Hello, everyone! With the Othinus arc now over, Touma will now take some time to recover in the hospital.

Blankow: Yes, Mikoto will have a special surprise for Touma, and he will definitely like it. I'm also looking forward to writing interactions between Mikoto and Othinus.

dragonghoul9707: Othinus might have some hard times living with Sphinx indeed. And Shokuhou will be shocked when she finds out the truth soon.

Rekuta: Mikoto was quite witty in that scene. Yep, back to normal for Touma, including his normal hospital room. Mikoto's friends may indeed find out about magic soon, given all that's been happening in the world.

PhantomDiamond: Thanks, my weekend was good. Othinus getting punished by Sphinx certainly made it easier for Mikoto to accept the situation. Mikoto's proper welcome will have to wait a bit longer, unfortunately, until Touma gets out of the hospital.

Toa Solaric: I'm glad you liked my ending for the Othinus arc.

SuddenBetrayal: Yeah, I tried to give Mikoto some good original scenes, so I'm glad you enjoyed them. Shokuhou's reaction to the reveal will definitely be fun to write. I won't write out all the scenes of NT11, just a few very important ones. Mikoto and Othinus will have an interesting dynamic going forward.

SaSaltyDog: Yes, she does, and they'll have some fun interactions from now on. The Tokiwadai scenes of NT16 and the KaMikoto scene in NT17 will be fun to write, though I'm still deciding on how exactly to write the Kamisato arc.

xellos540: Driving a tank is probably hard, so it's a miracle Touma managed to actually get to their destination. Birdway probably called him insane on multiple occasions. The "battle" against Index was certainly funny. Touma definitely did change, though I guess Birdway didn't notice it. Yes, Silvia wanted to brutally kill Touma and make Othinus watch. Ollerus lets them go because he gets that Touma understands her, I guess. Thor probably thinks that Touma is still a strong opponent despite that. That's a good point about Touma's right hand. No, he probably expected Thor to survive, but be knocked unconscious or something. It was Touma's decision whether or not to save Othinus. Othinus was firing at him to prevent him from saving her, and the "safe spot" is only to allow him to get hit by the final arrow. No, Touma used his trusty Imagine Breaker to deflect the final arrow. Yes, that's the scene depicted in that picture. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to put her eye back in, and yeah, Othinus was the final enemy among the world. Othinus did survive in a smaller form. Yeah, you have a good point about the prison, but I guess the also decided that imprisonment wouldn't do much to an immortal being. Mikoto will certainly have a fun time fulfilling that promise. There'll be a couple of chapters before the Mental Out arc, and I'll probably just cover a few of the most important scenes, including the scenes with Touma. Lessar appeared in NT10 watching Touma and Othinus's final confrontation, but I didn't include it in that chapter.

Vegitta: Shokuhou's reaction to their relationship will be fun to write, and it is coming up soon. I won't spill the full details about Mikoto's surprise, but it'll be something that Touma will really enjoy.

comrade-elmo1: Yes, Saints are quite strong. Haha, Accelerator probably didn't want to remember that fight with Kakine. Wholesomeness is the best weapon against Misaka Worst. I'm glad you enjoyed the Misaka sandwich quip. Kuroko did have a hard time containing herself. She and Touma really are the "Misaka enjoyers."

LordChorizoCosmico: No worries, I understand how stressful real life can be. Come to think of it, it was a miracle that Touma didn't crash the tank earlier. Yea, Touma made a bit of a mistake there, though he was physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted from all the previous fights. Hmm, I don't think Birdway lost her weapon, she's just using a new one here. I don't think she was close to being a Magic God, but she had enough power to destroy the world. It is sometimes hard to write battle chapters, for sure. Silvia probably beat him up more than almost anyone else in NT10. It's nice that Thor let Touma go after getting a good response from Touma. Touma really is great in how he's willing to save even the people who've done the worst things. It would've been interesting for Touma to use something inside his arm, but his trusty Imagine Breaker was strong enough. It is indeed a miracle that Touma survived all that. Yeah, Othinus felt that she didn't need to live to be saved. But yeah, if you're not spoiled, it would probably be a surprise that Othinus survived. Mikoto and Touma's post-fight reunion scenes are always nice to write. Sphinx attacking Othinus definitely made the situation more palatable to Mikoto. I'm definitely looking forward to writing about Mikoto's interactions with Othinus, and her big plan to properly welcome Touma back.

Stryper88: I'm glad you enjoyed the original scenes in the Othinus arc. Shokuhou will find out during NT11, but there'll be a couple of SOL chapters before that.

GG Vegito: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed my version of the Omega World. I hope you also enjoyed Mikoto and Touma's confrontation in Chapter 48.

Guest10032: I'm glad you liked the chapter concluding the Othinus arc, and yeah, Mikoto had decided to tolerate her without forgiving her, though their relationship will improve in the future. Mikoto can certainly afford the dollhouse, and she probably would want to extract something in exchange. Distracting Index is a good idea for that. There will be a couple of chapters before NT11, with Touma still hospitalized. Shokuhou's reactions will be interesting to write, for sure. What about her confused you in GT4? Was it how she acted during Mikoto's phone call with Touma? I don't know if Mikoto ever explicitly told Shokuhou that, but I would assume Shokuhou would be able to figure it out.

Now that everyone in Touma's hospital room had come to terms with Othinus still being alive, there was something else that Mikoto wanted to do. From her position sitting next to Touma on the bed, she turned to Index and said, "Hey, could you give me and Touma some alone time for a bit?"

Index crossed her arms and replied in an upset tone, "What? I came here to make sure that Touma was okay, but you want me to leave already? Are you that desperate to do sinful things with him?" Given that Mikoto was already on the bed, that was the obvious conclusion she reached.

Mikoto blushed at the other girl's blunt question, but defiantly answered, "That's none of your business!"

Othinus, who was still in the calico cat's mouth, then said to Index, "It's fine, let's let the human spend some private time with his lover. He deserves it, after all." She didn't particularly want to separate from Touma and remain under threat from Sphinx, but she understood that the boy wouldn't want her listening in on his conversation with his girlfriend.

Touma gave Index a smile and said, "Thanks for checking on me, Index. But I would like to talk to Mikoto privately." Since he had last seen his girlfriend during that emotional confrontation in Denmark, he was eager to catch up with her.

Index was still reluctant to leave, but she soon sighed and relented, muttering, "All right." She grabbed Sphinx, who was still holding Othinus, put the cat back on her head, and then left the room.

Once they were all gone, Mikoto proceeded to get under the covers, so that she was lying down next to Touma. She gently placed her left hand on the boy's right hand, making sure not to disturb the medical equipment around it, and she used her right hand to caress his cheek, saying, "Hey, Touma."

The boy's cheeks reddened at her closeness, and he nervously replied, "Hey, Mikoto. Isn't this a little dangerous? We got interrupted the last time we were like this." He didn't really want another situation where the doctor or her friends came in and caught them doing intimate things together.

Mikoto smirked and replied, "Don't worry, the doctor just left, and my friends are busy with other things, so they won't be showing up either. We should be fine." And even if there was a little risk, she was willing to take it, since her boyfriend would be stuck in the hospital for a couple of days.

Touma couldn't move too much, but he turned his body towards her and rested his left hand on the girl's waist. He smiled at her and said in a soft voice, "Thank you again for saving me from my guilt and despair about the perfect world. I was so sure that you and everyone else would hate me for what I did, and that I didn't deserve to be with you after that. But you broke all of those illusions. I love you so much, Biri-Biri." He was happy that his girlfriend was there for him, and he now felt that perhaps he didn't have anything to apologize for, after all. Touma knew that he would likely still have some trauma from suffering through those infinite hells, but that major pain which had remained in his heart had been removed.

The girl chuckled and just replied, "You're very welcome. And I love you too, Touma." Mikoto was still worried that he would be gravely affected by those torturous experiences, but she was glad that she'd been able to lessen the burden on his heart.

Mikoto then moved both of her hands to the boy's chest and then leaned in to kiss him. For the first few seconds, the kiss was soft and gentle. But after that, they both began using their tongues to intensify it, gripping more tightly onto each other. Mikoto and Touma hadn't had this much intimate time together since the night they'd spent together at his dorm room, so they were excited to be with each other again.

Since their eyes were closed, and they were focusing on making out with each other, neither of them heard the door to the hospital room opening, or the girl walking in. But they did hear the girl say, "Wow /return! I thought I might be interrupting, but you two must be very excited to see each other again /return. You're really enjoying yourselves, aren't you /escape?"

Both Mikoto and Touma suddenly broke their kiss and looked with flustered expressions at the girl who had entered the room. Mikoto sat up on the bed and faced her. She seemed to be Misaka 10032, since she was wearing the heart-shaped necklace, but Touma knew from her speech pattern who she really was. With widened eyes, he said, "Will-chan?" It was the girl he had met in that perfect world, and he was stunned to see her so soon.

The Will of the Misaka Network tilted her head and grinned at them, replying, "Welcome back to this world, Kamijou-chan /return! And hello, Big Sister, it's nice to finally meet you /return!"

Mikoto now realized who it was, and she said in an awed tone, "You're the Will of the Misaka Network, right? You're the one who saved Touma in that world." She was so, so grateful that Will had been there for her boyfriend when she couldn't. She was also surprised that Will was appearing before them so soon, but in retrospect, it made sense, since Misaka 10032 lived at the very same hospital.

Will held up her finger and winked, saying, "I just gave him a nudge in the right direction /return. It was Kamijou-chan who saved himself /return."

At this point, Touma wanted to sit up as well so he could properly greet Will. In his current state, he had a very hard time doing it, so Mikoto placed her arm around his shoulders to support him.

Touma gingerly placed his right arm against Mikoto's back and gestured with his left arm for Will to come closer. When she did, the boy wrapped his arm around her back and pulled her into a group hug, with Mikoto then doing the same with her right arm. Will bent down and wrapped her arms around both Touma and Mikoto.

His eyes becoming wet, Touma then said, "Thank you both, so much! I couldn't be here without you!" His heart was filled with gratitude for both girls.

Will smiled and replied, "You're welcome, and thank you for returning us to the original world, Kamijou-chan /return."

After listening to Will speak for a bit, Mikoto concluded, "Well, I guess she has her own unique speech pattern too."

The three of them continued hugging for a bit longer, and then pulled apart. Will then said, "You really surprised me by fighting against the world to save Othinus /return. But /backspace, you never fail to do the unexpected /return. But did Othinus really die at the very end /escape?"

Touma answered, "No, when her body broke apart, she apparently reformed into a much smaller body, and I'm supposed to be her jailer now. Index took her so me and Mikoto could have some privacy." He reasoned that at least this freeloader wouldn't put much of a strain on his expenses.

Will laughed and patted the boy's shoulder, saying, "Yes, that does sound like how things would end for you /return. Well, congratulations on achieving the impossible, once again /return." She turned to Mikoto and asked, "How do you feel about this /escape?"

Mikoto sighed and replied, "Well, I can't say I'm enthused about the idea of him living with another girl, especially the one who hurt him so much, but I guess I can live with it." She just hoped that it wouldn't become a recurring trend.

Touma frowned as he heard his girlfriend say those words. He hadn't yet fully gotten used to the idea of living with Othinus, and he certainly understood why Mikoto wasn't so keen on it. But he had gotten along well with Othinus while they'd travelled through Denmark, so he was somewhat looking forward to having her as a roommate.

Will then announced, "I've been appearing a lot lately, so I can't stay for much longer /return. Before I go, can I talk to you in private, Big Sister /escape?"

Mikoto stood up from the bed and answered, "Sure, Will-chan!" She was eager to connect with another one of her sisters, and perhaps ask her about what she had said to Touma in Othinus's perfect world.

Mikoto and Will then walked out of Touma's hospital room, and headed down the hallways into an unoccupied room. They sat down next to each other on the bed. Mikoto then let out a sigh before saying, "I brought it up already, but I can't thank you enough for saving Touma from suicide and convincing him to fight for himself. I can only imagine how hard that must have been for you, with how stubborn he is about that kind of thing."

Will nodded and narrowed her eyes, "Oh, it was certainly frustrating /return. I tried mentioning his promise to you, but that didn't work /return. I tried getting him to realize that none of the people there remembered the original world, and that they wouldn't have wanted to trade his life for that supposed paradise, but that just made him want to keep them ignorant /return. I had to first get him to admit that what Othinus did bothered him, and it was only then that I was finally able to get him to even consider saving himself /return."

As she carefully listened to Will's recounting of what had happened, Mikoto couldn't help but feel sad, thinking of what her boyfriend must have been feeling at that moment. She soon replied, "Well, at least it ended up working in the end, right?"

Will nodded, "Yes, that's true /return. But /backspace, he was so worried that you and everyone else in his life would hate him /return. I promised to help him if it came to that, though I was sure that you wouldn't abandon him /return."

Mikoto looked down and muttered, "Of course I stayed by his side. I'm just mad that Othinus ever made him think otherwise." She then looked back over at Will and added, "Anyway, it's great that you convinced him to fight for himself. Maybe it'll help him be a little less reckless in the future." She knew that her boyfriend would continue risking his life to try to save people, but at least he would know that he deserved to be saved himself.

In response to this, Will decided to come clean about something she had kept from Touma back in that world. She said, "You know, there was something I didn't tell him /return."

Mikoto turned to her sister with raised eyebrows and questioned, "What is it?"

Will explained, "As Kamijou-chan probably told you, I was able to remain outside of Othinus's control because I am half-dead and half-alive /return. But since she brought back those Misakas who had died, my form was still twisted, and I was actually close to dying when I was talking to him /return."

When Mikoto heard this, her heart dropped. She placed a hand over her heart and said, "You died too?" Now that she thought about it, if Will had been independent of Othinus's control the entire time, then she must have gone through a large number of those worlds as well. But then, Mikoto realized, "Hold on, that means...you could've asked Touma to save you, and you didn't."

Will grinned and replied, "That's right, Big Sister /return. But I didn't play that card, because I knew it was important for him to learn to value himself at least as much as he values everyone else /return. It was best for him to know that it was all right to save himself /return."

Mikoto felt tears in her eyes, and yet she let out a proud smile. She pulled her sister into a hug and said in an awed tone, "You're so brave, Will-chan." She imagined how hard it must have been for Will to avoid using that easier and more convenient argument to convince Touma to fight against Othinus, especially when having no guarantee that he would have been able to make Othinus return him and Will to their original world.

Will wrapped her arms around Mikoto, returning the embrace, and chuckled, "Thank you /return. But he was the brave one for fighting for the impossible, not once, but twice /return. And he even succeeded /return."

Mikoto grinned, "He definitely did."

At this point, some static began being mixed in with Will's voice as she said, "Well, it's about time for me to leave /return. Unfortunately, I won't be able to return for a while /return."

Mikoto softly rubbed her sister's head and said, "Aww, I wish you could've stayed a little longer."

Will just replied, "Me too /return. Make sure to take care of Kamijou-chan, all right /escape?"

Mikoto nodded, "I will, I promise." She soon felt the other girl fall unconscious against her. She sighed and thought, "She's really leaving me to bring 10032-chan back, huh?" She carefully placed her sister on her back and exited the room, heading towards the room her sisters stayed at.

When she entered her sisters' room, no one was there, so Mikoto carefully laid her sister down on one of the soft couches. She wondered if her sisters knew about Will, or if Misaka 10032 would even question her missing memories from the time Will took over her body. Mikoto reached down and ruffled the other girl's hair, softly saying, "Bye, Will-chan."

Mikoto then walked back towards Touma's hospital room, musing to herself, "How many Sisters is that now? There's Last Order, Worst, and now Will, so 20,003. I wonder if there are any others, since I seem to meet a new one every few weeks."

When she returned to her boyfriend's room, she saw that Index and Othinus had already returned. She was amused to see that Othinus was hiding behind Touma and looking fearfully at Sphinx, who Index was holding in her hands.

Touma turned to his girlfriend and greeted her, "Hey, Biri-Biri. Did you have a good talk with Will-chan?" He was a little curious about what they'd talked about in secret, though he figured that Mikoto would keep it a secret.

Mikoto cheerfully winked at him and answered, "Yeah, I did, and she told me to take good care of you." She then walked up to the bed and placed a hand on his shoulder, caressing it with her thumb. She announced, "Well, I should probably get going now. I'm meeting up with my friends soon."

The boy placed his left hand on her waist and played with her vest, saying, "All right. Bye, Mikoto." He hoped he'd be able to see her again soon.

The girl then gave him a quick peck on the lips, patted his shoulder, and said, "Bye, Touma!" She turned to the others in the room, nodding at Othinus, before turning to the last girl and saying, "Bye, Index." She then left the room.

As Mikoto was on her way to the Judgement office to meet up with her friends, her thoughts turned to the promise she had made to her boyfriend back in Denmark. She had promised to properly welcome him back, but unfortunately, it would have to wait until he was no longer hospitalized.

At least it gave her some time to think about what exactly to prepare for him. She mused, "Well, we should definitely go on some sort of date, since it's been a while since we've had one." She thought about taking him up to a fancy restaurant for dinner, though she knew that Touma probably wouldn't want something too elaborate, especially since she'd already be paying for the hotel. Perhaps a more casual dinner date would work?

She recalled Touma telling her that her alternate version in two of Othinus's worlds had made plans to spend a night at a hotel with guys other than him. Mikoto figured that this would be a good idea, especially since she and Touma hadn't had the chance to have sex since that night in Hawaii. The girl's cheeks reddened as she thought to herself, "Hmm, should I surprise him with something special? Maybe that swimsuit I bought at the airport? Should I buy some sexy underwear or something?" She placed her hands on her cheeks, instinctively trying to cover her furious blush.

Mikoto imagined herself seductively crawling towards Touma on the bed while wearing black lingerie, leaving him speechless. She fantasized about that scenario for a bit, before realizing that she was still in public, though now in front of the Judgement building. She then shook her head to clear those images from her mind.

As she entered the building and began ascending the stairs, the girl sighed, chiding herself, "I really am becoming more and more perverted." She thought back to some of the things Touma had said to her in Hawaii, and then grinned as an idea came to her. It was rather simple, but she was sure it would have a powerful effect.

Mikoto then reached her intended floor. She opened the door to the office and saw her friends already there, greeting them, "Hey, guys!"

The other three girls were sitting on the couches, and Saten greeted her back, "Hey, Misaka-san!"

As Mikoto sat down next to her, Kuroko placed her hands on her hips and said, "Welcome back, onee-sama. It's nice to see you again, especially after you skipped school a couple of days ago, right after you spent the night at your boyfriend's place."

Mikoto nervously rubbed her head and replied, "Oh, yeah, I did, didn't I?" She knew that an interrogation was coming, so she tried to prepare herself for it.

Uiharu then asked in a curious tone, "Did something happen, Misaka-san? Shirai-san said you were away for multiple days." She knew that her friend often went off to deal with trouble, so she was worried about what Mikoto could have been involved in.

Saten then excitedly said, "Wait, did it have to do with all that chaos in Tokyo? I heard that people were crammed into the streets, and there were these giant red animals like dragons and eagles flying in the sky!"

Mikoto's eyes widened, and she replied, "You heard about that? I guess since it was so close, it's not surprising that the information got into Academy City."

Saten nodded, "Yeah, in fact, I think there were people in Academy City who saw those red animals in the sky, even if they stayed over Tokyo."

Uiharu put her finger against her chin and added, "Yes, many students in the city weren't able to contact their parents during the chaos. But we haven't really gotten an explanation of what caused the chaos."

Kuroko then narrowed her eyes and looked over at Mikoto, saying, "Well, it seems like onee-sama got involved in the situation again, so maybe she knows."

With her three friends looking inquisitively at her, Mikoto realized that she had no choice but to reveal the truth, or at least some of it. She began, "Okay, remember that terrorist organization GREMLIN I told you about before?"

Saten recalled, "The one that was behind the invasion in Hawaii? They were behind the stuff in Tokyo too?"

Mikoto nodded, "Yes, they were. This time, they created a base in Tokyo Bay, so Touma and I went there to try to stop them. When we got there, we saw their leader, Othinus. We fought against her to stop her from destroying the area." She had to be a little vague, since she wasn't sure how to explain that Othinus had had the potential to destroy the world, let alone explaining that the world had actually been destroyed.

Saten asked, with a confused expression on her face, "Her name was Othinus? What a strange name, I've never heard it before. Is it a Western name?"

Mikoto winced, considering how to answer Saten's question. She decided to say, "I think it's a Scandinavian name." Maybe it would've been fine to say that the name Othinus was a version of Odin, but she didn't want to take the chance.

Uiharu then asked, "What happened then? You managed to stop her, right?" She was very concerned about the situation, especially since she hadn't heard about it, even as a member of Judgement.

Mikoto frowned and paused for a moment before answering, "Yes, and it was mainly Touma who defeated her." She wondered if she should reveal more, but she figured that the truth would come out eventually, so she continued, "There was something else that happened. Because Othinus and GREMLIN had caused so much trouble around the world, there was actually an international coalition against them. And that coalition wanted to kill her, even after Touma stopped her."

Kuroko furrowed her eyebrows as she pondered the situation that Mikoto was describing. She said in a matter-of-fact tone, "Well, if this terrorist organization really was responsible for so much chaos and potential deaths, it's not surprising that the leader would be targeted for death."

Mikoto nervously fidgeted in her seat, wondering how much she should reveal. She knew that her friends would likely use whatever information she gave them to dig deeper, and she wasn't sure how much they'd be able to find out. Eventually, she decided to explain, "Well, Touma didn't like that. He didn't want her to be killed in a frenzy, so he fled with her to Denmark, the original headquarters of GREMLIN, until he could convince the coalition to just imprison her instead."

Kuroko was startled by this revelation, and said in an angry tone, "Onee-sama, are you saying that Kamijou-san ditched you to run away with another girl?"

Mikoto immediately held out her hands and fervently declared, "I can assure you that it wasn't like that, Kuroko. Like I said, he only fled so he could eventually convince the coalition to accept Othinus's surrender instead of killing her. And I know because I went over to Denmark myself, so I could make sure of what he was doing."

Saten then took this moment to chime in, "Wow, Kamijou-san is even more heroic than I thought! To think he would go that far to save a terrorist!" She wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do, but she did admire his determination to take a hard stand.

Uiharu then mused, "It is quite admirable for him to save her from the death penalty. Perhaps even she deserves a second chance after she serves her time." This was a belief that was often espoused by Judgement and Anti-Skill to several of the criminals they caught, though she understood that the calculus might be different for an international terrorist.

Kuroko reluctantly replied, "Well, I guess that's true. Well, what happened then, onee-sama?" She felt conflicted, agreeing somewhat with Uiharu, but still thinking that it was strange for Touma to go so far to help Othinus.

Mikoto then recounted, "Actually, I and the other Level 5's got messages, presumably from Academy City's higher ups, to go kill Touma and Othinus. I think only Accelerator and I went, though."

Uiharu's eyes widened, and she said, "Accelerator went to kill him?" Even though she knew that Touma had defeated Accelerator in the past, he must have still been a dangerous enemy for Touma to face.

Mikoto chuckled and replied, "Don't worry, Touma was able to beat him again." She didn't know the exact details of the fight, but she wasn't surprised that a determined Touma had managed to defeat Accelerator again. She continued, "And as for me, when I arrived there, I had to save Touma from these military machines called Five Overs."

Saten tilted her head and repeated, "Five Overs?" She had no idea what those machines could be, but it was already a little scary to know that her friend had gone up against state-of-the-art Academy City war machines.

Mikoto nodded and continued, "They were based on my power, and had Gatling guns which could fire a bunch of railgun shots at a time." She smirked before adding, "They were supposed to be even more powerful than me, but they were actually no match for me at all!"

Uiharu and Saten looked at Mikoto in awe and a slight amount of fear. Knowing that she could easily take out multiple military machines that were supposed to be more powerful versions of her was quite sobering. On the other hand, Kuroko just smirked and said, "As expected, no silly machines can stand up to your power."

Mikoto chuckled and replied, "You're right about that!" She was pretty proud about her battles against those Five Overs, especially since both her boyfriend and those nearby American soldiers had witnessed it, at least in part.

Kuroko continued by questioning, "So what happened to Othinus in the end?" Despite her earlier misgivings, she was curious to learn how it all ended.

This was another point where Mikoto would need to fudge the truth to avoid telling her friends about magic. She vaguely replied, "Well, Touma succeeded in saving her. The coalition agreed to punish her but not kill her. So now, he's back here in the hospital, and Othinus is facing her punishment." Of course, she didn't mention that Othinus's punishment included living with Touma.

Uiharu sighed and mused, "Well, it's nice that there was a good ending to all this. Maybe now all the chaos around the world will die down."

Mikoto wasn't sure about that, but just said, "Hopefully, though I'm sure more interesting things will happen around here. After all, there's never a dull day in Academy City."

Her three friends all laughed, knowing just how true that statement was, even if they hadn't directly been involved in as many incidents as Mikoto and Touma.

The four girls sat in comfortable silence for a few moments. But then, Saten then brought up another topic, saying, "You know, it's almost December, so Christmas is coming up soon. Misaka-san, have you made any plans with Kamijou-san for that?" In Japan, Christmas was a romantic holiday, so Saten expected the couple to have grand plans for that special day.

Mikoto was a little surprised at the question, since it was still November. A month might have seemed like a short time, but with all the incidents happening lately, she felt that Christmas was a long time away. She scratched her head and replied, "Well, we haven't really planned that far yet. It's still about a month away, and there's a big problem."

Uiharu tilted her head and asked, "What problem?" Did one of them possibly have other plans already?

Mikoto frowned and answered, "Tokiwadai doesn't want its students to have any fun on Christmas, so on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we're forced to do community work and are trapped in our dorm rooms during the night." It was because of ridiculous things like this that she wanted to attend a less strict high school once she graduated from Tokiwadai.

Saten brought her hand up to her face and gaped. She exclaimed, "That's awful! Those poor girls, forced to be locked up while everyone else is out in the city having fun." This information made her a little more grateful to be going to a normal middle school.

Kuroko crossed her arms and retorted in a lecturing tone, "Onee-sama is being too harsh. The school is merely making sure that its students don't go out and do improper things, which would severely damage Tokiwadai's reputation. She can meet up with Kamijou-san on any other day of the year." She then smiled at Mikoto and added, "Besides, it'll allow us to spend some more time together, onee-sama. Ever since you started dating him, we haven't had as much time together."

Mikoto rolled her eyes and groaned as she listened to Kuroko blatantly defend that silly restriction. But she knew that her best friend had a point. She was spending somewhat less time with her friends in favor of Touma. They were generally supportive of this, since it was expected now that she was in a relationship, but she did still value her time with her friends. She gave her best friend a smile and replied, "Kuroko, it's the other way around. I can hang out with you on most other days, but Christmas is a time for couples. I don't want to be trapped in my room when I could be with Touma."

Kuroko frowned at Mikoto's response, but soon sighed and conceded, "I guess you have a point." She was still able to spend a large portion of every day with Mikoto, after all.

Uiharu then wondered, "Wait, wouldn't you be able to escape and run away? Surely they couldn't keep a Level 5 like you trapped?"

Mikoto shook her head, "No, you've got it wrong. Every student at Tokiwadai is at least a Level 3 esper, so the staff are very well-prepared to deal with us. You remember how our dorm manager twisted Kuroko's neck? They definitely have ways to deal with all kinds of different esper powers, even Level 5 ones."

The other girls shuddered as they recalled that scene, especially Kuroko. She and Mikoto had been the victim of that infamous dorm manager for various infractions, and it was especially hard for Mikoto to avoid her wrath after going missing to get involved in various incidents. And speaking of that, Mikoto thought to herself, "Come to think of it, Christmas is originally a religious holiday, so there'll probably be some Magic Side incident during that time. Even if I do manage to escape Tokiwadai's clutches, I might just end up having to help him fight against whatever enemy shows up." Even so, she smiled, since she'd still get to spend time with him in that case.

Mikoto then shrugged, saying, "Well, Christmas is still a month away, so I'll think about it more when it gets closer." She was more focused on the immediate future, and her plan to properly welcome him back to Academy City. But it was nice that, with GREMLIN having finally been defeated, she could now look forward to more peaceful events in the future.