italics - thoughts
Bold - Emphasis
Italics Bold - Magic names or titles
"normal" - speech
" underlined bold " - Mental transmissions
Underlined - Flashback
{Bold}- Magic spells or abilities
Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create
Note: Arisa's speech(mentally) would be denoted like this: "hi" , while Shutara's would be: hello
Chapter 20: Talks and Breaches
"Let's talk about Akikawa Mie."
Shutaura's sudden proposal caused Touma to stiffen up slightly, before he relaxed.
"…Do you have a video with better quality?" Touma continued his clearing of the remains of the hot pot. "Also, can we contact Index and Othinus? They are better versed with magic-related things compared to me." After all, I am an amateur at these types of things.
"…Sure thing." Shutaura tapped on her phone for a few seconds, before she passed it over to Touma. "This is the video."
Taking it, Touma watched the video again. This time, it was much clearer than the one he had watched back in his apartment. He was silent for a few minutes as he watched the video, before he opened his mouth.
"...I think it is a fusion of espers and magicians." Touma squinted at the paused frame of the video. "One of them seems to be manipulating water, so I think that is the esper. The one who is touching the box, as well as the one who broke the camera, seem to be magicians."
"Thank you for your assessment." Plucking the device from his hands, Shutaura began to call Index.
"…why is it a video call? Or rather, can she even answer it?"
"For the second question, I, or rather Arisa, gave her a new phone, as well as some instructions attached to it. Thankfully, it has a video call function. For the first question, the answer is simple. It would allow them to see the video faster wouldn't it?" Shutaura did not look up as she continued to look at the device. "And as a bonus, we would be able to listen to their analysis instead of waiting for them to reply back."
"…" Touma kept quiet at that. Though, part of it was because his heart was recovering from the painful merciless arrows that had been shot at him by Shutaura's reasoning. I just hope Index picks up the phone. Well, it should be fine, since Othinus is there…
*click*
"Hello?" Index's pale blue-silver hair and green eyes covered the entire screen. "Is this thing on?"
"Hello Index." Shutaura gave a warm smile towards the nun. "We called to ask you a few questions."
"Arisa!" Index's face shrunk. "Ah, wait a minute. Let me…how do I do this?"
"Ravenous nun, allow me." Othinus made her way to the screen. Using her feet, she pressed a few buttons(presumably) before she stepped a few steps back to allow Index to come back to the screen. "Here. That should do it."
"Wow!" The two people that had called them could have sworn that sparkles appeared in Index's eyes. "I can see Touma and Arisa! Hi!"
"Hi again Index." Shutaura's smile became smaller. "Could you and Othinus help us? We are investigating a possible interference from the Magic side. Problem is, their abilities are quite similar to esper abilities, so we need an expert's eye."
"You made the right choice then." Othinus folded her arms. "Show us this video. From start to finish."
Shutaura obliged, picking another device to show them the video.
After it played…
"I see…" Othinus nodded. "From the looks of it, the one standing at the rear is a Magician, as well as water manipulator. Nun, what are your thoughts?"
"I agree with this former magic goddess." For the first time in a while, Index's eyes were serious. "The one at the rear seems to be a archer, while the one in the front seems to be using a pseudo god as the base of their magic."
"Pesudo-god?" Touma was confused. "That's rare right?"
"Not as much as you think, Touma." Index frowned, looking at the spiky-haired boy. "Magicians used any act from the past as the base of their magic. It can come from the act of gods, like when mankind was gifted with flames by the titan Promenthus to give knowledge from one person to another, or when Osiris was brought back to life as an undead god to resurrect a person. Or, it can come from acts of man that was later revered by others as a god, or did acts befitting a god. Like Hercules holding the sky in place of the Titan Atlas, which could be use to punish someone, or like Moses, when he parted the sea to allow a person to go across a body of water. You need to learn more about magic."
I would, but Academy city is a place of Science. You won't find that many materials about the mythologies or the occult here. Touma gave a wry smile, an aura of depression around him forming shortly after. Plus, I am on the verge of being held back a grade! Somebody…help meeeeeee!
"So, what are their abilities?" Shutaura asked, pointedly ignoring the aura of depression that was looming over the boy beside her.
"Erm…" Index paused, deep in thought, before she opened her mouth. "The person who is using the pseudo god as their base is using Yu the Great, a ancient Chinese emperor, as its base. There are a number of things they could do from this base."
"Hey, nun." Othinus interrupted Index. "It would be better if you just summarise them. It would be faster for them to gather plans to combat them."
"Okay…" Index pouted, but she obliged to Othinus's command. "So, the first thing would be the ability to fight on equal footing with the opponent whenever there is water related to it. Because of his feat of managing to control floods in China, the magician could use a medium to redirect any attack directed at him as long as there is water involved. Most likely, that medium would be a pipe or a shovel. They could also use the principle of him working alongside others that were of a lower status then him to forcibly bring their opponents down to their level, or even less then that."
"Then, he could also have a spiritual item in the shape of an axe. There once a story of him using a divine axe to split an entire mountain in half to allow water to flow, so there is that possibility as well." Index frowned. "That is all the things I can think of."
"Thanks Index." Touma thanked the nun. "What about the other magician?"
"I'm not sure." Index narrowed her eyes. "Because she only an arrow to destroy the camera, I don't have a grasp of her magic. But, if I had to guess…she could be using the base of the Greek Goddess of the hunt, Artemis."
Another Greek deity… Touma's thought's flashed back to the first magician he had met with Percival. "Artemis had a bow with her that was crafted by Cyclops. It was one of her many symbols. If a bow was used as a spiritual item, as well as her body being a medium…she could be a priestess of Artemis, with a fraction of the Moon Goddess's archery skill and her powers. She could have used the principle of the computers being the 'prey' that she was hunting, and used it to allow her to locate it, as well as carry it back to their base."
"Thanks for the help." Shutaura waved to the nun. "Bye."
"Bye Arisa! Come over to play sometime soon, okay?" With a click, the screen turned black, signalling the end of the call. All was quiet for a few moments as they digested the information they had just learned.
"…so, that just leaves the esper?" Touma broke the comfortable silence first. So, someone who can forcibly bring another to their level, as well as another who has the skills to hunt prey accurately in the dead of night. "Now we know how they are finding Akikawa-san, so we could lay a trap against them."
"…yeah." Shutaura's voice sounded distant. "we could lay a trap for them…find out their objectives for the liquid diamond…"
"Shutaura-san, are you okay?" Touma frowned slightly. "You seem a little off."
"…I'm fine." Shutuara grabbed the ceramic cup once more, downing it's contents with one gulp. "I just need a drink…"
"No more alcohol for you, Shutaura-san." Acting quickly, Touma grabbed the other sake bottle before she could grab it, having seen her eye the white bottle of sake for a while now.
"You make me sound like a drunkard." Shutaura's words were slurring slightly, despite the fact that her eyes were crystal clear.
"You sound like one right now." Exasperated, Touma grabbed onto Shutaura's arm, pulling her up. "Come on, let's get you to bed. Your mind might be fine, but your body sure does not look like its okay."
"…M'kay…" Shutaura sighed a little. "I guess I might have drunk too much…"
"It's good that you realised it then." Touma moved to support her to her room, which was located on the second floor, thankfully. The same floor they were on. "Let's go." He felt some resistance, causing him to stop. "…Shutaura-san?"
That was when his sights went black, and he felt a warm presence on his lips.
A few minutes prior
"Bye Arisa! Come over to play sometime soon, okay?" With that, the call ended.
Hear that Arisa? Shutaura smiled lightly. You should visit Index soon.
"I will." Arisa's familiar voice echoed in her head. "You want to come with?"
…I won't intrude on your gathering. Shutting her eyes, Shutaura conjured a mental image of herself, before she shook 'her' head. Besides, I would most likely have paperwork to do that day, or I could have a mission to do.
"Don't be so stuffy!" Once more, Arisa created a miniature version of herself, placing it at the edge of her vision. "You should take a break every now and then. You also know that I have access to your memories as well, right?"
… Shutaura kept quiet, choosing not to answer Arisa's question.
"I know you have been training ever since you woke up in the hospital." Arisa crossed her arms over her chest, emphasising them slightly. "It's not healthy to just train all the time. And you can't say that you doing running is your way of taking a break, or going to the range to shoot is either! I know your thoughts too."
…tsk. Shutaura clicked her tongue mentally. I thought I would be able to convince you with that.
"-so we could lay a trap against them." Shutaura managed to bring herself out of the mental conversation with Arisa.
"…yeah." Shutaura pushed Arisa to the back of her mind. Literally, since Arisa was little more than a small conscious right now. "we could lay a trap for them…find out their objectives for the liquid diamond…"
"Shutaura-san, are you okay?" Touma frowned slightly. "You seem a little off."
"…I'm fine." Shutuara grabbed the ceramic cup once more, downing it's contents with one gulp. "I just need a drink…"
"No more drinking for you, Shutaura!" Arisa was frowning now, a hint of anger on her face. "You have been drinking too much ever since you spilled the information to Akikawa-san!"
Oh, leave me alone. Shutaura wanted to sigh, but she remembered something she once heard about sighing reducing one's lifespan, she refrained from doing so. Instead, she began to eye the other bottle of sake she had brought as she drank the last dregs of the one in her cup.
"No more alcohol for you, Shutaura-san." Acting quickly, Touma grabbed the other sake bottle before she could grab it.
Dang. Shutaura grumbled in her mind. Looks he got it before I could get it.
"Your drinking is reaching rather…unhealthy levels for our body, Shutaura." Arisa sighed. "You drank a bottle of gin two days ago, and last night, you downed a few bottles of Vodka. If you continue, we might actually get addicted and become dependent on alcohol. Like what you are right now. Just…less prone to the act of drinking."
"You make me sound like a drunkard." Despite the fact that Shutaura had meant to talk to Arisa mentally, it slipped out of her mouth. It was also when she realised her words were slurring slightly, despite the fact that her mind was clear.
"See? You sound like one right now."
"You sound like one right now." Both Touma and Arisa both unintentionally said similar things to the currently drinking captain of the Black Crow unit. An exasperated look on his face, Touma grabbed onto Shutaura's arm, pulling her up. "Come on, let's get you to bed. Your mind might be fine, but your body sure does not look like its okay."
"…M'kay…" Shutaura sighed a little. "I guess I might have drunk too much…" Maybe I mixed up the diluted one and the potent one the other members use?
"If that were the case, then we can hold our liquor. I'd rather think the reason we are like this is because we were to tense up." Arisa groaned lightly. "Which reminds me, you need to stop drinking!"
Because you think Kamijou sees me as you? Shutaura barely managed to refrain from rolling her eyes. Please, like that is actually true. I know you have feelings for him, but I don't think he sees me as you. He sees us as two different individuals, okay?
"…" Arisa kept quiet at that. If she were in her mind's eye, Shutaura would have bet she had a heavy blush on her face.
"It's good that you realised it then." Touma moved to support her to her room, which was located on the second floor, thankfully. The same floor they were on. "Let's go."
"You know what?" For some reason, a dark tint appeared around her eyes. "I had it. You have access to my memories, I know that. I can live with that. But for you to do this…I'm taking over! "
Shutaura had only one thing to say to that. … …Eh?
"No more with being sidelined!" With a battle cry, the dark aura tinting her vision started to push Shutaura's consciousness back, surprising her immensely.
Wa-wait! You can do this!? Shutaura tried with all her might to stop Arisa from taking control, but found that the pinkette's will was stronger than hers. Of all the times to for her to be stronger than me…
Sighing, Shutaura partially resigned herself to having to sit back and allow Arisa to take control of her body.
.
This was not new to Shutaura. Sometimes, because of time constraints (as well as witnesses being around), they had to stick to one body instead of splitting up to do whatever they wanted. They found that the experience of the one who was not in control of the body, but was in the said body, was very similar to watching a movie, or looking at things from a third-party point of view.
What are you going to do? Shutaura asked the pinkette. Due to her sudden takeover, their body had stayed in place, refusing Touma's initial tug. Kamijou is going to think something is up.
"…Shutaura-san?" As she watched, Touma pulled her arm back a little, allowing him to look at the girl clearly.
"This." Arisa pressed her head against Touma's.
Wha- Eyes wide, Shutaura would have spat out water had she been drinking some. Wha-what are you doing!?
"Kissing him." Arisa explained as if it were natural.
With attempted tongue!? Shutuara wanted to bury herself in a hole. …and you did it in my body too…now I can't get married…
"Oh please, don't act as if you had thought seriously about marriage when you became a member of the Black Crow unit." Arisa's words had a ring of truth to them.
..
..
As he watched, Touma's vision began to have a hint of pink in them. But of course, his brain was mainly focusing on the feeling at his mouth.
"Ha…" With a sigh, a significantly more pink-haired Shutaura pulled away from Touma. "Sorry Touma, I wanted to do that for a while now."
Touma recognised that voice, even though the face staring at him now was Shutaura's. "Arisa-san…"
"He he." She giggled, pulling back from the boy. Surprisingly, all the lethargic movements he saw from earlier were gone. "I know you have a girlfriend, but allow me this one kiss please. Think of it as…you reward for saving us."
With those parting words, Arisa skipped out of the room, pausing only to press a button on a machine. Turning back, she winked at the dumbfounded boy, before she shut the sliding door, leaving Touma to his thoughts.
Absentmindedly, he brought his hand to his lips. Shutaura…or was it Arisa? She did not smell like alcohol at all…even though she drank so much…
Touma stayed in this position for a little while longer, before he continued with clearing up the remains of the hotpot and going to bed. But his thoughts never left the figure of Arisa(and Shutaura).
Not even once.
When they were face-to-face, Shutaura did only one thing.
Why did you do thaaaaaatttt!
Wincing, Arisa covered her ears reflexively at the mental yell aimed at her.
Shortly after Arisa got into bed, her consciousness was about to drift into a blissful sleep, but a sharp pain forced her onto a cold surface.
When she regained her bearings, all she could see was that she was inside a small room, with a pair of chairs and sofas.
Then, her eyes met the ones of Shutaura.
Which now leads us to the present.
"Say what?" Arisa played dumb.
Say that you had been waiting a long time to do that! As she watched, Shutaura placed both her hands atop her head. Arrghhh! That makes us sound like sluts!
"Why do you care?" Arisa scoffed, not looking at her sister. "It's not as if you like him."
But you kissed him after I drunk so much! Shutaura brought her knees up to her chest, hugging herself tightly in the corner of the room. Now whenever we meet each other, all he is going to think about is the fact that I am an underage girl who is an alcoholic!
"… …" Arisa narrowed her eyes. This was not normal behaviour for her sister at all. Usually, she was more cold, less expressive towards others.
Well, compared to before they merged, there was a significant improvement regarding her emotions, but when they were on a mission like now, she would be more professional. Yet… here she was, acting like a typical girl after an embarrassing moment that would want to make them act in a tsundere way.
"Shutaura, you are acting like a maiden in love who had her first kiss unfairly taken due to circumstances you can't control." Arisa finally sighed, having figured out the reason for Shutaura's odd behaviour.
…huh? It took a bit before Shutaura got back to her senses. But, when she took in her sister's words, she began to blush up a storm. Wha-what are you talking about? I'm no maiden in love!
"Say what you want, but you are acting exactly like one." Breathing out, Arisa sat down next to Shutaura. "You know, ever since we met Kamijou again, you have been out of it."
What do you mean? Shutaura lifted her face to glare at Arisa. I have been acting like I always have.
"Up until today, yes." Arisa felt some hopeless feeling well up inside her. "But, after we meet Kamijou again, and this time, when I kissed him, you acted differently."
O-of course I would! Shutaura defended herself. You kissed him inside my body!
"Which should not fluster you to this extent." Arisa paused, thinking on her next words. "…you…how do you feel about Kamijou?"
… …please elaborate.
"I mean, what do you feel when you think about him in general."
Well… Shutaura's blush, which had faded, came back, dusting her face with a light red. Whenever I think about him, I get this sense of security and protectiveness….and my heart flutters a little, I guess?
"That confirms it." Arisa patted her sister's arm. "You love him."
H-huh?
"Your body is responding the same way mine does whenever I think of him." Arisa gave a faint smile. "So, it means that you also like him, no?"
…how is this possible? Shutaura wedge her head between her knees and chest. Kamijou has a girlfriend…and yet…why do I still have these feelings?
"It's okay to have these feelings you know." Shutaura raised her head a little, looking at Arisa. "Just because we have these feelings, that does not mean we have to act on them. We can bury them, let them fester in our heart as a unrequited love, whatever." Arisa smiled. "I get that you are confused, since you have never experienced this sort of thing before. I haven't to. So, why don't we take this a step at a time?"
…okay. Shutaura nodded her head, causing Arisa to giggle. …what?
"Nothing." Arisa giggled a little softer. "I don't thin either would have thought I would be playing a councillor for you, who is literally my half."
…Life works in mysterious ways…doesn't it? Shutaura gave a wry smile.
Timeskip
"Oi! Get up!" Touma felt someone shaking him.
Huh? Bearily, he opened his eyes. "I…Informant-san?"
"They are here." Those words caused him to shoot out of bed in shock.
"What!?" Touma's drowsiness went away quickly. "That was too fast!"
"They are magicians, so what do you expect? A week where you could plan and prepare?" Informant scoffed as he watched Touma wear his uniform, his only set of clothes. "Oh, don't forget to wear Daybreaker."
"I won't…speaking of, what are it's abilities?" Touma eyed the flexible armour as he put it over his body.
"It's basically a power suit that Academy City uses." Informant took out a sheet of paper. "Hold on…let me read this…I forgot some of it's functions…"
…you forgot? Touma deadpanned at Informant.
"Erm…right, here it is." Clearing his throat, Informant began to tell Touma it's capabilities, while also leading him out the door of his room. "Wearing Daybreaker would give you enhanced speed and strength. It also protects you from bullets completely, but it's magic defensive capabilities are on the low side."
"It can defend against magic?" Touma was surprised.
"All the equipment me and Percival have can protect us from both Magic and Science attacks." Informant explained as they went down the stairs. "Your suit is better suited against Science attacks, since your hand is better suited for magic and esper fights. Anyway, it also has some increased healing abilities, so if you get inflicted with poison or get severe hits, your body would be healed. But, the drugs used to boost your body's healing is rather hard to find, so don't get injured too often. And lastly but not least…your suit has the abil-"
Whatever Informant was about to say was cut off rather forcibly by a large torrent of water smashing down the front door and hitting the hallway. As Informant had been directly in front of Touma, and not at the corner of the hallway, he got hit by the full blast.
"Informant-san!" Seeing the dirty-brown haired teen get blasted by a blue liquid, he stretched out his hand as a reflex. With a sound of shattering glass, part of the water torrent disappeared into thin air, leaving behind a soaking wet Informant.
"Kaf kaf." Informant hacked out the water that had entered his lungs, slowly standing back up. He had been forced down by the onslaught of water. "Damn…that had…the force of…kah…a sudden flood."
"Pretty spot on." A female voice said in a disinterested tone. Eyes narrowing, Touma turned to see a robed-wearing girl. It covered most of her body, but her top was exposed, revealing a white tank top. "That was actually water blasted at you with the force of an average sudden flash flood."
"Who are you?" Touma placed himself between the new girl and Informant. "What do you want?"
"Mm…call me… Yu Long." The girl grinned, revealing sharp canines. "It means Jade Dragon, I guess? Not too sure how well my translation is."
"There is no need to give your name, Jade." A horribly distorted voice made it's way into everyone's ears. "Just your code name, or part of it would have been more than enough."
A gleam of metal shone under the sunlight, revealing a robot's head. "Hello, Kamijou Touma." Stepping into the house, he revealed his form. This time, it's legs were covered in metal greaves, and it had a gun and sword strapped to its back and side respectively.
"Dom…" Touma muttered, tightening his fist. Shit. I can't fight something like him! I can only hope his weapons are magic items, otherwise I won't be able to protect Informant-san!
*clank* *clank* *clank*
Slowly, the android began to approach the duo, the cylinder in it's centre whirling. With each step, a sound of metal on metal was made. With each step, Dom got closer to Touma and Informant.
*clank , clank* *thunk*
Hmm? Touma was surprised by the new sound. Apparently, so was the android, for he stopped, bending down its 'head' to look at what had made that sound.
"…what's thi-" Whatever the robot was about to say, was lost.
Because he was engulfed in an explosion.
*DOOOOONNNN*
Ground shaking, a large explosion occurred from underneath Dom's feet, covering his entire frame with pale blue flames. Unfortunately, it also propelled the flames outwards. Right towards the open-mouthed Touma.
"Wah!" Acting on reflex, Touma brought out his right hand. The moment it touched his hand, the flames were dispelled, a sound of shattering glass the only thing that ever showed it had contacted with Touma's skin.
Thank goodness it was magic. Touma felt a few beads of cold sweat drip down the side of his face. Had it been from the Science side, like a mine, I think I might be severely injured. I trust the armour that Yurei-san gave me, but I don't want to put it to the test this soon!
"What is…" thanks to the blue flames engulfing the cyborg, his voice was coming out a little more distorted. "How is this-"
"You fell into my trap, idiot."
Informant coughed up water, slowly getting onto his feet. "Since you are a robot, I thought using heat against you would cause your machine parts to get fried from the excessive heat. Looks like you are fine though…Ah~" Informant sighed, wringing out his wet shirt as he did so. "Even though I prepared such a nice gift for you, this is how you repay me?"
"…I see." The flames surrounding Dom died down, revealing that his despite his body being a red-hot colour, it was rapidly cooling down to it's usual silver colour. "You used a Molotov, and a talisman."
"Nice guess." Informant took out a few more pieces of paper, before they fell out of his hand, limp. "…ah, damn. They are wet."
"What would you do now?" Touma could hear a hint of smugness in Dom's voice. "Use your wet papers to suffocate me? Hang on, I'm in a robot, so you can't do that."
"Hm…" When Touma turned to look at him, he was surprised. Informant looked like he was considering Dom's suggestion! "Well, I could do that, but…this works!"
*splat*
"…what?" Stumbling backwards in surprise, Dom tried to pry off the wet pieces of papers that were once talismans from his head. But, due to his robot hand's being blunted ends, he could not get them off completely. "Curses!"
"Come on!" Informant turned the corner, grabbing Touma's hand as he did so. "While he is distracted, let's get Akikawa-san out of here!"
"What was that?" Touma shrugged himself out of Informant's loose grip, running beside the dirty-haired boy.
"A molotov." As they ran, Informant took out a radio that was attached to his hip. "To be precise, a alcohol and sulphur Molotov, with an enhancement talisman attached to it. When Dom stepped on the bottle, he released it's contents. And, when the talisman sensed the change in state, it enhanced it's effects magically, which was why you were able to dispel it with Imagine Breaker."
"I'd rather you tell me these things earlier, otherwise my arm might have been burnt into a crisp…" Touam muttered, but Informant ignored the spiky haired boy, instead bringing the radio to his lips. "Okay. All clear. Sequenzia-san, please bring Akikawa-san out of the premises. My group, fire at will. Bring that hunk of metal into an enclosed room!"
"Grah!" Dom yelled in frustration, finally turning towards the female magician he had came in with. "Jade, could you get this off me!?"
"….pft. Sure." Stifling a laugh, the girl raised her spiritual weapon, an axe, towards the cyborg, before making a waving motion with it.
Appearing from thin air, literal gallons of water rushed into the house, flooding it nearly instantly, and causing Dom to stumble a little.
"Woah there!" Dom acted quickly, digging it's feet into the wooden floor, while jamming it's axe-shield into a doorframe. "…thanks for the help. Although, you could have just walked up to me and helped me peel it off."
"It is dangerous around you." As she said that, Dom watched Jade walked away from the cyborg. "I'm going to hide now."
"What on earth are you-" That was as far as Dom was able to speak before he felt a small impact against his chest. "….this is?"
*Bang Bang Bang*
"What?!" Dom was forced to take a step back at the sudden onslaught of bullets. And another. And another. Try as he might, he was forced to take a step back every time he took a few dozen bullets to his body. Even using his shield did nothing for him, for it was not big enough to cover his frame. "Jade, you knew about this!"
"Of course." The girl nonchalantly replied. As he watched, she summoned a constantly swirling mass of water around her, rendering any of the bullets that were aimed at her, or ricocheted towards her, useless as it hit the debris that was trapped in the water. "If I can sense their presences, that should mean you should be able to, no? After all, you have more sensors then me."
"Never mind that! Just help me out!"
.
Dom was a cyborg. That was something he knew, and had come to terms with. But… …that did not mean he was invincible, despite what he had endured and fought against.
His armour plating may be made of a combination of the hardest minerals and substances known and unknown to man, and his body may be made of the most durable, yet hardy materials known to man, but his body could still be broken or forced to stop moving due to wear and tear. And right now, his armour was going to expose his innards. More specifically, his wiring.
Normally, this would not pose a problem. After all, his circuits and electronic parts were all covered in non-conductive materials. But it had a flaw.
That being that it was weak to water. More specifically, mineral-rich water.
This material, when exposed to mineral-rich waters, like seawater, would have varying effects to it, depending on it's exposure time. The most severe one would be when it is exposed to mineral-rich water for longer than an hour. Interestingly, the material would expand, gaining the hardness of a metal, while it's edges would flatten out, becoming a keen edge that could cut. This would then cut into the very wires it was meant to protect should Dom make a wrong move.
Thankfully, he was only exposed to it for a few seconds, his internal systems being hot enough to dry the seawater that had entered his body completely. But that also meant he was still exposed to danger. Because, when it was exposed to seawater in that few seconds, it becomes something like memory foam, returning to it's original shape. And, in this case, it's original shape was being a cylinder of the non-conductive material. So his plating would roll up, exposing the circuits on his side to the whole world.
So, just a single touch on his body from anything that was electric in nature, and boom! Dom becomes dominated.
.
"Sure, sure." Lazily, Jade swung her axe. However, this time, instead of swinging it in a swaying motion like a wave, she had thrust forwards with it, before spinning the axe in her hand.
At that moment–
A large torrent appeared, flooding the entire house and it's surroundings.
"What the-"
"Gah!"
"Shit, it got wet!"
"Worry about that later! Your gun! Disarm the girl! Disarm her! It looks like she used that axe to control that large amount of water! Maybe she is using it as a way to focus her thoughts?"
"Fuck that!"
"Either way, she is dangerous too, so just disarm her!"
Dom caught this, and more, with his enhanced hearing. "At least you stopped the water." Thankfully for Dom, Jade had directed the water away from him, creating a perfect cylinder of dry space of about two metres in width around him.
"Don't thank me yet." With a lazy wave of her axe, she cleared the water around them, extending the radius of the dry space to about four metres in width and length. "You are still vulnerable to those type of attacks. Plus, those annoying flies are trying to pick us off. My flood only got some of them."
"You did plenty." Dom patted itself down, removing a few of the many small pieces of debris that had stuck to its frame(mainly mud and some scraps of paper). "With this, the plan can go into Phase 2."
..
..
"Clear!"
"Clear!"
"Clear! Ready to move, Leader!"
Nodding her head to her subordinates reports, Shutaura readied her guns, making sure they were full of ammunition, before she gave the order. "Get ready to move out at any time!"
When they received word that there were intruders in the District, the members of Anti-Skill and the Black Crow unit began to prep themselves for a location change. There were some members of Anti-Skill that were grumbling because of the meticulous way the Black Crow Unit had made them do things(one of them was the non-negotiable order of assembling and reassembling a gun when they needed to do so.), but it payed off for those who managed to survive the painful training, briefing and selection phase. Because they had seen what one of the members of the group that was after a single 16-years old girl did to others and themselves, they had instead chosen to steel their hearts and minds in preparation for what they were about to do.
"Okay. All clear. Sequenzia-san, please bring Akikawa-san out of the premises. My group, fire at will. Bring that hunk of metal into an enclose room!" Suddenly, a voice burst to life from the radio that was attached to her hip.
Not even batting an eye at the loud static voice, Shutuara instead replied with a short 'roger'. "Alright, get into your positions! Scouts, set off! Main units one to three, standby for the scout unit's all clear!"
""""Yes Leader!"""" Both Anti-Skill members and Black Crow units shouted at the same time, causing the young girl they were protecting to cower slightly, hands pressed tightly against her ears at the sudden increase in volume.
I really wish they would not call me that. Shutaura had mixed feelings on the Anti-Skill members calling her 'Leader'. On one hand, it showed that she was in direct command of this group of males and females. However, it was a little discomforting for her to hear that name come from the mouths of people she barely worked with before.
She quickly shook off that feeling of discomfort, instead waiting for the all-clear signal from the two scout-teams she had sent ahead.
Her plan was simple: Split into five groups, two scout teams of 4 members, and 3 main teams of ten. All in all, there were 38 members under her command. There was also another 40 members under Informant's thumb, but Shutaura did not care for their actions at that moment, unless it interfered directly with her movements.
The scout teams would fan out, covering an area of about 10 metres ahead of the main teams, which would be splitting off into three different directions. The routes seemed random and spread far apart at first, but they had been organised such that if one group was in trouble, the other two can either reinforce the attacked team, or escape quickly via one-time use jet-packs. These jetpacks were the size of a school bag, but was able to bring a full-grown, heavily equipped man up to a height of 100 metres and, get them to land safely as they descended.
As Shutaura briefly thought about the plan in her head once more, a small vibration brought her out of her thoughts. Looking down, she saw the two indicators she had been waiting for light up. Good, looks like everything is fine. "Teams, move out!"
"Yes, Leader."
"Yes, Leader."
Two separate voices answered her call this time. One from a brown-haired, scruffy looking man, the other from a ponytailed woman.
These two were the vice-leaders of the entire group under Shutaura, and each one were in control of a group of ten members. The first one was someone under her command. Archer Tomaya. The second one was a member of Anti-Skill, Yomikawa Aiho.
Shutaura was unsure if she had met this woman before, but something about her struck a sense of familiarity with her…
Shaking her head once more to clear her thoughts, she began to direct her subordinates she was commanding, leading them to the final location: A certain train yard.
..
..
Yomikawa Aiho was a woman who lived with a few principles.
…wait, that was not completely true. Yomikawa Aiho isa woman who lives by few principles.
The first principle: If they are children, there is no shame in being nude for a short period of time, be they be at their own home, or someone else's.
The second principle: Work should always be done well. No slacking off is allowed.
The third principle: Children should be educated properly, and they should have a healthy and fit body.
And the last, and most important principle in her book: No using of weapons or harmful experimentation against\on children, even if they are criminals or are attempting to harm someone, including her own life.
These four principles could be said to make the core of her personality and character.
…Well, besides her cleaning tendencies and 'love-to-the-point-of-physical-harm' methods…
In any case, the woman known as Yomikawa Aiho was one that adored children, and would do as much as humanely possible to protect children. It was one of the reasons she decided to work in Academy City. To protect the main residents in there, which were children.
They may be smarter than her…
…they may be stronger her…
…some may be delinquents, others respectable scientists in their respective fields…
…some could be even making more money than her on a weekly basis…
But to her, they were children that needed caring, regardless of age, gender or position.
These reasons actually stemmed from someone she had met many times: Her niece.
Not much is known about Yomikawa Aiho. At least, to the public. But, prior to her working in Academy City, she worked as a police officer in Tokyo.
Yomikawa was one of the average policewomen that you could find anywhere. Like any other person, she slacked off, drank on the job(very rarely though), worked overtime for mundane reasons, and had a crappy sort of life when it came to love.
But, if there is one thing she loved, it was her niece: The daughter of her sister.
The sister in question was not the typical sister. A bond-deeper-than friendship type of sister, not her actual blood-related sister, nor a stepsister from another mother or father. But did it matter? Not really.
Her niece's name was Aiko Abiko. She had strawberry-blonde hair, chestnut-brown eyes, and a inquisitive personality. She was like her mother in several ways: Impulsive, gentle and somewhat crude. But that added to her charm. She was only twelve years of age, yet she already had dozens of boys pinning after her. She was like the daughter Yomikawa never had.
Every time Yomikawa had a chance, she would visit her niece's place and play with her. Every time she did so, Yomikawa felt refreshed, even if she got exhausted by the end of it.
But that all changed one day.
It was supposed to a simple arresting of a robber. That was what should have happened. But reality was cruel.
Her colleague, having entered the shop, pointed a gun at the figure of a child who was holding a knife at the robber. Even though she was asked to put down the knife, she chose to continue to point it at the seemingly innocent man. And so, he fired off a warning shot.
And hell broke loose in the city.
The child who had been holding the knife was her niece. When the police officer fired off that warning shot, the bullet ricocheted, lodging itself inside her arm, thankfully not hitting any major arteries. But, because of that, the robber got away. They only managed to catch the robber after a month, with a trail of bodies and looted stores leading the way to his capture.
Aiko was discharged from the hospital a month later. But it took two years for her to regain her arm's mobility. Even now, her niece's arm was still healing, nowhere near it's original condition when she was thirteen years of age.
At that moment, Yomikawa swore. That she would never point a weapon at a child, lest the same thing happened to her niece.
And right now, she was working to protect yet another child, half a decade later.
I wonder, how Aiko is now? Yomikawa smiled faintly as she reminisced. It had been a few years since she last met the strawberry-blonde. Wait, focus! There could be enemies any-
A tingle shot up her spine. "Get down!" Ordering her group, Yomikawa immediately ducked. Thanks to their training, three quarters of the group did just that. But as for the other 3 members that did not listen…they hit the ground, snoring.
"Oho?" A female voice echoed in the night. "So, one of you could sense my arrows? My Goddess must favour you."
"Who are you ?" Discreetly, Yomikawa motioned for her subordinates to look for their enemy, while her eyes scanned the area behind them. "Are you here for Akikawa Mie? If you are, then you would have to get through us first!"
"My name…yes, I should let you know what my name is, in honour of my goddess favouring you." The female mused. Despite how open it was, her voice echoed, and could be heard very clearly.
A hint of movement drew Yomikawa's eyes. Locking onto the figure, she was slightly surprised to see the owner of the voice, a female, was holding a wooden bow, a quiver of arrows attached to her back. She also wore a silver parka, and a pelt skirt.
"My name is Huntress." The girl's fae could not be seen because of the hood, but Yomikawa sense that the girl was smiling slightly. "I would have you hand over the data we want."
AN
So, how was my backstory on Yomikawa Aiho? Pretty interesting right?
I noticed that some fics I read have great backstories for the characters that we see(or read, for unadapted novels), but as for the main series, some of the minor characters, which play an important part in character development, have an air of mystery around them. What are their objectives? What is their history? Any family members? Reasons for doing what they did?
Yomikawa is a person we see often in Toaru whenever Touma has to interact with Academy City's law enforcement, or it's educational system. She can't really be considered a mob character in the end, right? Since her actions have quite the impact in Toaru, Railgun and Accelerator series and spinoffs. So, I tried my hand out on making a OC backstory for a character we are familiar with.
Was it good? Or bad?
Then, we have the scene with Arisa and Shutaura. To clarify for those who are confused: They think of each other as sisters, which is partially acceptable, since they literally came from the same flesh and blood.
Anime is Life, and please review!