とある文化の祭り

Toaru Bunka no Matsuri

A Certain Festival of Culture

An empty lot, accessible only by alleys and hidden in the shade of the surrounding buildings, was currently the site of a meeting taking place between a group of thirty or so people. Such a dank, miserable place steeped in sin was hardly the place one would imagine a meeting taking place, but when you considered the people who were in attendance it became a lot more believable.

The thirty people looked like trouble with their dyed hair, slanted eyes fixed into permanent glares, and general attitude. Trouble was an accurate word to describe them as well. They were part of Skill Out, or what was left of it anyway. The once powerful organization had crumbled into dozens, maybe hundreds of splinter groups, and this was one of them.

They were currently discussing methods for robbing as many people as possible in the upcoming Ichinensei festival.

"The plan's completely foolproof," The leader, a massive muscled man with a dyed blond pompodour, chuckled after filling his men in on his brilliant idea.

"There is one problem," a voice spoke up.

The man frowned at the voice of insubordination as he turned towards it growling, "And what would that be." He froze as he beheld the source of the voice, a young girl wearing a Tokiwadai uniform, her auburn hair in two pigtails with several locks dangling over one of her eyes. Normally such a person would be disregarded as insignificant at least and a victim at most. But this girl was notorious, infamous... this girl was the Scourge.

"The problem is me," she grinned as she cracked her knuckles, "you see, your plan may be foolproof but I am no fool and no plan concocted by lowly criminals like you is scourge-proof."

There was a brief pause of several seconds. Then, all of a sudden, as if a gunshot had been fired at a racetrack, they all began running at once. A few of the thirty ran towards Kuroko, unimpressed by the girl and sure they could beat her. The others were smarter, scattering to each and every one of the alleys that lead to an escape route.

Then all of a sudden massive boulders appeared in front of all the alleys except one, blocking any escape. Kuroko then teleported forward, right at the entrance of the center alley, causing the ones who were attempting to escape through that route to screech to a halt. She waited until the thirty delinquents had all turned to look at her and summoned her axe into her hand.

She twirled the axe lazily in her fingers as she smiled. "Now here's the thing.. as much as I'd love to hurt you guys, you haven't actually done anything wrong yet. I could probably get you on conspiracy to commit larceny, but that's a lot of work and not much punishment. So I'm going to be merciful and let you go." Kuroko stated before her voice dropped to a lower, far more threatening register, "However if you do anything to disrupt the festival you can bet I will not be so kind." She swung the axe forward, embedding it into the hard stone beneath her in a way that got her point across perfectly.

It took an immense amount of effort to keep from laughing as all thirty of the gangsters fled from the place, many of them crying out for a deity or their mothers as they ran. Kuroko followed the last one out with a smile, the axe stored back in her horn, its intimidating nature useful when facing down thugs but counterproductive when walking around the streets trying to help ordinary people.

"A few more appearances here and there and word of the scourge's return should spread. That'll give me a few days of peace I'm sure," Kuroko murmured to herself, "I can't allow my friends' time with their families to be ruined by a few ne'er-do-wells."

"Somehow I had a feeling I'd find you here, at the tail end of two dozen fleeing delinquents. Not many people I know have that effect," A familiar voice reached Kuroko's ear. She looked up to see who it was and smiled.

"Agent Aiho, a pleasure to see you again," she responded politely.

Aiho raised an eyebrow, "I have to say it's nice to see you again as well. I had heard rumors that you had gone missing. It is good to see you safe and sound. However that doesn't mean that I can just excuse your behavior. You have been warned many times against going on these, whatever you call them. If you do not stop immediately I'm afraid I'm going to have to report you again."

A grin alighted upon Kuroko's mouth as she shook her head gently. "Tsk, tsk, tsk," she tutted as a small piece of material appeared in her hand and was tossed towards Aiho, who caught it deftly, "That's an awfully rude way to talk to a superior, agent. I am willing to forgive it this time but you might wish to be a little more careful in the future lest you face insubordination charges."

Aiho looked stunned at the gall of the teleporter's words and glanced down at the piece of plastic she had been thrown. It was an ID, specifically the ID of the chief of internal security. "Wha- How..." she began, looking for the proper words.

"Academy City is 80 percent students, it is inevitable that some of them would achieve high office regardless of age. I happen to be quite the lucky one in that respect," Kuroko smirked, loving the ability to use, even flaunt, her power. She briefly wondered if she should make Aiho bow and call her ma'am, but she decided that would be a little too mean to someone who had always been nice and helpful to her before.

"This can't be genuine," Aiho protested.

"Can and is. Feel free to check it however you want, they'll all come back positive. In the meantime though I believe I have some work to do to ensure the safety of the city for the upcoming Ichinensei. So until we meet again, goodbye Agent Aiho," Kuroko bowed her head one last time and disappeared, her grin still clinging to her face.

"Ahhh, after so many years of following orders it feels so good to be on top," She said to herself.

"Aren't you worried about abusing your abilities now that you don't need to hide them?"

"No way. I'm not doing any of this for my own gain so I can't possibly abuse my powers"

"Just be careful."

"I always am."

"No you aren't." Kuro corrected.

"Tsk. Well who cares if I'm not careful at this stage? Things are drawing to a close anyway. Aleister-sama is safe, Onee-sama loves me again, Ichinensei's coming up and my friends and I will assuredly have a wonderful time..."

"Really, the only things standing in the way of my happy ending are China and, of course, you," she remarked as she spared a glance to the dark skinned man in the expensive suit who was leaning on a nearby lamppost. "You are The Star I presume, leader of the Arcana mercenary group." She could not think of anyone else she did not know who had such enormous magical energy.

"My reputation seems to precede me... as does yours, Black Knight."

"Please, call me Kuroko. Might we take this conversation on the move? I have a lot of work to do," she said politely as she continued walking down the street.

"Sure I don't mind," he responded and followed her.

She waited a few seconds to see if he would tell her his name as she did hers, when he did not she sighed and asked him, "So are you here to kill me?"

"No. I don't interfere with missions until the very end, or if someone gets killed in the meantime. But that's not going to happen this time is it? You're going to make sure of that."

"Indeed, that is my purpose, to make sure no one dies."

"Is that your happy ending? One where everyone lives?"

"I can't have a happy ending where I allow someone to die, so yes

"An interesting philosophy, one that I can respect, even admire. And of course one who manages to pull it off is even more worthy of respect. Mercy is not easy, control even less so. The Sun knew that better than most. The line between life and death, between killing a man and sparing him. It is not one most people can afford to walk. People only do it for two reasons," The Star began as he turned towards her.

"Some do it out of arrogance. They are so confident in their own power that they don't care whether or not an enemy is still alive to try and kill them again. But others do it out of fear. They are too afraid of killing to allow it to happen."

"What are you getting at?" Kuroko asked.

"You belong to that second category," The Star told her, "Your power is great, but not great enough that you can afford not to worry about the enemies you let live. You take risks, you make sacrifices, you expend a lot of effort in order not to kill. Eventually, when you face someone of equal power you will have to make a choice whether to kill them or die yourself, and if ever you fight someone whose power is beyond your own then the second option is all you have."

"I have faced many opponents stronger than myself, and I have always won," Kuroko stated confidently.

"But never one as strong as me," The Star returned with his own confidence.

"I thought you said you weren't here to kill me."

"I'm not, I'm simply here to make a deal with you. You see, I belong to that first group. I am easily powerful enough not to have to kill anyone, instead I could simply imprison or disable them with no issue. However you can't be dealt with in such a simple manner. Your teleportation means no prison will hold you and your regeneration means no injury will disable you. If you interfere there is no path of action other than killing you."

"So you are here to ask me to take my own life in return for a promise that the others won't be harmed?" Kuroko pieced together.

"Close but not quite. I am grateful for your efforts in assuring the survival of my people. It would be terribly rude of me to repay such efforts with your death, something I could get without having to have you make any promises whatsoever. No, my deal is that you disappear in whatever manner you see fit and let me defeat the others, non-lethally I assure you, without any interference."

"And you think I'm going to take that deal why?" Kuroko turned an angry glare at The Star as he stood in front of her.

"Because it is your happy ending," The Star explained, "don't worry, you have time to think about it. I told you I don't interfere until everyone else has failed or someone dies. If that second thing happens then the deal is null and I will kill everyone, but if you manage to defeat all my associates without killing any of them, and disappear without interference then everyone will live."

"Let me put it simply. Either nobody dies, or everyone does. Your life and co-operation will be the deciding factor. So I hope you make the right choice," he said before disappearing.

Kuroko gazed at the spot the man had just stood, feeling quite unsettled by the whole ordeal. It was not a dilemma she had had to face before.

She shook her head to clear it of these thoughts. There would be plenty of time to think about that later. Right now she had a job to do, and not much time to do it in.

With that in mind she vanished herself, ready to face down the next group of thugs and scare them straight.

After a few more hours of this Kuroko was ready to turn in for the day and headed back for her dorm. When she arrived she was slightly surprised to see that Misaka wasn't here yet, or at least she wasn't in the main room.

Kuroko gave a slight smile as she heard quiet sounds of struggling in the bathroom, guessing what was happening now. She got out a Horn of Gabriel charm and smiled wider at it as she walked over to the bathroom door. "Something wrong Onee-sama?" She asked innocently, though if one listened close they'd be able to hear the mischief in her voice, "perhaps your dress doesn't fit anymore?"

The sounds stopped for a moment before the door was wrenched open, revealing Misaka with the dress wrapped around her ankles, leaving her in just her underwear, glaring at Kuroko. "What did you do?" she accused.

Kuroko grinned and teleported behind her, placing one hand on the electro master's hip and the other on her chest, "I didn't do a thing, I just noticed that you were growing in certain areas," she said lustfully as she groped the areas in question for perhaps two seconds before receiving a severe electric shock from the subject of her "affections".

"Sh-shut up... and if you knew why the hell didn't you tell me?" Misaka reprimanded with a glare, though she felt secretly relieved that the growth wasn't in less desirable areas.

"It would have ruined the surprise," the teleporter smiled at her girlfriend as she recovered from the electric shock with her usual speed.

"What surprise is that? That I don't fit in my dress anymore?! Oh geeze what a wonderful surprise," she replied sarcastically, adding an eye roll in for good measure.

"No, this surprise," Kuroko said as she pulled a dress out of thin air. The fabric was a vibrant red, reminding Misaka a little of the ribbons Kuroko wore in the summer. Other than that the details were hard to tell as it hung limply on the hanger.

"A new dress?"

The younger girl nodded happily, "Yep, I got it recently just for you."

The electro master blushed slightly at the consideration. "Th-thank you Kuroko."

"No worries Onee-sama. Here, let me help you put it on," she said with an obvious hint of excitement in her voice.

The older girl rolled her eyes again, in exasperation this time, but she allowed herself a smile. She could have expected that particular caveat to Kuroko's gift, but it wasn't worth debating over. She probably would need help putting it on anyway. She stepped out of the dress that was still around her ankles and kicked it aside. "Ok, thank you."

"My pleasure," Kuroko stated as she reached forward and looped a finger in the elastic of Misaka's panties, beginning to tug them down.

The electro master jumped back as if bitten. "Wh-what the heck are you doing pervert?!" she shouted as she tugged the panties back up with a luminescent blush dying her face a red so deep as to match the dress.

Kuroko withheld a condescending sigh at her Onee-sama's lack of dress wearing knowledge as she began to explain, "this is a dress that's meant to hug the curves, flattering your beautiful body while maintaining elegance. If you wore your normal panties in this then they would produce panty lines which would ruin all that lovely elegance and grace. This is what you need to wear," she said as she produced a red, lacy thong.

A bolt of lightning quickly reduced the skimpy piece of fabric to ash. "No. Way," Misaka stated simply and slowly, with anger and indignation burning in her gaze as powerfully as the panties had been a second earlier.

Kuroko frowned, "Onee-sama, you can't wear shorts under everything. Sometimes you have to wear certain undergarments under certain clothes."

"I'm not wearing a thong like some... like some tart. This is a school function. My parents are going to be there watching me."

"Unless something goes very wrong nobody but me will see your underwear. Besides, you are aware that I frequently wear thongs. Does that make me "some tart" to you?" Kuroko raised an eyebrow. She wasn't offended by the older girl's implication, but hoped that confronting her about what she said would at least make her realize how it could be construed.

"I didn't mean it like that," she began, understanding her mistake immediately. "I just... I don't want to wear something that exposes that much."

"I know, and I understand. But it's not about exposing anything, it's actually the opposite. As I said, wearing a thong will prevent any panty lines, surely that's less embarrassing than the alternative."

"Fine fine, I get your point," Misaka sighed, "sorry for destroying them."

"It's ok, it was a two for one sale," Kuroko grinned as another pair materialized in her hand.

Misaka sighed in resignation.

"Oh my gosh, doesn't she look sooooo gorgeous!"

"I know... so elegant and dashing"

"Absolutely stunning..."

Even over the hum of the violin resting against her chin Misaka could hear the praises of her fangirls as they gushed and fawned like usual. While normally such incessant adoration would make Misaka feel embarrassed and uncomfortable, she was already enduring even greater embarrassment and discomfort from wearing the dress itself. Though the red silk that made up the dress breathed nicely and was very soft, the thong she had to wear with it was riding up. And if that piece of underwear wasn't grating enough, Kuroko had just had to insist on a backless dress, meaning Misaka had to wear a stupid stick on bra so that no straps would be shown.

But the open back wasn't the only piece of unnecessarily exposed skin. The dress had a slit up the leg that revealed her entire shin and a not-insignificant chunk of her thigh. When combined with the sleeves that only went a quarter of the way down her arm she had to wonder if she was showing more skin than she was hiding.

Curse Kuroko's stupid puppy dog eyes and their ability to sway Misaka's heart so effectively that she had actually agreed to wearing this dumb thing.

Then again she hadn't had much choice, given that she had only discovered that she had grown too big for her other dress the night before. If it hadn't been for Kuroko she'd have nothing to wear.

Though this damn thong was making it awfully hard to be grateful.

Misaka took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. She listened to the music drifting from the strings and let it soothe herself. She let herself get lost in the notes as she watched the dancers on the floor swaying in time to the movement of her bow.

That was, until a familiar voice shattered her reverie. "Just like I thought, that dress truly does accentuate your best features. You look graceful and sexy and beautiful all at once."

It took a lot of control to keep from messing up the music as a heavy blush took over Misaka's face and she opened her eyes to glare at Kuroko. "Shouldn't you be in some play or something," she reminded the younger girl, who seemed to still be in costume.

"It's the intermission, and what better way to spend it then with my lovely Onee-sama," the teleporter said with her usual shamelessness, causing Misaka's blush to get even deeper. "And I would be honored if you would treat me to this dance."

"I'm busy providing the music," Misaka explained.

"There are other instruments. Come on, I don't have that long."

"Fine fine fine," Misaka sighed as she put her violin down and took Kuroko's hand.

The teleporter smiled and led the other girl to the dance floor where they began to dance together, much to the heated glares of the fangirls who wished they could be in her stead.

As they swayed and sashayed to the music Kuroko's smile got wider and wider. "You're quite a skilled dancer Onee-sama," she said, looking up into her girlfriend's eyes.

"O-of course I am," Misaka stammered at the intensity of the gaze and the kind words they accompanied. Her face was matching her dress in color by this point.

Kuroko giggled softly, but not teasingly, "I suppose it should be obvious. You're so graceful, and lithe, and athletic. Dancing should be easy for you," suddenly the teleporter dipped her. Misaka was confused for a second, not remembering this part of the dance, when suddenly Kuroko's lips covered her own for a few seconds before pulling away, "I am so lucky to have someone as fantastic as you..."

Before Misaka could react, Kuroko returned the pair of them to the vertical position and sighed, "unfortunately I can't stay for much longer. Act II will start soon. I'll see you later though, I promise. I love you Onee-sama," she said with a final peck on the cheek before disappearing.

For a few seconds Misaka froze, unsure what to do. This was the first time Kuroko had done such blatant displays of affection in school and she didn't know how to react. Had Kuroko still been here Misaka surely would have shocked her. Had it been a few months ago Misaka would have just denied any sort of connection, claiming the kiss to be forced onto her.

But now that Misaka was done hiding, how would she deal with it?

She felt panic rising within her only to be halted by another familiar voice , "Awww... doesn't our little girl look so precious all dressed up? I have to get a picture."

"What are you doing Kaa-san?" she demanded as she tried to shield herself from the camera

"We came to see you of course dear," Misuzu stated with a smile as she put away the camera, having already gotten what she came for. "It took forever to find your classroom, but it was worth it. You look beautiful today."

"What are you talking about," Tabigake began, shaking his head, "she looks beautiful every day."

The electro master blushed a deep crimson as she looked around. Her blush deepened as she saw several people looking at her. "Guys, stop embarrassing me..." she whined, sounding for all the world like any ordinary teenager rather than a one woman army and one of the 7 most powerful ESPers in the world.

"Sorry but we can't. We're parents, embarrassing our kids is what we do," Misuzu said with a sly shrug which earned a deep frown from the child in question.

"Listen, I'm a little busy right now," Mikoto sighed as she walked back to the table on which she had left her violin, before picking it up and playing it again, "I have a while to go until my break..."

"Hmmm is that so? You seemed to have time for your girlfriend so why don't you have any for us?

"Umm... Misaka-san," a timid voice said off to the side. Mikoto turned to see one of her classmates whose name she could not remember. "Did you... um did you want to take a break now. You know from playing, to talk to your family and... um, and stuff. I can... I can take over the music for you." She held a violin in her hands so assumedly she was the relief.

"There, you see," Misuzu said, "everything works out in the end. Now take a break and spend some time with us."

Mikoto sighed but put away her violin in its case with very little reluctance. "Fine. What did you want to do? Every class activity is so boring..."

"Well while we're here anyway perhaps we should take advantage of your class's activity," Tabigake said as he stepped forward and held a hand out, "it has been far too long since I've danced with my daughter."

Mikoto frowned slightly. "I'm not a kid anymore," she protested.

"Say that when you can actually wear heels," Misuzu teased.

"What does that matter to growing up," Mikoto argued and Tabigake raised an eyebrow earning an apologetic smile from Misuzu who took a seat.

Meanwhile Mikoto took her father's hand and let him lead her in an elegant dance. Despite her words she did feel a little like a kid again, dancing on her father's shoes at some social event or another. The feeling wasn't unpleasant, in fact the wave of nostalgia made the teenager feel oddly at peace.

It was hard to believe that there was once a time when nobody tried to kill Misaka or her friends. When her biggest worries were missing the latest episode of her favorite cartoons or losing her favorite toy.

Now she had so much power, so much responsibility, so much risk. It was hard to believe she was just your average middle school girl. She had faced more danger in the past week than most people faced in their entire life.

But right now, when she was in the arms of her father, or Kuroko, she could feel safe again, as if everything were all right. As if the arms that wrapped around her would shield her from the world and all that wished her harm.

And even though it could not last forever that reminder that she had people who loved her, people who would fight for her with all of their strength, people who would do anything to keep her safe. That reminder was worth more than words could describe.

And of course, a lover and a family weren't the only things she had.

"Misaka-san, there you are," Uiharu chimed up. The electro master spared her a glance and saw that she was here with Saten and a couple adults that Misaka could only guess were their parents.

"Saten, Uiharu," Misaka smiled, breaking off from her dance with her father to approach her friend.

"You look really nice in that dress," Saten said with a grin.

Uiharu nodded. "So elegant," she agreed. Her eyes were sparkling at being surrounded by so many ojou-samas.

"Thanks," Misaka blushed slightly at the praise, "you two look nice too."

And indeed they did. Uiharu wore a white, flowy one piece dress that was simplistic but elegant along with a grey wool cardigan and long socks to keep warm. Saten meanwhile wore a nice blouse with a red sweater and black slacks.

The victorious look on Uiharu's face as Misaka said that suggested that she had something to do with these particular outfits. "Thank you," she nodded and looked gestured behind her, "Umm, these are my mom and dad. Mom and Dad, this is Misaka Mikoto, a friend of mine."

The man was fairly tall with short black hair and an athletic, muscular build. He was dressed in a nice suit, but it was hardly the italian tailored suits that Mikoto's own father wore.

He looked the electro master in the eyes before bowing slightly and saying, "it is nice to finally meet you. Kazari has told us a great deal about you. I am Uiharu Aramaki and this is my ex-wife Fuyuka Natsuki."

"I can introduce myself Maki," the woman said with a smile. She was quite short in comparison to her ex-husband, with a flat chest, short hair, and a slim build that was very reminiscent of her daughter. She wore a nice skirt suit but seemed uncomfortable in it, as if she did not wear it that often.

"It is nice to meet you as well," Mikoto politely responded, returning the bow. "These are my parents. Uiharu, Saten, you've met my mother, this is papa."

"Misaka Tabigake, a pleasure to meet you," her father said in his jovial voice as he shook the hands of Uiharu, Saten, and her parents.

"'My mother' as usual," Misuzu sighed, "Tabigake gets introduced as papa... Mikoto-chan is always so cold to me." She smiled then and turned to Uiharu's parents. "I'm Misaka Misuzu," she introduced herself.

Mikoto turned to Saten. "Aren't your parents here too?"

"Ah, yeah. They're around. That snot nosed brother of mine got all tired and hungry from the walk so they decided to take a rest with him in one of the classrooms that was doing some sort of cafe," the level zero said with a smile as she shook her head in exasperation. "They'll be along shortly. In the meantime what's going on here? Dancing?"

"Yeah. My class is doing Ballroom Dancing for the festival. I'm playing my violin but right now I'm taking a break."

"Ballroom dancing? How classy," Uiharu swooned

"I'd say it's more pretentious than classy," Maki said, "that maid cafe was the only normal thing I've seen. Everything else is this posh stuff. I don't understand this ojou-sama obsession of yours Kazari."

"What's so wrong with Ojou-samas?" Misuzu asked teasingly. Unlike her nouveau-riche husband, Misuzu came from old money and though her free spirited nature was at odds with the image of a yamato nadeshiko she could still classify as an ojou-sama if she wanted to.

"Nothing's wrong with them I just don't see how a tea ceremony could be considered anything other than dull."

Ignoring the adults' conversation, Saten turned to Misaka and said, "So where's Kuroko?What's her class doing? We didn't see her while we were looking for you."

"She's doing a play. She just got done with the intermission so there's still an hour or so left, meaning it'll be done right before I need to do my demonstration," she told her friend.

Saten opened her mouth to say something but was apparently distracted by something else she saw. Her eyes lit up and she waved at the distraction, which turned out to be two adults and a kid who was maybe 9 or 10 years old.

Saten skipped over to them, drawing the attention of everyone else who turned to greet the newcomers. "Now that you guys are back let me introduce you to another friend of mine. Mom, Dad, Matsuda, this is Misaka Mikoto and her parents. Misaka, this is my mom, my dad, and my little brother."

The man stepped forward. He was tall and lanky with thin-rimmed glasses resting on his nose and short black hair cut in a very professional style. He wore a suit and tie as well, and though they were nicer than the one Uiharu's father was wearing they were still cheap compared to Tabigake's apparel. "Saten Aizawa, a pleasure to meet you," he then gestured towards the woman. Much like with Uiharu's mother the resemblance between her and her daughter was considerable, with the same tall, curvy figures and long black hair. She was in far more casual clothes than the rest, with a sweater, long sleeved shirt, and pants. "This is my wife, Amane."

After the rest of the greetings had been given out Saten smiled and said to Mikoto, "hey, since we have some time to kill before Kuroko's play or whatever is done and we're here anyway, why don't we do some dancing?"

"Dancing?" Amane asked.

"Yeah, Misaka's class is doing ballroom dancing and she's playing the violin."

"Boring," Matsuda whined.

"Oh hush you're just jealous you don't have anyone to dance with. Just get your gameboy thing, sit in the corner and play with that," Saten huffed at her younger brother. Which he responded to by sticking his tongue out.

"I think that sounds like an excellent idea," Misuzu said as she latched onto her husband's arm, "dancing like we used to back when we were first dating. And we get to hear our daughter's lovely music at the same time."

Amane raised an eyebrow at her daughter, "you'll be dancing with your girlfriend?"

Saten hooked her arm in Uiharu's and flashed a smile and a victory symbol. "of course." To which Uiharu responded with a deep blush.

Misuzu heard this and thought about saying something but after the disaster of a couple days ago she decided to keep her mouth shut for now. However it seemed that her daughter was not the only one with homosexual tendencies in this group.

With very little persuading Misaka took up her violin again and began to play once more as her friends and family danced to the music.

After a little while of that the group went to see the tail end of Kuroko's play.

The teleporter was an adequately skilled actress with her biggest flaw being the enthusiasm she had for her role that sometimes led her to overact or be more dramatic with her lines than necessary. And the lack of rehearsal meant that she sometimes reacted unexpectedly to the other actresses whom she shared the stage with.

Still it wasn't as painful to watch as many school plays and the production values were much higher, leading to some interesting visual effects which were not common to school productions.

After sitting through the final act of the play they applauded politely and were soon joined by Kuroko.

The teleporter introduced herself to Saten and Uiharu's families politely and when that had been done it was time for Misaka to begin setting up for her demonstration.

The demonstration would be done outside where a sort of stage had been set up. The area was surrounded at a safe distance by cushioned bleachers where the students, parents, and other sponsors could sit and observe the show. Many of the bleachers were already full and the rest were rapidly filling.

"This is a lot of people," Saten's mother remarked, "what exactly are we here to watch anyway?"

"Misaka is giving a demonstration of her power," Saten explained.

"Why is that exactly? What is this demonstration for and why is your friend the one to give it?"

"The demonstration is a way of attracting funding and attention both to Academy City in general and Tokiwadai in particular. Onee-sama is giving it because she is one of the seven most powerful ESPers in the city and is thus the pinnacle of achievement for the Power Development Curriculum. OF the seven her power is the most visually appealing which is one of the reasons she was chosen in particular," Kuroko explained proudly, adding only in her head, 'the other reason is that all the others are mentally unstable in some fashion.'

"You told us her power was lightning right Kazari?" Uiharu's father asked.

"Oh it's so much more than that. Onee-sama's power is incredible, just you wait," Kuroko continued her boasting on Misaka's behalf.

The girl in question just sighed. "No pressure whatsoever," the electro master remarked sarcastically.

Tabigake put his hand on his daughter's shoulder. "No worries. I'm sure you'll do excellent. You've always had a knack for performing in front of others. Just-" He was interrupted by the ringing of a phone. He looked down to see that it was coming from his pocket. THen he looked back at his daughter.

Mikoto's face, previously a knot of anxiety and joy, instantly fell into a look of resignation and disappointment. This had happened so many times before and she knew she should have expected it, but she couldn't kill the sadness in her heart.

However all that was replaced in an instant by surprise as she watched her father take the phone out of his pocket and throw it over his shoulder in annoyance. He looked back at his daughter and continued his sentence, "just pretend we're the only ones in the audience."

"Daddy... your phone?"

"What phone?" he said with a coy smile, causing Misaka to break into a smile of her own. She gave him a great big hug and went over to her set up area while the others took a seat.

Misaka stood in the center of the stage taking deep breaths as she waited for the cue from the choreographer. Given that the display was intended to impress people ("Shock and Awe" as the choreographer lady loved to jest) the school prefered a more formal, structured approach rather than just letting Misaka let loose.

Unlike with her classes culture festival preparations, which Misaka had been too depressed by Kuroko's disappearance to care about, she had paid attention and participated in the demonstration rehearsals, if only because it let her vent some anger with her power without getting into trouble.

Because of that she was fairly confident in her ability to get through this.

Suddenly the choreographer flashed her a hand sign.

The show had begun.

With a snap of her finger twin columns of lightning struck several feet away from Misaka on either side. The flash of light and boom of thunder effectively got everyone's attention as she held her hands out in front of them and slowly lifted them up.

Following the invisible puppetstrings of her magnetism, the contents of the two large steel vats in front of Misaka began to lift into the air. The blackish grey goo that began to float in the air was called ferrofluid, a sort of liquid metal that responded to magnetism, allowing Misaka to perform incredible displays of precision.

At her silent command they formed two massive spheres, floating in air. Then she clenched her fingers into a fist causing several massive spikes to protrude from the surface, like rays of a black sun.

Then she snapped again and two more lightning bolts struck, each of them hitting one of the spheres of black liquid metal. The electricity shot between the rays like hyperactive pinballs, lighting them up in an incredible display.

Now Misaka began to move her hands as if she were conducting an orchestra, and like the players in a symphony the liquid metal began to move to her commands. Weaving and coiling and looping like dancing snakes as bolts of lightning shot between them and coiled around the swirling liquid metal.

The movements of Misaka's hands were unnecessary to her command but they made the show more visually interesting and helped assure the crowd that this lone girl was somehow the cause of these miraculous happenings, though the lightning that danced along her fringe and across her body left little doubt that this girl was not an ordinary person.

Misaka's focus was on her work, but she saw out of the corner of her eyes the signal to move on to the next part of the show. She clenched her hands into fists to collapse the dancing snakes back into spheres and pointed her hands at the ground, palms downward and fingers spread.

Slowly she lifted her arms up once again as countless jet black particles rose into the air along with her hands. The iron filings that had been spread out for this part were larger than her usual ones to make them more noticeable as they hung in the air.

Once they had reached shoulder height Misaka curled her fingers again, leaving her index fingers extended. She began to twirl them in lazy circles, causing the iron filings to begin to swirl in the invisible magnetic breeze.

Slowly Miaka began to spin her fingers faster and faster until the filings formed a buzzsaw which she used to cut apart the steel vats that had held the ferrofluid into 50 separate, equal pieces. Then she swirled the filings around the spheres of liquid metal, making them look like the rings around Saturn.

Now she focused back on the steel vats. She lifted each of the pieces up using her magnetism and rebuilt them into one massive vat (off to the side, unseen by the crowd, another ESPer used their own abilities to seamlessly fuse the pieces together making it a viable container again) and dumped the liquid metal back into it.

Finally she raised her hand one more time, pulling a coin that had been left on the ground into her palm. She looked towards the sky, lifting her arm heavenward. Then she flicked the coin up, sending it speeding at several times the speed of sound, leaving behind a trail of plasma and a massive boom that awed and amazed the crowd.

As the flash and bang of the railgun finale faded Misaka bowed and was met by the crowds roaring applause. She smiled and bowed again before hopping off the stage.

Unfortunately, like last year, she was immediately swamped by people who had watched it and wanted to talk to her, whether to gush at how amazing the show had been, ask for an autograph, or pester her about some sort of business deal or something.

It was annoying, and more than that it prevented her from getting back to her friends and family. If last year was any indication it'd be an hour or more before she could extricate herself from this crowd.

Though unlike last year this year she had a teleporter as a girlfriend. Within the second minute Kuroko had appeared in front of Misaka and the pair had teleported far away. A few more jumps and the pair were at the front of the school.

"I told the others to meet us around here," Kuroko explained as she hugged the electro master, "you did a great job."

"Th-thanks," Mikoto replied, unsure whether her pounding heart was from the closeness of her girlfriend, her praise, or from the exertion of the display.

In another couple minutes the pair were joined by the others. Mikoto's parents were full of praises, as were Saten and Uiharu along with Uiharu's parents and Saten's brother.

Saten's parents, however seemed a little more concerned than amazed.

"I don't know it's just all a bit unnatural don't you think?" Saten's mother remarked as the group made their way to a restaraunt for dinner. "ordinary little girls capable of doing all of that. I was always a little wary of sending my children here, I think I made a good choice keeping Matsuda out."

Saten's eyes widened, "you aren't planning on taking me out of the city are you?" she asked worriedly.

"Of course not. You have friends and a girlfriend and a life here, it wouldn't be fair for me to take that from you because of these misgivings," her mother comforted.

"Not to mention the paperwork involved," her father joked.

"If you're concerned about the city why did you enroll your child to begin with?" Uiharu's father asked.

"She wanted to go," Amane explained simply, "and my concerns weren't strong enough to outweigh that. Why did you enroll your kid?"

"I had just gotten a promotion to chief of police for my branch and it was causing some troubles at home. The fights were getting worse and we didn't want Kazari caught up in all of that so we decided to enroll her in Academy City for a while. By the time the divorce was finalized and things had settled down Uiharu had made a nice little life for herself as well so we decided to keep her in," Aramaki explained.

"Our Mikoto was scouted out especially for the city," Misuzu boasted.

After that the conversations became more casual as they all got to know each other over dinner. Eventually it was time to head back home.

As Misaka and Kuroko headed back to the dorm Misaka huffed, "when we get back I am burning this damn dress and this stupid thong." She moaned in pain as her body ached all over, the toll of the day finally catching up with her.

"But it looks so good on you, and I spent so much money..." Kuroko whined.

"Tough luck," the electro master growled, her sympathy worn away by the hours of enduring this cursed piece of clothing. "I can't stand another second of this damn thing."

"Is that so..." Kuroko hummed, spotting an opportunity.

Misaka heard the younger girl's tone of voice and a chill ran up her spine. "Now listen up, just because-" she began before feeling a hand slip between the slit in her dress and run up her thigh.

Misaka began to lash out at Kuroko when the teleporter disappeared, reappearing several feet in front of her a familiar piece of red fabric in her hand. "Is that better?" the younger girl asked innocently.

Misaka paled as she realized what had happened before blushing furiously. Even her relief at finally being free of those damned undergarments couldn't temper her embarrassment at the manner in which it had happened.

"You... damn... pervert," the electro master seethed before zapping Kuroko. However only a tiny little snake of lightning, hardly stronger than a spark, actually reached the girl.

Kuroko brushed it off with a grin. "Now now Onee-sama," she teased, "after such a grand demonstration of your power you really should rest don't you think? Wouldn't want to tire yourself out." The teleporter took a deep whiff of the thong before winking at Misaka.

Needless to say Kuroko was in a lot of trouble that night, not that she didn't enjoy every second of it.

Between the Lines:

November 27th, 9:54AM

Isle of Light, Middle of the Caribbean Sea

A loud beep sounded throughout the small bedroom where three people were currently gathered. One of them lay in bed, another sitting beside her, as the third leaned against the wall near the door. The one beside the bed, The High Priestess, pulled a thin white plastic instrument from the mouth of the one in bed and looked at the small display.

"38.4 degrees celsius. Not the worst fever I've seen, but you should still stay in bed today," The High Priestess concluded. She glanced at The World, who stared back at her from her position under the covers. Her tan face flushed with fever and her nose practically glowing red from the force and frequency of her sneezes and sniffles.

"It's all because you were out in that rainstorm," Said The Lovers as she entered the room with a tray of tea with honey and lemon to soothe the sore throat and provide Vitamin C at the same time, a trick she'd learned from the countless parenting books she'd read as well as her own experiences as a mother.

"It is an old wives tale that being out in a storm can make you sick. It is more likely the reason she was out in the storm, that movie she went to see in that theatre on the neighboring island," The High Priestess reasoned. A theater was crawling with germs and people, and going to such a place and coming back was the easiest way for an infection to start on this otherwise fairly isolated island.

"But it was a David Attenborough movie..." She defended with her scratchy voice as she sat up to take a sip of the tea. The World loved nature more than anything and movies about nature were always a good way to get her excited. She especially loved his movies.

"Regardless of how you caught it the fact is that you have it," The Tower, who had been leaning against the wall, spoke up. Then he paused.

"What exactly is it she has?" he asked The High Priestess.

"The common cold," the elderly woman told him before chuckling.

"What's so funny?" The Tower asked with a hint of danger in his tone.

"Well she is the second most powerful person in the group, second only to The Star himself, and yet a simple cold can take her out for an entire day. No magic in the world can completely prevent sickness, and far too few illnesses can even be aided by magic. Even myself, someone with the perfect ability to help cure people can only speed her recovery, not cure her completely. Really makes you appreciate the damage apparently insignificant things can cause." The High Priestess said with a knowing smile.

"But what about my mission today?" The World asked.

The Tower looked at The HIgh Priestess for a second before fixing his gaze on the bed-ridden girl instead. "You can do it tomorrow just as easily."

The World frowned cutely before gesturing The Tower over. He raised an eyebrow but went to her. She touched his arm and smiled as she said, "tag. You're it." Before smiling up at him.

"Now is not the time to be playing games," he sighed.

The World shook her head. "You're next on the list aren't you? If I can't go then why don't you. I'm sure The Star would allow it given the circumstances."

"Are you sure? If I succeed then you'll have lost your chance at the bounty," he said, though she surely already knew.

She shrugged. "If it's you I don't mind. You do have a really noble cause after all. And you always play with me." She nuzzled further into her blankets. "Just stay safe..."

The Tower nodded and looked to the side, where another person had suddenly appeared. "Well how about it Star?" He asked the man.

"It's fine with me. Just tell me when you're ready to go," The Star agreed before leaving the room as suddenly as he'd appeared.

The Tower looked at The World one last time. "I'll stay safe, I promise," He said before leaving. He had someone to talk to before he was ready to go.

He found said girl in the garden, sitting on a bench with another girl, Temperance specifically, laying across her lap.

"Hello, Tower," the blind and deaf gypsy girl said without lifting her head. The sudden statement startled The Moon, whom Temperance was laying across, into looking up. Once she saw who it was she gave the man a smile and a friendly hello.

"Hello ladies," he returned the greetings, then he turned towards The Moon. "I need to ask something of you. I'm heading on the next mission in The World's place. You're next up after me and I'd like you to help."

"A convergent or parallel run?" She asked.

"Parallel. From what I've heard both Strength and The Sun were fighting one particular person when they were defeated. I am willing to give you a percentage of my profits from my own targets if you would be willing to distract or defeat this person."

The Moon nodded with a smile, "If you're talking about who I think you're talking about then absolutely. This could be fun..."

Author's Note: What can I saw here... I'm really sorry for taking so long to update this story. Motivation has been hard to find and I just don't feel like this story is as well liked as some of my others considering all the work I put into it, which sometimes can make me a bit more hesitant to actually sit down and get to writing.

Still I promised myself and you that I would finish this story and finish it I shall. I already have two more chapters in production and shall work on getting those out as soon as I can.

For those of you who do read and are interested in my other works... I have the next chapter of Aneki planned out but not more than 1000 words or so written down. I have a sequel to "Dream a Little Dream of Me" planned as well which I'll get to writing when I can manage it. My next KuroKonori collab might be a while (currently I'm planning on doing a couple more T-rated ones with taleros and 61wisampa before moving onto M-rated fics with Cun and RoadMart) but I'll get it done. Side Effects is currently on hiatus for the foreseeable future. Sorry about that. However I have started a new project that I hope will interest you. It's an AU which is written like a film noir movie staring Mikoto as the cliché grizzled detective.

Other than that I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope those of you who saw the april fools joke found it amusing.