AN: Looking at the finished product, I noticed I'd already used large parts of the setting in a previous short fic. Maybe I just like the idea. The results achieved were vastly different here, though.

If you like it, there might be a Saten/Uiharu B side to this story.

Deaccelerate the Storm

"Hey, Kuroko."

Misaka looked at the other girl through eyes half closed. She couldn't find the strength to lift her arm and shield her face from the torrent of rain.

"Yes, onee-sama?"

Kuroko didn't move from her position to answer. She was only partly facing her partner, gaze locked at something ahead, something too far away to be seen through this veil of rain.

A view of the girl's profile was enough for Misaka, though. Kuroko's hair ribbons had been blown away, one lying in a puddle somewhere on the rooftop and the other taken by the ferocious wind. With her hair down and sticking to her face and neck like a second layer of skin, Kuroko seemed somehow smaller than the girl Misaka knew so well. It hit the electromaster that now, now that she could no longer do anything, she should at least pour what she had left into protecting the delicate girl who had stood by her side on this journey through hell.

"They'll burst into here any moment now," she mused "You should move behind me."

Kuroko forced herself to stay where she was. It didn't matter how much she wanted to see her onee-sama. It didn't matter how much she needed Mikoto's warm hand over her own. She couldn't face the other girl.

They were alright. They had blown through the greatest monstrosity Academy City had to offer, turned the realization of a nightmare into mere ruins of a deranged dream, and they were alright. Kuroko couldn't bring herself to break this spell. She didn't want to turn around and read from her onee-sama's shocked eyes that what was streaming down her face was not rain but her own blood.

"Why would you say that, onee-sama?" she questioned with that practiced demanding tone of hers "You wouldn't be planning to stop the bullets from hitting us, would you? As wonderful as your railgun is, Gaussian deceleration that precise should be beyond you until you become Level Six."

Misaka chuckled as she took a shaky step forward.

"The Tree Diagram said Accelerator's third to last move against me would be dropping a high-rise office block on my head," a playful smile appeared on her lips "It means he would still need two more after that to finish me off."

"You make for a much more lovely sight with no rubble on your person, onee-sama," Kuroko shot back with that contagious smile tugging at her mouth "Would you behave like a good civilian and hide behind the reliable Judgment member by your side for once?"

"You wouldn't be planning to stop the bullets from hitting us, would you?" unseen, Misaka cocked an eyebrow at Kuroko, "Teleporting the bullets after they touch you but before they can hurt you sure sounds like Level Six to me. Did you grow up so fast when I wasn't looking, Kuroko?"

Misaka's limping steps reached Kuroko's side and they could finally see each other's faces. But it was fine, now that they were both wearing the same grin.

"I took after the very best, onee-sama."

Beneath the rumbling of thunder, they could now hear the heavy and rhythmical footsteps of their would-be attackers. The resounding stampede was coming up the metal emergency staircase, telling the pair that the elevator they themselves had used to get to the rooftop was no longer operational. It was likely no electronic device in the district would ever work again, though, with the stunt Misaka had to pull to put Aleister Crowley's final delusion to eternal rest.

"Are you afraid they'll get us?" Misaka asked her partner in crime.

Kuroko kept on counting the distance left even as she turned the question over in her head. Their opposition was well-armed, had good tactics and was used to combating espers. Even their personal combat styles might have been carefully studied before the order to pursue was given out. Yes, the Anti-skills, once her comrades in arms, were the worst opponents she could imagine. And as she realized her answer to the question, she again felt grateful for having Misaka by her side.

"I'm only afraid I won't be able to stop once I put the first one down, onee-sama."

No time was afforded for Misaka to answer before the door to the rooftop was slammed open.

And if the world died that day, it died with a bang.