What's this?! A third week in a row I updated?! I must be sick or something. I'm kidding, I just got to get down to work!
Enjoy!
"We're worried you idolise her too much, and maybe it's taking up too much of your time."
"What do they know?" Kuroko muttered to herself as she walked down the street, supposedly doing security but more lost in her own thoughts. She'd recently left the office where Saten and Uiharu tried to intervene in her life, and what they said was really sticking to her. Was she being to sticky for Misaka? Was she a hassle? No, surely Misaka would have told her something if she was right? But wait, she used to say stuff like that all the time. Had she just grown used to her behaviour.
All in all, Kuroko wasn't focused on her job at all.
Looking up from her feet, Kuroko looked across the street to find the subject of her problems, Misaka, sitting around a table with a few other people she recognised. She could see Shokuhou and Misaka's mother, along with the boy Kamijou that she hung out with. The other two Kuroko could only presume was the boys parents. The nun was also present, but Kuroko barely saw her behind the mountain of food in front of her.
What is she doing having dinner with that boy?! See I knew she was hiding something from me. I need to-
"We're worried you idolise her too much."
Kuroko paused as she was about to cross the street towards the group, her hand already outstretched to call out to her. What was she doing? Not only was she not even invited to this dinner happening before her, but she'd been considering interrupting them? For what? Maybe she didn't like seeing Misaka with Kamijou, but what right did she have to stop them?
"Misaka's a big girl, she can take care of herself."
Of course they were right, Kuroko didn't need to make a big deal out of getting in the way. In was only then that Kuroko finally realised what Uiharu and Saten were talking about, and she immediately felt sick to her stomach. She stood there, on the side of the street, recalling every time she'd forced herself into Misaka's business, the times she'd gotten zapped, and all the chastising she'd received. What was she doing, still acting like a damn child? Maybe Misaka had grown immune to it, sure, but now Kuroko's view of it had been blown wide open.
Really, what was she doing?
Taking a deep breath, Kuroko turned away from the table and began to walk away. This wasn't her business, so she wasn't going to intrude on it.
"Kuroko!" Nearly jumping out of her skin, Kuroko turned back around to see Misaka standing up at the table, waving widely at her. What was she doing? From the looks of it, she was trying to wave her over. Great. But she couldn't very well just walk off, could she? That would've been rude. Taking a deep breath, Kuroko prepared herself and walked across the street to the table.
"Hello everyone," she greeted as kindly as she could, everyone looking towards her as she did so. Most viewed her kindly, Kamijou looked a little frightened, Shokuhou indifferent, and Misaka was-
What was she doing? Misaka had sweat dripping down the side of her head, and overall looked a little freaked out. Was something the matter? Maybe she was waiting for Kuroko to freak out. That only made her feel worse. She was not going to ruin her night.
"How's dinner going?" She asked.
"Ah Shirai-san!" Misaka's mother exclaimed happily. "It's so good to see you again!" Kuroko managed a smile for the woman, doing her best to not look unhappy.
"You as well, Misaka-san." Kuroko then turned over to the other two who were watching her. "And you, Kamijou. Shokuhou."
"Uh, right." Kamijou replied. He seemed to be confused that Kuroko was ripping his head off for sitting next to Misaka.
"Good to see you, Shirai." Shokuhou said, looking more interested in the bread that had been delivered to the table to tide them over.
"What's going on tonight?" Misaka asked, making Kuroko jump again. The older girl still looked freaked out, but eager in a way. Was she waiting for Kuroko to go away? She'd invited her over though.
"Ah, just security for the festival." She replied, waving her off. "Nothing to trouble yourself over, Onee-sama." She inwardly winced as the cordial name left her mouth. Why was she still calling her that? It was childish, they were friends.
A-Ah, I'm sure their must be something." Misaka replied, sweating even harder. "Do you need my help with anything?"
No, that was the last thing Kuroko needed right now. She wasn't going to ruin her friends night.
"Uh, no." She replied with a weak smile. "I'm okay on my own, Onee-sama." There, she'd done it AGAIN! "You should stay and enjoy dinner with your family and friends. I have work to do."
"A-Are you sure? Really really sure?" Now Misaka looked upset, which made Kuroko feel bad. Had she wanted her to say no and stay for dinner? No, that would be intruding. Besides, it wasn't a lie. She really was busy.
"Yeah, I am." Kuroko replied as she turned to leave. "We can hang out another time, okay? I really should get back to work. It was nice to see you all again, though! I might hang around when I have free time."
"You have work to do, don't let us bother you!" Misaka's mother said. Kuroko attempted a smile on her direction, turning and teleporting back to the other side of the street. Once she got there, she busied herself with walking away as soon as possible, focusing on looking for any kind of hole in the security in the area. She just needed to focus on her job, and not Misaka. After all, the other girls were right. Misaka could handle herself. What she needed to do was stop getting in the way. Maybe, if it was okay, she'd find a way to make it up to her at some point. But that came later.
For now, she should just give the girl room.
"I'm just saying yesterday should have gone better," Mikoto made a face and turned back to look at Shokuhou.
"We lost, it happens." She replied. Yesterday, the third day overall of the festival, Nagatenjouki had gone up against Hisakawa in a Relay Race. Mikoto hadn't participated in the event, but it had been a pretty close match all things considered. In the end though, their rival high school had pulled out ahead. Now the scores for both schools was very neck and neck, and it was anyone's guess who would really come out on top. Mikoto had faith though, the last few events the two schools would go up against each other in worked very well in their favour. All in all, she wasn't worried about it.
"But it was so close!" Shokuhou complained, taking Mikoto out of her train of thought. "If Shoji hadn't tripped up during his final lap we would've won for sure."
"Yeah, probably." Mikoto agreed. "But it happens. What matters most is that we get them in the next few events. You ready for today?" Shokuhou only smirked at this.
"Of course I am," she said. "A full on Team Elimination game? I can't wait to beat them in that."
Yes, A Team Elimination game.
In the next few hours, both schools would be fighting in a district wide elimination game. Both schools red teams would duke it out to decide who would win. The rules as far as Mikoto understood them was that each student would be given a badge. Once that badge was stolen from them, they were counted as out. The first team to get all opposing students out would win. The badge could be anywhere on someone's person, just so long as it was visible and not obscenely hard to get like in your armpit or something. With how close the schools were, a decisive victory could put one ahead permanently.
"Let's make sure we don't get cocky," Mikoto said, smacking Shokuhou on the top of her head, making the girl release a cute cry of fake pain. "Last thing we need to to do that and lose to people who would lord it over us all day."
"Yeah yeah, I get it." Shokuhou replied. Before the girl could say more, Mikoto saw her eyes lock onto something behind the pair. Turning in that direction, Mikoto saw Uiharu and Kuroko standing around with Judgement and Anti-Skill. From the looks of things, they were setting something up.
"What're they doing?" Mikoto asked aloud.
"Let's go ask," Shokuhou replied. Shaking off her confusion at Shokuhou being the one to initiate an encounter, Mikoto nodded and walked up to the girls, who had their backs turned to them.
"Hey Uiharu!" She greeted. "Hey Kuroko! What's up?" Both girls turned at their names being spoken, and smiled at Mikoto as a greeting.
"Hey you guys," Uiharu said. "We're setting up a capture operation."
"For what?" Shokuhou asked, turning to the nearest store. "For the Bagel Bandit?" Turning to look, Mikoto saw that they were, as a matter of fact, outside a bakery.
"Apparently some disgruntled employee was making threats," Kuroko said as she gestured to the bakery. "And judging from the profile we pulled out of the system, guys known to make good on them. He's burned buildings down in the past, so we were called in to keep an eye out for him."
"Sounds dangerous!" Mikoto said. "Can I stay and whack him around a bit?"
"Absolutely not," Kuroko replied. "This is not a civilian matter, Misaka."
"Ah c'mon, I promise I won't..." Mikoto trailed off as an alien feeling overcame her. "Wait, did you just call me Misaka?" Kuroko's cheeks heated up at this, and she dramatically whirled away to hide it.
"I've decided to do some growing up," She proclaimed. "So I will no longer call you by your deserved title." Mikoto just made a face at this, amused but confused at the girls antics. Those two adjectives summed on being Kuroko's friend a lot, actually.
"Then you may as well call me Mikoto, then." she said. "I've been calling you Kuroko forever."
"T-That's not necessary," Kuroko managed weakly. Mikoto had been greatly confused by the girls actions the past couple days, and this only confused her further. However, they both had more pressing matters to deal with.
"I hope you guys do well in your event today!" Uiharu said, conveniently changing the subject. "It's a full on elimination game, right?"
"Yep," Shokuhou replied, yawning. "It'll be a breeze."
"Better be," A new voice said. Turning, Mikoto saw Omori standing there, watching both of them with a squint in her eyes. "We need to crush them, remember?"
"Of course," Mikoto replied as she turned to face her classmate. "Don't worry Omori, we won't let you down!"
"Glad to hear it,"Omori replied, turning to leave, It was at this Mikoto saw the Judgement band on the girls arm, and was reminded of what Itagaki had said the other day.
"Hey Omori, wait!" Mikoto said. She wasn't sure why she wanted to befriend this girl so much, but the fact that Omori was so cold to her really bothered her. She was really too friendly for her own good sometimes. "It's really cool that you work in Judgement. How come you never mentioned it before?" The black haired girl turned to look at her over her shoulder, slightly confused.
"It's not really important, is it?" She asked. "It's not like I'm special for doing this."
"Well, sure." Mikoto replied with a smile. "But I have friends in Judgement, so I know how hard the job is. Well, that and I've worked with them before." This seemed to catch Omori's attention, and turned back to Mikoto fully.
"You?" She asked, pointing at Mikoto as if to ask her point more forcefully. "You've worked with Judgement?" Mikoto nodded.
"Yep!" She said. "Well, not in any official capacity, but I have helped them a lot. I know how hard the job is. I mean, this one time I caught some robbers. Another time I helped stop a bomb threat. Well I mean, it wasn't a bomb but I thought it was so I dove into a fountain to stop it from detonating and-"
"You're rambling," Shokuhou said from beside her, sounding bored. Mikoto snapped back into reality at this, cheeks flushing.
"Ah, sorry." She said, Omori looking somewhat impressed. "I was just saying, I know how hard the job is. So it's really cool that you work with them. Keep up the good work!" Omori stayed quiet at this, as if deliberating a response. After a few seconds, a smile crossed her face.
"Thank you," she said. "I will. And I hope you two will do well in the event today. I apologise for having to work, or I'd help."
"Don't worry about that, you can count on us!" Mikoto said, happy to crack the Cryokinetic's icy exterior attitude a bit. "Right Shokuhou?"
"Oh definitely," Shokuhou agreed. "I can't wait to slap around some Hisakawa nerds." Smiling at then, Omori turned and gave them a wave as she returned to her post, allowing them to turn back around and speak with Uiharu and Kuroko.
"I didn't know you guys were friends with Omori," Uiharu said.
"Friends is a bit of a stretch," Mikoto replied. "She's just a classmate really."
"Pretty obvious you want to be friendly with her," Shokuhou said as she checked her nails lazily. "Think you were slick, appealing to her job back there?" Mikoto knew she was guilt of what she was being accused of, she had done that.
"I just wanted to see if she reacted differently," she replied. "And she did, so I'd say that it was a success."
"What, does Omori not like you guys or something?" Kuroko asked.
"Nope," Shokuhou said. Kuroko seemed offended by this response. "She seems to dislike Level 5's on principle."
"Really?" Uiharu asked. "That's odd. I never got that vibe from her." Mikoto made a face at this.
"You guys know her too?" She asked. Kuroko shrugged.
"We've been on joint operations a few times," she said. "We're not really friends either, but we know her. She's always been kind and cordial."
"Wish I knew the feeling," Shokuhou said with a chuckle. "She usually gives us the cold shoulder."
"Stop making ice jokes," Mikoto said. She needed to put a stop to this before it even began. "It's already not funny."
"I think it is," Shokuhou replied.
"Either way, it's odd that she dislikes you guys based solely on level. I figured most people thought you guys were cool." Uiharu said. "I know I did. D-Do. I do." Mikoto ignored Uiharu's faux pas and gave this some thought. She knew that Shokuhou's digging revealed that Omori didn't like them because she thought they were selfish and ignorant, so maybe saying that she'd worked with Judgement caused her to have second thoughts about that. She didn't know. What she did know was that she had places to be.
"Well, maybe we'll figure it out one day." Mikoto said as she turned to Shokuhou. "We should go. I know the team is meeting up to talk about tactics. We should be there." Shokuhou rolled her eyes.
"Do we have to?" She asked. "I don't need to worry about anything. I'll take anyone who comes at us out with my ability!"
"Us?" Mikoto asked. "We gonna work together then?"
"I figured we would," Shokuhou said, pouting. "Were you gonna leave me on my own? How callous." Snorting, Mikoto turned back to Uiharu and Kuroko.
"We'll talk to you guys later," she said. "We've got to go. Wanna meet up later?"
"If we're not working we can." Uiharu said. "Right Shirai?"
"Uh, sure." Kuroko said, shrugging. "We can do that." Mikoto still thought the girl was acting odd, but she'd ask about it later. Turning, she and Shokuhou left the pair to do their job and went to meet up with their team. After all, everyone had work to do.
"So that's really our plan?" Mikoto asked. Kongou nodded.
"Seems that's what we came up with," she replied, arms crossed. "Besides, I don't think it'll be that bad of a plan." Mikoto agreed with that, at the very least. The plan that she and her classmates on the red team had come up with was using herself and Shokuhou as bait. The logic was that given the massive advantage that both she and Shokuhou gave Nagatenjouki, Hisakawa would probably come after them first to try and get them eliminated quickly. So, if Mikoto and Shokuhou were able to bait these attackers into a larger group of Nagatenjouki students, they could systematically eliminate those who came after them and secure a good lead right out of the gate. Mikoto thought this was okay.
Shokuhou did not.
"That's so much wooork!" Shokuhou whined, hanging her head over the side of the bench she was sprawled out on. "I have to run and not attack?! I wanted to knock some people out!"
"Is it really that big of a deal?" Mikoto demanded, just watching her bemusedly like the rest of their team. Everyone here knew Shokuhou was lazy, so no one was surprised by this.
"Of course it is!" The blonde shouted, grabbing her head dramatically. "You saw me in PE! I can run for anything! I'll just get winded and eliminated like this!"
"Don't be ridiculous," Mikoto replied. "I'll be right there with you. And everyone will be watching and waiting to catch Hisakawa off guard. Right guys?" The red team collectively agreed at this, making Shokuhou pout angrily.
"Why am I always coerced into stuff like this?" She demanded as she stood up. Mikoto chuckled and bumped the blonde with her hip, making her stumble.
"Cause it's so much fun to watch you squirm," she said.
"I thought that was why I irritated you?" Shokuhou asked. Mikoto shrugged.
"We'll call it an even trade off."
"Attention Nagatenjouki High and Hisakawa Prep!" A voice said over a nearby loudspeaker. "The Team Elimination event will start in five minutes! Get your team together and get ready to take some badges!"
"You ready?" Mikoto asked. "Done complaining?" Shokuhou just laughed at this.
"Oh Misaka," she said. "You know me better than that. I'm never done complaining."
And I complete another chapter! Not gonna lie, sometimes this story feels weird for me to write. Maybe that's just because I'm finally doing it regularly. What do you guys think? Do these chapters feel okay to you guys? I hope you all enjoyed, leave a review! I'll see you guys next week for some elimination games!