Chapter 0- In Which an Unfortunate Level 0 Encounters an Unfortunate Dog

Academy City, a sovereign city city-state that is home to 2.3 million people. Within this giant population, is one boy who struggles with his unusual life, yet he continues to push through. Whether it be getting into very strange and specific (and inappropriate) situations with females or encountering a world ending threat, Kamijou Touma will still keep moving forward with a smile, with hope for a better tomorrow… except right now he wished tomorrow would start today.

Unlucky isn't something most people would consider when receiving a bunch of gifts on Valentine's Day. But this… puts a frown on Touma's face.

Kamijou Touma was scraping his shoes against the cold concrete on a Certain Iron Railway Bridge, with his hands holding a mountain range of chocolates.

Yes, it was Valentine's day, but most importantly it was his "first" Valentine's day because of a certain event that happened in the summer of the previous year. As he did not know what to expect, Kamijou did not prepare for the onslaught that would happen.

The day started off with Kamijou's adorable freeloader, Index, going off somewhere to 'hang out' with someone (she was really just trying to prepare chocolates for him). It also seems as though Index also took a certain former Magic God with her for this 'hang out'. Kamijou was surprised that Index left early without eating breakfast, but he was glad that she did so because his current stock of groceries was all out, which meant no breakfast, which would've then lead to getting his skull crushed by the nun's sharp teeth.

Kamijou then continued his day by walking to A Certain High School while constantly sneezing because of a feeling of someone talking about him. This seems to be the result of several of his (female) allies in Europe arriving in Academy City to visit him. Nevertheless, the entire walk seemed uneventful, causing Kamijou to become very cautious when he entered his school.

And it turns out that he was right to feel fear as there were a long line of girls offering him chocolates, with the boys in his class emitting a sinister aura. One girl, who was not in the line, was Fukiyose Seiri, the supposed Iron Wall Girl. She was also carrying a box of chocolates, but know no one knew who it was for. That is, until a certain blue haired fetish king noticed that Seiri had an irritated expression on her face and a slight red hue on her cheeks.

Aogami Pierce did not take this lightly, as he panicked and yelled something about 'The Kami-yan Disease' and 'The Iron Wall Girl has fallen'. All of this made said Iron Wall Girl very angry, leading her to using him as a torpedo and launching him at Kamijou, the original source of her irritation.

After school, it was an all out hunt. The predators: Kamijou's male classmates. The prey: Kamijou Touma, of course. Kamijou ran past several locations: a certain vending machine (a certain level 5 electromaster seemed to be waiting for someone for some reason here, though Kamijou was too busy preserving himself to notice), a Windowless building, the Iron Bridge, and several different school districts. The trip through these districts suddenly became more interesting as a new party arrived: The Amakusa Church. But suddenly, the Agnese forces were there, too. They both came to Academy City for Kamijou, but they never came as allies with each other for this event. This lead to an all out brawl between the two factions, with even more coming in, like the Sisters, the Dawn-colored Sunlight and New Light, wait, no, it was just Lessar. with all this chaos happening, Kamijou managed to slip away.

This all lead to what was happening now, with our unlucky hero somehow crossing the Iron Bridge in School District 7 safely. This walk along the bridge was very peaceful, with the night sky hanging over (yikes it really was a long day) and the moon shining down on to Kamijou.

Kamijou knew better than to relax during this peaceful crossing, as his luck would immediately stop him from savoring this peace any longer. That is why he stood alert when he saw a fishing rod and a bucket just sitting next to the railing.

Who in the world would fish on this bridge?

Sure, there is a riverbank underneath the bridge, but that doesn't mean fish inhabit the river there!

So for what reason would the fishing rod and bucket be there.

For what reason indeed…

"Gáe-"

Kamijou immediately reacted to the first syllable that he heard by dropping all of his chocolates and bending his knees…

"Bolg!"

...And jumping over the railing on his left side to make it onto the road on the bridge.

This was the right choice to make as he was able to dodge a very beautiful, crimson spear that shined within the moonlight. He looked at the spear that was towards his right which was on the other side of the railing he jumped over. Suddenly, Kamijou felt something was very wrong, so he instinctively held out his right hand in front him, turning his body…

As the same spear rushed at him again, but this time, his Imagine Breaker repelled the blood red spear by colliding with it and then pushing it back, like if it was deflecting it.

Kamijou then turned to his left again…

Only for the railing that was on his right appearing on his left side again, as if he didn't jump over the railing in the first place.

"Well then, you seem to have escaped my mightiest blow, Imagine Breaker. You must be pretty lucky if you were able to pull that off. But then again..." The voice came from the top of one of the arcs on the bridge.

Kamijou looked up to see a confident, yet relaxed figure standing on the arc. He was wearing what seemed to be a blue spandex decorated with silver patterns and armor. He also had on silver earrings to compliment his look, and crimson eyes to match the spear that he threw earlier.

Kamijou immediately got into a fighting stance, with both of his arms up in a guard.

"Let's get this over with, this poor, DEFINITELY NOT lucky Kamijou-san only has enough energy to shatter one person's illusions tonight…"

The blue figure just stared at him. His face then contorted into an expression. An expression of amusement. The Imagine Breaker however, was not amused.

"What is that look on your face? You think this is funny?! This Kamijou-san does not find this funny at all! I have gone through an angry Fukiyose-grade Military vehicle launching an Aogami nuke at me, followed by several jealous classmates hunting me down through several districts while I was holding a giant pile of chocolate, though I don't know why they were jealous, then I encountered the full might of the Magic Side fighting each other after encountering me, and then you! You and your stupid red spear that's reminding me of how long this day was, and you just look at me with a 'hah that's pretty funny' look on your face, why is that?! gAaAAhh! Such misfortune!" The poor boy was constantly hitting his head on the railing with pure frustration nullifying his pain.

The man in the blue spandex can only do one thing in response to the sight in front of him: laugh.

"Hahahahahahaha!"

Kamijou's attention went back to the man in the spandex.

"Well great! Now you're laughing! Come on let's get this over with alr-"

"Relax kid, I'm not gonna fight you."

The boy's response to the man has been immediately cut off by the man himself.

"What?"

"Really, none of us are here to fight you."

The man was attempting to speak in a relaxed, casual tone, but he was still recovering from his laughter.

"Wait a second. 'Us'?" Kamijou had asked with confusion

"Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Cú Chulainn! Ireland's Child of Light! The warrior who has received the tutelage of Sc-"

"Come again?"

'Cú Chulainn' stared at Kamijou Touma with a look that can only be described with a "huh?". This action was also working vice versa.

"I'm Cú Chulainn, a great warrior of the Ulster Cycle."

"Ulcer Cycle?"

"Wait, you're telling me that you don't know who I am?"

The boy just stared at him and shook his head in response. The Dog of Chulainn stared in disbelief. He then closed his eyes and sighed.

"Well, I guess there really is a first time for everything."

The boy only stood there with even more confusion becoming apparent on his face. He then remembered something…

"Hey, hold on, I almost forgot, WHY THE HELL DID YOU THROW A SPEAR AT ME?!"

Cú opened his eyes, as Kamijou's yelling caught his attention.

"Oh yeah, about that, I've been given knowledge about the power within your hand being able to negate any magic. I've also heard about how you're a capable fighter, too, so I decided to see if both of those were true by seeing if you can survive a Noble Phantasm such as mine."

"Noble Phantasm?"

"Noble Phantasms - precious tools belonging to Servants."

"Servants?"

"Something like summoned warriors for The Holy Grail War."

"Holy What?"

"The Holy Grail War is a struggle between 7 mages who each summon a heroic spirit as a servant from one of the 7 main classes. They all fight over the Holy Grail by killing each other usually. The winner of the war is then granted one wish."

The boy stared with a look of confusion. The look of confusion then changed into a face of seriousness. He then held himself with a confident posture

"If you're here as part of a fight between magicians, a lot of innocent people are going to get hurt, so I'm gonna have to stop that by shattering this messed up illusion of a war."

Cú Chulainn looked back at the boy. He then jumped off of the arc he was perched on top of and landed flawlessly on the concrete in front of Kamijou.

"Relax, like I said, we're not here to fight. We don't even have any masters."

"What?"

"It seems as though the Grail set us out, though I wouldn't know why. The thing is, kid, it didn't just summon 7 servants this time… It summoned all of them."

The blue haired man said all of that with a casual tone and a relaxed face.

"Well, since we were all summoned, we decided to go sightseeing, except most of us ended up in this city. The ones who came here, including me, met a strange man who knew about us and let us stay in a giant mansion for no reason at all. I don't trust that man, it seems as though he's always plotting something."

"That's… interesting… why did you guys come here?"

Cú Chulainn pointed at Kamijou.

"You, among different reasons."

"Me?"

"The grail provides us with knowledge, and this includes everything that is relevant. You are one of the most important figures currently, as you have done several feats that match that of a hero. We are curious about you, as a person, and as a hero."

Kamijou's look of confusion came back to him.

"I'm sorry, you've got the wrong person, I am not a-"

"Sure you are, you fought against the 'strongest' in this city to protect some girls, nice by the way, saved a woman from a bunch of battle nuns, also nice, fought the entire world to protect the smile of a g-"

"Why do I feel like you're only talking about the times that I've helped a female out?"

"That doesn't matter, young hero. What does matter is that your heroic antics interested us. Also, others came here out of curiosity for the city's advanced technology."

Kamijou just sighed to the blue haired warrior's response. Yes, Kamijou Touma is a hero to many, yet he doesn't see himself as one. He's the kind of person who would help out anyone because he needs no reason to help someone. Only he would do that, yet he thinks that anyone else would perform these actions as well.

"So then, you're not here to fight, just to explore?"

"Yeah, if you put it like that. Now then, Kamijou Touma, I have heard about your mysterious luck, or rather, lack of luck, and I can't help but laugh at it."

Kamijou glared at the blue haired warrior. "Hey! My misfortune is nothing to laugh at! You have no idea what I've gone through with this bad luck!" Clearly, Kamijou took offense to Cú Chulainn's remark.

"Well that's why I can't help but laugh because I know what you've gone through, and to be honest, I've gone through similar experiences."

"Similar experiences?"

Cú Chulainn's face grew darker, yet his smile didn't leave his face. His smile was held in a melancholic fashion.

"I have very strange memories of a woman in red hair. She was killed by that priest bastard… I also remember 3 different times that I've died, yet it felt the same all 3 times. It felt like only one of those 3 deaths happened, but I still remember all of them. All of that was only during that cursed War in Fuyuki… I did meet some interesting people, though. Compared to you though, I'd consider myself lucky. How does someone manage to get attacked by several different magic factions at once?" With that last statement, Cú Chulainn laughed once again, and whatever sympathy Kamijou had for him was completely lost as Kamijou became irritated.

"Gaaah! Did someone who literally died 3 times seriously called himself lucky compared to me? Such misfortune!"

Cú Chulainn eventually recovered from his laughter once more, and he stood up straight to face the young boy.

"Thanks for the laugh, kid. Anyways, it seems as though that it's getting a little late now, so I'm gonna go. Also, watch for the other servants, bye!" With that last farewell, Cú Chulainn disappeared into the night.

"Ummm… okay then. Wait a second, get back here! You have to help me pick up all of these chocolates! Gaaah! I also can't forget about Index! I don't want to suffer permanent brain damage just because I was talking to some weird guy in a blue spandex! Why does this Kamijou-san have to be so unlucky! Such misfortune!

()

Misaka Mikoto is not pleased. She waited for an hour for a certain spikey-haired boy to pass by the vending machine, yet he was not there. She was right about to leave when she saw the said boy holding a mountain of chocolates run right around her and the vending machine with a giant mob of angry male students.

Mikoto decided to quickly give chase, which was a very difficult task to do, as it led her through several different school districts and an all out brawl between different magic factions fighting over Kamijou.

She ended up losing sight of him, so she gave up and decided to take a long walk home, not wanting a certain teleporting member of judgement to try to take advantage of her current depressed state. She just wanted to be alone. Her long walk eventually led her to the bridge where Kamijou had saved her life and comforted her. If only he can comfort her once ag-

"Gaaah! I also can't forget about Index!"

Mikoto immediately straightened her posture in reaction to the loud shout. "Is that-?"

"I don't want to suffer brain damage just because I was talking to some weird guy in a blue spandex!"

"Blue spandex?"

Why does this Kamijou-san have to be so unlucky? Such misfortune!"

Mikoto walked closer to Kamijou, who had his back turned onto her.

"Hey idiot, what are you doing here?"

The idiot in question stood still for a moment. He then slowly turned towards her.

"Biribiri?"

"..."

Kamijou could've sworn that he saw his life flash before him.

"Hey idiot."

*gulp* "Yes?"

"Do you know my name?"

"Misaka Mi-"

"IT'S MISAKA MIKOTO, YOU DAMN IDIOT! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU?!"

A giant lightning spear suddenly shot at Kamijou. The boy quickly blocked the spear on instinct.

"Aah! I'm sorry Misaka-ojou-sama! This poor Kamijou will never do that again! Please forgive this Kamijou-san!" The spikey-haired individual was on his knees and had his head bowing down before the Level 5 Electromaster.

*sigh* "W-Whatever. What's up with all the chocolates, idiot? Also, did you even see me at the vending machine today?"

"Ah, I received a lot of chocolates from the girls in my class, and the guys got jealous even though I'm pretty sure they also got complimentary chocolate like me, so I have no idea why they were so angry…"

Mikoto looked at the chocolates that the boy was holding. All of them seem to have been put in a special box, as though they were all homemade. "Complimentary chocolates? Those are all clearly homemade! Can't that idiot get it through his thick skull? Wait. If he didn't understand the point from those chocolates, that means he's probably going to misunderstand these chocolates that I'm about to hand him. Dammit! Why does that idiot have to be so damn stu-"

"Misaka?"

"Gah! Don't scare me like that!" Mikoto snapped out of her deep thinking as the boy interrupted her train of thought.

"A-anyways, you still didn't tell me if you even saw me at the vending machine today."

"The vending machine? Ah, sorry, I don't think I saw you. Though, I do wonder why you would be there."

"Gah forget about it! Just…" Mikoto reached into her bag behind her back and slowly began to pull out homemade chocolates.

"J-Just…" Mikoto was slowly starting to form a red hue on her cheeks. "Aaaahh I have to say it now! It's Valentine's Day! Come on, Mikoto! You're the 3rd Strongest Level 5 Esper, the Ace of Tokiwadai! You can't mess this up!"

"Take these!" Mikoto shoved the chocolates into Kamijou's already occupied hands. She then turned her face away from him.

"I… I hope you understand that… Eeek!" Kamijou patted his hand onto Mikoto's head, as he saw that she was distressed.

"Thank you, Mikoto." The girl looked up at her crush, and she saw the same warm smile that he had given her on the night of August 21st of the previous year. The only difference, this time, was that he wasn't injured.

"Now? Isn't it really late right now? You should probably get back to your dorm right now." Mikoto responded by nodding her head up and down, attempting to hide her completely red face. She then slowly walked past him, her legs being just strong enough to carry her own weight. When she was out of view, Kamijou sighed.

"Man, what is up with that girl… she really is strange…!"

Kamijou notice something strange hidden within the bag of chocolates that Mikoto gave him. It seemed to look like… A titanium ring?

Another smile, this time a small one, formed on Kamijou's face. "I guess tomorrow starts now, huh." The boy, instead of adding the chocolates onto the pile, placed them into his school bag.

Ah, you made it to the end of this first chapter of my first story! As said in the description, I apologize for any OOC moments (especially maybe with Cu). I will bring back Cu early, as this was only an introduction to the plot, and I'm pretty sure he wasn't in a majority of this chapter. I will try to post montly, but no promises. My current goal is to get at least 10 chapters (excluding this one). Once I reach that, I reach for 5, and once I reach that, I will reach for another 5, and so on. I hope you look forward to reading the next chapter, and thank you for reading!