Chapter 3: Just kiss already...

Welcome back to the story where we eventually kill Touma (possibly) and leave Mikoto without the love of her life (maybe). Buuuut you pretty much knew that from the prologue. Jokes aside, I actually plan a crisis where Touma gets critically injured and possibly even dies. Or maybe I don't. Haha! You gotta Keep guessing! Yay! Also, just a little note, prepare for cussing from Accelerator (Seriously, he's Accelerator. What did you expect?) Now, about that fluff I mentioned last chapter...

Note: I do not own Toaru. Now get off my lawn.


"RUIKO!"

The two looked at each other in shock.

What was she doing here!?

Touma furrowed his brow. This was bad. If they didn't step out, Ruiko Saten's head would be a blood stain on the floor. They needed to comply or else they wo-

CRRRUNCH!

The iron doors were crumpled into a ball and tossed to one side much like one would with a piece of paper. And those doors were at least four inches thick.

Touma and Mikoto slowly turned to see a very pissed off Accelerator glaring at the man who held a young girl in his arms. The man, who was holding a gun to Saten's head, was taken aback. He had expected the door to open and either a flashbang or Anti-Skill to come out, not the doors to pull themselves off the hinges and be crushed by unseen forces. Even more surprising was that there were three MORE kids inside the room.

The man blinked. Since when were kids a stand in for the police?

Accelerator bared his teeth and snarled. He stomped the floor and the man flew back as if kicked in the gut by an elephant, his gun spinning in the air almost comically before landing harmlessly beside Saten.

Sprawled across the ground, man groaned. The kid hit the floor and he just... flew. What? How in the world did he...?

The man didn't get the time to think about it because Accelerator was now standing on top of him with one foot on his chest. The man was sweating behind his mask when accelerator bent down and glared daggers through the clear plastic that separated them. The material might as well have evaporated into thin air.

"Tch, you assholes make me sick. People like you using others to gain their own selfish desires, manipulating others just to get whatever the fucking hell you want. I've had enough of you assholes in my life! Always manipulating things, always coming after me, always trying to get whatever they fucking want out of me..."

Accelerator slowly stood back up and began changing his choker's battery. Every movement was slow and precise, something that, for some reason, made the man under his foot even more uncomfortable. Who was this guy? As the man began to feel panic take over, Accelerator continued with his rant.

"Holding an innocent hostage, tch. That shit is so low it's disgusting. And that means something coming from me, 'cause I've done things that would make grown men barf. I'm so pissed I'd kill you right here and now if there weren't little kids watching, but since there are, I'll just ask you a question..."

Accelerator paused and an audible click sounded in the silence.

Battery change complete.

As the light on the choker turned from green to red, Accelerator reached down and grabbed a hold of the man's suit. Almost effortlessly, he hoisted the man up and off the ground. Accelerator narrowed his eyes at the trembling man inside.

"WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU GET OFF HURTING OTHERS TO GET WHAT YOU WANT!?" Accelerator roared as he full on threw the man across the room and through the opposing wall with a loud crash.

At the sound of the breaking wall, other Skill-Out members came flooding into the room. One person looked at the body that had been shoot through the side of the room.

"T-t-the boss... The boss got taken down!"

"What?"

"Yeah, he's right here lying in a hole through a wall!"

"Who the hell-? I bet those kids over there did it!"

"What are they, espers?!"

"Yeah! Friggin snobs! You had to interfere!"

"Get 'em!"

And with that, they began unloading their guns on the four kids standing in the room.


Accelerator was indifferent to the bullets being shot at him. Honestly, what could they hope to accomplish? All the bullets simply dropped to the floor. Nothing would touch him or pass him. He could stand there and deflect shots for the next half hour.

But there were the other three in the room, all of who had taken convenient cover behind him. If didn't end it now, all it would take was a stray bullet to ricochet off the wall and injure them.

Accelerator sighed. It was a pain, having people you had to be responsible for. Then again, doing nothing but reflect bullets was getting boring. Once again, Accelerator raised his foot...

A spiderweb of cracks appeared in the floor and everyone with a gun was sent flying backward with incredible force.

Taking advantage of the situation, Touma started yelling out commands. Screw doing it alone, they had to get Saten out of here before something bad happened.

"Misaka! Make sure they're down! Accelerator, collapse the hallways and barricade them with rubble! We can't hold out for long if we don't do something!"

Mikoto nodded and shocked the gunmen on the ground, twice for good measure. No matter how annoying it was that Touma was calling out shots, any way she sliced it he was right. She turned to Accelerator, who had sealed off the entrances to the room. Touma nodded his approval and put a hand to his ear.

"Tsuchimikado! you there?"

"Yeah, whaddup Kami?"

"Get Anti-Skill. Tell them to keep Judgement outside of the building but set up a perimeter around the facility."

"Sure thing. By the way, when did you start speaking like a military official?"

"Just do it!"

"Okay, okay. Relax, I'm on it. Wait... OK, looks like word of your little scuffle inside got out. They're pulling the van around to the front. More people are coming out, and they're carrying what looks like... bombs."

"Bombs!?"

"Relax, they aren't big. It seems like they plan to use them to clear out the halls you guys blocked off. They don't seems to have too many, so I'd assume that they won't just go busting through walls recklessly."

Touma furrowed his brow. This could mean trouble. Accelerator didn't have enough charge left in his choker to deal with them by the time they got here. They needed to-

"Oh, before you go running off and do something you might regret, it would be worth noting that they started setting up some kind of sound system. Anyways, I'll try and get Anti-Skill for you. You're on your own until they get here."

Just brilliant. The sound system was probably for Capacity Down, the ability disrupting system. Touma had heard about the sound program from Misaka and even encountered it once in the back alleys of District 19, although the person who used it against him had expected him to be an esper and not a Level 0, so he hadn't actually seen its effects first hand. But if what he had heard about it was true, they had to escape before it was set up...


Saten's head was swimming as she tried to take stock of the situation. She had followed the group of three to District 10, saw them meet with a blond haired boy, and then run off into a large research facility. She had snuck in through the same back door they had and was trailing them, but lost them when they turned a corner and seemingly disappeared. Next thing she knew, she was grabbed from behind, dragged through the facility, set down in front of some doors with a gun pointed at her head, and insultingly called small (the nerve of that guy!).

The next part was even more confusing. The metal doors in front of her crumpled into balls and behind them were her three friends. Suddenly the man was no longer next her but behind her. The white-haired boy started talking, then roared which seemed to throw the man through the wall. There was more voices, loud bangs, and a certain boy standing between her and the bangs with bullets falling to the ground next to him like rain. The banging stopped, lightning flashed, and then Kamijou was talking to thin air. What was going on?

Now Misaka was picking up the ball that had been one of the doors. A flash of light and several consecutive crashes later, there was a series of identical holes in the walls of the building that led straight outside. Kamijou started arguing with with Misaka, and Accelerator joined in. Did these people always do this? Man, she was going to need to spend a lot more time on those online forums...


"What on Earth where you thinking?!"

"I was making of a way out!"

"You're crazy! You could bring down the building!"

"Don't worry, I didn't fire it full force."

"That's still crazy!"

"Will you two SHUT UP!" Accelerator butted in. "If you haven't noticed, it's already late in day! I don't want to have to explain extra shit to Yomikawa!"

"She's already coming with Anit-Skill, so quit your bawling." Mikoto retorted.

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN. I WANT TO FINISH HERE. GOT IT?"

"Accelerator has a point Misaka. Crazy or not, we need to get out of here before Capacity Down is set up! Let's go!"

Misaka nodded in agreement. She did create a giant hole in the side of a building for a reason. Grabbing Saten, she followed the boys outside.

Unfortunately, they emerged from the building and into a waiting group of Skill-Out.

"There they are!"

"You think you can run away that easily?"

"Yeah, did you really think we wouldn't see a giant explosion in the side of the building?"

"Little brats, you ruined our plan. Now you're gonna pay!"

"Yeah that's right. Did you really think that we wouldn't be prepared for espers? Play the music Takashi!"

Touma felt a new rush of adrenaline down his spine. If Misaka and Accelerator didn't leave, they could be in trouble. He had to do something before the audio file was played!

"Accelerator! Get Saten and Misaka out of here! Now!" Touma yelled. His voice brooked no uncertainty; it was a command, not a request.

Accelerator knew what was going on and he wasn't about do anything irrational. He grabbed the two girls and leaped into the air and away from the confrontation with his ability.

At least, he meant to take two girls.

Mikoto pushed out of accelerator's grip and landed next to Touma before Accelerator could gain height. As the Number One sailed away, she yelled at him not to turn back.

That idiot! Why is he trying to do it alone!? They have guns! Mikoto thought. Even if Capacity down was activated, she could still do one last thing...

"What are you doing!?" Touma yelled.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Even as the boy beside her called out and the air around them began to fill with a high pitched wail, the Railgun activated her powers to do one last task to help her friend. Her hands glowed blue as the guns in her enemy's hands flew through the air and landed at her feet. At least now he wouldn't have to worry about those anymore. As knives, pistols, and rifles finished depositing themselves in a neat pile in front of her, she felt the effects of the Capacitor Down take effect. A small buzz in the base of her skull that quickly spread to the front of her forehead and increased to acute pain. Slight nausea and extreme vertigo made themselves glaringly present as she began to crumple to the floor. As her vision began to blur and and the world turned sideways, she managed to smile through the pain at her friend she cared for so much.

She fell into a semi-conscious state, writhing on the floor and clutching her head in pain, moaning and crying her discomfort. As she endured the torment of the sound, one thought permeated through her barely functioning mind:

win, Touma.


After what seemed an eternity, Mikoto slowly regained her senses as she realized they weren't being assaulted anymore. Her ears and eyes slowly adjusting to the light around her as the pain faded form her head. She was lying on the floor, but strangely her head wan't on the ground.

A quick look around and she confirmed that she was resting on Touma's lap. The boy's blue eyes looked her body over, examining her for injuries. Noticing her open eyes, he smiled at her warmly, a smile he always gave her when she was unhappy or upset.

Mikoto blushed weakly. She was tired and mentally felt like her brain had been put through a blender and then baked, but even with her weary mind he still made her heart tick. She wanted to run and hide, grow wings and fly away, or crawl into a hole and hide. But she was too weak at the moment to even attempt any of those things.

She settled for turning her head and hiding her face in his shirt. As cute and romantic (or so it seemed to her) that the action was, it was the best way to hide her red cheeks.

Still, it was nice. She remembered the day two years ago when she had held his head in a similar way. It was almost like fate, both of them finding themselves in these situations. He cared about her, going out of his way to help her sisters and also doing what he could to protect Academy City and by extension, her. What girl wouldn't throw themselves at him? That boy, such a dense person and yet so perceptive of others. Why couldn't he understand how she felt about him?

She peeked out of his shirt and at him. Battered and bruised, the boy was a sight. But there he was, smiling his gentle smile at her as if it all were nothing. He was a real hero... her hero...

The sound of Anti-Skill sirens filled the air, Misaka silently thanking them for saving her from going into the mushy part of her imagination. Touma carefully got up and helped the shaken 16 year-old to her feet. Even with the headache gone, she still felt uneasy on her feet. This was the fifth time she had endured Capacity Down in the past three years, and she still never got used to its effects.

Cars and vans pulled up and Anti-Skill personnel began pouring out, Judgement members in the area joining them. As the wave of cops quickly began working their way through the area doing their job, Touma was stopped by an officer. The man asked for identification and then Touma fumbled through his left pocket and brought out his wallet, opening it and showing it to the officer. The officer took a look, and immediately bowed his head and pointed to a parked van. Touma nodded his thanks and carried him and Mikoto to the awaiting vehicle.

Upon reaching the van, two guards stopped him. Again, Touma showed them his wallet and they were admitted in. Misaka glanced at the wallet in curiosity. What was he showing them?

Touma carried the weary girl into the van and sat her down on a wall seat inside. He then moved forward and addressed the Anti-Skill woman already there. It was their school gym teacher, Yomikawa Aiho.

"Hi, Yomikawa-sensei"

"Hello Kamijou. I should have known you would be here. You kids, always getting into things. Anyways I'll make this quick, I'll need a report on Monday when you come back to class instead of now because you guys seem tired. Just drop it off at the teacher's office. As for Misaka here..."

"Don't worry, I'll cover her in my report. Can we get a ride back to the dorm? Misaka's been through a lot today."

"I can do that. But first, you're gonna need medical attention for those bruises. Is that a knife cut?"

"Hehe, Yeah. One of them tried to cut me with a plastic knife. But it's only a scratch, so you don't need to worry."

"If you say so. I'll pull the car around, Yamato will help you with your wounds in the meantime." Yomikawa spoke into a radio then exited the van.

To Mikoto, the conversation barely registered. She was so tired. She just wanted to go back to her dorm, maybe eat something-

"Onee-sama! Where are you~?"

Mikoto immediately jerked up. In a panic, she scrambled to the back of the van and shut the doors. More stress from Kuroko was NOT something she needed right now!

Where was that car?!


Elsewhere in District 7...

On a screen, Touma fought a hoard of Skill-Out members trying to assault him with their fists. One by one, the thugs fell to the floor as the boy threw punch after punch.

As the video played, its watcher smiled. He was a slim man with white hair, floating upside-down weightlessly in a tube filled with a mysterious orange tinted liquid. Aleister Crowley smiled as we watched the video play on a screen on the side of his tank.

The Imagine breaker is developing nicely, Crowley thought. Soon I can begin my plans to-

The Academy City director was interrupted as another screen appeared, covering the previous one displaying the video. Aleister Narrowed his eyes.

The screen displayed a report of an anomaly in information in the city. This was about a spatial distortion, one that occurred above the city at an altitude of 8,000 meters. Spatial distortions were not uncommon in Acaedemy city as espers like teleporters and Kakine Tetitoku created them whenever they used their powers. But the massive observation network that Crowley had pieced together wouldn't simply generate an alert every time one of them used an ability.

No, this report was about an anomaly in the information processed.

Aleister read the report further. It read that a small distortion was detected above the city as if someone had teleported either from or to that area. However, no mass was displaced into the spot where the distortion occurred, unlike what would normally happen when an object or entity was teleported. It definitely wasn't Teitoku, because the distortions caused by his ability were prolonged. This one lasted less than 0.5 seconds, similar to teleportation. But it couldn't be that because teleportation, by nature, caused two distortions, one at the "departure site" and an one at the destination and there was no other distortion in the city within a time frame of 2.286 seconds before or after the event, the longest time delay between a teleporter's "jump" and "landing".

After pondering the situation, Crowley decided to dismiss the alert. The sensor that detected the anomaly could be damaged or broken. However, he saved the report information. It couldn't hurt to keep tabs on this interesting development.

The man closed the screen and continued with his video...


The car ride was a nice alleviation from the crazy events that had transpired today. Between causing about 2,400,000 yen in damage, getting her mental calculations forcibly scrambled, and stressing over hiding from her obsessive former roommate, Mikoto really just wanted to eat some dinner and sleep. It was already late in the afternoon, and Mikoto just wanted to retire for the day.

The girl snuggled into her seat in the back and sighed. It would be awhile before they reached the dorm areas. Bored, she turned to the front of the car and listened in on her friend's conversation with their gym teacher.

"...I know it's going to be next to impossible to get Accelerator to talk, so do you mind telling me his part in all this?"

"Well, He really helped out with keeping the guys off us. And he also saved a hostage held at gun point."

"That Saten girl, right? I heard about her when I picked up Uiharu and the Last Order. My my, looks like the boy is picking up interest in girls, wouldn't you say?"

"I guess..." Touma answered hesitantly. From the albino's rant eariler, it seemed more like a personal vendetta than female infatuation.

"Speaking of girls, I didn't know you two finally got together."

"What!?" The two teens exclaimed.

"You don't need to hide it. I mean, I saw you two together at the site, holding her head in your lap..."

"HE/SHE ISN'T MY BOY/GIRL FRIEND!" The two cried out, both blushing a deep red.

"Ahaha! If you guys say so..." The teacher laughed. It was so obvious they were made for each other. Young love was so much fun to watch...


"Thank you, Yomikawa-sensei" The two high schoolers thanked the teacher.

"Not a problem. Rest up, you had a big day." Yomikawa cheerily replied as she drove off.

And then two were left together in front of Touma's dorm.

Or rather, their dorm.

Mikoto had moved into a room above the floor he lived on when she had graduated from Tokiwadai. Touma was ironically fortunate enough to secure her a space by talking to the building manager when he heard about Misaka's enrollment at his school. But for some reason she had yelled at him then chased him around the city when she found out. Nevertheless, she moved in. She also made it very clear that she didn't want Kuroko knowing where she lived. As odd as it was, Touma decided it was none of his business to know the reason for her specifications.

Touma looked at his watch. It was right around dinner time, and he actually had food in his refrigerator...

"Hey Misaka. Do you wanna eat dinner at my place tonight?"

The words took a few seconds to sink in.

"EEEHHH!?"

Mikoto stood there shocked at what she had just been asked. He just asked her to go to his place... He was INVITING her to his home! Ok, ok, she had been to his room before, it shouldn't be a big surprise that he was inviting her. Yeah, no big deal! But then again, she had never been there for a meal... alone with... him... in his house...

Images of a fancy dinner in a candle lit room flashed across her mind. There he was with his blue eyes and heart-melting smile, dressed in a formal suit and a towel over his arm, serving her a criminally delicious cut of beef and a glass of champagne... It didn't help that the background was pink with hearts on it.

Wait a minute...

GAH! What was she thinking! There would be no fancy steak dinner with a ridiculously handsome Kamijou Touma tonight! It would be strictly instant dinners dinners from a microwave. He probably didn't mean anything by it anyway. Yes! He would be too dense to try a romantic dinner with her! Why was she worried?!

"Umm, hello? I asked if you wanted to eat dinner at my place."

"Yes! I will eat a non-romantic dinner with you!" Misaka shouted, flustered by her own thinking and bright pink in the face.

"What? Geez, a simple yes would do. And you didn't need to yell. Well, I guess if you're really hungry it can do strange things to you." Touma said as he walked to the elevator.

"Wait, aren't you going to the convenience store?" Misaka inquired as they boy held open the door for her.

"Nah, I don't need to. I've got enough stuff to cook a meal for both of us."

'He's...cooking?' Mikoto panned as the elevator doors closed. Her illusion of microwave meals were shattered and visions of a steak dinner reappeared.


Mikoto sat at Touma's chabudai, staring at the boy in the kitchen. Touma was still at the stove cooking something, leaving Mikoto to brood over her situation in peace for a few minutes.

The electromaster wore a face almost as expressionless as her sisters. Mainly because she couldn't decide what on emotion she felt.

Was she disappointed that there was no slab of cooked cow on her plate?

Or was she happy she was eating a home-cooked dinner with her crush?

Really, she was too tired to care about how irrational her thoughts were. What she did care about was that she was eating Touma's cooking for the first time. But why hadn't he surprised her with an amazing dinner? Then again, he did have a budget. Also, what kind of food could an idiot like him cook? How well could he cook? Mikoto couldn't help but feel apprehensive about what was awaiting her. Sure, she really had no standard for him because she had never had his food before, but with his budget what could she really expect? The brunette looked to the boy tending to the pot on the stove, wondering what the dense idiot could possibly be thinking about having a girl over. He probably had no thoughts about how lucky he was...

Touma's calm demeanor belied the frothing stew of emotions (or were they hormones?) that was boiling in the back of his mind. He had always been good at hiding his innermost thoughts, but this scenario just might make him boil over. Contrary to popular belief, Touma was VERY aware of the human lightning-in-a-bottle sitting in his room. It is impossible for a healthy young boy not to notice when one of his close friends of the opposite gender (and one that you see on a regular basis) starts to... well... blossom. In two short years, Mikoto had grown almost a full head taller and somehow acquired an aura of beauty that rivaled her mother, bust and all. To make thing worse, Touma felt like he was seeing more leg skin every day, no thanks the the girl's preference for short skirts. The dinner invitation was innocent in itself; nothing more than an offering to help a friend and a way to get rid of food that would otherwise go to waste. But his hormones acting up like this was never part of that picture. He couldn't tell if it was misfortune for feeling this way, or good luck for having such a pretty girl over.

Not an easy thing to decide when you really only have about three years of life experience to go on. (Thank you, memory wipe)

'Oh well, no use pining over it now,' Touma thought while forcing the thought from his brain, time to get the food on the table. Hopefully she doesn't zap me for bad cooking...

"Dinner's ready! Hope you like it."

Touma took out a couple plates and laid the table, putting the dishes out in front of Misaka. The girl raised an eyebrow at the food.

In front of her was a bowl of miso soup, a plate of fried chicken, and a large helping of curry on rice.

'Huh. Seems pretty standard. Then again, I never really cook for myself so I should be grateful he's gone through the trouble...' Misaka thought

"Thanks. Itadakimasu!" Mikoto said as she dug in.

"Itadakimatsu." Touma echoed. He help his chopsticks in hand, but didn't touch his food as he watched Misaka take a bite of the chicken, studying her face for a reaction...

Mikoto chewed her piece of fried poultry and swallowed. Then she exploded.

"Omaigosh! You cooked this?! You didn't take this out of a microwave, did you?!"

"No."

"You're lying!"

"No, I'm not..." Touma said. Oh no, she thinks it's terrible and is gonna kill me now. Just back away slowly...

"This. Is. Amazing! I never knew you could cook so well! This is so good! And this soup-" slurp "-tastes better than most restaurants! And don't even get me started on the curry and-" chomp "-rice! It's so delicious!"

"Umm, I take it you don't normally eat food this good." Touma commented, seeing the Railgun hungrily eating her food.

"Are you kidding me?! I've been heating take-outs in the microwave for dinner ever since I graduated from Tokiwadai! Oh this is so amazing! I can't get enough!"

"Well, if you want I can cook dinner for you."

Mikoto suddenly stopped her mad scramble to get gold covered rice into her mouth.

"Wat?"

"Yeah! I mean, ever since Index left I've been buying too much food for just me. It won't be a problem to cook for you too."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Then yes! I would love it!" The girl answered excitedly. 'I get to eat Touma's delicious food? Every night? Oh yes! Sign me up!'

"Great, glad you enjoy it that much!" Touma smiled. Another person helped, than made him happy.

The two smiled at each other for a bit. Then it hit them both like a building thrown by Accelerator.

'Wait, every night? Here? Alone? With Touma?' Mikoto mentally flushed.

'Hold on, did I just invite a pretty girl to my apartment every night? Why does that bother me?' Touma thought.

They two slowly turned to eat their meals.

Ten minutes later the plates were empty and not a word had been said between them since. Mikoto because she was embarrased, Touma because his man senses told him something was off in this situation.

"..."

The two awkwardly stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity.

"Soo..." Kamijou drawled, trying to break the ice.

"Yeah..." Mikoto answered, confirming it hadn't cracked in the slightest.

"..."

"..."

Another round of staring.

"I'm... tired" Mikoto tried.

"Yeah, me too." Touma returned.

"So, I should get going..."

"Yeah! Big day today. I mean, Capacitor Down and all."

"Right! So... Thanks for the food I guess"

"You're welcome! No problem! So... tomorrow?"

"Yeah... Tomorrow..."

And with that Mikoto left. Touma sighed; that was really awkward. He picked up the dishes and put them in the sink. He touched the bandage on his face absentmindedly.

'I get the feeling something big happened in front of me and I just missed it.'

Touma shrugged and washed the dishes, putting them on the rack to dry. He was about to prepare for a shower when his door bell rang. Touma opened the door wondering who could it be.

The door opened to reveal a red-faced Biribri who look somewhat uncomfortable. Before Touma could even comment, the girl spoke.

"Uhh... Well, it's like this. I kind of lost my room keys at the fight so I'm locked out. I was wondering... if I could... y-you know... s-s-stay over... " The Electromaster stuttered.

"Um... Sure..." Touma answered. Instantly, his man-instincts started screaming. Something about him sheltering this particular girl. Why? He had no idea.

Really, thanks a lot Memory Loss.


IT'S FINALLY DONE! YESH! AHAHAHAH! 5000 WORDS! I FEEL LIKE A GOD! All kidding aside seriously: five thousand words.
Anyways, I'm reeeeeelllllly sorry for the late update. School has been tying me down really bad, so I've had minimal time to work on this. Don't worry, I'll still write chapters, hopefully every week. I'll try to keep the output of chapters consistent from now on. Just some tidbits for you guys to look forward to: I am planning a Daihasei Festival mini-arc for this story and I am already working on a draft for the Kuroko story. Look forward to those chapters in the future! Besides that, next chapter we explore what happened to Saten and Accelerator and the mysterious event that caught Aleister's attention! YAY!

As always, leave a very much appreciated review and PM me if you have ANY ideas for the story.

-Shuriken