AN: Hello readers new and old! PurpleClover99 here with something that I actually hadn't planned to release this early. This chapter has been sitting in my word documents for at least 1-2 months and after finishing a draft for a chapter of my other story, I decided to sit down and edit this out to release today to see how it goes..

That's enough from me now, since I'll probably add another AN at the end, so I hope you enjoy the first chapter of A Certain Scientific GravShift! As usual, please leave a review about anything you liked, think I should work on (since I'm a fairly new writer so it would help me out a ton;), or just any questions! I will answer some of them at the end of the next chapter:D

Disclaimer: I do not own A Certain Scientific Railgun/Magical Index or any of its characters...the only things I own are:

1. My characters and

2. my ideas

Chapter 1: GravShift

July 9th, 8:30AM

It was morning in Academy City, as the sun began to climb higher in the sky. The streets were bustling with cars and people, and the hot summer sun was peering down at the world below.

Most people were making their commute to either school or work by walking down the many paths near the road. While others were checking the sights around town, searching to see if the life within this city was for them.

There was one girl who stood out among them, gliding over the sidewalk, with a plain black skateboard, bobbing and weaving effortlessly through the crowd in front of her. Some curses and shouts of surprise were shot at her, but she honestly didn't seem to care, paying no attention to them.

She was a fair-skinned girl 14 years of age, with light blonde hair that came down almost to her shoulders. The blue streaks in her hair danced in the wind, matching the color of her stoic blue eyes that reserved to tell of any emotion. She was average in height for her age and had a slender figure. Her outfit seemed to resemble that of Tokiwadai Middle School uniform with the only difference of her wearing gray pants instead of a skirt that stopped just before her ankles.

Normally, she would have taken a higher ground than this to not cause this much of a fuss, but this morning she knew she couldn't. She had already gotten in trouble yesterday at school for the 10th time this week and didn't feel like having another punishment on top of the one she already had been given by the Head Resident of her dorm...

"Now Miss Asher," a teacher, Miss Watanabe, said as she stopped her at the end of class. "You may be among our promising students here at Tokiwadai, but the school cannot keep turning a blind eye for your blatant misuse of your abilities. The applications of it may be numerous in number, no doubt, but do you honestly think you should use them to construct ramps for you to ride your skateboard in the air?...I know you're not huge on people, but do this old lady a favor and refrain from doing that from now on…..the constant complaints I keep receiving from the director because of it are going to put me in the hospital one of these days…"

After thinking on it now for the last day or two, she knew she had a point. She shouldn't be doing that and actually travel like a normal person.

But what didn't make sense was….

Why was she of all people called out for the misuse of her abilities?

Sure, most of the people around her school knew she wasn't one to stick to most of the rules, but she always had thought her high grades would make up for it.

Not only that, she thought as she casually turned into one of the alleys off to the left of her.

She should be the one getting the lecture that I seem to be getting almost daily….

She turned another corner, using her esper ability to seamlessly glide on the wall as she neared a familiar magnetic reading coming from just a few blocks ahead. Her eyes narrowed just slightly, sweatdropping at what she knew was about to happen…

If I can feel her from all the way over here then…..

As if on cue, a crash from a huge wave of electricity crashed down a little ways from her as she rolled to a stop on the wall's surface. She knew from experience that if she had been on the ground, the wheels on her skateboard would have probably melted or been damaged from the intense heat. She didn't really want to waste anymore of her money just because of a certain Electromaster she knew that ruined them time and time again.

The lights around her flickered before completely going off, telling her that the whole electrical grid in this part of the alley had probably been disabled. She didn't need to be smart to know why, walking forward towards the opening, where she knew her friend was. Littered on the ground right in front of her, Asher saw that there were delinquents, who could also be seen as the victims in this situation, laying on the ground as smoke was still steaming up from their clothes.

She sighed softly looking at the scene in front of her, closing her eyes.

There she goes again….and I'm the one who's misusing my abilities?

She heard the air shift a little, hearing a familiar pop of a teleport appearing within the dimensional space behind her. She didn't need to look back to see who it was, knowing that the 12-year-old girl already knew what she was walking into.

"Seems like you were late again….for a teleporter you sure are slow, Kuroko…." She said bluntly over her shoulder, seeing the girl slump down and groan in defeat.

"Oh you hush, you're honestly not one to be punctual yourself, either Zierdan…." She said with annoyance in her voice.

She turned back to look at the girl who was in question, watching as electricity filtered through her chestnut hair. The girl seemed to sense that someone was behind her, turning towards them with a small glare on her face before a look of recognition came on her features.

"Oh hey guys." She said casually at the two, bringing the girl behind Asher out of her stupor.

I love how she sees this as normal…..I can't make ramps in the air but she can take out the whole electrical grid without any repercussions, Asher thought as she facepalmed.

But with her…..

"SISSY!" She heard Shirai yell behind her at the #1 Electromaster herself, Misaka Mikoto. A girl she had personally known for nearly 4 years of her life.

I know there will never be a dull moment in this city….

"Honestly…How many times do I have to say it before you understand…." Shirai stated mostly towards Misaka.

Asher was walking along with both Misaka and Shirai, hearing her berate the Electromaster for intervening this morning. She had put some distance in front of her, watching on as the younger girl ranted and raved at Misaka for shocking the mess out of the guys before. She had noticed from the short amount of time she had known her that the only thing that competed with her perverted affection for her friend, was her work as a judgement officer for the city.

This meant that she had also been on the receiving end or such lectures, feeling just a small sliver of sympathy for her best friend, but at the same time, not feeling like helping since she most likely deserved it.

She had mostly blocked out everything, or tried at least, almost resorting to using her Anti-Amps that were in her black school bag. She normally doesn't need to use her specialized hearing aides, with the only times being when her ears were becoming too sensitive to the sound around her. In practice, it was mostly like an anti-hearing aid, allowing her to focus more on deafening the noise around her than amplifying it.

Misaka, however, didn't have that same luxury. She pretended to not listen but couldn't help but to. Asher didn't even try to intervene from stopping the teleporter, almost as if silently agreeing with her.

Didn't see this coming, she thought to herself as she sighed, closing her eyes. Z and Kuroko actually agreeing on something? Never thought I'd see the day…..

"Sissy! Sissy, are you even listening to me?" Shirai remarked in front of them, causing Misaka to look up and Asher to sigh in slight annoyance.

"We can't help but listen to you, Kuroko…." Asher exasperated. "Even with my Anti-Amps set to 0, I would've probably still heard you…."

"I wasn't talking to you!" Shirai said angrily, looking back at the girl who gave her a stagnant gaze. "I was talking to Sissy!"

"Yeah I know, doesn't make my comment any less valid though…." Asher stated as she stoically looked over to the side.

Shirai growled at the older girl, glaring daggers at her as Misaka sweatdropped.

And there we go, she thought, taking a few noticeable steps back.

They have shifted back into their respective corners….I thought the world was ending for a second there….

"Now now you two….." She said, forcing a sweet like tone as if she was a parent talking to her children. "We shouldn't be fighting, especially not in public…."

This caused them both to immediately stop, looking back at her in slight disbelief. One thing that they could actually agree on was that she was the last person to even try and say that to them….

"You're one to talk, MK." Asher deadpanned.

"For once I agree," Shirai said giving her almost the same look that Asher had. "…out of the 3 of us, you are probably the worst when it comes to fighting, with Zierdan and I not even being a close second behind you….".

"Hey! Don't go and team up on me!" Misaka shouted, waving her arms. After taking a few moments to settle down, she slung her black bag against her back as she closed her eyes.

"Anyway, it's not my fault if I had gotten there first…." She said as she turned her head to the side. "Even Z beat judgement before they even got there, and she was nearly on the other side of the 7th district…."

"You can't always use me as an excuse," Asher said with a small spike of annoyance. "You know it's a lot easier for me to find you than anyone else, so it's only logical that I would get there before them …."

"That's beside point," Shirai announced as they came to a stop. "You can't go around beating up other students without authorization….the city directors get all twitchy when that happens…."

"Well maybe you guys should try to get there a little sooner…." Misaka said as she walked past Shirai.

Asher followed in toe quietly right behind them, following in their stride before they halted by a vending machine. She didn't even have to look at her to know what her fellow 2nd year was about to do, tuning back into the conversation as Misaka propelled her foot into the poor vending machine next to them.

"CHASER!" Misaka yelled, basically forgetting everything that Shirai herself stood for quite literally, as she knelt to the ground in utter disbelief of her actions.

A random can fell down the vending machine, prompting Misaka to reach down and open it, preparing to taste it.

"You're always so extra MK….." Asher sighed behind her, bringing her arm to rest behind her neck.

This was a daily thing that she did for the fun of it, in contrast to Asher, who always saw it as a waste of energy.

"If you want to steal a drink from that without paying, just let me use my ability instead of you kicking the mess out of it…It's not only quieter but it also gets the one you want most of the time…" She continued.

Misaka seemed to contemplate that for just a small second, before turning her attention back to her drink.

"No, I like doing this better, your way is too boring….." She said, causing Asher to let out another sigh behind her.

"What am I going to do with the two of you?" Shirai sighed as she crouched close to the ground.

"Strategizing over the best way to rob this vending machine, honestly…..I thought you both would do better…..Especially you Sissy, how do you still insist on wearing those dowdy shorts under your skirt?"

A rare chuckle escaped Asher's lips as Misaka choked slightly on her drink.

"Why were you looking in the first place!?" Misaka yelled before turning her attention to Asher.

"And Z how do you think this is funny when you are doing practically the same thing that I do." She said defensively as a slight blush fell on her cheeks, pointing out the fact that Asher had gotten special permission to where dress pants instead of a skirt for their school uniform.

As she was about to continue, both Asher and Shirai heard an alarm coming from the patrol bots, probably sensing the damage that had been caused by the kick on the vending machine.

However, it didn't seem like Misaka even noticed herself as she was too caught up with her own embarrassment….

"I wear these because it's easier to-MMMF" she tried to continue before Shirai's hand slapped over her mouth and teleported them away from sight, leaving Asher by herself. She didn't mind it though, as she seemingly disappeared around the same time, missing the bots coming for them in the nick of time.

On top of a building close to where they were, stood Misaka leaning over the railing and Shirai setting her back against the metal fence. After a few moments, Asher walked up behind them casually, hopping onto the metal fence post, looking up at the sky. Misaka looked off to side, somewhat relieved that Shirai had teleported them away before the bots had came.

"Now was that necessary," Shirai said as she smiled up at the girl. "You could've gotten into trouble…"

Misaka remained silent, not putting down or agreeing with her statement, only turning her head as Asher moved off the metal post.

"We should go you two, or we're going to be late…." She said looking up at the blimp behind them.

Both of the girls had a small bit of confusion on their faces, looking towards the direction of Asher's gaze.

There was a yellow blimp in the air and on it read:

Notice to District 7: Today's physical exams will be held at these schools: Tokiwadai Middle School, Sakugawa Middle School, and Asahi Middle School….

"Oh I almost forgot!" Shirai said with a look of surprise.

"Same. It seems like we're supposed to get our system's scanned today huh?" Misaka said as she leaned off the railing.

"I would've forgotten as well if that blimp wasn't there….I knew we had something today, I just couldn't remember what…." Asher said.

Shirai was the last to stand on her feet, holding out her hand for Misaka to take.

"Alright, let's go Sissy!" Shirai said with a small smile.

Before they could take off, Asher casually laid a hand on Shirai's shoulder, shocking them both.

"Guess I'll go along with you…." She said with slight remorse, with the only indicator being the overall tenseness of her features.

"Are you sure?" Misaka questioned, not being able to see Asher's face as she looked away from them. For as long as she could remember, she had always hated any type of long-distance travel that wasn't under her own control, usually becoming slightly sick right after.

"Yeah." She replied back with a sigh. She knew at this point that this was probably her best option, knowing she would probably be late by just using the skateboard folded up in her school bag. Using her esper abilities to that extent in the air was also out of the question, knowing if she had been caught this time, she would get another punishment on top of the one she already had.

"I could teleport us halfway so that you can ride the rest of the way like you normally do…." Shirai stated.

"If I do that, there's a high chance that not only I but you two might be late, so no I'll go all the way this time…." Asher said as she turned her focus back on her friends, showing them a small, but also genuine smile.

"Thanks for the concern, but I'll be okay…."

The smile that she gave them did put them a little at ease, with Shirai nodding in confirmation.

"Alright," Shirai said as she prepared to teleport away.

"Going in 3….2….and...1"

They vanished into thin air, teleporting quickly towards Tokiwadai Middle School.

Crap…I knew that was going to end badly…. Asher thought as she was humped over the toilet, feeling her stomach twist and turn akin to a ship traveling in a bad storm.

She was sweating profusely, feeling whatever was left of the breakfast she had earlier preparing to see the light of day. She heard Misaka tapping the floor with her foot nervously from outside the stall, before stepping up to the door to knock on it for the 100th time.

"Hey Z?...Zierdan? Are you okay in there? We have about 10 minutes before we're late…." Misaka called out. She waited a few moments, but the only reply that she received were pained groans and grunts from the girl inside.

When they had made it to the school, she seemed to be fine, only complaining of slight discomfort here and there. They were able to put on their gym uniforms just before her stomach took a major turn for the worst...

She must've overestimated how far we had to go to make it here, she thought as she sweatdropped, hearing the girl doing unspeakable things that she didn't want to describe.

After about two minutes, the girl in question finally opened the door, noticeably leaning on it for balance. She was paler than she had been the last time she had seen her, redness ringing around her eyes.

"I think I'm good now…." Asher said trying to force a smile on her face, to reassure Misaka. It ultimately didn't work as she saw her eyebrows were scrunching up in concern.

"You look anything but fine Zierdan," she said alarmed. She hadn't seen her have such a bad reaction like this in a while.

"Well I sadly don't have a choice in the matter," Asher said as she slowly leaned off the stall door using one arm to cradle her stomach as she began walking towards the door that lead into the hallway.

"We have to get our systems scanned today….and I'll be damned if I miss it for some stomachache…." She continued.

"Yeah I know," Misaka said as she walked beside her, holding the door open that led into the hallway for her.

"But-"

"Mikoto, it's okay, you shouldn't worry yourself to death over this…." Asher said, cutting her off from rambling her concerns any further. "I'm fine, really…. it's just motion sickness. I've dealt with it basically my entire life, so I know how to handle it…."

"Ugh fine…" Misaka replied back as she puffed out her cheeks in slight irritation. "Ironic that you say that now, 'Miss I know how to handle motion sickness after nearly spending 15 minutes in the bathroom'…. you're lucky our slot is a little later than Kuroko's or we probably would've had to go tomorrow…."

Asher laughed at that a little under her breath, relaxing enough to show more of her emotions due to just walking with her friend alone.

"Oh sorry 'Miss Railgun,'"Asher said somewhat playfully, " I didn't mean to keep you waiting….if you had rather me thrown up on you or your shoes, then just tell me next time…."

"Yeah yeah whatever, 'Miss Home Wrecker.' You destroy enough things, but my shoes aren't going to be one of them…." Misaka retorted back in the same playful tone.

"You're still going on about that," Asher said as she facepalmed, laughing a little in its embrace. "We both know it was an accident…. I didn't mean to cause it to crash….it was already abandoned anyway and pretty small and rundown to begin with… "

This banter back and forth continued all the way down the end of the hallway, as they proceeded to walk towards the testing area for their system scan.

Asher and Misaka hadn't been waiting that long for their turn in doing their system scans before hearing their names called out by the speakers in the area.

2nd Year student Zierdan Asher report to Zone F to begin your test, and…

2nd Year student Mikoto Misaka, please report to Zone P to begin your test...

"Guess we're not in the same zone this year," Misaka said as she got up to stretch. "That's not surprising I guess…. due to what had happened last year when we were paired up, I'm surprised we're not separated even more….."

"They probably didn't want us to flood the ceiling of the school again…it's not our fault that we didn't know our powers would cancel each other out with a destructive force like that.…." Asher grunted. She was still trying to settle her stomach, which was still tied up in knots...

"Alright, you've rested enough Z…." Misaka said as she stuck out her hand to help Asher off the bench.

Without any hesitation, she allowed her to pull her up to her feet. They stood next to other, facing opposite directions from each other.

Without looking over her shoulder, Misaka rose her right arm in the air slightly behind her. "Let's do our best, alright," She said in a sweet tone. "I'll try to find you right after since I'll probably be done before you anyway…."

Doing the same, Asher raised her left arm, bumping fists with her friend as that walked in different directions.

"Okay, see you then Mikoto…."

"Alright so who do we have next?" A lady said to the person next to her, sitting in an open field of Zone F, patiently waiting for the next student to make it there.

The person next to her, gave her the file, where she instantly recognized the name of the girl in the image.

"Zierdan Asher, huh?" She said mostly to herself, understanding why she was one of the ones to come to this zone. "Isn't she one of the Level 5's that goes to this school, Reyes?"

The man who gave her the file, Reyes, turned back to give a small nod, before turning back to finish his work.

"Thought so….she may not be as well-known as the other 2 here, but from what I heard, her esper power isn't anything to sneeze at….."

"If I remember correctly, Tracey..." Reyes said without turning around. "Aren't her abilities related to gravity of something?"

"Hmmmmmmm, wait a second while I look…."

It took a moment, nearly having to read halfway down her file to find the description of her esper power.

"Okay found it," Tracey said excitedly. "The name of her esper ability is something known as 'Gravity Dimensional Shift' also known as 'GravShift' for short…she can control the gravity within a 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional plane that she can lay out herself…"

"Hmmm, never heard of that one before" Reyes said somewhat shocked. "…usually students have abilities focused on parts of gravity instead of gravity itself. She must have a high aptitude in science and math for her personal reality to encompass something like that in itself…."

"Yeah seems like it. It says here in her file that she's a math and science prodigy and also the top gravity application user in the city. Her natural intelligence allows her to apply this ability efficiently in many areas of physics. She can create gravity barriers and structures, produce waves and repel them, and even distort the light around her by tampering with the natural gravity that surrounds herself to portray a projection of what she wants someone to see….and all that is barely scratching the surface of the list that is here in her file…."

"Sounds right for a level 5. They usually have a pretty good grasp on their abilities…"

"No kidding, I'm surprised that's she's only ranked 5th though, but it may be due to the two that are in front of her having strong electrical abilities, with the Railgun herself being the 3rd ranked. It says here that a strong enough electrical current can pierce her defenses for a few seconds if she's caught off guard, but it has to be extremely powerful-"

Before she could go any further, the speaker next to her started to beep, indicating a call for her. She pressed the red button to answer.

"Yes?"

"Miss Tracey!" Someone called on the speaker. "Miss Asher is ready to be tested!"

"Alright!" Tracey said as she switched off the speaker, pressing the other button directly above it. This turned on the video feed of the center of the field, showing the image of the girl in question. She was about 3 miles away from the building, allowing her to use the full extent of her abilities without anyone getting caught in the cross- fire.

Time see what this girl is actually made of….

Asher was standing out in an open field that she didn't even know existed near Tokiwadai Middle School. As she looked around, she heard a crackle of a speaker right next to her, as it turned on.

"Miss Asher," it called out. "This is Tracey Raven and I will be the one overseeing your system scan today. Are you ready to begin?"

"Yes whenever you are…"Asher said, as she hid the discomfort in her voice due to her stomach constantly flipping.

"Okay, before we start, I'll explain what we're going to have you do today…from what I understand, your esper ability allows you to create a sort of 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional field to the size of your choosing correct? And that you can sense some waves if you're close enough such as EM fields as well right?"

"More or less…."

"Okay when the test begins, 4 poles are going to simultaneously pop up from under the ground. According to your file, you should be able to sense them as they will radiate a small EM field. As soon as you sense them, create a sort of box shape that has each of the poles at the four corners. This process will happen around 10 times over the next minute, with both the width and the height of the square enlarging in random increments. Each time try to do the strongest amount of force you possible can….any questions?"

"No I think I got all of it," Asher said as she looked at the field with a blank stare. "So in short, you want me to create a 2-d and 3-d plane at the same time, taking account where each of the poles are placed and the height of each, while also exerting the strongest force I can on top of them….is that correct?"

"Yes, precisely…..now get ready…..the test will begin when the first poles emit their EM field…."

Asher nodded silently, raising her hands at her sides and closing her eyes as she prepared to engage her ability

Test will commence in 3…2….1…

As soon as the counter went to one, each of the poles shot up from the ground.

Asher's eyes opened revealing that they had changed into a purple hue. The streaks in her hair changed to match this color, signaling a change of the wavelength around her. An opaque wave of gravitational energy instantly covered the area, hitting each of the poles precisely. She heard the sturdy poles nearly break under the pressure of the force she was exerting.

Alright…one down….nine more to go…. she thought to herself as the trial continued.

Misaka was walking to the place close to the entry point of where Asher was being tested. After walking for a little bit, she sat on one of the benches, feeling like she was close enough.

It was quiet for just a couple seconds before a huge shake leveled the ground around her, hearing shouts of surprise here and there as it continued.

Smiling to herself and knowing the culprit, she hummed in slight amusement.

"I guess you were right," Misaka said to no one in particular as she looked up at the sky. "This is usually the only test you feel you should actually try on, so it's only natural that you would try your hardest even though you're not feeling well…."

Though, it seems like you've been trying out a lot more things than you're used to, Misaka thought to herself as she reminisced over the years that she had known Asher.

Ever since you met Kuroko, you seem to be opening up to more people again….though you still have your moments that at times even I don't know what your truly thinking or feeling…Still progress is progress I guess….

I know that you'll be able to see one day that there are still good people in this world other than I and Kuroko…..

And, you'll also see one day that you are also one of those good people, Zierdan….

As soon as the horn sounded, signaling the end of the test, Asher disengaged her ability. Her eyes faded into its natural blue along with the highlights in her hair. As she wiped the sweat from her brow, she heard the specialized equipment go off to tell her of her results…

Recording Max power of acceleration at a total of 49.58 m/s2 (110.9 mph/177 kmh) …

Accuracy off an average of .012 meters…..Force delay of an average of 3 seconds, dwindling in power at a rate of 2 meters per second

Overall rating…. Level 5

"Alright Miss Asher…. you may go back to school now….you have permission to use your ability to return if you wish…. thanks for your time!"

"Okay…." She said as she nodded, walking back in the school's direction. She didn't trust that her stomach could handle anymore flight today, so she decided against doing that entirely. As she walked up to the table where she left her belongings, she took out her skateboard from her bag and unfolded it to lay it down on the grass. Using her ability, she pushed herself off, riding at a casual speed towards the school.

It took Asher only about 5 minutes to get back to where Misaka was waiting for her, along with Shirai, who was currently laying on the ground as smoke lifted from her body. She wasn't all that surprised, though, always finding herself seeing it daily and knowing the girl probably deserved it…..

"Oh hey Z!" Misaka smiled waving at her, casually stepping over Shirai. "How was your test?"

"It went well…. I somehow managed to beat my record about a couple meters even though it feels like my stomach wants to eat itself….." She said bluntly as she folded her skateboard to put inside her school bag. "How was yours?"

"Mine was good," She replied back with a confident smile. "My stats stayed the same more or less with a slight improvement with my accuracy…."

"Were you testing that out on miss pervert over there?" Asher asked with a deadpan as she pointed to the girl below them.

"Whatever do you mean by such a thing?" Misaka said sarcastically with a closed eyed smile. "She's just slightly burned out from her test is all….."

Burned? Asher though as she sweatdropped, seeing the girl in question still twitching, as steam rose up from her clothes.

More like barbecued…..

"Anyway….." Misaka continued as she put her hands behind her back. "I'm glad it went well for you, though it sucks that your stomach is still hurting. Has it gotten any better?"

"Eh kinda, but I'm still not feeling the best," Asher said with a small groan. "I'm probably going to lay down for a while when we get back to the school to see if that'll help…."

Shirai, who seemed to be practically unconscious just a second before, perked right up from the ground.

"No, no, no!" She said in slight anger as she looked at Asher. "Absolutely not! I will not allow you to get out of our plans with Sissy today, Zierdan!"

"Huh?" Misaka said confused as Asher frowned slightly at that. "What are you talking about, Kuroko?"

"You too, Sissy? How could you of all people forget?" Shirai whined sadly.

"If you're implying that I forgot what you told me this morning then you are incorrect…." Asher said with sheer bluntness in her tone. "Maybe it's because you yourself forgot to tell MK since you told me before I left this morning…."

"Oh yeah…." Shirai said softly as she slumped down.

"Are either of you going to tell me what's going on?" Misaka asked for the second time, prompting Shirai to perk up again.

"I was going to invite you and Zierdan for a quick lunch toady, so I could discuss something with the two of you…." She responded before her shoulders slumped down slightly. "Now it looks like that isn't going to happen…."

"Ah Kuroko I-"

"You're being overly dramatic, Kuroko," Asher said somewhat coldly, interrupting Misaka from talking. "You were probably just bringing me along to not feel bad for leaving me by myself while you hang out with MK…."

"No that isn't why!" Shirai said defensively. "I really wanted you to –"

"You didn't let me finish like you always do…." Asher continued as she turned to go back to the school. She stopped and looked over her shoulder with her usual stoic expression. "What I said was just logically speaking which is something I feel your perverted mind tries to avoid….I never said I was going to come in the first place. You just assumed that I would since MK was going to go whether you told her about it or not…"

Shirai's face fell slightly as Misaka looked at Asher confused at what brought this on so suddenly. Something like this hadn't happened in a while, so she was at a loss on what provoked such a thing.

The tenseness in the air shifted just a bit when they heard the girl in question let out a long sigh as she turned back to face the school.

"Wrong choice of words…." Asher said with an unreadable emotion in her tone. "I didn't know how bad that was going to sound until it came out of my mouth…I guess my nausea is putting me in a bad mood…."

They saw her rub the back of her neck out of habit, seeing that she was the one who was nervous for once….

"I never said I wasn't going to go either…" She continued, still not looking in their direction. "All I said was that I was going to lay down when we got back. The two of you probably have to go and shower anyway and as usual I'll do it sometime tonight. So I'll rest on one of the benches inside the changing area like I usually do when I wait for the two you to get done….."

Not waiting on them to answer, Asher went ahead and began walking towards the school, with her hands down in her pockets. She didn't have to look back to see that they were following close behind her. She knew that they were not going to allow her to walk alone, but they did keep their distance to give her some breathing room after her random outburst.

Good job Zierdan…. she thought to herself as she brought her Anti-Amps from her pockets. She set them onto her ears, turning on the setting for the sound around her to be almost nonexistent, cutting her off from the world around her.

She was only inviting you to eat as a nice gesture, not just because she likes Mikoto….

I always end up analyzing every little detail without really realizing it before it comes out of my condescending mouth…..

Even though she tried to be sneaky about it, Misaka was able to tell right away that she had them on. That was one thing she always found disconcerting was whenever her friend tried to basically close herself off from the world with those things.

She knew those were important for her to have but knew at the same time that she tended to misuse them whenever she wanted to be alone in her own headspace.

"Sissy…" Shirai whispered out dejectedly. "Did I say something offensive to her?"

"I honestly don't think so…." Misaka said in a normal tone of voice. "I'll talk to her about it later when she's in a better mood so don't worry…."

"Why are you being so loud!? She can hear us!" Shirai whispered-yelled as she cupped her mouth with her hand.

"Nope she can't, she set her Anti-Amps either on or close to zero," Misaka said as she let a random spark drone out in the air.

They saw Asher hesitate for a small second in one of her steps, sighing or groaning in what sounded like annoyance.

"You have such a bad habit of that," Misaka continued with a playful tone. "Purposefully blocking out the ambient noise known as your friends from your ears, how rude for you to do such a thing, Zierdan….."

"You know I hate it when you do that…" Asher said, taking them out of her ears. As they arrived at the school, she opened the door wide enough for them to follow her inside. She slowed her pace to match theirs, giving Misaka an annoyed glance. "Now they're going to be stuck midway until I can get them calibrated for the 50th time…thanks for that MK….."

"Then you should stop misusing them the way you do," Misaka said matter of factly as they arrived to the shower area. "You have a spare back in your room anyway…."

"Sissy….," Shirai stated slightly dismissively. "You shouldn't misuse your abilities either…."

"I wouldn't call it misusing them per say,…..as I had a good reason to do it…."

"Call it whatever you want," Asher sighed as she sat on the bench. "Just know I'm not happy about it and never will be…."

"Alright alright…" Misaka said as she got her items to take a shower. "Let's go Kuroko and not keep Z waiting out here for too long…."

As Shirai got her things to follow Misaka, she heard Asher call her name from afar. When she looked over, she could see a slight look of discomfort written on her face even though she was trying her best to hide it.

"Is there something wrong?" Shirai questioned, seeing her squirm nervously.

"No there's not….at least not with me personally…." She said as she looked off to the side, rubbing the back of her neck. "It's more about you….I'm sorry for what I said earlier, it was…"

"Rude, mean, …. upsetting…" Shirai stated as she began counting on her fingers of the number of emotions she had felt at that moment, with Asher closing her eyes, sighing aloud.

"There you go…..interrupting me again…." Asher said with no bite to it at all as she opened her eyes back up. "But yes, it was uncalled for…I'm just ….not used to people other than Mikoto actively wanting to hang out with me….most people find my presence unsettling, but you seem to never think that way weirdly enough, which I forget on occasion…"

"Was that all it was….honestly…." Shirai said as she shook her head, before looking at Asher with a smile. "For someone as smart as you are, I'm surprised at how flawed your thinking is…..of course I don't find you unsettling…we may argue on occasion but I still consider you a good friend nonetheless ….."

At that, Shirai left, leaving Asher to have to process that by herself. She had known for a while now that she was in the wrong for what she had said to Shirai earlier, just waiting for one of them to ask why she had snapped in the first place. When neither of them did, she herself was the one who became unsettled, tired of the feeling that she thought to be guilt twisting in her gut.

Now after thinking the conversation would help relieve that feeling, it only brought on another one entirely that she was having a hard time of fully comprehending.

"I still consider you a good friend nonetheless….." Was the phrase that kept running through her head over and over again.

There goes that word again…. She thought, resting her back on the wall, closing her eyes to ponder on it for a moment.

A word that is still foreign to me….the only word after that day that still alludes me even though my mind still remembered it out of everything else I had forgotten for a time…..

A word that I've always connected to Mikoto….but now I see Kuroko as surprisingly….

Even though it's such a simple word, she thought as she sunk into sleep.

It's probably the one thing I've tried to analyze the most for my entire life….

That I can say for upmost certainty…..

"What took you so long?" Misaka asked as she turned on the shower. "I nearly lost our spot for how long you were taking."

"Oh sorry for that," Shirai said as she rinsed out her hair. "Me and Zierdan were just having a normal conversation…."

"Define normal…" Misaka said as she chuckled slightly. "I don't think I heard any arguing out there, or feel any tremors…that is usually a definition of normal when you two are alone in a room….I think the word you're looking for is civil because that is nowhere near the norm you two have…"

"Aw sissy…." Shirai said as she swooned. "Were you jealous that we were talking and tried to listen in on it? My love will always lie in your favor as I only see her as a good friend so don't you worry!"

"It isn't like that at all!" Misaka yelled in disbelief. "My thoughts were nowhere close to what you were thinking! She just didn't seem to be in a talking mood is all!"

"Well maybe it's because you keep messing with her Anti-Amps….you know how much she relies on those things at night and you go and break them. It may have been with her best interests in mind and she does have another pair as a backup but still…."

"Yeah you're right…" Misaka trailed off, resting her forehead under the shower head. "That did make her pretty angry didn't it…..I was just annoyed at the fact that she was keeping what was bothering her to herself and acted on impulse. I'll apologize when I talk about what happened to her later….."

"Well if you're still curious on what we were talking about….." Shirai said from the shower next to her. "She was actually just apologizing for what she had said to me earlier…."

"Well that's a relief and one thing off my list I need to do today…" Misaka replied back as she proceeded to finish up her shower, smiling to herself. "Speaking of today, how was your system scan?"

"It was pretty lackluster to say the least…..I felt a little off from what I normally do for some reason….."

"It's probably from all that judgement work you do, Kuroko. I'm starting to agree with Z in saying that you work too much too quickly….."

"Don't you start saying it too….and I guess I don't need to ask how yours was, considering I could hear you and her from the track." Shirai said as she turned off the shower.

"You could hear us from all the way over there?" Misaka asked slightly surprised.

"It was incredibly loud as girls were nearly jumping out of their skins. I think Zierdan's was a little better since she was further away….."

"Good grief, it's so annoying that that's the only way they can get an accurate reading," Misaka said with a slight sweatdrop. "Sometimes I think an ability like yours or Z's would be a lot more convenient than mine…"

"Isn't amazing how the grass is always greener on the other side?" Shirai said as Misaka turned off the shower.

"Yeah yeah, spout all the platitudes you want to…."

"Say whatever you want to, but it doesn't change the fact that you're Tokiwadai's Ace. You can thrust your chest out with pride just upon that alone." Shirai said with confidence layered in her tone.

"The Ace am I?" Misaka questioned with a smile. "If that makes me the Ace then what does-"

Before she could finish her phrase, Shirai suddenly appeared behind her, short circuiting her brain immediately. She couldn't hear what the girl was saying under her, only knowing that she was trying to live out her perverted fantasy under the impression that she was not going to do anything about it.

But how wrong she was just a few seconds later….

Asher was still resting before she was awakened by what sounded like a huge crash. She didn't have time to investigate it, only seeing Misaka storm out to her locker in a towel to retrieve her clothes.

She also didn't have to ask about why she was mad as she blankly stared up at the ceiling.

"Kuroko?" She asked. She heard her pause slightly, before she let out a few low utterances, angrily shuffling in the locker in front of her.

"Thought so….is she still alive?" She asked with slight amusement in her voice.

"Of course, she is!" Misaka yelled angrily.

"Are you sure? It didn't sound like you checked…."

"I didn't shock her, just hit her in her head for being an annoying pervert!"

"Mmmmhhmmmm, even a punch can cause death if it's done at the right place with the right power…..even I thought you knew that…."

"Oh my god Zierdan!" Misaka groaned, knowing she was just trying to get back at her for breaking her Anti-Amps. "I'm sorry okay!"

"Kuroko is probably sorry too…or it would be was now, right?" Asher said as she waved her hand lazily in the air. "Oh well, I guess I can move into your room now…."

She looked over, and instantly sweat-dropped at how much her friend was gripping the locker, electricity flowing from her bangs.

"Zierdan….say one more thing about killing Kuroko and I swear…." She grumbled as the locker door began to dent under her grip.

After taking a moment to think it over, Asher sighed, rising up to her feet from the bench. She began to walk towards the hallway before Misaka called out to her.

"Hey no sneaking off," She said. "We're supposed to be going to Joseph's right after this….."

"You don't have to remind me…" Asher said as she looked over her shoulder. "I just need to go back to my room to grab some meds…..I just remembered that I forgot to take them this morning….."

"Z…." Misaka groaned. "That's probably why you had a bad reaction to Kuroko's teleporting earlier…"

"Most likely…" Asher replied back with no sense of urgency causing Misaka to facepalm.

"You need to start remembering to take those before you leave the dorms, " Misaka said with slight concern in her voice. "What happens if one day you forget them entirely….those are literally the only things that help you not get those horrible headaches and sensitivity flashes anymore….."

"I know that," Asher sighed. "I've been doing better these last couple weeks….today it just slipped my mind for some reason. You're usually the one to remind me to anyways, but due to the punishment the head resident gave me, I've been having to leave the dorms earlier than usual….."

"Times like these make me forget that you're nearly 6 months older than me….." Misaka said as she closed her locker. "Fine I'll let you off the hook this time….."

As Asher proceeded to leave again, she heard Misaka continue on with her statement.

"But that doesn't mean you get to get out from our talk later. Just because you apologized doesn't mean you're getting off that easily….."

Expecting either one of her patented sighs or groans, Misaka was surprised to hear a genuine laugh come from her as she looked back with a small smile on her lips.

"Yeah I know," Asher said as she turned back to walk through the door. "I would be surprised if you hadn't anyway, so thanks for the heads up. Well I'll meet with you guys hopefully by the time you get there…..just call if there's any change in plans though….."

As she saw the door close behind her, Misaka still had a small look of shock on her face before laughing slightly to herself.

Always wanting to get the last word in, she thought to herself as she proceeded to change into her clothes.

There's never a dull moment in this city….

Especially when you're around, Z…..

Classified File LOG #005

Experiment Log for Project Wave*****

October 28th, 12:40PM ******

*Subject seems to be very susceptible to conflicting sound waves, impairing some of her calculations, and natural brain functions. She complains of spurts of pain stemming from her head and experiences bouts of confusion here and there of what she had just done seconds prior.

I believe this is due to the tampered sound waves hitting either or both her temporal and frontal lobe directly but as of right now, this is not a major cause of concern.

*The child, now 10 years of age, has already developed far above someone her age could reach, being the youngest level five here in Academy City to date. She still does not know the true reason behind the experiments, just like her mother. This will be kept this way until we want to tap into her personal reality to instantly propel her to Level 6.

*Contact with others outside this facility have been reduced considerably with the only outlet being school. She seems to keep her distance from others, as I've instructed her to. Only one girl seems to be proactively trying to open her up to some level. While this may be concerning for our influence over her abilities, I will not push for any sort of termination of her life….

END OF LOG

SIGNED BY

S**** W*****

HEAD RESEARCHER OF W***** INDUSTRIES

AFFILIATED WITH KIHARA RESEARCH TEAM

CREATED: 4 YEARS AGO

Word Count of Chapter: 8340 |Page Count: 17 pages |Reviews: 0 | Followers: 0 |Favorites: 0

AN: Soooo...I hope you enjoyed my new OC Zierdan Asher!...I had to do some research concerning gravity for her ability to allow it to realistically apply to this word (meaning if there's math added at any time, they're more or less estimations as physics/quantum physics is not a specialty of mine as I'm more of a chemistry person).

So if you have any questions concerning her ability I will gladly try to explain the best I can in the next chapter!

In terms with how the storyline is going to go concerning the science and magical side of Index and Railgun, she will be involved mostly with the science side since this will primarily focus on her dynamic with Misaka and the others, but she will help in some capacity with the magical side as well...

In terms with updates, I'm going to be doing something different from my other story, in which I will do it more or less at my own pace as this will be done on the side with COF being the main one I'm doing. I will still most likely update it weekly, but there may be times where I don't update a week or decide to do multiple updates a week but we'll see...

I'm done rambling now, as I tend to do that sometimes so sorry...but thanks for reading this! Next upload will most likely be sometime next week:)