"What do you mean lost?!"
The shiver in Shokuhou's voice made it clear she was afraid of the answer Misaka was inevitably gonna give.
Still trying to wrestle herself out of the metal cocoon beneath the thick layer of snow, she didn't have had a chance to look around yet.
The moment her head appeared over the surface, it became painfully clear wat Misaka meant.
There was nothing but white.
Even the mountains themselves seemed to have disappeared under what seemed to be an endless blanket of snow, ice and occasionally a rock or parts of a tree.
Shokuhou reached for her phone.
If they've got a signal, they could try to find a way to the nearest village and ask for help.
"No service." She mumbled a bit disappointed. Misaka nodded.
"The avalanche must have also knocked down the communications tower."
She told the blonde, who was just now feeling a pain in her right leg, as the adrenaline dissipated from her body.
Misaka followed her look down and noticed the rapidly growing red spot on her leg.
It was at that moment Shokuhou collapsed.
It didn't feel broken, which was a good thing. But the weight of her body was too much for her to carry!
Unable to really do anything and with a sharp pain in her leg, tears swoll up in her eyes and almost in a reflex, her hands reached for the wound!
Her woolen snow boots were ideal for the environment they were in.
They provided warmth, were incredibly soft and kept the cold out.
One of the downsides was that this boot was now preventing her from accessing the wound through the pipe of her pants, which was tucked in by this boot.
Misaka, who dealt with situations like this before immediately helped her by taking off that boot, and gently strolling up the fabric from her leg, all the way up until it was above the wound.
But even that was causing Shokuhou to yell out in pain and curse at the brunette along the way.
What misaka saw was a clear red open cut.
Blood wasn't really gushing out, which was good.
That meant whatever did this, didn't hit any major arteries or anything vital.
However, the blood did flow, which indicated the cut was deep and needed to be dealt with!
But first, "Can you try and move your feet and toes for me?" Misaka asked her.
Shokuhou did so without even trying to resist.
She was completely out of it. She didn't feel the cold, she didn't feel the snow.
All she felt was that damn wound. And the only thing keeping her in the moment was the brunette.
"Good, that means nothing is broken." She heard her say, and if asked about it later, she could vaguely remember to be thankful about that.
Which is why those next words came such a shock!
"The wound needs to be cauterized to keep it from being infected."
Their eyes met and in a moment of mutual understanding and pain, Misaka laid her hand on the open wound and carefully started to burn the wound.
This was painful and Shokuhou felt the electricity burning though the wound!
Though she tried to be brave and just held on for dear life, she couldn't help but scream!
She knew Misaka was trying to help her, and without her even knowing, she reached for Misaka's hand and held it fermly, eyes still interlocked in a feeling of unspoken desperation. Her nose picked up the scent of burning flesh as Misaka finally withdrew her hand from the now sealed wound.
Shokuhou was breathing heavily as the pain slowly subsided as she started to feel the chilled air frezing her toes.
she needed a moment. deep down she knew Misaka wanted to try and fix this situation, and she did the best she could.
but would it be enough?
{-}
The silence of the cold winter air slowly subsided as the wind was slowly starting to gather some strength and the clouds above the girls showed signs of a blizzard. "Let's go," Misaka said as she tried to encourage her friend to get up and start walking.
"Something tells me there's a storm coming this way and we don't want to be caught in it."
She helped the blonde up on her feet, put her arm under Shokuhou's armpit and let the girl put her arm on Misaka's shoulder for support.
Misaka felt the blond was struggling to stay up on her feet and she felt the weight of two people on her shoulders. Literally!
She took a look around.
There wasn't much of anything in this barren, snowy wasteland.
The way back up the mountain was no option due to Shokuhou's condition.
And as she noticed before, staying at this place was out of the question due to weather conditions.
And since there's no electricity in the area, Misaka's powers were now effectively rendered useless.
There's only one option here.
Follow what Misaka assumes is the pathway through the canyon and hope for shelter before the snow starts to fall.
The girls slowly made their way through a landscape of destruction.
Everything that was once there and was once something, was torn apart in this icy apocalypse they found themselves in.
Splinters that were once trees that held firmly against the mountainside stuck out of ground.
Rocks scattered around the area, torn asunder by the massive destruction caused by the avalanche.
Every now and again Misaka felt the magnetic pull of a piece of iron that got stuck in the current, and it occurred to her just how close the girls were to dying a horrible death. She shivered at the thought of it. What if the blonde hadn't warned her?
Even though the blond next to her was heavy and breathing heavily due to the continued exertion and pain of the wound, Misaka didn't really mind.
She could feel the blondes warm breath against her cheek, her arm around Misaka's shoulder, desperately trying to keep herself standing, her own arm firmly under the blondes armpit in an effort to keep her from collapsing, and their waists closer than they had ever been.
It was weird. Not even that long ago Misaka wouldn't even think a scenario like this would have even been possible.
Why is she, Mikoto Misaka, helping her former arch rival Misaki Shokuhou with the trouble they found themselves in?
Something deep within her knew the dynamic between them changed.
She knew she developed feelings for this blonde.
But she couldn't figure out what they were and if they're good or bad. With a little luck she could finally find out.
As the hour progressed, the wind started to pick up strength and what started as a little breeze, now became a strong gust and looking at the clouds above this was the beginning of what was quickly becoming a winter storm.
With both their clothes now starting to get wet as a result of the melting snow and sweat due to their physical effort, Misaka knew it was only a matter of time before they would get cold and before long could be exposed to hypothermia.
Shokuhou stopped being active a while ago and was already showing signs of fatigue.
And no matter how much Misaka was trying to keep her moving and trying to keep her awake, the blonde was obviously getting weaker with every minute.
With the strong wind and snow now blowing straight into the girls faces, trying to find any openings into their clothing, the cold slowly took a hold of Misaka's body as she too started to get colder.
Right now Shokuhou was a liability.
The poor girl has completely shut off and in the past hour Misaka has noticed that the blonde started to look pale.
She has switched to survival mode and Misaka noticed the girl had put all her trust into the electromaster.
A soft smile run down Misaka's lips as she glanced over to Shokuhou's face. The girl trusts her. And Misaka wasn't about to let her down!
The snowstorm made it almost impossible to see anything beyond 50 meters! And Misaka's feeling was that they were still a long way from civilization.
Despite knowing better Misaka took a look around. Snow. Snow and ice and everything black and white.
Within about an hour nightfall would set in, leaving the girls in darkness. Which is the worst that could happen.
It became clear to her that they urgently needed a shelter against the cold! But where..?
Maybe a cave or something?
But how can she make sure she would fine a cave, AND take care of her friend while facing a blizzard?
"No" Misaka said to herself. "I must stay positive." She has to make sure both girls would make it through this.
She felt the weight of the blonde on her shoulders, the light breathing down her neck, and couldn't help taking another glance at the blondes face.
She didn't expect it, but she stared right into Shokuhou's sparkly eyes.
A rush of warmth rushed through her body and she felt how the blood in her cheeks made her blush. Either Shokuhou didn't notice or she decided to ignore it.
"You're doing wonderful honey." Shokuhou said, her eyes still locked into the electromasters gaze.
Shokuhou was a little bit larger than Misaka, but with her heavily supporting the mental out, Misaka looked down upon this gorgeous white face.
Her eyes, tired and exhausted still held a spark that, for some reason, gave Misaka the strength to keep going.
For some reason this girl still had hope. She believed in her. And Misaka didn't want to let her down.
The blonde suddenly leaned in, eyes still locked into Misaka's.
Slowly closing the distance between them. Misaka closed her eyes.
It was almost as if she knew what was going to happen.
As if she was paralyzed. Did she even want the blonde to do this? Is this how she really felt about her?
Shokuhou closed her eyes as well and planted a peck on Misaka's cheek.
Misaka felt the warm but dry lips of the blond on her skin, and somehow felt a little disappointed.
Within a split second the electromaster decided she'd rather felt that feeling on her own lips, and before she realized what happened, her body took over and like she's seen in hundreds of movies, her right arm found its way around Shokuhou's back, forcing their bodies closer than they ever were before.
Misaka's eyes drowning in Shokuhou's as they both knew what was about to happen.
She hesitated, what if the blonde would resist what she was about to do?
But she didn't.
The blonde smiled slightly as she took advantage of this hesitation and leaned in.
The feeling of her own lips pressed against Shokuhou's was nice.
It was addicting, and even though it lasted only a second or two, for Misaka, it felt like an eternity.
Her mind went blank. This was all that mattered.
Her lips pressed against the girl she liked.
although, the girl she think she liked.
Shokuhou broke and places her hand on Misaka's cheek.
"You can do this." She said softly. "I believe in you."
And with those words, Misaka almost collapsed. 'She actually believes in me?!'
Her joy however was short lived as the moment Misaka thought about what the blonde just did, she felt her slip out of her arms and slammed hard on the snowy ground. Her face once again grimaced in pain and grabbing her leg with both hands as a sharp pain run up along her leg all the way to her waist.
Misaka, worried that something went wrong quickly kneeled next to her, trying to find out what happened.
"What's wrong?!" she asked the blond worried. But then she saw exactly why the blond fell down!
A couple hours had passed since the girls found themselves lost in this situation and in that time, Misaka had encouraged Shokuhou to put pressure on her injured leg so they could try to get out of this mess. In hindsight that was the only right decision to make.
But it also meant that the wound on that leg was constantly moving.
And even though Misaka Cauterized the wound, some of the blood still found its way out of the wound and smudged the fabric around the wound.
This wet fabric had started to freeze once the snowstorm began, causing the wound to become painfully stuck to the fabric around it!
The moment Shokuhou fel down was the moment the icy fabric broke away from the wound, ripping some of the skin around it with it!
Misaka inspected it, removed the fabric as best as she could and was relieved when she didn't see any new noticeable wounds of open cuts.
"do you think you can walk?" she asked the blonde, that tried standing up as an answer.
Misaka noticed the girl had to put all her energy in het legs just to remain standing and she winked at Misaka as to show that she was okay.
But the moment she did, she collapsed on the ground. Misaka just in time to catch her.
"I guess that's a no." she said. More to herself than to the blonde.
For a moment Misaka didn't know what to do. They had to get some form of shelter. And quick, before they froze to death.
A quick inspection of the surroundings, just like she has done only a couple of minutes ago didn't really tell her anything.
'well,' she thought, 'sooner or later we have to run into something.
She bowed down, put one arm around Shokuhou's armpits, and one arm around her upper legs and lifted the blonde up.
She was heavy and Misaka knew she couldn't hold that weight forever.
But the blonde needed a moment of rest, and Misaka was determent to give her just that.
But in doing so she depleted her own energy much faster and within only a couple of minutes she began to breathe heavily and her pace was slowing down.
The snowstorm kept on getting worse had by any means turned into a blizzard.
The freezing wind blew hard into their faces and Misaka felt her body temperature getting lower and lower.
The blonde buried her face deep inside Misaka's chest, where the wind couldn't reach her.
As she kept walking time went by. Five minutes, ten minutes, twenty.
When asked about it she really couldn't remember how long it took them to reach any shelter, but she would guess at least an hour and a half.
Along the way Misaki Shokuhou lost consciousness and Mikoto Misaka's mission to get both girls safely through this deathtrap got that much harder.
The blonde girls body had gone limb and didn't help a bit.
Every couple passes Misaka needed to recorrect her hold around the blondes body as she tried everything in her power not to let the girl slip in the snow.
That snow, now so much that it reached her knees, became that much more of an obstacle the longer the time passed.
Misaka knew very well that they were lost and that she could only hope that she would fine any kind of shelter here in these mountains.
A house was unlikely. But maybe a cave, or a couple of trees that had enough branches to form some kind of roof?
She knew that wouldn't be enough but in this weather, she would take everything just to get out of this damn snow!
The brunette was beginning to get tired and she was freezing!
For a moment she thought back to her place in Academy city.
A warm and inviting place in the heart of the city where she and her friends would hang around while a cozy fire would warm the place up.
A fire! Yes! A chill ran down Misaka's spine as she thought about a warm cozy fire.
She could use a fire right now.
But no, she couldn't. she would die here.
She would freeze to death. Here, in the mountains of Austria.
The night had fallen, but Misaka didn't notice any of it.
All she knew was that by the time the morning would set in, she and Misaki Shokuhou would be dead.
She wondered how they would find her and how much time it would take for them to find their frozen bodies under the snow.
Maybe never? Misaka never really feared death. And this time was no different. But she felt disappointment.
Of all the things she could die from. She would have expected this way the least of all of them.
Her eyes turned to Misaki's face once more. The girl was now barely breathing.
Little clouds of warm air desperately tried to reach Misaka's chest but they didn't reach. A smile ran down her face. At least she tried. She thought.
It was the faintest shift of an electromagnetic current.
nothing much. In the beginning, Misaka didn't even notice it.
But it was there, and even though Misaka's mind had gone half blank, she noticed it.
'That's weird.' She thought. 'why would a blizzard have an electro magnetic current?'
Her brain was almost too tired to even make the connection.
'So when it snows, there's a current under the ground?' she had to remember that.
'Wait….'
Something wasn't right about that thought.
Her brain was trying to make the connection. But since she was undercooled, things didn't come as easy as usual.
There, she felt it again!
And it was most definitely electricity!
Misaka felt the sensation enough to know that this was NOT due to any weather phenomenon!
This, however faint, was undoubtedly something that was being used to power something!
Now, the pieces slowly started to come together.
Electricity meant power. Power meant some kind of electrical device. An electrical device meant civilization.
Civilization meant houses. Houses meant Warmth!
Misaka quickly kneeled down on one knee and laid Shokuhou down on the ground.
"Just for a moment." She promised the girl while she removed her glove and tried to dig her hand as deep in the snow as she possible could.
The snow felt like a thousand knifes were being stabbed in her skin!
It was a horrible sensation. But she knew it was necessary if she would ever find where this Electricity would come from!
When she couldn't reach any deeper into the snow, she closed her eyes and redirected al power she had left in her hand to let out a jolt of lightning.
It wasn't much. But enough to see where the powerlines were constructed and there the percipient of this electricity would be.
Only a couple hundred meters away she discovered the contours of what should be a bungalow!
clearly nobody was there and even if there was, Misaka just knew that they could at least stay the night in this small house.
"we're almost safe now." She said, as she lifted the blonde back up to take her the last couple of meters.
The Blonde hummed something Misaka couldn't really decipher. But her answering took Misaka for a good sign.
{-}
so here she was, inside the bungalow, with Shokuhou.
Now that the fire was burning and the warmth spread around the house like a comfortable blanket, Misaka noticed how hungry she actually was!
She walked back to the kitchen and decided to make herself a small meal.
Of course Shokuhou could have some but since she was vast asleep, Misaka figured she wouldn't wake the blonde up.
Let her rest. When she's hungry Misaka would leave her something she could warm up herself.
It wasn't much. Beans with a couple of potato's and a filet she found in the freezer.
But it was hot and delicious and Misaka realized she had never been this happy!
The girl ate her meal in one of the comfy chairs next to the couch and turned on the tv.
NO SIGNAL.
Okay so that didn't work.
'There's probably a satellite dish.' She thought to herself. 'and since that dish is probably covered in snow, it wouldn't get any signal.' She sighed.
There was an DVD player and she noticed the owners had left a couple DVD's. but she wasn't really in the mood for a movie.
When Misaka was done eating, she noticed how tired the whole experience had made her.
quickly eyeballing the fire, she turned down the lights, climbed up the stairs and laid down in the bed.
She didn't know what happened first. Her, closing her eyes or her falling asleep. They we're finally safe.
{-}
Misaki Shokuhou woke up. A small bit of morning light tried desperately to shine its way through a window that was for the most part been blocked of by snow.
For a moment she looked at it, trying to piece together what happened the night before.
She knew herself and Mikoto Misaka we're trying to safe a gondola from falling.
Then somehow got caught in an avalanche. She remembered Misaka saying, "Were lost."
And she remembered a snowstorm. Not just a snowstorm. A blizzard! A monster!
She also recollected a moment between her and Misaka.
But she didn't really know if that really happened or if she just wanted it to happen.
However, she didn't recall spending the night in a house?
The blonde looked around. It was quite cozy and more importantly. It was warm.
One of the pieces of wood Misaka had used in the fireplace the night before, gave in under its own weight and the fire, almost out, now suddenly gave birth to a couple of flames again. Misaki put her feet on the ground and wanted to stand up.
A light pain ran through her leg as the wound on her knee also made itself known again. 'Oh right.' She thought sour. 'That happened as well.'
The blonde put a couple of logs in the fireplace and the lonely flame hungrily began licking the new wood, making sure the fire began to grow in size again.
It was now that she noticed the whistling through the door. 'that means the storm hasn't died out yet.'
She wondered if the snow was also still falling, but since there wasn't really any way for her to find out, she glanced at the windows and accepted that there wasnt any way she would know until the storm stopped. In de corner, in one of the solid wooden closets, she found a small radio and turned it on.
It crackled for a moment, but once she found a radio station, smooth, solid, jazzy sounds filled the apartment.
A little snore made her first notice the bed on the second floor.
It was too high to see who was on it, but then again, who else could it be except for Mikoto Misaka.
She smiled.
The brunette was probably vast asleep. No wonder after all they've been through.
Shokuhou turned down the music somewhat and it was then that she found the meal in the kitchen.
There was a little note that said, I didnt want to wake you. If youre hungry, please help yourself. X
It was around eleven in the morning, and even though she appreciated the gesture.
There was no way she could get this meal down this early in the day.
Just like Misaka the night before, Shokuhou went through the Cabinets in the hope to find something eatable.
And even though things like bread and such items were nowhere to be found. She did find the ingredients to make it herself.
She found strawberry jelly and peanut butter in another cabinet and after a while even a whole wheel of cheese!
She also found numerous things for which she could use to make a whole feast!
In her head, a plan started to form.
She still didnt know if that kiss happened of if it was just fantasy, but she had to find out.
And she had to tell the brunette how she felt and what she meant to her.
Tonight was Christmas Eve.
And sadly, Shokuhou had to acknowledge that theres not a single scenario in which she and the brunette would be back home or with their friends.
Not with this blizzard going on. So she might as well try to make them both feel as comfortable and joyous as possible.
She felt the urge to surprise the blonde. It was the least I could do after all she has done for me.
She thought as she thought back on the events that happened yesterday.
And so Misaki Shokuhou, the Princess of Tokiwadai, went on to bake her very own feast.
{-}
Mikoto Misaka dreamt long and hard. It felt almost unreal how the events of the night before mixed in with fictional things and with things long passed.
She dreamt of Shirai. Her best friend, dressed as she was on her wedding day. Waving at her.
Misaka noticed this time she stood on the altar.
That doesnt make any sense. 'with who?'
Out of nowhere the exact gondola from up onto the mountain top had appeared and Index walked out.
With on her arm no one other than Touma Kamijo, dressed as a Chicken Mascotte.
Misaka grinned in her sleep. Why was THAT the thing that made sense where everything else didn't?
She had dreamt of the sisters.
She was never allowed to tell anyone but 10032 has always been her favorite and the one she always considered her closest sibling.
Even though she loved the others, 10032 and her had a bond the others simply hadn't, even though her sister wouldn't agree.
A flicker of a memory made it through her subconsciousness about 10032 enjoying herself in a school game in her place.
Destroying balloons left and right before she got taken out herself.
The image of 10032 shifted to the face of Dolly. Poor Dolly, who might have some sort of disease or worse!
The happy, naïve person smiled widely at her with the face she's seen in the mirror a million times.
Next to her Shokuhou appeared. Misaka realized she liked having Shokuhou around. She giggled and snored slightly.
The blonde walked up to her, cheered on by the naïve clone behind her. "Tell her!" she jelled as the blonde graciously floated over to where she stood.
The place became dark. A complete nothingness where only she and Misaki Shokuhou appeared to be.
She couldn't help but to gaze in her beautiful starry eyes! Ahhhh Shokuhou.. Misaka started to swoon as the blonde kept getting closer and closer.
Snow started to fall.
it wasn't cold. Or at least she didn't feel the cold. As the blonde now reached out her hand and took Misaka with her.
Through the dark nothingness a opening between two rocks appeared.
She heard the clattering of water and a waterfall of snow apparated before them.
Shokuhou turned around. "Trust me." She said. And Misaka nodded.
Her mouth open and her tongue sticking half out, the blonde started to undress until only her underwear remained.
She then winked at Misaka and walked through the waterfall, that conveniently turned to steaming water the moment Shokuhou touched the surface.
It was that moment, Misaka knew, she was in love!
With a shock she woke up and realized what had just happened.
"Oh no." she said.