A/N: Hi. Sorry guys, I've just been having a tough time lately. Nothing that I can't eventually handle. Here's a chapter. Also I just recently got Pokemon White 2. Now, let me tell you, there needs to be more hairoshipping (CherenxMei) on FF. Sequelshipping (HughxMei) is second-best. Maybe visorshipping (KyoheixMei) as an honorable mention. Moonringshipping (ColressxMei) is kinda sorta weird for SO many reasons (how the heck does Colress have a cresent moon shaped piece of blue hair floating off of his head? Is it even connected?), but it's like the honorable mention to the honorable mention category. I'm in that point in my Pokemon cycle where all my obsessiveness about Pokemon resurges. Can you tell?

Chapter 15

"It's been a while since she's come." It was dinner time now, and Yoshi was making stir-fry noddles, the occasional sizzling of the oil in the pan louder than her own voice. "I wonder why."

Yomi, Accelerator, and Last Order were all sitting at the dining table. Yomi had earlier said that she was glad to have the head seat; it was the farthest from the big pane window, which had been letting in drafts as of late. It was dark and foul as Accelerator's attitude outside, and everyone could hear the wind whistling when the stir fry's sizzling was softer than usual. A bored Accelerator sat next to a bouncing Last Order, who was moving her short legs up and down and up again as she eagerly awaited one of her favorite meals cooked by Yoshi.

"It's been two weeks since New Years." Yomi commented, her hand on her cheek. "Maybe she's been studying. There probably isn't anything suspicious with her being gone."

"But she didn't give us a warning. Doesn't Rei always seem to portray the type that would tell you important information the minute it was released?"

And to this Yoshi had no reply. "…..Well…." she started. "It's not like Accelerator had planned anything in advance. He just pulls out things on the fly. I mean, he's made her run around the park 15 times all because he was still half-asleep on the bench."

Accelerator stayed silent and scratched the fork against his bare plate, making Yomi cringe.

"Misaka Misaka knows that Rei will come back. Rei must have a reason for why she isn't here, Misaka Misaka says."

"Can you stop scratching your fork against the plate? It's irritating me, jan…plus, you're damaging a plate." Yomi added. "Do you want to pay for that too?"

"Dinner's ready." Yoshi put the pot of steaming noodles onto the center of the table. Just as she turned around to head back into the kitchen, she paused and looked to the door. Yomi, Accelerator, and Last Order, all paying attention now, listened with her.

Tap, tap. Two neat sounds on the door.

Yoshi made a beeline for the door. Last Order jumped out of her chair and ran towards the door, reaching it before Yoshi. "Could it be?! Misaka Misaka predicts!"

"Last Order, don't open the door without someone there!" Yoshi reprimanded as she slowly walked to the door.

Without heeding her, Last Order stood on her toes and undid the chain and lock and swung the door wide open. Immediately, Last Order recognized the embarassed girl with long brown hair and jumped into her arms.

"Rei-chan! Misaka Misaka calls out because she knew Rei-chan would come back!" Last Order cling on to Rei hard; Rei opened her mouth to say something, avoiding anyone's glance, and pry Last Order off at the same time. Failing at the latter, she carried Last Order as she took her shoes off. She lifted up her head to look at the bemused Yoshi.

"You're just in time for dinner, Rei-san. Do you plan to stay overnight?" Yoshi asked. Rei flinched as if Yoshi's kindness stung her.

"Well-uh…You see…." Rei put down Last Order and fumbled with her fingers. Then, almost knocking her head into Yoshi's stomach, she bowed. "I'm sorry for not telling all of you that I would not be coming! But all these things started happening! I got a job, schoolwork suddenly started piling, and then all my equipment started going haywire, and literally nothing seemed to be happening right! Like, I couldn't call you because the phone company would always seem to be repairing something or the other and I'm really really really really really-"

"Whoa whoa whoa take it easy-jan!" Yomi stood up. Rei stopped bowing and looked at her with a confused face. "Sure, secondary schoolwork is crazy. I can understand that. We're just slightly surprised that you never contacted us about it, but that's cleared up right now, too. Those phone companies, gah…Yoshi did you call them about the service plan this month?"

"I think you're getting a little too sidetracked….Come, Rei. Take off your coat. Have dinner with us. Accelerator can teach you something in the morning if you can stay." Yoshi gently guided Rei to the table.

"Hey now, you better not be skipping the subject!" Yomi called.

"Here, have some noodles."

"Oi!"

"Misaka Misaka missed you, Rei-chan…"

(Pokemon!SubjectBorderBecauseI'mTooLazyToFindTheKanjiForThe NormalBorder)

"It's so pretty…" Rei whispered as she and Accelerator walked onto the wide space of a different park. She looked up to the light flurry of snow and down to the snow clinging on her black knee-high boats and stylish pale overcoat- a Christmas gift from Yoshi and Yomi. She had refused the coat, but Accelerator glared at her for taking too much time to get out the door, so she hastily put it on to avoid another exercise that involved her tied up.

"Haven't you ever seen snow before? Academy City gets snow every year." Accelerator put both gloved hands in his coat pockets.

"Of course. But that still doesn't take away the excitement of seeing fresh snow falling from the sky each year. All snowflakes are different, you know."

"Right, right. Now, do you know why you're here?"

"….You…want to trap me in an ice castle so I'll die of hypothermia? Or I'll be forced to redirect heat before I die?"

"…"

"Sorry, Accelerator-sensei, but that was really the first thing that came to mind." Rei looked to Accelerator's irritated face.

"You have a very contradictory personality, don't you?" Accelerator said sarcastically. "Did you ever consider that you may have some bipolar issues?"

"Clearly all the rudeness and sass you think I have developed traces back to you." Rei smiled unflinchingly as Accelerator glared at her.

"You're here to manipulate the snow." Accelerator succinctly said.

"Excuse me, sensei, but there is an ulterior motive for being here, correct? Like you said in our first lesson, snow is a solid, and all solids have atoms that move and can be manipulated? Sure, snow is cold, but that can't stop it from being controlled."

"Right, but…just try it." Accelerator stepped back.

Rei looked to a patch of snow, willing it to move just like she did to the wind or the pencil case. It rose up just as fast as anything she moved did. As she opened her mouth to say her accomplishment, a huge chunk fell to the bottom. Her mouth stayed open.

"Even though this snow is wet, it's not completely moldable yet. Parts of it can still fall apart if the concentration isn't distributed across the uneven surface."

"So much of this is concentration and accuracy…" Rei trailed off, sounding slightly frustrated.

"Yeah. Well, you are a level 4. And on the boundary to level 5, too. It's less about skill basics at that point."

"You're right." Rei shook her head, as if getting her disappointment out of her. "I shouldn't complain. Is that all there is to it."

"Mmm, not quite. The beauty of vector change…" Accelerator lifted snow off the ground and clumped into a ball directly in front of Rei's eyes. "Is that there are many ways and things to manipulate…" Suddenly, the ball of snow turned to water, falling down and splashing at Rei's feet. "But let's just stick with lifting up snow without losing parts of it."

"Right!" Immediately, Rei tried to lift a patch of snow. It seemed like it was working, but as the wind howled, Rei covered her face and hear the sound of the snow falling on the ground.

"Whatever. There's time. You cold?"

Rei put her gloved hands to her numb cheeks and looked at him. "Will you ever teach me how to keep the heat in?"

"Yeah. Right after you build a castle of ice in this tundra of a park."

"Ahh! That's not fair sensei!"