Between The Lines

by MrQuestionMark

The unspoken stories of this world. The lives of this world have been happening for as long as one can remember. Now, it is time for the veil surrounding that to be removed. These are those stories that can only be read when one looks...Between The Lines. SEPARATE project to A Certain Unknown Level 0. A collection of one-shots/short stories with different themes and characters.

75. The Phantom Thief Railgun

Here's an original! Would you like fries with that?

For the most part there's not really much to say about this original except it is going to be set in an AU verse and hence, the characters in this are supposed to have the same charm but with a little bit of a twist on them when it comes to their personalities. In other words, what you know of Academy City is not going to apply in this sense. I realize this goes against the idea of BTL but I felt as though the idea was something I could not just ignore. So I chose not to and penned it down.

For the most part, this idea came to me through a fan art. I can't remember the author or where I saw it but it was a picture of Mikoto portrayed some kind of thief and Touma dressed in some LA Noire style clothes and my head exploded with ideas. Simply search up 'A Certain Phantom Thief's Railgun' on Google and you should be able to get the one I'm talking about for reference.

For whatever the case, I decided to do something about it but whatever comes up, well let's just say that this is up to you.

And here's the Q & A:

whwsms: You never know, Tsuchimikado might have broadcast that 'confession' to others! I'm not too sure how spin offs would work for last chapter if I'm being honest though… I would say that there was a 'crack' in the iron wall!

BlueJack22: I always feel these one-shots are unexpected.

Guest: I think the problem you noticed isn't that bad in this chapter.

Animan10: Thanks so much for your words! I've been leaning away from the warmth and fluffiness in BTL a lot lately so I wanted to return there. I'm glad to hear that it was well received.

Baycon: Thanks for the words. I'm glad that last chapter resounded within you in some way. But hearing that you want a chapter where the entire class learns about Touma's past!? That is definitely a tricky idea, not to mention thinking about the repercussions… But is that a request!? I'll see what I can do. Even if it might take a while to take off.

Red Glasses: I always feel like fetishes are just personal tastes so Touma's love for dorm managers can be called a fetish.

Aminadab Brulle: Thanks for the words; I've been wanting to get in 'short but powerful' stories for a while so I'm glad it all worked out. Part of me felt that last chapter wasn't supposed to be as heartbreaking as others made it out to be but was more of a 'look' into what makes Touma who he is and what he's looking for. As a result, if you felt it was 'powerful' then that in itself make me realize I ticked the right boxes. Apologies for the wait though; as soon as I can get to it, I will. While I have to agree with most of the points you make with the filler arc, for me personally, I just didn't like the execution or the story of it. But I can understand why you would want justice for some characters you ended up being shat on because of the arc they were in.

WwEpsilonwW: Ah, but Komoe-sensei is not a dorm manager like character. I'm not too sure why such a speech from Touma would be recorded but hey, whatever floats your boat!

JCarrasco: Thanks so much! I intend to keep on going so hopefully I can continue to please.

Guest (another one): Glad to see someone has seen the light!

fencer29: If Fukiyose were a bit more mature as well, she would be perfect for Touma. But then again, I'm sure that Fukiyose and Touma being a thing is a thing.

ArmoredCoreNineBall: Part of me wants to do just that, you know? Glad you enjoyed it overall!

MeowMyaMiao: If I keep you guessing then you'll keep on returning, right?! I'm glad that I managed to surprise you. However, to your point about Tsuchimikado, that was probably because not even he was expecting Touma to be as serious as he ended up being. Kuroko would end up dying of pleasure if that ever happened!

LukeSky001: Thanks for the kind words! I have to say though that Touma speaking about misfortune was sort of subverted here because Fukiyose 'forgives' him in a way given everything that has ended up happening to him.

Bestest: You just gotta love wholesome moments, right? Touma truly is to good for this world though! Mugino is bestest!? One of us, one of us.

And for the most part, here is the thanks. Firstly, to my lovely beta reader PokeRescue18. Seriously man, THANK YOU for everything you have done for me. Look at the word count I've had you read and seriously reflect on how much of a pain in the ass I can be!

And also to you, the reader. Do the same as PokeRescue18. Look at the word count and reflect on what the hell you've been reading for all these years and just why I've managed to get you to come back again and again. I hope I can continue to do this throughout the years and that you continue to return back to this place.

Also, Happy holidays everyone. I hope that you have a good one and truly reflect one what a year it has been.

As for this fic though, whatever you end up doing, I want to merely hope that you do one thing.

Enjoy.

Mr Question Mark.

---

Welcoming the Outlaw Life. Inevitable_Encounter_with_the_Hero.

Academy City.

A place of learning. A place of education. A place where students gathered and were taught the basics of what was to be the foundation of their future.

Misaka Mikoto laughed on the rooftop she sat upon, her legs dangling across the edge in the night. She leaned back and the chilly night air tickled her hair, but she didn't care in the slightest. The sense of freedom she got from sitting high up and being free was one of the best and the exhilaration of how a single step could send her plummeting to her death was a feeling she would never tire of.

Academy City was a place of learning and education.

However, not in the sense many people thought of it as. This City was not a place where one was put for the sake of expanding their knowledge before going into the outside world and becoming those who worked in fields of science that allowed them to become famous or recorded scholars that would be talked about for years to come. No, this City had a far more twisted form than that.

The education taught here was that of rehabilitation.

Academy City, for all intents of purposes, was a prison. The world's largest in fact and covered part of the Tokyo Metropolitan area.

The world had grown twisted in recent years. Over the past few decades, crime rates and criminals had gotten so bad and brazen that sending them to standard prisons was no longer an option. Syndicates spreading their influence to even include prisons had meant that even within those places where one was meant to stay to serve hard time, one was more than able to conduct the dealings that had originally put them there in the first place. Drug lords that were captured never ceased their work, only their base of operations and the fact it was the case had caused the justice system of the world to become the laughing stock of it as well.

Nowhere was safe given that criminals, even if they were captured, would be sent to places to serve 'hard time', only for it to be equivalent to being given a place where they had free lodging, food and the resources to keep on doing what they had been doing in the first place. It was a 0 star hotel for the worst of the worst and the world had been unable to stop the influence and the spread of the criminal underworld to the institutions meant to be turn those criminals into relatively good people.

The world had failed, the justice system was a laughing stock and the world police of America had been shown the idea of the 'good guys winning' was something that only happened in the movies.

And hence, as a countermeasure, what the world had done was learn from experience. In the past, Britain, when faced with the same problem of an increase in the criminal mind but not enough facilities to hold them, had done one thing: moved them to an isolated island that had barely been colonised and used the criminals sent there to work and build the country that stood there today. That country was Australia, built and formed by the convicts and criminals the British could not house anymore, and it was using that precedent that Academy City had been formed.

Sanctioned and approved for by the UN, it had risen from the ground and walls metres high had been developed to keep those inside there and to prevent those outside from ever getting in. It was developed as the perfect system and the perfect prison, one where the criminal was kept in and the victims were kept out.

Naturally however, the criminal minds put inside Academy City en masse had made a laughing stock of that too.

Let's ask a question, shall we?

Hundreds, no, thousands, no, hundred of thousands of criminals being moved into one place designed to keep them in with against those who were tasked to keep them in there not even remotely being able to counter that? You do the math.

The moment Academy City had been 'opened', it had taken a grand total of 143 minutes before the people made to keep the criminals in had been utterly and completely overwhelmed. Academy City, from the moment of its inception, had been a project doomed to fail and in the few decades it had 'operated', the criminal underbelly built itself up within it and had transformed the previous landscape into a cityscape where crime was rampant and anything went. The sound of gunshots was akin to an alarm clock here and on the gates of the City read the words that had been made famous across the globe.

'Welcome to Hell'.

Ironically, it seemed that for the failure Academy City was, that had not stopped the governments of the world from throwing more and more criminals in. With only one entrance to Academy City, apparently being the most heavily fortified place in the world, getting people in was easy. Getting them out when the orders of those outside were to shoot on sight was not exactly the same.

Misaka Mikoto had been born here. She had been born in this cesspool of madness and death where murder was the standard. The saying of "if violence was not solving your problems, then you weren't using enough of it" was definitely true and Mikoto whistled as she reached into her red jacket and pulled out a gun from the holster underneath.

Her yellow scarf flickered in the wind and she spun her partner around, the gun she held being engraved with a name on the side: Railgun. Her partner through thick and thin was the one she had received from her mother and father on her fifth birthday before they had been promptly murdered in front of her eyes.

Did she care?

Mikoto did not know. 9 years on, she could not really say she knew her parents that well to make that sort of judgment call on her feelings for them, but that cold indifference was the Academy City way. You were either dead, dying or having a target slowly painted on your back. Anyone alive was slowly making their way towards becoming dead and anyone dead…well that was enough said.

Misaka Mikoto as she stood on the edge of the rooftop breathed in the air around her, listening to the symphony of gunshots that echoed all around her. Being the owner of the Railgun essentially put Mikoto in the second category of people alive; someone with a target on her back and for more than a good reason.

She was a part of the Magnificent Seven.

Mikoto herself knew where the term came from: some old Western movie that had apparently even gotten a remake in the world recently. What with new criminals always being pushed into the city where their human rights were essentially revoked more and more information about the outside world was coming in as well as the opportunity to access more and more technology. It had reached the stage where the largest collections of guns in the world was Academy City where resources were constantly being used and reused for the purposes of making new and better guns.

Technology had evolved here faster than the rest of the world not because of the genius minds placed within the walls but rather because of the survival skills those geniuses needed. After all, if you had nothing but a brain, then what exactly was the use you had in the world? The only thing you were good for was for burning or using that head of yours to develop new and powerful guns to be used against those who would take your life.

The Railgun in Mikoto's hand was one of those guns given to those of the New Generation: those born inside the walls of Academy City, the spawn of those who had managed to find love or those raped by someone else. Mikoto was the rare case of the former but given that Academy City had been created numerous decades ago, it seemed that people such as her were few and far between, mostly being in the latter category.

Not that rape was even seen as a crime anymore. The concept of law and order had completely fallen away and in its place, only survival of the fittest remained. This was the world they lived in, where dog ate dog and people ate people. For what it was worth, Mikoto knew she would never be able to escape to the outside world: she had tried and seen people try but the walls were too high and the defences too strong.

Every now and then, you had idiots who stormed into Academy City attempting to take it back. But take it back from whom? There was no government here and any and all attempts she had heard about on the grapevine had been nothing but failures: bodies and blood being distributed evenly and without recourse.

Naturally, for the sake of survival, food plantations and a system of production had been formed but given this was Academy City, anyone that did not kill or commit crimes was made to do such. Such people were usually in the 'dying' category of those alive and even though Mikoto felt the slightest fragment of regret in such thinking, she knew there was nothing that could be done about it. Because she had no intention to die, she had no intention to change the system. Sometimes, to stay alive, you had to do what was necessary, do what was needed to live on to see another day. To that end, Mikoto had rolled with the times and did what she had to so she could survive, with her trusted Railgun in hand.

And because of that, due to that 'rolling with the times and doing what was needed to survive' Mikoto had ascended the ranks of the New Generation, becoming an unwilling member of the Magnificent Seven. Unlike their counterparts from the old Western movie, the Seven were by no means heroes. Far from it in fact, they were the worst people one could come across when it came to Academy City.

Or more accurately, the best villains you could come across.

With their next generation moving along with those who developed new technology and the will to avoid the death if they did not complete the projects set out to them, the guns developed here were ones that did not fire just bullets.

No, the bullets loaded into the Railgun and other guns like it were so much more than that.

The names given to the guns of Academy City held were not just those given on the basis of 'what sounded coolest' or 'what suited your Chuunibyou desires'. They were descriptions of the exact type of armaments they were made to fire and were tied only to one person. Only one person could fire them and only one person would be able to replicate the exact bullets that could be fired by a specific gun.

And as Mikoto's gun's name suggested, the bullets she would be able to fire were exactly that: Railguns.

In the night, the sound of a door slamming open made her turn. Her red shirt and sharp suit stood out in the darkness and the yellow scarf fluttered in the wind. On the edge of the rooftop with only her partner, the Railgun, in hand, she spun it in the way she had seen those Western movies do so and watched with surprise the crowd that entered onto the roof without stopping.

There were 25 of them, all differing ages and genders and all holding that specialised type of gun. The names of the gun could be seen on the side. They were revolvers, much like Mikoto's. While Mikoto knew the names of many of them given they were standardised models, there was no point in learning the production methods of the bullets they fired: they were both non-compatible with the Railgun and also bullets Mikoto herself would never be able to fire. To that end, the girl felt there truly was no point in learning what she did not need to learn and watched with interest as the entire group of 25 swarmed onto the roof and spotted Mikoto on the edge.

"Found you…Railgun!"

Mikoto grinned as she tossed her gun in her hand and spun it with expert precision.

"And a fine night for it, ladies and gentlemen! Shall I assume the large group of you intend to take on little old me? To be honest, I had something else planned for tonight but I'm more than happy to provide a little bit of extra entertainment!" Mikoto said with a grin on her face, the moonlight as she spread out her arms making those beneath her flinch in response.

"D-Don't worry about a thing everyone! If we can topple of the Seven that in itself means we don't have to be shitting ourselves all the time in the middle of the night. We may be a part of the New Generation, but that doesn't mean we have the right to lay down and die!" The boy who had spoken in the beginning said those words in a terrified voice, Mikoto grinning and shaking her head. She put up a finger and with a 'tsk, tsk', speaking easy and relaxed words.

"Really now? That's your reasoning? Because, of the Seven, while I'm #3, you must know what my speciality is! It's not murder, you know. So, if you wanted to feel safer at night, isn't it more logical to go after those that actually do the killing? The famous #3 holding the Railgun doesn't go for that type of scene."

"W-We don't care! If we can prove we can take down one of the Seven…then that only means we can make Academy City even less of a shithole than it already is! We won't let villains like you rule this city forever, you bitch!" The boy who had spoken rose his gun to face Mikoto. The girl sighed as she held her hands into the air, letting her partner hang loosely from her hand in boredom.

"Villains? Ruling the City? Where have you even been for the past few decades? I'm just a newcomer but even then, I haven't seen a system of government since I've been born. No, that type of reasoning is completely pointless here. Making a City that is less shit? Making a City where you can feel safe? Suicide is the best route for that, baby."

Mikoto approached the boy with the wavering gun, tilting her head to the side in the sharp red suit before she put both her hands down and pointed her Railgun straight down as well. She spoke once more, easy tones coming from her mouth, her tone demanding attention and demanding she be heard.

"But again, forcing suicide isn't my thing either. You know what they call me, don't you? Come on. Say it. I love it when people say it."

There was silence for only an instant as the gunshots in the distant filled Mikoto's ears before there was a croaking sound, being the voice of the boy of the group of 25 who was their 'leader'. realizing the murder he was about to conduct was worthless and there truly was no saving Academy City, the only thing he could do in the face of the easy air of Mikoto was tremble and speak the name of the girl in front of her with a terrified voice.

"Phantom Thief…Railgun."

Mikoto grinned and laughed, throwing her head back and clutching her stomach with both hands, everyone else on the rooftop watching her do so before she rose her head and spoke, her eyes sparkling with a keen interest and fascination.

"Bingoooooooooooooooooooooo! Killing isn't my style…but try to survive this one, OK?"

"Wha – "

The boy in front of her never even got another word out as Mikoto, holding the Railgun right down at the floor of the building roof, pulled the trigger.

A roar erupted, a flash of light erupting from the small barrel as the reinforced steel absorbed the massive recoil and the heat created from the single pull of that trigger. Microscopic electromagnets in the barrel itself forced the small metal bullet inside to rip through the space it was confined in. The recoil, if not absorbed was enough to blow someone's hand off.

What the effect of such a gun was, however, was nothing short of ridiculous.

The bullet sailed from the barrel, slicing through the rooftop like it was butter. The force of the blast didn't just blow it away, it completely destroyed it and the building it was covering, the massive structure that had once been a home and a place of rest for many other people being destroyed with nothing but the pull of one trigger. The Railgun fired, as its name suggested, a railgun, focused and refined into a single point. The bullet barely lasted more than 100 metres because of air friction and the special steel the bullet was made out of.

The building on the other hand was not so lucky.

With a cracking of broken foundation, the entire rooftop and the building collapsed to the ground, everyone save Mikoto on the roof screaming as they fell along with the entire building. Dust slammed into the air and the people on the roof were swallowed up by the collapsing structure, yet amidst it all, if you listened closely, there was one sound oddly clear even as the building was crushed by the railgun that had smashed through it.

Misaka Mikoto, the Phantom Thief Railgun, never stopped laughing, even as the destruction that rained down around her brought fear into the hearts of those she brought down with her.

---

Mikoto hummed to herself as she stood in front of the target building she had been watching from the collapsed building's roof before she had promptly sent it into the ground. While there had been no deaths, something which was a miracle in itself, that very miracle had given Mikoto a ranking among the Magnificent Seven within Academy City.

The Phantom Thief who only stole items, yet never lives. Her fame in such and the expertise in which she stole from others was not something anyone could laugh at, for fear of inducing her wrath and being subject to the thievery skills which she was so proud to have refined over her life within this cesspool of a City. Time and time again, she had ascended into the ranking of Academy City, stealing as her heart pleased and never once giving back. Those that had tried to beat her had spectacularly failed and those that had tried to find her base of operations had similarly failed to meet with success.

Mikoto was a legend.

Her hands knew not the concept of personal items and the things she stole she did on a whim and out of pure curiosity. The things she took with her hands were never going to be returned and never once going to leave her hands.

She was a Phantom; always seen yet never captured. An existence that was the stuff of legends, with her and her Railgun always triumphant in the jobs she set herself. With no adults or system of government or punishment, the ideology was that 'anything went'.

Which meant that, although Academy City was a place where your human rights were basically revoked, it was here where one could entirely be free. Free to do as one pleased and free to live as one saw fit, not constrained by the limits of society and the orders of those with a position of power. Everyone here was equal, either dead or on the verge of becoming such and for this alone, there was nothing Mikoto felt when she took from others.

In fact, she did not steal because it was right. In this City of villains, she did not steal because someone had murdered someone else and there was a teary face of their child wanting the memento of those dead parents back from their murderer. If there was anyone like that, they would have picked up a gun and sought revenge so there was no kind of heartbreaking story along those lines within Academy City.

No, Misaka Mikoto, the Phantom Thief Railgun, stole for one reason and one reason only.

For fun.

When she was stealing, no day was the same. Nobody was safe and the obstacles set in front of her were objects that had no value here within Academy City. The only thing Mikoto saw in the items she sought to steal was the challenge of stealing them and the fun of stealing something termed 'impossible to steal'.

The exhilaration of making her entry, the joy of feeling the item of possession within her hands and the thrill of making her escape; it was enough to get Mikoto's heart racing and every day she stole, the same feeling that coursed through her never got old. It never would and it was that sense of rush, that push of knowing that wrong step could get her killed was a feeling Mikoto had never once known as being wrong. There was no better feeling and no better rush through her body, adrenaline coursing through her even now as she watched the building in front of her and thought of the item inside, ready to be captured.

This was nothing more than fun. In Academy City, where anything went, there was nothing else and for this alone, the pumping feeling through Mikoto's veins went beyond just a sense of exhilaration; it was her entire being. Her focus, her drive and her energy was all focused onto one single object, one single item of her desires and nothing else.

The streets where she stood roared with life and death. A stolen car raced in front of her and the sight of someone following it with a Pyro gun shooting flames in chase filled her vision for only an instant but Mikoto did not even notice. The only thing that came through her mind as she bent down and licked her lips was the single item she had decided to steal today.

The Gekota Jewel.

An emerald the size of someone's fist, the Gekota Jewel apparently had been formed through some freak of nature, forming not the standard shape of a jewel of perfect roundness but rather had turned into a rather deformed frog-like shape. How the natural world had formed such a gem was unknown to Mikoto nor did she care, the only thing she knew was the way it had sparkled and the way that its cute form had glistened in the moonlight when she had caught a glimpse of it yesterday had immediately caught her attention.

And for anyone that wanted their possessions safe and kept to themselves, that in itself was perhaps the worst thing for anyone. Mikoto herself saw it as a compliment, that the item she had spotted through nothing but chance had managed to catch her attention when she was the famous Phantom Thief, but for those that trembled in fear when it came to that attention, it was by far the worst thing that could have possibly happened for them.

As natural, to increase the challenge and to increase the rush of adrenaline when it came to her thievery, Mikoto had done what she always did.

She sent her calling card.

Never letting herself give into some impulse and steal because she could, Mikoto knew the only way she would be able to get the most out of her stealing was increase the challenge. Increasing the challenge meant more obstacles, meant more risk of failure and meant more of those heart pounding moments where a life and death decision was merely a step away. By sending her calling card to those that held the items she wanted to steal, she was telling them to get ready. Get ready and bring their A game because Mikoto was going to bring hers.

And in the hopes of that, in the hopes they protected that item she wanted to steal above all else and with everything they had, Mikoto hoped they would give her enough of a challenge for her to say she had really had a fun time with this job.

Perhaps she was biting off more than she could chew this time. After all, the Gekota Jewel was being held by one of the kingpins within Academy City: one Thomas Platinaburg. Operating a drug ring within Academy City that had lasted this long was, without a doubt, a major achievement. However, it meant nothing when he was the one holding the Gekota Jewel.

It was probably a Blood Emerald like all the jewels within the City. Thomas was unlikely to have been the one who had originally owed it and the gem itself must have passed through numerous dead hands to reach his but that was of no concern to Mikoto. That was just how Academy City was and if you recoiled from that, if you pushed away from that, then you really weren't suited to being a villain.

And hence, you weren't suited for life in this cesspool of a City.

For Mikoto though, that was of no concern. However it had happened, however it had come into Thomas's possession was of no concern. The only thing of concern was that it was no longer going to be in the hands of that drug kingpin anymore.

Soon, oh so soon, it would be Mikoto's.

And that was the only thing she needed to really know in her mind as she held up the Railgun by the side of her face and grinned. She pointed it towards the building in front of her, the building that was the base of operations for that famous drug kingpin and felt her heart race through her chest as she narrowed her eyes.

"Let's start this with a bang. Maybe that way, I'll actually work up a sweat this time."

Mikoto didn't even hesitate as she pulled the trigger of her Railgun.

And once more, the world exploded as the bullet launched with tiny electromagnets ripped through the air and headed right for the base of operations of one Thomas Platinaburg.

It didn't stand a chance.

---

"Where is she!?"

"We've gotten reports of her heading for the second floor through section 12E!"

"Then get the fuck there! Everyone, get her away from the Boss's room! We know where she's going to be heading so separate out our forces based on that! Make sure the Boss is alive as well!"

Yells and screams filled the air as men and women, armed to the teeth with their own guns with the name of the bullets they fired engraved on the side raced through the collapsed building. Mikoto had only fired the Railgun towards the roof and collapsed the very top floor but thanks to the strength of the building and the marvel of civil engineering and construction, it had somehow avoided a massive collapse that would have crushed everyone inside.

Again, the nature of the Phantom Thief who took no lives made itself known to the world but amidst the chaos inside the building where men and women screamed in rage and hurt from being caught in the collapse, only one figure moved as lightly as she could.

Surprisingly, this job had failed to get the rush she had expected. That was the only thing Mikoto felt, a strong disappointment coursing through her as she kept her head down and ran through the corridor alongside many of those who had the intention to kill her.

The reason was such was simple.

She had simply worn something over her clothes, kept her head down and ran alongside everyone else, not making a sound and not even bothering to draw attention to herself.

Such might have seemed entirely impossible. Given she had created such a commotion and chaos, the idea she could do that without being noticed was an impossibility no one in their right mind would even bother to attempt, especially if they were a seasoned thief.

But for Mikoto, it was such thinking that gave her the chance for such a great opening.

A mental blind spot had formed in this job and it was something Mikoto had taken advantage of, her seasoned disguise skills meaning that hiding the name of her Railgun was easy by placing her hand over the engraving and pretending to be in a rush that would not make anyone else look twice at her and her actions.

Mikoto had fired a Railgun at the top floor of the base of operations and in the commotion everyone inside the building had gotten confused and lost. With the intensity and the threat that was Mikoto basically announcing her intentions and presence ahead of time, everyone inside the building was only ever searching for one person; the Phantom Thief in the sharp red suit and the yellow scarf.

And it was that image of her that had formed a mental blind spot. After all, when she had worn those clothes such it was basically her thieving uniform, anyone that felt threatened by her only needed to look for someone wearing those clothes to determine who was the threat to them. Given they knew what Mikoto looked like and with the clothes she wore, no one else was thinking of looking for anyone else in any other clothes: the tension and the announcement Mikoto had made ahead of time throwing out all thoughts of carefully inspecting each individual that ran through the headquarters.

But by simply exchanging that out and simply wearing something over those clothes of hers, Mikoto took advantage of that blind spot.

The chaos she had caused meant there was only one thing that everyone was focused on: searching for the girl with the red suit and the yellow scarf and killing her to protect Thomas and the Gekota Jewel. The urgency that such a task in their minds had taken had increased thousandfold because she had fired upon the top floor of the building and collapsed it, her presence having been announced ahead of time.

So, with everyone searching for a single girl with particular clothes given the urgency, no one ever once thought to pay attention to the unknown girl wearing a thick coat over her clothes as she ran through the hallways.

The hat covering her hair was old and baggy, gotten out of a dumpster. There was blood on it and a hole in the centre telling of a rather tragic story, but again, it was nothing more than a means to an end for Mikoto as she ran through the hallways. By not going to the second floor everyone else was going to and keeping her focus entirely on the group running away from such, there was nothing Mikoto needed to do.

Based upon the conversation and the voices she had heard beforehand, the Jewel seemed to be located in the very same location Thomas Platinaburg had holed up. It made sense, such a narcissistic motherfucker would want to look at his prized possession day in and day out. But while Mikoto did not know the layout of this base of operations (spoiling things would just be too much of a letdown) she did not have to.

The only thing she had to do was follow everyone else racing through the hallways so they ensure their Boss's safety. Radios crackled and Mikoto, having stolen one, held it up to her ear to listen to everything going on, trying to look and appear as if she were focusing entirely on the situation before her.

"Damage report. Damage report!"

"Th-The meth lab on the top floor as been completely destroyed. The ingredients are going everywhere and spilling our product over the entire building!"

"We've got multiple cases of direct ingestion of the stuff. Jesus Christ, this stuff is nasty. Everyone not searching for the Phantom Thief or heading for the Boss's room, get the cleaning materials and sort this shit out! We know where the bitch is heading so get what you can and start cleaning up!"

"Fuck off! I'm going to be taking that bitch's head for myself. Magnificent Seven my ass…she's just a kid!"

Mikoto grinned beneath her bloody cap, following the group she was in the middle of. Being too fast would mean she would not know where the Gekota Jewel was located but likewise, moving at the back of the group was suspicious in itself as it could possibly give away the fact she was following everyone else. Meeting everyone in the middle and guessing where everyone was heading was the way she had chosen to ensure she could reach her destination with the minimum chance of losing anything.

An explosion resounded in the distance and the entire building shook, the group Mikoto was running with pausing and feeling the foundation of the building shake underneath them. The hallways here were lined with fine carpet although old blood stains could easily be seen. The leader of the group turned her head downwards and swore.

"This is chaos. That goddamn Railgun shook the foundation of the building so bad the fragile production plants in the basement are being affected," The leader turned and pointed at a few people standing behind Mikoto, the girl keeping her head down over her thick hat. "You and everyone else behind you, get down to the lower floors. If we fuck this up and lose our product, it's going to be a turf war with Kaizumi! And I'll be fucked if I'm letting that brain Kumokawa think she can do as she bloody well likes with the power vacuum this shitstorm is making. Get down there and sort that out!"

"Y-Yes!"

A shout of agreement came from the others and Mikoto suddenly found herself at the back of the group, not bothering to note how nervous she was suddenly feeling. The nervousness increased the silent grin in her heart at what was happening. The female leader turned back around and kept on running down the hallway with the 10 other individuals with her, Mikoto included.

"C-Captain Yomikawa, we've heard nothing from the Boss regarding the movement of the Gekota Jewel. Are you even sure it's safe?" asked one of the men standing by the side of the woman. She clicked her tongue, holding up her revolver and pushing it closer to her head as she moved and spoke.

"Hell if I know. But the Boss has the right idea: chances are that that bitch has stolen one of our radios. We can't leave anything to chance here and I'm not going to ask the Boss over such an obvious medium what is happening with the Jewel. The only thing we can do is keep things up as we have and hope for the best. I've already invested myself too much into this line of work to back out now."

Captain Yomikawa spat out those words and turned the corner, everyone else following her. They came face to face with a small door with a keypad. Yomikawa wasted no time, stabbing her fingers into the small keypad where a 'beep' sound erupted from the keypad. There was a small whirring as some kind of camera on the keypad turned and viewed the person typing in the correct code.

"…Captain Yomikawa. Nice to see that you are still alive."

"Sir, are you alright? We've heard nothing from you regarding the Gekota Jewel and given the Phantom Thief is inside the building, we need to evacuate you and the Jewel ASAP. She's not like Accelerator who has the highest number of killings to his name but she's high enough on the ranking without the need to kill like that. The Gekota Jewel is not safe."

"I completely agree. There is someone who took advantage of the commotion to steal the same gem standing right in front of me. It's good to know there are careless idiots in this world, isn't there?" The voice, belonging to the drug kingpin Thomas Platinaburg, filled the air and Mikoto, behind everyone else frowned.

(…There's someone else who came to steal the Gekota Jewel? Hey, hey, there's something called honour amongst thieves you know! This was my claim!)

She had no idea who was stupid enough to try and take something Mikoto herself had claimed she was going to steal and the only thing that came to mind was a blank. There were no other thieves in this City that were daring enough to want to try and steal the Gekota Jewel from underneath the nose of someone so high up in the underworld of Academy City. The only thing Mikoto could think of was that this was some low time thief who had felt trying their best at the things they could was the only way to be respected but in the end, all it had ended up with was nothing more than a bullet to head for their efforts.

That was the picking chain in Academy City.

You had to choose your battles and your enemies and failing to do that would lead to an early death. Case in point, the person unfairly caught in the chaos Mikoto had caused.

"…What's happened to them?" asked Yomikawa carefully, Thomas giving a light laugh. There was the sound of an impact and a grunt before the sound of something grinding. Thomas gave an annoyed sound through the intercom.

"Oh, I'm just giving them a proper lesson in who not to fuck with. The slime climbed through the goddamn ventilation system and tried to get the one up on me, can you believe? And you think you can just take what is rightfully mine?! I earned this. I EARNED this, you hear me? And I'm not going to let anyone else take this away from me. I might not be a serial killer or have many names to my gun…but the lives my drugs take are more than enough to top even the kills Accelerator has. So, when I say no one can steal the Gekota Jewel, you know I'm telling the truth."

Mikoto could not even take it anymore. A grin came onto her face as she doubled over, holding her stomach and letting out a laugh that resounded through the air. Everyone turned their heads around in pure surprise but the only thing Mikoto did was continue to laugh.

Oh, she hated this part of herself.

The part when, no matter who said it, as soon as they said those words, she would just lose it in this way and break down laughing. That no matter who said it and the situation, when she heard those confident words that had no basis behind them in a City where human rights were not guaranteed, she would always end laughing at how ridiculous they were.

Guarantees? Truths?

What did any of those mean inside Academy City?

That was the only thing that filled Mikoto's mind as she laughed, collapsing to the floor holding her stomach.

"Wh-What the hell is that?" asked Thomas over the intercom but the only thing Yomikawa did was point her revolver at Mikoto on the ground with wide eyes.

"It can't be…"

"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

"It can't be!"

"I. Told. You. I. Was. Coming!"

"Everyone fire! Shoot the goddamn bitch!"

Guns went up and they were fired without hesitation. Bullets laced with energy were launched through the air and it was all Mikoto could do to throw herself to the side as she lay on the ground, the energy ripping through the floor and smashing into the coat she had discarded. Cloth went in all directions and the energy ripped into the floor as well. Holes the size of a fist sailed through, leaving small markings and passing through not only this floor but also the floor beneath. Screams erupted into the air, but Mikoto completely ignored them, leaping upwards and kicking off against the wall with a grin on her face.

"I told you I was coming. So saying no one can steal the Gekota Jewel…is the worst thing you can say!"

Mikoto didn't waste any time, throwing her partner in front of her and pointing the Railgun right at the door where Yomikawa and the others had been standing. Eyes went wide and before they could even react, she had pulled the trigger, slicing a line right down the middle of the group and slamming it into the door.

The raw energy of the blast threw everyone back and carved a hole larger than a truck into the door it had slammed into. A roar ripped through the ears of everyone there and the kickback blasted wind into Mikoto's face, throwing of the hat and blasting wind in all directions. Those hit with the wind, those working for Thomas, were blasted to the sides, slamming so hard into the walls they smashed through them and into the rooms adjacent.

But that was nothing compared to the door the Railgun had smashed into.

It was blasted right off its hinges, basically evaporating into space itself. There was a shout but it was drowned out by the pure energy and roar of the Railgun sailing through the air.

And, as soon as it had begun, the orange line that had been the path of the bullet burning up in the air had disappeared and in its place was nothing more than pure destruction. The rubble of the door and the rubble of the surrounding area filled Mikoto's vision as she placed herself elegantly onto the ground, watching with indifferent eyes the destruction in front of her.

Rubble fell to the ground, the creaking of the building around her given Mikoto the sense that any longer and she was going to regret being in the surrounding area. The task she had set herself and the opportunity that now presented itself to her were ones she was not going to let go. She basically skipped past everyone she had followed and into the room beyond.

It was a mess, destroyed and nothing stood standing.

Bookshelves were collapsed to the ground and the heat from the Railgun meant the wood had either melted or was singed with an orange tone. It was clearly ready to burst into flames at any moment. A bookcase was angled from the ground and not completely level, so it had to have hit something on the way down but what exactly it was Mikoto could not see. But the most impressive item within the room that had managed to fix itself to the floor had to have been the desk in the middle of the room.

A single figure was lying on the desk, gun clattered quite a way from his body. His hair was balding and his surprised expression looked as though he had seen a ghost. A piece of rubble had been ingrained into his belly and was bleeding furiously but with the light on his eyes and his breathing, it was clear he was still alive. He trembled as he looked at Mikoto who walked into the room, rising as best he could but finding he could not even manage that completely.

"You…bitch…"

Mikoto said nothing, walking right up to Thomas and spinning her Railgun in her hand before stopping it such the butt was pointing forward instead of the barrel. And, with a single movement downwards, she slammed the butt of the revolver onto the drug kingpin's head, throwing what semblance of consciousness he had into the darkness, where his soul resided.

It was only then that Mikoto turned and looked at the truly impressive item within the room. The glass case had smashed to the ground when Mikoto had fired her Railgun and the object contained within had clattered to the floor, lying near the bookcase that had fallen onto something else on the floor.

The Gekota Jewel.

As she had seen last night, it was as beautiful as always.

The orange glow from the bookcase cast a light onto the Jewel such it shone within the darkness, a bright glow that impressed Mikoto. Her eyes sparkled as she paused for only an instant, watching and respecting the emerald in front of her. Sure, she had plenty of time for that later on when it came to returning to her base of operations with the jewel in tow, but it was this one moment that she paused when she saw the jewel for the second time.

Almost like it was love at first sight, her heart skipped a beat as she looked at the jewel and Mikoto's breath caught in her throat. It was this moment, this perfect moment where she saw the jewel in front of her and got lost in its beauty, losing herself in the moment where she saw the gem that was her target for the first time. It was a moment of pure bliss, reward and triumph and the feeling of exhilaration when she looked at it was one Mikoto knew she would never lose as she lost herself in the green of the emerald.

And yet, as soon as the feeling had come it was gone.

The Gekota Jewel had stopped her heart for only a moment and now it had turned into nothing more than another item for her to take for the purposes of satisfying the increasing urge for adrenaline and a rush. It was a fleeting moment and Mikoto, realising this job had been far too easy, felt a sense of disappointment as she stepped forward to grab the Gekota Jewel.

It really did look like a frog. Mikoto had no idea how the earth had to work that something like this emerald could exist but the item in front of her was still as beautiful as ever, even if Mikoto's rush of feeling for the jewel had disappeared after she had seen it close up.

Mikoto reached out her hand in a fleeting manner, like a lover reaching for her lover's hand, reaching for the jewel that had given her a source of adrenaline, of rush and of fun she had been lacking in the past few days. While the job today had been somewhat quick and chaotic, it had been far too easy for her liking, but it was over and that was that. The only thing that came now was the escape and Mikoto, even now as she listened to the roars of outrage and chaos in that those hunting her had been tricked, planned things out in her brain.

Her foot kicked something on the ground, something soft.

Not even realising it was in the way, Mikoto looked down, not wanting to step on anything else that might scar or hurt her in some way such as the broken glass from the container the Gekota Jewel was contained within. She saw what she had kicked on the ground, glancing at it for only an instant.

And she froze.

It was a hat.

No…it was not just a hat.

The grey material was battered and it looked more worse for wear than any hat Mikoto had ever seen. There were no rips but the colour was fading in various places and a single part of the hat, wrapped around the very centre, was a lighter grey that the rest of it. There was now a hole in its side, something that had not been there before and Mikoto stared with wide eyes at the hat she had kicked.

She didn't even consider the Gekota Jewel anymore as she stared at that one hat, reaching down with her hand and picking it up.

She knew that hat.

And more importantly, she knew who it belonged to.

Frantically and sweating, she turned her head around the room as fast as she could, all but forgetting about the Jewel that lay on the ground. Her heart raced in her chest but all amusement in that fact was gone as she felt sweat roll down her head, searching for the owner of said hat with everything she could.

Where was he?

Mikoto felt her throat go dry but something in the back of her mind shot out to her. It was that feeling that took to be the one to follow as she turned her head and focused her gaze on the bookcase that had fallen to the ground.

It was slanted and Mikoto had guessed that was because it had hit something on the way down and had been unable to fall completely level to the ground. There was something underneath it and Mikoto felt herself grinning, despite the sweat that came from her body as she took one step forward.

The words of Thomas Platinaburg filled her head once more as she spun the Railgun in her hand and pointed it directly at the bookcase.

There is someone who took advantage of the commotion to steal the same gem standing right in front of me. It's good to know there are careless idiots in this world, isn't there?

The slime climbed through the goddamn ventilation system and tried to get the one up on me, can you believe?

Mikoto had felt that it was idiotic for someone to even think they could manage to steal something Mikoto herself had thought to steal. She had felt that such an idiot who had failed in such a job was a complete fool with no brainpower and had no chance of even remotely living in Academy City given the lack of skill they had shown for crime.

But when she thought about that, someone came to mind.

She knew an idiot like that who had no criminal skills whatsoever and had been thrown into Academy City under false charges off all things and had been basically dead from day one.

…And yet, through some kind of twisted miracle…

He was still alive.

He was still alive and throwing around words such as 'justice' and 'salvation' within Academy City of all places and for that alone, those words had placed the biggest target on his back out of everyone within Academy City. He had been hunted and 'killed' so many times it was surprising he had even lasted a day within Academy City.

And yet, despite it all…

That idiot was still alive.

The idiot who, just by existing and through his words, rejected every single person within Academy City and what they stood for.

He rejected crime.

He rejected criminals and the idea of injustice.

He rejected stealing, murdering and anything unjust, wanting nothing more than the chance of save those that needed saving and bringing back the system of justice so lacking in the world prior. In a lawless and bloody City, he was an idiot that wanted a system of peace and smiles and would go to any lengths for the purposes of saving a single smile, even if it was going to be erased the very next day. He lacked foresight, ability to even think criminally and the ability to act in the way that those within Academy City needed to act for the purposes of surviving.

By all rights, he should have died on his first day here.

And yet, he had survived.

And, through nothing but his misfortune, had once managed to steal something Misaka Mikoto had tried to steal herself.

The sense of defeat, the exhilaration and the feeling of pure adrenaline when Mikoto had had that defeat and that item stolen from her had been so shocking she had been unable to process anything for weeks afterwards but it was not because she had failed. She had failed numerous times before and it was not a golden rule that anything the Phantom Thief Railgun had set her eyes on she managed to steal. She was only a kid after all.

No, her shock came from the fact that she had been upstaged by someone who should not have existed within Academy City.

In a City of villains, in a city where the concept of justice and order did not apply…

He was the only Hero.

And hence, he was the only person in the mind of Misaka Mikoto that could give her an adrenaline rush greater than stealing. He was the only person who could fight on the same level as her, a villain, and still give her the same thrill as when she was stealing. It was something she had never once felt before in her life and she felt her heart racing through her chest at the simple idea of who was lying there on the ground and what he represented.

Unlike some people in Academy City, she did not care his mere existence threatened and was in contrast to hers. She did not care he was throwing around terms that meant nothing and had no meaning in the larger scope of things. In truth, Misaka Mikoto didn't care about any of that.

The only thing that she cared about was the rush. The feeling of adrenaline coursing through her veins as she challenged someone that should have been dead and was her rival, her anti-thesis and her nemesis based on the villain she was.

The way you could spell his name was 'the 'One Who Purifies God and Slays Demons'.

But there were no Gods here.

Only Demons.

And the fact his name suggests he was going to slay them all gave a chill up the spine of Misaka Mikoto as she held the Railgun on top of the bookcase. She grinned to herself.

"Hey, Hero. You crashed my party. So, let's dance."

And without another word, a gunshot pierced through that small space.

---

Yes.

A gunshot.

Not the roar of the Railgun and the special bullets it fired, but nothing more than a normal gunshot.

It blasted from underneath the bookcase and there was the sound of the bullet hitting something behind Mikoto. She rose an eyebrow instantly however the chill running down her spine did not stop as she recalled something she had forgotten with the adrenaline coursing through her, forgetting all about the Gekota Jewel.

That Hero did not condone the act of taking lives.

So, he had filled his revolver, not with the standard and specialised bullets the others of Academy City did, but rather with something a lot more safer and easier to use in his mind.

Rubber bullets.

And when a rubber bullet impacted a wall or solid surface, unlike a normal bullet, it did not pierce through.

It ricocheted.

Mikoto pushed her body to the side as fast as she could but a piercing pain slammed into the centre of her back. She cried out in pain, stumbling slightly but that was the only thing the figure underneath the smashed bookcase needed. He sprang up into the air and pointed his revolver right at where Mikoto had been standing.

Phantom Thief and Hero met eyes and it was in that moment that Mikoto felt the grin on her face erupt even wider.

Spiky black hair, fierce blue eyes and a grey suit that seemed worse for wear, much like its owner. His expression, unlike the one of the Phantom Thief, was twisted into a desire to escape and seek refuge but the only thing Mikoto did in return to the action of the Hero was point the Railgun she held in front of her and speak.

"Fancy seeing you again. No matter how many times we meet, I still gotta ask. How are you still alive?"

"…I'm still trying to figure that out myself. Maybe this City isn't as bad as everyone thinks it is?"

"Do you really believe that?"

"I do."

The instant response Mikoto received from the question that only ever had one answer in her mind was one that made her stand in shock. Even now, in the face of being blasted into tiny pieces from the Railgun, even when he was presented with one of the greatest villains the world had ever produced, he still had the capacity and the will to hold onto the belief there was kindness in the actions of everyone and there was the chance for the purity of the human heart to show itself, even in the darkness of Academy City.

Mikoto found herself not responding initially, only standing there as she heard the hopeless and naïve words going through her head. No…it was more than that. This idiot had to have seen the worst of humanity and through the time he had to have been here, he should have seen just how poisonous the human condition was in how it spread and struck those that had nothing to do with it without hesitation.

In Academy City, there was no day where you did not go without being involved in some crime. There was no day where you were not either a criminal or a victim in some way and this Hero had to have seen that with his very eyes more than once. Hell, he would have been exposed to it more than once given how the entire City was after his blood by being an existence that denied their own: a Hero.

And yet he had the mindset to still believe and still hold onto the wish for kindness he held within his own heart.

It was confusing if nothing else. Mikoto frowned, holding the Railgun up in front of her, not moving an inch as the Hero shifted slightly to the left, his gun pointed right at Mikoto's face. She knew his rubber bullets were hardly going to kill her, unlike her Railgun, but neither party pulled the trigger or lowered their guns.

Mikoto, after a small while, found her words, noting there was shouting in the air from the building both she and the Hero stood on.

"You're not fit for Academy City. Although, the fact you were put in here on false charges is something I find incredibly interesting. The world found it fit to treat you as a villain and yet, when thrown into the realm of the villains, you were treated as a Hero. Makes you think, doesn't it? Which is right? The purity of the world whose values you uphold? Or the scum of the earth that deserves to die?" Mikoto asked her question with a condescending tone, the Hero not even saying anything in response as it was clear it was an issue he had been debating for a long time.

Who was right?

The world that saw him as evil enough to throw him into the world of the villains?

Or the world of the villains that saw him as righteous enough to label him as a 'Hero'?

There was no answer on the boy's face as he stepped to the side once more, Mikoto following him with her Railgun. The boy stopped and paused, standing right beside something on the ground. Without even looking, he kicked his foot up and his hat which had fallen to the ground rose. He caught it with one hand and placed it on his head, his spiky hair flattening in much a way that made it seem like the hat was a form of gel to keep that hair which went all over the place in control.

"You really don't belong here. So, where exactly do you belong, o great Hero? In the world that has rejected you and called you evil? Or the evil world that thinks you deserve to be booted out? You're sitting in a place in this world where you have no stance and no position so interfering with it is only going to get you killed."

"Are you worrying about me?"

"Hardly. After all, it was your interference that resulted in you stealing from me. And while I'm pretty lenient when it comes to that sort of stuff, you're going to stick your nose where it doesn't belong, only to get it shot off."

"Y-You think you're pretty lenient?! You chased me around for a week after that!"

"If you hadn't decided on deep sea diving in that sewer, it would've been three days thank you very much! I figured you would have drowned but is the only thing that can kill you a nuclear bomb?!"

"Th-That brings back bad memories so if you could please refrain from mentioning that word, I'd be most grateful!"

Neither party lowered their guns as they yelled at each other, Mikoto not even bothering to hold back the irritation at the memory that this Hero had stolen from her. While human rights were not guaranteed within Academy City, neither was any concept of right of title to any one object so the actions of the Hero had been as pointless as ever but it had been those pointless actions that had brought one of the Magnificent Seven to her knees, being outperformed and outdone.

Not to mention it was clear he was involved in plenty of other things on the side. She had mentioned a nuclear bomb as a joke and he had responded with something pretty dark, but then again, that did not faze the Phantom Thief. This was Academy City after all so it wasn't ridiculous to think a nuclear bomb was being developed on the underside.

Still, now Mikoto finally thought about it, the presence of this boy here, while unwelcome, was confusing. A frown made its way onto her face. She held the Railgun in front of her at a steadier level, keeping her gaze and tone level as she stared at the Hero.

"…Why are you here?"

"…Same reason as you."

"The Gekota Jewel?"

Mikoto stared down at the emerald that now sat in between both parties, equal distant from both. If they both cast aside their guns and leaped for it, chances were they would reach for it at the same time and hence, would have to fight over it. But even so, the basic question Mikoto wanted to ask filled her head.

"Why?"

"Will you let me take it if I tell you?"

"I'll consider it." Mikoto said with a grin and a shrug, the Hero not wavering as he heard her words. There was a small silence as the lack of certainty Mikoto had given in her words was clearly not going to be lost on someone who had lived and survived in this City for so long but the only thing the Hero ended up doing was letting loose small words that seemed to have great weight upon his soul.

"It's a Blood Emerald."

"…So?"

"So!?" The Hero, in response to the words Mikoto had said without a care looked as if he was going to explode with anger but as he stared at Mikoto, someone who was a resident and had been born in this City, the reaction she had was not unreasonable.

After all, in this City of death and poison, hearing that something was a Blood Emerald was not a big deal. Who cared if it had passed hands through the death of someone else? Such things happened every day so the thought it was a Blood Emerald was not atrocious.

But the fact it was the case and the fact the Phantom Thief could not even think of such a thing as being horrible perhaps showed how twisted her mind was. Perhaps if she had not had her mind transformed into what it was because of exposure to the darkness of the world, she would have become a different person. Yet, in this reality, in this world and in this scene, the girl Misaka Mikoto was the one standing in front of the Hero right now.

Twisted, broken and thinking there was nothing wrong with death at all. The fact that such a thing was in her mind even at a most basic level when it was so fundamentally wrong rose the Hero's anger if only for a tiny bit. He cooled it though, realising it was not an issue of Mikoto's choice or desire to make him angry with her response.

It was just who she had been transformed into after spending so much time in this twisted City.

"…The original owner of this emerald was someone who resided within Academy City."

"You do realise that can't really be the case? If they have it and are here in Academy City, then chances are they – "

"Stole it in the first place. I…am aware of that," The Hero said that with a heavy tone, the barrel of his gun wavering and dropping even if for a tiny bit. That was not something that lasted long before it was pushed up once again to face Mikoto. "Whatever the case and whoever the original owner was, the owner of the emerald within Academy City was murdered two years ago. And the son of that murdered thief has been searching for the past two years all this time for the emerald that was rightfully his father's only to realise it had fallen into the hands of the drug kingpin. The Gekota Jewel does not belong to Thomas Platinaburg. It belongs to the son of the man who had originally stolen that jewel. That is why I am here."

Mikoto stared at the Hero, not even bothering to find amusement in his words. No, if she could, she would be able to find amusement in them if she wanted to. It was she could not find amusement in them, a bubbling anger surging through her as she looked at the idiot.

"…Are you serious?"

"I am."

"You're…going to get back that Blood Emerald just because…you heard some goddamn sob story?!"

Mikoto spat out those words, holding the Railgun in front of her with a greater malicious intent than before, her eyes flaring in anger as she stared at the Hero, no, the idiot in front of her.

"That's hilarious. I would burst out into laughter but I seriously can't do that when you're really serious about this. You heard some sob story and felt it was justice to return the emerald that belonged to someone else back to their next of kin, as a memory of their lost parents? Are you serious?!"

Mikoto seethed, her words radiating her rage as she stared at the Hero with that expression of pure anger and resentment.

"Don't you get it, you bloody idiot? You were played. Like a goddamn fiddle. Even I can tell that story is complete and utter bullshit. A thief that had stolen the emerald and the son that wants it back? Are you fucking serious?!" The words that poured out from her mouth were ones so at odds with the way the Phantom Thief usually held herself but there was nothing she could do in the face of the anger that coursed through her entire core.

"Even if there was a remote chance you succeeded, the only thing that's going to come of that is your death. Let's say you failed. Boo hoo, everyone goes home and that's the end of that. Even in Academy City, you have failed to save people so there's nothing wrong with that happening right in front of you. Nobody gains anything and nobody loses anything either. But on the off chance that you succeeded, you would be gutted and thrown into the alleyway as you oh-so-happily return that 'memento' to the guy you heard that sob story from. In the hopes of dealing your so-called precious 'justice', you would only be killed for the kindness you are going to show to others."

"…"

"I can't believe you even fell for that. Hero? Don't make me laugh, the only thing you are if you don't even realise what is going to happen to you if you succeed makes you less than that. Heroes fight for justice, for what is right. You…You're fighting an entire City that is out for your blood. You're fighting against those you want to help in a complete and utterly pointless exercise. You're a walking suicide attempt. You've got the biggest target on your back and you're already a dead man walking. How can you not even see that, you goddamn Hero!? No, you're even less than that! For trusting the poisonous nature of Academy City, you're the world's biggest idiot!"

Why did it get on her nerves so much? Even Mikoto did not know as she stepped forward, holding the Railgun in her hand even higher, pointing it right at the idiot's head.

"Taking your life here and now would be a mercy. In fact, I would not even qualify it as taking a life. Whether it be now or a few hours from now, the only thing that is going to meet you is an unpleasant and painful death. To think that in the City that wants to kill you, all it took was a single sob story to get you to come running. Not only do you kill the false Hero but you also get an emerald in the process. It's so funny it's disgusting. I'm giving you one chance. Leave. I'll take the emerald and you can go and live your happy-go-lucky life, however short it is going to be."

Mikoto did not know why she was so angry. This idiot had nothing to do with her and there was nothing tying her to him apart from the fact that he had managed to steal something from her and get away with it. That was the only thing tying to two of them together, but it was inconsequential, irrelevant and completely pointless in the larger scope of things.

For her, for Misaka Mikoto, it made no sense she was getting this angry over an idiot who had been unable to see the darkness of Academy City when it was obvious to anyone. And yet, one helpless and naïve fool felt there was truth when there was nothing but lies.

In a City that had poisoned everyone living inside of it, he lived on in the thoughts for human kindness. Mikoto had always asked him the same thing whenever they had encountered each other time and time again, but now she was looking at the hopeless existence in front of her, the question she always asked held new meaning and new weight.

"If this is your core, your essence, then you should be dead. So how are you still alive?"

Mikoto spat out the words, the idiot in front of her not even wavering as he stood and held the gun, pointing it right at Mikoto's face. No, it was less than that. It was loaded with rubber bullets that would ricochet whenever they hit anything and hence, here in Academy City, it was nothing but a toy.

That in itself should have signified just how hopeless this idiot was. In a world that had tossed him aside he was willing to play the pacifist, the one that tried to join together everyone to be stabbed in the back time and time again. The fact he was still standing and had the same desire to do that as always was astounding but for Mikoto, the existence in front of her sickened her to the very core.

He had not given up.

He was still being the same idiot as always and had yet to accept reality for what it was.

He was still being the same goddamn idiot and would continue to be the same until he met his end at the hands of those he had been trying to save.

His way of life, here in Academy City, was akin to a suicide attempt and the dead boy walking in front of Misaka Mikoto the Phantom Thief Railgun made her sick to the very bone. She wanted to rid him from her sight but through some force, she did not pull the trigger.

No, she knew what that force was.

It was the words of the hopeless idiot in front of her.

"…I know that."

"What?"

"I'm saying I know everything you're saying is true. I know everything you have said is correct. I have no proof that what that guy said is true. I have no proof the Gekota Jewel was his inheritance through some means or another and no proof he won't stab me in the back as soon as I give it to him."

"Then why – "

"I guess this is the difference between you and me, Phantom Thief. You've stolen and stolen so many times that nothing is unattainable to you. Everything is within your grasp and the same can be said for the entirety of Academy City itself too. Nothing is anybody's and the only thing that rules here is manipulation and the twisted nature of the human condition. I've been here long enough to realise that."

"If that's the case – "

"But amazingly, for all of that, every single one of you here in this City is an idiot. Because all of you think the same thing. …That in a City built on lies…there is no one telling the truth."

Mikoto felt herself stare in both shock and horror at what was being said.

"Sure, the guy that asked me for this might be lying. He probably is. But there is a tiny chance. Less than 1% even. That, as horrible and as ridiculous as that may seem, he is telling the truth. That his father, the person who had stolen this emerald in the first place, really did die and left it to his only son. And if that small possibility, no matter how small remains, how am I supposed to discard that? How am I supposed to tell someone I don't believe them and think they are lying? I can't do that. If it means the chance for someone to be saved in Academy City where there is so much wrong and so much happening, even if it means nothing in the long run and even if it nothing but a trap to kill me, I can't just turn that person away."

The idiot rose his gun a bit higher, pointing it directly at Mikoto's head, much like she was doing with the Railgun.

"Because if I turn them away, it means I lose that small smile that comes from if I had believed them. And if it comes between any possible threat to my life and the chance to see the smile on someone's face simply because I believed them when they were crying their heart out, then I win. I'll never lose. But for someone who does not believe, does not think that there is any chance for such a story to be true, then you're standing in my way Phantom Thief. Even if it is small, a miniscule chance that that story is true…then you're standing in the way of someone and my chance to put a smile on their face. To make them realise there is good in this cesspool of Academy City. And that's a place where you don't want to stand."

Mikoto stared, not even understanding the words coming from the idiot's mouth. The chance the one who had told him this story was telling the truth? The thought had never even crossed her mind.

And it was because that was the case that she had already lost.

She had refused to believe.

She had refused to take the chance that there was a possibility, no matter how small, that such a story was true and that there was a life and a story behind the emerald lying on the ground. She had refused to believe, being so twisted by Academy City that it had turned her mind into the most cynical of creations, distrustful and thinking everything around it was a lie. Mikoto had upheld the poison of Academy City and had only continued to press that onto her surroundings, never once thinking there was the chance for human kindness in the horrible nature of those around her.

She was different from the boy who continued to believe.

Continued to hope in the chance there was the possibility one was telling the truth, all so he could bring a smile onto the face of those that might be telling the truth. It was a thinking that was completely removed from anything Mikoto had ever once thought.

But that was the point.

Mikoto could not believe in kindness. She could not believe in the chance there was someone suffering out there and there was the chance there was no ulterior motive in their words to her. Even if she was right and thus was a trap, the fact she had never once considered the alternative showed how twisted and ugly her mentality was.

Misaka Mikoto had mocked herself as being a villain.

But the fact she had never once believed, never once considered the fact there could exist kindness and she could show it and that everyone else around her was just as bad as she was, was a fact that had never hit her until now. And when it did, it stabbed into her very soul with so much force she had no idea what she was doing.

…She was a villain.

The thought felt heavier than it had ever felt before and Mikoto felt a bitterness rising through her as she stared at the idiot in front of her.

No, not the idiot.

Her opposite.

Her rival.

Her nemesis.

She understood why now.

Misaka Mikoto the Phantom Thief fully understood why the boy in front of her was someone everyone in Academy City was after the blood of.

It was because, unlike everyone else in this cesspool, he had not given up.

He had refused to give up, refused to think he could resort to the same means as them to accomplish his goals and refused to relent and cast aside the values he held upon entering Academy City. He had been cast into this hell and yet, unlike everyone else, he had not broken. He had stood strong, above everything else and it had mocked everyone within this City.

Mocked them and told them they were not strong enough, that they had given up and they had chosen the path of self-destruction themselves. Without even realising it, this idiot was laughing at them, calling them weak and it was because everyone there knew it was the case that they wanted him dead.

No one here was strong.

They did what they could to survive but, in their hearts,, they were weak. They were distrustful, poisoned and saw nothing but the same in others. Never did anyone lift a hand to help others and never did anyone else look at someone with kindness in their heart. Mikoto was the same and looking at her nemesis who had yet to break, she felt her teeth were clenched so tight she might lose one of them if she were to tighten her jaw any further.

In an action that seemed like it had taken years to complete, she opened her mouth.

"O – "

She wavered. The Phantom Thief wavered and that in itself was enough to make her want to scream. But even so, she continued.

"On the contrary, you're standing in between me and my Jewel. And that…is a place you don't want to stand."

There was nothing else needed as both parties immediately leaped backwards, pointed their guns forward and pulled the trigger.

The Railgun roared through the air, tearing through the rubber bullet just as the idiot hit the ground with a thump. He rolled to the side but was barely able to dodge the rush of wind created with the roar of the bullet fired by the power of microscopic electromagnets, Mikoto jumping up and racing towards him with the same Railgun in hand.

…She was weak.

Mikoto hated the fact it had been presented to her and the only thing that existed in her mind was the desire to erase the one who had given her that realisation.

This was Academy City so breaking and losing your sense of self was completely normal. In order to survive, you needed to do it again and again and you needed to show that weakness, so why did Mikoto had to feel bad about it? She had lost her parents when she was five and the only thing she had to resort to was stealing to survive so there should have been nothing wrong with her heart becoming weak.

But she was mocked for it.

Laughed at by someone who had not broken.

…So she would remove the one laughing at her.

She would remove the one telling her her heart was weak even though she knew the truth.

But even she knew.

Misaka Mikoto knew this was nothing more than weakness creating more weakness.

And she hated herself for that fact.

Mikoto held herself close to the ground as she raced for the idiot, kicking the nearest piece of rubble into the air and flinging it towards the boy on the ground. He immediately saw it, raising his revolver and letting loose two shots into the air, both of which zoomed right past Mikoto. She did not even bother grinning as she raced past them, holding her Railgun into the air and pointing it right into the boy's chest at blank range.

There were no words.

She had nothing to discuss with someone who had already defeated her. The only thing she had was this shallow victory where he was dead and Mikoto's situation was not any better.

Mikoto's finger tightened on the trigger –

Just as the back of head exploded with pain from two places. Instinctively, she turned her head to look behind her to whoever had attacked her but only saw blank space, seeing something in her peripheral vision falling to the ground.

Two rubber bullets.

Her eyes went wide as she realised the idiot had missed on purpose, the bullets sailing behind Mikoto and letting down her guard as she had gone for a direct assault, leaving her open to an attack from behind where the rubber bullets had ricocheted off the wall and struck her.

And now was she completely open.

A pain raced across her cheek as she was pistol whipped, Mikoto crying out and falling backwards. She did not entirely stumble though, bringing up her partner and focusing it on the point in front of her, to completely obliterate the person in front of her. However, she never got an attack in, feeling something imbed itself into her gut. She recoiled, holding her stomach in pain and realising what had struck her was not the butt of the idiot's revolver, but instead his right fist. The blow had more power behind it than anything Mikoto had ever felt before. She gagged with pain, not expecting it as the idiot spun his gun around and fired one shot point blank into the centre of her chest.

Even if they were rubber bullets, fired from point blank was enough to wind anyone and that was exactly what happened.

Mikoto gagged for breath as she fell backwards, hitting the ground now, clutching and holding her chest in pain from the blow mercilessly applied there. She gasped for air, unable to find it as she was winded but felt the peace of mind to still focus on her own attack.

It was now or nothing and she was not going to give up now. She was going to win, to show her weak heart was not all that made up her fragile core. She had done what she had to do to survive and she was not going to let anybody else step on that for the life of her.

It was with that thinking that, on the ground, she pointed her Railgun up. That idiot was right above her and as she clutched her stomach and groaned, the fragments of a grin came onto her face nonetheless.

The idiot's eyes went wide but there was no stopping what was coming.

Misaka Mikoto, the Phantom Thief Railgun once more unleashed the only attack she ever needed to from her gun barrel.

The blast that ripped through the air tore through the roof and the idiot just barely managed to throw himself to the side, the roof not being so lucky as it crumbled and was destroyed from the power of the blast. The creaking of the rubble and the roof above them filled the air and there was no meaning in explaining what was about to happen, it was obvious from the get-go.

The idiot's eyes went wide as he stared up at the crumbling building on the verge of collapse, lying on the ground and turning to Mikoto.

"Y-You idiot! What the hell are you thinking?!"

He roared that out, Mikoto responding by doing one very simple action.

She rose her middle finger at the Hero, her nemesis, opposite and rival all bundled up together into one. He grit his teeth, staring up at the roof ready to cave in and crush everyone inside, doing one of two things before the entire thing collapsed in on itself.

The first, running and racing for his prize; the Gekota Jewel.

And the second, running and racing towards Mikoto, covering her with his body.

Darkness descended and the scent of the boy being so close was something Mikoto had never expected but she never even got the chance to think any further than that. No, she never even got the chance to think as the groaning of the roof above her seemed louder than it had even been before, the entire thing caving in and engulfing those inside of it.

And just like the darkness, it swallowed everyone without once letting go.

---

Misaka Mikoto groaned on the ground as she tried to sit up.

Her entire body ached, especially her chest and she found that each and every movement she wanted to make was not reaching her body, only a never-ending source of pain. She groaned once more, the sound of an exasperated sigh filling the air, causing Mikoto to loll her head to the side to identify the source of the sound.

And her eyes went wide as she looked at the revolver barrel being pointed right at her face.

"…Hi."

The Hero stared back at her, blood streaming from his forehead and his hat having a new hole inside of it. His clothes were covered with dust and what looked to be blood stained most of his clothes. He squatted on the ground next to Mikoto. Blood dripped from somewhere on his back onto the ground at a steady rate and his face looked as though it was on the verge of passing out but with everything he had, the Hero forced his mind to stay conscious and point the gun at Mikoto's face.

He had been the one to cover himself over Mikoto's body when the entire building had collapsed. By all rights, the person that should have regained consciousness first was Mikoto but through some miracle, it was this idiot who had managed to do so first despite clearly being in the worse shape. It was him reaping what he sowed so there was no guilt on Mikoto's part but the contrast between the wounds that covered Mikoto and the ones that covered the Hero was plain for anyone to see.

Mikoto said nothing and did not move for a small while, the only thing that came from her mouth when she decided to talk being words she had asked so many times before.

"How are you still alive?"

"…I'm still wondering that myself. It looks as though you smashing through that top floor weakened the foundations already and meant the area where we were did not suffer as badly in the collapse."

"Doesn't that mean I'm the one that saved the both of us? Damn, I'm good."

Mikoto choked out a joke. The sound of voices approaching was one that told of how Academy City residents were approaching the scene of the destruction not to inspect on the safety and wellbeing of those caught up in it but to determine what exactly they could steal from those unlucky enough to be caught up in the collapse in the first place.

The urgency of the need to escape was one Mikoto felt coursing through her body: whether she liked it or not, she had stripped off her disguise meaning that her tell-tale red suit and yellow scarf was easy for anyone to identify her. Her life was in danger, the thought of taking the life of one of the Magnificent Seven being an attractive one for any basic criminal within the City. Given she was immobile, the chances of her survival right now was fairly limited.

Mikoto felt she had built up a resistance and a strength to the things the world threw at her but the painful reality that was her lying on the ground now, unable to do a thing was a harsh one and revealed how weak her body was, as well as her heart.

She coughed, trying her best to rise but found that the pain coming through her body was too great. She fell back down, both her chest and her back flaring with heat and she grimaced from the pain.

"I would suggest not moving for a little bit. Get your strength back. Whatever you say about your status as a Phantom Thief, you're still human. So, rest for a little bit and come back for another day." The idiot spoke easy words but the fact he had a gun pointed right at Mikoto's face sort of eliminated the concern he had for her.

"Another day… I don't think you have one of those to be honest. You've got that emerald and you're insistent on giving it back to that person who gave you that damn sob story, aren't you? This…will be the last time we see each other. Of that, I am sure." Mikoto said that, finding something within her heart was aching but not knowing exactly what it was.

"I wouldn't be so sure. I trust him. The one that asked me to help that is. Even if there is evidence against that, I still want to believe there is the chance there is no ulterior motive here. Only the want for someone to ask for help and only the want for basic kindness to reveal itself in the form to one person to another. There doesn't have to be planning, overthinking or anything like that, Railgun. Maybe, just maybe, there is the chance that a person can do something good for another person who honestly wants to be helped. If I can give that to someone, then I have nothing holding me back."

"…I can't understand that line of thinking. No one here can. Crying your eyes out and coming up with a sob story is something everyone can't do here. Because we all have that same story and we all have that tragic past. There's no point in telling the same story to someone else who has already lived it. There's no point in wanting sympathy from that when it has never been given. The only thing that has ever existed in Academy City is crime, blood, death and violence."

"So, are you saying that nobody cares?" The idiot asked her, not even changing his tone of voice as she stared at the girl. Mikoto stared back, her eyes not even staring away from the idiot's face and responding with easy words.

"Yes. Nobody does here."

There was a brief silence for a moment as the idiot stared at the weak Phantom Thief below her before raising the gun barrel from her face and smiling ever so slightly.

"Well, then I think it's time to change that. Here."

The idiot reached behind him with his hands, something Mikoto now noticed fully. They were covered in dust, scratches in places here and there and blood was covering them in places underneath the fingernails. They were new wounds and not ones present when Mikoto had been fighting with him. The nature and the cause of those wounds made the girl frown.

But in the next moment, that frown and confusion was all blown away but astonishment and awe.

Because the object the Hero had just retrieved from behind him was a revolver that had the word 'Railgun' engraved on the side. The revolver itself was covered in dust and blood and it was only belatedly that Mikoto realised she had lost it when the building had collapsed, never once thinking of her partner. The immediate concern to her was her life and she had never once thought to think of the gun she had lost.

Yet, as the Hero had woken up first, the first thing he had done was not flee. He had not gotten the hell out of there and he had not run as fast as his legs could have carried him away from this scene.

He had searched for the gun Mikoto had tried to take his life with, Mikoto's partner and the only memento she had of her dead parents. Just like with the Gekota Jewel, the only thing she had when it came to that lost connection was within that single gun.

It made no sense.

There was no logic, no efficiency and no reason for him to find that gun when it only meant something to Mikoto.

He didn't even know the story behind it, probably only rumours he had heard here and there that it was the last thing her parents had left her. Mikoto did not know which rumour he had heard and what he had thought about but he had thought it was important enough to search through the collapsed building for it despite the state he was in.

There was no reasoning Mikoto could understand behind his actions.

Because the reasoning it followed was one of kindness, something so rare within Academy City it was priceless, much like the jewel that sat within the boy's grey and dirtied suit.

Mikoto stared at the gun, not even thinking and finding her mind was blank. There were no words. The Hero placed the gun inside of her hand.

"This is yours, I believe. Take good care of it. From what I've heard, there's a story behind that." The Hero, despite the state he was in smiled and stood up, touching and lowering the brim of his hat as he stared at Mikoto. She looked at his back, not even finding words to say to register the feelings racing within her. She never got the chance to as he merely turned and headed down the rubble around him with a limp and a bloody back.

Misaka Mikoto, the Phantom Thief Railgun and one of the greatest villains Academy City and hence the world had produced did not understand. She could not understand the basic emotions behind the actions of the Hero and confusion passed through her entire body as she stared at his passing back. There was something she had to say, something she had never once said before in her life and the fact that such basic words had never ever left her lips told her how twisted Academy City was and how twisted the beings inside here were.

But the fact she was choosing now to say these words and had thought to even say them represented a change within her.

"Wait!"

Something, even if only for an instant, had changed within the girl known as the Phantom Thief Railgun. Misaka Mikoto, when faced with the actions she did not understand, actions she could not comprehend, the actions she had never once been subject to within Academy City found words she had never said nor ever heard pass through her lips.

The Hero paused for a moment and Mikoto used every single cell and ounce of strength within herself to rise and stare the idiot in the face as he turned around.

"…Thank you."

He grinned but said nothing else, disappearing over the edge of the rubble and out of sight.

Misaka Mikoto, the Phantom Thief Railgun fell back down onto the rubble, holding the Railgun in her hands and observing her partner. She held it up, energy and familiarity coming through her as she held the familiar object, smiling to herself nonetheless.

She had fired four out of six bullets; her body was vulnerable to those coming and there was no escape for her when it came to the curious individuals of Academy City who were looking for the victims to loot from in the hopes of finding something good. If she was ever found, she would instantly be killed out of the glory of having the blood of one of the Magnificent Seven on their hands. The situation was as worse as it could get: she was cornered, alone, only had two bullets and had been unable to get the jewel that had been the object of her desires.

This day truly sucked.

But, even if that was the case, words that had never once left her mouth and words that were so at odds within Academy City had passed her lips. Words she had never once thought to say had left her mouth and she had expressed honest thanks she had never thought she would ever express.

Not even she knew what to think of that.

But she did know one thing.

"…Kamijou Touma."

She said the Hero's name, the words leaving her mouth with an energy that filled her entire body, sending her heart racing and leaving a massive grin on her lips. She held the Railgun into the air and prepared to let off one of the two remaining shots.

"I think I'm going to be having a lot of fun with you. Let's hope you don't disappoint!"

---

And there we have it.

To think that something like this could stem from a fan art! Then again, we have the Suzushina Yuriko ones from before so I'm not even sure what to think of this. But, what did you think? As seen from the beginning, throw out all preconceptions of the series thus far and just sit back and have fun. At least, that was what I hope you ended up doing.

As you can clearly see, there were clear elements here I wanted to change not only to show their nature on how that was fundamentally going to affect the characters but also how the world around them has formulated who they are in our minds. Naturally, instead of Academy City being a place of learning, it became the world's giant prison and that change in setting was something I really wanted to have reflected in the characters we know and love and also how the world technology would have changed as a result.

Seeing things such as Yomikawa being the underling of a drug king and the Board of Directors being individuals who have a high standing in the underbelly of the City, I sort of wanted to show that difference in an obvious sense in the nature of the characters. If you had a look at the fan art, it's sort of hard to judge what type of 'story' behind it but I hope that as you looked at the fan art and then had a look at the story that resulted from the inspiration, you were provided with a sort of realization of how the characters are really influenced by the world they live in.

Having esper powers coming from revolvers, having Mikoto being a part of the 7 greatest villains in Academy City, this was just a whole barrel of fun from the different perspective of the hero dilemma Kamachi sort of gives when it comes to his writing. And naturally, because I dealt largely with the opposite side of things, I had the focus character also being one to change as a result.

What did you think of Phantom Thief Mikoto?! I felt that it was pretty fun to have done and while her cynicism was hidden beneath a cheery and otherwise fun personality, the darkness of the world really showed itself in her unnatural hatred directed at Touma. The things she felt and how she felt he was her natural rival in terms of personality and how she is essentially just a twisted being as even the characters murdering others or selling drugs for their own self-gain sort of shows how Mikoto was a real villain here as well. Just because she did not kill meant nothing and the way she did not hold back firing her Railgun all over the place for the sake of 'fun' really goes to show she was also as twisted as the other characters here as well. There were some fun changes that I ended up having such as the Railgun being an ACTUAL gun and the Gekota Jewel (this put a smile on my face) but for what was essentially a pretty dark premise, I hope you realized that there was a bit of light shining in on it until you came to realize that "Oh wait, isn't Mikoto pretty fucked up here too?" The moment that sort of hit you I really wanted to emphasize that darkness of the setting.

And yet, as always, there was the light that was Touma. I guess I couldn't just let him and his misfortune be so I had him thrown into hell on false charges. But even within that hell, he became hated because of how the City did not fundamentally break him when it had turned everyone else into villains of the same sort. While he was referred to as Hero throughout this chapter, in another way you can think of everyone who calls him that realizing they have broken and only looking at themselves cynically and it is the desire to refuse to do that, a refusal to make them think they are in the wrong, that results in the largest target being drawn on his back.

Throughout it all as Touma fights the world and attempts to show kindness when there is nothing but death and destruction, I really wanted to emphasize how that small light he represents is so at odds with a different setting with the same characters. I hope you came to really like the gun wielding Touma with rubber bullets and enjoyed yourself with that small fight scene that happened between him and Mikoto. It was essentially bringing a rubber gun to one where the other person has an anti-tank rifle so it had to be short to emphasize the nature of what they were holding but that in itself was a really fun thing to write.

There's not really anything else for me to say on this account. After all, if you took what there was here, it technically is an entire different premise and story so maybe, to an extent, I've lost sight of what these one-shots are. Whatever the case, I only hope that you enjoyed yourself.

And as always,
Review if you please.

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

…How is Touma still alive?