Chapter 10: Descent into Insanity (Part 2)
Announcer: Last time on Descent:
With Mikoto's help, Ruiko saves two student activists from ITEM; she receives a USB drive from the one named Ayatsu before Anti-Skill arrests him; Touma and Agnese holds a stakeout for Index and ends up in a love hotel; and Tsuchimikado visits Furano, the town of many recent disappearances; he encounters Terra of the Left and a massive explosion, barely escaping both with his life intact.
"I have to commend you on the excellent timing of your message," said Tsuchimikado Motoharu as he once again faced Academy City's mastermind in the Windowless Building, "and it was very informative too."
"It was the least a superior should do," Aleister replied, not acknowledging his sarcasm. "Now, I heard you saw some interesting things in the forest."
The floor panels opened in front of Motoharu and a console rose out of it. He took the memory chip from the night vision goggles and plugged it in. Several black and green video panels materialized around him.
"Interesting..." remarked Aleister.
Motoharu smirked. Rarely does anyone see the Academy City's General Superintendent surprised.
One of the panels showed a four-limbed being, roughly humanoid in shape and rigidly built, leaping through the air. It had long, claw-like fingers and a mouth full of sharp teeth.
"That's an ugly one," quipped Motoharu.
"The Catholics brought something interesting," said Aleister, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"They brought Terra too."
"Oh?"
More videos appeared, depicting the scene where Motoharu was almost skewered to death.
Aleister watched until Terra and his men hurried away. "Tell me," he said, "what do you think the Catholics are up to?"
"You mean their 11 temples right?"
"It's not often anyone constructs so many," replied Aleister.
"Indeed," Motoharu scratched his head. "I guess they are serious about the war then. After all..."
After all, he thought, what better way to counter Academy City's army than with one of their own? Humans need to eat and sleep, it's hard to gather a large army without getting discovered, but golems...
"I think it's time for you to go visit the Amakusa," said Aleister.
"Uiharu..."
"What is it?"
Saten Ruiko plopped down on her friend's bed with a sigh.
"I can't help you if you don't tell me what it is," remarked Kazari.
"I know, I just don't know what to do."
"Is it a special someone?"
"Very funny," Ruiko said as she shot Kazari a look.
"Aren't you the one always saying love hits you like a lightning bolt? Who knows what could've happened between yesterday and today?"
"Come on," Ruiko said as she sat up again, "even someone as whimsical as me can't fall in love that quickly... I hope?"
"Hehe..." her words elicited a giggle from Kazari.
"Anyways, what are you doing on the computer?"
"Just NEWT stuff."
"Again? You've been looking at that for a whole week now!"
"Five days is not a week, Saten-san."
"It's definitely a week! Normal people only work 5 days. Plus, I don't even know what you're doing for them."
"I told you before. It's confidential."
"Muu..." Ruiko pouted. "Alright! I've decided!"
"Eh? What do you mean?"
"I'm going to look at it," she said, holding up a USB drive.
She explained what happened the day before, the events after the terrorist attack at the bridge, including how Mikoto helped her saved two people; how one of them, Ayatsu Sei, gave her this USB drive for safe keeping; and how he told her to give it to his friend, just seconds before Anti-Skill showed up and arrested him.
His simple request, however, ran into a bit of a problem. Anti-Skill had taken Sei's friend as well, so now she had no one to give it to.
"So you're going to look at it now?" Kazari asked.
"Yep!" she said as she climbed down from Kazari's bunk bed and took out her laptop. Her friend leaned it to look, only to have Ruiko push her away.
"Sorry Uiharu, I think you shouldn't see this. It's my little secret."
"Eh?" said Kazari.
"You already have your secret with that NEWT thing right?"
"Alright, fine," Kazari said as she shifted back to her own laptop. "I guess that makes it even between us then. One secret each!"
Ruiko grinned and opened the document on the USB drive.
Parameter List
Ver. 2004
Overview
On recommendation from the Academy City's Board of Directors, we have compiled the following parameter list for all students currently enrolled. Since the release of the previous version, the Tree Diagram has been updated with an improved algorithm which accurately models both positive and negative influences between students with close relationships.
Due to the differences between the old and new estimates, continuing students have been reevaluated using the new method. For 92% of all students, the 90th-percentile confidence interval is now less than 0.4 levels.
Based on the new method's improved accuracy, we recommend further reduction in investment levels for students who are unlikely to surpass level 3 by 40%. Savings of $8.3 billion a year is expected from this change. If the same amount is reinvested into high-potential individuals, we estimate an additional 60 individuals will achieve level 3, and 8 will achieve level 4. The possibility of an additional level 5 has also not been excluded.
Ruiko frowned. She quickly scrolled past the first few pages until she saw a list of profiles.
"Akano Ryuji," she read one of them.
Next to the boy's photo was a list of stats that wouldn't have looked out of place in a video game.
Name: Akano Ryuji
Sex: Male
Age: 12
Height: 148 cm
Weight: 42 kg
Institution: Minamizawa Middle School
GPA: 3.3
Current: level 0
Potential: level 2.0
Target: level 0
She scrolled down a bit more. The list continued. Every profile had the same information.
Name: Akamoto Aoi
Sex: Female
Age: 17
Height: 163 cm
Weight: 51 kg
Institution: Airin Girls' High School
GPA: 2.8
Current: level 0
Potential: level 1.4
Target: level 0
Something stood out to her. What is this? she thought, why is everyone's target level 0?
She opened the search dialog and typed in someone she knew wasn't just a level 0.
Name: Misaka Mikoto
Sex: Female
Age: 14
Height: 161 cm
Weight: 47 kg
Institution: Tokiwadai Middle School
GPA: 3.5
Current: level 5
Potential: level 5.3
Target: level 5
Ruiko glanced over at her friend, who was still absorbed in her own work, and searched again.
Name: Uiharu Kazari
Sex: Female
Age: 13
Height: 155 cm
Weight: 43 kg
Institution: Sakugawa Middle School
GPA: 3.6
Potential: level 2.7
Target: level 2
"I wonder..." she mumbled as she typed in her own name.
Name: Saten Ruiko
Sex: Female
Age: 13
Height: 160 cm
Weight: 46 kg
Institution: Sakugawa Middle School
GPA: 2.7
Potential: level 2.2
Target: level 0
What in the world...? She looked over at Kazari again, then back at her laptop. I know I said that earlier, but... "Hey Uiharu, take a look at this."
"Hmm?" Kazari let out an absent-minded noise as she typed away.
"Uiharu, this is important."
"What is it? I thought you didn't..." finally looking up, Kazari saw the seriousness in Ruiko's expression.
"Come and look." Ruiko showed her the overview, then the list of students. "What do you think this target level thing is?"
"Umm... that's..." Kazari tapped her chin. She asked Ruiko to scroll up to the explanation at the top, then read through it again. "If I had to guess, this is the level that Academy City wants you to reach."
"I knew it!" Ruiko clutched her fist. "And look, nobody has a higher level than the target. More over, they're zeros! Almost all of them. Even though their potential is so much higher."
"So not everyone can reach their potential?" Kazari said, raising an eyebrow. "But isn't that normal?"
"Nor- What?!" Ruiko looked at her friend, incredulous.
"I mean, like it says, they can only do so much to try and turn people into espers," Kazari explained a-matter-of-factly, "they want to focus on the ones with a higher potential, so some people have to be left out."
"Then why don't they give everyone an equal chance? Wouldn't that be more fair?"
"That's another way to do it. However, I think they want more high-level espers rather than more ordinary espers. They're planning to cut almost half of the investment into low potential students just to get a few level 4's."
"Why?" she asked. She felt more and more angry as the conversation went on. "This doesn't make sense."
"It does! You have to think about it from a scientific achievement perspective. This is a city of science after all, a lot more can be learned from a level 4 than a hundred level 1's. They want the most out of their investment. Why would they want to waste anything on people without the potential? They-"
"I'm not a waste!" Ruiko yelled and slammed down her fist on the table. She couldn't listen to this anymore.
"Ah..." Kazari shrank under her friend's intense glare and looked away. It seemed she hadn't been thinking about Ruiko's personal situation.
"I could be a level 2 esper! But someone, somewhere decided that I can't be one! My parents paid for me to be here, just like those level 4's, and I work just as hard as anyone else. Why do they deserve more than me?" She slammed the table again. "This is pissing me off!"
Kazari became quiet.
Ruiko looked at her with indignation. Their potentials were half a level apart, but while she can reach level 2, Ruiko will stay at level 0. How is that fair? she thought. And even without her powers, she's incredibly talented. She has amazing computer skills and her grades are excellent in almost every subject and she's always polite and likable and cute.
How can she understand what it's like?
She felt angry and disappointed. Kazari had gotten everything she wanted so easily thanks to her natural talent. And considering how she barely did anything with the powers she did have, she didn't care the way Ruiko did. It's not that she's a bad friend, she just couldn't see the world in the same way.
Ruiko's eyes shifted back to the screen. These people on the other hand, knew exactly what they were doing. They're going to take away the one thing she'd always wanted.
Unless...
"I'm going to do something about this."
"A munitions depot exploded in Central Hokkaido this morning. Over 1000 people are currently missing." The television was showing a scene with some firefighters. Thick gray smoke obscured much of the background. "The prime minister has declared this a national emergency and have mobilized emergency personnel from provinces all across the Japan. Report of missing people are still-"
Clack.
The door to the apartment opened, revealing Accelerator with a light-brown-haired girl behind him.
"'I'm home!' yells MISAKA as MISAKA happily dances into the room."
She stopped in front of the couch.
"'I wonder, I wonder... What is this mochi-like object?' asks MISAKA as MISAKA pokes at it with her finger."
"Stop that!" Index growled, swatting her hand away.
"'Wah! It's alive!' exclaims MISAKA as MISAKA runs away from danger."
"You're still sulking?" Accelerator asked impatiently. "I'm taking care of you so at least show some appreciation."
"In some cultures, laying on the couch is a sign of appreciation."
"'Hey, hey! Who is this girl?' asks MISAKA as MISAKA overhears something that's concerning."
"Nothing you need to worry about."
"'Ah! He just said a cliched thing that means there's everything to worry about!' MISAKA says as MISAKA fills with anxiety."
"Just be quiet for one second you brat," Accelerator said to the little girl who began running circles around him.
"'Ahh, and now he's chastising MISAKA! Did he replace MISAKA in his heart with another girl because MISAKA was away at the hospital for too long?' MISAKA's MISAKA is totally confused!"
"Enough!" Accelerator caught her by her head. "You're making me dizzy. Besides, she may not look like in now, she stopped that virus in you. You owe a lot to her."
"'MISAKA was saved by mochi-san?' asks MISAKA as MISAKA tries to come to terms with an incredible revelation."
"I have a name you know," Index mumbled with her face still buried in the couch cushion. "It's Index Librorum Prohibitorum."
"'Index Librum Prob...?' says MISAKA as MISAKA struggles to remember the name."
"Just 'Index' is fine."
"'Ooh! Index-oneesan!' exclaims MISAKA as MISAKA bows her head."
"Oneesan?" Index perked up and turned her head to face her.
"'Thank you, Index-oneesan!' says MISAKA as MISAKA overflows with gratitude."
"Well... I mean, this is what a disciple of God like myself should be doing..." she said as she sat up.
"'Even though MISAKA doesn't remember anything from that night, the doctor said MISAKA was brought back from the verge of death by a miracle. What did Index-oneesan do?' asks MISAKA as MISAKA wonders about what had happened."
"Well... It was genius, even if I do say so myself," a smug smile appeared on Index's face as she began her explanation. "You see, I knew right away that you were the basis for the angel, but I still had to undo the distortion within your mind that turned you into a conduit for materializing Telesma. At first I thought about using Spell Intercept, but that would not be effective, since I didn't know the nature of the distortion. Instead, I used my vast library of knowledge to find another way!"
"'Index-oneesan is amazing!' says MISAKA as MISAKA becomes absorbed in the story."
"O-hoho! It was simple once I thought about it. A song! With the right words, something as simple as a song can unravel the knot. So-"
"So now that you're feeling all better," said Accelerator, interrupting her, "come help me with shopping. Or do you expect a cripple to carry 3 people's lunch back?"
Index looked at him, then at Last Order.
"Fine!" she said, "I'll finish the story later."
With that, the two of them headed out the door.
"Hey Touma..."
"Yeah?"
"Isn't that... Index?" Agnese pointed.
"What?!" Touma hopped off the bed like a ninja and ran up to the window.
He looked down at the street outside, but she wasn't there.
"I don't-"
"No, look!" Agnese pointed at the building across the street, "the third floor window!"
Sure enough, there was a silver-haired girl in a nun's habit.
"D-don't tell me... was she there the whole time?!"
He looked at Agnese, who shrugged.
"Gah! Such misfortune!"
==ΞΞΞΞ==
The two of them ran downstairs towards the entrance of the other building. As they reached it, they saw Index coming out.
"Index!"
The girl stiffened as she heard the familiar voice. Then she spun around and tried to go back in.
"Index, wait," Touma said as he caught her hand. "At least tell me where I went wrong..."
"As if I can do that," Index whispered. She tore away from his grip and ran back inside.
"Index?" Touma was stunned. He'd expected her to be angry, but...
"Now that you're done with her," another voice spoke up, breaking Touma's train of thought. "I've got a little something to settle with you."
A figure that Touma had seen but not noticed came into focus.
Accelerator!
The teenager's face wore a truly vicious grin and hate seeped from his very pores. Wordlessly, the white-haired monster pulled out a handgun from behind his back and fired.
Bang!
Touma found himself sideways on the ground, a flurry of red hair clouding his vision.
"Take this!" Agnese yelled. The lotus wand smashed into the concrete sidewalk and an invisible blow manifested above Accelerator. His hand, however, was already on his choker. Magic pressed against his reflection and to Touma's surprise, some of its power bled through the barrier. Accelerator lost his balance and crouched down.
Taking this momentary reprieve, Agnese pulled Touma away, but they had only gotten a dozen steps in before another shot ran out. The bullet whizzed past Touma's ear, missing him by mere inches. Agnese turned around and swung the lotus wand at a lamp post just as Accelerator fired again. The invisible blow appeared midway between them and deflected the bullet away.
"Interesting," remarked Accelerator. "Too bad you can't keep that up for much longer."
Touma looked beside him. Sure enough, the girl was already panting and her arms were shaking uncontrollably.
"Damn magic disruption field..." she muttered.
Four more flashes came from the gun. Moving at inhuman speed, Agnese deflected three of them with her wand. The last, she allowed it to hit her in the shoulder, trading it for a blow at Accelerator, who had just emptied his magazine and was replacing it with another. Once again, his reflection diminished the effect, but he was still knocked sideways with enough force to shake the replacement out of his hands.
"Why you!" Accelerator grunted as he tried to regain his balance.
Touma took this chance and ran up to him, fist raised high. As he swung, his opponent hopped away, a pair of tornados sprouting from his back. Tossing the now useless gun aside, Accelerator reached to behind him and uprooted a lamp post.
"I wonder why you didn't just punch those bullets out of the air. It certainly worked against my reflection before," he said as he waved the lamp post in a few practice swings, "now, why don't we try a little experiment. Does your fist work against this?!"
The 15 foot metal spear sliced through the air. Touma ducked and spun backwards out of reach. Accelerator followed him and swung again.
"Noooo!" The high pitched scream broke through their battle. A light blue blur tackled Accelerator from the side. Instead of getting deflected, however, it pushed him to the ground.
"You brat!" he yelled as the light on his choker turned green and the pair of tornadoes disappeared.
"'You can't kill onii-sama! It's wrong!' MISAKA says as MISAKA adamantly chastises this one."
"That's none of your business. Now get off!"
"'No!' MISAKA denies as MISAKA continues to sit on top of Aku-niichan."
"Wh- Who told you to call me that!?"
The sound of police sirens signaled the arrival of Anti-Skill.
"Yomikawa-sensei?" Touma mumbled as his PE teacher hopped out of her cruiser.
"What's going on here?" she asked. "I received a report of a shooting. Is anyone hurt?"
Accelerator shrugged off Last Order and began walking over to where he dropped the gun and magazines.
Aiho's eyes widened in surprise as she saw what Accelerator was aiming for. "Is that yours? Where did you get it?!" she demanded. "You shouldn't be playing with dangerous things like that."
"That's none of your business. I told you before, you're not my family, so stop trying to be my mother," he said as he rearmed himself. "Or do you plan to arrest me?"
"I..." Aiho seemed to be torn.
"Didn't think so," he said as he walked away. Last Order ran after him and they soon disappeared behind the gathering crowd.
Still unable to comprehend just exactly what had happened, Touma sighed. Then out of a corner of his eye, he saw Agnese collapse to the ground. A pool of blood began forming beneath her.
"Hey sensei, she's hurt!" he said as he rushed over.
"Stupid magic disruption field..." the fallen redhead muttered, "stupid bullet..."
"Don't move her," said Aiho, "I'm calling an ambulance."
==ΞΞΞΞ==
After the ambulance took Agnese away, Aiho invited him up to the apartment to talk over some tea. Index was there too. Apparently she had been watching the fight from the building's lobby. As an Anti-Skill lieutenant, Yomikawa Aiho diligently took notes as she listened to each of their perspectives on what had happened. While they were wrapping up, she seemed to suddenly remember something.
"Say, Index..." she motioned her teacup at Touma, "is this the boy you mentioned before?"
Index looked away.
"As I thought," Aiho said as she set down her cup. "Normally I wouldn't involve myself in these kind of things. But since you're my house guest, and he's my student..." She looked Touma in the eye. "Kamijou-kun, can I have a moment with you?"
Unable to refuse, Touma followed her back out onto the street.
"I won't blame you", she said, "after all, most teenagers are like that. But it takes immaturity on both sides for something like this to happen."
Touma was surprised at the soft tone she was using with him. It was nothing like the voice of a PE teacher or an Anti-Skill officer.
"Don't worry, you'll grow out of that one day," she continued, "but for now I want you to answer this question: 'Who are you to Index?'"
"Um... If I had to say, she loves me."
"Kamijou-kun..."
"Was that wrong?!"
"Where are you going?"
"Eh?" Touma looked up. "Love Love Complex," a sign on the building he was about to enter proudly declared.
"Wait, I can explain! I've been coming here since the day before and it somehow became a habit-"
"You have a habit of taking people to a love hotel?!"
"No I... uh..." Touma struggled to think of a way to explain this.
"Ah, I guess that isn't too strange nowadays," Aiho assumed a pondering pose, "maybe I'm just old-fashioned?"
"No it is strange, I just..."
"Well, either way, I'm not going in there with you."
"O-of course not! Let's just keep walking."
It took a moment for Aiho to recollect her thoughts. "Your answer is pretty spot on," she said, "though you'd be surprised at how hard I had to work to get her to admit that."
"Ah..."
"And what about you? How do you feel about her?"
Touma hesitated for a moment. He'd asked himself this same question a dozen times already after she left him. But no matter how he thought about it, in the end, "she's a good friend."
"But you don't like her, not romantically anyways."
Touma shook his head. It might have true a long time ago, but losing his memory had put an end to that. And despite living together for so long, somehow the spark never came back for him.
"That definitely complicates things."
"What should I do then, sensei? Before I was worried that she was alone and nobody was taking care of her, but now that she's safe with you..."
"Do whatever you feel is the right thing for yourself. There's no formula for success, nor are there rules you should be following. Just because she loves you doesn't mean you have to love her back. If you could find it in you to love her, then that's great. If you can't, then it is what it is. Just remember to be honest. Both to yourself, and to her."
Touma looked over at his teacher. It wasn't exactly the answer he was looking for, but it felt like a breath of fresh air. He still doesn't know what he was going to do next, but her words took a heavy weight off of his heart.
"Now why don't we go back and have some lunch?" she said.
==ΞΞΞΞ==
Lunch was Chinese stir-fry at a nearby restaurant. Everything felt awkward and Touma and Index couldn't even look at each other in the eyes. Aiho picked up on this and spent the entire time talking about her school and her Anti-Skill duties. Apparently she had to get Agnese's version of the events as well, so the three of them decided to go visit her at the hospital together.
"Hey," the girl greeted them from her hospital bed as they entered.
"You're already awake?" asked Aiho.
"To be honest I'd rather be asleep," she said with a grimace. "It still hurts when I try move my body."
"If you'd like, I can take your eye witness report after you've recovered," Aiho offered, "please just rest for now."
Agnese, however, didn't seem to want to do that just yet. She raised her head to get a better look. "Is that Index?"
"Yes?" The silver-haired nun walked up to the bed.
Agnese raised her finger in the air and traced a figure, then another, and then several more.
Index's eyes widened. She turned towards Aiho and the nurse who accompanied them and said, "we would like to speak in private. Would you two please give us a few moments?"
"Sure. We'll be outside."
Index waited until they left, then continued.
"At first glance they appear to be 16th century runes. However, this is a constructed script, made using techniques similar to that of Trithemius. Where did you see this?"
"It was a part of a spell," replied Agnese, "I felt its power when it was cast. It was... unsettling, to say the least. I came all this way to see if you could tell me what it does."
"Did Laura order you to come?" asked Index.
"No, but she knows why I'm here."
"I see. I'll do what I can to help, but in exchange, you owe me a favor."
Agnese thought about it for a moment, then said, "I've heard about your background. Just so you know, I won't be able to convince the Archbishop to release you. You're too valuable to her."
Index shook her head. "That's not what I'm asking for. It's just that when the time comes..."
"I understand," the redhead nodded.
Index sighed. "Alright, now about these runes. Do you remember the rest of the spell?"
"No, but I don't have to." Agnese pointed to her clothes that had been piled on a counter nearby. Acting on the unspoken command, Touma sifted through them and found a folded piece of paper in one of the pockets.
As Index looked through it, she frowned. "This makes no sense. Neither the letter order nor the word order corresponds to those of any grimoire. Moreover, if you look at the words here," she said as she pointed towards the top of the paper, "they all have very few letters in them. But if you look at this part," she pointed at a different location. Then she paused.
"Index?" asked Touma as the silence dragged on.
"No... This part is not written in the same language. Even though it uses the same symbols as the rest, it's saying something different. In fact... I recognize this."
The other two looked on expectantly as Index confirmed her findings.
"Yes, this is an excerpt from the book of Genesis. It's the beginning of the chapter on the great flood, where God explains to Noah his plans to remake the earth."
"That... doesn't sound good," Touma said.
"No," Agnese acknowledged, "but it makes sense. Why else would they have sacrificed 5 people to cast it? This is a cabal that's trying to reach the realm of gods."
"Did they succeed then?" asked Touma.
"If they did we would have no way to know," said Index. "If the world is remade, even memories would be erased. So when you see something new, rather than thinking, 'this is different from before', you would instead think, 'it has always been this way'. The only ones who would know are the magic gods themselves. Since they invoked Noah's ark, anyone they chose to bring on the ark can retain their memories."
"I have to say, that's a bit scary," Touma said. Then, remembering his own power, he asked, "what about my right hand? Wouldn't it negate whatever spell they were trying to cast?"
"I don't know enough about your hand to say for sure," said Index, "but if you remember, there were many kinds of magic your hand couldn't break. Something that alters the entire world... Innocentis is nothing but child's play compared to that."
At that time, a knock came at the door. The nurse came in and reminded them they were speaking to a patient in recovery.
"Give me some more time to take a closer look at this," said Index as she gave the piece of paper back.
"You're not taking that with you?" Agnese asked.
"Photographic memory, remember?" Index reminded her with a smile.
"Okay everyone, visit time is over," the nurse said, pushing them out.
"Everything went well I take it?" Aiho said as she greeted them in the hallway.
"Yeah, I think she'll be fine," replied Touma.
"Good! I have to get back to duty, but I'll see you both later."
After she left, Touma and Index found themselves alone. They looked at each other in awkward silence.
"Well," Index said, having found her words first, "I guess this is goodbye." She turned around and began to leave.
"Wait," Touma reached out and took her hand. He could see what would happen if he did nothing now, and it didn't feel right.
"Do you have something to say?" Index asked, still facing away from him.
"Yes, just one thing... Come back."
Index hesitated for a second.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Just no."
"After all we've been through, can't you at least tell me that much?"
"And after all we've been through," she said as she spun around angrily, "you still don't know?"
Touma tightened his grip. "I... think I do. But even so, how does going off by yourself make it better?"
The question seemed to hit a sore point. Her expression softened.
"I don't know," she said.
"Then you'll just keep running away? Trying to forget me? How can you do that when you remember every moment we spent together, every word that was ever spoken, every thought on your mind, every battle we fought together, every laughter, every misunderstanding, every awkward or embarrassing moment?"
"I don't know." Tears began welling up in her eyes. "I don't know what to do."
"Then come back to me."
"You don't understand... You don't... understand how much it hurts to be with you." Her tears rolled down the side of her cheeks and splashed onto the white tiled floor. "Every time, you bring back yet another girl. You fight for them. You risk your life for them. You make them fall in love with you... The same way you did for me."
"I... I'm sorry," Touma said the only thing he could think of.
"I love you Touma," she said, her voice breaking up. "I want you... to be mine."
She walked forward and buried herself in his chest. Touma held her in his arms as she cried. The longer he held her, the more he became convinced of the choice he's about to make. This is the right thing to do. Even if it doesn't work out in the end, he wouldn't regret having tried.
It seemed like an eternity until Index quieted down.
"Thanks," she said as she finally regained her composure. The two of them separated slightly so they could see each other's faces again. "After you lost your memory, you even pretended everything was fine, just so I wouldn't be sad."
"You knew that?" Touma asked in surprise.
"With your acting skills? You'd be caught in a day if you were a spy."
Touma rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I'm not really that kind of guy."
"No, you're not. You're the kind of guy that has 50 girls around him, all of whom he saved one way or another and all of whom are madly in love with him. Even if I took you away for myself, it wouldn't be fair to the rest of the world. Besides, you don't even remember how you saved me, or anything from before."
"I've heard some bits and pieces from Stiyl."
"But you don't have the most important piece," said Index as she looked away.
"Yes, but I'll bring it back."
"What?"
"It might take a little while, but I'll bring it back. So you just have to trust me, everything will work out."
"I think you misunderstood," said Index with a confused look. "It hurts a little to say, but let me say it clearly. You don't love me."
"That's why I said, I'm going to try as hard as I can to love you again."
"A-are you stupid!?" she yelled, incredulous, "love isn't something you can just work hard at. You have to feel it!"
"Then I'll try to feel it. Whatever it takes, I'm ready."
"You-"
"You know me," he said with a grin, "I'll do anything to save the crying girl in front of me. Even if it means falling in love."
She turned away. But in that instant, Touma caught a glimpse of her smile.
"Idiot."
Author's Corner
Author: Is Accelerator still here?
Agnese: Aku-chan just left to go look for you.
Author: Please stop saying that, he's going to kill me.
Accelerator: I've been wanting to turn you inside out since chapter 5. Aku-chan is it? Hmm?
Author: Eeep! *Runs away*
Author's Corner 2
Agnese: Why is there a second corner?
Author: I made this to get away from him. Also I forgot to say something to our dear readers.
Agnese: Oh?
Author: *Bows* Thank you for reading this. I know this updates slowly, but I really don't have much free time. Your kind words keeps me coming back. Also, if you leave a review while logged in, I will usually reply within a day or two.
Agnese: That's very Japanese of you.
Author: I know, anime has corrupted me...