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, A Certain Scientific Railgun Spinoff: Astral Buddy, and A Certain Magical Index SS: Biohacker.

Chapter 2 – The Many Billiard Balls on the Table

Part 1

"So not only did we lose Mitsuari Ayu, but also the FIVE_OVER as well." There was a long sigh.

"The FIVE_OVER was a piece of junk. It's good marketing to brand it as 'something that replicates a Level 5 ability', but ultimately, it was just a bauble~" The second speaker was still cheerful. "We still have time. I'll slowly win Ayu-chan to my side."

The two of them were in a lab in the easternmost district of Academy City, District 12. It was the same district that Silvia, Brunhild Eiktobel, and Leivinia Birdway had been misled to by Kamijou Touma during the Ichihanaran Festival earlier that month.

It was the sole religious district in Academy City, and held many places of worship, along with many facilities that studied theology in a scientific manner.

It was also worth noting that the lab itself did not really look like a lab; rather than harsh, sterile white furnishings, the room was panelled in wood and earthy tones. If not for the several terminals obviously demarcated for experimental participants off to the side, it would have been more accurate to refer to the room as an office or a study.

"The splinter of DA that we sent after her was also mysteriously obliterated." The first speaker slid over a tablet, the screen of which was showing the wreckage of several vans. "The surveillance camera footage captured this." A finger swiped across to display the next photo, which was a blurry silhouette of a person that appeared to be holding a long, curved object."

For the first time, a shadow crossed the second speaker's face. She reached into the front pocket of her salmon- pink apron, which she was wearing over a sailor uniform: a dark, navy blue skirt, a white blouse, and a pale yellow scarf. "Asinine absurd ludicrous foolishness," she muttered to herself. Her hand returned from the pocket with a stylus, which she immediately used to start drawing on the tablet. "Oh well. The more trials you overcome, the more significant the end result, right?"

"What are you doing?"

"Silence, you useless shota. I'm trying to make an educated guess." The stylus traced various shapes over the screen. "A spear…or a bow…or a harpoon?"

"Nee-san, please."

"But too many people use those." She continued muttering to herself.

"Obaa-san." The boy's tone became more irritated. He stuck a hand into the pocket of his baggy camouflage cargo shorts, and the other ruffled at his somewhat-spiky black hair. His T-shirt, the loose sleeves of which came down to his elbows, was also black, and a few dog tags lay on his chest.

"Don't call me that." The woman's head snapped up, shifting a bit of her long, strawberry blonde hair.

"Then tell me what our next course of action is."

"I think…hmm." The woman's placed a finger in her mouth, thinking. "You should go after this hunter. It'll lead us to the secondary objective."

"What secondary obje–oh, that gremlin."

"That's right." The woman nodded. "And for god's sake, make sure you do not, I repeat, do not, run into the Joker. Or the Ace, for obvious reasons. Or even the Deuce."

The boy seemed taken aback by the emphasis of his 'sister'. "That bad?"

"First, Kamijou Touma resolved every single incident he got involved in without fail." The onee-san held up a finger. "If you make contact with him, there is no doubt that either you or I will be receiving a right fist to the face, somehow. That is how it works."

"But his only ability is–"

"Second." A second finger was raised over the boy's protests. "Even if you don't believe in his protagonist powers, or in more concrete terms, ignore his significant track record at solving incidents, the fact remains that our dear Board Chairman has taken a liking to that boy. If you end up getting entangled in his 'plan' or whatnot, he's going to come down on our heads. Or, to be more specific, my head."

"Just yours, huh?"

"When he realises what I'm trying to put together, yes." The woman actually looked worried. "Have no delusions about our capabilities. Both you and I are tiny fish in a very large ocean. Any of the monsters, Dark Side or no, will swallow us up in a single gulp if we aren't careful. Make no waves."

"Okay, okay." The boy held up a hand and acquiesced, even if his expression still held doubt. "And Hamazura Shiage? That one's a real Level 0. Lucky, but still a Level 0."

"Better to be safe than sorry." The onee-san swiveled around in her chair, turned to face the boy. "Besides, you don't want his girlfriend tampering with your AIM. You know what happened to Kakine Teitoku, right?"

"I'm nowhere near powerful enough to need to worry about something like that." There was a hint of bitterness in the boy's voice. He stood and made to leave, but at the door, he turned. "I still don't know why you want to go to all this trouble. You do know that there are a hundred ways we can legally get to Shokuhou Misaki herself by now? She wouldn't have enough time to cover all her tracks."

"You're underestimating her. Both her esper ability as well as her talent as a schemer." The woman gave a wry smile. She leaned back in her chair and stretched out her arms behind her. "But in any case, the fruit that remains on the tree remains nothing more than just a fruit. It is only the one that has been pruned and tossed to the ground that has the potential to bloom into something new."

~~[z]~~

And speaking of the Ichihanaran Festival…

About thirty-six hours prior, a single girl had snuck into Academy City. Her hair, the color of snow, grazed her shoulders as she ducked from cover to cover, her ice-blue eyes darting from one spot to the next. Her skin, too, was pale, but it was not the porcelain skin carefully kept by a Japanese model.

Rather, it was the shade of a person hailing from near the Arctic Circle.

The entry point was District 11, on the land route where materials were brought into the City. Despite the fact that such an obvious entrance would have tight security, the high degree of automation meant that, in practice, it was not as difficult as one thought to gain (illegal) entry.

Besides, this was not the first time such a thing had been done. Hadn't Marian Slingeneyer, Mjolnir, and a certain lightning god gained entry to the city in the same way?

Yes. The girl was simply retracing the beginning steps of a known operation.

"The organization really had more fools that I thought. Seriously, challenging the combat specialist to a direct fight? Were all those idiots blinded by hope? Or was it simple desperation?"

A girl who had simply walked away from Egeskov Castle was now the closest to the answer 'they' all had sought.

"I don't care if you're now a fairy, or that you've lost all of your powers. For breaking so many oaths–no, just for trampling on my wish alone, you will answer to me, Othinus."

~~[z]~~

"Who are you?"

"Me?" Ayu laughed. "I'm just a nobody. Just some nameless esper. But you!" Ayu faced down the Magic God, in the space between worlds. "Aren't you a god? Why are you doing this, if you can just do anything you want?"

With a single moment of courage, she had attained what she wanted. But with another, she had thrown it all away.

Why? To seem cool? Because she wanted to be a good person?

Because that was what Kamijou Touma would have done?

Regret ate at her heart, the lost possibility of something greater.

A single moment of weakness could make someone fall from grace, but a single moment of courage could drag one above how they normally were.

If only it were easy enough to stay there–-

"We're back." Someone was shaking her shoulders gently. It was Misaka Mikoto, from the same year as her–no.

"Dolly?" Unseen by her, Mitori's face in the front seat twitched.

"No, Ayu-chan." The clone said patiently. "It's Hitsuji. Sakami Hitsuji, remember?"

"Uh, yes." Ayu's head was still pounding, and her body felt weak and feeble. She opened the door of the car, and staggered out with erratic steps.

"Got you." Dolly put an arm around her shoulders, supporting her.

"Seriously, this is why I hate dealing with perception-types. Why is it that they always seem to be flops physically?" Mitori sighed. "Come on, Dolly."

The carpark was underground, the basement below the block of flats. Ayu shrugged off Hitsuji as they made their way to the lift. "I can walk. It's fine." The clone released her and she stumbled for a bit, before reaching out to the pillar for support. Gritting her teeth, she stared ahead and blinked several times, trying to clear the disorientation.

"Now that the FIVE_OVER is dealt with, there shouldn't be any more problems." Mitori half-explained, half-remarked. "So, in accordance to Her Almighty Highness' instructions, we keep you safe for a while, maybe a week or two, until the mysterious people hunting you lose interest. Hopefully. Meanwhile, I also need to some investigating. Man, Shokuhou's really milking me for all I'm worth."

"You do sort of live on her paycheck, though." Hitsuji pointed out.

"Don't remind me." Mitori collapsed into the couch the moment she was back, but her hands already held her tablet up high, between her face and the ceiling. "Easiest targets first then. SCHOOL. Kakine Teitoku, Youbou Banka, Sunazara Chimitsu…"

"You don't need to do anything," Hitsuji said to Ayu. "Just rest for now."

Ayu nodded, but she didn't exactly feel comfortable. Somehow, the earlier offhand comment by Mitori cut deeper than she expected.

Yes, she was weak. In so many ways. Not only just in comparison to Shokuhou Misaki, but also as herself.

She stared at Mitori. The girl could fight with both her esper ability and with weapons. Maybe there was something there?

"...Gokusai Kaibi. And the former sniper, Yumiya Rakko–"

"What!" Ayu was on her feet.

"What is it now, Mitsuari?" Mitori sighed.

"Rakko-chan is a sniper? For the Dark Side?" But she was always just a crybaby clinging on to Iruka, wasn't she? Then how–

"She's also dead." Mitori said, instantly turning Ayu's blood to ice.

"Mi-chan." Hitsuji's voice was sterner than Ayu had ever heard her.

"I thought it would be better if we got over that quicker." Mitori said defensively. She turned to the shellshocked girl. "For what it's worth, Mitsuari, I'm sorry."

Just gone. Just like that.

Ayu folded like a house of cards and stumbled back into her seat. But I…should have been the only one to…the others…

"There was a huge battle on October 15th. That was when it happened." Mitori continued. She seemed to think it would be better if she just went on speaking, to give the shellshocked girl time to process it all instead of having her be obligated to respond in conversation. "Kakine Teitoku suffered terrible injuries from fighting Accelerator, and everyone else but Gokusai is dead, it seems." The only connection here is Yumiya, but she's a Level 0, isn't she? I doubt that would be the link, not if the enemy is after an esper ability. Besides, she's been dead for quite a while.

Seeing no leads, she went on to her next query. "Dark May Project. Replication of the Number One's ability." Her finger traced down the page. "There's a partial list of participants: Kinuhata Saiai, Kuroyoru Umidori, Yuzuriha Ringo, Minakami Naoki, Ryuugou Tomoka, Shundan Kimi…" She turned towards Ayu again. "I'm sorry, but do any of these names ring a bell?"

"No." Ayu said. She still had a shaken expression on her face.

"Well, that was just low-hanging fruit. I'll have to properly dig into it later. Maybe cross-reference everything with the events of October 9th…" Mitori's voice trailed off, and her arms descended in an arc, her tablet landed back down on her lap with a smack. She stared up at the ceiling for a while, before closing her eyes.

Ayu's thoughts were elsewhere completely. Did I…fail another person? As the senior in Ideal, I should have taken care of everyone, right? But I…

Yes, there's no way around it. I failed. Thoroughly. How could I have let Rakko-chan get entangled in the Dark Side like this? Come to think about it, in the end there, I really just forgot about everyone, and pursued my own selfish desires.

She looked again at the two others with her: the abrasive girl who could be surprisingly kind, and the clone who seemed to have understood her right away. She remembered Kamijou Touma, and Kumokawa Seria.

Two people had protected her back then, and two people were protecting her now.

Will I need to be protected all my life? Shouldn't I be better than this?

And another realization came.

Two people assigned by Shokuhou Misaki.

It ate at her.

A truly superior person did not need to laugh at or mock those lower than them. Their superiority would simply be proved by their existence alone.

Shokuhou's superiority stared Ayu in the face, poked her in the eye. It galled her, and it galled her more that Shokuhou herself didn't even realise she was doing it.

I should just be happy that I'm alive…but…!

She realised that she had taken out her phone without thinking. To live was only an instinct, but to move forward…took courage.

And it would continue to take courage. Again and again, every step of the way.

Maybe I should do what I nearly pressured Little Miss Bee to do. She stared at the lens of her own camera. Erase all my memories. Start afresh. Or maybe I can dig further and just kill off all my brain functions? Anything would be better than this, right? Than to continue being the sad, sad person known as Mitsuari Ayu?

But then again, killing myself feels too much like I'm conceding defeat!

She felt something cold on her cheek, and jumped. "Wah!"

"Take it easy." It was Hitsuji, handing over a chilled packet of juice. "Drink up. It's got good sugar in it."

"Good sugar?"

"From fruit." The Misaka clone took a seat. "It'll give you a bit of energy." Hitsuji glanced at the clock. "Maybe I should go buy lunch soon, or cook something simple. Things'll look better on a full stomach."

"Hey, Hitsuji-san." Ayu started.

"Hmm?"

"I…" Her voice died in her throat. What could she possibly talk about? Why had she struck up a conversation in the first place? Did she just want someone to talk to? Was she just lonely? Was there even a point to talking with her caretakers/captors?

"Drink," Hitsuji insisted. At the clone's urging, Ayu plucked the straw from the packet's side, where it came off with a satisfying snap. She stuck the straw in and began to slowly sip.

Hitsuji eyed her as she performed the simple actions. "Hey, Mi-chan," she said, not taking her eyes off Ayu.

"Hmm?" Mitori said groggily.

"Is it okay if I tell Ayu-chan about…well, everything?"

"Go ahead, I guess." Mitori did not move a muscle nor open an eye. "Even if I say no, you're still going to do it somehow, right?"

"Hmph." The clone-esper pouted. "I'm not that mean."

"Actually, you know what? Tell her more about Her Royal Highness too, while you're at it. Might tip negotiations more in my favour the next time she asks me to play errand girl."

"Misaki-chan's not that mean, Mi."

"To you she's not." If she had the energy to do so, Mitori would have rolled her eyes. "To me she's a downright pain in the butt."

"How do you all know each other, anyway?" Ayu asked. I know Misaki-chan, even what she's like deep down inside. That was what Hitsuji had said. It might be good information to have…but I'm also curious.

"So a long time ago, there was a certain research project called Clone Dolly." Hitsuji turned to Ayu, and began her story. "And there was a certain girl who would always pretend to smile in front of the researchers, because being liked by the researchers was the best way to do well…"

Ayu listened attentively, taking in every last detail. She looked again at Kouzaku, who was now apprently dozing and unresponsive. So someone like her…confronted the researchers? She couldn't believe a person as abrasive and underhanded as Mitori would be the type to just approach the adults head-on.

And Mitori had been imprisoned, and Misaki had arrived as a replacement.

And then a long time after that, the Daihasei Festival happened.

"Dragons?" The word did not rest well with her; it rolled around in her mind, reminding her about some dark corners of memory.

Touma?

"You and Misaki-chan really are the same." At Ayu's visible flinch Hitsuji backpedaled and frantically waved her hands. "Ah, I mean, umm, not like that!"

The same? So it's just as I thought–

"That's not what Dolly means." Mitori opened her eyes, but did not move. "Kamijou Touma again, huh?"

"What would you know?" Ayu's head swivelled around.

"Does it make you angry? Does your heart pound harder, at the thought of Kamijou Touma being with Shokuhou Misaki?" Mitori drawled, still looking up at the ceiling. Off to the side, Hitsuji sighed.

"I–" Ayu's voice cracked, and her shoulders began to shake. When the girl again didn't say anything further, Mitori sat up properly and looked at her.

"My word, you're actually crying."

"SHUT UP!" Ayu shouted. She was on her feet. "What would you know?"

"Relax. It's not as if she would ever stand a chance either. Kamijou Touma has amnesia, after all. He can never remember her." Mitori remained unfazed.

"What do you mean?"

"It is exactly as I said. Kamijou Touma can never remember Shokuhou Misaki."

As Mitori repeated her words, Ayu went over them again in her head. "What do you mean…can never remember? If she just went up to him again–"

"In the process of protecting our dear queen from some hooligans, Kamijou Touma was gravely injured. When Shokuhou used her ability as a last-ditch resort to save his life, she damaged some crucial pathways in his brain. So that boy can 'never remember' her. Not her face, not her name." Mitori said exasperatedly. She turned to Dolly. "Did I get everything right?"

"Yes." Dolly was frowning. "But I didn't tell you about Misaki-chan's love life for you to just say it out to others, you know."

"Oh, give me a break." Mitori waved a hand at Ayu, who had a suitable look for someone going through their second large revelation in a half-hour window. "The poor girl looked like she was going to explode. I'd rather she'd not do that while under my roof, thanks."

Somehow, Ayu burst right through shock and came out the other side, emerging with a sort of mechanical calmness. "Isn't Shokuhou your employer?" She asked a perfectly reasonable question. "Are you even allowed to tell me this?"

"Well, it isn't as if she knows that I know, and she also needs to be taken down a peg. Besides, your sad face is extremely cute, so I decided to take pity on you for once." Mitori was deadpan.

"Mi-chan." Dolly, Hitsuji, looked positively grumpy now.

"But of course you are the only one for me, Dolly." Mitori quickly added. The darker expression on the clone's face cleared up. Just as selfish as always, the purple-haired esper thought with a sigh. And now I have to deal with another one that has no regard for the people around them. My life just gets harder and harder.

As soon as she finished the thought, there was a knock on the door.

Oh, great. What now?

In this episode: ominous reveals of several characters. I hope this doesn't turn into a Battle Royale.

Also, in case it's unclear, "deuce" means "two".

Review please!