Chapter Text
‘I’m an incredibly unlucky bastard.’ That was the main thought that was going through the mind of a young teenage boy with spiky black hair, who struggled as a student for as long as long as he could remember… which wasn’t much but the point still stood. It seems the fact that he was bad at academics and school in general had finally taken the form of a villain and come to confront him. There was no avoiding it now, and unfortunately for Touma, unlike most villains he faced, he couldn’t simply punch this one in the face and convince it that it had not been living its life correctly. That was how Touma solved the majority of threats that came his way and it was unfortunate it would be ineffective here. He was in deep trouble, serious trouble and a solution wasn’t kind enough to show itself in front of him.
“I can’t believe it Kamijou-chan. I can’t believe you allowed this to happen. It almost seems like an elaborate prank, but it’s just not. Please, please help me understand this.”
The voice of disbelief and protest belonged to a small girl with short pink hair, who based on appearance everyone would think was a pre-teen child. Heck if anything, one would be surprised that it wasn’t Touma lecturing the little girl, rather than the other way around. But this was reality and in Academy City reality could often get weird. The girl was actually and adult and Touma’s homeroom teacher, Tsukuyomi Komoe. Naturally she wasn’t very happy with Touma’s grades nor his attendance so she decided to call him and invite him to personally meet her. This was especially necessary as Touma’s performance in school had hit just about rock bottom which could only mean one thing. He wasn’t going to pass the year, not like this. The spiky-haired boy would naturally think that he will think of a way to raise his chances back up, but the end of the school year was approaching rapidly and it was getting dangerously close. There was no way that the spiky-haired teen would be able to pass on his own. For that, Touma would need a miracle, and he knew very well that he and miracles mixed like oil and water. He was so screwed.
“I swear I can explain this Komoe-sensei! It’s not entirely my fault. You see, I got caught up with too many things, one after another! It ended up being just one too many things!” Touma tried to explain himself but was swiftly cut off by Komoe, the disappointment on her face grew like a shadow for every passing minute and she wasn’t willing to have any of Touma’s supposed BS.
“Yeah yeah, I know you own like “ten different companies” and don’t have time for measly school but those excuses just won’t cut it. If you don’t do something quick you are going to fail the year all the same. Your grades are near the bottom of the class and your attendance is similar to that of a dead man. You can’t honestly expect me to cover for you and validate your excuses when it’s this bad. The only thing you can do now is study day and night, otherwise we will be seeing each other longer than I had expected.”
There was no malice or humiliation in her voice. Just the hard facts and a face which said that she felt bad that this was happening.
“I won’t disappoint you again sensei,” Touma stated with a low voice. It was meaningless to try and explain his situation, especially when it included a whole list of things which no sane person would believe. The only thing he could do now was get this meeting over with and go home to at least try to think up a strategy.
“I promise you I won’t fail the year sensei!” said Touma with remarkable determination which surprised his strict but caring homeroom teacher.
Komoe looked at him with hope in her eyes and smiled, if only ever so slightly.
“You better not fail on me. Otherwise you will make me cry a lot. Understand that Kamijou-chan?” Komoe spoke with a very firm and stern voice. Wanting to instantly make her point come across.
“Wouldn’t even dream of it sensei!” replied Touma with something that resembled confidence.
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Now alone and on his way home, our spiky-haired boy who could negate everything except his bad grades and attendance silently facepalmed himself. He made himself look so confident in front of Komoe and even promised her that he’d not fail, but that was all just a tough act… What was he going to do now? He had no plan, and no idea where to even begin trying to solve this, if he actually fails he won’t be able to look Komoe-sensei in the eyes ever again. He acted in order to escape that meeting as quickly as possible, but in doing so he may have committed a disservice to himself.
“Damn it! Speaking so confidently made me actually lose confidence! This sucks!”
Walking through the streets of Academy City, Touma grumbled to himself with little more than the howling of wind accompanying him. Kicking a can down the street he carefully thought about all his options again.
“What am I to even do now? I don’t know of anyone who could even help me. Tsuchimikado and Aogami are out of the question. If I asked them, they would probably offer to teach me about strip clubs instead or they would disappear somewhere to go chase female #10032. Fukiyose was probably off the table, she was still angry at him for accidentally unhooking her bra in front of the entire gym class the previous week. The only other classmate who he knew well enough to ask for help was Himegami but she had gotten sick not even two full days prior and probably will be absent until the next week. I can’t wait that long, if I did that might as well be an automatic fail.”
Putting hands on his head and ruffling his hair, Touma lamented his fate. Was there seriously no one? No one who could get him out of this mess? How will he explain this to his parents? How will he justify all the expenses he’s had this year that would have all been for nothing? Heck he won’t even get to be with his classmates anymore! This was so bad that Touma just felt like crying.
“Such… misfortune…”
Hanging his head low and with slumped shoulders he slowly walked on, his own footsteps echoing in his ears. Looking down on the ground he happened to walk past a certain flier. He didn’t know what kind of flier it was but he clearly noticed one thing that he would never be able to miss. It was a green mascot, in the form of an amphibian. Gekota was its name, and it was decently popular with kids… and his one friend loved it to death. Wait… his friend? Misaka Mikoto? She loved this mascot……………. The gears in Touma’s head started to spin.
“Wait! That’s it! Misaka! I could maybe ask her! The stuff that they teach at our school is a walk in the park for her. Maybe… maybe she could…”
Touma’s eyes lit up and his face immediately was graced with a smile. ‘This might just work! This might jus- but wait! Was this surely a good idea? Mikoto was a good friend of his and she was super reliable and smart, but was it really ok to involve her in this? She was his kohai and often had lots of stuff to do in her own life, so was it okay to bother her for this? What if she hears the situation and doesn’t take it well, heck I am worried about that the most.
Damn it… is this a good move? I certainly have no choice… There’s no one else…’
Touma took his phone out and started fidgeting with his finger over Mikoto’s name and the call button. Still trying to decide whether he should or shouldn’t do it. Then out of nowhere he suddenly pressed the call button.
“This is my only chance to get out of this mess, I have to try!” exclaimed Touma with now a hint of his returning determination.
He didn’t have to wait long before the call was picked up.
“H-hello…w-what’s up?! You really have a habit of calling when people least expect it! Without even sending a message first…” Mikoto’s beautiful voice echoing into his ears, louder than he had expected.
“I am really sorry for disturbing you Misaka… I really didn’t want to do this but I kinda have no choice hahaha…”
One could easily tell that Touma’s voice was nervous. It definitely didn’t reek of his usual confidence.
“Eeehhh? What the heck did you get yourself into this time? Don’t tell me you screwed something up and now there’re people after you or something…”
“Hah… haha… well… it might actually be even worse than that,” the nervousness in Touma’s voice increased even more as he was beginning to slowly sweat. After all, his entire school career depended on this conversation.
“Eeehhh……. Explain! Right now, stop being so vague!” Mikoto’s tone became more fierce and commanding. It was clear that she was demanding a thorough explanation and Touma definitely wasn’t getting around that.
“Well… I would appreciate it if we could meet up somewhere when you can… I promise I will explain everything then.”
The Imagine Breaker wanted to be the one who imagines a new future this time. So tried his best to imagine that Mikoto would accept his proposal and not ask questions for now. He didn’t plan to keep her in the dark over the very thing she was supposed to help him with, but still, talking about it in person would have been a lot less stressful and embarrassing for him. So he imagined… imagined a world in which she accepts this proposal and saves him the additional embarrassment and shame.
“No, I am definitely not agreeing to anything until you tell me in full, what this is about. I need to know beforehand” Mikoto’s words didn’t even need to be commanding. The sheer pressure and seriousness of her voice sent chills down his spine. She will now probably laugh at him for being so careless and stupid.
“You see… it has to do about school… hahaha…” Touma bit his lips a bit.
“I expected many things from you when you called but school troubles were not something I could have guessed. What’s going on?” Mikoto demanded, her voice now more curious than authoritative.
“Well, let’s just say I didn’t attend class too often… and as you might have imagined my grades aren’t doing too well either…” Touma answered, resigned to his fate.
“I can’t say I’m too shocked. I warned you about this months ago and surprise surprise, here you are now. Is there any way for you to not get into trouble all the time? Sheesh.”
“S… so will you help me Misaka? You’re the only one who can. I will somehow repay you for this, I promise!” Touma’s voice truly decided to change like a chameleon because it now had transformed into pure happiness.
“So, deal?”
“Where should we meet idiot?” Mikoto skipped right to the point, she was direct like that. Something Touma really appreciated for this instance.
“How about that cafe near the park with the vending machine? I really like the atmosphere there and it usually isn’t that crowded.”
“Alright but… don’t be late. If I end up waiting for you yet again, then you can say goodbye to any help from me, got it?”
Mikoto finally had something to over Touma to slowly bring him in order with, and damn right would she use it. Rule #1 of good behavior is never make others wait. Hearing that Touma gulped audibly once before quickly nodding his head a few times to no one in particular.
“I promise I won’t make you wait even a minute!”
Mikoto scoffed a bit before speaking to the phone’s microphone one last time for that day. “Good, see you there at 5PM today. You’d best be advised to bring all the material and printed lessons and tests that you can get your hands on, and try not to get mixed up in some world saving stuff on your way there… Please?”
“Sure thing…” and with that the call came to an end. Despite his nervousness Touma was happy. Really happy and then some more happy.
“This might just work. Thank you Biribiri and thank you, Gekota, you sure lead me to your biggest and brightest fan. Perhaps this isn’t complete misfortune after all.”