A Certain Universal Probability

by Anime-ted Life116

We all know that Touma is a misfortune boy. But what if there was a slight change in his world? What could have changed? And what would the end game be? Starts from the High Priest Arc. Rated T for safety. No lemons, but some foul language Check my Bio for Info on my Fics. (Chapter 27 out now)

27. Meetings go down

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 26: Meetings go down

"Well bye." With a snap, the door was shut, thrusting two boys into the somewhat cool weather surrounding the dorm. It was spring, but winter had not ended so long ago.

"Hey, Informant." The greyish-blonde haired teen spoke towards the dirty-blonde one. "Are you sure we should have done that?"

"I am." Informant said in a firm tone. "It would have come out eventually."

"…" Percival kept quiet for a bit. Then, he opened his mouth, presumably to ask Informant a question, but the boy answered him swiftly.

"It's possible"

"…I didn't even ask my question yet."

"There was no need, really. After spending some time with you, I have more or less grasped your personality." He shrugged. "And to answer your unasked question, yes, it is possible she is with them."

"…" Percival nodded his head. They were walking down the stairs, for fear of anyone interrupting their talk. "I see. I'll have to be prepared then."

"Speed up all our plans then." Informant supressed a sigh. They had reached the foot of the dorm building. "Too much work, so little time. At the very least, we have one less hurdle to go through."

"Yeah."

Quietly, the two walked a bit further, before they split paths, both of them doing their respective jobs.

..

..

Same time, in another place...

"Grrrr! Hiss hiss!"

"Ow! Ow ow ow ow ow ow! Why is this girl acting like a wounded cat the second she wakes up!?"

Kamisato complained half-heartedly as he rubbed his scratched wrist. At the corner of the room he was in, he could see the culprit who had scratched his hand hissing at him, her hair all bristled upwards like a startled cat.

"Come now. She just woke up in a strange, uncared for room, and found herself in the company of an unfamiliar boy. You're clearly the one at fault here. Especially since there can only be one situation that comes to mind when one unconscious girl and one teenage guy are all alone, in a seemingly abandoned apartment."

"So, no good deed goes unpunished in this age of mistrust eh?!" Kamisato did not bother to point out that thaat sort of situation was nt the only explanation. Turning his head, he looked at the new person who had entered the room. As usual, she had a baggy lab coat over her body, and currently, one of them was hiding the faint smirk on her face. A habit he had picked up on. "Hello Ellen."

"Hiya~" Said girl in a lab coat waved her free hand at Kamisato, before she approached the blonde, hissing girl with her exposed forehead. "Now now young lady."

Crouching down to eye level, Kamisato watched as she conversed with the presumed Patricia Birdway he had picked up. He hoped that she would be able to defuse the situation for him.

"I may not look it, but I specialize in unofficial forensic investigation. If you don't trust Kamisato-han and you're worried about your body, I can check to see if you're pregnant. If you just squeeze your eyes shut and spread your legs, it'll be over in no time."

""!?""

I should have expected that she would drop a bomb like this! Kamisato sighed, placing a hand on his neck as he watched the small girl tremble. After all, mere hours after he had started to assemble his 'Kamisato Faction', he had realised that the girls around him would be cruel, intentionally so, towards those that dared to harm Kamisato. Regardless of the reason. Regardless of whether it was for a legitimate reason or not.

He clenched his teeth in anger. Just another reason for him to wipe out all the Magic gods to prevet this from every happening again.

To relieve some stress, he attempted to crack the joint, but it simply refused to budge. It was a simple habit he had tried out to differentiate from the wielder of Imagine Breaker, someone he had heard about that may have the same ideals as him, but it turned into a habit of his rather quickly. Especially to relieve stress from moments like these.

"Ellen." He warned.

"Yes, yes, hi, yes, hi! I'll leave my harassment at that." Just like a switch that had been flipped, Ellen stood up and released the aura she had been forcing onto the girl. "Honestly, if Claire and Elza learned how ungrateful she was being, they would seriously tear her to pieces, you know? You ran off without your bodyguards and now you're injured. What do you think is going to happen now, boss?"

Ah… Kamisato's mind went towards the delinquent-like girl and the girl that had once been a part of a gardening club from his class and school. Compared to Ellen, they were a bit more drastic with their reactions.

Especially since one was a gemstone capable of manipulating plants, and the other was a magician who had abilities suited for combat.

"Oh no… Maybe I should disguise my injuries."

"Well, it's just a few welts from some scratches and she didn't draw any blood. A thick application of foundation should be enough." The girl wearing a lab coat helpfully supplied.

Picking up the bad he had with him, Kamisato attempted to rummage through it, only to stop halfway and look at Ellen. "…hold up. Ellen, do you have foundation to hide these small scratches?"

"Nope!" The girl cheerfully said.

"…figures." The brown haired boy sighed. So this girl is going for the psychological route, eh? By creating the illusion of a viable solution, only to rip away that hope by saying they could not eve use the given idea.

When he looked back at the girl, he could see that Ellen's plan was working. Or, he assumed it was anyway. Sometime during their conversation, a strange aura of fear had been emitted from her entire body while she trembled in that corner of the room.

The next moment, a sharp crack seemed to run through her soft cheek, exposing something like a black octopus with bubbling eyeballs or suckers that bent and twisted to form a single spear before shooting it out like a bullet.

Its target?

Armiura Ellen.

It shot just a bit below and between her evenly-cut bangs –that is, the center of her face.

However, unfortunately for it…

"Whoops. Not so fast there."

Kamisato casually reached his hand out to the side.

As soon as his hand grasped the black weapon, a large chunk of it was ripped away from it, causing the bubbling mass to frantically retreat back into the girl's body. An unpleasant sound soon followed. Something as thick as a human thumb seemed to slither below her skin, making a caressing action on her cheek, before it slithered down towards her neck where her headphones were.

The baggy lab coat girl reflexively tried to say something, but Kamisato placed his index finger over her lips, then smiled toward Patricia in the corner.

"That…didn't seem to be under your control."

"…"

Patricia remained silent and a change came over her chest.

A pulsation was evident even through her puffy down jacket. However, it clearly did not come from a human heart. Something else was wriggling at the centre of her chest.

Kamisato kept the grin on his face as he spoke, hoping to calm the small girl down. "Actually, to be honest, you don't have to tell us what's going on if you don't want to." But as he spoke his next words, his smile faded slightly. "But even if you, don't we would find out sooner or later since we would be investigating into it on our own."

As he spoke, Kamisato noticed that the pulsating thing was growing smaller in size; It was hiding, or trying to hide, from Kamisato. "So right now, you have the advantage here. If you tell us now, you can choose total us how much of the extent of the truth you want us to know.

And as he watched, the rather noticeable lump spread itself thin, wiggling to other parts of the young blonde girl's body, scattering to hide inside of her. If he had not seen the black thing in the first place, he would have assumed that the small girl before him was just like any other person strolling the planet at that very instant.

The girl he assumed to be Patricia opened her mouth as if to speak, before she paused. Facing downwards, she only shook her head. "…sorry."

"What for?"

"…For my weak heart that is telling me it will be crushed by anxiety if I don't tell you. Even though I know telling you would drag you into this mess." The girl gave a weak grin. "My name is Patricia. Patricia Birdway. Or would it be Birdway Patricia, since we are in Japan?"

"Both are fine." The brown haired boy admitted his preference. "And there is no need for you to apologise for that. We would have been involved whether you told us your circumstances or not." After all, it is this damned right hand that caused it in the first place.

"Right then." Patricia coughed. "For starters, I am not even sure what is in me. I was simply acting as a guest researcher from a university that was taking part in a study of the largescale changes in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean currents due to the changes in ice levels at the poles when this happened."

"You are a researcher?" Kamisato could tell that the girl next to him was intrigued. "What were your findings?"

"We did not find much really." Patricia indicated towards where the black lump had once been. "While we were just starting our investigation into the South Pole, we found a new kind of parasite. Our team called it Sample Shoggoth. Then, due to some unfortunate events, the parasite latched onto the first person it cold. That being me."

"So, it is called shoggoth, hm?" Kamisato nodded slowly, exhaling as he did so. "I'd like to hear how you got from Antarctica to Academy City."

"O-okay." Patricia shakily nodded her head. "It's not all that important, though. I visited few different medical institutions to find a way to deal with this. Academy city is one the latest stop in my search. That's all."

"If you were undergoing treatment, then why were you walking outside?" Kamisato dropped his smile. Patricia was no longer shivering as violently as at first, and her body had relaxed. "Wouldn't it spread to others? Or maybe inhibit your recovery?"

"While it is a parasite, it doesn't spread indiscriminately or anything. So, you could say it just sticks to a single host at a time. Oh, but I can't guarantee it won't cause you any problems."

"Well, yeah. It did just attack me." Ellen muttered off to the side.

"Ellen…" Kamisato warned.

"I'm a victim!" The upset lab coat girl brought a finger to her lips as she spoke, hiding the pout that he knew she was making. Sighing, he prompted Patricia to continue again.

"Apparently, even Academy City's technology has little chance of safely removing it." Patricia frowned. "However, that's not what I'm worried about. The problem is my sister."

"Your sister?" Kamisato placed a hand on his neck as he asked and Patricia nodded.

"The red one."

That short answer held significant a meaning. Especially since the boy had encountered said 'red one'. So, that was her sister? How did she become like that?

"My sister seems to be searching for a way to save me with her own methods, but I can't rely on that." Patricia hugged herself as she spoke. "I can never accept that method, so I can't just sit around and wait. I need to stop her and have her give up on that method immediately."

"…Why?" Kamisato asked. "It might not work, but just like with the lottery, having as many options as possible raises the odds of a miracle happening, right? Although if you're talking about having an amateur cut you open with a rusty scalpel and no anaesthetic, then yeah, you should probably say no to that."

The girl shook her head in response. "If only that was what it was."

Kamisato's frown deepened. "It's something worse?"

Patricia shook her head. "If she does use her method, there's no guarantee it will save me from this. That's a complete unknown." Patricia admitted. "But if she uses that method, there's a risk of her dying. She knows that and is still offering herself up to me, but that's exactly why I have to reject it."

"How so?" Kamisato asked curiously. "Since you are in Academy City, the chances of her dying should be low. Especially since their healthcare should be much better compared to the average hospital around the world, what with Academy City having technology ahead by 30 years."

"… …" Patricia looked away, not willing to divulge any more information.

Well, I guess that's it. Kamisato sighed. He could tell when someone was willing to give away information, and when they were not.

*Ding-clang*

Then, the doorbell rang. In its broken state, it was more of a ring and a broken buzzer, but it still served its purpose.

"I wonder who that is."

"Hard to tell when only knowing it's one of your fans still leaves about one hundred different options."

In any other people's ears, the two would have sounded carefree. But the two in question were anything but. Especially when one of them in question had a hundred admirers willing to do many things for him.

"You should probably make a list of all the girl's you've won. I could combine that with facial recognition software to make a Kamisato App that automatically gives you their name and profile."

Kamisato sighed. Even though Ellen had said it like it was a joke, he knew that the girl in question was very capable of doing and making said app.

Sleeve still hiding her mouth, Ellen hopped over to the door to open it.

Two girls walked in.

The first one had long, wildly cut brown hair, making it look like she had two fox ears on the side of her head. She wore a white sweater and a red pleated skirt, but the skirt was extremely long. She gave the overall impression of a delinquent, with her attire enforcing that impression even more and giving her the look of an old-school delinquent. Or perhaps, a shrine maiden.

In her hands was a large plastic bottle. It's label had been removed, and instead of a liquid in it, it contained old discoloured ten-yen coins. She also had a baby carrier attached by a belt on her chest, which pointlessly pushed up and accentuated her already large breasts.

The other girl had thick glasses that framed her face, and long black hair tied behind her. She wore a white apron-like dress. She looked plain and inconspicuous, but that sort of impression was entirely overturned by the giant tropical flowers blooming on either side of her head. It gave her the impression that the newcomer had twintails originally, but they had exploded. That picture was further reinforced by the colourful flower petals that adorned her back.

The moment the two walked in, they started to talk.

"Hm, so is this our new hideout?" The delinquent-looking girl looked around the room. "This is awful. The previous clubroom we occupied was filled with plenty of convenient items. I doubt there's a computer and microwave in here."

"But Elza, you don't see a 4.5 tatami room every day, so isn't it kind of exciting?" The dress-wearing girl excitedly looked around the room. "Like a poor but happy couple pressing their shoulders together for warmth and reconfirming their love for each other. Kyah~"

"C'mon, Claire, that's probably the same kind of excitement you get from a Columbian prison tour or a Thai military torture tour. You're paying money to enjoy a lack of freedom."

"Please don't say that!" The teased girl moaned, covering her eyes as she did so. "The visuals of collars, handcuffs, and creaking ropes hanging from hooks are encroaching on my Showa song paradise!"

"You've got a surprisingly detailed imagination." The delinquent look-a-like giggled. "I bet this teacher's pet is secretly quite the perv~"

"Ei."

After the glasses girl gathered strength in her stocking-covered legs and hips to deliver a punch to the delinquent girl's side, one of the girls doubled over. Even through the sweater, her large breasts jiggled a needless amount.

..

These two girls were Elza and Claire. Both of them could be considered the core members of the Kamisato faction. Especially since they were the first people who had come into contact with Kamisato Kakaeru soon after he received his power.

Elza was a childhood friend of Kamisato. He did not know how long ago they had stopped talking to each other, but he believed that their

..

After hitting the girl, Claire turned towards Kamisato. "You told us a little over the phone, but what exactly is going on here?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Patricia instantly put up her guard exactly like a guard, complete with her clawed hands and hair standing on end. Subtly, he looked at Ellen, hoping she would back him up, only for the girl to shrug and move away from the group.

Leaving him alone to answer the two girls.

Sighing, Kamisato placed a hand onto his neck shook his head, but the joint refused to crack. "Try to contain yourselves when you hear this, 'kay?"

"Sure, sure." Elza waved her hand.

"I was just being threatened-slashed-warned that this girl here had some horrible secret and that I'll get dragged into some awful incident if I get involved any more."

""Ohh…""

Acting in harmony, the glasses and delinquent girls both rubbed their index fingers against their temples and spoke at the same time.

"In other words, the setup is already complete." Ellen chimed in.

"Y'know, did she really think a hot-blooded boy was going to back off when he heard that? Are you sure she isn't sitting there waiting for the boss to jump at the opportunity?"

Why are you acting like a delinquent, oh childhood friend of mine? And I am no one's boss! Kamisato tsukkomied in his head. Well, in the sense of a gang, that is…

"She only draws Kamisato-san in because she isn't aware what she's doing. You know, just like always."

"Yeah, it was especially bad with you, Claire. You were outside and in public, but you were still nude when you turned that corner and ran right into the boss. Talk about cheating. Thinking back, you really were the queen of cheating."

"I-I don't want to hear that from you! Who meets a guy by suddenly falling from the sky in this day and age!? What dimension did you even come from!? And not only did you manage to land right on top of Kamisato-san's face, but what happened to your panties!? Did you leave them in that other dimension!?"

"I did have something on! It was a large band-aid though!"

"Wait, what?!" Patricia could not help but respond to that when she heard that.

Ah yes, that is the right response to have. Kamisato nodded to himself. Hell, that is what I would have responded had Erza not stuffed me in her chest in an attempt to shield me from Claire's unintentional public nudity.

"Come now. You need to thank Ellen-chan here for using my unofficial forensic investigation skills to solve that earthshattering incident." Erza continued talking, not minding the interruptions from the blonde girl in the room. "I bet that bastard never imagined those initial missing panties would end up being the key to ending it all. Nice job, me. And Kamisato-han was of course a real hero."

"Oi, oi." The boy in questioon scratched the back of his head lightly, before he attempted to make a rebuttal. "I'm not doing any of this because I want to." Besides, you guys falling in love with me is the cause of this right hand of mine.

""Don't be silly.""

An instant refusal from the three girls.

Ellen waved her baggy lab coat as she said more.

"This may somewhat stray from the main task, but because we all know Kamisato-han can't ignore it, let us best help him out and finish it as quickly as possible before we get back to the main task. That alright with you?"

"Sure is," Elza agreed.

"I don't mind," agreed Claire. "Instead of attaching a bell to a cat's collar and letting it wander around, we're holding the dog's leash and taking a walk with it, right? I'd feel more comfortable that way and I personally prefer it."

"That taste. You really are a special kind of perv~"

"Ei! Ei ei~!"

The violent rush from the girl he once knew as a teacher's pet silenced the larger girl's diaphragm. Seeing Patricia's hand's nervously wandering through the air, Kamisato looked directly at her lightly smiled. "Don't worry about it. They're always like this."

"Eh? O-ok." Patirica responded, albeit hesitantly.

"Sheez, the weirdest one out of all of us is trying to act normal." Kamisato blinked in surprise when he saw Claire pout at him.

""And he has the guts to start hitting on a girl right in front of us!" Elza huffed. "Honestly, could this be following the standard script any closer?!"

Eh? But I'm not hitting on anyone right now? Also, isn't this exactly the norm for us?! Kamisato tsukkomied in his mind.

"Don't mind it to much you guys. This is how Kamisato-han gathered one hundred girls to construct his personal empire." Ellen clapped her hands to get their attention. "Now then, we should start organising things, so we need to make a list of what to do and set it by priority."

Right. Kamisato narrowed his eyes in agreement. They had a few agendas to complete since that was the main reason why Kammisato had came to Academy city. The first one was the complete eradication of the ones known as 'Magic gods'. The second one was talking to the holder of Imagine Breaker, and try to convince him to see their way of viewing things. The third would have come into effect when the second failed: Kill the holder of Imagine Breaker, since Kamisato did not like uncontrollable variables. Once these conditions were fulfilled, he would have brought back the girls who had regained their own sense of self to where they belonged. As for the rest…well, he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

But now, with the girl named Patricia added into their group temporarily, as well as hearing a small portion of her problem, Kamisato now had a side agenda which he wanted to complete, if only to foil the machinations of the Magic god which had done this in the first place. This side agenda was to solve the large problem that Patricia was involved in. And so, he assumed that the list that Ellen said about included the few steps needed to solve the problem that was before them.

Just as Kamisato was thinking about the unique aspects of each of his one hundred girls that would be useful from what he knew about Patricia's problem...

"First, we need to take a bath, but this rundown apartment has a shared bathroom and no bath. I wonder how the other residents get by."

…a completely unexpected curveball in the form of a refreshing cleaning of their body appeared!

Hoping against hope, Kamisato wished that Elle was just having her priorities mixed up–

"Yeah, I asked around and there's apparently a bathhouse around here that they usually use." Elza stretched her arms, showing off her pointlessly large chest once more. "That's what this tiny teacher told me."

"A bathhouse!" Claire exclaimed in happiness.(Kamisato swore that he saw her eyes sparkle) "Oh, that has a wonderfully retro ring to it! It has so much more charm than some dull Western term like 'hot spa'! And it's one of the checkpoints any couple in love simply has to try out at least once! Pant, pant. Huh? Why is everything getting so blurry?"

"Quit going into full bloom, you pervert. You're steaming up your glasses with a self powered thermal power plant." Elza lightly whacked the panting Claire on the head, causing her to snap out of her self-induced heat.

–but unfortunately, his prayers went unanswered.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait," Kamisato cut in. A large part of him could not believe that no one was opposing this ridiculous(in his eyes) idea. But the smaller part of him agreed with that idea, if only to calm the girl behind him since she perked up at the word 'bath'. But that part was quickly trampled by the larger, more dense part of his mind, making him the sole person to oppose the idea of going for a bath. "Why are we about to go take a bath all of a sudden?"

"Because we are preparing for battle?" Ellen nonchalantly answered Kamisato's question.

"…huh?"

"Boss, don't be so shocked." Elza sighed. "We ran right on over here as soon as we got into Academy city. We weren't hanging around setting up a hideout like you. Plus, we are pretty much reaching the very limits of what deodorant can accomplish. It's like sports after a PE class." Hand on her hip, Elza started to lecture her childhood friend. "Listen here! If we begin a new sweaty battle without a shower, all stinky from the previous one the day before, it is going to damage our pride as girls, as a woman, which is more important than the world itself!"

"Wh-why are you all talking about baths all of a sudden!? Th-this isn't really the time for that!" Patricia cried out.

"Huh?" Ellen was surprised by the last girl's comment, but she quickly responded. "Ah, right. Foreigners don't have a bath culture like us. I hear a lot of them feel pretty turned off by the idea of an open-air hot spring."

"…I really don't think that's the problem here." Kamisato mildly retorted.

"Well, we won't force you to do anything you don't want to." Ellen continued, ignoring Kamisato's tsukkomi. "But it is in your best interest to follow us, though."

"Huh?" The girl in the corner blinked in surprise.

"Well, I was asking mostly." Ellen ploughed on. "I mean, you just had some black thing come out of you right? I don't know what that thing is yet, but are you sure it won't smell after a while? Also, you were fighting with your sister not too long ago, right? You should have gotten sweaty, right? Can you put up with the fact that you would smell now? If you say you don't mind, then you can curl up in the corner and stay here, but I'd be about ready to bite my tongue at that point. Not cause it is Kamisato-han, but cause it is normally all over for girls as soon as the general category known as 'boys' find out you smell bad."

"Wha-?"

In her jogging wear and down jacket, Patricia's face blushed and then grew pale. "Uuuw...I am not that type of girl..."

"Don't worry!" Claire only added more fuel to the fire. "Kamsato-san ain't like that. And even if he did notice anything, he won't say anything!"

I don't hear anything, I don't hear anything~ Kamisato allowed his mind to drift. He would NOT get caught up in a topic about a girl's odour, thank you very much!

...though, he prefers his girls to have their own distinct smell. Sweaty or not(Preferably not, but he does not care. That much).

---

After some time, in which the conversation jumped from place to place, everyone left the rundown apartment eventually, heading in the direction of the bathhouse that Ellen had been told about.

Well, Kamisato had entered the city much earlier than the others, and as such, he knew where the bathhouse was exactly. Briefly he considered taking a wrong turn to lead everyone back to the rundown apartment, but chose not to at the last second. Partly because he could tell this was a matter of life -and-death for the girls, and partly because he feared for his body. If he had sealed their wish to cleanse their bodies, he would have been beaten within an inch of his life by Elza and Claaire.

No questions asked.

"…"

"…hm?" Kamisato felt someone's stare aimed at him. When he turned his head slightly, he could see Patricia's gaze aimed at his neck, which had his hand on it.

"Oh, this?" Kamisato could tell what was going through the young girl's mind. After all, it was not everyday that one saw another continuously place their hand on their neck within the span of an hour for no apparent reason. "I wanted some sort of continual obsession. It could have been something ordinary, like spinning a pen or whistling, but I wanted to some spice to leave that category of dull and uninteresting. So, I ended up with this habit."

"I see…" Patricia's gaze swam about uncertainly.

..

Timeskip, a few moments later

Well, after all was said and done, they managed to get into the bath house with little trouble. Exiting it, however, was an entirely different story.

First, the place was manned by an elderly lady, so there was no problems with any random woman trying to slip in to his side of the bathhouse because of some stupid reason like to join a harem.

But that was merely a sigh of relief for the boy.

Yes, he had not been ambushed by any random woman, but by the very harem he had created unintentionally.

What with the plant-centred Gemstone attempting to grab the boy and bring him to the rather barren female's side, and the subsequent arrival of Ellen, and the follow-up of the other two girls attempting to crawl over the divider like zombies out of a horror film, and the amount of noise they made, it was a miracle that they were not kicked out, much less reported to the police(or what represented the police in Academy city) for disturbance of the public and public nudity(when Ellen ran over to his side).

Well, at least by the end of it, everyone managed to get clean. Especially Patricia, who took the time to have a longer than usual soak in the large bath(for her anyway) because of the sudden sprouting of plants which prevented anyone from entering the bathhouse.

Which now led to this point…

"So, Kamisato-han, do you prefer big boobs or small ones?"

Had he been drinking water, Kamisato would have no doubt he would have done a spit take at the sudden question about his preferences. Instead, he decided to try and do his preferred form of stress relief whilst also asking the baggy lab coat wearing girl a question. "…why are you asking me this? Or rather, what's the reasoning for it?"

"We're talking about what happened in the bath just now, boss!" His childhood friend who was looking like a delinquent, Elza, huffed. "You had the most unconcerned look in your eyes as you swept the fogged-up glasses girl's legs out from under her, sent her sliding along the wet floor to score a strike on Ellen, and finished it all off by grabbing my shoulders and throwing me! How could you stay that calm? What do we have to do to get you all flustered and embarrassed!?"

"That's right!" Claire jabbed a finger at Kamisato as if to accuse him of something. "You had such a varied paradise laid out before you, so shouldn't one of us have gotten right in your strike zone?"

"Hargh…" Kamiasato sighed instead of responding at first. Like any boy surrounded by girls, his first reaction would have been to deny any and every indication he was a pervert. Which indirectly meant not stating any preference he had for the opposite sex.

That is usually how it is. But because the girls around him in question were actively vying for his attention, along with 85 plus other girls that came from all walks of life and body types, and add to the fact he had been with them for a few months, he could safely say that women... would always be judgemental(not discriminating or anything), be it about themselves, or of the person they were talking to in question. And as such, Kamisato knew which sentence he should say to get out of certain events. Like this one, where he is questioned on his preferred choice of women.

"What size does it matter if it fits along with the rest of you?"

Yes, this sentence has not failed him yet! It has not! It WILL not fail!

"Wha-?!" A surprised voice squeaked out, but it was drowned out by the voices of the other girls around her.

"Wah! I don't think this is a case of being too embarrassed to answer properly! I really think he just doesn't care!" Claire sniffled.

"You have to love someone who can speak excitedly about anything." Ellen nodded her head. "I do respect that. It's what it means to be passionate."

"Now listen boss, we need to start discussing our base definitions." Elza held her head. "We can't make these milkers grow or shrink based on whether they 'fit the rest of us'!" Suddenly, the girl smirked. "Well, if that is what you are saying...does that mean you like them big? After all, the proportion of a lady looks better f they have a modest chest."

""I see...so that is what most boys like, eh?"" Two girls hummed at the same time.

Wait, why didn't that work?! Kamisato felt the need to crack his neck even more now. That should have stopped any discussion about a girl's body! I just gave the feeling of 'not interested, so no need to discuss'. How did only one of them get it?!

"*Cough*, More importantly, can we get down to business now?" Kamisato cleared his itching throat in a bid to get everyone back on track. Mainly, the part where they try to help Patricia Birdway, the small girl that was following them, the other right hand user called Kamijou Touma, as well as the remaining few Magic gods in the city.

Alas…

"You're right," said Ellen. "How about we get something to eat?"

…such a thing would not come to be at the moment.

"…why…" Kamisato whispered to himself. What was once one hand, now became two hands covering his face as he tried to run away from the lack of urgency on the agenda they had. If one looked at him right now, they would have seen a teenage boy squatting down, nearly curled up into a ball, by the curb, his face covered by two hands reminiscent to that of an embarrassed middle school or high school girl.

If he had said it once, he will say it again. He truly could not understand how these girls thought.

---

Timeskip

Well, after a pointless discussion that went around in circles, involving specialties about a specific country, dinner plans being changed at light speed from 'convenience store items' to 'anything is fine', and then a home cooked meal, they finally decided to make the latter after buying ingredients from a nearby supermarket that was still open.

Well, this option became the ONLY option after Kamisato accidentally insulted the cooking skills of the girls around him. And Patricia could not agree more with the girls actions of threatening the boy into compliance.

After all, he had completely dissed the love and care a girl would put into making a homecooked meal by comparing it to some random gyudon shop.

Patricia tuned out the conversation the small group was making around her. Or tried to anyway. She was still following them, and even if she tried to act otherwise, this meant that she would have to pay attention to them to see what they were making in order to not get surprised by the end product. It honestly reminded her of a Russian roulette version of dinner, only the bullet was the food she disliked.

"-bage or stuffed bell pepper."

Urgh... Patricia groaned in her mind. She HATED bell peppers. Not for it's taste, because while it was a little tasteless if you removed the seeds which contained the capsicum element that gave it that spicy kick, but because of its texture. Especially the ends which were near the core. It reminded her too much of something that was synthetic, like plastic film or fur.

Then, she realised the stares aimed at her. Blushing, she coughed and looked away, hoping to redirect their looks elsewhere. "Ahem."

"Oh, what's the matter?" Patricia could practically feel the grin that had popped up on the lab coat wearing girl. "Do you not like bell peppers?"

Reflexively, Patricia answered. "Th-that isn't it! I'm definitely not a picky eater at my age!"

She knew she was lying out of her teeth, but she refused to allow anyone to point out her being picky! She was someone with multiple degrees and PHDs, and she wanted to act more like an adult. Adults were not picky! People might tell her otherwise, but her parents were good examples she should follow, right? And they were not picky with their food, so she should follow in their footsteps and not be picky as well! No matter how much the food in question made her skin crawl from looks alone.

"Don't worry. Leave it to our Master Chef Elza and the battle with your pickiness will be blasted beyond the horizon by a single beam blast."

"H-hey! How many times do I have to tell you I don't like housework! And doesn't that make me sound kind of dangerous or massive!?"

"Which side are you going for, Elza? You don't want to seem like a maiden but you don't want to seem like a macho either, so I can't tell what you want to be."

"I said that isn't it!" Patricia tried to resolve the misunderstanding before it devolved further. She was not being picky. It was just that the fruit in question creeped her out! "I'm not a picky eater!"

"Oh? Then I can just use a raw bell pepper. Maybe I'll wash one up and shove the whole thing in the middle of a salad."

"Mgh." Patrica covered her mouth reflexively, the white synthetic-looking fibrs of the inner parts of the bell pepper popping up in her mind.

"Or if you want something healthy, I could throw five or ten of them in a blender to make a bell pepper smoothie. 100% pure vegetable juice! It might taste bad, but don't worry!"

"Uuh!?"Patricia shuddered, tears prickling her eyes when she imagined the synthetic looking parts being shredded together with the juicer bits of the fruit. That imagery is disgusting! Even though I was the one who imagined it! And the taste! Urgh, it won't taste well if the seeds are mixed in with the fruit!

Just to put things into perspective, she was imagining the fruit in question being smushed by a slow juicer.

Elza took pity on the tearfully trembling girl, so she let out a gentle sigh. "…Fine, then."

"?"

"Listen, little girl, I'm going to make a prediction. You're going to overcome one of your dislikes today. I'll make sure of it. I'll rewrite your definition of bell peppers."

"Wh-why are you trying to sound so cool? Besides, I'm not a picky-…" Patricia began to wave her arms about in a panic, but she quickly realised something. At one point, she had joined their conversation. No longer was se just watching the events play out like she was watching a conversation log from one of the numerous voice tapes she made when she was in the middle of experimenting. She had joined in on their conversation, her own name making an appearance beside the group that surrounded the boy named Kamisato Kakeru.

"…Huh?"

Patricia was confused. Despite the fact she has been the one to speak those lines, the one to add her name to the conversation roll instead of acting like a reader, she had no idea how that came to be.

She did not know how to define this uncertain feeling in her chest.

---

Timeskip

Well…that was a disaster.

That was the first thought that came to mind when Patricia saw the remains of what had been a perfectly good dinner becoming a purplish mess that deserved to have the mosaic censor over it to help cover how hideous it looked.(It actually reminded her of food from an alien-centred movie she had watched once.)

The reason for this?

Well, at first, the dinner was going to be a relatively simple stew. Simple right? Well, it would have been too, as it was cooked by an obviously well-practised and seasoned chef(no matter how much she attempted to hide it).

But no one accounted for the resident scientist to have snuck in random, unmentionable additives to the cooking stew to make it taste better. Or so she said. Patricia was half inclined to not believe the girl since she recognised some of the additives that were added, and they were NOT a good combination for human consumption. The other reason was the fact that some of the additives were glowing.

The gig was up after the chef herself noticed the fact that her main dish had turned into something inedible, both in looks, taste, and smell. She instantly became worried when she heard the plant esper girl, Claire, comment about how she felt like she had been dumped with weed killer from America. doubly so when she saw the purplish gas being emitted from he pot, as well as the fact that the plants on her head were in the process of wilting.

And so, because of the failed attempt at making homecooked food becoming even more tasty, they had to evacuate the rundown apartment, whilst also drawing out the other residents that were living there as well. Patricia was especially thankful to the child-like teacher that had appeared to help stop the messy outcome of 'cooking meets science formulas!'. Despite her ssmall stature and child-like appearance, Patricia could tell that she was a real pro by how the woman had managed to deduce the way to prvenet the pot of disgusting purple-green mess from becoming even worse, going as far as to even rectify the problem with a simple bottle of the stuff that solidifies tempura oi.

…though, because of this, the residents were basically evicted from the rundown apartment for a couple of hours until the smell dissipated, lest they choke out from inhaling too much of the homemade weedkiller.

A shot of pain ran through her stomach, causing Patricia to hold it with her arm lightly. The pain went away almost immediately, but it as still a cause for concern.

It was the parasite in her. Shoggoth Sample.

Because of how it practically eaten all of the fat in her body, it was now holding her hostage, choosing what went to her body to keep her alive, and what went into its own gluttonous stomach. And that sharp pain was a reminder for her to eat, otherwise her internal organs might be losing a few pounds worth of meat and flesh. just enough for her to stay alive.

"-should we go?" Her ears perked up at what the delinquent like girl was saying. "There are a lot of options for eating out."

"U-um." Patricia raised her hand.

"?"

Everyone turned to look at her causing her to become nervous instantly, but she swallowed it down in favour of giving her opinion. "I'm fine with anything, but I would like to try Japanese ramen. The last time I was here, I didn't really have time."

"Ramen…" Ellen mused. "Hm, not a bad idea."

"Yes, I think it takes our situation into account quite well." Elza agreed.

"Hmm?" Kamisato tilted his head in obvious confusion. "Um, are you sure? Ramen is nothing but carbohydrates and the soup is full of oil. I mean, from the perspective of girls who never take down the 'dieting' sign year-round…"

I want to say that he is rude, but it is true that we girls want to watch our weight if we can… Patricia felt a vein throb at the side of her head from how indelicate Kamisato was.

"It's fine right now." Elza puffed out her large chest as she answered, before waving a hand and pointing–

–at Kamisato.

"After all, you're with us right now."

"?"

..

..

Timeskip

"So, boss, you were wondering why we were fine with eating ramen, right?"

It took them so time, but they managed to find a place for them to eat some ramen at. It was a small little shop, hidden in the darkness of the city. But thanks to some good-old instincts from his past experiences in hunting down food stalls, they managed to find this one. Once they had settled down at their table, Elza toyed with her fox-ear-like hair before she spoke to Kamisato about what had been on his mind.

"Eh?" Kamisato blinked at his childhood friend in surprise. "How did you-"

"Ka-kun, I was your childhood friend before I became a member of your harem. Plus, with how much time I have been spending with you recently, it would be natural that not only I, but all the girls would be able to know what is on your mind based on your facial expressions. Well, at least the gist of it. "

Kamisato blushed at both the obvious reminder of his situation, as well as the nickname his childhood friend had called brim by. It has been so long since she called me that…

"A lot of girls like ramen, but when it's just us…well, that information hasn't spread very far and it isn't very well known." Elza continued, brushing her hair behind her rea ear. "…Simply put, it's hard for a group of girls to go to a stubborn old man's ramen shop. But in this case, we got you with us, boss. As a boy, you can shield us while we try out some places we wouldn't normally be able to try. We can visit the restaurants we were interested in but seemed to have too high a barrier."

"Oh?" Kamisato felt like he had just heard something very interesting. So, in this case, it is more of a feeling of safety and image then reluctance to eat ramen? Maybe it has to do with the image of a young girl asking a middle-aged man for ramen, compared to a young man and girl asking a middle-aged man for ramen. Kamisato could see the reasoning the girl gave out after imagining this. Either the girl gets labelled a tomboy if they are alone, or the middle-aged man gets labelled a pervert for calling out to a young girl. With a boy with them, everything gets much easier huh.

Inside the ramen shop, there were not many people, making it relatively empty. Sitting in one corner of the room, in an optimal position, was a cheap fifteen inch TV, allowing customers to view it from any corner of the small shop. Right now, it was airing a show about a young college boy that had managed to gain several high-spec girls, who was using their inherent powers to defeat a crooked job-hunting official in a revenge story. It gave Kamisato a small sense of deja vu when he saw it being played out for some reason.

Based on the crazy settings, and the various pop culture references and jokes, Kamisato guessed it was probably a live-action adaptation of an old popular manga that was being used to raise the popularity of both the actors, and the manga itself. Probably to milk it for some more cash.

Kmaisato just sighed as he saw the show get cut off by an advertisement. "Everyone loves those simplistic things, don't they?"

"""I don't want to hear that from you.""" Three voices were united against his own, causing the boy to sigh again at the retort. This made way to peace, but unfortunately for the boy, it did not last long, as there was soon an argument about what ramen they were ordering.

"Salt ramen!"

"Soy sauce ramen!"

"Salt ramen!"

"Soy sauce ramen!"

"Are you crazy? There is no way I am taking that much salt into my system." Claire narrowed her eyes warningly at the girl she was arguing with. "I will only acept seafood soy sauce ramen!"

"But salt ramen is obviously the ticket to happiness!" Ellen cried out. "Claire, I'm pretty sure you're ruining your life with that terrible choice."

"Ellen you asshole! Let's take this outside!"

*Pfft! Kakaka*

Poor Patricia the bystander spat out the water she had been drinking, before she started to choke from the sudden urge of wanting to take a deep breath. As a Westerner, she had been very surprised when English swearwords were uttered in that restaurant.

"You two, stop it." Kamisato scolded the two as he helped rub Patricia's shaking back. "What about you Elza? What are you going to order?"

"Me?" The delinquent girl who was resting her elbows and large breasts on the table punted to herself. "I'll just order my personal favourite, the miso ramen. There isn't a need for arguing over what kind of ramen is best like in a religious debate. one would never get an answer that way."

""Oi. Don't diss our chosen ramen while elevating you own to a higher position.""

"How on earth did you come to that conclusion?!"

"Okay, okay, let's just order." Kamisato frowned as he looked through the spare menu once more.

There was an ample variety, but that was not the main issue. The main issue was the fact that because of the numerous choices and types of ramen, the menu gave no sense of focus, which was further reinforced by the soup-curry ramen and the tomato-chess ramen, a unique combination. Clearly, the shop they had entered was not one that had perfected it's craft over a span of twenty years.

After some time, he spoke up. "Okay, let's place our orders. Everyone just say what you want."

A male waiter with a bandanna around his head walked over and an avalanche of voices immediately followed.

"Salt! I want salt!"

"Soy sauce please! And with seafood!"

"One miso ramen. Hold the pork, but add in a bunch of green onions instead."

""Oh, then I'll have the tonkotsu.""

"Hm?" Kamisato looked over at Patricia in confusion and found her just as surprised. Looks like our tastes are the ones that match.

Of course, the unexpected knowledge that the person that had just recently joined their group was the only one whose tastes matched Kamisao led to even more noise erupting from the table.

"My tastes…aren't the same as Kamisato-san's!?" Claire held her head. "I-I can't have that. The foundation of keeping a boyfriend or girlfriend is conquering their stomach. A difference in food preference doesn't look like much at first, but you can't ignore it since it builds up turn by turn like poison damage. B-but I can still recover. This wasn't anything as critical as a blood type horoscope! Right, Kamisato-san!?"

"C'mon, blood type horoscopes have no basis in fact whatsoever." Ellen interrupted the two. "And dividing the six or seven billion people on this planet into four categories sounds even more dangerous than discriminating based on race. But anyway, I've still got a chance here! We may have ordered different flavours, but that means we can try each other's dish, give each other bites, and mix some together on the plate!"

"Okay, okay. I'll take control of that." Ellen interrupted the two bickering girls. "Kamisato-han's plate is under my management. If you want to flirt with him, then take a number. You'll need my permission first."

"Damn you, Ellen!"

Geez...they sure are making a racket. Kamisato looked over the three girls as they bickered, a small smile on his face. Yet, that smile disguised his true thoughts. If only those magic gods had not dealt me this hand, they would not have their minds warped so badly.

---

After taking a bath and having dinner, it had grown quite late ,much to Patricia surprise.

Their stomachs had been filled, and were slowly digesting the food they had just eaten and absorbing the broken down nutrients. Their bodies had been cleansed of dirt, sweat and grime. so they were feeling clean. And so, with the night being so dark, and their bodies having done all that they needed to do, what else was left for them?

The answer, was rest and relaxation via sleeping.

And so, after returning to the rundown apartment, and checking it to make sure it was safe, they slowly got ready for bed. Well, after Kamisato had been strong-armed into doing so after the girls mentioned about a 'Kamijou Touma' not running away from him. Which led her to briefly wonder if they were mortal enemies or something.

..

But wait! There was a problem!

There were only four futons. And there were five people sleeping. And after multiple configurations, they finally decided on the four futons they had brought with them being placed around the room in a windmill, or a shuriken(if she recalled correctly) shape, following the arrangement of the tatami mats.

Well, granted, she was not the one in a pickle, but still! She felt bad.

..

"Did you know that the 4.5 tatami room has its origins in Ginkaku-ji's tea room? It wasn't originally a room for poor people. Instead, it was for the rich who enjoyed condensing all of their luxury into a small space."

"Yes."

"But by arranging the four tatami mats like a shuriken, the half tatami space in the middle was used to place the tea set. That way everyone could sit around the room and enjoy the tea."

"I already knew that."

Kamisato still looked pale as he stopped them. "But why am I in the centre space? All I can do there is curl up in the foetal position."

That is interesting. Patricia actually did not know that titbit of information, but in essence, this impromptu history lesson came about because of Kamisato's current predicament.

"Um, isn't that because you lost the game of rock-paper-scissors?" Ellen's words made Kamisato keep quiet, before he curled up and covered his face.

Yes.

Kamisato Kakeru had the unfortunate role of sleeping in the centre of the room, in a square, unable to stretch out his body fully and sleep in a comfortable, laying position.

The girl in the baggy lab coat, Ellen, covered her mouth with a sleeve and laughed. "Heh heh heh. If it's too cramped for you, feel free to join me in my futon. I always have space for you in there!"

"Stop being so blunt. The boss doesn't know how to react."

"Oh, and if Elza-" Patricia tuned out the rest of Ellen's words. Lifting the thin piece of fabric that acted as a blanket, she covered her entire body up to her head.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

She waited for what seemed like forever, but in reality was only an hour, before she emerged from her resting place and exited the small apartment.

Elza's words kept playing itself, over and over, in her head.

"Patricia's problem won't cause the world to explode overnight."

But you are wrong. Patricia wanted to rebut the girl, but she held her tongue.

The thing was, to Patricia, her problem was practically the end of the world for her.

Why?

Because it concerned not only her life, but that of her elder sister's. Levinia Birdway.

In the short time she had spent with the small group, she had learned that they were not especially bad people.

Sure, they would fight with others if they had to, and from what she had heard, they were going to fight against someone named 'Kamijou Touma'. But they had also approached her with no malicious agenda in mind. They had their own objective and her problem did not fit into that objective, but they had gone out of their way to interfere in her issues. In other words, they were kind people.

However, she chose to leave them.

Why was that?

Because in her heart, she did not believe they would help her. After all, despite talking with them and spending time with them, the truth of the matter was that she had only spent a scant few hours with the small group. Even if they had talked, it was on the level of acquaintances at best, strangers at worst.

So she could not find it in her heart to talk to them about her problem.

And besides…

She had started this on her own to protect her own life, and now, to protect her sister's. To protect the This was the pillar that supported her life and she could not allow it to be broken. She would not insist that someone help her.

For some reason, when she left the small apartment, she looked back, just once.

..

When she slipped outside into the dark and lonely night, she instinctively knew that she was being a coward.

Sure, she had wanted to find and protect her sister, who had somehow managed to transform into a monster under a different set of rules she did not understand. The sister who had a tumour that was growing inside of her, one that threatened to kill her due to the stress it was putting on her organs and skeleton. The sister that was the world to her.

But after an hour of searching the large, maze like city, she soon realised the weakness in her heart.

"Leivinia…"

Patricia had no clues as to where her sister may be. She did not even have the first hint to take the proper steps toward approaching the answer. Still, she looked all around her as if searching through the grass.

She searched with her feet.

"Leivinia!"

The weakness in her heart whispered to her. Asked her if she was just doing all this searching, all this shouting and screaming of her sister's name with no concrete plan in mind, just so that the world would see her 'efforts' and praise her. To allow her to be weak.

She tried to seal this feeling, this voice of the devil, away in her heart. She tried to hate this feeling that had emerged from the depths of her mind.

But before long, a dull throbbing pain filled the soles of her feet. Her breathing grew shallow and her chest felt tight.

Impatience and pain spiralled through her head. Her smartwatch began emitting a warning colour.

That health management app monitored her heartrate and blood pressure, but they had been a complete mess already.

And after that hour of searching, the malicious whispers came back, and this time, they were stronger than before.

'Rejoice.' It said. 'You have an even greater number of hurdles now. So haven't you done enough? You have already obtained people watching you trying to find your sister before she died. At the very least, there is footage of you doing so.'

"Stop." Patricia croaked out, trying to silence the devilish whispers echoing in her heart.

'Why?' It replied. 'You know it is true. So just give up. You left some scars and marks behind, so just give up. Do that and you can enter that sweet position of the 'poor little girl' who wanted to protect something precious, did her very best, yet couldn't quite manage it. You'll get a special position as the person everyone unconditionally gives treats to, pities, and always gives top priority to.'

"No…"

Gritting her teeth, Patricia let out a rough breath as she leaned against the pillar of a wind turbine, trying futilely to chase away that voice in her head.

Her legs were exhausted and she had trouble walking, not to mention running.

And yet, she still had not searched even a quarter of District 7. That was hardly surprising once she thought about it. Academy City had 2.3 million residents and that number only increased when adding in travellers and business visitors. How far was a one-girl search even going to get her? That was not even enough to find a cellphone dropped in a small shopping district.

At that moment, Patricia collapsed against the pillar, her legs having finally given out at the same time her will broke, having searched for three whole hours.

'You knew that from the beginning, didn't you?' The voice dealt the final blows. Each sentence it spoke chipped away at her resolve and flimsy excuses.'Wearing yourself out, hanging your head, and clenching your teeth while leaning against that pillar is all a part of the lovely show you're putting on, isn't it? You don't really care about your sister, do you?'

'Admit it. You're afraid of being seen as the wrongdoer who abandoned her sister, so you want to be seen as the victim who was crushed by remorse.'

"No! No! Nooooo!" Patricia pressed her hands to her ears in a bid to silence the whispers.

'… … ' Nothing else was said. The voice had gone silent. But the damage had been done.

"Uuh…!" Sobbing, Patricia curled up into a ball. If only I were a little dumber, I could have continued to search for Levinia. And if I were a little smarter, I could have found Levinia already and removed that tumour bomb from her chest already. But….I didn't. I could not think of way to save my sister!

Patricia knew. She did not have what it took to save her sister in the time left. And then, there was also her own problem. The parasite in her, which held her life in its hands.

And in that moment, it seemed that everything boiled down to this single conclusion: To save a life, another must be lost in its place.

And from this conclusion, Patricia could do nothing. That's right...I can't do anything...so...so...!

"What, are you not going to struggle any longer?"

Still on the ground, Patricia looked up toward that voice.

Someone had arrived to make up for what she lacked.

He was the kind of normal high school boy one could find anywhere. Someone so bland he seemed to blend into the background.

He was Kamisato Kakeru.

"How long…have you been here?"

"How long indeed."

"How much…do you know?"

"How much indeed."

Did it all play out according to his wishes? Patricia's mind whirled. Was their trip to the bath and their plan to eat a long-term plan meant to incite me to move with the time limit only I knew was approaching? Was the small accommodations part of that as well, to notice if someone left the room?

Or was it all just coincidence? There was no plan, only pure coincidence, that led to the two of us meeting? Him, with his group of girls that seemed to have him whipped, and me, the person who was in trouble, with no one to lean on for help?

It could have been either and really, it did not really matter which it was to Patricia.

What mattered was the fact that Kamisato Kakeru was here.

"Didn't I tell you that we would investigate if you didn't tell us?" He said. "If you had told us, you could have chosen the extent of the truth and only told us what we needed to know, but when it comes to us investigating, you can't choose the truth we learn. So we saw it. You have a tendency to passively go along with anything, but we saw the impatience that made you leave those pre-set rails and take action."

"…"

"What are you going to do?" Kamisato asked, his blazer flapping slightly from his movements. "Continue like this? You have two simple commands: tell us or have us investigate. Ellen has a personal lab and her analysis of that black thing that came from you is already underway. I'm sure a few more truths will present themselves in the short time until that's complete. Are you sure you want that? As I said, when we investigate, you can't choose the extent of the truth we learn. If you hide this, something more than what you fear will show up. Are you sure you want that?"

Patricia thought about what he meant. And she was indeed clever.

"That's…not fair."

"No, I suppose not." The person who had given her the unfair choices admitted. "I haven't been doing this for a long time, but I hear that a lot."

"That doesn't really give me an option. Whether I say yes or no doesn't matter. Once you say you'll save me, you saving me is the only option left. I'm stuck on those rails no matter how much I complain that you're meddling or that I don't want your help."

"True. But, is that a problem?"

Patricia thought about it for a while. Kamisato said that he would save her, and he had already setup the field such that there was no choice but for her to do so.

Even if she refused, kicked, screamed, and clawed her way away from him, he would still come and save her. Even if she refused to explain her situation or ran off into the night, he was sure to reach her regardless. He would approach the core of the issue via a different route than her and step nonchalantly onto the final stage.

He gave no excuses when it came to saving people.

"I have this thing in my body." Still sitting on the ground, Patricia finally spoke up in resignation. "It's a parasite from the Antarctic. It's an unknown type that dissolves the fat of the human body and slips inside that empty space. It's not very contagious, but it's extremely lethal. If it were forcibly removed, I would definitely die."

"I see."

"My sister is trying to do something about this. I don't know if it's supposed to be a repellent or something to transplant. I don't know how it works or even if it would really work, but I can't rely on my sister's method."

"Because you would die if it failed?"

Patricia shook her head in response. "Because even if it worked perfectly, my sister would die as soon as the method was complete. I mentioned a risk before, but…the odds of her death are 100%. It's certain."

"…" Kamisato kept quiet at that. Who wouldn't? After all, no one would expect death to be a certain fact, even with an operation to remove a tumour.

"She holds a bomb in her chest. It's like a tumour…but not really." The more Patricia talked, the less she felt the need to restrict and hold back information from the boy standing before her. "From what I've seen with long-distance ultrasound scans, its rate of growth is highly abnormal. At this rate, it will place pressure on her heart and lungs…no, it could even cause her to burst open. The limit is…probably before tomorrow morning. And she doesn't seem to care."

"I see. So saving you means your sister's death, but saving your sister leaves no way to heal you."

"You believe me?" Patricia looked up at the boy.

"It honestly doesn't matter if what you just told me is true or not." Kamisato shrugged his shoulders. "Either way, we will eventually learn the truth and arrive at the conclusion whether you like it or not. So you don't need to convince me. I'll step onto your rails for now."

To Patricia, Kamisato sounded extremely careless. He seemed like he was completely ignoring her feelings, but because of that, there was also the sense of trust in there.

"What matters is what you want to do based on that scenario." Kamisato continued. "You want to save you sister. Since you're searching randomly around here, I assume she's somewhere in Academy City. So. What would you do if you did happen across her? How would you save her?"

"Well…"

"You have to have had an image in your mind, no matter how absurd it might have been. Otherwise, you would not have 'given up' on us. There had to have been a set of scales in your mind when you left the room. You were weighing A against B, obeying us against acting on your own. You were thinking about which would be more effective."

"…"

"Removing the bomb in your sister's chest is your top priority, even if that leaves you with no way to survive," Kamisao Kakeru declared. "But you don't actually have a way of doing that. Not many people have the skills to surgically remove something. And it would probably be difficult if you relied on that Antarctic thing inside you. That wasn't what you were relying on. So what means of saving your sister were you thinking of besides removing the bomb in her chest?"

"..." Patricia kept quiet.

"The answer is simple." Kamisato continued. "You were trying to remove the motivation behind your sister's actions. The quickest method would be to eliminate yourself so she no longer had any reason to hold that bomb inside her. You intended to sacrifice yourself from the beginning. And even if you have no means of removing that bomb, the sister who placed it inside herself most likely does. So you were trying to throw your own life away to get your sister to act. Would that be checkmate?"

"Uuh…" Tears started to blur her sight.

"That would explain your previous actions. It would explain why you looked somewhat heroic and yet seemed to be enjoying the pain of harming yourself. You were working up the resolve to take your own life or perhaps losing yourself in the role to weaken the realistic fear. You weren't trying to find your sister. You were showing yourself that you're a small person who could never find her no matter how hard you tried. You were holding a dark smile at the fact that you didn't even deserve to live and it was all a way to prepare to take that final step. Your time limit was not about when you had to find and rescue your sister. It was when you had to prepare yourself to die."

"Uuuuh!" Patricia bit her lip and started to sob again.

Everything that Kamisato had said…was true.

To get the sister to survive, she had had two avenues open to her. But when she first heard about the fast-growing tumour in her sister's chest, she had rejected it almost immediately. Not only was it growing at such a rapid pace that Patricia was worried if it might harm her more than it helped her, it was also she was afraid. Afraid that the thing in her sister's chest...would kill her once it was removed.

Now, she had one avenue left. A broken form of the original one. That is, to allow her sister to live, she had to die.

After all, the tumour in her sister's chest…that was grown with the thought of helping her in mind.

Without her around, without her alive…that gave Patricia the hope that she would have he tumour removed, and stop whatever it was that she did to help grow that tumour.

"Hey, can you tell me one thing? How do you define salvation?"

"?" Patricia stopped sobbing, looking up at Kamisato through teary eyes.

"I have a power known as World Rejecter."

As he spoke, Kamisato Kakeru casually closed the loosely opened fingers of his right hand. And a moment later, the wind turbine Patricia was leaning against was 'devoured' from partway up.

Eh? Patricia stared wide-eyed at where the turbine she had been leaning against was. Most of it was now gone, baring a few metal bolts and the concrete platform it had been on. What is...

She felt something intense prickling on her skin.

"You can see how powerful it is. Although the conditions it needs can be a little tricky." Kamisato continued to speak without changing his expression. "But as long as those conditions are met, I can erase anything from this world, even a Magic God. …It technically isn't killing them, but the result is pretty much the same. If separating two people so they can never see each other again is what you would call death, then World Rejecter brings death to all things."

"…Ah."

"I can guarantee you it brings no pain. I've never tried it on myself, but based on those who have been kept alive for a bit, hope for a new world fills their heart. It can't fail. As long as the conditions are met, it can erase even the sun or a black hole in a single blow. And it does not leave a gruesome corpse. No one will have to discover you. And while I can't tell you what lies on 'the other side', I can at least tell you there's something there. Death does not take away everything and erase every last trace of you."

"Ahhh!" The fear from earlier finally made its presence known in her mid.

"So, what will you do?"

Kamisato Kakeru waved his right hand in front of the girl.

Patricia's eyes were glued to it like it was a hypnotist's pendulum.

"It only takes an instant. It truly is the ideal tool for suicide. I've erased plenty of things, so I would know. As long as you meet the conditions, I cannot fail. So I want to know your definition. What is salvation to you? If it is liberation from the weakness that prevents you from taking the final step even though suicide would save your sister, then I present to you the most efficient method. I will erase your existence in a single blow and rob your sister of her motivation to carry that bomb. So what will you do? Is this salvation to you?"

Kamisato Kakeru continued waving his right hand as he took a step toward the girl sitting carelessly on the ground.

"Do you wish for a new world?"

This…would be right, wouldn't it? Patricia thought as she stared at the hand. It blocked most of the night sky from her view, making it look like a object about to crush her entire world. This would be the best method of protecting Levinia, right? If I accept that, Kamisato-san would be my saviour. But...

"…No."

Patricia found those words coming out of her mouth before she knew it. "I don't want that. I don't want to die here! I don't care if it's selfish or useless. But this is just taking the easy way out! I'm dying so I don't have to see what comes next! That wouldn't save my sister. I couldn't be proud of that decision!"

Even if this was her final moments in life, she wanted someone to at least hear what she had to say.

And Kamisato Kakaeru was the only person around.

"I have to save my sister. I can't let her plan continue because the tumour inside her will kill her, but if I die first to rob her of her motivation, she'll have to live with the label of someone who abandoned her family! Neither of those options will save her! Neither of us can die! No matter how much I have to struggle, no matter how pathetic it might be, and no matter how cheap it has to be! If I don't find a third option, I can't save her!"

Patricia could not muster enough strength in her legs to stand up, so she looked up at the hand about to end her instead.

"So! I don't need your salvation. I don't need an easy way out and I don't want a new world! I won't throw anything away and I'll continue to struggle in this world. If my sister is going to throw everything away for me, then I'll find an option that doesn't require that! It doesn't matter what options I have now! If I don't have one, I just have to make a new one! I'll create one! And to do that, I don't need a power to help me run away and avert my gaze from the harsh reality! I need a power to break through it all and continue forward! I need a power to oppose it head-on!"

For a moment, there was silence as Kamisato heard the words that Patricia wanted to say. Then, he placed his hand atop her head-

-and nothing happened, much to Patricia's slight confusion.

There was no pain. No fear. And yet, the hand that housed the great power, World Rejector, did not affect her. Her body remained intact.

"My power requires certain conditions to activate," Kamisato explained with a gentle smile. "The biggest one seems to be conflicting desires. For example, saying you want to escape your closed environment yet not wanting to give up your life surrounded by girls, fearing your weapon yet delighting in how different it is from those around you, or whispering that you want to live happily with your girlfriend yet not wanting to destroy your harem. It also works on anything created by people like that. People with those conflicting desires want to cling to this world yet also wish for its destruction, so I guess it's easier to find a starting point with them. …On the other hand, it seems to have difficulty with people who have a single goal in mind and never waver. No matter what I do, the exiling power doesn't work on them."

"Ah." Patricia quickly realised what Kamisato meant.

"This right hand did nothing to you because you have the strength to see a single path to follow in this shitty world, Patricia" Kamisato rubbed her head. " I admire that strength. I honestly think it's amazing. …You did well. You overcame the negative ideas held by humanity."

When he removed his hand, a small part of her had wished that he had continued to leave it on her head. To continue patting and rubbing her head. It gave her a sense of comfort. Of warmth.

But instead, he chose to hold his right hand to the small girl.

Like he was facing a person of equal, or greater strength, than he.

"So I want to shake hands with you, who can hold this hand. And could I maybe help with the work you need to do? I won't be saving you. I will simply be a part of your legend."

Patricia hesitantly reached out her hand. And–

–grasped Kamisato Kakeru's right hand.

"Please…do."

"I know I shouldn't be saying this after setting you in this direction, but this won't be easy."

"I want to save my sister no matter what it takes." Patricia's resolve was firm. "I want to repay her for not hesitating to throw away her life for me. Even if I don't know how to solve this and even if it means cutting my own lifeline, I want to live a life I'm proud of to the very, very last moment!"

"Even if you follow that path to the end, you will not find peace." Kamisato warned her, but she shook her head.

"That's why I want your help. I have no idea how to remove that bomb from my sister's chest, so I want to use everything available to me. It doesn't matter if you can actually do anything. Please join me to help me…no, to help my sister!"

"If that is enough." For the first time, Patricia noticed that Kamisato gave a true, genuine smile. Not like the ones he had shown with the other girls in his group. Not the broken smile he had on his face. "If you will maintain that superior heart that holds to a single path no matter how much it is shaken and no matter how many easier desires are laid out before it."

"I respect you and I won't hold back when it comes to helping someone I respect. I will use everything I have and fight the entire world for you."

---

Several girls were gathered on a rooftop a short distance away.

They were Ellen, Claire, and Elza.

"See? I told you it would turn out this way."

"Well, this is how it always goes. To be honest, I personally resent it a fair bit, but if we told him to stop, he wouldn't listen and he'd just run off on his own."

"It looks like the others are here too. They're busy finding positions on all the rooftops around here."

While holding her plastic bottle full of ten yen coins like a baby, the delinquent girl with fox ear hair glanced over at the other buildings. There were several…no, a great number of them. The countless presences filled the darkness with an intimidating pressure.

"So the Kamisato Faction has gathered, has it?"

"Umm, I'm more about logistical support and tend to stay behind, but both of you are his direct bodyguards, right? Kamisato-han looks ready to rush onto the front line without a thought to his original objective, so what are you two going to do?"

When the girl with long black hair and a baggy lab coat dangling behind her asked that exasperated question, the glasses and delinquent girls both shrugged.

"We'll just do what we always do."

"That's right. We'll destroy anything that gets in the way. Won't that be enough?"

At this moment, things would have been fine the way they were.

Kamisato had obtained a girl that he would help. His faction were willing to do anything to help accomplish that goal.

It was a good time for everyone to end their day on a high note.

But…

"And what then?"

"""?!"""

Suddenly, before their eyes, the air shimmered, before it revealed a figure. One with a metal bad along his left arm.

Instantly, everyone was on their guard. "Who are you?"

"Me?" The boy pointed his hand to himself. "Just a mere pawn in the grand scheme of things. And before you say anything or do anything, no, I am not hostile towards your faction. Yet."

That last word acted a trigger word for the group. Claire instantly launched large vines towards the boy, intent on smashing him into a pulp. Ellen pulled out a few glass tubes, before throwing them at the mysterious boy. Elza herself raised her bottle full of water and coins, intent on killing him before he became a problem.

He smashed through them with a single, metal-clad fist, reaching the back of the girls in a split second.

"-! Shit!" Futilely, Elza tried to get away from the boy, but he quickly grabbed onto her arm with his right hand, very nearly crushing it with his grip. H-his strong! And fast! As it was, she thought she felt her bones creak from the sudden pressure they were put under.

"Now hold up." The boy sounded annoyed. "I said I wanted to talk. After that, I will leave."

"What makes you think we will listen to what you have to say?" Claire glowered at the boy.

"It is about Kamisato Kakeru."

Everyone on the roof stiffened up.

"Please, I am not going to make any death threats or the like. Just a simple conversation, between two groups. That is all."

"The Kamijou Faction." Ellen spoke up, her hard stare looking at the boy.

"More or less. Technically, the faction has not been complete yet. Nor was it ever formed." The boy admitted. "Well, until three years later in the future I suppose."

"Huh?" Elza blinked. That seems…too precise to be a guess. "Are you-"

"No questions for me, please." The boy interrupted whatever it was that Elza wanted to say. "The stars of the stage are you girls, not me. As it is right now, all of you would do things that would end up causing your beloved Kamisato trouble."

"Nonsense! That is not-"

"Is it?" The boy asked. "All off you in the Kamisato faction only see things as black or white; Option one or option two. You have almost never gone the third route, or thought of an alternate route to a solution. And your leader is very much the same."

"Is that a bad thing?" Elza narrowed her eyes, slackening her body ever so slightly. She did not like where this was going, but she could see that it was important. Why else would this boy from the Kamijou faction approach them.

"Not entirely." The boy admitted. She could feel him loosening his iron-grip on her arm. "But answer me this: If Kamisato Kakeru sees things in black and white, and has never been thrown into a situation like this before, how would he act? The answer: Blame the individuals who gave him this power that threw him into the situation, and curse them for making things so."

"How is this-"

"He blames the people you have been hunting for becoming twisted into loving him."

Silence permeated the air from the startling words spoken. Then-

"T-that can't be true..."

"Unfortunately, until he gets banished by his own power, that is his thinking." The boy said. She could not see him, but Elza could imagine he was shaking his head at that moment. "He believes that because of his power, all of you one hundred girls have been warped into thinking like this, into loving him."

That has to be a lie! Elza raged in her mind. Kamsaito-kun won't do that! He won't! But, the more she thought about it, the more she felt that what the boy said was true. ...Kamisato-kun has not been the same ever since he got that power of his...I mean, sure we drifted apart, but I was only waiting for him to make a move! Even if he had not, I would have done so after high school! But kamisato-kun right now...he looks like he is in pain every time he looks at us. Looks at me...like, something forced us to change and love him..."I guess you understand what I was saying." The boy took their silence as agreement with what he had told them. "I personally think that all of you girls love him very, very much. Even without that power in his right hand."

"…flattery won't get you anywhere." Elleb spoke up first. "So, what do you want us to do for Kamisato-han? Nothing too drastic, like changing our factions or betraying him I hope?"

"Ellen!" Claire whipped around to stare at the girl. "Why are you talking with this guy? shouldn't we just smash him? He said he would be our enemy in the future!"

"Even if that may be, why would he go out of his way to tell us this?" Ellen stared at the boy, a serious look on her face. "And from how he fought, he at least knows what the three of us are capable of."

"…Well deduced. As expected of the forensics expert." The boy chuckled. "As for your earlier question, my goal is simple: Get Kamisato to change his mindset regarding you so that he can at least plan for his future with all of you."

"…That's it?" Claire levelled a suspicious gaze at the boy.

"And maybe help us out in the future." The boy added.

"…If it helps Kamisato-han, then yes." Ellen sighed as she agreed with him.

"Looks like you got two of us sold." Elza commented. "Me included. Now, mind letting go of me?"

"In a minute." The boy shifted his grip on Elza's arm. "I will be gone soon, so hear me out till then."

"""… …""" The girls kept quiet, which the boy took to be a 'yes' to continue.

"Now, what I want you guys to do is to try and get more members of the Kamisato faction to realise that not everything is black and white, yes or no." He explained. "That is core of your faction, which also makes it a liability should the centre of your world be taken away. Essentially, you would become puppets on a string following the orders of the person who holds your world in their hand. Meaning, Kamisato's life."

"If being decisive is our strong suit, why is it also a weakness?"

"Because you can't compromise." The boy answered Claire's question. "Unlike Kamijou, you take one of the set, obvious paths, and push through, regardless of the obstacles in the way. This makes you practically invincible to World Rejector, but makes you easy to manipulate."

"…what does Imagine Breaker do in such a situation then?"

"He looks for a third option. If both options available to him require some sort of sacrifice, Kamijou would look for the third option. The path which saves everyone with the least bloodshed. That is what-" The boy was about to say more, but he cut himself off. "-well then. Looks like my time is up."

Releasing Elza, the boy hopped away from the girl, standing at the edge of the building they were on. "Please, do think about what I said. If you need to contact me, you know where to go. Oh." The boy gave a mischievous grin. "I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? Well, call me Percival."

With those parting words, the boy left the rooftop. Leaving three girls to ponder on his words.

---

That was close.

Percival thought as he looked behind him. Not a few seconds after he vacated the roof, Kamisato had managed to arrive. Agumenting his sight, he could see Kamisato's worried face as he mouthed some questions. If I had been even a few seconds later, he would have gotten me. I don't need a repeat of the last time we met. Claire may not have recognised me, since I hid my face behind Elza, but Kamisato definitely would have recognised my voice. But for now... Percival further increased his speed as he jumped from roof to roof, taking care to make sure that he did not leave any cracks on the building he landed and left. I should head to that place. Percival knew things were moving very fast for his liking. But, that was why he was not the brains of this operation they were in. I like it when all I need to do is follow a plan someone else cooked up.

Pretty soon, Percival reached his destination.

Landing on the ground softly, Percival scanned the area. His eyes caught sight of a hint of reflected light. "Come out, Kihara. I know you are there. Then again, I did ask for this meeting."

"Indeed." Stepping out the shadows, Kihara Noukan shook his body once, before he looked at Percival. "I have to say, between like and dislike, I am disliking the fact you know about Aleister's plans. But between good and evil, I can't quite decide where you should be."

"Think of this as future preparation." Percival raised his hand slightly and waved it. "Besides, I am sure Aleister would like to know certain events that happen. Like, say...Lilith?"

The effect was immediate.

The air around them started to solidify, the numerous tiny nano machines consolidating and vibrating to ask questions.

*?

"We are not here to threaten you, nor are we part of any existing faction." Percival said in a somewhat dismissive tone. "Just think of us as an unknown factor that would help...speed things along. Hopefully, none of our plans would collide."

*# !*?

"There is no need for you to be so wary." Percival sighed. "I am not in this position because I want to be. Besides, my goal aligns with yours. At the end of the day, we want a life to be preserved."

... #%'?

"Spare me the threats, Beast666." Percival spoke Aleister's magic name. "I may be from that side, but I am of the still growing Kamijou faction, which aims for peace. Our leader may not like you all that much, but that does not mean he will outright stop or hinder your plans. Rather, he would help you if it does not go against his code."

... #&*%%...

"Now, since you are here..." Percival turned towards the golden retriever. "I would like to discuss with you about a certain electromaster."

"Misaka Mikoto?" Noukan tilted his head. To passerbys, the action would have looked cute, but Percival knew that he was simply thinking about what he was needed for.

"A.A.A"

Slowly, Noukan gave the equivalent of a doggy smile. "Now, this should be interesting…"

---

Meanwhile...

This is really nerve-racking…I never thought that doing something like this would be so tense...

In another place in Academy City, Informant was at a certain location. Well, this IS my first time doing something like this…and probably, it won't be the last. But I doubt I would have to do something like this against such a powerful individual anytime soon… Informant thought to himself.

Informant was the planner, historian(sort of) and undercover agent of the two-man team that he was in. His counterpart, Percival, was the brawn, plan-changer on the fly, and tactician of their team. So it was no surprise that this was the first time he was out in the field, not doing any undercover work of the sort. Rather, it was a recruitment visit. And since Percival was busy with the other thing...

I wonder how his side is doing? Informant mused to himself. Steeling his mind, Informant raised his hand-

*ding-dong*

-and rung the doorbell. In less than a few minutes, he could hear the sound of feet against the floor.

*tap-tpa-tap*

"Yes, yes, don't ring the doorbell again, otherwise this Misaka would beat you within an inch of your life, ya hear?" A young woman wearing a pink and white aodai, around 18 years old, opened the door. She had chestnut-coloured hair, and had orange irises.

If one didn't know better, they would have thought they were looking at an older version of Misaka Mikoto or Misaka's mother, Misaka Misuzu, but with a different eye colour.

But Informant knew who he was facing. And who was behind her.

"Misaka Worst." Informant nodded his head in greeting. Almost immediately, her frown disappeared.

"How do you know who I am?" Misaka demanded, losing her verbal tic temporarily.

"Friends and from reading about you." Informant gave a small shrug. "But I am not here for you. Rather…"

"Oi, Worst." A male, and slightly crazed, voice said from behind her. "What's this guy doing here? Someone you know?"

"No clue. This Misaka has no idea who this weirdo is, but he somehow knows who I am." Worst turned towards the albino with red eyes behind her.

The boy narrowed his eyes. "…Who are you?"

"Name's Informant, First-Ranked Accelerator." Informant gave a theoretical bow. "And, I am here with a deal of sorts that you might want to agree with. May I come inside? The details are rather…sensitive."

---

AN

Finally done! This took way too long for my liking! And as a result, I kept procrastinating doing this!

Well, part of the reason is because of changes in my life. The other part…has to do with the story itself.

In the beginning, this story was merely created on a whim. A passing thought, really. But, the more I thought about it, the more it formed into a possible story. Which had led to the creation of a fanfic with over 100, 000 words, and 26 chapters at the moment. But now…

I can feel the drive for making this fic dying. So much so that this fic would end up like the other numerous ones out there: Abandoned, on indefinite hiatus, or just completed with an unsatisfactory ending.

So, I have decided that I am going to rush through things.

I will complete the necessary arcs, and end this fic on a large timeskip. No development of love, no harem members being added, no hilarious actions. This…I feel, is the best course of action for me, other then abandoning this fic, or leaving it to a later date. Cause, knowing me, I would leave it alone for a month or two, which would turn to a year or two. And by then, my drive would be gone.

I would like to apologise in advance to those who actually like this story that I have cobbled together. This fic would always s be my first multi-chap fic that I posted. Whether I will make more Toaru fics remain to be seen though.

And with that sad things out of the way…

Yay! I have gotten the meetings down! With this, I have set the stage for two important people! Kihara Noukan, and Accelerator! What they would be doing, everyone knows for the first one. But the second? Only guesswork, really.

This was both good and bad for me to write, since this arc has become boring, thanks to some problems being resolved. Like, the food problem, him not getting a GF, and him being too naïve. At the same time, new problems have arisen in the shadows, courtesy of one certain team. What is the end goal of their enemy? Well…find out in the future chapters!(I love trolling! Such a refreshing experience!)

Anime is Life, and please review!