–What do you mean by that? Time froze?

–It seems like it… If it wasn't for that I would be disfigured for life

–Time froze… –The nun with perfect memory was as scattered as always

–Is it a spell?

–Magic doesn't mess with time. It's a veda.

–Veda?

–A rule that cannot be broken… Vedas are the only weakness of god, he has to follow those rules as well.

–Wait what? It means we could defeat god by breaking his rules?

–No. Breaking a Veda is something only few had managed to do so, and you can only manage to break one at a time.

–It means god doesn't break those rules, because by doing so he would get under a more stern set of rules?

–Touma you are very smart… That is exactly my point, breaking one veda would mean he could only break that one from there on. But time stopping… Perhaps Xipe Totec is not our only problem now. –Index liked to call Yuuka by different names.

–You know of someone capable of handling time? I thought you said no magician could do it

–Not a magician. An ESPer… Lunacy Dial, there are records of him working with Nesessarius

–Touma sat down and started listening closely

–He was the one who defeated dracula, the one who stopped the rats from taking over the world. Lunacy Dial worked in England along with two priests in order to finish the vampire. Most of times we'd use a deep blood but Nosferatu was too smart for that.

–A vampire hunter? An ESPer who controlled time… What happened?

–Well he disappeared after the vampire died. Maybe whoever was involved in this is related to him.

Time stopped again, Touma stared at Index and tried to make her move my touching her shoulder with her right hand, however time was still for her. Whoever did it was not doing it locally but in general time, leaving Touma out because his Imagine Breaker. He waited for it to start moving again but after half an hour he realized this was not as temporal as the last one, what if time was stopped for years?

He walked outside of his home after leaving a note on the table, so Index wouldn't get scared when she saw Touma disappear before her eyes. He wanted to find whoever was changing the time so much, there was little probability of finding the culprit in one go, but if time was still for a long period there was going to be a chance.

Oddly enough paperwork for the gray haired was already waiting in the detention center. She even had an ID card on her name, so it was all a misunderstanding. Sakuya politely apologized for her recklessness of not carrying any ID with her. She was though set as an assistant professor at the Tokiwadai school, the acceptance letter for a job the maid in disguise was already signed by one of the most respected doctors in the city. An acceptance letter for a job she never applied to. Sakuya read the name under the signature to see who was behind this bureaucratic salvation, Sumireko Usami, a set of questions to answer later, right now she had to keep her mission going.

–It is the first time I see an ESPer teaching… –No wonder why this girl escaped her so easily, why did she know Yuuka anyway? There was some relationship between Sumireko and her though.

–I will do my job the best I can… Though an assistant is not a teacher on its own

–Do you know Dr Usami?

–Not personally, though I would like to thank her for the paperwork.

–I may be able to help you with that. –She grabbed Sakuya's shoulder and teleported out of the office. She rarely took such ways for moving around the city but she wanted to flash her skill to Sakuya. So her opinion about Kuroko was not as low as it seemed to be from the first experience they had. Also she did so because few people would like to travel in such a way, though Sakuya was a teleporter too, she would not get dizzy from the trip.

Sumireko was completely absorbed into her work, she cursed a little and kept typing in her computer. She was writing corrections in a paper, she always cursed when she had to do so. Kuroko cleared her throat, so they would be announced. Sumireko didn't answer. Sakuya knew she was ignoring them on purpose, she had some more important stuff to do. Though she had to get information from her.

–Miss Remilia wants me to retrieve information from Yuuka's stay, thank you for sending your agents to get me. But it would be nicer if next time you gave them information about what they have to do.

–Wait a second please… Kuroko please leave the room… I will talk to you later –Sumireko seemed to type faster than usual and turned around quickly. Kuroko ignored the time manipulation and left the room.

–I don't want to wait. –Sakuya was not happy from losing so much time. Sumireko looked at her wristwatch and at the clock in the computer.

–I really hate it when you do that! Yuuka studies here, if you want to see her check her room at night. Well not study… She sits quiet during classes and pretends the teacher is telling her something of her interest.

–I guess she excels at biology?

–Oddly enough all the sciences… Youkai are either excellent or awful at those subjects. I never took Yuuka or a good student.

–What about history?

–She always writes the wrong answer… –Sumireko giggled when she said the word "wrong".

–You know I would fail those tests too, history is always changed.

Sumireko only signed the papers so Sakuya wouldn't cause a disaster, she probably would not do such a thing but she wanted to take her precautions. Now that see saw Sakuya closely she started to see some patterns in her face, her inner voices started screaming possible names for who she looked alike. She never stared at her from such a short distance, she never visited the Scarlet Devil Mansion anyway. Why did she recognize this face?

–White hair? It is obvious! Maybe far relative of him?

–The red eyes too don't forget the red eyes.

–Please be quiet… I need to concentrate

–You need no concentration Sumi, we are brainstorming it is way faster.

–Accelerator's factions indeed… She looks like a female version of him.

–Help please… Mommy? I need silence

–Not silence my child. She looks like someone else though… It is hard to tell, though.

–Those cheeks and eyebrows are not Accelerator's… The nose changes too

–Do you have any family here Sakuya? –A vague question, she didn't want to be too invasive though she was curious to know if she was related to him or not. Such resemblances were not common.

–… All the true family I will have lives here –A grammar error with time? No, with her time was rather the one being wrong.

–How old are you really? Counting from the year you were born.

–… You say a thing about this and I'll make sure Flandre snaps your neck

–Not interested in making public such information.

–I'm in my late teens… Though counting from the year of my birth my age would be negative.

–Of course! Then she was indeed related to Accelerator, a descendant then. Though Sakuya kept speaking, giving little information was as dangerous as giving none. If Sumireko was to know the future she had to know certain bits of it to keep history as close as the original. Sakuya had to give just enough for Sumireko's actions not to change the course of events. Each movement, each word affected history greatly. Sakuya could see the whole ramification of it the whole time, something she never shared with anyone. She knew what information Sumireko needed to have in order to stay in the best path for the future.