BruZ3eR: I've got plenty of stories planned for Sogiita. :)
VLPURN: Hell yeah they are, it's always a lot of fun to write their ridiculousness haha
Grancrest: Thank you very much for your kind words! I appreciate it a ton :) As for your questions, the story is beginning on October 2nd, which is right after the events of Skill-Out Uprising and the assassination attempt on Misuzu, aka between Old Testament Volume 13-14. A lot of the arcs I have planned are my own originals, but I'm planning to do essentially do my own versions of canon arcs-mainly Battle Royale and World War Three, obviously with modifications and spun to fit and fall in line with my own arcs and story elements. As for New Testament arcs, I'm considering including a few of those as well-although I haven't determined how many of those I would write into the story.
5hadowHand: Thank you very much! Glad to hear that I did a good job! :)
I do not own the masterpiece that is Toaru Majutsu no Index.
ARC 1: High School Breakdown
Chapter 2: Senpai's and Kohais(Upperclassman_Elegance.)
In the history of A Certain High School, it had always been relatively peaceful-no big accidents, no overwhelming history of delinquents/troublemakers, no association with any shady business-it was a completely ordinary, typical high school. And thus, this was a first for both students and faculty-that is, the fact that the school had a portion of it blown clean off. As a result, all students were forced to evacuate while construction workers arrived to assess the damage, and they were all assembled outside grouped by their classes, similar to what a fire drill would be like.
"Couldn't you have started off with mentioning that you're a Level 5?..."
"No way! There'd be no fun in that, since everyone's always so afraid of hearing that."
"And they have good reason to be! So destroying the classroom in addition to the hallway was your definition of having fun?...I feel like you're gonna be even more of a headache then those other three idiots...who knows how many people in the other classes got hurt in the process?..."
Sogiita Gunha had a massive smile on his face all throughout Fukiyose Seiri's scolding session-which was not dished out to the Delta Force for once, but to him, who seemed to be an even bigger can of worms.
"Huh? Oh, don't worry about them-I made sure to keep my punch limited to the classroom and the hallway, not the other classrooms-hitting people with an ambush attack that they weren't expecting hasn't got any guts."
"Wait...what?..." Some of the recovering nearby students looked at him incredulously at his declaration. "That was a massive collateral blast-how the hell did you limit that to only one classroom and the hallway?"
Sogiita gave him a puzzled look-it was clear that genuine confusion had been instilled in him at this question. "What do you mean how? I just focused all my guts on specific spots and avoided the others."
"THAT MAKES ABSOLUTEY ZERO SENSE, YOU DIPSHIT!" Was the collective thought of all the students who were in earshot.
Sogiita, however, failed to notice that he was currently being evaluated as a moron by his fellow classmates-he still seemed too hyped up after his massive punch, muttering things such as "guts", "guts" and "guts."
"NOOOOOO! HOW WILL WE RESLISH IN KOMOE-SENSEI'S PRESENCE NOW WITHOUT A CLASSROOM TO DO IT IN?!"
Aogami Pierce was laying on the ground on all fours, seemingly devastated. He had been part of the group who had refrained from attacking Sogiita, muttering something about "not being into jumping on guys." However, with the aftermath of Sogiita's punch and it's afteraffects now setting in, he had assumed this position and had not broken it since(To put into perspective, it had been almost 2 hours...).
"While I would like to keep having class with Komoe-sensei too, I can sense some less a less than pure meaning to that, Aogami..." Fukiyose menacingly cracked her knuckles above Aogami, sealing the deal with a glare as cold as ice.
"RUN AOGAMI! SHE'S OFFERING YOU THE TWO-IN-ONE FUKIYOSE KNUCKLE SANDWICH WITH A DEATH GLARE ON THE SIDE FOR FREE! DON'T TRUST THE DAMN ADVERTISEMEEEEEENTS!" Tsuchimikado cried out for his friends...wellbeing?...
"Oi, Kamijou! You haven't been incessantly yelling for once! Tell your two idiots-in-arms to quiet down!"
"Nothing I say is gonna stop them..." Said Kamijou shaking his head in resignation. "You could send an army at them and they'd continue."
"Well, at least try! For the sake of the rest of us who have to listen to you guys!"
"Hey, hold up. Missy, did you just say Kami-Oi, Kamijou! Didn't see ya! So you come to this school, too?" Sogiita gave an energetic wave as he jogged(zoomed?)over right next to the two of them, grinning at Kamijou as he got closer.
"H-Hey, Sogiita..." Kamijou, truthfully, had no idea how he should interact with the Level 5. The last and only time that he had met him, it had been in the middle of a catastrophic, life or death situation, one in which neither had much of an opportunity to exchange pleasantries. However, he did manage to catch his name, and as such also recognized him when he barged in through the door to his classroom that morning.
"W-Wait! Hold on! You two know each other? Who got the idiocy from who?" Fukiyose stared incredulously at the two of them. Him, Kamijou Touma, the third Delta Force member and certified idiot, was involved with one of the City's few Level 5 espers?
"We didn't exchange idiocy whatsoever, Missy! All we shared was guts!"
"What the hell does that even mean? What's your definition of guts?..." Fukiyose had put a hand to her head, making it seem like she had got a headache-something which was quite possible given the specific Level 5 that she was interacting with.
"..."
Fukiyose raised an eyebrow. Oddly, Sogiita had gone quiet, and the smile on his face had faltered for the first time, instead replaced with a look of slight puzzlement. "Do you not even know what it means? You've been going on and on about it since you came here, so how come you don't even have a meaning behind it?..."
"It's not something I can describe easily..." Sogiita started slowly, with an oddly normal tone. "Guts isn't an easy thing to define. There's a lot of different types of guts-there's guts for saving someone without expecting anything for it, guts for stopping fights, guts for not giving up-the list goes on and on, so I can't really do something like defining guts."
It was ridiculous.
Utterly ridiculous.
Quite possibly one of the most inane, stupid, incomprehensible explanations regarding what drove a person forward that everyone there had ever heard.
There was no logic or proper clue as to what exactly was "guts" in the Level 5's book.
However, despite this, no one could bring themselves to laugh or ridicule him.
No one knew why. It was a mystery of the highest order, as odd as the Level 5 himself.
But the boy had seemed so very serious when speaking, in contrast to how he had acted prior, that no one could really convince themselves that it was silly, foolish blabbering like before.
"U-Uhmm...all of you, can I have your attention?"
"What on Earth is going on here?" Was the thoughts of Tsukuyomi Komoe as she returned to her class after speaking with the rest of the faculty, only to find an unusually tense, serious atmosphere surrounding them all. However, as she spoke those words...
"What is it, Komoe-sensei?"
The entire class echoed this in unison as they faced the innocent, child-like teacher, who cleared her throat quickly as she saw that she had gained the attention of the class.
"Sensei has some news for all of you. Since both our classroom and the hallways were destroyed, of course both need to be repaired, but there's only sufficient budget to fix one...so, the faculty has agreed to have the hallways repaired, which can be done today, since that affects the rest of the school and not just us-"
"WHAATTT!? BUT WHERE WILL WE GO TO CLASS, SENSEI?!" Was the collective shout of the class as they stared dumbfounded at their teacher.
"Sensei is sorry about this, kids!" Komoe frantically bowed a few times to her indignant students. "But it was a student in our class who caused the damage, after all...this is the only proper decision!"
"Woah...what's with these murderous guts that I can feel directed at me right now?..." Sogiita thought idly, not paying attention the death stares his classmates were giving him.
"But for now, you guys will be put into a class with some of your senpais until we raise enough to repair our classroom too!" Komoe said energetically.
This caused many raised eyebrows in the classroom now. While none of them held any particular grudge towards their senpais, they also had barely interacted with them. Naturally, as was the social hierarchy within high schools, to them their senpais seemed like the unattainable-the mighty beings who towered over them on the food chain in social standing, maturity and academic prowess. This made the prospect of a mixed class with them...mildly terrifying, to say the least.
"And so, since that's how things are gonna be...now, we'll have all of you go home for the day while the hallways are replaced. And today, when you all come tomorrow...report to class 6, on the second floor, and you'll get to meet and talk with all your new classmates!"
While Komoe seemed enthusiastic about this opportunity...the collective enthusiasm of the class was...slightly pitiful.
Aside from one.
"We get to meet some new guts? Sounds like fun!"
"YOU'RE THE LAST ONE WITH A RIGHT TO BE HAVING FUN RIGHT NOW!"
"You ready, Tsuchimikado? After contemplating it for hours yesterday night...THIS IS ACTUALLY A BRILLIANT OPPORTUNITY!"
"Indeed...what kind of exquisite specimen shall our eyes be blessed with as part of this new arrangement?..."
Tsuchimikado gave an eloquent, dramatic speech as the students of Class 7 were assembled outside of Year 2, Class 6, waiting for Komoe and the class's homeroom teacher to allow them in.
"Stop with the perverted thoughts, you apes! Fukiyose was instantly on their case as she marched over to the two perverts in discussion. "You are not making a bad impression on our senpais when we can be in their class for god knows how long!" Behind her, Himegami Aisa trudged along in support of her friend. "It'd be better to not make an enemy of them, wouldn't it?"
"Exactly!" The Iron Wall frantically nodded in agreement with her friend. "So no fooling around! We're presenting ourselves as civilized people, alright?! Right, Sogiita?"
"Hm? Oh yeah, sure." Was Sogiita's lazy response. Obviously he wasn't really paying attention.
"U-Understood..." The Delta Force, however, was a different story.
Whether they relented out of genuine remorse or fear, would never be known.
Most likely the latter though.
"Alright kids! You can come in now!" Komoe popped her head out the door, waving them all inside.
As she then retreated back into the classroom, everyone gave tense gazes at each other as they slowly walked inside.
"Greetings, first years!"
As they made their entrance, they were greeted by a tall woman with short black hair and round, circular glasses. She wore a white suit and skirt, with beige stockings over her legs. She also had a decent amount of makeup applied to her face, but not enough to overwhelm any observer.
Put simply, this was Oyafune Sauma, the homeroom teacher.
"Welcome to Class 6! Now, I know that this may be a little startling for all of you, since you're all meeting new people despite it being the middle of the school year...but worry not! I'm sure you'll all be great friends!" Komoe nodded happily in agreement.
"Now, for seating arrangements...First on the list, Aogami Pierce-"
"MAY I PLEASE BE SEATED WITH THE BEAUTY SENPAI WHO HAS HER MIDRIFF EXPOSED!?" Oyafune was cut off by the abrupt interruption of the blue-haired fetishist, who had eagerly pointed at a seat near the back of the class, next to a very specific student, who had merely raised an eyebrow.
"E-eh...The seating arrangements have already been prepared, Aogami-kun...so can you sit over by Akihiro, there by the window?" The teacher then specifically pointed out the seat, which was on the right side of the class, right next to a tall boy with black hair and blue eyes-who was eyeing Aogami suspiciously after his outburst.
"Pardon him...he's...got some issues..." Fukiyose sheepishly apologized, hand on her head in exasperation as she attempted to remedy the situation. However, the girl at the back merely chuckled.
"In regards to that seat, however, since we're on the topic...uhhh...Kamijou Touma? You shall be sitting there at the back, next to Kumokawa."
"O-Oh, sure."
The entirety of what was formerly Year 1, Class 7 were in shock for a moment. The girl whom Kamijou was seated next to, a beautiful girl with a remarkable bust, red headband as well as a uniform a size too small which exposed her midriff, was entirely the "Beauty-senpai" that she was renowned as. Her appearance was breathtaking, maybe even divine. She radiated a presence of which no other person in the room, teachers included, could ever hope to replicate-an aura of maturity, beauty, authority, and attractiveness-all at the same time.
Kamijou made his way to the back seat, painfully aware of but choosing to ignore the hisses of jealousy that were sent his way under people's breaths.
He chose to merely block them all out as he reached his seat, but as he made to sit down, something peculiar happened.
The girl in the seat next to him smiled at him.
But it wasn't a normal smile. No, not at all. But nor was it a sinister one, that told stories of some despicable villain plotting some horrid scheme as they gave a predatory gaze upon their prey or guinea pig.
Rather, it was a heartfelt smile. One that went far, far past a typical welcoming or greeting smile when exchanging pleasantries with someone you didn't know.
Kamijou had a distinct feeling in his chest when he saw that particular smile-one that told him that there were many emotions packed into it. He was no emotional expert or psychologist, but the warmth in that smile gave him a little feeling of warmth too. In that moment, Kamijou thought in his heart of hearts that this girl before him seemed truly, genuinely gorgeous-not the kind of gorgeous that one would use to describe some model with make-up overdone to the point where it made one want to puke. No-she was breathtaking. Her shoulder length black hair seemed to shine in the sunlight that reflected off it from the window, in a nice contrast to the red headband. Her fringe was tied back, giving one a view of her forehead-which was similarly shining in that light. Her eyes, which he could now see clearly, were mysterious-they were a dirty blonde color, and yet somehow they seemed impossibly bright. Her lips seemed supple, and were curved into a...smirk?...
"Hm? What is it that you're staring soooo intently at your new senpai for? Is there something naughty on your mind?~"
"N-N-Nothing at all! This Kamijou-san is not a pervert like he seems to be when associated with his friends! Please don't misunderstaaaaaand!"
Silence.
Absolutely no one spoke.
Everyone just stared, dumbfounded, at the spiky-haired boy who had now gotten on his knees, hands put together in an apologetic pose.
The Beauty Senpai looked at him with a surprised expression.
"Pffftt..." The silence was finally broken by a light snort, to which everyone began silently looking around to see the source-to which they finally zeroed in on the recipient of the boy's apology.
"Hahahahahahahaha!"
A wonderful melody filled the room-to which everyone seemed to subconsciously relax a little. The melody was the laughter of Kumokawa Seria, who had doubled over in her chair from her excessive giggles. As the laughter gradually died down, she wiped one of the joyful tears from her eyes and gave Kamijou a smile.
"No need to worry, my adorable kohai-I forgive you for your little indulgence into desire. Fufufufu...I'm sure that this will be quite a fun class," she said with a merry tone, full of genuine joy and amusement.
"R-Right...wait, wasn't there a misunderstanding still mixed in there?!"
"Don't sweat the details, boy," Kumokawa's smile did not falter the entire time.
As the spiky-haired boy frantically attempted to clear himself of any perverted actions, he neglected the murderous intent that was currently being directed his way by the entirety of the male population within the classroom.
"Kami-yan...even the Beauty Senpai?..." Tsuchimikado's voice conveyed nothing but pure terror.
"IS NO ONE SAFEEEE?!" Aogami screamed in genuine distress.
"W-Wait...she wasn't disgusted by that at all?!" Fukiyose stared in absolute disbelief.
"..." Himegami stared wordlessly at the two.
"That bastard..."
"Just like that, he's got her favor?..."
"Is that kid some sorta god?..."
On top of the evaluation of his old classmates, his new male classmates seemed to now view him as some sort of major threat since he had earned the affection of one of the most famous, if not the most famous student in the school.
At this time, the accumulated male population of both kohai's and senpai's seemed to have reached an unspoken, mutual understanding.
"THAT FORCE OF NATURE MUST BE STOPPED AT ALL COSTS!"
Well, excluding Sogiita. It was likely that he didn't even realize what was going on.
None of the females in the room, however, seemed to notice the approximately 30-1 war that was silently being declared at that very moment.
"A-Anyways, on to the next person..."
The seating arrangements continued throughout that morning, but one thing remained a constant during the entire duration-Kamijou Touma could not get rid of the chill that seemed to constantly go down his back.
After what seemed like an eternity to the spiky-haired boy riddled with misfortune, he peeked around tensely and to his intense relief saw that everyone had at last been seated.
"Alright, now that we've all been seated-we have something important to announce!" Called the teachers.
It was dead in the middle of the night.
The moon, bright in it's crescent shape towered over the city like a god watching the world. Academy City was bathed in darkness-all the street lights had been turned on, and the massive crowds that usually covered the city had now retreated to their respective residences for the night. They were normal people, living the normal lives of the city-going to school, leaving, hanging around the city with friends, studying, going to sleep, and repeating that cycle. That was how a normal student's life in Academy City typically went.
But not everyone was normal.
Not everyone was able to live such a happy, bright life.
Not everyone could enjoy what the average person would consider to be normal, happy lives, with normal, happy friends.
Not everyone could enjoy such insignificant, typical times.
BANG!
A body slumped to the ground outside a research facility in District 21. This was the only mountainous area in the entirety of Academy City-although they weren't massive mountains that one would write home about, they were still tall enough to be referred to as such. This made District 21 the only district in the city in which astronomy labs and research facilities related to the field could be situated, as this was the best vantage point in the city to study it. It was possible to get higher viewpoints on top of some of the city's taller buildings, but that would require much more work to organize as well as possible view obstructions from the other buildings since they would be so close by. This point, far away from any tall buildings that could disrupt the view, was ideal.
However, this was also a research facility that was under attack. A violent one, courtesy of assailants with firearms and cold hearts.
But Anti-Skill would not disrupt this attack or attempt to stop it.
Neither would Judgement.
Both law enforcement organizations would never know of this, or even if they did, would never be allowed to stop it.
The reason being that this attack was being performed by some of the city's personal undercover...forces.
The four field operatives of GROUP were all equally calculating and merciless when performing their work. No one would sugarcoat any mission, no one would attempt to bring spirits up, no one would attempt to make light of the mission, or anything as light-hearted as that.
"Is he dead?"
Musujime Awaki jabbed her finger at the fallen scientist on the floor of the hallway when she asked.
"No. I didn't hit a vital point, so he'll be fine after the cleanup crew comes around."
Etzali, an aztec magician disguised as Unabara Mitsuki, replied to her quickly as he reloaded his pistol.
"At any rate, we need to move fast. The alarms are disabled, but they won't be like that for too long. If we're detected, the data will perform a self-destruct sequence and all this effort would have been for nothing."
"How the hell did the alarms even get disabled anyway? They're embedded underground and we didn't even know about them until we arrived."
"Correction: Three of us didn't. Apparently Tsuchimikado had more background information to the place than we thought."
Musujime just huffed. "Honestly, it'd be so much easier if he would tell us everything he knows regarding missions rather than keeping quiet."
"You know as well as I that the less liable we are to divulge information upon a possible interrogation, the better."
The red twin-tailed girl just rolled her eyes.
"Did those two idiots clear out the area?"
"Of course-if they didn't we'd still be hiding. Really, you should have some more faith in your colleagues, Number One," said a sunglass-wearing boy with a smirk.
"Weren't you the one who told me to not trust anyone on my first job?"
"Fair enough."
"Tch. You find any leads?"
"Not yet. I'm still getting through the last few folders, but they're encrypted quite well. These scientists must've been hiding something very important. It'll take a little longer."
"Hurry your ass up then."
At his final comment, Accelerator, Academy City's number one esper, slumped down into a chair, tired from the mission. It had been a long day, and the fact that he had been called in for a mission at the dead midnight was not helping. Of course, he wasn't being careless-the choker on his neck which allowed him his usual language and computational capabilities was still flipped on, which meant that any sneak attack from any straggler they had failed to apprehend would merely be reflected with double the force at the attacker. Accelerator likewise also kept an eye on the vents and around the room to ensure that no one was aiming for Tsuchimikado either as the blonde boy continued to crack the database of the facility.
"Hmmmm...I think this is it."
The red-eyed demon instantly opened his eyes, diverting them to the screen-only for them to narrow in annoyance a moment later.
"The fuck is that supposed to mean? "5tAr0fMAn?" What's so special about that file?"
"It's "Star of Man," Accelerator. As to what it means, your guess is as good as mine. But the date of the incident recorded matches up with what we were told-September 31st, which was three days ago." But there isn't any other information recorded in here-only the folder name, but nothing in the actual folder. They must not have wanted to record any of the more sensitive information. This is only an ordinary astronomy facility, after all. We'll just have to relay this to the manager."
Accelerator gave a curt nod. The mission was over.
But he could not shake the feeling that the name of that file meant something very, very important.
Annnnnd second chapter done! For those of you who've read the LN's, I hope I got the atmosphere Kumokawa gives off to be accurate. It's been a while since I read the LN's, so if I made some mistakes, forgive this misfortunate author-san for the incompetency~
Anyways, first appearance of GROUP! Hope it satisfied you all!
Also, as you guys can probably see, I'm gonna be naming each chapter with the same style to how their named in the LN's. And as such, I also saw fit to put the current arc in the chapter as well, so it'll be more clear when new developments will begin.
Hope that everyone enjoyed the chapter! If you don't mind, leave a review telling me what you think-whether it's praise, constructive criticism, suggestions, I appreciate all feedback! Any questions you guys leave in reviews will be answered next chapter.
Have a great day and stay safe out there!
-Cloak
