Kuroko panted, her lungs burning, as she sprinted down seemingly never-ending alleys, chasing after specters and silhouettes that evaded and mocked her.
"W-wait! Stop!" She cried out, her hand reaching out to grab at one of the shadowy figures before it vanished like mist through her fingers. She froze as she heard a dripping sound, smelled a revolting scent. She turned, finding herself in a familiar alley. Amidst a massive pool of blood was the mutilated and disfigured body of Misaka Mikoto, her face contorted into agony.
"No, no, no… This isn't real, this isn't real, this is just a dream, just a nightmare." She threw her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to block it all out. She felt her feet losing balance, as if the floor was trying to slip out from under her, the thought quickly interrupted as a voice broke through to her ears despite her attempts to block out the sounds.
"I will NEVER be a dream…" Hissed a giggling, malicious voice, forcing Kuroko to open her eyes and look around the alley in a panic. "...But I will always be your nightmare, Kuroko-chan." Whispered the voice of Indigo into her ear, her head snapping to look over her shoulder into the evil giggling, sadistic expression of the snake-faced murderer. His right eye glowed like a bright violet light, while his hateful left eye bore into her soul.
"I will ALWAYS be there for you, Kuroko-chan…" He walked toward her as Kuroko spun around, her feet pedaling backward as she tried to get away from him, slipping in a pool of blood and crashing onto the ground with a splash as he dived at her. She threw her arms up to defend herself, but found that they were suddenly gone, replaced with nothing but stumps. Indigo closed the distance, his hand closing around her neck tightly.
"Always, little girl, I will always be there for you…" He said softly in an intimate, sadistic manner, a thumb gingerly running across her cheek to wipe at growing tears as his grin widened, the disgusting level of intimacy made Kuroko revolted beyond imagining, the urge to vomit only defeated by her desire to breathe through his strangling hold. Tears streamed down her face as she wanted to escape, wanted out of this-
Her wish was, somewhat, granted. She found herself on a shaking piece of metal, a massive flaming hunk of debris barreling toward the city. Her hands were pressed into the searing shell of the missile, her mind entirely focused in desperation to act, to save the city… to save her. FEELING the space around her, every little sliver of it, and urging the energy within to obey her commands. She felt the searing agony as she sensed her arms first crack every bone, followed by the skin bursting forth blood from what felt like every pore. Agony beyond compare, only surpassed as she watched her arms bending unnaturally before ripping themselves out of existence just as the metal meteor exploded violently, a silent scream of horrific agony filling the air, quieted by the debris that refused to allow her to speak.
She focused on the spark in her heart that compelled her to do this…
Her memories drifted from it as she focused on that spark. She found herself kneeling over a wounded, barely conscious Mikoto. She felt her lips press against the girl's temple before a word of farewell slipped from her lips, turning toward her death…
Kuroko awoke from her twisting dreams and nightmares with a muffled scream, clenching her teeth shut tight so she wouldn't alert the hospital staff. She panted hard, her chest heaving up and down from under the blanket as she stared up at the ceiling of the room. She sat up, panting, trying vainly to wipe sweat off her brow with great difficulty.
"This has to stop… he's dead. He can't do anything to you anymore." She whispered quietly, that maddening, evil giggle echoing in her ears. She clenched her jaw tightly as she refused to let anymore tears shame her face. She stared down at the empty space where her arms should be, aching and burning pain searing through the empty space. What greater injustice was there that she was forced to feel physical pain to a limb that no longer even existed. Tormented by dreams of that snake-faced bastard.
"This… has to stop."
Kuroko was beyond relieved when she finished the discharge paperwork and was being safely wheeled out on a wheelchair by Uiharu.
"Finally free…" Kuroko groaned, having spent far too much time in that hospital room. "Sorry, Uiharu, but I think you'll be flying without me in Judgement for… well, the foreseeable future." Kuroko sighed a bit as they got to a car that had been called for them, Uiharu helping Kuroko in as she put the wheelchair in the trunk.
"O-oh, I, uh… I actually decided to take a leave of absence." Uiharu said as she slipped into the car seat next to Kuroko, who gave her a look of surprise. Kuroko stared for a moment before she got her wits about her.
"But why? You love being Judgement, Uiharu." Kuroko said, leaning back in the seat and blushing with a tinge of humiliation as Uiharu reached over and buckled Kuroko in. She felt like a child every time someone helped her with such tiny mundane things.
"I do… but I…" She shrugged a little. "I think I need to collect myself better… I just haven't been focused or motivated. Too much has happened that I'm still… processing." Uiharu said quietly, looking out the window and away from Kuroko, who sat in her seat silently.
"I… I see." Kuroko said softly, deciding that pushing this particular topic may be a poor idea. The rest of the drive was fairly uneventful, with Kuroko nearly drifting off a few times, snapping herself out of her groggy state. While hospital drugs are often just great to feel relaxed, getting off of them sometimes was just plain horrific. At the moment, it was just making her feel like she was running off a half-empty battery. A very groggy, irritable, tired battery. The nightmares she'd been having were disrupting her ability to get any decent amount of sleep.
Her thoughts maintained their groggy drowsiness before she was roused from her nearly incoherent state by a gentle shoulder pat from Uiharu. Kuroko blinked out of her stupor, turning to Uiharu who met her look with a handkerchief to her mouth with that kind and soft smile that Uiharu seemed to hold so uniquely. She then turned a fierce red when she realized that Uiharu was wiping a little drool off her face.
Kuroko mumbled something between a garbled thanks and an unintelligible excuse for the line of saliva, doing her best to hide her humiliation. Uiharu said nothing in response, just smiling as she slid over to her car door and slid out. Kuroko waited for the door to be opened for her, sighing a little as self-pitying thoughts began to surface in her mind.
The door opened and Kuroko mindlessly stepped out and was faced with a familiar face she hadn't seen in quite a long time- well, felt like several months even if it was actually well over a year. Tsuchimikado Maika, a maid-in-training who was going to one of several Academy City's maid schools. She was often working at Tokiwadai back before Kuroko had gone into her coma, serving the various young ladies that studied there.
"Hey, Shirai! Good to see you again." She gave a polite bow, her blueish hair swept back and held in place by her maid headband. Her entire outfit was one you might expect on a high-class maid.
Kuroko felt that mild annoyance she often felt with Tsuchimikado's habit of calling people by their family names in an extremely familiar manner, despite her chosen profession as a house servant. She'd long ago given up on trying to correct her though. She helped Kuroko get out of the car, Kuroko wavering a bit as she had yet to grow fully adept at balancing without the use of her full arms. It was so easy to forget just how much role they played in everyday activities.
Kuroko regained her balance with a little help, looking up at where they had arrived. She had been expecting the dorms, but was quickly proven wrong. In front of her, clearly tucked away in a fairly nice part of the city not far from the Windowless Administration Building- she could see it from where she was standing- was… well, mansion would not be appropriate, but it was certainly a fairly large private house.
"Um… where are we?" Kuroko asked, looking at Uiharu and Tsuchimikado in turn. Uiharu looked briefly surprised.
"O-oh! Right! I didn't tell you, I'm sorry!" She said, looking flustered. "Our dorms and schools and a lot of other stuff was badly d-damaged, so they rented out t-this place. For us. All of us." She explained, with a slight stutter in her voice that Kuroko knew was her tell when she was trying to hide something. Kuroko wasn't sure what though, and honestly, was too groggy to care.
"So… this is our temporary residence?" Kuroko clarified, looking back at the house. It was gated and walled, with a small lawn and garden that looked like it'd been made to be peaceful. The entirety of the house had an interesting mixture of both serenity and relaxing atmosphere, with a layer of clear additional security. It did not escape Kuroko's notice that there were a small number of cars parked down the road at key points that she knew from her work in Judgement would be Anti-Skill stakeout locations.
"And I volunteered to help you guys out." Said the ever-so-casual maid who happily took their bags out of the trunk, placing a few on top of a cleaning bot that had followed Maika outside. Uiharu provided her body as a leaning pole for Kuroko as they walked through the gate that automatically opened for them and then closed behind them the second they were through with a click that indicated a lock.
"Such security…" Kuroko muttered, to which Maid Maiko provided her commentary.
"Well, duh. You and Misaka are famous even more than before. I heard about that attack on the hospital too, someone got badly injured." Maiko commented as she easily carried the large bags inside, her cleaning robot on her heels like an especially loyal canine. "And I couldn't live with myself if I couldn't help you guys get readjusted back into your routines. You both have been through so much!" Maiko smiled brightly as she used her back to open the front door, holding it open for both Kuroko and Uiharu who walked through, trailed by a hard-working cleaning robot. If there was one thing that Kuroko could respect, it was Maika's endless compassion, and genuine desire to help.
Inside, the first sight that fell into Kuroko's eyes was a very cozy foyer, a staircase at the center that ascended up and curved apart in two opposite directions onto the second floor of the house. It was decorated with neutral, but comforting decor- vases, some with flowers, bookshelves, various sundries. Admittedly, Kuroko was far too groggy to give it more attention. The wood floor was nice… the ceiling was a pretty darker blue shade… and Kuroko realized her thoughts were starting to drift again. She quickly sealed her lips tight to make sure she wasn't drooling like some kind of child again.
"Kuroko!" The voice of one of the most important people in this world broke her right out of her daze, her eyes shooting open as Mikoto made her way down the stairs as fast as she could down the stairs, Saten following behind her with a hand raised, ready to grab at Mikoto's collar were she to slip. It spoke volumes of previous experience.
Mikoto closed the distance and without hesitation wrapped Kuroko in her arms, squeezing her to her chest. Kuroko felt a lecherous part of her mind distinctly note that her womanly assets were most definitely bigger than the last time she'd felt them press against her.
"Are you feeling OK? Is there anything I can do? Does anything hurt?" Mikoto showered her with questions while holding on to her for dear life. Kuroko didn't respond, instead leaning into Mikoto and burying her face against Mikoto's pajama top. She didn't even care that Mikoto was lazing about the house in her childish cartoon pajamas. She just savored the feeling with a content sigh.
"Kuroko?" Mikoto asked softly, still holding onto her.
"Onee-sama…" She sighed out pleasantly, not looking up, just nesting in the warm spot on Mikoto's chest. Were she to look, she'd notice that Mikoto had gone from relieved and overjoyed at seeing Kuroko, to burning red in the face as the three others in the room grinned like canary-fed cats. Maiko guided her little cleaning bot up the stairs to put away the bags while Saten and Uiharu held a painfully fake conversation about checking to see what was to be made for dinner and leaving them in the room. Just her. And Kuroko. Alone.
"You've… g-gotten taller." Mikoto stuttered out in embarrassment. What was she supposed to say? She had not mentally prepared for this! Sure, a hug, and a conversation like old friends, that she had been ready for. Kuroko… wasn't even doing anything overly lecherous. Just cuddling up close to her. And Mikoto did not know how to respond. Her obvious observation didn't grab Kuroko's attention either.
"U-um, you must be tired? Want me to help you to your room?" She asked quietly to Kuroko, shifting just a little, one arm releasing the hug so she could use her forearm crutch to maintain her balance. That seemed to break Kuroko out of her hug-induced trance.
"My room? You mean our room, right?" Kuroko said as she looked up at Mikoto with alarm. Mikoto blinked.
"U-um, they actually gave us separate rooms." Mikoto explained, meeting Kuroko's eyes. They looked… almost heartbroken. It gave Mikoto a feeling like a knife twisting in her chest.
"O-oh." Was all Kuroko said, trying weakly to hide her blatant disappointment. Mikoto didn't really know how to respond, so she settled on guiding Kuroko up the stairs, using her forearm crutch in one hand while the other wrapped around Kuroko's waist as they moved up the stairs carefully, turning to the right. The second floor, Kuroko noted, had a U shaped floor pattern, a large hole at the center where the stairs ascended through. Toward the opposite side of the floor of where the stairs deposited the girls was a small sitting area that sat at the center of a collection of six doors- two on each wall, excluding the wall the stairways wrapped against.
"This looks nice… I wonder if this is our reward for saving the city?" Kuroko mumbled somewhat absently. Mikoto couldn't help but worry, her mind jumping between theories. Was she just tired? Upset? In pain?
Mikoto did her best to keep a composed face as she helped Kuroko over to one of the doors on the left side. "Here, this one is yours. Mine is right next to it." She pointed at the adjacent door on the same wall. Mikoto opened the door and helped Kuroko in. Within the room was a bed, a desk, some boxes that looked like they'd been delivered from the hospital, and what looked to be a small row of orange vials filled with medication. Kuroko glowered a bit at those.
"Yeah, I had those in my room when I got here too…" She sighed loudly, helping Kuroko to the bed. One of the few amenities in the room that Kuroko actually appreciated for the thought was a quiet, gentle fountain plugged into the wall. It was definitely helping her relax despite her frustration. She noted another door in the room, likely to a bathroom or closet.
Mikoto stared down at Kuroko as she began to quietly glower, lost in her thoughts it seemed. Mikoto wasn't sure how to act, squirming a bit as a barrage of thoughts went through her head.
"U-um, I'm gonna go check on Saten and Uiharu, I'll let you rest." Mikoto said softly, to which Kuroko surprisingly only nodded silently. Mikoto hesitated, but decided that running away from her emotions and thoughts was easier than confronting them.
And with a soft click of the door, Kuroko was alone once more. She shifted on the bed to bury her face into a pillow, groaning in a loud muffled expression of frustration.
"Damn it…"
Dress shoes clacked against the dark echoing metal hallway of his facility as Indigo gripped at his aching eye socket. Every time he got down here, the cold made it ache, and filled him with the hateful murderous rage that he felt so very often.
"Damn it all. DAMN IT ALL." He hissed, pulling his hand away from the eyepatch. Years of planning and simulations, endless preparations, hundreds of quiet deaths, all in vain. All because of HER, that disgusting little teleporter. She ruined everything, EVERYTHING.
He strode through an automatic pair of doors at the end of the hallway, entering into his private lab. Tanks, expensive lab equipment, and ongoing experiments surrounded him, and he barely noticed. He needed a solution to this problem. He needed to kill them- no. No, he needed to break them. To make them suffer. To teach them the lesson of what happens to those who get in his way, those who interfere with his perfectly laid plans.
"But what to use…" He muttered as he paused at one tank filled with nutrition fluid. His eyes fell on the holographic display at the bottom of the tank.
"Subject F-T0… No, she's not worth the effort." He discarded that idea casually and continued down through the rows of machinery, grinding his teeth in seething rage before he paused at one tank.
Inside, a slim figure floated, occasionally twitching, showing signs of consciousness.
"But you… Oh yes, you might work." He pressed a gloved hand against the tank. The figure within moved slightly, and through their eyes, all they could see was a hand pressed against the glass, and the obscured facial features of a snake-like madman with a wide grin that stretched from ear to ear, his empty socket glowing ever so slightly.
"Yes… This will be fuuuun."
The lab filled with the echoing, giggling high pitched laughter of a creature devoid of soul, in the guise of a man.