AN: Hello readers! I survived my last week of college (for now until next semester starts in January) and returned with a chapter that you all have probably been waiting for and probably never knew you needed:)

But before that, I have two things that I want to mention...

One, since the last upload, CSG has become my first story to reach 100 followers! I've probably said it a bunch over these last 7 months, but I will never stop being thankful for all who have gone on this spur of the moment journey with me with this story and those who decide to join it in the future. I hope that you continue to enjoy it as much as I have continued to enjoy writing it:D

And second, just a small reminder of the poll that is currently up on my profile relating to Asher's second personality's name (which is currently Sky). You may vote either by the polls or by reviews or if you want you can also stay impartial and see what is decided. To be fair and keep easier track, I'll count votes by review after the time the poll was created (meaning now) where we currently have a 3 way tie between the names Sora, Rehsa, and Ame all with just one vote.

The poll will be up for a small while, so those who want to vote still have time. It will end right around when Poltergeist ends, so most likely around chapter 45 if all goes well:)

Now with that out of the way, I will let you go on and finally read this chapter!

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 38: The Illogical Swimsuit Photoshoot

4 years ago...

It was the weekend in Academy City, allowing most of the students there to be free from school for the next couple of days. Misaka and Asher were no exception, though, the latter was currently unable to figure how her time was going to be spent as she was being taken by the Electromaster somewhere.

She didn't tell her where or how long they were going to be there, only saying that it would be something she would end up enjoying. Misaka even went to the extent of blind folding the esper in an effort to prevent her from using her ability to spoil the surprise, asking her to anchor onto the gravity around Misaka to make it easier for Asher's gravity field to not spread out too far.

"Mikoto can you please tell me where you're taking me?" Asher groaned for the 5th time, finding her patience starting to wear thin from only seeing darkness the past 10-15 minutes.

Misaka let out a small laugh from her tone. "What's wrong Z?" She questioned, amusedly. "It always seems like that patience of yours wears thin whenever you're waiting on something you like or surprised by. "

"Or when I'm just dragged along by you with a blindfold on…" Asher sighed as she brought a hand up to her neck. "I just don't understand the logic in surprises. What's the point in them if I'm just going to see it at some point anyway?"

"You shouldn't see them like that. It ruins the fun." Misaka responded as she looked back in front of her. "You shouldn't always keep your thinking in such a tight box. It may seem logical for you to do at times, but if you don't think to at least try to think outside of it every so often, you'll miss the bigger picture. Yes, surprises may end up not being one after a while. But it's more so for the reaction and feeling that happens from them that make them special." She let out a small giggle as she tightened the hold she had on Asher's hand. "And the only reason you're blindfolded is so you don't "accidentally" use your ability to get a sense of the area we're currently in."

Heat flushed Asher's face for a few moments when she heard that, turning her head off to the side. "B-But, Mikoto I wouldn't-"

"Zierdan," Misaka stated before she could say anything else. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes." Asher replied without any hesitation. "And it's illogical that you even needed to ask that."

"I know." Misaka giggled. "Since, I already knew the answer."

It didn't take long for them to arrive to their destination, with Misaka going behind Asher and unwrapping the blindfold tightly knotted with metal inside to make sure she didn't try to take it off.

When Asher opened her eyes, she looked in some confusion of what the building was that was in front of them, seeing the words "Bathhouse" plastered on the front.

"Bathhouse?" Asher said mostly to herself.

"Yeah." Misaka said with a smile. "I can tell that you've been stressed these last couple days since you became a Level 5. Other than taking you out to eat that amount in chocolate, I wanted to try something else that wouldn't result in putting yourself out of commission until Monday."

Silence fell between them for a while before the smile fell slightly on Misaka's face when Asher didn't say anything, looking at the building with an unreadable expression.

"Do you not like it?" Misaka asked in concern. "If you don't, we can go out to do something else."

"It isn't that…" Asher sighed. "I just…am not sure what I'm looking at basically. Logically I can conclude it's 'a house for bathing,' but it wouldn't make sense to come here for that when I can just take one at home. I can sort of tell that there's more to it than that, I guess."

"Ohhhhhh, I see. Well, you could say it's a cheaper version of a hot spring, which is where I was going to take you at first. But thought against it pretty quickly as that would involve some form of transportation." Misaka explained, though was surprised that even more confusion came over Asher's face.

"Hot…Spring?"

'I'm guessing she doesn't know what that is either.' Misaka thought as she sweatdropped

Misaka took some time to explain it to her, getting somewhat nervous after a while when she saw Asher starting to get pretty flustered with the massive blush growing on her face. It was getting to the point that she was getting into Short-Circuit territory, seeing the smoke beginning to rise from her head as swirls were threatening to come into her eyes.

"S-So it's basically a community b-bath?" Asher asked shakily. "Where other people ju-just take one together?"

"Yeah, but Z," Misaka began to say with a nervous smile. "It's nothing for you to get flustered about. It's just going to be you and me, I promise. I wouldn't put you in there with random people because I know how uncomfortable that would make you."

Even though she thought that would derail her nervousness, it was almost like Asher didn't hear her, seeing her turn off to the side with a blush nearly over her entire body.

"So if it's a community bath, th-that means that there's a chance for mixed ones as well fr-from what I can guess. Meaning bo-both males and fe-females can be in it at the same time. C-Could that be happening in there right now? Wi-Will I be on the receiving end of it someday? Maybe even to-today?" Asher began to ramble as she began to speculate every possibility imaginable that came into her head.

She began to sway dangerously side to side unknowingly that prompted Misaka to grab her shoulders and turn her around to look at her dazed expression.

"Zierdan snap out of it. You're overthinking the situation which in turn is causing you to freak yourself out." Misaka said gently as she shook the esper. She could tell when it worked when she saw the blush fade from her face with a tint of green beginning to replace it.

"Mikoto, I think I'm going to throw up if you keep shaking me like this…" Asher mumbled.

Misaka stopped immediately, wrapping her arms around Asher and went close to her ear. She felt her stiffen up before she hesitantly reciprocated it back as she steadily began to relax.

"Z, my goal isn't to put you into an uncomfortable situation to the point that you freak out because of it. But that doesn't mean that I'm against putting you out of your comfort zone when I know at the end of the day it would be in your benefit that I do. I've already made the arrangements for it to just be you and me in there. I think it'll be a good place for us to relax and just talk without any distractions from other people. I really think you need this not just to lower your nervousness when it comes to situations like these, but…so you can open up your walls a little bit more by allowing yourself to be vulnerable around someone you know you can trust."

She pushed them apart, with Asher able to see the genuine confidence on her face. She brought up one of her hands towards her to take. "You may end up enjoying it." She continued, "So can you at least give it a shot? Not for me but for yourself?"

Asher looked at her for a small while before she hesitantly brought up her own hand to grab the Electromaster's. She sent back a nervous nod and saw a smile grow on Misaka's face as she led her off into the bathhouse.

It took some time, but Misaka was finally able to convince Asher to get undressed without her in the room and get into the bath before she did. When Misaka came in, she saw Asher somewhat huddled in on herself in the water as a slight blush remained on her cheeks. She seemed to be intensely focused on something or deeply in thought as she didn't even notice when Misaka sat down beside her within the water.

Misaka took that as an opportunity as any to splash her, seeing her instantly flinch and try to protect herself from the Electromaster's onslaught. Misaka laughed when she deadpanned over at her and let out a long sigh from what she did, going back into her huddled position in an effort to cover her exposed skin.

"The one time I stop using energy to keep up my guard, you come over and take advantage of it…" Asher sighed.

"Sorry, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity. It's not every day I can sneak up on someone who can detect me from meters away without really trying." Misaka remarked amusedly as she went over to grab the shampoo behind her. She looked back over at Asher with her hands completely lathered in soap. "Are you alright with me washing your hair?"

Asher turned to look over at her before her gaze went away when they landed on Misaka's exposed body, nodding as she turned around for her to do it.

"Aw, Z, you shouldn't be so nervous. We're both girls here." Misaka giggled, going over and gently running her hands through Asher's blonde hair.

"I know I know." Asher said in response as she huddled in on herself tighter. "Even with you, I just can't ever help it, I guess. I never receive any form of intimate contact at home, so this type of thing is just very foreign to me. Leading to my face always illogically getting red and my brain panicking in situations like these since it can't ever find the logic in them no matter how hard it tries. It's quite tiresome."

Misaka's expression fell ever so slightly from her tone as she kept rubbing soap into Asher's hair. "Yeah, that makes sense. If you want me to stop doing this I can."

"No, it's fine." Asher sighed as she laid her face into her knees, hiding the blush that increased even more. "It actually feels good to some extent."

Misaka hummed in response as she continued on, though the sad expression remained. She wanted so badly to press into the matters of both her home and family life as she believed it was probably the main reason why Asher hardly ever allowed someone to get this close to her.

She was very self-conscious of herself and everything that she did without thinking through it first. She was stoic to a fault in order to hide this inherently timid side of herself, but when it fell it always just reminded Misaka of how much of a nervous wreck she probably was internally day in and day out.

No one should have to live in constant nervousness or block out their feelings in an effort to protect themselves. She knew Asher only saw either or and nothing in between, doing all that she could to not show her vulnerability and opted to instead keep herself closed off and have everyone at arm's length.

She knew that how she was treated at school probably also had a hand in this, but she also believed that whatever she went through at home was also something that could aid it as well, especially her stepfather. Of all the few times she mentioned him, it was never a positive thing as it almost sounded like he was always yelling at her, something that always tore at Misaka's heart and lit a fire in her soul for realizing how it upset it made her close friend.

She hoped that maybe with this, it would edge her on to just talk about it. Or just talk about whatever she wanted. She was able to finally get her to start talking to her, and she didn't want whatever held her back from doing it before to stop her yet again.

"Have I ever told you how much I like your hair?" Misaka asked after a while to break the silence between them, bringing up a piece of Asher's wet, blonde blue-streaked hair up to her face. "Especially with all the colors it changes to."

"Yeah, I think you've said it before, I'm mostly indifferent about it." Asher sighed. "It tends to bring a lot of attention to me from how much the color contrasts with the blonde in my hair. Most tend to think I dye it. I used to get in trouble in school because of it since it took some time to get all of the teachers to believe that I can't help but have 'distracting blue highlights' in my hair."

"I never understood why they always did that, considering you can't really help but have them there. The blue, purple, and red it tends to change to are because of your ability, right?"

Asher nodded as she lifted her head from her knees. "Yeah, it's tied to the wavelengths I draw due to my AIM diffusion field. Blue for Blueshifts, while purple and red signal redshifts. It tends to just stay blue most of the time even when I'm not actively using my ability, though. It may be odd or seem unappealing to others, but I guess it's just part of the way my esper ability wants to manifest itself. Since it's been so long since I've had them, I sometimes forget about them until someone brings it to my attention. I don't even remember what it was like just to normal light-blonde hair either for how long it has been."

Misaka then went on to rinse out the esper's hair, smiling after a while when she noticed that Asher was gradually becoming more and more comfortable. When she was done with hers, she went on to her own before she felt Asher grab her wrist.

She looked over and saw a massive blush on her cheeks as she looked away from her with her hand out. "Are you alright with me washing your hair?" She asked almost meekly. "It's only logical th-that I do, since you did it for me."

Misaka let out a laugh before she handed the soap over to her and turned her back away from her. "If you want to. But you're going to have to uncover your body, so you can use your arms to actually do it. I promise I won't peek so there's nothing for you to worry."

Asher remained silent for a few moments before she hesitantly brought her hands up to Misaka's hair, using such a gentle touch that Misaka wouldn't have thought it was from her from how so.

"There's nothing all that appealing about me anyway. What is there about me that anyone would want to see, much less 'peek' as you said?" Asher asked softly, almost as if it was more for herself. "I'm not worth much to most people. I'm insignificant and bring no value to anything I do….to anyone I'm around. No one even tries to care that I exist. Only caring about the Level I happen to have."

Misaka stiffened from hearing those words, feeling the air shift so quickly that it almost made her head spin. She spun around as Asher gradually stopped running her hands through her hair, seeing the light in her blue eyes fade as they began to dull. It was almost like she was in some type of trance, seemingly repeating something from someone else versus it coming from her directly.

"Zierdan, hey, that isn't true." Misaka said in response, trying her best to bring her out of her thoughts.

"I'm a burden for others to be around. I could disappear and it would hardly make a difference in anyone's lives." She continued, seeing her surroundings darken to the point it was almost like she was the only one there. "I'm foolish to think I can do anything to fix that….foolish to believe that he is wrong about-"

Misaka cut her off by filling a bucket of water and dumping it over the esper's head. No amount of shaking she did was able to break Asher out of that dark headspace from before, seeing what she did as the only other option she could think of.

It was pretty cold, enough that it caused Asher to literally jump to her feet as she shivered. She went on to scold the girl for what she did but stopped when the dark haze on her mind went away, reorienting herself to where she was while also realizing all of what she had just said aloud before.

"Sorry," She stated meekly as she kept her eyes off of the Electromaster. "I-I….shouldn't have said all of that. It was t-too personal. I…I don't know what came over me, but I just couldn't stop myself. An-And-"

Before she could ramble any further or run off somewhere, Misaka quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her down, putting her in a position to make eye contact with her.

"Zierdan, stop saying sorry and feeling bad whenever you're talking about yourself. It's not being selfish if that's what you're thinking, and it isn't healthy for you to keep walling everything inside of yourself or something like what happened just now could get progressively worse." Misaka pressed before her eyes narrowed slightly. "Whoever said this is wrong. You are worth something. People are just too blind to see it. You're not a burden to anyone and if you disappeared, I know people would care because I would."

She tightened her grip on Asher's shoulders in which prompted Asher's eyes to widen slightly. "Who was it that told you this?" She continued. "Was it someone at school? A teacher? Your mom or stepfather? Please tell me so I can say how stupid it was for them to think it let along say it. Maybe even make them regret saying something like to you."

Asher looked over at her in surprise before she looked off to the side as a small shadow fell on her face. She remained silent for a long while before she let out a long sigh and looked back at the Electromaster with a wavering expression.

"I-It's Silas…my stepfather." Asher softly admitted as a lump formed in her throat. "He constantly says it every single time he sees me. I try to ignore it and tune it out, but...it makes him angry sometimes when I don't take notice in it or talk to him. Sometimes he won't stop until I agree with him or…when I repeat it for him word for word so that he knows I heard it correctly."

The lights in the room flickered for a few moments. Asher saw electricity discharge from Misaka's hair, feeling the hands on her shoulder tighten even more so.

"He did, did he?" Misaka asked darkly. "Thought so. Well, why don't I go show him why he shouldn't-"

Before Misaka could finish, she was surprised when Asher closed the distance and hugged her, not even caring about them not wearing anything to be a buffer between them.

"Please don't do anything reckless Mikoto. I know…something like this probably pisses you off, but…there's nothing you can do other than just doing what you're doing right now." Asher stated as her hold on the Electromaster tightened. "You're right, I did enjoy doing this time with you. And that my personal life is important and not something I should hide. But Silas is someone you shouldn't cross or take lightly. Nothing you say could get him trouble with all the connections he has within this city. He could get someone to make you disappear or make me stop talking to y-you and…that's something I don't want to happen. I don't want to lose the one thing that reminds me that some of things he's saying is illogical."

Misaka was going to retort by saying she wouldn't stand for anyone to just degrade her best friend this way, but she stopped when she felt her shaking in her grasp, nearly putting all of her anger on the backburner.

She was scared…

Petrified, in thinking what Silas would do to her if she would intervene in stopping the verbal abuse she was put though day in and day out. She wanted it to stop, so much, and hopefully get it to where Asher was in a good place, but she also didn't want to break her trust. One wrong move could make Asher close herself off again when she just began to open her up recently.

"Okay," Misaka said reluctantly though tried her best to hide it as she felt Asher relax when she reciprocated the hug. "I won't do anything now, but please come talk to me when it gets like this. It upsets me to see you like this and makes me feel almost powerless when you tell me I can't do anything about it. But I swear….promise you Zierdan that when I become a Level 5, I'll stop all of it. I'll have enough power, so you don't have to protect me from him if he really has as much power that you say he has."

'I don't care how much work I need to put in. I'll become a Level 5 in this city, no matter what it takes. For myself and for her,' Misaka thought as she felt her bare chest growing wet.

'She's always trying to protect me from herself and her life just because she thinks I can't handle it or am being burdened with it when I'm not. If I wasn't deadest on it before, I definitely am now. Zierdan won't have to protect herself alone anymore when I become one."

'And I'll make sure of it!'


July 26th, 1:00PM

Somewhere within the 7th District…

Wannai and Awatsuki were standing outside the building that they and the others were going to be modeling swimsuits for the swimsuit manufacturer of their swim club. It was getting around the time that Misaka and Shirai had agreed to meet up with them, dragging Asher off with them for some reason or another.

When the clock stuck "1:00PM" on the dot, they began hearing some sort of commotion from off to the side of them.

"Satennnn, Uiharuuuuuu….please don't make me go along with something this illogical…"

"Aw, come on Asher. I think we're going to have so much fun!"

"Yeah, Uiharu's right! And we'll get to see you in something other than your uniform or a hoodie and shorts. I'm definitely not going to let this opportunity slip from our fingers!"

Wannai and Awatsuki looked over and saw Asher being basically dragged along by two girls who had their arms looped around both of hers, seeing Asher pouting in their hold. Misaka and Shirai casually walked behind them without any sign of regret on their faces.

I guess they're serious in forcing her to do it, they both thought as they sweatdropped, with some part of themselves feeling sort of bad since they had been the ones who asked her to do it.

Asher's face fell in defeat as Saten and Uiharu dragged her towards the building they were supposed to go to, looking back at the smiling faces of both Misaka and Shirai as if they were daring her to even try to make an escape attempt.

They knew she wouldn't, though, considering she would never use her ability on Uiharu and Saten in that manner. The girls that she thought were going to be her saviors ended up aiding her captors, with her already feeling her face illogically heating up at the thought of what she was about to be participating in.

Why did I think it was a good idea to leave the safety of my room? She thought as they all came to a stop in front of Wannai and Awatsuki. She looked up at the two girls with blue eyes almost begging them to free her. They sadly only sent back nervous smiles in response, though, with her already knowing they were about as powerless as she was.

When they entered, Asher hung back in the back of the group, looking away as Saten and Uiharu marveled at the massive space they were currently in.

"Woah!" Saten and Uiharu both said in awe "I didn't know it was such a big business!"

Misaka smiled at their overall excitement before she lightly elbowed Asher in the arm, prompting a long sigh to come from her mouth as she refused to look over at her.

"Come on Z, you can't just keep giving me silent the treatment forever now." Misaka said amusedly. When the silence persisted, Misaka let out a small laugh from how red her face was starting to get without her control. "It's not like you to pout so openly like this. We haven't even started and you're already making yourself flustered and nervous over nothing."

Misaka knew that mentioning the look on her face would hit a rare nerve to at least get something out of her, seeing blue eyes look over in annoyance that hid the nervousness she knew was there.

"I'm not pouting." Asher said as she crossed her arms and looked towards the ground. "I just don't understand the logic in dragging me here for something as illogical as swimsuit modeling. You could get a random person off the street and they most definitely will be better at it than I am no matter who it is. And then, I could actually go back to the dorms to do what I planned to do this morning."

Misaka walked over and wrapped her arm around Asher's neck as the gravity esper still did her best not to look at her. "Now we both know there's more to it than that." She said. "I'm not a professional either. None of us are. I think it's better being here with your friends versus brooding in your bedroom all day. So at least try and give it a chance."

Asher remained silent, though, did look over at the warm gaze of the Electromaster for a few moments. She then let out a long sigh and walked out of her hold to stand over by Saten and Uiharu.

Awatsuki came over as she saw Misaka smile at Asher's back, smiling to herself in response to it. "Thanks again for coming today. It's great that you were able to bring your friends along." She said before her expression fell slightly. "Though, it's alright if Asher wants to leave. We already have enough people with some more on the way."

"No problem and don't worry about Zierdan." Misaka reassured. "She tends to try and hide how she's truly feeling but forgets that I can read her like a book. She wants to be here, but she doesn't ever like it whenever she can't keep herself from getting flustered in front of other people. It just makes her more embarrassed from reminding her how modest she truly is."

Awatsuki let out a small laugh from her statement. Their conversation was going to continue on before everyone's attention was directed over to the concerned face of Uiharu.

"Now that you've seen us, are you sure you still want us to be swimsuit models?" Uiharu asked.

"Don't worry so much, Uiharu. You're starting to sound like Zierdan with that tone." Shirai stated, ignoring how Asher's eyes narrowed in her direction. "Modern fashion today has come very far to give even the most underdeveloped bodies ways to shine."

"Wow, thank you for your support Shirai…" Uiharu said as tears comedically fell from her eyes.

"And thanks for illogically bringing me into the conversation." Asher remarked flatly.

"Anytime Zierdan." Shirai replied with a smile. "Glad to hear your appreciation."

Saten let out a nervous laugh from seeing Asher's eyebrow beginning to twitch, seeing her embarrassed flushed on a road towards restrained annoyance and anger for the teleporter standing a few inches away from her. Before their "disagreement" could escalate any further, thankfully, the manufacturer's General Manager of the photo-shoot appeared.

"I'm sorry that I kept you all waiting. Thank you all for coming." She said before some confusion fell on her face. "Wait, weren't there supposed to be two more coming?"

"Huh? More models?" Shirai asked.

Before the General Manager could say anything, a voice rang out through the air that sent a chill down Shirai's spine as her look of confusion instantly fell down to a frown. Misaka and Asher turned along with the others and saw both Kongou and Konori walking side by side.

"Ah, well hello Shirai." Kongou greeted. "It's fancy meeting you here, especially with all these people. Is this some sort of field trip for school?"

"Oh, it's Kongou." Misaka said under her breath.

"And Konori's here too." Uiharu added.

Shirai turned to look back at Misaka in surprise. "Wait!? You know her Sissy!?" She asked.

"Yeah, me and Zierdan met her back at the dorm earlier." Misaka said. "Since she just transferred here, we took her around the Garden of Leaning to get her better acquainted with the area."

The look on Shirai's face fell even flatter. Kongou looked over and saw both Misaka and Asher standing from afar, sending waves at both of them. "Hi, Misaka and Asher!" She greeted. "I didn't expect you both to be here as well."

"Speaking of that, what do you have to in defense for the outfit you're wearing?" Shirai interjected. "Even someone as new as you are should know that school dictates that we must wear our uniform even on days off."

"I understand your concerns, Shirai, but for this afternoon, I Kongou Mitsuko am not a mere student of Tokiwadai." Kongou responded as she brought her fan out, opening it to cover half of her face. "I am a model, so I have to be dressed as such."

Shirai stiffened before her form deflated. "They asked you to do this modeling thing too?" She asked.

"Wait?" Kongou said aloud as her eyes widened. "You all are here for it as well?"

Most of everyone sent her back a nod as Uiharu looked over at her fellow judgment officer with a smile. "Konori, did you come here for the swimsuit modeling too?" She asked, seeing Konori gently nod.

"Yeah, I ran into a classmate at the gym and she asked me if I could participate." Konori replied. "What about you guys?"

"Well, we've got some friends in the swim club and they asked if we could help out." Misaka responded. "We couldn't help but to say yes to it."

"Most of us, anyway, considering I was kidnapped." Asher added bluntly, enough that it caused all of the girls around her to sweatdrop, including Misaka.

Kongou, however, did not falter in her confidence, allowing her prideful smile to grow as she closed her fan. "That means none of you have any sort of experience in this. I would be delighted to be the one to give you all any pointers." She stated pridefully. "I've been a model since I was just a little girl. I've learned enough to get any sort of praise for my name when I step out onto the stage. Gaining thunderous applause, dozens upon dozens of people screaming my name are always chanting within my heart."

None of the girls had really anything to say to Kongou's triumphant words as she began to walk off with the General Manager right behind her to show her the changing rooms.

When she was out of sight, Uiharu looked over at the teleporter with interest in her eyes. "Are you also acquainted with her, Shirai?" She asked.

"It's more accurate to say that she's someone I wish I wasn't acquainted with…" She replied, before stiffening when she heard a laugh from a mouth it rarely comes from.

"Now it seems you understand how I feel in the presence of a pervert every single day." Asher amusedly remarked.

The blow to Shirai's sense of pride was so hard, it nearly left her breathless as she wheezed out a great breath. She turned around and nearly retorted back with a statement of her own before falling down to the ground when a massive hit came on the top of her head. Asher followed right behind her as the hit was so fast that not even her natural senses were able to warn her.

Everyone looked in surprise at Misaka who had a clenched fist in the air, hearing the downed girls groan with smoke rising up from their heads.

"You two honestly…." Misaka sighed as she looked down at them with narrowed eyes. "It's almost like you both get on each other's nerves for the fun of it."


A little while later…

"Alright girls! Please choose whichever swimsuit you prefer. When everyone is done, we will begin shortly after." The General Manager announced.

Everyone looked over at her with a smile as they went off to search for the swimsuit that fit their respective figures and tastes.

Well, almost everyone that is…

Asher sat off to the side on a bench, still trying her best to reject participating in this fairly illogical swimsuit photo shoot. She didn't understand why everyone insisted for her to stay, as she never had much to give in most situations if it didn't involve her intelligence in some way.

In terms of physical looks, she would say she was probably average in nature in comparison to most with the only quality of hers that was distinct about her in any way being the colored streaks in her hair. Other than that, she felt that she didn't have all that much that would draw people to her when it came to situations that involved her looks than her mind, still not realizing that she was missing the bigger picture of what Misaka told her before of how what mattered was what she was doing around her friends that were about as inexperienced as she was.

Even though they were all at the same level, all she saw was that they were better fit for this in comparison. She was just too self-conscious about herself to open her mind to do something like this, while also having to keep herself from freaking out from just seeing too much skin that her mind had the limit for. She didn't know why she was like this or thought that way about herself since it was something that she has always felt for as long as she could remember.

All she heard from others when she was younger was how close she resembled her mother, sometimes finding herself seeing it as illogical as she never thought she deserved to be seen that way which unconsciously put even move of a dent in her already low self-esteem. From being compared to her mother most of her life, she was never able to grow confident with how she herself should be perceived.

Not even Silas ever tried to insult her appearance, with there always being a part of her secretly wanting him to so she could know that there was some sort of difference between her and the woman he supposedly loved. All he would say was that she was a defective copy of her, making her feel the same after a while even now.

As she sat there with these thoughts circulating through her head, she didn't notice when someone slowly made their way over to her. It was Saten, who had been looking over at her for some time now before she even gained the courage to come over to her. For some reason, she just found it difficult to focus on what she was doing before, noticing that it was probably the same for Uiharu, Shirai, and Misaka as she caught them doing the same from time to time.

When she found and put on her swimsuit, she took in a deep breath and went over to the esper sitting by herself, trying her best to wear a smile on her face to hide how nervous she currently was.

"Asher," Saten said aloud. "How do you feel about the swimsuit I picked out?"

Asher looked over at Saten before her eyes opened in some form of awe from what she was seeing. It was simple really as Saten was just wearing a teal-white bikini with a teal sarong wrapped around her legs. But for some reason, Asher's mind was very much enthralled by her appearance so much so that she could hardly understand what sort of feeling was even coming over her as she just sat there and stared at Saten for a time.

It was enough for Saten's face to heat up under her gaze, looking away as she let out a nervous laugh. "You know, it makes a girl uncomfortable if someone stares at them as much as you currently are." She teased. "Is there something about it that you don't like?"

Asher had a delayed response to what Saten said, feeling her face flush immediately when her brain decided to start working again. "Oh! Sorry," She quickly said as she looked away. "It's honestly the opposite actually. Th-That swimsuit looks decent on you to some ex-extent. I-It fits you nicely."

"Aw thanks." Saten said with a smile, causally reaching down to grab onto Asher's hand. "Now it's your turn."

Before Asher could say anything, she let out a soft yelp when she was abruptly pulled up to her feet, walking off with Saten towards a rack of swimsuits. She didn't even try to complain, only let out a sigh as she tried her best to focus on her task, not the inevitability of her wearing the swimsuit or the girls that were wearing ones around her.

Misaka saw this when she came out of her changing room, letting a smile creep onto her face. She was currently wearing a navy-blue one piece that had a yellow and white stripe up the side. She was going to go over to the esper after she had put it on. But now with Saten there, she knew that Asher was in good hands, seeing an inkling of a smile on her lips as Saten tried her best to help her out.

Shirai came up next to her, still wearing her uniform as she still had yet to find a swimsuit matching her particular tastes. She looked over at Asher and Saten as well, letting a smile of her own appear on her face as she looked over at the Electromaster that was beside her.

"They've sure gotten close these last few weeks." Shirai remarked. "From how long it took Zierdan to warm up to me, I was almost afraid Saten and even Uiharu were going to be in the same predicament."

"Well, I don't think you helped your case for how many times you purposely got on her nerves. But I agree, she has been able to warm up to them surprisingly fast." Misaka stated as she looked down at Shirai. "So, have you found what you're going to wear yet, Kuroko?"

"No, I haven't. Though when I do, I know it will be one up to your standards, Sissy." Shirai swooned, causing Misaka to grow nervous from her tone.

Asher also grew tense even if she wasn't over there or didn't hear what the teleporter had said, only feeling a massive chill go down her back until Saten shoved a swimsuit into her chest to try on.

She looked down at it with some doubt on her face, before she felt herself being turned around by gentle hands to lead her into one of the changing rooms.

"C'mon just give it a shot Asher." Saten pressed, with Asher letting out a reluctant sigh in response as she sent back a small nod. "I think it's going to look great on you!"

She went in and looked down at the swimsuit hesitantly before she just blocked off her nervousness and changed out of her uniform. Saten was standing outside when she slowly but surely opened the curtain, feeling her face heat up as she raised a hand up to her neck.

She was currently wearing a blue one piece with a pattern of yellow circles throughout its entirety, matching both the color of her eyes and light blonde hair. Her legs were completely bare without her uniform pants to cover them up, feeling an unnatural draft that she used her ability to try and make it feel like it wasn't there.

Saten immediately lit up when she saw the girl, finding it somewhat of a refreshing sight from seeing her in something other than her uniform or hoodie and shorts she tends to wear from time to time. With this, she was actually able to see some of her natural curves that were hidden under her uniform. Her eyes even glossed over her bust for a split second, comparing it to be somewhere between her own and Misaka's from its overall size. Her swimsuit wasn't necessarily revealing in any way, but it sure was causing Asher to get flustered as she stood there, letting out a laugh in response that only caused it to get worse.

"Aw, Asher it's so cute on you!" Saten stated, hearing a long sigh as Asher refused to make eye contact with her. "Your blush is making you look even more adorable."

"Well, if that's the case, then I don't know if I want to wear this one. I think I prefer the wet suit that I found before you dragged me off to another section." Asher stated.

"No, no, no. That wouldn't do." Saten waved off. "That hardly even qualifies as a swimsuit."

"Hardly isn't the same as doesn't in my opinion. What's the difference if I wear that versus what I'm wearing now?" Asher asked.

Saten let out a light sigh. "A wet suit would hide everything a camera wants to see. You shouldn't hide what you have. You should embrace it with the current swimsuit you're wearing." She said, grabbing onto Asher's hands gently as the esper looked over at her hesitantly. "It looks great on you. I promise."

Asher contemplated the idea of wearing her current swimsuit before she let out a sigh. A small smile came onto her face. "Alright, if you say so." She conceded as Saten let go of her hands.

"I know so." Saten added.

When they walked over to the others, she heard a small gasp from Uiharu.

"Wow Asher! You look so adorable!" Uiharu said in awe.

Misaka laid a hand on her shoulder, laughing at the sight of Asher's face becoming beet red from Uiharu's words.

"I agree, it looks really cute on you Z. " Misaka said.

"Please stop." Asher stoically pleaded as she covered her face with her hands. "You're making my face act up even more."

Misaka, Uiharu, and Saten along with Awatsuki and Wannai who had just walked up to them all let out a chorus of laughter with Asher's face only getting redder and redder by the moment. She wished that something else would catch all of their attention to finally give her brain a chance to calm down before it would be in danger of shorting out.

Her wishes were granted a couple moments later, though, she found herself wishing at the same that it hadn't from seeing what Shirai had chosen as her swimsuit. Actually, she honestly didn't logically categorize what the teleporter was wearing as a swimsuit due to it barely covering enough surface area in places it needed to be, even on her flat chest. She saw more of Shirai in that moment than she ever needed in her life, nearly reminiscent of the time she walked in on Shirai wearing her laced underwear in preparation for Misaka to arrive in their room.

"Sorry for taking so long." Shirai said casually, ignoring the looks of disbelief of every girl that was in front of her. "Honestly, I'm sort of disappointed that all of the designs they had were so tame like this. But since they're off the rack swimsuits, what more can a girl ask for?"

"I don't know what to say…" Saten said after a while of silence as everyone else more or less agreed with her.

Smoke was threatening to rise from Asher's head, finding herself both appalled but also irritated enough by the sight to not put her mind in too much disarray.

"Kuroko, what the hell kind of logic did you even have to see that wearing this was okay!?" Asher uncharacteristically shouted, causing everyone to flinch because of it.

Shirai only looked over at her with a wicked sideways glance, making the image in front of them even worse as she started to dance in an effort to gain Misaka's eye. "I used enough, Zierdan." She simply stated. "I know as modest as it is, it's probably driving you crazy seeing me like this, Sissy. I know you may feel some sort of temptation, but please try to resist it."

When those words left Shirai's lips, Misaka quickly grabbed onto Asher's arm when she tried to lunge at her, letting out a nervous laugh from what Shirai was doing and how quickly Asher's mood had shifted from embarrassment to annoyance in a matter of moments.

"I don't think you have to worry too much about it, Kuroko. Though I would say the same for you if you don't' want to anger Z any further." Misaka lightly suggested, seeing Asher's eyebrow twitching way too much for her to be comfortable with.

Before their conversation completely took a turn for the worse as Shirai continued her dance to press into Asher's nerves more and more, Kongou finally made an appearance.

"Aw, is that all that you all have to work with?" Kongou questioned with amusement in her voice. "Why don't you take a look at my sexy and exotic angle? Impressive isn't it?"

When everyone looked at her, everyone but Uiharu and Asher stiffened from seeing a snake coiled around her form, screeching in disbelief as they scurried away as far as they could go.

"AHHHH THAT'S A SNAKE!" They screamed.

"Ohhh, so that's why you asked if there was a pet shop somewhere in the Garden of Learning." Asher stated aloud. She honestly wasn't taken much aback by the snake in front of her as stuff like that didn't tend to scare her as much as they scared the Electromaster and the others cowering behind her.

Uiharu also felt the same way about the snake around Kongou, actually going to the extent of petting it gently. "Ah, I don't think it's all that scary guys. I think she's sort of cute."

"Her name is Ekaterina." Kongou announced as she made her way over to the girls nearly too paralyzed to move.

"Hey! Hey! Don't come any closer to us with that!" Saten shouted, only to get more and more nervous to the point of panic when Kongou was right in front of them.

"Aw, come on. Don't you want to play around with this little cutey?"

The girls screamed again in response, prompting Kongou to smile at the sight of Shirai dong it as well among them. "What do you think? Surely, you're not scared, Shirai."

"Wh-What me?" Shirai stuttered. "I think you've got the wrong idea, Kongou. I just see it as a tasteless stage prop."

Before it seemed like the craziness was beginning to die down, each of the girls heard a sigh and looked over as Konori came into view. She was currently wearing a black and white polka dotted bikini that had the same but also somehow opposite problem that Shirai's had. Unlike the teleporter where the top of her one piece may have been small though didn't really have much to cover, the top of Konori's was too small due to being a tight fit and could hardly cover everything she was packing on her chest.

She had enough up there to maybe even give Shokuhou a run for her money in comparison…

"It's a little bit tight, but it was all they had. They apparently don't carry any larger sizes." Konori said.

As all of the girls looked over at her in disbelief, Asher found herself at her limit from seeing such a thing. There was so much, way too much for mind to handle that she couldn't stop staring at Konori's chest no matter how hard she tried to stop. And since she couldn't get as irritated as she did with Shirai's swimsuit due to Konori not having much other choice but to wear the one she was currently wearing, she became too flustered to balance out the difference and short-circuited right then and there.

Smoke rose up from her head at a record pace from Misaka's view, enough that it snapped her out of the stupor she had been in and quickly got over to catch Asher before she fell down to the ground in a daze.

All she could hear her mutter under her breath was "Swimsuit" and "Illogical," with swirls going round and round in her blue eyes that even made her dizzy from seeing them.

"It was only a matter of time until this happened, but at least you held out as long as you did." Misaka sighed.

Konori looked over at the dazed girl in Misaka's hands in confusion. "Um, did I do something wrong?"

"No…It's more along the lines of what you and Kuroko didn't do." Misaka replied with a nervous smile.


A little while later…

It took some time for Asher to fully get out of her daze considering none of Misaka's shocks came even close to breaking it. When she did, she found herself in a large white room with the others. It was completely bare, prompting Uiharu to voice some of her confusion for how so with the General Manager reassuring all of them that their photos weren't going to be taken in such a place.

She brought out a remote and clicked some sort of button to change the image of their surroundings, taking them through a couple of environments that they all could potentially be in before falling to a beach. The hi-tech studio was interesting to say the least as everything around them was both digitally created while also maintaining some realism as the objects there almost felt like they actually were there.

It left Asher somewhat disoriented, though, as there was a disconnect between what her eyes were seeing, and her gravity field was sensing in the dimensional space around her. She tried her best to ignore it, but it wasn't as easy as it normally was.

Uiharu asked if the camera man was going to be male, where the General Manager reassured her along with the others that it wasn't. All of the photography here was automated, meaning that the cameras would be hidden from their view in an effort to not make any of them nervous.

The only rule that the General Manager gave them before she left was to "act natural." Asher automatically took a seat and laid her back in one of the beach chairs that were there, looking up at the sky to watch the clouds. It probably was not the most interesting thing the camera could take pictures of but at least it was more natural than what Kongou was doing, seeing her out of the corner of eye going in an array of posing positions every couple seconds.

She used the clouds to hopefully keep her from reminding herself of what they were actually doing out here, pretending it was just a normal day somewhere in the city. She tried to block out the noise of Shirai trying to chase Misaka to rub sunblock on her body as well, knowing if she didn't the teleporter's life expectancy would probably drop in an instant.

As she lied there for a while with the volume down in her ears considerably, she was surprised when she saw Wannai and Awatsuki next to her, looking up at them with confusion in her eyes.

She let out a small sigh as she brought up her hands to both of her Amps. "Is there something that you both need from me?" She asked.

Their faces fall ever so slightly when they looked over at each other. They then surprised Asher even further when they quickly turned to her direction and bowed in unison.

"We're sorry!" They said simultaneously.

Asher blinked a couple times, unable to really figure out what they meant by that. "Sorry about what?" She asked. "My memory isn't the best at times, but I'm pretty sure neither of you have done anything to warrant an apology."

Silence fell between them for a few moments before Wannai and Awatsuki let out a breath in an effort to calm down their nerves, looking up at Asher with wavering expressions.

"But we did." Wannai said. "We know we did."

"We allowed rumors to cloud our judgment of you." Awatsuki added. "We didn't even know your name before Shirai introduced us. We only knew what you generally looked like and added that on top of the rumors that have you depicted as a person that should be avoided. We shouldn't have done that, and we knew that the looks on our faces hurt you in some way when you saw them before."

Asher's face faded into realization as a small shadow came over her eyes, letting out a sigh as she brought a hand to the back of her neck. "It's fine." She said after a while. "I'm used to it, so I wasn't surprised or confused from seeing it. You both shouldn't logically feel inclined to apologize for it, since you're not the only ones who do it and I understand why it happens."

"But it was still wrong for us to do it no matter the excuse!" Wannai pressed as determination grew in her eyes. "You don't have to see the logic in our apology or have to accept it."

"We just want you to know that we know better now and promise that we will base our opinions on you and only you, not the rumors." Awatsuki added as determination shined in her eyes just as brightly.

Surprise crept onto Asher's normally stoic face before she let out a breath, looking off to the side as her cheeks flushed for just a moment. "I can already tell you both are going to run down my energy about as fast as the others any given time." She sighed before a small smile came over her face as she looked back over at them. "But I accept your apology."

Happiness spread across Wannai's and Awatsuki's faces. As Asher settled back down to what she was doing before, she felt her body lurch forward when both of the girls took a hold of her wrists.

"W-Wait, what are you two-"

"You shouldn't be just sitting here by yourself." Wannai said as she looked back at her.

"C'mon and join us!" Awatsuki insisted.

Asher was taken aback by that statement before a light chuckle escaped her breath as she allowed the girls to drag her closer to where her other friends were to participate in whatever they were doing. She did her best to not hang onto what they were doing concerning the swimsuit modeling and actually put more of her energy to enjoy herself, participating in whatever they did from as little as a conversation or some sort of game whenever the environments would switch.

She was actually having some sort of fun until the environment decided to change with them on a boat out in the middle of the sea, instantly causing her motion sickness to act up even though she knew that she wasn't on a boat. She was practically hanging off the side of it with Misaka there beside her rubbing circles on her back to try and help.

Her torture finally came to an end when the environment switched to something else, though left her somewhat confused with them being out in some type of mountainous area out in a blizzard. The hi-tech studio made them feel like that they were really there, altering the temperature enough to make it so cold that even Asher was uncomfortable.

"I think this is taking things a little too far…" Misaka commented with everyone other than Kongou nodding in agreement as the latter decided to still pose within this extreme environment.

It then switched to some sort of desert region where the problems were reversed. Instead of being too cold, it was super-hot even with their swimsuits. It almost felt like the sun was baking them alive as they tried to bear the brunt of it.

"From too cold to too hot." Misaka said almost in some form of exhaustion.

"Way way way too hot." Uiharu added.

"Why did they program such extremes?" Saten asked.

"These environments are beginning to air on the illogical side." Asher sighed.

"WATER! I NEED WATER!" Kongou shouted, bringing Asher's nightmare to life as they were put back on the boat from before inside of some sort of storm.

"No, no, no, t-take it back. Please! You're going to make me puke...ag-again..." Asher pleaded weakly as her body was slumped over the railing with Misaka trying her best to keep her from falling off it.

"Who even decided that this amount of water was okay!?" Misaka strained.

"If they want to put us on a boat, can they at least try to make us comfortable!?" Awatsuki added as she held the railing on the other side of the boat.

"O-Or just not put us on one at all. Ughhhhhh…." Asher said as her face started to become a dark shade of green, trying her best to not lose the last half of her breakfast from this morning.

She was too dazed to even notice when Kongou somehow caught a fish within this digitally created sea, where the esper determined it was a barracuda while Uiharu and Saten decided to allow her to believe that her tuna was one.

All form of logic was thrown out of the window when the environment changed to put all of them in space on the moon, now leaving them all somewhat concerned if they somehow broke the studio without realizing it.

Before they were there too long, though, a voice sounded off from the speakers somewhere above them.

"I'm sorry! Please wait a moment. We need to make some adjustments and change the scene."

A couple seconds after the voice of the General Manager went away, the area shifted to them being at some sort of campsite.

"I'm sorry again." The General Manager repeated as a nervous smile fell on her face. "There was some sort of malfunction with the cameras that we need to fix. We'll hopefully get it taken care of soon."

"The cameras? Are you sure that's the only thing that needs to be fixed?" Asher said under her breath, feeling a light elbow from Misaka in her side.

The General Manger didn't make any indication if she had heard what Asher had said, only turning around to leave. "You can all take a short break. Maybe even have some lunch since the food that is out there is real." She said.

When she went out of view, Saten picked up some sort of pot with confusion in her eyes. "What should we even make with this stuff?" She asked aloud.

Konori contemplated on the thought for a small while. "Well, with the number of people that are here and the amount of ingredients that we have…." She trailed off before an idea sparked in her head. "We could make some curry!"

They all waked into the cabin to see all of the ingredients that they had, seeing that Konori was right for them to be able make it.

"Some of us can work on the curry while the rest of us can work on the rice." Konori suggested.

Saten and Uiharu automatically announced that they would be on the curry team, while Asher, Misaka, and Shirai decided that they would help in making the rice. That left Konori who opted for the rice team as well, but also Wannai, Awatsuki, and Kongou where the latter had some doubt in the food choice they had picked.

"Ugh, Curry really?" Kongou questioned with a wave of her hand. "Curry is such a boorish and unsophisticated food."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Saten gasped. "Curry is delicious!"

"Do you really not like Curry, Kongou?" Uiharu asked.

Before Kongou could answer, she stiffened when she heard a snicker from beside her.

"I think it's mostly because she has no clue how to make it." Shirai said with a smirk, taking amusement when Kongou's face flushed for a brief moment.

"No that is not true!" Kongou retorted as she turned her back away from her. "My family has been making curry for generations with a family recipe that has already been passed down to yours truly."

"Oh really?" Asher asked, unconvinced. The girl was taking on the same tone that she had the first time she had met her.

"What kind is it?" Misaka asked enthusiastically.

Kongou stiffened up even more when they all joined Misaka in their desire to try her aforementioned family recipe, where she conceded after a while even though it didn't exist as her pride wouldn't allow her to do otherwise.

So, the teams split up with Kongou left to trying to make true to her words as Awatsuki and Wannai happily wanted to assist her as they had never made curry before. Saten and Uiharu went off to make their own curry dish while Misaka, Shirai, Asher, and Konori went over to another area to start making the rice.

As Konori began to prepare the rice before it was put into the pot, Misaka, Shirai, and Asher went off to find what they were going to use to cook it with. Unfortunately, everything there that could do it easily was broken, leaving them with a creative option that put Misaka's and Asher's concentration to the test.

Misaka sat there with her hands just a small distance away from the pot that the rice was in and used her electricity to create a small induction field. Asher sat in front of her and created a small gravity field around the induction field in an effort to make sure the heat didn't end up overcooking the rice and also made sure that none of the heat escaped into the air.

It was a pretty tiring process that neither anticipated their abilities would ever be tried to be used for, as they both also had to make sure that they didn't cancel out the other or the rice would be potentially ruined in the process.

It took all of the groups a while for them to complete their respective tasks, with Kongou allowing herself to ask for help after being convinced by Wannai and Awatsuki to do so. Their team was able to make a seafood curry after following Konori's instructions, while Saten and Uiharu created a nice Chicken curry to go along with that and the rice that Asher and Misaka had been able to cook to perfection with Shirai at their sides to fan them.

The table was set with each of these dishes where they all enjoyed a big meal together, to the point that even Asher found herself almost forgetting why they were even here in the first place…

Only just seeing it as a normal day out with her friends, new and old.


One hour later…

The sun was setting in the sky by the time all of them left the building. Well, it would probably be more correct to say that most of them left the building together as Asher hung back to wait on the esper that had decided to stay inside.

She leaned on one of the walls behind her with her arms crossed over her chest, letting a smile crawl onto her face when she heard Misaka's voice ring out in the air from one of the screens above her. From what she knew of the situation, Misaka had wanted to wear another swimsuit than the one she had worn before but was too embarrassed due to its childish designs.

So, before they had left, she secretly asked the General Manager if she could stay after and try it on. Asher was the only one in the group who had overheard the conversation, with her being the one to convince everyone to leave as she waited on Misaka to finish. She used her ability to cloak the screen the Electromaster unknowingly turned on, only allowing her cheers of glee to be heard for the sake of some of her pride to remain intact.

It had been a stressful week overall for the both of them and all that Asher wanted was for Misaka to at least have a break before she made herself sick from everything she had been forcing herself to push through.

From the Level Upper, to Silas, and revealing Asher's past to their friends, Asher knew that even someone as strong she knew Misaka to be needed a break from the craziness every so often. She hoped that this break came right in time to alleviate some of it since the experience she had during the swimsuit modeling was able to alleviate some of the weight off of her own shoulders.

It may have been illogical in nature, but she would've been lying if she didn't say that she enjoyed it to some extent.


Word Count of Chapter: 11020 |Page Count: 19 pages |Reviews: 175 | Followers: 100 |Favorites: 81

Hope you enjoyed! There should be another upload before 2020 ends. There's a small hint as to what the next chapter is going to be about in the last section. That chapter will be the last one before Big Spider starts in Chapter 40;)


Review Replies

LostNeko120: Asher compared Kongou to Misaki mostly because they both tend to boast their actions (whether true or stretching of the truth) to hide something. She tends to be able to pick up on it when they do, which is somewhat refreshing to her since she has always had a hard time when it comes to determining someone's emotions for something.

Both Asher and Kongou need more friends, so why not give them one with each other. Kongou caught Asher at a great time where she's a little bit more open to allowing others to be close to her.

Misaki's relationship with Asher will be gone over later, along with Himari's other roles when it came to what did she with her job. Next chapter will be another fillery, lighthearted one that also serves to set up the next arcs, Big Spider and Poltergeist.

Love Xion in Kingdom Hearts, along with Aqua and Axel:)

Asher will unfortunately not meet Index maybe until during or after the Sisters' arc. There has just been a lot of things going on during the last couple of chapters that didn't give a lot of space for them to have a good introduction. I was going to do it during this chapter, but after checking the timeline, it's around the time that Touma is still unconscious from his fight with Kanzaki. The fateful day of July 27th – July 28th snuck up on me as it is the night Touma's memory gets erased.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Especially with Asher's reaction to Konori's swimsuit lol.

Also I'll hopefully be able to read the stories you've uploaded for Toaru before the next update since I've been released from the clutches of college school work:;)


Guest 12/03/20: After these last string of chapters, I feel that fun/light-hearted chapters are needed at the moment before we move on to the next Arc. So I hope you enjoyed this one:)


Blankow: Thanks! Time flies by when you're having fun:)

Asher has already broken her Amps 2-3 times and that doesn't even count the times she broke them before the timeline of this story. She may not ever try to spend her money on expensive things with her Level 5 allowance, but she can't say she's grateful for it with all the times has broken her amps and Touma level hospital visits.

Kongou, Awatsuki, and Wannai have been added into the Harem that Asher doesn't even know she's creating. But on a serious note, you're right that it's good for her mental health to have friends that know her past while also having ones that don't but still pretty much care about her about as much as the others do. Both Kongou and Shokuhou always tend to boast to hide something, which Asher surprisingly finds herself in the position to actually catch it.

Mental out is definitely a scary ability and deserves the ranking of Level 5. If you're messed up physically there's a pretty high chance that can be remedied (some of the time anyway). But if someone like Shokuhou messes you up mentally/physiologically, it can be severe to the point of irreversible in most cases.

You're right, Asher's and Shokuhou's relationship will probably be explored deeper during the Daihasei Festival arc. There's a lot going on and a lot coming up, so that seems a proper time as any for that. Though, "Asher" may explore it a little earlier if I decide to give context on it. I would say their relationship right now is that they're "friends that don't openly acknowledge that their friends."

It wasn't said in the flashback, but Junko was the one I had in mind that would have came to help Shokuhou with Zierdan during that chapter. I don't think the "adorable dork" could dislike Asher no matter what she has heard about her since she knows her Queen tends to enjoy being around her without anyone else taking notice of it.

I'm conflicted as well on when to let Yomikawa adopt Z. It's probably going to be some time after Sisters' because some light needs to be at the end of the tunnel after the depression that Sisters' brings. Actually watched the Bridge scene the other day just to prepare myself for the mood it's going to have.

I'll give you the literary rights to "Rehsa" since you did think of it first. I haven't written a lot of her, but I find her pretty interesting to say the least since she's the side of Asher who uses emotions to fuel her logic. It's a different side of Asher that isn't seen all that often due to how little she allows herself to show what she's feeling.

I haven't even planned Acqua of the Back arc yet, and even I would say that Misaka will most certainly drag Z to the Spa resort, lol.


Bornkiller9: Thanks! Kongou X Asher has been added into the shipping bag, probably with Awatsuki and Wannai as well. Ironic that such an introverted character as Asher is, is coming close to out pacing Touma with an unintentional Harem of girls (so far). Glad that you liked that chapter:)


Blank: It's sort of interesting to hear about the characters that Asher remind people of. In terms of Kenma specifically, I actually have not watched Haikyuu yet. I've been meaning to get around to it, which I will hopefully be able to do during winter break before my next college semester starts.


JintoLin: It took me a while to get Kongou, but after this last season of Railgun T, I've grown to see myself saying that I like her. All she genuinely wants is to make friends, something that Asher can connect with even though neither of them would say it aloud.

Another character that grew on me during Railgun T was also Misaki, probably seen by the way I write her lol. Didn't really like her at first, but this latest season kinda gave the motivations behind what she does while also introducing a softer side of her. She may still not be the best morally at times when it comes to her ability but at least with Asher she uses it for the benefit of knowing her headspace without any of Asher's walls trying to block her from doing so. It's something Asher generally understands is the reasoning for it, but it doesn't lessen the amount she is irritated by it whenever she does it without asking.

Since Asher tends to hold back, a lot of what she can do has either been hidden or just done at a restrained capacity when she's levelheaded and in control. When she's angry and not in control though, it can be a pretty scary situation for all of those involved that even sends chills down Misaka's back. Asher's other personality is definitely key to bringing some control over her redshift side. The big question is how is she going to act when she comes back?

Himari has more of a chance of being redeemed (probably has from the little that has been seen of her) than Silas has even though she's currently dead and he's alive. Asher is pretty messed up mentally from of all of things that he did to her even before WaveInflux.

I would love to give 10 chapters of fluff. I could probably give 20 if I really tried. But I know most of you guys want to get to Sisters's at some point in the near future T.T. Next chapter will also be another chapter of fluff before Big Spider begins in Chapter 40.

Hmmmm, I would say that Asher would have probably still been pretty timid and shy even if Silas wasn't there but at least would have opened up to others easier in comparison to how she is even now. Silas completely made her distrust not only herself but also those around her. With that out of the picture, she and Misaka probably would have been friends right when they started grade school.


Thanks for your reviews!

-PurpleClover99