Saten didn't quite know what to do. After Kuroko processed what exactly Misaka just told them, she started crying uncontrollably, talking about all her plans falling apart. After the crying died down a bit, Saten managed to ask why exactly Mikoto left Tokiwadai. Misaka didn't want to tell the whole story, but it apparently revolved around the topic on how to deal with the fallout of the sisters becoming known to the world. She said that for the first time she would stay in a hotel room and then probably switch to a public school. As the curriculum of Tokiwadai is way more advanced than that of the standard schools, her missing a few months of the school year won't even matter, according to her. She would apparently even be able to go straight to high school, if she so wishes.
After Kuroko calmed down a bit more, and Mikoto talked her out of leaving the school together with her for the third time, Tokiwadai's ex-Ace stood up and walked to the wending machine which stood a few meters away from the benches.
"I will get us something to drink, and then we should continue walking."
Mikoto disappeared from their sight behind the vending machine. Saten heard her feeding multiple coins into machine and hearing the press of some buttons. After a little while, three thumps were heard.
(Wait, why only three, does she not want one?)
Mikoto came around and handed everyone of the three a hot chocolate. After this was done, she vanished again behind the corner of the vending machine.
(Oh, so she just forgot hers. It is so kind of her to think of us first.)
The though of Mikoto being a kind classy ojou-sama was quickly shattered, when Saten heard her scream 'CHASER' while seeing the machine shook by a what sounded like a kick to its side. As if it tried to appease the angry girl, it dispersed a random drink.
"Iced tea. Meh, at least I can try to warm it up with microwaves to make it a bit more fitting for the weather."
Saten suddenly noticed the faint sound of footsteps which stopped closely to where Mikoto should be standing. The girl in question apparently only noticed it right now too.
"Eeep"
The sound of a lightning strike, followed by the sound of breaking glass could be heard. Saten wondered if Mikoto lost control of her powers and fired a lightning bolt somewhere random.
The voice of a boy which sounded oddly familiar could be heard speaking up.
"Oi, don't go all Biri-Biri on me, it is nice to see you doing fine, too."
"Y-You IDIOT, don't just sneak up on me. And WHY are your bandages in different places than when I have last seen you? How often can a single person get beaten up in so few days. You must have already set some kind of record."
"Well, you know, just my rotten luck. This time it was even a supposed ally of mine that did this."
Saten could hear a sigh. Maybe it were even two sights, which merged into one.
"So, Misaka, how are you doing, with your sisters out in the..."
The voice suddenly stopped speaking as a small thud was heard. The three girls sitting on the other side of the vending machine couldn't contain their curiosity any longer and got up and peaked around. There, they saw Mikoto standing next to a spiky haired boy who was rubbing his head. As he saw the three girls, his facial expression suddenly changed. He muttered something inaudible to Mikoto but then raised his voice.
"Oh, Misaka-san, did I see it correctly in the news yesterday that there are clones of you. Wow wow wow, now that must be the craziest thing I heard in my life. You really have to tell me more about what happened later, okay? Wow wow wow, clones of you, I wonder if they all want to zap me too… ."
His rambling turned into something inaudible. But the only thing Saten could think of was the fact that the boy was the worst actor she had ever seen. Even a kid denying that it had eaten some of the chocolate cake while its mouth was still dirtied would be more convincing than him.
(Misaka-san never confirmed that it was the seventh ranked who helped her fight against Accelerator. Maybe it was this guy, and that's the reason why she is so infatuated with him.)
But to confirm or deny her suspicion, she needed more information. Therefore she walked around the corner of the vending machine properly and looked straight at Touma.
"Hey Kamijou-san, I think I haven't really seen you since the folk dance. How is it going? Oh, and I also never really asked you what your esper power is."
As Saten was a Level 0 herself, she didn't really mind asking people about their powers, as she never did so expecting to feel superior anyways. At least until now.
"Oh yeah that's true, Saten-san, wasn't it? And I don't really have an esper power. I don't even have the slightest hint of an AIM field. Therefore I am actually ranked as the weakest esper of Academy City. I am just a normal high school boy."
Mikoto got quite irritated by the comment of the boy standing next to her.
(Just a normal high school boy my ass. He fights against a literal god, wins, and then fights against the whole world to save said god. And he wins that time too. But I can't say anything right now. I know why Saten asked that questions. She is suspecting that he was the one who helped me save my sisters.)
Thinking about that, Mikoto managed to calm herself down, at least somewhat.
Saten was saddened a bit by that answer, as him having no ability meant that he couldn't have one that would work against Accelerator.
(Having a low level esper defeat the first ranked would have been so cool. Everyone would have seen that the level is not everything that defines a person.)
Behind her, she heard Uiharu and Kuroko approach.
"So I was always correct about you being a worthless ape, but you being the weakest esper of academy city even underwhelmed my expectations. Maybe onee-sama spends so much time with you as she pities your existence."
Saten could see the anger rise in Mikoto and covered Kuroko's mouth with her hands, which brought her back under control.
Right at that moment, a sound similar to a frog and a normal ringtone could be heard. Mikoto and Touma spoke the same sentence at the same time:
"Weird, I though I had it on mute."
They looked at each other, took out their phones, and read the message they just received. They both glanced over at the screen of the other, gave a small nod of confirmation, and put their phones away again. While the scene happened, Saten saw something which piqued her interest.
"Oh, so both of you have the same phone strap. How did that come to be?"
Touma answered in the most nonchalant tone she could imagine.
"Oh, Misaka-san forced me into a couples contract with her which gave these straps as a reward. As she only really needed one, she gave the other one too me. I might not like that frog as much as her, but it reminds me of a fun time we had, so I learned to treasure it."
(A couples contract. Between these two. Are they maybe already a couple and I have just been blind? Time for some teasing to find out.)
"Ooooh, a couples contract, that makes sense. I mean, you seem very cute together, so I can see it."
Kuroko's face changed into a shocked expression, but Uiharu noticed the change quickly and covered her eyes and mouth with her hands.
"S-Saten-san, don't suggest something like that in front of Misaka, or she will just go all Biri-Biri again. It was all her obsession for that frog guy which gave her the strength to even pretend to like me that way."
Saten saw sparks appearing around Mikoto's bangs, and guessed it was because the boy was just too oblivious to her feelings. That Mikoto herself was a tsundere didn't help either to convey these feelings in a proper way.
"See, she's already charging up an attack."
Right as he said that, a lightning bolt flew by, right above his head.
"W-Wait Misaka-san, I tried to defend your honor, why are you attacking me now."
"FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELF, YOU IDIOT."
"Such misfortune!"
With that, the spiky haired boy ran off, leaving the three other girls perplexed what they just witnessed. Even though it felt like kicking an armed nuclear bomb, Saten just had to ask a question.
"I thought you like him, why do you act like that then?"
"A-as i-i-if I would ever l-like such an idiot."
Suddenly, the group heard voices from the distance.
"A social media post alerted us about lightning coming from this area."
"Apparently she frequents this park quite often."
"Now we finally got her. I hope my bosses will give me a nice fat bonus for providing them with the first interview with the third ranked."
Hearing the commotion, the group knew that they had to do something. Mikoto reacted the fastest and started speaking almost immidiately.
"I don't want to pull yourself into my media trouble. I will lead them away, and you try to..."
"Onee-sama, let us at least help you with this."
After Touma had run away, Uiharu had let go of Kuroko again. She was now in the process of putting on her judgment armband, with Uiharu doing the same.
"Yes Misaka-san, we will stop them and question them why they are causing such a commotion. You should run away in the opposite direction. Please hurry. And please keep us in the loop what is happening to you. We are friends after all."
Mikoto began to smile from ear to ear.
"Thank you guys, you really are the best. I hope that I can see you soon."
With that, she left in a sprint. Saten walked back towards the bench, sat down and sipped her now slightly less hot chocolate. Meanwhile Kuroko and Uiharu were stopping a large group of people from advancing.
(Sometimes, Misaka-san, it seems like you live a double life and that we only know one half of you. But that Kamijou boy seems to know you on a deeper level. What exactly are you two doing that we have no idea of? Is he maybe a genius scientist that helps you as your sidekick? Well, only one way to find out: As a good friend of yours, it is my duty to do a bit of stalking.)
After putting some distance between him and the angry bug zapper, Touma slowed down his run into a leisurely stroll, not wanting to place too much stress on his battered body.
(Man, I can't figure Biri-Biri out at all. Sometimes she acts friendly, sometimes she just seems to have a way too short fuse. Well, I mean, sometimes I tease her on purpose as I kind of like her reaction. It makes me see the normal person in her, and not the girl with the destructive power of a whole army.)
Touma knew that she didn't really want to hurt him. He suspected that she secretly aimed for his hand anyways. And this time, her lightning was even directed to fly above his head from the start, so that he didn't have to explain 'Imagine Breaker' to the other girls.
(But I can't blame her for being on edge today. Now the whole world knows about her sisters, and it is even kind of my fault. If I would have had the courage to ask for her help, nothing like this would have happened. She could have handled the Five Overs herself, so at most a video of her heroically defending American lives would have been all that happened. Even though she is the third ranked, I think she deserves way more credit for what she does for Academy City and the world.)
Scenes of him and her together came to his mind:
How she saved him from his guilt in Denmark.
How she helped him fight against the high priest.
How she saved him from the elements and the heatwave.
How she endured a curse just to help to bring a stop to the chaos in the city.
And how she did just so much in the whole disaster that was the fight against the demon Coronzon.
And when they were finally able to spend a nice day together, it got ruined first by director Neoka. And then the whole Anna Sprengel thing happened, which nearly cost her her life.
And that list was by no way exhaustive, she really did a lot for him.
Touma let out a sigh.
"Man, she does so much for me. Of course, sometimes I save her too. But the amount of saving we do for each other seems waaaay out of proportion. I don't even know why she still wants anything to do with me, as she always has to deal with my misfortune."
He frowned thinking what she had to be going through right now.
(She probably just told her friends about the sisters. I hope that they forgive her for keeping such a secret from them, but she only wanted to protect them and the sisters. She really has to care about a lot of people.)
He continued walking, deep in thought, yet not really thinking about anything. After almost reaching his dorm, he remembered the message Mikoto and him received.
(A message from Accelerator, to go to a building on a mountain in district 21. Isn't he supposed to be in house arrest now?)
"Argh, what did Mikoto and me get roped into now?"
Right at that exclamation, he reached his dorm. He went up the stairs towards his room. As he was about to open the door, he heard a low growling, and remembered that he had no more food in his dorm room. Not wanting to face a hungry Index without any food to appease her, he turned around right away and headed towards the nearest shop.
Heading in a different direction, Mikoto began walking towards the hotel in which she had a room booked. She was still just starting to think about what the actions of the last few hours meant for her future life.
Would her parents take her out of Academy City?
Would Academy City even continue to exist with the crime of human cloning uncovered?
Or would everything work out somehow, and she could just continue with a normal school life in a few months. Maybe she could even transfer to that Idiot's school. From what she heard, his school life was way more relaxed than hers, even though his life out of school was anything but.
(Even though he might never return my feelings, I just want to be close to him. Even our friendly banter and bickering brightens my days, so having that every day at school sounds nice. A-and maybe he will start liking me too, if we are able to spend some peaceful time together.)
Mikoto thought back about the fun they had with their unique Christmas celebration.
(It kind of even felt like a date, even though the nun the Idiot always hangs out with was there too.)
She suddenly remembered one specific scene that happened in the back rooms of the bar, which caused her to turn beet red.
(He kind of even complimented me instead of pretending that he didn't see anything. That has to mean something, doesn't it? A-And I have gotten better with controlling myself around him too. Instead of causing a blackout, I just punched him.)
Calming thoughts like that turned Mikoto's face from bright red to only having a slight blush. Her train of thought renewed her hope for them getting together maybe sometime in the future. And while she couldn't exactly make that idiot less dense, she could at least try to get more comfortable being herself around him, so that she might work up the courage to confess one day.
She reached her hotel room and was happy to see that there were no guests in the lobby. As Academy City was mostly consisting of students, not many adults came into the city for Christmas, meaning that the hotel was almost empty. She entered her room and saw the suitcase she packed quickly. It held some clothes and most of her most precious belongings, which mostly consisted of rare Gekota merchandise. She could not risk the moving company to lose it while transporting the rest of her stuff to a storage facility. Having just a few pieces of clothing made it at least easier to chose what she should wear later that night, when going to district 21.
(I wonder what Accelerator wants to force onto us this time? Maybe he wants me to face justice for the deaths of my sisters and wants Touma to be a witness? But why would that happen in district 21? At least me and that idiot got the exact same message, so it seems that this time I am not just an outsider, forcing myself into his life, but an equal screwed over participant.)
With that, she laid down on her bed and closed her eyes. No matter what would happen later, having a bit of rest beforehand would not hurt. And it would also make it easier to ignore the constant barrage of messages she received.
After returning home from his shopping trip, he saw Index already collapsed onto her bed in a near comatose state. Othinus was being chased around by Sphinx, so everything seemed as usual. Therefore, he immediately started to cook up a large meal. The sound of him setting down the plates finally woke up Index, who darted to the table, filling up her plate and vacuuming in the food. Touma quickly put some food on Othinu's and his plate before everything would be gone. In between her chewing, Index spoke out.
"By the way Touma, I found this letter when we returned."
With that, she gave him a letter that was crumpled up badly.
"I might have crushed it a bit when I noticed that we had almost no food in the house. The emergency snacks you hid didn't even help against my hunger for 10 minutes."
But Touma didn't really comprehend what Index was saying anymore. Ever since the video call with his teacher Komoe-sensei got interrupted, he kind of expected one of these to arrive soon anyways. He tore open the envelop and found out that it contained exactly the kind of message he expected. It informed him of having missed too many classes and that his school does not expect him to be able to advance to the next grade. He was being freed of going to class until the end of the school year.
(Such misfortune. But why does it arrive now, a few days before New Years. Did a member of the faculty actually return to their office just to send me this letter? Someone has to hate me with a passion.)
He sighed, leaned back and just caught the last glimpse of the rest of his food disappearing into Index's mouth. It seemed that it would be a long day.
Around 8 P.M., Touma checked how to get to the address specified in the message. He noticed that the bus service would stop at ten in the evening, which meant, as he was supposed to be there at quarter past ten, that he would have to walk back. The possibility of Accelerator maybe having a driver there to drive him and Misaka back was the last glimmer of hope he held onto. He turned to Index wo was sitting on the bed, watching television.
"I will be going out tonight. I think that I should have left enough food for you here, so just watch TV. It could be a bit late when I come back, so don't wait up on me."
"Where will we be going, human?"
Othinus crawled out of the cardboard box she uses to hid from Sphinx.
"WE won't be going anywhere. Accelerator asked me to come to an address this evening. ALONE."
The alone part wasn't necessarily the truth, but he knew that Index's binge eating would be slowed down a bit with Othinus watching her. And he definitely didn't want to bring Index in case they really had to walk back. After a short while, it would end in him having to carry her all the way back home.
"Well, good luck with that. Do you really think you can just leave a god like myself behind? I know hiding places in your clothes that you don't even know exist."
Touma knew that she would react that way, which is why he planned ahead.
"Oh, but I can just use my own mightiest warrior to hold you back, you tiny goddess."
Saying that, he picked up a box of Sphinx's treats and shook it. This immediately got the attention of the calico cat. With a swift motion, he took out a few treats and threw them onto the cardboard box Othinus was peeking out of. The cat got the hint and pounced, first looking for its treats, but then spotting a far more worthy meal.
Othinus leaped out of the way of a paw which was trying to grab her and started running through the room, closely followed by the fierce predator.
"HUUUUUMAN!"
"With me only carrying you around, I think you can use the exercise. Index, try to stop Sphinx before she eats her for real. See you guys later. But don't worry if I don't return this night. You can send the search parties if I haven't returned by tomorrow morning."
He then left his dorm, heading to the nearest bus stop, where he arrived after a short walk. He was surprised seeing Misaka there, as there was a stop way closer to her Tokiwadai dorm. Having learned from his previous mistake, he now made himself noticed by rising his hand and waving a bit. She seemed to noticed that, as she gave a small nod in his direction, while he closed the distance between them.
When he got closer, he noticed that she did not wear her normal school uniform, but a pair of jeans, a hoodie and a long coat.
(She should have curfew quite soon, so she probably doesn't want to be seen breaking it.)
"Hi Misaka, why are you getting on here? Could you just not wait to see me?"
(AAARGH, why does he always have to tease me like that. But I told myself to try to behave a bit better in front of him, so why don't I start right now?)
"W-well, a-a-actually, I was looking forward to s-see you again. Our meeting earlier today didn't go quite as I would have liked, so I wanted to apologize."
"Ah, no problem, I can understand that you are a bit on edge with everything that happened."
Mikoto nodded, and continued.
"But that is not the whole reason why I got on here. I'm actually not going to Tokiwadai anymore, so right now I am just staying in a hotel. And because I had nothing to do I walked to the bus stop you would use."
Touma looked a bit shocked at that sudden reveal.
"Huh, you left Tokiwadai. Why did that happen? Did they freak out about your sisters, thinking that they did all your school work while you relaxed. If that is the case I can vouch for you, as I have seen how freakishly smart you are when you helped me with my homework."
While Mikoto blushed from the unexpected praise, Touma frowned.
"Man, I really screwed your life over this time. My damn misfortune, even rubbing off onto others, and it seems like it hits you especially often."
He looked into her eyes.
"I wonder, why do you still hang out with me? I am nothing but trouble for you, the last days have cemented that thought in my head."
Mikoto got closer to Touma, not quite sure what to do. In the last moment a decision between a hug and a punch had to be made, she decided to punch him on the shoulder.
"You idiot, do I really need a reason to help a good f-friend of me? With your memory loss and all, you barely knew me when you saved mine and my sisters lives. Did you ever regret that? I don't think so."
She looked with determination back into his eye.
"And remember, we are heading down the same path. And as I know that you would never think that helping a person in need is a bad thing, you can know that I feel the same way. Me not going to school is a price I would pay to save you from breaking a leg. To save your life, I would gladly give up everything I have, and I would smile doing it."
Touma's face seemed to turn a slight shade of red.
"W-wow Misaka, you really are a kind person, even though your frequent zaps towards me could make a casual onlooker think otherwise."
Mikoto turned redder by a few shades, but tried to power through the embarrassing heart to heart talk by continuing the explanation why she left Tokiwadai.
"W-well, to get back to me leaving Tokiwadai, it has something to do with my sisters. Kind of. They wanted me to make a statement calling for the them to be locked away, to, as they called it, 'not have me insulted by their existence'."
She spoke the last part with clear disgust in her voice.
Touma already had a clear image in his head what must have happened next.
"Oh, so let me guess? They now have a bit better airflow as some stray coins punched through some walls? I would not expect any less of you. You are a caring onee-sama towards the sisters, after all."
(Wait, he sees me as a caring onee-sama. Wasn't that at least a part of his preferred type of girlfriend? Maybe my chances are better than expected.)
"N-no, I didn't railgun the school. That could have gotten Anti-Skill involved, and I really didn't want that. I 'might' have launched a few fancy metal pens into the fancy wooden tiling of the headmistresse's office though."
Mikoto started looking down towards the ground.
"I want to be honest with you, but you have to promise me to not get sad or blame yourself in any way for what I will tell you next, okay?"
She could see Touma shift his weight around on his legs as she waited for a response from him.
"Okay, I will try to."
Mikoto looked back up towards him.
"Well, I am kind of glad that the sisters have gotten revealed, as it made masking my real reason for leaving Tokiwadai way easier. I don't really think they would expel me or make my life way harder because of the sisters. They might have not liked it, but I think me and the school could have worked something out which would have been fair to the sisters and would have saved Tokiwadai's face."
"So there is another reason you wanted to leave?"
Touma looked like he was using all of his brainpower to come up for the true reason. Mikoto wanted to honor him, being interest herself what he would come up with. After a short time, Touma started to speak.
"Are you pregnant by chance?"
A fist flew straight towards his right shoulder, this time with considerably more force.
"YOU IDIOT, why is that the thing you found the most reasonable? When should I even have GOTTEN pregnant, with all the time I have to spend chasing after you?"
"As you told me that I should not get sad, I thought that I was the father and that it might have happened during that incident at our Christmas celebration. It is all still kind of hazy in my mind. I just remember you sitting on me and seeing lots of exposed skin. I don't know how we got into that position. All I can remember is walking into the bathroom and ..."
Another punch landed on his shoulder, stopping his explanation.
"W-what do you think I w-w-would do to you? A-as if I would ever do that to an unconscious, or even a conscious person. A-and especially not to you I-Idiot."
Mikoto saw Touma smirk a bit, even though it seemed like he tried to hide it.
"Wait, are you just trying to mess with me again? ARGH."
She punched him again, albeit this time a bit lighter.
"Ow, why do you keep punching me. What happened to the zapping?"
"You got too used to it. And as I learned in Denmark, I have to use my fists to get something into that thick skull of yours. The lightning is now just reserved for our usual banter."
"Ok, ok, I get it, and I am sorry. I just tried to lighten the mood a bit. But can you tell me the real reason why you left your school now?"
Mikoto took a deep breath to calm herself.
"Ok, so the real reason has to do with the fight against Anna Sprengel me and Shokuhou got into while we tried to save you. It seemed like Anna REALLY didn't like me for some reason, while she was just intrigued by Shokuhou. And as I felt like I had kind of a target painted onto me, I didn't want to continue staying in the dorms. So many innocent people could get hurt or killed if I get attacked while being there, and I can't have that on my conscience."
Mikoto looked at Toumas expression, and she could tell that he had to try to hide a pained look from his face.
"I promised to not get sad, but you are really making it hard for me."
He suddenly closed the distance between them and pulled her into a hug. Mikoto stiffened a bit, but relaxed after feeling his warmth in contrast to the cold December air and just enjoyed it.
(WAAAAAAAAH, why is it feeling so nice. How am I supposed to not just faint right now?)
"Do I even deserve having you as a friend? As you said that I won't feel sad, I will try to not apologize for, so I just want to say this: Thank you for doing so much for me."
While saying that, he ruffled her hair a bit, hugged her a bit tighter for a moment before letting go.
(I think I should just die now. Then I at least won't have to process what just happened.)
Luckily, before any awkwardness caused by Mikoto's reaction to the sudden affection could arise, the bus arrived.