Disclaimer: If To Aru were mine, there would be palm-sized Mikoto instead of Othinus.
VI: Saten's Album: (Don't) Stop that Kiss!
"W-why are we doing this again?" Uiharu nervously asked.
"To prevent Misaka-san's date from being ruined," Ruiko answered in a low voice, glancing at the Teleporter a mere meter from them. Shirai-san didn't seem to hear them though, too occupied with watching the couple to listen to them. "If we don't keep an eye on Shirai-san, who knows what she'll do."
She, Uiharu and Shirai-san were all hiding behind a thick bush several meters from the bench where Misaka-san and Kamijou-san were sitting, drinking a can of whatever they had gotten from the nearby vending machine. The shrubs they were hiding at were positioned as such that they could see both of their faces, though whenever Misaka-san turns her head towards Kamijou-san, all they'd see would be her hair.
But their view wasn't the most important thing right now. It was the fact that the seething girl near them looked murderous and about to jump at the couple they have to protect. It was terrifying, if Ruiko were honest with herself, how Shirai-san's eyes practically turned red as she held her iron nails between her fingers. Ruiko wasn't even sure that the demonic aura she could see around the twin-tailed girl really was just an illusion.
It was a good thing that she valued her friend's happiness more than her own physical well-being, or else she would've high-tailed it out of there the moment Shirai-san's twin-tails levitated because of the Teleporter's sheer killing intent.
"A-are you sure this is a good idea?" Uiharu asked desperately, obviously a lot more terrified of the other Judgment girl than Ruiko was, "I've never seen Shirai-san this furious... not even when she caught Misaka-san teaching me violin..."
A brief image of Misaka-san standing behind Uiharu as she guided the flowerhead's arms to play the instrument flashed in Ruiko's mind. She guessed Shirai-san would be furious—furiously jealous, that is— if the Teleporter somehow caught her two friends in that position.
But that was besides the point, "We still have to make sure Shirai-san doesn't kill Kamijou-san! As Misaka-san's friends, we have to show her our support on her relationship!"
"B-b-but..." Uiharu weakly complained.
"And don't you think this is the perfect opportunity to see them act all romantic with each other?" Ruiko would have preferred not resorting to bribes but she really needed help if she wanted to keep Shirai-san in check. She only hoped Uiharu's thing for princess type stories would be enough to get the girl on board, "They acted so reserved around us last time. Don't you wanna see some sweet action?"
Uiharu blushed, stopping as she seemed to consider Ruiko's words. "Do you think... we'll get to see them..." she trailed off, her eyes giving a determined glow as she leaned closer to Ruiko to whisper, "...kiss?"
Ruiko smirked. Hook, line, and sinker, she thought before shrugging, an almost affirmative, "Anything can happen."
"WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU SAYING, SATEN-SAN?!" they both jumped when Shirai-san leaped at them, grabbing the long-haired girl's shoulders and shaking her senseless as the Teleporter shrieked, "O-O-O-ONEE-SAMA WILL NEVER LET SOME FILTHY MONGREL DEFILE HER LIPS! ONLY KUROKO IS WORTHY OF—!"
"Calm down, Shirai-san!" with strength she didn't know she possessed, Ruiko clamped down on the twin-tailed girl's mouth, effectively stopping her ungodly screams. She took a brief glance at the couple on the bench and sighed in relief when they didn't seem to have heard the crazy girl's exclamations. She turned back to her friend, still wailing under her palm, "If Misaka-san finds us, she'll be furious! So you can't let yourself be seen, Shirai-san!"
It took her a moment to calm the struggling girl down, but when she finally removed her mouth from Shirai-san, Uiharu stated, "Look, they're leaving."
Ruiko and Shirai-san turned they heads to witness Kamijou-san and Misaka-san walk away from the bench, their hands intertwined. Ruiko let out a breath of relief. One crisis averted.
But then, the sound of Shirai-san's power being used reached her ears. She turned around to see that the Teleporter had disappeared, making her panic a little. She frantically searched around, mumbling nervously, "Ohnonononono, Shirai-san's gone! Where is she?! We have to find her! What if she..."
She trailed of when Uiharu's hand tapped her shoulder. She looked at her friend to see that Uiharu was pointing at the bench where Shira-san was hiding.
She let out a groan. "This is going to be a long day..."
And so, Mission: Stop Shirai-san from Stopping their Kiss began.
Stopping a Teleporter from jumping at people, Ruiko found out the hard way, was not easy. Merely holding Shirai-san by her wrist was not enough. She could easily teleport herself away or teleport them away if need be. It was a good thing that Uiharu had known Shirai-san long enough that the flower-head girl was aware of how to stop the twin-tailed girl from teleporting. Misaka-san's frequent semi-fights with the girl also gave them an idea of how to properly disrupt Shirai-san's calculations thus rendering her power useless. This method only has a 66% success rate though, so when the Teleporter manages to teleport, they had to resort to other methods.
Exhibit A.
While watching the couple leave the park, there was one moment where Misaka-san suddenly laughed whilst Kamijou-san looked a little annoyed and embarrassed. Misaka-san's laughter was loud enough that the three of them heard it ten meters away so it really made Ruiko curious as to what they had been talking about.
It seemed as though Kamijou-san was saying something to stop Misaka-san from laughing but it only made the girl laugh harder. After a few more moments, Kamijou-san suddenly grabbed Misaka-san's chin and brought their faces close to each other as if leaning in for a kiss, making the girl blush deep red.
Ruiko's brain was alarmed. She was sure Shirai-san would teleport there and—
There was a sudden flash and clicking sound behind her, along with Shirai-san's immediate exclaim of "Gah!" as she held her hands over her blinded eyes.
Ruiko blinked at the scene for a second, wondering what happened. But when she looked at Uiharu with a phone in hand, she asked, "What did you do?"
"I took a picture." Uiharu replied simply before frowning, "Mou... it was a false alarm..."
Ruiko turned her head towards the couple only to see them walking. But instead of Kamijou-san, it was Misaka-san who was blushing while the boy was smirking. "They didn't kiss?" she asked before turning back to shift her gaze from Uiharu to Shirai-san then back to Uiharu, "And Shirai-san didn't teleport?"
"Of course not!" Uiharu replied happily.
Ruiko stared blankly at her, "...how?" Somehow, she just knew it was Uiharu who stopped the other girl.
"By disrupting her calculations with a really bright flash!" Uiharu said, ignoring the now glaring Shirai-san beside her, "Teleporting requires complex calculations so it takes time and concentration. You can prevent someone from teleporting by stopping their calculations using pain, loud sudden sounds and other things like a camera flash."
"U-I-HA-RU!" Shirai-san growled.
"Hello, Shirai-san! I only got a picture of them with their faces really close, no kiss unfortunately, but at least it worked, right?"
"WHY YOU—!"
Silently, Ruiko gave Uiharu a thumb-up for her awesome work.
Exhibit B.
They were led to a crepe stand next where the couple bought one each, and although Ruiko kind of wanted one as well, she couldn't leave their hiding spot because the couple would easily catch them.
Nothing interesting was happening, really, because like when they had first met Kamijou-san and went out, they weren't very PDA-ish. Sure, they held hands—(Ruiko honestly couldn't remember if they even let go)—and walked beside each other too close to only be considered friends, but other than that, they did nothing more... intimate.
They hadn't even kissed, even one on the cheek. Or worse yet, she hadn't seen them hug. Ruiko was feeling a little disappointed at the lack of public affection between the two.
"Why are you pouting, Saten-san?" Uiharu suddenly asked beside her whilst they hid behind a particularly large standee pretending to be customers in a café about twenty meters from the couple.
Ruiko narrowed her eyes, staring intently at the two over the menu she used as cover, "Well... I'm just a little disappointed that Misaka-san and Kamijou-san really are very reserved in their relationship. I haven't even witnessed a cute peck on the cheek."
"Well, Misaka-san does seem to be the type to wait before she takes that step," Uiharu wondered out loud.
"That's true. And Kamijou-san seems to be the type that is always unsure of how to act around a girl," she gleefully replied, thinking that if that was the real reason, then she guessed that the relationship between the couple was more adorable than she had initially imagined.
"Heh... heh..." she and Uiharu turned towards the Teleporter sitting next to them, "what are... you two... insinuating...?" Shirai-san asked in a low voice before exploding, "ONEE-SAMA WILL NEVER GIVE HER VIRGIN LIPS FOR THAT BARBARIAN TO TAKE! SHE IS—"
With another amazing show of strength, Ruiko clamped her hand over the Teleporter's mouth, ceasing the embarrassing screams of her friend.
But much like when they were at the park, they all turned their attention back to the couple when Uiharu said, "Ah, look! I think they're sharing crepes!"
They watched the cute seen as Kamijou-san bit on Misaka-san crepe seemingly without permission—Misaka-san had immediately blushed and slapped his arm. He responded by offering her a bite from his, judging from the way he moved his own crepe closer to her mouth. With her face still red, Misaka-san took a bit of Kamijou-san's crepe, nodding and smiling a bit when Kamijou-san had spoken.
It was such an elementary school love story that Ruiko couldn't help but grin. And she would've enjoyed the scene more if Shirai-san hadn't growled out, "That ape got Onee-sama's indirect kiss!"
Before Ruiko could even comprehend, her menu had been shoved onto Shirai-san's face by none other than Uiharu while happily saying, "Why don't you pick your order now, Shirai-san? I'm sure you can find something better than crepes here!"
"MWFH?! MWUHIWALU!"
This time, Ruiko actually understood how Uiharu stopped Shirai-san from teleporting. Since teleporting is a very risky ability, Shirai-san would not dare to teleport without being able to see where she would be teleporting. Of course, Shirai-san could have teleported herself somewhere else that was surely safe (like above her), so Ruiko was quite convinced that Uiharu's actions also aided the disruption of Shirai-san's calculations.
Ruiko giggled to herself while looking at the scene. And as Uiharu continued to occupy Shirai-san's attention, Ruiko brought her phone out, taking a picture of the couple who was sharing crepes.
Exhibit C.
Third time seemed to be the charm for Shirai-san when Kamijou-san and Misaka-san went to the arcade. They followed close by, and because of the amount of people inside the place, it had been easier to avoid being spotted.
Ruiko slipped a token into one of the basketball games and pretended to play whilst watching the couple playing Dance Central from across the arcade. Kamijou-san was losing by a huge amount of points and Misaka-san was gleefully gloating about it. Uiharu had cuffed Shirai-san to her hand and though the twin-tailed girl could easily teleport herself away, the cuffs kept her from marching towards the couple. Besides, with so many people, it would be more difficult for Shirai-san to safely use her ability.
A crowd began to form around the dancing game when Misaka-san seemed to be nearing the high score. Soon enough, Misaka-san completely ignored Kamijou-san and instead focused on beating the record, much to the boy's obvious displeasure. It didn't help that the song they were dancing to had some pretty sexy moves, causing several guys to watch Misaka-san appreciatively and making Kamijou-san glare at the punks who dared look at his girlfriend the wrong way.
When Misaka-san was just a few hundred points from beating the game, Kamijou-san suddenly grabbed her by the waist, dragging her away from the crowd of spectators. Ruiko laughed loudly as she watched Misaka-san become annoyed at the jealous boy while he fumingly ignored her protests.
"Kamijou-san's pretty possessive, isn't he?" Uiharu giggled beside her, also watching the event unfold.
"And that's precisely why they're such a cute couple!" Ruiko agreed happily, "Misaka-san would never admit it, but she's pretty possessive of Kamijou-san too!"
They became so immense in watching the couple that they had forgotten who they were supposed to be watching. The only thing that had reminded them was the sound of something or someone teleporting.
Before either of them could react, Shirai-san was free from the cuffs and was pushing through the crowd manically.
"Crap!" Ruiko shouted, frantically racking her mind of a way to stop the murderous girl. In her panic, Ruiko didn't notice Uiharu take her phone while the long-haired girl grabbed one of the balls from the basketball game.
Ruiko saw Shirai-san disappear about five meters from Misaka-san and Kamijou-san.
Without thinking, Ruiko threw the ball she was holding towards the empty space above the couple. A split second before it reached its target, Shirai-san appeared in its trajectory, hitting her soundly on the cheek.
Ruiko didn't even notice the flash from Uiharu's phone as she sighed, thanking whatever power was out there that had her instinct correct. She only realized that Uiharu took a picture when the girl squealed a gleeful "I got it!", making her turn to her friend with a quizzical look.
Before she could ask though, Uiharu already began pushing her towards the teleporter who had fallen just behind the couple after being struck by the ball.
They tried to retrieve Shirai-san without the couple's knowledge but they were easily discovered by Misaka-san when they tried to carry the girl.
"Saten-san, Uiharu-san," they both froze at Misaka-san's voice acknowledging them, "What are you doing here?" Her gaze then fell at the semi-conscious girl in their arms, "...and why is Kuroko knocked out?"
Kamijou-san had also turned his attention to them, and Ruiko hastily made up an excuse, "Ah! I'm sorry, Misaka-san, Kamijou-san. We saw you from across the arcade but we didn't want to disturb your date. So when Shirai-san tried to drop-kick the two of you, we stopped her." She gave them a hopefully innocent grin, silently praying that they'd buy her story. And it wasn't like what she had said was a complete lie.
"Is that so?" Ruiko and Uiharu both nodded, "Well, if that's the case, thanks." Misaka-san smiled at them, "But next time, you don't have to avoid us. Touma and I don't mind, right?"
Kamijou-san smiled when Misaka-san looked at him, "That's right. The more the merrier."
Ruiko and Uiharu let out silent sighs of relief.
"Now do you mind telling me what happened to Kuroko?" Misaka-san asked, hefting Shirai-san's arm around her shoulder to support the Teleporter, and finally putting an end to their operation.
Another crisis averted.
Mission: Stop Shirai-san from Stopping their Kiss was a success.
...although Kamijou-san and Misaka-san didn't kiss at all...
How disappointing.
Extra
Later the same day, Ruiko made up a story of how they also saw the couple at the park and asked Mikoto about what the two had been talking about that made her blush. This is what happened according to her.
Touma: "So yeah... if it's alright with you, can you come to my school next week once classes resume? They wouldn't stop pestering me about it, even Komoe-sensei. It won't be long. I promise."
Mikoto: "I'm fine with it. And I'd like to meet those friends you keep mentioning to me. But I thought you didn't want your classmates to know yet."
Touma: Sighing, "Yeah, well... that's a rather long story."
Mikoto: Smirking, "Okay, now I'm curious."
Touma: Eye twitching, "...well, you know that picture we took after our camping?"
Mikoto: "Mm-hm."
Touma: "I... actually used that as my phone wallpaper... I forgot to change it..."
Mikoto: Looking at him incredulously. Giggling, "Let me guess, one of your classmates in the supplementary class saw it?"
Touma: "Not just one..." Mumbling, "Aogami saw it and sent the picture to the whole class."
Mikoto: Laughing, "Oh my goodness! You're an idiot, you know that? Didn't you put a password lock on your phone?"
Touma: Blushing, "I lose or break my phone on a monthly basis. Of course I'll run out of usable passwords!"
Mikoto: More laughter, "And so? What happened when your whole class saw it?"
Touma: "Someone recognized you and freaked out, telling the the whole class via text. Komoe-sensei also saw it not long after and they ended up interrogating me instead of holding supplementary lessons. I won't be surprised if, by now, the whole school knows that I'm dating the third strongest Level 5."
Mikoto: "Hmm, that so?"
Touma: Lifting an eyebrow at her, "You seem oddly calm about this."
Mikoto: "You want me to freak out as well?"
Touma: "No, but my whole school probably knows about us! Aren't you... I don't know... embarrassed, at least?"
Mikoto: "Why should I be embarrassed about dating you?" Smiling while he's blushing, "Besides, I think it's a good thing. Now all of your admirers know you're taken, and unless they want a fight with Number 3, they'll stay away from you."
Touma: Smirking, "Oho, is Biribiri getting possessive?"
Mikoto: Lightly blushing, "Shut up! I have to lay my claim on you, or else someone will try to steal you. And don't tell me you won't do the same thing if I go to a co-ed school."
Touma: Smiling mischievously, "You're right. But you know, there are other ways to show people that you're off limits. For example," Suddenly leaning to her face, their lips almost touching, "I can kiss you right now. And everyone will know you're mine."
Mikoto: Blushing madly, "T-t-that's..."
Touma: Leaning away, "Just kidding! You know I don't like PDA either. Besides, I don't want us to get interrupted if we somehow end up making out."
At this point Mikoto was too embarrassed to continue.
Author's Notes:
I know what you're thinking, "Why didn't they kiss?!" On my defense, at least they had an indirect kiss XD
I know, I know. It was a very misleading chapter title but as explained in the Extra, they both don't like PDA. And if you go back to the Daihaseisai chapter (Better Luck Charm, I believe), Ruiko has not seen them kiss before that so all Saten's Album chapters which settings are before the Daihaseisai will not have those X33
But if you're wondering if they have kissed before this... well, let's just see X3
By the way, we have... 9 pictures so far if I'm right. One each for the first four chapters, two for the fifth and three for this one. Correct me if I'm wrong.
On another note, some of you were probably confused at the beginning of the previous chapter XDD sorry, I forgot to mention that haha but timeline-wise, this is the chronological order of the chapters:
Written in the Stars
Meet the Boyfriend
(Don't) Stop that Kiss!
Cliched Hammock Cuddle
Spicing Things Up
Better Luck Charm
Future chapters will mess up with that order again. The next chapter might be after the Daihaseisai or in the middle of two chapters already posted. I try not to post the chapters too randomly but this certainly won't be chronological for at least a couple more chapters.
Someone already suggested I put a chapter with Index which I will (thank you for the awesome idea, dear reader, whoever you are), but not for a while. And the contributors to the album will not only be the three currently present. They won't be enough if we all want to see the better stuff of their love story XDD
Again, all chapters so far are from an outsider's point of view so we have no way to know the details of their date unless we ask Mikoto or Touma directly XDDD
No updates for Forfeityet XD and I still have no idea what to put as next chapter here... oh well, come what may haha!
NT10 IS SO FREAKING AWESOME! If you haven't read it, do so right now! I can't believe you read my story first before that! And although I'm eternally flattered, my stories will never match up to Kazuma-sensei's... And Chapter 16! *heart breaking into pieces*
I am trying not to give out any spoilers so... yeah, I'll stop now... PM me here or in tumblr if you wanna gush about it with me XDD
AND DID I MENTION THOR WAS IN THERE AS WELL? SEQUEL TO WHAT CAUSES A SPARK IS NOW CONFIRMED
And on that note, Thanks for reading! Hope I'll see you guys again soon!
~61wisampa