Toaru Odoroki no Insho

A Certain Jarring Impression

Misaka woke up to the high pitched beeping of her alarm clock, announcing the beginning of yet another school day. From her place, face down and buried in her pillow, she fumbled for the alarm clock, finally finding it and shutting the infernal contraption off.

As she began to wake up she noticed something was amiss. It took her a minute but she soon realized that Kuroko wasn't there. She picked her head up from her pillow and looked around. She saw her sitting at her desk, fully changed and prepared, teleporting a needle around a piece of notebook paper in a quick, precise manner.

"Kuroko?" she asked as she picked herself up.

Kuroko turned around when she heard her name. She gave Misaka a big smile, "Good morning Onee-sama." she said.

"What are you doing?"

"Practicing," she explained, "My accuracy is a little off so I'm trying to improve.

Misaka nodded, understanding her drive for improvement. "How long have you been up?"

"A couple of hours I suppose," Ever since you were shocked by that pereskia in the middle of the night.

"mmn," Misaka grunted in response before yawning widely and standing up.

"By the way Onee-sama, what were you dreaming about?"

Misaka looked at her curiously, "I don't really remember. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason in particular. When I woke up you looked really happy for some reason."

she shrugged in response and began to get ready. She could actually take her time this morning, having finished her homework last night. So she grabbed her uniform and went into the bathroom.

With her Onee-sama in the bathroom Kuroko relaxed and took another look at the book she had been studying. "Despite what you say it is still quite dangerous. I'm not even sure if it will work and if I'm off by even a centimeter the damage could be permanent." she continued the discussion she had been having with Kuro before the alarm clock went off.

You're looking for the quickest, most efficient way of disabling hostiles. This is it, plain and simple. It might not be the safest way but there are alternatives.

"Yeah. Having a needle through just about any joint would pretty effectively disable it while only leaving a miniscule injury."

It's the same principle with the human body as it is with buildings. All a matter of striking at the weakest or most vital points. After all, with a small scale power like yours you can't hope to destroy much with brute force alone.

"I know that. Why do you think I've been pouring through biological textbooks during every second of free time."

I thought it had something to do with why you keep lingering on the female biology sections.

The most annoying thing about a friend like Kuro was that she was privy to every secret hobby, perversion, and desire that Kuroko had ever indulged in. Kuro was generally uninterested in such matters and never spoke of them, but sometimes she would do things like this that made Kuroko wish she could just find a mute button.

"Shut up," she responded meekly before standing up and getting on with her other business of the morning.

When Misaka exited the bathroom she smelled a wonderful aroma wafting from the kitchen. It was the smell of home cooking. The pops and hisses of the frying pan radiated throughout the room, accompanying the warm air and giving a wonderful atmosphere to the place. She wandered over to the kitchen. "Hey, Kuroko. Are you making brea-gggh..."She started, only to be left suddenly speechless by the spectacle before her.

Kuroko was standing in front of the stove, tending to the various dishes she had made the preparations for after she had woken up. She had on an apron but nothing else. She turned to Misaka, smiling. "Ah, Onee-sama. Breakfast will be ready soon so just wait a little bit longer."

Misaka's brain had a small short as her eyes widened and a blush lit up her face. "p-p-p-p-p-PUT SOME DAMN CLOTHES ON." she yelled, turning around and storming off.

Kuroko watched her go with a grin. Now will you tell me what that was all about?

"it's all about my useless perusing of the female biology books," she murmured, continuing her cooking, "The difference between friends and lovers is attraction. Therefore, to see whether or not she was attracted to me, I presented her with a provocative image and then looked for any signs of excitement or attraction."

Finally you are making sense. Logic is something I can handle. Who needs empathy when you can look for biological indicators of emotion.

"Your approval fills me with shame," she said as she finished the omelets and served them as well as the various other pieces of food into two bento boxes and two plates. She had gone for taste rather than aesthetics but still tried to arrange them in an attractive manner in the box before tying it up in a cute, albeit somewhat childish in her opinion, handkerchief. Then she did the same with hers. After that she brought everything to the table. Misaka was sitting on her bed, facing in the opposite direction.

Seeing her like that Kuroko decided that she had teased her enough for one morning and got dressed. After that she called Misaka to the table and the two ate.

It was somewhat awkward for the rest of the morning, Misaka found herself unable to look her in the eyes as they ate their delicious breakfast in silence.

It continued until they left for school and even then she found herself trailing behind Kuroko, looking down at the ground.

I think you broke her.

"Broken bones mend with even greater strength." she said under her breath. Then, realizing what she had said, she quickly added, "that was a metaphor, don't go breaking any more bones ok?"

'Calm down Misaka,' the other girl told herself as she struggled to slow her heartbeat down to normal levels, 'It's just Kuroko... you've seen her naked before.'

Then why was it so jarring now? And why, every time she looked at her now, would she recall the image of her in that damn apron?

She took another deep breath as she tried to erase the memory from her mind. 'damn that Kuroko and her incessant teasing. Why the hell did she go and do that?' However she was interrupted from this train of thought by their arrival at Tokiwadai and their subsequent parting as they left to their respective classes.

Despite her odd morning, Misaka's day went exactly how it usually did. With the exception of being the target of more recruiting attempts by more factions, including one that she had already said no to asking her if she had changed her mind. She tried her best to get them to go away but that didn't work. So she simply ignored them until the bell rang, letting them battle amongst themselves.

After that she wasn't bothered anymore for a while, the time between classes too short for a faction recruiter to make a decent pitch. The lessons also helped distract her from her thoughts of a certain annoying brat who had so shaken her this morning.

She couldn't avoid her forever though, and the lunch bell soon rang. Misaka collected herself, readying herself to face Kuroko again as she left. However she saw that Kuroko wasn't waiting for her like usual. Misaka wasn't sure whether to feel relieved, disappointed, or worried. But after a second she settled on the first, glad to have the unpleasant encounter delayed, however temporarily.

She made her way to the lunchroom on her own and sat down at an empty table. It was fairly quite but Misaka knew it wouldn't be long before they descended over her like vultures.

Indeed, before even a minute had passed she was approached by a group of three. Though this time there was something different. The two seemed more like an entourage than people from other factions. The girl in front walked with a proud, confident air. Chin held high, steps long and confident, posture straight and impeccable. The girl on her left side fed like leech off of her presence, projecting a false air of confidence and station. The girl on her right seemed more timid and intimidated than anything else. She tried to keep to the shadows like a shy kid forced by their parent to socialize.

The lunchroom went oddly quiet as the girl sat across from her and began speaking, "Misaka Mikoto right? I'm Yoshinko Honogun. I hear you've been having some problems with the factions recently and I'd like to help. Join STORM and I can get them to leave you alone, I can get you anything you want. Just join my faction and we could the most powerful people in the school."

"I don't think so, sorry," she refused absentmindedly, having stopped listening long ago. 'This lunch is actually really good... I wonder where Kuroko learned to cook like this?' She thought to herself, the delicious bento ranking far above this Storm person in importance.

"How long do you think you can keep refusing everybody? You are now the only level five in the school. The faction that has you in it will become a powerful one indeed. People are going to do whatever is necessary to get you to join them. Join with STORM and we can protect you, don't and who knows what may happen."

Even though she was mostly ignoring her, Misaka could hear the threat in those words. Misaka did not like it when people threatened others. She liked it even less when people threatened her. Her smile began to falter ans she gripped her chopsticks tight enough to turn her knuckles white.

"STORM eh? Then you're Honogun-san. Tell me... how's your father doing? Is the "delivery" business going well?" Kuroko said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere as she sat next to Misaka, who, along with Yoshinko's entourage, looked at her strangely. But Yoshinko herself seemed to understand. Her eyes widened and her hands clenched into fists.

"Who are you and what are you talking about?" the girl to Yoshinko's left asked.

"Oh you didn't know? You see..." She began explaining with a grin.

"Rya! Kazege! We're going. Now!" Yoshinko said, standing up and storming away, the two confused girls on her tail.

Misaka looked at Kuroko, "what was that all about?" she asked, curious why what Kuroko had said had gotten such a strong reaction out of the girl.

"Oh, that." Kuroko said quietly and casually, getting out her bento, "I guess she just realized the damage her reputation could suffer if people found out her father is a notorious crime-boss."

"Are you... serious?" Misaka asked. It wasn't like Kuroko to joke about something like that but... it was kind of... unbelievable.

"Yep. Found out about it while I was doing some work. No proof though, so I can't exactly go to Anti-skill with the information," Kuroko explained, "itadikamsu."

Every day Kuroko managed to surprise and confuse Misaka in entirely new ways. 'what next, a twin and a fiance[1]?' She rolled her eyes, "so why are you so late?" she asked instead of the myriad of other questions running through her mind that would just raise more questions if they were answered.

"Sorry about that," she apologized after finishing her mouthful of food, "I was helping a teacher out. Apparently being a teleporter makes you the designated person to fetch and deliver anything and everything that the class needs."

"I know what you mean, being the level five means I'm always used in class demonstrations and things like that." Misaka sympathized.

"Well you are Tokiwadai's ace. You're inspirational and a good role model."

"Why do I feel like there's a but here?"

"Of course there's a but, but I'm not going to say it because it would just upset you."

"That never stopped you before," Misaka rebutted, happy for, but a bit suspicious about, Kuroko's words.

She simply shrugged in response then changed the subject to more lighthearted matters as they spent the rest of lunch talking about nothing in particular, like good old times. All the awkwardness from this morning forgotten.

Misaka wasn't too worried about Yoshinko's threat. She was level five, she had fought tougher opponents than some crime-boss's daughter with a chip on her shoulders. She was confident, as always, that she could protect herself.

So she put it in the back of her mind as the lunch bell rang and they went back to class. For the rest of the day nothing happened. The bell rang at the usual time and Kuroko was waiting in the usual place.

"We don't need to meet up with Saten and Uiharu for a while," Misaka said, "so let's head to the dorm first and drop off our books and things."

Kuroko agreed and they stopped to drop off their stuff then left. Before they left the dorms however Kuroko said she forgot something and hurried back in, coming out a short while later. Then they began walking towards the designated meeting spot.

I can understand not having it with you at school but I'll be damned if you're going to let it go to waste by never carrying the thing around. You need to keep your end of the bargain if you expect me to keep up mine.

'I know. That's why I went and got it.' She thought loudly, though she knew Kuro wouldn't hear her. They still knew each other well enough that they could guess each other's thoughts for the most part.

They soon arrived at the park where the other two were already waiting. Saten was waving at them as she greeted them in her loud, excited voice. "Yo! Kuroko! Misaka!"

"Hey there," Misaka greeted as they drew close, "sorry we're late."

"Oh it's no problem, we just got here," Uiharu explained, "so what are we going to do today?"

"Well," Kuroko spoke up, "I never did get you that ice cream I promised you, so why don't we go and get some now. My treat."

The idea was met with approval and they started walking towards an ice cream shop that was close by

"Oh by the way, is it true? The rumor that the queen has left Tokiwadai?" Saten asked, looking at Misaka and Kuroko.

"Uh... well yeah. Though apparently it's a big mystery why?' Misaka said, slightly nervous.

"You don't know either?" Saten looked disappointed when she heard this, "I was hoping that my sources on the inside would know more."

"I don't know why people care so much. I mean just because she's a level five automatically means anything she does is important? She's an unpleasant person unworthy of the attention." Kuroko said, her voice tinted with caustic spite, "at least Onee-sama is a good person. She's a worthy role model. The Queen is hardly someone to look up to."

The others turned and looked at her. "Wow... you sound like she did something horrible to you. Is there bad blood between you?"

"Well... not exactly..." Kuroko lied.

"As always you seem to have no trouble speaking ill of people you don't know," Uiharu said, with something like disapproval in her voice, "If I remember correctly you said something similar about Misaka-san before you went into Tokiwadai."

"Oh?" Misaka said, interest piqued, "did you now?"

"yep," Kuroko admitted immediately, "Before I met you I thought you were a pompous, high-class snob."

Her blunt honesty shocked the others, never expecting to hear such antagonistic words about Misaka come from Kuroko's mouth.

"I know what you mean," said Saten, "Before I met her I thought the same. But when I did meet her she turned out to be really cool and nice. I'm glad Uiharu dragged me along to meet you two."

"you certainly had a better first meeting than us," Kuroko said.

"Yeah... I remember. You tried arresting me didn't you?" Misaka recalled, annoyance in her voice at the memory.

"Yep," Kuroko said smiling at her.

"Our first meeting wasn't much better," Uiharu said gesturing to Saten, "she flipped my skirt and made me her friend without my permission."

"Yellow with purple flowers," Saten recalled, leaving Uiharu with a blush

Misaka smiled as she listened to all these tales of the past, "I guess it goes to show," she began, "the best of friends can come from the worst of first impressions."

After that conversation drew to a close they began talking about other things. Rumors, stories, gossip, the usual as they took a shortcut to the ice cream place. They went through an empty plaza that sat in the middle of several buildings. It used to be a popular place but now it was rarely used other than as a shortcut to avoid traffic or as a hangout for various groups of delinquents.

Today, unfortunately, it looked as if it was being used for the latter of the two. A group of five people, two females three males, were sitting 20 feet away from them on a bench near the center where a tall oak tree grew, bathing them in shade.

One of the people stood up. He was in a light, sleeveless green t-shirt and heavy tan cargo pants. His dark hair was shaved in a buzz cut. His rough, tan skin was marked with scars. He bore himself with confidence and pride and his grin was that of a predator's. "Oi, you. You're The Railgun right? Misawa Mita-something or other."

"Who's asking," she replied aggressively. She had a bad feeling about this. Given the way the others tensed up, it looked like they did too.

The man tutted, "tsk tsk. That's not very polite you know." he said. Suddenly a blinding pain erupted all over the bodies of the four girls. Every single nerve in their bodies felt like it was suddenly lit on fire. It hurt more than any of them could imagine. The shock and pain almost immediately knocked Uiharu unconscious and brought the other three to their knees as they struggled to keep their own faculties.

The man approached as the others stood up, hanging back for now but ready if necessary. "Since you asked though, I'll tell you. My name is Ita, my power is causing hyper-stimulation in a person's nerve endings, or in layman's terms, causing them excruciating pain. I've been hired to frighten you a little bit. Lucky for you I need to keep you alive. Though they didn't say anything about keeping your little friends here alive... maybe I'll have a little fun." He said tauntingly as he stood in front of her and Kuroko.

Misaka glared at him and tried to summon up enough power to fry him. But the pain was too much. She couldn't concentrate at all. Concentration was necessary for all ESPer's powers. Without the concentration to do all the complex equations necessary to make their powers work they couldn't do anything.

Suddenly a small black object bounced across the ground emitting small, short beeps that got louder and quicker as it rolled stopping just short of the other four people who looked at it curiously. Misaka's eyes were suddenly covered by Kuroko's hand as the object let out one last beep. Through her hand she could see a flash of light followed by a chorus of "ach!" "damn!" "what the hell?" "I can't see!"

When she heard the beeping stop Kuro looked up, removing her hand from in front of the perseskia's eyes. Then she leapt forward and swung her left arm, hitting this Ita person directly in the stomach. Then she pressed the button on the device she was holding with her thumb sending several thousand volts into him. The shock, added to the impact, caused him to stumbled back a couple of steps as she stood tall, hair falling freely down to back.

"How does it feel when the one in pain is you?" she asked as she retrieved something from beneath her shirt. In each hand she now held the sleek chrome-tinted metal tonfa that Shiro had purchased, along with the flash grenade she had just thrown, 2 days ago at the black market stand.

They were prototype sidearms for law enforcement agencies, designed to replace the primitive, low-tech nightstick with a multipurpose weapon and tool. It had along it's side handle four buttons that would trigger various mechanisms when the fingers were removed from it in various combinations and the button at the end of the handle was pressed by the thumb. Right now Kuro was gripping with all of her fingers save her pinky, activating it's most basic function, a stun gun built into the base of the short end.

In exchange for these fun little toys Kuro had promised that she would minimize the damage she caused to other people whenever she stepped in to fight. These were specially designed to take down opponents without causing too much harm, so they were the perfect tools for the job. She would have this Ita guy and his thugs finished off in no time.

"How does it feel?" Ita repeated as he regained balance and looked up at her, his expression was not one of anger or pain, but one of enjoyment and blood lust, "I'd say it feels pretty damn good. Come on now little girl... let's see what else you got." He reached behind his back and in the blink of an eye he swung his arm forward, sending his signature cat-o-nine-tails whip across Kuro's torso before she had a chance to react.

Five of the cords hit, digging thin, deep, biting wounds and tearing thin gashes in her shirt and blazer. The wounds burned like a hot iron and when combined with the crippling pain she was already feeling she almost faltered before catching herself and launching herself once again at him, making sure to stay close to avoid another hit.

"Hurts doesn't it? A whip is the most painful weapon of all, and a cat-o-nine-tails is the most painful whip there is. That's why I chose it. Pain is the ultimate rush, the ultimate thrill. Doesn't matter who's giving and whose receiving, as long as someone is in pain, as long as someone is screaming and hurting like there is no tomorrow, I'll be happy. I'm impressed you lasted this long though, I'll tell you that. Most people can't even stand. But then again I am keeping pressure on three different people so don't be too proud of yourself."

As he was talking she launched hit after hit against him but the pain hindered her, made her attacks clumsy and weak. He skillfully dodged, ducking and weaving around her blows. Those few that hit were absorbed, even enjoyed as he laughed and encouraged her to hit him harder.

Kuro was unfazed by the taunts, too embroiled in the task of defeating him quickly before his friends regained their ability to see or she was knocked out by the pain.

"Too slow," he said as she swung. He ducked under the blow and rolled behind her. Kuro quickly spun around to prevent being attacked from behind but he had distance now and he swung his cat-o-nine-tails with power straight at her. She attempted to block it with her tonfa but it simply twisted around, striking her hard across the back, cutting her deeply in six more places.
This time Kuro did falter. Her vision blurred and blackened she felt herself falling.

"Feel the pain and cry you little brat," he taunted.

At his words Kuro caught herself. She couldn't go down like this, she couldn't let Shiro down. She twisted her tonfa around, winding the whip around the handle and holding it in place. She released the button under the middle finger on her other hand and pressed the activation button with her thumb, triggering one of the non-standard mechanisms that had been added by the underground. A thin, sharp blade popped out from the seam that ran along the length of the long end of the shaft. With a single quick motion she swung the baton and sliced through the whip, severing the cord and letting it drop to the ground.

Now, holding nothing more than a handle, Ita dropped the useless whip. "I don't need that to finish you off. You can barely stand as it is." he said and swung at her. She held up the still bladed tonfa to block the hit but was suddenly and painfully kicked in the side by his other leg. She staggered back.

Her vision blurred again, soon no amount of willpower would keep her standing. 'I need to end this now.' she thought. Then an idea came to her. She remembered this morning and the talk she had with Shiro. "well even if she's too afraid to do it I don't mind giving it a try." she muttered quietly. As Ita ran up to hit her again.

She shifted her fingers on the non-bladed tonfa, lifting up her ring finger and pressing the button. From the base of the long end of the shaft sprung a needle, a syringe used to administer tranquilizer, not that she had any tranquilizer in it. Ducking under the blow and stepping behind him she quickly brought her elbow backwards, digging the needle into the back of his neck a few centimeters, "I wonder. Is it crueler to defeat a masochist without inflicting any pain at all?" she asked as she yanked her elbow downwards, snapping off the tip needle, leaving it lodged in his neck.

She retracted the needle and the blade as Ita fell over, unconscious and paralyzed. With him unconscious the pain that had been wracking her vanished. But the pain from her injuries still remained.

The other four had recovered by this time, and they saw that Kuro was exhausted from the fight. "looks like you're a little tired. You might have taken out Ita but I doubt you can take us all out." one of them said as they approached her.

"Don't need to," she responded and ducked. Standing several feet behind her was another girl. The one that they had been hired to intimidate, the level 5 Electromaster. She was on her feet, the crippling pain now gone. Large sparks emitted from her forehead but she looked oddly calm as she raised her hand towards them.

They realized a second too late what was happening, having no time to react before lightning arced from her hand into their bodies, sending them into spasms before rendering them unconscious and smoking.

Kuro, meanwhile, tucked her tonfa away in the leather belt hidden beneath her shirt. She reached over to retrieve the flash grenade (which was completely reusable) from the ground and tucked that away too. Then she stood up when the lightning had stopped. She turned around. The pereskia was running towards her.

"Kuroko!" she exclaimed, "are you ok?"

Kuro held her hand up, "I'm fi-" she began then stopped as the motion stirred up more pain. The adrenaline that had been rushing through her was slowly wearing off and the pain it had been dulling came back full force. Kuro walked calmly to the nearest trashcan and proceeded to empty out the contents of her stomach into it.

"On second thought... perhaps we should go to the hospital. It's nearby right?" Kuro said, sounding as calm and casual as if she was suggesting they go shopping for shoes. She brushed her long, flowing hair out of her face and wiped her mouth.

"Uiharu's ok," Saten said, joining them with the unconscious girl on her back, "she's just asleep. I'll take her to the hospital Misaka so you handle Kuroko." With that said she ran off, too worried about Uiharu to care about the weight of the girl or anything else for that matter.

Misaka nodded and went up to Kuroko, "here..." she said and rested her hands on Kuroko's back.

As Misaka did so, a strange feeling coursed through Kuroko's back. An odd sort of numbness spread across the skin, as if her whole being had been injected with Novocaine, though a dull throb of pain still echoed from the marks on her skin. It was an unpleasant feeling but it was better than the blinding pain.

"Is that better?" Misaka asked, careful not to hurt her even more.

"Much." she replied. Then she reached under her shirt and snapped off the belt, handing it to the pereskia, "do me a favor and put this in your bag" she asked, worrying that it might be taken away at the hospital. It was technically level 1 contraband after all[2]. If she was caught with it she would have a lot of things to answer for. But they would never search The Railgun's belongings.

"Uh... sure." Misaka said, doing so. She was curious as to what the strange objects were and why Kuroko had them but this wasn't the time for that. She hoisted Kuroko's arm over her shoulder and walked with her to the hospital.

Kuroko was clearly out of it. Her eyes were glazed over from pain even with Misaka doing her best to numb it using her powers. Still, she was being exceptionally brave about the whole thing. Her face did not once betray the pain she was feeling. She kept it straight and expressionless. It reminded her of how she had tried to rescue Uiharu during the Level Upper case despite all her injuries.

As they were walking towards the nearby hospital the quiet that hung in the air between them was broken as Kuroko began humming a strange tune. It was soft, short, and sad though Misaka didn't recognize it. "what is that?" she asked, hoping to break the silence and maybe get Kuroko's mind off her injuries until they got there.

"It's a lullaby that I used to sing to myself when I was a kid," she explained, "I don't really remember the words though." 'the words don't really matter. It comforts Shiro and that's all I care about.' she thought to herself..

That's how it's always been. The words are too emotional for you to remember. Shiro's voice echoed in Kuro's head, a reverse of the usual situation. I'll sing them for you if you keep up the tune.

And so Kuro kept humming as she listened to Shiro's song.

Misaka couldn't hear the words but she listened to the humming. The melody was too sad and lonely for her tastes. But it seemed to keep Kuroko distracted while they arrived at the hospital and went through the front door. They were quickly ushered into a room and Misaka waited outside as Kuroko's wounds were treated. She wanted to be there for her friend but also wanted to give her privacy.

However, once the doctor was finished tended to her wounds and left, she walked back in. "Feeling better?" she asked as she took a seat on the stool next to the bed, pulling it close.

Kuroko sat up. She was in a hospital gown so Misaka couldn't see her injuries. She looked at her for a second then leaned in and kissed her.

In a sense Misaka had been expecting something like that, though not so sudden. She was still embarrassed but she meekly kissed back. When they pulled away Kuroko was smiling.

"Much better. The pain is nearly gone and they sewed up the wounds. They say because they're so thin they'll be healed up by tomorrow but he said they might leave scars." She said that last bit with a tinge of sadness in her voice. She looked at Misaka, "You'll still think I'm beautiful even if my skin is scarred... right?" she asked, earnestly worried.

Misaka patted her on the head comfortingly, "I would never care about a few scars," she said sincerely. Relief washed through Misaka. She was glad that all Kuroko was worrying about was a few scars. But still... she should be worrying about more. She should be worrying about what she was going to do about those people that had come after them, who had done this to her. That's what Misaka was thinking about.

"You're angry Onee-sama," Kuroko said simply, stating a fact rather than asking a question, "I can guess what it's about and I understand why you're angry, but you should calm down before you do something rash."

"You really expect me to calm down after what happened?" Misaka asked, her voice surprisingly calm, "I can't forgive them for this."

Kuroko knew that calmness in her voice. She only got that calm when she was absolutely, truly angry. She knew she had to calm her down before she did something stupid and reckless in her anger. But when she got like this it was impossible.

...or was it...

"Onee-sama, did you know that there is a belief that throughout the body are spread seven different chakra. These chakra are a source of chi and are used in things such as acupuncture and massage and are said to be able to calm a person and restore peace of mind. The root chakra in particular is said to dispel anger," Kuroko said with a grin, "let me show you." Despite still being in pain she lunged toward Misaka.

"Ok... thanks," Saten said to the attendant sitting at the lobby's desk. Uiharu was awake and fully recovered now so they had decided to go check on Kuroko and see how she was doing. Saten had just gotten done telling Uiharu what had gone on while she was unconscious and the other girl still seemed to be reeling from the information. She was understandably skeptical of the story. Saten would be too if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes. It was like Kuroko had become a whole different person, one who kicked some serious butt.

"She says Kuroko is in room 110," she told Uiharu and they began walking in that direction.

"Are you sure you're telling the truth and weren't simply seeing things?" Uiharu asked for the third time.

"I'm telling you the truth. She kicked the guys butt without using her power once. If I had those skills it wouldn't matter if I was a level zero, I bet I could beat down anyone in our school." Saten said excitedly. Maybe she should look into taking some martial arts and getting a pair of those... whatever they were.

"Ahh, here it is," Uiharu exclaimed once they reached their destination, "Room 110." She reached for the doorknob but suddenly there erupted a huge ruckus from inside.

"Ack! Kuroko! What are you doing?"

"Don't worry Onee-sama, I'll be gentle."

"Hey! Don't touch there! Nggh-"

"Just relax and enjoy it."

"Sto- Sto-Sto-ung-"

"See... it feels good doesn't it?"

Uiharu and Saten looked at each other, their faces frozen and their mouths hanging open.

"Wrong room?" Saten suggested after a second.

"Must be..." Uiharu agreed as the two walked off, trying as hard as they could to forget everything they had just heard.

In the room Misaka was in a state of blissful calm, laying across Kuroko's lap as she rubbed the small of Misaka's back. The overwhelming anger she had been feeling moments ago melted away as her entire tensed body relaxed. "If you weren't in the hospital I'd fry you," Misaka threatened in one final protest. Though the threat was weak, lacking in any anger or intimidation

Kuroko continued regardless. She was surprised at how well this had worked. She had chalked up the whole chakra-chi thing as nothing but superstition based on a primitive understanding of the nervous system, hoping for little more than a slight effect. But it seemed that she was wrong, or that her Onee-sama had an especially sensitive root chakra. Either way it was working wonders.

So Kuroko kept it up as she talked. "Onee-sama... I understand exactly what you're thinking. Your friend was hurt and now you want revenge. I've felt the same way many times. Which is why I'm not going to stop you. I just don't want you running in recklessly. Never rush into a situation without proper intelligence. I couldn't stand you getting hurt while trying to avenge me."

Now that she was calm she listened and heard what Kuroko said. She nodded, "I understand." she said, "but I am still going to find out who is behind this and I am still going to make them pay." Her voice now held conviction rather than anger.

"Ok...just promise me you won't get hurt."

"I promise." Misaka said.

Seemingly content, Kuroko let Misaka go. Misaka almost asked her not to but stopped herself. It was embarrassing enough that she had been forced into such a position and even worse that she had enjoyed it. She blushed as she realized exactly what had happened. She stood up and left without a word.

Kuroko grinned as she left. "I'll need to remember that spot for later." she said to herself, then laid back and closed her eyes for some much needed rest.

Author's note:Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. It was long and I was having a few issues. I apologize to all my loyal readers but I am actually going to be taking slightly longer with each chapter now a days. I'm going to try to write more carefully and plan ahead more. But your patience will be rewarded because the next chapter will feature considerable butt kicking from Misaka. I haven't had her in a fight for too long so I'll try and make up for it by having her kick a lot of ass.

As I said... this was different than the last chapter. I was wondering if it was too graphic but I had my reasons for including such a disturbing villain. I was wondering to myself what situations other than Capacity Down would disable Kuroko and give Kuro a reason to come out. Kuro has much stronger willpower and doesn't need a power or concentration to fight, so I thought that the best way would be to do something that would break Kuroko's concentration. I was debating whether to have exhaustion or pain but determined pain would be better dramatically and practically. Everything else followed from there. I tried to include a part in the end that would lighten the mood but I wonder if it lightened it too much. Mood whiplash isn't good after all. So I'd like to hear your opinion.

Also, it may seem really coincidental that they were attacked so close to a hospital, but Ita had a reason to be there. He was replacing the hospital's morphine supply with hydrochloric acid when he received the call for the job and was told they were coming his way. So he simply went to the plaza and waited for them.

On a side note, after being discovered a short while later Ita was taken to the hospital where his arm was later terribly crippled when the painkillers the doctor's prescribed to him accidentally melted his arm from the inside out. Seeing that the IV contained acid rather than painkiller the rest of the IV's were carefully checked resulting in no further injuries but Ita never regained use of his arm.

[1] No. This will never happen in my story, I promise you. Kuroko does not and has never had a fiance or twin (evil or otherwise). This is not some soap opera. I mean I already have MPD, secret love affairs, and comas, that's more than enough for me.

[2] This has nothing to do with ESPer levels. Contraband is sometimes referred to by a series of levels. Level 4 is freely available, level 3 is available for civilian use with a license, level 2 is restricted to police or intelligence agencies, level 1 is restricted to military use, and level 0 is banned.