Toaru Kishi no Monogatari

A Certain Knight's Tale

It was shortly after that incident that Misaka's embarrassment set in. She had just gotten out of the bath to dry herself when she realized that she had forgotten to bring her pajamas in with her. Not willing to simply walk out there with just her towel on, she knocked on the door to the main room to grab Kuroko's attention, "hey Kuroko, can you get me my pajamas?"

The next breath would normally have been a warning against trying to teleport inside with them or similar antics that would annoy her but at the thought of the warning she realized something. Kuroko had been in here before… while she was in the bath…naked…

Her eye twitched as she realized what exactly had gone on and she blushed a deep crimson hue. Why? Why had she done that? Why, when Kuroko was acting all vulnerable like that, did she take leave of all her senses to comfort her? Dammit! What was she thinking?!

But the worst part was yet to come. Now that it had happened once she would see it as an invitation. Next she would be trying to come in the bath with her. Kuroko already had so little respect for her privacy, now it would be even worse.

She shook her head. She could not allow that, when Kuroko comes barging in here, like Misaka knew she would, she would make it abundantly clear that any more stunts would be met with swift and fitting retribution.

But once again her fears were unfounded as, instead of teleporting in here with them, the pajamas simply appeared on the towel rack. They weren't even some of Kuroko's "mature sleepwear", just her regular old Gekota pajamas. She felt relieved but also a bit silly. She knew that she wasn't giving Kuroko much credit. she had been so much better behaved in recent days but Misaka still treated her with the same suspicions as before. But old habits die hard. And with all this change that was going on in her life, she found herself clinging to those old habits harder than ever.

She sighed and got dressed, then left the bathroom to find Kuroko at her desk with a couple odd, yet familiar devices in front of her. She looked at Misaka for a second and smiled, "Did I get you the right pair?" she asked, referring to the pajamas.

"Yeah, thanks." Misaka replied slightly sheepishly, still embarrassed about what had happened.

"You're welcome," Kuroko replied, "actually if you could do me something in return." She said as she picked up two grey cylindrical things. They were about as large around as her thumb and a few centimeters longer than her middle finger. Misaka was confused as to what they were but the moment she held one in her hand she knew.

"Capacitors?" she asked, though she hardly needed confirmation for that she was still curious as to what she was supposed to do with them.

"Yep, could you recharge them for me?" Kuroko requested with a smile, then she handed her another pair, though these were smaller, around half the size around three quarters the height. Holding them in her hand Misaka could tell they were batteries, and extremely high capacity ones at that.

"Uh… sure… I guess," Misaka replied as she touched the heads of the capacitors and batteries, and used her powers to bring them back up to full charge. Then she carefully handed them back to Kuroko, "here."

"Thanks," Kuroko said then turned back around to her desk. Misaka was about to ask her what the batteries were for when Kuroko popped the capacitors into the fist-sized glass and metal container on her desk, then she put the two batteries in another pair of strange devices. But these were things Misaka had seen before, they were the nightstick things that Kuroko had used in her fight with Ita (though she noted that the colour was different, matte black instead of the shiny chrome it had been before), which meant the other two were those flash things.

Misaka had been curious about them at the time but worry and anger overrode that curiousity and after her little excursion for vengeance she had forgotten about them. Now, seeing them again, the curiousity returned full force. "what are those things?" she asked.

"Law enforcement aids," Kuroko replied simply as she put them back. She knew that this line of questioning would come up eventually and had decided that now would be as good a time as any, seeing as she couldn't recharge their power sources with her Onee-sama's powers and having no way of getting her to do it without her knowing what it was for without arousing suspicion.

"From judgment?" Misaka asked. She hadn't heard anything from Uiharu about equipment updates like this. She could not see them putting weapons in the hands of volunteer schoolchildren either, far too much potential for abuse.

"For Judment," Kuroko corrected, "They're not standard issue. I bought them with my own money."

"Why? You're an exceptional combatant, aren't marital arts enough?"

"You flatter me Onee-sama. In many cases it would be enough and it has served me well so far. But in certain situations using martial arts is difficult, even impossible, to pull off without hurting someone badly, either the user or the victim. And I have, many times before, emphasized the folly in putting too much stock in one's powers. So I decided to get these. They were specially designed to be used by law enforcement agents to pacify and detain criminals while causing the least amount of damage possible."

Misaka nodded. A moment of silence followed then she asked another question, "Why did you decide to take up martial arts in the first place?"

"A few different reasons. The main one being that, ever since I was six years old I wanted to join Judgment. At the time my powers were feeble so relying on them at all wasn't really an option. So I choose to enroll in a martial arts school. I had decided to go with a high ranking dojo, a small one but one that had a very good record of success with its students. Money wasn't an issue and I didn't really give a second thought to whether or not I would be turned away because I was a kid." As she began spinning her tale the memory of that particular event came back to her in detail.

So, late morning one weekend, she had decided to go to this dojo and start her training. On her way she had come across a small, frail old lady carrying several bags. She seemed to be struggling with them.

Back then Kuroko had been fascinated with fairy tales, like many young girls her age. But whereas most of those girls longed to be like one of the princesses in the stories, Kuroko longed to be the dashing knight that fought the dragon, rescued the damsel, and saved the day while Jericho was her princess, the one whom she protected and served. The dragon of the story changed frequently, sometimes it was the newest kid who was trying to bully them, sometimes it was a thing, an obstacle in their road of progress that they personified as a fire breathing lizard. Whatever it was Kuroko was proud to say that she had never lost to it.

Over time she became even more taken with it and had developed a few of her mannerisms around the ideal of the brave knight. Her bearing and speech became that of a nobleman rather than a schoolgirl, she cut her long hair short and began dressing and acting more like a boy than a girl. But outer appearances were not the only changes. She wanted to be the perfect knight and knew that it was more attitude than looks. So she had tried to become the ideal, brave, strong, chivalrous. She had decided that she would work hard to maintain justice and peace. She would become judgment itself and fight all the dragons that hounded the innocents of the world and help them live lives of happiness and freedom.

The knight in her saw this frail old lady loaded down with heavy bags and knew that her help was needed. She immediately walked up to her. "Hello obaa-san, can I help you with those bags," she offered kindly with a smile.

The old lady favored her with her own kind smile and said, "well that's mighty kind of you deary, but I wouldn't want to trouble you."

"Oh no, it's no trouble at all," Kuroko insisted.

"Well then, thank you very much." She said as she handed Kuroko a couple of the bags.

To Kuroko's surprise they were very heavy. Despite her vision of herself as a dashing knight, her body was still just that of a six year old girl after all. But she did not allow her strain to show on her face, instead she simply stood up straight and acted as if it was nothing at all. The façade earned an amused smile from the old lady as she began walking. "Thank you very much for your help young miss. could I ask for your name ?"

"Sessha[1] Kuroko," she said in the tone of voice that she had been practicing for the past couple weeks. It was a perfect knight's tone: proud yet humble, regal but not kingly, steeled with resolve and righteousness, but softened by kindness and generosity.

The girl's archaic choice of words as well as her bearing caused her to chuckle, "well then, it's good to meet you kuroko-dono[1]," she said, putting every bit as much weight into her words as Kuroko was doing, "I'm Mui. It's still a ways to go until my home so it will be nice having someone to talk to on the way. So tell me, what are you doing out and about?"

"I'm going to go to a dojo to learn martial arts."

"Oh really? What's a girl your age want to learn martial arts for? Is there someone you plan on beating up?"

"Of course not. There are people I want to protect though. I want to become a fearless knight of justice. I'm plenty strong already but I need to be stronger in order to protect everyone from all the evil in the world. Isn't that what martial arts is all about? Protecting people?"

At the earnestness in Kuroko's voice, Mui gave a hearty chuckle, "I suppose you are right. You are a smart and kind young girl to realize such a thing. Many people see martial arts as a tool used to hurt rather than protect. You will make a fine knight one day."

Kuroko beamed at the praise but remembered that knights needed to be humble, so she cleared her throat and said, "I can only work hard and to my best to make my way to my goal," Then she remembered that knights needed to be polite and grateful, "but I thank you for your praise." She pondered for a moment to see if she had missed any more of her tenets of knighthood and after a quick countoff she confirmed that she had not and smiled again. Being a knight was a hard job, but the simple reward of a princess's smile after being rescued from the dragon made it all worth it.

They continued the trip, spending the next few minutes in silence. The heavy bags took a toll on Kuroko, her arms ached and her weariness quickly grew. Seeing this Mui looked at her and said, "we still have quite a bit further. Are you tired?"
"Yes." Kuroko answered honestly (honesty was one of the principal virtues of a knight after all).

"Do you want to take a break?"

"Yes," Kuroko said, "and that's why I'm not going to. Kuro says that only by pushing beyond one's limits does one grow."

"Sage advice, this Kuro sounds very wise."

"She is. She's so smart, she tells me a lot of stuff and is very good at listening. She's very nice too, my best friend along with Jericho. Jericho's also my princess and my wife."
"Having a princess for a wife... you're very lucky."

"Very," Kuroko affirmed.

So, braving on despite her aching muscles and weary body, they eventually made it to the bui-

"Kuroko," Misaka interrupted, "Stop rubbing your head against me and get off my lap."

She stopped for a moment, "If I stop the nuzzling can I stay on your lap?" She asked.

"No, now get off before I zap you off," was Misaka's aggressive response.

"Puu~ but you're so comfy and warm..."

"I'm not your chair!"

"At least let me stay on until I finish my story?" Kuroko pleaded

"rrgh..." Misaka growled. She was growing more aggravated but she was also intensely curious. Kuroko never talked about herself. To Kuroko the past was the past and she generally left it alone, this story was one of the rare chances Misaka had to learn a little bit more about her roommate (and girlfriend) and so, eventually, her curious overpowered her aggravation. "Fine," she huffed.

"Can I continue the nuzzling?" Kuroko asked.

"Don't. Push. It." Misaka warned in response.

Kuroko pouted but gave it up as a lost cause. So with a sigh she continued her story, adding slightly more detail than before to try and extend the story and this blissful situation.

"Anyway as I was saying..."

Braving on despite her aching muscles and weary body, they eventually made it to the building where the old lady, Mui, lived. She smiled at Kuroko and said, "thank you very much for your help. Would you care to come in and have some tea with me as a little thank you?"

"Kuroko," Misaka said warningly.

"Oh, sorry," Kuroko said, stopping her affectionate nuzzling again, "I didn't realize I was doing it," she explained honestly before continuing.

Kuroko gratefully accepted and the two walked into the building. As they entered they heared footsteps as a woman's voice said, "is that you grandmother? Are you back from shopping?" As she finished speaking she had arrived at the entryway. She was tall and slender, with clearly defined muscles and shoulder-length black hair. "Ah, welcome back. Who is that with you?"

"This is Kuroko, she helped me carry the groceries all the way from the market. Kuroko, this is Ami, my granddaughter. Ami, would you be a dear and put some tea on for us and our guest?"

"Yes, Obaa-sama, right away," Ami replied respectfully.

"While she's doing that would you mind carrying those bags into the kitchen Kuroko-dono?"

"Yes ma'am." She responded doing so.

Soon she was sitting a ttheir table. Ami poured them cups of green tea and then poured one for herself, sitting down. Mui was, with more than a hint of amusement in her voice, telling the tale of their trip and what Kuroko had told her. Hearing it from someone else Kuroko was slightly embarrassed but still she maintained her prideful demeanor.

"So you're trying to learn martial arts eh?" Ami asked once the story was finished, amusement in her tone as well, "Which dojo were you planning on studying at?"

"The Seiei Dojo. They're quite prestigious and have a very good reputation. Plus their fighting style is quite interesting and unique."

Mui chuckled heartily, "well isn't this an interesting turn of fate."

Kuroko looked at her curiously and asked, "what is?"

"Well Kuroko," Ami answered, "you happen to be sitting the Seiei Dojo. I'm Ami Seiei, the sensei of this dojo."

"Oh," Kuroko remarked, in a poor display of how surprised she was, "Well I guess that's lucky, my legs are kind of tired and more walking would be even more painful." She took a sip of tea, acting exceptionally calm and mature like the awesome person she was.

Misaka rolled her eyes, "don't mess with the details Kuroko, you sound like one of those arrogant snobs you hate so much."

"Your words wound me Onee-sama," Kuroko declared dramatically.

"Just continue your story," Misaka said, eager to hear more.

"Your wish is my command Onee-sama," she said as she continued with the story as requested.

"I'd bow but I'm not sure how to do that at a table like this... so I'll just ask you like this I guess... I would like to become your student, will you have me?" she stammered, a little nervous at this turn of events.

Ami frowned slightly and shook her head, "sorry but you're too young, I can't accept you as a student." Hearing this Kuroko deflated slightly, disappointed at her answer.

"Oh pish posh," Mui said waving her hand dismissively, "If you won't then I will. I taught you everything you know after all, and I haven't had a student in quite a while, it might be fun."

Kuroko quickly grew chipper again. "Really?" she asked, excitedly.

"Of course. It's the least I can do to help a knight in training after all."

Ami sighed, "well it's your dojo after all, I can't order you around. But I suggest that you don't. Remember your age, and hers too."

"Age doesn't matter as much as you'd think. Her intentions are pure and noble, and she has a lot of potential and determination. Give her a year as my student and she'll be able to beat any one of yours."

"Is that a bet?" As Kuroko would later find out, Ami could never resist a wager when offered.

"It is," Mui confirmed.

"And thus began my martial arts training," Kuroko said, finishing up that part of the story.

"And what happened after that?" Misaka asked.

"Well after that I began my training, every day after school. The Seiei martial art form was similar to judo but had many other aspects in it as well, apparently it was derived from some sort of ancient martial art that Mui-sensei was taught by her parents. It was a practical martial art, taught for self-defense rather than sport. I learned a lot from Mui-sensei, not just martial arts either. She was a very wise woman. She used to say."

"Martial arts is, in essence, the art of restraint. Anybody can hurt someone, martial artists, however, can do the same amount of damage using far less energy. So many fighters go all out in every punch, every blow. But this is a weakness. A true warrior must learn how to use just the right amount of power to accomplish their goals. This is especially important in long, drawn out fights where you must face multiple opponents or a single skilled one. When others burn their energy you must learn to conserve yours, using it only when the opportunity is right."

"Of course this is not the only important factor. Efficiency is another key factor. If one wishes to accomplish the same thing with less energy then they must do it correctly. The energy focused on the spot where one's target is weak. Aim to take down an opponent quickly and with as little energy as possible."

"That piece of advice actually helped me more than anything. Looking back the training I did for it was quite fun as well," Kuroko said with a smile. She preferred to leave the past where it belonged, but every once in a while it was nice to dig up her few good memories and look them over.

"What was the training you did for it?"

"Well, you see, to try and teach me the importance of striking at structurally weak points, she set up a model house and said that I would need to destroy the house by breaking only a single pillar. I thought it was impossible, and normally it would have been, but she assured me that she had built it with this test in mind, and it could be done. She gave me all the time in the world, and so, rather than immediately trying my luck, I spent the next three days studying architecture and thinking the problem over."

"You thought a problem over?"

"Back then I was a little more humble, and quite a bit less confident. So yes, I thought it over and when I finally was ready to try out my idea, I succeeded in the first attempt. I got treated to ice cream for that."

"What about the wager?"

"Well, after a year of training, I faced off against one of Ami's students, as stipulated. However, even though she loved betting and winning those bets, she wasn't going to send a black belt against a seven year old. The student was still skilled, having trained for longer than I had and he was twice as old. I wore a face mask as well as the standard safety helmet so that his conscience wouldn't bother him about hitting a little girl during our fight."

"We both stood, facing each other on the mat, sparring gear on and the fight began. He lunged at me, going for a low sweep, trying to get me off balance for a grapple. However his attack had been full force and exaggerated telegraphing it well in advance. So I shifted my already low center of gravity even lower and interposed my foot at the point of the arc where his knee would be swinging. This allowed me to block his attack while hardly expending any energy and dealing some damage."

"It continued like that for a while, as I blocked his attacks and evaded his grapples using as little energy as possible, while he was pouring his all into every attack. Soon he got tired, his attacks and reactions getting slower. Seeing that this was the perfect time to finish the fight I waited until his next punch. When he swung I grabbed onto his fist and pulled it towards me, then I pivoted,trying to throw him over my shoulder. I kicked his shin as I pivoted to set him off balance and flung him hard onto the mat. After that it was a simple matter to pin him and claim victory."

"After that fight I continued training under Mui-sensei for another year. Sometimes I would face a student of Ami's but I was always victorious. After the end of the second year I even got to fight Ami. I remember that I had almost lost the fight quite early in, she was far more skilled than me after all, when I used my ability to teleport her to the mat as she was getting ready to flip me. It was the first time I had ever teleported something that big and the first time I had ever teleported anything organic, and I was quite proud of myself, I was even more proud when I proceeded to pin her and claim technical victory. I thought it was a bit hollow myself, having only won because of my ESPer powers, which Ami didn't have. But she claimed that they were as much a part of me as my fists and using them in fights was only natural. She encouraged me to find ways to incorporate teleporation into my martial arts."

"But after that fight Mui-sensei told me that I would have to do that on my own, saying that she had no more to teach me, but to keep on practicing and improving on my own in order to realize my dream of becoming a knight. Though I kept visiting her until a few years after that when she died of old age."

"I'm sorry," Misaka said reflexively.

"It was the second funeral I ever went to," Kuroko said, frowning at the sad memory.

There was silence for a few minutes until Misaka decided to move on to less depressing topics, "So what ever happened to your dream of being a knight? You sounded like you were so eager about it back then, but this is the first time I've ever heard of it."

"Something happened and I decided I wouldn't make a very good knight after all..." Kuroko answered vaguely, "actually, Onee-sama, I think you'd make a much better knight than I would. You're far more heroic and dashing, even if you do lack certain other qualifying aspects." She rested her head on Misaka's shoulder and closed her eyes. She imagined once again their wedding, but this time, instead of a dress, Misaka was dressed in a suit of armor, with Kuroko struggling to carry her. The image made her chuckle

"Um.. thanks?" Misaka responded, not sure how much of that was a compliment and slightly uncomfortable with Kuroko's current position.

"and if you're the knight," Kuroko began in a slightly tired voice, "I guess I wouldn't mind being the dragon who eats the knight."

Due to her naivety she didn't quite understand what Kuroko had said, and so she simply sat there confused. Then she realized that the story was over now, and remembered the terms of their deal. "Kuroko, you're done with the story, get off."

However it elicited no response, she was about to move onto threats when she realized that Kuroko had fallen asleep, on her lap, arms around Misaka's neck, using her shoulder as a pillow. Misaka shook her head. It wasn't worth the fuss, she decided. So she simply turned off the lights and went to sleep as well.

[1]: "Sessha" is an old fashioned personal pronoun typically used by warriors. It is a modest term and her statement can be translated as "I am Kuroko, your humble servant" or something similar. "Dono" is also an old fashioned term, an honorific that means something similar to sama but without the implication that the speaker is necessarily of a lower rank. She uses it to poke fun at Kuroko.

Author's Note: First, just a little information about the chapter itself. The story that Kuroko is telling Misaka is not, word for word, the story I am telling you. It's greatly shortened and the conversations don't play out like dialogue like they seem to.

Now onto another matter, the matter of characters. First of all the topic of original characters. In one of my comments I received a suggest to make a sequel starring Hayami, one of my many OC's. It is an interesting suggestion but one I doubt I will act upon, for one reason. I have a rule about OC's and that is that OC's should never be the protagonist, nor a protagonist's love interest. I have this rule for the simple reason that, when it is a character of your own design, it is very easy to go off the deep end when writing about them. You will always show favoritism towards the character, and that favoritism is dangerous to a story.

I prefer the characters from the show to be the protagonists. It is hard to take someone else's character and make them yours, but it is the sign of a skilled writer when they can take a character created by another person and truly make it their own without violating the spirit of the original creation, to show personality without violating character, to show motive without violating backstory, to show originality while also keeping what made you like that character in the first place. This is the ideal I strive for and the one I keep working towards.

That is not to say that I disagree with OC's. My story wouldn't work without my own villains and my own helpers, because OC's are well suited for roles as supporting characters or antagonists, and because of that certain settings are better suited to OC's than others. Such as action settings like Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, which includes the bonus of having a system where lots of people have powers, not just a few.