he wanted to just ask her why she hasn't been showing up but then realized that it implied that he was waiting for her. Of course, he was, but he wasn't sure whether she thought of their daily meetings as something they had silently agreed upon (like the way he does). He also considered the more casual route of asking what she had been up to lately, but that didn't sound like him (he never checked on anyone) so he deleted that as well.
Finally, he settled with the simple 'Haven't seen you around lately.' and hit send.
About a minute later, he received her reply, 'Yeah. I've been busy. A couple of things came up.'
'What kind of things? Trouble?'
'Nothing you should be concerned over, you idiot.'
'If you say so, Biribiri. But knowing you, you probably got into something dangerous again. Just be careful, okay?'
'IT'S MISAKA MIKOTO! (*insert angry face and lightning icons here)Geez, and I should be the one telling you that. Don't get into trouble.'
'Yeah, yeah. Text me if you need anything. Bye.'
'Bye.'
...well, that went better than he expected...
He tried not to miss her, he really did, but her company had always been the highlight of his day and when she stopped seeing him, life became unbelievably dull and boring.
He didn't even realize how much he enjoyed their meetings and her presence. Suddenly, his days felt empty, and he couldn't figure out why that was so.
As it turned out, he needed the wisdom of his whole class and his homeroom teacher to realize why.
"You look down, Kamijou-chan. Is something wrong?" Komoe-sensei, his ever loving teacher, asked before homeroom started one day.
He did feel down. Actually, he hasn't felt very jolly since the last time Mikoto texted him—well, he was the one who messaged her first but she replied—and he couldn't get rid of the feeling of wanting to see her. He didn't particularly want his classmates to know this though so with his chin resting on his palm, he turned his head to look out the window and shrugged his shoulders, "Really? I hadn't noticed."
His reply caused his teacher to frown, "Mou, Kamijou-chan, we can't help you if you don't tell us."
"There's nothing to tell."
Fukiyose interjected for Komoe-sensei this time, "Out with it, Kamijou! Sensei is spending her class time to make sure you're okay. Be grateful!"
"That's right, Kamiyan," Aogami piped up and he had the sudden urge to groan, "You're so lucky to have our beloved Komoe-sensei worrying about you!"
He turned back to see all his classmates looking at him expectantly. His brow twitched in annoyance. Knowing full well that he wasn't getting out of this, he sighed, "It's nothing. I just haven't seen a friend for a while now. That's all."
When he thought he had managed to get out of the impending interrogation, Tsuchimikado just had to open his mouth. "Nyah! So Kamiyan is missing his girlfriend, eh?"
There were several gasps within the room as his face turned bright red. Without much thought, he quickly denied, "She's not my girlfriend!"
Random shouts could be heard at that time.
"There's an actual girl!"
"He finally found himself a girlfriend?!"
"I can't believe it!"
"Other girls are safe from him now!"
He stopped himself from snapping back at them, because, really, it would just make things worse. He felt his face become hotter and he was at loss to why. He and Biribiri had been mistaken as a couple multiple times before and it had never affected him. He wondered why it did now.
"Aw, Kamijou-chan is blushing!" Komoe-sensei exclaimed delightfully before wiping imaginary tears of joy from her eyes, "I never thought I'd see the day he'll finally find a girlfriend... my dense and stupid Kamijou-chan is growing up!"
"I take offense to that!" he cried out and promptly stood from his seat, "And there's nothing between me and Misaka! We're just friends!"
Again, Tsuchimikado, the guy who couldn't shut his trap to save his life, had to add fuel to the fire, "Oho! So it's Misaka-chan you've been thinking about? That's my Kamiyan! Dating the third strongest Level 5!"
There was another violent reaction from his classmates, and all he could do to survive their inquiries was to tell them his situation.
It was—and he never thought he'd actually feel like this while talking about Biribiri—embarrassing, to say the least, to put into words how much he was seeking her company. And it was only when he voiced it out loud—how often he checks his phone waiting for her message, walking the long way to and from school so that he'd pass by the place they frequently met at even though he knew she wouldn't be there, and losing track of his thoughts as he wondered what she was doing—that he realized how utterly pathetic he had been acting. He felt weird, knowing that it was Biribiri, of all people, that was causing this.
"So Kamijou-chan isn't dating anyone, but you like Misaka-san?" Komoe-sensei surmised, and the fact that she somehow managed to summarize a page long rant about his week into a single sentence flustered him to no end. It didn't help that she said that he likeliked Misaka. The idea was preposterous.
But the moment he denied it, Fukiyose, ever the constant Iron Maiden, shot him down as she pointed out, "You keep thinking about her. You miss her this much even though it hasn't even been a week. You're almost obsessed in wanting to see her." She listed out, showing a finger with each example she presented, "I don't know about you, Kamijou, but you sound pretty lovesick to me."
"Utterly, pathetically lovesick," Tsuchimikado added, snickering.
He could only moan in defeat. Great, he evolved from being utterly pathetic to utterly and pathetically lovesick. He wasn't sure which one was worse.
But even so, he couldn't deny the truth that, he realized, was in their words.
Dear almighty being above... he like likes Misaka Mikoto.
"I say you ask her out, Kamijou-chan," Komoe-sensei said, nodding to herself, "Even as friends. I'm sure she'll contact you again."
"Shouldn't he just confess...?" Himegami suggested out of nowhere.
"That's right!" Aogami exclaimed, "Real men bravely confess their feelings to the woman they love!"
"Baka! What if she rejects him?" Fukiyose said, "He needs to judge whether she possibly has feelings for him first, or else, she'd feel so awkward with him that she'd never talk to him again!"
Tsuchimikado laughed, "Kamiyan ignored by a girl? Never!"
Touma could only face-palm at their conversation, muttering lowly under his breath, "I can't believe I'm getting love advice from my homeroom class..."
Such misfortune...
He tried to be patient, really, but after almost a week (five days and twenty-three hours but who's counting?) of not hearing from her, he just had to message her. At first he thought maybe she was just busy that day, so he decided to wait for her reply.
But two days and ten messages later, he was at his limit.
So he decided to call her.
The person who answered wasn't her though.
"Hello?" A not-Biribiri voice said.
He paused before tentatively speaking, "Is Misaka there?"
"Wait... your voice seems familiar..." it was when she said it that he realized who was on the other line, the very same time that she shrieked in retaliation, "You're that Barbarian! How did you get Onee-sama's number?! Were you stalking her?!"
He cut her off before she began her endless rambling, "Calm down, Shirai-san. Misaka gave me her number herself."
That didn't seem to be the right response because she shrieked louder, "I do not believe it!"
He muttered a silent "Such misfortune..." under his breath. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to Shirai (though he actually didn't), but he wanted to talk to Misaka first. "Anyway, where's Misaka? She hasn't replied to my messages these past few days."
"..."
Whatever it was that he had been expecting, it wasn't silence. Shirai's unusual response brought up a growing dread in his stomach and magnified his worry for the Electromaster. "Shirai?"
"I'm sorry, but Onee-sama can't take your call at the moment. She won't be able to get back to you for a few more days..."
He could feel his heart thudding in his chest as he asked, almost frightened, "Did something happen to her?"
Shirai's answer made him run at full speed to Heaven Canceler's hospital.
Trauma to the back of the head and several cuts and bruises around her body.
He found out she had a concussion from a blow during the Judgment case she had been helping with. Shirai told him that the criminals were all ex-Anti-Skill members, thus, they were trained in battling with espers. The fact wouldn't have been a big problem if they hadn't been able to obtain a copy of Capacity Down, a music that renders esper powers useless. Though the Capacity Down wasn't all that strong, it had been enough to weaken Mikoto to the point that the crooks were able to land a pretty serious blow.
Shirai was also injured when he saw her, bandages covering her arms and legs, and a particularly large patch was on her face, but she reassured him that they were merely minor injuries. "Onee-sama," she had said, "was the worst out of all of us. If it wasn't for her, those felons would not have only escaped, but someone could've died."
If the situation had been any different, he would've been wary of the Teleporter's sudden lack of murderous intent. But she, most of all, knew how much more important Mikoto's well-being was compared to their supposed rivalry for the Level 5's affection. He was at least thankful that Shirai had let him visit Mikoto without as much as a complaint.
Mikoto was still unconscious when he arrived. Shirai had left him alone with her, the Teleporter managing the paperwork for Mikoto's hospitalization and informing their dorm mistress of their situation.
When he was alone in the room with Mikoto, he quietly approached the side of her bed, standing over her and watching her sleep. There were bandages wrapped around the back of her head going through her forehead. She had small cuts around her face that had been cleaned and treated, and there was a particularly large bruise around her jaw that was now a glaring purple color. It made him wince to think about how she could've gotten that.
He glared at every injury he could spot on her body. Why hadn't she called him if things were that serious? If he had been there, he could've prevented her from getting hurt. He knew very well she was a Level 5 but that didn't mean she could stick her neck into something so dangerous.
Oh, she was going to get a serious scolding when she wakes up.
He looked around the room, not knowing what else to do. He realized that in his haste, he had forgotten to get her anything (get-well-soon flowers, maybe?). He sighed at his stupidity. He wasn't sure how to take care of a patient. It had always been him in the hospital bed, not the other way around.
His eyes fell on her face again, and he felt his gaze immediately soften. "Really..." he mumbled, "You almost worried me to death." he told her unconscious form affectionately.
Even with the bruises on her face, she still looked really pretty. He had always known that she was—pretty, that is—but the fact often escaped his mind because of all the violence she usually gives him. Now that she was asleep, he couldn't help but admire how peaceful she seemed to be. He felt the sudden urge to brush away the stray lock of hair from her eyes and reached out, his fingertips ghosting over her bandage covered skin.
His touch seemed to have alerted her because she suddenly frowned, making him freeze. He watched as her eyes fluttered open and slowly regained focus when her gaze landed on him.
He smiled a little when her brows furrowed a little deeper, greeting her softly, "Good morning to you too, Biribiri."
She blinked, "Tou...?" then her eyes widened, and all of a sudden, she was trying to sit up, "W-w-w-what are you doing here, you—" she suddenly winced, cutting herself off. The hand where her IV drip was connected shot up to hold her head as she squeezed her eyes shut.
He was immediately supporting her across her shoulders, leaning her body back down on the bed as he told her, "Whoa there, easy..." even when she was already lying down, her eyes were shut in pain, making him frown in worry. He reached out and settled a hand on the top of her head, brushing his thumb gently against her brow, hoping to sooth her. It seemed to have worked. "You took a pretty nasty blow. You shouldn't get too excited."
"What happened?" she asked as her eyes opened, locking on his.
"I don't know all the details," he admitted, "But Shirai said you were helping on a case against ex-Anti-Skills. Something called Capacity Down was used and you got hit on the back of your head. You lost consciousness after the ordeal."
"Ah, I remember," she sighed, smiling a little. "We managed to save everyone. Thank God for that."
He merely hummed in response, enjoying the situation a little more than he probably should. She was fine. That was all he could really ask for. But she also wasn't slapping his hand away for touching her, and that gave him an embarrassingly giddy feeling.
After a short moment of silence, she shifted her eyes back to him, "What are you doing here anyway? How did you even know I was here?"
"I tried calling you but it was Shirai who answered. She was the one who told me you got hurt while helping with a Judgment case."
"Oh... I see..."
"Do you do that often?"
"Do what?"
"Help Judgment."
"Yeah, I guess..."
"You guess?"
"That's one thing we have in common, I think." she joked lightly, "When we see something wrong, we can't just stand there and do nothing. We have this thinking that, if we have the power to save someone, we will. But at least, unlike you, this is the first time I got hospitalized for doing something like that."
She had a point. Unlike him, she didn't have a room reserved for him because of how frequent he ends up in the hospital. "That's true," he agreed, pursing his lips to keep himself from laughing.
She seemed to have noticed his smile because she frowned skeptically at him, amusement showing on her lips, "What's so funny?"
He grinned at her before saying, "I just realized how our roles seem to have been reversed."
She smiled prettily at him in response, "Perfect. Now you know how I feel whenever you get yourself hospitalized."
His smile faltered at that, "I guess." He was silent for a moment, and Mikoto, noticing his sudden change in demeanor, looked at him worriedly. He sighed, retracting the hand on top of her head to scratch the back of his neck, "I was worried, you know?" he confessed, "At first, when you didn't show up in front of the vending machine, I just thought that maybe you were busy. When I texted you and you replied, I was relieved. At least I knew you were safe.
"But then a few days ago, you stopped replying." he continued, averting his eyes. Can he really tell her all this? Was it not out of line of him to care so much? "I sent you message after message but you never replied. I was losing my mind worrying about you."
There was a soft blush in her cheeks when she said, "Yeah, I... I got your messages."
"And you didn't think to respond?"
"We were focusing on the case. It was dangerous, and we had to keep our heads in the game."
"If you knew it was dangerous, then why didn't you ask for my help?"
"I was the help, if you've forgotten," she glared at him, but then immediately averted her eyes as she hesitantly replied, "And... I don't really like asking for your help..."
That hurt him more than it should. "Why not?"
"Because whenever you save me, you're the one who always ends up getting hurt," she told him, her voice hard as she avoided his gaze, "Believe me, I enjoy it a lot less than you."
Her words made him stop. All those times he had been hurt, those instances when she visited him, she was actually worried about him? When the thought passed his mind, he almost laughed at his own stupidity. Of course she had been worried. She wouldn't have had visited him in the first place if she wasn't. She was just too shy to admit that she was, so she covers it up with annoyance and violence.
It was just so like her. She was such a tsundere.
And standing beside her bed in a situation completely reversed from the usual, he thought he was starting to understand.
"I think I'm beginning to know the feeling," he told her, smiling lightly.
She blushed again as she finally met his eyes. For a wonderful moment, they stayed like that, and Touma wished time would stop.
When had she started being a part of his life? The days without her had been maddening, making him feel restless and causing him to lose sleep. He never knew a single message could make him so happy until she had texted him those few days, and he never thought anyone could stare so long at their cellphone waiting for a message or call until he had done it himself.
He was reminded of the day his homeroom class found out about what had been causing his gloomy attitude. What had Fukiyose called him? Ah, that's right. Lovesick.
"I missed you," he told her so suddenly that it had taken him a few seconds to realize he had said it. Her eyes had also widened at his words, obviously as shocked as he was. He averted his gaze. But as the days without her came back to him, his confidence grew along with the fear of not seeing her for that long once more. "I never really noticed how much I liked seeing you until I couldn't." he confessed, "So... if it's alright with you..." he hesitated, "Can we... see each other?" he asked, meeting her eyes. "Everyday... in front of that vending machine?"
She seemed to have been stunned by what he had said. But after a moment, she smiled, almost hopefully, "Just in front of that vending machine?" she joked.
He chuckled lightly, "Other places are good too," he told her, "like the park, or a cafe, or that family restaurant you're so fond of during lunch, or the movies, the mall..." he trailed as he once again hesitated, "or when you get discharged, a dinner with... me...?"
"Kamijou Touma..." she began, looking at him expectantly with a small smirk on her lips, "Are you asking me out... on a date?"
He shrugged his shoulders, taking her hand in his and hoping she wouldn't mind. "Several dates, actually,"
Before he could even feel nervous about her answer, she smiled, "I'd love that."
Author's Notes:
Did you know that it was the last scene at the hospital that I finished writing first? And it's basically because of that single scene that this whole story was written, much like A Certain Game of 20 Questionsand it's last scene.
I've always wondered how Touma would react if he ever saw Mikoto lying broken on a hospital bed, the way Mikoto always finds him at the end of every single arc XDD was it too cheesy? is Touma too OOC? Oh well... I like lovesick Touma hahaha
Cameos for Touma's homeroom! ahahaha! Tsuchimikado is obviously my fave. And Kuroko not being violent towards Touma? That's a big sign that Mikoto's not well. And as for the details of the Judgment case where she got hurt, please don't ask because I don't know either XDDD
One more thing. I'm not very good with all the medicinal stuff so please forgive me if i got some wrong terms or said something wrong about the injuries and such :)))
Another one-shot done! Won't be updating any of my stories for the rest of the week so I hope you can wait :)
I hope you liked this! I sure enjoyed writing a Lovesick Touma haha
I'll see you guys again! :D
~61wisampa