August 31, 11:45 AM.
In the side street, there were only Mikoto and the boy.
From the words that had come out of the boy's mouth, even from what was seen on the surface, what the impact of those words do to Mikoto was clear. She didn't know what "that feeling" that pulsed through her heart was. But, she subconsciously felt that "that feeling" shouldn't be shown—no, it could even be said that there was a force inside her that absolutely could not let "that feeling" out.
On the other hand, this also meant "that feeling" was so powerful that if she was not careful, it would erupt from inside her. Mikoto was trying with all her might to suppress "that feeling", which was running around inside her like steam in a kettle.
It was unbelievable.
Even though she knew "that feeling" shouldn't be shown, suppressing it was making Mikoto feel painful beyond her belief. Did that mean that deep down, Mikoto wanted to let out "that feeling"? No, that was not it either. Just thinking about the aftermath of letting "that feeling" out made her blush bright red.
In such complicated confusion, Mikoto didn't even know what "that feeling" was.
Mikoto herself didn't know what was going on, and could only suppress all thoughts before they left her mouth.
Mikoto now dimly realized something.
Mikoto had always thought she was someone special. She believed that her distance with this boy was closer than that of anyone else around him. If the boy had had a list with the names of a thousand people and, while he was browsing through it, came across the name "Misaka", he should have been slightly interested in that instant and looked at that name a bit longer.
However, in reality, that was not the case.
It was such a small realization, but it gave Mikoto's heart a large shock. Why something this small hurt her so much, Mikoto didn't know—nor did she have a way to solve it. If possible, she really wanted to run away. Mikoto wanted to run away from this inexplicable pain so much.
But Mikoto couldn't do that.
She didn't know why, but she couldn't turn her back on him; she couldn't leave the boy and not come back.
That would be very painful.
Compared to the pain now, it would be a lot more painful.
(…Ahh, I'm such an idiot.)
Mikoto sighed in her heart.
The boy seemed to not notice the internal struggle of Mikoto, only asking with a puzzled voice, "What are you smiling about?"