On volume 19 of the Index Novels (they're so good!) and I've read through the Liberty Arts City arc for the Railgun side story which will most likely be animated for Railgun S (the second season of Railgun for all those who don't know). Also reading through the Russian demonstration arc which is another Railgun side story set before Mikoto met Uiharu and Saten.
Anyways thanks for the reviews! Hope you enjoy.
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August 7th, 12:27pm
Try as she might, Mikoto couldn't get the image of Kuroko kissing that other girl out of her mind. Even though it was only a peck on the cheek, it was uncharacteristic for her kouhai to show affection to anyone other than herself.
She sighed a little as she gazed off towards the side; why do I even care? she wondered as her shoulders dropped. Her heart was heavy and her stomach uneasy; she felt like she was going to throw up and she just didn't understand why. This should be a good thing. Kuroko moving on from her was a good thing.
So why did she feel so troubled?
"Mikoto?"
Mikoto blinked at the call of her name before turning and giving Touma a small smile, "Yeah?" her voice was quiet as she answered him.
Touma frowned at her, "Your ice cream is melting."
"Oh-oh! Crap," Mikoto switched the cone to her other hand and shook the wet one frantically before reaching into her skirt pocket and pulling out a handkerchief. She paused, suddenly remembering that the cloth she was about to use belonged to Kuroko.
She clenched the handkerchief in her fist before lowering her hand and closing her eyes, why was Kuroko with that other girl?
Mikoto felt Touma's gaze steadily trained on her and dreaded the question she knew was coming.
Before he got the chance to ask, she beamed at him gratefully, "Thanks for hanging out with me today, Touma. I should be heading home."
A look of surprise crossed Touma's features before his eyes narrowed in worry, "Are you okay?"
Mikoto brushed away his concern with a bright-fake-smile, "Yeah, of course. I'm great."
"Hmm…" Touma gazed up into the clear blue sky for a moment as if contemplating something before looking down at her curiously, "That girl with Shirai sure was pretty. Do you think they're dating?"
Touma felt a drop of sweat slide down his cheek as Mikoto's fingers curled into fists, involuntarily crushing the cone and getting ice cream all over her hand and down her blazer jacket in the process.
"Shit." Mikoto quietly cursed as she dropped the pieces onto the ground before covering her eyes with her dry hand, "shit."
Stupid, stupid, she glared unseeingly at the ground, why am I being so stupid?
Touma felt a prickling of concern enter his heart at Mikoto's strange behavior, "Mikoto…" the tone surrounding the call of her name was gentle. He placed a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.
Mikoto stiffened from his touch before relaxing and releasing a soft sniffle, "Shut up. Don't say anything."
"You're jealous," a smile played on Touma's lips when Mikoto reddened before looking away indignantly, "wow, you're really jealous. Does Shirai know that you-"
"I said shut up!"
Touma lifted his hands defensively as a few sparks erupted from Mikoto's temple; he took a cautious step back, "Ano, Misaka-san…?"
Mikoto huffed as she collapsed on the bench behind her before covering her face with both hand, "I'm not jealous."
And she wasn't, she couldn't be. Admitting that she was jealous would mean that there was something to be jealous of and there was no way that Kuroko was interested in that other girl over her. She was Misaka Mikoto, #3 Level 5 Electromaster. The Railgun. There was no way that Kuroko would choose anyone over her.
Red shaded her cheeks at that thought because for fucks sake why did she even care? Sure Kuroko was her best friend and partner but that's all she was. There was no way in hell she was jealous.
So why in the world was she obsessing over this? Besides, wasn't Kuroko supposed to be in love with her? She had nothing to worry about.
Wait…nothing to worry about? Why would I worry in the first place!? GAH THIS IS SO STUPID. Mikoto gritted her teeth before standing quickly, "I'm going to the arcade!"
Touma who was watching her grow angrier each passing moment jumped at her sudden movement, "uh, what?" he asked cautiously.
"I'm in the mood to play some games so I'm going to the arcade," Mikoto repeated with a frown, "Are you coming or not?"
"That depends, are you going to electrocute the games-" he held up his hand automatically to deflect a sudden electric shock before looking down at his slightly shaking palm with a pale expression. It had been a while since Mikoto had last tried to electrify him and it was not a feeling he had missed.
He leveled her with an uneasy stare, "Maybe you should go by yourself…"
"Wha-Touma!"
He sighed as he shook his hand before placing it in his pocket and turning around. He looked over his shoulder and shook his head at Mikoto tiredly, "I understand that you're not ready to admit your feelings but I won't be your punching bag, Mikoto. Call me when you're ready to admit what we both know," he finished with a smile and a wave of his hand.
She gaped at his words before growling and releasing a stream of electricity his way which he dodged at the last minute. Unfortunately it headed towards a few security bots.
"Oh no."
"Uh oh…" Mikoto laughed uncomfortably when the security bots malfunctioned and ran into one another. There was a moment of silence where Touma and Mikoto stared at each other with a look of horror on their faces before a beeping noise sounded in the air.
"Message, Message. Error No. 100231-YF. Offensive electromagnetic waves in violation of the radio laws detected. System malfunction detected."
"Shit," they murmured at the same time before jumping when the security bots began sounding a high pitched alarm before jolting up and spinning around.
"Security threat located. Initiating defense protocol."
"Damn it, Mikoto! Every time!" Touma shouted as he began running away from the bots that were now chasing him, with Mikoto following close beside him.
"Shut up!" Mikoto huffed as she ran next to him, shaking her head in the process, "I know! Shit! I know!"
x
August 7th, 12:04pm
I cannot believe they tricked me! Kuroko's face was glum as she stared at the card in her hand before looking up at the movie theater in front of her. Earlier that day she had managed to track down some supposed friends of the criminals she was searching for and after some persuasive tactics, had managed to convince them that cooperating was in their best interest. They then gave her the address to what she thought was the criminal's headquarters but turned out to be a dead end.
More specifically, a movie theatre in a district she had never personally been to but heard was quite popular. She released a tired sigh before stuffing the piece of paper in her pocket. No matter. I'll reconvene with Uiharu and then-
"Shirai-san!"
Kuroko frowned at the interruption of her thoughts and turned in the direction the voice called from. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw who it was, "Ah, Mikami-san."
Mikami Azusa was a Level 4 Pyrokinetics in her grade. Though they had only had a few conversations, Kuroko had noticed the other girl's eyes tended to drift towards her chest more often than not. Which was understandable since she had finally grown into her personality after all these years.
Mikami-san came to a stop in front of her and graced her with a wide smile, "I never expected to see you here, Shirai-san. What are you doing?"
Kuroko returned Mikami-san's smile with a tired stare, "As you can see from the badge attached to my arm, I am on official Judgment duty."
"I see, patrolling for bad guys," Mikami-san nodded thoughtfully, "I never had the chance to say this before but I think it's great what you all do for our city."
"...really?" Kuroko was surprised to hear that; usually the other girls at the academy simply scoffed or gave condescending giggles whenever she mentioned she was a part of Judgment. This was a nice change.
"Yep," Mikami-san's eyes softened, "You're amazing, Shirai-san."
Kuroko eyes widened once more at the compliment before she quickly straightened her features, "ahem," she coughed lightly, "thank you, Mikami-san. We of Judgment always appreciate the support..." she trailed off when the piece of paper from earlier fell out of her pocket and onto the ground. She sighed before leaning down to pick it up only to have Mikami-san beat her to it.
"Mikami-san-"
"Hey, I know where this is," Mikami-san smiled brilliantly as she stood up from her crouch, "yeah, it use to be right where the movie theatre is but it relocated. Are you looking for it because I can give you the new address."
Kuroko blinked in surprise before smiling, "Yes, thank you! That would be of great help," she pulled out a notepad and a pen from her pocket and listened intently as Mikami-san described the building she was looking for along with the new address.
"Once again, thank you very much, Mikami-san," she felt a lot better than she had a few minutes ago, "with this we're one step closer to closing the case."
Mikami-san continued to smile, "No problem, Shirai-san. I hope you get your bad guy."
Kuroko thanked her again before turning to teleport away only to be stopped by a hand on her wrist. She looked back towards Mikami-san curiously, "Yes?"
"I was just," Mikami-san blushed a little, "I was wondering if you, ah, maybe would want to go out sometime?"
Kuroko blinked, "Like a date?"
"Yeah..."
Kuroko swallowed, "ah..." she lowered her eyes to the ground, unsure how to answer and completely caught off guard. This was the first time someone had expressed an interest in her and it was so unexpected that she was rendered temporarily speechless.
However, no matter how unrequited her love was, her heart belonged to Mikoto and there was nothing she could do to change that, "I am flattered, Mikami-san, however I must decline. I'm in love with someone else."
"I know," Mikami-san released her wrist, not appearing to be the least bit put off despite the rejection, "But I figured it wouldn't hurt to try."
"I am sorry..."
Mikami-san smile grew as she shook her head slowly, "No need to apologize, Shirai-san, you can't help who you love right? Anyways, I hope we can be friends."
Kuroko smiled a little, relieved at the easy acceptance, "Perhaps."
There was a long silence before Kuroko leaned forward to kiss Mikami-san's cheek; it was a tiny bit of an apology and thanks for earlier.
"I really must be on my way now," Kuroko stated as she moved back, "take care, Mikami-san."
"See you at school, Shirai-san."
Kuroko teleported away with one last glance behind her.
x
August 7th, 6:43pm
By the time Mikoto got home that night she was exhausted. After barely escaping from the cleaning bots-Touma had ditched her half way through the chase-Mikoto went to the arcade to release some of her frustrations and the stupid ideas he left in her mind.
It helped her forget for a while before she remembered what it was she was so upset about and nearly electrocuted the punching machine she was mercilessly pounding on. She then wandered around the city with an aura of anger surrounding her that was so noticeable that even the delinquents that would normally try and hit her up gave her a wide berth.
She had somehow ended up at the park where she sat on the swings for an hour simply thinking and despairing over the emotions that ran rampant in her heart before she was distracted by some of the neighborhood kids that accidentally launched a soccer ball at the back of her head.
After playing with them for a while she finally decided to head home when she noticed that the last bus had headed out which meant she had to walk. Though this was a huge inconvenience, it gave her more time to think and when she made it home she had calmed down a little.
Kuroko can do whatever she wants, it's got nothing to do with me, Mikoto closed her eyes as she entered through her front door, carefully depositing her shoes onto the shoe rack before slipping on her slippers, However, I should check out who this other girl is. Kuroko is my best friend, I have to protect her…
Her thoughts trailed off as she walked into her living room and noticed Kuroko curled up on the couch. Brows furrowing in concern, Mikoto unhesitatingly moved over towards her kouhai and crouched down.
"Kuroko?" she frowned at the lack of response before she reached over to place a hand on Kuroko's shoulder and gently shake her.
"Onee-sama…"
A blush rose to Mikoto's cheeks at the soft murmur of her nickname and she was about to answer only to pause when she noticed that Kuroko was still asleep. Mikoto was suddenly reminded of the fact that Kuroko had barely gotten any sleep for the past few nights because of the case she was working on.
Her eyes softened as she smiled before sitting on the floor so that her back leaned against the couch. She sighed as she gazed up at her ceiling.
It had been a while since she and Kuroko had last hung out together without any interruptions and though she probably wouldn't admit it to her, Mikoto missed her best friend.
But more importantly, she was worried about her; Mikoto looked back at Kuroko with another frown, She's running herself ragged trying to solve this case. It would be a lot easier if she just asked me for help that way I could take care of this and she could stop working herself to the point of exhaustion.
Mikoto stood after a minute before wiping her hands on her skirt and turning around so that she could pick Kuroko up in her arms.
The younger girl was surprisingly light and Mikoto was reminded of the last time she carried Kuroko like this was when they were in Liberty Arts city. Kuroko had ended up getting hurt-which Mikoto blamed herself for of course-and she had to figure out a way to get them both back safely considering the fact that they were over a large body of water with no means of transportation.
She was lucky she was able to calculate the particles in the air so that she could create those makeshift, unstable wings that flew them to safety.
Kuroko felt even lighter than she had three years ago and Mikoto felt her heart twinge in worry. Even after all these years she still doesn't know how to moderate herself. How did I get stuck with such a stupid kouhai. Really, making me worry like this...
"...Onee-sama…" Kuroko practically buried herself in her chest and Mikoto released a short, unsteady breath at the unexpected contact. Her ears burned a little as she walked them over to Kuroko's bedroom door.
She grimaced when she saw that the door was closed.
Damn it, if I put her down I might wake her up and then she'll insist that she's fine and work more but I can't open the door with her in my arms!
Mikoto thought about using her electricity to force the door open but figured that would make a lot of noise too. She sighed before reluctantly looking at her door which was across the way.
…I'll just sleep on the couch tonight and she can have my bed. She should be able to have a least one decent night sleep.
A couple of years ago Mikoto would have never allowed Kuroko to sleep in her bed with her permission but they had both grown up a lot in that time and she knew Kuroko wouldn't do anything weird to it.
After a few minutes Kuroko was tucked in and comfy. Mikoto had managed to take off the younger girl's skirt, ribbons and blazer but did no more than that. Though this wasn't the first time she had helped the younger girl change, she couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed, more so than if Kuroko was actually up and teasing her.
She allowed her eyes to roam over Kuroko's vulnerable form-specifically on her exposed stomach seeing as the shirt had ridden up a little-and felt something inside her clench. She gritted her teeth.
"Mou, what is wrong with me?" Mikoto massaged her temples and forced herself to look away. Her face was hot, her hands were clammy and slightly shivering and her chest felt tight, like something was constricting her airway.
She took a deep, sobering breath before tentatively looking at Kuroko again. Kuroko's features had smoothed out in her sleep and her face was relaxed, devoid of the usual mischievousness and seriousness that Mikoto was use to seeing.
The younger girl's skin looked soft and not for the first time, Mikoto noticed how…pretty her kouhai was. No, beautiful. Kuroko was beautiful, especially with her hair down like that and-
Her eyes widened when she realized where her thoughts were heading. She nearly held her head in frustration, "Stupid Touma and his stupid suggestions putting stupid ideas in my head."
Mikoto glowered as she clenched her fist, willing the strange thoughts to stop.
"Mm, I love you…Onee-sama…"
Mikoto's breath caught in her throat at Kuroko's mumbling and her mind momentarily went blank before her cheeks lit up. She covered her mouth to stop the sound that wanted to escape before running out of the room, nearly tripping on her feet.
She did however bang her knee on the coffee table as she made her way into the living room and collapsed on the couch.
This time she did hold her head as she sunk into the cushions. Her heart was beating hard in her chest and she felt like she was going to pass out any moment as she replayed Kuroko's words in her head over and over again.
Though she knew that Kuroko was in love with her, actually hearing it was a different story. She thought she would feel freaked out but the only thing that was coursing through her at this moment was warmth.
She gave herself a few minutes to calm her racing heart before sitting up and leaning back against the cushions tiredly. She swallowed after a moment before reaching into her blazer pocket and pulling out her phone.
Mikoto closed her eyes with a pained expression as she hit speed dial and held the phone up to her ear. She only had to wait a few seconds for the person on the other end to answer before saying, "You were right."
There was a moment of confusion on the other line before Mikoto took a deep breath before timidly repeating herself, "You were right, Touma," she looked over towards her bed room with a frown, "I was jealous and I think…" she returned her gaze to the ground, "I think I might like her back."
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ALSO. Would just like to point out that Mikoto does curse a lot in the novels (in the Railgun side of things not Index because in Index she's like a completely different person)