Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter Thirty Six: A Landscape of Recovery
Beta:
A few days after her return to Academy City, Naru was chasing a bunch of Skillouts who had gotten their hands on some restricted laser weapons through a back alley in The Strange.
She launched a brace of wind blades at the thugs who were randomly shooting in her direction, and missing entirely as she leapt from building to building after them. She watched with satisfaction as her attack yielded results in the form of a couple of the fools losing their legs.
"Come on out, it's not like you can run. I took your legs." She quipped as she leapt down from her perch two storeys up to land directly on a Skillout whose legs she'd just taken out, crushing his whole chest cavity in the process.
This gruesome sight sent the remainder of the thugs into an even more desperate panic, some even dropping their weapons as they continued to flee. Shaking her head at their foolishness, Naru skipped over to the other poor soul whose legs she'd cut off. Picking up one of the severed limbs, she raised it over her head like a mallet and brought it down on the goon even as he begged.
"P-please! I don't want to die!"
"Stop hitting yourself." Naru said, ignoring his desperate pleas while beating him with his own dismembered leg.
"Please, mercy!" The man continued pitifully crying out.
"Aw, what's wrong Onii-chan? Is this little girl too much for you?" Naru asked, with cutesy innocence, which didn't help dispel the blood of her victims covering her as she hit her victim again.
This seemed too much for the Skill-Out as he passed out, soiling himself in the process.
"Tch, wimps. I should just waste this entire distinct with you trash here. Less trash to be picked up by those Shinobi fuckers."
Tossing his leg away, she finished off the pathetic man by caving his head in with her heel.
"Come out, come out wherever you are~! Don't you guys want the good ending?"
Predictably, the Skillouts were spoilsports and refused to come out.
"If we're playing hide and die, I wanna play too! So the longer you hide, the more painfully you die!" She chirped, the ground around her rumbling as she channeled her chakra into it.
As the localized earthquake intensified, buildings around her started to collapse and crushing her targets, their screams of horror making her smile wickedly.
You better hope none of those buildings were being used by anyone important. Kurama warned.
Don't worry so much. If it was, I'll just have my handlers deal with it. That's their job isn't it. Naru shot back dismissively.
True… Just don't be surprised if you get called something like [Collateral Damage Barbie] if you keep this up.
Hey, I'm not that bad! Naru protested halfheartedly.
You are, but we can discuss that later. The leftovers are crawling out of the woodwork now.
"That was insane you bitch! Were you trying to level the whole District?" One of the Skillouts shouted as he staggered to his feet.
"Yes," Naru confessed nonchalantly. "Or at least the whole area anyways. The Strange could do with some urban renewal."
"You psycho! Die!" The street tough said as he raised his rifle and fired a laser right at Naru, who merely batted the beam away with a lightning enshrouded hand.
"Blah blah blah, all I hear is air being wasted." Naru rolled her eyes and stomped the ground. Rows of earthen spikes rose up and impaled the Skill-Out shooting at her and his few accomplices that had managed to dig their way out of the rubble since the earthquake she'd caused earlier.
"And that's that folks," Naru said with a mocking curtsy to an imaginary audience. "Hope you enjoyed the show."
With that she burst into hysterical laughter.
She was still standing there at the site of the massacre she'd caused, though thankfully she had stopped laughing, when one of the clean up crews from her subordinate organizations arrived.
"You're still here, [Mani-Force]?" The crew's leader said as he walked up to greet her with a smile.
"Aren't you a Dark Sider? Haven't you seen all of its horrors? How can he still be cheerful after seeing all that?" Naru asked as she stared at the man in confusion.
"Huh? Aren't you the same?" The man asked sounding as confused as Naru felt. "I mean you're always smiling even after everything you've done."
"Not anymore," Naru told him seriously.
"Something changed?"
"Well, after you get treated to torture for a week straight, you really come to appreciate what's the important things in life. The real ones. And pretending to be a ball of sunshine when I'm not is one of those things that isn't important. So to hell with it."
"Huh? So what are you really like then?"
"More serious at least," Naru said with a helpless shrug. "I'm still figuring things out. I just know that I need a change."
"Like you were today?"
Naru nodded.
"So you're taking a page out of [Meltdowner]'s book?"
Naru glared at the man, which caused him to step back and raise his hands in a placating gesture. "Hey, hey, didn't mean anything by it. I'm going to go check on the guys."
With that, he fled to supervise his crew. The coward.
Sighing in frustration, the blonde spun on her feet and walked away.
"I think I'll work on my Frames today. Really gotta cut down on the time it takes to transition between them."
It was the next day and Naru found herself having lunch with the rest of the Trinity gang at some new cafe that Uiharu-chan had discovered which, unsurprisingly, had earned itself a reputation for having wonderful cakes.
They were just starting on the much hyped desserts when Naru's phone buzzed to indicate a new message.
"Let me check that," the blonde told her friends as she checked her phone. "Huh? It's a message from Shutaura."
"Your girlfriend?" Shirai-chan asked curiously. "What's it say?"
"She's inviting me to a Staycation. At a luxury penthouse, no less!" Naru gasped, shocked by the whole thing.
"As expected of an ojou-sama!" Uiharu-chan said, her attention drawn away from her cakes by her other obsession. "You have to accept!"
"H-Huh? B-B-But-! That's a really big step, we, we haven't even done more then kiss! I, um," Naru's cheeks inflamed to a cherry color, "What's this supposed to mean?! We're spending the night together right? D-Does- Is something supposed to happen?!"
"I don't see the issue." Saten-chan said, quirking an eyebrow. "I spend nights at Accel's place all the time."
Everyone looked at the [AIM Sovereign] weirdly at her announcement which just seemed to confuse the poor girl.
"I feel like I'm losing somehow." Mikoto-sempai muttered, inadvertently defusing the rising tension.
"Get a boyfriend first, then we can measure things." Naru informed her cheekily, leaving Mikoto-sempai sputtering. "And Saten-chan?"
"Yes?"
"No one is taking relationship advice from you. Ever. Capiche, Miss Masochist?"
"Okay," Saten-chan said with a pout.
"Alright, with that outta the way. Should I accept?" Naru asked her friends earnestly.
"Yes, you have not been well lately, Namikaze-san." Shirai-chan told her with a nod.
"Not well? You make me sound like I've been sick." Naru shot back sounding put out. "But yeah, I know whatcha mean. But why would going to this help?"
"It's two ojou-samas all alone! Of course it'll help!" Uiharu-chan insisted illogically, her cheeks flushed. "It always makes things better."
"Uh, anyone else?" Naru asked, leaning slightly away from the crazed tech wiz.
"She's your girlfriend isn't she?" Mikoto-sempai said. "So spending time with her will help you relax wouldn't it? So why not go for it."
"Saten-chan?"
"I thought I don't get a say in this," Saten-chan asked, tilting her head in innocent confusion.
"Ugh, just give me your opinion would ya?"
"Alright," Saten-chan nodded, before pondering for a moment. "78.9% chance that you going will greatly improve your mood. 100% chance it'll improve your mood somewhat. So, go."
"What's with those numbers?" The blue eyed girl asked warily.
"You want to know the odds of whether you get lucky?" Saten-chan asked, a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
"Saten-san!" Uiharu-chan hissed, slapping her best friend on the arm. "Don't troll Namikaze-san like that. ...Though I would like to know later!"
Saten-chan pouted but reined herself in. "Only because Uiharu asked."
Whipped. Naru and all of the duo's present friends thought in unison.
"Anyways, I do think going will be good for you, Naru-san."
"Well, if everyone thinks so… I guess I'll tell her it's a go." Naru told them actually feeling nervous as she fumbled out a positive reply to her girlfriend's invitation.
"Tsundere!" Mikoto-sempai said, trying to cover it with a cough.
And her Sempai was totally wrong, she was not acting like a tsundere!
You totally are. Kurama chimed in uninvited, but who cared about his opinion.
That weekend, Naru followed Shutaura's lead as they walked into the elegant penthouse that the older girl had rented and gasped in awe. The place was luxurious beyond her imagining. It even had a private indoor pool!
"Shu, please tell me you didn't spend your whole year's savings on this?"
"Not at all," her girlfriend reassured her. "Ladylee-sama and Oyafune-sama are sponsoring the bill."
"The old hags huh, why?" The Tokiwadai student cocked her head in confusion.
Shutaura shrugged, her carry bag shifting with the motion. "You can imagine why Oyafune-sama would do it, but Ladylee-sama apparently is doing it to curry favor with the Director."
"At least one of them is normal."
"Which one?" The paramilitary leader asked, blinking in confusion.
"You know what? I can't say." Naru admitted. Considering the situation, it was hard to tell. On the one hand, it was expected that Oyafune would want to help but this seemed excessive even for her. She was usually a little more light in her touch when she intervened. On the other hand, while Ladylee did tend to take every opportunity to eke out some kind of leverage over the City's Directors, again this seemed to be outside the scope of her usual modus operandi.
"So what do you want to enjoy first?" Shutaura asked, thankfully pulling Naru away from the increasingly tangled mess that was her attempt to decipher which of the sponsors of the day's festivities was acting more in character.
"The pool. Definitely the pool!" Naru replied enthusiastically.
"Then I hope you brought a swimsuit." Her girlfriend said with a teasing smile. It was a very nice one.
Naru just smirked and pulling a bag out of her luggage, skipped off to the bathroom. "I'll go change first."
Shutaura stood there shaking her head in amusement at her girlfriend's enthusiasm.
A few minutes later, Naru was waiting impatiently at the pool for her girlfriend to finish changing and join her.
For the occasion, Naru had chosen to sport a conservative blue one-piece with frills that flattered her innocent visage. It had, much to her disappointment, garnered only a slight blush from Shutaura but Naru was sure that a little bit of work getting herself all wet from swimming and maybe needing a little help with suntan lotion -She didn't care that she was inside- would get her stiff significant other all hot and bothered like she wanted.
At least that's how it happened in all my doujins. And they've not failed me yet. The Level 5 thought to herself though these were quickly shelved as Shutaura made her appearance.
As her girlfriend finally walked into the pool area, Naru found she needed no help getting worked up herself, not when Shutaura looked smoking hot in that flattering black and white bikini that showed off her athletic, toned body.
"Oh sweet Science," Naru whispered involuntarily, earning a deep full body blush from Shutaura.
"Thank you," the usually brash paramilitary leader said almost bashfully.
"No no, thank you."
Much to her chagrin, her compliment earned the blonde a push into the pool by her embrassassed girlfriend.
She wasn't alone in there long though as still blushing tomato red, Shutaura dived in after her splashing a newly surfaced Naru with a face full of water from her wake.
"Hey!" Naru shouted back indignantly before kicking a wave at her girlfriend.
Said older girl just returned it with a sweep of her own hand that sent a small wave back at the blonde. Thus it was that the two girlfriends descended into a childish fit of water play in the indoor pool.
After playing so much in the water, Naru and Shutaura had decided to spend the latter half of the day firmly on dry land. Hence why the two were now dressed in comfortable pajamas, a simple flannel set for Naru and rather daringly for Shutaura her bra and panties.
At least initially. Though after some gentle ribbing from Naru, Shutaura put on a tank top and yoga pants. It was still a sight to behold, for certain, though, so it was hardly a lost. Especially when she got to see Shutaura blushing up a storm when she called her an 'exhibitionist' as part of her teasing. Seeing her usually tight laced girlfriend all embarrassed never got old.
When they were both appropriately dressed, they had cuddled into each other's side on the master bedroom's bed to enjoy some movies from the suite's impressive library.
"Seriously, there's more flicks here than on Netflix!"
"This is Academy City." Shutaura reminded her blonde girlfriend. "We are a lot more advanced than the outside world."
"But we only output like a half dozen movies a year max! Where did all these hundreds of others come from?"
"Small local productions from around the world that megacorporations like Netflix don't think are worth acquiring probably."
"Still think it's bullshit."
"It is. Doesn't mean it's illogical bullshit."
Both girls chuckled at that.
"So whatcha want to watch?" Naru asked, as they both calmed down.
"Let's watch the new Godzilla flick. It's always nice to see the King of Monsters own some silly contender."
"Sure!" Naru agreed as she made her way through the menu and selected the aforementioned movie.
As the intro played on the widescreen television mounted in front of the bed, Naru felt her cheeks heat up as Shutaura wormed her arms around her slim waist. The brunette even kissed the crown of her head!
Kya! Naru could feel steam coming out of her ears. I-Is this a flag event? H-How am I supposed to react?!
"Relax," Shutaura told her tenderly, her lips muffled by the blonde's hair. "Just enjoy it and the movie."
If Naru were more honest, she wanted more cuddle kisses. She settled for scooting closer into the warmth of her girlfriend, her head nestled under the teenager's chin. Unfortunately, it seemed Shutaura was fresh out of kisses. She genuinely seemed caught up in the movie and was distracted by it too much for anymore romantic gestures. At least she kept cuddling with Naru though. The warmth of her body against her own was heavenly.
Godzilla's iconic roar echoing from the room's surround sound speakers caught Naru's attention and with a pleased sigh, she let herself be swept up in the movie too. At least, it was exciting.
And Kurama, respecting her private time with her girlfriend, didn't even give any commentary so it was a warm and peaceful night.
Shutaura is so warm.
For the first time since her kidnapping, as she snuggled with her girlfriend… she felt safe.
The weekend after her staycation, Naru joined the rest of the Trinity, Kuroko and Uiharu at Saten-chan's house for a sleepover. The Level 5 blonde was nothing but sunshine and lollipops as far as her friends could see, even more so than she was over the school week.
Which was no surprise. Naru was happy and excited! She had been waiting this whole week to share what had happened at the Staycation!
This enthusiasm seemed to relieve her friends, and that just made Naru smile even more brightly. It showed just how much they actually cared for her.
"So where are Janie-chan and Febrie-chan?" Naru asked as Saten-chan guided them up to her room.
"In my bedroom waiting for us," their host said as she pushed open the door to the aforementioned room and gestured her friends inside.
The first thing the girls noticed about the place was just how big it was. It was the size of most apartments in the City.
"Science! This is the biggest bedroom I've seen in this City outside a hotel. How do you afford it?" Shirai-chan asked, shocked at the size of the place.
"We do run a successful AIM research lab." Saten-chan pointed out with a shrug. "Besides, both Mikoto-sempai and Naru-san's research budgets would allow them to afford this too if they could live outside the dorms."
"Really?" Mikoto-sempai asked in surprise.
"Yes, really," Naru informed her clueless sempai. "Honestly, you should know your finances better."
Apparently sensing the onset of another of her back and forths with Sempai and wishing to preempt it, Saten-chan cut in before their spark plug of an upperclassmen could say anything.
"Everyone is away today." The Number 3 said with a smile. "Kaa-san and Shinobu-san are at a conference, and my siblings know better than to drop by unannounced tonight. So we have not just my bedroom but the whole house to ourselves."
This revelation garnered smiles from everyone. The prospect of having the run of Saten-chan's house was exciting in a oddly mundane way that Naru hadn't really experienced before. Its newness just added to her excitement.
She wasn't the only one excited though, as a animated Uiharu skipped over and grabbed one of her arms.
"Namikaze-san, Namikaze-san! You have to dish what happened with you and Sequenzia-san!" Uiharu begged while looking her in the eyes with terrifyingly effective puppy dog eyes.
Naru was made of stern stuff though and held her ground.
"Hm hm! I don't kiss and tell!" Naru informed her overly curious friend with her nose turned up into the air, playing coy.
"Naru-nee kissed someone?" Febrie-chan asked eagerly. Janie-chan nodding enthusiastically behind her. "Who?"
"Yes she did. Janie-chan, Febrie-chan, make her tell us." Uiharu told them in a stage-whisper.
"Fifty thousand yen." Saten-chan said with an open palm towards Uiharu-chan and a sparkle in her eyes. "For that price I'll tell you all you want to know, Uiharu."
The twins raced off at this and returned moments later with a pair of piggy banks which they emptied to count out their savings.
"Girls," the info broker said with a sigh. "Rui-nee was just kidding."
"Aw~!" Both little blondes said with a pout.
"Psh, like you know." Naru weakly rebuffed, though her cheeks turned red because she was sure that Saten-chan could know if she really wanted to.
Darn it, my private cuddles are mine and mine alone!
It was at this moment that Naru was distracted by her phone vibrating. Pausing her private thoughts, she pulled the device out to discover that she just received a message from her roommate, Awatsuki-chan.
[Namikaze-san, Chao-san and the Rabbit Faction are going around asking about you. Oh! Shokuhou-sama is as well! Should I relay anything for you?]
"Who's that?" Shirai-chan asked curiously as she took a break from berating Uiharu-chan for behaving in 'a manner unbecoming of a Judgement agent'. Ha! Pot meet kettle.
"Just Awatsuki-chan checking up on me. Let me shoot off a quick reply, 'kay?"
No one objected as Naru did so.
[Just let them know I'm at Saten-chan's with the Trinity. We're having a sleepover.]
[Roger. Enjoy yourself, Namikaze-san. See you tomorrow!]
"Huh? Didn't expect that fake middle schooler to care so much." Sempai said suddenly, causing Naru to turn to her and frown.
"Misaki-san contacted you?"
"Yeah, she wanted to confirm you really were at a sleepover with us." The [Railgun] said, rolling her eyes. "Why she didn't just ask you directly I don't know."
"She knows Naru-chan will lie if she was on a mission that's why." Saten-chan said from where she was setting up a range of nail polish in every color of the rainbow with the help of the twins.
"And why not you?"
"'Cos I'd cover for Naru-chan of course."
Naru's heart skipped a beat at that. Kurama is right. I think Saten-chan really is my best friend. Who else would consistently cover for me like that?
Of course I'm right, the demon fox said irritably. Which one of us can read emotions again?
The Number 2 didn't reply just smiled at the realization.
"Why did Shokuhou want to know where the Chibi is anyways?"
"She's being a worrywart is all," Naru chimed in. "You know like you lot are?"
"Being worried about our friend when they've just been through something traumatic isn't being a worrywart," Sempai shot back defensively.
Further conversation was put on hold when suddenly the doorbell rang.
"Expecting more guests, Saten-san?" Shirai-chan asked curiously. "Didn't you say we had the house to ourselves tonight?"
"Yes, but we're still short one more participant."
"Who?" Uiharu-chan asked, blinking in innocent confusion.
Smirking, Saten-chan demurred on providing a answer by choosing to instead walk out of the room to presumably collect the new arrival. Curious, Naru followed after her only to discover her newly recognised best friend facing Accelerator and the adorably chibi clone of Sempai known as Last Order.
"You want your nails painted, Accel?" Naru greeted the Number 1 cheekily.
"Shut it, Jailbait!"
"If I'm jailbait then isn't Saten-chan~ jailbait too? Isn't she your girlfriend?"
"No!" Accel corrected hastily.
"I'm not your girlfriend?" Saten said with tears in her eyes.
"What!? No! I mean yes!" Accel said, stumbling to find an appropriate reply.
Saten bit her lip and a tear trailed down her cheek.
"Damn it!" Accel shouted as he pulled Saten into a hug. "You are my girlfriend, alright!? Stop letting that damned rabbit jerk around with your feelings!"
"I really wanted to hear that you know," Saten whispered quietly as she happily returned Accel's hug.
Unbeknownst to a thoroughly distracted Accel, Saten-chan shot her blonde friend a thumbs up behind his back.
Just paying it back, bestie. Naru thought as she watched the scene with a smile.
Observing the byplay, Last Order's eyes sparkled. Noticing this, Naru winked at the little clone and whispered, "I'll teach you how to do that if you want."
"Happy now, Saten-chan~?" Naru teased as Accel left after a long hug with his newly official girlfriend.
"Over the moon," The brunette confessed.
"Saten-sama, looks like it, Misaka Misaka agrees. Your cheeks are all rosy and you're smiling so beautifully, Misaka Misaka observes." Last Order piped up.
"Thank you, Order-chan." Saten-chan said, offering her young charge a sweet smile.
"It is Last Order." The clone's progenitor said with a victorious smirk as the party from the door reached Saten-chan's bedroom. "I told you girls it would be, didn't I?"
"I never doubted you, Onee-sama," Shirai-chan said loyally.
"And here I thought it would be Banri-san or Haruue-san," Uiharu-chan said with a sigh. "But I'll admit defeat Misaka-san, I'll pay for your next trip to the arcade like I promised."
"You three were taking bets?" Naru asked curiously.
"Uh-huh." Janie-chan said with a nod.
"Uiharu-oba was being silly." Febrie-chan added on. "Of course, it would be Order-nee."
"See even the twins knew you were wrong Uiharu." Mikoto-sempai said with a grin, earning a pout from the computer wiz. The [Railgun] knew when to back off though and quickly changed the topic. "Come on, Last Order. We've got snacks."
"Okay, Onee-sama! Misaka Misaka cheerfully replies at the prospect of hanging out with her Onee-sama."
"Gah!" Shirai-chan exclaims, passing out from a nose bleed before the original and the clone.
"Kuroko!" Sempai cried out in alarm.
"Ah, the predator! Misaka Misaka cries out happily as the aforementioned beast is disabled by her own lust."
"Nee, Order-nee, why's Rui-nee so happy all of a sudden?" Janie-chan asked Last Order as the latter settled down beside her 'sister'.
"Hm hm, isn't it obvious. Misaka Misaka says, sounding authoritative." Last Order says, her ahoge twitching. "The Misaka Network deduces this is love power, Misaka Misaka explains sagely."
"Huh? What's that mean?" Febrie-chan asked, looking adorably confused.
"Saten-sama and Namikaze-sama are the best examples because Onee-sama is hopeless, Misaka Misaka informs."
"Uh, so what happened exactly?" Uiharu-chan asked looking away from the increasingly nonsensical banter between the little girls.
"Accel finally admitted that I was his girlfriend!" Saten-chan swooned and threw herself onto her bed.
"What!? Congratulations, Saten-san!" Uiharu-chan cheered, rushing over to hug her best friend.
"Don't think you've escaped Namikaze." Mikoto-sempai said menacingly from behind Naru. "You still haven't told us about what happened at that Staycation."
"Least Uiharu-chan isn't hounding me." Naru sighed in relief. "She's scary when she gets all starry eyed about ojou-samas."
"I can always do that." Their chestnut haired Sempai teased.
"L-Leave me alone, you lonely heart sempai!" Naru stammers with a red face.
"LONELY?!" Mikoto-sempai roared as she threw a pillow at Naru and started to pull at the girl's cheeks when her guard was down.
Naru returned the favor in kind. There would be no mercy!
It was then Shirai-chan woke up with blurry eyes, "What'd I miss?"
Omake: Level 5 Wonderland
The Trinity gang and Saten-chan's little charges gathered round a table in Saten's room in the wee hours of their sleepover. It was no ordinary table though. It was a state-of-the-art home entertainment system that allowed for the projection of 3D holograms. A system which the girls were using to have a little competition between the Trinity in a game called "Fantasy City Builder".
"Alright, you've all had time to build your ideal cities now let's see who's is the best." Shirai-chan, the co-referee for the little contest, declared.
"As agreed through janken earlier, Saten-san will go first then Namikaze-san, followed lastly by Misaka-san," Uiharu, the other co-referee said. "Then we'll let our three judges, Janie-chan, Febrie-chan and Order-chan decide who is the winner."
"Yay!" The three girls cheered.
"First up is Saten-san!" Shirai-chan said with a nod to the Number 3.
Said Level 5 plugged a data drive into the holo table and caused a magical city to emerge from its holographic projector. It was a city of beautiful classical buildings, winding cobblestone streets and studded with at least half a dozen fantasy castles straight out of Disney films.
"...It's Ojou-sama land." Uiharu said with drool out the corner of her mouth.
"Uiharu! You need to stay objective!" Shirai-chan chided her Judgement partner.
"Oh, um, right!" Uiharu responded before coughing awkwardly to cover herself as she regained her cool. "Wow, this is a wondrous spectacle indeed and it seems our judges are mesmerized."
Indeed the little girls were all staring at Saten-san's city like it was something straight out of their dreams. Last Order-chan was even singing 'Let It Go' under her breath as she eyed the reconstruction of Elsa's Ice Palace with want. The twins were no better. Both of them were looking at the city with sparkling eyes.
"You cheating cheater!" Namikaze-san said with a growl. "You're exploiting the fact that you've been letting them watch Disney movies lately."
Saten-chan just smirked.
"Oh, let it go," Misaka-san said with a smirk of her own. "Or are you not confident in your design? Because I know I am."
"Bring it on, Sempai!"
"To that end," Shirai-chan said stepping in quickly before things escalated. "Without further ado, let's see Namikaze-san's entry."
Confidently, Naru plugged her own datadrive into the entertainment system and brought up her city for the rest to see. If Saten-chan's city was magical, then Naru's was one level up. At least if you had a sweet tooth. Everything in her metropolis from its buildings to its streets to its amenities like street lights were made out of candy!
"What is this? A literal Candy Land?" Misaka-sempai asked incredulously.
"Yup!" The blonde Level 5 said proudly. "The girls love it."
She wasn't wrong. All three of the judges were currently drooling at the scene of sugary delight.
"Don't even think about it girls." Saten-chan warned her charges. "If you eat anywhere near that much sugar you'll get a tummy ache."
The three little girls exchanged a look, before pouting and pulling back from the projection.
"Hey! Don't go influencing the judges!" Naru said, crying foul.
Saten-chan shot her an unimpressed look. "Life lessons are more important than our silly little game."
"You call that a life lesson?" Naru said with a snort.
Saten-chan frowned in displeasure and was probably preparing to retort but was preempted by Uiharu.
"Moving on!" The computer wiz said loudly. "Misaka-san, why don't you show us what you've created."
"Sure," the [Railgun] confidently said as she plugged her datadrive into the machine. "So since this game lets us build whatever we want, I thought I'd go crazy with it. As a result, welcome to Arcadepolis!"
At her triumphant declaration, Candy Land was replaced by a city sized amusement park. One dominated by a disproportionate number of arcades. Unfortunately, the judges' reactions were underwhelming. They were still excited by what they saw but nowhere close to what they had been at the previous two entries. Seeing this, Misaka-san instantly deflated. She was instantly comforted by her roommate though and seemed to quickly recover her stride.
"At least I know they aren't likely to grow up to become addicted to gaming and develop antisocial behavior," Saten-chan said with a relieved sigh.
"Is developing pipe dreams of being princesses any better?" Naru snarked.
"That's healthy! I'll carve out a kingdom for them if need be."
"You're joking, right?" Misaka-sempai said, looking at Saten-chan like she'd gone crazy.
The girl in question just gave a noncommittal shrug.
"Alright, setting aside Saten-san's dreams of conquest for later discussion." Shirai-chan said. "Why don't we settle this contest. Girls, who do you think built the best city?"
The three younger girls conferred among themselves for a moment before Last Order-chan stood forward to give their verdict. "After much consideration, Misaka Misaka says with as much authority as Misaka can muster, we have decided that the winner is... No one! It's a three way tie! Misaka Misaka reveals with a cheeky grin."
"Oh phooey! That's just a lame way to say you can't decide!" Naru cried out, with a pout.
"I disagree," Saten-chan said, offering her charges a proud grin. "I think it's a perfectly diplomatic way to settle an otherwise difficult to resolve dispute."
"You're biased," Misaka-sempai pointed out.
"Never said I wasn't," Saten-chan said as she hugged the three girls and took turns planting kisses on all three of their foreheads.
Naru blinked at the scene and scooted over to their Sempai to whisper into her ear, "Is it just me or is Saten-chan, you know, kinda motherly?"
"You just figured that out?" Sempai shot back in a annoyed whisper.
"No, but- Just look at them!" Naru said pointing at how Saten-chan was now, with a little help from Uiharu, helping the girls into bed after the conclusion of their game.
"Yeah, I guess I get what you mean. She's like the perfect mum to them."
"I know right! I wonder..."
"Namikaze-san, do we want to know what you're planning?" Shirai-chan asked warily as she came over.
"Oh, you'll find out soon enough." The Number 2 said with a mischievous smirk.
Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless as always!
Well, I should have given a warning, but the fluff has arrived! And dayum, was it adorable? Naru really is a kitten when it comes to affection. Shutaura just needs to lay out the milk for her, lol.
Nameless: Indeed. And they just get cuter as their relationship develops at least that's how I'm seeing it in our plans. [Consults planning for future arcs] Yup! They totally get even more sweet. Thankfully it's spread out or all our teeth would rot away from all that fluff. XD
Alright, now onto Naru's murder spree in the beginning. Yes, she's letting loose a little more from her usual restrained self and after her capture, her personality is going to have some shifts. Beware the loli reaper!
Nameless: It won't be particularly big. Mainly it'll just be her being more honest with herself. Basically she won't pretend to be the ball of sunshine when she isn't feeling it anymore, which is something she used to do to maintain her cover. Now? Her cover can burn. It's not like the people important to her don't already know what she does for a living.
The sleepover at the end along with the Omake was pretty fun too. I guess that was the light heartedness the second half of the chapter offered. Now if only we could always do these little moments! Sadly, the plot calls forth, so look forward to these cute scenes when you can!
Nameless: Indeed. Slice of life has its place but it wouldn't be a Toaru fic if there wasn't some crazy shenanigans going on in the shadows that the protagonists need to deal with. So as E4E says, treasure the slice of life scenes for they'll be rare.
You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!