After aggressively working out her differences with Touma Kamijou, Kuroko retreated from A Certain High School. She then went toward her Judgment branch office, only pausing to make a detour at a bakery. She made sure to buy an assortment of sweets, cakes, and other baked goods for herself and her coworkers, and quickly left the establishment thereafter.
She arrived at the 177th Branch Office not long after, just in time for her to begin her shift.
Kuroko opened the office's main entrance, calling out a greeting as she strode in. A chorus of responses came her way, including one from Ruiko Saten, interestingly enough.
Once she walked into the office, Kuroko confirmed that Saten was present. She sat over at one of the couches in the office, while Uiharu and Konori were both seated at their respective work stations.
"Come to hang out today, eh?" Kuroko inquired, walking over to the office's kitchen to set down her pastries.
"Yup!" Saten shamelessly answered, giving her a small grin. "You should invite Misaka, Kongou, and Yumiya over too, that way we'll have the whole gang together!"
"Perhaps another time," Kuroko replied, giving a wistful sigh. "I actually did ask Mikoto if she wanted to come over today, but apparently her mother's in town and they're having dinner together, so she declined my offer."
That said, she wordlessly started to go around the office, handing out some small cakes to everyone present.
"Oh, thanks!" Uiharu beamed at her, gladly taking the dessert. "What's the occasion?"
"Oh, nothing much. I just wanted to get you something nice," Kuroko casually replied, giving her friend a soft smile.
Her declaration seemed to make Uiharu blush, her cheeks quickly coloring a bright red.
"W-Well, I'll eat it in a moment. I still have to finish this report," Uiharu said, quickly averting her gaze.
Kuroko nodded and went over to Konori, handing her a dessert next.
"Oh, thank you," Konori said, giving her a pleased look. "I do appreciate it."
Konori paused a second later, her eyes flickering over Kuroko's head. "Oh, I heard from Uiharu about that incident at the underground mall yesterday. How are you feeling?"
"Much better, thanks. I don't seem to have any pain or lingering side effects," Kuroko replied, giving a soft sigh. "Oh, did you want me to fill out a report about it? I didn't think about it at the time, but…"
"Well, since you did act as a member of Judgment, it's required," Konori replied, giving her a chiding look. "Uiharu already gave me her report. Just give me yours by tomorrow afternoon, if you don't mind. Considering Anti-Skill's taken over the investigation—and that they already have your witness statement—there isn't a need to rush it out."
Kuroko gave an idle nod and moved over to Saten next, who eagerly took her offered cake. Saten proceeded to pat the open cushion next to her, and Kuroko wordlessly sat down beside her, setting her own dessert on the coffee table in front of them.
"Thanks Shirai!" Saten cheered, using a plastic fork to take a bite from her cake. "Ah, this tastes so good!"
Saten slid closer to her as she spoke, bumping their shoulders together. Kuroko glanced at her for a moment, and noticed that Saten was shooting Uiharu an odd, indecipherable look. She shrugged to herself a moment later and decided not to question her, figuring that it wasn't her business.
"I'm glad you like it," she said. "I'll make sure to get desserts from that bakery more often."
With that said, she ate a portion of her own cake, sighing at its creamy, velvety taste. Yup, she'd definitely have to go to that bakery again.
Thank god she came from a rich family in this life: all these desserts had been very pricey, about a hundred thousand yen, or six hundred dollars, altogether. And Kuroko knew from experience that similar shops in School Garden sold their goods for twice as much: so the bakery she'd stopped by was, by far, the cheaper and more affordable option. Still, she'd need to be judicious about her spending: she didn't want to blow her money on frivolous things like cakes and figurines.
It was also a good thing that she'd already learned to be much more frugal in her financial decisions, before her Awakening. Otherwise, Kuroko had a fair feeling that she'd be in a lot of debt otherwise.
Kuroko felt another weight settle down on the couch, and she glanced over to see Uiharu next to her. Uiharu shot Saten a cross look as she did so, sliding to be just as close to her as Saten was, sandwiching Kuroko between the girls.
"Weren't you working on something?" Kuroko questioned.
"Yeah, weren't you?" Saten echoed, beaming mischievously at her.
"I-I just decided to take a break," Uiharu huffed, before stuffing a piece of cake into her mouth.
Kuroko shrugged, accepting her explanation easily enough. In all honesty, she didn't mind the closeness. In fact it gave her more of those odd, fluttery feelings in her stomach, which in turn made her feel strangely happy.
A companionable silence descended upon the trio as they enjoyed their dessert. Kuroko herself took special delight in her present company. It was always nice hanging out with Uiharu, and it was exciting getting Saten into the mix too. Saten was a fun and personable girl, a bit like Shokuhou in that respect, but much more at ease when it came to interacting with people.
Hm, now that made her wonder: what would it be like if and when Misaki and Saten met each other? The idea was equal parts amusing and frightening in all the possibilities it brought to mind. Who knew what troublesome mischief those two would get up to, if given the chance?
As Kuroko mused over such thoughts, she glanced over at Saten. She noticed a bit of frosting sticking to her friend's cheek, just next to the edge of her lips.
"Oh, you got something there," Kuroko said, pointing it out.
Then, in the milliseconds that followed, Kuroko had an internal debate.
I should get that for her was the first thought that came to her mind. Kuroko Shirai's sensibilities as a proper lady told her it was the right thing to do, so Kuroko committed to the idea without issue. But then came the followup problem.
There aren't any napkins around she realized, having forgotten to bring some over. She could just teleport back to the kitchen and grab some, but Saten might have tried to take care of it herself by then.
A finger would be fine, right? That logic made sense to her, and it was more readily available than a napkin. Her hands were clean, too, so that didn't present any issues. There was the dilemma of how she'd clean herself up, but…
It's just frosting, I can eat it. Right, now that was an elegant, simple solution. And it would be better to do that than stain her clothes by wiping it on herself.
Thus, following that flawless chain of logic, Kuroko reached over to Saten, scooped the frosting with her finger, and lapped it up with her tongue. After that she went right back to her own dessert, pausing only when she noticed Uiharu and Saten both gawking at her.
"Something wrong?" she questioned, glancing between them.
A light flush clung to Saten's cheeks, her eyes blinking rapidly as she just stared at her. She seemed to find her voice after a few more moments, a wry little chuckle escaping her lips. "Oh, nothing. It was just, um, unexpected."
"There weren't any napkins around," she replied, giving a shrug.
"Then maybe grab a tissue next time, you weirdo," Uiharu retorted with a grumpy expression, her face blushing bright red.
Kuroko didn't see what the big deal was, but she conceded the point nevertheless, nodding her head to Uiharu. She teleported away for a few moments, grabbing some napkins from the kitchen to prevent another such issue, before popping right back next to Uiharu and Saten.
Saten took the offered napkin with an awkward smile, giving Kuroko another look before she returned to her dessert.
For all of a few seconds, at least. Saten had only taken one more bite from her cake before her eyes lit up with remembrance.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" she declared, clapping her hands together. "There was a rumor I wanted to ask you about, Shirai!"
"Oh?" Kuroko asked.
"Yeah! See, there's this rumor going around about this Blackhearted Casanova at Tokiwadai!" Saten announced in an eager tone.
Kuroko sighed, her brow twitching with faint annoyance as her mind flashed back to a certain blue-haired troglodyte. It seemed like the rumor mill of Tokiwadai was really getting around, if both Aogami and Saten had heard of this.
"How is this spreading around so fast?" she remarked with obvious displeasure.
"Ah, so you've heard of it?" Saten questioned, brightening up even further.
"Blackhearted Casanova?" Uiharu questioned, tilting her head to the side. "Who's that?"
"Supposedly, they're a new student at Tokiwadai who's thrown the whole campus into disarray!" Saten excitedly explained. "There's a couple different variations of the rumor, but the main story that they all agree on says that this Casanova is in a torrid love triangle with Tokiwadai's two Level Fives!"
"Wow, that sounds pretty exciting, like something out of a shoujo manga! It sure would be fun to see a proper ojou-same getting involved in a dramatic love triangle," Uiharu mused, giving a wistful sigh. She paused a second later, blinking rapidly as she pointed out, "Wait, if this love triangle involves Tokiwadai's Level Fives, wouldn't that mean Misaka is a part of this?"
"Huh, yeah, it would! Well, now I wish I'd asked her about it yesterday," Saten said, giving an annoyed groan. She brightened back up swiftly, however, as she went on. "But Shirai's from Tokiwadai, so we can still ask her about it!"
Kuroko shook her head, giving Saten a dismayed look. "Really, you put too much stock in these silly rumors. Take it from me: I know both Mikoto and Shokuhou very well, and I'd be able to tell if either of them were involved in something as silly as a love triangle."
"Wait, you know Misaki Shokuhou?" Saten questioned in a surprised tone.
"Yes, Shirai's actually apart of her clique," Uiharu explained, before shooting Kuroko a stern look. "And the two of them also spent the night together, apparently."
Saten raised her eyebrows in shock and looked to Kuroko, wordlessly asking for an explanation.
"It was…an unexpected sleepover, that's all. I, um, couldn't make it back to my dorm in time for curfew, so Shokuhou let me stay with her for the night. It wasn't anything special," Kuroko deflected, trying to sound calm and collected.
Better to not mention the time Shokuhou had slept over in her old dorm room: she had the strangest feeling Uiharu wouldn't react kindly to that bit of knowledge.
"At any rate," Kuroko continued, pushing past that subject. "I'm intimately familiar with both Misaki Shokuhou and Mikoto Misaka. So I'd know for sure if they were swept up in a love triangle, or whatever the rumors say. As it is, I've seen no evidence of that, or that this Blackhearted Casanova character even exists. Whatever the basis of the rumor was, it's clearly grown distorted and overblown as time has gone by."
"Really? Well, I guess that makes sense. Though it's still disappointing to hear," Saten sighed. "So, just to make sure, you haven't met any twin-tailed girls at Tokiwadai? The rumors say that this Casanova character had her hair up in distinctive twin-tails."
"It's not an unusual hairstyle at Tokiwadai, but I can't think of anyone who would match the specific description given out for them: at least, not anyone I've seen Mikoto and Shokuhou regularly interact with. Honestly, it's such a vague description! I mean, it could have even been applied to me," Kuroko replied dismissively, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry, what?" Saten asked, giving her a startled look.
"Oh, well, I had my hair up in a style like that for the longest time: I only just recently changed it," she elaborated.
Saten blinked rapidly, her mouth opening and closing as she seemed to come to a realization. Uiharu, likewise, stared hard at Kuroko, coming to the same conclusion as her friend. The two of them said nothing for a long moment, and that, combined with their intense focus on her, made Kuroko squirm in her seat.
"What?" she pressed defensively, looking back and forth between the two.
"Oh, sorry. It's nothing, just trying to, um, adjust to some new context," Saten replied with a weak chuckle.
Her words mystified Kuroko further, but she had little time to focus on them before she heard Uiharu grumbling softly under her breath. Kuroko glanced at her, furrowing her brow in confusion. Then her eyes lit up with a dawning comprehension. All at once, everything made sense to her.
Uiharu had been acting a little odd lately, hadn't she? Kuroko hadn't wanted to say anything, but she had been noticing some odd disturbances to her friend's behavior in the past few weeks. Could it be that Uiharu was…?
Well, only one way to find out.
"Are you jealous?" Kuroko asked, a teasing edge to her voice.
"Eh?" Uiharu stuttered, her cheeks flushing as she whipped her head toward her friend.
"It's a simple question, Uiharu. Are you jealous?" Kuroko repeated, before giving an impish giggle. In a knowing, playful tone she continued, "Honestly, I should have seen this before. Your attitude recently, the way you've been acting…it all makes sense now. I mean, you sure seemed miffed with me when I first told you that I slept with Shokuhou. And in hindsight, you acted awful catty toward Mikoto when you two first met."
"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Uiharu denied, refusing to meet her gaze.
Kuroko leaned in close to her, forcing her friend to stare at her. With a mischievous smirk on her face, she declared, "I think I know what's going on here. You're jealous that I have more friends, aren't you?"
Uiharu didn't give an immediate reply, her face going through several different expressions before settling on a flustered look. She desperately shook her head, blushing even harder as she said, "Th-that's not it at all!"
Kuroko smiled gently at her before reaching over to wrap her arm around Uiharu's side. Before Uiharu knew it, she had her head pressed against Kuroko's shoulder, as Kuroko hugged her friend close to her body.
"You can't fool me, Uiharu. And I'll have you know, you have no reason whatsoever to be jealous," Kuroko declared. "You'll always be my one and only partner in this life. Nothing's going to change that. I'll always be here for you, no matter what."
Uiharu was unable to muster up a direct response, her cheeks flushing an even deeper crimson. At the same time she leaned into Kuroko's touch, snuggling up against her as they hugged.
"S-Sorry," Uiharu mumbled, breaking the silence between them. "I-I have been acting weird and a little mean lately, haven't I? I guess I've just been, um, a bit confused…"
"Think nothing of it," Kuroko assured her, holding her tighter.
Kuroko glanced over at Saten a second later, observing the satisfied smirk she wore as she stared at them both. A few moments later Kuroko reached over toward her, wrapping her hand around a familiar soft spot along Saten's upper torso and pulling her close.
"Eh?" Saten stuttered, looking supremely surprised at the sudden turn of events. A startled blush spread across her cheeks and she started to say, "Um, why—"
"Because you're my friend too, Saten. So I didn't want you to feel left out," Kuroko interjected, patting the other girl's side.
Saten blinked in rapid succession, and then a wry smile spread across her lips. She looked to Uiharu and idly commented, "Are you sure she doesn't do this on purpose?"
Uiharu made a face at her comment, refusing to maintain eye contact with Saten as the latter giggled at Uiharu's reaction. Kuroko herself wasn't quite sure what Saten was talking about, but she didn't want to ruin the moment. Instead she closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of Uiharu and Saten pressing up against her.
The hug ended eventually, Kuroko withdrawing her hands from both girls as they returned to their original positions. Uiharu had a beaming smile on her face, one that made Kuroko's heart skip a beat and created more of those weird flutters in her stomach. Saten, meanwhile…
"So," Saten began, a teasing grin spread over her face. "You know you were grabbing my boob, right?"
"Huh?" Kuroko questioned, her eyes widening as she whipped her head toward her.
"Eh?" Uiharu echoed right after her, staring at the both of them.
She gaped at Saten, the latter staring at her with that unrepentant, playful grin. At the same time, Kuroko's mind raced through her memories, desperately trying to prove Saten wrong—
—She reached over to her, wrapping her hand around a familiar soft spot along Saten's upper torso—
—Soft, like Shokuhou had been when she'd accidentally touched her—
Saten swiftly continued, her teeth sparkling as she flashed that same mischievous grin at her. "I didn't want to say anything during the moment: that would have ruined things. I mean, you were acting so cool and sweet! Still, I couldn't not point it out. But, like, I'm not mad or anything. I know you aren't the type of girl to try and cop a feel."
"Of course," Saten went on, her grin widening further. "I could always be wrong."
"Shirai!" Uiharu gasped in a shocked voice. "D-Did you really—!"
"I-It was an accident, I swear!" Kuroko hastily decried, as her entire face became bathed in a heavy flush. She quickly shook her head in rapid denial for good measure, trying not to cringe with embarrassment.
"I know, I know, I'm just teasing you," Saten giggled, waving off her concern. "Like I said, I know that it wasn't on purpose. If anything, it's actually kinda funny. Still, poor Uiharu probably feels all left out now…"
"Wait, why're you bringing me into this?!" she yelped, leaning away from them.
"I know! You should grab Uiharu's boob too! That way it's all even and fair!" Saten declared, nodding her head in absolute certainty: as if she'd said something wise and profound.
"L-Leave me out of your weird, pervy games!" Uiharu hotly retorted, crossing her arms over her chest.
"What—I wouldn't—wh-why would you even suggest something like that? I'd never do that! Twice is more than enough!" Kuroko stuttered out, shooting Saten a scandalized look.
"Twice?" Saten questioned, cocking her head.
"Twice?" Uiharu repeated, tension returning back to her tone.
"Uhhhhh…." Kuroko felt a nervous sweat break out on her forehead, even as she internally cursed her rotten, no good loose tongue.
"What, was I not the first girl you groped? Was there someone before me?" Saten asked, giving an exaggerated gasp. Her eyes sparkled with mischievous amusement, while a delighted giggle escaped her lips. "Now I can't help but wonder if you are that kind of girl, Miss Casanova."
"Shirai," Uiharu growled out, glaring daggers into the back of her head. "You've got a lot of explaining to do."
Kuroko gave a dismayed whine, her irises quickly replied by anxious swirls as she tried, and failed, to come up with a solution to her current crisis. She was about to fall back on her default escape plan—teleporting out of the room—when a stern voice from the back of the office projected toward them.
"I'm sorry, did I just hear a discussion about groping? Just what are you girls talking about?"
The trio all froze in unison, and slowly turned their heads to look back at Konori. In the heat of their bickering, they'd forgotten that she was even there. Konori looked right back at them, a single eyebrow raised as she evaluated them with a critical stare. None of them, not even Saten, could resist the urge to cringe from her piercing gaze.
"Nothing," they all chorused, varying degrees of embarrassment and guilt written across their faces.
Konori narrowed her eyes, her stare swiftly singling out Kuroko. She quailed under her burning gaze, wishing to be anywhere else at that moment.
"Shirai, I think it's time you started writing that report," Konori finally said, leaning back in her chair.
"Y-Yes ma'am," Kuroko meekly replied, quickly getting up from the couch and scurrying over to her desk.
She swiftly sat down at her chair, avoiding Konori's gaze as she did her best to try and calm herself down.
It was a relief when Konori granted her and Uiharu leave to go out on patrol an hour later. Kuroko was quick to exit the office with Uiharu and Saten in tow, praying that she wouldn't embarrass herself any further.
"So…" Saten spoke up, her tone promising nothing but pain and misery for Kuroko. "Who was the lucky lady? You know, the first girl you groped?"
Kuroko groaned, hiding her face between her hands. At the same time, she wondered just how much head trauma she'd need to inflict upon herself to forget this entire conversation.
The rest of her shift at Judgment went over smoothly, much to her relief. There were no major incidents to speak of, and even better, Saten dropped her mortifying question fairly quickly. So Kuroko was able to relax with her friends for the next few hours.
After her official duties were concluded, Kuroko bid farewell to them both and called up Heaven Canceller and Shokuhou. After a bit of waiting, Heaven Canceller pulled up in his car, Shokuhou already in his backseat. Kuroko quickly climbed in next to her, settling in her seat as the frog-faced doctor drove them away.
"You remember the plan, right?" Shokuhou inquired, watching her out of the corner of her eye.
"Of course," Kuroko replied, giving a dismisive snort. "I came up with the idea, after all. It's up to you to sell it."
"Well, fortunately for you, I happen to be a sublime actress," Misaki boasted, shooting her a smug smirk.
"In what world is that true? Or are you about to confess that you've been moonlighting as a J-Drama Actress? Or, no, wait, have you been working at a Kabuki theater?" Kuroko snarked, letting out a snicker.
Misaki's cheeks reddened with embarrassment and anger, which only caused Kuroko to laugh more. Just as quickly, however, that smug smile returned to Misaki's lips.
"My my, I'm wondering now if you'd actually like that. In fact, if I were to become an actress or an idol, I can't help but feel like you'd be my number one fan! I mean, aren't you already? You did have all those figurines and fanarts of me, after all~! Maybe you'd even like me to model the clothes from some of those pictures?" Shokuhou teased, her lips spread wide in a carnivorous grin.
Kuroko felt a heated blush break out across her face, a soft whine escaping her lips. She jabbed Shokuhou in the side, grumbling under her breath as the older girl started snickering.
"Sh-shut up! As if I'd like that! And don't talk about me like I'm some sort of depraved fan girl, or something! I'm a perfectly ordinary person!" she protested, reaching over to kick Shokuhou's leg for good measure.
"Are you sure about that?" Shokuhou shot back, bringing a hand to her mouth. "I wonder if you'd change your tune at all if I had a figurine of myself made for you~!"
"Huh?" Kuroko questioned, caught off guard.
"I'm sure I could find someone in this city to make a custom figurine of me. Maybe I'd even model it after one of the ones you had of me in your other life. If I bundled that together with some photo shoots, I wonder how long it'd take for you to buy them?" Shokuhou teased, snickering some more.
Kuroko's eyes glazed over, staring far away into the distance as she mulled over this profound revelation. "I never even considered the possibility of rebuilding my old collection. Academy City has cutting edge 3D printers, it'd just be a matter of sketching out the figures from my memory…"
Misaki blinked rapidly, not quite certain of what to make of this sudden detour.
"Should I go as far as to get a figurine of Shokuhou? It's not unusual to have figurines made of celebrities, but it'd still feel kinda weird. But I really want my old collection back. And I really liked my Railgun figurines," Kuroko mumbled, her expression growing increasingly haunted.
"I didn't think you'd take this so seriously," Misaki said, raising an eyebrow.
"I could even remake a figurine of myself! Ugh, but that feels so narcissistic. And yet I really liked my Kuroko figure," she continued, heedless of Misaki's own commentary.
Misaki issued a sigh and, without any warning, reached over to thump her over the head.
"Ow!" Kuroko hissed, leaning away from her as she glared at her attacker. She blinked rapidly a few moments later, though, furrowing her brow as she said, "Wait, what were we talking about?"
Misaki rolled her eyes. "We were discussing your stalking ability, I believe. Or at least, that's the kind of fan I think you'd be now. I bet you're the kind of pervert who'd put your mouth on the recorder of the girl you like, or steal the bike seat of your crush."
"Oh, shut up! I am not that kind of girl!" Kuroko insisted with a fierce glare.
Misaki opened her mouth to speak, a quick retort ready to leap from her lips, before she suddenly stopped herself. A frown stretched over her features, and she gave Kuroko a considerate look.
Kuroko avoided her gaze, shifting away as silence fell between them. She had a fair idea what Misaki had been about to bring up, and she wasn't eager at all to touch on that old wound.
Said 'old wound' being the elephant in the room: the fact that Kuroko Shirai, as she had been and could have been, was that kind of obsessive person. Kuroko knew it, and Misaki knew it, but actually acknowledging that out loud veered into dangerous territory, territory that would take them away from simple teasing and prodding at each other. And right now, Kuroko wanted to stay far away from any discussion that might touch upon her identity crisis.
Misaki seemed to realize that too, and so she deftly dropped that uncomfortable topic. She reached over, pulling Kuroko into a side hug as she gently patted her side.
"I know what part I'm supposed to play here, so I won't let you down. Everything's going to turn out alright, Shirai," she said.
Kuroko gave a wordless nod and relaxed into her embrace, giving a soft sigh as she enjoyed Shokuhou's warmth.
The rest of the ride passed by in relative silence. Eventually they arrived at their destination, Heaven Canceller pulling up beside an abandoned apartment building in District Ten.
Kuroko pulled away from Misaki, getting out of the car once they'd parked. She looked around with mild disdain, her eyes taking in the sight of the urban decay around her, visible even in the waning light of the sun. This would not have been her first choice for a meeting place, but Nunotaba had insisted on the location.
District Ten itself was Academy City's most rundown area. For reasons beyond her understanding, this particular area of the city had been abandoned by both polite society and law and order, leaving District Ten to rot away like a gangrenous limb. It was home to no major facilities, there were no Judgment or Anti-Skill branches, almost all storefronts had been pulled out ages ago, and no one officially lived here. Anyone who claimed this district as their home were squatters at best. Worse still, the lack of proper security in the district had made it a hive for criminal activity, most notably with several different Skill Out factions having made this place their base.
Well, in the past at least. Kuroko was fuzzy on the details, but apparently there'd been a string of murders in the district, mostly of Skill Out members. As far as she knew, Anti-Skill hadn't made any headway into the investigation, and Skill Out as a whole was on edge, with many of the gangs pulling out of District Ten.
The Big Spider faction of Skill Out, however, wasn't among those who had already fled. Kuroko only found out after Konori had taken a week off of work to attend the funeral of one of her old friends from the decimated gang. Kuroko had felt guilty about that afterward, though she had no idea what she could have done to have changed things that drastically. Still, at least she knew Kurozuma—the real one—was alive, and would reunite with Konori in another month or two.
At any rate, the sudden uptick in gang-related murders had made District Ten more of a ghost town than it usually was. On the one hand, that did make it an ideal meeting spot: no one would bother them all the way out here. At the same time, Kuroko couldn't help but feel unnerved by the eerie, lifeless silence in the area.
Her eyes scanned the surrounding block for any hint of activity, though she saw nor heard anything of note.
"This place gives me the creeps," Misaki opined, looking around the area with a wary expression.
"We should be safe here," Heaven Canceller said as he got out of the car. "I made sure to check the satellite footage of the area before I drove us here. However offputting this place may be, there isn't anyone else around for miles."
"That doesn't reassure me as much as it should," Kuroko remarked with a small sigh. "Okay, then. Let's get this started."
The three of them walked into the apartment thereafter. And as they explored the interior, they continued to see signs of neglect and decay: rubble littered the floor, dust and grime was everywhere, doors were caved in or rusted off their hinges. Clearly, no one had inhabited this building for quite some time. Not even Skill Out had made this place their home.
Finally, they arrived at their destination: a specific apartment on the second floor. Waiting inside was a familiar looking girl with violet hair, dressed in a blue blouse and skirt, with a white undershirt and white collar and green ascot, and a white lab coat over all her other layers. Most striking of all, though, was the odd, robotic device she was wearing over her forehead. Kuroko stared at it, furrowing her brow with confusion as she tried to figure out what it was. Some type of visor, maybe?
"So," Shinobu Nunotaba observed them all with a disinterested gaze as she spoke. "Here you are. I have to admit, I wasn't certain if you were going to show up."
"I am a man of my word: besides that, Miss Shokuhou was quite insistent on meeting with you," Heaven Canceller replied, gesturing over to her.
"Yes: Shinobu Nunotaba, right? It's a pleasure to meet you," Misaki declared, offering her a polite smile.
Nunotaba said nothing in return, her eyes flicking over to the side. Kuroko followed her gaze, taking full stock of the speakers propped up against the wall. Speakers that, on second look, appeared brand new, lacking any signs of disuse or decay that the rest of the apartment's furnishings displayed.
Kuroko glanced at the other side of the room, noticing another pair of speakers set up there as well. Her eyes widened in alarm, her mind rapidly making connections. Her hands twitched down toward her iron darts—
A harsh, high pitched sound reverberated through the apartment, causing Misaki and Kuroko to flinch with pain. Kuroko groaned in agony, unable to focus on anything else as the shrill noise drilled directly into her head. She tried to block out the sound by covering up her ears, but that didn't help at all. All Kuroko could do was hunch over, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to teleport away from the noise. But her calculations were thrown off, and she barely moved an inch.
Then, just as suddenly, the noise stopped.
Kuroko gasped with relief, groaning again as she tried to recover from the lingering pains plaguing her head. Misaki breathed just as heavily beside her, lightly rubbing her temple with a hand.
"Are you two okay?" Heaven Canceller worriedly asked, placing his hands on their shoulders. "Did something happen?"
"I'm fine now," Kuroko demurred, shaking her head as she straightened herself out. "Don't worry about me."
"Ugh, what was that?" Misaki sharply questioned, glancing around in bewilderment.
"That was my trump card," Nunotaba interjected.
They all looked at Nunotaba thereafter, and Kuroko noticed that she was now holding up a remote control. Her thumb hovered over its central button, as if threatening to push it.
"Capacity Down: a nifty little device capable of disabling Espers. I happened to stumble across it while conducting research on Ability countermeasures. I won't bore you with the finer details of how it works: just know that it is a sound wave that disrupts the brain operations of Espers such as yourselves, rendering your abilities ineffective. Although it's nothing but a harmless ringing noise for Level Zeroes like myself. I've turned it off for now, as a sign of trust. But if either of you try to use your abilities against me—hell, if I so much as see Shokuhou trying to reach for her remote—then I'm turning it back on and getting the hell out of here," she explained, looking at them with a hardened expression.
"And just in case you think to try anything you think I won't notice," Nunotaba continued, and gestured to her headband. "This device here is keeping track of my brain waves. If any abnormalities are detected—say by Shokuhou managing to gain control over my mind—then it'll send a signal that will activate my Capacity Down speakers and cancel your attempts at controlling me."
"Well," Shokuhou said, pursing her lips into a scowl. "Your paranoia ability sure is high. Are you that distrustful of us?"
"Wouldn't you be?" Nunotaba countered, tilting her head. "I was contacted out of the blue by the old man there, and then I found out he's working on behalf of Mental Out herself. Were you in my position, would you not take any measures whatsoever to ensure you'd retain control over your own faculties?"
Shokuhou continued to glare at her, but she didn't come up with a counterargument all the same. Kuroko, for her part, gave Nunotaba a begrudging nod. It was a fair concern, especially for someone who didn't know Misaki Shokuhou at all.
Still, how had she gotten hold of Capacity Down in the first place? Was Therestina Kihara already distributing it? Hm, she'd have to look into that later.
"Your concerns are justified, I'll admit," Heaven Canceller spoke up, when it was clear neither girls were about to talk. "I hope we can assuage you over the course of our conversation."
"We shall see," Nunotaba said, and focused her gaze back onto Shokuhou. "Well, I'm all ears, Mental Out. If I've understood your lackey right, you want my help in taking down the Level Six Shift Project. Why?"
Kuroko glanced over at Misaki, taking a step back as she let Shokuhou take control over the negotiations. Much as it galled her to give up any sense of power in this situation, it was vital toward Nunotaba's recruitment.
For a good while Kuroko had been stuck on how she was going to approach Nunotaba. Unlike Heaven Canceller or Komoe, she'd be far more skeptical of any claims of reincarnation or meta knowledge. And unlike Shokuhou, Kuroko had little knowledge of Nunotaba's own personal history, so she couldn't use any information like that to sway her either. The best she had was knowing about the conversation that had changed Nunotaba's perspective on the Sisters, but she could always rationalize that away as being spied on during that moment.
So, Kuroko had gone with an alternative plan. Namely: presenting Shokuhou as the leader of her cabal. After all, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for someone as skilled and powerful as Mental Out to learn of the Level Six Shift Project. And Shokuhou would naturally seek out allies to help her in her quest to end the Project.
Now they just had to convince Nunotaba about their good intentions, especially since brainwashing her into compliance wasn't an option. Not that Kuroko had been in favor of doing that to begin with.
"Well, I need someone who's been on the inside to give me a better view of the whole experiment, and how to stop it. And I've had my eye on you for a little while, Shinobu Nunotaba. You're the genius who built the Testament system, the advanced machine that's being used to program the Sisters with the knowledge they need. You also played a general consulting role in Project Radio Noise, and later Level Six Shift, once the Sisters were repurposed for that experiment. And after months of cooperation with the scientists behind the experiment, you suddenly dropped out of it. Now why is that, I wonder?"
"I wanted to focus on my studies: besides that, the project was working well enough without my input," Nunotaba deflected, giving a shrug.
"I'd believe that if you weren't on the verge of being expelled from Nagatenjouki Academy due to your chronic absences. Furthermore, you seem to be liquidating most of your money, withdrawing just enough from your bank every two weeks to not get flagged by the system for suspicious activity," Shokuhou countered, giving her a small smirk.
Nunotaba gave a small frown and took a step back from them, her thumb hovering back over her remote. "So, you've done your research on me. Congratulations. However, that doesn't prove anything malicious. Perhaps I have a gambling problem. Or maybe I'm transferring my money out of Academy City. Did that ever occur to you?"
"Of course: I followed that potential route as well. But you haven't been frequenting any casinos, legal or illegal. We didn't see you frequenting any online gambling sites either, from your internet activity. In fact, you've been holed up in your apartment for most of the past few months, going out only to eat and do your withdrawals. So, if you aren't moving your money out of the city, or spending it or gambling it here, what are you using it for?" Shokuhou questioned, raising an eyebrow. "You want to know what I think? I think you're planning something, Nunotaba. And I can't help but think it's something against the project you so recently dropped out of."
Nunotaba didn't give her an answer. Instead she frowned and said, "That still doesn't tell me why you even care about Level Six Shift at all. What, are you jealous that Academy City is investing resources into turning Accelerator into the first Level Six Esper, and not you?"
"Far from it," Misaki denied, shaking her head. Then, in a venomous tone, she continued. "In fact, what I want is rather simple to understand. I want to crush this odious little experiment, and save the Sisters from any further, needless pain."
She stared defiantly at Nunotaba thereafter, crossing her arms over her chest: as if daring Nunotaba to contradict her.
Nunotaba blinked in rapid succession, her expression faltering for a few moments. Just as quickly, however, her disinterested mask slipped back over her face.
"An interesting story, though forgive me if I'm a little doubtful of your intentions. I find it a little hard to believe you'd feel so strongly out of the goodness of your own heart. Considering the rumors I've heard about you, you seem like the type who'd only act out of her own self interest," she countered.
"So," Shokuhou replied with a smirk. "Does that mean you are aligned against the project? If that is indeed the case, I think we can be of great help to each other. Whatever my motivations are, it shouldn't matter if we're working toward the same goal, no?"
Nunotaba said nothing, her eyes narrowing as her thumb edged closer to her remote.
Kuroko glanced nervously at Shokuhou, an anxious pit opening up in her stomach. She'd been a little unsure of their chances going into this meeting, and it certainly didn't look like it was going well. Nunotaba was not buying what Shokuhou was selling.
Kuroko's anxiety continued to skyrocket, and she felt the desperate urge to jump in—
Shokuhou reached over, gently placing her hand against the small of Kuroko's back. Kuroko paused, giving her another nervous stare, but she then forced her body to relax.
If Shokuhou felt she still had this, then she'd just have to trust her.
"Fine, fine. If you really must know…" Misaki sighed, a faraway look gleaming in her starry eyes. "What do you know about Dolly?"
Kuroko sucked in a harsh breath of air, and she looked at her friend with deep concern. Misaki, however, refused to meet her gaze.
Nunotaba blinked again, confusion seeping into her features as she slowly replied. "You are…referring to the Prototype of the Misaka Sisters? I know of her, to a degree. I was involved in another project whilst data was being collected on the Prototype. I'd already come up with Testament by then, but someone else programmed the Prototype. In fact, I only learned of her when I was brought into Radio Noise. By that point, the Prototype had been dead for some time."
"I figured," Misaki gave a slow nod. "Well, here's something about me you might not know: when I first came to Academy City, I found myself placed at the Ideal Laboratory, which in turn was managed by the Clone Dolly Workshop. And over the course of my time there, I ended up meeting Dolly. She was…far kinder to me than I deserved, to be honest. I wasn't even really her friend: I'd just been ordered to pretend to be someone else around her, for the benefit of the scientists. But she knew, and she didn't care at all. That proved just how much of a sweet, caring person she was…"
Misaki gave a forlorn sigh, before a grimace tore across her features. "And then she died, and I learned the full truth of just what those monsters in lab coats had been doing to her. To them she was nothing but a lab rat, just useful for the raw data they could harvest from her. They didn't care about her comfort or safety at all, and even hastened her death. After learning all of that…that was the first time I ever learned to hate someone."
Misaki let out a shuddering sigh, her grimace widening as she clearly struggled with the awful feelings those memories brought up.
Kuroko reached over, gently rubbing her back in an attempt to soothe and console her friend. Misaki leaned into her touch, sighing again as she shook her head.
Nunotaba, meanwhile, was studying Shokuhou with a renewed intensity. Her eyes trailed across her face, searching her for any hint of a lie or fabrication. And when she found none, a flicker of uncertainty flashed over her features.
"Suffice to say, I regret every day that I hadn't done something to try and save Dolly," Shokuhou continued in a remorseful tone. "From that day, I vowed to never let something like that happen again, to me, or anyone else. I destroyed the Workshop, and took control over its remnants. And…I thought that was the end of it, and so I went on with my life. However…"
"It wasn't the end," Nunotaba softly said, a hint of regret in her voice. "Far from it."
Shokuhou gave a bitter smile and nodded. "Precisely. You can imagine my shock and horror when I found out about Level Six Shift. Suddenly Dolly had twenty thousand younger sisters, and her suffering had been magnified and passed down onto every one of them. I…once I knew that, I knew I had to do something. I couldn't save Dolly, but…I could save her sisters."
Nunotaba closed her eyes and ran a hand over her face. She remained silent for a long moment, and then said, "That's easier said than done, you know. The Governing Board itself is funding this experiment, and the project leaders are far beyond anyone's reach. The entire project is split up among a variety of different labs as well, making a surgical strike to take it down near impossible. Not to mention Accelerator: you'd be guaranteeing your own death if you tried to stand against him, Misaki Shokuhou."
"Perhaps: and yet, that is a risk I am willing to take. My own safety is immaterial, if it means that I can help free Dolly's sisters. No matter how stacked the odds are against me, I will bring an end to this experiment," Misaki declared with a determined gleam in her eyes. She stared right at Nunotaba, an aura of confidence surrounding her as she stared the older girl down.
"Still, even I know I can't do this alone," she continued. "So, like I said, I've been seeking out help. Allies who could aid me in this quest to take down this cruel experiment. And I've done a fairly good job so far, I have to say. Heaven Canceller is the best doctor in this city, and just as motivated to free the Sisters as I am, and he has contacts in the City's underground to boot, making him quite the beneficial ally. I've also made contact with other figures of authority and knowledge: other scientists, members of Anti-Skill, other Espers. All part of my little group: my PAWNs, if you will."
Misaki smirked at that, and Kuroko had to resist the urge to groan. Misaki had been quite insistent on coming up with a name for the cabal she was supposedly constructing, something that would fit well with Academy City's underworld. And so, PAWN had been born.
It was such a stupid name, but Misaki had been resistant to any idea of changing it, and so it had stuck. She, personally, was never going to call their group that…but, still, it would be a useful cover story. If and when rumors of the Kuroko Shirai Cabal For Justice started to spread, they could easily be masked by PAWN. A Level Five forming their own shadow organization wasn't outside the norm for Academy City, after all.
Misaki continued a moment later, saying, "And, of course, there's my second in command here. I wouldn't have gotten this far without the help of the lovely Kuroko Shirai. She was the one who thought it best that I reveal myself to you, in fact: she figured that level of trust would be best here."
Misaki glanced over at Kuroko, offering her a smile. Kuroko blushed a bit at her praise, but she didn't have a chance to say anything as Misaki continued.
"So you see, I've built a decent team so far…but it's not enough to take on the Project. Not just yet at least," she said.
Heaven Canceller chose that moment to interject, nodding to Shokuhou as he said, "And on behalf of Miss Shokuhou, I've been reaching out to other people who have ties to this project, or who otherwise might be able to aid us. In fact, you're not the first person I reached out to for help in this matter, Miss Nunotaba. I found out an old friend of mine was among the core researchers: Miss Kikyou Yoshikawa. Perhaps you know her?"
"Yoshikawa?" Nunotaba murmured in surprise. "I'm familiar with her, yes. We worked together while I was still on the project."
"Well, I happened to convince her to help us out. She's willing to be our woman on the inside, but of course, there's only so much she can do for us," Heaven Canceller said.
Kuroko raised an eyebrow at that, flashing the older man a surprised look. She hadn't heard about that: hell, she'd forgotten entirely that Yoshikawa had known Heaven Canceller. Perhaps he'd been looking into recruiting Yoshikawa independently? Well, whatever the case, it was definitely a good card to play with Nunotaba.
Sure enough, she looked quite impressed with that revelation. While she mulled that over, Kuroko decided to take over the reins of the conversation.
"Like Shokuhou said, we think you're planning something against the project, but I can't imagine your chances of success are good if you're acting out alone. So, let us help. Pool your resources with our own, and we'll increase all of our odds at victory. That's why we need your help, Nunotaba. It'd be better for us to cooperate and work as a team against Level Six Shift. If we don't, then we'll surely all fail and be torn apart by the City. And how will that help the Sisters in the end?" she passionately declared, giving Nunotaba a beseeching look.
Nunotaba gave them all a hard stare, chewing her lip as she thought over her options. A long, tense silence filled the room, and Kuroko could feel her anxiety skyrocket as she waited for a response to their offer.
As Nunotaba continued to remain silent, Kuroko couldn't help but question herself. Had this really been the best route they could have chosen in recruiting Nunotaba? Had she made a mistake? Had they pushed her too hard, or come at her with the wrong arguments? She knew so little of Nunotaba personally, so it was hard to say…
No, she couldn't doubt herself. Not right now: otherwise she'd drive herself mad. Whatever happened, happened. She'd just have to live with it.
As she came to that decision, Nunotaba seemed to reach her own conclusion. She closed her eyes again, pinching the bridge of her nose as she gave an abrupt sigh.
"I can't accept your offer," she said, and Kuroko's heart sank.
Before that statement could linger, however, Nunotaba elaborated.
"Not yet, at least. I…want to say yes, but, this all sounds too good to be true. If you're lying to me, Misaki Shokuhou, then you're a masterful manipulator. But if you're telling the truth…then you have just as much reason to work against the project as I do, if not even more."
She trailed off, and Kuroko felt an ember of hope flicker back to life within her.
Nunotaba continued, saying, "I have to do more research. Clearly I underestimated you, Shokuhou. I thought I had you figured out, and didn't do as thorough a background check on you as I should have. If what you're saying is true, then…then you might be my best chance at saving the Sisters. But I have to find out for sure first. I'm not going to just take you at your word. So I'm going to look into the Prototype—into Dolly—and everything else surrounding the Clone Dolly Workshop. If I find anything that contradicts your story, then we're finished, and you'll never hear from me again."
"And after you find out I'm telling the truth: what then?" Shokuhou asked, granting Nunotaba a gentle smile.
"Then we have a lot more to discuss. But that will have to wait until I can verify your story," she replied, and stowed her remote away. "You have my number in the meantime, Shokuhou. Perhaps we'll speak again soon."
Giving her one last look, Nunotaba strode past them and out of the room. The sound of her receding footsteps echoed through the abandoned building before they disappeared entirely.
Kuroko let out a sigh of relief, leaning against Shokuhou as she allowed her body to relax. Shokuhou reached over and wrapped her in a side hug, softly patting her side.
"Well, I think that went about as well as it could have," Shokuhou sighed.
Kuroko murmured an agreement, moving to leave the room a moment later. Shokuhou stayed behind, however, her eyes lingering over the Capacity Down speakers.
"We should take one of them with us," she said, gesturing to the devices. "It might come in handy. Maybe we can figure out a countermeasure to them…or reproduce them for ourselves, if we ever need to disable an Esper."
Kuroko nodded, seeing the logic in the idea. She walked over to the portable speakers on the left side of the room, using her darts to thoroughly destroy them: best not to leave any behind for someone else to misuse. After that, she made for the other speakers and destroyed one, while leaving the other to take. She picked it up, carrying it down the stairs and over to Heaven Canceller's car, propping it up in the front seat.
She got into the car with Misaki and the doctor soon after, and they drove away from the abandoned apartment complex. The sun had since set by that time, so they drove on through the dark of night.
"Say, can you get in touch with Yoshikawa?" Kuroko asked Heaven Canceller. "See if she can't get us some documentation on Radio Noise and Level Six Shift?"
"I'll see what I can do," he promised, glancing at her through the rearview mirror.
"Good. I do want to have some evidence with me, when I do tell Mikoto about the Sisters," she said.
Kuroko leaned back in her seat, giving out a yawn a moment later. God, she felt so tired. It had been a long day for her, and she was looking forward to getting some rest.
Misaki took note of her yawning, and with a teasing smile said, "If you're so tired, you're welcome to rest your head on my lap~!"
Kuroko eyed her suspiciously, briefly wondering if this was some sort of trap. Then she realized that she was too exhausted to give a shit, and so she dismissed the worry from her mind.
"Don't mind if I do," she flippantly replied.
She shifted her body a moment later, laying her legs over the car seat and nestling her head against Misaki's lap. She stared up at her friend thereafter, smirking as she saw the startled look that flashed over Misaki's face.
"You're lucky your cuteness ability makes up for that sour attitude of yours," Misaki huffed a second later.
She reached down with a gloved hand and started softly stroking Kuroko's head. She welcomed the touch, a pleased sigh escaping her lips.
"You know, most of the girls in the Clique—and a healthy amount of boys throughout the city, I'd wager—would kill to be in your position right now," Misaki airily announced, giving her a superior smile. "So I hope you realize what a privilege it is to use my lap as your pillow."
"Given how inflated your ego is, maybe I should use that big head of yours as a pillow instead," Kuroko shot right back.
Misaki scoffed at her, though a fond smile tugged at her lips. Kuroko, meanwhile, looked up at her with a smile of her own.
"Thanks for the help," she said, her tone earnest. "I know it can't have been easy bringing up Dolly."
"It was…painful to talk about, I won't lie. But it was well worth it. I had a feeling I'd have to talk about that, anyway. Nunotaba needed something more concrete, more…honest if we had any hope of recruiting her," Misaki replied.
Kuroko gave a small nod, conceding to her argument. Then, feeling the need to reiterate her earlier point, she said, "Thank you, Shokuhou. I really do appreciate it, you know. What you did, hell, what you've been doing for me in general…I wouldn't have gotten this far without your help. I'm lucky to have a friend like you."
Misaki smiled down at her, her beatific grin sending warm flutters through Kuroko's stomach.
A moment of silence lapsed between them after that. Kuroko closed her eyes, ready to take a quick nap—but just as quickly, she opened them back up. There was still something else she wanted to talk about with Shokuhou.
"I met Touma today," she said.
Shokuhou paused in her stroking, her starry eyes flickering to stare down at her. In an overly polite voice she inquired, "Oh?"
"Yeah. I ran into him after I saw Komoe. I didn't get the chance to recruit him, though. In fact, I kinda got sidetracked by something else," Kuroko replied, blushing as she started recounting the whole event.
Shokuhou smiled fondly and shook her head once she finished her story. In a nostalgic tone she remarked, "That sounds like Kamijou alright. That boy just can't keep his mouth shut to save his life. Reminds me of someone else I know, in fact."
Kuroko nodded mindlessly, not quite paying attention to Shokuhou's words. Instead, her mind drifted to another issue entirely. Namely: that of Misaki Shokuhou's complex relationship with one Touma Kamijou.
She wanted to ask Shokuhou about her ins and outs of her past with Touma, and everything that had happened between them. However, she was a bit hesitant to broach the topic, considering how sensitive it was.
The fact she knew so little at all was yet another fault of her old life. In that other world, she'd only known Shokuhou from the Railgun anime and Astral Buddy spinoff manga. Anything past that, her knowledge was a lot more fuzzy. She knew in vague terms that Shokuhou and Touma had been friends, and that some sort of incident had occurred that had robbed Touma of his memories of her. She was clueless of the finer details, however.
How Shokuhou felt about her lack of knowledge there, she wasn't quite sure. Relieved, if she had to guess? With so many intimate details of her past already known to Kuroko before they'd even met, it must have been reassuring to know some parts of her history remained private. Especially something as sensitive as her past with Touma.
Still, she found herself curious all the same. Maybe she could broach that topic now, given how much closer the two of them were?
Kuroko mused over the matter, wondering how best to broach the subject. Maybe she could wait on asking about the gory details, as it were. Still, there was something she wanted to know: for some reason, it felt important to her that she knew the answer to this question, at least.
"If it's not too personal," she began, staring up at her cautiously. "Do…do you still love him? Do you still love Touma?"
Shokuhou froze for a solid few seconds, a stricken expression flashing over her features. Kuroko felt guilty right away at that reaction, and opened her mouth to take the question back.
"I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me. You—!" she started to say, but Shokuhou cut her off.
"No, no, it's fine. It's only natural you'd be curious," Shokuhou demurred.
She stared out the window of the car, a faraway look entering her eyes. She remained quiet for a moment, gathering her thoughts before she started speaking again.
"It's funny…if you'd asked me that question just a month ago, I might have had a different answer for you. But now…well. I'm still fond of him, that much is certain. He's a little perverse, and often doesn't know when he should stop running his mouth. But he's still the bravest man I've ever known, and…he was there for me, during a dark time in my life. It might sound a little corny, but…he was my hero. He still is, for the most part.
"But," she continued, her lips twitching into a frown. "He can't remember me. I saved his life, but it cost him all his memories of me, and robbed him of the ability to retain any new memories of me. I'd hoped…for so long, I hoped he might remember me again one day, despite all that. And maybe he still might: anything's possible. Yet…well, let's just say I've gained a new perspective on the matter. "
Misaki sighed, pausing to wipe at her eyes with her free hand. "I'll always care for him, and he'll always hold a special place in my heart. But it's hard to stay in love with a ghost. That's all we can ever be for each other: ghosts. I realize that now. He'll never remember me, no matter how many times I meet with him going forward. I'll be nothing but a vanishing specter to him, a being who couldn't hope to interact with his world. At the same time, he'll always be that boy that I met a year ago, who saved me when no one else did. But that's all I'll ever know him as. He'll change, and he'll grow as a person…but I'll never get to know that version of Touma Kamijou. All I'll ever be able to know is the shade of a boy who doesn't exist. Not as I knew him, at least."
She fell silent after that, wiping at her eyes again as a tear rolled down her cheek.
Kuroko, meanwhile, stared up at Shokuhou with deep, sincere sympathy. She reached over, grabbing her hand and gently squeezing it with her own.
"I'm sorry," she murmured, bringing Shokuhou's hand over to press a comforting kiss against the back of her palm.
She felt awful, wishing there was something else she could say or do to try and make things better for her friend. But nothing really came to mind, aside from her hollow words of sympathy.
Misaki sniffled and smiled down at her, squeezing her palm as she shook her head. "It's fine. You're not at fault in any way, Shirai. If anything, you've helped me in more ways than you could know."
Kuroko wasn't quite sure what she meant by that, but she didn't want to push her on the matter, fearing to upset her any further. Despite her assurances, she searched her mind for something else to say, something to bring up that might give Shokuhou some solace—
—And then, she had it. Her mind seized upon a startling truth, and Kuroko smiled despite herself.
"I could say the same to you, ya know," she said, kissing the back of her hand a second time. "In fact, I was just thinking about it, and…you, Misaki Shokuhou, are my Touma."
"Eh?" Misaki started, staring down at her in surprise.
Kuroko gave an impish giggle and beamed up at her. "You heard me. I was…in a bad way when we first met and you, you saved me. You were there for me when I needed someone most, when I needed a hero. So you, Misaki Shokuhou, are my Touma. You are my champion: you are my prince."
What happened next absolutely fascinated Kuroko.
Before her eyes, she saw Misaki's mouth hang open, shock written clear across her features. Meanwhile, her entire face lit up with a crimson glow, and Kuroko could just feel the embarrassment radiate off of her. An instinctual whine left Misaki's lips seconds later, echoing deep from her throat as her mortification reached a crescendo.
Suffice to say, all of this deeply enthralled Kuroko, and she couldn't help but look up at her friend with a devious grin.
"You know, you look pretty cute when you're flustered," she teased.
Misaki gave another whine and covered up her face with her free hand, turning her head away as well. She managed to stammer out, "Th-that's not fair! It's not! Y-You just can't say things like that, Shirai! M-My heart wasn't ready!"
Kuroko let out a gentle snicker, unable to help herself. She got up from Shokuhou's lap, reaching over to carefully pry her friend's hand away from her face. Shokuhou meekly avoided her teasing gaze, her entire face still covered in a crimson flush.
"I like this side of you," Kuroko continued, leaning in close so that Misaki had no choice but to look at her. "Now I want to see you like this all the time."
Misaki pouted at her, and Kuroko giggled in response. Acting on impulse, she leaned up and pressed a kiss on her friend's forehead.
After that, she planted herself back on Misaki's lap. She closed her eyes, feeling the siren's call of sleep tugging at her mind.
"Wake me up when we get to the dorm, onee-sama," Kuroko murmured, before drifting off to a contented sleep.
Misaki stared down at her for a long while afterward, her entire face still very red. Once she was sure Kuroko was asleep, she gave a soft groan and shook her head.
"What am I going to do with this girl…?"
Then she looked up at Heaven Canceller, and noticed him smiling at them through the rearview mirror.
"What?" she snapped, her blush renewing in its intensity.
"Oh, nothing," he claimed, letting out a chuckle. "Just an old man indulging himself. I'd forgotten how charming young love can be."
"Oh, sh-shut up. You don't know what you're talking about," she grumbled.
Misaki's eyes drifted back down to Kuroko not long after, and despite her hesitation, she reached back down to start stroking her head again.
Kuroko abruptly jolted back into consciousness, the sensation of her body being moved awakening her. She blinked blearily, taking a few moments to recognize where she was and what was going on.
The first thing she realized was that she was back in the Tokiwadai Outer Dormitory, passing through the halls and over to her dorm room. The second thing she perceived was that she was being carried: strong, surprisingly soft arms were wrapped around her small body, carrying her bridal style. And the third and final thing she discerned was that Misaki Shokuhou was the person holding her.
"Wh-what are you doing?!" Kuroko yelped, flushing as she squirmed in Shokuhou's grip.
Shokuhou stared down smugly at her, her lips parted into an infuriating grin. "Oh, you're awake now? What a pity. I was hoping you'd stay asleep a little longer."
"Th-that doesn't answer my question," Kuroko huffed, glaring up at her. "You should have just woken me up in the car."
"Well, you just looked so cute and peaceful, you know? I didn't want to ruin your beauty sleep ability. So I thought I'd just carry you to your room," Shokuhou proclaimed, letting out a snicker. "The Dorm Supervisor was ever so understanding, too: she let me right in."
"Ugh, she saw you?" Kuroko bemoaned, covering up her face. "Why?! Oh, please tell me no one else saw! I can't let something like this ruin my reputation!"
"Consider this my revenge for that little stunt in the car," Shokuhou retorted, giggling some more as she held her.
Kuroko groaned, hiding her face from her eyes, though that didn't stop Shokuhou from laughing. Despite her embarrassment, though, she didn't seriously try to get out of her friend's grip. However mortifying it might be, being held like this was…oddly comforting.
Shokuhou only consented to putting her down when they arrived outside her dorm room: and that was at Kuroko's insistence. She was not going to let Mikoto see something as humiliating as this!
With a smile and a wave, Shokuhou bid her farewell, disappearing from sight soon after. Kuroko let out a sigh as she left, grumbling under her breath as she considered various ways to get her revenge on her.
After taking a moment to compose herself, she opened the door to her room and stepped inside. "Sorry Mikoto, I—"
She snapped her mouth shut, stopping short as she saw her roommate was nowhere in sight.
Kuroko frowned, quickly checking the bathroom, only to find Mikoto wasn't there either. She pulled out her phone and discovered a missed message from Mikoto. She'd said she was running late, but would try to be back at the dorms as soon as possible.
Kuroko frowned again and checked the time. That message had been sent a little over two and a half hours ago, and now there was only thirty minutes until curfew. What on earth could be keeping Mikoto out for so long?
She tried not to let it worry her too much, confident that Mikoto would turn up soon. So she got ready for bed, taking a quick shower and changing into her pajamas. By the time all that was done, there was only five minutes left until curfew.
And Mikoto still wasn't there.
Kuroko bit her lip, checking her phone again for any new messages, of which there were none. She debated the pros and cons of calling Mikoto to see where she was, when her door opened up: her wayward roommate walked in, carrying a set of shopping bags in her hands.
"Mikoto!" Kuroko cheered and teleported into her arms.
"Woah!" Mikoto stumbled back, clearly not expecting that.
Kuroko hugged her tightly, and after a few moments, Mikoto hugged her back, pressing the shopping bags against her back.
"Sorry, did I worry you?" Mikoto asked, giving a contrite chuckle.
"Of course you did! It's not like you to skirt so closely to curfew!" Kuroko huffed, before finally releasing her.
Mikoto chuckled again and moved to stow her bags away on her bed. Kuroko idly observed a baseball cap sticking out the top of one bag, before her roommate started speaking again, and thus diverted her attention.
"Sorry, my dinner with Momma ran late, and then I ended up doing some other stuff by myself. I guess I lost track of the time," she explained.
Kuroko nodded, her eyes darting back to Mikoto's shopping bags. "So, you went on a little shopping spree?"
"Well, sort of. I did buy myself some stuff, but most of this is just birthday presents from Momma," Mikoto casually replied.
"Oh, alright," Kuroko murmured.
After a beat she did an immediate double-take, shooting Mikoto a panicked look.
"W-Wait, birthday?! D-Did I miss your birthday?!"
"Hm?" Mikoto cocked her head, befuddled by her reaction. "Oh, well, I guess? I mean, we weren't even roommates when it happened. My birthday was back on May 2nd, actually. Momma wasn't able to come into the city the day of, so these are kinda belated presents, I guess."
May 2nd? Mikoto was right, they hadn't even met each other yet. Not this version of her, anyway. And today was June 5th. A full month had passed since Mikoto's birthday, and she was only now receiving presents from her mother. Had she gotten any presents at all on the actual day? Had anyone else even known it was her birthday?
"Well, I wish we would've been roommates at the time," she sulked, pouting at Mikoto. "I would have loved celebrating your birthday."
Mikoto smiled at her, reaching over to gently pat her head in response. "I'm sure, Kuroko. Well, there's always next year, right?"
With that she moved back to her bed, putting away her presents. Kuroko went to sit on her own bed, absently biting her lip as she wrestled with this new revelation.
From her own vague recollections and newly acquired personal information on Mikoto, she knew that Mikoto hadn't had a lot of friends before meeting her. Indeed, her strongest connections were only forged after that fateful meeting. Hell, she didn't even know Touma yet. So in all likelihood, she hadn't celebrated her birthday with anyone else.
And now she'd have to wait an entire year before being able to celebrate with her new friends? Well, that didn't sound right at all!
Kuroko huffed, a glimmer of an idea coming to her mind. Whilst Mikoto was busy putting her things away, she scurried over into the bathroom. She got her phone out, and quickly dialed Saten's number.
The line rang a few times before she picked up. "Hello?"
"Saten! I need you!" Kuroko hurriedly proclaimed, desperation clear in her voice.
Saten remained silent for a long while, almost long enough for Kuroko to worry that they'd been disconnected. Then:
"Shirai, if we're going to be friends, you really need to work on your phrasing."
"Huh?" she questioned, put off by that non sequitur.
"Nothing, nothing. So, what's up?" Saten asked in a cheery tone.
"Ruiko Saten," Kuroko began, a smile tugging at her lips. "How would you like to plan a surprise birthday party?"
Saten gasped on the other line and let out an eager squeal. "Tell me everything!"