Day 1 - Monday - No Pity

Mikoto put Kamijou back on the parallel bars while she read his file. It wasn't ideal, probably doing nothing for him, but she needed to understand why and how he'd ended up like this. As Mikoto read she glanced up at him. He was grunting, perspiring, and for all the modernity of the room she felt his standard of care was rooted somewhat further back in time. The more she watched him move, the more she read his file, the more she knew something was wrong. Here he was with the latest in Academy City legs and six months later he was useless. It made no sense on so many levels.

Her mind was going through the brief history lesson her prosthetics lecturer had given her. In 1931 the future English fighter ace Captain Douglas Bader lost both his legs. In six months he was flying again for the RAF. He could dance, he could drive, he played golf, and on crude mechanical legs. Twenty two Luftwaffe aircraft shot down with tin legs. Maybe that man was exceptional but the Kamijou Touma she had known wasn't that lacking either. The file gave some clues. His previous physiatrist from the implant company, and her predecessor were medical box tickers of the worst sort. That standard of care was about to change.

She'd been thinking about how to approach this. He knew her, which wasn't ideal from her perspective. He was a patient who came to her with a pre-prepared minefield with regard doctor to patient ethics given her past emotional attachment to him. She was certain the frog faced doctor was aware of this, and to a greater degree than he'd admit to her face.

The approach she would take was obvious but the balance, that was oh so delicate. Mikoto had decided to treat him like any friend; like she'd treat Saten Ruiko. That also meant the goal driven approach she'd used for most problems in her life. Hopefully, that forceful approach would solve this mess as quickly as possible, and at worst she'd pull him along in her wake.

"Kamijou, that's enough of the bars." She took his arm and helped him slowly down onto the floor mat and sat him upright.

"I was happy to keep going Misaka."

"Maybe you were, but there are a few things we need to clear up."

"Like what Misaka?"

"What do you know of doctor patient ethics Kamijou?"

"Enough to know that if you still felt about me like you did in the past you shouldn't be treating me. My mother made it clear to me before we started looking. I began to understand why you called me idiot sometimes."

"It wasn't just sometimes."

"I know, but…"

"Thanks Kamijou." For the first time in more than 10 years she smiled at him. "Understand I'll try and treat you like a good friend. I'm going to be that committed, but that means you have to be too. There's no way I can pretend you're a mere acquaintance."

She began walking over to shelves full of equipment on the nearest wall. It was very average, unlike that show pony foyer, but she could work with it.

"Now your training really starts Kamijou."

Then a voice from behind her, "Really starts?" He was listening but due to the mirrors behind the shelving she could see that response was straight to her backside. Damn it, he was still his father's son. He was about to pay for that.

"Yeah. You know the old exercise mantra no gain without pain."

"I have a feeling that is about to apply to me."

"You're so much more perceptive than you used to be Kamijou, catch." The medicine ball caught him in the chest and flattened him on the floor. Then in quick succession another four landed on and around him.

Mikoto began walking back to him and the lecture began. "You're too weak around the mid-rift Kamijou. That's why you fell over just then. A young man of your age should have caught that. I'm going to fix that. Welcome to my boot camp."

"Too weak around the middle? What do you mean?"

"Kamijou, you had more definition at sixteen. Even if the legs were functioning perfectly, you are too weak to get the best out of them," said Mikoto. 'Your previous doctors should be glad they are not here to talk to me. It's annoying to see it."

"If you are annoyed then my guess is in the old days you'd be going full Biri Biri on them."

"A few million volts in the butt would be the least they deserve, but unfortunately using my ability is pretty much illegal now outside Academy City except in certain circumstances. You should know that."

"I do, but the fourteen year old girl I knew would have been in trouble these days."

"Pretty much. You know I used to discharge because I was overwhelmed by emotion. I was so out of control I could do it accidentally."

"No… You're kidding me."

"Well, I did. That blast near the subway on Christmas Eve all those years ago was one of them. If I did that in Yokohama now, I'd be jailed. It got a lot better when I stopped the special esper drug cocktail they had me on. A few more years, some techniques to de-stress and I can live outside Academy City, even with the new regulations. It constrains me but living in Academy City would be worse, believe me."

She watched that sink in, but this wasn't getting them anywhere.

"Enough reminiscing, now let me set up your legs." Mikoto placed one ball under his knees and began to pile the other medicine balls on his legs. "What I am going to do is push you hard to increase your muscle strength. First sit ups. I'm hoping to start you at around 30 sit ups in two minutes. On day ten I want you up to around 55, and I will test you. In four weeks time you should be aiming for 75. I'll lay out the programme for you. To be the same as a normal person I recommend for you be fitter than them. Got it."

"You are reminding me of my old school PE teacher. There were times I thought that woman was a slave driver in a previous life."

"Yomikawa Aiho?"

"Did you know her?"

"Only by reputation. A friend of mine spent a day doing special classes. I gather she pushed everyone to the limit… That's why I am happy you made the comparison." She laid him back flat on the floor and cupped his hands behind his ears. "Now I am going to count to thirty with a number every two seconds. If your sit ups fall behind, I'll make you start again."

She started the countdown. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Go, 1…2…3…4…5…," and he'd already failed.

"Can we try that again Misaka? I have to do better than that don't I. "She could see the frustration on his face as he said it, but she wouldn't let that last. Any barrier she'd push him through, much as she did with herself.

"Let's try this differently, Kamijou, cross your hands in front of your chest like this." He followed her direction, and she then subtly changed the position of his legs using the medicine balls. He needed a drill sergeant and was about to get one.

"Ready?"

"I'm ready."

The countdown began again, but this time she was screaming straight into his ear every number and smashing her palm onto the ground with every five sit ups. Second time he fell one short at 29. He was breathing more heavily than he should be for a young man his age, but she wasn't about to give up on him this early.

"Third time lucky Kamijou."

"Can't you give me a break Misaka?"

"What was that about pity Kamijou?"

"You really are reminding me of Yomikawa."

"I'll take that as a compliment." She put his arms back in the crossed position and slammed her palm onto the floor again. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…"and this time he made 31 in two minutes.

"I did it. My guts feel like they've been used as a punch bag, but I did it." His body language was changed from only three minutes ago. The hunched shoulders were pushed back, and his back was straighter. That's exactly what she wanted to see.

"I knew you could with a little encouragement."

He turned toward her. "So will sit ups help me get my sixteen year old abs back?"

"It probably won't." She pointed toward the top of his legs. "Sit-ups typically work the muscles around the hips more, and you need that too. I'll give you some other exercises for core strength, but the sit ups are an easy benchmark that you can do on your own. Remember, you only have me guaranteed for two weeks."

"Do you think you can sort this out in two weeks? That seems a bit optimistic to me. I've been like this for six months."

"Not sure, Kamijou, but at least I care more than your previous two doctors."

"What was so wrong with them?"

He was obviously interested, and he needed to know the truth no matter how uncomfortable it would be. She hated criticising others, but in this case they really deserved it. A deep breath and she began. "The physiatrist employed by the leg company gave you a standard program which would have been adequate for somebody who had recently lost their legs. He seems to have come every week for four months and reported non-existent progress every time. Was there a stage payment related to your legs then Kamijou?"

"You're saying that they screwed us over?" She could see by his face she'd got it right.

"Yes Kamijou, I am… Now the other doctor what happened with him?" She recognised that name, and it was somebody she had no time for.

"He followed the same exercise program. He came twice a week for around 6 weeks, and we talked a lot about manga. He suggested a lot of story ideas, but none of them were particularly good. I thought he was a fan."

Nothing he said surprised her. "I had him as a tutor once in med school. I told him once he was an idiot, and he deserved that title far more than you ever did."

"Is that an apology of sorts?" He raised his eyebrow as he said it.

"Only of sorts."

"Then I'll sort of apologise for calling you Biri Biri all the time back then." It was delivered with the same grin as earlier.

"What do you want your next exercise to be Kamijou?" said Mikoto with a voice a couple of tones lower.

"I apologise in full for calling you Biri Biri all those year ago."

She was cursing herself, and him. That was getting too close to being unprofessional. With different facial expression that would have been flirting, and once she did that, she'd be in a danger zone. The words of her ethics lecturer were ringing in her head again. She needed to get this back to business. What should she try next? Time to move onto a core exercise.

She pushed all bar one medicine ball to the side and sat down on the floor opposite Touma. Mikoto picked the yellow ball up started slowly, then more quickly, rotating the ball around her body. It was a spiral motion, behind her back, across her stomach, around her waist again and again. Then she stopped, did five rotations in the opposite direction, and handed the ball to Touma. "Do you think you can do that?"

"Seems simple enough." He started copying her, and he was doing better than she thought he would, but he was relying on that abundant shoulder strength. The axis of his body was moving with the ball more than hers did, rocking slightly side to side, betraying the fundamental weakness she needed to treat.

"Keep doing that and don't be distracted by what I do Kamijou."

"What are you going to do that could distract me?" Mikoto didn't look at him as she placed herself on the mat by his knees.

"I want to learn more about your legs Kamijou." She started looking around his feet. Where was it? They typically hid the make and serial number around the ankle with these units. Then she found it, model number 1.3b, serial number 6457, make 'Sugoi Ashi'. The 'Great Leg' company, typical engineers.

Without looking at him she issued her next instruction. "Change direction Kamijou and keep going." She needed the small notebook PC in her bag. It was time to research Sugoi Ashi, and she found the website reasonably quickly, then started scrolling through it.

"You can stop now. I'll keep researching the legs as I eat. Can you tell me where you put your lunch Kamijou?"

" Over there please Misaka." He pointed to a plastic lunch box up against the wall a few metres away, and within a few seconds she was back with it.

"Thanks…From what I can see you still don't cook? That's a convenience store special you've got there. I can even take a guess how much it cost you." She could see he was looking at the bento box from near the station.

"Actually, I can cook, but I didn't go shopping last night. I'm in a band with a couple of girls from medical school and we had an online band practice. We've never performed live, we often share the lead vocals, and I'm glad I longer play violin. Keyboards and guitar are enough, believe me."

"That's a shame you were really good at playing the violin. I still remember the open day at Tokiwadai and your playing. It made me try it a few years ago at a workshop. Kamijou Touma quickly figured out he'd never be as good as Misaka Mikoto at violin."

It was sweet he seemed to regret her giving up, but she didn't. "Kamijou, my heart always lay with the 6 strings of a Gibson Le Paul, and such an 'unladylike' instrument wasn't in Tokiwadai' s curriculum. You would not believe how controlling that school was… Anyway, we need to eat, and I need to research your legs more."

While they ate lunch in the room, she started digging deeper into the leg manufacturer's website. There was good and bad. She managed to download the manual, the options list, and the control software for Kamijou. That was the good news. The bad news. Like a lot of these small high-tech companies in Academy City they had gone bust. The microprocessor in the legs ran extremely hot and thermal fatigue meant some units had failed in as little as a year. The warranty claims had sunk the small company when a rash of failures had appeared. They were likely to have a spare parts problem in the near future, but like her phone, she believed she could sort that one out with Uiharu Kazari when the time came. They had a few months at least.

Unfortunately, the bento box was very average, too much water to cook the rice for a start, but Mikoto had the fuel she needed for the afternoon. Kamijou's lunch was an austerity special which spoke volumes of how little money he had, and she could see that from five metres away. He'd finished his lunch long before her.

"What did you find out about the legs? You've been fixated on that computer screen for the last half hour." He was curious. That was what she wanted to continue to see from him. It would be easier if she were treating somebody who really wanted to get better.

"The good news is I think I can improve your exercise program."

"How can you do that?"

"There is software we can manipulate your legs with, which increases the range of exercises you can do. You'll be able to control it with your phone. It will make it easier for me to adjust them as well." Again, the little tech company had excelled themselves.

"That was an extra cost option Misaka."

"Yes, but I can hack the code and give you those options for free."

"Misaka-san, that's stealing. That's not cans of drink from a vending machine that swallowed your money." That change in formality, that change of tone, and the reference to something she wished he didn't remember. Mikoto didn't like it when he obviously disapproved of her.

"Kamijou, I can't steal off a company that's been wound up. They no longer exist, so there is nobody to steal off."

A moment of thought on his part then the obvious question. "Sorry I accused you … but is the firm going bankrupt a problem Misaka?"

He seemed concerned, but there was nothing she had seen yet she couldn't work around.

"Nothing I think you need to worry about at the moment Kamijou."

He smiled, and it was him who broke the ice about their lives over the past few years. "What was it like living in Sapporo, and why there? It must have been a world away from your life in Academy City."

"My Dad's parents live in Sapporo, so I was living with my grandparents. After Academy City it was incredibly quiet, and to be honest I came to appreciate that. My life became that of a normal teenage girl to a certain extent. It was also incredibly cold and really beautiful up in Hokkaido. The skirts got longer, but the shorts remained until I started wearing trousers at medical university there. As I told you, I've only been back in Yokohama a couple of months. It's spring here but it feels like summer to me…What about you?"

"Initially I was bumped from medical rehabilitation facility to medical rehabilitation facility around Kanagawa Prefecture. Eventually, after the initial treatment was over, I ended up living with my parents but that proved to be a disaster."

"What do you mean a disaster?" That didn't sound good to Mikoto, not only the words but how he had said it.

"My parents' relationship was always fragile. My mother and father always had heated arguments. Between me living there, the money getting tight in his job as the bonuses were reduced … it fell apart in front of me. I've been in Oiso the six months since the legs were fitted. It's quiet but the people are pretty nice around here."

"It is a shame about your parents," said Mikoto. "I hope you don't blame yourself for it. That's the kind of thing I used to stupidly do."

"I don't, it wasn't great before I lived with them, and his travelling probably delayed the inevitable if we're honest. I see my mother once a week at least, you'll see her tomorrow, so it is best I tell you about her and Dad now. I'm lucky if I see Dad every few months, but that's always been the case."

"Shall we get back to it Kamijou?"

"We probably should Misaka."

Over the next hour and a half she alternated exercises with extracting data. Every time they both stopped a little bit more of the last ten years was shared but never for more than a couple of minutes. Mikoto eventually managed to get the software uploaded to her PC, and his phone. The final step was hacking past the security so she could enable the preloaded software options and slowly get down to the real work.

The first exercise she taught him was a clam shell exercise with his legs. To this, Mikoto added five other exercises he could do with his legs as they were. She'd worked out how to freeze his legs with the software and this opened up more options. That allowed her to add a plank, and the classic superman stretch to help with core strength.

She could add a few more exercises tomorrow but that would take a bit of programming. That would give him a regime of 15 exercises he could rotate, and she'd built up a schedule in her head where he alternated them. Everything was going better than she'd hoped.

Mikoto's last task of the day was watching him work through each of the exercises she'd set him with no help from her. She was pleased with this too. He was throwing himself at it with enthusiasm, and he worked his way through with only one mistake. A minor correction to his technique on one exercise but that was it. It made her even more annoyed in a way because he was a really good patient. He followed instruction, he asked questions when he wasn't sure, and he tried his hardest. She'd pushed him earlier, but thankfully she didn't really need to do that.

A glance at her watch and it was clear she needed to wind things up. There was a train to catch, and she was in danger of missing it. "Kamijou, that's all for today. Tonight, don't do anything, and give your body a rest. I don't want you to over exercise given we are at the beginning."

"Doctor's orders?"

"Yes Kamijou, this doctor's orders," said Mikoto. "Goodbye Kamijou, … and I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow Misaka." She was looking back over her shoulder as he said it. Mikoto was already making her way to the door. She had three hours of paediatric clinics that day and had to be on the next train.

No time to lose and she walked as fast as she could, which was as fast as many people run. It was out via the same tiled corridor, through the impersonal corporate foyer, followed by the bus back to the station and then just making the train she needed to be on. An unwinding of the journey Mikoto had made less than four hours ago.

On the train Mikoto pulled out her PC and not 'War of the Worlds'. She started working on the balance of the exercises. Mikoto hoped to have them programmed ready for tomorrow by the time she got to Yokohama. She'd be disappointed in herself if she didn't

That was not the only work she needed to do. Mikoto had the workshop manual for the legs and twenty other design documents she had hacked from the Sugoi Ashi website, along with the surgeon's file for Touma's leg installation operation. It would take a couple of days to go through all this in her spare time. The exercises were an important omission but there must be something else that was wrong hiding in all this data, and she was determined to find it.