Chapter 12 – In the First Place

Academy City's afternoon was pleasant today but hectic due to the festivities taking place in District 7. Dusk gently spilled over the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink, while colorful lanterns began to light up along the city's wide streets.

Touma cast a nervous glance at the screen of his cell phone. It's not like she was late, and even if she was, he had nothing to complain about. That boy was an expert at keeping girls waiting after all.

'But I made an effort to be on time today.' He sighed. 'So that's what it feels like.'

"Be careful not to die of anxiety before she arrives."

Ignoring the teasing voice, he walked toward a less bustling spot, passing by the tantalizing aroma of food stalls and the sounds of children and teenagers enjoying games.

Why he was trying to ignore the voice in his head so much was complicated, considering he'd been feeling strange since their last conversation three days ago. Since then, the voice had been silent, merely making occasional comments without expecting any response.

"I don't understand why you're acting like this," the voice said. "If it were the first time after your 'competition', I would understand, but now it just seems strange."

As in the past, it appeared that the universe conspired for Touma and Misaki to encounter each other randomly while leading their normal lives. After that "date" in the escape room, they bumped into each other on the way to school, once in the park in the afternoon, and later in a clothing store. They exchanged a few words during these encounters, and everything flowed smoothly. The boy seemed more at ease when he met her this way, without any commitments.

"Or maybe, that problem is still out there."

The moment those words sounded in his head, he felt a tightness in his chest.

'Be quiet.' The boy clenched his fist.

He knew precisely what the voice was alluding to. It was something he thought he had overcome a long time ago, but it resurfaced on that day when the other version of himself appeared. After that situation, he had finally learned to let it go, to not care what his memories were supposed to represent.

"Remember what Dion Fortune said?" asked the voice, its tone very neutral, as if carefully choosing its words. "Memories are just data. Just because one person has another person's memories doesn't mean that-"

'I told you to be quiet.' Touma had to stop himself from shouting it out loud. 'That's in the past.'

"And your past is here now, right in your head."

Even if the memories of his past self were there now, it was still somewhat strange. The process was complete, the merging of those two ensured that he had full access to not only the memories but all the emotions and feelings behind them. That wasn't just mere data to him, or at least, that's what he wanted to believe.

But that also raised a problem. One he wanted to forget for now.

"Hold your head up, you have to see this."

Touma was snapped out of the momentary distraction of his thoughts, staring at the well-lit lawn in front of him. It was as if that negative sensation, which had clung to him, was snatched away in an instant. A faint smile couldn't help but form on his lips.

"Good evening, Touma-chan," Misaki said, playfully stretching her voice a bit. "Sorry for the delay, but a girl can't help but take her time when she wants to look her best for someone special like you, don't you think?"

He had to swallow the saliva forming to keep from drooling.

Shokuhou Misaki looked stunning in a golden yukata, shimmering subtly as it reflected the soft lights of the festive lanterns. The delicate yellow iris designs in tone-on-tone adorned the yukata's short, wide sleeves, complemented by graceful silver edges that added an elegant touch to her outfit.

"How do I look?" she asked the stunned boy, turning around and displaying the obi skillfully tied in a complex bow at the back of the Yukata, the ends falling gracefully down the side of the costume. "Come on, give me something as compensation for my effort ability."

"Wow!"

That was all he could say, but the girl smiled as she elegantly hid her face behind a bright red fan. She took the opportunity to turn in place slowly, making Touma notice the voluminous, balanced bun resting on the back of her head, showing off her delicate nape. Misaki looked even more mature than usual. And he already had the impression sometimes that she was older than him, so that was really something.

"You can do better than that, King," she said, closing the fan and using it to lightly touch his nose.

"Well... it's just that..." He cleared his throat loudly to pull himself together. "You're already quite... attractive in casual clothes, so it's only fair that I react that way. What was I supposed to say?"

"Being honest is a good start." Misaki walked over and grabbed his right arm, making him shake slightly in place. "Let's go, your luxury escort will serve you now."

"Can you not say such strange things out loud?"

x-2-x

The food at the festival was excellent, but Shokuhou Misaki wrinkled her nose the whole time at the variety on offer. She walked alongside Touma as he insisted she try something, but apart from the traditional tea on offer, nothing seemed to be worthy of her.

"Don't be so picky," he said, extending a Yakitori towards her. "Here, eat this."

"I said I would do whatever you wanted, but I refuse to be subjected to torture," she said, glancing at the grilled chicken skewer. Suddenly, her mind seemed to grasp something she hadn't noticed before. "Actually... if you insist."

Trying to maintain elegance, the girl tilted her head and took a bite of the juicy meat. A little soy sauce dripped onto the corner of her lip, and she seductively wiped it off using her tongue.

"So feeding a younger girl like this is a fantasy of yours, eh?" she teased, taking another bite. "I think I'll agree to be subjected to this barbaric treatment from you, but just this once."

The girl this time held the skewer in her hands, but instead of serving herself, she let the food near the boy's face.

"Here, your queen wishes to serve you properly."

"Why do I get the impression that you're enjoying all this more than I am?" He accepted the food and began to chew while looking away as if noticing what had just happened.

The excited crowd was gathering at the edges of the park, likely anticipating the upcoming fireworks show that would soon illuminate the sky. However, Touma and Misaki preferred to position themselves more toward the center, casually strolling past the now sparsely populated game stands.

"Origami?" Touma asked, confused and not at all excited. "I'm not very good at it."

"It's not difficult, just follow the instructions."

The origami workshop didn't have a traditional instructor, instead, modern touchscreen panels displayed videos and took any commands visitors gave.

Misaki took a sheet of golden paper and skillfully folded it, crafting elegant wings with creative finesse. As her nimble fingers worked their magic, the paper began to take shape, forming the body of a mysterious creature. Carefully, she added the details of the antennae and eyes using black paper. With a marker, she added a few strokes to bring the origami to life.

"Is that a bee?" asked Touma, tilting his head in confusion. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"You chose a dragon, so I think it's only fair." With a smile, she displayed the finished work in the palm of her hand and then handed the origami to the boy. "Here you go, a gift from the Bee Queen."

"You're good at this," he said, a hint of both compliment and defeat in his voice.

"It's expected from someone with such talent ability as me, Touma-chan. But don't worry, you're doing fine... it's all good," she reassured him, patting his shoulder a few times as if to offer comfort.

Feeling defeated in his attempt to master the art of paper folding, the boy decided to divert her attention elsewhere. Leading her away from the origami area, he seemed determined to engage in something he deemed more enjoyable. This time he chose a game of "ball toss", which obviously made the girl freeze. Touma watched with amusement as the girl hesitantly accepted the challenge, using her best efforts to aim and hit the targets with the fabric balls.

"That one doesn't count," she said, pouting. "All these lights are distracting me. I can't use my aim ability like that."

"If you complained less maybe you'd play better." He had a mischievous smile on his face.

"Ah, so now you're going to start taunting me even more? Got it, time to use my wasp-killing special attack. "

Unfortunately, the special attack missed the boy right next to her and flew a few meters, falling into the water of a goldfish scooping game.

"Well—"

"Not a single word, Kamijou Touma!" Her cheeks turned bright red.

After recovering from their embarrassment, the two tried to catch goldfish using a paper net, but not before Touma made Misaki bow her head in apology for getting in the way of the people there.

"Nearly time for the first burst of fireworks," Touma remarked, deftly toying with the net in the water, unconcerned about the fish slipping away.

"Concentrate, concentrate..." the girl muttered to herself.

"Misaki? Hey, why are you taking this so seriously?"

"Just focus on my talent ability. I can win this," she kept muttering, focused completely on her paper net and the little fish. "Now!"

The girl lunged at the fish swimming calmly, but the violent attack was completely useless as the delicate net tore just as she was about to catch her target.

A tear almost escaped from the corner of her eye.

"Nooo!"

"You must be rather fond of goldfish." After casually mocking the poor girl, he looked around and discreetly seemed to fiddle with something in his pocket.

"Are you just going to stand there and watch? Don't tell me you're embarrassed to try and fail miserably. Don't worry, Touma, your queen already knows your strengths… and there aren't many of them… hehe."

With a vein in his forehead almost popping out because of the teasing, the boy sighed and then casually picked up another net and carefully placed it in the water. His gaze stayed on her, meaning he didn't even have to look at the water. A gentle tug later and a goldfish was effortlessly ensnared.

The girl's eyes widened, her mouth agape, utterly bewildered.

"Eh? You made it look so easy. Is that another 'cheat' up your sleeve?"

"Not exactly."

As if to add insult to injury, he once again took a net and casually caught another fish without even looking. The stand owner was surely looking at him with sharp eyes now.

"My right arm is a bit sensitive now," he revealed, picking up a third fish. The people around now looked at him in awe. "I can kind of feel the ripples of the water as if they were directly on my skin, and there's also the fact that the flow of time is a bit strange to me. Predicting movements accurately isn't that hard."

"Hey, that's totally unfair." Misaki gave a childish pout. "If your right hand is covered with your powers, then it should be easy to be precise enough for the net not to tear as well."

It brought to mind how a telekinetic esper could hurl a dart with near-millimeter precision using their powers, yet might struggle to achieve the same level of accuracy with just their hand. It made her wonder if he couldn't have used something like that while trying the origami, only deciding not to do so.

"I'll return the fish then," he said, some people there were even relieved. "How about we stop for now? I want to focus on the fireworks show."

"As you wish," she said, adjusting her posture and delicately fanning herself, concealing that mischievous smile. "It's a shame everyone has already picked the good spots."

"Regarding that," Touma fumbled in his pocket once more and then stared up at the sky, "I was thinking we should head to a more... secluded place."

"Huuh?!"

With her face still hidden behind that fan, Misaki blushed slightly when she realized the boy's intention. She had no objections to accompanying him anywhere he wished to go. Gazing towards another distant spot at the festival, she witnessed modern paper lanterns adorned with LEDs ascending, brightening the sky with heartfelt wishes. She too had a wish, a secret treasured in her heart, yet she hesitated to confide it to any lantern drifting into the heavens. Rather, she chose to whisper her desire to the wind, letting her words be carried into the universe by its gentle breeze.

'I feel this is an easy wish to fulfill.'

"It's a bit far from here," he said, joining her in contemplation. Perhaps he had a wish too. "But I think we'll have a good view. What do you say?"

"Is this when you will use 'one hundred percent' of my services, Touma?" She undid her fan and placed her index finger on her lips. "Taking a girl to an isolated place seems inappropriate for a request, but I lost the bet so there's nothing I can do." The girl brought her hand up to her forehead in a dramatic fashion. "Oh! What will become of me now? Distant and totally at the mercy of a boy who hasn't stopped staring at my body all night!"

"Eek! I told you not to say those things out loud!"

x-3-x

Shokuhou was somewhat confused after walking for so long. She had hoped that the place they were going to was just somewhere further away and higher up, but they were already so far away from the festival that all the noise of people was replaced by uncomfortable night silence.

'What's he planning?' She cast a sidelong glance at him. 'I was joking at the time, but is he really taking me to a place where no one else can see us?

Not that she cared much. The fewer people in their way, the better. Besides, she had full trust in that boy, and it's not like he had any ulterior motives. Her confidence in him was unwavering.

But then she felt his hand slide towards her.

"We won't make it in time like this," he said. That look was somewhat enigmatic. "Do you mind if I carry you the rest of the way?"

His hand was held out in front of her as a formal invitation.

'So that was it?' Misaki almost sighed. 'And here I thought he was making an advance ability on me or something, but he's just worried. A girl can dream.'

"I can walk some more," she said, already approaching him and carefully smoothing her hair. "But that's an offer I don't intend to refuse."

"Good. Let's get going then."

Misaki let out a cute sigh when the boy decided to hold her in his arms like that time when they met, when her mission to work a miracle had begun once again.

"You're too bold today, Touma." She circled a mocking finger on his chest, making the boy break eye contact. "I'm curious what you intend to—"

Perhaps as a way to ward off teasing and nervousness, the boy didn't wait and made his next move. Misaki grimaced awkwardly. She expected him to start walking or running with her in his arms, but without warning, something moved on the right side of his body. This "something" was sky blue and lemon yellow, colors not commonly found in nature, spreading across the boy's back with a strange sound, resembling something cutting through the air.

"Hmm..." Misaki was more curious than surprised now. "Have you been practicing?"

"A little bit," he said, a little too seriously.

From the boy's back now emerged two thin bat-like wings. They were very similar to the ones he had when he wore his Dragon Shell, but these were a bit smaller and almost transparent.

With a vigorous flapping of wings, they left the bonds of gravity and rose to a height of 15 or 20 stories in an instant. Misaki let out a tiny squeal, clinging tightly to the boy. They landed on a nearby building soon after.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, not expecting their flight to be so short.

"Damn, I figured all the extra weight was going to be a problem."

"Could you rephrase your sentence to sound a little kinder?"

"Is that the price someone has to pay to have such a sexy body?"

"Compliments won't help you here." Misaki began to punch his chest gently while pouting. "Take back what you said about me being heavy, my honor ability as Queen depends on it."

"You're pretty light actually," he said with a shrug. The genuine sincerity in his voice brought a slight smile to the girl's face. "I just miscalculated. Seems like these wings can only carry my weight, but they'll come in handy. Hold on tight."

Once again, they departed from safety and propelled themselves high into the sky. Instead of flapping his wings, the boy extended and contracted them, skillfully adapting to the direction of the wind. It wasn't exactly flying, it felt more like a 'slow fall', as if they were peacefully gliding through the heavens.

"We're doing something rather dangerous here, golden girl," he said, retracting his wings to land on another building. Another boost later they were again gliding in the night sky. "But you seem surprisingly serene. Have you ever experienced anything like this before?"

"Something similar, but it doesn't matter. I trust you, that's all," she replied, taking a moment to rest her head on his shoulder. "May I inquire where we're heading? We're already kilometers away from the festival."

"A high place, remember?"

They kept throwing themselves into the air and gliding along at a good speed. The biting cold of the night should have affected the girl more, but she felt warm clinging to him, safe. She hardly cared where they were going, as long as it was him there beside her, the place or situation was irrelevant. Before, such a situation seemed like just a dream that could make her cry depending on her mood, but now, the reality before her eyes could only make her smile.

"We're almost there, but we'll need one last boost."

"Wait... here is..."

"District 21."

It was a mountainous area, enveloped by the trees of a dark forest. Usually, one would follow a winding mountain trail, but they had landed directly at their destination.

For the girl, this place held a deep sense of nostalgia. Merely gazing at the artificial circular lake made her heart skip a beat.

"Our meeting here wasn't the best," Touma said, snapping her out of her reveries and setting her down. "You acted rather... spoiled in those days."

"Touma, bringing me here just to mock me is a lot of cruelty ability."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to. And come to think of it, the impression I gave wasn't the best either."

"It was the worst," she added, but there was no malice in those words, "and it was exactly what I needed."

"Really?" His voice sounded surprised, but there was a bit of joy in there too.

In response, she just shook her head lightly and approached the boy, looking at the mirrored surface of that perfect circle. Here they were again, together in this place, but their reflection there was not the same as it had been that summer.

"Sometimes," she said, "beautiful, elaborate words are nothing more than empty expressions, plucked from the cold pages of a book by someone who believes they understand what someone like me feels. None of that would reach me... not during those summer days." She turned to meet his gaze, unaware of the way her eyes sparkled as she looked at him, standing by her side in that place once more. "But you reached out to me. You breathed life into my fragile heart... you saved me."

Touma appeared speechless upon hearing her words, gazing at her intently, his hand pressed against the pocket of his sweatshirt as if he was tenderly holding something precious. Before he could utter a word, the girl took a step forward towards him, it was almost an automatic movement, as if she wanted to make sure she heard what he had to say.

"It's not just you who feels this way," he said, but the tone of his voice was weak, almost a whisper. "You must already know what I'm talking about. In a way, you saved me too… that summer. Now that my memories are back, I can see more clearly. This place we are in is a symbol of many conflicting feelings. I see my faults here, my weaknesses... but all that seems blurred, because I see one of my greatest victories too." He suddenly smiled radiantly, his tone growing more resolute. "I see you."

The boy's hands moved naturally, touching the Yukata girl's shoulders. For her, it felt like an invisible force was pulling them together, something she hadn't experienced before. And knowing of its existence didn't help her resist its compelling pull.

"The universe has been cruel to us, hasn't it?" she asked, unconcerned by the boy's approach. "Maybe you were right all along... I really am unlucky. But hearing you talk like this makes me realize that something like that is irrelevant." She cupped his face, holding it gently between her palms. "In the end, I won."

Touma tried to say something, but the words stopped midway when something soft touched his lips.

"Don't talk now," she said, removing the index finger she had used to touch the boy's lips. "We need silence if it's something important."

"Huh?"

At that moment, the boy was interrupted once again, this time by a high-pitched sound that came straight from the sky. The blackboard above them was suddenly painted in colorful hues as the sound of explosions echoed through the city. The fireworks display had begun.

But neither of them held any interest in such distractions.

They just stood there, looking at each other, the light show partially reflected both in the perfectly circular lake and in their locked gazes.

After a few seconds, Touma tilted his head towards the girl, but in a calm, subtle movement.

"I have a gift," he said, speaking close to her ear over the noise. "Something tells me you'll like it."

"It's hard to think of something I wouldn't like to get as a present from you, but try to surprise me."

The boy finally revealed what he had been holding so carefully in his pocket. It was a cheap plastic box, not one of those used for jewelry, it was something much simpler and unremarkable. But to that girl, it didn't matter at all.

The box rested in the outstretched and attentive hand of the girl, who didn't even wait and opened the small box. A smile lit up her face as she saw a golden item there.

"Is this... a flute? " she asked with a serious tone.

"No, it's—"

"I know," she interrupted with a smile, holding the gift between her fingers and inspecting it closely. "And I also know what it means. And it's so good to know that you now know too."

That was a modern-looking whistle, but unlike the box, it wasn't made of cheap plastic. It was somewhat heavy, but Misaki didn't feel a metallic touch there. The color wasn't strange for her, and neither was the blue ribbon that extended from the whistle.

"Wait, is that..." Misaki hesitated, unsure.

"I created it with my powers," he revealed casually but spoke loudly so she could hear him through the noise. "It wasn't easy. I've been at it for three days now but I think it was worth it. Don't want to test it out? Don't worry, I haven't used it yet."

"No?" She smiled mischievously. "That's a shame."

A high-pitched sound rang out above all that noise. And for some reason, she felt a lot safer now. As soon as she finished testing the whistle, she wrapped the ribbon around her neck and then hid the whistle, making it rest on the left side of her chest, where her hand went by instinct.

"Can I assume you liked it?" asked Touma, somewhat indecisively.

"It'll be a good substitute." She continued with her hand where the whistle was. "It's like I have a part of you with me all the time now. That's an acceptable amount of romance ability."

"Eh?"

"Looks like it's over," she continued, looking up at the sky without worrying about the boy trying to understand what her words meant. "It was quite a show... good thing I didn't see anything. But there's another round soon, right?"

"Misaki... what you just said..." It seemed that the boy was trying hard not to stutter. "That day, back at the restaurant... and at the hospital too. There's something I want to ask you."

"You can question me about anything you want, Touma. And request anything you desire as well."

Misaki was able to feel his breathing becoming slightly irregular with her this close, enough for him to smell her warm, fragrant breath, as well as her honey fragrance. And she wasn't exactly in a normal state either.

"You've been really nice to me," he began, struggling to keep his gaze on her. "And you went to such lengths to get me to remember you, and now you seem to feel so at ease with me. It makes me think... no, actually, it's been a few days since I started feeling... weird." He paused for a long moment when he saw the attentive girl tilt her head slightly toward him. "So... you see me as such a special friend?"

"Hmm… You could say that in my life, you are the person who occupies the first place." She sighed and shrugged. "Honestly, I expected a bit more from that question."

"What do you mean?"

"I just thought carefully about one detail." Misaki tapped a finger against her chin in contemplation. "That impostor, he seemed to know exactly what I felt, the meaning of it all, how much I cared. I always thought that was a reflex ability coming straight from you, but maybe I was wrong. If you have a fundamental difference, then I'd better level the playing field."

"I... don't understand." It seemed that those words were generating some kind of internal conflict in that boy, the look in his eyes revealed that to her.

"You'll understand soon enough."

Silence lingered for a moment, solely because Shokuhou Misaki was gathering all the courage she possessed. But that boy had a special effect on her, one that was difficult for her to describe. She felt empowered beside him, yet simultaneously, not strong enough. Perhaps she felt unable to be her true self when he gazed at her that way, but this time, she would be authentic.

'So much time wasted,' she thought, attempting to be serious, but she couldn't suppress the smile that tugged at the corner of her lips. 'Is this the right moment? I know that hesitating won't get me anywhere, but knowing that a problem exists is almost never enough to solve it. But... we worked a miracle, so this is something too simple in comparison.'

Now she could take a deep breath and straighten her posture. After all, she still had a quest to accomplish.

Hello! More cute moments in this chapter, and some more emotional ones too. This chapter was longer in my notes, but I preferred to end it here, I hope the ending was not so abrupt.

I showed a bit more of Touma's powers here. Since I don't intend to write long action scenes in this fanfic, I focused on simpler "everyday" applications.

On to the reviews:

The Dark Imperial: I appreciate that you liked it. I also wish we had more KamiSaki fics. Although we have some more emotional moments here, I don't really want to torture Misaki just like in canon, so we'll have a lot of happy moments here.

Mrui2002: Thank you for reading. Glad you liked it, I want to make it cute but at the same time a bit bold too. Hokaze is the best wingwoman LOL. Yeah, Mikoto probably wouldn't give up that easily, but she'll still come back to try something. It was revealed what he was creating here, nothing too elaborate, but a golden whistle is a good substitute for a silver whistle, don't you think?

Cainabel201X: Thank you very much. We will have more moments like this soon.

5queso: My idea here is that Touma is doing this kind of on 'autopilot', more as a response to Misaki's multiple teasing than an attempt at flirting, and slowly becoming something more sincere. Misaki never misses an opportunity on this subject, this is sweet revenge on her part. This doubt about what she feels will be explored a bit more in the next chapter. Thank you very much as always.

Markoz89: I'm glad you're enjoying it so much. I'll keep trying to let their relationship progress naturally, and Touma getting braver in the process. KnT will behave... maybe.

FinFangFoom100: Glad you enjoyed seeing that side of him. Yeah, he's pretty clever when he tries, Misaki comments on this in her internal monologues in NT22R for example. Junko can convince anyone to behave if she "asks nicely", although maybe that's not enough, we'll see in the future. Thank you for your feedback. I will try to keep the updates consistent, but life is a bit chaotic at times. Until next time.

How much do you like drama? That was just an innocent question, it doesn't imply anything... Nothing more for today. Moon leaving.