BGM: "Yesterday" - The Beatles
A Queen ought to keep up appearances.
That was her duty. Her imperative.
But she wouldn't be human to remain calm and in complete control at all moments...
Or, at the very least, that was the excuse she allowed herself to give.
Today... today,
Today was not a good day.
It was still morning. But it was already not a good day.
Everything felt... heavy. From the hair on her head to her bag on her side.
Times like this was when she lay down and commanded some of her clique members to fan her with with palm fronds. Alas, her spine was already aching; she overslept that day.
Such unfortunate atmosphere made her all the more despise this morning. Perhaps this was due to those beans she had for supper yesterday. They were not cooked to complete mush. Time to find that particular member of the clique who was responsible for that unprofessional mistake and make her consume as much éclair as possible in thirty seconds...
...
"...Haa..."
Sadly, at that moment, she was in no mental position to even toss such an idea as that around.
At that moment, she felt her mind being dragged more and more toward that urge to simply point her remote at her head and end it all.
It simply was awful... it was awful as to how depression could come upon her mind like that, in such a haste, like a thief.
Just like what happened to her at that circular lake in that mountainous region of District 21.
That day also started out as awful on its own level.
Up until that day, she suffered through IDEAL.
Up until that day, she suffered through Dolly's death.
That day, she was tired of... simply everything she dealt with on daily basis. Oh yes; even her own clique.
It was ironic, really. She was the most terrifying Mind Controller there ever was, and yet...
...
Usually, she was vigilantly on guard against such snake-like moods of depression trying to coil around her mind.
Alas, the scale of events she went through–
That clone DIED.
I could not do a SINGLE thing for HER.
She felt her breath stitch in her throat.
Calm, she told herself. Calm...
The scale of events she went through carried her higher up the hierarchy of stress she previously thought was not possible.
And, when such events were finally over and resolved, she allowed herself to relax.
Which was not entirely the most optimal decision to make.
When she de-pressed from such experiences, she became, for that time being, susceptible to such depressions that sneaked into her mind.
It was one thing to feel tired of all things, memories, relationships...
It was another to admit it, mentally, verbally.
And on that day, she did so. And her hand moved accordingly, her remote pressed against her temple, her finger right on the button. One click, and she would regress back to her younger, more innocent self. How alluring, that preposition, that possibility!
She couldn't, and did not stop herself.
But he did.
Her Prince.
He stopped her.
...
The roller-coaster, having went as down as it could go, began to go back up.
After she met him, tons of events occurred.
They dipped in a pool. He used hypnotism on her.
He gave her his silver whistle.
...
Alas, roller-coasters always go back down.
To think she was naïve enough to believe that her happy-go-lucky days with him would last for some time.
To be honest, if it weren't for her, there was no reason for him to have gone to such brink of death as he did, while he was attempting to protect her.
...
Then, she met him again in Daihaseisai.
Then, she met him again right in her territory, School Garden.
Then, she met him again after she fought Mental Stinger.
...
To be really honest, the feelings that raced through her mind at that moment are, in the end, mere rehashes of the feelings she contended against with herself back when she fought Mental Stinger, and even before then.
But, to be also honest, she did this on a daily basis.
She was strong. There was no doubt about that. Even to this day, even to this moment, the mere fact that he will never, ever, remember her still sat on top of her head. A gigantic boulder, that was. It slowly crushed her spine day by day.
But, she still survived. She held on tight to all she had now: her memories.
Her memories of him.
That was enough for her to always have the strength to stop herself from pressing her remote to her own temple ever again.
...
A Queen ought to keep up appearances.
That was her duty. Her imperative.
But she would be lying if she said it wasn't difficult.
...
"Oh?"
Shokuhou smiled.
"Well, if it isn't Misaka-san..."
Good. She was in a mood to tease someone. Might lift her spirits.
Ah, that look of wonderfully droll expression of distaste on her face when she finally saw her walking near!
"Miii-saa-kaa-saan..." Shokuhou smiled like an imp as she walked ever closer to her.
A sigh was all Mikoto gave in response, as she did not stir an inch from her position on the brick wall of the building she was leaning upon, her arms crossed.
"...Really?" She muttered under her breath.
"You seem unhappy to see me! That wounds deeply, Misaka-san." Shokuhou pouted.
"Apparently not deep enough..."
"How rude! I, for my part, am very happy to see you, Misaka-san." Shokuhou mock-glared.
"Is that so..." Mikoto grimaced.
To be really honest, attempting to hold a conversation with such a snake-like person like Shokuhou felt like a waste of time.
But, nevertheless, she gave her best attempt to be cordial.
"It's rare to see you venturing outside."
"Well, I felt a little under the weather today. I thought a walk in this fair morning may do the trick."
"So you're feeling 'flabby', in other words. Well, you have nothing to blame it on except for those useless lumps of flesh on your chest."
"Another rude assault! My assets are my treasures!"
Yep. That was it; her daily quota for public etiquette was reached... already tired of this conversation, Misaka only gave another grimace in response.
"How about you, Misaka-san?" Shokuhou picked the conversation up again, seeing the other girl's unwillingness to do so on her part. "What brings you outside this morning?"
Her response... was not what she expected.
Misaka bit her lower lip, and turned her face aside... possibly, due to embarrassment? Wah! She actually looked coy there!
Shokuhou frowned.
There was only one person she could think of that could make this tigress, this Misaka-san behave as such–
"Took a bit of time there. Sorry about that."
...
That voice.
...
No.
Not today.
Could she get a break, only for today?
But that was not to be. She could not force herself to not turn her head to the source of that voice, and see–
Her hero standing there.
Kamijou Touma.
...
She should have stayed in school today, out of all days.
She really ought to have stayed in school today.
In other times, in other moments, she had higher mental fortitude. Higher mental guard around her own mind, enough to completely conceal how she gritted her teeth enough for them to gnash while introducing herself to him all over again.
Today...
...
Again, did he look at her as if seeing her for the first time.
Again, did that questioning gaze of his wash over her heart like a slosh of hard liquor.
Time to reintroduce herself all over again.
Right in front of Railgun. Nice. Pathetic.
Very nice.
Inhumane.
"Misaka-san," Shokuhou smiled. "I pray thee, introduce me to this nice gentleman."
"...?"
To say Mikoto was bewildered... would not be saying much compared to her actual face expression at that moment. "Shokuhou, what–"
"Ah!" Shokuhou brightened up like a lightening bug. "This must be Kamijou-san you spoke to me about. Pleased to meet you."
"?!"
"I, uh," Touma hesitated, stumbling at this unexpected turn of events.
"I'm a friend of Misaka-san."
Usually, this was where she would latch onto Misaka-san's arm and do her signature pose with her hand and body.
But today... she wasn't feeling it.
"My name is Shokuhou Misaki!"
She felt her mind tipping... over the edge.
"I hope we can get along!"
Hell.
Pure hell.
Well,
That was that.
That was all she could take at that moment.
Misaka-san's baffled expression.
Kamijou-san's nonplussed expression.
That was the last glimpse she had of them before she spun around and went on her way.
"Is this some sort of inside joke between you two?"
"...?"
For some reason, Mikoto became really frightening to Touma.
Her hair began to shimmy and float.
Terrifying sparks began to glow from her bangs.
"I... what?"
"I literally introduced her to you during Daihaseisai. Why are you pretending not to know her?"
"..." He didn't know what to say, really. He was completely clueless as to why she was suddenly getting this pissed off.
To be clear, Shokuhou wasn't really all that close to Mikoto.
To be clear, she wasn't all that concerned with Shokuhou's wellbeing. Shokuhou pissed her off more often than not.
But that doesn't mean she didn't see those tears that fell from Shokuhou's chin as she walked away.
And she highly doubted that someone as proud and appearance-keeping like Shokuhou would go that far to pull such a prank on her thus.
She didn't understand this entire situation one bit.
But the sight of a girl, a girl as prideful as her, being wounded enough to shed tears in public...
That pissed her off.
"Kamijou."
That was a first. His name was something she never really uttered with her lips before. In all likelihood, she considered his name too intimate for her to utter out loud.
But, for this moment, she felt too angry to care.
"I know you're not a rotten type of guy to ever make a girl cry like that. So how come you are pretending not to know her!?"
"I–" Touma stuttered. "I'm lost. I don't know what's going on."
Then she saw it.
Fear.
Fear behind his eyes.
Because, to Touma, it may really be that he did once knew her.
When Mikoto referred to 'Daihaseisai', it was not like the one that took place a mere month or two before was the only Daihaseisai she could have been referencing.
There was another Daihaseisai the year before that. And the year before that. And a year before that. And so on.
It was very possible that Misaka introduced that honey-smelling girl to him during the Daihaseisai that took place a year before.
Which would have been before...
...
"...Ah," Mikoto's eyes widened.
She forgot.
He lost his memories.
If so...
...
She wasn't hundred percent sure as to what point his memory only goes back to, but it was very possible that he doesn't even remember the very first interaction he had with Mikoto when they first met.
...
Just...
...
...Just what was going on here?
To who exactly should she unleash her pent up anger upon?
Shokuhou didn't get very far.
She couldn't even last several minutes after walking away; her knees were the first to give out. Then she completely knelt over, her face mere inches from the earth on the ground.
If she was to cry,
She refused to let anyone see the tears.
A Queen ought to keep up appearances.
That was her duty. Her imperative.
But it felt cursed.