On Saturday morning, Mikoto had clearly been in a very cheerful mood, which had made Kuroko suspicious. Kuroko had grilled her about why she looked so happy and what her plans were for the day, but Mikoto was able to throw her off by claiming she was looking forward to going to the store and reading some of her favorite manga. She definitely wanted to prevent her roommate from interrupting them yet again, or else her day would be ruined.

She and Touma had agreed to meet at the usual vending machine at 11:30 AM. The girl arrived a bit early, but only by a few minutes rather than half an hour. "Don't want that idiot to think I'm that desperate to see him!" After waiting for some time, she saw the boy jogging towards her, arriving a few minutes late. She blushed a bit and began feeling nervous, "Why is my heart beating so fast?" Mikoto shook her head a few times to compose herself before he reached her.

Touma stopped in front of her and paused to catch his breath. "Sorry, Misaka-san! I tried to arrive on time, but I had some rotten luck on my way here." He had managed to leave his dorm without Index raising a fuss, but he got delayed tripping over things and bumping into people a number of times.

The girl sighed, "Well, at least you're not as late as last time. So, where do you want to go for lunch?"

Touma rubbed his head as he answered, "Hmm, how about a fast food place? Unfortunately, this poor Kamijou-san can't afford to go to a fancy restaurant." This was compounded by having to provide for Index, who ate multiple times as much food as a normal adult. The boy had enough sense to not mention this part to Mikoto, however.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what I expected him to say." The girl smiled at him and offered, "You know, I don't mind paying for you. I'm the one who invited you, after all." Mikoto added to herself, "And you've saved me twice, but you wouldn't accept that as a reason."

The girl then wondered, a bit too late, "Wait, if I pay for him because I asked him to lunch, wouldn't this be like a date?"

The boy replied, "That's nice of you, Misaka, but I'd rather pay for myself. It'd hurt my pride to owe money to a middle schooler." Touma was by now used to living frugally, and although it would be nice to accept Mikoto's offer this one time, he was afraid of making it into a habit.

Mikoto sighed, "Of course he'd say that, I shouldn't have worried at all." She suggested, "Okay, how about that place we tried last time, at the end of summer break? I bought the food, but we never got the chance to eat it."

Touma nodded, "Sounds good." They then started heading towards that restaurant, both hoping they'd be able to finish the meal without getting interrupted by a fight like last time.

Mikoto and Touma were now sitting at a table outside, having ordered and received their food. Soon after they started eating, Mikoto asked, "So, can we talk about all the stuff that happened that other day?" The girl had questions about what happened in the mall and especially about what happened out in the city that night, and she hoped that the boy could help answer them.

Touma nodded, "Yeah sure, but you're not still mad at me, right?" Since they had already apologized to each other, the boy wondered what she wanted to talk about instead.

She shook her head, "I'm not, but I'm still curious about a few things. What exactly were you doing with my sister? Were you really just helping her find her goggles? And why did you buy her a necklace?" Mikoto especially wanted to know about that heart-shaped necklace. Was it a romantic present or was he idiotic enough to innocently buy it for her without considering the implications?

The boy answered, "Yeah, she really did want me to help her find her goggles. But without them, she looked just like you, so I suggested that we get her an accessory so I could distinguish you two apart. I suggested a ring at first, but switched to a necklace since that would be more visible from far away. She seemed to like that necklace, so I bought it for her."

Mikoto immediately concluded, "Yep, he's an idiot all right. Whatever, there's no point in dwelling any more on the necklace, it'd just be awkward.." She then realized a detail from his explanation that she'd initially overlooked, "Wait, you were going to buy her a ring at first?"

Touma nodded, "Yeah, and when I got her the necklace she was mumbling something about a ring on her left hand, so maybe she wanted a ring instead? But it would've been too hard to see a ring from far away, so that's why we went for the necklace."

Mikoto facepalmed upon hearing this, "Man, this guy really is something else. Now I'm glad he just bought her a necklace. My sister rubbed that necklace in my face, but I shouldn't have worried about it at all." Deciding to move on from talking about the necklace, she replied, "Okay, so did you guys start looking for her goggles after that?"

The boy shook his head, "No, after that we got those animal donuts, and that's when you found us. But that mini-Misaka who grabbed my arm was the one who took her goggles. Remember, your sister pulled out that giant gun and started chasing her?"

Mikoto's eyes widened as she recalled the scene. At the time, she hadn't really thought about the smaller Misaka and instead went to an arcade to blow off some steam. But she never found out who that child was. "Oh yeah, that's right! Do you know anything about that girl? Is she another clone of me? My sister said her serial number was 20001, but there were only supposed to be 20000 clones created. And she looked exactly like I did when I was a little girl."

Touma revealed, "Yeah, actually, after you left, she found me again. She said her name is Last Order and that she's the control tower of the Misaka Network. Apparently she can send orders to all the other sisters and force them to comply." The boy hadn't really understood everything Last Order had said, and he was a bit miffed that she seemed smarter than him despite being a child. Nevertheless, Touma did understand that gist of her explanation.

"So that's what he was doing when I was at the arcade. Hanging out with yet another one of my sisters." The girl replied, "I see, that actually makes a lot of sense. The scientists behind the experiment probably wanted a way to easily control all the clones in case they went on a rampage or something. And since she's biologically a child instead of a teenager, it's much easier to subdue and control her."

Mikoto then smirked and asked in a teasing tone, "You really like hanging out with my sisters don't you?" Despite her tone, the girl still felt insecure about this situation. Both of her sisters had grabbed onto his arm in the mall. Although Last Order may just have thought of it as a fun game, Mikoto could tell that Misaka 10032 liked the boy. And he didn't seem to mind being with them either.

Touma sensed a bit of danger behind her question. He nervously rubbed his head, "Well, they're good company once you get used to their way of speaking. Last Order was a bit childish, but she seemed pretty nice. And 10032 is always interesting to hang out with, with her weird sense of humor."

The girl sighed, "Well, he's not wrong about that sister. I just wish he liked being around me too, but I guess I can't blame him. Besides, this is my chance to change his mind about me!"

Mikoto then changed the subject, "Okay, now can you tell me about what happened that night in the city? After I took care of those guys with guns, you went after your friend, right? I remember helping that nun figure out how to fix whatever the problem was, but she hung up on me once it was over without explaining anything."

Touma winced, wondering how to explain it to her. "I probably shouldn't talk about Vento or the Magic Side, but I guess I can explain what happened with Kazakiri, since she was created by the Science Side."

He began, "Well, our friend Kazakiri is not a normal human. She's created using AIM diffusion fields. Actually, I think you've seen her before. She was with me and Index when the underground mall was shut down at the end of summer break."

The girl nodded, "Yeah, I remember. She's made of AIM diffusion fields? I actually fought against something similar during the Level Upper mess, though that one looked more like a fetus."

Touma elaborated, "Yeah, she usually appears and disappears randomly, but this time it seems like she was deliberately summoned. I think those white streams in the air were the AIM fields converging towards her."

Mikoto added, "Well, when I was talking to the nun, she was asking about AIM fields and an electrical network based on brain waves. She said there was a girl controlling the network and her mind was being twisted, and then she cured the girl by singing her a song."

"Wait, that sounds familiar!" The girl's eyes widened as she realized, "That sounds exactly like the Misaka Network! I didn't know about Last Order before, but she must've been the girl the nun was talking about! So someone must've planted a virus in her to control all my sisters!"

The boy's eyes widened as well, "Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense! I found Last Order that night, and she said some bad guys had beaten up her guardian and tried to kidnap her. It's a good thing Index found her and was able to cure her."

Mikoto nodded, feeling that things were starting to make more sense. "But there's still some things that don't add up. Who was behind all of this and why did they want to summon your friend Kazakiri?" Knowing that her sisters were an integral part of the plan, she continued, "It's probably someone pretty high up in Academy City, since they know about the Misaka Network. But why did they want to summon her? You were able to get to her, so do you have any ideas?"

Touma considered, "How do I explain this without talking about magic?" He then remembered that Academy City had actually officially confirmed an attack from outside, without mentioning that it was from the Magic Side. The boy answered, "Well, apparently Academy City was invaded that night, so maybe Kazakiri was being used to fight back against the invaders?" Touma of course knew that the invader was Vento of the Front. He didn't know the exact details, but Vento had seemed way too injured from just his attacks, so he wondered whether Kazakiri had somehow been used to damage her.

Mikoto recalled all the people who had fallen unconscious during that night. Was that due to these mysterious invaders? The news had said that Academy City was attacked by outside physic power users from the Roman Catholic Church, but she wasn't sure how much of that she believed. But even if it were true, it meant that once again her innocent sisters were being used as pawns.

The girl clenched her fists and angrily muttered, "Well, maybe they were defending Academy City from an attack, but I really don't like that they used my sisters for it. Kihara Gensei also put a virus into my sisters to try to transform me into a Level 6 during the Daihasei Festival. I thought they would finally be safe once the experiment ended, but they keep being dragged into these things. Why can't they just be left alone to live normal lives?"

Touma looked at her troubled face and tried to think of a way to make her feel better. He hadn't realized until today that Mikoto's sisters were still in danger. The boy placed his hands over her fists and said, "It does suck that the higher ups of the city keep using your sisters, but at least they're safe now, right? You helped Index to cure Last Order and save all your sisters from the virus, and last time a lot of people helped out to save you and your sisters. And don't forget, you can always call on me if you need some help, Misaka!"

The sudden contact and his comforting words caused Mikoto to blush and look down towards the table. Whenever that boy did things like this, she found it hard to speak normally. She managed to shyly reply, "Y-yeah, thanks!"

The boy asked, "Are you okay, Misaka? You've suddenly become very quiet." Touma noticed that this sometimes happened at random times when she was around him, but he could never figure out why.

Mikoto shook her head a few times and paused a bit before answering, "Nothing's wrong, I'm fine."

The boy looked at her skeptically, but decided not to press the issue and let go of her hands. As he did so, Mikoto wondered, "Huh, why do I suddenly feel disappointed?" Nevertheless, she switched back to their original topic, "It seems a bit weird that they had that plan to use my sisters to summon your friend. The Level 6 Shift experiment was canceled just one and a half months ago, so how did they so quickly come up with this plan to use my sisters, who they thought would be dead?"

Touma considered her point, "Yeah, that is a bit weird. Maybe they came up with a backup plan in case the experiment failed? I've been involved in enough fights that the higher ups are probably aware of my ability, so maybe they knew there was a chance I could beat Accelerator?"

Mikoto raised her fingers to her chin, thinking out loud, "Backup plan? Maybe, but it seems a little too elaborate. Wait, what if this was actually their main plan all along? Maybe the entire thing was just a ruse, and they just needed a reason to create all those clones! First the Radio Noise project was supposed to create Level 5 clones for military use, but since they were only Level 2 or 3, they came up with the Level 6 Shift. If they expected you or even something else to stop the experiment, then as long as it wasn't too late, enough of my sisters would still be alive afterwards, ready to be controlled."

The boy replied, "Hmm, that idea actually isn't that crazy. The higher ups must know that we interfered with the project, but neither one of us has been punished at all. And they sent your sisters all around the world, right? Maybe that's also part of their plan. They might be able to summon Kazakiri anywhere in the world, or other things we haven't even thought of!"

The girl summarized, "So basically, if this is all true, then the Misaka Network, which can be hacked via Last Order, was probably the real goal of those experiments, not a Level 6 Accelerator. Now that I think about it, making that psychopath a Level 6 would probably not be a good idea for them. Sure, they'd get bragging rights for creating the first Level 6, but they wouldn't be able to control him."

Touma sighed, "So on one hand, the higher ups didn't want all twenty thousand clones to die. But on the other hand, they were fine with over ten thousand of them dying, and are probably planning to keep using them for whatever they want." It seemed like the Misaka sisters were far from being out of the woods.

Mikoto continued, "And like you said before, we can't really fight directly against them. We can only change things a little at a time and try to stop them each time it happens. In any case, I'll have to do my job as a big sister and protect them the best I can!" During the Daihasei Festival, Mikoto had been unable to protect her sisters, but she resolved to do her best to protect them in the future.

The boy nodded, "Yeah, and of course I'll help you with that if you ever need it." He added to himself, "After all, I promised to protect Misaka and her entire world, which includes her sisters."

Mikoto smiled at him, "Thanks!" Even though the task of protecting her sisters seemed almost as daunting as ever, that idiot had somehow come up with the right words to make her feel better.

The pair had been talking for a while, and they had already finished eating. Mikoto was glad that they were able to compare notes about what had happened that day and piece together some of the bigger picture. But she also wanted to spend some more time with the boy, perhaps talking about more lighthearted topics. So she suggested, "Hey, how about we go walk around a bit?"

Touma shrugged, "Sure, why not? I don't have to be home for a while." He reflected, "It's been going pretty well so far. When she's not trying to shock me, Misaka is actually pretty good company. Hopefully I don't do anything to make her mad again."

Mikoto grinned, ecstatic that he was willing to stay with her. She wasn't exactly sure what they would do next, but as long as she was with that idiot, it didn't matter that much to her.