Hello, everyone! Last time, Mikoto got to spend some quality time with her boyfriend, sisters, and friends. In this chapter, we begin the events of NT7.

Blankow: Yeah, I really wanted to write a chapter where they all hang out and get along, so I'm glad you liked it. I decided to have Worst tag along to get introduced to everyone, and she gave the opportunity for some funny scenes. Accelerator definitely wouldn't have wanted to join in. Well, Mikoto and Touma will have to deal with the Agitate Halation project soon.

Aminadab Brulle: Ah, okay, meeting Last Order is a big butterfly. I'm happy you enjoyed the fluff and the moments with Misaka Worst. You're right about Touma seeing Misaka 10032 nakes, but he technically didn't see her panties then, so it doesn't contradict what I wrote.

LordChorizoCosmico: Don't worry, I enjoy reading your detailed reviews, and it is sometimes tricky to remember all the details about the Raildex universe. I'm glad you enjoyed them flirting with each other. Worst is definitely an interesting sister, but yeah, she can't escape the tsundere or Gekota-loving genes. Misaka 10032 has a very weird sense of humor, but it is still funny. Yes, the Misaka Network collectively decided to maintain Last Order's innocence. That's an interesting theory, I'd say that Misaka 10032 might have the strongest personality, though I'm not sure if that would help her win rock-paper-scissors. Since the Sisters know what the others are thinking, the rounds can go on with multiple ties, so perhaps having a stronger personality does help her. Saten is indeed very good at finding elusive information. Yeah, Last Order certainly lifted Kuroko's spirits a lot. Mikoto and Touma are being vague at the moment, but you're right that they may have to tell her friends about magic in the near future. And yeah, Touma can definitely be romantic, even in canon, he sometimes makes romantic speeches without knowing it, for example in NT13. I'm glad you enjoyed the interactions between the Sisters and the Railgang. I hope to continue involving the Railgang in the story.

Vetin221: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed their interactions. I hope that will happen in the novels too, though Touma did see Mikoto act like a big sister to her Tokiwadai classmates in NT16.

Stryper88: Yes, Touma's Misaka harem is pretty funny, as was Last Order's questioning. Don't worry, there will be more perverted scenes between the couple in the future. I'm glad you found everyone's interactions wholesome. Some more interrogation would be interesting, maybe I'll have Saten do a more racy interrogation in the future.

MC91: I'm glad you found this chapter fluffy. "Stay" is a very sad story, but I'm hoping for a happy ending at least. Thanks, writing dialogue is still sometimes a bit tricky for me, but it's good to know that I've been improving. NT9 is indeed approaching, but there will still be a number of chapters before it, since we also have to go through NT7 and NT8.

Kupfer: Wow, thanks! I'm happy you're enjoying the fic so far.

A couple of days later, Touma woke up somewhere besides his bathtub or his hospital bed. When he opened his eyes, he found himself completely surrounded by darkness, and so he was unsure whether he was actually awake or still asleep. He immediately wondered, "Huh? Where am I?"

The boy used his hands to feel out his surroundings, and he quickly realized that he was stuck inside a rather small container, which seemed to be made of plastic. The space was so cramped that he couldn't fully extend his arms or his legs, and his head was only a few centimeters below the ceiling.

Suddenly, he heard some sort of vibrating noise, and a light appeared within the darkness. Even though it wasn't that bright, it still blinded him for a moment. Once Touma regained his senses, he realized that the sound and light was coming from his phone, and that someone was calling him.

With his space illuminated, Touma saw that it was about the size of a washing machine. He then answered the phone, recognizing the name displayed on it, "Tsuchimikado?"

Tsuchimikado immediately replied, "There's no time to spare, so I'll make this quick, Kami-yan." His tone of voice immediately made Touma realize that there may be some sort of Magic Side problem. Indeed, the spy continued, "A new magician has come to Academy City. If they aren't stopped, there'll be a lot of damage to the city."

Touma frowned and asked, "A magician? You mean another GREMLIN member has entered the city?" The conflict over Fraulein Kreutune had only been a few days ago, and he dreaded the though of another similarly-scaled battle within Academy City.

However, Tsuchimikado said, "No, this time it's a Vajrayana-style magician. It's unlikely they're related to GREMLIN, but they might be trying to take advantage of the commotion that GREMLIN is causing."

Touma could tell this situation was serious, and he would've rested his head on his hand if it weren't for the cramped space. His friend then continued, "The magician's name is Umezaki Yuuga. Fortunately, they're not too powerful. In fact, they're weak enough for you to handle on your own, Kami-yan."

Touma then asked, "But isn't this an emergency?" How could a supposedly weak magician cause such an urgent threat to the city?

Tsuchimikado replied in a bitter tone, "It's thanks to a certain spiritual item, the Altar of the Wisdom King. It's a special Homa altar this magician uses. Would you like a further explanation?"

Touma simply answered, "Please." He needed as much information as possible to deal with this new threat.

Tsuchimikado explained, "It's a tool Vajrayanans use for mental training. They burn a special kind of wood and let the fire and smoke cleanse them of all worldly thoughts. They come in different sizes. The smaller ones are like a candle you can hold in your hand, and the larger ones are more like a campfire. There's also the Inner Homa where you picture the Homa altar in your head."

Touma tried to tilt his head in confusion, but his back and all of his joints were painful from being stuck in an unnatural pose for so long. He asked, "And how big is this one?"

Tsuchimikado answered, "It's designed to be portable, so it folds up like an outdoor table. When it's folded, it's no bigger than a duralumin case. Now, normally a Homa altar is used to cleanse the user's mind of worldly thoughts, in order to increase one's focus. So normally, they're not that dangerous. However, the Altar of the Wisdom King takes advantage of that ability."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "It acts outwardly instead of inwardly, altering the minds of others instead of one's own mind. Once it's used, it'll suck out all the knowledge and skills of everyone within five kilometers. So you can imagine what would happen if it was used in Academy City."

Touma quickly deduced, "They would steal all the information on esper powers."

Tsuchimikado replied, "Not just that, but the Altar of the Wisdom King forcibly rips out that knowledge, so the victims will get severe brain damage, and will be unable to remain alive."

Touma tensed up, knowing that this was a serious situation. Every single part of Academy City was densely populated, so if this altar was activated, an unfathomable number of people would die. He asked, "What's the time limit?"

Tsuchimikado answered, "Two hours at worst, but even in the best-case scenario, no more than three hours."

Touma gritted his teeth. Two hours, 120 minutes, was way too little time to search for this spiritual item throughout the entire city. He asked, "Do you know where this magician is trying to set up the Altar of the Wisdom King?"

Tsuchimikado then explained, "Yes, but it's very hard to get into, especially for people like you or me. Someone without an official position will have to illegally enter in order to save the day. I don't know if this Umezaki is after the knowledge or is just trying to kill, but it's being set up in the School Garden."

Touma groaned on hearing this information. The School Garden was indeed a treasure trove of esper-related information, but only girls were allowed in it. He asked, "So what are we supposed to do?"

Tsuchimikado replied, "We won't have a problem if Umezaki Yuuga is caught by the security of those girls' schools, but I doubt it'll be that easy. We'll have to sneak in after this magician."

Touma asked in an incredulous tone, "But how are we supposed to do that? They have access to cutting-edge technology, so they must have one of the strongest security systems!" He was worried that if he tried to sneak in, he might even be opposed by firearms. Plus, magic was not recognized by Academy City, so when he was caught, he wouldn't be able to explain himself, and he'd be labeled as a huge pervert. He wondered if he could ask his girlfriend, who went to one of the schools in the School Garden, for help.

Before Touma could suggest that, Tsuchimikado said in a devious tone, "Don't worry, Kami-yan, I've already taken care of it." He then hung up the phone, leaving Touma confused.

Before the boy had any more time to think, orange sparks flew through the air, and the box he was in came apart, seemingly dismantled by gunpowder. With this, Touma was finally able to see the outside world.

He saw a room filled with lockers and benches, which smelled rather sweet. But more importantly, this room was filled with a bunch of girls in underwear chatting as if the situation were normal. About twenty girls turned their gazes to him, and everyone was silent for a few seconds.

Touma soon realized that he had been stuffed inside a box on top of a pushcart, sort of like in a hidden camera show. And he knew exactly who had put him in this situation, cursing to himself, "Damn you Tsuchimikado, you bastard!"

In any case, the boy didn't have any time to explain why he was in some school's girls' locker room, and the situation was made worse by the phone in his hand, since it seemed like he could have been taking hidden photos or videos of the girls.

One of the girls suddenly shouted, "Death to the creepy voyeur!"

Touma exclaimed, "Nooo, why must I suffer from this false accusation?" As the girls fired a variety of esper powers at him, the boy shielded himself with his right hand and quickly escaped through a door. He seemed to be in a school sports building, but he wasn't sure where exactly he was. As he ran away from the locker room, he came across female students, all of whom screamed.

He soon noticed something odd, "Wait, why am I only running into girls?" He down ran out of the school entrance, which had a bronze sign saying, "Private Shidarezakura Academy" Once he fled into the street, he saw nothing but girls everywhere he looked.

Touma finally realized what had happened, "That bastard actually shipped me into the School Garden? Oh man, Mikoto is going to kill me when she finds out about this!" Nevertheless, he had no time to explain the situation. He had no choice but to accept the label of pervert in order to stop Umezaki Yuuga from stealing all the knowledge of the School Garden and killing everyone within five kilometers.

Needing to hide himself from all the girls, he slipped into a nearby alleyway. As he caught his breath, Touma listened to the words of the girls chasing him.

One of them exclaimed, "Where did that pervert go?"

Another girl stated, "I can't believe he mailed himself to the lacrosse team's locker room in that tiny box!"

A third girl then mused, "That's actually quite impressive, and I almost feel sorry for him. He's probably the type of idiot who could have a world-changing power like invisibility or stopping time, yet only think about using it to sneak into the women's bath." This jab at his intelligence actually hurt him a lot more than being called a pervert.

The boy was near tears, and he frantically pressed the call button on his phone, trying to reach Tsuchimikado again, muttering, "Damn it, Tsuchimikado, answer!" Unfortunately, his backstabbing friend didn't pick up the phone, and Touma eventually got a message saying his call had been rejected. He grumbled, "That asshole shoved all the responsibility onto me and then disappeared!"

Touma only knew the name "Altar of the Wisdom King." He had no idea what it looked like, so it would be difficult to find it in two hours, even if his search area had narrowed down to the two square kilometers of the School Garden. But the main problem was that this was a girls-only area. If he walked around openly, he would be quickly arrested, or worse, attacked by esper powers and "accidentally" killed. So he would have to carefully sneak around, wasting precious time.

Instead of randomly looking, Touma needed to come up with some likely locations to search. He thought to himself, "An old antique like a Homa altar, wouldn't that stand out in this city of science? But then again, the School Garden looks like a traditional European city, so those kinds of antiques are everywhere around here." His priorities were thus first, not getting captured, and second, searching in places where a Japanese antique could blend in without looking suspicious.

The boy scratched his head and muttered, "These are high-class girls' schools, so they probably have tea ceremony clubs, flower arrangement clubs, calligraphy clubs, and all sorts of other old-fashioned places. Though Mikoto would probably scold me for having such a stereotypical view."

He soon determined that he would need a map of the School Garden, since those were kept private to protect the schools' secrets. But before he could do anything else, he heard the voices of a large number of girls from the main road, likely a literal man-hunting party formed from volunteers. Touma looked down the other end of the alleyway, but he had no idea if another group of girls was stationed at that exit, or if it led out to another main road. Desperately turning his head to find a way to escape, his eyes widened as he found one. Thanks to the narrowness of the alley, he was able to press his arms and legs against the buildings on both sides to climb up all the way to the roof.

Once he was safely positioned on the roof, Touma looked down at the alley and heard multiple sets of footsteps enter it. The girls then looked around in confusion when they saw it was empty.

One girl exclaimed, "What? He's not here?"

Another one asked, "Was the witness testimony inaccurate?"

Yet another girl hesitantly wondered, "Umm, senpai, that wasn't some sort of unidentified animal or a materialization of all these girls' desires for an unseen gentleman, was it?"

The girl she was talking to immediately shook her head and retorted, "No, he was nowhere near handsome enough to be that!"

Her kouhai immediately nodded and said, "Of course! No one would want a peeping Tom like him!"

Touma felt a pang in his heart and cursed, "Damn, you don't have to insult me like that!" However, he was mostly able to cheer himself up by recalling, "Well, Biri-Biri thinks I'm handsome, so that's all that matters."

He tried calling Tsuchimikado a few times again, but still got no response. With no other choice, Touma took a deep breath and started writing a text to his girlfriend, hoping she would help him stop the magician before killing him.

As he did so, he heard one girl say, "Anyway, there's a phone signal coming from around this location on the map, but he's not here."

Touma's entire body tensed up as he heard this. He quickly finished and sent his text, and immediately turned off his phone. But it was already too late, and he heard another girl deduce, "Hold on, this map is only two-dimensional, so it doesn't show any differences in height!"

Touma nervously held his breath. The Altar of the Wisdom King would activate in under two hours, so if he was captured here, it would all be done for.

One girl then proposed, "Is he underground? Maybe he climbed into a manhole?"

Another girl exclaimed, "He continues to display the special techniques of a pervert! This is more than a simple peeping Tom! Horokawa-san, don't think of this as practice, we shall use our sabres for real!"

The girl who was apparently named Horokawa replied, "But if this being can move freely through the sewers, is he a monster similar to a white alligator?"

Touma then heard all the girls leave the alleyway, and he finally let out a sigh of relief. With them apparently being equipped with fencing sabres, he knew that they would stab him through the chest for real if they ever caught him. While he was safe for now, the boy realized he would have to stick to the rooftops to avoid being detected.

He still needed to find maps of the School Garden. There were some maps and signs scattered around, but he couldn't walk over to examine them, and since he had to keep his phone turned off, he couldn't use its camera to zoom in on them. He wondered if he could find a pair of binoculars or something to zoom in, but it was unlikely he'd stumble on them by chance. He eventually decided that his best course of action would be to wait for Mikoto to find him.

Meanwhile, Mikoto was jumping between rooftops in the School Garden, using her magnetism. As a Level 5, she had to travel to specialized research facilities so that she could be studied by scientists. While the other students were generally jealous of this, Mikoto found it a troublesome obligation that cut into her limited free time, which was why she used her ability to take a shortcut back home. But she noted to herself, "Though compared to Touma, I guess I shouldn't complain about having little free time."

Just as she thought this, Mikoto felt her phone vibrate in her skirt pocket. She opened it and saw that she coincidentally had a text from her boyfriend. Apparently, his perverted friend Tsuchimikado had shipped him in a box into a girl's locker room in the School Garden so that he could deal with a magician seeking to use something called the Altar of the Wisdom King as a magical bomb. Touma was now stuck on a rooftop, hiding from a horde of angry girls.

Mikoto trembled in anger as she read the text, and she let out some involuntary sparks from her bangs. She had to take a few deep breaths, reminding himself, "It's not that idiot's fault, it's not his fault, but I'm going to kill that bastard spy!" Nevertheless, she was very upset that her boyfriend had probably seen a bunch of girls in their underwear or even naked.

In any case, this was a serious situation, so Mikoto needed to meet up with Touma as quickly as possible. Fortunately, she was able to track his phone's location, so she jumped from rooftop to rooftop, heading towards the building her boyfriend was on.

At one point, as she was about to jump from one rooftop to the next, she heard another girl's voice shouting up at her, "Misaka-san, over here!" Mikoto briefly considered ignoring her, but figured that she could take a moment to see what the other girl wanted, since she knew who Mikoto was.

Once Mikoto jumped onto the ground, she saw a middle school girl with black bobbed hair, wearing the uniform of another school in the School Garden. However, Mikoto quickly noticed that this girl had stars in her eyes, and she groaned, "What do you want, Shokuhou? I'm in a hurry." It was clear that the girl in front of her was being mind-controlled by the annoying Mental Out girl.

The girl smirked and said, "My my, you're as rude as ever, aren't you? And you're abusing your ability to avoid missing curfew."

Mikoto rolled her eyes and retorted, "Shut up, I don't want to hear anything about abusing one's powers from you."

Shokuhou then brought the girl's finger up to her mouth and said, "Well anyway, I sent this girl and others to increase my information gathering ability, since there's an interesting rumor going around about a boy in the School Garden."

Mikoto tensed up, not at all liking the idea of Shokuhou finding her boyfriend. As she saw this reaction, the other girl said to her, "From your reaction ability, I see that you've also heard of this rumor, Misaka-san. Wow, I actually feel sorry for this intruder, if you're going to chase after him now."

Mikoto clenched her fists, thinking to herself, "She's just as annoying as ever." She turned her back to the bobbed hair girl and said, "Whatever, if that's all, I'm going to go search for that guy."

At this moment, Shokuhou saw through the eyes of the bobbed hair girl something that shocked her. It was a colorful ring on Mikoto's left ring finger. She didn't want to think about the implications of that ring, but she pointed at it and asked, "What is that, Misaka-san? A gift from a boy?" She said this in a casual tone, but Shokuhou was very worried about the answer. After all, there was only one boy that Mikoto would accept a ring from, and it was the same boy who she also liked.

Mikoto's cheeks reddened a little as she held up her left and and glanced at her ring, saying, "Oh, this?" She didn't want to tell Shokuhou that she was dating someone, since the other girl would likely use that information to mess with her. So she instead explained, "No, this is something I bought for myself. It's a titanium ring, and I colored it using my electricity."

As Mikoto told her this, Shokuhou carefully looked at her face. She couldn't read the other girl's mind with her ability, but she was very good at guessing what people were thinking and how they were feeling even without her powers. As a result, Shokuhou could tell that Mikoto was telling the truth about her ring. She was a little concerned about the blush on Mikoto's face, but Shokuhou figured that she might be just thinking about that boy actually giving her a ring.

Feeling relieved, Shokuhou proceeded to tease the other girl, saying, "Ah, I'm not surprised a childish girl like you would like such garish jewelry. What was I even thinking? Of course you wouldn't be able to seduce any boy with that small chest ability of yours!"

Mikoto initially felt a burst of anger on hearing Shokuhou once again mock her breast size. Normally, she would've completely lost her temper and yelled at the other girl, but as Mikoto looked down at her own chest, she recalled something very important. Shokuhou was actually dead wrong! After all, Touma had reassured her about her breast size and had given them quite a lot of attention during those nights in Hawaii.

Having that experience made Mikoto feel a lot more secure, and took much of the sting out of Shokuhou's taunting. As she looked back up at the bobbed hair girl, she smirked and replied, "Whatever, I have something important to get to, and I don't have time to deal with your nonsense. So I'm going to leave now." Mikoto didn't wait for a reply, immediately using her magnetism to climb up to the roof of the building she was originally on. She then resumed jumping between rooftops, seeking her boyfriend.

Back on the ground, Shokuhou was left befuddled by what had just happened. In the past, bringing up the other girl's inferior chest size was always a sure way to rile her up, but this time Mikoto had seemed mostly unaffected. She had gotten angry at first, but Shokuhou saw that she'd somehow thought of something that had quelled her anger. Shokuhou could only wonder to herself, "Was there something I missed?" In any case, she decided to continue using her abilities to search for the boy who had intruded into the School Garden. After all, it was her own territory that was being violated.

Soon afterwards, Mikoto finally reached the rooftop that her boyfriend was on. When Touma heard her arrival, he looked up at her with a nervous expression, hoping she wouldn't be too mad. The girl approached him with her hands on her hips, and asked him with a serious expression, "So what exactly is going on here, Touma? You said some magician is setting up a bomb in the School Garden?"

Touma let out a sigh of relief, glad that his girlfriend was focused on the dangerous threat. He feared what would've happened if she had encountered him by chance in the School Garden before he had sent that text. He explained in a frantic tone, "Hey, Mikoto. Yes, it's a Homa altar, and it's going to steal the knowledge out of and kill everyone in a five kilometer radius! And we have less than two hours to find and disable it."

His words sent a chill down Mikoto's spine. Not only was the advanced esper knowledge in danger of being stolen, but tens of thousands of people would die. She said, "All right, we have to stop this. In the worst-case scenario, I can contact Kuroko and Uiharu and try to get the School Garden and the surrounding area evacuated by Judgement, but hopefully it won't have to come to that." She then narrowed her eyes at the boy and asked, "Before we start, just how much did you see in that locker room?"

Touma nervously gulped, thinking to himself, "Crap, I thought I was safe." He kneeled down in front of her and said, "I'm sorry, Mikoto. I saw about twenty girls in their underwear. I ran out of the locker room almost immediately, but I still saw them."

Mikoto gritted her teeth, thinking to herself, "Damn it! At least he didn't see them naked, but still!" Trying to calm herself down, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, she crossed her arms and said, "Okay, I don't like it at all, but I suppose it's not your fault."

The boy was stunned for a few seconds, but as it sunk in what Mikoto had said, a grateful smile appeared on his face. Still kneeling on the roof, he wrapped his arms around her legs and pressed his head against her waist, saying, "Thank you for being so understanding. You really are the best, Biri-Biri!"

The girl blushed a little at his praise and smiled down at him. She gently stroked his hair and sighed, "How do you get into these ridiculous situations, you idiot?" Touma enjoyed her attention for a bit, but he eventually stood up, at which point Mikoto asked, "So do you have a plan to stop this bomb?"

Touma frowned and explained, "Right now, the first thing I want to do is get a detailed map of the entire School Garden. The satellite map on my phone doesn't have any details of this place. I was hoping to somehow get a look at the maps and signs posted around here."

Mikoto brought her hand up to her chin and mused, "Well, that's not a bad idea, but the public signs only show the entrances and exits to the schools. The schools here want to keep their secrets from each other, so there are only detailed maps of each school within that school itself."

The boy scratched his head and groaned, "So assuming you already have a map of Tokiwadai, will we need to sneak into the other four schools to get the maps?"

Mikoto smirked and shook her head, telling him, "I do have a map of Tokiwadai on my phone. And don't worry, I can easily get the other four schools' maps using my hacking ability."

Touma's eyes widened, and he asked her in a worried tone, "Hold on, wouldn't that be a major crime?"

The girl rolled her eyes and stated, "Touma, we're already committing a major crime just by being here. Besides, I've hacked into Academy City's top secret documents regarding my sisters already. Compared to that, this is child's play." She then thought for a bit and continued, "Anyway, before I get the maps, what are we going to do once we have them? Do you know what kinds of places you want to look for the altar in?"

The boy replied, "I actually don't know what the Altar of the Wisdom King looks like, but it should be some Japanese-style container in which a fire can be made. Where could the magician leave an antique like that without raising suspicion?"

Mikoto then reasoned, "Hmm, if it could be as small as a censer, it could be in a clubroom, in someone's bag, or even in someone's dorm room."

Touma clenched his teeth and said, "Damn, if that's right, there's no way we'll find it! And we only have an hour and a half left!"

The girl then suggested with a grin, "Hold on, there may be a more efficient way to find it. The School Garden has eight gates, but items can only be brought in through five of them. And if someone brings in an antique or a piece of artwork, it would receive a special inspection, which would be logged in the records."

Touma raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why would they go that far, inspecting every antique of artwork?"

Mikoto answered, "Recently, some moron tried to sneak out a chip with classified information hidden in a painting. Since then, they've started inspecting items using magnetism and x-rays. I bet we can find a lead from the inspection records."

She then walked to the edge of the roof and kneeled down to point at something, "All right, there's a security camera here, I can use this to get the information we need." She took out her PDA from her pocket and plugged it into a port on the security camera, proceeding to activate her ability.

Touma looked over her shoulder and was amazed to see words and images flash across the screen. He said, "Wow, you can get all this just from a security camera?"

The girl grinned and told him, "Well, it's still connected to the internet and other computers across the School Garden, so it's all accessible using my powers." She wasn't directly looking at everything flashing across the screen. Instead, she was intuitively looking for any maps of the School Garden stored on the network. It was not long before one appeared on her PDA, causing her to exclaim, "I've got it!"

Touma kneeled next to her and leaned on her shoulder, and excitedly said, "Awesome!" He could now clearly see all the luggage entry gates. He then asked, "Do we need to go to one of those gates to get the inspection records, or can you hack into them from here?"

Mikoto answered, "I should be able to get them from here, as long as they aren't stored on an isolated server." She began searching through the inspection records for all the luggage gates, musing, "This is a lot of data to sift through. Is there a way to narrow it down a bit?"

The boy quickly replied, "I don't think the magician would've wanted to be in here any longer than necessary, so the altar was probably brought in less than 24 hours ago. And maybe you could focus your search on items that were registered as pure Japanese antiques?"

The girl nodded and focused her search. After a bit longer, she announced, "I found something! What do you think?"

Touma looked at the result and scratched his head, feeling a little confused by all the information shown. But it did look like some sort of altar. He exclaimed, "This could be it!"

Mikoto nodded and then noted, "It looks like this item was taken to the Shiraha Social Support Club. It's officially an archery training club, but the real purpose is to create connections with large financial corporations. Or at least that's what I remember Kuroko telling me, she's much more interested in these kinds of things. But in any case, this should be the place!"

Touma suddenly grabbed onto Mikoto's shoulders and kissed her, before excitedly saying, "You're amazing, Biri-Biri!" He couldn't believe how quickly his girlfriend had been able to pinpoint a single location to search.

The girl's cheeks reddened, and she replied, "Thanks!" But she then frowned and said, "We can get there by jumping between rooftops, but we would still need to walk into the building itself."

The boy sighed, "Yeah, but I can't do that as a guy."

Mikoto looked at her boyfriend as he said this, an idea forming within her head. She grinned at him and patted his shoulder, saying, "You're right, but I think I have a way to deal with that. Could you wait here for a bit? I'm going to go get some stuff that should help us get into that club."

Touma didn't know what her plan was, but he trusted her to come up with a good solution. He replied, "Sure, but don't take too long, we only have just over an hour before time runs out."

The girl stood up and assured him, "Don't worry, I'll be back as quickly as I can." She then jumped off the roof, using her ability to gently land on the ground.

As the boy watched his girlfriend run off, he hoped that they would be able to stop the magician before it was too late.

About 20 minutes later, Mikoto landed back on the rooftop. Touma saw that she was carrying a shopping bag in her hand, and he asked her, "What's that?"

Mikoto grinned and pulled out a bunch of clothes from the bag, telling him, "It's your disguise! I went to the closest clothing store and bought a uniform for you."

Touma's eyes widened as he examined the clothes, and he asked the girl in disbelief, "You want me to wear a girl's uniform?"

The girl was enjoying his reaction, and she told him, "Of course, how else are you going to survive in the School Garden? Come on, it's not that bad, I picked out a uniform with tights, and I even got you some shorts too."

The boy sighed, knowing that he didn't have much choice. However, he asked doubtfully, "Even if I do wear these clothes, won't it still be obvious that I'm a boy? After all, my figure is a lot different than a girl's figure."

But Mikoto retorted, "That's true, but it should still be fine as long as no one looks too closely at you. I made sure the clothes would be loose on you, so your actual figure wouldn't be as obvious."

Touma finally relented, "All right, I'll put the clothes on." It would also be very embarrassing to change in public, but at least no one else could see them on the roof.

The girl then turned around to let him change, saying, "All right, let me know when you're done."

The boy was glad that his girlfriend was trying to minimize his embarrassment. He first removed his two shirts and replaced them with the dress shirt and vest of the girl's uniform. Although the fit was a little odd, they were indeed loose enough that Touma wasn't uncomfortable wearing them, even if there was some extra room in the chest area.

Touma then moved on to the more embarrassing part. He removed his pants and quickly slipped into the tights. He wasn't sure how to feel about the soft fabric wrapping around his bare legs, but at least they weren't too tight. The boy then put on the shorts, glad that Mikoto had provided him with something to cover that area more than the thin tights. Finally, he stepped into the uniform skirt and secured it around his waist. With a blush on his face, he announced, "Okay Biri-Biri, I'm done."

Mikoto turned back around and took a good look at him. She brought her hand up to her face and said with a smile, "Looking good! But your hair is still a problem." There was no way he could pass as a girl with his spiky hairstyle. She pulled out the last item from the bag, a beret, and carefully placed it on his head, covering most of his hair. The girl then patted his head, complimenting him, "You're a very cute girl, Touma!"

The boy looked away in embarrassment and muttered, "Sh-shut up." He looked back up when he heard the click of a camera, and exclaimed, "Did you just take a picture of me?"

The girl smirked at him, "Of course I did! I have to preserve this image!" Putting her phone away, she asked him, "Ready to go?"

Touma was a little scared that she would show that picture to her friends or use it for blackmail, but it wasn't the time to worry about such things, so he just nodded. He placed his original clothes into the shopping bag, and Mikoto placed her arm through its handles so that it hung off her elbow.

Then, the boy was suddenly startled when Mikoto came over and picked him up in her arms. She said in a teasing tone, "I guess the term princess carry is even more appropriate here!"

Touma was very embarrassed, but he chuckled, "I guess so." He wrapped his left arm around her neck and learned his head against her shoulder, knowing that they were about to jump between rooftops.

Mikoto then told him, "All right, let's go. Make sure to hold onto your hat." Once he did so using his right hand, the girl once again activated her ability and leaped from one rooftop to another, making her way to the club building.

Meanwhile, Touma was feeling a new sensation. Although his girlfriend had princess carried him before, during the fight against Acqua of the Back, she had carried him along the ground back then. This time, she was carrying him through the air, and Touma felt the thrilling sensation of the wind across his face. He shifted slightly against the girl, and exclaimed, "Wow, it's like we're flying!" It was a little scary, but his girlfriend's protective hold reassured him.

Mikoto laughed and said, "Yeah, it's really fun, isn't it? But it's a lot better jumping between skyscrapers in the city." She often used this trick to get around the city quickly, and it was one of her favorite ways to use her ability.

With Mikoto's speed, they didn't take too long to reach the building, and she landed on the ground near its entrance. She released her boyfriend, who stood up next to her. They saw that the building looked like a bank and was protected by a very sturdy door.

They observed it for a while, noting that girls would occasionally enter the building after holding up some kind of card to an electronic sensor. Touma muttered, "Okay, so we have to get inside to get to the Altar of the Wisdom King."

Mikoto then said, "No worries, I can get through that electronic lock easily." They waited until the coast was clear before walking up to the entrance. Mikoto held up her hand and sent some sparks into the lock, and the door opened up.

Once they entered the building, Touma became confused as the lobby transformed from a normal bank lobby into a Japanese-style room. Mikoto informed him, "There are small indentations and protrusions on the glass that distort the light and make a Japanese-style room look like a Western bank lobby."

Touma replied in a stunned tone, "These rich girls really go all out, don't they." He and Mikoto looked around, noting with relief that there wasn't anyone else in the lobby. The boy looked around the room and muttered, "So where is the Altar of the Wisdom King? Once I find it, I can destroy it with my right hand."

The two of them searched all over the room, but couldn't find any trace of it. Touma feared that it could be on one of the other floors, in which case they'd risk running into some of the club members. But they didn't really have any choice, so he prepared to ascend the wooden staircase.

Mikoto then had an unnerving thought. She asked her boyfriend, "Hey, before we go searching upstairs, are you absolutely sure that this altar is a real thing?"

This question made Touma freeze, and he soon felt an unpleasant sensation in his stomach. He realized, "That's right, everything I know about this situation is what Tsuchimikado told me." As he pondered it further, he mused, "Tsuchimikado has thrown me into battles before, but never with such a ridiculous time limit, and he hasn't contacted me since that first phone call. It almost seems like he never expected me to succeed."

The girl couldn't help but feel suspicious as well. Aside from Tsuchimikado's information, the only other clue they had about the altar's existence was that inspection record, but that could have been for some other random item.

Touma then spotted an airship flying outside. As they approached the windows, they saw it display the breaking news of a fire in a District 7 dorm, which had apparently killed Tsuchimikado Maika. There would apparently be an investigation into whether it was an accident or arson.

Both Touma and Mikoto were absolutely shocked to learn that the young maid they both knew was dead. It took them a little time to process that information.

Mikoto crossed her arms and suggested, "I don't know if that news is true, but it seems your friend might have decided to send you on a wild goose chase in the School Garden while he deals with his own separate incident."

The boy clenched his fist and said in a frustrated tone, "Damn it, Tsuchimikado!" He then turned to his girlfriend and said, "I have to get out of here and find him."

The girl nodded and replied, "Okay, let's go." They exited the building, and Mikoto once again carried him across the rooftops as fast as she could, heading for the nearest exit.

Once they were finally outside the School Garden, Mikoto lowered Touma to the ground and gave him the shopping bag which contained his original clothes.

Touma took the bag and said, "Thanks, Biri-Biri." Now that it was finally safe, he pulled out his phone and turned it on. Once he did, he saw an anonymous email from an unidentified email address. He informed his girlfriend, "I don't know who sent this, but apparently Tsuchimikado is at a high-rise office building in District 3."

Mikoto nodded with a serious expression on her face, and told him, "All right, I guess you'll go take care of that, so I'll see you later, Touma."

The boy tilted his head in confusion and said, "Huh?" He was a little surprised that she wasn't offering to come with him.

The girl smiled at her boyfriend and said, "He's your friend, so you want to confront him by yourself, right? I know I'd feel the same way if Kuroko, Saten, or Uiharu were in trouble."

Touma laughed and replied, "Wow, you really get me, Mikoto. All right, I'll see you later." He gave his girlfriend a wave and then turned to leave.

Touma steeled himself, not knowing what kind of situation he would face in that office building. He would need to first make a bathroom stop somewhere to change back into his regular clothes, but once he did, he would then find Tsuchimikado and figure out exactly what was going on.