AN: Hello readers! I returned with the next chapter along with a small announcement regarding the chapter uploads of this story...

University is starting up for me again next week and since I'm more or less writing up the chapters in real time, there will be a slow down in the uploads with this and my other stories sadly.

The chapter length and quality will hopefully not take a hit, but it will still take me a longer time to dish out chapters in comparison to how I have been doing this summer.

Meaning if I disappear for a week or two at some points and time, I'm fine (as can be with managing time lol) as I'll be dealing with my college work. I will still be writing behind the scenes so don't worry and I'll try my best to not disappear for a long period of time as much as I can:)

Still enjoying writing this, so it will not be dropped any time soon:D

Well other than that, I'll probably have another chapter written up at some point this week, so be on the look for that. I hope you enjoy this one!

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 21: A Return to Some Normality

4 years ago…

Asher was casually walking down the hallway, staring stoically at the space in front of her. As she passed a couple of storage closets, one of the doors flung open and something quickly grabbed her hand, jerking her hard in its direction as she was pulled inside. She was confused at first as the door shut behind her, seeing the light snap on as Misaka's face appeared in her view.

"Oh why hello there, Miss Zierdan Asher." Misaka said menacingly. "After spending countless hours of tracking you down today, I have finally cornered you!"

Asher immediately began to sweat profusely at the sight, already knowing what this was probably about. During their system scan yesterday, she had been promoted into a Level 5, finding herself overwhelmed with such nervous energy at how the Electromaster would react to that piece of information that she had kept it hidden from her all the way up until now.

She had always held back when it came to those, not wanting to bring more attention to herself that she already had from being a Level 4 at such a young age. She didn't want to be even more outcasted than she already had during all of these years and didn't want to bring it towards Misaka for being in close contact with her day in and day out.

But even with that, she had given her the confidence for something such as this, pushing her out of comfort zone to show off the range of power of her ability that she had extensive control over.

Though her confidence had shattered to some extent when she had come home to Silas who just lectured her into submission for doing something like that, not even allowing her to get a word in to explain herself. She tried to take it in passing like she normally did, but it did crush her to some extent that something like a promotion into a Level 5 spot wasn't even enough to meet his expectations. And just emphasized his basis of the dangerous level of power her ability poised to those around her if she didn't develop more control over it at some point.

"H-Hey Mikoto," She said shakily as the esper in question backed her into the wall behind her. "Is there s-something you want from me?"

"I want to know why you've been acting so weird. Ever since the system scan yesterday, you've been so nervous and skittish whenever I'm around or attempt to talk to you." Misaka said as she crossed her arms, staring down the girl in front of her. "Which makes me inclined to think that you're trying to hide something from me. And a pretty big thing at that for me to notice as quickly as I did."

"I'm not hiding anything from you." Asher responded as she absent-mindedly rubbed the back of her neck. "You already know how socially inept I can be, so it's most likely that."

"Mmhhmm, right." Misaka said skeptically. "Now I know something is up. Not only are you deflecting, but you've also fallen victim to that neck rubbing habit of yours."

Asher stiffened at that as she looked off to the side with her eyebrows scrunched upwards, trying her best to keep up her composure as it felt like her chest was getting tighter and tighter.

"Do you blame me for doing that?" Asher questioned. "I only do it when I'm uncomfortable or need to relax, and you're standing here trying to interrogate a confession out of me when I have nothing to tell you of value."

Silence fell in the room for a couple moments as Asher's heart was pounding hard in her chest to the point that it was nearly to the extent of pulsating in her ears.

'I don't want to tell her. I don't want her to know. What if I do and she stops talking as casually as she usually does? What if she starts to fear me like everyone else?' she continued to think as her mind wasn't allowing her to register how much of a panic she was putting herself in.

Misaka was able to visibly see that something was wrong by how harsh her breathing was becoming as she saw her gripping onto her chest in a tight embrace. She grew slightly concerned at the sight before she came up with an idea to maybe snap her out of it.

As the room began to grow darker and darker at the edges of Asher's vision unknowingly, she felt a light tap in the center of her forehead. Her eyes widened slightly at the contact, looking up and seeing the smiling face of Misaka taking up her vision.

'When did she even?…'

"Zierdan, just focus on me for a second, alright? You're causing yourself to get worked up which is something I didn't mean for to happen, so I'm sorry about that." Misaka said warmly as she softly went to grab both of her hands into hers, rubbing comforting circles on top of them. "No matter what it is, anything you tell me is of value. I'm always interested to hear something from you, even if you think it's small in your eyes."

Slight disbelief came across Asher's features as she was distracted from her prior panic and began to calm down by following the rhythm of Misaka's own breathing right in front of her.

She contemplated what she had said to her for a few short moments before she released a sigh, bringing up her stoic gaze to look over at Misaka, wavering with anxiousness.

"Really?" Asher asked, seeing Misaka nod her head to confirm. "W-Well, I um…..got promoted yesterday…" She looked towards the ground as a look of surprise filled Misaka's face. "…to a Level 5 during the system scan we had."

That seemed to make Misaka go speechless from that bit of information, leaving Asher in suspense on whether that was a good or bad reaction to receive from people.

"Wait…are you really a Level 5 now Zierdan?" She heard Misaka ask, sending her a hesitant nod before it seemed like the Electromaster combusted with energy as sparkles fell into her eyes. "WOWWWW! Good job! I'm super proud of you!"

Asher stiffened at that as a small blush came on her face, looking at her friend who was just glowing with happiness for some reason or another. She hadn't fully expected her to react in such a way...

In such a way that would somehow make her feel relieved and content to some extent from seeing it.

"Th-Thanks." She said as a small smile came on her face, before it fell just as quickly. "I'm sorry for keeping it from you. I should have told you when it happened."

"No it's fine. You don't have to apologize." Misaka said with a smile. "So, have you told your parents about it yet?"

Asher tried not to show it to her, but Misaka could see how deflated she became at that moment as her face became shadowed underneath the bangs of her hair.

"I've only told my stepfather about it. Let's just say, he didn't have the same reaction as you did, but only because of my illogical choice to trick the test as I have been for years now. So, I probably deserved his beratement." Asher mumbled. "And my mother is currently heading a conference meeting this entire week and I don't want to distract her from that, so I haven't told her yet."

Misaka's smile fell at the sight, instantly feeling bad bringing up a subject that seemed to be a sensitive one for her. She had been trying to get Asher to talk more about herself which seemed to be gradually working until it came to the doings of her parents, nearly clamming her back into her shell enough to regret pressing into the subject entirely.

"Well, have you thought of your nickname yet?" Misaka asked, trying to change the subject matter as she saw confusion fall on her face.

"Nickname?"

"From what I know, most if not every level 5 has a nickname or alias in reference to their ability." Misaka explained. "And you along with me when I increase my Level to that extent in the future will be no different."

Asher chuckled lightly at her friend's confident tone, looking up at her with an amused look on her face.

"So from what it sounds like," she began. "I'm going to be called 'Gravity Dimensional Shift'? That sounds like a handful to say. I don't know if I want energy wasted on a title such as that one."

Misaka laughed at that comment as she waved her hand in the air. "No, No, No, you don't have to be called that. As I said before, it can just be a reference to your esper ability in a way."

Asher thought on that for a few seconds, before a lightbulb went off with another idea. "Then how about GDS?"

"I honestly think that's about as bad if you use the full name. With it just being the initials, you would end up having to explain to people what it stood for."

Asher thought on that again for a longer while as she tried to rack her brain for another possibility. She let out a sigh at some point before she shrugged her shoulders. "Would Gravity work then?"

"Nope, that's too simple and broad." Misaka replied amusedly as she saw Asher deadpan at her comment.

"Why am I even suggesting anything if you're just going to say it isn't logical for me to be called that?" Asher asked bluntly. "Technically I could just pick something, but knowing you, you wouldn't allow me to pick something that you see as illogical…"

"Ahahaha, it's not that." Misaka said with a small chuckle. "Considering you're going to be called this until the ends of time, I think that you should pick something that accurately reflects you and your ability. Yes, it should be simplified by not so simplified to the extent you're trying to do."

"Well if that's the case, then what ideas do you have?" Asher asked as she put her hands in her pockets.

Misaka sat there for a couple moments as she put a finger up to her chin and closed her eyes. Asher waited patiently for her to come up with something, seeing her quickly snap her finger when she opened her eyes with a determined look in her gaze.

"How about Gravity Shift? Oh! Or a combination between the two like GravShift?" Misaka suggested. "I think you'll cover all of your bases with that and it's not too long or doesn't necessarily need to be explained all that much. And I think it's a pretty great idea if I don't say so myself since it's bursting with my creativity."

Asher busted out into laughter at that, enough so that it caused Misaka to pause in surprise from hearing the rare sound coming from her lips.

"Hey what's so funny?" She asked as Asher quickly composed herself.

"That you said that you were creative." Asher remarked as amusement trickled into her tone. "Where's that creativity whenever you ask me for help on your homework from a class you know I take naps in?"

"Hey! That's a whole another thing entirely! And you always know the material even if you're sleeping somehow, while I get lost at times, alright!?" Misaka admitted slightly flustered before letting out a breath to calm her nerves. "Anyway besides that, what do you think of the name?"

"I'm not opposed to it." Asher said casually. "To be honest, I actually like it to some extent."

"Oh! So does that mean you'll go with it?" Misaka asked excitedly as Asher walked past her to go and leave the storage room closet.

"I don't know. Maybe I will. Maybe I won't." Asher said with a shrug of her shoulders as Misaka whined behind her.

"Awww, come on. Don't keep me in suspense!" Misaka said as she nudged her shoulder.

"Well, Mikoto." Asher began as she smiled over at her. "You're just going to have to be patient and wait and see."


July 19th, 3:45PM

School District 7 Hospital

"Good grief. It's literally almost 4 o'clock in the afternoon." Misaka sighed aloud at the sight in front of her as Shirai facepalmed.

They had just got out of school a little while ago and went straight back to the dorms to grab a certain esper to go out somewhere with them. When they had realized that she wasn't there, it led them to assuming that she was still in the hospital. So, they grabbed her a clean uniform to change into, her school bag, a small bag of her chocolates, and stopped by Macronall Hamburger to grab her something to eat and made their way over to see her.

They had expected that she hadn't left the hospital due to the fact that she was still undergoing more tests to see if they needed to do anything else before she could leave. However, that was actually not the case since her Doctor had finished all of her testing that morning.

Meaning the only reason she was still here was because she was still pretty much fast asleep...

"Well, should we leave then?" Shirai asked as Misaka shook her head as a look of determination fell on her face.

"No, I still think we should wake her up. She'll end up sleeping for who knows long if we leave it up to her. And she also has barely eaten anything these last couple of days, so she needs to at least eat something even if I have to force it down her throat." Misaka explained as she began walking towards Asher's bed.

She went over and shook her a couple of times, hearing her let out a low groan as she turned away from her.

"Noooooo, 2 more hours Mikoto…It's so earrrrlyyyy." Asher moaned as she tried to fall right back to asleep, only to feel Misaka shake her again as she tampered with her volume.

"Zierdan, come on and get up. 'Early' has been gone for several hours now." Misaka stated, feeling her irritation rise as Asher's eyes remained close.

"Nnnngh…Getting me up at this hour is illogical to the highest degree." Asher remarked sluggishly as she put a pillow over her face. "My brain is tired, my ears hurt, my entire body is exhausted, and I just want to sleeepppp so please stop shaking me. I'm not in the mood to deal with motion sickness right now."

"Other than the first two, what has changed in the last 6 years since I've known you!?" Misaka asked as a vein pooped on her forehead due to her laziness. "According to you, you're always tired and want to sleep horrendously long like you have for practically 3 DAYS NOW, so that's not going to work on me today, Zierdan Asher! You need to get up, eat, and then go outside for an extended period of time without passing out!"

"Why are you yelling at me when you know my ears are really sensitive right now? I haven't even done anything wrong other than wanting to sleep in, Mikoto….I don't understand why you're getting so upset with me because of that fact…"

"Well that makes the both of us because I don't understand why you're acting like someone who isn't 14 YEARS OLD! I thought your sleeping habits were bad in grade school, but now it's starting to get ridiculous! You either get up or I'm going to have Kuroko wake you up instead as I honestly don't want to shock you back into unconsciousness from my irritation of trying to force you to wake up before the sun goes down!"

Shirai nearly dropped the stuff in her hands from hearing that, feeling a chill go down her back as Asher began talking again.

"Unless you want to give Kuroko something close to a death sentence of using that ability of hers on me again for the 2nd day in a row, then I don't think she'll be able to help you out in that situation." Asher sighed as she sat up from her bed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Fine I'm up now even though I don't have any energy to do anything. Is there something you need me to do so early in the day? My Doctor probably has to run his tests on me before I can leave."

Silence fell in the room after she had said that as the lights began to flicker soon after. Shirai looked over at Misaka and saw her fingers twitching about as much as her eyebrow was as more and more electricity began to spark from her hair.

"Um, Sissy? I think you should take a nice deep breath to calm down for a second." Shirai said meekly as Asher looked over at her with confusion shining in her gaze.

"Did you not hear me when I said that it's not anywhere CLOSE to being early Zierdan Asher?" Misaka asked darkly, sending chills down both Shirai's and even Asher's spine as multiple veins were pulsating on her head.

Why does she keep using my full name like that? Asher thought as she tried to stop her heart from leaping out of her chest from seeing how much Misaka's face had darkened in the last couple of seconds.

Even with her stoic face, Asher was sweating profusely at this point as she massively sweatdropped from seeing how angered Misaka was in front of her. She was menacingly walking towards her slowly, making her fear grow exponentially more from her delaying the inevitable.

And since she was basically barred from using her own ability by her Doctor today, she was left defenseless at defending herself from the Level 5 Electromaster…

Head Resident or Angry Mikoto? I never know which one scares me more. She thought as she saw her potential demise getting closer and closer to her.

I seem to be able to get them both pretty angry with me without even really meaning to. They both legally can't kill me, but they always seem to make me wish they did by showing me a fate worse than death that is shockingly both logical and illogical at the same time….

"U-Um w-well I-"

"You've slept so long today that your doctor ran 10 TESTS on you THIS morning and you didn't even realize it because you SLEPT until nearly 4 OCLOCK in the AFTERNOON." Misaka scolded, scaring her back into silence. "And now here you are, sitting there without your IV drip mind you asking me why I need you to wake up when you've nearly gone 4 days without eating a SINGLE THING along with sleeping all day for 3 of those days and have been in the hospital for practically 2 days as well? Do you really need to ask ME what I need YOU to do, Zierdan? Because I honestly think it's pretty OBVIOUS at this point…"

A stunned silence fell in the room as each of them waited for the esper to answer the unasked question hanging in the air, seeing her sweat more and more as time passed from thinking up multiple ways she could have responded to it.

And decided to go with the answer that buried her grave she had already been digging herself even deeper…

"U-Uh, th-that I need better s-sleeping habits?" Asher questioned hesitantly.

Shirai nervously laughed at that answer as she facepalmed, turning around as she proceeded to leave the room to not bear witness to the unforeseen horror that was Misaka's temper.

It was nice knowing you, Zierdan, she thought as the esper herself called out to her with slight desperation within her voice.

"Hey! Kuroko please don't leave me here wi-!"

Before she could finish that statement, Asher jumped when she heard Misaka slam her hand on the front of her bed as a large amount of electricity flooded the room.

"IT MEANS THAT YOU NEED TO GET OFF YOUR LAZY BUTT SO WE CAN LEAVE AT SOME POINT TODAY!" Misaka yelled as genuine realization fell on her face, causing her irritation to rise even more from seeing it.

"Oh, I'm sorry that I-

"TCH, IF YOU'RE SORRY THEN WHY ARE YOU STILL FREAKING SITTING THERE!? GET UP OR I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU GET UP!"

Fearing for her life as its expectancy dropped considerably within that single moment, Asher did what was asked of her no questions asked as she hoped to not cause the Electromaster to explode any further on her no matter how illogical it seemed…


15 minutes later…

After Asher had gotten ready at record speeds, they were able to sign her out and free her from the clutches of the hospital walls in hopes she wouldn't return for a long while before her next appointment sometime in August.

The Gravity esper herself was honestly glad to finally be out of its clutches, even though she didn't find this visit to be as nerve-racking as they usually were. She had felt more like herself in comparison to the last couple of days with this feeling being raised even higher by knowing she had friends that both valued and trusted her to the extent that she wanted to do the same.

She was currently walking next to Misaka as she ate the side of fries that had been ordered for her to eat as a late lunch. She hadn't realized until the very first bite how hungry she actually was, secretly savoring the favor of the delicious treat as a light blush unknowingly fell on her face.

It was enough to catch Misaka's eye, smiling at the amusing sight from seeing her fail at containing her enjoyment as a small smile was placed among her usual stoic features. Before long, however, another sight caught her attention when she saw Shirai falling farther and farther behind them as she wore a contemplative look on her face.

"Hmmmmm…" the teleporter hummed under her breath as Misaka sent her a confused glance, prompting Asher to stop due to noticing it as well.

"What's with that look on your face, Kuroko?" Misaka asked, breaking Shirai out of her trance before she let out a sigh.

"I'm just stumped on some information relating to the Graviton case. I'm still having a hard time believing that Kaitabi Hatsuya was a level 2. It doesn't make sense since it doesn't correlate with the amount of destruction he did with his ability." Shirai replied as a small frown appeared on Asher's face as she remembered him saying something along the lines of that.

["Ahahahahahah! Do you really think I can believe that? As you said before to me, where is the proof of any of what you said of being true? A girl who was already a level 4 as a child and then became a level 5 actually had to go through hardships on par with a Level 2 like me?"]

"So he wasn't lying when he said that." Asher said with a sigh. "I didn't have the energy or the patience to spare to question him on it. But now that I think about it, it's illogical for it to be true at the same time. He's was controlling enough Gravitons to put even me on edge."

Why does it feel like we've been in a situation like this one before? This is such a bad time for my brain to do this to me. she thought as Misaka chimed into the conversation.

"But wait, he would've had to be at least a Level 4 to cause that amount of damage, right?" She asked, seeing Asher nod her head.

"Based off what I was sensing." Asher replied as she stuffed another French fry into her mouth. "At minimum, a very strong level 3. The idea of a Level 2 no matter how strong, though, would be pushing it."

"Exactly, and that can only mean one thing..." Shirai stated before trailing off in thought

Both Asher and Misaka paused to wait on whatever she was going to say as a suspense-inducing silence fell between them.

Though, they both sweatdropped when they saw her fall in defeat…

"I honestly have no idea, what does it mean?" She asked as she looked up at them, seeing Asher just shrug her shoulders as Misaka put a hand on her hip.

"That's kind of what I was asking the both of you, so don't look at me for the answer." Misaka remarked until an idea sparked in her head.

"Hey Kuroko," she began as the teleporter looked up at her. "You're starting to stress yourself out too much, so let's take a break. It might help you to cool off while Z gets to finish eating that lunch of hers along with the bag of chocolates we brought with us."

Both of her friends seemed to perk up slightly from hearing that, willingly following her somewhere to enjoy this hot summer day.


ICE Stall

A little while later…

As Asher laid on a bench either asleep or on her way there, Misaka and Shirai sat in front of a stall that sold a variety of cold, fruit flavored shaved ice.

Misaka was digging into her Gekota money pouch as Shirai stared intently at the chimes ringing above them.

"Hey, what do you want from here?" Misaka asked.

"Just whatever you're having, Sissy." Shirai replied with interest shining in her eyes at the view above her. "You know what I've always found strange? How whenever you hear the sound of a wind chime anywhere around you, it makes you feel just a little bit cooler."

"Yeah. I can't remember when it was gone over in my and Z's class, but it does that because of Synesthesia." Misaka remarked, prompting Shirai to look over at her.

"Synesthesia?" She asked, hearing Misaka hum as her reply. "What's that?"

Before she had time to answer, the woman had finished their frozen treats, handing them both two strawberry-flavored shaved ices. Shirai's face lit up at the sight, before her face fell in confusion from only seeing two cups there.

"Did Zierdan not want anything?" Shirai asked as Misaka shook her head.

"No, though it doesn't surprise me. She eats this on occasion but in terms of colder treats, she's more of an ice cream type of person." Misaka replied as she continued to ruffle in her wallet. "But to answer your question from before, 'Synesthesia' is the reception of multiple sensations from a single stimulus." She turned to look over at Shirai. "We're paying separately, by the way."

Shirai sent her a deadpanned look, somewhat shocked that she had to pay for her own. "You were the one who suggested this, so I thought that it was your treat…"

"Huh? Sorry what was that?" Misaka asked, seemingly not hearing whatever Shirai had said towards her.

"Ugh, oh nothing at all." Shirai groaned dejectedly.

When they walked back over to the bench next to where Asher was laying, she released a small sigh as she opened her eyes to look up at the trees above her.

"What did you two get?" She asked. "Strawberry I presume at least for MK?"

"Right on the money as usual." Misaka responded as she sat down on the bench with Shirai next to her. "Kuroko just got the same thing as I did."

"Are you sure you're not going to get anything to cool you off, Zierdan?" Shirai asked as she saw her raise up into a sitting position, stretching out her arms. "It's starting to get pretty hot out here and I bet those pants of yours aren't helping at all."

"No, I'm actually not all that hungry with what I just finished eating a little while ago." Asher replied as she sent her a sideways glance. "And it's honestly not really all that hot out here to me. I'm pretty much fine all things considered."

Shirai looked over at her in slight disbelief of that comment, noticing that the esper in question did seem to be relatively fine as there wasn't even a single sign of sweat on her body which was almost relatively impossible with how intense the heat was today.

"B-But how?" Shirai stuttered, hearing Misaka let out a few chuckles under her breath from her reaction.

"It's that passive ability she has." Misaka said as she swirled the shaved ice in her cup. "You probably already know this, but kind of like how Electromasters release electromagnetic fields with our AIM diffusion fields, Z passively has a gravity field around her to connect her to the dimensional space subconsciously. I don't know all the ins and outs of it like she does, but along with her sensing capabilities, it can somehow give her a level of control of regulating the temperature around her."

"Yeah, that's basically the gist of it. And one of the only parts that I actually like about having the field itself to an extent." Asher remarked as she rose up from the bench to stand in front of them. "I can't fully block the out heat or forcefully pull cool air in, so it's not always full proof to not feel any discomfort when it comes to the weather. I can mostly just influence its flow around me by slowing down or speeding up how much heat rises or cool air falls."

She raised her hand up for Shirai to take, seeing her quirk her eyebrow when she looked up at her.

"I can give you a small demonstration if you're up for it, Kuroko." Asher remarked stoically as Misaka paused in what she was doing.

"Wait, aren't you suppose to only use your ability only for emergencies today?" Misaka questioned as she turned to look over at her with concern in her eyes. "You've been in the hospital enough times this week. I don't really want you to spend anymore time there if you don't have to."

"That makes two of us., but relax MK. I'm not going to strain myself to the extent you saw me in yesterday, so don't worry." Asher said with slight amusement in her voice, sending her a small smile to hopefully calm the nervousness coming off of her. "Even if my head and ears still hurt at times, I actually feel a lot better. Attaching my gravity to someone else's doesn't take that much energy, especially from the way I'm about to do it which I've done with you many times before without much trouble."

Misaka took a minute to contemplate that before she released a sigh, sending her back a smile as she went and took a bite of her shaved ice.

"Alright, just be mindful to not stress yourself out too much." Misaka stated. "And then after that I can finish the discussion I'm having with Kuroko."

Asher nodded at that as she looked back over at Shirai and kneeled towards the ground as the teleporter slowly but surely grasped onto her hand.

"May I get an idea about what's going to happen?" Shirai questioned.

"It's nothing too drastic. I'm just anchoring my gravity onto yours in order for me to give you an idea of how my regulation works." Asher explained matter of factly. "It'll be a subtle change that you'll most likely notice after a short time of me doing it. It won't hurt or anything, but you may feel a little off since we've never done this before."

Shirai nodded her head at that as Asher closed her eyes to focus, releasing a small breath as the streaks in her blonde hair turned an even more vibrant blue. Since she had only done this with Misaka before, it took a minute or two for her to fully focus in on the gravity surrounding Shirai. From what she had learned over the years, gravity affects everything and everyone in distinct ways which she always has to put in consideration whenever she took control over it to prevent someone from getting critically injured in the process or completely destroying something without meaning to.

It was steady at first, but an odd tingling sensation began to fill Shirai's body as the heat seemed to fade gradually into the background. Even though the hot summer sun was beading down through the trees from above, it almost felt like she was sitting within a warm autumn day as she felt the sweltering heat fade into a more refreshing feeling.

Shirai's eyes widened at that, finding herself both stunned and shocked to some extent at the amount of delicate control both Asher and even Misaka had over their respective Level 5 abilities.

Even though she was well acquainted with the unstoppable power of Misaka's railgun or the undefined force of Asher's hold on gravity, it was easy to forget the things both small and meticulous that the both of them could do with their high level of skill.

"Is it working?" She heard Asher ask, breaking her out of her trance as she looked at the esper in front of her. The blues of her irises seemed to grow brighter within the shade of the tree. In response to that, the air around her seemed to grow even more calm and cool from seeing her blue orbs, reminding her of the conversation that she and Misaka were having just a few moments before.

"Yeah actually it is. As you said, it did feel weird for a few moments, but now it's almost like the heat is reduced to a nice warm sensation." Shirai remarked before looking over at Misaka. "Question, Sissy, are colors also involved when it comes to Synesthesia?"

Asher blinked in slight confusion of that statement as she disengaged her ability, hearing Misaka hum as her answer.

"Mmmhhhmm, exactly! Seeing reddish colors makes you feel warmer, while in the same way seeing bluish tones makes you feel cooler." Misaka explained as she tipped her cup over to show Shirai. "And since this shaved ice is strawberry red…"

"It intensifies the fruitiness of the sensation?" Shirai asked, seeing Misaka nod her head as she took a bite. "Oh, I think I get it now!"

"Synesthesia?" Asher said mostly to herself. "Doesn't that relate to the sensations you feel based off a reaction from a stimulus? I think I remember going over that in class at some point in time. Though, I'm confused on what brought that up so suddenly."

"Oh, that's what we were discussing before we got over here." Shirai stated. "And what brought it back to mind was due to seeing how the blues in your eyes and hair grew even more vibrant than it already was. It almost felt like the heat around me calmed down even further."

"Really?" Asher asked as Shirai nodded her head to confirm.

Before either of them could say anything, they both heard Misaka cringe in pain from her apparent brain freeze she was enduring, prompting Shirai to laugh a little at the sight.

"Aww, did you get a brain freeze?" Shirai teased as she took a bite of her own, karma instantly striking her as her own head froze over.

After Misaka laughed a little to herself, she looked over at Asher and said, "In response to your question from before and without considering any of the science involved within your ability, I'd say your GravShift is a great example of Synesthesia from your shifts in colors that tend to happen whenever you use a certain type of wavelength during its activation."

Asher's eyes slightly widened from that apparent comparison, seeing some of the same in Misaka's opinion without putting in the science as to why it happens in the first place.

Blue and purple potentially could stand for a more calm or cool state of mind in certain respects while red could intensify a hot or unstable state of mind at times in opposition of that, more or less correct due to the mood shifts that tend to happen if she pushes her redshift abilities too far.

Before they could go any further, they each heard a familiar voice ring out in the air.

"Oh Misaka, Shirai, and Asher! Hey you guys!" Saten said happily from afar as she walked up to them, cradling her school bag within her arms.

"Hey Saten!" Misaka said cheerfully as Shirai and Asher sent her smile for their reply.

"Hmmmm, those ices look delicious! Especially on a hot and sunny day like this one."

"Well if you want one, there's an ice stand over there that sells them with a variety of fruity flavors to choose from." Misaka stated as she pointed in its direction.

Saten contemplated on the offer for a while, looking over at the three as she wondered if she could get one of them to tag along with her. She smiled when she saw a certain blonde-haired esper not have the frozen treat she wanted to try, surprising her as she grabbed her hand to drag her along with her.

"H-Hey, um Saten? Wh-What are you doing with me?" Asher asked shakily as her face began to heat up, feeling her fingers intertwined within her friend's grasp to prevent her from escaping.

"Oh we're just taking a small field trip together! I didn't want to traverse the dark waters alone, so I thought you would be the best one to abduct to come with me." Saten stated as she sent her a bright smile, hearing their friends laugh from afar from the sight.

Asher stayed silent at that as she looked away, releasing a sigh as she felt herself slowly relax in Saten's hold. She had started to get used to the girl's close to borderline intimate interactions in which her and Uiharu seemed to be the main targets of her physical affections while Misaka, Uiharu (again), and her (again as well) was on the receiving end of the verbal side of said affection.

She knew it would take too much energy to deter her from this, while also starting to like the feelings that rose up in her chest because of it to some extent surprisingly as it almost reminded her of Misaka for some reason.

Though, she would probably never verbalize this to Saten herself as it would most definitely lead down a road to more of this illogical behavior that she just couldn't find the energy to reject outright….


Saten was looking at the choices in front of her as Asher's hand was still in her grasp, finding some amusement from the both serious and laid-back nature usually projected by the esper faltering enough to get past her stoic face. She had noticed when she had relaxed, feeling her fingers curling over into her own as she looked off to the side with a blush almost up to her ears.

She didn't notice her looking back at her, smiling at the sight from how easy it was to bring out this side of her personality that seemed to always remain hidden from the public eye.

Compared to Misaka who radiated with natural confidence and charisma, timidness and cautiousness seemed to always follow Asher even when it was covered with her natural stoicness, bluntness, and logic. She always seemed to keep stuff to herself that she didn't want to burden with those around her to prevent them from bearing the load that always seemed to be falling upon her shoulders every given moment and time. Even if she was fairly closed off in some respects, she knew that she was an innately quiet, kind, and caring person, even if it might not be seen in the eyes of Asher herself as she probably doubted it in some way or fashion.

Even with this, she noticed how whenever she was around a certain somebody a lot of these things seemed to fade into the background, pushing her to be a little bit more comfortable within social surroundings and allowed her to grow closer to those that she trusted enough to see as a friend as she would do everything in her power to make sure that they were safe.

That was the kind of person that she knew Asher to be, finding the rumors saying of the danger and ill-natured heart of the esper in question to be completely false no matter the circumstances if the events she had read up on were true in any way. Asher was just Asher in her eyes, not once ever seeing her as a Calamity that many people seemed to label her as in the rumor mills and forums that she had seen online about the elusive GravShift herself.

She sent a small squeeze into Asher's hand to snap her out of the flustered haze she was caught up in, seeing her blue eyes hesitantly look over at her.

"You know that you don't have to be so nervous right? It's not like I'm going to bite you or anything. I'm just trying to get those walls of yours to loosen up around me, considering you are a great person to be around." Saten remarked, hearing Asher let out a sigh as she actively tried to cool off her face.

"I seem to make a lot of people feel inclined to say that. I know my reaction to this and other things you do is probably illogical I just...can't ever seem to help it when it comes to most people." Asher stated. "I never really grew up with a lot of close and intimate contact like this, so it's still sort of foreign to me to get it from someone like you so openly I guess."

"Well does it make you uncomfortable? I can stop doing it if you want me to." Saten asked with a small whine, loosening her grip ever so slightly on Asher's hand which seemed to stiffen upon doing so.

She already had an idea to the answer, completely amused by the fact of the blush on Asher's cheeks growing even more. She saw her bring her other hand to reach up for the back of her neck before it stopped, shaking in the air slightly as it fell back down to her side with a nervous frown coming on her lips. She tightened her hold on Saten's hand as she looked towards the ground.

"No…it doesn't bother me." She said almost too softly for Saten herself to hear.

"Huh? What was that Asher?" Saten asked as she put a hand towards her ear. "I don't think my ears deceived me, but I just want to make sure I heard it correctly."

Silence rang out between them for a few moments as Asher released a sigh.

"N-No, It doesn't bother me." Asher said again a little louder and with more confidence, sweatdropping at the loud gasp that rang out in the air.

"Wow, I never thought this day would actually come! To think that I, the Level 0 named Ruiko Saten, would be able to get the Level 5 GravShift, Asher Zierdan, to break her reluctance and actually admit to such a thing I already knew to be true." Saten remarked as she pulled a tissue out of nowhere to wipe the comedic amount of tears coming from her eyes. "I'm proud that the long war I've fought with indestructible logic was one without any casualties."

After a few moments of saying that, her eyes widened in shock from hearing something that she had only heard once before…

On the first day that she had met the esper in question along with Misaka and Shirai…

Asher tried to contain it for a few seconds as she held her hand over her mouth, but after a while it was almost as if she couldn't restrain that emotion anymore. Saten had never expected that she would have been indulged as much as she had when she got the usually stoic girl by herself, hearing a genuine laugh come from her lips that brought a small smile on her face from witnessing the sight,

"Ahahahaha, jeez Saten. 'Indestructable logic'? 'One without any casualties'? Of all the illogically dramatic things you've done in the time I've met you, I didn't expect you to go this far. It kind of caught me off guard." Asher said amusedly as she looked over at her, her face falling in confusion from seeing the expression on Saten's face as she was now staring her down. "Um, Did I say something wrong?"

Saten stared her down for a few more moments until she released a small laugh of her own, looking back at the shaved ice in front of her as she smiled to herself.

"No you didn't at all, Asher. I'm just happy that I did something for once." Saten stated as she ordered herself a lemon-flavored shaved ice, leaving Asher stuck in her own confusion for a few moments.

"I must have missed something then, but what did you just do?" She asked, prompting Saten to laugh a little under her breath again.

"I got to make you laugh of course. Misaka made it seem so easy before, even though she didn't use a lot of effort to do it. But in reality, it seems you're a pretty tough cookie to crack." Saten said genuinely. "Unless you're trying to save it for someone special, then I think you should allow yourself to do it more often. It's a nice thing to hear and most likely would make the others just as happy as I am as well."

The blush that had gone away for a while returned with a vengeance on Asher's face as her eyes widened, immediately looking away to hide it from the girl next to her.

"Awwww, you don't have to get embarrassed. I wasn't trying to do that to you." Saten teased.

"I'm not embarrassed. As I've said before, it's not my fault that my face wants to do it at the worst times." Asher mumbled before she released a sigh and conceded to her sweet tooth by ordering her own shaved ice. "But I'll keep what you said in mind. I've been told along the lines of that before by-"

"By Misaka? Oh, and probably Shirai as well?"

Saten was only answered by a simple nod as the lady brought out her lemon-flavored shaved ice, while Asher had ordered a lime-flavored shaved ice. Before she could get all of the change she needed in order to buy hers, Asher beat her to it and paid for both of them.

"Hey, you didn't have to do that! I could have paid for mine." Saten whined as Asher began to drag her away from the stand.

"Uh-huh, I already knew you could pay. It wouldn't be logical for you to drag me over here for just your own amusement if you couldn't." Asher said without turning to look at her.

"Oh, then why did you?"

Silence fell between them for a few moments until it was broken when Asher released a small sigh.

"I just…wanted to make it up to you for all the days you and Uiharu most likely worried over me after my visit to the hospital the other day and when you saw the bomb go off in my face yesterday." Asher explained. "I didn't mean for that to happen, but I tend to forget that type of feeling is natural for people to do even in terms for me as well no matter what I say to avoid it. That was probably a small sum for what you endured during that time, but…it's a start."

Saten's eyes widened in surprise from hearing that, not realizing that was how she felt in regard to that overall.

"Wait, you don't have to make it up to me or Uiharu-"

"I know but at the same time I know that I do need to some extent. Some part of me does at least." Asher said, stopping Saten from finishing her comment. "If I had gone about it the right way, neither of you probably wouldn't have blamed yourselves. It is in no way your fault that my anxiety got out of hand that day. To be honest, the both of you along with the others lowered it considerably as your illogical antics and behavior took my mind off it for a time…"

"I have enough regrets and debts I need to repay sometime in my life. Having you believe that you were the one who pushed my anxiety over the edge because I hid what was bothering me from you won't be one of them. Even if it may take energy for it to happen…for me to find a way to be more comfortable talking about myself and my problems and figuring out my own emotions…our…friendship is something I'm willing to at least push myself to try and give it towards."

Asher went silent at that as they made their way over to where both Misaka and Shirai were sitting at as Saten remained speechless from behind her, feeling the heat creep into her face as she tried her best to prevent it from rising any further.

Funny and I thought Misaka was the one out of the both of you to have a way with words. She thought as she closed her eyes with a smile coming across her face.

Who would've thought one of the shyest people when it comes to fully expressing her feelings towards something as small as this would make me feel this way.

Make me, a level 0, feel as though I've left a mark on someone who is one of eight Level 5's in the city.

I still want to find some way to be more of use to all of them, but…

It's good to know that she finds value in the little I actually can do as of right now.


Word Count of Chapter: 8370 |Page Count: 15 pages |Reviews: 70 | Followers: 53 |Favorites: 42


Review Replies

uptownhat: Aw thanks:`)


LostNeko120: You're welcome and thanks!


velvetsthetic: Yep, it seems a new ship has returned to the fold. They haven't interacted in a long while, making the moment even greater to end that day. Glad to hear that you enjoyed it!


gaidzani: Yep, I didn't expect to upload 2 chapters that day either lol:D

Asher has been in a pretty dark place technically since chapter 16 maybe even as far back as chapter 8, so sadly her reaching her breaking point was unavoidable by the amount of hiding she has been trying to do. But hopefully with the last chapter along with this one, you can see that it is starting to turn around for the better.

Soooo, Kamijou x Asher, another ship that I knew would be unavoidable at some point to find its way into the shipping bag. I can say that it's not off the table, but in terms of ships and romance for the two it won't be as easy as it seems when it comes to Kamijou and all the girls that seem to place him into their hearts. In my mind, I've had the idea that she'll share the same trait that the others (Saten, Uiharu, and Shirai) seem to have in which they don't fall for him in the manner like Misaka does, making her and him at risk for her teasing.

Again it's not off the table (like the rest of the ships since it seems I'm still finding my way through the bag to pick one *sigh*), but for their relationship, they have a nice friendship in which is the first one that she has made without really any assistance from Misaka herself.

Asher may see it as an illogical endeavor to pursue at this point, but she can still find the energy and more amusing to tease him on some of the stuff that seems to follow him around lol;)

Thanks!


Blankow: Thanks!

Chapter 19

Yeah, Asher's trait for the art of "tearing into people" sadly found its way towards Misaka in which she knows the ins and outs of pressing into the Electromaster's nerves.

I was fairly close to giving most of the shine to Misaka in regards to "saving" Asher since it is a small return of the darker side of her personality. But with the type of person Touma is, I couldn't see him not playing a role within it.

I said this in an earlier reply, but Asher in some respects has been losing an uphill battle towards falling into a dark place ever since the nightmare scene within chapter 8. Though with this chapter, she is finding herself in a better place in comparison to the last few chapters.

Yeah, the Graviton Bomber is not really able to speak such a way about those around him. Apparently he spouted his illogical nonsense to Asher instead of Misaka this time, though.

One day the main ship will be revealed that's going to be in focus for you (and me lol) but I'll just sit back and tease you all to the ends of time...

Chapter 20

Sadly, Z is probably competing with the amounts of times Touma has been in the hospital to her misfortune.

Yeah, all the level 5's need a therapist. Heaven Canceller and Yomikawa have more or less played a role to some extent of doing that.

Asher was sadly left defenseless to defend herself from the girl who probably does have the extreme of throwing things on the daily.

Even though she was unstable at that point and time, Asher was purposefully pressing into her nerves. I knew an apology was needed even if Misaka wouldn't have put it against her if she hadn't.

Hopefully with this chapter, you can see that she is on the road to getting batter in comparison to the last couple of chapters:)


Addie101: You're welcome! Hope you enjoyed the normal and wholesome shenanigans within this chapter as well:)


Homcomru: No, you are completely fine:) I like seeing reviews for my older chapters as well. I still don't know the secrets to my own writing speed and chapter lengths, but it's glad to hear the enjoyment people have because of it.

Alright, so glad to hear that you're enjoying the story. I think it's pretty accurate to describe Asher as "closed off and unsure of herself" because that is more or less what I was going for in terms of her character. It's one of the unique quirks to her personality in comparison to the other level fives. Thanks, I try my best to describe things for you guys to prevent such confusion from happening.

Hmmmmm. At that point in the story (Chapter 10 and before), I don't really see the others being all that rude to Asher after going back and reading it. It could be that I watch the Dubbed version of the cast more so than the Subbed version as this story probably reflects that. Thanks for the applause for Touma's portrayal even though as you say he isn't all that hard to mess up lol.

I can see some of the rudeness with mostly Shirai overall, but that's honestly because the both of them do bump heads a lot which if everything stays the same, you'll see some of why in the next chapter. Let's just say for right now that they didn't have the best start in terms of their friendship…

I can somewhat see the rudeness with Misaka, but then again they both like to mess with each other. As of right now, I'd say they have a sibling like relationship (to the Misaka x Asher shippers don't be alarmed because it could potentially change), meaning they find amusement in pressing each other's buttons at times and go right back to being friends thereafter. Misaka also is the healthy push to get Asher out of her shell at certain points and times as well even if she'll end up being uncomfortable because of it.

I don't really see any of it with Uiharu and Saten, so I don't know what to say on that as I'll probably need an example…

I'm sorry if my portrayal of the cast makes it seem otherwise, but I do hope overtime you'll see that it's not my intention for them to be rude to her. I honestly could see it more along the lines of her being a little rude to them with her bluntness and hiding how she truly feels about something but they all (including Asher herself) have a good time with each other even with all things considered.

Thanks for the review, the praise, and the healthy amount of constructive criticism:D


Jackrocks6: Thanks! Glad to hear you like Asher and her interactions with Misaka.

Hmmmm, I am aware with gravity's effects on time. It is somewhat there whenever she's traveling with her gravity indirectly by increasing her speed to getting to places or maneuvering easily through people on the sidewalk as when she uses her skateboard, she's using her ability to propel it forwards to get through the loophole of her motion sickness.

But in terms of an advanced form of this (like a full on time-stop or going back/forward in time), more research will probably be needed on my part to get it right but also quite possibly a hidden potential in terms of her overall ability;)


Thanks for your reviews!

-PurpleClover99