Facing Your Fears: Alternate Reality

by cupcakesarereallygood

As the title suggests, it's an alternate ending to FYF. Four years have come and gone, but my pain is still evident. My love hasn't diminished in the slightest. In fact, I think it got stronger. But how much more of this will I be able to take? Sometimes I wish we could've had an alternate reality. An alternate world where you and me could be together happily.

12. At Long Last

Hey there! It's been quite awhile again, hasn't it? School just started and I honestly don't have any excuse for not updating. It's just pure laziness on my part. I don't know why I don't write as much anymore either. When I first started this story, as accidental as it may have been, I was really keen on typing the newest chapters. Even if I had a mountain of things to do before me, I would always type a chapter or two before facing school stuff. But now...even if I don't have much to do, which is pretty much rare trust me, I still can't bring myself to type anything. I'm already past the tenth chapter but I still don't know how this is going to end or how much longer it'll be. This was the same for FYF:AGAIN?! But I was more active in typing then. Weeeeeeeeeell~ What will be will be, I guess. Does that make sense? No? Yeah, probably not. But let's leave it at that, okay? Thanks to everyone who still reads this story even though it has no direction whatsoever! You guys are amazing!At Long Last

I honestly don't understand why it took me so long to do this, really. I have absolutely no excuse aside from school work.

Chapter 12 At Long Last

"—ma-senpai!" What the...A voice? It's a girl's voice. "Touma-senpai!/Touma-nii!/Touma-niisan!" Those voices...the girls... why are they screaming my name like that? It's not like..I'm dead, am I?

"He's not waking up no matter how hard we try to call out to him!" That was...Ruiko. She was panting as if she'd just ran a marathon or something. Where am I? It feels...warm. Am I asleep? What was I... "Kuroko-san, drop those needles right this instant!" NEEDLES?!

"She's right, Kuroko-san!" Kazari shouted as well. "You'll kill him! You'll definitely kill him! We can't kill him! It wouldn't be nice to do so when he's asleep like that!"

"Oi, oi, Kazari..." That was...Kuroko, right? "Are you telling me that it's alright to kill him when he's awake? But either way, I won't be killing him! I'll just make him bleed a little! He's bound to wake up if his pain receptors act up, right?" Hey, hey. That's not...

"You lot are just helpless, aren't you?" That voice...is that Miliahelm?! He's with the girls?! "But I do admit that seeing Kamijou Touma bleed is quite amusing, so I won't stop you from doing so, Shirai Kuroko."

"Stay out of this, you spirit you!" Hiromi?! What the hell happened while I was knocked out? Why am I even knocked out?! Open your eyes Kamijou Touma! Or else Kuroko will practice darts on you! You don't want to have holes in your body now would you?! "Kuroko-san, you mustn't listen to this b-st-rd! He's probably still after Kamijou-san's life! He went after Miko-chan, didn't he? In hindsight, why are you even here?! Go back, you spirit you! We don't need you here!"

"Stop referring to me as 'you spirit you' would you? I am your other half."

"I never wanted you to be!"

"You don't always get what you want in this world, little boy."

"I don't want to hear that from you!"

"Are you picking a fight with me?"

"SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!" I shouted, sitting up. "SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO SLEEP HERE YOU B-ST-RDS! CAN'T YOU AT LEAST TRY TO TONE IT DONE BEFORE YOU BITE EACH OTHER'S THROAT OFF?! I'M RIGHT HERE AREN'T I?" I said, glaring at the bickering idiots who just stared back at me. "What? It's pretty rare for all of you to be at a loss for words at the exact same time." I asked them irately as I rubbed the back of my head, yawning as I did. Disregarding their awe struck faces, I took a look aroundme and saw that I was in that park again, back where Mikoto's memoriam is. It was dusk already, but I don't know what the time is exactly. "Anyway, what time is it? It's gotten pretty late now, hasn't i—"

"Look beside you, Idiot Touma." Narushi suddenly said, pointing to my side.

"Geez, what's gotten into you all of a sudden?" I yawned once more before turning my head to the direction she was pointing at. " I don't know what all of you are trying to get at here but what exactly happened in—" I must be dreaming. No wait. I was dreaming. This must be reality. Beside me was Misaka Mikoto herself sleeping soundly, her hazel hair splayed messily around her. She was wearing a white dress that reached an inch above her knees, which probably wouldn't do much to protect her from the cold, and white sandals strapped on her feet. There were several blades of grass stuck on her dress here and there, as well as some flower petals. Is this real? I slowly raised my hand to touch her cheek gently, so as not to ruse her from her sleep. It felt a bit cold, but there was warmth. The warmth of being alive. The warmth of being here in this planet. The warmth of Misaka Mikoto.

"I...I can't believe it..." Kazari said, letting herself fall back onto the grass. "All these years of waiting for Mikoto-san to come back...and now... she's...she's..." She muttered as tears started glinting in her eyes.

"She's finally here..." Ruiko said hugging Kazari, probably crying on her shoulder. "Mikoto-san has...finally come home..."

"Oh my, oh my..." Miliahelm muttered to himself as he face palmed while shaking his head as if in disdain. "And here come the waterworks and drama. This really isn't what I signed up for..."

"Shut up already, ghost-man!" Hiromi shushed.

"How did...How did Onee-sama even come back? Did you bring her back, Touma-senpai?" Kuroko asked, staring bewilderedly at the sleeping girl next to me.

"More than bringing her back, it's more like I just convinced her." I answered, brushing away strands of her hair from her face. "Hey, wait a minute! Weren't we in a restaurant? What happened there?" I turned my head and faced Miliahelm, who was sitting down on the ground leaning against the trunk of a nearby tree. "How did you know that I was here? How did we get out of there? Were you the one who sent me to that world? Did you make me and Mikoto meet?"

"You sure do have a penchant for asking questions that do not really matter don't you, Kamijou Touma?" He answered in a laid back tone. "But since you probably won't shut up, I'll answer them anyway. First off, I made it appear that we left the restaurant after eating a meal so you don't have to worry about some rumour spreading around that a group of people suddenly disappeared into thin air. Second, I never did anything to any of the girls once you lost consciousness. You can trust me on that."

"He's right." Narushi said walking closer to me and Mikoto. She knelt down on the ground next to Mikoto and slowly reached for her hand. "When you passed out and fell to the floor, your body turned into bright specs of light before floating upwards, although there was one ball of light that stayed. It was probably a part of your life force that wouldn't be able to survive in the Alternate Reality. We couldn't do anything else but wait for that ball to fly away and join the rest of your being. We followed it and it brought us here. We found both of you lying on the ground, but you wouldn't wake up."

"And so that explains the needles, the bleeding, the crap about pain receptors and how it was alright for Kuroko to kill me if I was awake?" I dead panned, making all of them visibly flinch as they turned away from me with a nervous laugh.

"Hehe...I didn't think that you'd be awake..." Narushi said with a fake laugh as she scratched the back of her head. "Well anyway, putting that small matter aside—" Oh so now my life is a small matter to be put aside? "We need to figure out what to do. Now that we managed to get Mama—I mean, Misaka Mikoto, back, what's next for us? I mean, it's pretty obvious to us all that something is wrong. But none of us know what exactly it is. I'm willing to bet that Misaka Mikoto knows something, but we won't be able to make a move unless she's actually awake." I took of my jacket and placed it over Mikoto's sleeping figure, seeing as she might be cold. We were all pondering on what to do, until Miliahelm stood up and fake coughed to get our attention.

"I don't really care about any of your sentiments, but as for me, I'm going to hit the hay now." He said, walking over to us. "It's no point waiting for her to wake up, she's probably sleeping like a log right now anyway. It'd be an extreme pain even just trying to wake her up, so spare me from exerting effort already." He took one last glance over Mikoto, as if he was making sure that she was alright. He ruffled his own hair before letting out a huge sigh. "This day has got to be the worst day in the history of my life, being forced to deal with all your crap. I'm out of here. Aizawa Hiromi, you're coming with me."

"Huh? Why do I have to? I'll stay with Miko-chan and the rest so—"

"Are you stupid? How can you expect me to leave when half of my existence is in you, you buffoon?" He said irately. "Besides...when she does wake up, you'll only be in the way."

"Then just stay here with all of us, you idiot! And "be in the way"?" Hiromi asked. "What do you mean by—"

"Farewell now, dramatic humans." Miliahelm said taking a bow. "Please do go on with your meaningless skits." He snapped his fingers and before we knew it, he was gone and just as he said, he took Hiromi with him.

"That guy..." Narushi muttered. "He's actually very kind...and he's a tsundere, isn't he?"

"Where did you get that idea from, Narushi?" Ruiko asked, almost laughing. "But well...I guess I kind of understand where you're coming from. He basically ordered us to let Misaka-san sleep and rest, didn't he? If it were up to me, I'd at least try to wake her up once. Since he warned us about that, I guess this means that we have no reason to worry about Hiromi-san, right? He's probably sound asleep in his hotel or something."

"I guess that's true but would you really do that?" Kazari questioned.

"Wake Mikoto-san up? Yeah, sure. I mean, why not?" Ruiko shrugged. "I honestly want to smack Mikoto-san at least once for just leaving us like that, with or without those letters! But...oh well...now that I look closely at her, she does seem to be sleeping quite peacefully huh?" Ruiko walked closer to where Mikoto slept and peered at her face, before smiling to herself. "It would seem like a crime to wake her up when she's like that...I guess...my vendetta will just have to wait, now won't it?"

"I understand." Kuroko suddenly said. I looked up to her and saw how she leaned on a tree, tears welling up in her eyes as her relief flooded her. "I understand what you mean completely. I'm absolutely torn between letting her rest in peace and ranting her ears off for making us become restless for all these years. But she must be tired, right? Being an angel for four years must have taken a toll on her. It's been so long since I saw her like this..." She said with a bright smile. The other girls smiled and nodded as well, with all of them getting teary eyed. Really now...these girls...

"It's been so long since I've seen you all like this too." I said, sitting up properly as I crossed my legs. Kazari wiped the tears in her eyes, Kuroko walked closer and Ruiko just stared at me. "Ever since Mikoto disappeared four years ago...you girls, you've all tried to put up strong fronts. I commend you for that, but I wish you would've let it out more. keeping it all pent up inside will never do you any good. But now that this one has reappeared..." I brushed some strands of Mikoto's hair away from her face, a stupid smile lingering on my face. "You all look so bright and cheerful. I do understand how you all feel though. Even right now, when I know that she's right here beside me, I feel like she'll disappear any moment. That maybe I'm just dreaming and when I wake up, I'll wake up to a reality wherein Mikoto doesn't exist..."

"Well...this is the reality now, Idiot Touma." Narushi said, smiling down at me. "This is the reality where you all can exist. This is the reality where Mama is supposed to be. This is the place where you all belong. You just have to remind her of that."

"Yeah..I guess you're-"

"AH! THAT'S RIGHT!" Ruiko suddenly said as if a light bulb lit in her head. "You still haven't explained to us who Narushi really is!"

"Y-You still remember that huh?" I laughed nervously. "Well, you already know this, but I guess I'll say it one more time. This girl is Awase Narushi." I said pulling Narushi to my side and patting her head. "She's my daughter, and her mother is Mikoto, though that much is pretty obvious."

"You...you're surprisingly calm about this..." Kuroko said with a huff as she calmed down, the thought of me having a child with Mikoto must've infuriated her, though there still was an impressive scowl on her face. "I'll promise to try and behave, so give us an explanation right this very instant. I absolutely demand it."

"Well, it's not like I intended to hide it or anything...but we should probably go somewhere a bit more comfortable for Mikoto to sleep in." I said, glancing over to the girl who slept so soundly beside me. "She's gonna catch a cold if we let her sleep outside like this. I mean...if angels actually catch colds, that is." The girls looked at one another before they nodded. They were talking about a place where we could let Mikoto sleep as we talked so I just sat back and relaxed, watching them. "Damn, this is going to be one long explanation... Such misfortune..."

"I'm sorry..." Narushi said in a low voice as she stared at her lap. "If I hadn't gotten carried away then you probably wouldn't have had to go through this. I shouldn't have let my mouth run off like that, calling her Mama and all. I probably should've been more wary of our surroundings in the hospital too. I didn't even sense their presence ba—"

"What're you saying now huh?" I smiled, ruffling her hair a bit. "It's like I said before. That's not something you should apologize for. I never intended to keep your identity a secret from them. I was just thinking of a way to explain it to them properly, since no normal person could ever understand the circumstance we're in. But since this already happened, we're just gonna have to go with the flow. Cheer up already."

"But I..."

"They way that they treat you won't change, you know?" I said, looking at the sight of the three girls huddled around in a circle, deciding where to go. "I mean, if they were like that, then they wouldn't stick for me and Mikoto the way they have for as long as I can remember. Kuroko can get a bit jumpy though. She might be kind of clingy and annoying at times, but I know she means well. The same goes for Ruiko and Kazari. They're all good girls. They're all Mikoto's friends. And so are you, so there's no need to worry. I'm sure that they'll stick with us until the end of this."

"It's weird. You saying that they'll be my friends." Narushi smiled. "I remembered a little a bit about my life in Mama's Personal Reality. They've been watching over me since I was little. Kuroko, Kazari and Ruiko...well, I used to call to call them Auntie then, always gave me gifts whenever they came over. They had tea with Mama quite often while you were in the kitchen making food for them, I helped out a lot too. Then they'd eat your pastries and they'd joke around and say that I was better at making pastries than Mama was when she was in school. When I see them now, I kind of have this inkling feeling that that kind of happy, carefree aura that we all had in that illusion can still be real..."

"Because it is." I said plainly, lifting Mikoto's head and placing it on my lap. "It is real, Shi-chan. It won't change." Narushi's face lit up brightly like a Christmas tree, as her lips shifted upward into a smile.

"Yeah..."

---

"So..." I began, crossing my arms irritably. "Can somebody please tell me why I have FIVE soon to be college girls in my apartment on a Saturday night?"

"That's creepy, Touma-nii~" Ruiko waved off with a smile as she rummaged through my fridge. "Don't put it like that. This is a totally innocent visit~! Innocent I tell you—Oooh~ I'm gonna have some orange juice 'kay?" And so she helped herself to it before I could even say anything.

"We're sorry, Touma-niisan." Kazari bowed apologetically. "We didn't really have anywhere else to go. Somewhere private with a bed for Misaka-san to sleep on isn't easy to find, you know? And it's not like we could rent a hotel room so easily with an unconscious person lagging behind us. They'd think we're kidnappers!"

"We can't go to any of our dorms, so that just leaves yours." Kuroko said as she sat on my bed where Mikoto was sleeping. "What else would you have us do in a situation like this?"

"So this is where you live...huh..." Narushi said as she kept on walking around, looking through drawers and the such.

"You won't find anything worth your time, Narushi, so just sit down will you?" I sighed. This has got to be one of the unluckiest nights of my misfortunate life. Imagine that. "Anyways, you guys wanted an explanation, right? How will I do that if you're all too fascinated with being in a guy's room at a little past 8 in the evening? Don't you all have curfew? Kuroko's is at 10 isn't it? How about Kazari and Ruiko?"

"Ours is at 10 too." Ruiko answered as she sat down next to Kazari on the floor opposite of me. "Though we live in different dorms, they're pretty close by so with Kuroko-san's ability, all three of us can get home as long as we leave 15 minutes before ten, right?"

"Narushi-san can stay at my dorm for the mean time." Kazari said with a smile. "Erii-san is staying over with her friend for the weekend. I already notified her that a friend would be sleeping over at our dorm for awhile and she said it was fine." Wait, wait, wait...doesn't that mean...

"You're all fine with leaving Mikoto alone with me?" I asked. "I mean, I won't do anything to her, you know that, but you're seriously going to leave her with me?"

"We can't just skip out on our dorms without notice, you know that. Especially mine." Kuroko said, raising an eyebrow on me. "We do sincerely hope you won't do anything, but I have more trust that Onee-sama, even in her unconscious state, would never let you do anything her. Anyways, where is that explanation I demanded from you? Time is ticking by quickly, you see?" Are you in any place to demand anything from me right now? Really?

"Alright fine, but really." I sighed for the last time, preparing myself for the torture that I'm about to incur on myself. "All of you should settle down quietly. I don't want the neighbours to think I'm running some kind of shady business of sorts. You do not want them barging in on us, trust me." At my request, all the girls sat around on the floor obediently, waiting for my explanation. Well, here goes nothing. "As Kuroko and Ruiko know, Awase Narushi is...well..she's sort of like my daughter in an alternate universe of sorts. I can't really explain much to you since I'm in no position to tell you any of this. "

"There's nothing new with that." Kuroko huffed. "Just how many similar situations do you think we've been in huh, Touma-senpai?"

"If we ever make you feel out of place or unworthy of our trust, then I'm sorry but know this, Kuroko." I said in a serious tone. "We only do this to protect you."

"We can han—"

"What? You can handle anything that we throw at you?" I said leaning back on my arms. "I used to think the same way too you know? Back when Mikoto was still in the hospital, when she was suffering but I didn't know what from. I repeatedly told her that I could face anything with her. That I could handle it. But I couldn't Kuroko. I damn well couldn't. You know just how broken I was at that time. Can you fault me for not wanting you guys to fall under the same fate as I did? Think about it for a second, once I drag you into this, Kazari and Ruiko will be dragged along with you." I could see how Ruiko and Kazari flinched at my words. "This isn't about a matter of levels. This isn't even about ESPer powers anymore. This trouble we're in something much, much deeper."

"You don't want to tell us...simply because you think we're weak, don't you?" Ruiko suddenly said, gripping her skirt.

"I never said that you were—"

"But that's what you're implying!" Kazari exclaimed, raising her head, her eyes meeting mine with raw determination. "You're saying that we can't fight because we're weak. Because we're girls and we're low level ESPers. Mikoto-san is nearly the same age as us you know? One year isn't that much of a difference, so our levels must be the differentiating factor! Misaka-san is a level 5 so—"

"Is that really how you all think?" I kept a close eye on how the girls reacted, taking note of their reactions. "Mikoto is your friend. You've known her since you guys were 13. Do you really think that she's the kind of person who would look down on you simply because she thought you were weak?" They all fell silent. "I get that you're frustrated. I know how that feels, but finding someone or something to blame isn't going to make your frustration disappear. Mikoto only wanted you guys to choose your own battles to fight. Kazari is pretty good with technology isn't she? Then she can deal with the technological aspects of things. Ruiko is pretty good with handling interpersonal stuff, and that's her strong point. Kuroko can fight pretty well, but she's more adapted to dealing with authority. I admit, you guys really can't fight on the front lines, but that doesn't mean you can't fight at all."

The room seemed to still as the eerie silence came over us. I probably said too much. I probably hurt their feelings. But...what was I supposed to do? Sugar-coat my words? That would only hurt them more than necessary. I can't lie to them any more than I already have. I can't just—

"I'll continue from where Touma left off...okay? You guys should lighten up a bit." Narushi said, probably trying to ease up the tenseness in the atmosphere. When no one budged, she sighed before continuing on. "It's as he said, in a world different from the one you live in now, I'm the child of Kamijou Touma and Misaka Mikoto. I'm not really sure how all of it happened, but for me to be here, then it means that my world was somehow destroyed. I don't remember much about it, I just have small glimpses of the life I had there. Before coming here and meeting Touma, Mama came to greet me in a dream and she told me what I needed to do. Basically put, I had to restore the balance. I need to return to the world where I belong, and the only person who can do that is Touma."

"I'm assuming it has something to do with his right hand?" Kuroko asked, doing her best to drag the group out of the lump of despair that they had sunk themselves in.

"That's right." Narushi smiled at Kuroko's efforts. "But that's a story for a different time. Anyway, for some odd reason, things went downhill the very second I arrived in this world. Mama seems to be in some kind of trouble. The more time we spend dawdling around like this, the more of Mama that thing will take from her and all of us. I'm not quite sure what it is, but I feel like it's...I don't know...devouring her or something. The more she stays alone in that place, the more of her we'll lose. We're still not sure on the details, but that's about the gist of it. I came here for help but instead I brought out trouble. The one who wanted to help me, Mama, is now the one in need of help, and for some reason I'm somehow connected to all of this."

"She's telling the truth." I said, trying to look all of them in the face, but only Kuroko faced me. "We really don't know any more than that. What she said is all there is to it. The only thing we can do right now is to wait for Mikoto to wake up, while hoping that she actually still has her memories intact."

"So there's a chance where she might lose her memories again...huh..." Ruiko mumbled. The atmosphere became awkward again as silence overcame us once more. Narushi kept looking back and forth at us, trying to assess the situation we're in. Why did things have to turn out this way? I took a deep breath before facing all of the girls. Well, I mean, I was looking at them, not that they were looking at me as well.

"Look, girls I—"

"Aaaah~" Narushi said stretching out her legs on the floor as she leaned back. "All this trouble got me so hungry~ Do you have anything to eat here, Touma?"

"Uh...well I could cook up something for you." I said standing up and walking to the kitchen. "Is there anything you want to eat specifically?" I called out as I donned my apron.

"Then...how about some stir fried rice with chicken toppings?" Narushi thought out loud. "Is that alright with you girls?"

"Uh...No, I don't think we should—" Ruiko said about to stand up, but Kuroko held Kazari's hand. Kazari, who seemed to understand what she meant by the gesture, did the same thing and took hold of Ruiko's hand, preventing her from fully getting up. I smiled at Kuroko before turning back to the vegetables in front of me.

"Why don't you girls stay for dinner?" I said aloud as I chopped the carrots. "Narushi will be staying over at Kazari's dorm so this is the least I could do for you girls for taking care of her, right? You've probably prefer something fancier than this, but home cooked food is good for you once in a while." I saw how the three of them looked at one another in the corner of my eye. They smiled at one another as if they were coaxing each other to agree.

"Well...if we won't be much of a bother to you...then I guess we could stay..." Ruiko answered with a sheepish smile as she rubbed the back of her head shyly.

"You're of no inconvenience at all." I laughed as I threw in the vegetables into the washing bowl. "I mean, seriously. After all these years, you're only asking me that now?" I joked.

"Oh come on now...Don't be so mean, Touma-nii~" She came up to me from behind, giving me a painful pat on the back. "We're your precious little sisters slash juniors ya'know? You should treat us more gently than that~!"

"You girls should learn to respect me more before I do that." I sighed as Ruiko went back to the other girls who were all chattering about their memories with Mikoto from before. At least the tenseness between us is gone and now they act as if nothing happened. I guess that's a good thing right? As I went back to cooking, Narushi slipped away from the girl talk and made her way towards me.

"It's a good thing that they're back to normal, right?" She asked cheerfully, jumping atop the counter so she could sit on it.

"I was thinking the exact same thing right before you came over and intruded on my kitchen space." I laughed. "And no, you can't do taste testing while I cook. You should eat together with everyone. Getting ahead of others isn't good."

"Spoil sport." She muttered sticking out her tongue before turning around and rummaging through the cupboards. I could only sigh and resign myself to the fate of losing my precious cookies which was now held precariously in her hands. "I'm helping myself to these. It's not like you can do anything to stop me though." She smiled happily as she munched on the cookies with delight, a blissful smile on her face. I couldn't help the smile that tugged on mine, watching her like that. I wanted to ask her so many things. Why does she have a fear of men? What kind of memories does she still have? Was I a good father to her? Is she really telling all the truth about all that she knows? Is she really just an ESPer? Does she have any weird abilities like my right hand or something? I have so many things I want to ask. But I guess I'll put it off for today. She does seem like she's enjoying herself.

"Hey, Shi-chan..." I called out as I turned my back to her, focusing on the fire that heated the pan as I cooked. "You're going to be happy. As long as you're with me, I'll do my best to make you happy, okay?" The sound of crumbling cookies stopped as the sounds of my cooking overtook our surroundings. It was like that for a few seconds, just until I heard soft sobs and felt a small, gentle hand grasping my shirt from behind.

"I'll punch you if you're lying..." She said in a hoarse voice.

"Yeah..." I laughed. "I guess I better not break my promise then, huh?"

---

"We're back~" Ruiko announced her presence as she kicked open the door gleefully, raising the plastic bags in her hands into the air. "We bought green tea, orange juice, some milk, grape juice, aaand some other soda I can't seem to remember! As well as potato chips, some Pocky, microwavable popcorn, some biscuits, a pancake mix and uhh...soda?"

"I'm the one carrying the sodas though." Kuroko said appearing from behind her, placing the plastic bags on the floor. "It would be a disaster if the sodas got shaken due to Ruiko-san's frenzies. I didn't want to waste perfectly unhealthy and unpractical soda. The snacks should be safe though."

"Why bother saving something that you find unhealthy and unpractical, Kuroko-san?" Kazari asked, as she took the drinks from Ruiko, who sat immediately down after washing her hands. "That doesn't make sense, don't you think?"

"I'd like to ask why you girls bought so much drinks? Even with the snacks. " I asked as I marvelled at the sheer amount of litre pet bottles that now stood on my floor. "I'm not about to start opening up a drink shop or anything. Why the diverse varieties?"

"Those are all Mikoto-san's favourites, from what we can remember anyway." Ruiko said as she checked the contents of the plastic bags. "She might crave for something that's familiar to her taste buds or something. It's a good idea to feed her something like that right after waking up right?"

"I still think we should give Mikoto-neesama a proper meal as a starting point, but the snacks and drinks are good follow-throughs." Kuroko added, as she sat down beside Kazari. "She might get tired of your cooking, so we thought we could save her from having to deal with the conscience of not having to eat anything except your food made with all your love, patheticness and misfortune."

"Way to hit it where it hurts, Kuroko." I muttered irately, though the irritation didn't last long as I saw how the girls sat around the table, chattering as the food lay in front of them, snacks and sodas littered all around them. They seemed to be normal soon-to-be college freshman who had no care about magical affairs. It suited them perfectly. "Putting that aside, why don't we get eating? Ittadakimasu!"

"Ittadakimasu!" The girls said cheerfully, putting their hands together before picking up their chopsticks and their bowls, eating away at the stir fry I made them.

"Maaan~!" Ruiko exclaimed happily. "It's been a while since we had Touma-nii's home cooking hasn't it?"

"Now that you mention it..." Kazari said thoughtfully. "I guess it has, I think the last time he ever made something for us was when we were at that Child Error facility. I remember that we ended up rushing over without eating lunch so Touma-niisan stepped up and whipped something for us and the kids."

"Then he didn't make food for us. He probably made it to impress the kids or something." Kuroko snided. "I mean, who in the right mind would make crème brulee as a dessert for a spontaneous lunch? I could understand it if it was pudding or some other sweet, but crème brulee? Seriously?"

"I know right!" Ruiko laughed. 'I remember how amazed the kids were when you flambéed the thing! They were totally awestruck! Well, if only Mikoto-san's apron didn't get caught in the fire and hell broke loose..." I physically flinched at that.

"We were all soaking wet because of the sprinkler system weren't we? The food Touma-niisan made got soppy as well. " Uiharu added. "I'm glad we could eat this at its finest state!" And so we all laughed at the memory. A few seconds into it the laughs died out and was replaced by our sentimental silence which Ruiko broke.

"We..." She said moving her fork all around her plate, her eyes totally focused on her food. "We can go back to those days...right?" She asked, looking me in the eye. "We can all be happy with Mikoto-san here in Academy City, can't we? We finally got her back. She finally returned home. She can finally be with her family, with us, with Kamijou-san. Surely she's done enough, right? She can stay now, right? I mean, even Narushi is here with us! We can all be happy!"

'But I'm not even sure if Narushi can stay with us. More so now that Mikoto came back...'

"At this point, there's only one thing we can do, Ruiko." I said, a smile on my face. I looked over to Kuroko and to Kazari who were listening intently to us. "We have to protect this happiness. From my experience, we can't really choose which battles we get dragged into, but at the very least, we can choose whether we fight or not. And when we do choose to fight, we can choose who or what we want to protect. And I promise all of you, I will protect Mikoto this time. I will protect all the happiness that we have, no matter what it takes." For some reason, even though the girls smiled at my words, Narushi's smile felt different. Desperate even. I wonder why?

---

"Ah, it feels so quiet without those girls here..." I sighed as I stretched out on the floor. "I guess I should clean up a bit huh?" I took note of all the dirty dishes that lie on the sink, along with all the snacks and drink bottles that the girls bought which were scattered on the floor. Couldn't they have at least put the bottles in the fridge before leaving? Seriously. I stood up and gathered all the snacks in a plastic bag and placed them on top of the table before going over to the bottles and putting them where they belonged.

"Next is...the dishes. Man, can't Academy City create a robot that does the dishes for you? But even if they did create something like that, it's not like I could afford it anyway. Such misfortune..."I sighed before walking over to the sink. Wow. I sure do have a lot of washing to do. How long has it been since I cooked this much food in this apartment? Five years ago, I cooked food for two people almost every day because Mikoto kept coming over. Then she was gone for ten months. She suddenly came back. Then she was gone again. And now, she's here in my apartment, sleeping on my bed. If this is some kind of trick that Life is playing on me, I'm not about to fall for it. I'm willing to do anything I can so as not to lose anything anymore. I won't let anything be taken away from me. Absolutely not.

"Hey, Touma..." Narushi suddenly said coming over to me as the girls got ready to leave. She seemed really troubled for some reason.

"What is it?" I asked, patting her head. "If it's about Mikoto, I already said that I'd protect her, didn't I? You don't have to worry about her."

"About that..." She pushed me a bit further back, so we'd be away from the other girls who were busily chatting as they put on their shoes. "I want you to promise me one thing. But this is something between the two of us. You can't tell Mama about it, okay?"

"Promise?" I asked, but saw the look of determination in her eyes. I took a breath before nodding. "Fine then. What's this promise of yours?"

"You said before...that you'd do anything to protect Mama and her happiness along with everyone else's, right?" She looked down at her fists which were on her chest before her grip tightened and she looked at me once more. "Promise me that you'll really do anything and everything it takes. No matter what the cost is."

"What are you implying, Narushi?"

"Promise me, Touma."

"Not until you tell me what that means!" I got frustrated. I just hate it when people get like this. "You're acting just like how Mikoto was before she disappeared four years ago! What do you mean by that, Naru—"

"Narushi-san!" Kazari called out. "It's about time we le—Ara? Am I interrupting something here?" The three girls turned to look at me, Kuroko's expression immediately turning sour and doubtful.

"No, it's nothing, Kazari-san." Narushi smiled waving her off. "I was just warning this Idiot that if he did anything to Mama, I'd bash his head into a wall. Father or not, I'm from a different reality anyway." She said, her voice softening by the end of it.

"Well, that much is a given though?" Ruiko asked. "If Touma-nii ever did something to Mikoto-san, he'd have to face hell ten times over. "

"I hate to break it to all of you, as much as it saddens me to talk about the death and punishment of this barbarian, we need to get going. We only have 20 minutes before our curfews and I still have to teleport each and every one of you back. Haa~ It's a good thing I can travel more than two people at short distances right now..."

"Wait...you can?" I suddenly asked. "I thought you could only carry two people at once because of some sort of load on the 11th dimension something?"

"That explanation didn't really make sense but I'll spare you from the boring lecture on how teleportation works." Kuroko sighed. "But yes, I have been undergoing training since I'm already at the top tier of Level 4 ability users. I can teleport more people now, but the distance that I can travel gets lessened with the more people I teleport. If It's just one person though, I can travel much farther than before so long as I concentrate hard enough. Despite this, my chances of being a Level 5 are still quite dim, but the teachers tell me that it's not an impossible dream."

"That's amazing Kuroko-san!" Ruiko said in awe as she shook her hands. "Isn't that great? You're just a few steps away from standing on the same ground as Mikoto-san!"

"Well, not really. I mean, ESPer levels aren't that much of a big deal compared to what it was seven years ago. Sure the prestige and honour is still there, but no one has been able to reach level 5 except for the seven that we know of. I mean we still don't know who the sixth level five is, but anyway, people seem to have lost interest in it. They became legends that are both unreachable and inconsequential to us. We—"

"Hey now..." I interrupted, making them all look at me. "Hate to break it to you girls, but you just wasted about 5 minutes loitering around on my front door. You need to get going soon or else you'll be past your curfew."

"And I guess that's my cue." Kuroko took hold of Kazari's and Ruiko's hands while Kazari held onto Narushi. "We'll come over and bring some things for Onee-sama tomorrow morning. Until then, Touma-senpai." The girls smiled at me and before I knew it, they were gone in a flash. Teleportation powers must be pretty awesome huh? I shut the door and turned around to walk back to my room but for some reason everything became hazy and black.

"Take it! Hurry up Touma! Just take it!" That was...Narushi, right? What the hell is— "Please! Touma!"

"Don't be a fool Touma! Don't let it take over you!" That was...Mikoto? My head started spinning, accompanied with all the shouts and the screams that cried for help. I could see glimpses of Kuroko and the other girls, standing on top of a pile of rubble, dirtied and bruised. Narushi was crying as she was reaching out for something I didn't know. Then there's...a house. It seems familiar but I can't seem to remember it. There's blood everywhere, the wallpaper and cushions were ripped out and the whole house looked like it was ransacked. There's a girl crying in the corner, her clothes all messed up as people gathered and lit God-knows-what those things are. Fire embers started flowing in the air and burst into flames. Amidst all of it, the little girl stood up, despite wobbling in her steps, tears rolling down her face. My heart cringed when I saw her. Who was she? Why does she seem so familiar? Who do I feel so hurt seeing all of this? Why am I even seeing all of this? I don't get it..I don't get it!

A blinding light suddenly took over and I found myself tied in chains, crying out helplessly. What the—It seemed like I was talking to someone...but who? I looked around and saw the answer. Mikoto was right in front of me, holding a blue ball of light, crying as she walked along a path of destruction.

"Good bye..." She said with a smile. Wait, hold on a minute! What the f-ck is this?! What the hell is happening here? Is this a dream? Is this some kind of illusion? I don't want this... Mikoto! Mikoto! I tried calling out to her, but she merely kept walking forward. Damn it! What's going on—

"I offered you a blessing, and yet you denied it." A voice, a man's voice, suddenly said. "Don't take it out on me if you lose everything." Everything went black and I found myself falling into an endless hole.

"Mikoto!" I suddenly reached out, panting heavily. I looked around and saw that I was in my apartment. Seems like I must've taken a break from cleaning at some point and went over the bed to rest. What did I just see? Who the hells was the guy that said that ominous warning? I placed a hand on my chest, feeling my heart beat rapidly against it."It was a dream...What the hell kind of dream was tha—" I looked forward and saw the ruffled sheets that lay on my bed. On my empty bed. Sh-t. "MIKOTO?! Where—" I shouted, about to stand up, just until a voice came from behind.

"Whoa, wait calm down!" That voice sounded like a lullaby to me. "Relax, I haven't gone anywhere. It's not like I could even leave this apartment, you know?" Slowly, I turned around and saw the girl who was supposedly asleep on my bed, standing in front of me, wearing one of my shirts that hung loosely on her shoulders matched with boxers that I'm pretty sure were brand new. She had a towel over her head as she tried to dry her long hazel hair, ruffling it around making it seem messy and yet so beautiful at the same time. "I hope you don't mind." She said with a smile as she twirled around in front of me, flaunting the clothes she wore. " I made myself at home and went on to rummage through your closet. I'll just replace the shorts, since they were new. It was still in its wrap, so I thought that I could use it. I also helped myself to a bath if that's fine with you. Well, not like you can do anything about it now though." She said with a smile, her giggles bouncing through the walls of my lonesome apartment. I could hear the rumble of the washing machine which she probably used to wash her prior clothes as she simply stared back at me, a small blush on her face.

"I...uhm..." I couldn't find the right words to say. All the monologues I did in front of her memoriam seemed to be lost in eternity as I stared into her eyes. A few seconds later, she avoided her gaze, a repentant smile adorning her face.

"I guess...it really can't be that easy huh?" She said to no one in particular. "I mean...I don't even know how much time has passed in this realm, maybe three or four years? It must be weird, with me suddenly returning like this. It can't be helped if you're shocked or speechless. It's all my fault. Sorry for barging in like this, but it's not like we had any choice in the matter. But anyway, now that I'm here, I guess there's something that I have to say, huh?" She took a breath before kneeling down in front of me so that we would be able to see each other at eye level. The redness in her cheeks still hadn't vanished as she let the towel fall unto her shoulders as her hands slowly went up to the sides of my face, holding it in her grasp. "I'm sorry I took so long." She said with a smile, but not long after that, tears started forming at the corners of her eyes and she ended up sobbing into my shirt, wrapping her arms around me as if making up for the time we'd lost.

"You stupid idiot..." I couldn't help but say as my arms went around her, my face nuzzling into the towel on her shoulders. I don't know if the wetness that I felt was from the water from her shower or from the shower of my tears but who'd give a damn anyway? "Welcome home." I croaked out, making her shoulders shudder even more from her tears. "Welcome home...BiriBiri..." I could feel the smile that crept unto her face as she heard that familiar nickname that I'd bestowed upon her all those years ago.

"You never learn do you, you Idiot?" She said, breaking away from the hug, her right hand pinching my cheek and stretching it out. She had on the biggest smile I'd ever seen, despite the voluminous tears that were running down her cheeks. "My name is Misaka Mikoto, remember it for once!"

And with that, I'd lost the constraint on all the tears that I've held on to for so long.

Such misfortune...Really...

-chapter end-

I don't know what to say. Really. But I mean, just imagine it. A long haired Mikoto wearing a loose shirt with a towel around her shoulder, smiling with tears in her eyes. It would be so adorable, Touma would die from the cuteness. Did the length make up for all the wrong things I did? Dudes, this chapter has like 8k+ words. It's been a while since I wrote something like that. The story has been in a bland state for a while now so I tried to pick it up a bit by adding in the vision that Touma saw. Hopefully things will manage to piece itself together for the finale in the upcoming chapters.

Oh yeah, the italicized part is like a flashback from when the girls were about to leave Touma's apartment, while the ones in both bold and italics are part of his dream.

Heeey I just realized that I totally messed up. Counting the years, Kuroko and the other girls should already be in their freshmen year of college, but somehow I've written them to be incoming freshmen. I mean, supposing that Touma is taking a four year course, he should graduate while the girls are freshmen. Let's just pretend that Touma is taking an extra semester for his thesis or something. I guess I'll have to think of some way to fix this huh? See this is what happens when you don't have a solid plot line. PLOT HOLES. Lots and lots of plot holes. I'll try to fix it in the later chapters okay?

I'm really sorry for the long wait. I'd also like to apologize if you'll think that this chapter wasn't worth the months that I've wasted writing it. Okay maybe not months, but I haven't updated in months so I guess it's the same, right? I promise to do better next chapter really! Thank you so much for tuning in to this. I hope you won't give up on this story despite my blandness and excruciatingly long waiting periods.

Thank you for reading this! Until next time!