Thank you for reading the story so far. I will try to post a new chapter at least once a week, maybe more often if I find the time.
lovecrazyhedgehog and Stryper88 and Guest (Jul 20): The headmistress is a different person than the dorm manager. While we have information about the dorm manager, I can't really recall learning anything about the headmistress except the identity of her grandson. And as Mikoto was afraid of repercussions towards her if she would just reject him, I take it that she isn't THAT nice towards the students. So I just went with that and constructed her into a person that is concerned about the prestige of her school and herself the most.
Blankow: Thanks for the kind words. Saten in detective mode can be scary, if all her urban legend hunting is an indicator she might snoop a bit more in the future. And yes, I plan on having Mikoto get SOME kind of powerup, as I think her living with the person who knows everything before a magic god and the one who knows everything afterwards gives quite the nice setup I think. And to be fair, the enemies in the series just seem to get stronger, even though there was a literal god before. But she could at least be reasoned with (albeit over a very long time).
Aminadab Brulle: Yeah, but to be fair, not much is said about the headmistress in the entire series, so it is understandable to mix them up.
calvinhobbesliker: Thank you for the reviews. Yeah, the plan to be downgraded can be interesting, but maybe it was too short sighted by Mikoto to ask that, as a lot of people of AC would know that it doesn't work like that. Hopefully it doesn't come back in the future to haunt her. And yes, unless she can create an AAA without backlash I don't think she would build one. Except if Touma was in danger, in which case I think she would gladly risk her life to save him.
Stryper88: Nice that you like the chapters too, and thank you for the compliments.
LordChorizoCosmico: Yeah, I like Kamikoto too, and as the pairing indicates I plan on developing it in that direction. And while the beginning might be very Kamikoto heavy, as a lot of new interactions are happening between them, I will try to place more focus on other parts like fights in the future, as I like the mix the Light Novels provide between happiness, fighting, sadness and everything in between. So I want to write how I imagine the light novels would continue in my head with them as a couple, which might introduce more conflict, but also gives them opportunities to help each other. But I also want them to still be able to go on 'solo' (for example Mikoto and the railgang without Touma) adventures, as these two characters also work out quite nicely on their own.
GG Vegito: Nice that you liked it. Interactions can be hard to write, especially if you want to keep people in character, so I am glad that you think that I did fine.
Hauhentai70: Nice that you love it, if you want to give your opinion, you can just write it as a review or write me a PM.
Touma was awoken at 5 A.M. by his cell phone alarm. He got up, feeling surprisingly refreshed, even though he slept only for around 5 hours.
(A bed really is better than a bathtub.)
While he got ready, he thought back about the developments of the last night. The house seemed nice, and now that Tsuchimikado didn't live in his dorm anymore, there was really nothing that he would miss that he could think of. And even if he was now officially responsible for defending Academy City from Magic, it is not like he didn't do that before.
(I hope that Mikoto is actually okay with all of this happening. But nowadays, she is so entangled in the magic side that it might be impossible to get her out of it again. So the best course of action would be to properly explain all that stuff to her.)
He made his bed, while thinking how nice it is to not have to put away a futon every morning. After leaving the bedroom, he knocked on Mikoto's door and, after not hearing a clear response for a few seconds, cracked the door open, while trying his best to not looking inside. He could hear some movement from inside, so he suspected that her alarm did wake her up, but that she just continued dozing. He thought for a short moment how to wake her without entering the room, but as he was still not fully awake, he just reused an idea from yesterday.
"Are you awake, or do you want me to start your personal training today?"
He could hear her yawning, which was suddenly replaced by a small shriek.
"What do, EEEP, y-yes, I am awake. C-could you start with the breakfast, I will be there shortly."
"Okay, just don't fall asleep again."
"O-okay, I won't".
Hearing that, he made his way downstairs.
(I wonder if Mikoto will get used to my teasing if I overdo it. With her living close by, I really have to ration it to not make her immune. It is too precious to just use it up in a few days.)
Once he got to the kitchen, he looked into the fridge to see what he already brought up yesterday from the basement. After taking inventory in his head, he headed down further to get the rest of the he needed. When he returned, he saw Mikoto standing in the kitchen, dressed in the same clothes as yesterday. She still had a sleepy look on her face, which Touma found quite intriguing, as he never saw that side of her before.
"Good morning, T-i-idiot."
(Huh, what was that? Did she think of another insulting name for me, but decided in the last moment to go with the 'old reliable'?)
"Good morning Misaka, how did you sleep?"
"I slept fine, even though it was a bit short. And you?"
"It seems like a bed really is better than a bathtub, so I feel surprisingly awake. Sit down on the couch, I can do the preparation on my own. I want you to be as awake as you can be when you drive us back to district 7."
Mikoto yawned, and just silently nodded, while making her way to the couch. Touma began to cook, but had to try hard to not make the portions of the same size as the ones Index would eat.
(Not having to worry about food for once feels really refreshing. And as it is confirmed now that I will get held back, I don't even have to think about school stuff for the next time. Things are really looking up for me.)
Right as he said that, Mikoto's phone made a notification sound. She rubbed her eyes and looked at it for a while, and then turned towards Touma.
"A representative of the school board just send me the school stuff I am supposed to teach you. Accelerator apparently has high expectations of you, so it seems like he wants you to get through it at a higher speed than if you would learn it in school. But with one on one lessons and subjects like art and music dropped, I think that you will do fine."
(Such misfortune. I should have learned by now that I can't expect too much good luck.)
After he finished the cooking, he set up the plates and him and Mikoto ate in silence. After having finished, he was about to get up to put the dishes into the dishwasher and clean the pots and pans he used.
"Wait, let me do that. You made such a nice breakfast for me, while I was sitting half asleep on the couch. I feel way more awake now, so I can do that for you."
After having said that, Mikoto stood up, stacked up all plates and bowls and put them into the dishwasher. Touma also got up, and walked to the couch where he sat down, looking out of a large window that was facing the street. It was still dark outside, which was a strange thing for Touma, who was so used to all the city lights being around him all the time.
(Huh, it can be quite relaxing seeing the world only in the moonlight. And it is nice that Misaka does the dishes. I don't think Index ever did that. Thinking of it, even if this house is bigger, I wonder if I have to spend less time doing household chores. We have a cleaning robot for the lower floor, and a dishwasher. And with me and Index living in a separate room, I don't have to clean after her as much. Maybe I actually will find some free time in this new situation.)
Touma was brought out by his musings by hearing Mikoto's voice. He saw that she was done cleaning up and that the dishwasher was running.
"Should we get going now? I want to be in the city before too many people wake up."
"Yeah, I have to get home soon, too. I told Index and Othinus that I might be gone until the morning, but I don't want to needlessly worry them. By the way, how are we supposed to get our stuff up here? I don't think that I could carry everything onto the bus and then drag it up this mountain."
Mikoto seemed to think for a moment.
"That shouldn't be a problem. I have to move my stuff here too, so I propose the following: You drive with me to my hotel and pick up my suitcase and bring it to your dorm, as I can't transport it on the motorcycle. I will then drive to your dorm and order a moving company to get my stuff out of storage, pack it into a truck and meet us at there. We will just have your stuff boxed up until then, have them load it, and just deliver it here."
"That sounds like an elaborate plan you have there, so I am sure with me in the mix there will be some unforeseen misfortune messing everything up, but I can't find an obvious oversight on your part, so lets just try it and improvise when it fails."
Mikoto raised an eyebrow.
"When, not if?"
Touma just nodded while shrugging. He got up and walked towards the foyer, with Mikoto following him.
"Say Misaka, how did you learn to drive a motorcycle anyways? I only ever saw you flying around the AAA before, until you suddenly caught up to us with it being a motorcycle?"
"Well I just tried, and it kind of worked. At first it was a bit wobbly, but as I didn't have to worry about shifting gears or anything, I could just focus on steering it. Luckily this bike is electric so that I don't need to shift on this one either. I think that you could also drive it without a problem, after a few minutes of practice. At least as long as you don't encounter any traffic."
"No no, it is fine with me that you drive. With my misfortune, I can guarantee you that a black cat would jump in front of it every 50 meters, forcing me to dodge. And this dodging would lead me to crash through the store window of a shop for underwear, ending with me disturbing 10 women while they change."
"That is a weirdly elaborate fear you have there? To me, it sounds more like you wish for something like this to happen. Do you like to walk in on naked women, you idiot? Was the incident on Christmas planned by you?"
Touma got startled by the sudden accusation and shook his hands in front of him, trying to seem shocked by that accusation.
"No no, I actually thought to myself that I had to make sure to not came close to the changing room to NOT see you!"
Mikoto started sparking.
"SO AM I THAT DISGUSTING TO LOOK AT?"
Touma shook his head ferociously.
(Why does she think that? Didn't I even compliment her by accident back then?)
"No, you see, I was just scared about you reaction, and I think my fear was justified, wasn't it?"
The sparking suddenly stopped. She answered quietly.
"Oh, …, okay, that's at least something. But you could have at least knocked, you know."
"And you could have locked the door. Let's just say that we both are at fault, okay?"
Touma hoped that this would defuse the situation. And it actually seemed to work, as Mikoto just let out a big sigh and started walking to a shelf which held some helmets. She looked at them for a bit, had a look at Toumas head, and picked two. She then walked back to him.
"Here, try on this one. Make sure that it is not too tight, but it should also not move around too much on your head."
Touma tried to put on the helmet but noticed immediately that it would be too tight. He looked over at Mikoto who already closed the strap holding the helmet in place look at him through the visor. She suddenly abruptly moved her to the left. All that led to, was her eyes suddenly being replaced by hair. After a small delay, the helmet seemed to have noticed that something happened and tried to follow the movement, albeit very sluggishly.
"Ok, I think this one is too lose. What about yours?"
"Mine seems too small."
Mikoto just nodded, took of her helmet and handed it to Touma, who in turn handed over the one he tried on previously. This time, both helmets seemed to fit nicely.
(This one smells nice.)
"Okay Misaka, I am set to go, are you too?"
"Yep, just let me open the door."
Mikoto closed her eyes for a moment, having a look of concentration on her face. A few moments later, she opened them again, with a hint of anger being visible on her face.
"These paranoid assholes. I can't even feel the motor that moves the garage door. Were they expecting to piss me off personally, or why did they have all these precautions against Electromasters."
She pointed towards one part of the wall in which the door was situated.
"Can you please pull that handle over there. That should open it."
He did as instructed, and the door did in fact opened. Behind him, he heard Mikoto speak, more to herself than to him.
"I really have to redesign some aspects of this house. Having to move to flick a switch makes me feel like a caveman."
Touma couldn't resist smirking, even though his helmet hid it well. With faked shock and sadness in his voice, he began to speak.
"So you think that I am a caveman. Not only am I plagued by misfortune, but now I am getting insulted by a walking Biri-Biri remote. At least with you living with us, we never have to worry about losing the TV remote, as we can just ask you."
Mikoto, not expecting to have been heard, took a moment to process what she heard.
"Did you just call me a walking remote? DO YOU WANT TO DIE?"
(Oh shit, I overdid it.)
Out of reflex, Touma jumped towards the motorcycle and grabbed onto the handlebars.
"N-no shocking now, we don't want it to get broken, right?"
(It seems my honor has sunken so low that I am taking hostages now.)
Mikoto took some deep breaths and seemed to be able to calm down a bit.
"Pff, fine, its not like I can punish you for everything you do wrong anyways. There are not enough hours in a day."
Wanting to give Mikoto a bit more space to forget her anger, he started to push the bike out.
Inside, Mikoto reflected a bit on her behavior.
(I should calm down. What he said might have been a bit rude, but me just stating the usefulness of my powers in front of him wasn't the nicest thing to do either. His right hand is really only good for saving people, it has no utility value in it. Mhh, to be fair, maybe his dragons can do more for him.)
Mikoto now pictured a parallel world where Touma uses his dragons as casual as she uses her powers. She just shuddered at the though. Even though they saved her during her Level 6 shift, they still seemed not totally tame. So Touma trying to convince one of them to open a door for him or flick a light switch would probably end in a disaster. In Mikoto's mind, a scene in which Touma scolded a gigantic dragon coming out of his arm, the same way a boy would scold a dog for eating his homework, appeared, which finally brought a smile on her face.
She followed Touma out, flicking the garage door switch when she passed it. The door began to close behind her with a short delay.
"Okay Idiot, lets get going!"
Touma saw Mikoto get onto the bike so he did the same and sat on the small seat behind her. As he couldn't see any places to hold on to, he wrapped his hands around her waist. It suddenly felt to him like she tensed up a bit, but then she shook her head a few times and relaxed again. She turned the key and started driving down the driveway and onto the mountain road. After only a short while, he started feeling cold, as the jacket he wore was not appropriate attire to be worn on a motorcycle in winter. He was worried about Mikoto who got hit by most of the wind. After a while he felt her starting to shiver. She stopped at the side of the road and turned her head towards him, as he was already starting to take off his jacket.
"What are you doing, you idiot? D-d-does being n-n-n-near me make you s-so hot?"
(Is she trying to tease me the way I normally tease her? What kind of development is she going through?)
Touma found it a bit adorable that she got embarrassed by showing just the tiniest bit of confidence when in other situations she proudly stated her high status as the third ranked Level 5.
(I wonder how she would react around a boy she likes more than a friend? Would she be even more of a stuttering mess, or would she be confident, as that boy probably wouldn't annoy her as much as me. Mhh… .)
Remembering that he still had to answer her, he snapped out of his thoughts.
"Oh, I felt you starting to shiver, so I wanted to give you my jacket."
Touma was able to see a hint of a red blush appearing around Mikoto's eyes, but attributed it to the cold December air.
"Y-your jacket? I a-appreciate the gesture, but just let go of me with your right hand and we will be fine."
Touma thought back to the heatwave and how Mikoto counteracted the microwaves heating up his body. Right as he thought that, a warm and gentle breeze brushed over his body. The motorcycle started driving again, but the feeling of sitting outside on a gentle spring day, basking in the sunlight, didn't go away.
The drive went on without any big problems. Mikoto was at first a bit concerned about her ability to actually get them down safely. While the AAA motorbike was a lot larger, it also stabilized itself quite a bit by shifting the weight of its attached weapons. But she was confident that she could handle it, so she just started off slowly but quickly got the hang of it and sped up. Whenever she went quite quickly through a corner, Touma pulled himself closer to her with his left arm and let out a small scream. At first she got flustered by that, but as she understood through some regretful screams from Touma, that he was apparently just thinking that she did that to torture him as a delayed punishment for earlier, she continued leaning into every corner, enjoying each hug.
When they had descended the mountain and houses started appearing on both sides, Mikoto slowed down.
(Don't want to get stopped by Anti-Skill, even though Accelerator could probably just make a call to get us out. Damn, why didn't I think earlier about such things. I could have just hacked the city database and put me in as having a license. I have to put that on my to-do list.)
They continued through the empty city. In the distance, Mikoto sometimes spotted a lone car driving by, but she never got close to one. After a while, they arrived at her hotel room. Both got off of the bike and took off their helmets. Afterwards, she deactivated her microwave heating. As she did so, she saw Touma suddenly jerk a bit.
"Wow, Misaka, you could have warned me a bit so I could have spend a few more moments soaking up that bliss. Even cuddling with a dorm-manager onee-sama couldn't keep the winter chills away as nicely as you can. Whoever can tame that wild heart of yours will have found themselves quite the nice winter accessory. Even though the first gift I would make them would be a pair of rubber boots."
Mikoto glared at him, powering through the embarrassment of him talking about her future boyfriend though sheer rage.
"So first you compared me to a remote control, and now to a space heater? Any last words, you IDIOT?"
She saw Touma gulp.
"W-well, aren't we all just space heaters, as long as we are not dead?. I just meant that you have quite a few of hidden features. It was just meant as a compliment. And try to keep it down a bit. We don't want any unwanted attention, remember?"
Mikoto just let out a growl, but nodded.
"You just stay here, I don't want the receptions getting any weird thoughts by seeing me enter a hotel room with an idiot at 6 in the morning. I will try to be quick and just get my suitcase."
She stated walked quickly towards the front door.
(Man, I love him and all, but most of his jokes aren't all that funny.)
Not even noticing the word she used to describe her feelings, she continued inside.
Touma was still waiting outside of the hotel waiting for Mikoto to return. The cold slowly got to him again and crept through his jacket. When he saw Mikoto returning after a few minutes, dragging a suitcase behind her, he was contemplating momentarily if it would be worth it to anger her to warm himself up with a lightning bolt. But as he didn't want to grab anyone's attention, he knew he had to just ask her nicely. With his best 'angel-like' voice, he spoke.
"Say Misaka-san, could you bless this poor and cold Kamijou with a quick burst of warmth?"
While saying that he made his best impression of puppy eyes he could muster.
He just saw Mikoto grown.
"You know, on the motorcycle it was necessary, but the required control to not just burn you to a crisp takes quite a bit of concentration. And as I haven't slept that well in the last couple of days, I would rather save my powers for whatever misfortune you pull towards us next. But let me see if I can't help you a bit."
She placed the suitcase on the ground and kneeled in front of it. She had a quick look around, and as Touma noticed that she saw that he was looking at her intently, she growled at him.
"Turn around, I don't want you to peek inside."
"Fine, fine, if it saves me from turning into an icicle."
(Heh, she probably doesn't want me to see her underwear.)
Obliging to her request, he turned around. After hearing rustling for a little while and fighting the urge to turn around to have a glance, Mikoto spoke up.
"Ok, you can turn around again."
In front of her, she held a quite thick, bright green sweatshirt.
"T-this is the largest one I own, s-so maybe it will fit you."
(Why is she so embarrassed about a sweatshirt?)
Thinking that, Touma took off his jacket and placed it on the motorcycle. He now grabbed the sweatshirt and quickly pulled it over his head. It was a bit tighter than his usual ones, but still fit him and provided some extra warmth. He heart Mikoto speak up, with what he could only describe as glee, in her voice.
"That looks really nice on you."
He looked up and saw her looking at him with a wide smile.
(Is she complimenting my looks. What is happening?)
Touma looked down and saw the face of a giant frog proudly smiling on his chest.
(Oh, the compliment was mostly directed towards the frog I bet.)
A bit saddened about the lack of compliments for himself, he quickly put on his jacket again, which made Mikoto's smile disappear, but provided him with extra warmth. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Touma decided to speak up.
"Thank you, with this extra insulation I feel way better already. So, if you give me your suitcase I can start walking towards my dorm. I think that it will take me around half an hour by foot, but it should take only around 5 minutes for you on the bike."
Mikoto seemed to think for a moment.
"I could just walk with you and just return by using my powers to fly between buildings."
Touma contemplated the idea for a bit.
"Nah, I don't think that is the best course of action. I think we should keep you out of the public eye for the first time, and seeing a girl flying past their windows might startle quite some people, even though this is Academy City."
Mikoto nodded silently.
"And I don't think it would be the best for you to head to my dorm before I arrive there. I have the strong suspicion that the first person who walks in there will get bitten."
Touma quickly eyed the helmet he wore before, an idea forming in the back of his mind.
"So I would suggest that you just stay here in your hotel room, and I will text you when I am close to my dorm, so you can start your drive."
"Okay, that sounds fine."
Mikoto dragged her suitcase over to him.
"Idiot, listen up:"
Her gaze suddenly hardened, as if she was a general in the military, giving his troops the hardest mission they will ever face.
"This suitcase is filled with the most valuable things I own. I don't want you to protect it with your life, as I know that you would take that as a challenge, but losing a hand to keep the contents secure would be a fair deal, especially with your miraculous regrowing one. So take care, and don't take any risks with it, okay?"
(Man, she is a high class onee-sama, so how many kilograms of gold and diamonds will I be dragging around through the streets.)
A slight sweat started to form on Touma's face, despite the chilly air around him. But Mikoto didn't seem to notice and just quietly presented him with the handle. He stretched out his hand and wrapped his fingers around it as slowly as possible. When he noticed that he held it firmly and that it wasn't slipping in any direction, he relaxed a bit. Not wanting to delay any further, he looked up from the handle and towards Mikoto.
"Okay Misaka, I will get going now. See you soon!"
"See you soon, Idiot. And if anyone attacks you to steal the suitcase, call me immediately."
Touma just looked at her questioningly.
(The suitcase has to be really valuable. I feel like the driver of a bank transport who is 2 days from retirement.)
Mikoto, noticing her priorities, quickly spoke again.
"O-o-or if you get attacked, of course."
Touma just smiled at her, remembering how often she helped him.
"I know that already, if anyone on my way needs a good zapping, I will let you know."
After noticing that a small smile had appeared on her face, Touma turned around and started walking.
The walk proved way less thrilling than Touma anticipated. While he expected a thief behind every corner, he spotted almost nobody outside.
(Mikoto probably tried to prank me by just pretending it being valuable. I can't really picture her wearing anything with too much 'bling-bling'. It just doesn't fit her style. So I am probably just carrying around a bunch of her clothes, being all paranoid, while she is laughing her ass off in her warm room.)
But Touma should soon find out how wrong he was. As he was deep in thought, he didn't look ahead which lead him to not spotting a tile of the sidewalk poking out. When he walked over it, he stumbled and fell, which caused him to fling the suitcase up over his head. When it landed on the ground, it opened and spilled its contents all over the place.
(Okay, this is more valuable to her than all the gold and diamonds in the world.)
While he spotted a few pieces of clothing laying on the ground, the bulk of things was made up of small frog figurines, pin badges depicting said frog, and other Gekota merchandise. Still on the ground, he crawled forward, picking up the first figurine, brushing off some dust and placing it back into the suitcase.
(Okay, the sidewalk seems to have been cleaned recently and it hasn't rained or snowed in a while, so I should be able to just brush them off slightly and she will never find out.)
He continued collecting more of the spilled objects, until he reached one which stood out from the rest. A small black box, with two English words written on it.
(Huh, what is 'Cupid Arrow'?)