Disclaimer: The author of the fanfiction (babbler) does not, in any way, profit from the story and that all creative rights to the characters belong to their original creator.

"I've heard so many good things about you." A young man dressed totally in black with an equally dark trench coat was standing in the dim light of the alley.

"I've had a long night. Why don't you crawl back into the sewer where you belong, "Mikoto said without an ounce of emotion in her voice. "There's a reason they call me Railgun and you aren't going to like it."

"I look forward to the challenge." He stepped forward and bowed. Particles were dancing in the light like gently falling snow near his body.

Why does it always wind up like this? I was just walking to the dorms from the hospital…

Mikoto didn't exactly know where she was. She had just kept on walking after she had left Saten and Uiharu. Her stomach felt like a big bag of acid with rocks or lumps, or something, gestating in it. Her ailing digestive track she could manage, but that stabbing feeling in her chest didn't seem like it was going away anytime soon; the single topic swirling around her mind didn't help that.

Kuroko looked like death when she had walked in the room. There was just something about her waxy translucent skin that made her shiver. The spider web like bruises from, where the electricity had travelled through her body, didn't help matters.

She never did like scary things but haunted houses, and the like, did not bother her. However, Kuroko was a living breathing...and suddenly she was on the ground in the drizzling rain with Kuroko smouldering in front of her. She paused mid step causing a large man to nearly bowl her over.

"Watch where you're going you little tart," he sneered at her, looking down his nose.

Mikoto ignored him and started walking again. The accident probably wouldn't have happened in reverse. Despite Kuroko's perversions, she had yet to accidentally harm her and she had done a lot of things. She shuttered, "a lot" was almost British in its understatementness.

She had done some...questionable things before but the little gremlins in her mind that drew up her moral and ethical guidelines weren't letting her live this one down. She had always been so careful not to seriously hurt anyone in all her battles, and yet, Kuroko…her friend was in the hospital.

Mikoto shook her head and slapped herself. It was stupid to dwell on this. I'm NEVER going to make this mistake again and dwelling on this isn't going to make Kuroko better, so maybe if I just talk to Konori-sempai or Uiharu it'll help me feel a little better...Saten-even.

Yes. She clapped her hands together. I'm just going to walk to Uiharu's dorm and talk to her.

"Crud." I think my subconscious is trying to tell me something...she realized with a jolt she was standing immediately in front of Touma's apartment. Somehow she had walked there without really thinking about it.

It was warm and muggy and the sun was striking the side of her face making things even more uncomfortable as she stood stone still wondering if she should knock on the blockhead's door. She didn't really want to knock but she was here and maybe he'd apologize properly for throwing that garbage can in her face. She sighed; he'd probably be too jumpy to talk to her. She did, after all, try to zap him every time they met.

"Ohhh. Hiyaa!"

"Hello…" Mikoto slowly turned her head to the chipper voice that had appeared beside her.

There was a girl sitting and spinning on one of those cleaning robots. Her grin reached from ear to ear and she had a twinkle in her eye that she just didn't like.

"Touma-san is adding to his harem…"

"What? I'm not part of his harem! He doesn't have a harem!"

"Then why are you standing there all lovestruck and sweating in front of his door if this isn't an heartfelt confession?" She continued to spin and smile in equal amounts.

"I…I..just need to talk to…him. That's all." There's just going to be me and him alone in his room. Mikoto blushed hard. "It's not like I like him or anything."

"Hmm…tsudere type. Good choice," she mumbled, narrowing her eyes at Mikoto.

"What?"

"Bye! Have funnnnnnn!" She waved as she rolled down the empty walkway.

What the heck? She turned her attention back to the door hoping no other weirdos would show up.

After standing there for what seemed like eternity, she finally knocked, and the door crept open slowly just from the force. The smell of sweat, rotten fruit, and curry hit her square in the face and she closed her eyes, cringing just at the thought of what was to come. This was a man's apartment after all…a man…Touma's a man. She blushed.

"Sorry to intrude." She shrugged off her blush and knocked on the door again, pushing it the rest of the way open.

Index and Touma were sitting on his bed amongst the messy coverings. Touma, clad only in boxers, looked uncomfortable. Index was glowering at him out of the corner of her eye and trying to hold her robes together.

"Umm...am...am...I... interrupting something?"

"What? Of course not!" Touma's cheeks glowed red. "Wait a minute...I told you already that I didn't want to fight you...please please don't wreck my apartment."

"I'm not going to wreck your apartment!" The floor was covered in crumbs and what she could only hope were more crumbs. She pulled a foot out of her shoe and took a tentative step into his apartment. Little bits of debris that felt like popcorn kernels crunched under foot as she walked to the kotatsu. She shuddered her big toe met something wet that soaked through her sock and something sticky was attached to her left heel. She stared down hard at the kotatsu…there was no way she was sitting in this room even with shorts under her skirt.

"Um…so what do you want?" Touma asked. He was watching Index out of the corner of his eye. Index was blushing, or maybe it was the heat, brightly, and stirring uncomfortably in her robes.

"I didn't come here for that...I just wanted to ta...ta..."

Aisha walked out of the kitchen holding three plates of curry and rice; two plates piled a little higher than the other. Mikoto face turned into a neon red light. Aisha's legs were bare…her sides were bare…and her back was bare. "Hada…hada…ha..Hadka apron! I'm leaving." She walked away straight legged like a toy soldier.

"Wait...come back! The AC is out! It's not what it looks like!" There was a crash and a yelp of pain from Touma; Mikoto just kept walking. She didn't really want to see the intricacies of Touma's harem.

Mikoto sighed. She definitely wasn't expecting that from Touma and now she'd have to wait until the next day to talk to anyone...Kuroko should be out of the hospital at least by then.

Why couldn't it have been Touma that jumped at me…he could handle it! A convenience store was just ahead and she walked towards it hoping to lose herself in manga. Kuroko didn't like her doing that but nobody got hurt from her glancing through a comic or twenty? The store gained since she wasn't going to buy anyway and she'd usually buy a snack in one form or another.

"Hey hot stuff! You should hang out with us." She didn't look but she could see a large male and his cronies hovering in the shadows of the alley adjacent to her. She read somewhere that the hottest days of summer usually correlated with the most crime but couldn't remember if it was a study or an anecdotal report from a cop. It made sense anyway, who'd be out chasing her skirt when it was cold enough to freeze the b…

"You deaf? I told you to hang out with us." He put his arm around her and in the process pressing his damp, damp, disgustingly damp underarm into her neck and shoulders. "I'll make sure you haves a good times." With a move of his hips, he turned their bodies toward the alleyway.

"And I'll make sure you light up like a Christmas tree if you don't move your arm." She stopped suddenly but the brute hauled her forward. What if I accidentally kill them?

"You think I'm scared of…"

"Level 5, Electromaster, Railgun…5…4…3," she gave a little jolt to emphasize her point. "…2…"

"Okay okay." He swaggered back to his friends. "Bitch."

"What did you say!"

"Bitch…slut…whore…whatever word yous think suits yous best." He made a weird face, scrunching his eyebrows together and stuck out his tongue. "Have yous heard those words living in your crystal mansion?"

There was pain shooting up through her hands and looking down she realized she was wringing her fists so hard that her palms were just about bleeding. She looked back up at the delinquents. They just tried to pull me off somewhere and now…

"…it means yous likes taking it in all your holes. I bet ye's so loose it's like throwing a trashcan down an alleyway." They all started laughing and clapping each other on the back as if it were the greatest insult in the history of insults.

She turned to start leave but there were suddenly several more people standing in front of her.

"Get out of my way." Mikoto tried her most serious look.

"Better move guys. Railgun is so scary!" They erupted in laughter again.

The group in front of her was mumbling about something. She hadn't noticed it before, but there were a few girls in the group and they were smiling at her like her classmates were this morning. They quieted for a second as they all turned to look at her.

"Did you really try to kill your girlfriend?"

"What? She's not my…"

"Oh yeah! If she tries anything with us, then anti-skill will string her up. Off to a lab for some tests."

"Don't think that that'll stop me from shocking you morons." She scanned the group. It looked like the type of people to have priors, but even so, would anti-skill believe she was just trying to defend herself? What if one of them had a heart condition or something wrong with their nervous system and they died…it be an accident but to die just from calling someone a few names was a few qualifiers above an harsh punishment.

"How long before I kill someone by accident?" She mumbled under her breath, placing her hand against her stomach. She was sweating now.

"When some bitch cheats on you, you need to go out and have a good time." One of the bigger males puffed out his chest and took a few steps toward her. "Come out with us and well show you around town."

"I've been here for years. I don't need your help." The entire group jumped in unison as Mikoto pushed a piece of hair behind her ear.

"We…we…we'll make….sure you have a good time. Maybe experience some things you've never heard about stooped up in your ivory tower."

"Experiences…like an hard coc…"

"I can do more things than shock." Fine black particles began swirling around Mikoto's hands. The iron sand she had pulled from the potholes and cracks in the well-worn pavement of the alley. "Only a couple of people even know I can do this…so I doubt anyone will suspect…" She chopped the garbage can at her side in two.

Mikoto walked forward dragging her screeching blade along the alley wall. They parted without a word, avoiding eye contact but watching the swirling mass of iron intensely, quivering at every movement.

"Slu…" And he dropped to the ground smoking, fingers of electricity swirling around his body.

Mikoto looked at her outstretched hand and then the body in front of her.

Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead.

She dropped to her knees. He wasn't moving. He wasn't breathing. She crawled forward watching him intently…

"Arggg! That hurts!" He jumped to his feet and ran into the alley screaming.

She twitched and slumped to the ground….I need a soda.

It was dark now as Mikoto stepped out of the store into the dim light. The convenience store she found had quite a few manga she needed to catch up on and the cashier was dumb or oblivious. Either way it suited her purpose. She felt a little better now. Her stomach wasn't an acidic mess and the monkey on her back must have gotten bored and scurried away. She stretched… she definitely felt better somehow.

It was way past curfew. There was going to be the wringing of a scrawny neck when she got back and she didn't want to think about it. She started running at a slow jog; the later it was the worse the punishment would be.

Mikoto stopped by an alley and clasped her hands, "Please let no idiots impede my path." She stared up into the overcast sky for a few seconds. A drop of rain splashed onto her nose, "I wonder what that means?" She jogged into the darkness….

"I've heard so many good things about you." A young man dressed totally in black with an equally dark trench coat was standing in the dim light of the alley.

"I've had a long night. Why don't you crawl back under whatever rock you crawled out from under. Mikoto said without an ounce of emotion in her voice, "There's a reason they call me Railgun and you aren't going to like it."

"I look forward to the challenge." He stepped forward the bowed. Particles were dancing in the light like gently falling snow near his body.

I can't underestimate him but…maybe if I scare him.

He rolled out of the way as electricity lit up the hallway.

"I'm not in a good mood tonight." Mikoto watched as he peaked timidly from behind a dumpster.

"I just want a match against the…Argg." Another streak of electricity narrowly missed his face.

"Can't you take a hint? I'm missing on purpose."

"Alrighty then! Lets get this show on the road!" He jumped from his hiding place with his arms in the air. "Get ready! Here it…" He dropped to the ground as a garbage can slammed into his face. "Okay okay!" He scurried into a side alley and ran full speed down it's length; arms and legs swinging like crazy. "You've not heard the last of…." He ran some more and stopped just before going out onto an adjacent street. "Me!"

What the heck was that?

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