The students who were possessed yesterday were not aware of it and wondered about the strange gap in their memories. It was a relief for Mikoto and Shirai that the victims couldn't easily the describe the situation they were in since it was best if it was to kept secret.

It was another day in Tokiwadai Middle School, and it was an odd day for Mikoto. She was wondering why Shirai had been so quiet since morning and greeted her with a flat tone.

Whenever she wanted to talk to the youkai, it took her a few shouts before she got her attention. Shirai, after the fight with Kamakiri and his grunts yesterday, was terribly disturbed.

It was lunch time in Tokiwadai as Mikoto, Shirai and Kyouko were situated to their usual table.

"Today is boring..." Kyouko complained, sipping on her juice. "All we did was take quizzes on nearly every subject. Are they trying to kill us?"

Mikoto placed her arm on the table and rested her head on it. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it."

"Really... Tokiwadai can be severe about the curriculum. I can't blame them, though. Being a prestigious school and all."

"You're right."

"But... I can't forget what happened yesterday; the feeling of being powerless when I was bounded in those ropes was terrifying."

Mikoto frowned as the memory from yesterday was still fresh in her mind. "Kyouko... sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"Everyone was involved in something foolish, even at the cost of your lives."

Kyouko looked at Mikoto with sad smile on her lips. "Misaka-san... here you go again, taking all blame for yourself."

"...?"

"We got involved because of Judgment work. We couldn't just let the case run loose, and we needed to find a way to stop the increase of victims. So please, don't be saddened that we got involved."

"But Judgment was not the only one involved, even innocent bystanders like Haruue-san, Wannai-san and Awatsuki-san got caught up in this mess as well."

Kyouko's was instantly silenced. While she had prepared for what Mikoto was going to say, she did not expect her to mention the other three hostages who were caught completely unaware.

While trying to collect her thoughts so she could convince Mikoto to stop blaming herself for these events, Kyouko said, "Well, they were unharmed after all that craziness, right?"

Kyouko paused after she spoke.

She noticed something that shouldn't be possible.

How did the youkai know about their friends who were not initially involved? Mikoto and Shirai did not even know Uiharu was tailing their movements. Wannai Kinuho and Awatsuki Maaya were usually busy with their swimming club activities, so it would be implausible for them to encounter a youkai; it was the same case for Haruue. Given how she and Uiharu were captured together, Kyouko assumed that they were in their dormitory when it happened.

"Ah, it's Misaka-san and Ajime-san!"

Both girls looked at the source of the voice and saw Wannai and Awatsuki approaching them.

"Good afternoon, Wannai-san, Awatsuki-san." Kyouko greeted.

"Good afternoon." Wannai greeted back.

"Kongou-san isn't with you?"

"Yes." Awatsuki replied sadly. "She said she had some errands to attend."

"I see... Too bad."

Under the table, Shirai hugged her knees with her arms. Hearing Wannai and Awatsukis' voices triggered the events from yesterday in her mind. This shouldn't have happened; those who didn't know anything about them were not supposed to be involved.

Ajime Kyouko arrived at the Judgment office after school. She opened the door to the office and saw Haruue Erii walked out of the kitchen, handling a tray containing a kettle and four empty mugs.

"Haruue-san, what brings you here today?"

The Sakugawa middle student turned her head towards the person at the doorway.

She smiled at Kyouko who closed the door. "Banri-chan had a group project, and it feels kind of lonely to remain in the dorm so I came here with Uiharu-san."

"I see. Then take your time on your stay."

Kyouko walked over to her work desk and placed her school bag on the floor, leaning on the footing of the desk.

Haruue placed the tray on the table in the middle of the office. She grabbed the kettle from the handle and started pouring tea into each mugs.

"Would you like some tea?"

"Ah, thank you."

Placing the kettle on the table, Haruue wrapped her fingers around the handle and walked towards Kyouko's desk and placed the mug beside the laptop.

Haruue did the same to Uiharu and Konori. With the final mug left, she held it by the handle, placed it on the table beside the kettle, and sat on the couch located at the backside of the office.

"Uiharu-san, what exactly happened yesterday?"

Uiharu left her eyes on the monitor screen and looked at Haruue. "I'm afraid I cannot answer that. Misaka-san knows more about the situation than we do."

"Did something happen to Misaka-san?"

"We don't know..."

"It was really scary." Haruue said, sipping on the tea. "I thought I was going to die."

A click vibrated in the room and they looked at the door to see it creaking. Saten Ruiko entered the room with a carefree smile.

"Good afternoon~"

"Good afternoon, Saten-san." Kyouko greeted.

"There's something I read on the sites about urban legends!"

Kyouko, Uiharu and Konori sighed. Haruue stared at Saten in wonder, clueless of her weird hobby of reading the urban legends site despite being chastised by Kyouko and Uiharu a lot of times.

"Saten-san will always be Saten-san." Uiharu said.

"But! I've found a way to know who is a youkai! They said it works!" Saten pulled out her phone from her bag and showed the screen at them.

With Kyouko the nearest one to her, she read what was written on the screen. "Fuwa Fuwa Time?"

"Eh!?" Saten winced in surprise and looked at her phone, which the music application was still open. She quickly closed it and searched for the browser. She found the web page of urban legends and flashed it in front of Kyouko's face a millimeter away.

Kyouko leaned on her chair as she tried to get a good view of the screen. Once she finally had a clear view of the page, she read the headline aloud.

"A device that detects spiritual presence?"

Mikoto and Shirai were walking on the streets.

The human and the youkai did not have a normal conversation the whole day. If they had any conversation, it was more like an interrogation: ask and reply. Mikoto was getting more worried as Shirai was keeping her own thoughts to herself. There seemed to be a barrier between them.

But Mikoto would not give up trying to get through.

"Kuroko... are you alright?"

No reply.

It had been like this since morning. Mikoto tried to bring up a conversation; but ended soon as Shirai was either not listening or too focused on her own thoughts.

They arrived at the usual family restaurant that she, Kyouko, Uiharu and Saten hangout at. It had been a while since they last went to this place. Since Kyouko and Uiharu were busy with the Judgment and the case they had been investigating (youkai possessing unfortunate people), they had less time to be together and hang out.

They entered the restaurant and went in front of the counter. Mikoto ordered a pair of sliced strawberry shortcakes and a pair of juice boxes? for take out.

After paying at the counter, they both went out of the restaurant and walked towards the direction of the park.

Upon arriving, Mikoto secured the sole unoccupied bench and sat. Shirai did the same a few seconds later.

Mikoto rummaged through the paper bag that contained the order from the restaurant. Pulling out the shortcake, she handed one to Shirai.

"Here."

Shirai looked at it without changing her expression. She received the shortcake obediently, and used both of her hands to hold it.

"Onee-sama..."

"?"

Before Mikoto could pierce the cake with her fork, she stopped and looked at Shirai, surprised that she was the one who started a conversation.

"Am I... a bother?"

Those words, that came from Shirai's lips, contained bitterness.

Mikoto was confused at the question she was asked. It was too sudden for her to answer the question as she had only been with the youkai for a few weeks.

Having lost her appetite to eat the confectionery in her hand and instead stared at it, she asked, "Why... are you asking that?"

Shirai hesitated to answer the question. She put up a painful expression as she held the plastic container of the confectionery tightly. With no way to take back the question, she replied,

"It's just... I've been bothering others. The longer I'm in this world, the more people have been involved, even those who were not actually a friend of yours. And yesterday... your friends almost lost their lives.

"Should I... just go back and accept my punishment, even if I don't deserve it?"

It wasn't easy for Shirai to voice the words that she had been thinking since morning. Especially if she had to break such an important, strong bond she established with Misaka Mikoto. Their bond couldn't be compared to anything she had back in her world. The longer she was with Mikoto, the more happy she was.

Just the thought of separating from her companion was worse than being stabbed in the heart by a sharp object.

"Do you remember what I said yesterday?"

Shirai looked at Mikoto in confusion, trying to remember what the human had said to her.

"I told you that I won't overlook those who framed you. I don't know why they are against you, but they must be stopped."

Those words were resolute. Shirai and Mikoto were not related in any form. They've lived in different worlds with different lifestyles, cultures and different kind of living beings they encounter.

The heaviness within Shirai's mind disappeared. She was filled with gratitude.

Shirai smiled. She knew someone out there would save her.

"Thank you, Onee-sama..."

Mikoto blushed as her hands grew cold. She wasn't used to receiving a thank you from anyone. She had received such before, yet every time it was delivered to her, she quickly gets embarassed.

"Y-Yeah... L-Look! Let's eat the shortcake before the icing softens!"

Mikoto said frantically as she grabbed a plastic fork and pierced the tip of the cake.

"Saten-san, you really should give up."

Uiharu said wearily as she followed Saten in the streets of District 7.

Back in the Judgment office, Saten told everyone in the room that the said detector device was proven to work. Of course, the others did not like where the discussion was going especially with a topic like urban legends.

Saten Ruiko would not give up and was in hot pursuit for her quest for the device, and so she coerced Uiharu into joining her.

"If you go any deeper, you can get in trouble."

Once again, those words fell on deaf ears as Saten entered a nearby alleyway; Uiharu followed suit as she kept a close eye on the long haired girl.

The alleyway was not wide or narrow. It could fit an average healthy person perfectly. An obese person would have a difficulty due to their size, and the dirty walls coated with dust would stick on their clothes and body.

After taking a few steps, Saten felt her foot kick an object as they heard something rough from the ground.

Saten looked down and saw a thick black rectangular device lying on the ground a few meters away from the ground. She picked the device up and examined it.

It looked like something that would not exist normally in Academy City. There was a dark green crosshair on the green screen with a line moving clockwise. There were two small red buttons below it. She could see an antenna sticking out from the top side of the device.

"What... is this?"

Saten spoke in wonder and confusion.

"Saten-san! Don't just pick up things you don't know how to use!" Uiharu yelled, scolding the other.

"Uiharu, this device's description completely matches from the one I read!"

Saten flashed the device in front of Uiharu with enthusiasm. "With this, I finally know which parts of Academy City youkai dwells in!"

"We can try that tomorrow." Uiharu said and looked up, noticing the red-orange hue of the sky. "Curfew is near."

"Alright. Let's see if it works with Shirai-san."

"Shirai...-san? You mean, that youkai that explained everything to us?"

"Yeah." Saten nodded, placing the device in her pocket. "Come on Uiharu, let's go back to the dormitory."

Uiharu turned around and walked towards the exit. Saten put her hands on Uiharu's shoulders as they walked away from the alley.

Gen'ou left his palace and saw several of his creations working on a ten feet tall catapult.

Two catapults were made, based from the Heian period. Its foundation was mostly made of wood as support was made of metal that will keep the foundation strong.

The golden armored samurais had finished tying the lever in horizontal position.

Gen'ou grinned madly. His plan was finally set into motion. All he needed was the higher ups' permission to cross the human world with a huge amount of youkai and a large weapon.

Gen'ou had a lean human muscular build that would make anyone think his age was around his mid-twenties: his auburn hair pointed forwards from the middle, wore a black hakama that matched his black nine-tails, and his nails were filed to become claws.

Shirai was not able to sleep in the peaceful atmosphere of Tokiwadai Dormitory's Room 208.

It was not because of where she was sleeping, her posture nor something awkward in her current position.

It was because she felt the burden within her weighed heavily on her mind for a second time.

Despite her talking about it with Mikoto, she had second thoughts about it. Negative thought resurfaced and despite all her efforts, she couldn't dismiss them.

Right now, her companion was sleeping peacefully while hugging the stuff toy Kirugumar.

Was staying in this world any longer worth it? Was receiving injustice better just to stop the youkai from involving more humans?

'What should I do...?'

Back in her days, her parents had told her that whatever one feels, they must follow what their hearts told them to do; even if it was wrong. If everyone was following what was right or wrong, their hearts would not remain in peace, and in turn, whatever burden they had, it will continue to haunt them.

But those words were useless in her current situation.

Her heart told her to ask for Mikoto's help and solve it once and for all. Her mind told her to go back and accept her punishment.

Shirai looked at a piece of paper at the upper left corner of Mikoto's desk.

She reached her hand and took the paper from its place.

Nothing was written on both sides of paper. The object was perfect to relay her message.

She ignited the paper in violet flame as she focused her thoughts into it. Several characters burned into paper in perfect penmanship before turning into charcoal black.

Violet flame dispersed as Shirai read the contents of the letter.

After a few minutes of reading, Shirai folded the paper twice starting from the bottom half up to the upper half.

"I'm sorry, Onee-sama. But this is the only way..."

Misaka Mikoto slowly opened her eyes and blinked as she adjusted to the bright light that illuminated the room.

Today is Sunday, a free day for students. They all had the time in the day to hang out with their friends and do their usual things.

But for Mikoto, something was missing in her morning routine.

She didn't hear someone greeting her good morning other than her roommate. No one was staring above her to scold her to stop the intimidating look. Even though it was only for a few weeks, those missing parts of the routine made it not an ordinary day for her.

Mikoto stirred on her bed and slowly rose, rubbing her eyes.

"Misaka-san, did you fall asleep while doing your homework?"

She looked at Kyouko from the bathroom door, already dressed in her school uniform and ready for Judgment work.

"What are you saying? I did all of my homework before the lights were out." Mikoto said, placing her favorite stuff toy at the corner of the bed.

Kyouko eyed the folded paper at the floor, near to her roommate's bed. "There's a piece of paper lying on the floor, beside your bed."

Mikoto curiously looked at the floor and saw a paper folded twice. She reached the paper and opened it. She read the message slowly and noticed that the letter was not hand written, as if someone printed the letter somewhere.

Reaching the end of the letter, Mikoto gritted her teeth and her hands trembled after realizing who "wrote" the letter that was meant for her.

'That idiot!'

Mikoto suddenly stormed out of the room, still in her pajamas. Kyouko suddenly winced in surprise as she wondered what had gotten to her roommate to leave abruptly.

She saw the same paper flutter in mid air and land on the floor with a soft sound.

"Misaka! Stop running in the corridors!"

The dorm mistress' voice rang in her ears. She knew her dorm's manager was the rule enforcer and would not tolerate a simple unlawful action. She didn't care about the dorm mistress or the stares she received from the students around her.

All she wanted to do was to run.

Her thoughts focused on the letter she read just now. It was from Shirai. She knew they had a certain discussion yesterday and it went fine.

'Why?'

Mikoto successfully left the dormitory and went to the direction to a certain alleyway.

To Onee-sama,

I just want to say thank you for saving my life a few weeks ago. I really appreciate that there are humans who are generous out there. I kept hearing from others that humans were selfish, prideful creatures. But no, it was you, Onee-sama, who changed my view against your kind.

Mikoto reached the main streets as she passed by a number of pedestrians.

I wish I could stay longer. I really wish that I could stay here forever and leave everyone there for good. I'm disappointed it won't happen. Day by day, different youkai started to invade and had hurt a lot of people. I really pity those who had no idea of what kind of dilemma they were dealing with.

Mikoto took a sharp turn on her left and continued running, receiving stares from the people around her.

'Kuroko... why would do something reckless like that...?'

I understood what you told me yesterday. But... I was still confused what to do; distressed about the decision of either going back and facing it on my own or just keep hiding from them as many more human beings will be involved.

And so, tonight, I decided to follow what my mind told me to do - go back and face my punishment, even if it was unfair.

I can't take it anymore. I've caused enough disaster for everyone who had a peaceful life. So, farewell, Onee-sama. I had a lot of fun staying here.

'No... I won't let you face it alone. It wasn't your fault for causing disaster. It was those youkai who were after you, and their creator.'

Mikoto entered the alleyway where she and Shirai first met. It was the location where her whole life changed.

First Encounter

"...Kuroko!"

Shirai inhaled deeply and exhaled.

She was in front of a dimensional rift that she had created with her power.

Her whole body trembled. It was not because of nervousness, but of pain. She didn't remember how many times she had inhaled and exhaled just to calm her racing heart. Ever since she opened the rift that would take her back to her world, her heart suddenly raced.

The cause was not because of fear of facing an army of youkai. The cause was that she regretted leaving Mikoto's side.

She regretted not telling what she truly felt for Mikoto.

"Haha... It's no use telling about it. I am a youkai, Onee-sama is a human. There's no way for us..."

Shirai bent forward, ready to jump into the rift. Before she could do it, a familiar voice interrupted her.

"...Kuroko!"

Shirai whirled around to see Mikoto (still in green Gekota pajamas) panting for air as she stopped a meter away from her position.

"Onee-sama..." Shirai muttered and looked down at the pavement.

"You... what were you thinking!?"

Shirai quickly looked up to Mikoto, who had finally caught her breath.

"You think that it's better to sacrifice yourself than finding out why were you accused of something foolish? What would those who are important to you think of your decision? Would they be happy? What about your parents?"

"..."

"I told you... I won't forgive those who framed you for no reason at all."

"How... how did you find me here?"

"First Encounter."

Shirai was surprised at those two words. She didn't remember putting any kind of riddle or anything cryptic of some sort. She reread the letter twice to make sure she didn't make a mistake on the letter.

"But... why?"

"Your mind only makes half of your decision. You were right about going back, but somewhere inside you didn't want you to go back and face this alone. So..." Mikoto slowly approached Shirai and held her shoulder. "Kuroko, let's do this together."

Shirai smiled broadly as the burden within her heart disappeared completely. She was so happy that no words came out. She could only nod in confirmation.

Mikoto looked at the still active dimensional rift behind Shirai. "By the way, are we going to your world that way?"

"Yes." Shirai nodded as she grabbed Mikoto's hand and jumped into the rift without any warning.

"Ajime!"

The dorm mistress barged in Room 208. She was furious that Mikoto ignored her and even ran away without even telling, or why she was still her pajamas.

"Y-Yes!"

Kyouko's head turned to the mad dorm mistress slowly like a robot. Her fear was above any other time the dorm mistress was furious about Mikoto's actions or whenever she overheard that a student was breaking the rules of the dormitory.

"Did something happen to Misaka?"

The dorm mistress may have a ruthless nature when it comes to rules to keep the students disciplined, but hidden in her demon gaze was a nurturing side. In other words, she is not a dorm mistress for nothing.

"I-I don't know... Misaka-san seemed in a hurry and didn't answer me when I asked her what was wrong."

"I see. When Misaka comes back, tell her that the two of you have a punishment waiting."

"Yes..."

Shirai and Mikoto finally arrived at the world where all youkai lived.

Its atmosphere was as dark as night. One would assume that a storm was coming or it was just a deceiving peaceful night where everyone was calm and not aware of what was happening.

"It has not changed since I escaped..." Shirai muttered as she looked around her surroundings.

"Eh? It's been like this for a long time?"

"Yes."

"Then, what are we doing here...

"HANGING OURSELVES OFF THE EDGE OF A CLIFF!?"

True to Mikoto's words, she and Shirai were hanging at the edge of a cliff. When they arrived in the world of youkai, they had the most unfortunate arrival as they first realized they were high above the ocean. They fast approached a nearby cliff and as they reached the edge, they immediately used their hands and hung themselves in the process.

"Sorry, Onee-sama." Shirai apologized as she hoisted herself up with her feet pushing against the rocks. "Somehow the location we should arrive was different. My anxiety must've affected my power..."

After Shirai successfully made it to the ground, she pulled Mikoto up, who was having difficulty as her slippers kept slipping on the rocks and her ability did not influence any non-ferric.

In front of them was a forest that would lead them somewhere. There was no sense of direction or any road to direct the wanderers.

"Let's go." Shirai said, now resolute and serious.

"Yeah." Mikoto nodded as they ran thru the forest.

Both human and youkai did not have the time to stop and look out for anyone suspicious. As long as they were hidden in the forest and moving from one place to another, they're safe.

That was until someone threw a banana peel at the back of Shirai's head.

Shirai abruptly stopped at the insolent act.

Mikoto also stopped and looked at Shirai in confusion. "What's wrong, Kuroko?"

"Someone just threw a banana peel behind me."

"O-o, ah-ah!"

Both girls turned around to see a monkey sitting on a tree branch. It suddenly jumped and clapped its hands above head level.

But before they could react, the monkey suddenly yelled in a very loud voice. It alerted them that there was someone else in the area.

"Shh...!" Shirai tried to calm the monkey down, but it was no use as the said animal was still making sounds. She hoped that no one was around to hear the racket.

That hope vanished as they heard something clank far away.

They did not know from which direction it came from. After a few seconds, they started to hear an object falling in their direction.

Shirai reacted first and grabbed Mikoto's arm and leap away from their spot.

A large rock as tall as the trees landed at their previous spot and shook the ground so violently upon impact that Mikoto and Shirai had to lean on a tree near them for balance.

After the ground calmed, the two girls ran away from the rock and the monkey, who immediately reacted and continued to make annoying monkey cries as he chased them from the tree branches.

Another clank reverberated 10 kilometers away. A large rock barely missed them as it landed a millimeter away from their backs. Both girls lost their balance and sat on all fours as the ground shook violently for the second time.

They did not know who was using a catapult nor how many catapults were there. All they knew was the monkey was trailing them to discern their location so that the attackers could accurately fire their bullet.

Mikoto looked at the monkey as she narrowed her expression. The monkey played on the branch like a trampoline from the circus. The monkey finally sat and stop playing with it, staring at the other with a blank expression.

'This monkey... it only reacts to movement. If that's the case...'

Mikoto bent forward, sinking into her battle stance, her gaze at the youkai didn't leave. The monkey suddenly stiffened his body as he readied himself. Mikoto sharply took a step forward.

The monkey reacted to the movement and sharply jumped at Mikoto.

It was his grave mistake.

Sparks started to form on Mikoto's forehead and fired a lightning spear at the monkey who took the hit directly. The monkey's nerves started to twitch in an abnormal manner as the electricity surrounded his body and landed on his back.

"O-Ooooooo!"

His voice was forced as the electricity continued to torture his body, convulsing in response. The voice he let out had the same loudness.

Another reverberation in the air.

Mikoto and Shirai immediately ran away from the scene as another rock fell from their last spot. It was the third time the ground shook violently.

"Onee-sama, what was that all about?" Shirai asked as she looked at Mikoto.

"It's just to shut the monkey." Mikoto replied. "But we need to get out of here sooner or that annoying youkai will look for us again."

Gen'ou and other golden samurais waited for another cry of the monkey he entrusted to.

Gen'ou was about to ask permission from the higher ups when a familiar presence lingered within him. The traitor came back after realizing how many human beings were involved in their affair. He was against involving humans at first, but with Kamakiri's persuasion, he gave up and allowed him to interfere with humans' everyday life.

It was thanks to Kamakiri that the traitor he had waited for so long came back.

If only Kamakiri was alive he could give him a bigger prize.

They were in a large clearing of a heavily forested area in order to not disrupt the momentum of the rocks they kept firing. They could see how dark the sky was.

It's been a few minutes after that monkey last cried for the location. He noticed that the cry was forced and long.

"What was Saru taking so long?"

A youkai who was in charge for releasing the rope of the first catapult asked, and judging by his tone, it was more appropriate on complaining.

"Gen'ou-sama, if Saru still had not responded this long, maybe he was...-"

"Oh, no. I can still feel Saru's presence. I know when my precious youkai dies."

Gen'ou's voice was calm as ever. It was the perfect tone to hide his true intentions. If only the traitor he had waited showed up, the job would have been done much sooner.

Mikoto and Shirai noticed that they were not being chased by the monkey. They briskly walked in the depths of the forest without worrying that any youkai who were spying on them.

They got out of the trees and saw a stretch of land 5 kilometer in diameter. Several tents were scattered around with several campfires in front of the tents.

An old man, appropriate for his age of 90 due to his being form, went out of the tent as a young youkai, in the form of a 10 year old boy held a pail that contained fish.

The old man noticed two newcomers in the vicinity and looked at them.

The two girls saw something behind the youkai's eyes.

Longing.

"I've been waiting for you to arrive, heiress."

A/N: And so, it's time to travel to another world... or dimension.

It's time to deliver good news and bad news. The good news is, only a few chapters left and the arc is finally done (and more to come). The bad news is, I have few weeks left for vacation and it's time to go back to school again! Such misfortune!

So, expect slower updates from June to half of October. If I'm lucky, I could still update regularly. If I get a lot of homework, well, updates are going to be slow. College could be hell if I don't really get my act up.

I'm going to revise Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 5. Only chapter 5 gets additional scenes, other than that, only fixes. Expect one chapter one revised chapter.

Though I'm not going to force this to anyone, I would appreciate a few reviews.

Credits to werewolf2005 for beta reading the chapter~