Author's note: For those of you who have not watched Railgun season 1 (you should; it's nice), the term 'Child Error incident' I will use in this chapter and beyond refers to the incident where six abandoned children (aka. Child Error) are experimented by a crazy scientist Kihara Gensei and his granddaughter Therestina Kihara Lifeline to find an 'essence' to evolve another child, Haruue Erii, into a level 6 at the expense of destroying the entire Academy City. The six children fell into coma because of excessive dosage, but were saved by Misaka, Kuroko and all. The official name of the incident is the Poltergeist Arc, but I prefer referring to it as 'Child Error incident' because while the former focuses on the causes of the event, my dub refers to the content. (At least I think so. I may be wrong~)

I am conflicted on whether the plural form is 'Children Error' or 'Child Errors'. As the Japanese author and most others seem to adopt the latter form, I will stick to that.

For now, let's get into the story.

(Kuroko's point of view:)

It's difficult.

When the Accelerator guy begins beating me again, my consciousness quickly fades into a confused, crazy mess. He is shouting and punching me, but I really don't feel much because although I am physically suffering on my skin, in my belly and in my ears, I feel nothing but resignation inside my heart. I know - or I think I know - what is going to happen to me. When I decided to respond to his question, I knew very well that whatever I said wouldn't have any real impact on him. It was not that I would actually expect that someone who had killed 10031 people would suddenly change his mind and put his slaughter knife down because of what I told him, but I just wanted to say those words as a concluding statement for my short life and as a great piece of epitaph to be inscribed on my tombstone. While I still have one regret - that I couldn't stop him after all my efforts, and that everyone would get killed - I know I have at least tried my best.

Though I do not have distinct sensation because of the coma, I can still faintly feel things. My body is kicked around for a few more minutes before I feel a peaceful interval, and then I feel I am lifted up. I at first assume that I am dead, that I'm about to take an escalator or something and go up to heaven. A few moments later, though, I reject my assertion as I feel my body begins to move forward. Maybe it's a 'Heaven Express' bus service, or a train, rather than an escalator- just maybe. That would be even better as I can just lay here while angels, the best drivers, take me to my final destination. But the movement continues for such a long time that I begin to doubt whether I'm really going to reach heaven. Or whether God is testing my patience and character with that wait. Maybe I am not dead after all? If I still have any bit of left-over strength, I will pinch my skin or just open my eyes to look at my surroundings. However, I'm too exhausted to do that.

'It's OK. It doesn't matter if Kuroko is dead or alive right now,' I tell myself so as I travel for that long time, over that endless journey.

At some point in time, the uniform, forward movement stops, and I am lifted up again. I'm moved around on a flat surface until I'm settled in another place. It's warm and soft, and its embrace comforts my numb body and soothes my tired mind. By now, I'm sure that I have survived, but I'm not certain how. Maybe Accelerator finally changed his mind because of what I told him, or maybe some miracles happened and he was defeated - I really have no clue. In any case, I simply lie in that comfortable place and forget about all my pain and worry for a moment - before they may eventually strike back at me.

A few moments later, I start to see things. In front of me, all the land I can see is covered with tall light-green grass. The colour stretches from under my feet all the way to the horizons, where it gradually disappears into a thin fog, and a few trees carelessly decorate that boundless green. Around tens of metres away, a few dots slowly move about. In some way, I quickly move forward to close up the distance. I discover that those dots are humans. They look exactly the same as they all have short, blonde hair and slender bodies, and they are all dressed in Tokiwadai's uniform. I know very well that they are the Sisters. It's surprising that they all look so happy, as if the killing of thousands of them has never happened before. Although they are idle, they look so contented with that lazy lifestyle. With their fixed and constant gaze, their irises reflect the pure, invigorating green of the land around them. They are not smiling, typical of them as the Sisters rarely show facial expression, but I know that at least, they are not suffering in pain, crying in despair or dying in agony. There are so many of them, and each is a piece of treasure that I have sworn to always preserve.

Suddenly, a black, gigantic object descends towards the ground. I look up and see that it was a giant asteroid, and its sheer volume blocks half of the sky and casts an ominous shade on the ground. It is very, very close and looks like the Moon brought just metres away. It seems to approach us at a terrifying speed, and all the sisters have raised their heads to look at it. I am bewildered that they are not running or not even having an expression remotely suggesting fear or worry. Instead, their faces still look like that as usual - to some degree, they even seem to have calmly slipped into a compliant submission - as if they have chosen to cease struggling in face of their inevitable destiny, that as they know already what's invariably going to happen to them, they have simply given up trying. I feel my heart ripping apart; even when they are living so far away from the real world in this place of my dream, they will get killed regardless of what they ever might do to resist their inevitable fate of death.

Almost as if my efforts have simply gone down the drain, that they will still get killed despite what I had set out to do.

I cannot take it. I look up at that rock, and I can feel myself burning with rage.

'How dare you, a little piece of rock from the space, to threaten the precious lives of the Sisters?' I mumble in a low voice, almost to myself. One thought, one desire alone occupies my mind: to destroy it, tear it apart and obliterate any trace of its existence. Within moments, I've found myself high up in the air and touching the asteroid with my bare hand. I do not know how I have done it, but the asteroid is broken into many tiny pieces and sent somewhere far, far away in the outer space - I suppose my power certainly cannot do that in real life, but I guess dreams are just wild.

This time, the sisters' facial expression has finally changed. Smiles, genuine smiles, greet me as I return to the land. They all are approaching me and hugging me, and I soon become flooded in the ocean of Sisters. All of them are thanking me for saving their lives with that monotonous but genuine voice of a Sister. I beam at their cheerful faces and say a sentence that repeats and repeats in my mind,

'It's fine now. Nothing, no one is going to threaten your life again. Let's live together peacefully from now forever onwards.'

I can almost hear my own voice echoing. Whatever it is going on, it simply feels surreal. My mind now becomes clearer and clearer just like a submarine rising from the deep sea and returning to the brighter world of outsides. As I have somewhat regained consciousness, I can feel the right side of the bottom of my body being gently pressed down by a weight. Taking a slow but long breath in to drive the morning dizziness away from my mind and gather the little amounts of energy that my body has, I open my eyes and raise my head up from the pillow to look at what's there on my leg. It's Uiharu. Her arms are on my right leg and are folded to form a shape close to a quadrilateral with her body forming one of the sides. She rests her head on that shape with her right cheek touching her right forearm so that her face faces me. It is apparently still the early hours of the day as the light of the morning sun is just about bright to sketch out Uiharu's facial features clearly. Those golden rays create a contrast of light on one side of her face to shade on the other. As Uiharu breathes in and out, her chest gently moves up and down - so rhythmic, so peaceful. She must be having a sweet dream, for the corners of her tiny mouth go up to form two gentle curves. I'm not sure whether it is the light's doing, but I can see faint red on her cheeks. With all those, Uiharu looks quite adorable.

I chuckle at my assessment. Actually, Uiharu is always quite a cute girl in my mind, though I have always pretended that she isn't cute at all in front of her. I mean, praising Uiharu when she has a lower rank than me would make me feel really strange. In a sense, I may appear weak if I do that, and that's why I have never ever praised her for what she really deserves.

However, putting that issue aside, a piece of the puzzle is still not put back. Sure, I have somehow survived the battle, but I still don't know what happened afterwards. Like, somehow I have ended up in the hospital and Uiharu is just at my side. Maybe I can ask her about all those.

I'm just going to call her very gently to wake her up.

'U~i~ha~ru~'

I swear I am really trying to sound soft and benign like a cultured lady, but somehow I really sound like a lesbo pervert.

(I'm definitely not an actual lesbo pervert!)

'Hm...?'

Uiharu lifts her head up and stretches both arms forward. Her mouth opens big as she yawns, and she rubs her eyes with her hands before looking at me. When she sees me looking at, though, she immediately sits up straight with both her hands put side by side on her lap.

'Ah! I'm sorry, Shirai-san! I accidentally fell asleep!'

I think I have applied excessive force on her before or something to make her so scared of me - such as violently shaking her after she said 'no one would want to look at your naked body' when she was bandaging me, forcing her to listen to the Level Upper music when she alluded to levelling up and 'returning it' to me, and so on. (referring to Railgun 1 episodes - A/N) In any case, I don't want to scold or punish her for falling asleep - at least for now.

'It's fine, Uiharu. I guess it is hard to take care of someone like me, isn't it?'

'No no, not at all!' Uiharu's cheeks slightly redden.

'So what has happened to me? How did I end up here?'

'Well, Konori-sempai, two guys from the 185th branch and I found you, Misaka-san and a high school boy, who later we know is called Kamijou Touma, at the train switchyard. You all were really seriously injured, so we thought we must get you guys to the hospital. That's why we brought the three of you here. After you all were settled in your beds, the two guys and Konori-sempai began taking care of Misaka-san and Kamijou-kun while I started to look after you. As Misaka-san's and Touma-kun's conditions quickly stabilised, and as all three of them needed to return to Judgement duty, they left the hospital at 6 am.'

'Then why are you still here?'

'Konori-sempai told me she can handle the branch alone. Besides, I think you are still quite fragile and still need to be closely watched over.'

'So you have begun treating me like a weak girl, huh? I don't need you to do this for me, and you are sacrificing your official duty to take care of me. See, I'm so well and all!' I'm thankful that Uiharu is concerned about me, but I cannot - just cannot - express my gratitude to her. Maybe, I will find a way to do so in the future when I will have become better at it.

'No. Though I always believe that Shirai-san is a tenacious and strong person, I just want to stay here to ensure that you are doing all right. You are really in a very bad shape with all your injuries...' as she speaks, Uiharu clearly lowers her head, and her voice begins to muffle, too.

'It's OK. Anyways, how much are we injured? When will we expect to recover?' I know I may have said something wrong, so I quickly change the topic.

'They suffered some injuries, though both of theirs are less serious than yours. Most of theirs are scratches in the skin and some bones being broken, but you have suffered a lot of internal damage. Misaka san has suffered a broken arm and both her legs. Similarly, Kamijou-kun has a broken arm, and his legs are also impacted. You have suffered quite an amount of organ damages on top of some serious cuts all over your body, so you are expected to take quite a lot of time to recover. Nevertheless, Academy City's advanced medical technology can guarantee that all three of you will recover in a few days - not more than a week.'

'Oh...'

They have suffered so much - all because of me. But right now, I'm glad. From what I still remember, Touma was bleeding just in front of me when I tried to lift him up and bring him out of the place, and Onee-sama was fighting so maniacally against Accelerator and got so hurt when I was beaten onto the ground. I thought they would be dead but thank god, they aren't. Though I still cannot forgive myself for being so weak and for allowing them to get so injured, I'm happy that they have at least survived and are doing well right now.

However, a shot of chill suddenly flashes along my spine.

'What about the Sisters? What will happen to them?' I grab both of Uiharu's hands as I speak to her.

'Oh, that.' Uiharu is trying to speak calmly despite my sudden action, 'We don't yet know for sure, but the Misaka clone we met yesterday told us that they would go for re-adjustment in facilities in and out of Academy City to help them adapt to a normal life. I don't know how long it would take for them to return to the society, but I know that life and hope, not death and despair, now await them.'

'Oh, that's great,' I let out a relieved sigh, 'Honestly, what has this whole experiment thing been about...'

'...'

'Uiharu?' I turn to look at Uiharu and notice that her smile is quickly fading and being replaced by a sombre, serious face.

'Well, I have been considering that since you had settled in here.' Uiharu opens her laptop while she speaks, 'And I think that this experiment thing is far from a unique, singular event. Shirai-san, do you still remember the incident with Kihara Lifeline and Child Errors?'

'Of course I do. It was crazy fighting her MAR soldiers!'

'I'm not exactly referring to that, though. I mean, we should look at that in connection to this experiment. They have many similarities: both are advocated for by some elite scientists and are condoned, if not secretly supported, by the state. Both show utter disregard for human lives, and both are kept secret from the public. I'm not suggesting anything here, but in my mind, there really is this scary resemblance between these two events.'

'But...' Words are stuck in my throat for a moment before I can force them out, 'but these two events are quite different in many other ways. I can't really draw the link over here yet.'

'So do I. I'm just seeing this horrible similarity... My instincts keep telling me that there's a point beneath this connection, but I cannot unearth it...'

'Hmm...'

How are these two seemingly separate events intertwined? There should be a common factor at work to cause them, but ... What is it?

'A piece of good news though,' Uiharu has turned her laptop towards me while she spoke to me with a big smile, 'Look at this! This email comes directly from the Board of Governors and - Aw! Be gentle with my laptop, Shirai-san!'

I grab that from Uiharu's hands - earning a yell from her - and begin to read the document.

"Level of secrecy: Highest

Priority: Top+

Disclosure range: none except the stated recipient incl. cc.

From: Board of Governors

To: Academy City Science Alliance, Academy City Public Relations Office, Academy City Interior Affairs Superintendent, Commissioner-general Level 6 Shift Plan, Academy City Finances Office

cc: all interior government officials

Dear all,

Reports have come in from surveillance satellites A-1, A-3 and A-10 that the subject of Level 6 Shift Plan has been defeated by a level 0. The details of this incident are not yet fully understood, and we have not managed to contact the subject himself as well. Right now, the whole plan itself is at risk. This confrontation may have caused a huge deviation in the subject's future power development especially in terms of his mentality, and with the demise of the Tree Diagram supercomputer, recalculating an alternative plan is impossible. Therefore, we can announce that the plan is right now abandoned.

A few people have been involved in the termination of the plan, so we have to do our best to prevent any leak of the incident to the public. At least, we should paint a favourable picture to the public.

Therefore, regarding this incident, all those responsible for public relations should take note of the following:

1. The existence of an experiment organised by the Academy City should be actively and completely denied. Instead, the death of the clones should be categorised as an atrocity committed by terrorists.

2. As much as possible, do not mention this incident.

We should be vigilant against any potential public outcry in the future.

Board of Directors

System automatically generated time: Japan Standard Time 23:47, 21 Aug, xx year"

...

Hah?

The first response in me is disbelief. Just so short, this letter. So brief, yet it signals the end of a horrendous experiment, a living hell where 20,000 humans are killed without a second thought. It is great, and the stone in my heart has finally landed because I now know that what I set out to do has been accomplished. My injuries are really painful and have really made me suffer, but at least, my suffering has not been meaningless; they have saved the remaining Sisters and protected every one of them. I do thank god for that, for fulfilling my wish to terminate the experiment.

Yet beneath that joy, an undercurrent of unease is flowing. I do not know why, I do not know how, but my joy definitely isn't pure. I try to cover that unease up with joy but cannot stop it from emerging again. It's like after you have just swallowed a bitter drug; no matter how many sweets you eat, that bitterness just seems to linger forever in your mouth. So as I cannot ignore that unease, I try to pinpoint it and unearth it, but I also fail to. It resembles that little piece of hair in your cup of water; no matter how you stick out your two fingers to try to catch it, it keeps slipping out of them and swimming around with such slick underwater movements that it can certainly earn a gold medal for beautiful diving in the Olympic Games. After all that, I still have not done anything to deal with my unease, which has begun to only trouble me even more.

I am snatched out of my mental struggles by Uiharu's tap on my shoulder.

'Yes?'

'Shirai-san, what are you doing? You have not responded to me for two minutes.'

'Ah I'm sorry. I just dozed off.'

'It's ok then. I thought you are feeling unwell. By the way, do you want anything to eat?' Uiharu has stood up from the chair and grabbed her backpack.

'Oh. Speaking of which, it's almost 9 pm now. I just realised.' I don't feel hungry until Uiharu reminds me of food, and now all the colourful and delicious dishes have begun flying freely around in my mind. 'Where are you going to get food from?'

'There is a new convenience shop near this hospital, and it offers many new types of bento meals. What would you like to have?'

'New ones I don't want to try now, but I' been craving that pasta set for a while now. Could you buy me that?' That noodle has flavours that so often explode in my mouth the moment I put the noodle in my mouth and happily dance on my buds. When the noodle smoothly slides down my gullet, it warms me up from top to bottom. The last time I ate it was almost a month ago, and I really want to enjoy that magical pasta again.

'OK. If you need something or suddenly feel unwell, just press that red button next to you to call a nurse. I'll be right back.'

Uiharu gently pulls open the door and steps out of it. Turning to give me a wave, Uiharu smiles again before pulling the door to a close.

After the anticipation for my pasta has died down, I discover that that unease from just now has evolved into anxiety. I feel that I am urgently wanting to do something, but I don't know what it is. My heart seems to be heated by burning charcoal, and every cell in my body begins vigorously vibrating about. I take in a deep breath, but it doesn't help. Only one second after the breath leaves my lung, I return to that erratic mental state. My stomach shifts disturbingly, and I notice that my hands have begun rubbing against each other. Moments later, they get hold of my arms and start hugging me and pinching into my skin with the nails. I release my hands, but then I can't figure out what to do with them, so instead they clasp and unclasp each other as if in constant need of touch and reassurance. Now without conscious action, my mind begins to recall the email that I read just now. And then, I begin to recall Uiharu's words:

'The scary resemblance between the Child Errors and the Sisters' incident...'

My body is heating up. More and more things emerge in my mind, which has become a haphazard mess with all those unprocessed pieces of information. Before it completely breaks down, though, I shut my eyes, pressed my eyelids hard together and open them again.

It might be good to look outside the window to relieve that anxiety, so I turn my head to do so. It's a sunny late-summer morning. The sun has arisen for an hour or two, but it will take another few hours for the city to reach the hottest time of the day. The sky is deep blue like the reflection of a slice of an azure ocean, thanks to Academy City's prided zero emission of air pollutants. As my room is on the ground floor, the street is literally in front of me. Nobody is out there, for adults are working and students are too lazy to wake up so early on a school holiday day. Along the street, there are some trees lined at five-metre intervals. Those trees, along with all other flowers and grass around the city, are planted by the city's Urban Development department and, with their bushy dark-green leaves, the trees look strong and healthy. It's simply refreshing to look at the beautiful, peaceful townscape of Academy City.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blows across the street. It first travels past those trees, causing their leaves to shake and their trunks to tremble. A lot of leaves are shaken off the branches, falling all over the ground. A bit further down the street, a pile of paper in front of a store is blown up from the ground and travels in the air with the wind. Although the leaves and the paper are totally unrelated to each other, they experience similar things because of the same gust of wind.

...

Wait, wait. There is something here. Let me think.

Two events which seem to be independent of each other can actually be related... They have the same cause, and that is the wind. The wind has blown the leaves off the tree branches and the pile of paper into the sky. The wind is a kind of... driving cause... which is behind all those apparent phenomena. Although the wind cannot be seen... it's actually responsible for what we can see.

In a sense, the wind is a force. From machines to human bodies, forces allow everything to work. Forces can push someone to do something he/she doesn't like, and it also can pull someone into something he/she has not planned to partake. Therefore... the wind has provided the force, which in turn pulls the leaves down and pushes the paper up.

That's right, so isn't there a force behind the Child Error incident and the Level 6 Shift Experiment?

What is the force? Who has applied that force?

Who is likely to be the culprit?

...

If someone has done something and failed, he/she will do everything possible to minimise the negative impacts. In that email, the Board of Director not only announces the end of the experiment, but also instructs the city's discourse organs to prevent the leak of relevant information about the experiment to the public. Essentially, the city is trying to prevent a public outcry and reduce the consequences of the failure of the project to the minimum. They want to get the better of it.

But, what does that mean?

...

...

A bolt of lightning splits the night sky of my mind, and a clap of thunder echoes across my body. I suddenly have understood. My body has begun to tremble at the horrifying prospect:

The city gave the force for the two events to proceed.

If that is the case, what is the essence of this city? I dread the answer, but it is all too obvious: The city is a huge machine where humans are mercilessly abused or even killed for the sake of so-called scientific advancement.

The next line must be that 'if the advancement of the so-called science doesn't cease, if the city isn't stopped, things like those will continue to happen'.

What has this city really been about?

...

Another voice begins calling out to me from inside. No. No. No. That is not it. Look, this city is so peaceful. Those two incidents must have been accidents, or exceptions, or unintended consequences. Look, this city is full of sunshine, so it's false that it works like a brutal killing machine. The city is not that. The city is not that...

How much I hope that those lines can convince me. However, my inner struggles escalate. As I try very hard to persuade myself that the city is not as bad as I may imagine, I am, at the same time, also attempting to convince myself that the Academy City is just an evil place, a conclusion which my reasoning compels. How much I hope that my conclusion is wrong, yet my analysis hardly contradict it.

...

Footsteps can be heard approaching behind the door, which opens with a 'click'. I immediately stop arguing with myself, lean back against the pillow, sit up properly and decorate my face with a faint, bitter smile. I must hide my thoughts.

'Pardon the intrusion...'

Just as I have supposed, it is Uiharu. She has one plastic bag in her right hand, and four bento boxes can be seen through the translucent plastic layer.

'Why have you bought so many of them for just the two of us?' I say with that bitter smile still remaining on my face.

'The other two are for Misaka-san and Kamijou-kun. Although they are still sleeping, I have just bought theirs in advance,' says Uiharu as she takes out the boxes and lays them out on the table.

'Oh. Sorry, I'm forgetful.'

'You aren't the only person who forgets. This is yours. OK let's start eating! I can't wait to eat my Chinese fried rice!'

'Hm.'

The food does not taste as delicious as it should, and I understand why. When a person is full of difficult thoughts, it's hard for him/her to enjoy what he/she is chewing with his/her teeth. But I've decided that whatever difficult thoughts I may have, I must put up a show to hide my thoughts. I must solve my logical dilemma myself; I don't want Uiharu to worry for me any more.

I have already caused her enough worry; I should stop.

'Knock-knock.'

'Yes?'

Someone has knocked on the door, and Uiharu stands up and walks there to answer it. When the door opens, a frog-like face appears. It belongs to the best doctor in Academy City who is dubbed the Heaven Canceller - someone who can bring a person back from another world, thus cancelling the will of the Heavens, or Satan if you would prefer. He has struck a conversation with Uiharu after a few words of greeting. Uiharu first beams, and then keeps nodding at him with that smile glued onto her face.

He then leaves but has left the door open. I am wondering why the doctor has forgotten about such an important thing in any culture as to close his patient's room door when Uiharu comes to me with pinkish cheeks and that sunny smile. What I hear from her almost makes me faint with overjoy.

'The doctor says Misaka-san is awake! He will give you a wheelchair with which you can get to her right now!'

If I am not so weak and have so little strength, I will have leapt out of the bed and teleported myself right to where my Onee-sama is, even if she is trillions of lightyears away in another universe. My heart races, my breathing intensifies, and my mind is smashed into pieces and reshuffled by that joy. Right now, all the mundane worries of my life have been muted, all the pain of my body is thrown aside and all there is to know about is that I will finally see my Onee-sama. No worrying about the past, no anxiety about the future takes any significant place in me who thinks about Onee-sama and Onee-sama alone at the moment. After a few seconds of large, deep breaths to stabilise my heartbeat, I look at Uiharu and tell her in a loud and trembling voice.

'Get me! Get me the wheelchair! I want to see Onee-sama now!'

'Just a moment. I will go get it for you right away!'

My mind is still in a frenzy after Uiharu jumps and runs out of the room. Onee-sama is awake! I will see my Onee-sama again!

...

'Ok come here. Don't worry, I will hold onto your shoulder. Ok... Place your right foot on that ledge on the bedside... The other one too... Ok. Now try and stand up... Yes. Now try to walk. Can you walk? Alright... Let's go. Very slowly, very gently... Now we turn around... Again, sit down very slowly... Yes!'

I am guided by Uiharu to finally place my butt onto that wheelchair. I'm surprised that I actually need so much help, yet I feel thankful for Uiharu's patience for a teleporter who cannot even properly walk right now.

'Why have you brought those bento boxes with you, Uiharu?'

'I think she might be hungry too, so I will give her lunch to her right away.'

As we come right in front of Onee-sama's room door, my heart pumps extremely hard as if it's going to break out of my body any moment. I look up at the name card. Misaka Mikoto. There is definitely no mistake. However, trepidation keeps growing in me.

'Let's get in, Shirai-san.'

'No! No! Wait a moment!' I literally flail my arms and push myself up in the wheelchair, only to painfully fall back down as I yell my objection.

'What's the matter?' Uiharu leans over to look at my distraught face.

'I don't want to get in yet...' I feel my cheeks heating up.

'Come on, weren't you so excited just now to see Misaka-san? Don't be scared and run away the last second, alright?'

'I don't know why, but I don't think I'm prepared to see her..'

'It's OK. Just calm yourself down. Now, let's enter the room.'

'Knock-knock.'

'Come in.' That was Onee-sama's soothing, sweet voice. I know it's hers; it's too distinct, too unmistakable.

The door opens, and Onee-sama just appears in front of me. As she looks at us, her short, blonde hair is more golden than ever because of the bright sunlight that shines it; she sits so straight, just like her usual self; her eyes are large, clear and beautiful, and her features so distinct and elegant. Cast against a background of white of the beds, facilities and walls in the room, Onee-sama simply looks sacred, noble and invigorating. She seems all too familiar; she is the Onee-sama whom I have always loved.

As Uiharu pushes me towards Onee-sama, she and I become merely centimetres apart. For seconds on end, I stare at her face without blinking at all.

She first speaks. 'How are you doing, Kuroko?'

As that call makes me more clear-headed, my eyes leave Onee-sama's face and shift to look at her right arm, which appears white with all the bandages on it. Both her legs, too, are bandaged. My heart suddenly feels sour, and the sourness overflows my heart and comes up to my eyes. All the emotions hidden in me have suddenly found their expression, as they propel my hands to thrust forward, coil around Onee-sama's waist and tighten. Liquids quickly accumulate in my eyes, and my walls, the walls that hold me up and make me strong just... collapse. From the broken wall of the barrier, the tears burst forth like water from a reservoir, spilling down my face. I feel the muscles of my chin tremble like a small child, and my lungs forcefully contract at every pause between my cries.

'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry,' is what I repeat after and after as I press my face against Onee-sama's chest and my tightly shut eyes against her shoulder. All the sorrow, regrets, pain and misery are unleashed with my tears, which have soaked Onee-sama's shirt and washed my face with their salty water. But I can't care less. I want to apologize for offering her help so late, for being so weak and for causing her to be injured - for being her self-proclaimed life-long partner who can't actually protect her in any way.

I can feel a gentle touch on my hair - it's Onee-sama's fingers. Gently and slowly, they slide along my hair, and the tip of her nails occasionally scratch my scalp, making me feel a bit itchy but comforted at the same time. A moment later, her fingers spread out, and the hand stay on the back of my head, which her huge palm pleasantly warms up. Her palm gently strokes, as I continue to sob like a little kid in Onee-sama's almost motherly embrace. She keeps her face close to mine, and the gentle breaths softly tease my tears-soaked left cheek.

'You know what, Kuroko? You want to know something...?' With a whisper, Onee-sama quietly sends those words out of her muffled voicebox.

'What - What is it?' With tears still oozing out of the corners of my eyes despite my best attempt at pressing them down, I slightly lift my head off her shoulder and look at her faintly smiling face.

'You know, you're not the one to be sorry. I am more powerful than you, I am your senior, and I have promised to protect you. But I failed. That-'

She suddenly bursts into tears.

'That I have let you get hurt, get beaten up by Accelerator, and bleed so much right in front of me... Seeing your life and dignity being trampled on while I can't do anything to help... I have failed so much... I have created my own problems and dragged you into it... I'm so horrible, and yet you are apologising to me? ...'

Thousands of emotions run through me. The predominant one, though, is surprise. I have failed to help her with her problems, yet Onee-sama is apologising for getting me involved in them. I think I should bear the responsibility for having so many of us hurt, yet she thinks she should.

So, who's at fault? I think I know the answer. The answer might just be that it's no one's fault, and if that's so, we don't actually have to cry. I have many choices, and I choose to offer a teary smile. I look into Onee-sama's amber-brown eyes and give her the brightest beam I can, on which my tears still stay.

'How... how are you even smiling? ...'

'I've discovered something, Onee-sama. It's no one's fault that we have fought together to solve your problems,' with my left hand still holding Onee-sama's waist, my right hand slowly pats her back as I say to her in a soft voice, 'Rather, I believe that the red string destiny has brought us together to share our troubles, to fight together and to overcome our difficulties together. When Kuroko says this, Kuroko means it. Really, I think there is nothing regrettable about getting involved in Onee-sama's problems, so you don't have to apologise, Onee-sama. I don't blame you at all for I have chosen to help you out, and let's face all our problems together from now on.'

'Is that... so? ...' Onee-sama now look at me with her moist eyes. They look so beautiful as they reflect the golden light of the morning sun, like polished crystals that reflect the warm glow of this magnificent world.

'I believe Shirai-san is right,' Uiharu, who has been standing silently at the side up to now, takes two steps forward and says with a smile, 'I think this is what friendship is all about: you may get hurt but in the end, you will win it together.'

I sigh with relief. 'Yeah, that's right. Please don't cry anymore, Onee-sama. Your tears are shattering Kuroko's heart.'

I let go of Onee-sama's waist and lift up my hands to wipe the tears off Onee-sama's cheeks with my thumbs. Her face is damp red, and it seems so cute it's almost arousing. But I quickly suppress my perverted instincts. Onee-sama has finally stopped crying and finally put that smile back.

'OK. OK, Kuroko. I won't cry, I won't cry anymore.'

Gently, she places her left hand on my right palm. Our fingers intertwine and lock up to form a bond impossible to break.

'Then... Kuroko... Promise me,' says Onee-sama with a shaky voice.

'What is it?'

'That we will always stand together in face of challenges in the future.'

'Sure. That's my promise.' I nod my head and rub the last tears off the corners of Onee-sama's eyes.

'Thank you. Thank you, Kuroko.'

'Don't worry anymore, Onee-sama. Kuroko will always be here for you.'

'OK...I will keep that promise too... I will always be here for you too, Kuroko.'

We again happily hug each other. This time, neither of us is crying. I swear that we will never cry again, and nothing will tear us apart, ever. Even if the world falls apart, as long as Onee-sama and I are still here together, it will be fine; Onee-sama will be my the entirety of my life form now to forever onwards. And to protect my Onee-sama, I won't care even if I have to turn against this whole world.

Whatever happens in this city, I don't mind as long as I still have her.

'So, let us now remove our clothes and enjoy even greater fun!'

'Do you want electrocution? I will gladly give it to you.'

'... No, thanks.'

Red hair, twin-tail, Tokiwadai uniform and a Judgement armband belong to a 152-cm-tall (roughly 5 feet) girl with a slender body. I know that's me. I see her right in front of me against a black universe - the ground, the sky, everything is black. I cautiously take a few steps towards her. Having noticed the sound of footsteps, it seems, she turns around to greet me with a big smile, with her hands relaxedly held behind her back almost like your cheerful high-school girlfriend.

'Hi, Kuroko.'

Who are you? I look at her suspiciously as I speak.

'I'm also Kuroko.'

Are you an imposter or something?

'No. I'm not even a real person. Rather, I'm the Kuroko hidden inside you. I'm the Kuroko that resides deep in your heart.' She places her right hand on her left chest where her heart is, as if reinforcing her point.

Oh.

'I'm here not to do you any harm. I just want to have a conversation with you.' Her arms now stretch open to me in a welcoming manner.

What do you want to talk about? My suspicion has lowered, and I take a step closer to her.

'What do you believe justice is?' Still with the same face, she throws the big question to me.

To me, justice is the fair and equal treatment of everybody. Justice is the absence of evil. Justice is the light that shines every dark corner so that injustice has nowhere to hide. That's not an immediate response, for I consider it for a really long time before answering her.

'Very good. But where does justice actually exist?' She slightly tilts her head like she's really curious.

In my mind, it is an intangible thing. You cannot point to an object and say it is justice. Rather, justice is a practice and the way things are done. When judges are impartially executing laws, justice is there; when people are treating each other as equal beings despite their differences, justice is there; when governments provide for us fairly without vested interests, justice is there. My response has gotten more coherent, though I still feel strange doing that argumentative piece.

That Kuroko starts slowly pacing from left to right. 'Let's go further down that line. From what you have said, the existence of justice is similar to how laws actually differentiate innocent citizens from criminals. The laws do not define what makes you a good citizen, but it only defines what makes you a criminal. If you do not have the criminal traits, you are a good citizen. Do you get what I am saying?' At the end of that, she stops pacing and turns to look at me again.

Yes. I nod.

'Therefore, justice does not actively exist, but passively emerges. When things do not go wrong, justice emerges. When a person does not commit a crime, he is good.'

Correct. She earns another nod from me.

'Then, what is absent when justice emerges?' As she speaks, her red eyes look directly into mine, and the gaze is almost frightening.

Hm... I guess evil deeds? I try to avoid her eyes, but I always somehow return to them only to look away again at the black background behind her.

'I know you would agree with me on this. Evilness needs to be absent. Bias needs to be absent in judges, stereotype needs to be absent in people, and corruption needs to be absent in the government for justice to truly emerge. In other words, evilness needs to be driven away for justice to prevail.' As she speaks, her facial expression is not changing at all - that constant faint smile always decorates her features.

I understand your reasoning, but what the point of your entire argument? When I ask her this, I finally manage to not look away at all. I don't know if I just want to give myself more confidence in confronting me, but I really don't want to appear to be incapable of debating her.

'The point is to consider this: is it possible to achieve absolute justice? If yes, how? If no, why?' Again that slight tilt of her head, though this time to the other side.

I straighten my back and stand more erect. In my mind, the answer is no. Although I wish that justice can prevail everywhere, it is simply impossible to drive away all evilness. What I can do is only to seek relative justice, that we work based on the fact that the world is a mixture of justice and injustice. We can make incremental changes to nudge our society to the better, but our work will go like an asymptote to a line - we will never achieve absolute justice, but can only come very close to it.

'Do you want to seek absolute justice?' She has obviously lowered her voice when asking that question. Alongside her voice, her head goes down a little bit in a slightly interrogating manner.

Of course I want to. But-

'Then you should pursue it,' comes a sudden statement without any signal in terms of facial expression.

Huh? I frown.

'Pursue it. Bring absolute justice to this world. Drive all evilness away with your own two hands.' She now takes her hands in front and overlaps them on her lower belly, with her left hand above and right hand below.

I cannot! One person can't make meaningful changes! Unconsciously, my hands come together in front of me and my fingers have begun nervously rubbing each other.

'You can.' After saying those two words, she silently approaches me and closes our distance to just a few centimetres away. Her face is right in front of mine - almost like a mirror image. However, this image can move on its own. She has just the same height as me, so her face - there, a faint smile seems to simultaneously exist and not exist - is right in front of mine. As she stares at me with the same irises as mine, she casts gusts of air on my face with each exhalation from her nose. After a minute of inspection, she continues with that low voice, 'Why do you think that you are so weak?'

Everybody is capable of evil deeds, though to different degrees. How do you eliminate evilness when every human on Earth can perpetrate evil acts and thus perpetuate evilness? My voice cracks at the last syllable - she's creeping me out.

She has now come to my side, and she tiptoes to place her mouth just at my left ear, making me begin to shiver as she speaks. 'You know the answer, don't you? You know what to do to achieve that...'

What should I do? What can I possibly do? My voice is shaking at every moment, and my body does not stop quivering any second.

'Don't worry,' her mouth is still at my left ear, sending those almost ghostly sounds right to my eardrum, 'I will be the force inside you. I will continue to propel you to do exactly that.'

W- what... what d - do you even m - mean? My voicebox almost ceases to properly function.

'See you again.'

Eh?

She has disappeared. I turn around but cannot see her anywhere anymore, and I am left in that black universe alone.

Absolute justice... Absolute justice... What exactly is that? That mumble of mine reverberates - so lonely, so sad.

...

I open my eyes and sit up with a yawn. Uiharu apparently is not here, and I don't know why. Maybe she's needed for Judgement work, or maybe she needs to go to the toilet. It is afternoon - not early, for the sun is nearly parallel to the horizon far, far away. No lights are yet switched on in the room - it will take a few more minutes for them to be - but the slanted sunlight brightly illuminates the room with its golden rays. It feels just like a typical Japanese afternoon - calm and soothing.

After staying in Onee-sama's room for a few hours, Uiharu and I came back here, and I promptly fell asleep on my bed. I'm surprised that I have slept for that long, though - I think it's been almost six hours. In any case, that dream I have had is weird - almost eerie, for recalling it still gives me goosebumps. That Kuroko seems so real - her appearance and her voice are unmistakably mine - but what she said to me was so scary that it certainly does not come from my mind. The way she speaks, too, is so creepy and so un-human. If she really is the mental me, I should really begin to be afraid of myself. But in my mind, that Kuroko is more likely than not just my imagination.

Or is she?

Putting that aside, the dream has also made me recall the thoughts I have had in the morning. And now, life has given me another puzzle to solve: the concept of absolute justice. However, before I have the time to contemplate, the door is opened after two knocks. I turn my head to look, and I see a spiky-hair boy with two crutches under both of his shoulders standing there.

'Kamijou-kun?'

'Eh, may I come in, Shirai-san?'

'Yeah. Please feel free to.'

'Thanks.'

Step after step, he slowly moves towards the side of my bed. On the chair, he sits down.

'What are you here for?'

'Oh. I haven't come here to visit you after the battle, and since I will be leaving tomorrow, I think I should at least check on you once.'

'Why such an urgent departure? How is your recovery so quick?'

'Erm it's not that... I just have some household matters to attend to.'

'That's quite unfortunate!'

'Yeah, my life is destined to be unfortunate.'

'Don't say that. At least, you should look at the bright side of things and discover all the fortunes in your life!'

'Heh, maybe you are right... How's your recovery been?'

'Just like this. Though I don't have broken bones, I think my internal damage will take some time to recover. But I still have to thank you for saving me in the battle.'

'Heh. Imagine that a level 4 teleporter is only saying a "thank you" to me now!'

'What else do you want from me?! Don't you dare asking for too much!'

'Well, I mean - considering the fact that you were crying like a baby when I saved you, shouldn't you express even more gratitude and appreciation than a mere "thank you"? Maybe, you should begin to take care of me from now onwards, like cooking food for me every day etc. In a sense - eh, why are you staring at me like that, Shirai-san?'

'I have to say, despite my internal damage, I still have the energy to teleport some spikes into you if I want to! Stop mentioning that time when I cried in front of you! I was only... a bit emotional at the time... It doesn't mean I'm weak! Besides, how much do you want from me? Considering that you used to be just a monkey in my mind, a "thank you" already symbolises a tremendous deal of respect!'

'Fine, fine. I'm just kidding.'

'Hmph!'

'Well, it's great to see you well and energetic. I guess I shall take my leave now.'

He stands up from the chair and places those crutches under his shoulders. He begins to move away when a spark comes up in my mind and I shout out to him.

'Wait!'

'Hm?' He turns his head around to look at me.

'Erm... May I ask you something?'

'What is it?'

'What do you think...' I stumble at the question, but I decide that it's better to just ask him, 'what do you think absolute justice is?'

He stares at my face for a few seconds and turns his head to look outside the window. Out there, the sun is touching the horizon with its tip now concealed beneath that black line. The dark irises of Kamijou Touma reflect the light - it is the light of wisdom.

He finally speaks after what seems to me like a very long minute. 'I don't know whether there is an absolute concept of justice, but I know it's good when everybody is happy and smiling. That's all I wanted when I intervened in the battle. I couldn't take it to ignore her suffering when I see Misaka's distraught face, and I couldn't take it to not fight Accelerator when you were bleeding and shedding tears. Now that both of you are saved, I think I have already achieved what I want. You may call it justice because to me, justice is just about preserving the wonderful things around us.'

'... Oh.'

Touma gently smiles. 'And it is also about working together. When we come together to overcome our challenges, we really can make the world a better place. If you need help, I will help you to achieve the justice we all want too.'

'I get it. Thank you.'

'Bye.'

He turns and continues to walk, and I look at his back disappear into the corridor and being concealed by the closing door. I don't know why, but talking to him is quite happy.

No no. I really don't feel anything about him.

Again, I turn my head to look outside. Half of the sun has been engulfed, but it still brightly shines the sky. Across the sky, strips of cloud, golden necklaces, conduct the light rays from the sinking sun and glow with the same colour as it. The sky farther away from the bright semicircle has turned into a magnificent purple, as if a veil of thin violet silk has covered the sky. On the farthest end of the sky, the moon has begun her job early as the sun can no longer illuminate there. It's so beautiful, it's just so beautiful.

Justice is just about preserving the great things around us, huh?

So, to achieve justice, I just need to preserve what I have. Maybe I just need to protect my friends: Uiharu-san, Saten-san and so many others. Above all, though, I need to defend my Onee-sama. I have promised that we will overcome our challenges together. I will definitely be at her side, and I will definitely do whatever I can to support her. And if all of us can come together to work for the good of the society, we will certainly make it a better place.

Justice isn't too difficult a thing to achieve, is it?

Right then, the lights in the hospital are switched on - a great disappointment, for the bright lights prevent me from enjoying fully the scenic sunset.

'Ah, you are awake, Shirai-san,' says Uiharu as she enters the room.

'Yeah. Where have you been?'

'I have been in the toilet. Do you want to take an evening stroll before we go for dinner at Joseph's?'

'Sure. I really want to watch the sunset; the last few moments of it is gorgeous. Let's go, but this time, I want to get onto my wheelchair on my own.'

...

'Awww...'

'Luckily I have grabbed you, Shirai-san. Do you still want to act strong when you aren't again?'

'I don't know about that, but I now know the person whom I will need to punish after I recover.'

'Ehh! Please don't punish me, Shirai-san!'

'Just kidding! Come on, let's go.'

I will continue to preserve my life as it is now; spending wonderful times with my friends and carefully treasuring them at the same time. This is justice; this is the cause I will continue to serve as a member of Judgement.