AN: Hello readers! I have returned and am shocked by something as this story has reached over 50 reviews in the short time that I've been doing it (a little over 2 months now) and has nearly reached 50 followers.

I say that all to say is thanks for all of the support:`)

I've enjoyed writing this a lot so far and I'm happy to see that you all are enjoying it as well.

Other than that, I hope you enjoy this chapter as we finally start the Level upper arc back up! This chapter is about 2000 or so less than it says it is with the addition of all the reviews I got for the last two chapters as I think that's the most I've gotten in a single upload before as of right now (thanks again for that btw:)

As always, 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:)


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 17: Recurring Doubts & The Unknown Danger

July 18th, 7:00AM

Misaka came out of her room fully dressed in her Tokiwadai uniform as she went just one door down towards Asher's room. She stood there for a couple seconds as she rubbed the door with her hand slightly, sighing to herself due to hesitating in going in there…

Again.

Even if it was hours ago, the feelings that she had carried within herself were still floating around her heart along with the memories of hearing her friend's grief as she nearly cried herself to sleep, keeping a protective hold of her within her arms the entire time.

The last time she had ever cried even close to that extent was a few days after her mother had died. She had completely shut herself down to the point where she was almost a hollow ghost, disappearing and reappearing in the halls and in class, with Misaka herself unable to ever find her.

And then one day, she had heard rumors going on around school about her mother's tragic death, hearing on and on that it had been a kidnapping or robbery gone wrong as most of them passed along that the esper in question had witnessed the aftermath herself when she had arrived home that day.

Something she would find out later to be Silas's doing, in order to push her further over the edge with a tunnel mindset in doing his experiments whatever the cost…

She had finally found her at the end of school that day sitting on the floor with her back against the wall, staring down at the floor of an empty classroom. Before she even had the chance to fully make it over to her, Asher told her then and there to just leave her alone and to leave her there in the empty room by herself as her eyes became glassier and glassier before turning her gaze away from her.

Misaka did not hesitate for a second at that point to ignore her request, immediately walking over there and wrapping her arms around the girl who didn't look like she had slept in the two days she had been looking for her, with her trying to pull away to reject the gesture of being comforted by something like this.

Knowing what it would lead to at the first moment that she had…

After solemnly reminiscing about that day and standing in front of Asher's door for a couple of moments, she knocked on it a couple of times to alert the esper inside that she wanted entry since it was locked.

She waited for a while but wasn't all that surprised that she didn't come to open it for her, prompting her to knock a little harder a few more times.

"Zierdan, I know you're awake in there. Can you please open the door for me? I just want to check on you." She announced aloud, only to be met with more silence.

When she stood there for what seem like forever, she decided it was just best to leave her friend alone for now, beginning to turn her body to go down the hallway. Just before she left however, she saw the knob flair purple out of the corner of her eye for a couple of seconds, looking back and seeing the door cracked open slightly.

She didn't hesitate to walk inside, stopping in the middle of the room after walking just a few feet, seeing Asher sitting on her bed and leaning against the wall with her knees up to her chest as she kept her back towards her.

She could tell that she had taken a shower before she had gotten in there since she was partially in her Tokiwadai uniform, wearing only the white short-sleeved shirt and black shorts in place of her gray pants.

As silence fell in the room for a couple of moments, she closed the door behind her and walked over to take a seat on the edge of Asher's bed. She still hadn't made an effort to acknowledge that Misaka was even there, as she turned back to put a hand on her shoulder.

Misaka could feel her body shaking slightly under her fingertips as it tampered off, sending her a comforting squeeze as she saw that her face was hiding under the shadows of her blue-streaked, blonde hair.

She saw her bring her hand slowly up to her shoulder, thinking for a brief second that she was going to knock her hand away. Though, she relaxed just a little when she saw her softly lay her hand on top of her own as she let out a sigh, a small sign to show that she knew she was there.

"Hey…Mikoto." Asher said softly as her voice cracked, fixing the volume in her ears with her other hand to raise the amount of sound that her ears could pick up around her.

"Hey, Zierdan." Misaka replied with a small smile on her face. "Are you doing alright?"

"Not really to be honest with you." Asher responded dejectedly, causing Misaka's face to fall from hearing it within her tone. "I'm still pretty…."

"Upset?" Misaka asked, completing her sentence after she hadn't gone much farther than that, seeing her nod her head as her reply.

"I didn't get that much sleep last night…which probably isn't that surprising since I slept two days straight. So after I went and took a shower, I've just been sitting here staring at the wall with my Amps practically down to 0 to block out everything.…To just…be able to think straight." Asher explained as she cracked her eyes open slightly to send her a tired sideway glance. "I'm guessing you and Kuroko are about to go downstairs…"

"Yeah, I was grabbing you to go and eat breakfast before we go to school." Misaka stated as she moved her hand away. "I know you're probably hungry, from not eating anything these last few days-"

"Actually, I'm not all that hungry right now. So, you can go ahead and go without me." Asher replied as Misaka looked over at her in surprise. "Whether it's just how I feel, a small side effect of my meds, or just a combination of both, the thought of food is just making me nauseous. I'll just eat something later when that goes away…"

"I also wasn't planning on going to school today either. I don't have the energy or the patience to deal with some of their attitudes, so it's illogical for me to go there because of that fact. I'm not in the mood for snapping at anyone in any of my classes to keep some sliver of my dignity, so I'm just going to stay here most likely the entire day. I usually know most of the material anyway, so I shouldn't get that far behind." she finished as Misaka shifted over to be in front of her.

"But Z, that would end up meaning that you haven't left this room in 3 days and haven't eaten anything since we went to Joseph's before your appointment at the hospital. I know you don't feel like doing anything right now, but I think you need to get out of here and at least get something on your stomach. It could get you in a better mood than you are now." Misaka said warmly as Asher's gaze remained fairly stagnant of anything but its greatly depressed state.

"In most cases that would have convinced me or at least motivated me to agree with you. But today that's just not the case, oddly enough. I don't want to do anything today other than sit here, so I'm going to try and do that for now." Asher stated stoically. "The only reason I've been stuck in here for two of those days is from basically being forced into a deep sleep in a fairly annoying manner, so that's not my fault on that end. And people can survive without food for much longer than I have, so I don't think there's anything to worry about if I go on without any for a couple more hours."

"Don't you think that a pretty unhealthy and pessimistic way to look at things? I think you should look at it in a more optim-"

"I don't care and know I'm not being the most optimistic person right now because I don't feel inclined to be anything close to that. I'm probably even more blunt and pessimistic than I usually am, but it still doesn't make a difference in the slightest in this situation. I don't have the energy to even look or try to analyze it in a different way that could potentially have a more positive outcome, so I'm not going to waste the little that I have at this moment..." Asher said matter of factly before Misaka could even finish what she was going to say.

"You told me to be more forthcoming with how I feel, and here I am doing it. But it seems you're not liking that all that much. But I'm not motivated to feel obligated to do something to change that, so just stop trying. It's pointless and will amount to nothing with how I'm feeling right now."

Misaka was taken aback by that statement, starting to get slightly worried that she was trying to shut herself down from everything and everyone…

Including her…

Which probably wouldn't be the best to do for what she was going through.

She remained silent for a while to try and think how she was going to reply to that, before she heard Asher let out a sigh and bring her eyes up to look at her, seeing the light in them get brighter ever so slightly.

"I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm not valuing or listening to what you're saying. I'm just not in the best mood, which is probably pretty easy for you to figure out." Asher stated. "If it will make you feel better, just bring me something from whatever Maika has prepared down there and I'll try to eat some of it. But other than that, I really just want to be alone in here for however long I want to."

"Alright I will and will hold you to do that at least." Misaka said as her face fell slightly, though the smile on her face remained. "Do you think you'll be up to maybe at least going out sometime around 3-4 to go shopping with me, Uiharu and Saten? They have missed hanging out with you these last couple of days of your recovery and I…also have missed having you around, even if you're only a room down from me. They were pretty worried about you to the extent that it possibly competed with my own. And even if she tried to hide it, Kuroko was just as worried about you as all of us were, since you are just as important in our group as much as the rest of us."

"You're just saying that…." Asher replied as she looked over to the side, a small blush falling on her cheeks. "If you can't tell with my personality, I'm just the life of the party, aren't I?"

"No, it's true though, especially that last part." Misaka stated with a few laughs under her breath from her embarrassment and sarcasm. "Who else would keep us in line and prevent us from doing something stupid?"

"Not me unfortunately, especially with you and Kuroko…" Asher deadpanned, seeing Misaka sweatdrop in front of her. "I may be able to limit it to some extent, but I honestly don't think anyone can keep your short-temper or Kuroko's perverseness completely in check. I wouldn't wish my job upon anyone."

"Hey! Like you're any better!" Misaka said as her cheeks flushed. "At least you don't have to take care of someone who completely shorts out at the worst times possible for a multitude of reasons! Said person couldn't even hold it together from seeing a woman unbuttoning her shirt the other day from overthinking it to oblivion!"

Asher's whole face immediately went bright red as she was nearly thrown into a flashback of seeing that woman doing one of the most illogical things she had ever seen done by anyone before, feeling her brain nearly shutoff from the thought of it alone.

"Did you really have to remind me about that, Mikoto? I had nearly just got that whole scene out of my head." She whined as she felt a chill go down her back. "There was no logic in that decision of hers whatsoever to the point I think I nearly passed out right then and there from witnessing it, which is something I don't think I've ever done before. I would have rather watched Kuroko's perverted nature with you or your unhealthy obsession with Gekota 1000x's over than that."

At that, Asher felt a massive blow come on top of her head as Misaka chopped it hard enough to nearly break her skull in two, immediately wincing in pain as the Electromaster crossed her arms in irritation.

"I can't even believe you just tried to slip that in there, Zierdan." Misaka sighed, trying to keep her temper in check.

"I nearly laughed until you casually added that last part…."

"D-Did I say something incorrect? If I did, please just tell me….I th-think you nearly killed or knocked me out with that hit to my head, and I don't see why I should deserve such a fate as that." Asher winced as tears comedically fell from her eyes, hearing Misaka grumbling under her breath.

"TCH, don't you even give me that crap! You always make it seem like whether you're right or wrong is the problem when it's not! I've told you multiple times that isn't the issue in this or any situation that you do it in, but it seems you still haven't learned that lesson to my surprise and detriment to my patience for all these years that you've done it!" Misaka said in annoyance as her eyebrow twitched angrily. "So hopefully next time you'll actually use that logic of yours for once to not do it again!"

"But that still doesn't mean I should go right back to the hospital because you disagree with what I say, considering it's pretty accur-EEK!" Asher stated before unknowingly letting out a shriek of terror as she was barely able to catch Misaka's hand from hitting her again, seeing electricity pulsing around her hair which made the angered look on her face even scarier.

"GRRRH Now you've done it!" Misaka shouted in frustration.

As she tried to push her back, she slipped in some of her concentration and ended up on her back, completely trapped and unable to get away as she was pinned from going anywhere by the enraged girl sitting on top of her.

Well…this is unfortunate. I may have pushed this just a little too far, Asher thought with a sweatdrop, staring up into the eyes of someone who could actually make a thunderstorm from her finger tips.

"Hey u-um Mikoto…you know I was just messing with you right? I wasn't being serious at all...mostly." Asher said nervously as she saw her friend or potential threat to her life shaking in anger and annoyance.

"Oh no the hell you weren't Zierdan! Honestly, I swear you keep doing this on purpose even though you know it's something that I can't stand! I get that I like some things more than people our age do at times, but that doesn't mean you can keep teasing or rubbing it in my face and thinking you're just going to keep getting away with it every day for the rest of our lives!" Misaka berated.

Before Misaka had time to say anything else, though, she stopped as her eyes widened in shock when the girl below her who had just seemed scared out of her mind and was fairly sad before, was now stating to full-on laugh at her.

"What is so funny about this situation!? Now you have some explaining to do!" Misaka asked in complete and utter confusion as she sweatdropped, wondering if she had hit the girl below her too hard.

"Ahahahaha, sorry. Even if I'm probably lowering my chances of making it out of this alive, it will still not change the fact that you actually just admitted something aloud that I thought you would never do." Asher said amusedly with small smile on her face. "It just kind of caught me off guard, and I couldn't stop myself from doing this for some reason, even though I was just scared out of my mind that I just killed myself with running my mouth too much. Which would have been kind of ironic from someone as quiet and as untalkative as I am, don't you think?"

After a few moments of taking that bit of information in, Misaka let out a chuckle or two slip from her mouth, getting off the girl as she sat her back on the wall behind her.

"You honestly find the humor in some of the most random things. You literally looked like you were going to pass out from seeing how angry I was only to be laughing out of nowhere. I thought I gave you some type of concussion after witnessing that." Misaka stated as she saw Asher sit up as they laughed aloud together.


After settling down for a couple of moments, Misaka rose off the bed to leave before stopping in the middle of the room to look at Asher still remaining on the bed.

"Are you sure you feel how bad as you say you were to not leave this room? You honestly look like you're in a better than you let on before." Misaka stated skeptically, hearing Asher let out a sigh under her breath.

"I actually still feel how I was before or at least some part of me does. Its something that's pretty lackluster since I still don't want to do much of anything more so than usual. I'm just not having the best of times with that fact, since it's preventing from wanting to go out with you, Uiharu, and Saten…but it honestly may be for the best if I don't, unfortunately…" Asher remarked.

"I'm probably not the best to have around for too long in the current mood I'm in. I would most likely stop you all from getting the most amusement out of whatever you're trying to get. I'm not a shopping type of person by any means, but it doesn't mean I want to ruin it for the three of you because of that."

"Oh Alright," Misaka said with a small sigh. "As much as I think you would benefit from going to class and going shopping with us, I understand that you're having a hard time getting motivated to do it. And pushing you to go out of your comfort zone will probably not help with that either. If you change your mind though, you can either text me or meet us at Seventh Mist around the time I said before. But if you don't, it's fine. If you get lonely or in desperate need of some type of human interaction, Kuroko will most likely come back to the dorms to check on you before she goes off to do some judgement work after school."

"Okay I'll keep that in mind." Asher stated as she saw Misaka walk over to the door.

Before she closed it all the way, she stopped and looked over at her.

"I almost forgot, is there anything specific you want me to grab for you to eat?" Misaka asked, seeing Asher lay down on her back on her bed as she waved her hand lazily in the air.

"No, just get me whatever."

"Okay! I'll be back in a moment!" Misaka stated as she closed the door back.

As Asher laid there by herself again, she narrowed her gaze slightly at the ceiling, feeling somewhat irritated with herself that she couldn't bring herself to go out with her friends.

They'll still probably be okay without me there and it's not like I'm the only one not going since Kuroko isn't going either… she thought to herself, trying to rationalize that this was the best decision to make.

Though, one thing that Misaka had said to her before continuously ran through her head, almost making her inclined to rethink her decision

"… you are just as important in our group as much as the rest of us."

As much as I want to believe that to be the case, I honestly think she was just trying to alleviate some of what I was feeling…or still feeling at a lesser extent…

I'm not the most impressionable person in most situations, meaning my presence wouldn't be a detriment or a benefit to them, even if that's hard for me to admit…

They probably think the same, since…they more likely than not like Mikoto's company more so in comparison to mine, which is something that I don't find all that shocking or disappointing…since I tend to lack most qualities that people find appealing, while she has more than enough for people to gravitate towards her…

I always push people away, even when I don't want to…

Even towards people that I consider to be my friends and want to have in my life…

"Friends? Do you honestly think someone as dangerous and insignificant as you are deserves any friends? How foolish of you to even think so…" She heard a voice of Silas from her past say to her in her mind as some of her memories were dragged up to the surface, causing her eyes to widen.

This was something that had been recurring ever since she had awakened this morning and was enough to send her mood just tumbling back into what it was before Misaka had gotten in here from hearing it continuously ring out in her head.

Almost making her feel like she was right there in front of him again…

"You don't need anyone but yourself, and you should keep anyone from gaining your trust…"

No, th-that isn't true…you just wanted me alone so that you could use me like you did, and I won't ever fall for it again… she heard herself say almost mentally, as she laid on her side and grabbed her head to push those memories back, though only seeming like they got worse as it continued.

"They would only use you until you don't matter to them anymore and throw you away, leaving you alone, abandoned and forgotten."

They wouldn't…they wouldn't do that to me…

I won't be alone…I'll never allow myself to make that even be a chance of happening, and she promised that it would never happen again.

"You're worthless and deserve no one…to think you thought of anything other than that is ignorant and foolish as smart as some people claim you to be…all I see is a stupid girl wanting more than she deserves."

I honestly don't deserve some of things in my life…but that doesn't mean I'm going to reject it outright. It may seem selfish of me to do so, but I honestly don't give a damn anymore…especially about what you think.

She could feel her heart starting to pound as she tried to keep herself calm but felt herself slipping in that department as one of her hands clenched her chest as she huddled further into herself.

Stop this…someone please stop this …this constant torment is unbearable

It's like it's on a loop that won't ever end no matter how much I want it to…

"You killed your father….you were too late to save your mother…meaning you're nowhere close to controlling that dangerous ability of yours. We must run this experiment more and more often until that chance is diminished to a safe level."

N-No I didn't.

I didn't kill him, you did.

But..

I was too late to save her…s-she died because of the power I have that you wanted to just keep in your control…

You're right about that…

"If your own mother doesn't love you, than why should I or anyone else?"

I don't…I don't know...tch….I can't answer why they do.

As I said earlier…I honestly don't deserve some of the things I have, and that's probably one of them.

I nearly killed thousands upon thousands of people…

I nearly killed…them along with...

Mikoto.

I did something that no one should forgive me for but for some reason some have many times over from what I think should be possible that I don't deserve.

"Why would that Electromaster ever want to care about an emotionless and heartless girl like you?

After that last point, the influx of her memories involving the constant pushing of Silas's influence over her went as quickly as it came, though taking a far greater emotional toll than she had realized.

She had thought that she had desensitized herself after hearing such things, thinking she didn't care or felt in any way hurt by those harsh words whenever he had said them to her.

But now for some reason…

She couldn't ignore how they made her felt, hurt and annoyed more than anything by not being able to, feeling like Silas won in doing what he had wanted to do to her.

He's not even here…hasn't been for about 2 full years now…and will never see the light of day again for what he did…But why, she thought to herself as she grit her teeth in annoyance, feeling hot tears run down the sides of her face.

Why do I keep getting reminded about him?

And why…

Why do my memories of him keep coming up to the surface whenever they feel inclined to in order to emphasize the helplessness I feel when it comes to wanting to give my friends more than I have the capacity to do in the first place?

I can tell that it…

Upsets me.


Somewhere within the 7th District

About 9 hours later…

Misaka was walking quietly behind Saten and Uiharu as she held a bag in one of her hands, trying to keep herself in a decent enough mood to be there with them as they walked towards Seventh Mist.

School had ended for all of them just an hour or two ago, meeting up with each other for their outing as two people remained missing from their group.

Shirai was deep in her investigation with a mystery involving the Graviton Bombings that had been recurring in the city, meaning she was busy.

And from the text that she had received earlier, Asher had decided it was best for her to just stay back at the dorms.

Which on most days wouldn't have worried or bothered her to any extent due to her relatively quiet and reserved nature when it came to being put into social situations such as this one…

But due to some unfortunate circumstances, she couldn't help but be anything other than worried about the esper in question from seeing how she was last night and this morning.

It's almost like she's slipping back to how she was when she first started getting her memories back, Misaka thought to herself as her face fell with her lips running a thin line from the thought itself.

She's completely and utterly depressed and wants to wallow in it all by herself…

I come in and try to cheer her up, which seems to work briefly for her to only return to the same mood when I leave.

Hopefully, it won't last as long as it did then…

And could be potentially fixed sometime today or tomorrow with what me and the others came up with to help get her out of it…

The grip that she had on the bag in her hand grew tighter as she continued down the path, only to stop in her tracks when she saw Uiharu and Saten stop walking as well.

"Ohhhhh Misaka! Are you still with us?" Saten asked with a smile as she saw confusion fall on her face. "We haven't bored you to death, have we?"

"Huh? What do you mean by that, Saten?" Misaka asked as she saw Uiharu's face layered in concern.

"We've been trying to talk to you the last minute or two, only to be met with you silently looking at the ground with a sad look on your face." Uiharu stated as she messed with the Judgment badge on her arm. "Is there something on your mind that you want to talk about?"

"The question is what isn't on my mind that I want to talk about. It's starting to get cramped up in there." Misaka said with a sigh as she slumped in defeat, hearing Saten laugh a little under her breath.

"So Asher is on your mind from what it sounds like." Saten said aloud as her expression fell though her smile remained as she pumped up her fist in the air. "From what you said earlier, she's in a slump that her one and only friends have to get her to overcome! And we will succeed!"

"Calm down Saten, you're starting to make a scene!" Uiharu whispered frantically, hearing a small chuckle come from Misaka's mouth as they began walking again. "But Saten is right, Misaka. You shouldn't worry about her all by yourself, since we're worried about her as well. I honestly think the plan that you and Shirai came up with will help a lot in this situation."

"Yeah, I hope so at least. Since Zierdan decided to stay back in her dorm, it's up to Kuroko to somehow get her out of there, so that we can meet up with them at some point today with what we got for her." Misaka said as she looked down at the bag she was carrying, seeing a brand-new foldable skateboard. "She's been using that skateboard of hers for years now, so I'm not surprised that it finally decided to give out on her a couple days ago. Even if she'll try not to show it, I think this will make her happier than just going and fixing the wheel on her old one."

"And thennnnn," Saten said aloud as she brought out a bag of her own, carrying a random assortment of desserts that they knew the esper in question loved. "We'll sugar her up even more with massive amounts of chocolate we got for her to have, while enjoying some with her. We can't have her succumbing to a sugar coma alone, now can we?"

"Nope!" Uiharu chimed in. "And then with Konori's help, the cards we made for her to read are hidden pretty well back at the Judgment office. So she'll hopefully not expect a thing if she ends up going there with Shirai to help her out."

"As long as everything runs smoothly, she shouldn't expect anything before we're done with our shopping trip." Misaka said in agreement as they saw the entrance of Seventh Mist from afar.

This is going to work. I know it is, so I shouldn't keep stressing myself out about it, Misaka thought to herself.

I know you have your doubts about these two and Kuroko based off what you said last night…

["Mi…koto, what do you….think the others will think of this? About what I did….what I allowed m-myself to do if they f-find out…o-or when they find out…" Asher mumbled, feeling Misaka stiffen up slightly. "D-Do you think they'll still trust me?….Still talk to me…as casually as they do?"

"Others?" Misaka said in confusion before her face fell in realization. "Wait, you're talking about…"

"Kuroko…Uiharu a-and…Saten…they're nice." Asher continued sluggishly. "So nice to me, even though we haven't known each other…that…long. I like having them…around, since I've grown comfortable being around them….But I'm just afraid that…something like this would ruin that instantly. And I…don't….wa…nt…t…hat…t-to…hap…pe…n."]

Since you weren't able to stay up long enough to hear what I was going to say, I would have let you know that I honestly don't think they'll care all things considered…

They would be able to just as easily see that you weren't at fault for what happened just as much as I do.

I hope that with this, you'll be able to see that as well.

As they all made it to the doors of Seventh Mist and walked in, there was someone standing on the crosswalk behind them with a wild glint in their eye, wearing headphones that played a distinct sound within his ears.

He held a green frog in his hands as he smiled at the sight before him, seeing the Judgment badge that Uiharu pridefully wore on her arm from afar. The sound in his ears seemed to drive his ambition, pressing him forward to do what he had done many times before that week as his smirk seemed to grow bigger on his face from the thought of it all.

A new world order is on its way with me finishing at the top of the competition, and no one will be able to stop me, he thought to himself, laughing slightly under his breath as he got closer and closer to his destination.

My power is growing stronger and stronger to unforeseeable heights…getting closer and closer to where no one will be able to challenge me, not even those punks at school or…

Those useless and annoying Judgment officers like that girl over there.

They have never done anything to help me so…

Who needs them?

They have no place in the world that I will rule sometime in the future when I blow away everyone who stands in my way straight to hell.

So, they'll just become collateral as I crush each and every one of them into the dirt where they belong.


Tokiwadai Dormitory

Finding herself in the same position as Misaka had been in earlier, Shirai stood in front of Asher's door as she stared at it skeptically. She had knocked and knocked on it for the last few hours now, with the esper in question not even making an effort to come and open it.

She had given her the benefit of the doubt since each time she had teleported in there, she could hear the shower running in the bathroom, leading her to believe that Asher was taking one.

But again…

It had been almost 2 hours from the times she had continuously checked, with that same occurrence still going on each time she went in there. It was odd enough that the shower was going at all since Asher tends to take showers at night, leaving her on the fence on how to gauge what to do in this situation entirely.

She didn't want to fail Misaka and the others by not being able to motivate Asher out of her room, which she knew would have probably been her job when they had came up with it this morning to boost some of her morale after it had fallen so low after she had awakened.

So after a few moments, she just went ahead and teleported inside, seeing things being relatively the same: the room was completely empty with a half-eaten muffin located on the desk, while the sound of rushing water was muffled behind the bathroom door.

Unlike the last times she had come in there, she decided to try and knock on the bathroom door a couple of times, only to be met with silence yet again.

Is this girl doing this on purpose? Shirai thought as she glared at the door in annoyance.

It sadly had come down to her last and most dangerous idea of all of gaining Asher's attention: teleporting inside and potentially seeing the undressed Level 5 esper taking long a shower.

If she had been taking a shower and Shirai teleported in completely unwelcomed, there was no telling what would happen to her, but…she pushed back the fear hidden somewhere in her soul and believed it was right to risk her life for this…

Knowing her death would not be in vain, or at least would mean something in the end by maybe gaining Misaka's love at her last dying breath.

"Oh Kuroko, how could you? How could you leave me here without allowing me to confess my undying love for you? I will steal the last of your breath by gracing your lips with my own…" She could just imagine the Electromaster located in all of dreams at night would say to her, hoping the real one would do the same.

It wouldn't be such a bad way to die at all and in the hands of her true love, nonetheless.

As she thought on and on about this precious dream of hers, melting upon the sensations of imagining kissing the esper in question, she noticed that she had nearly lost all of her focus in what she had been doing before, shaking her head side to side to get her back on track.

She found the courage to teleport herself inside, looking over in confusion when she saw no sight of Asher within the running shower.

But that can't be. I made sure with the Head Resident herself and everyone on this floor that she hadn't left this room. Shirai thought as she walked over to the shower to turn it off.

Where could she be...

It didn't take much longer to find that answer, hearing something shift on the floor behind her and looking over as her eyes widened in shock from seeing the blonde hair of the girl in question on the floor, immediately walking over and crouching down in front of her.

She was laying on her side in her uniform against the wall in what seemed like a restless sleep as her brows were scrunched up in discomfort, mumbling under her breath a few times here and there as she stirred close to awakeness to only dive back into sleep.

"Stop…Si…las…" She heard her say softly as she stirred from whatever she was dreaming about. "I n-need...to stop…and take a…break…I can't…th- think straight…to redshift th-that…high again….nrghh….R-Ringing…T-Too m-much ringing…inside my…h-head…Turn it…o-off…Please j-just turn…it off…."

She was sweating profusely from her brow enough to be somewhat alarming as Shirai hoped it was from whatever she was dreaming about and didn't indicate that she was sick in some way.

I don't think it'll be the best idea to leave her like this much longer as she may actually stress herself into an even worse condition than she was before, Shirai thought to herself as she brought two fingers to feel her pulse, feeling it pounding strong and fast beneath her finger tips.

She tried shaking her awake, though even with her calling out her name, it didn't work as she only got a moan or a groan in response.

"nnnrghh…Stop…please just stop…I c-can't...I ca..n't..." Asher mumbled sleepily at the end of her attempts as she fell back asleep.

She didn't feel like it was the best idea to mess with the girl's Amps if they were low since she wasn't as well equipped at messing with her volume as Misaka was and didn't want to accidentally do something that would end up making this worse.

So, she thought of another plan…that could in some ways make the situation worse as well…

With the threat of her life back since she knew that Asher was going to completely and utterly hate this experience.

But…since it was for her benefit, she hoped that she would look over it.

Or at least, consider the repercussions of ending her life in such a manner.

She teleported back inside the room to retrieve the trashcan that Asher kept inside, knowing that at the end of this she was going to need it.

Then, she teleported back into the bathroom and leaned down to put a hand on her side, sighing to herself at the thought of what she was going to do.

"I know we're supposed to be getting you into a better mood, but I sadly have to do this in order to rouse you awake to do so. I hope you remind yourself of our friendship before you try sending me out the window." Shirai said nervously under her breath as they both disappeared.

Shirai teleported with Asher in hand a total of 4 times at the max distance she could do, teleporting back to Asher's room at the end of it all.

It didn't take long for Asher to wake up and abruptly sit up as her face turned a sickly shade of green with Shirai simultaneously handing her the trashcan, immediately throwing up the little contents of what she had in her stomach and primarily dry heaving as her motion sickness was kicked into overdrive.

This lasted for a short while as Shirai kept her distance from the Level 5 esper in front of her, counting the last moments of her life if this was it.

When she was done, she saw Asher practically slam the trash can on the floor next to her as she clutched her stomach, hiding her face from Shirai's view as she was either shaking due to losing her breakfast or losing her temper.

"Tch, I can't b-believe that you even thought of doing that, Kuroko…to think I actually thought you had some logical sense in that head of yours." Asher rasped with enough anger in her voice to make Shirai turn as pale as a white sheet.

"Now, Zierdan…I know you're angry." Shirai began as she saw purple seep into the streaks of Asher's hair.

"No Kuroko, I think the right word you're look for is pissed…I am completely and irrefutably pissed and have an overwhelming urge to throw you into the exosphere with no care for your well-being or how you'll get yourself down from the depths of space." Asher exasperated as she raised her head to show the vibrant purple in her eyes before she closed them and let out a sigh.

"But I am holding myself back from doing it since I actually tolerate your existence to some extent." She continued as Shirai nearly fainted in relief. "But your fate will mostly depend on your explanation of why you just did something so jarring to my senses that I honestly think I've never felt as sick to my stomach as I am now after an experience in which you knew would end up doing just that."

"Well you see, I was trying to wake you up and the only way I saw fit to do so was-"

Before she was able to finish what she was going to say, she had to teleport out of the way when she felt the air around her increase out of nowhere, seeing Asher's eyebrow twitching in irritation.

"Of all the freaking ways you've woken me up, I think this one frustrates me the most. Not only did you teleport me a crap ton of times, but now you're trivializing that you disturbed me when I was taking a well-needed nap? That was your first strike…I wouldn't suggest getting….2… more…urk…nngrh…." Asher grumbled before her face turned green again, feeling her stomach lurch as she instinctively brought her hand up to her mouth.

"On second thought, can you grab the nausea pills I have in my drawer?" she asked as her voice was muffled with her hand. "If you do that I may reconsider punishing you for this…"

"Yes, Yes! Right away!"

Seeing her small chance of survival rise, Shirai teleported right over to Asher's drawer to retrieve her medicine, handing it to her along with a cup of water.

After taking the pill and washing it down with the water that had been handed to her, Asher groaned in discomfort as she laid her back flat across her bed, feeling her stomach shifting every which way without her permission.

Things like this make me hate my ability sometimes…it's so annoying having my motion sickness amplified in such a manner from something as little as this, Asher thought to herself as she felt like she was dying inside, laying one of her arms lazily on her face as the other cradled her stomach.

Even if I try ignoring it, the fluctuations around me shift way too much if I'm moving in something like a vehicle in a space that I don't control that it almost feels like everything is running together too much for me to handle…

And popping in and out of dimensional spaces like with teleporting just makes that feeling even more nauseatingly unbearable the farther and the longer it occurs….

It just an unfortunate situation all together and illogical for me to have on top of all the other things I already do.

As she laid there, she felt the bed dip slightly, prompting her to let out a sigh as she sent the teleporter next to her a weary glance.

"Are you doing alright?" Shirai asked with concern in her voice as Asher closed her blue eyes and hid them under her arm.

"I feel amazing, Kuroko, if you haven't noticed." Asher said slightly sarcastically. "My stomach wanting to eat itself is such a great feeling to have."

"I'm terribly sorry for that since it is pretty much my fault for that, but that actually isn't what I'm asking you about." Shirai said as Asher looked back at her in confusion. "When I found you, you were completely out on the ground of the bathroom with the shower running as you slept."

"Is there something wrong with taking a nap on the floor?" Asher asked as Shirai deadpanned.

"It is when it's in the bathroom, Zierdan." Shirai stated. "And if you knew you were going to take a nap, then why did you have the shower running for basically 2 hours straight?"

Asher went silent for a couple moments before she released a sigh, moving her arm out of the way as she stared up stoically at the ceiling.

"I actually didn't mean to fall asleep in there." Asher remarked. "From what I can remember, I was having a difficult time being able to relax to the point it was starting to stress me out. As weird as it may seem, one of the only ways I've found to be able to help when that happens is listening to the sound of the shower. I guess it's because it reminds me of the sound of rain, which is something I actually like listening to…"

"You didn't look all that relaxed to me when I saw you. It looked like you were in lot of pain from whatever you were dreaming about." Shirai stated, seeing a small shadow fall on Asher's face as she went silent for a few moments until she placed her arm back over face to hide her features.

"Is there something that you needed from me, Kuroko?" She asked, avoiding answering Shirai's question entirely.

"Zierdan, you didn't answer-"

"I know I didn't answer your question from before. And I know I usually do, but….I have no inclination to provide you with that information as I don't feel comfortable with sharing it, and you honestly don't need to know what I'm dreaming about in the first place. Now if that's why you're still here then thanks for checking on me, but I'm fine now so you can go. But if there's another reason why you're in here, then I'm prepared to know whatever it is." Asher responded with finality in her tone.

Shirai had to bite back a retort, knowing that she wasn't going to budge. Even though she has gotten better at being a little more open to it when it came to Shirai herself, Asher still tended to hold on information at times that involved something she deemed too personal to give out.

She thought of one way to maybe press into this, remembering what Misaka had said to her just last night…

["Well, I know you probably have more questions, but it's getting late and I'm starting to get pretty worn out." Misaka stated before she yawned and stretched out her arms, getting off of the bed and walking over to Shirai. "We can continue this conversation tomorrow if you want. Or you could ask Zierdan herself, though it may be slightly more difficult to get any information out of her. But she may be open to it if she knows you were here tonight."]

There was a chance that it could work, but there was also a high chance that it would cause her to completely close down any attempts at communication which would prevent her from doing her part in getting her out of this room.

Since that was the more important of the choices put in front of her, she decided it was best to do what she had requested of her to and leave it alone for now.

"Fine…" Shirai sighed. "The reason I'm here is to see if you can help me on a Judgment case."

"Judgement case? You're actually coming to me for help for something like that, considering you always tell me and MK to stay out of your line of work due to us being 'civilians'?" Asher asked.

"I do, though, how does that apply only in this situation since the both of you never listen to me when I do?" Shirai remarked.

"Now you shouldn't rope me in with MK as I do usually listen more than she does. It's not my fault whoever you're fighting decides to come for me instead." Asher stated as Shirai facepalmed.

She was going to say something back, thinking what she said was the point of what she was trying to get her to understand, but she continued on before she was able.

"And even if I'm more patient and cautious in comparison to her, sometimes it's unavoidable for my intervention. It wouldn't be logical for me to just stand there and watch you be overrun by whoever you're going against. You may be a teleporter but even you can't be in every place at once. So in that case, watching your back is the most logical thing I can do in that situation, even if it's against what you want us to do…"

"As I said before, I tolerate your existence in comparison to most, since I don't really have a lot of people in my life that I'm comfortable being around or talking to. You may be illogical at times and an annoying pervert when it comes to MK, but…I won't let that stubbornness of yours when it comes to your job that I have no interest in joining to do it legally rob me of the few people that I actually still have in my life from you getting in a situation that you can't get out of by yourself…I've lost enough things as it is already and I'm trying to make that unfortunate trend stop before I grow too old to find the energy to do so."

Shirai's eyes widened from that admission as a light blush fell on her cheeks, hearing the compliment hidden behind the words of the usually unexpressive girl next to her.

"You two may have your differences which tends to lead to you two arguing, but I know for a fact that she trusts you…" Misaka's voice from the night before echoed through her head, feeling relief fill her chest from knowing now that it was true even if she didn't outright admit it.

"Awww, I didn't know you felt such deep feelings for me Zierdan. How about I return the favor?" Shirai swooned as she teleported in the air as Asher stiffened from seeing her about to fall on top of her to hug her.

Asher let out a sigh at the sight, shifting the gravity around the teleporter to slow her descent until she was suspended in the air right above her.

"Don't jump to conclusions," Asher said with a deadpan. "Especially since I'm still pretty irritated about what you did earlier. Just go on explain whatever it is, and I'll see what I can do or if I can even do anything to help you."

"Alright, if you say so." Shirai sighed as she teleported next to Asher's bed.

"Okay so, being that you are the top esper when it comes to the field of gravity within this city as a whole..." she began as Asher sent her a sideways glance.

"What all can you tell me on your knowledge involving gravitons?"


Word Count of Chapter: 8812 |Page Count: 16 pages |Reviews: 51 | Followers: 43 |Favorites: 35


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Blankow: Alright, let's get started.

Chapter 15

Yep, Yomikawa and Yoshikawa's appearance actually ties back into the 3rd part of Project WaveInflux when they were heading towards where her and Misaka were fighting. Since they hadn't been mentioned again, I thought it would be fitting to do it there.

In different but also similar ways, the graviton bomber and Asher do have similar abilities when it comes to Gravitons.

I thought it would be a nice ending to the chapter to show Asher like that since the last couple chapters have been lacking in the lightness department. Magic could potentially short-circuit her into oblivion, but only if someone doesn't explain it to her in a logical sense that she will understand completely…which depending who does explain ( like a certain guy we all love and know) will most likely be the case.

Chapter 16

Yep to some extent, Asher surprisingly can be seen as a middle ground between Misaki and Misaka, since she isn't afraid to call them both out if they're in the wrong or doesn't have the energy to watch them argue back and forth with each other.

In comparison to most of the other level 5's, you are correct that Asher honestly doesn't have it as bad in comparison to someone like Accelerator or Shizuri. Her biggest issue is that she relies heavily too much on her own logic, which clouds her judgment when it comes to understanding people and emotions as logic can't always explain them. Her own self-worth is also an issue that will hopefully be fixed when she does somehow see that she's better than she really is as she tends to ignore that but acknowledges the value of the people close to her.

A similar scene with Mikoto and Zierdan could potentially happen, but…that's all I got for that.

Even if they weren't with Asher necessarily, I hope you enjoyed Saten and Uiharu being back. Today, Shirai got the spotlight along with Misaka in this chapter, but Touma will make his appearance soon.


Addie101: Yep the irony of that statement is an understatement. Even if she's more open than Asher is, Misaka does the same thing. Asher does notices this at times, but unless she knows for a fact that she has to, she doesn't try to pry into whatever is wrong since she doesn't like when people do it to her.


velvetsthetic:

Chapter 15

Aw thanks, and sorry about not clarifying the dimensions as I don't think I've explained them as much as I should have.

First, it isn't really gyrokinesis. Her ability is mostly based off the theory of General Relativity by Albert Einstein, which is where blueshift, redshift, light manipulation, etc. mostly comes from with bits and pieces added from the concept of gravity itself from other things.

So when she says "gravity dimensions" that's basically the amounts of space she measures out to control the gravity within the measurements she sets for herself. She can take control of the gravity of an open area to control its entirety or enough that she can condense the gravity to create barriers or attacks. She can take control of the gravity around something as well such as a car, building, person, etc.

For creating her dimensions she just needs to measure out the space for herself, meaning she can theoretically do as much as she pleases with that aspect, though limits herself to make it more effective as the farther the way something is she wants to control, the weaker her hold is on it when it gets to a certain distance away from her. Or because if it's too risky for her to do so due to something located around her or if she can't see the space to its entirety.

Chapter 2

Since I haven't read the manga and only have seen the anime, I do not know what specific volume or chapter the gravity esper was in. All I know is that it's in the Jailbreak Arc of Railgun and the name of the character (Raifu).

Chapter 3

Yes, Asher can control the gravity of herself. You could say that she technically always does it with her ability since when she makes a space for her to control, she kind of in a way anchors her gravity field into that space for that to happen. But in terms of just controlling her own gravity, the only times it has been seen fully at this point is when she manipulates the light around her to create an illusion of what she wants people to see (such as hiding the fact that she isnt wearing her uniform from Misaka or the Head Resident lol).

She hasn't really done what I'm about to say yet (there was a small nod to it in the 1st chapter though) but she can travel around in the air with it as well. She usually uses her skateboard for stuff like that, but she can use or not use that in the air when she wants to (or forced to stay on the ground since she can get in trouble from how she uses it like that:).


Someoneluck: Thanks again for the kind words of praise as it was very much appreciated to hear it:`)


LostNeko120:Aw thanks! I like to hear that you're enjoying it that much:`)