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.

13. Those Known As Shields

Don't know how I made it, but NeoShadows is back at it again with the latest chapter!

Been a real busy month, let me tell ya. Finally sat down with the Director of Operations, was officially made manager of my little restaurant, trying to get my license, and been trying to get Ganyu in the latest banner in Genshin Impact; I got her, thank god. But in between all the busy work, I got the chance to finish this chapter and complete the edits it desperately needed. Plus got to working on the latest chapter to come too while I was at it.

The year's over with and I got plenty of writing ahead of me. And I know it takes a long time for me to update, but bear with me. All this extra time involving letting my completed work settle has really helped in catching errors and making tweaks to better make everything flow. Trust me, the wait is always worth it.

Since you've all been waiting a long while for this, let's get to reviews and get to the good stuff already.

DNA Works: Just because they're children of Kamijou Touma, doesn't mean they are saints. A few rotten eggs can be found here and there. Or could it be more? In the case of Kamijou Touma, a spanking is actually a right fist to the face, huh?

Anime-ted Life116: I'm happy you enjoyed the chapter. Hearing such a compliment makes me glad I scrapped the original 20K I had written as one chapter before diving into the Sisters Arc. It's certainly coming along very nicely and will help set things up for what's to come. I'm sure you'll come to love many of the future children that will be introduced later and how they each interact with their parents. And yes, a child born between Kamijou Touma and a Kihara is not terrifying at all; it's downright horrifying. Oh? You believe you have a good guess as to the plot? Keep it to yourself, but you never know. Nothing is as expected with Kamijou Touma involved. Mental Out? Oh, that's definitely a time bomb waiting to detonate in everyone's face.

Craytherlay: Yes, yes he does. What loose man with no shame. But it's never as simple as it seems. As for Othinus; Spoilers. Child of a dragon? I don't think I know of anyone currently in the world of ToAru who could be considered a dragon.

Mr.X: Hmm, if remember right when coming up with Kamiko's name, it means Little Goddess. Not sure what it would mean when you add in Kamijou alongside her name, but on official documents, she goes by Mugino Kamiko and not Kamijou Kamiko. I think Mugino can mean Perfect, so I guess Mugino Kamiko would be inferred as Perfect Little Goddess.

Dreamer8: I haven't played Arknights, but I've heard good things. Last thing I need now is to be sucked down another rabbit hole.

Masterx01: Ah, I get ya. Honestly, I felt I had dragged the Level Eater Arc longer than I should have. That's mostly due to the fact not all of the arc had been finished being planned and new things kept being added in to get to the finish line. Reading back on it, I feel as if there were multiple parts that could have been clipped, shortened, or re-written. Eh, live and learn. I can't say I won't overdo it again, but I'll try not to overextend. It's not like I'm writing to reach over 10 to 20K+; I'm not bothered by reaching a certain word count as I was when I first started. At this point, I just write to reach that ending of the chapter I have in mind and find I've gone over what I hoped to keep it under. I did overdo it on the fight scenes and could have cut back, I realize that fairly clearly after re-reading everything: especially the last chapter full of action. I'll take your advice to heart but I won't let it get in the way of what I want to write or how I want to write. From one writer to another, I'm sure you understand.

In regards to Touma's angst; it won't be something constantly brought up. I can assure you of that. But you'll see it here and there. The last thing anyone wants is a depressed and self-hating high school boy. I'll be sure to properly play this card right.

The inertia aspect of Imagine Breaker's canceling effect was one I struggled to properly understand at first. Mind you, at the time of writing the fic, I was still rather new to ToAru as a whole. Nowadays I know better.

Yes, yes, you nailed it, ya clever bastard. I thought it was obvious but some people had some odd ideas.

TazalTerminals: Yeah, bet I got ya in the gut, huh?

ArmoredCoreNineBall: My bud, been a long time since we spoke, huh? If you're reading this, even as a departed spirit in need of being showered in holy water, I'm happy to hear from ya again. Ooooohhhhh, haunting spirit! May my latest chapter appeases your vengeful nature and lay you to rest; lest I get the purifying pitchfork and torch.

TheBiggestLoser: Day something, something; newest chapter released. Still surprised someone remembers Imagine Breaker of the future might be a thing.

Franimations6: One is never late to a good story! I should know, I came into the fandom around NT 18 and found myself really late to stories from ArmorCoreNineBall and MrQuestionMark. And while it does have its flaws, in the beginning, it can only get better down the line; I promise ya.

Well, we're done with that, so let's get to reading already!

---

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

Seems I don't have to work tomorrow! The restaurant's been snowed in, so I get an extra day to fool around! It's both a boon and a bane.

I'm finally at that age where I actually don't care for the snow because it gets in the way of work. Yet I'm still the kind of guy who would happily toss himself into a pile of snow and even tackle a snowman on sight.

Eh, I'll just have to accept a slight dent in my check and just drink any frustrations away tonight. Have I ever been drunk outside in the snow? If not then what better time for drunk snow angels?!

---

Chapter 13: Those Known as Shields.

Festering_DREGS_Of_Tomorrow.

Rapid yet calm clicks of plastic keys were heard.

UV light painted over a young man's face with sharp features depicting him as a suave villain from a crime manga.

A rather pleasant hum was heard from the computer desktop at least two decades behind even the current world's technology within a small doctor's office.

A boy by the name of Kihara Shinzo sat back within the personal office of a certain legendary doctor as certain events he had orchestrated were now fully developing outside the walls of the room. And as the scientific boy went about on what he liked to say was a bit of a side mission to the main objective he was after, he found himself pondering a question he could never shake off nor answer despite his impressive intellect and knowledge of both science and magic.

What was a Kihara?

What did such an odd series of characters mean?

If one were to ask a random student crossing the streets in the mid-morning, they would stare at you strangely.

"Kihara? Isn't that some kind of field of trees?"

If one were to ask a researcher conducting studies in a private institute, they would blanch and tremble in fear.

"Kihara?! W-Why would you ask me about one of those monsters?!"

If one were to ask certain members of The Board of Directors lounging around in their private offices, they would grimace in distaste.

"Kihara? I don't want anything to do with those freaks called 'humans'. For your own safety and innocence, you best forget you ever heard such a foul name seeped in darkness."

What was a Kihara?

Shinzo mulled over such a simple yet complicated question as he began surfing through various private documents regarding several significant patients.

If one were to have heard of such a name, they would eventually find themselves learning of its meaning through cruel and horrific means spiraling them into either madness or despair. Be it wanted or not. Its very knowledge was a toxin infecting everything with branches lacking morality or humanity in search of their own piqued curiosity and selfish interests in the name of science. To understand the meaning of such a family name would be akin to being devoured by the maw of a beast flourishing in the deepest darkness of the city.

As to what a Kihara was...well, to be frank, even the boy known as Kihara Shinzo was curious to understand what it meant to be categorized as Kihara.

From what he understood, those who possessed the name Kihara were individuals with great intellect and an expansive talent in the many branches of science. They were researchers whose curiosities lead them beyond the accepted and agreed upon limits of research. They were the type of humans who were gleefully eager to fall into the pitch darkness of the abyss to understand what laid within. They were the type to dissect a living subject while keeping them awake to better understand how the human body could deal with the shock of pain and mental trauma of the ordeal while noting what nerves and muscles reacted to the harmful stimuli.

They were the type of humans to abandon their humanity to take notes of the being they would devolve into so that they may come to understand what it was that compromised a person's humanity under the laws and logic of science.

The Kihara name wasn't necessarily a family name granted by birth or blood. It was not something so frivolous to be passed down by simple genealogy. One could say it was a strange phenomenon that could appear upon the countless human beings born into the world at any given moment. Not even the original family of Kihara's who had first been labeled as such could properly explain how they came to be.

Like an incurable disease appearing within humanity's very DNA through unknown factors, there was nothing to prevent it from flourishing once the unique yet sinister bud sprouted.

It had already been proven by the unqualified as of yet Kihara Enshuu that the qualities of a Kihara could be born in certain individuals who possessed the intellect and aspects to be a Kihara without proper upbringing and education to lead them to the qualities required to be a Kihara.

It was said Kihara's were evil due to their actions and inhumane projects. Despite everything they possessed to lead the world into a brighter future where technology could heal lethal wounds, cure diseases to the mind, resolve a deteriorating climate, end world hunger, and help to cross the stars and colonize heavenly planets, those brilliant and talented humans would abuse their abilities to achieve far crueler and ugly discoveries which would only harm humanity's soul.

To be a Kihara was to be one without heart.

By no means did it mean they didn't possess the vital beating organ in charge of distributing red blood cells throughout the many roads in the human body. Nothing so silly.

Simply put, a Kihara did not fret about whether their research would bring a smile to a person's face. They lost no sleep if someone died due to a failure in their experiment or if some innocent bystander was caught in the middle. Happiness for the sake of others was laughable to a Kihara who only sought after academic interests and breakthroughs found in casting aside the limits of a heart. Regret was never found in such humans with a hole in their chest.

Anything which would get in the way of their research would be cast aside. If their own heart was to get in the way of crossing a line which was never meant to be stepped over, a Kihara would eagerly plunge their fingers to their chest and crushed it with a gleeful grin. Such useless notions as feelings were not needed nor desired if they could simply be replicated with 0s and 1s if need be.

To be a Kihara was to be without a human heart.

Shinzo.

Phonologically in Japanese, it could mean New Construction.

In Kanji, its characters were translated as Heart.

Kihara Shinzo was what one may call a Kihara who should have never been born.

Not by any horrible means as to call him a child who was despised by his parents or seen as a mistake.

The mother of Kihara Shinzo was a Kihara true and true to her namesake. But perhaps, in thanks to the teachings of her sensei who guided her with an un-Kihara-like hand, she had grown into a different sort of Tree among the many fields of pitch-black stained pillars growing in the shadow of a metal forest.

She was by no means a good person.

She was a woman who had caused the deaths of many.

She was a woman who manipulated others to see the results of her theories.

She was a woman with a vengeful heart who would cut off a person's right hand for violence.

She was a Kihara. But she possessed qualities born from someone special in her life amid all the unethical experiments and inhumane studies.

Out of all the Kihara's, one may say she was an abnormality due to the hole in her chest being filled.

Perhaps it was because of this heart she had or would gain, she had decided to become a mother.

It was not out of love.

The man she had chosen as the father for her latest experiment was certainly someone special in her life, she supposed, eventually down the road of her research.

Between like or dislike, she couldn't honestly say she disliked such a fellow abnormality labeled as human yet inhuman.

Kamijou Touma.

To Kihara's, he was the greatest threat to their kind when compared to even The One Way Road. An existence comparable to acid eating away at their very essence with an inhuman and unnatural empathy not normally found in humanity as a whole. A being on the complete opposite of their spectrum with a ferocity capable of matching even those who forewent their humanity for knowledge with his unique inhuman fangs of violence.

He was a figure who opposed Kihara's at every turn. He was the Light and they the Darkness. He was an existence who burned through the black tendrils of their roots with mere words and a single shattering fist. A poison of a different chemical breed that burned just a harshly as they.

Opposite of those inhuman monsters of science, the normal high school boy wore his vulnerable heart on his sleeve. He was a boy who held human life as a top priority no matter the gain or victory the death of one individual would lead to. The smile of strangers was worthy enough for him to walk out of the battle with his body broken and painted in blood, on the verge of death with a satisfied smile on his beaten face. Black and White were not recognized in his eyes, only seeking out to resolve the situation with everyone present, even the villains of the story, alive and with the ability to one day smile in the aftermath of whatever tragedy they were starring in.

He was the Imagine Breaker; One Who Purified God and Slayed Demons. An unnerving existence Academy City as a whole seemed centered on with a terrifying degree of intensity outweighing even the Level-5s.

More than just that high school boy's ability to negate all forms of supernatural phenomena had been studied by those curious adults. Far more to such a character was analyzed and broken down by certain figures who recognized the frightening power he held.

No one knew which nameless Kihara in the background had spoken up about the theory. But a chill had gone straight down the spines of those heartless monsters who tasted fear at the ridiculous notion spoken by one of their kin after what could have only been thousands of hours of research.

The theory went as such…

If a Kihara went to battle with Kamijou Touma earnestly…

If a Kihara was not careful in utterly sealing the missing core in their chest…

If a Kihara found themselves in a position to be saved…

Then was it entirely possible a Kihara would be purified?

Could it be possible Kamijou Touma could plant a seed within their heartless beings and create a human heart?

Such a ridiculous theory should have been greeted with scoffs and scorns to the lone Kihara who spoke up of such a notion not grounded in anything scientific. It was nothing more than a foolish thought experiment by a Kihara who had become interested in the many outcomes of Kamijou Touma's battles against countless opponents and come to realize the drastic change in even individuals who had murdered over a hundred thousand humans with a sadistic grin on their bloody face.

But even the smallest, most foolish, inconceivable of ideas was worthy of further study. Enough to warrant a full-on thesis to be written upon the possibility of a Kihara being purified by a mere high school boy who fought with his bare fists.

If such a theory was proven true, a question was needed to be asked in the aftermath.

Could a Kihara be considered a Kihara if they possessed a heart?

Kihara Shinzo.

The Kihara Who Had Been Born Intentionally With A Heart.

If a child was born between a Kihara and Kamijou Touma…

Fingers paused on their strokes, frozen stiff.

...

Would such a child, who possessed all the qualities to be a Kihara, be a True Kihara?

After a moment of pondering, the boy returned to his work, finding himself impressed as he noticed his efforts revolving on his control of the hospital's systems were being steadily dismantled.

A seedling was born between two abnormal trees. But when the seedling sprouted and grew into a tall mighty tower, what would said tree take after?

A tree with a hollowed trunk with toxic branches?

Or a tree with an unshakable core brimming with compassion?

Such a great mystery was one of the great fascinations of what Kihara Shinzo had dedicated his research to.

The human heart was a well-known subject in the scientific community. Even a middle schooler could create a diorama of a heart out of clay, plastic, rubber, and paper mache for a science fair project. Very little about such a delicate human construction wasn't know to researchers of the matter who understood the various arteries, veins, muscles, and tissue composing it. He, himself, had even dissected his first heart at the tender age of seven with his mother's supervision.

Shinzo; Heart.

As his name, he understood a great deal about such a biological gear vital to every living being.

Yet there was far more to such a frail object than others cared to believe.

After all, he was the son of a man who fought with his heart clenched tightly in his fist. He had come to understand of the odd strength that defied all sense of logic and reason, said to be born from a simple man's ordinary heart. Everything he had learned and discovered about the human heart seemed to be turned upside down when he heard of the many trials and disasters his father had overcome through sheer willpower and heart.

A mere human heart had overcome the terror and almighty strength of The Strongest Esper.

A mere human heart had opposed a God and their rule.

A mere human heart had waged war upon the entire world.

A mere human heart had empathized with monsters, demons, angels, and even beings born of science.

A mere human had shown a set of limits, laws, abilities, and systems governed by science and magic that he could simply shatter them with his heart clasped in his bloody knuckles.

As a Kihara, he was curious. He wanted to understand more about the heart, to seek after far more than what was available in textbooks and dissection. It was why he had turned to the occult, researching the origins and meanings of human hearts where other members of his family would have scoffed at him and scorned him for involving himself in childish fables and myths. And yet, he was still unsatisfied with what he had learned and sought after more knowledge.

"Hmm, hmm, hmm~. What an interesting little flower you are, Uiharu-chan. I knew the Goalkeeper was impressive even before she rose up through the ranks to attain the position of Academy City's sole protector of cybersecurity and its data banks but to be fending me off for this long before she blossoms is outstanding! Unfortunately, it's not enough to stop me from seeking what I'm after. Seeing as this is Kamijou Touma's main hospital, all of his medical records and history are securely guarded against curious parties."

Within a certain frog faced doctor's office, the abnormal Kihara sat back in the doctor's chair as he clicked away on the desk computer. He kept his smartphone by the keyboard, occasionally glancing at the screen detailing his programmed worms' struggles to fend off the Goalkeeper's hacking. An impressed grin could be seen on his face as he worked on copying the many private files hidden in Heaven Canceler's personal computer.

No one would interrupt him. Everyone in this building was occupied with the threat of an intruder going after one boy. To think whoever warned about his plans for today would end up creating the perfect opportunity for Shinzo to slink in the cracks to grab a prize.

Where said frog faced man was, even Shinzo didn't know. Such an elusive man was no doubt putting the safety and health of his patients above all else. Heaven Canceler was at the side of someone who needed his touch and probably hadn't thought of anyone going after anything in his office.

Almost done with his side quest, Shinzo tapped one more key before settling back on the comfy wheeled chair. A cable was plugged into the computer from the 90's to finish downloading the files concerning several keynote individuals of interest into a device over thirty-years ahead of its time. Leaning his head on his fist, he watched the download bar fill up with a small smile on his face.

"This is truly a surreal experience, one I wish I could share with both Kaa-san and Ojiji-san. Sadly this romantic adventure will be one I must partake on my own. But...perhaps I'll finally discover the answer to my research which has eluded me in my own time? They do say the answer's to life's greatest questions can be found in the past, after all."

Even in the aftermath of a world reduced to cinders by a Magic God and in the new world of a past he didn't belong to…

Kihara Shinzo would continue to conduct his research into the matters of a heart with gusto.

A Kihara would never stumble when even everything he knew and adored was reduced to smoldering ash.

[-]

Hospitals were a place of healing and safety. A scientific sanctuary for those who had faced all manners of despair and misfortune.

When one heard of such a place, the first thing to come to mind was typically medicine, doctors, nurses, white walls, and the injured. It was the normal reaction any human being who didn't visit such places often thought of. No one wished to ever go to such a place that indicated something was wrong with either themselves or someone they loved.

To the ordinary people, a hospital was a sentence of uncertainty and omen.

But a hospital was a place intended to bring to mind recovery, never anything so negative or sullen.

It was a place where damaged smiles could once again shine.

It was a place where life could either be saved or born.

It was a place where amid the tragedies, sweet and happy memories could be found.

When one thought of a hospital, one should have thought of comfort and warmth.

While sadness, grief, agony, and loss could be found inside those white walls, it did not mean a happy ending could not exist where everyone could smile together.

The happiness and safety of the patients and visitors of any hospital was the top priority of the staff. Even if said smiles were smudged just a bit or grew frustrated in the process, those who sought after the happy endings of everyone would do their best to protect them.

A Certain Hospital was no different.

Even as the Anti-Skill Lieutenant known as Yomikawa Aiho ran through the halls of the empty hospital, the smiles and happiness of the innocent were guarded amid the silent violence ready to flood the many branches of the healing sanctuary.

'Good. It seems the hospital staff has led away whatever civilians were either roaming the halls or the visitation rooms. If I remember right, they used the excuse of a very ill patient escaping their room to make sure no one leaves the safety zones we've set up. Apparently, the 'patient' has a mildly contagious disease that, while not life-threatening, could pose complications to those who are being treated. Along with ensuring no one stumbles onto said 'patient' we also have janitorial personnel sanitizing the halls and certain rooms where the infected had visited. So long as our target doesn't cause any wanton destruction, we should be able to keep the peace without chaos breaking out.'

If anyone caught a glance of Anti-Skill officers, they would simply chalk it up to the hospital staff being ill-fit for apprehending a very sick patient who may possess an esper ability. The teacher/officers were well equipped and trained for such a scenario. It wouldn't cause a panic if those armed adults were seen running in the halls with protective face masks.

But this wasn't the case.

It was nothing more than a fake story.

Anti-Skill and Judgment were not after a very sick patient with a contagious disease.

A dangerous element had wormed their way into the building where violence should have never sprouted.

There was a boy by the name of Kamijou Touma who was admitted to the hospital after being caught in the cruel wake of District 10's gang war. Like many others currently bedridden, he had been harmed by elements involving said incident born of frustrated Level-0s snapping back at the city that failed them.

Due to his injuries, he couldn't walk without crutches to aid him in making steps. He only had one good arm also damaged but in far better shape compared to the heavily cast right arm. He resembled far more like a mummy than a high school boy.

Unknown to the spiky boy, he was being targeted.

A shadow lurked beneath his bed, one of hostility threatening to drag him back into a situation where his body would be furthered broken.

Yet that wasn't the main concern proposed by a frog-faced doctor who had regularly treated said boy enough to understand his heart without the need to open his chest.

No, the real danger laid in the threat of others getting caught up in the violence centered on the boy who couldn't even clench either of his fists.

If the unknown attacker came after Kamijou Touma then Touma would act not for himself but for those in danger of being harmed because of him.

He would fight despite his injuries.

He would bleed despite having already lost far too much to be alive.

He would break despite already being broken.

For the sake of others, Kamijou Touma would soak in every drop of malice without ever being asked or thanked in return.

That was the kind of troublesome boy Yomikawa was protecting.

As she ran through the halls leading to the pediatric wing ahead, Yomikawa scowled bitterly.

She hadn't forgotten the memory of days ago when she had lost to a child swallowed by the unfair world.

She hadn't forgotten the shame she had tasted in the shadow of one of her bloody back students playing the role of a shield.

She hadn't forgotten how sick to her stomach she felt in leaving behind that smiling boy who had accepted her responsibility.

Shield.

Protect.

Guard.

Defend.

Each word meant one thing; ensure that the person standing behind her could return to laughing and smiling in the end.

But she had failed to play the role of the strong and protective adult in charge of a child's happiness.

Because of her lack of ability to save the high school boy playing the role of shield for her, that very boy had been harmed.

No…

Her precious student had been mangled.

When the chaos settled, when the second phenomena of espers and non-espers fell unconscious in the shadow of a sky filled with innumerable stake like wings was over, she had been among those who returned to the street of what should have been a war-zone. But what was left behind in the rampage of one girl were two students laying in the road untouched by a bombardment of esper abilities.

She remembered clearly running past her fellow Anti-Skill officers to one of the espers she knew.

She didn't hesitate to cradle the nearly shattered shield that had saved not only her life but the lives she had failed to protect herself along with her fellow adults.

And she remembered the red streaks left behind from what must have been gut-wrenching sobs on his bloody and bruised face. She had seen the horrible and grotesque state of his right arm; a mangled and twisted branch with white poking out of torn flesh. The numerous deep puncture wounds, slashes, burns, and lacerations had never left her heart. The slick sticky red coating her hands as she touched his body could still be felt and made her shiver.

A child who should have never been forced to face such a tragic wave of malice had stolen her role as a shield and withstood the pulverizing wave of anger in the place of those adults who failed to reach him in time.

Because of her failure to save him, Kamijou Touma had experienced a great tragedy that had shaken his heart. Those tears he had shed were her fault. She was responsible for one of her youthful student's crossing into the madness of an event created by a system adults had molded carelessly.

It was not the first time such a boy had involved himself in such events.

She had recently discovered he was a regular of this hospital due to his troublesome need to involve himself in matters no high school boy should step into.

If it hadn't been for the series of events, sparked in the deep darkness of District 10 by some unknown party for their own means, Yomikawa Aiho would have never come to stumble into the affairs of Kamijou Touma's 'normal' life. She would have continued on with her original routine of greeting the boy when he was in class for P.E. or was being punished for his idiotic brawls with two other troublesome boys of Komoe's class, and never bothering to do any more than what was necessary for such a slacker who had never done much other to peak her intrigue as she listened to the many stories the forever short teacher told her.

How long?

Just how long had she gone ignoring the spiky-haired boy's obvious signs of stumbling onto trouble. She had seen him enough times to notice how he would arrive late to school and see the newest set of bandages, casts, and gauze on his body. Had it always been like this? Surely, this had to be a recent nasty habit, right? Komoe-chan would have definitely have said something if the short pink-haired woman's favorite student was involving himself in matters better left for Anti-Skill and Judgment.

Frustration cut into Yomikawa's face as she continued running ahead, her heart pounding in her ears as her adrenaline kept her moving and alert.

Now wasn't the right time to question such a child about his troubling habits.

Once again, another threat was ready to sink their teeth into his heart.

'Not again.'

Even after everything in District 10 and the subsequent mass hacking of Academy City's security bots had come to an end, there remained an ember of malevolence in the charred remains. A cruel element the likes of Anti-Skill and Judgment had failed to quell.

Kamijou Touma was the unknown attacker's target. When the boy, who should have never stepped foot onto such a hellish battlefield, should have been concerning himself with rest and relaxation as his wounds mended, he was now under the threat of further harm scarring his heart.

Yomikawa ground her teeth in frustration as she felt her heart being slowly crushed.

As an adult, it was her duty, Anti-Skill officer, teacher, or not, to protect the young children of the city. It was a job she took pride in. She had saved a handful of students who were being used and manipulated by those who should have been protecting them instead of causing them harm. No matter the threat or challenge she was faced with, she fought her hardest to save as many smiles on the faces of those boys and girls who believed they would never be able to return to society.

Yet, she too failed as any other human. No one could blame her for falling short here and there. There were times where not even the strongest, most intelligent, most connected, most resilient, of heroes, could make it in time. If one counted the number of people she had saved vs. the number of people she failed to protect, logically speaking, the positive outweighed the negative, time and time again.

Such a thought made her feel disgusted and all the more regretful for those she had failed to drag out of the pit of despair and cruelty.

And now, knowing there was a boy she had seen every day of the weekday, who had been silently suffering as no one had been around to shield him from the violence he discovered, only made her feel as if she had truly never seen him at all.

'Komoe-chan always complained that you were a troublesome child who always missed out on classes, always received low test scores, always complained about misfortune, and always drew in girls without ever noticing while happily proclaiming Dorm Manager Onee-san's were the best. Always, always, always! She always complained a delinquent who wore a heart on his sleeve like you was someone who could still find a way to smile despite his troubles!'

Yomikawa did not know much of who Kamijou Touma was.

Kamijou Touma was a normal high school student.

He was an idiot who failed in everything related to the Power Curriculum Program.

He was a Level-0.

He was a known delinquent who oftentimes missed class and got into fights.

Everything she knew of the unassuming boy, who always appeared uninterested in his studies, was second-hand knowledge she had gleaned from the teacher who taught him. She couldn't say the two were close. The relationship between Yomikawa Aiho and Kamijou Touma was one found typically between teacher and student. Not close but not distant. It was similar to being acquaintances who sat in the same classroom or a distant relative one only ever saw a few times a year.

She had seen Kamijou Touma more times than Yomikawa had seen her own mother and father back in Japan. She could perfectly picture his face in her mind right now. She even knew his infamous catchphrase that he would always throw out whenever something unfortunate befell him.

But…

There was something missing from the mental image of Kamijou Touma. Something crucial she felt ashamed to have missed from one of her own students.

'I want to see it.'

Nothing more than a gesture expressing happiness.

A lift of the lips.

Without pain, fear, regret, despair, sadness, exhaustion, or emptiness.

'I want to see you smile! As an adult, as one of your teachers! I want to see you walk out these doors, walk down the street, running in the school halls, with a simple and pure smile on your face! Not again. I won't allow your face to be marred by grief or pain again! Even if it's just a small one, even if I need a microscope to find it, even if I have to say something stupid and humiliating! Like every other student, like every other child in this city! After everything you've just been through, I want to see a sign of you overcoming your despair. I want to see you smile toooooooooooooooooooooo!'

Just how long had her student been hiding his troubles with his lethargic habits and complaints of misfortune?

Just how long had she turned a blind eye to his troubles?

Not again.

This time…

This time for sure!

She would protect that child's heart with everything an adult was capable of!

A fierce light could be seen in that teacher's dark blue eyes usually filled with mirth.

She ran through the long white halls without ever stopping to catch her breath. Her eyes searched for any signs of the attacker, no matter how small the detail she passed by. It was as if she was experiencing tunnel vision even as she turned several corners and entered into empty rooms.

She was completely focused on one matter right now.

The safety of not just all those in danger of being caught in the spray of violence of an unknown attacker.

But the happiness of a boy who would willingly soak in all the fatal shrapnel.

"Oh? It seems I was a little late in my departure. But I can't say this isn't rather romantic of an event to activate considering who has found me first."

She should have chided herself for losing track of her surroundings. She had no idea what wing of the hospital she was even in anymore. All she knew was that the hall she had stopped in looked no different than the rest with the exception of leading into a T-shaped intersection. It was possible one of those paths lead to an elevator or an emergency exit.

Honestly, though, it didn't matter.

Before anyone else in this building could come upon him, Yomikawa had found him as he stopped at the middle of the two paths to check his touch screen phone.

Just as she remembered from the security footage, the boy was most likely close to Touma's age with a few inches on him. He wore a white lab coat like a rob or a cape over his shoulders. His clothes were rather casual with the words Dog Life catching her eye. Appearance wise, he had sharp, cool features middle school girls and high school girls would fawn over with a short cut hairstyle.

Unlike before, the teen did not have the other unknown individual, a child of either eight or ten, with him. It seemed he had abandoned her after completing whatever it was he was up to. The observation brought more anxiety to Yomikawa but she stood firmly before the lax eyed teen messing with his phone absently.

The teen smiled lazily as he typed away on his phone with one hand.

"Yomikawa Aiho; Lieutenant of Anti-Skill Branch 73 and P.E. Teacher of A Certain High School. You're one of the big fish I caught eye of during my initial planning of those who would be involved at the given time. If it was some random officer or student of the law, I wouldn't have cared. But you're one of the selective few I can't damage to the point of needing machines to help you so much as breathe. Your heart is one of interest as well. Then again,"

For some reason, the cool faced teen stretched his right hand's fingers as if testing them out.

"I do need to perform some calibrations. I also need to brush up on durability as well when against a non-esper opponent. You're at peak physical strength and have extensive combat training; you should do just fine."

"Don't move."

Yomikawa spoke coldly the boy licking his fangs so casually as she wielded a weapon to keep him still.

It wasn't a standard issued pistol. She was the type who disliked using such killing tools and forbid herself from ever pointing a gun at a child no matter how others would label them as Evil.

Seeing as the target didn't possess any firearms of his own, she had taken out her trusty Anti-Skill stun baton. Along with it, she carried several other tools in restraining dangerous students who could fling balls of fire or command the earth to stab at her.

"You are under arrest for suspicion of bringing harm to one of the hospital patients along with endangering others, hacking into the security system of a hospital along with tampering of footage, and kidnapping of a minor. Come quietly and we won't need to resort to violence."

"How curious. I understand most of what I'm guilty of, but suspicion of bringing harm to a patient?"

The boy flexing his fingers as if to test his motor skills frowned quizzically for a few moments before snapping his fingers in realization.

"Ah! Do you mean Kamijou Touma? Is that why you're after me? Is that why you're willing to bare your justice reeking claws at a mere boy? Is that what's currently fueling your desire to fight? Is that what your beating core is demanding of you to do?"

Yomikawa didn't answer, instead glaring at the mirthful shortcut haired teen as she gripped her baton tightly.

No words needed to be said to the element of violence who clawed his right hand with the intention to tear away the peace with cruelty.

"Than...yes! Congratulations! You've brilliantly uncovered the sole purpose of my diabolical plot! What wit! What tenacity! You've caught the villain red handed just before he could further break a high school boy's body to a miserable wreck! But just because you've caught me, doesn't mean he's any safer."

The villain's posture gained a beast-like aura. It was as if he was telegraphing he had thrown aside the suave and cool mask for one with the aspects of a brawler. A ferocious and eager grin split his face.

Yomikawa knew then and there she wouldn't be able to resolve this situation with words from the heart. To protect those behind her, she would have to get her hands dirty.

"I've already let loose my little test subject and the others. And just like many others before you, you have no control over the violence about to swallow him whole. Not unless you can reach him this time!"

Yomikawa didn't have the luxury to think about what the boy had just said as he charged straight at her.

All she could do was quickly apprehend him and rush back over to her bedridden student who was in danger of further harm.

[-]

Tension could be felt in the air.

"I refuse."

"B-But sir! We have to ensure no one is in danger of being infected by the runaway pa-!"

"They come near me, I'll blast a hole in their cindered corpse. Germs can be killed with intense heat, so I don't need to worry about some sickly moron infecting me."

A flat response from a dry-toned high school boy by the name of Mugino Kaen to the nervously sweating Judgment officer in his way was said simply.

Next to the boy, Toka rolled her eyes. Even without confirmed status in this timeline of his potential, a Level-5 was still a Level-5. The aura around those monsters was almost palpable. It was no wonder the blond Judgment student standing in front of them was shaking in his boots under the menacing gaze of an older boy whose eyes gave off a sense of annoyance and scorn to those beneath his feet.

Honestly, where was that Kamijou charm he was supposedly born with? Obviously, between the two parents, it was Mugino Shizuri Kaen had taken after more. Then again both parents were considered the types to resolve problems with violence.

"Apologies, Judgment-kun. The boy you're trying to speak to has a bit of a superiority complex. It has nothing to do with his natural-born talents or high Level, mind you; he's just arrogant and rude by nature. You need more of a brute and honest approach in dealing with such terrifying beasts if you want them to listen."

"Hey, stop talking about me like I'm some misbehaving mutt who can't stop snarling or barking at everyone passing him by; I'll roast you alive."

A normal fist belonging to your average high school girl was raised as if it were a silent threat by the flat eyed Toka. The unregistered Level-5 felt his right eye twitch in annoyance.

Caught in the middle of the squabbling siblings, the Judgment member in middle school found himself sweating nervously.

Actually, he could have sworn his sweaty skin was burning ever so slightly. Almost as if he was standing beneath a large heater lamp boiling the moisture beneath his skin.

He stepped back with a nervous gulp. It was when he was a few feet away from the two visitors that he felt a cool relief wash over him. Calming his shaken nerves, he narrowed his eyes firmly.

He had a job to do after all.

"I apologize for the inconvenience, but I must insist you both go to the visitor's lounge. I can escort you to a nearby lounge if you need me to. If the patient you're visiting is close by, you may also return to their room until everyone's been giving the signal to leave. It won't be much longer now until we've returned the contagious patient back to their quarantined room."

As a member of Judgment, the well-mannered boy had a Personal Reality of his own. He was a Level-3 with an ability known as Joint Lock. By touching a part of a person's body, he could cause the muscle tissue of both humans and animals to swell up to a painful and degree render them immobile.

If he was a malicious person, he could cause the afflicted muscle to burst violently.

But he was a person who lived with a just heart. He believed his Personal Reality was crafted to help him protect others and deliver justice. It was why he had applied to become a member of Judgment.

Even if the older boy refusing to cooperate sent a terrifying chill down his spine, the well-mannered boy who possessed a just heart would not slink away with his tail between his shaking legs.

This was a matter far more dangerous than spoken of.

There was no contagious patient running around the hospital.

A dangerous individual had been spotted. The dangerous element was believed to be an attacker after the life of a bed-ridden patient. It was unknown if the dangerous element was the one to warn them of their intention of harming their target as a form of a challenge but because of a sticky note left behind by an unknown party, Anti-Skill with the help of Judgment had prepared in case of the warning being more than a simple prank.

Currently, the suspect was wandering the many halls of the hospital after hacking into the security system to go undetected. Recently, they had been given a report of the suspect having been sighted with a young girl in elementary school; a possible kidnapped victim. Not only would they have to deal with a suspect with a possible ability but they now had to be on the lookout for the unknown girl caught in the diabolical plot of a villain. The situation was beginning to deteriorate further and further into chaos ready to swallow the entire hospital.

"Please, listen to me and do as you're told, senpais. I don't want to have to make you comply with my justice."

He may have been a second-year in middle school but he wasn't the kind of boy who would crumble when up against an older foe. He was a Judgment member with an ability that allowed him to paralyze targets with a touch. To better utilize his supernatural power, he had learned several grappling techniques to better lock up his opponents in certain positions.

The older boy with tea-colored swoopy skater hair wearing a white hoodie didn't bother glancing his way. Neither did the polite high school girl with unruly dark hair. Both were far too preoccupied arguing with another. It didn't seem they would listen to him due to their own reasons.

Beads of nervous sweat could be found on the middle school Judgment boy. He raised his hands carefully in preparation for a rushing grappling move.

Joint Lock was his ability. To those who were hit by his power, they believed his power simply allowed him to freeze their limbs in place. It was more than that. Joint Lock allowed him to turn the human body's own antibodies against muscles using specific neurological signals he calculated and inputted into the body to trick the immune system to mistakenly strike the muscles he had in mind. His ability could be said to fall under the category of electromaster due to his influence over bio-electricity.

You could say his hands were similar to shock pads capable of inflicting only bio-shocks with set values of commands slithering into the brain.

His ability was a tool that could inflict all manners of harm but wished to only ever use it to aid in his justice.

If he had to, he would use it against the very people he wished to keep from harm's way for their own good.

His change in posture didn't go unnoticed. From the corner of his eye, the high school boy with tea-colored wavy skater hair caught his intentions. He stopped bickering with his sibling who frowned in worry as the older boy gave him his full attention.

Again, the middle school Judgment boy with a just heart swallowed thickly.

He felt the gaze of a beast, a tyrant of a creature who trampled everything with no regard to anyone but themselves, judging him like a bug ignorant enough to crawl its way in his direction.

"Tch, just my luck. An annoying wannabe of a justice symbol is aiming the sharp edge of their shield at me. Honestly, how do you expect a guy like me to respond in turn?"

"Kaen-!"

"Be quiet."

A sweltering pressure threatened to crush the Judgment boy with a just heart like a tin can.

Espers were humans who transcended their base humanity to attain an invisible phenomenon known as AIM produced from their bodies. A microscopic universe of their own design was always surrounding them tow twist the laws of nature and logic to thier will. It was similar to how people were always giving off body heat or a weak bio-electrical field. Depending on the type of power an esper awakened from their Personal Reality, their AIM Diffusion Field would in some way reflect the nature of their ability.

An esper with a Telekinetic Personal Reality was said to give off pressure to those close by.

An esper with a Psychometric Personal Reality was said to cause a prickle to the back of a person's brain.

An esper with an Electromaster Personal Reality was said to cause an electromagnetic field that could shock others.

And an esper with Pyrokinesis…

The very air had grown hot.

Incredibly hot.

It was as if a giant oven had been cracked open to let loose a breath of heat capable of burning the skin like steam. In a matter of seconds, the hall had transformed into the inside of a baking oven at 100 degrees Fahrenheit. An odd flow could be seen in the air in front of the Judgment boy. What he was seeing was a heatwave typically found during a hot summer's day.

The high school senior known as Kaen focused his sights on the Judgment boy, ignoring everything else but the sweating boy in his way.

"Listen, brat." Spat the ill-mannered tea-colored haired boy, "I don't know what it is you Judgment and Anti-Skill pawns are trying to play with this phony shtick; I really don't care. Play cops somewhere else and don't involve me in your games. I'm not in the mood. Right now, I have an upset little sister wandering this big building with tears in her eyes. And as much as I dislike the responsibility carried by the title of Onii-san, I have to play the part now that a certain sorry excuse of a father has been shaken. I won't say it again."

An irritating sweat covered the Judgment boy's entire body.

His palms were slippery and wouldn't be able to grip onto anything properly.

His throat was even tighter, resembling a soda straw.

Waves of heat created an illusion in the Judgment boy's just heart.

The blazing behemoth replaced the high school boy's visage with a menacing set of fangs baring down upon him to incinerate him.

"Get out of the way, you shaken shield. I won't be stopped by a brat who lacks the strength to clench his fist."

Inferno.

Just what kind of esper could produce an aura comparable to the searing flames of an inferno?

Was his vision swimming? When did it become hard to breathe? Why was his summer uniform plastered to his skin with a sticky sensation?

Before the flaming aura of a senior whose Level the Judgment boy was far too terrified to guess, the just heart swayed. He was in the way of a human monster who would trample him beneath the hot coals. One move from that searing inferno would be all it takes to end his justice.

But…

And still…

A sweaty open hand gestured to grip onto their target tightened with a squelch meant to sound like a crack.

"M-My justice...my j-j-justice! For those...I wan...t to p-...protect..."

It was a single step.

But none the less it was a single step forward in following through with his justice.

One step forward acted as a trigger.

Not of violence as one would have expected though.

Searing waves of heat melted away into something far more pleasant to the just heart resisting the burning fangs ready to close in on him. His drenched skin cooled. A warmth resembling being wrapped up in a blanket sewn lovingly by his mother wrapped around him like a burrito during a chilling winter night was felt. His eyes fluttered as his second step slipped.

Before he passed out, the Judgment boy with a just heart could have sworn his blurry vision caught deceiving sight.

He could have sworn he saw a smile on the monster's face.

[-]

"Did you really have to apply your Silent Guardian on the kid, Kaen-nii-san?"

"Did you have a better idea other than punching the brat's lights out? And what the hell kind of name is Silent Guardian? What I did was reverse the intensity of the tunnel blast of heat I was slamming directly into him to a much milder level of heat resembling a cocoon rather than a tunnel. All the heat he was swallowed in caused the blood vessels in his body to dilate to leave him with low blood pressure which made him faint. It's called heat syncope, not something as childish as Silent Guardian."

Having already caught the blond Judgment boy with a just heart as he was about to fall to the hard white hospital floor, Toka carefully leaned the middle schooler against the wall. She patted the blond boy's head with a gentle smile as if she was commending his bravery for standing up to such a monster.

She didn't want to outright admit it but if it came down to a fight, she would have resolved the issue of the stubborn Judgment boy with a fist to the face. While Kaen's personality was after his mother's ruthless nature, Toka herself took far more after her father when it came to resolving problems with her fist. Her class was a Brawler true and true.

It was the right thing to do, she supposed with a sigh.

Both Toka and Kaen could see through the phony excuse a mile away. They weren't so naive as to not see the carefully fabricated illusion being weaved for the safety of others.

They were children of Kamijou Touma.

Illusions didn't work on them.

Something reeking of malice was now lingering in the concrete body designed to heal the wounds of those who survived a tragedy. No matter the world they resided in, darkness never lost its familiar scent in the air.

"A silent lock-down, huh? With the excuse of a contagious patient running around the halls and corridors, no one will be allowed to leave their rooms, leave the hospital, or enter until they've caught the sick 'patient'. Seeing Anti-Skill and Judgment wouldn't be strange since the 'patient' might be capable of using a destructive ability and attack in their delirious state of mind. All their bases are covered to freely go about pursuing whoever is causing trouble in a hospital of all places."

Together Toka and Kaen continued walking ahead, leaving behind the Judgment boy with a just heart sleeping soundly.

None of the hospital personnel were seen as they made their way through the eerily empty white halls. Occasionally they would hear muffled voices of those who were ignorant of the danger lurking like a wild animal wandering into a home from behind the durable doors. The members of Anti-Skill and Judgment were no doubt running around in search of the dangerous snake now slithering in the grass. A few glimpses of those justice keeping adults and students were seen as both Toka and Kaen went about their own mission.

The only reason they weren't caught by the law enforcers of Academy City was in thanks to the strings pulled by Kaen's creative use of his ability.

When they stopped by a break room where doctors and nurses would take a coffee break, the two visitors had no trouble walking past the weary-eyed staff who busied themselves with lunches bought from the restaurant found on the first floor of the building or chugging coffee to keep awake after twelve hours of work. Not so much as a casual glance turned stares of surprise as Toka followed after the oldest of Kamijou Touma's children.

To the average person observing the strange behavior of adults turning a blind eye to children sneaking by, one would say both Toka and Kaen were taking advantage of some invisible cloak found typically in fantasy novels. Magic must have been at play to explain how easily they moved about in plain sight. What other explanation could there be to how the two were not found by an Anti-Skill officer who blinked at where the two stood and did nothing as they backed away?

Academy City was an independent land part of Japan but landlocked from all other nations. For good reason. It was the foremost and only land where espers were developed to harness supernatural abilities through science.

Kaen was one of such espers.

And his ability was one of the most common yet the most powerful and advanced of all those who held the potential as him.

"Can Pyrokinesis really do something as complicated as creating illusions to trick the human eye of what's clearly right in front of them?"

Academy City's first Level-5 Pyrokinetic Esper; Mugino Kaen.

The Number 3 Level-5 of the future; Incendiary.

"A Level-0 like you wouldn't understand. It has to do with a phenomenon known as heat haze combined with drowsiness created from a very focused heat syncope and hallucination. Pretty sure even one string of the calculations I performed to achieve the illusion haze created from my application of control overheated molecules would melt your dunce of a brain. You're one of the kinds of simple-minded idiots in the world who believe fire is only good for destruction and never think twice about the capabilities such a primal elemental force can be exploited for in the hands of a creative mind."

Power over flames.

No, the power to manipulate the insanely vibrating molecules over combustion to produce the scientific by-product known as fire. Just as the current Number 3 Electromaster known as Railgun wasn't limited to the destructive power of her ability and had learned to perform feats such as manual hacking over machinery and systems via her control of electrons, Kaen thought beyond his killing potential over an element known commonly for its sheer destruction potential.

Incendiary; The Ruthless Child Adored By Combusted Molecules.

Such a boy could not be stopped by the likes of even Anti-Skill or Judgment who were trained to handle wild children who were gifted with miracles born from science. The fact he wasn't outright blasting them away or knocking them out with his mastery over overcharged molecules was surprising. Kaen was one of the more brutal and ruthless of the children who had been sent back to a time before their birth, so Toka was surprised to see him stick to using his Level-5 abilities to play tricks on those who were in his way.

"Hey, why did you knock out the Judgment boy like that?"

"Because he was in the way, why else?"

"No, I mean you could have done it a number of ways even this Level-0 wouldn't have been able to follow with your far too wide range of cards you got crowding your hand and deck. I've beaten up enough pyrokinetic users to know you could have slammed a fireball into him without doing much damage to him or the surroundings. You were creating a funnel of hot air earlier to make him pass out as if he had been walking in the desert for days without a drop of water. But instead, you used that Silent Guardian card to make him pass out as if he was wrapped up in a warm blanket during a cold night. Why bother with all these kind plays if you could go for the far more easy and powerful combos instead?"

Toka was curious.

Truthfully, she had no idea who Mugino Kaen was.

In the leading days to the end of the world and the death of the world's unsung hero, she had gotten to meet many of those children who had been born with the small and faint embers of a man known as Kamijou Touma. She found it hard to believe she went her entire life without having met any of her siblings until that horrible day. It was as if all of their lives had just suddenly been meshed together by the hands of an expert surgeon stitching multiple limbs, organs, and veins together to form a somehow perfect human without question.

She didn't think twice about the oddness of their circumstances one bit.

All she knew was that she had suddenly gained an enormous family. One she wished to get to know better. The traits created by the influence of not only her father but her mother as well, had caused Kamijou Toka to desire to strengthen the bonds of those who shared the same father.

What Toka knew of Kaen wasn't much. She had gotten a glimpse of his personality when they had all joined together behind the backs of their parents to rush after the Magic God of Ruin as the monster had ascended to the highest point of the world for greater power at the summit of where humanity and the heavens touched.

Mugino Kaen was rather dispassionate about everything other than his little sister, bunny girls, and cooking. He was proud of his power but when he spoke of his abilities he always came off as irritated. He was definitely the loner type who never went out of his way to make friends but he was also the kind of boy who would never command others to leave him alone if they gravitated towards him. Like his mother, he was a ruthless esper who had probably bloodied his hands in matters only he ever justified and cared little for those who believed they could steer him away from the sadistic plays he resorted to with speeches.

He wasn't all that kind.

He wasn't all that arrogant.

He wasn't all that merciful.

He wasn't all that loving.

But Mugino Kaen was the first born son of Kamijou Touma none the less.

"I should have known you were the nosy type of sister among the basket case of siblings we've discovered. Just my luck that I get stuck with such a pushy and curious sister who can't stop prodding her older brother about matters such as why I go out late at night with the scent of smoke and iron following behind me in the morning."

It didn't seem Kaen would answer Toka's question at all. She pursed her lips at the image the lousy older brother had of her and opened her mouth to speak.

"I was impressed."

Toka blinked once.

She stared at the tall back of the ruthless boy who could play with the hyperactive vibrations of molecules like strings on a piano to perform various melodies of either violence or kindness. He didn't stop for a moment as he continued walking forward while speaking to the annoyingly curious sister he had picked up.

"That kid was obviously terrified of me. He had already begun sweating before I began applying the sweltering pressure of my AIM Diffusion Field onto him. Even if he had charged forward to restrain us, he probably wouldn't have been able to get a decent grip on either of us with how soaked his palms were. If I had applied just a bit more pressure on his shaken heart, I wouldn't have been surprised if he began sobbing like a brat who was separated from his mother during a festival."

He sounded as if he was about to burst out laughing at the sorry state of the Judgment boy with a just heart who would have peed his pants if the Level-5 had fully barred his fangs with malice and glee.

"He was a shield who could only tremble. And yet the brat pressed on with a shaken heart and sweaty palms despite how terrified he was of the monster standing over him. He would have continued to play the part of the shield of justice who desired to protect even a monster like me no matter if he soiled himself. Brats like that...I can't say I wholeheartedly despise them. Knocking him out with heat syncope was his reward for scoring some points; that's all."

Why hadn't he hurt the members of the hospital staff?

They were simply doing their job to ensure the safety of those who couldn't fight back in their state. It would have been more troublesome to cause them harm.

Even without asking the follow-up question, that was the kind of answer Toka was positive she would have heard from the oldest child of Kamijou Touma's children.

When he spoke it sounded as if he was irritated with having to answer what were obvious reasons for his actions he only ever cared to understand. He wouldn't display obvious signs of kindness or love to anyone. But, beneath what she had seen as scorn, there was an odd hint of care with a flavor ever faintly sweet to only the most observant and sensitive of pallets.

Violence and destruction held by a boy who had taken the stance of imposing strength needing no explanation.

Silent Guardian.

It was the name Toka had come up with after seeing its card played only ever once.

During the charge to face off with the impossible monster known as the Magic God of Ruin, the children of the future had been stopped from reaching the starting point of their climb to Everest by several powerful figures of both the Magical and Scientific community. A force had been sent to stop them and leave the adults to deal with what they believed was a matter for those holding titles of responsibility. Among those forces were a few of their parents.

It was a combined force of over a hundred individuals from all over the world who were tied to the unofficial world power known as the Kamijou Faction.

And every last one of them had been knocked out as if they had been tucked into bed by a warm pressure created by a single Level-5 whose action melted every inch of snow at the foot of the mountain.

When others were prepared to use force to deal with the situation, Kaen had taken it upon himself to shut down the bared fangs and claws of both sides trying to protect the other. He was the only Level-5 who had decided to use a much kinder method of his monstrous strength.

Without ever staring back at the defeated back of the dirty blond-haired man laying passed out at the base of Everest, the very delinquent of a man who he had seen as his uncle and a father figure, Kaen had passed over the knocked out form of Hamazura Shiage and the rest of Item bar his mother as the rest of the next generation of the Kamijou Faction began their climb up to the world's peak to fight a god.

Colors of explosive intimidation and colors of silent kindness.

"Jeez, what a tsundere of an older brother I've seem to have stumbled on."

"Say that again and I'll burn off all of your hair and leave you bald, you charmless little sister."

Another battle of verbal insults would have continued between the two half-siblings.

If it weren't for the deafening silence similar to the absence of noise created moments before a great explosion appearing down the hall.

"...Target not found."

A black fog.

Chilling pressure silently and softly flooded the halls and corridors of the path ahead of the two startled teens who had paused without understanding the reason why.

All either esper understood was that a familiar and strange sensation was felt crushing their hearts.

It appeared from thin air and carried an ominous presence of silence swallowing all vibrations producing noise. A tunnel of pitch-black ink blotting out everything but the nothingness found only in scientific heavens known as outer space. Light could not exist in the void. Nothing could survive within in the blot of black.

Yet...something vile and strange squirmed within the deep recesses of the chilling phenomena.

Was it living?

Was that corporal darkness breathing?

The black fog of pitch-black ink was a meter short of touching the toes of both Kaen and Toka. It had appeared without warning or sound to consume half of the hall along with the rooms around it. Deathly chilling air of foreboding disaster and cruelty could be felt from its presence alone like a visible white puff of one's breath in the winter.

From within that phenomenon of pitch-black ink, glowing red orbs were seen observing the coldly sweating teens.

A crack.

A click of boney fingers ripped of flesh was heard.

And something from that ever deep black fog raced forward to crush the anxious teens who had lost the will to even scream.

"...no, they don't carry it."

Whatever IT was, had stopped from leaving the abyss of black by a soft and young voice from within. It retreated without ever putting up a fight, slithering back to its dark cavern.

"Scanning...scanning...scanning..."

Something invisible filled every inch of the hallway and beyond to reach the rooms and patients unaware of the strange darkness. An air opposite of those who emitted a certain field of supernatural pressure caressed every living thing. Both Toka and Kaen felt its presence wash past them harmlessly yet still bring a disturbing chill to their skin.

"Scanning complete. Unable to discover a point of negation in the erected field of mana. Continuing to search for the location of Imagine Breaker."

Despite how sticky his skin felt from the fearful sweat born from the ominous fog of darkness, Kaen clenched his teeth with an anxious grimace.

"...Kamiko?"

The soft voice held a mechanical essence to it. There was no sense of what one would label as humanity in the words being spoken so calmly and so coldly. Something inhuman lurked within the void staring back at him. No one would have been able to guess anything once resembling a human could be found in the ominous pressure of black.

But he had heard the familiar dreg of the little girl he was responsible for watching over.

As illogical as it was, as doubtful as it was, as unreasonable as it was…

His heart recognized the small body being possessed by something cruel and twisted.

He took a step forward.

The pitch-black ink of fog born of an abyss spun in of itself like a clogged sink drain free of its clog.

"Elimination of Imagine Breaker will be the top priority. All other threats will be ignored."

The noise of the world returned with the departure of the abyss.

No traces of its presence could be found. It vanished into literal thin air. Almost as if it had been nothing but a trick of the eye.

An illusion born of despair.

The stern eyed Level-5 was completely lost to the supernatural phenomena appearing and disappearing before his very eyes. For sure, he was positive he had just heard the very faint visages of his annoying youngest sister originating from the spine-tingling mass of ink-black fog. It was almost as if she had been swallowed into the stomach of something not of this world.

'This sensation...I've felt it before.'

It had been utterly faint.

It had been pathetically weak.

Nothing more than a whiff overwhelmed by other aromas.

Only now did he understand where he had come across such a revolting dreg he had overlooked from within the being of his small little sister.

Spite mixed finely with hatred within the pyrokinetic Level-5's scalding voice.

"You shitty God! Do you really think you can just pop out of nowhere and fuck everything all over again?!"

"Kaen! Wai-!"

BOOOOOOM!

An uproar of explosive violence played no differently than the tune of a piano.

A blossom of red-orange flames flourishing into the world like a plant bursting from the soil.

Toka was helpless to stop the livid Level-5 as he threw his right palm out behind him and speed up the molecules in the air to create an explosive propulsive flame similar to the ignition of a jet engine. Multiple factors came into play by the jet engine flame's birth that sent him racing forward like a rocket. As the Level-5 he was, he had already properly calculated all the small fine-tune details and risks of basically riding the explosive pressure no normal human should have survived without losing a limb or being wrecked by inertia.

His control was so fined tuned that not an ember had strayed to kiss Toka's skin as he rode the explosive force forward and turned a corner with another blast of flames in seconds.

Toka grit her teeth at the speed her older brother had disappeared with.

She was just a normal high school girl who hadn't unlocked any special supernatural gifts. All she had were the natural born instincts and reflexes she had always associated with her father. She wasn't some athletic girl who had the hidden talent of running track and becoming the lead protagonist of a track manga if she tried. She would never be able to catch up to such a monster if she tried.

Just what exactly was happening to the once peaceful situation?

A silent lockdown?

Anti-Skill and Judgment?

A lost little sister and the dregs of a Magic God?

Just when had things spiraled so quickly into unrest of peaking chaos ready to snap its jaws into the story of recovery and mending beginnings?

Toka clenched her right fist, catching the ever-present ember of a tall figure standing behind her trembling back as the flames of a Level-5 faded.

"Does it bother you?"

Of course, it does!

The small tremors of disaster was about to converge and unleash a tsunami of cruelty and suffering to all those behind these walls designed to bring soothing relief and spell the end of a tragic story. This hospital was supposed to be a place where new beginnings and the chance to return to the normal world outside could be found by everyone. Yet dreg of a future without smiles was about to announce its malice.

Where would the point of misfortune break open?

As if there was any question of where Toka should have taken a step towards.

"Even if you have no idea to what's going on, even if you only seek to lay back and sleep the pain away, even if you desire a break from it all for a single day, misfortune never gives you a rest, eh, Tou-san?"

Toka couldn't help but speak the sad and bitter truth with a weak smile as she ran in the opposite direction she had seen Kaen run off to.

Wherever this developing story was progressing, no matter the details of it all, no matter the characters involved, there was no mistaking it.

At the very end of it all, it would all lead back to that one boy.

Kamijou Touma.

[-]

Kamijou Touma wasn't sure what to make of his current predicament. Currently, he was sitting back on his hospital bed, two empty cans of dark coffee(no sugars and no cream)sitting beside the provided nightstand next to him, with his right hand free of the usual cast and sling since a nurse had come by earlier to let the new stitches breathe, with a perplexed expression on his face.

As stated at the beginning of this morning, he was horribly wounded after his battles in the gang war streets of District 10 and the tragedy of Mila Etoile.

Multiple bones had either been broken or fractured.

A tremendous amount of blood had been lost.

His wounds ranged from scraps to gouges and lacerations.

His muscles had been worn out and nearly snapped as rubber bands stretched beyond their limits.

He couldn't even walk out of bed without the assistance of crutches if he simply wished to use the bathroom.

Let's remember that last part for later; okay?

Without his crutches, he couldn't step off his bed without the assistance of a doctor or nurse. He had recovered far quicker when compared to an average person who had gone through the damage he had(Touma had silently wept when the frog faced doctor remarked about his body being some piece of fantasy to have survived this long) but he wasn't yet ready to be moving without a literal crutch to help him. He couldn't even make a fist due to either stitches or finger splints on his hands!

Safe to say, no amount of restlessness could be used as an excuse to hop off of his bed for the remainder of his time in the hospital. Whatever energy he had before had been spent.

Even with all the canned coffee he had drunk, it would be wise for him to lay back and sleep off the excess energy rather than go for another leisurely walk.

He was battered, bruised, sore, and still recovering all the energy spent from the special event he had randomly walked onto without any notice. Honestly, bed rest was the only thing he should have been focusing on at all right now. Even his developing depression should take a back seat so he could heal from a large number of sutures knitted into his flesh.

Sleep.

All he had to do was sleep it off until he was released in another day or two of good behavior like he was some prisoner waiting to be unshackled.

But nothing was ever so simple for a human embodiment of pure misfortune.

It started when he heard the door to his room opening. He had thought it was another nurse checking in on him. Since he had been first admitted, he found his check-ups were a lot more frequent than normal. He couldn't help but feel as if he was being treated like some delicate child dealing with dark thoughts of suicide with how gentle and soft-spoken they all were.

Sure, he probably brought this kind of behavior from the general staff on himself. He did try to cripple his arm in grief by continually bashing his already broken right hand against the wall. He should have counted what abysmal blessings he had that they didn't chalk him up as suicidal.

Point was, he was ready for the usual check-up from the ever kind and understanding staff. He even smiled to greet them.

Then the nurse walked in.

...She was no nurse.

No, nope, nuh-uh.

The obvious middle-school girl with tawny pigtails wearing the pink nurse uniform symbolizing her position as a character who healed and cared for those wounded by various trauma was not a nurse. She obviously failed since she hadn't even bothered to tie her pigtails back in a bun as all true nurses should! Right from the get-go, she had failed!

No way in hell.

He didn't care if such people as Komoe-sensei existed to prove such childish characters were older than presumed! At least his elementary stature teacher possessed the aura of someone who taught idiots like this Kamijou-san despite how young she appeared.

The tawny pigtails middle school girl who walked in with a gentle smile and clipboard in hand was no nurse! This was cosplay if anything at all! Wasn't it a crime to dress as an individual of the law or something? Didn't such rules apply to those who worked in the medical field too?

Immediately as the (fake)nurse had greeted him politely, and he came over his suspicious staring of the (fake)nurse-whose face muscles twitched at being stared at flatly- Touma voiced his thoughts to the obvious middle school girl probably in her first or second year.

She smiled at him with an underlining superiority.

"I'm actually a Level-4 esper from the prestigious Tokiwadai Middle School who, one day, hopes to work as a caring and nurturing doctor in the future. Due to my outstanding grades, references, and talent, I've been allowed to participate in a special program for only the brightest of students wishing to work in the medical field to experience a day in the life of such adults we wish to become. Of course, individuals like myself, no matter how gifted or knowledgeable we may be in our studies of the human anatomy, aren't permitted to such delicate matters as open-heart surgery. We're simply taking on the roles of nurses helping patients who have been known to respond kindly to the staff and such. So, please take care of this young and naive Ya-chan as she does her best in caring for your well being!"

Touma blinked as he heard the explanation by the (fake)nurse and scratched at the bandages wrapped around his head.

A day in the life program? Such things existed to even a girl in her preteens? Then again, she did say she was a student of the super-rich girls-only school, Tokiwadai. If he believed the rumors surrounding such a golden sheen and sparkling school, they were even taught by former world-renowned professors in their elementary branch building.

She did possess a certain air about her, similar to what he felt when he spoke with the kind and innocent Hokaze Junko he had just befriended. Except he felt Hokaze fit the picture-perfect image of ojou far better than the little girl who also exuded a light air of superiority.

Weird as it was, Touma didn't argue with the girl playing nurse for the day, nodding his head with a simple smile.

It was a learning experience for her. A chance for her to experience what it would be like one day when she completed all her studies paid with hard work, sweat, and tears. Those who wished to work in the medical field were known to have to work the hardest to achieve the job entitling the health and well being of complete strangers. It was a noble title for sure.

Girls the age of the tawny nurse dreamed of many selfish dreams. They dreamed of being movie stars. They dreamed of being glamorous idols. They dreamed of fame and fortune. They dreamed of holding great political power.

But instead of a selfish illusion, the young nurse doing her best to care for this lousy high school boy set her eyes on becoming a healing figure despite how arduous and draining the path ahead was.

Touma could respect a girl like that.

Even if her small breasts disqualified her from any fantasies or labels as being a proper woman like Strong-Armed Nurse-san.

Relenting to the short pigtail girl's care, Touma prepared himself for the usual routine of check-ups administered by the ever kind and gentle staff.

Naturally, he began to peel off his hospital gown, revealing a slight peek of his bandaged wrapped chest to the underage girl.

"Why are you taking your hospital gown off?! How are you even able to do that?! You can't even properly use both hands!"

"Oh, the hospital gown provided by the nurses can be undone from my neck with just a few simple tugs. Even with my fingers being rolled up like coin rolls, I can still undo the straps. And what do you mean why am I taking off my gown? Aren't you performing the usual check-up the nurses have been doing? This is the part where I have to try and flex the sore muscles of my chest to make sure the elasticity is healing fine. Then you're going to wrap your hand around my biceps to make sure I can still summon the strength to my limbs. If I can ask a favor; can we skip the heartbeat check-up? I'm not sure I'm comfortable with a girl your age pressing her ear against my chest even if it's for the good of your education to learn how a human heartbeat sounds without the aid of medical tools."

"I'm not doing any of that! In fact, I'm not entirely positive the medical personnel should be doing any of that either! They're just blatantly feeling you up under the pretense of playing nurse, aren't they?! Don't tell me they also give you sponge baths!?"

"Can we skip that too? No offense, but I'm not entirely comfortable with a middle school girl's soapy, wet, and naive hands rubbing over my body. Pretty sure I'd be breaking some kind of law there even if you are the one basically molesting me in the name of caretaking. I will not be branded a pervert, I refuse."

"Rubbing all over you? Just what kind of treatment does an ape like you get? It almost sounds like all the nurses here are a bunch of shameless perverts abusing their authority to harass one boy to do whatever fantasies those hags can dream up! ...Is this the true power hidden behind the nurse class? D-Does that mean I can do the same to Onee-sama under the guise of a highly professional nurse who can feel up her patient under the pretense of healing?!"

"Excuse me, Ya-san? I'm a little worried about the blush on your face and the sinister gleam in your eyes, not to mention your flexing hands gestured to perform some crime. Wait...are you drooling?"

In the opinion of this normal high school boy, the middle school girl playing nurse was obviously strange and perhaps secretly a pervert if the drool and giggling was any indication of anything.

Whatever the tawny girl's tastes were, she was his nurse for the moment.

While she wasn't a legitimate one like the many who frequently visited his room to watch over his health with gentle and bright smiles, the whole entire reason she was here was to learn how to one day take care of patients such as himself. This was a learning experience for her. Due to her high grades, perfect behavior, and high-class status as an ojou of Tokiwadai, she had earned this very rare opportunity to work with those she hoped to one day mend and help return to their normal everyday lives after being struck by misfortune.

This was her chance to learn and grow into the ideal nurse held in her small chest.

"So, no physical check-up then? I'm more than fine with anything else if you are. Just a head's up though, I've already taken my pain medication for the next four to five hours, Nurse-san."

Fixing his blue hospital gown back on and laying back in bed with a small grunt, Touma waited for the tawny pigtail girl to get her bearings together after nearly being flashed by a high school boy.

After cleaning up her drool from the rather lewd fantasies of a certain Railgun, Kuroko straightened up and went back into Nurse Mode. Her eyes went to the spiky-haired boy, roaming over his general well-being while noting the crutches standing next to his bed and close to the small desk which was decorated with various gifts from the staff.

A half-ass mummy was the perfect way to describe the rather plain face boy whose only notable features were his spiky black hair and the rather comedic amount of bandages he was dolled up in.

A survivor of the District 10 riots.

Someone who had been harmed in the chaos of the budding violence which had been growing in the dissatisfied hearts of those Academy City had labeled as Level-0s.

During the separate event created by the sudden malfunction of various automotive pieces of machinery ranging from Cleaning Bots to Power Suits attacking the general populace on the streets, both Anti-Skill and Judgment had been focused on dealing with said threat while District 10 had been engulfed in gang warfare by the splinter cells of Skill-Out. A majority of those who had been harmed in various degrees of severity were not all hoodlums or even Level-0s. There were a few unfortunate students and adults who had been swept up in the wave of gunfire by mere chance.

And sitting in bed, both hands broken with the right just being freed from a sling, every visible corner of his skin wrapped up in either bandages or gauze, a pair of crutches to help him move about if he had to, and small trash can she had caught the eye of where she had seen bloody tissues, used sutures, and the remains of what she believed were the husks of a cast to said free right arm, was one of those victims Judgment had failed to save.

Something ugly formed in the pit of her stomach at the sight of the normally smiling boy who had felt the malice of those she was supposed to fend off.

Normally, she would never associate herself with such a boring faced boy. She'd rather be on patrol or, better yet, in the company of her lovely Onee-sama!

But because Anti-Skill and Judgment had been too busy fighting a robot uprising, they had failed to ensure the safety of students like Kamijou Touma.

Smiling politely, Kuroko reached for the spiky boy's medical chart, so she at least appeared to be playing the part of a nurse as she skimmed his papers.

This was more than just protecting the boy from the threat of a dreg of the violence of days ago out of a sense of duty.

For failing to ensure he hadn't been engulfed in the cruelty of Skill-Outs gang war, it was only fair she protected his peace, so that he may be able to walk out of these doors and back into the world without fear. She wouldn't let him slip through the cracks of violence again.

"There's no need for anything else, Kamijou-san. I'm simply here to make sure you are feeling well and to assist you with anything you may need. As I said, I'm a Student Nurse observing a day in the life to further improve my studies in the medical field. I won't be doing anything more than aiding you in moving about, giving you your medicine, cleaning your sheets, providing you comfort, or even grabbing you a snack if you feel peckish." Kuroko explained simply with her eyes planted on the clipboard in hand, "Currently, much of the staff are occupied with other matters, so I'll be your sole helper for the next few hours. I've been told you are a rather polite and well-mannered patient who has never caused any of the hospital staff any problems, so they believed I would have little trouble caring for you in their steed."

"I guess that makes sense?" Touma said skeptically to the middle school girl.

It was a little odd to hear all of the personnel staff were too occupied to care for him, but he wasn't the only patient in the hospital who required his attention. Complaining about the lack of attention from the overly friendly nurses and the frog-faced doctor wasn't something Kamijou Touma would ever do.

It wasn't like he was in need of anything anyways. If all Little Nurse-chan was required to do was watch over him and make his stay comfortable then he wouldn't cause her any trouble.

He shifted awkwardly in his bed.

Yup, he wouldn't cause the sweet, smart, and admittedly cute, ojou any fuss!

Touma bit his lip, his face scrunched up slightly.

Nu-uh! He already had his pain medication for the next few hours and could already feel the oddly soothing yet numbing effect of the rather powerful medicine sinking into his aching body and silence his wounds. And while he was bored without anyone to talk to, he simply needed to wait until Index and Angela arrived in the late morning for some company.

Toes curled and his legs crossed to hold back the building pressure contained in a certain 'dragon' between his legs.

His face grew slightly sweaty as he sucked in a sharp breath.

"Hmm? I something bothering you, Kamijou-san? Your body appears to be trembling. Are you feeling uncomfortable? Does anything hurt?"

Being the nurse, even if she was still a middle school student, she had asked what was wrong with him with worry as she fixed a stray lock of tawny hair back behind her ear and grew closer to his bedside. Normally, he would think the action made her appear cute even if she did lack what all real women needed in the chest department to cause this high school boy's heart to throb anxiously.

But there was a problem he urgently needed to deal with right now. One he couldn't have such a young girl aid him with less he be branded a pervert or worse!

Damn it! How was it that his favorite coffee was running straight through him now of all times!?

He was ready to burst.

The damn was cracking.

A certain pipeline was about to erupt.

In layman's terms: Touma needed to take a piss.

NOW.

"Pardon me, Twintail-Nurse-san,-"

"I have a name, Kamijou-san; Ya-san."

...Weird name aside…

"Would it be too much trouble for you to hand me my crutches? I, kinda, have to take care of some important business. Urgently." Said the now sweating spiky boy squirming in his bed.

Kuroko shook her head, her twin-tails flapping in the motion as she was unaware of the high school boy's predicament.

"Apologies, Kamijou-san. But I was given strict orders that you stay put in your room for the foreseeable future. You're still in a rather fragile state; I was told you had snapped the stitches in your broken right hand and just had them replaced. You are in no state to go about another walk around the halls. Not to mention, we have a very sick patient who has escaped his room and is roaming about the halls with a contagious disease. To ensure the safety and well-being of all patients and staff, we have locked down the hospital until we have escorted the unwell patient back into his quarantined room."

There was no highly contagious patient stumbling about the halls of the hospital. It was nothing but a well-built lie to have all members of the staff and patients stay put in their rooms until the true threat to their health was dealt with swiftly.

An intruder, a cruel element, had slipped into this sanctuary of healing and was after the boy known as Kamijou Touma. The assailant had been spotted earlier interacting with an elementary student. The cruel element had hacked into the hospital's security system, breaching every protective layer, and wormed himself in to locate his target while disabling their own hands in the system.

To protect all those innocent parties in this white building designed to heal those who have overcome a horrible event in their life and to return to a normal life with a smile on their faces, a small party of both Anti-Skill and Judgment had been dispatched to block the cruel element from further sowing pain onto those who deserved the opportunity to rest with the hope of putting their past troubles behind them.

Kuroko's purpose was to act as the shield to a high school boy who had his body pummeled by the spray of violent events that had transpired in District 10 at the failure of both Anti-Skill and Judgment. The broken right hand with numerous stitches, the finger splints on his left hand, the numerous rolls of bandages found on just about every inch of skin, the unseen damage to his organs, and the crutches laid next to his bed; she was just as much to blame for all of his 'medals' of suffering for failing to reach people like him when they were in need of saving.

So, she would ensure, right here and right now, that the boy known as Kamijou Touma would be kept safe from whatever malevolent blade was currently seeking out to drag him back into suffering.

She stood stubbornly by the spiky hair boy's bed, crossing her arms underneath her small chest, refusing to hand the (sweating and trembling)high schooler his crutches.

"Whatever your reason for wanting to move about is, I apologize, but I insist you stay in bed. I'm sure it won't be too long until you can move about. For now, just take a nap or read a book or something. You're in no condition to-"

"I have to use the bathroom."

"...What?"

"There's a leak that needs attending."

"..."

"My main pipeline is about to gush out."

"..."

"I need to drain the lizard. Release some fluids. Water some plants. What I'm trying to say is-"

"..." Kuroko's mouth silently dropped as her mind went blank at the squirming boy's rambling relating to the quenching of his thighs. Nothing but innuendos were heard by the high school boy she felt obligated to protect as a proud and dutiful member of Judgment.

H-How uncouth! Where was this-this-this neanderthal's shame? Was he, honestly, telling a young maiden such as this innocent Kuroko that he needed to-!

"Ya-san, this Kamijou-san is sorry, but if he doesn't attend to the building pressure in his hidden hose, he's going to burst all over the place and may even splash you."

For all of Kuroko's patience and sympathy for the bedridden boy caught up in the churning waves of violence peacekeepers like herself had failed to shield him from, it equaled to nothing at the final innuendo.

A snap within the pretend nurse's mind was heard.

Touma blinked at the growing red-faced twin-tail middle school nurse at his bedside. He could see her small body seem to quake like a rumbling volcano. What must have been the previous Kamijou Touma's acute sense of awareness to misfortune must have tickled the warning siren's in his mind as he began to sweat nervously at the young maiden he had just said some rather veiled vulgar terms to.

Let the records, both past, present, and future, show that this Kamijou Touma, no matter his specs or memories building up his core and being, was, in fact, by the holy ghost's good graces, an idiot.

And he was, in some small part, responsible for some of his misfortune due to his crass and blunt tone.

"Eh, Y-Ya-san? I apologize if I was being a little too veiled, but, just in case you might not have understood due to being a sheltered and elite ojou from Tokiwadai, what I'm trying to say is-"

"I NOW WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO SAY, YOU DAMN FILTHY APE! ARE YOU SERIOUSLY MAKING SUCH ILLUSIVE AND CRUDE INNUENDOS TO A MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRL WITHOUT EVEN FLINCHING?! YOU COULD HAVE JUST SAID YOU NEEDED TO USE THE BATHROOM AND NOT HAVE GONE INTO A MINUTE LONG EXPLANATION FOR DIFFERENT MEANINGS TO YOUR T-T-T-THING!"

Before Touma's hidden dragon exploded, Kuroko exploded.

The twin-tails of the middle school girl playing the act of a student nurse seemed to take after hissing snakes as they arose and slithered in the air as she stood furiously over the terrified spiky boy. Out of an instinct all humans possessed from childhood, he protectively shielded himself with his blanket from the growling beast he had awoken. Was he seeing things, or had 'Ya-san' magically summoned what looked like white needle darts in between her fingers?

Ah, right, this was Academy City. His hallucination could be explained properly by logic. She was a student of Tokiwadai: she was an esper.

And he may have ticked off the Level-3 Esper of unknown supernatural ability.

Angry twin-tail student nurse aside, there was still the matter of his urgent problem.

"B-Before any misfortune this Kamijou-san might have rightfully collected for his idiot mouth is activated, I-I still need to really, really, really use the bathroom."

Metal darts gleamed menacingly in Kuroko's hands, "Hold. It. In! As I said, we are in lockdown until the very ill and contagious diseased patient has been caught. We can't simply leave the room! You're a boy, aren't you? Then it should be easy for you to hold it in until it's clear to step out!"

"I can't hold it in any longer! If I could, I would! Just because I'm a boy, doesn't mean I have some incredibly high endurance in keeping my piss back when I need to go! I know you're a student nurse participating in a day in the life program, but if I don't go to the restroom right now, you're going to gain some serious experience points in how to clean up a urine-soaked patient and bedsheets!"

Agape by the statement fabricating the disgusting illusion of having to clean up after a high school bed peeing his bed like some five-year-old, Kuroko struggled to make through her threat of assaulting the already heavily wounded Touma. Still, despite the threat of the darts piercing his body, the squirming boy insisted on resolving the important dilemma.

"I understand the situation and all, but the restroom is only a few feet away; right by the nurses' station! I won't take long at all. I go in, we go out; no problem. Please! Don't make this pathetic Kamijou-san beg when he can't even stand on his own two feet without stumbling!"

An irritated growl escaped Kuroko's lips as she tried her hardest to keep her temper in check. Civic duty stated a member of civil service was prohibited from causing harm to the very people they were duty-bound to protect; no matter how annoying they were. Calm, she had to be calm. Don't lose your temper, Kuroko-san, you were better than this neanderthal.

Sighing in frustration, Kuroko turned away from the high school boy on the verge of springing a foul leak. One she would-Kuroku shivered in disgust-have to clean up in order to play the part of the passionate student nurse to avoid suspicion. Feelings of guilt aside, there was no way in hell she was going to do such a filthy task for some boy!

If it was her lovely Onee-san, it would be a whole other thing.

She tapped her pointer finger along her crossed arms in thought to her current dilemma.

It was true that the bathroom closest to their location was no more than a simple walk. It wouldn't take any more than two minutes. If any problems arose, the nurse's station nearby had a panic button she could hit in case of any emergencies. Not to mention her ability, Teleport, would make it a breeze to escape any danger lurking in the halls.

She knew perfectly well she was going against orders set by adults who understood far more than her, but Kuroko refused to spin the barrel of the gun in this game of roulette!

She was a Level-4 esper, an ojou of the infamous Tokiwadai Middle School, possessing one of the strongest Teleport abilities in all of Academy City. There was little she couldn't handle.

Relenting to the squirming boy, Kuroko made up her mind.

"Fine. But we have to make it quick, understand?! Even if you are reliant on crutches, don't expect me to go in there with you to help you do your business! So, hurry it up!"

The grimacing high school boy nodded rapidly to the request as the twin-tail student nurse helped him on his feet.

This was another learning experience, he thought as he was handed his crutches.

Surely, nothing could possibly go wrong.

Not even his misfortune was so cruel when all he needed to do was take a piss.

[-]

Red flames blossomed beautifully, erupting in an explosive burst to a send deeply scowling shaggy-haired brunette flying through the halls like a steady rocket.

'Damn it! What the hell's going?'

Mugino Kaen entered the pediatric wing on the coattails of his explosive flames produced from his palm, skidding onto the well-polished tiled floor with a snarl.

Two tall figures decked in Anti-Skill body armor stood at the very end of the wing of the hallway. All the doors were shut, locked to protect the young patients naively hidden away from whatever malicious figure was slithering outside their rooms. At the sight of Kaen and the lingering flames trailing behind him from his ability, both adult men swiftly reached for whatever weapons they had to their waists.

"Hold it! Don't move! This is Anti-Skill and we-!"

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY, PISS-ANTS!"

It happened in a flash.

The Anti-Skill officers hadn't even had the time to touch their weapons before Kaen threw both of his hands back.

Scornful flames erupted out of his palms like the jet engine flames of a plane. White and blue devoured the normal orange-red and yellow pigments due to the increase of intensity scorching air.

Kaen clenched his teeth amid the roar of his flames sending him shooting straight ahead as if he was a metal pellet launched from a slingshot. The sheer speed he was flying at whipped at his clothes and put a heavy strain on his body. No normal human should have been capable of enduring such inertia.

But Kaen was a Level-5, one who had been fascinated with application, not sheer power and destructive capability. He had learned long ago to handle such strains, putting him far above the other espers of his time to reach the summit of Number 3.

Cutting off his flaming jets mid-flight, the Level-5 reached the stunned officers in the blink of an eye. His hands, smoking with the tell-tale of intense heat from his abilities, speared forward so that his left hand and his right hand each touched the side of his target's faces; palm against ear. He was careful not to snap their necks, choosing instead to transfer the sheer kinetic energy he had attained with his maneuver into sending them smashing against the wall. Both adult men were knocked out as the heavy impacts rattled their brains. They slid down the walls with blood trickling down their mouths, nose, and ears.

Kaen didn't care. He knew they would live.

Instead of checking on their conditions, he chose instead to keep riding on the propulsion created by the calculated explosive flames blossoming from his palms.

Whatever damage he created with his ability, whatever injuries he inflicted with his ability, whatever tears he caused with his ability, he didn't care.

All he cared about was protecting the one smile that mattered more to him than anything else in the world.

As he fired off another blossoming flame from his right hand, altering its burn off and intensity to compensate for the curving hall he was entering, he only thought of the well-being of one individual.

'Kamiko-chan, what the hell happened to you? Was that really you? Was that thing overflowing with malice and hate, really the little sister who never let go of my sleeve when we were kids? It can't be. It can't be! My little sister isn't some monster possessed by something as idiotic as hate! I refuse to believe such bullshit!'

Once again, he found another set of obstacles in his way.

Anti-Skill, Judgment, hospital staff; they didn't matter.

Kaen steamrolled his way straight through them without losing speed, knocking each and every last one of them out with either the explosive force created by his flames, a fist in their face, or burning the oxygen around them so they would pass out.

No doubt his flames had left black char scars over the sturdy walls.

He'd probably stained the clean and pristine floors with droplets of blood from those who only desired to protect.

He was responsible for further causing the flame of fear to grow by adding wooden logs to the bonfire.

He didn't care.

He didn't feel sorry.

No sympathy was felt in his burning heart.

Mugino Kaen wasn't like his father who held the smiles of everyone above all else.

Kaen was selfish and only ever interested in protecting the world centered around him. He fought for selfish reasons, hurt for selfish reasons, and burned for selfish reasons. Just like his mother, he was a selfish monster who only acted on the interests centered on herself and no one else. His fangs and claws were ruthless and held no kindness to those who got in the way of his desires.

Only the blissful and bright smiles of those he cherished mattered to him. The world could burn so long as those he loved were spared.

"GET!"

A middle school girl with the infamous green Judgment band had turned a corner, spotted him, and raised her hand to create what appeared to be a spear of light to intercept him.

Kaen flung her aside with an explosive palm strike to her chest.

"THE FUCK!"

An Anti-Skill officer dressed as a janitor stood in his way, riot shield stamped to the floor as a rampart to block him and his flames.

He shattered the tempered plastic-like material designed to withstand the destructive abilities of Level-3s and Level-4s to pieces singing with orange on the edges before driving his fist in his face.

"OUT OF!"

Was it a nurse checking to see what the commotion was about? A doctor braving whatever fears in his heart were telling him to stay inside to step out to do something to protect his patients? Or even a naive already wounded patient daring to go out?

Whoever it was that got within his sights, he sent them back into their room with a concussive blast of flames.

"MY WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

Silent Guardian?

A caring older brother?

As if he was something so kind.

Gritting his teeth, Kaen cut off his explosive bursts so he would skid to stop. Against his own demands, he leaned on his knees and began to pant, sweat dripping down his face in the middle of the hall. A slight tremble struck his entire body as he began to hear a slight ringing in his ears.

Something was off.

An odd whine was heard, ever faint and soft, only registered by his eardrums as something as gentle as the whoosh of a palm.

As a Level-5, the Number 3 in his time, he had overcome certain limits on his body which had gotten in the way of how much firepower he could produce. He no longer felt a certain threshold of strain striking back at him when he fired flames capable of breaking the sound barrier. At most, he would cause an uncomfortable strain to his bones depending on where he ignited the molecules and threaten to break them if he wasn't careful with his calculations. Unlike his mother, the Meltdowner, who was extremely limited to the application of her ability threatening to destroy her, he had learned how to properly deal with such nuisances to reach the title of Third Strongest.

He should have been capable of going as he was for another half-hour before the inertia caused serious damage to his organs and bones.

Yet, against his better judgment, he had to stop as he felt his flames grow unstable.

The whining in his ears grew stronger.

"W-What the fuck is this?"

"Oh, so it does work on even a Level-5 like yourself. Today's just proving to bear all sorts of fruits to my research for later study. Seems I was right to try my hands on throwing my line to see if I could snag such a rare and fascinating fish.

The previous door Kaen had slammed shut, by sending whoever was stepping out with a concussive blast created by the rapid acceleration of molecules erupting into flames, creaked open with a menacing whine.

Someone stepped out into the halls reeking of smoke and cinder with a pocky stick caught between a lazy grin.

A boy of possibly fifteen or sixteen walked out with a white lab coat slung over his shoulders like a robe or a cape. His features were smooth yet sharp, his black hair cut short along the sides with the top of his hair spiked, and possessed the aura of the cool faced bad boy middle and high school girls adored in TV dramas. The boy wrung his right wrist, flexing his fingers to work out any kinks as he gazed at Kaen with amusement.

Dark blue eyes filled with curiosity, glee, and something twisted were only focused on the Level-5 of a future no longer present.

The knocked out and injured Anti-Skill, Judgment, and hospital staff didn't matter to this unusual element popping out of nowhere.

Kaen scowled deeply at the smooth-faced lab coat wearing boy.

"Who the fuck are you?"

Kaen didn't recognize the lazy grinning boy who seemed to be responsible for his ability losing its strength and threaten to break his insides by the rebounding inertia of his calculations thrown off.

Nothing about the lab coat wearing bastard rung any bells in his head. Not a thing came to mind. Whoever it was who greeted him was a complete and utter stranger he had never so much as crossed on the street when he had been heading to school.

And the lack of familiarity only seemed to cause the grin on the lab coat wearing boy to stretch further.

"As expected, I suppose. If you had recognized me, this would have all be all the less romantic. This is exactly how I like things going. Mystery is such a romantic spice in life, don't you think?"

Kaen's response was throwing out his left hand.

An intense heat gathered in his palm, its coloration burning a blinding mix of white and blue.

Running the proper calculations through his head, Kaen launched a scoring spear of flames straight at the nonchalant lab coat bastard.

Shinzo matched his half-sibling's gesture, throwing out his right hand calmly in the wake of the devouring flames of over 1,500C.

Once again, the odd whining pierced Kaen's ears.

And his flames lost their stability, wavering like light waves. The straight flame spear bent in various angles.

BOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!

Kaen watched as his spear of flames, devised for a straight and true path of destruction, intended to erupt in an afterburn of flames capable of only causing moderate damage to the area around them, and harm only its sole target, grew unstable like a wet noodle wriggling about. The loss of stability from his calculations caused the spear to prematurely detonate in a far greater area of effect that would have collapsed the hallway if he hadn't tried to reduce the damage at the last second.

Even with all his training over his ability, Kaen still found himself blown back by the violent bomb his spear had become. The crashing wave of force from his unstable flame sent him hurling back with a grunt as the flames crawled over the white hallway.

A small bead of red seeped from his lips as he grimaced on his back.

It was as if he had been struck by the compressed air ruptured from a grenade only a few feet away from him. If he had hadn't conditioned his body to handle such strain on his organs, he would have died.

The sound of joints popping was heard as he began to stand back up.

"It seems it's a lot more effective than I initially believed but it is lacking in what I hoped. Though, matching the calculations of a Level-5 on a doll's hair is difficult to perform. If it was anyone else who picked this up, they would surely fail. At this time, I think its application could only ever be used to its fullest would be Amata-oji-san. Perhaps I'll share the notes of my research with him if he divulges his own on how to handle Accelerator. Surely, with both methods of study, I can further improve Calculation Breaker."

It hurt, he was sure something had been damaged in his body to cause his mouth to taste of slick copper, but Kaen stood on his feet with a furious snarl.

"Who the fuck do you think you are, you limp dick piss-ant?! Do you think some fucking little trick would be enough to put me down?"

Shinzo regarded Kaen with a now disinterested stare.

"You certainly do like to say fuck a lot when you're angry. Such a vulgar tongue. Then again, you are the 'oldest' son of both the Imagine Breaker and Meltdowner; I shouldn't be surprised. Biologically speaking, you were destined to be a violent boy due to genetics. While traits and personality aren't necessarily known to be passed down from parent into the child, it is said that the genes inherited by said child create proteins that better help in the development of certain ticks depending on environment and other stimuli in early development. An offspring of two parents who can only resolve matters through violence can only ever know how to show his fangs so cruelly; between romantic or unromantic, I'd lean more into the former than the later."

Kaen swallowed the pain he was feeling from the wave of assaulting air, rushing forward with a timed burst of flames from his left hand. His right hand flew forward, clawed for a tiger strike for the face of the infuriating boy who was mocking him.

He didn't understand what kind of bullshit trick the lab coat boy was using to mess with his ability. He didn't care about the fact that the smooth-faced boy had let loose some important and concerning information about Kaen's true origins. Whatever damage he suffered to cause blood to slip out of his lips could fuck off.

Whoever the lab coat boy was, he was in the way of Kaen's desire to save his little sister.

Cutting off his flames before whatever trick the lab coat boy used was played, Kaen rushed at Shinzo on the explosive wind propelling him ahead. A light heat could be seen on the skin of his clawed fingers ready to deal damage capable of melting skin like butter and burning bones into a fine black.

"You truly do take after your Tou-san and Kaa-san to a T. Rushing straight ahead without any thought. Tell me; are these the actions of your mind, or your heart speaking?"

2,000C.

At such an intense degree of heat, even rock would melt like chocolate. What happened to the human body at such contact was far too gruesome to speak off.

Such heat was condensed in the bottom of Kaen's clawed fingers to cruelly dig into his target with no hesitation.

Yet Shinzo caught the tiger strike with his right hand as easily as a baseball thrown by a child.

A new sound was heard in Kaen's ears, one that caused his vision to swim for a brief second.

The molecules vibrated at insane speed and gathered at his fingertips vanished like the lit flame of a candle by a gust of wind.

And for once, Kaen felt a chilling prick stab at his heart.

A Level-5 was a Level-5, no matter their ranks among themselves. They were human nuclear warheads who, theoretically, could decimate armies on their own through their unique applications over their abilities. Even if he was only the Number 3, he was still a monster in his own right.

It shouldn't have been possible for some random nobody to appear out of nowhere and treat him as a joke!

Hand caught in the iron-strong grip of the lab coat boy, Kaen could only glare hatefully with a grimace at the lax faced boy.

"Is this the strength of your heart? Is that really it? How unromantic of a conclusion. I would have thought you would have had some of his core aiding you, but you truly do only take after the worst of your parents. To think I decided to step away from my research for such a boring side quest. I was hoping to see something to add into my notes, but you're utterly lacking in charm."

A sharp sound sliced through Kaen's thoughts, causing one of his eyes to shut as he flinched. Through the uncomfortable sensation causing his body to sweat, he tried to unleash his flames at point-blank to drill straight through the annoying lab coat boy.

Shinzo only smiled coolly as he rolled the pocky stick in his mouth around.

"Honestly, just how were you expecting to save Kamiko-chan from the dregs of a supposed Magic God with such a weak heart?"

That was it.

Just the spark he was missing to detonate.

The skin on Shinzo's palms grew wet.

Not from sweat.

But from the skin tissue melting away like soggy toilet paper.

Despite his palm being melted by the intense heat gushing out of the Level-5s right hand, Shinzo didn't reveal any sign of pain.

Only curiosity and fascination.

"Oh? Was I wrong? Is it that certain conditions have to be met in order for your heart's true power to reveal itself? Now, this is romantic! What other boxes do I have to check off before I truly bear witness to what your core is truly capable of?!"

Shinzo jumped back from the sweltering aura flowing from Kaen's body, disregarding the ugly mess his right hand had been reduced to. Flesh was reduced to a texture reminiscent of dripping hot plastic slowly falling to the floor. Red oil dripped steadily from said hand, appearing as if it was a poorly made hand of clay created by a child. An odd smell hit his nose.

Kaen didn't care.

His dark blue eyes were alight with a dark inferno amid the crawling embers peppered around him from his failed attacks. A dark shadow masked his face as he grinned maliciously. His right hand forewent the tiger palm to brutishly clench his blazing fist, gaining tendrils of smoke from his ability lighting his skin aflame.

Behind the enraged Level-5s back, five balls of fire were born. Just glancing at those hellish orbs burned the retinas of the Kihara's eyes. It was as if he was staring at the blazing sun.

At that moment, the lighting and shadows created by the intense flames created an illusion.

Mugino Kaen.

Level-5.

The Number-3; Incendiary.

The Hellfire Prince.

The son of two terrifying monsters who used violence to tear down whatever stood before him with red hot glowing balls of fire and a clenched fist.

A demon born of flames stood in the hallway and summoned a mini hell to converge around the two children of Kamijou Touma.

"Oi, I could have sworn you said something about my little imouto there. Care to explain why you know my adorable and naive little sister's name, you piece of shit?"

Shinzo adjusted his disfigured right hand, snapping joints and cracking bones that had been damaged by the heat of the Level-5 he was facing in a place of restoration.

He couldn't help but grin excitedly.

Research came in many forms.

Violence was no different in gathering essential material.

[-]

The trip to the bathroom should have been quick. No more than two to three minutes; five minutes tops. Compared to girls, boys were far quicker when they needed to urinate. A zip, a release, a zip again, wash your hands, dry your hands, and you were done!

Boys truly had it far much easier in that regard.

So, it should have been a quick and simple trip to the restroom located close to the nurses' station which was only a simple walk away from Kamijou Touma's room.

Once again, Kuroko found it strange how the ordinary spiky boy's room was situated between the ICU and the nurses' station. Wasn't such a chilling room known for its high turnover rate? So, why was it that the high death rate room labeled with a golden plaque with the boy's name?

Kuroko didn't pay it any mind, impatiently tapping her finger on her forearm as she waited outside the boy's restroom. She leaned by the door, her eyes lazily gazing up at the ceiling as she waited for her patient to finish his business.

This trip should have taken no less than five minutes. They should have already been back at the door of Kamijou Touma's room.

But the spiky neanderthal was still using the bathroom!

"How long does it take a high school boy to do such a simple task? I thought boys were famous for relieving themselves in a matter of seconds."

Her irritated voice slipped past the door to reach the object of her impatience.

"Do you know how difficult it is to use the bathroom when both your fingers are in cast?! Even if the cast on my right hand is gone, it doesn't mean my right arm wasn't broken! What was a simple task has turned into a complex maneuver of movements using two messed up hands. I'm practically in tears right now!"

Kuroko grimaced in disgust as she finally heard the sound of a stream of liquid being released accompanied by a sniffle from the boy. She supposed it would be difficult to do that in his condition.

For a moment, she felt a tinge of guilt.

After all, it was because members of Anti-Skill and Judgment had failed to make it in time to protect those caught up in the gang-war in District 10 that he was hurt to such a degree. The least she could do is swallow her irritation and play the helpful student nurse.

She owed it to the boy who had deserved the misfortune he had endured.

'It shouldn't be any longer now. I'm sure Uiharu has already defeated whatever program wormed itself into the hospital's security system. Once she's gotten a hold of the location of the suspicious individual, we'll move the proper forces to apprehend them. Then we can drop this silly charade and go back to our normal lives. I can go back to my regular rounds, Uiharu can return to the office to take care of any paperwork involved in this mission, Saten-san and her friend can go back to visiting whoever they're here to see, and Kamijou-san can go back to resting in his room without the threat of some miscreant after his back. There won't be any need to get to know this random boy more than needed and I can go back to the ever-loving presence of my Onee-sama!'

End of story.

The troubles brewing in this pleasant hospital designed to remedy whatever tragedy its residences had survived and help them return to their pleasant lives would be resolved soon enough. She had played her part perfectly and ensured the safety of one boy. No harm would come to him and he would be able to regain whatever place he had in Academy City with a smile on his face when it was all over with.

Kuroko could say she wasn't a fan of the spiky boy.

She would have lived her life perfectly fine and be content if they had never so much as crossed another in the streets.

Such a blunt and shameless boy could never be a friend to her.

But still, she found herself smiling slightly at the thought of the boy being able to return to his everyday life because she had protected him.

She wanted to be a hero. One no different than the lovely maiden who gave off sparks and saved her life when she had been reckless long ago. She had become a member of Judgment because she wished to bring justice and save others who were in harm's way.

Having played the part of the silent hero for some random boy, she felt a pleasant warmth spread from her chest.

Even if that spiky boy irritated her, she was happy to protect him.

"Let's see, let's see, let's see~. What room was it again? 879? 606? Ah! Right, it was 904! How silly of me to forget such an infamous room popularly regarded as a death room, right? Honestly, you're of no help at all, Yomikawa-san."

Kuroko's heart stopped.

She felt a disturbing chill down her back. Her skin grew goosebumps as she heard something heavy being dragged by whoever was making their way down the far left of the hall. For whatever reason she couldn't understand, her throat grew tight as she struggled to swallow.

Someone had appeared down the left of the hall, a stranger who was lugging something heavy behind them, and heading straight past her to where a certain boy's hospital room could be found. She was on high alert to the threat, readying herself to deal with whoever was approaching her as carefully as possible.

It wasn't the mysterious stranger heading her way that made Kuroko freeze up.

"Found...you..."

Ink black darkness.

A blot of malice.

A strange blot of pure darkness appeared behind her back as she turned to face whoever was heading her way. She hadn't even turned back to see whatever it was to get the mental image of whatever had appeared out of thin air behind her back. Whatever the blot of ink darkness was, it appeared capable of implanting the image of itself into her mind.

She saw the nurses' station swallowed by a pitch-black fog. Nothing could be seen within but she felt some thing wriggling in the bleak cave. Boney joints of a hand were heard as if the thing was anticipating to snap out with cruel intentions. It felt unnatural and opposed whatever laws and logic she believed in.

Glowing red orbs pierced through the darkness. Occult circles spun and observed Kuroko emptily before glancing at the restroom door beside her. The thing wriggling in the inkblot suddenly squirmed wildly.

"Ah, just in time! I was hoping to make it to the show just before my test subject sunk her fangs into the specimen. Seems playing with you wasn't a waste of my time after all."

A cold sweat grew on Kuroko's skin as she faced the first threat to appear.

It was the same boy she had received the description of over the radio.

He was of high school age with a short cut of dark hair. Dark blue eyes observed her with surprise before growing a giddy sort of intrigue. He was fairly muscular, possessing a lean build that went against the image of intelligence he wore with his white lab coat around his shoulders like a robe or cape. He was handsome for a boy and was the type of guy Uiharu would gush over as some dark prince charming.

In the boy's left hand, he clutched onto the torn and damaged vest of an Anti-Skill officer's protective vest as if he was dragging a sack of garbage he was moving to throw out. Kuroko's gaze fell on the officer who was unconscious, noting the woman's dark blue hair, beautiful face marred by bruises and a cut on her lip, and impressive chest. The female Anti-Skill officer appeared better suited to be a supermodel on the spread of a magazine than a protector of the city.

The woman's chest rose with her shallow breathing, telling Kuroko she was alive.

Small rips could be found on the lab coat boy's clothing. Like the Anti-Skill officer he was dragging around, he too had been hurt in their fight. He appeared disheveled, an ugly bruise forming below his right eye from a heavy strike to the face from a blunt instrument. Matching the busty Anti-Skill officer, his lip was busted with a large cut along his bottom lip to his nostril.

His free right hand, devoid of any injury, twisted his wrist around as if to work the kinks out.

An excited smile grew on his lips at the sight of Kuroko's frozen form.

"Kuroko Shirai; Judgment officer; Level-4 Teleporter; Middle school student of Tokiwadai in School Garden. What a pleasant surprise to find such an esper, wildly regarded as someone with a just heart, appear before the show unravels. I seem to be rather lucky today to be stumbling onto such interesting individuals who could further my research. Sadly such romantic endeavors will have to be put on the back burner; I have a much more important test to run at the moment."

Kuroko shivered at the detailed information some stranger casually gave out. The way the lab coat boy regarded her was as if she was gazing at a lab rat he was eagerly wishing to open up and dissect. A certain darkness could be seen lurking in his dark blue eyes.

She struggled to swallow her anxiety in the face of not only the lab coat boy with the aura of a monster but the blot of ink-black behind her.

Her lips trembled, fighting to make words as her thoughts were jarred by the two presences coming at her from two different sides.

"Are you here for Kamijou-san?"

Metal darts flashed into the tawny pigtail girl's clenched fists.

Narrowing her eyes, she glared back at the nonchalant stranger who held a hostage in his grip and fought to ignore the chilling darkness ready to snap at her.

She was terrified. She had no idea what the strange, unnatural, otherworldly blot of malice devouring the nurses' station was or what things were lurking within. Whatever was hidden in the cave of black was not kind and sought violence against someone it had been searching for. Its very existence seemed to turn everything she knew of upside down.

The lab coat boy possessed a certain darkness in his eyes, one of bottomless depravity and disregard for human life. He held a coldness in his gaze, no different than that found in any scientists eager to take apart a dead specimen to better understand how it worked. Humans were nothing more than test subjects to him seen in how he treated the female Anti-Skill officer he was lugging around for whatever plans he had in mind.

Unlike the many threats she faced before, she felt she had just been dragged onto a different stage of violence and cruelty unlike any other she had faced. Even the mess involving Kiyama Hirumi and AIM Burst couldn't compare to those two chilling beings ready to bare their fangs.

She knew she was scared of the unknown threats barring down on her, but, still, she clenched her fists.

Even if her heart was shivering, she refused to cower like some sniffling child.

A hero wasn't so weak in the face of cruelty.

Just as Mikoto Misaka, The Level-5, Number 3 Railgun, had been her hero during that summer afternoon in the middle of a bank robbery, Kuroko Shirai would be the hero to the spiky-haired boy she promised to protect.

Against the two chilling beasts ready to pounce onto her, Kuroko flashed her own fangs.

"If you are then I, Kuroko Shirai, Judgment officer of Judgment's 3rd Branch Office, will stop you from so much as touching a single hair on that gentleman's head!"

Don't underestimate the heart of a young maiden!

"Such passion, such will, such devotion to your cause! Yes, I can tell your actions are not born from a sound and logical mind, but from the heart! Perhaps I can wait a bit and enjoy a nice little appetizer before indulging in the main course after all! When up against the heart of a young ojou, how could I ever turn down such an opportunity to test the limits and potential of such a jewel?"

The fangs of an esper and the fangs of a researcher opposed one another.

"Alright, Ya-san; I'm all good to go! Sorry for taking so long, it took me a while to get my pants down without losing the grip and pissing all over my-hmm?"

In the midst of the tense stand-off, a certain restroom door creaked open. A spiky-haired boy wearing a hospital gown stepped out with the aid of crutches, his body wrapped up in numerous bandages to resemble a mummy.

Kamijou Touma blinked as the bathroom door shut behind with a loud click. For some reason, he found Ya-san standing with metal darts clenched in her fist, her posture speaking of getting ready to throw down with whoever she was glaring at. Out of curiosity, he followed the tawny pigtail student's nurse's line of sight to find a lab coat-wearing teen standing at the end of the hallway.

His heart froze.

Dark blue hair.

His voice was caught viciously in his throat.

A terrifying coldness sunk his heart and made his body tremble.

A beautiful mature faced dirtied by bruises and specks of blood.

A familiar Skill-Out uniform.

Yomikawa Aiho, his P.E. teacher back at school, was unconscious and being held like a bag of garbage in the hands of the smooth-faced short cut haired boy. One of his teachers appeared to have been pummeled and captured, treated no differently than luggage being dragged around. Her signature ponytail he always noticed her wear was undone to leave her dark blue locks trailing over her bruised face.

His observant eyes caught the ugliest of all the wounds on her face.

Her forehead was caked with glossy crimson from torn flesh created from blunt force trauma. Someone had slammed her beautiful and mirthful face cruelly into the floor.

Over and over, and over, and over, again.

A bead of red trickled down her forehead, slipping around her eyes and nose, and fell from her chin.

Teeth were clenched openly in a furious snarl.

An ugly emotion was born in his heart, in the heart of Kamijou Touma, and flooded his body with a seething rage that devoured the chill in his furiously beating chest.

The thud of crutches was heard, catching Kuroko's attention to glance back.

She was ready to scold the spiky-haired boy, warn him to stand back, and hide in the bathroom where it was safe.

But her words were caught in her throat at the face she found on the lame faced high school boy.

A rather sharp and cruel smile tinged with giddiness cut through the face of a Kihara.

The blot of ink-black darkness twitched.

Blue eyes were flung open wide to show off the hostility and rage desiring violence. Gone was the plain-faced boy, replaced by the livid malice of a boy who couldn't stand whatever misfortune he was witnessing. It was the face of pure violence wishing to tear his prey to pieces.

Something within the kindest part of that boy shuddered.

When that livid faced boy spoke, it sounded as if he was choking on sheer rage.

"Y-You...b-b-bastard. Just what the fuck do you think you're doing to Yomikawa-sensei, you piece of shiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt!"

The sleeping dragon roared and clicked its claws.

Even when his body had been broken…

Even when he could hardly stand on his own two feet…

Even when simply clenching his right fist would cause his sutures to snap…

Kamijou Touma found his battered and stitched hand making a tight fist.

---

A broken and chipped shield never loses its purpose. Not until it shatters to bits.

Why do you fight? Why do you risk your life so?

Is it because of a borrowed desire?

Or is this, too, something you may selfishly call your own?

In the end, you can only clench your fist in the wake of misfortune.

As we end this chapter, we await the end of this short arc! Heh, short arc. I made a funny.

This chapter focuses a bit more on the newest character to the story, Kihara Shinzo, and dives a bit into what makes him tick. Just like any other Kihara, he's willing to go to extreme and cruel lengths in regard to his research. Even if such means involves causing any harm to his family. Because of his lineage, he's a rather unique beast who finds himself pondering an important question.

What does it mean to be a Kihara? Especially when he was born with a heart?

Since he is a researcher, he is not labeled as an esper. He hadn't bothered going through the Power Curriculum Program as many others had. Because of such a decision, he remains as an ordinary human who can benefit from the advantages of both science and magic without suffering the consequences. The two most crucial tools to symbolize his knowledge of both sides can be seen in his two unique cards on hand; The Ten Rings of Yedidyah and Calculation Breaker. Just because he doesn't rely on miracles or supernatural phenomenon, doesn't mean he is weak. He will come to be one of the most dangerous of figures to be found due to his extensive deck of tricks centered on countering various threats.

Further down the road, Shinzo will become a prominent figure involved in twisting the new timeline for his own selfish desires. This whole arc is introducing the kind of person who will be responsible for the changes to come.

In the future yet to be written, the Third Strongest and the one to have taken the Railgun's place would be Mugino Kaen. Incendiary, The Hellfire Prince. He is a Level-5 Pyrokinetic who found himself far more interested in the application of his powers rather than the sheer destruction he could produce. Because of his fascination with what he could do with flames, he has gained far more applications to such a simple power to stand among the strongest. What has been seen so far is simply scraping the tip of the iceberg of applications he can use.

As for his origin; it's complicated. Both due to how his parents came to eventually birth him, and the situation in general concerning the future children. We will come to see the story of what has been alluded to the point where Kamijou Touma was at his worst after being at his happiest.

Poor Yomikawa; I really messed with her here. All she wanted to do was ensure Touma could rest and recover after what he went through in District 10, only to once again fail. You know, I always wanted her to interact more with Touma in canon. But she had her hands full with both Accelerator, Last Order, and Misaka Worst.

And now that Touma's settled down from his angst session, he returns to his old self for a bit as he interacts with a certain pigtail Judgment girl. An early meeting that should not have happened. Just what will this spell later on?

One final fight will begin to end this final chapter of self-doubt and shaken hearts from failure.

At the end of this misfortune, what will be found?

Tune in next time to find out!

Read and Review! It's common courtesy.

NeoShadows fading in and out.