hope you enjoy!


Wednesday

"Onee-sama!" Kuroko yelled, passing a fully grown cat, all of the things she could, she teleported a cat to Mikoto-the one person in their group that felines can't stand. Thank you for the reminder. Said cat ended up scratching her in the face in fright before using her as a springboard to leap into Saten's arms.

Uiharu cooed at it while Kuroko appeared near them, holding a child who was too shocked to cry yet.

"This is a lesson for you. Before climbing trees, please make sure there is an adult nearby, kid. What would have happened to you if we weren't there? Broke a bone? Do you know how painful that is? Have you experienced a paper cut? 15 times, no, it's 20 times more painful than that! You have to observe your surroundings too and that cat? That's an adult, it doesn't need help, you were the one that needed help instead. Do you want to give your mother a shock? Please be careful next time."

"Uwaa! Kuroko's at it again!" Saten commented, shaking her head in amusement as the kid's eyes watered.

"She's right though," Uiharu added, patting the cat one more time before translating Kuroko's words into more gentle ones as she comforted the kid when he started to cry. "As long as you understand the danger, part of being a person is helping someone. You've done really well! Be proud of yourself, never forget that feeling of wanting to help. Just don't be reckless next time."

The kid cried harder. Kuroko grumbled (I wanted this to be a free afternoon) while Uiharu winked at her. Mikoto stepped beside their long haired friend, elbowing her gently, smiling when she met her eyes. The cat in her arms hissed and ran, leaving Saten staring as the cat disappeared on the bushes. Did that one not have an owner? How is it faring the winter months?

The group arranged to meet after school for a quick hang out and as soon as they decided to just walk around, the universe presented them with a boy trying to rescue a cat 'stuck' on a tree which was so cliche both Mikoto and Uiharu sighed at the same time. No worries though, they'll save that kid and they'll be on their merry way! They have Kuroko, the girl who's been saving kittens since age 10, a veteran at such a young age! Boy does she have proud friends.

"This day could not have been more ordinary huh…" Saten commented. Tilting her head, Saten saw her friend, gazing at the distance, a little away from the bushes where the cat had hid. Saten could bet a few baseball caps that Mikoto heard nothing. Following her gaze, she saw a familiar blonde and her dreamy princess-y type friend with their backs to them. .

Saten glanced back at Misaka, silently confirming that yep, Misaka-san's eyeballs were glued to their position, but oh, waz thiz? Are those eyeballs shining? She looks like a puppy patiently waiting for its master, it's cute. Misaka-san had always been cute though.

The two other Tokiwadai students walked further away and eventually out of view as they rounded a corner. Mikoto's gaze turned back to the crying kid, smiling in exasperation. Eh? "Had he not stopped since a while ago? I think he did."

"No, you just black out on us." Saten replied, watching the electromaster's face intently, she looked confused.

Kuroko gently pried the kid from Uiharu.

"Well, I'm just gonna pop him to the headquarters for a moment, I'll be back."

As soon as their resident teleporter was gone, Saten signalled for Uiharo to come. Just then, the two pretty girls from before suddenly emerged again and were now in Saten's direct line of sight, snatching Misaka-san's attention for the second time. If she remembered correctly, that blonde was the other level 5 of Tokiwadai and the owner of that impressive ringlets must be Junko-san.

Something was weird here.

Uiharu, the higher-tier being that she is, noticed the oddity immediately and well, just looking into her best friend's eyes, Saten had confirmed something. She didn't know what it is but the both of them are on board so whatever hunch she may have must be right.

They both stayed silent and watched their friend watch someone so far away.

That someone happened to look their way as if she felt the intense gaze(s). Saten immediately averted her gaze to her older friend who was . . . not there….What? Where'd she go?

Uiharu tapped her shoulder before pointing upwards.

Uhmm. . .

There she is, the mighty railgun, making use of her mighty powers to stand on top of the post. She's just standing there, majestically, as if she wasn't freaking out inside. For Saten, electromasters have always been impressive, the versatility of their abilities encompasses some of her most desired 'bucket list', especially someone of Misaka-san's caliber. She had always wanted to stand on a post or walk sideways on a building, just like Spiderm*n from the movies.

It was a truly impressive display of her abilities and her adorable cream short-shorts.

The taller girl happened to glance at the beautiful blonde who by now was slowly returning her attention to her companion. Well, at least Misaka-san was successful in her attempts to hide, however peculiar her hiding place is.

"Misaka-san, we can see your panties!" Uiharu said sweetly. Now, this was the true devil! AH, Saten's so proud!

A beat.

"Wha-NO you can't!"

Uiharu gave her childhood friend a side eye. "Well, worth a shot."

"I like this side of you too." Saten says, playfully wiping an imaginary tear "I have raised you so well."

"Well, you won't be raising her any longer." Chimed Misaka, back to the ground like the human that she is, giving Uiharu a good noogie.

"Puahhaha, no, I'm sorry! Lemme go? Please? Eck, hak, hey, Misaka-sama? Oh? Shokuhou-san's looking this way!"

Mikoto froze and didn't even check if Shokuhou-san was really looking, she just took off in the opposite direction like the cat had done a few minutes ago. It was good that she had her abilities then cause otherwise she would trip and dive right through the pavement with how fast she was going.

Saten clapped as she laughed.

The two other middle schoolers look at each other, Uiharu suddenly felt dread all the way to her bones while Saten's sparkled with excitement. Misaka Mikoto had a crush. A new one, one far more beautiful, elegant and graceful than the other and Misaka had it so bad.

Just then, Kuroko popped up. "What did I miss?"

Uiharu's gaze was scorching with pain. "Misaka-san"


Thursday

Tokiwadai Middle School, home to a bunch of excellent brats who didn't know what to do with the money they were born with except to slap each other in the face with it. Today, these young rich brats were abuzz with a mixture of wired energy rooted from the overwhelming urge to go hide somewhere safe or be in the front row seat. Regardless of the rumor being true or not, one should not get in the crossfire of the two most powerful espers in the whole Academy city.

To clarify, this came from several accounts so students are quite convinced of the validity of such gossip.

Their two resident level 5 idols were currently in a lovers quarrel. They know not the reasons but it was serious enough that their Misaka-sama was apparently zapping away whenever their Shokuhou-sama was in the same room! What could have possibly happened that is so detestable that Misaka-sama can't stand to be in the same room as the Queen?

"That's some severe disagreement, don't you think?"

"—and senpai just said that they were even brazenly flirting in the pool that she even felt jealous for a moment. For a moment. That was only on Monday by the way. "

"I saw Misaka-sama up on the roof yesterday, she was looking at Shokuhou-sama. You don't think she was planning anything sinister would you?"

"Probably planning to kiss her senseless, pfft."

"I saw her running on the wall yesterday! It was like she's some kind of dimension sorceress bending the walls to her whim. It was incredible as it was scary. The sight almost made me pass out! She shushed me when Shokuhou-sama suddenly appeared around the corner."

"It's terribly confusing isn't it? Does Misaka-sama want to be in the same room as Shokuhou-sama or not? Her actions do not add up."

"─I also heard this from another senpai who was a classmate of theirs. Misaka-sama was stealing glances at Shokuhou-sama during class but she looks away immediately whenever Shokuhou-sama notices. I think it's cute!"

"But she was the one doing the avoiding right?"

"─You're right, It is cute! I happened to be there when Misaka-sama made a run for it when Shokuhou-sama greeted her at the cafeteria."

"...Yes, and?"

"Maybe she was waiting for our queen to apologize? Maybe it was Shokuhou-sama that had wronged her? Don't you think it's fitting since she was the one seeking Misaka-sama out? Like, I'm just concluding this from what I heard, most of the time, it was Shokuhou-sama who approaches first but Misaka-sama either disappears after making an awkward excuse or she just disappears altogether even before Shokuhou-sama notices her."

There were a few resounding smacks and a pain yelp.

"How can you say that? Shokuhou-sama is such a mature woman, surely it was not her fault?"

"H-Hey, I'm talking logically here. You can't expect Shokuhou-sama to be right all the time."

"Right...and what kind of slight would she have done to Misaka-sama?"

"I don't know! No need to go full mama bear on me. I was just stating arguments base from a logistically argumentative standpoint"

"It's Misaka-sama!"

Conversation stop, this group of gossiping young maidens gave their full attention to a rather relaxed electromaster, calmly buying from a vending machine a little ways away from the table they have been on

There was a collective gasp.

"Shokuhou-sama's here!"

"What do we do?"

"Where is my popcorn? Someone record this please! I have to watch this real time!"

"We wait. If things turn sour, we run then."

"Look, Misaka-sama's not moving! Is she okay? Do you think she knows Shokuhou-sama is almost behind her now?"

"You may not know but they both can sense each other quite well."

"Sshhs! We're watching! No need to comment as su—KYAAA!"

BOOM

The girl was not alone in screaming. All of the people in the cafeteria screamed their expensive asses off.

"What happened?!"

"The vending machine broke!. . . and now it's spilling its guts out!"

"How crude! Do you have to use that kind of metaphor?"

"Do we really have time to care about metaphors now?! Shouldn't we be like, running by now?"

"Oh shush you, I wanna watch!"

"Shokuhou-sama managed to hold her wrist!? Is she going to be okay? Oh, Misaka-sama's turning red! . . . She's pulling out though. Maybe Shokuhou-sama's not yet forgiven? Misaka-sama's so gentle though kyaaa! Look at there hands touching! Quality lewd stuff! We're ascending girls!"

"Aaahhh, she clearly still cares!"

Heavy breathing intensifies. Someone better stop that one kid slowly choking her friend!

"Look! Look! What flavor is that drink she's giving Shokuhou-sama, can you suppose? Is this the white flag of peace? Is it? Is it? Even I'm starting to sweat with all this drama! Just kiss already!"

"She's shaking her head? Why? But Shokuhou-sama clearly wants peace! NOOOOOOO come back Misaka-sama! Look at how Shokuhou-sama frowns! Whichissupercutebytheway...noooooooooooo please come baaack! Stop frowning, my queen! That look on her is totally hot. It's hurting her! See? See?"

"Shut up! We're not watching one of your kdramas!"

A couple of very audible slapping noises later.

"She's turning around! She's turningaround! She'sturningaround!" A couple of demonic noises later "SHE JUST GAVE THAT LOOK? Come on! Don't just look! Ah yes! Go for it Misaka-sama! SPEAK YOUR FEELINGS''

"Gosh, I wish we could hear their conversation. What an intensely curious conversation they must have!"

"SPEAK! SPEAK! SPEAK!"

"She's struggling to talk."

"Oh heck no! She's running away! AGAIN"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"She came back…"

"Ah, but only to arrange the drinks."

"Have I ever told you guys that electromagnetism is so cool?"

"Yeah, she's so polite with us too."

"Wonder if those drinks are free stuff now…""

"And she was gone again."

"That was awfully polite of her"

"Shokuhou-sama's smile is scary though. We should probably stay clear of her for the time being"

Shokuhou waves a hand and a few girls of her clique suddenly materialize into existence beside her like a summoned ninja. Expensive ninja brats that they are.

"Distribute these drinks to whoever wants them. Put a sign or whatever. I don't care."

And she was gone.

"Will they be okay?"

"For our safety and sanity, I sure do hope so."

"Did somebody record that?"


Mikoto had never wished to be exempted in a class more so than now.

She wanted to leave already, to run. To have an explanation why her heart beats so fast and her rising body temperature. She wanted to release this sudden excitement and be away from the source lest she might be accused of being a creep for staring too much. Or being happy too much.

Having a crush is fucking scary, more so when they are you're rival in a sense and the fact that they are grounded enough to notice such things just because its who they were.

Mikoto had to be careful, Shokuhou could spot a crush a mile away and Mikoto didn't know what that could spell for her.

For how much she wanted to be not here, she can't actually leave. She had already been assigned to a team and she can't leave them just like that.

"Alright team! We're getting those extra points today! We have Misaka-san but that doesn't mean we can slack off much. They happen to have Watanabe-san and Nanami-san. Two star athletes of Tokiwadai albeit from different fields, nonetheless, playing volleyball is probably child's play to them. I want those extra points you hear?!"

"Aye captain!" her classmates responded to which Mikoto sweat dropped. They're taking this seriously. Too seriously. It's frightening. What's going on? And Shokuhou's drilling a hole on her person she almost called in sick but her teammates would probably shit on her so she resigned herself to play this game all the way.

A sharp note from a whistle and the first ball was fired.

She skipped PE so why is she even here?

Mikoto moved to position and before long, she paid no mind to the girl sitting in the bleachers watching her sweat. Her focus was now on the ball, her team, her jumps and spikes and all that jazz when playing such a riveting game.

"End. Match point!"

There were collective groans from her fellow teammates. Wiping her face with her PE uniform, Mikoto huffs to herself. She played well but that was a shitty performance if she says so herself. Her spikes don't have the power they used to, in fact she can't apply much strength on her arm.

Some of her hair fell on her eye, stinging her with her own sweat. She hiss, borrowed a hair tie and gathered her hair in a low ponytail.

They all exchange claps before changing courts.

Shokuhou was still in the bleachers, meeting her eye, exerting more pressure on Mikoto than she knew what to do with. Shokuhou wanted something from her, she knows it but the continued 'brushed offs' the past few days probably upset her the most.

"Head back to the game Misaka-san! Stop staring into space!"

"I—I wasn't! Shok—"

"She must be thinking of Shokuhou-san. She's so cute"

"Just make up with her already!"

What?! What makes them think we're fighting?

"Geez, get your stuff together Misaka-san and go apologize."

'Huーyeah. . . I really should.." because really, what was Mikoto supposed to reply to that advice? She's puzzled that the rest of them declared they were fighting when that's not even the case..

"There you go! And please do it at the earliest possible time, You're driving everyone crazy!"

A classmate from the other team responded "Now that we sorted out Misaka-san's love problem, we really should start the game."

Mikoto flushed like a thousand suns. She wanted to shout SHUT UP at them but she knew they meant well. If she reacts further, Shokuhou may suspect something. It's just extra embarrassing because Shokuhou's RIGHT THERE! She can HEAR THEM! It's mortifying! And why did they assume they were having a lover's quarrel?!It's not like that AT ALL!

The pressure on her became a bit more intense and she dreaded meeting the eye of that person at the moment so she chose to ignore the overwhelming urge to look so she kept her head down.

They had been at the game for quite some time, Mikoto's team had won the second match and this had already been on the third game. It was only a matter of who gets to advance. Both teams were exhausted, some were smiling at the thrill of being neck and neck.

Mikoto however, can't seem to enjoy the game. She brushed back the bangs that managed to fall down her face and adjusted the small ponytail.

Their teacher, who was serving as a referee, moved her arm horizontally, blowing the whistle at the same time, signaling that the other team could serve the ball. The server at the moment is Watanabe-san, a level 4 esper, she's a really strong girl with a flexible body to boot. Her spikes were the most terrifying amongst all of them.

Her jump was good, her body bent in good form, the timing and the power of her strike promised a direct hit.!

A bit too powerful though, enough that the ball was not curving its trajectory at all.

And it's heading straight to our resident unathletic level 5. On the bleachers. Just how strong is Watanabe-san?! Mikoto paled, at most, if Shokuhou's hit, it'll be lucky if she only got a bloody nose. What if she gets a concussion?! Her internal panic boosted her reaction time.

Mikoto was already running as her team rejoiced at a free point. they 'll manage to get deux and then they'll still have a chance at that upgrade points for the exam.

She won't reach Shokuhou in time!

The bleachers were quite high so she accelerated herself up over the railing via magnetism. Not hesitating a tiny bit, Mikoto concentrated on the metal railing, she ripped a portion of it and made a sort of 'net' for the ball to bounce off of just a meter from Shokuhou whose hair were 'standing up' from the current, merely crossed her arms and raised a brow at the act.

The sound of Mikoto's shoes echoed throughout the gym as she landed right in front of the 'queen', panting, eyes roaming up and down checking if she really was okay.

The ball bounced from its high arc. Once, twice. . . thrice.

Seeing the girl coolly sitting there like she wasn't about to be bloodied by a freaking ball infuriated Mikoto though.

"Why didn't you move?" she whisper-shouted.

"You're here"

What does that even mean? Mikoto could interpret that in so many ways but she opted not to. Anything more and she might combust. Mikoto could tell though that Shokuhou was piss and it felt like someone was squeezing her heart using 50 kg of force.

"Damn it Shokuhou!"

"Careful, they don't know I'm here remember?"

"Your anonymity is less important than your safety to me! Let me te— "

Their teacher/referee called Mikoto out, cutting off the eruption of rants Mikoto was about to unleash..

"Misaka-san! I hope you know that it's a school property you damaged young lady! You're lucky no one was hurt! Come down here! What crawled up to your brain and said you could useーwell, we were just playing a game! Goodness! You'll have detention. We can discuss this later, For now, the game!"

"Well, somebody could have been hurt," Mikoto muttered, side eyeing Shokuhou. Her earlier irritation is already waning given the fact that Shokuhou is safe. Who cares about some detention? Instead she just felt relieved. Jumping down, she faces her gawking classmates.

"Misaka-san! What in Newton's apple were you doing?"

"What was that, Misaka-san"

"Was that move really necessary? You could have let the ball bounce off."

"At least she didn't touch the ball. Now that we've advanced, the game is not over yet! For the plus points girls!"

Whew, good thing they have their priorities. Mikoto wouldn't know what to do if they started to question what the hell she was doing.

Smiling apologetically, Mikoto got into position and the game continued.

It was a close match. Needless to say that they lost. Lost in front of Shokuhou lost. Somehow, that makes it more embarrassing. She's sweaty and hot all over and she probably looks like a mess. She glanced at the bleachers, Shokuhou's eyes continued to bore into her, she really wanted to talk, or maybe she wanted to punish Mikoto for ignoring her (mostly) the past two days. Her team was already laughing good naturedly and saying good game to the other party.

There were a few "Too bad we didn't win." "Who needs those plus points anyway" but all is good.

"Ah! It's Shokuhou-san! Was the stomach ache gone?" a classmate of theirs waved, spotting the blonde on one of the upper floor beachers. It was suspiciously near where Misaka-san broke the railing.

"Ah yes, I'm just here to pick up some additional task since I can't participate in this physical game" Shokuhou replies, her eyes fixated on Mikoto who busied herself wiping the fresh batch of sweat now that they were cooling down.

Slowly their classmates began to disperse after their teacher gave the okay, all of them quite eager to go to the showers. For some reason, they smiled encouragingly while clapping Mikoto on the back as they passed by her. The one from Watanabe-san hurt. Do they want to pick a bone with her? Why are they like this?!

Calm down. Calm down. Calm down. Calm down. Calm down. Stop beating so fast! You have to move fast! You stink so don't go anywhere near

"You smell really good, Misaka-san. Do you know that?"

"SHUT UUUUUUUUUUP!"

There was a weary but tolerant sigh from their teacher as she watched the ace run for her life, "Kids these days...Shokuhou-san, Come get these assignments and be on your way. Be sure not to tease your friend too much. . . oh and Misaka-san left her bag, kindly give her that. "

The blonde blink and eyed the yellow fabric inside the bag. "You expect me to carry that? It looks heavy."

"Serves you right, kid. Serves you right."


Friday

Well, that could have been a disaster.

It felt like that meeting took minutes instead of several hours. Flopping on her bed with nary a grunt, Mikoto hid a tired smile. Her chat with Shokuhou may have been short but it was nice. Because avoiding a person makes you miss them. Who knew?

An overall meeting was scheduled weeks ago so there's no way Mikoto can just ditch the whole thing. This was done to periodically check the progress of the programs and projects that students were responsible for.

Their student council did a good job! They were very thorough, strict but made it fun for the others, Mikoto shared a good laugh with the rest of the leaders from very well-timed jokes and interludes.

Meetings like these solidify Mikoto's faith in the next generation.

She sounded old, pfft.

Speaking of jokes, Shokuhou was the last to enter the room wearing a plain pastel yellow hoodie with a cute bee character in the pocket area, looking soft and casual which is against the rules but nobody really batted an eyelash which makes sense, in a way, Shokuhou's just being Shokuhou. However, the rules were basically nil to Mikoto as all she could think of was that that was hers. That hoodie was hers and she didn't remember giving it to Shokuhou.

"Wha—Shokuhou! Those are mine!"

"Oh? Have I reached the skirting quota for the day?" Mikoto winced, Shokuhou eyed her. "Is it? I found them yesterday. I think they're mine."

"Yeah? In my bag? You found them in my bag, didn't you. I don't recall taking it out yesterday."

Shokuhou didn't even address her accusation as she commanded their fellow students to start, leaving Mikoto grumbling while a few of her classmates giggled, the younger ones were too polite to do so in her face.

The meeting went on and she was left subtly eyeing how someone could make a hoodie really sexy when she just looks. . . poofy in it.

They were some segment where Mikoto and Misaki would have to talk for the overall summary of the meeting, it surprisingly went smoothly, save for some stumbling on Mikoto's part, it did help that Shokuhou was being professional, somehow talking formally helps Mikoto focus on their task at hand and not Shokuhou being . . . Shokuhou.

Mikoto sighed on her pillow. She needed serious help. Shokuhuo will be her ruin.

A vision of Touma helping others entered her mind.

Sorry my friend but NOT that kind of help.