There was a reason why Misaka wanted to protect Kuroko. There was a reason why she must protect Kuroko from all dangers.
Misaka had always wanted to protect Kuroko.
As long as she could remember the two promises she made to Kuroko, she would always protect her.
The late autumn sun was not too faint; instead, it was shining exceptionally bright. A gentle breeze blew lifting some fallen leaves which then energetically danced in swirls. Although the trees were turning yellowish, they were still full of life. The wind which previously was playing with the leaves now approached the trees. Singing together, they celebrated the greatness of the day: the warm sun, the refreshing breeze, and the beautiful landscape in Academy City.
Misaka Mikoto, a year 1 student at Tokiwadai Middle School, just finished her last lesson and was walking relaxedly in the school. A yawn came up to her lips as she finally broke away from that dull, boring classroom and regained some energy as a 14-year-old teenage girl. As she looked sideways, she noticed crowds of elementary school students and recalled that that day, Tokiwadai was interviewing sixth-grade students intending to be enrolled here next year.
Misaka recalled her enrolment test, which was nothing too difficult for her. Already a level 4 Electromaster at that time, she had no trouble showcasing her ability to the interviewers. They simply gazed at her with mouths agape and nodded in absolute agreement with her admission.
It was certainly fun to watch the enrolment interviews. Tokiwadai, one of the most prestigious schools in the City, was always an aim for aspiring pupils. Every year, huge numbers of powerful espers would try their luck here. There among them were users of rare and hence fascinating esper abilities. Their interviews were certainly important matters closely linked to the quality of the students taken in next year, but watching the show of various esper abilities was still a great enjoyment.
Misaka was very tempted to go watch the interviews which were about to begin. However, she knew that she had a project to work on with her classmates and barely had moments to spare. Therefore, she hurried off towards the other block where her classmates were.
Projects were supposed to be fun while educational for students, who act as self-inspired learners and explore on their own while learning new knowledge. That was a well-known lie. The project Misaka was assigned was on some social problems, the details of which she could never recall. Like, who cared about those social issues which often were so distant and hence unrelated to us?
Despite that grumble, Misaka had to press on and do the work. After hours of researching, discussing and writing down god-knows-what, Misaka finally finished the day's work.
Dragging an utterly exhausted body, Misaka stumbled along the corridor. It was almost sunset as Japan's autumn days were always short. The sun that used to burn bright white during the day was then golden. Winds were becoming unfriendly. Having scrapped the deceptive warmth they used to carry in the day, they revealed their malice as they wrench body heat from people with icy gusts. As Misaka tightened her collars to protect her neck from the icy, windy onslaught when she noticed a tiny figure sitting on a flight of stairs at the corner of her eyes. It was a girl back-facing her. As Misaka was prompt to identify, the girl was an elementary school student who must have been attending the interviews just now. Swaddled by a thin layer of cloth, the little girl occasionally quivered as she held herself together with her arms.
'Hey!'
The girl turned to look at the approaching and concerned-looking Misaka. Shocked, she leaned her body back, and her eyes widened.
Her front was now visible to Misaka. Her red hair was tied on both sides of her head with black butterfly-shaped ribbons. Her front hair was carelessly let down, partially covering her forehead. Beneath that fringe on a small but delicate face was a pair of violet eyes well supported by a refined nose and a thin-lipped mouth. Her body was slender and lean, evident of her sportiness. Looking down at her legs, Misaka noticed a few bruises of red.
'Little girl there, are you alright? Are you hurt?'
Misaka had gotten quite close to the girl. Lowering herself as Misaka put her hands on her knees, Misaka quietly inquired the girl.
People who did not know the short-tempered, childish side of Misaka might carelessly identify her as a caring and almost motherly figure at that instant. At least the little girl did. As the girl stared at Mikoto big eyes of brown, she couldn't help but recall her own mother who would care for any troubled person she met.
'It's ok. I can manage- Ouch!'
As the little girl tried to walk away from Misaka pretending her injuries were nothing, she winced as her knees ached excruciatingly due to the sudden movement. Due to the pain, the girl's legs bent, and she was about to fall.
'Are you sure you are ok? Do you not need treatment for your legs?'
Misaka was quick to get the girl. Holding the girl with her right hand on her right shoulder, Misaka tightly pressed the girl to herself. Despite the thick layers of her winter uniform, Misaka could feel the girl's body trembling.
'Of course I'm ok! I don't need your unwanted care and attention! Let go of me already!'
The girl turned her head away as if in protest. She tried to get herself out of Mikoto's tight embrace but failed.
'Come on. You are injured quite badly, and you are shivering! Let me bring you to my dorm and treat your wounds.'
Misaka held the girl's hand and walked towards the dorm. As the girl followed Misaka, her face was a little pinkish.
Maybe for being taken care of by a motherly figure. Maybe for receiving care for sufferings she was ready to take on herself. Maybe for experiencing warmth in the place where she least expected it.
As the horizon almost engulfed the sun, everything lost the natural glamour from it. But not all was lost. Lamps were bright, offering artificial illumination and casting light onto the walking duo of a middle schooler and an elementary schooler.
Peace accompanied them through their walking journey.
Misaka entered her dorm room, which she shared with one of her classmates. There came the usual greeting which soon turned into a curious inquiry.
'Who is this little girl you have with you, Misaka-san?'
'Ah. This girl seemed to be in some trouble. Her knees were injured, and she was shivering from chill. I just wanted to help her a little.'
'That's certainly very kind of you, Misaka-san!'
'Thanks for that compliment.'
Misaka brought the girl further inside the room. The girl initially hid behind Misaka due to a natural fear of strangers, but after witnessing the friendliness of Misaka's roommate, her hostility died down. The warmness of the room formed a stark contrast against the freezing outsides. Looking at the delicately designed wooden furniture, the comforting colours in the room of milky white and tea green, and the magnificent wideness and tidiness around her in a dream-like state, the girl couldn't help but wonder what life would be like for her if she would ever be admitted into this school.
'You may come and sit down on my bed if you want, girl. I will get some band-aids and warm clothes for you right away.'
With a warm smile, Misaka gently settled the girl onto the soft bad of hers and proceeded with her search.
'Hm. Thank you so much, sempai.'
The girl was still in a blank state. She stared at Mikoto's smiling face, almost expressionless.
'You may call me Misaka.'
With still that warm smile, Misaka told the girl in a gentle voice.
To the girl, Mikoto's bed was really soft and warm. With that softness, it engulfed her body; with that warmth, it melted her heart.
'Ah, this is the one.'
Misaka got hold of some band-aids, and having approached the girl, she sat beside her lightly.
'Let me look at your wounds.'
To which the girl complied. Misaka held the band-aids carefully with the tips of her index fingers. One by one, Misaka placed them over the wounds on her legs, finely covering them. As the bands cut the wounds' exposure to air, the girl felt much less pain. She even felt pleasure and enjoyment. Whenever Mikoto's fingers touched her skin, she felt a mysterious trickle of energy, as if an electric current had flown from her fingertips to the girl's body while giving her comfort, relaxation and peace of mind at the same time.
When it's finally done, Misaka let out a sigh of relief.
'This should do it. But do you know it's dangerous to leave a wound untreated? You may even suffer a bacteria infection and be hospitalised! Why didn't you call for help?'
Misaka's gaze was definitely very concerned.
'Because... Because I suffered these wounds during the interview when I stretched my ability a bit too much to teleport higher up and... and I didn't want to be disqualified because... because of this weakness I might show so... so I had to act strong...'
Ah... worried about showing signs of weakness and thus acting strong? Well, but I guess...
'But you didn't have to act strong, you know?'
'Hm?'
'It's ok. At least me, your Misaka-sama, will look after you whenever you feel weak. It's perfectly fine to just rely on me...'
Softly patting her head, Mikoto looked directly at the girl's pink, widened eyes. Misaka herself was surprised by what she had said, let alone how the girl in front of her would. But she simply chose to smile, to instil some confidence in this girl in that someone will care for her when she's in trouble, that Misaka Mikoto would protect her even if the whole world went against her.
'And by the way, what is your name?'
'Kuroko. Kuroko Shirai.'
'That's a lovely name! And the "black" and "white" form an interesting pair of contrast too!' (Shirai Kuroko, 白井黒子, literally 'white' 'well' 'black' 'son'.)
...
They chatted for around thirty minutes before Kuroko gave in to fatigue and fell asleep. She didn't realise it herself, but she leaned over to Misaka's lap as she was sound asleep.
Looking down at the girl on her lap and stroking with her right hand Kuroko's red hair and body that no longer trembled, Mikoto couldn't help but smile from the bottom of her heart.
So this is how it feels to look out for and protect somebody...
Magical feeling, isn't it?
'This girl is cute, isn't she?' said Misaka's roommate, who finally finished her homework and approached to look at the sleeping Kuroko.
'Yeah. Kuroko certainly is.'
Misaka would soon welcome Kuroko Shirai as her new, perverted roommate (she did this through legal means, of course). Her life would also drastically change because of her. Nevertheless, she would never forget one thing despite the changes:
I just wanted to protect her from the very start.
Misaka couldn't help but smile at thoughts about her first interaction with Kuroko a year ago. Kuroko had never changed in being so stubborn as Kurokko was still so stubborn a few weeks ago.
But this time, the recollection brought Misaka to tears.
'Ah...'
Kuroko finally dealt with the last esper. Pinning him up on a tree trunk, Kuroko let out a sigh of relief before she winced in practically unbearable pain which struck her that moment. Bent down, Kuroko pressed her hands hard against her badly injured belly. Lifting her hands up when the pain somewhat subsided, she noticed that they were soaked with blood.
This gang was hard to deal with. Some arrogant level 3 espers from a school in the 7th district grouped themselves into a secret society, almost. If they went one on one against Kuroko, none of them would have stood a chance. However, fighting 6 of them at the same time was really difficult for Kuroko.
Not only was Kuroko's belly injured, but also her back and legs. The wounds ached excruciatingly. From some quite deep ones on her legs, blood was flowing down to taint her legs with deep red lines. Despite the pain, Kuroko knew she must treat herself before she lost too much blood and risked dying. She took some bandage out of her bag and began covering her legs with it.
It began to rain. Initially a drizzle, it soon turned into a downpour. As heavy raindrops forcefully hit Kuroko's wounds, Kuroko's pain multiplied as if her wounds were carved by a knife. She was quite near her dormitory, but since she could no longer sufficiently concentrate to do calculation for a teleportation, she had to drag her feet and walk to the dorm.
Her endurance was undoubtedly above the average, as she managed to press on despite the unimaginable magnitude of her sufferings.
The city was covered by a curtain of white. Kuroko loathed the rain because it aggravated her pain.
Indeed, few people loved rainy days. Maybe some children enjoyed running around in the rain and liked the raindrops that danced on their skin. Maybe some teenage couples loved drizzles which could add extra bits of romance to their dates. Maybe some adults enjoyed the cool breeze that a bit of rain could bring in the summer heat to relieve their perspiration.
Few people like downpours nevertheless.
Misaka Mikoto was no exception; she despised the rain. She was stranded in her dormitory because of it. Dark clouds and rain muffled the sun and prevented its light from shining on the things on the ground. As a result, Misaka's room was quite gloomy for a day. The brightness outside resembled more the dusk hour, though the gekota clock in the dorm was just striking thirteen.
Misaka simply felt lazy. It is wrong to say that the less one moves, the more he/she will want to move. Rather the opposite was correct: the less one moves, the less one will want to move at all. Lying on her bed, Misaka glanced at her phone, scrolling through some Internet content. But even the Internet was boring. Despite that the Internet almost had everything to offer, the diversity could simply bore one's mind out. He/she could easily get lost in the maze of information and, from his/her tiring experience, he/she would conclude that there wasn't much worth looking at on the Internet after all.
As Misaka switched off her phone and let out a tired sigh, she heard footsteps in the corridor coming towards her room (Misaka had surprisingly good hearing, from nature or nurture one cannot ascertain). Listening to them closely, she first eliminated the possibility that they came from the Dorm Supervisor. For they were too slow to belong to the Mistress who always walked agilely. As she listened on, Misaka could tell that the footsteps were really heavy. The person must be worn out. Not from boredom like Misaka was, but from real fatigue due to strenuous physical activities.
Or maybe pain, for pain never failed to drag one's feet and produce slow, heavy footsteps.
The footsteps stopped at the dorm door, which opened.
Misaka looked up lazily but immediately shot up when she saw the person.
The in-comer was nobody besides Kuroko. It wasn't shocking that she entered the room for it was legitimately hers. The way she looked gave Misaka the real shock. Not only was Kuroko drenched, but her uniform was torn, revealing deep-red wounds. Words like scratches and bruises would disastrously fail to depict the true extent of Kuroko's injuries; it was as if Kuroko's skin was ravaged by some cutting machine as she was coated in wounds. Almost no skin on Kuroko's body left wasn't either injured or tainted with red from blood.
It was the same for her legs. Although they were bandaged, red liquid seeped out through the layers. Misaka could see several red lines down her legs, supposedly caused by clotted blood.
'I'm back...'
Kuroko wasn't able to finish her greeting as fatigue hit in. She collapsed. Gravity took over Kuroko's body, which then fell onto the floor facing downwards.
'KUROKO! WAKE UP!'
Misaka dashed to where Kuroko was. Holding her waist and thighs, Misaka lifted Kuroko up and took her to the bed.
The urgency in Misaka's mind that instant needed no explanations. She didn't need to know why her roommate was so horribly injured, nor anything else. She just knew that she must offer Kuroko help and protection. For she was horrified, horrified by Kuroko's severe injuries. For she was scared, scared she might lose her roommate.
The rain was already quite heavy, but its intensity increased even further. The raindrops were nonchalant. The only thing they cared to do was to excitedly batter the windows, rejoicing at humans' sufferings.
When Kuroko regained her consciousness, she realised that coldness had been driven away and replaced by warmth and her pain all over the body had somewhat been relieved. Her body was not facing down at the stone-hard floor onto which she supposedly fell, but facing up the back of her head resting on a warm mass of something.
It almost felt like one year ago. What happened Kuroko could not yet recall.
As Kuroko opened her eyes, she saw a face.
On top of that face was a golden fringe which hung down. In the two big eyes were brown irises intently gazing at Kuroko. Kuroko also noticed that maybe due to the collection of liquids, the eyes were shining and shivering.
Kuroko became more conscious as she could again think properly.
Ah... Onee-sama... Wait, what am I doing on Onee-sama's lap?
Kuroko tried to sit up, but since her body still felt disconnected and quite painful as it moved, she failed and had to lie back down.
Kuroko felt something was stroking her belly. Looking down, she saw Mikoto's right hand rubbing her. Her torn shirt was flipped up to reveal her belly skin. All the wounds were covered by bandage tapes, which must be the reason why Kuroko felt much less pain. Mikoto was stroking those wounds with her finger as if trying to help comfort the pain and heal those wounds on her ravaged belly. Indeed, Mikoto's soft finger did make Kuroko feel much better.
(This was actually a quite suggestive action. Usually, Kuroko would definitely be turned on by Mikoto's behaviour, and Mikoto would never have done that. However, Kuroko was too tired to be aroused and Misaka too concerned to care about this little detail.)
Seeing that her roommate had woken up, Mikoto's lips shifted.
'Why... Why, Kuroko?'
In a gentle voice, Misaka uttered the words, her eyes not moving away from Kuroko's ravaged belly.
'What's the matter, Onee-sama?'
Kuroko's body twitched a bit from pain as Misaka's fingers touched one of the wounds. Misaka noticed it and took her hand off, but her eyes still unmoving.
'Why did you get yourself so hurt? Why do you always push yourself to do dangerous things?'
Kuroko noticed that Misaka's eyes shone even brighter.
'That's the duty of a Judgement officer. I have to be brave and protect this city with my life on the line. If I want to safeguard something, I have to work very hard to get there.'
Kuroko made a proud, formal declaration, hoping that it would reassure her Onee-sama.
'You are always like this, doing things on your own and putting yourself in danger. But please...'
Holding the liquid in her eyes back, Misaka now looked at Kuroko's eyes directly with more determination.
'Please know that I will be fighting for you too!'
'Onee-sama...?'
'Have you perhaps forgotten, Kuroko? I did promise you that I will always look after you and will always protect you.'
...
Oh...
I now recall. It was the night of the enrolment interview.
'But Kuroko at that time was immature and young. Kuroko now should be more able to look after herself, so Onee-sama should not feel guilty for Kuroko's injuries. It's purely because of Kuroko that Kuroko was hurt.'
'You are still my underclassman, you know? So I should be more able to protect you than yourself. Besides, you are my best friend, so I have the responsibility to keep you safe.'
Kuroko stared at Misaka's eyes. In her eyes at that instant, Onee-sama was not Onee-sama, but her mother.
Her mother who always kept Kuroko in her warm embrace.
Her mother who always comforted Kuroko when she's in distress.
Her mother who always vowed to protect her from any danger.
Kuroko felt she had become tinier and more vulnerable. She felt that instead of a proud Judgement officer and a level 4 teleporter, she was a small baby.
Therefore, she couldn't help but let tears travel down her cheeks as she finally managed to smile at Misaka.
'Thank you. Thank you, Onee-sama.'
To which Mikoto beamed in return.
'Now, let's get you tidied up.'
After helping Kuroko shower and get changed, Misaka helped her get onto her bed and settle down.
Kuroko promptly fell asleep and began to dream talk.
'Fufufu... Onee-sama... Let us lie on the soft bed and have some nightly fun together...'
Misaka could tell that Kuroko had a perverted dream again. But instead of feeling embarrassed or unhappy, this time she simply gazed at Kuroko and smiled.
She wouldn't forget one thing.
Kuroko ought not to get hurt.
I must protect Kuroko from all dangers and keep her safe.
I swear I will do that under all circumstances.
But will I be able to keep my promise?
I hope I will.
The recollection did nothing to help relieve Mikoto's distress, nor did it change anything that already had happened.
Accelerator was still rampaging as he compressed even more air to enlarge his plasma.
Touma was still on the floor, immobile.
Kuroko was still lying in front of the despondent Mikoto.
Mikoto was still heartbroken.
You are my underclassman, so I should be better able to look after you.
I did promise you, right?
I promised I would take care of you.
I promised I would protect you from any danger.
I promised I would keep my promise.
But then...
I didn't manage to keep my promise.
As the wind continued to blow Mikoto's hair into a mess and her mind into a disarray, she recalled the young Kuroko who, a year ago, hid her weakness to be admitted into the school and the stubborn Kuroko who, a few weeks ago, ran into danger on her own without calling for Misaka's help and got so hurt.
Looking in front of her, Mikoto saw the suffering, ravaged, motionless Kuroko, who's the dearest to her, not moving at all on the ground.
Mikoto's heart was in pieces.
As Mikoto clutched at the edge of her roommate's uniform, Mikoto couldn't help but let torrents of tears flood down her cheeks.
Why... Why am I so weak?
I couldn't keep my promise.
I allowed Kuroko to be hurt.
I have caused her to be injured.
I failed to protect her.
Why?...
Mikoto now completely leaned over her roommate. Her arms on the ground, Mikoto let her face touch Kuroko's soft belly and allowed tears to wet Kuroko's uniform.
'Please... Please wake up Kuroko... I'm sorry... but... please wake up... I will take you to the hospital... I want... I want to protect you!'
Mikoto made a plead to the unconscious Kuroko to wake up and, inexplicably, the appeal seemed to touch the lords and was permitted to be delivered to the recipient.
Answering the appeal, Kuroko regained faint consciousness. She felt strong wind currents moving over her skin, her back in pain and her belly warm and wet.
She managed to move her hands to touch the thing on her belly, and she felt a ball-like thing with hairy touch.
Opening her eyes, Kuroko saw Mikoto.
'O-...Onee... sama? Is that... really you? Am I... already... dead?... or is this... hallucination?'
'Kuroko?!'
The voice was weak, and indeed too weak to be heard against the maniac winds. But due to her face's contact with Kuroko's body, Mikoto felt the vibration of Kuroko's lungs and looked up to see that her roommate was finally awake.
'Ah thank god! Don't worry Kuroko. Lay easy, and your Onee-sama will bring you to a hospital right away, ya?'
'No... Don't care about me... Onee-sama... Take Touma... and your sister... and go...'
'But I won't leave you behind. I promised you, didn't I? I promised you that I will protect you! So I will take you to somewhere safe!'
'Then... stop that monster's... rampage... Help Kuroko... by stopping that monster... so that... you can save everyone...'
'How? I can't even hit Accelerator!'
'If that then... save those two people first... Kuroko... set out to save them... If they are not saved... Kuroko would have fought... for nothing...'
'But I promised you! I said I will definitely protect you! I said it when I first met you, I said it a few weeks ago, and I will still say it now! Let me save you!'
'Go... Onee-sama... first grab your sister... and then Touma... and go...'
Kuroko held up her right hand and pressed them against Mikoto's shoulder.
'No Kuroko! Allow me to...'
Kuroko shook her head and gave her beloved Onee-sama a smile. A final smile.
'Fulfil my promise!'
In a fraction of a second, Mikoto travelled through the 11th dimension and landed somewhere.
Mikoto didn't look at where she was.
She only knew she wasn't with Kuroko.
She was too aware that she failed to fulfil her promise.
As hysterical cries took over, Mikoto's face was washed with tears.