All of the characters herein are from works written by our lord and savior, Kamachi Kazuma, which includes (but is not limited to): A Certain Magical Index: New Testament, A Certain Scientific Railgun Spinoff: Astral Buddy, and A Certain Magical Index SS: Biohacker. Yes, all of them.

Chapter 1 – The Twenty-Ninth Day of November.

Part 2

When Ayu did not loosen her suspicion, Mitori sighed. "You really shouldn't be this hostile to the person who's getting you out of here."

"Who are you working for, Kouzaku-san?" You're probably not going to tell me the truth, but maybe a lie can get me closer to it.

"You wouldn't believe me, little girl."

"Try me." The still-sore Ayu wasn't in the mood to be toyed around with, and, while she knew it was bad form, began gingerly stretching her muscles. Also, I'm not a little girl, but it's good for her to underestimate me. She thought about the definition of the word 'underestimate' further. Or think I'm weak and stupid, at the very least.

"I'm working for Shokuhou Misaki." The nurse girl said after a long pause.

Ayu's face shifted rapidly through a range of several different emotions.

There is no way this isn't a trap. But at least she would be taken outside of the fortress called the Reformatory.

"I know you probably won't trust me, but this really isn't a trap." Mitori waved a hand at how Ayu snapped to attention instantly. "And I don't have an esper power like yours, it's just obvious what you're thinking."

At Ayu's hesitation, Mitori spoke further. "We need to go. Shokuhou's brainwashing of the guards won't last forever." She waved a hand, and the door opened again. "Quick, follow me."

Very insistent on getting me out of here, isn't she? Ayu's suspicion further rose, but she quickly followed Mitori, jogging to keep up.

"What does Shokuhou want with me?"

Only the cells had been soundproofed, but the sound of their voices and footsteps died quickly in the place all the same.

"I don't know," Mitori shrugged. "I was only told to get you out and to a secure location."

Why would Shokuhou want someone to watch me? If she was worried about my movements that much, she should have just left me in the Reformatory. No, there's definitely something that she wants from me.

Ayu shook herself and tried to focus on the present as they further threaded their way into the facility. The Reformatory had been constructed to have a complex layout as another deterrent to would-be escapees, but she still had the sense that they were heading downwards.

Finally, the pair reached an underground loading bay, which was somehow devoid of human beings other than the two of them and a surly-looking driver. Many vehicles of varying size were present, but Mitori gestured towards an armoured truck, its cargo hold open and waiting.

"Inside."

Looking from the purple-haired girl to the driver, a man that looked to be in his thirties, Ayu saw no means of escape.

She complied.

This is not good. At least they haven't knocked me out. Ayu began thinking furiously once more as the truck began to move.

Mitori rapped her knuckles on the divider between the hold and the driver's seat, and a hatch slid open. "Remember, take a roundabout route."

"Understood."

Through the wire mesh of the hatch, Ayu caught a glimpse of the outside world through the windshield, where the sky was orange and blue, the dazzling colors of early morning. Her headache from the AIM Jammers was slowly subsiding now that she had exited their range, but it was still there, an underline to all her thoughts.

There was also the fact that she had not slept much in the past few days, having to make sure that nothing went wrong with the revenge plan on Shokuhou.

She tried not to think too hard about how she had lost.

And then there was that dream last night, or this morning.

It was the height of stupidity to doze off while in enemy hands, but as the events of the past few days began to wear on Mitsuari Ayu, she felt her eyelids slowly slide downwards…

Only to slam wide open again as a loud thump sounded from above her.

"Tch, it shouldn't be so soon," Mitori cursed under her breath, and reached for the divider again. "Oi, what's–"

A loud boom and a rending creak, the sound of metal being blasted through and torn open, interrupted her, and the truck began to sway, veering left and right on the road.

An attack. Ayu forced herself to keep thinking, even as she began to curl up, with her hands over her head. If the truck's hold breaks open, I can use this chance to escape!

But what if they're after me? Then wouldn't I be in trouble either way? The second thoughts came to her, and once again, she disregarded them.

There probably won't be another chance.

Then there was a bang, and the truck jerked to a violent halt, throwing Ayu to the hold's front.

Ouch, ouch!

"Mitsuari-san, stay here." Mitori was already on her feet, eyes focused on the truck's back. A hand reached behind her, and she drew a sharp-looking knife from under her skirt. "I'll take care of this."

Where the edges of the cargo doors met each other, a silvery ooze began to seep in, before the truck's entire back, too, was ripped open...revealing a strange human-shaped figure, formed from something that looked like liquid metal.

"Yo, Ayu-chan. Come with me if you want to live." A cheerful voice came from the speaker embedded in the puppet's chest.

"Ara...I certainly wasn't expecting this." Mitori grit her teeth and tensed, prepared to strike.

Not waiting for a reply, a sharp tendril shot forth from the liquid puppet, and Mitori dodged and charged forward–

But instead of seeking out the nurse-uniformed girl, it curled to the side and wrapped around Ayu, yanking her bodily out of the truck into the open air where she was tossed unceremoniously onto the road. From somewhere, a battered cellphone slid across the tarmac with a clatter to bump against her hand, and Ayu swore that it had been the puppet that had been the one to–

No time for consideration. At once, she grabbed the offering and ran, right at one of the deserted alleyways that she had spotted in a quick look around.

"What an unpleasant surprise." 'Mitori' spoke, gazing from the puppet to the Ayu's retreating back. "Though I suppose I should have expected that things wouldn't be this easy–"

The rest of her words were cut off as she leapt high into the air, avoiding a wide horizontal sweep of a sharpened liquid metal tentacle. With gracefulness and strength far above that of a normal human being's, she landed gently on the destroyed truck's top, her feet making an unusual lack of noise.

Particles of blue light gathered around her hand, and her knife dissolved into the same, only to reform into a cutlass five times longer in length. "I'm not going down so easily. Prepare yourself!"

"Gee, I never knew someone wearing my face could be this irritating." The true Mitori sounded from the speaker, a lit of annoyance tinging the deadpan tone of her voice.

The puppet's arms once again lengthened, and tendrils of metal shot forward, swept left, right, left, and Mitori's doppelganger took to the air again, twisting here and there while seemingly unaffected by gravity. With a burst of speed, she shot forward, both of her hands driving her cutlass right into the liquid puppet's chest.

There was an electric crackle, accompanied with the sputtering of several sparks.

Even as the tentacles began to retract and curve backwards, intent on eviscerating the attacker, the doppelganger was already becoming more transparent, dissolving into the same blue light.

It smirked. "…or I guess I could give you a little setback along with your victory. See you soon!"

As it fully faded away, it left one final gift: Mitori's puppet, too, began to disintegrate, bubbling and sputtering further, eventually losing its form and turning into a useless pile of tarnished, semisolid goo.

On a rooftop some distance away, Kouzaku Mitori looked at her tablet unhappily. One puppet's worth of liquid metal gone like that. I better not have to bug Misaki-chan to restart the factories. She straightened from her crouch. Well, time to rescue our pet ant.

~~[z]~~

On an overpass a further distance away, 'someone' put their phone to their ear after feeling it vibrate.

"Yes?"

"Hi~ I lost."

"You lost." The person on the bridge said flatly.

"Well, they intercepted me and unintentionally replicated the plan I had to gain Mitsuari Ayu's trust."

"I told you that that was a stupid idea for multiple reasons. First, even if she's not actually one, Mitsuari Ayu is still an asset as a potential Level 5, and so multiple factions would be after her, especially after her sponsor got offed. Second, I still think it's a waste for us to attack ourselves in order to gain her trust."

"Imagine it, though. I defend her from you and she begins to trust me, or you 'rescue' her from me and she begins to trust you. It would have been perfect."

"This is the sort of ridiculous plan that needs several things to go right in order to succeed! And the first option doesn't even work anymore if you're going to pretend to be someone else!"

"...ah. And I went to the trouble of trying to balance her level of trust and distrust in me as well."

"Nee-san, please tell me you at least thought about that." The speaker slammed their palm against their forehead.

"In my defence, it was a last-minute change which worked out well. I was quite surprised when the guards seemed to obey all of Kouzaku Mitori's requests."

The AIM Jammers prevented one from using their ability in their presence, but they didn't suddenly negate the effects of any previously used power away from them.

"Brainwashing? You don't think…"

"This is not a coincidence." The voice on the phone became stern. "And you have much to learn about the unnatural laws that are shrouding this city. It is the Number Five. I am certain."

"...so what do you want me to do, now that I've been woken up at the crack of dawn for nothing?"

"Sorry. I know you need all the sleep you can get at your age in order to grow, but–"

"And yet you woke me up anyway!" The speaker on the bridge was grumpy. "I'm coming back, and then we can work out a more direct approach."

Not waiting for a reply, the speaker hung up.

~~[z]~~

Mitsuari Ayu gasped for air as she ran full speed through the alleyways of District 10.

She needed to get out of there immediately. District 10 was, to put it bluntly, "the bad part of town", the place that contained all of the city's stigmatized facilities such as its only cemetery, management buildings for disposing experimental animals, and yes, the public juvenile hall that she had just escaped from.

It was the main gathering place for many delinquents and gangs, none of which she wanted to be caught by at the moment.

If I keep to the alleys, I might get cornered. But if I step out into the open, I'll be visible!

Her run slowed to a jog.

I'm still wearing the Reformatory's uniform. If anyone sees me…

Her jog slowed to a walk.

This phone. It lets me use my power, but whoever gave it to me is probably tracking its location right now. But if I abandon it, I'll be defenceless!

Her walk slowed to a stop, and she rested a hand against the wall for support, not caring that it was dirty.

Many people know about what is commonly called the fight-or-flight response, which details an organism's automatic physiological reactions to stressful or terrifying events. Basically, a threatened animal could aim to counterattack, fighting off the imminent threat, or they could escape to safety, running away.

However, the term "fight or flight" was a misnomer. It left out the third class of instinctive response that one could exhibit when faced with danger.

That was to freeze, unmoving, like a small animal in the eyes of a large predator, in the desperate hopes that they would be unnoticed, passed over, and not devoured.

That accurately summarised Mitsuari Ayu's current response.

She had escaped the threat of being demoned away in the Reformatory, but now she had both feet firmly planted in unknown territory, and the world was beginning to look like a terrifying place, despite, or perhaps because of, the sheer number of possibilities that were available to her.

She turned the phone around, stared into the lens of the camera, but did not move to use her power.

No. No! I can calm down. I can calm down by myself.

I can find a way out.

She forced herself to slow her breathing.

Yes. Even when everything seems impossible, there is always a way out.

There is a crack in everything. Always.

The notion came to her like a half-remembered dream, and she held on to her phone even tighter.

If there is a single Level 0, I can make them my ally. If there are multiple, I can get them to fight each other.

Merely thinking of the possible ways to counterattack gave her confidence, and she once again began to move.

But before that–

There was a clatter from behind, and she turned, phone raised–

–another rustle of movement behind her–

A feint!

A hand clamped over her mouth, but in lieu of screaming, Ayu twisted, bringing up the blunt edge of her phone in a blind slash, where she felt it connect. Giving the attacker a shove, she broke away and ran.

"Ow, ow, ow…"

A girl? Ayu paused and looked back, not expecting what she saw.

It was indeed a girl, looking to be around sixteen or seventeen, dressed in a muted khaki jacket, along with dark blue jeans shorts over a pair of spats that went down to her calves. A grey newsboy hat was atop her head, sitting over straight and long chestnut-colored hair.

Right now, one of her hands nursed her cheek, and another was raised in a pleading gesture.

"Wait, wait. I'm here to help!" She winced at her own raised voice, and looked around worryingly. "You're Mitsuari Ayu-chan, right? I'm with the one that sent you the phone."

Ayu's frowned. She seems cheerful enough…but that nurse girl was also innocent looking until she decked me. Well, better safe than sorry.

"Okay," Ayu said outwardly. "Take my side." The last few words were said with her phone's camera raised, but all it did…

…was produce sparks near the girl's face, who then winced.

It didn't work? Ayu slowly lowered her phone, tensing her feet and preparing to run.

The girl's expression took on a mixture of sadness and pity. "My ability is Rad–I mean, electricity-based, so it blocks attacks like that." She took a step closer in a pleading manner, and Ayu took a step back. "I'm sorry that you can't trust me, Ayu-chan. But please–"

"Oh? What's this over here in the morning?" A rough voice called out.

"Behind you!" Ayu shouted. She aimed her phone once again, but before she could get a clear shot, the girl was moving. With a few swift steps, she dashed up to the two thugs, both of which were a full head over her in height, and pressed a hand to each to their faces. There were more blue sparks, and then the thumps of two bodies hitting the ground.

A third walked around the corner, and his eyes widened in surprise.

"See nothing and go away." Ayu said forcefully. This time, she was ready.

The thug's expression of surprise became placid, and he silently turned and went.

The chestnut-haired girl breathed a sigh of relief, before turning back and meeting Ayu's eyes.

If I was being paranoid, I would say that she arranged for the thugs to attack me so she could fight them off and gain my trust. But nobody would stoop to that level…would they?

(Some might have, as we have already seen, but thankfully, that was not the case for Ayu here.)

"…okay," Ayu conceded. "Let's get out of here."

~~[z]~~

Getting out of District 10 was much like crossing the road: you looked both ways, and started walking when the coast was clear. The hard part was trying to be casual, to act as if you belonged there. It was another kind of balancing act, where you couldn't appear too submissive lest you be marked as a victim, nor could you be too aggressive lest you accidentally challenged someone's dominance.

Still, Ayu found the time to ask questions.

"Where are we going?"

"District 7. Mi…I mean, there's a safehouse there that my friend prepared."

Had Ayu been a bit sharper she would have caught the 'mi' that would have pointed to either Shokuhou Misaki or Kouzaku Mitori, but, tired as she was, the slip completely went over her head.

And she was preoccupied with other thoughts as well.

Friend…do people even have friends in this part of Academy City?

The problem was that the girl seemed so genuine, that Ayu was beginning to let down her guard.

"Hey," she said again, as they slipped through another alley. By the decreasing amount of graffiti on the walls, Ayu could tell that they were nearly out of the district.

"Hmm? What is it?" She looked over her shoulder.

Very disarming indeed.

"I probably should have asked this sooner, but…what is your name?"

"Ahaha." She gave a small laugh. "You can call me…Sakami Hitsuji?" She began to smile, the small smile that betrays a child trying to hide a prank. "Yes, Sakami Hitsuji."

There is no bloody way that is your real name. Ayu remarked to herself. What kind of parent names their child "sheep"? She paused and considered. Then again, I probably shouldn't say too much.

An altogether more important question came to mind as she questioned her ancestors. "Wait, I'm still in my Reformatory uniform. Won't people start–hey!"

The exclamation came involuntarily as Hitsuji stopped abruptly and began to strip, taking off her shorts. "What?" she said. "I'm wearing compression clothing underneath. It's fine."

She tossed Ayu the aforementioned shorts, which Ayu held gingerly with a dumbstruck expression.

"Don't just stand there." The khaki jacket was unzipped and tossed over as well, revealing a plain white polyester shirt underneath. This had the overall effect of making Hitsuji look rather sporty.

"Right." Ayu sighed, putting on the borrowed garments over her smock. There was no way in heaven or hell that she was going to disrobe in an alleyway, even if she was going to be uncomfortable.

"Ready? Let's go. People are getting worried."

They passed out of District 10 into District 7, the home of the School Garden and Tokiwadai...

…as well as a certain high school and a certain high schooler's dorm room. She had not been here for a long time, had not been a proper student for a long time, even, and now the familiar sights were making her heart ache.

"Are you okay?" Hitsuji asked kindly. "We're almost there."

The sun was beginning to rise, and the day was beginning. The two girls threaded their way through the throng of students headed for school, and the adults headed for work.

Finally, after many winding streets, they arrived at the foot of a perfectly ordinary apartment complex, where they entered and took the lift up.

Eleventh floor. Ayu noted. Too high up escape from by jumping.

The hideout turned out to be a perfectly ordinary 2LDK apartment: two bedrooms, plus a living room, dining area, and kitchen. "You can rest on the couch first," Hitsuji said, heading into the kitchen. "I think there's a change of clothes here, and also some food if you're hungry–"

She returned from the kitchen bearing two glasses of water, but Ayu was already slumped sideways on the sofa, dead to the world. The few strands of her fluffy hair that had fallen on her face fluttered intermittently at her breath.

"Well, I guess you've had a long day." Hitsuji shook her head. She retrieved a thin blanket from a closet and draped it over the sleeping girl. "Sweet dreams…at least for now."

In this chapter: Mitsuari Ayu questions her ancestors for taking on a weird surname, while I question Kamachi's lack of subtlety, while also committing equally egregious acts of theme naming.

I really, really hope everyone's read Railgun.

Review please!