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
Chapter 23: Shining Diamonds
Previously…
The trio stayed like this for a while, enjoying the silence. Then-
"Leader!"
*Bang!*
With a loud sound, the door to the hospital room was opened, allowing a group of men and women to enter.
"There you are! We have been looking all over this blasted hospital for you! Found some rather crazy things I would not like to see ever again." The one in the lead shivered as he spoke.
"You should have knocked, Crow 7." Touma could tell Shutaura was annoyed by the small twitch her hand was doing. "Besides, I am sure you would have found me easily if you had asked around. After all, we need to make sure that IB and Informant over there are safe and awake for debriefing. It just so happens I was about to start the process when you barged in."
"Sorry Ma'am!" The man, Crow 7, saluted. "Do you need a recorder for the debrief Ma'am?"
"No need." Shutaura waved her hand. "Okay. IB, could you tell us what happened with Dom?"
A few moments later...
"I see..." Shutaura closed her eyes. "That does explain why you said that the information you got from Dom seemed to be reliable. Even if it was a lie. IB, you really need to not be so trusting of others."
"I can't help it!" Touma half complained, his voice full of exasperation. "It's my nature to not see the worst in everyone and try to save them! Sue me!"
"Still," Crow 7 frowned. "How did you survive that thermite bomb? By all accounts, you should be dead. IB does not have anything that works against weapons of our nature, but they seem to work on those weapons we fought against a few days back."
How did you–Touma's eyes widened.
"And before you ask, we tried out your right hand when you were unconscious." Crow 3 grinned. "It was either we do it when you were out, or we force you through some experiments. And we WILL put you through the ringer." Any complaints Touma had died in his throat when he saw Crow 3's face.
"You forgetting about me?" Informant tossed a balled up piece of paper at Crow 3, who caught it. "IB here may not be able to deal with scientific weapons, but I can just fine."
"So? How did you block it?" Shutaura crossed her arms, staring at the boy.
Informant frowned a little when he saw the glare being directed at him. "Fine. Stop glaring at me with that look. It's unnerving" He complained, before his face turned serious. "Okay, so when the bomb was about to explode, I saw a girl in a silver parka shooting a few arrows. I thought that was very suspicious, so I threw up some shields I had in my storage unit, and pushed IB down so that his body would be a small target. And for good measure, I brought up my swords to block. Thank goodness I did." Informant shivered. "The damn blast took out the three shields I had custom made, plus one of the swords! Had I not done that, both me and IB would be dead, turned into swiss cheese! And that is not an expression, since that was exactly what my first shield turned into before it exploded from the energy conversion overload."
"Energy conversion?"
"It turns any sort of energy or impact being directed at it into electrical energy that powers a barrier coating the shield." Informant explained, seeing the confused looks. "So, if you fire bullets at it, or flames from a flamethrower, the shield would convert some of the energy from the attacks into energy that can be used to enhance the barrier covering the shield. The shield itself is pretty weak when compared to some of those in my arsenal, but if is powered up, it becomes one of my stronger ones. At full power, it has the ability to stop a nuclear blast head on. Excluding the fallout, of course."
"…think we could have some?" Crow 7's eyes glinted. "Me and the rest of the members want some payback against a certain bitch."
"I doubt we would be able to use them much Crow 7, so get that idea out of your head." Shutaura harshly said.
"Sequenzia-san here is right." Touma raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in formalities with the female leader of a specialised squad, but quickly realised he did it to keep up appearances that they did not know each other. Especially when he saw a few of them eye their weapons. "You guys would be unable to use them efficiently. They are non-collapsible, and weigh a lot, so unless you feel like lugging about a tonne worth of steel and other materials, plus having a piece of metal the size of a PC screen attached to your arm, go for it. Unless you want to carry a tonne."
Informant specified the weight again. Touma deadpanned when he heard Informant's words. Wow, guess he really does not want to give out his weapons.
"…I think we will pass on the offer then." Crow 7 blinked in surprise, before he retracted his wish, having taken the hint that Informant was not so subtly throwing out.
"So, is that all you came for Crow 7?" Shutaura raised an eyebrow.
"Ah!" One of the other members that had followed them, a female this time, said in realisation. "No, captain. We were looking for you because we were given a new mission from the Board."
"Really?" Shutaura eyebrows threatened to become one with her hair from how high she was raising them. "That is…interesting. What are the contents of the mission? How urgent is it? And what is the main focus?"
"The contents are…not meant to be heard here, Captain." The female's eyes flicked first to IB, then to Informant, before they focused back on Shutaura. "As for the urgency and the focus…it is non-urgent at the moment, as the details are a little vague. As for the focus, it is more research and information gathering oriented."
"…I see" Shutaura rubbed her forehead, sighing. She looked like she was thinking about something. "Okay. I need to talk to IB and Informant for a bit more before we leave for our mission. Otherwise, I might have to take a few days off to make sure this idiot does not end up in the hospital intense care unit. Again."
"…roger that captain." Crow 3 gave a small smile, before opened the door to the hospital room. "Come on guys, let's get out and give our captain some privacy."
"Pish, so our Boss would make out with that scrawny kid?" Crow 7 sneered. But Touma got the feeling it was for laughs, not as an insult.
"Crow 7, shut your mouth and get out of here!" The female screamed, kicking the man in the crotch for good measure.
Slowly, the male fell to his knees, clutching his family jewels from the sheer, unholy pain that was going through them at the moment.
Touma winced. Poor guy. At least he is in a hospital.
Hey, the boy needed some entertainment and distractions. Plus, it was funnier when the person who had his, ahem, precious parts attacked was not the watcher in question. Although, Touma had experienced it before once, so…should he be singing a different tune? Honestly, he did not care. All I care about is that I am not experiencing that again.
"...that seemed to hurt." Touma said trying to break the tension that had formed in the air when all three of them had seen Crow 7's face. Seriously, no grown man with a beard should make that sort of face! It's going to give me nightmares tonight!
Beside his bed, Informant nodded, a similar look of fear on his face.
"You think he would be used to it by now." A beautiful voice entered Touma's ears, as if in response to his question. "But I guess Crow 7 is the type of guy that does not learn from his past mistakes." Touma turned to the door, where a new person had entered. "After all, Crow 3 just got a pair of steel-capped boots to kick Crow 7 with. As he had no doubt just experienced."
"…Arisa?" Touma blinked in surprise.
"Hey." Arisa waved cheerfully at the boy.
"What are you doing here?" Then, his mind processed what Arisa had said. Wait, he got hit not only with a trained soldier's kick, but it was a kick that was further enhanced by steel-capped boots?! Someone get Heaven Canceller! We need his skills to prevent the poor guy from dying from internal bleeding and shock!
"What?" The pinkette puffed out her cheeks, pouting. "I can't visit my friends who are in the hospital?"
"Oh. Sorry, not that." Touma mentally hit himself for not being clear. "I meant why are you and Shutaura separated? Wouldn't it be better if you two stayed in one body?"
Shutaura hummed. "Well, I guess you could say we are taking some time off from each other. We can't always be together."
"Yeah, what she said." Arisa picked up where her counterpart left off. "Shutaura is going to be doing some investigative work in the darker underbelly of Academy City. It would make things easier if we split up and cover more ground. I can keep my ears to the floor to listen for possible leads in the net and on the streets, while Shutaura goes through the underground networks for the mission, since it is a information gathering type mission."
"…is that all?" Touma was hesitant to believe the duo's explanation. It seemed to…convenient.
"…Weeeell…" Arisa shrugged. "I would blend in better above ground since I am a level 0. My hair and face loo different from when I was an idol too, so not many people would recognise me that easily."
"… …"
"…fine. Shutaura and I are splitting up because of the kiss." Arisa finally broke down when she saw Touma's deadpan stare. She owed him too much to try and lie to him. Plus, it was not in her nature.
"Kiss?" Touma questioned, before the memories popped into his head. "…oh." Guess Shutaura was angry at Arisa for doing that in her body.
"I was pissed at you for doing something in MY body." Shutaura glared at the girl. "Sue me."
"It's OUR body, sis." Arisa stuck out a tongue playfully. "Besides, I don't think you were complaining when you dreamt about–"
"DON'T. YOU. DARE!" Shutaura snarled, suddenly whipping out a knife from god knows where. "Or I swear I will your face gets it!"
"You really think I would say something that would affect me as well?" Arisa folded her arms with a huff when she saw the knife. "Jeez, way to trust me."
"I don't trust you all that much really." Shutuara said in a dry tone. "After what you did back at base, when you–"
"Alright, alright I get it." Arisa pushed herself off from the wall she was leaning against. "Well, I need to get going. Sis, you coming?"
"…sure." Shutaura nodded, standing up. "The sooner we finish our mission, the faster we can experiment with our powers. But before that-"
The duo looked at each other and nodded. With one swift motion, they kissed Touma's cheeks.
Awha-? Touma's eyes widened when he felt the warm presences on his cheek and arms. Lifting his right hand, it went to the place where Arisa had kissed his cheek.
When she saw the shocked look on Touma's face, Arisa giggled. "So? How was the kiss from the two of us? Thinking of some fantasies already?"
"Ah, ah." Touma tried to speak, but he kept stuttering.
This time, Shutaura gave a small giggle. "We know you have a girlfriend. Informant told us. But that does not mean we will lose our affection for you. We may have had a bad start, but for us, as long as we reach our goal, we are willing to wait."
"Yep!" Arisa leaned in, putting their faces close to each other. If a person gave them a nudge, they would have collided. "Treat us well!"
"O-okay…?" Touma finally stuttered. His brain could not keep up with the turn of events.
"Well, bye!" Arisa started to walk off, but before she did, she dragged Shutaura with her. "Come on sis, you too. Don't become a maiden all of a sudden." She teased. "What would your troops think?"
"D-don't bring them into this!" Shutaura shrugged off Arisa's grip. Then, they started to bicker(?) with each other as they left.
What do you call arguing with a personification of yourself anyway? Touma could not help but think that when he saw their fight.
"…"
"…"
Once the two left, it was very quiet. Then, Informant spoke. "So, you got new fantasies?"
"What? No!" Touma looked at Informant with an incredulous expression, thrown back by the sudden question. "Why would you think that!?"
"Any healthy boy would have some fantasy involving two women. And you just got the higher tier package: Two sisters who are willing to go out with the same person. And one of them is an idol, while the other is a secret agent." Informant shook his head wryly. "Kamijou-san, you have mythical tier luck with getting into situations like these with girls that have so many unique attributes."
"I don't have luck! My go-to phrase is literally 'Such Misfortune!'! If that is not an indication of my daily life, I don't know what is!"
"Toooooouuummmmaaaaa… …"
"Idiiiioooittttt… …"
Twin voices filled with dark intentions filled the room, prompting the sole inhabitants of the room to break out in cold sweat from the bloodlust.
Like a machine that had not been oiled, Touma slowly swivelled his head towards the doorway, a strained smile on his face.
There stood two girls and one cat, one having chestnut-brown hair clad in the summer uniform of Tokiwadai, the other having silver-blue hair and clad in a nun outfit. On top of the habit was a calico cat, who held a writhing Othinus in its mouth.
"I-Index…M-Mikoto…" Touma stuttered, nearly tripping over his girlfriend's name. Better not give Mikoto any more reason to zap me. "W-what are you doing here?"
"We came to visit an Idiot who had landed himself in the hospital again." Mikoto growled out, small arcs of electricity jumping from her hair. She had blushed when she heard Touma call her by her given name, but she quickly remembered why she was there. Especially when said reason was clad in a hospital gown and a few bandages. "Then, we find out he was seducing other girls as well."
"Touma, you are being unfaithful!" Index glared at the misfortunate boy. "You are having two other girls serving you besides your girlfriend! Bad Touma!" Atop her head, the calico cat hissed, as if in agreement with his owner.
"N-no, that was not my fault!" Touma tried to defend himself. "That was all Shutaura and Arisa!"
"Hooooo…" The dark aura grew! "So you are on a first name basis with them, huh…" Mikoto's face twitched.
"Touma, stop being so Touma when you are dealing with a girl's feelings!"
*Crunch*
"Gah!" Touma yelled in pain. "Index, why are you biting me!? I am an injured person! Let me rest and recuperate! Shutaura told me to call her by her first name, since Arisa told me to do so. Besides, it's not as if they did anything!"
"The lipstick on your cheek says otherwise."
"Huh?" Touma brought his hand to his cheek and rubbed it.
Lo and behold, when he brought it to his face, he could see the remains of some pink lip-gloss on his fingers.
"Any last words?" Mikoto allowed the electricity zapping all over her body to burst out a bit before it dimmed down, not willing to risk destroying any sensitive equipment in the hospital.
"Such Misfortune."
And so, Touma faced his end from two girls. One by biting, the other by frying him with the same amount of electricity a taser gave out.
"So, you feeling better?" Outside the hospital room, unaware of the chaos they had caused, Shutaura and Arisa were walking out of the hospital, towards where the remaining members of the Crow unit were.
"…yeah, surprisingly." Shutaura replied to Arisa's question, a tiny blush on her face. "So, I really do love him?"
"Yep, and before you blame me, this is all on you. My feelings may have pushed you to confess, but if there was no love for him, your feelings would have never blossomed into existence n the first place." Arisa chirped, twirling as she walked.
"…why are you feeling so chipper about this?" Shutaura could not help but ask when she saw that display, a hint of suspicion in her tone. I don't think girls who have the same crush should be getting along this well. Or have one of them encourage having the same boyfriend for that matter.
"…No reason…" Arisa hummed. "…want to fuse back when we get back? It would be faster to know what had happened. Plus, we would be able to get rid of that itch pretty quick."
"…sure thing." Shutaura nodded in agreement. The itch had been bothering her for a while now. In the past, it would have been simple to solve with a few workout routines, but ever since Arisa came back into her life, it was harder to supress the itch.
"Great!" Arisa jumped with joy. "I'll pick out the songs!"
Well, I better prepare for some sore muscles in the morning. Shutaura would have rather not done a sing and dance routine on a karaoke machine, but if it would satisfy their thirst to do so, it would be best she did it quick.
Timeskip, in a Certain bedroom...
"Hm~ Hm~ Hm~" A blonde was humming to himself as he worked out some problems on a computer. "So, if I do this, and then do that…there!" With a satisfied smirk, Thor tapped the final key on the keyboard. I hope it works this time.
A loading screen appeared on the computer. Ever so slowly, a progress bar started to fill in. Come on, come on...
Pretty soon, the bar filled up all the way. With a smooth transition, the computer gave a black screen, before it changed to a colourful screen, complete with buttons for a person to press.
"Woo hoo!" Thor shouted out, glee filling his entire body. Who knew that trying to code a game would be so challenging! Never would have thought that the Science side would dish out this large amount of fighting Xp! A stray thought passed through his mind. Actually, now that I think about it, I could use some of the coding I did to make this game for some fighting techniques. Let's see...what was it called again? Max–imum Over…drive? Yeah, that sounds right.
Cracking his neck, Thor prepared himself to thoroughly look at the pixelated attack to try and copy it, when the phone rang.
Surprised by the sudden sound, Thor accidently spilled some tea onto the keyboard, causing the entire piece of technology to smoke.
"Aw, dang." Thor pouted. Now I would have to do it all over again. Not that I mind, since I like to challenge myself to grow, but it would take even longer to learn that move. Sighing, Thor picked up the flip-phone. Fumbling with it a little, he answered the phone, not bothering to check who it was that was calling him. "Hello?"
"Ah, hello Thor. You doing well?" A male voice spoke. "How are those things I left behind for you to try treating you?"
"Ah, Percival!" A smile instantly bloomed on the blonde's face. "Pretty good actually. It is a good change of pace, but I prefer having a good old fashion brawl! Fist to fist!"
"More like blade to fist in your case." Percival retorted. "…anyway, I just received a notification for some purchases using my cash stash. I am assuming Misaka-san came by?"
"Yeah. That tsundere girl came by, along with a blonde, busty one and brown haired one wearing a bodysuit." Thor recalled the trio that had come by two days ago. "The tsun- part of that girl came by in full force when she learned I made that photo with that app of yours. Your bed and some of your data storage banks got fried."
"Really?! I mean, I knew that there was a possibility that it could happen, but for some of my storage units to be hit…how many and how bad is the damage?"
"Hmm…" Thor glanced behind him, where the melted mess of what was once data storage units lay. "I guess…roughly half got hit? And most of them are a melted mess."
"…please tell me that is a lie…"
"Why would I lie about that?" Thor asked, a little confused. "Ah, there looks like some metal is in that pile of plastic sludge too."
"…all my data and photos…" Percival sniffed. "…please tell me the ones that I told you to put in the safe are fine…"
"They got a little singed by some stray bolts, but other than that, they are fine." Thor looked over one of said data storage units. A few scorch marks were on the glossy cover of the unit, but none of the internal components seemed to be touched.
"That's good." Percival's voice became a little more serious. "So, did you create the photo I told you to?"
"Sure did!" Thor gave a toothy grin. Spinning the chair he was in, he leaned back, causing the chair to creak as he did so. "Did it as soon as I could, and made it pretty well too! After all, you did promise to fight with me again in exchange for those photos. Speaking of…why did you need them?"
"…part of a plan I have." Percival sounded unwilling.
Come on, man! Give me some info! Thor pouted a little, since he spent a good chunk of his time doing that photos. But it was not in his nature to pry, so he left it alone. "–alright then. Remember to give me that fight you promised me!"
"Sure thing." Percival gave a small chuckle. "I won't hold back too much this time."
"You better go all out!" Thor cut the call after those words. Hmm, maybe I should replace that keyboard too. That smoke seems to be bad news.
*crackle~*
Yep, that's bad.
In a certain place...
"Heh, that battle maniac does not know when to all it quits." Percival shook his head as he looked at the phone.
"Hehe, so what was that all about boy?" A woman with a short white China dress leaned her head over Percival's shoulder, peering down at the contents on the small screen. "Did you lose something precious?"
"–in a manner of speaking…" Percival sighed, feeling a little empty inside when he thought about all the lost data he had stored up. 5 years worth of data…gone…
"Hmm…" Near the duo, a chocolate-brown skinned woman with silver hair frowned. "Percival, when are we going to meet our Scorer again? You said time was off the essence when we last met."
"And it is." Percival pushed down his feelings of sadness. "If what I recall is correct, you would have mailed yourself to Kamijou at this time, Nephthys, while Niang-Niang would have died."
""What?!""
"Hm, actually, being banished to another world would be a more apt description, but oh well. It's semantics anyway." Percival whispered under his breath, ignoring the shocked looks the two Magic Gods gave him when he so casually told them their fate.
"…You know, I would be inclined to believe that you are lying, had you not just told us of your origin, and proof of it as well." Nephthys rubbed her forehead, something she had never thought she would have done in the past, being an almighty Magic God.
"Why are you so calm, Nephthys!" Niang-Niang, on the other hand, was fidgeting about, her baggy sleeves on her head. "I was just told I would have died by now! Died!" The charm on her head fluttered about, nearly threatening to fall off at any given moment due to how vigorously she was moving.
Like she was possessed, Niang-Niang suddenly gripped Percival's shoulders, her green eyes gleaming. "Tell me, descendant of mine! How did I die?"
"That would be telling of me…" Percival looked away from the Magic god. Her glowing green eyes and black hair reminds me of those super zombies I once saw back in the day...those are some bad memories right there…Besides, I think she would do something rash If she realises that what happened earlier was her 'deathpoint'…
"As a God of your heritage, I command you to tell me how I died!" Niang-Niang leaned closer, shaking the boy in her grasp back and forth as she spoke. A thought occurred to her. "Wait…should I have died earlier?"
"…No comment." Percival averted his gaze from the Chinese Zombie like goddess, unwilling to divulge information.
"WHYYYYYY" Predictably, the Magic god wailed, once again shaking the boy in her grasp back and forth. "I need to prepare my heart!"
"I am sure that you should be used to dying by now. After all, you died once to become the way you currently are." Nephthys could not help but tsukkomi when she heard her fellow Magic God's words.
"–anyway, what's going to happen Percival?" Nephthys looked over her shorter friend's head, ignoring her complaints. "From what you said, it would seem that we have altered the timeline which was originally supposed to happen."
"That is an unforeseen circumstance, really." Percival shrugged, peering out of the shadows they were in for a second, before quickly ducking back in. "But it does help me in some ways."
"Such as?"
"Knowledge is power, as they say." Percival looked directly into Nephthys's green eyes. "And right now, you two have the most knowledge in the past and ongoing events in this world."
"…given your circumstances, I suppose that is even more true." Nephthys did not confirm nor deny Percival's words. "So, do you want the long version? Or the short one?"
"The long one please." Percival immediately said. "But let's do this on the road."
"Why?" Niang-Niang asked, confused. "Can't we do it someplace secluded? And if not, why did you chose for a longer version of the world's history?"
"For the latter part, because it would be easier for my side. And for the first part…" Percival peeked his head out again. "Fate is catching up to you guys."
"What do you mean 'fate is catching up to us'? " Niang-Niang asked, annoyed. "Don't be so mysterious!"
Nephthys caught on. She paled. "Don't tell me…"
"Two words." Percival quickly looked back towards the two female Magic Gods, his liquid metal shifting into a grappling-hook like fixture. "World Rejecter."
The two Goddesses had only one thing to say in response to that.
""…Shit.""
"Here is for Touma getting out of the hospital nearly injury free!"
"""Cheers!"""
Right now, Touma was back in his dorm room. He had just been released from the hospital after his encounter with Dom. Thankfully, his injuries were just a mild concussion and some minor superficial bruising. It would hurt for him to move like he usually did(mainly running for long periods of time while also using his hand to block esper attacks), but other than that, he was free to go.
And for this occasion of not being hospitalised after a major event, he decided to have a small party to celebrate.
Well, Mikoto was the one he decided this. It was also when she decided to cash in that favour he owed her.
"Ape, how often do you have to deal with these sort of things?" Sipping from a cup, Kuroko asked the resident owner of the room they were in.
"…almost every time." Touma admitted almost shamefully. "If it wasn't for me getting a private room all to myself due to how often I visited the hospital, I would be in debt. Several times over."
"How serious are the injuries you usually get Kamijou-san?" Kazari asked, concerned for her new friend.
"I will answer that, Uiharu." Mikoto quickly clamped her hand over Touma's mouth when he tried to reply. "Knowing the Idiot, he would either downplay it, or he would lie. Guess what he said when I met him, arms bandaged up, for our discussion on the magic side?"
"He said he scrapped his arms while he was running to get to the meeting place?"Ruiko asked, a small grin on her face.
"Close. He actually said that he fell down a flight of stairs." Mikoto deadpanned. "And when I pointed out his bleeding elbow, he said he was carrying a lower pot when he fell."
"…oh my." A certain blonde haired girl murmured. "So, what did my Prince actually do to get those injuries?
"He got grazed by a geomancer as he was trying to save a girl. Again." Mikoto sighed. "If I didn't know any better, it is a curse of his to save girls left, right and centre."
"Actually," A certain boy cut in. "It's a disease. Motoharu-san and Aogami-san call it the 'Kami-Yan disease'."
"Not you too!" Touma wailed when he heard him say those words.
"Informant-san, does he really have that disease?" Kazari whispered to the dirty-blonde.
..
Yes, there were other people that had come for the mini party, and had squeezed themselves into the already tiny apartment. And they were Misaki Shokuhou, the 5th ranked Level 5, and Informant(last name not disclosed).
"Well, it is more of a condition where girls saved by him start to get infatuated with him, before falling in love. That part can be cured, unless he saves you when you are at your most vulnerable and you see his face." Informant whispered back to the flower-band wearing girl. "That is when a girl would fall for him. Hard."
"Oi." Touma stared at Informant. "Don't turn me helping people into some sort of girl-picking habit of mine."
"Well, what is the girl to guy ratio for the people you saved?" Informant countered, jabbing a finger into the table.
Not so discreetly, the girls that were also infatuated with Touma(Misaki and Index) perked up their ears to listen to the conversation, while his girlfriend merely folded her arms, glaring at her boyfriend and daring him to answer the question.
"…" Touma looked away, unwilling to answer the question. Honestly, I can't remember. But if I say that, Misaka would be angry and say that I am being vague on purpose. If I keep quiet, she would punish me as well! AHH! What do I do!? Such Misfortune!
"…Well?" Mikoto narrowed her eyes. "What's the answer Idiot?"
"Erm…" Sweat started to pour down his face like a stream. I know the best way for me to survive this is to give an answer, but I don't want to lie to my girlfriend! But, I don't want to get scorched either!
"Well…" Touma gulped. Please spare me, Misaka-sama! "I can't remember. I saved quite a number of people, but I think most of them were from girls, because half the time, I keep running into guys trying to push themselves onto them."
"…good boy." Mikoto allowed the sparks to fade, causing Touma to breath a sigh of relief, before he blinked in confusion. …huh?
"Erm, Misaka-sama, why did you not punish this lowly Kamijou?" Touma asked, more confused than anything.
"Why, you a pervert?" Informant immediately took the chance to jab at the spiky-haired boy. "Geez. Misaka-san, please be careful. This masochist would want you to punish him with some electric whips as a reward or– Oof!" A quick punch to the face quickly shut Informant up.
"I knew that was coming, but did you really have to say it?" Touma sighed. "Besides, you know I did not mean it like that, damn it! Why did you have to purposefully say something that would make people misunderstand?"
"Because…it's fun…to see you panic." Informant groaned, slowly massaging his cheek where Touma had struck him. "Besides, I am doing this for Motoharu-san. He told me to tease or make fun of you for him while he was out doing some stuff."
"…I was wondering why he was not here." Touma sighed again. "He would not say no to free food, especially a hotpot with many girls he could ogle at."
"…boys are perverts." Mikoto groaned. "And to answer your question Idiot, it's because I know that your luck somehow manages to make it such that ladies try to go after you."
"What makes you say that?"
"Well, seeing a guy attract many girls is bound to be misfortunate for the Idiot, whether he wants it or not." Mikoto shrugged.
"Indeed." Misaki nodded her head. "There would be many girls fighting over their love power for my Prince, or boys trying to claw my Prince to shreds for attracting all the girls to him. It is both a blessing and a curse. More of the latter, actually."
The two level 5s in the room sighed. as they briefly thought about the competitors they would have to fight off to keep Touma to themselves. Although for Misaki, it was more of her trying to think of who should be placed by Touma as a mistress, while the rest were given the boot.
Hey, her agreeing to the plan that Percival and Informant came up with does not mean she would follow it to the letter.
"Right then…" Touma slowly inched away from the table, which was starting to become volatile from the two Level 5s glaring at each other. "Let's start making the hotpot shall we?"
Unknown to him, a certain nun shuffled her feet uncomfortably.
"Where are the ingredients? And the pot?" Ruiko asked, a hint of curiosity in her tone.
"I placed the pot in that cabinet over there." Touma pointed towards one of the lower cabinets that made up his kitchen area. "As for the ingredients, I thought some pre-made stuff from me would be good."
"What did you make?" Ruiko grunted slightly as she took out the large pot and induction stove for the hotpot. Carrying it over to the table, she somehow managed to manoeuvre her way over the sea of limbs and bodies and set up the thing without anyone getting hurt.
"Some dumplings with pork and ginger filling, some fresh, ready-to-eat cabbage and radish, eggs, raw pork and some seafood. I was thinking of some miso for…the… …broth… …" Black eyes stared at the nearly empty fridge, save for some raw meat and seafood. Even then, it was just a handful.
"What's wrong?" Ruiko and Mikoto, having noticed Touma's sudden inactivity, peeked over his shoulder. "…oh."
"…"
"…"
"…"
All was quiet as they realised that most of the food that was meant for the hotpot was now gone. And it was unlikely that Touma had forgotten to make them, as Mikoto was the one who had bought the ingredients for Touma to make the meal beforehand. As one, they all looked to the guilty culprit.
"…" Seeing all the stares directed at her, Index fidgeted in her spot, before she finally cracked. "I'm sorry. But, I was hungry!" In response, her stomach growled, causing the gluttonous nun to blush as everyone heard her unladylike action. "See?"
Timeskip
Needless to say, Index was punished. Badly.
And thankfully for Touma, it did not involve any cleaning. I mean, how on earth does one light a bathtub on fire, and somehow demolish a sink, with just cleaning items and water?! And isn't water supposed to prevent fires? How did one even start in the bathtub of all places?
"At least there is enough time for me to cobble together a hotpot." Touma muttered, patting the pocket which held the cash Mikoto had handed him. He had tried to refuse, but once she threatened him with making Index clean up the place after their meal, he quickly took the money.
"You better make it a good one, human."
"Wah?!" Touma nearly felt like he had gotten whiplash from how fast he had turned his head. He could see a doll-like figure sitting on his shoulder at the very edge of his peripheral vision. "O-Othinus?! What are you doing?
"Following you, human. Can't you guess that since I am outside of the room?" Othinus stretched her limbs, uncaring of the look that was being directed at her by her Understander.
"You could have just asked, you know." Touma sighed after a while. Using his other hand so as to not jostle the chibi former-Magic Goddess, he wrapped up his scarf a little higher "I would have put on the jacket for you to sit in."
"…even if you did, I would have still sat on your shoulder." Touma could feel Othinus make herself comfortable in the scarf.
"Why?!" Touma shouted out. Thankfully, there was no one around, so no one stared at him. Although he tried to lower his volume so as to not look like a crazy person talking to himself. "If you don't use the jacket, then you would be out in the open! I would look like some weirdo who likes to play with girls' dolls! And aren't you cold?! You are literally wearing what can be considered an exotic swimsuit or sexy lingerie for women!"
"Please, you faced my hells before. I doubt you would be affected by the opinions of the masses THAT badly." Othinus scoffed. "Plus, I was not under the assumption that your mind was in the gutter when we set out to buy more groceries for the hotpot."
"Oh, nearly forgot about that." Touma took out his phone. Now then, what-
"…ah?!" Touma saw the time. "It's nearly 5.30! If I don't hurry, I'll miss the sale!" Sprinting off, Touma nearly caused Othinus to be thrown to the ground. She managed to grab onto Touma's earlobe, so she stayed on his shoulder.
"You and your sales, human." Othinus shook her head. "Although, since your funds are perpetually on the low side and we have a gluttonous nun living with us. getting more food at a low price is a must have, I suppose."
Timeskip
"Ah, thank goodness I managed to make it in time." Touma sighed in relief. In either hand, he held about four bags worth of groceries. When the cashier had seen the amount of groceries, she had been suspicious of him going to grab them all and go without paying. Not that Touma could blame her. After all, a lot of them were basically the more expensive foods, like beef, along with a hotpot set, ready to be eaten once it was cooked. And around two-thirds of Academy city's residents were Level 0s too.
"You know human, I know I should feel concerned by the amount of food that you bought for this one meal, but having seen that nun down so many bowls of food in one sitting has altered my perception of a human's limits." Othinus could not help but comment. "…anyway, do you feel it?"
"Mm." Touma understood what Othinus was trying to say.
They were quite a distance away from the supermarket he had left. About 7 blocks. And during that time–
"Are you going to come out?" Touma looked at one of the numerous alleyways the lined the city.
–someone had started to follow him.
"Oh?" As if from thin air, a silhouette walked out of the alleyway. Touma could not see the figure clearly, since the sun was setting in his direction. "So you could sense me? Imagine Breaker."
"Who are you?" Touma did not get the feeling the person before him was here to fight. But, his gut instinct was screaming at him to be wary.
"You do not know who I am?" The figure tilted its head. Its voice sounded distinctly male. "…hmm, perhaps those two goddesses have not reached you yet.
"Goddess?" Touma was confused. Then, he thought about the only people he knew that had the tittles of god to them, and were female.
Goddess.
Magic God.
"Are you talking about Nephthys and Niang-Niang?"
"Are those their names?" The figure slowly placed a hand on his neck. "I did not bother to learn them."
Touma felt a slight ominous feeling crawl up his arm. Dropping his groceries, Touma shifted into a defensive stance. "…what do you want?"
"What I want...hm?" Slowly, the unidentified male rolled his head. "I wanted to get rid of them, along with the other Magic Gods in this place, but I was a tad too late."
At that moment, the sun fully set, plunging the surroundings into darkness. Immediately, the street lamps that dotted Academy City lit up, basking everything in it's glow. And for just a moment, revealing the figure's features as well.
He looked to be the same age as Touma. He had brown hair and eyes, and was wearing a uniform that looked similar to a suit; A white formal shirt with a red, yellow and blue tie under a blue jacket buttoned up by two gold buttons, and a pair of grey trousers.
In that brief moment, these two boys allowed the other's features to be burned in their retinas.
These two boys stood facing each other.
They both had average, almost plain, features that would allow them to blend into a crowd. On could even say that they could have been depicted as the mob character that stood behind the protagonist of an anime or novel.
In other words, he was the type of normal high school boy that one could find anywhere in Japan.
When Touma saw this, he felt something cold go up his spine. How could he talk about killing so easily…
Just as quickly as the image had come, it was quickly covered up by the darkness that surrounded them when the boy moved forwards. All they could see were just silhouettes of each other.
"I am World Rejector. Or, rather, the person wielding this power in my right hand. Kamisato Kakaeru. An ordinary high school boy you could find anywhere. "The male figure– no, schoolboy, raised his hand. "As for you, Imagine Breaker..."
"Do you wish for a new world?"
"!?"
The first to move was Kamisato.
The only indication was a swing of his empty right arm.
Despite being five meters apart, Touma should have been outside Kamisato's range of whatever his weapon was.
Yet, Touma ducked down quickly on a baseless reflex, feeling a chill race throughout his body.
At first, the seemingly thoughtless action did not seem to have dodged a single thing.
But, a moment later, a disturbing explosion sounded directly behind him as if space itself was being torn into and swallowed up.
Beads of sweat immediately covered his entire forehead when he heard and felt that mysterious explosion. What the heck was that?! What is it that he can do? Under what conditions does it work?! Anyway, whatever it is, it looks way more convenient than mine!
Despite this, Touma knew that the attack was not directed at him. Had it been truly turned against him, his upper body would have been blown away.
…Somehow, Touma sensed something flinching back behind him.
He wanted to turn back and look at whatever was flinching behind him, but he forced himself to look to the front.
He had no time to look back, because he had to do something else.
Clenching his right fist once more, Touma ran forwards to his target–
"Ah… …AHHHHHHHH!"
–to Kamisato Kakeru.
It had all been planned out.
As soon as Kamisato's silhouette casually swung his head to the side, Touma's fist passed by, clenched as hard as a rock. At the same time, it crossed paths with the 'something else' that had been attacking the back of Kamisato's head.
The moment these two forces collided, the familiar sound of breaking glass was heard.
The something was negated.
Imagine Breaker worked perfectly, so whatever was attacking Kamisato-san must have used a supernatural power. Touma quickly righted his posture, skidding to a stop. Whether that was magic or an esper power was still a mystery to him, but right now, all that mattered was that Imagine Breaker worked.
Touma and Kamisato now stood back to back, but they had both turned 180 degrees.
"Were you testing me to see if I would save you or not?"
"Well, even if you did not, I would have just needed to swing my arm to save myself." Kamisato said, unconcerned.
Bright headlines reached them from a road, briefly illuminating the area around them. The flash briefly dazzled both the boys, burning the scenery into their retinas like a photograph. And it was then that they realized the two different things that were fighting...the two different kinds of violence that surrounded them.
One was pitch black. Touma could not tell what it looked like, or WAS exactly, but to him, it looked like an octopus that was floating in the deep sea. Then, it looked like a soft piece of fat that had been cut away from a piece of meat. Then, it looked like a loose rubber film that was being melted from the inside.
Touma blinked in surprise. Huh? Why am I–
–Wait…the more at that thing, the more I think it's something else. Touma realised. What sort of thing can change it's meaning?
Touma noted that the thing was also covered in ominous bubbles and some things that were not quite eyeballs and not quite suckers blinked with a damp yellow or green light that resembled glow-in-the-dark paint. It actually almost looks like the colours of a strange poisonous frog or lizard.
Touma then turned his attention to the other one, which was a red colour.
Unlike the black one, which seemed to resemble a constantly shifting mass of flesh(Touma decided to think of it as that), this red one looked like a living thing. It seemed to have the texture of a deep pile carpet that had been soaked in water over a long period of time, and left to rot for a while. Something like uneven teeth, or perhaps tongues, could be glimpsed underneath that carpet-like covering. Touma felt a sense filling his body, warning, no, telling him not to look any deeper.
"I wanted to talk with you, actually." Kamisato sighed. "But it seems like I would have to put of my main objective until we have settled this bout of violence."
"I would agree to that if I even knew why you wanted to talk with me, or why you were fighting Magic Gods, so I am going to refrain from agreeing with you for now." Touma reasoned.
"…makes sense." Kamisato assented. "But really…"
"Yeah." Touma frowned. "Why are we watching them fight each other? Shouldn't it be the other way around?"
..
The reason they were acting a little too calmly for the current situation they were in were because of how the two monsters were acting. With the disturbing sound of sludge flowing into a drain, they began wrapping around and chewing on each other.
Othinus narrowed her eyes from her position on Touma's shoulder.
"This seems to be an accident for them too, but we can't just watch. In fact, a wounded beast is even more dangerous." Othinus whispered to Touma. "They'll be fighting for their life, so the standard rules don't apply. Their routine becomes harder to predict and they go all out, so there's a larger risk of anything nearby getting caught in the middle."
"Such a pain." Kamisato groaned. "Looks like we will have to focus on escaping."
"Of course we should escape!" Touma shouted. He wanted to say something else, but fate had other plans for him. "Or rather, what did you–"
"Here they come!" Othinus shouted into Touma's ear.
Countless predatory tools that resembled spears and blades shot from the creatures surrounding them in a donut shape. Touma and Kamisato both gathered strength in their right fists to break through the maw of death.
AN
Yahoo! A double release for Christmas!
Merry Christmas for all you readers out there!
Anyway, as you guys can see, this is the start of a new arc! To be precise, the World Rejector Arc! It is an arc that I read recently, yet not at the same time, so some of my memories are fading. Would need to re-read the book as I go along!
Also, because of this double release, I will be taking a break from writing. Plus, there are tests the minute my short break is over, so no writing for me! At the latest, I will make a new post by early February, so don't stay around hoping for a new chapter!
Anime is Life, and please review!