This is a long chapter for me but I feel it was worth it rather than splitting it up to partially be in the next chapter. Wow, a lot more people read this story than I originally thought would. The best thing is I still see a lot of older names that have been around since the beginning and I really appreciate it. Knowing you guys like this story makes me feel good. For all the newer people, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it.
Couple responses to some of the reviewers:
Anon: No, just no. I can't go there, horrible, horrible memories. *Shivers*
Agent Nine: Pssh, no main character in Japan knocks. If he started knocking Accelerator would become the main character.
Why are people still discussing Misaki wearing a spider two piece swimsuit? Lol, the chapter ended awhile ago. You people make me laugh.
I'm sure you are all tired of my boring ranting so have fun with the chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index or any of the characters.
"Touma Kamijou…"
Shizuri Mugino was lying on the couch looking at a binder full of papers and talking to herself. Frenda and Saiai where sitting at a table reading magazines and Rikou had her head on the table sleeping. They were all skipping school today. Shizuri had paid a pretty penny to one of her contacts for the file on Touma and she did not regret it. She completely ignored the files on the level 5 Kami after a brief glance. One look at his file told her whoever made it had no idea what they were doing and it was obviously fake. Touma's file on the other hand was quite interesting.
Just like Rikou had sad, his file showed he had no AIM field for being a student of Academy City. That alone was enough to draw her attention. Even other level 0s had an AIM field since it was something ability users could not normally hide. Occasionally, an ability would let them hide their AIM field, but those abilities were unusual. However, having no AIM field, even when equipment was actively measuring it, was obviously wrong. It is possible someone purposely falsified this report, but why? His ability is certainly unique and incredibly powerful but during our fight he only ever negated my ability with his right hand. I never heard of an ability that was specific to one body part. Touma was interesting Shizuri more and more as she continue to read his file. She now had access to his school and dorm location along with information about his arrival into Academy City and immediate family.
Shizuri threw the files on the table and sat up stretching. "That may have been expensive but it definitely was worth it," she said gazing at the others.
"Basically, what did you find Mugino?" Frenda asked.
"It looks like Takitsubo isn't the only one who didn't detect an AIM field," Mugino said staring across the table at the other girls. "It seems like his file also shows he doesn't have one. But we know that has to be impossible since you all saw his ability." The girls nodded. "So I think we are past the point of trying to dig information up on him from secondary sources. Someone obviously has been tampering with his file. The files on Kami are full of holes and false information. It had to be made up to cover someone's tracks."
"You should send Frenda to talk to him," Saiai said grinning broadly. "She super wants to meet her savior again."
"Shut up!" Frenda said turning bright red. "Basically, you have no idea what you are talking about!"
"Good luck…" Rikou whispered.
"Not you too!"
"Maybe you super could and give him a kiss as thanks?" Saiai said adding fuel to the fire.
Shizuri watched them all with a combination of irritation at their useless squabbling, and amusement at Frenda's face. She was still quite pissed about losing to Touma but she was more interested in learning about him and his ability. Why am I interested in him anyways? I just want to know about his ability. Anyway, she knew sitting here and making fun of Frenda wouldn't answer any of her questions. "Ok," she said taking charge and everyone went silent looking at her. Shizuri reached into the file of Touma and pulled out a sheet of paper. She passed it to Frenda. "This is his school. Meet him after class and get him to come here. If he doesn't come willingly, feel free to use force."
"M-Mugino," Frenda stuttered. "Basically, why do you want him and why me?"
"My reasons are my own," she said crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes. Frenda went slightly pale in fright. "But you can say he interests me to no end," she continued. Frenda's scared expression changed to a look of worry but Shizuri ignored him. "Besides, I am sure he doesn't have a favorable impression of me right now. You, on the other hand, he saved, so I'm sure you want to talk to him and you can use that to your advantage to bring him here."
"Aww," Saiai said laughing. "She's super worried about him or maybe she doesn't think she can do it?"
"I can definitely do it," Frenda said confidently. "Basically, I just don't see why we need to bring him to one of our safe houses. Shouldn't we just kill him before he becomes a problem?"
"It doesn't matter if he knows about this one," Shizuri said frowning at Frenda. "I also said he interests me so he is not going to die unless I decide he does. Now get going before I get mad."
"Yes Mugino," Frenda said saluting and running out of the room.
Across the city, around noon, at Tokiwadai middle school, Misaki Shokuhou was sitting at a table surrounded by several very attractive girls who belonged to her clique. They were all talking about normal things including school, clothes, and boys. A lot of the girls were interested in who the boy Misaki was in love with. Somehow, the knowledge she made a bento for Touma got around and she did not know how. She had modified the memories of the girls who helped her but it was possible someone saw her when she was distracted. She started to trace the source of the rumor but since it had spread out so far, it just wasn't worth the hassle to her.
"So Queen," one of them asked. "What is he like?" She was obviously talking about Touma and Misaki noticed all the other girls looking at her in anticipation. She briefly thought about using her ability to make them not talk about him, but she found she actually wanted to talk about how special he was.
"He is like a prince," she said smiling to them all. "He is kind, handsome, brave, and will risk his life to save people. He is also quite strong but doesn't like to brag about it."
"Wow," another girl said. "He sounds amazing."
"He is," Misaki said warmly and a bunch of the girls giggled. "I plan to surprise him after school today."
"Oh," the first girl said. "Can we meet him?"
"I don't think so," Misaki said pretending to think for a moment and several of the girls looked depressed. "At least, not right now. He doesn't like to stand out so I want to respect that."
"Ok," she said and all the girls nodded in agreement. They avoided obviously talking about the topic but kept whispering about how special the guy must be to attract the Queen's attention. This continued all the way through their lunch hour and into the halls as they made their way to class. Several of the girls wanted to follow the Queen to see this boy but everyone respected her to much to disobey her. However their conversation was heard by a certain short brown hair girl.
Shokuhou is going to surprise Touma, Mikoto thought to herself as she eavesdropped on Misaki's clique. I knew she was up to something. Ah, but Kuroko wanted to spend the afternoon with me. I guess we can accidently meet up near his school before Shokuhou get's there. She started planning the best way to 'accidently' run into Touma and hang out with him.
Unknown to the others, another couple of girls were talking about a certain spiky haired youth during their lunch at Sakugawa Middle School. Ruiko and Kazari were sitting together at a table discussing Touma. "So again, why don't you just tell him you like him and want to go back to dating?" Kazari asked.
"I was going to," Ruiko said. "But then I found out Misaka-san likes him too. I don't want it to ruin our friendship. Ah, if he doesn't like me back the same way I don't know if we can still be friends. It would be really awkward."
Kazari sighed thinking. She really wanted to help her friend and it was also thanks to Ruiko that she met Jason. "I don't think it is really good to keep it hidden," she said. "If you are really bothered about it, maybe you could talk to Misaka-san about it first? I bet if you are honest there won't be any tension between you too. "
"Maybe," Ruiko said stirring her food thinking. She really treasured her friendship with Mikoto but she also really liked Touma. "Maybe if the right situation arises."
"Well," Kazari suggested. "Why don't you just go and surprise Kamijou-san after school? If he is free, you could hang out with him as friends."
"I get the feeling you are trying to set me up with him," Ruiko said looking intensely at Kazari.
"You set me up with Jason," Kazari pointed out. "And this is just like this book I am reading. The best friend helps the main character find true love with a guy who the rival is also in love with."
"So I'm the main character and Misaka-san is my rival?" Ruiko asked Kazari grinning.
"I suppose it depends on your perspective," Kazari shrugged. "But you are my best friend and I want you to be happy."
"Thanks a lot Uiharu," Ruiko said. "I promise to only flip your skit once this week."
"I would prefer if you don't do it at all," Kazari huffed.
"But Jason likes it when I do it," Ruiko replied grinning.
"Only when he is arou…" she replied irritated but then turned crimson and quickly covered her mouth with her hands. Ruiko couldn't help it and she burst out laughing at Kazari's embarrassed reaction. Kazari avoided looking at Ruiko and instead focused on her food. "So how was the first part of the experiment for your ability?" Kazari asked trying to change topics.
"No change yet," said Ruiko sighing and looking sad for a moment. She then looked up and her eyes burned with passion. "I am not giving up though. It is only the first day. It is suppose to be through Sunday and then Monday we have the periodic school examinations to measure our levels. I hope something will show up then."
"I'm sure it will," Kazari said encouraging her. "So are you going to see if Kamijou-san is free after school?"
"I suppose," Ruiko said but the look on her face told Kazari she was looking forward to it.
Touma woke up with a start. It was almost the end of the day and when he glanced at the clock, class would end in ten minutes. He yawned and looked around. Most of the class was packing up but Motoharu, Pierce, Jason, and Accelerator were still playing the game. Pierce had mentioned earlier that day he was almost through the game. Touma had stayed up late last night playing because his face hurt too much to just fall asleep.
"You look tired Kamijou," Pierce said looking up. "Playing the game all night?"
"A little," Touma said yawning again. "I have a lot of stuff going on so I have to play when I can."
"I bet he found a new girl," Jason said without looking up but with a noticeable grin on his face. "He probably brought her home and spent all night with her."
"Hmm," Motoharu said also grinning. "That would explain the weird noises last night." He was Touma's next door neighbor and knew exactly what happened.
"So he kicked us out to meet a girl?" Accelerator said glancing over. "I guess that's why you call him the Harem King. Who knew the hero had it in him?"
"KAMIJOU!" Pierce yelled and everyone in the class turned to look at him. "How can you just bring girls back to your place and keep them there all night?"
"It is not like that you stupid pervert!" Touma yelled back face palming. He was well aware of all the students and the teacher staring at him wide-eyed. "I don't have a harem." Luckily he only had to endure a couple minutes of people staring at him and muttering before the bell rang. He left the classroom as quickly as he could.
"Wait up Kami-yan," Motoharu said quickly catching up to Touma outside of the school. "Man, you really should wait for your friends."
"Yea," Touma said. "But after saying that stupid stuff in the classroom, I didn't want to get gawked at." He turned around and saw Pierce walk quickly up to them.
"Wow Kamijou," he said. "You run fast."
"It's your fault," Touma muttered.
"Don't be that way," Pierce said putting his arm around Touma's shoulders. "We are just trying to make sure you don't forget us when you finally complete your harem."
"For the last time," Touma said irritated. "I don't have a harem."
"Wow," Motoharu said looking ahead of them. "Who's that blonde?"
Touma turned to look. He only knew one blonde that stood out in his mind, Misaki? It wasn't her and, when he saw who it was, he froze. The blonde girl was in a beret, a black sailor top, a red skirt and had blue eyes. Touma recognized this girl as a friend of Shizuri Mugino. His blood froze when he remembered Shizuri had tried to kill him for no reason Touma could think of and he started sweating. This girl had chased him to try to allow Shizuri to kill him the first time they met. I believe Mugino called her Frenda. He also recognized her from earlier this week when he stood between her and Shizuri's ability. If Frenda was here, it probably meant she was looking for him. He sighed at his misfortune wondering why Frenda wanted to find him so badly.
Frenda noticed Touma and immediately walked up to him. She stared at him for a moment before pointing. "Finally, I found you. I need to talk to you… but it's not like I wanted to."
"Kamijou," Pierce cried out. "Who is this tsundere foreign loli that is obviously in love with you?"
Frenda snapped her head and glared at him angrily. Before Pierce could say another word she delivered a swift and unmerciful kick in between his legs. "A commoner like you should just be silent. Be lucky I don't kill you."
Touma watched Pierce fall like a sack of bricks. Normally, he would this find this hilarious but he had recently been hit like that too and understood the severity of the pain. He was also worried about why this girl wanted to talk to him. "Umm…Frenda?" he asked and to his relief saw her turn her head to him. At least I got her name right. "Can we talk somewhere else? We are getting a lot of looks." It had not escaped his notice a lot of people were watching them after Frenda had kicked Pierce.
She looked around and noticed the stares too. "Fine," she huffed. "Follow me." She marched out the school gate. Touma sighed and, against his better judgment, followed her.
Motoharu watched in interest as Touma followed the blonde girl then looked down at Pierce. "It looks like she is a yandere not a tsundere." Pierce groaned and Motoharu took that as him agreeing.
Accelerator had walked up near them shortly before Pierce had been swiftly defeated. He originally just thought the same thing as the other two. He even laughed slightly when Pierce fell while briefly thinking this girl wasn't too bad. Accelerator, however, was curious as to why Touma's face suddenly looked pale and worried. I wonder what the stupid hero did to make him scared.
Frenda was leading the way away from Touma's school but he still had no idea what she wanted. He thought about asking her, but he was worried she might stop and he wanted to make sure they had plenty of distance between themselves and his school. She didn't seem to be paying attention to him at all but focused on heading somewhere. After a couple minutes he finally asked, "What did you need to talk to me about?"
She stopped and looked around before answering. Looking satisfied she turned and stared at him. "Basically, Mugino wants you to join us at our safe house to talk."
Touma thought about this for a moment. "Why?" he asked figuring it was best to get as much information as he could, but he really didn't want to meet Shizuri.
"I don't actually know," she said narrowing her forehead thinking and tapping her head. "It doesn't seem like she wants to kill you right now."
"Well that's good," Touma said dryly. "I would hate for her to keep trying to kill me." He remembered something he wanted to ask. "Oh, are you ok from the other night? It was a pretty close call."
"W-what," Frenda stuttered turning red. She didn't expect him to actually be worried about her. After all, she was part of a group that just a few days ago tried to kill him. Is he really kind or just plain stupid? "Of course I'm ok," she said. "Basically, something like that wouldn't kill me. No one asked for your help."
"I know," he said grinning slightly. "I get told I get involved in things I shouldn't but I am glad you are ok." He always worried about others even if they didn't care. He would never be able to live with himself if someone got injured and he did nothing to help them.
Frenda took his words completely differently. Her face turned redder and she couldn't say anything. Instead, she decided on a simple action, kicking him in the shins. He cried out in pain and hopped on one foot. "Don't say such stupid things," she said turning away from him so he couldn't see her face. "Only idiots just rush into other people's problems."
She didn't have to kick me, he thought to himself rubbing his shin. He turned his mind back to the main situation. "So explain to this idiot," he said. "If I say I don't want to go meet her, I doubt you will just let me go?"
"Yes," Frenda said turning back to him now that she calmed down. "Basically, I was told I could use force to bring you back. If I don't, Mugino will get mad at me." She shivered slightly. "Then she will come for you personally."
"I figured as much," he sighed and resigned himself to his fate. "I'll go if she doesn't keep attacking me."
"No promises," Frenda said cheerfully glad she is going to accomplish her objective and partially because she wasn't forced to hurt him. She didn't mind killing, in fact, it made her feel weird in a good way. It was as if she was able to change someone's destiny into being fated to be killed by her. However, she did not want to kill this boy in front of her. If Shizauri ordered her to, she probably would, but she knew it wouldn't give her the same feeling. He did save her life and didn't even ask for anything in return. She really couldn't understand that. "Thanks for the help," she muttered softly with her back turned to him.
"Sorry," Touma replied. "I missed that."
"I didn't say anything," Frenda denied quickly. "Basically, don't talk till we get there." Touma shrugged and followed Frenda for awhile paying close attention to where they were going. They were walking down a well lit street with several high class buildings on both sides. He was actually surprised because he thought a safe house would be a small unassuming location, not a high class apartment. He followed Frenda into one as she swiped a card. They took the elevator up six floors and Touma followed her into an apartment.
Three other girls were in the apartment when they entered. Shizuri was sitting at the table on a laptop looking at something on the internet. A girl with short brown hair and wearing a fluffy dress was sitting on the couch watching an old black and white movie on the television. The third girl with black hair and wearing a track suit was sitting at the table opposite of Shizuri laying her head on the table with a half full glass of tea in front of her. All three of them turned their heads when they entered. "I brought him like I said I could," Frenda bragged.
"Good job Frenda," Shizuri said staring at Touma. "Judging by the fact he is not trying to escape, I assume you told him about me?" Frenda nodded. "Good, that saves time. Chasing him would have made me irritable."
"So Kamijou," the girl on the couch said. "Did she super kiss you to get you to come?"
"Kinuhata!" Frenda yelled. "Shut your mouth." Frenda threw herself on the couch next to Saiai and looked between Touma and Shizuri.
"How do you know my name?" Touma asked. "And while we are on the topic, how did you know where I went to school?"
"Easy," Shizuri said the corners of her mouth twitching into a slight sneer. "The Railgun called you Touma. So with your name, and physical description, I found your file."
"But those files are suppose to be classified," Touma said wearily.
"Oh they were," she replied. "But I have contacts. It wasn't cheap but it was definitely worth it."
"So you know about me," Touma sighed. "What do you possible want with this Kamijou?"
"I figured you could answer some questions for me," she said leaning back in her chair. "I looked at your level 0 file and your level 5 Kami file. The Kami one is obviously fake, hastily made and full of holes, if you look closely. Your level 0 file is wrong but for a different reason. Takitsubo here," she gestured to the girl with her head on the table who was staring in Touma's direction, who seemed to not be focusing on anything specific, "Can track AIM fields and she verified you don't have one like what is in your file. However, you have the ability of negation, so my first question is, does your power not generate an AIM field?"
Touma sighed, he knew he shouldn't tell everyone about the specifics of his ability, especially with the Anti-Aim field, but he could just tell her what he used to tell everyone. "My ability is called Imagine Breaker and it does negate abilities as you saw," he said and she nodded. "I did not develop this ability in Academy City, I was born with it. So it is probably not a scientific ability and doesn't have an AIM field."
"Sounds like a gemstone," Shizuri said thoughtfully not taking her eyes off Touma.
"I have heard of that term before," Touma said confused. "But what is a Gemstone."
"A Gemstone is someone who was born with an ability they can control without the use of science," Frenda piped up from the couch. "There is only a small number in existence so they are really valuable."
"Really," Touma said looking at his hand. "I knew my hand was different but didn't really think too much of it."
"Different doesn't begin to cover it," Shizauri said a little irritated. "You verified something for me. I didn't think an ability would be limited to one body part but after our fight I guessed yours was. It was able to stop my Meltdowner like it wasn't even there. Oh, out of curiosity, why did you jump between me and Frenda when you could have easily dodged it and got rid of a potential enemy? None of us were obviously going to help you."
Touma frowned at her and she raised her eyebrow in response. "Why did I help someone?" he asked a little confused. "I don't need a reason to help someone. She was in danger…"
"No I wasn't"
"Shut up Frenda."
"…and I had the power to help her." Touma continued. "I would not have been able to live with myself if I didn't save someone when I had the power to."
"Hahaha," Saiai said almost falling off the couch laughing. "He is super just playing the hero."
"Why are you laughing?" Touma asked irritated.
"Because no one does anything for nothing," Saiai stated simply. "You must have thought you could super get something in return. Maybe you wanted her to notice you?" She winked boldly at him.
"Basically that didn't happen!" Frenda yelled next to her.
"She has a point," Shizuri said examining Touma closely. "The world isn't so kind for people to just help others for nothing. Did you want to flirt with us as the Harem King, or did you think saving her would cause me to let you go?"
"Not at all," Touma denied shaking his head. "I didn't think about any of that. I just moved by reflex to protect her. Even if all of you are attractive, I didn't do it to get thanks…." He trailed off realizing what he said by accident. It was true though, now that he was able to look at them in a brightly lit room, all four of those girls were quite attractive. "I would help anyone," he added deliberately not looking at any of them in the eye.
The girls stared at him for a moment. Frenda blushed heavily and looked away pouting to hide it. Saiai just stared at him in surprise but she smirked when Touma looked uncomfortable. Rikou eyes widened slightly in surprise but overall her expression did not change. Even Shizuri raised an eyebrow at his response. "So if I was in trouble," Shizuri asked smirking slightly. "You would try to save me without any expectation of a reward."
"Of course," Touma said instantly without pausing to even consider anything else. "I would do anything I could to help." He stared at her seriously. The one thing he would never do is ignore someone who needed help.
Shizuri stared at the boy in front of her. All of them were use to compliments. Being attractive girls always caused a lot of losers to try to flirt with them and it usually ended badly for those guys. The boy in front of her, however, complimented them without flirting, but it was his eyes that interested Shizuri. She couldn't see any deceit in his eyes, only his honest conviction. She knew he was telling the truth and he would risk his life to save her if it came to that. What kind of world did he grow up in? These girls grew up in a world full of death and darkness so for him to be the opposite of them, he would have to have been raised in a world of light. But someone who was pampered in that life could never hold the conviction the boy in front of her held. His eyes held a strength she never saw except those surviving on the bottom. She briefly thought about telling him what her group ITEM did, but decided that was an unnecessary security risk at this time.
"Not bad," Saiai said nodding. "But if you were trying to target Mugino, you missed and hit Frenda instead. She's totally into you."
Everyone had turned to look at her when she spoke up then they all looked at Frenda who had turned scarlet. "B-b-basically," she stuttered. "She is a liar and nothing like that happened. He's too plain for a beautiful girl like me."
"Sorry for being plain," Touma said slightly annoyed and rolling his eyes.
"I meant…" Frenda started to say but stopped when she caught Saiai opening her mouth in response to her.
"So Kamijou," Shizuri said. "Do you have any plans this afternoon?"
"Ah what?" Touma asked surprised and the other three girl's heads swerved so fast their necks almost cracked to look at their leader.
Is she going to ask them out? All three girls thought this and were watching in apprehensive. Even Rikou was staring at Shizuri.
"I asked," Shizuri said getting slightly irritated Touma wasn't hanging on to every word she uttered. "What are you doing today?"
"Ah," Touma said scratching his head wondering where this was going. "Not really, I was going to try to finish something…but it's not really important." He hastily changed directions when he saw Shizuri's eyes narrow into a glare.
"Excellent," she said but her tone didn't have any happiness or excitement in it. It was like she was merely commenting on the weather. "Then why don't you hang out with us today since you have nothing to do?" Frenda and Saiai stared at Shizuri with their mouths opened in surprise. Rikou eyes were already wide but she actually looked focus on Shizuri. Touma was just staring at her in shock.
"What? Why?" he stuttered. Was she asking me on a date? This kind of flag doesn't happen, besides she's totally a yandere. I'll probably die if I say no and I'll probably die if a say yes. He had no idea why she would want to date him when, just days ago, she tried to kill him.
"It's quite simple," she said crossing her fingers together in front of her while staring at him. "You interest me. So by keeping you close I can learn more about you. Besides, I need to do some shopping and I could use someone to hold my bags." Touma gave an involuntary shiver. While on the outside it may have sound like a confession and a request for a date, her eyes said something completely different. She had the look of a predator stalking its prey. She was monitoring him to figure out what made him tick.
Touma sighed and out of the corner of his eyes he saw the other girls were staring at Shizuri in shock. "I guess," he said. "You are just planning to use me as a pack mule aren't you?"
Shizuri smiled. "Your observation skills are quite exceptional." She stood up and flicked her hair behind her with her hand. "Okay," she said looking at the other girls. We are going." Everyone got up obediently but, by the looks on their faces, everyone was still surprised by this turn of events. She led the way out of the apartment. While what she told Touma was true, there was more to her plan to have him close to her. He had the strength to continue to look her in the eye and could defy her demands if he wanted to. His lackluster responses and constant sighing was proof of this. When he spoke to her she felt a weird feeling in her stomach and she was determined to know why. She was going to put him under careful observation for as long as it was needed.
Saiai left the apartment after grabbing something off the table. Frenda followed but gave a quick look back at Touma. When he caught her eye she blushed and looked away immediately. Touma shrugged and left too with the last girl close behind him. He could still feel her gaze on him as they left the apartment complex and finally he turned around. "Umm," he asked. "Why are you staring at me so intensely?"
She tilted her head to the left like she was confused by his question. After a moment she answered, "It's nothing…" She stopped staring at him and walked by. She didn't like to talk a lot but she was also interested in why her ability could not gather any information from him. However, she did not want him to think she was stalking him without a real reason so she decided to keep her mouth shut. There was no need to start unnecessary conversations anyways.
Shizuri led the way to a huge mall Touma had never been in. The people shopping where obviously wealthy and he felt completely out of place. He thought Shizuri might have brought him here just to make him feel uncomfortable for her own amusement. For a moment he caught her glancing back at him and smirking. She did! Touma thought bitterly. For the most part it wasn't too bad. The girls went to several stores that sold outrageously expensive clothes, but he was able to just wait outside with their bags. Most of the stores had seats outside of them, so it wasn't too bad. For some reason Frenda seemed to like the displays near the window and he often saw her examining clothes within his line of sight. He had the feeling she was glancing at him more often then necessary.
The last store was obviously a ploy by Shizuri to destroy what was left of his dignity. He was already holding about 10 bags as the girls moved from store to store, but now, he was adamantly refusing to go near the next location. It was a very provocative underwear store he had never seen before. This time he definitely saw Shizuri smirk at him before she walked in. Frenda gave him a slight wave before she went in while Saiai was eyeing them both with interest. Rikou followed but seemed to just drift along with them without being completely aware of where she was. Touma sighed and sat on a bench with the bags next to him and stared at the ceiling. He tried not to think of which store he was outside of.
"Could this get any more embarrassing?" he muttered to himself.
"Touma?" a very surprised voice exclaimed from behind him.
When he turned around and saw who it was, he realized the universe was once again out to get him.
Mikoto rushed out of school early. She was able to convince her teacher she wasn't feeling well and snuck out of class before the final bell. She knew there was going to be trouble for doing this, but she heard Misaki was going to sneak out early to meet Touma too. There was no way she was going to let her monopolize him. Mikoto's only option was to get to his school before or the same time as Misaki. Luckily Tokiwadai wasn't to far away from Touma's school but she still had a decent run ahead of her. When she finally got there it was only 10 minutes after school let out. If she was lucky Touma would still be here. Mikoto smiled slightly seeing a familiar blonde hair girl standing near the school gate waiting. Misaki did not appear to notice her yet, so Mikoto snuck up on Misaki, leaned up against the wall behind her, and asked. "So, what are you doing here?"
Misaki jumped and Mikoto's grin widened. "Why Misaka-san," she said in fake politeness but Mikoto saw a vein twitch in anger. "I am simply here waiting for a friend of mine. Why are you here?"
"Same reason," Mikoto said smiling insincerely. "I can't let him be alone with you too much. Who knows what you will try with him?"
"You make it sound like I'm horrible," Misaki said pouting. "We would only have clean wholesome fun."
"You probably have a warped definition of clean and wholesome," Mikoto replied.
Misaki's eyed narrowed. "Misaka-san," she said a little irritated. "It is up to him if I can be around him. You are not his girlfriend."
"Neither are you," Misaka snapped back. But I want to be. She wanted to yell at Misaki about her date with him on Saturday but she knew that would be stupid.
"Then maybe we should let him decide if you are going to be this way," Misaki said crossing her arms.
"Maybe we should," Mikoto said angrily then sighed. "I don't think it's really fair to him though to pressure him so much. He should be able to decide on his own."
Misaki sighed too. "For once I am going to agree with you." Both of them knew how kind Touma was and if they pressured him he would probably panic and flee. He was friendly with both of them and if he was forced to choose one of them it might jeopardize his friendship with the other. He probably would reject both of them just to try to remain friends with everyone.
"Misaki san, Shokuhou-san?" A familiar voice said from behind them and they turned to see Ruiko standing there looking surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Ah Saten-san?" Mikoto said surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Can't you tell Misaka-san?" Misaki said suddenly displaying her usual cheerful outwards appearance. "She is obviously here for the same reason as us." She turned to Ruiko. "You are here to see Touma right?"
"Ah yea," Ruiko said nervously. "I wanted to see if he was free to hang out and since class let out early I thought I would meet him before he left." Both Misaki and Mikoto could tell she was lying by the way a faint pink tinge appeared on her cheeks but they were kind enough not to say anything. Mikoto was just mainly against Misaki being too close to Touma while Misaki didn't really see Ruiko as a serious threat yet.
"I was actually thinking the same thing," Mikoto said. "I bet it would have been smarter to call ahead though but I thought a surprise would be fun."
"I haven't seen him yet," Misaki frowned. "I hope I didn't miss him." Mikoto and Ruiko turned to look at her and she looked up at the school.
"I bet I know why all three of you are here," an amused voice said form the school gate. They all turned and saw Jason looking at them while leaning on the gate. "You three are getting a lot of attention." He motioned to the group of guys looking at them and then pointed to a group of girls looking at them with jealousy.
"Hey Kagere-san," Ruiko said cheerfully. "Is Touma still here?"
"You missed him," Jason said shaking his head. "There was an interesting argument with his classmate and he rushed out as soon as class ended."
"Oh no," Misaki said holding up her hand to her mouth. "I wish I had gotten here sooner." She turned to Ruiko. "Since we are all here would you like to hang out this afternoon? I wanted to go shopping at this one mall for a new skirt."
"Oh sure," Ruiko said surprised but smiled. "Misaka-san, you should come with us." There was a brief moment of tension from both Misaki and Mikoto and even Ruiko felt it but she stared hopefully at Mikoto.
"Ok," Mikoto said deciding to smile at her friend. "I wanted to take a look for some new spring clothes."
"Glad that's cleared up," Jason said. "Have fun, I have to answer some questions now because of all of you."
"Why?" Mikoto asked.
"Don't ask," Jason responded sighing. He walked back through the school gate. All three girls looked at each other in confusion then they heard him shout, "They were here for Kamijou!" The sound that followed nearly blew their eardrums.
"KAMIJOU!" The voices were a combination of excitement, anger and jealousy.
"What was that?" Ruiko asked confused.
"I don't know but I think we should probably leave," Mikoto said wearily.
"I agree," Misaki said nodding. She did not like to be the center of attention but preferred to control things from the background. All three girls rushed off before there was more commotion. They finally stopped a couple blocks away to catch their breath, especially Misaki who looked like she ran a small marathon.
"You need to exercise more," Mikoto said smirking while watching Misaki.
"Some of us have more weight to carry," she replied while making a slight movement with her hand to her chest. A vein in Mikoto's head throbbed.
"Let's not fight," Ruiko said trying to avoid the argument beginning to brew. "I see what Touma and Kagere-san said about their school being interesting. I wonder why they acted like that."
"Who knows?" Mikoto said sighing. "I hope we don't become crazy when we enter high school." She and Ruiko laughed and even Misaki grinned grudgingly.
"Do you two want to get a quick snack before we head to the mall?" Ruiko asked. "I'm kind of hungry. I didn't have much lunch."
"That sounds great," Misaki said clapping her hands. "There is a new cake shop near the mall I wanted to go to. So we can stop there on the way."
"Cake does sound good," Mikoto agreed. "But won't Uiharu-san be sad we went without her?"
"Let's not tell her," Ruiko suggested. "She needs to eat fewer sweets anyways." All three of them laughed.
After a short time at the new cake shop, they moved to the mall. Mikoto and Ruiko were in awe at the size of the building and how high class it seemed. When they looked at Misaki, she did not appear to be phased by it at all. Since Ruiko was a level 0, she didn't receive a large stipend from the city but Mikoto and Misaki did. Mikoto however didn't really by fancy clothes. She preferred a slightly different kind of clothes that Kuroko often called childish. Most of Mikoto's money went to finding rare and valuable Gekota merchandise. They walked through a couple clothing stores while Misaki was looking at skirts. Ruiko could not believe the prices here and she realized the difference between her and girls who went to Tokiwadai. She glanced at Mikoto who was looking at some of the clothes with a bored expression on her face.
"Let's go check out the other shops," Ruiko suggested walking over to Mikoto. "The one over there seemed to have some nice dresses." Mikoto agreed but before they could head out on their own Misaki walked up disappointed.
"They still don't have what I am looking for," she said dejected.
"I'm sure you will find it eventually," Ruiko said encouragingly.
"It can't be," Mikoto said surprised and the other two girls looked at her. She was looking toward a store selling adult underwear for only people with tastes like Kuroko, as no normal person could be caught wearing it.
"What is it Misaka-san?" asked Ruiko.
"The guy over there," she said pointing. "Doesn't he look like Touma?" They could only see his back and there was a large pile of bags next to him, but the spiky black hair looked like him.
"Can't be," Misaki said frowning. "I mean it looks like him but he wouldn't come and ship here."
"Could he be with someone?" asked Mikoto. Before she could say anything else, Ruiko walked forward toward the boy.
"Touma?" she asked surprised. When she got close she was sure it was him. The guy turned around when she called out to him.
Touma turned around and saw Ruiko walking toward him with a surprised look on her face. He panicked for a moment. He was sitting in front of a very provocative women's undergarment store with several bags of women clothes next to him. In addition, he was being dragged around by four very attractive girls. Ruiko was pretty level headed so he might be able to explain the situation without anything getting out of hand. He opened his mouth to explain when he saw two familiar girls following Ruiko and his heart sank.
"Touma," Mikoto said also surprised looking at him. "What are you doing here?"
"We were looking to meet you after school," Misaki added. "But Kagere-san said you left immediately after class ended."
"It is a long story," Touma said sighing. "And I'm not even sure how this happened."
"That's not a very nice thing to say Kamijou," a voice said from behind them and Misaki and Mikoto froze and slowly turned to see Shizuri walking toward them followed by three other girls "We simply invited him and he accepted." There was a look of slight amusement on her face at his predicament but also disdain when she looked at Mikoto and Misaki.
Mikoto had seen all the girls behind Shizuri before. She knew the blonde haired girl was named Frenda but she didn't know the other two. Last time they met, before the bridge incident, they tried to kill her, so they did not have a very good relationship. "I doubt that," Mikoto said looking at her with an equal amount of disdain. She still hadn't forgiven her for almost killing Touma on the bridge. "I bet you blackmailed him."
"Shizuri Mugino," Misaki said narrowing her eyes. "It has been awhile. You are still the same as ever."
"Not long enough," Shizuri said glaring at Misaki before turning to Mikoto. "A brat like you wouldn't understand, but I did not do anything. The person who invited him was Frenda. I believe she has a thing for him."
"Mugino!" Frenda cried and Touma's ears turned red. "Basically, that's not it."
Mikoto turned to Touma. "So you just follow any girl that says she likes you?" she asked slowly.
"It's not like that," Touma denied then turned to Shizuri. "Quit saying things that will make people misunderstand."
"I have no idea what you mean," Shizuri replied simply.
"Why are you even hanging around him?" Misaki asked stepping forward. "You are not the type of person who likes to be associated with guys."
"You seem to be misinformed," Shizuri said with a smirk. "That is quite unusual for you." Misaki glared at her. "Let's just say he interests me in more ways than one so I like to keep him close by." All the girls, including Frenda, Saiai, and Rikou stared at her.
Even Touma was confused. Did she just say she likes me?
Ruiko had been quite because of the think tension in the air but she got the courage to speak up after Shizuri's comment. "So you like him?"
Shizuri turned slowly and look at the black hair girl in front of her. She did not know who this girl was but the girl seemed to know him. She watched the girl's expression turn slightly nervous under her glare. "He interests me," she said slowly. "That is all. I don't know who you are but as you can see we are talking. So why don't you be a good girl and leave before you get hurt." It was true she was interested in him but she got slightly irritated when she found another girl who seemed to be near Touma.
"Hey," Touma said irritated. "Don't talk to my friend that way."
"Touma," Mikoto said suddenly. "Why don't you come with us instead of hanging around those people?"
"I agree," Misaki said giving Shizuri a glare.
"Why are you even here?" Frenda said speaking up. "Basically, he is with us and you can wait till we are done."
"Wow," Saiai said to Rikou. "He is super popular with the girls. Even Mugino might be into him."
"Good luck…" murmured Rikou.
"Frenda has a point," Shizuri said. "He is carrying our merchandise." To illustrate the point, she added another bag next to him she acquired from the store she just left. "I suppose we can let you have him after we get back. Assuming he wants to go with you."
"Don't just go using him as a bag boy," Misaki and Mikoto said at the same time as Shizuri watched them. Touma looked back and forth between them and he wasn't sure how to diffuse this situation and he was worried this was going to erupt into violence. To make matters worse, another individual decided to join them.
"What the f&#$ is this?" a mocking voice said. "A level 5 family reunion without me, I'm hurt." Everyone turned and saw the white haired boy, Accelerator, walking toward them smirking in amusement but his smirks always made him look slightly insane. "If it is the third, fourth, and fifth rates all in one spot, along with the f&$^#$ hero."
"Accelerator," spat out Shizuri. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh you know," Accelerator said waving his hand. "Just doing whatever I want, cleaning up trash on the streets," he grinned clearing meaning something else, "and overall just being the best. I see the third and fifth are still always around that guy."
"This doesn't concern you Accelerator," Mikoto said glaring at him.
"I beg to differ," he replied. "You see, I need him to do something for me and he agreed. So because he was taking too damn long I came to forcefully drag him back to fulfill his end of the deal. Of course," he looked at Shizuri's group then back to Mikoto and Misaki, "if anyone gets in the way, I might have to use force to remove them." His evil grin widened.
Touma had no idea what Accelerator was talking about. He didn't remembering promising to help him with anything but then something inside of his mind clicked. Was he helping me get out of this situation?
"Why should I listen to you?" Shizuri said. "Maybe I want to kill you right now." The atmosphere changed considerably and the girls behind her tensed up to prepare for a fight. Misaki reached into her purse and grabbed a remote while Mikoto crackled slightly. Ruiko took a step back and Touma stood up and got between her and the rest of the group.
"I suppose you could try," Accelerator said sounding bored. "But you should know by now how futile that is. I could crush you easily and even if this mall is destroyed in the process, I won't get in any trouble. You on the other hand would be dead or locked away for life if you get lucky. After all, before me, you are just trash."
Shizuri glared at him. She hated this but had to admit he was right. Accelerator was in a league all of his own. If he wanted to, he could have everyone there killed and think nothing of it. Even with the third and fifth there helping, she knew they couldn't beat him. She glared at him then looked over at Touma, who didn't seem to be worried about Accelerator's rampage. He was focusing on protecting the girl she didn't know. "Tsk," she made a noise with her mouth.
"My logic is always impeccable," Accelerator said laughing while turning around. "Let's go," he said to Touma. "My time is too valuable to waste it here talking to trash." He walked away and Touma gave a slight shrug to the girls and followed.
"You still want to fight?" Mikoto asked Shizuri. "It seems like Accelerator took your bag boy away."
"Of course," Frenda said. "Basically, if he didn't show up we would have taken you down and we still can."
"Shut up Frenda," Shizuri said. "We have no reason to stay now. All of you grab our stuff and let's go. We wasted too much time on these brats." The three girls grabbed the bags Touma left on the bench and they all followed their leader as she left the mall.
"What was that about?" Ruiko asked looking at Misaki and Mikoto.
"We have a complicated history," Mikoto sighed.
"If she likes Touma too," Misaki said frowning slightly. "He could be in trouble. She is not the nicest person and won't stop until she has what she wants."
"Tell me about it," Mikoto said. "I didn't think she would be into guys like him. I don't know much about Frenda, if she likes him too." Every girl he meets seems to fall for him. Only Kuroko is immune to his charms. I can't really talk though because I fell for him too.
"Well," Misaki said turning to Ruiko. "After that tense meeting, I think some tea is called for to calm my nerves. Would you like to join?"
"Sure," Ruiko said. "That sounds great."
Mikoto sighed and followed them knowing whatever Accelerator had planned with Touma, Accelerator wouldn't let her interfere.
Touma followed Accelerator out of the mall. He had no idea what Accelerator wanted but he felt that without his interference the situation would have gotten messy. Come to think of it, why was he even there? During the conversation it felt like Accelerator had some of his old personality but for some reason, to Touma, it also felt kind of forced."Hey Accelerator," Touma said.
"What?"
"Why did you help me?"
"Help you?" Accelerator scoffed. "Why would I help you? I happen to be passing through and saw several level 5s arguing in front of you. I simply walked up to make them understand they are all lower beings before me. Besides, I don't like the fourth rate and it gave me another great chance to make fun of the third rate." Accelerator wasn't going to tell him he followed because he was interested in why Touma looked afraid when following the blonde girl.
"Well thanks anyways," Touma said. Something didn't quite add up with what Accelerator said. He didn't seem like a person to buy stuff from a high end mall. From what Touma saw, he usually wore cheap shirts and drank canned coffee while eating out a lot. "Even if you didn't mean to help me you did, so if there is anything I can do to repay it just let me know."
"Like there is anything you could possibly do for…" Accelerator stated to say but then stopped. Something came to his mind that has caused him a lot of problems in the past and he might be able to use the guy in front of him to solve it. He could solve a lot of problems with a little violence, but this one unique situation could not. "Actually there is something you could do for me," Accelerator said slowly as the idea formed in his mind.
"Sure, what?" Touma asked.
Accelerator sighed. He hated to ask for this but he couldn't take much more of this problem. It caused too many headaches with his everyday life. "It involves Last Order."
"Why, is something wrong with her?" asked Touma worried.
"No," Accelerator said. "I need you to teach her how to cook."
"What?" asked Touma thinking he heard wrong.
"Teach the brat how to cook," Accelerator spat out irritated. "I am tired of coming back to the apartment and seeing it fill with smoke or some charcoaled remains of what was once food. The problem is she won't give up and keeps trying without improving. It's not like anyone else in there can cook and Worst just teases her more while gives incorrect instructions. She won't let me teach her how saying how she wants to cook lunch for me or something. Anyway, if you can teach her how to cook so I could eat something once in awhile from her that is fit for human consumption, consider your debt cleared. Otherwise she continues to cry all the time that she failed."
Touma looked at him in surprised but figured it could have been a lot worse. "Okay sure," he replied. "I'm not the best cook but I can teach her a few things."
"Good," Accelerator said then walked off on his own waving slightly with his right hand as a sign the conversation was over. Touma watched him leave and felt a small smile form.
He may act tough but he really cares for Last Order. He felt his phone buzz and when he looked at it he found a message form Mikoto. He felt something in the pit of his stomach but opened it anyways.
I don't know why you were with Shizuri Mugino but I am sure there in a logical explanation. I expect you to tell me Saturday. Remember 10 o'clock and if you are late I definitely won't forgive you.
The next day after school Touma, Jason, Motoharu, Pierce, and Accelerator met at Jason's apartment to discuss their game progress. They decided it was the best place to hang out with a group of people because he lived alone. Motoharu had his sister, Accelerator lived with a couple people, Pierce's dorm was small, and Touma refused for them to even consider his dorm room. Everyone except Touma managed to complete a run through the game and none of them got close to all 250 girls. They were all sitting in the main room relaying their information and conquests while Touma tried to finish.
Touma was really far behind and he didn't get to play much during school today either. For some reason everyone in the school found out three girls came to meet him yesterday and were waiting outside the gate for awhile plus Frenda who picked him up moments before. He did not know who spread the information Misaki, Mikoto, and Ruiko were waiting for him but he wished them nothing but ill. He was forced to answer so many questions that he couldn't play the game.
Motoharu was examining Pierce's game. "Only 18 girls?" Motoharu asked. 'What were you doing? You only got the loli's and a couple bunny girls. You were supposed to try to get all 250."
"I got the ones I liked most first," Pierce said. "How was I supposed to know focusing on them would remove the other routes? Besides, you are one to talk. You only got four, the younger sister and three maids. You didn't even try."
"After I got her," Motoharu snapped back. "None of the other girls came anywhere close to her beauty. The only thing left was maids to take care of us. Maybe you forgot the true purpose of these games."
"Both of you are idiots," Accelerator said leaning back in his chair. He was not keen in trying to play that game again.
"How many did you get Accel-kun," Motoharu asked.
"He got 49," Jason said looking at Accelerator's game. "Let's see the girls he got where…loli's, older sister, several tsunderes and yanderes, wow the teacher too nice, childhood friends, and some random ones I think he just accidently got."
"Ah just below 20%," Pierce sighed. "I guess the vacation is out of our league unless somehow Kamijou beats the game in the first pass. Even Jason only got 153, which is really good, but still not nearly close enough."
"I'm trying," Touma said. "But I keep dying."
"What?" Motoharu asked confused. "You don't die in this game. The only fighting part is when you have to rescue a girl from a robber or fight an overly attached ex-boyfriend. You don't die. You just get knocked out if you lose."
"Tell that to the stupid game," Touma replied through gritted teeth.
"Let me see," Jason said swiping the game out of Touma's hand and examining it. "What the…?" Everyone turned and looked at him as Jason was going through the log in the game looking at past events and girls. "You can really die in this game. That's weird in a dating game. There are 250 girls in this game correct?"
"Yep," Pierce said. "The design was for this town to have 250 girls and all of them could get their hearts captured by you."
"Ok," Jason said wide eyed still looking at Touma's screen. "Well it seems like Touma captured the hearts of 251 girls and now all the males in the town are trying to kill his character."
"What?!" Motoharu and Pierce shouted while standing up and bolting to look over his shoulder.
"Who's the 251 girl?" Pierce asked.
"Looks like it is the goddess of the town," Jason said. "Did the contest require the user to beat the game of just collect all the girls?"
"Just collect all the girls," Motoharu said looking at his phone.
"Let's send this in then," Jason said. "He got all the girls."
"Fine," Touma said. 'Hand it here and I'll put my information in." Before Jason could pass it to him, Pierce and Motoharu jumped between them.
"There is only one name you can use for it," Motoharu said. "Jason, put in his true name." Touma didn't know what he meant but knew it couldn't be good. Jason appeared to understand and started filling out the information. Touma stood up to try to stop them before anything bad could happen but Motoharu and Pierce held him back.
"Done," Jason said tossing the game to Touma who opened it and looked in horror at the submission.
"DAMN IT GUYS!" he roared. "You don't submit stuff like this under Kami the Harem King."
"Why not," Accelerator asked bored. "It seems like after yesterday you really can't deny it any longer." Touma glared at him while Accelerator smirked.
"So Kami disease has spread to the 2-D world," Motoharu said shaking his head.
"Curse you Kamijou," Pierce yelled punching Touma in the stomach. "You just can't keep the girls away."
Late that night, long after everyone went to sleep, a very ominous meeting was taking place on top of a tall building overlooking the city. Six individuals had formed a circle and were talking. The air around them was many degrees colder than normal for this time of the year. All six of these individuals were wearing cloaks. They did not have masks but a couple of them were familiar as they had entered Academy City, illegally, before.
"So is it finally time for us to make our move?" a very attractive women with long wavy black hair said.
The punk wearing a leather jacket with short spiky brown hair nodded. "We can finally move out tomorrow. We have our targets."
"You know if we fail I can't remain in this city," a man said while pushing his glasses up his nose. The tip of his head was bald and the remainder of his hair was white. He was holding a bag of chips and was eating them periodically during their conversation. "There is too much suspicion on me already."
"Yea yea," the punk said. "You told us several times. It just got a little more complicated because the Saint and another magician are here."
"That is easy enough," The man with grey hair slicked back and a monocle said. "We can simple cause two distractions on opposite sides of the city and they will rush to investigate."
"Let me kill the Saint," a women with red hair said.
"No," the man with the monocle said. "Our job is to capture the targets, not fight extended battles. We need to act swift and efficient this time to take what we want."
"Infiltration is easy," another woman said. She looked completely ordinary except she had short black hair that covered her eyes. "I can get target number one."
"I'll take target number two," the punk said.
"I will convince target three to come with us," the attractive women said. "It is much less barbaric then fighting one of the magicians."
"That leaves me with target four," the man with glasses confirmed.
"Then I'll take the Saint…" the women with red hair said but she was interrupted by the man with the monocle.
"No Wrath," he said. "You will get carried away with revenge on her. It is not time for that. I will take the Saint. You will take the other mage."
"Fine," she spat at him angrily. "I better get my revenge on someone at least."
"You know as well as I do," the monocle man replied looking slightly irritated at the women's reaction. "Our primary objective is to get the Imagine Breaker and his companions to come to us."
The punk grinned. "Glad everything is finally sorted out. Seriously this is such a pain to meet with all of you. Anyways, there is only one thing left to say besides fail and die." He paused while the rest of them looked at him.
"LET THE HUNT BEGIN!"
Wow this chapter was long. I wanted to finish several smaller side events along with the main event. Next chapter starts a major arc for this story so I can't really give much information down here. I did like writing this chapter even though it took awhile to write.
Feel free to leave a review, comment, suggestions, or idea. I love reading them.
Motoharu: Jason, you ever find out who Accel-kun was dating?
Jason: If we ignore Last Order and Worst, I have narrowed it down to three people. Hopefully I will have more soon.
Accelerator: All of you can go die.
Jason: Don't be that way, our readers want to know.
Accelerator: Tsk, maybe after next arc, IF I feel like it.
Mikoto: Has anyone seen Touma?
Me: Misaki was dragging him into a hotel last time I checked.
Mikoto: WHAT?!
Motoharu: Wow she can run fast.
Me: I wonder why. What could POSSIBLY happen in a hotel room with a male and female teenager alone together?
Last Order: They play Stratego, MISAKA says as MISAKA demonstrates her vast knowledge of teenage social interactions.
Me: Stratego is a really fun game.
Motoharu: Tournament?
Everyone: Sure.