Kuroko stared intensely into her bathroom mirror, turning her head this way and that as she inspected her hair. The familiar twintails that she'd been wearing ever since her Awakening were gone, her hair now styled into a low-hanging ponytail that was slung over her right shoulder. She'd been studying her new hairstyle for well over five minutes now, making sure it looked decent from all possible angles.
A week ago, the idea of changing up her hairstyle would have been sacrilege. The twintails were a classic look for Kuroko Shirai, and thus she had been hesitant to change it up in any way. Not to mention she had genuinely enjoyed how the hairstyle had looked, both in her old life and in this life.
Still, Komoe had been encouraging her to try out new things to try and build up a unique identity for herself, and one of her suggestions had been changing up her hairstyle. The twintails had been the signature look of Kuroko Shirai, sure, but that didn't have to be her look as well. And now that she was back in her dorm, Kuroko finally decided to follow up on that advice.
So, here she was now: testing out a new style that would, ideally, be hers and hers alone. It was a small change of self identity in the grand scheme of things, and Kuroko had been unsure if she'd take to the change all that well. But she had to admit…it felt strangely good to have this new hairstyle. For the first time in a long time, it felt as if she were deciding things for herself, and not simply acting to preserve the memory of a girl that no longer was.
Admittedly, such a notion would have stricken her with grief just a few weeks ago. But now…well, now it only left a small, dull ache in Kuroko's heart. An ache that still left her saddened, but didn't threaten to overshadow her other emotions.
Ah, now if only she wasn't stuck wearing the same thing, day in and day out. Stupid Tokiwadai and their stupidly strict school uniform policies…
Kuroko shook her head, banishing such meddlesome thoughts away before she truly got sidetracked. She instead inspected herself in the mirror one more time, before nodding to herself in satisfaction.
She emerged from the bathroom a few seconds later, bracing herself for her roommate's inevitable reaction.
"Ah, you're done! Ready for—oh, your hair! You changed it?" Mikoto Misaka interrupted herself, blinking in surprise as she caught sight of her.
Kuroko nodded, blushing while her hands fiddled with her new ponytail. "Ah, yes, I did. Do you like it?"
"Yeah! It looks great on you," Mikoto declared, giving her a bright smile.
Kuroko felt a wave of nervous flutters strike her stomach, and the blush on her cheeks only intensified. She gave a meek and self-conscious little nod, trying to act as calm and collected as she could.
"Th-thank you. I just, um, felt it was time I tried something…new," she murmured.
From there they both departed their dorm room, Kuroko walking side-by-side with Mikoto. As they walked to the dining hall for breakfast, Kuroko reflected on all the events that had passed recently.
A day had gone by since her exit from the hospital, and today would be her first full day back at Tokiwadai. Her time at the hospital had been rather…stifling and mind numbing, in all honesty, so she was glad to put it behind her. Recruiting Yomikawa had been an unexpected bonus to the whole situation, true, but beyond that Kuroko was eager to make up for lost time.
Still, now that she had Kiyama and Yomikawa at her side, her list of adult allies had increased a great deal. And so did the power and influence her faction could now project. While her new allies' usefulness with the Sisters was debatable, it would still be handy to have access to another brilliant scientist, as well as concrete connections to Anti-Skill. Certainly there would be future events where their influence and abilities would prove very handy.
She was far from done in recruitment, however. Touma Kamijou still loomed large, though Kuroko hadn't made any plans to go after him yet. After all, she knew where he was now, so she could take her time in that approach. Really, her major concern was recruiting Shinobu Nunotaba. Her information on both Projects Radio Noise and Level Six Shift would be invaluable, not to mention the value of her emotion program, and what it could do for the Sisters. Thankfully Heaven Canceller had arranged a meeting with her, scheduled for tomorrow, so she'd have her shot with her soon. She just hoped she didn't screw it up.
And after that, assuming she did manage to recruit Nunotaba…
Kuroko glanced over at her roommate, idly watching Mikoto for a few moments. She returned her attention back to her thoughts, a soft sigh escaping her lips.
After Kuroko had Nunotaba, and all the information she had on Radio Noise and Level Six Shift, then she'd sit Mikoto down and tell her about the Sisters.
"Something wrong?" Mikoto questioned casually, bringing Kuroko back to the present.
"Ah, no, nothing. Just thinking some things over," she replied evasively, glancing away from her.
Mikoto furrowed her brow in response, but thankfully didn't press any further. Kuroko returned her full attention to the food in front of her thereafter, taking the chance to enjoy her breakfast. Mikoto did likewise, and the two enjoyed a peaceful, silent meal together.
Soon enough they finished, and they made the short trip to the Tokiwadai campus. Kuroko felt herself relaxing ever so slightly as they passed the school gates, thankful for once to actually be at school. Going to class certainly beat sitting around and doing nothing at the hospital.
They had managed to get here early too, so they had some time to kill before their morning classes. Before they could make use of that freetime, however, the two of them were intercepted.
"Ah, there's my beloved little kohai~!"
Kuroko twitched at that annoyingly overfamiliar nickname, a soft sigh escaping her lips as she turned to see Misaki Shokuhou and Satori Kobayashi marching over toward them. Contrary to her expectations, Misaki Shokuhou's hair was still blonde…but, Kuroko noted that the shade was slightly off from its usual color. Once she saw that, she couldn't help but give a smug little smirk.
"Shokuhou," Mikoto spoke up first, regarding Misaki with narrowed eyes. "What do you want?"
"Oh, I just needed a moment of Shirai's time," Misaki airily declared, giving her fellow Level Five a haughty stare. "Clique business, you know. Something I'm sure you wouldn't understand."
Mikoto bristled at that, but Kobayashi intervened before the spat between her and Shokuhou escalated.
"Misaka," Kobayashi said, a gentle smile on her lips. "I was wanting to talk with you, as it so happens. It's an important talk too, so why don't we give the Queen and Shirai a moment alone. Okay?"
"Hm?" Mikoto regarded her curiously, before returning her stare back to Shokuhou. She pursed her lips, giving Shokuhou one last glare before looking back at Kobayashi. "Fine, fine. I guess we can talk for a bit…"
With that said she walked off with Kobayashi, the two of them disappearing from view shortly thereafter.
Once they were gone, Misaki dropped the smug smile she'd been wearing. She crossed her arms and gave Kuroko a withering glare, which only made Kuroko's own smirk widen.
"Still mad about the whole hair dye thing?" Kuroko guessed, giving Shokuhou a look of perfect innocence.
"That was barely two days ago!" Misaki hissed, outright growling at her. "Yes, I'm still mad! Ugh, I swear I will get back at you for that! You're just lucky my hairdresser was able to dye it back to the right color. Tch, you little brat…"
Kuroko snickered in reply. "Oh, poor Misaki Shokuhou. However will you recover from such a grievous injury to your pride?"
Shokuhou glowered at her some more, and reached over to flick Kuroko in the forehead. But Kuroko easily side-stepped the attempted retaliation by teleporting a foot away. Shokuhou glared some more, and looked like she was about to try hitting her again. Before she did so, however, she abruptly froze and gave a soft sigh.
"Look, I didn't want to talk about that anyway," Shokuhou said a moment later. "There are more important things we need to discuss. How are you feeling, Shirai? I didn't get the chance to see you again at the hospital before you left, so…"
Kuroko sobered up with the change in topics, her smug smirk disappearing entirely from her face. She straightened up and gave Shokuhou a small nod. "I'm fine. Well, no. It might be more accurate to say I'm doing better. The medication Heaven Canceller prescribed seems to be working, and I haven't noticed any adverse side effects. If anything does happen, I'll be sure to let you know."
Misaki nodded, her eyes giving her a quick once-over. She pursed her lips, her gaze lingering over the now ever-present bags under Kuroko's eyes, but for once she didn't make any sort of remark about them. Instead she said, "Alright, good. That's good. I'm glad you're doing better. I just wanted to…make sure about that, before we went to class."
Then, in a move that took Kuroko completely by surprise, Misaki Shokuhou reached over and hugged her.
"I really care about you Shirai," Misaki declared, softly stroking the back of her head with her gloved hand. "I hope you know that."
Kuroko stiffened at her sudden touch, but after a few moments she slowly relaxed into it. She even returned the hug, wrapping her arms around Misaki's back. "I know, I know. And I…appreciate that quite a lot, Shokuhou."
"Good. Just wanted to remind you, in case you'd forgotten," Shokuhou huffed, stroking her hair some more. "By the way, I like the new hairstyle. It really suits you."
Kuroko smiled at Misaki's praise, an odd little flutter passing through her chest in response. Still holding onto Misaki she said, "Thank you, onee-sama."
A moment of silence passed between them, and she was almost content with it. But then Kuroko's brain caught up with what her mouth had said and she froze, letting out a strangled gasp. After another beat, Kuroko hastily teleported out of Misaki's arms and looked over at her in horror. And Misaki…
Misaki was staring right back at her, disbelief written clear across her face as she processed what she'd just heard.
"D-did you just," Misaki stammered, her lips starting to quiver into a grin. "Did you really just—!"
In a flash, Kuroko was back at her side, and gripped onto Shokuhou's shoulder bag desperately. Her eyes were wide with animalistic panic, spirals swirling within her irises. As she tugged on the bag, trying to pull it away from Shokuhou, Kuroko shrieked out:
"GIVE ME THAT REMOTE! I NEED TO ERASE YOUR MEMORIES!"
"You know it doesn't work like that!" Shokuhou retorted, before bursting out into a series of giggles. At the same time, she kept a firm hold over her bag, keeping it out of Kuroko's clutches. "Oh Shirai, I never knew you thought so highly of me! Oh, you have no idea how long I've waited for this! Don't you fret now, your onee-sama is here for you~!"
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" Kuroko screeched, tugging harder at the bag. Distantly she knew she was causing a scene, but she was in far too deep now to pull out. "IF I CAN'T ERASE YOUR MEMORIES WITH YOUR REMOTE THEN I'LL BEAT IT OUT OF YOUR HEAD! GIVE ME THE BAG, SHOKUHOU!"
"Oh my god, you're killing me," Misaki wheezed, doubling over in laughter. She lost hold over her bag at that point, not even caring as Kuroko wrenched it away from her. Instead she stared up at her with the most smug, self-satisfied grin Kuroko had ever seen.
"Don't worry, my dear little kohai! Your onee-sama will keep your Freudian slip a secret from everyone else! But I do hope you know I have a price," Shokuhou teased, before issuing another series of laughs. "Let's start with you exclusively calling me your onee-sama whenever we're alone! How does that sound?"
Kuroko gave a mortified scream in response, which only made Misaki laugh harder. In a desperate bid to erase the memories from her head, Kuroko teleported over to a nearby tree and bashed her skull against it. Alas, the only thing she succeeded in was leaving a sizable dent in the tree bark.
That was how Mikoto and Kobayashi found them not long after. The two of them could only watch in pure bafflement as Misaki cackled with glee, while Kuroko screamed to the heavens and tried to bash her own head in.
"Is this…normal for them?" Mikoto questioned nervously, not quite certain how to take the bizarre scene in front of her.
"Every day with these two," Kobayashi groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Every damn day with these two idiots…"
After the utter embarrassment that meeting devolved into, Kuroko's morning classes passed by uneventfully. As she did her best to push aside her lingering embarrassment, Kuroko left her last class to go eat her lunch. On her way out she spotted some girls from Tokiwadai's Newspaper Club out in the hallway. They were hawking a so-called 'emergency edition' of the day's paper, and had attracted quite a bit of interest, if the girls crowding them were any indication.
Curiosity piqued, Kuroko joined the growing queue and waited her turn to buy a newspaper. For some reason, the girl selling them gave her a weird look, but nevertheless she gave Kuroko a paper. With her new acquisition in hand, Kuroko strode down the halls of Tokiwadai.
As she walked, Kuroko thumbed through the newspaper, glancing over its contents. The Tokiwadai Student Newspaper itself wasn't too dissimilar to regular student newspapers; it mostly carried stories pertaining to Tokiwadai and other things related to School Garden. An update about a new facility being built on-campus, a new pastry shop being opened up in School Garden, and so on and so forth. But the thing the Tokiwadai Student Newspaper built itself on were the stories it ran about school gossip. The gossip column was easily the most popular segment of the paper, and the Newspaper Club knew it. They paid lavish attention to it with each new daily paper, and the most eye-catching stories were typically what made the front page of the student newspaper.
Now, the important thing to understand about the Tokiwadai Student Newspaper, specifically as it related to its gossip column, was the fact that they could not explicitly name any students there. Most of the girls at Tokiwadai came from fabulously wealthy families, families that could be extremely litigious when it came to any unverifiable rumors that could be attached to their precious daughters. So, the Student Newspaper Club erred on the side of caution, and only used pseudonyms and nicknames in order to 'protect' the student body. Though if one did enough digging, they could figure out the subjects being written about fairly easily.
Case in point: the headline of today's paper was especially easy to figure out.
"The Dark-Hearted Casanova of Tokiwadai strikes again! The Star Empress and the Casanova reunite outside the school gates! Are the Casanova and Lady Lightning on the outs?"
And under the headline was a blurry, black-and-white picture taken just outside the school gates, showing a side-angle of Misaki Shokuhou hugging…somebody. It was hard to discern much about them, with how blurry the photo was; not to mention that Shokuhou was a good deal taller than them, and thus covered up most of their identifiable features. Either way, though, Kuroko was certain that this person, whomever they were, was the Dark-Hearted Casanova. Now, as for who they were in reality…
Well, okay, it might be more accurate to say she had the identities mostly figured out. The Star Empress was obviously Misaki Shokuhou, if the blurry picture didn't already give that away. Lady Lightning was almost certainly Mikoto Misaka: Kuroko couldn't think of anyone else at school it could refer to. But as for who this Casanova person was? She was clueless.
They'd been a main feature of the gossip column too over the last few weeks. Stories about a supposed love affair between the Casanova, Lady Lightning, and the Star Empress had taken up their fair share of headlines, as had other antics that Casanova had gotten up to. That hadn't made it any easier for Kuroko to figure out their identity, though.
Kuroko started to read the story at length, humming to herself as she tried to piece together the identity of this mysterious Casanova character. Was it someone she had met before? But before she could get too far into the report—
"Ah, Shirai! You're back from the hospital. How lovely it is to see you again! I hope you're doing well," Kamino purred into her ear, as the girl quite suddenly hugged her from behind.
Kuroko let out a low growl, and her eye twitched with faint annoyance. She teleported out of Kamino's grip seconds later, appearing a few feet away from her and facing toward the clique leader.
"Kamino," Kuroko greeted her curtly, doing her best to maintain a polite facade. At the same time, she folded up her newspaper and stowed it away, having the distinct feeling she wouldn't get back to reading it anytime soon. "Yes, I am back, and I am doing better. I thank you for your concern…but, I was just going to eat my lunch. So, if you'll excuse me…"
She quickly turned around and started walking away from her. Unfortunately, Kamino stepped up right after her, keeping pace as they both walked through the halls of Tokiwadai.
"Actually, I was wondering if you'd be keen on having lunch with me," Kamino spoke up as she followed after her.
"Oh really now?" Kuroko replied, giving a derisive snort. "And why would I want to do that with you? I'm not part of your clique, so we have no reason to interact."
"That is true, but we don't need to be in the same clique to talk. We could always do it as friends," Kamino simply said, a hopeful edge to her tone. "And I really would like to get to know you better, Shirai."
Kuroko paused and turned back around to face her. Kamino stared at her in turn, a surprisingly earnest look on her face.
"You…want to be friends? With me? I…just to be clear, this isn't just about snatching me from Shokuhou's clique or something, right?" Kuroko asked, placing a hand on her hip.
"Yes, it's not just some ploy to recruit you. You've made your stance known, and I will respect that," Kamino assured her. "This is an actual, genuine offer from me. No strings attached."
Kuroko bit her lip and glanced away after a few moments. She hadn't expected a genuine gesture of friendship from Kamino, and definitely not after she'd explicitly rejected her in favor of Shokuhou's faction. It'd been weeks since she'd even talked to Kamino, for that matter.
Still, whatever her reasoning was…she didn't have a good excuse to reject Kamino outright. Clingy as she could be, Kamino wasn't too bad, and certainly one of the more friendlier and approachable clique leaders. And she did want to try and make more friends here at Tokiwadai, especially outside of Shokuhou's clique.
"Well, if you truly wish to just…hang out, I suppose I wouldn't be against it," she said, giving Kamino a level look.
"Splendid! You won't regret it," Kamino assured her, giving her a beaming grin.
Kuroko peered skeptically at her in response, but nevertheless she let Kamino take the lead as they walked off together. Not long afterward, the two of them sat together at one of the many gazebos that littered the Tokiwadai campus, eating their lunch together in peaceable silence.
Still, Kuroko felt her curiosity piqued, and so the silence between them came to an end.
"I have to ask: why did you want to eat lunch with me? Or rather, why me? I mean, I think I've made my stance toward you pretty clear," she said, glancing over at Kamino.
Kamino granted her a small smile in return. "Well, it's like I said: I wanted to get to know you better, Shirai. I can't help but feel we got off on the wrong foot, and so I'd like to rectify that. If you're willing, of course."
Kuroko hummed in response, eyes narrowed as she continued to stare at her. After a few moments though, her features softened, and she gave Kamino a more considerate look. She opened her mouth to speak—
"Of course, I would be lying if I said I also didn't want to dress you up in some cute outfits," Kamino went on, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "It's not my fault that I find you so adorable and huggable."
"And there it is!" Kuroko growled, glaring heatedly at her.
"Well, I didn't want to give you the wrong impression. That is something I'm very much interested in, but clearly you are not. So I won't badger you anymore about it if you're so against the idea," Kamino proclaimed.
Kuroko pursed her lips, tapping a finger against her forearm as she regarded Kamino. She shook her head a moment later and asked, "Why are you even interested in that? I mean, I'm not that pretty."
"On that, we shall have to disagree," Kamino calmly replied, smirking at her. A few moments later though, her smile turned more wistful and contemplative. "As for why…I had a younger sister whom I adored very much. You just happen to remind me a lot of her, Shirai."
Kuroko paused at that and took a moment to study Kamino's face more carefully. She furrowed her brows, thinking over her word choice before carefully asking her next question.
"This sister. Is she…?"
"For three years now," Kamino confirmed, a saddened look in her eyes. "I've had time to mourn and adjust, but still. A day doesn't go by that I don't miss her."
"Oh," Kuroko replied numbly, an uncomfortable pit opening up in her stomach.
She looked away for a few moments, her mouth twisting into a grimace. Then she reached over and gently took Kamino's hand into her own and squeezed it, hoping to give her some semblance of comfort.
"I'm sorry for your loss," she said. The words felt trite to her, but it was the only thing she could think of saying.
"Thank you," Kamino replied, giving her a genuine smile. Whether or not Kuroko's words were cliche or hackneyed, she seemed to appreciate them all the same.
She squeezed Kuroko's hand in turn, and once more silence descended between the two of them. Kuroko took those moments of silence to compose herself, pushing aside her own misgivings before she started speaking again.
"If it would truly please you, then I wouldn't be against modeling some clothes for you," Kuroko said, glancing at Kamino out of the corner of her eye. "I'm…experimenting with my wardrobe, so this might be a good experience for me."
Kamino smiled again and chuckled softly. "I certainly don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to, Shirai. But…I'll keep that offer in mind."
Kuroko smiled back at her and squeezed her hand again. She felt another one of those odd little flutters go through her chest, and she could feel the smallest hint of warmth grace her cheeks. Before she could say anything else, however—
"Get…away…from…her!"
The distant voice of Misaki Shokuhou reached her ears. Kuroko blinked, and craned her head to see Shokuhou dashing towards them. Of course, in Shokuhou's case, that meant she was very, very slowly stumbling her way over to them.
Kuroko felt a stony expression overtake her face, and she could only watch in growing dismay and ire as Shokuhou finally stopped in front of them. She bent over, her hands on her knees as she gasped for air, clearly exhausted from her 'strenuous' exercise.
"Have my exercise sessions with you meant nothing?" Kuroko remarked in a biting, displeased tone. "Honestly, a toddler could outpace you, Shokuhou."
Kamino snorted beside her, an amused smile flickering across her lips.
Shokuhou glared up at her in response and slowly straightened herself out. After taking another few breaths, she managed to bite out, "H-Hush! I-I didn't come here just to get chewed out by you! I came here to rescue you!"
"Oh?" Kuroko inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"Y-Yes! The moment I heard you were eating alone with this fiend, I came rushing!" Shokuhou insisted, pointing a gloved finger at Kamino. "I couldn't let her try and steal my beloved Shirai without a fight!"
"Your Shirai?" Kuroko muttered, squirming slightly as she felt yet another one of those odd flutters.
"Oh? I'm trying to steal Shirai, am I?" Kamino challenged, giving Misaki a beguiling grin. "And how exactly am I doing that, hm? Shirai and I are just having lunch together as friends, nothing more. I'm not trying to steal her from you at all."
"As if I'd believe that! I expected one of the other cliques to try and make another play for her sooner or later, but I didn't think it'd be you," Misaki retorted as she crossed her arms. "You're trying to charm Shirai with your bewitching ways, I just know it! Just like you tried to bewitch me a year ago!"
"Is that what you think I was trying to do? Well, I won't lie. You were far cuter last year," Kamino remarked with a superior smirk. "I was merely trying to be friendly with you, Shokuhou. It's not my fault you misread my intentions."
From there, Kamino and Misaki fell into frenzied bickering as they argued over her. For her own part, Kuroko sighed and rubbed at her temples.
Honestly, Misaki could be such a mother hen sometimes! Why did she have to get all worked up about her having lunch with Kamino? She was acting like a possessive, jealous girlfriend or something.
"Oh shut up!" Kuroko finally interjected, gritting her teeth as she glared over at Shokuhou. A mixture of anger and disappointment colored her gaze as she stared at her. "Honestly, what kind of idiot are you? I'm not about to leave your clique, Shokuhou. I don't just abandon my friends, you know. It's like Kamino says, I'm just having a friendly lunch with her. And even if she was trying to recruit me, I'd still turn her down. So I'm not about to leave you for her, jeez."
"...Oh," Shokuhou stammered, blinking rapidly in clear surprise. She actually blushed a little, and looked off to the side with a nervous chuckle. "Ah, well, when you put it like that…"
"You really should put more trust into your friend," Kamino chided, shaking her head in dismay. "Truthfully, I can't see how Shirai puts up with you."
"Oh, trust me, she doesn't make it easy," Kuroko snarked, rolling her eyes.
Misaki let out an indignant squawk, and glared at the both of them. Before she could say anything, however, Kuroko abruptly teleported to her side.
"We'll have to hang out another time, Kamino. Clearly I have to assuage this one's bruised ego," Kuroko said, giving a forlorn sigh.
"It's fine, I completely understand. Until next time, Shirai," Kamino declared with a smirk, and waved her off.
Misaki bristled, but nevertheless she was quick to latch onto Kuroko's arm. She gave Kamino one last warning stare, and shortly thereafter, she and Kuroko blinked out of existence.
A few teleports later, they reappeared some distance away. Kuroko let go of Misaki, and stared her down.
Misaki had the good grace to look abashed, averting her gaze while a regretful grimace flickered over her features.
"I'm waiting," Kuroko archly reminded her, hands on both of her hips.
"Fine, fine! Perhaps I got…a little hasty there," Misaki finally admitted, puffing her cheeks out. "It's not that I don't trust you Shirai! Because I do. I just worry for you, especially when it comes to being around bad influences like Kamino. Still, I should have trusted your judgment."
"You think?" Kuroko noted, giving a small scoff. Her features lightened up a few moments later, however, and she regarded Shokuhou with a softer stare. "I know you meant well, though. It…makes me happy, knowing you care so much about me. Even if it can get embarrassing at times."
Then, Kuroko smiled and leaned up to impulsively kiss Shokuhou's cheek. She separated from her afterward, stretching idly as her mind shifted gears. Thus, she missed the blush that spread across Shokuhou's cheeks.
"Well, we still have a little time left for our lunch period," Kuroko went on, still facing away from Misaki. "I think we should spend that time wisely, don't you?"
"Eh?" Misaki replied, catching something off with her tone. The blush on her face vanished, and was soon replaced by an uneasy stare. "Ah, well, yes, I suppose so?"
Kuroko smiled, and before Misaki could react, she seized her bag and teleported it over her own shoulders. "Good! So why don't we get some remedial lessons done, hm?"
"Uhhhh…" Misaki stammered, her eyes growing wide with fear. "W-Wait, wait, um, why don't we—!"
But before she could respond, Kuroko latched onto her arm, and they teleported away again.
Misaki moaned and complained about the hard work Kuroko put her through, but quite frankly, she had it coming. Clearly, she'd been slacking with her training sessions with Junko; Kuroko would need to talk to her when she had a chance. Junko would need to learn to be harder on Misaki: that was the only way she'd be able to truly make progress in building up her physical stamina.
Regardless, after spending the remainder of her lunch period putting Shokuhou through some intense drills, Kuroko's afternoon classes seemed tame and uneventful in comparison. She took that time to relax a little, only half paying attention to her teachers as she scribbled in her notebook. Lately, she'd taken to transcribing songs from her past life, in order to preserve that knowledge for future reference. Right now, she was working on writing down the songs she could remember from one of her favorite musicals, 'The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals'.
She'd be able to finish this task in no time with Misaki's help, Kuroko knew, but she liked doing it herself. It at least gave her something to pass the time, especially during her boring classes. Besides, she didn't want to bother Misaki with something as trivial as this.
She'd just finished transcribing the final song when the last class of the day ended. Almost immediately, Kuroko packed up her things and made a beeline for the area just outside the school gates, eager to meet up with her friends.
It didn't surprise her at all that Rakko Yumiya was outside and already waiting for her.
"Yumiya," Kuroko greeted her with a friendly smile.
"Shirai!" Rakko beamed happily at her in turn, the older teen looking absolutely delighted. "Oh, you changed your hair. It looks good on you!"
"Thanks," she said, her hands fiddling with her ponytail. "Just thought I'd try something new."
From there, they fell into pleasant chit-chat as they waited for the others to join them.
They didn't have to wait long for the remainder of their group: Mikoto Misaka and Mitsuko Kongou walked out together and joined them in swift order.
"Shirai!" Kongou greeted her, her eyes lighting up as she took notice of her changed looks. "Ah, that new hairstyle looks quite fetching on you, I must say!"
"Hope you guys weren't waiting too long," Mikoto said, flashing a beatific smile that made Kuroko's heart skip a beat.
"Not at all," she assured. "Ah, Yumiya, this is my friend Mitsuko Kongou. Kongou, this is my friend Rakko Yumiya. And, of course, you've already met Mikoto."
"Charmed to meet you Yumiya," Kongou said, flashing a bright smile. "It's such a delight meeting another one of Shirai's friends! It seems like she's a real social butterfly, I must say. Already she is beating the great Mitsuko Kongou in the arena of building friendships!"
Kuroko rolled her eyes at her words, though a fond chuckle escaped her lips all the same. "It's not a competition, Kongou. Besides, you're catching up, right? Aren't you hanging out with Wannai and Awatsuki from the swim club these days? And you've been spending a lot of time with Mikoto too."
"Ah, but you did introduce me to Misaka, Shirai! So she was your friend first," Kongou insisted, as if a distinction like that mattered. "But, yes, it is true I've made great friends with Wannai and Awatsuki. It's a pity they couldn't join us today."
"Well, our group's probably gonna be a little crowded as it is," Mikoto wryly noted, placing her hands against the back of her head.
"Speaking of, why don't we get going, then? Uiharu texted me that she and her friend are on their way to the underground mall," Kuroko said.
They all agreed with that, and the group made their way out of School Garden and into the wider District. As they made their way across the city, Kuroko mused on the events to come.
She and Uiharu were both free of Judgment duties today, so now was the perfect time for them to meet up and have some fun. Initially she'd planned on just an outing with just the two of them and Rakko, but then Uiharu had said a friend of hers wanted to come along, and so Kuroko had decided to give out invitations to Mikoto and Kongou as well. She had a very good idea of just who Uiharu was inviting, so it only seemed logical to bring her roommate along as well.
Mikoto had already met Uiharu early in this timeline, so why not introduce her to Saten early as well? And, well, she'd been meaning to hang out more with Kongou, so she'd decided to invite her along as well. Thus, the four of them were now on their way to meet up with Uiharu and her friend.
The Railgun gang in this world sure was shaping up to be bigger than it had been in the anime, that was for sure. Not that Kuroko herself cared all that much. Considering how lonely she'd been as a child in that last life, she was more than happy to make as many friends as possible.
Not long after, the four of them made it to their meeting point. Kuroko could see Uiharu waiting for them, giving them a cheerful wave as she approached.
"Oh, your hair!" Uiharu let out a small gasp, doing a double-take as she looked at Kuroko. "You changed it! Oh, it looks so cute on you, Shirai!"
Kuroko blushed a little at the compliment, and greeted Uiharu in turn. After that she formally introduced Kongou to Uiharu. Once again, Uiharu seemed quite delighted to meet an actual Ojou-sama from Tokiwadai, something that Kuroko found rather irritating. Sure, she wasn't the ideal princess type, but Uiharu didn't have to rub it in her face like that…
"Didn't you say you were bringing over a friend of yours?" Kuroko asked, once the introductions were made.
"Hm? Oh, right! Saten just had to go to the bathroom real quick. She should be back any second," Uiharu declared.
Speaking of, Kuroko spotted the unmistakable visage of Ruiko Saten walking toward them from the distance. Sparkling blue eyes, long black hair, and a white flower on the left side of her hair: it almost certainly had to be Saten. Either that, or she had an uncanny doppelganger out there.
Kuroko's suspicions were further confirmed as she saw her creeping up from behind, positioning herself so Uiharu wouldn't see. Saten noticed her gaze, and raised a finger to her lips as she winked at her. Kuroko tilted her head in slight puzzlement, but she could already see where this was going.
Sure enough…
"U~i~haru~!"
With that declaration, Saten grinned and flipped up her friend's skirt.
"Noooo!"
Kuroko politely avoided her gaze as Uiharu was exposed, and returned her eyes just in time to see a frustrated Uiharu beating her fists against Saten's chest. Mikoto, Kongou, and Rakko, meanwhile, all looked varying degrees of perplexed and bemused at Saten's actions and her and Uiharu's subsequent bickering.
Kuroko herself couldn't help but think that Saten's obvious flirting ritual with Uiharu was so very bizarre. And, well, not all that kind to Uiharu herself. Still, Kuroko wasn't about to question it. Considering all the oddities and bizarre anime conventions that were littered about in this reality, she had far bigger fish to fry.
If Saten ever tried to do that to her, however, they'd have words, to say the very least.
"Saaateeeen! Wh-why did you have to embarrass me like that?! I wanted to make a good impression on Shirai's friends! N-Now they'll think I'm weird!" Uiharu protested, pouting up at her companion.
"Sorry, sorry. I couldn't resist! Besides, I'd been itching to do that all day, so I figured I'd go ahead and get it out of the way," Saten shamelessly replied.
Uiharu grumbled at her words, but nevertheless, things settled down from there. Uiharu formally introduced them all one by one to Saten. Much like her friend, Saten seemed just as ecstatic to meet Mikoto and Kongou, a fact that Kuroko again couldn't help but feel oddly jealous about. Likewise, she seemed rather eager to meet Rakko as well.
Wait. Saten and Rakko together…something about that triggered something in the back of Kuroko's mind. It was just on the tip of her tongue, some long forgotten memory that only now was starting to resurface. She frowned at that, trying her hardest to coax that hint of a memory to the forefront of her mind.
Why did the two of them together feel so familiar to her?
"Aha! So you're the infamous Kuroko Shirai!" Saten declared with a beaming grin, utterly derailing Kuroko's train of thought.
And just like that, that half-formed memory slipped away from her. Kuroko frowned for a moment, before dismissing it entirely from her mind. Whatever it was, it probably wasn't important.
"Oh? Has Uiharu been talking about me?" Kuroko inquired, shooting her friend an amused look.
"Oh, all the time! You're all Uiharu ever talks about these days," Saten proclaimed, giving Kuroko another wink.
"H-Hey! Th-that's not true!" Uiharu protested, pouting once again. She looked off to the side a few moments later, sheepishly admitting, "W-Well, not all the time. It's just, you happen to come up a lot when I talk about Judgment, so…"
"Well, I hope you've only heard good things about me," Kuroko said, giving a small laugh.
Saten's eyes sparkled with mischief, and she opened her mouth to launch into an excited tangent. But before she could say anything else, Uiharu hastily interjected.
"Um, h-how about we get going? We've got plenty to do today!"
Her suggestion was met with positivity from the rest of the group, so they moved to explore the mall shortly thereafter.
They made their way through the mall's many clothing stores first, and this time around Kuroko paid more minute attention to the clothes on offer. Granted, she'd almost never get the chance to actually wear any of them—god the Tokiwadai uniform rules were so annoying—but still, it was nice to look.
Once again, Kuroko found her attention drifting toward the more boyish and conservative clothing, though she didn't limit herself just to that. Komoe had encouraged her to experiment more with her wardrobe, to try and find a style that she consistently liked and appreciated. So Kuroko added some more dresses, skirts, and blouses to her selection, alongside the more boyish clothes, trying them on in the store's partitioned changing rooms.
She tried on a few different outfits, checking herself out in the mirror each time. All of her picks looked good on her on a physical level, but none of them felt quite right to her. Once again, Kuroko found herself favoring more boyish clothing, though she did find at least one dress she quite liked the look and feel of.
It was a dark blue dress with a long sleeved jacket of similar color, with a white dress shirt and a black ascot tie visible around the chest area. The skirt of the dress was fairly long, almost reaching her ankles, while the sleeves of the dress jacket went up to her wrists. It was a fairly conservative dress, and perhaps a bit too formal for casual wear, but Kuroko liked the look of it all the same.
She decided to add it to her collection of clothes to buy, and stepped out of the dressing room to go ring up her purchases. But before she could leave, she almost bumped into Uiharu walking out of her own changing room.
"Oh! Sorry," Uiharu apologized as she backed away.
Kuroko waved off her apology, instead taking a moment to look at her chosen outfit: a pink shirt with a plaid vest, and a dark yellow, frilly skirt. Overall, not a bad look for Uiharu, she had to admit.
"That looks pretty cute on you," she absently murmured.
"Eh?"
That seemed to startle Uiharu, and a rapid blush blossomed across her cheeks. She twiddled her thumbs in response, looking strangely shy at Kuroko's casual praise. "Th-thanks! Ah, but, this outfit is a little outside of my budget, though. I was just trying it on to see how it'd feel…"
"Well, if you really like it, I don't mind buying it for you," Kuroko readily offered.
"Huh? Oh, no, you don't have to—" Uiharu started to say, but Kuroko cut her off.
"Nonsense. If you want it, I insist on buying it for you! Just think of it as a gift," she said, giving her a friendly smile.
Uiharu got strangely quiet at that, and in lieu of a worded response, she just gave a hurried nod. She then dashed back into her dressing room, leaving Kuroko alone.
Which was when a familiar face poked out from the curtain of a nearby changing room.
"Hey, Shirai! Can I get your opinion on something?" Saten sweetly asked.
"Um, sure?" she replied, caught a little off guard.
"Great!"
And then Saten reached through the curtain, grabbed hold of her wrist, and pulled Kuroko inside.
For a heart-stopping moment Kuroko was afraid she was about to catch an eyeful of Saten in an indecent state. But thankfully she was fully dressed, clothed in a blue and white striped shirt with a pair of cargo pants to match.
"How do I look?" she asked, striking a pose.
Kuroko's smirked in response and gave her honest opinion. "Well, it looks pretty good on you. I think you pull it off rather nicely."
"Really? Thanks!" Saten replied, giving her a beaming grin. "Oh, hold on, there was another outfit I wanted a second opinion on…"
Saten started tugging her shirt up over her head, at which point Kuroko went wide-eyed and quickly turned around. Kuroko felt an overwhelming and desperate urge to flee from the room as quickly as possible, but social obligation kept her rooted to the spot.
"So, you've been friends with Uiharu for a while now, right?" Saten casually asked over the noise of rustling clothes.
"Oh, um, right. Close to a year," Kuroko confirmed, fiddling with her ponytail as she tried to ignore what was happening behind her.
"Wow, I wish I could have seen Uiharu back then! She showed me a few pictures from your Judgment training graduation ceremony: she looked so cute! You did too, Shirai!" Saten enthused. "You two sure went through a quick growth spurt this year."
"Thank you?" she replied, not entirely sure what else to say.
Thankfully, Saten seemed to change the topic rather quickly as she spoke again.
"So, I heard you and Uiharu talking a moment ago! What'd you think of her outfit?"
"Oh, um, it was cute on her. I-I mean, Uiharu's really cute in general, so it's hard for her not to look pretty," Kuroko babbled, her eyes darting every which way.
"Really now?" Saten pressed, her voice light with amusement.
"W-Well, yeah. I, um, forget it a lot of the time, but a lot of my friends are really pretty. So pretty, honestly, it kind of amazes me sometimes. Way prettier than me, too," she said, hardly even thinking over what was coming out of her mouth.
There was a significant pause from Saten's end, though Kuroko hardly paid it any heed, with how frazzled she was in that moment. Then:
"You…aren't comfortable right now, are you?" Saten bluntly asked.
"Huh? Wh-what makes you say that?" Kuroko questioned defensively.
"Well, I mean, you've been facing away from me this entire time. You can turn around, by the way. I'm decent."
Kuroko slowly turned and felt immense relief once she saw that Saten was, in fact, fully clothed. Now she had on a crop-top and skirt combo, with both colored a light blue with white polka dots.
"I guess you're body shy around other girls, huh?" Saten continued, giving her a contrite smile.
"Well, maybe…a little," Kuroko admitted, looking away in mild embarrassment. "Sorry."
"Hey, you're fine! I'm the one who should be apologizing here! I shouldn't have just assumed before I just started changing in front of you," Saten said, giving a sheepish laugh. "Sorry about that."
"It's, um, it's fine," Kuroko assured her.
A moment of awkward silence lingered between them. Then Saten clapped her hands together and offered Kuroko another smile.
"As an apology, why don't I pay for your meal? We're going to the food court soon, right? So whatever we get, I'll pay for your food," she offered. "I'll even throw in a free favor! You can call it in anytime, whatever you want! How does that sound?"
"I…suppose that sounds good to me," Kuroko allowed, giving Saten a soft smile.
"Great!" she exclaimed.
Kuroko turned around to leave the changing room, though before she could step outside—
"Oh, by the way, before you go…what do you think? How does this look on me?"
Kuroko paused and turned around, giving Saten's outfit a lingering glance. Another one of those weird flutters struck her as she caught sight of Saten's exposed midriff, and she quickly averted her gaze.
"It looks very flattering on you," she finally said, trying to remain calm and poised.
Saten grinned in response, and let her go.
After that, Kuroko went up to the store counter to ring up her purchases, and saddled up next to Rakko once she was finished. The others were still trying on clothes, so it was just the two of them at the moment.
"Find something you like?" Kuroko casually asked.
"Yup!" Rakko confirmed with an enthusiastic nod. "It's a really cute outfit. I can't wait to wear it for you!"
Kuroko nodded idly, before her eyes narrowed ever so slightly. She stepped closer toward Rakko, studying her face.
"S-Something wrong?" Rakko nervously inquired, taking a step back.
"Well, you look a little tired. Have you been getting enough sleep?" Kuroko inquired.
Without waiting for an answer, she reached over and gently cupped Rakko's face. The more she looked at Rakko, the more signs of exhaustion she could see.
"You feel pretty warm too," she commented, feeling a heat starting to gather at Rakko's cheeks.
Rakko let out a small squeak and stepped out of her grip, a crimson flush overcoming her features. She quickly shook her head and blurted out, "I-I'm fine, really! I've just been working a lot of…late nights! Um, you know, with school work and stuff. That's it!"
"If you say so," Kuroko replied, a doubtful edge to her tone.
Rakko gave a nervous little laugh, her eyes darting all over the place as she struggled to find something else to say. An idea seemed to come to her a moment later though, her eyes lighting up in realization.
Rakko rummaged through one of her bags, and after a moment, pulled out a small ring with a ruby gemstone. "I almost forgot, I got you a present!"
"Oh?" Kuroko questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Rakko nodded and offered the ring to her, and Kuroko took it with a bemused smile.
"What's the occasion?" she asked, idly examining the jewelry.
"For getting out of the hospital!" Rakko immediately answered. "I was so worried when you told me you were in there. I'm glad it wasn't anything too serious…still, I thought it'd be nice to give you something for getting out. I know…I would have wanted something like that, if the situation was reversed. Besides, I haven't had a good time at hospitals, myself. So I figured, anything I could give you to help you replace any bad memories there would be good!"
She looked off to the side a moment later, a grimace flashing across her features. Clearly, there was a larger story there, though Kuroko didn't want to pry. Instead she looked at the ring one more time, and slipped it onto her left ring finger.
"Well, thank you. It's very pretty," Kuroko said and smiled at her.
Another rapid blush broke out across Rako's face and her eyes widened as she stared at Kuroko's hand. Kuroko herself cocked her head, not quite getting why she'd react so strongly.
"Something wrong?" she questioned.
"N-No, not at all!" Rakko declared, waving off her concerns with a nervous giggle. "I-I'm fine!"
Kuroko raised an eyebrow, but decided not to press her on it. Instead, she settled back to waiting with Rakko for the rest of their group. Thankfully, that didn't take too long, as Uiharu and Saten came out from the changing area.
"Sorry we took so long! Saten and I are done now, so…" Uiharu started to say, but trailed off as she got a good look at Kuroko's left hand. She then looked between Kuroko and Rakko, taking careful note of the excited, pleased look on Rakko's face.
"…"
Saten seemed to notice her focus too, and took a look herself. Her eyes widened, and she looked between Rakko and Kuroko with a panicked expression.
"Um, did something happen here?" she asked in a shaky tone.
"Hm? Oh, Rakko just gave me a nice ring as a present," Kuroko said, as if that explained everything.
"R-Right. But, um, you're wearing it on your left ring finger," Saten timidly pointed out.
"And?" Kuroko pressed, not seeing the issue.
Saten stared at her for a long moment before looking back at her friend. She sighed and in a forlorn tone declared, "I'm sorry for ever doubting you, Uiharu."
Uiharu, meanwhile, glared at Kuroko with puffed up cheeks. With an unreasonably cute scowl on her lips, she marched over and ruthlessly stomped on Kuroko's foot.
"Ow! Why?!" Kuroko yelped, hopping around as she clutched her injured limb.
"Ugh, you can be such a dense boy about this stuff," Uiharu huffed and crossed her arms.
Saten proceeded to explain her little faux pas, and Kuroko dutifully moved the ring to her other hand. Rakko seemed oddly disappointed about it, but at least Kuroko wouldn't have people thinking she and Rakko were in a relationship now. Still, why did Uiharu have to get all bent out of shape over it? Honestly, that girl could be such an enigma.
At any rate, she managed to chat pleasantly with her friends as they waited for Mikoto and Kongou. They showed up not too long after, and soon everyone was ready to go. Before they left however, Kuroko made sure to pay for Uiharu's purchases, despite her friend's protests.
"Like I said; consider it a gift from me," Kuroko reiterated as she handed the cashier her money card. "Besides, it looked really cute on you. I'd love to see you wear this sometime."
That seemed to kill off any more protests from her, and Uiharu instead mumbled a word of thanks, her face growing exceedingly red.
With that, they wrapped up their little clothes shopping spree. From there, Kuroko and her friends continued their casual exploration of the mall, hitting up a variety of stores. Kuroko felt herself relax even further as she had some fun, the stress from the last few days melting away.
Even more troubling times lay ahead of her, she knew. But for now, she could at least take some solace from a quiet, peaceful trip.
"Oh, can we check out this store too? I heard they're selling some premium Gekota merch!" Mikoto enthused, darting over to an anime merchandise shop.
Kuroko exchanged a bemused look with Uiharu, but nevertheless, no one had any objections to browsing through this particular store. In fact, Kuroko herself was rather eager to browse through its wares.
While Mikoto dragged Saten and Uiharu over to the Gekota section—the former of whom making the naive but foolish mistake of asking what Gekota was, and thus was getting an earful from the Railgun—Kuroko split off with Kongou and Rakko to check out some of the other items on offer.
"My, I've never seen items like this before," Kongou mused aloud, picking up a boxed anime figurine. She examined the packaging curiously, tilting the box to get a good look at the preview promotional art that covered the packaging. "Or to a store like this, for that matter. I never even knew there were stores that specialized in selling merchandise from children's cartoons and the like!"
"Too low class for you, Kongou?" Kuroko asked with a teasing smirk.
Kongou blushed slightly and looked off to the side. "Well, these kinds of shops weren't ones my father typically took me to…"
"Hey, it's fine. I'm just messing with you," Kuroko declared, reaching over to pat Konogu's forearm.
"I hadn't been to too many of these myself before I met Shirai," Rakko confessed with a giggle. "But she seems to really like them a lot."
"I like what I like: I'm not ashamed of that," she replied in an airy tone.
Any further banter was cut off, however, as Kuroko let out a small, excited gasp. Her eyes locked onto a particular figurine box on display at the end of the shelf. She made an immediate beeline for it and gleefully seized it with her hands.
"Now this is what I'm talking about," Kuroko declared, her eyes sparkling with delight.
"Oh, another Dragon Ball toy?" Rakko commented, peering over her shoulder to examine the box.
"Figurines," Kuroko absently corrected. "And not just any one! But a high grade Bandai collection set of the Androids!"
That clearly meant nothing to Rakko and Kongou, but Kuroko didn't especially care. She could only look upon her prize with eager anticipation, her eyes darting from figure to figure on the promotional art. Presuming the figurines themselves looked just as good as the promo art—and that was never a guarantee—then she had some quality figurines of some of her favorite characters in hand. Her eyes locked onto the figurine of Doctor Gero in particular, finding herself oddly transfixed by him.
"Well, at least I didn't wake up as an old man," she mused aloud, much to Kongou and Rakko's confusion.
She cocked her head a moment later and furrowed her brow in befuddlement. Wait, where did that thought come from?
At any rate, after doing some more browsing, she returned to the checkout aisle with Rakko and Konogu in tow. They met Mikoto and Uiharu there as well, though Kuroko couldn't see Saten anywhere.
"Saten said she had to go to the bathroom," Uiharu explained. "She said she'd meet us up at the food court if we finished here without her."
"It was pretty poor timing, too. I was just getting to the good part about the current Gekota story arc," Mikoto groused, her arms crossed as she huffed. "Well, I can just go over it with her when she gets back!"
Uiharu exchanged a certain look with Kuroko, and she had the sudden impression that Saten had gone away for reasons other than answering nature's call. A pity for her that that wouldn't stop a persistent Mikoto Misaka.
They all paid for their purchases and left the store soon thereafter. It was a short trip to the food court after that, though Kuroko was reluctant to order anything for herself right away. Saten had promised to pay for her meal, after all. So, she hung near one of the tables with Uiharu as the rest of their friends went and ordered. The entire time the two of them intently scanned the flowing crowds for any sign of their missing companion.
"Hm, she sure is taking awhile," Uiharu mused, her brows furrowed in worry.
"Maybe she got distracted by something?" she replied with a shrug.
"Maybe…" Uiharu said, though she sounded doubtful at that possibility.
Kuroko fell silent for a few moments, and a seed of doubt started to sprout in her mind as well. She spent a little bit trying to put out the flames of her growing paranoia, but that was a task easier said than done. Finally, she gave a small sigh and nodded to herself.
"Hey, want me to go check on her?" Kuroko offered. "You can keep our spot for us while I go get her."
"Oh, sure! I'd appreciate that," Uiharu declared, giving her a relieved smile.
Kuroko nodded at her, leaving her purchases with Uiharu before walking out of the food court. She started heading back in the direction of the anime store, and from there made a beeline toward the nearest public restrooms. The entire time, she kept her eyes peeled out for Saten, hoping to run into her on the way there.
She was about halfway there when her ears caught the sounds of an argument nearby.
Kuroko frowned as the noise reached her ears. Within moments she slipped on her Judgment armband and made a series of teleports to where she heard the origins of the commotion. She arrived just on the edge of the confrontation, in a relatively empty section of the mall. Though the sight that met her eyes gave her immediate pause.
Sure enough, she found Saten, and she wasn't alone. Standing behind Saten was the unmistakable figure of Erii Haruue. Kuroko was baffled to see her, of all people, but there was no one else it could be. Same brown hair with a few strands tied to stick out on the left side of her head, same brown eyes, same familiar face…it was definitely her.
And she wasn't the only one with Saten. Standing in front of the two of them were a quartet of Anti-Skill officers, each of them armed with rifles slung over their backs, and a police baton displayed in their leader's hands.
Said leader was in the middle of barking orders at the two of them when Kuroko herself appeared. He stopped as soon as she appeared, and stared warily at her. Meanwhile, Saten also caught sight of her and looked immensely relieved.
"Shirai!" she shouted, her eyes nervously darting back over to the Anti-Skill officers. "Um, I could really use your help here!"
Kuroko said nothing in response, though she eyed the Anti-Skill officers with a great deal of caution. Something wasn't right here…
Why were these Anti-Skill officers so blatantly armed in the middle of a mall, of all places?
"This is Judgment!" she finally declared, keeping her eyes on the leader of the squad. "What's going on here?"
"This isn't a matter that concerns Judgment!" the lead officer growled out, sparing her a small glance. "Keep your nose out of this, girl. Anti-Skill is here to detain that girl there for questioning."
He gestured to Haruue, and she shrunk back in response with a frightened look.
"And she doesn't want to go with you! She was making that very clear when I came by!" Saten interjected with a stern glare. "You're scaring her more than anything else!"
Kuroko gazed cooly at the officers, double checking that their insignia was correct on their tactical gear. It sure seemed legitimate, as far as she could tell. "And what matter are you needing to question her about?"
"It's classified. Like I said, Judgment has no business here," the lead officer sneered with a clear scowl on his lips. "If anything, you should be helping us apprehend her. Clearly, she's resisting our authority."
"And this would go a lot smoother if you told her what this was about," Kuroko countered, keeping a steady eye on the squad. At the same time, her hands started to drift down closer to the belt containing her steel darts.
"Shut up, brat! If you aren't going to assist us, then stand aside. Or else we'll arrest the both of you alongside that girl for obstruction!" the squad commander threatened, and gestured toward them with his stun baton. "No one interferes with our Justice and gets away with it!"
Heavily armed Anti-Skill officers displaying overly harsh and aggressive attitudes toward innocent students, and screaming about justice? Oh hell no. Kuroko knew exactly what was going on here, and she didn't like it one bit.
"Then let me escort her to the nearest Judgment office. You can question her there. I'm sure she'd feel more comfortable at one of our branches, with a Judgment officer in the room. Right?" Kuroko questioned, shooting Haruue a glance.
"I wouldn't mind that," Haruue confirmed with a timid nod.
"Yeah, that seems reasonable," Saten agreed, relaxing slightly. "Why don't we do that?"
"That ain't happening! Last chance. Either that girl comes with us now, or we're taking in the lot of you!" the lead officer thundered.
At his unspoken command, the three men behind him unslung their rifles and two of them aimed at Saten and Haruue, while the third aimed at Kuroko herself.
A flash of fear surged over Saten's face and Haruue paled rapidly. Kuroko, meanwhile…she stared down the barrel of the gun aimed at her with a cold glare.
"You DA scum make me sick," Kuroko abruptly hissed. "Always talking about your perverse ideals of 'justice'. You're just a bunch of glorified thugs."
Then, several things happened all at once.
Her fingers flew to the steel darts under her skirt, and Kuroko used several of them to jam up the rifles pointed at them, her spikes piercing the barrels in several places. Then Kuroko flashed above the lead officer and landed a powerful kick to the back of his helmeted head, sending him crashing to the floor.
In the next instant she teleported next to Haruue, scooped her up in her arms, and took the both of them as far away as her range could manage.
"Stay here," Kuroko commanded, dropping Haruue just behind a pillar. "Until I come back with Saten. Follow her when she moves, okay?"
She didn't even wait for Haruue to answer, and instead reappeared next to a paling Saten.
"Sh-should we really be picking a fight with Anti—!" she started to say, but cut herself off with a yelp as Kuroko scooped her up into a princess carry.
"They're not Anti-Skill!" Kuroko declared in a heated tone.
As if to back up her point, one of the DA thugs dropped his ruined rifle, whipped out his pistol, and started firing wildly at them.
Kuroko teleported out of the line of fire, reappearing back where she'd dropped off Haruue. She set Saten back down next to her a moment later.
"Go get Uiharu and Mikoto, now!" she commanded.
Saten, wide eyed and clearly out of her depth, could only give a hurried nod in response.
Mikoto and Uiharu would no doubt already be running here, given the obvious sound of gunfire that had echoed across the mall. But at least Saten could give them an idea of what they were in for.
With that done Kuroko teleported again, flashing to the lead officer's side as she landed another blow against his head. At the same time she fished out her phone and speed-dialed Yomikawa's number.
"Shirai?" Yomikawa picked up immediately. "Sorry, can this wait? Now is not a good—!"
"I'm fighting DA! Track my phone!" she quickly said, and hung up.
Then Kuroko turned her full attention over to the men trying to kill her.
She reappeared over another DA soldier, delivering a strike to his chest that sent him flat on his back. She then started reappearing and disappearing in rapid succession like that, issuing a series of kicks and strikes that similarly tossed around the DA soldiers that surrounded her. Unfortunately, their body armor helped to absorb much of the strength of her blows, and so the three agents she was fighting got back up quickly. That armor similarly lessened the impact when she teleported a few of them into the air upside down.
As the fight progressed, Kuroko hastily teleported more darts to jam up their pistols before they could get off any more shots at her. Thus left bereft of any long range weapons, the DA agents all drew batons and combat knives and lunged at her.
Kuroko did her best to hold them off, flashing all over the place as she delivered more kicks and strikes against them. She also used her remaining darts to try and pin them to the floor, and pierce their palms in order to disarm them. She was able to immobilize one that way, disarmed another another two with the second method, and—
Wait, that was three of them. Where did their leader go?
Kuroko received her answer as she felt blinding pain erupt across the side of her head as a heavy, blunt object hit her from her blind spot. She tumbled to the hard linoleum floor, hissing with pain as her entire world spun. Through her blinding agony, she could see the feet of the lead DA agent marching toward her.
"Goddamn brat!" he snarled out, and delivered a solid, bone crushing kick to her side. "Cunts like you are the reason Disciplinary Action is needed! All those who break the peace of our city deserve to be properly punished!"
Kuroko bit her cheek, resisting the urge to scream out in pain. But goddamn did it hurt! Fuck, it felt like that bastard had broken a rib!
He stomped down on her side again, and Kuroko felt another wave of pain slam into her body. She grit her teeth, trying very hard to clear her mind enough to do her calculations, but the lancing agony in her skull kept her from properly concentrating.
The DA agent she'd immobilized with her darts ripped them out of their uniform and got back onto their feet, while the other two favored weapons in their non-injured hands, and steadily approached her.
Shit, this was going south so fast!
Kuroko willed her body to work, and she almost managed to get to her feet, but another ruthless kick to her side left her wheezing and sprawling back on the floor.
"Oh no, you're not getting up! We aren't gonna let you use your ability now. As long as you're distracted by pain, you can't make those calculations you so desperately need. Right?" the lead agent crowed in a smug, malicious tone.
"Fuck you!" Kuroko snarled back.
She could feel blood starting to trickle down her temple, and she quickly closed her left eye as the crimson liquid leaked onto her face. With her good eye, she looked around the area, while her hand started to creep down to her skirt. At the same time, she tried to center herself, pushing through the pain as she forced her brain to make her calculations—
"Get away from her!"
The enraged voice of Mikoto Misaka thundered through the air, and spears of lightning lashed out at the DA agents, striking all four of them. Three of the four thugs dropped to the floor instantly, shaking from the after-shocks of her strike. The leader, meanwhile, staggered back but wasn't struck down like his comrades. Perhaps his armor had more shock padding to it?
Kuroko took the opportunity to teleport herself upright, and used the last of her spikes to pierce through the feet of the lead agent, embedding him to the floor. He screamed with pain, but one more shock from Mikoto rendered him fully silent.
"Fucking…bastard…!" Kuroko hissed, and spat out some of the blood pooling in her mouth.
"Kuroko!" Mikoto dashed over to her side: just in time too, as Kuroko nearly lost her balance. It was only Mikoto's quick thinking that saved her from another nasty fall.
"I'm fine," she lied, but she didn't protest as Mikoto led her over to a nearby bench.
"Shirai!"
Uiharu, Saten, Haruue, and the others all arrived soon after, rushing to her side. Uiharu spared the unconscious DA agents a small glance, before immediately focusing back on her.
"Saten told us what happened," Uiharu explained, and peered worriedly at her. "You got into a fight with some people impersonating Anti-Skill?"
"DA," Kuroko absently confirmed, clutching a hand to her throbbing head. "A..splinter group. Extremists. They were trying to take Haruue…"
"DA…" Rakko murmured, drinking in the name. Kuroko was so wrapped up in her own pain, she didn't even notice the look of murderous outrage Rakko directed over to the knocked out thugs.
Uiharu stared at her uncertainly, before reluctantly getting up to secure the crime scene. Kongou and Saten moved to join her, and to make sure the agents weren't about to get up anytime soon, while Mikoto, Rakko, and Haruue stayed at her side.
Kuroko took the time to rest and recover, though her mind was plagued with a troubling thought that refused to leave her:
Why did DA want Erii Haruue?
Yomikawa showed up with her Anti-Skill unit not long after, thankfully. She took statements from everyone involved, and made sure the DA agents were thoroughly secured as they were taken to the transport van.
"I know one of them. Daisuke Yamato: he was fired from Anti-Skill for excessive use of force against a student. He left her partially paralyzed," Yomikawa later murmured darkly to Kuroko. "I'm not surprised to see him as part of DA. Maybe I can use this as an excuse to start officially looking into the organization…"
Kuroko wasn't so certain the Governing Board would give up such a useful tool so easily, but she didn't say anything aloud. Instead she went along with Yomikawa to get checked out by the team medic. The injury to her head didn't seem too serious, though she was told to see a doctor as soon as possible. And thankfully, she hadn't broken a rib, but her left side was bruised something fierce all the same.
Kuroko promised she'd see Heaven Canceller before she returned to her dorm, and Yomikawa reluctantly let her go. After the team medic wrapped up her injuries, Yomikawa and her unit prepared to leave thereafter, though not before taking Haruue with them.
"I have a teacher friend who you can stay with while we figure this all out," Yomikawa said to Haruue, who looked rather nervous to accompany them.
"She's fine, I know her pretty well," Kuroko spoke up, giving Haruue a reassuring smile. "You can trust her. Unlike those brutes, she's actually part of Anti-Skill."
Haruue gave a slow nod in response. She murmured a quiet acceptance of Yomikawa's offer, though before she left with her…
"Thank you!" Haruue wrapped her up in a gentle hug, pressing her face against the crook of her neck.
"I was just doing my job. I am a Judgment officer after all," Kuroko demurred, giving Haruue a small smile.
After that, Kuroko walked back over to her friends, who were now waiting around one of the entrances to the underground mall.
"Kuroko! Are you okay?" Mikoto asked worriedly, checking her over again.
"I'll be fine, I think. I probably don't have a concussion, though I'll visit a hospital before we go back to the dorms. Just to be safe," Kuroko assured her.
Saten wrung her hands anxiously and kept glancing at her injuries. Finally she broke down and said, "I'm sorry, you got hurt because of me. I—!"
"You did nothing wrong," Kuroko shut that argument down right away.
She reached over to grab Saten's hands and gently squeezed them. With a smile on her face she proclaimed, "You did everything right, Saten. You got the others just in time; things would be a lot worse if Mikoto hadn't shown up when she did. And don't blame yourself for anything, either. You did a good thing in helping that girl out."
A bit of crimson colored Saten's cheeks, and she gave her a grateful smile in response.
"I'm just glad you're alright," Kongou sighed, and pressed her folding fan against her chin. "Still, what happened with those brutes was rather odd. Hopefully Anti-Skill can get to the bottom of this."
"And if they can't, I'm sure others will," Rakko murmured with a determined stare.
Kuroko glanced at her in concern, but her attention was stolen away as Uiharu peered over at her. Worry lined her features, her eyes repeatedly darting over to the bandages over her skull.
"We'd better get you to the hospital right away," Uiharu fretted.
"She's right. Come on, I'll carry your stuff for you," Mikoto offered.
Kuroko nodded, though her eyes lingered on Uiharu. Maybe it was the head trauma, or maybe she was just happy to be alive, and a little loose in her own self control. Whatever the cause, Kuroko felt herself drawn to her best friend. She leaned over and—
Wait wait wait don't kiss her cheek DON'T KISS HER CHEEK!
Some sensible, sane part of Kuroko screamed in her head, and she obliged. Kuroko didn't kiss Uiharu on the cheek.
She kissed her on the lips.
For a single, heart-stopping moment Kuroko kissed Uiharu, the sensation of their lips pressing together sending an electrifying spark down her spine. A sudden explosion of warmth spread through her stomach, and Kuroko could swear she saw stars behind her closed eyelids.
And then the world around her roared back to life, and Kuroko abruptly realized just what she was doing.
She hastily pulled back, a crimson flush bathing her cheeks. Uiharu stared right back at her, her eyes wide with shock and her entire face as red as a cherry tomato. A sound reminiscent of a shrieking teapot slowly left Uiharu's throat.
The rest of their group, meanwhile, could only look and stare at the two of them.
Kuroko let out a dismayed squeak of her own, spirals swirling in her eyes as she tried to search for an excuse. Some answer, no matter how unreasonable or far-fetched: just something that would explain her actions, and give her some sense of dignity back!
And once again, her mind latched onto the first excuse she could conceive of. If it worked once, why wouldn't it work again!
"Th-thanks for coming along with me today!" Kuroko suddenly shouted as she gave a nervous, frenzied giggle. "I, um, really appreciate it!"
Then she teleported in front of Saten, and before the surprised girl could get a single word in, Kuroko leaned in and kissed her next.
Saten let out a startled, muffled yelp, and she barely had any time to register the unforeseen kiss before Kuroko had moved on.
She teleported to Rakko next, missing the eager gleam in her eyes as she kissed her on the lips. Then Kuroko was in front of Kongou, and drew her into a kiss next. And then, finally, Kuroko was in front of Mikoto—
Nope! Abort, abort!
—And in lieu of a kiss, Kuroko simply laughed and patted her on the shoulder.
Then she teleported to the front of the group, keeping her gaze firmly fixed on the ground.
"W-Well, I better go get checked out now! I'llseeyouguyslaterbye!"
And with that, Kuroko flashed out of sight.
A long, heavy silence descended upon the group in the aftermath. No one was entirely sure what to say, in the face of this bizarre series of events. Then:
"Oh, so best friends kiss each other on the lips as a sign of affection?" Kongou mused aloud, as if she'd just come to a profound realization. "My, I hadn't known that! I'll have to make sure I make up for that with Wannai and Awatsuki the next time I see them."
"…Why didn't she kiss me?" Mikoto questioned in a vaguely offended tone. She paused a second later, and a horrified look flickered over her features. "Was it because of my breath?! Do I have bad breath?!"
Rakko, on the other hand, seemed far too pleased with herself: the smug smile on her lips said everything about how she felt.
Meanwhile, Uiharu stood frozen in place, her eyes wide and unblinking. Finally in a soft, timid voice she mumbled,
"That was my first kiss."
Saten slung an arm around her shoulders and offered Uiharu a wry grin. "If it makes you feel any better, it was my first kiss too."
Uiharu shot her a cross glare in response, which just caused Saten to chuckle.
"Boy, we have our work cut out for us," Saten continued in that same bemused tone.
"We?" Uiharu questioned with an arched eyebrow.
A moment of silence lingered between the two of them, and Saten studiously avoided Uiharu's gaze.
Then, with a shake of her head, she spoke to the group at large and said, "Come on, we better go make sure she actually goes to a hospital. Because, uh, after that, I'm starting to think she actually does have a concussion."
And with that, the group slowly trudged on after Kuroko.
Author's Note:
This took longer than anticipated, but here we are! The next chapter of ASIMS. Hope it was worth the wait! Had a LOT of fun writing this one out. I had the idea for the end scene here cooked up since Sadrai's mistaken kiss a few chapters ago, so glad I finally had the chance to write it out! And fun fact, the mall scene as a whole was initially meant to be the end scene of Arc 1, though things transpired very differently. I'd planned on making it the opening of Arc 2, but that also didn't happen as planned. Glad I finally had the chance to write this scene out.
Also, I have a new story up! A DBZ SI featuring the infamous Doctor Gero! First chapter/prologue is up, with more to follow soon, ideally.
And finally, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my grandmother, Opal. She passed away on the 23rd of March, and I've missed her every day since. You were a great Memaw, and I just wish I'd spent more time with you before you the end.