"Wow, you really put a dent into that wall," Shokuhou casually remarked, observing the crater she had left with mild fascination. "Are you sure your real esper ability isn't that unusually thick skull of yours?"
"Oh shut the fuck up," Kuroko griped, her cheeks still faintly flushed with lingering embarrassment.
Misaki merely gave a snicker in response, bringing some heat back onto her face. In lieu of a standard reply, she settled for grumbling under her breath, whilst shooting Misaki a dirty look as she crossed her arms and huffed.
"So, are you done having fun at my expense?" Kuroko testily asked.
Once Shokuhou's sniggering had died down, she made a show of considering her question, lightly humming to herself before another smirk graced her lips. "I don't know, there are still a few things I'm rather curious about. Like, were the bunny-girl figures of myself and Misaka really necessary?"
"Look, they were high quality, and they were cute, that's all that mattered to me!" Kuroko snapped defensively. "Everything else was irrelevant! Sure, I prefer figurines of a smaller scale than those, but there were slim pickings for Misaki Shokuhou figures, and the first major scale produced before it was a fat disappointment. And once I had one, of course I had to get the matching Mikoto, and—gah, what the hell are you making me say?!"
She stomped her foot in frustration, blushing up a storm as her eyes cut daggers into Shokuhou.
Misaki snickered some more, before finally relenting as she let her amusement die out. She adopted a more serious look afterward, and said, "Fine, fine. We do have more important things to talk about. If you'll join me back at the table?"
Kuroko shot her a sour glare, but relented with a sigh and nodded. She retook her seat, Shokuhou sitting back down across from her moments later.
"...You're taking this whole 'my world is a fictional reality' thing a lot more casually than I would have expected," Kuroko said, giving Misaki an uncertain look.
At that, Misaki gave a small shrug and leaned back in her seat. "Well, it's…odd, I won't lie. But I know I'm real, and I know the world around me objectively exists. The fact that a version of it was depicted in a multi-media franchise is an…oddity, but not entirely outside the realm of possibility. Perhaps it's just a side-effect of multiverse theory? Considering the fact your past life was from another reality entirely, we certainly know that there's at least one other universe out there. Ours, perhaps, were just linked together, or bled into one another in an unexpected way."
Kuroko raised an eyebrow at that simple explanation, which caused Misaki to scoff and roll her eyes.
"What, do you have a better explanation here?"
"Fine, fine," she relented, raising her hands in supplication. "I guess I'm just…suspicious you're taking it so well, is all."
Shokuhou made a face, before frowning a moment later as she sorted out her thoughts. "Honestly, I'm trying not to think about it too much. The thought of my life being viewed as entertainment to millions of voyeurs is…troubling, to say the least. I can least take some comfort that it's not a wholly accurate portrayal, if the differences you've noticed are any indication. Besides, it's not like we're being watched right now. It's more of a glimpse of what was, and could have been, in a way."
Kuroko felt the hairs on her neck rise up in response, almost having a sixth-sense that Misaki wasn't entirely right there. She almost brought up the idea of a certain popular fan genre, but she just as quickly cut off that train of thought. Nope, she wasn't touching that with a ten foot pole. Besides, Misaki had read her mind, so she must have been aware of the concept anyway.
The only place entertaining that train of thought would lead to was utter madness.
"Alright," Kuroko allowed, nodding her head in deference. "Well, there's a lot of ground to cover here. What did you want to discuss first?"
Misaki remained silent for a good few moments, silently contemplating her words. Then…
"So…magic? Really?"
Kuroko couldn't help but give an amused snort at that. "What, that is tripping you up? Shokuhou, look around us. We live in a sci-fi city state where literal children are taught how to use superhuman abilities. And the existence of magic is what trips you up?"
"Hey, at least Academy City and Espers are all based on scientific principles!" she shot back, crossing her arms in a huff. "And not based on a bunch of esoteric mumbo-jumbo. But…fine, I see your point. Certainly from the perspective of your old life, the two concepts would not seem…overly dissimilar."
"I'm glad you see things my way," Kuroko dryly noted. "Hm, well, I'm not sure what else you want to discuss about magic. My…memories of the main series, and most of the magic stuff are rather…spotty."
"Gee, and who do we have to thank for that? You bought the light novels, but never took the time to read them? And I wasn't even in the original series," Misaki pouted, giving her a cross look. "I also note I had a whole ongoing manga you didn't deign to read, either. So much for being my biggest fan!"
"I was waiting for the official English translation! I don't like going out of my way to read fan translations!" Kuroko shot back with a scowl. "And I…I was busy! I was reading the Overlord and Haruhi light novels at the time! How was I supposed to know that that knowledge would become so critical to my future?!"
Misaki rolled her eyes again and gave a dramatic sigh. She remarked, "Well, there's not much we can do about it now, is there? At least we have time to prepare for what you do know, if nothing else."
Kuroko nodded at that, and the two of them started to talk more in detail. Misaki prompted her here and there, helping her to recall other details she had forgotten or missed since her initial accounting of future events. They talked of Himegami and the sorcerer using her as bait, the future conflict with the Roman Catholic Church over Orsola Aquinas, the problems that surrounded Hyouka Kazakiri and the Imaginary Number District, the threat of the mercenary Oriana Thompson and what she and her benefactor planned for the Daihasei Festival, and so on. They even went over what she remembered about DA, Esther Rosenthal, and Ayu Mitsuari. By the time they finished, they had gone over just about everything significant she could remember about the magic side of things, and then some.
"Well, at least we can start to make plans and preparations for those future conflicts, if nothing else," Misaki said, as they wound down that particular conversation. "In fact, our most pressing issue right now, with regards to this topic, is preparing for Index's arrival in July. Assuming, of course, that happens on time. The moving time-tables of Mitsuko Kongou's arrival at Tokiwadai make me…concerned that things may not stick to that vague timeline you remember."
Kuroko grimaced at that, but there wasn't anything she could really say to refute it, either. Shokuhou had a point. Furthermore, it would be foolish to think things would stay to that neat, orderly schedule, especially as she affected more open changes to the wider world. There was no telling how her own actions and interventions would change and influence the course of future events.
"That is a fair point, honestly. I suppose we'll just have to keep an eye out for Index, in the event she does move into the city early," she acknowledged. "Moving on from that…in my eyes, there are three other, major issues we should focus on right here and now: saving the Sisters, stopping Gensei Kihara, and stopping Harumi Kiyama."
Misaki nodded slowly at her words, mulling them over as she slowly responded. "Yes…that does feel like something we can influence right away, if nothing else. I know I've been in your head already, but, humor me. What, exactly, do you plan to do with Kiyama in the first place?"
Kuroko leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms as she formulated her reply. "Well, I plan on meeting with Heaven Canceller tomorrow. I…have a feeling he'll believe me, or at least take me seriously. I know too much about the city's darker secrets to simply dismiss as being, well, crazy or something. Once I have him on board, I plan on taking him with me to meet Harumi Kiyama in person. The only reason she went through with the Level Upper scheme was because she was denied access to Tree Diagram. I have a feeling that Heaven Canceller can help her cut through that red tape, however, and get her the access she needs. He has deep connections to Aleister himself, so he must have considerable sway and influence in the city at large. And even if he's unable to do that, having someone else aiding her in her quest would be good. Between the two of them, they could figure out a way to awaken her students early, and perhaps with the aid of Tree Diagram, figure out a way to do it without sparking off the Poltergeist incidents in the first place."
"I see. It is…a decent enough plan. I'm not so sure I trust this Heaven Canceller doctor as much as you do, but I'll defer to you on that," Shokuhou replied, before giving her a hardened look. "Still, what's your plan if Kiyama rejects that offer? Or ends up going through with her scheme regardless, if Heaven Canceller is unable to help her?"
Kuroko bit her lip, staring right back at Misaki. She could sense the unspoken, real question from her: whether or not she intended to use Mental Out to manipulate Harumi Kiyama into compliance. Truth be told, it was an option she had been mulling over, even before she had spoken with Misaki today. On the surface, it certainly seemed like the best, most convenient way to deal with Kiyama. But…
"We'll deal with it if it comes to that," she said at last. "I'd rather not do anything…drastic to Kiyama. She's a good, kind woman at heart. I don't want to hurt her, not if we can help it. Besides, she hasn't done anything bad yet. Assuming the timeline matches up, she shouldn't have started spreading the Level Upper out into the wild, not yet. She, strictly speaking, hasn't committed any crimes."
"I'm pretty sure she breaks public decency laws all the time," Shokuhou remarked with a small smile. "If your memories of her match up with reality."
"...Any crimes related to the Level Upper, at least," Kuroko dutifully amended.
Shokuhou took her words into consideration, nodding after a long moment. "I do admit, it would be good to have someone as smart and intelligent as her on our side. It could prove useful dealing with future problems, as well. Speaking of…"
Misaki sighed, looking off to the side for a moment before staring right back at her. Then she said:
"So then, Accelerator next. Though, that might also need to be a subject we table. I…am going to have to think about how we approach that thorny issue. I'd use my ability on him if I could, but it would almost certainly just bounce off of him. I have the thought that striking the affiliated research facilities all at once could give us beneficial results, but…even going at them one at a time, your memories show that Misaka's attempts in that regard were ultimately in vain. I could brainwash the involved researchers into abandoning the project, but I fear that the people truly in control would be beyond easy reach. So as it is, I'm not seeing a lot of simple, neat solutions to this issue."
Kuroko gave a pained smile, and nodded in commiseration. "I'm glad I'm not alone, in that regard. The best idea I've had so far is to just throw Touma at the problem, and that doesn't feel good enough to me. I have some ideas and theories, like using the Level Upper or perhaps figuring out a way to replicate the Counter style Amata Kihara used to fight Accelerator. But I'd need to talk to an expert before going forward with those plans. Honestly, I think it's best if we deal with Kiyama first, and then address Accelerator and the Sisters afterward."
"A fair call," Misaki acknowledged. "In the meantime, I'll definitely give some thought and consideration to how we might deal with him as well. Once I come up with a plan, I'll let you know."
Kuroko felt a shard of guilt stab at her, as they tabled that issue. The longer they delayed this, the more Sisters would needlessly die the entire while. Still, she didn't want to rush headlong into this fight. Accelerator would, by far, be the hardest opponent she could face in Academy City, at least until terroristic Magicians started sneaking into the city in earnest. They'd only have one shot at saving the Sisters, and she didn't want to waste it.
"That leaves us with—" she started to say, but Shokuhou cut her off.
"Kihara. Both he, and his granddaughter Therestina, are going to be severe threats in the near future, if your memories are reliable. Gensei especially so," Misaki said, nodding to herself. "They are going to be…troublesome, to say the least. Honestly, it disturbs me that Gensei was able to bypass my security measures protecting Exterior so easily in your memories…"
"Which brings me to my next point," Kuroko stated, and shot her a cross look. "Get rid of Exterior. Yesterday."
Shokuhou pursed her lips, and shot her a sour look in response. Kuroko, however, was undeterred.
"I feel like a broken record at this point, but you have been inside of my head, Shokuhou. You know how close Gensei Kihara got to success. You can increase your security measures all you want, if you think it'll do you good knowing what you do now. But the only way to one hundred percent ensure that he cannot gain access to it and abuse it, is to destroy it. Take that away, and we make Gensei Kihara's future plan to hijack the Misaka Network a lot harder to implement, to say the least. If not thwart that plan entirely."
Misaki grimaced, but she didn't have a ready argument to deconstruct her point. She crossed her arms, tapping a finger against her elbow as she searched for something to say.
"...I will take that opinion under advisement," she relented, though looked none too happy about it. "You do have a…fair point. Though even if I do decide to destroy Exterior, I would be reluctant to do so right away. It could prove necessary to future plans that we come up with…"
Kuroko raised her eyebrow, looking none too pleased with Misaki's stance on the issue. But, she didn't press against it all the same. They had time, at least, to discuss this in more detail, and Misaki did have a point. It was possible that Exterior could serve some use for them, so discarding it right away might prove more detrimental in the short term. Still…
"If you haven't gotten rid of it by the time the Daihasei Festival starts, I'm doing it for you," she bluntly stated. "I'll track down where it is if I need to, and destroy it however I can."
Misaki looked none too impressed with her response in turn, though she too chose not to comment on it. Instead, she sighed, before shooting her a more significant stare, something that made Kuroko furrow her brow in puzzlement.
Then, Misaki started talking again, saying,
"There's one more thing I wanted to address, about Gensei and Therestina in particular. Shirai: I'm not going to let you kill them."
A moment of silence passed, and Kuroko stared at Misaki, dumbfounded by her statement. It took her a long moment to come up with a reply, the words eventually leaving her throat as she snarled,
"Excuse me?!"
"I am not budging on this, Shirai," Shokuhou insisted, staring at her firmly. "I was inside of your head, and I know how you feel about them. I know what you want to do with them, if given the chance. And that is not going to happen. Not intentionally, at least. I…if something happens in the heat of combat, I can at least understand that. But I will not allow you to do anything rash, Shirai. I'm not letting you become a murderer."
Kuroko glared heatedly at her, her inner sense of justice bristling at her flippant words. She gripped the edges of the table, her fingers curling around the polished wood, as her anger continued to rise.
"Almost every fucking member of the Kihara clan are monsters," she snarled, and slammed a closed fist against the table for emphasis. "Gensei Kihara is probably the worst of them! You've been inside of my head, and you saw all the awful things he's done! Experimenting on his own fucking granddaughter, other child experiments, hell, he's the whole architect behind the current Level Six Shift Project. He is the reason all the Sisters are dying right now! And god only knows what he's done that I just don't know about. He's the fucking Mengele of Academy City, and that's saying a lot, considering how many shitty mad scientists run amuck in this town. And then there's all the stuff he will try to do, if we don't stop him. He deserves to die!"
"I don't disagree with that," Misaki replied, maintaining her own calm demeanor in contrast. Though Kuroko noticed she had her remote in hand now, her fingers idly tracing over the buttons as she continued to speak. "He's a monster, and he deserves death. If someone else gets to him, well, I won't be shedding any tears for that sociopath. But you're not going to be the one to kill him, Shirai. Or Therestina, or Accelerator, or anyone else. We can stop them, hopefully without having to resort to other, more drastic methods. But murder will not be our first resort."
Kuroko narrowed her eyes at Misaki, and her eyes flickered back to the remote now held in her hand. The faint memory of it clicking echoed in her mind, though she hardly had a chance to focus on that before Shokuhou issued another statement that stopped her cold.
"I know how you feel, Shirai. Believe me, I experienced the darkness and callousness of this city first hand. I'm not saying this out of some…squeamish desire to do the 'right' thing, far from it. I am willing to do a lot for the sake of myself and my friends, so that we all have a better life. I have done a lot of awful things myself in that pursuit, especially when it comes to my ability. I brainwashed dozens of scientists, researchers, and workers at the Clone Dolly Workshop, I fundamentally changed their lives in ways some people might consider 'monstrous' and 'beyond the pale'. But there are lines that I do not want to cross, not if I can help it. And most importantly, I don't want you to get lost in this city's dark side out of some misguided attempt at justice."
Kuroko fell silent at that, a look of uncertainty flickering across her features. Misaki noticed her doubt, and seized upon it as she continued to speak.
"Falling into this city's darkness is so much easier than you'd think it would be, and I fear that's the road you would take if you did anything like that. The way you are right now, Shirai, this city's underbelly would twist you into something completely, utterly unrecognizable. I…I just can't allow that. So just let me take care of them. I can use Mental Out on Therestina and Gensei, and anyone else that we deem as a critical threat, and afterward…they won't be a threat anymore. So please, Shirai, just listen to me on this one. Please."
She stared down at the table in silence, doubt and uncertainty worming its way through her mind. Misaki seemed to sense this, as well, and went for the finishing blow.
"I know you care, deeply, about the injustices that go on in this city. And I know you want to use your knowledge to help the innocents of Academy City, however you can. But tell me this: would Kuroko Shirai, the girl you don't think you are, approve of anything as extreme as murder? Would she ever go to such lengths, if she could help it?"
Kuroko flinched at that, feeling as if she'd been physically struck. She closed her eyes, letting out a pained sigh as she leaned back against her chair. The fight seemed to leave her entirely, as all the anger and ire that had been burning up inside of her was reduced to cold ash.
"...That's not fair," she said at last, her voice small and quiet.
"I know, and I'm sorry," Shokuhou replied, sounding genuinely apologetic. "I just don't want you to do anything you'd later regret, Shirai. Even murdering bad men would have profound effects on your already fragile mental state. So please, just let me take care of it, if it comes to it."
Kuroko remained silent for a good, long moment. Then, finally, she gave a small, reluctant nod.
"...Fine. I'll leave it in your hands, Shokuhou."
She kept her eyes closed, and Misaki remained silent in the face of her acquiescence. Then, she heard the shuffling of moving feet, and wasn't too surprised to feel Misaki hugging her again moments later.
"That was dirty of me, and I'm sorry," she repeated, gently stroking her head. "I'm just worried about you, Shirai. I hope you'll forgive me."
Kuroko didn't say anything in response, but she leaned into her touch all the same, issuing another sigh as she rested her head against Shokuhou's chest. Misaki continued to pat her head in response, gently threading her fingers through her hair as silence descended upon them.
"I think…we should call it here for now, don't you? I think we could both use some time to rest and decompress, now. It's been a rather eventful day."
Kuroko finally opened her eyes, and glanced over at Misaki. She smiled down at her, in a much more gentle, sincere manner than she was used to seeing from her. She felt an odd, unwelcome flutter in her stomach in response, and she quickly looked away, a faint blush rising to her cheeks.
"That's probably for the best," she ultimately said, saying nothing else as she continued to lean into Misaki's touch.
However, her brows furrowed again as a rather important question occurred to her. "How late is it even, anyway?"
"Oh, a little late. Maybe around…10 PM now?" Misaki airily replied.
Kuroko froze at that, and she felt a nervous sweat start to break out on her face.
"It's that late?! Th-that's way past curfew!"
The Dorm Supervisor's face flashed in her mind's eye, her glasses glinting ominously as she cracked her knuckles. Kuroko gave a flustered squeak at the mental image, and teleported out of Shokuhou's grip, making a beeline for the room's exit.
"C-Come on, we have to go now! I don't want to get my neck snapped again! I-I've only just healed!"
Shokuhou gave an amused laugh in response, and casually strolled on over to her, reaching over to pat her head. "Don't worry, Shirai. I've already covered for you."
"...You have?" she asked, a cautious but hopeful tone present in her voice.
"Yes, I have. I called your dorm, and spoke with the supervisor. I let her know that you were feeling ill again, and that you were staying with me tonight. She seemed mollified by the idea of you staying at the other Tokiwadai dorm, if nothing else. And, of course, I assured her you'd return with a proper doctor's note this time," Misaki informed her.
Kuroko fully relaxed at that, issuing a relieved sigh as she placed a hand over her heart. "Oh thank god. Ugh, I almost had a heart attack there. Believe me, you don't want to wind up on that woman's bad side. I swear, she could probably take out Accelerator himself if she really wanted to…"
"Oh believe me, I'm more than aware of how intimidating she can be," Shokuhou wryly remarked. "Now, come along, then. We can go grab something to eat, and then go over to my second apartment, since it's closer than my dorm back at School Garden."
"...Wait, am I actually staying with you?" Kuroko inquired, peering up at Misaki skeptically.
"Do you have a better option in mind?" Misaki shot back, placing a hand on her hip. "Uiharu is likely asleep by now, and if the Dorm Supervisor caught you sneaking back into the Exterior Dorm, your entire cover would be blown. For that matter, I'm not about to let you stay at a hotel tonight."
"...Alright, fair enough," she conceded. "Fine, fine. Let's get going, then."
Misaki took the lead, Kuroko following her out as they made their way through the building. Kuroko wasn't entirely surprised to find out that she had been taken to the Exterior building, the interior of the place matching up to her own memories of that same place. Misaki guided her through the lab, until they exited through the front lobby of the establishment. She already had a car waiting for them, and the driver sped off as soon as they were settled inside.
True to her word, Misaki had them stop by MocRonall's first, the two of them grabbing a quick nighttime meal before heading over to Misaki's apartment complex. They were dropped off at the entrance, and from there Misaki guided her inside, until they came to her room.
The apartment itself was well furnished, though simple enough in its layout and design. A kitchen area to the right side of the apartment, and along the left side there was a door she presumed led to the bathroom. The center of the apartment, meanwhile, was taken by a large and comfortable looking bed, a wide-screen TV mounted on a table stand, a closet along the right wall, and a large, fully stocked bookshelf along the back wall. She also noticed a glass sliding door at the end of the apartment that led to a modest looking balcony.
"I didn't know you had your own apartment," Kuroko mused as they walked inside, her eyes scanning the interior of the room. "I didn't know we were even allowed to own our own places outside of our assigned dorms."
"Well, it may not be something Tokiwadai is officially aware of," Shokuhou admitted, setting her bag on a table as they walked in. "But I thought it was handy to have around, just in case. Plus, well, it's nice to have a place of my own to use, as need be."
Kuroko hummed noncommittally, though the wheels started turning in her head all the same as she looked around. Perhaps she ought to look into renting out her own backup apartment, in the near future? It'd be good to have a place to retreat to when she started going out at night.
"Well, it's plenty late already, so we'd best get ready for bed," Misaki said, idly stretching as she gave a small sigh. "Shirai, why don't you take a bath first? I think I still have some clothes from last year that should fit you well enough…"
Kuroko shrugged at that, and started heading over toward the bathroom. Before she entered inside, however, Shokuhou called out to her again.
"Shirai…there's nothing to be ashamed of, you know. It's still your body. You might feel confused by it now, and that's understandable, but there's nothing to be ashamed of. You shouldn't feel any shame about it."
Kuroko stood at the threshold to the bathroom, her face working its way through multiple, conflicted expressions, expressions that Shokuhou had no way of seeing from her vantage point. Eventually, she walked inside of the bathroom and shut the door behind her, leaving her without a reply.
She emerged from the bathroom some time later, dressed in the old pair of pajamas that Misaki had found for her. The clothes were a little tight around her frame, admittedly, but they fit fairly well on her all the same. Shokuhou washed up next, and emerged dressed in her own pair of, surprisingly conservative, pajamas.
"What? Expecting something with more lace and frills?" Misaki teased, upon seeing her questioning gaze. "Something like the fanarts you liked so much?"
"Oh shut up," she insisted, her cheeks heating up as she scowled.
"For the record, I do have something like that," Misaki went on, walking past her and over to the bed. "But, I thought this would be more comfortable for you."
"That's…considerate of you," Kuroko said, reluctantly following after her.
"I do try my best," Shokuhou proclaimed, a self-satisfied tone to her words. She spoke again a second later, her voice more soft and genuine as she said, "Besides, I do care about you, you know. You're going through a hard time right now, and I want to do whatever I can to make you feel more comfortable here."
"Oh," she blinked rapidly, not quite expecting something that sincere. Kuroko looked off to the side, her cheeks still a little red as she mumbled, "Thanks."
Misaki turned off the lights thereafter, and pulled back the covers on her bed before crawling inside. She glanced expectantly at her once she had settled in, and Kuroko somewhat reluctantly got in as well. She tried to maintain a respectful distance from her bedmate, but Shokuhou upended that attempt as she scooted in behind her, an arm wrapping around her stomach while she hugged the back of her head against her chest.
"It's not my fault you're so huggable," she teased, in answer to Kuroko's unspoken question.
Kuroko rolled her eyes, but found she didn't mind the intimate contact as much as she might have thought. If Shokuhou was fine with it, she supposed it wasn't that big of a deal. She had to admit, Misaki did feel oddly…comforting, in a way she found hard to describe.
"Plus, this way you get to be all nice and intimate with your onee-sama!" Misaki added, giggling softly behind her.
"I will tie you up for the rest of the night and take this bed for myself if you don't behave," Kuroko grumbled, rolling her eyes a second time.
"Oh my! I didn't think you were into such perverse play," Misaki immediately shot back, laughing some more. "I don't remember seeing much interest in that sort of stuff from your old life."
"Ugh, shut up," she whined, her blush renewing itself. She reared her leg back, kicking Shokuhou's shin as hard as she could manage. "Can we please not talk about my 'interests' in any sense of the word? God, I really should have thought twice before going to you…"
"Hey, it's not my fault I happened upon some very interesting and disgraceful little secrets in that head of yours," Shokuhou snickered. She laughed even harder when Kuroko kicked her again.
"Shokuhou…"
"Fine, fine, I'll stop teasing you," she relented, her snickers dying down. "Though, before we get some sleep, I was curious about something. You never did give me a proper reply, you know."
"Huh?" Kuroko wracked her brain, trying to recall just what Misaki was referencing. "Wait…do you mean…? You seriously still want me to join your clique?"
"Oh, yes. Now more than ever," Misaki proclaimed. "I know you're hesitant about joining any of the cliques, Shirai, but you really should consider joining mine. First of all, joining up with a clique now will help you get the others off of your back; I doubt Kamino and the others will fully leave you alone, even if you do explicitly turn them down. Claiming you for myself will free you from any more issues there."
"...I suppose," Kuroko accepted. "But—!"
"Second of all," Shokuhou continued, brushing past her objection. "It would give us a plausible excuse for you to remain in close contact with me. If, say, you joined Iori's clique, but still spent time with me personally during and after school…well, Mashiro wouldn't take too kindly to that, and understandably so."
"Fair point," Kuroko allowed, furrowing her brow as she tried to think of a counterargument.
But once more, Misaki continued to speak, giving her little time to come up with a response.
"You being a part of my clique would also allow me close access to you at all times. I could help you maintain a stable emotional state, and help you center yourself should you start to enter any…maudlin states, let us say. And no one would consider your closeness to me an oddity, if you were part of my clique. Plus, such close contact would allow us to talk and scheme even in Tokiwadai itself."
She hummed in response, staring off into the darkness of Shokuhou's bedroom as she mulled over her words. Put like that, it did seem almost…reasonable to join her faction. Beneficial, even, to her long term plans.
"And finally," Misaki went on, a teasing edge to her tone. "If you joined my clique…I would use my considerable influence to make you Misaka's roommate."
That got Kuroko's attention, more than anything else. She glanced back at Misaki, prompting another chuckle from her as she started speaking again.
"Misaka is in need of a new roommate, with her old one transferring out of Tokiwadai. She hasn't been assigned a new one just yet…there are a surprising amount of applications, so the dorm management has been taking their time to sort through them. But, I could use my ability to cut through the red tape, and give you the spot. Assuming you want it, of course."
Kuroko remained silent at that, biting her lip as she thought the offer over. Truth be told, she still wasn't entirely sure how she was going to approach the issue of being Misaka's roommate. When it came to Mikoto, at least, she didn't have Kuroko Shirai's same sense of boundless confidence and fearlessness. Muscling her way in as Mikoto's roommate, as Kuroko Shirai had done in the world that could have been, didn't seem like a feasible option for her.
In which case, was she ever going to get a better opportunity to become Mikoto's roommate than this?
"...I'm not calling you Queen," Kuroko finally replied, a note of warning in her words.
"You don't have to," Misaki said.
"...I'm not committing to it outright, you understand? Just…a trial membership. That's all I'll agree to."
"I think that can be arranged," she said in an amused tone.
Kuroko sighed, settling back against Misaki as she closed her eyes. "Good. Then…I suppose I wouldn't mind the help, if you're willing to offer."
Misaki giggled behind her, and Kuroko felt the lightest peck against the top of her head as she stretched down. "Splendid. That's all I wanted to discuss, then. Goodnight, Shirai."
"Goodnight, Shokuhou," she murmured, letting her body relax into the bed.
No more words were exchanged between them, and all too soon, Kuroko felt herself drifting off into sleep. For the first time since sleeping with Uiharu, Kuroko found herself enjoying a deep, restful slumber.
Author's Note:
And here we are, the conclusion to Misaki and Sadrai's meeting! Hope it lives up to the hype. Sadrai and Misaki have a decent outline of events written down now, so to speak, and Sadrai will try to recruit Heaven Canceller in the next installment. Her circle of allies is, slowly, starting to expand. Hopefully it will be enough for her when she starts acting out in earnest.