Chapter 2

Shokuhou Misaki's smile was shoved away to the very back of her head the moment she saw what was inside the box.

There were a few pairs of sweatshirts and jackets, animal hoodies and soft cottony shorts in various pastel colors; There are various designs and colors of pom beanies, visor beanies, parisan beanies and winter earmuffs with animal characteristics, five pairs of pastel colored mittens and a few thin and thick scarves, oversized t-shirts that were way too big on her frame but perfect for sleepwear, stylish sweaters and some clearly hand knitted ones which were so cute, pajamas of the softest material and cute fluffy socks of the highest quality. It's like an all you can eat buffet with the world's most luxurious clothes!

The girls 'oohed and ahhed', their voices rising in crescendo as every new clothing manages to catch their eyes. Mikoto wanted to thank whoever deity sent these gifts but there are no cards or letters to suggest whoever it was.

"I'm so envious of you! You better marry whoever sent you these!"

"Pfft. Why would I?"

"Saten-san, your logic's a bit skewed"

"Yeah, what if it's Onee-sama's relative who sent that?"

"But Uiharu! I for one would totally would! Maybe Misaka-san is hiding some rather attractive siblings somewhere-" they heard distant choking noises "-Also, just look at these babies! Aren't they the best thing ever? Aside from food, comfortable clothes are the best way through a woman's heart!"

"Are they? I thought that it would be cakes."

"That's still food but I like you so I won't nitpick your viewpoint. Uiharu don't change ever, please! Your pureness will be my saving grace one day."

"Where is the fairness in this relationship, you always 'nitpick' at mine! Also, Onee-sama, you should check if there are bugs inside the clothes, we never know if this is just a ploy to spy on you."

"Oh right. I should have thought of that"

"To be fair, Uiharu also 'nitpicks' yours."

"Shirai-san, your logic is more screwed than Saten's."

"Ha!"

"Silence! All I see is the unfairness of your treatment towards my person. I feel slighted, where is the justice? Where? You may not feel my anguish but you certainly see how your statements hurts me so, you fiends!-"

"There she goes with her monologue again"

"I'd like to block my ears"

" , blah, . . . . . My pure Onee-sama should not be deceived by these mere mortal gifts! The only presents she's worthy of having is from me, Shirai Kuroko. As her most trusted confidant and l-"

With a deadpan expression, that's when Mikoto decided to send a charge of electricity to drown out whatever the heck Kuroko is spouting and of course, to check the clothes. There could be nanomachines hidden here somewhere. She felt like kicking herself for not thinking of it first and instead brought it back to her room. That was so careless of her.

To be fair, she was distracted.


Room 208 was in absolute chaos. The two beds were each pushed all the way to the sides to provide an optimum space for a joint-makeshift bed in the center of the room where all four girls were now lounging. The pillow fort they had set up always had to be built backup repeatedly because of the ruckus they had all been causing. The four girl have no choice but to accede to Saten's demands and were now having a marathon movie about a bunch of heroes from M*rvel universe. Apparently it was all the storm on almost all parts of the world save for Academy City.

Saten was rolling her eyes at this "For a city that's 30 years advance when it comes to technology, we are sure late on the ongoings of the outside world. Fear not my children for it is up to me to educate you young'uns about the ways of the world. I'll make sure you are ready for the outside world by the time we are done! Hohoho"

If there were three unimpressed stares then, Saten chose to ignore that.

Being from a scientific part of the spectrum, Kuroko and Mikoto thought the sci-fi bit is actually really good but they still called bullshit on some aspects which somehow opened an argument with Saten that almost always ended up someone eating pillow feathers (one of the reasons why Mikoto ordered a bunch of pillows before hand) and messing everything. Uiharu would put her foot down and they would all obediently arrange everything back to a semblance of what everything once was. Only to trash it later.

There were parts where the girls were hooting in laughter and there were parts that were paused since bickering would start again and again and again.

"Peter-tingle"

"Where in the world did Tony find materials so resistant to electricity?"

"Can I pat Peter? Where can I find him?"

"That weather globe man can go to hell."

"I'll do you one better! WHY IS SATEN?"

"It is when a man and a woman love each other. In this case my dad and mom. You see, my dad inse-"

"Finish that sentence and I'll make sure to answer WHAT is Saten after I'm done with you!"

"I knew you were kinky! But please be gentle"

"GAAAAHHHH!"

"Uiharuuuuu heeeelp!"

"Can we continue on with the movie? Please stop running around"

"Please don't just stare with those dead fish eyes!"

"Anyone who likes Thor? Me? Only me?"

"Miko-THOR"

"That . . . . Doesn't sound bad! I kinda like that. But I'm not a muscle-head though"

Somewhere inside the other Tokiwadai dorm, Shoukuhou Misaki sneezes for some reason.

"Saten-san stop taking names!"

"Would you rather I kick them?"

"Misaka-san? You awake?"

"Yes…"

They had just finished a bunch of MCU movies even when all they did was goof of, how? They themselves did not even know. It's 3:49 am with a G**dians of the G*l*xy still going but at this point it was more for background noise than anything. Kuroko and Uiharu were facing each other, legs tangled in together while each hugging a pillow to their chest, fast asleep. Both were too tired to stay awake with all the judgement work they had been subjected to this past week, this sleepover was arranged to have them relax and it all played well. Tomorrow was a weekend and a day off from judgment so they can sleep as much as they want. Saten giggled as she cast a look at the two sleeping figures in between them and then to Mikoto herself who had shifted to face her.

"Now that our kids have been asleep, shall we move to the more excited portion of marital bliss?" The verbal cannon was added with the most deadly wink that had Mikoto flaming red despite not being attracted to the girl. Saten for her part smirk and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. Mikoto suddenly remembered a time when Saten had her eyebrows drawn so thick it connected in the middle, the image overlapped with this current eyebrow wiggling girl forming a ridiculous picture that had the Railgun chuckling, face still red.

"Stop doing that." she hissed elfishly, trying to stop a grin from surfacing.

"What? Flirting?"

"Is that what flirting is? I feel like you're just making fun of me."

"I AM making fun of you. You're so good to tease. You make it too easy. Also this is to help you be more resistant to people's charms. What if you got dazzled by some ravisher who knows how to shiver your timbers just because you're not immune?" Mikoto guffawed despite herself, momentarily forgetting the sleeping occupants but thankfully they hardly steered at the noise. Shiver your timbers? That was so baaad!

"I-?"

It was probably the lack of sleep that had her laughing like a lunatic. Nothing was even remotely funny. Only Saten and her eyebrows, pfft.

"-Now, now, be a little more quieter or you'll wake up the kids!"

"That would ruin the fun now would it?"

That had Mikoto laughing like a loon after her surprise wore off. She hadn't expect herself to join in on Saten's out of the blue 'parent' script. Her eyes were watering so much and the hiccups bouts of laughter came wave after wave. Saten was not much better, she was punching her own pillow, hiding her rapidly reddening face, the shaking of her body was so palpable that it was a miracle Uiharu, who was leaning a bit on her never woke up from all the movement.

"Or do you want to mingle and tingle in the other room? We can arrange that"

Both were gasping. The sound of a snore inserted that sent both to another fit. They were both being ridiculous.

"Oh I will find out if you have a Miko-tingle!"

"Or a Sa-tingle"

There was a beat of silence after that. Both just looking at each other in surprise.

Then Kuroko snored, again, the kind of snore that was cut halfway and all hell broke loose between the two. They both weren't even in the right state of mind to know what they're laughing at.

It was a good few minutes before the two calmed down enough to talk again.

"Misaka-san, we have strayed too much from the path."

"Whose fault do you think that is? Also stop with the metaphors"

"What? I'm good at metaphors! My young padawan, it is remarkable that you're even following. Shall we try channeling our forces together?"

And for that, Saten earned another round of cackles.

"Being able to make my partner laugh is balm to my quivering soul"

"Shut up missus."

"Oh DAMN she bites back."

"Stop being a dork! We're never gonna sleep at this rate."

"That's the idea darling"

"Hmmphh! Ow!"

"Why'd you throw a pillow at point blank? Dang that hurt."

"My RIBS hurt"

"...Fair"

They both decided to stop for now. Mikoto shifted to a more comfortable position, her body's high temperature from all that laughing is trying its best to return to normal. Eventually, she can feel herself relaxing. The two girls were both staring at the ceiling of the room, neither were sleepy so they just basked in the comfortable silence that only the dull rumbling of the aircon filled.

"Misaka-san"

"Yeah?"

"I seem to notice that you don't fret over Kamijo-san anymore"

"Oh, I guess…I did..."

"Come on, don't let this Onee-san wait. Spill. "

"I'm older than you"

"That's beside the point"

Mikoto gave her a side yes to which the girl just smiled. Ultimately Mikoto decided to say something if just to lay off any future hounding.

"I don't know...He's a good friend. He's still amazing. I just...I'm… I'm not interested? Anymore? Wait does that sound asshole-ish? I sound like a guy"

"Pfft! Calm down! You sound normal. Not 'asshole-ish' you silly head. So you lost interest. Not a big deal. You're not even together. I just asked just to clarify. I don't think you would appreciate me being a wingwoman to a wrong person."

Misaka knew she should feel a pang with 'you're not even together' but she's not. All she felt was relief.

"Yeah, like claiming to hurt your ankle but holding on to your knee just so I could dance with him. That was sloppy by the way"

It was now Mikoto's turn to swallow the full fluff of a pillow. Okay that throw hurt like hell, Saten had a mean pitch.

"Hey! I got you to dance!"

"Yes, yes you did"

"I am a good wingwoman. Just you wait!"

"Yes, yes, you are"

"Somehow I think you're just patronizing me."

"Yes, yes I am"

"True friend, you are."

"Yes, yes, we are"

"Your grammar's all over the place"

"It's yours. Go to sleep."

Silence reigned after that. Mikoto was actually wondering why instead of the erratic beating of her heart when he's near, it was calm. Normal. No heat rushes, no sweating, no more irrational or wandering racing thoughts, no late night daydreaming...only the contentment remained.

Their quest to change the world always brought her assurance; that no matter the consequences, he will always be at her side fighting the same battles. His companionship is unconditional and she can always count on him to be there when she asks.

Nowadays, she was so busy with school and her added responsibilities that sometimes, she had no time at all for all that epic evil-butt-busting her friends seem to run headfirst to.

It would appear that the dorm supervisor's suggestion to the faculty finally crack their skulls and have them dump a few new obligations (the moment she steps on her third year) on her lap in an effort to lessen her involvement on unavoidable commotions outside of the school. She felt like crying about said obligations though.

She had to attend leadership camps, various meetings; status-update of some clubs, problem solving meetings back to back with research talks, team building exercises, assisting residents of her dorm and had to promote intellectual pursuits among her younger peers. All these were not quite so tiring as much as it is time consuming.

Now that Mikoto is more active on this side of the student life, it is at these regular junctions that she often crosses paths with the other level 5 of the school. At first they just often side eye or bicker with each other before heading to their separate sections, granted Misaki cheats out of these activities because she can afford to. Having trusted responsible aides from her clique must be a fortune. is a fortune. A fact Mikoto is so envious of.

As months went by, the two level 5's met up occasionally after these school based meetings to further discuss things as both were leaders that even the student council president defer to. Normally that would rattle Mikoto's brains, she hated being treated at the top of the food chain but that's what she is. That's what they both are however Mikoto loathes to admit it.

Gone were the days where Junko had to bargain with Mikoto just to have her attend tea time with her queen. The bargains went to a point where Shokuho was in Mikoto's face about stealing Junko from her. That day she showed the whole library that Junko was hers. Mikoto just facepalmed at the rumors after that. Nonetheless, the regular tea time continued without the bargaining interventions whatsoever.

These setups are one of the reasons they began to see each other as reluctant allies to friends.

Before she knew it, Mikoto started looking forward to their verbal spars. Exchanging exhibitions of both their formidable wits that often bordered on cynicism or the fact that ideas flow back and forth between them like the moon and the ocean's share of the water, it gives Mikoto such a rush that she wound up wanting more. The horrendous trepidation slowly turned to riveting anticipation. It was a chore no more and the railgun relishes in this freedom to be themselves.

The winter sun decided to halt her thoughts just then, it's rays hitting her directly in the eyes like it knows where it should hurt the most. Mikoto hissed and got up to close the curtains glancing at Saten who had already fallen asleep.

She was about to close the blinds when she noticed Shokuhou downstairs, the only speck of color around the paleness of the snow cover ground. The sight floored her, sucking the strength from her knees, since she was just thinking about the girl a moment before. What in the world?

Shokuhou was just standing there in her Tokiwadai's winter uniform, idly twirling a lock of her hair, clearly waiting for something. Her eyes were clearly blazing but her expression did not match. Her pale skin enhanced the blush on her cheeks while her lips were forming a pout. She just stood there looking cute when her eyes told a very different story. Nevertheless, the light snowfall gave the entire picture an ethereal atmosphere.

Mikoto knew she was staring but she can't quite gather the strength to look away. What is she doing outside anyway?

That is until Shokuhou Misaki suddenly looks at her straight in the eyes.

The force of her heartbeat doubled. In surprise or other reasons, she would not know.

The indomitable Railgun yelps and swishes her head left and right trying to appear like she was looking for something and not staring at a beautiful nymph a moment before. Mikoto wanted to banged her head but that had to wait. Cheeks flaming, she tried to find the damned … oh wait she just had to pull the thing to close the blinds. What was it called again? Dang she can't think straight!

Finally, she closed the blinds with a bang and went back to lie beside the sleeping Kuroko, breathing erratically and heart beating a mile a minute. It was hot, she should be sizzling, everything was hot at the moment. Goodness, she just can't catch a break could she?

It took her two hours to sleep after that.


The snow had been brutal this Thursday morning so the clique opted to warm themselves and enjoy a nice break at one of the cafe's near the school warming the lower half of their bodies in the kotatsu the owner had especially got out for them. Teas and cakes were served as they chatted idly about the schoolwork and other extracurriculars they have to attend.

Such are the meetings where Extrapolating and Mimicking the Telomeres Roles on Longevity or allocating stocks on various research companies were discussed.

Such gabfests broadens the horizons of these young elite maidens on the ongoings of their world at large.

For example, the recent clothing upgrade of their resident Ace.

"Have you seen Misaka-sama?"

"Yes! Her outfit is so cute! I wonder where she bought it?"

"The clothes seem so comfortable!"

"I want one!"

"I saw the brand, It's from Jack's-oh-hail!"

"Oh that clothing brand!"

"Last time I checked they were on the verge of bankruptcy!"

"They must have bounced back. Must be that they gained an investor."

"Oh! Do you think Misaka-sama invested in them? Maybe those clothes are for advertisements!"

"Their winter series this year is top of the line and they are only limited edition, It hasn't even broke out into the market yet.!"

"I think I saw Misaka-sama wearing one thoughl!"

"I heard from Shirai-san that it was a gift!"

"Kyaa, do you think it's from one of her admirers? Isn't it romantic?!"

"Could it be that boy we saw last time?"

"Can he even afford jacks-oh-hail?"

"We never know…"

"Girls, please be mindful of the volume. I think the queen is a little bit under the weather"

The purple haired girl says as she carefully places a plate of salad in front of Shoukuho Misaki. The salad was arranged aesthetically, one would have thought it'd be a waste to eat it. Junko was quite proud to present the food to her. Her queen needs nutritious food to rival her brilliance in every aspect of life. The salad and some low carb cake should keep the queen up for the next 5 hours until dinner. Given that her queen made it possible to use only a miniscule amount of energy, she had to be meticulous in her diet.

"Oh gosh, we're so sorry Queen!"

"How is she Hokaze-senpai?"

"Should we prepare a bed?"

"No, no, I'm quite fine. Don't bother." Misaki finally spoke after shaking the dark clouds around her. She smiled at her clique to satisfy them but everyone knew their beautiful and graceful queen was thinking of something so deep they can't even fathom the surface. Their queen was uncharacteristically eating the salad at a pace a few times faster than her usual speed. She didn't even bother with the dressing. They could all feel rather than see the mass of dark clouds hanging again from their queen's head.

Junko, the second in command, frowned immediately at her queen's odd behavior but she motioned for the clique to continue on as if nothing was fundamentally wrong with their queen. The girls reluctantly did as told and did their thing.

The queen would speak her mind in due time.

Meanwhile their 'queen' was in turmoil.

Could it be that that package really came from Touma? Can it be a gift from someone else? Like a member of her family? Please let it be not Touma...He can't even afford it. Right! He can't. I'm pretty sure of that...so that begs the question of who is it from? Who?

The clique's members can be described as 'sharp as tack'. Shokuhou Misaki would never let them join if they have no redeeming qualities aside from the standard requirements. Indeed, whenever they mentioned the Railgun, their queen reactions would vary, depending on their status at the moment. There are times when she would scoff or would just silently let them fangirl about Mikoto. Today, it seemed that these two level 5's were a bit rocky since mentioning Misaka-sama's name brought a dark aura to their queen. They had come to a conclusion.

Indeed, the topic of the railgun never came back to the forefront of their discourse again.


There's not much MisaMisa here but I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Saten and Mikoto should have bonded more in the series tho. I think their dynamic is great!

I'm from a tropical country dreaming to experience the winter at least once so if there are inconsistencies in contrary to the reality of the season, blame my inexperience.