Disclaimer: To Aru is like a slot in a full class; no matter how much you want it, someone else already owns it.

Kismet

'This kismet's a dance.'

"What are you doing here?" Mikoto asked when she found Touma of all people outside her first class. Sure, he had walked her to the building but he didn't have an ID so he couldn't come inside. So how did he get in this time?

He grinned in response, showing the Visitor's ID clipped to the bottom right of his shirt, "I talked to the guard and found out I could get one of these. And since most of your classes are in this building, I can walk you to all of them and wait for you. Convenient, isn't it?"

"You didn't have to do that. I'm sure you have other things you could be spending your time on. You can just come by the entrance when my classes are over."

"But that greatly limits the amount of time I could be spending with you," he reasoned, taking a hold of the shoulder bag she was carrying—same as earlier this morning—and hanging it on his shoulder, "C'mon then. As much as I want to keep you with me, I have the feeling that you'll blame me if you get scolded going late to class." he said as he jerked his head towards the hallways, prompting her to start walking.

She began leading them to her next class, telling him, "We have a fifteen minute grace period between classes. I don't really need to hurry." She frowned at him as she continued, "But even then, it's not like we'd be able to hang out much. Why are you so persistent?"

"Because I, Kamijou Touma, is on a mission to make you, Misaka Mikoto, fall back in love with me in one week," he announced and she stopped at her steps. He gave her a smile as he told her, "I know you said you're over me, but I'm still hoping that there's some part of you that still feels the same way."

She offered no reply to that as they walked to her next class.

Mikoto stood, eyes wide and mouth agape as she stared at the scene in front of her. Given the situation, there was only one thing that she was able to say.

"What the fuck?"

There was a low chuckle and she turned towards the voice, "You actually cursed in English." Touma grinned, holding a bouquet of red roses in front of his chest. A soft strumming of a guitar reached her ears, and when she looked around to find its source, a guy she didn't know, but obviously goes to this University judging from his t-shirt, followed by a girl carrying a violin and another guy appeared from the gathering crowd, walking towards the space between her and Touma while solely looking at her. After a while, the guy that wasn't carrying any instrument began to sing.

"Didn't mean to take you for granted.
Didn't mean to show I don't care..."

She decided to ignore the singing group and continued to look around as she felt her cheeks heat up. Scattered on the ground around them were rose petals, and it made her internally wince as she thought of how mad Benny, the janitor she had become quite acquainted with, would be when he sees the mess.

She noticed her professor from the class she had just come out of peek outside the classroom. She stiffened, looking like a deer caught in headlights and stuttered to explain what was happening. To her utter surprise, he merely hummed, seemingly impressed, "Ms. Misaka."

"Y-yes, professor."

Her professor smiled at her, "Just tell your suitor to clean up all these petals afterwards, alright? You wouldn't want Benny to be angry at you."

'S-s-suitor?!' For a moment she could only blink at the man in surprise and embarrassment, but somehow managed to reply. "Uh... yes, sir."

With that, her professor exited the room with a nod towards Touma.

She couldn't believe this was happening...

"So Mikoto," she turned back to Touma when he once again spoke, in English, she silently noted, "I'm on Day 2 out of the seven days I have to make you fall in love with me," some people amongst the crowd 'Aww'-ed. He slowly strode towards her as he said, "I know I still have a long way to go... but will you give this misfortunate idiot a chance to go with you on a proper date?" he finally asked, offering the bouquet to her.

She blushed harder at his actions and the excited gasps around her didn't help her any. How was he even able to pull this off? And of all places, why at school? She mentally slapped herself. She should have known that he was up to something when he seemed distracted earlier.

Everyone had become silent as they waited for her answer. She suddenly felt incredibly shy with all the attention she was getting. "What the hell are you doing?!" she hissed to him in Japanese as to not let anyone else understand their conversation.

Thankfully, he replied in the same language, "I just told you, I''m asking you out on a date."

"Yes, but why here?" she gritted her teeth, uncomfortable of all the stares she was getting. "Why now? Look at all the people that's gathered..."

"Well, I was roaming around campus yesterday trying to get an idea of what I could do for you when I met these really nice people," he jerked his head towards the singing group as he explained, "They gave me some tips, and they told me girls like big displays like this. They helped me think this plan out, and somehow I got them interested enough that they volunteered to help me."

Her palm connected with her forehead at his wide grin, "Really, you..."

"So?" he prodded, shaking the bouquet he was still holding out for her so that it would get her attention, "Is that a yes or a no?"

She stared at flowers, contemplating whether she should go along with his plan or not. She guessed it was kinda sweet of him to go through all this trouble just to—no, wait, scratch that, this was still way too embarrassing. "Before that, can you ask them to stop singing first?"

He shook his head, "No can do. They said they won't stop singing unless you give me an answer."

"..."

"...so?"

She narrowed her eyes at him before crossing her arms indignantly and giving in, "Alright! Fine, I'll do it. Just stop them already!"

But he didn't move, and instead looked expectantly at her.

She felt unnerved by his look, "...what?"

He rolled his eyes to the side, indicating the crowd that was still surrounding them. "You spoke in Japanese. They didn't know what you were saying."

"So?"

"How would they know how to react if you won't speak in English or even accept the flowers I'm giving you?"

She covered her face with her palm. She could feel how hot her face had become from all her blushing. She couldn't believe that he was subjecting her to something like this. What the hell was he thinking?

She let out a groan before looking at him again, and with a red face, she announced in English, "Yes, Touma, I'll go on a date with you."

The crowd erupted in cheers as she finally took the bouquet of roses he was offering her.

Side by side, they walked together to her next class, trying to ignore the squeals of random girls and the quickly spreading news of their so called courtship.

"Why are you doing this?" Mikoto asked Touma as they walked around the park, the day before he was set leave, on the date that she had promised him earlier that week.

He had just thrown away the cups of the fruit shake they had purchased, and he gave her that same look of determination as he answered, "I told you, didn't I? I—"

"That's not what I meant," she cut him off, turning to the scenery of the park filled with families and other couples who were on dates just like them. Well, maybe not like them, she thought grimly, because they weren't really a couple. He wanted to, and if she would be honest with herself, a part of her wanted it as well but there was something holding her back, and she couldn't just push it away.

"Why are you doing this now?" she rephrased her earlier question, looking back at him, "Why now after three years? You could've just as easily left, like the way you didn't do anything to stop me when I was leaving." She saw him flinch at her reminder, and though she felt a little bad for it, she needed to know, "Why did you stay when you could've left? It would have been easier for you to do that."

"No, it wouldn't," he said, casting a melancholic gaze at her, "I would've been even more miserable compared to when you first left. I'm sure Misuzu-san never told you about it, but I blamed myself for letting you leave. There wasn't a day that I wondered, if I had said something to you back then... would you have still left?" he paused for a moment and she carefully studied how his expressions became sadder as he spoke, reminiscing the past three years. "I didn't know how much I liked having you with me until I... I started missing you..."

She tried to keep her expression blank as he continued in a pained voice, "When I saw you again, I... I couldn't think. I just wanted to hear your voice again. And when I held you as we danced that night, I knew I can't lose you again; I knew I had to try and win you back," as he said this, his eyes sharpened and determination once again filled his face, "That's why I'm doing this."

"This isn't a dance, Touma," she replied in a hard tone, "There are no steps, and there is no grand finish at the end. I'm not your partner so don't expect me to just follow your lead."

He frowned at her words, "I'm not trying to force you, if that's what you're saying. I'm trying to convince you." He insisted, casting her another pleading gaze, "Please listen to me. I believe that we're here now together for a reason."

"It isn't kismet that we met again." She snapped, "This is just the result of poorly thought ploy by two meddling mothers. Don't you know? We were both at that party because they set us up."

"Of course I know! How did you think I felt when my father told me that our meeting was for me to say goodbye to you permanently?" He almost shouted back but he was able to control the volume of his voice. He met her heated gaze and took a deep breath before saying, "But I didn't care about what was supposed to happen; what I should've done when I saw you. Because whatever the cost, I want you to be in my life again... I want you back."

The sudden softness of his voice took her aback, almost making her regret everything that she had said to him. But no matter how guilty she felt, it couldn't change her mind, because it was no longer about just him and her.

The years she had spent away from Academy City had thought her so much. She had made new friends, and found a new home where her esper level didn't matter. She learned that not everything can be obtained through hard work alone, that sometimes, it's up to the universe to decide. And with this, she learned not to strive to be better than everyone else but to be better than her previous self.

This was what solidified her decision. She was going be better than the Misaka Mikoto from from three years ago.

"I think you're right about me still having feelings for you," she blurted out softly as she looked at her feet. And when she met his gaze again, his eyes were wide in surprise and hope. "But this isn't about that. This isn't about us."

She saw confusion enter his expression. "Mikoto, what—?"

"I want you to go back to Academy City—alone," she told him in a gentle voice, and it hurt her to see the pain in his eyes but she knew what she was doing was right. "I'm not gonna leave with you, Touma. No matter what happens." She took a step back, because she wanted to escape as soon as she could to prevent him from seeing how difficult it was for her to say all these things. "I won't leave everything for you again."

Her voice broke, and she took that as her cue to turn around and run. Faintly, she could hear his voice calling out to her but she ignored it. Spending more time with him would just hurt both of them more.

He was left standing on the same place with an arm stretched out in a futile attempt to reach out to her. He couldn't even chase after her retreating figure, too stunned to order his feet to move.

Because at that moment, he had truly lost her.

Author's Notes:

This chapter is... blergh. But anyway, the song is Kismet by Silent Sanctuary. it's the same song that they used in the serenade scene XD

I really don't think this is good enough but i've been getting reviews and PMs for so long that I figured I should really focus on updating this. Also, apparently the polls said i should do this first. I'm not satisfied with this because to me it sounded a bit forced... and I kinda actually forced the words out of me XDD

by the way, I appreciate you guys asking about this story. It lets me know that more people than I actually think likes this :D I have 5 people who likes this! XD but warning, I don't like it when people tell me (demand) to update because seriously, I do this in my own free time between classes, projects and hellish exams and I don't get paid. Being a fanfiction writer is not a full-time occupation so please, stop those reviews/messages. It just gets me more irritated and makes me want to update the story a lot less

Anyway, back to the polls, I'll restart the polls so you guys can vote again :))) and please do vote. I do try to please people other than myself. Hence, this update! hahahaha

...I have nothing else to talk about... I need the new Railgun Manga chapter...

If you liked it, please Review or leave a Favorite or a Follow! Thanks! :D

~61wisampa