A/N: Well this is the last chapter of the Hardlight Arc. What do you think of Maya? Well she's going to be a main character for my fic and will play plenty of roles throughout the story.

Okay, okay I know how ridiculously late this chapter is! I blame my college for giving me assignments, projects and finals! Yeah blame them! I had priorities and this chapter and story I could do whenever but not my classes.

So late happy holidays and an exciting new year! Despite being in college, I feel way older because having a younger sibling growing up will make you feel otherwise.

At least I'm finally back!

So enjoy!

Chapter 20: Electric Light

It was already the next day.

Ruiko told me she was hanging out with Uiharu and Haruue. She told me they were going to a restaurant to see Haruue's big appetite. It was something about the quiet girl capable of eating five bowls of rice, or something like that.

Then my phone started to go off. Looking at it, I got a text from Maya.

"Meet me at the usual place." I read the message out loud and sighed at the location, "Really why there?"

Her so called usual place was where she stored her shipments. From the times I've been there, it was filled with various weapons. There were stacks and shelves of guns, ammo, blades, and all sorts of destruction.

I was already out of the dorms and I was heading to the supposed location.

"Looks like I'll need you." I stared at the bracelet,

There has to be a name for this bracelet: I can't keep calling it a bracelet. After all, this is was how I am connected to 20000. The two of us make a good duo.

"So this is a duel. Notes Misaka as she silently giggles in complete excitement."

Somebody sounds like they want to see a good fight.

If someone were to look at me, they would think I'm bipolar. My expression kept on changing in quick succession. My thought processes, which let me see the world as a bunch of numbers, was similar to the Sisters but it wasn't as capable as theirs. Yet, it was good enough to keep me at the top of the class.

I'm not sure if my middle school had lower standards or if I was that smart.

There was a reason for being called the Ace or Star of Sakugawa. I'm doing well in my classes, thanks to the Testament, and quite athletic, blame the Dark Side. Even if people envied my skills, they did acknowledge my skills and smarts. Some even accused me of being perfect!

Yet I wasn't perfect. My social skills need a lot more improvement but at least I can talk or comment with a bit of snark. It was way better than when I first moved into the dorms. Then there was my crazy side: a side that loves to bathe in blood.

Not really blood but my darker side tends to come out whenever I get angry or the fight becomes more challenging.

Knowing Maya, I hope things don't get too crazy.

"Hiding your intentions with other intentions Onee-sama? Says Misaka as she wonders with amazement." 20000 thought, "The mind is a powerful tool indeed. Says Misaka as she bobs her head up and down as if to confirm her thoughts."

That's a nod.

...

I finally made it to Maya's warehouse and quickly went in.

Empty. The warehouse was now completely empty.

Every single crate and rack, each of which filed to the brim with military-grade weaponry, had vanished! All what's left was interior design; railings, catwalks, balconies, and stairway leading to an office.

"I hope you're ready!" Maya walked out said office,

"Where did you put everything?" I asked,

"C'mon you know me!" Maya brought her hands up, "I always got backup plans! For this one I got my precious underclassmen and underlings to transfer it at another place!"

I raised my eyebrow. Precious underclassmen? When did Maya ever talk about her school life? Then there's the fact she told people from her school about this place.

"Otomi, you worry too much." Maya jumped down next to me, "These girls see me as the world and they would do anything and everything for me."

There's no one on this planet who'd be willing to help her for no reason. She had an ego that was the size of a galaxy after all! She's odd, but Maya is far from stupid. She was greedy but she wasn't cruel, well except for those pirates. She's friendly, but damn near insane. Why would someone be willing to tolerate her?

That's it!

"You saved them." I pointed out.

"I did," she smiled, "And since you know I got to Kirigaoka, then you should know they have their own unique abilities as well. They call it, Cryoblast and Aeroflare."

"Cryoblast as in ice?" I asked in fascination,

"It's more like hydrokinesis you know?" Maya shook her head, "She can manipulate water into different states but Mio prefers ice over vapor."

Control of not only ice but the vapor in the atmosphere... That's a potentially devastating power. Freezing the vapor in the air into icicles, smashing people with torrents of water, or maybe even freezing the water inside people's bodies to damage their organs with frostbite.

"And the other?" I dared ask,

Somehow I'm getting the feeling that it's going to be just as dangerous.

"Aeroflare does sound like a band doesn't it?" Maya chuckled, "Kayo can manipulate any gas in her immediate vicinity. There are so many things she can do with it! Manipulating oxygen in people's lungs, synthesizing ozone to poison the air, or just plain wind gusts to blow you away. Give her a lighter and she has a sword made of fire! Don't worry though, she hates smoking."

Not that I care if this Kayo person smokes, but I had to wonder if Kayo's ability was about gas manipulation...

"Can she start hydrogen fusion?"

You see, as classified as nuclear weapon designs are, anyone who spends five minutes on the internet on this kind of stuff will learn that hydrogen fusion is necessary to set off a bomb.

Long story short, if that's true then this Kayo girl can act as a remote trigger for any nuke on the planet.

Even the trigger happy Maya shuddered at the thought before reapplying a more awkward looking version of her usual smile.

"I suppose that she could have the potential for it. However we didn't test it. It's not that we don't want to. It's just we only got one shot to test it if we screw up!"

Oh right, we don't want to blow up the city.

Well that was a nice chat about her classmates and all, but we got a fight!

"You ready?" I asked,

She smirked, "I am."

I checked to make sure my bracelet was on. The light glowed green, so it was fully functioning and ready to go.

"My powers are yours Onee-sama. Says Misaka as she loyally offers her abilities to improve her Onee-sama's combat ability." remarked 20,000 through our link together.

Maya's eyes traveled towards it, "Such a lovely bracelet, where did you get it? Better yet who gave it to you?"

"I got it from the hospital, so I got it from a doctor." I answered bluntly.

It was vague, but I did technically answer her question.

"Looks like I'm beating the info out of you then!" Maya quickly charged at an insane speed.

Quickly charging my palm, I quickly tapped my heart to prep it for the ensuing brawl. I felt my heart beating at a significantly faster rate and I could see everything moving a bit slower. My blood was pumping.

I caught Maya's arms with my own and we're at a deadlock.

"What's this you caught me? Nice!" Maya praised, "You usually just run away!"

Tune her out, don't get distracted.

"Not this time." I glared,

Quickly discharging an electrical surge, I hoped to send it straight at Maya, but only enough to incapacitate her.

She only looked up at me before flashing another one of her psychotic smiles, "Nice try... but not good enough!"

Then light started to coalescence around her arms. I felt the heat and my heart rate quickly went up forcing me to let go.

She quickly threw me to the side, but thanks to the metal walls, I was able to recover and attach myself to them.

"Electricity of that intensity... You're not a Level 1 anymore, are you?"

"Sorry, but I'm officially I am still and will always be a Level 1!"

Once again, I hoped to beat her up close and personal. However, Maya knew martial arts. I never had formal training involving CQC of any kind, but I hoped my street brawling skills would be enough.

She tried to sweep out my legs with a low kick, but I quickly jumped over it. But I was careless, she followed through. Spinning around her other leg hooking mine behind the knee, knocking me to the ground.

"You know how it goes when it's like this!" Maya shouted.

She's right, if I didn't have this bracelet that is!

"Not this time!" I retorted,

With a dangerous burst of electricity, Maya quickly backed away. This gave us both some distance and breathing room.

Not only Maya was excellent in hand to hand combat but she out ranges as well. The warehouse had sunlight shining through the nearby windows. Meanwhile I can only produce electricity around me.

She had her own limitations too. I knew Maya had to hold back her powers. It was easy for her to kill someone but it was near impossible to avoid inflicting lethal damage and only incapacitate with the nature of her ability.

We were even in that sort of way.

She raised her hand out in my direction, "Shine!"

A blast of light emerged from her hands and it barely avoided my face.

It was a warning shot.

"C'mon Otomi you know you're outmatched when it comes to long-ranged ability fights!" Maya declared, "Light is all over the place while your little sparks can only come out of generators and outlets!"

She had a point.

Still, she didn't know about the purpose of my bracelet. It boosts my ability far beyond my normal limits thanks to my Sisters. Now I can use electromagnetism.

I magnetized every piece of scrap metal and wiring I could detect before pulling them all towards me. I managed to shape all of it into a crude shield just as she started firing. The beams immediately began melting my makeshift barrier on contact. It did it's job though, saving me from a direct hit that could have easily taken an arm or two. Concentrating my electricity, I shot the mass of metal straight at Maya. I felt a tremendous shock from the impact.

Yet as I crashed towards the wall, Maya was already on the other side with a shocked look.

"So that's what the bracelet does, it's like that stupid Level Upper." Maya observed,

"That's right I did level up but only temporarily of course." I confirmed her suspicions,

Releasing the shield from the wall, I decided to magnetize it onto my feet! At the same time, I controlled the electricity from the metallic ground to keep me from touching the ground. In other words, I was sort of levitating with my magnetic shield.

"Pretty amazing!" Maya complimented,

I had a plan.

Quickly getting the higher ground, by going higher, I turned my giant circular platform into smaller platforms. Then I heard Maya's beams going off and hitting the platforms around me. So I quickly manipulated and played with them. I moved it all over and hopefully confuse her. At the same time I hopped into different ones.

"Eenie, meenie, miney moe!" Maya picked a platform to blast off,

I gulped when it was completely obliterated.

However I was already in position. I blasted a few towards her which was my distraction.

I felt my powers draining quickly. Holding these was taking a toll on my body.

Then jumping off my platform, I was falling towards Maya at high speed.

Using the last of my juice, I charged it all into my right hand. Maya is a level 4 but her she wasn't used to getting hit, meaning her pain tolerance was a lot lower than mine. One punch is all I need to end this fight.

However, as I fell down, I noticed Maya's shocked expression. Her battle stance dropped and her shroud of light vanished. It was her eyes that caught me the most, it had a strong sense of longing nostalgia in it.

"Take this!" I shouted as my fist said hello to her face,

The momentum of my fall made the punch even more painful and it quickly knocked her out.

I took a couple of deep breaths and that was when I realized my wig fell down!

"Did she see?" I asked myself,

My wig must have fallen off when I used the last of my electricity for that one punch.

Now I realized a possibility, Maya saw me without my wig. Did she recognized me as the third level 5?

...

When Maya regained consciousness, she suddenly sprung up to hug me!

"Maya?" I wondered,

"All this time?" she asked me, "All this time you were close?"

"Maya." I called her out,

"Miko it's me!" Maya smiled at me, "Your Maya-nee!"

What the? Miko?

!

Don't tell me she knew my donor!

"Maya-"

"Take out that wig, I want to see how much you've grown!" she grinned and took it off herself,

Without my wig, I actually felt naked without it. Without it, I didn't feel like Akami Otomi.

I looked away ashamed and afraid.

"You look so pretty Mikoto." Maya swooned,

I have to stop this fantasy of hers. Now!

"I'm not Misaka Mikoto." I sighed with a frown, "Maya wake up!"

She was in a daze of sorts. Maybe I punched her a little too hard.

"You know her." I pointed out while she stood there quietly, "Judging the nickname, you've known her since she was a little girl. She is growing up you know? Mikoto is the third level 5. You, of all people, should know this!"

No seriously, someone who has her own intelligence network should have known about this!

"Then who are you, exactly Otomi?" Maya snapped out of her little fantasy, "You have the same face as Miko but you say you're not her!"

"C'mon you have to know about the cloned level 5 rumors at least!" I wondered,

She chuckled, "I've heard about it but I didn't see any clones myself." her joking smile quickly turned into one of horror at the realization, "Don't tell me you're a clone!?"

This is sensitive info, but I know Maya is someone I can trust. Taking a deep breath, I told her everything I knew about the clones. I also mentioned the level 6 experiments going on and how it was about Accelerator. I told her everything I knew.

She stood there in stunned silence. Maya and I worked together long enough to know what our expressions told us. She did believe it but she actually didn't know what to do. She had no action for this situation, since she did not expect her Mikoto would be the level 5 to be cloned.

Her Mikoto? Well Judging by her affectionate tone, they must have been really close friends, like sisters.

I had a plan.

"Hey meet me here in a few days okay?" I smiled as a I texted the girl my directions,

This would bring some closure to Maya.

...

It was August 16 and I was waiting at a certain family restaurant. I checked my phone to make sure it was the right time. I woke up early morning just to see this!

"Honestly where are they?" I asked myself,

I specifically told Mikoto and Maya to meet up at this place! My patience was running thin!

"Sorry for being late."

It was Mikoto and her eyes seemed so distant. She had a look of hopelessness within them. What happened to her?

"Hey there you are!" I greeted, "Don't worry I got reservations already so you can go in ahead and just tell them you're in my party."

Mikoto nodded but her eyes hadn't change one bit. How serious was the event that happened to her? It was tough to get Mikoto to join me for today! Honestly what was she doing? I had to convince her it was a dire emergency and only she can help me with it! I said it was a secret not even our other friends must know about. Then she was convinced.

Damn stubborn level 5s.

"Hey! Uh Otomi!" Maya approached me,

She gave out a nervous smile.

I told her to hang out with me, specifically today. It didn't take long for her to agree since she had time to kill and I did tell her why she should join me.

However I didn't tell the two childhood friends they were meeting each other.

I felt a smile forming.

"Hey Maya mind if you put this on?" I took out a blindfold, "It's a surprise! Trust me!"

"So what kind of surprise?" Maya asked,

"A good one." I smiled, "And just be quiet, okay?"

I quickly texted Mikoto to put a blindfold as well. I had everything set up for this!

Once we got into the restaurant, people gave us smiling looks. It was obvious I was giving Maya one big surprise. At least the people are nice.

We finally reached our circular table with blindfolded Mikoto.

"Ok Otomi why did you tell to put this on?" she asked,

I felt Maya's body shivering from the voice and I couldn't help but smile wider.

"Take off your blindfold." I instructed them both,

The moment they took it off, two childhood friends and surrogate sisters were reunited.

"No way, Maya-nee?!" Mikoto gasped,

"Miko." Maya gasped as well,

Tears began to form the two and they embraced each other.

"Maya-nee it's been so long since I last saw you!" Mikoto cried out, "Ever since you moved away with your parents, and then I heard what happened there!"

I guess their families were good friends with each other. It's a shame Maya's parents died when she was young.

Maya started to soothe Mikoto by curling her hair gently.

"You've grown up." Maya sniffed, "You look so pretty and cute."

I couldn't help but smile as my genetic donor blushed, "T-Thank you."

"Let's catch up shall we?" Maya offered,

"Of course!" Mikoto agreed,

I'll stay quiet and just listen to their entire conversation. I'll keep my thoughts to myself.

"I wanted to say sorry for your parents' death." my donor began with a sad smile,

Maya look tongue tied from the news but she wanted to say something.

"To be honest, I thought I was going to die along with them." Maya sighed, "But luck told me otherwise, I was able to escape but their killers were still at large."

"Did you remember their faces?" Mikoto dared ask, "The ones that killed them?"

I got a feeling if it wasn't Mikoto or me, Maya would've fried the person who asked such a question.

"Everyday." Maya's eyes stared at me,

Her parents got killed by Somalian pirates. I wonder if we avenged her parents during the other night. Maya did look satisfied after the whole ordeal.

"And how about you Miko-chan?" asked the level 4, "How's everything?"

"Fine actually, dad's been traveling while mom's going back to school." she replied,

The Railgun's mother still goes to school?! Was she held back or something? I mean, if Mikoto and I do well in school I expected my original's mother to be smart or at least decent at school.

"Oh right, I heard about your mom going to a university." Maya nodded,

I drawled out the rest since it didn't sound too interesting to me.

When the two explained their current lives, I wasn't surprised when Maya didn't mention anything her darker self. Mikoto discussed her school life and how tedious it gets. Meanwhile, Maya simply complained and complimented her school for having many unique abilities. They told what schools they go to and what their ability levels were.

"To think my Miko is one of the seven level 5s." Maya gave out a pride smile, "I'm so proud of you!"

"Still you are a unique level 4." Mikoto commented, "You go to Kirigaoka, since that place is all about rare abilities. I bet my roommate would've gone there if not Tokiwadai."

I blinked and realized how rare teleporters are at Academy City. It's even rarer to have seen two teleporters here at Academy City! I wonder how two teleporters would fight. Would they just teleport each other or will they just teleport towards them?

"I hear how much of an ace you are at Tokiwadai." Maya chuckled, "Still getting good grades."

"C'mon Maya-nee I know you can achieve amazing grades if you put enough effort." Mikoto pouted,

I suddenly felt like a third wheel. That's what they call it right?

"Otomi I don't know how to thank you enough." Maya smiled at me,

On second thought, maybe I'm the training wheels.

"Otomi how did you find her?" Mikoto asked with eyes shining,

It seemed like her grumpy mood was all gone. At least I'm finally in the conversation, somehow.

"Well she kinda needed for some summer project." I shrugged,

When I mean project, I mean her odd jobs around the Dark Side. You know like smuggling, killing, and other dark side things. I was stretching the truth, sorta.

"I just had to pick Otomi since she looked so lost." Maya smiled,

"It was before I transferred to Sakugawa." I added,

Mikoto simply agreed to our short story, since it was nothing special.

If it involved a crate full of handguns, a drunk Skill-Out gang, and a trigger happy Maya, then it was pretty normal back then.

"Miko-chan you really are following up to my footsteps." Hardlight giggled,

"W-Well you k-know." Mikoto blushed from embarrassment,

What?

"I'm so surprised you're wearing shorts underneath that skirt." Maya observed, "I remember a little girl who adored dresses."

"I remember an older girl who loved to relax on a couch while I try to pull her out of it." Mikoto remarked back,

The two of them had good laugh with their comments.

Mikoto smiled,"Still that older girl did say shorts under skirts is cool."

Maya and Mikoto smiled at each other in a nostalgically.

...

Maya and Mikoto left which left me with the bill. Then again, it was my idea and plan to meet up with those two. Plus, I did say, it was all on me. I didn't mind it one bit.

I felt a sense of accomplishment for reuniting two childhood friends. To see Maya's carefree face turning into shock while Mikoto smiling for real was all worth it.

"All in the days work." I congratulated myself, "Is this how Touma-senpai feels when he helps people?"

Then I felt my phone going off. Picking it up I realized it was a text message from Shinobu!

It said, "Please meet up at these coordinates."

I noticed the area being a nearby park. It was around the corner!

I quickly ran up to meet up with Shinobu but I quickly realized she was not the only one there.

Misaka Mikoto was sitting at one of the benches with a regretful look.

Shinobu told her about the experiment did she?

"There you are." Shinobu called me out, "How are things?"

"Fine." was my automatic response, "How much did you tell her?"

"Enough." she answered, "However, you have to tell her your part of it. Tell her what you went through at those labs."

I clenched my teeth at the statement. To think it had to be today. It was only an hour ago when Mikoto and Maya reunited and reconciled their bonds. It was a brief, but at least it was happy. Why did it suddenly turn out like this?

Mikoto looked at me with confused eyes. Her eyes were fixated on mine, as if they were trying extract my secret through their piercing gaze.

"Otomi what is she talking about?"

END AN: So as I mentioned before, it will lead directly to the Sisters Arc!

Hooray it's official!

Sisters Arc!

Enjoy your day!