So.. guys, here's my early story for Christmas. Hope you like it!
Unreached Communication
(Why does she keep calling him although he never answers the call?)
"Unanswered calls and the relentless efforts of stupidity…"
17th of November
Misaka Mikoto gave her undivided attention to the green cell-phone in front of her. Her never-ending cycles of eternity were no longer joyful, dimmed with a hint of hysteria and many endless concerns. She sat, right in front of the dorm's window, permitting the scent of autumn which carried out the susurrations of falling ruby leaves as the howling wind picked up. Thirty seconds of staring contest with the said inanimate was wasted quite vividly and she was sure that her right hand became more and more callous for each seconds. She closed her eyes, starting the assault towards the buttons and sighed.
To : Kamijou Touma
From : Misaka Mikoto
Idiot, where are you? It's been around a whole week since you left for the mission from… what's her name, again? Levinia… what? I forgot… Anyway, don't assume yourself too highly for receiving a message from me… I just want to settle all the battles we haven't done and you should know that I won't stop demanding a battle from you, until I win, of course.
-Mikoto
[I'm sorry, but your message cannot be sent. Please try again at a different time. Check with your wireless service provider for more information.]
(She feared another long-awaited response that would take centuries, yet she would keep her stubbornness on the front line…)
26th of November
Living a life as a revered princess meant that the hazel haired girl was not habitual with waiting. Almost all her needs would be provided quite instantly, and she was frankly astonished to the very core that she could resist her patience to bide for a reply from the spiky haired guy. It was, after some amounts of analyzing and thinking, because of a huge intention to be noted, undying faith that the one she loved the most would reply at least one message for her delight (hopefully).
She delivered another message in the midst of freezing drizzle, when the chill of peripheral area was synonymous with the upcoming winter. The sunshine was as obscure as it could be, and the familiar green hue from the perennial trees and bushes was no longer spotted; her eyes were fully deceived by the magic of time, so flawless and fast. The hazel haired girl gave no regards to the puddles in front of her, staring blankly only to the glowing screen of the cell phone. The radiance in her brown twins dimmed slightly, indecipherable expression started roaming her usual cheerful visage. A sigh flew to the air.
Misaka Mikoto paused before another puddle of water, looking at the cell phone that only brought bitter memories. Her thumb began searching for the contact list, scrolling down the names, looking for his.
Compose Message?
Yes/No
Yes, always yes
To : Kamijou Touma
From : Misaka Mikoto
Frankly speaking, you started pissing me off, really pissing me off. Well, a reply won't hurt, right? Well, I don't know whether you are now in a quest that determines the humanity or something, but a good three minutes in front of the cell phone… you have no any time for that? Well, it's not like that I care so much about that or something, don't you ever get any wrong ideas about that! I'm just curious, that's all.
Oh yeah, anyway… Tokiwadai Middle School is preparing for the winter festival, you know, the Christmas-like thing. Well, since I can invite my friend, and since I know that you won't have anyone that would invite you… I'm just sympathetic about that, so well, can you come? The event starts around the end of December.
-Mikoto
[I'm sorry, but your message cannot be sent. Please try again at a different time. Check with your wireless service provider for more information.]
…..
Damn you.
(She continued the walk, vanished into that horizon over there as everything inside her immersed with the bitterness of the draft…)
7th of December
One month of concealing a certain true emotion was not healthy at all, and her present mental and spirit were the pure evidence. The smile on her face was nothing more than the past; eyes of joy were forgotten as the time flew; beauty of hazel sparkles was hidden beneath the layer of concern. She found herself traipsing more around the vending machine of memory, slightly hoping that a familiar figure would come, giving her (a lot) sarcastic remarks, and her heart ached each moment she was reminded. Misaka Mikoto was the princess of a sad-ending fairy tale, falling to the land of strife and rage, where the vernal scent of spring was frozen.
Her only last hope was the composed message number thirty seven.
…
No reply until now…
To : Kamijou Touma
From : Misaka Mikoto
Okay, I miss you… a little. It's kind of boring without you here.
There. Happy? So well, can you please at least reply one message from me?
Oh yeah, anyway. I met Takitsubo-san and Last order this afternoon. We were having a nice chat and they told me that Accelerator and Hamazura Shiage were also missing. Well, I have a feeling that the two of them aren't so faraway from you. Well, at least there are more people that need a reply. So, this message… Actually I didn't want to compose it. It's just a request!
-Mikoto
[I'm sorry, but your message cannot be sent. Please try again at a different time. Check with your wireless service provider for more information.]
(She closed her eyes in an effort to ease the pain inside, but another sleepless night couldn't be avoided…)
17th of December
Shirai Kuroko wouldn't be here for Christmas.
It was surprising, really, to see that the said teleporter would be away for Christmas (knowing her determination to ambush the attention of Mikoto every minute). She said that her parents would have a Christmas party in their house. Well, the party would be around the 25th of December; nevertheless, she would go since today.
And sadly, it was all (exactly) the same for Ruiko Saten and Uiharu Kazari.
(The day before they left, she tried to flash that famous smile of hers… but the loneliness which crept inside could only mean one thing: this was the worst Christmas ever…)
20th of December
The next time Misaka Mikoto found herself staring at the Gekota-shaped communication device was right three days, three hours and twenty seven minutes after the last message. She was alone in her dormitory, silently crying for companions to share the heavy burdens that rested on her gnarled shoulders. It was astonishing to see that she could even think of fronting a carefree personality, acknowledging her present state that was much more fragile than a porcelain angel. Her mind took another moment to muse, to paint a certain spiky haired guy in her mind's eye for three minutes straight. It took another moment for her to look at the scenery outside (blizzard), and it took another moment for her to adjust herself on the seat and she finally started typing.
"It's Kamijou Touma. I can't get to my phone right now, but if you leave a message-Index! Stop drooling over my refrigerator- anyway… where was I? Oh yeah, leave me a message and I'll call you back."
"Beep…"
"Well, I wonder when you will answer any messages or calls that I have made. Man, this is just like an unreached communication. Somehow, I despise your misfortune for this, or maybe, I hate the owner of misfortune for not even replying any messages from me. Oh, well. Just tell me where you are, okay. Be careful."
"Click…"
…
"It's Kamijou Touma. I can't get to my phone right now, but if you leave a message-Index! Stop drooling over my refrigerator- anyway… where was I? Oh yeah, leave me a message and I'll call you back."
"Beep…"
"Err, about that be-careful-thing… don't give any attention to those words…"
"Click…"
(But she really wanted him to be careful, to stay out of danger that would threaten his own existence, fearing that she would lose him one day.)
24th of December
Being sick on the day before Christmas was hell, and the fact that nobody could take care of her was deeper than hell.
Lying weakly with a red face (not blushing) on the bed, her twins of eternity drooped for the sleep that was becoming imminent. The thick duvet that covered her body couldn't give her much protection against the chill of perimeter; weak cough was heard from her mouth every three minutes. Still, the Gekota-shaped cell phone was spotted on the space beside her, unseparable just like a freshly-united childhood friend. She took it and searched for his name in the contact list again.
"It's Kamijou Touma. I can't get to my phone right now, but if you leave a message-Index! Stop drooling over my refrigerator- anyway… where was I? Oh yeah, leave me a message and I'll call you back."
"Beep…"
"Where are you?"
"Click…"
…
…
A tear (almost) fell from her eyes.
(She knew full well that she should be worried about her condition more, but she couldn't, because the image of a certain spiky haired guy always flashed in her mind, and she really wanted to see him again, so desperately needed…)
…
…
Abruptly, her cell phone rang.
Message received
To : Misaka Mikoto
From : Kamijou Touma
I'm right in front of your dormitory's door.
-Touma
The hazel haired girl was startled, really startled to the extent of flinching on the spot, looking at her cell phone as though it was a foreign object she had never seen. Her eyes scanned the message again, trying to find a negative word that absolutely denied her false hope. She didn't find it though, as the cell phone proclaimed its stupefied glory as her eyes never left it. It was the sudden knocks from the door that almost made her plummeted to the floor, and the impromptu music of her thumping heart was capable to raise the dead to live.
The energy that she shouldn't have was born from a certain undying intention. With the challenge of the chill that could paralyze her feet on the spot, she walked (laboriously) to the door, knowing distantly that the next sight would only mesmerize her and her heart nearly stopped beating because of it.
Right there, in front of the door, was Kamijou Touma, Touma with his usual adult-man eyes, and the crimson hue that had nothing to do with her sickness started forming.
"Yooo Misaka," Touma greeted, smiling, a smile that could melt her heart and half female population of the Necessarius. Their meeting indeed always started with small things first. Very small, just like a conversation that would eventually stray from the casual atmosphere, looks that lingered, or maybe even a simple greeting. She almost forgot about that, and she was so happy to see that again.
Really happy.
"You… you…? What are you doing here?" another denial response which was conveyed in stutters; a confused expression and tone decorated her visage; very similar and fit with her innate nature. For a fraction of seconds, she somehow felt that the sickness inside had finally gone, all because of the presence of Kamijou Touma. The one… she loved the most.
(She would never concede the truth though.)
"I'm coming to see you, of course. Is there any problem?" No, there was no any problem; on the contrary, she was very touched to know that (she wouldn't say it). "Well, and what's with you? I think you are catching a cold, aren't you?" he observed her with his famous concerned black twins, placing his right hand on her forehead, and wow… her face was as warm as a stove.
"I'm really okay!" she reassured; the blur in front of her, which she (previously) recognized as the space that separated the two, was almost gone in a short time. "I'm fine! You don't need to worry about that!"
His black twins took a moment to think, to process the circumstances that surrounded the circle which the two was in. Their gazes met, the pure black eyes and the hazel brown one, starting to solve the puzzle that both of them offered. A smirk eventually escaped from his lip, adorned which such tense that somehow spread an unpleasant shiver to her skin; all the complications of atmosphere (for Mikoto) were gone suddenly when an action was taken by the spiky haired guy, and she was somehow sure that her heart wouldn't stop. It would explode.
He gently lifted her, taking her to the nearest bed in bridal-style, and she found herself paralyzed just like a stuffed doll and its owner, alive only because of the continuous breath and the red hue on her cheeks. Of every (unexpected) things that happened, only the warmth of his kindness (and masculiness) that melted her heart, sparkles of concerned eyes that she couldn't look away from which she really felt in the circle that she didn't want to escape from. They finally reached her bed; he placed her on the bed gently, and his remarkable spheres of eternity were too obstinate to leave.
"So, biri-biri. It is not good for a sick person not to get a nice full rest, right?" the ray of warmth from his words was channeled (too) perfectly that she could just faint at that moment. She took another deep breath in order to calm herself down, only to know that her effort was futile when she saw him again. For some unknown reasons, the Kamijou Touma that appeared in front of her was much shinier than before, or maybe that was because of the changing days and (her) miserable nights. She inhaled again, preparing to speak, but the shock didn't let her to.
So she just nodded, just like an ever-loyal dog…
…or just like an innocent little puppy.
(Puppy was the best to describe though...)
She didn't understand (him).
Really, she had expected something like being in another dimension to save the world, preventing a certain antagonist from befalling all the sky upon the humanity, or maybe being jailed for (purposefully) harassing a maiden-in-love sexually to come as an excuse for his lack of presence. He was the talisman of misfortune after all; the only thing that would linger because of his right hand for eternity. But the excuse that he had just told… it was ridiculous.
"So you said that you were lost… and…"
"… I was kidnapped by a certain alien in the middle of the night and I was forced to visit a planet which I really didn't know. So there…" he stared at her with nonchalant eyes. Not nervous, not afraid, not even shivered in the center of killing intents (and sparks of electricity too) that the hazel haired girl had just radiated. He looked much more mature for some reason, and she slightly wondered what sort of activities he had done in his absence.
"Who gave you permission to speak of such unrealistic crap!" she shouted slightly, panting before the last words that she had just released. She was dizzy, and her mind was confused just like hell. "Will it only mean that you are now one of the aliens that just want to invade the world?"
"Ah… I'm exposed…" he said, not even scared of risking his life by facing the infuriated-mode of Misaka Mikoto. "Let's leave it that way."
"At least try to deny it! Or else I'll believe it without any second thought!" she was irritated, really, to the extent of bashing this idiot into the deepest part of a trench. Then, something clicked in her mind, just like an epiphany that was too sweet to be casted away, and she sighed.
"Really, I don't know what you have experienced in this two-months of absence," she shrugged; much softer tone was heard just like music for his ears (not deafening at all). "Whatever it is, it seems that you have a hard time, or maybe something blocks you to tell anyone about that," she said.
"Or rather, I don't have any choice but not to tell you," he answered, and the attention she gave to him was undivided; all the next words were scanned clearly. "I'm involved in something that forced me to be away from any communication devices, and my cell phone was not an exception," he continued.
"What kind of… thing?"
"The story's long… I'll tell you later perhaps, when you are getting better," she appeared eager to retaliate, but he continued his monologue. "But when I'm in touch with my cell phone again, I observed that… you have relentlessly been sending me messages, haven't you?"
"That's … uuuhh well I…." her eyes diverted into some unknown direction, trying to change the topic to a much lighter one, but the familiar gaze of his was unstoppable, and her tongue lost its capability to speak. She blushed, red to the very core and he chuckled slightly for the amusing sight.
"Well, I don't know that your fever is this severe," he said, standing from his seat point and staring at her (red) face again. "So maybe for this day and tomorrow, the Christmas day, I'll have to take care of you right?"
"EEEHHH? NO! You don't need to…"
"What's the point of getting embarrassed?" he said (too) nonchalantly as though his composure had been trained since the early childhood. "You are okay if it's anyone right? At least I know how to deal with sick people," he responded.
"Y-y-yeah!" she raised the volume of her voice, getting the audacity to speak up normally again because of his previous statement. "It's okay if it's anyone!" She repeated again, only to assert everything in her mind and somehow she got a certain vague spirit, despite her condition, for that.
His eyebrow arched into a frown for seeing such antiques from the hazel haired girl. Then his lip summarily curved into a winsome grin that only made his eyes shone more brilliantly. Misaka Mikoto framed this sight in her head, tucking it into his memory, and kept it as future reference. Then he spoke up.
"So, let me be your special someone by your side until the right person comes along, Misaka Mikoto…"
The words were too destructive for her heart, not in a bad meaning, but rather, she was too stunned for listening to such heart-warming words. She would never imagine that Kamijou Touma, the densest man in the universe, could say such thing, and the impact was too damaging for her heart. That was the first time her blush was redder than everything, and the honesty, that she was happy, spoken by looking at her shy look which could defeat those newly-born kittens. Her mind was filled by too many complicated things for even thinking of responding, so she just covered her flustered face with the duvet, and whispered silently.
"Y-y-y-yeah… and anyway… M-m-m-merry C-c-christmas…"
He smirked, the replied was conveyed silently in her ears.
"Merry Christmas…"
Then the previous words, echoed so gracefully in the air, resounded in the very deepest mind of Misaka Mikoto, so eternal just like the ice in the garden of snow, so heart-warming just like the vernal sunshine that was synonymous with the quite breeze in the garden of lavender.
"So, let me be your special someone by your side until the right person comes along, Misaka Mikoto…"
(Because Christmas never gave bad things, and Misaka Mikoto had received a very wonderful gift: Kamijou Touma himself…)