Toaru Shigoto no Hi
A Certain Day of Work
Kuroko walked into the Judgment offices as happy as could be. Yesterday had gone marvelously, she had spent some time reconnecting with an old friend, then had had a nice romantic dinner with her wonderful Onee-sama. On top of that, for the first time in over a week, she had had a pleasant dream instead of the vivid, terrifying nightmares that had been plaguing her recently.
She practically exuded an aura of contentment as she took her place at her workstation, "good morning Konori-senpai," She greeted her senior, who was just beginning her own work.
Konori looked up at her, "good morning Kuroko, you look cheerful this morning," she remarked as she shuffled through the various papers on her desk, trying to return some semblance of order to them.
"I am," Kuroko replied simply, "Yesterday was a good day."
Konori smiled at her for a second then looked back down to her desk. "Well I'm glad you had a fun day off but you're back at work now and we have quite a bit of work to do."
"Hai!" Kuroko responded enthusiastically.
Konori rooted around her files, looking for something, "Actually something interesting came up yesterday," she said as she pulled a small pile of paper loose from the rest and handing it to Kuroko. The papers were crime reports. Many of them came from other branches, the few originating from Branch 177 were recent, the date of submission read yesterday while the date of incident read two nights ago. "Apparently instances of in-city street racing has sharply increased as of late," Konori explained, summarizing the reports, "While it is Anti-Skill's responsibility to respond to these races they have enlisted the help of local Judgment branches to attempt to find and notify them of any races going on. But the incidents keep hopping around from one part of the city to another, every week or so. Given the reports we've received yesterday and today it seems that they've moved into our jurisdiction."
Kuroko nodded, listening carefully as she read the details of some of the reports. It looked like there had been quite a few injuries as well as property damage attributed to these races and the ensuing car chases. Very few perpetrators had been caught, mostly due to the fact that, while Anti-skill had trucks and could quite effectively set up roadblocks, the racers and their motorcycles were far faster and more maneuverable. And even those that had been caught had offered little information. "Interesting," she said thoughtfully.
"I had Uiharu look through the reports yesterday, to see if she could find a pattern or any likely places of activity. She managed to select a few likely places. They tend to gather in remote parking lots and places like that: places with little to no security but with enough space and access to roads. I need you to install some of the temporary security cameras in the high risk places."
"That explains why you need me," As a teleporter Kuroko could get to places that would be hard or impossible for other people to get to, high places that would be the ideal spots for camera placement. She got up from her chair, "Ok. I'll get right on it."
Konori handed her a large, heavy bag and a map of the area, with several locations marked on it. Kuroko put in her earpiece, accepted the bag and map, then went on her way.
She walked down the street towards the first location in silence. It was quite a boring assignment considering that it was related to such an exciting case, but Kuroko was happy enough that she let it slide for now. When she finally got into range of the first mark, a spot on top of a random building, she teleported up and attached the mount to the corner of the roof, where it would be best suited to survey the high risk area. Then she placed the camera onto the mount and screwed it in using the tools in the bag.
"Is the link set up alright?" she said to Konori over her communicator.
For a second or two the sound of tapping keys filled her ears then Konori replied, "yes, it seems so. You can go onto the next one."
With that Kuroko teleported back down to the street, bag in tow, and began to head to the next mark. As she installed the next two she spoke casually to Konori to pass the time, "You have a motorcycle right?"
"Barely, after your misadventures last month. Why do you ask?"
"I was thinking about these street races and I wondered if, in your rebel days [1], you ever raced like that," Kuroko asked humorously.
Konori paused a little too long. Kuroko giggled as she screwed in the second camera, "don't tell me you actually did?"
"Don't you have work you should be doing?" Konori huffed, halfway between annoyed and embarrassed that her junior had ever learned of her past. Ever since their encounter with Big Spider Kuroko had frequently teased her about it, even Uiharu had done it from time to time.
"Now now, no need to be embarrassed," Kuroko said, having perfected her ability to pick up that particular emotion, what with all her recent practice and all, "It's behind you right? You don't do all that stuff anymore… do you?"
"Of course not," Konori defended immediately, "unlike some people I actually straightened up when I joined Judgment."
There was a long pause. "I'm sorry," Kuroko said genuinely, breaking the silence. Her voice sounded much sadder now, and the change in mood made Konori instantly regret her words. But before she could take them back Kuroko continued, "I really do try to do things by the book. I try my hardest to do justice, to do the right thing, and to do it in the right way. But in the end I guess I fail pretty miserably at that. Honestly I feel like such a hypocrite whenever I reprimand Onee-sama for rushing in headfirst. I'm even starting to match her excessiveness. I brought down a building, just to catch one criminal. I try to tell myself that some of the things I do are necessary evils, things which need to be done to do justice. But that's just a hollow excuse I use to try and exempt myself from being the very thing I discourage in another person. But there are things that just can't be done by the book, things that the law won't work against. Sometimes there are necessary evils. But does that mean that the whole system is just a veil to be dropped when inconvenient or even a hindrance to justice? Would it be better if we didn't discourage vigilantes?"
"Kuroko…" Konori began, hearing the distress in the girl's voice, suggesting that these thoughts had been troubling her for a while. She took a deep breath, thinking what to say to put the girl at ease, "there are times when I've wondered these exact things myself. But what must be kept in mind is that laws exist for a reason. We are dedicated to upholding the laws and enacting justice. If we can act according to the book then we must act according to the book… But there are times when that book can fail us, situations where things cannot be solved in the manner that is set forth by the rules. When there is a situation like that it is sometimes necessary to stray from the rules. But you must never forget them. Justice is always your objective; everything else is simply laying the path for it to be done."
Kuroko worked, screwing in the fourth out of six cameras. As she worked she mulled over her senpai's words, then she smiled. "Thanks. I needed to hear that," she said.
They are called necessary evils for a reason. They are necessary. True power is willingness to do what must be done, and justice can only be established and maintained by those with power.
"I'm going to go dark for a bit," Kuroko said to her senpai as she turned off her microphone. Then, to Kuro, she said "I was wondering if you were still around, you've been awfully quiet today."
You were happy. When you are happy and safe my presence is unnecessary, that is how it has always been.
"Yeah, but I kind of miss it when you don't talk. You may be annoying but you're still my oldest friend, and I don't like it when you're gone," she replied as she affixed the fifth and penultimate camera to its mount.
I will never be gone; I will always be here for you. But you shouldn't rely on me. You have other friends, and a pereskia, to interact with, I'm here simply to calm you and help you deal with your problems.
"I'd be a bad friend if I did nothing but use you like that."
That doesn't matter; I have no feelings to be hurt. I will always be here because I cannot be anywhere else. I require no maintenance. Unlike your other friends, who you need to interact with frequently, lest they take it personally.
"There are times when I question whether you're a psychopath or a saint."
You are my world, quite literally. The only suffering I have ever known is your suffering. It is a selfish action in trying to prevent your suffering, however selfless it seems.
Kuroko sighed, "how come nobody I know can just say how they feel to other people? They all hide from what they're thinking and feeling like…" She began but stopped as she heard some noise from below. She had just teleported up onto the final building to install the last camera. She had retrieved it and the mount from the bag and activated the camera when she heard some sounds coming from the very spot the camera was meant to survey. She dropped down low, using the raised edge of the building for cover as she moved toward the source of the sounds.
She reached the corner of the building and peeked over the edge. In the little used, secluded parking lot that was near this building were 13 people. 7 motorcycles were lined up along the exit to the parking lot. The bikes were fancy, high-tech, and visually distinctive. Some of them matched those that could be seen in the photographs of the street-race vehicles that had been in the file. Aside from the bikes the only other thing in the parking lot was a large van on the far ending, near the building Kuroko was on top of.
The helmeted riders stood a short distance away from their bikes, talking to each other as well as the other people gathered there. Four of the others, all but one still in their early to mid-teens, wore blue jumpsuits smudged with oil. Kuroko guessed that these were mechanics. Another was in far fancier clothing, wearing a business suit with a briefcase, typing something out on what was either a phone, PDA, or calculator. If Kuroko had to hazard a guess she would assume he was a "bookie", someone who oversaw gambling, calculated and set odds on bets, etc…
The last one stood a distance away from the rest, sitting down with an odd device on his lap. It looked familiar and in a second Kuroko remembered where she had seen it from. She had seen it in the black market, being sold in the communications area. It monitored all in and outgoing communications in a fairly large area and could selectively jam a particular signal or frequency allowing for much greater control than large scale jammers.
'That must be how they've avoided being caught,' Kuroko thought to herself, 'anytime someone from Anti-Skill or Judgment was contacted they could be out of here in a second.' Kuroko was relieved she had turned off her communicator beforehand but wondered what she could do if she couldn't call Judgment for backup. There was no way that she could fight 13 people at once.
But as she contemplated what to do the riders began to take position. Everything seems to have been sorted out and they were ready to begin their race. She needed to find a way to stop them and quick, before the race could begin, suddenly a thought struck her.
From the office Konori checked up on the last camera. It had been activated a short while ago but did not seem to be in position. It was lying on the ground, looking across the roof into the corner where Kuroko was crouching for some unknown reason. With her communicator off she couldn't ask the reason and she seemed to be too distracted by something that was going on below. Her tensed posture suggested that it was something important.
With her communicator inactive Konori tried another means, calling her cell. But when she dialed the number a ringing came from in the room. At Kuroko's desk sat her cellphone, shaking as the beep beeps of her ringtone filled the air. "Kuroko…" Konori said exasperated as she hung up. She checked the screen again, unsure what to do. She wondered if she should call Anti-skill, but wasn't sure. She didn't know enough of what was going on in and wouldn't know what to tell them.
From the location she could guess that it was probably a group of the street racers. But she did not know how big or anything. All she could hope to do was wait until Kuroko reported in.
That plan was thrown out the window the next second when she vanished from the camera's viewpoint. Konori cursed her impulsiveness and phoned Anti-skill, hoping that Kuroko wouldn't get herself hurt again.
Kuroko sat on the roof, lining up her shot. When she had pinpointed her targets she touched the bands on her thighs and teleported the needles one by one, into the mechanisms of the motorcycle. She was unaware of the various components that made a motorcycle run, never having been a big fan of auto-maintenance, but she was fairly certainly that if a needle was preventing the spinny thing from spinning, the wheel wouldn't turn and the motorcycle wouldn't go. So she aimed for the spinny things on the front and back wheels. She managed to get them all in before the bikers revved up their motors. She watched as one of the mechanics counted and then dropped a flag, signaling the beginning of the race.
Kuroko watched with bated breath as the revved their motors and hit the pedals or whatever it was motorcycles had.
Then nothing happened. The motorcycles didn't budge an inch from their starting locations. Their wheels didn't turn and the engines made odd sounds, metal grinding against metal and motors stalling. Kuroko breathed a sigh of relief as she watched them dismount. She heard the sounds of arguments between the riders and their mechanics as they checked their cycles for the issue. Crouching down next to their cycles presented Kuroko with the perfect shot, as they bared the back of their necks. Kuroko took a deep breath the calm herself and focused. She had been training for this exact thing for several hours over the past week, Kuro had proven in her fight with Ita that the theory was sound. Now all she had to do was put it into practice.
She touched the band of needles on her other thigh and teleported them into the necks of the six riders and mechanics that presented her with a shot. It hit the mark each time and they slumped down. "What the hell!" the one closest to Kuroko at the end of the row of bikes exclaimed.
The cry attracted the gaze of the others, who checked to see what was wrong with their friend. This presented Kuroko with another great opportunity. She took one of the flash grenades from her sash and pressed the button. She counted to two [2] then teleported it right above the person, where everyone else was looking, then she shielded her eyes as little device created a massive blinding flash.
Kuroko quickly teleported down to the ground. It seemed that her little present had hit all of them. "This'll be quick," she remarked as she drew her tonfa and, digging it into the necks of the two mooks closest to her and zapped them with its stun gun attachment. They let out cries of pain then fell to the ground unconscious. The irony being that that probably wouldn't have affected them if they had worn the proper motorcycle safety gear.
With 8 out of 13 down the odds began looking much better. Especially since the others would still be flailing around for several seconds yet. Kuroko then teleported to the next one, kicking her in the stomach before hitting her over the back of the head. She too went down.
The next one, hearing the cries from the others, began panicking, flailing his arms blindly, hoping to hit something. He hit the motorcycle next to him, sending it flying away.
'Super strength,' Kuroko noted. Rather than risk bodily harm by engaging him directly, she teleported behind him and touched his back, teleporting him down onto the pavement, using the rest of her needles to pin him to the ground.
The last one furiously rubbed his eyes hoping to clear the stars from her eyes. She opened her eyes just in time to see a little girl with a Judgment armband in front of her pressing a nightstick into her stomach. She didn't even have time for surprise before Kuroko activated the stun gun, sending the last biker to an early naptime.
With all of them finished off she teleported in front of the now fleeing jammer operator, the device held tightly in his hand. He screeched to a halt as she appeared out of nowhere and hit him hard in the stomach, driving the breath from his lungs. He collapsed.
The bookie, now the only one standing, was also running away. Kuroko casually touched the folding chair the operator had been sitting in and teleported it in front of the fleeing man. In his rush he tripped over the chair, falling face first onto the sidewalk. After cuffing the operator, Kuroko teleported over to the prone bookie and quickly handcuffed him as well.
Kuroko surveyed the scene and took a deep breath, tired from all the exertion. She tucked away the tonfa and flash grenade into her sash again. Then, wasting no more time, she got to work.
Yomikawa Aiho drove her Anti-Skill van down the street at high speed . This was one of the few calls they had gotten about a street-race before it had occurred. Though the details weren't exact, the Judgment agent who had called having no specifics other than location. But she wasn't holding her breath. The other times they had been called it had started before they could do anything. They had always missed them by several minutes, no matter how quickly they arrived. It was getting to be a bigger and bigger problem.
The other problem was that one of the agents from branch 177 had seen fit to engage them already and would likely need help. She knew the brown haired girl from Tokiwadai enough to know that she would probably have tackled them no matter the odds. 'Kids today and their stupid overconfidence, making our jobs so much harder,' She thought.
But as she pulled the van up to the location she saw a very suprising sight. Not only were the vehicles and people still there but they were disabled, with a few of them being in handcuffs and others in more makeshift bindings. The Judgment agent she thought they would need to rescue was perfectly fine and was currently trying, unsuccessfully, to tie up one of the people with their own bootlaces. She looked up as Aiho exited the van and waved, walking over to her carrying an odd black device in one of her hands.
"Glad you're here, I don't have this many sets of handcuffs. Though why are you here? I don't have my cell phone with me so how did you know to come?" Kuroko asked with a smile.
"Your branch head called, said you could probably use some help. Apparently she was wrong though. Did you do all this on your own?" She asked skeptically as she and her subordinate helped to cuff the remaining crooks.
When they finished the Judgment girl handed Aiho the black device she had been holding. "What is this?" She asked as she examined it. It was a small computer-like device with a keyboard, interface, and an array of small antennae on top as well as a handle to transport it with. Across the screen scrolled huge amounts of green text and numbers which were completely indecipherable to her.
"It's a signal detection and jamming device," Kuroko responded, "that's how they've been able to monitor your communications and avoid you whenever you dispatch," She pointed towards the operator, still cuffed and lying on the ground near the van, "he was the one who was using it so he'd have more information for you."
Aiho nodded, "ok then. We'll take it from here, you can go back to your branch. Though you might want to check in with your senior first, she sounded worried."
Kuroko's eyes widened as she realized she had forgotten to turn her communicator back on. As she began walking back she took it out of her ear, held it a short distance away, and turned it on. "Konori-Senpai?" she said, speaking into it.
"WHAT THE HELL Kuroko!" she yelled loudly, "WHY DO YOU ALWAYS GO RUSHING OFF WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT IT!"
Kuroko waited for a second then, when she was sure that Konori was waiting for a response she said, "They had a communications jammer, I couldn't have contacted you if I had wanted to."
There was silence for a while as Konori seemed to calm down, "well," she huffed, "I could see the camera, you could've gotten a message to me like that."
"You could?" Kuroko asked, never having even considered that possibility.
"Maybe if you hadn't forgotten your phone…"
Kuroko was actually glad that she had now; it would have tipped them off to her presence as surely as her communicator. "Wouldn't have worked either," she rationalized, "besides I didn't rush in. I made sure to carefully survey the situation before doing anything. I was careful, strategic, and intelligent," she said defensively.
Konori sighed on the other end of the line, "I want a precise report when you get back, then I'll know whether to praise you or scold you."
"Yes ma'am," she replied respectfully before hurrying back.
In the end she got a mixture of the two. When Konori had heard about the number of enemies she had instantly told her off for charging into such ridiculous odds, then she had reluctantly admitted that she had done an impressive job in taking them all out, followed by some more scolding on how she shouldn't have done it in the first place.
Just as she was about to continue her tirades though, the door opened. Uiharu walked followed by Misaka and Saten. "Hey there Shirai-san, you done with your work yet?"
Kuroko looked at Konori-senpai who cradled her head in her hands and motioned with her hand that she was free to go. "Yep," Kuroko answered happily as she gathered her stuff and joined them near the door.
She had almost left when Konori said, "oh, and Kuroko… Job well done. You've really helped the case, just try not to do such dangerous things next time."
She smiled back, happy to receive the praise, "Hai!" she said enthusiastically before leaving with the others.
"Sounds like you had a busy day," Saten remarked as the four friends descended down the steps of Judgment onto the bustling streets below, "what case was she talking about?"
"There's been a significant increase in the number of street races recently," Kuroko replied
"Oh yeah, Uiharu was telling me about that yesterday."
"Have you made any progress on that?" Uiharu asked. She hadn't managed to help out much yesterday and hoped that Kuroko had had better luck.
Kuroko turned to her with a great big smile plastered onto her face, "yes, indeed I did, and I have you to thank for it. One of the locations you picked out yesterday turned out to be a hotspot and, thanks to you, Anti-skill managed to arrest all of the races before the race even began." She said, praising her while humbling not mentioning her own part in the matters.
Uiharu blushed at Kuroko's recognition and smiled back at her, eyes twinkling brightly, "really?"
"Yep, you helped to put away 13 criminals today and also helped to reveal some very interesting facts about the case, " Kuroko continued pouring on the accolades.
"Wow," Saten whistled patting her best friend on the back, "Nice job Uiharu."
"Congratulations," Misaka joined in.
Uiharu was glowing with joy at having been so helpful and at the praises of her friends. But what Kuroko had said had also piqued her curiosity. "What do you mean by interesting facts?"
"Ah, that. Apparently there's a whole gambling ring revolving around these races. Quite a bit of money was at stake in this one. Even more interesting is this," she said as she got her camera out of her bag. She pulled up the pictures she had taken for her report of the incident and showed the camera to Uiharu.
Uiharu looked at the cameras small screen, Saten and Misaka craning their necks to catch a glimpse as well. They stared at the picture for a few seconds before they asked, almost in perfect unison, "What is it?"
"It's a signal detection and selective jamming device," she informed them, "It's how they've been avoiding Anti-skill. They know each time someone calls Anti-Skill or Judgment. It's a high-tech and high-value piece of contraband. But it's extremely expensive and quite complicated to operate so it raises the question as to why such a device was being used in such a manner."
"That and the fact that they seem to know the locations of all the cameras, even the more well hidden ones," Uiharu puzzled, "it is quite interesting."
Kuroko turned around to face her Onee-sama, who was quiet and looking thoughtful, "Onee-sama, you understand that just because the word 'interesting' pops up in relation to a case doesn't give you permission to interfere… right? I don't want to see you get hurt trying to do our work."
Misaka huffed, "I wouldn't get myself hurt, and I'm not trying to interfere," she defended, slightly indignant, "besides, weren't you the one being scolded for doing something dangerous before we arrived?"
"But I was doing my job," she argued.
"what did you do anyway?" Uiharu asked, "Konori-senpai seemed pretty mad."
"Knowing Kuroko I bet she charged in and attacked all of the people without a plan or backup," Misaka said bitterly.
"Hmmph," Kuroko responded, folding her arms and turning away from Misaka, "How mean. Just for that you don't get a good night kiss tonight," then, a second later, "well… okay, maybe one or two."
Misaka blushed and averted her eyes, embarrassed but not even able to scold Kuroko properly. Saten rolled her eyes at their childish argument but smiled slightly, "To be fair that does sound like you." Uiharu nodded in agreement with Saten's statement, and asked, "if you didn't do that what did you do?"
Several seconds pause followed before Kuroko quietly muttured, "I kind of had a plan…" Saten laughed at her response and even Uiharu giggled. Misaka, on the other hand, just sighed exasperatedly, "She charges at 13 people and lectures me about being impulsive."
Kuroko turned away from the three, annoyed. 'So Uiharu tells me where to go and she gets "congratulations". I singlehandedly take down 13 criminals and I get mockery.' To be fair you were the one who praised her the most while not going over what you did at all.
She was just about to retort Kuro's statement, forgetting for a moment that the others were there, when suddenly a person, speeding along the sidewalk like a deer on the run, crashed into her. The impact knocked her over, sending both of them crashing onto the ground painfully.
"Ow…" Kuroko said, rubbing her head as she looked up at the person who had collided with her. But the other person spoke before she could get a single word out.
"Kuroko?" the person asked.
Kuroko was surprised to see that it was a familiar face on top of hers, "Birdy?"
Birdy quickly got off of her onto her own feet as Kuroko did the same, "uh, sorry. I mean, I kind of…" she stammered. Then she seemed to have some sort of realization, "hey do you mind helping me out a bit here?"
"What with?" Kuroko asked, unsure what was causing her newest friend to be in such a rush.
"I don't really have time to ex-" she began but was interrupted as a boy landed next to her and grabbed the large blue bag that was hanging from her shoulder. Then he leapt, high, far, and fast landing several meters away before turning back to them and grinning, "Hey thanks for the present. Don't worry, I'll make sure it gets into the right hands." He taunted before trying to leap off again. However, as he pushed against the ground to jump away he realized that his feet were stuck, he couldn't move them at all. He looked down at his feet, confused, and saw that, embedded in several places throughout each shoe were long white needles that were pinning him down. He tugged at his legs trying to free them when a girl suddenly appeared beside him and yanked the bag he had stolen out from his hands. He reached for her but she disappeared the next instant.
"Here you go," Kuroko said, handing the bag back to Birdy.
Birdy smiled as she accepted it and said, "thanks for the help. As I said before this job can get pretty… competitive."
"No problem, are you ok? Who was that?"
"Yeah I'm fine. A bit tired though. He's a rival runner trying to obtain what I'm delivering for his own employers. He's been chasing me for a while. I don't handle stopping too well so he would almost catch up to me when I rounded the corners," She explained, "I guess this means I owe you one eh?"
"Of course you don't, friends help each other right?"
"Right. And I think I have something that could help you. You know those things you're looking for. Well I haven't heard anything more about them but I think I know of someone who might. He's an information broker." Birdy whispered
"A what?" Kuroko asked, whispering back, unfamiliar with the term.
"An information broker. It's someone who you can go to see with a question and he'll answer it for a fee. This one is named Riko, he's the best. The families go to him all the time. He seems to know just about everything."
"Would this happen to be illegal?" Kuroko asked in a weary voice, not wanting to add something else to her long list of recent offenses.
"N-" Birdy began before stopping. She looked thoughtful for a second before continuing, "no."
"Ok," Kuroko sighed. The hesitation did not grant her the greatest confidence, but it sounded fairly harmless. 'How illegal can getting some information be?' "Where can I find him?"
Birdy gave her an address and said, "I believe he'll be in all day tomorrow, but I'm not sure. He can be pretty hard to track down sometimes."
"Thanks for the advice." Kuroko said
"No problem, thanks for your help," Birdy replied, "see you later." She then said as she began heading off into the distance using the same odd, flowing skating motion as she had before. It propelled her faster and faster across the ground until she was nothing but a dot on the horizon.
"Who was that?" Misaka asked, confused and just a little bit angry at what had just happened.
"A friend of mine, her name's Birdy." Kuroko answered simply.
"Oh I see… just another friend who you've never told me anything about," Misaka said rolling her eyes.
"No need to be jealous Onee-sama," Kuroko said soothingly, hoping to defuse the situation as quickly as possible. How things were going she would have almost preferred to stay behind and continue being chewed out by Konori. 'And yesterday had gone so well too…' "I just met her last week and I haven't talked to her that much since. She helped me out and she's really nice but it didn't really seem all that important to talk about. Not that you ever really ask about my life anyway." Though she had said the rest calmly, the last sentence came out as a little more bitter.
"What in the world does that supposed to mean?"
"Well, Onee-sama, when was the last time you asked me how my day went huh? When was the last time you were interested in my work unless it involved some big case that you find need to stick your nose into? But the minute I make a single friend outside of work you go into this fit because I didn't tell you. Well frankly my dear Onee-sama, you never asked." The frustration from the past hour slowly vented itself through each word, giving them a cutting harshness that did not quite reach the level of true anger.
"So I need to ask to know anything that's happening with you? I need to get permission to know about something as important as a new friend?" Misaka retorted. Her jealousy had faded and was now replaced with pure and simple anger.
When she heard this Saten bristled from the sidelines. 'Sure you keep a boyfriend from all your friends for months but when Kuroko keeps a friend a secret for a week…' She thought to herself. Sure she was a little offended at first but it wasn't that big a deal. She was more annoyed by this fight, it was so childish. "Come on Uiharu lets go get some ice cream. These two can continue fighting like an old married couple." Uiharu nodded, glad to escape the conflict herself, though wishing her friends would stop fighting.
Misaka rounded on Saten blushing heavily, "W-what?!" she exclaimed with an embarrassed nervousness in her voice, "We're not… I mean, we… Kuroko," she said pleading for aid from the girl she had been fighting with not a moment ago.
But Kuroko was staring off into space with a distant, jovial smile. "Married couple…" she repeated dreamily. In her mind she heard wedding bells ring and saw an image of her, looking gallant with a pure white suit, exiting a church to a marvelous white carriage, her Onee-sama in her arms in a beautiful matching wedding gown.
"What!" Misaka exclaimed, even more embarrassed now than before, "why am I the one in the dress?!"
"It would suit you better no? Accentuate all your most pleasant attributes," Kuroko replied lustfully.
The tone of Kuroko's voice sent shivers down Misaka's spine and make her beet red face pale slightly. She turned around in a huff, "see if that will ever happen…"
Seeing the opening Kuroko instantly made her move, sliding up behind her Onee-sama and rubbing that small spot on her spine that calmed her down so well in the past, "don't worry, I plan to," she whispered, this time in a loving, caring voice rather than a lusty one.
At Kuroko's touch Misaka's body instantly tensed up only to relax the next second at her gentle stroking. Soon her anger died down to a dull ember.
"Are you two done arguing," Saten asked, completely confused as to how these two changed gears so quickly. Kuroko had gone from angry to flirty with a couple of words and Misaka switched from angry to embarrassed to angry to strangely calm in the space of 5 seconds, all with seemingly no provocation.
"Yeah, were done," Kuroko replied, standing beside Misaka as her hand continued covertly stimulating her chakra, "aren't we Onee-sama."
Misaka responded with a dull nod, wishing simultaneously for Kuroko to get her damn hand away from her back and for her to continue.
"Good. Now I want Misaka to stand in front and Kuroko to stand in back so it stays that way," Saten said with the authority of a mother, trying to contain her grin as the high level Oujo-sama's followed her commands instantly.
After that their day continued without any further trouble. Misaka was too embarrassed to cause anymore issues, avoiding speaking to Kuroko at all where possible. Kuroko, meanwhile, was thinking of her own problems. This information broker sounded like a good lead but she wasn't sure, she had never dealt with anything like it before.
So? You hadn't experienced anything like the black market before but that turned out fine, even profitable. This will go fine, and I'll be right there with you in case you are about to screw something up.
She gratefully accepted Kuro's advice, even if it did not instill her with the greatest confidence. She would simply take things one step at a time and hope things worked out.
With that worry off of her mind she delved back into her dream world, smiling brightly as she savored the mental image of her and her Onee-sama's wonderful wedding.
[1]: Konori's current age is 16 and she was 14 when she was in Big Spider. She was 15 at most when she joined judgment (about 10 months minimum before the show begins). This would mean that it would likely be impossible for her to be driving when she was still in her "rebel phase" as I called it. But looking at it logically it is highly probable that Academy City would have a lower driving age than the rest of Japan (which, for motorcycles, is 16 years). Given that it is made primarily of students, probably has extremely safe cars and motorcycles, etc… it is not impossible.
[2]: The temptation to use a Monty Python reference here was almost irresistible.
Author's Note: I was questioning whether or not to do this chapter alone or to pair it with the next chapter. I'll end up pairing it with the next chapter, but for now I'll put it as a stand-alone (complex). I'm sorry that it isn't related to the plot (I don't like introducing dangling plotpoints but it is a necessary evil at times) but I just noticed that I don't really have much that isn't plot in my story, well plot or fluff(but those are two of the main ((if not the only)) reasons people are reading this so…). I don't really look in on their daily lives like the show did and so I decided to do that. Since Kuroko has a job whereas Misaka does not I decided to focus first on her. I hope it was worth the wait and that you enjoyed reading.
Edit: I decided, rather than pairing it up with the next chapter, I'd simply write an extra bit and tack it on to this chapter, giving it extra length and connection to the rest of the plot.