Yep you guessed it right, it's a filler chapter~ but an exciting one~
I think I have improved since my first chapter and it's all thanks to all of your encouragements! So here's hoping for feedback and reviews(seriously though I love reading reviews)
This chapter occurs before the English Civil War.
Chapter 11 - A Certain Unscientific Love Affair.
"Shishou..." Athena spoke with a quiet voice towards the young boy with blonde hair in front of her.
"Hm?" The boy turned around and saw Athena's big sky blue eyes filled with yearning. There were some tears that hanged at the edges of her eyes.
"Shishou... I..." Her voice trembled a bit. "I... I love you!" The artificial girl gathered all her courage into those three words. She finally expressed her feelings towards the young boy whom she had always looked on with keen eyes ever since they first met.
Back when she was being tutored at her facility in order to invoke her esper ability, she did not understand the meaning of the words 'happiness', 'sadness', 'anger', 'hatred' or 'love'. Her head was only filled with various branches of knowledge such as Calculus, Theoretical Physics, Philosophy, World History, Linguistics and Chemistry. However, the Testament machine that was integrated in her brain also gave her the gift of curiosity and empathy along with those knowledge. As time went on, she began to grow curious of all these things that were being subtly mentioned in her lessons.
One of the reasons she began her quest was the researchers that monitored her development. One time, she did not go to her sleeping pod in order to 'shut down' and instead, sneaked around the entire facility.
From afar, she listened to the casual conversations of two security guards during one of their patrols. Their conversations were full of heated arguments about an epic baseball game.
She watched little children belonging to one of the scientists playing tag around the lobby area.
And finally as she walked along the dark halls of the building, she noticed the door to one of her usual lecture rooms.
The door was slightly ajar and a faint light came from within.
She curiously peeked through the small slit and saw her tutor, a female just like her, sitting on a chair facing right, and another person whom she recognized as a researcher for a different project. The researcher was of the opposite sex, a male. She wondered what the two were doing being so awfully close together.
The researcher was behind her tutor and was wrapping his arms around her. His hands gently wrapping his arms around her body through her clothes.
The tutor and the man were embracing each other. Athena watched the two during their passionate action that lasted for two whole minutes. It was called 'kissing' is what the information stored in her computerized brain told her.
Athena felt an unusual sensation well up in her. She blushed a deep red as she felt several mixed emotions that she could not identify. It was the first time that she had experienced such a wild and intense feeling.
She left afterwards and returned to her sleeping pod. She recounted the experiences she went through today, as usual, as she gradually went into a state of hibernation: The jeering and arguing of the security guards. The smiles and laughter of the children. And most of all, the intimate interaction between the male and the female.
What is this world that she lives in?
What are human beings and why do they do what they do?
What are 'feelings'?
Not able to hold down her curiosity any longer, she left the facility in order to search for her answers.
"...I know I am not human..." Athena spoke nervously, gripping her hands tightly. "...and there may be nothing that will happen between us but... but I-"
"Don't be stupid."
The girl looked up in surprise. Did I go too far? Is shishou disgusted that a machine like me is confessing its feelings to him?
Before she could brace herself for the hurtful words of rejection, the young boy said something completely unexpected.
"... You have always been in my mind ever since we first met, I have always, always dreamed of us staying together forever... so much that it crushes me when I think that you do not see me that way."
"No! I would never-"
Akito pulled the girl closer to him and grabbed her shoulders before she could utter anything else.
"S-shishou!?" Athena blushed heavily. She could not follow the sudden turn of events. The boy was being overly aggressive. It was a side of him that she didn't knew.
"I can't hold it in anymore..." The boy looked at Athena's moist lips. His expression was like that of a starving wolf, wanting to claim the delicious things for himself.
The girl was in a state of confusion. She wanted to resist the boy's advances however a part of herself did not. That part desired for this to happen, to experience the interaction between a male and a female.
"It's okay right?"
Athena felt the boy's arms wrapping around her thin body, clutching tightly onto her waist and shoulders. She cannot get away.
The boy leaned in closer inch by inch. Their faces were so close she could feel his warm breath.
Her artificial heart pounded wildly under her chest. Her face was a deep shade of red. Her mind was in a complete daze as she could only think of the boy she was in love with. Finally she was in the same position as her tutor. Finally she was going to experience that intense feeling for herself.
Her breath grew weak as she opened her mouth to welcome the boy's lips. She was finally about to experience heaven for herself but sadly, it was not true.
"Hey~! Breakfast is ready!"
The wonderful scene faded in front of her eyes. She heard a familiar voice calling her back to the real world. After a second, her eyes opened lazily.
The bright morning sun penetrated the dorm's windows and blinded her for a moment.
"Nnnhh..." Athena rubbed her eyes and saw the boy that was in her dreams wearing blue shorts and a blue apron that hung over his white shirt. "Good morning.." She mumbled, still half asleep.
"Yeah. Good morning!" Akito focused hard as he slowly moved a frying pan containing sunny side up eggs closer towards two plates on the square table. A sausage with several burn marks lay on top of each plate. He distributed the two eggs to each of the plates and sighed in exhaustion after finishing. It has been a while since he had to cook so he was out of practice with preparing meals.
Before Athena became a resident of this dorm, the boy usually ate outside in fast food restaurants or just ate instant cup ramen but now the two decided to create a schedule on who will cook breakfast, clean the bathroom, do the groceries and other chores.
Athena got up, stretched her arms and sluggishly moved towards the small brown table. She was wearing light blue pyjamas that seemed to be popular among middle school girls. Her eyes were half open.
"Hm? What's up?" The boy sat down in front of Athena and noticed her staring at him as he put his hands together to say 'Itadakimasu.'
"It's nothing." The girl closed her eyes and clasped her hands together as well. "You just woke me up from a pleasant dream is all."
Do androids even dream? Akito pondered one of the greatest questions of every computer scientist as he grabbed his knife and fork.
Athena stole several short glances at the young boy while he was cutting his meal into bits and pieces. The morning sunlight reflected on his blonde hair, making it a shiny gold color. Flocks of fluffy hair stuck out amusingly around his head. Last night, she listened to him talk about how cooking was such a pain but in the end, he tried his very best. Her heart was overjoyed by how cute the boy was.
"It's amazing how you can convert the nutrients in the food into energy for your system." The boy paying more attention on the food than who he was speaking to. "Those scientists really outdid themselves in making you close to being human."
That was not the kind of topic the girl was eager to dive into.
"..." Displeased of where the conversation was going, Athena munched on the salty egg. Ahh of course. He only ever thinks of me as an amazing piece of technology and not a woman. I may not be human but I look just like any normal girl. The least he could do is ask how I was doing...
"Alan Turing was right. Once a computer reaches an extremely high level of complexity and able to make conversations, you won't be able to distinguish it from a regular human."
It only took the girl 2 minutes to finish her breakfast. She then got up to clean her plate and utensils, completely ignoring the boy while he was still eating.
"What's wrong? Was I mistaken somewhere?" Akito raised his brow in puzzlement, completely oblivious of what the girl was thinking.
Athena moved towards the closet to get some clothes before heading towards the bathroom. The door closed with a loud bam.
Is she angry that I ate her hamburgers? Akito finally finished eating.
He washed all the remaining tableware while Athena was taking a shower. After placing the last plate unto the rack, he consumed a pill and went towards his desk where he took out his homework and several reference books.
"Let's see... where was I again?" He flipped through the pages of the reference book as he spun his pen around his thumb.
It was October 12. There were no classes today so he decided to finish all the stuff he had left undone during the many hectic events that had occurred around him.
After several minutes, Athena got out of the steam-filled bathroom. She was now wearing the light-blue hoodie which the boy picked out for her and flesh-colored khaki pants. Her bright, straight ginger hair was still a bit wet. She saw the boy studying in front his desk with his back towards her. Not that I... wanted to get his attention anyway...
Since the day they started living together, she hoped that their relationship would grow into something. But in actuality, she felt that their distance grew instead. Even though she was not actually a human girl, the boy decided on his own to sleep on a futon near the kitchen instead of sleeping beside her on the bed that was originally his. She mistook the gesture as a polite way of giving her space. It was actually the boy being conscious of her assets as a girl. As a result, she grew anxious that it lessened her opportunities to snuggle up to him.
"Shishou, I'll be going out for a while..." Athena walked towards the door quietly before taking her black sandals from the entrance.
"Hm..? Okay." The boy still working on his homework. "Oh right, I'll be going out as well later so I'll probably not be here for lunch..." He turned around and saw the girl had already left. She must be reeaally mad about those burgers.
After finishing his homework which only took about 10 minutes, he reached down to his desk's drawers and retrieved several papers and notes. He put his research notes on espers aside and placed a handful of papers regarding Project ATHENA on his desk.
He had worked together with Shinobu and Athena to put a stop to the plan of Academy City's 12th Mechatronics Laboratory in developing artificial espers for military use. He also fought against ITEM and nearly died if not for the carelessness of the Level 5, Mugino Shizuri. It was all for the sake of Athena's freedom that he put himself in so much danger. He wanted to save her with all his might just as his friends had saved him during the conflict with REBEL.
Now Shinobu had to return to her work away from Academy City and Akito was left with the responsibility of taking care of Athena and tying up the loose ends of their plan of sealing the project for good. Although he still wonders why Athena didn't just go with Shinobu to begin with since she will definitely be safer with her than here in Academy City.
"Let's see..." Akito scanned the news and reports he had compiled himself. "This company had gone bankrupt right after the SLA Exhibition so their agreement with the laboratory has been cut off..." He flipped another page. "I interfered with this one's transaction and distributed the funding to multiple homes for Child Errors... " The boy continued his thorough analysis of the situation inside his dorm room.
For the past few days, he scanned through the entire web for any rumors or news about the project. He made sure that not a single whiff of news or even the slightest detail pass him. That was how determined he was in protecting the android's freedom.
"Well I guess that's that." The boy returned all the documents to their rightful place. "All that's left is to meet up with that information broker..."
"Huh? What's this?" After taking a shower and getting dressed in his usual white hoodie with a big X-mark design and jeans, he noticed a small frog-like character attached to a strap that was lying on the floor at one corner of the room. "Must've belong to one of those people that came into my room recently." He put the strap in his pocket and got out of the dorm.
Academy City was its usual peaceful self, completely different from the nightmarish ones he remembered where he fought to the death. The weather was so clear and not a single cloud in sight. The various students in Academy City continued on with their daily routines.
Akito casually walked along the streets, not paying much attention to his surroundings and thinking instead of his next move after confirming that Project ATHENA was indeed discontinued.
He reached the station of the monorail and stood on the platform with his head down, completely immersed in his thoughts as he waited for the train to arrive.
A person walked up to him and lightly tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. "Yo! What are you doing here, Takayama? Happily spending the free time you have?" The person made a wide grin.
No reaction came from the young boy. He just stood there like a statue.
"Oi! Earth to Takayama!" The wide grin faded from the face of the stranger.
Still, the boy was completely lost in thought.
From out of nowhere, the stranger delivered a hand chop to the young boy's head.
"Ow! What's your problem?" Akito grabbed his head to quell the pain. "Huh? Oh it's just you."
" Geez! What kind of greeting is that? " A girl with amber eyes and a long pony-tail put her hands to her hips. "And why were you just spacing there like an idiot anyway?"
She was Tatemiya Haruka. His old classmate from middle school, before he moved to Academy City, as well as the strongest esper in his entire school.
"Huh? Oh it's nothing... just thinking about stuff. Are you on Judgment duty?" Akito noticed the girl was wearing her Judgment armband on her right shoulder. The sleeves of her school uniform's white dress shirt were folded despite the cold weather. Only her red necktie could be considered protection from the cold.
"Yeah! I'm on my way to the office right now." Haruka noticed the boy's tired expression. "What's wrong with you? You look like you just pulled out an all-nighter."
"It's nothing. Just did some studying last night." Akito lied to the girl. He was actually searching the web for information about Project ATHENA. And the fact that he was still adjusting to sleeping in a futon.
The technological train arrived on the platform after a few minutes. It's white walled doors opened swiftly and the cold air went out. The two entered the train and sat down next to each other.
He doesn't have to push himself so hard just to pass Level 0... The pony-tailed girl looking concerned over her middle-school rival. "Hey... you shouldn't overwork yourself so much..."
"Huh?" Confused, the boy looked up towards Haruka.
"You know... with becoming an esper and all."
"Ohh right. Noted."
The girl let out a worried expression at the boy's relaxed response.
Suddenly, they boy said something unexpected to the Level 4 esper. "...Do you remember why you came here in Academy City and became an esper? Don't tell me you just followed me here."
"Hahaha! Of course not!" Eyes twitching, a sweat drop formed on the young girl's forehead. "Everyone knows that being an esper helps you find work easier when you enter the real world!"
"Uh huh..."
"How about you..?"
"I just wanted to see what it's like to have those amazing powers. Even just a tiny sliver of it." Akito slowly stretched out his hand towards the visible landscape of Academy City from the transparent window of the train.
There was a hidden power inside everyone is what he thought before he moved to Academy City. He believed that power will bring excitement to his mundane life and make him stand above the rest.
He couldn't stand a single second without having it.
He pushed himself to the limits, desperately chasing after that mysterious existence.
Anything for the sake of achieving even just a small bit of that power.
"But now I think that someone who wants to become an esper shouldn't have such juvenile thoughts so I'm not so sure anymore." Closing his hand into a fist, he grabbed nothing but the air inside the train.
"I see..."
"If I had arrived at Academy City, became an esper and got carried away with that power, I might've end up turning against you, Atsuchi and Tsuyuri-san. I might've tried using it to hurt other people as well." Akito looked down at his feet. "That thought kind of scares me a bit. So I'm honestly not sure if I am able enough to become an esper."
"... Hmph! Don't underestimate me boy!" Haruka puffed her chest up. "I'll take you on any time. I don't care how strong you would've become, I'll put you down in a heartbeat! After all, I'm stronger than you think I am!"
"..." The boy paused for a bit before covering his mouth and restraining himself from laughing.
"O-oi! What's wrong with that?!"
"...No, no you're right." The boy wiped a bit of tear in his eye. "Why am I worrying when we have the great Level 4 here?"
"Damn straight! I'll knock some sense into you when that time comes so don't cry your eyes out!"
"Haha... You're right... You're a really strong esper after all. It won't take long for you to become Level 5." Akito smiled. "Because of how you never stop moving forward, only looking at what's right in front of you, you became so strong in such a short amount of time after arriving in Academy City. That's how you have always been. I envy that side of yours..."
"W-what's gotten into you suddenly?!" The pony-tailed Level 4 esper turned slightly red. "Who are you and what have you done with that brat?!"
"It's true you know. I really do think you can become a Level 5 with a bit more effort." Akito looked away for a moment. Take it from someone who fought one and nearly died. If Nunotaba-san wasn't so good in using my other phone to control all those androids, I would have been completely turned into dust.
"Seriously, what's gotten into you?!" Haruka frantically shook the boy on his shoulders, a piece of his soul was about to escape. "The brat that I know of wouldn't be so supportive or as mature as this! You would always go about bragging that you didn't have a hard time in exams and you always laugh at me whenever I screw up during the Power Tests!"
"What?! I don't remember doing such things!"
"You were such a pain in the ass! I really held myself back from charring you every time we met!" The girl clenched her fist tightly. A cross shaped vein can be seen on her forehead.
The train was beginning to slow down as it was arriving the next station.
"Well, I guess I don't mind this new you." The girl stood up and turned to face Akito. "Don't forget that I'll be here when you stop idling and finally become a Level 5... Until then, I'll be waiting." Grinning, she brought her hand out to the young boy in the form of a fist.
Akito was taken aback for a second by the pony-tailed girl's words. "... Yeah!" The boy bumped his fist with the girl before she got off the train to head towards her Judgment office.
There was a rumor among the girls attending middle school and high school, that a mysterious figure who claims to be the Love Master often frequents a certain family restaurant near a certain hospital in District 7. The rumored Love Master gives out advice to whoever approaches her without any compensation. Those who follow the advice exactly as the Love Master told them to will conquer the heart of their significant other, 90% guaranteed.
Athena walked around the streets looking for the rumored family restaurant and attracting the attention of several students.
After a while, she found the restaurant and just as the rumor said, it was near a hospital. She entered it without hesitation and began her search for the Love Master.
She looked around the interior for anyone who might be the Love Master and saw a girl with short brown hair and wearing industrial goggles, sitting all by herself near the window of the restaurant. Full of determination, she approached the girl.
"Are you the so-called 'Love Master'?" She stood beside the girl. Her eyes did not show any embarrassment at what she just said.
The brown haired girl looked at her with blank eyes for a while before giving her reply. "Who wants to know? asks Misaka #19090 as she tries to hide her joy after finally saying that cool line."
"Please, I need your help!" Athena pleaded, bowing in front of the Love Master.
"... Then, please have a seat, says Misaka #19090 after noticing your struggle." The Misaka clone gestured over to the seat in front of her. "So, what seems to be the problem? asks Misaka #19090 as she takes a good look at you."
Athena sat down and placed her hands on the wide table. "Well... you see... "
At the same time,
"Huh?" A Misaka Mikoto noticed something missing in her pocket. "No... nonononono where is it?! It must be here somewhere!"
She rummaged the pockets of her winter uniform of the prestigious Tokiwadai Middle School. She then took out her wallet and checked its contents but the thing she was looking for was not there.
It was her favorite and most prized possession. She had dozens of Gekota merchandise stored in her room but that one was very precious.
Think, THINK! Retrace your steps! Let's see I went to that restaurant and met up with #19090 but I think it fell even before then so... The Ace of the prestigious Tokiwadai middle school, also known as the Level 5 Railgun, rubbed her temples, desperately trying to recall when did she left that precious object.
She blindingly walked onwards on the peaceful sidewalk as she tried to recall where she drop her precious Gekota strap.
Suddenly, after reaching the corner of the street, she bumped into someone.
"Ah sorry about that." The spiky haired boy looked down and saw a familiar face. "Huh? Misaka?"
The girl looked up after hearing that voice. "W-what are you doing here?!" She blushed slightly as she pulled away from the boy.
"Well, this and that happened hahaha..." Kamijou Touma made a sheepish smile as he scratched his cheek.
"W-well anyway, you're gonna help me." Without warning, Misaka Mikoto tugged on the boy's sleeve and dragged him towards a certain direction.
"W-wait! We just bumped into each other! Where are you taking this humble and innocent Kamijou-san who did nothing wrong?!"
Just like that, the unfortunate high school boy got dragged into something he was not expecting.
Meanwhile inside the certain family restaurant where a love consultation is being held,
"Hmph. what took you so long?" Shirai Kuroko with her elbow unto the table, looking displeased.
"Sorry, sorry." Musujime Awaki sat on the seat opposite of the twin-tailed Judgment officer. "Did you wait long?"
"Do not make me say those stupid words: 'No, I just got here'! I only came here after all because a brute like you needs to learn her lesson!"
In a calm and almost amused manner, Musujime Awaki spoke "I see, I see." She then put her hand up to get the waitress's attention.
Takayama Akito walked along the streets of District 7.
He was currently on a mission to gather information on Project ATHENA by meeting up with an information broker.
The boy took a sudden turn around the corner and entered the dark alley in front of a family restaurant.
"Hey! long time no see, Takayama. How are Shin and Mikoshiba these days?" A girl with a slightly muscular build with long orange hair tied up in a high pony tail, and wearing a Kirigaoka Girls' Academy uniform stood to greet the young boy.
"Don't know. Don't care. Let's quit with the chitchat shall we?" The boy with a serious tone. "You're from that side aren't you? I could feel it from your presence and your connection with those guys."
"... Hahaha! So what if I am?" Yamazaki Maya laughed heartily at the innocent boy's inquiry.
The boy collected his thoughts.
He was aware that there are different people who are working on the dark side from what Nunotaba Shinobu said further after their conflict with ITEM. Each individual on the dark side had their own reason for working there. For example, they may have been forced because they were being blackmailed by someone who is already working on the dark side. Perhaps they were in desperate need of money. Or they were illegal aliens that hid inside Academy City and had to work for a dark side organization in order to maintain their residence, and their life.
"Have you heard the name Project ATHENA before?"
"Pro'ly." The girl shrugged nonchalantly.
"Regarding that, I need whatever information you have." Akito unfazed by her uncaring attitude.
Amused by the boy's desperation, Maya slowly brought her hand out. "It'll cost ya." A wide grin formed on her lips.
The boy took several small chunks of paper from his hoodie's pocket and placed it on the girl's hand.
The girl happily took the lumps of paper but stopped suddenly after noticing that what she received was not money but something else. "Oi! What the hell is this?!" She held out the stuff to the young boy.
"Redeemable coupons for electronic gaming currency. Those things are worth 30,000 yen." The boy spoke with a straight face.
Maya blankly stared at the things for a minute and then, "HAHAHAHAHA! Oh man, this is rich!"
There was a certain standard in the dark side. Information was a very valuable thing. A single tiny detail could determine the life and death of a person, a company's fortune or the result of a war. So in the dark side, information is costly and a lot of people stake their lives on it. The price could range up to billions of yen. For Maya, what she just received today was the funniest, most unthinkable object to use in exchanging for information for a top secret Academy City project. If she were to give an estimate for the actual price of the information, it would be around 8 million yen.
She laughed for quite a while. Her hands were on her sides as the continuous laughter began its effects on her body. That was how comical the boy's actions were.
"You know, kid." Maya finally coming back to her senses. "In the dark side, we don't play around with these kinds of stuff. Heck, I might even try to kill you just because you contacted me for information just in case you were a spy."
Akito gulped, sensing the change in atmosphere around the girl. Have I been too careless? I should've scanned the area beforehand for security robots.
"But, man, this is one of those situations where you can't help but not get mad at the guy." She wiped the tears out of her eyes after having such a comical laughter. "So, to reward you for giving me such a good laugh today, I'll give you a bit of a hint..."
Inside the family restaurant,
"... I see. Although it is a bit embarrassing, that point of attack is crucial in dealing significant damage to him." Athena rubbed her chin as she pondered Misaka #19090's suggestion.
"Misaka thinks we are facing similar problems, says Misaka #19090."
"I-I don't think I have the capacity to do that yet... My brain's circuits will get burnt by doing so."
The two exchanged ridiculous ideas one after another. Some included over the top feats such as the infamous 'naked apron'.
"You should take advantage of your figure, suggests Misaka #19090 as she assess your body and compares it with hers but changes her mind in the last second."
Athena smiled and laughed at the girl's ridiculous comments but suddenly, for no reason at all, she looked out through the window of the family restaurant as she took a sip of her hot tea.
There wasn't anything particular on the street but she had a feeling that she had to inspect the surroundings with detail. She looked towards the alley in front of the restaurant with her enhanced android eyes.
She saw two people. One of them was Takayama Akito, the very reason why she was here having a consultation about love, and the other was a girl wearing a uniform that she recognized from Kirigaoka Girls' Academy.
She stared at them with blank eyes. There was no reason why she should react to the scene, absolutely no reason at all. For all she knew, the girl was asking directions inside a dark alley where no one could interrupt them...
She moved the white cup away from her lips and gently put it down while watching them.
Gently.
Gently.
Gently.
Just as the cup made contact with the table, both table and cup inadvertently smashed into pieces by her robotic strength.
Misaka #19090 silently looked on as she saved her own tea cup from the destruction.
Without a single word, she rushed away from the Love Master and the restaurant. From across the street, she brought her left hand out towards the young boy in the alley and activated her ability, Vortex Point.
"... I see. It seems that things have begun to settle down now." Takayama Akito faced the older high school girl from the Dark Side. "Thanks a lot. I'll pay you back somehow- Huh?" The young boy felt a tugging sensation coming from his back, like someone pulling on his clothes. After a second, his feet left the ground and got sucked in by an unknown source. "Uwaaaahh!"
Maya stared wide eyed at the scene as her client got dragged away by some mysterious force. "Looks like things just got troublesome. I'll have to take my leave." Noticing the source of the mysterious phenomenon, she turned towards the other direction and began to walk away.
Akito flew through the streets straight into the family restaurant.
In the next instant, the young boy slowed down and then was grabbed from behind by a teenage girl with ginger hair and sky blue eyes.
"Shishou, with all my might, I will protect you from all these interlopers." Athena spoke with an ominous robotic tone.
"W-wha? What are you doing here?!"
"Please hold on tightly..." Athena gathered strength into her legs. Her rotors, gyroscopes, axis drivers and other robotic components which controlled her movements all did their necessary calculations and adjustments. There was a small metallic sound coming from inside her body.
Before Akito could react, he and the artificial human shot upwards into the air above the family restaurant.
"So, we are looking for one of your frog toys again?" Kamijou Touma with a tired expression.
"It's not just some frog toy, it's Gekota!" Misaka Mikoto tightly grasped the boy's arm as she led him around the street. Although she has been saying some harsh words to the high school boy, she was actually kind of happy that she bumped into him. She didn't understand why, only that she felt secured being with him.
"It must be really tough being a middle school girl." The spiky haired boy sighed.
Surprised by the sudden change of topic, "What do you mean?" Misaka tilted her head slightly.
"Well," The boy rubbed his head. "You are always being asked to go to all those different labs right? Even though you are so young, everyone is expecting so much from you."
"W-well, I'm a Level 5 after all so," Misaka looked away for a bit and then continued. "I need to work hard, not just for them or myself but for my parents as well!"
"Hahaha you are really dependable, aren't you?" The boy let out a wide grin.
"Of course I am! So enough chatting and just walk with me. Keep an eye out for anything-"
Misaka Mikoto suddenly remembered something very important. She recalled the conversation that she overheard from the boy's phone during the time when the boy asked about the current situation in Avignon.
"H-hey you-" She turned to face the boy but saw him looking at a certain direction so she followed his line of sight and then,
"Misaka!" Turning to face Misaka, Touma pointed towards the young the boy being kidnapped by a girl in front of a family restaurant.
"Right, leave it to me!" Misaka Mikoto used her ability as an Electromaster and generated electricity from her body. Using the electric current to magnetize herself, she shot upwards with amazing speed towards a metallic structure.
She grabbed hold of a metal railing of a small billboard on top of the small grey apartment building beside the family restaurant. But then she realized that Kamijou Touma will not be able to keep up with her so she looked down towards him to say something but,
"I'll be fine!" The spiky haired boy shouted from down below on the street. "I'll catch up somehow!"
"Then," Misaka Mikoto grinned and turned towards the kidnapper. "I guess I can go all out!"
The android aimlessly leapt from building to building using her highly advanced robotic body.
Takayama Akito shouted, "Where are you taking me?!" The cold wind blew on his face as he was being carried bridal style by the android girl.
She looked towards the distance unemotionally.
"I will not let anyone take you away from me." Without the boy noticing, Athena pointed the finger of her right hand towards his face. Green-colored gas leaked out from the tip and blew towards the young boy.
"Wh-what are you talking about?!"
A second later, Akito was met with an extreme wave of drowsiness.
"Why...am I... suddenly so...slee...zzzzzz"
Akito's eyes shut tight before beginning his journey to the land of sleep.
"Sleep for a while, shishou. I'll take care of the rest." The girl let out a gentle smile towards the sleeping boy.
Suddenly, the android girl heard a loud voice from behind her.
"Hey! What are you doing to that boy?!" Mikoto shouted as she caught up to the android's speed.
Several people who were walking down on the sidewalks saw the spectacle. They watched the amazing stand off for a while before shrugging it off and then continuing with their business.
"Intruder detected." Athena spoke with a robotic tone. She pointed her left hand towards the Level 5 and fired machinegun bullets which came out from the 3 small barrels that appeared on the back of her hand. "It was a good thing that Shinobu-san provided me with ammo for self-protection."
A barrage of bullets rained down at the Level 5 Railgun.
"W-what the hell?! Are you some kind of Terminator?!"
Mikoto generated a wave of electricity from her bangs and shot it forwards to intercept the bullets.
The bullets exploded as they came in contact with the Level 5's attack.
"Switching attack pattern to esper mode." Athena spoke again with a robotic tone. She stopped the barrage of bullets and instead, opened her left hand as she activated her power, Vortex Point.
Being a subset of her ability as an Electromaster, Mikoto used magnetism to increase the distance of her jumps to each building by attracting herself to metallic objects just like the railing from earlier.
Suddenly a feeling like someone was pulling her, similar to her magnetism, covered Mikoto's right side.
In the next instant, the Level 5 esper was pulled towards a radio tower about 10 meters away by an invisible force. Once her right shoulder made contact with the tower, the feeling disappeared and she fell down on top the rooftop of a certain building.
"Ouch!" The Level 5 esper rubbed her shoulder to ease the pain. Thankfully, she used her magnetism to pull herself into the opposite direction before the impact so the force that was pulling her from before was reduced. " This is troublesome. I can't use any attacks on her, especially my Railgun, because I might hit that boy. My only hope is to somehow get past her and snatch the boy away..."
The two continued their explosive mid-air battle over the several districts of Academy City. The cat and mouse chase continued for over an hour.
"Dammit , when are you going to give up?!" Slightly out of breath, Misaka Mikoto faced the android esper on a children's park back at District 7.
"I will protect shishou with my life!" With a dead serious expression, Athena pointed her left hand at Mikoto as she held Akito with her right. Suddenly, she noticed something familiar about the girl. "Wait. Are you not...?"
Suddenly, several a chain of footstep could be hear from the distance.
"Misaka!" Extremely exhausted, Kamijou Touma arrived at the scene and moved beside Mikoto. "Are you alright?!"
The spiky haired boy had been running around Academy City, desperately trying to catch up with the two girls.
"What are you doing here Love Master?"
That sudden voice caught the attention of the two. They both tilted their heads in confusion.
"Why are you chasing me Love Master? I thought you advised me to increase my advances?!" Athena aimed her plea at the confused middle schooler from Tokiwadai.
"E-ehh? What are you talking about?!"
"I think she means you, Misaka." The spiky haired pointed his finger towards Mikoto.
"Did she meet my clone or something?! What does she mean by 'Love Master'?!" Mikoto whispered. The Level 5 grew confused with each passing second.
"Please tell me how I should effectively convey my feelings to him!" A bit of desperation hung over Athena's voice.
"What? Are you asking me?!" Mikoto looked over at the boy which the mysterious girl was carrying. Ah! She must be meaning to confess to that boy! Wait, where have I seen him before?
Misaka Mikoto thought hard on what she was going to say.
"... Well, I guess you should just tell it to him straight. I mean you just gotta go all out you know-" She inadvertently moved her gaze towards Kamijou Touma. Her face turned into a very deep shade of red.
"Hehhh so you really are a master of love huh, Misaka?" Touma grinned at the girl beside him.
"S-S-SHUT UUUUUUUUP!"
Suddenly, Mikoto was enveloped by a large current of electricity.
"O-oi! Why are you so angry all of a sudden?!" The spiky haired boy took a step back away from the girl.
Without warning, the Number 3 Level 5 of Academy City shot spears of electricity towards the spiky-haired boy. The boy guarded with his right hand's ability, Imagine Breaker.
"Nnnn..." Takayama Akito slowly opened his eyes. "Huh? Where am I?"
" S-Shishou!" Athena let go of the boy and blushed slightly.
"Was I asleep? How did we get here?" Confused, the blonde haired boy looked around his surroundings.
"W-well, it's a really long story." The android girl looked away nervously. She was unable to explain that she used sleeping gas on him as well as planning to take him away to some faraway place where they could be alone.
"Huh? Isn't that Kamijou and the girl who went to our room recently?"
"U-umm about what happened, well there were enemies and you were cornered in an alley..." The girl muttered silently but the boy was not listening.
Akito silently walked towards the Level 5 esper, not minding all the electricity coming out of her as she attacked the spiky haired boy. "Hey! Is this yours?" He pulled out the strap with a frog character which he found earlier and tossed it over to Mikoto.
Noticing the young boy's call, Mikoto stopped her attacks to receive the object that he tossed over to her.
" This is it! This is the Lovely Mitten Gekota strap I've been looking for!" The girl exclaimed as she took a good look at the phone strap. "Where did you find it?"
"I found it at my dorm. Figured you dropped it when you were with your friends during that time." Akito shrugged.
"Huh? Misaka, you've already met Takayama?" Touma moved in closer after determining that it was safe to approach the two.
"You two know each other?!"
"We're neighbors." Akito stated plainly.
"Speaking of which, shishou. Who was that girl in the alley?" Athena crept up from behind.
"Ehh? W-well that's uhh... classified information!"
"..." An ominous aura surrounded the android.
Meanwhile from the other side of the group,
"So this is where you were, onee-sama." Shirai Kuroko teleported from behind Mikoto.
"Kuroko? Where have you been all this time?"
"W-well there was some business I had to attend to. Nothing important." Shirai looked away and inadvertently saw the spiky haired boy. "O-onee-sama, what are you doing with this brute?!"
The misunderstandings continued to pile on top of one another.
There were loud explosions, vending machines suddenly appearing and surges of electricity being fired. After a while, the commotion caught the attention of Judgment and Anti-Skill.
Unbeknownst to him, the mundane life that Takayama Akito wanted to escape from had already been left in the dust.
...
From Akito's esper research notes:
Name: Atsuchi Tomoya
Ability: Clairvoyance. The ability uses formulas similar to Teleporters which are based on concepts revolving Schrodinger's paradox. The success of the ability, which is to see through opaque objects, depends on the width and the material of the object being subjected to the Clairvoyance.
Power Level: 3
Description: Possible pervert and stalker. Must keep away. Has an addiction to comedy skits.
...
Name: Tatemiya Haruka
Ability: Flare Cloak. Pyrokinetic-variant. Rapidly increases the movement of molecules around her in a 60 meter radius through Telekinesis. She is able to compress the thermal radiation caused by her power into spheres which can explode when released or just release a scorching heatwave around her. Temperature threshold can reach up to 1602 degrees Celsius. Her powers have different usages so she can adapt easily in many different situations.
Power Level: 4
Description: A hardworker. Reckless. Often gets lost due to her lack of sense of direction. Is really bad with technology.
...
Name: Tsuyuri Aki
Ability: Deja vu. Precognition-type. Able to send her memories to a certain point in the past after coming into contact with a "Checkpoint". A special phenomenon, similar to interference, occurs when her AIM diffusion field comes into contact with other espers(known as "Checkpoints") and their AIM, including me. Her powers can only activate once she reaches a state of unconsciousness or sleep. She is still unable to fully control her power so her powers may or may not activate without her knowing it.
Power Level: 3
Description: Often hangs out with Tatemiya. Timid but extremely kind. Dislikes small insects.
...
Name: Athena
Ability: Vortex Point. Base Telekinetic-type. Based from our test results, she can pull objects or people into a certain point in a 23 meter radius around it like a magnet. Distance from the point to her is about 37 meters. Totaled weight of the objects being influenced by the power can sum up to 240 kg. All calculations are pure estimations of course since there is no power development institute analyzing her powers.
Power Level: 4
Description: Likes to debate about complicated subjects. Hamburgers seems to be her favorite food.
...
Name: Takayama Akito
Ability:
Power Level: 0
Description:
...
Welp look forward to next chapter! I promise it's gonna be something unexpected and also please giff review T.T
My stuff is also going to be released once per week now due to work so apologies for my tardiness.