Hello, everyone! Mikoto has finally told her friends about what really happened during the Daihasei Festival. Now, she's about to have another date with Touma.
Clearwing Yuta: Thanks! I don't think Touma will be mad at Shokuhou when she sees her, just because he won't remember who she is.
GG Vegito: I'm glad you enjoyed the read, even if you weren't a big fan of what happened in the chapter.
Guest10032: Yeah, the Railgang are learning more and more about all the trouble their friend gets into. Touma probably won't remember those details after the conversation ends, though apparently he can remember smells, since Shokuhou's ability doesn't work on smell perception. Angels are definitely often destructive in this series. I think Mikoto's friends will learn about magic at some point, since Mikoto does want to be more open with them about her life, though it might still take a while. Yeah, there's a bit more time before Hawaii. I'm still not completely sure what I'll have the couple do during the Ichihanaran arc, but the scene where Touma thinks the real Mikoto is a disguised Thor will probably be a bit different.
tython055: I'm glad you enjoyed Mikoto telling her friends about what actually happened. When she and Touma start interacting more with Shokuhou, Mikoto will probably start getting rather suspicious about why Touma keeps forgetting about Shokuhou, though the latter will probably not want to reveal anything to Mikoto. Mikoto will probably want to help her, at least once she's sure that Shokuhou won't pose a threat to her relationship to Touma. Touma probably won't punch her, simply because he won't remember what she did to Mikoto and her friends.
MarauderPrime12: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Blankow: Yeah, Touma is going to act a bit strangely whenever they talk about Shokuhou. Mikoto's friends are indeed getting used to more and more weird things happening, and they may learn about magic sometime in the future.
fencer29: It is indeed becoming a more common occurrence. That would've been funny, though I don't think Touma would have a memory problem with Gunha's name. If Touma ever does remember that person again, some thanks may indeed be in order, as well as perhaps some scolding.
DarkMatter69: Shokuhou will appear soon, like she does in NT.
Stryper88: I'm glad you enjoyed their reactions, including Touma's. I don't think Mikoto did anything wrong either, but the situation just ended up getting much worse before it got better. The Astral Buddy arc is already over, so I won't be covering it. Shokuhou will start appearing later, after the Hawaii arc. There is a bit more slice-of-life stuff before Hawaii, and I do plan on having plenty of those kinds of chapters or even arcs in the gaps between the canon arcs, though they won't be 10 chapters long like in the beginning. By the way, I'm happy to consider suggestions for slice-of-life arcs in NT, since I have some plans but not enough to cover all the gaps. And you won't have to wait much longer for that call.
xellos540: Yeah, Mikoto has figured out how to mollify Index. Saten learning that almost all of her urban legends are true would definitely be a fun scene to write! Yeah, the Radiosonde Castle appeared after the Fremea rescue and during Birdway's magic lecture, but before the Hawaii arc. Kuroko is indeed warming up to Touma a bit. Mikoto's friends will probably learn about magic at some point, especially since the dragons are already weird enough. I think he has to touch their heads because their brains are affected. Shokuhou would be able to find out if she reads their minds, so they'll have to avoid acting suspicious around her or drawing her attention. Well, I think it has to be a copy of her brain, since that's the brain that has the Mental Out ability. When Kuroko lost her memories of Mikoto, she fell for Mikoto all over again, except she denied it when Saten and Uiharu teased her about it, and when Mikoto was being nice to her. Yeah, with what Mikoto revealed, it's not too surprising that Touma got a little mad. There's definitely an interesting parallel between Magic Side and Science Side gods and angels. Indeed, Mikoto will probably continue being more open with her friends.
Bigboy101: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed both of them putting their faith and trust in each other. That's definitely going to be a major theme going forward. I really do hope that KaMikoto ends up becoming canon, though I'm not totally sure if it'll happen. It definitely has the most development out of any ship, starting all the way from the first light novel and continuing on to GT.
During the afternoon, a couple of days later, Touma stepped out onto his balcony. Mikoto would be coming later that evening, and he'd gotten Index to agree to go to Komoe's place for dinner so he could have some alone time with his girlfriend. But with Index still currently present, he made sure to give himself from privacy, since he was about to call his mother.
Touma pulled out his phone and quickly dialed his mom's phone number. After a few rings, she answered, "Hello, Touma-san!"
Touma replied, "Hey, mom! How are you?" It still felt a bit awkward to talk to his parents, since he'd lost almost all his memories of them, but he did want to keep in touch with them to reestablish a connection.
Shiina was also happy to talk to her son again, and answered, "I'm doing well! So, I guess you made it through the war all right. Touya-san and I were very worried about you!" She knew that Academy City itself had been mostly safe from attack, but she'd still been concerned about her son.
The boy evasively replied, "Yeah, not much happened in Academy City itself, and I made it through just fine." Of course, he didn't mention his adventure in Russia during the war or his resulting near-death. He then continued, "How about you and dad?"
Shiina smiled, relieved that her son had apparently remained safe. She answered, "We're safe and sound too. Fortunately, the Russians didn't attack our part of Tokyo either." She then changed the subject, "Anyway, I heard that you're dating that cute girl we met at the Daihasei Festival, Mikoto-chan?"
Touma blushed a little at the mention of his girlfriend. He nervously scratched his head and replied, "Yeah, I am. I was about to tell you, but it seems you already found out?"
His mom revealed, "That's right, I heard it from her mother, Misuzu-san. So, how did you two get together? She told me it happened a few weeks ago, after the festival." Shiina recalled with amusement how Mikoto had denied being her son's girlfriend then they'd all had lunch together.
The boy thought back to that fateful day when their relationship had started, fondly replying, "Yeah, so Mikoto and I had been friends for a few months, and a few weeks ago, she suddenly confessed to me and asked me out. I had no idea she liked me, but I felt really happy hearing her say that. I've usually enjoyed hanging out with her, and she's a really special person to me, so I said yes, and we've been dating ever since then."
Shiina beamed at his adoring description of Mikoto. She gently teased, "That's great! Though it's funny that you didn't realize she liked you, it was pretty obvious during the festival." In fact, she and Touya had thought they'd make a cute couple from the first time seeing them together.
Touma chucked as he thought back on how dense he'd been, "Yeah, looking back, I really missed a lot of signs. She would blush and get flustered around me all the time, and I didn't really think anything of it."
His mother laughed as well, "Well, at least you know now. So, how is your relationship going? Is she treating you well?"
Touma smiled as he thought about his girlfriend and the amazing time he'd spent with her so far, "It's really amazing! She's really sweet and always willing to help me out! She takes really good care of me, and she's one of the best parts of my life! I love her so much, and I don't know what I'd do without her!"
Shiina was very surprised, but also very pleased, to hear that his feelings for Mikoto were so fervent. She told her son, "That's wonderful! I'm so proud of you, you have a cute girlfriend and quite a few friends! You're doing so well in Academy City!" It was a sharp contrast to his childhood, when he'd been shunned by his peers and even by adults, and Shiina was glad that she and Touya had decided to send their son to Academy City.
The boy silently winced, knowing that his time in Academy City wasn't as peaceful as she probably thought. Nevertheless, he replied, "Yeah, I guess I am." He still suffered from a lot of misfortune, but Mikoto was now a bright spot in his life.
The woman then said in an ominous tone, "That's good. Oh, Touma-san, there's something I wanted to talk to you about, something very important."
Touma nervously gulped. He had no idea what his mom could be talking about, and he felt like he was in trouble. He asked, "What is it, mom?"
Shiina then began, "You know how your father has an unfortunate habit of gawking at other women, right?"
Although Touma didn't really remember many direct examples of his father behaving that way, he didn't think she was lying, so he replied, "Yeah?"
She then continued, "Well, each time he does it, I scold him, and he stops for a while, but it isn't long before he starts doing it all over again. It's pretty hard work dealing with it all the time."
Touma suddenly recalled her scolding his father at lunch during the Daihasei Festival. He hadn't noticed it then, but his father had probably been staring at another woman. But he wondered, "I see, but what does that have to do with me?"
Shiina then said in a menacing tone, "That's a good question. Now, I'm not saying you're like your father in that way, but I certainly hope that you don't end up forcing sweet little Mikoto-chan to keep you in line like I have to for him." Misuzu had mentioned to her that Mikoto felt a little insecure about all the attractive girls around Touma, so she wanted to make sure that he wouldn't stray from his girlfriend.
The boy's eyes widened, and while he was scared by her tone, he quickly exclaimed, "No, of course not! I would never do something like that to her!" He did still sometimes glance at other girls, but much less than when he'd still been single, since he didn't want to be disrespectful to Mikoto.
Shiina grinned and returned to a cheerful tone, "I'm glad to hear that! I think the two of you are a really good match, so you better hold onto her, okay?"
Touma nodded, "Yes, I'll definitely hold onto her. Anyway, I have to go now, since she's actually coming over for dinner soon. I'll talk to you later, mom."
Shiina replied, "All right, Touma-san, you two have fun! Bye!"
The boy exclaimed, "Bye, mom!" He hung up the phone, and let out a sigh, still a bit unsettled by his mother's admonition. Touma felt he'd already been heeding it pretty well, so he decided not to think about it for now and instead get ready for his girlfriend's visit.
A couple of hours later, Touma was waiting for his girlfriend to arrive. Index had just left for Komoe's apartment, so he was really looking forward to seeing Mikoto, especially since she'd promised to cook something for him. He wondered what dish she would make, but he was sure that it would be delicious.
There was soon a knock on the door, and Touma let Mikoto into his dorm room, exclaiming, "Hey, Mikoto!" The girl was carrying her school bag in one hand and some shopping bags in the other. He gently held onto her shoulders and kissed her. The two of them closed their eyes and enjoyed their kiss for a few seconds.
Once they separated, Mikoto gazed at him with a soft smile as he caressed her shoulders with his thumbs. She raised the shopping bags and said, "Hey, Touma! I bought some ingredients!"
Touma let go of her shoulders and replied, "Thanks again, though you didn't need to do that." He'd gone grocery shopping the previous day, so his fridge and cupboards were well-stocked. However, his girlfriend had insisted on buying the ingredients herself.
Mikoto went into the kitchen and placed the bags of ingredients on the counter. She then came back out and walked past the boy, announcing, "I'm going to use the bathroom." Touma didn't think anything of it, and allowed her to pass.
Once the girl was in the bathroom, she prepared to carry out her plan. She opened up her school bag and pulled out a certain plastic-wrapped outfit. It was the Neko Maid costume that Tsuchimikado had given her a few weeks ago. Because of the events of World War 3, she hadn't had the chance to show it off to her boyfriend yet, but today was finally the day.
Mikoto changed out of her Tokiwadai uniform, storing it in her school bag, and then changed into the maid outfit. She had tried it on once at home, while Kuroko was out, so Mikoto already knew that it fit pretty well on her. But even though this wasn't her first time wearing it, she still blushed furiously as she looked at herself in the mirror. Fiddling with the cat ear headband, Mikoto muttered to herself, "This is really embarrassing, so that idiot better like it!" The girl wasn't completely sure if she'd be able to mentally survive Touma seeing her like this, but it was too late to turn back. After adjusting the outfit a bit, she took a deep breath to gather her courage, and finally stepped out of the bathroom.
Touma had been waiting for her to finish, and looked up when she returned into the hallway. His jaw dropped as he took in the amazing sight in front of him. A very bashful Mikoto was now wearing a pink and white maid outfit, and she also had a cat ear headband in her hair and a black cat tail on the back of her dress. The boy took some time to regain his ability to speak, and he stammered, "M-Mikoto, what's this?"
The girl's entire face reddened, and she looked down and fidgeted with her hands in front of her, stammering, "Y-your friend Tsuchimikado gave this outfit to me and said y-you'd like it. Wh-what do you think?"
The boy thought to himself, "Tsuchimikado, you glorious bastard!" He walked towards the girl and wrapped his arms tightly around her. He buried his face in her soft hair and exclaimed, "You look soooo cute, Biri-Biri!"
Mikoto was a bit thrown back by his sudden hug, but she wrapped her arms around his back and stammered, "I-I guess you do like it, then." She was glad that he didn't find it weird.
Touma pulled back a bit, still keeping his arms on her waist, and replied, "Of course, you make an absolutely adorable Nekoto!" He then brought up one hand to pet the cat ears on her head, exclaiming, "Wow, these almost feel real! They're so soft and fluffy!"
The girl smiled and said, "I know, right? This outfit is surprisingly well-made. I've worn a maid outfit before for an event at Tokiwadai, but this one has about the same quality as the one I wore back then."
Touma chuckled, "Yeah, Tsuchimikado is very experienced in acquiring these sorts of outfits."
Mikoto bit her lip as she debated something she was thinking about doing. She decided to just go for it, so she leaned forward to whisper in his ear, "Anyway, Touma, are you ready to play with me?" She remembered his quip about wanting to play with her when they'd been talking about Aogami's Indian Poker dream, and she wanted to try to fluster her boyfriend.
Touma blushed furiously as he felt her warm breath in his ear and heard her seductive words. Unable to fully control himself anymore, he grabbed onto the girl's shoulders and pushed her against the wall. Mikoto's eyes widened, but before she could say anything, he smashed his lips against hers and began kissing her again.
Mikoto was startled, but it didn't take her long to kiss him back. She brought up both of her hands and buried her fingers in his hair, pulling his head in even closer. Suddenly, she felt the boy's tongue pressing against her lips, causing her to briefly open her eyes. However, she quickly closed them again, and allowed his tongue to enter her mouth. Her tongue began wrestling with his, and they continued kissing like that for quite a while. She hadn't expected him to react so strongly, but she was actually enjoying him being a little rough with her.
The two of them then pulled apart, both breathing heavily. Touma had really enjoyed the kiss, and when he looked down at her panting face, he quickly got the urge to do it again. As he started to lean in again, Mikoto suddenly stopped him by pressing her finger against his lips, causing him to react, "What?"
Mikoto was still a little breathless, but she said, "H-hold on! I'm enjoying this too, but I still have to make us dinner!" She didn't want the two of them to get too heated too early.
Touma pulled back a bit and nervously rubbed his head, "Yeah, I guess you have a point. But you're quite the tease, riling me up like that and now making me wait for more!" He was mostly joking, though he was slightly frustrated at having to wait.
The girl didn't take his comment lying down. Feeling unusually emboldened, she smirked and whispered in his ear, "Don't worry, after we finish eating dinner, you can play with me as much as you want!" Leaving the boy flustered and frozen, she then walked away from him into the living room, set her school bag on the table, and then entered the kitchen.
Touma couldn't help but stare at her with an open jaw as she left him behind. As her words sunk in, his face became completely red, and he nervously gulped. He decided to go sit down in the living room, since being a bit further away from his girlfriend would hopefully allow him to calm down a little.
Meanwhile, Mikoto turned her back to him in the kitchen and also blushed furiously as it fully dawned on her what she'd just done. Covering her face with her hands, she thought, "I can't believe I actually said that to him! That was so embarrassing!"
After a few moments, she took a deep breath to calm herself down and decided to just begin cooking dinner. She'd decided to make omurice, since it was a pretty simple dish. She'd practiced making it a few times in one of the kitchens at Tokiwadai, so she was confident about doing it once again.
Mikoto pulled out all the ingredients from the shopping bags, including chicken, vegetables, rice, and eggs. She started by preparing the fried rice. She cut up the chicken and placed it in a pan on the stove. While the chicken was cooking, she cut the vegetables into smaller pieces and added them into the pan as well. After seasoning with salt and pepper, she added in the rice and soy sauce, and mixed everything together in the pan. It took a few minutes for it all to get cooked properly, but she soon had enough fried rice for the two of them.
Meanwhile, Touma was contently watching her from his spot in the living room. Having his girlfriend cook a meal for him was amazing enough, but she was even going to serve the food in that cute Neko Maid outfit. The boy thought to himself, "She's really working hard in there, isn't she?" He resolved to fully show his appreciation to her later.
Mikoto was then about to make the omelettes, but suddenly, a cleaning robot with a small girl on top entered the dorm room through the open balcony door. It was Tsuchimikado Maika, who exclaimed, "I smelled something cooking in here!"
Touma quickly stood up and tried to block her advance, shouting, "Hey, what are you doing here, Maika?"
The robot rolled past the boy into the kitchen, and Maika's eyes widened as she saw the girl in the kitchen. Pointing at Mikoto, she exclaimed, "Misaka-san, where did you get those clothes? That's definitely not a standard maid outfit!"
Mikoto stepped back a bit, having been startled by Maika's sudden appearance. She questioned, "Tsuchimikado Maika?" She looked down at her clothes and answered, "Your stepbrother gave me this outfit." She was a little embarrassed to have someone else see her wearing those clothes, but Maika had seen her in a maid outfit before, and was a maid herself, so Mikoto figured it wasn't too bad.
Maika gave Mikoto a teasing grin as she realized, "Oh, I see, that explains it! You're dating Kamijou-san now, so that Neko Maid outfit is all for his benefit, right?" She knew that her stepbrother was a huge pervert, and he had many different kinds of maid outfits that he'd tried to make her wear.
Mikoto blushed and stammered, "Y-yeah, so what if it is? Do you have some kind of problem with that?"
The other girl shook her head, "Not at all. I apologize for interrupting your dinner date. I'll leave you two alone now." Maika then rolled out of Touma's dorm room.
Touma sat back down and said, "Sorry about that, she's over at her stepbrother's place a lot, and barges in occasionally when I'm cooking something."
Mikoto waved it off, "It's fine, no big deal." She returned to her cooking, picking up some eggs to make the omelettes. Taking out another pan, she broke a couple of eggs into it, making sure to cover the entire bottom. While the omelette was cooking, she added the fried rice to the center, and then carefully flipped both sides of the omelette to cover the rice. It wasn't a perfect cover, but she'd practiced enough that it was still pretty good, and she flipped the finished omurice into a place. Mikoto then repeated this process, placing the second omurice onto another plate.
The girl walked into the living room and set the two plates down on the table. With a bottle of ketchup, she drew an image of Gekota on her own omurice and a heart on her boyfriend's.
As Mikoto sat down right next to him, Touma chuckled and commented on her cute drawings, "Of course you would draw a Gekota on yours!" He then reached over and ruffled her hair, continuing in an adoring tone, "But thank you for making this for me, Nekoto, and thank you for the heart!"
Mikoto's cheeks reddened as he called her by that nickname, and she replied, "Y-you're welcome, Touma! I hope you like the food." Looking down at the plates, she thought that the omurices looked a bit imperfect, but hoped that it wouldn't be a big deal.
Touma smiled at her, "I'm sure I will, I saw how hard you worked making these." The two of them then grabbed their forks and began eating.
Since Mikoto had made omurice multiple times already, she was used to the taste, though she did think it tasted good. However, she nervously glanced at her boyfriend, waiting for his reaction.
Meanwhile, Touma carefully cut off a portion of the omurice and placed it into his mouth, chewing it slowly to savor the taste. After swallowing, he turned to his girlfriend and exclaimed, "This is really good! You did a great job!" The fried rice tasted a bit different from his own cooking, but in a good way, and the omelette was warm and soft.
The girl let out a sigh of relief and then smiled at him, "Thanks, Touma! You have no idea how many times I practiced making omurice at Tokiwadai!"
The boy raised an eyebrow and replied, "Oh, so you used the communal kitchens at Tokiwadai, right?"
Mikoto nodded, "Yeah, it was nice to make some meals for myself. They didn't look or taste that great in the beginning, but after some more tries, I got much better at it. Kuroko was confused why I was suddenly making omurice so often until I explained it to her." She had been a little surprised that her best friend hadn't made much of a fuss over her cooking for Touma, but it seemed that Kuroko had fully accepted their relationship.
As Touma continued eating, he said, "That's good, you'll keep getting better the more you practice. You could also try making other meals, so you have more choices when you want to cook for yourself."
The girl chuckled and replied, "Yeah, that's a good idea. I might as well keep learning how to cook so I'll be ready for when I don't get free meals provided to me anymore." Plus, she'd be able to cook for Touma more often.
Touma agreed, "It is a really important skill to have." He then gave her a grin and nudged her shoulder, continuing, "And I'd really love to eat your cooking more often, Biri-Biri."
Mikoto shyly looked down and blushed, "Yeah, and I'd love to cook for you again, Touma."
The boy softly smiled at her and said, "I'll look forward to it!"
The two of them continued eating for a little longer, and soon finished off their plates. Mikoto picked them up and returned to the kitchen. She quickly washed the dishes and placed them into the sink, before returning to the living room.
Meanwhile, Touma followed her with his eyes all along, until she returned to his side. Mikoto then sat down sideways on his lap, leaning her head against his shoulder, and the boy wrapped an arm around her waist. He used his other hand to pet her hair and her cat ears, asking with a smirk, "So, can I play with you now, Nekoto?"
Mikoto nuzzled closer into him due to his ministrations, but her cheeks reddened as she recalled those embarrassing words of hers. Nevertheless, she didn't want to go back on her word, so she nodded against his cheek and softly replied, "Y-yeah, you can do whatever you want with me. I'm all yours."
The boy's cheeks reddened, pretty flustered by her words. After a pause, he gave her a loving smile and kissed her forehead, saying, "All right, Nekoto, let's cuddle a bit for now."
Mikoto replied, "All right." A part of her felt a little disappointed, wanting him to immediately make a bigger move on her like earlier. But she figured there was plenty of time for things to develop in that direction.
Touma then grabbed onto her cat tail and began wiggling and rubbing it. Looking at the attached object near the end of the tail, he teased, "I see you even put a Gekota on here too!"
Mikoto retorted, "For your information, this Gekota was actually attached to the tail when I got this outfit!" Of course, she had no reason to remove it, and she actually thought it was really cute.
The boy chuckled, "That just means that Tsuchimikado knew you would like it. But it does suit you really well!" He continued shaking her tail and said, "It's too bad the tail doesn't move by itself."
Mikoto thought for a bit and mused, "Hmm, yeah, if there were some metal in the tail, I would be able to make it move with my magnetism, though not if you're holding it with your right hand like you are now."
Touma shrugged, "Oh well, that outfit's still really great as it is!" He let go of the tail and brought his hand up to play with her cat ears again. As he gazed at her, he continued, "Hey, this is sort of a silly request, but could you say nyaa for me?"
Mikoto's cheeks reddened upon hearing that request, but she replied, "O-okay, I guess I should've expected that." She lifted her head and brought her mouth right next to the boy's ear, softly uttering, "Nyaa, nyaa, nyaa!" This sent tingles down the boy's spine, but the girl wasn't finished. Feeling a little bold, she began gently biting and nibbling on his ear, kind of like an actual cat would.
Touma blushed furiously due to her unexpected assault on his ear. As she continued licking and sucking on it, he instinctively pulled her in tighter, holding onto her waist and the back of her head, and stuttering, "M-Mikoto?" Because of his girlfriend's actions, he was beginning to get a little excited, and he closed his eyes, enjoying the pleasurable sensations.
The girl eventually let go of his ear and leaned her head on shoulder. After catching her breath, she smirked, pleased at the obvious effect that she'd had on her boyfriend. She teasingly replied, "What? You're not usually this flustered, Touma. I just did what you asked me to do!"
The boy ran his fingers through the back of her hair, trying with only partial success to calm himself down. He retorted, "You did a bit more than what I asked, Biri-Biri. Of course I'm going to get flustered when you devour my ear like that! I didn't even know you were capable of being this bold!"
Mikoto laughed and couldn't help but goad him a bit, "Well, it's something I've been trying to work on lately. But what about you? You were also pretty bold earlier, slamming me against the wall and making out with me like that. Don't tell me that a little ear nibbling is enough to subdue you!"
Touma then fired back, "Careful, if you keep mocking me like that, I might just make out with you again!" He was surprised that Mikoto was being this confident and flirty, but he was enjoying this banter with her.
Mikoto grabbed onto the boy's shoulders and brought her face right up to his, so that their noses were touching and their lips were only a centimeter apart. As his eyes were drawn to her lips, she smirked and replied, "Go ahead! I'm ready for you!"
Touma, not needing any further urging, smashed his lips into hers and immediately stuck his tongue into her mouth. Holding the girl's head against himself, Touma felt her tongue fight back against his. He continued making out with her, trying to release some of his pent-up excitement.
Meanwhile, Mikoto closed her eyes and tightened her grip on the boy's shoulders, pushing back a little against his lips. As her boyfriend started combing his fingers through her hair, Mikoto involuntarily let out a moan. Hearing this, Touma deepened their kiss even more, and let out a moan himself.
Their kiss lasted for a bit longer before they finally pulled apart. When they did so, there was a trail of saliva running between their tongues. They breathed heavily for a few seconds, before Mikoto finally said, "All right, I guess you win this one. You were even more aggressive than before!" She was pleased with the results of her teasing, and hoped she could be more assertive in the future, especially if it kept having such good results.
Touma chuckled, "Well, that's what you get for challenging me like that!" He hadn't expected Mikoto to be so forward with him, but he was liking this new side of her. Bringing his hand down from her hair to her hip, he started stroking the girl's legs, from the bottom of her dress, across her bare thighs, and down to her soft black socks, which covered her legs from above her knees. While he did this, he smirked at her and said, "Besides, what did you expect? We're alone together in my room at night, you're sitting in my lap in that cute outfit, and you keep egging me on!"
The girl blushed and squirmed a little in his lap as she felt his hand gently rub her legs, but she soon relaxed and enjoyed his caresses. She smiled back and retorted, "Yeah, you have a good point."
Touma ran his fingers over the girl's long socks for a bit longer, enjoying the soft feeling. He then began moving his hand back up her thigh. As he played with the bottom of her dress, he noticed that she had a layer of clothing underneath, and said, "You're still wearing shorts under here, aren't you?"
Mikoto was a bit startled by his question, but replied, "O-of course, I was still wearing them under my uniform skirt, and th-there wasn't any reason to take them off." She now wondered if it would've been better to remove them and perhaps let him explore further up her dress, but she wasn't sure she was quite ready to go that far yet.
Touma chuckled, "Yeah, you have a point there." He'd been entertaining thoughts of asking to feel under her dress, but perhaps it was best that they not go too far that night. Instead, he rested his hand on her knees and kissed the top of her head.
Now that they were back to cuddling, Mikoto was able to relax. She glanced at her school bag on the table, deciding that it was a good time to reveal the other surprise that she'd prepared. She reached into it and pulled out a brown paper bag. She handed it to the boy, saying, "Here, I have something else for you, Touma."
Leaving one hand wrapped around her waist, he took the bag with his other hand. He tried to open it and look inside, but it was hard to do with one hand while holding the bag in the air. Thus, he placed it down in Mikoto's lap, which finally allowed him to open the bag and see what was inside, "Cookies?"
The girl nodded, "Yeah, since I didn't give them to you last time, I decided to make some again to make up for it." Just like the last time, she'd used Saten's kitchen to prevent rumors from spreading at Tokiwadai.
Touma smiled at her and replied, "Thanks, Biri-Biri!" He was actually really touched that she'd decided to finally give him some homemade cookies.
She pulled out a cookie from the bag on her lap and held it in front of her boyfriend's mouth, saying, "Here you go."
Touma eagerly ate the cookie out of her hand, and as he did so, Mikoto rubbed his head with her other hand. One he finished the cookie, he rubbed her knees and grinned, exclaiming, "That was delicious! It tastes much better than those store-bought cookies!" Plus, back then, Index had eaten most of those cookies, but now he'd be able to enjoy more of these cookies.
Mikoto beamed, "That's great! And thank you again for everything you've done for me, Touma!"
The boy then took a cookie out of the bag and held it up to her face, saying, "You're very welcome, after all, you've helped me out a lot too! Here, you should also have some."
The girl gently grabbed onto his hand with both of her hands and ate the cookie out of it. Once she finished, there were still some crumbs on his fingers, so Mikoto cleaned them up by licking and sucking on his fingers.
Touma blushed at her actions, especially when she began gently nibbling on his fingers. He started petting her head with his other hand again, saying, "You're really acting like a playful kitten tonight, aren't you, Mikoneko?"
After finishing the crumbs, Mikoto snuggled herself even closer to Touma and started caressing his hand with her thumbs, replying, "Well, I figured I should play the part a little." Touma enjoyed the hand massage, and when she finished, the two of them continued eating the rest of the cookies.
The boy thought ahead to their upcoming trip, musing, "So, we're flying for Hawaii tomorrow night, huh?"
Mikoto nodded, "Yeah, and because of the time difference, we'll be arriving in Honolulu during the day on the same date. We'll have to sleep on the plane so we're well-rested for the fight." Of course, she knew from first-hand experience the dangers of fighting while exhausted.
Touma chuckled and replied, "Well, I'm used to sleeping in a bathtub, so sleeping on a plane can't be much worse. But it sort of sucks that we have to deal with another incident. I guess it's just my usual misfortune"
Trying to reassure him, Mikoto grinned and replied, "It's fine, we'll go win the fight quickly, and then we'll enjoy a nice vacation in Hawaii."
The boy smiled back, "I hope you're right, but my misfortune will probably throw some complications in that plan. Oh well, I guess there's nothing we can do but wait and see."
The two of them then continued cuddling together and cautiously looked forward to their upcoming trip. They knew that it would probably be a hard fight, but they were confident they'd get through it all right.