Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter Twenty Nine: Histoire D'amour Trois
Beta:
Misaka Mikoto, 5th ranked Level 5 and the most powerful electromaster in Academy City, had had a eventful summer so far. What with learning she had thousands of clones, getting into a deadly battle with the psychotic Number 1, saving Janie and Febrie, and unraveling multiple conspiracies, eventful might be an understatement.
That was all in the past however, and today at least she was determined to have a relaxing day out on the town. One without sinister plots, insane murderers, magicians, or crazy kohai. Why was today so important? Well, it was because it was the the second last day of her summer vacation. As such she was utterly determined not to allow it to be ruined.
Alright, let's see what I can do. Mikoto thought as she pulled out a book of what she had originally lined up for summer fun but had been forced to forego thanks to all the madness. Finally, she could do something enjoyable!
The chestnut haired girl nearly let loose a tear of joy at the thought.
Summer, you aren't dead yet! Let's spend this time together one last time!
Was she being overdramatic? Yes, yes she was but with all that's happened to her she was allowed to be, darn it.
Unfortunately for our intrepid protagonist, her plans hit its very first road bump the moment she stepped foot out of the Tokiwadai Exterior Dormitories.
Science why? Mikoto cried in her mind as she saw who was approaching her.
Her first impulse was to shock her apparent stalker. The Level 5 could handle her unwanted fan club, she could deal with little kids wanting her autograph, but stalkers just annoyed her to no end. It was just too bad that this particular stalker was one she could not deal with in her usual manner, by virtue of being the grandson of the director of Tokiwadai Middle School, Unabara Mitsuki.
He was a reasonably handsome older boy with neatly combed dark-brown hair, and was always dressed in a very orderly fashion. He could even be called cool and elegant. Which was totally not Mikoto's type.
For a moment the image of a familiar high schooler with spiky black hair entered her mind's eyes.
Gah, what am I thinking?! As if I'd l-like some punk like him! Mikoto shouted in her mind as she shook her head furiously. That managed to banish the thought from her mind but sadly, that distracted her a little too much and her stalker caught up to her.
"Misaka-san, good morning." The pest that had been bugging her since the end of the Silent Party Incident said in his annoyingly polite manner.
A strained smile came across Mikoto's face. Be polite, be polite, do not shock the grandson of the director of your school.
"Good morning, Unabara-san." Mikoto returned the greeting with as much poise as she could muster.
"Where are you going today?"
"Just out on the town." The electromaster hedged.
"Then I'll accompany you." The boy said with a charming smile.
It did nothing for Mikoto though. All she felt was annoyance. She'd tried every polite way she could think of to discourage him, but Unabara had been determined to follow her wherever she went the past few days. Much to her unending frustration.
Maybe I can call the others for some advice. Even if Saten is clueless, I'm sure Namikaze at least has some experience with stuff like this. Mikoto mused, before her thoughts took a sudden, darker turn. Failing that… Well, Saten is chummy with Accelerator isn't she? Wonder what it would take to get her to call him in to scare this idiot off?
"I'd hate to bother you with that. I'm sure you have more important things to do."
Like not bothering me!
Mikoto was about to despair when she saw her way out of this mess. Just down the street, Kamijou was walking down the street with two of his friends.
Acting quickly to rid herself of Unabara's unwanted company, Mikoto mustered up a winning smile and walked towards [Imagine Breaker].
Waving at the spiky haired brunette, she caught the high schooler off guard and called out to him. "Sorry for making you wait, Touma-kun. Hope you weren't waiting long."
The startled young man blinked in confusion even as his two friends, a blonde in shorts and a green shirt with white floral patterns, reminiscent of stereotypical Hawaiian shirts and a bluenette with earstuds, looked at him with looks of shock and betrayal.
"Kami-yan! You didn't!" The blonde said, sounding at once playful, proud and somehow also betrayed.
Kamijou opened his mouth to say something, presumably in his own defense but was preempted by his other friend.
"You said we'd go hang out, but that was just an excuse so we'd walk you here to meet up with your girlfriend!" The bluenette said sounding scandalized. "What a friend! You never told me that this was your type?! What a betrayal!"
Taking the plunge, Mikoto wrapped her arms around his torso and looked up at him with a bashful look.
"Now we can go on our date!"
Haha! The perfect plan! Take that, you stalker!
"Eh? Misaka-sama has a boyfriend?"
"Oho, how bold to meet in front of the dorm."
"Onee-sama, how could you betray Kuroko like this?!"
Mikoto paused and looked up, seeing the sea of her schoolmates looking down at her from the second floor of her dormitory.
At the sight, her face turned scarlet.
I'll never hear the end of this.
Looking at Unbara's shocked look though, Mikoto couldn't help but think that it would be totally worth it.
Kamijou Touma was sitting at a cafe with his acquaintance Misaka Mikoto, the Number 5 known as the notorious [Railgun]. It wasn't anything planned. Instead, the domineering Level 5 had basically forced him to take her out on a 'fake date' out of the blue when he was just minding his own business on a day out with his classmates.
"So that guy's been bothering you?" He asked as they sat at a table outside.
Misaka nodded, a grumbly pout on her face.
"Yeah."
"You're Biri-Biri though… why don't you just shock him?"
"...You make it sound like I'm super violent or something!" She glared at him and Touma held his hands up with a nervous laugh.
"N-Not at all! I mean, it sounded like the, uh, reasonable thing to do?"
"He's someone important, so I couldn't do that. T-That is to say, even if I could I wouldn't of course!" She hastily told him.
Why do I not believe that at all? Touma thought to himself.
He wasn't stupid enough to tell her that though, so instead he continued trying to get an idea on what was going on instead.
"So you're using this 'fake date' thing to convince him that you're going out with me in order to get him to lose interest?"
"Exactly!" The chestnut haired electromaster agreed with a proud nod of her head, as if her harebrained scheme was some genius idea.
"Uh, I'm happy to help and all but I kinda still have my summer homework to do." Touma admitted sheepishly as he pulled out some papers from his pocket.
"Still? It's almost the last day of summer break already." Misaka-san noted with stern disapproval.
"Y-Yeah, hahaha." He laughed awkwardly. It was not like it was his fault that he never got the time to get started on it. Between all the shenanigans that he got caught up in, it was a miracle he'd managed to squeeze out today to go to the library with his mates to work on it like he'd originally planned. Though it seemed that plan was ruined now too.
Fukou da!
"Man, how hopeless." The Level 5 sighed and she scooted closer to him, causing Touma to wince. "Let me see it."
"Huh?"
"Hurry, and show me. Maybe I can help."
It was high school work, so he didn't know how a middle schooler could possibly be any help but he reasoned it wouldn't hurt to let her try. By this point he was desperate enough to try almost anything.
As such, he pulled the rest of the papers out of his back pocket. He blinked as she eagerly grabbed them and pulled out a pen.
"Oh! It's just a basic math review." Misaka-san laughed as her pen started jotting down answers.
"W-Wow, how are you answering all those so fast?"
"Hehe, I'm a Level 5." Misaka-san smirked at him like the Ojou-sama she was. "My computational power is pretty high up there. Plus we recently learned this before the break."
Aren't you in middle school though? Touma refrained from saying aloud.
"And done! Looks like you owe me one. Like say with a fake date?" She asked, waving the papers around.
"I-I guess?" Touma said uncertainly, still shocked by her being able to so effortlessly finish what would have had him stumped for hours at best or more likely days.
Though she had finished his homework for him, so he guessed that he owed her. Besides she wouldn't let him go easily even if he did try to back out of this farce.
I don't have a choice. I've just gotta play along.
With a resigned sigh, the perpetually unfortunate boy fully committed to his fate. "So what exactly do real couples do anyways? I've never had a girlfriend so it's not like I'd know."
"We could sit here and talk right? I mean, couples probably do that right?" Misaka-san said, looking down at her skirt as her cheeks seemed to glow pink.
"Makes sense. So, how are your Level 5 friends? That one girl looked pretty bad from her run-in with the Number 1."
"Ah! Both Namikaze and Saten have regenerative abilities, so they're both fine." Misaka-san sighed. "Really, it's a pretty useful ability."
"Still," Touma said disbelievingly. "The Number 3 got impaled, right? How do you just get better overnight from something like that?"
"From what she told me, lots of sleep and a balanced breakfast." Misaka-san said outlandishly, disbelief on her face.
"Geez, you Level 5s are nuts." Touma scratched his head. "So what about that teleporter friend of yours? She was there and hurt too, right?"
"Yeah, she got knocked out and was banged up a bit. Nothing a good's night sleep couldn't solve." Mikoto informed him. "She was there back at the dorm. Didn't you see her?"
"Huh? She was? I must have missed her."
"I-I guess you were just too distracted." Misaka-san said, a little smile on her face.
He cocked a brow at that, how could he not when she was hanging off of him. It was hard to walk, where the hell would he have found the ability to focus on his surroundings.
"Oh! You should know, the Sisters are doing great."
"Really?"
"Yeah, Heaven Canceler and the Superintendent have made sure of that."
"Heaven Canceler?"
"Eh, you know? The frog faced doctor?"
"Oh! His name is Heaven Canceler?" Touma blinked. Now he actually felt embarrassed since he had never asked for the doctor's name before despite the man having saved his life on what must have been countless occasions by now. What bad manners.
"Yeah, strange huh?"
Considering his roommate…
"In this City? Not really."
Misaka-san paused for a moment before nodding in agreement.
"Right, so anyways, only about ten Sisters are in the City going through rehabilitation and having their bodies repaired."
"Repaired?"
"They were mass produced clones that weren't meant to live long, so the scientists that made them cut some corners to make them cheaper to produce."
Touma clicked his tongue at that, the very thought at how lives were being thrown away like that left a sour taste in his mouth. Thankfully the Sisters were doing okay now.
"What about the rest? I mean there were a lot more than just ten clones, right?"
"The rest are receiving their treatments outside the City."
Touma cocked his eyebrows in suspicion. "Outside the City? Where the technology is at least a decade behind us? Isn't that a little odd?"
"I don't know." Misaka-san frowned. "Saten and Namikaze thinks that the Superintendent is up to something, but neither of them knows what exactly."
"Well, let's hope whatever he's up to it won't involve us." Touma paused for a moment before he palmed his face. "I just jinxed myself didn't I?"
"Knowing your luck? Probably."
He rubbed the back of his neck and let out an awkward laugh.
"I'm going to grab us some drinks. It's pretty hot out here." Misaka-san said while fanning her face. "And preferences?"
"Nah, I'll take whatever."
"Hehe." She gave him an evil little smile. "If you say so~"
Touma felt a chill down his spine. "Wait! Iced Tea! Just get me Iced Tea!"
"Boo, you're no fun." Misaka-san said with a pout. "Fine, Iced Tea it is."
Breathing a sigh of relief, the [Imagine Breaker] collapsed back into his seat.
Misaka-san was queuing at the counter when Touma decided to deal with the thing that he'd been putting off for some time now. No, not his homework! Rather, the young man lurking in the shade of the trees a short distance away.
"Yo," Touma called out to Misaka-san's stalker. "Why don't you come over and have a seat? I'd like to talk to you."
The preppy looking boy walked on over, a smile on his face as he took the seat Misaka-san was just in.
"Sorry to bother you." The boy said, a sad smile on his face now. "I just wanted to see if you were treating Misaka-san right. She's such a nice girl… man, you're really lucky huh?"
Him? Lucky? Clearly this Oji-sama hadn't heard of his horrible luck.
"So you were just watching out for her?" Touma asked. He didn't seem stalker-y to him, at least not much.
Unabara-san laughed, "I've been trying to get her to go on a date with me for a while now. Seems I'm not what she's looking for. You'll look out for her right?"
Ah, now Touma was starting to feel like the bad guy here.
"Sure, Biri-Biri can get in over her head at times. If she needs help, of course I'd lend a hand."
His smile strained at that, but nodded in acceptance. He turned to see Misaka-san paying for their drinks and he got up.
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Kamijou-kun. Have a good day."
He walked away just as Misaka-san returned holding both their drinks and a frown on her face.
"Was that Unabara-san?"
"Yeah."
"What did he want?"
"Just wanted to make sure I took good care of you."
"W-What?" The Level 5 squeaked, her cheeks turning red.
"Look, the dude came over to make sure I'd be good for you that's all." Touma elaborated. "He wasn't angry that it looked like I'd stolen his girl or anything like that. I dunno about you, but I think the guy might genuinely like you."
"Then what about the stalking?" Misaka-san in a strained voice as she collapsed into a chair, looking conflicted.
"Some guys aren't exactly good with the dating thing, so maybe he just didn't know how to go about asking you out properly and it came across as, um, stalkerish? Is that even a word?"
"No," the genius middle schooler replied automatically. "But that's not the issue here. So what exactly are you trying to say?"
Now for the tricky part. Touma thought to himself nervously, even as he knew it was the right thing to do.
"Look, why don't we put an end to this fake date thing and, maybe, just maybe, you give Unabara-san a chance?"
For some reason, the [Railgun] actually looked hurt at his suggestion. It was almost as if she wanted to spend time with him. But that couldn't be right, could it? There was no way an Ojou-sama like her would want to waste time with a scruffy, nobody like him.
"I guess you're right. If Unabara-san isn't really a stalker… Then I guess I don't need to scare him off with a fake date." The girl agreed with a disappointed sigh.
Again, what was with that?
"Then again," the rich girl continued. "I did kinda waste your whole morning, so why don't I repay you for it."
Touma's conscience told him to refuse her generosity, but his almost empty wallet easily drowned its cries out. After all, feeding two people and a cat on a high schooler's allowance wasn't exactly easy.
"How about lunch? Then afterwards I'll go meet up with Unabara-san to talk to him."
The disappointment in her tone didn't escape him and it continued to boggle his mind as to why she sounded like that.
Not that it factored much into his enthusiastic nod in agreement. There were few things that would convince him to turn down free food.
Despite his wilder ideas about fancy restaurants and the like, in the end Misaka-san decided to take him over to a nearby fast food restaurant for lunch.
Guess she's not that much of a typical Ojou-sama after all. He mused.
"Damn, it looks crowded." The tomboy noted as she eyed the packed sitting area. "I don't think there's any space for us. Hmm. Tell you what, I'll queue and buy us each a meal on the go and we can eat it in the park. That sound good?"
"I can wait with you, you know." He offered kindly.
"N-No! I invited you, so it should be my job. Alright?" She said in alarm, her face glowing again. The heat must really be getting to her. "Besides, the park might be crowded too so we need someone to go save us a place."
"I guess I can handle that." He nodded, agreeing with her logic.
"Good, good." She nodded, though it felt like it was mostly to herself for some reason. Weird.
Deciding to follow Misaka-san's suggestion, Touma stepped out of the restaurant and walked towards the park to save them a spot. He was just crossing the street into the public garden, when the [Imagine Breaker] spotted Unabara-san once more hiding in the shade.
Seeing Unabara-san again made him blink, but he assumed he was still checking Touma out. He felt a little indignant about it especially after their earlier conversation where he'd thought they had ironed things out but he suppressed it. These rich kids could be super suspicious he guessed.
"Ah! Kamijou-kun, fancy meeting you here." The man said nervously. Clearing he didn't expect to be caught in the act again so soon.
"Um, I guess?"
"So still making sure that I'd take care of Misaka-san?"
"I guess." The man said uncertainly.
What was he uncertain about? Was he so confused about his feelings that he couldn't be sure what was going on?
Well, maybe I can chat with him a little to make him feel a little better?
As they talked, Touma caught something in the corner of his eye.
A guy that looked exactly like Unabara-san.
"Hey, do you have a twin brother or something? Because I think I spotted your doppelganger if you don't."
"I'm an only child, Kamijou-kun. A doppelganger might be possible, though I don't think there's enough people in the City for any of those. Maybe you were seeing things?"
Touma highly disagreed.
Mikoto was just walking out of the fast food restaurant when she was blindsided by Unabara-san.
"Misaka-san!" The strangely winded boy said as he struggled to catch his breath.
"Unabara-san? W-What's going on?" Mikoto asked worriedly. The hunted look in the man's eyes was triggering her danger sense, honed from all the stuff she'd been going through lately, like crazy.
"I-I," He panted, hands on his knees as he gulped down air, "Have you seen me recently?!"
"Uh, yes?" She answered unsure where he was going with this.
"That wasn't me!" He said insistently.
"Huh?"
"I was attacked a few days ago." He told her hastily, his eyes wide with panic. "A man, he captured me then used some strange Esper power to change himself to look like me. He said something about wanting to target you. I've just managed to escape and I've b-been looking for you ever since!"
Mikoto's skin paled as her brain put two and two together. It was only a few days ago that Unabara-san had been seeking her out.
"Let me guess, you were captured a few days ago?"
"Yes," the boy said with a firm nod.
That's when "he", or rather the shapeshifter, started stalking me. Mikoto concluded in relief. As much as she had been unsettled by the stalking, she was equally uneasy about rejecting someone as influential as Unbara-san. A shapeshifting criminal stalker though? Not so much.
"Onee-sama~!" Kuroko cried out as she teleported in from nowhere.
She was brought out of her thoughts when her roommate glomped her tightly.
"K-Kuroko?! What are you doing here?"
"Now's not the time, Onee-sama." Her Kohai scolded her. "We have a potentially dangerous impostor that's the priority right now! Who knows what he could be up to at the moment?"
Mikoto didn't totally agree. Figuring out whether Kuroko was following her was very important in her opinion, however she did see the point.
"Fine." The electromaster said with a reluctant sigh. "Unabara-san, we'll take things from here. Thanks for warning us, we have things under control from now on."
"Are you sure?" Unabara-san asked nervously.
Both Tokiwadai students nodded at the older boy.
Reluctantly, the boy sighed and turned to walk away.
Mikoto and Kuroko stood there watching to make sure that the civilian was safely out of the area, when the air suddenly resounded with the sound of a collapsing building. Mikoto turned to the source of the noise and saw a large cloud of dust coming from a nearby construction yard. At the sight, her gut twisted and she inhaled sharply.
Her eyes scanned around, looking for that spiky haired idiot. Not seeing that familiar mop of black hair had her gut twisting in the opposite direction.
Tossing the food she'd just bought onto a nearby bench, she turned to Kuroko.
"That idiot." She cursed under her breath. "Kuroko! Get us there now!"
Pointing towards the construction site, her twin-tailed Kohai nodded and grabbed her arm.
With a shift of dimensions, the two appeared high in the air, hovering above the construction site before teleporting once more to the ground. They appeared behind a stack of steel girders inside the settling dust cloud to see the blockhead standing over Unabara-san's doppelganger who he seemed to have punched into one of the steel pillars that was supporting the half-built building. Hard enough to topple it over and cause the partial collapse that had shocked them earlier.
The Level 0 loomed over the doppelganger, his face looking chipped and flaking.
"So want to explain what you're up to 'Unabara-san'?" Kamijou said. "Or should I call you something else? Don't want to be rude after all. Like you. So spill, right now."
'Unabara-san' coughed and glared at Kamijou.
"Tch, you have no idea what you're doing, do you? I was sent to Academy City to evaluate your threat level."
"I'm not all that threatening." Kamijou interjected. "Besides, if you were checking me out, why would you be hanging out with Misaka-san?"
"She's part of your faction isn't she?"
"Faction?" Kamijou asked in confusion, echoing Mikoto's own thoughts on the matter.
"Are you stupid?!" The imposter snapped. "That damn Kamijou Faction of yours! You have the Librorum Prohibitorum, the Anglican Church, as well as the Trinity of Tokiwadai at your call. You are threatening the balance of the world. That is what the Kamijou Faction is. An unstable but influential group that could very well destroy the fragile balance of power that has kept this world together."
Kamijou just scratched his head in confusion.
"Onee-sama, are we really part of this 'Kamijou Faction'?" Kuroko demanded in a whisper and with a glare.
"No," Mikoto said with a shake of her head. "At least I don't think so. I mean, he's my friend. Namikaze and Saten knows him too. So I guess we'd help him if he asked, but we're hardly part of his faction."
Kuroko nodded. "But to outsiders?"
"Yeah, I can see why they'd be worried especially if he really has so many other allies."
"And my true target wasn't just you, Kamijou Touma." The impostor said, continuing his explanation. "It was every member of your faction. I was going to sow discord and shatter your relations. That were the orders I received from my superiors in the Return of the Winged One."
"Return of the Winged One? Do all you Magicians have to pick silly names for your organisations?" Kamijou frowned.
"Magicians?" Kuroko said with a sneer. "Is your friend stupid? Magic isn't real."
"It is." Mikoto said firmly. "I'll explain later, but just know that it is."
"You make me worry, Onee-sama."
Unaware of the girls' presence, the two men kept talking.
"That's a pretty mean thing to do when we haven't done anything to you and yours." Kamijou told the magician.
If this is how Magicians usually operate, I can see why Saten 'dislikes' them. Mikoto growled a little. Jumping out of her hiding spot, she marched forward and jabbed her finger at the faker. "Listen up buddy, you should be grateful this lughead was the one who got to you first. If you had done this to Saten or Namikaze, I doubt you'd live to regret it."
"Ah, Misaka-san. Um, sorry for the disturbance." Kamijou said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Onee-sama! That's unfair! Saten-san and Namikaze-san aren't that bad." Kuroko said, jumping into the conversation.
Mikoto called foul on that, how could Kuroko still hold delusions about their more bloodthirsty friends? Even Kamijou was giving the teleporter a disbelieving look. Heck, even the magician was shooting her an unimpressed glare.
"Uh, so they might have a body count…" Kuroko said with an uneasy shifting of her feet. "Still! It's not proper to say that about friends."
"You do know that Namikaze-san is this City's resident anti-magician enforcer and Saten-san has a burning hatred against my kind, right? Neither of them would bat an eye if I was killed, and in fact would likely love to be the one to do the deed."
Sometimes she just wanted to hug her Kohai and protect her from the world. She was still so innocent and pure. Er, well, not pure but...
"And that's why I concentrated on Misaka-san first." 'Unabara-san' grinned as he held up a wicked looking dagger.
"Thanks for waiting!" The magician said as he lashed out with his dagger and somehow firing off some kind of laser beam from it.
The sudden attack threw them all off guard. Mikoto cursed, she should have taken him down, let Kuroko restrain him, something!
"Shit! He conjured a new dagger. I didn't know he could do that. Fukou da!" Kamijou said as he and the girls dodged out of the way.
"Stop complaining Kamijou and fight!" Mikoto snapped as electricity arced off her body and she flung a bolt in the Magician's direction.
"Watch out for his lasers! They are pretty powerful."
"How powerful?" Kuroko shouted back, thus giving away her position and making her a target.
To protect her roommate, Mikoto decided to preempt him by firing off another bolt of electricity at the magician. She hit empty air though, as he managed to roll out of the way and angled his dagger in Kuroko's direction.
The teleporter escaped in the nick of time as the ground was transformed by the intense light into what looked like molten pools.
Magic is bullshit! Mikoto shouted in her mind. There's no way a laser should be that powerful! Or somehow split things into their constituent elements if the magnetic feel I'm getting from those pools is saying anything. Damn! I really don't want to see what that could do to a human body.
"Oi! Over here!" Kamijou said, waving his hands at the Magician. As he wanted, the magician promptly angled his laser at him.
"You idiot!" Mikoto shouted as she used her electricity to pull herself in his direction in hopes of pushing him out of the way.
She needn't have bothered, as Kamijou simply braced himself and blocked the laser with his right hand, negating the deadly beam with the sound of shattered glass.
"Tch. [Imagine Breaker]. What an annoying ability."
Despite the circumstances, Mikoto couldn't help but agree with the magician.
"Yeah, how about mine then?" Kuroko cried as she sent a series of nails into his body.
"Impressive," the magician said with a smile. "But nothing particularly dangerous."
With that statement his skin started to peel off his body like a snake's, Kuroko's nails somehow falling to the ground alongside his shed outer layer.
Still wearing the guise of Unabara-san, the magician smirked at his opponents.
"Okay, that's just gross." Kamijou grimaced as Mikoto landed next to him.
Kuroko wrinkled her nose. "I am feeling woefully under equipped."
"Can you both can it?" Mikoto scowled at them as she used her magnetism to pull a nearby steel girder and launch it at the magician.
His laser blasted it, breaking it down into a multitude of different molten ores even as he dodged behind another stack of steel girders upon which the molten metal splashed harmlessly.
The Level 5 clicked her tongue, hoping that turning his fancy dagger against him would have worked. Unfortunately, it seemed he understood the limits of his weapon well and realized that while it could deconstruct her projectile, it couldn't fully negate her attack since many of the constituent elements of steel were still magnetic. The laser however also drained them of all of their inertia thus slowing her attack down, making it possible for him to more easily evade it.
Mikoto was expecting a counterattack but instead of retaliating against her like she thought was only logical, the magician instead decided to target the one of the two others who couldn't no-sell his dagger; Kuroko.
"Eep!" The twin-tailed girl squeaked as she teleported away from the path of the laser that would have broken her down into a science fair project.
"Oi! Twintail!" Touma called out. "You okay?"
"Don't call me that you barbarian!" Kuroko replied incessantly from her perch on one of the girders in the remaining skeleton of the building.
"Alright! Hey, Not-Unabara-san! I kinda noticed something. Mind answering a question?"
Mikoto resisted the urge to palm her face. Was he being serious?!
"Were your feelings for Misaka-san false too?"
"Of course not," the magician replied from his hiding spot. "I never needed to go as far as I did to ingratiate myself with her. That I did so, was entirely on my own initiative."
E-EH?! Mikoto's face blew up into an atomic red. What's this m-moron going on about?!
"I do not approve! No one is allowed to stalk my Onee-sama!" Kuroko called out from her hiding spot, Mikoto nodding in agreement. "Only me!"
...I'm going to toast her when this is over.
"Is it so wrong for an imposter to have feelings for his target?"
"Very much so!" Kuroko said vehemently.
He fired at Kuroko once again but the Level 4 just teleported out of the way.
Despite that and without breaking a sweat, the magician continued his rant.
"No, there is nothing wrong with an impostor like me having feelings for Misaka-san." The obsessed magician asserted strongly.
Mikoto blushed brilliantly at that.
"I'm flattered." Mikoto said, fidgeting slightly. "But if this is some crazy magical way of confessing, I gotta say it isn't working."
Besides, who knew how old he actually was! Magic was weird like that, right?
"This wasn't how I intended to do this, Misaka-san." The magician said sounding apologetic. "If only I didn't have this mission then I wouldn't have needed to lie. This is all Kamijou's fault!"
Kamijou blinked at that revelation, "Wait, huh?! My fault! That's really unfair Not-Unabara-san!"
"Onee-sama, this conversation is going in a very uncomfortable direction!" Kuroko cried out in frustration as she teleported a steel girder above the magician's hiding spot.
The magician's laser lashed out but not at the girder. Instead, it zeroed in on Kuroko where was standing next to another stack of girders.
You're telling me. Mikoto tried to concentrate on the fight but it was next to impossible. One idiot was laying his heart out to her while the boy she was definitely not interested in was right there listening!
"Damn! You really do have real feelings for her." Touma said with a sigh. "Oi! Magician-san, you do know attacking one of her friends isn't helping your case, right?"
"Just shut up and die already Kamijou Touma!"
This is my life now. Mikoto took a deep breath.
"Onee-sama, barbarian! Don't just stand there! Attack the ne'er-do-well!" Kuroko cried out angrily as she teleported a whole pallet of construction material at what she must have thought was where the magician was hiding.
It threw up a cloud of dust, apparently the pallet had contained cement powder, but there was no sign of their opponent at all. Instead, all the Judgement agent got in return was another shot of that deadly laser which she was forced to teleport away from once again.
"This game of cat and mouse is getting tiresome." The magician said sounding annoyed. "I think it's about time to take this fight up a notch."
"Eh, what does he mean?" Kamijou said looking around nervously.
He almost immediately got his answer, as a series of popping sounds from around the construction site signaled the release of clouds of smoke. Abnormally thick smoke that managed to shroud the whole area in darkness.
"What the hell does this do? Make it easier for you to hide?" Mikoto asked, with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, it's nothing so simple." The magician explained obligingly. "With the smoke obscuring ambient light, the light cast by my Spear of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli will now be much more deadly."
That certainly didn't sound ominous at all.
As if to prove her fears, a beam of the magical light shot out of the darkness in Kamijou's direction. At least that's what appeared to be its target at first glance, though as the spiky haired boy jumped back in confusion instead of dispelling the beam, Mikoto realised the target had actually been the ground directly in front of him.
He missed? Wha-
Her confusion was answered when a second beam fired out of the occluding smoke and struck a beam directly over Kamijou's head, causing molten droplets to plummet down towards the unfortunate boy.
Mikoto was sure that the Level 0 hadn't figured out the attack, but somehow acting on some unknown instinct he dodged and narrowly escaped being badly burned anyways.
"Light does not work this way!" Mikoto snapped, while gesturing to her darkened surroundings. Annoyed that magic was once more making her question her fundamental knowledge of the universe. "Making things darker doesn't make light more intense!"
"Actually, Onee-sama," Kuroko said as teleported next to the Level 5. "Considering that the darkness makes his laser stand out more, there might actually be merit to what the 'magician' said."
"Oi, Misaka! Your friend's right. Besides, magic is bullshit." Kamijou told her as he used that right hand of his to block another beam of light.
"That's rich coming from you, [Imagine Breaker]." The magician said with a chuckle. Even as Kuroko disappeared in a teleport, presumably to try to pinpoint the elusive magician.
"I was born this way."
"Doesn't make your ability any less bullshit." Mikoto groused.
"Hey! You're agreeing with the magician?" Kamijou shouted defensively, nearly drowning out the sounds of a struggle off in the smoke cloud.
Apparently Kuroko had caught up to the annoying shapeshifter.
Unfortunately, as the tawny haired girl was quickly sent flying out of the cloud with a pained grimace, it seemed the skirmish hadn't gone well for her. Thankfully, she quickly collected herself and teleported into a shaky landing next to Mikoto and Kamijou, even as the former sent a electric bolt in the direction where the teleporter had emerged from.
"First, the ability to change his appearance, then lasers and now some kind of enhanced strength? Is there no limits to the crazy things that magic allows?"
"Limitless things, Shirai-san."
"Ugh." Kuroko groaned in annoyance. "This feels like fighting Saten-san all over again."
"Is she that bad?" Kamijou asked curiously.
"""Yes""" The three other combatants replied in unison.
"Okay~" The perpetually unfortunate boy said uneasily. "Glad I've never had to fight her."
"You're an unfair matchup for that girl." The magician told Kamijou casually as he fired another laser above them aiming to shower him in molten material. Wise to his trick though, all three of his opponents easily dodged his attack. "You could probably kill her with a single touch of your right hand."
"Yeah," Kamijou acknowledged uneasily, even as he dispeled a laser headed towards Kuroko. "Misaka-san told me."
"What? Really?" Kuroko shouted in shock.
Mikoto just nodded.
The teleporter just turned to level a glare at the [Imagine Breaker], before saying in a deadly serious voice. "You are never getting within ten feet of her. You hear me? Never!"
"Right. Gotcha!" The high schooler said hastily, clearly intimidated by the tawny haired girl's intensity.
"Forgetting about me?" The magician asked as he sent his laser sweeping across the beams over their heads and releasing a rain of molten material down upon them. There was so much of it pouring down, that they had nowhere to hide.
Mikoto acted quickly and gathered all the iron sand she could muster. Forming the ferric particles into a makeshift shield just in time, she protected them all from the deadly torrent.
"Why is he able to target us so well? Is he using magic?" Kuroko challenged as she dodged another beam of light and teleported across the construction yard.
"Haha, let's just say Academy City is full of useful gadgets. Like say, sonar imagery goggles."
Mikoto ground her teeth at that, "Why aren't people screened for that stuff! It's military grade too I bet!"
"Misaka-san," Her stalker's voice was chiding, as if she were a child, "the black market is a wonderful thing."
A thought ran through her mind as she threw a bolt of lightning towards where she heard the voice.
"Did you hit him?" Kamijou asked her.
"I think so. The EM emissions from his gadget was faint enough for me to mistake it for background radiation but now that I know it isn't… Yeah, I'm sure."
"That actually hurt." The magician whined, confirming that she'd been on target. "I guess I shouldn't have underestimated you, Misaka-san. Then again I never expected to actually have to fight you."
Deciding to capitalize on Mikoto's successful pinning down of his location once more and even managing to injure him, Kuroko immediately teleported away to confront the magician in close combat once more. Kamijou seemed to be of the same mind, as he ran into the smoke after her.
"Well, that's what you get for trying to hurt my friends." Mikoto shot back even as the sounds of a scuffle carried through the darkness and she too broke into a run in pursuit of her friends.
"Your friends are frustratingly tenacious, you know that Misaka-san?" The magician said, a slight wheeze in his voice.
"Of course!" Mikoto replied proudly.
"I see." The enemy said with a sigh. "Then I apologize in advance but I'm going to have to go for broke now."
"What do you mean?"
Without replying, a laser pierced the smoke and hit a girder which was promptly disassembled by the spell. Immediately, the whole structure groaned.
"Onee-sama!" Kuroko cried out worriedly as she teleported next to Mikoto and grabbed her arm. A moment later the duo were outside the construction site, looking in on the persistent cloud of black smoke and a steel frame of a unfinished building that was rapidly crumbling.
"Fukou da!" Kamijou cursed so loudly that the two girls heard him even over the sound of steel snapping.
"Kamijou!" Mikoto cried out worriedly as she reached out with her ferrokinesis to ensure that none of the falling pieces of steel crushed the boy.
Thankfully, the displacement of air caused by the collapse caused the smokescreen to finally start to part. It revealed Kamijou standing there amidst the rubble, seemingly unharmed with many steel girders laid all around him. At his feet and pinned down by one of the steel girders was the annoying magician still wearing Unabara-san's guise.
It looked like something out of a painting. Kamijou was the very picture of the triumphant hero standing over the defeated form of the villain, whilst surrounded by the ruined landscape that had been the product of their epic, climactic final duel.
As he turned to look at her, Mikoto couldn't help the blush that spread across her cheeks.
"Thanks for the save, Misaka-san." The conquering hero said, causing the maiden to blush even more brilliantly.
Ah, calm down, calm down! Mikoto begged her racing heart. "N-No problem."
Next to her, Kuroko was looking between Kamijou and her with narrowed, suspicious eyes but Mikoto ignored her odd behaviour. When wasn't her roommate acting oddly?
"As heroic as always, Kamijou." The magician said, reminding everyone that he was still around. "I really should've expected this outcome once I got into a fight with you. You have defeated opponents more powerful than I can ever hope to be."
Kamijou just rubbed the back of his neck nervously and chuckled self-deprecatingly at the praise.
"But then again, that's what I'm counting on I guess." The pinned man continued. "Because this won't be the last attack against you or the rest of the Kamijou Faction. As such, I would like to ask you to protect Misaka-san. To be there whenever and wherever she needs you. Will you do that?"
"Of course." The hero said without a moment's hesitation.
Mikoto felt her knees go weak a little at that, her hands bunching in front of her chest.
It was sweet and kind and just… Gah! Was she swooning?!
Until Kuroko decided to ruin it!
"Who do you think you are!?" Kuroko screeched, incensed. "Onee-sama is perfectly capable of defending herself! And even if she couldn't, protecting Onee-sama is my sworn duty!"
Her bangs hiding her eyes, Mikoto's fists tightened as she shouted, "Stop ruining the moment, Baka-Kuroko!"
As per standard, the Level 5 shocked her roommate until she was charred black.
"Uh, M-Misaka-san…" Kamijou said nervously, earning her attention. "Uh, you okay?"
Mikoto's face turned firetruck red as she quickly grabbed Kuroko, "Oi! T-teleport us right now! Kuroko!"
Miraculously recovering in an instant like she always seemed to be able to after being shocked, Kuroko jumped back to her feet and eagerly grabbed hold of Mikoto's arm.
"H-Hai~!" Kuroko drunkenly obliged.
The day after their various adventures was a Sunday and the Trinity was meeting up in Joseph's Coffee and Restaurant to swap stories.
After hearing her friends' stories, Kazari couldn't help but feel she missed out on a lot of things. Oh, she just had to be stuck working on updates at the office. It was such a great loss that she was almost on the verge of tears.
"All things considered, I think Mikoto-Sempai has the most interesting story." Saten-san stated with a decisive nod.
No, no, what you did was far too crazy to not be the most interesting. Kazari disgreed in her mind.
It seemed she wasn't the only one with that opinion.
"Are you nuts? You saved the Sisters." Misaka-san pointed out, a grateful look on her face.
"Yeah! That's way more interesting then what we were doing. I mean, saving the day with your boyfriend. Must be nice to get your white whale." Namikaze-san wiggled her brows in amusement.
"He's not my boyfriend! Yet." Saten-san said, blushing prettily.
The sight had Kazari smiling brilliantly. It was amazing that Saten-san could show such emotion. It was yet another sign how far she'd come from the emotionally stunted girl she'd been when Kazari had first met her.
"Sure~! Like hell you aren't his girlfriend." The blonde rolled her eyes. "You have him so tightly wrapped around your finger yet you don't even know it."
Saten-san's cheeks dusted pink at that.
"Putting the status of your relationship aside. I can't see how you don't think that what you went through isn't the most interesting?" Shirai-san said with a exasperated shake of her head.
"It was pretty routine for me." Saten-san replied with a shrug, her cheeks still faintly pink from the earlier turn that the conversation had taken.
The flower crown wearing girl smacked her best friend lightly on the arm, "Stop being so modest, Saten-san! You did a great thing. Let us praise you."
"Eh? It was so boring though."
"Saten-san is truly impossible." Shirai-san sighed while shaking her head.
"Yep!" "Absolutely." The other Level 5s agreed.
"If you guys say so," Saten-san said with a skeptical nod.
"Moving away from Saten-chan. At least she and I had successful dates. Right, Sempai?" Namikaze-san teasingly said, her blue eyes dancing with mirth.
"I-I wasn't on a date, you Baka-Usagi!" Misaka-san stammered, her face red in embarrassment.
"Of course it was," Namikaze-san insisted with a broad mischievous smile. "What you call it doesn't matter. You spending an afternoon with a boy, getting all hot and sweaty… how bold!"
"We were fighting for our lives!"
"You were still spending time together. Clearly, it was a date."
"Naru-san brings up a good point, Sempai." Saten-san nodded.
"Sorry, Misaka-san, but I have to agree with Namikaze-san here." Kazari said with her own teasing smile.
"While Kuroko isn't happy to admit it, those do meet the requirements, Onee-sama." The twintailed Level 4 pursed her lips, "Still! Onee-sama, you could do much better then some scruffy nobody!"
The Level 1 noticed that Saten-san and Namikaze-san glanced at each other. Saten-san nodded while Namikaze-san shook her head in response.
"What are you two talking about?" Mikoto asked her fellow Level 5s. "Mind sharing with the rest of us?"
"Well, Kamijou-san is actually quite the big player in the Dark Side." Saten-san informed the rest of them. "That was the whole point why the magician attacked Mikoto-Sempai anyways. He was already considered dangerous and with his increasing number of friendships with powerful groups, his faction felt that Kamijou-san was amassing too much power."
The pigtailed imp that was Namikaze-san teasingly added, "Most of those friends of his are beauties I hear. I also heard he's amassing a harem to sate himself!"
"H-Harem?!" Misaka-san choked on her drink, pounding her chest to calm down.
"Yeah, I wonder whose his main~"
"Shut up! Shut up!" Misaka-san said with a brilliant blush on her face. She was so red that Kazari was almost surprised that there wasn't steam coming out of her ears.
Shirai-san had a menacing aura coming off of her, "He will not touch Onee-sama! I will protect her virtue!"
Inching over, Kazari whispered to her best friend, "Is what Namikaze-san saying true?"
"Kamijou-san's allies are disproportionately female."
Her fellow Judgement member looked struck by the confirmation.
"D-Does that ape have no shame?! No, no! I will hunt him down if I have to!"
"It's not like that, Baka-Kuroko!" Misaka-san snapped, her face still a blazing scarlet.
Namikaze-san smiled with satisfaction as she leaned back in her seat and surveyed the chaos that she'd created.
"Oi, don't you smile like that!" Misaka-san said with a glare at the blonde. "We haven't talked about your date yet."
"What?" The devilish blonde looked surprised as her cheeks turned pink.
"I heard all about it. Your little bunnies were in a panic when they heard you were having a date."
"Indeed." Saten-san agreed as she pulled out her phone. Her finger swiped through the touch screen a few times as she added, "It's being talked about all over the Level 5 fansites. There are also a number of photos. You looked very nice in the dress you choose. What store did you get it from?"
Naru's face blossomed into a blush. "P-Pictures? Seriously?"
Kazari nodded eagerly in agreement, "You looked so pretty and sophisticated! Though, Sequenzia-san's dress was more my taste. Could you ask her where she got it for me? Please?"
"Hm? Let me see, Saten-san." Shirai-san asked with curiosity.
The Number 3 handed over her phone and the Level 4 scanned the pictures.
"My! You look radiant, Namikaze-san! Truly an Ojou-sama from Tokiwadai."
"Weren't you two sucking face or something? At least, that's what I heard." Misaka-san grinned at the shortest among them. She seemed to take pleasure from watching Namikaze-san squirm.
"It was just a couple of pecks!"
"Oh! So you two did kiss, how bold~ !"
Having her teasing thrown back at her, the blonde girl let out a small growl at her Sempai. It would have been threatening, if only her cheeks weren't so bright.
It was pretty cute in Kazari's opinion.
"Naru-san, about the dress?" Saten-san said, seemingly still caught up on that.
"Huh? Oh! Yeah, I'll get you the info and pass it to you later."
"You were serious about the dress?" Misaka-san asked with surprise. "I thought you were just joking."
"I kinda need to get a better idea of the latest fashions." Saten-san admitted with a frustrated sigh. "Apparently I've become my sisters' fashion advisor."
"Well, they were kinda in a coma for years and you weren't. Who else in the family would they refer to? Kiyama-sensei?" Namikaze-san pointed out.
"That would be a disaster." Shirai-san agreed.
Kazari stifled a giggle as she nodded along.
"Sheesh, you sure got your hands full. Still, we'll help you out, Saten." Misaka-san said with an encouraging smile.
"Your sisters, huh? I wonder, is that really the only reason you're suddenly interested in fashion?" The Number 2 said with a teasing smirk. "After all, aren't you trying to court Accelerator?"
"I have no idea what you could be trying to say." Saten-san said. "I was just thinking that as one of the most fashionable girls in Academy City, your input will be valuable."
Why does it feel like there's more to it then that? Kazari thought as she stared at her friend, who was looking over Namikaze-san critically.
"This is perfect!" Shirai-san said with a happy clap of her hands. "Since Namikaze-san and Saten-san needs new clothes to impress their paramours and Saten-san needs to check out clothes on her sisters' behalf too, we should go on a shopping trip."
"Yeah! The usual place?" Namikaze-san asked, stars in her eyes.
"But of course!"
Kazari could only whimper, pitiful tears prickling the corners of her eyes.
"Oh, I'm going to lose most of my cake budget on haute couture."
Done and done!
Thanks to the Team of Nameless as always.
Wasn't that a sweet encounter for our heroes? Love knows no bounds! Man, these side love stories were a blast!
Nameless: So what do you guys think? Which of the three stories in our version of the Three Stories Arc is the most interesting? Tell us what you think! Personally, I liked Mikoto's best. Its hints at the bigger picture makes it so very interesting. Yes, I do very much like foreshadowing.
Don't we all? Personally, I'm more of a fluff guy and love Naru's story. Still, Mikoto was a close second since she got to fight her apparent stalker and not just walk in on it like in canon.
Nameless: No love for Saten? Well, while I didn't think it was the best story, I did like the way we had have her behave lovestruck in her own oddball way. We both had a laugh at how she started worrying about Accelerator being a lolicon because of Last Order.
I love all our girls equally! Her frightened thoughts that Accel is a lolicon was hilarious! Why else would she ask the group loli for fashion tips? And the girls teasing each other was fun too. Finally, Mikoto has ammo on Naru, lolz! I could see her playing the encouraging big sister for her since Shutaura is such a weakness for Naru~
Nameless: True. Sadly I doubt Shutaura will have much time for dates for the time being. So apologies to those looking forward to more Naru X Shutaura fluff.
Well, you know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!