NT 10. Words cannot describe what I felt as I read that volume and when I finished it. Each chapter was filled with a nice balance of fights and humour and while many people did not like many of them (you can probably guess which ones) I thought that there was nothing bad about the volume at all. But….GODDAMN IT! There's more to GREMLIN than everyone thought! And Aleister's sorcery name!? Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh! I'd go into it more…..but that's at the end.
Oh and the end of the Railgun Daihaseisai came out! I await the new arc and hopefully some insight into the past that Touma and Misaki share…..not to mention his relation with Seria. Damn it!
However! A thing to note! You may have noticed that I didn't update as early as I might have after the novel finished. There was one reason because of this: Othinus. It isn't because I don't know how to retcon her in (of course I am assuming that Touma does take her in as 'punishment' but we'll see), I know how to but I don't have enough information to make her seem authentic for me. I don't want to make her seem 'unOthinus' like and thus spoil her character so just to be cautious, I'm going to NOT put her in the story until I have more information on the matter. I mean, after NT1 I wouldn't have assumed I knew how Touma was going to 'apologise' to Index so I wouldn't have put it in. As you can probably guess from the wait…..it was a hard decision and I hope that you'll stick with the story regardless of this fact and wait (please?) until I get Othinus into this story. But it seems that many people will have mixed feelings about that…
But here's the next one. Well back to chapter 52! Hello to everyone here and those who have awaited this chapter. Originally this was going to be a Judgment chapter and one of the first times that I could write a character focus on an organization (thinking of the newly formed ITEM here), however I felt that there have been some Judgment members that I have not done yet (Uiharu) so I thought that I would leave it off.
So here is the Konori arc. I noticed in some of the newer fanfics (well newer when I was writing this) that Konori had more of an appearance than she usually had in previous times. But I thought that I would have a go at it for now and that turned into this. I hope that everyone enjoys this new chapter.
And the Q&A sections! I get the feeling that those who end up asking me questions get their questions answered so I hope everything is OK in regards to answering them!
LL: Thanks very much for your words. And yes, I am thinking of bringing out the Invisible Thing in later arcs. Especially with the new Magic Side ideas I've got swirling around…..
whwsms: Hm…..an interesting idea however we'll have to see how everything else works out in the future before thinking about having an arc with the 'Kamijou Family.'
Guest: Actually, I have a draft inside my head for some of the characters from the Endymion movie to be honest. I have a feeling it will be a while before I get to them, but there's the idea out there. And a little side note here, I have an idea for Kinuhata as well in that…..But we'll see how things go…..
And once again I would like to bombard everyone that reached this far with thanks for supporting this project of mine. Remember, I'll try and address people's characters with as much speed as I can. But in the end I hope that in the meantime everyone enjoys these chapters.
And most of all thanks to PokeRescue18. He has been with me for more than 50% and I hope that he will stick to me for as long as he can. Thanks very much.
However here is the new chapter and I hope that everything goes well for those that are reading it. And for a while after this I'll think that there will be Magic Side so here is a kind of last hurrah for Science. So length is unknown. But I hope that you guys enjoy anyway.
Mr Question Mark.
When Konori Mii thought about, there were meetings that one could not forget. And second meetings and third meetings until everything reached a point and you could think of someone as a friend, or perhaps even more than that. But there was no mistaking one thing about friends or 'more than friends'.
It all started on that first meeting. Even if it was bad, good, humorous or left a sour taste in the mouth things would start from there.
As a Judgment member she usually had encounters with the more unsavoury people of Academy City. Those that had rejected the City itself were willing to resort to crime and abuse in order to satisfy their own weaknesses or for reasons that were even more self-fulfilling than that or some even less. Especially one of the more prominent of them; MINUS. She had known that her kouhai, Shirai Kuroko had had an encounter with them and as such knew the lengths that they were willing to go to achieve that one goal that they wanted or any goal that they had in their sights.
Yet at the same time she still maintained the calm demeanour when dealing with them and any time they appeared on the Judgment or Anti-Skill scanner she was one of the first to respond. It was to be expected. After all, one of the members of the 177th Branch had been harmed by them. There was no looking over that.
Yet at the same time that demeanour had been shattered when she had been made to face them by herself. Moving forward solely by herself and her ideals and want to protect Academy City, she had no Judgment companions with her and being made to face that darkness all by herself. Yet there was only one person that had stayed with her that entire time.
When she thought about it, that light that came from that person had probably allowed her sanity to stay in the situation that it had. After all there were things that she did not want to revisit once again after what she had seen and been through.
Yet everything would be alright. Those meetings had told her that. And when she thought about it, it all started on that one day…
Konori Mii always had a taste for designer bags. And as such she went to Seventh Mist every once in a while in order to have a look at them. Such was the natural progression of her hidden feminine characteristics that she didn't have the chance to show in her Judgment work. For those that knew her perhaps that action would have seemed odd however for Konori that served as an escape for her in the City that she had decided to call home.
However even when there was supposed to be that break, a Judgment member's work was never finished.
"What do you have Uiharu-san?" asked Konori into her phone as she walked into the shopping mall.
"Not much Konori-senpai. Anti-Skill has taken over some of the investigation however left enough for Judgment to work around it without really getting far enough. Ever since Shirai-san was attacked the only thing that seemed to be a part of MINUS was what happened in District 3. Those facilities that were attacked in Districts 7, 14 and 17 seem to be a separate incident however a few of the Judgment and Anti-Skill forces are still looking into them at any rate." said the respondent, Uiharu Kazari.
Konori acknowledged what she had said by agreeing. Those facilities had been mercilessly attacked however there was no sign that anyone knew who had done it. Security footage had been completely obliterated. No one had claimed responsibility or ever said that they were in the buildings at the time. It was like they had completely disappeared from the face of the Earth. There was no one who even stated that they had been in the buildings in the first place.
It was like they didn't want anyone knowing that they were in. What was the reason behind that? That troubled someone like her however there was still something that had to be addressed.
"What about MINUS?" she asked. The Yesod investigation had practically been dropped due to lack of leads and evidence, only a few select members of Judgment and Anti-Skill looking into it, their ability to solve complex cases something along the lines of Conan-kun in her opinion. [1]
"It's hard to say Konori-senpai. It has been one of the more…intriguing investigations so far." Konori knew exactly what she was talking about. Ever since the incident with the Misawa Cram School, the higher ups had mixed feelings with pursuing the menace which was something of a mystery.
On one hand there was sometimes that they were in agreement to deal with them but then again there would always be that shout out of disagreement. And from what she had heard from Anti-Skill, it was the Chairman of the Board of Directors that had done so. Occasionally he would respond in agreement and then could not be contacted for ages to which when he did make an appearance he gave a disagreement towards a certain decision or even the same decision that he had agreed to.
There was a great issue here, sometimes there would be an uproar however in the other case it was seen as a good idea to reject the endeavour in order to increase spending into other areas. The situation had become more complex than a jigsaw puzzle with 546 of its pieces missing.
In turn it meant that, with no direction, Anti-Skill and Judgment had to do its job without that. And that was what they planned on doing.
"I know that." Responded Konori. "But we still have a job to do. What about that information that we got from one of the espers that was in the District 3 attack?"
After going there after receiving reports of explosions, they had found all the unconscious espers, all who had been injured in some way or another. And it was from one of them that they received information after picking in his brain for a bit with a telepath. His name was ….Muro something or rather however Konori could not remember. But it was the information that had been gathered from that one esper that had been the vital bit of information.
"We analysed the information that we were given and Anti-Skill is treating it as a possible hide out. Although District 19 did seem like a more viable option, we have to take what we can." Said Uiharu. There was typing on the other end to which Konori wondered what she was looking up. "They will have more information today but all things are green for an actual investigation of the site tomorrow."
Konori nodded. If anything Anti-Skill would tell Judgment if their assistance was needed so there was very little that they could do in the situation right now except wait for the results of the Anti-Skill decision.
Konori thanked Uiharu for the information and let out a sigh as she patted her arm where her Judgment armband was. Somehow the information that she had been given made it feel heavier than it should have been however she figured that the fatigue of the job was just getting to her.
However she was in Seventh Mist! This was her time to relax to her fullest extreme!
Or at least that was what she thought…
She saw someone in the store look around him. He saw everything, security cameras and staff, even passing a glance at the security of the mall itself however let out a troubled look as they walked around. He was holding something however Konori could not tell what it was before he reached for something in his school uniform, pulling it out and having a look at it before returning it and carefully walking away.
Yet there was something immediately strange about him.
She looked at everyone else and their actions taking note of how everyone else was acting. And it was then that she made a decision.
Seriously was the work of a Judgment member never done?
Kamijou Touma once again found himself in a perilous situation!
He held a small piece of paper as he walked down the streets with his friends Tsuchimikado Motoharu and Aogami Pierce. However unlike real friends should, they did nothing to comfort the boy as he looked at the piece of paper.
"Nyah~ Kami-yan, in the end isn't it your fault that you get sent to hospital too much? What did you expect, that all of those trips would be free?" asked Tsuchimikado.
"No…..but the price…..The price!" Kamijou let out that cry as he complained. He felt that somehow, some kind of time space anomaly had centred on his wallet without his knowing it but he was absolutely sure that it had something to do with his misfortune. Beside him, Aogami merely look at the boy with an amused look.
"Come on Kami-yan. It's not that bad! After all, you have entered the realm of the repetitive patient! Those nurse uniforms must be something right? If you keep on visiting there, I might have to check them out….." said Aogami.
"Why did the conversation go towards this direction?!" protested Kamijou. "Don't tell me that you're the same as that doctor!? What is it with you and fetishes!? Nurses? What's next, goddamn yanderes? They're scary I tell you! Scary! They say things about wanting to rip out your organs and give you no time to reject the idea!"
"What the hell are you being so specific for!? And besides you can only say that because you have every one of them under your control! And why only limit it to two? The world is large enough for one to expand their horizons with all sorts of genres! Shotacon, cheerleader, sister-type, mai-"
"I knew it!" said Tsuchimikado as he pointed towards the boy. "I knew that you would use that combination of sister and maid nyah~! I can only think that you are targeting me in some way!"
"Targeting?! You should happy that you have someone like that that crosses both categories! The only thing that it needs is to be a tsundere along with a hint of moe! But does Maika have an ahoge? Does she?! No! She loses points just for that!" stated Aogami, attracting stares from around them, those from people with ahoges and those without.
"WHAT?! Are you saying that Mai-chan merely loses points for that!? You speak of broadening horizons yet you misunderstand the very concept of moe! Ahoges?! Ridiculous. How is that a moe factor? In the end it's all about the…" Tsuchimikado pumped a fist and looked straight into the sky. "…..Affection points!"
"Affection points?!" yelled Aogami. "Don't tell me that you would merely go for something with a maid outfit? I suppose if Kami-yan wore something like that then those 'precious affection points' of yours would make you fall under the Kami-yan Disease as well! No! It's about…" Aogami did the same thing that Tsuchimikado had done merely moments before. "…..Moe!"
Tsuchimikado twitched and was about to say something however Kamijou said something else. "Alright then Aogami but then even if something is a trap as long as it has an ahoge or a maid uniform you're A-OK to go forward? I think that covers some kind of genre other than M or lolicon. Besides, you guys miss the point. In the end it's all about…." Kamijou also raised his fist. "….The first encounter!"
"What the hell is this?" blurted out Aogami. "How can you say that when every encounter goes well for you?!"
"How can you say that? This Kamijou-san has a bundle of misfortune that sticks to him like a persistent piece of gum! They aren't encounters! They're just explosions of misfortune!" countered Kamijou.
"How can you say that nyah?!" responded Tsuchimikado. "Are you saying that you get no encounters at all?! Are you mocking us!?" And before Kamijou could even say anything a light began to shine in the two boy's eyes (however with Aogami's shut and Tsuchimikado's behind the sunglasses he couldn't tell).
"Hang on! I take it b-" He didn't say anything as Aogami rammed into him from the side and Tsuchimikado punched him in the side to which Kamijou fell to the ground and an all-out brawl began.
Tatsugami Otohime and Index awaited the boy in front of the shopping mall. They had done so ever since he had told them that he had finished school and was coming over towards them and they had been glad that he had decided to keep his promise from the other day.
While everything that Kamijou had been caught up in, the fact that he truly held his word upon everything else made them glad that they knew him. Placing others feelings above his own was something that he still did even after everything so it was inevitable that he would somehow end up caught in another incident, whether it be big or small, where he stood in order to help others.
Of course there were a number of different things that resulted from it as a result such as being beaten to a pulp, facing different kinds of enemies and facing various types of fanservice scenes that only ended up with that violence coming in from all directions.
"Index! Otohime!"
A shout from the side made both of the girls turn their heads towards Kamijou as they saw him approaching through the crowd. The mass of people here was strange for a school day however as it was right after school, many students and the need to 'shop' made it quite a famous place to go to in regards to getting together.
Kamijou was wearing his winter uniform yet he truly felt that his winter school uniform (his summer one had to be mended again after what had happened to it) would end up in the same condition as his summer if he wasn't careful. However right now, that was the least of his concerns.
"Touma!" said Index as she clung onto the calico cat that was in her arms and completely forgetting what she had just done to him moments ago. "Can you at least hurry up!? My mouth is watering from being outside this store! I can smell bagels, sushi, oden, burgers, curry and sandwiches! Hurry Hurry Hurry!" she said to him to which Kamijou seriously wondered what kind of department store Seventh Mist was.
"Onii-chan! Come on come on!" she said as she already started to walk inside. "Index and I already found some great stores that we can visit and can try on clothes!" She wandered inside and Index followed to her to which Kamijou had to run in order to catch up. He managed to catch them before they wandered off and Index and Otohime looked in the store in order to see the shops that were in their sights.
"Alright then!" said Kamijou as he put a hand onto his chest. "The promise that Kamijou-san has made is going to be kept so hopefully my misfortune will be kept to a minimum!"
"Alright then Onii-chan, let's go towards that directory over there in order to see what is here that we can view!" said Otohime as she practically dragged the boy towards the directory. Kamijou was reluctantly pulled along without his consent however he still had a job to do here.
After all in the past few days he had only managed to get accessories for #10040-#10096. The Sister clones were certainly a handful however even after saying that he would get them all accessories meant that his finances were sure to take a heavy blow. And that was evident already. Just how exactly was he going to pay for anything that Index was going to eat? Of course he already had a master plan in place and he hoped that Otohime would not go overboard.
The three of them stood in front of the directory and Kamijou gave it a quick look over however was thrown out of the way by Index who used her perfect memory to take everything in to which Otohime tried to look at the stores that she wanted to visit.
"Onii-chan Onii-chan! I want to visit this store here! This store!" she said as she pointed to a name on the directory to which he almost burst into tears from the name.
Tropical Bright Girl.
He sniffed and patted Otohime on the head to which she was happy about however did not understand the actions of her cousin. Was he praising her? Or actually just really, REALLY upset? She couldn't tell but they seemed to be genuine tears. Did something happen to him there?
"Touma! Here here! This one! I want to go to this one!" She pointed and Kamijou went over to it to which he let out a pained sigh.
"Index. Do you seriously think that this Level 0 can pay for something with a name like 'Luxury Food Palace'? That name itself holds an air of-" He started to look towards where she was however already noticed that she was gone, seeing her on one of the escalators already with Otohime both of them jumping up and down in happiness. Kamijou sighed as he watched them go and then noticed the object that was in Otohime's hand.
He froze. How the hell had she managed to get his wallet?! He made sure that it was his and panicked. If things were to escalate the way that he thought they would he made to stop this catastrophe before it erupted!
He ran towards the escalator however stopped as someone small came to step in his way. He dodged to the side, turning in order to apologise however stopped once more.
The small child held a short bob haircut and a cute elementary school outfit. However that was not the sight that Kamijou took in; it was the puffy eyes that she held. She sniffed and it was clear that she had been crying for some time however she did not even notice Kamijou.
Kamijou wanted to go towards Index and Otohime as fast as he could however the problem in front of him was something that he could not ignore. Certainly he complained about his misfortune, especially the fact that it made him spend less than 5 minutes outside before he ran into a girl needing help, however it was that misfortune that allowed him to see the pain of others and to save them.
That was just who he was.
Index and Otohime could do what they wanted. Chances were that they would get into trouble regardless so all he could do was worry about them until he caught up with them again. He stepped forward and knelt down to look at the elementary school child and she looked up to him.
"Are you lost?" he asked. "Was there someone that you wanted to meet here or something?"
The girl blinked a few times before looking as though she was going to cry once more. She gave a small nod and pulled something out of her pocket and showed it to him, revealing a picture of an older girl, perhaps his age with similar features to her. Kamijou took it and gave it a look over before looking back towards the girl.
"How about you come with me? We can help look for your friend."
"O-Onee-chan said that I should s-stay away from s-strangers." Said the girl as she cried to compose herself but was finding it hard to do so.
Kamijou looked at her and gave a nod. "Then how about we go to the security here and look for her there? That way you don't have to worry about me being a stranger. We'll let the security here do its job."
The elementary schooler shook her head as she gave a response. "I-I already tried that. B-But they wouldn't *sniff* b-believe me…." She said as she held her face in her hands to which Kamijou went on instinct and patted her on the head.
"Don't worry about it then. I'll help you explain things. Should we go?" Kamijou tried his best to not seem to forceful in order to prevent the girl from becoming even more frightened than she actually was.
The girl gave him a soft look before silently considering her options. However in the end as she wiped her eyes and sniffled, she gave her response towards Kamijou.
"A-Alright then."
He nodded as he pointed in a direction that he remembered the administration was. The girl nodded towards Kamijou with a pure smile on her face as he took her hand and led her towards where he wanted to go.
Yet, just seeing that made Kamijou let a small smile creep to his own lips. However there was something else on his mind. As he started to walk off with the girl, he felt that he needed to solve her problem quickly. It was not because of the fact that she was troubled and wanted to find her person that she wanted to find but something even more serious.
I just know that a boy like me leading around a crying girl is going to lead to some misunderstanding so please let this finish quickly!
He reached a part of the store that he did not know, looking for those that he could talk to. There were cameras however he wanted to find the administration. There was security however they would be no hope as they were either looking bored or talking to others, there would be no point asking someone to help if they weren't fully engrossed into what they were paid to do. He felt a vibration in his pocket and pulled out his phone, seeing that Otohime had given him a rather angry text to which Kamijou groaned and put the phone away.
And there was the other situation that he had to deal with! He had to hurry before one of the main meals that those girls had in the meantime would not be Kamijou Touma. Nervously he walked to his left, leading the girl around as he tried to find the place that he was looking for.
Konori Mii understood that the situation had completely left her expectations. She had thought that he was suspicious due to the way that he dressed however the fact that he was leading a girl around clearly did not bode well. It was like he had an air of suspicion to him, like there was something about him that did not meet what someone first saw him. She slowly followed him and took in the words that he was speaking to the child as they walked.
"Don't worry. Everything will be over soon. We'll be done soon so cheer up!" There was something else that he added and Konori tensed. There was just something about him that did not bode well and the words that he had spoken seemed to emphasise that. Still she had to make sure that the girl was safe before taking action altogether. And her ability was the best way to do that in the current situation that she was in.
Clairvoyance. A Level 3 ability that allowed her to see anything that was concealed by an opponent of hers. She focused her eyes and looked straight at the spiky haired boy that was in her vision and…..
Nothing. She blinked and looked around with her power. Surely there were people, she could see their outlines as well as phones and other objects inside their clothes. However that was not the case with the person that she was tailing.
She could see the girl and the small thing that was in her pocket. Perhaps a photo that the boy had used to convince her that he was a good Samaritan? She could even see the outline of the girl itself.
However that was not the case with the boy. It was like her ability did not work, did not register that person. She retracted her power and the boy was there as he had been before, looking around nervously and she tried her power again, seeing the boy disappear, questions filling her mind. There had been a situation similar to this one.
It had been in the Misawa Cram School incident when she was looking for Shirai Kuroko under the rubble. That time she had not seen anything either but rather used the distortions that were created by the rubble to identify where she was.
And once again, she could not see the person that was in front of her. She frowned at it however decided to quickly change tactics. She had to make sure that the girl would be safe no matter what actions that she took. She could not see the weapons that the boy might have if she appeared and questioned him so at the very least, what she had to do was safely and carefully deal with him in a professional manner.
"U-Um…W-where are we going?" asked the girl, apparently noticing the situation that she was in. This was bad. If she panicked then it could only make things worse.
"Don't worry." Said the boy. "I have an idea of where I'm going. We'll deal with this quickly. I get the feeling that I'll get in trouble if I'm caught with a cute girl like you." He said.
Konori's danger senses were immediately sparked and she tensed up, reaching for her phone as she called her Judgment office. Of course she had no idea that there was the danger of getting caught by those girls that the boy had promised that he could have fun with in the mall. Regardless though, with her suspicions confirmed in her mind, there was only one thing that she sought to do in this situation.
She heard the phone ring and it was Uiharu that answered. And before she could even answer properly, Konori quickly told her the situation.
"Uiharu. Call Anti-Skill and tell them to get to the Seventh Mist. We have a potential kidnapper here and it seems that he wants to leave the building as soon as he can." She said.
"Are you serious?!" stated Uiharu, almost being heard from outside the phone. "Should I get Shirai-san or send in reinforcements from other Judgment branches as well?" she asked.
"Both." Responded the Judgment chief. "I'll do what I can but in the end this is a tightrope that we're walking on. I can't tell if he has any weapons so we'll deal with it carefully. Tell the others. We have to deal with this accordingly as a result." And with that Konori hung up and gulped. There had to be something that she could do. She just had to get the guy to let his guard down!
She looked around her and saw something that came into her attention. And an idea came into her head.
The plush toy came out of nowhere and landed in front of Kamijou and the girl. He stopped and turned towards it, rather surprised; looking at the girl who had the same expression as before, on the verge of tears however there was also the light of interest in her eyes.
Kamijou let out a sigh as he looked at the girl and how she looked so interested at the frog plush toy. Seriously what exactly was it about that frog? He headed towards it and bent down in order to pick it up with his free hand, noticing that the girl had turned, shouting and pointed in one direction to which Kamijou looked towards it.
There…in the distance. It was the girl that the elementary schooler had shown him on the picture. She was talking to one of the security members that filled the mall and she seemed just as distressed as the smaller girl had.
Kamijou gave a look back towards the girl and she wiped her eyes, looking towards the older girl. Kamijou smiled.
"Go on. Go towards her. I'm done here. I better get out before I'm caught." Indeed, Kamijou did NOT want to be seen with the small girl by Index or Otohime. Misunderstandings would explode unfairly around him and it would only get worse from there. He did not want to get bitten like he had in the hospital.
The girl nodded and said in a soft voice. "Thank you Onii-chan! See you around!" She gave one last sniffle and the boy turned towards her as she left with his hands in his pockets as he saw her go.
A feeling rose up in his chest. Happiness at what he had accomplished. Happiness that the smile had been returned to her face. Although he was having so many worries and reasons to not reach out his hand in end he had and things had been worth it in the end. Kamijou Touma gave a nod towards himself. Yep. It was definitely w-
He stopped thinking as something rammed into his side. He collapsed to the ground with the person and felt something twist his arm in a way that it was not naturally supposed to go. He gasped at the sudden pain and tried to turn around, only looking at the sight of some hair, but that was it. Questions soared through his mind however no answers came to them.
What was going on? He had merely come here with Index and Otohime in order to have some fun! Why was this happening to him?
Kamijou reacted in order to escape from the situation which he found himself in. He used his feet in order to push back against the floor in order to slam into the back of the person that was holding him down. He pushed against them and there was a grunt as he hit the wall using the person's body and the grip loosened only slightly, something that Kamijou used to his advantage.
Using his other arm, he grabbed one of the clothes that was on a hanger nearby, pulling it down and using it to smother the person that had grabbed him in the first place. Their face was covered by the cloth and Kamijou sent in a punch, hearing a squeal of pain to which he got up, looking at his opponent. Their legs were visible and the fact that they were wearing a skirt told him that it was a girl.
However those facts did not matter. There was nothing saying that girls were above violence or acts or cruelty. Yet in the situation that he found himself and a large amount of precedence and experience points in situations like this, Kamijou knew exactly what to do.
He turned around and ran as fast as he could. If he stayed behind and decided to deal with it, things were surely going to escalate into an irreversible situation that would be a collection of misfortune! He wanted to avoid that as much as possible!
He turned the corner and raced towards the escalator, thinking about the girl that he had just helped. No….things would be fine. No one in their right mind would attack an elementary schooler in front of someone that they had met up with so things would be fine there. However things were not the same with Kamijou. The only thing that he could do in order to avoid conflict was-!
Konori held her nose as she looked up. It was not bleeding however the punch that had been sent her way had hurt like hell and she felt that tears were welling up in her eyes. She had failed. She tried to look for the accomplice of the boy that he had handed the girl towards however could not see anything.
She grit her teeth as she cursed her own recklessness and lack of insight towards what the boy was prepared to do, bringing out her phone and telling Uiharu in short sharp sentences to get Anti-Skill on the scene as fast as she could and that the girl here was being held by some other person. They had to make sure that they did not leave the building. But still, now that that boy had no hostage to consider…..
Konori was going to do her best to capture him. She stood up and, trying to hurry, put the cloth that had covered her face back on the hanger before racing towards the nearest escalator that served as a way down. She saw that head of spiky hair, looking as it passed through the crowd of people however doing so at a fast pace, yet not so fast that it attracted attention. She gritted her teeth and began to follow however the moment that the boy turned a corner, when she tried to adjust her view, she found him gone.
She scanned the area with her Clairvoyance and her normal eyes, trying to determine is there was anyone in her 'sights' that suddenly disappeared when she used her power however there was nothing. She felt her hands grip tightly.
That boy himself was definitely not someone that should be looked down upon. She had lost him in the crowd of people on one of the lower floors however his own movements, moving slowly to not attract attention and using the corners not as blind spots but rather areas to conceal oneself and blend in, emphasised the fact that he had some expertise towards hiding in situations like this.
Was he some kind of Skill Out member? Or even worse?
MINUS?
She shook her head. There was nothing saying that he was a part of anything like that! Right now, what she knew was that the boy and his accomplice had managed to take an elementary school girl. He might be a 'spare part' now that the girl was gone however a Telepath would be able to extract information from him easily if they didn't actually get the kidnapper.
However where could he have gone? Where was the best place for someone in this situation to go towards? The bathroom was her first choice however that kind of thing did not provide a safe haven. If she wanted to get somewhere in order to hide in the crowd…
There! There was the only choice that came to mind and Konori raced there as fast as she could.
"Where did you go Touma?!" said Index on the food court table that she was seated at.
Kamijou however was speechless as he looked at the table that she was seated at. For a table it was fairly small however it was enough to seat four people around it. However the circular nature of it was not what caught his attention immediately. It was the pile of food that was stacked up around it. There were empty plates however the room that was on the table meant that they had to be put on the floor.
Otohime only held a sushi roll in one hand and had another one in front of her while Index had a practical feast. There was sushi, oden, yakisoba, burgers, salads, sandwiches and other foods that Kamijou had never actually tried and didn't even know what were called. His wallet was also on the floor and seemed to have lost all of its contents, soulless and discarded like the tool it was.
Even that calico cat was having a good time, sitting on the table and licking some of the curry from one of the bowls that had it, obviously happy and looking at him and hissing as if saying, "If you take this away from me, feel my wrath!"
Again Kamijou felt that grudges over food could be scary.
He let out a sigh before pointing straight at Index. "What do you mean? Since when did you put any thought into the feelings of this Kamijou-san? Why is it that you spent all of my money on this? Wait, is that waitress coming over here to give you more food? Wait, why am I asking that!? The balancing act she's doing with all those plates feels like the most useless esper power if it is one or at least something she could get into a circus for! No! Go back! Go back!" Kamijou shooed the waitress away and she gave him a confused look then shrugged as she probably felt that she could eat the food later.
"Onii-chan! I tried to stop her! I really did!" said Otohime as she protested against Kamijou's anger.
"You say that yet why are you reaching over for the chips that Index bought? It's clear that you two are in it together with this thing! Why is that I have to suffer for your crimes?! You guys are always like this! Your freeloading tendencies are going to have to reach a limit! From now on, this Kamijou-san is putting a quota on the amount of food that you are eating Index! Barriers for imports to your stomachs are actually going to help the Kamijou economy for once!"
"Touma! Are you trying to starve me?! That in itself is a crime and preventing me from doing my job of eating!" said Index in response.
"That isn't an actual job you stupid Sister! Get your priorities right about this Kamijou-san's finances! How am I supposed to pay for my hospital bills? I can just imagine me getting into debt with some kind of loan shark that will bring along more misfortune than I can count! That Seven Deadly Sins spell could take you out by simply focusing all 7/7 of your power on gluttony!" Kamijou whined at the unfairness of it all however Otohime, Sphynx and Index merely continued to eat.
"But Onii-chan where did you even go?!" said Otohime as she reached the conversation point that she had wanted to reach since the start. "You said that you would hang out with us! It's only natural that you have to play this punishment game!"
"Punishment game!? That's what this is!? In that case, Kamijou-san will never break a promise again!"
"You weren't helping another girl were you Touma?" said Index as she glared at him that made him feel that the kind action that he had done was for nothing. He flinched at the truth that her words held to which the intuition that Index held proved true.
"So you think that you can break a promise with me and then just go on with another girl?" said Index. Kamijou wanted to point out that Otohime was also a part of this however did not want to face a two front war. Index however just sighed. "Seriously why is Touma like this? Always like this….." She said. Her words actually made Kamijou feel somewhat bad as she must have seriously been looking forward to this. The guilt pierced him and he felt that this was just another situation that he had to fix.
Relationships sometimes declined. However at the same time, it was the effort and ability of one to rebuild them that only revealed how much they meant towards that person.
"F-Fine! All you have to do is come with me and then everything will be alright! I'll show you a good time that even your perfect memory will hold at the forefront of your life experiences! Even Otohime will remember this forever!" said Kamijou however a voice from across the food court entered his ears.
"Damn it! He's going for more! Get ready!"
"Huh?" All three of the people that were around the table looked only to see numerous adults were rifles aimed towards them. They wore Anti-Skill uniforms and when one looked closely one could see who they were aiming at.
"E-Eh?!" said the innocent Kamijou as he felt a pressure on his head push it down onto the table, and onto a plate of curry, something attached to his wrist.
"As a member of Judgment I use my authority to arrest you on three charges of attempted kidnapping." The voice was not recognisable and Kamijou's mind was a bundle of information that he did not understand. Kidnapping? Three charges? What the hell was this? And what was Judgment doing? Why was he getting arrested?
And although those questions came into his mind, in that plate of curry, Kamijou feared. He was not able to go to prison anymore, having being banned however that was not the issue. It was the silver haired Sister that sat to his left, looking at the scene with a look of surprise. She was not a proper citizen of the City. If he was arrested and Index was taken in as a result then she would be forced to leave.
Academy City was her home. And there was no way that Kamijou was going to allow that to be taken away from her. However he had to deal with this situation in a respectable way!
He lifted his face out of the curry and began to turn around in a fast motion in order to explain things quickly however things did not go to plan.
"Konori-senpai! Lower your head!" Perhaps it was the speed at which Kamijou had turned his head or some other factor, perhaps the curry that was covering his face, that sent out that reaction. The girl is front of him, Kamijou never got a good look at her, lowered her head in a fast motion, only for Kamijou to see her hair-
-And received a dropkick to the face. His feet left the ground from the force of the blow, falling onto the table. With the extra weight of the high school student and all of the food on it, it had had enough. It snapped in half, down the middle where Kamijou had landed, Kamijou falling to the ground and all of the food going down the table only to land on Kamijou's face, hot food landing on his face and exposed parts of his skin and cold food seeping through his shirt and pants.
"Touuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa….." said a voice from the side to which Kamijou heard one more voice, the person that had spoken before-hand.
"Shirai-san! Just what are you doing?" However Kamijou never heard another thing before he felt something chomp down on his head. And there was only one way to sum up the situation.
"Such MISFORTUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNE!" Kamijou Touma yelled in protest at the unfairness of it all.
He had been dragged out in handcuffs by Konori and she could not feel but a bit sorry for him. Food covered his face and had actually gone down his clothes and that was only made worse by the girl that was biting viciously on his head as he was dragged. Soup sploshed in his shoes and he felt as though he had received first degree burns from all of the hot food that had spilled on him. However that was not the worst of it.
"Y-You were helping the girl find someone? T-then what about all of those phrases that you were using?" said Konori as she learned the truth.
There had been a large commotion from the incident to which everyone wanted to see the suspect being led out and when Konori had seen the girl from before she had wanted to take her in for questioning and in order to have a statement against the boy however she had learned the truth.
They were currently outside and in front of a number of Anti-Skill vehicles and other Judgment members, one of them being Shirai Kuroko who had dropped kicked the boy in the head.
"If I had known a Judgment member was tailing me I would have chosen different words! And besides! You look at me and tell me what would happen if I was caught!" protested the boy in response. His face was covered with food and it was hard to actually tell his nose from his chin in Konori's opinion. Kamijou had managed to get Index off him and had used the confusion to get them both to escape and it was done rather skilfully as he was the cause of the commotion that everyone kept their eyes on him.
"Well we all make mistakes right?" said one of the Anti-Skill members that Konori had not really known that well. Apparently his name was Shirane however she did not know. He appeared nervous as he looked at Kamijou before shaking his head although she didn't understand the reason for such. Another Anti-Skill member beside him gave a sigh. Tessou Tsuzuri in fact was someone that knew firsthand the mistakes that one could make.
However the scene in front of her was almost pitiful, a feeling of absolute sorrow coming from the boy who had all of his face covered in food. It was hard to tell the colour of his hair or any other feature due to it.
Shirane looked at the boy. "Well in the end all we can do is say sorry about this. In the end it was just your m-m-…..bad luck." He changed what he was going to say and Konori wondered what had happened to him in order to have that kind of aversion to say 'misfortune'.
Kamijou on the other hand did not even look at him as he gave a sigh. "Could I least have a towel or so-" A piece of cloth landed on his head to which Kamijou looked over to see Shirai looking at him with a somewhat annoyed expression on her face that had a hint of amusement. He thanked her and began to wipe his face and before Konori could even get a look at his face, it was Shirane that yelled out.
Everyone turned towards him and then at the boy that he was pointing to.
"It IS you! Damn it! I should have figured this would be the case! Judgment officer, let me tell you right now that you do NOT want to arrest this bastard. Ever since District 10….." the man visibly shuddered and looked at Kamijou with a look that seriously suggested that he feared him. "J-Just get him away from me! Sh-Shit…..I just know I'm gonna have nightmares again tonight….."
He walked away and the others watched him, Tessou looking at the boy and a look of recognition coming to her face.
"Oh! It IS you. How have you been? Are there any lasting injuries from the Misawa Cram School incident?" she asked with the concern of a teacher.
Konori's suspicion of the boy increased in that one moment. How was he connected with what had happened there? She looked toward Shirai in order to see her reaction at the boy however found it to be somewhat of a smile. As far as she knew the only people that were connected with what had happened there were the people that had actually attacked her….and that person that had pulled her out of the concept of losing her position as a Judgment member. Konori looked towards the boy with a raised eyebrow however…..
"Not really. That sort of stuff happens to me more than I'd like but my doctor is pretty good so I'm fine." Said the boy with a grin. Whether it was because he had been through so much that he could make that assessment or whether he was just happy to have everything cleared up was unknown but he still smiled.
When Konori looked towards his face she too could not feel anything but amusement. Although he had a smile on, his hair was filled with food and his face was slightly red perhaps from light burns from the hot plates that had fallen on his head.
"Well, I guess we'll just have to release you this time. But next time choose better words OK?" said Konori, still feeling a bit bad. Shirai had already undone the handcuffs beforehand so the boy nodded and rubbed his hair with the towel. "Again, I'm sorry for my actions." She bowed in apology and Kamijou flustered.
"Nonono! I'm sure that your intentions were fine. Although the drop kick to the head was unnecessary." Kamijou glared at Shirai as she looked off to the distance without a care. "But still, I'm glad that Academy City is in good hands here." The boy smiled and Konori found herself smiling back.
There were no hard feelings, something of a rare quality in the people that were accidentally arrested. She stuck out a hand towards the boy. "Konori Mii. Nice to meet you." The boy looked at it and got the message, wiping one of his hands on the towel before letting it drop down as he took a step forward in order to get in reach of the hand.
However once again, something unexpected happened. The towel was longer than Kamijou had expected and as he took that one step, it got caught from under his foot. Under a normal circumstance that would have been a simple action, nothing wrong however Kamijou's shoes were wet from the soups that he had fallen in. That with the fact that there was an external force constricting his movements…..
Kamijou fell forward and into the nearest obstacle that was in his way-
-The ample chest of Konori Mii.
The contact only lasted for a second however before Kamijou could even pull back and apologise someone else had acted. It was not Konori, her face was flushed red with embarrassment or Tessou who as a teacher had not experienced something like this before and thus did not know who to react.
Instead Kamijou felt something smash into the side of his head, throwing him from the place where his head was against a patrol car of Anti-Skill. He lay on the ground, his status unknown and Konori simply looked at his limp form, questioning whether or not she should help him, although her thought were in a mess after what had just transpired. However it was Shirai that took action instead, her knuckles cracking and a dark force growing around her.
"Don't worry about that ape." She said in response. "I'll punish him appropriately." She said as she walked towards him and picked him up by the collar before dragging him off, grumbling under her breath.
Konori faltered with her words as she tried to think of a way to say something after what had just happened and found them.
"Just who is he?" she asked. She did not know why but it seemed that it was somehow important for her to know.
Shirai Kuroko turned as she dragged away the boy and her expression on her face seemed to suggest she was thinking "Not you too" however she did not know why that was the case. She clicked her tongue before saying that boy's name.
"Kamijou Touma. But don't get too close to him. His idiocy will leak onto you too." With that she turned and led the boy away, leaving Konori somewhat interested in him. How did she know him as a student of Tokiwadai? It appeared that their relation was merely more than a name basis from the fact that there was a hint of resignation when Shirai had seen it was him that arrested. And the Misawa Cram School?
However her thoughts were cut off as her phone rang. Similarly Tessou's phone did as well as they looked at each other before answering Tessou's phone. When it came to priorities, Anti-Skill contacts were the ones that were prioritised over the students of Judgment.
"H-Hello?" Tessou into the phone. The voice that answered was another that Konori knew well; Yomikawa Aiho.
"We just got the word. We're a go. I'll brief you tomorrow but one thing is for certain- the assault on MINUS is confirmed."
Chojiro Wada was not one of the normal members of MINUS. He stood at the top. Well one of the positions of such. He knew the workings of the organisation and the make-up of it to a large degree and only answered to one person. The General. To be honest, no one really liked the terms that they had been given however they had stuck after some asshole in MINUS had said something that had thus spread.
His messy green hair was long enough to form bangs and he wore respectable clothes, an old school uniform that still fitted him. He was fairly athletic, normal for a Level 0, however he did not show it by covering his abs with his shirt. He also wore fairly long jeans.
However there was one thing that he was looking at. He had received news of something from one of the Lieutenant Generals who had overseen the Hamazura job. That had failed however there was something interesting that had come out of it.
Kamijou Touma. As none of the members of MINUS were members of Judgment or Anti-Skill they could not get any information from those sources. However the streets were one thing that they managed to get information from as well. And a few terms came up almost with ease when they asked who that was.
Asshole.
Coward.
Unfortunate bastard.
*Blush* - This was mainly from the girls which had stumped the ones that had gotten the info.
But most of all there was one thing that had been mentioned.
Nosy idiot.
It seemed that Kamijou would poke his nose into anything that meant that someone was in trouble and it was that personality that had thoroughly annoyed someone like Chojiro Wada.
Not only that…..
"God. You haven't even met the guy. What the hell is up with you?"
Hayashida Mari was another one of the Lieutenant Generals. To be honest, she had somewhat taken a liking to the person that was Kamijou Touma. There were no pictures though however Chojiro felt that it was something like wanting a prince that would always come for the princess. And that was something that he did not understand.
"W-What are you saying? Am I not allowed to at least think about him? Or at least someone like him?" she protested.
She had a medium form and a chest that said so as well. It was hardly anything spectacular however did attract some stares. She wore a short dress and a blazer over her Magical Powered Kanamin shirt. Although it didn't show though, she was very handy with anything that came into her hands, again another thing that made her unique among Level 0s.
Those two people were only those of the four higher ups. And then there was the big boss above them however that thought was not something that they considered.
"Pfh. He is the enemy. E.N.E.M.Y. you will have to fight him sooner or later." Said Chojiro.
Hayashida frowned however looked towards him. "What about your end?"
Chojiro gave her a look at how she tried to change the subject however just sighed. "Well tomorrow morning I'm going to check things out there but I'm sure everything will be fine. After all, we'll just be transporting things towards you so in the end as long as we aren't found early there should be no problems."
Still Hayashida gave a shrug. "Yeah. It has been strange. After all firstly it's all about getting things done here and there and then we're left high and dry. I have no idea who was giving us the resources and jobs beforehand but we have all of these excess stuff that we don't know how to deal with. Honestly what a pain."
"I know what you mean." Responded Chojiro. "After all, we're dealing with the explosives first but in the end it will take around 15 guys or so and me to get everything on. But everything should be fine. It has to be."
But in their minds they knew that all it took was someone to jump in and screw things up to send things to hell.
And although they only had a name, they already knew someone who would be willing to do something like that.
[1] Reference to Detective Conan, a popular murder mystery kind of manga. Basically a Jap version of Sherlock Holmes. Pretty neat manga but long.
And finally we have the new arc. Just as Kamijou said this is about first meetings. Of course it is hard to say that Kamijou ever has a normal meeting with people around him apart from his classmates and even then….but in the end, the misunderstandings were cleared up. Hopefully.
Dealing with Konori is a bit weird as I don't know as much as I should but hopefully I hope that you guys enjoyed the first chapter here. And of course there will be the climax here! But not in this chapter at least! And make sure to keep an eye on the 'prologue' here. Second meetings are important as well.
But in the end there's not much to do here. But it is interesting in that Kamijou is going to get caught up in things here. How will I approach it? I hope that you guys will enjoy the ride that we are going to be taking for a tiny bit here.
And as always here is my novel rant:
NT 10:
Where to start!? I have no idea whatsoever! With the preview, and the resulting battles, the entire novel was a non-stop move of sight after fight. Of course, the moves around Denmark and the constant jokes from Touma and Othinus merely made things even more enjoyable. Especially when he drove the tank off the cliff. And the sex jokes. And the 'groping' of Kanzaki…..I could make a number of lists.
But seriously, Touma went through shit in this volume. While everyone thought we would be defeating Saints, Level 5s and everything, in the end, he was the punching bag for this volume. I do feel that this was because he is nothing more than a "normal human" (although after surviving everything he went through makes me dubious) but in the end, he came out victorious in saving Othinus. Mainly because of the gods in the Black World. But now…Aleister seems to have brought them down to our level.
But even then after conflicted feelings about what happened to Othinus…..I realised there was nothing that I could do about the ending, except perhaps write my own but even then, I'm sceptical that I could do a good job. But as I realised that fact, I felt that one more read and picking out the good bits was enough for me. To be honest, I truly have no complaints as it was a great novel.
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! I can't wait for NT 11!
But I almost cried when Othinus 'died' and when Touma was practically massacred by Silvia. Jesus, not only was he beat by her but received a blow from Brunhild to the skull. I guess Index's biting really did increase his cranium's thickness. But all joking aside, I felt that the epilogue with Touma, Index and Othinus was fairly important after looking at it.
Not only does it show that Index to a large amount understands Touma, he did after all practically tell her his suffering in that moment, something that he doesn't really show on the outside, but also Othinus. It's kind of poetic how the one person that she wanted to save on the end was her 'punishment' that the coalition thought of. Her happiness balanced with Touma's. Two people bound by understanding yet they cannot be joined. I felt that that was rather powerful. But that's just my opinion.
But still….."Then I'll destroy that illusion!" It was good to see it back!
There are a number of other things that I could write about….but this is a story, not a personal rant.
At the very least, it was an awesome volume (and I hope you agree but this is just my opinion. I apologise if it offends anyone and if you disagree) and while our questions regarding the Invisible Thing and #6 remain as well as a number of new things were unanswered, I can only be glad for NT 10, the wait and the constant length until NT 11 will be worth it for sure.
Again, for those that were looking forward to Othinus in the story, I apologise profusely if you wanted her 15cm form in here. Hopefully, when we get some more info on her 'relation' with the other characters, I can 'retcon' her in. I already have a number of misfortune situations ready…But I hope that you still stick with me, even those who do/do not want her in.
And as always,
Review if you please
And I'll see you when I see you and I won't if I don't.
But Kamijou helping people is just natural right? But it's turning that into a great misunderstanding that makes his misfortune all the more spectacular.
