Chapter Text
It was a calm and stress-free morning. After a night of full sleep on that heavenly futon, Touma woke up fresh and recharged. Quietly as possible, he washed up, brushed his teeth and got dressed, then started on breakfast. All while humming some tune that just came to him.
“I did not think I’d see you in a good mood again so soon, human.”
Touma jumped and the pan slipped out of his hand. Thankfully, he managed to catch it, probably using up a good chunk of his luck for the day. He glared at the 15cm figure on the counter.
“You’ll give me a heart attack one of these days… Can you not sneak up on people?”
“The god is to remain unnoticed until she needs to speak,” Othinus said. “Besides, even if I was in my old form, it’d have made no difference. You were in your own world – with a certain someone, I imagine.”
He scowled. “I wasn’t thinking about Misaka.”
“And I didn’t mention her. You did, all on your own. How interesting.”
Touma opened the fridge, leaning in a bit too closely. But his face still felt strangely warm.
“I wasn’t,” he stressed. “I just had a good sleep.”
“Which had nothing to do with that mysterious person who called you in the middle of the night, right?”
He looked back at her so fast his neck almost snapped. “You heard?!”
“Only the whispering. Believe it or not, god isn’t really interested in hearing your sweet-talks.”
“Sweet-talks?! We weren’t…!”
Her single eye cut right into him. “Then why are you so happy first thing in the morning? When you were going to bed, you were all doom and gloom. But now there is no sign of it.”
Had he really been so worried last night? He did remember being restless for a bit. Then Mikoto called; they bickered like usual. But who would call that sweet-talk? And after that… she told him a story… as if he was a baby… but he didn’t object and simply listened… to a gentle voice lulling him to sleep…
Clearing his throat loudly, Touma blurted, “There was nothing! Just our normal stupid bickering…”
Othinus sighed. “You are hopeless, human.”
“Seriously, what are you getting at? What do you expect from me?”
“To think a little more. To look at a different angle. And maybe then you’d realize that what you believe to be normal is actually something else entirely.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?”
“As much as I want to lessen your struggle, human, this is not something an understander can get involved with. You’ll have to figure it out for yourself.”
He scowled but she simply walked away leaving him alone with his thoughts.
Normal is not normal… What was that even about? Touma grumbled to himself getting to the cutting board. His hands performed the motions long since learnt by heart and he couldn’t help but wonder. Misaka and me bickering? We do that all the time. Even when we just chat about nothing… until at one point I tease her… give her a tiny nudge... she goes off… one thing leads to another…
The knife stopped midway through slicing an onion.
But why do it? Why tease the girl who was so quick to shoot out lightning? Why goad her knowing full well she would turn anything into a competition? Why call her a pain and still go out of your way to spend time with her?
“You are like that boy who pulls on girl’s pigtails for fun!” Mikoto’s voice came from the back of his mind.
For fun, huh…
And what exactly made it fun?
Seeing the face Mikoto would make, her fierce glare. Hearing that annoyed, fired up voice.
Directed at him.
Meant for him.
He tried to imagine someone else in her place. Himegami, Fukiyose… even Index. He had teased them all too, every once in a while. But the way they reacted, the way they shot back or glared at him – none of it made him feel the same as with Mikoto.
“Touma?”
He snapped out of his thoughts to find Index standing across the counter in her pajama, hairs ruffled.
“Are you alright?” she asked. “You’ve been standing still for so long…”
“Y-yes, absolutely,” Touma blurted and quickly started cutting the inion again. “No need to worry, just go back to bed.”
Index yawned, mouth opened wide. “I caaaan’t… mmh… I have an early meeting and then training. Twintails said she will pick me up. I don’t want to get her mad…”
She wobbled towards the bathroom.
If only Index ever listened to me like that, he grumbled to himself – but then a smile crossed his face. Well, at least she and Shirai are getting along. Maybe they can even become friends.
Touma chuckled to that thought.
So, Shirai is coming over… and Misaka too… I wonder… would they be hungry? He assessed the amount of ingredients he had prepared and opened the fridge to get more. I’ll make extra just in case.
***
They were sitting down to eat when there was a knock on the door. It was quiet, weak even and didn’t feel like Mikoto at all. But then, as Touma was coming up to the door, more followed – quick and impatient, their echo booming through the room. That’s more like it, he thought with a smile. And he kept on smiling when the door opened and he saw a pair of sleepy brown eyes.
“Shut up,” Mikoto warned.
“But I didn’t say anything!” Touma retorted and smirked. “Don’t blame me if you didn’t get enough sleep.”
Mikoto glared and grumbled something to herself. Behind her, Kuroko glanced from one to the other. She clearly suspected there was some sort of interaction between them, yet couldn’t figure out how she had missed it.
In the end, Kuroko shook her head and teleported past the two. “Excuse me, but we have important business to attend to. Hey, nun, get up…”
Index tried to answer but with her mouth full nothing coherent came out.
“Wait, you are having breakfast? All dressed and ready to go?”
“So, we could’ve stopped by the cafeteria…” Mikoto nagged.
“If I recall, you wanted to get here even more than me, Onee-sama.”
Her eyes drifted towards Touma but she quickly looked away. “Not more…”
There was quite an audible growl and the Tokiwdai girls looked at the food conflicted.
“Have a seat, I’ll bring you the plates,” Touma said heading to the kitchen.
“But…” Kuroko started.
“You are hungry, right?”
“Well, yeah…”
“Then it’s a good thing I’ve made enough for everyone.”
“Come, Twintails,” Index called and patted the floor next to her. “Eat or you won’t be able to focus on the meeting.”
“Alright, alright…”
Kuroko joined her at the table but Mikoto stayed watching Touma fill a plate. Her face was alit with some sort of eagerness that wasn’t just hunger. Touma saw it in the corner of his eye and couldn’t help but think of Sphinx whenever the kitten was waiting for food.
“Somebody is very hungry,” he joked.
Mikoto blinked and her cheeks flushed. “J-just a bit. Don’t think it’s because you made it or something.”
He chuckled. “Didn’t even cross my mind.”
The boy passed her the full plate – which she carried to her friend, then returned for the other one, waiting with the same expression. He kept looking at her in the corner of his eye, while filling the second plate. He took his time and hummed something merrily. Slowly, the cute anticipation turned into a scowl, not any less adorable.
But when Mikoto was about to call him out, Touma presented her the plate and walked past her nonchalantly. Utterly silly, he knew that. It was just too fun to tease her.
Index, Othinus and Kuroko occupied the table this time, so Mikoto got the bed. She sat down on the very edge, with surprising care. Then, just as carefully, slowly even, she got a spoonful and put it her mouth. The smile that lit up her face made Touma pause with a spoon at his mouth. He couldn’t help but watch in the corner of his eye as it got bigger the more she ate.
Somewhere in the background, Index was trying to explain something about magic to Kuroko. Mikoto seemed to be fully focused on the food – while Touma was sneaking glances and smiling to himself. At one point, he felt a stare. From the table, Othinus had put aside her toy set plate and watched him with an unreadable expression.
The boy frowned. In response, the ex-god looked down, pointing at something with her sharp gaze. It was his own plate, still quite full. He was so focused on Mikoto he barely touched the food.
Feeling his cheeks warming, he got to it. But her gaze would linger on him, as if trying to tell him something.
Probably more riddles, Touma grumbled to himself. How something not special is actually special… But it’s normal to be worried that your friend might dislike your cooking! So what if I keep checking her reactions…so what if I am happy seeing her eat with such a big smile… It’s totally normal!
He could practically feel Othinus raise her brow – ironically, his imagination supplied – like she could hear his thoughts. Her sharp gaze was still there, still probing, nudging for an answer he didn’t have. For a moment, he wanted to block it off with the plate, not caring about the food that would fall all over his lap.
Finally, head jerking up, he glared at her, all but yelling “enough already!”
The tiny figure held his gaze calmly, then, eye half-closed, she looked away.
If this was a duel and anyone paid any attention, they wouldn’t say she was defeated. Touma couldn’t even say that. Rather, his understander seemed disappointed.
He finished his food without much appetite.
“Thank you. It was… better than expected. You are… an adequate cook,” Kuroko admitted begrudgingly, when he was collecting the plates.
Touma chuckled. “That’s a high praise coming from you, Shirai.”
“Reserved only for you, Kamijou-san,” she said, a corner of her mouth curling slightly.
“It’s alright. Twintails doesn’t have a good taste,” Index said as if it was a fact.
Before Kuroko could argue, Mikoto supplied, “I’ll agree, you could’ve been more appreciative, Kuroko.”
“Onee-sama!” the twin-tail girl uttered, voice full of pain from this betrayal.
Mikoto gave Touma her plate and their eyes met – only for her to look away. “Thanks, it was… good.”
Good.
One word.
Not very descriptive or expressive.
Quite bland, actually.
But to him, it was only a compliment to the true reward – the smile he had seen.
With the breakfast done, Kuroko hurried Index to get going. The nun cuddled Sphinx one last time and the kitten meowed, sounding somewhat sad.
“Oh, I know, Sphinx. But I can’t keep leaving you at the church. And I can’t take you to the training. They said you’d only get in the way. Like they know anything…” she nagged and patted him more. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon! Watch home while I’m gone. Make sure Touma and Short Hair behave.”
“We’re just gonna study!” Touma shouted from the sink, with Mikoto echoing him.
Kuroko looked from one to the other, mouth twisting this and that way. “You better.”
“And don’t bully that tiny thing over there… too much,” Index carried on, as if hearing nothing.
“I am a god! If your beast doesn’t respect me, he will regret it,” Othinus barked – from the comfort of her toy house.
Index seemed to frown. “Did you hear that, Sphinx? Sounded like something small and harmless.”
The kitten meowed in agreement.
A grumble came from the toy house – but nothing more.
Kuroko grabbed the nun’s hand and pulled her to the door. “Let’s go already.”
She barely gave her time to put on the shoes. Then, stepping outside, the twin-tail girl casted a look back with a conflicted expression. But she said nothing.
The door closed, a little too quickly, causing a loud bang. Sphinx scurried away.
“Might be just me, but Shirai looked like she wanted to stay and supervise us,” Touma said.
“Like we need to be supervised…” Mikoto muttered. “What does she think would happen if we are alone?”
“Well, someone is very quick to throw lightning bolts,” he joked.
She shot him a glare. “Only because someone doesn’t know when to shut up!”
“Really, Misaka, you have to admit. It doesn’t take much. A perfectly innocent high school boy can just tell you a few words and you just go off with some kind of incomprehensible sound.”
“That never happened!”
“It did! I was just going home with a bag full of groceries and there you are, about to kick the poor vending machine. Of course, I had to intervene. But to my surprise, just when I told you off, you started putting your money in it, like a proper well-mannered lady. I dropped my guard for one moment – and you go haywire, shooting electricity left and right while mumbling “funya” like one of those adorable talking plushie.”
Mikoto’s cheeks flashed red and sparks appeared around her head. “I did not!” she barked.
Touma opened his mouth – but the tangent he was about to go on didn’t come. The poor groceries he had lost that day were forgotten, vaporized once more, this time in his head.
Replaced by the image of Mikoto enveloped in the electric blue light.
Though she looked so fierce in that moment, it wasn’t fear that made him pause. Fear sent chills down your spine, not flutters in your stomach. And it wasn’t that he was frozen in place, but rather taken aback, struck by the beauty of her flushed face adorned by those deadly sparks. His heart beating in thrill instead of panic.
His own face starting to feel warm.
The stupor only lasted a second, two at most. Then a familiar crackling wormed its way into his ear and he snapped out of it, hand jumping up on instinct.
Only for the sparks to vanish without a trace.
“Wait,” Mikoto said, blushing even more. “A-a-d-dorable?!”
The word slammed into him and ricocheted inside his brain, toppling over every possible thought. In their place, new ones started popping up in a panic. What exactly had he said? How could it be interpreted? What were the consequences of admitting it? Joking it off? Or outright denying everything?
All these questions were running frantically in his head, as he kept opening and closing his mouth, making only gibberish. The words just refused to come, afraid of any reaction they might cause.
“O-obviously, I meant the plushies,” Touma finally said – and then went on, barely understanding what he was blabbering. “I almost got electrocuted! Who would in their right mind call that adorable?!”
The girl’s shoulders dropped. “Yeah, of course,” she muttered, her fluster gone.
That felt like a gut punch. I am an idiot, he thought. I should’ve worded it better. I just didn’t want Misaka to get the wrong idea! I really wasn’t calling her cute. Not that she isn’t… I mean… she can be… very cute… When she isn’t shooting lightning bolts at me… But can I say that? Wouldn’t that be weird?
Touma ruffled his hair annoyed at himself, his thoughts tangled in a complete mess. It would’ve been best to just drop it all together and get to the studies. His future was depending on it, after all! And yet, with Mikoto looking so down, he couldn’t think of anything else.
“Y-you w-were… cute… too,” he managed somehow, through great effort, despite his tongue refusing to cooperate. Seriously, why was this so difficult to say?
She looked up, eyes big with disbelief. “Really?”
“Yeah… But only before you went all Biribiri!” he stressed. “When you were quietly listening to me, not kicking the…”
“Oh, so I’m only cute when I’m quiet?” she said, suddenly glaring daggers.
“I didn’t mean it like that! It’s just… you are usually so… brash… and rude… But that time you were… well, kinda shy for some reason… well-behaved… obedient…”
Mikoto’s eyes glowed dangerously and Touma stepped back, raising his hands up, as if to protect himself. It felt like he just committed some grave crime, but he had no idea what it was.
“Obedient, huh?” she spoke in an eerily leveled voice.
“I just meant that you weren’t trying to argue with me! Like you always do!” the boy tried to explain, though it didn’t seem to matter. Perhaps it was his imagination, but there was a faint sound of electricity crackling. “If I said anything bad, I’m sorry!” he said quickly and bowed low.
The crackling died. There was a long moment of silence, then Mikoto scoffed and walked away. He sighed in relief. Was this how people felt when a tornado passed them by?
“Come here already, you idiot,” Mikoto said, still a little miffed. She was sitting down at the table. “Get your stuff. It’s time to put some useful knowledge in that empty head of yours.”
Touma carefully walked past her and took his notebooks and textbooks from the shelves, as if tiptoeing around a dangerous beast. She was looking anywhere but at him, fuming quietly. But then he paused. Where should he sit? Ideally, it would be next to her, but now…
The girl growled and pointed to the spot next to her.
Without a word, he plopped down. A little smile flashed across his face.
She took a deep breath, her expression softening, then nudged closer to him. Their shoulders touched and for a few long, incredibly quiet moments they were completely still.
Finally, Mikoto cleared her throat. “Well, let’s start.”