AN: Hello readers! I don't have much to say today, other than that Chapter 7 should come out either tomorrow, Thursday, or Friday;)

I was going to have both as one chapter, but ended up writing more than I thought I was going to do, so I thought it would be best to split it up...

I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please leave a review on anything you liked, think I should work on, or just any questions in general! I enjoy reading them and I will answer them at the end of the next chapter:D


Disclaimer: I do not own A Certain Scientific Railgun/Magical Index or any of its characters...the only things I own are:

1. My characters and

2. my ideas


Chapter 6: Patient Impatience

6 years ago…

As Asher was staring out the window at the clouds passing in the sky, the noon bell rang out, signaling that it was the end of class.

She didn't initially rise from her seat, waiting for the rest of the people to clear out, before she did, as she didn't want anyone to follow her to her lunch spot.

Normally, everyone in her class, would walk off to the cafeteria in groups to go and eat lunch, but she usually went up to the roof alone, since it was quiet and away from prying eyes.

Otherwise, there was no point in going there, knowing one of two things was probably going to happen anyway...

She would either be left alone since there was a considerable amount of people that tended to avoid her, or they would try to get some type of reaction out of her, putting her nerves and even her lunch in jeopardy.

'Talking is a waste of effort anyway…' Asher thought to herself as she went up the stairs.

'It's not like anyone is interested in talking to me in the first place. There's always some type of ulterior motive involved, and it's always an illogical one at that…'

Her stepfather, Silas, had told her numerous times that it was best to keep her distance from people, due to the danger posed because of her powerful but dangerous esper abilities, which was another thing she considered when it came to that in itself.

There hadn't been many things to prove against that, knowing after many years up to this point that getting attached to others was an inherently pointless endeavor to pursue, knowing in the end that they would either end up growing envious or afraid of her at one point or another.

Or at least, that's what she thought at first…

When she reached the rooftop, it was empty as it usually was, going right to her spot on the other side of the railing. She sat down, letting her legs hang off the drop-off as she sat her lunch in between an opening in the railing behind her.

She sat there for a while, just staring out at Academy City as the wind blew slightly through her light-blonde hair, before hearing the door open from behind her with footsteps coming closer and closer towards her.

'There she goes again. She's a little late today though…' Asher thought to herself.

She didn't have to turn around to see who it was, as for the last year, the girl in question had came up here with her many times before.

A girl she came to know to always contradict her thoughts, concerning how she felt about people overall.

She knew her as Misaka Mikoto, since they had multiple classes throughout the day with each other ever since they had started going to grade school at the same time.

"Sorry I was late, Asher." Misaka said from behind her. "I forgot to pack my lunch today, so I had to go and grab something from the cafeteria."

Asher hummed in response, as she felt the girl sit her back against the railing behind her, beginning to enjoy her lunch.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Misaka said as she slid something under the railing between them. "The dessert for today was chocolate cake, and I grabbed one for you."

Asher looked down at it for a couple moments before letting out a small sigh, pulling it next to her as she grabbed a fork from her bag and set it down on the plate.

Ever since she had been late once before from sneaking into the cafeteria due to a chocolate related thing being on the menu for that day, the girl behind her somehow picked up on that fact that was something she could say she enjoyed eating to some degree, more or less going out of her way and grabbing it for her whenever she could.

'She always seems to inconvenience herself to do that, which is something that both confuses me and amuses me to some degree when she tries to hide the fact that she does. Probably knowing that I know one way or another...' she thought to herself as she ruffled through her bag to grab something.

When she pulled it out, she looked stoically at a bag of strawberries in her hand, pulling her arm back and putting it through the railing behind her for Misaka to grab.

It didn't take long for her to notice it, hearing a small shout of delight as she took it gently.

"Aw thank you! Your strawberries are always so good!" Misaka said happily, as Asher again hummed in response.

Years before, Asher wouldn't normally pack any strawberries in her bag, since it wasn't necessarily something she cared to eat.

Due to certain circumstances, Asher had chosen to live at home instead of the child dorms for her school, mostly due to the insistence of Silas to do so.

Her mother typically grew strawberries throughout the year, and since it was only her that ate them or sold them, there was usually an abundance left that she kept for safe keeping.

Her mother's esper ability allowed her to renew the freshness towards most perishable foods, such as bread, vegetables, fruits, etc, which allowed for most of the foods at her house to not go to waste.

When she had found out that Misaka generally liked strawberries, she at some point became inclined on certain days to bring her some, feeling something in her chest whenever the girl behind her enjoyed it, noticing that feeling to be something she genuinely liked and yearned to feel more and more often to some degree.

'I don't understand why she makes me feel this way, makes me feel something that I don't know how to fully describe…' She thought to herself as she brought her knees to her chest, feeling her cheeks heating up slightly from hearing the enjoyment of the girl behind her.

'A feeling that's similar to the way I used to feel around my mother, before she met Silas. Something I haven't ever felt for such a long time.'

'She always seems to make this empty rooftop feel a little less lonely each day, ever since she started doing this for a little over a year now….'

'I never try to engage in any social interactions with her as she's the one who usually does it, not caring if she doesn't get anything back from me in return. Most likely knowing I don't know how to return something so foreign to me.'

'I still can't seem to figure out her intentions, or I guess understand her intentions for going out of her way to do this. Something that seems illogical to do for someone who honestly doesn't deserve it...'

Someone that she shouldn't waste her time on but decides to do so willingly.'

'But…'

'She's also the only thing that has started to make me question if what Silas says is true, whether I am a danger to myself and those around me or someone who doesn't need anyone in my life other than myself.'

'I always find myself conflicted on what to do, frustrated that I can never bring myself to say one word to her. But afraid that if I do, something will happen and stop her from ever coming up here or talking to me without any hesitation…'

'While I sit here, always catching myself before I say a word to her.'

'Somehow, though, I've been going out of my way to do stuff for her for a long while now...'

'Something that almost contradicts everything I thought I stood for….'

She heard Misaka move up from the ground behind her and jump over the fence to sit next to her.

When she raised her head from her knees and looked over at her, she saw her stretching her arms in the air, before she looked up towards the sky.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Misaka asked as Asher sent her a stoic glance. "Eating together I mean..."

Asher's eyes widened slightly as she saw the girl next to her turn and look at her with a bright smile on her face.

"It may not change anything about it, but food always seems to taste better when you're eating with someone else. Doesn't it, Asher?" She said, seeing Asher's face blush even further as she turned away from her, causing her to laugh.

"I don't think I've seen you get that red before, hahahaha!" Misaka said as Asher covered her face from how bright her face was getting. "You look about as red as the strawberries you just gave me!"

'She's always teasing me like this,' Asher thought to herself, sighing as she heard the girl next to her laugh as her blush reached her ears.

'I should be annoyed by it...'

'Annoyed that she's basically teasing me for something my face decides to do when the mood strikes it.'

'But again, surprisingly enough….'

After hearing Misaka laugh for a long while, she couldn't help but laugh a little under her breath, hearing their laughs echo all around them.

'It doesn't seem to bother me as much, as I thought it would anymore…'


July 14th, 11:25AM (Present Day)

In Front of Tokiwadai Middle School

Asher sighed as she laid her back against a brick column, looking up slightly in the sky as the rain came down from above.

This wasn't what caused her to sigh more or less, as she tended to enjoy the sound of rain crashing against the surfaces around her, usually soothing her ears from dampening any of the harsh sounds that her ears would catch at times.

What did cause her to sigh, was that Misaka and Shirai were next to her, using her as an umbrella to shield themselves from the rain…

"What would we ever do without you, Zierdan?" Shirai said happily. "Your barriers are as sturdy and leakproof as ever."

"You make it sound like it's surprising…." Asher sighed as she looked over at Shirai, hearing Misaka laugh from next to her.

"Just take it as a compliment, Z." Misaka stated with amuse in her voice. "Hopefully the rain will settle out in a little while. I'm sorry to ask, though, but do you think you can keep this up for a little while longer until it does?"

"Yeah I should…" Asher said as she stared back up into the sky. "I feel a lot better than I did yesterday, and something like this is fairly easy to do."

"You do seem a lot better," Shirai remarked as she looked over at her, seeing that her skin had almost returned to its normal color. "Enough so that you don't have your Anti-Amps in right now."

"I should be able to go without them today as long as things continue to run smoothly," Asher replied. "But if I do end up needing them, I brought them with me just in case."

"Speaking of running things smoothly," She continued as she looked over at Misaka. "Weren't Uiharu and Saten supposed to be here by now, MK?"

"Kind of…" Misaka said as she looked down at her phone to check the time. "We agreed to meet at 11:30, but they have about 4-5 minutes left before they're late."

Asher nodded at that, relaxing further into the column behind her as they waited for the two in question to arrive...


15 minutes later...

After a little while, the rain had decided to clear up, allowing Asher to remove the barrier around them.

However, there was still no sign of Uiharu and Saten, leaving Asher somewhat antsy as Misaka and Shirai stood off to the side next to her chatting.

Misaka was about to say something to Shirai, before she heard Asher let out another heavy sigh for the 10th time in a row, making her turn around to look at the girl who seemed to be growing more and more impatient as she tapped her finger on one of her crossed arms.

"They're only about 10 minutes late, Z." Misaka said with amuse in her voice, seeing Asher stop what she was doing and look over at her, "It isn't the end of the world. You're going to get your cake at some point today, so don't worry."

"I'm somewhat shocked," Shirai said as she turned towards the girl behind them. "You usually have a lot more patience than Sissy does."

"I'm not being impatient, just a little jittery, that's all. I can't help it sometimes with the meds I take in the morning…. " Asher grumbled as she looked away from them, hearing Misaka laugh before she realized what Shirai had just said about her.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean, Kuroko!?" Misaka asked as she looked over at Shirai.

"That even if I'm the one being impatient, I still have more patience than you, which isn't all that surprising." Asher said bluntly before Shirai had a chance to respond, hearing Misaka grumble in irritation as she turned to look at the stoic girl behind her.

Well Zierdan's back in peak form today, Shirai thought with a sweatdrop as she watched Misaka stomp towards her.

"That isn't true!" Misaka said as her eyebrow twitched in irritation, seeing the girl in front of her remain unfazed. "You have just about as much patience as I do, when it comes to having to wait on eating sweets!"

"That is completely false. You have no proof to logically prove such a thing." Asher said casually, even though both Shirai and Misaka could see her finger tap faster and faster as time went on.

"You're about to leave an imprint on your arm at the rate your finger is going…." Misaka remarked with amused smirk on her face, seeing Asher close her eyes as her eyebrow started to twitch the slightest bit as she let out a sigh.

"As I said before, it's because of my-"

"Your meds right?" Misaka asked as she cut Asher off, seeing her finger tap even faster. "I'm quite familiar with them. I'm also quite familiar with your nervous tics, and the one I'm seeing right now…."

Misaka got right next to her ear and whispered, "….is telling me that…"

"… you're being…" She continued, seeing Asher's eyebrow twitch even more and more as her finger tapped faster and faster.

"…impatient…."

"Alright, fine I AM being IMPATIENT, HAPPY!?" Asher uncharacteristically shouted, losing some of her composure from Misaka's incessant probing, as she opened her blue eyes in irritation with a small blush appearing on her cheeks. "I haven't had it in forever from having to go to those freaking tutoring sessions everyday in the morning for TWO WEEKS STRAIGHT! So yeah, I'm not being as patient as I usually am, Mikoto!"

"But that still doesn't disprove the fact that I'm more patient than you are!" Asher finished, seeing a smug smile come on Misaka's face that was making her even more irritated.

Why the hell is she smiling like that!? She thought to herself as multiple veins started to pulse on her head.

"Oh, I know that," Misaka said with a closed eyed smile, not seeing Asher's face darken instantly at her statement. "I just wanted to hear you say that you were being impatient this entire ti-eh?"

Before Misaka had time to finish her statement, Asher clamped her hands on top of her shoulders.

When Misaka looked up, she instantly sweatdropped at how much she actually angered the girl in front of her, due to her antics.

Uh-oh…

"You did all that…to just say….that I was right THIS ENTIRE TIME!" Asher asked annoyed. "That is such an illogical thing to do MIKOTO!"

That's the second time she's called me by my first name fully. She usually doesn't do that when there's other people around, Misaka thought to herself as she looked up at her nervously.

I must have made her pretty annoyed and angry with me….

"Hey now relax, Zierdan…." Misaka said as she put up her hands in defense, wearing a nervous and wavering smile on her face. "I didn't mean to make you mad. I was just playing with you, that's all."

"GRRRH, NO, you just wanted to vindicate yourself by proving you were right by pressing the right buttons to irritate me enough to come clean!" Asher stated. "You know I absolutely hate it when you do that!"

"Kuroko please help! Teleport me or her away, I don't care but please do something!" Misaka said panicked, with the girl in question perking up due to being called by her for assistance.

"Alright coming Si-"

Before she could, she looked over and saw Asher send her a glare, that almost dared her to do something like that...

"Stay out of this , Kuroko, or we're going to put your baseless theory from yesterday about whether or not I can precisely find you when you teleport to the test!" Asher warned as her eyes flashed purple. "I can tell you for one thing, that you really don't want to find out the answer."

Yeah no, I'm not trying to be scarred for life today, Shirai thought with a sweatdrop, knowing the girl could most likely do it in her sleep if she actually tried.

"Sorry Sissy," Shirai said as she took a few noticeable steps back, hearing Misaka gasp out in surprise. "You got yourself in this situation, and if I entered it, she would most likely make the both of us wish I hadn't."

"But Kuro- EEK!" Misaka said shakily before squeaking in fear of seeing the girls purple eyes glaring now back at her.

"And as for you, Mikoto, you're going to explain to me… why you decided… today of all DAMN days, that it was okay to RILE ME UP! Which is funny since I'm usually the CALM one in most situations involving the both of us!" Asher said with annoyance in her voice.

"My day yesterday was already stressful enough as it was, and I hoped today would be great since I'm going out to eat something I genuinely like with you, Kuroko, Saten, and Uiharu, the few people that I actually tolerate being around for long periods of times! I even got up earlier than I usually do to do just that, and YOU decided it was best to get on my last freaking nerve for almost no reason at all!"

"Z, I think you're blowing it out proportions…." Misaka said, hoping her nickname would cool her off somewhat, before realizing it just made it worse.

"Oh, don't you dare 'Z' me MIKOTO! Cause it's not going to work today!" Asher shouted. "You honestly don't understand how ultimately FRUSTRATED I am with YOU right now!"

"Um Zierdan if you don't calm down, your hearing sensitivity is going to spike again." Misaka said, trying another way of most likely saving her skin, but again to no avail from seeing how red her friend's face had gotten.

"EXACTLY! BUT IT'S ALREADY TOO LATE FOR THAT!" Asher yelled annoyed, hearing Misaka let out a resounding 'Oh'. "MY ears already feel like they want to FALL OFF from the amount of shouting I've been doing, but I'm honestly to damn infuriated to even care let alone allow it to prevent me from lecturing you!"

Great I didn't realize how far I dug my own grave, Misaka thought to herself with a sweatdrop.

As this was going on with Shirai watching from afar, Saten and Uiharu finally arrived to the front gate of the school.

"Hey Shirai!" Uiharu stated as she waved towards her with Saten looking over at her.

"Oh hey you tw-Wait what happened to you Saten?" Shirai asked in confusion, seeing that the girl's uniform was all wet.

"Well you see..." Uiharu said with a smile as Saten gave her an embarrassed one.

"I accidentally slipped on a puddle, when we entered the Garden of Learning a little while ago." Saten said as she rubbed the back of her neck. "It caught me by surprise and before I knew it, I was completely drenched. You don't happen to have a change of clothes, do you?"

As Shirai nodded at that, Uiharu happened to look at the scene behind her and instantly sweatdropped at what she saw.

"Ummmmm, Shirai?" Uiharu said as she pointed, with both Saten and Shirai looking towards her. "What's happening with Misaka and Asher?"

Shirai let out a few nervous laughs as Saten looked over at Uiharu in confusion, before she looked over at them as well, sweatdropping about as hard as she did.

"Well, uh you two missed quite a few things before you got here." Shirai stated as she turned to look at the two in question, seeing Misaka trying to beg her way out of Asher's hold while Asher almost seemed like she didn't care to do such a thing.

"It's almost like they've switched positions." Saten stated both nervous and terrified of seeing Asher actually pretty angry for once and with someone as strong as Misaka, paling at the sight of such anger and irritation. "It's honestly something I would have never thought possible, since they're fairly different when it comes to their mannerisms and personalities."

"I didn't think Asher had enough energy to snap like this." Uiharu said with a nervous smile. "It's both an amusing sight and a terrifying one at that, but at least she seems like she's feeling better."

"Yeahhhh, I don't know how Sissy going to deal with her." Shirai stated. "Long story short, she got under Zierdan's skin enough so, that she couldn't take it anymore."

After watching the two from afar for a few more moments, Shirai turned around and said, "Well, how about I start showing you around the school. I should have a spare uniform in one of the shower rooms, so we'll swing by there before we leave."

Saten and Uiharu nodded and followed behind Shirai through the gate, as Misaka looked at them in disbelief.

"Are you all just going to leave me with her!?" Misaka called out, falling on deaf ears as they scurried away, looking up in fear of the angered Level 5 whose lecture was just beginning…


30 minutes later…..

After showing Uiharu and Saten around the school, they all arrived into one of the open shower rooms to allow Saten to change out of her wet clothes into one of Shirai's spare uniforms.

As Shirai and Uiharu sat off to the side, they watched the amusing exchange between Asher and Misaka, as the latter was trying to beg for her forgiveness.

"How many times do I need to apologize to you, Z?" Misaka pleaded as tears were at the corners of her eyes. "I didn't mean to make you angry or push you enough to cause your hearing sensitivity to go bad again."

Asher, who had her eyes closed with her Anti-Amps within her ears, sat there in silence with a noticeable frown on her face and didn't even try to respond, causing Misaka to deflate slightly.

What am I going to do? Misaka thought to herself. She's going to end up giving me the silent treatment the rest of the day at this rate, something that could last the entire week if I'm not careful…

After a couple moments of thinking through it, Misaka thought of another way of getting back into Asher's good graces.

"How about I buy you a slice of ciocolatta cake when we go to the Pasticceria Manicagni after we're done here?" Misaka asked as she heard Asher let out a heavy sigh.

"Why is it that you always think 'bribing me' with cake is going to fix things?" Asher asked as she cracked her eyes open to send her an annoyed look. "You're going to have to do a lot better than that today, MK."

"I know I know," Misaka said as she brought up 3 fingers. "How about 3 slices of cake?"

"It's not going to work today, so stop trying." Asher stated, trying not to fall for what she was doing.

"Alright, last offer…" Misaka said with a closed eyed smile as she raised 6 fingers. "How about I buy 5 slices of cake for you?"

"What's the last finger for?" Asher sighed as she looked at the girl skeptically.

"Oh well, I noticed that the wheel on your skateboard was broken when me and Kuroko met up with you in your room this morning. So the other thing I will promise to do is take your skateboard sometime this week to get fixed."

Asher sat there silently for a couple moments before she let out a long sigh.

"Fine, I forgive you. You don't have to buy the cake for me though, I can buy it myself." Asher stated begrudgingly as Misaka cheered in delight and gave her a hug, causing Asher's face to automatically blush at the close contact.

"Thank goodness!" Misaka said happily, hearing both Shirai and Uiharu laugh from a little ways away from them.

"Please let gooooo of me, MK." Asher groaned. "You're going to end up suffocating me from how much you're squeezing me…"

"Or put you on fire from how much it's causing your face to blush, Zierdan." Shirai said as she laughed under breath with Uiharu doing the same.

"Saten please hurry up," Asher said, hearing the girl in shower stall laugh. "These three are about to run my nerves into the ground…."

"Hold on, I'm almost done." Saten said amusedly.

After a few minutes, Saten came out of the stall, completely dressed.

"Does the size work for you?" Misaka asked as she looked over at Saten, who seemed to be slightly self-conscious about what she was wearing.

"Yeah it fits perfectly. Though the skirt's a bit short." Saten said as she looked over at Asher, who out of everyone, always wore gray pants instead of the gray skirt usually seen for Tokiwadai girls.

"You wouldn't happen to have a backup pair of pants here that I could borrow, Asher?" Saten asked, seeing the girl in front of her shake her head.

"Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that." Uiharu said as she looked at Asher, who turned her head towards her. "How come you're the only who wears pants, Asher? Out of all the Tokiwadai students I've seen before, you're the only one who wears that."

Before Asher could respond, Misaka said, "Oh the reason is because, Z made an excuse at how it conflicts with the use of her esper abilities, so after a while of her constant complaining, they granted her special permission for her to wear them."

Shirai, Saten, and Uiharu looked at Misaka in shock, thinking Asher wasn't going to like her explanation all that much, before seeing Asher shrug her shoulders.

"That's pretty much what happened." Asher stated matter of factly. "If I shifted the gravity around me while wearing a skirt, that would mean I would end up flashing people on occasion, which would make me have to take it into account during all the times I do it, which would be lackluster to do each and every time…."

"And unlike MK, I have a little more dignity in consideration for myself, to not wear shorts under my skirt." She continued, causing Misaka's face to heat up from embarrassment as she rose up to her feet.

"We've been through this!" Misaka remarked. "What I do for my uniform should not concern you whatsoever, when you go off and wear whatever whenever you want to whenever the mood strikes you, Zierdan!"

"Okay and?" Asher asked with a deadpan. "From the time we've been at this school, you've always worn shorts under your skirt, so what part of my statement was incorrect?"

"That is not the issue here!" Misaka said as a vein appeared on her head, getting more irritated as the girl in front of her remained unfazed.

As they went back and forth, Shirai, Saten, and Uiharu looked over in amusement as they laughed a little under their breath.

"Back to the usual, I guess." Shirai stated with a smile as Uiharu and Saten nodded their heads.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Saten said as she looked over at Asher.

When she did, she saw her lips turned upwards slightly in a smile, as she watched in amusement as Misaka began to attempt lecturing her for her statement.

They may seem like opposites at first glance, and they both may be Level 5s, Saten thought to herself.

But sweet moments like this, make me forget that sometimes. Watching them both just be themselves without any trouble at all….


10 minutes Later…

The girls finally walked out of the school, making their way over to the Pasticceria Manicagni.

"I sent your dirty uniform off to the cleaners, Saten." Misaka said as she looked over her shoulder at the group behind her. "Just stop there on your way home."

As she listened amusedly to the conversation happening in front of her, Asher suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Due to her esper ability, Asher can passively sense fluctuations in the dimensional space around her, such as whenever Shirai teleports from one point or another or something like the natural EM waves that Misaka gives off due to being an Electromaster, allowing her in theory to be able to detect most esper abilities due to most having an effect on the areas around them.

She tends to not pay any attention to them unless she wants to or has to, but for whatever reason, the thing that had just happened in the space behind them, sent alarm bells ringing through her head, feeling a slight chill going down her back.

That's weird. I've never felt that before….or least I don't think so, She thought to herself as she turned back around, seeing no one behind her.

That doesn't make any logical sense. I could've sworn I felt someone there, but now its like that presence has completely disappeared…

"Hey Zierdan, is there something wrong?" Shirai asked from next to her.

She had noticed that Asher had lagged behind the group, teleporting over to her to see what was wrong, only to see her looking directly at basically nothing...

"I honestly don't know…." Asher said as she stoically stared at the space for a couple moments longer before looking at Shirai. "I thought I sensed something behind us, but I guess I was just imagining it."

"Oh really? That doesn't usually happen, does it?" Shirai asked, becoming a little wary of the situation as they began walking to follow the others.

"No, it doesn't." Asher said as her eyes narrowed slightly in thought.

And that's the part, that's really starting to bug me.


15 minutes later….

Asher was standing behind Misaka, Shirai, and Saten as Uiharu was trying to figure out what she wanted to eat at the Pasticceria Manicagni.

As they were talking in front of her, she had sort of zoned out of the conversation, trying to think through what happened a little while ago, after sensing something that felt both familiar and unfamiliar to her.

The weird thing is how much whatever it was, was fluctuating….. Asher thought to herself.

I don't know if it's due to an esper or something else entirely, but whatever it was set my senses off enough to make me uncomfortable.

It's almost like it was fluctuating off from what it should've been in the first place…..

"Hey Z?" Misaka said as she waved her hand in her face, finally seeing her react slightly to her movements, as her blue eyes looked at her. "We kind of lost you there for a while. Is everything okay?"

It took a moment for that to register for her, before Asher hesitantly proceeded to say, " Y-Yeah, I think so…"

"Are you sure?" Misaka asked skeptically, not knowing the girl to ever seem unsure of herself as she was right now as she watched her rub the back of her neck. "You sort of seem to be nervous…."

"I am to an extent…." Asher sighed as she looked over at her. "But not enough that it will be a problem. Something just happened a little while ago that just caught me off guard is all."

"Oh alright," Misaka said as she gave her a concerned look. "If it happens again, just let me know."

After Asher sent her a nod, she looked around and noticed that Uiharu, Shirai, and Saten had disappeared somewhere.

"Where did everyone go?" Asher asked as Misaka sweatdropped slightly.

"You must have really got caught up in your thoughts, if you didn't notice them leave." Misaka said with a smile. "Uiharu and Kuroko were called in to do something for Judgement, while Saten just left to go to the restroom, so it's just us for now until Saten gets back."

Before Asher was going to reply back, her eyes widened in surprise when Misaka brought out a case that held 5 slices of the ciocolatta cake that she had promised her earlier.

"You really didn't have to do that, Mikoto." Asher said in surprise. "I told you, that I could pay for it myself…."

"I know that you said that, but a deal is a deal." Misaka said with a closed eyed smile. "Just take it as a small gift for coming with us today. It's the least I could do after coaxing you to go after you got sick yesterday."

A small smile grew on Asher's face as they walked over to get their drinks and sit down to wait for Saten to get back.

"Thanks…." Asher said as she opened the case to get out a slice of her cake to eat, hearing her hum at her response as she smiled over at her.

"And, Mikoto?"

"Yes?" Misaka asked.

"Even if you hadn't bribed me with a visit to here, I would have probably gone anyway." Asher said genuinely. "You all may drive me crazy at times or do illogical things, but it isn't all that bad once you get used to it…."

Asher went silent at that, not expecting Misaka to comment on it, since she probably knew that in the first place.

Which Misaka did, due to a multitude of reasons, that somewhat surprised her, liking that after so many years, she was trying her best to get to know and get comfortable around other people other than herself.

["My day yesterday was already stressful enough as it was and I hoped today would be great since I'm going out to eat something I genuinely like with you, Kuroko, Saten, and Uiharu, the few people that I actually tolerate being around for long periods of times….]

Even though I made you fairly annoyed with me earlier, she thought to herself as she watched amusedly at Asher trying to hide her excitement from eating her cake.

It makes me happy to hear something that once upon a time ago, you once found to be 'illogical' for you to like...

Something I know, that's making you happy as well.


Word Count of Chapter: 5883 |Page Count: 13 pages |Reviews: 16 | Followers: 25 |Favorites: 19


Review Replies

Blankow: Yeahh, I've noticed that Railgun's storyline is pretty big, but I'm going to try my best to pace this enough that it doesn't seem too dragged out due to how long it and Index are while also maintaining an interest for how their storylines play out in consideration to Asher's overall presence in this story

I hope my pacing has been well so far, and you're welcome for the double update;)..I felt bad for not updating the story for a long while so I thought it would be nice to do so…..

My current plan for the chapters, is to release 1-2 days of the story during the week either in pieces or release them all at the same time depending on how each of them are looking in terms of editing, meaning there could be more double updates in the future:)


emiya unlimited blade works: Thanks! I'm glad that you're enjoying this so far:`)


Bornkiller9: Thank you! The next few chapters are going to give more into some of Asher's past as the beginning of this chapter did (from what I planned, Chapter 8 or 9 especially which should hopefully be out next week)


Thanks for your reviews!

PurpleClover99