Misaka Mikoto disliked meeting Shokuhou Misaki.

Well, before that, she disliked Shokuhou Misaki altogether.

Firstly, it was her group of overbearing girls in her clique that she found hard to deal with. It was pretty difficult to deny their approaches when they (themselves) meant no harm.

Secondly, it was Shokuhou Misaki herself that Mikoto found hard to... well, tolerate, in general.

Which was why she was at unease, sipping her tea while sitting in front of Shokuhou.

But, at that moment, Shokuhou was not her only source of unease–

"–Would you stop shaking your foot?" Shokuhou snapped.

That remark, of course, was not directed to Mikoto.

It was directed to Sogiita Gunha, who sat beside her, arms crossed, utterly bored out of his mind.

"Apologies!" Sogiita boomed, his voice ringing an octave louder than the room level. He stopped shaking his foot.

...Then, he began to whistle.

"Stop that!" Shokuhou snapped again. Sogiita dutifully obeyed.

...Then, he began to fidget.

Snarling, Shokuhou took out a TV remote and pressed a button toward him.

Not that that actually did anything. But Sogiita, taking the hint, finally was still.

...

Then, he began to sleep.

And snore.

Shokuhou's hand, clad in pristine, white glove, now covered her face.

Misaka Mikoto was gobsmacked. Just what was she even witnessing here?

With her unease only rising further, Mikoto took another sip of her tea. "So..." she broke the silence, tentatively guiding herself through this... rather unforeseen situation, "Why is he here? Why am I here?"

Shokuhou then removed her white gloved hand and pressed it against the side of her head, leaning against it, with an odd, contemplative expression on her face. "It's because of this... person," Shokuhou jerked her chin toward Sogiita.

"And... what do I have to do with him?"

Well, she did indeed fight against this guy before, in District 7 no less. But she doubted that Shokuhou was even aware of that event.

"He..." Shokuhou grimaced. "He reminds you of him, does he not?"

...

...

Ah.

"...Yes," Misaka set her teacup down, complex sets of emotions running through her, "yes, yes he does." Then she paused, her brow furrowing. "But wait, how do you even... I only introduced you to him, like..." how long ago was Daihaseisai, again?

"Hey!" Misaka was startled from her train of thoughts by Sogiita, who, for some reason, was now wide awake, his face lit in recognition at her. "You're that girl I battled with few months ago! How you've been!?"

It's been almost a quarter of an hour since they sat down at that table, and it took him that long to recognize her... Misaka couldn't tell whether she should be sad or happy about that. Such a bizarre man...

"Oh! I know! If you're here, it must mean you want a rematch, isn't it!? Well well well, a gutsy challenge is always welcome–"

"Oh, honestly!" Shokuhou snapped as she grabbed his shoulders with her gloved hands, "you have such troublesome-ability; you were just asleep, so why did you wake up? Here," she set his face down on her lap, "sleep."

"Yes ma'am."

And he slept once more.

Mikoto's jaw, if possible, smashed against the table. "Wha-wha–!?"

"Shut it," growled an especially pink Misaki.

How? What? When? Where? Why? Hundred questions flooded through Mikoto's mind as she struggled to cope with this rapid chain of events. "How long...?"

"...A week," muttered Shokuhou, still stroking Gunha's hair.

Mikoto was supposed to be immune to electricity, but she was thunderstruck, regardless. "...Why?" Mikoto whispered.

But of course, she herself knew that such a question was such a pointless one.
Questions were never pointless. But that one question was. Love was one lone thing 'Why' was useless against.

"I... don't know." Misaki thinned her lips. "And I hate that I don't know."

Certainly. Someone as obsessed as her in terms of mental control would of course be very disconcerted at her own unclear inner mixture of emotions.

"So, again, what do I have to do with this?"

"As much as I hate to say it, you're the only one that I can talk to about him..."

Well, that's not entirely true, Shokuhou remarked to herself, there's also that Kumokama, but I doubt she met this idiot lying on my lap here.

"...and at the same time the only other person that appears to have met this blockhead here, apparently," Shokuhou gazed upon Mikoto.

"You knew about our battle even before he recognized me?"

"I like to keep track of your activities, Misaka-saaan..." Shokuhou winked.

"Geh." Mikoto then exhaled. "So what exactly do you want me to do here?"

"...It's possible, unlikely, but possible, that my emotions are being tampered with, to create these emotions I feel at this moment. Honestly? I'm not sure if you're the best person to consult to on this subject, but one has to start somewhere."

"Emotional manipulation?" Mikoto eyed that snoring mess of wild hair lying on Shokuhou's lap... despite her view being obstructed by the tea table, "him?"

"Not him, no, you silly," Shokuhou deadpanned. "Obviously, their goal must be to strike me while I'm distracted by this blockhead here."

"Sorry, but that sounds... really roundabout, to be honest." Mikoto thinned her lips in pity.

Shokuhou sighed, her head drooping. "Then what do I do with this idiot, then?"

'Idiot'... Mikoto fidgeted in her seat; the particular way Shokuhou uttered that word was way too close for comfort as to how she herself used that word in reference to... him.

...

"So," Mikoto leaned forward, "what... do you see when you look inside his head?"

Shokuhou gave an unimpressed look. "Nothing. absolutely blank. It's bizarre."

Mikoto shook her head. "Not surprised, to be honest."

"Boys are so weird, right?"

"Tell me about it."

...

"So, when did you two first meet?"

Shokuhou initially hesitated, but spoke on:

"Back in that first day in Daihaseisai, a Committee member took away my purse, stating that carrying it was against the policy."

Mikoto raised her eyebrows. "Surprising. Did you know that person?"

"It was that one Committee member... with the most asset..."

"Ah..." Mikoto caught on. Then grinned: "Half a size larger than yours, I bet."

"Shut it."

"So then..."

"I went back to take it back, but they didn't even store it properly; I found it spilled onto the floor, with this idiot here examining them like a newfound toy."

"What was inside?"

"...My... remotes, among other things..." The idiot had the nerve to ask me what that whistle was for...

"And then..."

"I took the purse back and tried to erase his memories of that incident."

"...Did it work?"

"Initially. I even made him go to sleep for couple of hours after that, but he shook that off too; when I turned to walk back to my event he woke up less than thirty seconds later, telling me that trying to erase his memories wasn't, in his words, 'very gutsy of me.'"

"That's so... like, him," Mikoto grimaced. "That feels... irksome."

"Same. And the way he just... shrugged off my ability..."

"Did you know that this guy caught my railgun in his teeth, back then?"

...

"Well, it's true, you know," Gunha spoke up, startling both girls. Rising, he twisted his head this way and that, loosening his neck and shoulders. "It's not very gutsy to mess with other people's heads like that. Your thighs feel really soft, by the way," he remarked, causing Shokuhou's face to explode in various shades of crimson. Mikoto choked on her tea.

That crassness... that was so like him too, they both reflected.

"That 'guts' again!" Shokuhou snapped, "I have plenty of guts! In fact, it actually takes a lot of guts to control other people's minds like that!"

"Oh yes," Mikoto smirked. "She has tons of guts, all right, all weighing her down."

"Shut it!"

"It takes... guts... to mentally control others..." Gunha's eyes sparked, with his brain actually trying to work, for once. "It is certainly imaginable that it'll take quite a mental fortitude to do such a feat... so... having enough guts to control other people's guts? But... is that still a gutsy thing to do...?"

Shokuhou shot a desperate look toward Mikoto's direction, who shrugged in response. "Sorry, but he's a lost cause, especially for someone like me..."

Shokuhou's head hit the tea table.