A Certain Infinite Possibility

by Darkbetrayer

An ancient organization has emerged from hiding in order to bring the world into darkness. Will Touma be able to stop them or will his actions make everything worse. Will Touma finally develop the harem he deserves? Magic and Science will collide in ways no one thought possible. Touma X Harem (Maybe, he is really dense.)

66. S3 Investigations

Hi everyone, as you probably know, this is Kuroko Shirai. I was suddenly told I'm going to be doing the opening comments this chapter. Umm… I don't really have anything else to say. It was kind of sprung on me at the last moment and I'm still really annoyed at Jason for embarrassing me so badly last chapter. Would it help if I apologize? J-Jason, what are you doing here?! Author won't give me my own chapter, so I thought the fans would enjoy my presence. No one wants to listen to you here. I beg to differ, but I promise to behave and stay out of your way. Fine, I doubt I could get you to leave anyway. I suppose it can't be too bad. I knew you cared. Shut up.

naruhinasakufan1: No, never, not in a million years, even if he got on hands and knees and begged me. That is way too embarrassing. I'm just lucky most people can't recognize me. Guess I have to contact the company then. Wait, were you planning for me to? Nooooo…..

wildarms13: What on earth could cause something like that to happen? I could understand saving one over the other, but having to date one of them to save everyone? Even Jason's shrugging at that. I want to know though, but I wouldn't have you do cosplay all year, I'm not Aogami. If I had to choose, of course this will NEVER happen, I would probably go with Jason. I see how he treats Uiharu and that wouldn't be too bad. DON'T YOU SAY ANYTHING! I wasn't.

general ironox: I'm mature enough to get over it. As long as the public doesn't know I was the original design, I'll live.

Syko-Soldier963: That's actually an interesting question. I saw him destroy Musujime's space when she lost control of her powers and she emerged from that okay. I think it would just force me back into our dimension. Jason, this is your area of expertise. That sounds about right. You might not be able to choose your exact position to rematerialize, so if you are near a wall it could get messy. Erg, I don't want to think about that.

Guest: I don't really like Musujime so I wouldn't wish her on anyone, even the ape. If he just went with Shokuhou-san, it would all work out.

d3mystic: We don't need the first one, but me and onee-sama would be perfect. I'm hurt.

Yakutsu Zaishiro: She seems to be banging her head on the wall in response to your question, give her a second. ….. If she's truly happy, I won't interfere… but if he does ANYTHING unacceptable, he will answer to me. As for question two… Jason, turn around. But I want to know. Turn around! Fine. I probably wouldn't say anything and keep it to myself. Uiharu is the kind of girl who would feel bad for me and it might make her unconsciously put distance from him. I don't want to be even partially responsible for any breakup.

Willgm: No. What? I'm hurt. Well, he's okay as a friend sometimes, but he really annoys me way too much.

Handsomistic1: They have to be kind, strong, smart, beautiful, dignified, and brave at the very least. Not looking for much are you. I have strict standards. I could totally beat Musujime in a rematch. Kuroko has a lot more combat experience against powerful foes, I agree. Because, first he's not, second, rumors get spread around even outside of school, and third, Uiharu does visit so someone might say it to her.

Agent Nine: This is actually a good question. Since you can heat it up, can it be called ice cream? If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, don't worry about the small stuff.

Brosephg: Hahaha. Jason, is he one of your friends? Did you tell him to ask that? He seems oddly devoted to you. No I swear. But sorry Brosephg, I'm into girls, but thanks for the compliments. I'm jealous of Uiharu for being with the person she likes. I would love to be in the same kind of relationship with onee-sama as she and Jason are with each other.

Swoob: Yea Kuroko, quit being a tsundere. I'm not a tsundere! As for my prank on Accelerator, we have to wait for some down time. Too many things are going on for him to walk a mile in her shoes. Her? Secret for later, don't want to ruin the surprise.

Guest 10032: That…. Actually explains a lot. No it doesn't. I'm not into that and there is no way I'm projecting anything onto him. I recall I tied her up once at the beginning. That might have started the ship. I hate you, so stop supporting their wild ideas. Onee-sama shocks me out of love only.

Kisame Hoshigaki: Wait, when did she say that? She said that? Kuroko's face went red, she's thinking about it. No I'm not and your face went red too. If Kazari is okay with it, I would be too. I would…n't be. Plus, ménage à trois would never happen. No matter how much…. I'm speechless to. But when did Kazari say this? I know she's prone to some… eccentric daydreams… but really? Hmm, how should I ask her?

Disclaimer: I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index or any of the characters. Reading this story may cause you to burst out in laughter or start yelling at fictional characters. This may cause nearby people to assume you have gone crazy. Please read responsibly.

---

"T-the Fallen?" coughed Touma. "What about them? How do you know them? Why are you against them?"

"I can only answer one question at a time," Leivinia answered, looking slightly annoyed. She popped the last bite of cake into her mouth and looked down at the empty plate. The hint of a frown appeared on her lips and she stood up. "Follow me," she told him, with the aura of someone who is not going to take no for an answer. "We can talk while we are moving." Touma sighed, stood up, and followed her. They walked down a couple less crowded streets before Leivinia continued. "I'm going to answer your questions in the proper order, so that even someone with your low mental capacity could understand."

"Thanks," Touma muttered, choosing to ignore her insult.

"Let's start with how I know them," she said, smirking. "The details don't concern you, and I'm not going to go into them, but my organization opposes them. After we saw how much trouble they caused in England, we decided to be more proactive in our activities. Plus, learning about their abilities will be beneficial to us. What?" She had just turned her head and looked at Touma, who was staring at her. "You think everyone works for free? My organization has its own goals and objectives. You should know by now the world isn't that kind."

"I disagree," Touma told her. "But what important information do you have on them? If you are here…" He paused as the realization hit him like a ton of bricks. "Are… Are they in the city?"

"So you do have the brain capacity to draw conclusions," Leivinia commented. "I was worried everything you did was purely accidental, but that couldn't be. After all, no one is that unlucky." She turned her head slight, when Touma stopped, and her eyes widened slightly when she realized why. "Hahaha," she burst out laughing. "You really are unlucky."

"Thanks for making fun of my misfortune," Touma moaned, more to himself then her. "It's what caused me to bump into you."

"Keep talking like I'm a bother," she told him. "I'll show you same real misfortune."

"Yes Birdway-sama," Touma said, trying to sound more thankful. I don't know anything about her organization, but she said she's the leader. It seems unlikely, but she knows about magic and there are a lot of really young skilled magicians, Stiyl's only fourteen and Lessar's only in middle school. I suppose she could be older than she appears, he glanced over at her and noticed she didn't have much of a chest, I seriously doubt it… "Ouch!" Leivinia reached over, grabbed a chunk of his skin on his arm, and twisted, hard. "What was that for?"

"I felt like you were thinking something you shouldn't have been," Leivinia replied calmly, but there was something more in her tone of voice, which confused Touma. It was full of anger, but also a hint of embarrassment.

"O-of course I wasn't," Touma denied. "I was just thinking you look young for being a leader of a magic group."

"The Dawn-Colored Sunlight doesn't care about age," bragged Leivinia. "We only judge based on your skill. The fact I rose to the top shows how powerful I really am." Her eyes lit up slightly as she told him. "You shouldn't judge people based on their appearances," she said ominously. "It could cost you your life."

"I know," Touma acknowledged, and he was being completely honest this time. After living in a city of scientific abilities, appearances were quite deceiving. Mikoto was the perfect example. She looked like a normal middle school student, but she could wield a million volts and fire coins like railguns. In fact, all the level 5s were either in middle or high school. I think it's actually impossible to tell how strong someone is without knowing them. I should tread carefully around her. He felt a shiver down his spine. With my luck, she will be insanely powerful and will want to attack me for some reason. "We got off topic, what about the Fallen?"

"Oh?" Leivinia asked, almost mockingly. "You don't want to keep talking about me?" She reached over and grabbed onto his arm.

"W-what are you doing?" Touma stuttered, completely bewildered at her surprise action. She didn't seem like the kind of person to perform public displays of affection. Plus the fact he really didn't raise any flags to warrant that action. He looked away from her and felt his ears burned.

"Just messing with you," she laughed, but still didn't let go of his arm for a couple minutes. What Touma didn't know was Leivinia noticed they were being watched, and she immediately started to act like a normal girl on a date. Across the street, a girl neither Touma nor Leivinia had seen before, was watching them, but was pretending to read a book. The girl had long black hair and tied up into a ponytail. Though Leivinia could tell this girl was watching them, she was too far away to fully examine, so Leivinia missed an obvious sign that Touma would have recognized immediately. The girl's eyes had gold stars in them. When Leivinia grabbed on to Touma's arm, she could feel the girl staring at them with her undivided attention. "Where were we again?"

"You were about to tell me what the Fallen were doing in the city."

"Oh yes, that's right." It was completely clear to Touma that she had not forgotten and was just playing around, and then her voice got deadly serious, as she let go of his arm. "We discovered Eve has infiltrated Academy City, along with another girl. Nothing is known about her except she goes by the name Juliet. We believe others are accompanying them, but we have no information on them yet. To make matters worse, due to rising tensions between magic and science," she paused and glared at him, "your antics in England didn't help, we can't operate in the open. We can only investigate from the shadows at night, but we found a warehouse they were using to hide something."

"Why is Eve here?" Touma asked, a couple different ideas passed through his head.

"Isn't it obvious?" Leivinia answered, turning to look at him, with an expression like she was thinking he was being dense. "She's after the wing. How could you forget that?"

"Well it was possible it could be something else," Touma said weakly, rubbing the back of his neck. Leivinia gave him a disbelieving look. "But how could a wing even be here? This city uses science, most people don't even know magic exists."

"Who knows," Leivinia shrugged, but with a gleam in her eyes indicating she knew more than she was letting on. Touma missed the sign because he wasn't as skilled as others in recognizing deceit. "Maybe the founder brought it with him, maybe it was moved here for safe keeping, or maybe your city does more with magic than you think? There could be a lot of reasons, but we did verify it is here. The exact location, now that is our current problem. I was hoping you could give us some information on it, but it looks like you can barely put your shoe on the right foot."

"Hey!" Touma said indignantly.

"Though," Leivinia continued, completely ignoring Touma's objection. "This trip wasn't a complete waste. I have use for you." She turned her head to Touma and he froze when her eyes grew cold. "We plan to assault her warehouse and take whatever she has stored there. You get to use your right hand to remove any of her defenses. Sounds easy right? Do your part, and I'm sure you will appreciate your reward."

"I'm not really interested in a reward…," Touma began to say, but Leivinia cut him off.

"So you don't want paid," Leivinia interrupted. "Well, if you insist. You can have the pleasure of a job well done. Can't say I dislike that attitude, I feel that way about some things, but you have to be a little crazy to risk your life so easily."

"That's not what I meant…" Touma tried to explain.

"I don't care about your reasons or detail," Leivinia continued, completely ignoring Touma's feeble attempt at trying to get out of this. "I don't suppose I have any other use for you until tonight, so until then…" She frowned as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a phone, which appeared to be set on vibrate. "You better have a reason for interrupting me."

"Sorry boss," a male's voice replied. The voice was loud enough for Touma to hear and he figured the phone must have been on speaker or acting as a medium for magical communication. "It would seem our outer forces have been attacked by another magician and now is cutting a direct path toward you."

"Take care of it," Leivinia snapped at the man, and Touma felt a wave of pity for whoever was on the other end. She snapped her phone closed, looked around, and motion for Touma to follow her. When he hesitated, she grabbed his sleeve and pulled him after her down a side alleyway. He noticed she attached a rune card about halfway down the building on his left, before they came out onto another street. Touma looked around and it appeared to be deserted, which was strange for this time a day. "I triggered a people clearing field," she said, as if reading his mind.

"Why?" Touma asked. "Does it have to do with that magician he mentioned?" Just what I need, more misfortune. With my luck, I bet the magician is in love with Birdway and thinks I'm trying to steal her away from him. Why did I take that bet in the first place? He looked over at Leivinia, who was leaning up against a building wall, trying to look nonchalant, but there was a small crease on her forehead and the hint of a frown on her lips.

"Mark should be able to handle most situations," Leivinia said curtly. "His orders were to only call if something big happens. The magician was able to penetrate our outer formation and heading toward us, so he can't be normal. I just like to be prepared." A wooden wand that looked like it opened into a flower appeared in her hand and she twirled it between her fingers. Touma didn't know it, but that was Leivinia's Symbolic Weapon which let her control the four elements, fire, water, earth, and wind. To him, it looked just like a piece of wood, but even he knew enough about magic to know it couldn't be normal.

"What are you planning to do?" he asked, dreading the answer.

"What do you think?" she replied, with a devious grin and in a cold tone. Touma's heart sank from hearing her words. They waited in silence, though Touma attempted to get more information out of Leivinia, but she continued to ignore him. He eventually gave up and leaned on the building a couple meters away from her. After a couple minutes, her phone started buzzing. "What's the status?"

"Several complications," the man, who Touma was told was called Mark, answered. "First, the magician appears to be part of Academy City, and not the Fallen. Second, he escaped from me and is heading directly toward your location. Telesma based attacks do not work well…"

"He's here due to your incompetence," Leivinia hissed angrily, looking upwards toward the roof of the buildings surrounding them. "Be prepared for punishment when this is over." She snapped her phone close and pocketed it, while standing up and taking a couple steps from the wall. A moment later, a figure appeared at the top of the building and gazed down at Leivinia. Touma was blocked from view by an overhang of the building he was leaning against, so he couldn't see who it was. "Are you going to come down or what?" Leivinia called up mockingly. "Or do I have to blow up that building?" The figure looked at her, before leaping down ten floors and Touma good a good look at the guy. His mouth fell open.

Right before he hit the ground, black wings spread out and Jason landed softly on the street.

"So you're the boss who interrupted me right when I finally get a break?" Jason replied, with a mixture of irritation and curiosity. "Your group really is something, sneaking so many people into the city… WHAT THE HELL TOUMA?!" He had just noticed Touma was there and his jaw dropped.

"Er," Touma said, unsure what to say, but walking toward him and rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm sure we are all on the same side. Can we all try to get along?"

"She's a leader of a group of magicians who illegally trespassed into Academy City," Jason told him forcefully, pointing to Leivinia. "Then, to actually make it involve me, they started causing trouble and wrecking property. It could have been left to Anti-Skill if they don't go around throwing mana and casting magic. That last guy actually was flinging Telesma at me that resembled an angel's power."

"The fact you survived and escaped Mark is impressive," Leivinia commented, twirling her wand. "But you have bared your fangs against my organization, and for that you must be punished. It's time for you to understand who you have challenged." Jason frowned.

"You definitely aren't normal," he muttered, and Touma could tell he was actually worried about the fight, which meant this was not going to end well. Jason looked at her closely, and his frown deepened. "Do you happen to have a sister?" he asked suddenly. "You look like a girl who works in the same area I do. You wouldn't happen to be called Leivinia Birdway?" This time, Leivinia was the one who looked surprised.

"You know Patricia?" she asked.

"Well this is going to be awkward," Jason said. "Arresting her sister sure isn't going to make the work environment pleasant."

"Heh," Leivinia laughed. "Since you know her, I'll only beat you half to death." She raised her wand and Jason responded by having his shadow flow out from around him.

"STOP!" Touma shouted, running up between them. He could tell immediately a fight between those two was only going to end with someone being seriously hurt. He trusted Jason enough to try to avoid any life threatening blows, but he didn't know Leivinia well enough to be sure of the same thing. She gave off a feeling she would kill if it meant moving forward with her agenda. "Birdway," he said quietly. "He's my friend please don't attack him and I'll help you tonight without complaint. I'll talk to him about not getting involved in your group."

"You have one chance," Leivinia told him, crossing her arms and looking superior. She was fine with ignoring a single magician in order to strike the Fallen. Touma nodded and made his way toward Jason, whose shadow started to recede slightly.

"What's going on Touma?" he asked, actually looking confused. He had been told around fifty magicians had entered the city illegally and started causing problems. The last thing he expected was to see Touma with their leader, but then realized he should have known better. Of course he would get involved.

Such is the wielder of the Imagine Breaker.

"It's a really long story," Touma admitted. "But she's not working against us. They are here because the Fallen has entered the city and even Eve is here too. They aren't trying to attack anyone else."

"You serious?" Jason asked, and crossed his arms as his brow furrowed. "That is a completely new cause for concern. I was told to capture the group who infiltrated the city, so it's going to be harder to let her go."

"Come on," Touma prodded. "Where's the Jason I know who ignores rules or uses them to his advantage?" Jason grinned.

"Well," he said, his tone becoming more amused. "Technically, I wasn't given a specific time limit or what specific order I had to capture the intruders. If the Fallen are indeed here, I should focus on them first, and then only worry about the other groups currently residing here, unless they cause way too many problems." He glanced over at Leivinia who just glared back without any trace of embarrassment. "I feel like she's going to cause problems though."

"Thanks a lot," Touma sighed.

"Why are you so…?" Jason started to ask, but stopped himself. He looked over at Touma, to Leivinia, around to the deserted street, and then back to Touma. He grinned as he thought about the implications. "So," he said, the joking tone Touma was used to came back, but it filled him with dread this time. "Finding the boss of a magic cabal and taking her to a deserted street? Pretty daring for a first date, as expected of you." He gave Touma a thumbs up.

"Now don't you start that," Touma warned. "I get enough of that from those two…"

"But having such a cute loli," Jason continued, ignoring Touma. "Aogami is going to have a field day. I should tell him you finally gave in."

"I'm not on a date!"

"I am confused though. I know Accelerator's a lolicon, but you always said you were into onee-san types with curves."

"I am. Nothing can beat an onee-san type, especially a dorm manager onee-san."

"Then why did you go for a loli this time?"

"I didn't! Girls need to be well developed and exude an aura of kindness and caring."

"So why do you not go out with someone like Shokuhou-san? She's well developed and is really kind to you."

"There… are reasons. One, it would be super awkward, but there are a lot more."

"So you go with washboard flat, the exact opposite, instead?"

"So what if she's completely flat? Personality is just as importan…" Touma and Jason froze, while their faces went pale. They simultaneously felt murderous intent from behind them. They turned around and glanced at Leivinia. A vein was throbbing in her forehead and the hand, not holding her weapon, was clenched in a fist so tightly, her fingers were turning white. A dark aura around her had become visible and Touma could feel cold sweat all over him. "Birdway…" he said cautiously, intending to apologize.

"You… two… have… a… lot… of… nerve…," she said slowly, annunciating every word, and her tone was shaking with anger. "Not only to ignore me, who is standing right in front of you, but also mock me?" Her hand started glowing faintly. "It seems like I was going too easy on both of you. I intend to correct that oversight."

"There's no need for violence," Touma said quickly, taking a step back with his hands held out in front of him.

"That… is a lot of Telesma," Jason added. "She's probably going to get swallowed up by her own attack."

"I'm not so unskilled I would get hurt by my own attack," Leivinia said, and raised her hand. "Let's see if you two can survive this."

A moment later, a large gold explosion engulfed both of them.

---

"What do you mean everything is fine?!" a high school guy with short brown hair and wearing a black leather jacket yelled. "I wasn't able to use my power on a stupid looking guy two days ago. What happened then?" He slammed his hands on the table and looked at the slightly older guy across the table, who was staring at him and looking bored. He was known as the Moderator and was wearing his normal mask. No one knew who the benefactor for these experiments was, but they always had to go through this guy. The masked covered everything except his eyes.

"I told you already," he answered, obviously irritated. "All readings show you are fine and you can use your ability now, right?" The other guy nodded, held out his hand, and a large sphere of fire appeared, before disappearing. "You see, maybe you just weren't concentrating enough. We haven't done anything wrong." He leaned forward and all of a sudden looked stern. "If you continue to make a fuss over something stupid, maybe we should remove you from the list of users we are willing to help." He gestured to the other people nearby. Two other guys were standing behind the complainer, his friends and also ability users, but there were several other guys around their age with guns, obviously illegally acquired. The rest of the lab was empty, except for the research equipment. Besides the front door and the back door, stairs led downstairs to the basement, but two more guards stood on either side.

"But…" The guy stopped talking when he heard a soft explosion in the distance. "What was th…?" His question was immediately answered, as the heavy metal doors, in front of the lab, cracked and broke off their hinges. The doors shattered and the pieces flew through the air into equipment, causing them to burst into flames. A second later, a white haired boy strutted in, looking vastly superior. "That's… that's… Accelerator!"

"Guards!" the Moderator yelled, standing up and taking several steps backwards. All eight guards with guns formed a semi-circle around Accelerator and raised their weapons. "I don't know how you found out about this place, but you aren't leaving here alive." Accelerator looked at him and sneered. "Say something, damn it." Accelerator's only response was to laugh at how angry the Moderator was getting. "Fine you bastard. All of you, kill him." The guards started firing immediately at his order.

They regretted it a second later.

The hail of bullets flew toward Accelerator and, while a normal person would have been shredded, he didn't even flinch. As the bullets made contact with him, they immediately were reflected back at his attackers. The rusty scent of blood filled the lab, as the guards fell backwards, killed by their own gun fire. Accelerator started walking forward, his grin disappeared from his face. The Moderator turned to the other three guys. "Stop him, and I promise you will receive priority on all future experiments."

"Yeah right," the guy said, backing up quickly. "There's no way we are going to get involved with Accelerator. You only bumped me up to level 3. You are on your own loser." He and his two friends bolted toward the backdoor and left the building without another word.

"Those good for nothing…" the Moderator mumbled and turned back to face Accelerator, who was staring at him with a mocking look on his face. "Why the hell are you here?" Accelerator said nothing and took a step toward him. The Moderator pulled out a gun and held it up, his hand shaking slightly. "I never wanted to do this shit, but then he promises not to kill me. I guess I'm going to die either way." He pulled the trigger and the bullet flew straight at Accelerator's face. The bullet had as much effect as the others but, this time, the bullet was redirected to the side and pierced a computer console. "Huh?" The Moderator had a moment to look at Accelerator in confusion, before Accelerator reached him and slapped the handgun out of his hand. The Moderator fell backwards on to the ground and started scooting away from Accelerator.

"Something."

"What?" the Moderator asked, stopping in disbelief.

"You're the one who wanted me to say it," Accelerator snapped. "How come no one ever gets the fucking joke? This is like fifth fuckin time. I give up. From now on, I'm just going to crush everyone without talking." He glanced down at the guy, trembling in fear, in disgust. "If you wet your pants, I'm going to crush your man hood. Seriously, that's disgusting. Now quit your crying and tell me where the boss is." The Moderator pointed to the stairs that led down to the basement. Accelerator turned and made his way toward it, before stopping for a moment, as a thought crossed his mind. He turned and glared at the Moderator. "Don't try to escape, there are more people outside and they will kill you." The Moderator gasped, and fainted on the floor. Accelerator rolled his eyes and continued down the stairs. Pathetic.

He flipped his choker off to conserve power and his cane continued to make a thud which echoed down the deserted stairs every time it hit the floor. He wasn't too worried about people hearing him, the gunfire would have drawn their attention, but he had to try to prevent the leader from escaping. The trash that fled from the mere sight of him wasn't worth his time and he knew Awaki and Motoharu could easily catch them. He reached the door at the bottom of the staircase and opened it. The hallway was also deserted, but there were doors on both sides and at the far end. He walked slowly and gazed into each room as he passed.

The sights were not always pretty.

The first two rooms seemed normal enough. Several examination beds lined the walls and ability development equipment was placed around each of them. I'm definitely in the right place. The boss better be here or this is going to be a wasted trip. The next two rooms caused a look of disgust on his face. The room on the right was evidently a morgue. Many body bags were lining the back wall, and most of them were filled. He pressed a hand up to the window on the door and it was cold. Feels like a cooler. It must be used to preserve the bodies of failed experiments. These idiots should know what happens if you force an ability to increase. He didn't bother to go inside, once he was sure it was empty, and moved to the other room on the left. He finally struck gold when he saw an older woman standing over a table with a naked unconscious girl. Finally. The door appeared to be thicker than the others and might have been sound proof, or perhaps she just ignored the noise, but Accelerator flipped his choker, tapped the door, and it flew off its hinges.

"AHHH?!" the woman screamed in surprise, turning around. She had short black hair and glasses, and her eyes were wide. "Please don't kill me. I'm only doing what I'm told or I'll be killed."

"Quit your sniveling," Accelerator said, irritation in this voice, walking over to the unconscious girl. "Where is the person in charge and what are you doing?" While the woman talked, he reached down and felt the girl's vital signs. Nothing, she's long gone. He couldn't tell the age of the girl, but guessed she was either late middle school or early high school. The body looked relatively undamaged, but there were odd marks around her skull, almost like bruises, under her hair.

"He should be in the room at the end of the hallway," the woman said fearfully. Her body was shaking and Accelerator figured she had to be telling the truth, or be one of the greatest actors in the world. "But you can't fight him. He's a monster and will kill you without a passing glance."

"You obviously don't know who I am," Accelerator laughed. "I have fought true monsters. Who is he?"

"He's the number two," the woman told him quickly. "Teitoku Kakine, also known as Dark Matter. He's in a league of his own." Accelerator's eyes widen in recognition, before he snorted with amusement. "What's so funny?"

"I'm Accelerator," he said simply, and the woman's face lost all of its remaining color. She stumbled back against the table and her breath turned ragged and shallow. "Now, what were you doing?"

"Some of the ability users had negative reactions to the serum we invented to raise their level," the woman explained. "It caused their brains to be overloaded and we can't figure out why. The serum has been proven successful fifty percent of the time, but there doesn't seem to be any reason why some people can improve, while others died. I am being forced to remove the failure's brain and find out exactly what happened. He pays well, but I didn't know what I was getting into. Now, I can't leave." Accelerator pondered her words for a moment, before sighing.

"Get out of here," he said, jabbing his thumb toward the stairs he came down. "Get out of the building and my associates will take you away. I'm going to handle him." He turned and walked out of the room, ignoring the woman's thanks. He heard her running down the hall away from him and he sighed again. When did I get so soft? Damn hero keeps rubbing off on me. He stopped in front of the final door at the end of the hallway. Let's end this. He touched the door and sent it flying across the room. "Hey!" he yelled as he walked into the last room. "I've come to kick your ass second rate."

"Well well," Teitoku said, looking at Accelerator from across the room. He was sitting in a chair and looked rather excited, despite his monotone. The floor between them was clear, and several super computers lined the walls on either side of them. Teitoku was sitting at a desk and stood up, putting his hands on top of his desk. "I have to say, I'm surprised you showed up here. I didn't think you would care about me experimenting on trash, but I suppose this works out well. You see, I was planning to come to you soon enough."

"You want to die that badly?" Accelerator asked, sneering. "It's obvious what you are trying to do. You are experimenting on low levels before trying to raise your own ability. Are you trying to reach my level? If you are, you will never reach it like this."

"Not all of us get to play the superintendent's pet," Teitoku responded. "Some of us get pushed to being a backup plan for when you inevitably fail. Like when you lost to a level 0, yet you still have the nerve to act like you are all powerful."

"Heh," Accelerator said mockingly. "You wouldn't understand. If you continue to squeal like a pig and blame others, you will never be strong. You have no idea what it takes to be a villain. Exploiting the weak for your own gain, you're lower than dirt."

"Look at you trying to act all righteous," Teitoku laughed. "Do you think protecting a few people will make you a good guy? I found out all about that level 6 experiment. Did you enjoy slaughtering those clones you lapdog?"

"You just had to go there," Accelerator snarled, a vein throbbing in his head. He still hated himself for participating in killing of over ten thousand Misaka clones. Last Order told him the clones forgave him and wouldn't die anymore, but part of him felt they should be angry with him. "The difference in our strength should have been obvious the moment you believed you had to raise your ability. I'll show you what it means to be a villain. A first class villain doesn't target honest lives."

"Bring it on bastard," Teitoku said, his eyes narrowing. "I'll show you the title of 'Strongest' is wasted on garbage like you." The two looked at each other for a moment, before they charged simultaneously. They met in the middle of the room and an earth shattering boom was heard. A shockwave exploded from their impact and smashed several of the nearby computers. Their eyes met and each saw only hatred in the other, before Teitoku was blown backwards and crashed into the wall.

"Is that all?" Accelerator asked, but he found his sneer slipping. Something felt off to him. The vectors changed easily enough, but there was something else. There were other vectors that were unusual, but were still within the bound of normal physics. He went quiet when he saw Teitoku stand up. There was something white around him, almost like a cocoon of armor. "What the hell is that?"

"The power to move vectors," Teitoku murmured out loud. "Simple, yet effective. I need to avoid taking a direct hit, but as long as you can't control my vectors, the power is useless." He paused and the white cocoon began to separate from his body. "Is this your first time seeing dark matter?" The white matter shifted and Teitoku appeared, completely unhurt. "This is my ability; I can create matter and energy that doesn't exist in this world." The white matter broke and spread out behind him, forming two, four, and then six wings resembling an angel. Though it started off looking like a chalky substance, it now actually looked like the wings were made of feathers. "Even particles smaller then atoms, like quarks, hadrons or the recently discovered Higgs boson, which is ironically known as the God particle, are not part of my dark matter."

"Who cares?" Accelerator snapped. "It doesn't matter what they are made of, I can still manipulate their vectors. "

"I doubt it will be that simple," Teitoku said confidently.

"What is with those wings anyways," Accelerator asked, a smirk on his face. "Are you trying to mimic myths and legends? That doesn't suit villains like us."

"I know," Teitoku agreed. "But I discovered something recently. Sometimes, imitating something can actually give you part of their power, did you know that? You may not believe it because it follows a different set of laws." Accelerator froze when he heard this, his mind beginning to process his words. "Can you wrap your puny pig brain around the idea? I believe magicians called it Idol Theory." Teitoku paused when he saw Accelerator throw his head back and roar with laughter. "What's so funny?"

"I can't believe you actually discovered magic on your own," Accelerator told him, after he calmed down. "Do you think you will magically obtain power to surpass all others?" He smiled slightly at his pun. "Go ahead and cast magic then. I'll sit back here and watch."

"Are you hoping I'll kill myself with the conflicting laws?" Teitoku asked. This time he was the one to grin as Accelerator's smirk faded. That was, in fact, Accelerator's plan. He didn't believe Teitoku could use magic, but the fact Teitoku mentioned Idol Theory told him he at least had some knowledge. He only knew about it because some of the church members in England and Jason had given him a brief overview. "My dark matter exists outside of this world, remember? I'm not bound by those laws."

"Tsk," Accelerator replied, clicking his tongue. "I guess it's the old fashion way…" He was interrupted as a large computer flew past his head, directly at Teitoku. One of Teitoku's wings moved and knocked the computer to the side effortlessly. He and Accelerator turned to see who had thrown it and saw Saiai standing in the doorway. "What the hell are you doing here brat?!" Accelerator yelled. Tsuchimikado, you bastard. You were supposed to keep people away.

"I saw you taking the train and I had super nothing else to do today," Saiai told him, not taking her eyes off Teitoku. This was only partially true. While she did not have anywhere she had to be, as Mugino told her and Frenda to take the night off, she followed Accelerator in hopes of finding an opportunity to spend time with him alone. "I'm glad I did because I recognize that guy's voice. He super tried to bury me and Mugino when we stopped him from stealing research data." Accelerator didn't have time to wonder about what she had been doing, because Teitoku started to laugh and Accelerator turned his attention back to him.

"This is great," Teitoku said between laughs. "You should have just died the first time, but thanks for the opportunity to kill you again."

"What did he do last time?" Accelerator asked Saiai.

"Blew up an army of humanoid robots," Saiai told him quickly. "He super collapsed the entire building on us."

Dark matter robots maybe? But why would he have trouble with them?

"You know what they say," Teitoku said shrugging, and interrupting Accelerator's thoughts. "If at first you don't succeed, try again."

"What?" Saiai asked and Accelerator narrowed his eyes. Teitoku took a step back and pressed a button on a nearby computer, that wasn't destroyed by their initial clash. An earsplitting alarm hurt their ears and red flashing lights turned on all around them.

"Let's see if you survive being crushed a second time," laughed Teitoku. He jumped backwards, but it was more of a glide with his wings. The wall behind him opened and it was obvious he was going to try to escape. Suddenly, the wall to their right exploded and they heard the sounds of explosions from the rooms down the hall. Fire and smoke started to engulf them and Accelerator had only an instant to make a choice. He could go after Teitoku and leave Saiai to defend for herself, her alarmed expression told him she probably wouldn't survive, or save her and let Teitoku go free and cause who knows what other problems.

The choice was obvious and his body was already moving before his mind formally decided.

---

The building collapsed and caused the ground for several blocks to shake. A torrent of smoke and flames rose into the air and temporarily blocked the sun. Motoharu and Awaki were far enough away they weren't in danger, but they both had the same thought. Couldn't you restrain yourself? They had captured or detained a couple people who fled the building, but they didn't expect it to completely collapse into a pile of rubble. Awaki was guarding their prisoners, so Motoharu was the one who snuck closer to see what happened. The smoke and dust was beginning to clear and he was finally able to start making out dark shapes. He didn't see anyone and frowned.

As much as he likes to go overboard, Accelerator wouldn't have taken down the entire building without reason. Did the people inside do it when they realized they lost, or was he fighting someone that strong? Laughter penetrated the silence after the initial explosions and Motoharu looked up at the source. His mouth fell open as he saw what it was. The outline of a human with six wings was high in the air, obviously looking down upon the destruction. For a wild moment Motoharu thought the Fallen were here and summoned an angel into the world. He shook his head and regained his composure. There was no mana or Telesma located anywhere, so he wasn't going to jump to conclusions. He slinked into the shadow of the building and quietly watched. The smoke cleared and he could finally make out the person in the air. He narrowed his eyes as he recognized Teitoku. So he's the boss.

"Come on Strongest," Teitoku called down to the rubble from up above. "Don't tell me that's all it takes to kill you. Was your title in name only?" He crossed his arm and scanned the rubble for signs of Accelerator. He didn't care about Saiai, she was lower than garbage to him, but he knew a simple explosion wouldn't be enough to kill Accelerator. A piece of rubble moved slightly and he focused his attention there. A moment later, the spot exploded, sending metal and concreated in every direction. Accelerator leaped up in the air, his right hand holding onto Saiai's sweater dress, and landed effortlessly. "Excellent. It wouldn't be a fight if you died so easily."

Damn hero is rubbing off on me, Accelerator thought to himself, as he let go of Saiai. He had dashed next to her when the building collapsed and used vector manipulation to force the larger, heavier debris away from her. Her Offense Armor protected her form the small pieces and he didn't have to worry about those. After the sounds of explosions died away, he waited a couple more minutes to make sure everything had cleared enough for him to escape without issue. He had been standing under the rubble with Saiai pulled close to his chest. Saiai on the other hand wasn't as composed and her face had flushed crimson, which Accelerator didn't notice. "I need you to get out of here," Accelerator told her. "You are going to get in the way."

"I can handle myself," Saiai protested. "I'm super strong and I want to fight with you."

"Admirable but still stupid," Accelerator replied. "There's a huge difference between strong and monster. Now be a good girl and GET OUT OF THE WAY!" He reached over and pressed his hand against her chest. Saiai was sent flying and landed in the street, far away from the rubble. If she hadn't had her Offense Armor, she would have been knocked unconscious. Accelerator had most likely taken that into account, or just didn't care. Either way, that wasn't on her mind. While she sat down on the street, her hand reached up and covered the spot Accelerator had touched her.

He touched my chest… She shook her head vigorously and turned her attention to the fight between monsters.

"Look at you going all soft," Teitoku sneered.

"We'll see how soft you think I am when your guts are spread all over the street. I'll just kill you through your dark matter."

"You don't understand," Teitoku said, descending slightly so he was closer to Accelerator. "Let me show you why you can't win." His wings expanded with a soft swoosh, as the air was displaced and then started to glow with a bright white light. Accelerator suddenly felt his skin start to burn and he jumped back. Looking down at his arms, he saw they were bright red, like he just received a bad sunburn.

"How?" Accelerator asked. He was shocked because an attack like that should have been reflected. Instead, it had bypassed his automatic reflection.

"Diffraction," Teitoku told him, with a superior tone. "Light or electromagnetic waves change direction when passing through narrow gaps, using multiple gaps at the same time will make the waves interfere with each other. Normally, you wouldn't be able to kill people with diffraction, but that only applies to normal physics. My dark matter doesn't normally exist in this world, so when I diffract light using it, the laws are completely different. Let me demonstrate for you." His wings glowed bright again, but this time he aimed at a metal beam sticking out of the ground. Normally it would take several thousand degrees to melt it, but Accelerator watched as the diffracted lights started to cause the metal to bubble and transform into a liquid.

"Then I just have to adjust my calculations to deflect it," sneered Accelerator. From behind his back, the wind started whipping wildly until four dark tornadoes of air formed, like his own set of wings. He leaped up into the air and charged straight at Teitoku, reaching a hand out. Teitoku smirked and one of his white wings intercepted Accelerator's charge. They collided with a boom, as all the air nearby was displaced, and then the impossible happened.

Accelerator was blown back down and crashed into the rubble of the destroyed building.

Saiai couldn't help gasping at the sight. Accelerator's automatic reflection should have been able to stop any attack, but he had been knocked back like a rag doll. Teitoku was still flouting in midair like nothing happened. How is this possible? Even Mugino's attacks super can't hurt him. What kind of power is this dark matter? When Accelerator stood up, she let out a sigh of relief. It appeared his vector manipulation worked fine on the ground and he cushioned his impact. The only damage he took was from the wing hitting him.

"With all the research I sought out and stole," Teitoku explained. "I also found some pretty useful allies. We examined all the information about your ability and found some very interesting things. Your ability to reflect, at first glance, appears to be all powerful. You don't have to see the attack in order to prevent being hurt, but you don't actually reflect everything. There was a well written paper by a man named Kihara who listed your true weakness. You actual make a filtering system with your reflection. If you didn't and just reflected everything, you would never be able to touch anything. Gravity would no longer hold you down on earth and you would drift through space. You allow the minimum about of forces to affect you and then reflect the harmful one."

"So what?" spat out Accelerator. "That doesn't explain how you can use those damn wings as blunt force attacks."

"It's a lot more complicated than that," Teitoku laughed. "Ever since we first clashed I have been testing your filtering system. I can produce over 25,000 different kinds of energy. With each blow we exchanged, I tested your defenses and found what energy your subconscious reflection doesn't consider harmful, and then turn it harmful using my dark matter laws." His wings began to expand. "You may be all powerful in this world, but anything my dark matter encompasses, is no longer the world you know." His wings stretched out and the tips seemed to become incredibly sharp. They converged on Accelerator's location with a boom, as the air was pushed away.

Teitoku white wings only struck the debris, as Accelerator jumped out of the way, the tornados on his back propelling him into the air. Accelerator and Teitoku turned and faced each other in midair. Accelerator didn't like the truth behind Teitoku's words, but it reminded him of something else. When I fought those magicians, I didn't know how their magic worked. This is the same situation. I will break apart his rules piece by piece and make him regret ever challenging me. The silence lengthened as they stared at each other. Then they charged.

BOOM!

They exchanged blow after blow. Accelerator controlled the vectors of the flow or air around him and sent 120 meter per second tornados at Teitoku. It blew back Teitoku's wings, but at the same time the wings made out of the unknown matter blew apart his tornados. Accelerator dived down to the ground and stomped on a pile of concreate rubble. The rocks around him shot upwards toward Teitoku like a hail of bullets, but Teitoku swept one of his wings and blew them away. His wings then created his own vortex of wind, made from a different set of laws, and threw it at Accelerator. Accelerator reached up a hand and used his own tornados to disperse as much of it as possible, while still letting some hit him to start his new calculations.

To his surprise, they were easier to understand than the magic vectors. The magic vectors didn't follow the physic laws in how they moved. While the vectors theoretically moved in one direction, they actually moved differently, depending on the individual's mana. An attack may be moving to the right, but the magic vectors would be deflected like they were moving to the left. The dark matter vectors moved in the same way as normal vectors, but it was the reaction that was slightly different when he started to manipulate their direction. It's what caused nonlethal attacks to become lethal. It would be like seeing fire as water. Even if all your other senses would continue to swear it was water, you physically felt it as fire and would get burned by it. Accelerator had been able to start manipulating the vectors the way he wanted to, but some still got through, causing minor damage that was piling up.

"If this is all the number one is capable of," Teitoku said, sounding slightly disappointed. "I should have taken care of you a long time ago and become the new number one." He could tell Accelerator was taking damage and all it would take is one slip up and he would fall to Teitoku's dark matter attacks.

"You still going on about something so stupid?" Accelerator asked, rubbing his ear. The tornadoes behind him lifted him back up into the air and he stopped fifty meters away from Teitoku.

"I need the title for many reasons," Teitoku told him. "There are perks only the number one can have, including access to every research facility, researcher, and even the superintendent himself. I want access to it all to become a being no human could comprehend."

Accelerator frowned and he unconsciously made a fist. Those words reminded him of what he had felt like so long ago, before he met Touma. I strive for something beyond the strongest, that challenging me would be the most ridiculous thought ever, that fighting me would be a sin! Teitoku may have different motivation for that thought, Accelerator didn't know or particularly care, but he knew that path. Accelerator wasn't like Touma. He knew he wouldn't be able to save someone like him, so he had to resort to stopping him, before others were dragged down to their level. I need one good hit to truly understand his dark matter.

"Where was all that confidence from before?" Teitoku asked. "You suddenly have gone silent. Do you finally realize the difference in our power?" Accelerator's response was just to glare at him. "Then let's finish this." Teitoku's six wings stretched out several more meters and started to glow. Unlike before, it was more ominous and felt partially machine like, cold and devoid of life. Teitoku was obviously planning to end it with one more attack. "It was fun while it…" He stopped when he caught a sudden movement out of the corner of his eye.

A light pole had been thrown like a spear at Teitoku.

One of Teitoku's wings knocked it away effortlessly, and it fell to the ground in a crumple mess. The destructive force didn't stop there and a gust of wind flew toward the person who had thrown the spear. The wind brushed over Saiai and lifted her off the ground. She flew through the air and crashed through a nearby store window. "Pest," Teitoku muttered. "Know your place. Now where were…" He realized his mistake to late. In order to attack Saiai, he took his eyes off Accelerator for a single second, but that was more than enough for him. Accelerator reached forward and controlled all the vectors of the around him, concentrating it to a point and creating a sphere of 120 meter per second wind. Teitoku's wings started to converge on Accelerator, but it was too late. Accelerator delivered his fist into Teitoku's gut, the wind roared and exploded, and Teitoku was thrown from the air at several times the speed of sound. He crashed diagonally through an apartment building, before crashing into the ground with an earth shattering boom.

Accelerator landed on the ground, the tornado of winds behind his broke apart and went silent. Instead of making sure Teitoku was dead, he made his way over to the building Saiai was thrown into. It was an unusual experience for him. He was not use to someone trying to help him fight one of his enemies. Normally, he entered fights other people were participating in and finishing them. People didn't jump into fights he started. Weirdly, he felt like it was his duty to make sure she was okay, which was relatively unknown to him except around Last Order. It's more of the damn hero's influence. Next time I see him I'm doing to throw him out a window. He's making my life so complicated. He didn't have to worry, as he saw a hand on the windowsill and Saiai pulled herself up. Thanks to her Offense Armor, which wasn't filtering attacks, she only suffered a weaken blunt force. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I super wanted to help," Saiai said casually, trying to shrug, but flinched slightly in pain.

"I didn't need it," Accelerator said harshly, before turning away. "But I suppose I should thank you. It gave me the opening I was looking for."

Did he just compliment me? Saiai thought to herself in amazement. She felt it was probably better if she didn't point that out. She stumbled out of the window and followed Accelerator. I should report to Mugino that it's the number two who was breaking into labs, but it's probably pointless now. She glanced over in the direction Teitoku had been launched. A movement caused her to stop and her eyes grew wide. "Accelerator," she called out. "He's super still alive."

"Shit," he growled, turning around. White wings erupted out of the ground and kicked up clouds of dust and rubble. Brushing himself off, Teitoku walked calmly through the cloud of dust. While he was pretending to be fine, Accelerator could see severe cuts and bruises all over his body. He's just acting tough. "What was that about you wanting to be the strongest? You look like you have seen better days."

"Shut up pig," Teitoku responded, for the first time sounding seriously pissed. "Just because you don't have a reason to gain power, doesn't mean the rest of us don't."

"I know exactly what you are going through," Accelerator spat out. "The bullshit you spew may make perfect since in your twisted useless mind, I don't care. To the rest of us, it's just crap."

"Like you have the right to judge me."

"Now you sound like one of those pieces of filth that pretend to be a first class villain."

"Then if this 'filth' kills you," Teitoku said. "What does that make you?"

"There's no point in dwelling on impossibilities," Accelerator sneered, walking toward Teitoku. "I have figured out how to alter your dark matter. This fight is over."

"Like you could learn the entirety of my ability in such a short time," snorted Teitoku. His white wings began to grow and spread out to either side of him. "Die already." Explosions ripped through the street as the six white wings extended, intending to impale Accelerator.

"Idiot," mumbled Accelerator, as Saiai jumped back to make sure she wasn't in the way. The white wings struck Accelerator from all sides.

The battle was over in an instant.

Teitoku never saw his attack being reflected back at him, before it was too late. He looked down and saw his wings had looped around and pieced his stomach and torso. Blood ran out of his wounds and his mouth. "You bastard…" he mumbled, before falling backwards. Accelerator decided not to take chances this time and walked up to him. Standing over Teitoku's body, Accelerator shook his head.

"You brought this on yourself. Now go rot in hell."

"Heh," coughed Teitoku, his eyes looking at him. "If I had greater control of magic, I might have been able to win. I can only generator enough mana to imitate a level 3, but it looks like you killed me first." He hacked up some blood, and Accelerator saw something that gave him a chill. Teitoku was smiling. "At least… this version of me."

"What?" Accelerator asked, before receiving his answer. Teitoku's body bled out and he fainted, but then something else happened. His body started to decay into small scraps of his white dark matter. It continued from his wounds and spread out to his entire body. The dark matter floated into the air like snow, before fading away. "Was his entire body made of dark matter?" Accelerator muttered and frowned to himself, ignoring the fact Saiai had snuck up behind him.

"Was he the real number two?" she asked him, and Accelerator's frown grew.

"Let's worry about that later," he said. "We need to get out of here. The noise will attract unwanted attention, even with my group's precautions." Saiai nodded and both of them made their way to Accelerator's rendezvous point.

---

Why do these kinds of things always happen to me? At least I still made it in time to catch the supermarket sale.

Touma was slowly heading back to his apartment, his body bruised and arching all over, his clothes dirty and torn. This wasn't an unusual situation for him, so most people who saw him only noticed the disheveled clothes. He was walking slower because his arms were laden with bags of food. I should be able to make Lessar and Index a proper meal tonight. This food won't last long, but that's why it was being sold so cheaply. His apartment came into view and he turned his thoughts back to what happened earlier.

After he and Jason had accidently angered Leivinia, she had unleashed a series of dome shaped explosions, which Jason later told him was controlled bursts of Telesma. I guess she's really the head of her magic cabal, if she can wield Telesma so easily. Touma managed to protect himself with his right hand, but was surprised when Jason's shadow cut one of the explosions in half, causing the force to divide on either side of him. After the initial attack, both of them turned around and ran, trying to put distance between them and Leivinia. It didn't seem to do much, as she launched another well placed volley. Touma finally managed to lose her after running through the back alleys before finding Jason, talking on his phone. They talked for about a minute, before Jason told him he should leave. Anti-Skill was moving in on their location and Touma would not want to be caught there. Touma quickly agreed with him and left as quickly as he could. When he was far enough away, he remembered the sale at the supermarket.

"Index, Lessar," Touma called out, as he opened the door. "I'm back and I brought food…" He stopped talking when he felt the tension in the air. He stepped into his dorm and threw the food into the kitchen, before realizing there was a third girl in the living area with his roommates. Leivinia was sitting across the table from Lessar, with Index sitting between them. Index appeared to be in an awkward position and kept nervously glancing at the other two. Leivinia appeared rather bored, but glanced over when Touma came into view. Lessar appeared the most alert, because she had her Steel Glove assembled and held tightly against her chest. "Birdway-san?" he gasped, a combination of surprise and worry. "What are you doing here?"

"Touma," Index cried, standing up and rushing over to him. She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the living room. "Thank god you're back. I'm starving and these two have been arguing for the past half an hour."

"I'm pretty sure I told you already," Leivinia said to Touma. "Just because you managed to slink away during an unexpected interruption, doesn't mean I have forgotten."

"When did you meet the boss of Dawn Colored Sunlight?" Lessar asked. "Don't you know who she is? What she does?" Lessar glared at him.

"I sort of ran into her today," Touma admitted, omitting some of the more dangerous details. Of course, Leivinia immediately saw through his pathetic attempt to protect himself and smirked.

"You don't need to be so modest," Leivinia told him, sounding nicer than he ever heard her before. "I was just walking down the street, when he comes out of nowhere and asks me out on a date."

"WHAT!?" Lessar and Index yelled, and Touma felt his heart sink.

I'm dead.

"How did you get him to do that?" Lessar demanded. "I've been throwing myself at him and he barely bats an eye."

"It must be my feminine charms," Leivinia declared proudly.

"What charms?" Lessar asked. "I'm much more attractive than you are." This caused an argument to break out, but Touma stopped paying attention. There was a more pressing issue at hand. Index had turned to him, with a dark aura surrounding her, as she looked up at Touma with accusation in her eyes.

"Toouuummmaaa," Index growled dangerously. "Is what she said true?"

"There's a reasonable explanation behind it," Touma cried, his hand outstretched as he tried to pacify her. Index had jumped before he was able to though and he spent a minute trying to stop her from biting his head. Lessar and Leivinia watched with amusement, not bothering to offer him help. After he finally got her off, he escaped into the kitchen saying he needed to cook supper. I thought I would have enough for leftovers, even with Index's appetite, but now with Birdway it doesn't look like it. Index looked torn between continuing to punishment him, calling what he did 'a sin,' but she also wanted to eat and couldn't do that if he was being punished. She settled down at the table and listened to Leivinia and Lessar talk.

"So you found Fallen activity in the city," Lessar repeated Leivinia's explanation. "And now you want him to join your group in assaulting their base?"

"That's about it," Leivinia replied, sipping her tea Touma provided them. It was an extremely cheap blend, something she commented on, but didn't taste too bad. "His hand will be useful removing all of their defenses."

"I don't think you should be involving Touma in the magic side," Index spoke up. "He gets involved too much on his own. We shouldn't purposely…"

"He's already involved," Leivinia interrupted. "Ever since he started opposing them, he accepted the consequences of getting involved. His actions in England have far more reaching implications thean you realize, plus the rumors of an unusual event in Rome, centered on the coliseum."

"Index," Touma spoke up from the kitchen. "I already promised her I would help. Besides, we know our friends are involved too, so if we don't do what we can, they might get dragged into this even more."

"I suppose," Index said halfheartedly. "But you won't take any unnecessary risk right?" She looked at him and he nodded.

"When do I ever take risks?" Touma replied, laughing, but stopped when Index narrowed her eyes at him.

"So there are no problems," Leivinia said simply. "I guess I'll join you for dinner and then we can head out. My people should be in position by then."

"How much do you know of her organization?" Lessar asked Touma again. "Did you just agree to help without knowing anything about her?"

"Her organization is called the Dawn Colored Sunlight and is based in England, right?" Touma answered. "They also oppose the Fallen." He shrugged. "I just met her today so I don't have any more information."

"Of course that's all you would know," Lessar replied, face palming. "Her magical cabal may be based in England, but she isn't loyal to the country at all. Her group wants to eliminate the distinction and separation between the Science Side and the Magic Side, and then rule over both sides. The only reason she is willing to work with us is because she considered the Fallen a threat to her plans."

"You make it sound like my group is horrible," Leivinia said, pretending to pout slightly. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend right?"

"Not in this case," Lessar said, a little irritated. She stood up and pointed her Steel Glove at Leivinia. "If you try anything with him, you will have me to answer to."

"What if I let you join us?" Leivinia asked, smirking deviously.

"That's okay then." Touma nearly tripped and fell in the kitchen from Lessar's response.

"So it's settled," Leivinia said to Lessar, in a final sort of way. "You and the Imagine Breaker will join my group on the assault of their base. If we can capture them fine, if not, well, that's up to them." Her voice grew dark and cold.

"We will stop them," Touma said firmly. "But we won't have to go that far."

"I'm coming too," Index added.

"What?" Touma asked surprised. "You don't have to."

"If we are going to assault the Fallen's base," Index explained. "We are most likely going to encounter Eve's and Adam's subordinates. My knowledge will be useful in uncovering their abilities, because we don't know what we will be facing."

"But…" Touma tried to protest.

"Don't argue," snapped Leivinia. "Her reasoning is right on the mark. Plus, it does not seem like they are after the grimoires she holds. If they were, they would have made an attempt on them already." Touma wanted to argue, but he knew it was pointless. Leivinia already agreed to it, and Index had a determined look on her face that told him she wasn't going to change her mind. To distract himself, he focused his attention on cooking. Leivinia noticed this and decided it was a perfect time to mess with him some more. "Lessar," Leivinia said. "So you have been staying with him for a while?"

"A couple days," Lessar said and then frowned. "There's no more room so don't even think about it. He's going to end up choosing me in the end, so don't get in the way."

"Have you found any adult magazines yet?" Leivinia asked, her eyes twinkling. There was a bang in the kitchen, but the three girls ignored it.

"No," Lessar complained loudly. "I looked all over for them. Since he was ignoring all my advances, I tried to find what he was into, but he doesn't seem to have anything like that."

"Touma always says money is tight," Index told them. "He has to spend it on food and can't waste it on sinful material."

"That sounds unusual for a high school boy," Leivinia said seriously. "You think he swings for our side?"

"That thought crossed my mind," Lessar replied, just as seriously. "It would explain why he appears to have Saint level self-restraint against my advances."

"Swings for our side?" Index asked, tilting her head slightly.

"It means he is into…"

"Lessar!" Touma called out harshly from the kitchen. "That is not true at all. Index, just ignore those two."

"I did find something interesting though," Lessar whispered to Birdway. "But I don't think it's his."

"Do tell."

"This," Lessar answered, reaching under the bed mattress and pulling out a magazine. Index saw what she was doing and gasped quietly. Lessar threw the magazine onto the table and Leivinia glanced at it. It definitely wasn't something she expected Touma to own, but a quick glance over at Index, who had gone slightly red and was deliberately trying not to look at it, confirmed her suspicion. It was a female magazine, with the main article titled in bold red letters, Ten Ways to Attract a Man. Several smaller articles were also listed including Spring Fashions and Increasing Your Chest Size. Leivinia reached over, picked it up, and rifled through it, pretending to be nonchalant about it.

"If it's not his," Leivinia said slowly and sarcastically. "Who do you think it could belong to?" She and Lessar both glanced over at Index, small smirks forming on their faces. Index's face grew slightly redder.

"It's not mine," Index denied. "Maybe the previous owner of the dorm left it. Touma wouldn't buy something like that."

She's lying, Lessar and Leivinia thought.

"Well if it doesn't belong to anyone here," Leivinia said slyly. "Maybe I'll give it to my sister. I bet she would be interested in this." This time, it was Leivinia who was lying. She was planning to keep the magazine for herself.

"Ah, no!" Index cried.

"Why not?" Lessar asked, trying not to laugh at her panicked expression. Before Index could think of a response, she was saved by Touma calling for all of them to come and eat. Lessar stood up immediately and bolted for the kitchen. She knew what happened if Index got to the food first. Leivinia laughed at the stunned look on Index's face and followed Lessar. Index paused a moment longer, grabbed the magazine Leivinia had thrown on the table, and hid it back under the mattress, before rushing into the kitchen.

"It's a rather common dish," Leivinia commented, after tasting Touma's food for the first time. "Yet you somehow made it passable." Touma had made a stir-fry with rice, assorted vegetables, and a little meat. She was a little disappointed in the amount of meat, which she told him, but the food tasted good, so she let it pass. It's unusual to see someone with a powerful ability like the Imagine Breaker, and can still do basic chores like cooking. Maybe I should force him to work for me exclusively.

"Thanks?" Touma replied awkwardly. Just accept it as a compliment. He was slightly curious about what the girls were talking about shortly before he called them, but something told him he didn't really want to know.

"One of the best perks about living here," Lessar agreed. "Of course, there could be a better one if he just left the door unlocked." Touma started coughing as he choked on his food.

"There's so much," Index said cheerfully, helping herself to thirds already.

"I managed to catch a really good sale," Touma told her. "It was lucky I was nearby or I would never have caught it in time. " He caught Leivinia's eyes and she smirked. At least she doesn't seem to be mad at me anymore about what Jason and I said earlier. They ate their meal in relative silence, with only occasional conversations, before Leivinia looked up at the clock.

"We need to get going," she said. "My people should be finishing getting into their positions. You three will get to be with me in the initial assault."

"Perfect," Touma said dryly, as the peaceful atmosphere changed instantly.

---

"Is this it?" Touma asked Leivinia. They had stopped in front of a large, but unassuming warehouse. Academy City had storage units all over the city to store the vast amount or equipment and resources the city used. If Leivinia hadn't stopped right in front of this one, Touma would have no idea this was the Fallen's base. Leivinia appeared confident, as she gazed at it intently. Lessar was standing behind Touma, her Steel Glove held tightly in her right hand. Index was standing next to Touma and was frowning.

"There doesn't seem to be any signs of mana around here," she said.

"That threw us off their trail for a while too," Leivinia admitted. "But they underestimated us. We found evidence members of the Fallen have been coming and going. There is most likely a barrier around the warehouse to hide their presence." She turned to Touma. "Why don't you just go up and knock?" she suggested. "If your hand works, then we know it's the place. Oh, they will probably instantly know if the barrier is broken, so be prepared for a fight." Her voice was sounding a little crueler, almost like she was getting excited.

"Index be careful," Touma whispered, as he made his way to the large metal doors.

"You don't need to worry about me," Index told him. "I can take care of myself. You should be more worried about yourself. Don't take any chances." Touma nodded and stopped right before the doors. He decided on the spot knocking was not a good idea and, instead, reached up and put his hand lightly on the door. The sound of breaking glass echoed along the deserted street, and Touma instinctively took a step back. "TOUMA!" Index cried. "Get back now!"

"Already on it," Lessar said. She jumped into the air and landed next to Touma, who had begun to back up. She swung her Steel Glove and the hand at the end made contact with the door. The sound of metal tearing hurt Touma's ears and the door was ripped off its hinges. Lessar lifted the door and threw it into the building. It crashed with a devastatingly loud clang, followed by the sound of someone yelling in pain. Touma looked through the door and saw someone was trapped under the heavy metal door. He was about to rush to the person's aid, when he saw the gold mask on their face.

"It's one of Eve's creations," he called out to the others.

"And there's a lot more where that one came from," Lessar added from next to him, holding her Steel Glove in front of her. Touma had to admit she was right. From what he could see of the warehouse, through the broken doorway, it was mostly empty. There were boxes stacked several meters high against the back wall. A couple shelves were standing away from the walls, but the center of the warehouse was mostly clear. There appeared to be a metal walkway suspended from the ceiling to allow access to the top of the shelves, along with pulley systems, most likely used to lift the supplies. The issue was Eve's masked men were emerging from random spots around the warehouse and were pulling blades from nowhere, as they approached him and Lessar.

"Let's remove the trash before we investigate their base," Leivinia suggested, causing them both to jump. Neither of them heard her walk up. In her hand, she spun her Symbolic Weapon. Touma was shocked she was preparing to walk into the lion's den alone and was about to call out for her to stop, but then he saw something to make him remember important facts. Leivinia Birdway may be a young girl, but she was the leader of the largest magical cabal in England. Touma was about to witness the truth behind the cabal's judgement on promoting members based on skill instead of age.

It was a slaughter.

A line of fire erupted from Leivinia's wand toward the group of masked men. It was unlucky for them they had to converge at the entrance, which made it easier for her to target all of them with a single attack. The fire grew the further away it traveled and became a cone of destructive flames. The masked men never had a chance to defend themselves. Their clothes burned away first, then their masks, and finally the rest of them. The fire faded away and all that was left of the opposition was ashes. Leivinia had shown them no mercy, no restraint, and not a single shred of respect. She flipped her hair back and yawned. To her, annihilating a couple enemies was about as exciting as taking out the trash. Touma finally received a full view of the other half of Leivinia Birdway.

She was the leader of the Dawn Colored Sunlight.

"What if they were real people?" he half yelled at Leivinia. She acted like a normal girl at my dorm, and I could understand her attacking me and Jason, but this? This was nothing but overkill.

"Then they learned their lesson about what happens when you oppose me," Leivinia shrugged.

"You…!" Touma said, for the first time sounding angry.

"None of them were human," Index informed him. "She probably already knew that so she didn't have to hold back." Touma felt his anger subside.

"Sorry," he muttered. I guess she isn't so bad. Leivinia didn't say anything and strutted into the warehouse. Touma and Index followed her, but Lessar hesitated for a moment. She didn't know if Leivinia actually knew for sure, but Lessar was confident it wouldn't have made a difference. Leivinia's reputation was not very pleasant and Lessar knew Leivinia would turn on them if it would further her goals. "Any idea what they are storing in here?"

"No," Leivinia said. "But that's why we are here." She turned to Index. "Do you notice anything unusual?" Index quickly scanned the room, looking for any kinds of symbols or markings, while noting the layout in case it was used for some kind of ritual. She peered into boxes while the other's kept watch.

"Most of these boxes contain electronic parts," Index said, frowning. "Nor do I see any kind of relevance to any kind of ritual or spell. I can't make out the markings on the ceiling from here though."

"It's possible they were just using this place as a meeting hall," Lessar commented, peering into another box. "They might not be storing anything at all."

"From what we saw of Eve in England," Touma muttered. "She tends to make overly complicated plans. I doubt she would take over an entire warehouse just to leave some of her creations here."

"That's obvious," Leivinia added. "But I wish you knew more of the science in your own city. Seriously, do you want to call all your other friends? I bet they would be able to give us more information."

"That won't be necessary," a young female voice called down to them. All of them looked up to the metal rafters and saw a young girl sitting on the railings, her legs dangling over the side. She had long dark brown hair, which reached the middle of her back, and dark brown eyes. She was wearing a green t-shirt with a yellow flower and tight fitting blue jeans. A rose was tucked behind her left ear. Touma frowned when he saw her face. He could swear she was around his age but, what should have been a kind and sisterly look, her face was etched with dark lines, like she had been through a traumatic experience. "I'm not a big fan of violence, so could you all leave quietly?"

"Are you Juliet?" Touma asked. "You look like the girl Misaki saw in Eve's memory."

"That's what she calls me anyways," Juliet replied with a slight twinge of annoyance. "I have a name, but I don't want to give it to you lot."

"How about you tell us what Eve's doing here and we don't beat it out of you?" Leivinia suggested.

"I'm never sure what Eve is ever really doing," Juliet said. "It has something to do with the wing. I was just killing time here until she would fulfill her promise."

"What promise is that?" Lessar questioned. She was smart enough to get as much information as possible, because Juliet seemed to be in the mood to talk.

"She promised I would be able to meet my Romeo."

There was no context about who Romeo was, though all four of them knew about The William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. The play was about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. What happened next, Touma did not expect, because he had done nothing wrong. Leivinia, Lessar, and Index all turned and stared at him with exasperated expressions, though Index might have had a slight amount of irritation mixed in. "What?" he asked, but none of them answered. "Why do I feel like you are all saying it's my fault? I didn't do anything. This is my first time meeting her."

"Don't even think about setting me up with him," Juliet sniffed. "My Romeo is smarter, more sensitive, and much more attractive than this dense, average looking, idiot. I'm offended you would even think of something like that." Touma felt a twinge of annoyance.

"He is pretty dense," Leivinia conceded.

"His looks are pretty average too," Lessar added.

"And he gets involved in a lot of things he shouldn't," Index finished. "But he's still our friend, so you aren't allowed to insult him." Lessar nodded in agreement.

"Enough of this mindless chatter," Leivinia told them all firmly. "She's trying to get us off topic. She's quite good at manipulating people and it felt so natural. Let's just force her to tell us what we want to know." She twirled her Symbolic Weapon and another stream of fire flew at Juliet. The fire wrapped around where Juliet was sitting and created a sphere of flames, melting the nearby metal railings and walkways.

"I said I don't like fighting," Juliet's voice came clearly through the wall of flames. A familiar sight of dark water like substance burst through the fire and spun around in midair. While the shadow looked familiar, there was a key difference to Touma. Jason's shadow always had to be attached to his body, this shadow was not connected to anything. The shadow flowered around like a dark current in the air, before making its way onto a stack of boxes. The shadow started to twist itself back into the shape of a human, before finally becoming Juliet again. "While I can fight if I have a reason, I usually don't. I only protect people important to me." Touma felt something in his chest, as her words struck him deeply.

She's saying the same things I do.

"Enough of your babbling," Lessar said, swinging her Steel Glove. It grabbed one of the boxes full of heavy electronics and threw it at Juliet. She might as well have thrown a wad of paper for how much damage it did. Juliet's body morphed back into the shadow and the box went right through her, before hitting the wall, causing the box to open and scatter the parts all over the floor. The clatter sounded like heavy rain hitting a tin roof. "How are we supposed to hit her?"

"Even if you could hit me," Juliet answered. "It wouldn't work. I'm not even alive. You could say I'm just a memory."

"A memory?" Touma asked, looking over at Index, but her attention was focused on Juliet. She's in the middle of analyzing Juliet's magic.

"My real body died years ago helping my Romeo," Juliet explained. "Thanks to Lucifer's blessing, I was given a second chance." She reformed on the ground and started walking toward them. "I have my orders, but I won't let you stand in my way of our future." She morphed back into the shadow as Lessar lunged at her. Juliet whipped her shadow body and sent Lessar flying into a stack of boxes. Juliet turned around and moved at high speeds toward Leivinia, who smiled.

"If physical and elemental attacks won't work," Leivinia muttered coldly. "Let's try pure Telesma." A gold explosion engulfed Juliet and, for the first time, the explosion pushed her back. The shadow reformed on the far side of the warehouse and Juliet was shaking her head.

"That actually hurt!" she yelled at Leivinia.

"That was the point." While the explosion looked like simple magic, Leivinia was actually using accurate intuition and measurements made by eye rather than relying on theories and calculations. She accurately used the right amount of Telesma, without giving it form, to create a series of dome-shaped explosion attacks. Without the proper knowledge, a magician using this kind of magic would probably be swallowed by their power. It was just another testament to her skill. "It didn't work on his friend," she said, pointing to Touma, "but your magic feels different. Now that I know how to hit you, I'm going to take my sweet time until you tell me everything you know."

"I rather not," Juliet replied. "Eve would tan my hide if I talked. How about this instead? You all leave, I pretend I never saw you, and everyone lives?"

"Denied."

"Then I guess I'll just have to blow us all up together," Juliet said simply. "A sacrifice to protect others. What could be more romantic?"

"Don't!" Touma yelled, dashing as fast as he could toward her. "You can't give up your life that easily!" He reached out a hand toward her, but she slipped away from him by transforming back into a shadow and bolting toward the ceiling. What was that? For a single second, before she transformed, fear was etched on her face as she looked at his incoming hand.

"Who would have thought you would try to kill me," Juliet asked in shocked. "I was told you were supposed to be some kind of dense savior."

"I was trying to stop you from committing suicide."

"I told you before, didn't I? I don't have a real body. Your hand will kill me. Can you live with that?" Touma froze at the implications of what she said and he stared at his hand in horror.

"Good to know," Leivinia said.

"So we just have to hold her still so he can touch her," Lessar added.

"Is she telling the truth Index?" Touma asked.

"Sadly yes," Index nodded slowly. "Her entire body is made up of shadows. If you touched her, she would fade from existence."

"Eve told me to destroy this place if it's discovered," Juliet continued. "So I guess I don't have a choice." She flew as a shadow toward the ceiling and started muttering. From the middle of the ceiling, dark red lines started to spread out across the ceiling and down the walls. "Think of this spell as the final celebration when two feuding families find peace. All conflict will end. It will take us all out, but I don't have a physical body sooooo…. Have fun." Explosions started to appear on the walls and ceiling, sending shards of metal flying in every direction. Rather than collapsing the building, the explosions were breaking the building into sharp pieces and sending them flying through every point in the warehouse.

"You'll pay for this," Leivinia roared, swinging her wand which changed into a disk. Walls of earth started to emerge from the ground to provide her cover. The metal shards embedded in the stone like needles.

"Damn it," Lessar said, swinging her Steel Glove to stop the metal shards from piercing her. Her glove gathered them together and she threw them at other incoming shards. Touma was the only one who recognized the biggest problem.

"INDEX!" he yelled. She didn't have any way to protect herself and he was prepared to use his own body to protect her. A large fragment of a steel beam was flying straight at her and he wasn't going to make it in time. Index, damn it, I said I would protect you. He didn't give up and still ran, regardless how futile it appeared. He was a foot away, when the metal fragment suddenly altered its trajectory upwards and impaled itself into the far wall. Touma stopped next to Index and looked around in shock. In fact, most of the metal shards were changing their direction unnaturally. "What the…" It seemed Juliet was equally surprised.

"What is happening?" she asked in amazement. The ceiling started to crack along the middle, like both sides of the building were being pulled apart. The ceiling broke in half and the metal that started to fall also moved to the right and left, completely avoiding Touma, Index, Lessar, and Leivinia. Juliet was still floating in the air, but now, the warehouse that was covering them all was now in two large piles on either side of them. She looked around trying to find the reason her spell was interrupted, and she couldn't believe who had stopped it. "Not another interruption. How did she even find out about this place?" Everyone else turned to look and saw a familiar face.

"Mikoto!"

"Short Hair?"

"Sparky!"

"What was her name? Misaka or something?"

"Are you all okay?" Mikoto called out, running over to them. "I saw the building start to collapse and I magnetized each side with a positive charge. I'm glad to see it worked." By causing the walls on opposite sides to have the same polarities, they started to repel each other. The walls were actually causing the building to break into two and then she could use the rest of her magnetism to manipulate any falling debris. Her strategy only worked because the entire warehouse was metal. If it was concrete or would, nothing would have happened.

"Yeah thanks," Touma told her sincerely.

"You didn't need to try to protect me," Index told him. "I had just analyzed her spell and was about to redirect the attack away from us."

"I wasn't thinking sorry," Touma said sheepishly, before turning back to Mikoto. "How did you know we were here?"

"Shokuhou," Mikoto said, looking like she just ate something sour. "She told me you were off with someone we didn't know and looked uncomfortable. We figured it had something to do with the magic side. She then monitored your movements and relayed them to me." She looked up at Juliet. "So that's our opponent?"

"You probably won't be able to hurt her," Lessar warned her. "She's immune to physical and elemental attacks. So far, only Birdway has been able to cause any damage."

"It looks like she has run out options," Leivinia said. "I'll capture her and have her spill her secrets. The rest of you can just help to make sure she doesn't try to flee."

"I could use some help!" Juliet called out loudly. "I really don't like my odds."

"My group is making sure you don't receive any backup," Leivinia told her. "You are all alone."

"No she is not."

The voice was unmistakably male, cool and calm, but Touma felt a shiver down his back. He turned to face the source and saw a man walking toward them. The man was covered completely in pitch black clothing, including his shoes and gloves. He also wore a hoody which covered his head. The only part of his face Touma could see were two red glows in place of eyes. He didn't appear to be afraid, nervous, or in a hurry. Touma didn't know what to expect from this guy, but every vibe in his body told him to be careful. He moved ever so slightly in front of Index. "Who are you?" Touma asked nervously. The man didn't reply, but then Touma was hit by an attack he never saw coming.

His entire body froze in sheer terror. Every warning sign in his mind was blaring at him to flee and scream in the opposite direction. He mind refused to think coherently and his only thought was he was about to die. The conflicting signals were preventing any chance he had of trying to calm himself down. He wanted to run but, at the same time, his body refused to obey him. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw his friend's faces. They had terrified looks etched on their faces imitated how he felt and they all appeared frozen. Everyone had apparently had been hit by the same attack. The sound of breaking glass broke the sudden silence and Touma found himself able to think straight and move. He stumbled slightly and looked up at the man approaching them.

"Impressive," the unknown man told him. "You were able to break my Hunter's Presence. It is the instinct of prey to fear their predators. I applaud you for finding the courage to break it, or was it the result of your hand?" He paused. "I suppose it doesn't matter, but I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Cain. You may know me as the first murderer."

---

Feel free to leave a review, comment, suggestions, or ideas, I love reading them. If you have a question you wish I ask and would like a quick answer, feel free to message me directly. I try to respond to those within a day or two. Comments, I tend to respond to in the next chapter.

Pierce: Accelerator totally just made the move on her.

Motoharu: He's into lolis what did you expect.

Last Order: He's cheating on MISAKA! Misaka cries with tears in her eyes.

Worst: Stop caring about him. You are making Misaka feel bad too.

Jason: I'm surprised Shokuhou-san let Misaka-san hog the spotlight.

Misaki: If it involves Touma, I will always do everything I can to help.

Mikoto: It's when it involves his safety is the only time I trust her.

Misaki: You don't trust me when we are alone and having fun?

Mikoto: You have a twisted definition of fun.

Shizuri: Accelerator is really becoming soft.

Saiai: No, he super kicked Dark Matter's ass.

Accelerator: If you think I went soft, you can always fight me.

Touma: Come on guys, there's no reason to fight.

Me: There's always a reason, but I feel after this chapter, Accelerator should get a chance to answer questions. You know he's going to get hammered by the audience.

Accelerator: If I refuse?

Me: I let Last Order answer all the questions on you…. alone.

Accelerator: Fine.