Hopefully, you all will continue enjoying this light-hearted story. :)

"Onee-sama…why, why, whyyyy!"

Kuroko had been head banging the table continuously in the past five minutes.

Uiharu and Saten stared in wonder, unsure of what to do.

Kuroko threw herself at the table once again, her wails increasingly louder. "It's all my fault! My tokens of love were not enough to satisfy my beloved Onee-sama! Now she has gone off to a land far, far away, never to return!"

"Shi…Shirai-san…" Uiharu attempted to comfort the hysterical girl. "Misaka-san won't be leaving us! She's only at…"

Saten clapped a hand to Uiharu's mouth. If Kuroko found out that Misaka had a date, she would totally lose it.

Kuroko stopped her crazed whining, giving Uiharu and Saten a look of suspicion. "Onee-sama is only at…?"

"Ah, well, you see," Saten said, "We don't know where…"

Kuroko's fists slammed into the table.

"Saten, Uiharu…" Kuroko's voice was soft and deadly. They watched in fright as her fingers flew towards the metal darts, strapped on a leather band to her thigh. "Where...is...Onee-sama?"

"Oi, Biri-biri."

"Hm?"

"Are you sure about this?"

"Definitely."

"That's great – but why are you trembling?"

Shit. He noticed.

Misaka Mikoto never had a bungee-jumping experience before. It had looked so, so thrilling…

…And now she was stuck in this predicament.

She had insisted that Touma try it out with her, so the both of them had lined up to bungee-jump in pairs. Now they were up next, and Misaka was beginning to panic.

It was supposed to be perfectly safe, so why was fear gnawing on her heart? It made no sense. She was Misaka Mikoto, one of the top Espers in Academy City. She had been through countless battles – and had managed to live so far. This was nothing.

This was supposed to be just as easy. Just as easy. Just…as…easy.

The mantras continued. It was just bungee-jumping. It was just bungee-jumping. Bungee. Jumping. Nothing to be afraid of. Heights. Heights…since when had she been afraid of heights? Hadn't she shot her electricity from the air before?

"Who's scared?" She challenged, glad that her voice did not waver.

"I'm quite sure you are. There's nothing to be embarrassed about."

"I'm not. Shut the hell up!"

Misaka squeaked as he abruptly cupped her face in his palms, hovering dangerously close. "You look like you're about to pass out any moment," he said, observing carefully. "Wait a second, now your face is back to pink…"

This was bad. At this rate, she was going to pass out for real.

"Oi! Are you two going to jump, or do you need someone to shove your ass?" A couple stood behind them, sounding genuinely irritated. They had been standing on the platform, waiting for Misaka and Touma to jump for almost five minutes already.

Touma apologized politely, then turned to her. "Look, it's not too late. We can still choose something el – AURGH!"

Misaka had grabbed his left arm and jumped without saying another word.

She stiffened, feeling the weightlessness take over. Next to her, the user of the Imagine Breaker was yelling at the top of his lungs – probably not from fear, but from surprise. Gravity seemed to be working more efficiently than usual as the ground rushed up to meet her in a threatening, harmful way –

"Biri-biri! Control yourself!"

In her adrenaline-rushed state, Misaka had produced bolts of blue electricity by accident. The sparks flew around wildly, as if interacting with each other in a dance. Touma winced as he heard people gasp and saw them pointing. He had to use his right hand, which meant he had to twist around to grab a hold of her. Their new position was awkward – it was an odd embrace, with Touma having his arms around her.

Still, this was not the time to be screaming about his misfortune. Misaka shifted, seemingly coming to her senses. "Let go of me!"

"I can't. You'll unleash your electricity!"

"Let go of me!"

His only answer was to tighten his embrace around her. Even while freefalling all the way down, Misaka was well aware of how intimate this was – and she didn't know how to handle it.

"Were you ever this tall? All I can see is your shirt!" It was an excuse to free herself from his hold, but it was also true. Her face was pressed against his chest, where she could hear his heart thumping furiously. When he continued to ignore her, she tried again. "Hey! I'm missing out on the view, damn it!"

The wind was whipping her hair, and she was thankful that she had worn pants underneath that skirt of hers –

And, just like that, it was over.

The duo, shaking and trembling from their ordeal, unfastened their safety gear and staggered away. For several minutes, they didn't say anything.

She realized that he was still holding her hand, and decided not to say anything about it.

"What…what the hell was that about?"

"What was what about?" He wore a confused, innocent look.

She didn't know how to ask without the flushed cheeks and arm-wavings. Maybe it was best if she just left it alone, and yet...she wanted to get an answer out from him.

"You – hugged – me."

"Oh, that," Touma scratched his head and shrugged innocently. "I had to. You were unconsciously releasing your electricity, and your right hand was holding my left – so, to use my right hand to negate it, I had to get into that position…"

Misaka sighed. There was a proper reason after all.

So, why on earth was she so…disappointed?

"I'm sorry. Are you all right?" His voice was gentle and earnest. She jumped, unexpected at the sudden apology. Apologizing? What on earth was he apologizing for? It wasn't even him that wanted to try out the bungee-jumping in the first place, it had been her – and she had forcefully dragged him along to endure the torture. If there was anyone that should have apologized, it was her.

She shook her head, forcing a smile. "I'm fine. Let's see what else we can do."

With that, they continued on. Deep inside, Misaka knew she had really enjoyed the feeling of his embrace. Was she ever important to him? Perhaps he thought of her as a child that only knew how to cause trouble. It was a bitter thought, and she hated it.

However, before anymore thoughts could swamp her, a familiar call of "Onee-sama!" rang out.

Misaka cringed. Kuroko was here.

Since Misaka was nervous before her performance in an episode of Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, I figured that she would be nervous during bungee-jumping too - especially with a certain person next to her. :)

Please review and tell me what you think about this chapter! :)

-Anne