I'm here, with another update! I'm sure why but this chapter was really hard for me.
Maybe it's the fighting or maybe the emotions I'm trying to convey in it.
But I consider this my weakest chapter so far.
Anyway, enough about that. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 2: The Reluctant Hero
"Grandpa! Look at this! It looks so cool!" yelled the boy as he pointed towards the TV.
The old man had looked up from the book he was reading and looked at the screen. It showed a man in costume fighting what seemed to be thieves.
The old man chuckles to himself "Of course you'd like watching superheroes, what boy wouldn't!" said the old man.
The boy loved watching superheroes on the TV. He wished to be like them cause he sought to make others happy.
"People love a hero because they help everyone. They also save the day from bad guys." said the old man with a grin.
"Then, that makes you a hero grandpa. You always help people." The boy said with an innocent smile.
The old man had a gentle smile on his face and patted the boy on the head "Thank you. But that means you're a hero too. After all you're always helping me and your mom." Said the old man.
The boy has truly happy when he was the old man. He truly felt like he could do anything.He just wanted to be a hero and make the bad things go away, just like him.
The boy had a kind heart and honestly thought that maybe he can be just like the old man. The old man had always given to his local community and was well liked by everyone.
The boy didn't realize until he was older, but the old man and the boy had saved each other.
Eventually these happy times would end, and the boy would later seek for a hero who would never appear.
This was an encounter that Touma wanted to avoid. There he was standing across the man dressed in black.
Touma wanted to escape from this situation by any means.
"She came back for her headdress." Said the man in black.
Touma glanced at Index and noticed that her headdress was missing. 'Of course, I knew forgot something.' Thought Touma to himself.
"I wonder where she left it?" said the man in black as he tried to get a reaction from Touma.
"What the hell do you want?" asked Touma. The man in black pulled out a cigarette and began to smoke it.
He went on to explain the 103,000 grimoires in Index's photographic memories, and how he and his partner have come to reclaim her.
Touma, of course already knew this information but he didn't want others to know about this nor was he sure about any changes from that knowledge.
"In that case, why injure her?" asked Touma.
"We didn't mean to actually hurt her. Her robes were infused with magic to prevent this from happening, but somehow they lost their magic. We never meant for this. We just wanted to scare her." said the man in black.
Touma wanted to leave Index with them instead, but he had this feeling in his stomach that this was the wrong choice.
Touma clenched his fist and made his choice. "Fine, just take her! Make sure she gets fixed up." Said Touma as he begins to walk past the man in black.
The man turned around and was in disbelief, he thought for sure that the boy would fight him to protect Index. This made his job easier, but to see Index in this state and not even attempt to help her made him resent Touma. "
Coward." Whispered the man as Touma walked away, but Touma was still within earshot.
'Yeah, I'm coward. I must live with that. I did take the easy way out after all. I don't care what you think.' Thought Touma as he reached the elevator.
Touma couldn't shake this feeling he had. 'She'll be fine. After all, I'm the one who gets the shit end of this deal even if I do save her.' thought Touma.
But he stayed in front of the elevator and hadn't moved an inch. He continued to argue with himself about saving Index or not.
Then Touma remembered Misaka's words 'But you're also an idiot who helps people.' and it made him feel worse about himself.
He then recalled someone he hadn't thought about in a long time. "What do I do, Grandpa?" said Touma out loud, but in his heart he knew the answer.
Touma didn't want to suffer like he did in his past life, but to actively seek an even worse suffering himself just to save one girl. He only wanted that calm, peaceful life that he always desired, just like when he was with that kind old man.
"God damn it!" yelled Touma as he punched the elevator door.
"Why me? Just why is it always me?" Touma quietly said as he began to cry.
"It's always me. No one saved me from that shitty life of mine. I hated everyone and couldn't handle it."
'Maybe that's why your eyes hold such sadness?' as Touma recalled the statement that bothered him the most, and he finally realized the reason why.
"This is so stupid." said Touma "I know why it bothered me. She had the same look as me from back in the day."
He recalled days that hurt to continue forward while being forced to think for others. He held on to his ideal to keep everyone happy and at the cost of his own happiness.
"Even after all this time, I still can't get over my past. I guess that's why their called inner demons." Said Touma as he recalled his old life.
But Touma recalled the old man once again and how he lived his life. Touma wanted to be like him, when he helped others the old man seemed happy.
Touma hoped for the same when he helped others but found only suffering instead. Touma wiped the tears from his face and began to go back towards Index.
'I'll save you. I'm only one who can. No one helped me, but I won't let you suffer anymore. I'll give you the life I wanted back then.' thought Touma as he hurried
'Will you go down the depths of hell with me?' Touma recalled of Index's last words before she left.
"Yeah, let's go all the way to hell and I'll be the one to drag you out." said Touma.
Touma arrived in front of the man as he crouches over Index.
"You know, I think I'm supposed call the police over something like this." said Touma in cocky attitude.
The man turns around with look of surprise, "I thought you said we could take her." said the man as he gets up.
"I changed my mind." said Touma.
The man begins to laugh and once he calmed down, he gives Touma a glare.
"This is your last chance. Leave and forget this ever happened. You'll be better off without her in your life." said the man.
Touma chuckled at what was being said to him "I really don't care." said Touma with a determined look on his face.
The man was surprised by Touma once again.
"Very well, my name is Stiyl Magnus" said Stiyl as he finally introduces himself "and my magician name is Fortis931. Do you know what that means?"
"I really don't care what you call yourself at night. I'm just going to kick your ass and move on with my life." said Touma as he takes a fighting stance.
"It means that I have to kill you." said Stiyl as he shows anger on his face.
He then throws his cigarette away "Flames." said Stiyl as huge flames are summoned from the cigarette and move towards his hand.
'Well, here we go. The first of many fights it seems. I'm really scared, but I can't back down now.' thought Touma as he realizes the path he's headed towards.
"To the giant, a gift of pain!" yelled out Stiyl as he waves the flame whip he formed and blasts it towards Touma.
The hallway soon begins to get covered in flames and the blast hits Touma.
"Hmm, maybe I overdid it. Oh, well. At his level, he could never beat me." said Stiyl as he turns towards Index.
"You must be real fun at parties." said Touma.
Stiyl quickly turns around and sees Touma unscathed.
"Impossible" he whispers.
"Although, you might want to turn down how big it gets. Today was already hot enough by my standards." said Touma as he emerges from the smoke and begins to walk towards Stiyl.
"Just shut up, will ya!" screamed Stiyl as he throws another flame blast at Touma.
Touma then blocks the blast with his right hand, causing the flames to shatter like glass.
Stiyl couldn't believe his eyes, but he didn't have time to process as Touma begins to rush at him.
"Come to me, Innocentius!" yelled out Stiyl.
Soon following that, flames begin surrounding Stiyl and a fire monster begins to form.
'What! I thought he had to do his dumb chant to summon him!' thought Touma as he stops his rush towards Stiyl.
The heat from the monster was so intense it seems to have melted the door handle and sign to Touma's room.
"This is the Witch Hunter King, Innocentius. It means Certain Death." explained Stiyl very proudly.
"Nice, can you make me a lion next time? Actually, how about a dragon?" said Touma jokingly.
"Do you ever shut that mouth of yours!" yelled Stiyl as he commands Innocentius to attack Touma.
"I'm told my joke are my only redeeming features." said Touma as he runs away from Innocentius.
"Don't you dare run away again!" yelled out Stiyl as he lifts his two arms and starts to chant "Ashes to Ashes. Dust to Dust! Squeamish Blood Rood!"
Stiyl sends two flame blast towards Touma as he runs away.
'Oh, this is bad!' thought Touma as he sees the blast coming for him along with Innocentius.
Touma soon sees the stairs and decides to make a jump towards them.
The blast just misses him just as he jumps and proceeds to cause an explosion in the hallway.
The blast caused a large fire and smoke starts to rise and becomes very visible from afar.
'This is harder than I expected. At least that blast bought me some time.' thought Touma as he catches his breath.
He proceeds to go down the stairs a few floors and sees one of the hallways covered in notes with symbols on them.
"The runes are here, huh? I forgot he used ink and paper in the beginning. I'll just use the sprinklers to get rid them. Now where is it that thing?" said Touma as he finished inspecting the runes.
As he proceeds to look for the fire alarm, Touma realized how he's been acting since he chose to save Index.
'I feel like a huge weight off my shoulders has been taken off. I feel good, despite the current situation. But still why am I saying all these weird one liners? I guess I need to calm myself down, since I'm facing death and I still have that habit of smiling when nervous.'
Soon, Touma's search was interrupted by the roar of Innocentius.
"Damn it." said Touma as he turns to Innocentius coming towards him.
Touma then sees a railing and start to recall the way out of this scenario.
"You've got to be kidding me." sighed Touma.
He looks towards Innocentius rushing towards him and then at the railing once again.
"God damn it!" yelled Touma as he jumps off the railing and starts to regret his decision. He lands on the roof of the bicycle parking and rolls off it.
As Touma lands on the ground, the roars of Innocentius could be heard as it tries to reach for Touma from the 4th floor.
"Man, that's loud." said Touma as he gets off the ground.
He looks towards Innocentius and realizes the jump he just made.
'How in the hell did I make that, and not injure himself so badly.' thought Touma but quickly pushed that thought aside.
He looks towards the horizon and smiles. "Last chance huh?" said Touma to himself "I can't go back now. Besides who knows what would happen if I don't save her."
Touma begins to run back towards the entrance of the dormitory. As he enters, he sees the fire alarm switch and pulls it.
The ringing reverberates throughout the dormitory and soon the sprinklers turn on. Touma enters the elevator and goes back to 7th floor.
The doors open, and he walks out to see Stiyl in the hallway in front of Index.
"Sorry but I have to put brakes on your little fire show. I hope I hire you again for my little cousin's birthday." said Touma as he slowly walks towards Stiyl.
"What happened to Innocentius?" asks Stiyl.
"That's the least of your worries right now." said Touma with a cocky smile on his face.
"You really think this water show will stop it!? Innocentius is 3000-Celsius degree (or 5432 Fahrenheit) flames." explained Stiyl.
Touma sighed in disappointment "Dumbass, it's for all those notes you left. You really shouldn't cheap out on the ink, you know" said Touma.
Soon Innocentius appears behind Touma, and Stiyl begins to laugh. "Do you really expect me to believe-!" Stiyl was interrupted by sounds of Innocentius' roars of pain and sudden disappearance.
"But, the runes…Innocentius…. Innocentius!" yelled Stiyl out of desperation for help.
"Remember what I said earlier, about kicking your ass?" said Touma as he takes a stance.
Stiyl was in disbelief, 'Why would the boy run away earlier? When he could easily defeat me? Just who is he?' thought Stiyl.
Touma rushes at Stiyl and punches him with all his might. Stiyl flew back by the force of the hit and lands hard on the ground.
Touma takes in a deep breath and walks towards Index, "Sorry for the wait." he said as he picks up Index.
Soon, the sounds of sirens are heard from the distance "And that's our cue to leave." said Touma.
As night begins, Touma had snuck past the Anti-Skill and Judgement officers who arrived to put out the flames.
He continued to run until he saw a bench and sits Index on it.
Touma catches his breath and begins to check on Index's condition.
"The blood's slowed down for now but I guess we still need-" Touma stopped speaking when he saw Index open her eyes.
"Hey, how are you holding up?" asked Touma.
"I'm not sure, I feel weak." said Index weakly.
"Just to be sure, you do have some healing spells in that head of yours, right?" asks Touma while pointing at Index's head.
Index gives a weak smile "I do but you can't use them." said Index.
"I know that, but I think I know someone who can." replied Touma with a smile.
"But Esper's can't use magic." said Index with concern in her voice.
"Don't worry. This person isn't an Esper, so we should be fine." replied Touma with a smile.
Index gives another weak smile towards Touma "Can I ask for your name?" asked Index weakly.
Touma had realized he never told Index his name since he wasn't expecting to see her again.
"It's Kamijou Touma." said Touma as he gets Index on his back once again. He lifts her up and begins to make his way towards a pay phone.
"Thank you Touma." says Index softly as she closes her eyes.
"Don't worry about it. Just hang on for just a little while longer." says Touma.
Touma finally arrived at his destination. "I can't believe Aogami was right about her address. That's pretty scary." said as he calls the stairs.
Touma starts knocking on the door loudly "Come on! Open the door Komoe-sensei!" yelled Touma as he continues to knock on the door.
The door opens slightly "Hello? Wha..Kamijou-chan are you doing here!?" said Komoe as Touma forces the door open and walks in.
"Sorry for just coming like this, but I need your help." said Touma as he takes in the view of the mess that is Komoe's apartment.
Komoe quickly closes the door and starts cleaning.
"You don't mind women who smoke, right?" she said while giving a smile in her pink rabbit onesie.
She changes her expression when Touma lays Index on the ground revealing the blood on her back.
"What happened to her?" said Komoe worryingly.
Soon Index begins to glow white, "Warning, Chapter 2 Verse 6. Due to having a certain amount of life force amount drained due loss of blood, mandatory awakening of John's Pen has been invoked. If current status holds then converting from international standard time, as displayed on Big Ben, roughly fifteen minutes I will perish." said Index in a monotone voice.
"Sensei, please listen to her and follow her instructions carefully. I'll go and call an ambulance." said Touma as he gets up and walks out the door.
"But there's a phone here." said Komoe just Touma walked out.
Touma runs a good distance from the apartment building.
"This should be good enough, I think. I can't believe it. I actually got through that Stiyl event and pretty easily too. Maybe I can do this main character stuff, after all. Only problem is the future events, I guess I have to get ready for them." said Touma to himself.
Touma begins to smile to himself and continues to walking.
"First things first, I need a place to stay. Maybe Aogami can help me out, and I'm hungry. Man, being a hero is hard." said Touma satisfied himself.
And that's the end. Well, I hope you enjoyed it.
The part where Touma is in front of elevator gave me the most trouble. I'm sure why I guess I really wanted to convey the emotions, but i feel like I failed.
That's just me tho. I really had fun with smart ass Touma and his remarks during the fight. Just so much fun, I hope you guys didn't mind the tone shift. I felt like it was a big change considering what happened earlier.
Man, I had issues with this chapter didn't I?
Well, you know the drill. Leave a review for hopes, ideas, comments, or criticisms.
See you next time in Chapter 3: Early Meeting
From, your local MemeDevil