Author's Note

The original version of this chapter was on day one, but no matter what I did with it, I couldn't get it to move forward to completion. So I decided to skip to what was the original plan for chapter three. That did the trick, and here it is!

Also, through at least four reviews of this work, it has been brought to my attention that some of you think that Kimiko's powers are based off of an anime called "A Certain Scientific Railgun". I'm gonna stop that right here. First off: I've never watched Railgun. I've watched the first season of its counterpart Index, I'll admit to that, but I never even considered watching Railgun because the main character is the one I dislike most in the whole series. I hate tsundere characters about eighty percent of the time, and Misaka is no exception.

Second off, most of the ideas for Kimiko's electromancy came from the main protagonist of a novel series I'm working on, which I started over five years ago, before I had even watched Index for the first time. That's the real origin of that particular power, though in my novels it's magic-based instead of science-based.

Anyway, that's about it for this note. Read on, the story awaits you!

Weapons with Hearts

Chapter Two: Meet the Time Bender

The seasoned FBI agent was torn between wanting to impulsively kiss the girl currently hugging her and wanting to be the responsible one and stop this conversation dead in its tracks. As the two options waged war on each other in her head, she finally settled on a solution that was in between the other two.

"Let's wait until you're eighteen," Shino said, releasing the younger girl and pulling her back so they could see each other. "In the time between then and now, we can get to know each other and decide whether that's something worth pursuing or not. That okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine," the dark beauty's smooth contralto affirmed as she opened the car door and hopped out. Just before she closed the door to Shino's red SUV, she said one more thing. "But you may want to know that my birthday is in about three weeks. October seventh. So you didn't really give us much time to think it over."

With that and a mischievous smile, she closed the door before Sinon had the chance to change the date.

This would be a long future. A fun one and possibly a hot one, but a long one nonetheless.

Over the next two weeks, Kimiko and Shino got to know each other better. At the same time, the electromancer's emotions became gradually more apparent in everyday life. Whether she stopped suppressing them on purpose or whether it was something unintentional, the FBI agent didn't quite know, but either way, it was a welcome change.

The only major problem was that the dark beauty seemed to have almost no social skills. She didn't understand basic dos and don'ts or societal norms even a little bit. It made the idea of eventually reintegrating her into school a struggle at best, especially when Shino considered the very real possibility of her charge turning off the brains of any people who annoyed her.

Though this was less of a concern than the impending possibility of a relationship forming between them. It wasn't that there was no attraction between the two of them – quite the opposite, in fact – it was that if they were to start one at this point, Shino felt that it would be unfair to the younger girl. Kimiko seemed to have already formed some sort of emotional bond with her, and as of yet, that hadn't exactly become mutual. The FBI agent knew that if they were to form a relationship with things at this point, it would be purely physical from her side.

She knew that thinking about such things was dangerous around the subject of the thoughts themselves, who could and would read her mind. Because of this, she tried to only think about it when they were a sufficient distance apart – such as when she went to a store to get something. But as Kimiko's eighteenth birthday approached, Shino knew she was running out of time. She would have to figure out what to do, and quickly. The agency gave her time off until her charge integrated into society a bit more and became less of a potential threat, so she had to figure out how to solve this before that time ended.

However, right at the two week mark, on September 28th, something happened that changed the whole dynamic of the household once again. The newest member of the family would make her first appearance that day.

For most of that particular day, Shino had been thinking about a particular thing she wanted to know about. Really, it was a miracle that Kimiko hadn't said anything about it, considering her mind reading ability, but when the turquoise-haired woman wondered if that lack of talking about it meant something significant.

Eventually, as they ate a lunch of sandwiches at the large, circular, gray granite dining room table, Shino decided to ask about the nagging thought she'd had for most of the day. She'd come to the realization that the girl across from her wouldn't discuss it unless she didn't have to be the one to bring it up.

After swallowing a bite of peanut butter and jelly (Shino's food preparation skills, or lack thereof, were her biggest weakness as a woman), she spoke. "I know you've heard me thinking about this today, and I don't know what your silence about it means, but my curiosity is getting the better of me."

After taking a deep breath, the hardened FBI agent asked the question that had been on her mind all day. "The other one of the two with all inhibitor genes deleted. What is that person like? I've heard from reports that you've worked together on a lot of missions."

For a good several seconds, the dark beauty didn't say anything as she chewed. Her eyes seemed to depict an internal struggle, as if she were deciding whether to answer or not – and the decision wasn't an easy one. But then, after a full five seconds and a swallow, she decided to answer.

"In a few words," Kimiko said, her face darkening ever so slightly. "Very obnoxious. In more, she made every joint mission a contest, and she wanted to fight me over everything, even though she always lost. She was the most annoying girl I've ever met in my life."

"So if she always lost, does that mean your power is stronger?" Shino couldn't help but ask. "Shouldn't they be equal?"

"No, actually. Her power is stronger than mine," the dark beauty refuted, shaking her head. "But because mine is faster to use and both of us are strong enough to win with the first move, I always won our fights. My power is as fast as a lightning bolt, which is faster than she can even think. But her power is time manipulation. She can stop, slow, speed up, rewind and travel through time, but she's limited to the speed and readability of human thought, which means she can never make the first move."

"That's… kind of a frightening power."

At these words, Kimiko actually laughed a bit, the sound music to Shino's ears. "You think that being able to read minds and turn off people's brains is fine, yet you think time manipulation is scary? I don't get your thought process. Although that's exactly what makes it so fascinating."

"But I mean, she can travel through time, right?" Shino explained her fear, voice a little bit uncertain. "If she travelled to the past and changed it, wouldn't that erase our time from existence?"

"That possibility is why I only travel to the future. On that note, one of you two is actually kind of famous in a few years."

This new, light, peppy female voice that seemed the opposite of Kimiko's smooth, low contralto resounded with an air of confidence that was obvious even without seeing its owner. The voice seemed to come from the direction of the front door a room over, which would explain why they were able to hear it so well through the thin wall.

The sound of footsteps coming from the other side of the wall dividing the two residents and their uninvited guest alerted them that this person was approaching them. After a few moments of waiting, the girl who had somehow gotten into the house even though all the doors were locked walked into the white-walled dining room.

Her clothing, for the most part, resembled what Kimiko had worn on her first day in her new home, but instead of black, all the fabric in the attire was a deep violet. Her figure was decently curvy, though not to the extent of the mind-reader across from Shino. She had magenta eyes and waist-length violet hair that matched her clothes, the bangs of which were held back by a red headband. Lastly, she had a bright and cheery smile not befitting of someone who must have broken in.

"Why is it that whenever someone gets me talking about you, you show up?" Kimiko asked in a biting tone, seemingly much less phased by the break in than the turquoise-haired woman across from her.

"I don't know about that," the magenta-eyed girl replied while flipping a lock of her hair. "I just always want to be around you because you're the one that all the most interesting stuff always happens to. Plus, you're the only person who can beat me at anything."

"How did you get in here?" Shino finally found her words, and sharp ones to boot. "The door was locked, you know. I don't take kindly to people who break into my house."

"Wow, you're fiery," the confident voice returned with her reply. "You know you're dealing with someone who could stop your time or prematurely end it, right? Your houseguest didn't tell you all of my powers."

"The second you even think about trying it, you'll die in the most agonizing way imaginable," Kimiko threatened with an icy glare that showed she really meant it. "I'll flood your body and brain with so much electricity that you'll turn to ashes. There'll be hardly anything left for anyone to even know you existed in the first place. Are we clear, Yuuki?"

"Now that's what I call an intimidating threat," the time-bender called Yuuki said, holding her hands up as a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead. "Noted. Your girlfriend is safe, I value my life too much to try anything."

Before the turquoise-haired woman could retort about the use of the word, 'girlfriend', a buzzing in her pocket caught her attention. Her cell phone was ringing. She pulled it out the vibrating device and slid her finger across the bottom of the touch screen to answer the call before even checking the caller ID.

"Hello?" she said as the brought the sleek, rectangular phone to her cheek.

"Yo, Shion," a familiar female voice with an odd nasal inflection said from the other end of the line. "So I get this call from some guy in the CIA, telling me that they suspect the other fully uninhibited will be at your house soon. He tells me to tell you to bring her up to the base so they can take her back to where she's supposed to be. I ask him, 'Why the hell are you coming to me with this instead of calling her directly?' He didn't like that very much."

Apparently, the phone conversation had been loud enough for the subject of it to hear, because the next thing Yuuki said was a direct command regarding the call.

"Put the phone on speaker," she said, waiting until Shino complied and held the device at table-level before speaking up. "Tell the guy from the CIA that if they let me stay here, I'll be a good little girl and follow the rules. But if they make me go back to where they want me, I'll raise the kind of hell that nobody on this earth can deal with."

"I'll call you back, Shion." Click.

"Wait, Argo, don't you dare—oh, god damn it."

"Shion?" Kimiko asked, seemingly perfectly content with shifting her attention away from the girl who would go to borderline insane lengths to be with her.

"It's my nickname at work, and pretty much everywhere," Shino explained the unfamiliar name that, as of yet, hadn't come up between them. "Everyone on my team has a nickname. That girl from the phone just now's real name is Alice, but we call her Argo. Anyway, can call me Shion too if you want. Pretty much everyone does."

"Then I think I'll keep calling you by your real name," the dark-haired beauty decided, nodding her head with a smile. "The idea of being the only one who calls you that is more appealing than calling you what everyone else does."

The hardened FBI agent couldn't help but blush a little at the usual audacity that Kimiko had with regards to her feelings, especially considering that someone else was right in front of them. Unfortunately, the potential moment was completely ruined by that same onlooker.

"I swear to god, the aura between you two is so pink!" Yuuki exclaimed, clearly more than a little put off about being ignored. "Get a freaking room, why don't you?"

"That would have happened a week ago if I made the choice," the electromancer said, causing Shino's blush to further deepen. "But she's completely reserved about it right now, and I'm respecting her desire to wait."

"You're a minor! And try to value your virginity at least a little!" a mere fraction of Shino's internal struggle escaped for only a flash of a moment.

Kimiko retorted with quite possibly the most unexpected thing possible. "I'd value it more if I had it, but I lost that a while back."

"W-what?!"

"That's a story for another day," Yuuki intervened with a bright smile before the dark beauty could say anything.

"Hey, I deserve to—" Shino's sentence was cut off as her phone, still held in her hand, began to vibrate again. She answered the call again, and knowing who it would be, said immediately after bringing the phone to her cheek, "You asshole! You abandoned me to deal with this by myself!"

"Yeah, about that," Argo replied in an uneasy tone, and the turquoise-haired girl could feel her sweating nervously from through the line. "They said they're gonna bring Yuuki's things over along with her informational file within the hour. Sorry, but now you've gotta deal with two instead of one. Have fun with that!"

"Argo, you're useless!" this time, the receiver of the call was the one to end it, jamming her phone on the end button so hard it hurt a little. At that very moment, she wished she were using her house phone instead – it would have been so much more satisfying to slam it into the receiver.

She turned to the violet-haired time-bender, and at that moment, she understood why Kimiko thought this girl was so annoying. That damn girl's smirk showed she knew exactly what just happened. "Well, you got your way. You're staying here from now on. But let me be clear: you're not gonna get away with slacking off here at all."

"No worries," Yuuki replied, her smirk widening into a full smug smile. "I'm a hard worker when I've got something to work for."

If Shino thought her future would be a long one the day Kimiko moved in, now that length had tripled. Not to mention, the levels of fun and potential hotness just got cut down by way more than just half.

The first thought she had in the face of this new situation?

I am so screwed.

Author's Note

So, some of you may dislike the fact that I made Yuuki an annoyance to the other characters and/or probably butchered her personality completely compared to canon. Well, other than the fact that she's literally got powers that make her as powerful as a god, she's also got a lot of circumstances in this AU that would make her personality different from canon.

Although I'll say right now that Yuuki's personality is going to be one of the ones that changes the most out of all the characters in this story. She'll be much more likable by the end, I can guarantee you that.

Also, I made some edits to the prologue because there were a few glaring flaws (I forgot to finish an important sentence, and I changed another thing for logic improvements).

Anyway, this chapter is still a bit short, but I'd say it's still a decent length. Without the author notes it's about 2450 words, and considering about 80% of that was just one scene, I'd say that was pretty good. I probably could have described the scenery a bit more, but I never found a good opportunity to break narration enough to do that.

So yeah, for those wondering what's coming next in this fic, I have one word for you that will explain everything: school. That should be more than enough to properly inform you of what to expect, even though by forming expectations I think a lot of you will be wrong at least partially.

Well, that's about it for now. I'll let you get on with your lives now, I guess. The next update from me will probably be for GGO SW, which is already 2400 words in and not even halfway done. Look forward to that!

See you next time!