Hey, guys thank you for your support and for reading a Certain Scientific Counter. Sorry for the delay I just got caught up reading NT22 as well as another fanfic. So without further ado the newest chapter.
Anti-Mage 29- This is true all in Touma's harem have their own unique personality and goals in life.
BlueJack22- Remix style.
Fortitude501- I actually cut the chapter in half for dramatic effect. And I see what you are talking about and actually finally read Road to Misfortune
Savior555- Thank you. And While I love writing Misaki there wouldn't be much she could do. If she read Index's Mind it would be the equivalent to committing suicide since she would see all of the Grimoires so Touma had to have a better understanding before getting Misaki involved.
MarkGib- And this was not so fast.
Whwsms- Kanzaki can't understand Gibberish she just didn't realize that Stiyl had broken his jaw.
Graeskog-Thank you. The way that Touma and Mikoto go about to solve a problem is very different since both of them have a very different fighting style as well as the fact that they both have very different life experiences especially dealing with conflict. And I've been slowly but surely improving upon my grammatical errors. You should see my rough drafts Also after reading other fics I decided to stop censoring words or just use the**** like you mentioned Thanks.
Creus- Thank you! Although when she finally does find out…..
Sergio644- No I was just saying that they had the same approach when it comes to asking for help they both usually never do and like to solve problems on their own. Thank you and here's the next chapter.
Shitshooter- Thank you and don't worry I already planned it all out. And about the tags, I usually just add them when someone becomes a main part of the cast and gets their own chapter.
Rajarshi Sarkar- Touma the playboy hahaha! Nah he to dense for something like that to happen and I know that in Japan using the first name is reserved for people who are close, but I don't see many of my friends standing up to a fire-wielding magician so I'd say their, good friends. And Just because Touma started to call her by her name doesn't mean that she'll do the same.
Guest- Don't worry Misaki will almost always be a part of the story unless she's not.
Robby- Thank you (Terima Kasih)
Robby- here it is (Ini dia)
Robby Thank you and there is (Terima Kasih dan ya)
Robby- Yes (iya nih) Sorry if there are any mistranslations google translate and everything
Confederate- Thank you and What's a beta reader? And how do you get one?
103,000 Problems
July 20
Due to the events of today, Mikoto had a lot to think about not only because she learned Magic existed, but also because she had just learned that there are Magical organizations out thereafter Index and her 103,000 grimoires. But before she could head back to her Dorms she had to go to a local convenience store that's open late, so she could buy a burner cell until she could buy a real replacement. As she bought the replacement she remembered that her favorite Gekota strap was also completely melted and was immediately pulled into a slight depression.
Before Mikoto could head back to her Dorm she had to go to another security terminal in order to check the security footage around Touma's Dorms.
Mikoto had purposely left Stiyl there in hopes that his partner would come and get him, so she can get a good look at the person.
Once Mikoto logged into the server however she didn't see anybody, not even Stiyl. In fact, the Dorm Building itself looked as though it was never damaged in the first place.
"What the hell?"
Mikoto rummaged through previous security footage to see if there was anything to help her get a lead but, in the end, she couldn't find a thing which only made her concerns grow even more.
(Damn. Were they able to hack in Academy City's servers? It's not impossible but still.)
Mikoto let out a sigh and decided to deal with this tomorrow, today was filled with enough excitement as it is. So she grabbed her phone and called Kuroko to pick her.
"... Hello, who's this? How did you get this Number?" Mikoto could recognize Kuroko's voice even though the cheapest phone speaker.
"Hey, Kuroko it-"
"ONEE-SAMA!"
Mikoto quickly pulled back the phone from her ear in an attempt to save her eardrums from bursting.
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN! I'VE BEEN WORRIED SICK!"
"Sorry, Kuroko I just got caught up with something and lost track of time."
"You could've had called, you know. Wait, what happened to your phone?"
"Oh, it broke. (More like it melted) so that's why I wasn't able to call you before. Sorry."
"Where are you now."
"Me," Mikoto then examined her surroundings after exiting the security terminal and the most distinguishing landmark she could find was Green Mart that she would frequent in order to read manga. "The Green Mart by our dorms."
"Onee-sama," Kuroko let out a sigh "You wouldn't have happened to lost track of time reading your manga again did you?"
"What!? Of course not!" This wouldn't have been a first for this happening to Mikoto so Kuroko's suspicions were justified but, that didn't mean they were true.
"... Okay wait there I'll come to pick you up."
"Thanks, Kuroko."
After that Mikoto waited for Kuroko to pick her up, and then she felt like a predator was hunting her down and then heard the all too familiar cries of a wild Kuroko.
"ONEE-SAMA!"
The ride back to Tokiwadai was bumpy, to say the least.
Tokiwadai Dorms
After making back to the Tokiwadai dorms Mikoto was relieved, to say the least, that the ride was over. Kuroko refused to let Mikoto go until she told her everything about what happened. However, Kuroko made the wrong choice in checking under Mikoto's skirt to see if she was still wearing her shorts, and found herself on the wrong end of an electric shock.
"Jeez, what's with her! The second I show up late she immediately goes there!"
Mikoto walked through the halls to get to her room when she came upon her worst enemy Shokuhou Misaki sitting on a couch in the middle of the lounge fiddling with her phone. It looked as though she was trying to call somebody but wasn't having any luck. Mikoto wanted to just ignore her but Shokuhou had a look painted on her face that showed that she was genuinely worried about something.
"Hey Shokuhou, what are you doing?"
It took a second for Misaki to realize that somebody was talking to her and another to realize that it was Mikoto. "Oh...it's you."
"What's wrong?"
"Oh. It's nothing I'm just trying to get a hold of somebody, but they won't pick up."
"Well, maybe they're busy."
Misaki simply shook her head. "No, even if he was busy he'd still pick up or at least text me." Misaki then proceeds to pick up her phone again and dial.
(He? Is she talking about her boyfriend)
"Well constantly calling them isn't gonna make them pick up any faster you know."
The golden blonde simply responded to this by giving Mikoto a sharp glare. It was one of the first times Mikoto actually saw Misaki's true emotions, even if it was just pure annoyance.
"Hey if you want, I could help you find the guy"
For a moment Misaki was genuinely shocked that she would even offer to help her, it wasn't like they were friends or anything.
"Thank you," If it had been anyone else she would've accepted but, because it was her, Misaki's pride wouldn't allow it. "But I'll have to decline I'll just check up on him tomorrow I mean how much trouble could he really have gotten himself into."
"Okay suit yourself"
"Wait, a second"
"Huh?"
"Tomorrow," Misaki let out a deep sigh. "Junko has something to ask you."
"Junko?"
Misaki sighed once again "The girl with purple hair and ringlet curls her name is Hokaze Junko."
"Oh her." While Mikoto couldn't remember the girl's name there was no way she could forget her hair.
"Yeah so before you leave to do…. Whatever you do, go see her."
Mikoto was skeptical at first but against her better judgment, she decided to do it anyway before heading to check up on Index.
"Alright, then bye."
The golden blonde simply stood up from her chair and went off to her own room.
(What's her deal?)
July 21
Once Mikoto woke up from her deep slumber she quickly took a shower and got dressed it seemed that Kuroko had Judgment matters to take care of, so she left without waking her. Mikoto then took the liberty of decorating her backup phone with the extra Gekota phone accessories she had. Once Mikoto made it out of her room she remembered that she had to go check on Hokaze before heading out to check on Index. Though she quickly realized that she had no idea where to find her. The Tokiwadai Dorm building was a big place, and they never really ran in the same circles before, so she had no idea where to start looking. So before she started her search she decided to go to the dining hall to get some breakfast. Once she arrived she was greeted by a familiar maid in training riding on a cleaning robot?
"Oh hey Misaka-san"
"Hey miss Tsuchimikado" (Wait a minute where do I remember that from?)
"I haven't seen you here in a while"
"Really I mean I've been busy so maybe that's why?" (In truth Mikoto would usually just get breakfast somewhere else, so she could avoid running into Shokuhou or her clique but today she actually had to find them so it wasn't really an issue.)
The maid in training let out a very unconvinced look from her face while she served Mikoto her breakfast. "So what have you been up to?"
"Oh, you know, (Fighting Fire wielding magicians) The usual."
"Really from what I heard from my Onii-sama you were responsible for stopping the Graviton Bombings."
"Huh, you have a brother?"
"Step-brother to be more precise, he's the reason I've decided to become a maid in the first place, he really great guy."
"Okay. Hey, Makia do you have any idea where I can find some girl named Hokaze Junko, I was supposed to meet her Today but I have no idea where to find her."
"Oh you wanna find Hokaze-sama," The cleaning robot the girl was riding started to move in the direction opposite to where Mikoto was sitting, "She's usually over there by her club room, I'm usually the one to deliver snacks to her meeting, although no one else really goes in there."
"Wait is this like one of Shokuhou clique's clubs?" Mikoto was now very skeptical about heading in there, she didn't want to have to deal with the hassle of dealing with any more of Shokuhou's schemes.
"No, it' nothing like that it's…. You'll just have to see it for yourself" The young maid in training said dryly while shaking her head.
"Okay, can you take me there after I finish my breakfast."
"Sure, and I'm sure she'll be happy for the company."
Once Mikoto finished her meal she followed Makia who somehow managed to steer the cleaning robot to the club door without any issue. If Mikoto didn't know any better she would've suspected that Makia was also an electromaster subtly controlling the cleaning robot however, she couldn't see any electricity emanating from Makia with her EM vision. Once they arrived at the club door however something immediately caught Mikoto's eye. It was a Gekota sticker right on the door.
"I-I-Is that Gekota?" Mikoto's face was that akin to when someone sees dry land after being lost at sea for weeks.
"Yeah" The maid responded dryly. "Poor girl not a single person ever showed up, save for whenever Miss Shokuhou-san would drop by."
"W-W-What is this place." Mikoto's eyes were glued to the Gekota sticker at this point.
"You don't know? It's the Gekota fan club, although-" When Makia opened her eyes she had realized she had already missed Mikoto who had rushed right past her.
The moment Mikoto entered the room she felt as though she had found paradise. Gekota merchandise cluttered the room ornately decorated across it. There were beautiful chairs aligned to point at the center of the room although there was no one actually there save for one ringlet-haired girl.
The moment the Ringlet haired girl caught someone opening the door she jumped to her feet in excitement as this was one of the first times anyone has actually entered save for the maids when they were to bring her club snacks.
"H-H-Hello Welcome to the Gekota Fan Club" This seemed to be the first time the girl had actually said this reheated line but Mikoto didn't seem to care.
"Where-Where has this been" Her eyes beamed with joy with every turn of her head.
"Well, the club only recently started."(1 month to be precise).
"I never knew that-" The young electromaster quickly found herself releasing small tears of joy. "-There were other people our age that liked Gekota."
"Same! It's a pain that they label them only for kids though".
"R-Right" Mikoto had finally found another kindred spirit after all this time.
"When I'm at the line at the stores all the moms with kids give me the strangest looks."
"I know how you feel. I can't even go out to buy the newest Gekota merch on release day because of Kuroko."
"I wish they would've taken some pointers from when they did the mail order for the anniversary edition."
"Ugh!" the young electromaster shook her head in sadness "I still haven't been able to get that one I had to do that stupid demonstration in Russia."
"Oh, I actually managed to get my hands on two! One to play with and one for my collection."
(Lucky)
"If you want I could give the other the one."
"ARE YOU SERIOUS!"
"Yeah I mean this is the first time I actually ever saw someone around my age who liked Gekota as much as me."
The Electromaster then grabbed her hands and thanked god she had actually taken Shokuhou's advice…
Wait a minute SHOKUHOU!
"Hey just out of curiosity, Shokuhou didn't put you up to this right?"
"No of course not. Why?"
"Because yesterday Shokuhou mentioned to go, see you today?"
"Oh I know, that's because in a few days I'll be having the Gekota themed party"
"REALLY" Mikoto could hardly keep her excitement in check.
"Yes it's like a recruitment thing I do every few weeks to try new members" (not that it actually ever worked)
"Seriously where has this been." {In truth Kuroko would take down all the recruitment posters from Tokiwadai dorms whenever Hokaze would put them up in an attempt to wean her Onee-sama off of Gekota}
"Yeah it's gonna be fun we're even gonna have an Ultra rare collectible up for display."
"Really what is it."
"It's the signed first edition of 'Gekota meets Pyonko'"
Mikoto's jaw practically hit the floor when she heard this. To her this like the holy grail of all Gekota merchandise.
"No way! I thought that was a myth! I spent all day looking for that book last year, they practically had to drag me back to the dorms to get me to stop looking for it."
Hokaze simply nodded.
"How did you ever get that!?"
"Actually, it's on loan."
Mikoto's mind raced on whom this mysterious benefactor could be. They would have to be the most benevolent person in the world to agree to actually loan something that valuable to a middle school student. Whoever it was Mikoto wanted to meet them in person.
Mikoto took a moment to clear her throat. "Hokaze-san, do you know who the book is on loan from?"
"Yes. It's from the Queen."
….
At that moment Mikoto's world started to crumble. She could accept something as foreign as magic existing, she could accept a boy being able to negate esper abilities, and she could even accept that same boy being able to counter them but this. She could not accept this.
Mikoto was in utter disbelief "Y-Y-You gotta be kidding me. Right?"
"No why?" Hokaze said ignorant of the fact that her recent comment just sent this girl into a spiral of questioning everything that she knew.
"I- It's just that I never thought…. That… Shokuhou would actually like Gekota, no offense, but she never really seemed the type."
"Oh that's completely understandable and no the Queen isn't actually a fan of Gekota, but she helped me continue to be one."
"What are you talking about?"
Hokaze took a breath and remembered the events of last year. "Last year I wasn't as open about how much I liked Gekota, it wasn't as though I liked him any less though."
"I get it it's hard trying to be yourself, especially when others put you on another standard than others."
"Then you get it right?"
"Totally even today Kuroko would constantly harass me on my tastes, but I always just take them in strides and keep moving forward."
Hokaze simply gave a warm smile "Well it was a little different for me though, I wasn't as strong as you when it came to my own beliefs, in fact for the longest of times I would hide the fact that I liked Gekota from everyone."
"Wait does that mean."
Hokaze nodded. "Yes even the Queen, I was afraid that if she ever found out, then she wouldn't want me around anymore so when she did find out I was sure that she was going to kick me out, but instead she helped me, she showed me that I shouldn't try to hide who I truly was."
"Really" (I never thought that someone like Shokuhou would do something like that)
"Yes if it wasn't for her than I would still be a closet Gekota fan and I never would have started this club."
"Shokuhou really did all of that for you?"
"Yes, she even bought me this." Hokaze then presented her Gekota wand curler.
Mikoto was speechless not only because that was a super rare collectible but also because she never pictured Shokuhou as the type do care about others she always thought of her as someone who just manipulated people and used them as pawns.
"Wait, so how did she get her hands on the book" Mikoto half expected that Shokuhou would've used her powers to get her hands on this.
"Oh, it was a gift from the Queen's Boyfriend."
….
There were very few times that Mikoto was actually jealous of Shokuhou but this had to be number two on the list of things that she wished she had of hers.
"Y-You gotta be kidding me right. She actually has a boyfriend who likes Gekota." There were very few people her age that still liked Gekota and even fewer of them were boys "Unicorns don't exist" she muttered under her breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing just lamenting. So Shokuhou really does have a boyfriend."
"Ah yes the Queen's boyfriend, he's actually the reason why I started the club in the first place he said that I should try to find other people who liked Gekota too."
Mikoto let out a deep sigh. "Of course he did."
"Yeah if it wasn't for him I never would have thought about making a club. So what do you say do wanna join?"
"Yeah of course."
Mikoto then proceeds to sign her name on the member sheet and saw that she was actually the only other member but that really didn't bother her since now she had a new friend to talk to even if she was a part of Shokuhou clique.
"So what do we do exactly."
"Nothing much apart from just chatting although if we ever got enough members to join we could have a private tour of Gekota land"
"Seriously how many members would we need?"
"At least 12"
"Ugh" (She's literally the only other person I know who likes Gekota, maybe I could convince Kuroko to join too?)
"Well, I'll see if I can find anyone else who wants to join but right I gotta go. It was nice meeting you Hokaze-sama".
"You too"
Komoe-Sensei's apartment
After finding her way back from to Komoe-sensei's apartment she realized that she was a bit late in arriving and thought that Touma was already inside, but to her surprise, she saw the spiky-haired boy running up to her exhausted. He looked as though he had been through hell and back.
"What the heck happened to you."
"Heh" the unlucky boy laughed dryly
"Well first when I went to my friend's house they didn't have a spare futon for me to sleep on, so I ended up roughing it on his floor, and when I woke up I realized we forgot about the magician we left at my dorm."
"Wait you actually forgot about him? How big of idiot are you?"
"Wait so you knew!?"
"Yeah I left him there on purpose, so we could find out what his partner looked like, though they managed to hack the security footage so that's out of the question."
"Hehe" Touma chuckled dryly. " Well remember when I kicked in the door to my dorm."
"Yeah. What about it?"
"Well, it turns out that the magician kinda had a grudge against me and set my entire kitchen on fire."
"Seriously!"
"Yeah but that's the good part, because of the small fire the looters couldn't get anything from my dorm."
"Wait, you had looters!"
"Yeah they kinda trashed my whole apartment" {In truth that was just the other male tenants who hated the fact that Touma had a dorm Twice the size of theirs}
"Wait you said that was the good part."
"Yeah…"
In truth, Touma didn't really seem to mind his apartment getting trashed since most of his stuff was garbage anyway and everything important was still safe, although he did lose a huge chunk of his manga collection in the looting. The worst part about the whole thing was when Misaki decided to visit Touma's apartment. She was a lot less forgiving about the whole situation. To make matters worse when she went to inspect Touma's apartment she found the Delta's forces stash of COLLECTIBLES. Apparently, he had agreed to hold onto them before he lost his memories and completely forgot where he put them so eventually the other member just gave up on trying to find it.
Misaki forced him to burn all the contents much to the dismay of his neighbor Tsuchimikado who never gave up on trying to find that hidden stash.
In the end, Misaki forced Touma into going to the Judgement office later that day to file another report on the entire incident even though the entire incident in question was labeled an esper robbery gone wrong.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah…." The spiky-haired boy didn't sound convincing not even one bit.
"At any rate, let's go check up on Index"
The duo let themselves into Komoe-sensei's apartment only to find Index bedridden with a slight fever wearing his teachers bunny style pajamas
"Hey Index how are you feeling?" Mikoto asked inspecting Index for any lingering injuries.
Index sat upright from the futon that she was previously laying in "Better thank you for yesterday."
"No problem."
"Isn't the real question here how my teacher's pajamas perfectly fit Index.
"Touma don't talk down to me like that these pajamas are actually tight around the chest"
The moment Index mentioned chests Touma dropped the subject immediately. He could read the room and saw he was receiving some very, very hostile stares especially from Zapper who was currently sparking electricity. "I'll shut up now"
"Moving on, Kamijou-chan who exactly is this little girl." asked the small child sized teacher.
Mikoto was ready for this line of questioning as she had already prepared a plethora of excuses for why they were here and-
"She's my little sister."
(It's official he's the biggest idiot in the world!) Mikoto's jaw dropped out of the sheer stupidity of what he had just said. She was obviously a foreigner! How in the hell can she be related to him?
Komoe-sensei simply got mad at Touma for blatantly lying to her and proceeded to tell him all the reasons why it was impossible for Index to be his sister. All Mikoto could do was sit back and watch while this Idiot gets what he deserved.
Through some miracle, the Idiot actually managed to convince his teacher not to turn Index over to Anti Skill and to keep quiet about all of this though not before mentioning that she had to go out to buy groceries and that she might forget about all of this.
"She's nice" Mikoto chirped
"Yeah I know, we shouldn't get her more involved with the magic side than she already is though right Index" Touma then turned to Index for confirmation.
It was Index's turn to chime in. "Your right, it wouldn't be fair to her if she got anymore (involved) then she already is, using the grimoires can be a dangerous thing if done incorrectly she might end up killing herself with it."
"Is magic that dangerous?"
Index nodded. "Yes, even reading a grimoire can leave people brain-dead, I have protective barriers inside my head, so I'm alright although."
Mikoto had her own questions for Index though. "Hey Index do you know who was after you?"
Index let out a deep sigh. "Do you both really want to know what my circumstances are"
Both of them exchanged a quick look and nodded.
"England is a country of magic, and because of that, they specialize in dealing with magical threats and the main way they do this is by having their own special magical cabal for dealing with these magical threats. The necessary evil to help protect the world, Necessarius, the church of necessary evils."
"So the reason why thereafter you is-"
Touma was the first to answer "The 103,000 grimoires."
Index let out a sadden nod. "Yes, the grimoires I keep are dangerous there like an instruction manual on how all magic operates, if you know the equation you will likely know the way to neutralize all other magics."
"If the books are that dangerous why didn't they just burn them." Inquired Mikoto.
"The books themselves aren't what's important the contents themselves are, Magic is usually taught by oral instruction so it wouldn't matter if you destroyed the original grimoire the teaching themselves would live on."
"So what these magicians really want is to get a hold of the bomb in your head" Touma hissed.
"Yes..." Index looked as though she was becoming more and more depressed by the second. "If you were able to get your hands on all 103,000 grimoires you could twist the very fabric of reality itself when you can achieve something like that you become a magic god."
Mikoto turned to look at Touma and could see him get more frustrated by the second, she wasn't the only one to notice this though since Index was slowly starting to raise her sheets defensively.
"Why didn't you tell me this sooner!?" Touma howled.
Index quickly hid behind her sheets. "But, I didn't think you'd believe me and I didn't want to scare you off and… I didn't want you to hate me." Index looked as though she was about to cry.
"Hey calm down you're scaring her." Mikoto went to go calm Touma.
"No screw that! Don't look down on me just because you made some assumptions based on other people! You'd think I'd be shallow enough to really think you're disgusting just because you memorized a bunch of stupid books! You're a nun have a bit more faith in people!"
This statement stopped both Mikoto and Index in their tracks they expected Touma to be upset for others reason but not this.
Touma then took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, It's just…. Just trust me, Trust us, even if it's a little, just enough, so we can help you."
Index simply smiled in astonishment and quickly covered her face with her futon to hide the fact that she was crying.
Mikoto went over to pat her on the head to calm her down. "You don't have to worry anymore Index we're here now and I swear we won't let anything happen to you"
This only made Index cry even more as she never knew that there would be people out there who would accept her.
After the tears subsided Index sat up straight. "What about you're supplementary classes"
"Hey don't forget about me I'm not dumb enough to actually get stuck with supplementary classes, so whenever he's away I'll protect you."
"Hey, I heard that!" Touma spat out defensively!
This simply brought a bigger smile on Index's face, and they were both happy to see Index actually smile without holding anything back.
600 meters away on top of a Building
"I've looked into both the girl and the boy who are currently with Index….how is she?"
"She looks fine, who exactly are they Kanzaki?"
"The girl is known as the Railgun of Tokiwadai apparently she is a level 5 esper."
"Level 5, isn't that the equivalent of a saint?"
"Not exactly, though I don't particularly want to test that out with everything going on, I think she'll be our biggest problem though."
"No. What about the boy! He was able to bypass my magic with just a wave of his hands".
"Are you still upset that he broke your jaw?"
"OF COURSE NOT!" Stiyl screamed.
"Well, apparently he is one of the talented people."
"TCH. Figured as much. But that still doesn't explain how he was able to bypass them though."
"The talented ones usually operate on a separate set of rules then we're used to, well have to consider him variable. In any case, one of our opponents is on a level unknown to us and the other is at a level where a direct confrontation would be unwise and to make matters worse we have no backup. This is very troubling".
"In the worst case scenario, we would have to return to England and bring more reinforcements to take Index back"
"By the way Stiyl I did some research on your runes to see how they could've overcome them and a fatal flaw appeared."
"That's impossible."
Kanzaki shook her head. "No it's not and if we are going to stand any chance of retrieving Index you're going to have to start laminating your rune cards. I found if even a bit of water came into contact with it, the rune itself would begin to warp."
Stiyl was taken aback at this and was a bit embarrassed about how he missed something so important.
Stiyl then looked back into his binoculars and saw Index smiling along with the boy and girl from yesterday" She looks happy though."
"I know it must be hard for you"
"TCH I'm used to it, for now, I say we wait until we can get them separated and secluded from one another. Especially the girl if she can even equate to half of your power there's no telling at the amount of collateral damage we'll take."
"Agreed"
Komoe-sensei apartment
"Hey, Mikoto" The young electromaster suddenly found herself blushing.
"Are you seriously gonna keep calling me by my first name!"
Index then looked up in surprise. "So your name is Mikoto"
Mikoto actually momentarily forgot that Index was right there. "Yeah it's Misaka Mikoto"
"Mikoto huh?"
"Actually Index in Japan you're actually supposed to call someone by their-"
Before Mikoto could teach Index proper Etiquette she decided how she would address them. "So it's Mikoto and Touma got it."
"Okay, so anyway like I was saying before Mikoto we're gonna have to get Index a fake id."
"WHAT" Mikoto cried. "What do mean get her a fake id and how do you even know how to get one!" Mikoto demanded incredulously.
"What I mean is as it stands right now Index has no ID, so once she gets better I rather her not have to be afraid of every Anti Skill agent or Judgement officer out there," Touma explained in a matter of fact tone.
Mikoto took a moment to reflect on his answer and agreed that it was the best course of action. "Okay I'll admit that's a good idea, but that still doesn't answer my other question at how do you even know how to get one?"
"My friend Tsuchimikado."
Suddenly something clicked inside of the young electromaster head. "Hey this Tsuchimikado guy you're talking about, he doesn't happen to have a sister who's a maid in training does he?"
"Uh yeah, he actually does. How do you know?
(TCH figures) "Nothing I just know his sister" Mikoto then stared venomously at Touma. "Besides this isn't the first time you used his name. Remember."
Touma then started to sweat after realizing what she was talking about. "A-Anyways I have to get a picture of Index, so he can start making one for her." Touma then pulled out a small cheap camera from his bag.
Index then turned as pale as a ghost and started to panic. "AHHHHHH"
"What. What's wrong Index." Mikoto asked scanning the room for any dangers.
"CA-CAMERA THOSE WHO ARE SEEN BY IT WILL HAVE THERE LIFE SHORTENED, IT'S A CURSED OBJECT!" Index was in a frenzy.
"What no Index that's just some cheap camera that this idiot bought," Mikoto explained to the paranoid Nun. (Great now I'll have to be on the look for killer cameras as if my life isn't complicated enough.)
After managing to calm Index down they were finally able to get a good picture of her.
"All in all, I say this went well" Touma was then met with a glare from Mikoto.
"No thanks to you." she deadpanned
Index was glancing away poking her fingers together"Hehe sorry about overreacting, but in my defense…" She then looked away embarrassed. "There really is a camera that shortens people's lives."
"Well anyways I gotta go, I have a meeting at the Judgement office today."
"Wait a second before you leave to give me your contact info, so we can keep in touch in case anything goes wrong, besides later today I'm getting Index a phone." Mikoto then handed Touma her phone.
Touma then looked at Mikoto's phone and saw that it was covered in Gekota accessories. "You like Gekota huh?"
"Yeah you got a problem with that" She then sent an accusatory glare at Touma.
"No nothing like that, It's just good to see the real you, you know the one that isn't trying to zap me to Kingdom come"
Mikoto then started to blush "Just hurry up!"
"Okay done" Touma then handed Mikoto back her phone. "Well, I gotta get going to see you guys later." Touma then waved off to them.
"Bye Touma"
"Later Idiot, don't get yourself killed"
"Yeah, I don't that's up to me" Touma mumbled remembering that he was currently en route to meet a very unhappy blonde.
Once Touma was out of sight Mikoto turned back to Index.
"So Index what do you wanna do?"
Index took a moment to think and remembered what Touma said to her. "Well, Touma did mention something about Magical Powered Super Android Girl Kanamin."
Judgement Office.
Once Touma arrived at the office he was happy to see that the place was still standing. He was worried that Misaki might have gone overboard.
Touma then took a moment to rest as he had spent the last 40 minutes running here since the clock on his new phone was an hour behind, and he realized that he was late.
A chill suddenly went up to his spine as he felt someone tap on his shoulder.
"You're late" Touma then turned around very cautiously as he saw that the starry-eyed blonde he was expecting to find, found him.
Touma swallowed heavily as he carefully thought up his next words.
He was barely able to convince Misaki to agree to let him go to the Judgement office later, so he could check up on Index.
There was a tense silence before Touma spoke. "Hey Misaki"
Misaki simply stared at him
And stared
And stared.
And before you knew it Touma was sweating bullets.
"Enough. We're late enough as it is, comes on let's get going."
The two of them then found themselves inside the same office that Touma was in not too long ago.
Misaki had scheduled them an appointment to meet up with a senior Judgement officer, however, since they were so late they ended up meeting another officer one with a flowery headband.
"Hello welcome to-" Uiharu's words died inside her throat as she suddenly saw the same boy who had run off not so long ago along with what she considered a truly high-class girl.
This did not go unnoticed by Misaki however. "Is there a problem?"
Touma who was currently behind Misaki shook his head at the poor Judgement girl mouthing the words 'NO' The look on his face said that if she said the wrong thing then they'd both be dead.
Uiharu quickly took the hint as she did not want to become a headline on the local news for missing students. "N-Nothing" She whimpered.
Misaki then went onto explain to the Uiharu the reason that they were here in the first place.
"That's Terrible why would someone do something like that" Uiharu said with a serious expression on her face.
Misaki then nodded in agreement. "I know, I would have rather gone to make a formal complaint with Anti Skill, however," Misaki then turned and stared at Touma who was currently looking anywhere but at her. "Given the circumstances, we decided to go to Judgement instead."
"Do you have any idea who could've done this" Uiharu inquired.
"I don't know do we." Misaki then turned to Touma who starting to sweat.
"Nope, no idea."
"..."
"..."
No one in that room believed that statement, not even Touma.
Uiharu was the first to break the silence in the room. "While we're on the subject what is your relationship with Mr. Kamijou miss-"
"I'm his girlfriend" Misaki stated in a matter of fact tone.
Uiharu had to force herself not to react to that statement.
"W-Well in any case, going forward I'm afraid I'll have to continue this conversation in private due to confidentiality."
"No"
"E-Excuse me?"
"I said no"
"M-Miss Shokuhou-san I'm afraid you can't just-"
Uiharu was abruptly cut off when suddenly stars appeared in her eyes
"Misaki!"
"What! You heard her, besides knowing you, you'll probably just ask her to drop it."
"Still that doesn't give you the right to-"
Misaki then glared at Touma "To what Touma? Hmm, to try to help. If anyone is in the wrong here it's you. I know you're lying when you said you had no idea who did this. So until I figure who did, you've lost your ability to complain."
Touma was momentarily silenced by this since he knew all Misaki was trying to do was help and Touma wasn't making it any easier for her. "Fine, but no snooping around in her mind, she deserves that much at least."
"Fine" Misaki then clicked a button on her remote and Uiharu continued.
"-Say no. It doesn't work like that."
Before Misaki could press another button on her remote Touma spoke up.
"Please, I know it might go against some rules but, I know Misaki means well and is just trying to help me, so I'm asking you to let her stay."
Both Uiharu and Misaki were stunned, to say the least at the current events.
Uiharu contemplated for a moment about what he had just requested. The protocol stated that all official interviews would stay confidential between the Judgment officer and the victim in order to prevent the leakage of any information.
Normally she would follow Judgment protocols by the book, however, she was moved by how he defended his girlfriend and couldn't find it in her heart to deny him. So against her better judgment, she agreed.
"Alright then," A wave of relief then flowed over Touma. "However, know that going forward you won't be able to drop the charges unless you both do."
"Wait, what?"
"If you want Miss Shokuhou-san to stay you'll have to file the report under both your names meaning that both of you agree to drop the charges. Okay."
"Perfect" Misaki said as she grinned victoriously
30 minutes later
"Okay I think I got everything," Uiharu said while writing down the final notes on her computer.
"Finally" Touma was exhausted
"So is that everything?" Misaki inquired.
"For now, I'll be sure to call you once we have more leads to go on but, I'm not sure how long it will be until we find anything," Uiharu replied.
"What do you mean?"
Uiharu looked up from her computer to face the two of them. "Well you see there's this new drug going around called Level Upper so most Judgements offices along with Anti Skill's resources are currently trying to find what exactly this drug is and who's behind distributing them."
"Oh, I heard about that. My friend mentioned something about that yesterday."
Misaki quickly turned to Touma grabbing onto one of his shoulders. "Which one." It wasn't so much of question as it was a demand.
Not seeing any other way out Touma folded. "T-Tsuchimikado, he said something about a lot of low-level espers using it to increase their level…. Although I never really saw the appeal I mean even if it could work for me I would be kinda like cheating myself you know."
Misaki shot him an approving nod and went back to her regular sitting position.
Uiharu also let out a nod of approval "So you understand the basics at least, but because of this new wonder drug there are more and more cases of espers testing out their increased powers out without proper authorization," Uiharu's face then slowly became downtrodden. "Because of all the recent activities, most if not all Judgement resources are focused on finding this person that's why I'm currently the only member still in the office and my partner is still out there trying to stop as many people as possible."
Touma then turned the Golden-haired blonde sitting next to him and saw that she was in deep thought about something.
"Do you think the Level Upper Incidents and Touma's apartment becoming the staging ground for an impromptu burning man are connected?"
The look on Uiharu's face showed that she was a bit skeptical about that"What makes you say that?"
"Well based on what you said earlier about low-level espers testing their abilities it would stand to reason that one of theses espers in question may have been pyrokinetic testing out their fire on Touma's apartment."
"Huh…. You actually might be right about that. I never really saw it like that but, now that you say it, it does make the most sense," Uiharu then ran over to her senior Judgement officers desk to grab the proper forms to file the incident under the Level upper Incidents.
Because Touma's and Misaki's Incident was filed under the grander Incident known as the Level upper Incidents it would be a much faster process in order to get compensation for the damages.
"Excuse me Miss Uiharu was it?"
"Y-Yes Miss Shokuhou-san"
"If you don't mind it's getting a bit late, and we have to be going soon so would it be alright if we leave things off right here."
"Oh, of course, no problem just," Uiharu quickly rummaged through her desk drawers trying desperately to find something until find revealing two business cards. "Make sure to call me in case you remember something." Uiharu then handed each of them a card it had her name and work phone number.
"Of course. I trust you'll be hearing from us very soon isn't that right Touma."
"Y-Yeah"
"Okay bye thank you for everything… Wait can I ask one more thing."
"Sure what is it?"
"I trust you'll keep everything you find here strictly confidential correct?"
"Yes, why?"
"Well if you could not mention that I and Touma are going out to anyone who might spread that information around, that would be much appreciated."
Uiharu then had an epiphany and gasped (Two people in love separated by class, one a truly high-class girl, and the other a dashing prince from the slums, though they could never reveal their love for each other in public, it doesn't stop them from feeling it. So romantic!)
"Of Course!" Uiharu confirmed with conviction in her eyes.
"Uh Thank you." (What an odd girl)
"Well, I think that went well don't you."
"It would've gone better if you told her the entire truth you know"
When Touma went to say something to refute this he found that his voice had died inside his throat.
'Will you follow me to the depths of hell.'
Touma knew that if he told Misaki the truth then she would stop at nothing to help Touma even if it did mean going to hell. And that's when Touma realized what Index was going through and why she didn't tell him the truth. It was the same reason why Touma wouldn't tell Misaki.
To Protect her.
"Well?" Misaki asked while still looking at Touma
"Misaki you know that I care about you. Right?"
"What! Of course, I know that why would you even-."
"So trust me when I say I'm okay."
Misaki let out a deep sigh. "Alright I trust you, I know that you wouldn't lie to me without good reason. And I'm willing to bet it has to do with you trying to help someone right?"
Touma was about to answer before being cut off by Misaki waving her finger at him.
"But! If anything like what happened to your apartment happens again. You will tell me. We're a team, my Prince. I want to help you as much as possible but I can't do that if you don't tell what's wrong. I won't pry into this again but only if you promise me. Okay."
Touma then embraced Misaki and smiled. "I Promise."
Misaki then let out a warm smile. "Thank you"
"Ahem. Okay before I head back to my dorm there's still one more issue that we have to deal with."
"And What's that?"
"Your living arrangements my Prince. In case you forgot your apartment is currently uninhabitable."
"Oh yeah. I was thinking that I would stay with Aogami until-"
"No"
"But-"
"This isn't up for debate. No."
"Okay fine then where can I go?"
"I was thinking you could just stay in a hotel until they finished fixing up your apartment."
"I can't afford that," Touma whined.
"What happened to the increase in your allowance?"
"I don't get that until the end of the week and by the time I do they would've already finished."
"What if I give you the-"
"No"
"But-"
"Misaki you already know how I feel about borrowing money from people."
"Ugh fine."
The two were currently at an impasse neither of them would give in to the others request due to their own beliefs.
"Okay, what about this I'll let you stay with-" Misaki let out a deep sigh. "Tsuchimikado, but if that blue haired pervert even comes within a mile of that dorm than the deals off. Okay."
Touma took a moment to think it over.
"Deal."
Misaki then clapped her hands together. "Great. Now if you don't mind me I have to be off. I trust you'll call me if any important happens right?"
Touma then raised his hand. "I promise if anything happens that I don't think that I could handle on my own I'll ask for help."
"Perfect" Misaki than gave Touma a Kiss goodbye and was on her way
Gemstone Research facility
"AWESOME PUNCH!"
(DAMMIT SOGIITA! EVERY TIME!)
After witnessing another one of the level 5s antics, namely his habit of pushing through walls of the facility instead of using the door like a normal person, Kumokawa decided to cool off in her office instead.
"Every time. It's like….AGHH!"
Kumokawa then decided to get her mind off of things by checking her computer for any new updates. Once she logged in she was annoyed to see that Kamijou had never actually messaged the facility once since his transition into becoming a Gemstone, something that was supposed to be a daily occurrence. Even Sogiita knew that and he's…. Sogiita. So Kumokawa decided to call Kamijou but quickly found that his phone went straight to voicemail. And then when she logged into her computer she saw that the GPS on his phone was also dead. This didn't worry her as much since it wasn't very uncommon for Kamijou to have broken his phone although what did was the fact that he never got his phone registered.
As much as it pained her she would have to call her, to ask if Kamijou was okay.
"Why if it isn't the old hag.-"
"Yeah, Yeah, let's skip the pleasantries. I have better things to do today then shoot the breeze with you. Tell me is Kamijou okay?"
"If you're asking about his living arrangements you don't have to worry we already took care of them."
"... What are you talking about?"
"... That Touma's dorm was ransacked by a bunch of hopped up espers looking to test their power."
"WHAT!? That's impossible." Kumokawa then logged into her computer to check Kamijou's file and then saw an alert saying showing that he recently made a report to Judgement.
"Don't sound so surprised you know your starting to show-"
"Brat, you don't understand. I was here all night yesterday and I know for a fact that there was never an alert on Kamijou's dorm."
"What are you talking about?"
"The main part of my job is ensuring all Gemstones safety. So to better do that we constantly monitor them mostly through GPS but also through the cameras around the Gemstone's residence. Normally if any suspicious individual were seen through the cameras it would send an alert to the facility and I would have to confirm it and send Anti Skill to deal with it. But I never got an alert."
"..."
"So what happened."
Komoe-sensei's apartment
"So this is Magical Powered Super Android Girl Kanamin. I see so the wands their using acts as a medium through which their mana is more-"
Both Komoe-sensei and Mikoto were exhausted after having to listen to Index explain away every inconsistency with the show. It's been going on for hours now. And Mikoto even contemplated short-circuiting the TV to make it stop but, Komoe-sensei managed to talk her out of it.
"When I see that Idiot again I'm gonna make him pay."
Across the city, a certain Spiky haired boy felt chills run down his spine.
"Such Misfortune."
Author's Notes
Gekota fans classify Collectibles in rank
Common- anything you can easily find in a store
Rare- any items that are limited edition
Super rare- any merchandise that had a very short circulation
Ultra Rare- Items that were super rare that were signed to increase there rarity
Divine- Only a myth although there are rumors that it is located in Gekota land
Kanzaki mentioned that Touma was a talented one referring to the fact that he is a Gemstone
Can you guess what's the first thing Mikoto is jealous of Misaki
Sogiita is currently in training to test his GUTS!
Tune in next Time for
Index's Day out!