And finally, the second last part of this arc.

Although Kongou's part has already ended, I guess you can see how the overall story also has importance here too. I guess in this sense, the story is slowly edging towards its finish but I hope that as the arcs continue going forward that you can fully enjoy where we are heading and what the ultimate destination is. B-But even then, there is another type of 'ending' to be reached here.

Can I get in some proper humour this time around?

I have no idea…

Whatever the case, we'll begin with the usual Q & A:

iZuikaku: I sort of agree with you on this, but I think I returned to the usual formula last time with Kongou succumbing to the Kami-yan Disease, so I get points for that, right? And the main villain throughout this entire story so far has sort of been a Kihara…

ArmoredCoreNineBall: I'm glad I got a misunderstanding in there despite it all! You're right though, the situation isn't resolved and as you can probably tell from this, the endings are still to come! I think we need some hunting down nowadays.

ReyKingKaiser: Basically, if Touma faces proper bodyguards, then he has already lost. Although the law won't work against Touma in this fic; he was blacklisted from prison, remember? I hope that you can look forward to future villains this series has to offer with respect to your wish for a villain who keeps on going no matter what.

shiroryuu012: I'm glad that I could make your day a bit better! The world has sort of been a bit messed up as of late, but I hope that I can add something to lessen the blow. Still, I hope that you're feeling better!

Anime-ted Life116: I keep on raising the bar with the misfortune, don't I? I hope that you can look forward to my plans with the Object. I think no one really has the guts to confess at this stage because of all the things Touma has gotten into. However, for this series, the focus is more on the action and the story rather than any romantic progression…but that does not mean there is none – I hope that whatever direction I take it in is one you accept. There's someone else in this series who uses guns! I think Touma is already a pseudo god with how many Level 5s worship him to some degree…

Aminadab Brulle: I can sort of understand that; I was the same when I was starting the series. The reason no one told Touma that Fait survived, was because he literally has other things that he wants to deal with and has his mind focused on. The same reasoning is applied for the lip of the tongue and the panic attack; there's too much grief to be focused on every single little thing when Touma has no left arm anymore. I need Index to have some shine to her…! In this situation with Kongou though, you are right – Touma was trying to make sure that he got it into Kongou's head that she was NOT to blame for what happened to him. I can understand the 'meh' parts and I appreciate the criticism – I sort of wanted to take the 'caring father' trope a bit too far and it appears that I DID go too far there… I've been enjoying GT so far; it was a really good way to start the new series and I'm looking forward to where things go from here! Yeah, I realise the numbering was a bit out of whack when you made your comment…

fafnir1404: No, it's Mitsuko.

Levolutioner: …I shudder to think what would have happened had Touma managed to score 3 women instead of 1. I've been trying to cut down on the length, and have made some progress, so I'm trying to get this bad habit (I have no idea where it came from) out of the way. Good god, I can just imagine Touma disembodied arm attacking him in his sleep now… Shit is going down!

Guest: There would be multiple ways to stop Kamui though…

sergioqsc: I have to agree; there needs to be more Magic side characters in this series!

Chris: I seriously wonder what would happen if Touma went full dragon on Mr. Kongou… I hope that you can look forward to the end result of the solution to Touma's prosthetic given how everything that has happened thus far. Thanks for the kind words!

whwsms: There is no more speculation needed; all shall be answered! As for your thoughts about the self-condemnation and criticism, that is granted and I'll make sure that I can avoid that in the future. Yeah, Kamui is definitely here to stay no matter how many times you kill him.

DNWorks: Yeah, I sort of wanted to give some real WEIGHT to the end of the arc and having Touma lose and arm was my way of doing that. But at the same time, as you noted, I wanted him to still be the same Touma we love and to openly state that he was not going to take shit from anybody when it came to the tears of someone else which was nice. For the future of the interactions, I hope that you can look forward to what happens from here on out. As for Kongou loving her dad, I think she will even if the relationship will be a bit strained. As for Touma's left arm…you shall see!

question: No quiero pensar en lo que sucede cuando el 25% de la población femenina cae bajo la enfermedad de Kami-yan ... Pero verás lo que sucede con Touma y su brazo. Ese momento que acabas de describir con Misaki es en realidad una muy buena idea...

PrincequeenFTW: I sort of laughed at this listing and the fact that 'destroying' Touma would basically end a person's life.

aj2362: Thank you so much! I wonder what will happen should Touma's memories be restored in GT though given that he has accepted their loss as of GT 1?

wildarms13: You ARE still alive! I was sort of wanting to know how you felt about the torture scene with Touma, but I guess we will never know! For who Touma was calling, you shall see in this chapter. I hope for a more frequent release as well, but with FF7R coming out, I doubt that. Still, I have been writing a lot more recently, so maybe you can expect more from me?

BlueJack22: Cyborg Touma incoming…

Guest00: BWAHAHAHA!

Guest (another one): Well, there we go.

Agent Nine: I'm glad that I managed to make you smile, what with everything that has been happening in the fic!

Guest (another, another one): I already know who is next!

seiker: I seriously hope that you are doing OK, especially with the world being what it is right now. Also, I've only played Nier:Automata, but I really enjoyed that! I am trying to make sure that there is a proper balance between the light and the dark and particular characters for me serve to be the breaker in this sense and will save the series from being too dark. I hope that I can continue to live up to that trust you have in me! I think Mr. Kongou here was sort of trying TOO hard to do his best for Kongou that he did not realise what he was crushing in the process. The Kami-yan disease is never ending! We'll have to see what happens with Misaki, especially with all the promotional material coming out for her recently, if she ends up giving up, I'll be really disappointed. …But we still have Misaki's problem to be solved in this fic, so I hope I can do my best there!

belial17k: Hello darkness my old friend…

Animan10: I think the loss of the left arm was what I really wanted to have weigh down on everyone given how we've become desensitised to Touma losing his right.

Ravagerblade: You have gotta have Faith. …I'll leave now.

AK-103: H-Hibernation only lasted two months, right?!

Radio9: Yeah, after precognition was explored a bit more, I realised this error. But the Kanzaki arc was perhaps one of the weakest, I have to admit.

GospelOfReap: An Aogami Pierce arc would just be a single chapter of endless stupidity though!

Bestest: Nothing will stop the Kami-yan Disease! You shall see what will become of the TouMAN! Mugino will continue to have a place in your heart!

A certain guest: I wanted the LEFT arm to be cut off entirely to have this impactful point for the story and for the characters in it and also to show how us thinking that Touma losing his right arm is 'good' is sort of twisted. I hope that you can look forward to what happens with Touma's left arm… I'm glad that you can also see how Kongou's father would be the villain in this arc with what he did on the sidelines. But yeah, Mr. Kongou basically almost declared war on his entire company… I think Touma has experienced more suffering that he has a break, so it can sort of be understandable how he can be used to that sort of thing. We shall see where GT 2 ends up taking us! Where in the next volume, damn it!?

ShadowBloodedge9396: Okaeri! Yes, I give you permission to smack Touma for being so stubborn and prideful. I love how the first thing that comes to mind after Mugino's prosthetic is teaching her how to cook… I hope that you can look forward to how Touma's arm is treated going forward. You can definitely say that Touma is secretly planning on building his harem in the background as well!

for plot only: I would still love Faith.

Creation1258: Whereas most fanfics here downplay the misfortune and go head first into the romance, I do the total opposite and I can understand your comments here. In this sense, I want you to sort of feel like you've accomplished something whenever you have a scene where Touma smiles from the bottom of his heart, especially because of al the stuff he has been through. I think I went a bit TOO far when using Mr. Kongou's love for his daughter to fuel his actions upon reflection…

Formboy1: Kouhai, asking me how I am is super creepy… Hahahaha, but in all seriousness, thank you for asking. It means a lot to me that you are worried, especially what with the world situation is right now. I'm keeping hygienic and making sure that I keep a social distance from others – the government here in Australia has really cracked down on it so things are doing fine for me. Wherever you are, I hope that you are good as well and keeping safe and healthy. Jesus, it makes me that long to re-read it if I need to, so I feel your pain in a way. Hahahaha, I'm glad that you sort of realised that Kongou was just as much a victim in this ass everyone else – interestingly enough, that was shown in the first chapter but as things went along and we saw the variety of emotions within Kongou, we sort of forgot that even Kongou was suffering as a result of what happened so I'm glad that you were hit with the realisation that she was a victim too! Touma is too perfect a human being, even if he is flawed so I completely understand you gushing – in a way, this entire fic is a bit of a Touma gush when you think about it… But for everything that he has, there are some things that Touma can't stand such as those who are meant to stand up for their loved ones not doing so. But that last line being a proposal was something I had to put in! I hope that you can read, and accept, the end result of change that I have made. Even if it might not seem like it at first, losing his left arm really will change things in the future so I hope you can make a note of your remark going forward! Mugino would definitely relate though! As for the Japanese alphabet, the 'A' sound is actually the first, so technically, Accelerator would be first in his contact list, hahaha! You shall see what happened to Orion and Faith… I really want to see Maidono as well, although that might be because she was the volume's 'heroine' in a way. That and Maidono's power, even though it is not practical, really kicks ass! Part of me really enjoyed GT 1 because it actively showed Index being awesome – her ability to memorise movements feels like something that can be used in a lot of ways as well… That one illustration with Othinus was goddamn badass though, I have to say; it's one of my favourites of the entire novel – little haughty Othinus standing on the shoulder of Touma! Neoka didn't want the Dark Side to disappear because there were people who found peace in that and didn't want to tear that away from them. Where will Anna go in the future…? Jesus, you certainly play a hard game, don't you? In terms of the things that I would like to see (in no particular order) are: 1. Just more Misaki and Touma – if only to show that she relies on hm more than she lets on and also to have some hope in her remembering her for real. 2. Like you said, more reveals about the inner being in Touma's right hand. 3. Also like you said, more Index being awesome. She has been sidelined a bit too long and I sort of want her to show a bit more of her badass side. 4. …It might go against what you want, but a serious battle between Touma and Mikoto with her A.A.A. or some sort of addressing of the deterioration of her mental state. 5. Where the hell is the #6?! I think those 5 around cover it. Also, for your last note, that really means the world. Hearing stuff like this keeps me going and hearing it from you especially makes me smile – your words have an effect on me as well and I really want you to know that! Thanks for the last wishes as well – I'll keep safe! And the time spent writing all this was 8.14 to 8.31 PM.

And finally, the thanks. Firstly, to my beta reader PokeRecue18. He didn't manage to proof read this chapter, likely because of the world situation, but his support has been the world to me. Seriously man, for the things you have done for me, you have my eternal and endless thanks. We've been at this for a long time and it's gotten to be a true pain in the ass, but I truly want to thank you all the same.

And to you, the reader. Seriously, just insert your name here. Because you deserve it for reaching this far. For everything you have done for me, you have my thanks as well and I only hope I can continue touching your hearts in the same way I have thus far. Really, from the bottom of my heart: thank you.

Also, I hope that everyone is doing fine in this world situation. Keep safe and healthy everyone!

And from me, I hope you keep on doing what it is you are doing with this story:

Enjoy.

Mr Question Mark.


"What…did you say?"

The voice of Kamijou Touma echoed throughout the silence of the hospital room but even then, the iciness and the absolute fright contained within was evident to anyone who listened.

The incident with Kongou Mitsuko had finally ended and all the loose ends had been tied.

So, for that single high school boy, this was nothing more than the extra bonus stage he had to take part in, no matter how much he wanted to avoid placing his feet into that poisonous ground where he now stood.

Even though the incident with Kongou had ended, the events of it had not just been about her and Kongou Airlines doing the deal with Academy City. No, even the incident which had threatened to tear apart the life of that normal girl was just a means to an end for the Science side when it came to the underground war happening between both sides in Academy City.

Magic against Science.

That underground war had the parties of Harmonia's Cradle and MINUS participating, each of them with their own formidable forces. While the term 'war' felt distant to Kamijou despite what he had been through, it had been the end 'gain' at the end of this incident that made Kamijou realise he could no longer just stand on the sidelines and assume it had nothing to do with him.

And that was because the Science side had managed to finalise the deal with Kongou Airlines, managing to bring in 15 billion dollars of parts for the construction of two projects of Kihara Kamui, an active participant in this war for the Science side. Those two projects were the FIVE_Object and the cyborg he had created using that sick and twisted mind of his.

Although the cyborg was an unknown element, the implication Academy City was creating a 50 metre tall massive weapon which had the potential to wipe out an entire country was not a pleasant thought. In fact, it told the extent to which this war was going to tear things apart and rip through the lives of all Kamijou loved.

He refused to accept that.

So, because of that defiance, Kamijou felt he had to do something, even if it was small and meant nothing. He did not think he could stop a single war happening between both sides by himself nor did he think there was anything out there that would allow him to do so, but even if it was small and nothing but information, Kamijou felt he had to do something. Even if it was slowly dipping his feet into the poisonous water of this war, Kamijou could no longer think of this as something far removed from him.

Because if he did, it would only turn around and tear apart the normal life he sought to protect so much.

Kihara Kamui had already harmed him. By implanting his personality into Aaron Gracestone and torturing Kamijou for the sake of breaking him, Kamijou had lost his left arm. There was no way it could be repaired given the state it was in and any and all offers to give him money for a prosthetic were refused. He knew he was being entirely stubborn about it, pointlessly so, but he had his own reasons for the denial.

Yet, the fact he had sustained damage was enough for Kamijou to assess the immediacy and the severity of the threat Kamui provided. It was because Kamijou had still felt everything was distant to him even after the incident with Mugino Shizuri that he had not done anything but with the way things were now and with the completion of the deal to create the FIVE_Object, the point of no return had already been reached.

Something was going to change.

And Kamijou Touma, with everything he had, was not simply going to let the lives of those around him be ripped apart when he was already tossed into that war and had learned about all that had happened. There was something he had to do, people he had to call and something he had to organise so that, even if it was small, he had the knowledge to understand what was happening in this war.

Kamijou could no longer ignore everything anymore and could no longer assume he would be brought in through misfortune.

So, he had to do something, even if it was small, to fight back against the terror to come.

However, as Kamijou Touma was, the first thing he had thought about was not the desire to fight, but rather to protect. After all, it was because he wanted to maintain the smiles of those around him that served as the impetus for his actions in the first place. It was due to that that Kamijou had immediately called two people due to something he had heard from Kihara Kamui himself, even if it had been through Aaron Gracestone's mouth.

The heroes of Accelerator and Hamazura Shiage, among others, within Academy City all have their basis and can get through almost anything with the will inside them but even that breaks and they snap.

Kihara Kamui had been focused entirely on trying to break Kamijou. He had placed the blame for the deaths in this incident upon Kamijou's shoulders before trying to psychically torture him to cause the boy's mind to break. Even if Kamijou had held strong, the only reason Kamui had stopped was because of the timely intervention of the people who had come to save him.

If he had had time…if the torture and the pressure pushing down on Kamijou's mind and heart had lasted for even a while longer…

Not even Kamijou was sure how he would turn out.

He understood everybody had a breaking point. Othinus, when she had been a Magic God, had been able to isolate the point of Kamijou which would cause him to break. He had actually gone through with the action that would have led to his suicide in the Omega World, even if nothing had come of it.

So, Kamijou knew the solidarity in the hearts and minds of someone was not entirely concrete. It would bend and, after enough pressure, would break.

And Kamui had said two names that made Kamijou fear from the bottom of his heart for the safety of them both.

Accelerator.

Hamazura Shiage.

Heroes in their own right, they had managed to protect a lot and had managed to hold onto something until they had the chance to call it their own. They had something precious they did not want to have taken away and would fight with everything they had to protect it.

Which meant that if Kihara Kamui set his eyes on them, there was only one thing he would have to focus on if he wanted to utterly tear apart the mind and the hearts of those heroes. Would they break? Perhaps, if enough pressure was applied to them and that which they loved. And knowing Kamui, if it was for the purposes of seeing those heroes cry, he would ensure he placed that pressure onto them until they broke.

The thought terrified Kamijou. The idea that those boys he knew and the people close to them being hurt for something as stupid as what Kamui wanted chilled him to the bone. So, it was with the purposes of warning the two of them of that mad scientist and how he had named the two of them as heroes and thus identified Accelerator and Hamazura Shiage as people he might try to break, Kamijou had called the two of them and told them everything he knew about Kamui.

He did not tell them about the Science and Magic war: the fight happening on the underside of this City and in the darkness. It was one they did not deserve to be placed into because of someone as small as Kamijou. But he told them what he knew of Kamui that he had heard from Yume, the beautiful scientist who had had the misfortune of coming across him in her numerous fields of study.

He had told them how Kamui was a man in his mid-thirties but that it did not mean much given he had perfectly performed Personality Swipe: the project that allowed him to implant his personality into other males. Whether it be because he preferred his own gender or thought women as being inferior, Kamijou did not know. However, because of that project, although the Original Kamui was a man in his thirties, the Kamui that might threaten Accelerator and Hamazura might be someone else entirely, as was the case with Aaron Gracestone.

Kamijou did not mention the FIVE_Object and the cyborg being created. Delving too deep into this would bring both those boys into a war they did not deserve to enter when they had their peace nor did Kamijou tell them of the wound he had sustained. Whether that was to avoid bringing forward the lengths Kamui would go to or because Kamijou himself was scared to fully admit he had lost that arm, Kamijou did not know.

He had merely called and told those two boys everything he knew about Kamui.

They had merely listened, Hamazura butting in every now and then because of how Kamui (as an old man) had harmed Mugino by attempting to revert her personality into who she was before she had met Hamazura. Perhaps the threat felt more real to him in this sense given Kamui could literally be any male in Academy City if they had been subjected to Personality Swipe.

Accelerator had said nothing the entire time, rudely asking Kamijou if he was done when he had stopped and then hanging up while Hamazura had thanked Kamijou, although noted just as rudely that his day had now been spoiled. Whether that was their way of saying thanks or was just who they were, Kamijou did not feel insulted about it.

After all, if he had been told his loved ones and everything he had worked for was being targeted by an asshole who was set on breaking him, he was not entirely sure how would react favourably to whoever had told him.

But with those two being the ones Kamijou had informed, Kamijou had made a few more calls.

Two in fact.

One to the Science side.

And one to the Magic side.

Of the girls that had infiltrated the District 10 Unergy Nuclear Research Centre to save him after he had been kidnapped, he had not seen a few of them.

Kazakiri Hyouka he understood. With the unstable physical existence she was, it made sense she had not appeared in front of him after everything had happened. Kamijou did not blame her given her uncertain existence and he was sure that, if she appeared again, she would come to visit, if she was not already watching over him now.

Wannai Kinuho and Awatsuki Maaya he also understood. They had had their memories erased on the matter because of the trauma they had experienced and, as a result, there was nothing tying them to Kamijou, nor did they have anything to do with him if the first place.

The Sisters who had come to save him had come in individually. While that was a logistical mess to deal with, he had thanked them for coming for him, much like he had thanked everyone else who had risked their lives to save him.

Shokuhou Misaki…was another girl Kamijou understood why she had not come to visit him. After all, given she felt he would forget her every time they met, Kamijou understood the sentiment and the reasoning why she did not visit. Even though he could now remember her because of the effects of Regon meaning he was remembering things he should not have, finally letting that girl free from the weight of being forgotten was something Kamijou intended to do, even if he was unsure about how he should do it.

The things he was feeling and the way Shokuhou's issue pressed down at his heart with guilt and shame he knew he could not afford to ignore, no, an issue he would not ignore. For the sake of her smile, for the sake to make sure she knew she was not forgotten, Kamijou intended to settle her issue.

He was a bastard for making her wait, a bastard for dealing with other things first but with the chaos that had happened, the weighting of things he had to deal with was so skewed that he had trouble keeping an eye on them all.

But maybe that was just the excuse he used to justify the disgusting nature of his own terrible heart.

Kamijou did not know, nor did he expect, Shokuhou to forgive him. He did not know what to expect at all but for the uncertainty and the emotion she was feeling, he felt the pressure of what he had to face pressing at him at all sides. He wanted to ease her worries, face the consequences of what he had caused but the fear within him was the only thing was holding him back.

He was scared.

Scared of what her reaction would be, scared of what he would discover and scared of the consequences of his actions.

He was a coward through and through and it was selfishly and shamelessly that Kamijou focused on the final person who had not visited him but had come to save him.

Itsuwa of the Amakusa Church.

The girl who, under the pretence she was Kamijou's 'girlfriend' to be given entry into Academy City, was here to monitor the progress of Harmonia's Cradle who had infiltrated the City. It was because of her surveillance that she had managed to save Kamijou when he had been attacked by their Saint, Batya Sitara, but it was constantly that Itsuwa had sent glances at Kamijou's way with an expression that told she had something urgent she wanted to say.

Kamijou had made his calls and it was the afternoon. He had spent less than 24 hours without a left arm and even then, it didn't feel real as he sat inside the hospital room that was his and his alone, despite being for public use. Kamijou, for the sake of speaking with Itsuwa in private, had sent the others who had been to see him out under the excuse that he wanted to adjust to not having a left arm.

Maybe it was because of her haughty nature as a God but Othinus had returned to the room, puffing out her chest as she declared the words of a human meant nothing to a God and had cheekily climbed up the bedsheet to sit on Kamijou's pillow.

But even she was silent as Kamijou asked his ice cold question into the air from what he had heard from Itsuwa after calling her to his room. Her words and the reality they had formed felt like a proper report which was extremely professional of her but the way she averted her eyes in shame at Kamijou's question made him realise the weight of what she had said.

His heart felt as though it had stopped, Kamijou staring at Itsuwa, opening his mouth to say something but finding nothing came out. Instead, shocked breaths did. He licked his dry lips and swallowed but finding that nothing would quench the sudden dryness of his throat.

But even so, he asked her the same question again.

"What did you say?"

Itsuwa seemed to want to withhold her words but steeled herself, staring Kamijou right in the eye and repeating her heavy words.

"I...It is in this current incident and I imagine it would be the opinion of the Church as well, but the factors that surround both Otohime and Index are ones that can no longer be ignored."

Those horrible words echoed in the air and they seemed to make Kamijou freeze once more.

"With the current incident pushing Otohime's mind into an unknown state, although not broken, with the current Magic Name of Salvare001 she chose, the lengths she will go to for the sake of pursuing a Magic Name which she does not understand is enough to suggest she will stray onto a broken path whether one does anything or not. Similarly, for Index, the control of the sentient grimoire that allowed her access to the grimoires in her mind means that she is slowly, even if she managed to regain her consciousness, moving onto a strayed path."

Itsuwa's report felt cold but Kamijou's mind felt colder as he stared at her, sweating and feeling his heart racing impossibly fast in his chest.

"As such, I imagine it would the opinion of the Church that both those factors have to be dealt with. Otohime and Index, with the paths they have set themselves on, are factors which have to be suppressed."

The word hung in the air but the implications of it stabbed at Kamijou. What exactly did that mean? Would magic be applied to remove the memory of whatever the sentient grimoire was from Index's mind and the memory of magic from Otohime's? Or was that more sinister, holding the dreaded implications Kamijou did not want to accept?

It did not matter in either case.

The only thing that mattered was that those words were enough to make Kamijou feel as though simply losing a left arm meant nothing.

Although those were the remarks Itsuwa had made at the end of telling Kamijou everything, it had been the recount of the events that had made Kamijou go whiter and whiter.

Hearing Otohime had taken the Magic Name of Salvare001, hearing how she had faced Orion Phoenix the mercenary without even breaking a sweat and how she had seen the death which had occurred were things Kamijou knew were dangerous. More so than anything else, the path Otohime had chosen with her Magic was one that had suddenly moved from the straight and narrow towards a bumpy and twisted one.

But not only that, what had happened to Index was perhaps news that had struck him at his very core.

Hearing she had killed people, although it was not her doing it. Hearing the sentient grimoire inside her mind had taken control and killed all the soldiers was hard to hear, but it was how it had happened in the first place that had struck Kamijou harder than anything else.

Index had 'died'.

If not for the sentient grimoire activating John's Pen defence system at the last moment, Index would never have returned home.

The existence of the silver haired girl right now was one so fragile and had been hanging on a knife's edge that it was a miracle she was even alive right now. By all rights, she should have been dead, but it was the miracle or the curse of this sentient grimoire that had even allowed Index to be saved.

She had almost died trying to save Kamijou. No, she truly had 'died' and the sentient grimoire had taken over her body, pushing her towards the dangerous path she was walking. If this continued, there was the serious chance that Index would 'die', lose all sense of herself and become entirely controlled by the sentient grimoire that decided she was not worthy to be its holder and completely take over her body.

The mere thought of having lost that single smile from that single nun made Kamijou's entire body freeze. A voice inside him, something like a phantom, cursed him, berating him for letting things turn out the way they had. With grit teeth, Kamijou clenched his fist.

Was the voice screaming at him his past self?

Or his current self?

The mocking it was giving him, cursing him, stabbed at his heart as he realised the failure he had let come to pass. It sank deep into his core, even more so as he realised the implications of what had happened not only to Index but also to Otohime as well.

They had gone off the straight and narrow. Even if it was for a tiny moment or simply a possibility for the future, their futures were uncertain. But even that small uncertainty was enough to send the Church into a frenzy, asking for suppression for those uncertain factors. Index and Otohime had become such wild cards at this stage and the one thing that was supposed to be holding them in place had shifted and had disappeared when it had mattered the most.

Otohime had chosen a Magic Name without realising what it meant. Salvare001 meant to become the salvation for those who could not be saved but a Magic Name was meant to represent a goal a magician could not reach no matter how hard they tried. Otohime, by choosing that Magic Name, had doomed herself to constantly look at that name and curse herself every time she failed.

And she had done so even now.

She had failed to save Kamijou Touma and the lives which had been lost.

How much was that going to press down on her? How much was that going to drive her mind to the brink? The only people that could even remotely satisfy their Magic Names were those Magic Gods looking down on everyone. Otohime, being nothing more than a normal magician, did not have the chance to have that power or achieve her goal.

So how far would she go to make her Magic Name a reality? The Saint Kanzaki Kaori had been unable to accomplish her Magic Name even now, so what chance did the normal magician Otohime have in doing so?

To what lengths would she go and to what extent would she stain her hands for the sake of that goal?

Those unanswered questions had meant the Church had deemed it necessary to suppress her.

Index had been unable to control the sentient grimoire within her. She had brought an end to many lives because she was caught up in the life of Kamijou and the chance of it happening again, the chance of the sentient grimoire overtaking her mind randomly, was a looming one.

The power of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum going rampant because of a single grimoire was not just a threat to people. Index herself, even without mana and the refinement of it was on the same stage as a Magic God candidate. And with the ability to use magic in her John Pen's form which the sentient grimoire had the chance to activate and use, the threat looming over their heads was one that threatened the very world.

If the sentient grimoire managed to control Index's mind again and she did not manage to take control, it was entirely possible that another Magic God would walk the earth once more.

Would Index be able to suppress the sentient grimoire that was going to overtake her mind? Would she able to fight back against it and counter the grimoire?

Those unanswered questions had meant the Church had deemed it necessary to suppress her.

And the reason why both those girls were in danger?

It was because Kamijou Touma, the boy who had said he would set them on the right path if they strayed, had failed. He had said he would protect them from a hypothetical losing of their way but with Otohime's failure at fulfilling her Magic Name causing everything to press down on her and Index's loss of her mind at the hands of the sentient grimoire, it had turned from a mere hypothetical into a proper threat.

Tatsugami Otohime and Index were now walking on eggshells.

And the reason that had happened was because Kamijou Touma had failed to save them.

That failure stabbed into the boy, sinking deep into his core. He moved his mouth, realising his voice was soft and shaking so much he had a hard time making out the words. Both Itsuwa and Othinus felt they had to turn their heads away from the sight: the scene of Kamijou Touma in the state he was in was not something they, or anyone else, had the right to see.

"What…happens now then?"

"The Church," Itsuwa said slowly with her head down. "Will probably take them back. After all, the Index is only in your care and Otohime is here on cultural exchange. Nothing is actually fixing them here and at any time they can be pulled away. The threats they pose are not something one can ignore and put to the side." Itsuwa once more held her head in shame as she spoke, realising the weight of the words on Kamijou.

The boy himself knew the connection he had with both girls was flimsy and could be broken at any time but the fact it could be taken away so easily stabbed at him. He trembled, finding it hard to take a breath with everything thrown at him so suddenly and the information coursing through his head.

Index and Otohime would be suppressed. They would be taken from him when he had said he would protect them and his failure to do that had torn apart those bonds so precious to him without even once considering how or what he was feeling.

"How bad was it?"

The voice that came out sounded entirely broken, a false hope within it. But, rising his head, he stared at Itsuwa with broken eyes, the hope in them just as false as the tone in his voice.

He knew the answer to the question he was going to ask.

But he had to ask it anyway.

"I-If there is the slightest possibility they can be fixed, that they can be turned back to normal, then isn't there the chance they can stay!? That they can remain with their own normal lives!? A-As long as Otohime doesn't do anything drastic and Index doesn't lose herself again, then everything is fine, right!?"

"Y-Yes…" Itsuwa nodded and readily agreed before turning her head, again in shame. She clenched both her fists by her side, gritting her teeth and biting her lip. Despite having the possibility of Index and Otohime staying by his side risen into the air, the way Itsuwa acted did not give a concrete fix on that hope. It was with proper fear that Kamijou opened his mouth.

"Itsuwa?"

"…Everything would be fine. As long as Index doesn't lose herself again and Otohime doesn't do anything drastic, then everything would be fine."

"Th-Then what's the problem!? Why do they have to be sent back to the Church to be suppressed!?"

"The problem is you, human. That's what she's trying to get at."

The small figure by his side spoke up, Kamijou turning so fast towards her with an expression of hurt that even Othinus turned her head away. But even then, she knew the feelings coursing inside of him, as his Understander. What he needed now was not hesitation but answers. Othinus turned her head back and spoke, Kamijou clearly not understanding the things she was referring to.

"That nun and your cousin entered this battlefield and had those things happen to them because they were trying to save you. Literally, they laid down their lives for you and that nun even had hers taken. If not for that sentient grimoire, she would not be standing here. Their actions are a consequence of yours."

"Are you saying…that this is my fault?"

"No. It's the opposite. They are beings possessing free will. So, I am not going to remark on the blame or anything else. But they chose to follow you. They chose to enter danger after you. Yes, provided they don't go into danger, then everything is solved. But they entered danger in the first place because of you, human. Which means the conditions for their salvation need the requirement of your inaction."

"I…don't understand."

"Those two followed after you in this battle. So, the only thing that will prevent them from running the risk of coming across anything that will twist them any further is to avoid battles entirely. Do you understand now, human? In order to prevent those two from heading down their twisted path anymore, you would need to stop saving people."

The silence in the air was deafening. You could have cut it into it with a knife and you could have grabbed it with both hands. The only thing that remained was the silence of a single spiky haired boy looking so shocked and horrified at the tiny god next to him that the answer had already been reached before it had even been asked.

The Church had already decided that Index and Otohime needed to be suppressed.

Meaning they saw them to be a danger, saw them as entering battles once more and running the risk of going down a dangerous path once more.

And they saw that happening because those two girls would follow Kamijou into whatever hell he would put himself through for the sake of another person.

The Church had already likely asked themselves the same question Othinus had. In order for Index and Otohime to not be exposed to any factors that would send them down the same thorny path they were walking, Kamijou Touma would have to abandon someone who was reaching out their hand. He would have to abandon someone who was on the verge of tears and pressed down by the unfairness of the world.

Provided he did that, then the Church did not have to take Index and Otohime and suppress them.

The Church had asked themselves one question:

Will Kamijou Touma ever stop saving people?

And they had reached their answer.

And it showed in their decision to take both Index and Otohime away.

How could he do that?

How could he abandon someone faced with the unfairness of the world? How could he merely leave things half-heartedly and think it was not his problem when someone else was suffering? How could Kamijou justify ignoring someone else in need when they had no one else to turn to? How could he stare at those tears and think someone should keep crying them? How could he look at someone and not give a damn about them or their situation? How could he stay silent in the face of their tears and just walk on by without once thinking about the person and what they were suffering?

Kamijou Touma could not do it.

Hell, he had faced infinite hell because he had been unable to do that.

Like an ironclad rule, Kamijou Touma would always save someone.

And because of it, he was going to lose that nun and his cousin based on the possibility he was going to throw them into danger.

"...it…"

"Can you do that, human? If you want to save someone, you have to abandon someone else. Can you make that justification; those numbers?"

Kamijou felt the sharp words sink into him, sharper than any blade. Even Kamui's torture was less than this. Kamijou trembled, Othinus by his side and reaching up to stroke his forearm.

"Can you…do that?"

The one question Othinus asked, whether it be as a challenge, curiosity or to validate the core of that boy sank deep into his heart such that it constrained it beyond anything else.

And Kamijou Touma gave his answer.

"GODDAMN IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!"

The yell that erupted from his mouth made Itsuwa and Othinus go white in the face. They had known the answer from the start, much like the Church had. Yet, it was because of that kind-hearted, honest and pure answer, Kamijou Touma was going to suffer. Simply because he reached out a hand to save someone, he was going to suffer and have things he treasured ripped from him without him being able to say anything else to the contrary.

His throat felt hoarse from the scream, the boy trembling in his bed as he panted heavily. He body shook and it was with absolutely disgust that Kamijou viewed it as it was. No, perhaps it was the fact he was born in this world that made him tremble in disgust.

He had wanted to save someone. He did not want to look at someone else's tears and think that there was a justification for them.

And yet, here was one. To justify the tears of someone else, he had to protect someone else's smile.

How could he make that choice?

How could he willingly do that and abandon the smile of someone else that did not deserve to have tears in the first place?

It wasn't fair.

But once again, the core of Kamijou had revealed itself again.

He would do anything for anyone, become a shield for misfortune and take every single bad thing that happened onto himself for the chances to make them happy.

No matter the cost to himself.

No matter the cost to his smile.

As the world rejoiced in the things given to it and as people laughed and cried as they held the things most precious to them…

It was only a single spiky haired boy who had to cast his head down and endure the fact he was going to be left with nothing.

"I…Did I do anything wrong?"

The voice that came out was barely a whisper. The words were cold and icy, perhaps because of the things Kamijou would have to lose because of his failure and his choice. The words stabbed into the two girls, leaving them entirely silent.

They had no answer.

But even then, the fact Kamijou Touma doubted himself enough to ask that was enough of a blow for the both of them.

"Was there…something I did wrong? Was there something I could have done better? I…I just wanted to ensure someone had the chance to smile. Was that wrong in some way? Was it twisted in some form? It was a simple wish, even if it was selfish. Why…Did
I do anything wrong? Was there something out of line? I just wanted to make sure someone had the chance to smile again. That someone had the chance to…live in happiness again. How can I believe that was wrong?! And yet…And yet…!"

"I…asked myself the same thing."

Itsuwa was the one who said that, hanging her head down. She trembled herself, not being able to say anything but finding her breathing was out of control and laboured. Even though she was nothing more than a simple girl, she had the exact same thought as Othinus coursing through her right now.

She did not want to see Kamijou Touma unhappy. If anything, if there was any human that deserved the greatest chance at happiness for the thing he did, then it was the single spiky haired boy lying in that bed.

Kamijou Touma had done nothing wrong.

He was not perfect. He did not always have the perfect solution to everything nor the perfect method to solve everything. There were things he missed, ignored and just outright did that no one should have and his flaws as a human being were ones particular to him.

But he was good enough for them.

He was a good enough person to not have this suffering put onto him.

And he deserved better.

It was not that Kamijou was wrong in this case.

It was the world.

"Itsu…wa?"

"I asked myself the same thing. …How could I think of what you did as wrong? How could I think of what you did as needing punishment? It was biased. It was unjustified and it was something I should not have done but I did it anyway. I had my orders. I had my task and yet I could not accept the type of ending you were given. How could I accept it!? After everything you do for others, after everything you sacrifice for others, how could I accept that type of answer!? I could not. So…I didn't."

"Itsuwa? What…are you talking about?"

Othinus on the other hand spoke, her one eye wide as she stared at the girl.

"Y-You can't be serious. E-Even if it's ignorance protecting you right now, do you even understand the risk of what you've done!? I have no obligation to care for any human apart from this one but since the actions you have taken arise from your concern from him, I cannot simply ignore them. You are not going to get out of this unscathed!"

"I know," Itsuwa said those words, but the way she rose her head and stared at the former god indicated she had no desire or intention on backing down no matter what anyone else said. "I might go to the Tower of London for this, although I imagine given its state, I would be sent to the Aqua Tunnel for insubordination. But I could not accept it. I could not accept an ending where Kamijou Touma is forced to abandon someone for someone else's sake. How…How can I accept that!?"

"Wait, I don't understand. You're speaking too fast and I can't follow whatsoever. What in the world are you talking about?!"

"Human, you're surprisingly dense. Follow the conversation a little."

"Why am I being criticised?! And why are you making jokes?"

"That girl over there… Now that I think about it, she never confirmed anything. She only said she would imagine it would be the opinion of the Church. Never did she say it was the actual thing."

"…Wait," Kamijou's eyes went wide as he turned his head and stared at the girl standing beside him. "D-Doesn't that mean sending Index and Otohime to the Church to suppress them is nothing but…?"

"…If I actually reported anything to the Church, then that is the response I imagine I would get. But, even despite the threat, even despite the danger they pose, I did not report what happened to them."

"Hang on. D-Doesn't that mean, you – "

"Seems like you're catching on, human. ...She betrayed the Church. Simply because she did not want to see you sad."

Kamijou went white in the face as he stared at the girl standing across from him, unable to say anything.

Itsuwa, the person who had been sent to oversee Index and Otohime and report when they were going to be leaving the path they had wanted as well as keeping an eye on Harmonia's Cradle. Yet, when she had seen the both of them take a dangerous turn, something she should have reported, she only thought about what the response of the Church would be.

Naturally, they would ask that same question Kamijou had; whether there was the chance of them leaving the straight and narrow again. However, because both Index and Otohime had left that path trying to save Kamijou, it was clear the straying of that path was dependent on the things Kamijou got himself into.

So, was it possible Kamijou would never get into anything, thus meaning there was no reason for Index and Otohime to stray from their path? The answer was obvious. Whether it be from misfortune or his own choice, trouble would always find Kamijou, if he didn't find it first.

And the response of the Church would be obvious from that; they would want to suppress Index and Otohime.

Itsuwa had imagined that far. She had thought ahead, looked at the result and questioned it.

Why?

Why did Kamijou had to be forced to abandon someone for the sake of saving someone else? There was no winning in that situation: if Kamijou did not abandon someone then he was forsaking Index and Otohime and if he did, then he was forsaking whoever he abandoned. Kamijou, through one avenue or another, would be forced to lose something and Itsuwa had stared at that answer and rejected it.

She did not want Kamijou to be put into that situation. So, she had withheld information from the Church to prevent Kamijou from making the choice he did not want to. She had not told them Otohime had chosen a Magic Name and was on a shaky path or that Index had been controlled by the sentient grimoire.

For nothing more than the reason to ensure Kamijou Touma did not have to be sad. For nothing more than the reason that she did not want Kamijou to despair or to feel pain, she had brought the silent challenge to the Church by withholding information.

If, no, perhaps when this was discovered, Itsuwa would not get off scot-free. Itsuwa herself probably understood the risks more than anyone else and yet, although that was the case, she had still chosen to take the action she had and betray the Church, all so Kamijou could have the same normal life as always back in his hands.

That was the only reason.

That was the only reason Itsuwa had taken the reckless action she had and the way she trembled suggested just how much she knew what she had done was reckless and how it was going to affect her in the future. But even then, she had done it anyway, choosing to do the reckless thing.

In this case, Itsuwa had done wrong. The path Index and Otohime were walking now was dangerous. Index had killed when controlled by her sentient grimoire and the lengths Otohime would go to so she could achieve her Magic Name's meaning were unknown. They had both said they were fine, but whether it was truly the case was something only those girls knew. The uncertainty that came with that meant Itsuwa's actions were in the wrong and for the safety of the world, it was right to report in the truth.

But she had not decided to do so.

Simply because she wanted to give Kamijou the chance to live out his normal life and not to have to suffer when he had wanted and achieved the best for everyone.

"Itsuwa, you…for me? I…Why would you do that? You have to know what the Church is going to do to you and yet, you took that risk? It was my failure, Itsuwa. My failure that brought this on and no matter what I have to go through I have to face the consequence of such!"

"The consequence?" The word was hissed out by Itsuwa who grit her teeth and she seemed to resent it from her very being. "What consequence? You made a mistake. That is undeniable. But we were the ones who relied on an amateur when it comes to Magic to deal with our problems. Dealing with the Index and Otohime should have been our job and yet…yet we left it to an amateur? Not only that but someone who would suffer on the off chance of failing in the overwork we gave him?! Where was our punishment? As the professionals in this case, why is it only us who are unscathed while you are the one taking everything for us? It's entirely backwards and I refuse to accept it."

Itsuwa threw out a hand and placed another on her chest, speaking all the same.

"I betrayed the Church. So I will have to bear the consequences of such. But…I did so simply because you do not deserve to suffer when it was us who foolishly thought we could push everything onto you and let you deal with it. We're talking about the lives of people who are close to you and yet we felt that simply letting you deal with it was the way to go? And when you made one mistake, only one, we would have to take everything you treasured away from you!? You, who have done so much for everyone and so much for others, is the one made to suffer!? You, who, more than anyone, deserves to be happy!?"

"M-My happiness is not something that can be gained through something like this!"

"AND YET THIS WAS ALL I COULD DO!"

Itsuwa screamed that into the air, reaching forward and touching Kamijou's left arm, or rather, where it was supposed to be.

"What did I do to help this? Where was I when I could have stopped this? You are always the one placing yourself in the worst position over and over again for the sake of others and when it happens again, you expect me to just leave it!? You expect me to just sit there and justify it because it always happens? You have it backwards once again, Kamijou-san."

"What are you…?"

"If..."

Itsuwa stopped breathing for only a moment, staring Kamijou right in the face as she spoke.

"If I don't do this, if I'm not prepared to sacrifice something on this level for the sake of your happiness, then I have no right to fight by your side. I have no right to even remotely stand where you are and no right to be beside you. It might not be much, you might not like it, but in my eyes, this is the most I could do. This was the most I could do so I could protect…your precious happiness."

Kamijou opened his mouth but found something catching in his mouth. There was something he wanted to say yet the moment he placed it on his tongue, it caught and threatened to not come out. Yet, he forced it through, his shaking breath leaving his mouth.

"Why…Why go so far for me? I…I don't even deserve what you are doing for me! And yet, what you're sacrificing for me…just to make me happy is…!"

Itsuwa turned towards him, smiling slightly, even though the edges of her eyes were watery for the things she had said and resolved to do. The smile held kindness and Kamijou felt himself lost in it, staring at her and wondering how that girl could make that smile despite what she was placing on the line.

"…Now you know what it feels like being on the other side of your actions."

There was nothing Kamijou could say, the boy opening his mouth to find something to say. No, there was only one thing he had to say and it came to the forefront of his mind but before he could even say it, the small person sitting and folding her arms on his pillow spoke up.

"You gave my human a second chance."

"Oi, since when was I yours?"

"And I think it is enough to say that in itself is a sufficient offering. Human, I am of the same mind. To be able to stand where this girl is now, sacrifices needs to be made."

"Having people think they need to do something to stand with me or that they have to give something up for my sake is – "

"We cannot read hearts, human. Even if you can read mine and I can read yours, the same is not said for every single human being on the planet. Each person has their own thing pushing them forward, this own reason. And this girl felt you were her reason for her reckless actions. Even if you think it was misguided, mistaken and going too far, what she did, she did for you."

"…"

"So, what you need to do is not to question it, is it?"

"Yeah…"

There was something else he had to do.

Kamijou Touma turned to face the girl in front of him. It was a strange feeling, being on the other end of the actions he had done to so many before but as he sat there, Itsuwa hanging over him, there truly was only thing he knew he had to say.

There was nothing holding him back.

And the only thing he had to do was give back to the true hero who had saved him in her own way.

"Thank you, Itsuwa."

Kamijou Touma smiled.

And it was that one single smile that Itsuwa truly felt as though, no matter how many times she would be faced with the same decision, she would make it over and over again for the sake of that single smile.

The same was said for Othinus as she looked at it.

Those two girls witnessed a common sight that day and in that moment.

And the weight of the single smile revealed to them made them truly realise they would do anything to see it…

And protect it as well.


Yet, even though that was the case, optimism did nothing to block danger heading one's way. Just as love did not stop a bullet, the pure thinking of Itsuwa and what she had done for Kamijou did not lessen the threat in the background whatsoever.

Itsuwa had given Kamijou a second chance.

She had neglected and betrayed the Church by not giving them the information regarding the changes in Tatsugami Otohime and Index. By not wanting to lose Kamijou's smile, she had chosen to give him a second chance at resolving the issues with them, no matter how foolish or optimistic such a choice was.

But, by only considering the position of Kamijou, it was that professional's flaw that she did not see the bigger picture.

Yes.

After all, this had happened due to Kamijou's failure to protect both Tatsugami Otohime and Index.

When all was said and done, this was not about making sure Kamijou had the chance to keep smiling or not.

Instead, it was about making sure those girls were kept an eye on. Prioritising Kamijou Touma here was the true failure and it was through ignoring that and focusing on the feelings of Kamijou that was where the mistake lay.

Something had changed.

Everyone knew that one fact.

But even then, the failure to keep an eye on it was where everything fell apart.


Tatsugami Otohime stared at the cup of water she had been given by the nurses in the District 7 hospital. Whether it be because she had been here so many times because of her cousin, all the staff knew her by name and it was more often than not that she and Index were given small bentos when they visited Kamijou, filled with their favourite food. It was questionable whether the fact that strangers knew their tastes was a good thing or not, but it did say something about how much time she had spent in this hospital.

But this time was different.

She had failed.

Otohime had vowed within herself, the moment she had taken the Magic Name of Salvare001 that she would become the salvation for the one person she had never seen been saved: whether in her childhood or in the present. Time and time again, he was cast aside and thrown away for the sake of others and their smiles and he even condoned the practice himself.

There were people out there who wanted to save him from that, wanted to save him from that fate and make him realise he deserved to be saved and had the chance to be happy.

And yet, although Otohime had been one of those people, she had utterly failed.

People had died.

Kamijou Touma had been tortured and lost his left arm.

Otohime, even now, had trouble adjusting to that. She had said she was fine, but it was not so much the memory of the events that had struck her deep in her core, but rather the fact that they had happened which pierced her heart.

She found she was trembling as she held the cup of water, holding her hand with her other and slowly drinking from the cup.

Kamijou, her cousin who thought endlessly of other people, had been harmed. He had not been saved and even after Otohime had said she would save him, made that promise within herself that she would save him, she had still failed. She had been unable to use the power she had been blessed with to do anything good for anyone and even now, she was nothing but a child.

She hated it.

She hated how weak she was.

She had cried her eyes out lamenting on that weakness, but it was now she had worn out her tears that she came to realise the most basic of points.

Yes.

She had failed.

That was her fault and she had to accept that.

So, why did she fail?

What was she lacking?

Why had Kamijou Touma gotten hurt? What had caused all this in the first place? For someone who had his memories destroyed but still fought for others to the extent which he did, why had he gotten hurt so badly?

Those questions raced through her mind but as she thought through them, there was only one thing she had to say to herself. She stared down at her reflection in the cup of water but didn't even so much as reflect on the face staring back at her in that liquid.

If she, had even for a second, stopped to look at the face she was making…

Then maybe the truth that she wasn't fine at all would have crossed her mind.

"I…"

Tatsugami Otohime spoke words in that hospital hallway, not seeing how absolutely meaningless and misguided they were.

"I have to get stronger. Yes…I have to be able to beat anyone who gets in my way. If everything can be solved with violence…then I just have to overpower it with my own. Yes, yes."

Nor how broken the expression she was making was.

"I just have to get stronger."


"Otohime? Honestly, where did that girl get off to, Sphynx?"

Index spoke and looked down at the calico cat in her arms. But as she did so and the cat meowed in response, she noted how lacking in emotion her words were.

Something had changed after all.

Kamijou Touma had not come out fine.

There was something different this time from all the other times and the weight of that difference hit Index like a truck. Her left arm, the one Kamijou did not have, felt like a miracle in itself but as Index took that miracle for granted, she realised the nature of her position.

What had she been doing this entire time?

When Touma was off risking his life, what had she been doing?

Something had changed this time around and as a result, Touma had gotten hurt.

Index had done her best to ensure it was not enough but at the end of the day, something had changed and resulted in a different type of ending this time.

How could it have been prevented? What could have been done differently to ensure this type of ending was not repeated? Index herself did not know but the things which were lacking were lacking and there was no changing what was in the past.

The only thing one had to set one's eyes on was the future and how to change it.

(But how?)

Index had that single thought as she ran through the hospital hallways, looking for Otohime.

(How do I prevent this from happening to Touma again? What can I do to make sure Touma doesn't have to feel pain anymore?)

Release me.

Index froze, turning her head and seeing the hallway she was in was surprisingly empty for a hospital. She frowned, blinking a few times before speaking out in the lonely hallway.

"Hello?"

There was no answer.

"?"

Index tilted her head but shrugged, turning back around –

And froze.

She spun back to where she had come from, staring wide eyed in front of her, at her reflection through the window she had faced for a single instant when she had turned around. She ran up to it, dropping Sphynx in the process but did not even notice, slamming both hands against the window and staring at her reflection.

It was entirely normal.

However, when Index had turned, she had spotted something in that reflection, if only for an instant.

A magic circle in her left eye.

(Was I…mistaken?)

Index stared at her reflection harder, as if losing herself in the glass before slowly pulling back and walking backwards from the reflection, keeping her eye on it for a moment longer. She stood in the centre of the hallway, staring at her reflection before shaking her head, rubbing her left eye and turning to the calico cat on the ground.

"It must be that thing Touma was talking about. Hallucinations from being tired. Yeah, that must be it. …Hallucinations."

Index didn't waste any time picking up the calico cat from the ground and running down the hallway again.

But even she had to admit her footsteps seemed quicker than they had moments ago.

As if she were running away from the reflection that held that irregular eye.


The outside of the District 7 hospital was fairly cool despite it being afternoon. People moved in and out of it every now and then with their late lunches or drinks. Two figures sat at the table in the courtyard but it was clear from the way one of them looked at the other that there was a severe disconnect between the peaceful scene that surrounded them and the atmosphere that surrounded the two at the table.

"…You actually eat, doc?"

"How rude. I could say something similar about you. Are you even human? Because for the things you have been through, I have to question whether the human body is simply that strong or whether you are simply the anomaly."

"I want to question it too, but there's an abyss there I don't want to go down! I get the feeling I'll find something at the end I'll never be able to forget and that will only cause me endless misfortune!"

"I don't understand why you are complaining about your misfortune at this stage. If you were to plan out your average week, do you think you spend more time here? Or in your actual dorm?"

"Lalalalalalalala, I'm not listening. I'm not – Wait. D-Does that mean that eventually, I'll develop a taste for nurses? N-No, I have a thing for dorm managers. O-Of the feeling of warmth they provide you when they slowly nurse you back to health!"

"But isn't the reason you like dorm manages so much because you see so little of them?"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Wh-What is my life?! Was the dorm manager image nothing but an illusion for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?!"

Kamijou Touma roared, tears streaming from his face in a rather comical way. Heaven Canceller, sitting next to him, stared in surprise, lifting up the small bottle of water to his mouth and taking a swig of it before setting it down and lifting up the sandwich next to it.

He had been called here by Kamijou for a single reason.

Kamijou himself had already dealt with the Magic side of things. Itsuwa had placed herself in the firing line for the Church by betraying them by withholding information from them and it was at the very bottom of his heart that he had thanked Itsuwa for the things she had done when this was more than just about his own feelings: the path Index and Otohime were walking down was one that threatened not only themselves but also the world, especially in the case of Index going berserk.

The things Kamijou owed her for that simple choice, the things he owed her because she betrayed the Church just to make sure he did not have to be sad, were endless. The debt he owed her simply for that was infinite and Kamijou knew in his heart, no matter what he did and suffered, there was no way he would even remotely be able to make it up to Itsuwa.

The Church would find out about what she had done sooner or later.

And the consequences of such was something she would have to bear. Kamijou himself had no intention of merely throwing her under the bus for that but what the future held for Itsuwa and her relationship with the Church was unknown. For now, the only thing both could do was relax and know it was silently that the Church would bear its fangs against Itsuwa and the people Kamijou cared for.

What he was going to do when it came to that was obvious: he was going to protect them no matter the cost to himself.

But for now, even if it was for a short time period, the ignorance of the Church in Itsuwa's betrayal was the only thing allowing for this peace. Itsuwa was going to provide a falsified report with enough detail to hide things for now but the future, again, was unknown.

Index and Otohime would be able to stay by Kamijou's side for a little while longer. The simple reality Itsuwa had given him placed him in her debt a thousand fold and Kamijou had known that although they were nothing but words, if she ever needed anything, he would do anything for her to make this right.

Of course, the moment he had thanked her, both realised Itsuwa was grabbing his left arm stump and was leaning over him, meaning her mouth was awfully close to his and her breasts were pressing up against his chest. Naturally, they had understandably freaked out and it was with some irritation that Othinus had gnawed on Kamijou's ear to suppress the thoughts rising in his idiotic brain.

But that was only on the Magic side.

The Science side of things still had to be cleared up.

And it was with the intention to solve that that the other call Kamijou had made became important.

With Heaven Canceller by his side, having sent Othinus out with Itsuwa under the pretence that he wanted to have some time alone to reflect on what had happened, both sitting at the designated place, it was clear the conversation to be had at this table was one not for the faint hearted. But, if you were to look at it from the outside, it would be hard to make that assessment given the people at the table and what they were doing.

"To be honest, how exactly are you so lively anyway? I have a hard time believing the state you were in when you came in, but now that I see you like this, it's further hard for me to believe."

"It's not a lie! Dorm manager characters are real!"

"Is this the power of youth? Ah, but then again, when I was your age, I definitely had a lot of experiences. In fact, if you're talking about why I became a doctor, I think you could say it definitely had a lot to do with nurses."

"Why are we talking about this?! I don't want to hear this type of backstory! D-Don't tell me you were one of those of old school playboys with flashy hair with women hanging all over you despite your frog-like face?!"

"It was during that youth that I learnt you can do a lot with operating tables…"

"Stoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooop! I don't want to hear this! Don't even go there. This type of romance isn't one I want to hear about. I need healing. Give me healing! Give me a dorm manager character who will provide me with this healing! A-Ah, senseiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

"I-I keep on telling you, don't call me 'sensei'! It makes me feel older than 26!"

Kamijou turned away from the frog faced doctor (who apparently had a lot of experiences of his own in various things) and to the woman who now stood in the courtyard, having spotted Kamijou and Heaven Canceller at the table. Previously having looked entirely lost, her face lit up as she spotted both men and walked over to them.

Yume, the scientist, was the final person Kamijou had called.

He had been given her number after the chaos with MINUS but also again after she had accidentally seen Kamijou break down as he lamented on the unfairness on his PTSD brought on by Regon. Kamijou had not called the woman counsellor concerning his mental disorder but because of something else entirely.

She had agreed to come and it was with the counsel of Heaven Canceller, another doctor and professional, that she was received.

Her black hair swayed in the wind of the courtyard and the coat she wore kicked up in the wind. She closed one of her blue eyes to protect it from the wind but the way she did so only attracted more stares to her sensual figure. While she wore a lab coat, the suit she wore beneath accentuated her large breasts (the necktie between them especially doing this) and her stockings protected the fine legs they covered.

If there was anyone here who could cause a heart attack because of their looks alone, although in a good way, it was this woman. More than just beauty, her mind was sharp enough that she had assisted in the attacks against MINUS and it was that asset she held that Kamijou had found her to be a true ally in the chaos of the Science side now.

But more than that, this woman, Kamijou felt, was his greatest trump card against the man known as Kihara Kamui.

Yume walked over, rising a hand to prevent the wind blowing against her black hair but spoke all the same as she walked, not noticing the stares from both men and women sent her way. Just as the Japanese of her name suggested, it seemed she was more than a dream than a person. She seemed more annoyed than anything else as she saw the tears on the edges of Kamijou's eyes.

"Honestly, don't you know anything about respecting your elders? You could learn well from – "

Her words caught in her throat as she looked at the boy sitting at the table in his hospital gown. Although he was acting the same as ever, there was one detail about him that only a fool would miss and it was with wide blue eyes that she stared at the spiky haired boy. After all, even the nurses who had seen the injury and looked at Kamijou now, despite being familiar with him, looked at him in much the same way.

It was hard to miss how the left arm of his hospital gown hung limply with nothing to fill it.

Yume paused, the expressions on her face going from outright surprise to confusion before moving to terror as she stared at the boy who, even now, had the mindset to joke and feel carefree. If there was any illusion Yume had about what she was going to be a part of, it was entirely destroyed as she stared at that missing left arm.

Slowly, having paused as she looked at the missing left arm, she made her way to the table and took a seat. Her face was pale and she stared at Kamijou with his head lying on the table, a drop of sweat rolling down her cheek.

"This…isn't going to be a pleasant topic, is it?"

"…Sorry, Yume-sensei. But this is about as far as pleasant as it gets," Kamijou said, the aura of idiocy around him lifted as he lifted his head from the table. He bowed it once in a symbol of appreciation and Japanese hospitality. "Thank you for taking the time out of your otherwise busy day for this."

"I-It would do well if you remembered to stop calling me 'sensei'…but I don't think I have the time to make such jokes, do I?" Yume asked, staring at the stump where Kamijou's arm was supposed to be. She gulped, wiping her forehead and leaning forward, both hands pressed together.

"Unfortunately," Heaven Canceller noted as he took another sip of his water. "It does not seem this is the time or the place for such with what we are about to discuss."

"…Sorry," Kamijou said that again as he bowed towards the frog-faced doctor before rising his right arm and placing it onto his missing left arm. The way it moved and was pressed in despite something having there before was creepy and made Yume jump but she said nothing, listening to Kamijou as he spoke. "I'll get right to it and tell you right now, Yume-sensei. This is going to be about Kihara Kamui."

Yume's eyes went wide but the surprise Kamijou felt she would show was somewhat lessened, perhaps because of the dots she had put together in her head. She slowly nodded, clearing her throat and staring at the missing left arm.

"I assume that has something to do with it?"

"Yeah. He cut it off."

Kamijou's bluntness further made Yume pale and she looked as though she was going to be sick. She closed her eyes, not saying anything but she reached for her suit's collar and undid a button, probably because it felt too restricting for her and loosened her tie. This of course made more of her soft skin visible and seemed to show off her chest even more so it was hard to tell if she made the action to calm herself or to calm others through what they would see.

The Sage Kamijou calmed his mind, entirely focusing on what he had to say.

"But more than that. I met him…again."

"You met Kamui?"

"Not him exactly. But instead one of the people who had been infected with his personality through Personality Swipe. Aaron Gracestone. The boy on the news, if you've been listening."

"A-Aaron Gr – " Yume looked as though each piece of information was going to stab into her more and more. She placed a hand to her forehead, holding up the other for Kamijou to stop but he did not, realising the more he told her and the more she felt about it, the urgency of this would increase.

"Not only that but I heard from the Kamui infecting Aaron that Kamui has been operating more projects and has been given the opportunity to go through with them. I called you here, sensei, because I need to know. I need to know more about those projects Kamui has created and is underdoing right now. As well as the cure you have been developing."

"W-Wait, Kamijou-chan. You're going too fast. I…I can't keep up. Let me take a moment to absorb all of this!"

Yume seemed to be withholding the emotions she wanted to show but as an adult stayed where she was and did not run off like her face seemed to suggest she wanted to.

This was the reason Kamijou had called Yume.

As someone who had the misfortune of having seen Kamui's papers first hand and seen how terrifying the man had been in the conclusions he reached and how he reached them. But more than that, while Yume knew what Kamui looked like, she also feared him and the things he was willing to do for his own goals.

More than anything, it was clear she wanted to stop whatever madness Kamui was conducting and to that end had, with the idea from Kamijou, managed to form an idea for a cure for those who had been subjected to Personality Swipe.

The project itself was one that implanted the personality of Kamui into the minds of other men and boys. However, while that was the case, each new 'Kamui' did not retain the memories or experiences of the original. Because the individual idiosyncrasies of each new 'Kamui' would not match that of the Original, it was theoretically possible the original personality could be restored, even if it had been broken.

And the one who Kamijou had entrusted with the task of finding out how one could reverse engineer the effects of Personality Swipe had been the woman genius in front of him.

For the knowledge she had on Kamui and the 'cure' she was creating to save those who Kamui had infected, Kamijou knew that if something was going to change and he was going to put his foot into the door to learn about Kamui, then the starting point for that was Yume and what she knew.

Yume seemed to have a massive headache, her eyes wide, her breath laboured and her palms sweaty as she slowly absorbed everything she was being told. She opened her mouth, but it seemed as though she wanted to say something but bit it back, looking up and staring at both Kamijou and Heaven Canceller.

"…There are things I want to know. But I realise this is no time to be asking questions on how you know this Kamijou-chan. Nor…do I think I want to know either." Yume cast aside her face in part shame before gulping. "B-But for everything I am worth, I will answer your questions properly and professionally. You…After what Kamui did to you, you have a right to know anything."

"Thank you, sensei," Kamijou said with a small smile. There was a silence as she returned it but with the fearful face she was making, Kamijou had to wonder how thin the ice called 'Kihara Kamui' he was stepping on was. Even so though, he had resolved to do this and asked.

"Firstly, I need to ask. From the Kamui who had infected Aaron, he said that he was working on two projects apart from Personality Swipe. One called the FIVE_Object and another related to his work on a cyborg. Do you happen to know anything about either of these?"

"A cyborg? And the what?" Yume asked frowning. She seemed to have calmed herself down, frowning and placing her finger underneath her chin for a small while as she searched through her memories but came up dry, shaking her head. "Sorry, none of those terms mean anything to me. K-Kamui is no stranger to cyborg technology; the fields I have worked in that overlap with such have had his name pop up every now and then so unless you have some proper details, I cannot really narrow down anything else. As for that other term…what was it called?"

"The fact you don't know about it is enough to suggest to me there is no point in asking you."

"Y-You have to remember Kamijou-chan, that sometimes, the information and papers a Kihara will release are never released to the public. After all, they are sometimes that twisted. Although the term 'Object' does mean something to me: isn't there a movie or something along those lines? I think something like that would have stood out to me."

Kamijou fell silent, staring down at the table. Heaven Canceller frowned and spoke up, holding his sandwich away from his mouth.

"Do you not think there are…avenues in which that information can be gained?" The words he was saying were suggestive and Yume went wide eyed, keeping her head low and looking around at everyone who was watching them (more Yume) before lowering her voice and putting a hand over her mouth.

"(S-Sensei!? Are you seriously suggesting what I think you are!? That's a crime you know!)"

"Isn't the whole reason you know how bad Kamui is because of that 'crime'?"

"(I was young and stupid! I-I'm still young by the way!)"

"If you had access to the database containing the papers related to this 'Object' whatever and this cyborg, you would be able to get the information needed on them, right?" asked Heaven Canceller to both Yume and Kamijou, turning to the latter. "I already know your answer, but there is someone you know who would be able to get that information in a flash. Are you willing to call her and get her assistance in this matter?"

"No. No way in hell."

Two faces came to Kamijou's mind: Misaka Mikoto and Uiharu Kazari based on their hacking prowess. However, the case around here was deeply related to the underground war between the Magic and Science sides. Kamijou had already gotten Uiharu involved in the case with Mugino because he did not know what anything was about but now he was taking his own steps into this world, there was no way he was going to call the both of them and have them unwittingly participate in this underground war.

He was willing to do whatever he could for the sake of saving someone.

But even then, involving both Mikoto and Uiharu in this would be crossing a line.

Throwing them into hell merely because they could do something for him would solve nothing and save no one.

And there was no way Kamijou Touma was going to accept something like that.

Heaven Canceller sighed and turned back to Yume.

"Well? What says you, Yume-sensei? You've seen the lengths Kamui is willing to go to for whatever he wants. And you've heard he is going to be pursuing these two projects. Can you really think they are going to be turning out as well as you hope they are?"

The question the frog-faced doctor asked as he bit into his sandwich made the woman go wide eyed, turning to Kamijou and his missing left arm. That in itself seemed to smash all hope of optimism that these two projects were nothing more than a side-project that would harm no one. Yume's faced turned every which way as she seemed to have internal conflict raze within her. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out, the woman bringing her head down low and running her hand through her luscious black hair.

"…I take what I said back."

"?"

"I'm still young and stupid. But more the former."

Yume groaned and Kamijou felt something like a weight lessen from his shoulders. He stared at the woman, feeling nothing but gratitude course through his body as he heard her response. He opened his mouth to say something, however, Yume stopped him, raising a hand and putting it in front of his face.

"I have no idea what you are getting into, Kamijou-chan. But I can tell this is serious enough. And although Kihara Kamui is the last person I want to be involved with, there is no denying he is going to be a threat to someone. I don't think…I would be able to sleep well at night if I had simply blown you off. B-Besides, it's the job of the adults to deal with other adults, right?"

Yume said those words but the way she perked up as a result of them made it unclear whether she was saying them to Kamijou or to herself more. She nodded, raising herself from the table and clenching both fists.

"Right! A-And sensei," she said as she turned to the frog-faced doctor. "I-If I get arrested for this, I'm saying it was all your idea. Kamijou-chan is a minor so I'd feel bad pinning the blame on him."

"Ah, no, it's OK. I've been blacklisted from prison, so you can blame me all you like!"

Yume stared at Kamijou, clearly worrying about how she was going to respond to what she felt was a joke before she cleared her throat. Kamijou, suddenly realising how stupid and pitiful what he had said was given it was true, seemed to enter a state of depression as Yume spoke up once more.

"A-Anyway, I'll see what I can get on this 'Object' thing and this cyborg. I imagine both of those files would be buried deep into whatever abyss Kamui has but I'll see what I can do. As for the Personality Swipe project…I do have some good news!"

Yume seemed to understand the heavy mood that had developed, clapping her hands together in front of her prominent chest and smiling. Both Kamijou and Heaven Canceller immediately rose their heads at that, the former leaping straight up and knocking his chair over.

"Y-You do!?"

"Y-Yes! I do!" Yume seemed just as excited as Kamijou was, nodding her head furiously and grinning all the same. Kamijou leaned back and grabbed his chair, sitting on it while Yume tapped at the table.

"Now, Kamijou-chan., sensei, the both of you understand the specifics of Personality Swipe, do you not? The long and short of it is that Kamui can essentially implant his own personality inside someone else through either physical or psychological torture. By breaking their minds and overlapping his own in the 'empty' space, it would be possible for Kamui to create another 'him'." Yume explained.

"Yes. We know this. And the possibility for the individual who has been implanted with Kamui's personality in regaining their original personality was the point of your focus, right?" asked Kamijou.

"Exactly. I thought about it for days; how exactly do I get someone who has been implanted with Kamui's personality to revert back to the way they once were? Thinking about it, given the horrific methods used to erase someone's personality makes it seem like to get rid of Kamui inside their head, you need to use the same methods. However, for what I do and what I want, I refuse to stoop down to the level of such a sick man. But nothing came up…at least at first."

"At first?" Kamijou asked that but inside his heart, the kindness of the woman in front of him seemed to overwhelm him with joy.

"Yes. I had made the focus on the person who had been affected by Personality Swipe by focusing entirely on that person and not the person they would thus become. In other words, I entirely ignored Kamui in the equation I had set myself. So, I researched. I looked at numerous papers he published that anyone can access and tried my hardest to understand him from his writing quirks. By understanding how one expresses themselves from the medium of their words, you can understand a lot about someone after all!" Yume seemed to puff out her plentiful chest with pride but as she explained, Kamijou tilted his head.

"So…you came to understand Kamui? So what?"

"Pl-Please listen to what I have to say first before making those harsh remarks," Yume seemed to have taken a lot of damage at that but continued all the same. "Now, there was one thing I seemed to notice in the reports I cross-referenced. A small quirk I imagine is reflected in his actual speaking."

"And that is?" asked Heaven Canceller.

Yume tapped the table once more.

"He misses out words."

"What? What do you mean, Yume-sensei?"

"Throughout his reports," said Yume as she spread out both hands. "There are sentences that hardly make sense. Although they have been published straight from Kamui himself, it feels more like an unedited book. Kamui, probably in that fast-paced genius, although mad, mind of his probably doesn't even notice it but he chains together words so fast that he misses some of them when he is writing. As such, some of his sentences don't make entire sense. One such sentence in the Personality Swipe project read: 'And hence, through understanding the close between mind and, one can ultimately how overlap and overwriting of experiences can change in the mind'."

"What?" Kamijou tilted his head, the words that came out barely making any sense whatsoever to him. However, Yume clicked her fingers together and nodded.

"See what I mean? The only reason we can extract meaning from such a sentence is because of the rest of the report and paper. But it barely happens; only every now and then and the small occurrence of it is probably why it was barely noted when publishing."

"But what does this have to do with those infected with Personality Swipe?"

"Let me ask you then, Kamijou-chan. The two Kamuis you met who infected other people, did they ever speak in such a fragmented way?"

"No, nothing like that ever happened."

"Exactly." Yume said, grinning. "Yet, those infected by Personality Swipe are supposed to emulate his personality, including his quirks. For those people who do not speak in the same fragmented way in which Kamui writes, we can deduce that their minds are not yet entirely overtaken by that of Kamui. Their minds and the idiosyncrasies of the overwritten personality are subconsciously rejecting Kamui's influence. Which means that, whether it is time or merely forcing their minds to remember who they once were…"

"Those who have been infected with Personality Swipe…"

"Can be saved."

It was possible to save those people who had been tortured and had their minds overwritten. There was the chance their minds were not entirely erased; if they were unable to mirror Kamui's quirk in that they thought so fast they did not make proper sentences, then the original mind had a foothold and was trying to escape the influence of Kamui.

Provided that did not happen and they did not mirror that part of Kamui in that their sentences were nothing more than a fragment of words, then their mind could be recovered.

Meaning they could be saved.

That in itself, the thought there was some hope in the darkness despite there being nothing like it such far was enough to make Kamijou's lip tremble. He felt as though he was a balloon deflated, sinking into his chair with a sigh and feeling his breath coming out laboured, although from relief rather than fright or terror.

He found it hard to breath, the sensation coursing through him now and the happiness it was causing almost being overwhelming. Something threatened to form at the edge of his eyes and Kamijou forced back whatever emotions he had but could not do it entirely, moving his mouth and laying his heart to bear for the two adults in front of him.

"Thank God… Thank God…!"

Those who were practically out of salvation's grasp could be saved nonetheless. It was possible for those who had been tortured at the hands of Kamui to escape and to regain their peaceful lives back after everything they had been through.

And yet the one who had made it all possible was the woman sitting in front of Kamijou now, smiling all the same.

Salvation was not a pipe dream.

There was the chance it could be given to even those who had been subject to so much unfairness no one would be able to hear their cries or wipe away their tears.

And as Kamijou Touma heard that news, there was only one thing that passed through his mind.

There was hope still in this world.

Not everything had to be unfair and others would not have to endure that unfairness.

There was good in people, fighting the darkness as they sought to protect their own smiles.

Even those who had fallen down so far into the abyss…

Had the chance to be saved.

It was almost overwhelming for Kamijou when it had seemed so hopeless and he trembled, forcing himself to control his breaths and looking directly at the woman who had made all this possible. Heaven Canceller next to him calmly closed his eyes but the smile on his face no one could ignore. The words he likely wanted to say were ones that left Kamijou's mouth with so much gratitude there was a physical weight to them.

"Thank you. Thank you…so much!"

The emotions within those words could not merely be expressed. It was the only words he had but the strength at which Kamijou said them made Yume stare in surprise, leaving her stunned before she smiled all the same.

"There's still much left though. As long as no one has that quirk, while salvation can be given to them, the method of doing it is still something that needs to be determined. As a scientist, the way we can effectively help people using scientific methods is not yet complete so – "

"Yume-sensei."

Heaven Canceller spoke, the woman staring at him with surprise.

"Give him this. I think he has deserved this small happiness, don't you?"

Yume opened her mouth to speak but instead, looked at the boy who was trembling, basically on the verge of collapse from the emotions within his body. Given his missing left arm, the sight seemed to be odd but at its core, the sight of the single boy with the emotions of pure happiness coursing through him was enough to see.

Given what Kamijou had faced, was there any right anyone had to spoil this moment through words, follow throughs or objections?

The answer was made known in the silence that followed.

Both adults said nothing, giving Kamijou Touma the chance to let the fact that people could be saved, even in the darkest of times, course through him and fill his body with the salvation only that knowledge could give.


"So…are you saying you can't get your arm back?"

Yume asked, having a sandwich of her own in her hands as she sat at the courtyard table with Kamijou and Heaven Canceller.

The emotions which had overwhelmed Kamijou in knowing those who had been infected with Personality Swipe could be saved as long as they did not have the quirk of Kamui of forming words and thoughts together so fast that sentences became a jumbled mess were ones which had forced him to take a step away from the table to gather himself. The simple knowledge that salvation could be achieved, even if the method of recovering those rebelling minds had to be worked out, seemed too much to bear.

Once he had gotten everything together though and returned to the table, it was clear Yume still had things to ask him. Given his state, what she wanted to ask was obvious and because of the simple happiness she had given him, Kamijou had been more than willing to comply.

So, he had answered her questions on the story of how he had lost his left arm.

Telling her how Aaron had been infected with Kamui's personality (the fact he could have been saved regardless of everything stung a bit more now given he did not form jumbled sentences like the real Kamui did), how he had intended to break him and how he had sought to place the blame for the deaths that had happened on Kamijou were all details he told both her and Heaven Canceller.

And yet, when everything was done and answered, Yume had asked that single question.

"I don't think so. Doc, what exactly was it you said?" Kamijou asked and turned to Heaven Canceller, the man having finished his own sandwich.

"I could reattach it, of course. However, given the tissue damage, the nerve damage, the bone damage; repairing it itself would be another matter. There are some things that just don't heal and if I reattached it, it would just be a hunk of flesh. That's why I was so surprised that your right arm, when it was chopped off before, reconnected so successfully. With the nerves, muscle and bone intact: it was like nothing ever happened."

"Wait, you've had your right arm cut off before?!"

"A-Ah, something like that, hehehe…"

Yume asked in shock although Kamijou seemed to dodge the question. Yume's eyes seemed to sparkle with radiance as she stared at that right arm which had managed to reconnect all nerves, muscles and bone despite having been cut off at the hands of Aureolus Izzard.

No, it was not just him.

All the times Kamijou had had his right arm or hand cut off in some way; during the Daihaseisai, during World War 3 against Fiamma of the Right, in Baggage City, during the endless hells with Othinus, in his fight with Kamisato Kakeru, when he was fighting Darren Hersham in the incident with Kanzaki Kaori, when he faced Suzanna Royceston in the incident with Kazakiri Hyouka, after it had gotten caught underneath a train wheel during the incident with Konori Mii and even when it had been blown apart with an antimatter bomb in the incident with Uiharu Kazari, in all the instances where it was his right arm harmed, it had miraculously fixed itself.

However, the same was not the case with his left arm, as was clearly obvious. Whatever capabilities Imagine Breaker gave him were not ones mirrored in his left arm and the fact it was missing was testament to that fact.

Yume, clearly having no idea what the two were talking about turned, fascinated all the same in that right arm, mumbling things under her breath with that same sparkle in her eyes.

"(I-It reconnected?! B-But how is that possible? No, it moves just the same as before but with the nerves and everything else perfectly attached!? *pant pant* No, how does that work? What kind of power is that? I-If it could be technically reproduced through the fields of cybernetics, then is it possible that those who lose their limbs in an accident or war could have the chance to have fully functioning legs or other parts of their bodies that perfectly mirror their originals? R-Removing the machine-like function from a machine and perfectly reproducing the human intricacies and replacing them?! Th-Think of the possibilities!?)"

"Y-Yume-sensei!? Th-This has gone beyond being cute! As you actually an airhead!? W-When you get so lose to me, I'm feeling various things that have to do with my body and my emotions!"

Kamijou let out that yell, Yume blinking once as if she had just woken from a sleep and belatedly realised that in her tunnel vision, she had moved right up to and had grabbed Kamijou's right arm, pressing it close to her and rubbing her cheek against it. Such meant that numerous parts of her body which indicated Yume's great 'wealth' had pressed up against Kamijou and the sensation of such had sent his face red and his emotions spiralling out of control.

"A-Ah!" Yume blushed, pushing back and shakily moving back to her seat, a fierce red on her cheeks as she turned her face away. "I-I'm so sorry! I-It's just that whenever I get interested in something, I just sort of lose myself in interest!"

"N-No! It was fine! Absolutely fine!"

Kamijou let out that reassurance but the small adolescent within him was crying all the same given the sensation a dorm manager like onee-san had left him. His face was still red, as was Yume's, however, the woman who readjusted her position spoke to the man next to her.

"B-But sensei, with medical technology, is it not possible to get a prosthetic?"

"If he could afford it, yes. However, no matter what anyone else says, it seems this boy is a rather stubborn one. No matter what anyone else says or does…it's that destroyed left arm which he wants back on his body no matter what."

Yume turned and faced Kamijou, seeing the boy had broken into a small smile despite it all. It seemed somehow lonely and the confusion on Yume's face was one Kamijou understood, choosing to speak up in front of the adult who had truly saved everyone currently being infected with Kamui's personality.

"Is it that strange, Yume-sensei?" Kamijou asked, the smile on his face also seeming to be mocking himself. Yume was silent for a moment before shaking her head.

"Not strange so much. Just…confusing? I think that's the better word. Do you want to be living your life without a left arm?"

"No, absolutely not." Kamijou remarked instantly.

"Then why ignore the chance to be given that normal part of your life back? I'm sure your parents would be more than willing to foot the bill for any expenses. A-And given you brought to my attention to Kihara Kamui and this was because of him, I can't exactly think I'm not to blame as well; after all, if I had discovered what I had about saving the people from Personality Swipe sooner, Aaron would never have done this to you if you had saved him. I'd be more than happy to chip in, if not pay for the entire thing."

"Y-Your kindness is too much for someone like me, sensei," Kamijou, from the bottom of his heart, said those words but shook his head. He rose his arms…but realised there was no left hand or arm to raise. "…I don't think I would be able to adjust to normal life with a prosthetic. It wouldn't feel real. It would feel like a machine ruling my life, like I was part machine myself."

"I understand the sentiment," said Yume. "But I can honestly say that after a while, it feels like an extension of yourself and like nothing is wrong. You'd barely even notice it. It's basically like a wristwatch: it can feel intrusive at first but after some time, you will barely even notice it is there. And it's even more the case with Academy City technology."

"I get that," Kamijou said, scratching the back of his head. "The nurses here and even the doc explained it to me very carefully. Especially the nurses. But…I don't think I would be able to get my normal life back with a prosthetic. Call it being stupidly stubborn or whatever, but I just don't think I would be able to think of myself as being the same happy-go-unlucky kind of guy if I had one. I don't want to think badly of anyone else with a prosthetic, I am sure they are fine people. But for me personally, it feels somehow wrong."

"Wrong? How so Kamijou-chan?" Yume asked.

Kamijou was silent for a moment before raising his head, staring and answering Yume as he looked her in the face.

"What I lost was my left arm. It was mine, the one I was born with and a part of my body. It was mine. I don't think anything else would feel right unless it was that arm. Heh," Kamijou grinned and leaned on his right hand all the same, but the same soft and lonely smile on his face remained. "You could say I was very attached to it."

The joke he gave no one laughed at, Yume staring at the boy and Heaven Canceller, as his doctor, merely respecting his wishes without argument. Neither adult said anything, the words of the boy and how pure they were, despite being rather restrictive and foolish, filling them and casting a small silence over the trio.

Kamijou himself stared at the woman looking back at him, realising the silence she was making was perhaps reflective of the fact she understood the sentiment he was raising. Having a prosthetic would feel like an invasive force and that would threaten to tear his normal life apart. Even if having no left arm at all would cause that very same change, it was the fact he had lost a part of himself that would make it only feel the more real.

Kamijou Touma was not someone who you could chop and change the parts of like he was some kind of doll. There was only the one and losing a part of him meant it was not going to return.

Perhaps it was because this was the 'current' Kamijou Touma, having his body borrowed from the 'past' Kamijou Touma that he felt that way. Perhaps it was nothing more than the guilt of the 'copy' having lost something of the original that he felt he had to be reminded of the loss he had made against the person he was borrowing this body from that he made the decision he did.

Whatever the case and for whatever reason, Kamijou did not want the prosthetic on his arm, even if it was going to threaten his normal life. He realised he was being stupidly stubborn about it and it was going to benefit nobody but the decision within him was not so easily challenged.

That left arm had been Kamijou Touma's and Kamijou Touma's alone.

So, he did not want a replacement or a quick fix.

Despite how impossible it was, he wanted that arm.

But the illusion of that idea had been destroyed before it had even had the chance to appear.

Kamijou, knowing that, kept that same soft smile on the edge of his lips, losing himself in the silence.

And yet, even though that had been his decision, a voice cut through it.

"So, provided you had your own left arm returned to you, you would accept any treatment?"

Kamijou, his head down as he stared at where his left hand would have been if he still had it, stared up and looked at the person who spoke.

Yume stared at Kamijou, her face intense. Her eyes held a tension within them that was hard to describe and Kamijou himself found himself unable to say anything else except for the truth which lay in the depths of his heart.

"Yeah."

Although it was impossible, no, it was because it was impossible that those words had weight.

"If I had the chance to get back my left arm…I would accept whatever method there was in aa heartbeat."

"Well then," Yume said as she leaned forward with a smile. "It's a good thing you live in Academy City."

"?"

"There is a chance. After all, this is the City of Science. And given the fields I've written several theses for, there are a few people on the grapevine I know that specialise in this sort of thing. Sensei, perhaps you know what I am talking about?" Yume asked, the words echoing within Kamijou's head, the boy feeling as though he had been lost simply from those words alone.

"There's…a chance I can get my arm back?" Kamijou's voice was quiet as Heaven Canceller leaned backwards in his chair.

"As a doctor, placing my hopes of something that uncertain doesn't fill me with confidence."

"And as a scientist, even if I haven't found the proper field I work to work in yet, I can tell you that everything starts with uncertainty. Every drug and medical operation under the sun started with someone being unsure but going ahead with it. If it gives Kamijou-chan the chance to get his normal life back, I say we accept the risk."

"You can say everything you want, Yume-sensei. But in the end, as a doctor and even you as a scientist, need one thing before we can start speaking in hypotheticals. And that is consent. Not forced and willingly given." Heaven Canceller smoothly said those words, staring to his side and looking at the spiky haired boy.

"Are you prepared? I think this is the only question I need to ask you. There is a chance you can get your arm back. I didn't suggest it based on the uncertainty of the method but in the end, I serve the whims of my patients. So, are you prepared to go ahead with this?"

"Ahead with what!?" Kamijou's voice rose, however, whether it was because of the prospect of getting his left arm back or because of the anger at having been left out of the conversation, he did not know. The only thing he knew was that his heart was racing at a million beats per minute as he glanced in between the two adults. "I-Is there really a chance I can get my arm back!?"

"Kamijou-chan," Yume started, facing Kamijou and placing this finger on the table. "This is something you need to keep under wraps. The medical technology I'm going to describe to you, at this stage, has already been met with approval from the higher ups. It's been tested and trialled but not on a person. In fact, it's this one thing that has prevented anyone from really going ahead with it: the lack of a human subject. On animals, it has worked but the lack of a proper subject has meant it has gotten nowhere."

"In a way," said the frog faced doctor. "You can think of this as being something similar to Regon. Experimental and yet to be tried on humans."

Kamijou flinched at that, remembering the side effects of the experimental drug Thor had injected him with. By allowing access to parts of his brain he should not have been able to access, it had come with the good, in the remembering of Shokuhou Misaki, and the bad, in giving Kamijou an acute case of PTSD.

Still though, as he forced back the sweat at the name that came to his mind and the things that had happened because of it, he spoke.

"But, when Regon was tested on me and the effects were realised, didn't that basically give it the go sign for proper use in cases?"

"Well, they are still checking out the finer points of that at this point," said Heaven Canceller. "Such as lasting effects and the like but yes, it has been utilised in practice a bit more as of late. Although only in the occasional scuffle where bleeding needs to be quickly stopped on the scene for now."

The uncertainty that still laid with the effects of Regon was obvious. After all, despite the effects having worn off on Kamijou in that it took a while for his blood to clot after he received a wound, suggesting the effects of Regon had passed, the side effect it had of opening the pathways in his brain to access things he should not have seemed to continue even after Regon's primary effects had passed. How exactly it worked Kamijou knew and recognised were factors that had to be cleared up before it was properly used in more serious cases but Kamijou's involuntary use of it had done wonders for the technology itself being approved.

"I can guarantee the technology that will help you get your left arm back is 100% safe. The trials done on animals have been met with high success with practically no side effects." Yume explained calmly.

"And the only reason it hasn't been put into practical use is because of the uncertainty of its use on humans? So, not only will me using it allow me the use of my left arm back, but also help it be put into practical use for other people in the future?"

"Eh?" Yume blinked once, seemingly confused at the question asked. Heaven Canceller felt a smile come onto his lips all the same but in the end, it was the response Kamijou had given that surprised even him, even if, in his heart, he knew he should have expected it.

After all, what other answer would there be?

If you told Kamijou that something was going to help other people in the future, that it was potentially going to save some lives and maintain and protect some smiles in the future…

What else was he going to say?

Kamijou, trying to confirm whether this unknown method Yume and Heaven Canceller were suggesting was indeed going to do that, seemed to have surprised Yume in that Kamijou was more worried about its future effects and the things it was going to do for people in the future than for himself. It seemed to have stunned Yume for a single moment so the frog faced doctor replied.

"That is correct. If it were to be used on a person for the first time with favourable results, then it will surely be used on more people in the future. It won't be immediate. And it will be uncertain. But it will happen. People…will be saved."

In the end, perhaps that was the only thing Kamijou Touma ever needed to make the choice in his mind.

Whether it be around his normal life or something that might happen in the future, if there was something he could do, even if it was small, that would help somebody in the future, then what else would he do? The answer was obvious and the knowledge coursing through him pierced into his heart, driving him forward and making the choice he had to make that easier.

People were going to be saved.

If Kamijou went through with this, then the fact that a person had been used and tested would mean it would be passed for future testing and for use in direr situations. That in itself and the prospect that more people would be saved was the only thing he needed to know in his heart and mind to push forward the answer he was going to give.

In a way, regaining his lost left arm was nothing but secondary if his choice had the ability to save others. If his choice, somewhere down the line, had the ability to save another person, then there was no need to hesitate, stumble or even think twice.

The only thing needed was the first step forward.

And Kamijou gave it, although not in the form of an answer, but rather, a question.

"…What is this though? I realise it's going to help some people but what type of method will allow me the use of my left arm again? It was cut off. Not only that but it was ripped into by Kamui. I had my fingernails torn off, my arm bisected, the bones crushed: even in Academy City, if there was a chance to recover from that, it would need to be revolutionary science."

"It is!" Yume said, her eyes sparkling before they seemed to fade. "However, that seems to be the problem. Many think it is 'too good to be true' and it's been through constant criticism and overwatch that it has reached this stage. My colleagues working on this say it's the safest thing out there and the fact it's being held back is only going to cause more people to suffer."

"But what is it?"

"Nanomachines."

"…Really?"

Kamijou knew exactly what they were. The microscopic robots had the ability to do a number of things but the fact she had used such a word to describe something that was going to restore something which had been shredded to bits seemed enough to cast doubt in his mind.

Even so, Yume waged a finger in front of her face.

"Tch, tch, tch! Don't understand the power of the Science Academy City devotes itself to!" Her voice rose as she spoke, the woman placing a hand under her chin and nodding constantly.

"Nanomedicine is by no means an unknown field. It can be used in imaging or healing small tears but nothing along the lines of this has ever been done. But the fact it has been is in itself the miracle and tells of the endless things you can do with Science! E-Even if scumbags like Kamui seek to taint it with their poisonous hands." Yume spat out the last few words and Heaven Canceller took over.

"I've read a few papers on it myself. Usually, in those science fiction films you are basing your judgment on most likely, the nanomachines are what make up the entire arm or the body."

"Yeah!" Kamijou, a normal high school boy and practically an idiot when it came to complicated things nodded and pointed at the frog faced doctor. "You cut the cyborg ninja and he heals instantly because his entire body is made up of nanomachines or he has them running in his blood. W-Wait. I-Is that going to happen to me!? The last thing I need is some random superpower that allows me that type of convenient ability!"

"T-To turn an entire body into nanomachines, you'd have to break it down and hold it together on the same atomic level as the nanomachines itself. To manage to accurately do that using nothing but technology would be along the same levels as rebuilding yourself from scratch. I don't even think the #2 Dark Matter could do that." Yume said, pointing out the flaws in a scientific sense to Kamijou.

Heaven Canceller said nothing as Yume referenced one of the Level 5s, staying silent but the way he averted his eyes suggested he knew nothing he should not have.

Whatever the case, Yume continued.

"No, no, what these nanomachines do is entirely different. They assimilate with the body. Using your example, instead of the body being the nanomachines, it's the opposite. The nanomachines become the body. Bone, marrow, skin, nerves, muscle; whatever it is that is missing these nanomachines turn themselves into and restore the body to its former state. What makes this so revolutionary is that the nanomachines themselves change to match the conditions of the body. It's practically unheard of anywhere around the world and yet, Academy City has done it."

"So…" Kamijou tilted his head, not entirely getting what was being said. "These nanomachines or whatever are going to be entering my body, seeing what is wrong with it and then…sort of becoming the parts that are missing? Like that famous falling block puzzle. They slot themselves into the missing places and become part of the whole."

"…I can't believe you just summed up a revolutionary scientific discovery by likening it to Tetris. T-The fact I can't counter you on that terrifies me to my very core! What is Science if it can be put in the same category as Tetris!? A-Are you telling me the past 8 or so years of my life have been a lie?!"

Yume seemed to have a mental breakdown, slamming her head onto the table (and causing her breasts to jiggle). The shouting of the woman who seemed to be so calm made both men at the table stare at her in surprise before Kamijou turned to Heaven Canceller and spoke.

"Can it be done? Can these Tetris Nanomachines really…restore my left arm?"

"I've seen it in action myself. These nanomachines were injected into an amputated leg of a rat and then, as if the leg itself were restoring itself to its former glory, the muscle, bone and skin of the left restored itself, good as new and reattached itself. Call it what you like but these Tetris Nanomachines are something else."

"N-No, don't go down this route. Someone's going to hear you and the name is going to stick!"

Yume seemed to have her own concerns but the words of wisdom and confirmation from the man who treated Kamijou so many times were enough.

Doing this would mean there was the chance other people would be saved. By doing this, there was the chance that by performing it on a human being for the first time would be enough for it to pass whatever barriers had been around it before and for it to be put into proper practice. For those people who had the same concern as Kamijou in that they wanted their original limbs or could not afford a prosthetic, this would be a godsend.

Not only that, but it would reverse something Kamijou had felt was irreversible.

Through the power of Science, he would get his arm back.

Using the Tetris Nanomachines which would slot into the missing spaces in his arm and become them, the bone, the skin, the fingernails, the nerves and everything else would be entirely restored. It sounded impossible but the technological advances of Academy City had merely gone that far.

There was the chance someone else would be able to have their smile to them returned.

There was the chance Kamijou Touma would his own smile returned to him as well.

For those things alone…

Was there any reason to hesitate?

There was none.

And so, Kamijou Touma stepped forward with his answer.

"I'll do it."

Kamijou said those words without holding back, Yume holding her head in a panic but having stopped now as she stared at Kamijou.

"You'll what?"

"I'll do it."

"J-Just like that?" Yume asked that with some fright on her face. "Y-You'll do it, just like that? Don't you want to hear anything else? I mean, there are some things Sensei and I left out and haven't told you about yet."

"Why, is it dangerous?"

"W-Well, not if the proper precautions are in place. Which they will be."

"Then what else is there to worry about? For…For the chance to regain what has been taken from me, there's nothing else I need Yume-sensei. For the chance to regain my normal life and the peace…I'll do whatever it takes so those around me can smile again."

Kamijou did not mince words and he did not bother to hide anything he was saying. He spoke from his heart, Yume staring at him silently in surprise, her mouth open. She closed it and slowly nodded, clearing her throat and turning to Heaven Canceller as she tried to compose herself.

"D-Do you know where the closest facility with the Tet – I-I mean the technology is?" asked Yume, shaking her head rapidly as she had almost made a viral error in naming sense she did not want to make.

"I believe right here in District 7," noted Heaven Canceller before bringing out his cell phone. "If this is the will of my patient, then despite the uncertainty, I suppose I will have to make some calls."

"Same here," Yume reached into her own pocket and brought out her cell phone, going into her contacts before freezing in place. She was as still as a statue, Kamijou staring at her with confusion on his face.

"Yume-sensei?"

"No…I can't call him. In fact…" Yume seemed to pale slightly as she stared down at her phone. "I can't call anyone who first came to mind. The…The relationship chart I had built up doesn't mean anything anymore!"

"?"

Kamijou and Heaven Canceller tilted their heads, Yume turning to them and looking more at the cell phone in the frog faced doctor's hand.

"Personality Swipe."

That was the only thing she said to the doctor. He frowned once before his eyes went wide in surprise, looking down at the phone with a frown that seemed deeper than any Kamijou had seen on him before.

The name of the project in which Kihara Kamui implanted his own personality into other men was one Kamijou understood why Heaven Canceller had made that face about but how it meant anything here confused him.

"What about it?" He asked, Yume gulping once before shaking her head.

"You remember, don't you, Kamijou-chan?" asked Yume with a faint smile on her face. "How Personality Swipe only affects – "

"Men. Or boys, as seen with Aaron Gracestone. Because Kamui is one himself, he wants people with a like-mindedness to him or something."

"Exactly. But you also remember what made that so frightening?" Yume asked, her voice quiet as she spoke the silent threat.

"It means, when it comes to males, we don't know who we can trust."

Kamijou felt his eyes go wide and he realised the extremely bitter truth. No, he had realised it before, but it had never once hit him until now.

After all, hadn't he thought Aaron Gracestone was simply a normal boy until it had been revealed he was Kihara Kamui, or rather, his personality?

Kamijou felt his throat go dry as she stared at the phones in the hands of the two adults, realising why they had stopped before making any calls.

If they could not trust the men in their lives, then how much did their 'safe' relationships fall apart? Even if they looked as though they were fine or they thought themselves as strong, it meant nothing if they had managed to succumb to Personality Swipe. They would have succumbed to becoming Kamui and they would turn what was safe and meant for healing into something else entirely.

A chill went up Kamijou's spine as suddenly the Tetris Nanomachines did not feel entirely safe anymore, his own throat dry as he spoke while shivering.

"I-If your relationship chart and the people who you know, or specifically the men you know, aren't safe, then what happens now?" Kamijou asked, the silence from the adults filling the air for only the smallest of moments.

But it was broken by the voice of the only immune person there because of her gender.

"We…We'll have to work around it. Sensei…I think, no. I know I can trust you. After all, there's no way someone as strong as you would manage to fall under the influence of such a twisted being," Yume did not even bother questioning her faith in Heaven Canceller as she rose her phone. "Kihara Kamui has potentially infected every single male in your cell phone book. Especially for the two of us because our logbooks are probably filled with fellow doctors and specialists in various fields. We…We need to make that horrible assumption when we get Kamijou-chan the Tet – You know what? Screw it. I don't care anymore. Only call females when we try and find out how to get the Tetris Nanomachines here. You think you can do that?"

Yume asked while making something of a blunder of herself and her naming sense. She did not seem to care though, the smile on her face despite how badly she was sweating giving the impression she was truly nervous while she was speaking but also stronger than ever.

The frog faced doctor stared at her, not saying anything in the face of the trust being given to him before only letting out one thing.

"Just who do you think I am?"

Yume grinned.

"That's what I want to hear!"

She stood up, her phone spinning in her hand before she looked at it and frowned.

"If we're to get Kamijou-chan here that miracle technology without interference from Kamui, we need to isolate the facilities with the Tetris Nanomachines in stock. And tell those you call to only deal with females when dealing with the product. We have to get it here without it being tainted."

"The facilities that come to mind are those directly around here. I have contacts in nearby hospitals, old nurses who used to work here."

"Ohohoho, aren't you a cheeky one, Sensei? If we can co-ordinate between the girls I know in the facilities near here and your nurses to get the Tetris Nanomachines here, then everything should be fine. I'll call my girls first, find out which ones can get the Nanomachines here without compromise. The names that come to mind immediately are – "

"Why?"

Kamijou asked that, the boy staring at the woman who was talking with Heaven Canceller in a rapid way. She turned, raising an eyebrow all the same as she stared at Kamijou as he let out words, rare words that so many people had directed his way yet had rarely left his mouth.

"Why are you helping me, Yume-sensei? No…the lengths you are going to because of me. Co-ordinating the Tetris Nanomachines, potentially looking into this cyborg and the FIVE_Object, even trying to find out the cure for the Personality Swipe! I've never questioned it before, but you barely even know me! Why…Why are you doing this for someone like me!?"

Kamijou asked that honest question, confusion on his face. Yume was silent for a moment before turning to the frog faced doctor, someone who had reason to do what he was doing: he was the boy's doctor.

But what of that woman?

There was no answer in sight for Kamijou. Yume stared at him for a moment before scoffing, shaking her head and approaching him. She patted his left arm, or rather, where his left arm had once been.

"Kihara Kamui…was someone you should never have crossed paths with. …Look at what he did to you. Kamui thinks he can take the beauty Science has and taint it with his filthy hands, but I won't let him. No, in fact, you could say I won't let him make others think Science is only for use for evil or whatever twisted ideas he has. He took something I love and used it, and is still using it, as a weapon to harm others. He directed it at a harmless child that only wanted to help someone. How…"

Yume tightened her grip on her phone, gritting her teeth at the same time.

"How can I just let that pass?"

Her voice was quiet and hissed and it seemed a crime that such a face was being made on those beautiful features of hers. She lifted her hand off Kamijou's shoulder and breathed in once calmly before exhaling.

"I won't let Kamui win. I won't let him defeat you and I won't let anything else happen to you. I'm going to get you your left arm back with the Tetris Nanomachines and I'm going to ensure no Kamui compromises it with their hands. Kamui took thing too far when he put his eyes on you, Kamijou-chan. There was a line he crossed, no…a line he has always crossed. He felt as though he could harm a child. Someone it was up to us, as adults, to protect."

Yume turned, holding her phone in her hand and slowly walking away, her lab coat fluttering in the breeze.

"So it's time the adults took the fight to him and kicked his ass. He thinks he can mess with you, Kamijou-chan? Take your arm? Ruin your life? Well he better think again. I'm doing this because you deserve to live out your youth with a smile on your face, Kamijou-chan. I'm doing this because I can't let Kamui win."

Yume held out her other hand, Kamijou noting it held a thumbs up sign.

"So sit tight Kamijou-chan. I'll show you what exactly adults can do."

It was nothing but a hopeless promise.

It held nothing more than words.

But for Kamijou Touma, the child who had found himself in the battlefield that had never belonged to a child like him, the only thing he could feel as he watched that adult like back walking into the distance was a strong feeling of protection which surrounded him from all sides.

He was protected.

And it was time for him to take a step back.

The role of him, as the child, was over now.

And it was time for the adults to do battle.

All for the sake of the protection of the smile of a single boy.


It was with a sigh that Yume had returned with Heaven Canceller, looking paler than Kamijou had ever seen her.

They had done it.

They had managed to co-ordinate with the women they knew to get the Tetris Nanomachines to this hospital within the day. The operation to restore Kamijou's left arm to what it had once been was going to happen within hours of the technology arriving and it was with that good news that Heaven Canceller left the boy and woman sitting in front of his office, moving to patrol the hospital to see if he was needed anywhere and in any way.

Yume sighed, leaning back against the wall with a coffee in her hands, rubbing her eyes with one hand.

"I know I said this before…"

"Heh," Yume shook her head as she let out a small laugh, reaching out with a finger and poking Kamijou's forehead. "You never run out of 'thank you's do you, Kamijou-chan? Women don't like a man too weak. You're going to mess with someone's heart one day, you lady killer."

"…Thank you."

Kamijou said the words anyway, hanging his head down and looking down at his feet. Yume said nothing, taking a sip of the bitter coffee in her hand as she stared at the boy in the corner of her eye. She sighed, shaking her head all the same before leaning forward and putting a hand on her knee.

"Kamijou-chan, I've been meaning to ask you this for a while but…are you alright?"

Kamijou frowned, meeting her gaze and preparing to reply in the affirmative but the way she looked at him and the things she knew about him made him pause.

There was something Yume knew about Kamijou no one else did, something she had only learned by accident. But even then, the fact she knew it was by far one of the most important things Kamijou had ever had anyone else know about him, bar him losing his memories.

His Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

With Regon giving him access to memories his brain had shut out as a defence mechanism because they were so horrible, the times where Kamijou had been forced to relive out the horrors of what Othinus had put him through were a curse that constantly assaulted him and his mind. It had been a moment where he had lamented on the mental fate he had been given that Yume had witnessed Kamijou's breakdown and it was because she knew such a detail about him that he was reluctant to merely answer instantly with the words that came to his mind.

For anyone else who did not know about his PTSD, perhaps he would be able to answer in the way that was optimistic. But for this woman who had waited until the two were alone before asking that question, it was this question that Kamijou could not carelessly answer. It was this question he could not simply ignore when this woman already knew so much and was prepared to do so much for Kamijou.

So, the only thing he did was answer honestly.

"I…" Kamijou took a moment to pause, thinking about what he could say before giving his answer. "I don't know. I really don't know."

"You were tortured. Being unsure about how you feel about it is understandable."

"No, that's not what I mean."

"?"

Yume frowned, tilting her head in an oddly cute way that seemed at odds with how mature and beautiful she looked. Kamijou refrained from saying anything, looking at her and holding his right hand out level in front of him as he turned to face her on the bench they were both sitting at in front of Heaven Canceller's office.

"I'm going to tell you something Yume-sensei. I don't think you'll like it. In fact, it might not be the thing to tell anyone but I'm going to tell you."

Yume, perhaps in the stance as the adult, did not say anything, staring Kamijou in the face. As if saying it was her responsibility as the adult to take care of the whims of the child, she nodded her head to make Kamijou continue. For that alone, Kamijou was more thankful than anything but instead of once more thanking her, he released words from his mouth.

"I was tortured."

Kamijou let the words pour out of his mouth, Yume silently looking at the boy. Kamijou's right hand, held out in front of him, was level and not moving but even then, the mouth of the boy was the thing that moved.

"Kihara Kamui began it by stabbing me in the left arm. I remember…I was screaming the entire time but no matter how hoarse my throat got, I kept on screaming. I remember pounding at him with as much force as I could but with each punch, he only continued to twist the knife he had plunged into my arm into me further. I screamed some more and hit him some more and then the knife was pushed in further and further until it had passed entirely through my arm."

Yume's eyes were wide as Kamijou spoke but even then, it was the simple selfishness of that child that was the only thing that caused him to speak.

"He tossed me over to the other side of the room I was in, threw me to the ground and made me watch. He twisted my already broken arm, laughing the entire time and made me watch as he jabbed the tip of the knife underneath my fingernails of my left hand and slowly pried them from my hand. I…I was forced to watch as my fingernails were ripped from my body."

Yume's hand was trembling as she found herself being forced to listen. Even though she was a counsellor for Judgment and Anti-Skill, it seemed that even the words of Kamijou were not ones she was used to hearing. Even so, he continued.

"I was held down the entire time by a soldier so nothing I did and nothing I screamed seemed to matter to Kamui. He plucked each of my fingernails from my hand and tossed them into the air if they were nothing more than useless parts. And when he was done, he broke my fingers. Each of them. He twisted them into impossible directions, stabbing that knife of his into my arm to only increase the pain and the hurt. By…By the time I even registered what had happened to my left hand, there was nothing left of it anymore. Only a mangled mess of flesh and bone."

The sound of the coffee cup falling from Yume's hand hitting the floor resounded through the air and the hot liquid sprayed all over her shoes and stockings but as if the words of Kamijou were hypnotic, Yume listened, her face pale and her hand trembling.

"He moved onto my arm next. He started by breaking it and slowly moving the knife along the surface of the skin until I could see the blood and the muscle beneath it. Purposefully, Kamui slowly inserted the knife into the centre of my arm and, again, slowly, moved it along the length of it. I knew he was going to open the insides of my arm but the only thing I could do was scream the entire time. It fell on deaf ears and I was forced to watch as the length of my arm was – "

The interruption did not come from words.

Instead, it came from the entirely normal reaction from the woman next to him.

She threw her hand up to her mouth, leaning over and seeming to hold back something rising from her throat. She trembled for a single moment, breathing heavily but from the way she moved, it was clear the words had deeply affected her to a severe degree. Even as a counsellor, the sickening sensation rising from her throat was one which threatened to ruin her image.

Yume hardly cared though, breathing heavily in order to calm herself but through her covered mouth, she turned her head and looked at Kamijou with wavering eyes that could not withhold their disgust, pity and horror.

"You…You went through all that…?"

Her voice was quiet but even then, Kamijou smiled.

Yume's eyes went all the wider and with a belated movement she turned her eyes to the right hand of Kamijou, hovering in the air.

It was not even trembling.

It did not shake at the memory of what had happened. In fact, it was perfectly level as if Kamijou were doing nothing more than reciting a shopping list. His voice had been entirely calm as well, not even changing and the way that it had been said only added to the disgust Yume was clearly feeling.

"…I'm alright."

That was the only thing Kamijou said as he lowered the right hand down and stared at the floor.

"But that's the thing. I shouldn't be. I should be trembling, withholding information and scared to even relive the memory of what Kamui did to me. But…I can talk about it easily. Last night, I slept as if nothing had happened. I was tortured and yet, the fact I can accept it so easily…the fact I am alright even after what happened to me… I don't know anymore. I just don't know if I am truly alright."

Yume slowly recovered herself, sitting up and staring at Kamijou with the same wide eyes. If Kamijou noticed, he said nothing, wrapping his right arm around himself as if to hug himself after everything that had happened.

"I shouldn't be. I should be panicking, unsure and not even coping and yet…I'm perfectly alright. I feel like I can face tomorrow with a smile and do everything as I normally would as soon as I get my left arm back. That was my normal life and yet I've never felt so disconnected with it before. It's like…like I don't even care anymore."

"You've…become desensitised?"

Yume asked, forming words and slowly getting her words together. Kamijou slowly nodded, shivering slightly as he leaned himself forward and held himself.

"I've reached a point, Yume-sensei. Something inside my mind has changed. Maybe for other things, I shouldn't care but for this…for the fact I can laugh this off, something within me is wrong. I can feel it. Inside my head, a small thing or a gear is lying out of place as the entire machine keeps moving. I shouldn't be alright. And yet I am. So I don't know if I truly am. I don't know…if I'm just going to operate in the future with the same broken form in which I am now."

It was nothing strange for Kamijou in this sense.

But the fact it was such truly made it terrifying.

He would do anything if it meant someone would be able to live out their lives with a smile and had the chance to return home with everyone else with the chance to live out their peace as always. The injuries he received in such went from minor to major but it was always after the incident ended that Kamijou would be able to look back at those injuries surprised and truly realise the wounds he had received in his own personal actions.

The lack of severity of those wounds meant it did not mean much. Sure, he ended up in pretty bad states but nothing entirely life threatening that he could not poke fun at in some way or form. Because of this, there was nothing truly wrong and Kamijou had the chance to live out his normal days as always.

And yet, this time, something had changed.

He had been tortured.

And yet, he still felt as though there was the chance he could move from that and continue with his peaceful days.

If not for his PTSD throwing constant hells back at him through his memories, even he did not know how broken he would have ended up if he had been facing this for the first time. But it was because of his PTSD that the truth had come to him in its most terrifying form.

Kamijou Touma did not care about the damage done to himself.

Never before had that simple reality seemed so cruel and so broken. Sure, when he suffered from injuries, it was the relative lack of severity in them that meant he did not place much emphasis on them in the first place.

But that was completely backwards.

It only showed how broken he really was.

When he was incurring them, Kamijou cared. He actively tried to prevent them but when all was said and done, in the aftermath, he just did not care whatsoever.

He did not want to die. That was a truth he accepted and tried to hold to himself above all else. He actively avoided dying and had a fear of such, permeated into his very core.

But death?

The idea of Kamijou Touma being dead?

Although he said he did not want to die…

He felt nothing about the idea of him being dead.

He did not care about the regrets he held, the things he could have done or anything like that. It was merely a reality he coldly and, with indifference, he looked at without a care.

How broken was that?

How twisted was that?

And yet, because of his PTSD, the constant deaths he had relived meant the idea of his 'death' meant nothing to him. He had relived dying so many times that death truly held no meaning to him, and it was because of that he truly felt terrified to his very core.

In his own way, because he did not care what happened to him and his own death, becoming desensitised to whatever had happened to him because he felt as though he was worth it, Kamijou Touma had broken. It was in a way that was small but the small gear that was out of place, the tiny thing that allowed him to make decisions was truly, truly, turning in a dangerous way.

"I'm scared."

Kamijou did not care about appearances anymore as he held himself, trembling as he forced the bitter and weak words from his throat. He did so shamelessly but even though bitter emotions filled him, it was because he had said them in the first place that they continued to fly from his mouth. He did not even care anymore and the idea of 'resolve' or 'strength' truly meant nothing to him.

"I'm scared of what I'm becoming. I don't want to be hurt. I don't want to suffer. But if it continues to be like this, I'm scared. Everything is going to be alright this time, but I'm scared that one day, I'm going to do something that is going to cross a line. I'm aware of it now but in a crisis, will I even be able to notice when I'll come up with an idea that will cross that line? Cross the line and mean something irreversible is going to happen to me? I'm scared. In the moment, I'll think it was worth it but for the me that is here now, I know for a fact I'll lose something. And the fact I will only care about losing something in hindsight terrifies me."

Kamijou Touma would always treat himself as a pawn in his own life and world.

But never once did he think he was expendable.

He did things to preserve his own life and while he risked it, he always did things he hoped would turn out well. While it might have seemed suicidal in some respect, there was a chance in his mind, no matter how tiny, or even a hope, that he would survive. He was a pawn in his own plan and no matter what happened to himself, if there was even a 1% chance of survival, then he would do it and risk his life for another person.

But the way he was now, he might act in the heart of the moment even if there was not that 1%.

Because he was desensitised to the idea of his own death and the injuries he faced, he might truly do something that would not even have that 1% chance of survival.

For instance, if he came across someone making a get away with a car, the usual Kamijou might think about trying to activate the airbags by throwing a metal pole in front of the car. Even if there was the chance he could lose both his arms, by letting go at the exact right moment, he would be able to activate the airbags and stop the driver in the getaway care.

There was a high chance of risk and it might have seemed Kamijou was throwing his life away in that he could lose both his arms but in his mind, there was the possibility he would lose nothing, no matter how small and insignificant.

But, as he was now and if this twisted form, desensitised to his injuries and death, chose to act…

Then Kamijou Touma might seriously consider throwing himself in front of the getaway car so he could stop it.

Such would also stop the airbags and have the same effect but the thinking behind it was entirely different.

And the idea Kamijou would somehow come to the decision to do that terrified him so. The fact it was only in hindsight that he would realise how reckless it was terrified him so.

His PTSD and the experience with the torture at the hands of Kamui had made him realise how little he valued himself in his own world plan and view. The constant deaths and the fact he was willing to throw away anything when it came to himself to earn someone else a smile truly terrified him and it was with the fact he might do something he could never reverse that the words Kamijou said held their weight.

"I… I don't know if I am alright. I truly don't."

Kamijou's words were soft and Yume stared at him. She opened her mouth, trying to say something before doing something very little people had ever done to Kamijou.

She placed her hand on his head and patted it. The warmth of the hand on top of his head, the fact it was even being given to someone such as him who was so broken, so desensitised to himself and did not care about his own death or injuries when he should have caused the boy to tremble as he felt the woman's hand on his head.

"I would suggest someone else to help you with this. But the fact you came to me and said all this means even I can read between the lines of what you want. However, Kamijou-chan…"

There was a slight pause as the older woman took a moment to gather her thoughts before speaking.

"If you want something, then be a child. I told you, didn't I? That it's the adult's job to look after kids such as yourself. You don't need to hide anything, you don't need to be indirect and you don't need to pretend to be anything you're not. Is Kamijou Touma strong? Weak? I don't care about things like that. I am a counsellor and I think you knew that when you said those words to me. There's only one thing I need to hear from you. Only one thing."

There was nothing else that needed to be said from Yume as she stared down at the boy whose head she was patting. Instead, the only thing that needed to come from anyone was from the small and trembling boy beneath her.

This was no time for pride.

Or for the consideration of weakness.

It was only time for Kamijou to say the words he had been unable to say, to cry them out and reveal his heart in the fragile state it was in. There was nothing else that needed to be said, no matter how indirect, how helpless and how futile it was. It was only time for Kamijou Touma to say the rare words he had heard from so many people.

Perhaps the rarity of this moment was what made it so vital.

But it was this moment that Kamijou Touma did not bother with appearances, realising something within his heart and not even bothering to hide it from the one person he had approached with the small problem within his heart.

"Please…"

They were powerful words, words that allowed heroes to move and words that allowed those one did not expect anything from to charge forward.

And they were said from the mouth that most deserved to have them answered.

"Help me."

They were selfish words.

They were weak words.

But they were the words of Kamijou Touma from the depths of his heart.

There was only one thing he was owed, for everything he had done, in terms of an answer.

And one thing was clear in the answer provided.

"Of course."

And that was the world had yet to forsake the boy known as Kamijou Touma.

It was only small.

It was nothing more than the wish from the depths of his heart.

But it was enough.

And there was enough reason for those words to be answered.

For everything he had done and for so many people, it was time for Kamijou Touma to stand where so many had been before.

It was time for the life and smile of a single boy to be protected.


And there we have it.

Part two of the three endings.

Whereas last time we finished the character side of the arc, this was more of the aftermath of the consequences that arose because of this arc. There is still one more part of it to finish off, more of the resolution of something that has happened in this arc (guess what?!) but for this part, it was the overall story that had to be dealt with this time around.

So, what did you think!?

This dealt with both the Science side characters and the Magic side characters and the aftermath of their decisions and what happened in this arc. But as a whole, you can also think of it as the world slowly moving to protect the life and smile of Touma who so deserves for it to be protected.

For Itsuwa this time, I think I really broke the mould with her decision. Numerous times the Church has decided to fuck somebody over but it was this time that someone looked at what the Church was going to do and decided to entirely reject it because of how unfair and against her own ideals it was. In this way, the decision of Itsuwa is one that is both foolish yet also entirely pure with the motivations behind it. While the purity of the decision is rather obvious, it was perhaps the foolishness of the decision that you can really see as not going to end well for the future.

The threat posed by both Index and Otohime has essentially been ignored, even if it has been noted and the others are keeping an eye on them. Indeed, their parts reveal how the twisted nature of what is going to happen is slowly affecting them but it was the fact that Itsuwa decided to give Touma his second chance despite everything he failed to do that holds both an aspect of optimism and yet, also an aspect of ignorance and childishness. The fact Itsuwa ultimately decides to follow her heart instead of her head is a choice I think you can all agree with and think of as being one that is ultimately right because of the guilt and the fact Touma needs a break but also a decision that makes you step back and realise that perhaps this is the time where things are going to be changing and heading in a direction that is going to be dangerous for everyone.

But Itsuwa fighting for her man and deciding to betray the Church for the sake of Touma and his happiness… Even if this decision is going to clearly bite her in the ass later on, I hope you kind of went "Fuck you Church. You ain't got NOTHING on Itsuwa!" Although the consequences of this arc are going to have far reaching effects, it was the fact this choice was made for the purposes of ensuring there is the smallest semblance of normalcy for Touma who deserves it, I hope makes you realise the choice made was one made in the best interests for Touma, especially given all that was not done for him.

In a way though, the choice Touma would have had to make if Itsuwa had actually contacted the Church is having to abandon someone to save someone which I found to be really interesting. But given Itsuwa saved Touma from that makes you realise that not only did she save him and his normal life but also protected him from having to make such a choice too.

And yet, the protection of Touma continued with the further parts, although this time the protection came from the Science side.

Yume hasn't appeared for a while, but it was the fact she is the underlying force fighting against Kamui that should not be forgotten. While we had a possible solution to the Personality Swipe problem presented, we also dealt with the issue related around Touma's left arm. Not much was revealed with the FIVE_Object and the cyborg project as of yet but I truly think that while those are still mysteries, it is the fact we had the resolution to something that really throws everything into chaos that gives the chance for salvation for Touma in this sense as well.

Touma losing his left arm was perhaps a really daring move for me, although the fact it is essentially reversed using Tetris Nanomachines (I love this name…) is both a good and a bad thing. The good, well that should be obvious, but at the same time for those that felt this was a bit too easy in terms of a solution, the only thing I want you to do is hold onto the next part. After all, even if it is a convenient thing, the solution that fell into Touma's lap is one that is going to be ripe with misfortune in one way or another, isn't it!? In what comedic (or otherwise) ways with this cause problems in the future?! I hope you can hold onto this in your own way and look forward to the reveals made in the future.

I also wanted to use this chapter to reveal some badass adults. Whether it be through Yume and Heaven Canceller, I wanted to move away from the children aspect here and really show how they are fighting a war that has nothing to do with them and also a fight that they should not have been put into in the first place. Although we can accept it as being something that is commonplace, the fact Touma is one who suffers the most and has been a part of something he should not have is perhaps the one thing I really wanted you to question. Why does it have to be Touma doing everything? Where are the adults? Both Heaven Canceller and Yume revealed this for what it was and I hope their scene where they are trying to figure things out by fighting against Kamui was one you enjoyed.

And the final scene.

This chapter was very much about Touma showing weakness and especially so in that last part. Last chapter, when Touma made the jokes about his arm, I noted it should have made you think about how twisted it was. But for those that thought "How can he make jokes?!" without thinking so much about how that is a very Touma-like thing to do would have realised how twisted what he ends up doing is. And I covered that in this part.

We all realise and know that Touma is a character that does anything for anyone. However, never does he intend to properly die. There would be no point in his actions otherwise and it would be a bitter ending for him if he were to go through with that. But with Touma being tortured and with his PTSD making him realise he had become so desensitised to what has happened to him and that the idea of his own death is one that he does not care about anymore due to him 'dying' so many times at the hands of Othinus, the twisted nature of that and how it's possible he's going to cross a line and doing something truly dangerous is a real thing I figure Touma would worry about. He's always said he does not do things because they are dangerous and because he just wants to make sure someone has the chance to go smiling despite treating himself to be a pawn but never has he done something where there is no chance, in Touma's mind, that he will survive. That in itself would be truly breaking him and as Touma slowly moves into that territory, I wanted to cover a truer sort of 'fear' within him that would truly threaten his peace and happiness more than a villain could.

In a way, the greatest villain here is Touma and what he is going to put himself through and his desire to fight that is the point of the final scene. To be honest, the fingernail scene where he described what happened to him creeped me out really bad but the fact that Touma shows nothing as he describes it is something I hoped made you realise how broken he is.

But the fact he knows it and seeks out the help of someone else who already knows of his weakness is a sign of his own strength. Instead of being someone who really knows him, I had him turn towards that position of someone who is an adult for assistance and help here. The words Yume speaks here for the sake of making Touma be selfish and nothing else are words he had said to so many people and are words I felt he needed to hear for once himself.

And hence, you had this one scene that followed.

How did you like it? Touma finally saying the words 'Help me'? I hope that as he said them to a mature older woman instead of to some filthy old man you realise they had worth in their own right. Touma being the one head patted felt really strange but given who was doing it, it felt as though it was entirely right.

Touma really was pampered and showed a lot of weakness this time around, didn't he? Whatever the case, I hope that as you read it, you enjoyed. There's only one more epilogue to go…!

And as always,
Review if you please.

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

Come to think of it, I had Itsuwa betraying the Church for Touma, Yume being the one to basically admit to doing illegal things for him, fighting against Kamui and listening to his pains… When you think about, I basically introduced how good these two characters are at being waifu material…