Author's Notes:
WARNING (POSSIBLE MATURE CONTENT). You've been warned. If you're under the age of majority for your country, stop reading this. Graphic description and scenarios may appear. If I get to be merely ecchi, at least you were warned.
Once again, I have to advise that this is not a canon-based story, and that I do tend to muff the proper names of the characters. Please bear with me as Japanese is not my first (second or third or nth language.)
Feel free to post comments or reviews. Interesting ones will get replies. Plot suggestions are welcome. Just remember that we are off-canon and that this is a romantic comedy (read embarrassing and tsuendre moments).
Most importantly, the canon characters are the property of the copyright holders, and this is intended for the non-commercial use and enjoyment of the reader.
Time update: It's Thanksgiving Day weekend here in Canada, and the Blue Jays just lost the second game of the World Series (not that I'm a baseball fan but I was sitting under the TV at Swiss Chalet this evening). My wife also has lots of things that she want done this weekend, so you may only get one more update for the foreseeable future. Honestly, I promise to plow along and finish this story before I go to the next one in line.
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Misaka was guiding Index and Last Order through the main doors of the Heron Inn while Touma held the doors for them and everyone else when Last Order pulled her to one side and started scanning the crowd of people in the lobby of the inn.
Misaka leaned down and whispered in her ear "What's up? Did you see or sense something?"
Last Order looked up into her face and stage whispered "Misaka Misaka senses a Lost Sister in the vicinity but she is not connected to the Sister Network and Misaka Misaka cannot give location and distance information."
Index chimed in, "Is it important? Can we not come back later?"
"No says Misaka Misaka as she stamps her foot in frustration to emphasize how important it is. If Misaka Misaka and the Sisters do not find our Lost Sisters, WE have failed them and will lose them again. Misaka Misaka says that Misaka Misaka must find her and at least give the Lost Sister the opportunity to rejoin us."
Misaka nodded and gripped Last Order's shoulders. "If it's that important for you, let's go and find her. Touma, can you take Index and wait for us? We won't be long."
Index shook her head. "Index will go with you."
Misaka nodded, stood and held her hands out to each of the two muchkins. "Well, then, let's go and find your Lost Sister. Coming, Touma?"
"Let me tell everyone else and I'll catch up."
Five minutes later, Touma caught up with them, Accelerator and Misaka Imouto tagging along 'just in case.' Last Order was scanning the crowd carefully as they were walking around, trying hard to look like a cute little girl seaching for a missing friend.
She suddenly stopped and pointed to a threessome of young ladies in a corner, one of whom was trying to make a call on her cellphone and crying. "Misaka Misaka has found her. Misaka Misaka thinks that Misako Imouto offering the use of her police-band cellphone is the perfect introduction."
Imouto nodded, reached into her bag and pulled out her cellphone, and walked over.
She knelt down beside the crying girl and extended her cellphone. "With everything happening, you won't get through due to all the traffic. Here, use this one. It's a police band but I think that they will allow it use in this circumstance."
The girl looked up and focussed on the phone. "Domo arigato," she whispered as she opened it and dialed the number that she was trying to reach. A hurried conversation followed and she quickly rang off, and closed the phone. As she passed the phone back, she looked into the face of the giver and realized that it was her own face.
She then looked past Imouto and saw Misaka and Last Order standing behind her, expressions of concern on their faces. She then saw Accelerator behind them and her expression went from questioning and wonder to terror.
"No! No! Keep him away! He'll kill me!" At that moment, her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed, dropping the phone on the floor at Imouto's feet.
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"Shit!" went Misaka as she stepped forward. Glancing over her shoulder, she glared at Accelerator and whispered "Touma! Take Accelerator up to the rooms and take Last Order and Index along with you. I'll take care of things here and try to not spark off a riot."
Touma and Accelerator took the hands of their relevant munchkins and headed to the elevators.
Squatting down beside the fallen girl and looking up at her friends, she said. "I must apologize. Accelerator has that affect on us, but he really won't. at least now he won't. My name is Misaka Mikoto and this is my Sister, Misaka Imouto. I'm a Level 5 from Academy City, and Imouto is their equivalent of a police officer, a member of Anti-Skill."
Imouto scrambled to produce her warrant card and badge from her purse and showed it to the other two young ladies. Those in the vicinity stopped paying attention to the happenings and ignored the conversation from this point on.
One of them looked up at Misaka. "I've heard of you. You're the one called Railgun." Misaka nodded.
The other one chimed in "My name is Tokiwa Kyoko and these are my friends, Inaba Mizuki and the one who fainted is Kagurazaka Eri. Why would she faint like that, and why do the three, no four, of you all look like each other. I mean, this is not a family resemblance, but it looks like you're copies of each other."
Misaka nodded. "We are, well, at least Imouto and Last Order are. They're copies of me. I think that Kagurazaka-kun may also be a copy, especially considering her reaction to Accelerator." She sighed. "However, it all could be a massive coincidence, which is something that seems to take place with great regularity around me, the Sisters, and everyone else that I've come in contact with over the last few years."