Disclaimer: I don't own any of the copyrighted material present in this story, all rights belong to their respective owners.

Chapter 01

A small girl runs through the shadowy back alleys of an abandoned city district while trying to protect what looks like a small wooden box from whomever is pursuing her.

However, the clothes that she's wearing (a nun's habit, nonetheless), as well as, the various bruises and cuts that cover her body cause her to stumble every now and then, leaving her open for even more punishment.

And so, as she staggers to her feet again she is hit in the back mercilessly by her opponent and thrown all the way to the sidewalk.

"Now, now, my dear, I hope that you've made your prayers this morning, 'cause now… Playtime is over!" The girl's pursuer says as he readies his next attack.

Meanwhile, not very far from there…

"Aw man, that's just my rotten luck," Touma said as he picked yet another empty can from the ground and put it on the plastic bag that he was carrying on his left hand.

The reason why he was here, on a district that was so throughout wrecked that even Skill Out didn't wanted it, was none other than the fact that his lovely homeroom teacher had forced everyone in the his class to take such a perfect weekend as they were having and throw it away doing community services.

"And so, here am I. Picking up trash instead of enjoying such a good weather," Touma sighed while gazing at the clear skies.

"Come on, you don't have to complain so much, Kami."

"Yeah, at least we get an eyeful of the girls in their gym clothes even though today is Sunday."

It's not even necessary to say that the two who said such things while ogling the girls like the pair of perverts that they truly are were none but Touma's friends, Pierce Aogami and Motoharu Tsuchimikado.

"Hey you, Three Stooges! Why don't you stop talking trash and start taking this seriously?" Likewise, the only one who could have uttered such a magnificent threat was none Seiri Fukiyose, the axis of reason in this class of unruly misfits.

"I guess that we'll go faster if we split ourselves, don't you think?" Touma said, not very well hiding the fact that he was searching for a way to escape the dagger stares of all the girls in his class.

"Well, I guess you may be right, but…" Said Fukiyose as she stopped to consider the possibility.

However, "Hey, Kamijou, where do you think you're going?" She shouted as Touma ran away from them.

"I'll do this side, you guys do the other one!" Shouted Touma as he made his hasty retreat.

"Urgh… what's up with him?" Fukiyose shouted as Touma's silhouette disappeared between the old buildings.

Soon enough, all of the other students started to take their own ways and you didn't have to be a genius to know that because of Touma's laziness their day was ruined.

A few moments later…

"Phew… I'm glad I managed to lose them," Touma said as he stopped to catch a breath behind an old trash container.

"Now then, it's almost lunchtime. Index will be furious with me if I don't get back quickly."

But, when Touma picked his phone to check for the fastest way back home…

"Kyaaa!" A scream that echoed through the deserted alleyways reached his ears.

"Oh great, I bet one of the girls found an ugly bug, or something like this. But anyway, it's better to check it!"

Touma then began to run to where the scream had come from and in a few minutes found a girl wearing a nun's habit unconscious on a nearby sidewalk.

However, before he got to where she was, the girl was struck by a powerful wind and almost got thrown towards a nearby canal.

Putting as much strength on his lower limbs as he could, Touma ran faster than he ever had before (or so he thought) and was able to grab the girl mid-flight and land not-so-cleanly by rolling over with the girl still in his arms.

"Hey, are you, ok? Hang on I'll call an ambulance right away!" Touma shouted as he placed the girl safely on the ground, but she didn't answered t any of his calls.

"If I were you, I wouldn't even bother myself with the fate of such a heretic." Said a mysterious voice, coming from an alley behind Touma and the girl.

"Show yourself, you dirty coward!" Shouted Touma as he got back to his feet, shielding the girl.

"I've no business with a nosy brat like you, boy. If you go away now, I'll even turn a blind eye while you run." Said an exotic dressed woman as she got out of the alley and walked condescendingly toward Touma.

Her clothes were like that of a desert traveler, and in her right hand, she held some kind of metal bottle shut tightly with a glass cork. The small amount of skin that was visible behind her cloth mask was sunburned, yet smooth and beautiful, just like a maiden come straight out of one of the tales of the 1001 Nights.

"Not even in your dreams, pal. I may not know what's happening here, but there's no way that I'll turn by back to someone in need!" Touma said as he lowered his stance, ready for whatever was to come.

"Such bravery… and here was I thinking that chivalry had died a long time ago." Said the woman mockingly, she then uncork the bottle and shouted, "But remember, it was you who asked for it!"

Soon a great gust of wind was shot from the bottle and a ball of compressed air as fast and as strong as a cannon ball flew in Touma's direction.

He didn't so much as move a centimeter from where he was and only blocked the blast of magic wind with his right hand and just as he expected, Imagine Breaker destroyed it easily.

The mage was momentarily taken aback when her spell was cancelled in such a way, so Touma used that opportunity to charge her and try to land a punch.

But, she regained her senses just as he would connect and countered with a spinning kick that sent Touma heeling backwards.

She followed with another blast of magic, which Touma countered easily again. Seeing that her spells didn't worked for a second time, even if her kick did, the woman did a backwards somersault and landed more than ten meters away from where she was standing.

"Let's see how you handle this, then!" She casted yet another spell before Touma had time to reach her, but this time it wasn't aimed at him.

"Oh, no!" Touma shouted as the spell, some kind of blades made out of wind, shot past him and slashed cleanly through the side of one of the nearby buildings, causing it to collapse right on top of the unconscious nun.

"Damn!" Touma shouted as he run towards where he left the nun, but when he got there there was no more time to take her away, so he tried his best to shield her from the debris despite knowing it was of no use.

However, when a big piece of concrete was about to crush Touma and the girl, someone saved them by slashing it in two.

Just as Touma was about to lose his own consciousness because of the injuries he sustained from the other debris, he heard the mysterious woman shouting hysterically, "What the hell are you doing here?"