Nerve-wracking was a great way of describing the current atmosphere that Mikoto felt surrounding her. Back in the hospital yet again, waiting on Kuroko to be released. All she could do was pace around the facility and wait. Pacing was so much harder when your mobility was limited. Still, it was a good way to practice walking without the full assistance of her crutch.
Walking down a hall with her crutch off the ground in her hand, it was really just like walking normally. It more the issue that periodically she realized she would start tipping to one side or the other and had to self-correct, consciously. She focused on the effort, and not on the frustration, or the pit in her stomach when she remembered that this was what her life was going to be like now.
Mikoto paused and tried just standing in one spot, letting herself take deep breaths. Thankfully, this wasn't nearly as difficult, even if she wobbled a bit. There had to be a way she could address this… Something. She glanced at her crutch again, pondering how she had regained her balance in her spar with Kuroko, bending it around like a snake. Maybe…
She realized in her daze she had begun to tip over, blinking several times as she did an imitation of a chopped tree. She found her hand grabbed suddenly and her back held up by a pair of arms, eliciting a gasp out of her.
A quick look around found her in the protective grasp of her little sisters, a pair of clones who gave her passive expressions as they always did.
"Onee-sama should be more careful. Her condition is fragile, Misaka-10046 states, expressing deep concern." The clone holding her hand said, helping her onto her feet, while the other helped guide her to sit down on a nearby cushioned bench. Mikoto couldn't help but smile a little at their concern.
"Hey guys. Thanks for the save." They nodded in return, staring at her. Mikoto rubbed the side of her head, feeling awkward. She wasn't that great of a big sister, she felt. She just… wasn't great at it.
"Happy Holidays, by the way. I wasn't really sure what you guys might want, and there's so many of you, so I thought you guys might like to share this…" Mikoto fished out a small device from her pocket and offered it to them, one clone picking it up and looking at it curiously while the other bent over and looked at it with equal curiosity.
"What is it? Misaka-13577 asks with great curiosity as she examines the tiny mechanical device, poking it." Misaka-13577 said, poking it curiously.
"It's a holographic book storage. I figured that was one of those things you'd all be able to get enjoyment out of together…" Mikoto said, her voice trailing off, with just a hint of doubt in her words. Could anyone blame her? She wasn't exactly well-practiced at this big sister thing.
Nonetheless, the two clones seemed quite enthused by the gift, and the Network buzzed energetically in her head. As they grew more engrossed in the device and opened up the holographic display, Mikoto leaned back into the seat, and decided to do something she very rarely did. She closed her eyes and let herself sink into her mind, pushing at the edges of the Misaka Network.
She, in truth, was frightened of it. And she knew that they knew. She couldn't really hide anything from them anymore, at least not anything of significance. She almost never pushed at the boundaries of the the Network, afraid to lose herself in it. However, each of them could always remember their own serial numbers, right? They maintained a level of individuality. She could remember that she was Mikoto.
It was actually remarkably dizzying, like the feeling of expecting an extra step up a staircase in the darkness, the sudden drop of your foot through the air. The Network was almost beyond describing, just a vast connection of electrical impulses connected in a network of AIM fields that stretched far beyond normal human senses. Information abounded, like their own personal internet.
And… There was a lot of Kuroko in here. A lot more than she was expecting. Which seemed… strange. She didn't have long to dwell on it before it was drowned out by current events. The chattering of identical voices- almost identical, there was a single lone voice that was far higher pitched and slightly different in voice pattern- were excitedly discussing in their own monotone way about the gift that the two clones in front of her were looking at.
"All of your thoughts are in the waaaay! Misaka says as Misaka whines!" Came one bratty sounding complaint.
"There are a great many books in this device, Misaka-10777 observes."
"Onee-sama has chosen a good gift, Misaka-13463 agrees."
"Is Onee-sama here with us now? Misaka-10032 asks, noticing Onee-sama and her distinct emotional brainwaves."
It was at this point that she felt an overwhelming amount of attention suddenly focused on her brainwaves, and you don't know stage-fright until you feel the attention of over nine THOUSAND minds suddenly turn directly at you. She buckled.
Mikoto gasped as she opened her eyes and found her two clones in front of her staring as she pulled herself out of the Network, as far as she was able to at least, which left that lingering surface-level connection. She still felt the hyper-focused attention, but it was so much less intense.
"Is Onee-sama OK? Misaka-10046 asks with concern, tilting her head to further show such emotion." One of her little sisters asked, her head doing just that. Mikoto waved off the worries, though a little sweat was on her brow as her heart pounded in her chest. That was a little more intense than she was expecting.
"M-MIKOTO!" She heard the slightly scared sounding voice of Kuroko calling for her down the hall, the sound echoing. Mikoto's heart nearly sank into her stomach as she leaped out of her seat, grabbing at her crutch as her sisters helped her not fall over. Shit! Was someone attacking her? Was she OK? Did something go wrong with her arms being attached?!
Mikoto didn't wait to find out those answers as she moved as fast as she could to get to where she heard Kuroko calling for her. Three hallways later toward where she had been originally planning to meet with Kuroko, she got her answer. It was not in the least was she was expecting.
What she found was a slightly frightened, alarmed, and extremely confused looking Kuroko, and FOUR of her little sisters. Four little sister clones that were surrounding Kuroko. Two of them were clinging onto Kuroko's brand new cobalt blue cybernetic arms, one on each. Another was behind her, and seemed to be fixing the long single tail of hair that ended near the back of her knees, tied at neck level with a ribbon, that neither Kuroko or Mikoto had figured out what to do with yet. The fourth was in front of her, bent over slightly to be eye level with her, seemingly examining her face with curiosity. Mikoto stared for a moment in her own confusion, and it was at that aforementioned moment, she felt it. Infatuation. It was her own infatuation, her, admittedly though oft-understated, intense love for Kuroko. The problem was the direction it was coming from.
It was coming FROM THE NETWORK. And as the Sisters in unison looked at her with gazes of slight jealousy, the only thing Mikoto could think of was how sorry she was for what she might have gotten Kuroko into with this relationship.
How does one phrase "my clone hivemind seems to be sharing some of my emotions, particularly my love for you" delicately? That was a Future-Mikoto problem.
"Um… guys… Could you… please release my girlfriend?" Mikoto asked, politely, with just a hint of "I'll beat you with my crutch if you don't" mixed into her words. There was a pause, followed by some monotone pouting.
"The Misaka's don't understand why only Onee-sama can enjoy Kuroko's company, Misaka-19090 says with envy." One arm-clutching Misaka complained.
"Shouldn't sisters share? Misaka-10032 adds, wondering why Onee-sama is being selfish." The other arm-clutching Misaka added in.
Those words made both Mikoto and Kuroko turn several shades of red. Mikoto wasn't sure she'd ever seen Kuroko blush that fiercely before. Mikoto could barely find any coherent words to reply, just doing an imitation of a goldfish as she was left bewildered by her own clones. Thankfully, Kuroko was a little world wiser than Mikoto.
"U-um, s-so, as flattering as this is, I really, uh... " Kuroko attempted to begin, her face still burning red, but doing her utmost to compose herself like the upper class lady that she tried to be. "I really do need to get Mikoto home, we've holiday appointments to keep and I have… something I really need to do, so maybe we could… pin this conversation for another time?" Kuroko said in the most convincing way she could.
The Sisters pouted more in their monotone fashion, but her words were enough to motivate Mikoto to action, using her crutch to practically pry the girls off of Kuroko, who relented with a unified sigh and little resistance.
"Thank you for the gift, Onee-sama." The clones all said, bowing politely, as if they had not just pseudo-molested her girlfriend. As much as Mikoto wanted to be irritated with them, part of her was having a really hard time of it. The emotions they were feeling… They were HER emotions. Or… all of their emotions now? Oh, this was already giving her a migraine.
Mikoto returned the bow, as did Kuroko. "You're welcome. I hope you enjoy it." She said with a slight sigh. "Love you guys…" She said quietly, her face flushed, rubbing the back of her head, before hobbling off, not making eye contact, even as she felt a buzz in her head as she said it.
As Kuroko and Mikoto sat in the car on the way home, Kuroko gave Mikoto a bit of a side-eye before turning fully, crossing her new, fully attached arms, and raising an eyebrow, waiting for some manner of explanation. Kuroko always knew when she was hiding something these days. She had been become frightfully good at picking up on it.
Mikoto turned to answer her, but was surprised when Kuroko lightly grasped both her cheeks with her new hands, gingerly and softly, kissing her on the lips in a chaste, soft kiss. She let it linger, the car mercifully driving with a smoothness that did not disrupt it in the slightest. As they parted, Kuroko smiled at her.
"I wanted that to be the first thing I used them for." Kuroko smiled to her softly, her grin a bit infectious, starting to lean over to kiss her more, when a light wrap of knuckles against plastic broke the pair out of their own little world. They turned to look at the Anti-Skill who was giving them an extremely judgemental look from the passenger seat.
"Really, kids?" The purple-haired woman, who the girls recalled was named Yomikawa Aiho.
"S-sorry sensei." The pair said, blushing intensely as they untangled from each other and sat like good children. After a few moments of silence, eventually, their hands slid over to each other, as a soft skin hand wrapped around a warm metal counterpart.
Soft smiles, gracing their blushing faces.
After being dropped off at the house and waving at the officers, the pair walked toward the front doors.
"So the Network is… picking up on your emotions?" Kuroko asked quietly, sounding kind of bewildered.
"Yeah… The Network, the Sisters… they're individuals, but they're also part of each other… and I guess that means I am also part of them. I'm me, but I am also part of them. Which means that, I guess after all this time, they have been getting some of my emotions leaking over into the Network. I feel emotion far more powerfully than they do. It's not surprising that I might have been accidentally affecting it without realizing it. They choose what hits the Network a lot more. I just can't help but wonder how much of the Network I've been picking up on with my behavior… How much has the Network affected how I behave? What choices I've made?"
Mikoto's words rather quickly became a bit of a rambling mess, and it was clear that everything that had just happened had thrown her for a loop. The Network was yet another thing that had been sidelined and not dealt with in this disaster of a situation.
Kuroko's eyes were filled with overwhelming concern as they paused at the front door, holding on to both of Mikoto's hands. Mikoto gave her a soft smile, shrugging a little. Kuroko could only sigh in response to that, before giving an actual reply.
"Well, I admit, I never really considered the idea that the clones…" Kuroko paused, shaking her head. "Your little sisters would be affected like this, and… honestly, I don't know how to process this yet. We'll have to deal with it later. For now… let's just enjoy our holiday. OK?" Kuroko squeezed Mikoto's hands lightly, and she couldn't help but notice just how well calculated and measured it was. Her control of her grip really was amazing at this point- at least when she really focused on it.
"Yeah. Let's go." She smiled, kissing Kuroko's forehead, turning, and heading inside.
One very energetic and filling dinner later, Maika had departed for her own holiday with her brother at the girls insistence. Even a maid needed to have a holiday now and again. Now, with full bellies and tired eyes, the six girls that remained were in the sitting room, relaxing.
Kuroko had her head resting in Mikoto's lap, staring up at her, frowning in concern. The pair had found a comfortable spot on the loveseat. Mikoto's face was, unknown to its owner, twisted into one of outright disgust and hatred.
"That's not exactly an expression of holiday cheer, Mikoto." Kuroko said softly, reaching up and gently touching her cheek. Mikoto blinked as she looked down at the girl in her lap, snapped out of her thoughts.
"W-what?" Mikoto blinked, slightly surprised and alarmed.
Kuroko turned and looked over at the source of such an outpouring of negativity. Reclining at one corner of the room on a large pile of blankets was Ruiko, smiling, eyes closed, and clearly crashed from how much she'd eaten, her arms wrapped around the waist of Frenda who she had firmly pulled against her. Frenda herself was leaning her head back into Ruiko's chest, her own eyes closed. The pair seemed to be asleep.
Kuroko did admit to being surprised. Ruiko had rather abruptly started showing physical affection to Frenda at the start of the day, to the point that even Frenda seemed to be surprised. The only one unsurprised was Misaki, which seemed like a giant red flag that this wasn't something new. Just something that wasn't something people knew about. She wasn't sure what had made Ruiko suddenly so… eager to express it.
"What is it about Frenda that makes you so angry? It's not even anger it's… loathing." Kuroko looked up at Mikoto again, concern etched across her face. Mikoto glanced away, uncertainty in her eyes.
"I… Frenda was once involved, however ancillary, with the Level 6 Shift Project." Mikoto said softly. As the words came out, she felt Kuroko tense in her lap. Mikoto, despite her hatred for Frenda, felt the need to be honest. She could tell Kuroko was ready to leap to conclusions.
"Frenda had no idea what the project was or what it entailed or… anything really. She was, at best, a mercenary hired to stop my reckless rampage through the city. And she almost succeeded." Mikoto looked up again at the blonde, who in her sleep, looked like the cutest, most harmless thing in the world. She even snored cutely. Even Mikoto had to admit that.
"I'm fairly certain that little blonde gave me one of the most savage beatings I have ever gotten in my entire life." Mikoto grimaced, remembering the pain. Kuroko looked at Frenda with a sharp, needle-like glare, pushing up from her lounging posture in Mikoto's lap like she was debating throttling Frenda in her sleep.
Mikoto clenched her jaw as she seemed to struggle with something. Both girls attention were snapped as a voice cut into their conversation.
"But she saved Saten-chan's life." Came the silky smooth voice of Misaki. The starry-eyed telepath strode up to the pair, dressed in a long robe, stretching a bit. Uiharu was snoozing next to the fireplace where Misaki had left her, wrapped up in a blanket like an adorable cocoon of warmth. "Maybe give her a little bit of credit." Misaki said softly, winking playfully at the pair.
"How do you figure?" Kuroko asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Who do you think found and cared for her in that freezing rain? Or rescued her from that van we saw her abducted in?" Misaki asked, shrugging innocently. "Perhaps the little mercenary is more complicated than you give her credit. Or perhaps the world is more complicated than you two wish it to be." She offered, sighing.
"Come now… It's the holiday. You two shouldn't get so worked up. No one is here to harm anyone. Do you really think I'd let that happen?" She said ominously, before turning away and returning to Uiharu's side without another word. Kuroko and Mikoto watched her go, falling back into their seat. As their thoughts returned to contemplation, Mikoto decided that she wouldn't let her plans get derailed by unpleasant thoughts.
"Hey Kuroko… Come on." She grabbed Kuroko's surprised hands and tugged her off the couch. Grabbing her crutch, she pulled her along up the stairs and toward their room, leaving the other couples behind. As they slid into their room, Mikoto closed the door behind them, the click of a lock sending up significant alarm in Kuroko.
"Mi...koto?" Kuroko trailed off, turning around to face her as Mikoto closed the distance rather suddenly, the lights of the room turning off of their own accord. Or rather, of Mikoto's electromagnetic will. Kuroko let out a squeak of surprise as she fell onto their bed, the turn of events not something she was expecting whatsoever.
She felt Mikoto's hands grab at hers, and for the first time in nearly a year and a half, a sensation filled her. Electrical impulses rocketing down her arm and into her body, soothing now-synthetic nerves. No pain needed to be alleviated, but it made the sensation no less pleasant. She wanted to say something, but Mikoto wasn't letting her get a word out, their lips pushed together firmly, and even there, she felt little jolts of electricity escaping into her. It was… euphoric.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Mikoto paused for breath, panting. Kuroko was glad she could take a moment to catch her own.
"W-wow…" Kuroko panted out, letting out a slightly jittery chuckle. "That was a bit bold, getting… brav...er…?" Kuroko trailed off as she looked up at Mikoto, her face getting redder in the darkness as she saw Mikoto grabbing at the hem of her own top, pulling it up, looking away from Kuroko, her face illuminated only by the light of the full moon shining through the windows.
"D-don't stare…" Came the highly bashful response from the Railgun. Kuroko couldn't help it. Was… Was Mikoto stripping? Was Kuroko dreaming? This had to be a dream.
There was a loud, incredibly overjoyed voice in the back of Kuroko's head that was practically singing songs of celebration that this moment was happening right now. Mikoto was finally doing this? Finally? Yet, despite that singing voice, Kuroko reached up and softly grabbed at Mikoto's hands as her shirt was half way up, pulling her down onto the bed and crawling on top of her, her partners face burning redder as she straddled her.
"Are you sure?" Kuroko asked softly. There were so many parts of her that did not want to ask that question, but those voices ran off hormones and lust, not love and affection. And as much as it was tempting to listen to the former, she forced herself to obey the latter.
The last thing she wanted tomorrow was to wake up and look at her beloved and see an expression of regret.
Mikoto looked up at Kuroko, staring her in the eyes, blinking in surprise. She paused, before reaching up and touching both of Kuroko's cheeks.
"Yes."
It was all Kuroko needed to hear.