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I do not own To Aru, regular Mikoto or regular Touma. I own Tsundere Touma and Dense Mikoto though XDD

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The Misfortunate Tsundere and the Dense Ojou-sama

The Mustard Scene that We Skipped

"So," Touma began as he bit into the hotdog Mikoto had bought him. She was helping him with his homework as she had promised, and though he would never admit it, it hurt his pride that he was so stupid that he had to resort to asking someone younger than him to finish his homework. "How have you been? And your little Sisters? I haven't seen them around."

She paused mid-stroke, but then resumed like nothing had happened. A somber mood fell upon them, and he almost regretted asking. "They're fine, I guess. When they were created, a lot of drugs were used on them, so their hormone levels had to be constantly readjusted. And since there are so many of them, others were sent to Academy City's facilities all around the world to take care of them. Only about ten remained here."

He watched as she finished writing. Instead of moving onto doing his homework though, he continued, "That's good for them then. Now they can live the way they want to."

"It's not that simple," she interjected, frowning a little. "Sure, their death sentences may have been lifted, but they can't live normal lives. They can't go to school. They can't be seen by people who know me. Hell, they don't even have proper names. How is that a life that they chose?"

"They chose to live," he replied to her, hoping to appease the worry and slight anger that seemed to radiate from her. "I know it's not much, but what you did made them realize they had a life at all. Sure, it's far from what you'd call a normal life, and it will take a lot of work, but they'll get there eventually. I'm sure of it."

He was silently glad that her lip twitched up a little at his words. "You always seem to know what to say." She smiled at him. "And you were the one who stopped the experiment, so don't give me all the credit."

He felt himself blush a little, but he wasn't sure if it was due to her words or her smile. "W-well... I-I just couldn't ignore what I'd already seen. I d-didn't really do it f-for anyone..." he said, scratching his cheek with a finger as he tried to look away.

She let out a laugh. "Yeah, you'd say that, huh? Anyway, move closer to me. I can't teach you if you're so far away."

"H-ha?" He looked at her with wide eyes as she began to tug at the underside of his seat.

"C'mon," she insisted, but when he merely stared blankly at her, she sighed and moved her own chair closer to him. "How will you learn anything if you don't watch me when I tell you the answers to this? I don't mind helping you out, but there's no way I'm doing your homework."

His cheeks flushed a deeper red as the distance between them decreased until their shoulders practically overlapped. She was leaning over the table, still focused on his homework, while he did his best to stay as far away from her as he could. He couldn't even look over her shoulder, embarrassed by the thought that if she leaned back, she would settle against his chest like he was half-embracing her.

Being the dense girl that she was, she didn't seem to even notice it as she continued to drone on and on about quadratic somethings and roots that didn't have anything to do with plants.

He tried to listen, he really did, but his mind blanked out every time her elbow brushed against the cloth of his shirt, making it impossible to think. All he could really do was pretend to be paying attention and eat the hotdog that she had given him.

"Oi, you have mustard on your nose," she suddenly said.

He blinked at her blankly and muttered, "Hmm?" while he chewed, putting his hotdog on the table and reaching out for his drink.

She sighed again. "Really, are you a kid? First you ask for help finishing your homework, and now you're eating so messily?" She grabbed one of the napkins that was on the table, twisting around in her seat to face him. "Let me get that."

He instantly froze when she grabbed his chin. Before the tissue she was holding could touch his face, he jumped back, tilting back in his chair and crashing onto the ground with a slam.

He groaned as he tried to roll to the side and off the fallen chair. Mikoto, on the other hand, was instantly beside him, helping him get up. "Oi, Touma. Are you okay?"

She took him by the arm, pulling his sprawled form into a sitting position. He rubbed his shoulders, trying to soothe the pain away, but then he became more aware of her proximity and instantly froze.

His arm was against her chest.

"Guwaaah!" He retreated once again, though this time he had enough presence of mind to avoid getting hurt. In a second he was already standing, a full two meters from her.

She looked at him with a frown, crossing her arms, "What's wrong with you? You're so jumpy around me. Did I do something wrong?"

He paused, relaxing from the protective position he didn't realize he assumed. Her words registered in his mind and he suddenly felt guilty.

"S-sorry..." he said, looking down at the ground feeling ashamed. It wasn't really her fault. She was just doing what a normal friend would do. He was the one who kept having inappropriate thoughts about her actions. It was his heart that wouldn't stop hammering whenever she got close to him. "I'm just... a bit conscious, I guess. I-I mean, earlier we were... you and I and... being together and... I uhm..." he tried to explain, not really knowing any other way to prevent her from thinking that she was doing something wrong. "U-Unabara said things, okay? Things that made me a bit uncomfortable around you."

She studied him for a moment before sighing. Silently, he noted that she'd been doing that a lot around him. Was he being too irritating for her? "Alright, I won't ask if it really bothers you," she said, standing up and approaching him, "But next time, warn me so I know my boundaries. I wouldn't want to make you accidentally hurt yourself." When she was right in front of him, she looked at his face and he blushed again, but before he could jump to any more conclusions, she said, "May I?"

He blinked. "Huh?"

She raised her right hand, showing the napkin she was holding. "There's still mustard on your face. Want me to remove it?"

He was at the point of overheating. He was sure he was so red right now that he was doing an impressive imitation of a tomato. If she noticed, she didn't comment on it, and that alone helped him think a bit more rationally and conclude that, hey, this might be his only chance of getting Mikoto to touch his fa—NO. He didn't care if she touched his face with her incredibly soft hands—that he'd had the pleasure of holding earlier when they were runn—nonononoNO. It wasn't pleasurable at all! Her hand was rough and not gentle at all! He didn't enjoy holding them and he certainly didn't want her rough hands to touch his face! And to prove that he really didn't find her hands soft, he'd agree to her cleaning the mustard off his face and he wouldn't even feel anything at all!

"D-d-d-do what y-you w-want," he told her, trying to sound as uncaring as he could.

The corner of her lips twitched up a little, and his eyes were instantly transfixed. Her lips looked really soft and kissable too and he—NO! Don't. Think. Impure. Thoughts!

As if in slow motion, her hand cupped his cheek and the napkin she was holding closed in on his nose. She had her focus on the mustard that she was supposed to wipe off while he, on the other hand, had his full attention on her face.

It was the first time he actually had the chance to study her so intently. Her eyes were a beautiful hazel, framed by her long lashes that made her gaze look so deep, something he hadn't fully appreciated until then. She wasn't wearing any make-up, except for that thin coat of lip balm on her lips that he only just noticed, but he knew she didn't need any. There wasn't even a single blemish on her face and it made him wonder if it was as soft as it looked. The curve of her nose, the light bump of her cheekbones. It captivated him.

But it was all over too soon, and she pulled back from him, leaving his heart hammering painfully in his chest.

"There," she said with a satisfied smile, "now we can continue doing your homework."

He remained standing as he watched her sit down in her chair. Suddenly, he was all too aware of everything about her and it made him confused.

He swallowed the lump in his throat, wondering just what the hell was happening to him.

–

They had only been studying for about half an hour when he voiced something that had been bothering him.

"Do you like Unabara?" he suddenly asked as they were trying to answer one of the many physics question that he still couldn't understand.

"Of course I do," came her blunt reply, and silently he felt his chest tighten. "He's a really nice guy. Given, we hadn't really talked much before last week, but once we did, I found he's actually pleasant to hang around with."

He frowned. Somehow, he felt like she didn't mean it the way he had asked. "So if he asked you to be his girlfriend... would you say yes?"

Her head snapped towards him, and her face had a surprised expression on it. "What? Why would he ask me to be his girlfriend?"

He looked away, not really enjoying the conversation, "He likes you," he said, his voice sounding bitter for reasons he didn't know. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Not like that. We're just friends."

"Are you really that clueless, Mikoto?" He questioned, feeling an irrational anger creeping up his chest. "How many times did you two meet this past week? And from those meetings, how many times has he asked you to hang out?"

She looked even more puzzled. "That doesn't mean he likes me like that."

"Yes, it does!" He snapped at her, because if someone so obviously perfect for her as Unabara couldn't catch her eye, then what chance did a mere Level 0 have? "How can you not see it? He's so obviously in love with you. Do you really not know? Or is it that you really just don't like him so you pretend not to notice?"

She frowned at his accusation. "I'm not pretending," she told him, her voice strained. "And how would I even know if he never told me?"

He leaned back into his seat, rubbing his eyes with his fingers in frustration. "That's not the point..."

"Then what is the point?" she demanded.

He sighed in exasperation. He looked back at her, this time with a calm yet serious gaze. "What would you do," he began hesitantly, "if someone told you he was jealous of Unabara?"

It seemed like she still didn't get, but she answered, "There's no reason to be jealous. I care about each of my friends equally."

He couldn't do anything but let out a scornful smile. She really is that dense...

"Such misfortune..."

"Oi, what's with that line again?"

"It's nothing. Hey, why don't we grab some lunch now? The stores might get too crowded if we waited for lunch break."

Author's Notes:

That's right, folks! This is no longer a two-shot! :DDD

Due to a friend's insistence, I continued this. There should be more coming up so i hope you'll look forward to that :D Not sure how far I'll go with this though

Also, this won't be a rewrite of the Light Novels so expect chapter like this. Just small scenes with Kamikoto interactions with their personalities reversed.

Thanks a whole bunch to GreatSnapper and Cun for the beta read! and the red mark covered first draft of this XD you were great help!

Anyways, this is Touma's version of being dramatic. Compared to Mikoto's, who's more adorable?

Hope I'll see you next time! :)

~61wisampa