A Certain Influx of Time Traveling Mishaps

by NeoShadows

Kamijou Touma's tale has ended. A New Magic God has risen in the future, taken over the world, and set its sights to the past for more power. Luckily, or unluckily for one unfortunate high school boy, those who have inherited Imagine Breaker's will have chased after it. When Future meets the Past, a new story is created. All to the misfortune of a certain Kamijou.

11. In The Aftermath of Failure

Heeeeelllllloooooooooo, readers! NeoShadows back from a long hiatus to continue where I left off half a year ago.

Yes, yes, I know I've haven't been faithful to this story since it is my first entry to the ToAru section of Fanfiction. Especially with how I had about 20K+ complete for the next two chapters to come. I should have held off my other projects and updated them when I should have. For that, I have an explanation.

I pretty much scrapped all 20K+ of what I had written. Like, all of it. Every single word was tossed aside despite how long I worked to type it up. You have no idea how much it hurt me to gut all of my hard work. I think that was the first time I had to cut so much content.

As for why, well, I found myself having second thoughts on what I was trying to convey with the SS chapters after the release of Genesis Testament among other ideas popping up in the old nogging. I tried to somehow mesh the new content together but failed and wound up with an ugly mass. So, I threw aside what I had and decided to start completely with scratch. Apologies for taking so long to upload again but quality-or semi-quality in my case-content takes time and patience. Better to have something eventually than nothing at all in the line of written work.

Per my usual requirements to be uploading anything, I've already completed a few chapters so that I don't have to worry about running out and facing the dreaded Blank Page Of Despair~! Nothing more stressful to a writer than starting on a blank page, which is why I always make sure to have a few hundred words started on any new chapter or story no matter how jumbled it may be. Once I've completed a chapter, I'll upload again.

As always, let's get to those long overdue reviews.

D. : Who knows? Mila was a supernatural being comprised of AIM after being ingested by The Level Eater. You could say she was no different than a certain artificial angel with glasses and a perky bust. One touch=Certain Death? Touma's self-loathing is, sadly, one of the cornerstones of what makes him Kamijou Touma. A cornerstone only amplified by his belief he's nothing more than a husk who's living off the originals hard-fought fruits and that he doesn't really own anything he can honestly call his own. Its a whiny, pitiful, and pathetic part of him; what else would you expect from a normal boy who has to deal with so much misfortune? Hmm, I wouldn't say all of the future children are...wholly good. Among those, there are bound to be a few who will come off as evil and cruel yet carry part of Kamijou Touma to create conflicting. I won't say any more; Spoilers and such.

ArmoredCoreNineBall: Aww, look who's shy~! Stop squirming and be a man. Show some GUTS! Yes, things return to what a dense idiot as Kamijou-san can call normal after being sent on the verge of heartbreak. For now, his heart has been treated but not fully cured of his regrets or guilt. Such deep wounds don't fade away so easily. If those children are smart, they'll know better than to speak such revelations. Pfft! Are you surprised of what types of women a full-grown Kamijou Touma have gotten to...interact with, let alone how many?! Ah, The City of Wisp which was created by that toxic effects of Level Eater; a new phase with new possibilities. Who's to say what that unknown and damaged object could be? I've rested long enough, now vigor courses my veins to write like a mad lad once again!

Kamijou no Touma: You may be a guest review, but for writing so much, I reward the anonymous stranger with a response. And yes, I am the type of writer that tends to drop off the face of the world and not upload anything for months, possibly years, but I always, somehow, come back with something. I only readers continue to wait patiently for semi-quality work. You're mostly right on the list of children connected with Touma but missed out on one crucial child's connection. This new chapter should clear a few things up. As for the number of Level-5s Mila accounted for; it's true she didn't count the #1s who stood atop all other Level-5s. She had already been breaking under what little scrap she had ingested from the AIMs of the Level-5s; even The Level Eater had enough sense not to dare devour the #1s Personal Reality. Maria is a special child indeed, so I won't go revealing her character or background just yet. Keep guessing if you'd like. Ohhhhh, The Magic God of Ruin's identity. What a fun reveal that will be.

General Ironox: Y-Ya read it all in one sitting? What a terrifying being you must be...don't touch me. I always wondered if I could find a time-travel fic too, but found nothing worthy of my interest. I also wanted to find a fic around possible future children too, so, why not write a story with both? Hope it lives up to snuff. Fun interactions await indeed.

TazalTerminals: Yeah, laugh all ya like! Sniff! It takes time to write quality, damn it. And of course, I know how to spice things up; I'm Mexican. It's what we do, bruh.

Fyr Rednight: Bittersweet, so bittersweet. A guilty pleasure all humans long for beneath their cores. That self-loathing, bitter, and doubtful part of Touma is one I feel several others overlook for his light nature. I've only ever known MrQuestionMark to have captured such emotions in his story. I'd like to believe they're more profound in the early months of his birth when he's simply following the example of what he believed Kamijou Touma would do in that moment. May your interests in this story and my other projects only continue to grow!

Damaki: Eh, misfortune; what can you do? Adult Kamijou Touma is a rather...interesting individual unlike any other, that's for sure. Aogami was basically a prophet to the kinds of tropes and archetypes his friend would conquer. Yandere daughters were simply icing on the cake of the lovely misfortune dessert he didn't order. Yes, Touma's misfortune is the greatest double edge sword to be have been crafted. A tool both kind and cruel, good and evil, just and unjust. One his hand can ignorantly sever even beautiful illusions innocent of malice. No truer proof to its lethality despite offering kindness can be seen with the case of Mila Etoile.

Jayz21501: No doubt about that. I get nonstop reviews and PMs about updating my other works. At the moment, I'm at a weird spot with all my other works. I guess you could say I'm happy with what I have written within the RWBY fandom and am I currently trying to think over what laid out chapters I've already written, and what to do to them to make me pleased enough to update. I can't say when I'll go back to them, better not to push out chapters lacking passion or thought, but I am working on coming to an acceptable ground to continue.

HegemonyWalke: Ha! Are you honestly surprised seeing as this is Kamijou Touma we're talking about? Did you not foresee such a possible development to curse him?

Nero1002: Ah, another Citizen Soldier fan, I see.

That's all for now. I've keep ya'll waiting far too long. I'll catch you at the end!

---

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to A Certain Magical Index. All rights are reserved to Kazuma Kamachii.

Thank god, I'm going back to work this month! Now I don't have to feel like some stay at home husband anymore. I mean, I guess it wouldn't be bad to have such a strong wife coming home, tired and awaiting a hot meal with wants of massaging her naked shoulders plus a hot bath.

Hmm...I just might have awoken to a new kink. Weird how that happens, huh?

---

Chapter 11: In The Aftermath of Failure.

Bedrest_For_The_DAMAGED.

[-]

"And what is your relation to the patient?"

"Hmmmm, I guess, you could say he's family, in some rather humorous aspect. Though he wouldn't really know it."

The kind and patient receptionist stationed at the visiting center nodded, smiling as the visitor signing in chuckled while filling out the required paperwork to be allowed visitation rights to a certain person being cared for by the loyal hospital staff.

"I see. I must say, you are a new face I've never noticed before. I've gotten rather familiar with all the passing faces who've wandered in to visit that person, so you must be a new friend he's made!"

An odd smile came across the stranger's face as they set down the clipboard with his papers. Everything was accounted for, not a thing out of place. A flash of his ID cemented his credentials. Said laminated card was laid out for the receptionist to see, nodding as she typed away the offered information into her computer for records.

"Nise...Tadashi? Well, everything seems to have checked out, so you're free to visit your friend when you're ready! Just remember, visiting hours start from 8:30 to 9:00 sharp, no later! And, please, be mindful of his current state. He's been through a lot as of late."

With a visitor pass handed over, the stranger waved his hand lazily at the receptionist who appeared to have a soft spot for who they were visiting as he walked away. The white lab coat tied around their neck like a robe or cape fluttered behind him as they passed by others arriving to visit family, acquaintances, friends, who they wished to get better.

'Nise Tadashi, what a rather romantic name if such a person existed.'

The lab coat stranger wandered the halls of the hospital aimlessly without the intention of heading to the person they were visiting. Their dark blue eyes were lethargic, without passion. He was unlike many of the visitors, staff, and patients who walked by him without much of a care.

It wasn't until the stranger had made it to a four-way intersection of the halls that the lab coating wearing stranger stopped. They're deep blue eyes caught a glance of something interesting, enough to bring a rather lazy grin to their face as they glanced down one of the halls leading to the pediatric ward.

Two figures walking side by side caught his interest as their back were to the stranger. A sibling pair, no doubt about it. An older brother and a younger sister who followed behind ever loyally. The stranger's gaze was focused on the young girl, noticing the dark antenna like pigtails atop their head bounce lightly with every step.

The lazy grin grew wider as he caught a hint of something unseen to the naked eye of espers in this city of science.

'Perfect. I was hoping to find a perfect candidate for my latest experiment. I was right to believe that such a subject would wander into my sight if I were to visit Tou-san. Now I just need to wait for the perfect opportunity to get things going.'

A hospital was a perfect setting for a little experimentation. Especially when the perfect device for patching up any mistakes rested close by if things went awry.

[-]

The weathered and wounded spirit of Kamijou Touma was once again back to its usual splendor of misfortune. His core had indeed been cracked, nearly shattered to miserable bits by his own hand after enduring the flames of gang warfare for the sake of one girl's smile only to destroy that kind ending with his cursed right hand. He had nearly drowned in his own despair, his lungs clogging with guilt shredding his insides to the point he had fallen into a dark corner of his mind and tried to bash his right hand to a crippled mess. If it wasn't for Angela and Index busting through his door, he was disgusted to say that he would have done far too much damage to his hand for a certain frog faced doctor to repair it.

Not that it would have mattered when he stopped to think about it clearly.

Imagine Breaker had proven to be more than just a tool that could dispel and negate supernatural phenomena. Even if it was chopped off, it would return without a scratch in an instant. His time in District 10's underground nuclear reactor facility proved to such an abnormal regeneration capability.

The sound of a metallic clunk and swish of chilled liquid swashing around as it fell was a beautiful sound to that unlucky boy. With a grimace due to the various wounds running over his body, he bent down slightly on his knees to reach for the well deserved can of coffee.

Thanks to the stern, scolding words of the older ebony-haired Sister and the wavered smile of the silver-haired Sister, Touma regained the fire to push onward. And he had apologized profusely for making those girls worry about the useless, weak, and pathetic high school boy they had been worried to tears about. The borrowed heart left behind by the original Kamijou Touma had been cracked by the lousy husk who now walked in his shoes, but it held strong despite the blood on his hands.

Kamijou Touma wasn't the kind of person to break down into shambles and sink into self-loathing for long. For the sake of those smiles he cherished and fought for to the bitter end, he had to endure whatever suffering he was subjected to and own up to his mistakes. The wounds were still fresh but he simply grit his teeth for the smiles of others.

It was the only normal thing to do after all.

Clunk!

The smallest of joyed tugs on a certain spiky boy's lips could be seen. Despite the ever-present abundance of misfortune forever clinging onto that normal high school boy's shoulders, the smallest of miracles had been granted to him in his time of need after the events involving a district of thugs.

"Hmm? Decaf!? Oh, come on!"

Eh, never mind. Misfortune would still find a way through the cracks and strike. There was no rest, breaks, or time off for it when a certain normal, spiky-haired, high school boy was present. Think of it no different than a clingy ex-girlfriend who was intent on making your life hell for her own amusement.

Within the great white-walled confines of A Certain Hospital, one could typically find a certain boy named Kamijou Touma present for reasons that seemed to always involve hospitalization. Take right now as we find said high school boy in the typical hospital gown garb in the halls of a place that was all but home when compared to his dorm.

Seriously, since his birth in the great marvel that was Academy City in this hospital, he had found that he may have spent more time here than he did at his own city-sanctioned dorm. Many of the staff he had passed by had greeted him warmly with respect and familiarity that would normally be found in the voice of close family friends or relatives regularly seen on their day to day life. One of the older nurses who had seen to his wounds after the mess involving Aureolus Izzard had even introduced him to a young new nurse that would start today as if she would be seeing a lot of him!

It was an awkward introduction. There really was no need for the young pretty nurse with a short dark blue ponytail to bow to him respectfully as if he was a patron in a maid cafe. The giggles and blushes of those two were not helpful at all to a boy who didn't want to be seen as a faithful regular!

And what the hell was that nonsense about sponge bath rotation schedule?!

The can of decaff coffee in Touma's hand was crunched slightly, causing him to bite back a pained wince from the action. At the moment, his right arm was heavily bandaged and held in a sling that nestled against his chest, leaving him with only the use of his left hand. His left hand was also bandaged due to spraining of various muscles and ligaments; a broken finger or two may have also been a cause for a few of his digits being set in finger casts. Any strain of said hands was bound to be discomforting.

Still the pain was no more worse than the pain of losing his yen to another machine that had a disturbing taste for Kamijou Touma's money or bank card. God be damned if he was just going to let the devilish piece of machinery snack on his money again! This was his time to be resting, to enjoy the small little pleasantries he could pitifully hold onto with his battered hands! If this ghoulish piece of metal really believed it could just spit in his face after such hard-fought battles and deny Touma his simple black canned coffee than it was in for a fight.

"Just because you've already gobbled up 500 Yen I found between my hospital bed sheets this morning, doesn't mean I'm going to let you get away with it! If you think I'm just going to admit defeat and pathetically limp away without what I've fought so hard to attain, then I'll just have to shatter your illusions!"

In the aftermath of Touma's battle in the gang war torn streets of District 10, he had found himself in a hospital bed with a broken right arm-explaining every type of broken bone to anyone would have been a pain but very informative as they discovered that the upper arm alone contained 64 bones-a sprained left wrist and two broken fingers, muscle fatigue in both his legs plus a swollen ankle, a wide variety of cuts, burns, bruises, a puncture wound here and there, a hairline fracture in the back of his skull, internal bleeding in his midsection, and a sprained kneecap. Oh, and severe blood loss which made doctor's question to just how much blood Touma himself could actually lose before fainting.

So, yeah, everything hurt. The name Kamijou Touma represented giant mass of aching sores that had grown sentient. From his leg's pinky toe to the very top of his skull. You would think he would practice caution when his body's health was severely fragile.

"GYHHHAAAAA!"

Touma was a regular old high school boy. And everyone knows that all high school boys are idiots. Which was why he had struck the soda and snack vending machine with a low center blow of his left arm. To reiterate, said left arm's wrist was sprained and held two broken fingers; the pointer finger and the middle finger.

Safe to say, the vending machine was one of the only things in this world who's illusions hadn't been shattered by a common high school boy. What a huge blow to the great evils and horrors that lurked in the shadows and light of the world of Science and Magic. It was said that it would be studied for ages by those who meant to distort the world in their illusions.

In the meantime, we turn back to the now teary Kamijou Touma who fell to his knees with a cry locked in his throat. So, maybe one of his fingers might have cracked? He glared at the taunting tall figure over him, wishing nothing more that his Imagine Breaker wasn't bound by a cast and could do more than just destroy the supernatural. Where was an esper ability to crush metal when you needed one?

CLINK!

That frown on Touma's face grew puzzled as something metallic could be heard from inside the vending machine. The metallic piece of science built to provide sustenance to the humans who created it let out a small rumble that caused it's frame to visibly tremble. One could say it was a warning to what would happen next.

Touma's eyes went wide in fright and panic as he moved to step back.

Too late.

Did the spiky-haired boy want canned dark coffee? Well then, he would get all the coffee his weathered heart so desired!

From the mouth of the vending machine, a rapid-fire burst of dark canned coffee was dispensed. The force of the dispense caused the cans to bounce out in a perfect angle aimed at the already wounded spiky-haired boy's face with the force of a pitcher's throw. It surprised no one that a few specks of blood could be seen flying off from the hospital gowned teen as he fell back to the cold, hard unforgiving floor.

For a good half minute, the rapid-fire of canned dark brew continued to pile over Touma's twitching form before finally giving it a rest and shutting down. Said spiky-haired teen groaned weakly beneath his favorite drink, whimpering as one more can decided to spit out of the sputtering vending machine to land on his right arm cast.

"S-Such...misfortune."

To any onlooker staring at the rather odd scene of some teen patient being pelted by canned coffee by a vending machine, they would have to agree to the poor boy's rather unfortunate luck. But this was Academy City, a world of pure science and fact, where the occult had no place. Fortune of any kind was nothing more than an excuse, superstition, that could not be proven. The event that had just taken place could be attributed to some faulty wiring, or be the fault of the boy for punching the vending machine in the first place.

Sadly that was not the case for this spiky-haired high school boy that you could find anywhere on the streets of Academy City. Such an event was an everyday commodity.

Shrugging off the coffee cans, Touma attempted to get back up on his feet. But thanks to the effects of a certain right hand of his, his weakened foot stepped on one of the many cans on the well-polished hospital floor. Blue eyes grew frantic as his foot slipped, signaling another hard fall and probably another injury that would need to be patched up.

"God dam-!"

Green sparks.

Before Touma's back could hit the ground, bruising his spine further with his luck, his eyes caught the oddest sight of green sparks popping in the air. Along with the sparks, he felt a warm set of hands wrap around his midsection, catching him in his fall. A sweet scent caught his attention, the scent of lavender and berries, along with the sensation of two cushioned mounds pressing against the back of his spiky head.

"Are you okay, Kamijou-san?"

Touma blinked in confusion, finding a few ringlet curls softly caressing his face. That voice, it kinda sounded familiar to him. Turning his eyes up to his rescuer as his head laid against their modest chest, he found a set of-

Green eyes, platinum blonde hair, fair skin, and a rush of memories of a girl he had failed to save.

"M-Mila-san?" Touma's voice quivered, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes as said stranger titled their head to the side with a puzzled frown.

Upon closer look, those green eyes were actually a kind and gentle hue of purple that closely matched their platinum blonde hair. And the bust he was resting against was actually bigger than he initially believed. He also caught an eye of the girl's school uniform, belonging to the famous Tokiwadai Middle School. An ugly ball of regret mixed with embarrassment fell into his stomach at the mistake he made.

The Level-0 known as Mila Etoile was dead. Her entire being, made up of AIM Diffusion Fields after undergoing the Level Eater's gluttonous appetite, had been shattered to nothing because of his right hand. Imagine Breaker, The Illusion Killer, killed off anything supernatural. Even a poor girl whose cries for recognition had not been safe from his hand that meant only to help her rise up from her own delusions.

There was no chance that such a miracle would ever greet this unfortunate Kamijou.

Realizing who it was that had once again saved him from harm, Touma swallowed the spike of grief and gave the platinum blonde ringlet girl a weak smile.

"Oh, hey there, Hokaze-san. Thanks for the save."

Junko returned the smile, happy to see the spiky-haired boy was fine. She did wish to question why such a wounded person was out of bed, surrounded by dozens of cans of canned coffee with a small bruise on his forehead, but chose to save that for later. It looked like Kamijou Touma was fine as fine could be considering how heavily wrapped up in bandages he was. He practically resembled a mummy.

But what really caught her concern was the slight sound of pain in his voice when he mistook her for someone else.

Mila.

She had heard that name before. Wasn't it during the chaos that had gone down in District 7 days before?

"It's the least I could do, Kamijou-san. But are sure you're okay? You sounded like you were in pain there for a moment." Junko couldn't help but ask as she helped Touma back on his feet. Out of the corner of her eye, she could spy a bench for visitors to sit back on right by the vending machine; a pair of crutches was rested on the seats. It was clear that a certain someone really shouldn't have been wandering the halls of the hospital if he couldn't even walk properly without assistance.

Touma grimaced. So, she heard that huh? Well, he could play it off as some kind of pain from the numerous wounds he was still recovering from.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a slight ache from when I fell earlier before you caught me." Touma chuckled weakly, thanking the ringlet ojou as she handed him his crutches.

Junko didn't like the sounds of that, turning to frown as she watched Touma set aside his crutches by the vending machine and attempt to pick up a can of coffee. His entire frame trembled visibly as the simple act of bending down caused him to hiss in discomfort.

She knew why, of course. Junko could still remember the scene of the shirtless high school boy as several ballpoint lasers pierced his body.

"Here, let me help, Kamijou-san."

She wasn't sure which cans were Touma's, so she opted to pick up at least three for the boy. After all, too much caffeine was bad for the body, especially one that was recovering in the hospital.

As much as Touma wanted to shrug off the Tokiwadai girl's help, he had no choice but to accept. It wasn't a lie to say his entire body ached. The fact he could even move around was only thanks to Heaven Canceler's amazing skills. No ordinary doctor would have been able to patch up Touma after his little adventure in District 10.

Reaching for his crutches to make his way back to his room, Touma found that he didn't need to ask the polite Tokiwadai girl to follow him as she stayed close to him. With a few cans of his favorite dark coffee with no added sugars or cream hugged close to her chest and a beaming smile, Junko walked alongside him without another word.

Honestly? It was something out of some romance manga. The scene brought a speck of red dust on his cheeks as he peeked at Junko's pleasant demeanor from the corner of his eye.

An honest to god Ojou. The very aura that was emitted by the ringlet girl was everything that one would expect from a high-class girl who attended a prestigious school teaching them the edict of being proper ladies.

"So, what are you doing here, Hokaze-san? Is there someone here you're visiting?" Touma asked, hoping to make some small talk.

"Well, actually I was here to visit you, Kamijou-san."

"Eh?"

Came to visit him? A cute ojou from Tokiwadai? Touma must have misheard.

Catching the look of surprise on Touma's face, Junko explained.

"Originally, I too was brought to the hospital due to the incident in District 7. Though it was only for a day before I was free to be released. When I was discharged, a friend of mine had shared with me that those who were wounded in District 7 were all moved to this hospital to be treated by a certain doctor. Knowing that you were also wounded, I thought I'd come to visit! It's the least I could do after you saved all our lives."

The memory of a demonic girl embodied by AIM and the enormous mini sun of fused elements bearing down onto her was still fresh on Junko's mind. In what she believed to be her final moments, the ringlet curled girl recalled the strong back of the boy who had run in out of nowhere to dispel her despair with nothing but his right hand.

Junko couldn't help but tap her chin, confused as to why such a scene was now burned into her memory. For some reason, she couldn't forget it and found the memory popping up in her mind ever once in a while.

"I was rather fortunate to have stumbled onto you; I almost believed that it would have taken me some time to locate your room."

Fortunate, huh? Touma wasn't so sure such a word could be closely associated with him. Then again, her arrival had saved him from suffering another wound. Did that mean some other form of disaster would strike from another angle to balance out his maximum suffering?

"You don't have to thank me for what I did, Hokaze-san. I simply ran in to stop...a friend from making any more mistakes. The fact that you were saved alongside everyone else was just a coincidence." Touma said in hopes of downplaying his actions.

Touma had gone after Mila to stop her from falling further down that dark, twisted, lonely path she believed she was destined to follow because of her lack of recognition. He hadn't done it to save the life of anyone, he wasn't some kind of superhero that had leaped into action. It was just that his actions that day had resulted in protecting the lives of those who were caught up in the mess of one lonely Level-0.

Nothing more, nothing less.

He didn't believe that should have labeled him as a hero in any way.

Junko shook her head with a stubborn pout at the nonchalant boy.

"But it's because of you that I can even walk alongside you right now. Even a Level-4 like myself hadn't been able to properly fend off the out of control esper. Whether you admit it or not, your actions had saved us all; you're a hero!"

"I'm just a regular old high schooler; what part of that makes me out as something cliché as a hero?"

Once again, Touma rejected the illustrious title of hero from one of the people he had saved. The rejection caused the purple ringlet haired girl to sigh.

"The Queen was right, you really do look down on yourself far too much for a kindhearted gentleman."

"Hmm?" Touma frowned, swearing he had just caught something said, "Did you say something, Hokaze-san?"

Junko locked up for only a second before shaking her head frantically, "N-No, Kamijou-san! It was nothing!" she laughed nervously.

Touma stared at the girl strangely who looked away for some reason. She was hiding something, that much was obvious. The platinum-haired ringlet ojou was a terrible liar.

"Anyway! What are you doing out of bed? With how heavily wounded you are, shouldn't you be resting instead of walking around? You need all the rest you can get if you wish to recover properly!"

Coming from an ojou, the girl's kind words were more patronizing than she would have wanted.

"Trust me, I would have loved nothing more than to continue laying back in bed, bored out of mind until that peaceful boredom was shattered by two Sisters, but my doctor wanted me out of the room for a bit." Touma replied with confusion to his own freedom. He grew suspicious as he explained, "He said something about changing the sheets and replacing the old outdated bed I was in for a new one. He said it wouldn't be more than five minutes and gave me a couple of crutches so that I could take a small stroll to stretch my sore legs. I didn't really think much about it since I found a five hundred yen coin slip from the mattress they were replacing and decided to get a can of coffee from the vending machine."

When Touma thought about it, why didn't the staff replace the bed earlier when he had been taken to be patched up after harming his right-hand yesterday? Why now?

It didn't take long for the two to reach the hospital room Touma currently resided in for the next few days. The great answer to Touma's suspicions was answered as his jaw grew slack at what greeted him by the door of his room. Upon arriving, Junko couldn't help but tilt her head at what he was staring at with disbelief.

"The Kamijou Ward?" she hummed before taking notice of where said room was situated.

Down the far left of the hall, she noticed the ICU was close by and that the Nurses Station was even closer to the Kamijou Ward that had the numbers 904 by the name. A room such as the one she was standing in front of was better suited for a clinically ill patient who was always in need of medical assistance, not a high school boy.

Oh, if only pure Junko-chan understood how close to the truth she was.

Touma felt an annoying twitch in his brow at the golden and well-polished nameplate. The sheen of honey metal spoke of being freshly made.

"So, that was why those bastards let me go out of my room despite being told to stay in bed? It was all to put that stupid sign on my door?! I thought he was pulling my leg when he said that they named this room after me! I can't possibly have been hospitalized that many times to be given my own personal room! I refuse! I refuse to accept such a depressing reality!"

[-]

With the help of kind and pure Junko, Touma was back in bed, grumbling about teasing staff and a frog faced doctor whose illusions would be shattered one day. Popping the can of cool dark simple coffee, he took a refreshing sip of his favorite beverage as he sat up.

Whatever troubles he had run into were worth it for this small treasure.

"Not to be rude, but you don't have to stay here out of some sense of obligation or thanks. Sitting by the bedside of a bedridden teen who isn't allowed to do anything but lay back is pretty mundane and boring, Hokaze-san."

Instead of leaving said Kamijou-san with a parting wave and smile, Junko had decided to stay and take the lone seat by his bed. The ringlet ojou hummed a soothing tune as she minded herself with peeling the apples one of the hospital staff had left behind.

Junko simply smiled at her spiky teen senior, handing him the plate of adorably cut and peeled nutritious treats.

"I promised myself, and a certain someone, to visit you today, Kamijou-san. In your condition, it would upset me if I were to simply leave you unattended. Besides, due to it being summer break, I don't have to worry about missing classes. I have more than enough time to pass before I go visit a dear friend of mine for tea and cake later."

The appetizing apples called to the peckish Touma who grabbed a slice and bite into the juicy fruit treat and happily munched away.

"A certain someone? Who would worry about this idiot Kamijou-san?"

"Does the name...Shokuhou Misaki ring a bell?"

Touma blinked owlishly at the odd name.

A slight ache came over his head as he grimaced.

The whiff of sweet honey came to mind that greatly irritated a certain part of his brain.

"Who?"

Junko smiled solemnly at the grimacing boy who rubbed his temple.

'So, the Queen was right. Just the mention of her very name is forgotten if I won't continue to mention it for even a few minutes.'

Rather than continue prodding that sensitive nerve that was causing the bedridden boy discomfort, Junko moved the conversation on.

"Don't worry about it, Kamijou-san. Anyway, how long are you expected to reside here? Hopefully, it isn't for too long."

Having already forgotten the odd pressure in at a name he could no longer recall, Touma answered as best he could to his condition with a swirl of his coffee can's contents.

"Doc says I'll be here for another day or two before being sent home with some medication. Apparently he has some new surgery practices he wants to test out on me to repair the broken bones as good as new in only a few days. I trust him, so I agreed in hopes of being released sooner. Now I just have to wait until visiting hours are over before going under the knife again." he said casually as if he was speaking about the weather.

Junko stared at the lax boy's disposition to once again go through surgery. The way he was saying it spoke of how used he was to being harmed. Was he so reckless that he was no longer bothered by having to go through surgery for getting involved in matters such as District 10s gang war? Did that explain the nameplate outside his hospital room?

She puffed her cheeks unhappily at the boy who was nothing short of a remarkable gentleman.

"You shouldn't speak of your own health so flippantly."

"Sorry, it's sorta a nasty habit I've found myself developing as of late. I think this is the second time this month that I've had to be taken to the hospital. At some point, it's become an expected norm."

He wasn't happy with the dawning realization this truly was to be expected as Kamijou Touma. His body slumped as he sipped his coffee with bitter tears trailing his bandaged face. Tears of which only grew more profound as he thought to the total of his hospital bill this time.

One that would mysteriously be taken care of by an unknown party that may very well arrive one day for a great debt to be paid.

"So, you've dealt with events such as District 10 are common for you?"

"It seems that way."

As only having close to a month of being Kamijou Touma, he couldn't very well say that this was normal, but who was he kidding?

"Why? Why would you put your life at risk like that? Don't you care what happens to yourself?"

It was an innocent question asked by an ojou who couldn't help but stare at the strange spiky-haired teen who had run into her rescue. Covered in various injuries that ranged in severity, he had held back a massive elemental attack thrown by an out of control esper, acting as a shield for those strangers he had never met.

He had been nothing short of a knight in white armor to those girls huddled behind his shield. Chivalrous, determined, fierce, and kind. A gentleman straight out of a storybook read by the sheltered girls of School Garden.

She was curious to know more about the boy known as Kamijou Touma who was spoken so highly of by her most dear and special of people held close to her heart. Even if she had already learned a great deal from her Queen's own lips, Junko wanted to get to know him herself.

Perhaps that was the true meaning of her early visitation of that heroic knight. More than a chance to give her heartfelt thanks but to get to know that boy that was spoken of so tenderly by her Queen who had asked her to protect him.

The spiky-haired boy rolled up in numerous bandages and cast found his eyes resting on his battered hands that had grown accustomed to holding a beverage despite the difficulty the heavy medical tape and splints posed to his dexterity. The smile on his face was hard to describe, crossed with both mirth and bitterness.

"As long as I can save the person crying out to be saved, I don't really care what happens to this lousy body. That's what was running through my mind when I found you and everyone else being harmed by a girl I was intending to see reason with my words but wound up meeting with a fist. I guess it's not the healthiest of mindsets to have, but it's something that I can call my own. As long as everyone was saved, what does it matter what happens to me?"

He smiled normally with a brightness dimmed by his own disregard for his state and the many bandages stretching over his face from the simple action.

"A few bandages, stitches, and broken bones is more than enough of a price to be paid so that someone can continue smiling."

The level of honesty and truth to those words spoken by such a kind hero caused a reaction to pure-minded Junko's heart.

Surprisingly, it was not the throb of a young maiden's core before her gallant hero.

It was the crack of heart who had just heard of the utter self-loathing of a boy who would risk life and limb for strangers.

The imagery of that shining knight in brilliant white armor had been destroyed as her gaze grew solemn to that bright-faced hero.

She could no longer see that heroic knight whose features were all but dashing and brilliant. In its place was a warped shield, dented, scratched, battered and chipped that remained standing for whoever found themselves behind him. What else could describe such a person who had walked into the battlefield with numerous injuries that should have caused him to collapse moments ago?

What was a shield? An object, an item, a tool that had a singular purpose in its design.

Protect.

Defend.

Guard.

It held no other purpose and no other line of thought. It was made to absorb all manner of misery that would harm whoever wielded it or stood behind it. An object which had no regard to what state it was reduced to in its purpose to save, not harm. It was created to give up its entire being for the sole goal of protecting the well being of others and not itself. A tool of self-sacrifice that disregarded its own well-being for the smiles of those it served. An object that knew only pain.

That was what the boy she had regarded as a hero and saved not only her life but the lives of friends and strangers, represented in her eyes.

Junko clenched her fists resting on her lap with a solemn frown.

'The Queen said you were a Prince, a boy she held in high regard as a hero who would do whatever it takes to save you, no matter the circumstances or side you laid on. But...you're no different than the very shield that the hero wields, aren't you? That utter disregard to your own health, the lack of registering your own wounds, and the flippant thought to your life for another; speaks far more in line with sacrifice than heroics.'

She had to wonder if that boy that resembled a mummy even realized it himself. Or was he that uncaring of his own self that it didn't matter, so long as he served his purpose as a rampart of misery?

For some reason, she couldn't help but find an old image overlap that smiling boy's bedridden self.

The image of a researcher, a woman whose original dream had been to be a hero after the tokusatsu figures in children programming, replaced that very boy who acted as that motherly woman had done for herself and the children of Project Clone Dolly Ideal in her final moments.

It was faint. Touma wasn't sure he had heard it at all.

But the soft crackle of popping sparks had been heard from that silent platinum blonde ojou-sama.

"Please, don't speak so casually about your life like that, Kamijou-san. Your smile matters too."

A great deal of sorrow, anguish, and melancholy was swallowed as Junko lifted her head to smile softly at that great shield that had forgotten his humanity.

That boy's face was naively confused and had even reddened slightly at the pure ojou who stared at him oddly. What she had said though had gotten him to smile bitterly as his eyes fell on the heavily cast sling that was his right hand. Pain flashed by his dark blue irises that subtly twisted his face with regret.

"An idiot like me, who can't even protect the happiness of one girl; what right does a bastard like that have to a smile?"

It was a murmur no one should have been able to hear. It was fainter than the scent of crisp apples that were laid on his lap before the great odor of medicine that heavily hung in the air. Scientifically speaking, a normal human's ears should not have been able to pick up those tonal vibrations.

Unconsciously, the ears of the Tokiwadai girl sparked with emerald pops that increased her ability to hear.

Junko's fist tightened, nearly tearing the fabric of her skirt as her eyes grew wide at the poignant emotion in that kind gentleman's voice.

Loathing and hate swirled with the sadness she had picked up on that made her choke up.

'My Prince...he's a gentleman similar to the old story of The Happy Prince; an individual utterly selfless and willing to give away his own body to make others happy. Sadly that means he doesn't care what manner of state his charity and kind nature reduce him to. It's almost masochistic, an odd flavor of masochism that is both gentle yet cruel. What you've seen that day is just an everyday golden coated prince shaving off another part of his body for the good of others.'

A heroic knight.

A suffering shield.

A generous golden and jeweled statue.

The gentleman Hokaze Junko had met a few days ago in the attack in District 7 had many resemblances in the eyes of those he had saved. Yet each one had failed to capture those loathing emotions she had just heard.

Un-ladylike as it was, Junko grit her teeth as her shoulders trembled.

"Hm? Are you alright, Hokaze-san? You look like you're in pain. Do you need me-!"

Touma was startled back as the platinum blonde ojou stood up from her seat suddenly, harshly pushing back the visitor's seat to stand above him in a rather imposing stance that caused him to sweat nervously.

Did he say something to upset her? Was he speaking too casually to a girl of such high class and standing that he angered her? Had he forgotten his place as the plain-faced commoner in the presence of a rich girl who deserved to be seen above him?

Cautiously, Touma raised his only freely movable hand up protectively as he smiled weakly at the girl whose face was shadowed.

"Hokaze-sama, l-let's calm down for a moment! There's no need to cause this lowly Kamijou-san any more misfortune when he's already stuck in bed with a growing hospital bill that's being taken care of by a frightening unknown party that will one day seek a debt a normal high school boy can't possibly ever payback!"

"Why are you asking me if I'm alright when you're the one who's hurting!?"

"Eh?

Touma was genuinely confused by the ringlet girl's words, tilting his head at the upset glare on her face.

"It's alright if I'm hurting. The nurses and doctors gave me plenty of pain medication to deal with all the aches and sores that would have normally left me catatonic. Other than a few throbs here and there, I'm perfectly fine." he explained casually.

"And you're just fine with that? You're just going to accept being the only one in pain after everything you've done?"

"Pretty much. If all I got to deal with is being the one hurt and stuck in the hospital with this many wounds for the price of everyone else being able to return to their happy lives; what do I have to complain? Injuries like mine will heal anyways."

"But what about the pains inside?"

"You mean internal bleeding and bruising? I don't think I should worry about that too much. Heaven Canceler's a real pro in patching those unseen wounds up."

'That's not the pain I was talking about though.'

Junko's frustration continued to mount at the flippant boy who was all but blind to the pain she was seeing. It was as if she was speaking to a broken statue unaware of its body being held together by glue that tried to hide the faint cracks on its body. Her ladylike mannerisms were close to being tossed out the window due to her ability, Rampage Dress, beginning to cloak her body in the sparks of her electrical powers that amplified her body's cells.

Struggling as it may be, Junko took a deep breath to calm herself down. The words of her Queen came back to her, helping her to focus on that gentleman's well being rather than her own.

'He's hopelessly stubborn that it's far beyond the simple realm of describing it as frustrating. Even if you try to explain something to him that's simple to you, he will reject it or wave it aside for his own interpretation that he wholeheartedly believes as 'normal'. Making him see reason is a challenge in questioning your own morals and your own belief. I'm sure even a brick wall would crumble when talking with my Prince. Oddly enough, that high stubborn ability is what makes him the very hero who I adore.'

Playing it subtle wouldn't do any more than frustrate her. Junko realized this. But she also knew now that if she were to be direct in the suffering and misery that Kamijou Touma was hiding, she would do nothing more than enter a debate that not even a Level-5 masterful in the human mind and its thinking process could ever hope to win. It was a losing battle, in short.

As much as Junko wished it, she couldn't very well start an argument with that bedridden spiky-haired gentleman who deserved nothing but rest and comfort for his actions that saved her and several others. It wasn't healthy to put any more stress on such a fragile boy.

To argue with Kamijou Touma would be to argue with the most stubborn child that ever existed. The analogy helped to ease the rising tension in both Junko's shoulders and chest as she giggled softly at the naive boy.

"It's difficult to remain upset with you, Kamijou-san. Especially when you're staring at me like that."

"Hokaze-san...are you sure you're alright? If something is upsetting you, don't be afraid to speak with even a lousy guy like me about it. Getting it off your chest just might make you feel better."

A tender smile was aimed at the ignorant boy whose expression had grown determined. The face that spiky-haired boy possessed spoke of a strong will to make sure that she regained whatever happiness she may have lost. Even if it meant that he would suffer even more for it.

Junko shook her head mirthfully.

"It's nothing, Kamijou-san. Just a girl's frustrations with a certain gentleman in mind is all." she smiled.

Boy troubles? Touma awkwardly scratched his neck at that.

That was a matter he wasn't sure he could really help with. Not unless said boy in Junko's mind needed a fist in his face for acting like a bastard with such a cute and caring ojou.

"Still, if you ever need to talk about it, just let me know. If its simply lending an ear, this Kamijou-san would be more than happy to. It would certainly be better than the usual trouble I get into and much kinder to my body."

"Of course. But the same applies to you as well, Kamijou-san!"

The simple smile on the ringlet haired ojou's face evolved into a pure and innocent grin. One that's warmth was enough to evoke a rise in heartbeat within Touma's chest.

"If you're ever feeling down, if you're ever holding onto some internal strife, if you're ever bottling up any pain or discomfort, don't be afraid to seek me out. I'd like to think of us as friends now! And I'd gladly make room in my day to sit down for tea and snacks to simply chat with a kindhearted friend such as yourself."

"A...friend? Didn't we just meet and barely even speak to another? Plus, aren't you an ojou-sama from Tokiwadai? Wouldn't it make you look bad if you associated with a Level-0 like myself?"

"Level-0? That's the level of your ability?" Junko blinked before shaking it off as a matter for another day, "And I wouldn't mind it all to be associated with you as a friend. Just because I'm from Tokiwadai and a Level-4 doesn't mean we can't be friends or even speak to another. I've already decided that you're a person I'd like to enjoy the company of whenever possible! In fact, if it wouldn't be too much trouble..."

Shyly the platinum ringlet ojou raised up her cellphone, a familiar frog mascot charm hanging off the mobile device as she gestured it to the surprised Touma.

"C-could we exchange numbers? I know this may seem rather forward, but I'd like to talk to you and get to know you more if it's not any trouble to you."

"Eh? Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!"

Was...was this actually happening right now?! Was an honest to god Ojou-sama asking for this unfortunate Kamijou-san's number?! Was this a joke? B-But that shy and nervous demeanor on the girl's face seemed so pure. She was even shifting on her feet anxiously. No amount of acting could ever pull off such a scene so flawlessly!

Touma gulped dryly, scratching the back of his bandaged head as his eyes tried looking anywhere but that heartstring-tugging girl who made his palms sweat.

No! His ideal dream of a caring yet clumsy Dorm Manager Onee-san wouldn't be so easily defeated! A high school boy's fantasies were stronger than this!

"S-Sure. I don't have my phone on my right now but I can still give you my number and then you can just text me yours later."

It was a simple, ordinary, normal exchange between a girl and a boy.

It was a plain right reserved for those who lived a life that didn't have to deal with supernatural battles, tragedies, and misfortune.

It was a gift that had been fought desperately for by that spiky boy who had lost an inhuman amount of blood and sacrificed an actual limb for.

By all means, it was an ordinary occurrence even this bad luck charm of a human being had a right to hold in his broken hands.

Were there romantic undertones? Could it be said that a flag was raised? Did another girl fall under the effects of that dreaded disease that caused infatuation for that normal high school boy?

Who knows?

The girl with platinum blond hair known as the ideal ojou and the boy with spiky black hair known as an ordinary high school student were both far too thick-headed for such implications to fully take effect. Other than the typical nervousness found between a boy and a girl, it wasn't particularly easy to say that such a route found in a galge game was discovered. All that could be said was that a new bond was born that would be left to be defined by the interactions of those two teens who fought with their fists with great passion and will.

The future was an unknown abyss of possibilities.

For now, those two teens continued to talk to another, further building upon that connection made during the misery and disaster that had found them fighting alongside another. For now, the smiled and laughed as normal students did after surviving a tragic event that was all but forgotten by the city.

For now, Kamijou Touma and Hokaze Junko began as friends in a time where such two individuals would never cross until the far future that no longer remained.

[-]

A soft click of the door behind her and a rather bright-faced Junko stepped away from the oddly named room of her newest friend. A pleasant blush could be found on her face as she walked away in content and a hum on her lips. She wasn't even aware of her surroundings as she stared at her gekota themed phone displaying the newest contact to join her list of friends.

"Oh~? My, my, that's a rather concerning expression on your face, Junko-chan~! Don't tell me that I was right to assume that my Prince's charms were enough to break through that naive core of yours and make you into a proper woman? Hmm~?"

She should have been alarmed to notice that the halls of the hospital were oddly empty or that she hadn't spotted a nurse or doctor walk by her. It would be a normal reaction to be freaked out to find one's self alone. More so when a voice could be heard calling you out. But to Junko, it was a common occurrence that signaled the arrival of her most treasured and beloved friend.

"My Queen! Why didn't you tell me you would be waiting for me? We could have talked to Kamijou-san together if I knew you would be here."

Junko smiled at the sight of one of Academy City's seven Level-5s; the busty middle schooler known as the #5 Mental Out, Shokuhou Misaki. Said honey blonde girl with stars in her honey brown eyes stood alone at the end of the hall, close to the elevator by the stairwell.

The Number 5 Level-5 sighed like a parent would to their child who was still failing to grasp a simple equation to Junko's unwavering naivety. Even though she had just blatantly teased her best friend, the ringlet Level-4 was still unaware of it. Romance was truly a subject that sheltered girl wasn't aware of.

"I suppose I should count myself lucky that you haven't fallen for my Prince's silly disease. Either you're highly resistant or just plainly unaware of its effects right now." Misaki pouted as Junko reached her.

"Disease? Is Kamijou-san ill?" Junko gasped as a mother would to news of her child.

Misaki shook her head, her face revealing conflict and exasperation with said boy's magnetic effect on women of all types.

"No, I wouldn't say he's sick. Rather it's the others who've come to be saved by him that are struck with that age-old sickness that affects woman's core. I swear all the female staff in the hospital are displaying signs of falling for his charms as well."

"I'm not sure I'm following, my Queen."

Misaki smiled tiredly at the puppy-like confused expression on Junko's face, going as far as to pat her friend's ringlet head patiently.

"It's nothing, my dear Junko-chan. You'll simply have to level up your romance ability before you come to understand the same effects that boy has on us ladies. It's a good thing boy's are generally forbidden from entering School Garden otherwise it be an epidemic of a great disaster."

"Eh?"

"Nothing~! Come now, let's head on and visit that cake shop I was talking about earlier! Making my way through the hospital to that gentleman's room is as tiring as ever and I'm famished. Perhaps I'll gorge myself with a whole strawberry cake today?"

Leading on the naive ringlet ojou behind her, Misaki clasped her hands behind her waist as they entered the elevator to leave the hospital.

"My Queen, are you not going to go visit Kamijou-san?"

Just as Misaki was ready to push the button to send them to the visitor's lobby, her daintily white-gloved hand paused. Her back remained facing Junko's concerned violet eyes, her posture only momentarily slouching for a second before recovering her ever graceful standing.

"I've...I've decided that it would be better if I simply left my Prince alone for now. This is the second time this week that I've visited him in such horrid states that my heart has begun to ache beyond my usual threshold of endurance ability. I'm not sure that visiting him in my state of shaken heart would be good for either of us, especially since this would be nothing more than a fleeting memory for him. If any more sorrow is thrown his way, if any more damage was to be afflicted to his cracked heart, I'm afraid he'd suffer a devastating blow to his self."

From what Junko had gathered, Misaki had already seen to the heavily wounded boy before her. Whether it was earlier today or yesterday, she didn't know.

The elevator dinged, slowly descending the two Tokiwadai ladies to their destination. The single space had grown quiet and sullen. Even if the powerful Level-5 wasn't displaying any signs of it, she was greatly affected by the gruesome condition a certain spiky-haired boy was in due to his heroic nature.

Junko had learned about it.

The hidden connection between Shokuhou Misaki and Kamijou Touma that had been created by chance one summer day. She had sat and listened to the story of a lonely queen bee that had been saved by an ordinary boy. It was a sweet, kind, and gentle talk that had been revealed as Junko had been resting in her hospital bed. It was a story told after she had asked about the boy with the negating hand and his connection to her best friend.

She understood the cause of sorrow and melancholy given off by the Level-5 who refused to reveal that weakness at a glance.

To both Shokuhou Misaki and Kamijou Touma, the honey blonde girl was nothing more than a memory that would never remain in his head no matter how desperately he would fight to keep it. All because Misaki had fought to save his life, no matter what consequences would arise for using her power on his him to keep him living.

Junko looked away, her own eyes growing solemn at the tragic ending to such a story between friends who may have even become more.

"My Queen..."

"It's alright. I've grown to accept that this is the nature of my Prince's and I's relationship ability. I'm not happy about it, but neither am I going to break down like a sobbing child whose childhood friend has been forced to move away to another continent. All I can do now is silently watch over him, unseen and forgotten in his mind, and try to keep him out of trouble when I can. In this world devoid of miracles, I am unable to stand beside him as I have before. That's simply the cold truth."

It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. To realize that there wasn't anything to be done to restore that old beloved and cherished bond between two individuals who were once smiling right beside another under the same sky. It frustrated the naive Junko who didn't wish to accept such an unfair and tragic truth that wounded her best friend's heart.

"But..."

Before Junko could speak out to her queen, to ask her best friend to hold out for a miracle, to keep trying to find some way in this city of science and possibility to fix the damage, the Level-5's words cut her off as they arrived to their destination. With the soft hum of machinery, the metal doors parted to reveal to them the visitor's center that was active with students, adults, and hospital staff going about their normal activities as Misaki stepped out.

"Maybe, one day, if such a glimmer of a miracle were to land on my lap that would reverse such cruel truths spoken by adults then I'd hope to have a nice, sweet, kind, talk with that boy. In the meantime though..."

Misaki smiled a pure and sweet smile at Junko, taking the ringlet haired girl back at how innocent the smile was. It was no different than that of a child who had never known pain and agony.

"Junko-chan, would you mind watching over my Prince? The world is unforgiving and cruel to him. This will not be the last time he is taking to the hospital to have his torn and mangled body fixed up by the cold tools of medicine that sew his body up and glue his bones back together again. As long as there are people whose smiles are being trampled on, as long as someone is choking back their suffering, as long as a cry, no matter how silent or quite it may be, is made, he will surely sacrifice his own happiness for them at whatever the cost. He'll break himself over and over again until there's nothing left to break. So, I'd like it if there was someone strong and as kind as him to help him back up, to lead him back into that normal world he adores so much with a smile on his face."

As they stepped out of the elevator, the two girls heard the chatter of several visitors passing them by. Like them, it seemed that they were on their way to visit someone dear.

Junko followed right behind the queen of the largest clique found in School Garden's Tokiwadai Middle School, behind the powerful esper whose strength could only be matched by seven other espers out of the 2.8 million students.

In front of her walked a strong girl who endured heartbreak for the love of a single boy who had saved her and went on to change her into the kind esper who held the strongest power over the mind in the city. A girl who endured a great pain in hopes of her prince one day being blessed with a miracle that denied such a thing in this world of frigid science.

"Right now, you are the only person in this entire world who I can trust to lead him back safely from his own masochistic kindness. You can stand right at his side and help him remain rooted in place so that, one day, I can find myself walking by his side no matter what misfortune would face him."

In that instance, as the two Tokiwadai girls walked out of the A Certain Hospital to the sunny sky that awaited them, a pleasant image made itself to Junko's mind.

It was the image of a single spiky-haired teenager walking down the road with two girls talking between him. The girls had heads of hair that were long honey blonde and ringlet platinum blonde who wore the Tokiwadai summer uniform. Both girls spoke freely with giggles, discussing mundane school topics and plans for lunch.

And the spiky boy in the middle of those middle school girls continued walking between them, a simple smile on his face as he added into the conversation made among friends.

Junko smiled softly at such a possible future, soon finding herself walking right beside that innocent blonde girl who still had the strength to walk forward with hope in her maiden's heart.

"It would be my pleasure to momentarily stand at his side until you've regained the place, my Queen. I've already said that he's my friend, so it's only natural that I would try my hardest to protect him as well. And one day, we can all go out together as friends and enjoy a nice afternoon tea in the shade of a tree during a pleasant summer day."

Academy City was a world that rejected, disproved, and dismissed such wishful dreams that could only ever be brought upon by a higher power that could no be explained by fact and logic. In this world born of adults that scoffed at miracles, those two girls held onto the hope of that kind possibility becoming more than just a pleasant illusion.

Together, they walked ahead of that road devoid of childish miracles that looked down at them with pity. And together they would fight to keep that hope alive to make it to that reality that was beyond their grasp.

[-]

"Hokaze Junko, Level-4 with the ability Rampage Dress. Shokuhou Misaki, Level-5 with the ability Mental Out. Scary, scary, scary! Those are some rather terrifying girls to cross. One of which is responsible for that Host Club looking bastard who's always scheming up a plan with that smooth grin of his face. To think such monsters would be found guarding over Kamijou Touma so closely."

As those two Tokiwadai middle school girls departed for their tea time, an odd distortion in the air transpired where the two had once been. The distortion of space waited until the girls were out of sight, gone from his line of vision before that individual made himself known to the world that ignored them as if they were never there.

From the distortion, a teenage boy stood on the sidewalk in a rather lax and slough stature that would rule him out as a delinquent. The boy had blonde spiky hair streaked with hints of black that was slicked back with gel, confusing others in whether or not his blond hair was natural or dyed. His eyes were hidden by the dark sunglasses he wore over his face, most likely not prescription shades. He wore a red tanktop beneath an unbuttoned white uniform shirt, baggy jeans, and red basketball shoes with black lines. Along with his roguish and rather mischievous grin, he fit the picture of a typical school delinquent who would commonly play hooky.

What stood out to that delinquent boy though would be the piece of paper held between his grinning teeth.

Odd symbols associated with the occult could be seen shining briefly on the paper that began to dissolve like sugar in hot coffee.

"Two fewer people on the list to worry about. They're threats, but nothing I can deal with should I have to. That still leaves a great deal of more targets to watch out for in need to be scrutinized though. Jeez, why'd I get saddled with the shitty work? I could be back home, being cared for by my lovely Onee-san's fretting hands instead of having to play spy and stalker. I could have seriously had my mind raped by that busty middle school girl with creepy eyes if I wasn't careful! Ahhhhh, I wonder if I can use such a scary experience that could have resulted in my death to my advantage and get Onee-san to coddle me and soothe my fears with an embrace to her lovely breasts!"

How no one around that delinquent boy's vicinity didn't notice him squirm around with a perverse grin at the thought of a forbidden embrace between siblings, was a mystery.

The blond and black-streaked haired boy's grin turned vicious as he shrugged, continuing on his way to wherever his mission had him needed. From his baggy pockets, he brought out a metal ring of flashcards that he flipped through expertly before finding the one he was searching for. His vicious grin remained even as he bit down on the paper, ripping it from the silver steel ring of makeshift grimoires that allowed him to vanish from sight once again.

"Than again, the building frustration I've been accumulating for who knows how long is better relieved with the beating of my real target to a sickening bloody pulp of red mush. Guess I got to take care of any obstacles first. What a pain. "

Within the great number of espers that made up Academy City, an unknown individual mixed in seamlessly within their lot. A foreign entity that should not have existed and worked with a power that was said to be make-believe and fiction. A presence that was not known but to a few individuals who kept an eye on said out of place boy.

Among the bustling city crowd, a certain head of spiky-blond hair reacted to the delinquent boy's disappearing act. A laugh was heard.

"'Bout time you caught on, sensei. Don't disappoint me now. Or you'll regret more than him."

[-]

The oddly soothing clicking of the clock in the hospital room known as the Kamijou Ward signaled that it was now 9:03, a good half hour since Touma had said good-bye to the Level-4 Tokiwadai ojou known as Hokaze Junko who had become his friend. He found himself sighing as he laid back on the bed, growing bored as he stared out the window of his room.

Due to his grievous injuries from his latest stint involving a gang war, a ghoulish machine created to devour the AIM Diffusion Fields of espers, and a lonely girl transformed into a fallen angel, he was unable to move about without causing a jolt of pain to hit his damaged body. He had only been allowed to walk out of his room for a short bit with crutches so that the hospital staff could erect the annoying golden plaque celebrating his faithful stay in the hospital. A decision that was met with sighs as a frog faced doctor and a nurse had checked up on him after Junko had left to find slight bruising on his face from the attack of the vending machine.

Apparently they had believed he could be left alone for a measly five minutes or less without getting injured any further.

They were wrong.

To doubt his misfortune was to be woefully proven wrong.

After some teasing from the nurse about the ever embarrassing threat of a sponge bath and a lecture from the frog faced doctor, Touma was left alone to rest his weary body until he was ready to be released.

In two days.

"Do they really expect me to do nothing for two days? I'm all for recovering in a nice and comfy bed, but not if it means that I have to literally do nothing during that time. I'm a high school boy! Even wounded, I can't just remain in bed without something to entertain me!"

Couldn't they have left him a tablet device that he could watch videos on? Or cart in a TV? How about a manga or light novel? Why did Index have to have his phone right now? He could have at least browse the internet on his small screen instead of being bored out of his mind! He was growing antsy.

Sleep wasn't really an option after having drunk a cool can of dark coffee. Maybe caffeine wasn't the best of beverages for a bedridden patient who should have been sleeping instead of squirming around with energy demanding to be released in some way.

It hurt, but Touma pushed himself up so that he could sit upright with a groan.

All he had been doing for the past three days was sleeping and sulking over his failure to save Mila. He had been far too depressed and sunken into his misery to notice how his aching body was tired of laying down. Now that he was feeling better in both mind and body, he wanted nothing more than to leave the hospital and return to his everyday life.

Plus there was the fear of knowing that Index was probably emptying the fridge and pantry while Angela looked on with a motherly smile. It was better to deal with that misfortune than allow it to fester any further! Especially with the knowledge that his home may have suffered more of his misfortune.

'If what Angela said was correct, they'd stop by to hang out at around ten today. She also said she had some news about the dorm that I would need to know about that has to do with her and Index having to crash at Komoe-sensei's place these last few days. Just what the hell could she mean by delays in construction and change of management?! I can't help but think that a greater misfortune is waiting to be unleashed once I'm released!'

He furiously scratched his head just thinking about what could await him.

Did his simple broken faucet evolve into a damn of water rushing out to flood his dorm room?

Did some idiot construction worker accidentally use a jackhammer to fix a faulty pipe?

Was his home blown up by a haughty esper with the power to create explosions?

Or had the dorm manager who was sick of Touma's misfortune decide to file a complaint with the city to evict him?

A great number of bad ends to his dorm life could happen and Touma wished to just deal with them now, rather than later.

Great, he was now even antsier than before. Sitting around wasn't doing him any good. He needed to move around or he'd go stir crazy with thoughts of misfortune running rampant in his mind.

Grabbing the nearby crutches beside his bed, Touma decided to go for a little walk. He knew perfectly well that leaving his room would be inviting more bad luck to strike, but he would rather deal with it now than later. Other than his right hand that he had further damaged stupidly, his body was simply aching as his wounds healed. As long as he didn't push himself, he could do something as simple as a walk around before one of the nurses dragged him back to his room.

With that thought in mind, Touma slipped on his hospital provided slippers, and headed to the door with the help of his crutches leading him forward.

Just a few minutes away from his stuffy room. That was all that he asked.

[-]

Within the office of A Certain Hospital's greatest doctor, the old man known as Heaven Canceler frowned.

He was seated by his desk, eyes narrowed at the slip of paper laid out among the stacks of documents laid about to be completed. The single piece of paper was a note, a simple note that had been delivered to the room of one Kamijou Touma that had been found by one of the nurses who decided to check up on the boy during the night. What was written on it was a cause for great concern.

'Kamijou Touma has been targeted. Time of attack is unknown. Be wary of visitors.'

Three sentences, several characters, all on an everyday post-it note that revealed no fingerprints or anything unique to trace were said the common paper could have been bought or the marker used.

A warning had been left at the door of Kamijou Touma's hospital room warning the staff, not said patient, about a future attack on his person. It had been left behind for all but the high school boy to find. Meaning that whoever sent the warning knew better than to tell Touma that he was going to be attacked sooner or later while he remained within these walls. And Heaven Canceler realized why the writer of the note had done it.

If Touma had been warned about a threat to himself, he wouldn't have cared in the slightest other than the usual complaint or panic a normal person would have. No, what really mattered in that instance to that boy, would be the threat to the patients, staff, and visitors that would get caught up in the violence that would hit those around him. At the realization that his being here would bring danger to everyone else, that wounded boy would act to prevent any harm from being inflicted on anyone but himself. He would move to leave, try and drag the attacker out of hiding, and fight them himself.

Once again, the spiky teen would end up even more grievously wounded for risking his own health for the safety of the world around him.

The writer of the note must have realized that. They had left the warning so that the staff would take care of that boy's safety and prevent him from hurting himself any more than he was.

Heaven Canceler rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Even when you're bedridden, you have a knack for causing trouble. I shouldn't be surprised in the slightest. It was only a matter of time before you'd be sought after even in the hospital."

"Don't worry, Doc. That's why it's our duty as adults to take care of these matters and let the kids sleep peacefully in their beds. Besides, it's my turn to protect that kid instead of running away."

Heaven Canceler hummed in amusement to the woman's voice behind him who stood tall and strong as a proper adult should.

"I thank you for your swift response, Yomikawa-san. Death threats are a serious matter but most of the time they're nothing more than venting scribbles of those who lack the will to go as far as to attack a patient. Especially vague ones made with such crappy handwriting. Schoolyard's talk about violence isn't any stranger within my walls of healing than it is outside. Sadly such teasing does not exist when it comes to that unfortunate boy who draws in that real negativity as often as one does sneeze when handling black pepper. There is no teasing when it comes to his life."

Yomikawa Aiho nodded sternly, once again decked out in her standard Anti-Skill gear. Gauze could be seen on her forehead relating to one of the injuries she had suffered during the District 7 mayhem of the last few days. The Anti-Skill Lieutenant had arrived with a few other discreet members of her branch along with Judgment officers to aid in dealing with the warning threat to a single student. Unlike herself, her small team was hidden among the staff and patients to watch out for anyone suspicious that may wander close to a certain room that was considered a death room due to its quick turnover rate.

The busty officer crossed her arms in contemplation, her eyes narrowed at the floor.

"Since this was a threat made to a patient, of course, we would respond as quickly as we could. Even if this note was made in jest, we can't ignore it no matter how hastily it was made. Not to mention that security tapes that we've reviewed have failed to reveal who the writer may be. All we've been able to discern was the time the note appeared out of thin air and nothing more. To better understand the situation, I've asked two Judgment members from the office of 177th for their assistance. If we can discover the writer's identity, maybe we can learn more about this unknown attack on Kamijou Touma."

"And until you've gained clues to both the writer and the attacker?"

"We've already begun looking over the visitors' list from the past twenty-four hours for anyone with a history with Kamijou Touma. We're cross-referencing past incidents each person may have had with him for any hints of anyone with a grudge." At the plan made up to find that elusive deadly needle in the haystack of visitors, Yomikawa pinched the bridge of her nose irritably, "Color me surprised when our search of that kid's history in Anti-Skill and Judgment turned up with a literal catalog of past incidents he was involved in. I knew he had a bit of history as a delinquent but I didn't think he was anything more than a slacker my adorable friend loved to drunkenly complain about. The amount of trouble he's regularly caught up in is enough to make most people want to call bullshit. They've found reports going as far back as elementary school!"

Heaven Canceler didn't flinch as the dark blue-haired officer/teacher slammed her fist aggressively against one of his filing cabinets. He simply quirked a brow at Yomikawa who flinched at her loss of composure.

"Apologies, I-"

The frog faced doctor waved his hand dismissively with a patient smile.

"It's fine. I know you're the type of woman who works tirelessly to save those young children from the mistakes and selfishness of adults. Trust me, as the boy's primary doctor since the moment he arrived in this city just at the graduating age of pre-school, I know how upsetting it is to dwell into his past troubles. There's a reason why we always keep a room open for him by the ICU and the nurses' station. It was about time we had that room properly labeled after his infamous history."

It was a morbid fact, one that caused Yomikawa to clench her fists.

None the less, Heaven Canceler continued without showing any signs of being upset or solemn for that unique high school boy.

"He's a stubborn one, unable to let himself pass by anyone who may be troubled or hurt despite himself being just as injured. Due to this, he's commonly butting his head into matters that shouldn't involve him. Which is why I'm not surprised that he's made enemies that would go as far as attack him when he's recuperating in the hospital. The hidden enemies are a concern, there's no doubt about that in my mind. But my real concern in all this is that he would catch wind of it and decided to place that burden onto his person."

"You believe that he would ignore his own wounded state; a state, mind you, that includes a broken right arm, muscle fatigue, hairline fractures, anemia, internal bleeding, among other lesser injuries; to fight a possible assassin after his life?" Yomikawa said in disbelief.

"Yomikawa-san, it seems you've failed to truly grasp the very nature of the boy who saved you. It was Kamijou Touma who came to your rescue, correct?"

A stern scowl was aimed at the lax doctor.

"How do you know of that. The specifics of that incident are classified underneath a literal mountain of red tape and redaction, it would make the secret service balk."

"I don't know the specifics. I am, after all, a simple doctor who's battlefield remains in the operating room. But I've come to recognize that certain...gleam in a person's eye born from having been saved by that boy in some manner. At least you haven't contracted that disease. Even I can't come to cure such an affliction that's gone as far as to create a miniature fan club within the nurses' station. I'm this close to banning routine sponge baths that have caused far too many brawls among the staff."

"You..lost me for a second." Yomikawa slowly muttered towards the end.

"What I'm trying to say, is that Kamijou-san would disregard his own health entirely if it meant he could steer any harm to others solely onto himself. You've just mentioned his condition; if he were to involve himself in more danger, he would surely die in his poor state of both body and mind."

"I understand body, but mind? Did something traumatizing happen to him?"

Heaven Canceler sighed as he massaged the bald spot of his head.

"Yesterday, I've had to bring that boy into the OR for a sudden surgery concerning his right arm. Until recently, he was in a state of deep depression and self-loathing. I don't know much of what could have caused such a...painful reminder to his old younger self, but because of his poor mental state, he inflicted a great deal of heavy blunt trauma to his hand, breaking several more bones that I had to fix. It was only thanks to two of his friends that he was able to recover his normal self again, but if he were to experience an event where someone was hurt because of him this early; I'm afraid his mental condition would simply come apart worse than before. This is why I'm hoping that you and your team can handle this situation as discreetly as possible."

It wasn't often that the usual lax yet fatherly faced doctor's face adorned a stern and serious frown. But when it came to his patients, especially that boy, he was nothing but serious.

"Kamijou-san is in a delicate state of mind and body. It's far too soon for him to act as the hero as he wants to do. Until he's healed completely, I would like for him to stay out of such events. So? Am I able to trust in the adults and students of Academy City to protect the single life of one ordinary high school boy? Or would that be too much to ask?"

Was there even a need to question them?

With a firm stance, Yomikawa spoke for both Anti-Skill and Judgment's ability and skills.

"The members of Anti-Skill and Judgment aren't so weak or flimsy to be outdone by one punk who thinks they can attack a patient so openly. The warning from the writer might as well have been a direct challenge to our ability as protectors of all those who live in this city. I can promise you that we'll guard the lives of all those within these walls of healing, especially that delinquent of a hero who saved this lousy adult who failed to be his shield."

The grin of Yomikawa's face was firm and determined, relieving any concern the frog faced doctor may have had. He smiled, knowing that his number one patient was in good hands.

"Excuse me, doctor?"

"Hm?"

Heaven Canceler and Yomikawa were suddenly brought to the attention of the private radio he placed on his desk. From the sounds of it, someone from the nurse's center phone line was trying to reach him. He shrugged, decided to answer the call and leave it on speaker. It most likely had to do with said boy they were speaking of.

"Yes, Ha-chan?"

"Umm, you wouldn't, by chance, have brought Kamijou-kun in for a check-up in another room, have you?"

...Oh, no.

"Ha-chan?"

"It's just, I was stopping by to see if Kamijou-kun may have needed anything when I found his bed empty. I-I'm afraid that Kamijou-kun may have left his room a few minutes ago. B-But don't worry! I believe one of the staff has already found him wandering the halls by the pediatric wing! We'll hogtie him, strip him, and bind him to his bed at whatever the cost! Let me just tell the girls and grab the spare bundle of rope and leather I keep nearby."

"Did that woman just mention inflicting bdsm on a minor/patient?"

"I'm afraid that's the least of your concerns right now."

Yomikawa nodded, having already leaned over to the radio attached to her shoulder to speak with her team.

"Be on alert for any visitors that stray close to Kamijou Touma who has been sighted at the pediatric wing of the 3rd floor. If anyone comes upon him, lead him back to his room and stand guard until we've dealt with the possible threat. And do not allow Kamijou-san to learn of the danger to his person. You've all got your stories, so stick to them!"

The chatter from various lines affirmed that everyone understood the situation. She sighed at the activity already taking place in just mere moments of her declaration to protect one boy.

"What's he even doing out of bed? Shouldn't he be far too injured to be moving about without assistance?"

"A teenager is still a teenager, no matter how injured they may be. He probably grew sick of laying in bed these past few days and thought to take a stroll. I just wished he could have let us know beforehand. I know plenty of nurses who would have kicked and punched another for a chance to accompany him on a simple walk around the halls. We have excellent dental for a reason."

"Seriously, what the hell is up with your staff? I'm pretty sure a heard a few of them walking by, giggling like school girls with whispers of that boy between them."

"Focus on your mission, not the great mystery that is Kamijou-san's charm."

Yomikawa had half a mind to do both.

[-]

While dire events concerning the safety of one spiky-haired teen were going about in the background out of sight, Touma was stretching his aching legs in his aimless walk about the 3rd floor of A Certain Hospital. He had nowhere in mind to go. While the previous Kamijou Touma had probably gotten a good idea to the layout of the hospital he had frequented regularly like a fast-food patron during a promotional event, the new iteration of that high schooler was still unfamiliar with his home away from home. All he really knew was that he was close to the ICU and the nurses' station, not to mention as far away from the emergency exit as possible.

For some reason, he couldn't help but feel that it was an intentional factor to note of. Almost like it was a dig at his character.

'Not like I plan to escape. Even I know better than to act recklessly with how messed up I am.'

It had only been a good five minutes or so, and he was already thinking about turning back and accepting his boredom than deal with the aches hitting him now. His body was just a mass of moving sores right now.

"Where am I anyway? Is this the pediatric wing?"

The halls he was passing through had a variety of childish drawings, pictures, colorful shapes, and the ever beloved gekota mascot everywhere he looked. He'd even spotted a few open door rooms were children wearing the same hospital wear as he, were playing while parents and doctors were either watching over them or discussing matters nearby. One of the little kids, a boy with an arm cast like Touma, had caught sight of him passing by and waved at him with a bright grin.

Touma waved back with a smile of his own before that boy hurried off at the call of his name.

"Guess I'm not the only one who has to deal with a few broken bones. If a couple of kids can keep themselves entertained, I should too. Too bad I feel the most entertaining thing I could do now is walk back and try to get some sleep before Index and Angela-san come to visit."

With a sigh, Touma turned around to head back to his room before anyone noticed he was gone.

"Thank you, Mizu-onee-san!"

He stopped abruptly as a door was flung open ahead of him, growing relieved that he just avoided a possible smack to his fragile body. From the sounds of it, someone had been more than eager to leave and had run out without being careful of who may have been behind said door. Weren't hospital doors suppose to have a mechanism that prevents anyone from flinging the door open that harshly?

"Kamiko-chan, don't run off like that, damn it!"

From the right of the flung open door, a girl of about seven-years-old ran out with a bright grin on her face. She turned back for the door to whoever called out to her, about to speak before freezing perfectly still. For some reason, the little girl's face slowly turned to spot Touma who starred back at her.

The girl wore a lime green blouse with a white skirt, ruby red shoes, and an equally red backpack, all of which seemed to be of high-quality material and brand name that would bankrupt a Level-0. Her black hair seemed to fall to her small shoulders with a stray lock falling between her brows and two pigtails like antenna above her head. And her big eyes were a dark blue that stared at Touma strangely.

Weird as it was, it was almost as if she saw a ghost.

Plip.

A single bead of salty liquid slipped out of that girl's watery eyes as she bit her quivering lip and sniffed.

"P-Papa?!"

"Eh-BWFFFGGGGGFFFFFG!"

Touma wasn't sure how she did it, but the little girl known as Kamiko had launched herself with the speed and force of a missile to tackle him to the ground with an embrace. Out of what felt like muscle memory, he quickly wrapped his good left arm protectively around the small girl's body as they hit the hard white polished floor with a crack of what was probably a bone. There lay the defeated spiky boy who had survived the war-torn streets of District 10, brought down by a wee sobbing child who buried their face in his soaking chest.

'W-w-what the hell kind of event did this unfortunate Kamijou-san just trigger?! Papa?! She's far too young to be my forgotten daughter! R-Right? The past Kamijou Touma didn't lose his virginity at an early age to the seduction of an older woman who abused his trust to have her way with him! No matter how sexy she may have been, that's just fucked up!'

Let this be a case of mistaken identity! Even that bastard up in the clouds who denied giving this high schooler a grain of a blessing wouldn't be that cruel!

He could only lay on the cool floor, groaning in pain as his injuries decided to kick him while he was down too as the crying child tug on his hospital gown tightly.

"Papa! You're alive! Papa's alive!"

'...Papa's...alive?'

Oh.

Ooooohhhhhh.

Wasn't that a heavy hit to his gut more powerful than a tackle and his sore back hitting the hard floor.

Without another word or reason, Touma gingerly returned the hug of a little girl who was caught in a sad illusion he would have to break. He patted her small back as he sat up with a muffled wince, choosing to ignore his pain for the small body trembling against his wet chest. Slowly, he opened his mouth, ready to snap the girl out of her tears, but found his words caught thickly in his throat.

Touma's face twisted in guilt.

He found the hint of a pure and happy smile on the sobbing girl's lips. As if all the suffering and grief one so young had endured was melting away to return her innocence. The world was alright. Those tears swimming streaks from her eyes were of joy and relief.

Was he...was he honestly considering ruining that smile? Was that all he could do? Was he that much of a bastard to rob one little girl's smile with so quickly?

He'd seen a smile like that once before. Just a few days ago, a lonely star overcome by the deep seeping colors of despair had shown him such an expression in her final moments. One of elation from someone who gave a damn enough to reach their hand out to her.

And he killed it.

Bandaged hands gripped the back of sobbing girl's back tightly with desperation.

What was he supposed to do?

Was he unable to preserve one girl's smile, no matter how desperately he wanted to protect it?

How could he protect this crying girl's happiness?

And...why was his chest tightening so painfully, he wanted to break down along with her?

"Kamiko-chan! Where the hell did she g-!"

Footsteps paused in front of Touma, snapping him out of his inner turmoil to look up at the person who stood before him.

The person was an older boy who could have either been in the last years of high school or ready to enter the college world of higher education. Despite it being summer, the senior wore a white hoodie with purple hinted on the inside, black pants, and red sneakers. His hair was tea-colored, falling over his ears with a shaggy appearance that reminded Touma of the hairstyle he would see on skaters who wore helmets for too long. His facial features went against his appearance with sharp facial features that were both kind yet fierce with an expression that was always scowling. And like the girl hugging Touma's chest for dear life, his eyes were an equally dark shade of blue that stared at him in stunned disbelief.

Such momentary shock was hastily removed as the older boy sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"Just my luck. Seriously, what are the fucking odds?"

The shaggy brunette boy muttered softly beneath his breath before composing himself and kneeling down to Touma's level.

"Oi, Kamiko-chan. You're going to have to let go. That isn't...that isn't Tou-san, alright? Now come on, can't you see that he's really hurt right now?"

Sniffling was heard from the girl named Kamiko who buried her face deeper into Touma's chest, an action that made him hiss as his injuries cried too. The girl must have finally noticed his discomfort, sniffling again as she grudgingly lifted her tear stricken face from his chest, allowing the older boy who must have been her older brother to pick her up by her armpits and lift her off the floored patient. Touma found himself feeling bad for being the cause of that little girl's tears, awkwardly looking away as he rubbed his neck.

"But Papa..."

"Remember? It's not him."

Slowly with a quivering lip, Kamiko nodded with a sad hiccup as she stared down.

"I'm sorry."

To the surprise of the older boy, Touma apologized.

"Sorry? For what? It's not your fault that you remind my imouto of what our Tou-san looks like. It's just a weird coincidence. There's nothing for you to feel bad about or apologize." he stiffly said.

Still, Touma weakly smiled at the little girl held up by her older brother's hand.

"I guess not. But I can't help but still, you know, feel guilty. It sounds weird. I get that, but some part of me just can't help but want to apologize for the tears I caused for just being here."

An odd emotion flickered in the older tea-colored hair boy's eyes before he scoffed, letting his sister stand on her own feet as he shoved his hands in the pocket of his hoodie.

"Some part of you, huh? Tch."

Not the politest of responses but Touma shrugged, choosing instead to greet the younger sibling who was trying to clean the tears from her eyes.

"Sorry for reminding you of someone you lost. I didn't mean to make you sad."

"It's okay." Kamiko mumbled, hiccuping one last time as she furiously rubbed her red eyes. "I'm sorry for hurting you. I didn't mean it."

"Don't worry about me. This Kamijou-san may seem fragile, but he's made of far sturdier junk than to suffer a scratch from a cute missile like you!" he grinned with a fist pump.

Kamiko giggled, grinning brightly as the vestiges of her tears were dried. The young dark-haired girl than wandered over to him, staring at the many bandages over his body with a childish pout.

"You look like a mummy."

"Yeah, I kinda realized that too."

"Halloween isn't for another few months."

"Oi, I wasn't trying to get a head start on getting candy."

"What if it rains? Your costume would be ruined!"

"Again, this isn't a costume. Kamijou-san is seriously hurt over here. This is not an act."

Kamiko gasped as he finally understood what he was saying. Which only served to earn him another watery gaze of an elementary schooler ready to start bawling.

"Papa's really hurt! He's dying again!"

At the sound of what looks like another crying session, both Touma and the older teen began to panic as Kamiko's big blue eyes were ready to release a salty damn.

"Shit! Kamiko-chan, calm down! Papa's still alive somewhere! He's just not here right now! Please, don't cry! You're going to me make your onii-san look like some sub-human pile of garbage!"

"Don't cry, Kamiko-chan! Kamijou-san's fine! It's just a couple of boo-boos. The nurses were just messing around and decided to dress me up! I'm not really that hurt!"

Lies, all lies. This Kamijou-san wanted to join the ready to cry girl and cry about his throbbing back and his numbing feet. He really should have stayed in bed.

"Is that Kamijou-kun I hear? What are you doing out of bed? Didn't the doctor say that you needed plenty of bed rest and relaxation? Must we strap you down to the bed like the naughty boy you are?"

Coming into the rescue of both panicking boys was familiar nurse Touma recognized as a common assistant to Heaven Canceler. Her long raven hair, dark brown eyes, and a beauty mark on her lower lip, not to mention the busty chest constrained to by her uniform and her many curves, made her stand out as the typical sexy nurse many hospitalized teenagers and older men fantasized about. The type of woman whose body one would think disqualified her from taking care of patients due to her very alluring figure causing many weakhearted patients to die of skyrocketing heart rates.

Sending the nervously sweating patient a faint glare, the nurse knelt down to Kamiko and rubbed the upset girl's dark locks with a sweet smile.

"Shh, it's alright. I heard everything, little Kamiko-chan. Don't you worry, Kamijou-kun's boo-boos are going to be all better once we're done with him. All I need to do is shower him with plenty of kisses, lap pillows, and smothering hugs and he'll be good as new!"

"Really?" Kamiko said in awe to the beautiful nurse.

"Kisses?" Touma gulped anxiously.

The older shaggy-haired teen quirked an irritated brow, "Lap pillows? Smothering hugs? Didn't I hear something about being strapped down? Just what kind of kinky vanilla low budget adult set did I walk i-GGGGAAAAAAAAAKKKKK!"

Touma wisely scooted back as the busty raven-haired nurse discreetly punched Kamiko's older brother's gut without ever looking back from Kamiko's awed face.

"Onee-chan, you're amazing!"

"Yes, yes, I know. But in order to heal Kamijou-kun back to a hundred percent, I'm going to need to bring him back to his room. He was being naughty and wandered off without letting any of the staff know. Because of that, we're going to have to be extra rough today with his sponge bath."

"Why is the threat of a sponge bath a punishment from a kinky, big-breasted, violent nurse?" The shaggy teen coughed while on his struggling to regain his breath on his knees.

Instinctively, Touma protected the slumbering dragon below his waist from the leering eyes of the nurse who gained an ominous aura and crescent smile that made him whimper.

"Now, if you two would excuse us, I have to help Kamijou-kun back to his room."

Patting Kamiko's head once more, the busty nurse went on to help the wincing spiky-haired teen back on his feet. Instead of giving him back his crutches though, she lifted his left arm to be slung over her shoulder, surprising him as she displayed a great deal of strength to help him up without any strain and carry him over her back. It was only then that he noticed the rather developed biceps on the busty nurse that made him grow even more nervous.

Even if he was giving her a stink eye, the shaggy older brother whistled.

"Damn, those are some pythons, Nurse-san. You lift?" It was no wonder she hit so hard and so quick.

"You don't win the head of the sponge bath rotation list for five consecutive years without growing a little muscle." she giggled cutely.

With said puzzle faced boy over her shoulder, the busty-strong armed nurse began to carry Touma back to his room but found herself stopped by the small tug on her waist. Looking down, she found the shy big dark blue eyes that strangely reminded the nurse of the young boy with the aura of misfortune from long ago staring up at her. Years of having once cared for such a young child helped to endure the cuteness that made her want to scoop her up and embrace her within her bosom.

"Um, Onee-chan? Would it be alright if we helped Pa-Kamijou-san back? Pwease?"

Those adorable blue orbs practically quivered with sparkles! Was this an ability at work that played at a human's heart?

"Of course, my lovely assistant! Why don't you just follow along right now and you can help me with his pain medication when we arrive. Would you like that?"

"Yay! Can we, Kaen-onii-chan!?"

Just as the busty nurse with strong arms caved in, so did the older brother known as Kaen.

"Tch. I suppose we can spare a few more minutes before we head home. That monster of a Meltdowner ought to understand if we're late to the meeting spot because of you."

"I'm telling Kaa-san you called her a monster again."

"She's not your Kaa-san, remember? And don't you tell that high and mighty bitch I called her a monster! I'm growing really sick of you tattling on me, just so you can giggle when she's tiger clawing my face! Just because her power doesn't work on me, doesn't mean she doesn't have any way of hurting me either!"

And so the noisy siblings known as Kamiko and Kaen followed behind the groaning Touma carried by the strong-armed busty nurse humming sweetly in his ear.

---

Lingering remnants of your failure to protect a single smile yet remain. The normally strong and unbreakable boy as human as human can be. Make no mistake, your hand is a tool of misfortune.

Even in the safety of a place of healing, it will strike with fangs riddled with the vilest of toxins to the illusion of happiness you cherish.

Be strong, fragile boy. Don't waver the heart you've decided is your own.

When I read this chapter to its end, I truly realize just how much has changed from the earlier piece I had scrapped. I believe I was trying to fit in far too many interactions, causing it all to become a jumbled mess. I do miss several pieces I couldn't save; maybe I could rework them into future chapters? Eh, we'll have to wait and see.

As I said, GT was largely the reason why I decided to change things up and build up the next few chapters from zero. Don't worry, this arc isn't any more than four chapters long. It's basically an SS kind of deal that lacks any major events and more of a bonus to introduce characters and future plot points later on without adding too much to other chapters to come. It's still fun ride none the less, which I advise not to skip.

I honestly wasn't planning on releasing this just yet; I wanted to complete a few more chapters to really build up a sizable clip of chapters to be updated frequently again. But I felt oddly challenged when I noticed both ArmorCoreNineBall and MrQuestionMark update, what was it, a day go? Petty, I know, but they both updated, and I felt left out; yes, I know its childish, shut up.

Because of such reasoning, I decided to update this fic, and my ToAru/Pokemon crossover fic too. Oh, and a little passion project I've been slaving over since the quarantine began. Be sure to check it out.

It's called A Certain Maelstrom of Misfortune. A happy little nod to the very manga that introduced me to fanfiction and the anime that introduced me to light novels.

Three updates in one day; ain't you all spoiled?

Remember to Read and Review. It's common courtesy.

NeoShadows fading in and out.