AN: Chapter update circa 2020.
On volume 19 of the Index Novels (they're so good!) and I've read through the Liberty Arts City arc for the Railgun side story which will most likely be animated for Railgun S (the second season of Railgun for all those who don't know). Also reading through the Russian demonstration arc which is another Railgun side story set before Mikoto met Uiharu and Saten.
Anyways thanks for the reviews! Hope you enjoy.
x
August 15th, 2:50PM
I cannot believe I allowed myself to fall for such a petty trick. Kuroko's face was glum as she gazed at the card in her hand before glancing over at the movie theater warily. With some input from Uiharu, she had managed to track down the supposed friends of the criminals she had been tracking and after some persuasive tactics, convinced them that cooperating really was in their best interest. She had finally thought she had gotten somewhere only for the address they provided her to be a dead end.
Kuroko released a tired sigh before stuffing the piece of paper in her pocket. No matter. I'll reconvene with Uiharu and then-
"Shirai-san!"
Kuroko frowned at the call of her name and turned her head slightly to look over at the direction the voice came from. Her eyes narrowed at the approaching figure. "Ah, Mikami-san."
Odd to see her so far out. Though I suppose this section is a popular spot. Kuroko appraised the other girl silently as she waited for Mikami to make her way to her.
Mikami Azusa was a Level 4 Pyrokinetics in her year. Though they had only had a few conversations, Kuroko had noticed how the other girl's eyes tended to drift towards her chest more often than not. Which was understandable. Flattering even, to some extent. While her heart remained loyal with her Onee-sama, it was nice to be appreciated. At least physically.
Mikami-san came to a stop in front of her and graced her with a wide smile. "I never expected to see you out here, Shirai-san!"
Kuroko returned Mikami-san's smile with a dull stare. "As you can see from the badge, I am on official Judgment duty," she replied, keeping her answers short and even. The apathy was mostly out of habit. She had at least tried to soften her approach when it came to people outside of her personal friend group. Less problems that way.
"I see, patrolling for bad guys." Mikami-san nodded thoughtfully, blue eyes dancing with mirth. It almost seemed as if she were more amused by Kuroko's responses than put off. Which was new. Most people found her intimidating.
Or arrogant.
Whichever.
"You know, I never got the chance to say this before, but I think it's great what Judgement does for our city."
"...really?" Kuroko's head tilted. Well, that was a surprise. Usually the other girls at the academy simply scoffed or gave condescending giggles whenever she mentioned she was a member of Judgment. The corner of her mouth twitched into a small smile.
"Yep." Mikami-san's gaze softened then. "You're pretty amazing, Shirai-san."
"Oh." Kuroko blinked at the compliment, taken aback by the genuine warmth she could hear in the other girl's voice. "Well." She coughed slightly into her palm. "That is kind of you to say. Thank you, Mikami-san. We of Judgment always appreciate the support..." she trailed off when the piece of paper from earlier fell out of her hand and onto the ground. She sighed before leaning down to pick it up only to have Mikami-san beat her to it.
"Mikami-san-"
"Hey, I know where this is." Mikami-san grinned as she stood up from her crouch. "Yeah, it used to be right where the movie theatre is but it relocated. Are you looking for it? I can give you the new address."
Kuroko straightened immediately, relief going through her at the idea of another solid lead. "Yes, that would be of great help." She pulled out her phone and opened it to take notes, nodding along as Mikami-san described the building she was looking for along with the new address.
"I appreciate your assistance, Mikami-san." She suddenly felt a lot better than she had a few minutes ago. "I must admit, I was at a bit of a loss before you came over. Thank you again."
Mikami-san rubbed the back of her head in what Kuroko assumed was a bashful manner. "Not a problem, Shirai-san. I hope you get your bad guy."
Kuroko's lip twitched.
Hm. Cute. Kuroko's eyes drifted to the side at that thought and nodded before turning to leave only to falter when Mikami-san placed a hand on her shoulder. She glanced back over at her curiously. "Yes?"
"I was just." Mikami-san blushed a bit. "I was wondering if you, ah, maybe would want to go out sometime?"
Once again, Kuroko was a little taken aback. While she had received some 'love' letters over the years, mostly from reformed criminals and those she had helped in various cases, this was the first time someone had asked her out so candidly. It was flattering, if not kind of surprising.
"Like a date?" She asked carefully, needing clarification before she proceeded any further.
"Yes."
Kuroko bit down on her bottom lip. For a brief moment, she entertained the idea. It would be nice to be with someone who was actually interested in her.
A small sigh escaped her at the thought.
It would be easier, yes. But would it be fair to either of them when no matter how unrequited her love was, her heart still belonged to her Onee-sama?
She turned to face Mikami-san properly then, palms on the side of her as she bowed her head slightly. "While I am flattered, Mikami-san, I'm afraid I must decline. I'm in love with someone else."
"I know." Mikami-san's hand disappeared from her shoulder and Kuroko glanced up to find Mikami-san smiling down at her easily. "But I figured it wouldn't hurt to try."
"I am sorry..."
Mikami-san shook her head slowly. "Nah, no need to apologize, Shirai-san. You can't help who you love right? Anyway, I hope we can maybe be friends."
Kuroko smiled a little, relieved at the easy acceptance at the rejection. She straightened from her bow.
"Mm, perhaps."
There was a long silence before Kuroko leaned forward to press a quick kiss on Mikami-san's cheek. An apology mixed in with a small thanks.
"I really must be on my way now," Kuroko murmured before she leaned back. "Take care, Mikami-san."
Mikami grinned, her cheeks flushing with pleasure as she gave Kuroko a thumbs up. "See you at school, Shirai-san."
Kuroko teleported away with one last glance behind her.
X
August 15th, 3:03PM
Try as she might, Mikoto couldn't get the image of Kuroko kissing that other girl out of her mind. Even though it was only a peck on the cheek, it was uncharacteristic for her kouhai to show affection to anyone other than her.
She sighed a little as she glared off towards the side. Why do I even care? Mikoto wondered as her shoulders dropped. She felt sick. This should be a good thing. Kuroko moving on from her was a good thing.
So why did she feel so troubled?
"Mikoto?"
Mikoto blinked at the call of her name before she turned to glare at Touma. "What?" she responded aggravatedly.
Touma frowned at her. "Your ice cream is melting."
"Oh-oh! Crap." Mikoto switched the cone to her other hand and shook the wet one frantically before reaching into her skirt pocket to pull out a handkerchief. She paused as she looked at it, suddenly recalling that the cloth belonged to Kuroko.
She clenched the handkerchief in her fist before lowering her hand and closing her eyes.
Why was Kuroko with that other girl?
Mikoto felt Touma's probing stare and dreaded the questions she knew were coming.
She turned to give him a measured grin. "Thanks for hanging out with me today, Touma. I should be heading home."
A look of surprise crossed Touma's face. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Mikoto brushed away his concern with a hand wave and a laugh. "Yeah, of course. I'm great."
"Ahh." Touma gazed up into the sky for a moment as if contemplating something before looking over at her curiously."That girl Shirai was with sure was pretty. Are they dating?"
Touma's brows shot up when Mikoto's fingers curled into fists, involuntarily crushing the cone of ice cream in her hand.
"Shit," Mikoto quietly cursed as she dropped the pieces onto the ground before covering her eyes with her dry hand. "Shit."
Stupid, stupid. Why am I being so stupid?
"Mikoto…" the tone surrounding the call of her name was gentle as Touma placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Mikoto stiffened from his touch before relaxing. She released a soft sniffle. "Shut up. Don't say anything."
"You're jealous." A smile played on Touma's lips when Mikoto reddened before looking away indignantly. "Wow, you're actually jealous. Does Shirai know that you-"
"I said shut up!"
Touma lifted his hands defensively as a few sparks suddenly erupted from Mikoto's temple. He took a cautious step back. "Ano, Misaka-san…?"
Mikoto huffed as she let her powers drop. She collapsed on the bench behind her and pulled out the same handkerchief from earlier to wipe off her hand once more. "I'm not jealous."
She couldn't be. Admitting that she was jealous would mean that there was something to be jealous of. Which was silly. There was no way that Kuroko was interested in that other girl, no way Kuroko would choose anyone over her. She was the #3 Level 5, the strongest electromaster in the city. The Railgun. Outside of that, she was Kuroko's Onee-sama. No one could ever come between them.
Red shaded her cheeks at the intrusive thoughts as her stomach clenched. She closed her eyes, feeling uneasy.
"This is stupid." Mikoto gritted her teeth before shooting up. "I just need to clear my head." She punched her fist in her palm. "Yeah, I'll just blow off some steam and then everything will go back to normal," she mumbled to herself, before spinning on her heel to face Touma. "Lets go to the arcade!"
Touma jumped back at the sudden movement. "Uh, what?"
"Lets go to the arcade." Mikoto repeated with a frown. "Unless you have something better to do?" A spark of electricity flickered from her forehead.
Touma eyed her warily. "That depends, are you going to electrocute the games-" He instinctively held up his hand to negate the sudden electric shock. Touma gazed at his twitching hand with a pale expression. It had been a while since Mikoto had last tried to fry him and it was not a feeling he had missed.
He leveled her with an uneasy stare. "Maybe you should go by yourself…"
Mikoto blinked, mouth parting in surprise. "But-"
"Not today, Misaka." Touma released a small sigh. "It's fine that you're not ready to admit your feelings, but I refuse to be your punching bag, Mikoto. Call me when you're ready to admit what we both know."
She gaped at him before releasing a growl and a stream of electricity his way. It was easier to fall back into familiar, albeit bad habits, than admit what she was feeling. However, instead of blocking like she had expected, Touma opted to dodge out of the way at the last minute which meant her electricity had nowhere to go but straight at the target behind him.
"Uh oh…" Mikoto released an uncomfortable chuckle as she watched the security bots spin, the electricity causing them to malfunction and run into one another. There was a moment of silence as Touma and Mikoto exchanged twin glances of horror before they both jumped back at the loud beeping noise that sounded from the bots.
"Message, Message. Error No. 100231-YF. Offensive electromagnetic waves in violation of the radio laws detected. System malfunction detected. Security threat located. Initiating defense protocol."
"Damn it, Mikoto! Every time!" Touma shouted as he began running away from the bots that were now chasing him, with Mikoto following close beside him.
"Shut up!" Mikoto huffed as she ran next to him, shaking her head in the process. "I know! Shit! I know!"
"SUCH MISFORTUNE."
x
August 15th, 6:43PM
Exhaustion pulled heavy at Mikoto's limbs as she let out a small sigh. To no one's surprise, the arcade did little to help in the long term. After barely escaping from the cleaning bots-Touma had ditched her half way through the chase-Mikoto had spent her evening releasing some frustration. And it had helped, at least for a little while.
After the arcade had closed, she wandered around the city with an aura of anger surrounding her that was so noticeable that even the delinquents that would normally try and hit her up gave her a wide berth.
She had somehow ended up at the park where she sat on the swings for an hour simply thinking and despairing over the emotions that ran rampant in her heart before she was distracted by some of the neighborhood kids that accidentally launched a soccer ball at the back of her head. After playing with them for a while, she finally decided to head home only to notice that the last bus had already headed out, which meant she had to walk. Though this was a huge inconvenience, it did give her more time to think. By the time she finally made it home, she had calmed down a little.
Kuroko can do whatever she wants. Mikoto closed her eyes as she entered through her front door and bent down to take off her shoes. It has nothing to do with me. Mikoto carefully deposited her shoes onto the shoe rack before slipping on her slippers. But I should check out who this other girl is. To make sure she's good enough. Kuroko is my best friend, I have to protect her…
Her thoughts trailed off as she walked into her living room and noticed Kuroko curled up on the couch. Mikoto's brows furrowed as she made her way to the couch and crouched down.
"Kuroko?" She frowned at the lack of response before she reached over to place a hand on Kuroko's shoulder and gently shake her.
"Mm, Onee-sama…"
A blush rose to Mikoto's cheeks at the soft murmur of her nickname and she was about to answer only to pause when she noticed that Kuroko was still asleep. Oh, that's right. She's barely gotten any sleep the last few days.
Her eyes softened as she smiled before she turned so that her back was facing the couch. She sat down on the floor next to Kuroko and leaned back to gaze up at the ceiling.
It had been a while since she and Kuroko had last hung out together without any interruptions and though she probably wouldn't admit it to her, Mikoto missed her best friend.
But more importantly, she was worried about her. Mikoto looked back at Kuroko with another frown. She's running herself ragged trying to solve this case. It would be a lot easier if she just asked me for help. That way I could take care of this and she could stop working herself to the point of exhaustion.
Mikoto stood after a minute before wiping her hands on her skirt and turning around so that she could pick Kuroko up in her arms. Kuroko felt even lighter than she had three years ago and Mikoto felt her heart twinge in worry. She pulled her closer. Even after all these years, she still doesn't know how to moderate herself. How did I get stuck with such a stupid kouhai. Really, making me worry like this...
"...Onee-sama…" Kuroko practically buried herself in her chest and Mikoto released a short, unsteady breath at the unexpected contact. Her ears burned a little as she walked them over to Kuroko's bedroom door.
She grimaced when she saw that the door was closed.
Damn it, if I put her down I might wake her up and then she'll insist that she's fine and work more. Ah, but I can't open the door with her in my arms!
Mikoto thought about using her electricity to force the door open but figured that would make a lot of noise too. She sighed before reluctantly looking over at her room, which was across the way.
…I'll just sleep on the couch tonight and she can have my bed. She should be able to have at least one decent night sleep.
A couple of years ago Mikoto would have never allowed Kuroko to sleep in her bed with her permission, but they had both grown up a lot in that time and she knew Kuroko wouldn't do anything weird to it.
After a few minutes Kuroko was tucked in. Mikoto had managed to take off the younger girl's skirt, ribbons and blazer but did no more than that. Though this wasn't the first time she had helped the younger girl change, she couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, more so than if Kuroko had actually been awake and teasing her.
She allowed her eyes to roam over Kuroko's vulnerable form, gaze lingering on the exposed skin of her kouhai's stomach and felt something inside her clench. She gritted her teeth.
"Mou, what is wrong with me?" Mikoto massaged her temples and forced herself to look away. Her face felt hot, her hands clammy and shivering. Mikoto gripped her chest. It felt tight, like something was constricting her airway.
She took a deep, sobering breath before tentatively looking at Kuroko again. Kuroko's features had smoothed out in her sleep and her face was relaxed, devoid of the usual mischievousness and seriousness that Mikoto was used to seeing.
The younger girl's skin looked soft and not for the first time, Mikoto noticed how…pretty her kouhai was. No, beautiful. Kuroko was beautiful, so beautiful, especially with her hair down like that and-
Mikoto's eyes widened when she realized where her thoughts were heading. She held her head in frustration. "Stupid Touma and his stupid suggestions putting stupid ideas in my head."
Mikoto glowered as she clenched her fist, willing the strange thoughts to stop.
"Mm, I love you…Onee-sama…"
Mikoto's breath caught in her throat at Kuroko's mumbling and her mind momentarily went blank before her cheeks lit up. She covered her mouth to stop the sound that wanted to escape before running out of the room, nearly tripping on her feet.
She did however bang her knee on the coffee table and she hopped on one foot towards the living room couch. She collapsed face down on the cloth and sighed..
This time she did hold her head as she sunk into the cushions. Her heart was beating hard in her chest and she felt like she was going to pass out at any moment as she replayed Kuroko's words in her head over and over again.
Though she knew that Kuroko was in love with her, actually hearing it was different. She thought she would feel freaked out but the only thing that was coursing through her at this moment was warmth.
She gave herself a few minutes to calm her racing heart before she sat up and leaned back against the cushions, exhausted. Mikoto swallowed after a moment before reaching into her blazer pocket to pull out her phone.
Mikoto closed her eyes with a pained expression as she hit the speed dial and held the phone up to her ear. She only had to wait a few seconds for the person on the other end to answer before saying. "You were right."
There was a moment of confusion on the other line before Mikoto took a deep breath before timidly repeating. "You were right, Touma." She looked over towards her bedroom with a frown. "I was jealous and I think…" Mikoto returned her gaze to the ground "I think I might like her back."
.
.
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