Hey hey! I'm back with another chapter of Facing Your Fears… Actually, I am deeply saddened to say this, but I just realized, this story is almost coming to a close…. I guess one could say that it is already at the peak of its climax. I don't know how many chapters I still have to write, but for one thing, it might reach 20 at most. It might be even less than that. Some of you might not care about my rambling... and I'm sorry for that, but seriously, I am really depressed about that fact. I'm already half-way to completing the first-ever story that I actually had the courage to publish…
Let's continue my drama later! Time for the story!
Chapter 11 (Time flies by fast…)
"You! WHAT THE HECK IS HAPPENING HERE?!"
He shouted demanding an answer from the man draped in black before them. Mikoto clung onto Touma's sleeve, glaring at the guy who just entered the scene. Who was that man? Would he be able to finally clear things? Could he be… the real mastermind to Mikoto's kidnapping?
"Oh please Kamijou Touma. I have had enough of your pointless lectures."
"Don't you dare talk back to me like that! Answer me! STIYL MAGNUS!"
He shouted. Mikoto's eyes widened in realization.
"You know this guy, Touma?"
She asked. Touma just ignored her and glared at the magician draped in black standing before him. The magician named Stiyl Magnus.
"Let me introduce myself then, Misaka Mikoto. My name is Stiyl Magnus, my magic name is Fortis931 and I come from the Church of Necessary Evil, Necessarius."
"Ne-Necessarius?"
Mikoto asked in bewilderment.
'Has this guy lost his mind?' she thought to herself.
"Why the hell did you kidnap Mikoto, Stiyl?"
Touma asked, trying to remain calm.
"Didn't Friedrich explain anything to you?"
"What he said didn't make much sense to me…" –Mikoto
"Argh, that damn pedophile… I shouldn't have entrusted him with that task. Not only did he end up injuring the hostage, he didn't explain anything to you as well… "
Stiyl said scratching the back of his head with an irritated expression. But Touma was even more irritated than he was.
"Answer me Stiyl, what the hell provoked you guys to kidnap her? She's got nothing to do with the magic side!"
"Magic side?" –Mikoto
"Sigh, we'll talk about this later Kamijou. Right now, we need to get both of you out of those wet clothes or you'll both be sick which would be more of a pain for us."
He said turning away and walking toward the house, with his black cape swaying with every step.
"That kind of seemed like a…tsundere response…"
Mikoto sighed in exasperation. She was actually trying to make the situation lighter. Touma kept a straight face and followed Stiyl inside, making Mikoto even more worried. After a while, the three of them were seated in the living room with the fire place burning, Touma and Mikoto both had towels around them as they sat beside each other, opposite of Stiyl.
"So, where shall we begin Kamijou Touma?"
"I've asked this damned question twice Stiyl! Why the hell did you kidnap Mikoto? On top of that, why did you have to hurt her?"
Touma asked smacking the table and standing up. Mikoto tugged on his arm, urging him to sit back down.
"Calm down will you? For goodness sake, you act like this every time a girl gets caught up in a situation…"
"He's right Touma. Just relax. Since you two seem like acquaintances, he wouldn't do anything to harm us yet, right?" –Mikoto
"See? Even the girl is agreeing with me."
"Just because I agreed with you doesn't mean I trust you, you jerk."
"Call me a jerk if you want to, but we are doing this for your own safety you know..."
"Safety?"
Mikoto asked. Touma sat down and stared at the ceiling, as a sign that he would leave all the explanations to Stiyl, hopefully.
"Misaka Mikoto, you have just got dragged into the dark side of your beloved city. You have also been recognized in the world of Magic."
"By 'dark side' did you mean those heinous experiments? Well sorry but I got dragged into that a long time ago. Its not-"
"What you know is only the dark side's surface Mikoto; you don't even know half of it. Academy City id a very dangerous place, despite the bright and hopeful reputation it keeps..."
Touma said interrupting her.
"Would you want to explain things to her? It would be a lot easier that way, coming from someone who was also dragged into our world." -Stiyl
"Mikoto, I don't think it's something you need to know… all you have to do is act like nothing happened and I can take care of the rest and protect you-"
"You will not do any form of protecting Touma. Explain it to me. I demand to know the truth, and I want to hear it come from your mouth. Not from the mouth of some random mentally deranged jerk that I just met, who also happens to kidnap me. "
"First, I was not the one who kidnapped you, Friedrich Claude was, he's actually one of out Church members who do their jobs efficiently but are complete morons. besides, I am not mentally deranged. Watch your mouth young lady."
Stiyl said scolding her, but Mikoto just snickered.
"Like I'd give a damn about you. Are you going to tell me Touma, or am I gonna have to force it out of you?"
She said glaring at poor old Touma. Well, what can an Idiot do in cases like these right?
"Sigh, do you remember that time when everyone fell asleep and you saw me and Index out on the streets?"
"Yeah. That was the day I ended up fighting those men in black."
"Something… happened that day… That's all there is to it."
"Well thank you Captain Obvious! Mind telling me more about that 'something'?"
"Sigh, an angel was formed alright? Kazakiri Hyouka, the friend Index and I mentioned, was an experiment of Academy City. They wanted to create an angel. And we tried to stop it. For some reason, since Kazakiri was a failure, they decided to experiment on someone else, when they saw you fighting, they saw your potential and-"
"They chose me as the next guinea pig?"
Mikoto guessed crossing her arms in front of her chest, while staring at Touma.
"Well, you've always been a smart girl, so I guess you'd guess that sooner or later. They've already prepared a project title for you though, even though the experiment hasn't started yet."
"And what pointless title would that be?"
"Angel of Death. That's what they plan on calling you."
Touma looked at Mikoto and checked her expression. She closed her eyes and sighed.
"First, that name is so cliché and weird. Second, there's no way I'd participate in that experiment. So there's no need to put me on some kind of Princess Protection Program led by some crazy religious people who believe in magic."
"Even though you don't give them your consent, they will proceed with the experiment, using methods that are rash and violent. So we do need to put you on a Princess Protection Program, spoiled ojou-sama."
Stiyl said lighting a cigarette.
"I am not spoiled. Anyway, why would you guys protect me? What would you get in return for it?"
"You are the 3rd level 5 right? If one of Academy City's elite is used against us, it would be very bad news. Your city is a force worth fearing."
"So why did you kidnap me? And why did you have to stab me?"
"We kidnapped you because we had to make sure that we got to you first, before they do. Since we were first, the city's probably gonna stop their ridiculous plan on you and move the target to someone else. We had to incapacitate you somehow. But we really didn't want to hurt you, you just put up a fight…"
"So that means, after this, Mikoto won't have any ties left with the magic side right?"
Touma asked, worrying about Mikoto's well being.
"Well, if things go according to plan, then yes. As long as they haven't taken hold of her DNA, then she will be safe and none of the magic societies would have interest in her. She won't be a guinea pig to become an angel."
"Thank God, I thought I might have nearly brought her to her grave or something…"
Touma said, slumping on the comfy couch.
"M…my …DNA?"
Mikoto whispered to no one in particular, with a worried expression. Touma noticed it,
"What's wrong Mikoto?"
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing, don't worry. I'm fine."
She said faking a smile. 'If…Academy City… has my DNA? Surely that won't be enough right? Yeah, I'm just over thinking…' she thought, heaving a sigh of relief.
"Anyway Kamijou Touma, you could've escaped from this place earlier right? Why didn't you run off?"
"Huh? Well, there were barriers and runes all around right? How could've we escaped?"
"You really are a moron… why didn't you use your Imagine Breaker to escape? Surely that would have been easier, considering how handy that damn right hand of yours is."
"Hey, I- eh? You're right! Why didn't I use Imagine breaker? Guess I-"-Touma
"Imagine Breaker? So that's the power of your right arm! That's why it can negate all of my electrical attacks! Even the railgun!"
Mikoto said pointing an accusing finger at him.
"OI! Stiyl! Help me explain things to her will you!"
Touma said, turning his attention from the angry girl to the guy who was supposed to be sitting opposite of them, but he wasn't there. He looked around and saw a black cape waving goodbye to his sorry face.
"Damn it Stiyl! Don't leave me hanging like this!"
He screamed but it was too late for the man had already gone.
"Kamijou Touma, you have a lot of explaining to do. First things first, what is Imagine Breaker? Why was it called that? Who named it? How come that guy knows? Who was that guy anyway? Why do you know him? Why do you know so much about Academy City's dark side? Why are you involved in the magic side? What the heck is the magic side? Since when were you involved? Are there more of them? Why-"
"MIKOTO! CALM DOWN! Please stop bombarding me with questions like that! I'm not nearly as smart as you! I can't catch up with all those questions!"
"Fine. Then explain it to me slowly."
Mikoto said facing him with a straight face. There was no backing down right now. Whether he liked it or not, he had to tell the whole story. During their little (incredibly long) chat, Mikoto's stern expression slowly turned into a much softer one, and by the end of it all, she was now looking down, with tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
"Hey, Mikoto, you don't have to pity me you know…"
"But, you've lived your whole life bearing the misfortunes of the world. And here I was calling you an idiot despite the fact that you also bared my misfortune, during that time, with my SISTERS."
"Hey, if the whole world can live happily, including you, I'd gladly take on all the misfortunes. Having a happy peaceful world is my dream after all."
"But you're not exactly happy now, are you?"
Mikoto asked looking up, her eyes shining with her innocent concern, which acted like a truth serum, forcing him to tell the truth.
"You're right. There were times that I hoped that I didn't have this damned arm. That I could live the normal life of a high school boy and not get caught up in all this mess. Sometimes, I even hoped that I wasn't born into this world...That I could just...Die…"
"DON'T SAY THAT!"
Mikoto suddenly said holding his right hand in both of hers.
"Don't say that you want to die! It's not funny! I won't stop you from fulfilling your dream, but please, at least let me help you! I will bear the misfortunes of the world with you if I have to. Even if I had to possess a damned arm, I would do it, just so that I could-!"
Mikoto's noble speech was cut-off when Touma flicked her nose. She held her nose and glared at Touma.
"What the heck?!"
"Do you honestly believe that I would want you to do that? I said that I wanted to protect the ones that I love, that includes you. So stop babbling dramatic stuff already."
Touma said wearing his signature warm smile, which practically mad Mikoto's heart jump out of place. To his surprise, Mikoto laughed.
"What's so funny?'
"I'm just amazed by you that's all."
"What?"
"I'm amazed that you can say that you practically love all of humanity. I find it difficult just to say I love you to a person, but you managed to say that about the whole world."
"You've never expressed love before?"
"Well of course I have dummy. But with the way you said it, it seemed so…different from mine. For me, Love is something kind of profound and hard to believe. Actually I believe it, but…well... I don't know, things just seem so difficult. In movies and stories, love is always sad and tragic. I want to love but I never want to feel those things. I guess I just don't want to get hurt, that I want to protect myself from getting hurt… That I'm…. You know what, never mind."
"Eh?"
Touma wondered. Mikoto stood up and smiled down at him.
"All I know is that I love my friends, my family, Academy City, and my SISTERS. My SISTERS are me. They're part of me, just like I'm part of them, so I love all of them, even though there's practically 10,000 of them... I guess that's enough. Well, goodnight Touma!"
She said running off into one of the rooms Stiyl pointed out earlier, rooms where they could sleep in. and NO, they could not sleep in the same room, unfortunately. Touma decided to go out for some fresh air. He sat down on one of the benches in the garden, as he stared at the night sky.
"How long have we been talking? It's already this late without me noticing at all."
He sighed as he thought about the talk they had. Some of Mikoto's words echoed in his head.
"…You also bared my misfortune, during that time, with my SISTERS"
"All I know is that I love my friends, my family, Academy City, and my SISTERS. They're part of me, just like I'm part of them, so I love all of them…"
"Wait, why did she keep on mentioning her sisters?"
Touma thought…
"As long as they haven't taken hold of her DNA…. She won't be a guinea pig to become an angel."-Stiyl
"M…my …DNA?" –Mikoto
That was when he realized it.
"AH! Damn it! why the hell am I so stupid?!" (A/N: You just realized that?)
He shouted as he ran inside to Stiyl's room and kicked the door open.
"STIYL! Academy City has her DNA! It was used for her clones! They have her DNA Map! Is-"
Touma was interrupted when they heard something like glass break. They immediately ran to Mikoto's room, only to find broken pieces of glass scattered on her bed and the floor, with traces of her blood leading to an open hole in the wall.
"MIKOTO!"
Touma screamed, hoping that his scream would be able to reach Mikoto's ears, no matter where she was. Meanwhile, Mikoto was being carried to god knows where by god knows who. She felt someone's voice calling out her name,
"T-Touma? P-please…s...sa...Save…me…"
She said before passing out. Could her voice reach him? Could her plea for help allow the guy she love to find her and save her from the clutches of their new enemy? this is one kidnapping after another. just how much more can she take?
-Chapter end-
Hey there! Thanks for reading! I actually addressed some of the questions from the reviews in the story itself. Sorry, I'm too lazy to type an explanation… ha-ha… Once agaun, I'm sorry if it's too short or what. as usual, I didn't proof read it, so if there are any mistakes, I am terribly sorry.
Anyways, after this story is over, I'm planning on writing a sequel… do you guys think it's a good idea? It'll be all about how Touma and Mikoto face the problems of life and love together as a couple and they'll have to face one heck of an annoying girl... (while i was thinking about it, I got really pissed at the antagonist. I so wanna kill her)… Is it a good idea? This is actually just an idea that popped into my head, but i like how it ended up though... I seriously don't want to let go of this story, so I keep on thinking of ways to lengthen it. Ha-ha…
Anyway, please leave your reviews, comments and suggestions… thank you guys so much! Until next time!