Thank you, everybody, for your advice I have tried to fix the mistakes I did in the last chapter but I'm still learning but even so, I hope you will enjoy it.

Save The Date

August 1

It's been two days since Shokuhou had seen Touma and in that time she had completely restructured her clique, no longer was the clique structured in a way that can be seen as tyrannical. Now each of the members of her clique can have the privilege of having tea with her during the afternoon interchangeably, of course, there were only so many people that could fit into one table and Shokuhou really hated a large audience while she ate. She had also expressed the fact that she cared about all the members of her clique and would to the best of her ability, help them in whatever way she could. This sudden change in direction actually led more people than ever to start joining her clique as most other cliques at Tokiwadai were mostly one-sided with leadership that could be called abysmal at best. Sufficient to say she was pleased that she took Touma's advice to heart and could not wait to tell him that when she saw him again today.

As she sat there at the bench covered in the shade of the tree she thought about all the things that Touma and her could do together she had planned this day to the very last detail she would ask him to take her to the carnival only a few blocks east of the park then she would thank him for the food he had so graciously offered to her, and then they would go to one of the park benches to continue their discussion. If Shokuhou was anything she was a good administrator as she had to be in order to manage such a large clique. It was only after she sat there for 30 minutes that she started to get worried.

(He didn't forget did he? I know many things could happen in just two days, but he wouldn't have forgotten about me already right)

Just then Shokuhou looked down at her phone shocked to have realized that it was 11:30. She had shown up a half hour earlier than she was supposed to and suddenly started to become flustered and started to unconsciously spoke her mind.

"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid"

As she continued her verbal assault on herself she looked up in horror as she heard a familiar voice in the background.

"Who's Stupid? Touma asked.

"Why are you here?!"

"Didn't you tell me that you wanted to meet me here?" Touma asked the panicking youth.

"I mean what are you doing here so early I did say to arrive at 12:00 pm, not 11:30"

"Oh well considering my luck I knew that if I tried to get here at 12 that I would have gotten here late so instead I decided to come here earlier. Good thing too because on my way here I got forgot my wallet and keys in my dorm and was locked out for a good 15 minutes if it wasn't for me giving a spare key to my friend I would have had to wait over an hour for the locksmith to show up. Then after that was done with I accidentally stepped on a dog's tail and had to run for at least 5 blocks for it to lose interest and then I was finally able to make it here." Touma said nonchalantly

Shokuhou face was one mixed with disbelieved and shocked, what kind of odyssey does this boy go through every day for him to say this without batting an eye. If she didn't know him better she would have thought him a liar.

"By the way, you know why I'm here so early, but what are you doing here now?"

"Oh well I had business in the area to deal with and it just happened to finish earlier, so I decided to come here I also just arrived a few moments before you did" Shokuhou said trying to pass off this farce, and she would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for the fact that she said this all while looking away from Touma.

Touma may be one of the most oblivious people to have ever walked on the face of the planet but even so, he wasn't a complete idiot and knew Shokuhou well enough to know that she was just trying to save face. Normally Shokuhou was an excellent manipulator being able to read people even without the use of her ability but for some reason this boy was different.

"Yeah okay," Touma said unconvincingly

"Anyway since we're both here earlier why don't we just start now instead?" Touma suggested

"NO!" Shokuhou protested

"Why not though, I mean we're both here right now what's the harm in just starting earlier"

The truth of the matter was that most of the carnival events that she wanted to take Touma to only occurred after 12 PM and going any earlier would only run the risk of ruining what was supposed to be her perfect day. Shokuhou did not like having to improvise in the heat of the moment, she would rather carefully plan everything out ahead of time like a game of chess. Too many variables could go uncounted for if she rushed in head first without thinking, she knew this from first-hand experience.

"Because," Shokuhou said

"Because why?" Touma asked

The fact of the matter was that Shokuhou could not think of any legitimate reasons as to why they couldn't have their conversation right now as she ran it through her head every answer she would give for having them wait around would only seem suspect and even if she got him to agree what were they supposed to do for the remaining 30 minutes just sit there in silence, in the end, she caved in and they began to have their discussion while making their way to the carnival.

"Ohh, so we are going on a date," Touma said teasing the young girl

"What! I told you to stop reading too much into this it is just I rather have this conversation in a better setting that's all" Shokuhou said sternly while blushing.

"Okay, Okay I'll cut back on the teasing. So what do you want to do first?"

"Well we were supposed to go to the 12 PM show but now I guess we can't," Shokuhou said under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. I guess we could just go ahead and get some food from the vendors while we have our discussion" Shokuhou said sounding like someone who was forced to pick the lesser of two evils.

"Okay so what do you want to get"

"I wouldn't be against kettle corn it is a special occasion, after all, it's not every day you get to go to a carnival you know"

"Oh yeah, you go to Tokiwadai so you don't get to go out much past the gardens right?"

"It's true most of the girls at my school have limited to no interactions to members of the opposite sex but in my case I have to venture out since the research facility I am a part of is not located in the Gardens, so I would have more experience in dealing with these types of events, such is the plight of a Level 5."

But when she turned around she had noticed that Touma had already left to go wait in line to buy the kettle corn. She stood there in silence for a few moments trying to process the events that had just occurred she had just talked to herself in front of a large group of people with everyone giving her looks as if she was some sort of child talking to an imaginary friend. She then quickly reached into her purse and began to erasing everyone's memories of her making a fool of herself and making the crowd disperse to leave both her and Touma alone.

"Okay, I'm back with the kettle corn. Where did everybody go?"

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Shokuhou said while looking Touma dead in the eyes, but then she realized that the boy had forgotten something very important.

"Instead of wondering where everybody went why don't you start wondering why you didn't get any drinks"

"Oh your right I'll be right back"

(Honestly, that boy can be so dense sometimes but I guess that's part of his charm….wait charm? What am I thinking I came here to gather very important information that could be used to help me in the future, not because of a …. But then again I did plan all of this out as though it were a …. No this is a very common practice in most meetings there nothing wrong about this don't read too much into this…...AHH.) Shokuhou thought to herself while eating the kettle corn not realizing the impending danger that was coming towards her in the form of her worst enemy.

Before Shokuhou even noticed she was completely surrounded by pigeons preventing her from trying to run when she finally did notice she said something that only seemed natural given the predicament she was currently in.

"Rotten Luck"

When Touma returned he could only see what he described as a massacre it was Shokuhou desperately flailing kettle corn bag around in hopes of scaring away the pigeons away only to be met with more and more of them it was like watching a person trying to put out a fire by throwing gasoline on top of it.

Touma immediately jumped in and began shooing away all the pigeons but realized this was a lost cause since Shokuhou threw all the Kettle corn on the floor already, so he did the next best thing and safely led Shokuhou out of the massacre.

"I look away for just a second to get some drinks and this is what happens! What are you even doing!?"

"But… I… That wasn't my fault! I was the one attacked by the park pigeons!"

"This goes beyond simply being unathletic."

"What!?"

"This gives me some serious deja vu. Do you have the same tendencies for attracting bad luck as I do?"

"N-no, I don't. A perfect queen like me would never have that kind of negative ability it would only bring ruin to her kingdom" Shokuhou spat out flustered at what Touma had just suggested, but wondered if it was true.

She then noticed that Touma was holding a plastic bag in his hand and wondered what it could be.

Touma then noticed her looking and an idea came to his head as he went rifling through his bag, and he pulled out a silver whistle in a plastic bag and handed it to the slender girl who still had feathers on her summer uniform and in her hair. It resembled the kind of whistle used for soccer matches and the like, but it had likely been customized for emergencies. She could use it to let people know where she was if she was stranded or buried alive.

"Here they gave me this at the stand where I got the drinks, so take it you need to have something like this with you at all times otherwise I'd be worried"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Use it if you're in trouble. It might give me more chances to save you."

Once she took it, she realized she had already been pretty well tamed by him. She would never have admitted it, though.

She began to put the whistle around her neck when she felt as though she was a cat and with a bell around its collar. She then put the whistle in her mouth to test it out when a thought arrived in her head.

(Wait did he use this already and if so would this be an indirect kiss?)

She looked at Touma and realized he was yawning, she felt like hitting him, but she had enough self-control to know that, that wasn't a reasonable response I mean he did offer it to her out of the goodness of his heart. And besides, he had just gotten this, the odds of him actually using this were slim to none.

"Will this thing really be any help?"

"Who knows. But it should be easier on the throat than screaming. I tried it out once on the way here and it was really loud."

A horribly distorted whistle rang throughout the carnival.

An indirect kiss was an indirect kiss after all.

After a few minutes of trying to calm Shokuhou down after their accidental first indirect kiss, they eventually sat down another bench and began to discuss why they both came here in the first place.

"Ahem okay now that we have gotten all the pleasantries aside," Shokuhou said trying to pretend that all the awkward situations that had just occurred never happened in the first place.

"It's time to get straight to business. First off I would like to thank you for showing me that the way I carried my clique about was wrong and I would like to assure you that I have already started to make changes within it to rectify the problem that was there."

"That's good to hear I hope it all works out for you and your friends," Touma said.

"It has and in fact, many of the other cliques in school have decided to assimilate with mine and now we are currently the biggest faction of Tokiwadai I would have never had been able to it without you."

(Why do I feel like I just helped in creating a bigger problem for the world) Touma thought to himself while looking at Shokuhou.

"Yeah and I would also like to thank you for the desserts that you made for me and my friends they really appreciated the gesture and it helped show them that I was serious about changing up how the clique was structured"

"That was you! I didn't realize I forgot it until I was all the way to the store. I spent over an hour searching every inch of that park thinking I lost it, eventually I gave up and had to tell Kumokawa-senpai that I lost it." Touma said in an accusing tone of voice.

This caught Shokuhou off guard since ever since she knew this boy he was always calm and mellow, but she was also slightly glad since at the very least it showed that he was human.

"First of all get the notion of me stealing the box out of your head at once, it was you who was irresponsible enough to forget to bring the box with you while you ran away. Secondly, I only took the box since it was better than leaving it out there on the park bench where who knows what could have happened to it, and lastly would you have preferred that I throw out perfectly good pastries then giving it to my friends, are you really that cold-hearted?"

"Well no I-"

"Exactly I chose the best course of action available at that time, you were already way to far ahead of me for me to reasonably be able to catch up to you and I had no way of contacting you since I never got your phone number and besides weren't you the one who said you were glad that I took your advice to heart and decided to change my outlook."

"Well yes."

"So why is it that you are upset that I took the necessary steps to help change my clique for the better, would you have rather I did nothing and let things go on with how they used to be?"

"Alright you win, I'm sorry that I got upset at you earlier" Touma admitted defeat since he knew that an argument with Shokuhou would only end in one way.

"Thank you"

"Besides she was pretty understanding of my situation given my bad luck."

This sentence made Shokuhou eyes shoot wide open as she slowly took in what he had just said to her.

(She?!)

"This Kumokawa you speak of wouldn't happen to be a girl, right?"

"No she's not a girl... she's a young woman," Touma said in a matter of fact tone not knowing the dangers that just arose from him having answered that question

Immediately after finishing his sentence Shokuhou stared daggers at Touma.

"So out of curiosity what is the full name of this upperclassman you have been talking about?"

Not seeing the obvious problem in the situation Touma answered honestly.

"Kumokawa Seria"

(Mental note search up information on this Kumokawa Seria)

"Okay getting back on the main reason were both here I believe you promised to tell me how you were able to resist my ability," Shokuhou said regaining the composure she had before.

"Oh yeah, I keep on forgetting. Well, the main reason as to why I'm able to resist your mental ability is because of my right hand."

"You're right hand?"

"Yeah, my right hand has the ability to negate anything supernatural that comes into contact with it and when we first met I had my right hand on my head, so I guess it kinda negated your ability"

"The ability to negate other esper abilities I never heard of that one before and that in and of itself speaks volumes of how rare it is," Shokuhou said while curiously looking at Touma's right hand.

"Yeah, that's the only real explanation I can make since I don't think my other ability would have fared any better."

"Wait, other ability, what are you talking about?" Shokuhou asked

"Oh, well while my right hand can negate any supernatural ability my left hand can counter any supernatural ability it comes into contact with."

"Wait, what? Even if I were to believe that your right hand could negate any esper ability it comes into contact with that still doesn't explain your left hand. While it's true espers can have different powers they will always fall under the same category, such as how an electromaster is able to shoot out lighting from their hands as well as being able to manipulate steel both powers look different, but they are controlled through the same medium of being an electromaster. Your powers, however, fall into completely different categories with one being able to negate esper abilities while the other is able to reflect. It makes no sense, how do you even know this?"

"A while back I helped out a kid being harassed by a bunch of thugs and it turned out that one of the thugs was a level 4, so while I was trying to talk my way out of the whole mess he snuck behind me and decided it would be funny if he made me into a living barbecue and threw a fireball at me. Through pure instincts, I used my left hand to block it knowing that it would probably burn my hand clean off, but instead, I heard a reverb type of sound coming from it. Then when I turned around the fireball was heading in the other direction and it was bigger than it was when it was shot at me. I was lucky that my hand wasn't aimed directly at that guy, or he could have gotten seriously hurt."

Shokuhou sat there while holding her hands together and looked like she was in deep thought it took a few moments for her to properly analyze the story that she had just heard and then gave her response.

"I know you are not lying to me, but even so this is quite jarring to hear. I mean what you're telling me defies all known logic. The fact that you can negate abilities in of itself warrants suspicion, but the fact that you can counter Esper abilities is even stranger I have heard of a similar ability but, the ability in question has to do with vectors and as far as I know it doesn't make whatever it came in contact with any stronger and even if it was, it would require complex mathematical equations to accomplish, not something you could accomplish with instincts alone. And no offense but you don't exactly look like someone who can accomplish such mathematical feats based on what I've seen with your tendency to overlook key details."

"I won't argue with you there. Whenever I use my power it seems to do it automatically whether it is negation or countering."

"That also brings another issue to light as to how you are able to counter someone's ability without knowing the formula they use since when you countered the fireball you said that it came into contact with your left hand and then it went in the opposite direction while keeping its original shape"

"I don't really know why like I said I didn't really think about it all that much I just stuck my hand out and hoped for the best"

"Hoped for the best?"

"Yeah I don't really understand how my hands are able to counter or negate something, all I know is that they can."

"But haven't you ever tried to test it out? I know they say ignorance is bliss, but reality says that knowledge is power and understanding how your ability functions can greatly help you."

"I've tried but all of my all of my close friends are level zeros, so they can't exactly help me understand either of my abilities"

"All of your friends… wait a minute what exactly is your level?"

"I'm a level 0, why?"

"... WHAT! How is that possible if what you are saying is true then you would have to be a level 4 at a minimum or even a level 5. How can you possibly be a level zero?"

"Well the way they measure powers makes it look like I have no abilities whatsoever. I mean, to be honest, if I was by myself my power would be completely useless, plus I don't even have an AIM field"

"That's impossible anyone who's gone through the power curriculum emits some sort of AIM field no matter of the level."

"Well I guess I'm the exception to that rule"

Shokuhou sat there still reeling from what this boy had said. He clearly had power, but was unjustly labeled as a level zero due to the fact that scientists could not understand his ability, this alone did not surprise her, it was the fact that the boy didn't seem resentful at his unfair placement.

"Aren't you upset that your a level zero?"

"No, why would I be?"

"Because it's not your fault that Academy city can't get a good reading on your hands, you should be a higher level than a zero"

"I don't see why being a level zero is a bad thing, I mean I don't really feel the need to prove myself in being better than anybody else. I mean I'm just a regular guy"

These words stopped Shokuhou in her tracks, and she began to smile.

"I should have known that you would say something so noble," she said under her breath.

"Sorry I couldn't quite get that"

"Never mind that for now. How would you feel about testing out your abilities?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that through my clique I have access to dozens of different Esper abilities along with the research labs associated with them. I could easily make a few calls and have your ability put to the test, who knows your level might even increase and even if it doesn't you'll at least have a better understanding of your ability."

"I appreciate the offer but, No thanks"

"Why not. You'll be losing nothing as a result of this and only end up gaining more, whether that be through knowledge or even research stipends"

"I'm not gonna lie that does sound tempting but, I'm still going to have to decline"

"But that makes no sense, why would you decline my offer. Is it because of your pride! Do you have a problem receiving help from me?"

"Not at all, it's just because I'm happy being a level zero. I know what you're saying and your completely right, I would have nothing to lose if I accepted your offer, but even so, I'm happy being me, I'm content with having to go to school and hang out with my friends and even being able to help people that I see. I'm happy with being an ordinary guy."

These words deeply resonated with Shokuhou. Before she thought that anyone, when offered the easy way out, would immediately jump on the chance to take it but this man defied all logic he didn't care about status or anything so superficial.

She looked at Touma with awe.

"Kamijou Touma you never do cease to amaze me"

"Uh thanks, I guess" Touma gave her a strange look.

"In any case, I believe this meeting has left me with more questions than it does answers but, in the end, you did fulfill your end of the promise"

"Well I'm glad that's settled so is there anything else you wanted to do while we're here?" Touma asked

"Not currently no. I mean look at me I'm filthy" Shokuhou said referencing her recent run-in with her avian enemies.

"But there is one thing I would like to discuss…,"Shokuhou said.

"What is it?"

Shokuhou looked down for a moment nervous about the question she was going to ask but even more nervous at the response Touma would give her.

"What is exactly is the status of our relationship I mean ….you know.?" Shokuhou muttered out.

"Oh, I guess I would say we're friends" Touma answered

"Friends? But this whole thing just started as you just trying to repay a debt, how can you say we're friends with a straight face?"

"That may be true but it still doesn't change the fact that I consider us friends. I mean not a lot of people take the ideas of strangers to heart enough to actually change how they live their lives, besides this isn't even the strangest way that I made friends, you should have seen how I got to be friends with the other members of the Delta Force"

"Delta Force?"

"Oh it's just what we call ourselves, don't look too much into it"

(Mental note Lookup this Delta Force)

"Well since we're friends I guess proper introductions are in order don't you agree."

"Oh, I get it"

Touma then stood in attention towards Shokuhou and the stuck his right hand out

"My Name is Kamijou Touma, but you can call me Touma"

Shokuhou looked very amused by this as this was one of the first times one of Touma's bits actually landed its mark.

"Greetings my name is Shokuhou Misaki, but you can call me Misaki," She said. While shaking his hand her face turned red.

"Now that we have that out-of-the-way can I get your number in case I ever feel like hanging out again." She said while passing her phone to Touma.

"Sure any day is fine other than this Saturday though," Touma explained while typing his number into Misaki's phone.

"Why is that?"

"Oh I promised Kumokawa-san that I would hang out with her that day as an apology for losing the snacks that I offered," Touma said without really noticing all the signs that screamed danger at him.

"Oh okay….WAIT, WHAT!? What are you planning!?" Misaki demanded.

"Huh, nothing. She just said that she needed help organizing the student council office before the school year starts back up again. Why, what did you think I was going to do?"

"I- Uh. Nothing but as it would seem my schedule is actually clear for that day, so I too shall help you clean the student council office" Misaki declared.

"Oh that's nice but I don't really want to trouble you with this"

"Nonsense we are friends and friends help each other this is just one of those instances and besides it is partially my fault as to why you are in this predicament in the first place."

"Okay then. If it's not a bother to you, I don't think Kumokawa-san would mind the extra help"

"Perfect then I shall see you this Saturday Touma," Misaki said while typing her contact information into Touma's phone.

"Okay, then I guess I'll talk to you later Misaki, bye," Touma said as he waved his hand.

"I see you later Touma" Misaki replied

As Misaki began to walk towards the exit of the park she was thinking of her plan for Saturday. She would have to gather as much information on this Kumokawa that Touma mentioned and look for any weakness that she has so she could exploit them. Misaki wasn't just planning for a battle she was like a general planning for an all-out war on her and the victor would be decided by whoever had the better Intel. She then stopped in her tracks as she heard a familiar voice come up from behind her.

"Miii-saaa-kiii-saan" Touma shouted while coming from behind her. "You forgot to take back your phone"

"WHAT?! W-W-Why did you just say that!" Misaki spat out while turning red.

She wasn't used to people calling her by her name and in such a familiar voice to it was like Touma didn't even care who heard him say it. In reality, Touma just really liked to tease Misaki, and he thought this was the best way to do it and get away scot-free.

"Weren't you the one who said you wanted me to start calling you that, or is the great queen of Tokiwadai going back on her word?" Touma mused.

"O-Of course not! It's just….Nevermind thank you for returning my phone to me"

"No problem what are friends for" Touma then ran off in the other direction.

(That really was sweet of him even if it was a bit embarrassing but, what else should I expect from him he's just like a…)

"Prince."