Chapter 7: Long Day
"So… could you explain why we're 'celebrating'?"
I was sitting at one of those four seater tables with the cushioned benches. Directly in front of me was a glass of water, along with a certain blue eyed black haired girl. Both of us had the window seat.
Saten brought her attention away from her dish and tilted her head to the side. "Eh- you forgot? We're celebrating your release from the hospital; what else could it be?"
Nodding to her reasoning, I watched as she took a bite from her spoon. Obviously, her answer didn't satisfy me in the least. It was odd to give a little hospital visit this much attention, but the whole surgery on my arm was probably what all the fuss was about.
"Minamoto-san, is there a reason you didn't get anything aside from water? Was this a bad place to go?" Uiharu—who sat to Saten's left—eyed the clear glass that was presently untouched.
Sliding the refreshment closer, I could feel the condensation moisten my bandaged fingers. "Oh, that? I just don't have a lot of money on hand. And there's nothing wrong with here; it's the company that makes for a good celebration anyhow."
"That's- Yeah, that's right. But it's your celebration, so let us know if you want anything. It's the least we could do." She had an awful lot of conviction over a silly topic like dessert.
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind then." Taking a sip of water, the conversation ended.
Enthusiastically digging into a jelly-like substance, Saten interjected between bites. "It's too bad your friend couldn't come along either, Uiharu. You mentioned something about Judgement work?"
"You mean Shirai-san? There has been an increasing amount of unlawful activity, so she declined the invitation in favor of finishing up the day's paperwork." Uiharu unashamedly admitted.
To think she'd skip out on all that work. I'm not much better when it comes down to it, but to leave it all to Shirai?
Taking note of my pointed look, the responsible and totally not procrastinating Judgement member attempted to change the topic.
"Eh heh… erm- I think you'd get along well with her, Minamoto-san! What do you think, Misaka-san?" Frantically searching for an out, she tried her luck at inquiring her newest friend.
Yes, her newest friend; the girl who I was doing my best to ignore. Sitting to my right and across from Uiharu was the third ranked level 5. I wasn't entirely sure why she was here in the first place.
She had been strangely quiet throughout most of this hangout and it was putting me on edge.
Considering our conversation the day before, I had no doubt she would eventually try to pry more information out of me. But that had yet to happen.
The Railgun was staring intently at nothing in particular. She was deep in thought and I had a feeling it had no relation to Uiharu's question.
Finally registering everyone's attention was on her, Misaka looked over to me. "If you can't order anything yourself, you can have some of mine."
"Uh." Any initial presumptions I had came to a sudden halt.
Examining her face, Misaka showed no sign of knowing just how odd her offer was. If anything, she was confused at the surprise elicited from Saten and Uiharu.
Actually, it would make sense if she didn't realize the implications of the gesture. Misaka, while not on the same level as Touma, is somewhat dense if her interactions with Shirai are any indicator. So she's either doing this out of the 'good of her heart' or there's some ulterior motive.
On one hand, I can accept the treat. Or I can decline. Well, it wouldn't hurt to accept the offer. I can't see this going against me anytime in the future.
"Sure, why not."
Misaka blinked, whether out of surprise or confusion, I couldn't tell. "Ehm- really? I thought you'd decline for sure."
Trying not to focus on Saten's and Uiharu's staring, I gave a simple answer. "Saten made it clear that this is a celebration of sorts. So who am I to turn down the offer?"
"Should we call over a waitress then, or are you two going to share the spoon?" The blue eyed girl said in good humor.
The Tokiwadai student would likely disagree with that sentiment if her darkening complexion was any clue.
I jumped in before Misaka could say anything to embarrass herself further. "No need. Uiharu's order should be here soon enough. We can ask for a spoon then."
With the comedic timing befitting the world I was stuck in, the Jumbo Fruits Parfait arrived at our table in all of its caloric glory.
Uiharu gazed at the extravagant and oversized sweet, relishing in the moment.
Just as the flowered girl dug her spoon into the parfait and Misaka moved to get the waitress's attention, the musical tone of a phone went off.
Uiharu was mid-bite when she realized where the sound was emanating from.
"Oh, that's mine." With a disappointed sigh, she reached into her skirt pocket and revealed a bright red phone. "Hello, this is Uiharu speaking."
Her eyes widened a fraction as she pressed the device closer to her face. "There's a situation? Yes, I should be nearby. I'll be there shortly."
Hastily slipping on her Judgement band, the flowered girl's gaze lingered on her dessert before setting some cash on the table.
"Sorry, Judgement work came up. I'll try to make up for this later." She smiled apologetically and gave a short bow before rushing out of the restaurant.
This left the three of us in silence, not quite sure how to react.
"So…" Saten brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear—scratching the back of her head.
Standing up, Misaka tracked Uiharu's fading figure through the window. Her eyes narrowed, ignoring Saten's questioning gaze.
The Tokiwadai student took a step towards the exit. "I have something to do."
Without so much as a second though, the girl moved to follow the Judgement member.
Saten faced me with a bewildered expression, slowly standing up to see what I'd do. Her eyes flickered back and forth between the exit and myself.
I, on the other hand, was preoccupied with my own thoughts.
Er- I guess this isn't too much of a surprise. And if Saten's movements are a sign, chances are she's going to follow Misaka.
Uhg. Either I follow Misaka with Saten and get into a potentially dangerous situation, or I can stay here by myself and eat what's left of Misaka's parfait. She did offer it to me after all.
But Saten's been nice enough to hang out with me for the past week. And Uiharu would probably have less trouble if I stalled Misaka from running head first into Judgement work.
Gathering my wits, I paid the appropriate amount for my water and rushed out the door. Saten nearly tripped over herself trying to come along.
Miraculously, we were able to catch up to the determined girl.
"And where do you think you're going?" Misaka stopped in her tracks at the question once she recognized who was speaking.
She looked over her shoulder. "And why should I answer that?"
There was a hint of irritation in her voice. I assumed this wasn't the first time she was stopped from recklessly charging forward.
"If you're thinking about following Uiharu, then I'd advise against it." There were no external cues, but I knew I had hit the nail on the head.
"Who said I-"
"I did." Slowly crossing my arms—as to avoid tugging on the bandages—I raised an eyebrow. "You want to follow Uiharu for whatever reason. And in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter that much."
Taking in a breath, I waited for her to interrupt me in turn. Instead, Misaka faced me fully and prompted a continuation.
"Helping people with your abilities is cool and all, but there's a reason professionals deal with the problems they do. And it's irresponsible to think that power can solve everything. When it comes down to it, you're as much a civilian as me or Saten."
This is one of those things I just don't get. Misaka goes around acting as her one-man army beating up thugs and the like without any repercussions.
Yes, she's the third strongest level five. And yes, she's the main protagonist of her own spin off. But I really thought there'd be at least some consequences for constantly stepping on Judgement's toes.
"I can see why Uiharu-san thinks you'd get along with Shirai-san." Broken from my reverie, I was met with a sudden change in mood.
The Railgun's expression had softened as she turned away. "But I can't just sit around and do nothing."
And with that, she ran off in hopes of achieving something.
Letting out a sigh, I watched as she disregarded my entire argument with a single action. Uncrossing my arms, I shoved my right hand into my pocket.
"Cheer up, Minamoto. I'm sure you're getting along with Misaka-san just fine. You'll be good friends in no time!" Saten patted my back, exuding misplaced sympathy.
Resting her hands behind her head, the long haired girl moved to follow Misaka. "Well, you coming?"
…
Hopefully I occupied Misaka long enough for the situation to clear itself up. Guess I'll have to see for myself.
After less than a minute of walking, we reached the scene of the crime. Much to my relief, it was an underwhelming sight.
Surrounding the area was a small crowd of students too curious for their own good. Further along was a jewelry shop featuring several busted windows.
There were a few Judgement members trying to disperse the crowd and keep watch of the arrested criminals. Judging by the abnormal damage around the shop—that being the newly formed pot holes and large puddles of water—the robbers were probably espers.
Pushing to the front of the crowd, Saten must've spotted Uiharu or Misaka as she sped forward with no regards to the polite Judgement members dissuading close examination.
As I followed along, the officers turned their attention elsewhere once they realized who we were headed towards.
Saten and I reached our destination and were greeted with a peculiar sight. Misaka was drenched head to toe looking particularly miserable. And adding to that misery was a short pigtailed Judgement member chewing her out.
"-like I've said before, it's the job of Judgement and Anti-Skill to maintain the peace in Academy city. Honestly, to think you intentionally came here despite my previous warnings." Hands on her hips, Shirai Kuroko was very displeased with Misaka's actions.
The girl in question only mumbled, trying to wring the water out of the hem of her shirt. Uiharu stood to the left with a strained smile. She attempted to get a word in, only to be cut off by Shirai's harsh reprimanding.
"I'd say 'I told you so', but you look busy as is." Amusement was written all over my face as Misaka grew sour over the comment.
The flowered girl was the first to react to our arrival. "Oh! Minamoto-san, Saten-san. What are you two doing here?"
"We followed Misaka-san of course." Saten, without missing a beat, pushed all responsibility onto the poor Railgun.
With an exasperated exhale, Shirai gave Misaka the 'this isn't over yet' look and gave us her full attention.
"You must be the friends Uiharu mentioned. I'm Shirai Kuroko." The tawny haired girl gave a polite smile and inspected us. When her gaze met mine, her eyes narrowed a fraction.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Saten Ruiko."
"Minamoto Ken."
Please don't comment on my name. I've heard enough about that shogun thing already.
"So, what excuse do you two have for walking into a potential combat zone?"
My long haired classmate winced at the accusatory tone, so I took it upon myself to explain our decision.
"As Saten mentioned, we followed Misaka. I had tried to convince her not to come here, but seeing as I failed to do so, we came along hoping nothing blew out of proportion."
The pigtailed girl looked to Misaka for confirmation and received a begrudged nod. "I suppose I can overlook it this one time. There are other matters to discuss after all…"
Uiharu shivered.
"Uhg- can we do this elsewhere? I need to get a change of clothes before I catch a cold." The Railgun's voice wavered as she tugged on her vest.
Jerking in surprise, Shirai was quick to grab Misaka's shoulder. "Then we're going straight to the dorm. We cannot waste anymore time."
Even though it would have been child's play for the teleporter to get the two of them to the dorm, Misaka awkwardly shifted weight from one foot to another and avoided Shirai's gaze. "Yeah… lets go with that."
"Or- uh, perhaps not the dorm room!" Without a moment of reluctance, the tawny haired girl shot down her own suggestion.
Odd. Though, it might be early enough that Shirai isn't Misaka's roommate yet. Something to keep in mind.
"You can come by my place and borrow some clothes. It should be pretty close by too." Uiharu spoke up, eager to offer assistance.
Shoulders relaxing, Shirai let go of Misaka and sent an appreciative glance towards her fellow Judgement member. "Come one, Misaka-san. We should make haste."
Nodding at the pigtailed girl's proposal, the Railgun followed after the flowered girl. "Thanks for this, Uiharu-san. I appreciate it."
"Don't worry about it Misaka-san—it's what friends are for."
So, they're heading over to Uiharu's dorm. Should I go along, or…? Because, y'know, I don't really need to. I think.
I guess it'd be best if I let them do their thing.
Blue eyes engulfed my vision and I flinched at the sudden change of scenery. "Daydreaming already? Come one, this is the perfect chance to make another friend!"
Composing myself, I retorted Saten's line of thought. "Another friend? That implies I made friends with Mi-"
A light shove to my back prevented me from finishing the sentence.
"We're getting left behind. Hurry it up." The girl was only amused by my reluctance, rather than annoyed.
I didn't quite know how to feel about it.
X X X
The walk to Uiharu's dorm was uneventful, aside from Misaka's complaining and Shirai scolding Uiharu for ditching paperwork.
Leaning against the wall outside the dorm room, I watched as Uiharu led the other girls indoors.
"Not coming in as well, Minamoto?" With a teasing smile, Saten gestured towards the doorway.
I kept my expression level and unchanged. "I think I'll stay out here."
Letting out a short laugh, she pulled the door behind her. "Suit yourself."
Closing my eyes, I allowed myself to relax. It had been a while since I last hung out with friends outside of school, making this a little tiring.
To think travelling to another universe would get me out of the house more often. Not to mention doing so with the main protagonists.
How did this even happen? I somehow brought together the cast of Railgun before the start of canon. Makes me curious about what else I could've changed. Like the Sister arc for one. It was the Misaka clones that got me interested in ToAru in the first place.
Should I look into that just in case? I wouldn't get involved or anything; just some poking around here and there.
I let out an irritated breath as I shut down the idea.
As if I didn't create enough waves by interacting with Misaka alone. I'm trying to stay safe, not run headlong into danger like the resident bug zapper.
A strange yet familiar sound assaulted my ears. Keeping myself still, I opened my eyes to find Shirai observing me.
"And here I thought I might have caught you attempting to peek. You're awfully composed for a teenage boy." She eyed me warily, standing between myself and the door.
I crossed my arms, careful not to rub the bandages too much. "I like to think I'm above such things."
The tawny haired girl didn't respond and silence filled the area once more. I doubted she came out here to check on something so ridiculous; it was only a matter of time before she got to the point.
My patience was eventually rewarded when the teleporter spoke up. "You were in that large Skill-Out fight from a week ago."
While she worded the claim as a statement, I wasn't completely sure if she was trying to gain confirmation or simply bringing up the topic.
"I was." Keeping my answer short, I watched Shirai consider my response.
Her brows furrowed, but she didn't express much else.
Cleaning her throat, the girl moved onto another question. "Could you tell me about what happened that day? Any information regarding the Skill-Out group would be useful."
I was about to open my mouth to reply when a particular thought stopped me.
Shouldn't she already know everything that happened? I know for sure that several of the Skill-Out members were arrested that night.
Anti-Skill didn't question me about the fight either. Did they forget?
"Not sure what there is to say. It was me and another guy outnumbered to an absurd degree. Nothing you don't already know." At that moment, a small tidbit of info regarding the fight surfaced. "Although, I do recall one of the Skill-Out referring to himself as a part of 'Big Spider'."
Shirai frowned at the peculiar name. "Big Spider…"
She most likely filed the name for later speculation. "By the way, how were you able to hold off Skill-Out for as long as you did with the help of only one other individual? From what I gathered, the fight wasn't in your favor."
In other words, how did I do well for such a low ranking esper.
My grading on the power scale should be relatively unchanged at the moment. I'll have to omit some details.
After all, if I were to suddenly start improving when all I've done so far is stagnate, too many heads would turn my direction. I'm hoping I'll be ready for such attention once the next system scan comes around.
"It was nothing really. I was just holding them off until Anti-Skill would arrive. The guy I was fighting alongside wasn't too bad himself."
The Judgement girl stared and waited for me to continue. When I didn't, she chose to let it go.
"That's all I have to ask. If you remember anything else, be sure to let either me or Uiharu know." Shirai grasped the door handle and gently pulled it open.
Contrary to the force applied, the door swung open and a certain long haired eavesdropper fell with a thud.
"Ow…" Rubbing her cheek, Saten blinked back the tears as she gazed up from the floor. "Uh- I was just coming to let you know Misaka's done changing?"
With a weak grin, the blue eyed girl shrunk under our combined scrutiny.
With more important things to focus on, Shirai dismissed the obvious falsehood. "Jeez. So Misaka-san is done now. Then we should ready ourselves to leave. Wouldn't want to burden Uiharu any further."
Her expression took on a sinister change. "Especially when she has lots of work to do back at the office."
X X X
Saten gave a wave as Shirai dragged Uiharu off in the distance. The sun was still high in the sky, sometime in the early afternoon.
Misaka held a bag with her wet clothes as she examined the ones she currently wore. The uniform seemed to fit her fine, despite the height difference between herself and Uiharu.
Once the two Judgement girls were out of sight, we were left wondering what to do.
After some deliberation, Saten recommended we explore the nearest mall for something to do.
So there it was. Displaying its name in bold purple letters, Seventh Mist stood there like an oasis in a barren desert. If only because I'd been looking forward to an air conditioned building since we left the restaurant.
"Here we are! Anywhere you two want to go first? I was thinking about checking out some clothes, but this is a group effort." The blue eyed girl spun on her heels to face us, back towards the mall.
I considered the question for a moment, but came to the usual conclusion. "Nowhere in particular. I don't recall ever visiting this place, so I'm fine with whatever."
"Really, you've never been to Seventh Mist? Then you're in for a real treat! Seventh Mist has all kinds of cool stuff to check out." Saten practically beamed at me. I could only nod in agreement, not reciprocating the feeling.
"What about you Misaka-san? Any destinations to want to stop by?"
"Oh, me? I can think of a couple stores. But are you sure about going clothes shopping with, y'know, a boy?"
Despite the question, the Railgun didn't seem worried whatsoever. Chances were, she was checking to see if Saten was fine with the situation.
"There's no need to worry about Minamoto. We've been friends for little over a week, so I know him pretty well."
Her carefree tone was convincing enough for Misaka to drop the topic. After which we made our way inside.
The interior reminded me of the mall I used to frequent on occasion back home. Though, it had been a while ago, so I couldn't help but feel somewhat overwhelmed.
The entrance was predictably large with a high ceiling and numerous shops on all sides. There was an escalator leading to the second floor directly ahead of us.
I didn't notice it before, but the building was massive. The escalator looked to connect all the way up. How many floors was this place?
On second thought, this place is nothing like the mall back home.
Saten quickly walked to the escalator. "Come on! I know a good clothing place on the fourth floor."
I picked up the pace with Misaka before we could lose the energetic girl. Grabbing the blue handrail, I stood one step behind Saten.
Several short rides later and I could see the fourth floor. The immediately visible shops were all clothing based, whether it be stylish shoes or comfortable jackets.
Our designated guide took an abrupt right turn and we found ourselves at a shop called 'Beatrisa'. It held a variety of blouses and the like.
At least it isn't selling undergarments like the place diagonal of us. Seems like something Saten would try to tease me about.
The girls talked about mundane things as they picked out anything that interested them. Fortunately, they hadn't asked for my input. I didn't exactly have a fashion sense.
I caught sight of Saten motioning me to come over. She was hiding something behind her back, which had me wishing it was anyone but me in this position.
"Hey, Minamoto-san," Her lips were twitching, like a dam moments away from bursting with laughter rather than water. "Do you think this would look good on Uiharu?"
She shoved velvet red panties into my face.
This wasn't the first time Saten pulled something like this near me, but it was a first to be the recipient of such immodesty.
Naturally, I was prepared for such an attack and remained steadfast in my lack of reaction.
…
Of course, breaking into a fit of coughs was completely unrelated to what Saten just pulled. I just so happened to swallow some spit down the wrong pipe the moment I was presented with the meaningless piece of fabric.
It didn't stop the scratchy raw sensation crawling up my throat, nor the incessant bark of laughter from the long haired girl.
Clearing my head of any images that I may or may not have had, I turned my attention towards the movement in the corner of my eye.
Misaka approached us with apprehension. I would've let her know everything was fine if I weren't preoccupied.
The next thing out of Saten's mouth didn't help my composure.
"Oh, do you think this would look good on Misaka-san then?"
Eyes widening, the Railgun sputtered at the comment; the lack of context giving her who knows what kind of ideas.
"W-what are you two talking about?! That's- that's so indecent!"
Wiping the tears out of her eyes, Saten raised her hands in mock surrender. "Hey, it was only a little joke. Isn't that right, Minanoto?"
"Yeah, 'joke'." My sarcasm was palpable. But I wasn't mad at Saten or anything. It would be more accurate to say I was upset with my lackluster composure.
What was that?! Of all things to get flustered over, it's being flashed a piece of colorful fabric? What makes this any different than Saten uplifting Uiharu's skirt? I ignored that plenty fine.
Maybe it's because we're in an open space with lots of people. Or maybe it's because I'm not used to hanging around friends this long.
I would just blame hormones, but I can count on one hand the amount of times a girl has embarrassed me.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I forced myself to calm down and let go of my frustration. "You two find what you were looking for? I'm curious about what Misaka wanted to check out."
"That's right! Wouldn't want to spend all our time looking at just clothes. We'll follow your lead, Misaka-san." Saten gave a toothy smile and encouraged Misaka to take initiative.
"Well, there was this place on the second floor…"
X X X
Two escalator rides later and we found ourselves in front of a small area dedicated to crane games.
Why does the idea of Misaka and crane games feel familiar?
"This is where you wanted to go?" I examined the particular game that Misaka was fixated on. It was full of those weird bear plushies that showed up in the anime.
The Railgun twitched. She took slow, stiff steps towards the machine. "It's- well… I thought it'd be fun to mess around a bit. Not like the actual prizes are that interesting."
"Okay, miss 'I am totally not a Gekota fan." I gestured towards the totally not a Gekota fan.
Misaka's mouth hung open, scandalized at my comment. "What?! Killer Bear has nothing to do with Gekota. I won't have you make such mistakes, fake Gekoer!"
Before I could make a witty retort, I felt a tingling in the air. My hair stood on end, as though I were standing next to a giant electric generator.
Somehow, that led to me having the bright idea of trying to read my surroundings through my power, despite never having done such a thing before.
When I did, the area around the Railgun burst with activity. Charged particles zipped around the girl like glitter in a blender, making it difficult to focus on anything.
It was loud. Enough that it made my head buzz. As the energy leaked further from Misaka, I could sense the power brush against my skin. The way it permeated the air around me. The smell of ozone far stronger than it should be.
My vision started to blur and I immediately blocked out the stimuli. Just like that, the overwhelming force of the mildly irritated level five seized to affect me.
My heart was pounding like a hammer against my chest. I focused on regulating my breathing till it was a consistent stream of deep intakes and exhales.
"-ey… Hey!"
I blinked, my vision regaining focus. "Yeah, what is it?"
Misaka's eyes were narrowed and lips curved slightly down. One might even say she looked worried. "What do you mean 'yeah, what is it'? You were clearly having some sort of panic attack. Or was it… that wasn't because I was using my power, was it?!"
The Railgun's face flashed through several expressions, none of which I could properly read. But if her words seemed to imply she feels stressed about the situation.
"No, it wasn't your fault. I tapped into my power and I was caught off guard by what I did. Entirely my fault." Technically that was a lie, but it was close enough to the truth that she couldn't tell.
A relieved sigh escaped the girl's lips. She took a few moments to compose herself. "Okay. Alright. You mentioned your power. I've been wanting to continue our last conversation. You know, the one you rudely put a stop to?"
You've got to be kidding me. She's still on about that?
"My ability is none of your concern. I'm just the average Academy City student. So far, you are the only person to claim otherwise." My terse remark was met with only skepticism.
With lips pursed, the Tokiwadai student went uncharacteristically silent.
I waited for a response, getting more and more anxious as time passed.
When she finally did speak, it was after she seemed to recall something important. "Okay, how about this. You have to answer any one question I ask in full. It's only fair to repay me for what I did after all."
Placing both hands on her waist, she smirked triumphantly.
I owe her, for what? The only time she did anything for me was… Don't tell me I 'owe' her for bringing me to the hospital?
Likely reading the trepidation in my lack of response, the Railgun brought her hand up and pointed at me. "That's right! You owe me for when I graciously offered you some of my parfait."
Her voice echoed in my head, thoughts screeching to a sudden halt. "Huh?"
"And because of that, you have to answer me this." Her piercing gaze met my own. "I want to know all about your power, Minamoto. Or should I say, the rumored 'dual skill'."
V V V
A/N: Took a bit to post this chapter. Don't have any real reasons as to why. Might just blame procrastination.
Hamers: Hope to do my best at taking canon in an interesting direction. In regards to Toaru's light novels, Ken hasn't read a single one of them. Just the anime up until whatever the most recent Railgun episode was at the time. (This doesn't cover his knowledge from the wiki, of course).
The-Killer40513: The timeline sits about a month before the beginning of the Railgun anime.
QuantumTesseractAlpha: Appreciate the long review. Love to hear others' thoughts on my story and Toaru in general. In regards to Ken reaching level 6. No idea. Haven't planned that far, but if I do end up going that route, I do have an idea on how level 6 can be achieved in universe.
Kian Xki: Yes, it is a pretty huge jump to go from heating water to manually controlling the nervous system. Glad that it doesn't break suspension of disbelief too much, but yeah, Ken doesn't exactly have 'common sense' when it comes to what is normal in Toaru. Makes me glad I toned down the jump in power; I had something way more ridiculous in mind before scrapping it.
Levolutioner: Definitely something I've considered. I have some ideas for what Ken's family will be like, but I probably won't flesh anything out until way later.
Server lock: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. The lacking goal is likely influenced by how inactive I am in real life. Pretty sure I'd make a poor protagonist, but I gave the whole SI thing a go anyway. I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to writing, so this is something of a learning experience for me. Ken isn't very proactive, so I write the characters around him to drag him forward. Maybe I'll do an arc on the consequences of that. Might be interesting.
Cobalt Conrad: Very close to being a 'power wank' though. My rough draft of the story had Ken using way more powerful abilities. Cut it out when I realized how boring that'd be to write.
PheonixX09: Glad to know my science explanations make sense. Most of what I've written is stuff that I got either off the Internet or YouTube.