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.)

79. S4 Settling Down

Umm… hello everyone who's reading this. My name is Touma Kamijou and you probably know who I am. I'm the normal high school students with an unusual right hand. I'm also on the receiving end of ninety percent of all jokes in this story. I won't let that discourage me. I managed to get through life threatening events relatively unscathed and I'm sure I'll be able to help my friends get through this season too. I still don't like putting my friends in dangerous situations, but I know how they feel about helping now. I was told I was supposed to answer questions, so please don't be ruthless. Accelerator told me you guys don't pull any punches.

nhokngok788: I don't… dang it, I can't deny it due to that bet. Mikoto and Misaki are friends. I would never say they ae part of a harem. I especially would never say that in front of Mugino because I don't want to die. She's a little confusing at time though, but I think we are friends.

ghostdriver1991: I pray daily they never find that letter. I like how caring Itsuwa is. No matter what the situation is, she's always the first to volunteer if something needs to be done. She makes you feel pampered. I'm not allowed there. Guys can't enter the grounds except under special circumstances.

Shwae: When I yell at them, it's because they are obviously doing something wrong. Sometimes, they just need someone to call them out on it.

MarkJ: I'm glad Accelerator seems to have mellowed out. He actually appears to be enjoying his high school life and that's all I really can hope for. Everyone lives their life the best way they can.

Guest: Where did that come from? I mean teachers are kind of nice, but how would the teacher-student relationship not be a problem? I like older girls it's true, but they still should be near my age. I don't punch girls all the time. Quit making it sound like I enjoy violence. I don't have any seduction abilities, regardless of what my friends say. Eve changes her appearance so much, it's hard to keep track, but it makes her look really young, which is kind of disconcerting. I don't dislike Greek mythology, I just feel it tends to turn against me. If the dragons were, I don't understand how they would be part of me. I think that would make me a gemstone if my power could do something like that. She would be an amazing student council president. She's smart, attractive, and caring. I don't see a reason why she wouldn't be. Lightsabers? No idea, I'll ask Jason. That… Can I say this? Author said the last question will be answered below.

Salishious: She's limited the texts, but they have been pretty generic. Sometimes tells me about her day and I fudge my way through. I feel kind of bad about deceiving her, but she seems happy to be able to vent sometimes. The princess probably won't…. OH GOD THE AUTHOR"S LAUGHING! This is not good, something is going to happen.

DARKPHANTOM13: I'm kind of worried about spreading their knowledge of their existence. I might have to see what I can find out, but my parents don't know about magic so I doubt they would know about them.

wildarms13: If that was true, Aogami and Tsuchimikado would have country size harems after the number of times I punched those two. Fukiyose is… strict… but she cares about our class. I think she's always on guard because of my friends and their stunts. I never really had any attraction to her, even though you would think she should be hot. She's missing… something.

general ironox: I don't…. arg, fine I want Oriana Thomson. She's older, has the onee-san aura, and has changed her ways since we stopped her once in the past.

321jaz: I would like a girlfriend, but life's pretty hectic right now. I'm actually not sure what I want to do when I graduate, something that helps others. Maybe I can join Anti-Skill or something. Family would be nice when everything settles down, but my life doesn't normally allow that.

Anon Guest: The girls are just thankful I helped them get on the right path before they did something they regret. Again, I have hit my two idiot friends often and they still don't have a single girl.

Handsomistic1: I might have taken some kind of self-defense lessons in the past, but, you know, memory loss. If I find time, I'll think about it. Ah… yes. It seemed like every guy looked at me in her body. I can understand why, she's really attractive, but it felt uncomfortable. I'm not sure how girls put up with it.

GameCguru: No. I would not accept that. I would find a way to save everyone, even if you think it's impossible.

deathmask83: I don't really have a favorite, they are all pretty unique in their own special way. How many children? I don't know, two would probably be enough. I will always help those who need help, no matter how old I get.

Syko-Soldier963: I would use either to save someone. I'm not the kind of person who believes there are only one or two choices. I will seek out and find the answer others don't see so everyone can leave smiling.

KaguTsumi: It's way too high. I don't even know how I paid everything off. Maybe the city has some kind of insurance plan I don't know about. I should have been bankrupt a long time ago.

Geust: No, I don't want to be Kami. It's just a giant insult to all the girls and it's embarrassing. I don't think I ever really been badass. The dragon was pretty badass when it appeared so let's go with the times it showed up, so that's four? As for the fifth, maybe when I stepped in to save Misaka Imouto. I was told I looked cool, so let's go with that. Misfortunate moments… don't want to go into that. Fortune: When nothing bad happens. Neither harem. I like my hair the way it is. If I'm desperate for money, maybe, as long as it's not nude.

Kuroppy: No one really knows about it though. I also have to be careful. There could be people who want to use it for their own gain.

FrodoFighter: I would stop Accelerator earlier and preferably before he even started the experiment.

Jujudude: I would be for something normal, dinner and a movie where we aren't attached by magicians, robbers, or ability users.

knight6398: I don't know. It's not like I know them at all, so calling them out of the blue would feel awkward. They are pretty nice, that's true, but they were interested in the Kami persona, not me. If I have time, I'll think about learning one. I might have even known one at some point, but memory loss… My dad would laugh if he knew. My mom… oh… she can't find out about this. She would be so disappointed and she knows how to make me feel really guilty.

Whew, there were a lot of questions but I'm finally done. Now I can go back to sleep before Season 4 causes me misfortune.

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.

---

In one of the tallest skyscrapers of Academy City, a conference room was abandoned, except for a single occupant. The conference room was one of the most secure locations in Academy City for holding a private conversation. It was equipped with the most sophisticated anti surveillance devices Academy City had designed and could prevent any external signals from penetrating the room or allowing internal signals to leave. It was primarily used by the board of directors for private audiences on subjects that could not reach the public's ears. This time, it was only occupied by a unique individual. He was not a member of the board of directors, in fact, he wasn't even human. The occupant was a golden retriever, with a backpack sporting robotic arms equipped to his back. Noukan Kihara, one of the most well connected and intelligent individuals in Academy City, had procured this room for a private meeting. "All security checks have been cleared Aleister." The voice came from Noukan, but sounded as if it was a man in the prime of his life.

"Thorough as always Noukan," Aleister's voice came through the speaker in the middle of the conference table. "I will make this meeting brief. You have observed his actions directly. Do you believe you can control him?"

"As much as he likes to believe he can put his humanity aside," Noukan responded. "He has two significant disadvantages I can exploit. One, he is unable to directly kill anyone. Do to his past, he has put a mental block on himself from doing so. Rescuing Dark Matter would not only further his goals, but give him a convenient way to indirectly remove his enemies through the proxy of others. His second, and more easily manipulated, disadvantage is he is incapable of stopping emotional attachments. He will instinctively bond with one or two individuals to keep his mental sanity."

"Securing Dark Matter was an unexpected surprised," Aleister admitted. "But not outside the scope of my design. His usefulness had been waning with the design of new energy sources due to the theories designed by Patricia Birdway. Even being a backup is diminishing, with Accelerator finally beginning the process of awakening. I see your plan to exploit his other weakness is moving along. I have already exerted my influence to expedite your request."

"Not only will we strengthen the security of the city," Noukan continued. "We will have leverage to keep him in line. This gives him the opportunity to prevent unneeded sacrifices. However," he paused for a fraction of a second, "I don't think it's a weakness. Between good and bad, that would be a bad sort of stupidity, but between like and dislike, I would say I like it. Romance is all part of humanity."

"You never change."

"What is your plan in case his plan comes to fruition?" Noukan questioned. "I doubt very much if you would sit back and allow him to complete his project when its existence contradicts your very ideals."

"If that time comes, I will deal with it myself."

"I see you still can't rid yourself of everything unnecessary either."

"What are you talking about?"

"I liked that side of you. Between good and bad, it would be near bad, but between like and dislike, I quite like it. That is what I'm saying." There was a moment of silence before Aleister replied.

"We also need to decide on what to do with Ricane. You asked to take personal responsibility for his defeat."

"I would prefer to bring him back to our side. He may have delved into the science of the occult, but his genius in robotics is unmatched. Using cryostasis to preserve his body over decades, while using clones implemented with his mental wavelength, was clever. Then he periodically copied the electronic signals from the clone's brain to his in order to live through the memories and alloying him to virtually be in two places at once. He truly represents the will of the Kihara's. I would also find it unpleasant to destroy the last of my creators. I have to admit too, I am interested to see how far he has come. Many decades ago, he drew up the first blueprints for the Anti-Art Attachment which has served us well."

"Speaking of the Anti-Art Attachment," Aleister interrupted. "You are fully authorized to use it once Eve moves out into the open. Her activities in the city have lasted long enough and are interfering with my plans. She knew she was forbidden to show herself in front of me again."

"It sounds like you and her have a colorful history together. Perhaps you had your own hint of romance?"

"Nothing of the sort. She was upset I took something from her and the resulting fight ended in her loss."

---

Touma was on his way to school earlier than he planned, his stomach rumbling in protest. When he woke up that morning to make Index and Lessar's breakfast, he realized the food in the fridge, that he thought he had, was partially rotten. Knowing they couldn't, or at the very least shouldn't, eat it, Touma threw part of it away, which only left enough for two. He couldn't let one of the two girls starve, so he went without breakfast. With nothing else to do, he headed off to school to distract himself from his stomach's colorful swearing. Motoharu never did contact him again, since Touma had hung up on him, so Touma had forgotten about it. When he finally reached his classroom, he saw two familiar individuals standing outside the room. "Hey Accelerator, Jason," he called out. "Why are you two out here?"

"Fukiyose in punishing the two idiots for Saturday's plan," Accelerator informed him.

"We are just waiting for her to calm down before entering," Jason added.

"After everything that happened yesterday I completely forgot," Touma said, turning slightly white. "Those two probably made things worse when they intercepted her." I can just imagine what sort of things they said and I doubt Fukiyose-san is overreacting. He heard a loud bang and sighed, before leaning up against the wall next to Jason. He took a moment to look over at Accelerator and Jason. Accelerator was busy on his phone, while Jason was looking up at the ceiling, both of them appeared oblivious to everything around them. Since there was no one else in the hallway, and the people in the classroom were occupied, Touma took the chance to ask. "You okay?" he muttered to Jason.

"I suppose," Jason replied shrugging. "Little awkward at times, but I think it's all settled. It ended with a lap pillow for me, so I guess I can't complain too much." He grinned slightly at Touma, who shook his head.

"Don't let Aogami find out about that," warned Touma. "He will freak out in jealousy. That's cool though. Every guy dreams about something like that."

"I find it hard to believe you haven't experienced it at least once," Accelerator mumbled, glancing at them. "With how many girls flock to your side and all, hero."

"Well," Touma said sheepishly, causing Jason and Accelerator to stare at him. He scratched his cheek. "It might have happened once…" This was actually true. Before he originally confronted Accelerator to stop him from killing the sisters, he had tried to stop Mikoto from rushing off to her death. She had been adamant in stopping him, even if it killed her. Touma purposely didn't block her attacks and lost consciousness. When he woke up, he found his head in her lap, with her crying over him about what she did. It might not have been the most romantic scenario but, looking back, he had to admit it was kind of nice. "Long story though."

"Knew it," Accelerator sighed, shaking his head, while Jason snickered.

"Well if everyone is okay," Touma replied, "I think things have quieted down." He pointed to the classroom door. He was about to get up and head into class, when Jason stopped him.

"Hang on," Jason told him, reaching into his pocket. "Take these." He passed over two pieces of paper.

"What's this?"

"Two tickets for the new karaoke place," Jason explained quietly, in case someone overheard. "I was planning to surprise Kazari yesterday, but things happened… anyways, they expire today and she's stuck in Judgement. I'm still a little annoyed you talked about something private I shared with you, but it turned out for the best. Think of it as thanks and a source of entertainment for us if you don't decide quickly."

"Okay…" Touma said slowly, thankful, but unsure what the last part meant until Accelerator explained it to him.

"You see hero," Accelerator said with a smirk. "If you don't decide on a girl to take with you by noon, we are going to send a message to every girl we know that you have two tickets."

"W-what?" spluttered Touma. "I can understand the others doing something like this, but why are you taking part in it?"

"I have my reasons." Boredom mostly but, with the brat bothering me yesterday after Saten ran out, I feel like I need to give him some of my stress. Plus, he needs this.

"Hope you have an idea before the time limit," Jason laughed, heading towards the classroom.

"Actually," Touma responded, determined not to let them have fun at his expense this time. "I know who I'm going to invite if they are free. I owe her one."

"Who?" Jason and Accelerator asked.

"Not going to tell you."

"Ah don't be that way," Jason moaned, while Accelerator smirked.

Hero's grown some balls.

"I'm sending the message right now so you can't have the satisfaction of messing with me," Touma told Jason, who frowned. Everything Touma said was completely true. He remembered the promise with Mikoto about making up their last date because it had been interrupted. Due to everything that had been happening, it had been pushed to the back of his mind. Now that he had an opportunity, he was planning to take it. Touma pulled out his phone and sent a quick message. Mikoto, are you free after school today? After sending the message, he almost snapped his phone closed. He remembered his promise and sent a short message to Kazari before he put his phone away and looked at the others. "Should we go in?" They nodded slowly, still looking surprised.

About half the class had already arrived and were all looking into the back of the room, which had several overturned chairs and desks. When Touma and the others entered, they turned around. Touma had a brief glance of a broken Motoharu and Pierce lying in the ground with a very angry Seiri standing over them, dusting herself off. "So the rest of the idiots finally arrived," she said turning towards them. The rest of the class watched with anticipation while Seiri cracked her knuckles. "Do you have any explanation for your actions before receiving your punishment?"

"It wasn't my fault," Touma protested, holding up his hands defensively. "I was blackmailed by them."

"They just ask me for transportation," Jason said.

"I was bored and they didn't tell me anything," Accelerator yawned, heading to his seat.

"Traitors!" Motoharu and Pierce yelled, as they staggered to their feet.

"Don't believe them Fukiyose-sama," Motoharu called out. "They all agreed willingly." A book flow through the air and hit him in the face, knocking him over.

"I'm more likely to believe those three idiots then you two," Seiri yelled back curtly, and then glared at the other three. Before she could say anything, Accelerator spoke up.

"What the hell is this crap?" he demanded. Touma turned to see what Accelerator was looking at and realized there was a large pile of small bags and boxes covering his desk. Each one was unique in design and color, so they obviously weren't all from the same person. Boxes were covered in assorted designs, some wrapped, and some just with bows. There were bags tied with ribbons, small tags attached to them. There were also occasional flowers mixed into the batch. If Touma didn't know better, he would have sworn it was Valentine's Day. Accelerator looked onto his pile with disbelief and Touma almost laughed, before he noticed a smaller pile on Jason's desk, and then Touma eyes fell on his desk.

There was a mountain of those gifts overflowing off his desk, dwarfing Accelerator's pile.

"What is that?" Touma asked, pointing toward the piles on their desks.

"You won't believe this," Seiri sighed, rubbing her head, her animosity toward him vanishing.

"They are gifts from our admirers from Tokiwadai High School," Motoharu told them proudly, jumping up to his feet. "Naturally, Kami-yan got the most, but Accelerator was insanely popular too…"

"Of course I am."

"Kagere got a fair amount, probably when he saved people from Accelerator's rampage…"

"I'm not going to turn down free food."

"But the best part is…," Motoharu continued.

"…is we weren't forgotten!" Pierce cried, holding up a small blue package with a green ribbon. "Tsuchimikado and I got cookies too!" There were tears coming out of his eyes and Touma was speechless. With how perverted Pierce was, not counting when he was with Motoharu, it was odd any girl would give him anything. Motoharu could, at least, act normal some of the time. Touma noticed Seiri shaking her head and the rest of the class looking like they couldn't believe it either. Accelerator voiced their disbelief.

"What girl in their right mind would give you two anything except a slap in the face?"

"Ishikawa-san," Motoharu said proudly. "She gave everyone a bag." He pointed to the tables and Touma did see the same package in his mound. "We are still chalking it up as a win for us. Small steps."

"That makes sense," Touma nodded, remembering how Yuna acted. She looked like she was having a lot of fun when we showed up. She was definitely not a normal high class ojou-sama. You could tell she had experience talking to guys.

"Not only that," Pierce added. "Since you guys were late, we were examining the names on the tags and saw something interesting. It seems like Hibiki-san sent Accelerator something, but didn't send anything to anyone else." A good part of the class gasped, but went silent when Accelerator glared at them. He walked over to his pile, pushed some of the stuff around, until he found a small box.

"This is?" he asked them.

"Yep," Motoharu confirmed. "It's nice of you to go straight for your new girlfriend's gift. She's not a loli, so I'm surprised at you."

"Shut up," Accelerator snapped opening the box to reveal some chocolates.

"HOLY…!" Pierce yelled, causing everyone to jump. "They look handmade! You lucky bastard! Are you trying to become Kami-yan?"

"Don't bring me into this!" Touma replied loudly, slinking behind his pile to sit down. While his friends were antagonizing Accelerator, he started rifling through what was on his desk, noticing Jason was doing the same thing. I only got these because the girls are attracted to the Kami persona, not me. The only thing they know about Kami is the fact he's part of this class, and I bet a lot of people believe that's made up. I can never let my identity get out or I'll never get a normal girlfriend. He tried to remain anonymous as he listened to Accelerator squabble with his friends. Besides Ishikawa-san, looks like Hanabi-san sent me something too. I don't recognize most of these names, but a couple seems familiar. I met so many people, I can't remember them all.

"Knowing her," Accelerator mumbled. "I bet it's laced with laxatives."

"Don't be so modest," Pierce laughed, smacking Accelerator on the back. "You should totally give her a call and thank her."

"How do I know this isn't a trick by you two idiots?" Accelerator asked.

"It isn't," Seiri spoke up, causing him to look at her. "I was the first one to arrive and saw the piles on sensei's desk. The teachers delivered them this morning to our class. I moved them to your desks." Before any of them could respond, she crossed her arms under her ample chest and glared at them. "As much as I hated your idiotic display this weekend, some of those girls enjoyed it. I'm not going to destroy their gifts just because I'm angry at you. I also hate to admit it, I really hate to, you technically didn't break any rules and I heard sensei talking in the teachers' lounge about your high scores." She looked like she bit into something sour. "This doesn't mean I can't lecture you all on being idiots!"

The sound of whales and unnatural gurgling interrupted her and echoed across the room.

"Man Kami-yan," Motoharu commented, while most of the class burst out laughing. "If you wanted to eat, go right ahead."

"I just missed out on breakfast," Touma protested.

"That's not good Kamijou," Seiri reprimanded him. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You won't be able to concentrate on your lessons. Tomorrow you better have eaten something. You can't survive on junk food the girls from Tokiwadai sent you to replace meals."

"Fukiyose-sama is exactly right," Pierce agreed, crossing his arms and nodding. "When you talk to them again, you need to tell them you want healthy snacks and home cook meals…" He was silenced when Seiri punched him. Before anyone else could react, the door opened and Komoe stepped in.

"Good morning class," Komoe called out cheerfully. "It's great to see so many of you here early." Her eyes darted to the crowd around Touma's desk. "I see you found your gift packages. I was quite surprised this morning when they arrived. If you want to eat the snacks now, that's fine, but no eating once class starts." She wagged her finger at them for a moment, before putting down the papers she was carrying on her desk. The class quieted down as everyone started taking their seats.

Phew, Touma though. I actually got out of that relatively unscathed, but I know the others won't let this drop. I suppose as long as they don't mention it to Mikoto and Misaki, it won't be too bad.

About time those idiots dropped this, Accelerator thought. He picked up the gifts and put them on the floor next to his desk. I don't even like sweets that much. Why would they send me crap like this? As long as the brats don't find out, I can just ignore it. He found himself still holding Hibiki's package. I already opened it, so I might as well try it. If she tried to poison it, she knows the consequences. He popped one of the chocolates into his mouth. Huh, not bad. No one dies today. He put the box with the others and was about to go to sleep, when he saw Seiri look at him. "What?"

"I wanted to ask you why you keep going along with those idiots," Seiri asked him. "When you first joined our class, going with them to sneak into a girl's school was unthinkable." She raised an eyebrow at him. "You changed a lot, you know?"

"I ask myself why every damn day," Accelerator muttered, glancing at her for a moment before putting his head down on his arms to go to sleep. "I guess they grow on you."

"I know what you mean," Seiri replied, nodding, looking over her shoulder at Touma, Motoharu, and Pierce, who seemed to be arguing over something with Touma's pile of gifts. "I wish they would put more effort into being a benefit to society instead of causing everyone around them more trouble." She couldn't see Accelerator's face, but he was smiling. They had different ideas what 'benefit to society' entailed. Touma and his friends had given more benefits to him than Seiri could ever know.

She's not too bad herself.

The bell finally rang and Komoe started class.

"Good morning," she started out. "I'm glad to see everyone back after an exciting weekend. I hope you are all ready to start working hard. Before we begin, I have some announcements for you all. First, the results of the Anti-Crime Event last Saturday has arrived, along with your scores and extra credit. The entire event had only one list, so I highlighted everyone's name." She held up the stack of papers. "Don't mind the rank, which shows how many points you have compared to the top scorer. The important thing is you all tried. Imagine my surprise when I noticed the top spots were dominated by our class. Sensei is so proud of all of you." Touma noticed the papers were being hastily passed back to Motoharu and Pierce, causing a sinking sensation in his stomach.

"HA!" Motoharu yelled, punching the air. "We did it!"

"Top five rankings are as followed," Pierce called out to the class. "Tsuchimikado and I are tied at fourth and fifth, Kagere is third, Accelerator is second, and guess who is in first…" The entire class took it up in stride.

"KAMIJOU!"

"Of course," Touma groaned slamming his head on the desk. "Should have seen that coming. It's not like I did anything. I was just there." He grabbed the sheets from Pierce and looked down at it. Wow, that's a lot of extra credit. The embarrassment might have been worth it. It was kind of fun to meet everyone. His eyes darted down the list and about halfway, he got a surprise. His eyes widened at he saw an unexpected name. Accelerator had opened an eye to watch Touma when he grabbed the list, but raised his head when he saw Touma's expression change to surprise.

Wonder what caused that? he thought, leaning over to glance at the list. "Hah," Accelerator burst out laughing, he couldn't help it. "It looks like the hero is on here twice."

"Let me see," Seiri demanded, yanking the paper out of Touma's hand.

"Ouch."

"Touma Kamijou," Seiri read. "Criminal, captured one hostage, never arrested, received special stealth award for never being spotted by a cop." She paused. "How could you be on here as yourself and also as Kami?" Her eyes narrowed and Touma felt sweat form on his brow.

"I don't know," Touma admitted truthfully. "I don't even know how they monitored us." I was in the Kami outfit all day, except after I escaped the school with Ruiko. Could that have been why I was listed? Doesn't that mean someone saw me and knows my identity? Oh shit, if this gets out… I don't want to be that well known, it will ruin my normal high school life. I know what Accelerator, Mikoto, and Misaki go through on a daily basis.

"Guess the jig is up," Motoharu sighed. "It was fun while it lasted."

"What?" Touma asked, surprised at this sudden pronouncement. Accelerator and Jason looked at each other and neither realized what Motoharu was talking about.

"Don't play dumb Kami-yan," Motoharu said, shaking his head. "You see, when we persuaded Kami-yan to enter the tournament all those weeks ago, he was really worried about participating, being a level 0 and all. Naturally, being his friends, we couldn't let him go through something like this." All the class was listening intently, including Komoe, Jason, and Accelerator. None of them knew where Motoharu was going with this, except Pierce, who took it in stride.

"Luckily, I knew the legendary Kami from an anime convention," Pierce continued, where Motoharu left off. "I persuaded him to swap in and participate in the tournament with Accelerator."

What the…? Touma thought bewildered. Are… are they trying to make the class think it wasn't me? That doesn't sound like them at all. What could they be planning?

"I was actually surprised at how easy it was," Motoharu added. "Kami said he was more than happy to let Kami-yan reap all the rewards. He thought it would be fun to show off his ability without being harassed by others. It was a little difficult switching them between the matches at the tournament and not be seen, but Accelerator was able to help with that."

Touma looked over at Accelerator, who shrugged.

"We mentioned to Kami that Kami-yan needed a break, so Kami did an interview for a weeklong vacation and passed it off to Kami-yan," Motoharu continued. "He really is a selfless guy."

"They both participated in the Anti-Crime Event," Pierce informed them. "Kami was distracting everyone while our good friend hid in the shadows… or he was supposed to. We should have guessed he would run off and go find one of his girlfriends." The class sat in stunned silence at the news. As far as they knew, Touma had been the one disguised as Kami the entire time. Now they were finding out something different and loud whispering broke out.

"Do you think that's true?"

"It kind of makes sense."

"He was fighting on even footing with level 5s."

"This entire time," Seiri said loudly, cutting across all the whispering. "We were led to believe Kamijou here was actually working hard, admittingly being stupid. Now we find out he was slacking and letting someone else do all the work for him?" Her face darkened and her eyes held deep resentment as she glared at Touma. "Is what they are saying true?"

This is going to end badly either way, Touma thought, his words getting caught in his throats. If he admitted what they said was true, then not only would he be lying, but his classmates would think he had been fooling them the entire time in order to slack off. If he admitted it was him, then Seiri was probably going to beat him for participating in the Tokiwadai takeover. Then he would have to explain how he was on the list twice and who he captured, which would only give his friends more ammo to use against him in claiming he had a harem. I can't see how if a couple girls like me, that is considered a harem. Most of them have rivalries going on so it's not like they would agree to participate in one. What do those idiots think this is, a manga or anime? How can I get out of this situation? He needed to choose his words carefully. "I can explain…"

Those were the wrong words.

BAMN!

It took Komoe a while to regain order of the class.

When the class finally settled down and Komoe finished reprimanding Seiri on hitting classmates during class, she addressed everyone again. "I have one more topic we need to discuss and start planning today. The next two Saturdays, schools will be setting up festivals to attract new students for the next school year. Because of the number of schools in Academy City, half of them will be this week and the other half will be next week. We will have a limited budget, so anything we can supply will be preferred. Our school has been designated to set up a stall this weekend. We need to decide what we are going to do. Please…" She was interrupted by one of the most obvious people.

"We only have one option," Motoharu declared, standing up and slamming his hands on his desk. "We need to have a maid café with all the girls dressing up."

"DENIED!" the girls yelled simultaneously.

"You can't have school festivals without maid cafes," Pierce interjected. "It represents the very spirit of high school life and boys desire. I may even be able to get enough costumes for everyone."

"Of course you would," a guy called out and several people laughed.

"If you wait to wear a maid outfit," Seiri told him, a vein throbbing in her forehead. "Do it on your own time, but don't draw all of us into your perverted fantasies. Your plan would at most draw in some guys and we would have to plan food and drink too. It's not going to make us any money."

"I forgot to mention," Komoe added. "Any profit made over the amount given to each class, will be yours to do with as you wish. They only ask you pay back what was lent out if possible."

"See," Seiri huffed. "We won't get very far with just some perverted boys spending a few yen."

"I don't know about that," Accelerator smirked, sitting up and leaning back in his chair. "I bet there would be quite a few girls willing to come if the hero was serving them. Some might even like him in a maid uniform." He laughed and Touma's face turned white. A couple girls' faces turned slightly red at the thought.

"D-don't give them any ideas," Touma stuttered quickly. "They might actually think you're serious." Wearing a maid outfit in front of people I know would be torture. If it was a butler outfit I could live with that.

"With Kami-yan's harem," Motoharu said nodding. "I could see that working. Some girls might even pay a lot more to have a 'private' room with him." He snickered and Touma was feeling like he needed to punch his friend.

"He has such a way with them," Pierce added nodding. "He's pretty much always with a girl, except the few times he gets with Kagere."

"He does have a pretty amazing hand," Jason said, gazing out the window as if he was lost in thought.

"Quit saying things they will misunderstand," Touma roared, but the damage had been done. Many of the girls' face went from pink to full blown embarrassment as their teenage minds immediately started to imagine very inappropriate scenes. "I'll tell Uiharu-san what kind of things you are suggesting." Accelerator coughed in surprise, but Jason smirked at Touma.

"I doubt you would," Jason laughed. "But with her imagination, she might faint after picturing that." He paused and rubbed his chin. "That actually might be fun to see her expression, go ahead and tell her." Touma opened his mouth, but shut it, knowing he wasn't going to win this game.

"Plus Accelerator could bring in a lot of girls too," Pierce continued, now that the side conversation was done. "He is pretty popular, being a level five and all. I bet he will need a private room too."

"I don't think I'm going to participate," Accelerator yawned. "Seems like too much hassle."

"WE… ARE… NOT… DOING… A… MAID… CAFÉ…!" Seiri growled through clenched teeth.

"Who made you the dictator?" someone called out.

"Who said that?" Seiri rounded on the voice, but the guy was too smart to say anything else. The class started yelling at each other and slowly formed into two sides. The majority of boys wanted to do a maid café, but most of the girls were against it. There were a few who switched sides, but it was clear no consensus was going to be reached anytime soon. Komoe was trying to get the class to settle down, but to no avail. Touma sighed and rubbed his head, which still hurt from where Seiri had hit him.

I should have chosen my words better, he thought. My mouth gets me into trouble. He saw Accelerator watching the arguments with a mixture of boredom and superiority. Jason was watching with amusement and his other two friends were debating loudly with Seiri. He turned around and saw a single person not arguing with anyone. She was sitting in the background, but it was hard to tell what she was thinking because her face was passive. "Do you have any ideas Himegami?" he asked. "Preferably something that doesn't turn into a civil war."

"Oh," Aisa exclaimed in mild surprised at being asked her opinion. "Nothing yet, but since we will have a limited budget, I don't think a café would be a good choice for us."

"That's what I thought," Touma agreed. Anything to avoid wearing a maid outfit.

"We need something with a low capital investment," Aisa continued. "I would almost say a haunted house, but that would depend on what we can scavenge for free."

"You make a good point," Touma said thinking. "We might be able to come up with the stuff, but would we have time? If we were scheduled in two weeks, your idea would be perfect. I do like that idea though." He turned back to the others, missing Aisa's cheeks flush slightly at his praise. Touma also didn't notice Motoharu's ears twitch at their conversation. Motoharu leaned over to Pierce and whispered something. Pierce's eyes widened and a huge smile appeared on his face. Seiri took the moment of peace to address the class.

"We obviously are not going to reach an agreement today," she called out to the class. "Everyone write down your ideas and we will go over them tomorrow."

"Aogami and I have a great idea," Motoharu said. "We just have to see if we can set something up."

"Is it going to be perverted?" Seiri asked. She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms under her chest.

"Nope," Pierce answered. "Even though a cosplay café would be a perfect choice, we agreed we need something less money intensive." Everyone stared at them, not sure what those two were planning, but Touma felt a sinking sensation in his stomach.

---

What does he mean by this?

"Misaka-san?" Mikoto looked up from her phone and saw one of her classmates in the Tokiwadai locker room. Mikoto hadn't realized she had been staring at her phone for a couple minutes. She had missed the text from Touma early this morning and it wasn't until a couple hours later, when she was heading to gym class, that she saw the text. Mikoto had frozen in place while everyone else finished changing into their gym clothes, causing one of her classmates to worry. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Mikoto replied, quickly smiling.

"You need to hurry or you will be late," the girl said, before turning and exiting the locker room. As the door closed behind her, Mikoto turned back to her phone.

What does he mean by 'Are you free after school today?' she thought. She actually didn't have any plans, as Kuroko had Judgement duties with Kazari. Realizing she had to get to class, Mikoto gave a short reply and hoped to get more information. I am, why? She threw her phone into her locker and quickly changed, her thoughts occupied the entire time. What is he asking? I normally misunderstand what he's saying so think of the possibilities. Does he need help with something? That seems likely. What if… he's asking me out on a date? Oh my god. Could it be? It's kind of out of the blue though. Wait… what if he remembered the promise he made about making up our last one? Did he finally think of something? I would be happy with a normal day, something without magicians or being attacked. She left the locker room lost in her thoughts, until she reached the field and something jolted her back to reality.

Looking like she rather be anywhere else, Misaki Shokuhou was standing with the other girls, all in their PE uniforms.

Why is she here? Mikoto thought. It wasn't unusual for her class to be paired up with Misaki's class, but Misaki almost never came to gym class. Mikoto knew firsthand how much Misaki hated exercise and sweating. Seeing her here was a rare occurrence. Wow, she was actually serious about getting more exercise. Before Mikoto could figure out how to avoid Misaki, Misaki spotted her and immediately made an overdramatic wave while calling out to her.

"MISSSAAAKKKAA! OVER HERE!"

Damn it. Mikoto couldn't pretend to avoid Misaki's waving now, with all the eyes on her, so she walked over to her. "Did you have to be so overdramatic?"

"You tend to ignore me unless I take the initiative," Misaki replied with a slight pout.

"For good reason," Mikoto sighed. "I'm surprised to see you here."

"I realized that no matter how smart, resourceful, beautiful, and modest one is," Misaki explained, "Some things require physical exertion. Besides, a healthy body houses a healthy mind."

"Have you been reading motivational magazines?" Mikoto asked. "We both know you are only here because," she lowered her voice, "Touma was inconvenienced in your body."

"No one is perfect," Misaki huffed. "Besides, I know he loved having an up and close experience with it. I bet he had some interesting dreams last night."

"Probably," Mikoto agreed. "But I doubt it had anything to do with you." Both of them were chatting in light tones, but there were sparks shooting from their eyes at each other. Before Misaki could reply, the teacher blew a whistle.

"Gather around ladies," she said, glancing at everyone. "Today is going to be simple, just some light laps. You don't need to strain yourself, but try to keep going the entire period." None of the girls said anything, but the looks on their face must have said something different. "If you don't want to run, I suppose we could do sprints."

"On our way sensei!" all the girls chanted and started off.

Mikoto didn't particularly mind running laps. It was more fun playing sports, but then that required concentration. Running laps allowed her to get lost in her own thoughts while her body moved automatically. With her athletic ability, running laps at a casual pace for a single period was an easy task. It also kept her in shape. Her thoughts turned back to the text message from Touma. Did he reply yet? I really want to know what he has planned. The wait is killing me. Mikoto didn't even realize she was near the front of the group, only the people trying to beat their personal best passed her. I guess I'll find out soon enough. I wonder how Uiharu-san is doing after yesterday. Kuroko said she and Kagere-san were going to talk, but even Kuroko seemed different when she returned. She was rather subdued, but I thought it was because of the serious topics we discussed. Her eyes widened. Could she have confessed? Lost in thought, she almost ran right into someone. "Sorry," she muttered quickly, moving to the side to pass her.

"I… may not… be… best… shape…," Misaki panted. "Stop… rubbing… it in..." Mikoto almost froze in shock. She didn't think she would be overlapping someone so soon.

"I wasn't…," Mikoto started to say, but stopped herself. Why am I explaining myself to her? Even with those kinds of thought, she slowed her pace and kept near Misaki, who was obviously struggling. "I'm surprised you are by yourself. Don't you normally have your group around you at all times here?"

"Told… them… to… go… ahead…" Misaki panted, trying to keep herself going out of sheer willpower. Normally, she would have given up by now and either made an excuse to get out of gym or use her power to get out. Trying to continue running as long as possible was an unknown concept to her. Her entire body hurt and it was getting harder and harder to breath. This is torture. I never want to do this again. A certain boy's face popped into her mind and she felt her resolve grow. I can go a little further. I will push my limits. She gasped and took in some more air. "Do… this… myself…" Mikoto's eyes widened but, before she could respond, something happened

Misaki interrupted her by tripping and falling face first onto the track.

Mikoto instinctively stopped and looked down in surprise at Misaki, who wasn't immediately moving. She didn't know what to say in this sort of situation to her. Misaki pushed herself up, got to her feet, dusted herself off, brushed her hair back, and looked at Mikoto with a passive, if not slightly red, face. They looked at each other for a moment, before Misaki continued, still breathing heavily, but her voice was closer to normal now that she wasn't running. "I wanted to improve myself so I plan to attend more gym…"

"Hang on," Mikoto interrupted. "Why are you acting like nothing happened? You just fell down. Are you okay?"

"I don't understand what you are talking about Misaka," Misaki replied, leaning forward with fake concern on her face. "Do you perhaps have a fever?"

"You just fell face first," Mikoto pointed out and then pointed to a group of girls who had stopped and were watching them. "They saw it too."

"You seem to be mistaken," Misaki corrected her, pulling her collar outward and reaching a hand down her shirt, to remove a small remote. She clicked it and the girls began to continue running like nothing happened. Misaki put the remote back and looked at Mikoto. "I don't know why you are so persistent. No else seemed to have seen anything."

"You just used your ability," Mikoto accused her.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Misaki shrugged. "I think you might have exercised too much today…"

"If you two can't run anymore," the teacher called out to them. "Keep walking at least."

"Yes sensei," they said in unison and started walking the laps. They didn't say anything for a few minutes, before Misaki turned to Mikoto.

"Why are you so worried about me anyways?"

"I couldn't stand by if one of my classmates got hurt," Mikoto replied seriously. "It doesn't matter who it is. I would have taken you to the nurse if you needed it."

"How kind of you," Misaki muttered. They continued in silence, neither looking at each other. After a moment, Misaki spoke up again. "I have been thinking about something I'm sure you will be interested in."

"Is it about him?" Mikoto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course," Misaki confirmed. "It's much harder to find information on magic side individuals who have been causing us trouble, so it would be reasoned my comment would be about him. I'm glad your brain got some nutrients since your chest obviously didn't get any…"

"And you got the opposite," Mikoto snapped, a vein twitching in her head. "Now you have two useless blobs of fat that get in the way of simple tasks."

"Jealousy is unattractive," Misaki replied evenly, a vein in her head also twitching. "But HE sure enjoys them." They both glared at each other before Misaki sighed. "But we digress with your childish arguments. It has always been noticeable but, ever since I have become more directly involved in his life, I realized it's a lot further reaching than I thought."

"What is?"

"The number of girls devoted to him."

"Oh," Mikoto muttered looking at the ground. "That's true." This was something she noticed, but hated to admit it. It had always annoyed her how many girls were constantly around him. She still had to suppress the urge to hit him during those moments, but she at least understood it now. He's too nice to say if someone was bothering him and he will step in to help anyone, regardless if he knows them or not. He also never asks for anything in return which makes him look even cooler. She looked back at Misaki, slightly confused. "Why bring this up now?"

"I've been thinking about it in detail and reached a highly unattractive conclusion," Misaki answered. "As much as I would love to be the only one in his life, it seems like that is far out of reach."

"Are you giving up on him?" Mikoto asked incredulously. She was in complete shock. This was the very last thing she ever expected to hear from Misaki. I figured she was never going to give up on him.

"You should never ask such a ridiculous question," Misaki reprimanded her sternly. "I will never give up. What I was implying is it seems it will be impossible for me to be the 'only one' in his life." Mikoto frowned.

"Are you actually suggesting what his friends keep making fun of him for?" Mikoto asked. I knew Shokuhou was willing to do anything for Touma, but to actually be willing to be part of a harem? Has the world gone crazy? No wait, it already has once I learned about magic. Seriously, life was a lot simpler before that.

"Every outcome that will allow me to stay next to him seems to fall into that category," Misaki relented, and Mikoto could tell this wasn't something Misaki wanted to accept. "Naturally, I would prefer this outcome did not occur and I plan to do everything in my power to prevent it, but I am also planning for the possibility." I really hate to admit this, but I need to understand what she thinks since I can't read her mind.

"It sounds like you are asking me for my thoughts," Mikoto said slowly.

"Partially," Misaki admitted. "There is more, but go ahead and tell me."

"I don't like it," Mikoto replied slowly. "It seems… wrong. A relationship should be between two people. Having a bunch of girls trying to share a single guy sounds like it would be a nightmare. So many things could go wrong." How could I share the guy I like with a bunch of random girls?

"I figured you would think that way," Misaki nodded in understanding. Those were my exact feelings at first too. "This leads me to the second point I would like to discuss with you."

"Which is?"

"I would like you to stop pursuing a romantic relationship with him."

"WHAT!?" Mikoto yelled in shock, causing several heads to turn toward them.

"Please keep your voice down," Misaki said, wincing at the sudden increase in volume of Mikoto's voice. "We don't need others listening in and constantly wiping their memories will get tiring."

"How did you expect me to react when you go and drop a bomb like that?" Mikoto demanded. "You know I'm not going to disappear from his life."

"I'm not asking you to," Misaki corrected her. That would have been the preferred outcome, but she knew it was a futile effort to even try. "He deeply values his friendship with us, which is why he hasn't been able to return our advances. He is afraid if he chooses one of us, it would ruin his relationship with the other." Mikoto nodded, trying to keep her temper under control. "I simply asked you to stop pursuing a 'romantic relationship' with him. You can still be friends and hang out if you wish."

"What the…" Mikoto fumed, trying to articulate her words. "I'm not…"

"Listen to me," Misaki interrupted, raising a hand. "The reason I am saying this is because your response told me all I needed to know and verified what I expected from you. You don't like him enough to put aside your personal preferences for him."

"What are…?"

"Let me finish before you rudely interrupt," Misaki said, slightly louder. "You want to monopolize him and are not thinking about what is best for him. Right now, he probably also believes in a one on one relationship and a harem is out of the question, regardless of what his friends say. However, you have seen how he just naturally attracts girls to him. There is something about him that affected us too. If he started seeing someone specifically, how would that affect every other girl who fell for him?"

"They would be upset that he was not available," Mikoto conceded. I would be too.

"Precisely," Misaki nodded, pleased Mikoto caught on so quickly. "Some might give up, but other's wont. It's going to cause him problems, along with whoever he tries to date. We might be able to handle it but, on the off chance someone else snatches him, will they? If others were unhappy because of him, what would he do?"

"He would put his own happiness to the side so everyone else could be instead," Mikoto mumbled, realizing where Misaki was going with this conversation.

"This is why I am thinking about the future, if he goes, as his friends say, the harem route. If he can be happy and I can still be with him, I would accept it, even if it's not optimal for me. I would still be happy. That's how much I love him. I almost lost the chance to be with him once before and I am not going to risk it again." Mikoto almost shivered at the strength behind her last few words, but her own resolve was equally as great.

"It sounds like you don't think my feelings are genuine," Mikoto replied slowly, accusation ringing in her voice.

"I think you believe you like him," Misaki clarified. "But you are unwilling to do whatever it takes to stand by his side. You won't be able to continue this way. You would have to chase all the other girls away from him, which will cause them to be upset, and thus cause him to suffer when others are unhappy because of him. I don't believe you have what it takes to monopolize him. Plus," her eyes narrowed. "I don't really want you to either."

"You finally revealed your true thoughts," Mikoto replied, also narrowing her eyes. They both were glaring at each other and then tension in the air was palpable. "It's not so much having other girls near him, you just don't want me with him." Misaki smiled innocently.

"You are remarkably quick on the uptake today," Misaki answered. "What you say has a sliver of truth. I'm willing to share him with others, Saten-san, Lessar, and even his senpai, but I refuse to share his love with you." Mikoto could only gap at her for a moment in surprise.

"Why?" Mikoto finally asked. "I don't recall doing anything that bad to you." I may have said I don't like her tactics, but that shouldn't cause so much animosity. "We never really got along, but I didn't think we were enemies."

"I'll enlighten you then," Misaki said, a bitter tine permeating her normally light voice. "After the accident where he could no longer remember me, I tried everything to stimulate his memory, but to no avail. I finally came to terms with the inevitable and found piece… then you came along. You met him randomly and hit it off just like I did with him. You both became familiar with each other and all I could do was sit on the sidelines and watch. You took my spot as the special girl from Tokiwadai he, a normal high school boy as he calls himself, became close with. That's why I don't like you." She took a deep breath and calmed down slightly. "I know it's not entirely your fault, but it's the main reason I can't find myself ever being close with you."

Mikoto finally understood.

She sees me as a substitute for her, Mikoto thought, her brain processing the information. So that's why she doesn't like me. I don't know if I could truly understand how she felt during that time. What would I do if Touma could remember everyone except me? She recalled the panic she felt when she first learned Touma had lost his memories. She didn't know how much of their meetings he had forgotten. At least I finally have a reason. Mikoto sighed, knowing this wasn't going to be an easy issue to solve. She still didn't completely like Misaki, as she was very manipulative and secretive but, after everything they had gone through together, Mikoto still felt a little closer to her. "Anything else?" she asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

"No," Misaki said, diverting her eyes. She had said a lot more then she had meant to, her emotions getting carried away. This normally doesn't happen, but anything relating to my prince always makes me want to act impulsively. She composed herself and looked back at Mikoto. "I seem to have been a little to honest today. I must not be feeling well from all this exercise." I said way more than I should have. When did I start opening up around Misaka?

"Are you really okay being one of many girls around him?" Mikoto asked, ignoring the part about her. It's not like I can solve that issue so easily. I'll need to think about it a bit before acting or I could make it worse.

"If it is the only way," Misaki muttered. "I would prefer to be the only girl but, as I said, I will stand next to him, regardless of the situation. That is my happiness." She walked off on her own, causing Mikoto to slow down even more and get lost in her own thoughts.

How serious is she about being part of a harem? Mikoto thought to herself. She is utterly devoted to Touma, I can tell that easily, so it could be possible. She may have a point though. If I can't be the only one for him, would I be willing to do something like that? She had a sudden flash of herself, Touma, and two other girls in a random adult situation and she shook her head. Just thinking about it feels weird. Her face turned red and she could swear smoke was coming out of her ears. A small spark subconsciously escaped her. I want to be his only girlfriend, but where would that leave Saten-san? She likes him too. Could I share him with her? Her face grew ever redder, her pace slowed, and she stumbled slightly.

Her strange behavior caused the teacher to run over to her to see if she had a mild case of heat stroke.

---

Touma, Accelerator, and Jason were sitting on the roof of their school building eating lunch and talking. Motoharu and Pierce had disappeared, causing Touma to be suspicious, but he had no proof they were up to anything bad. Past experiences said otherwise and he was determined to keep up his guard just in case. The reason they had chosen the roof was because it was an out of the way spot for them to have a private conversation. Now that Jason appeared to be in a better mood, Touma and Accelerator told him about their conversation with the other level 5s about the transformations and the dragons. Jason listened closely while eating his lunch, finally speaking when they finished.

"Your theory on the transformations is pretty standard with what I know," Jason said. "It should be unique to the level 5s, but originally, only Accelerator was supposed to be able to reach the next stage. There have been some fluctuations in ability development recently, including the level 5 data. I only have a general picture, but what Mugino-san told you about it being based on potential is correct. Shokuhou-san got promoted because the readings said her potential grew." He shrugged. "I find it interesting the different stimulus required to cause the transformations. Accelerator can do it without external factors, Misaka-san requires the network, Shokuhou-san required Telesma, and Mugino-san needs drugs."

"So you don't really have any new information?" Touma asked.

"Level 6 was only a pipe dream until these transformations started," Jason replied. "I wouldn't be surprised if some other people were monitoring Mugino-san's transformation in order to research it more. The lightning strikes were pretty noticeable. The side effects of Shokuhou-san's transformation caused a lot of waves up top. If they did see Mugino-san's transformation, I wouldn't be surprised if they start thoroughly examining all the level fives soon."

"Great," Accelerator muttered, putting down the bone of the piece of fried chicken he had been eating. "More fucking scientists annoying the shit out of me. Maybe if I knock down a building or two, they will leave me alone." He smirked when Touma gave him a look. "Transformation aside, what do you know about those dragons?"

"Not much really," Jason said. "I never actually saw them. I was originally looking into the invisible head Touma told me appeared in London, but I never got very far with how much stuff has been happening. I can tell you I don't believe it's Touma's ability."

"Why do you say that?" Accelerator asked.

"Let's say he does have the potential for an ability that can create dragons," Jason explained. "After going through all the experiments the city performs on students to give them abilities, his right hand prevents the ability from manifesting. Assuming the ability didn't get permanently deleted and was actually unlocked, Touma would never have the experience for it. He would not know calculations to use his ability. Even his subconscious wouldn't have memorized any partial calculations. Something as powerful as you described, would not be automatic as an ability."

"Makes sense," Touma admitted. From what I know, it takes a lot of advanced calculations to use an ability. Accelerator's reflect appears automatic, but he still had to discover the calculation to set it up. "I didn't think it was, but it was one of the theories we came up with. Do you think it's magical in origin then?"

"There's no other magic that actually negates magic," Jason replied. "Since the Imagine Breaker can negate magic and abilities, I don't think it falls under either category. I told you once before what I think the dragons could be. It's either the true power of your hand, or your hand is acting as a prison for them."

"But do you know what they are and why they alternate between being solid and invisible?" Touma asked.

"I don't know what they are," Jason told him. "But I do like the theory you said Shokuhou-san came up with. I didn't know they went solid until you told me. It's appears as the single invisible head when fighting a magician, while solid and multiple against ability users. I really want to know why now."

"What would you have to do to find out?" Touma asked suspiciously. I don't like the gleam in his eye. It's the same kind of gleam the other two have when they are up to something. He had an idea of what Jason was going to say, long before he said it.

"The simplest way would be to cut off your hand and see."

"Knew it," Touma muttered.

"That's what I suggested," Accelerator said.

"It would be simple," Jason explained. "With Academy City's technology, we can use anesthesia to block out all pain in your arm and then seamlessly cut off your hand. If the dragons pop out, we can examine them and if they don't, we can reattach your hand without issue."

"We are not cutting off my arm," Touma protested. "It happened way to many times and it's not a pleasant experience, even if I can't feel it."

"Fine then," Jason said throwing up his arms into the air in exasperation. "If you don't want to know about it, don't come whining to me if something happens with them."

"Couldn't we just tie him up and force him?" suggested Accelerator.

"Possibly," Jason muttered, nodding slightly. "The added stress might even encourage the dragons to come out…"

"Will you two stop plotting against me?" Touma asked, rolling his eyes. "Seriously, I get enough of that from Tsuchimikado and Aogami." Now I have to be on guard against random hand cutting now. Such misfortune.

"Speaking of those two," Accelerator said, looking around. "What happened to them?"

"I know they are up to something," Touma answered. "But I don't know what." He looked over at Jason, who shrugged. "It's going to involve me in some way, I can feel it."

"You think they are going to try to get a kissing booth set up for you?" laughed Jason, stopping after a moment. "Actually, that would probably work."

"Don't give them that idea!"

"Speaking of the hero's unnatural attraction with females," Accelerator spoke up. "Did you ever get a reply or do we get to cause you difficulties?" Accelerator didn't really care, but with the rest of his idiot friends missing, he felt like it was his duty to keep the hero on his toes.

"Oh yea," Jason said. "I almost forgot. Did she reply?"

"She did and she's free," Touma answered slowly, debating on how much information to give them. Mikoto had messaged him back saying she was free, but wondering why. He responded by explaining he acquired two tickets for a new karaoke place. She seemed excited enough to go and agreed to meet after school. There wasn't much more, but Touma was glad he had the chance to give her a proper night out. The last time they hung out, just the two of them, it had been interrupted by the Herald's sin members. As long as nothing bad happens, but with my luck… How am I going to handle my misfortune?

"I have work tonight so I can't even spy on him," Jason moaned. "Sounds like he's looking forward to it. Can you spy on him Accelerator?"

"I'm not going to do something so stupid," Accelerator huffed. "I'm not one of those idiots. Besides, the brats made me promise to head straight back after school for some stupid reason. Plus Worst decided to get banned from one of the malls yesterday because I wasn't there to stop her shit."

Things are going to well, Touma thought to himself, as they finished lunch and the bell rang. It doesn't seem like my friends are going to spy on me, Mikoto is free, and I have a decent plan for tonight. My luck doesn't work like this. Something big is going to happen… Eve's going to launch an all-out attack tonight, isn't she? He looked up at the bright blue sky and soft white clouds for a sign he was right. Nothing happened and he sighed, before heading back to class.

---

He's late.

Mikoto had been sitting on the bench for almost thirty minutes. She may have arrived fifteen minutes early, but Touma was definitely late from the time they agreed to meet. She kept checking her phone to watch the time, as well as looking for a message from Touma to explain his tardiness. Several people walked by, most ignored her, but she could feel the eyes of some of passing male students glancing at her. If she had known Touma was going to be late, she would have changed out of her school uniform. She sighed and leaned back on the bench. She didn't really blame him, knowing what kind of luck he has, but she still couldn't help feeling irritated. She closed her eyes and tried to think of pleasant thoughts, mostly involving the time they were going to spend together, but then Misaki's words started to creep into her mind, making her slightly uncomfortable.

"Mikoto!" Her eyes snapped open. She immediately sat up and turned to face the direction of Touma's voice. She saw him running down the street waving to her. He was also in his school uniform, but she didn't mind. Her heart started beating faster the moment he arrived. "Sorry I'm late," he panted, when he reached her. "I hope you didn't wait to long."

"Not too long," Mikoto lied, not wanting to admit she got here early. She noticed his face was sweaty and she frowned. "You were only a little late, what happened?" A devious smirk appeared on her face. "How many people did you rescue on the way here?"

"You were in my body for half a day and now make fun of my luck more than ever," Touma sighed and Mikoto giggled. "No, I was late because Fukiyose made all of us clean up the classroom as punishment for our antics Saturday. Then I had to drop my stuff off at my dorm." Mikoto stood up and they started walking toward the bus stop.

"How is she able to control all of you?" Mikoto asked. "Accelerator doesn't like to get bossed around."

"She's very persuasive," Touma said, rubbing his head unconsciously. "Accelerator tried to sneak away after school and she caught him. She didn't pull any punches when she lectured him about not receiving any special treatment for his level."

"And he stood there and took it?"

"As I said," Touma shrugged. "She's really persuasive." He frowned. "I think he listens to her because she doesn't give him any special treatment. Our class tries to treat him like everyone else, but I noticed they tend to avoid making fun of him directly, it's usually when one of my friends instigate something. Fukiyose will reprimand him directly."

"I guess he isn't use to being treated like everyone else," Mikoto shrugged. "People tend to idolize us just for being level 5s. They don't get to know us, which is why I really treasure my friends."

"I can tell," Touma said grinning.

"So…" Mikoto said hesitantly. "How's Kagere-san? I couldn't get much out of Kuroko and she's been acting a little strange. She's more passive then normal."

"He's been a little quieter than normal too," Touma admitted. "But he still cracks jokes when he's set up. Accelerator and I talked to him about the transformations and dragons, but he couldn't give us any information we didn't guess already." They got on the bus and continued talking. "What about you? Are you okay after yesterday's incidents? Feeling any different?"

"I think I've become more sensitive to electromagnetic waves," Mikoto admitted. "Since your body can't detect them at all, when I returned to my body, I suddenly could feel them again. I bet it will take a couple days to get use to them like normal." She shrugged. "Other than that, I'm perfectly fine and went to school like normal."

"Oh, when is your school doing the cultural festival coming up?"

"We were assigned the second week. I don't think anyone's going to start planning until the end of this week though. When's your school participating?"

"This Saturday. We had a big argument because Tsuchimikado and Aogami wanted our class to do a maid café. The girls in our class were adamantly against it." They both laughed.

"I hope my class doesn't want to do a maid café," Mikoto sighed after a moment. "Ours is in the school gardens, so boys aren't allowed, only girls from other schools, but I hate wearing the outfit."

"If it's girls only, guess I won't be able to see you in a maid outfit."

"It's only one day," Mikoto said quickly. "I probably won't have to be there the entire time. We could hang out outside the school garden part of the day. Besides, I plan to visit your class's stall and see what you came up with. With your friends, I'm sure it's going to be fun."

"Fun is a relative word." They looked at each other and burst out laughing again. They continued to talk and the mood was light the entire bus ride. They finally reached their stop and they got off. It was then only a short walk to the karaoke place. They stopped outside of it and looked up at the sign over the door. "I didn't realize this place was so big."

"How did you get tickets for this place anyways?" Mikoto asked, as Touma pulled them out. "This place just opened up and I heard it's really popular."

"A friend of mine owed me a favor and got these tickets for me," he replied, causing Mikoto to raise an eyebrow. He was glad she didn't question it. They entered the building and walked up to the front desk. There was a short line and they had to wait, but it moved quickly enough. The woman behind the desk was around thirty with black hair, a kind face, and an ear piece with a microphone over her right ear. Touma presented her the tickets and she started typing on her computer.

"Let's see," she said. "Two prepaid couples' tickets," Touma and Mikoto's faces turned red, "for two hours. It's lucky you got here so early. In about half an hour, we probably wouldn't have any rooms left. Room 14 is free, down the hall to the right. If you need any food or drinks, a menu is hanging on the wall." She looked up at them. "One last thing you two might be interested in. You may have known we opened last Friday, but our contest runs through the end of today. We are challenging our guests to try to get a perfect score on one of our machines. If you do, you will win twenty five thousand yen and a silver necklace your girlfriend might like." She smiled at them and both their faces turned redder.

"W-we aren't really dating," both of them stammered and the lady giggled.

"Have fun you two," she said. "Please remember to keep all activities age appropriate." She waved them on and both of them were too shocked to reply, their bodies moved down the hallway automatically. They entered their room and the door shut behind them. The room had two sofa chairs on one side, a large TV screen on the other, a table in between, and the karaoke machine was off to the side for them to select their songs. Instead of a thick book of songs, which Touma had seen at other karaoke places, there was a tablet where you could quickly search for the song you wanted.

"Nice room," Mikoto said, looking around and plopping down on one of the chairs. She picked up the tablet and started scrolling through songs. Touma grinned and sat down in the other chair, scooting it over so he could see the screen too. "What should we start with?"

"Why don't you choose?" offered Touma.

"Is it because you want to hear me sing?" Mikoto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It will definitely be better than mine." Mikoto grinned and selected a popular pop song. She stood up, grabbed a mic, and typed the song number into the machine. The music started playing and the TV screen turned on automatically. Colors and fancy designs started bouncing around the screen until the words appeared. Mikoto started singing and, while she wasn't a professional, Touma knew she was a lot better than him. Mikoto seemed to enjoy the song and focused on the screen to make sure she got the words right and started moving to the beat, but not outright dancing due to limited space. Her eyes kept darting to Touma, but she couldn't focus on him. Touma, on the other hand, kept watching her. He was a guy and his male hormones wouldn't let him just listen. The song ended and Mikoto put the mic down.

"How was it?" she asked, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"Knew it," Touma answered. "Definitely better than what I can do." They looked at the machine which was flashing her score, eighty two. Perfect score was a hundred.

"I think you are underestimating yourself," Mikoto replied handing him the mic. "Because you have so little confidence in yourself, I'm going to choose the song for you."

"But Mikoto-sensei," Touma protested.

"No buts," Mikoto said sternly, though a smile tugged at her lips as she scanned through the song list. "Ah hah, this should be good."

"What are you planning?" Touma asked suspiciously.

"This," Mikoto replied cheerfully, as the screen turned on again. The song was bright, upbeat, and Touma knew immediately it was a theme song of an anime for kids.

"Really?"

"Have fun."

Touma sighed and stood up. He tried to sing along, but he was only slightly familiar with the song because Index sometimes watched the show, but he didn't know the words. He fumbled a lot but slowly got into the grove, even though the song was supposed to be for a female lead. The song finally ended and Touma shook his head. The score on the machine read thirty two. "Did you enjoy my horrible singing?"

"It wasn't that bad," Mikoto lied. "You were just trying to learn the song, so it made it harder." She had been focusing more on him than his singing, so she missed most of the song.

"Thanks."

"Cheer up," Mikoto told him, patting him on the back. "I'll let you get even by selecting my next song."

"I know the perfect one," Touma replied, grinning. He slipped past Mikoto and hid the tablet from her view while he looked for a specific song. Mikoto was curious about what he was planning to select. Touma stood up straight and typed in a number. He turned around when the TV screen flashed back on. It only took three seconds for Mikoto to recognize the song.

"Are you serious?"

"Have fun," Touma told her, parroting her words. They both turned to the screen as the Gekota theme song started playing. Mikoto gave him an exasperated look, but never took her eyes off him. It became obvious quickly that Mikoto didn't need to see the words flash on the screen, she knew them by heart. Touma clapped along as she sung, her face getting redder as he kept his eyes on her. Touma could tell Mikoto really enjoyed singing this song and it was a lot better than her previous one. The song eventually ended and Mikoto passed him the mic. "I feel like you have experience with that song," he commented, a knowing gleam in his eye.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Mikoto answered, deliberately avoiding eye contact. They both looked at the machine as the score 96 flashed across it. "Wow, I did pretty good."

"I think you deserved a few more points," Touma laughed and Mikoto blushed. "I guess they don't want these machines to give out perfect scores too easily."

"That would defeat the point of the contest if it was easy, right?"

"I suppose so," he admitted.

"Let's not worry about it and just have fun," Mikoto continued and she pushed the mic into his hand. "Your turn." They spent around an hour alternating songs before finally taking a break and ordering refreshments. As they sipped their drinks, their conversation turned to school. Mikoto found it hilarious that his class now thought he was switching out with Kami. "So now only your close friends and mine know the truth?"

"That's about it," Touma confirmed. "Fukiyose wasn't happy about that and it was one of the reasons I was stuck cleaning up the classroom. She didn't like the fact I was receiving presents for what someone else was doing and lying about it."

"But you weren't really lying," Mikoto pointed out. "You were being punished for something that wasn't true."

"It's probably better everyone thinks that," Touma shrugged. "You know I don't advertise my hand, but I don't really hide it. If everyone know who I was, my normal high school life would be over. I rather stay somewhat anonymous and help people when I can."

"I still don't think you should get punished though," Mikoto mumbled, thinking, when something he said popped to the front of her mind. "What did you mean by presents?"

"Ah well," Touma said, rubbing the back of his neck. Crap, didn't mean to say that. "The girls from the high school sent over snacks and sweets." Mikoto's eyes narrowed slightly and Touma quickly continued. "Ishikawa-san sent all of us cookies, including Tsuchimikado and Aogami. A lot of the notes said they were thank you gifts for making the event fun." He shrugged. "I dropped them off at my apartment before coming here, but I bet Index and Lessar finished them all off." Mikoto couldn't resist grinning at the thought.

"We were always told if someone does something for you that you should do something in return," Mikoto admitted, reminding Touma she did go to an ojou-sama school. They hang out so much, he sometimes forgot. She had become another one of his close friends. "It makes sense the high school would follow the same principle. They were a lot more relaxed around you and your friends though. If you guys had invaded our school, I bet a lot of the girls wouldn't know how the react. Most have had limited contact with guys."

"It's the experience of high school girls," Touma agreed, and realized he said something wrong when Mikoto scowled at him. "So… umm… should we go back to singing?" Mikoto stared at him for a moment longer, before nodding. The mood quickly became fun as they got involved in singing again and the thought of school completely faded from their minds. As the time limit of their stay neared, Mikoto turned to Touma.

"We don't have a lot of time left," she pointed out. "Want to sing a duet?"

"Sure," Touma said, passing over the tablet to her. "It would be something different. Did you have a preference?"

"Not really," Mikoto said, staring at the screen intently. This should be something memorial since we are going to leave after this. Huh? "Cool, it looks like there's a random feature on here. I'll just select duets and now it can be a surprise." She grabbed the second mic from the stand and stood up, Touma quickly imitated her. "Ready?"

"Go ahead." Mikoto beamed at him and hit the button on the tablet before she set it down. The song started playing and both of them recognized it. The machine chose one of the most popular love song duets in Japan. Mikoto's face turned scarlet and Touma felt his ears burned. Their eyes met for a moment before looking away. Neither of them wanted to say anything about, but their eyes met again right when the words started. Touma tried to relax and sing his parts, but Mikoto kept popping up in his head as certain lyrics flashed across the scene. What was worst for him, was other girls like Misaki and Ruiko flashed in his mind at different parts, which made him feel like trash.

I'm thinking of other girls while with Mikoto?

Mikoto was also having a tough time keeping her voice steady at some of the lyrics. Her eyes kept glancing at him and when she wasn't looking, his face dominated her thoughts. The song intensified a lot of feelings she felt for him and she couldn't even remember singing half of the song. It was all a blur. Near the end she and Touma looked at each other and Touma smiled at her, which caused her face to go even redder, if that was possibly, but she felt strangely at ease too. The song ended and she put the mic down, her heart beating wildly. Did the machine do this on purpose? Did he think I purposely did this? She started sparking and Touma noticed too late.

"Mikoto," he called out, reaching out his right hand. "Calm down!" It was too late and a small spark flew at the machine, causing the lights and sounds to go haywire for a moment. Touma grabbed her shoulder and the electricity disappeared. "What happened…?" Before he could continue, a bell rang out, causing them both to jump in surprise. They turned to the karaoke machine and saw the total of 100 flashing on the score board. "Er…"

"I think I might have short circuited it," Mikoto mumbled sheepishly. She was embarrassed for losing control over her ability here. "We should apologize."

"It seems to be working," Touma said, looking over the machine and testing it out. "I think you might have just messed with the score."

"That's a relief," Mikoto sighed. "I bet the machine is pretty expensive and I didn't want to spend all my allowance replacing…" There was a knock at the door and Touma answered it.

"Congratulations," the woman from the front desk said. An older male stood next to her holding a small box and an envelope. He had a tag on his shirt that said manager. "We were alerted you two managed to get a perfect score and have come to deliver your prizes."

"About that," Touma said slowly, glancing at Mikoto, who looked completely embarrassed. He stepped out into the hall and closed the door partially behind him. He could explain the situation by himself and give her a chance to calm down. Touma took a deep breath and told the two what happened. To his surprised, they both burst out laughing and the manager patted him on the shoulder.

"I'm glad you told us the truth son," he said sincerely. "The machine is working fine, so no harm done, but I appreciate your honesty." He pressed the box into Touma's hand. "Take this necklace. I'm sure your girlfriend will like it." Touma's ears burned again but the man left before Touma could reply.

"We hope you come again," the woman told him and waved good bye, before heading back to the front desk. Touma stared at the box in stun disbelief, before heading back inside the room.

"How did it go?" Mikoto asked nervously.

"The machine's fine," Touma reassured her and she sighed with relief. "They appreciated our honesty and gave us this." He passed the box over to Mikoto, who opened it, revealing a silver necklace.

"It looks amazing," she said, staring at it for a moment. She wasn't one to normally wear jewelry, but she could still appreciate it. She took it out of the box and held it up. "Can you help me put it on?"

"Er, sure." Mikoto pushed her hair from the back of her head while Touma slipped it around her neck and clasped it. He could feel how smooth her skin was and glad she couldn't see his face. Mikoto felt the same way, as a shiver went down her spine at his touch. She held up the tablet and looked at her reflection on the screen. "It looks good on you," Touma muttered.

"You think so?" she asked quietly. "I don't know. I might have to save it for special occasions. I'll keep it in the music box you got me." She smiled at him and he felt his heart beast faster. They only had five minutes left of their time so they decided to go ahead and leave. They waved goodbye to the woman at the front desk and exited the building. They walked down the street in silence, both still slightly embarrassed about what just happened. Finally, Mikoto broke the silence. "Kuroko and I are introducing Saten-san and Uiharu-san to someone we met a few days ago tomorrow. Would you like to come?"

"Can't," Touma replied, shaking his head. "Index discovered an all you can eat buffet we haven't been banned from and I promised to take her tomorrow."

"Banned?"

"Turns out all you can eat doesn't really mean 'all' you can eat." Mikoto had a sudden image of Index seeing all the trays of food lined out in front of her, which caused her to burst out laughing. Touma shook his head again, but this time he smiled. "The managers were not happy about it, but she promised to show some restraint. I just hope she can when actually in front of the food."

"Sounds like a losing battle," Mikoto told him and Touma laughed. They continued talking while walking down the street, enjoying the weather. The sun was still up, but it wasn't extremely hot today. Debating what they should do next, they turned a corner and Mikoto saw a familiar face she had seen before briefly. She only recognized the girl because Touma had recently shown her a picture. "That girl…" she muttered to Touma, stopping and pointing. "That's Kazakiri-san right?"

"It is," Touma confirmed slowing his pace. He recognized the long hair and glasses. Hyouka didn't appear to have noticed him, but was looking into a window of a store selling fudge. She appeared again, but usually Index finds her. I hope she's okay. It doesn't look like Eve found her yet. He walked toward her with Mikoto staying a couple meters back to avoid scaring her. "Kazakiri-san!" he called out waving, causing her to jump slightly and turn.

"Hello," Hyouka said, crossing her arms politely in front of her. "Sorry I didn't see you there." Her eyes darted to Mikoto, who waved. "Ah…"

"It's okay," Touma said quickly. "This is one of my friends I told you about."

"Mikoto Misaka," Mikoto introduced herself, holding out her hand. Hyouka looked at it for a moment before gingerly shaking it.

"Hyouka Kazakiri, I saw you once before, but I got nervous and…" She trailed off, not wanting to say anything.

"She knows already," Touma reassured her.

"And I don't care," Mikoto added. "If you are in trouble, I'll do anything I can to help you." Hyouka's eyes widen.

"T-thank you," she replied and her eyes began to water. She wiped them quickly and tried to act normally. Before she continued, she glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was listening in. "They haven't contacted me since then, so I'm hoping they might have given up." Touma and Mikoto both looked at each other and shared a knowing look.

"I don't want to alarm you," Touma told her. "But in our experience with Eve and her group, they don't give up. They just use convoluted round about plans to get what they want."

"I was afraid of this," Hyouka mumbled, looking at the ground. "My very existence seems to cause people problems."

"Don't say that," Mikoto reprimanded her. "You should never apologize for existing. It's not your fault that you are unique. It's their fault for thinking they can use you like a puppet. Looks at him," she pointed to Touma. "He has the worst luck of anyone in the world and it spills over onto other people."

"Hey."

"But he still does his best and doesn't let his luck stop him from doing what's right. I bet he even saved you once before. He did it for me too. You can think you can be all noble and try to separate yourself to protect your friends, but we both know Touma's going to force his way in to help you, whether you want him to or not."

"Hey!"

"And I'm going to help too," Mikoto finished. "I'll be your friend and if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask. I hate people who are willing to treat others like dirt." Touma and Hyouka both stared at her in silence while she breathed heavily after her rant. Touma couldn't resist smiling and, finally, Hyouka did too.

"Thank you Misaka-san," Hyouka replied.

"That candy you were staring at it does look good," Mikoto told her. "I'll get us some, my treat." She dashed into the store before Hyouka could decline.

"Is she always so direct?" Hyouka asked Touma after the door to the shop closed.

"Yea," Touma said nodding. "But you can't ask for a better friend. She's loyal, smart, hardworking, and always puts her friends first." He looked at her. "I know it's kind of sudden, but she really does want to be your friend. She's been with Index and I for a long time and I think you two will get along."

"I wouldn't say no," Hyouka admitted. "She seems nice, but…,"

"You are afraid she will be in danger if she's with you," Touma finished her sentence. Hyouka nodded. "Listen, you can't let those types of people dictate how you live your life. If you keep worrying about what might happen, you can't live in the now. There will always be people who want to use others, that's why people like us need to stand up to them so all our friends can continue smiling. If you live your life in fear, you are playing into their hands. Neither of us forced Mikoto to want to help you, it's who she is. You could be a complete stranger to her, but she would help you if you needed it." Touma patted her on the shoulder, with his left hand because his right would destroy her. "I know how strong you are, but you are also kind. Index considers you one of her closest friends, so remember, you aren't alone." He stopped when he saw tears flow from her eyes.

"I know," Hyouka sniffed, wiping her eyes again. "You are right, I can't live in fear, or there's no point to even existing. Misaka-san's willingness to be my friend, even knowing what I am… I can't thank her enough."

"You don't have to thank her," Touma reminded her. "Being her friend is more than enough." Hyouka nodded and they stood in silence until Mikoto returned, holding a box of fudge.

"I'm back," she said cheerfully, before noticing the atmosphere. "Did something happen?"

"No," Touma replied. "Just talking."

"Okay…" Mikoto said suspiciously. I feel like they were talking about me. To lighten the air, she opened the box and held it out to Hyouka. "Here you go, take one."

"Thank you," Hyouka said. She picked up a piece and took a bite. "It's delicious."

"Knew you would like it the way you were staring at it," Mikoto beamed.

"Would have been bad if they weren't," Touma pointed out.

"Be quiet," Mikoto said, shoving a piece of fudge into his mouth. Touma chewed and had to admit it was good. Now that her friends had a piece, Mikoto took a piece herself. "Yum," she sighed happily. All three of them walked away from the store to find a bench they could sit down at and finish eating their snack. Hyouka appeared to be feeling a lot better, something Mikoto and Touma both noticed. Touma equated it with the time she spent with Index. "They finished off the candy and Mikoto looked over at Touma. "We still have some time before we need to head back, anything else you want to do?"

"I'm out of ideas," Touma admitted. The day had been going great, not counting earlier at school. "So anything you two want to do is fine with me."

"Oh Kazakiri-san," Mikoto said. "Tomorrow I'm introducing some of my friends to someone my friend Kuroko and I met. Would you like to join? I could introduce you to them."

"I would like that," Hyouka admitted. "But I can't always control when I appear and disappear, so I can't guarantee I will be able to show."

"Oh," Mikoto said, sounding slightly disappointed. "It's okay. If you ever do see me with my friends, don't be hesitant to come and talk. I'll introduce them to you anytime."

"Thank you."

"Glad to see you two are getting along," Touma commented. "So any thought on what you want to do today?"

"If I might make a suggestion?"

The voice was young, female, and full of joy with a hint of mocking undertone. The voice was familiar enough to cause all three of them to jump out of their seats and turn around in alarm. Touma and Mikoto immediately stepped in front of Hyouka, standing between her and the newcomer. I should have known my luck wouldn't allow this to continue. He grimaced as his eyes located the source of the voice and, to his dismay, she wasn't alone.

Eve was standing about ten meters away, clutching onto Juliet's ear while dragging her towards them.

"We need to talk."

---

In a storage shed in the far corner of Academy City, three high school students were sitting on crates talking. There were two guys and one girl all with depressed looks on their face. The sun was shining through the windows high above them, but no lights were on. They were discussing the recent destruction of the organization that had been dispensing the drugs which increased ability user's level. "It's just as he said," the first guy spat out. "The city is trying to keep us down. They know the drug has worked on many of us, but they want to control who gets stronger. Anyone who threatens the balance gets eliminated." He had medium length red hair combed back and a lot of freckles.

"Shut up Sadoa," the girl snapped. She had brown hair tied into a pigtail braid on her shoulder "We know all this, complaining isn't helping anyone. If the deaths didn't get out into the public, we probably could have continued it."

"We would have been in trouble if you didn't warn us with your telepathy," the second guy said. "Seriously, Chikako saved our asses. Hitting level four was a blessing." He was a larger build than Sadoa, with wide shoulders and short black hair. His face looked like he would be a stern and straight forward figure, but he was surprisingly supportive and strategic.

"I'm living proof the drugs work," Chikako bragged.

"We all are," Sadoa pointed out. "I hit level 4 too. It's laughable we were all level 2 less than a week ago. He raised his hand and pointed a finger at a bunch of boxes. The air shimmered and they disappeared. "Who would have thought thermal manipulation would have so many uses? Camouflage is really handy and that's not even counting the offensive capabilities." By manipulating the temperature of sections of air through convection, or the movement of groups of molecules, it created a variation between hot and cold air, forming a gradient in the refractive index of the air. The most common example of this was water that appeared in the distance on roads during hot days. With only a few small tweaks, the air can refract light to completely conceal solid objects.

"It's all for naught though," Chikako sighed. "The city is hunting us down and, without more drugs, it's going to be harder to recruit people. We are all that's left, the rest have been caught or gave up."

"We need to unite the remaining Skill Out groups," the second guy said, looking up at the ceiling. "There are plenty of them out there but, without a central leadership structure, it's nothing more than gangs."

"Well Chikako can contact them," Sadoa said. "And you would probably be the best leader out of us three." He smacked his fist into his open palm. "I'll be the muscle if we need it." Chikako rolled her eyes.

"You are such a pompous…" The door behind them flew open and they turned in shock, jumping to their feet and prepared for a fight. They froze when they actually saw who… what… it was.

A large humanoid robotic machine walked in, carrying a briefcase in its right hand. It had a slightly larger build than a normal human and the metal plating made it look like it was wearing a suit if armor.

"What the hell is that?" Sadoa demanded, the air around him shimmering as it grew hotter.

"There is no need for violence," an older male's voice came out of a speaker from the machine. "I am here to help you in your endeavor to show how this city believes people are not worthy to have power."

"How do you know about our conversation?" Chikako demanded, not letting down her guard.

"You really need to understand how surveillance systems work and what steps are required to stop them. I found you quite easily and I know others would be listening in. Before I arrived, I put up some counter measures so we may speak freely."

"Who are you?" the second guy said wearily, not letting down his guard either.

"You seem to be the most intelligent of the group," the male said. The robot put down the briefcase and kicked it over. "My name could cause problems if spoken carelessly, so you may refer to be as The Doctor. I was one of the researchers who helped develop the ability boosting drug. You see, I am a firm believer in allowing one to reach their full potential, regardless of motives. The city kept me from being able to reach my fullest potential by refusing to help me and now I see it doing the same to the next generation in their ability development. I find that highly unfair and want to help. As a sign of good faith, in that briefcase, there is several doses of the perfected drug, along with instructions how to administer it and a communicator should you wish to contact me for help or advice."

The second guy nodded at Chikako and she cautiously stepped up to the briefcase and opened it. Everything he said is here, she said telepathically. The two guys couldn't reply back, but nodded in acknowledgement.

"Why are you helping us?" Sadoa demanded anxiously. "What do you get out of this?"

"I want to show the world this city is purposely holding us back," the man answered. "This will allow us to replace the higher ups with more competent people. I'm hoping you can create a new organization to lead us into a new era."

"I like the sound of that," Sadoa said with a grin. "We need to come up with a good name though."

"I have a suggestion," the male said. "How about The Fallen?"

"What kind of stupid name is that?" Sadoa asked.

"It actually has a deep meaning to it. You see, those of us who have been cast aside, many of us fall into a pit of despair we can't escape from. We will give those individuals another chance. We will form a coalition of those who have fallen to show none of us are worthless."

"I like it," Chikako said, before turning to the second guy. "What do you think?" There was silence as everyone waited for his answer.

"It seems we have a deal, Doctor."

---

Across the city, Ricane leaned back in his chair at the student's response. After Teitoku had been defeated, he knew it was only a matter of time before the organization fell apart, so Ricane took precautions. He bugged any of the people who had even a small chance of being a capable leader and monitored to see who got away. Disappointedly, he was only left with one option. The only good news was the three kids had developed their abilities thanks to the drug, so they were going to be more willing to continue. He knew it wouldn't be difficult tricking a couple students to do his bidding. Ricane liked to plan a dozen steps in advanced and even the name he had given them had a purpose.

Aleister's surveillance system will start reacting to that name which will help hide my activities. I may not be working for Eve any more, but her presence is sure useful. I wish my clone would have transmitted the last few minutes leading up to his death, all I had left in the memory bank was the Number Seven fighting some of my older models. I might have to test the new ones.

---

Later that night, two women were talking on the phone. They were far apart, but both were planning to visit the same location for the same reason. "It's been so long since we last saw each other, so why don't we arrive at the same time? We can spend the day together while waiting for our kids to get out of school." This woman sounded very young, vibrant and cheerful.

"That sounds lovely," the second female said. She sounded older and more mature. "I have been curious how my son is doing. You know how kids are. They never want to talk to their mothers for very long."

"I know what you mean. My daughter always makes it sound like I embarrass her." She paused for a moment. "I'm curious about if her relationship has improved with him. She won't tell me much about it and quickly changes topics."

"We were her age once. With my husband overseas on a business trip, it has been rather lonely. I look forward to spending a little time with my son."

"He seems to be rather popular with young ladies. I hope she's working hard."

"He picked up that trait from his father."

"He such a nice young man though and I'm glad he's friends with my daughter, but it's getting late. I'll let you sleep and I'll see you Friday."

"I look forward to seeing you too, good night."

---

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.

You can probably tell I have a lot of plans for Season 4. It's probably going to be longer than the previous ones because it will diverge into two main storylines before they converge again. I'm also going to address a few things down here from a couple readers Touma couldn't address.

GameCguru: Your comment tells me I did something right when developing my OC. He's complicated enough that you can't just say, oh he's this way. Static characters are boring and it's something I noticed in other stories. I worked hard to make sure he's interesting, but doesn't overshadow the main cast. Guess we will have to wait and see.

Guest: (One about the harem advice) This is something that I have been thinking about for a long time and your commented resonated with me. Season one had a lot of introduction and season two brought in the magic side while pulling in ITEM. Season three was forcing them all to spend more time together. The biggest issue was there is a lot of rivalry between groups, so your point about trying to be open minded is a good one. It's why I started with Misaki, she had the longest to come to terms with herself and him. Mikoto would be one of those who is adamant about a one to one relationship and would be tougher to persuade. A lot of rivalries also make it difficult, but I have a few ideas.

deathmask83: I promised someone else a certain magic god will make an appearance at some point.

Syko-Soldier963: Remember, Mikoto went through three transformations in the manga. SO she went above 2%. The transformation in London was based off the first stage, so it was only partial. If we use that logic, than Mugino's and Shokuhou's transformations would be first stage too. The 50% mark could pose a problem, unless the city developed better methods by then or there was a way for them to keep their humanity.

RPGPersona: Wow, your comments are getting long, but still enjoyable to read.