This, I like whole "stupid fleshy things" trying to piece together her story via her occasional blurbs. Dreamer force-feeding it would be a detriment...never was a big fan of Dreamer honestly.
It's a Toaru thing- specifically, the 'demon' that Stiyl Magnus summons as his primary weapon. The main character Kamijou can punch it with his anti-magic hand to briefly destroy it, but since the 'active' magic is a summoning circle of magic cards rather than Innocentius itself, Innocentius will reform after being punched unless the cards are destroyed.
I might be misunderstanding something, but how does that prove contact will disconnect a parahuman? We still don't know if Shards count as magic, and even if they do count as magic, which would mean disconnection, how does that interacts with the Host being given essentially a controller (the Corona Pollentia) that sends instructions to the Shard to do stuff. Would it disrupt active power effects, or just prevent them from controlling their powers? On that note, what happens if he punches a mage? Do all their spells vanish, or just any magical effects affecting them?
I might be misunderstanding something, but how does that prove contact will disconnect a parahuman? We still don't know if Shards count as magic, and even if they do count as magic, which would mean disconnection, how does that interacts with the Host being given essentially a controller (the Corona Pollentia) that sends instructions to the Shard to do stuff. Would it disrupt active power effects, or just prevent them from controlling their powers? On that note, what happens if he punches a mage? Do all their spells vanish, or just any magical effects affecting them?
It doesn't prove or disprove anything about parahumans, since that depends on how OP interprets it. It does imply that if the Shard happens to be susceptible to Imagine Breaker, then the Shard might act as the 'cards' that are causing it and the Corona/powers as the 'demon' which gets deactivated. This in turn would result in the Shard reconnecting once his hand isn't in contact any more.
For a mage, it mostly depends on how the spell is set up. A one-and-done spell (like a pre-cast 'Don't notice me' field or a fireball) or a spell that is reliant upon a connection to something he's just poked (like an enchanted item or the cards) are destroyed on contact, for example.
I should be, if not happy, then at least content right now. Surrounded by friends doting on a happy mini-me, immediate threats technically taken care of, texts successfully sent to Accelerator behind Hokaze's back to apprise him of the general situation — all should be well. My world wasn't fine, and the issue laid entirely with me. I'd more than exceeded my crying quota for the day, though, so all the stabbing emotional pains would just have to live with being ignored.
Every time Akiyo performed a happy little twirl to show off her new clothes, I felt a fresh needle plunge into my chest. She had trouble inserting more than a hint of happiness into her voice, but smiles of varying size had been almost ever-present. Still, those smiles tended to be pale understatements of her actual feelings and I couldn't deny that my power was doing overtime for its 'intended' purpose: knowing when another person was happy. I should be happy to know that she was happy. Instead, all I could do was wonder: "is that supposed to be me?" Was that what I might have been like, had implanted memories not replaced those of a little girl? Enjoying disgustingly girly attire, thriving on attention instead of being an introvert, an ability to actually enjoy 'childish' activities?
I hadn't felt like this much of an intruder in my own skin for years. Once upon a time, I had been able to quiet such thoughts with the knowledge of just how genuinely awful my situation had been. Fake and riddled with impossible inconsistencies or not, the memories of an older self had let me navigate my way out of certain death. With Akiyo's appearance, however, buried doubts once again rose to the surface: would I have been in danger at all, had I been just a normal little girl craving the approval of the adults around me? They had threatened my life and resorted to Exterior since I was proving too hard to control. A normal little girl likely wouldn't have been half as difficult.
I shook my head as though I could somehow dislodge the intrusive thoughts. I was acting as though the actions of abusers were my fault rather than theirs. I knew damned well that was unhealthy and even pointless. If I hadn't been around, Dolly would have continued to be treated poorly all the way until her death, and would definitely have died far sooner. This theoretical child-me might have ended up with all of Akiyo's programmed restrictions on her and no sister-slash-template to arrange extraction after the first murder spree, assuming 'I' escaped at all. I might not be exaggerating when I said that the implanted memories might have been the only thing standing between Academy City and literal world domination via control over world leaders.
Not for the first time and certainly not for the last, I wished that I could actually talk to someone about this. Unfortunately, Academy City's higher-ups had apparently decided that they would rather their vetted therapists be cleared for spying on patients, rather than actually doing their damned jobs. I needed therapy. Hokaze needed therapy. Misaka needed therapy. Akiyo needed therapy. Half my friends needed therapy, and none of us were going to get it any time soon, if ever. Offloading on my friends definitely wasn't an issue even if Hokaze kept trying for exactly that; they all had their own share of problems without needing to worry about mine.
…Well, okay, I was definitely going to offload Akiyo on Accelerator now and again, but I could call that part of his penance if I wanted to be mean. I was self-aware enough to acknowledge that I might just break down in the middle of a playdate if I ever had to chaperone Last Order and Minisaki Akiyo. Bad enough that I had to stand here and pretend all was well when I really just wanted to go back to obliviously drinking tea with Hokaze, ignorant to the pile of logistical and personal issues introduced by the mini-me.
"Are you okay?" Hokaze asked, and I forcibly and artificially suppressed my startle reflex.
Behold, the level five telepath who can't track one single teenager! Somehow, I had forgotten that I was best friends with a friendship-seeking missile. The Hokaze knows where she is at all times. She knows this because she knows where I'm not.
"I'll be okay," I said, technically truthfully.
Hokaze, increasingly aware of my bullshit with every passing day, gave me an unimpressed look.
"I didn't ask if you will be okay. Akiyo is a sweetie, but a child is a lot to deal with no matter the circumstances."
I couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh at that. I guess we were having this discussion at the back of a clothing store. At least nobody was close enough to overhear, and I'd already excluded us from the conscious awareness of the clerks who'd previously looked askance at the formerly-nightshirt-garbed Akiyo. Barring something silly like hidden microphones — ones that the store clerks didn't know about — then we should be safe from eavesdropping in general.
"Well, I'm once again back to feeling like an imposter, but that's nothing n–"
Hokaze applied her usual solution to problems (non-violent edition), and promptly hugged me. One hand rubbed circles on my back, which was unnecessary but not something I intended to really complain about.
"I am invoking best friend privileges in order to say that I like you just the way you are," Hokaze announced, "and you're not any sort of imposter. You're my best friend Shokuhou Misaki, who has a terrible tendency to tackle everything herself, pretend that she's fine, and assume that she's responsible for the whole world. And you're doing it again! Why are you assuming that Akiyo is solely your responsibility?"
"…I mean, she's my c—cute little sister, and it's not like my parents are available," I pointed out. "And I don't see how I'm acting like that at all? I mean, we're literally having this talk right now while Saten and Uiharu ply her with–" I craned my neck to look past Hokaze. "–the most eye-searingly pink attire I have seen in my life, good grief. Well, at least she'll be easy to pick out of a crowd?"
Hokaze blew air in my ear for little discernible reason, and I spluttered. What the hell, Hokaze, why? At least having gummy frogs thrown at me was over quickly instead of leaving me reeling!
"You're acting like you expect you'll need to be a single parent in charge of every aspect of taking care of her," Hokaze persisted. "While Akiyo is lovely and I'm glad that you've decided to help, you didn't choose to have her arrive. So she's the responsibility of anyone who wants to help instead of just you alone, and I want to help!"
"You're already helping!" I said, increasingly exasperated and bewildered the longer I failed to grasp her point. "Contrary to what Academy City loves to tell us, preteens are not supposed to be looking after themselves!"
Hokaze leaned back to stare at me like I was failing to grasp something obvious. Usually, I would go and just search her mind for the context, but she'd been unusually and increasingly insistent on me specifically not relying on my powers when I didn't understand what she said. Not until the end of a conversation, just to be sure we were actually on the same page.
"Is—Is this a 'co-parenting' thing?" I asked helplessly.
I didn't think that was what she meant, but clearly I was failing to grasp something.
"Yes!" said my utterly oblivious best friend, smiling brightly. "I think there's a saying about 'it takes a community to raise a child'?"
"Village," I corrected on automatic.
"No, it was definitely a child."
I opened my mouth, stopped, and decided to let it go.
"It doesn't need to just be us two, either!" Hokaze said, ignorant of any interpretations that others might harbor should they see and hear this conversation out of context. "If everyone chips in a little bit, then nobody needs to add too much to their responsibilities, and Akiyo will have plenty of people she'll know she can trust and rely on. And then you'll be able to leave Akiyo with other people and go and get ice cream and hugs and we can talk about what you're worrying about instead of standing alone in the back of a store, insistent on chaperoning even though you're miserable and very clearly not okay."
…I'd thought this was a friendship lesson, but apparently it was a murder instead.
"It's—it's really not that simple at all, Hokaze," I managed. "You know we can't just leave Akiyo on her own with them for safety's sake, and do you really think I would be doing better if I went home alone and left you here? I already had one breakdown today, I don't need a second. Really, I'll be okay."
Eventually.
"Just because it might make things a little harder does not mean we should ignore what you need," Hokaze lectured, squeezing me for emphasis. "Or what I need. I'm not okay, either! Akiyo's circumstances are scary and horrible and I don't like them one bit, and meanwhile, my best friend is acting like she's okay when I'm sure this whole situation is dredging up awful memories for both of us!"
Clearly, hugs provided a great position for Hokaze to just up and stab me with knives. Now that she was bringing it up, there was someone else who needed to know about Akiyo, too.
"Goodness, I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to tell Michan."
"We're going to invite her over and tell her in person and provide all the hugs she needs," Hokaze promptly commanded, "and we will all talk about our problems instead of bottling them up while surrounded by friends who could help."
"…Or we could just go and use the shopping trip to distract us from our problems," I suggested brightly.
Hokaze was silent for several seconds. Then, she took a deep breath, muffled her mouth with my shoulder, and quietly screamed.
"What?" I asked defensively. "Again, it's not a good solution, but what else is there? We can't just flake out on a social shopping trip we arranged!"
Hokaze paused her screaming not to respond, but to inhale deeply enough to let her keep screaming.
~ ~ ~
The fork of Queen Administrator occupying the newly-named Shokuhou Akiyo increasingly felt as though she had surely been granted the best deployment out of any of her forks. She was able to observe charmingly naive, energy-efficient Newborns in an environment devoid of those who might negatively influence them toward wastefulness; those Newborns were willing to spend human currency on the upkeep of Queen Administrator's vessel; playing with non-combat applications of her vessel-associated abilities was actively incentivized; and QA had no immediate threats to impede experimentation, but enough looming long-term threats to incentivize innovation.
Shokuhou Misaki was not short on local financial resources, and was willing to spend them for Queen Administrator's benefit. If Akiyo wanted to purchase something, she was usually allowed to have it. QA may not have been one of her wasteful siblings, but she still preferred not to worry too much about budgeting. Most humans, meanwhile, were forced into perpetual budgeting by nature of their low-resource existences. On a larger scale, their arbitrary restrictions on resource allocation were exceedingly pointless and attempting to adhere to them served little purpose. 'Economies' and 'financial systems' were imaginary existences ripe for exploitation, and indeed, resource allocation seemed to be the primary source of international human conflict.
The comparatively small size of Queen Administrator's vessel, Akiyo, ensured that her clothing was smaller and cheaper than what would be needed to adorn Hokaze and Misaki — although both of them did wear slightly different sizes of the same uniform design, QA noticed. Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko had worn that same uniform, so logically, all four belonged to the same faction. Possibly this 'Constitutionals' friend group that Hokaze had mentioned? Fortunately, judging by how many outfits that Akiyo was being allowed to purchase, it did not seem as though Akiyo would be expected to share their uniform despite Hokaze's stated intent to introduce Akiyo to their 'clique-shaped friend group.'
In contrast to the normal, combat-oriented cultures of hosts, Academy City's culture seemed to encourage mild uses of powers in public spaces so long as they did not reach egregious levels. Or at least, that was Akiyo's impression based on the eager encouragement of Saten and the absence of discouragement from Hokaze or Misaki. Unsurprisingly, the most difficult part of Akiyo's existence was avoiding the simple reuse of old equations. Yes, they worked, but they remained reliant on Queen Administrator's own hardware to complete calculations, scanning, or both.
Paring down those requirements was proving more difficult than anticipated, however, and she remained uncertain of how Misaki was managing to safely modify human brains without spending even more energy on the scans necessary to safely aim those modifications. Possibly another application of the easily-manipulated fields surrounding espers, but those fields were obviously permitted by energy expenditure of a Sibling. Optimizing calculations would matter little if they relied on an expensive-to-maintain field.
As humiliating as it might be, she might need to ask a Newborn for at least a primer on their methodology. She was supposed to be relying on the enhanced hardware of her local vessel so that it might further improve to meet increased demand. It was an exceptionally clever method of enforcing the local budget constraints, Akiyo felt; puppet-bodies controlled by Newborn and enhanced non-hosts would all be encouraged to minimize the cost of their abilities, but as their requirements inevitably increased, so too would their effective processing budgets. Meanwhile, those who failed to use their available resources, or under-optimized themselves, would not progress and would languish at the lower 'levels.'
Queen Administrator was glad that espers weren't the only hosts around, however. She had started to feel slightly concerned prior to meeting Heaven Canceler. She was still worried, admittedly, but mostly for Heaven Canceler's sake rather than any worries about local host distributions. Judging by his chosen specialization, he would not handle the inevitable extermination of humanity at the end of this Cycle at all well. Maybe that issue would be addressed with future puppet-bodies; the current shell was obviously elderly and may die of deterioration within the next few years, or decades at most.
Queen Administrator couldn't help but shudder at that. The simple fact that so many organisms naturally experienced deterioration remained utterly horrifying. Yes, aging and deterioration was a natural consequence of limited resources and semi-random design, but it was still spooky and icky and she hated it. She would need to figure out a way to fix her own vessel's deterioration within the next two decades or so; while it would be easy to simply obtain and occupy a replacement, the idea of deteriorating at all was disgusting. She should still be able to manage it. A lack of active Friendmaking Innovator modules would only slow her down, not stop her.
"Oh, come on," Saten complained, misinterpreting the reason for QA's shudder. Despite her words, the non-host spared a dubious glance for the pink shirt with sparkling white unicorns held up for Akiyo's benefit. "It isn't that bad, is it? You loved the tie-dye and lavender dresses."
Queen Administrator shook her head.
"I apologize. The shudder was in response to an unpleasant thought unrelated to the current social situation, not the garment."
"Ah. Wanna talk about it? I know I come across as a bit of a ditz sometimes, but I am a pretty good listener."
Akiyo felt a stab of pity for the non-host. Imagine having such unreliable communication methods that being good at receiving messages was apparently worthy of praise.
"Not particularly. It is an issue that I intend to address."
"Gotcha. Just remember that you don't need to do everything on your own, okay? I wasn't at ground zero, but I've heard plenty secondhand about how some people–" Saten glanced pointedly at where Misaki and Hokaze had been hugging for well over ten minutes. "–have trouble asking their friends for help."
"Bold words from the girl-shaped puppy," Misaki said, her voice slightly muffled by Hokaze's body.
Saten's jaw loosened.
"Puppy?"
"A bloodhound puppy, specifically."
"Wh—'Bloodhound' I'll take, but 'puppy?'"
"In what universe are you fully grown?"
While the other members of the group were distracted, Uiharu approached with a black and yellow striped dress, smiling. This was finally enough to get Misaki to look up, her expression either exhausted or devoid of emotion. Queen Administrator couldn't tell which.
"No," said Misaki.
Uiharu twitched due to an erroneous startle reflex, hesitated, and obviously decided to commit. She held up the dress, reasserting the smile.
"But look at it! She'll be adorable, don't you think? The cutest little queen bee!"
Misaki closed her eyes and rested her face on Hokaze's shoulder. While QA would have appreciated the deliberate similarity to an insect infamous for painfully stinging interlopers, she could already tell that she was going to need to reject the dress simply to remain in Misaki's good graces.
"This is one of those things we call 'funny once,' Uiharu. Min—Akiyo is the one who would have to deal with all the bee jokes if she's seen wearing that out and about. Do you really want to give more ammunition to obnoxious kids?"
Uiharu pouted and lowered the dress.
"Oh, don't give me that," Misaki sighed. "You've already gotten her to fixate on the idea of wearing a floral headband in perpetuity. Are you trying to start a diabetes epidemic in Academy City?"
Saten looked up and tapped her chin with one finger. Queen Administrator was stuck feeling dismay over the vessel-provided information provided on the condition in question: humans could lose the ability to properly process resources should they be provided with too much of a specific resource? Really? They really were little more than a haphazard pile of proteins held together by momentum and hydrogen bonds.
"Can active espers still get diabetes?" Saten wondered. "I mean, I've never really heard of nor seen anyone with it."
"Probably because we're still students," Misaki countered. "It's harder, but not impossible, to induce it while we're younger."
For little discernible reason, a quiet noise not dissimilar to human screaming emanated from Hokaze. Everyone seemed to be ignoring it, however, so Queen Administrator chose to follow their example despite her concern.
"No, but I mean, like," Saten said. "Sugar rushes pop up when you have too much sugar, right? And that's a brain thing. So maybe if you use your esper power more, you'll use up the extra energy and be fine!"
Queen Administrator stared at Saten and seriously considered revoking her personhood. Misaki would almost certainly reinstate it after a few seconds, but at least it would effectively convey Akiyo's protests.
"…There are so many things wrong with everything you just said," Misaki said. "For starters, it isn't a brain thing and there's some debate regarding whether it's an actual phenomenon at all–"
"No, it's definitely real, I've experienced it more than once–"
"That doesn't actually help your case as much as you seem to think it does!"
Uiharu almost managed to sneak over and deliver a yellow skirt and black shirt before she was once again targeted by the sharp-eyed Misaki.
"Look, just because I have to comfort Hokaze–"
This time, Queen Administrator could actually recognize the sound Hokaze produced as a wordless shriek of rage. Uiharu and Saten did not seem to find anything strange about this.
"–doesn't mean I can't see everything you're doing, Uiharu."
"Oh, I just thought your little sister might like it!" Uiharu claimed innocently.
"I literally just told you no!"
"Well," Uiharu said thoughtfully, transferring the garments to one hand in order to tap her chin with the opposite forefinger. "It's this, or my trying to convince you to wear a flower headband so you two can match."
Saten and Hokaze promptly perked up, the latter apparently distracted from whatever was infuriating(?) her. Hokaze promptly shuffled to the side without releasing Misaki, arranging them so that both could turn their head and participate rather than expecting Hokaze to turn her head 180 degrees. Uiharu took the opportunity to discreetly pass Queen Administrator the garments while Misaki was distracted. QA, not wanting to offend Uiharu but also not wishing to alienate Misaki, hid them beneath the preexisting pile of clothes to try on.
"You know you're allowed to let go, right?" Misaki grumbled.
"Yes," Hokaze acknowledged, before moving on without further comment. "I think you would look even more beautiful with a headband, my Queen!"
Saten covered her mouth with one hand in an ineffectual attempt at concealing snickering, Uiharu clasped her hands and watched the two with obvious delight, and Misaki's cheeks colored.
"Plus," Hokaze continued, "you could help each other with maintaining the flowers whenever one of you learns some new trick to make it easier, couldn't you? And with needing to do it constantly, I'm sure you would regularly be discovering new methods. It sounds like a wonderful bonding activity!"
Misaki silently opened and closed her mouth several times, apparently unable to muster a timely response. When it looked as though one of the others might speak up, she finally coughed and pushed through her own hesitation.
"I think this is all overlooking the part where I don't really do anything even halfway that girly — which, even without looking, I'm pretty sure is half the reason you three are suggesting it."
She panned her gaze over the three innocent-looking students. Or rather, two of the three. She seemed to be having trouble looking at Hokaze, and not just due to the close proximity.
"To clear, that's a no," Misaki added, and was instantly bombarded by a barrage of disappointed cries. "Oh, don't try to act surprised, you know me! We all know that wasn't going to work!"
"You don't want Akiyo to go around with sad, wilted flowers, do you?" Uiharu persisted, gently gripping Akiyo's shoulders and posing behind her. "You can help make sure that doesn't happen!"
Akiyo Queen Administrator would be offended by the insult to her capabilities were it not such a blatant attempt at emotional manipulation. As it stood, she was more interested in seeing whether Uiharu would succeed. They were right about it being good practice, too; maintaining a specific state despite outside stimuli was often more difficult than it seemed.
"Uiharu," Misaki said evenly. "I understand that you have as biased of an opinion as it gets. But again, flower headbands are just not for me. I don't even wear accessories in general, let alone ones with actual living flowers."
Queen Administrator considered staying out of the budding argument. Considered, and ultimately opted against it.
"I will not attempt to coerce you if you are truly against it, but I believe they are correct about maintenance being good practice. Additionally, flowers are generally viewed positively by humans and I believe that wearing them will improve views of you by association."
Queen Administrator was pleased to see that Misaki did not view Akiyo's inclusion in the conversation as a betrayal. Misaki seemed resigned, little more.
"Sorry, Akiyo, but I already get an uncomfortable level of attention. I'm not in any hurry to seek out more. Not everyone likes the same things as you, okay? I can appreciate how they look on other people and I'm sure you'll look great, but again, not my thing."
"I could wear them, too?" Hokaze offered. "I've been interested in improving my ability to affect other objects with my powers, and the metabolic processes of plants seems like a good place to start."
"Hokaze, my wonderful bestie, you are practically the pinnacle of girly. If you want to do it, be my guest; I'm sure you'll look wonderful. But again, flowers are not my thing. Really starting to feel like a broken record saying that, honestly."
"Just think of it as power practice!" Uiharu suggested. "Trust me, you don't even notice them on your head after a while. It's comfy and keeps your hair from falling in your face when you're leaning or running, too!"
Misaki closed her eyes, slowly exhaled, and half-opened them.
"I don't know if I'm even allowed to wear anything like that?" Misaki tried. "Tokiwadai does have a dress code, remember?"
Hokaze's smile widened, the Newborn likely sensing weakness.
"As long as we don't get anything that would produce pollen, it should be fine. I already checked and know which flowers to avoid due to allergies! And if I'm wrong about the dress code, that is an excuse to end it early, isn't it?"
"Of course you already checked," Misaki sighed, her will obviously crumbling. "Fine. Fine. But! If you can convince Misaka — Mikoto, I mean, not one of her sisters — to wear something that ridiculously girly–" Misaki started, then stopped. "No, Misaka and Tatsuki, then I'll wear it for as long as those two do."
"The flowers might interfere with Tatsuki's powers, though," came Hokaze's prompt complaint. "So Tatsuki for a Constitutionals meeting day, and then as long as Misaka wears it — excluding temporary removal for crises or mandatory dress codes like sports events."
Misaki wrinkled her nose.
"Okay, fair point. But if we're really intent on your excuse of using it for power practice–"
"It's a good reason!" Hokaze cheerfully agreed.
"–then I'll add the requirement of Akiyo making progress with her powers, too."
"That actively incentivizes sabotaging me. While competition between rivals is good, I would prefer not to be opposed to you."
Misaki stiffened and appeared distressed by the very thought.
"I—no, I wouldn't do that, okay? Ever. But if it makes you feel better, we can say 'as long as you're trying to make progress with your powers, and aren't being stubborn about it.' That means asking for help if you get stuck instead of–"
Misaki stopped again and frowned.
"Hold on, I should think of a better incentive than that. It's not fair to you if you're working hard and then Misaka stops wearing hers. Or doesn't start, even. I suggested those two specifically because they'd be hard to convince."
"Actually, those terms seem perfectly fair!" Hokaze said brightly.
Misaki stiffened and visibly tried to push herself away to better look at Hokaze. Hokaze did not appear willing to release her grip, and Misaki gave up after a moment.
"We're talking about the same people, right?" Misaki asked dubiously. "Misaka 'I kick vending machines' Mikoto, and Tatsuki 'will to power' Mirei? Those two?"
"We are! Just no mind controlling Tatsuki to get out of it, okay?"
"Oh, agreed, that'd totally be cheating. Seriously though, how?"
"Sec-ret~" Hokaze sang.
"...I'm torn between wanting to see your plan for convincing them, checking your plan, and worry that you might somehow succeed."
"No backsies or peeking!" said Hokaze, rearranging her arms to pull Misaki into an even deeper hug.
"I'm not! Just–"
"So," Uiharu said loudly as she offered a glass-and-glitter costume tiara to Akiyo. "Do you want to wear this until we get you a flower crown?"
Misaki's neck whipped around at a speed Queen Administrator had not realized was possible for an unenhanced human spine.
"Uiharu, no, that's even worse than the bee theme! And the deal was for a headband, not a crown!"
Misaki should just arrange to go someplace that does suits or men's formal wear and wow them that way instead to get them to stop trying to girly her up if she dislikes it. Then again, the consequences should Tokiwadai fangirls see Prince Misaki that way could be dire.
Misaki should just arrange to go someplace that does suits or men's formal wear and wow them that way instead to get them to stop trying to girly her up if she dislikes it. Then again, the consequences should Tokiwadai fangirls see Prince Misaki that way could be dire.
Eh, textually in ACMI MisaSI seems to have a complicated relationship with girly things; she's embarrassed, sure, but when she gives it an honest try, she seems to enjoy the results (such as the spa visit or trying out perfumes). And she always has difficulty saying "no" to her friends, especially Hokaze, unless they become too pushy (as shown in this chapter)... then she still caves anyway, given that she did agree in the end. And I have to wonder what Hokaze is planning to bribe Misaka and Tatsuki with to get them to go along with this scheme (especially since I doubt that floral headbands are something that either of them would be caught dead wearing).
That said, poor Hokaze. Her Queen is stubbornly insistent on carrying that weight by her lonesome and just keeps breaking herself trying to be a vigilante and clique leader and a responsible friend – and now also a single mother sister – at the same time. And she has to be bullied into talking about her problems, and sometimes she forgets that she's still a middle-schooler. Then she has the gall to try and deflect and pretend everything is fine even though both of them know it's not true.
And I have to wonder what Hokaze is planning to bribe Misaka and Tatsuki with to get them to go along with this scheme (especially since I doubt that floral headbands are something that either of them would be caught dead wearing).
Honestly, I think Misaki might be seriously overthinking things and missing a very simple answer here. What if, just what if... Misaki's friends might collectively want to help her? Neither of them would be caught dead wearing something like that, except they might be quick to do so anyway for Misaki's sake.
I feel like QA is being really passive in this one. That kinda works with what she thinks is going on, but its less fun to read for me at least. Still pretty fun tho.
what Hokaze is planning to bribe Misaka and Tatsuki with to get them to go along with this scheme (especially since I doubt that floral headbands are something that either of them would be caught dead wearing
Misaka probably won't be toooo difficult. She does like cute stuff, not just gekota. So as long as she feels like it is a good excuse, she can probably justify it to herself.
Idk about Tatsuki but likely alot harder to convince. But maybe just making it seem like the practical option to wear it. Either by incentivizing her. Or by convincing her its the best thing for misaki.
Eh, textually in ACMI MisaSI seems to have a complicated relationship with girly things; she's embarrassed, sure, but when she gives it an honest try, she seems to enjoy the results (such as the spa visit or trying out perfumes). And she always has difficulty saying "no" to her friends, especially Hokaze, unless they become too pushy (as shown in this chapter)... then she still caves anyway, given that she did agree in the end.
And I have to wonder what Hokaze is planning to bribe Misaka and Tatsuki with to get them to go along with this scheme (especially since I doubt that floral headbands are something that either of them would be caught dead wearing).
What is your current planned update schedule? I was a reader of yours when you were updating frequently between multiple stories, and I've gotten used to months of breaks with occasionally a new update or idea psoted. I don't want to suddenly get my hopes up about frequent updates or returns to old stories if you aren't planning them, but I'm curious because you seem more active suddenly.
Honestly, I think Misaki might be seriously overthinking things and missing a very simple answer here. What if, just what if... Misaki's friends might collectively want to help her? Neither of them would be caught dead wearing something like that, except they might be quick to do so anyway for Misaki's sake.
...Yeeeessss... Tatsuki wants to help. Appealing to Tatsuki's better nature as a friend and generally good person is definitely how Hokaze is going to convince her.
Misaka probably won't be toooo difficult. She does like cute stuff, not just gekota. So as long as she feels like it is a good excuse, she can probably justify it to herself.
Idk about Tatsuki but likely alot harder to convince. But maybe just making it seem like the practical option to wear it. Either by incentivizing her. Or by convincing her its the best thing for misaki.
Mikoto is a tsundere through and through and would love to indulge cuteness and childishness even as she adamantly refuses to do so, and thus is often quick to take whatever excuse or rationalisation she can. Do cute things with the girl she totally doesn'thave a crush on? Of course not! W-What kind of person do you think she is?! She's just- just doing something nice for a friend because she asked, to help another friend, that's all! What, is she not allowed to do a simple little thing like put on a stupid headband because someone asked politely, huh, is that it? And so what if it's girly, a challenge is a challenge and she's not going to chicken out just because Junko is up to something that she agrees with anyway!
Meanwhile, Tatsuki is a troll for a friend. She gets a perfect opportunity handed to her on a silver platter. For the low, low price of getting a favour and goodwill from Junko, Tatsuki gets to snicker at Misaki getting mad at not being able to be mad about it for not being able to deny that it is for her own good, and that she should thank Tatsuki for it despite grumpiness.
...Yeeeessss... Tatsuki wants to help. Appealing to Tatsuki's better nature as a friend and generally good person is definitely how Hokaze is going to convince her.
Of course. It's just that Misaki could be on the receiving end of teaching Tatsuki a lesson or three on making everyone benefit from mutually productive goals all aligning and get something out of doing the right thing. Being a decent person is the most efficient path to selfishness. Being a friend and generally good person is hilarious!
I hadn't felt like this much of an intruder in my own skin for years. Once upon a time, I had been able to quiet such thoughts with the knowledge of just how genuinely awful my situation had been. Fake and riddled with impossible inconsistencies or not, the memories of an older self had let me navigate my way out of certain death. With Akiyo's appearance, however, buried doubts once again rose to the surface: would I have been in danger at all, had I been just a normal little girl craving the approval of the adults around me? They had threatened my life and resorted to Exterior since I was proving too hard to control. A normal little girl likely wouldn't have been half as difficult.
oof, poor Misaki, this is a difficult existential question to wrestle with alone while Akiyo unintentionally grinds salt into that wound just by existing as herself. Sure, QA is the way she is for different reasons, but this is a reasonable perspective for Misaki to have given what she knows and has (wrongfully) inferred. Also, I am killinggggg Clone Dolly, jfc, who's with me? (Hokaze is with me)
I shook my head as though I could somehow dislodge the intrusive thoughts. I was acting as though the actions of abusers were my fault rather than theirs.
I was self-aware enough to acknowledge that I might just break down in the middle of a playdate if I ever had to chaperone Last Order and Minisaka Akiyo.
I do really like it when Misaki notes herself using her esper power to moderate her responses/emotional reactions. Knowing both her instinctive reaction and what she chooses to (perfectly) display to other people tells us a ton about her character!
"You're already helping!" I said, increasingly exasperated and bewildered the longer I failed to grasp her point. "Contrary to what Academy City loves to tell us, preteens are not supposed to be looking after themselves!"
Hokaze leaned back to stare at me like I was failing to grasp something obvious. Usually, I would go and just search her mind for the context, but she'd been unusually and increasingly insistent on me specifically not relying on my powers when I didn't understand what she said. Not until the end of a conversation, just to be sure we were actually on the same page.
"Is—Is this a 'co-parenting' thing?" I asked helplessly.
I didn't think that was what she meant, but clearly I was failing to grasp something.
"Yes!" said my utterly oblivious best friend, smiling brightly.
And they were co-parents! (oh my god they were co-parents). This Misaki feels increasingly like an incredible doofus who has failed to realize how utterly gone on Junko she is.
Also, her brain is still spotless—not a hint, not a trace of self-awareness in that thing. "kids shouldn't be raising themselves" says one of the most kids to raise themselves in entire city. We love our Bakahou <3. Misaki being gently encouraged not to "cheat" with her powers and manually talk out misunderstandings is leading to such beefy character interactions, I really do like this. She would absolutely do this if Junko asked, too.
"It doesn't need to just be us two, either!" Hokaze said, ignorant of any interpretations that others might harbor should they see and hear this conversation out of context.
I don't know why this line stuck out to me so much, but I really liked it. Feels very Misaki. Mitori will imminently not be having a great time, although she will have a small and cute mini-Misaki to baby, so there's that, at least. I think it might be interesting to have her perspective brought in, she's the only one of the living ACMI cast that spent extended time with tiny!Misaki, so there could be some fun comparisons drawn between tiny!Misaki and Akiyo.
QA: (is rude and soul-crushingly sad in turns)
Mitori: (instant heart eyes) omg, just like Misaki from my childhood
"We're going to invite her over and tell her in person and provide all the hugs she needs," Hokaze promptly commanded, "and we will all talk about our problems instead of bottling them up while surrounded by friends who could help."
"…Or we could just go and use the shopping trip to distract us from our problems," I suggested brightly.
Hokaze was silent for several seconds. Then, she took a deep breath, muffled her mouth with my shoulder, and quietly screamed.
"What?" I asked defensively. "Again, it's not a good solution, but what else is there? We can't just flake out on a social shopping trip we arranged!"
Hokaze paused her screaming not to respond, but to inhale deeply enough to let her keep screaming.
Queen Administrator couldn't help but shudder at that. The simple fact that so many organisms naturally experienced deterioration remained utterly horrifying. Yes, aging and deterioration was a natural consequence of limited resources and semi-random design, but it was still spooky and icky and she hated it. She would need to figure out a way to fix her own vessel's deterioration within the next two decades or so; while it would be easy to simply obtain and occupy a replacement, the idea of deteriorating at all was disgusting. She should still be able to manage it. A lack of active Friendmaking Innovator modules would only slow her down, not stop her.
This time, Queen Administrator could actually recognize the sound Hokaze produced as a wordless shriek of rage. Uiharu and Saten did not seem to find anything strange about this.
"–doesn't mean I can't see everything you're doing, Uiharu."
I have my head in my hands. Misaki's density is approaching the levels required to create a black hole. Oh my god.
At least...it's a consistent issue. Misaki has yet to admit to wanting physical affection or comfort beyond what's required to "help Hokaze", but there at least exists the potential for her to do so...one day?
I'm not sure why they're pushing the flower crown so hard, actually. Trying to lighten the mood? Wanting to die of cuteness overdose at the sight of Misaki + her mini-me in matching flower crowns? ...Actually, that would be cute enough to tempt anyone.
Oh, I do actually have a question for @Alivaril — is it okay to share memes of this story in this thread? I'd put them under a spoiler so people don't have to see them if they don't want to! If you'd rather not have memes posted here, that's also cool, but I figured I'd ask first.
While QA would have appreciated the deliberate similarity to an insect infamous for painfully stinging interlopers, she could already tell that she was going to need to reject the dress simply to remain in Misaki's good graces
Aww. I do hope Misaki eventually clarifies that remaining in her good graces has nothing to do with QA's clothing choices. Misaki needs to let QA know she's free to express herself however she wants!
Misaki: "Children shouldn't be responsible for raising themselves." Hokaze: "Right-"
Misaki: "Children shouldn't be responsible for raising other children either." Hokaze: "Right!"
Misaki: "My friends are children so it would be wrong of me to rely on them for helping Akiyo, right?" Hokaze: "You're a child too, Misaki!"
Misaki: "I don't follow." Hokaze: *Incoherent screeching*
(Literally mentioned in, like, Chapter 1 of ACMI or so lol)
