HOPES and FEARS
Chapter 4: Otherworldly Meeting. Unusual_Gathering
Part 1
Flowers were blooming. There were sparkles everywhere. Everything was a blur except for that person in front of her.
"M...My p-prince?" she questioned her own sanity. He rode up to her on a horse and stopped with the horse perpendicular to her line of sight. Almost like reaching out to a lover, he held out a hand.
Take this hand…and I'll make all your dreams come true.
With wide eyes, a slightly flushed face, and shallow breathing, she extended her own hand. His hand kept going forward, and so did hers. They were so close, yet so far. But it had to be done slowly. Mikoto somehow knew she couldn't rush this. It was almost there…just a few centimetres. Or was it a few dozen millimetres?
She was so caught up in the moment that she didn't notice his hand extending past hers. It kept going, until it was just in front of her face.
A finger flew out and flicked her forehead hard.
"Eh?"
"Like. I. said. What're you spacing out for, Misaka?!"
The glossy look in her eyes disappeared so fast that Kamijou Touma wondered if he had broken an illusion when he touched her face. Veins started popping.
"Eh? …Did I do something wro-"
An incoherent sound escaped her lips. It seemed words couldn't even express what she was feeling at that moment. A spear of lightning flew out from her forehead, accompanied by a scream of rage straight from the bottom of a maiden's injured heart.
"Seriously, why're you so angry?" the boy protested. The girl walking in front of him just looked back and glared menacingly, bangs sparking.
"O-ok I get it! I get it! I'm sorry about flicking your forehead, so forgive me already Misaka-saaaaaaaaaaan!"
"Idiot! It's…it's not about…the f-f-forehead…" she looked down, her face turning red.
"Huh? Did you say something?"
"No, I didn't say anything! Shut up!" she turned her back to him and continued walking, to his chagrin.
A tense, yet comfortable, silence descended between the boy and girl as they walked down the crowded street with a horse following them. It felt like those nights they used to spend messing about all over Academy City, with one idiot chasing the other and demanding he fight her seriously. The atmosphere between them now was like what it was at the end of those long chases when they would be too tired to fight or run and would instead settle for trading barbs like quarrelling children.
Kamijou took the opportunity to scrutinise the level 5. She looked the same as always – short brown hair with a flower hairpin, wearing the Tokiwadai winter uniform with black socks. Don't tell me that priest from earlier was talking about her when he was complaining about short skirts?! There was a Gekota strap hanging out of her pocket, probably attached to her phone. Heh~ so she still had that. She was also carrying a large, branded bag slung over her right shoulder.
"Why'd you stop me just then, anyway? I had a clear shot at that thief, or whatever,"
"Well, she was just a common thief! Ask yourself why you actually shot lightning at a helpless civilian!"
Helpless civilian? Wasn't that what Kuroko had called the Meltdowner and her blonde friend at that family restaurant without knowing who they were? And on top of that, she was just a common thief? Would this guy help anyone as long as they had 2 X-chromosomes?!
"Haven't I told you before that I know how to handle the weak?" she snapped, feeling a disproportionate sense of irritation.
The boy cocked his head, unconvinced, but let it slide. "How'd you know where I was though?"
"I didn't. I didn't expect to find you so soon myself. It's just...luck, I guess. By the way..." she ran her eyes up and down his body briefly. "Well, physcially, you seem to be alright, but I'll ask anyway - d'you have any injuries or anything?"
"Surprisingly, no," Kamijou decided to keep quiet about his severed hand for the time being.
"How did you get here, though? Don't tell me you got sucked into a magical portal or something?"
"How'd you know?!"
"Lucky guess," she rolled her eyes. "And also because we came here by the same way. Well, never mind the details, we can exchange those later. For now, we'd better inform the rest about this."
"The rest?"
"Yeah. 8 people came looking for you, y'know! You'd. Better. Be. Grateful!" the girl accentuated each word with a poke to his chest.
"8?!"
"Mm-hm. I'm the only one here 'cause we split up. As for the rest, let's see...There's this red-haired guy in priest robes…that sis-con friend of yours with the blonde hair and sunglasses, and…"
"Oh. That's Stiyl and Tsuchimikado, huh?" Kamijou asked. A strange feeling blossomed in his chest when he heard that 8 people had come along – especially those two bastards from Necessarius who kept throwing him into various situations around the world. Truth be told, he hadn't completely thrown away the possibility that someone might come looking for him - it was the reason he wasn't so surprised to see her here. "Then…who're the rest?"
"Ahh…you'll see soon!" Mikoto said with an uncomfortable laugh. Best not to tell him about the girls…lest he get any…undesirable thoughts! Yes! I should protect those girls from this idiot and his patterns!
As those delusions ran through her head, Kamijou scratched his head at her odd behaviour.
"Anyway…we've been walking for quite a while…are you familiar with this town, Misaka?"
Misaka stopped short. Now that he mentioned it…she had no idea where she was walking.
But of course, there was no way she was letting him know that. "O-Of course I know this place! I was assigned to check out this area, after all!" Truth be told, she had arrived very recently and hadn't exactly scouted the place thoroughly. She didn't even have any useful amount of money.
"Well, that's good, 'cause I've been here only, like, two times. Umm. Where're we meeting the rest?"
In response, Misaka didn't say anything, but instead reached into her bag and took out a small black case the size of a juice carton. She fiddled around with it for a while, attaching a black rod to its head. Once she was done, she pressed a button on its side and talked.
"Misaka…err, Mikoto here, I have a message, over,"
There was no reply. Mikoto frowned and started walking again, holding the radio Receiver/Transmitter set in her hand in her hand.
"Mikoto here, I'm in the city of Tristania, capital of Tristain and I've found the idiot!["I-Idiot?!"]. Can anyone read me, over?"
"Umm. Misaka-san, are the rest ignoring you?"
"Shut up, idiot!" she shouted, her lightning flaring up. "Maybe they're just busy!"
About 15 minutes passed. Nobody bothered to reply.
"Looks like all of them are super busy," mused Kamijou. Misaka glared at the RT. Then, she relaxed abruptly, coming to a sudden realisation.
None of the rest was replying.
Everybody else was spread out over various locations in this small country.
It was just her and that boy in the middle of this town.
Her face turned red and she couldn't speak.
"Well, it's fine, isn't it? I mean, surely you guys made up plans for situations like this. Right, Misaka?"
I-I-I have no p-plan for this! Poor Mikoto was not even on the same page as that boy.
She grabbed her head and yelled, "Ahhhh what does it even matter?! If they won't respond, we'll just have to wait it out!" she took a deep breath to calm herself, then continued, "We're all over the place so it'll take a while for everybody to find this city and get here. We might need a place to stay,"
"Huh? But I'm supposed to get back by tonight - hey, are you listening?!"
She just ignored him, however, and started walking off to find an inn. Yeah, staying overnight in hotels was normal to her! Nothing to be embarrassed about!
Part 2
"So?"
"It looks legitimate to me. I understand it's hard to believe, but that man has actually magically travelled to another world," The young, smartly-dressed man looked up from his tablet. "And our beloved friend has followed in his footsteps. Along with the #3 Level 5, if my information is correct,"
"To another world? Ridiculous. How could he go to other worlds if even Academy City hasn't figured out if there are planets fit for human habitation out there? Ohh, right. Magic. Magic explains every fucking thing, doesn't it?"
"Heh. That, it does,"
"And what for? Don't tell me he just got bored of good ol' Mother Earth and decided to go on holiday?" the first man spat.
"Don't ask me," his partner in conversation shrugged. "But it doesn't look like he went of his own will. At least, that's my guess since people are going to 'rescue' him,"
"Che. Somebody thinks this is enough to get me to move,"
"Is somebody wrong?" came the teasing reply.
"Do you have a death wish, asshole?"
The second man merely chuckled. "I said that only because this information - if it's true - is enough to get me to move. I'm sure you understand why,"
"Tch."
"Besides...another world. Does it not seem promising? Especially for us who've had to live a life like this," #2's voice took on a rare emotional tone.
"We don't have to return. I made fucking sure of that!"
"You're right. I know about your actions after the war. I know what you did, and I'm grateful. But the darkness will always exist. You can go to the ends of the earth and still be chased by it. And this is because we both have something that means the world to us,"
The first man cursed softly.
"In any case, I'm going to follow this lead, even if you are not," #2 warned lightheartedly. "Now that she is no longer on this world, there is nothing holding me back,"
"Do whatever you like," #1 spat.
"I do wish someone would follow me, though. If all goes well, I'll still have a partner to accompany me, but I'd be lying if I said I was completely fine leaving you behind. We are a team, after all," the other man said lightheartedly.
"Don't give me that rubbish," his partner huffed. #2 simply chuckled.
"If you change your mind, I'll be at the Kamijou Household tomorrow midnight. Goodbye, for now,"
Part 3
The Charming Faeries Inn.
Mikoto's eyes couldn't stop twitching. She had thought this place was fine but it was anything but!
The owner was a raging homosexual, by the looks of it. His name was apparently Scarron, but when his girls addressed him as such, he demanded that they call him mi mademoiselle instead. The second he saw Kamijou, he came over, twisting at his hips in a disgusting manner, and started hitting on the poor boy, calling him a hero because he helped out that woman who'd been robbed (that bastard. That Goddamned heroic bastard). And when Kamijou had uncomfortably pushed him away - good. At least he didn't swing that way - he had just playfully ordered his girls to treat him well (~Ye~s, Mi Mademoiselle!). And speaking of the girls - Mikoto felt inadequate just looking at the least "developed" of them. She felt like grabbing him and running away that instant. But that idiot had already decided on his own to make do with that place.
"Je voudrais deux chambres pour une nuit s'il vous plaît," he intoned. Misaka gaped at him. The owner puckered his lips and asked coyly, "Juste pour une nuit, monsieur?"
"Oui, juste une nuit."
"You...you speak French?!" Mikoto stammered as they were led up to their rooms by a girl who worked at the inn, after he paid up-front for the rooms. The pronunciation had been a little off, and he seemed to be forcing back his natural accent, but his request for two rooms for one night was spoken well enough for the owner to understand. In reply, the owner had asked if he wanted the rooms just for one night, implicitly inviting him to stay longer, but he had turned it down.
"Nah...that's not really true. C'mon. I've had 10 days - not even an Academy City Student can learn an entire language in 10 days!" His statement was spot on. If Mikoto had observed his progress for the past 10 days, she would understand that it was not "French Proficiency" that he had developed - it was just knowledge of basic French words, phrases and grammar, supplemented with plenty of further vocab practice. The rest was just ad-libbing. Kamijou had, by this point, developed an uncanny ability to make intelligent guesses based on limited information and contextual knowledge. Which, of course, would lead one to ask why he was still so bad at reading the mood, not that Mikoto thought that far ahead.
Two rooms for one night?
She didn't know whether to feel glad or disappointed by this development. Well, real life wasn't like a shoujo manga, after all, for better or for worse. It wasn't like they were going to share rooms and do stupid things like in those unrealistic sequences found in her maid Tsuchimikado's favourite manga. It wasn't like she wanted to share rooms, Goddammit! Soon, they reached their rooms, which were side-by-side. Kamijou collected the keys with a word of thanks, and the girl left them.
"Y'know...we've been walking along like nothing's wrong all this while, but... come on. We're someplace far from home. Really, really far. I need to know what's going on. And I'm sure you're looking for some answers as well,"
Damn right I am!
With his back turned to her, he said some really dangerous words.
"I'll be waiting in my room so come over whenever you're ready,"
He went inside before the blushing Mikoto could stammer anything. That…idiot! Can't he read the situation? Can't he choose his words more carefully?!
But it was too late to protest. Shoulders sagging, Mikoto walked into her room, wondering, not for the first time, if was even worth it to come all the way here for that boy. But whatever, he was absolutely right. In fact, she hadn't expected him to even understand that much, given his rubbish track record of caring about things like making sure he and his allies were on the same page (or even in more basic things like properly catching up with frien...acquain...people he knew!). She tossed her bag onto the bed with a sigh and looked around.
It was a simple room, with a bathroom and a wooden bed with a comfortable-looking mattress on it. There was a small table too, along with a night lamp.
Hmm it's pretty Spartan…Guess I've been living in comfort for too long.
Of course, this is one of the Ojou-samas from Tokiwadai Middle School we're talking about. She was the type to casually book into a hotel just to leave her belongings for a while and to change her attire. On the other hand, this room in a foreign – really foreign! – inn…
"Well, not like I've got any right to complain," she spoke internally. It wasn't like she had signed up for this mission – sneaked onto the team, in fact – so she could live in comfort everyday.
And all this was for the sake of catching up to that boy and waking him up from the illusion that he had to do everything on his own. That idiot had hidden many things from her before – how many times had that dangerous habit of his made her clench her fist in anger and despair? In time, she had to find out everything about the hidden world he had been a part of for a long time, from the time he fought Accelerator...or more likely, even before that. It felt like that one episode with Accelerator was just one in a long series of incidents he happened to be in the middle of. Thinking about that made her feel a little lonely. But she shook her head and violently punched the air a few times.
No no no! I can't think like that. I came this far so I could lecture that guy on all the stupid things he's done so far! I can't be stopped by something as simple as this! I'll make sure to get all the information I can out of him later!
Making up her mind, she went to take a shower, and changed into more comfortable clothes. The Tokiwadai uniform was a piece of cutting edge design and she felt comfortable wearing it anywhere, but now that she was so far away from the school and the Dorm Mistress (especially the Dorm Mistress), she felt like wearing something else. What middle-schooler wanted to be stuck with her school uniform forever, anyway? She reached into her bag and drew some fresh clothing – a simple black T-shirt and yellow shorts. Getting herself ready, she took a deep breath and knocked on his door.
Between The Lines 1
"I've always wanted to go to Germany, says Misaka 19090 as she enjoys pork knuckles in a local café,"
"Oh, but England is much better, says Misaka 10039 as she sips the kind of red tea Academy City Ojou-samas can only dream about,"
"Please. The coffee from Italy is so much more exquisite, says Misaka 10777 as she adds fuel to the fire!"
"But in the end, I'm physically closest to him, so I win, says Misaka 10032 with finality,"
"G-guh,"
"Why is it I always get the short end of the straw? Wonders Misaka 10777, hoping another big chance will happen like in the War,"
"And besides, those names are hardly appropriate, says Misaka 10032, changing the subject to more serious matters,"
"In the days since we arrived, Misaka 19090 has been using her helpless little girl ability to hitchhike across borders, ending up in Germany, reports Misaka as she wonders why they call it Germania here,"
"This Misaka seems to have wandered into a religious country seemingly named for the City of Rome, says Misaka 10777 as she wonders if she can ask the local Pope for blessings and a fruitful love life,"
"Get those ridiculous unscientific thoughts out of your head or you'll corrupt the whole network~ says Misaka as Misaka tries checking in on her beloved Sisters!"
"U-ugh. Someone undesirable has appeared, says Misaka as she remembers the still-open Gate and the numerous Broadcast Relay Stations transmitting information back to Midgard,"
"Geez, what's with that reaction! Asks Misaka as Misaka tries using her little brat ability to change your opinions about her! Anyway, what's this about Midgard? Has everyone been watching that movie about Viking Gods starring that blonde Australian, asks Misaka as Misaka tries to implicitly mock your taste in-"
"Moving on, this Misaka is in a place called Gallia, close to the border with Tristain, reports Misaka as she ignores the Command Tower,"
"This Misaka came to Albion with Motoharu-oniichan but we got separated later, reports Misaka as she wonders if she made the wrong decision coming here."
"Gyahh! How could everyone leave me behind in Academy City while having their own adventure in some MMORPG-sounding land! Shouts Misaka as Misaka tries making a mental note to get that person to bring her over! Hey hey hey where is everyone? asks Misaka as Misaka plots and plans her journey!"
"Never tell her where we are, says Misaka as she appeals to the other Misakas to put on a united front!"
"I agree, says Misaka as she agrees."
"Ditto, says Misaka as she agrees."
"Roger, says Misaka as she agrees."
"Waaaahhhh! how could you all treat your leader like this?! Says Misaka as Misaka-"
Beeeeee-eeeeeeeep.
Part 4
A certain nervous girl knocked on the door to a boy's room at the inn they were staying at.
"It's open," he called out.
"I-I'm coming in," she said, staring at a girl who had just walked past the door wearing what looked like bondage gear. Just what kind of inn was this anyway?!
His room was exactly the same as hers, and he too seemed to have taken a shower, going by his wet hair. Mikoto closed the door behind her and stepped inside quite stiffly, taking the chair across the table from him.
"So…"
"So…"she mimicked him blankly, not knowing what to say. All the bravado built up just a minute ago was gone.
"Maybe we should exchange information first," he proposed. "First of all, how'd you get here? I don't even know how I was brought out here. If you tell me the method you used to make your way to this world, that'd be enlightening,"
"This thing called Bifröst," she said. As usual, the conversation was proceeding at his pace. It simultaneously irritated her and put her at ease. "It's a Norse Mythology thing, a rainbow bridge that connects different worlds, something like a space elevator. I didn't believe in it myself until I saw it first-hand. There's this massive tree called Yggdrasil that supports nine worlds on its branches. Earth, or Midgard as the Vikings used to call it, is one of those worlds,"
Kamijou wondered who had even opened the gate, but assumed it had been one of the 8 who had arrived on this world looking for him.
Uwahh...8 people came all the way out here...
"Hey. What're you smiling to yourself for? That's really creepy, so could you cut it out?!" Her hand reached out and flicked him on his forehead.
"Oww!... Is that revenge for just then...?"
"Of course not!" She responded in an overly sweet voice.
"Liar! But anyway...So Earth is Midgard, huh? Funny how nobody calls it that back on Earth,"
"What's even more funny is how we're so naturally adjusting to having two worlds to live on," she frowned. "And what's more, there are 7 others," she listed the other seven for his knowledge.
"Eh? Where's Halkeginia?" he noted that this name was absent from the list of seven she had just given him.
"Alfheim is the name the Vikings gave to this world - according to those magicians' guess, anyway - although everyone here calls it Halkeginia. So let's just go with Halkeginia, shall we?," she said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "But having said that, I don't know too much about this world. It hasn't been too long since I got here,"
"Hm? I thought you said you knew all about it?" she smiled nervously at having been found out, but thankfully, that boy didn't seem to take notice, simply moving on. "It's a world of magic. There is a social hierarchy with commoners and nobles - the nobles are those who can use magic, and they are born with their abilities, while the commoners are those without magical abilities,"
"Huh. Sounds a little like Europemany centuries ago. Except without magic,"
"Or maybe with magic," Kamijou disagreed. "There's magic on our world too, remember?"
"Ah, right. It's so easy to forget. Or maybe it's better to say you're not normal since this is so natural to you," she sniped. He snorted,"Says the Level 5 esper with 10000 sisters!" "Hey. Don't bring them into this,"
Mikoto sipped some water from the sports bottle she had brought into his room and continued, "So anyway, this guy - everyone kept calling him a failure, not sure why - he opened some kind of magic portal and we went into it to get on the rainbow bridge, Bifröst. From there, we travelled along the Bridge, and visited each world. This is the third world we've come across. I guess that's pretty good considering we could potentially have failed 8 times before finding you on the last world," Or not finding you on any of them, she thought to herself, grimly satisfied that this worst case scenario had not occurred.
"What were the first two?" He asked with a curious tilt of the head.
"Muspelheim and Jotunheim. The first was a world of fire. We almost landed in a pit of lava. Luckily, we didn't need to stick around looking for you. We had some equipment we used to figure out whether or not you were around on that world. Once we figured out you weren't around, we closed shop and left."
She paused for a drink,"Next was Jotunheim. It was the exact opposite of Muspelheim - a cold this uniform is designed to ward off even extreme cold! Oh, we did get attacked by some frost giants but they were nothing,"
Puffing out her chest with pride, the cocky railgun smiled,"Crossing worlds and fighting monsters of fire and ice? All in a day's work for this Mikoto-sama!"
Her cheeky statement was met with silence. He was looking down, somewhat, and his eyes seemed clouded over.
Hey. Hey. You're supposed to praise how reliable I am in situations like these! What's with the awkward silence? C-crap, maybe I shouldn't have brought up something that'll make him feel unnecessarily guilty...
She bit her lip nervously and looked away, wondering if there was anything she could say to alleviate the suddenly-heavy mood. However, when she looked back, his expression was suddenly back to normal, startling her.
"Saying things like that, just how arrogant can this girl get?" he mused, scratching the back of his head. A vein popped out in the girl's forehead and some lightning crackled. He yelped and cowered, but Mikoto smiled and stopped her attack. She didn't have the nerve to tell him something so embarrassing, but she'd held back because she was relieved that he was back to normal.
"And then, a few days ago, we came to this world - at the edge of this huge lake. We got a positive reaction from our equipment - meaning you were around on this world - so we split up and started looking for you. A~nd here we are," Mentally doing the calculations in her head, she realised that, as he had mentioned earlier, it had been roughly 10 days since he'd come to this world. She, on the other hand, had left Academy City around 7 days earlier.
"So that's it for me!" She said brightly. "Now it's your turn to let Mikoto-sensei hear what you've been up to!" She gave the same cocky smile as before, determined not to let the mood turn sour again (which was also the reason her story lacked so many lurid details). Returning the smile, Kamijou told her what had happened since he had arrived at the Tristain Academy. He neglected to mention the events leading up to it, though.
"So you get thrown into a different world, and this is how you react? You met me after so long but just behaved as if we're still in District 7 back home. And now you tell me you actually took up a job here," she wrinkled her nose judgmentally. "You sure are taking it easy, aren't you?"
"Hey. I had to do it! And it wasn't just a job - my boss was also my French teacher. Besides, I too have been looking for a way to get back-"
Suddenly, a crackling sound cut him off. The boy grew scared, thinking the girl was mad at him again, but realised that was not the case when Mikoto jumped too, startled, and took something out of her pocket. It was the team radio she had been given before setting off on the mission.
"Stiyl Magnus to all zztstationszzz. Can anyone bzzthearzzz me over?"
"Stiyl?!"
"Yes, it's that priest!" Mikoto pressed the Push-To-Talk button and spoke, "Mikoto here! I've found him! I repeat, I've found him, and we are currently at the city Tristania, capital of Tristain, over!"
"So Onee-sama is the winner, over, says Misaka as she silently fades into the background," came another voice over the radio. This one was very clear compared to Stiyl's voice, making Kamijou wonder if it was an effect of their electromaster powers. "But I hope he can hear this over, says Misaka #10777 as she gives you her serial number for identification,"
Mikoto had looked a little annoyed when the message from her 10777th sister had come through, but before she could voice her thoughts, another message came through.
"WHAT?! THAT ZZZTLITTLEBZZT GIRL MADE IT BZZTBEFOREZZZZ ME?!"
"Who's a little girl?!" Snapped Mikoto, but she had forgotten to press the PTT button so she was just yelling at thin air. Kamijou paled. Mikoto glared at his expression of recognition, and then sighed. "My papa spent his entire adult life building up his network from scratch...and here you are with your own ridiculously extensive network with Level 5s, magicians and even the freaking Queen of England! How is that even possible for an ordinary Level 0?"
Without answering, he kept silent, staring intensely at the radio, which crackled to life again.
"That's the first zztgoodbzz news I've heard in quite a while nyaa~. But we've got another zztproblembzzt now..."
"Which is that it'll take time for everyone to gather in one location over, muses Misaka 10032 as she longingly twirls the necklace given to her by-" thankfully for Mikoto's heart, the last of that message seemed to have been cut off by the radio.
"This is all your zztfaulttssh Tsuchimikado," grumbled Stiyl, ditching the proper radio voice procedure after seeing that nobody else was really following it. "If you hadn't gone bssshtsomeplacezzz so far out, we could've just grabbed that bzzbastardzzzt and gone home in time for dinner!"
"Don't sweat the bzztsmallshht stuff nyaa~" the easygoing voice of the annoying spy came in. "Just bsshtshareksst your location and we'll soon find each other~"
"Well, fine," Stiyl spoke. "Misaka zztMikotobzzt, you're in Tristania, aren't you? I'm close by. Let's meet up tomorrow tssheveningzsshht in town. From there we can find the other ksshtidiotsbzz. Hopefully they haven't gone too deep into the neighboring bzztcountriestssht."
"Alright. I understand," without thinking about it, Mikoto quipped, "By the way, we're staying at this inn called the Charming Faeries. Let's meet there,"
One could almost hear something snap inside the other 5 girls.
"Hoh~ how bold of Onee-sama, over, says Misaka #10032 as she hopes you brought suitable prophylactic materials," came a slightly shaky voice from the Sisters' unofficial leader.
Mikoto's face turned red and she struggled to stutter out a response.
"GYAAAHHHHH I BZZTCAN'TBSSHT STAND THE THOUGHT OF THAT CRRSSZZT GETTING IT ON WITH THAT-" the radio cut off again.
Mikoto's ears looked like they might start steaming anytime soon.
"Don't bzztbreakkssht any laws, Kami-yan! Even if you're on a different tsshtworldkzzt, be 100% sure before you try anything nyaa~!"
Lightning started issuing from Mikoto's forehead.
"Just...what...kind of person...D'YOU GUYS THINK I AM?!" Mikoto screamed into the radio, slamming her fists on the table.
"Umm. Misaka."
"WHAT?!" she yelled at him. He flinched, "You're not pressing the talk button…"
Mikoto honestly felt like frying him, the radio, and the whole goddamn room that instant. But she forced herself to calm down. Taking a deep breath, she told herself repeatedly that she had come to this world to rescue him. The frying part could come later after they were safely back home. She stuck her nose up in the air and switched off the radio Receiver/Transmitter handset. After ensuring that the RT was properly turned off and the volume was set to 0 just for good measure, she got up and stretched.
"Well, you heard that. We meet that priest tomorrow. Get some rest. We'll stay in town and look around for him tomorrow evening,"
Kamijou had been staring at the spot where the RT had been placed on the table by Mikoto, but jerked up at her words.
"Uhh, yeah. Sure. G'night Misaka." She stared weirdly at his dazed expression before returning the greeting and stepping outside.
"Misaka!" He suddenly called out to her. She froze in place, just about to close the door behind her. He leaned forward in his seat, looking as though he was gathering his thoughts. Mikoto's back was turned, but she waited for him to speak.
"Umm. I really appreciate your coming here and all, but...I think -"
"That we shouldn't have come?" She asked.
"Err, well-"
"That we should've just left it to the experts?"
"That's -"
"That I, that nun, your classmates, teachers, parents and everybody else should've just stood by idly and waited for you to magically show up at that hospital with that frog-faced doctor?"
"Misaka."
She calmed down, shoulders sagging with a sigh, upon hearing the tone in his voice.
"I won't fault you for feeling that way. I know I have no right to lecture you on this," Memories of running all over Academy City to trash Project Radio Noise-related facilities without a single word to Kuroko, Saten-san or Uiharu-san flashed through her head. But she clenched her fist and spoke on, "But what makes you think you're the only one entitled to running off to fight your battles while leaving everyone behind worrying for you and wondering what the hell you're up to?" She took a deep breath and said the words she'd meant to tell him ever since she saw him leaving that hospital "You should trust in us too! We've got your bac- Hey! What're you doing here?!"
"Room serv~ice...!"
A well-endowed girl who looked a few years older than Kamijou was about to enter the room. "Good evening Monsieur et Mademoiselle!" She said in French. "Seeing as it is almost time for bed, could I interest you in a night~cap?" Kamijou blushed as he looked at the onee-san in the plain clothes and started stammering as he replied negatively. Mikoto blushed too, looking at the older girl, and found that her voice had turned somewhat small when she too said no. The girl had feigned a look of disappointment before walking away, hips swaying behind her.
"Sorry Misaka - you were saying...?"
Mikoto opened her mouth to say something, but the words couldn't come out. The moment had passed. She hung her head in defeat and turned away. "It's nothing...idiot."
"Huh? That's pretty cruel..." He whined. "Good night, Misaka."
Mikoto turned her nose up haughtily to cover up her melancholy. "Good night, iiiiiiiidiot,"
Between The Lines 2
A young man with blonde hair, dressed in the clothes of a old-timey sailor, leaned on the side of a ship, sporting a rare look of melancholy. "Rare", because he was usually seen smiling without a care in the world. He folded his long arms and sighed. There had been disturbing reports. The lines between Science and Magic continued to become blurred and distorted, and once again, his unfortunate friend had been caught right in the middle of it. As if the tumult of a world war was not enough, he had gone straight into further conflict and struggled in the battlefields that had been Hawaii and Baggage City.
He was already filled with regret, doubt and self-loathing after the disastrous incidents in which this friend of his had been caught up in - because all those events had, in his eyes, partially been his fault. He laughed bitterly as he recalled how he had let that boy be dragged into so many matters beyond his understanding thanks to the "orders" he had received from his superiors. And how he had stupidly blundered into setting the stage for even bigger incidents that even involved the whole world.
But even so, that boy…
His friend…
That man did not care about such things. With nothing more than the clothes on his back, his poor English, and that tiny pinch of bravery…
He waded straight into the storm that threatened to engulf the whole world and set things straight. All the wrongs committed by so many powerful, powerful individuals - all set straight by him and those who threw themselves at the problem in the same vein, often thanks to his inspiration.
Tsuchimikado Motoharu raised his head.
He'd had enough of being the bastard who smiled slyly and pulled Kamijou Touma into disturbances around the world. Now it was his turn to extend a helping hand towards his beleaguered friend and pull him out of the mess he had found himself in.
"Hey, you! Hartwell Micah!" a rough voice called out. "Capt wants the deck swabbed in an hour's time!"
"Hartwell" sweatdropped as the man who'd called out to him threw a scrub at his head. He had lied his way on board a ship headed for another country, thinking of looking for his friend there, but then another 'comrade' of his had called in, saying she'd found that boy in the country he'd just set sail from.
I'm coming to find you, Kami-yan...once I find a way off this goddamned flying barrel they call the bloody Eagle!
Part 5
Kamijou barely slept that night. He had subconsciously felt happy that Mikoto, Stiyl, Tsuchimikado, Lessar and the Sisters had come looking for him, but thinking about the whole thing in-depth only depressed him.
He had been prepared for the possibility of people coming after him - after all, recent events had simply served to remind him forcefully, once again, that his ability of Imagine Breaker was highly sought after - and not always for good purposes. That last part was especially true after the recent debacles at Hawaii and Baggage City. He had trusted people like Leivinia Birdway and Kihara Kagun, to his detriment.
Well, that's not really true - I was able to make a difference by following them...but what happened after that? I was just used to create a bigger incident that played right into their hands.
I don't wanna believe they came here to use me - not Tsuchimikado, not Stiyl, not Misaka or her sisters, not Lessar. But what about those who sent them?
Kamijou Touma gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.
I messed up in Baggage City. If I hadn't come here, this wouldn't have had to happen. I could've just gone back home and everything would've been fine. But I just had to be taken here. Misaka, her sisters and the rest just had to be involved.
They shouldn't have come here, he thought bitterly.
A knock sounded, and Misaka called out to him from the other side. Kamijou shook his head and rubbed his face to set his expression straight, and walked out to meet her. She had changed her clothes again, wearing khaki jeans with a teal blouse, carrying a dark blue jacket on her arm. Is she intending to go out to town later? No doubt I'll be dragged around just like last time...Stupid luck...
She had not told him yet, but Stiyl had contacted her once again some time earlier. His report was short and terse, and detailed his location.
"I just set out on bzzthorsebacktsssht. According to the map I received, I should be reaching this ksshtAcademyssst of magic in two hours' time...then from there, a few more hours to the zsstcapitalcitytssst," Mikoto recorded this information when she received the comms in her own room, and then left for breakfast. She met Kamijou outside his room and raised an eyebrow at his tired appearance, but didn't comment on it.
Looks like he too barely got any sleep last night…
Wait a minute.
If we both go down like this...with bags below our eyes…
Her face turned red.
"Misaka...everything alright?" he asked. Not. helping!
"G-g-give me a minute!" she managed, and rushed back to her room after pushing her jacket onto him.
"It's so early and she's already being so Misaka-y...Such misfortune," he muttered, leaning against the wall.
15 minutes later, she stepped outside again with a falsely cheery appearance. Her face was practically glowing, and all evidences of sleeplessness was gone.
"Gooo~d mo~rning!" she brightly greeted him.
"Eh? Ehh? What's with that change?" Kamijou started panicking.
"What change?" she asked in that same sickly sweet bright tone, retrieving her jacket.
"N-nothing!" That's definitely suspicious! He kept this to himself and walked with her down the stairs to the dining area. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, a girl came up to greet them.
"Bonjour, Monsieur et Mademoiselle!"
"Ahh - you're the...lady from yesterday," Kamijou blushed as he muttered. Mikoto just glared at her chest, unable to make eye contact.
"Come and take a seat! We've got a wonder~ful breakfast waiting!" she said warmly. "Oh - Monsieur - you gave your name as Kamijou, right?"
"Y-yeah, I did,"
"An raven brought in a letter for you this morning," she said, holding up a cheap, but well-polished plate that had clearly not been made for serving food on. It held a scarlet envelope. Kamijou took it with scrunched eyebrows. Mikoto peered at it and read out the name on the envelope.
Marc Bonhomme.
"Erk! T-this guy…"
"What?" Mikoto asked, alarmed. "Who is it?"
"My...my boss, you could say," came the dejected reply. "I had to be back in the office by yesterday...now he's gonna kill me once I get back! What luck!" he cried, holding his head in his hands. The lady who'd handed him the letter read the mood expertly, despite his using Japanese, and said coyly, "Oh, you could always stay here for longer, monsieur~", leaning forward. Kamijou blushed again, and Mikoto glared at the two of them.
Before she could say anything, though-
"The store seems to be flourishing, huh, manager?"
"M-Monsieur...as you can see - we're full today-" The inn's owner, Scarron was sweating bullets, trying to talk to a fat man in fine clothes. Surrounding him were other men, all of whom were tall and wore rich clothes. All of them displayed wands or fine rapiers on their attire. Mikoto looked at him, sizing him up. Going by his 'prosperous' appearance, his clothes that had a liberal amount of gold thread, and the way he threw his weight around...was this one of the country's nobles? Kamijou too was looking at him cautiously. D-damn. This doesn't look promising!
The nobleman spoke to Scarron in a menacing tone. The men around him suddenly held up their wands and all the other customers got up and left. Mikoto narrowed her eyes. What was this guy doing? Scarron was putting on a brave front, but he was barely hanging in there, and his girls were shaking openly.
The noble and his attendants took up the seats at the biggest table and started chatting in a rather intimidating manner about various topics. Kamijou and Mikoto both heard words like taxes, her majesty and others being thrown out. None of the inn staff dared to approach them.
"Is there not a girl who will serve breakfast for Her Majesty the Queen's tax collector?! This store at least sells that, right?!" the fat man shouted boorishly. Nobody moved.
"Who'd come up to serve disgusting pigs like you with a smile?" one of the girls said in a small voice. Mikoto looked at her, being one of the few to hear her. Thankfully, none of the noblemen had heard it. The girl who had handed Kamijou his letter sighed and straightened up before stepping forward
"Ahh - Miss Jessica!" the others whispered. One of the girls said in a dramatic tone, "A-As expected of Mons- Mademoiselle Scarron's daughter! How brave!"
So she was that effeminate man's daughter?! Mikoto watched on, wondering what was to happen next.
And it was disgusting. That woman Jessica was pretty skilled at handling the coarse-mannered customers and their advances (well, it was actually just the one man who led them).
"Come on, Jessica - I'm a regular here, aren't I?" he purred. Jessica put on a sweet smile, much to the sad admiration of her colleagues.
"Of course, Master Chulenne," she said.
"Surely that means I can have you...You do realise your old man's shop may be put in a pretty precarious position based on your answer, don't you~?"
Mikoto glared at the proceedings. She was forcibly reminded of the #5 Level 5 and the dirty tricks she'd pulled in front of her before.
"Oh, stop playing around, Master Chulenne~" she said in a forced playful tone.
Kamijou looked beside him and jumped at the sight of the biribiri girl next to him. S-such misfortune!
"Oh, I'm not playing around, Jessica, my sweet." he said in a silky tone. "I plan to stay the night...if I don't see you tonight, well, I don't think I need to explain further, do I?"
"O-of course n-not, Master Chulenne," Jessica said, her smile slipping. He'd won. The nobles around Chulenne cackled lecherously, and others even praised the man for his 'catch'. Jessica's lovely face turned red with anger and humiliation. Scarron's shoulders were shaking. Of course it would be too much for any father to bear. But before he could take action, a buzzing sound started to issue from one of the corners of the inn.
Part 6
Accelerator lay on his bed. Sleep did not come easily.
What the hell should I do?
Everyone else had easy answers, it seemed.
What's the point if I go anyway? I'm useless without my powers. He felt the electrode on his neck. How the hell is this gonna work if I leave this planet?
What about those two idiots? Going off somewhere is just gonna be the same as daring the whole world to come and take them away. Hawaii was bad enough, but...another fucking world?
Besides, that guy could take care of himself, couldn't he?
"Hey, Accelerator /return. This is about to get troublesome, so let me interfere /return."
"Ahn?" he looked to his side and saw Last Order standing in front of the door. When the hell did she come in? And...what's with that expression? A visceral fear started rising in his throat. He forced it down and sat upright. Last Order stepped forward as he turned on the lamp.
"C'mere, brat. What's wrong?" She ignored his extended hand and remained standing there.
"Normally, 'Misaka' fills the network but leaves the means of external interference to the individual units /return. So don't expect me to be much of a conversationalist /return. Think of this as being like an email /return. Just so you know, I will simply finish what I am saying even if you ask questions /return."
"What...the hell?"
This was something from within the Misaka Network.
This was something superior even to Last Order who was the command tower.
But no one should have been higher than Last Order on the system!
He began to suspect this was related to the Third Season project Misaka Worst had come from, but then a different possibility came to him. Despite being warned she would give no response, he spoke through clenched teeth. "Are you the will of the entire Misaka Network!?"
Instead of replying directly, Last Order continued to speak in the same mechanical voice, "What a dilemma you're in right now /return. Really /return. What a fix /escape. You just got some information that only a privileged few have actually seen, but /backspace while everyone else has already made up their minds, you're still sitting around wondering what to do /escape. Truly /return. You've got one foot in this world and the other in another world /return."
"What the hell are you-"
"You reacted to that with something along the lines of 'What the hell are you saying?', didn't you /escape? Don't do that /backspace. Let's get rid of all the problems that aren't actually needed, Accelerator /return. Hiding your embarrassment like that is usually quite cute, but /backspace it just gets in the way here /return. So, let me get down to the core of the issue /return. I know what you are probably thinking /return. If I go along to find that guy /escape, I will essentially be leaving behind Last Order and Misaka WORST /backspace. Besides, that guy can take care of himself, right /return?"
Accelerator grimaced. How had she…?
"Well, your concerns are not unfounded /return, but do you really think things will be ok if you stay here /escape? After all, a path to a new world has been opened /backspace, and in an unexpectedly simple manner /return. Does the term 'gold rush' come to mind /escape? At some point, this city may try and expand into the new world /return. Who knows, there may already be some plans in place /escape. Don't think that you, or Last Order or WORST, will be spared from what will come then /escape. I'm not lending you calculation space so you can sit around waiting for things to happen /return,"
"Then what'd you want me to-"
"Go now /return. Preempt /return. If you're worried about your electrode /backspace...well, those fears are unfounded /return. I can attest to that /return." She tossed something to him. He did not react, letting it fall on the bed next to him; he was completely captivated.
Is this the will of the network then? Is this what those children are asking of me?
"Truth be told /backspace, this was not part of my plan at all /return. I didn't want you to have to go back to that world of violence /escape. Things can't possibly go that easily for the #1 monster, after all /return. But I'm afraid I'll have to make an exception here /return. Kamijou-chan may be in trouble, and you have to go to his side /return,"
The white-haired monster clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.
Part 7
A mysterious buzzing sound filled the inn. Even as Jessica tried to muster up whatever dignity she had left, she found herself frowning in curiosity at the noise. But, without warning, the sound just cut off into silence. Her eyes narrowed, then widened as she felt a person lean on her from her left side and put an arm around her shoulder.
"Yahh...I'm so sorry, Mister! I forgot I'd promised Jessica here that I'd take her around town the whole day! I even got permission from her dad, so…" Jessica gasped at these words, spoken in some pretty terrible Tristanian with some foreign accent.
It was that boy.
She had known there was something off about him and his date, so she had listened at their door the previous night. They had not even been sleeping with one another, just talking - in some foreign language, to her disappointment. Of course, that thing about the nightcap was just an excuse she made up when the girl saw her at the door - why would an inn that generally catered to lovers offer nightcaps to customers who'd be busy doing the most private things in their rooms?
But what was this? Her guess was that he and his lover were a pair of foreigners who had come to the inn for the privacy to discuss some matters that could not be leaked. So why the hell was he doing something so eye-catching? And in front of this kind of scum?!
She gulped and tried to salvage the situation. "Don't play around, sir! If you bow down and apologise for your actions now, he may still let you off with a pardon!" she hissed to the boy with spiky black hair. Looking at him closely, he clearly was very nervous. His forehead and palms were sweaty, and his smile was overly enthusiastic and twitching slightly.
The other nobles seated around Lord Chulenne laughed at this sight.
"Hoho! What a hero!" one cackled. Chulenne growled at him in a low voice. "Boy...it seems you do not understand the situation here…"
Kamijou pressed Jessica's shoulder slightly and pulled her away.
"Come on, Jessica! Where should I take you first, I wonder?" he said this in an overly loud tone. Everyone stared at him in cold confusion. Who was he even trying to fool?
"You sure have guts, boy." Lord Chulenne growled, putting down his fork and starting to get up. One of his attendants stood up before him, however, and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword-wand. It was a tall, strapping man who wore a black cape and had a well-waxed moustache.
"My Lord Chulenne - there is no need for you to dirty your hands with lowlifes such as these. Allow me, Robespierre of her Majesty's Military Police Force, to teach this common boy a well a deserved lesson in manners!"
The boy sighed. He said something in his native tongue - something that sounded like 'fukoh-da". Jessica didn't get it, but smiled in a defeated manner. It wasn't like a commoner without a plan could hope to defeat a military trained noble, never mind a whole group of nobles. The gesture made her happy, but it was useless, in the end.
"I am Lord Robespierre of the Silver Stream, boy! If you surrender now and beg for forgiveness from Lord Chulenne, her Majesty's royal Tax Collector, I will be kind enough to let you off with a verbal warning,"
The black-haired boy he was addressing simply looked to his side, at the crowd that was staring at him, primarily made of the Inn workers and the guests who had come downstairs slowly, cautiously upon hearing the commotion. He turned back, his head hung and sighed. He muttered something else under his breath, then lifted his head with a deep breath.
"I only wish it could end that easily. Now you've gone and done it," He faced Chulenne directly. "I guess you're just really in misfortune today,"
"Is that a threat, boy?!" Robespierre bellowed. "You must be a foreigner. Clearly, you don't understand how things work in Tristain. Let me hammer into your body the knowledge of our power! The power of the honorable Tristanian Aristocracy!"
He drew his sword sharply and waved it in a meaningful manner while chanting incantations that were lost on Kamijou. As the tip of his wand traced arcane symbols in the air, water started gathering from the air in front of him. Kamijou realized he was condensing the water vapor in the air to make liquid water. Rapidly, the water took the form of a cylinder about half a meter in diameter and a meter in length, with the circular part facing Kamijou. With another wave of his wand, the cylinder froze solid.
"Eat this! Silver Hammer!"
The cylinder of ice flew straight at Kamijou. Several of the girls working at the inn screamed, and Scarron moaned despondently.
["S...Such a man, to stand up for my one and only daughter...But it's all over now! There is no way a commoner can beat a nobleman!"]
Kamijou exhaled deeply. "Such misfortune, so early in the morning. Stay back a bit, Miss," he gently pushed Jessica away towards his right, where Scarron and his girls stood.
Just in time, the massive block of ice had closed the gap on him. Jessica squeezed her eyes shut. Everyone collectively held their breaths, waiting for the inevitable dull thud and scream of pain. Instead...
The sound of glass shattering filled the dining area. The ice immediately returned to its original state in a shower of shimmering ice dust.
"G-gnn?! How?!" The noble grunted in shock.
"Sorry, noble," Kamijou said heavily, scratching the back of his head, eyes closed. "But I guess I'm one of the worst enemies you could've met."
Bzzzzzzt.
His eyes opened in mild annoyance. "But not the worst,"
Right on cue, a bolt of bright blue energy issued from within the crowd of bystanders and hit the noble's sword, like lightning being absorbed by a building's lightning rod.
"HaaaaaAAAAAAARRRRRHHHHH!" Robespierre screamed as his body convulsed. His moustache and hair caught fire and he fell over, struggling to put it out by swatting it with his hands. It had happened so fast that even Scarron and his girls could barely register that the attack had come from one of those standing in their midst. A girl, wearing what all the commoners regarded as "men's clothing", stepped forward, holding out her jacket to one of Scarron's girls.
"That'd be me," she said highhandedly, flicking her fringe slightly. By this time, all the noblemen save for Chulenne himself had stood up and were pointing their sword-wands at the young duo with the outlandish fashion sense. Sweating and shaking with rage, Chulenne also got up and pointed a shaking finger at the two.
"They dared...to lift a hand against one of Brimir's chosen…" his face turned purple. "Kill them!"
"This is getting annoying. I'll just finish them as soon as I can," she turned to Kamijou and quipped lightly. "Cover me!"
The boy didn't need to be told twice. Knowing the scale and flexibility of her powers, he acted accordingly, moving so that he could assist her efficiently. He was used to fighting solo, but it was not like Kamijou Touma could not match-up his movements with a partner. As magical attacks started coming from the noblemen, Mikoto started her preparations and Kamijou protected her by cancelling the attacks with his right hand. Thankfully, these noblemen had no experience with Imagine Breaker. Indeed, they had not encountered anything that could possibly cancel out their powers completely before, and their only solution to the problem was to send increasingly-powerful attack spells at Kamijou. Imagine Breaker's power was absolute, even in the face of such attacks, and Kamijou simply brushed their power aside. A block of ice, a powerful gust of wind, thin threads of acetylene that could burn through steel - Kamijou observed their wand movements and mentally forecasted the kind of attack that would come up next, positioning himself to shut down the nobles' magic.
Even as he negated the noblemen's attacks, Mikoto did not stand by idly. Knowing that sending electricity haphazardly could damage the shop, she decided to use magnetism instead. Making the calculations in her mind quickly, she plucked the steel swords out of each noble's hand and meshed them together in one pile of mangled metal and manipulated it. The ball of metal went flying around the room under her expert control, smashing into the heads of each noble and knocking them out. The only one not affected was Chulenne, who held a wand made of fine rosewood rather than metal. With a trembling hand, he held up the wand at Mikoto.
"You…BITCH!" While Mikoto was focusing on the others, he chanted an incantation. Despite his looks, he too was a powerful mage, and 5 towering golems twice his height rose from the ground.
"Go! Rip them apart!" the golems lumbered forward, but Kamijou had already seized the initiative. He charged at them and tapped the first one. The monstrous earth golem's limbs fell apart and turned to dust. As the other four lumbered towards him, he evaded quickly, remembering the incident in the London subway when he was almost defeated by a golem made of paper. As fast as possible, he tapped the nearest Golem with his right hand as he strafed past, reducing it to dust. Mikoto distracted the monsters with low-powered lightning, giving the boy more opportunities to strike. In less than a minute, the five Golems were no more.
"G-ghh!" Chulenne unconsciously stepped back, looking to his left and right. There was just one noble left.
"Y-you! Cover me! Defend me with your life while I leave!" he screeched.
BZZZZZT.
His one hope fell, smoke rising from his burnt body.
Kamijou stepped forward. "Using magic only to cement your own authority...just giving out your magic name so cheaply like that...leaving others to do your dirty work..." he broke into a run. "Bastards like you are an insult to magicians!"
That fist was clenched tightly.
"I don't care if you're the ones 'chosen' by some founder. If you really think your luck to be born as nobles entitles you to do whatever the hell you want, then I'll destroy that illusion!"
"H-hah...No, s-s-stop! Get away from meeeeeeeee-" his terrified cry was cut off by the sound of Kamijou's fist slamming into his face. A lot of pent-up frustration was packed in that punch, sending him reeling.
Mikoto exhaled deeply and grinned at Kamijou. "See? Fighting with me by your side isn't so bad, is it? Right, K- EHH WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, YOU PERVERT?!"
The boy in question was pressing his face into Jessica's well-developed chest. Or rather, the girl was hugging him hard, pressing his head into that area.
"Mmmmph...!"
Mikoto blushed and protested at where his head had been squashed into, but before she could zap him for his indecent behaviour, the other girls started crowding around her.
"Awesome!"
"That was incredible, Mademoiselle!"
"We're so sorry for our less-than-satisfactory conduct towards you, Mademoiselle! If we'd known who you were-"
"Ah, not really-"
"Wonderful~, Mademoiselle!" Scarron gushed. "And you too, Monsieur~! Simply...wonderful!"
It went on like this for a bit longer before they were both ushered somewhat forcibly to the biggest table in the inn and given a complimentary breakfast fit for a king. Mikoto glared at the blushing Kamijou like it was his fault.
"Is this how it's always like for you?"
"Don't be ridiculous," he huffed. "This is real life, not a shounen manga series. Besides, you started this!"
"Huh," she rolled her eyes at his typical response. Not that she would admit it, but she'd felt exhilarated at what had happened. She'd actually felt happy to have done what she'd done, and the look on Jessica and the rest's faces filled her with contentment. It felt like that one time she'd 'joined' Judgement on a whim.
"What're you smiling about, Misaka? You look kinda creepy,"
"W-what?! I'm not smiling!" she blushed at having been found out. "A-anyway! Did you open that letter?"
"Letter? Oh yeah! That letter!" he hurriedly took it out of the pocket inside his jacket.
"Hey - isn't there some writing on the envelope? I mean besides the name," At her words, Kamijou looked carefully at the writing. Besides the name on the envelope, which he'd already seen, there was some additional writing on the other side.
N.B. DO NOT TOUCH THE INTERNAL CONTENTS WITH YOUR RIGHT HAND – the far more French-proficient Mikoto read out.
"Huh. I suppose whatever's inside is weak against your hand," she mused. She started to open the letter, but Kamijou snatched it from her.
"Lemme do it. I wouldn't put it past that bastard to send dangerous stuff in letters," she blushed at his reasoning and her grasp weakened subconsciously, letting him take the letter. "Ah- wait. I can..."
"Relax, it's fine," he said distractedly, opening the letter carefully with a knife he borrowed from Jessica. He started to put his left hand in to retreive the message, but before he could do so, the letter flew upwards out of the slit he'd made in the envelope and levitated on top of the table.
It was a red paper - and it was smouldering. A voice suddenly issued from the smoking red letter, eliciting a yelp from the two.
"Kamijou Touma - Since You're Hearing This, It Looks Like You Weren't Stupid Enough To Touch This Magical Letter With Your Right Hand. Now Listen Up, You Piece Of Crap. You Didn't Return Last Night Like I Ordered You To. Punishment Can Come Later [Kamijou Buried His Face In His Hands With A Whimper Of Such Misfortune!], But For Now, There Is A Job I Need You To Do. Some Idiot Students Are Headed For The Forest Of The Ardenn Near Our Academy. I Believe They Are In Danger Of Being Targeted By A Mage Thief, Named Fouquet Of The Crumbling Dirt, Who Visited Our Academy Last Night And Made Off With A Magical Artifact. Given That You're A Natural Enemy Of Mages And Magical Items, I Want You To Go And Rescue The 3 Students And The Two Commoners Accompanying Them. Got That? The Forest Of The Ardenn - Surely You've Seen It On The Way To Tristania. Now Hurry! Those Students Left At About 8 In The Morning. You Should Reach The Forest Ahead Of Them If You Leave Tristania As Soon As You Get This Letter, On Horseback."
The letter suddenly burst into full-blown flames and the voice became a lot louder.
"I PRAY FOR YOUR SUCCESS, KAMIJOU TOUMA. MORE TANGIBLY, TEN X EXTRA DUTIES FOR YOU IF ANY INJURY BEFALLS THOSE STUDENTS OR THEIR FAMILIARS. AND TEN X HOMEWORK. WRITTEN HOMEWORK. HOMEWORK WHILE PERFORMING DUTIES. HEH. GOOD LUCK. TA TA~"
Kamijou looked ready to cry.
"So cruel! Damn you, Marc!"
"Hey! What was all that about?!" Mikoto asked in alarm. "Forest of the Ardenn?"
"Ahh whatever! I just have to go fight off some noble, right, Marc?" Kamijou got up and cried, looking somewhat bitter. "Fine! I'll go!" Well, I needed the distraction anyway. This shouldn't be too hard. If it's a mage, I can oppose them.
Mikoto stood up too. "Ahh - Misaka. You stay here. I'll be back by evening,"
Lightning flashed. "Leave you by yourself - after finding you at last?! Don't screw around with me! We're sticking t-t-together!" she yelled at him, blushing fiercely. "B-besides, there's another reason." her voice became steady again and she grew serious. "I remember hearing about that Forest of the Ardenn - that priest friend of yours mentioned it over the radio. It lies on the path he's taking to get to this town,"
Kamijou stared at her thoughtfully. "So if we head for the forest, we might bump into Stiyl...Talk about killing two birds with one stone…"
The two of them abandoned their half-eaten breakfast and ran upstairs. Mikoto grabbed her bag and Kamijou took whatever he'd brought down to town as well.
"Ahh - leaving so soon, Monsieur?"
"Y-yeah! Urgent business, y'see!"
"That's too ba~d! Do come back again next time!" Scarron called out in his effeminate tone. Kamijou waved goodbye and ran to the stables.
"Well, it's fine if you wanna come along, Misaka - but there's one big problem…"
"W-What?"
"There's only one horse…" Kamijou said dejectedly, untying Ghost at the inn's stable. "Unless you wanna share or something…" The horse whinnied with a nod of its head, as if it was saying, 'One or two people? Not a problem for this old boy!'
Mikoto blushed at the suggestion. "A-Ahh. Umm. Well." while stammering away, she remembered something, and hung her head in depression. "Animals don't like me, remember?"
"Huh? Oh, right...because of your biribiri field [It's an electromagnetic field caused by my AIM field, not a freaking BiriBiri field, idiot!], right? I remember your sister said something like that before…"
"Mmhm. Tokiwadai had a horse-riding course once but I had to sit it out..." Dark lines appeared over her depressed face.
Kamijou scrunched his forehead thoughtfully, then suddenly smiled. He got up on the horse, made himself comfortable, then held out his right hand.
"Eh?" Mikoto looked up at him in surprise. It's just like that time before…
But this time, he was really extending his right hand to her with that roguish smile. He wasn't pranking her or saying stupid things without reading the mood. She decided to trust him this time and took his hand. He suddenly switched his grip from overhand to underhand and pulled her up.
"Uwahh!" she gasped reflexively. A feeling of powerlessness flooded her body as soon as her hand made contact with his - that right hand was completely cancelling out her power. And, somehow, she didn't mind either...it didn't feel bad. He continued pulling her up, until she was comfortably seated side-saddle on the horse. He turned behind and grinned at her before squeezing the horse lightly with his legs, urging it forward. Ghost neighed enthusiastically and trotted forward, quite comfortable even with the weight of two on its reliable back.
"Oh, so this was your idea," said Mikoto in an oddly high-pitched voice, still holding his right hand. "Cancel my AIM field with your hand...Well, I guess it couldn't be helped then!"
If one looked closely, her eyes had spinning spirals in them.
"Look out, I'm letting go!" he warned. He withdrew his right hand and her power instantly returned. Ghost neighed, startled by the EM field it had suddenly felt. The grey horse reared and galloped without warning.
"EEEEHHH?! WHY'D YOU LET GO?!" she screamed, reflexively grabbing his midriff for safety. Kamijou simply laughed and patted Ghost on its head as it cantered.
"Physical defects make animals dislike you? Overcome those, and true adventure beckons!" the boy laughed brashly.
"IIIIIIDIIIIIOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTT! Oh geez! What'd you have done if the horse threw us both off?!" but she couldn't keep from smiling as she said those words.
"Oh don't worry! Ghost is strong enough to tolerate a little BiriBiri-ness. Right, Ghost?" the horse whinnied, almost as if in response, and kept trotting forward. The boy and girl laughed despite themselves and set their sights on their distant destination.
Part 8
A monster walked towards his destination. He was carrying a large bag, with the full weight of it resting on his scrawny shoulders. Ordinarily, he would use his power to cancel out the weight vector of the bag, but he had consciously chosen not to do that. His cane had been disassembled and kept back in his bag; currently, he was making use of the item Last Order, in her trance, had given him: a charger, strapped to his leg, that converted the kinetic energy of his walking pace to electrical energy to recharge the electrode on his neck. Some semblance of normalcy had returned once he started using that charger. He now could walk normally without fear of having to recharge the battery when it was flat - although he also had to be careful not to over-charge the battery.
Pushing those mundane thoughts out of his head, he started thinking about the road ahead of him now.
A new world.
Kamijou Touma is on it.
She...no, they want me to go to his side.
And then what?
Do I have to be his fucking bodyguard?
As ridiculous as the notion sounded, he had come to the answer that that was what the Misaka Network essentially wanted him to do. They had set things up quite nicely for him too. He had seen several loitering around his area, and figured that they were staking out Yomikawa's apartment to watch over their Command Tower. They had even prepared the charger for him, just in case he was unable to find the resources to recharge his choker on his journey.
"Things can't possibly go so easily for the #1 monster, after all" What was that all about anyway? Was the network telling him to get off his ass and do some work?
Nothing but questions.
And so he had left a note for his 'family' to find, and sneaked out to meet the other bastard. He took a taxi to a student dormitory building in District 7 and went up to the second-highest floor on the 8-storey building.
"Well, isn't this nostalgic," he spat out, standing before one of the apartment doors, looking at the name plate next to it.
Kamijou Touma
The strongest esper went inside, and looked at the strange scene inside the room.
There was a large mirror-like disc, about 2m in diameter, floating in the centre of the room. Right in front of it was an antenna about 1m in height, supported by a tripod. There were some people near the disc - three nuns. One blonde, blue-eyed nun with a stern expression, one little child with blonde hair and a worried expression, and a bespectacled one who was kneeling before the disc, with one of her hands placed on it. She looked like she was praying. The other two, on the other hand, were looking alertly at the other two teenagers in the room.
There was a young man wearing a cream-coloured suit and holding a crude black knife-like object in his hand. There was a young woman wearing the Kirigaoka Girls' School uniform, but with a warm pink top in place of the white blouse and with the blazer worn on her shoulders like a cape.
GROUP was assembled, once again.
"I'm glad you decided to come, Accelerator-san,"
"More than that, I'm shocked Musujime actually trusted your words enough to come all the way out here," he spat.
The red-haired teleporter glared at him. "I still don't believe half the things I've heard from him."
"And yet, here you are," the annoying disguise-boy said meaningfully, much to her irritation.
"Anyway, I have already learned all that I need to know from Sister Lucia here. Let me give you a short briefing - In Norse mythology, our world is one of nine hanging on the world tree, Yggdrasil. By using the rainbow bridge Bifröst, we can travel between the worlds. This disc you see before you is the gate to Bifröst. Once we go inside-"
"As usual, you talk too much," Accelerator growled. With a great rush of wind that sent the items in the room flying about, he propelled himself right at the disc. Musujime gasped as the mirror sucked him right inside, rippling wildly.
"Oya oya. There he goes. Well, I'll save the explanation for later then. Musujime-san?" he extended his hand to her.
"What a gentleman," she sneered, and walked forward on her own. Chuckling, despite having been rebuffed, the Aztec magician followed her into the mirror-like disc.
The scenery rippled and changed, turning into the vast space between worlds.
A glossy, barely-solid pathway glowing with the colours of the rainbow, surrounded top, bottom, left and right by black space, illuminated with stars and galaxies.
The three villains looked around at the scenery. Unabara Mitsuki looked up at the celestial lights, searching for Venus, as thoughts of the young lady he loved flooded his mind.
Misaka-san actually used such an underhanded method to gain access to the rainbow bridge to get to another world - all for the sake of meeting you, Kamijou-san. Really, it makes me jealous just thinking about it.
The magician Etzali smiled to himself ruefully.
But that's how it should be. Men who walk in the darkness have no right to this luxurious feeling. All I can do is watch over her from the darkness, and trust that you will uphold the promise you made.
Another world. Another set of laws, Musujime Awaki thought to herself as she beheld the landscape of Bifröst and the space around the bridge. She had gone so far to gain an answer as to why she had to live with this ugly ability. And now, there was a chance to find another answer. For herself and the comrades she had sworn to protect.
Guys...wait for me. Once I see this for myself, I'll be back - with a free ticket for all of you to escape from that hellish city.
And in front of them, the #1 started walking along the Rainbow Bridge, away from the still-open mirror-like gate from which they had just come, carrying the will of 9969 clones on his scrawny shoulders. Nobody knew what he was thinking. Even those who had walked alongside him through Academy City's darkness knew not for what he fought now. And that was how it had to be.
Who could understand the burden of the #1 monster?
His eyes set on the distance, Accelerator muttered, "My power is still working...Unabara! Where to?"
The Aztec magician smiled blandly. "Just follow me,"
And so the three villains broke into a run along the shiny, shimmering path of Bifröst.
Onto Halkeginia.
To Be Continued
Before I give you guys the preview, I'd just like to say a few words. Thank you all for your comments on my story! Your reviews have been encouraging, opened me up to new possibilities, and given me fresh concepts to mull over. Several of you have been thinking hard about the differences between Halkeginia and Earth in terms of how magic may be used, and about the differences in the systems used on each world. Apathetic Man and guest reviewer Eureka mentioned Idol Theory based on Brimir as an explanation for Halkeginian nobles' magical powers. Guest Conflict even mentioned that nobles might be like gemstones. The second idea particularly winded me, since it completely flipped conventional wisdom, turning the religious noble ladies and gentlemen of Halkeginia into scientifically-powered espers. I too have been thinking about this topic and have come up with a few ideas on the 5W1H of the differences in magical systems between the two worlds, but I won't tell you guys about it yet because of spoilers.
But having said that, my concept is still an evolving work, and may change as time goes on (buzzkill, yes, I know) if I get better ideas. Even so, I hope you guys will continue to submit your theories and thoughts on each chapter.
Finally, I'm the kind of guy who finds himself getting too absorbed in the plot of a story to properly watch out for character development or interpersonal relationship development. That's one of my flaws and I'm trying to find a good balance between these two aspects of writing. That's why this chapter doesn't advance the plot much even though it is so long (you can expect chapter 5 to be pretty long too, but C6 onwards should be shorter). But for those who want more details on plot points, do look out for the various clues scattered around here to make guesses on what might happen next.
Once again, I thank all of you for your support, and I do hope you guys will stick around for 5, 6, 7 and all the future chapters.
Ta~
Chapter 5 Preview
"TTTL - [Turn To The Left]!
"Idiot! I'm never happy to...to see y-you suffer...Why can't you understand that?"
"Thanks, Misaka."
"What would you know about lèse majesté anyway?"
"So we've got to wade right into another Coup d'etat, huh?"
I hate it when you run around and get injured because you're helping someone...but I hate it even more that you've become like this.
"This place is rich in Norse Culture, even if the denizens don't realise it themselves"