Hey guys thanks for reading a Certain Scientific Counter. Also I'd like to thank my Beta-reader Graesok for helping me edit this. Without further ado Q&A.
Ultra Instinct Shaggy- Thank you for the compliment…..
IllusionBreaker- I'll try my best. Thank you.
Anti-Mage 29-No problem. Also I can't wait to write that fight. Harem you say….
Fortitude501- To be fair to Kuroko, most important people do that….Although most of them don't also harras that said person so….Anyways nice recap! And I figured that the Gemstones had to had a similar ranking since Academy City always referred to them a natural Diamonds. ANd for Seria….
BlueJack22- His skills far surpass those of the elite ten. Also the reason it seems shorter was because I wrote this while I had finals.
Awardedall- Thank you for the compliment.
Savior555- WORLD BOSS part 2 THE BIRI BIRI. Also thanks I tried to stay as true to character as I could as well as with the power system, Touma was always a good cook naturally so it only made sense that when he actually took a proper course in it he'd flourish. Kumokawa is always pissed when she can't see her Kohai. And Komoe-sensei has eaten Touma's cooking before so she basically 'flowers for algernon' her taste buds. And here you go.
Chris- Touma is Lucky…..wait a minute that's not right. And Accel will return…..eventually. Yes Touma has nearly maxed out his Level for cooking, so it's like a blessing and a curse for Misaki. And how you say Mikoto will react…...oh boy. And as for Index, her ego will only continue to grow as her stardom does as well. And Thank you.
Chris- Yeah some things never change. Slice of life moments are one of them.
Nameless- In another arc, and I already have an idea for that :)
Ryder- It has and it will.
Rajarshi Sarkar- I know but theses types of chapters are necessary to show context for what's to come so it doesn't look like I'm pulling things from thin air. And the story continues.
Halo Star Wars X-over fan- I put Mikoto in the character list because she was added to main cast of characters, I'm sorry if it 'mislead' you but if you wanted to find a fic where there together there's a filter where you can search for it.
Savior555- Thanks. And yeah it should've been common sense since there is a setting where you can put characters as couples.
Our Baneful Battles
July 26
*RING RING RING RING RING RING*
"!?"
"Hello?"
"Wake up idiot! It's almost 12! Where the hell have you been!?"
Touma quickly got up from his bed in a panic realizing that he wasted half the day just sleeping, "What the hell! Why didn't anyone wake me!"
"We did! You said and I quote, 'Just 5 more minutes'"
"And you believed me!?"
"YES! Like an idiot, I believed you when you said it!"
Touma then tried his best to recall the events of earlier this morning, he could vaguely remember anything about that morning.
'Wait, was I sleep drunk?' {feeling of confusion or amnesia we sometimes experience after suddenly waking up occurs in the cases where your body hasn't had the time to wake up properly. This usually happens when the time spent asleep is shorter than what it should be.}
"Oh yeah, sorry about that."
"Tch! What happened to this being today's Kamijou's problem Huh!."
"Pfft! That was past Kamijou, I hate that guy he has no sense of responsibility always passing off his problems to me, you shouldn't trust a thing he says."
"..."
"..."
"Was that supposed to be a joke?"
"...Nevermind what happened to Index, did you take her to the doctor to get checked out."
"We need to talk."
A Certain Hospital
1 hour ago
"Mikoto why'd you let Touma sleep more I thought you said we all had to go?" The young silvery haired nun asked.
Mikoto blushed remembering trying to wake up Touma only to have him beg her to have 5 more minutes of sleep "Uhh well you see... Ahem...he just came back from the hospital and needed some more rest. Besides we don't really need him until after."
"Okay, why are we at the hospital again?"
"Oh I'm here to find a doctor, do you remember the one that looked like a Gekota?"
Index nodded, "Yeah, but why are we looking for a doctor?"
"Umm well, didn't you say before that you were having headaches?"
"Mikoto I don't need to see a doctor just because of a headache, besides that was yesterday, and I feel fine."
"Better to be safe than sorry, come on let's get going."
Mikoto and Index then ventured inside the hospital going directly where Heaven Cancelers office was, but once they went there they found it was empty. The two then Scoured the entire hospital before deciding to ask the staff where he was.
"What do you mean he left!?" Mikoto all but screamed at the poor nurse.
"I-I-I'm sorry. It's just that the doctor got a call yesterday and left early this morning."
Index then held back Mikoto in fear of her lashing out, "M-Mikoto it's okay I don't need to see a doctor. I'm really alright."
"Tch, I'm Sorry but do you know when he'll be back?"
"Yes, he said he'd be back midday tomorrow."
Mikoto sighed, "Alright, thanks anyway," Mikoto and Index then made their way outside and walked a few blocks until Mikoto realized that Index was looking side to side. "What's wrong?"
"I feel the flow of magic is being drawn together nearby, its attribute is earth," Index then ran across the street.
"Wait, Index don't run!" Mikoto started to make her way towards Index when she heard a familiar voice call out to her.
"Don't worry there just runes. Runes to keep people away if you couldn't already tell." Mikoto spun around and saw Stiyl bandaged up.
Mikoto immediately started sparking remembering what Touma told her earlier, "What the hell do you want!?"
"Hmph, would you really attack someone who was already injured?"
*ZAAP*
Mikoto's electrical spear was only 1 inch off from hitting its mark and as a result, it burned the cigarette that he was smoking, "Does that answer your question," Mikoto then stared down the fire magician, "What do you want?"
Stiyl looked more annoyed at the situation than scared as he pulled out another cigarette, "I wanna talk."
"Like you talked to Kamijou!? You're lucky I don't strike you down on the spot after what you tried to do to him!"
"And, yet I'm still here, neither of you has any idea how to save Index do you?"
Mikoto was taken aback by this. It was true that they had just lost their best option to save Index and currently had no other leads.
Stiyl immediately noticed the hesitation in her eyes, "As I thought."
"What do you want!?"
Stiyl then took out the cigarette that he was currently smoking, "I have no real issue with the boy looking into this matter, but you, on the other hand, are a different story altogether."
"What's that supposed to mean."
He then began to glare at her, "The magic and science side had been at peace for some time now, and while hostilities might remain they always come to an understanding. One such understanding that they came to was that neither side would interfere in the business of the other."
"!?"
"So what, you're telling me to get lost?"
"To put it bluntly yes."
*ZAP*
The sound of electricity buzzing filled the sky as Stiyl found himself on the ground twitching uncontrollably.
"SCREW THAT! I don't care about any damn side, if my friend's in danger I'll help them no matter what!"
Picking himself off the ground, Stiyl was neither angry nor upset in truth. If he was in the same position as her, he would've done the same thing. He was not, however, and because of that, he had to keep on going on the path that will most likely save Index.
"Tell me esper do you care more about your pride than you do about that girl's safety?"
"!?"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Of course, I care more about Index's safety than I do about my Pride!"
Stiyl then shot her a glare that could pierce through anyone's defense's, "Then what would you do if you can't save Index in time? Would you be willing to erase her memories then, or would you rather her die?"
Mikoto faltered at these words, that was the last thing she wanted to think about.
"What happened? Did I say something wrong esper or did you finally realize what it truly means to take care of that girl?"
Mikoto was silent.
Stiyl went in for one last blow like stabbing a sword into the heart of someone who was already down. He pulled out a necklace with a small cross on it from his trench coat pocket. "This tool is needed to destroy her memories."
He then began to walk towards Mikoto which caused her to step back. There was no real reason as to why she did, she was in the position of power after all. If she wanted to, she could've stuck him down where he stood.
Now that he was directly in front of Mikoto he waved the necklace in front of her swaying it back and forth in front of her face, "If you were to take it from me and give it to that boy it would become powerless just like any other magic that he comes in contact with."
Mikoto stood there motionless staring at the cross, she then snapped out of it when she noticed he dropped it into her hands.
"But will you esper?"
Mikoto froze in place as she felt the weight of that necklace in her hand.
"When that girl begins to feel sick and is dying in front of your eyes can you honestly tell me that you'd take this from her!?"
Mikoto looked down at her hand to see the necklace. It was no more than a couple of grams of silver and gold, yet it somehow managed to make her stop.
"Why? Why are you giving me this?" Mikoto asked barely managing to stop herself from shaking.
Stiyl simply stared at her, "Because chances are you know as well as I, the chances of you actually managing to find a cure for that girl in time."
"What are you talking about?"
"How much do you really know about that friend of yours?"
"Huh? I know enough about him to know that I trust him a whole hell of a lot more than I do you!?"
"Did you know that he lost his memories?"
"!?"
Mikoto was stunned. She didn't know much about Touma but, what she did know was that he was a good person that would do anything to help someone else.
"I'll take that as a no." Stiyl then took out another cigarette but did not light, simply staring at it, "You know when Kanzaki told me how it felt like to have your memories taken away from you I was honestly surprised," Mikoto watched as he dropped his cigarette on the floor. "What we did to her had to be done in order to save her life, but even so that didn't make so that I felt any less for her pain."
"Then why are you doing this!? If you know it's hurting her why would you keep going along with it?"
Stiyl stood there silent for a moment simply staring at the sky, "To save her," He then looked Mikoto with a face neither of pity nor contempt but rather one of understanding, "You may think of me as a villain and I won't protest to that but everything we did was to save her. That is why we act the way we do so when we eventually have to erase her memories it would be easier for her."
Mikoto stood there silent.
"That's why I'm giving you this and not the boy, you can see the reality of the situation while he can't. He's unable to detach his situation from hers and feels as though if he can save her that he can justify to himself that he isn't broken."
Mikoto's eyes shot open as she snapped back into reality, "What?"
"I was able to decipher that much from what Kanzaki told me. If I were to give this to him, he would probably destroy without a second thought. That's why I'm giving this to you and why I'm letting you stay, for the time being, you'll act as his tether to reality and keep him in check."
"What!? But why!?"
"Even if we tried to attack you again, due to the amount of damage me and Kanzaki sustained from our previous fight we would be unable to stop you. We barely have enough strength remaining as it is to perform the ceremony necessary to save the girl. That's why you have to be the one to hold onto that tool."
"So, you're giving me this because you don't trust Kamijou to not try to take this, you guys."
He then let out a sigh, "Precisely," He then turned around and started to walk away, "If you truly care about that girl's well-being you'll know what to do." And like that he was gone.
Mikoto gritted her teeth.
"Dammit!"
Current Time
"About what?" Touma asked.
Mikoto let out a sigh "Look we can talk about it when I get there with Index. There's something I need to show you."
Mikoto then hung up the phone.
'Huh? What the hell is that supposed to mean?'
After getting dressed Touma started to pull out various books from the shelves of Komoe-sensei's apartment, mainly one that had to deal with the human brain.
Whatever illness Index had stemmed from her brain that was clear enough, whether it had something to do with memory was another thing altogether but with that in mind, he was able to find a way to buy himself more time if push came to shove.
He would have to put her in a medically induced coma.
This was the last thing that he wanted, but he had to think realistically. If they couldn't find a cure in time or if they did and it took them to long to get it, this would be the best option for her.
Since her illness had symptoms of Brain swelling putting her in a coma would stop her brain from swelling up and killing her.
Once he figured all of that out he decided to make calls to various research facilities.
Academy City had more than 1000 research facilities both large and small, but a first-year student like Kamijou had no connections with any of them. So, he decided to call someone who did, Misaki.
He called the number and Misaki answered after the third ring she answered.
"Hello Touma, what is it, are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine, I'm just calling to see if you knew of any research facilities that had to do with Mind Hound related things."
"Hmm? Well of course I do but why do you…... Is this about that person you're helping?"
"Yeah,"
Misaki sighed, "Look, Touma, I'm not trying to practice my nagging ability, but are you sure you don't need my help. From what you're asking me it looks like your friend has some sort of brain-related illness and if that's the case I might be able to help."
He then let those words sink in. She might be right out of everyone in Academy City she would have the best chance to save Index. "Misaki it's-"
He was then interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Touma?"
"I gotta go, but can you please text me the numbers of the research facilities."
"Alright, stay safe."
He then got up from the floor and started making his way to the door.
He had no idea what Mikoto wanted to talk to him about or what she wanted to show him.
But he didn't have to worry about that since she wasn't the one at the door.
There she stood the female magician that he defeated, covered in bandages, Kanzaki Kaori.
Part 2
A Certain Park
After being scolded by Mikoto for running off, Index tried to be on her best behavior. She didn't like being scolded by her, but she knew that it wasn't unwarranted, she did run off and all she had to show for it was a lousy rune card that immediately burned to a crisp when she touched it.
Trailing behind Mikoto Index looked around the park that they were in. This wasn't the first time she came to this park with Mikoto, the last time she came here was when they found Saten using her new powers after she'd used Level Upper.
"How's Ruiko?"
"Huh? Saten, she's fine they let her go home already, although I think they made her and everyone else who took Level Upper has to takes a class or something takes Supplementary classes."
"Really, wait a minute, when was the last time Touma actually went to his Supplementary classes?"
Mikoto stopped in her tracks as she realized that he had missed his class today. "That Idiot."
Mikoto shook her head in disapproval, while Index caught on. "Honestly, I can see why Touma has such low grades now, he never goes to class or does the homework."
Mikoto giggled, "Yeah," She then started to walk forward and turned her head around to see Index, "Hey are you sure you're feeling alright?"
Index let out a heavy sigh, "Yes Mikoto, for the last time I'm fine, why do you keep asking me that?"
"No reason, just making sure since a couple of days ago you were bedridden." Unlike Touma, Mikoto did much better under pressure when lying.
"Oh yeah," Index then puffed out her chest proudly, "You don't need to worry about me I'm as healthy as can be."
Mikoto then let out a soft smile, "Yeah, just don't push yourself too hard okay."
Index nodded.
As the two continued their way through the park they stumbled upon something they never thought they would see.
The same Moron from the AIM Burst Incident with Kuroko.
She honestly had no idea what the two were talking about, from what she remembered about him, he was strong but not that bright.
"Uhh what's going on here?" Mikoto asked.
"Onee-sama! You're here" Kuroko exclaimed in joy.
"Oh it's the electric chick! What's up?" Sogiita said nonchalantly completely forgetting what he was doing.
"Hey," Mikoto then turned to Kuroko, "So what happened?"
Kuroko let out a deep sigh, "I caught him bullying a couple of students earlier."
Mikoto and Index gasped, "Really?"
"Pfft, Hell no! All I did was get guts into him!"
Kuroko then shot him a glare, "By destroying an alleyway and abusing some thugs."
Sogiita nodded, "No one said the path to redemption was easy."
Every word this boy spoke made Kuroko want to hit him more and more.
"I'm going to arrest you."
Ignoring this he turned to Mikoto, "Oi Electric chick, have you seen Kamijou-sama recently?"
Index stared at him suspiciously, "Why are you looking for Touma?"
"Oh I'm supposed to bring him in for-" Sogiita then went rummaging in his pocket looking for the note that Kumokawa gave him, "Misconduct and Failure to report to a welfare check, whatever that means,"
"Huh!? What're you talking about?"
Out of nowhere from behind the vending machine in the background a twin-ponytailed girl who was slightly shorter than Mikoto appeared. "So we finally meet Tokiwadai Onee-san."
"EH!?"
For a moment everyone stopped what they were doing and just stared at her. The girl looked to be like she was in elementary school. She had shiny blond hair and had a red kiddy school bag, but most importantly she had a Judgement armband.
In Academy City, "Judgment" was formed by student volunteers from all schools, that included Elementary schools, Mikoto knew this because Kuroko joined when she was still in grade school.
Kuroko was the first one to break the silence, "Excuse me, who are you supposed to be?"
The mysterious twin-ponytailed girl in front of her slowly let out a smile, "My name's Kihara Nayuta and I'm a member of Judgement's 49th Branch Office."
"When did you get here?" Sogiita asked.
"I just got here, Kumokawa-senpai asked me to come and trail you in case anything like-," She then pointed at the now destroyed alleyway in the distance, "That happens when you went to pick up Kamijou-san."
Kuroko then started walking towards the younger Judgement officer with suspicion in her eyes, "That doesn't sound like an official Judgement assignment."
Nayuta then raised her finger, "Actually senpai it is," She then went into her school bag and pulled out some documents and handed it to Kuroko.
It took Kuroko a minute to read through all the documents, it basically outlined that she would help the Gemstone Facility find Kamijou Touma in order to bring him in for a welfare check.
"How'd you get this so fast? And why wasn't the 177th branch notified?" Normally it would take days for something like this to be approved but somehow she managed to get these approved in less than a day.
Nayuta let out a small smirk, "Kumokawa-senpai got them approved and it was collectively decided that the 177th branch Office had enough going on after the Level Upper fiasco to help out in this case, so they instead asked other branches to help out. To be honest, I wasn't the only one who applied, apparently somebody from the 105th Branch Office named Tobi Yumi also asked to help out." She then turned to Mikoto and narrowed her eyes at her.
Index then leaned in and whispered in a low tone so only Mikoto could hear, "Do you know her?"
Matching her tone she responded, "Nope."
Nayuta then turned to Kuroko, "In any case, it's my job and by extension yours to help me find Kamijou-san"
As much as Kuroko hated to admit it she was right, as a member of Judgement she had to.
Nayuta then turned to Mikoto, "So Onee-san, do you know where Kamijou-san is?"
Mikoto tilted her head and gave an earnest smile, "No idea, right Index."
"Y-Yeah no idea" She didn't sound very convincing.
Everyone there save for Sogiita knew that Index was lying.
"Awww man, that's too bad, thanks anyway." Sogiita then started to walk away until Nayuta stopped her.
"Hold on now, Index-san you wouldn't be lying to us, right."
"O-Of course not!"
"Good so you won't mind us tagging along to wherever you're going."
Index then turned to Mikoto with a worried expression on her face.
Komoe-sensei's Apartment
"Kanzaki? What are you doing here?"
Without missing a beat Kanzaki stepped into the room and immediately began scanning it, "I see Index isn't here with you. That's good." Her voice sounded more relieved or anything.
"Yeah, she's out with Mikoto right now. Can I ask why you're here?"
"I've come to see if you really have a plan to save Index, or if you're just making your final useless struggle a good one."
From the sound of her voice, it seemed as though she was a bit more than hesitant leaving everything up to Touma.
"Tch! I told you before didn't I, I will save Index no matter what."
Even covered in bandages, Kanzaki let out an air of intimidation that told Touma that if he said something that she didn't like, he was as good as dead, "Prove it."
Those words cut a majority of Touma's confidence right from under him.
"Okay." Touma then went over to collect the various textbooks that he had lying about the apartment and went to present them to Kanzaki, "Well before, you guys always tried to fix Index with the magic side right?"
Kanzaki nodded, "It's true, both I and Stiyl used every resource we had available to us to help fix Index, but in the end, the church had a bias against what grimoires she was allowed to memorize. For instance, she was not allowed to memorize any grimoires that dealt with manipulating memories."
"!?"
There went another one of Touma's ideas. He knew it was a long shot but he still held out hope.
"Does that truly surprise you? Did you honestly think that the church would leave such a security risk open?"
"O-Of course not, anyways like I was saying you tried it your way in the past so why not let the Science side try to save Index?"
Touma really didn't know how much about Science she knew, so he was prepared to explain it to her as best as his first-year education let him.
"... There was a time when I thought the same thing."
"What!?"
"I understand the feeling of trying to grasp at straws. I too felt that way when I was with Index on her last days. But it just feels wrong handing her over to science."
"B-But"
"I'm not ignorant enough to deny that you people can do things that we cannot, but from my perspective, all that you would be doing would be filling her up with some unknown drug shortening her life. I don't want to see her violated like that."
"Look how do you know that when you never even tried!"
She simply stood there looking at him while he flipped through pages of a textbook.
"Propofol, pentobarbital, and thiopental"
"Thio-what?"
"Those are the drugs that are commonly used to help treat people with brain swelling and it temporarily stops the collection and creation of any new memories."
Kanzaki froze.
The drugs when used, however, would force Index into a coma.
Touma left that part out, he was trying to win her over not trying to provoke her any further.
"Look I understand how you feel, but we both know it can't keep going on like this, year after year erasing Index's memories over and over again and for what? Just so she can live through another year of torture."
That one got to her.
"Was that how it was for you?"
"What!? Why are you asking that?"
Kanzaki's gaze then started to hone in on Touma's face, she could see that he was uncomfortable with the subject.
"Before when we were on the battlefield, you mentioned to me that you also lost your memories, I'm just making sure that's not affecting your judgment."
Touma didn't expect her to say that.
"Of course not!"
"So, if and when tomorrow hits midnight and you still haven't found a cure for Index, you would let us go on with the ceremony unimpeded?"
"That won't happen we-"
Touma then found himself pinned against the wall by Kanzaki.
"You keep speaking as though you're so sure of yourself, but what do you truly know!?"
It wasn't the fact that Kanzaki was pressing against his lungs that Touma couldn't respond, it was the fact that he knew that she was right.
"You keep on associating Index with your own situation, don't you!? Well it's not, she never had that luxury, the only reason I came here today was to make sure that you understood the situation."
Touma struggled to break free, even while covered in bandages and recovering she was still far stronger than him.
"When midnight hits Tomorrow, you will let us perform the ceremony."
Touma stayed silent as he continued struggling.
"Tch! What's with you!"
Kanzaki finally released him, and he fell onto the floor coughing.
"Why can't you just admit that-"
"You're strong."
"..."
"I want to ask you something. Why are you doing this?"
"What?"
"It's like you said before, right? You tried everything to save Index before, so why."
Kanzaki didn't know how to properly answer.
"It's because you're kinda like me, you just want to see her smile. You got this strong because you wanted to protect that smile, you kept going along with this because you wanted to protect her."
Touma then began to pick himself off the floor.
"I won't say it, because it's like I'm giving up on her…. I know that I'm not a god that can control everything and give everyone a happy ending….but even so it won't stop me from trying."
Touma then began to walk towards Kanzaki, "So, what's it gonna be Kanzaki? Are you still going to get in my way? Are you going to give up on trying to save her life?"
"We have a tried and true method of saving her life. I cannot trust in this untested gamble of yours. With our method, she can survive."
"Surviving isn't living."
"!?"
"I have no idea how she can keep on smiling knowing what I do now, but if she can keep on smiling than I won't give up, and I won't admit defeat!"
Kanzaki sighed.
"You truly are….Never mind, whatever you have planned for Index keep in mind that I will be watching," Kanzaki then made her way to the door, "By the way how is your friend doing?"
"He's alright for now, just resting."
"That's good, also don't try to run away."
"You don't have to worry about that, I'll never leave my friends behind."
And with that Kanzaki left. While Touma was left alone thinking about what he was going to do next.
Part 3
A Certain Park
Mikoto tried her best to try to lose Nayuta but every time she got close there she was again.
As they all walked through the park together Mikoto's curiosity got the better of her, and she started talking to the girl.
"Hey kid, what's so special about Kamijou anyway? I mean what's with all the fuss about him having to go through a wellness check, I mean even Level 5s don't have to do that."
"Hmph, Well Level 5 Onee-san, if you must know it's because he's so weak."
"Eh!? What are you talking about?"
Nayuta then began to talk with a condescending attitude, "Isn't it obvious, even among the other Gemstones Kamijou-san is statistically the weakest. Academy City has 4 Gemstones in total and among them, Kamijou-san is ranked the lowest, that includes espers too."
"What? No way? How that even possible?"
"Don't know, but then again I did try to research Kamijou's ability myself and found that it was less than successful. He's one of the very few Black boxes of Academy City"
"What're you talking about?"
Nayuta simply stared at Mikoto as if she was trying to get a read on her, "Tell me this, why do you want to know?"
Mikoto stumbled slightly "N-No reason really, just trying to make conversation that's all."
"Hmph"
While they were talking Sogiita was trying to remember where he met Nayuta before.
"Hey little kid, do I know you from somewhere?"
"Probably from the Gemstone Research facility"
Suddenly something clicked in Sogiita's mind.
"I remember now, I saw you at the 'Kihara Research Institute' when I used to go there! Wait did you dye your hair or something you used to have brown hair."
"!?"
"I remember how you used to talk about going to the Advanced Education Department, whatever happened to that?"
"Huh!?"
Mikoto wavered slightly as she remembered that name before from Kiyama-sensei but, not once in that vision did she see this girl.
"Wait, what, but, that school should have been—"
Nayuta then spun around and stared at Mikoto with hostile intent, "How do you know about that!? Did Kiyama-sensei tell you about it!?"
Mikoto was in shock, she never thought that she'd meet one of Kiyama-sensei's students so soon.
"Wait, that doesn't make any sense. If you were a part of that class then how are you-"
"I'm not a Child Error. I was just friends with Banri Onee-san."
Mikoto once again felt insecure about how to respond "I-I'm sorry about what happened to your-"
"Stop…. You were there when they stopped Kiyama-sensei right?"
The whole group only watched as the two had their conversation, none of them dared to enter since something like this was personal.
"Yeah"
Nayuta had a somber look painted on her face, "How'd it feel?"
"I don't understand?"
"You're one of the seven Level 5s that stands at the peak at what Academy City wants to accomplish, how did it feel to be able to stop her."
"Good? I don't know. I'm not even the one who stopped her, Kamijou was."
Nayuta glared at Mikoto's body as if she was envious. "We both know that's a lie, if you wanted to you could've stopped Kiyama-sensei with ease."
This was true, during the entire fight with Kiyama-sensei Mikoto held back because she didn't want to kill her.
"So let me ask you, 'Railgun' Onee-san..." From the way, Nayuta stared at Mikoto it was if she was a hunter staring at her prey. "How'd it feel?"
"!?"
"Let me tell you something the Kiharas are elites. But wouldn't it be meaningless if they can't surpass a Level 5?"
At that moment, Mikoto suddenly felt that something was swallowing her and found it harder to keep her powers in check, "What are you-?"
"I made a promise with Banri Onee-san and everyone else that'd we'd join Judgment, protect Academy City, and become Level 5s, it's still early but, I want to see the results of my experiments. I joined Judgment, so I could have a valid reason to fight people, however, I can't fight you unless I have one."
The atmosphere became tense as Nayuta removed her Judgement armband, "That's why I request a fight with you!"
"!?"
Kuroko immediately teleported in front of Mikoto, "What are you talking about! You're completely out of line, I'm gonna-" She then felt Mikoto's hand on her shoulder.
"It's alright Kuroko,"
Mikoto then saw the look of determination on Nayuta's face, it reminded her of how she looked when she would challenge Touma, she was trying to prove herself.
"I accept"
Hearing Mikoto's words, Kuroko placed both hands on her face and started swaying as though she was going to faint.
Sogiita then appeared in front of all of them "Oh, a duel? What you said is pretty gutsy kid, I like it, I call referee!"
Battlefield
The group then traveled to an abandoned field where the fight wouldn't disturb anyone. While they walked there Kuroko tried her best to try to talk Mikoto out of fighting Nayuta, but in the end, she couldn't. Index, Sogiita, and Kuroko could only watch from the sidelines as the two got on separate ends of the battlefield. Mikoto made her promise that she wouldn't interfere.
Kuroko looked visibly worried and pissed as she hated the idea of that little brat attacking Mikoto.
"Are you sure we shouldn't stop them, I mean with my Judgement clearance I should be able to-"
Sogiita stopped her by raising his hand, "Don't butt in, when a man wants to show off his Guts, it's only common courtesy to watch in silence," He then realized that Mikoto and Nayuta were girls. "Oh, but their girls, that's fine too... I guess."
Faced with hardship Index did the one thing that she knew how to do, pray.
"Oh lord who art in heaven howl thy name-"
For the fight, the two agreed that Sogiita should referee that way if anyone went too far he could step in.
Once Sogiita stood in the center of the ring he raised both of his hands, The Battlefield seemed to shake as he projected his voice across it "Show the results of your everyday training and guts in this fight! Now!" Time seemed to slow down for everyone as he began to lower his hands, "Let's get ready to RUMBLE!"
With that Sogiita leaped out of the battlefield and both fighters began their attacks.
Nayuta Kihara
The Life of Nayuta Kihara can be summed up in two words.
'Guinea pig'.
While the Kihara family was infamous for their research in Academy City, Nayuta followed a different path. She believed that Flawed items like child errors were useless and had no purpose in Academy City and only those who were special could help further science.
One day she met with a professor who had quite the authority even amongst the Kihara family and asked to be a test subject.
However, since she was still a child she didn't fully understand the weight of her request.
This didn't matter in the slightest to Kihara Gensei, he would gladly use others as his own test subjects and destroy them even if they were his own relatives and Nayuta was no different.
In the end, what she got was "the ability to 'see' and 'feel' the flow of AIM diffusion fields" but even this wasn't enough to make her feel special.
Even after all the sacrifices she made, even though she'd stayed strong when the experiments painted her body with unbearable agony, she was still not special.
There was another older girl who had a similar ability however, Nayuta's ability couldn't compare to hers, she was a candidate to become the next Level 5 while she was just...
In the end, Kihara Gensei disappeared and left her to pursue other projects.
Now alone and at the lowest point, she devoted her mind and body to science in the hopes of becoming special.
So she did what Kihara's did best and experiment, except now she would be the guinea pig to her own projects.
Battlefield
As soon as the battle started Mikoto started to collect all the iron sand in the area and formed them into the shape of spears and had them hover above the battlefield.
Each of the 23 spears acted as miniature Tesla coils that connected each of them with dazzling sparks of electricity.
With the laws of electromagnetic force behind them, Mikoto launched them as though she was a general ordering an air strike.
To Nayuta it seemed as though the entire sky was blocked off by them.
Even though any sane person would run away from this.
She ran forward.
*BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!*
Barely dogging in between the volleys Nayuta pressed forward as the surrounding became littered with craters.
From Mikoto's perspective, she was moving faster than any normal person should be able to. It was as if she was able to exceed that of which humans should be able to do.
*BOOM!...BOOM!...BOOM!...BOOM!...BOOM!...BOOM!*
Instead of wild shooting Nayuta Mikoto began using more precise strikes to take her down. Each of the spears now only barely missed their marks.
As the ground began to tremble at the sheer force of the strikes, Nayuta continues to trek through the no man's land. It was here when Mikoto started to figure out a few things out about her powers.
Each of the strikes Mikoto used should have been able to hit something moving at around 200 mph due to her holding back but even so, this would be more than enough speed to hit Nayuta, but it didn't.
Somehow Nayuta was able to react before the strike began to move. Not only that, but she was also able to disrupt her power, it wasn't as though she could turn them off it was more like she could overload them.
Mikoto then started to move back as she figured out what Nayuta's ability was, the spears follow suit giving the young Judgement agent pause.
The battlefield that was once brimming with boisterous explosions became silent as the two stared at each other.
"Your power has something to do with AIM fields, right?"
Nayuta clapped her hands, "Good on you!"
Suddenly the electricity around Mikoto's right hand started to expand aggressively, Mikoto had to force herself to control the flux in her powers.
As the blueish white sparks started to die down, Mikoto narrowed her eyes at Nayuta.
"You can overload an esper's AIM field, can't you?"
"Ironic isn't it, the same thing that caused Banri Onee-san and the rest of them to end up in comas now is my primary ability."
"!?"
Nayuta's eyes then began to resemble that of a hunters "I can manipulate the flow and timing of other people's abilities, but I can't track them or even take them away like Takitsubo Onee-san can, at least not yet anyway." She then launched herself towards Mikoto at speeds no human should be able to.
*BOOM!*
Nayuta's dash came to an abrupt halt as Mikoto fired strike directly in front of her.
The problem with moving that fast was that you could only move in a linear direction, something which can be a problem when your opponent has such versatility in their ability.
"Pfft! So the secret behind all your power is making me twitch!" Nayuta seemed to be growing agitated with Mikoto's response.
Mikoto wasn't without reason for making this commentary though, from her perspective there were still a lot of unanswered questions and throwing your opponent off by saying something that would get under their skin was a good way to catch them off guard.
"Why are you so pissed at me? I mean challenging me to a fight, even an idiot could tell that this was something personal."
Nayuta glared at Mikoto as she slowly tried to circle around her.
*BOOM!*
Once again, the earth trembled as Mikoto discharged another precise strike in front of Nayuta stopping her dead in her tracks.
"You said that you knew 'those kids' but I don't see it. I mean to me from the way your powers work it seems as though you used their suffering as a way to boost your powers."
Nayuta's eyes burned with rage, "That's not true!"
"Huh?"
"It was all Kiyama-sensei's fault! Academy City sees Child Errors as if they were defective, and she didn't do anything to stop them!"
"..."
"EVEN IF THEY ARE DEFECTIVE, TREATING SOMEONE LIKE A TRASH JUST BECAUSE THEY WERE BORN DIFFERENT IS UNFORGIVABLE!"
And there she had it, Mikoto had finally found the root of Nayuta's rage, it wasn't out of jealousy or even pride, it was the anger that came with feeling powerless.
Blind with rage Nayuta charged at Mikoto.
Seeing this Mikoto started to release a small field of electricity around herself. The voltage wasn't enough to kill someone but if someone was unfortunate enough to touch it, then they would be met with an electrifying experience.
Even under these circumstances, Nayuta wasn't foolish enough to charge headfirst into what one would consider suicide. Using her ability she able to control the flow of her enemy's ability. With that, she planned to lower the voltage around a certain section of the esper's defenses in order to get one decisive blow.
Nayuta seemed to vanish from Mikoto's line of sight as she moved at superhuman speeds.
Now directly behind Mikoto, she launched her fist directly towards the back of Mikoto.
Mikoto smiled as she admired how much her opponent tried but, in the end, she was up against the speed of lighting.
Blueish White sparks began to form behind Mikoto, with her electromagnetic vision she had a perfect view of the entire battlefield including Nayuta.
What Nayuta failed to comprehend was the sheer versatility and creativity of the Railgun.
The remaining spears that floated over Mikoto's head not only acted as mere weapons but also as a lens. Using the electromagnetic waves that flowed out of them she had a bird's eye view during the entire fight from the reflected waves. While Nayuta could see AIM Fields perfectly and control the flow of them she could not control the byproducts that came from them and as such had no way of seeing those invisible Electromagnetic waves as they bounced right off her body.
Seeing a cascade of pure electricity come towards her Nayuta jumped away increasing the distance between her and Mikoto.
As Nayuta stopped she realized that she was right back where she started.
As she looked over the craters she could see Mikoto and the true distance that was between them.
She was on another Level, but even so, she didn't give up and started to make the trek back towards Mikoto.
Mikoto smiled as she praised her opponent's tenacity, but even so, she knew that she had to end it now.
*BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!*
Nayuta stooped in the middle of No man's land.
Dust covered the air and once in settled Nayuta saw that she was completely unharmed.
At first, she was completely bewildered, why would she not take this opportunity to finish her off.
That's when she realized that the Railgun had already won.
The four reaming spears that she blasted down were shot around her in a perfect square.
Within a second, she could hear the crackling of electricity around her as the four pillars of iron sand rose up.
Before her very eyes, the four pillars acted as an Electromagnet and collected all the iron sand that was left over in the craters.
Once it was finally over she was surrounded by a cage made up of pure iron sand and electricity unable to escape.
'She planned this from the very start, she left the iron sand in the craters so once she lured me back there I would be surrounded. She never planned on actual shocking me, she planned on trapping me!?... Just how big is that gap truly?'
As the cage slowly started to close in around her Nayuta, Mikoto started to walk towards her.
"I wouldn't try to overload my powers now if I were you, I might be good but I'm not perfect."
The cage then started to swirl around Nayuta shrinking even more.
'If I were stronger I could stop her flow, but I'm not, so I'll have to do with what I have left!'
Nayuta then launched her right fist through the Swirling cage of iron sand aiming at her opponent's face.
Nayuta couldn't completely control the sand, but she could control how the sand could be controlled.
Using all of her calculation abilities she made a small gap in the iron sand while it wasn't big enough for her to escape from it was more than enough for her fist to.
As her fist neared the opening Mikoto simply took one step back.
With that one step she shifted the entire cage with her, the gap that was only inches away from her fist became feet.
As Nayuta tried to keep steady and move forward to try again, she felt herself unsteady and began to fall.
Mikoto had used the landscape that she designed with her spears to her advantage.
Nayuta fell face-first into a crater.
Within less than a second, a dome of pure iron sand covered the crater along with Nayuta inside.
The fight was over, Nayuta had no way of winning or even getting in a hit.
WINNER: MIKOTO MISAKA
Part 4
Battlefield
The dome the held Nayuta was now being lifted off by Mikoto.
As Nayuta began to get out of the crater and dust herself off she saw that iron sand around her had not completely dissipated, and she was still in a cage of iron sand, albeit a larger cage.
"That was a good fight," Mikoto then looked at Nayuta not with eyes of prejudiced but that of curiosity, "If you don't mind me asking how were you able to move."
Nayuta softly laughed, not at Mikoto but at herself, " I took on several experiments in order to get stronger, and as a result of that about 70% of my body isn't of flesh anymore." She then pointed at her right eye which was artificial, it had a different color iris then her left.
"I see, so you use that body to carry out superhuman feats, must come in pretty handy when you work in Judgement."
Nayuta seemed happy as she smiled at Mikoto. "Yeah, but because of that I lack senses those amazing people have."
"You seem pretty amazing to me."
"Heh...the one who taught me all this, Amata Oji-san, he told me that 'if I train this to the max, I'd have nothing to be afraid of when fighting that #1 esper in Academy City,"
"Hmph, aiming a little high are we."
Nayuta slightly chuckled, "I'm sorry I got angry at you, I don't have any grudges against you. It's just that I wanted to prove my own strength and justice. So that when Banri Onee-san and the rest of them do wake up they can smile."
Mikoto then smiled, "Well you better get to it you don't have a lot of time left."
"?"
Mikoto then grinned at her, "Because pretty soon we'll be able to find a way to wake up all of your friends."
Nayuta was in shock, "But, how I mean-"
It was at this moment Mikoto understood why Touma always kept on smiling and never gave up even when things looked the bleakest, "Don't worry, I promise we'll wake up all of your friends, that way you can show them just how strong you have gotten." It was to because he wanted to see other people smile.
Tears started to drip from her eye, "You're….really nice Railgun Onee-san."
The surrounding cage finally fell, and she went over to hug Mikoto.
After a few moments, Nayuta let go, "Just you wait, Onee-san, I'll get strong enough to even surpass all the Level 5."
"Pfft!HAHA!"
Nayuta then puffed her cheeks, "What's so funny?"
The reason why Mikoto was laughing was that she was picturing the pathetic fight Shokuhou would put up against Nayuta.
"HAHAHA! Let's just say you got one fight in the bag!"
Nayuta tilted her head slightly as she had no idea what she was talking about. She then whispered to her "Okay? Anyway, we'll let you go see Kamijou now."
"!?"
"Is it really that surprising?"
"N-No it's just, are you sure?"
Nayuta nodded, "Yeah I'm sure, with someone like you around he's bound to be safer than with that moron anyway."
"True."
Nayuta then winked at Mikoto, "Just make sure to keep it PG Onee-san, I know it might get temp-"
Mikoto's face then became as red as a tomato as she stumbled backward "Wha-wah-What are you talking about!?"
Nayuta then had a gleeful smile painted on her face "Hehehehe, now that was a joke. I mean really why would someone like Kamijou-" Nayuta stopped sensing something was wrong.
"..."
"Onee-san?"
"Heh…. You know that was funny," A dark aura started to form around Mikoto along with bluish-white sparks since Nayuta could see AIM fields to her it looked like Mikoto was a thunder god bringing on the apocalypse, "Why don't I help you with your training some more. Let's have a fight that we won't regret."
Nayuta sensing the danger posed on her life began backing away slowly, "O-Onee-san."
Mikoto then reached into her pocket and pulled out an arcade token, "How about I show you what 30% of a Railgun looks like."
All the color seemed to drain away from Nayuta's face as Mikoto flipped the coin in the air.
In the background, Kuroko could be seen freaking the hell out. "OOOOOOOOOONEEE-SAMA!? HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND!?" Kuroko teleported herself to the battlefield next to Mikoto.
*BOOOOM!*
"Don't worry Kuroko," Mikoto wasn't insane, she launched the Railgun several meters above Nayuta's head
Seeing this unbelievable scene, Nayuta fell over on her back.
As the beam of dull orange and yellow energy flew upwards it came to an abrupt halt when a guy in the white uniform appeared in front of it.
"!? When did you get here?"
When he finally landed back on the ground he spat out arcade game coin that he caught with his teeth onto his hand and stared at it.
He then looked over at Mikoto with a serious expression.
Everyone on the battlefield was on edge.
"You can't bring Arcade Tokens out of the store, I feel that it's best that you return this to the arcade before the shopkeeper gets angry." He then had a sincere smile on his face, "I can go apologize with you if you want."
There was silence.
After a while, Nayuta picked herself off the ground and dusted herself off and approached him.
"I'VE THOUGHT THIS BEFORE, EVERYONE'S THOUGHT THIS BEFORE BUT WAS TOO NICE TO SAY ANYTHING, BUT I CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE! I HAVE TO SAY IT YOU'RE A MORON!"
Sogiita eyes widen in shock, "WHAT!?"
He then looked over to the others and saw them all averting their eyes from him.
"I see...BUT THAT DOESN'T MATTER! BECAUSE MY GUT'S WILL SHOW ME THE WAY!" Sogiita punched the air causing colorful explosions to appear behind him.
Nayuta simply shook her head and began to walk away.
The others follow suit leaving him alone. He then sensed something on the floor had Guts, so he picked it up. Completely oblivious of the fact that everyone had already left. "Hey guys I found-"
"..."
As the three started to make their way out of the battlefield, Sogiita appeared in front of them seemingly from nowhere.
"Hold up you still have to return those Arcade Tokens!"
Mikoto then turned to Kuroko and Nayuta who both nodded in unison, she then turned to face him and cleared her throat, "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO LECTURE ME" Sogiita flinched slightly, "OUT OF EVERYONE HERE YOUR THE ONLY ONE WHO GOT ARRESTED, STOP ACTING HIGH AND MIGHTY." Both of the girls nodded in approval.
"EH!? I was arrested! WHEN!?"
Everyone collectively facepalmed.
Be it divine empowerment Mikoto kept her cool "Never mind, I'll do it later."
Sogiita gave her a thumbs up, "Good job."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Well if you guys don't mind I have to go look for Kamijou-sama" Sogiita then rocketed himself into the sky and began to kick the air giving him pseudo flight.
Nayuta then looked over to Mikoto, "Yeah maybe it's best if Kamijou doesn't go to the Gemstone facility."
Index who was left behind struggled to catch up to all of them, after all, she was just a nun.
"Huff...Mikoto….huff... Good job" It seemed out of all of them, Index was the one who truly surpassed her limits.
Judgement Branch Office 177
Once all of them managed to get as far away from the number 7 as possible they found themselves at Kuroko's branch office.
While traveling there Nayuta talked with Index and found her to be, Interesting, to say the least not very often you find a nun in training especially in Academy City.
"So you're telling me that some old guy parted the entire red sea."
Index nodded.
"But how!? I mean was he a Gemstone?"
Index shook her head and carried herself as though she was the superior one in terms of intelligence, "Tsk Tsk Little girl, of course not he was bestowed his power from God."
"Eh!? But that makes no sense. How was he able to control the water? And didn't you say he was traveling with a caravan? It would take days for all of them to cross and how did he hold off the incoming crocodiles."
"God."
"THAT MAKES NO SENSE!"
"Did what the 'explosion boy' do make sense?"
Nayuta went to answer but quickly stopped herself, "You win."
Index stood triumphantly as she to beat Nayuta.
"Having fun back there Index?"
"Yeah, I really like Nayuta, she's a lot of fun!"
Mikoto then turned to Kuroko, "Hey thanks for not getting involved back there."
Kuroko sighed, "It was nothing really, I already knew you could take on that brat with ease Onee-sama."
"I heard that!"
Kuroko knew full well that Nayuta was listening to them speak.
"So anyway, I'm gonna take Index back home, what about you?"
Kuroko groaned, "Well first I'm gonna have to keep this little tyke here."
Nayuta then turned around to face her superior, "What are you talking about senpai?"
Kuroko then narrowed her eyes at the elementary student, "Don't try to weasel your way out of this squirt, you know full well that we have to file a report on that moron!"
"Eh!? But we both know that he'll just get away with it again and I want to go home!" She was still a kid when it came to her having to do paperwork.
Kuroko, however, had no mercy and started pinching her cheeks. "Listen here kid, I don't care how much you whine," Kuroko then let go of her cheeks and knelt to look her directly in her eyes, "You're still a member of Judgement, never forget that!" The rage that came from her was neither from hate or disgust but simply out of concern.
"Senpai…. Alright."
"Good," Kuroko then turned to Mikoto, "I'll see you later Onee-sama!"
"Okay, good luck."
"Bye Kuroko, Bye Nayuta!" Index waved them off as though she was setting off to sea.
Part 5
Komoe-sensei's Apartment
As the two reached the Apartment Mikoto stopped as she was about to open on the door.
She knew that once she did Index would find out the truth.
"Mikoto is something wrong?"
Mikoto dreaded this. "Yeah I'm fine," With a heavy heart, Mikoto opened the door to reveal Touma surrounded by a plethora of textbooks the floor was littered with what seemed to be scrap paper.
"Touma! Look at the mess you did! And after I and Mikoto went to all that trouble for you!"
Touma simply rubbed the back of his neck smiled back at her while she reprimanded him.
Even after all of them cleaned up the Mess that Touma made Index was none the wiser, she was too busy lecturing Touma on being a better guest to Komoe-sensei.
Once they finished Index went over to the other side of the room and started watching her favorite show. Neither Touma nor Mikoto had the heart to tell her.
They both excused themselves and exited the apartment and sat on the same bench they did when they first brought Index here.
They just sat there for what seemed to be an eternity until Touma broke the silence. "You couldn't do it, huh?"
Mikoto lightly nodded, "How do you tell someone that?"
Touma looked up at the sunset, "I don't know? But you know Kanzaki paid me a visit today."
Mikoto's eyes shot wide open, "Are you okay!? She didn't hurt you did she!?"
"No, she was just worried that's all, wouldn't you be if your friend was about to go through...that."
Mikoto relaxed slightly, "What'd she say?"
Touma sighed, "She said we don't have a chance to cure her with magic. Apparently, she's never even read a book that had to do with Memories."
Mikoto clenched her fist, "Damn it."
"I know, she also said something about my ju-" Touma then stopped himself from revealing what Kanzaki told him about his judgment being clouded.
"What did she say?"
"N-Nothing"
Mikoto wasn't a master at reading people, but she spent enough time around Touma to know when he was lying, this had to do with his memories.
"Well let me tell you about my day, I ran into our fire magician."
"Ah!? Are you okay"
"Pfft! As if that loser could do anything to me, no what he told me was that he didn't trust you."
Touma rolled his eyes, "Of course he doesn't."
Mikoto then turned to face him, "He also told me about what you said about your memories."
"!?"
"I'm guessing that Kanzaki came here because she wanted to make you understand, am I right?"
Touma was silent.
Mikoto narrowed her eyes at the boy, "He told me that you called yourself 'broken'"
Touma flinched at hearing that word but, still, he was silent.
"Well, am I wrong?"
Left with no other choice Touma admitted the truth"... No."
Even though Mikoto already knew the answer it didn't stop it from being anymore shocking.
Touma then felt a hand on his shoulder, "You're not broken."
Touma sighed. "I know that. It was just something I said in the heat of the moment I guess."
"How'd it happen?"
Touma looked at the ground he was tempted to just lie to her but couldn't bring himself to do it, "I don't know, I mean I think I do but, I'm just going off what people tell me, I really don't know."
Mikoto knew that Touma wouldn't remember anything about the accident, she was just trying to make it easier for him to admit to it, "How do you feel?'
"!?, What are you-"
"Ever since I met you seemed to care more about others than you do yourself. So, how do you feel?"
Touma sat there looking at the ground wishing that this wasn't happening, he could always get up and walk away but that wouldn't be fair to her, Touma took a deep breath this would be the first time he actually told how he felt.
"I don't know… I mean…. I don't remember."
"What don't you remember?"
"Why I came here, when I woke up I thought I was fine I mean I was in the hospital sure but I thought I got off pretty lucky only losing a couple of months of memories, heh but when have I ever been lucky," Touma chuckled dryly, "I mean things were going great, really great but then the other shoe fell when I realized I lost a whole hell of a lot more than a couple of months of my memories."
"!? What are you talking about."
Touma then looked Mikoto dead in the eyes, the look he gave was one she'd never seen on him before, vulnerable, "You need to promise me that you'll never tell anyone this if that person ever found out it would kill them."
Mikoto nodded, "I promise."
"I don't remember what my parents look like."
"!?"
"I do now but, one day I got a call from home and had no idea who was on the other line, it was like I was talking to a stranger, that's when I started to put the pieces together, I didn't know how or why I came to Academy City, and I didn't know what my parents look like, I put a picture of them by my bed in case I can remember but, I keep on drawing blanks."
"Kamijou."
"I didn't...no I couldn't tell them what really happened. I couldn't bear to see the look on their face if I told them. They're already killing themselves over me losing a couple of months if I told them this…. I don't know what they'd do."
"Who? The person who took your memories?"
Touma nodded, "They're, not a bad person you know, hell it took me over 3 months to get them to smile again."
"D-Did you at least talk to your parents about this?"
"Heh I wish, how's that conversation gonna go, hey I have no idea who either of you are, so can you tell me."
"If you didn't tell your parents and you didn't tell the person who took your memories, who did you to tell?"
"Nobody, you're the first, I've been avoiding this conversation as long as I could, that's why I barely talked to my folks. Hell, when this happened I thought I'd hit Game over."
Mikoto felt like hitting something after hearing that, she felt like hitting him for bottling this up so damn long, she felt like hitting the person who stole his memories, she felt like hitting all his friends who could ignore his broken smile. But in the end, she couldn't do anything.
Because at the end of the day it was Kamijou Touma who ended up hitting himself the hardest every day he had to lie to everyone he knew, that it was alright.
Touma then turned to Mikoto, "I don't know if what I went through is really affecting my judgment here, but I do know that Index is going through something a hell of a lot worse than me, I know that I want to save her, and I know that I want to help her rebuild those memories that she'd lost."
"I don't….how can you say that."
Touma then turned to her and smiled, "Because that's what I did, I made peace with the fact that I'll never be able to get those memories back, so I decided to make new ones, I decided that no matter how many times I reach game over I'll never stop moving forward."
Mikoto could see the light once again filling his eyes, it wasn't that he was broken it was that he needed time to heal.
Touma's eyes burned with passion. "I don't know if we can save Index this year or even the next, but no matter how many times we have to pathetically hit continue, we will save Index. Those magicians can go screw themselves if they'd rather keep on going like they have been fine, but I'll never give in and I'll never give up!"
Mikoto then smiled, "I'm happy to hear it, and just so you know I totally zapped that Loser until he was twitching on the ground."
Touma then started laughing as he mentally pictured Stiyl convulsing on the floor like an idiot.
For the first time that he could remember Touma felt a weight lift from his shoulders.
Mikoto was tempted to tell Touma about Shokuhou but decided against it. She didn't want to get his hopes up in case she couldn't fix his memories as well as the fact that she didn't trust her with Touma.
After a few minutes of Mikoto explaining her day to Touma, he patted her on the back.
"Glad to see you didn't let that Nayuta get to you."
Mikoto tilted her head, "She said she met you before, was that when..."
Touma nodded, "Yeah apparently I met her over the summer. I met her one time after and boy was she pissed."
Mikoto chuckled, "Yeah, you have that way with people you know."
"What's that supposed to mean!?"
Ignoring Touma's comment she moved onto something more pressing, "So should we tell her?"
It took a moment for Touma to think up the word in his head, "Yeah, I know it won't help us but it's like you said she has a right to know. Can I see the cross Stiyl gave you? I swear I won't touch it."
Mikoto nodded and went to pull the cross from her shorts.
Panic immediately filled Mikoto's body.
"What is it?"
Her face looked flush and it looked like she was about to faint if it wasn't for Touma helping her stand.
"Mikoto are you okay!?"
Mikoto mind raced, it was as if the entries day's event played over and over in her head, "I lost it."
"!?"
Mikoto started shaking if they couldn't get find that necklace than Index would…
"Mikoto look at me!" Mikoto snapped out of the mental hell she put herself in, "It's not your fault, we'll find that necklace" She had no real reason to believe him, but she did so anyway.
"First let's just try to retrace your steps, where did you go first after Stiyl gave you the necklace?"
Suddenly it clicked inside of Mikoto's mind, there was only one place she could've lost that necklace.
"The Battlefield."
Battlefield
Touma had to come up with some excuse to tell Index that they had to go back to the Battlefield, she was mad at first until Mikoto explained that it was because she had just dropped jewelry there, and he was helping her out. Index wanted to come to, but they assured her that had it covered.
Minutes turned to hours as they scoured the entire Battlefield. The sun had already set, and it was dark out already. Normally Mikoto would have freaked out that she'd miss curfew, but she completely disregarded that feeling instead, focusing on searching.
And still, they were no closer to finding that damn necklace.
Magicians Hideout
As Kanzaki watched over Index in the distance she heard Stiyl approach her from behind
"How'd it go with the boy?"
Kanzaki faltered for a moment, but quickly regained her composure, "He understands what he has to do, what about the girl?"
Stiyl winched remembering the electrocution he got earlier, "She understands, and she will make sure the boy understands as well."
Kanzaki simply used her binoculars to watch Index as she slept, "Do you trust her?"
Stiyl fell silent for a moment, "Do I really have a choice?"
"No, you do. That's why you gave her the real cross instead of the fake one."
"Tch! In the end, it doesn't matter if I trust them or not, this will all end the same way it always had."
Kanzaki stayed silent as she watched Index.
Silently she prayed for Kamijou to succeed.
Stiyl then looked over at the Timer he had set when they first arrived in Academy City.
24:00 hrs left
Battlefield
July 27
12:00 AM
"GOD DAMN IT!" Mikoto roared as loud as she could as she shifted the dirt for the 20th time looking for that damn necklace.
For once Touma had to be the Levelheaded one of the two, "Calm down! Beating yourself up over this won't help us find the necklace any sooner."
Mikoto gritted her teeth as she was on the verge of tears, "It's all my fault, if-"
Kamijou then grabbed her shoulder, "Stop blaming yourself, you didn't do it on purpose did you!?"
"O-Of course not!?"
"Then stop beating yourself up! I know you, and you'd never intentionally risk Index's life."
Mikoto was happy that Touma trusted her, but she still couldn't stop blaming herself, if she was only a bit more careful than she wouldn't had lost it.
She mentally counted every possibility she had that would have prevented this.
She could have worn it as a necklace!
She could've wrapped it as a chain in her purse!
Hell, she could've even given it to that Moron!
"!"
She finally realized who had the Necklace.
"Hey guys I found-"
"I know where it is!"
Epilogue
Gemstone Research Facility
Hours Earlier
Kumokawa sat at her desk hearing Sogiita tell her what happened today
"So, to summarize you couldn't find Kamijou and ended up refereeing a street fight?"
Sogiita nodded, "Yeah sorry, but hey at least I found this" He then presented her with a silver cross necklace that he found at the Battlefield, "It's brimming with Guts, you can have it if you want" He then handed her the necklace.
Kumokawa rolled eyes as she accepted her consolation prize, "Thanks."
"No Problem" And with that Sogiita left her office to go home.
Kumokawa dangled the Necklace with her fingers.
"What's this thing supposed to be?" She then began carelessly spinning it around.
Kumokawa then stood up from her desk and hovered the Necklace over the trash shoot.
"Just some trash that people who are too weak and stupid use in order to give themselves hope."
Kumokawa then let go of the Necklace.
Just as it was about to fully go in, she caught it.
"Tch! Knowing that moron he'll probably be able to sense that I threw it away and I'll never hear the end of it."
She then stormed over to her desk and open a drawer and dropped the Necklace inside.
It was getting late, so she decided to call it a day and go home.
Kumokawa then left the room and closed the door behind her locking it "Don't worry Kamijou, we'll meet again soon enough."
She had no idea how right she was.
Omake
Judgement strikes Again!
Since all the desks were being used or taken up Nayuta decided to fill out her paperwork in the offices Interrogation room.
As she scribbled away as fast as her little hands could, she noticed that the lights were starting to flicker on and off.
"Huh?"
*All the lights turn off making the room pitch black*
"Hey what the heck?"
As all the lights then turn back on Nayuta was faced with a girl that had dawned a black domino mask on along with a black trench coat, but the most surprising thing for her was her headband it was covered in black roses something that Nayuta had only seen in books.
"W-Who are you?"
The heroine spoke with a deep menacing voice as she stared at her menacingly "Justice"
All the lights turned off and Nayuta could hear footsteps go around her, within a second she dashed towards this mysterious heroine.
Just then the door creaks open and in pops Kuroko.
"What's going on in here!?"
As the light shined over the room it revealed that Nayuta was alone.
"B-But she was just here." Nayuta was so confused, because of all the confusion she never got a chance to read that mysterious persons AIM field.
"What are you talking about?"
Nayuta then looked around the room for any opening that the heroine could've used to escape. But she was met with the terrifying discovery that there was none.
"S-She had black roses all over her head!"
Kuroko sighed, "Look I know you're still in grade school, but come on you're old enough to not need any imaginary friends."
"B-But"
"Just get back to work."
Outside
As Nayuta walked out of the office she was still no closer at figuring out what happened in that room than before.
Maybe it was his imagination, she had just been through a stressful situation.
Nayuta sighed and decided a snack was in order and opened up her red kiddie bag and pulled out her lunchbox.
She had saved some parfait from earlier today and planned to eat it.
The moment she opened the Lunch box her Mind was blown.
There was no parfait insight instead she was greeted with a Single black rose.
Judgment office branch 177
From the window, Uiharu watches Nayuta as she looks side to side utterly and hopelessly confused.
Uiharu chuckles as she pulls out a parfait.
Kuroko who was walking by noticed Uiharu had a dessert "Where'd you get the Parfait Uiharu?"
"Oh, you know," Uiharu then gracefully opens a drawer in her desk revealing a domino mask and a headband made up of black rose, she pushes them both aside and grabs a disposable spoon instead, "places."
To Be Continued…..
Author's Notes
Touma received two types of Brain injuries when Miskai used her powers on him.
Retrograde Amnesia- The loss of memory before an event occurred- In this case, he lost 3 months worth of memories from Miskai accidentally smothering his brain cells to death by forcefully manipulating the fluids in his brain in an unsafe manner.
Lacunar amnesia-the loss of memory about one specific event.- In this case, he lost all memories from before he entered Academy City, including his family, due to this every memory he has of them after he came to Academy City was damaged. He can make new memories with them and can vaguely recall what they did when he did see them after he came to Academy City but if he tries to remember their faces or voices he would turn up with nothing.
He planned on meeting them in person during this years Daihasei Festival and showing them both a surprise.
Can you guess what it is?
The Next Chapter will be the Finale for the Index Arc
Tune in Next time for the chapter
Never Say Goodbye