And here we are with another original.

To an extent, you can probably see these ones as stories I have in the back of my head and then are thrown out there for the rest of you to see. Naturally, I have no idea the success of these but I get the feeling that if I did, it would be a lot less fun for me as I pen these down given it's the uncertainty with these that I always have fun with. Then again, as you can think of these as essentially short stories (or one-shots) each time, you can see that am pretty busy with them.

And as we go into the fray, I think the unknown success (or failure) of this is something that has to be seen.

Before we begin, here is the Q & A:

epicmatt66: I mean, I guess this is possible? However, I think it to be unlikely because Mikoto's and Touma's parents have met and didn't recognise each other, which I would expect if they had met when they were younger. But I have to ask, is that a request?! Because things are different then!

whwsms: I think it would be interesting to have this chapter continue in the form of another person, if only to see how the parents would react from someone else, who genuinely has no 'ulterior motives', thanking them for what their son has done.

paeluclucas: Encantado de escuchar que te gustó!

Master Knight Trolling: I always finish a request and see it through! Oh good grief; think about the fall out if that ever happened in the canon. I can just imagine Touya and Shiina being overwhelmed with the amount of girls they don't know approaching them if only to get into their so-called 'good books'!

craytherlay: Last chapter could also be called 'Touma Regrets'!

onilink500: ¡Veo a un hombre de cultura! Pero ver esas reacciones de algunas de las otras chicas realmente te hace pensar que las direcciones en el último capítulo podrían llegar, ¿verdad?

BlueJack22: Oh dear. I don't even want to go there had Birdway made an appearance last chapter!

Agent Nine: I'm not too sure whether Lessar character development even exists because of her nature as a character if you know what I mean. I guess you could have her genuinely be in trouble, but that would only make things worse for Touma when he helps her out, you know? Still, I get where you're coming from: she has proven herself to be capable in many ways and I'm sure she would be a good friend if the situation called for it.

Dragonrails: I always write down the requests so there was no way I was going to forget it! And like I said, if you request it, then I'm more than happy to comply with it. Thanks so much for your word though and I'm simply glad that you managed to enjoy what I managed to pen at the end of the day.

Guest00: We'll have to see who comes next, if anyone. After all, there is a long list of girls last chapter could potentially apply to!

Aminadab Brulle: Didn't take you for a hobbyist historian, but then again, Index is filled with 'pseudo-history' as it were so I can understand why you were annoyed at Kanzaki. There's always something going wrong at the Kamijou household, that's for sure!

Guest: I do remember it and it's in the pile. I'm pretty sure the pointless drama I've had has continued to be pointless however.

WwEpsilonwW: I simply had to add that last bit in there if I had Touma return to is hometown – it was an absolute must. I think we can only imagine how bad Touma's life was, although the fanart does wonders for this. I'm glad that you liked the comedy of what I had to provide!

fencer29: Lessar vs. mother protecting her child – the result was determined before the match began. I don't even want to know how Touma's parents will react to Othinus!

JCarrasco: Thanks so much!

ArmoredCoreNineBall: When will Lessar ever learn!?

0 Jordinio 0: To be honest, if I ever do a Part 2, having a version with Mikoto makes the most sense. Good grief, the Dream series was so long ago, I don't even know to think about that. But I sense that this is a request!

And the thanks. Firstly, to my beta PokeRescue18. Thanks so much man for having to put up with everything that has happened with me and everything that I ended up doing and dragging you along for. The mere fact you are willing to head on this journey with me means a lot to me and for that alone, I want to truly thank you for all you have done.

Also to you, the reader. It also means a lot to me that you are with me on this journey. The fact I have such great companions is a joy I never thought was possible to have and it means the world to me that you can join me along for the ride this entire time. Truly, and from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

But before we begin; it's time for another GT volume!? I hope that as we all get into the spirit of new content that we can all enjoy it equally; again – the success of those stories is probably something Kamachi even has trouble with so let's see where GT 3 takes us, shall we? I hope we can all enjoy the coming story together.

But I hope that as you read another one of these hit and miss stories from me instead of Kamachi that you do what you always do:

Enjoy.

Mr Question Mark.


Parallel Lines Which Were Never Supposed To Meet. An_Unwelcome_Stranger_In_A_Harem_Paradise.

Their paths were never supposed to intersect. They would always run side by side and where there was a place for one, it was never going to be the place for the other. It was exclusive and thought nothing of the person on the other side of the relationship and the conversation, so, in a way, it was cruel.

But that was the honest reality of things.

Yet, by some twist of fate, those parallel lines had intersected once more.

"What are you doing, Kamijou-chan?"

"Hm?"

Kamijou Touma rose his head and stared at the girl who had spoken, seeing she was grinning and walking over to him as he stood in the supermarket before him. While that in itself was nothing unusual, it was the situation and the clothing both wore that would have immediately made one raise an eyebrow.

They were both in swimsuits.

And in truth, Kamijou Touma was someone he was never supposed to have interacted with heading his way.

Salome, the Mass Murderer, one of the strongest members of the Kamisato Faction and also Kamisato Kakeru's non-blood related little sister, tilted her head which had long silver hair bundled up like buns on the side. It was a strange combination where the buns were really twintails but that strangeness was only compounded by the fact that Salome was wearing a white school swimsuit beneath a pair of radiant raincoats. They moved as she did and almost tilted in the same way as her head as she stared at the lonesome Kamijou within the supermarket.

Kamijou himself was wearing nothing but swim trunks but he was a guy so a long winded explanation was not needed for that.

The reason they were in such was not because they wanted to show off to each other: no, as was said before, they were parallel lines. The fact they were interacting now was the odd thing so there was no desire within either of them to show off to the other.

No, the reason they were being nothing but perverts and showing each other that clothing had to do with the heat wave erupting throughout Academy City. It was only recently that Kamijou himself had learnt the heat wave was caused by the Kamisato Faction by microwaves and for the purposes of suppressing the numerous Elements which had come and attacked Academy City. But even if that action had supposedly saved the lives of Kamijou and numerous others, the fact it had also resulted in the chaos which was associated with this heat wave made the action have both good and bad sides.

On one hand, Kamijou knew the heat wave had saved so many.

On the other hand, the suffering and the chaos caused by such meant he was reluctant to thank Kamisato and everyone else. He had met the culprit behind it, a mysterious UFO girl called Fran, but the conflict within him about what to do and how to respond to all of this made him confused and feel extremely small.

None of it mattered though as the battle preparations to take this fight to the one who was controlling the Elements, Kihara Yuiitsu, were underway. The plan to head to the Windowless Building was one where Kamijou was to accompany along merely because of his desire to protect his home while Kamisato merely wanted to ensure he faced the woman who had stolen his right hand.

Overall, the atmosphere was oppressing.

The girls numbering in the triple digits who had truly fallen for that normal high school boy you could find anywhere were all preparing for the battle to come with as much determination as anyone else. However, not for the purposes of protecting, but more for the purposes of fighting and slaying the enemy they had their eyes on.

Not only that but as those girls were complacent in the decision to cast the oppressive heat wave over Academy City, Kamijou knew they were just as much to blame for the suffering of others out there. Having experienced and been a part of that hell which the Kamisato Faction clearly had not, the differences in the feelings behind it were clear.

Kamijou wanted to thank Kamisato and everyone else for all they had done behind the scenes. But it was his own weak heart that prevented him from so perfectly accepting their solution to the problem of the Elements when so many had suffered because of it.

Rising this concern with the girls too was going to have no effect, Kamijou knew that. No, more than that, he could see it in their eyes.

Whenever they looked at him, they didn't see a person.

They saw just another figure, a nameless face that had nothing to do with Kamisato Kakeru, their hero. It was nothing more than a nameless face who was Kamisato's opposite and had a power in his right hand similar to World Rejecter. The holder of the Imagine Breaker could tell that just from the gazes being cast at him when he had walked through the shopping mall the Kamisato Faction had managed to hide in.

Here, he was not Kamijou Touma.

He was just a pointless person who had nothing to do with Kamisato Kakeru.

He was a parallel line, a line never meant to cross theirs and hence, one that was never meant to interact with the lines of the Kamisato Faction.

The atmosphere was oppressive and Kamijou himself sort of understood why there was such little male presence around that high school boy. Just interacting with the girls who had fallen for Kamisato had been enough to squeeze at his heart and he constantly felt like an outsider to whatever circle was the one around Kamisato.

They were just…different. That was the best way Kamijou could describe it and it was through nothing more than trying to occupy his mind with something, anything, that he wanted to stop his mind from just exploding from the awkwardness and the tension around him.

Even if he could not exactly thank Kamisato, what he had done had essentially saved Academy City. The divide between what was happening and what was felt were two entirely different things so when Salome called out to Kamijou, it was that spiky haired boy who was surprised. They planned to leave in four in the morning, less than an hour away, so what was that brown skinned girl doing approaching someone who was a parallel line so cheerily?

Kamijou himself could not fathom it, but when he thought about it, it was this girl and her non-blood related brother who had always brought him into the centre of the issues surrounding the Kamisato Faction.

There were emotions within him that he wanted to express, but he was too exhausted and too anxious about the atmosphere he was being treated with by the Kamisato Faction to even think about retorting with strong wit.

"Oh, it's Salome. I could ask you the same thing. Don't you have to maintain your combat body or something?" Kamijou asked the girl who could swap between her real and fighting body as much as she pleased. The girl in the white school swimsuit shrugged and did the unthinkable, walking right next to Kamijou.

"Nah, I mean, if that's the only preparation I need, getting ready is too easy, don'tcha think? Besides, aren't you in the same camp as Onii-chan? I would figure you would need to get ready more than the rest of us given you only have a right hand. But here you are…shopping?" Salome tilted her head as she looked at the basket which was within Kamijou's hands, seeing it was filled with numerous ingredients such as spaghetti, garlic and (much to her dislike) bell peppers among other things.

"Well I have the same issue as you." Kamijou said as he slowly backed away, unsure about what to think about the oppressive atmosphere which had so surrounded the rest of the Kamisato Faction being absent from her.

"?"

"I only need my right hand the will to fight. Unlike your brother, I have both. Besides, knowing my misfortune, if I carry a sword, I'm going to stab myself in the leg. A gun, I'm going to shoot myself. The list goes on and on."

"It doesn't explain why you're shopping." Salome nodded to herself but the fact she accepted his misfortune so readily was the point he wanted to address. Still, the question was a good one although the answer was rather embarrassing. The spiky haired boy turned his head away with an awkward face, but the words that came out of his mouth were quiet ones.

"(That's what I want to know! The atmosphere was so oppressive and before I knew it, here I was, planning out a full course meal. There's something to be said about that but I'm not going to look into the fragile heart of this Kamijou-san anymore!)"

The fact that shopping and thinking about cooking calmed him down suggested that the normal life of that spiky haired boy was more of an escape than he had ever thought. The mere action of wanting to shop and cook did enough to calm his mind and lose himself in the action instead of the atmosphere where he was thought of as less than a 'thing'. But as he did so and stared at how he had picked up enough ingredients to feed a small family, he stared with some form of melancholy at the basket and its contents.

Who was he thinking of cooking for in the first place?

Two faces came to mind, two freeloaders who even now were caught up in this chaos. Index and Othinus had not merely become people he held board but rather people who he shared his life with, people who he could barely think of his life as being without. The calming nature of merely thinking of them and thinking of doing something normal for them such as cooking had a profound effect on him and it was only in hindsight that he realised how calming what he was doing was for him.

His normal life and the peace he sought was what had saved him more times than he could count and the desire to return to it after everything was said and done was evident in his actions and not merely his words. Just thinking about the people who lived with him was enough to steel his heart and give him more desire to finish this as quickly as possible.

He didn't want to shop and cook for just himself anymore. He had people he could do it for and for that alone, there was something precious there, something he had to protect no matter what.

Maybe, in this sense, that was why he had escaped into the realm of his house-husband skills and decided to shop to calm himself. The action and how it related to his own life cemented the idea the parallel lines of the Kamisato Faction were not ones in which he was to interact with; he had his own life and the girls around Kamisato were people who he was to never interact with, only doing so now in a twist of fate.

Even if it was small, the normal life and the escape into it (even if he was wearing a swimsuit) was the reason why he had done such actions in the first place. It only meant something to him and he had fallen quiet as he stared at how he had overstocked despite being the only one he would cook for in this case.

"Are you just going to ignore me and my question?" asked Salome with an irritated glance at the shopping basket. She put a hand inside and started sifting through the ingredients with a raised eyebrow. "You can do whatever you want while Onii-chan and everyone else is preparing but shopping and thinking of cooking is a bit of a weird escape, don'tcha think?"

"…You're the last person I want to have saying I'm weird." Kamijou retorted but responded with his actions as well. Without even asking, he let go of the shopping basket and pushed it into Salome's hands, the girl going wide eyed. She fumbled with the basket in shock but Kamijou only waved a hand in mid-air despite her shocked expression.

"But since you're here, you may as well help. I'll treat you to something as a reward." Kamijou said. Salome pulled a small face of disinterest.

"Eh? Seriously? You're going to take a girl shopping with you? Kamijou-chan, you do realise how unfitting that is, don't you?"

"Think of it as practice for doing it with Kamisato. Every normal high school boy wants to be treated once in a while by a girl close to him so use this as a learning experience." Kamijou said that although withheld the cries in his heart at how the chances for that happening to him were basically zero given the 15 centimetre former Magic God and the incapable grimoire library who lived with him.

Salome on the other hand, not being on the same page as Kamijou, went red faced. Her mouth open and closed rapidly, a sweat having formed on her brow as she turned her head to the side and frantically tried to control her mind.

"P-Practice?! What the hell are you spewing out of that goddamn mouth of yours!? There's no way I would ever think of doing something as normal and average as that! And besides, why are you the one saying that to me, the girl? Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?" Salome's eyes started darting all over the place and her red face was easy for anyone to see but the spiky haired boy only felt something snap in the corner of his mind.

"What's wrong with me saying that? And doesn't that reflect more on your lack of skills as a girl than on me!? Are all mass murderers idiots who don't even know how to properly shop for the basic necessities?"

"N-No! I-I mean, take that hardware store over there. Do you know how many ways you can kill someone with a pair of shears?"

"What kind of pointless trivia is that? When you cook, you're trying to please your guests and not send them to an early grave. Besides hardware stores are for the decent sort who likes doing DIY, not for perverts who are wearing tight wearing swimsuits underneath a bunch of raincoats. I mean, pick one! Swimsuits are meant to get wet and raincoats are to prevent getting wet! What kind of insane combination is that!?"

"The swimsuit was a necessity in this heatwave! And the raincoats are obvious, aren't they? Clearly, they prevent the blood splatter from reaching my perfect body!"

"We're going to fight the Elements, you know. And they don't bleed."

"W-Well, I wouldn't be much of a mass murderer if I didn't put in place the proper precautions." Salome stated, looking as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Kamijou on the other hand twitched at the words, placing a hand onto his own forehead and giving a sigh.

"Salome-kun. Kamisato Salome-kun."

"Wh-What? Using my full name like that isn't going to make me happy at all, you know." Salome responded but the way she turned her head and gave a small blush at the mention of her and Kamisato was enough to give way to the emotions within her heart. Although not as oppressive as the other members of the Kamisato Faction in the way she dealt with Kamijou, those feelings of hers were the least of his concerns.

No, instead it was something else he had to focus on! A vital and very important issue.

"Don't you think you should rethink your life?! Being a mass murderer, especially someone as young as yourself, isn't going to say good things about you and the family that raised you!"

"Eh!? That's your concern!? Wait, why are you focusing on me when there is a serious crisis outside right now?" Salome retorted back with strong words but Kamijou only responded with a shake of his head and turned to the girl.

"No, no, no, this is something extremely important to deal with as well! You and the future you have a serious crisis to deal with! Haven't you thought about what you wanted to be when you grew up? For any kid, being a mass murderer isn't exactly the top of that list!" Kamijou gave that comment to Salome who suddenly turned her head with a strong sweat coming from every pore of her body.

"W-Well, no… A-Actually, you're scaring me right now, Kamijou-chan! And why are you acting more like an Onii-chan than my Onii-chan? Y-You're not my brother so I don't have to listen to thing you have to say!" Perhaps it was her rebellious phrase in play, but Salome seemed rather adamant to live her own life. However, Everyone's Big Brother Kamijou Touma folded his arms and shook his head.

"Whether or not I'm your brother has no bearing on this instance. Why is it that every single girl with the traits of being a little sister is someone that needs a serious lecture? I've been meaning to give this to Birdway but dealing with you first works just as fine!"

"So I'm just a test trial case?! I-I refuse to be a part of this. How I live my life in the way I want to isn't dictated by you. O-Or by Onii-chan! If I want to be a mass murderer who wears raincoats or whatever, then I can be exactly that if I want to. A-Actually, fuck you! Starting from now, I'm not going to be helping you with the shopping you want so you deal with it!"

Salome pushed the basket full of goods into Kamijou's hands, but the spiky haired boy pushed back, his eyes shining with an oddly powerful light.

"Isn't it the fact you've never been a part of this normal scene which has meant you have gone down the path you have? You're right, I have no bearing or say in your life. But at the very least, I can show you the appeal of going down a path which does not have to be filled to the brim with blood, death and violence!"

Kamijou shoved the basket back into the brown-skinned girl's hands, the girl's eyes going around in circles at the sudden change in pace which had arisen merely because she was curious about what the spiky haired idiot was doing. And yet, it had turned into this. Unable to comprehend what was going on, Kamijou circled around and grabbed her shoulders, pushing her to which she gave very little resistance because of how her mind could not catch up to what the hell was going on.

"Come Salome! This Kamijou-san will show you the appeal of this ordinary and every day scene which will make your heart beat aflutter! It's too early in the morning to call it breakfast so we're going to have our early morning snack be spaghetti! And you're going to help me choose the ingredients!"

"N-No, I don't want to! L-Let me gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Salome screamed at the top of her lungs and tried to escape but the educator Kamijou Touma grabbed her and lifted her over his shoulder like a bag of rice. Unlike with Shirai Kuroko previously, the lack of care he was showing to the girl indicated how much he actually cared about her and what she thought but that was perhaps because this was someone else's little sister and not his own.

The mass murderer was brought to tears a bit too easily as she struggled and kicked at Kamijou with her small hands and feet but since this was her real life sized body and not her combat one, the damage it gave Kamijou barely even registered. It was only once she decided that biting his ear would work that Kamijou had decided she had had enough to which the two of them entered a minor fist fight.

It was a strange scene where Kamijou was berating the girl for choosing only violence while also spanking her butt and telling her to live her life properly while the girl herself seemed on the verge of tears at what was being said and slowly nodded her head at the lecture being provided.

The fact that one of the strongest members of the Kamisato Faction had been taken out by merely the big brotherly actions of Kamijou Touma was a feat in itself but the fact she had never once received a lecture such as the one being given told of how Kamisato had failed in his Onii-chan duties.

It was filling a hole Kamijou had never wanted but the trembling of Salome underneath him as he lectured her told the story she had never once been so scared in her life.


"*sniffle* I hate you."

"You reap what you sow, you mass murderer."

"This is terrifying! A-Are you the same guy who lost to Onii-chan and Kihara Yuiitsu? If you put at least one percent of what you are showing now into the battles back then, victory would have been decided!"

The little sister of Kamisato Kakeru sniffled as she sat at the restaurant bench. She trembled and put her head in the sleeves of her raincoats, wiping her nose on the provided tissues of the restaurant but the boy standing behind the counter while chopping up the ingredients to use for the spaghetti didn't pay it any mind.

He was quickly turning into a Demon Lord in the eyes of a Mass Murderer, so the hierarchy of evil was quickly putting Kamijou right at the top. The stares of wonder and also disinterest of the other members of the Kamisato Faction around the restaurant area were ones which told either the story of wonder at how Salome had been tamed so easily or that they simply didn't care what had happened because of how it had to do with Kamijou.

Either worked out fine with Kamijou; those girls and him were parallel lines, never meant to intersect or meet. The lack of interest they were showing him was perfectly natural but then again, the change which had come across Salome was something many had a hard time understanding.

After they had finished their shopping and Salome was on the verge of tears for what had happened to her and the lecture, the stares as she had fearfully stepped after Kamijou as he looked for an appropriate restaurant were ones he could not exactly ignore. He saw some familiar faces such as Claire, Elza and Ellen as well as some he did not know such as a ghost girl, a pirate girl and a cosplay girl but in the end, the calming effect cooking and shopping was having on him was going to do wonders for the future of the battle about to take place.

In truth, Salome didn't have to accompany him after the shopping trip but perhaps the mentality she was using was keeping an eye on the deadly beast in the area to ensure it did not sneak up on someone and attack them last minute. Having her life sized body was certainly handy. If it was the reverse, Kamijou had no doubt he would be the one with the injuries.

Then again, that was basically the normal thing to happen to him so the fact it was not the case this time proved how unusual this situation was.

The water on the stove behind him was boiling because the restaurant used propane gas instead of the gas supplied by Academy City, currently down because of the heatwave. Kamijou threw in the spaghetti he had and tossed a number of chopped vegetables into a colander, washing them once more.

He rose an eyebrow as he chose a seasoning sauce, staring at the girl snivelling on the bench. The heat from the stove was a bit uncomfortable but it was a necessity if he was to use cooking and shopping as his own peace of mind. Something stabbed within him as he looked at Salome, but it was maintaining a strong level of strictness that prevented him from so easily apologising.

"I hope you've seriously looked into your life right now. There are other things someone such as you can be getting into for the sake of yourself instead of someone else. This is your life Salome. And like you said, you live it. While that is the case though, it bothers me you've gone and headed down a dark path without considering your future options."

"What are you, a teacher!? Or a tyrant!? You're a proper monster, you know that?"

"You're the last person I want to hear that from! I-I mean, a self-made cyborg who can exist by throwing away her body and organs!? Throw me a bone here!" Kamijou retorted with some wit before realising he had drifted off topic. "A-Anyway, the thing is Salome, there is no rule that says you have to live your life fighting. I don't care what it is…but killing doesn't make you happy, does it?"

The question itself had been rhetorical but Kamijou felt somehow the way he had asked it properly made it seem like an actual question. There was a fear in his voice he could not identify but when he thought about it, it was not that hard to see why he was so hesitant to ask that question.

Someone who enjoyed killing, someone who enjoyed taking a life. Kamijou had met so many people like that but even then, he knew he could never get used to such an idea. The idea of someone enjoying the feeling of someone else's life leaving their body was alien to him. In his mind, he felt he would never be unable to understand such people.

No, perhaps it was more than that.

Did he want to understand such people? Kamijou could not perfectly say he wanted to and the uncertainty of the response Salome was going to give gave fear into his voice. The girl, who by all rights should have had her normal life, had changed herself into something extraordinary. There was a mystery and a story behind it but the question Kamijou had asked jumped right to the end of it.

But at the same time, that was what made that question all the more important.

Kamijou's throat went dry as he felt himself gulping, realising his hands had stopped moving. Salome, her head on the restaurant bench, looked up with something in her eye but the source and the reason behind the tension Kamijou did not know. He was not sure he wanted to know either.

And yet, that brown skinned mass murderer spoke the dreaded words.

"Oh? What if I say 'yes' to that question, Kamijou-chan? What will you do then, hmm?"

Her eyes turned to the knife within Kamijou's hands. Kamijou himself did not bother looking at it but he could tell from the tapping it was making against the countertop that his hand was shaking. No, that was the normal response to the question she had given him. The idea there was someone in the world who liked taking the lives of others was a terrible thing and shaking in fear in the face of that was perfectly natural.

Yet…

Although that was the case…

Kamijou Touma did not immediately think to abandon that girl in front of him even if it was the case. Sure, they were parallel lines and never were supposed to intersect but even if that was the case, did that place any less worth upon the smile she had the right to have? Kamijou knew the answer to that within himself but the answer she had given sent a chill up the spine of that spiky haired boy.

By all rights, he had every right to leave her alone. They were parallel lines, never to meet or intersect and yet, here they were, across from each other and having a conversation. There was worth in that alone but for the life of him, the answer she gave him was one he could not so readily turn his eyes away from.

He placed the knife on the countertop and stared Salome right in the eye, not even bothering to hide or mince words.

"Then I'll make sure you leave that path with my own two hands. I'll make sure that even a mass murderer like you…can be saved."

Yes.

That was his answer.

In the end, no matter the roles he had in her life and no matter what the lines they were supposed to represent were, there was one thing he had to say to her. No matter who she was and no matter if they were parallel lines, the answer she had given was not one which Kamijou could so easily think of and cast aside just because she was a stranger. The things he had to consider did not need to think about their roles and their stance.

Even if they were never supposed to meet and Kamijou didn't have to care about the girl in front of him, they had met. They had met and right now, the conversation they were having was not a dream or because of some twist of fate; fate had brought them together to have this conversation.

And there was meaning in that, even if it was small. Even if Kamijou himself had no place by her side, it was those words and that wish to ensure she was saved, even if it was a tiny amount that filled him, a strong desire he could not easily pass up and discard.

Kamisato Salome…even if she had a bastard of a brother and even if she was unsavoury when it came to her nature and what she bragged about; she was still a person. She was still someone with a smile and even had the right to be protected when all was said and done.

In the end, no matter her answer and no matter who she was…

Wasn't that all that was needed?

Salome said nothing at the words but sighed, putting an elbow on the bench and leaning her face on her hand. She didn't seem surprised but maybe that was because of the similarities between Kamijou and Kamisato. The thought itself made Kamijou rather bitter but he put it to the side and turned, checking on the spaghetti which was bubbling away.

"The path of a mass murderer… I can't say what led you onto it Salome, but I can tell you it's not the right one for someone like you. It's not the right one for anyone in the first place." Kamijou spoke soft but heavy words, Salome scoffing a bit but not bothering to meet his gaze.

"…You're not my brother so you don't get the right to say that."

Her words indicated her deep connection to Kamisato but perhaps because they had interacted before with each other, Kamijou did not feel the same oppressive atmosphere in that girl he did in the others even when she discussed her feelings and her relationship with Kamisato. But even if that was the case, it did not make what Kamijou had to say any less important.

"Well then, maybe your brother has a little bit of homework on his plate."

"Hm… There might be something to that."

Kamijou rose an eyebrow at that but said nothing. Her words indicated she knew the problem with herself and sought to change it however the salvation she was seeking was not one she was willing to just grab herself. No, there was someone else who she wanted by her side as she grabbed it and perhaps even wanted to have grab it for her.

Kamisato Kakeru.

Someone who stood by the side of someone as they reached for salvation. His overwhelming presence and the pressure created by such ingrained into the minds of those he saved and meant those whom he saved grew reliant on him.

And it was a method entirely different from Kamijou.

The salvation he gave others was more of a push on the back. A realisation that others could grasp salvation in front of them and even if he had to help them, was focused on the idea that he need not be a massive part of the life in the post-salvation times because of how those people had grasped the salvation for themselves and by themselves. There was no reliance and while that could be thought of as cold in that Kamijou never hung around the people he saved, Kamisato's ways was not entirely right either, even if it was not wrong.

It made those around him a bit too dependent, unable to make decisions entirely for themselves which had nothing to do with him. He seemed to be more of a leader in that sense than Kamijou ever could, fitting in a hierarchy and standing at the top whereas Kamijou would never place himself in that same important spot Kamisato was.

The words Salome had said indicated to that method of saving…in that it was Kamisato's role to move towards saving his little sister. There were a number of things Kamijou had to say to that but kept his mouth shut; a challenge of ideals right before he was going to ally himself with Kamisato was going to never end up going well at all.

Silence came between the two and Kamijou turned and stared at the pot now before him. He nodded to himself, taking it off the stove and pouring the water and its contents inside the sink by his side, capturing the spaghetti inside the colander there.

He reached for the two plates he had gotten out, the chopped-up vegetables and the sauce he had made, throwing a small amount of spaghetti onto two plates. Given the two of them were about to enter a battle, something too heavy would only slow them down but given Salome was going to change bodies, the consideration was more for the spiky haired boy than anything else.

He placed the vegetables on Salome's plate and drizzled the sauce he had made onto it (a cream based one) and placed it in front of her. She looked surprised at that, as if she had expected Kamijou to not actually serve her but said nothing as Kamijou did the same to his own plate, checked everything was off and everything used in the sink before sitting next to her as casually as could be.

He poked his chopsticks into the spaghetti which was covered in white sauce which covered some for the vegetables and hid their colour. The vegetables themselves served to cool down the newly cooked spaghetti. Kamijou turned up seeing Salome staring at him.

"…What?" he asked her, taking a mouthful and eating it. Salome, in her swimsuit and raincoats, blinked once before turning back to her own plate and sticking disposal chopsticks inside of it.

"Nothing. I just figured you might not give me anything."

"? Why?" Kamijou asked while tilting his head but Salome did not give an answer.

After all, although she realised the differences between Kamijou and her brother, the separation between her and Kamijou could not have been more obvious. Even she had noticed how everyone else was keeping their distance away from Kamijou in the things they did and said, the actions of Kamisato's self-proclaimed harem were a problem for Kamijou. Even if he had never said anything, the isolation pressing onto his soul was obvious.

He didn't deserve that.

Even if he was not Kamisato Kakeru, Kamijou Touma was still someone who had listened to her request to get involved in a conflict with her brother for her. They were similar in many ways so there had to be people by the side of Kamijou who he had fought for just as hard as Kamisato had for others. And just seeing how Kamijou was willing to accept her despite how she was was enough evidence for her at the very end of the day.

Kamijou Touma didn't deserve to be isolated, especially given the conflict to happen. So, even if it was small, Salome had wished to lessen that burden, if by a tiny amount. The reasoning behind why she had called out to him was nothing more and nothing less than that but seeing how Kamijou had given her the food when she had said something he disagreed with made her smile to herself.

(Honestly, you and my goddamn stupid Onii-chan. You're both idiots to the core.)

Yet the smile despite that thought remained.

She reached for the spaghetti and picked some up. Naturally, as this was a ramen place instead of a proper restaurant, there were no spoons for spaghetti but they had to make do. Salome did so and placed it within her mouth, not expecting much but paused as she tasted the combination of both the pasta, the sauce and the vegetables.

She blinked a few times, staring at it in surprise before turning to Kamijou and seeing him grin.

"So? What do you think?"

"It's…good. Amazingly so." Salome said as she reached in for another handful, the motion and the temptation of the food almost being hypnotic to her. "Elza does cooking every now and then but the way this is made. H-Honestly, Kamijou-chan, are you sure you're a guy? I've never had something this good made by a person who is not a professional chef!"

"I'm confused. Is that an insult or a compliment?" Kamijou gave that comment back to her but seemed to smile. "So how is normality treating you there Salome?"

Salome said nothing as she took another bite but even then, the message and the words of the spiky haired boy ran deep. The events of the past few minutes; shopping and waiting for someone to cook food for her were marks of a family and of a life she had thrown away. But now that they had been given to her and now they were scenes which she was experiencing, the small aching of her heart made her stop and place her chopsticks down.

Is this what she had given up when she was a mass murderer? Was this scene and this sensation what she had thrown away when she became what she had? Her path was twisted, she knew that better than anyone but never had she thought more than today that the path she had taken had a negative side to it.

Was this what she was missing out on? Was this what she had sacrificed? Salome did not know and she could not turn back the hands of the clock. But the way it felt; shopping, cooking and waiting for food and eating the end result made her feel something inside of her, a small sensation she could not entirely place. She only sat there at the bench, looking down at the plate in front of her.

She shook her head.

"You're unbelievable. You know that?"

"?" Kamijou tilted his head in confusion but Salome did not bother explaining.

How could she?

She was about to head into battle and yet this idiot was showing her exactly what she had missed when she had started to do that in the first place.

And the temptation, the desire to experience such scenes such as this in the future, was unbelievably strong.

Was that because of how much Salome wanted it and how much she knew she was missing out on it? Or was it because of how radiant and how perfect this one scene was?

Either option told of the small movement of Salome's heart even if she did not want to admit defeat to the spiky haired boy sitting next to her. But as she picked up her chopsticks and reached for another bite, feeling once more the favour of her tongue and the sensation of the normality presented to her, she had to ask Kamijou something incredibly simple.

"What exactly did you put into this anyway? This flavour…I've never tasted it before. The tanginess and the way it interacts with the cream sauce. What is this?"

"Huh?"

Kamijou blinked once before smiling and answering while Salome faced him.

"Bell peppers."

The spit take Salome then did as she spat out the spaghetti, cream sauce and the vegetables (which had included bell peppers but Salome had been unable to tell given how the bastard had hidden the colour of them with the cream sauce) sprayed all over Kamijou and got into his hair. It was more than an indirect kiss and Kamijou had white stuff all over him but the otherwise erotic nature of the scene itself was removed from the way Salome had essentially thrown up her meal all over Kamijou.

He blinked once in surprise but the shock of what had happened had yet to hit him. Unfortunately, it had hit Salome head as she stuck out her tongue and seemed to be actively reaching for the tastebuds to drag the feeling of the bell peppers from them.

"Bell peppers? Bell peppers!? I fucking hate those! And Onii-chan said specifically I dislike them!? What the hell were you even thinking, Kamijou-chan!?" Salome yelled as she grabbed Kamijou by the collar before he could get to work getting the bits of spit and food off him. She shook him back and forth with spit and food flying everywhere.

"W-W-W-Well, Salome, if you w-w-w-w-w-w-want to be an a-a-a-a-a-a-adult, you have to get u-u-u-u-u-u-used to things you d-d-d-d-d-d-don't like! A-A-A-A-And stop sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-shaking me!"

"An adult!? Things I don't like?! What are you, my brother!? Why are you more like an Onii-chan than my – "

Salome stopped in mid-sentence her eyes wide as she realised something. No, hadn't Kamisato said something like this before? It was said in passing when Salome had been terrified of Kamijou, but he had definitely said something to Kamijou which he had clearly taken to heart more than Salome would have liked.

"Why are you better at acting like her 'Onii-chan' than I am? Not even I can get Salome to be this obedient. Maybe you could get her to conquer her dislike of bell peppers."

Salome's mouth went wide as she stared at the spiky haired boy with food and spit on his face. Her eye twitched as she stared at the plate of food and how she had made note of the bell pepper in his basket before but had never said anything of it later because of how she had been lectured endlessly.

No, this was more than just Kamijou hiding the bell pepper in the basket. He had expertly managed to hide the dreaded food inside of the cream sauce, the movement and how he had managed to direct Salome's attention away from it being the mark of an expert. Kamijou's Big Brother and house husband skills were quite high, but Salome could only tremble in the face of it as she stared at Kamijou.

No, he had gone to these lengths already.

There was no stopping him now.

The gleam in his eyes made Salome tremble as she set him down and backed away, shaking her head.

"No…"

"You already said you liked them. There is nothing you can do. To prevent yourself from falling into the trap of being picky, you don't have a choice in this matter, Salome! This is for your own good so you have to finish that plate! You said you liked it so there's nothing you can dooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Kamijou repeated himself and Salome screamed, throwing Kamijou to the ground and causing him to slam his head against the bench where the two of them had been sitting. She turned and fled as fast and hard as she could but being surprisingly resilient to blows to the head, Kamijou gave chase with the plate and the spaghetti in hand.

It was surprising to see this scene happening to those who lived on parallel lines.

But when it came to trying to be a Big Brother to anyone who needed it, maybe that didn't matter at all.


And there we have it!

So, what did you think?

The hard thing about this one had to be the characters involved. During the entire Kamisato saga, there were those who blatantly hated the characters introduced for a number of reasons so I dangerously tried to have a go at this using one of those unpopular characters for the sake of an experiment, namely, whether or not I could grasp some of the charm of those characters and, even if it was a tiny bit, give them an appeal that makes you like them, even if it is by a marginal amount.

But?

What did you think of the tag team of Salome and Touma?

During their interactions in NT 15, it was mostly about Kamisato, but I think it was more in NT 16 when they interacted that the more 'banter' filled side of their relationship came to the forefront. That though is something I found to be extremely interesting especially given the fact that the two of them are extremely like 'parallel' lines in that Salome is to stay with Kamisato and Touma with his own group. The fact they could have such a conversation despite that really felt as though it gave way to some fun stuff and hence, as you can tell by the small flashback sentence, the trigger for this one-shot came in the form of something said offhand by Kamisato.

But at its core there was also the message of normality for a character who is otherwise not normal. The Raildex series has an insane amount of characters with their quirks and their dangers but more than anything, I really felt as though grasping and using one of those characteristics Touma might not necessarily agree with and using it here to show what Salome has missed out on was what was pretty important for me this time around. Even if it was small and even if it was something Salome herself knows she has missed out on, I wanted to just use this chapter to give her some small reflection on the things that she may have thrown away by becoming a mass murderer.

The fact that Touma is willing to do such instead of just condemning her to that role of a murderer I think suggests a lot about the differences in what he is willing to accept and do about what he can't vs. Kamisato and his own views. Naturally, in the latter case, we had Kamisato try and restrain Salome but in the former, it was more showing how Salome has missed out on some of the smaller things she can't put worth on because of how she has not experienced it.

I think in this sense, Salome became more of a 'character' fit for the slice of life scenes instead of the battle scenes she is really focused for and is good for. Salome herself is a monster but I felt just dedicating some time to show how that monster can become a bit more involved into the 'softer' side of things for the sake of 'saving' her also has worth and was something I dedicated this chapter to in its own right. I felt this was an especially great challenge because of the nature of her character but yeah, that is what BTL is for in the end.

What we had was a reluctant little sister character with Everyone's Big Brother Kamijou Touma as he tries to set her right in his own way. Even if it was small and even if it held nothing because of how Kamisato was not the one doing it, how it had an impact on the heart of Salome is what I think was important. And if anything, I hope in this chapter you could see a bit more of a softer side to that mass murderer, either in her mischievous side or how she had the heart to really think the atmosphere pressing down on Touma he did not deserve because of how much he has done for her personally and also for others. It was pretty rare to have a dere side to that type of character but I hope, even if it was small, you found yourself enjoying this chapter all the same.

And as always,
Review if you please.

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

This chapter was all sorts of weird. Touma spanked someone else's little sister, taught her a lesson, gave her a lecture and received something of an indirect slobbering all over from her. Even if it wasn't meant to be like that, being a big brother is awfully scary.