Toaru Ibento no Yoha

A Certain Aftermath of the Events

It was late in the evening before Misaka and Kuroko got back to their dorms. They managed to make it several minutes before curfew too, which was lucky as the older girl did not want to have to explain to the dorm mistress why she was carrying her currently unconscious roommate. Glad to have avoided any confrontation, Misaka entered their room and carefully went over and gently laid Kuroko on her bed, tucking her in like a caring mother.

She turned off the light then went over to her own bed sitting hard on it and falling backwards. She sighed deeply as her mind began to wander. Seemingly of their own accord, her fingers wandered up to her lips, touching them gingerly. 'I kissed Kuroko today,' she thought to herself, not quite sure what to think about it. She was tempted to believe that it hadn't even happened, that it was some crazy imagining conjured up in a moment of insanity and stress. But whenever she thought about it, there came the ghost of the feeling of Kuroko's lips pressed against hers. It was too vivid to be fake, too real to be imagined.

Did she even want it to be fake? She had been so sure of her actions at the time but now… she was afraid, and she didn't even know what it was she was afraid of. It was so damn frustrating. Even with all the emotions roiling about inside her she couldn't choose which one of them she was feeling, or supposed to feel.

"When you're stumped just move through the problem one question at a time." Kuroko had said a while ago. She had been talking about a Judgment case with Uiharu that had been confusing them for a while. It had helped then so maybe it would help her now. She took a deep breath to calm herself and began her internal interrogation.

'Do I regret what happened? No. I'm sure of that one. It's a little embarrassing but I don't regret it in the slightest.'

'Do I really love Kuroko?' That was a bit harder to answer. Misaka had never been in love before. She had heard tales of the magical, fantastic feeling that made everything wonderful, sugar and rainbows. She had seen couples walking by, holding hands, staring into each other's eyes, and just enjoying being together. She had had far too much personal experience with Kuroko's form of love as well.

She felt none of that. Her insides twisted up and hurt, her head was a chaotic mess of emotions. It was not sugar and rainbows. Yes she enjoyed Kuroko's company, but she always had, just like she had always enjoyed the company of her other friends. And as for feeling Kuroko's version… she had no desire to hold hands, hug, kiss... or do any of those other things that Kuroko did that made Misaka blush just thinking about them. She would be far too embarrassed to just go up and kiss Kuroko randomly. She wasn't anywhere near that bold.

And yet… she couldn't just say that she didn't love her. She felt something, something she couldn't name, an emotion that stirred every time she thought of Kuroko's smile or the feeling of her soft lips.

'Do I love Kuroko?' She settled upon an open ended 'Maybe'.

'Do I want anything more than what we have now? Do I want us to become more than friends?' That was probably the toughest question, yet probably the most pressing. She rolled that question around in her head, unsure quite what to make of it. 'Well, I…' her thoughts were disturbed by some rustling sounds. She sat up, looking over to the other bed where the noises were coming from. Kuroko was still asleep but she tossed and turned restlessly, muttering something Misaka could not understand.

'Is she having another nightmare?' Misaka wondered concerned. She stood up and walked over to her bed. She was curled up in a ball, as if cowering in a corner. Her face had a similar expression to the one it had held yesterday, if not quite so severe.

Misaka placed a hand on her shoulder, planning on waking her up. But the instant her hand touched Kuroko's shoulder the restless motions stopped, her tensed muscles slowly relaxed, completely entrusting herself to her loved one's care, knowing the electro-master would protect her, even in her dreams. With this new found feeling of security, the fear on her face lessened considerably. "Onee-sama," the younger girl muttered drowsily, still asleep, her nightmare apparently dissipated with a simple touch.

Misaka smiled as Kuroko's face settled on a much more peaceful expression, her breathing evening out. Satisfied that the younger girl was ok now, she stood up to go back to her own bed.

"No," the sleeping girl begged, "Don't…" the electro-master looked back at her roommate. Her face, which had been so peaceful a moment ago, was now arranged in a mosaic of worry, desperation, loneliness, and fear. Though her eyes still shut tight in sleep her arm was stretched out, as if searching for the touch that had disappeared.

Misaka took the outstretched hand in her own. "Don't worry, I'm still here… I won't go anywhere," She said, sounding like she was consoling a child, which she technically was. She sat in front of the bed, still holding the other girl's hand. Carefully Misaka placed her other hand on the sleeping girl's shoulder, where it had been before. She felt once again as Kuroko relaxed under her touch but her face still bore signs of worry, as if afraid she would be abandoned once again.

"It's alright, I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you," she coaxed, upset by Kuroko's worry and trying to make her feel better. Slowly responding to Misaka's gentle reassurances, her expression once again settled into a more peaceful look. She gave a sigh of relief before gazing at Kuroko's sleeping face again, "you're much prettier when you're happy," she remarked. Receiving no response she leaned against the bed, making herself more comfortable as her mind wandered back to the unanswered question. 'Do I want us to become more than friends?'

She looked to the person in question then settled on her answer, "it doesn't matter," the older girl said quietly, "It doesn't matter whether you call us friends or something more. No matter the title I'll always be here for you. Isn't that the important thing?" Kuroko, naturally, didn't respond, but Misaka felt proud, proud and confident in whatever the new day may have in store for her, for them. So what if she didn't have all the answers, she had all the time in the world to figure them out, until then she would just take things one day at a time, answer problems as they arose and enjoy the present. She soon fell asleep with a smile on her face.

The next morning, as the sun shone through the window, the two girls started to stir. Misaka picked her head up from on top of Kuroko's stomach where it had sprawled itself sometime last night, though she wasn't awake enough to be embarrassed about that yet. She was barely awake enough to comprehend that Kuroko had just now called to her.

"Onee-sama," she asked, her voice still sounding weary and confused, "what are you doing over here?"

It took a second for Misaka to process the question, when it did she recoiled a little bit as she remembered what had happened last night and a slight blush came across the electro-master's cheeks. "Well… you were having a nightmare so I kind of came over here to try and comfort you… I guess I fell asleep myself."

"Comfort…" the other girl repeated before replying, "Thank you very much for your concern. Though I wouldn't have expected this method from you." She said looking downwards.

Misaka followed her gaze. They were still holding hands but sometime in the night Kuroko had shifted onto her back and the hand that had been on her shoulder was now resting across her chest, directly on top of two very small bumps. The blush on her face grew several shades brighter as she hastily withdrew her arm. This just made things worse however, the movement of her arm across her sensitive areas eliciting a small squeak from Kuroko. "Not so rough Onee-sama." She complained.

Misaka turned around, the redness of her face bright beyond description. Several minutes passed as Misaka grew very interested in the opposing wall, studying it intently in silence. Kuroko almost giggled at the sight, almost, but she too remained quiet, waiting till her Onee-sama was ready as well.

After another couple of minutes Misaka finally spoke up. "How are you feeling?"

"Not so good. My head hurts and I can't remember much of anything that's happened in the past couple days." She said rubbing the back of her head to emphasize this.

"You… forgot… everything?" Misaka asked, turning around to face her, concern and curiosity on her face. 'does that mean she forgot about the…' Her unasked question was answered before she could complete it when Kuroko grabbed her collar, pulling her in and kissing her passionately. Misaka was surprised but… it felt so nice. She closed her eyes and returned it a little awkwardly.

They pulled away after several more seconds. Kuroko smiled up at her, "I wouldn't say everything… some things are unforgettable," she purred seductively into her ear.

Misaka's face lit up again with a deep red blush as she drew away. But the other girl's arms wrapped around her, hauling her up onto the bed then pinning the blushing girl beneath her.

"You know you're really cute when you're embarrassed," Kuroko cooed, leaning down close enough that Misaka could feel each hot breath against her ear.

"But you don't need to be," the younger girl continued running a hand slowly over Misaka's collarbone and down her side while the other gently cupped her face, the thumb running through her hair and brushing her temple soothingly, "after all, I love you. And now that you love me, there's nothing holding us back." With that Kuroko planted a hot kiss on her cheek, then another and another, trailing slowly downwards to her neck.

Misaka couldn't move, her body just wouldn't listen to her, too focused on this new and pleasant attention to want to get rid of it. It was all happening so fast, too fast. She wanted to say stop but her throat dried up and couldn't form the words properly. Her body didn't want to resist and she was too confused to force it. So she simply shut her eyes tight and waited.

Then the caresses stopped, her hands halted their progress and her lips removed themselves from her skin. "I understand," she heard Kuroko say, her voice a mix of dejected and ashamed, "I'm sorry Onee-sama." She sat up and turned away from the older. "I guess I just got a little excited. This all seems like a dream and… I'm a bit afraid it is one. I'm a bit afraid that any minute now I'm going to wake up and none of this will have happened and you won't feel this way anymore, you'll never feel this way…" a few tears welled up in her eyes as her voice became slightly shaky.

Her body finally back under her control, Misaka sat up and, leaning forward, hugged Kuroko. "But it isn't a dream. It's real. And that means that there is no need to rush. We can take our time Kuroko, do this at our own pace." Kuroko turned to look at her and Misaka gently wiped the tears from her eyes, "I'm not going to disappear, nor am I going to suddenly stop loving you." She said, her emotions becoming much easier to express when she was consoling someone.

Kuroko hugged her back, "I love you Onee-sama."

"I…" Misaka hesitated, then took a deep breath, "I love you too Kuroko."

Author's note: There we are, my shortest chapter yet: A nice mix of romance, drama, and a hint of comedy. On a side note, I love tsunderes. They are great to write romance with. Oh and don't worry all my action-loving readers, once I get into The Jericho Arc there will be a whole buttload of action to go along with these lovebirds' blossoming relationship, plus several interesting plotpoints you don't want to miss.