Author Note:
NoName: That is actually a very good point of your own. Feels to me like something I ought to have some characters debate in the story at some point, whether its that you acquire quirks as you gain in Level, or that the quirky people are the ones with the necessary oddball perspective to advance to higher Levels in the first place. I could see a fun argument between a bunch of Level 0's on the matter... Leonid, Touma, Tsuchimikado, maybe Jonathon Sherman, etc. All the more fun if the Level 5's overheard them at some point. Sounds like a good scene premise for a more light hearted chapter later on.
As for the fight with Zephyr Queen, I definitely get what you're saying. Touma, even with the Imagine Breaker, probably wouldn't win nearly so many of his battles in Canon if his opponents weren't so hung up on him being a Level 0/not a mage, so they don't take him seriously at first then get panicked when he starts negating their stuff and make stupid mistakes. Overconfidence in his opponents might be his greatest "plot armor" advantage. Certainly if so many of them didn't face him head on and simply try to overwhelm him with brute power (Mikoto, Accelerator, Stiyl, etc) he would have a much harder time with his fights. At least with Imagine Breaker as it currently is. I have my own ideas for progression for Touma, since he never really actually gets stronger in the Canon series, or so it feels to me, and he'll need them, because I enjoy smart, tough villains, and he won't be able to rely on them simply charging into range of his punching arm very often. Especially Izarde, who has encountered versions of Imagine Breaker in the past... but we'll get to some of that in the chapter after this one.
Though at least Mikoto will be growing in how she applies and uses her Power as well. I have plenty of ideas for her own progression, which are as much refinements of her existing power as actual strength increases. Some of it may even come about in mutual training sessions with Touma... or are those dates? It can be so hard to tell with them. I have plans for Uiharu and Saten and Kuroko as well... and I feel in my own humble opinion that they are paths not often trod in the fandom... certainly I haven't seen any stories with such things as I have planned in them before.
xxxx
Academy City, October 2nd, Outside Seventh Mist Mall, Early Evening
Mikoto Misaka leaned against the wall of the mall, between two of the large street level display windows, one leg tucked up underneath her, almost like she was sitting on her heel with her foot flat against the wall and her other leg braced on the ground. She was wearing the Tokiwadai winter uniform, of course, the tan blazer and plaid skirt warming her only a little. The problem with the Tokiwadai uniform, summer or winter, in her opinion, was the skirt. It was entirely too short. Not quite a mini-skirt, but it was noticably shorter than the skirts of most other schools. She wore shorts under her skirt as a matter of course, despite Kuroko's despairing protestations about it being unfeminine, but to Mikoto, it was better to be tomboyish than to be constantly flashing your panties to everyone when you ran, jumped, tumbled and wall-climbed around the city, as she did. The fact that they were gekota panties marketed for girls who were just starting to reach puberty, and which she found hopelessly adorable, actually didn't weigh much on the decision to wear shorts with her skirt. Much.
And while some girls got around the problem of their legs being largely exposed by wearing pumps or tights or stockings, Mikoto had never been comfortable with them. She would wear them, such as when she wore one of her violin recital dresses for one of the few public performances she allowed herself to be bullied into giving. But she did not prefer them, and did not find them comfortable for her daily life. Her slouch socks at least kept her ankles and calves warm, so it was only the area from just below her knees to the middle upper part of her thigh that was exposed. She just happened to have fairly long legs for her size. In truth she would be much more comfortable in long shorts and a T shirt, or even pants and a light sweater or button up shirt, things which people thought of as "guy clothes", but she rarely got any chance to wear them, as Tokiwadai policy was for their students to always be in uniform. It was a form of advertising after all, a mark of their elite status. Mikoto didn't care about status, but as a member of the school and especially as a Level 5, she was unfortunately forced to be a representative at all times, whether she wanted to be or not.
All the moreso because Shokohou, that manipulative witch, was only too happy to make use of her Mental Out to manipulate the minds of faculty and students alike, as well as city officials even, so as to go unlooked for whenever a Level 5 was needed for something, dumping all the responsibilities onto Mikoto. She really should learn to say no every now and then... she had the power to refuse them of some of their stupid requests. As a Level 5, she had a lot of power actually, besides that which she generated within herself. Of course much of that external power came from connections with powerful Research Groups or administrative functionaries within the city hierarchy, including even the Board of Directors themselves, which Mikoto generally eschewed. But she could get pretty far on just the Level 5 title in most cases, though she only did that when she absolutely had to, as it made her feel a little dirty. But she just wasn't the sort to turn down people in need either. She couldn't remember where she read it from, some American comic or other, but there was a saying she liked. "With great power comes great responsibility". That was the kind of credo she could get behind, and tried to live up to.
But today she was taking time off from being the Railgun of Tokiwadai, to be Mikoto Misaka instead, at least hopefully. Ever since the Terrorist Attack outside the School Garden the week before, she had been feeling on edge and irritable, though that had as much to do with what had happened after the incident as the terrorists and the casualties they had inflicted. The fight itself hadn't been too much trouble, at least for most of it. Men with guns, at least not full scale military weapons, were not something she had fought against often, but she knew how to deal with firearms, especially with Kuroko there to back her up. Anything that was made of metal or conductive materials was something she could use either to protect herself or attack the enemy with after all, and in the modern world that was almost everything someone might bring with them into battle. That Idiot had of course charged into the fray as well, but she knew he could take care of himself, even as it put her heart in her throat to watch him risk his life... regardless of what his crazy hand could do to Esper powers, it wasn't any good against normal force or guns!
Of course the fact that he was basically helpless had never stopped the Idiot in the past, so she was not surprised to see it did not stop him then either. And she knew that she could cut loose with her power safely even with him in the line of fire at least. She just wished she had noticed how many of the terrorists there actually were, so she could have shocked them all down before they were able to attack innocents. But she hadn't, maybe her gaze and attention drawn a little too worriedly to the Idiot, rather than taking in the whole battlefield as she ought to have been doing, and by the time she realized what was happening, students were already bleeding and dying! She'd put an immediate halt to it of course, but that wasn't much comfort for the student's who'd been cut down by heavy machinegun rounds was it? She'd made sure to view the bodies in the aftermath... seeing the mangled remains that were the result of her distraction and inadequacy, and finding a place to vomit her stomach empty afterwards, before the trip to the hospital. Images to haunt her nightmares... but deservedly so, in her opinion. She should have saved them.
Even worse than that was how she'd frozen up when the terrorist she had thought was down and dead, or at least unconscious and bleeding out, suddenly got back up and came after her with those freaky claws and fangs growing out of his body! Well, she hadn't frozen up initially, she'd shocked the freaky thing as hard as she'd ever shocked anyone, enough current to stun a horse, but it acted like it hadn't even tickled! It pounced at her and she avoided it for the most part, but it had managed to just barely scratch her on her cheek. Barely more than a papercut. It didn't even bleed, initially. But somehow that had frozen her up, left her paralyzed, unable to move, even when she channeled her power to try and control her muscles directly, they stubbornly remained frozen, like her body had turned to ice! The Idiot had saved her from being eaten alive... damn him for being so stupidly heroic, and epecially for looking all good and cool while he did it, and always, always, ALWAYS in front of her! When he held her in his arms after the thing collapsed into black flames and ash, Mikoto felt like she had never been warmer and safer, even though it had only been for a moment, and suddenly she could move again, her body restored just by being in the Idiot's presence!
Of course that warm glow had been diminished considerably by viewing the wreckage of the aftermath and proof of her failure as a Level 5. And the flickering remains of it had been guttered out by her convseration with the Idiot in the hospital hallway. Idiot! Idiot! Moron! Fool! Stupid boy! Why couldn't he understand what I'm feeling!? Why does he have to try and shoulder every burden all on his own?! Why does he always, always, always have to be the hero, suffering and hurting so that nobody else would have to? He doesn't have to go that far! Nobody wants him to go that far, but he does it anyway! Mikoto fumed to herself. She was still enraged by his dismissal of her attempt to get involved in whatever those "Magic Bags" were, though it had died down to a bubbling simmer of anger and resentment over the course of several days, down from the raging tempest of fury and hurt she'd felt initially. And which she had taken out on her surroundings as soon she got to a private place at her dorm. Childish, but satisfying.
Look, I know you're stronger than me in a lot of ways. Most ways that really matter anyway, despite what you might say to try and not hurt my feelings, you Idiot. You did what I could never do, and saved my life and the lives of nearly ten thousand of my little sisters. You gave me my own strength and determination back, and you didn't even ask for anything in return, except for home made cookies I never actually gave you. I know I owe you. I'm in your debt and I couldn't pay it all back if I lived a dozen lifetimes. You'd tell me not to worry about it, but I can't do that. You deserve my thanks, and you will accept it even if I have to force you! Mikoto ranted at him in her head, where she was safe from any annoying rebuttals or distracting retorts he might have in reality. Compared to you, I'm just a weak and selfish girl who can't admit how she feels to the people that matter the most. But why can't you see!? Why can't you understand that I don't care that I'm weak, that I might not be able to do anything to help... that I just want to be there for you anyway, however I can. Because you deserve someone to share your burden with, even just a little. Why won't you let me in, Touma? I know you want to protect me. And I like that. Nobody has ever protected me, not like you do, not since I left home to come to this City in the first place. But you're going too far, you Idiot! You're not protecting me here, you're stifling me! So I'm sorry. I can't accept your dismissal. I'll find out what you're involved in myself, and do what I can to support you on my own!
Mikoto flipped open her phone, checking the time, dimly aware that she was sparking from her bangs a little, but it was calming to do so, so she let it continue despite the glances and stares from some passerby. She was early to the rendevous, a habit of hers when she was nervous about things. She was going to meet up with Saten and Uiharu and Kuroko after they all finished with their own things for the day. Some therapeutic shopping and money expenditure on frivilous things was just what she needed to regain her emotional balance, Mikoto felt. And when the time was right, and she worked up enough nerve, she was going to ask her friends for some help. She'd been almost obsessively researching everything she could find about Magic, as well as the recent Terrorist incident, during every moment of her free time since the day of the attack. Mostly she had come up with a lot of ridiculous, obviously unrelated stuff about stage magic, like some guy calling himself the Amazing Amazo off in America somewhere. It was kind of interesting, but it didn't get her any closer to understanding the Magic Bags or Guy Who Should Have Been Dead. Smoke and mirrors and perspective tricks weren't what she'd encountered that day.
There wasn't much on the news feeds about the Terrorists themselves either, other than noting that they'd all been caught and that the incident was being investigated by Anti-Skill, and that everything was under control even as local security awareness had been heightened for a short time. Standard news pap, with all the interesting and frightening details smoothly ironed out and covered up. She'd tried to throw some Level 5 weight around the situation, called some of the Anti-Skill people she knew, like Captain Yomikawa, but they hadn't been able to help her. Not exactly stonewalled her, more like they didn't know either. The secret mechanisms of the City were grinding away behind the scenes, Mikoto could tell. Looking closer would be dangerous, she knew that. But she was determined to do it anyway. If the Idiot was in trouble... no, she KNEW he was in trouble, he always was, somehow... because the Idiot was in trouble, she was going to help him out, whether he wanted it or not. It was high time for HIM to have a turn being protected! And she'd already declared War against the entire City before, she wasn't afraid to go peeking in dark corners and opening doors people would rather stayed shut if she had to.
But she didn't know where to look to find the information she needed. She knew her way around Academy City's info systems pretty well, and was comfortable getting into databases she really shouldn't have access to, but there were layers of security she could not penetrate just with her power. She was hoping Uiharu would be able to assist with that... her friend was one of the finest computer science experts in the city, the famed Goalkeeper of Judgement. Uiharu might also be able to help her design a program for shifting out false positives and dud leads in the data via cross referencing and other methods. Saten on the other hand had a talent for sniffing out strange information. Normally it was all just rumor and hearsay, urban legends and the like. But since she was looking for something as esoteric and unscientific as Magic, she figured that might be right up Saten's alley. And if not, Saten was a very sensible girl... most of the time... and could be relied upon to usually keep the group going in the right direction with her vivacious energy.
As for Kuroko, well, she was Mikoto's best friend. If there was anyone she could rely on to help her out with a problem, it would be her roommate. And with her Judgement credentials and investigative talents, who knew what sort of leads Kuroko might turn up? It was just a matter of convincing Kuroko to use those assets and talents on a private side project for Mikoto, rather than official Judgement business. Uiharu the same way. Saten was probably going to be a given, only too happy to help, it was the other two that Mikoto knew might need some cajoling and convincing. Especially Kuroko, if she found out WHY Mikoto wanted to know about what she was looking for. She was going to do her best not let them find out she was investigating a boy, especially that particular boy, because she knew they would all be impossible about it with teasing or drama. But she was grimly prepared for the possibility that the bribes, arguments, calling in of favors and even outright begging she planned to do first might not be enough, and she would be forced to tell them the truth about what she wanted and why.
She would do her best to limit the danger to her friends of course... that was why she wanted them to help without really knowing what or why they were helping her do. But as she had learned with the whole Febrie situation not too long ago, she didn't have to do everything herself. And her friends didn't even want her to do everything herself, they wanted to help her do the things that were important to her. She just wished the Idiot would understand that she felt the same way about him! Then again, he was the Idiot. Completely oblivious to all sorts of things, including how it felt for her to know he was out there fighting and contending and possibly getting hurt or worse, and she wasn't there to help him! Because he wouldn't let her be! But she wasn't going to stand for that, not anymore! She would show him that she had the strength to stand at his side at least, against Espers, or Magic, or whatever problems he might face, if it was the last thing she did!
"Heeeeyy! Misaka! Over here!" Mikoto looked up to see Saten waving at her from the entrance to the mall, dressed in blue capri pants with an orange and russet open fronted sweater in the pattern of jack-o-lanterns, over a pale cream colored shirt, as well as the usual white flower in her hair. As usual, Saten had a cute outfit on, and Mikoto was briefly jealous of that freedom before setting it aside as she jogged over to her bright eyed friend. "Were you waiting long?" Saten inquired as Mikoto reached her.
"Not too long, don't worry. And I had some thinking to do anyway, so it worked out." Mikoto replied, stuffing her gekota phone back in her pocket. "Uiharu's not with you?" She asked, as usually she and Saten were inseperable after school was out and Judgement duties were done.
"She apparently got held up late with some Judgement stuff. Sounds like they're working pretty hard since the Terror attack last week, and with Shirai out of the office on other duties, they're stretched pretty thin from what I can tell. I tell her not to overwork herself, but you know what Uiharu is like. Judgement's not just a job to her, its a passion. But she called me not long ago and said she was on her way now, so she should be here in ten or fifteen minutes." Saten replied with a lighthearted shrug. "Doing some heavy thinking huh? About what? Or should I say... who?" Saten acquired a smugly knowing look on her face that Mikoto liked not at all.
Damn it all. She's in that kind of mood, is she? That's going to make things... unpleasant... later. "I-it's not like that..." Mikoto protested, knowing she sounded weak. Because well, it kinda was like that, just not really, and it was all confusing and it made her heart ache thinking about it! "L-look... I'll tell you about it a bit later, ok? I actually have something I want to ask you guys's help with, but first I want to relax and do some shopping and just be, well, us, for a bit, ok? Its been a tough couple days and I could use a break."
"Sounds good to me! I haven't seen much of any of you for one reason or another lately, I'm all for a girls night out!" Saten replied enthusiastically. "Where is Shirai anyway? Usually she's all but hanging off you when school is over."
"I don't know actually. Her City Guide shift should have been over by now." Mikoto wondered, before clenching her fist and emitting a few sparks. "Damn, I missed her at school today too... apparently she brought the ACME Level 5 for a tour... but I was elsewhere at the time. I wouldn't have minded squaring off with that Zephyr Queen a time or two, put her through her paces! After that high and mighty entrance she pulled at the arrival ceremony, I've been looking forward to taking her down a notch or two!" Of course no sooner had they spoken of the devil than did she appear, teleporting out of nowhere as was her habit and all but flinging herself at Mikoto from the side and back.
"ONEE-SAAAMMMAAAA!" Kuroko exclaimed in a half overjoyed, half piteous tone as she embraced Mikoto, wrapping her arms around her sides and almost knocking her forward off balance as Kuroko rubbed her face against Mikoto's shoulder and back. "MY DAY WAS SO HORRIBLE!"
"Get off!" Mikoto snapped, pushing at the clingy girl, but refraining herself from relying on shocks. She was going to ask Kuroko for a big favor later after all, the least she could do was be a little gentle right now. "Watch your hands, you perv!" Mikoto was especially wary of Kuroko's hands sneaking inside her clothes ever since they'd cleaned the pool together that one time as punishment and Kuroko had teleported off her underwear trying to get her into a swimsuit.
"But I had such a terrible time today, and your bodily presence calms and revitalizes me!" Kuroko protested, squeezing her arms tight and doing her best to mimic a limpet.
"Revitalize from arms length, if you must!" Mikoto pulled at Kuroko's arms to little avail. Despite being a year older than the other girl, in terms of physical strength they were pretty well matched, Kuroko might even be stronger because of her Judgement training. Anger and embarrassment usually served to give her the strength she needed to pry Kuroko off her and smash her into the floor or walls a few times to get her annoyance across, but she was holding back from doing that today. "You're causing a scene!"
"I know no embarrassment when it comes to displaying my true love for my Onee-Sama!" Kuroko declared resolutely, though she did seem a little calmer, slowly releasing her bear hug around Mikoto's sides. "Usually you shock me numb by now... are you feeling all right Onee-Sama?" Kuroko asked, looking up at Mikoto's face from way too close. "You don't have a fever do you!? Your Kuroko will tend to you of course, and mop the sweat from your brow, and even squeegee it from the rest of your beautiful lush bod... OW!" Kuroko cut off as Mikoto thumped her on the head, pushed beyond her tolerance limit by a vocal daydream that likely would have become almost pornographic in short order otherwise.
"I'm not sick. Though I wonder about you sometimes. You act like you're delirious from fever often enough." Mikoto huffed, finally managing to step away from Kuroko's embrace while her roommate rubbed her thumped head.
"That's the cold and difficult One-Sama I know and love so much. It wouldn't be worth it if you didn't make it such a challenge!" Kuroko replied with a happy smile. "Greetings, Saten." She turned to the other girl and nodded in pleasure. "It feels like its been forever since we got to hang out together. Where's Uiharu?"
"She'll be along." Saten shrugged. "She said she was just finishing up her patrol route a short while ago and was on her way. She sounded a little frazzled for some reason."
"Well the 177th Branch is pretty short handed." Kuroko allowed thoughtfully. "I hope she remembered to put in a request for help from another Branch if she was going to go out on patrol. With the heightened state of alert, we are supposed to go in groups of two or three, and Konori-senpai is usually busy with administrative matters at higher levels."
"Maybe I should volunteer and go with her next time?" Saten wondered with a hint of concern. "I still have that Auxiliary Judgement Officer armband. Just gotta think of a good reason to get out of school..."
"Please do not act like a potential delinquent in front of me, Saten. I can not bear it, not after what happened to me today." Kuroko pleaded, all but tearing at her hair in frustration and pent up rage.
"What happened to you today?" Mikoto asked curiously, as it was uncommon to see her friend so openly distressed, well at least about her work anyway. She was also interested because she knew that a certain Idiot was Kuroko's City Guide partner, and she was instantly on alert for anything she might learn about him or the situation he was in.
"I was assailed with rudeness and inconsideration from all quarters, pretty much from the start." Kuroko replied bitterly. "I don't know what the Tro... I mean, that certain Gentleman... may have done to draw the attention of ACME, but surely it could not have been so important as to cause them to ignore me when I was trying to greet them like I was just part of the background!" She corrected herself because she knew her Onee-Sama would be unhappy with her by calling the Trog what he really was. She didn't have the proof she needed yet to show her Onee-Sama what sort of trash Kuroko was saving her from, so that meant she had to toe the line of propriety, though it burned in her gut like acid to do it. "I offered to take them on a tour of Tokiwadai, but they turned me down cold... apparently all they care about is HIS school, for reasons that quite escape me!"
"But wait... I heard you took them to Tokiwadai today? But you're saying they didn't want to go? Aren't you supposed to take them around where they want, not where you want?" Mikoto was confused. And also worried. She couldn't think of too many reasons for ACME to be interested in the Idiot... unless they had seen something regarding his Hand anyway. And that could get messy if so. As far as she knew, he was the only absolute anti-Esper in existence. Academy City's rivals would do a lot to gain access to that kind of ability. I knew it! He's getting in trouble already! I can't leave him alone for a moment or he gets dragged into something! Mikoto groused inside her head.
"They acted like I wasn't even there! They didn't say one word to me, almost. All three of them were completely focused on the Tr... Gentleman. They seemed very interested in what his Esper abilities are, even though by his own admission he is the most hopeless Level 0 in the whole city! They simply wouldn't leave the topic alone. The Gentleman in question did a lot of blathering and trying to sound cool, but I could tell he was uncomfortable with their line of questioning. He obviously has no respect at all for Level 5's, no matter who they might be, given how he gave the Zephyr Queen woman such a hard time." Kuroko slipped that subtle barb in, hoping her Onee-Sama would take it to heart. The boy had no respect at all for those who were his superior in power. Why would you want to be with someone who didn't respect you? "He got very preachy really, it was quite unpleasant, and very rude."
"Sounds like him." Mikoto could not help but agree. About the preachiness anyway, not it being unpleasant or what Kuroko saw as a lack of respect for Level 5's. Touma respected everyone, as long as they gave him and others that same courtesy. She could not imagine him being intentionally disrespectful to anyone, unless they absolutely deserved it, like Accelerator during their fight. Kuroko was probably mistaking his natural "treat everyone the same" attitude as disrespect. Though as a Level 5, Mikot had to wonder if the Zephyr Queen actually found it disrespectful. She found it refreshing personally, after all. And as for preachiness, in her experience, Touma preaching at you was meant as a wake up call when you were heading down a bad path. In fact, I get the feeling Kuroko is self editing quite a lot in her recap. Well, its her story to tell I guess, I should just take some of the details with a grain of salt until I get confirmation from a different source.
Maybe Onee-Sama is NOT completely blind to the Trog's faults! Hope yet remains! Kuroko thrilled to have her true love agree with her, even in such a noncommittal tone. "Well, anyway, eventually his cool facade slipped, and the Gentleman proved he was no such thing, as he confronted the Zephyr Queen directly and made some sort of rude or shocking gesture at her. I was standing a little ways away at the time... she'd started gusting wind, kind of like my beautiful Onee-Sama does with her sparks when she's about to teach someone a lesson... but the "gentleman" in question clearly can't understand a warning sign when one blows in his face." Kuroko shook her head in exasperation. "He swiped his hand at her and said something about breaking her illusions like they were nothing, which made her stare at him in disbelief, her wind stopping with her amazement at his temerity!"
As if my sparking ever stopped you from trying to do perverted things to me! Mikoto thought sourly. And if he used the hand I think he did to "swipe" at her, then I'm sure it wasn't her amazement that brought the wind display to a halt. I wonder what she said to him though? Usually he never provokes first, except by accident. Mikoto curled her fingers into a quiet fist. If she's been bothering him, I may have to set her straight on a few things next time I see her...
"You make it sound like he was trying to pick a fight with her or something." Saten said, sounding surprised. "But he's just a Level 0 right? I mean, I guess I'd stand up to Misaka if I thought she was doing something wrong, cause I know you wouldn't hurt me, Misaka, but I wouldn't try to pick a fight with her. And especially not with any other Level 5. Is he crazy?"
"I have no idea what goes through his mind. I would prefer not even to attempt to imagine it. It would make me stupider, just attempting it." Kuroko said with massive disdain. "As for picking a fight, maybe. But he apparently chickened out if that was his intention... right after he swiped at her, he ran off, and I was too stunned by what had just occured to follow him. By the time I realized he wasn't coming back, he was long gone... he left me alone with them! He completely abandoned his duties as a City Guide, and left all four of us alone in part of the City we weren't familiar with!" Kuroko seethed as she recalled it. "It was all I could do to stop them from running off after him willy-nilly! The Zephyr Queen in particular was insistent on pursuing him for some reason... I think she was in the mood to teach him a lesson about respect, personally! But I managed to make them see sense eventually. We can't have ACME Espers running around the city unescorted, especially in the wake of the Terror Attack."
I'm pretty sure she wanted to chase him for the same reasons I did after I first encountered him. That power of his is like nothing else I've ever encountered. Is it related to this Magic stuff maybe? It's certainly not like any Esper power I can imagine. It doesn't follow the laws of physics. Mikoto thought to herself. She could not contain a small smile though. Provoking a powerful Esper, saying a lot of preachy stuff, then running off before they could properly respond... that was definitely Touma all right. Her heart ached as she thought about him. She was still so mad at him, but she felt so fond of him at the same time! It wasn't fair for him to be able to make her feel all warm and fuzzy at the same time as she wanted to wring his scrawny neck! Stupid, aggravating, annoying, incredible, amazing, heroic Idiot...
"So then you brought them to Tokiwadai after that?" Saten concluded.
"What else could I do? We had no idea where the truant gentleman's school was after all. The ACME Espers weren't happy about it, but they went along eventually. We had to find a replacement City Guide after all, so it was killing two birds with one stone. So we got to Tokiwadai and they paired me up with Kongou. KONGOU! For the rest of the day! Ugghhh!" Kuroko looked like she wanted to slam her head into the wall repeatedly. "And Onee-Sama wasn't even around either! They said you were off doing some independent research! I don't even want to talk about the rest of the day... it didn't get any better! There's even supposed to be a new foreign transfer student coming into my class soon and I've apparently been selected to introduce her to the school... as if I don't already have enough to do!"
"There, there, Shirai. It's because they know you're so reliable." Saten comforted her friend. "And it's a chance to meet a new friend, ya know? Maybe you can introduce her to us? I mean, I know most people go to Tokiwadai for the advanced Esper program and regular study courses, and most of them don't come out of the School Garden much, but if she's a foreigner maybe she'll want to see the rest of the City as well?"
"We'll see. I wouldn't hold out too much hope though. Apparently she's from a VERY wealthy background. Tokiwadai doesn't allow just anyone to enter in the middle of the school term after all, even if they meet the entrance requirements. The extra tuition and hassle charge fees must have been astronomical, but apparently her family paid them like it was no big deal at all." Kuroko sighed tiredly.
Mikoto was about to offer her own comfort when a familiar voice cried out to them from behind them. "Hey you guys! I'm so sorry I'm late!" Uiharu came scampering out of the crowded sidewalk, still wearing her school uniform. Apparently she'd been too busy with Judgement work to even have time to change clothes before meeting up with them, and she was a little red in the face and out of breath, like she'd been jogging or even running to meet them. There was something odd about her nose too, but Mikoto couldn't see what it was as Uiharu was bent over with her hands on her knees as she caught her breath.
"It's all right, we still have plenty of time." Mikoto said casually. She was about to ask the rest of them where they wanted to go first, when she caught a good look at Uiharu's face and nose, and simply stopped and stared. Kuroko and Saten did the same. "Uhm... what happened to your nose?" Mikoto asked, raising an eyebrow in query, as she saw that both of Uiharu's nostrils were stuffed with tissue paper and there were thin crusts of dried blood around the edges.
"Oh this?" Uiharu said, seeming a little nervous for some reason. "It's no big deal. It's a long story really..."
xxxx
Several hours later, Seventh Mist Ice Cream Shop
"I still can't believe you spent the whole day with a guy!" Saten exclaimed, for about the twentieth time since they had pried, piece by slow piece, the story of Uiharu's bloody nose out of their friend. "Wahh! When did my best friend start growing up so quickly without me noticing!" Saten lamented dramatically, as they sat around the table in the ice cream parlor together, shopping bags clustered at their feet. They were enjoying ice cream cones and milkshakes, while resting their feet after browsing through stores for the last few hours.
"I keep telling you, Saten, it's not like that!" Uiharu protested huffily, her cheeks flushed as she stuffed her mouth with spoonful after spoonful of ice cream. "It was in my capacity as a Judgement officer, a sort of walking probation thing. He was truant from school, but he did help me out in the alleyway, so I figured I'd cut him a little bit of slack, once."
"Mmmm-hmmmm..." Saten said in her most skeptical tone. "So you dragged him around with you all day as his punishment, did you? That sounds more like something Misaka would do..."
"Shut up." Mikoto flushed as well, sipping from her caramel milkshake. She was feeling much better, the shopping and the idle time with her friends had really helped out, just like she'd hoped it would. And it was kind of refreshing actually, being on the other side of the teasing about a guy, for once. Mostly. She could see the attractions of the practice now that she wasn't the victim of it. "I wouldn't do that."
"The way you talk in your sleep says otherwise, Onee-Sama..." Kuroko muttered darkly, picking at her own ice cream halfheartedly. Of the four of them, she seemed the most pre-occupied and tense still, despite the joys of shopping. Clearly there was things bothering her, though she was doing her best to put on a facade for the group so as not to drag everyone down. This only led credence to Mikoto's private theory that what Kuroko had shared about her day was just the tip of the iceberg. But trying to pry it out of her wouldn't be polite or even possible... once Kuroko had her mind set on keeping quiet, she was as stubborn as a mule.
"What was that?" Mikoto asked sharply, a little crackle appearing around her bangs.
"Oh, nothing." Kuroko corrected herself. She turned to give Uiharu a gimlet eyed gaze. "You KNOW you're not supposed to patrol alone! Especially during a time of heightened security awareness! You should have contacted another Branch for back up! You could have been seriously hurt! What were you thinking, trying to take on three Espers at once by yourself like that?"
"I was thinking I'm a Judgement Officer and its my job." Uiharu retorted, with a small hint of heat in her voice. "I know I'm not the strongest out there by a long way, but I'm not going to turn my eyes away from a crime in progress, even a petty crime like truancy. I'll admit I should have called for backup, that error is entirely mine, and my report on the incident to Konori will reflect that. I expect a note of censure for my failure to follow proper department policy. Maybe I'll even have to write an apology letter. Oh hey... you can help me with that, right Shirai? You write them all the time, after all." Uiharu's normally mousy demeanor seemed a tad fierce all of a sudden.
"Cheap shot." Kuroko grumbled, but backed off all the same.
"Aw come on, Uiharu, don't get all snippy." Saten said teasingly. "Shirai was just worried about you. You're our friend after all. Though I guess once your "mysterious stranger" was around to escort you, you were no longer in any danger, right?"
"The way you say that makes it sound like you think I was clinging to him or something, rather than making sure he didn't run off and become a delinquent." Uiharu sniffed primly and ate more ice cream.
"Well you did take him down to the riverbank all by yourself with no one else around, didn't you?" Mikoto could not help but join in a little. "And you still haven't explained where the nose bleed came from..."
"You too Misaka!?" Uiharu sounded stunned that she was getting teased from that angle as well. "It was completely platonic, I assure you! Just part of the patrol route."
"The more you insist, the less I believe you." Saten said with a smirk. "I know you. I can tell you're leaving details out of things all over the place, Uiharu. You wouldn't be getting so evasive if there was nothing for me to find out. You're almost as bad a liar as Misaka..."
"Hey!"
"I'm not being evasive! We went down to the riverbank and talked about Esper powers, and I tried on his cool sunglasses, and looked at him, and then my nose was bleeding." Uiharu snapped at them, before suddenly turning bright pink as they all started at her incredulously. "That did not come out right..."
"Wow." Saten said in a deadpan voice. "I don't even know what to say to that. I mean, I always knew you had the dirty mind amongst the four of us. But I never expected you to go that far. You looked at your mysterious stranger and immediately got a nose bleed? And you wanna tell me you spent the day with him purely platonically? Seriously? Misaka's supposed to be the one in denial among us..."
"I said HEY!" Mikoto glared, though she failed to entirely deny it.
"NOOOO!" Kuroko pounded her head on the table in despair. "Even Uiharu is being corrupted by the curse of men... woe is me!"
"It's not like that at all!" Uiharu insisted, appalled at their insinuations. "Joule-san is handsome, but my nose bleed was not because of that! I would never think things like that about a guy I just met!"
"So you think about "things like that" about guys you've known for a while then, eh?" Saten pounced, now that Uiharu was starting to flail about and lose control of her narrative. "Joule-san is it? Sounds foreign. Lots of that going around the City lately it seems. And you admit he is handsome. Do I need to start giving you the talk about the birds and the bees already, Uiharu?"
Uiharu turned a shade of red that Mikoto had never seen before, except on her own face when looking in the mirror when she'd spent too long thinking about a certain Idiot. "NOT LIKE THAT! IT IS NOT LIKE THAT, SATEEEEEEN!" Uiharu screeched almost ultrasonically.
"When you react like that, what are we supposed to think?" Mikoto pointed out dryly. "We just want you to be safe is all. Don't rush into things. Maybe I should have a talk with this guy, make sure he knows to treat you right..."
"That will not be necessary." Uiharu replied with a snort of displeasure at the teasing. "Besides, you're the last person who should be poking fun at me, Misaka! Are you ever going to do anything about that boy you like? The one you danced with around the bonfire? The one you made cookies for! What's up with him huh? Wasn't he caught up in the Terror Attack along with you and Shirai?"
"Shirai was just complaining about him this morning." Saten cut in. "Apparently the ACME Espers are all really interested in him, and he picked a fight with the Level 5 Zephyr Queen! But then he ran away before the fight started."
"He didn't pick a fight!" Mikoto refuted, feeling annoyed that they would think of the Idiot as some sort of crazy coward, when he was anything but.
"Onee-Sama, you were not there. I watched him do it myself. He was totally picking a fight. Nobody talks to a Level 5 like that if they aren't trying to start something." Kuroko argued. "And the fact that he ran away after doing it is irrefutable. He even made physically threatening actions towards her!"
"Oooh, is Misaka's boyfriend a bad boy type after all? That's outside the scope of my initial predictions..." Saten was only too happy to start teasing her other friend as well.
"And I'm telling you, whatever you saw, you saw it wrong! He doesn't pick fights! And he's not my boyfriend, Saten!" Mikoto snapped, feeling sparks start to surge up inside her and forcing them back down at the last moment. "I've tried to provoke him into a fight more times than I can count, and he never would! And in some of those situations, any normal person would have fought back, but he never did! I know you don't like him, Kuroko, but I don't appreciate you attempting to misrepresent him like that! He's an idiot, and he annoys the crap out of me constantly. But he doesn't start fights. He just finishes them."
"Wow, again." Saten said, in a small voice. "First Uiharu gets a nosebleed while looking at a guy, now Misaka is getting all prickly about how we talk about the boy she likes? Today has been quite surprising indeed..."
"I can only say what I saw, Onee-Sama. There was no intent towards misrepresentation, just the facts as I saw them." Kuroko sounded a bit hurt at Mikoto's implied sense that she was twisting the facts.
"You seem a bit on edge, Misaka. Is everything ok?" Uiharu asked, concern evident in her voice, cutting through the teasing which had apparently stepped on some sore spots without intending to.
It's earlier than I hoped for, but I guess this is as good a time as any. Mikoto thought with a heavy internal sigh. "Actually, there has been some stuff bothering me lately." She admitted softly.
"Oh? You can talk to us about it." Uiharu encouraged her with a gentle smile. "We're your friends after all."
"I know. And I intend to. I just have to warn you, it's kinda strange. And it may end up being dangerous, and I'm not sure I can protect you if you get involved." Mikoto warned them. She watched them exchange glances and nods, and felt a proud warmth in her chest, when they all simply waited for her to go on. She really did have the best friends in the world. "After the Terror Attack, I was talking with Touma... err, Kamijou. The boy from the bonfire dance. As you noted Uiharu, he was with us during the Terror attack since he's Kuroko's City Guide Partner. He actually helped out quite a bit during the attack, and he may have even saved my life when I was in a bad spot."
"Surely you exaggerate Onee-Sama. A few men with guns and explosives is hardly a threat to you. I know you like him, Onee-Sama, though I can't imagine why, but you don't need to misrepresent him either."
"Facts, Kuroko. As I saw them." Mikoto replied with a scowl, which made her roommate sink back into her chair with a dark look on her face, but Mikoto shook it off and kept going. "There was some weirdness going on there, but I'll get to it in a bit. Anyway, we were talking, just sort of trying to get a handle on what happened during the attack, and he made a couple verbal slips. See, we don't know how the Terrorists managed to get all those weapons into the city, or through the passive scanners at the tram station, right? He made a reference to things he called... and I'm quoting him here... "Magic Bags". I asked him what he was talking about, and he clammed right up, and refused to talk about it any further, no matter how hard I pressed him. He told me that he knew stuff, but couldn't tell me, because it was too dangerous for me to get involved in."
"The NERVE of that boy!" Kuroko sounded outraged. "I was appalled that he would talk to the Zephyr Queen like he did, but he does that to you too, Onee-Sama!? I will teach him proper manners the next time I see him!"
"Is Magic Bag some sort of code word or something?" Uiharu frowned. "I haven't heard much other than the preliminary reports, but whatever technology they used for the bags certainly isn't something that is commonly available."
"He really cares about you doesn't he? I mean, to try and keep you out of something because he's worried about how dangerous it is. It's kinda sweet." Saten said, a tad wistfully.
"He cares about a lot of people. I don't think I'm anyone special to him, but that's not important." Mikoto tried not to sound depressed at the fact that her crush... and she could admit to herself now anyway that he was such, given how much a little fight with him had upset her... had not the slightest idea that she was anything other than just another friend. "As for his nerve, don't worry about it. I can't go into why, but I have good reason to believe he can take care of himself, even against people I would be scared of. Take that as a fact, coming from me. But anyway, though I appreciate his gesture, I can't very well in good conscience let him shoulder all the burden of danger alone either. But no matter how I asked, he refused to tell me any more. In the end, we had a bit of a fight about it, and I stormed off." Mikoto blushed as she recalled it.
"THAT'S what you were throwing a tantrum about!?" Kuroko sounded absolutely aghast. "You did all that to our room just because this stupid, foolish BOY wouldn't tell you what sort of crazy misadventures he gets himself involved in!? Onee-Sama! I hate to say this... but... could you please GROW UP!?"
"It was not a tantrum! It was stress relief!" Mikoto insisted. "And I didn't cause any permanent damage. To anything expensive." She muttered.
"Ok, ok. So you had your first fight with your boyfriend cause he wouldn't tell you what sorts of dangerous things he gets up to, because he wants to protect you. It sure SOUNDS like you're special to him, you know?" Saten paraphrased with a wide grin.
"I wish. But he's like that to everyone." Misaka sighed despairingly. "And for the hundredth time, Saten! He's NOT my boyfriend. He was very insistent on protecting me as if he were though, and I did and do, not appreciate that very much. He's NOT my keeper, and he doesn't get to decide what situations I do or do not get involved in! And it's too late anyway! I was in that Terror Attack. I'm already involved. But he's too much of a pig-headed hero to see that! So I'm going to prove it to him by figuring out whatever it is he's trying to hide, without his help! Maybe then he'll accept that I'm worth sharing some of his burden with, and not just someone he has to protect! But I'm at a dead end in my search, so I want to ask you guys for help. Just for research purposes... that's as far into this as I can drag you, in good conscience."
"Well Misaka, it sounds to me like you're not that much different from him." Saten pointed out in more serious tones, causing Mikoto to furrow her brow in confusion. "If you want our help, then we're either in or out, Misaka. Not partially in, to a certain point. You're a Level 5 and we all know it. But you're not our keeper either. You're our friend. He may not be your boyfriend, but you clearly care about him an awful lot. I've never heard you talk about someone like this, about sharing their burden, proving yourself as someone they don't have to protect... Misaka, this sounds really serious to me, whatever it is. If it's that important to you, we'll be there with you all the way, so don't worry about us. We're here to share your burden, you know? We're not just people you have to protect either."
"You're right..." Mikoto admitted with self exasperation. "I guess I was planning on trying to manage your guys's involvement at some point, but that's what I'm so pissed at him about isn't it? Being a hypocrite isn't the right way to go about this. I just wish he had someone to tell him that too!"
"Maybe he does." Saten shrugged, and then got a glint in her eye. "So if we're getting just as deeply involved in this as you are, how about we start with some more honesty? You say he isn't your boyfriend, over and over again, but the way you talk about him... Misaka, are you in love with him?"
"I..." Misaka started to deny it but eventually closed her mouth. "Maybe... yes..." She forced out through gritted teeth, flushed as red as an apple, expecting a plethora of comments and teasing. Admitting it took almost all she had, but Saten had a point. She might be asking them to risk their lives. They had a right to know why this was so important to her. Once more though, her friends surprised her.
"Well, that's good enough for me." Saten said, sitting back in her chair casually.
"Oh Misaka! I'm so happy for you! You finally admitted it!" Uiharu gushed. "Of course we'll support you... all the more because its a matter of love!"
"I suppose if you're THAT determined, I have no choice but to come along and supervise you, Onee-Sama." Kuroko seemed subdued and there was an expression on her face for a moment that Mikoto could not interpret, but threw in her support anyway. Mikoto felt her heart melt just a little in her chest. She really did have the best friends ever!
"Thanks you guys. And for not teasing me." She wiped away a tear from the corner of one eye.
"You get a freebie for now. I can't promise not to tease you about your... secret crush... eventually, but for now let's focus on the problem at hand, whatever that is." Saten answered with a grin. "I haven't heard any urban legends regarding this Magic Bag stuff, but I'll keep my ear to the ground."
"That's what I was hoping you would do." Mikoto admitted. "But its not just Magic Bags I'm interested in. It's Magic as a whole. Not stage magic. Real Magic. If such a thing even exists."
"This is getting a little weird, Onee-Sama. Magic? Really?" Kuroko seemed epically skeptical. "I know you like childish things, but come on. You can't tell me you believe in Magic still!"
"Magic huh..." Uiharu on the other hand seemed quite thoughtful, her eyes distant as she pondered something.
"I said it would be strange. And I'm serious. I know how it sounds. And I don't believe in Magic. But I can't explain how those bags worked with Science or Esper powers either. It was like the guns weren't there at all, and then they were. Like matter and energy appeared out of nowhere. I thought maybe Teleportation, perhaps, but Teleportation is a point to point mechanic... you can't put it on a bag and reach into it and only put part of yourself to another place. I don't understand everything about your power Kuroko, but I know THAT at least is impossible. You'd cut your arm off trying something like that. But these guys, who weren't even Espers, did it repeatedly." Misaka frowned and shook her head in consternation. "But that wasn't the REALLY freaky thing. Kuroko, you remember how that ACME guy, the Sergeant dude, shot that one terrorist that Touma was fighting? I didn't get the best view, but in your opinion as a Judgement Officer, were those fatal wounds?"
"I did not see it entirely clearly either. But Sergeant Sherman appeared to fire at least two or three shots with live ammunition and struck the terrorist in the neck and upper chest." Kuroko thought about it, straining to recall details. She'd left to do crowd control shortly after that, and had not paid much attention at the time. But that sounded right. "I can't say for sure if it was guaranteed fatal, Onee-Sama, but it would be highly likely. Certainly the hostile would be down until they received trauma care at a modern hospital."
"That's what I thought, thank you. It seemed like the guy was dead... he bled all the over the place. But then he got back up... and he was... different." Mikoto said, her face dead serious, trying to imprint the words on her friends. "He grew filthy looking claws out of his fingertips, and had huge jagged fangs in his mouth. And he was faster and stronger and tougher than he had been before. But less... sentient, I guess. More like an animal. I shocked him good and hard, but he barely seemed to feel it. And it felt wrong. I usually get a little bio-feedback current when I shock someone, that's what tells me how long they're going to be down, on average. But this guy, there was no feedback at all. And that's impossible. In living tissue anyway."
"What, are you saying he came back to life?" Kuroko sounded even more skeptical than before.
"No, I'm saying he stood up even though he was dead. Like, actually dead, empty of blood, his heart and throat in a pulpy mess." Mikoto winced as she went into gruesome detail. "I shocked him again and again, until he was smoking, and he kept coming like he didn't even feel it. The ACME guy shot him several more times too, and that didn't slow him down either. It was like something out of a zombie flick! And then whatever it was attacked me, and grazed my cheek with one claw. Just barely broke the skin. But I fell over and couldn't move. Even with my direct muscle control via electricity, I could not move, at all. And that's also impossible. My muscles and nerves were working just fine, but I could not move regardless. This... dead thing... touched me and I was paralyzed. And then Touma leapt in front of me and punched it in the head a few times and it exploded into black fire that was cold, and burned to ashs in short order."
"Your prince rescued you!" Uiharu exclaimed, stars all but in her eyes. "How romantic!"
"Romance was not on my mind, or his." Mikoto replied sternly. Not strictly true, she was leaving out the hug at the end that restored her mobility, but she'd embarrassed herself enough today already. "But I've turned that experience over in my head a thousand times, and I can't think of any way to explain it with Science or Esper powers. And then Touma slips up about Magic bags, and won't tell me any more, except that it's too dangerous? There's definitely something going on. If Magic IS real, then why does he think its so dangerous? Wouldn't it be a good thing? Well, I guess turning dead people into monsters isn't a good thing..."
"So what do you want us to do, Misaka?" Saten asked.
"I was hoping you would keep your ears and nose out for any strange rumors or legends in the city that might deal with Magic or other esoteric stuff. Stuff that people don't think can be explained with Esper powers. You've been right with some of that stuff surprisingly often in the past after all." Mikoto replied with a smile. "As for Uiharu, I was hoping she could help me gain access to some of the surveillance camera footage from the event, and see what the secret City reports on the incident are saying. My contacts in Anti-Skill say its all being kept very hush-hush, investigated by contractors and stuff, rather than them. That says to me the City has something to hide and I wanna find out what. I realize this is a breach of your duties as a Judgement Officer, but I'm asking you as a personal favor."
"I'll do it. I'm... curious about Magic as well." Uiharu said with an odd look on her face. "Especially if its out of Anti-Skill's hands. That's not proper procedure for something like this. If someone in the City command structure is being shady about this, then exposing them is part of my duty!"
"And me, Onee-Sama?" Kuroko asked expectantly.
"I need your investigative instincts and stalking abilities." Mikoto said with a hard grin. "I'm asking you to follow Touma around for the next few days as much as possible... without him noticing you. See where he goes. Who he talks to. What he gets up to. Especially if its anything weird that doesn't feel like Esper related stuff. He seemed to reference "the other side" a couple times when he was warning me off. That feels to me like Magic might have organization in it of some sort. Like the Dark Side of this City of ours. If he's involved in that sort of stuff, maybe there are Magic people he'll interact with. I need you to spy on him for me."
"Onee-Sama..." Kuroko broke into the widest grin she'd had all day. "You have no idea how much I will LOVE performing this task for you!"
"I'm glad you're enthusiastic." Mikoto gave Kuroko a stern look. "But I'm also expecting you to watch OUT for him as well as watch him. If you see him get into trouble, into danger, I want you to call me immediately, no matter what time it is or where you are. And then do whatever you can to support him until I arrive." Mikoto pointed her finger at Kuroko emphatically. "And you'd BETTER NOT mess with him. I know you don't like him, don't even try to pretend otherwise. If you try to take advantage of this situation to screw with him in the slightest way, I will punish you in ways you will NOT enjoy."
"That is altogether less enjoyable." Kuroko muttered before sighing in defeat. "But if that is your order, Onee-Sama, your loyal Kuroko will carry it out to the best of her abilities. I will prove to you that I am superior to this lousy boy you are so unfortunately infatuated with!"
"Thank you." Mikoto said with a sigh. Good luck with that other thing, Kuroko. You're my best friend, and I hope you know that. But you can't replace him in my heart. I just don't feel like that for you. Ah man, is there any way I can get that through to her? Without crushing her? Well, maybe I won't have to. She'll understand eventually, I'm sure. She just wants what's best for me after all. Eventually she'll see that Touma is not a threat, and that there's all sorts of reasons to like him.
"You are most welcome, Onee-Sama." Kuroko answered with true pleasure, as personal thanks from her Onee-Sama were a rare gift. You are teetering on the brink of disaster, Onee-Sama, but I will save you, never fear! With your own sanction now, I will investigate the Trog's life from top to bottom, and completely reveal to you how unsuitable and unworthy he is of your affections! All the moreso if he is tempting you to get involved in shady dealings and hocus-pocus! He'll be the ruin of your reputation at this rate! I love you so much Onee-Sama... I won't let this passing phase of romantic fancy steer us away from our destiny together! I will protect you, Onee-Sama, especially from the threats you refuse to believe are there!