It was for the briefest period of time that Kamijou Touma, for a moment, seemed to seize up completely as he continued to stand before her, basking in her presence.
To him, she, the perfect woman, the ideal companion, physically, mentally, emotionally; she was a source of unending positivity.
Clothed in her usual attire, consisting of a white, short-sleeved top, bound around her upper chest and, subsequently, exposing her midriff her upper body's clothing was accented by a single-legged pair of blue denims, tightly hugging her legs' curves upon her lower body, with leather, decorated and ornate boots, bound and encrusted with jewels and other baubles. Bound around her waist were numerous belts of leather, studded and elongated. Down from the crown of her full head of hair, dark as the night sky, Kaori's long, flowing hair, tied into an elegant knot rode against her back, its tips nearly touching her posterior.
She was within his very grasp, his very reach. Reach out, tell her, hold her, that was all he had to do. What Kamijou Touma sought to accomplish was mere feet away from him!
There was, however, a problem. He didn't quite know what he was supposed to say or do. Maybe there wasn't anything to say, and maybe there wasn't anything to do. Maybe, he figured, he should simply go with the flow.
Touma would've been almost contented to simply stand there and gaze into her eyes, losing himself deep within their deep blue expanses if Kanzaki Kaori didn't make the first move; dropping her luggage to the ground, along with her handbag, which, in reality, was a transmutated blade longer than she was tall, Kaori took the boy into her arms, wrapping her upper body's limbs around his back.
He started, only briefly, before appreciation and a sense of safety took hold, washing over him.
"I've missed you so much. Even if it's only been a few hours since we last talked. Kamijou-san, for the last entire week I've been able to think of nothing but seeing you again… well, that and Dead Soul. Curse you for getting me hooked on that damnable game."
Indeed; the boy had been conversing with the girl, no, the woman, through text message earlier in the day, just before she'd boarded the plane she'd been required to board. It must've been at that point, Touma figured. She'd even said that she was going to be boarding her flight.
How could he have been so forgetful? Regardless of how much he had going on, in his life, it couldn't have served as any sort of excuse. Kamijou Touma had no excuse.
But he could punish himself later. He could feel sorry for himself and hate himself later. There would always be time for that.
"I-I've… erm, missed you, too, Kanzaki… you smell really good… this is a nice hug too. L-let's… keep hugging."
"I've no qualms with that."
"Your moves are as smooth as the skin of a newborn infant, Master."
"Didn't I tell you to shut up?"
"You know you're fond of me; no matter how much you try to convince me otherwise, we both know the truth, Master. What do the children of the current year refer to such behavior as? Was it… 'tsundere'? I believe that is the correct terminology, yes."
"Yeah, yeah… keep stroking your own ego, and… hey, remind me to cover my right hand the next time I watch an anime. Last thing I need is you getting smart."
Upon turning his attention away from the odd, booming, yet, somehow paradoxically calming voice within his head, and back to Kanzaki Kaori, Kamijou Touma noticed that she was blushing; with the side of her face pressed against the boy's chest, she repeatedly nuzzled him, rubbing the side of her face, her nose, and sections of her hair's fringe against his silk-soft shirt.
He hadn't been lying or exaggerating; lingering around the Saint was the scent of strawberries, wholesome and natural.
"Don't pop a boner don't pop a boner don't pop a boner."
"T-thank you, K-Kamijou-san, I'd rather not let go. I missed your warmth… you're so very warm… Ah! I don't mean to make you uncomfortable! Ah, f-forgive me. I-I've lost myself in my own emotions… hem."
She seemed to become nervous.
"Master… a word…?"
Even as Kamijou Touma found his own arms casting themselves around the Saint's form, he paid a moment's time to the words spoken by the other voice in his head, the voice of the being he'd come to know as Inthur, the 'Dragon Emperor'.
"You haven't steered me wrong, yet. Let's hear it."
"You wish for this one to be your mate?"
"Mate" might be a bit of a stretch, that's moving a bit fast, but… I like Kanzaki, yeah. I want her in my life, in… a different way. I guess that's been obvious enough, hasn't it? Yeah. I guess I'll just admit it, talking voice in my head. If I didn't know better, I'd think that I was suffering from schizophrenia… Inthur, I'm… I'm in love with her."
"If that is the case then you'd best lay your claim before another chooses to do so in your stead. I'll leave the remaining details in your ever-capable hands. All things are temporary. All doors must close. All opportunities must end."
"Okay, I get it, sheesh. Just a thing I thought I should mention… Inthur, I'm not your Master. You can literally take off anytime you want. You don't have to stay here, or anything."
"I am aware of this. By all definitions of the terms I am your Servant, and you are my Master, however. You provide me with purpose. Your morals and your values align closely with my own. I have no reason to take my leave, not yet."
Apparently, Kanzaki Kaori didn't mind the silence shared between her and him, the individual to whom she owed so much, to whom she was so fond of, Kamijou Touma. The individual who's become her best friend.
For a moment, a twang of remorse surged throughout him. He should've been making better and much more numerous attempts at conversation.
Quickly establishing a proverbial foothold, Touma broke away from the embrace, which seemed to disappoint the Saint; even then, the two exchanged warm and genuine smiles.
With a swift, deep inhalation of oxygenized air, Touma nodded in Kaori's direction.
Carefully, he proceeded to collect as much of Kaori's baggage as he could. Onward the Saint watched, as he lifted the collection of duffel bags, a load possessing a fair amount of weight to it.
Watching him work caused her entire body to begin growing warmer. Feeling her thighs press together of their own accord, Kaori bit her lower lip.
She was losing it, completely.
Good God in Heaven above was he ever attractive.
She needed to make a move, and she needed to make a move as quickly as she possibly could. She'd gotten as far as to find her way into his place of residence, and, as far as she knew, he was single.
The opportunity wouldn't be wasted. She wouldn't permit it to be wasted. This was her mission, from the moment she'd inquired as to whether or not he wished to spend time with her, almost an entire week's worth of time, prior.
"I'll relocate this stuff for you… uh, Kanzaki, forgive the state of the place… I was pressed a bit for time… and…"
Suddenly, cutting the boy off, the Saint produced a gasp. Her right hand practically flew to her mouth; her individual digits covered her nose, as her entire face became bright red.
"Kanzaki, are you feeling alright? You're…"
"D-did you do all of this?! The g-glasses… a-and… t-the p-placemats…? You…?"
"Well, it wasn't all me… I had h-help from a friend, too, see, it was kind of an s-shared idea. Yo-"
"Kamijou-san, you're positively adorable! This is so… so cute, so sweet of you and so thoughtful! O-oh m-my… g-goodness. Just how long did you and yours spend planning this for this evening?! Ah! So simply sweet!"
Swooning, the Saint's entire body began to increase in its temperature; for a moment, she thought she might've suddenly keeled over and fainted. Even as she struggled with her own desire to avoid falling to her knees, Kanzaki Kaori observed Kamijou Touma's movements, as he transferred her baggage, lugging it into the dorm, and then, slinging it over his back, moving it into a small, cleanly laundry room, complete with necessary hardware, such as a washing machine, a small sink, and several laundry baskets, all of which were empty.
"It's not that big of a deal" was the first thought which crossed Touma's mind, though, he strived for something different, something less typical.
"You deserve it, Kanzaki," Touma remarked, as he completed the final stages of his task, placing the last of Kaori's luggage closest to the empty laundry baskets, ensuring that it was out of the way, neatly, and carefully set in place. "I… uh… erm… dinner ended up getting b-burned… sorry, but… I can cook something else up for us and hope it goes better. Don't have a lot but I think I can make something work for us. I'd order out, but…"
"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Kamijou-san. The offer in and of itself is beyond flattering, and the results of your culinary skills should be exalted."
With each second that passed, each second in which she, Kanzaki Kaori, was in his line of sight, Kamijou Touma's heart seemed to beat more rapidly. He felt lifeblood rushing from within him, and rising toward his face.
He could practically feel his own crimson blush.
Carefully removing her boots, revealing white-toned socks as simple as Kamijou Touma's own, Kaori stepped into the dorm, turning her gaze from section to section, far more curious than judgmental.
Things had certainly changed since she'd last set foot into the dorm. The bookshelf, for example, construct of metallic beams seemed to have gained many more contents, which weren't limited simply to books; films, television show box sets and video games all seemed to have made their way onto the bookshelf's individual shelves.
Her exploration was more a distraction from her desire to push the dorm's occupant to the ground and kiss his cheeks off.
The way he said that, "you deserve it", the way he'd produced the individual words, it made her shudder.
Soon enough, his task apparently complete, Kamijou Touma had taken to her side. In his presence, she felt a flurry of emotion and a proverbial blizzard of desires, much of which she didn't quite understand crash against her, causing her to shiver; every hair on Kaori's body seemed to suddenly stand on ends.
He, Touma, had his own considerations.
He was utterly unprepared to face the music. He hadn't been given any proper timing to plan for the situation in which he'd found himself.
She was looking at him. She'd turned to face him, looking up at him, though; she didn't have to look all that far, as only a head's worth of height separated the two.
Kamijou Touma had a choice to make.
Kaori's stay at his place of residence could go one of two ways, and he was more than aware of this factoid. He could allow the woman who'd come to bring him such joy and such relief from the pains of his young adult life, the perfect woman, in his eyes, the ideal companion to slip through his fingers, or he could man up, take responsibility upon his shoulders, and ask the woman who obviously reciprocated his feelings to join him in courtship.
At the thought, Touma swallowed, hard.
Both of them realized that, they, two individuals who were merely supposed to be 'friends', 'companions' who shared a mutual loved one in the form of the girl who'd memorized over one hundred thousand cursed and banned texts, Index, were holding hands, Touma's right in Kaori's left.
Her palm was soft, her fingers and thumb slim, feminine and delicate. His palm was rough, tough, and thick with flesh bound over hardened bone, the hand of a man, not of a boy.
A single thought passed through his higher mind, Kamijou Touma's eyelids slid downward and upward, not closing all the way, but, certainly narrowing, and nearly entirely obscuring his irises, and his pupils from view.
"I'm going to do it. Enough messing around! I'm just going to tell her how I feel! It's time to take charge and be the man I've got to be! I'm going to shatter my OWN ILLUSIONS!"
Instantaneously, moving like greased lightning, Kamijou Touma took to standing before Kanzaki Kaori; letting her hand fall back to her side, he instantaneously fell down upon one knee, placing either of his arms, bound over one another against his right knee; if it hadn't been for this odd gesture, hypothetical onlookers could've been forgiven for believing him to be proposing to her.
Kaori herself, seemingly in a state of confusion, didn't react, not on a physical level. She merely observed the 'fallen' Kamijou Touma, whose head was bowed, as if he'd found himself deep within a moment of reverence.
"Kanzaki-Sama," Touma announced, suddenly looking up, pupils locking with the Saint's own, which were perpetually, slowly dilating, "this lowly Kamijou-san has a confession to make."
"K-K-K-KAMIJOU-S-SAN?!"
"Growing closer to you and spending more time with you since… he… was… taken care of has helped me open my eyes to a lot of different things. You're… everything I want in a… person, a w-woman…"
"I…"
"To spend time with… r-romantically, I've figured that out. I t-think… I thi— I've fallen in l-love. With you. You're beautiful, and smart, and you've got your head on straight and you're reasonable and you and me like a whole bunch of the same stuff and…"
Taking a deep breath, and steadying himself as best as he could, Kamijou Touma continued further, not pausing once more, as Kanzaki Kaori continued to look on, utterly still, like she'd been turned to stone, converted by the gaze of a gorgon.
"You make me really happy. I hope I make you happy too. I know this is sudden but today… hell, these last two years of both our lives have kind of been sudden, haven't they? I'm in love with you, and I don't even know if you can, because you're a Saint, and part of the Magic Side and my friend, all of that… would you…"
"Yes oh my GOODNESS yes."
"Be…"
"Yes!"
"My… wait, what?"
"Yes, yes!"
Like he was a bride, standing before a proverbial altar on her proverbial wedding day, all two hundred and fifty pounds of Kamijou Touma were effortlessly lifted, raised and held bridal style, by the Saint; with the strength she'd utilized, Touma may as well have been a fallen leaf, carried on a particularly moody and brooding gust of wind.
"I would be an absolute fool not to accept your proposal for courtship. I feel for you precisely what you feel for me, Kamijou-san! I've held feelings for you for long, yet now they're far greater, expanded, even… I w-want to be your… your 'g-girlfriend'."
Kamijou Touma felt lightheaded; he felt as if, at any given moment, he could've suddenly, and without so much as a single issue of warning, verbal or otherwise, lost his grasp on consciousness.
He'd done it. He'd crossed the line, stepped both feet over it, abandoning the plane of existence in which he'd dwelled some mere moments ago.
Kamijou Touma was no longer single.
Looking up at her, at her smooth, delicate facial features, into her big, lively, perpetually sparkling eyes, examining every contour of her widened smile, he may as well have been glimpsing into the features of some angelic being.
Unfortunately, an almost deafening silence permeated the living quarters of the Kamijou Residence, following Kamijou Touma's suddenly-announced confession, and Kanzaki Kaori's overjoyed acceptance and vocalized reciprocation of his feelings.
Neither quite knew what, exactly, they were supposed to do.
Surely, there was something else, something more, some climactic moment which would cause the very heavens above to shudder, the skies around the globe to instantaneously clear their cloud coverage, out of sheer reverence for the moment.
Bearer of the Imagine Breaker and the Saint who was devoted to saving those who could not be saved looked at one another, for a few more moments, before the former party broke the ice.
Not of his own will.
Rather, the ice was forcibly broken for him, by the grumbling of his stomach.
"S-so… K-Kanzaki… uh… are you feeling hungry? I have burnt casserole in the oven. I can grab the trays, if you want to put something on the TV."
"I'm famished; besides, burnt or not, I would be a fool to pass up on your cooking, Kamijou-san. Give me the food, gimme, gimme, gimme."
Friday, July 1st, 2006. 7:21 PM.
Room 504 of Nagatenjouki Academy Dormitory, Academy City, Japan.
Misaki Mikoto suddenly felt as if something was off; something just wasn't right. There was something strange in the air, a sense of disphoria, the inherent, instinctual feeling that something, some matter or another, was absolutely, positively wrong.
She felt as if she'd lost something, some sort of race, some kind of competition; she felt as if she was experiencing defeat, on some level.
Unable to put a finger on the origin of the feeling, the third-ranked level five, Academy City's greatest electromaster shrugged, and produced a soft, unconcerned grunt, as she scrubbed the last of the shampoo from her chestnut brown hair, as she lay, outstretched, in her dorm's elongated and ornate, ceramic bathing basin.
"Must be the time of year…"
Friday, July 1st, 2006. 7:21 PM.
Room 426 of Nagatenjouki Academy Dormitory, Academy City, Japan.
Nagatenjouki Academy was, if anything beyond normal, a location spoken of only in legends passed around amongst groups of young men who dwelled in Academy City.
In fact, it was hardly a place of legend at all. Not by the standards of those who lived there. The presumption made enough sense, when one looked at it from another perspective. Unlike School Garden, which was a forbidden landscape, where the male populous could not tread, Nagatenjouki was a whole different kind of esteemed. Of course, those who lived in its shadow would think it to be some mythical place of legend.
By the standards of the girls who called its halls home, Nagatenjouki Academy was, by all means, simply that and nothing more; a place of education and a place to call home.
It was much simpler than most thought, there was no such stigmata associated with the location, or, for that matter, any of the numerous upscale dormitories that dotted School Garden. Like all dormitories, Nagatenjouki Academy's Dormitories were exactly that, a dormitory, places of residence, of rest and repose after a long day's work.
If anything was special about Tokiwadai Middle School's Dormitory, it was less the brickwork that made up the dormitory itself, and more the individuals who called it home.
Living in pairs, coexisting as independent units who engaged in symbiosis in order to further improve their collective qualities of life, the girls were paired at random, or so they were told.
Whether the pairing of Shokuhou Misaki with Mitsuari Ayu, Mental Out with Mental Stinger, level five with level three was the result of a random amalgamation of coincidence, time and happenstance, or the result of deliberate machinations, so many strings pulled from behind the scenes by parties unknown was a matter of debate, especially between the mental ability user girls themselves.
However, on this day, there was no debate. There was no squabbling, no quarrels, and no verbal exchanges of a heated nature. Such things had long come and gone, having run their course.
Instead, both the level five Mental Out girl and the level three Mental Stinger girl sipped from their cups, allowing their respective drinks within to flow between their lips, and into their mouths.
Warm tea, and carbonated soda, with a heavy tinge of orange flavoring, respectively.
While Shokuhou Misaki, with her left, stocking-clad leg crossed over her right tapped away at the touchscreen of her cellular phone, Mitsuari Ayu, with her bared right leg crossed over her left held on her finger, raised to her field of vision a tiny creature.
Grey in coloration, with numerous white stripes covering its legs, its opisthosoma and its prosoma, the tiny, near-invisible creature was, in fact, a jumping spider. With a total of four small, bulbous eyes, the little arachnid tilted itself to one side, and then to the other, as if sizing up the Mental Stinger user. With a gentle stroke, Ayu ran the tip of her finger over the little arachnid's carapace. Harmlessly rubbing the little creature, it seemed to shudder, though it didn't attempt to flee from Ayu's finger. Apparently, it was enjoying the attention.
Looking up from her phone, Shokuhou Misaki pocketed he device, sliding it into the decorated skirt of her Tokiwadai Middle School winter uniform. She leaned forward, resting her silky chin upon the top of her gloves fingers, which had become intertwined. With either of her elbows resting on the dorm room's table, Misaki's starry eyes looked forward.
"In conclusion, Mitsuar…"
And, so, as she continued to look forward, she seemed to freeze up. Her lips slowly lost their momentum, and ceased to produce words. Her eyelids widened, exposing her golden, starry pupils, more than they were often exposed.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA GET IT AWAY, GET IT AWAY! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! MITSUARI-SAN GET IT AWAY! IT'S HORRIBLE KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Like a damsel in distress, the former Queen of Tokiwadai, the fifth strongest level five esper in Academy City, nay, the entire world screamed aloud, tossing her head back, reeling like a child from the abusive hand of an overbearing parent. In front of her face, she repeatedly shook her hands about, as if swatting at invisible elves.
"M-Mitsuari-san?! G-GET RID OF THAT ABHORRENT CREATURE, IMMEDIATELY! KyaaaaaaaaaAAAAH! It's horrid! It's going to bite you! Could it be poisonous?!"
"Shokuhou-san, you're overreacting. I'll have you know his name is Billy, Billy the Jumping Spider. Billy and I are going to be the best of friends. Can we keep him, Shokuhou-san? Puuhhhlease, can we keep him~? I'll clean up after him, and buy him a home, and everything!"
"NO! Absolutely NOT!"
It was then, seemingly, from nowhere, spawned from nothing, that both girls were struck by similar feelings to that which had overcome Misaka Mikoto. Shokuhou Misaki froze up, and Mitsuari Ayu looked to the newly-christened Billy the Jumping Spider, who seemed to meander about on the tip of the Mental Stinger girl's finger.
The tiny, nearly microscopic creature looked to its new 'friend', and tilted its tiny head to one side.
"Shokuhou-san, did you feel something, just now?"
"Y-yes, actually, Mitsuari-san; this is a truly dreadful feeling… perhaps we should walk it off? An evening walk may be exactly what we require, yes."
"Only if Billy can come, then I'll come, too. We need to include Billy."
"You are unbearable."
Friday, July2nd, 2006. 4:25 AM.
An apartment complex in Leeds, England, United Kingdom, European Continent.
Placed between either of her lips, the contents of the 'pape', rolled within it and bound inside of its softened, almost leathery-feeling surfaces suddenly caught fire, as, beneath its tip, pointing away from her lips, a lighter produced a flickering, leaping and licking flame.
Inhaling, as deeply as she possibly could, the erotic New Light girl, Lessar 'took a drag', as she would've referred to the act, if her lips and tongue weren't occupied, of an illegal substance contained within the 'pape'.
Lessar, the erotic New Light girl was clad in little more than her undergarments, bright red, bright enough that, if a cartoon bull somehow manifested before her, the drawn creature would've definitely charged her down, with the intention of goring the girl on its horns.
Smoke filled her lungs, and, the contents which were set alight quickly found themselves being absorbed into Lessar's bloodstream, carried throughout the winding web of veins that weaved through every section of her body.
Engaging in the recreational use of marijuana had come to be one of the erotic girl's favored pastimes.
Producing a swift, repeated series of coughs, Lessar passed the 'joint', as she'd often call the illegal contents she'd roll into her 'papes', away from her and toward the other participant in her illicit activities.
"Don't bitch out on me, now. This is good Kush."
"B-but…"
"Do it, Lancis! Dooooooo it! Do the do! Fllllyyyyyyyinnnnn' HIIIIGGGHHHHHH~! Duuuuude. Let's go look at the sky, or something. Maybe we'll see aliens. We can, like, totally ask them to take us to their homeworld…"
She paused, for a moment; then, Lessar's facial expression suddenly contorted, as either of her eyes bulged in their sockets. Her jaw dropped, and, either of her eyebrows rose upward, nearly riding her brow, as they soared of their own accord.
"I feel inexplicably as if I've been defeated, in some way! Why do I feel like I lost something?! Lancis, my dude, I think I'm going to green out, my dude! I've become EUPHORIC! I have ascended from the mortal plane, and have become a Weed God… ugh, get me the bucket…"
"O-okay! R-right away! I'm going to get it, now! Hang in there, Lessar!"