AN: I hate to be the writer who always has excuses for absence but I've actually got a valid reason. BUT before we untangle that yarnball I want to thank everyone who is enjoying this story! It's absolutely heartwarming to see your comments, without you I wouldn't have the motivation to write this story, I love you guys! Also, Happy New Year!! :D
Now into why I was inactive. I had the end of the school year as most people and things got pretty insane, but I also had many family issues that kinda took a toll on me (everything's good now, no worries! :)) but I was also in hospital for a bit because of my appendix. I thought they were just insane period cramps but no! Turns out my appendix was getting ready to explode so that's fun, having a bomb in my body. So I had that taken care of!
But now I'm back and like I said, this story is NOT a oneshot, and like you (hopefully) I love this franchise and I want to keep writing this story like I intended to!
Thank you everyone who is reading my content and is showing that by the littlest comment or heart or save, you truly mean so much to me that words can't describe!
Disclaimer! I do not own the characters or the anime mentioned. I only own the idea for this story unless mentioned otherwise!
Also another disclaimer! This story is inspired by another story on Archive of Our Own called Threshold Fever, written by a user called TheAntiHero! You'll understand later as to where the inspiration comes from ;3
Enjoy! :)
~ A wild line break appeared! ~
Kuroko walked tiredly through the halls to her class waving and smiling to other students who acknowledged her.
Things had been going good. She got up early, performed her special duties, and she had finished her training.
But she couldn't help but be weighed down. Something was sitting on her back. Dread? Maybe, due to her recent activities and her lies. Anxiety? Well panic attacks were a thing now for her so probably. Fear? Again, plausible, she was scared for a number of reasons, being caught hand many more she would rather not list.
Guilt?
...most definitely.
She hated lying to everyone but most of all,
She hated lying to Misaka.
When she had lied the previous night, or well, earlier this morning, the disgusting after taste that was left in her mouth after she lied was...well, disgusting.
She was disgusted with herself.
Why was she doing this? She believed in justice and honesty, she was going against her beliefs.
I have to tell her! I need to tell Sissy!
The voice in her head becoming desperate, clawing the sides of her mind like a caged and petrified kitten.
I-I can't. If I do, who knows what'll happen?
The other voice in her mind whispered.
She was conflicted.
But she was also Kuroko Shirai. A strong Judgement Officer, mentally and physically.
She was going to finish what she started.
So she was just going to have to pull herself through.
~ N-nani? Another line break?! ~
Misaka, Uiharu and Saten were all sitting in their usual spot at their favourite diner, scanning through the menu to try find something appetising.
The diner was particularly quiet today, only a few tables being used by a man in his twentys working on his laptop, a coffee in hand, a small family in the back and a young couple eating together in the window seat.
Misaka was sitting on her own bench seat while Uiharu and Saten sat across from her on the opposite bench seat. Their unconfessed love for each other was so obvious even to Misaka, which was surprising.
Speaking of love, whenever Misaka thought about couples, her mind used to go to Touma, as much of an idiot he is, she couldn't deny the feelings that were there.
Were there.
Now, she could only see Touma as a companion, nothing more.
So who did her mind wander too when she thought about love?
To be honest, Misaka didn't know. But it did go to someone, in the form of dreams.
The catch was that she could never see who someone was.
At a different time it would have been frustrating, but now that, was the least of her worries.
Speaking of worries, she was on a roll with these transitions today-
Kuroko.
Kuroko was what she was worrying about.
She couldn't help it! Although she had gotten an explanation last night she couldn't stop the nagging voice in her head that she was being lied to. But Kuroko was a terrible liar! And even so, Kuroko didn't believe in lies.
Still that didn't matter, she just wanted her best friend to feel as comfortable as she did with her, she didn't want Kuroko to feel like she needed to lie to her.
That's why she was turning every five seconds to check if she was going to come through that door.
"Misaka!"
She jumped.
Uiharu and Saten were looking at her with anticipation and it wasn't until she realised that a waitress was awaiting for her order that she understood why the pair were staring at her.
"O-oh! Uh, right." Misaka stuttered, trying to regain her composure.
"Um, I'll have a pastry and a coffee, please. Two sugar and milk thank you." She asked, giving the waitress a polite smile.
The waitress returned her smile and assured the girls that she would be back with their orders in a few minutes.
As she walked away to the kitchen, Saten looked at Misaka.
"You ok? You kinda spaced out back there." The raven haired girl said, a small smile plastered on her face.
"Yeah, totally! Just thinking about...stuff?" She meant for it to come out as a statement, she hated to sound so unsure of herself.
"You sure you're not thinking of, someone?." Saten said with a smug expression, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. Uiharu giggled, putting her hand in front of her mouth to keep her from laughing out loud.
"W-what?! What makes you think I'm thinking about, 'someone'?" Misaka stated, emphasising the word 'someone' with her fingers in a quoting motion.
"Oh nothing, just a hunch. How is Touma anyway?" Saten smirked mischievously.
Touma? Are you serious?!
"I don't like Touma anymore!" Misaka said defensively, not thinking twice about what she has just blurted out.
"Anymore?! Now you've gotta spill!" Saten said, laughing.
"NO! And it doesn't matter anyway, I don't like..anyone." Misaka stated, crossing her arms and throwing one leg over the other in a defensive position, closing her eyes and turning her head away from the two girls.
Crap, I hope the didn't notice that stutter.
Thankfully they didn't and the pair just laughed at their friend's antics.
Before Misaka could come up with a sassy retort, she felt the the seat shift the teenie, tiniest bit.
"Kuroko! Oh my god, you're here!" She heard Uiharu exclaim happily.
W-wait, Kuroko?!
Misaka quickly turned her head, then blinked to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her.
But, as Uiharu implied, Kuroko was there, locked into an embrace with Uiharu as said girl was excitedly talking to her, Saten also getting a few sentences into the excited conversation.
"K-Kuroko, y-you actually came!" Misaka said happily, flashing her a big smile and diving in for a bear hug as soon as Uiharu moved to her seat.
Kuroko happily melted into the embrace, pleasantly surprising the older girl as she reluctantly let go, sheepishly smiling at her
"Of course I came, I realised we hadn't been hanging out as much as I'd like as I've been very busy, so I came here hoping you'd all be here. Thankfully you all are!" Kuroko said, smiling at her friends.
"Speaking of which Kuroko, what have been doing lately? I've seen you roaming around lately in places you would usually never go." Saten questioned, cocking her head to the side.
What? What was that supposed to mean?
"Oh, haha! I've just been running some errands for Konori." Kuroko answered.
"Hang on a second, I thought you were taking a break from Judgement because you got in trouble." Misaka said slowly, narrowing her eyes.
"Yeah Kuroko, you told me that you were taking time off." Uiharu said, mirroring Misaka's facial expression.
"Oh I am! I'm still filling out my punishment, but the errands I'm running for Konori aren't Judgment assessments, she's just asking me to get some things for her as a friend! She has been busy to be fair."
"Yeah she has been." Uiharu relaxed noticeably, agreeing with the young girl.
Misaka didn't want to let it go though, bit for the sake of the girl next to her, she did. She didn't want to scare her off after she finally came here to be with them.
Saten still looked confused though.
"So wait, what on earth does she want from the club downtown?"
If Misaka had been drinking something, she would have comically spit it out, but instead she choked on air.
"A club? Kuroko, what are you doing going to clubs?"
Kuroko shrugged, "She asked me to pick up a package from that club, I don't know what it was though, I didn't want to be invasive and peek inside. Konori is a really weird women now that I think about it."
Ok, that still doesn't explain why she sent an underage, and very tiny girl into a nightclub that is known for its loud parties and amazing prostitute service.
Don't ask how I know that, Misaka eternally said to nobody. (AN: ;3)
But again, she let it go.
Before the girls could become engaged in any more conversation, a different waiter came to the table holding the girls orders.
"One pancake platter and caramel latte, one black coffee with two sugars and one pastry and coffee with two sugars and milk." The young boy said, placing the pancake platter and latte infringement of Uiharu, the coffee in front of Saten and Misaka's own order down respectively.
Just at that moment, the boy locked eyes with Kuroko and his cheeks became tinted with a dark crimson.
She didn't know if it was because he thought he had forgotten an order and he was embarrassed or that he thought that Kuroko was drop dead gorgeous, which, without a doubt she was but Misaka just didn't like how he was raking his eyes up and down her best friend.
Wait, back up, Kuroko- drop dead gorgeous?
Before Misaka could blush at her own thought or process that she was giving the boy a stone cold and possessive glare, he stood up straight like a stick in an instant but didn't break eye contact with Kuroko.
"Um, what did you order, Miss?" The waiter asked nervously, the blush reaching his ears.
That better be from embarrassment. Misaka thought, gripping the seat until her knuckles went white.
"No, I wasn't here when these three ordered." Kuroko smiled, seemingly unfazed by the boy's blushing.
Thank god.
"Would you like anything?" He asked politely.
It was at that moment that his eyes quickly flickered to Misaka's face. He had never seen a glare more possessive or protective than the one she was throwing at him.
He quickly looked away, panicked.
"Just a large hot chocolate please!" Kuroko said, her face shining with childish innocence.
He nodded curtly and left the table with no words.
Misaka quickly shook her head as if to clear the state she was in then started to drink her coffee, hoping a conversation topic would come to her mind.
Thankfully, Kuroko was much better at talking, ironically, and she already had something she wanted to talk about.
The four girls slipped into casual conversation, all of them laughing and giggling.
Just when Misaka was recovering from laughing after a joke Saten had cracked the waiter came back to the table shyly.
"Here you go Miss." He smiled nervously, handing Kuroko's drink to her rather than placing it on the table, in a way that made Mikoto's eyebrows pull together and for her to shift a little bit closer to the small girl.
"Thank you." Kuroko gave him a small smile as he walked away.
Kuroko put the small plate down that held the napkin, two marshmallows and spoon in front of her.
"Oh my god, Kuroko look!" Saten squealed, pointing at Kuroko's napkin.
Cocking her head to the side, Kuroko placed her drink down and picked up her napkin, only to find a small, folded up price of paper underneath.
Confusion still written across her face, the small teleporter took te piece of paper and unfolded it.
She immediately blushed.
"What is it?!" Misaka said through her teeth, at the exact same time Saten and Uiharu squealed the same sentence in more excited tones.
"I-it's-" but before she said anything, Saten had reached over and snatched it out of her hands and skimmed through it.
The raven haired girl gasped and Uiharu looked over, a smug expression plastered on her face.
"'Call me, *winky face*~ Torabura,' Kuroko, you just got some hot guy's number!" Uiharu said smugly, while Saten was giggling.
Misaka however didn't feel like laughing. She felt...hot. She couldn't explain what she felt, she was just burning up.
Kuroko however didn't seem particularly happy either, she simply giggled then took the paper back and shoved it in her skirt pocket.
After the girls finished up, they walked out and began walking to a familiar bench and a familiar vending machine.
Saten and Uiharu spoke in hushed whispers up the front so that left Mikoto and Kuroko to trail behind.
"Hey, just a heads up, I'll be early tonight." Kuroko said after a few minutes of walking.
"Oh, ok, cool." Misaka said with a smile.
"Yeah, the janitor is giving me less work so everything should be ok."
More silence until Misaka finally asked.
"So...areyougonnacallhim?" She said quickly.
Kuroko just gave her a funny, lopsided smile.
"Maybe, I don't know at the moment."
Misaka didn't know how she felt about that answer as it wasn't the one she was looking for, but it wasn't a yes.
While Kuroko seemed to be occupied with her phone (she really hoped she wasn't texting that guy) Misaka decided to distract herself.
Jealousy.
That was all that could come to her head. And as much as she hated to admit it, she knew fully well that she was jealous of that boy and Kuroko. The only thing was was that she had absolutely no idea why.
Was she jealous that Kuroko was going to hang out with this rando dude or was she scared that said rando dude was going to take her friend away from her?
Wait.
No.
I-it couldn't be? C-could it?
No. No it couldn't be.
Most definitely not.
...
Right?
She couldn't possibly have a crush on-
"Kuroko! Misaka! Hurry up!" Saten shouted, waving at the pair.
Shaking her head, the two girls sped toward their two friends, the cold evening wind, stirring the leaves on the footpath and blowing away Misaka's train of thought.
~Alas, another linebreak has bestowed upon us! ~
Kuroko stuck to her promise.
She was going to be early.
And she was. But-
That didn't mean she was staying.
Yes, the guilt was intense but she had to do this.
She decided to pick apart her lie, knowing it wasn't going to last very long.
She decided she was going to end the whole janitor thing tomorrow and tell Misaka that she didn't have to do that anymore tonight. Then she was going to inform Uiharu and the rest of the girls that she was doing her Judgment duties again next week.
Now, you might be wondering, why was the small esper lying about Judgment anyways? Truth be told she actually was told to take a break from Judgment and at the time when she told Uiharu, she wasn't lying about taking a break.
But that was before Kuroko got...involved. And before Konori had given her an opportunity. The opportunity being to take her Judgement duties to the next level.
Because Judgment is a leadership role for students they aren't expected to do anything extreme, but Konori apparently saw the potential in Kuroko to become something else. A higher position.
With this 'higher position', with the authority of the required people, Kuroko was allowed to be in duty at night, something that was a usual thing for a Judgment officer. The head of the school had been advised in advance.
Kuroko had no idea why she hadn't told the truth about Judgement, well the whole truth. Judgement was a normal thing so it would have been easier to come clean early.
Plus, Judgment wasn't even what she was trying to hide.
What she was trying to hide was something much, much more dangerous.
Even if half the time Judgment was the reason she was out late, the thing she was trying to conceal was going to have to be covered with another lie just in case she was caught out late again as she didn't know if she could tell people about her promotion.
Lies upon lies upon lies. It was just too much. That's why she was writing it all down to keep track, so she wouldn't lose her mind.
Kuroko walked up to the dorm and stepped inside, taking off her shoes and placing them by Misaka's, the warm room insanely inviting.
She could hear that Misaka was in the bathroom so she started getting to work.
She put on her pyjamas but put her nightclothes underneath her pillow out of sight. She put her school supplies, laptop and phone out and hung her school bag on her desk chair. She put her phone, her diary and pen and few other important things in a small backpack she found in her closet, also finding some beat up sneakers there and putting them under her desk chair.
Finally the last part of her plan. Before arriving to the dorm, Kuroko came up with a great idea. She quickly went to the store and brought an electric blanket. Just in case Sissy woke up when she was gone she was going to have the electric blanket on to give the effect that she had been on the bed recently just in case she checked that. She was also going to lock the bathroom door and somehow create an illusion the she was in there.
When she was satisfied that she was ready to leave for the night, she sat on her bed and began her routine. Brushing her hair until is was bouncy and shiny, moisturising, her skincare routine, all that fun teenage stuff.
Just as she sat at her desk to busy herself with homework, her roommate came through the bathroom door.
"Oh, Kuroko! Hey!" Misaka said happily, giving her roommate a smile.
Kuroko returned it. "Hey! How are you?"
"Good."
"That's good." Kuroko smiled.
The room was blanketed in a comfortable silence as Misaka read a book and Kuroko finished that weeks homework.
"Hey Kuroko. Can I ask you something?"
Kuroko, completely finished with her homework and putting the assignments in her bag, turned to her roommate with a smile.
"Of course you can."
"Um. Well, I-" the older girl stuttered.
Kuroko cocked her to the side, her caramel eyes shining and her hair falling around her like a waterfall.
She stared at her best friend, awaiting for her to speak again.
Misaka blushed a dark red instantly as she saw Kuroko cock her head and Kuroko had no idea why.
"Well-lets just say you like someone, okay? You're super close with them but you don't want to ruin the relationship you already have. W-what would you do?"
It was an odd question coming from Misaka, she never talked about boys, but just hearing her say that hurt.
I knew she was in love with Touma.
But she couldn't even be mad, she loved her too much.
"Um, well, I would just think about my feelings for a bit and maybe talk it out with someone else before actually deciding wether I should confess or not. But I wouldn't want to crush on him without talking about it with a trusted friend, yknow?" She replied slowly.
"Yeah ok."
The silence became awkward for a split second but then Misaka broke it.
"We should get to sleep now shouldn't we? It's pretty late."
Kuroko looked at the time and it read 9:45.
Damn, an hour had passed already?
"Yeah, you're right."
The girls slipped into bed as Misaka flipped the lights.
"Goodnight Kuroko."
Without thinking Kuroko whispered, "Goodnight Mikoto."
...
"Sissy, are you awake?"
Kuroko was answered with quiet snores from across the room and with that, she leapt up quietly.
As she finished getting ready, putting her pyjamas in the bathroom, she turned on the electric blanket and sorted out the bathroom. She walked in, locked the door and flicked on the lights, she had her laptop with her and she plugged its charger into the socket near the sink, connecting it so it wouldn't turn off and it would stay charged.
She filled up the bathtub and then googled a video on YouTube until she found a perfect video that was just audio of water sloshing, which made it seem like she was in the bath. She then opened an app in the background and with a few clicks she added her humming in the background.
Perfect.
She teleported out of the bathroom and turned to look at her roommate before she left.
I'm sorry Sissy.
And with that, she teleported away into the night.
~It's a...actually I'm not to sure what this is...~
AN: Well...this exists now.
I'm so sorry if this didn't meet your expectations but fret not my dear friends, I already have some more chapters in the way!
I'm still trying to figure out where the story is going but I hope you don't mind that Mikoto x Kuroko is happening as well as Saten x Uiharu in the background. If you couldn't tell already, that's what the endgame is ;3 (I'm sorry I'm Mikoto x Kuroko trash ;-;)
Like I said at the beginning, this story is inspired by another Certain Scientfic Railgun fanfic called Threshold Fever written by TheAntiHero on An Archive of Our Own. I recommend you go show that story some love too! If you stick around with me and this story (which I hope you do :3) you will begin to connect the dots of where the inspiration is coming from.
That's it from me! Again I'm sorry if this wasn't worth the wait :(
I love you all so much!!
Favourite/Follow/Share/Review!
Au Revoir Belles~
Kay~
Edit! I reuploaded this because there were a few grammatical errors that were triggering me and making me cringe, I'm so sorry about that! ;-; I might do the same with the other chapter as well because I'm sure there are mistakes in that one too. Super sorry for the loves~