Man these chapters are slowly getting longer over all. My original chapters were usually around 5-6k each. Then they started growing to 6-7k, now many of them are 8k+. It feels like it is getting easier to write these chapters. Must be all the experience doing this. Let's open with some interesting reviewer comments responses.
TheTrueMasterofTempest: Well duh, Accelerator is the greatest being in existence. Touma being mean? No idea how that could happen.
CD DC: Now he just needs a princess to fall for him and he can have his own country. Soon the entire world will be affected.
Guest: Touma is a game shark. He cheats and the only downside is the viruses cause bugs to happen in the matrix and make unavoidable things happen to him which he calls misfortune.
And everyone knows Touma cheated in the game. I'm sure he will regret entering that competition under Kami the Harem King. Anyway, back to the story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index or any of the characters.
Touma woke up early Saturday morning and just laid in the tub staring at the ceiling. The big day finally had come for him to have a real date with Mikoto. It was not just a punishment game, randomly meeting and hanging out, or trying to save someone. It was going to be just an actual normal date. He looked at the clock reading seven and knew he had to meet Mikoto at ten. He had to admit to himself, he was really nervous. It was easy to talk to Mikoto as a friend but he wasn't sure what it was going to be like on an actual date. He stood up and stretched. He did his morning routine and headed to the kitchen to make his and Index's breakfast.
Luck may have been on his side because last night Index said she was going out after breakfast to hang out with Last Order, so he did not have to worry about lunch for her. One thing he was really happy for was Index had made a friend around her age in Academy City. Not only did it mean she did not have to cling to him all the time, but he believed it was important for people to have friends. Last Order was really Index's second friend after Hyouka. Touma hoped Index would start getting use to Academy City now that she was making more friends. She still had almost no skill with any sort of technological devices, except her phone and television. After making breakfast and killing some time watching TV, he left well before the time he was suppose to meet Mikoto.
Maybe it was because he left extremely early or maybe it was because luck was finally on his side today, Touma met no misfortune on his route to the location he was suppose to rendezvous with Mikoto. It was almost nine and he sighed. Now I have to wait an hour. Past experience told him if he tried to do anything to kill even just a little bit of time, it would backfire and he would end up being late. He wiped his brow and realized he didn't check how hot it was going to be today but luckily he choose to wear a short sleeve white button down shirt over his orange undershirt. He looked around and saw a nearby vending machine. I might as well get something to drink while I wait. At least it isn't THAT machine. He walked over and was able to get a drink without any hassle. The day was looking good for him so far. He sipped his drink thinking, turned to head back to look at the meeting spot, and stopped. He looked at the person who just showed up and checked his watch. It was just slightly after nine, but Mikoto had arrived.
Mikoto had also been lucky today. When she woke up this morning, Kuroko was just beginning to head out. Kuroko told Mikoto yesterday she was responsible for helping Judgment monitor visitors since there were a lot of people coming from outside of Academy City to see the carnival. This meant Kuroko would not be able to follow her today. As long as Mikoto was careful, Kuroko would not find her with Touma. Mikoto looked at the time and saw it was about half past seven. She started digging through her clothes and holding them up in front of the mirror to find something suitable. She had worried so much last night about what they would do today at the carnival, she didn't stop to think what she was even going to wear. She briefly thought about wearing a dress but decided not to. We are probably going to walk around a lot so I should wear something more comfortable.
Normally Tokiwadai students were suppose to wear their uniform all the times while on the school grounds. This included the school dorms as they were considered part of the school. Most students wore them all the time because it was easier to just wear it after school then go all the way back to the dorms and change. Since Mikoto was going to leave the school grounds she would be able to wear casual clothes. She finally decided on a black off the shoulders t-shirt and then a blue denim skirt. She of course wore a pair of shorts under it but the skirt wasn't short enough for anyone to notice unless they purposely tried to look.
She looked herself up and down in front of the mirror. She smiled and twirled around making sure she looked ok then headed out of the dorm. She tried to avoid attracting any attention as she did not want anyone following her. She finally arrived at the meeting spot and, of course, Touma was not there. She glanced at her phone and saw the time was only slightly after nine. She sighed. I was so anxious I arrived almost one hour early. I really am an idiot now I'm going to look silly sitting here forever. I hope he comes soon I really want to see him. She gazed up the clouds lost in her thoughts as she waited for Touma to arrive.
Touma gave a quick look at the girl and verified it was indeed Mikoto. Wow, she's already here. Did she want to beat me that badly? Something told him that probably wasn't the case since it had been a long time since Mikoto tried to beat him at anything. He gave her a quick look over as she had not noticed him yet. She was wearing a black shirt that was cut to reveal more of her shoulders and a blue denim skirt. While it may not have been the most girly choice of clothing, the shirt was tight enough to show off her curves. The skirt was also a surprise since he expected her to wear shorts. It looks casual but has a really nice charm to them. I am so glad Aogami isn't here. He would lecture on this for an hour. He quickly finished his drink, threw it in the trash, and walked over to Mikoto. When he got close he called out, "Sorry, did you wait long?" He didn't want her to know he had been there the entire time.
She jumped and came out of her thoughts and looked him up and down examining his clothes. The shirt wasn't exactly the most romantic choice of clothing, but she had to admit he looked good in it. "No," she said. "I just got here. I'm glad to see you actually were able to get here on time."
"You make it sound like I'm always late," Touma replied grinning.
Mikoto raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Only most of the time," she said. "You seem to like to keep me waiting. Anyway, let's head to the carnival." She handed him a flyer about the carnival. "This is what I was planning for today."
"Looks fun," Touma said handing it back to her. "So we have a little bit of a walk then. Good thing it is a nice day."
"Yea," Mikoto said and they took off together. Though, it is always a good day when I'm with you. Her mind turned to something she had to ask him about. "I trust you…" she said hesitantly and Touma turned to look at her. "But what were you doing with Mugino Thursday?"
Touma sighed. He knew this was going to come up. "I'm not even sure myself. Frenda showed up at my school and told me Mugino wanted to see me. We moved out of earshot of everyone at my school, that's probably why you missed me, and she added Mugino would come searching for me personally if I didn't show. I figured I didn't have much choice but to follow." He frowned. "Funnily enough it didn't seem like she wanted to fight, but she somehow was able to look up my file and that is how she knew where I went to school."
"She acquired your file?" Mikoto said shocked. "She could get into a lot of trouble for that."
"I don't think she cared," Touma said and Mikoto grudgingly giggled. "Anyway, after trying to embarrass me a bit, she said she took an interest in me." He shrugged. "No idea what she meant but she kind of forced me to be her bag boy when you found me. Nothing else really happened." He purposely left out all the remarks about Frenda being in love with him since he thought the other girl was probably just making fun of them.
Mikoto looked at him suspiciously. If it wasn't Mugino, I would think he was being extremely dense. But she doesn't seem like the person to be attracted to someone, I doubt she even knows what being in love is. She probably just wants to know more about his hand. She eventually decided it wouldn't do any good to keep worrying about it. Touma wasn't the kind of guy to try to flirt with every girl he met. "Ok thanks for telling me," she said smiling at him. "I really appreciate you being honest with me."
When Touma saw her smile he felt butterflies in his stomach. He always thought Mikoto was beautiful when she smiled and he would do anything to protect it. He really didn't know what to say to her in response to that though. He finally settled on, "I wouldn't do anything to hurt you."
Mikoto turned bright red at his words and looked away from him. What did he mean by that? Did he mean he wouldn't go out with anyone else or he wouldn't lie to me? Ah, I'm freaking out over every little thing. CALM DOWN. She too k a few deep breaths and manage to quiet her mind but her face was still slightly red. "Thanks," she said softly but avoided looking right at him. Their talking died out for a little bit but then moved to more normal topics about their friends and school. Mikoto made sure she needled him about his school work since he was always so far behind. They started laughing a lot and the day started to pick up again.
As they approached the location of the carnival, they looked around. A large section of District 6, the recreational district, was fenced off and several open gates were beginning to allow people in. They got in line and waited. Touma glanced up and saw the price of admission and shook his head. Those prices are insane. I'm lucky I have money from those recent experiments. Then he noticed couples got a rather large discount. Coming together was a pretty good idea. He glanced at Mikoto, who was trying to see what he was looking at. She eventually noticed the sign of prices, turned red, and immediately looked away. She is really cute when she blushes. Touma was going to pay, but Mikoto literally pushed him out of the way with her elbow and paid.
She looked at him as they passed the gate. "It was my idea to come so I wanted to pay."
"Fine," he said rubbing his side. "But I pay next time."
"Oh?" she said grinning while nudging him with her elbow. "You sure there will be a next time? Not many people get to go on a date with the great Mikoto Misaka."
Touma looked at her and knew she was just teasing him. Maybe a little teasing her back won't hurt. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. She must have been so shocked by this he didn't feel any resistance. He grinned when he saw her face turn crimson. "And here I thought we would do something like this every day oh great Mikoto."
"Y-you idiot," she stammered. "W-what are you doing?"
"Hey you two!" a male's voice called out and they both stopped messing with each other and turned to look. A man was calling them over to his booth. They looked at each other, shrugged, and walked over to him. "Welcome you two," he said grinning boldly. "How would you two like to leave a picture at our couple's booth? You could win a fabulous prize."
"W-we aren't one yet…" Mikoto started to mutter but stopped when she saw one of the prizes. There was a large stuffed green Gekota doll as one of the prizes. She changed direction immediately. "What do we have to do and what are the prizes?" Touma raised an eyebrow at her but she was too busy staring at the doll to notice. He eventually noticed what she was staring at and sighed but still grinned.
"It's quite simple," the man said. "All you need to do is take a picture here," he pointed to a roped off section with a white background, "and we hang it up here. People who pass through can vote on their favorite couples. If you win you get this limited Gekota stuffed doll here. Second place is a Pikachu and third is the Wedding Bears." He pointed to two bears, one brown wearing a tux and one white in a dress. "You fill out this form and if you win, we will mail the doll to you just in case you can't stay till the end. Simple, right?"
"Let's do it," Mikoto said turning to Touma with fire in her eyes.
"Sure," he said. There was no arguing with Mikoto at this point. They quickly scribbled their information down and moved to take the picture. They both stood side by side in front of the man holding a camera. Both of them were slightly red and embarrassed.
"Come on," he said looking over his camera. "Don't look so stiff you two. Come on and have fun."
Touma looked down at Mikoto's serious expression and he could tell she really wanted to win the Gekota doll. He found himself relaxing because he was amused by her face as she tried to relax. He knew the only way to get them both to relax was to forget the camera was there. He took his right hand, wrapped it around her back, and put his hand on her side while pulling her close to him. She turned bright red and he knew he was slightly red too. Instead of looking at the camera he glanced down at her smiling and she looked up at him surprised. Slowly a smile appeared on her face as she looked up at him.
*Click*
"Perfect," he said taking the camera to his booth. "You both look amazing." He took the camera back to the booth, plugged it into a printer, and printed out two copies. One was large, he was going to hang it up, while the other copy was smaller. He gave them the smaller copy. "We will contact you if you win."
"Thank you," Touma said and Mikoto nodded in agreement. She was uncharacteristically silent. Touma hoped she wasn't too embarrassed, but he really wanted to help her win the doll because he knew how much she loved Gekota. Worse case she might shock me.
Shocking Touma was the furthest thing on Mikoto's mind right now. She was still embarrassed but her attention was focused on the picture she clutched tightly in her hand. Neither of them were looking at the camera but glancing at each other in it. They were still facing forward enough so you could see their faces, both were slightly red, but she saw the happiness in both of their eyes as they looked at each other. Is this what I look like when I am with him? She never saw herself when she was thinking of him but Kuroko would always seem to know when she met Touma before heading back to the dorm. Kuroko always said she looked happy and slightly red. She glanced at Touma who was looking at her slightly worried. He opened his mouth and Mikoto has a pretty good idea what he was going to say. "It's fine," she interrupted him. "Thanks to you we got such a good photo. We are sure to win first now."
"I hope so," Touma said. Not for me but for you. They started walking and taking a look around the carnival. The main event's first show wouldn't start until one so they had plenty of time to kill. "Oh," Touma said as something occurred to him. "What if someone we know sees the photo?"
Mikoto froze for a moment. She did not think of that. What if Kuroko sees it? Or even Misaki? She took a deep breath. "I'm sure it will be fine," she said trying to sound calm. "Kuroko, Uiharu, and Kagere-san, are all on duty and Saten-san said she will probably skip this carnival. I think we can risk it for Gekota."
"You really love that frog," Touma said laughing. "As long as my friends form school don't see it everything should be fine."
"Gekota is adorable," Mikoto said looking at him sternly as if she dared him to say anything bad about it. He laughed again.
The carnival was full of all sorts of games. While the shows were free to anyone who paid the admission price, the games still cost a little bit. People could win tickets to exchange for prizes at the main booths near the exits. Touma and Mikoto didn't know what prizes were available but they walked around and played a couple games. Touma was easily able to handle anything that relied on physical force. He rang the bell in the test of strength with a single swing of the hammer and was able to knock several heavy bottles with a single set of balls. Mikoto on the other hand could handle anything that required agility and skill. She excelled in shooting games and any games were they had to throw objects into or on other things. Most of these were kind of childish games, but they were having fun with a nice break from their normal school life and anything dealing with magicians or crazy experiments.
After they spent the rest of the morning playing games and gathering tickets, they started sampling all the exotic food. There was a lot of weird food from all around the world and they had a lot of fun sampling the most unusual foods they could find. It was probably a good thing they didn't know what some of the food was made of, like rocky mountain oysters and haggis, or even ask what was in it. Mikoto even tricked Touma into eating some fried escargot without telling him what it was. She was shocked when he said it was delicious and she forced herself to try some too.
"Onee-chan!"
Mikoto and Touma immediately spun around in panic. If Kuroko found them right now it would cause a lot of problems. However, it turned out to be a little girl running up to an older girl who looked like her sister. They should have realized it was Kuroko when chan was used instead of sama. The girl must have gotten lost because the older girl was reprimanding her about running off on her own. Both Touma and Mikoto sighed in relief and continued to sit and enjoy their weird collection of food, until they noticed the familiar Judgment member who found the girl. They both coughed on their food as Jason walked over to them waving.
"Hello Touma and Misaka-san," Jason said grinning. He had his Judgment band in plain sight. He usually tried to avoid wearing it. "Nice place for a date but you should hurry for the magic show. It fills fast so you will want to get in line early."
Mikoto instinctively wanted to deny this was a date but she stopped herself. It is a date and I want Touma to enjoy it with me. Luckily Touma was able to find words.
"Thanks," he said to Jason. "We were planning to get some dessert and head over there."
"I'll get the dessert," Mikoto volunteered standing up immediately. "I'll be right back." She ran off before anyone could object.
"I think she's embarrassed," Jason said grinning. "So how's the date going?"
"Pretty good," Touma replied honestly. "I hope the show is good too. Please don't tell everyone at school about this yet. I don't want to cause trouble for Mikoto."
"Yea no problem," Jason said dismissively. "I wouldn't do that."
"Who are you and what have you done with Jason?" Touma asked suspiciously and Jason laughed.
"I'm serious," Jason said and stopped laughing. "I know how important a date can be. It is one thing to make fun of you when you randomly meet girls, but if you work hard to get an actual date, nothing to be ashamed of."
"Well ok," Touma said surprised and suspicious, but still grateful. He had to admit to himself this was an actual date, so he could not deny that.
"Bit of advice for the show though," Jason said. "No matter what happens don't volunteer or let them volunteer you."
"Why?" Touma asked.
"Because your hand negates magic and they will not be happy if their spells fail."
"What…" Touma stopped and made the connection. "They are real magicians?"
"Yep," Jason said. "I met one of them. They are really cool so don't ruin their show. Anyway they don't mean any harm as they have done this show all over the world for years. Have fun with Mikoto. Let me know how far you get with her." He gave a big wink before waving and walked off. Touma just shook his head at him feeling Jason was still making fun of him.
"Hey," Mikoto said a couple minutes later bringing back some gelato. "You chase Jason away? Is he going to tell anyone?"
"I don't think so," Touma said. "He seemed like he was going to let us enjoy our date." Mikoto got slightly red when he said that word. "Oh and he mentioned the people in the magic show are real magicians."
"What?" Mikoto gasped mouth opened ignoring her dessert.
"He said they weren't evil," Touma explained. "He just advised I not volunteer because of my hand."
"Ah," Mikoto said calming down. "That makes sense. You would make them look pretty bad if you kept negating all their tricks."
They finished eating and joined the line beginning to form for the building in the middle of the carnival. It seemed the city modified this building to house the main magic show, since there were no available locations to set up a large enough tent. Because they arrived early, they manage to get good seats. The seats were arranged as a circular stadium. The center of the building was open for the performers while the seats completely circled it. There were doors leading to the center from four directions below the seats for what they assumed was for the performers to enter. Touma and Mikoto manage to get seats in the first row while grabbing some popcorn to eat while watching the show. The stadium slowly filled up while music played in the background. The building was huge and there was a ton of seats, but it seemed to fill up quickly. The lights dimmed down and they clapped with everyone else as a single man walked into the middle of the stage.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he cried as his voice echoed all over the building. "It is a pleasure to be invited to the legendary Academy City. We are most honored to be here. I, the ringmaster, welcome you all to one of the most mysterious and intoxicating performances in the world. What you see will shock and amaze you but remember, no matter what happens no one will get hurt. We are all professionals. NOW LET"S BEGIN!"
The audience started to clap then gasped as the ring exploded into fire. No one could see anything in the middle until the fire died down. A platform appeared in the middle supported by four elephants. On top of it, the ringmaster stood with his arms in the air. He was surrounded by two very large tigers. They circled around him and many in the audience gasped. They lunged at him as he leaped off the platform and floated in mid air. The music increased in volume and hundreds of colored lights turned on and shined all over the ring. From the ceiling, several ropes and trapeze platforms descended. The tigers on the platform walked around and suddenly stood up and several people emerged from the tiger costumes and jumped off on the platform and started swinging among the ropes. The ringmaster suddenly fell toward the ground and, right before he hit it, disappeared in a cloud of smoke only to reappear back on the platform.
Even in a city full of ability users, the performance in this magic show defied all explanation for most of the audience. The only reason Touma and Mikoto weren't astonished as much as everyone else was they knew it was all done by magic. However, they continued to enjoy the show the same way people enjoy movies with special effects. Because of the sheer number of people, neither of them were chosen to participate in the show. However, they both enjoyed it tremendously. The show lasted for an hour and when it ended everyone gave a standing ovation. As everyone started leaving all at once, the force of the crowd threatened to separate them. Touma was planning to hold Mikoto's hand but, before he could get the nerves, Mikoto had grabbed his hand tightly. He instinctively squeezed her hand back. He looked at her and saw her looking back into his eyes. Her face was quite red but she looked determine. They left the building together talking about the performance. Even after they left the building neither of them let go on each other.
"I have to admit," Touma said. "Even knowing it was done with real magic, it was still a great show."
"I need to ask you," Mikoto said smirking slightly. "Was this your first time meeting magicians that did not end in trouble?"
Touma thought about this for a second, sighed, then grinned. "I think so, if you count Jason being nothing but trouble."
Mikoto laughed loudly at this. "I really liked the way the volunteers had no idea what happened even when they disappeared in the lockboxes."
"Yea," Touma laughed too. "It is hard to explain real magic if you aren't familiar with it."
"Want to go see if any of the bands are any good?" Mikoto asked. She didn't know what kind of music he liked.
"Sure," Touma replied. "I like listening to live bands. They give it more personality then when they record." Mikoto smiled and pulled him after her as they headed to the band stage. They still hadn't let go of each other since they left the magic show.
I really need to calm down, she thought to herself when she realized this. She started to panic and took several deep breaths to calm down. I'm having a lot of fun just being with him. I hope he is too. She looked up at him and he was nodding his head slightly to the music. She smiled glad he was enjoying himself. His hand felt warm in her hand and she could swear she felt his heartbeat. The band was really good and she soon found herself leaning up against Touma enjoying the moment. Eventually, the band stopped and there would be a short intermission before the next band started.
"Wow it's hot," Touma said wiping his forehead. "It's still spring and shouldn't be this hit for another couple months. Want to get some drinks?"
"Yes I do," Mikoto agreed feeling the heat in more ways than one. They moved away from the stage and bout some drinks and sat on a bench under a tree enjoying the shade. "Are you having fun?" Mikoto eventually asked nervously.
"A lot actually," Touma said leaning back and looking at her. "This has been one of the most fun days I have had in a long time." He was actually being completely honest. As he got to know Mikoto more, he found her less and less prone to violence. He still remembered when they first met and he thought she was incredibly violent and quick to anger. Now, she was one of his best friends. In fact a part of him felt a little more strongly than even that.
"That's good," Mikoto said softly blushing. Then she muttered, "I hope we can do this all the time…" However, the last part was interrupted by an uninvited guest.
"Tooouuummmaaa, Miiiissssaaakkkaa-saaaan!"
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME, Mikoto fumed in her head while turning. Misaki ran up to them and sat on Touma's other side grabbing his arm and putting it into her chest. "Why are you here Shokuhou-san?" she asked angrily.
"Hmm," Misaki said playfully pretending to think. "This is such a lovely carnival to enjoy with so many interesting sweets. You know I had to come. Then I saw my beloved Touma and had to embrace him." To demonstrate her point she wrapped his arm around him before he could do anything.
"He's with me," Mikoto fumed grabbing Touma's other side.
"Poor him," Misaki said looking at Mikoto. "I'm sure he would like to spend the rest of the day with me."
Touma had no idea what happened and by the time his brain was able to process this information, Mikoto and Misaki were glaring daggers at each other. What do I do?
"Out of everyone in Judgment," Kuroko fumed. "Why do I have to be paired up with you?"
"Because even the higher ups like to mess with you," Jason sighed but still grinned at her. "Believe me; listening to your constant complaining is music to my ears."
"Humph," Kuroko said irritated walking next to him. "You are lucky to just be in my presence. I would rather be with my lovely onee-sama today. Why did they want us to patrol in groups now?"
Jason's grin widened slightly at her onee-sama remark, but then answered her question. "Way too many people show up for this event than originally expected. They figured it would be easier to handle things with small groups. Mostly, it's been lost kids and an occasional drunk." They followed their patrol route which looped around near the main entrance.
"So how's your relationship with Uiharu?" Kuroko asked nonchalantly.
Jason raised an eyebrow at her. "Wow Shirai-san," he said shocked. "I had no idea you cared so much."
"Shut up," Kuroko retorted angrily. "She's my friend and you better treat her right."
"I know," he said seriously and Kuroko seemed mollified. They walked in silence for awhile looking around for any disturbances when something caught Kuroko's eye. She stopped and walked toward a stand full of pictures where people could vote for their favorite couple. Jason was interested in what caught her attention and followed. When he got close, he smirked but then realized what the obvious reaction was going to be. Kuroko was looking at a picture of Mikoto and Touma holding each other close and looking at each other with very passionate eyes. Jason turned to watch in amusement as Kuroko's face became pale and horrified then quickly changed to red and furious.
"T-THAT APE," she roared and everyone nearby jumped in surprise. Her murderous aura exploded and everyone near her except Jason took several spots backwards. "How dare he defile onee-sama?! I'm going to kill him!" Before anyone could react to her outburst, she teleported away to look for Mikoto and Touma.
Jason sighed and shook his head. Now I have to report her or chase after her. He thought about it for a second then turned to the man operating the booth who was looking in the direction Kuroko disappeared. "I want to vote for that couple."
"Excellent choice," he said. "They were one of the first couples this morning. A lot of pairs tried to differentiate themselves by kissing passionately but since everyone started doing it, they stand out more. They really have that pure innocent love going."
"Tell me about it," Jason said laughing. "I know them personally."
"Your girlfriend seemed upset when she saw them," he remarked.
"She actually hates my guts," Jason replied snickering.
"Really?" he said surprised. "You two look great together."
Jason laughed again, voted, and then left to find Kuroko. How on earth does Kazari control this girl?
"Let's go there next MISAKA says as MISAKA points excitedly." Last Order pointed to a shaved ice stand.
"Yay," Index said following her lead. "I love shaved ice." Both of the young girls ran toward the shop to stand in line to get their cold treat since the day was getting hot. Shortly behind them Accelerator was walking behind them grumbling to himself.
"Do those two ever run out of energy?" he muttered watching the two girls closely. Earlier this week Last Order had returned home with a flier in her hand. She informed everyone a carnival was coming to Academy City and she wanted to go. Aiho told Last Order she was too busy with Anti-Skill duties to take her. Aiho had also grounded Worst from going because she tried to teach Last Order some very inappropriate things best left unmentioned. Last Order was almost in tears when Accelerator returned and she looked at him and begged to go. He really couldn't say no to that face and grudgingly agreed to take her. He felt a lot better when she stopped crying and broke into a huge smile.
Shortly afterwards, Last Order told him she wanted to bring a friend with her. Since he knew she only had one close friend, the nun who hung around the hero, he agreed. When they arrived at the carnival the first thing the nun wanted to do was eat. This trait of hers still baffled him. He could not understand how she could eat so much food. Even Last Order was amazed at the quantity Index could consume. It sort of became a game for her to try to keep up with Index's food consumption, a game that almost made her sick. Accelerator brought a bit of money so the food wasn't a problem, he simply didn't like to be out in crowded noisy areas. The only thing that made this worthwhile for him was how much fun Last Order seemed to be having. She was out eating new food, watching magic shows, and hanging out with a friend. This wasn't something she did normally. He stood in line behind them as they talked a bit about the magic show they just saw.
"The show was awesome MISAKA says and MISAKA tries to express how amazing the show was."
Index nodded. "Those Russian Orthodox magicians really know how to put on a show. They were really able to use magic efficiently so you could barely notice the mana from the runes they had hidden." Last Order tilted her head in slight puzzlement. She didn't know about magic at all.
Accelerator on the other hand looked at Index. So they were real magicians? That makes sense. Even with smoke and mirrors with abilities, some of those combinations would have still been impossible to pull off. He had come to accept magic as a possibility after the battle with Sloth and discussions with Jason. However, to him, magic was just abilities that followed a different set of rules he did not know yet. After they all got their flavored ice, Last Order and Index ran to play some more carnival games. He stood back slightly and watched them have fun. Occasionally, they would rope him into helping them win a game, but for the most part he let them have fun while he supervised.
"What's up Accelerator?"
Accelerator turned to see Touma walking toward him waving in greetings. "Babysitting the brat and your nun. What are you doing here?"
'Ah that's right," Touma said. "Index mentioned she was going to hang out with Last Order. I didn't realize they were going to be here. I'm just enjoying the food here now that I finally have some free time."
"Speaking of food," Accelerator said glancing over at Index. "How much can your nun eat? I have never seen someone eat like that."
"Ah yea," Touma said rubbing his neck laughing slightly. "That is a mystery to me too. It puts a strain on my food budget after awhile for sure."
"This will be the last time I babysit both of them," Accelerator grunted. "It's way to exhausting to keep up with them running in every direction."
"If you want I can watch them for a bit," Touma said shrugging. "I don't have anything else going on today."
Accelerator turned to Last Order and Index. "Hey you two," he called out and they turned. "The hero is going to watch you both for a bit. I'll get you later." With that he walked off.
"Hi Touma," Index called out.
"Yay, MISAKA gets to hang out with the savior MISAKA cries as MISAKA expresses her surprise and happiness."
That was the last thing Accelerator heard before the voices got swallowed up by the crowd as he walked away. He walked a bit through the carnival stopping only to get a drink then leaned up against a tree. He felt kind of bored. What happened to me? I think I actually miss those two brats. He threw his empty drink bottle away and continued to walk around without really looking at anything. He heard some familiar voices that caught his attention.
"Why don't you just mind your own business?" That sounded like the third rate.
"Maybe if you weren't so violent all the time it wouldn't happen." That sounded like the fifth rate. Accelerator frowned and walked toward them. They usually only fought in public over something serious or the hero. They mainly ignored each other or put on a fake smile. When he got closer he couldn't believe it. How did he get here? He saw Mikoto arguing with Misaki and Touma was standing between them trying to get them to stop fighting. Accelerator looked around and didn't see Index or Last Order so he walked up to confront the hero regardless of what was happening.
"Hey hero!" he called out and everyone turned to look at him. "Where are the brats?"
"Who?" Touma asked a look of confusion on his face.
"What do you mean who?" snarled Accelerator. "You just took them off my hands."
"I've been here with them for a while," he said surprised pointing to Mikoto and Misaki.
"Shit!" Accelerator yelled eyes widening as his mind realized what happened. Whoever that is I am going to kill them. He flipped the switch on his collar, took a step and jumped high into the air. He modified the vectors in the air to allow him to jump through the air and moved as fast as he could over the crowd to where the Touma imposter was last seen. He landed, ignoring the surprised looks of everyone around him, and dashed the opposite way he had originally headed. Let's see, if I was them, I would go the opposite way I was heading in order to maximize distance. However, he realized quickly looking blindly in one direction was hopeless and the girls were gone. He had no way to track them. He punched a trash can in anger and crumpled it into the ground. Something caught his eye and he turned to see a familiar figure walk behind some shops. Accelerator quickly followed.
He rounded the corner of the shop and he saw, leaning up against a wall on the far side of the small clearing, was the punk in the leather jacket he met before. Accelerator walked toward him making a fist. "You have five seconds to tell me where they are. Prepare for a fate worse than death if they are hurt."
"They are fine… for now," he said grinning at Accelerator. "One of my partner's took them away. She is quite good at infiltration and sabotage. You were fooled quite easily. Even I didn't believe you would fall for that." He laughed.
"Where are they?" Accelerator said through clenched teeth. "Tell me or I will make you wish you were never born."
"They are on their way to Rome," he said smiling. "We offer you an invitation to join us. I hope you will accept." He started laughing like a maniac and the wall behind him glowed white as he fell into it and disappeared before Accelerator could react.
"That f#%$*&% b#$$%#," Accelerator roared. "I will hunt him down and slaughter him!"
"U-I-HA-RU!"
Kazari had just gotten off her shift for Judgment and was set to meet Ruiko when she felt her skirt fly upwards as she heard Ruiko call out to her. "SATEN-SAN!" she cried her face turning bright red turning to face her friend. "Stop flipping my skirt!"
"Red and pink today?" Ruiko asked. "Not bad." A couple guys were slightly red and whispering as they passed and Kazari just turned redder. "Hoping to meet Kagere-san accidently?" Ruiko nudged Kazari with her elbow.
"I don't know what you mean," Kazari said feigning ignorance as she and Ruiko walked toward the carnival. "I just finished my Judgment duties back at the office. Lots of paperwork for all the excitement but it's finally done. Shirai-san got the physical patrols."
"Ah she mentioned that," Ruiko said thoughtfully. "She was complaining she couldn't go to the carnival with Misaka-san." She laughed.
"You seem to be in a good mood Saten-san," Kazari said. "What happened?"
Ruiko's grin widened and she reached into her pocket. "Something amazing," she said happily. "Want to see?"
"Yes," she said. Her curiosity was aroused but she hoped it wasn't another silly myth for Ruiko to obsess over. She was confused when Ruiko pulled out the crush remains of a leaf. "What's that?"
"This isn't what's special," Ruiko said barely able to contain her excitement. "Just watch." They both looked at the remains and then they started moving. They lifted up into the air and started circling around Ruiko's hand. "Look what I just got."
Kazari stared wide-eyed then clapped her hands together in enthusiasm. "Saten-san that is amazing. You have an ability."
"I know," Ruiko said equally as excited. "I won't know the extent of it until the system scan Monday but I can do this easily. I'm so excited."
"We need to tell the others," she exclaimed.
"I contacted Kagere-san already," Ruiko said. "He said to stop using the music player until after the examination Monday."
"Misaka-san and Shirai-san will be happy for you," Kazari said cheerfully. "And you can show it off to Kamijou-san too."
Ruiko blushed slightly. "I don't think he will be that impressed."
"He will surely be happy for you," Kazari said encouragingly. "After all…" They were interrupted as a guy ran out of a nearby ally clutching a large purse and barreled right into them. They both were knocked down and the guy tripped and fell forward.
"You stupid brats," he snarled trying to get up. Before any of them could respond a boy, probably around Touma's age came out of the ally and jumped over all of them and landed in front of the man who knocked them down.
The boy had a modified white uniform. He wore his jacket over his shoulders as a make-shift cape and had a white headband on his forehead. The most noticeable part of his ensemble was his Rising Sun shirt. His hair was black while somewhat windswept and spiky, but not nearly as spiky as Touma's. He stood in front of the first guy who was backing away slowly. "You have guts to go and steal in front of me, but you shouldn't take things that do not belong to you. Return what you stole and apologize to those girls for knocking them down." He pointed to Ruiko and Kazari.
"Shut up," the guy said angrily and pulled out a small knife. He charged forward and jabbed the knife at the boy with the white uniform. The boy simply side stepped it and flipped the guy over his shoulder and knocked him out on the ground.
"I guess we should call Anti-skill," he said. "Are you two alright?"
"Yes thank you," Kazari said bowing.
"Wow," Ruiko said. "You are strong. What's your name? Mine is Ruiko Saten and this is Kazari Uiharu."
"Sogiita Gunha," he said. "Nice to meet you Saten-san and Uiharu-san."
"Wait," said Kazari thinking. "That name sounds familiar." She gasped. "You are the seventh rank number 5 aren't you?"
"Ah yea," he said shrugging. "It's not a big deal. Level's shouldn't interfere with your ability to help people."
"You sound just like a friend of ours," Ruiko said laughing. "He always tells us levels don't matter."
"He sounds like a good guy with lots of guts," Sogiita said. "I would like to meet him sometime."
"We can introduce you if you want," Kazari said.
"Sounds good," he replied. "Let's get this guy to Anti-Skill first thoug…." He frowned. "Something feels wrong."
"What you mean?" Ruiko asked confused.
"Suddenly," he said and looked around. "No one is here." Ruiko and Kazari both looked around and saw he was right. No one else was here which was strange since they were right next to the carnival.
"Where did everyone g…" Kazari started to say then stopped and just stood motionless with a blank look on her face. Ruiko looked the same way and even Sogiita felt something trickle into his mind.
"No," he said and focused his thoughts. He felt the presence leave his head and he felt better. "Show yourself villain!" he called out. A sound from behind him caused him to turn around.
"Not bad dear," a very attractive female said in a long red dress. She had very long wavy black hair that fell below her knees. Sogiita felt slightly attracted to her as he looked into her blue eyes but resisted the urge. "You were able to resist my mind manipulation. I guess you are a powerful individual. However we do not have anything to do with you, so if you two lovely ladies will follow me we must be going." Ruiko and Kazari turned automatically and started walking after her but Sogiita grabbed on to their wrists.
"Stop," he called out. "You need to fight her control. Use your guts and focus."
"It's no use," the women said putting a hand up to her mouth as she laughed. "Once they are under my control, escape is quite impossible. However, my acquaintance will stop you from interfering with us."
"Who?" Sogiita asked then suddenly he felt a huge force from above smash him into the ground. He laid on the ground as his body was being crushed against it. "Damn it," he grunted and was just able to see another individual walk up next to the women.
The man looked down at Sogiita through his glasses. He was bald on top of his head with snow white hair around his head. He held out on hand which was most likely causing the pressure on Sogiita and in his other hand he held some carnival food on a stick. He was wearing a lab coat and he would not look out of place as a scientist in the city. "Hmm," he said. "Fascinating, he is still alive under the constant force multiple times earth's gravity." The ground was sinking under the weight.
"I'm off," the women said. "We acquired the targets. But before I go, one other thing." She reached into Kazari's pocket and pulled out her cell phone.
"Hold it," Sogiita said angrily as his body began to glow. "Don't think I am going to let you two kidnap them." He gritted his teeth and slowly got up on his knees. Then he stood up all the way under the dense gravity and managed to get to his feet. The guy's eyes widen in surprise. Sogiita looked at them seriously and shouted. "With enough guts, nothing can stop me!"
"Interesting," the man said biting into his food. "I accept your challenge."
Touma, Mikoto and Misaki all watched Accelerator dash at full speed over the venders. "What was that about?" Mikoto asked and Misaki shrugged. Both of them had been arguing for awhile and Touma was trying to get them to stop when Accelerator interrupted them.
Touma frowned at Accelerator's expression and the speed at which he ran. Index was supposed to be with Last Order so it makes sense they would be together. If he's looking for them and somehow thought they were with me… shit. "We need to find them," he told Mikoto and Misaki. "Index and Last Order are probably in trouble." He dashed in the direction Accelerator ran off in. Mikoto and Misaki gave each other a confused look and a second alter they were running after him.
Touma dashed through the crowds as fast as he could but it was going to be difficult to catch up with a serious Accelerator. However, he heard a very loud clang echo through the carnival and he ran toward the noise. He arrived at a smash trashcan, obviously crushed by Accelerator, and looked around. Touma didn't see him but he heard some loud swearing. Figuring it was his best shot, he ran toward the noise. He found Accelerator kicking the ground in frustration. "What happened?"
"Those b#$%#&# from that magic organization tricked me and took Last Order and Index," he roared angrily. Touma's face turned white.
"Do you know where they took her?" he asked.
Accelerator looked at him. "They said Rome."
"In Italy?!"
"Do you know another f#$&%$ Rome idiot?" he snarled.
"So what's the plan to get to Rome then?" Mikoto asked. They both turn to look at her as she walked toward them with Misaki panting right behind her.
"You aren't coming third rate," Accelerator spat out. "This has nothing to do with you."
"Bullshit," she yelled back angrily. "If my sister is kidnapped then I'm going to help save her."
Touma nodded but getting several level 5s out of the city is going to be a problem. They could contact Anti-Skill but if the organization took Index and Last Order out of the city there wasn't anything they could do. They city certainly wasn't going to let a bunch of level 5's leave either to go fight the magic side. He glanced at Misaki who caught his eye and she nodded seriously. "Ok, Misaki might be able to alter a few minds to help us leave the city but it is still going to be tough. We need to find a plane of some kind. It is going to be really dangerous though, these magicians will usually be willing to kill without hesitation." His face darkened at the thought of what could happen.
"Why would they tell us were their base is anyway?" Misaki asked.
"Because they want my Imagine Breaker," Touma said immediately looking at her and Mikoto nodded. "They probably want me to follow them because they can't magically transport it."
"So it's your fault," spat out Accelerator. "I'm going to rescue the brat and kill that punk for making a fool out of me."
"So let's get going," Touma said seriously and everyone nodded.
"I can't let you do that." They all turned to see who spoke and saw Jason walking toward them. "I figured you guys would be in the middle of explosions and cussing."
"Why not?" Touma asked.
"We need to save Last Order and Index," Mikoto exclaimed.
"I will follow Touma to help him with whatever he needs," Misaki said.
"I would like to see you try to stop us," Accelerator said sneering.
"I'm not going to stop you three," Jason said pointing to Accelerator, Mikoto, and Misaki. "However, I can't let Touma run off and go into what is obviously a trap of an organization who wants to use his hand for something obviously evil. It would be the stupidest thing that you could do."
"I'm going," Touma said firmly.
"No you are not," Jason said seriously. The usual fun loving and carefree look on his face was all but gone and shadows were emerging wrapping his body in darkness. "As I said, I can't let you go. I will stop you Touma if needed."
"Please Jason," Mikoto begged.
Misaki pulled out a remote and pointed it at him. "I will use it." But Touma stood between them looking at Jason directly in the eye.
"Just knock him out and let's go," Accelerator said. "Or I'll do it. We are wasting too much time talking."
Touma pulled his resolve together, made a fist, and put it out in front of him. "Jason you are my friend, but you will move and let us go. I would appreciate your help but I will not let you stop us saving a friend."
Jason sighed and opened his mouth to respond but his phone started ringing. He pulled it out and looked at the number. He quickly opened it, put it on speaker so he could keep it away from him while he stood before Touma and said, "Now is not a good time."
"Oh my," a sultry woman's voice said and Jason froze. "And here I thought I would tell you something important Kagere-san."
"That b#&$%," Accelerator said making a fist as he recognized the voice. Everyone looked at him and Touma waved him quiet.
"What do you want?" Touma asked.
"This is wonderful," she replied warmly. "The Imagine Breaker boy is there too and he seems to be civilized. I just wanted to make sure Kagere-san didn't stop you from coming to visit us in Rome. I'm sure you will love our hospitality. We kidnapped his girlfriend along with her friend for the trip to Rome too. We are to kind. So I hope you all will come visit us soon. After all," her fake warm tone dropped and sounded like ice. "We won't be responsible for what happens if you take too long." She hung up.
"They have Uiharu and Saten-san?" Mikoto gasped and made a fist. "They are going too far."
Touma gritted his teeth. He was furious they took Index but he knew she was a target and he was angry at himself for not guarding her. Where are Stiyl and Kanzaki? He could not let his friends get hurt. They were all important to him. He looked around and saw the resolve in everyone's eyes. He knew he could not convince them to stay back and then he looked at Jason. "We now have even more reason to go," he said seriously. "Please help us."
Jason looked at him and Touma, for the first time, saw his eyes full of rage. "Plans change," he said and Touma felt venom in his words. "I'll get us to Rome and then we will kill every last one of those b#$%#^#s."
"Finally," Accelerator laughed evilly. "Someone is speaking my language."
Rescue Arc is now in full swing. I briefly thought about the magicians attacking during the magic show but I figured it would be way too obvious. Did anyone think it was strange when Touma met Accelerator? I tried to keep it in character because of the person's ability and unique persona. Anyway, not a lot to say but it should be fun to smuggle a ton of level 5s out of the city.
Feel free to leave a review, comment, suggestions, or idea. I love reading them.
Mikoto: They day was going so well too.
Touma: Don't worry, we should have more opportunities.
Motoharu: So what happened in the hotel with Shokuhou?
Misaki: Great things then Misaka-san showed up.
Motoharu: Was she modeling the two piece spider swimsuit for him?
Misaki and Mikoto: How did you know?
Me: The readers told him so many times in the comments.