Aftershock and breakfast

[ACSR: Kazari Uiharu]

Soon after Joule awoke the next day and got dressed she grabbed the food that Saten had asked her to buy and packed it into a bag. She took the bag and wandered towards Saten and Uiharu's room.

When she knocked on the door she waited a moment before it was opened by Saten.

"You're early, it's only seven thirty." Saten commented.

Joule nodded as Saten allowed her to enter the room. Uiharu was awake as well and on her laptop. It looked like they had been up longer then her. As they were probably still on american time that made sense.

Uiharu looked over and waved as Joule set down the bag of food. The three of them unloaded the rice, fish and a few packets of Miso paste to make soup. As Joule began to heat up some water she asked "What caused the need to come home quickly, was the trip cancelled early?"

"You could say that." Saten sighed "Liberal Arts City got destroyed in a terror attack."

Joule stopped and looked at her. She couldn't really believe it.

"The entire city?"

Uiharu took over explaining as she joined Joule in making breakfast.

"A group called 'Return of the Winged One' took credit." She explained "They had a way to destroy the foundations the artificial island was sitting on. They had another thing too but Misaka and Saten were able to stop them."

Saten snorted and replied "It was all Misaka really, I got in the way more than anything."

Uiharu and Joule glanced back at her, Saten looked annoyed.

Quickly changing the subject, Uiharu turned to Joule "So, anything interesting happen while we were away?"

Joule shrugged "My apartment got wrecked and I needed to move somewhere else."

Saten looked up at that "Wrecked? What happened?"

Joule was quiet for a few moments while she helped Uiharu with breakfast. After a short while she answered.

[ACSR: Desire]

"I got kidnapped."

The two of them immediately focused on her after she said that. Uiharu spoke first with the seriousness she applies to Judgement work "Who did it?"

Joule calmly tested the Miso soup before answering "Gensei Kihara was the one behind it. He had other groups do the actual kidnapping for him of course."

Saten thought for a moment before asking "He was the same scientist behind the ability crystal right? And he was Therestina's grandfather?"

Joule nodded in confirmation before explaining "He had some sort of interest in my ability and he wanted to research it."

Uiharu thought for a moment before suggesting "Was it about your Networking ability?"

"I think so." Joule confirmed.

[ACSR: Precious Friends]

Breakfast was done cooking so Joule helped serve it.

When she sat down Saten asked "Have you not had breakfast yet Joule?"

"I haven't" Joule answered with a smile.

Saten's mouth gaped for a moment before she asked "You woke up early and came all the way to eat with us?"

Joule gave her a simple smile "Of course. It really isn't that far from my new apartment anyway."

After finishing a mouthful of food Uiharu asked "Joule, where are you staying now anyway. You say it's close but..."

Joule waved a hand around "Oh it's in this building, It's less than a minute's walk."

The two of them were shocked for a moment as Joule ate some of her breakfast. In the end they both smiled too and joined her in eating.

As their meals were ending Uiharu brought the subject back to the previous one.

"What happened with the kidnapping anyway Joule, did Judgement or Anti-skill help get you free?"

Joule shook her head "GV did, actually. He told me he just went from point to point to try and find where they had taken me until he finally reached me."

Saten grinned at that "Oh did he? Did he also burst in on a white horse and wisk you away as a princess?"

Joule blushed before answering "No, it really wasn't like that. By the time I woke up he had already rescued me."

Saten just continued in a way like the narrator of a show "The princess was rescued from the evil wizard but she was in an enchanted sleep, all it took was a single kiss from the prince to awaken her."

Joule's blush grew before she shook her head quickly "No, no. He just removed the drip that was keeping me asleep. He didn't kiss me."

Saten's face fell but Joule could still see in her eyes that she was just playing "That's a shame, you missed out on the kiss the princess is owed."

"Huh, they are alike aren't they?" Uiharu mumbled to herself after a moment for the room to calm down. Joule tilted her head and Uiharu explained "When you think about it, Misaka and Genki act the same when someone is taken. They just run in to the situation and stop whatever the issue is without relying on anyone else."

Joule nodded but she could see differences between the two. GV was always serious evene when nothing was going on. On the other hand Misaka relaxed during peaceful time. It made Joule sad for a moment that GV didn't allow himself to calm down properly.

Uiharu checked the clock "It's already past eight, we should get ready for school."

Saten groaned and Joule stood up to head back to her own rooms to get ready.

"See you soon." Joule waved goodbye.

After getting dressed for school, the three of them set off towards the school together for what felt like just another school day.

End of chapter.

Next chapter begins the next arc.