Toaru Dan no Settei

A Certain Setting of the Stage.

Kuroko woke up early the next morning and looked over to the clock. It flashed 3:56 AM. 'Even earlier than usual', she noted. This time she had been roused by her nightmares rather than her Onee-sama's unconscious electrical discharges. She found herself in the same position she remembered falling asleep in, sitting on her Onee-sama's lap, snuggled close to her. Sometime in the night Misaka had wrapped her arms around her as well, her chin rested on the top of Kuroko's head.

Kuroko was pleased as ever to be so close to her one true love, but this morning it posed a problem. Almost every morning for the past while she had woken up early, and had used that time to practice. She would go to her training area to practice martial arts, or sit at her desk studying for ways to better utilize her power, or simply sit there and teleport needles to improve her accuracy and teleportation rate. Recently she had also been working on teleporting things while distracted, teleporting a needle near one of her nerve bundles to stimulate it and cause her varying amounts of pain which she would attempt to ignore (so far that had not worked out so well). Given how busy her days had been lately, early morning was pretty much the only time she could do such things.

But this morning, given the position she was in, she found that she would be unable to do any of that. Normally she could simply teleport out of whatever grip her Onee-sama held her in that night, though reluctantly, and be free to do what she wanted. However, due to the nature of the grip she was in now, teleporting out would likely wake up her Onee-sama, which could cause some problems. Her Onee-sama already knew that her nightmares were getting worse and was worried about it; Kuroko did not want to worry her further with definitive proof.

So Kuroko decided to simply wait until she woke up, meditating until the alarm clock blared a couple hours later. After that she gave Misaka her customary good-morning kiss, making it last for far longer than usual to make up for the times she had missed it. Misaka's response, though slow in coming, was predictably firm, pushing Kuroko away (with a "little" added shock as extra incentive) and, whether by accident or on purpose, onto the floor.

But she was as quick to recover as usual and soon stood up again to begin changing and getting ready, glad to be able to move again, and invigorated by the kiss.

After that the morning was as normal as ever. The hype and activity at school seemed to have settled down a while ago so things were peaceful once again, though there was still a feeling in the air that Kuroko didn't like. Her intuition told her something was going to go wrong, and her intuition had rarely been wrong before.

Still, despite the tingly feeling in her gut, the day was normal until lunch time, when she received a text message. The incoming number was blank, though within the first line she had figured out who it was from. It said: "Pawn B to B3. Oh, also, I found a place where you might be able to find that thing you're looking for. I'll be available today at the same time and place as last time." It was worded in a way that did not betray any information to anyone else.

The rest of the school day passed without incident and she met up with her Onee-sama as usual right after the last bell rang. "So what's on the agenda for today? Neither I nor Uiharu have Judgment work. Surprising considering what's going on but you know what they say about gift horses and their mouths."

"I'll text Uiharu and Saten and see if they want to hang out," Misaka said before doing just that. Soon enough they sent their reply, "They say that that would be fine. They say they need to buy a few things so they suggested we meet them at the park and go shopping together," Misaka said, reading off the contents of their response.

"That works," Kuroko said smiling as the two made their way to the park where the group would always meet and hang out. The park with the vending machine her Onee-sama seemed to find a strange delight in kicking. However when they arrived there, neither Saten nor Uiharu were anywhere in sight.

So Misaka and Kuroko found themselves waiting on a nearby bench for their friends to arrive. The bench was in the cool shade with a nice gentle breeze. The day was nice and bright and the birds were chirping in the trees. Kuroko smiled,' it truly is a beautiful day, so nice and relaxing'. She found her eyelids growing heavy. But she shook that feeling off. It was true that over the past several days she hadn't been getting as much sleep as was perhaps necessary for a girl her age, but she wasn't feeling any the worse for wear. She could…

Misaka sat on the bench in silence, just enjoying the fresh air and beautiful summer day. Then she felt something fall into her lap. She looked down to find Kuroko's head nestled on top of her thighs, her shoulders rising and falling steadily in a peaceful, unconscious rhythm. Misaka looked down at the sleeping girl noting her calm face with a smile. Kuroko's sleep had been more and more restless as of late. Misaka herself had also been having a hard time getting to sleep and she had seen Kuroko writhing and shivering as she was plagued by the nightmares she had been having consistently since that first day they had come back. Now, though, a simply touch would not suffice, even a tight embrace did little to stave off her mind's monsters.

'But she seems to be slumbering peacefully at the moment,' Misaka noted as she ran her hand through Kuroko's hair, slightly out of affection and slightly out of concern. "Maybe it's because it's such a nice day out," she theorized with a smile, "so nice and relaxing." She stifled a yawn, "maybe I could just rest my eyes for a second," she said as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

"See Uiharu, I told you," Saten said waving a couple recently acquired banks cards in the air, "my nose never fails me when it comes to money."

"You really shouldn't have taken them. You should try to find their proper owners like a responsible person," Uiharu reprimanded, "besides, now we're late. Misaka-san and Shirai-San have probably been waiting for us."

"I'm sure they don't mind," she replied, looking around for them. Soon her eyes fell upon the bench under the tree and a grin spread across her face. She turned to Uiharu and made a shhh sign, and then she pointed at the two. "See," she whispered, "they seem to be fine."

It was such an adorable scene, almost like it was ripped out of one of Saten's shoujo ai mangas, with Kuroko resting on Misaka's lap and Misaka's hand placed comfortingly on Kuroko's head, slumbering peacefully with her. She was a big fan of the genre even though people might see her interest as odd considering she was a girl; but, when pulled off well, where the relationship was well written and not simply fanservice, it was as or more enjoyable than any other story, and she found those people who found it odd to be the odd ones. In her opinion love was love. "They look so peaceful and innocent don't they?"

Then she heard a still unconscious Kuroko mutter in her sleep, "No Onee-sama… that's my Judgment pair… put on the fur-lined ones…"

"Well… peaceful at least," Saten amended while Uiharu blushed.

Though Uiharu didn't share her friend's interest in shoujo ai or yuri she did have to admit it was a cute scene, though she knew that she shouldn't think of her friends like that. "We should wake them up," she whispered back.

"In a second," Saten said pulling out her phone and snapping a quick picture of the scene.

"Saten-san," Uiharu gasped reproachfully.

"It's just a picture…" Saten justified, "it's their fault for falling asleep in such a public place." She took a couple more photos and then put her phone away. "Now we can wake them up… why don't you do the honors."

"You're the one who's so interested, why don't you do it," Uiharu said. Kuroko wasn't exactly a morning person to the best of her knowledge. She had too much experience with Kuroko's ire to risk provoking it.

"Fine," Saten said, sticking her tongue out at Uiharu. Still her caution was understandable. It was like trying to wake up wild tigers, if a tiger could zap you with a couple million volts by accident. So she was very careful, tiptoeing her way to the side of the bench and gently nudging Misaka's shoulder, "hey sleepyhead," she said quietly, "wake up."

Misaka shifted a little in her sleep, "No Kuroko…. No good morning kisses…" she whined.

"Pffthahahaha," Saten burst out into laughter, falling onto the ground holding her side.

At the loud laughter, Kuroko opened an eye. She noticed that it was too bright to be morning. So she sat up with a stretch and a yawn and blinked to get the sleep from her eyes. The process was mimicked a few seconds later by Misaka. "Oh, hey guys," Kuroko said, finally noticing that their friends had arrived. She also noticed Saten on the ground laughing like a madwoman. "are you okay down there?" she asked her.

"Yeah I'm fine," Saten said recovering and standing up, a big smile still on her face, "you two ready to go?

"Uh, yeah let's go," Misaka replied, slightly concerned for the sanity of her friend.

After that they went to the mall. Their first stop was a sporting goods shop where Saten looked for a new bat. Then came the computer shop where Saten bought Uiharu's silence on the matter of the bank cards with a new 20 gigabyte video card for her computer. It was a compelling argument, the shiny new piece of hardware tempting her so until finally she gave in and pushed the memories aside and reveled in her excitement.

They went to a few more shops after that until Kuroko noticed the time and decided that she would need to be heading off if she wanted to get to Riko's office in time for her appointment. "I need to get going you guys, see you tomorrow at work Uiharu. Oh Onee-sama, I might be a little late so don't wait up for me."

"Where are you going?" Uiharu asked. They hadn't been hanging out much lately so she was disappointed to hear that this venture had to be cut short. Not only that but she was a bit curious as to what Kuroko had to do, though she had an inkling.

"Just… stuff," Kuroko deferred, acting purposely suspicious. She knew the answer Uiharu wanted.

Uiharu sighed, "Don't work so hard on this case ok? It's not good for you."

"The opportunity won't be here for much longer. Dedication is what this case needs," she responded defensively.

"Come on Kuroko, you only have one childhood," Saten said as she put her arm around Kuroko's shoulders, not noticing the tensing muscles or the twitch of the eye that accompanied the last word, "hang with your friends and live a little."

"Actually I should get going too," Misaka piped up, "schoolwork."

Saten pouted and walked over to Uiharu draping herself dramatically over the girl's shoulders. "It seems the Ojou-sama's are abandoning us peasants, Uiharu. You're all I have left, you and your pink bunny panties," she bemoaned.

Misaka rolled her eyes at the melodrama, "I've just been swamped recently. I promise that, next time I'm free, we can hang out for an entire day, right Kuroko." Unfortunately she was talking to thin air, the teleporter having separated herself from the awkward situation at its onset, forcing Misaka, once again, to admit that it was a far more useful power to have in everyday life.

"That works," Saten said, cheering up quickly, "have fun!"

Now that she had acquired Saten's blessing Misaka left. She headed to the second of the addresses Hayami had given her yesterday. This time she would be more careful, not entirely sure if yesterday's conflict had been a result of intentional misdirection or an airhead's accident.

She soon arrived at a warehouse similar to the others, though she noticed that the concrete walls seemed considerably thicker than the other ones, and she could feel the steel rebar within that meant it was reinforced, giving it the impression of being more like a military bunker than a warehouse. She noticed that the lights were on inside but couldn't feel the presence of any bioelectricity inside that would suggest that there were people.

She decided that it would be best if she took a look regardless, and cautiously opened the door and slipped into the building. This one was set up very different from the other one, all the boxes and crates were all pushed up in one area near the wall. The middle of the warehouse and the far wall were clear.

And looking at the far wall she understood why the concrete had needed to be so thick. The entire floor and walls were scorched, the wall held innumerable cracks and in several places seemed to be falling apart. Even thickened and reinforced the walls had sustained incredible damage, like somehad had taken a wrecking ball to it, or set off a bomb nearby.

As she was inspecting the area she heard the garage-type door set in the nearby wall open. She quickly hid among the crates, waiting and listening. The voices she heard were male, so they weren't students. There wasn't anywhere near enough electricity to suggest that a robot was nearby, so it probably wasn't a pilot either.

"Wow this place looks like shit," One of them said.

"Yeah, it's that girl I was telling you about, she really does a number on this place," The other replied, "She isn't here today though."

"How does a teenage girl cause this much destruction?"

"ESPers. Weapons wrapped in human flesh."

"You were saying that this one's a friend of the CEO's daughter right?"

"Nah, from what I hear they're just in the same club. CEO's daughter leads it, give the girl this place to train and we gotta suffer through only having half a warehouse," He complained as he began loading up the crates on the truck, "least we ain't gotta clean up their mess, I feel sorry for the people who repair the wall every week."

"Why do they make so much effort for one girl."

"you've never seen it have you? You haven't seen the explosions that the girl can produce. I've only seen little ones and they are powerful enough to knock hunks of solid concrete off the wall. She told me once she could blow up a few city blocks or more if she wanted to. Even if that's exaggeration I don't care to test it out. They make so much effort 'cause she's an invaluable subject to study for a weapon's manufacturer."

"What about the other one you were talking about?"

"The little one? I don't know her deal, hardly ever see her. I think she's the one that erects the barrier thing that protects them and the stock from being destroyed. She's no big deal compared to the other one though, the tall one."

"Hmmm… might be interesting to see one of those explosions one day."

"You should. Those ESPers put me on edge but the thing's amazing. Like a fireworks festival in a bubble. They don't mind spectators either, long as you don't talk to 'em much. She's as explosive as her power. A couple of the interns hit on her and she damn near blew them up along with the rest of the building. She's cute but not worth dying for."

"I prefer my women legal age thank you very much."

The other one laughed, "Anyway if you're interested in seeing the show I think they'll be here tomorrow around this time. There aren't any deliveries though so you'll have to come on your own time."

"Nah, I'll wait till the timing overlaps," he replied as he loaded up the last of the crates on the truck and then drove off, closing the garage door behind him and turning off the lights. Once Misaka was sure they had left she decided to go herself. She had found out plenty enough of information to justify the trip.

Number one, she had found out that they would be here tomorrow. Number two she found out that there were two of them. And number three, she had found out their power. The last one worried her slightly. It sounded like it was similar to the graviton bomber's power, though even more powerful. She would need to take them out quickly. Satisfied with that plan she headed on home.

Once again Kuroko stood before the large oak door with the prismatic plaque bearing the words Simurgh Associations as well as the silly and slightly insulting motto. She reached for the handle, to enter when she heard voices from inside.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME?!" A deep male voice yelled.

"I told you that I am unable to give you that piece of information and then followed it with a list of reasons why your presence is an offense to my various senses," Riko replied in a condescending tone.

"OH YEAH! How's this for an offense," he said, "now you better answer my question or I'll blow your brains out."

"there is no need for you to bring out that weapon. Despite your Neanderthal like intelligence and manners we can be civil about this. You're not a murderer."

"Not yet, but I guess things change," He said with a grin. But just as he was about to pull the trigger the gun slipped from his hand and his legs gave out beneath him, totally paralyzed.

Kuroko stood over the man who was now lying face down on the ground and cuffed him. She extracted the needle from the paralysis point where she had teleported it a few moments ago and then teleported him down to the ground, outside in the back of the building. She would deal with him when she was done here.

Riko smiled, "thank you Shirai-san, your punctuality saved my life it seems." Rather than shock or surprise she heard something that sounded akin to pride in his voice, almost like he had planned this. But she rolled her eyes at that notion, reprimanding herself for believing in his mysticism schtick for even a moment. Riko walked over to the chessboard and sat down.

"You don't exactly have the best customer service do you?" Kuroko accused. Though the big guy shouldn't have started waving a gun around, Riko had provoked him.

"You're right… I should show my appreciation more, how about I tell you what I found out for no charge?"

"No charge?" Kuroko asked suspiciously. Riko wasn't exactly the most trustworthy person so she was expecting some sort of caveat connected to this unexpected offer.

"yep. As I said, money is a side effect, and it didn't take much to find out anyway. After all I was the person who led him to the capacity down in the first place."

"I thought you said you didn't know where any of them were," she recalled as she sat down at the opposite end of the board and made her move.

"I didn't. I was almost certain that he had it but I still had to track him down. I didn't tell you because the information was incomplete and incomplete information is dangerous to the customers," He said, then a short pause followed, "you know you two are actually quite similar. He's law enforcement as well, or used to be. Nowadays he is what you might call a bounty hunter though."

"He started off as the only son of a wealthy banker, one of the many original investors of Academy City. He would have been set for life without having to do any work but he decided that he wanted to help people, do good for the world. So he decided to become a member of Anti-Skill. He had a nice life for a while, a beautiful wife and daughter. That is until they were killed in a bank robbery. He was devastated and investigated the robbery for days. He discovered that the weapons the robbers had had had been the same as those that were issued to Anti-Skill agents. Imagine his horror when he discovered that his own partner had been selling weapons from the Anti-Skill armory to criminals to earn a bit of money on the side."

"He confronted his partner and gave him a chance to turn himself in, but of course he failed to convince him to do so, and in the end was forced to shoot him in self-defense. After that he quit the force, deciding that things like Anti-Skill were too open to corruption. He sought to do justice on his own as a professional bounty hunter and quickly became one of the best."

Kuroko looked at him from across the chess board, "Why did I need to know that?"

"You didn't," Riko admitted, "but it does make things more interesting no? After all it is so easy to commit atrocities against a man but raising your hand against a story, now that is harder. Will you be able to hunt him down and take what is his knowing why he does what he does?"

"Justice is blind," Kuroko said ruthlessly, though that was not how she felt. Inside doubt gnawed at her, just like Riko intended, which is why she wasn't letting him see it.

"Yes... that is the part of the story that always confuses me so. A young man has enough money that he would never need to worry about it running out, and yet he chooses to devote his life to such a silly notion as justice."

She bristled at this statement, and demanded through clenched teeth, "how is justice a silly notion?"

"Because of what you just said. Justice is blind. It is ruthless, with no mercy and no understanding of the situation behind the behavior it seeks to punish. Because it is blind retribution almost always comes down either too hard or too soft upon the punished. It ignores the story, seeing only the criminal simply so that it will be more convenient to prosecute."

At these words an image flashed into Kuroko's mind. A memory from long ago. Her building rage was extinguished in a moment as she spoke, "Maybe it seems like that to someone like you, who treats everything like a game, and maybe you even have a point. Retribution without understanding, without knowledge, without humanity is, too often, the result of our attempts at justice. But it is not the ideal of justice that is flawed, but the execution of it. Those without devotion to that ideal are what blind justice and corrupt it's very image. But when pursued by those with dedication and belief, justice is anything but a 'silly concept.'"

Riko looked up at her for a second the looked back down to the board, "I suppose it is quite admirable, chasing after such a selfless ideal as justice. And it is truly selfless, after all, the truly just have no place in the world they create. Check."

Kuroko moved her piece then stood up, "where is he?"

Riko reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device, about the size of a hockey puck. "Section 167, I'll give you more precise directions over this. Oh and when you're done keep it, I'll contact you on that if I find out the location of the others."

Kuroko took the device and began leaving, but she paused at the door. "Tell me," she said, "you could have put me in checkmate seven moves ago. I know you saw the move, but you chose not to take it. You gave up your chance to win and ended up stalemating. Why?"

"You had it the wrong way round before... I don't treat the world like a game, I treat games like the world. When you lose in the real world something is sacrificed, but a lesson is learned. When you win you lose nothing but you never learn the lesson that failure had to teach. Sometimes it's best to reside in that place between winning and losing, that state where nothing really changes but things are learned," Riko responded with a stupid, mischievous grin on his face, "Besides, you have more wiggle room when you aim for a tie rather than victory."

Kuroko closed the door behind her and teleported away. She began to make her way to section 167 of District 7, weighed down by the burden of ideals and memories.

"Things were simpler when all it was was knights and dragons."

Author's Note: Sorry this chapter took so long, but I spent the first couple days writing another chapter, one that comes later (one that I'm sure you'll all enjoy). Anyway, this is kind of like the intro to my next group of chapters. Scenes happening in preparation for the big week ahead of the girls.

Also, upon receiving some friendly criticism I decided that I would try and give some more definition to Uiharu so she wouldn't be such a… background character. Problem being is that I'm not too good at working with goody-two shoes kind of characters unless they're like Hayami, which is to say airheads. So, to remedy that, I decided to do her character growth in my own way… by making her a hardcore gamer. It's a personality trait that I could totally see from her, especially considering how good she is on computers. She's a bit harsh online but still maintains the 1337 C0D3 0F H0N0R so she can't really be classified as a troll. She supports Nintendo over Sega but dislikes Mario, considering him to be a sellout (Not my actual opinion, just something I made up on the spot for Uiharu, before I get any people flaming me for that). Her favorite games are the Super Smash Bros. series and her favorite characters from that series are Samus, Zelda, and Bowser.

Yeah… I wrote this a bit late at night so I apologize for the slightly rambling humor.