Hello again. Sorry about the delay, life got in the way. Hopefully there will still be some people here after that last chapter. It was a little... polarising (and not a very good chapter in general). So then, I'll quickly mention something.

Last Order. The last five years haven't been kind to her, have they? I will get something out of the way: I screwed up big time with her. As someone who knows the character that I want to have in her, I didn't realise that what I wrote came across completely differently to what I intended. And that "Enjoy your trip to hell" line, hoo boy, with one swift motion I destroyed the character I was trying to create. I realised that I showcased her hatred and violence, without showcasing any of the positive parts of the character: her kindness, her sensitivity, her fear, they're still there, but forgot to show them off. She's not supposed to be a psychopath, but that's how I seemed in the chapter. I guess that's what I get for pulling that scene in chapter 3! When I get around to rewriting parts of the story, that will be the first chapter to change. I'll make a few minor changes soon as well. Just know that there is more to her character than I've told you here, and there are reasons for her fall into violence, which I'm looking forward to going in to.

You may have also noticed that Touma is more subdued than he was five years ago. Focusing more on helping those close to him, and holding on to his sense of self preservation much more, learning that he can't really help people if he's dead, so good for him. Obviously, he's got his own stuff to deal with, which will be eluded to throughout the series, though it likely won't be the focus.

And now, some good news. While this chapter was slow and fairly difficult to write, the story's pace will start to speed up afterwards, because after this the plot's going to kick in. I feel I've done a fairly good job showing everyone's current emotional and mental state (excluding Last Order), so I can finally get to the plot. Don't worry, emotions will still be a focus, but so will plot and action. It'll be fun. Hopefully. I'm not going to pull anything else too controversial out (probably), don't worry. I also can't wait to introduce the antagonist, I think you'll enjoy them.

Anyways, enjoy.

Questions

Red tape ran across the entrance to an alley next to a main road going through the centre of District 7. Antiskill trucks and ambulances swarmed the entrance, and rescue helicopters flew over the scene of the fight. Quite a few civilians had stopped to see what was going on, and while the barricade did stop people from seeing inside the alley, is didn't do much to stop the stench of blood that permeated the area.

Touma and Mikoto were sat against a wall just outside the red tape, in view of the public. They had a blanket draped over them, and they had each been given a mug of warm cocoa from a nearby cafe to help calm their nerves.

In most cases like these, people would swarm officers like them who had been in a rough situation, trying to get juicy pieces of info on the situation, but nobody dared approached the duo. Touma was resting his head against her shoulder with his eyes closed, breathing quietly. Given how many people he'd fought, it was entirely possible that the sight had dredged up bad memories, but it was equally as likely that the scene was distressing enough on its own to cause such a reaction.

Mikoto was simply staring at the opposite wall, almost completely stationary. White scales slowly formed at random on her body before peeling away into particulates of light as they dissipated, creating what looked like a constantly changing field of stars around her. Blood soaked hands held her mug close to her face as she took a sip. 10046 had died and she knew nothing about it. Last Order had completely cut herself off from the Network and none of the Sisters had even mentioned it.

But it was worse than that. The guilt of neglecting her own family, manufactured as they were, weighed heavily on her conscience. Sometimes it felt as if they were grappling at her, calling out to her in her nightmares, begging for them to help her. Over 10000 lives could have been saved if she'd only noticed earlier, and now the most human Sister of them all had become a dangerous murderer, living with someone who killed her Sisters. "How terrible am I?"

Touma looked up. "Huh?"

Mikoto put down her mug, and looked at her bloodstained hands. "How terrible am I to just leave my family to suffer? I've let so many of them die... If I'd shown a little more interest in them."

Touma simply smiled, letting continue.

"If I'd just been a little more involved, then this tragedy wouldn't have happened."

"I see. So that's what's been getting you down recently."

Mikoto was taken aback. "W-what?"

"You've been much more reserved than usual over these last couple months. Truth be told, I've been really worried about you."

She blushed as she turned away. "I-it's not like I want you to worry about me or anything..."

He took a deep breath. "I don't know exactly how you feel, though I have a general idea, but... you can't turn back time. I understand that..." He trailed off as he looked over to the entrance of the alley. "Commander, you're back."

Yomikawa marched over to the duo. She had a bulletproof vest on, but green sweatpants and and a sweatshirt were visible underneath, despite her high rank. "Heya Angel." She flicked her fingers in a mock salute, before a more concerned look took over her face. They were chatting just a moment ago, but she easily saw the tension on their faces and the shock in their eyes. "I'm sorry you two had to see that back there." She shivered. "Reminds me of the raid on the Special Esper Institute. You never quite forget that kind of thing..."

Mikoto sighed. "We heard some interesting stuff from Last Order. She seemed to have quite the hatred of you, calling you Traitor and all."

Yomikawa averted her gaze. "I don't blame her. I don't have much time to chat, but I'll tell you that I didn't want to do what I did; I didn't have a choice."

The Level 5's eyed narrowed. "What did you do?"

The commander didn't respond.

"Yomikawa, what did you do?"

"I held her hostage!"

Mikoto stood up. "You did what?!"

Her superior had a panicked look on her face. "I had no choice!"

More white scales were starting to form on the Electromaster's body. "You held my Sister hostage?! She trusted you! You were her mother!"

Yomikawa got closer, and started to speak quietly. "The Board were holding Touma's school hostage, threatening to kill the students if I didn't. 'Nobody will care if some Level 0 school disappears,' they said. So I held Last Order hostage, forced Accelerator off the Board, and had to kick her out..."

Mikoto was furious. "How do you feel, then? Do you sleep well at night, knowing you turned her into a murderer? Knowing that she was homeless for quite some time, with nobody to turn to for help?" She stomped her foot. "Damn it!"

"Last Order was practically my daughter. But once the April 22nd incident happened, there was nothing I could do for either her or Accelerator. I was simply unable to protect them anymore."

Touma stood between them, trying to calm it down. "This April 22nd incident, what exactly is it? That's the second time we've heard it today."

Yomikawa hesitated, conflict written on her face. She stayed silent for a moment, before coming to a realisation. "Even if I refused to tell you, we wouldn't be able to stop Misaka from hacking into the main database and finding it out that way." She took a deep breath. "It's a long story, and I have nowhere near enough time to explain it to you right now, so I'm actually going to encourage you to back in to watch the security feed. I'll tell you what you need to know when I have the time, this place won't clean itself up." She started to walk away. "Take the rest of the week off, get yourselves washed and all that. We'll call you in if we need you, so keep your radios nearby, but you really need to process what you've seen today before you do anything else. Oh, and one more thing, Misaka. You need to get that weird power of yours under control." She motioned to the scales forming all over the Level 5's body. "We don't want another repeat of last time." And with that, she disappeared into the alley.

Mikoto looked at herself for a moment. Fixing her rogue power was a top priority, but she also knew that it was related to her emotions. Much like Accelerator's black wings apparently used to take over him, her power could appear at any time she was emotionally compromised. Therefore, fixing her emotional state was what she needed to do more than anything, which was easier said than done. She knew that she could tell Touma anything, but at the same time... she still felt unsure.

She shook her head. Images of the slaughter were swirling around in her head, and she could feel herself crystallising further. Taking a deep breath, she whispered to herself, "you got this, Misaka. You got this..."

Touma came up next to her, taking the glove off his right hand. "Do you want me to help you out here?

"No no, I got this." She focused. "I can do this. I need to be able to do this." She pictured her closest friends; Saten, Uiharu, 10032... All the great times she'd had with them, how it was simply sitting with them at a cafe, all four of them eating expensive hot dogs in a park. Even remembering those times made her feel more relaxed as the scales on her thinned slightly. She smiled to herself, tapping into more of her memories, thinking of more times in the past. Meals, days out shopping... Kuroko...

The scales immediately appeared again. Why had she remembered her? They hadn't seen each other for ages, not since the teleporter's near death experience at the hands of her best friend and idol. She shook her head, trying to find other memories, but they all went back to Kuroko. More and more of her body began to crystallise as she was unable to think of anything g other than-

"Aah!" Mikoto screamed, leaping back as she felt something cold touch her face. Opening her eyes, she saw Touma standing in front of her, holding a couple ice creams. The one he had thrust towards her had a yellow lighting bolt across the top. She took it, and gave it a lick. The bolt had been made using lemon flavoured glacé.

"I figured I could do something, so I asked the store just over there for something for us. I'm honestly surprised that he served me, I look a mess." He put his hand on his chin. "In hindsight, he was probably too scared to turn me down, you'd think I've stabbed a whole class-worth of students."

Mikoto giggled. Little comments like that, the fact that he could find levity in any situation and make the best of any given moment, is what made him so special to her. Her scales began to fade out as she simply found herself enjoying his company as the two of them wandered through the streets, covered in blood and eating ice cream. The April 22nd incident could wait until after they got home, as could planning some kind of revenge on Yomikawa and Yoshikawa, right now she was having an experience that she would likely never have again. She smirked at people crossing to the other side of the street as soon as they were seen. Whether it was her scales, or simply the blood, it didn't matter to her. She didn't really care.

"So," Touma initiated, "are you seeing your friends in this next week then? I'm sure Saten and Uiharu would love to see you."

She thought for a moment. "That's not a bad idea. It's been quite hectic over the last couple of months, so it would be fun to catch up with them, see how they're doing in college." She started munching on the cone of her ice cream, noticing the entrance to the underground passageway in District 22. "Are you going to bring together the Delta Force?"

He nodded. "Aogami Pierce is fairly easy to find, just hang around maid cafes and he'll show up eventually. I feel like Tsuchimikado will be a nightmare to find though." He had a long sigh. "He always turns up exactly when you don't want him to. Still though, it could be interesting to see them both. Get up to our usual stuff."

Mikoto tilted her head. "Not anything too perverted, I hope. Those two can be a right old piece of work."

Touma shrugged. "Maybe you could come with me then. Say hi. Make sure we don't go completely off the perverse rails."

"Ugh, I can already predict what they're going to say. 'Really, Kami-yan? Is that the best you can do? Where's the TA? Where's Itsuwa?' Something along those lines." She pouted. "I know you all have an obsession with big boobs and asses, and I have neither of those. I'm not my mama, nor am I my Sisters."

Touma took a deep breath. "Do you really want me to go into detail explaining why flat chests are just as great as bountiful ones, Firefly?"

Sparks flew toward the boy, and he jumped out of the way. "Feel free to not do that. Ever."

He laughed. "That's what I thought. Besides, isn't who they're connected to the most important thing?"

"I hate the way that you phrased that. I like the sentiment, but I hate that I like it. Never say it that way again, Dragon."

"You know what, that's a completely reasonable thing to say." He wiped his hands on his shirt after finishing his cone, but simply ended up with more blood on them instead. "I really should've thought that through. Well, whatever. You really should come see the Delta Squad though, I think the four of us will be able to come up with some actual conversation topics with you there, you being a powerful Level 5 and all."

She pouted. "Fine. But only if you come with me to see the girls. You'll have to sit through all our stuff too. It's only fair. We'll drag you out shopping, eating cakes and..." she paused for a moment, trying to think of something girly he would find boring, "flower picking!"

Touma simply smiled. "Flower picking, huh? It would be a nice change of pace from all this Angel Action. Could help me take my mind off of today, too."

Mikoto remained silent until they exited the tunnel to the second level of the District. "I just wish that we could help people who are trapped in the darkness, you know?" She saw Touma raise one of his eyebrows. "I-I mean, I don't want to delve into the darkness. I understand that our job is to remain in the light, to stay on the side of the law. But I just wish that I could somehow prevent stuff like today from happening without getting sucked into the dark. And I really want to help Last Order to get out, to try to make up for neglecting her. Even if..." She took a deep breath. "Even if it means helping Accelerator, I-I'm willing to do it for her. If she was willing to put the murdering behind her, I would help her if I was able to."

Touma looked up at the artificial twilight sky above him. "I suppose that's the biggest roadblock. We have to help her somehow. Accelerator escaped the darkness before, I'm sure we can help him to do it again." He stopped talking for a moment, perhaps choosing his words carefully. "I probably won't ever forgive Accelerator for killing so many Sisters, but that doesn't mean that I shouldn't help him."

Mikoto held her head, trying to suppress the flashing images in her mind. "I'm sure we'll manage it. I'm determined to help Last Order, I know that the kindness she showed Accelerator can extend to other people." She watched Touma fumble with his key, almost dropping it between a grate in the floor while trying to scan it in the electrical lock. "I swear I'll get her out..."

The level 0 bowed as he entered. "I'm home." Mikoto followed him in, about to head to the bedroom to change, when he stopped to inspect a letter on the table. "We never actually read this yesterday, did we?" He checked both sides of it. "It doesn't say what it is or who it's from, and it's only addressed to me, which just makes me feel like it's bad. You get changed, I'll read it. It might not be safe for you."

She quickly dashed into the room, and began to take off her jacket. The blood had completely soaked through it, and gone completely through her shirt. Even her skin beneath it all was soaked in the stuff. She started to take the rest of it off, when her eyes suddenly felt heavy, unnaturally so.

Dashing out of the door, she looked to see Touma sprawled out across the floor, letter in hand. She herself felt her consciousness fading as her legs gave out. This must have been what he meant by 'dangerous'. She reached out to take hold of his left hand, and smiled as she closed her eyes.