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.)

77. S3 Juliet

Real life hasn't completely destroyed my sanity yet. I still have time to write and hang out with friends, even if the time is slowly dwindling away. Still, about a week and a half vs a week isn't too bad for a release date. I'm glad most of you understand the terrible time waster known as real life. Real life is always getting in the way of having fun. I suppose the best thing this week is NT 16 is out. It's currently being translated and it's gotten really good. I'm enjoying it. I'm going to avoid spoilers until a couple weeks to give everyone plenty of time to read it. Silly Tokiwadai, always relying on Touma Kamijou. Let's move to commenters now, speaking of comments, over 1500 now. That's amazing.

toumakamijou298: You don't want this to be permanent? Imagine how much fun Season four would be as they tried to learn each one of their abilities.

Brosephg: One of Touma's best traits is he can find a way to fight, regardless of the situation he's in. He made up for Misaki's body weakness with tools.

general ironox: Accelerator was right, it's a perfect representation of her. We shouldn't tell Aogami or he might get a giant Pikachu costume for her.

riyangendut: Mikoto already had a way with girls, Kami-yan disease just magnified it. As for massive feels, it's never too late for that.

naruhinasakufan1: I really wish I had time to write a separate project with funny one shots. I would totally do a school day with them all swapped.

Guest: 1) Which question was that again? I don't have an efficient way of going through all the comments. 2) I found out it depends on the translation. The raw translation online uses Kami-yan, but the English novels actually printed has Kamijou. I just use Kami for him now so that it differentiates him from Motoharu. 3) Someone I was planning to use earlier, but things changed and she will be introduced later at some point. 4) Not really, it will be introduced in next arc. Once I tell everyone, most people will go, aww I should have known. 5) Not sure yet. Maybe after this arc is over.

Whwsms: Everything is beginning to merge. Even the Imagine Breaker can't stop the Kami-yan disease. Word of advice though, never trust a Kihara.

Syko-Soldier963: I kind of felt the same way, but most people don't seem to comment on that. I understand how it worked and why, but still, kind of eh. There will be some changes in Kakine's progress though. He's going to discover a new purpose. As for the explanation, it will happen before the arc finishes.

Handsomistic1: Probably won't last that long. If I had a story devoted purely to body swap, those kinds of things would definitely happen. I had to look up who that was, but yea, Eve has mastered the art of trolling. Only a matter of time before Touma wakes up with her sleeping next to him. Saten will get more scenes!

Hilem: Good to see you still around. Everyone is having fun learning about each other. All it takes is a slight adjustment in their point of view. Wind users are actually one of Accelerator's worst match ups. They can create vortexes and keep oxygen away from him so he can't breathe. Most of your questions will be answered in the chapter below, so can't really tell you them.

Agent Nine: Never underestimate my ability to deliver chapters. Your wish to learn has been granted. I hope it meets your expectations.

Pericles of Cholargos: It's more complicated than that. Normally, once a power is awakened, it doesn't change. It may grow, but the fundamental nature of it doesn't.

Geust: I haven't planned anything in the immediate future for the Agitate Halation. No one should ever capture Touma. Not only would the harem go after them, Aleister would crush them for trying to interfere with his plans. If Touma gets a love letter, 99% it would be from Eve, 1% it would be from someone who actually wants to date him. However, coming up with a reason to drop him in the middle of the School Gardens in his Kami outfit, perfectly reasonable. As for Uiharu… yes?

Generation Zero: Nah, no one wants to know about Jason. All the gods are watching and eating popcorn, placing bets.

Anon: I'm pretty sure it will come up eventually.

Jujudude: Fanfiction only lets me put two tags, or it would have had romance on it. The very end is planned out with the relationship and I know exactly what is going to happen.

RPGPersona: Hamazura wasn't even there, but yea, it's his fault.

321jaz: I was really sad. I thought you might have given up on it.

Salishious: She has to overcome her tsundere tendencies. She's working on it. Misaki is one of the few who is actively confessing.

Disclaimer: Random people 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. Magic Gods own all so they can do what they want.

---

"Index, Lessar!" Ruiko called out, pushing the door open to Touma's dorm. "I have all the stuff you needed, but the others are being delayed helping some girls in trouble."

"Sounds like Touma," Index sighed, looking up and shaking her head. "Even when he's in trouble with magic, he still takes the time to help others." Ruiko noticed the fondness in her voice.

"Lover Boy really doesn't discriminate," Lessar laughed, grabbing the bags from Ruiko and going threw them. She started pulling out the dolls and putting them on the table. She reached the Pikachu and burst out laughing. "Aww, it looks just like Sparky." She tossed the tape to Index, who started making symbols Ruiko didn't recognize on the ground around a black circle drawn on the floor.

"That circle," Ruiko asked, unable to resist asking. 'Did you draw that on the floor with a marker?"

"I did," Index confirmed. "We had to start setting things up and we can just wipe it off when we are done. Touma won't be mad." Ruiko glanced at the counter and saw the black marker Index must have used.

That's a permanent marker, she thought. Touma is not going to be happy." She looked around and saw Lessar unrolling the string. "Is there anything I can help with?" she asked. If not, I'll go see if the others settled everything.

"I don't think so," Lessar shook her head. "Even I don't know the correct runes to use. I'm leaving that up to Index." She juggles a couple of the dolls, looking highly amused. "I'm mainly going to cast the spell. She's doing all the technical work. Someone who doesn't know magic won't be much help right now."

"This is really precise work Ruiko," Index said looking up. Index smiled kindly at her and Ruiko remembered she was a nun. After seeing her bite Touma often and eat an almost endless amount of food, it was easy to forget. Ruiko had always been nice to her because Index was a bright outgoing person. While useless with technology, Index always wanted to see and learn new things. "Since you don't have any knowledge about magic, you won't know what runes to use."

"Oh," Ruiko replied, sounding slightly downtrodden. I can't help save others and now I can't even help put us back in our own bodies. Is there anything I can do? Her thoughts must have leaked out onto her face, because Index's next words were more uplifting.

"As part of the ritual," Index explained to her. "We are going to need everyone who was switched physically here before we can start. Because it was a single spell that was cast on you, there are certain components involved. Your physical bodies are one of them. This actually makes it easy in that we only have to cast the spell once. The complication is we need everyone present simultaneously." Ruiko felt like Index was leaving a lot of technical magic information out to simplify it for her, but she appreciated the gesture.

"That should be easy," Ruiko acknowledged. "We were planning to meet back here anyways. Shirai-san got stalled for some reason so Uiharu, Shokuhou-san, and Kagere-san are waiting for her." She looked out the window but didn't see Touma, Mikoto and Accelerator approaching the dorm. In fact, she didn't see any of them at all. It shouldn't have taken them long to handle a couple delinquents. Did something happen? "If there's nothing else I can do here," Ruiko said to Index and Lessar. "I'm going to see what's keeping the others."

"Okay," Index nodded, going back to work, but Lessar spoke up.

"I do know of one thing you could do for me," she said seriously. "I have a problem that you could help resolve."

"Anything," Ruiko answered, stopping and turning to face her. "What's the problem?"

"Since you are in Accelerator's body," Lessar wanted to confirm. "You have access to his cellphone right?"

"I do." Ruiko pulled out his phone to show Lessar.

"I need you to send a message to Bayloupe. She should be a contact on his phone."

"Okay," Ruiko replied slowly, slightly confused. "But she's your friend, isn't she? Don't you have her number?"

"I do, but the important thing is it comes from his cellphone. It won't work coming from me."

"I don't follow." Ruiko unlocked Accelerator's phone and scanned his contact list. She found Bayloupe's number on the contact list and was surprised to find her actual name. Most of Accelerator's contacts were under nicknames. Ruiko was able to deduce who most of them were, Hero, Third Rate, Brat, Bigger Brat, Nun, Teleporter, Shadow Boy, Teacher, Freeloader, Shades, Pervert and others. Besides Bayloupe, there were only a few people who were listed by their actual names, including, weirdly enough, her. It was just her last name, but it was definitely her name. Not wanting to invade Accelerator's privacy, she clicked on Bayloupe's name and was prepared to send her a message. Huh, he talks with her a lot. I shouldn't look since it's private. "What do you want me to send her?"

"Tell her she should come to Academy City because you miss her," Lessar said cheerfully, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What!?" Ruiko choked on her words, slamming the phone shut before anything could accidently happen. "I can't send that from his phone. He would be furious."

"I know she has been waiting for that text from him," Lessar pointed out grinning. "She's just wants to time it with the excuse of visiting me."

"I can't do that," Ruiko answered, shaking her head. "It's one thing to push someone to do it themselves, but pretending to be them is completely different." She headed toward the front door and opened it. "I'm off to find the others while you two work." Before Lessar had a chance to reply and cause her more embarrassment, Ruiko closed the door behind her. Her idea would be kind of funny, but Accelerator wouldn't find that amusing. Maybe if we weren't in the middle of a body swap fiasco. She looked down the street and frowned. Where are they? She traveled in the direction she had separated from them, before finally seeing a familiar blonde girl. Finally, she thought. But where are the others? Touma was leaning up against the wall of a building, panting heavily, a serious look on his face. "What happened?" Ruiko called out, fearing the answer. He looks so serious.

"Ruiko?" Touma panted, looking up at her. "We saved those girls, but then we got pulled into one of Eve's twisted plots." Ruiko's eyes went wide.

"What happened?" she asked again, wanting to know the details.

"Eve was pretending to be kidnapped and used some random gang members she found on the street," Touma explained quickly, while still catching his breath. He was not able to run very far in Misaki's body. When we finally switch back, I'm going to recommend to her she needs to exercise more. "We found out her companion Juliet is after Shirai-san and Uiharu-san, but we couldn't reach them by phone to warn them."

"What? Why?" Panic was etched on Ruiko's face at the thought of her friends being targeted.

"I don't know," Touma told her honestly, and then shrugged. "Eve said something about Juliet thinking they took something from her. Eve was cryptic as usual, but I don't think she was lying. We have to find them."

"If you weren't able to warn them, do you think they know? Where are Accelerator-san and Misaka-san? What are you planning to do now?" The questions flowed from her mouth and she couldn't stop. Her close friends were in danger and she had to do something. "What can I do?"

"Calm down," Touma shushed, putting a hand on her shoulder. He didn't want anyone near them to listen in, but he knew panicking won't help in an emergency. "Mikoto and Accelerator went off ahead. I wasn't able to keep up in Misaki's body and had to stop to catch my breath. I told them I would catch up. Again, we tried to contact them, but to no avail. We only knew about them being at the mall, so we are heading there now. I don't have much of a choice but to grab a taxi or bus."

Ruiko pulled out her phone and tried to contact Kazari. "It's busy, so she must be talking to someone."

"Then we still have time," Touma said, looking around. "I'm going to grab a taxi and try to find them."

"I'm coming too," Ruiko told him.

"But…"

"I can't stand back when my friends are in danger. I'll grab a bat if I have to. If you try to go without me, I'll find my own way."

Touma was about to continue arguing, but he stopped when he saw the look in her eyes. It was the same determination he had seen in Mikoto when he tried to leave her behind. He knew that endeavor would be impossible. I don't want her to get hurt and she's not use to facing magicians. I can't really say my position is better than hers right now. Neither of us can use the abilities of our friends. It might be better if she's with me than if she goes off on her own. "Fine," he relented. "But you have to follow my lead when we get there."

"Agreed," Ruiko nodded. Finally, I'm joining them. "What's the plan then?"

"First we call a taxi," Touma said, turning and walking down the street. Ruiko quickly followed. "Then we head to the mall as fast as possible and figure out where to go from there." Touma found a stop and waved to a taxi. Normally, he would have to do this for easily ten minutes, but this time a taxi pulled over in less than thirty seconds. Wow, that never happens. I actually have luck without my Imagine Breaker. Of course, he didn't know the taxi driver just preferred picking up attractive females. He gave the address of the mall and asked the man to hurry. Both of them sat in silence and waited. They couldn't talk in front of a stranger and there wasn't much they could discuss until they saw what the current situation was.

---

"How do you know that?" Juliet hissed, stepping back in surprise. "There's no way he would have told you anything about what happened to us."

"You can't be her," Jason replied, his voice shaking. Normally full of confidence, his voice was now soft and radiating disbelief. "Emiko died… because of me… her body was destroyed…." He grabbed his head and his face turned a combination of ghostly white with a tinge of green. "So much death…" He turned his eyes back up to her. "You have to be an imposter. Eve wouldn't do something so twisted. Who are you?"

"Who are you calling an imposter?" Juliet raged, hitting him with her shadow arm. The force of the blow sent him flying backwards a good ten meters. Kazari felt her body move automatically and caught him. They both rolled backwards on the street, but her quick thinking prevented the worst of the damage. It also helped that Kuroko's body was a lot lighter than Jason's. Kazari stood up immediately, but Jason was still sitting on the ground, looking stunned.

"Jason," Kazari asked. "What's going on?" She noticed Jason was not getting up and reached down to pull on his arm. "Get up! Come on, you have to move!" When she made contact, she felt his body trembling.

"My fault," Jason muttered, completely unaware of what was happening. "So much death…! My fault… no it's not… death…" He grabbed his head and yelled. "Stop! That's enough!"

"Jason…" Kazari said softly, before glancing back at Juliet. Whoever this girl was, it was bringing up something traumatic for him. He was only mumbling random words now, but from the sound of it, he thought this girl had died. Kazari needed to reach him somehow. If he was stuck reliving the past, he wouldn't be able to defend himself from Juliet's onslaught. She turned to Misaki and mouthed the only thing she could think of. Please, distract her! Kazari turned back to Jason and put her hand on his cheek. His entire body is shaking. "Snap out of it Jason, please. We need you back to your old self. It's the only way we are all going to get out of this."

Misaki understood Kazari's plea, and turned to Juliet. Jason's mind is broken and he's useless right now, but the girl also took some mental damage. She must not have been use to people knowing her real name. I might be able to use that. "Excuse me Juliet," she said, taking a step forward hesitantly. "Or would you prefer to be addressed by something else?" Misaki couldn't fight her directly, that was obvious. She couldn't even be sure that if she was in her own body, her ability would work. Mental Out only worked on humans. It couldn't be used on animals for example. Misaki wasn't sure if Juliet was an actual human who could use magic to become a shadow, or if she was a shadow that could appear human. Juliet's head turned to look at her, and Misaki was prepared to retreat if things went south.

"What do you want now?" Juliet always kept Kazari and Jason in her line of sight, in case they tried to escape. She was still confused at Jason's behavior, because she still believed him to be Kuroko. Kazari kept saying Jason, which was causing her to hesitate in attacking them. Kazari calling Kuroko Jason did not seem to serve any strategic purpose. Based on what Juliet knew about Kazari, she did not believe Kazari was the type of person to use tricks and mind games to fight. That was Misaki's forte.

"I'm a little confused at the situation," Misaki said, trying to sound innocent, while simultaneously thinking this was probably a mistake. If it wasn't for the fact she had interrogated Mikoto last night about Eve and Cain, she wouldn't' have had any information on Juliet. Misaka said she called herself a memory, but I don't have any clue what that means. "I really have no idea what's going on between you and the others, and you obviously realize something has happened. Thanks to your superior Eve, things are a little different than I believe you understand."

"Explain yourself," Juliet said, sounding impatient. "We don't have much time before she and Cain find us. I'm shielding my presence from them, but if you try to waste my time, you will regret it." There is definitely something going on. I should find out what before I kill them. If Eve did something, I can't act rashly, unless they try to run. She was torn between wanting to kill Kazari and Kuroko, and finding out what was causing the strange vibe in the atmosphere.

Got her. "How do you know Kagere-san, would be a good way to start off," Misaki stated. "And as of why you think those two stole him from you. From what I understood, he came back into the city alone and eventually settled with Touma and his friends. In return, I will tell you something important I think you need to be aware of, before you go any further and make a mistake you might regret. What you do with that knowledge is up to you."

"He and I have such a rich history," Juliet explained after a moment of silence. Her tone of voice changed and Misaki had to resist smirking. There was a fondness permeating through it.

Perfect. She seemed like the top that wanted to talk. A trait she and Eve share. Now, I can find out about her and look for an opening. She doesn't appear to be completely stable, so I need to tread carefully. If I try to drag this out to long, she might attack me to simplify everything. It's a careful balancing act.

"Where should I start?" Juliet mumbled, more to herself than Misaki. She wanted to give the explanation quickly to make Mikoto, more precisely the person she believed to be Mikoto, understand and not try to get involved. Eve would have her head if I killed her, but if it stops her from getting in my way, it could be worth it. I'll try to avoid that for now. "It was about…," she counted on her fingers thinking, "six years ago when we first met. We, along with four others, were specifically chosen for an unusual experiment. He was slightly younger than me and obviously was not use to dealing with others. He must have been isolated most of his childhood. He didn't say much unless asked directly and was unusually serious. Most of the others would at least make a joke once in a while at first, but he didn't."

That doesn't sound like him at all, Misaki thought. Could she have the wrong person? "What experiment?"

"They were trying to see if they could create hybrid ability users and magicians," Juliet informed her. Misaki's eyes widen and she heard a gasp. Kazari was obviously listening while trying to get Jason to snap out of his stunned stupor. "I see you both understand what happens when someone tries that. We, on the other hand, had no idea what was instore for us. When we were brought in, we were told by people claiming to be researchers that this was a separate project for the city. We were specially chosen to learn abilities developed outside of Academy City, ones which have existed for thousands of years. IN hindsight, we probably should have been suspicious, but the oldest among us was only twelve. I was ten years old when we started. All of us were blinded by the flattery they constantly gave us and we followed their instructions."

"The preparation went on for almost a year and things got worse." Juliet's eyes darkened and she frowned. "The researchers continued to pit us against each other. They constantly praised others when working with a single one of us. I tried to be nice to everyone, but they were all growing distant, except one person." She smiled and put a hand up to her cheek. "Romeo finally came out of his shell and he and I would talk whenever we had a chance. Romeo and Juliet were just the nicknames we called ourselves in private. He was a smart, curious individual. I found out he only joined because he was getting bored with Academy City's curriculum and wanted to learn something new. I was the same way. We had planned to finish this experiment and go back together." She grimaced and looked down at the ground. Misaki could swear she heard Juliet grating her teeth.

Here's when she lost her way.

"We were told it was finally time to cast our first spell," Juliet continued. "They told us if we all cast the spell together, it would be less taxing on our bodies, since it would be our first time. This was a lie. They knew ability users casting magic was dangerous, but they didn't care. We were disposable. The magic they taught us could not be abandoned halfway through. We were forced to continue until the spell was complete, or we couldn't continue."

"But I heard when an ability users casts magic…," Misaki said slowly, and then it dawned on her. "Oh no…" she felt the blood drain from her face and she glanced at Kazari, whose face turned ashen, before returning her gaze back to Juliet.

"We started dying one by one," Juliet confirmed. "I still remember the stench of blood, it was sickening. It erupted from each one of us." The sound of retching caused Misaki to dart her eyes over to Kazari and Jason again. Both of them were watching Juliet and it was obvious they were listening.

Juliet's words are bringing up something traumatizing, Kazari though, rubbing Jason's back as he retched. He can't defend himself right now and I'm not going to be able to drag him out of here with Juliet watching us. If she tries to hurt him… I'll stop her. I don't know how, but I will. Something rose up within her, the same kind of strength she used when she did something insane in trying to protect an innocent civilian as a member of Judgement.

I think what she's saying is true, Misaki thought seriously. Jason's reaction should be proof." You two must have survived, but how? I thought abilities and magic were supposed to kill the user?"

"It should have," Juliet conceded. "The others died, but we survived. I don't know the specifics how, but it had to be fate. We were destined to be together." She paused for a moment. "I can't say the experience was pleasant. Pain wrecked my body and I lost unconscious. I didn't see what happened next, but I did wake up. When I did, I saw what many would consider a nightmare. There were bodies everywhere, pools of blood, and the screaming of a wounded animal."

"Wounded animal?" Misaki asked confused. She didn't recall any mention of animals in Juliet's story. For the first time, Juliet looked uncomfortable. She shifted her weight slightly before continuing.

"Romeo wasn't in his right mind," Juliet started off saying, as if she was defending him. "He lost control after the… transformation."

"Transformation?"

"He originally had a regeneration type ability," Juliet explained. "When I awoke, for the first time, he had his shadow and it was spiraling around him. The experiment must have fundamentally changed something within him."

"That's impossible!" This time it was Kazari who spoke up. "Abilities can't change once they have been awakened."

"Shut up!" Juliet yelled, resisting the urge to attack her for now. "Harlots have no right to speak." Kazari's eyes went wide, but Misaki quickly shook her head to urge Kazari to be quiet. "Now where was I, ah yes. The transformation must have affected his mind. He was attacking the researchers who had tried to kill us." Misaki and Kazari gasped. "How did you think I reacted when I saw a ten year old become a monster? I used all my remaining strength to stand up and embraced him. I begged for him to return to me and finally his shadow subsided. I remember the look in his eyes when he turned to face me. They were full of sorrow, pain, anger, and regret. The only thing I could do was smile and tell him to live on. My body had taken too much damage and I collapsed. I heard him yell my name one last time and everything went black."

"How are you here then?" Misaki whispered, her face pale.

"Jason," Kazari whispered. She looked down at him. He wasn't mumbling to himself anymore nor was he on the edge of vomiting. His face looked lifeless, as if he had given up. What was worse was Kazari saw it all twice. Once with Kuroko's face and the second time imagining what Jason's face would look like. A normal kid wouldn't be able to come back from that. Is that why he always jokes around? He tries to hide what he's been through. "You are stronger than this. I know you can overcome what's hurting you. I'll help you anyway I can."

"I'm not even sure myself," Juliet admitted to Misaki. "My mind didn't die, even when my body did. I was floating in an endless abyss, unable to see, feel, hear, touch, or taste anything. All I could do was think. I systematically relived every one of my thoughts, the good, the bad, and everything in between. I was not going to forget who I was. Romeo's memories stood out the most, like a beacon in all the darkness. I was happiest when I was with him. I couldn't tell if days, weeks, months, or years passed. All I had were my memories in the endless abyss. Then one day I heard a female voice call out to me and I found myself back in our world."

"Eve," Misaki muttered and Juliet nodded.

"I freaked out at first. You see, I wasn't in my body anymore. I was an orb of pure darkness. Eve and Adam explained the situation to me and helped me master my new abilities. I took the name Juliet as my magic name to represent my resolve, though it wasn't my preference. With practice, I was finally able to materialize my body. When I was finally told Romeo was alive, I felt truly alive once again. Eve admitted I couldn't meet him for a while, but I still had hope. Time passed and we encountered you all. Adam forced me stay behind when they met you in Italy, but I was able to meet him for the first time in England. He didn't know who I was, but I gave him the opening to defeat Knight Leader. What angered me the most was finding out other harlots were trying to steal him away and make him forget about me. If he knew I was alive, he would join me."

"Would he approve of what you are doing?" Misaki asked. "They want to revive an archangel who is supposed to represent evil and betrayal."

"I don't care about something like that," Juliet scoffed. "Lord Lucifer only has a grudge against God for denying him freedom. He does not care about the destructions of humans and will let them continue living as they are now. Besides, why should I care about God?"

"Huh?" Misaki did not know how to answer that.

"What kind of God would allow something so tragic to happen?" Juliet demanded, pain and anger echoing in her voice. "Allowing children to be tortured, experimented on, and killed. If he was all powerful, wouldn't he be able to save them? If he is able to but won't, he must be evil. No good individual would allow something like that to happen. Why even call him God? Just because something has power and rules over others does not make them a God. I will help Eve and Adam revive their master if it means I can be with my love. Nothing will stop that from happening." She stepped forward and held out an arm, transforming it back into shadows.

"What if he doesn't intend to stop at God?" Misaki refuted. To be honest, a philosophical debate was not her forte. Being part of the science side, she never really believed in God, preferring to believe in science. After having encountered magic, she retained the possibility God could exist, since angels appear to exist, at least at some point. She had heard rumors of the debates believers had with nonbelievers and knew trying to argue with Juliet here would be pointless. I have to make her believe Lucifer isn't out for her best interest. Index said he is depicted as a betrayer. "He could come for you after you outlived your usefulness."

"If that situation occurs," Juliet replied, holding her head up high. "Then we would find a way to survive together. We already defeated death once. This is all hypothetical though, because it won't happen."

"How do you know?" Misaki demanded.

"Because I received his blessing," Juliet answered. "All members of The Fallen have received it. We have knowledge and magic far beyond what normal people know. We also hear his thoughts, desires, and advice. He admires the freedom we possess as humans and he wanted it too. When God is defeated, he will go on his own, choosing how to live his life."

"That's the problem," Misaki muttered under her breath. You don't know what he will do after he obtains that freedom. He could easily become a tyrant and rule over us. She could tell Juliet wasn't going to listen to reason. She was too far gone. Jason would be the only who might be able to talk sense into her, but right now he might not be able to form a coherent sentence.

"It's your turn now," Juliet spoke up again, breaking into her thoughts. "You said Eve did something. Things do seem off, so explain." She crossed her arms and glared at Misaki.

"Well," Misaki started to say and then stopped herself. If I tell the truth, what will she do? We can't defend ourselves without full use of our abilities. I should skip that part. The important piece of information is letting her know about Kagere-san being in Shirai-san's body. Would she captured him or let him go? There's also the chance she won't believe me and try to kill us anyways. There is a lot of guesswork here, but I have to risk it. Heh, the old me would never have done this. My prince really has been rubbing off on me. "Yesterday, Eve met with Touma. During their meeting, we all gathered thinking she was going to try something with him. He refused an offer she made and, before she left with Cain, Eve hit us with a purple light and called it Chaos Magic."

"I know that," Juliet sniffed, gesturing her to continue. "I was in the car. I take it something happened then? You all seem human and don't seem to be panicking over a loss. It couldn't have been too bad."

"No one was seriously hurt," Misaki continued. "Well, not physically anyways." She remembered Kuroko's reaction when they met up in Jason's apartment. "Her magic caused some perspective problems."

"Get on with it."

"Her magic's effect was," Misaki answered, stopping to take a breath. It's now or never. "We all switched bodies."

"What?" Juliet asked, eyes widening.

"I'm not really Misaka," Misaki informed her. "I am Misaki Shokuhou trapped in her body. I miss my well proportion body, even if her body is more athletic than mine. Your 'Romeo' happens to be in someone else's body too." Her eyes darted over to Jason in Kuroko's body and Juliet followed her gaze.

"No!" she gasped. "You have to be lying." Her gaze suddenly grew dark and her left arm transformed back into a shadow. It stretched out and wrapped around a nearby bench. With the sound of tearing metal, she ripped it out of the ground and threw it at Misaki. Misaki knew it was coming and dove to the side to avoid it.

"Ouch!" she explained, scraping her elbow. She was still not use to all this physical exertion. The bench bounced several times down the street with loud clangs, before finally coming to a stop with a screeching sound.

"You think lying to me will save your friends?!" Juliet yelled, her face furious. "You are just delaying the inevitable. Those two," she turned and pointed to Kazari and Kuroko. "Are going to die!" She raised an eyebrow when Kazari stood up and took several steps toward her, blocking Jason from view. "Are you volunteering to go first?"

"They did switch," Kazari told her softly, but there was strength in her voice not normally there. She looked back at Jason, who was kneeling down on a single knee. He's moving at least. "Something happened between you two, that's obvious. Whatever it was, it's causing him to relive a trauma. If you truly care about him, you wouldn't be putting him through this." It's not like Kazari could actually stop Juliet if she decided to attack, but she had a single thread of hope to cling on to. I feel like she really cares for him, but now she's broken in some way too. There is still a chance I can convince her to leave if she realizes it really is Jason in Shirai-san's body.

"Shut up you slut," Juliet hissed, glaring daggers at her. "You are just a poor substitute for me. He only went with you because of your friendly nature and love of flowers. You see this rose, he gave it to me and now I preserve it with magic. He was tricked by you, harpy." Kazari was trying hard to ignore the names, but even she was feeling slightly irritated by them. Juliet looked at Jason and made a fist. "Damn it, she actually switched your bodies!" she suddenly yelled out loudly. "Did she do this on purpose knowing I would try to act? That's impossible, since I didn't plan to do this until today." The last few sentences were more to herself than anyone else. She looked back at Kazari. "I guess I'll just have to take him in her body."

"What?" Kazari gasped, shocked at her sudden declaration.

"I don't care what he looks like," Juliet spat at her. "While I would prefer his mescaline body, it's his person I want. I love him for him, not what he looks like." Her words stirred something in Jason and he looked up. Their eyes met and Juliet, for the first time that day, truly smiled. "Move aside girl," she told Kazari. "I know he hates killing, so as a gift to him, I'll spare you, but only if you move. I'm taking him with me."

"No."

"What did you just say?"

"He's not going with you."

"Do you want to die that badly?"

"I don't," Kazari admitted, but held her gaze steady. "But I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let him go with you. He's important to me and your presence is causing him pain. I may get a little jealous when I see him with other girls, but there's a difference between that and giving him up. He wouldn't let me get taken away without a fight and I would rather die than abandoned any of my friends."

Wow, Misaki thought, standing up and brushing herself off. When did Uiharu-san become so tough? I'm really glad she's not into Touma. Juliet was less impressed.

"This is what I get for trying to be nice," Juliet sighed, rubbing her head. "I should have just killed you instead of talking." She pulled her arm back and jettisoned it forward. Her hand turned black as it extended like a long black lance, directly at Kazari's heart.

I won't run, she thought and her eyes unwillingly closed. Before she felt Juliet's shadow pierce her, something hit her hand from the side and knocked her out of the way. For a moment, she thought Misaki had managed to reach her, but Kazari remembered she was too far away. What hit me… oh no, he was right behind me! She opened her eyes and saw a familiar face which relieved all her fears. "Jason! You're back with us!"

"Thanks to you," he said, getting off her and turning to Juliet. "I remembered something terrible, but I'm not going to let it cause the same outcome. I won't lose everything ever again." He took a couple steps toward Juliet, as Kazari scrambled to her feet. Misaki ran over to her to make sure she was okay, and both of them turned to see what Jason and Juliet were going to do. "So you really are Emiko," Jason said slowly. Each of his words sounded heavy, like he still had difficulties believing it.

"Yes," Juliet said happily. "Not necessarily in the flesh, but you can't really say you are here either."

"I suppose not."

"Come with me," Juliet told him, reaching out a hand. "You don't have to do anything for Eve. I'll take care of what remains and, once she gets the wing, we are free to spend eternity together." Jason looked at her, and his eyes were full of sorrow and regret.

"I'm sorry, I can't."

"What?!" Juliet demanded, freezing up. "We promised we would always be together right? Do you not remember?"

"I remember the promise, but I can't keep it."

"Why?!

"I made the promise with Emiko… you aren't her, no matter how much you look like her or even if you have her memories."

"All I did was lose my body. We both changed a little growing up. You just need time to adjust."

"The Emiko I know would never have joked about killing someone. You taint her memory with your words."

"Arg," Juliet moaned, grabbing her head. "You always were stubborn, but you refuse to see the truth for some reason." Her eyes flashed and she glanced at Kazari and Misaki, who had been backing away as they talked. "It was her," she said suddenly pointing to Kazari. "She and the teleporter corrupted your mind. I have no choice but to get rid of them and take you back by force. I know you will forgive me when you realize the truth, even if it takes an eternity."

"No, don't!" Jason yelled, watching Juliet turn to Kazari while raising an arm. He grabbed one of the spikes from a pouch on his leg, Misaki had insisted he should bring them for protection, but he knew it wouldn't do anything against Juliet. Shit. A movement caught his eye and he saw a small white circular device. Recognizing it immediately, he turned and closed his eyes. A bright flash of light was followed by a loud bang. It was lucky he turned away or he would have gone blind, even with his eyes shut.

"MY EYES!" Juliet yelled in pain.

"RUN!" Kuroko yelled from behind them. Misaki, Kazari, and Jason didn't need telling twice and ran down the street after her.

"How did you find us?" Misaki asked.

"I had help from Jason's… friend," Kuroko replied after the slightest pause. Jason knew who she was talking about and frowned. He had specifically told her not to talk to him. "I have so many questions. Let's start with why I found a flash grenade in your pants pocket."

"I'm scared of the dark so I need a night light."

"ARE YOU SERIOUSLY MAKING A JOKE RIGHT NOW?!"

"Good to have you back to your old self," Kazari said with a smile. His joking attitude told her he was moving past what happened. It might be because Juliet's out of sight. Kuroko frowned and knew something had happened and turned to her more important question.

"Why was she after you?" Kuroko asked.

"Crazy ex-girlfriend," Jason said in a monotone.

"AGAIN!"

"That's… actually a good explanation," Misaki added, cutting across Kuroko. "Until we have time to go over everything in detail. Juliet is mainly after you and Uiharu-san."

"Why?" Kuroko asked confused.

"She thinks we stole Jason away from her," Kazari said.

"How am I involved in this?" Kuroko demanded. Before anyone could answer, they heard the sound of whistling of an object flying through the air behind them. They turned around, saw what it was, and dove to the sides, as a car smashed into the ground where they would have been. Kuroko and Jason were on one side and Kazari and Misaki were on the other. Juliet's dark shadow body was flying at them about thirty meters off the ground. She could fly, while they couldn't, and was able to easily catch up.

"You aren't getting away," Juliet called down as a shadow strand flew down and picked up another parked car. She looked at both groups and decided to target Kazari and Misaki. She threw the car at them and they had nowhere to dodge, or even enough time to dodge.

"NO!" Kuroko and Jason yelled. Kazari screamed and Misaki closed her eyes in panic. There was a soft explosion from behind them all, but no one heard it.

The car suddenly stopped a couple feet in front of Kazari and Misaki, before flying straight back at Juliet, knocking her out of the air and onto the ground with a bang. The car continued through the air and crashed with a sickening crunch against a building.

"How is he here?!" Juliet demanded causing Kazari and Misaki to look up. Juliet had reformed into her human body.

Standing in front of them was Accelerator's white hair and skinny body. They, of course, knew it was actually Ruiko in his body. Ruiko turned and looked at them with a smile on her face. "I'm so glad we made it in time," Ruiko cried, and then fell down to her knees. "That was so scary. I wasn't sure it would work!"

---

Ruiko and Touma had just gotten out of their taxi in front of the mall, but didn't know where to go from there. There didn't seem to be any signs of trouble and they didn't see their friends. "What do we do now?" Ruiko asked him.

"Mikoto and Accelerator should be here soon," Touma said. "Or they might have already been here. They took off running without thinking of getting a ride." He sighed. "They probably forgot they can't use their abilities to travel like they used to."

"All I know is Uiharu said they were here," Ruiko reminded him. "I suppose they could have left, but I still haven't been able to contact her. Do you have any ideas…?" She stopped when two Anti-Skill officers walked out of the mall entrance near them. Touma and Ruiko stepped aside to let them pass, but they heard a few snippets of their conversation.

"How often does a vending machine explode?"

"I would have thought someone used an ability on it, but all the witnesses said no one was near it except a group of kids, who barely managed to avoid it. There was no sign of them tampering with it."

"I wish we could have questioned them, but they ran off in that direction afterwards. They must have been spooked." He mentioned to his right down a street and Touma's eyes went wide.

"We have a lead," he muttered to Ruiko, who nodded. "Let's go." They moved as quickly as they could, even though neither of them could run any major distances. A couple blocks away from the mall, Touma had the feeling they were on the right track. "No one else seems to be here," he muttered. "That's not a good sign." Ruiko looked around and nodded.

"I'm getting a bad feeling too," Ruiko admitted, before she noticed something else. "Look over there," she said pointing. "Smoke."

"Let's hurry," Touma said through gritted teeth. They ran as fast as they could and then they heard a loud bang, like something large and metal being slammed onto the ground. They rounded a corner and saw a dark shadow circling in the air. Juliet, he thought. It has to be. He then noticed the broken car in the middle of the street, with Kuroko and Jason on one side, and Misaki and Kazari on the other. Juliet was picking up another car and looking at Kazari and Misaki. "No!" he yelled. This is bad. I can't do anything about that. You two need to get out of the way.

"No!" Ruiko yelled at the same time as Touma. She also recognized the problem. I have to do something. For some reason, while her brain was occupied with what she was seeing, her hand instinctively moved up and flipped the switch of the choker on her neck. Her mind was overcome with formulas and calculations swimming through her head, forcing all unnecessary thoughts out of the way. She barely registered the initial explosion under her as her body was propelled forward. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as she flew through the air. What's happening? Am I… am I using Accelerator's power? It's like that choker supercharged of all his calculations, but I can't understand them. She saw the car coming at her and she panicked, shutting her eyes. I'm going to die if I can't stop that.

She didn't feel anything when she landed on the ground and opened her eyes.

"How is he here?!" Juliet demanded, sitting up on the ground. Ruiko noticed the car Juliet had thrown was lodged in the side of a building behind her. Ruiko looked down at her body. There wasn't a single indication the car had hit her.

Did I reflect it? Ruiko thought, before turning to face Kazari and Misaki, who were looking up at her. "I'm so glad we made it in time." Her voice was shaking slightly. "That was so scary. I wasn't sure it would work!" Her knees gave way under her from shock.

"Is everyone okay?" Touma yelled, running up to the others, his eyes darted to Juliet, who wasn't getting up. She must still be stunned. Misaki nodded and Touma helped her up. Kuroko and Jason both got up and, besides a few minor scratches, appeared to be okay. Kazari didn't answer him, but kept looking at Ruiko.

"Saten-san," Kazari asked in shock, standing up and helping Ruiko to her feet. "How did you master Accelerator's ability?"

"I didn't," Ruiko admitted. "I just flipped the choker and was propelled forward. His reflection must be unconscious."

"Basic reflection is," Accelerator growled, as he and Mikoto joined the scene. "I don't even think about it anymore." He looked over at Touma and then back to Mikoto. "Damn hero somehow beat us. Third rate, you're to fucking slow."

"Don't blame me," Mikoto replied indignantly. "You were the one who went the wrong way."

"It doesn't matter how many of you there are," Juliet yelled, getting to her feet. "You all switched bodies, so it's obvious you can't fight to your full potential. I'll get what I want and anyone who stands in my way will die." She dusted herself off and looked furious.

"What does she want that's so important?" Mikoto asked quickly. Eve only said it was because Juliet thought Uiharu-san and Kuroko took something from her.

"She wants Jason," Misaki informed her.

"She's not getting him," Kazari said quietly, but only Ruiko heard her.

"Huh?" Ruiko asked confused. "Why would she be after him?" Everyone looked at Jason, who looked slightly uncomfortable before sighing.

"Can we go with crazy ex-girlfriend until we have time to actually discuss this?" he asked.

"You know," Accelerator spoke up. "I expected this from the damn hero, but I thought you were smart enough to prevent stupid things like this from happening."

"Why do you assume everything happens to me?" Touma asked and Accelerator raised an eyebrow at him. Okay, he has a point, but bad things happen to other people too. I never actually had a girlfriend either so this wouldn't happen to me.

"Why does everything bad that happens to us seem to revolve around one of you guys?" Kuroko asked.

"It's not that bad," Touma denied, turning to Accelerator and Jason. They both shrugged.

"She might have a point," Jason admitted.

"It's mostly those idiots' fault," Accelerator clarified.

"Not everything is their fault," Misaki added, trying to defend Touma. "The events in England weren't Touma's fault. He just got dragged into it."

"It's not like they can see the future," Ruiko spoke up reasonably.

"Kuroko," Mikoto admonished her. "You really need to stop trying to blame the guys for everything."

"But onee-sama…"

"STOP IGNORING ME!" Juliet roared. She swept her arm at them. In mid-swing, it turned black and became a shadow again, stretching outwards. Everyone scrambled backwards except Mikoto, who charged forward raising her hand. Juliet recognized the danger first and whipped her hand downwards, cutting the street and sending shards of asphalt at Mikoto. She threw up her hands to protect her face and jumped backwards to mitigate the force from the debris. "That was close," she mumbled.

"I think I'm getting use to your body," Mikoto said, turning to look at Touma. "It's easier to remember to use your hand and not try to use my electricity." Learning how to dodge and mitigate attacks is really difficult.

"Mikoto!" Touma called out, his face pale. "You can't touch her. Remember, she will die if my hand comes in contact with her!"

"That's right," Mikoto realized, looking horrified. "Oh god, I almost killed her…" She took a step back and turned to the others. "Someone have an idea how we can stop her?"

"Touch her with the hero's hand," suggested Accelerator.

"Besides that!"

"I think we might have to run," Touma admitted. "If we had our original powers, we would have a chance."

"I can use Accelerator's reflect with this," Ruiko said, pointing to the choker.

"On normal attacks," Accelerator huffed. "The calculations for magic vectors are completely different. You can't auto reflect them and her shadow would require those calculations."

"Oh," Ruiko replied, sounding disappointed. She had thought she would be able to try out the number one's ability for a little bit.

"Does she have a weakness?" Kuroko asked Jason.

"If her shadow is like mine," Jason muttered. "Enough raw power could destabilize it, but Misaka-san is currently unable to do that."

"You said she was a memory right?" Misaki asked, turning to Mikoto, who nodded. "If Touma could learn my power, he might be able to control her thoughts, but that's a long shot."

"We really don't have time," Kazari warned. "She's coming." Everyone turned to face Juliet.

"I'm really tired of you all pretending I'm not here," she growled. Her body turned into the shadow and started spiraling into a large sphere. "I'll just take you all down at once." Strands stretched out and started grabbing anything it could reach, cars, benches, light posts, and fences. "Most of you can be crushed and then I'll find a way to kill the one person who can deflect physical attacks." She started spinning all the objects she ripped off the street above her.

"RUN!" Touma yelled to everyone. They started scattering, but it was going to be too late. Someone was bound to be hit by Juliet's attack. What angered Touma the most was there wasn't anything he could do. I have to find out why Juliet is after Jason. It's the only way to find out how to save her. I feel like she's in pain, but doesn't know exactly why. As shadows of objects appeared over him, he realized the issue. Ah crap, I'm the slowest. He tried to keep moving, but Juliet's attack was much faster than he could run in Misaki's body. He raised his arms, but kept his eyes open. If he closed his eyes, he would definitely die. By keeping them open, there was a small chance he could dodge.

Boom!

The sound of displaced air reverberated through the deserted street. Right before Touma's eyes, all of Juliet's weapons were blown away. They crashed and clanged loudly along the street, hundreds of meters away. Juliet's shadow tendrils were broken and she crashed down into the street, leaving a small crater. Her shadow body begun to reform back into her human form and she had the combination of anger and disbelief. Another loud bang echoed across the street and a man stood between Juliet and Touma's group. He was wearing a hoody and jeans, but the air suddenly got heavy, as if his very presence was causing pressure to be exerted on them all. Touma could tell everyone was feeling it, but they were still standing at least. It wasn't Hunter's Presence, but it was enough to unnerve them all.

"It was clever to put some fake fields around the city," Cain told Juliet, ignoring Touma and his friends. "But you think I wouldn't have noticed the lack of people in this one?"

"You arrived faster than I thought," Juliet spat out, rubbing her head. "Did you have to hit me so hard?"

"You don't seem to learn with just words," Cain pointed out, before turning to face the others. "Lady Eve would like to apologize for the inconvenience Juliet has caused."

"Inconvenience?" Mikoto yelled, stepping forward. Her face was red with anger and Touma was surprised his face could look that way. He had never seen his own face angry. "She threatens our friends, destroys a street, and tries to kill us, and you think an apology is sufficient?" Mikoto valued her friends more than herself and would risk her own life to protect them. Going after Kazari and Kuroko was something she could not stand. I don't care if he is a vampire. No one messes with my friends.

"Onee-sama is right," Kuroko agreed, stepping up. "You threaten our friends and that's unforgiveable." Even though she didn't like the guys that much, they were still part of her group of friends, even if only remotely.

"I can't forgive you either," Ruiko added. When she heard Kazari and Kuroko were in trouble, her entire body had frozen. She might have forgiven someone for threatening her, but not her friends. Uiharu doesn't have an offensive ability to protect herself from someone like Juliet.

"Your way of attacking people who can't defend themselves is quite abhorrent," Misaki pointed out. It was true Kuroko, Kazari, and Jason were not as important to her as Touma, but they were his friends. If something happened to them, he would be devastated. They do sort of grow on you.

"I'm not going to pretend to have some noble reason," Accelerator clarified. "I just want to beat down every last one of you. Your half assed apology just solidified that feeling." Accelerator was usually honest about how he really cared about something.

Kazari remained silent, not sure what to say. She wasn't someone to insult others, even if they did something wrong, but she was feeling something new. I don't think I can forgive Juliet, she realized. She attacked my friends and her very presence is hurting Jason. She looked over at him and saw an odd expression on his face. It was full of pain, but also determination, as if he was telling himself he was going to get through it. "Are you going to be okay?" she asked softly.

"I…," Jason started to say and stopped. "I thought I was over it, but it came out of nowhere. I still have things to work through." Kazari nodded in understanding, promising herself she would be there. Neither of them noticed Kuroko watching and listening to them, but her eyes looked down at the ground when he spoke.

"It seems pretty unanimous," Touma stated, stepping forward through the thick air and pressure. "We aren't going to let Eve have her way when she's willing to use people as puppets."

"How admirable," Cain mused, shaking his head. "But I don't care either way. I was only asked to stop Juliet before she killed your friends." He turned back to Juliet. "Eve said I can use whatever force necessary." Juliet's face went white and her hands covered her backside. "So you do understand. Have you worked through your emotions this time?"

"I guess," Juliet said, her eyes darting toward the others, lingering on Kuroko and Kazari. "This doesn't mean I have given up," she shouted, pointing to Kuroko and Kazari. "He will be mine…oomph." Cain had walked over to her, picked her up, and threw her over his shoulder. Cain started to walk away and Juliet was still glaring at them. "You hear me?! I will never give up!"

"Why are you involving me in this?" Kuroko demanded, and then switched directions. "But it doesn't matter. I just don't like you and won't let you have your way." Misaki had to prevent herself from smirking. Mikoto would have found this funny too, if she wasn't still angry for Juliet attacking her friends. Kazari, on the other hand, shook her head and glared at Juliet. Ruiko was the only one who actually noticed that.

I don't think I remember the last time I saw Uiharu look actually angry, Ruiko thought. What happened before we got here?

"Be quiet," Cain told Juliet. "I need to do a little clean up now too." He tapped his foot and a ripple went through the ground. The hard asphalt street and concreate sidewalks ripped like the surface of a pond. Every crater and gash caused by Juliet's attacks started to fill up. Seconds later, the street looked as good as new. The broken car and upturned appliances like the light posts were still laying on the ground, but Cain's earth control didn't affect them. He glanced back at the others. "You are lucky Juliet's bound by Eve's power so she can't use hers without permission, or this fight would have been over before I got here." He disappeared with Juliet right after the ominous pronouncement.

"They are gone," Touma sighed, the pressure completely vanish when Cain left. It made him feel a lot better. "Is anyone hurt?"

"Couple minor scrapes here and there," Misaki said. "But nothing serious."

"Easy for you to say," Mikoto pointed out. "It's not your body."

"I figured a tomboy like yourself would enjoy a couple scars," Misaki replied. "Don't you wear them like trophies?"

"There's no way we can let some scrapes ruin onee-sama's flawless skin," Kuroko cried. "We need to get them treated immediately."

"Not now Kuroko," Mikoto sighed irritably, before turning to Misaki. "Better to be a tomboy than have such an out of shape body. Touma had a hard time getting anywhere. He got tired out after a single block."

"It was pretty funny watching the hero try to run in her body," Accelerator laughed.

"Well," Misaki said, thinking fast, and her eyes darting unwillingly to Touma. He diverted his eyes, too embarrassed to say anything. Misaki's eyes widen and, for the first time, she was actually speechless. Normally when Mikoto told Misaki she was out of shape, she just pointed out she was a lady and it was brutish to go running around and getting all sweaty. Now that it inconvenienced Touma, it actually mattered. I hate to say this, but I may actually need to get a little more exercise. I can always erase the memories of anyone who sees me. She noticed Mikoto watching her with a superior expression on her face. Wait till I show her the new clothes I brought for her… oh no, we left them in the mall. I'll have to check to see if they found it. "Oh Shirai-san, I got something to tell you."

"What is it?" Kuroko asked curiously.

"Come here," Misaki said, waving her closer. She leaned over and whispered into Kuroko's ear. Kuroko's eyes widened and looked shocked.

"Really?" she asked and Misaki nodded. "I can't wait to see it."

"I'm so glad you are alright," Ruiko said to Kazari, hugging her tightly while the other's argued. "When I heard Juliet was after you, I didn't know what to think…"

"You saved us too," Kazari replied, hugging her back. "We would have been crushed without you."

"I swear if I have to see my body hug someone again," Accelerator growled at them. "I'm going to turn you into sukeban before we switch back." Kazari and Ruiko quickly let go of each other.

"How did you even access Accelerator's ability?" Kazari asked, after Accelerator walked away toward Touma. "Wouldn't his calculations be incredibly complicated?"

"I'm not too sure myself," Ruiko admitted and pointed to her choker. "When I flipped this, it felt like my brain went into overdrive. All of these calculations went through my head and I found myself flying forward. I think I accidently used his powers to throw myself. I couldn't understand the formulas at all. He said basic reflection is automatic and that's how I stopped the car."

"What was it like?" Kazari asked, slightly excited. "You always said you were tired of staying back while people fought to protect others."

"I have some mixed feelings," Ruiko said slowly. "It was kind of exciting, but I was scared at the same time. I don't like fighting." She paused and looked directly into Kazari's eyes. "If I have to though, I will."

"I think that is how it should be," Kazari nodded. "You shouldn't go looking for a fight, but stand up when an injustice happens." While the girls were talking, Touma walked over to Jason.

"You look like you have seen better days," Touma whispered.

"I got a shock today," Jason mumbled. "If Kazari didn't snap me out of it, I would have gone mad or been captured."

"It has something to do with Juliet and the ex-girlfriend joke you made, doesn't it?" Touma asked.

"It's not so much of a joke," Jason muttered dryly. He was aware of Accelerator listening in. "Remember our conversation after we got back from Italy in the hospital?"

"I do."

"Juliet… it's her."

"The one who died?" Touma asked, his eyes widening. Jason nodded and his hand made a fist so tight, his knuckles were turning white. "How? She said she was a memory and her power is really similar to yours."

"I noticed."

"You know what we can do then?" Accelerator asked, causing them to look at him. "We find Eve, beat her up, and make her tell us everything."

"I would prefer a less violent solution," Touma admitted. "Besides, you have seen her power. A direct assault is not going to work."

"Then those brats need to get stronger," Accelerator huffed. "If they could get up to at least half my strength, we could easily take those bastards down." He looked around at the others, still talking to each other, and he scowled. "Brats!" he yelled out and everyone turned to look at him. "Did you idiots forget the nun is making a spell to change us back? Why are we wasting time?"

"He's got a point," Mikoto mumbled, not happy about the brat comment. "We really should switch back before Juliet gets the desire to attack us again." She felt slightly depressed. I think I actually enjoyed being in his body a bit, even with all those unlucky things happening to me. I finally understand what he goes through on a daily bases. I really have been too hard on him.

"I can't wait to get back into my body," Misaki added. "There are so many things I have to do and, as much as I enjoy your tomboy physique, I'm more comfortable in mine." Mental note, I need to find a way to exercise without anyone seeing me, or at least only people I can memory wipe. If I want to stand with my prince, I'm going to have to be able to run a little.

"I know the feeling," Touma agreed. He was glad everyone seemed to getting back in their normal routine. Mikoto and Misaki needling each other slightly was a common occurrence. "There are certain… places that are a little uncomfortable. Especially when running. Misaki laughed and Mikoto gave a grudging smile.

Maybe he finally realized how useless those blobs of fat are.

Once I'm back in my body, Accelerator thought. I need to make sure the brats are okay, and then I am hunting that bitch down.

"I'm looking forward to returning to normal," Ruiko said to Kazari. "Shokuhou-san has a point. I'm way more comfortable in my own body." Plus this cane is kind of annoying, but it's not like it's Accelerator's fault he has to use it.

"I'm glad we all got out of that situation in one piece," Kazari replied. "But I'm happy you all will be back to normal soon. Just don't wake up tomorrow morning and scare me, please." She gazed at Jason who was walking in silence next to Touma and behind Kuroko.

"That sounds kind of fun actually," Ruiko grinned, but stopped when she saw where Kazari was looking. "Something happened, didn't it?" Kazari nodded. "Talk to him after we are switched back." Kazari looked at Ruiko, but knew she was right. Ruiko was quite observant when someone wasn't in a good mood. She usually knew what was bothering them and had an idea on how to help.

"The first thing I'm going to do is shower," Kuroko sighed. "Being in a sweaty male body all day is horrible." She glanced at Jason, who didn't seem to even notice her words and she scowled.

Trying to draw his attention?

What? No!

I'm curious why you didn't mention the information I told you yet, or even my presence to the others?

Timing is wrong, now shut up. Kuroko shook her head and turned to Jason. "There are a lot of things you need to tell us about Juliet." Everyone else glanced at Jason, who looked like he had just eaten a bar of soap.

---

"Everything is ready when you are," Index said, the moment they entered Touma's apartment. "You just need to stand… is something wrong?" She could feel the tension in the air as they all piled into the cramp living area. She also noticed many of them had signs of a struggle. "Did you get in a fight?"

"We kind of got attacked by one of Eve's minions," Touma admitted.

"Huh?" Index asked surprised, and then her eyes widened. "How did you escape? You said your abilities didn't work while you were switched."

"They worked," Mikoto explained. "They just didn't switch bodies with us. The bodies we are in still have their original abilities. Some of us were able to figure out how to use them." Her eyes darted to Accelerator and Ruiko. Accelerator figured it out because he was a genius and Ruiko's mind was apparently overcharged by the choker Accelerator had.

"Who was it?" Lessar asked.

"It was the girl named Juliet," Misaki informed her. "She could turn her body into a shadow very similar to Kagere-san's ability. She's fast and agile. Without our original abilities, we didn't stand a chance."

"She's really difficult to fight," Lessar agreed. "Physical attacks don't work on her at all."

"Speaking of similarities," Kuroko spoke up, crossing her arms. "Jason has a lot of explaining to do after we switch back." Her eyes darted to Jason and Kazari, who were standing in the back. "You and her know each other."

"Did," Jason corrected her, scowling.

"Kuroko," Mikoto whispered. "You are being really insensitive."

"We need him to tell us what he knows," Kuroko protested.

"You know her?" Lessar asked Jason. "How?"

"Long story," Jason muttered and Kazari squeezed his hand.

"Can we talk about this later?" Kazari asked.

"We have plenty of time for that afterwards," Ruiko added, stepping into the middle of everyone. "Index and Lessar have been working hard to finish the spell to change us back."

"It was pretty simple," Index said proudly, sticking out her chest confidently. "Just took some time laying down the pattern." Everyone looked at circle drawn on the ground with a seven point star made of tape in it, the corners of the star hitting the edges of the circle. Rune symbols were placed periodically around the designs. "First, each of you will have to stand on each of the star's points."

"About time," Accelerator said, stepping up. With Index's direction, the order was Accelerator, Jason, Touma, Ruiko, Kuroko, Mikoto, and Misaki. "I can finally return to my body and hunt those bastards down."

"Is being in my body really that bad?" Ruiko asked.

"I suppose it could be worse," Accelerator shrugged. Those words got him a lot of surprised looks. From him, that was a compliment.

"This is my first time seeing a magic spell being performed," Kazari said to Lessar.

"It's not really as impressive as you think it will be," Lessar laughed. "There won't be any fireworks or anything like that." She grabbed a bag of the dolls and begun to pass them out to everyone. "Take the doll that represents you, not the one for your current body. " She started with Accelerator and moved around counter clockwise, until reaching Kuroko. When she saw the remaining three dolls, she was immediately able to pick out hers.

"Why would you choose this?" she yelled, picking up the Kuroneko doll. "Was it you ape?" She demanded pointing to Touma.

"No," Touma denied quickly, shaking his head. I know she wasn't going to appreciate it. He noticed a small smile on Jason's face and Touma felt better. At least he's recovering, so something good came of this.

"It was me," Ruiko volunteered the information. "It was the only thing we could find to represent you. When I saw it, I immediately thought of you."

"Arg," Kuroko moaned. She glared at the guys, daring them to say anything. "I guess there's not much choice at this point." I swear, Jason must have planned this somehow, even if he was with me.

I doubt he actually planned anything related to this body swap.

It still feels good to blame him.

"I guess Misaka must have picked out mine," Misaki stated conversationally. "You can tell she only focuses on the one thing she lacks." She spun the Barbie doll around in her hands.

"What might that be?" Mikoto growled. It may have been true, but that doesn't mean she has to say it out loud.

"Lady like appearance," Misaki pointed out simply and then pulled out Mikoto's doll. "Aww, it looks just like you."

"Give me that." Mikoto grabbed the Pikachu doll from Misaki's grasp. "Accelerator grabbed that one for me and Touma liked it."

"Small harmless animal that sparks a lot," Accelerator laughed.

"Onee-sama is a lot more than that," Kuroko said, coming to Mikoto's defense.

"It is kind of cute," Kazari said.

"I do think of her when I see it," Ruiko agreed.

"What now Index?" Touma asked, moving the topic to the more important matters. He was ready to go back into his body. Misaki's body was devastatingly attractive, but he was use to his physical abilities, along with no wearing a skirt or having certain assets get in his way while moving.

"Take these pieces of strings and tie them around your representative," Index told them. "Each string will be connected to the dolls of the person you swapped with. Touma, you and the other two are going to make a triangle with three pieces." She waited a moment while everyone complied. "The dolls you are holding represent your identity and the strings represent your connecting pathway with your physical bodies. Eve's magic messed with your normal connection, so this spell is going to forcefully restore them."

"What about my hand?" Touma asked, pointing to Mikoto. "Won't it interfere with the spell?"

"We did think of that," Index said, nodding to Lessar. "And we came up with an idea. It only took a small modification to the spell."

"On it," Lessar said with a fake salute and walked over to Mikoto.

"What are you planning to do?" Mikoto asked suspiciously.

"Give me your hand," Lessar instructed. Mikoto wasn't entirely convinced, but held out her right hand.

"When's the wedding?" Misaki whispered.

"Shut up." She was aware Accelerator heard everything and was smirking deviously. Kuroko does not need to hear that. She felt Lessar tie the string around her wrist and pull her arm back as far as she could, before tying the other string to the bed post. "What's this?" she demanded. "It's uncomfortable." Mikoto was still standing in her position on one of the star points, but her right arm was now fully extended behind her.

"We have plenty of clearance," Lessar said, measuring the distance from the hand to the circle, and turned back to Index.

"Eve's magic was able to affect Touma," Index explained. "You should know Short Hair that his hand protects him from most magic. It is possible to avoid it and that's how Eve was able to mess with the link between his brain and body. The spell we are going to use focuses on everything within the circle. By moving his hand outside the circle, we are hoping it won't be in the way. The spell will take the link in your mind, travel down to your representative and through the string, which represents the connection between mind and body."

"His hand is extremely devastating to magic," Lessar added. "But its range is limited, and we are taking advantage of that. The spell should have no reason to reach his hand."

"Enough with the details," Accelerator growled. "Switch us back already. The brats have left me alone for too long and I know Worst is up to something by now."

"Mother hen," Jason muttered. Kazari and Ruiko had to stifle a giggle. Accelerator gave him a death glare, but didn't speak his mind because Lessar stepped forward.

"I'm going to cast the spell," she announced. "So try not to move.

"Hear that Uiharu?" Ruiko called over her shoulder. "In a minute, we will all be back to our fun loving selves."

"I look forward to it."

"When we get back, onee-sama and I will need to clean up. Hehehe, when she's showering I can make my move."

"Your thoughts are leaking out and if you try that, you know what I'm going to do."

"It's just your whip of love."

"I'll be able to embrace my prince again in my own body. I bet he knows it so well by now."

"Someone's delusional."

"You better not have ruined his body."

"What do you think I could have done?"

"It would be nice to embrace Kazari again."

"You've been quite for a while, but I'm glad you seem to be recovering."

"Can you all please be quiet?" Lessar asked impatiently. "I'm trying to concentrate." Everyone got quite as Lessar started mumbling. Touma couldn't recognize the words, but it almost sounded like a song. He blinked as a tingling sensation appeared in his head and slowly moved down into his hands. The strings in front of him began to glow with a soft blue light. The doll in his hand began to vibrate. Touma had seen magic rituals before, but he had never been a part of one before because of his hand. Everyone except Accelerator was also looking around at everything with interest. They were in the same boat and were interested to see what magic was like. Accelerator was the only one who didn't care. To him, the ending was the only important part.

Simultaneously everyone, who had been swapped, suddenly collapsed onto the ground.

"AH!" Kazari exclaimed, looking at Lessar and Index. "Did something go wrong?"

"No," Index reassured her. "There was a second delay from the time their minds were separated from their body to when they connect to their original body. Without anything to control their muscles, they collapsed. See, they are waking up now." Kazari saw Index was right, when everyone began stirring and groaning slightly.

"Ouch," Ruiko said, rubbing her head and looking down at herself after sitting up. "It worked, I'm back to normal. Oomph…" She had just stood up when Kazari ran up and hugged her. "Woah there," she laughed. "I think you should go hug someone else."

"You're right," Kazari mumbled and let Ruiko go. She turned and saw Jason getting to his feet. Moving around Touma she embraced him and he embraced her back. "I'm glad you're okay. When you weren't responding back then…"

"Thanks for not giving up," Jason whispered, kissing her on the forehead.

"Finally," Accelerator said, completely ruining the mood. He stood up and stretched. "Now I can go and teach that bitch a lesson for messing with me. She's going to wish she never stepped foot into this city."

"If she can mess with you on this level," Lessar pointed out. "What makes you think you can beat her?" Accelerator glared at her for a moment before responding.

"Because I'm going to get serious."

"Ouch," Mikoto mumbled, rubbing her legs as she stood up. "You got a bunch of cuts from Juliet didn't you?"

"It's hard to dodge everything," Misaki pointed out. "I'm not use to being in the front lines. I'm more of a control tower."

"Control being the optimum word," Mikoto replied.

"I'm the same way onee-sama," Kuroko said. Her body was sore with minor cuts and bruises all over from the fight with Juliet. "When we get back, I want to have a long hot shower." She was about to say something about Jason , but noticed him and Kazari having a moment. I guess I'll let them be for a bit. He's not going to be happy telling us about Juliet. She suddenly felt her stomach churn slightly when she saw him kiss Kazari's head.

"That does sound good," Mikoto agreed.

"I think I want one too," Misaki added. She was happy being back in her own body, but she was curious about exactly how much Touma saw of her body. Her clothes were damp, but he said that was because of the sprinklers in a building. Is it weird that I actually wanted our uniforms to be more see-through when they get wet? Touma wouldn't be able to help but look.

"Thanks for helping turn us back to normal," Ruiko said, turning to Index and Lessar. "We wouldn't have been able to do it without you."

"Heh," Index replied with a smug look on her face. "I specialize in understanding magic. Something like this was no big deal." Not only was she able to help Touma, she was able to show off how useful she was to his friends. Short Hair isn't the only one who can assist him. Maybe she will learn her place now.

"I am pretty great," Lessar agreed. "But I'll tell you a secret." She sat down on the bed, her tail twitching behind her. "I didn't completely do this out of the goodness of my heart." She smiled and Ruiko felt a sense of dread. "You remember his promise?"

"Oh…" Ruiko replied slowly. She covered her mouth with both of her hands and her eyes widened. Her eyes darted to Mikoto for help. I wouldn't have remembered if Lessar didn't mention it.

"I almost forgot about that," Mikoto mumbled, her hand clenching in a fist. When a dark aura started to form around Index; Misaki, Kuroko, Jason, and Kazari realized something happened.

"I feel like I'm missing something important," Misaki said, looking from Mikoto to Touma. "You look a little nervous," she told him.

"What promise was it?" Kazari asked Jason quietly. He shrugged and looked at Touma.

"What!? Touma exclaimed. "You want it now? In front of everyone?" Lessar smiled and nodded.

"I have a feeling the ape caved into her crazy demands," Kuroko muttered.

"You don't know the half of it," Accelerator laughed. "Go ahead brat," he told Lessar. "Tell them what he promised." The source of entertainment pushed the thought of revenge from his mind for now.

"It's nothing big," Lessar explained, kicking her feet. "He just promised he would give me a kiss, on the lips, and he would initiate it." She grinned while Misaki's eyes widen in horror.

"Is this true?" Misaki asked in shock, turning to Touma. "Tell me that was a joke." Before freaking out completely, she wanted to verify the truth of Lessar's words. Lessar is known for saying crazy things that have no basis in reality.

"Er well," Touma said, taking a step back and rubbing his head. "She was rather persistent and we really need the spell cast…" His voice trailed off under her gaze. It also didn't help Index and Mikoto were glaring at him too. They knew about the promise, but it didn't mean they had to like it. I'm going to regret this later. I just know it. Such misfortune.

"No!" Misaki gasped.

"Why did he agree to that?" Kuroko asked no one in particular. "I almost think he's doing this on purpose."

"He's not," Ruiko told her. "We were just in a hurry and needed this resolved quickly. It's just a kiss…" Her voice trailed off, even though she tried to sound nonchalant, something Kuroko and Kazari did not miss.

"You really need to be more honest," Kuroko told her. I wouldn't be able to be calm if onee-sama kissed someone else besides me. Kazari and Jason decided to stay quiet and back up a little. They didn't have a lot to say, but they didn't want to draw attention to themselves. Accelerator was leaning up against the wall, watching everyone's exchange with a smirk on his face.

"What's done is done," Mikoto sighed, still very irritated. She knew how pushy Lessar was and Touma usually just went with whatever anyone else pushed him into. I'm going to have to talk with him about learning how to tell people no once in a while. Actually, it's as good as time as ever. "You need to learn to say no once in a while to requests from people like her. BUT, you did promise… so get it over with." She was torn with what she wanted and how much Touma valued his word.

"What do you mean like me?"

"Yes Mikoto-sama," Touma replied and he had to quickly negate a bolt of electricity with his hand.

"And you," Misaki added, pointing to Lessar. "Need to stop trying to trick him into getting with you. Maybe I should just put the memory of you kissing him or have you forget the promise."

"Misaki," Touma said slowly. Misaki looked at the floor. She felt slightly anxious she had to show a side of herself he didn't like, but she wasn't going to continue to let Lessar have her way with him.

"You could," Lessar confirmed. "But it wouldn't change his memory." She pointed to Touma. "He made a promise and we all know he won't break it." She held out her arms. "Ready when you are Lover Boy."

"Arg," Misaki and Mikoto moaned, looking at each other. They both knew Lessar was completely right about Touma. Neither of them could think of a solution with so little time and the same thought crossed their mind. If I look away, maybe it won't be so bad.

"Why does she even want one in the first place," Kuroko asked Ruiko but, surprisingly, Accelerator answered.

"When we arrived to get the nun to decipher Eve's magic," he explained, his amusement never leaving his face.

"Don't tell them!" Mikoto yelled, but Accelerator was taking his frustration out on her.

"This brat," he pointed to Lessar, "Initiated a surprise attack as soon as the third rate stepped in with the hero's body. The brat tackled the third rate and planted a kiss when she let her guard down."

"No!" Kuroko moaned. "Onee-sama was defiled by someone's lips other than mine…" She got cut off as Mikoto hit her on the head.

"Is that what really happened?" Kazari asked Ruiko. "I thought Misaka-san's reflexes would have allowed her to dodge. She's had a lot of practice dodging Shirai-san."

"Combination of a surprise attack and the shock of being swapped probably had something to do with it," Ruiko told her. She had seen the entire incident. "She also didn't expect Lessar. Touma would probably have been able to dodge."

"Wasn't the only thing that happened to the third rate either," Accelerator continued. He started counting on his hands. "She got soaked two times, not counting the sprinklers during the fight, she got a couple girls' numbers after saving them, and then she got kissed again by Eve. If I didn't know better, I swear she was the damn hero."

"So you have been flirting with girls while in Touma's body?" Misaki asked, turning to look at Mikoto. "I had a feeling you may have been into girls, with how much your mention my chest. I'm sorry to disappoint you through, I'm into my prince."

"That means I still have a chance," Kuroko added excitedly.

"She mentioned that once at the store too," Accelerator added while laughing.

"It wasn't my fault!" Mikoto told them, snapping out of her stunned silence. "Lessar ambushed me and Eve did the same thing she did in England. She can read minds through a k-kiss. Getting those numbers was an accident because they thought I was him." She pointed to Touma. "And you," she pointed to Misaki, "Need to stop giving people weird ideas about me."

"Accelerator," Touma said, stepping forward. "We finally changed back and have other matters to discuss. Please stop picking on her." Accelerator raised an eyebrow, crossed his arm, made a sound with his tongue, but went quiet.

"Thanks," Mikoto whispered.

"It was mostly my hands fault," Touma told her. "I'm use to these kinds of things on a daily basis and know how to avoid a lot of them." Misaki also didn't have to antagonize them. His eyes darted to Misaki, who immediately knew what he was thinking.

"Sorry Misaka," she mumbled. Mikoto's eyes widened ever so slightly, but she nodded in acknowledgement. Touma was the only person who could actually get Misaki to apologize to Mikoto.

"If you all are done making fun of Sparky," Lessar interrupted, still sitting on the bed. "I believe it's time for my reward."

"Touma," Index spoke up. "You really don't have to. She would have done it anyways." Even as she spoke, she knew it was no use. Index knew how important Touma's word was to him. It's how I know he will always come back. He faced hell for me and promised to stay with me. Her heart started beating wildly when she remembered their first meeting. I know the kiss will be just because of a promise, but it still hurts to think about.

"I made a promise," Touma told her, solidifying Index's thoughts. I'm not really comfortable with this. A kiss should be shared between people who like each other, not a reward, but Lessar really wants it. I still don't know what she sees in me. Lessar grinned and held out her arms in a beckoning way. Touma took a step forward and his eyes darted to everyone else. Mikoto, Misaki, and Index were looking exactly like he knew they would. They were biting the corner of their lip and had the expression they wanted to stop him, but knew they couldn't. Accelerator had a combination of amusement and impatience. Ruiko looked slightly anxious, but was diverting her eyes. Jason's face was passive, but it was probably because he had more important things on his mind. Kazari's face had turned red and was pretending not to watch. Kuroko was rolling her eyes at this, but she was focusing on Mikoto. Before Touma could reach Lessar, Misaki actually spoke up.

"You better not think of trying anything," Misaki said. "I'll be watching."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Lessar said innocently, which just increased the suspicion for Misaki, Mikoto, and Touma. "He may however become addicted to my technique and want to stay with me."

"Like that would happen," Mikoto sniffed. It's not like he hasn't been kissed before. She felt a hint of anger remembering Misaki and Shizuri kissing him, but then she frowned. Has… he actually initiated a kiss before? I only remember seeing accidents or someone forcing it on him. Even ours was like that… Now that I think about it, it's not really a kiss if it isn't mutual! Misaki had a similar train of thought, but she kept her face passive while Mikoto's expression was easily readable.

"Get it over with," Accelerator mumbled. "For the love of fucking god it's just a kiss." He had been assaulted by the brats back at his apartment more times than he could count.

"He's such a pushover," Kuroko sighed. You would think onee-sama would go after someone with more backbone.

"Don't make this weirder then it already is please," Touma sighed. He didn't really want to do this. Lessar smiled at him keeping her arms out, and closed her eyes. Feeling everyone's eyes on him, which only made the situation even more embarrassing, he leaned down. I never did this before, what if I find out I'm bad at this? It might make Lessar give up, but then if I ever actually get a girlfriend, I might chase her away! Right before his face reached Lessar's, he closed his eyes. He felt her soft lips press against his.

Then his danger sense went off.

He pulled off her and ducked, right as her arms wrapped around where his head had been a moment before. He twisted to the side as Lessar fell forward, off the bed, and hit the floor hard. While that was one of the reasons his danger sense went off, the eruption of dark auras all around him was the main reason. He turned and saw Misaki, Mikoto, and Index were the main source. Mikoto was gritting her teeth and had her fists balled into fists, but she was forcing herself not to say anything. Misaki had a passive look, but her eyes held a twinkle of disdain. Index was glaring at him but, unusually, didn't try to bite his head. Ruiko was shifting slightly in place, but wasn't a source for his fear. She looked embarrassed with a trace of disappointment. Kazari's face was red and Kuroko was rubbing her head. Touma looked back down at Lessar, mainly to avoid eye contact with the other girls. "Okay," he said, feeling his ears burning. "I filled my end of the deal."

"That was mean," Lessar said, rolling over and looking up at him. "It was so short and then you dodged when I tried to make it more passionate. You didn't even get a chance to see my technique."

"You didn't put a time limit on it." I'm glad I didn't experience it.

"I know I missed something," Lessar said, smacking her forehead with her hand. "I figured on the lips would prevent you from trying some boring location."

"Well now we have passed that unpleasant situation," Misaki said stepping forward. "How about a kiss from me to take your mind off of what you just did? Get rid of any lingering aftertaste."

"Eh?" Touma said, confused at the surprising turn of events.

"Oh no you don't," Mikoto said, grabbing Misaki's arm.

"Why not?" Misaki asked. "Are you afraid he will enjoy my lips more than yours?"

"W-what?!" spluttered Mikoto.

"Plus Saten-san and Index would probably wont to compete too," Misaki added.

"Huh?" Ruiko asked in shock, turning bright red. "I never said that." I wouldn't say no though if he asked. Her face burned at the thought and the normally cheerful and talkative girl was rather subdued.

"Toouummaaa," Index said dangerously. "Was this your plan when you agreed to her demands?" Her face was red, but the dark aura around her didn't completely vanish. She had been affected by Misaki's words greatly.

"Ever since I first met Kamijou-san and your friends," Kazari said to Jason. "I thought it was strange situations like this occurred. Is it bad I'm getting use to them now?"

"Nah," Jason told her, smiling. "Everyone gets use to these things when you hang out with Touma long enough. First time I've seen what could amount to a kissing booth start though."

"I'm leaving before this place turns into a brothel," Accelerator growled, standing up. "You should probably take your girl too or she's going to get swept up in that."

"I-I wouldn't," stammered Kazari.

"You don't understand the power of Kami-yan disease," Jason said, putting his arm around her. "It's probably best if we sneak out while they are distracted." He gestured to Mikoto and Misaki arguing with each other and Lessar, while Touma was trying to keep Index from biting his head. Ruiko had been pulled into the argument and was trying to calm the situation down.

"Hold it!" Kuroko said loudly, causing everyone to look at her. "You can't leave yet." She pointed at Jason with a serious look on her face. "You have a lot of explaining to do about Juliet. I knew you were going to try to sneak out." The thought had crossed her mind shortly before they arrived at Touma's apartment. She had been keeping an eye on him since arriving, which caused her to avoid replying to a lot of the conversations around her. He definitely doesn't want to talk about it, but we need to know. Then there was the small honest part of her. I want to know what happened to him.

"Shirai-san has a point," Misaki added, ignoring one of Lessar's comments. "After what happened and what she told us, we know you two were friends in the past. Don't you think we deserve to know?" Jason grimaced slightly and his lips got pressed together.

"Didn't he say something about it just being a crazy ex?" Accelerator asked, but everyone ignored him.

"All we really know about Juliet is her powers are similar to yours," Mikoto pointed out. "Anything you can tell us could be valuable if we meet her again."

"Well," Index added. "I told you she was a memory manifested into physical form."

"I would actually like to know how she managed to manifest that," Lessar mumbled. "It would have to be one of Eve's spell." She turned to Index. "Shame you didn't get enough information to analyze it."

"Jason," Kazari told him softly. "It's obvious you're hurting when you saw her. We are your friends and want to help, but we can't unless you talk to us." She put a hand on his face and stared into his eyes, until he nodded.

"I… suppose," Jason finally relented. "It's a long story, so I'm going to get a drink of water first." Touma nodded and Jason walked to the kitchen.

"You are the only one who seems to be able to get him to do what he has to do," Ruiko said, trying to laugh but being unable to because of the seriousness of the situation.

"He usually lies and jokes around when I try to ask him a serious question," Kuroko huffed. "Or outright dodges it."

"Tsuchimikado pretty good at that too," Touma said. "He can get Jason to go along with his plans, usually causing me and Accelerator problems."

"You don't know the half of it," Accelerator mumbled. "But, none of you realized what he just pulled on you."

"Huh?" Mikoto asked confused. "What do you mean? He was just getting some water."

"Think about the hero's dorm room layout." There was silence, until Misaki spoke up.

"The kitchen is right by the door," she said, and then they heard the sound of the door being slammed shut. There was a brief moment of silence, before Kuroko broke it.

"He's not getting away that easily!" she yelled. Kuroko teleported to the door, opened it up, and stepped outside.

"He really didn't want to talk about it," Lessar commented, before Kuroko stormed back in.

"I can't tell which direction he ran off in," she fumed. "I can't believe we fell for that."

"His phone is off," Kazari added, frowning and putting it away. He lied to me, but it's not like I can't understand why. I had a feeling he would try to slip away to be alone. He's trying to avoid talking about it and that's not good for him. We need to know what happened and find him.

"I think we should find him," Ruiko said out loud, glancing at Kazari. "But we need a plan."

"Can you tell us what you know?" Mikoto asked Misaki and Kazari. "It might be good to have a general idea."

"We only know what Juliet told us," Misaki said. "And you should always take what your opposition says with a grain of salt."

"She seemed kind of honest in her explanation," Kazari added. "The way Kagere-san responded seemed to indicate the events were as tragic as she said."

"What happened to him?" Index asked. "He's always taken care of me when Touma got involved in something he shouldn't."

"It's not a pleasant story," Touma told her. "I know why he doesn't want to talk about it."

"YOU KNOW!?" Misaki, Mikoto, Ruiko, Kuroko, and Kazari all exclaimed at the same time.

Oh crap, Touma thought. He told me that in confidence.

"I'm not surprised," Accelerator said. "I heard them whispering about it earlier."

"Tell us ape," Kuroko demanded, but Mikoto covered her mouth with a hand.

"Ask nicer," Mikoto said, but Kazari took the floor.

"Please Kamijou-san," she said, stepping forward and looking him in the eyes. "We need to know what happened, not only for us, but especially for him. We can't help if we are left in the dark." Her eyes suddenly glowed with strength. "I'm not going to leave until you tell us."

"Wow," Ruiko and Kuroko muttered, looking at each other. They normally didn't see Kazari act tough or demand things from others.

What should I do? Touma thought. It's not my story to give, but their safety might hang in the balance. Jason might do something rash since Juliet's alive, or at least her memories. He sighed and looked at all the girls. They were crowded around him and watching him closely. "It definitely isn't a pleasant story, but it's also how he developed his shadow ability. I'll tell you what he told me."

"I can confirm if it coincides with what Juliet told us," Misaki added.

"It's a little long, so you might want to get comfortable," Touma told them. He sat on the bed with Index, Lessar and Misaki sitting down on it too. Mikoto and Kuroko grabbed a chair. Accelerator was content with leaning up against a wall. Ruiko was sitting on the ground, her back propped against the wall. Kazari was sitting on the floor, her legs pulled up against her. "I found out about this after we got back from Italy," he started off, looking at them. It feels like it's story time at a summer camp. He took a deep breath and started to recite Jason's past.

---

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.

Leivinia: Who cares about his past? Hurry up and bring me back. Everyone wants to see me, the best girl, again.

Carissa: Who would want to see another boring brat? People are much more interested in my fate.

Leivinia: You got locked up in the dungeon.

Orsola: There's no point in fight you two. Season three is focused more on the science side than the magic side. I'm sure once we reach season four, the magic side will play a much greater roll.

Leivinia: I suppose I could wait a couple more chapters. I am one of the strongest leaders in the world.

Carissa: Sure you are, if you are talking about the strength of your ego.

Othinus: I assume your arguments are only for the best human. None of you are even worth my time.

Leivinia: Coming from the person who hasn't had a single scene.

Othinus: All it takes is the right opportunity for me to appear.

Carissa: Is that a threat?
Othinus: Take it how you will.

Shizuri: There might be room for someone to take over the protagonist role after next chapter.

Me: Okay… Anyway, season three ends with the next chapter.