Well here we are once again with the requests! With NT 17 on the horizon (I seriously can't wait!), Pokémon Sun and Moon coming out (this will take up a lot of my time as I Catch 'em all) and with the Pokémon the Series XYZ ending, it feels like a couple of my journeys have ended but more have started! With the preview of NT 17 having being released and with the status of Kamisato Kakeru being revealed for what it is, the only thing that we can do is wait the ultimate conclusion and the novel that is NT 17! I hope that many of you look forward to it as much as I have.

You know though, whenever I have a stockpile of ideas, I always end up creating heaps of word documents and then putting the ideas on them, leaving them in the backburners for a while before addressing them again when I get to them. This is particularly the case with requests so here we are once again with those!

This request came in via PM, from Master Knight (you remember, the one that asked for the story The Rumour) with another idea looking at perhaps, in greater detail the harem antics and possibilities of Touma. I have no idea if this is a story that can be 'continued' like The Rumour, so I'll leave it sort of ambiguous so that it can continue for those that want it to or just leave it at that at the end of the day.

Again, since the request came from a PM meaning that there was a lot of talking back and forth, I won't give you an idea of what the request was about, only leaving you with this one thought here.

Here is the usual Q & A:

seiker: Now that you say it like that, I can only think of Frenda as being nothing more than a death flag in itself. It was only Railgun that we got to see more of her but she was already dead by that time so I guess maybe Kamachi planned to have her 'impact' the series in a greater way with that death being known in hindsight. At least that was how the Afterword in NT 12 felt to me. Although, RIP Frenda.

wildarms13: I saw your comment so don't worry about it! And yes, I am pretty sure I am not Kamachi. And no problem, seeing your praise and how you liked it was more than enough for me to really feel good about what I posted. Thanks to you as well who also read the whole thing!

Guest: Ah, right! Thank you for the edits! Hopefully I can remember them when I re-post it up and the like. I also know last chapter was set on April Fool's, it was kind of the purpose of the entire thing. As for what Touma wanted with Garrison, the main thing that he wanted was to return the USB that was accidentally mailed to him which was addressed to Garrison. The address would have been wrong in the mail and Touma just wanted to return it.

whwsms: Thank you for the kind words. Originally last chapter was going to be Touma vs. ITEM in a non-serious way but I felt that the word length would have gone overboard a bit there for a one-shot. Whatever the case, I'm glad that you liked it. Mind you though, Frenda didn't get any sleep the night after the job because of how pissed she was. Your idea though has been noted and filed away for future reference!

AleisterCrowley: …A surprisingly suspicious username if I do say so myself! Hahaha, just kidding! As to answer your question though, yes. Touma's face did get into contact with 'that bit' but Frenda didn't get aroused mainly because her mindset was entirely focused on finishing the job rather than anything else that was happening around her. Mind you though, she noted herself that she did not want to address the issue when Touma brought it up.

malandy: Looking back, I think the idea that it was a 'Joke Job' was my intention but I'm not entirely sure now… And yeah, Touma is both lucky and unlucky. Lucky in that he survived but unlucky in the sense that he had to put up with something like that in the first place!

naruhinasakufan1: Haven't had time to PM you so…. Sorry! Mind you though, when it comes to those requests I think I'm doing them both; the main reason being that you posted one as a Guest and then another under your username. You managed to find a loophole in the system! That division between Touma and Frenda being less as people and more as them representing their respective sides was the core of the entire last chapter so I'm glad that you noted it. It was really important so thank you for your kind words! And I'll be sure to get into your story when you next update for sure! It's more than enough to repay your kindness for getting on and reading my own stories.

pop2ww: FEELS BOMB. I can say with certainty that this is perhaps the funniest thing I have read today. Childhood memories though are the bane of practically everyone so whenever they are discussed I think that everyone gets a little bit embarrassed. Unless you're talking about Touma. There's no embarrassment there. Touya's and Shiina's emotions were nothing more than the darkness behind the life of Touma himself so I felt as though they had to be noted. Everything that you raised is more than adequate in getting across what was needed. Touya and Shiina perhaps suffered more than Touma himself to an extent. After all, they had to ask all those questions that you did and had to bear with the decisions that they made knowing that it would hurt Touma. But unlike with Touma, the pain that they felt would not have gone away until they saw his smile and heard his words a few years later. It's also sad in that Touma has no idea what his life with his parents was like: the only happiness that Touya and Shiina knew while he was with them no longer means anything to him so that silent pain is still present even now. ….A-And I think you discovered the loophole in the requests and who asks for them! *glances shiftily to the left and right*. As for Frenda, she really was killed too soon. And the division between the Light and Dark is definitely nothing more than category that allows for excuses. The Dark especially feel that they can get away with what they do because they belong in that category which makes the Light seem so restricted and fragile in comparison. As for where Touma lies…. It depends on how you look at it I would find. Touma fights for his life an d for others but not because he is especially good: it's just what he feels is the right thing to do. I would imagine that he has a foot in both sides, ready to leap into the Dark and the Light if need be to save someone else although at minimal cost to others. But seeing how Touma acted in contrast to herself, Frenda herself was more scared than she could say. Those questions that you raised are the ones that Frenda would have asked as she continued down the road of the Light and ultimately would have broken the sense of identity she had formed on that side of AC. And do they look hot!? I just sort of imagine in my head how they look and then apply the best 'character' to suit it. Speaking of the characters though:

Suzanna Royceston: Think of Haku Yowane the Vocaloid here except a little bit older and wearing more formal clothes. I created Suzanna and her backstory thinking that she had an 'angelic image' but at the same time the mother's love that she had for her child prevented her from seeing the threat that was in front of her. Haku needs to be a bit older for Suzanna's image to apply but the youthful face was more benefitting of someone of say 20 or 21 when she was in fact older. Contrast that image to her clothes that speak of nothing more than business and you have Suzanna; someone who knows she can use her looks for her own will but doesn't think about it because of her dedication to her family and the like.

Red Glasses: Ah, no sorry. There will be no Special this year.

Agent Nine: Ah yes that would sound like a good idea as a whole although you have to remember that Frenda was basically entirely hostile when she was conscious. If she hadn't been I could imagine Touma calling an ambulance but not wanting to take her there himself in case she woke up and killed him. The darkness though was strong with Frenda so escaping it is not that easy!

Prof. Pancakes: Welcome! And thank you so much for your kind words! Your suggestion has been taken under advisement and has been added to the list so please be patient! And you thought that they were all OVA materia1? Even the feels ones!? Thank you so much!

Before we begin, I'd like to thank three people.

The first is PokeRescue18, my beta reader. How long have we been doing this? I've forgotten yet you've stuck with me this entire time so thank you.

The next is you, the reader. I want you to know that your contribution is valued more than you think so don't sell yourself short about it!

And the final thanks is to Master Knight. There are some pretty good ideas there so check out his story A Certain Fed Up Boy, if you want a deeper look into his mind. Also, the idea of this chapter has already been done by him in his story 'A Certain Boy And A Certain Infection' if you want to check it out this idea in a longer and proper story form instead of a one-shot. He's (assuming that Master Knight here is a male) given me permission to do this so I really want to thank him for giving me this chance.

And from me I hope that you look forward to and enjoy this chapter.

Mr Question Mark.

Reverse Psychology Gigolo. Intentional_Injection_of_an_Incurable_Disease_–_First_Victim.

"Modern technology has no cure for it. It is a pandemic spreading slowly through the globe, a contagion that cannot be silenced even by the WHO and their team of scientists working hard at trying to understand it. Academy City itself is baffled by it and the cause, while the Disease itself only continues to spread as doctors and scientists waste their time trying to understand it."

Those serious words came through the streets of District 7 as a blond haired boy wearing sunglasses spoke in all seriousness. While he was walking rather casually, the tone of his voice and gait only suggested that this was no laughing matter.

But it seemed the heavy words would only continue, the dark revelations being made only being further explained by the boy next to him, a blue haired boy that had a piercing in both of his ears.

"There is no protection. Our antibodies have not developed to the extent of countering the Disease but even then, what we know of it is that even through natural selection and eventual immunity to normal diseases, this will continue to spread despite it. It transcends beyond the boundaries of rational knowledge, striking one of major organs and deeply affecting the brain beyond help. It threatens the reproduction of the world, and if we leave it too long, the only thing that will result will be the end of the world as girls, and probably eventually guys too, will succumb to it."

A heavy silence came over the two boys as they nodded at each other while walking down District 7 streets in Academy City.

"It has only one name." said the blond haired boy.

"And it brings shivers to any who hears it." Said the blue haired one as he nodded in a serious manner, taking in everything and understanding the weight of his words.

It seemed though all seriousness that they had was lost as the black spiky-haired boy behind them looked up from the piece of paper that he was holding. Actually, it was a large collection of paper, bundled together in a rough stack that was loosely stapled together. It gave the sense that the paper itself had been put together in a hurry but the boy that looked up from it was hardly pleased.

After all, everything that they had said was written on the first page of that report. They had given it to him during lunch break, something that he had read, wanted to read during class but did not before finishing it as the boys had begun talking.

And he finished what they were saying as he read out loud what followed given that the boys had been saying what was in the report.

"The 'Kami-yan Disease'?" Kamijou Touma said that with a deadpan expression as both Tsuchimikado Motoharu and Aogami Pierce let out shrieks of pain. They covered their ears with their hands.

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Even the name is taboo for those that understand its severity in the medical community! Yes! The Kami-yan Disease! The Disease with no cure nyah~!" yelled Tsuchimikado as he clenched a fist.

"Antibodies don't work against it because when it gets you once, you're hooked for life! The major organ it strikes: the heart! The chemical reactions that produce love in the brain are biased to the being that is Kami-yan so the brain refuses to love anything else beyond Kami-yan! It truly is a sickening condition isn't it Tsuchimikado?"

"Indeed! At this rate, every girl and maybe even some guys in the world will be after Kami-yan, wanting to bear his children meaning that they will not even consider getting other guys laid! The reproduction rate will decline exponentially as women pursue only one man nyah~!"

They both let out that shout as Kamijou Touma deadpanned, looking down at the report in his hand before turning and heading in a particular direction.

"Well this can be thrown out." He said in a dead voice with no emotion. He started to put the report that he had been given, which had detailed this 'Disease' into the nearest bin.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttttttt! I spent an entire week on that! I didn't do my homework and got minimal sleep doing research and collecting samples!" yelled Aogami as Kamijou turned to face him, throwing the report on the ground. He stomped on it, pointed at it before facing Aogami with a face that suggested that he wasn't pleased.

"Screw that! You wrote an entire report on something that doesn't exist!? Harems?! Love!? Where do you guys get these damn ideas about me?! Do I look like a harem protagonist to you?! I'm a normal high school student! And shouldn't you have been doing your homework Aogami Pierce!? Didn't you see Komoe-sensei's face when you gleefully declared you hadn't? She was almost crying! And I really want to learn what kind of research and 'samples' you collected!"

Kamijou gave what was a reasonable response as Aogami tackled him, throwing him off the report as he picked it up, brushing it off and making sure all 143 pages were still there. Kamijou on the other hand in order to destroy the evidence tackled the boy and the two of them entered a rather comedic brawl with smoke coming from where the two of them fought.

Tsuchimikado only stood at the side, putting his hands on his hips and sighing slightly as the report flew from the brawl and landed in front of him. He picked it up, leafing through it as he spoke while standing as an impartial observer as shouts and sounds of impacts came from the brawl in front of him.

"But in all seriousness….it feels as though this contagion goes beyond human understanding. If your luck is the one thing that you have nothing of, it's replaced by having an infinite amount of encounters and flags being raised."

"Tsuchimikado, I swear that if you start getting into this as well, I'm going to – bfhfhhff?! That is it Aogami Pierce! I'll show you the experience that I've learned from all of Fukiyose's wrestling mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooves!"

Kamijou grabbed Aogami by the waist and out of nowhere performed a German Suplex. The technique though, being performed by an amateur was sloppy, resulting in Kamijou slamming his own head on the ground as well. The two idiots rolled on the ground, clutching their heads in pain.

"He's right though Kami-yan! No matter what the genre, the trope or age, when it comes down to it, you have an absurd amount of encounters! Keep it in your pants why don't you?! Can't you give some of that flag raising power to me?! Is it transferred through your fist or something?! Punch me in the face Kami-yan! Do it! I want to be popular! Punch meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" shouted Aogami who recovered rather quickly.

Kamijou stood up as well, snatching the report out of Tsuchimikado's hands as he pointed at it with an outraged expression on his face.

"Shut up! You think that this sort of thing is amusing?! Sure, I might know a lot more girls than guys but it's hardly my fault that my misfortune means that whenever I come across one on the street, I'll end up fighting for my life! If anything, I want peace! Can't the chaos of the world give me a break?"

"That's the point nyah~! And the worst thing is, you don't even try! It's like the oblivious flag maker ability or something. The denser you are when it comes to making the flags, the more you are going to raise." Noted Tsuchimikado as Aogami merely nodded and crossed his arms.

"It's getting to the realm where we have to nip the problem in the bud! This is for the safety of the world when it comes to allowing for future reproduction! If we don't control this problem, no girl is going to be searching out other men as you would have complete control! Goth lolis, lolis, maids, onee-sans, twintail girls, short bob girls, library girls, large breasts, small breasts, tsunderes, yanderes, kuuderes, goddesses, fairies, Level 0s, Level 1s, Level 2s, Level 3s, Level 4s, Level 5s, teachers, student council presidents, bunny girls, supernatural girls, magical girls, mecha girls, ghost girls, cool headed leader types, anaemic girls, nurses, cat girls, cat girl maids, swimsuits girls, senpais, kouhais, Judgment, Anti-Skill, childhood friends, spectacled girls, ojou-samas, poor girls, homeless girls, ahoge girls, kneesocks, sailor uniform girls, naked girls, secretaries; soon there will be no one that is left out of your control! And the worst thing is that you don't know that you're doing it! This is the major problem that the world is facing right now! You and your harem need to be limited! As your friends, it is our duty to monitor this and keep it under control!"

"What's with that extensive list!? Are you telling me that you idiots have gotten it into your heads that no matter what I do, I'm going to attract anything as long as it's a girl!? Hah! This Kamijou-san is NEVER going to be that lucky…. Uhhh, that really, really did a number on my self-confidence."

Kamijou seemed to enter into a slump. Tsuchimikado gave him a pat on the back.

"You have to admit it though Kami-yan. You and your harem are something that, if left alone will be even more dangerous than World War 3 nyah~."

Kamijou gave him a look that would have made anyone wary of Kamijou's intentions however the sunglasses boy merely grinned as Kamijou asked a careful question.

"You say harem. Where is your evidence? I demand proof right now and we'll see who's right!"

"What about Index?" Aogami countered Kamijou's question instantly. Kamijou gave a deadpan stare to the blue haired boy.

"She's a friend and someone that I need to look out for otherwise she's going to end up doing something so crazy science related that it's going to end up on all the news sites! I can't just leave her alone if for the safety of Academy City!"

Kamijou left the fact that she was a freeloader out of his response however he could tell that behind those sunglasses Tsuchimikado was grinning evilly. He knew just as much as Kamijou did the reason why Index was staying with him but the horrors of interpretation meant that in the wrong context, their relationship could be taken in a number of ways.

"What about that Tokiwadai girl that embraced you during the end of summer vacation?" asked Tsuchimikado as Kamijou frowned before realising what he meant.

"Are you talking about Misaka? No, no, that had nothing to do with romantic attachment. The only thing that I ended up getting involved in then was a crazy case of some retard who thought it would be OK to steal someone else's face." Kamijou gave a smooth response as the other boys looked at each other, having no idea what in the world he was talking about (well Tsuchimikado did but faked ignorance) however pushed past the issue.

"What about Himegami-yan?" asked Aogami to which Kamijou looked as though he had been hit in the face with a fish.

"Are you serious? What flags did I even raise then!? Where did you get that idea from!?" he yelled as Aogami seemed to realise that Kamijou's inability to look at a maiden's heart properly was an ability in and of itself.

"What about Kumokawa-senpai?" Tsuchimikado asked.

"Are you guys grasping at straws?! What part of our relationship even suggested that she likes me?!"

"Komoe-sensei?"

"With all of the sadistic homework that she gives me and the private lessons that end up with my brain screaming for no more!?"

Aogami wanted to say something about those 'private lessons' and how their small teacher was often smiling whenever she mentioned giving Kamijou those lessons but it was Tsuchimikado that put forward another girl that had supposedly fallen victim to Kamijou's 'charms'.

"Fukiyose then. You have to admit that she at least has a thing for you nyah~."

"Are you kidding me?! That Iron Wall Girl?! With all the punishment she gives me, I have a hard time calling that 'love'!"

"Damn it Kami-yan, at least admit that there is one who has an interest in you! Admit that the harem that you are building up transcends time and space to enter into a realm of pure utopia filled with the soft flesh of girls!" cried Aogami.

"I won't do it! I won't! All of the evidence that you've given is shot! There is nothing AT ALL to suggest that I have an effect on girls that you bastards are saying! Even if I tried, I could never get a girl to like me so it goes without saying what happens if I don't try! This Kamijou-san has no ability whatsoever in that department, no matter how much I want to. Being the confident playboy that picks up chicks is a status that isn't suited to someone filled with misfortune like me. That fact alone should tell you that this 'Kami-yan Disease' that you guys are always on about hardly exists!"

While that comment, viewed from an external perspective might have seemed as the final point in the argument for the boys, the smiles that came across the faces of Aogami Pierce and Tsuchimikado Motoharu only sent a chill up the spine of Kamijou Touma. The two of them leaned in close to the boy as they started whispering while Kamijou looked between the two of them with an intensely bad feeling pricking on the end of his neck.

"How about we put that theory to the test then?" asked Aogami.

"Huh?"

"Basically Kami-yan, if what you say is true then even if you try and pick up chicks intentionally, you won't get them at all to like you. Thus, if you try and pick up chicks and they don't gain an attachment to you then I think that's evidence that the Kami-yan Disease doesn't exist nyah~."

"Wait just a minute there. Are you suggesting-"

"Let's begin the world saving hypothesis then!" Aogami spread out his arms as if he were free from some kind of bond and spun around in a dramatic fashion that gained the attention of people everywhere however he didn't seem to notice as he leaned in close.

"Kami-yan, pick a girl, any girl. And your task, should you choose to accept it, is plain and simple. Hit on her. You can set the time limit yourself but by the end of the time limit, if the girl hasn't fallen head over heels for you, then we concede that the Kami-yan Disease doesn't exist. However, in the event that you gain another member of your glorious harem, then you have to be the one to admit that the Kami-yan Disease exists and that you have a harem. Capisce?"

Kamijou Touma blinked once however the smile that came onto his lips was something that a Demon Lord of an alternate world might have sported when they had finally moved onto the final steps of their plan for world domination. Victory was in his grasp and he could taste it himself.

Even if he intentionally hit on a girl, trying to be as playboy-like and smooth as possible, there was no way that a loser like him could possibly get a girl to like him.

He felt like committing suicide just for that one thought filling his brain however the fact that Tsuchimikado and Aogami had been over this fictitious Disease over and over again, with there being no way out, Kamijou had no reason not to accept.

This fictitious Disease that had apparently made all of the girls in the class (save for one) fall for him and made all of the boys in the class despite him slightly jealous because of how he picked up chicks like a magnet.

This fictitious Disease that apparently grasped any girl that Kamijou met and made them his with a few exceptions.

This fictitious Disease that captured girl's hearts and threatened the population of the world as because most girls would fall for him, he would end up being the only one girls would save their virginity for and thus mean that the birth-rate would fall exponentially.

It was time to prove this Disease and thus the statement that 'Kamijou Touma has a harem' was completely wrong.

And all he had to do was fail in picking up one girl, while trying to do so. As long as that criteria were met, then Aogami Pierce and Tsuchimikado Motoharu were willing to state that there was no such thing as the Kami-yan Disease and thus he didn't have a harem.

And for a misfortune loser such as Kamijou Touma that had no experience in picking up girls or attracting them, how hard would it be to fail to pick up a single girl?

Thus, there was only one answer the personification of misfortune; the normal high school boy Kamijou Touma could give.

He held out his hand and grasped Aogami's with it and merely spoke with complete confidence in his inability to pick up chicks showing in his voice.

"You're on."

The rules had been set.

Aogami Pierce and Tsuchimikado Motoharu would have an observer role in all of this however if Kamijou turned around, he was sure that he would be able to see the two boys in the crowd of District 7. They were mixed in and hard to see given Tsuchimikado's skills as a spy and Aogami's skills as a stalker but that only meant that Kamijou had no idea where they were.

The rules were simple.

Kamijou Touma had 10 minutes to make a single girl fall for him. There had been much debate about the criteria that suggested one had 'fallen for him' with lots of arguing, consulting gal games for reference material and possible criteria, punches and shouting about whether contrasting bunny girl outfits for lolis and onee-sans added to their appeal or lessened it (Kamijou wasn't sure how this was related in hindsight but whatever) however they had come across a set amount of criteria that had to be met in order to determine whether one had fallen for him.

Firstly, and perhaps one of the more important points, the girl had to be someone that Kamijou did not know. If according to his two friends the Kami-yan Disease had already taken effect on them, then this would make the entire exercise pointless.

Thus, he had to hit on a stranger for 10 minutes.

Second, what constituted as someone 'falling for him' had to result in a fierce blush to the face that was neither related to embarrassment or anger, which had to last for at least 30 seconds after Kamijou departed from the girl or result in the girl watching his retreating back with almost tears in her eyes for at least a minute. Aogami and Tsuchimikado had to be the ones to monitor that as Kamijou was not allowed to turn around as it would defeat the point of being the 'handsome stranger'.

Third, the only things that could cause such a reaction were either words or physical contact. There were limitations to the contact of course as Kamijou suggested that grabbing the girl's breasts or making lewd remarks would result in a fierce blush (Aogami had tried it when he had suggested it and the Delta Force had been chased around by Judgment for a bit because of it) but the second criteria of how the blush had to arise out of genuine feelings for the boy instead of anger or embarrassment restricted such actions.

Within the 10-minute time limit, Kamijou could say or do things that resulted in a blush of embarrassment or anger however the important point was the criteria of the girl blushing for reasons not having to do with anger or embarrassment for 30 seconds after he left or watching tearfully his retreating back for a full minute.

Still, although that criteria had been set out, Kamijou Touma still felt bad as he walked in District 7, looking for his prey.

Because that was essentially what he had turned a normal girl into: prey in order to satisfy his own selfish wishes. He wasn't a playboy and part of him felt as though seeing girls as nothing but 'conquest targets' was an insult to them in part. They weren't characters of a game or whatever, these were real people that had their own lives and paths in such.

It pained Kamijou somewhat that he was stepping on the respect those people were owed by treating them as nothing but conquest targets but the fact that he had the utmost confidence in his ability to fail meant that he didn't have to worry about any lingering attachments.

In the end, the one that would fall would be him. He would be regarded as the jerk he was acting out to be by the girl he would hit on and in turn, become the bad guy in this. That in itself suited him fine as that was what he felt of himself right now.

In the quest to make those two idiots admit that there was no such thing as the Kami-yan Disease and that he didn't have a harem, Kamijou was willing to at least put down his pride and be hated by someone else for what he was doing. But it by no means was a noble action. In fact, he knew that it was entirely the opposite.

He sighed as he considered such. While he was OK with being thrown to the side by someone, the fact that he could be hurting someone else because of it pained him. In that sense, he was against this entirely but then again, he could tell that there were two idiots grinning behind him as they figured that those would be his thoughts.

(D-Damn it! I'll just fail in this entirely and get the girl to hit me as much as she likes for disrespecting her! So in the end, nothing is going to change for me except I'll be bashed by someone I don't know. Isn't this just a magician or esper battle without the fight!? Such misfortune!)

Whether it was because he wasn't looking where he was going or merely because he was too deep in thought to consider looking where he was going, he collided with someone as the shock of doing so made Kamijou take a step back however resulted in him tripping backwards.

"K-Kyah!?"

The person that Kamijou had hit fell backwards as well as the contents of what they were carrying fell to the ground and scattered everywhere. Probably because the incident was because of Kamijou's stupidity and had nothing to do with them, people merely watched on as the two people fell to the ground, deciding not to help.

Kamijou had no grudge against them for doing so; after all it was his fault and thus he had to take responsibility. He looked apologetically at the person that he had run into.

The winter uniform of Tokiwadai Middle School stood out on the girl and made Kamijou shudder in the fact that he had run into someone at the same school as Misaka Mikoto. Putting aside the fact that maybe this girl fit the 'ojou-sama' image more than Biri Biri, Kamijou got a good look at the girl who had fallen on her butt.

She didn't have blonde hair, that much was clear. It was a dark black, parted near the forehead and showing off a rather prominent forehead indeed. While her body seemed a bit too curvaceous to belong to a middle schooler, it was clear that she had some growing to do and the figure of the girl did seem to in fact belong to a middle schooler.

She had a fan in one hand along with a small piece of paper as immediately Kamijou responded to his mistake of running into her. Come to think of it, why had she run into him as well? Hadn't she been paying attention either?

Still thinking it was more his fault, Kamijou immediately stood up and naturally walked over to the girl, picking up her stuff in the process.

"I-I'm so sorry! Are you OK miss?" he asked as he held her hand to make sure that it wasn't sprained or anything. He had her bag underneath one of his other hands and looked up at her, seeing that she was slowly getting her bearings back after he knocked her to the ground. Yet, despite his focus supposed to be on the girl, there was something else that caught his eye behind her.

And that was the grinning faces of Aogami Pierce and Tsuchimikado Motoharu giving him the thumbs up.

Kamijou went pale and felt as though his heart would stop as he looked at the girl with a pale face. Were they serious in that they wanted him to hit on her!? After what he did to her? There was no way that such a cliché encounter would end up with this so-called 'Kami-yan Disease' infecting her, no matter what he did!

…Which meant that this was perfect.

Victory through Kamijou's failure was in his grasp.

Still, his face was pale as he stared at the girl, who opened her eyes and saw Kamijou's hand touching hers. She looked at it in surprise however her surprised expression gradually changed into one of anger as she yelled at the boy while pulling her hand away.

"H-How dare you?! You think that I, Kongou Mitsuko, would want any help from you after you knocked me to the ground?! Watch where you're going!"

Kamijou's face almost pouted at that. It was true, he wasn't looking where he was going but it took two to tango and it was also her fault despite her words. Somehow, had he hurt her pride by being one also to blame yet treating her like she was some kind of helpless maiden? Perhaps she felt as though she had some form of independence or strength of image that had been ruined when she had been knocked to the ground?

Kamijou felt as though he was getting a better picture of the girl in front of him with just a few of those words however he said nothing, only staring at her as his own mind turned.

(Right. I've gotten an idea of who this Kongou-san is but what do I say to her!? I have to at least give an attempt to act like a playboy but what the hell do I say!? Why am I faltering at the critical point already!?)

An unnatural sweat came over his entire body as Kongou glared at the boy, noting that he wasn't saying anything before frowning.

"What? Do you have anything to say? Is there something on my face?" Kongou demanded upon seeing that Kamijou was not saying anything and merely staring at her face. Kamijou opened his mouth, only going upon instinct and saying the first thing that came to his mind.

(This is it! Watch this spiky-haired failure as a person crash and burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!)

"Ah, no. I…I was just thinking that I must have died and gone to heaven. Otherwise, I would never have seen a face as beautiful as yours."

Kongou blinked however a hint of red came to her cheeks from the compliment as now it was her turn to look at Kamijou without saying anything and with a gaping mouth. Kamijou looked just as stunned however for a completely different reason.

(So lame! So laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame! I want to kill myself for saying that! Kill me now!)

What he had said was pure embarrassing and he was fighting down a blush that was coming to his face, trying to keep an expression of pure seriousness in its place. The girl though seemed to regain her composure, this time her face being much more pissed.

"Excuse me? Do you think that's funny? You knocked me to the ground and you have the nerve to say that?" Kongou started to rise however Kamijou instantly reached out and grabbed her shoulder, using a little force to prevent her from doing so. Such made Kongou's face twist in confusion as the boy spoke once more.

"No, we can no longer stand and face the world. If we do, it only increases the risk of us falling again. And I've already fallen for you."

Whether or not it was now clear what Kamijou was getting at seemed to be obvious as Kongou's face grew with an expression of comprehension as her eyes seemed to dart around nervously. Kamijou's though stayed completely locked on her face, taking her hand back in his as he bowed his head.

"I never knew that Tokiwadai was harbouring such a beauty in their midst. Beauty and purity like yours cannot be defined in words. In this City of Science, it might be ridiculous for me to say this but I am a believer now. A true believer and have faith that the gods are smiling down on me for this one encounter. Kongou Mitsuko…the love I have for you, the love I thought I would never find, is like dividing by zero. It cannot be defined, much like your beauty."

Kongou's face now seemed to fully comprehend what Kamijou was saying to her as she held her head down, fidgeting slightly. It was now that Kamijou's expression changed into one that truly reflected his feelings.

(I WANT TO DIE! KILL ME NOW! Where the hell are these cheesy lines coming from!? Angels, dividing by zero!? It's so cheesy you could dip a nacho into it!)

He truly felt like crying and he could practically hear the gags of Aogami and Tsuchimikado in the background as Kamijou suddenly realised his own folly. He realised how stupid he was sounding and figured the red on Kongou's face was that from embarrassment judging by how he felt however a fragment of how he truly felt came through right now.

"Please though. Get off the ground," He stopped figuring that as he had already gotten this far he might as well dig his grave further as he added, "This world has already been graced by your presence but we cannot have an existence such as yourself below others when you ascend over everyone else."

"Y-Yes! Indeed! If you are a man, lift me up and take responsibility for your actions! I, Kongou Mitsuko, should not have to work any when it is your fault for knocking me to the ground so."

"A-Ah! Sorry!" Another part of how Kamijou truly felt arose despite him trying to play the playboy as he grabbed Kongou's hand, tightening his grip around it lightly as to make sure that he did not hurt her. Both of them turned away from the contact with a reddened face as Kamijou lifted Kongou up with as much grace as he could.

Kamijou bent down and picked up the bag that he had left go of, wiping it down as carefully as he could given how Tokiwadai probably treated their belongings. He handed it back to her.

"Though, Kongou-san. I must ask something, if you'll allow a lesser existence such as myself to put forward such a thing to your gracefulness."

Kamijou was somewhat scared that that came out without hesitation as Kongou seemed to flinch, dropping the hand that had been pressed against her chest, which had also been the hand that Kamijou had grabbed. She seemed to compose herself as she unfolded her fan and laughed behind it.

"Ohohoho. Yes, it is a rare occasion for someone such as yourself to meet an existence like me. But, as you said, the gods are looking down on you today for I just so happen to be heading to this location!"

Kongou extended out her other hand, the one that had the piece of paper that Kamijou looked at after taking it into his own hands. He figured that Kongou had gotten over the wound to her pride rather quickly but he figured that it was mainly because of how Kamijou was acting as well that fit her personality rather well.

She seemed to be the type who was used to having servants around her so Kamijou's apparent obsession with her seemed to fit within her lifestyle. It just so happened that he was in love with her (from her point of view) so that fit Kamijou just fine given that she could act in a way that she felt was natural although what Kamijou was doing was rather unnatural for him.

Glad that Kongou wasn't feeling as though this was uncomfortable for her due to that experience with servants and doting people that she gave off, Kamijou looked at the piece of paper rather closely.

It looked to be a map, leading to a nearby Seventh Mist. The department store wasn't far off but the fact that Kongou had gotten herself on these streets when the store was practically the next street over gave the impression that she was lost. Whoever she was meeting there, they had cute handwriting as the words 'We'll meet here 3' were written in pink pen with a circle around the department store.

Still, she had gotten lost? The Tokiwadai ojou-samas surely weren't used to the world outside Academy City in their own way and it seemed as though Kongou Mitsuko was the epitome of the upper class, when compared to Mikoto. He could imagine this forehead girl performing tea parties and looking good in a kimono on New Year's but that was beside the point.

"My lady," said Kamijou with a bow as he extended the piece of paper back to her. Kongou looked at him in a way that he felt suggested she was getting used to his way of speaking and acting faster than he was. He was getting the feel for it himself (perhaps because of how he was basically at the beck and call of his freeloader and how he had been treated by Mikoto in the early stages of their punishment game) but whatever the case, Kongou took back the map as Kamijou continued speaking.

"It would be extremely rude of me to even suggest a commoner such as myself walking next to an extreme beauty such as you…but I know the way to Seventh Mist. If it would please you, would you care to accompany me to the store?" asked Kamijou to which Kongou rose an eyebrow.

"You know the way?"

"Only to Seventh Mist. However, the way to your heart is as elusive as the source of your beauty. And a human like me would never think to direct an angel such as yourself to Heaven either."

(Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! I say it in my head before I say it out loud but it still doesn't make it any betteerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!)

Kongou seemed to flinch at those words as she hid her face behind her fan now, rising it up so that it covered her cheeks a bit more.

"Ohohoho. It does seem as though a commoner such as yourself is good for something."

"I am glad that someone like me can give you the time of day. That in itself is worth every cent. Shall we, my lady?"

Kamijou took a step back and bowed once more, indicating in the direction that Kongou was to walk in as she handed Kamijou her bag. Kamijou felt as though on a normal occasion, he would have narrowed his eyes slightly at how he had so quickly been made into a slave however, in order to stay within the setting, he took it easily and walked side by side with Kongou, albeit a little behind her.

Kamijou pointed out the store in the distance as the girl nodded while Kamijou turned around and spotted the sight of blue and blond hair in the background. The 10-minute time limit would probably be up by the time they reached the store itself and judging by the progress Kamijou was making, there was no doubt in his mind.

He had failed to get this girl to like him in any sense and thus, his failure was his victory. That was right! There was no way he had the ability to pick up chicks whatsoever and the only female companionship that he had was with his freeloader who sucked him dry for every penny he had, even though he cherished what they had.

Still, a part of him felt as though there had been something worth it in this trip. For better or for worse, Kongou Mitsuko had needed help and Kamijou had been more than willing to offer it if it made her happy.

Yet, as Kamijou looked to his side, it was clear that Kongou was slowing in her steps as she walked to their destination. She was constantly looking nervously at the store in the distance and even though she was trying to hide it on her face, her hand was clenched tight to the extent that the skin of her hand was extremely pale.

Kongou had needed help in getting to their destination but at the same time it seemed as though she was anything but happy about the fact that she had found her way. She seemed more nervous than anything and that in turn only made Kamijou frown. She had gladly started walking to Seventh Mist but now was nervous about it? It felt like whatever positive thoughts she had been channelling were lost now, giving rise to her nervous tendencies.

Kamijou watched her, the girl too lost in her own thoughts to notice. He glanced back, noticing the heads of Aogami and Tsuchimikado in the distance before sighing slightly.

This was Academy City, a city full of students that had powers like those of a manga protagonist.

However, first and foremost, they were humans. They had their own problems and insecurities and it seemed as though Kongou herself was facing a few of her own right now. It was clear in her nervousness and anxiety and that in turn only made Kamijou even more guilty about what he felt he had done.

Was his act something that was only adding to her nervousness? If he had been dealing with a personal issue and some random person came up to him and confessed their feelings out of the blue that weren't true in the first place, it wouldn't be lessening any load on his mind. Thinking about it like that, what he was doing right now made him feel like a true villain.

But more than that, there was something else despite his act that shone through the boy's mind.

Whatever he might be playing at, however he might be disrespecting Kongou by putting on this act, she was troubled by something.

And it didn't sit right with the boy to simply leave her in the state that she was in if there was the possibility that he might be able to assist. There was no way that Kamijou Touma was going to leave this girl in the state of unhappiness that she was in, with a frown on her face instead of a smile.

"Is there something the matter, my lady?" asked Kamijou, feeling the need to put on the act still. Kongou didn't know that he was acting and as such, if he broke out of character all of a sudden, she might catch on and that would not serve to lessen her problems so he stuck with it. He felt guilty for it though however hoped that whatever the problem was, he could help in whatever way he could.

Kongou turned to face him now, a raised eyebrow that seemed to shoot into her rather large forehead. Kamijou refrained from commenting on it as he pointed at her clenched fist.

"It seems as though your perfect face has been tainted with worry. Are you hesitant to go to Seventh Mist? I can show you places that are more suited to someone such as yourself my lady, if you are averse to heading there." Kamijou said to which Kongou shook her head at that.

"Not at all," she said without even catching a beat. It seemed as though Kamijou's compliments weren't working and while he was happy about that (as it meant that his victory via failure was in his grasp), Kongou still spoke. "It's just…never mind."

"Kongou-san…I realise that we might have met, however I feel something in my chest that I've never felt before right now, when I am with you. And seeing you frown like that, it hurts me more than I can say. A smile suits you much better. So please, if there is anything I can do to help, don't hesitate to ask. I will fight the world if only to protect your smile."

Part of his words were serious such as smiles suiting her better and it did hurt him to see her frown when it was possible that him telling her the truth about what he was doing would hurt Kongou herself. But whatever the case, he felt an inherent wrongness with leaving the girl with her troubles in front of him.

Kongou though merely shook her head at that, giving a light laugh.

"Hardly. As a commoner, is it not arrogant to think that you can understand the problems of the higher class?"

"But as a commoner, I am driven to understand what makes you so nervous. The clouds of anxiety only serve to darken even the brightest of days, don't you agree?"

Kamijou used fancy words and phrases to bridge the gap between them as higher class ojou-sama and commoner. Kongou still shook her head regardless of Kamijou's words.

"I appreciate the concern. However, I do not think that you can help me when it comes to the falsehoods I spread."

"Falsehoods?" asked Kamijou at that. Somehow those words struck a chord within him given what he was doing right now, only further deepening his desire to get to the bottom of this and make sure that whatever problem Kongou was haunted by was exorcised and left her. It might have been presumptuous for him to think he could solve whatever problem she was having by himself but there was no way that he could leave her be.

This had nothing to do with the concept of saving her or something like that. It had nothing to do with improving himself in her eyes or getting Kongou to like him or respect him in some way or form.

Kamijou Touma merely could not bear to see Kongou Mitsuko wearing the sorrowful expression that she was holding.

And he felt as though if anyone was doing the same next to him, whether it was a boy or a girl or human or not, he would ask that same question in order to allow them the chance to get their smiles back.

"I wouldn't expect you to understand." Kongou said as if brushing off the issue entirely as Kamijou merely put his hands in his pockets and shrugged.

"May I hazard a guess then, my lady?"

Kongou looked at Kamijou with perhaps a hint of amusement in her eyes as she unfolded her fan once more and held it in front of her face. Although he couldn't see her expression he could tell that she was smiling given by her tone of voice.

"Oh? The commoner thinks he has the ability to look into the hearts of the higher class? By all means, guess. Be warned though. How accurately you do so will determine whether I think you have the ability to match actions with words." She said, hiding a somewhat mocking tone.

Kamijou felt as though the constant looking down on him given he was acting was unnecessary but he put it off as he stared her right in the eye, something that made the girl step back a bit, maybe because she was not used to having the opposite sex look at her so fully and truly.

And he spoke.

"Is it possible that maybe, the Kongou Mitsuko that I am seeing here and the Kongou Mitsuko that you show to whoever you are meeting are two different people?"

"Wha-?"

If there was any confirmation needed, then it was provided as Kongou stopped walking and took a step back in surprise. Kamijou did not change his expression as he stared at her in the eye. She averted her gaze although she was still hiding her mouth behind her fan.

It seemed as though Kamijou had hit the nail on the head, ironically telling her what he was doing right in this moment: providing a falsehood in the sense that the Kamijou Touma that Kongou was seeing was not the true Kamijou Touma that he let others see.

In that sense, Kamijou felt as though he was partially looking into a mirror as he spoke up once more.

"My lady, I do not mean to be rude but you have already provided an answer to my question. I'm not going to make any overwhelming assumptions on the matter but merely state the facts as I see them. And they are merely, that Kongou Mitsuko has been lying to her friends."

Kongou's eyes gained a sharpness that had not been there before as she looked at Kamijou with an icy glare. She brought her fan closer to her mouth, as if to control the words that she spat out.

"Watch your tongue commoner. Whatever you said to me, keep in mind that I am Kongou Mitsuko, a maiden of Tokiwadai. You will speak to me in the manner that I deserve to be spoken to."

Kamijou wanted to say something to retort however bit back the remark he was about to make. He stepped back, bowing slightly like a butler might do to his master. That in turn seemed to calm the girl as she stood up straight and cleared her throat.

"I apologise my lady."

"N-Not at all. I merely lost my composure for a bit there. I apologise as well. I said something that was a defensive remark when you were more than right. I…I am ashamed to say this, but I, Kongou Mitsuko have indeed been lying to my friends. Although I am sure that many people in Tokiwadai, including my friends themselves, understand that on occasion, falsehoods come out of my mouth."

"My lady?" Kamijou asked as he rose his head slightly as Kongou nodded, Kamijou rising fully as a result. He brought his hands out of his pockets and held them in front of him as Kongou frowned as she looked at them.

"What are you doing?" she asked. Kamijou though only gave a soft smile that made Kongou step back in surprise as the boy spoke.

"I said before didn't I? I…I don't want you to lose your smile. On an angelic face such as yours, happiness is a gift from the heavens where you belong my lady. So I am here. I am here in any respect should you need to have an ear to listen and an aid to advise."

Kongou lightly blushed at the words that Kamijou was giving her however turned her head away from him as Kamijou continued.

"You said that you were lying to your friends my lady. I don't mean to pry into the private life of an angel such as yourself…but in what respect have you been lying?" he asked her to which Kongou smiled only shaking her head.

"Nothing serious…at least from an external point of view it is hardly such. It has been small things that are not really of much significance. But, those small things have built up. At some point, the lies that I was telling my friends snowballed into a being known as 'Kongou Mitsuko' that those lies do not apply to."

Kongou scoffed in self derision at this now as she shook her head, turning it away from Kamijou right now.

"Why am I telling you this? You are basically a stranger and it is not your place to know things about my private life. The matter shall be left there. Besides, Seventh Mist is in the distance. I think I can take it from here."

Kongou started to walk off, however without realising it, Kamijou's hand had already shot out and grabbed hers. She looked surprised at the action, however that surprise was soon lost as it turned into a soft anger as she glared at Kamijou.

"Release me commoner. As a student of Tokiwadai, I have to at least be over Level 3. Are you willing to test out the gap between Tokiwadai Middle School and whatever backwater school you came from?"

Kongou instantly regretted the words that she spoke the instant that they came out of her mouth. She realised that the boy was trying his best to help her out with her personal problems but at the end of the day, they were her problems. She didn't have to unveil her heart to some stranger on the street who happened to whisper embarrassing things into the air.

His grip was light, clearly not meant to hurt her, only to stop her however she felt as though it was unnaturally strong for such a calm grip. Still, she felt trapped as if this boy were someone that she had to get away from. She turned to look at his face from where their hands were locked.

And she saw the boy looking at her with an expression that she couldn't place. It was as if the boy was pitying her, however it was not the type of pity that was mocking. It was genuine as if the boy understood her plight more than anyone else as if, through this one connection, the boy who had confessed to her and the girl Kongou Mitsuko were bound together in unity as they faced this problem.

She opened her mouth to say something however it was the boy that spoke.

"Don't. I don't care what school you think I come from or what Level you think I am. I realise that there might be a large gap between you and me, Kongou Mitsuko however there is one thing that I know. And that is if you leave this issue, it will come back to haunt you. And by the time it does, it will crumble the very identity that you had built up until that point."

Kamijou Touma spoke with conviction, his tone of voice indicating that he had dropped the act of the 'playboy' entirely.

Kongou Mitsuko.

Although he had picked her out (well not him) as a target to determine whether or not this ridiculous Kami-yan Disease existed or not, there was something that she was facing. He didn't know if he could relate to it or if he had something of a solution but he was willing to do anything in order to help this girl with her problem.

The feeling that he had then was partially because he felt guilty for lying to her right now and also because of his own natural personality: he wanted to help this girl retain her smile despite what he was doing.

But even so, the words that she had spoken had resounded within Kamijou himself.

Kongou Mitsuko had lied to her friends. She had lied about small things (things like her dress size, how many butlers she had or skills she could do at home) but at some point they had built up and formed a person known as 'Kongou Mitsuko' that was far removed from her true self.

She had created an image of herself that did not reflect the truth of who she really was.

Was this a normal problem? Surely there were people out there that exaggerated the truth and told lies about themselves in order to impress their friends. In that case, Kongou's problem wasn't really something that she alone faced however there was something about it, the look on her face when she showed regret for lying.

For better or for worse, Kamijou Touma himself had been through the same problem.

He had lied to a certain nun in white about his memory loss.

He had stacked up lie upon lie until eventually it was hard to determine where the previous 'Kamijou Touma' began and the new one started. In an attempt to reclaim what the old version of him had had, he had lied and formed an image of himself that was far removed from what he was truly like.

It might have been a strange application however the problem at its core was the same; he had lied and eventually, the lies had snowballed until all had been revealed.

He had remembered the gut wrenching feeling when the truth had been known to the nun and the liberation that had come with her accepting the fact that he had lost his memories. For having someone like that by his side, Kamijou was eternally grateful but it was because of his experiences that he understood one thing.

And that was that he could not leave this girl, Kongou Mitsuko alone with this problem.

His entire being and experiences told him that he could not just leave her alone, to bear this problem despite it having nothing to do with him.

He could not accept it.

So he wasn't going to.

"What are you talking about?"

"I can't leave you alone in this Kongou-san. You realise it too; the lies have to stop at some point but it has reached a stage where you don't know whether or not your friends will hate you for lying to them or accept you as someone that maybe didn't think that you are as good as the normal you was made out to be."

"You are…"

"Yes. I understand Kongou-san. I understand your pain, your anxiety and how each and every question your friends ask you about your lies only add to it. I understand that at some point, you realised that it had gotten so out of hand that you couldn't determine at what point those lies had overtaken your true self. But even then, you couldn't tell your friends the truth about yourself could you? And you know why you have to keep lying like you have to your friends don't you?"

Kamijou asked Kongou a serious question and she reacted the exact same way that he would have if he had been given those exact same questions so long ago. She held her head down in an aspect of shame, shame for her lies and also at herself for keeping at them despite wanting to be honest with her friends.

Kongou realised herself that she was lying however the statement 'Just stop' was easier said than done. And that was one particular reason that Kongou let out of her mouth in a low voice words, to the person that spoke of things that only people who had gone through the same problem understood.

"I….I'm scared."

Kongou trembled slightly as the two of them had stopped walking, tightening her own grasp around Kamijou's hand that held hers in its warm embrace.

"I…I don't know what to do. I've prepared a mask to cover my face and I've weaved so much into its creation, I've gotten the feeling that the person that my friends, my precious friends, are looking at isn't me, but the mask over my face. But I can't tell them that it was nothing but lies. They would never forgive me and then I'd have nothing left!"

Kongou's voice trembled as she realised that her dissatisfaction at her own image had led to this in the first place.

As the heiress to Kongou Airlines, she had felt as though she had not had enough servants benefiting of her title when she was young. So she had lied about the amount she had.

As a woman, she had felt as though she did not have enough skills in the kitchen. So she had lied about her ability to cook and said she could do so perfectly.

As an esper, she had felt as though maybe she wasn't getting enough credit for her ability, Aero Hand. So she had lied and said she had her ability extensively researched because its application was different from others.

The real Kongou Mitsuko had not been enough in her opinion. So she had prettied it up, prepared a mask of lies to cover over her face and because of such had formulated the position she had become a part of.

She knew that lying to her friends made her worse than most people but the fact that they had snowballed into this situation made her more worried. She could not stop the lies coming from her mouth now, as if the real Kongou Mitsuko were nothing more than someone that was eventually dying away, to be replaced by this person of lies.

But she could not simply tell the truth.

Because she did not know what would happen.

Her friends, Wannai Kinuho and Awatsuki Maaya …just how much of their opinion of her was based around this false 'Kongou Mitsuko'? How much did they believe in what she said and how much did they feel was true and lies?

Kongou could not say but as a blossoming teenager, she had felt as though she had to 'dress to impress'. T.S. Eliot himself had said one had to "prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet" and the face that Kongou had used was broken, shattered and taking over her entire form. [1]

But still, she could not tell the truth because she was scared about how her friends would react.

She was scared that upon learning that she was lying because she was not satisfied with herself as she was, they would abandon her and leave her in the position she wanted to avoid more than anything else.

A position where she had no one.

"I don't know what to do and I don't want to ruin what I have with my friends. I have nothing left to remind myself of the truth and only the lies remain. Where did the line stop and start? When did I feel as though the real Kongou Mitsuko wasn't enough to satisfy them? Am I not good enough? Do I feel as though I have to lie to myself to make myself better? Why? Why, whenever I speak do nothing but lies come from my mouth? I hate myself for it but I can't simply put this to the side anymore!"

Kamijou looked at the girl in front of him as she hung her head now, her grip on his own hand tightening a tiny bit.

"I…I don't know what to do….."

Kamijou watched her, noting that they had stopped walking entirely even though their destination was right across the road now, but he kept his gaze entirely on Kongou as he spoke.

"Do you want to be truthful?"

Kongou's shoulders jumped at that one question.

"Are you scared because your friends might reject you once you tell them the truth?"

Kongou lowered her head at that as Kamijou once more posed a single question.

"Are you satisfied with that then? That the friendship that you have is only a friendship under the pretence of lies?"

All of Kongou's thoughts stopped at those words as she looked up at Kamijou who was merely staring her down. He continued though as it was clear that Kongou was like a lost child, unable to comprehend his words because of her own chaotic thoughts.

"You have been lying to your friends and are scared to tell them the truth because of how they will react. But…in the midst of that, doesn't that mean that you are scared to be truthful to them? You've built up a friendship but it's not made up of lies, it's just that you've lied in the friendship. When you look at your friends, do you think that they will turn their backs on you the moment that they realise the truth about you? Do you want a friendship where the moment that you are honest, the friendship is lost?"

Kongou opened her mouth however her own mind had already processed the question.

She had lied to her friends constantly in order to have them accept her more easily and she wanted to stop more than anything, to be honest with her friends.

She was scared about how they would accept her from that but at the end of the day, if they turned their backs to her, then wasn't that the extent of their friendship? They felt that they were betrayed, there was no point in reconciliation and their friendship would stop then and there.

Kongou would not blame them if that was what they did however, was that type of friendship the one that she was looking for at the bottom of her heart?

Was she satisfied with the idea that she could maintain a friendship using nothing but lies where honesty would only result in one's downfall?

Kongou only hung her head once more, speaking her own heart to the stranger that had listened to her problem.

"I…I want to be honest. I don't want to hold onto this mask of lies anymore and I want to be truthful. I want to walk alongside my friends without bragging, lying or being deceitful because I'm unsure whether or not they will accept me."

"Then do so."

"I-It's not that simple!" cried Kongou as she looked at the boy in front of her whose expression had not changed even though he had suggested the ridiculous. "How can I do that? You think that I can just unveil my lies to them and accept that everything will be OK? Do you think that-"

"Are you saying that you don't trust your friends?"

Kamijou cut in simply and bluntly as Kongou went wide eyed, her mouth flapping open and closed without stopping. She found herself short of words at what Kamijou said, unable to find it in herself to answer.

Was this the crux of the problem?

Kongou Mitsuko could not be honest, but was that partly because she had yet to truly trust her friends? Truly trust them and ensure that they did not turn their backs when she revealed the truth? It stepped on their names in the most disrespectful way however beyond any of that, only one question filled Kongou's mind in that one moment, in response to the boy's words.

Was that true friendship?

A friendship built on nothing but lies where one was distrustful of the persons that they called their 'friends'?

The boy in front of her had suggested that she merely confess her sins. Even though it was the simplest solution, Kongou felt as though that one answer was enough to shake her entire core and bring her back to reality.

The reason that the solution was the simplest one was because it was the most correct.

In order for Kongou Mitsuko to dispel her doubts, her mask of lies and confirm her friendship and the trust that was behind it, there was only one thing that she needed to do.

And that was come clean.

Accept whatever was to come and embrace the result.

Even if it ended badly there would have been one thing in the mind of that girl.

And that was she had decided to be honest. She had decided to put her fate in someone else's hands and that she had broken free of her shell of lies and put herself defenceless and vulnerable in front of people that she wanted to trust more than anything.

The answer to the problem that had shaken her heart so, was merely to be honest. To not let the lies catch up to her and not continue to lie to her friends.

But even though that reality was in front of her, she still kept her head down and whispered her next words.

"But…but what if they don't accept me? What if my lies have snowballed into a state where it is impossible to recover my friendship?" she asked softly as she lifted her head to see the boy's face turn into a smile. Kongou stared in wonder at how the boy could smile at that as Kamijou merely responded.

"Then those weren't truly friends. You have shown me your core Kongou Mitsuko. And I have seen kindness, desire to belong and the want to connect truly to other people. Many people lie in their relationships and build things on falsehoods, ignoring them when they come to confess. But not you. You want to be honest, to put your life in your friends' hands and that in itself is a beautiful thing. If this is who you are Kongou Mitsuko, then the person you have created using your lies must be nothing more than a shadow of an angel such as yourself."

Although Kamijou put in his own act at the very last statement there was something else in it that rung true.

Whatever he felt, whatever he said, the girl in front of him had wanted to truly trust in her friends and put her life in their hands. It was rare to want to create that sort of connection in the world nowadays yet here was someone that wanted to be accepted no matter what and to discard the lie she had made.

Yes.

Just like he had done once with Index.

And so, he spoke once more, dropping the act entirely as he spoke from his heart.

"Is this person that wants to connect with others, wants to be truthful and wants to merely open herself out to others…if that person is Kongou Mitsuko, then I tell you truthfully. I could come to like a girl like you." Kamijou grinned at that as Kongou blushed fiercely, not noting the contradiction in what he was saying now and what he had said earlier.

Kamijou didn't say those words with romantic intention behind them; that wasn't the case. If Kongou Mitsuko merely wanted to be fully open with another person, then that in itself was a beautiful thing, something that shouldn't be lost. If someone like that had lost their smile in any way, then Kamijou was sure of one thing.

That he would fight to protect their smile no matter what.

"Put aside all thoughts, worries and anxieties. Only be truthful, be open and more importantly, be Kongou Mitsuko. If you do that then no one can put you down and mock you. That much is true. And besides, even if things don't work out, I'll always stick by your side. And I'll do so with my dying breath."

Kongou was hanging her head now (perhaps out of embarrassment?) from what Kamijou had said as colour went to his own cheeks as he somewhat realised how embarrassing what he had said was. Still, with that hanging head, Kamijou addressed her as he looked up at their destination.

"But we are here. And your friends are surely here as well."

Kongou's head shot up and turned around, seeing that they had already reached their destination. Seventh Mist stood across from the street and although Kamijou could not see them, Kongou could spot Wannai Kinuho and Awatsuki Maaya in front of the store itself.

Her precious friends.

The ones that she had wanted to be truthful to, no matter what.

Kamijou let go of Kongou's hand and pushed her lightly on the back. She stumbled a bit, turning and facing the boy who had his hands on his hips.

"Go on then. Be yourself."

And with that, unexpectedly, Kamijou Touma turned his back on Kongou. Her eyes went wide as she saw him do so, even more so as he took that first step away from her.

Kongou Mitsuko did not know what had happened or the thoughts that led her to take the next action but the reality filled her as she realised what had happened the next moment she had blinked.

She had raced forward and grabbed the boy's uniform, like a lost child that had found their guardian and did not want to let go no matter what. The mysterious stranger had stopped in his tracks as Kongou found words that she had never said to anyone before coming from her mouth.

It wasn't what she was saying that was different.

It was how she was saying them.

She was saying words that were filled with no lies, no falsehoods, only the truth as she spoke to this boy in front of her. She spoke true words that she had failed to speak in front of her friends, yet shared them with this boy that she knew nothing about. It confused her, her mind was a mess and her heart a set of conflicting emotions however even then she spoke words from the depths of her heart.

"B-But! I need you! You've pushed me forward this far to take this first step! C-Commoner. As your lady, you need to listen to me, Kongou Mitsuko and comply with my demands!" She found herself shouting strange words as she yelled them, attracting attention from the pedestrians. Kamijou turned and grabbed Kongou's hands in his own.

She looked at him, noting his strong gaze and feeling colour rise to her cheeks for a reason she could not fathom. For whatever the reason, she had revealed her core and heart to this boy yet he had taken it in his stride, not missing a beat and accepting it as if it were natural.

It was as if her lies, her confession to him were nothing more than incidental and that her angelic nature would never be tainted in his eyes.

In some way, he had trusted Kongou Mitsuko from the moment that she had told him of her problem and had accepted her without asking or considering her bad points.

He had done something that Kongou had been scared that no one would. And that in itself made her want to hold onto this boy for all her worth.

Kamijou took Kongou's hands in his own and stepped closer, whispering into her ear (even though every sense in his body was writhing in embarrassment from what he was doing). But even so, he stood fast and spoke hushed words into her ear.

"You don't Kongou Mitsuko. I'm not abandoning you, so don't think I am. But this is something only you can do, and a path that only you can walk down by your own choices. I can't make you do what I suggested and be truthful to your friends; only you can do that. So this path is your own. Make it as beautiful as the person who walks down it."

Kamijou stepped back and took only one of Kongou's hands in his own as he stared Kongou in the eye and spoke once more.

"May the winds of fate direct us to each other again, my lady. But for now, the stage is only set for Kongou Mitsuko. There is no room for me there. But this is not farewell. It is only a small parting, until we meet again."

Kamijou smiled and despite his head telling him that what came to mind was a terrible idea (actually his mental process was more "DID I REALLY THINK OF THAT!? Screw it, Kamijou Touma, you've come this far you damn bastard so hit it out of the park! She's not even in my strike zone but who caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaares!? Victory through failureeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!") he brought Kongou's hand higher to his mouth.

And then with a quick motion, he kissed the back of her hand.

Kongou's face exploded red at that contact as Kamijou let her hand drop slightly before bowing once and smiling at the girl.

"Goodbye, my lady."

And with that, he turned his back and walked away into the crowd, without even turning back.

Kongou Mitsuko felt her face burn a deep red as she felt the corner of her eyes tear up at the sight of the parting boy. She started to reach out to him once more however the words that he had spoken filled her mind.

This was her path.

And it was up to her to make the first and final choice.

She pressed the hand that the mysterious stranger with spiky-hair had kissed closer to her chest as she continued watching, seeing that black head of hair finally leave her vision after a long 65 seconds but even then, the blush that was on her face did not fade.

But she had a goal and something that she had to do.

So, as she wiped her eyes with her hands, she took one last look at that hand that had been kissed. And with that same blushing face, she brought that hand closer to her chest, closing her eyes and remembering the sensation, the warmth that she had felt in that one moment.

The blush had not died down, even after 97 seconds and Kongou Mitsuko knew one thing.

She didn't want it to as she finally took the courage to turn her back, and walk across the street. In her vision were the sight of her two friends (who also had red faces as they had seen the entire exchange from a distance) as Kongou walked up to them, a strange silence coming over the group.

Kongou took the first move.

It was time.

It was time to remove the mask and show those girls, Wannai Kinuho and Awatsuki Maaya who Kongou Mitsuko really was.

"Wannai-san, Awatsuki-san. I have something to tell you."

For lack of a better word, Aogami Pierce and Tsuchimikado Motoharu were speechless. They merely stood staring, mouths open at the scene that they had witnessed from their spot of safety.

Kamijou Touma, that magnificent bastard, had walked away to where they had decided to meet (the current location of the other two members of the Delta Force) and was constantly smashing his head against the wall with a red face that suggested that he had been the most embarrassed out of anyone during the entire ordeal.

But that didn't matter.

The fact was that he had done it.

That bastard had, through some means or something had managed to win over that Tokiwadai girl within the 10-minute time limit.

They both turned to the boy (who had created a rather large crater in the wall and was bleeding quite a lot from the forehead) with looks that only suggested that they were hardly happy about the fact that they had been proven right.

Still, even after all of this, it proved one thing and one thing only!

And that was-!

"You see, you magnificent bastard?! You did it! You won her over and you did so by being so smooth, I can't believe it's not butter!"

"A-"

Kamijou though, with that bleeding forehead and bits of rubble falling from the wound turned to his blue haired friend that had spoken.

"Are you kidding me?! What part of that even suggested that she liked me?! Tell me! Give me a list!"

"She had teary eyes watching you leave greater than the 1-minute mark! In fact, it was 65 seconds nyah~! Not to mention that she was blushing for a full 97 seconds before deciding to leave! How do you explain that?!"

"I helped her out with a single problem so she probably decided that she owed me, even though I told her to deal with it at the end! She probably felt as though she owed me!"

"Stop lying to yourself! I'll destroy that illusion!"

"Hang a minute there Aogami, you can't just blurt out lines like that without asking me for p – bfhfhfhfhggf?!" Kamijou received a punch to the face as he was sent tumbling to the ground. Aogami got him in a chokehold while turning to Tsuchimikado.

"Tsuchimikado, get him! We'll get this guy, this source of the Kami-yan Disease to admit that he's the north pole while the chicks are the south pole to his chick magnet! Do it! DO IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!"

"I'm just as pissed off about this as you are Aogamiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! Even though we intentionally let the beast out of its cage by having you purposefully win over someone, we'll never do it again! But you'll probably pick up chicks without even realising it anyway nyah~! You better stay away from Maika, you bastard!"

"Is that what this is about? In the end, the only thing that you're doing is advancing your own objectives! And what does Maika have to do with anything? I've never even had a romantic encounter with her!"

"Huh? Didn't you and I help her search for that cleaning robot that she had marked as her own?" asked Aogami to Kamijou who blinked once while looking up at the boy even though he was in a chokehold.

"Ah, yeah we did. Although you ditched halfway through because of the cosplay contest that was being held in District 6."

"Bunny girls! I can't believe that you didn't join Kami-yan! You should have checked out the crossover of genres! There was even the rare breed of goth loli, onee-san with glasses and huge breasts bunny girl whose outfit accentuated those fine 3D curves!"

"I think that you're losing character there Aogami Pierce. Are you going for 2D or 3D?"

"Wh-What? I really am from Osaka man~…."

"I didn't ask you idiot! And stop switching characters, it gets confusing! B-But did you onee-san?!"

"WAIT JUST A MINUTE THERE KAMI-YAN! Are you telling me that you spent basically an entire day with my step sister without my knowledge?!" asked Tsuchimikado, cracking his knuckles with a darkness surrounding him that likely only people that were buried in the ground knew of.

"Wh-What? No, it was after a school day and she said that you were off doing some kind of job or whatever. Don't tell me you were off smelling her uniform or something you Sis-con Sergeant."

"H-How did you know?!"

"Are you serious?!"

"Tsuchimikado…you are living your life correctly." The class representative Fetish King gave a thumbs up as Kamijou once more turned to face him.

"Again, you really need to ask permission before you use my lines like th – byayhghgsg?!"

Kamijou never got another word out as Tsuchimikado pounded him in the face as the trio entered a brawl that probably would have gone down in history as the most violent fight to cross District 7 streets.

"Stay away from my sisteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

"She's a step sister and I have no interest in her! Besides, you're always on about harem this and harem that, Kami-yan Disease this and Kami-yan Disease that, but where is the evidence?! OBJECTION I say!"

"Objection overruled! We'll get you to admit that the Kami-yan Disease exists even if we have to wring it out of you Kami-yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!"

It seemed as though the idiocy of the Delta Force wasn't going to die soon and personally Kamijou Touma wanted to have nothing to do with this. In his own opinion, he had trodden on a girl's feelings by acting as a predator but the fact remained that he had managed to get her to reveal her problem and he had provided a solution.

Disregarding what those two idiots were saying, Kongou Mitsuko had definitely felt something from their interaction. If Kamijou had maybe been acting more as himself and less like a playboy bastard, he probably would have picked up on the feelings that she had developed for him but his own embarrassment at his actions and guilt had prevented him from seeing things clearly.

But even so, he had seen one thing clearly, just before he had turned the corner to where he was now.

And that was the sight of Kongou Mitsuko smiling among her friends that she had revealed the truth to.

She had finally broken free of her chains and was smiling truthfully and happily.

And for Kamijou Touma, that smile was the only thing that he needed as a reward.

A harem? The Kami-yan Disease?

Who cared about any of that?

As long as there was a smile on Kongou Mitsuko's face, on anyone's face, then Kamijou Touma was satisfied.

[1] This line is from T.S. Eliot's poem 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock'.

So what did you think?

There was one important point in this that I wanted to get across in this one-shot. As you could clearly see, this idea was "Can Touma win over a girl when he tries to be as smooth as possible?". The answer that I arrived at though, was a definite "No."

Touma is not that kind of character, winging everything and winning hearts left and right using nothing but sweet words and acting cool. He never tries to do so and from the one-shot, I hope that you understood that his attempts to do so would result in hilarious mental anguish as he tries to reconcile his embarrassment and his actions. I should note at this point that given how Touma went along with the flow of things, I did feel as though given how he realises that he is disrespecting Kongou for acting in the way that he would have not gone along with what he did. Although the flow of things caught him up and caused him to act, I hope that you looked at what was doing and didn't think it was 'cool' or 'noble': Touma himself realises that what he is doing is disrespectful and is treating girls as nothing more than prey when they are more than that. The guilt then that surrounded him in his actions is a major part of how Touma didn't see what he was supposed to and also how it made him regret everything that he was doing.

But I think that maybe the question of whether Touma being smooth cannot pick up chicks would change if it was around girls that he has never met. In this sense, when looking at this one-shot, you have to consider when it comes to encounters with Touma, the way that the Kami-yan Disease is applied is around that of 'salvation'. Touma is a silent hero and I feel as though if I wanted to apply the Kami-yan Disease in a successful way, someone had to be 'saved'.

This could have been through a proper battle or through the usual Touma speeches but we had a fight scene last one-shot, so I went in the direction of the latter. And the girl this time was Kongou! I hope that you guys felt as though I really nailed her in terms of characterisation.

In terms of what her problem was then, I think it was something that we can all relate to; the idea that we aren't always honest with our friends. I took it to a bit of an extreme with Kongou here where the lies had reached the points where she could not stop and had to discard her own identity but at the same time she had the desire to want to be closer to her Tokiwadai friends. It was this struggle where she could not find a way out of her web of lies that Touma came in and 'saved' her.

Having been in something similar, he knows how bad that extreme can get and wants to stop Kongou from falling into the same trap that he did of constantly lying until the dam breaks. Mind though, it was more of Touma being true to himself and his desire to 'save' Kongou from her problems that made her a victim of the Disease. Him being smooth had nothing to do with it and it was only 'being truthful to himself' that created the result that he wanted. He was feeling guilty for paying the playboy the entire time but when he acted like himself for that small moment, the Disease really took hold. I wanted to address this guilt factor a bit more but it was really the ending and how by not lying and acting as himself that created results that I think you need to focus on as the 'core' of this one-shot rather than Touma trying to be smooth, failing hopelessly and the arising guilt from such.

But do you think it would have worked as well if he hadn't been acting smooth?

I'll leave that up to you to decide.

So, even though Touma fell flat on his face trying to be smooth (the final head smashing scene I think really gets it across), I hope that you enjoyed what was in essence, a chapter of Delta Force stupidity once more and harem adding skills that Touma doesn't really need in his quest for a normal life.

And as always,
Review if you please.

And I'll see you when I see you and I won't if I don't.

I guess the main reason I went in this direction was because the girl that was the focus was someone that Touma has never met before (as of 16/6/2016 when this was completed). So, I guess the question is, what would happen if Touma tried to be smooth around someone that he does know (and also has or perhaps does not have feelings for him)? An interesting idea….