Addiction Chapter 3: 歓喜(Kanki)

Misaka sighed as she made her way back to her dorm. She'd just finished hanging out with Uiharu-san and Saten-san after the former had finished her work in Judgment. They had invited Kuroko but she had said that she still had work to do, an excuse that she had been using very often these past two weeks. The few times she had accepted the offer she always seemed somewhat distant.

"If it was anyone else I might think that they got a boyfriend..." Saten had remarked as she sipped her soda.

Misaka scoffed. "The day when Kuroko gets a boyfriend is the day that pigs fly," she shot back.

Uiharu nodded, "yeah... she's still obsessed with you. I don't think getting a boyfriend is anywhere in her mind."

"She's been disappearing a lot recently as well," Saten mused, looking at Misaka.

The electro master shrugged, "it's just what she does... she goes off to sulk and then comes back perfectly fine." She hadn't even needed to apologize yet, which was good because she still felt that she was justified in her actions against Kuroko. "She's just been sulking for a bit longer than usual recently."

"A lot longer," Uiharu protested, "before it was like... five seconds, a minute tops."

"Either way it's just a childish little tantrum," Misaka huffed, "and she calls me immature. It's not like it's stopped her from being a pervert or anything. She's still the same Kuroko..."

The words were harsh but they were not heartfelt. In truth the electro master was a lot more worried than she let on. This was in part due to her tsundere nature but mostly due to the fact that Misaka had been conditioned never to give the teleporter so much as an inch, lest she try to take a mile. It wasn't as if she didn't want to be nice to Kuroko... it's just that often, in the past, any attempt at affection or kindness was seen as an invitation to do something perverted and she didn't want that.

She really should've just given up, most people would have, but not the level five. To her Kuroko was a good friend, a great friend, and once she learned that a friend was all Misaka wanted her to be and stopped her perverted, misguided affections, the happier they both would be.

Shocks, physical abuse, verbal abuse... all of them were simple ways to discourage Kuroko from being such a damned pervert. Perhaps once she conveyed to Kuroko just how annoying and unwanted her actions were she would finally get it through her thick skull that being friends was a better idea for the both of them.

She opened the door to the dorm and was surprised when she was accosted practically the moment she stepped into the room. Her room mate had grabbed onto her hands within the first three steps and was looking into her eyes with an odd seriousness and more than a hint of fear, as if she was about to jump off of a cliff with a parachute that only had a small chance of opening. "I love you Onee-sama," the younger girl said, "and I need to know if you love me too."

Her face took on a deep crimson hue within seconds, "What?!" She screamed, her mouth operating out of reflex, "Of course not you pervert! Why the heck would you ask that?!" The tone was far too serious to be just another ploy of dubious intent.

Kuroko did not seem to perturbed by the shouting as she asked another question with desperation now colouring her voice "Will you ever love me?"

"N-No!" Misaka continue to shout, her blush deepening as she yanked her hand backwards, out of Kuroko's grip. Her heart was racing. To be confessed to this seriously was... so confusing... she had never thought of Kuroko's feelings as anything other than misguided infatuation and it was just beginning to hit her that Kuroko genuinely loved her. Her feelings were immediately thrown into a jumble as she tried to figure out what had provoked this, "Now let go of me and tell me what the heck is going o-" the electromaster stopped suddenly as she noticed that there were tears pooling in the corners of the younger girl's eyes. "Kuroko..." she asked, all harshness dropped from her voice and replaced with concern. Kuroko crying was always Misaka's sign that she had taken things too far, that she should apologize for being mean. Recently it hadn't happened, the teleporter always left before being reduced to tears. Right now she wasn't sure what she had to apologize for.

"I... I thought... that would be... your answer... but... I had to... make sure..." the auburn haired girl said, between sniffs and sobs.

"What's going on Kuroko," Misaka asked again in a more gentle manner as she put a hand on the other girl's shoulders in what she hoped was a comforting fashion.

"I love you," Kuroko repeated, "I love you so much that it hurts... it really really hurts. Whenever I'm away from you it hurts that I'm not near you, and whenever I'm near you it hurts that I can't have you..." the teleporter continued, "I love you so much that I can't stop thinking about you,and whenever I think about you I'm reminded that we're just friends."

The younger girl raised her head, her eyes now pouring tears at a torrential rate, "I'd be willing to wait forever if there was the slightest chance of you returning my love... but now that you've said you won't... I've waited enough... I've suffered enough."

Misaka's eyes widened in surprise. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did the teleporter mean... was she seriously... "Wha-what are you saying Kuroko?" She asked, making sure she had not misheard or misunderstood.

"I can't bear it anymore... I'm... I can't be your room mate any longer... I can't be just a friend anymore..." She told the love of her life, as she gazed into her brown eyes with her pink ones. She saw confusion and concern and surprise in those chestnut depths, but she could not for the life of her see the love, passion, or affection that she so desperately longed for. "I wanted to ask you first... I wanted to see if you felt anything towards me."

"Of course I feel things towards you. You're my best friend," Misaka insisted. Kuroko had been her first friend in such a long time and she wanted to continue being friends. She had worked so hard on becoming friends and trying to shape Kuroko into a proper friend. Why was the teleporter quitting after all this time? Was this all their friendship meant to her?

"But nothing more than that... You said so yourself..."

"Don't you think you're over reacting?"

"I know it seems like I am... but the pain is becoming so unbearable. I'm so sorry," the younger girl pleaded for forgiveness for a crime she didn't really commit. Hearing the guilt in her voice just made Misaka feel guilty herself. She had no idea the pain that she was causing the other girl. Kuroko never showed any sort of pain to her beyond the odd tears or depressed sulking in the corner. She had never meant to cause the girl any pain, she just wanted a friend.

Some tears found their way into Misaka's eyes as she shook Kuroko gently, trying to rouse her from this madness, "You're talking crazy... again... Just calm down and think about it."

"I have... I've been mulling it over in my head for a week," Kuroko said as she stepped back, freeing herself from the electro master's fairly weak grasp. Misaka let her go. "This took a lot of thought... but I think this is the only way..."

"What's the only way? What are you going to do? Move out and just avoid me for the rest of your life?" Her voice was far unsteadier than it should be but she didn't want this, she didn't want to lose her best friend.

The younger girl shook her head, her auburn pigtails flopping around limply at the unenthusiastic motion. "no... that would be impossible. We go to the same school and we have the same friends. It wouldn't work anyway... It hurts just as much to be away from you as to be near you."

"So what the heck?!" the older girl asked, her voice raised again.

"I am moving out," she said as she went over to her closet, picking out a suitcase she had used recently on her trip to Liberal Arts City, "Then... I'm doing the only thing that will take the pain away for good," she plopped the suitcase on her bed and turned towards the older girl, "I'm getting Shokuhou-senpai to wipe my memories of you and moving in with her instead."

At that word powerful anger flared up within the electro master. A flame seemed to burn in her eyes as tendrils of lightning snaked out into the air around her. In a deceptively level voice that one might think held a calm tone if they could not see the person from whom it originated Misaka said a single word, "What?" She knew that name, the name of her classmate who had done nothing but cause trouble for her for the past two years. Her guilt instantly vanished, replaced by a seething anger at the level five who was undoubtedly behind this.

"These past couple months... during these past couple months I've been going to her whenever... whenever I've been upset... whenever you've hurt my feelings unintentionally, at least I hope it's been unintentional. She takes the pain away, but it's getting worse," tears continued to fall from the younger girl's eyes as she spoke, "I love you Onee-sama... but this... I can't keep this up."

"Kuroko can't you just see she's using you?" Misaka screamed, looking into Kuroko's eyes, searching for the twinkling in the eyes that appeared in those who were being controlled by the Queen only to see that there wasn't anything of the sort. The only shining in those orbs were the tears that poured forth even more heavily than before.

"I thought so too at first but..." the teleporter shook her head, "She takes away the pain. She's been kind to me and doesn't seem to want anything from me."

"She's just manipulating you, can't you see that? You know what she's like." Misaka insisted, certain that this was nothing but a prank from the blonde that had gone way too far. She'd sort this out and then make sure that Shokuhou-san would never bother Kuroko again.

"I do know what she's like... better than you do. As for being manipulated... either way I'm being controlled by a level 5. Whether it's her ability or my love for you my life, my body, heart, soul, and mind belongs to a level 5. The difference is that Shokuhou-senpai wants them, the difference is that Shokuhou-senpai won't hurt them." Hearing the teleporter defend the Level five in such a manner hurt far more than Misaka could have imagined. That last sentence especially embedded in her like a barb. Had she really hurt Kuroko that much? Was she really so awful that even someone like the Queen was kinder to her?

"Kuroko," Misaka said weakly, this time her voice more filled with desperation than anger.

"If you ever want me back then just go and ask Shokuhou-senpai to restore my memories. I'll tell her to do it if you ask, but if you do that then you have to be ready to accept me... all of me. I don't want to hurt anymore Onee-sama..." The girl disappeared before Misaka could say anything further.

Misaka fell back heavily onto the bed as she replayed what happened in her head, trying to think of some reason for it all.

"Oh... I get it... this is all some sort of prank a ploy to get me to appreciate you more isn't it. You want me to give you permission to grope me just to get you to stay or something?" Misaka said out loud, "well it isn't going to work. I'm onto you so just come out and stop this charade." She furrowed her brow and glared at the walls, hoping that the teleporter would pop out of one of them, "pretty good acting but I know you'd never do something like that... to... me..." Her glare faltered as a tear escaped and she was forced to wipe it away.

It wasn't a charade, Misaka knew that. She'd hardly be able to deceive herself for long with such a ridiculous claim. Kuroko was far too serious a person to joke about such a thing.

Of course just because she wasn't joking didn't mean that it wasn't a lie. The Queen could have been using her abilities. Maybe the sparkling didn't always show itself or the tears had just made it hard to see. She would go and give her a piece of her mind.

She got more and more worked up, getting angrier and angrier at the Queen, at Kuroko, at herself, at everyone. It eventually got her into trouble when the Dorm Mistress came up and knocked on the door before opening it.

She gave a glance towards the sparks coming out of Misaka's forehead as she paced around the room her fists clenched. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice the Dorm Mistress had come in. The older woman decided to use this to her advantage as she waited until the girl's pacing brought her close then she reached forward to snap her neck for violating the rules.

She got several hundred volts running through her arms at that action causing her to recoil and scold herself for such stupidity. It did get Misaka's attention though.

"Dorm Mistress..." she said with fright, despite the fact that she had just proven that she had nothing to fear from the woman.

"You know that you are not allowed to use powers in the dorm," she scolded as she cradled her hands, wondering how Shirai could stand all the electricity that her room mate was always zapping her with. Even that small amount felt so awful.

"Powers..." she said confused, "I wasn't..." however now that it was mentioned she noted the increased amount of electricity in the air around her, as if she had been releasing a lot of it, "I didn't know I was using them... sorry." The apology came out weakly.

The older woman sighed, accepting the explanation, seeing just how out of it the electro master seemed to be. "Very well... just keep an eye on it next time." She frowned as she tried to recall the reason she had come up here to begin with. It came to her quickly, "Ah yes... I received this notice," the dorm mistress held up a piece of paper, "it is a notice informing me that your room mate has willing vacated this room. I have come to confirm this, where is Shirai-san?"

Misaka didn't answer, only stepped forward and clutched the sheet of paper that was being held out and began to read it. It was exactly what she had said it had been. Anger began surging through her blood again, causing sparks to leap from her hands and scorch the paper black where her fingers clutched it.

Only the dorm mistress quickly yanking the paper out of her grasp spared the pair from a conflagration inside the room as the older woman glared at the level five in front of her and saw just how visibly upset she seemed. Even with the paper now out of her grip she stood there as if she was still holding it, still glaring at it.

"It's a trick," Misaka claimed after a short while, her voice full of anger, "that was written while under the influence of Shokuhou Misaki's ability."

"Do you have any proof?" The Dorm Mistress asked, though she had to admit that it was a more likely scenario than the younger girl willingly giving up something that she had gone through so much trouble to attain.

"No... but... it's Kuroko... I know her better than anyone, and I know that this isn't the kind of thing that she'd do." Misaka insisted.

"Very well... I shall investigate this." The dorm mistress left the room as Misaka sat back on the bed twiddling her thumbs and waiting for the verdict. She knew what it would be of course, she knew that the Queen had to be behind this, pulling the strings. If it wasn't... then it was all her fault wasn't it?

Her hands balled into fists. "No," she declared aloud. It wasn't her fault at all, it was Kuroko's fault for not being able to be mature about this, it was Kuroko's fault for not being able to compromise in the slightest so they could continue to be friends, it was Kuroko's fault for not being able to consider Misaka's feelings in this matter and being so selfish.

The Dorm Mistress came in about an hour later and told her the bad news. "Shokuhou Misaki has denied these claims of manipulation via her ability and has provided proof as to the validity of her claim," she told Misaka. Apparently the Queen had what was known as a "power log", which was used to keep track of criminal ESPers or those with particular powers, such as Shokuhou's, by reading any spike in AIM field activity that meant they were using their power. Since it would be far too easy for people to claim to be manipulated by her as a way to get out of trouble there needed to be a quick, easy way to verify whether or not she had used her power a certain way on a certain person.

"She probably altered it," Misaka protested, "there's no way-"

"I'm afraid that's how it is," the older woman interrupted her voice colored with an air of finality that would not allow any sort of insubordination or protest, "furthermore Kuroko has confirmed her new residence and has requested that the remainder of her belongings be transferred to the interior dormitories. She will not be doing it personally so if you could please separate your belongings to make it easier for the people who will be picking the stuff up it would be greatly appreciated."

The dorm mistress turned to leave, mumbling to herself on her way out and leaving Misaka alone.

Sleep that night was fitful. The room was too empty, too quiet for any real rest. She ended up leaving at an early hour and just walking around, trying to get her mind in order. Zapping a few gangs of delinquents helped calm her down a bit but she still felt so uneasy, so angry. There was a voice in her head that told her that she wasn't supposed to be feeling angry, but another part of her told that voice that it was easier to feel angry than anything else. It was a common source of inner turmoil, though mostly directed towards Touma rather than Kuroko.

She'd been walking for hours (had it really been that long?) when Saten-san rang her up and asked her if she wanted to hang out at Benny's with her and Uiharu. She agreed, figuring that spending some time with her friends might calm her down.

She arrived at the diner and Saten greeted her enthusiastically. She put on a fake smiled and returned the greeting. She sat down at the booth and looked at Uiharu, who was looking at the menu. "You're off work really early again Uiharu-san," Misaka noted.

"Well yeah..." Uiharu confirmed, looking a little guilty and perhaps a tad frightened, "Kuroko's been so engrossed in work that I've been slipping her my work to do and leaving early for a while now. It seems she hasn't noticed yet."

"Uiharu... I had no idea you were so devious," Saten grinned.

Uiharu shrugged, "She causes most of the paperwork it's only fair that she does it."

The waitress came and they ordered their lunches. They ate and talked about various things. Misaka was careful to steer the conversation away from Kuroko. It still annoyed her to hear that name.

These efforts were effective as the topic turned from the teleporter to the latest music and things like that and did not return to the auburn haired girl until the very end, right as they (which was to say Uiharu) got dessert.

Saten giggled as Uiharu looked happily at the parfait in front of her, "this is the part where Kuroko would normally interrupt and drag you back isn't it?"

Uiharu waved her off as she held onto the parfait and prepared her first bite, "She hasn't noticed yet, what makes you think she'll notice now."

"Yes... what makes you think I'll notice now..." A voice suddenly said from beside the table, causing Uiharu to jump in fright and surprise and knock her parfait off the table before she managed to get a bite.

They turned to see the teleporter standing there, her hands folded across her chest and her eyebrow up, wordlessly asking for some sort of explanation. For some reason Misaka felt her heart skip a beat.

"Shi-Shi-Shirai-san," Uiharu stammered, "I... what are you doing here."

"Telling you that I do not appreciate being saddled with your work," the teleporter said in a calm voice that somehow scared Uiharu more than her angry one, "I have quite enough of my own to do and I do not like having to stay behind even longer to do more paperwork than I have to."

"Sorry Shirai-san..." Uiharu said apologetically, bowing low and trying her hardest not to further infuriate the teleporter.

In an effort to calm things down Saten smiled and said, "why don't you stay and have something to drink. Misaka is here."

Kuroko frowned at her, "Misaka-san is your friend not mine. If I'm going to be hanging around Tokiwadai students I'd prefer to be near ones with more class and dignity; like Shokuhou-senpai. Speaking of which I think I've kept her waiting long enough... Goodbye Saten-san, Uiharu..." The teleporter did not even deign to give a farewell to the third person of the group before she turned around and walked out of the diner.

The jaws of the two black haired girls dropped to the table in puzzlement and surprise.

"Did... She... I... huh?" Uiharu spluttered eloquently, a sentiment that was echoed by Saten's own valiant but doomed attempts at getting a coherent sentence out.

"Just another one of her tantrums. Ignore it," Misaka huffed with an air of finality.

"But," Uiharu began to protest.

"Ignore it," the level five barked again, slamming her fist down upon the table as a crackle of lightning erupted from her brow.

The two went quiet immediately, genuinely scared of their friend. They quickly excused themselves, leaving Misaka alone at the table. She cradled her head in her hands and suddenly felt like crying.

The next day was even worse. It was a school day and the hallways were absolutely buzzing with rumors. Not too much was known yet, but many people had seen Shokuhou Misaki, the Queen herself, walking to school with Shirai Kuroko, the annoying first year teleporter who always hogged Misaka's attention. A few sources even claimed to have seen the auburn haired level four walking out of the blonde's room with her. The only good thing was that Misaka had been so tired she had overslept and almost been late, meaning she heard very few of these whispers before the bell rang and school began.

This changed when lunch came around. At first Misaka was grateful for the ringing of the bell. She had forgotten breakfast in her mad dash out the door and was, unsurprisingly, quite hungry now. Then she realized that she had also forgotten to pick up one of the maid-made bentos that she typically had for lunch. She realized she'd have to get something in the cafeteria.

She walked into the cafeteria, which was packed with people. She felt several stares boring into her as she went up to the kitchen, which she was used to given her level and status, however it felt like even more attention than usual. She ordered something and within a minute it was handed to her, hot and fresh. She wondered whether or not she should take it somewhere, like the roof or back to her classroom. A growling in her stomach told her that here was fine. She sat down at an empty table and began eating her meal.

It wasn't long before a girl who Misaka had never seen before sat next to her. "Hey there Misaka-sama," she said politely as her voice practically dripped with fake friendliness. "I heard what happened. That first year friend of yours abandoned you for the Queen... it's such an awful thing to do. She's a horrible person... a leech who feeds off of people of higher status. It's sad really... but don't worry. I'm here for you, I won't betray you like she did."

Sparks jumped between the tines of the fork as Misaka tried to keep her temper despite the horrible things this girl was saying about a person she still considered to be a friend. She didn't really have to respond as another girl came and sat down. "That's right, we're nothing like that power hungry-"

"Hey, I was comforting her," the first girl protested angrily.

"You were just making her more upset," the new girl countered. The fight was soon joined by more people and Misaka remembered why she didn't eat in the cafeteria. She stood up and left, hearing as the people behind her continued their argument, blaming each other for her leaving as others tried to follow, apologizing for the others while playing up the fact that they had tried to stop the fighting even though they, in actuality, had been as big a part of it as any of the others.

She didn't say a word, trying to tune them out. It wasn't working and she slowly got angrier and angrier. She felt like she was about to snap by the time she was halfway back to her class, the kiss-ass brigade still hot on her heels. She was about to just turn around and yell at the lot of them when they stopped talking. She glanced back and saw as the whole consort turned to leave. As they did they slowly revealed a blond girl standing down the hallway with a smirk on her face, pointing a remote forward before putting it away in her bag. Beside her stood a familiar auburn haired girl.

"Did you really need to interfere Shokuhou-senpai?" Kuroko asked the older girl, "she was probably enjoying having all that attention."

"She looked angry thought. It's my duty as a fellow classmate to help her," the level five explained.

"She still looks angry, in fact she looks angrier," Kuroko noted.

"Hmm... I wonder why..." the Queen shrugged as she leaned down to kiss Kuroko who returned it all too willingly.

A flare of anger exploded within Misaka as the hallway lights exploded. The covering prevented them from being bombarded with glass shards and the windows allowed enough light in to keep it from being dark, but the effect was still loud and noticeable. Also loud and noticeable was Misaka's yelling as she screamed, "What the hell?! Why are you doing this?! What do you want from me?! Do you just want to make me as miserable as possible?!"

A glare was leveled at her, "Such ego... it's not always about you you know. I just want to make her happy," Shokuhou explained, "Is that really so hard to believe? You had all the chances in the world to do the same, to be a good friend, but you did nothing but hurt her. Is it a surprise that, when I offered a way out, she took it?"

"Don't give me that bullshit," Misaka continued to shout, "you're just manipulating her."

"No more than you did. The difference is I'm manipulating her to be happy rather than depressed," Shokuhou shot back, "the difference is that I appreciate and accept her, rather than trying to change her."

Before Misaka could get another word out the bell rang. Kuroko disappeared after her memory of the conversation was wiped (it was just too confusing otherwise explaining what they were talking about), leaving the two level fives to glare at each other.

"Why do you hate me so much Misaki..." the electro master found herself asking, her voice now just above a whisper as opposed to the yelling before. Desperation colored her voice as she tried to figure out why the other girl was doing this to her.

"I don't... I never have," Shokuhou said, her own voice in that same whisper and surprisingly sincere, "There was a time I wanted nothing more than to be your friend. But after seeing how you treat your best friend... I think it's safer to be your enemy." She turned on her heel and left.

After that Misaka decided to just leave it. She didn't need Kuroko, she didn't need that traitor, to have fun. She still had Saten and Uiharu. They were her friends, and they were better friends than Kuroko ever would be. She'd be getting a new room mate soon as well, and she was sure they'd be better than Kuroko. No matter how bad they were they'd surely be better than that perverted teleporter right? And if all else failed she still had that spiky haired idiot. She would be just fine without Kuroko in her life.

How wrong she was...

For all her faults Kuroko cared immensely for Misaka and did her best to make her happy, to make her life easier. Her new room mate had no such regard for her. While the new girl was a fan of Misaka's and had that same sort of blind admiration that all the other fans had she didn't really care about the electro master at all as a person. She was obnoxious and inconsiderate, hogging the bathroom all morning and talking on the phone late at night. She would layer on the compliments to her face then whisper harsh words about her childish nature behind her back.

Misaka might not have been able to trust her auburn haired ex-room mate to not teleport into the shower with her, but she knew she could trust Kuroko with any secret and she knew that the girl wouldn't tell a soul. She knew she could be herself around Kuroko without worrying about the younger girl's opinion of her. As it was she needed to put on her mask of maturity and compassion at home as well as school in an attempt to maintain her reputation and image.

This, of course, stressed her out considerably. She'd forgotten how hard it was to pretend to be someone she wasn't all the time, to constantly try to live up to the expectations of others. She allowed herself to be herself around Saten and Uiharu, who were still concerned about Kuroko's recent behavior.

"Do you know what's going on Misaka?" Saten asked her when they had met up, "with Shirai I mean. When I talked about you she didn't seem to consider you anything more than an acquaintance and she didn't call you Onee-sama once."

"And she's acting kind of different too... she's a lot calmer. She doesn't even get angry at me as much anymore," Uiharu added.

Misaka sighed and explained what had happened.

"Her memories of you were wiped?" Uiharu spluttered in surprise.

"Why?" Saten asked.

"Because she can't handle not being more than friends," Misaka huffed, "now she's going out with that damn Shokuhou."

"Are you jealous Misaka?" Saten prompted.

"What the hell would I have to be jealous over," the electro master seethed, "it's fine with me. Good riddance to that idiot and her perverted actions, I'm doing fine without her."

"Well... if you're happy about it... she seems happy too, so maybe it was for the best," Uiharu mused, not particularly feeling like going against the level five's words what with those nasty looking sparks jumping from her hand to the silverware subconsciously.

Indeed the stress, and the anger it brought on, which came about as a result of both her new room mate and her old one made the black haired pair ever more wary of her and they began wanting to hang around her less and less.

That was the other thing about the teleporter. No matter what Misaka did to her she would always want to be around her... until now at least.

She tried hanging out with Touma but he was rude, obnoxious, and didn't know how to make her feel special like Kuroko always did. To the Imagine Breaker Misaka was just another one of the girls that surrounded him, not special at all. He had no real interest in her as anything other than a friend.

It was a little under 3 weeks when Misaka found herself asking what she thought she was doing with all of this. She kept on trying but she found she just couldn't deny the fact that she missed Kuroko... she missed her a lot. She was absolutely miserable without that little pervert... without her best friend. She was practically addicted to that girl, and now she was going through the most hellish withdrawal imaginable.

"If you ever want me back then just go and ask Shokuhou-senpai to restore my memories. I'll tell her to do it if you ask, but if you do that then you have to be ready to accept me... all of me. I don't want to hurt anymore Onee-sama..." That was what she had said... That meant not zapping her when she kissed her or groped her right? It would mean becoming her girlfriend rather than just her friend, like what the Queen had with her.

Once upon a time, less than a month ago even, such thoughts would have embarrassed her greatly. Longer ago still they might have even disgusted her. But right now she didn't feel anything of the sort. She wanted it, wanted it desperately, if only because it meant that she'd be able to see that smile again, to hear that voice speak kind words to her again, to feel the happiness and contentment that only the teleporter could stir within her.

She knew she didn't deserve it... she knew that she didn't even deserve the chance for all that she had done to the girl... but she promised herself that she'd be better from now on if the teleporter was kind enough to grant her that chance.

Now all she had to do was find the other level five and get her to undo her hold over Kuroko.

She found the blond walking around the Garden's of Education. "Shokuhou-san," she called as she spotted her.

"What are you doing here Misaka-san?" the blond said with her voice full of suspicion as she turned to look at the girl who had just called out to her.

"I..." She sighed and slumped her shoulders as she continued, "Kuroko said that if I was ever ready to accept her that I could come to you and ask you to return her memories... I'm ready to do that, so please... Give Kuroko back."

"No," Shokuhou said simply.

"Huh?" Misaka said, a little surprised by this refusal.

"I said no," the telepath repeated, "I'm not giving Kuroko back to someone who doesn't appreciate her."

"Doesn't... of course I appreciate her! I've done a lot for her, I'm even willing to go along with this whole," she gestured wildly, "this whole whatever this is just to get her back."

"Oh isn't that great... you're willing to put up with her... to tolerate her," Shokuhou mocked, "tolerating someone and accepting them are different Misaka-san. You 'tolerate' pain, you 'tolerate' the buzzing of mosquitoes, you don't 'tolerate' friends. Being willing to go along with it is just tolerating it, wanting to go along with it is accepting it."

"I don't need your pedantics Shokuhou-san," Misaka said, raising her voice and shoulders.

"It's not pedantics... It's a big important difference. Are you willing to make Kuroko happy? Are you willing to kiss her back when she wants to kiss you? Are you willing to accept her affections rather than hurting her for trying to express her love? More importantly do you want to do any of that, or is this just because you can't stand seeing her with someone else? Do you want Kuroko back or do you want your friend back."

Misaka clenched her hands into fists, "I... I... I want Kuroko. I want to see her again... I want to see her smile and laugh... I want her to hug me and kiss me and I want to do it back," her face was a bright red as she said this, her voice getting quieter and quieter, "I want her to love me again... and I want to love her back..."

"I mentioned this to you before... but I wanted to be your friend when we first met... I still do..." The Queen said, then she shrugged and turned around, "I guess you can't always get what you want."

Misaka's eyes widened and she practically growled as she stepped forward and swung the other girl around to face her, "what the hell?! Are you still going to be angry about that? Is this all some sort of revenge because I didn't want to be your friend? Are you really that petty?!"

"No," Shokuhou denied as she stepped back out of the electro master's grip, "this isn't about you... at least not anymore it isn't. This is about the fact that I don't want to give up my first and only friend to someone who has done nothing but hurt her in the past. This is about the fact that I finally have someone who I like, who I love, and I don't want to give it away like you did so easily."

"You're surrounded by people all the time. What the hell are you talking about 'only friend'?" Misaka countered.

"Just because I have people around me doesn't mean they're my friends. They're just after my power or status, none of them see me as a person. Kuroko does. Kuroko is the first person I've known who cares about me, and who I care about in return. If I lose Kuroko then I have nobody, at least you have your other friends."

"But they're not Kuroko. I don't want a friend I want her. If a friend is all you want then I'll be your friend."

"But you're not Kuroko. I don't want a friend I want her," Shokuhou repeated the electro master's words, "You'd be just the same as all the others, forced to be my friend against your will. I don't want friends like that... I'm tired of having friends like that... Friends who I need to manipulate, who I need to control. Is it too much to ask for a person who cares about me because of who I am?" the Queen shouted at her.

Misaka wanted to shout right back. She wanted to shock the other girl, to hurt her and threaten her and force her to bring Kuroko back... but... There had to be other methods. She had relied on force for far too long and it had never brought her anything but trouble. She needed to start talking with her words and feelings rather than with her fists and lightning. She took a deep breath to relax herself and began to speak in a calm, level voice. "If that's what you want, if you want a friend who you don't need to manipulate, who is only with you because they like you and want to be with you... then you have to give Kuroko her memories back."

"I'm not using her memories to manipulate her. All of her actions are made by her own free will, not by my hand," Shokuhou argued.

"Our memories make up who we are. By cutting out a part of them you're rejecting her just as much as I was. If she's with you only because she likes you and wants to be with you, then that won't change just because she gets her memories back. It's not like her memories of you will fade. If you truly believe that she cares about you and you care about her more than I care for her and she cares for me, then she'll stay with you even with her memories back." Misaka reasoned, "If she wants you even when she remembers everything about me then I promise I'll leave you alone from now on. I'll cheer for your happiness... but I want the chance at least... one more chance... please."

"But... but..." Shokuhou stammered, "you've had your chances... so many chances. I don't see why you should always get your way, why I should have to put Kuroko through that just to indulge you."

"It isn't to indulge me, it is to give her a choice. If you truly love someone you're supposed to set them free, and if they love you in return they'll come back."

Shokuhou looked at her, then she clenched her hands into fists and got a phone out of her pocket. She dialed a number and waited, "Hey Kuroko-chan, would you mind coming over, it's kind of important. I'll meet you at the park ok? Love you, bye..." She looked at Misaka again and gestured her to follow as she began to walk towards the park where it all began. They were close and Kuroko had a few things to do before she left, so they arrived there first. Kuroko followed shortly after.

"What did you need Shok-" She began but was cut off when Misaki pulled out a remote and restored the teleporter's memories. Kuroko's eyes widened for a second as all the memories rushed back. She was frozen to the spot for a while as she tried to sort it all out. The two level fives were holding back tears as they awaited their judgement.

However Shokuhou couldn't hold them back any longer. At the prospect of being abandoned she began to bawl.

As if on reflex the teleporter appeared beside her and wiped the tears away with a handkerchief as she spoke comforting words in a soothing tone.

"See... she chose you after all," Misaka sighed, realizing that it was inevitable, that she really didn't deserve the second chance after all. She turned and began to leave when a hand clamped around her wrist.

"Chose? What am I choosing?" Kuroko asked, having teleported over to grab onto her with her free hand while still dabbing at the blond's tears.

"W-Which o-one of us y-you w-want to be w-with," Shokuhou told her through the sniffles.

"I-it's ok... I-I understand," Misaka said, now crying herself, "y-you choose her. It's good... I hope you're happy together."

Kuroko frowned and pulled Misaka's Gekota handkerchief out of the electro master's pocket and dabbed at the chestnut haired girl's tears as well, "I can't choose something like that... You're both important to me... I love you both... you can't ask me to only choose one. I'd rather give up breathing than give up either of you," she stated.

"Huh..." the two said simultaneously, not expecting this outcome in the slightest.

"I have enough love for the both of you... so... can't we just..." Kuroko continued trying to find the words that fit what she was trying to say.

"You... want us both to be your girlfriends... like an affair?" Misaka asked.

"More like bigamy, though we aren't married yet... so I suppose it would be biamorousness..."

"Like what Tsuki decided to do with Yuu and Riku?" Shokuhou asked.

"Huh?" Misaka asked, getting even more confused.

"Characters in this really bad soap opera that Shokuhou-senpai loves for some reason," Kuroko explained, "but it actually is a good example."

"What in the world are you talking about..." Misaka demanded, still way more confused than she would like to be.

"What do you mean it's awful..." Shokuhou asked, still not used to having someone disagree with her tastes.

Kuroko sighed and leaned up to give Shokuhou a quick peck on the lips, "it's awful," she then turned and gave an identical one to Misaka, "So is Gekota, for entirely different reasons."

"Someone whose favorite movie is Enter the Dragon has no right to call Akiya Sora awful," Shokuhou huffed, though her indignation was somewhat tempered by the kiss.

Misaka's head was swirling after the kiss but these words brought her back to reality, "Akiya Sora? You meant that Tsuki? She actually got together with Riku?"

"You know the show?" Shokuhou said surprised.

"I used to love it. I still try to keep track of it but I haven't been able to watch it recently. How have you been able to?"

"I have a TV in the room. If you want you can come over sometime and watch it. I have most of the episodes recorded."

"In fact," Kuroko said, "why not move in... the interior dorms are much bigger and it would get rid of the hassle of having to go between. Not to mention the fact that that could get me in trouble with the dorm mistresses..." she shivered.

"Wait... I'm still not entirely sure I'm comfortable with this whole biamourousness whatever..." Misaka said, realizing she had let herself get sidetracked.

"Well I'm fine with it," Shokuhou shrugged, actually far more excited at the prospect than she was letting on. The idea that she could have both Kuroko and the original object of her attention was incredible. Now she'd have 2 friends, 4 if you counted the pair of black haired girls that Kuroko had introduced her to and who she found she quite liked.

Kuroko looked at Misaka with a pitiful, pleading, and unbearably cute gaze complete with matching pout, "it would make me so unbelievably happy if you'd consider it."

Misaka blushed deeply as she felt her heart skip a beat. "F-fine," she said, "my new room mates annoying anyway."

The smile that Kuroko had on her face upon hearing that was so wide that the corners of her mouth practically met in the back of her head. Things were going to get better from here on, she knew.

"So... you're going out with Misaka-san and Shokuhou-san," Uiharu asked incredulously the next day upon inquiring why her fellow Judgment agent hadn't stopped smiling like a madman since the flower headed girl walked in and greeted her with one of the warmest and happiest greetings she had ever heard and had been told that she had a date tonight with the two of them.

"Yep," Kuroko smiled, "I'm pretty sure that means I've won at life: having not just one kind, caring, beautiful, perfect level five as a girlfriend, but 2 of them."

"I hope that cheers Misaka up," Saten remarked not even bothering to be too surprised at this point, "she's been pretty down..."

"She was happy when I left her, though she would never say it," Kuroko chuckled. Her Onee-sama was as bashful as ever, even going so far as to refuse her goodbye kiss initially. Luckily she was more competitive than bashful and when Shokuhou-senpai had offered to take the kiss from her in addition to the one she had already received Misaka was more concerned with not letting the blond "win" than she was about her embarrassment, even taking the aggressive stance and kissing Kuroko on her own.

The next couple of weeks were spent moving Misaka into the Queen's room and letting the electro master get used to her new, and her old, room mate and letting them get used to her in turn. The Queen was actually a lot more considerate than she would have pegged her for. A lot more fun as well. They actually shared quite a few of their tastes and hobbies, something which Kuroko found both great, because they could bond a little over them, and annoying, when they used their majority to outvote her about certain things.

Shokuhou still teased Misaka but the electro master soon learned that they were harmless jabs and that she really cared about both Kuroko and her. Despite the fact that she hadn't really looked forward to being in a relationship with the Queen to begin with she found that it was really much better than she thought it would be and she was soon more than happy to count the blond on her list of friends.

Of course this caused an unimaginable amount of buzz in school. The students had, at the beginning, turned on Kuroko, the source of this trouble and the girl who was hogging, not one, but both of their idols. But they soon learned that messing with a girl who has two level fives protecting her is not a good idea. They eventually started really liking the idea of the Ace and the Queen together and began to form a fan club dedicated to both of them, an act which quelled most of the students' infighting leading to a more peaceful school.

Everybody, it seemed, got their own happily ever after...

Author's Note: And... done... I hope you enjoyed reading Addiction as much as I enjoyed writing it. Be sure to favorite it and leave lots of reviews!

About the "Power Log" thing... It only makes sense when you think about it. It really should exist in canon. In my story it just functioned as a way to assure Misaka that the Queen wasn't actually controlling Kuroko.

This time the title is the Japanese word for ecstasy (the feeling not the drug, since that's the only thing made up of kanji, which look so much prettier). I'm sure you can guess why I chose it...