MrQuestionMark: Welcome to the end! This is one of your writers waving at you through the keyboard, MrQuestionMark!

ArmoredCoreNineBall: Make no mistake here, your friendly (not)robotic (not)overlord (possibly)person is here too. Before we go on, I could just like to take a moment to say how sorry I am with how late this afterword is; a lot of life happened in the past week. That being said; here we are! If you have made it thus far, that must mean you have survived the heart-tearing-terror of the bad end and saw everything through to the good end… congratulations!

MrQuestionMark: Part of me thinks that the readers know exactly who wrote what...but I think at the same time, it's time for something I'm not too sure either of us are used to having as an entirely different chapter: the Afterword! From the both of us; welcome! So, what did you think of the story?

ArmoredCoreNineBall: Did you like our two endings? Did you prefer one over the other? This is the first collaborative project we have undertaken, so we are genuinely interested in your feedback! On that though, we have some rather unique trivia stuff about this story's development, don't we my friend?

MrQuestionMark: I guess this behind the scenes stuff really has some appeal in its own way. Somehow, I'm a sucker for trivia in this way; those small facts that you hear about a project that makes you raise an eyebrow and think 'Really?'. While the finished project might seem as though it took a week to put together, it was far from it. While this was posted in February 2018, I think the initial idea for this and the idea for a collaboration came up...in September 2017? And even then, it wasn't until December that we actually started getting into the writing for this thing!

ArmoredCoreNineBall: I think that date is right. We started speaking about it near the start of fall I believe. On that note though; this was originally just an idea for a one-shot. It began as an idea about Misaki joining Touma near the end of an adventure, a confrontation with a Magician or other entity of some kind, and eventually once it was all over, a scene of Touma remembering Misaki to finish up. As things got going, things drifted away from being about the incident, eventually deciding to leave what happened vague on purpose, to focus more on what happened after the incident. Eventually the three-day limit idea was pitched, and just like that, we had a plot. The idea of it being a possible joint project was brought up around the time that the three-day limit idea came to be… and when December rolled around, writing began!

MrQuestionMark: Originally though, I think it was just going to be an idea for just a Good End. There was not going to be a Bad End mainly because of the fact that we both sort of felt, in our own right, that Misaki deserves her Happy Ending as it were. But at the same time, the fact that we were going to end it on such a happy note when the canon has left Misaki in the state she is in now made us think that maybe there was the chance for us to go one of two routes: both of which you can see being led down but only one that seems to be one you want. In this sense, having the Bad End being before the Good End is our way of sort of giving you a bit more with the Good End; a bitter pill to swallow...before being given the uprising that is the Good End. But while that is the ending...what about those dates scenes ArmoredCoreNineBall!?

ArmoredCoreNineBall: Oho, the date scenes? Those giant balls of fluff!? Well, we decided very early on that their first "Date" would be a trip down memory lane, though there was some discussion where that would lead; would Misaki tell Touma about their past together, or keep it hidden? You all know which direction that took though! The second day was designed to be more… "Typical," though not really because of course Kamijou Touma is around; misfortune is about to appear rather spectacularly. The yakiniku was a tad bit of a last minute idea, but we felt it would be so fitting we decided to include it! The third day was an odd one; we actually had the idea of Misaki being in a Yukata first and foremost, and kind of designed what would happen around an occasion that would call for her to wear one… which was that festival, which also ended up being the reason why these two had time off from their classes… influences for how everything was designed are everywhere!

MrQuestionMark: As you can probably tell, we felt it more appropriate to have different authors working on different chapters if only for the fact that it would give a better picture of how the same characters can have similar going-ons yet be entirely different. But actually, I think if anything the hardest chapters were those dates scenes. The both of us are used to have stories that focus on a proper story with the romance here and there but instead, this was a big change for the both of us in terms of the story because the story itself was romance.

ArmoredCoreNineBall: I believe that's an accurate sentiment; both of us have done romantic ELEMENTS before, but never a full-on romance story, so this was entirely new territory for us both. I think we hit our marks and that our chapters can mesh rather well… but that's a topic for you, the reader, to decide. We just wanted to create a fiction about the interactions between Shokuhou Misaki and Kamijou Touma in a miraculous situation; a little glimpse into what could have been… or, since the series isn't done yet, what could be. Who knows!? Some Super-Overlord-Magic-God could somehow rewrite causality in the future and fix some things! Or break them even more! It is a complete mystery as to what the future for Toaru holds… and this is just a small little look into one of the possibilities of the continuum shift… That's a game-joke; anyone who can name where it's from gets 10 awesome points.

MrQuestionMark: The both of us only hope that the things we gave you were things you came to fully enjoy. But...this was harder than the both of thought so it was an interesting experience for the both of us in its own way for sure. There have been numerous stories out there that have delved into this type of thing in its own way so the two of felt as though dedicating a story strictly to this given topic was a good way to look into a character who has been extremely popular of late: Shokuhou Misaki. But actually, instead of the beginning being worked on first, it was the ENDING we started with!

ArmoredCoreNineBall: Such is the crazy way some of these stories come into existence, but that does bring up something I feel is worth touching upon. Readers, if you desire to write, allow me to offer but a humble piece of advice; before you begin, have an idea of what your ending will be. It doesn't have to be set in stone; just a rough idea of how you'd like to end your story can go a long way in making sure your story stays on track. Sometimes working from your ending can be the best place to start to make sure everything in your story feels justified in the end. That said… I believe that's everything. Do you have any additional/final words for our readers, MrQuestionMark?

MrQuestionMark: Nothing else seems to jump out at me at all. The only thing that I hope you readers did when reading this was fully enjoy what we had to offer you with everything you had.

ArmoredCoreNineBall: Then I believe we are done. But before we go; I'll take a moment and do a proper Reviewer Response! Here we go!

whwsms: Unlimited Fluff Works! Let the dogs of shipping be unleeeaaaassshhhheeeddd!

Purrple Cate: Did we hit you in the feels with the sad ending? I can understand with how you feel with constantly new characters being introduced, but one must remember the focus on To Aru as a whole. Admittedly, I would be 100% down with novels of just characters interacting as I love that stuff, but it is at its heart an action-based story, and as To Aru is such a story without many (if any) re-occurring villains, new characters being introduced is more or less a must; we only just recently saw Aleister and Lola Straut take center stage of the conflict, you know! But I will agree that the amount of characters in To Aru is staggering... but with an action based series, you can only focus on so many people at once.

NeoShadows: So we avoided a fiery death... good good... I'm glad you enjoyed the good end and the story as a whole. Bust Upper should be on its way sometime this month! I believe everything else I covered in the PM directed to you, so I wish you luck with writing, my friend!

YozakuraKyou: I currently prefer to leave what happens next and beyond up to the readers... I certainly have my own thoughts on it after all!

Dark Tyrant-Fool: There is probably some truth to what you say; while the good end is all fluffy, the bad end is more likely to be how it would go considering everything... but that doesn't make the good ending impossible, now does it? As for a true ending... I'd say it is up to you, the readers, which would be considered the "true" ending.

Bluejack222: I think the above reply covers this rather well!

Guest00: A disturbance in the force ending... we have no plans for any additional endings, but one must think about what could happen if the other girls Touma has won over realize that one of them had finally managed to raise a flag, huh... I expect chaos and fire.

Mr X: No problem at all, my good sir! The bad end has its purpose as you can probably see, which is why it is there; it's meant to pull at your heart, and I assume it had done just that; many people see the bad ends as being unlikable or terrible, but it is those heart-pulling endings that make those good and fluffy endings that much more enjoyable. I'm glad you enjoyed the good ending though!

St german: Everyone has their own preferences; I know I do. It does make me glad you were able to enjoy the story regardless of your thoughts on pairings. As long as I have ideas to work with, I'm sure me and MrQuestionMark will keep writing them!

Sergio644: D-did what we had to say calm you enough to avoid the flames and pitchfork!?

ThinkpadT420: Me and MrQuestionMark don't do shipping stories very often, and I can't guarantee any particular shipping stories in the future... though I will fully admit that there are certain character's I'd like to see stories about too, and Fukiyose is definitely up there, along with Itsuwa and Leivinia. We will see if either of us are struck with sudden inspiration for another romance story or not. If we do, I'm sure you'll know!

Handsomistic1: What does the future hold!? Who knows! And thinking about that is part of the fun, wouldn't you agree?

pinoirene: There are currently no plans for sequel... but anything is possible! I can't say a definite yes or no though... such is the way of us writers.

ArmoredCoreNineBall: And now that is done... I hope you all enjoyed this wonderful little experiment of ours. We don't know if we will do a collaboration story again anytime soon, but I sincerely hope you enjoyed. Review at your leisure; we still enjoy feedback!

And from the both of us: We hope you all have a wonderful day, friends! And we will see you in another story!