The unlucky Kamijou woke up in the hospital. He felt tired, every part of his body was hurting like hell and he couldn't so much as move a finger. He felt someone holding his hand, he looked up to see it covered in bandages. Whatever he was holding was squishy. He squished what was in his hand again before gazing at the end of his arm to see that his arm was squishing the Misaka clones chest.
"MI-MI-MISAKA CHAN?? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" He called out in embarrassment. Misaka looked at Kamijou with a deadpan expression before responding. "I was simply checking your brainwaves and pulse rate via bioelectricity. Responds Misaka."
Before Kamijou could respond, he heard a small "meow" coming from on top of him. He looked down to see the black cat that he was taking care of not too long ago looking up at him. The Misaka clone took the cat and started petting it.
Kamijou smiled and looked back at Misaka before saying. "Well, we both made it out in one piece, somehow." Kamijou was deeply shaken by what they'd just been through. He felt it was only natural to be emotional after risking his life like that.
The Misaka clone, gently stroking the cat, responded bluntly. "Misaka cannot return to your world yet, she states plainly."
Her words sent a jolt of fear through Kamijou. Was the horrific experiment still active?
"No, that is not the case," she clarified. "With Accelerator's defeat, the experiment has been terminated, reports Misaka." She then revealed the real issue. "The current problem concerns Misaka's own body, she explains."
"Your body?"
She confirmed it. As a clone forced to mature rapidly through drugs, her lifespan was already short and had been drastically shortened even further.
Touma was speechless, the news hitting him like a physical blow. It felt unbearably cruel. After everyone had fought so hard to save her from hell, her life was inherently limited. No matter what she did, it seemed she could never truly have a future with them. And she had endured all of this without a single complaint, only to be left with nothing.
She then announced she would be returning to the research institute for physical "adjustments." Noticing his distracted silence, she grew slightly annoyed, demanding to know if he was listening.
"Adjustments?" he asked, hope tentatively rising in his voice.
"Yes. By recalibrating the hormones and cell reproduction, a portion of my lifespan can be recovered, explains Misaka." She chided him, "You didn't mistakenly believe my story was already over, did you?"
"So... these adjustments will really make you better?" he asked, needing confirmation.
She detected his doubt and replied with mild irritation, "You seem to imply you don't believe it will work."
As the cat meowed, she picked it up and headed for the door.
"Wait, you're leaving now?" he asked.
"It's fine," she said without turning back. "We will see each other again soon, Misaka asserts."
"I see," Touma replied, closing his eyes. He understood that making a grand, solemn promise would feel like a final goodbye. The most meaningful farewell, when a future reunion is certain, is a simple, normal one.
This wasn't the end of their story. He believed they would continue on until this difficult day became nothing but a distant memory.
Hearing the door click shut, he surrendered to his medicine-induced drowsiness. But even as he drifted off, Kamijou Touma smiled, dreaming of the day they would undoubtedly meet again.
When he next awakened, dawn was breaking, painting the hospital room in soft, pale light. A familiar, boisterous voice shattered the morning calm.
"TOUMA, HOW ARE YOU??"
The voice came from none other than Kousei Oogimiya.
Touma turned his head, wincing at the protest from his sore muscles, expecting to see a fellow casualty of their brutal night.
There was Kousei Oogimiya, standing in the doorway. He wasn't just fine, he was in pristine condition. There wasn't a single scratch on him, no bandages, no sling, not even a rumple in his clothes. He looked as if he'd just stepped out of his apartment for a morning stroll.
"Wait... how are you even standing?" Touma managed to ask, his eyes wide with a mixture of confusion and sheer disbelief. "He threw a shipping container at you."
Oogimiya opened up a golden portal before bringing out a liquid that was colored in pink. "Open your mouth Touma, this will help you recover quicker." he said while opening the bottle.
Too sore and bewildered to argue, Touma did as he was told. In one smooth motion, Oogimiya tipped the contents of the vial into his mouth. Touma chugged the whole thing in a single gulp. It tasted surprisingly like strawberries and static electricity.
Before Oogimiya and Touma could catch up, another voice chimed in. "Oh, you're awake?" Mikoto Misaka was the one saying that. Her face was thickly colored with exhaustion, but she still managed a smile.
She moved to sit by Kamijou's bedside, a troubled look settling over her features. A heavy silence filled the room until Misaka finally broke it, her voice soft and thick with guilt. "If I hadn't given them my DNA map, they would never have..."
Oogimiya gently cut her off. "...been born at all." A tense silence hung in the air for a moment before he continued, his tone firm but not unkind. "Misaka, I know you feel responsible for all of this, but you've already made amends. Don't get lost in the guilt."
"But I'm the reason over ten thousand Sisters were kill—" she began, her voice cracking.
"No," Oogimiya interjected, his voice leaving no room for argument. "You're the reason they exist. That's not the same thing as why they were killed. The Level 6 Shift Project is what demanded their lives." His expression softened. "And besides, I really don't think they'd want the very person who made their lives possible to be drowning in sorrow because of it. So cut yourself some slack."
A tense silence hung in the air before it was broken by no one other than Oogimiya. "Now then," Oogimiya said, rising smoothly from his seat. He made a show of stretching before heading for the doorway. "I'll make some time for you two lovebirds."
He slipped out and pulled the door shut with a soft click, a fraction of a second before a furious crackle of electricity scorched the space where his head had been.
She waved a bag of cookies over his face. "I brought some cookies for you." she said enthusiastically. "They were the expensive ones from the store. They should be pretty good, okay? If they aren't tell me, I won't go there again."
Kamijou Touma looked at Misaka, a complicated, unreadable expression on his face.
"What's with that look?" she asked, her tone sharp and defensive.
Touma seemed to consider his words carefully before finally speaking. "Mm. Homemade cookies really are the best," he said, a small, genuine smile touching his lips.
Misaka blinked, caught completely off guard. "…What kind of character were you expecting me to be exactly?" she asked, her harshness giving way to pure confusion.
"No, well. You know," he began, scratching his cheek awkwardly. "Like the classic clumsy character, trying so hard in her own way and presenting you with a weird, misshapen cookie?"
"Again, what the hell were you expecting?!" she shot back, her face flushing slightly.
And just like that, they fell into their familiar, comfortable rhythm of bickering. As their voices filled the quiet hospital room, a profound sense of peace settled over Touma. After Misaka left, Kamijou Touma fell asleep again.
When he woke up again it was with fear and terror etched onto his face. His body felt lighter than ever, but that wasn't the reason for said fear. The reason for his fear is the fact one Index Librorum Prohibitorum was staring at him with a glare so vicious it could pierce a man's soul. Next to her was Oogimiya, standing with that sick smile on his face, acting like he didn't do anything wrong.
"Touma, don't you have something to say?" she practically snarled.
Touma could only keep quiet, because what could he really say? "Um sorry Index, I couldn't bring you dinner because I was too busy having what is equivalent to a street brawl among espers, with a man that is said to have the power of God himself." isn't a really good excuse.
He immediately got the top of his sleepy head bitten. His body jolted up in the bed as if her teeth had been a stun gun. Just how far would she go to be satisfied? Just ask the shriek that his mouth unleashed like a cat whose tail was stepped on.
"Wait! Wait a second! I'm hurt too much this time for jokes and stuff, okay?! Besides, why don't you act a little like a housewife and worry about me some—"
"I did worry about you!" Index cried, cutting him off. He unintentionally sucked in his breath at her voice. She sounded like a spiteful child.
"…I did…worry about you," she repeated once more. She released her teeth from Kamijou's head, then wrapped her arms around it like she was hugging a pillow.
Kamijou thought for a moment. If their positions were reversed, what would he have thought?
"Index." Oogimiya's voice called out to her. She slowly turned her head back to Oogimiya. "Don't worry, I came in to meet up with Touma before you and he promised he'd take you to an all you can eat buffet as an apology, right Touma?" he finished, smirking like he hadn't just condemned Touma to a fate worse than death.
Touma glared at him like he just damned his entire bloodline, before the nun's face instantly brightened up. "Did you really promise that Touma?" She said, with drool trailing from her lips and sparkles in her eyes.
The unlucky Kamijou could only nod in hesitation, in fear of getting bitten again. He was already feeling kind of injured.
"By the way, Touma." Index said with curiosity laced in her tone, "Why exactly were you fighting?" she finished.
Touma pondered for a bit before responding. "I was fighting for myself of course." he said with a bitter smile.
For a brief second there was only a tense silence before it was broken by Oogimiya. "Alright Index, I know you're a bit hungry, so let's get something to eat." The nun's face brightened up before waving to Touma and leaving his hospital room.
Touma watched Oogimiya and Index leave, his heart pounding from the whirlwind of chaos they brought with them. As soon as the door shut, silence washed over the room again
…
End of the chapter, hope you're enjoying the story so far. I have exams coming up, so it might take me awhile to upload next chapter