Kuroko groaned a bit as she came to, sitting up in her bed, rubbing her head.

"Shirai-san!" came the ever familiar and compassionate voice of Uiharu next to her. Turning, she saw her sitting on the edge of Kuroko's bed with a small bucket of water and a rag.

"Hey Uiharu… What happened?" She asked softly, blinking. "Was I out long?"

"No, no, only a couple minutes. What do you remember?" Uiharu asked, reaching over to rest the wet rag on Kuroko's fevered forehead again.

Kuroko thought for a moment, replaying events in her head. "Most of everything. I was kind of feverish. What happened after Frenda left to go check what the explosions were?" She asked, looking up at Uiharu again.

"That was just a few minutes ago, so not much. We just took you and Misaka-san to your rooms to rest." Uiharu supplied, smiling a bit weakly. There was concern etched into her face. Kuroko nodded a little, and to Uiharu's surprise, she slid off of the bed and got up, Uiharu quickly standing as well.

"S-Shirai-san!" She said quickly, already in a tizzy at her headstrong friends constant need to be stubborn. Shirai put up a stubby sleeved arm to top Uiharu from putting her back to bed.

"Help me get to Mikoto's room, please. We need to talk."

In Mikoto's room, Saten was helping Mikoto drink some water, the girl still wheezing a little from the kick she took to the chest. Frenda hit like a truck. Despite this, Mikoto was really struggling to bed angry at her. And that was irritating in its own way.

"Easy…" Saten said softly, helping her finish the small cup before putting it down. Just as they finished the cup, there was a knock at the door before Kuroko and Uiharu stuck their heads in, Mikoto and Saten giving them smiles.

"H-Hey Kuroko. Feeling better?" Mikoto asked softly. Kuroko gave Mikoto a smile in return as she walked over and sat next to her on the bed, moving to cuddle up to her on some pillows, Mikoto falling back a bit. She was tired, minor physical trauma taking a lot more out of her than she was expecting.

"Yeah. It was just the hot water, and excitement, I think." Kuroko grinned and cuddled up closely to Mikoto.

Saten stood up and gave them both a wave as she and Uiharu made to leave, but to both their surprise, it was Kuroko who spoke up.

"Please wait."

Mikoto blinked in surprise, that Kuroko of all people, wanted to put a pause on privacy between the two. Kuroko kept her eyes on Mikoto but kept talking. "I want to talk about something, and I think we all need to be here." She glanced over her shoulder at the pair, who nodded and found seats for themselves in the room. Once people were comfortable, Kuroko made the effort to rearrange herself so she was sitting in Mikoto's lap, much to Mikoto's flushing embarrassment.

"Mikoto, can you make me a promise?" she asked softly of the girl, looking up at her her expression one of seriousness, and a degree of concern. Mikoto blinked before just giving her a nod. Kuroko returned the nod.

"Promise me that you will answer my next question with complete honesty, knowing that no matter your answer, I will support you and love you, and be there for you. OK?" Kuroko said, maintaining a serious level of eye contact that was starting to make Mikoto go from embarrassed to squirming uncomfortable.

"O...OK." Mikoto said softly, looking to Uiharu and Saten for some guidance, who looked equally as confused and bewildered. She looked back at Kuroko, who stared her deep in the eyes, holding her gaze. Mikoto noticed her breathing had changed- it had sped up, grown more anxious. Kuroko was a bit frightened.

"I love you, Mikoto. Please answer me this, OK?" she said again. Leaning up a bit, keeping her eyes tightly on Mikoto, who returned the gaze.

"S-Sure, just ask-"

"Mikoto, are you suicidal?"

The silence of the room could not have been more deafening. Mikoto stared at her with her mouth open for a moment before her expression tightened.

"That's- How could you even ask me something like that?" She immediately responded, sounding immediately angry, though Kuroko maintained her gaze on her, calm, seemingly waiting. "Why would you even, that's just ridiculous-" Mikoto choked on her words and looked from Kuroko to Saten and Uiharu, who looked shocked at the question, watching the conversation unfold, gaze flicking to Mikoto.

"Come on, you guys know me, am I really the type of person to- Is this because of what Frenda said? That's just… That's just stupid!" She snapped, not looking to Kuroko, though as Mikoto's tantrum began to escalate, the concern on Uiharu and Saten's face began to steadily grow.

"...Why are you looking at me like that!?" She snapped at them angrily, their expressions making her angrier even if she didn't know why, held in place by physical weakness and Kuroko's body weight, electrical arcs trailing across the room as her temper flared.

"ANSWER ME!" She shouted, causing both her friends to flinch as large electrical arcs flashed toward the ceiling and caused the lightbulb to pop.

"Mikoto." Kuroko finally spoke up, prompting Mikoto to finally look back at her. Kuroko's expression hadn't changed, her defenseless partner staring up at her with affection and love.

"You promised me. Please answer the question." She asked with a soft, loving gentleness. The temperature of the room that seemed to have consistently been rising in accordance with Mikoto's rage seemed to slowly decrease as Mikoto began to visibly shake, her mouth moving silently at first as she tried to form some kind of response.

"That's.. I… but… It isn't… It's…" She tried to find some kind of out for herself, in the corner of her eye spotting Uiharu and Saten standing up out of alarm. Finally, Mikoto hung her head down silently. Five minutes passed in the room without a word from anyone. Mikoto silently lifted her head as her face, concealed formerly by her bangs, now marred by tears flowing down her face as she began to audibly sob.

"Y-yes…" She sobbed out through choking hiccuping cries, pulling Kuroko to her chest, her legs pulling up as she tried to draw herself inward. "Yes…" She said again as she sobbed uncontrollably, her face pressed into Kuroko's shoulder, a veritable dam of unhealthy coping and emotional scarring, built up after over a year of mental reinforcement, crumbling apart as she sobbed loudly and without any form of restraint or composure.

"Shhh…" Kuroko did her best to return the hug with what she had for arms. Thankfully she was not without help, the arms of Uiharu and Saten wrapping around them both tightly, even as Mikoto cried her emotions freely. Her cries were loud and unrestrained, muffled against Kuroko's shoulders as she weeped, the control she had over the months of mental trauma finally shattered apart into what felt like a million irreparable shards.

"Please… let it out, Mikoto. You don't need to hide anything around us." Kuroko said quietly, nuzzling against Mikoto's head softly, Uiharu and Saten nodding, both sniffling a little as they saw their normally iron-clad friend fall to emotional pieces. It made every tantrum and every emotional explosion and erratic behavior from before come into perspective.

In Mikoto's mind, she felt a thousand quiet voices soothe her in the most subtle way they could, wordlessly sending solidarity to her. Sending her awareness that she was not alone, that she had sisters, sisters that loved her.

None of them were entirely sure how long they were all there for, but eventually, Mikoto sobbed herself to sleep, hiccuping in her sleep even as she was laid down on her pillow, her face a mess of drying tears.

"Do you want some help getting to your room or…" Saten asked Kuroko, expecting the answer, but asking anyway. Kuroko shook her head as she laid her head down next to Mikoto's, staring into Mikoto's face. They nodded with weak smiles as the pair quietly made their way out, briefly taking the time to clean up the broken glass from the lightbulb, and letting them go to sleep.

"Thank you, Mikoto… for being honest." She kissed Mikoto's forehead. She had sensed something dark within Mikoto ever since she'd woken up from her coma. A self-hatred. An intense self-loathing. Mikoto was trying to punish herself, did not believe she deserved a place in this world anymore. Constantly trying to find some worthy cause that she could throw herself onto so she could die with purpose.

Kuroko leaned forward and pressed her forehead against Mikoto's. "You deserve to be happy. One way or another… I'll prove that to you." She said quietly. "I promise to you…"

"...We will have a happy ending."

A/N I considered doing more with this chapter… but I feel like this is enough. This is all this chapter needs.