AN: Hello readers! I have returned as I have survived university thus far. It has been...challenging at times in terms of the now far out concept known as sleep. But it's getting better and has allowed me to do a full rotation of sorts for my stories where I focus on one for a week or week and a half and upload it over the weekend. So in terms for this story, I'd say updates will come at least every 2-3 weeks with time permitting.

We've also reached 10,000 views! So what better time than any to upload this chapter as compensation for the support I receive from you guys from the follows, favs, and reviews as it is much loved and appreciated on my end:`)

Well other than that, I hope you enjoy this chapter in which brings into focus a particular friendship seen to some extent in the last chapter. I almost didn't have it within this one as I thought the pacing was starting to drag on with this day, but I changed my mind as I thought it was needed to show a relationship that hasn't really been given much background.

I also have a small surprise at the end, so be sure to read the small AN for said gift that you may or may not know about...

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 23: To Agree to Disagree

About a Month Ago…

Shirai was slowly walking up the stairs of the Tokiwadai dormitory as she kept her gaze towards the ground with tears threatening to fall from her eyes.… with Asher's words to her from before repeating over and over through her head as her confidence wavered heavily with the emotions creeping up in her chest to go in its place.

[To be honest, you're basically the embodiment of all three of those things along with others that I can't stand being around." Asher continued as a shadow fell on her face. "You may be a lot better than that other roommate she had by actually wanting to be around her, but the only reason you want me to talk to you is because for that reason entirely since I'm close to her and you want to stay in her good graces. Not because you want to get to know me just like everyone else. I've learned the hard way that it's highly illogical to trust someone when all they're going to do is throw you away in the end, so I don't feel comfortable putting energy into a one-sided affair like this one."]

Her eyes narrowed at that before she let out a shaky breath that threatened to turn into something else that she didn't want to do at this moment. She had never heard such resentment in Asher's voice before as she had barely any emotion within it at most times to begin with…

With that emotion abnormally filled within her voice coming towards her without any means of holding back that time.

Yes they may argue and purposefully spite each other…But…

That…was something she knew stemmed from something else entirely, knowing she was probably at fault for pushing Asher to that extent when she made the underhanded comment of her lack of any social skills.

She hadn't meant for it to come out that way. She was just mostly frustrated with the situation itself as it seemed like it was impossible for her to come to terms with the esper in question to actually get along enough to be civil with each other…

Hoping to become friends at some point in time.

But now after what had happened at Joseph's a few hours ago when Misaka had tried to get them to talk it out, that possibility turned into more of a dream that she was almost certain would never come true at this rate.

'I don't understand why I'm feeling this way towards someone who despises me. I usually don't let something like this or someone like her get under my skin.' She thought as her eyebrows turned upwards, arriving up to her floor to go off and sulk in her room until she had to go on patrol for Judgment with Uiharu.

'There hasn't been one time she has talked to me without Sissy edging her on to do so, with the only way to actually get to know her or talk to some degree is pressing into her nerves which almost seems like I can do just from existing and being in close proximity to her….'

'She's rumored to be a delinquent, even though she usually just comes close to breaking the rules most of the time….'

'She's rumored to be cold and dangerous, but if that were the case then someone like Sissy wouldn't have befriended her if she knew her to be as ill-willed or as cynical that her reputation says her to be…'

'She's one of the laziest human beings I've ever met, since all she does is sleep, go to school, hangout with Sissy on occasion when she asks her to, and never puts in more energy than it's worth.'

But…she is also one of the smartest people within Tokiwadai Middle School which allows her to receive high marks on anything she does even if she doesn't try to…'

'There are so many things I could put into the equation to get an understanding of who she is as a person but there are so many conflicting viewpoints that just make it nearly impossible to dwindle it down if I didn't pay attention to what she says during our arguments or watching how she acts with Sissy when she thinks I'm not around.'

Before she continued to think any further as she walked down the hallway, she raised her head as her eyes widened slightly out of shock with them falling moments after from witnessing a rare occurrence that she hadn't expected.

Asher was sitting on the ground a little ways down the hall next to her door, keeping her gaze to the ground as her face was hidden under the shadows of her hair.

She tried to not pay attention to it at first as she made her way to the door that was next door to Asher's but hesitated for a few moments. When she looked down at the esper sitting on the ground beside her, she noticed that something was off about her overall.

For one thing, she noticed how pale she seemed after she had gotten so close to see it, knowing that the same could be said by her face even though it still was out of her sight.

Another thing that seemed notably wrong was by the fact that the blue streaks in her hair were so faded that she could hardly see them. Even though it didn't seem all that natural to most, she knew that it was tied to her ability in some way due to her control over the shifts of wavelength when it comes to gravity.

Meaning that she was either consciously dampening her ability in some way or something was wrong that was preventing it from being active at its full capacity.

She bent down in front of her and she still hadn't acknowledged that she was even there. She brought up one of her hands that landed on and shook the girl's shoulder softly, hearing a moan escape her lips as she brought one of her hands to rub her aching temple.

"Nnnngggh, M-Mikoto is that…." Asher began to say before her blue eyes met with Shirai's, widening slightly before she looked off to the side and let out a sigh as the shadow returned on her face. "You would be the one to get here before she did….I g-guess I'm not surprised though since she's probably upset enough to not want to come here so soon and see me. Most likely having to cool off at the arcade due to how much I constantly stress her out every day with today being another disappointment to add to my already lengthy list."

Even though she had said it so matter of factly, the stoicness in her voice was not enough to hide the emotion that borderlined sadness or guilt, taken aback by it slightly for another instance that had been rarely heard from her.

"What is it that you want Shirai?" Asher asked lowly, breaking her out of her thoughts. "I don't have any energy to argue with you right now. And I just want to be by myself."

"It may sound unbelievable to you, but I was actually just checking to see if you were okay. You're not looking all that great in comparison to when I saw you earlier." Shirai explained as Asher stuffed her head further in between her knees.

"Well then you're just seeing things since there's nothing wrong with me." Asher remarked. "So just go on into your room like the last 10 people have without caring I was sitting here. I don't remember seeing naps in the hallway being against the rules, meaning there's no reason for you to bring your authority as a Judgment officer into this like you usually do. It's just a pointless waste of time and energy especially since it's my fault I locked myself out."

Shirai felt her frustration with the girl in front of her boil over as she snarled under her breath.

"What is with you!? I've been trying so hard to figure you out these last couple weeks but I don't understand why you're always talking down to me like this, especially right now when I'm just trying to help you because I'm concerned that something is wrong with you!?"

"Shirai I…"

"I know it's not all your fault as I am at fault for how we argue as well….But it doesn't change the fact how much you try to distance yourself from Sissy at times just because I'm right there! What's so bad about me that you have to do that to one of your closest friends!?"

"Shirai pl-"

"NO! I won't allow you to interrupt me today, Asher Zierdan! I've had it up to here with-"

Before she could go any further, she felt her entire world shift into the wall behind her after Asher had quickly stood up on her feet with a trembling grip on her collar.

"KUROKO! Can you please SHUT UP for one FREAKING moment and actually use those ears of yours to listen to me for once!?" She yelled angrily as she grimaced under her breath. "I haven't taken my medication all right! I somehow forgot to this morning for some reason or another and here you are yelling at me for no logical reason at all which is making it feel like explosions are going off in my head and in my ears from my Amps currently being dead!"

Shirai immediately recoiled from hearing that as Asher painfully panted in front of her, feeling some type of guilt fall in her chest from not noticing that sooner.

"Oh I'm-" Shirai tried to say before she stiffened in surprise when she had to catch Asher as she nearly fell on top of her.

She had paled even further in comparison to how she was just moments before as waves of heat continuously rolled off of her skin with sweat pouring down from her brow. Her eyes looked to be both glazed over and unfocused as her speech slowly spiraled into her slipping in and out of saying unintelligible words as she didn't even show any semblance of her knowing that Shirai was still there.

"Nnngh, m-my head….Noise….so much….too much noise…" She mumbled under her breath. "Why is there an illogical amount of noise within this uncrowded hallway?...It needs to stop….Why won't it stop?"

"Asher? Are you okay?" Shirai asked hesitantly as she saw light come back into her eyes before she closed them and let out a shaky sigh.

"Externally y-yes but internally n-not so much. My brain is just not fu-functioning all that well. Enough that it's starting to become an issue….from not taking my meds as long as I have today….If I d-did the math right…I'm about 6-7 hours overdue at this point. It's taking all of my brain power…j-just to focus on talking to you r-right now."

Shirai contemplated on how to go about this before slugging Asher's arm around her neck and proceeded to move down the hallway. There was some resistance to stop this action as Asher sent her a confused sideways glance.

"Wh-What are you doing…Sh-Shirai? I-I thought that I told you to j-just leave me alone…"

"I'm taking you downstairs to see the Head Mistress as I call for an ambulance to come here and take you to get some help." She explained, seeing Asher's eyes widen slightly as she continued. "From what I've heard Sissy say about it, that medicine helps to prevent the damage in your brain from working against you, allowing you to live as if it wasn't there in the first place from it being substantially suppressed."

"Then logically sp-speaking I shouldn't have to g-go to the hospital for something as little as this th-that can be fixed fairly qu-quickly. I ju-just need to take my m-meds and I should be fine. I do not consent to you or e-even them taking me there as it's not wanted o-or needed." Asher retorted back.

"If you could actually walk in a straight line by yourself or stand up straight for that matter, I would've almost believed you in hearing you say that 'you were fine' and not just being a tad bit stubborn and in your own words 'illogical' from trying to convince me otherwise. I'm doing it whether you like it or not. We may not be on good terms but it's not like I'm going to allow you to refuse help for your own benefit." Shirai stated as she proceeded forward, before feeling Asher trying to stop her once more.

She was about to lecture her into the ground for trying to say she was still fine and didn't need any help, before she looked back to see something within her face that took her by surprise: fear.

"Please ju-just listen to me and not take me there. This day has sucked for me in every way, shape, and form. I don't want a visit to the hospital to be added to that. I also don't want MK to know about any of this either as she would potentially kill me from lecturing me for my forgetfulness or worry over me to the extremes since this I guess gives her a logical reason to do so in comparison to the other times she has done it."

Shirai thought on it for a while before letting out a small sigh as they turned back in the direction of their rooms. "Finnnnne, I guess I'll go along with this, even if it's against my best judgment." She remarked as Asher sighed under her breath in relief before hearing her continue. "But…"

"But? There's...a but?" Asher questioned in confusion.

"Precisely. Did you really think that you would get out of this that easily along with having me be sworn from saying a word to my beloved Sissy?" Shirai swooned with Asher practically gagging internally from that remark.

"Wow, now I suddenly find myself wanting to go to the hospital." Asher stated flatly under her breath. "I see my sanity draining there slower than being around a perverse girl constantly going after someone close to me. Someone I actually feel motivated to actually call out illogical things such as that in her place, even though I know she can and will do it herself.…"


July 19th, 7:30PM

JonaGarden Family Restaurant

Ugh, what have we gotten ourselves into? And how is she going to make it either better or 10x's worse? Asher and Shirai thought with a grimace as they sent sideways glances towards the confident Electromaster standing in between them.

After not being able to convince the esper next to them to wait until they had a well, thought out plan, Asher and Shirai anxiously followed Misaka here for a confrontation with some of the people who have used the rumored device or drug known as the Level Upper, in which somehow allows others to raise their ability levels to higher heights than they would have gone up to in due time.

They were all both skeptical and overall concerned by its existence as they had all struggled in some respects against people who had power that did not equate towards the level they had seen within the database. They could take the logical approach and say that it wasn't any more than those specific people just having a dramatic increase in power simultaneously, enough so that the databank associated with their overall stats was not equipped to keep up with such development.

But they couldn't think that way or even rely on that idea at the same time as it would avoid the underlying danger of this rumor actually not being a rumor at all in some capacity…

That it was true and that some people were using this unorthodox way as a means to grow their ability in a way to compete with high leveled espers like themselves or abuse their newfound strength to get back at the people they had felt had wronged them in which was sometimes life-threatening as seen by the Graviton bombings.

Even if she hadn't been as vocal about her own suspicions and doubt as Asher and Shirai next to her, Misaka was in the same boat of unease that only seemed to be growing more so every passing moment they learned something new about the situation overall.

She honestly hadn't taken much thought of what Saten had said about it the other day, only now seeing it as something worth to look into after Shirai and Asher grounded it enough for it to be seen as an issue.

With the latter of the two seeming like it was bothering her the most from all the times she had caught her stuck in her thoughts ever since they had signed her out of the hospital…

Normally, she would press her more to figure out what she was thinking since it almost seemed like she was doing all of her effort to hide it while at the same time, allowing herself to enjoy being around their friends…

But some part of her was holding her back due to what Asher's doctor cautioned her on last night constantly running through her head…


Last Night at School District 7 Hospital…

After finally convincing Kamijou to go on and leave a little while before, Misaka was currently holding onto Asher's hand into both of her own as she was laying in the hospital bed next to her semi-conscious with a notable amount of discomfort located on her face as she continuously winced under her breath with her head stirring from side to side.

She wasn't looking all that great right now with the paleness of her features and the gauntness of her face showing Misaka and even her Doctor who was currently out trying to figure out what was wrong, that something was off that was in turn stressing out her body in a painful way as whimpers continuously slipped from her lips.

"Silas….Silas...he's h-here…He's here co-coming f-for me…I can't stop him…" She strained as she clenched Misaka's hand tighter unknowingly. "Tch…Control…I-I'll lose control….Lose my mind again...I-I…I-I will….Calamity….Aha…haha …Calamity…Cal…mity…Become Calamity again…Hahaha, D-Destroy everyone…e-even Tch..th-them…But W-why….why must I-I…nrghhhh….N-Noise…so m-much….Noise…"

Misaka concentrated and sent a small pulse of electricity through Asher's hand, feeling her stiffen under her fingertips before hearing her let out a relieved sigh as she settled back into a more relaxed state for a few moments. She had been doing this for a while ever since her Doctor had left them alone to look over the results of her test, slipping back into the out of it state as she said everything she was thinking without any way to keep it suppressed or allow her to stop enough to fall into a deeper slumber.

It seemed to work somewhat effectively in comparison to whatever Kamijou had done for her before that shutdown her ability completely with that weird power of his. Misaka may not have something like that in her arsenal but figured a way to go about it by using enough of her electricity to cancel gravity field out that wouldn't harm her in any way.

"Tch…Mi-Mi…Mikoto...I-I need to get….Mi….koto….M-Mikoto's...H-Help..." Asher mumbled as she seemed to rouse just a little from her out of it state as she attempted to raise up, only for Misaka to quickly rise up to her feet to push back down. "N-No…L-Let go of m-me…Leave me….Leave me alone. L-Let me…let me….g-get her…Pl-Please l-let me get her to h-help me!"

"Hey, hey hey, Zierdan calm down. You're alright and I'm right here, so you shouldn't move all that much right now. Your body is stressed enough as it is so you need to stay down and try your best to relax a little while longer." Misaka comforted, rubbing circles around her hand as it gradually sent her back into the semi-conscious state that she was in before as she kept hearing her mumble her name repeatedly almost in some sort of desperation.

'Her heart is racing way too fast and her temperature is starting to get worse. She's practically sweating through her clothes at this point,' Misaka thought as she bit down on the side of her cheek, feeling completely and utterly helpless to do anything to help stop her pain for longer than just a few minutes.

'What the hell happened in the period of time after she was working with Kuroko and before she got to Seventh Mist to get her to react so badly like this? Did she really push herself that hard that the backlash from that in itself is causing her mind to practically break down right in front of me?'

After a while of going back and forth between that and feeling worry encompass her more and more, her Doctor finally entered through the door with a bag of medicine in hand as he sat down the charts of Asher's results on his desk.

"Alright I think I've finally figured out the issue." He remarked as he went over to the stand that held Asher's IV drip running into her arm and attached her medicine within it.

After a few moments of a tense silence, they both heard Asher release one last groan as her hold on Misaka's hand slowly went slack, watching her face completely relax when she was finally able to go to sleep.

Misaka let out a sigh of relief from seeing that as she moved some of Asher's light blonde hair to feel the heat radiating off of her forehead, smiling solemnly down at her as she turned to look over at the troubled face of her Doctor from afar. "Thank you helping her so quickly. It's not like her to have such a hard time in going to sleep. She can usually do it with no problem at all, meaning whatever happened isn't' all that great now, is it?"

Silence hung in the air for a while before hearing the Doctor in the room let out a sigh, walking over to grab his clipboard as he rolled a chair over to where Misaka was sitting.

"That's one way to put it." He stated simply as he sent an unreadable gaze in Asher's direction. "Has she acted out of character at all today? Or more importantly, did she push her ability to the point that it caused her wavelength to be imbalanced towards redshifting fully?"

Misaka's face fell at that question, hesitantly nodding as her gaze fell to the floor, hearing him let out another sigh.

"According to the scan I ran on her brain, everything damage wise seems to have fallen close to how her mind was during the aftermath of Project WaveInflux to the extent that her thoughts and the overall memories given to her during the headscan a couple days ago were probably tearing her apart from not being able to process it all as it had not been suppressed to any extent. And then it seems that she purposefully used her abilities without any regard of what may happen to the point it probably made it worse from actively ignoring the strain from that as well as ignoring the mental strain that side of her ability does to her. She did it enough so that her red-blood cell count was starting to be damaged, which is rarely seen when espers overuse their abilities." He explained.

"To be short and not bore you with anymore medical terminology or details, the reason that this mainly happened was due to her being overworked both physically and mentally enough that it basically broke her down to the state you and that other boy described to me before…."

Silence rang out in the air as Misaka digested that information, somewhat upset by the fact that it didn't really surprise her of that being the case.

"I figured as much…" she relented as her face fell further. "Even with how lazy and unmotivated she can be and seem at times, I know well enough that her brain is usually running a million times faster than most people. It has always done that even before the experiment, meaning I know it's not because of the damage she has or even her in general as she probably just does it without even realizing it. She spends so much of her time analyzing things, always trying to find ways to do something efficiently and differently that is logically sound to her that may either impress people at times or can be seen as out of the ordinary. It's where the best part of her shines that I love the most, while being the main thing that holds her back in more ways than one…"

"She'll overthink something into oblivion if it doesn't make sense to her or bothers her. She'll ignore some things to fit her own needs to use her logic, with her health and…life being the most significant out of all of that as she'll just push it to the side if she finds it logical to do so. It's not like she doesn't care for her well-being. It's more like she cares about the lives of others close to her which overshadows the amount of care she should have for herself. Which unfortunately leads her into hiding things from people to the point that it's too late for even me to help her sometimes."

"Yeah I get what you mean. I also understand that she doesn't realize that not only is she harming herself when she's doing that, but she's also making those who care for her like you concerned unintentionally and makes her unpredictable to know where she mentally stands in which increases that tenfold." The Doctor remarked as he rose up from his chair to leave for a moment.

"I know that it's tough to get information out of her when she wants to keep it hidden as well as stresses her out when you press into the wrong things. But I believe if you keep doing whatever you're doing and show her that what she's allowing herself to do is irrational, it may hopefully show her that she can be more open with her issues…."

"I'm not suggesting to interrogate her on the daily as I caution you from running her into a corner that she's sees no escape in. That may work at times, but it can also lead to making the situation worse as she'll use that logic of hers to stop it by any means necessary. All I suggest to do is to keep doing what you're by keeping a watchful eye on her. While also doing things that get her to put more attention on herself than what goes on in her head which seems to be a common place she gets stuck in…"

"All I think she really needs is a strong but gentle push to talk more about herself. Even if it seems small like questioning her on something she decides to do that she knows could be stressful or derailing her from her thoughts in some general way, I feel that it will get her to open up enough without having to aggressively force her no matter how much good could come about it. Sometimes an aggressive push is needed, but just be mindful of knowing there's usually a better alternative to that."


Present…

Misaka internally sighed from thinking that and kept the confident look on her face, letting a soft chuckle slip from her lips that went unnoticed by the two espers next to her.

Getting her to talk is an easy task. Well, until we get to the part concerning personal things relating to her issues as that's a door that took nearly 5-6 years to get complete access to. She thought to herself as determination shined in her eyes.

It's not a challenge I'll ever back down to, though, as it isn't impossible…And it's something I know I won't have to do all by myself.

But now, she thought as she put a hand on her hip

It's time to focus on the main task at hand.

"Well we're here." She stated as she broke the silence hanging in the air, wearing a prideful smile on her face. "Shall we go ahead and go inside you two?"

Before Shirai could even say anything, Asher released a loud sigh.

"I know it's not logical to keep trying to talk you out of this as it's sometimes hard to get rational thought through your head when you're like this." She began as her anxiousness slipped into her voice. "But I really think we should do this another day, MK. I know I'm not a huge expert when it comes to human behavior, but even I know it's not going to be easy getting information like this."

"And may I add, that this situation shouldn't concern you, Sissy. I'm the one with the authority to legally handle this. You and Zierdan shouldn't even get involved." Shirai explained.

"Yeah maybe. But I'm probably your best bet out of the 3 of us to get information for this." Misaka said casually as she looked over at Asher. "Z would be way too straightforward in her approach in getting what we need. She may be smart and a patient person, but she lacks a bit in the creative department to accurately 'act' which is required to do this task…"

"And you Kuroko," she continued on as she brought her gaze to look at the teleporter next to her. "There's a high chance that they'll recognize that you're a member of Judgment."

"Yeah…" Asher trailed off.

"But still-" Shirai tried to add on before Misaka took a step forward and looked at the both of them over shoulder.

"Relax you two, it'll be fine. Just let me handle this, alright?" Misaka said confidently as she handed her school bag over for Asher to hold. "Just go and lay low at another table somewhere out of their sight and wait for me."

As she got a little ways away from them, Shirai looked over at Asher with a skeptical sideways glance.

"You've known her longer than I have, so what do you think she's planning to do?" She asked nervously as Asher let out a sigh with a worried glint within her eyes.

"Logically that would give me some leeway in that department, but for the first time in a while I honestly have no clue." Asher remarked as sweat fell down her brow. "There's way too many outcomes that could come from the situation itself. And then there are too many variables that are still unknown to even try to allow me to factor it in to add on top of all of that. So…"

"Long story short, you have about as much of a bad feeling for this idea as I do, right?"

"Exactly…" Asher sighed. "So much so, I have no words to explain to what capacity."

Before they could continue this exchange, chills went down their spines when they heard the concerning amount of happiness ringing out from the Electromaster pridefully striding towards the restaurant.

"Okay here I go!" She said in which they took more as a word of warning to prepare themselves.

"Hey! Hold on a second Sissy! Please don't go in there, especially by yourself!" Shirai pleaded as she ran towards the esper who seemed like she wasn't going to stop as Asher let out a sigh at the sight itself and proceeded to walk forward.

"You should know by now Kuroko, that this is an illogical battle for you to even try to fight in, so you shouldn't even waste your time. It took me a while to learn it myself, but it's too late for us to talk her out of this when there's a challenge put out in front of her that is now only a walking distance away…"


As Misaka got in position to put on her poker face for the group sitting at the table across from the entrance, Shirai took Asher by surprise and teleported them to one of the tables towards the back, prompting an immediate groan to escape her lips as she laid her forehead on the table in front of her.

"Tch, why is it that you tend to forget to ask people if or if not they want you to teleport them? I would rather get into a vehicle or even a plane than popping in and out of the space around me like this…." Asher groaned before instinctively putting a hand over her mouth as the contents of her stomach threatened to lurch out. "This is the second time this week you've triggered my motion sickness enough so that I want to throw up completely and directly in your direction."

"Quit being a baby Zierdan. It wasn't even that far." Shirai remarked bluntly as she crossed her arms, ignoring the glare burning through the side of her face. "And you were the one who had doubts of strolling in here due to recognizing the group of delinquents sitting at the table. I took it upon myself to teleport us here to not risk you going off and using your ability as you would probably deem this a time as any as an 'emergency' for you to."

"Reflecting light is one of the easiest things for me to do if it's just myself. I would've been fine just doing it for a couple seconds without you throwing my senses into overdrive." Asher groaned as she leaned her back into the seat behind her.

"It doesn't matter if it's easy as you're not supposed to even think about using your ability today after the stunt you pulled yesterday." Shirai said with a tinge of anger and annoyance within her tone. "I adamantly told you my concerns of setting up your dimensions over something as big and extensive as the entirety of the 7th district, Zierdan, with you telling me over and over again that you would be alright. And then…"

Asher looked over at her when she paused for a couple seconds, seeing Shirai's expression fall on her face.

"Kuroko is there-"

"And then," Shirai repeated, ignoring and cutting off Asher from speaking any further. "I found you at one of the lowest points that I've seen you in the short time I've known you that forced you to stay at the hospital for the night. Even worse than the state I saw you in the other day with Sissy."

Asher's eyes widened at that as her stoic face faded into shock, vaguely remembering sensing the girl on the day she knew she was talking about. She hadn't paid any attention to it at the time as she thought she was in too much distress to accurately know where she was a few nights ago.

"W-Wait you were there the night I woke up?" She questioned, taking her silence as her answer. "But why didn't you come out into the open that day or tell me that sooner than this?"

"Like you did to me in a roundabout manner when I questioned you on why you ended up in the bathroom yesterday, I don't feel inclined to answer that question." Shirai stated as she closed her eyes, before looking over at Asher with a smile on her face "But it should be obvious as to why I was there. It's for a reason that I've been stuffing into that complicated head of yours that I'm still trying to understand since the beginning of our friendship."

Asher remained silent at that as she thought over what to even say, missing her chance as they heard Misaka's voice finally ring out in the air when she engaged with the rumored Level Upper users.

"You came here looking for information over the Level Upper right?" One of the boys asked.

"Mmmmhhhhmmm," Misaka hummed. "I saw your message board sometime today and thought it was super interesting for me to check out. So I decided to come here to ask about it, since I know this is the place where you guys hang out."

Before Asher could hear the conversation go any further, she turned her Amps down enough to only hear Shirai next to her.

"Tell me when she's done with whatever she's trying to do. I turned my Amps down enough to block the unnecessary noise sitting in front of her." Asher stated as Shirai took the time to tune out of Misaka's conversation to look over at her.

"But why? Don't you want to know what's happening? Or be prepared to jump in if Sissy needs us?"

"Well to answer that second question, I don't think MK will need us to that extent as the annoying idiots in front of her are more in danger by her for needing me to intervene for their sakes." Asher began as she looked out the window next to her. "I would be lying if I said I wasn't interested to know something about the Level Upper or what not to some degree as it's something actually worth to look into. But to say I want to listen to whatever those perverts are going to say about my best friend is another story entirely…"

"Unless you want to call into question of their well-being if they end up saying the wrong thing from not knowing of me being here, then I say it's best to just hear it come from either your or MK's lips instead. You may fall into a category of a pervert, Kuroko, but at least I know your one with at least some logic running through your head. From experience, I know those idiots are on the other side of the spectrum in concern of that entirely."

"Oh…" Shirai sweatdropped from the matter of factness and bluntness within her tone. "I guess I can take that as an explanation. I'll just tap you once I think they're about to be done."

Asher hummed at that as she kept her gaze out the window, finding herself currently thinking about something else other than the Level Upper for once.

The beginning of our friendship huh? I find myself hearing and using that term more and more often these days, She thought to herself as a small smile came on her face.

To allow that to actually happen that day is still one of the most illogical things I think I've done that I haven't found myself regretting all that much.

Yeah…she may annoy me…A lot.

Painstakingly enough that I don't think I've disagreed with someone that much but end up understanding some part of their thinking at the same time on multiple occasions.

I can say (but never to her at any capacity) that I was blind to it a month ago…with any doubt still within me all but gone as of this moment.

I was such a wreck around that time 2 years after the…experiment.

I didn't want to do anything, talk to anyone, or even coexist with anyone other than Mikoto as a means to prevent me from being thrown to the side by someone else that I analyzed would never see eye to eye to me enough to actually trust them…

Know that she actually wanted me around more so than most people…

But that day…

It motivated me, I guess to try and get out of that sort of thinking to some extent…

For her and Mikoto…

And surprisingly…

For myself.


About a Month ago...

Asher looked over at the teleporter standing in front of her skeptically as a small silence had fell between them for a while.

She had taken her medicine about 5-10 minutes before when Shirai teleported into her room to open the door to allow her entry, feeling the haze that had been in her head for a long while starting to fade into the background.

After a while of the awkward silence, Asher couldn't take it anymore and decided it was best to get Shirai to explain the logic of what she had just requested her moments before.

"So, the thing that you want me to do to compensate for the fact that MK will know nothing of this event is allowing you to ask me 3 questions that I have to give genuine answers to no matter what they are?" She concluded, sighing when Shirai nodded her head to confirm.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Shirai asked.

"Not at the moment since it depends on what you ask me, but are you sure you want this specifically? I mean I'm probably not the highest person on a lot of people's list personality wise, but I feel anyone would abuse this chance of a level 5 like myself who is open to do more or less anything to keep them quiet." Asher remarked.

"Well I find this the best of all things considered as it brings me to the first question at hand for something that still escapes me from all the times you've done it: why do you say things like that?" Shirai questioned as Asher sent her a gaze with confusion shining in her eyes.

"Say…things about what?"

"Say things like you're not the highest on people's list because of your personality?" Shirai clarified. "I would say this is one of the tamer things you say, but you're constantly make self-deprecating comments about yourself so casually."

Asher's eyes widened from hearing that, looking off to the side as she rubbed the back of her neck.

'Does she really pay that much attention to what I say?' she thought to herself as she let out a sigh.

"I guess that's mostly due to the fact of them being logically true from my perspective." Asher said matter of factly. "There isn't anything else I could explain why that it is other than that. I tend to do it without realizing it, but at the same time it would take too much energy for me to deter it since…it's a proven fact in my eyes most of the time, unless someone can explain otherwise of why it's incorrect or is illogical in someway."

Silence rang out in the room when hearing that as Shirai contemplated on what to ask next. She hadn't expected that answer to come from the Level 5 esper in front of her, continuously being reminded of the fact of how different she was from Misaka in terms of their personalities and how they carried themselves, in which almost sounded like Asher didn't hold herself all that highly in contrast to the Electromaster.

After sitting in it for a little longer, she went on to ask her next question…

"If there was one word you could use to describe yourself, what would you use?" Shirai asked as even more confusion spread across Asher's stoic face in comparison to last time.

"One word to describe myself? Shirai what's the point in-"

"I can choose whatever question I want to choose, Asher, as that was one of the main points of our arrangement." Shirai stated in an effort to cut off whatever she was about to say or conclude. "Just answer it and not question why I asked. It's just something I want to know alright."

"Fine," Asher sighed. "Naïve."

It took a moment for Shirai to register that was Asher's answer since it had happened so fast, taken aback by it slightly after a short while of not hearing an explanation as to why.

"But why Nai-"

"Careful. Do you really want that to be the last question you ask me." Asher cautioned.

Before Shirai could say anything in response to that, Asher continued on.

"I guess since I explained before, it's only logical for me to explain my answer in such a way again." Asher continued. "I could've picked something that was obvious, such as quiet or unmotivated, but I feel like this one encompasses all of them to some capacity. I may be a quick learner in certain respects and always analyze ways to go about things, but…I would be lying in saying I know everything. I'm probably someone who doesn't know enough but makes up for it with what I do know."

"Well…" Shirai said somewhat stunned, before her face grew both serious and downcast. "Now for my last question…um….is the reason that you don't talk to me like you have right now…Is it because you're unmotivated to do so, or because you hate me in som-"

"Neither." Asher swiftly replied as Shirai's fell in disbelief. "I'd say unmotivated is not the right word to describe it but hate is definitely not one to any extent..."

"But you told me earlier that you can't stand being around me." Shirai said shakily enough that it took Asher by surprise. "If I had said that to you, wouldn't you have felt the same way?"

Asher went silent as a shadow grew on her face, debating whether or not to amuse the teleporter any further with these random questions she had been forced to answer. She didn't like giving anyone too much about herself, knowing that it could be used against her if the right or even the wrong thing was said.

But…

She found herself gradually tolerating the uncomfortable feeling she had been having from being so forthcoming towards someone she still had yet to confirm was trustworthy, letting out a sigh as her hand rubbed circles on the back of her neck.

"I guess that's one interpretation that is understandable. If I had heard it from you, I probably would've thought the same thing, since you probably already do like most people nowadays. It wasn't my intention to make you think that way though. I don't hate you, but at the same time I am more so uncomfortable with the amount of stress you give me." Asher said casually as Shirai remained stuck on some of the first things she had said aloud.

"Wait, you think I hate you?" Shirai asked as her eyes widened as Asher kept her gaze away from her.

Another tense silence fell between them for a few moments until Asher closed her eyes and released a small breath as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Yes." She said simply after a while. "But it doesn't surprise me anymore from dealing with it for nearly my entire life that I can remember."

"But I don't-"

"You will eventually." Asher said as stoicness filled her voice to create an emotion that Shirai had a hard time picking up. "From a logical standpoint, most don't vocalize it but show it by the way they avoid me. Others talk about me behind my back when they know I can hear them and then there's the rare ones that bug me or even try to fight me. There are a few outliers in my analysis of that, but just as most experiments, it has variables that don't change something all that much. Meaning…coming to the conclusion of me being hated by most within this city isn't all that illogical in my eyes…with you also an added addition to that fact…"

"You don't have to hide it from me as I honestly don't care. Someone like me shouldn't be liked by anyone inclu-"

Before she could finish that comment she found herself looking off to the side for some reason or another, feeling a hot sting on the left side of her face as her eyes widened from what she saw out of the corner of her eye, seeing Shirai's hand raised towards her in the air.

'Did she just….why did she just?' she thought to herself, not really knowing what to do in this situation.

"Shirai why did-" She tried to ask before the teleporter's face darkened as she grabbed her collar to force her to look into her eyes.

"I can't believe you or get you, Asher Zierdan!? For the longest time I've been trying my best to wrap my head around you with this as one of my last resorts but even now that you're sitting here, willingly right in front of me, it's almost like I'm even more confused in comparison to when I knew nothing about you!" Shirai yelled sternly.

"How can you just say something like that as if you're talking about the weather so causally when I know that stoic face of yours is hiding something much darker than that!? You're always hiding everything of what you feel when you're around others! It's always those rare times that any full and genuine emotion comes out of you is when Sissy is either around or is involved! It's almost ironic for someone who holds their logic so highly is one of the most illogical people I've met from how contradictory you are as a person!"

"You say that you don't care what others say about you, so then why is it that you're able to hold an argument so easily enough that it's almost second nature to you!? If you didn't care, you wouldn't have snapped when I pushed you too far when we were at Joseph's…."

"And then how can you say that I hate you so preemptively when I've never ever said that to you to begin with!? If you can use your own logic to explain that you don't hate me, you should allow me to do that as well! This logic of yours is one of the most intriguing but also downright frustrating things about you because it makes you so smart but it's innately flawed at the same time just as I've said before! Relying on just your logic can only get you so far in your life Zierdan!

"Tch, don't y-you think…Don't you think I know that Kuroko!? Stop trying to bring something to my attention as if you know who I am more than I do!" Asher began darkly when she pushed Shirai off her.

Shirai was about to retort back, but her face fell in disbelief from seeing something fall from the sides of Asher's face as she sent a glare in her direction.

"Asher I-"

"No, it's my turn to yell at you, so don't you freaking dare try to interrupt me now after you got me to lose my composure for the 2nd time today!" Asher said angrily as purple burned within the shadows of her face as the air grew slightly heavier. "You don't understand me, well I honestly can't understand you either! You and MK are already happy being close with one another, so why do I need to be added to that stupid equation when I shouldn't be in it to begin with as I would just mess it up for the both of you in due time!? I dislike what I can't understand, making it quite difficult for me not to argue with someone who sometimes honestly seems like the bane of my existence at times!..."

"Mikoto has been through enough with just me being around! I don't want to go and mess up something else for her just because of my inability to understand others that she has been trying to show me for years with now almost feeling like the restart button was pressed as I've probably changed into a person that she'll end up resenting one day! So what's wrong with just hurrying it up to get that over with by pushing her away and lose one of the only people that I actually understand in and out without any issues!? The only person that motivates me every single day to get out of my bed, go to school, and to somehow live a life that almost feels like no one other than a few others gives a damn about because of all the illogical things I've done that no can seem to look over and forget no matter how many say it wasn't my fault!?"

Shirai couldn't believe what just had spewed out of Asher's mouth as it almost felt like time stopped for a moment as she bit the side of her cheek.

'So that's why…' she thought to herself as her gaze went towards the floor.

'She feels like…thinks that she'll ruin things between the each of us and tear us all apart one day…'

'So she's pushing me and indirectly Sissy away from her in an effort to somehow prevent that from happening.'

Before she had time to think through it any further, she heard a thump go throughout the room when Asher landed on her knees with her head bowed towards the ground as her tears fell faster onto the floor.

"I'm sorry b-but… I ju-just want what's best for the both of you. I just want Mikoto to be h-happy for once and not be constantly burdened or w-worry over me for my issues. And I want you to just stay away from someone who is j-just destined to ruin the lives of those around her. That's why I say th-that I don't care…I sh-shouldnt use energy to care for things that I rightfully deserve. And I kn-know my logic is flawed to s-some capacity…Nothing in th-this world is perfect, leaving that and even m-me as no exception...I-I get that and have known that for years now…b-but it's the only thing I have that I know doesn't have the chance to be taken away from me…."

'Why….why am I saying this? Why am confiding in the one girl who is on the opposite of the spectrum of me entirely and on the verge of having a complete emotional breakdown with something I thought I made peace with?' Asher thought to herself as the purple in her eyes faded.

'Shirai…she's probably one of the only people that I've seen Mikoto genuinely like without feeling like it's because she's the Level 5 Railgun after all this time….It would be so selfish and wrong for me to ruin that for her and allow her to sacrifice it for my sake….'

'Maybe with this…she'll stop trying and guide Mikoto away from someone who's such a detriment to her life…s-she…probably sees it just as much as I have…Because I'm su-such a bad person in comparison to the nice and kind-hearted person Mikoto is…'

'I c-can't….I just can't keep doing this...'

'Holding this in…has been so painful...and I can't take i-it anymore.'

As she reveled in these thoughts for a while, she stiffened when she felt two arms wrap around her neck as Shirai's hair filled her vision before she brought her into her chest, feeling herself getting even more choked up at the gesture as her head fell further towards the ground as a blush appeared on her face.

"You know what I do hate you…I c-can't stand you at all…Because you never listen to m-me when I want you or need you to. Or just listen to only parts of what I say for your own benefit or amusement…It's s-so annoying…" Asher said shakily without anything backing it as she heard Shirai let out a soft chuckle.

"Hmmm, i-it seems I underestimated how stubborn you actually are. You're p-pretty lazy after all, so I didn't expect to get this out of you today from something you thought would be a waste of your time." Shirai remarked shakily before tears came down from her own face. "I'm s-sorry by the way…I didn't mean to upset you with my constant probing. I-It was the only way to get you to talk to me. W-Which is all I wanted because I wanted to find some way to understand you…even if we're on opposing sides in so many ways…."

"And even with that, I care about you even if it doesn't look like it sometimes. Just as much as Sissy probably wouldn't want to hear this come from you, I-I don't want you feeling like this or keep trying to hide it for our sakes instead of your own. Because I don't hate you and have never or will ever hate you no matter how much we argue or disagree with each other…"

"So can we just agree that we'll just disagree, Zierdan? And at least see where our road of friendship takes us along with Sissy?" Shirai asked as Asher sniffled below her.

Silence rang out between them for a while before Asher brought her face up to look up at her, wiping the tears out of her eyes before wearing a genuine smile on your face.

"Y-Yeah. I guess we can….Kuroko." Asher stated genuinely. "It may try my patience at times…but I think I'm willing to do this…"

"I can try…and be friends with you."


Present...

Asher sighed aloud when she thought about that, looking back during the time where she had nearly given up on everything and couldn't move past what she had nearly done to this city and Misaka during what happened during the abrupt end of Project Waveinflux…

Continuously thinking that it was her fault and she was always the problem for any situation she was put in.

It would be a lie to not say that some part of her still thought that way, continuously gnawing at her to say that she didn't deserve the people who willfully wanted to be around her. But in some respects, it was okay, that thinking that was natural for people to do at times and she was no exception. She knew that those thoughts would stay in the background but now she was pushing herself with a renewed focus granted by what she had experience as of recently to at least try and not let it hold her back so that she could be here in the right mindset for her friends.

With that day with Shirai being one of the first steps she unknowingly took to get towards how she was today by trusting someone other than Misaka to have her back and in turn have theirs no matter how much they disagreed or argued.

When she looked over at the esper in question, she sweatdropped at the fact of how Shirai was repeatedly pounding her head into the table, not realizing that she had been doing that the whole while as she stared off into the window and went over her thoughts.

She turned the volume up on her Amps slightly enough to be able to not miss anything that Shirai was going to say to her when she tapped her on her shoulder.

"Is there something wrong, Kuroko? Beating your head on the table isn't of the logical sort, even from someone like you." Asher asked, hearing the teleporter let out an annoyed sigh without even attempting to move to look over at her.

"Remind me again why we allowed Sissy to handle this situation? I'll never be able to regain the minutes of my life and time that was wasted from listening to her 'acting' skills. I would have much rather seen the route you would've taken with this, even if I would have to 'ignore it' for the sake of me being a Judgment officer." Shirai explained as her voice was muffled by the table.

"Good thing I didn't listen to it then. If it makes you regret it then I would have been in the boat sinker faster than yours. And to answer your question, we didn't since she practically forced and dragged us here." Asher remarked as she prepared to look over at the Electromaster to see what she was doing. "Probably as an indirect way to supervise her to some ex-"

She paused immediately upon seeing the empty booth where Misaka used to be standing by, causally turning back around with a calm nature to her face that contrasted with the massive amount of anxiousness and worry she had internally of not seeing her there…

As those delinquents no matter how annoying or perverse they may be, were now destined to become the victims in this situation where they would take her former hospital room for the night if things went badly.

"Hey, um…Kuroko?" Asher said after a while as the tired gaze of Shirai looked over at her when she raised her head up from the table.

"Yes?"

"Well...we may or may not have a problem." Asher said hesitantly. "Do you happen to know where MK went off to as well as those boys from before?"

It took that a moment for that to register with Shirai before her eyes widened in complete and utter disbelief, quickly turning to see the table empty just as Asher had moments before.

She let out a nervous laugh to herself that was loud enough for Asher to hear to receive her answer as she anxiously joined in with her...

Thinking the same thing simultaneously as they got up and rushed through the doors of the restaurant.

Well things just got a lot more interesting in comparison to how our day started…

Let's hope we can get there before she does something reckless and nearly unfixable.


Word Count of Chapter: 10202 |Page Count: 17 pages |Reviews: 79 | Followers: 59 |Favorites: 47


Small Surprise:

So...

This is technically my SECOND upload of the weekend for this series in general.

I have a new companion series of sorts involving the OC we all know and love within this story as I decided to go ahead and do her own Side series now rather than later since you all seem interested in learning of her background before the timeline Railgun takes place. It's all explained in the unintentionally long AN I have for the reasons as to why within that story.

I say companion as the chapters won't be as consistent as with CSG due to having to reach certain points of this story in terms of when a chapter should be released as a way to not spoil things within this story too much.

So go ahead to read the story titled "Asher" on my profile if you want in which has Chapter 1 as a prologue of sorts and if you're at this point of the story, you can read that chapter with no problem of spoilers as Chapters 1-8 are the basis I used due to where the chapter is canonically within this story (Btw Chapter 7 and 8) :)


Review Replies

Blankow: Thanks! (the fight has only begun *sigh*)

Alright, yes, logical Asher is back in prime form as this is probably the lightest she has been in a while.

As Misaka broke it down to some extent within the last chapter, Asher and Kuroko are different in a lot of things but similar in the areas that cause them to clash…a lot. Misaka and Asher are an example of the common term of "polar opposites attract" while Asher and Shirai during the startup of getting to know each show how this dynamic doesn't go well all the time.

The potential unintentional harem (Or is it intentional? lol) becomes potentially closer to coming into existence as Asher x Kuroko finds its way into the bag. Will she be able to rise to the grand status of Kamijou's? The world may never know or be ready for such a thing…

Asher could probably argue anyone into the ground or in circles without even trying. She just needs to find some sort of motivation boost for her laziness and the life of a lawyer could be the one for her.

Index's and Asher's meeting is getting closer and closer. But when will they meet? My lips remain sealed.


gaidzani: You're welcome! Your gratitude and expressions of praise are nice to see and read each time:`)

In terms of how I match the event with the anime and the story, all I honestly kind of do is keep in mind of how Asher would either change or add to the events within the canon of Railgun based off what actually happened, her personality, and skillset. I thought it would be a nice touch for her to be the big reason why Misaka's coin slipped during the Graviton incident as it brings into focus how sensitive they can be when they are around each other's abilities if they're not prepared for it or just trying to look for each other.

Even though Silas hasn't made it to the present of this story yet, he will in due time. It seems with the question of Silas brings forth a theory:O

Whether or not that theory is true will not be granted by me as that will be uncovered soon (And I like reading them, so more from all is welcomed). Will it be true or false, you've just got to wait and see but the thought that was put into it was nice.

Even though it's a little sadder in comparison to the last one involving them, I hope you enjoyed seeing the terms of Asher's and Kuroko's friend agreement within this chapter. You guys seem to like the flashbacks so they'll be ingrained into the story for an extra way for showing more of Asher's character along with others, with this one having 2 main ones in regard to that.

Thanks!


LostNeko120: Yeah university has been a little bit of a challenge, but I think I'm getting a better handle on it each day. Managing my time with CSG and my other stories has gone pretty smoothly, though, as I focus on just one of them each week to write up and post on the weekend, so the trend will hopefully continue with updating each of them every 2-3 weeks or so.

Even though she wasn't present during the first days of the arc itself, Asher's role within the Level Upper Arc will hopefully be a great factor to add towards the canon of the series. She has already changed a few events relating to it thus far, so I wonder what others she'll do in the future.

Yeah Kuroko and Asher weren't on the best of terms with each other with a little bit of the last chapter and this chapter bringing light to the fact that they were just at odds for how to understand one another. They still argue the most within the main cast, but at least they're doing it now as friends.

You're welcome! Thanks to you for leaving all of your nice reviews:)


JintoLin: Misaka has once again saved a life as the poor snow cone was nearly grounded into nothingness with Asher unaware of it all as she probably would have been sad of its unintentional demise.

This flashback with Asher and Shirai within this chapter may be rougher in comparison to the last, but it all works together to hopefully bring some understanding of why they fight as much as they do but at the same time, find themselves on a consensus of some things (Such as the Electromaster we all know and love that they always need a small leash on in prevention of a potential disaster.)

Even Asher commends Uiharu for her skill involving computers. Asher hasn't really shown it yet, but she does have skills of her own with computers which has been glazed over somewhat at some parts of the earlier chapters. I also thought it was random when Uiharu got sick, but she apparently is prone to getting sick at times from what it sounds like from her profile on the wiki. I agree that this particular instance did probably play a bigger role than she realized in allowing Saten to continuously think about the Level Upper.

I agree that character building is always first when it comes to a story as it is a big reason for two things: this chapter and why I haven't figured out a pairing. The flashbacks with Asher and Kuroko were not going to be as extensive as I had planned to go onto the next day for pacing reasons. But I thought it would be wrong of me to in some respects by not giving the necessary time and details surrounding Kuroko's and Asher's relationship. This type of thinking is probably indirectly causing the potential Harem War to develop since I can't pick who this complicated girl should be with.

I also agree that fluff is needed for how dark A Certain Series can get as well as how Asher herself can get at times. I add those moments to lighten up the place for how dark it can get for you guys as I force you all to ride through it:`).

Alright, *whew* I honestly felt kind of bad when I missed your post that day as it came about 5 minutes after I posted the chapter. It makes me sad as well that my overall schedule for this and all of my stories has to change, but hopefully with how things are currently turning out in terms of school, updates will have the same quality and not a whole ton of time in between uploads.

Thanks!


Thanks for your reviews!

-PurpleClover99