Grancrest: Thanks again for your kind words! And yep, it's a district-wide event.

VLPURN: Thanks! That's the vibe I was aiming for with the writing style and the chapter naming.

5had0wHand: If by dragon shell you mean just the dragons in general, then yeah, I've got plans to include them. They won't appear for a while though. And it ain't Touma vs all of Academy City, though that sounds pretty funny to write now that I think about it...

I do not own the masterpiece that is Toaru Majutsu no Index.


ARC 1: High School Breakdown

Chapter 4: District Fight(Game_Start.)

"I SHOULD'VE KNOWN THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!..."

Prior to the start of the Capture the Point Game, Kamijou Touma had made a prophecy of sorts.


"I'd reallllllly rather that I sit this one out on the sidelines..."

If it weren't for the previous few days of school, Kamijou would've had no issues with competing in an event like this.

However, there was now a completely new factor-an extremely chaotic one, which made the boy really, really not want to participate in this event.

"ALRIGHT! I'LL SHOW THEM SOME COMPETITIVE GUTS!"

Given the extensive damage that Sogiita Gunha had caused within the first ten minutes of his entry into their school, he was, without a doubt, going to be the cause of some sort of catastrophe during the game. That was something Kamijou was sure on-he wholeheartedly felt that things would be made much more complicated with the Level 5 also being part of the event.

Evidently, he wasn't the only one who was thinking this. The students from other schools seemed to be unconcerned about the boy, at the most only giving him an odd glance or two. Chances are they weren't even aware that he was a Level 5. However, the students of A Certain High School-Kamijou's class in particular-had very concerned and uneasy looks on their faces as they watched Sogiita march through the air upon the game starting.

Wait...

"Marching?..."

Kamijou instantly snapped his head back towards his fellow spiky-haired boy, who he realized was now nonchalantly running through the air as if it was just a sidewalk.

More heads began turning as the boy sped past them with increasing speed, almost like some inhuman marathon runner.

"He's definitely gonna do something stupid..."

It had only been a few days since his arrival and no one knew much about him, but everyone in A Certain High School was confident in this one assumption.

Even Tsuchimikado and Aogami, who were poster boys for idiocy within the school, glanced uncertainly at the charging back of the Level 5.

"Uhhh...should we just follow his example and run on in too?" The Delta Force then converged as they put on their red headbands, bringing their three genius(read:idiotic) heads together. "I doubt anyone is going to be organized at all with an event like this." Tsuchimikado gave his initial impressions.

"Nahh...go off on our own, yeah...but actually fighting? I'll pass on that..."

"I'm surprised that you guys aren't planning to just skip the event entirely," whispered Kamijou with a raised eyebrow.

"And have Fukiyose brick us in the balls for doing it? No thank you," they both echoed.

The eyebrow travelled even higher up. "Could it be that you guys are actually learning?..."

"Correction: We already knew before, Kami-yan. It's a calculated risk each time."

"...Are you two actually both massive masochists?"

"I cater to all kinks equally, Kami-yan."

"You sound way more proud of that then you should be..."

"THERE'S NO SHAME IN INCLUSIVITY!"

Kamijou just face-palmed. "I'm not having a discussion like this again...you know what, how about we split up? If Fukiyose finds us together, she's gonna assume that we're all doing something stupid together, right? If we split up, then we'll make it out with no...concerning injuries by the end no matter who she comes across."

His two friends stared at him incredulously, causing the unlucky boy to raise an eyebrow. "What?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing, Kami-yan, it's just...since when did you become smart?" Aogami asked confusedly.

"I'M PERFECTLY INTELLIGENT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"

Tsuchimikado put up a hand to halt Kamijou, who had a vein popping in his forehead. "Not a bad idea, Kami-yan. Not bad at all! But which points will we go to? We've been assigned on offense, after all; but there's only two points each with an equal amount of approximately 2600 students, so splitting up will leave one man without a target."

"You say that as if you're actually gonna try and capture the points anyway...and also, where'd you get that information from?..."

"Have some faith in us for once, Kami-yan."

"Were you planning on doing it, though?"

"...Well..."

"My point exactly. And you didn't answer my question."

"I maaaaaaay have borrowed some information of the unlocked phone of a Judgement member," replied the blonde with a nervous laugh.

"So basically, you stole it, didn't you?"

"A-Anyways, my point still stands, nyah! How will we split up?"

Kamijou lowered his eyebrow which had been previously raised, now adopting a thoughtful expression.

"I can just stay on defense."

Aogami cut back into the conversation.

"There's so many people on each team, I doubt they'll care if a couple extra people go on offense or defense," he continued with a shrug.

"Tsuchimikado..."

"Kami-yan..."

The other two boys muttered each other's names, disbelief all over their faces.

"AOGAMI SAID SOMETHING SMART!" They both shouted at the same time.

"HOW COME YOUR SO MUCH MORE SURPRISED THEN WITH KAMI-YAN?"

"Could he be evolving?..."

"This might not even be his final form..."

"You think?..."

"I THOUGHT WE WERE MAKING FUN OF KAMI-YAN, TSUCHIMIKADO! YOU TRAITOR!"

"Oh, no no, I'm not insulting you at all, Aogami...I'm just so moved at the fact that you've grown so much...truly, it's a wonderful sight..." Tsuchimikado said this in a tone akin to a father watching his son take his first steps.

"To think that he could achieve this level of intelligence..."

"THAT DOESN'T MAKE ME FEEL BETTER AT ALL!"

Aogami, in a rare show of defeat, seemed to crumple to the ground. "You unfaithful bastards...save the patronizing for someone else...that's only hot when it's a older woman doing it..."

"Well, at any rate, Aogami, your suggestion is pretty good; you on defense, me and Kami-yan split on offense...we'll come out of this alive. The Delta Force shall always come out of a sticky spot alive!" Said Tsuchimikado pumping his fist in the air.

"YEAH!" Aogami then suddenly mirrored this action, all previous animosity seemingly forgotten. Kamijou sheepishly put a less enthusiastic fist into the air. "Yay?...I guess?..."

"Now that we've discussed our plan of action, we ought to get going! Time to split!" Continued the blonde.

Kamijou nodded. "For once, I agree with Tsuchimikado...let's get going."

The three then gave a "bro code nod" to each other as no other words were spoken.

Well, except a few...

"Wait...Aogami, did you offer to stay on defense so you could do less work then us?" Kamijou looked back with a raised eyebrow.

The blue haired fetishist just whistled. "Dunno what you're talking about, Kami-yan," he said in a sing-song voice. "I definitely won't take a nap on one of the park benches to scope out some exquisite specimen."

The spiky-haired boy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Lucky you...knowing my misfortune, I'll probably come across some really competitive battle-hungry participants during this event."

Tsuchimikado just laughed aloud as he turned a corner.


That brings us to the present.

Kamijou frantically ran through one of District 7's various alleyways, attempting to lose the group of three who were currently on his tail.

He had a code to follow in terms of street-fighting, one that he had constructed during his time in the city. One opponent he could take comfortably, two he could take with some difficulty, and three was when he needed to run.

And as such, true to himself and his rules, he ran like hell.

"WHY AREN'T THEY TRYING TO TAKE OUR POINT AND CHASING ME INSTEAD? I DID NOTHING TO DESERVE THIS!"

Although Kamijou desperately wanted to shout that aloud for them to hear, he wasn't so much a fool to waste his energy like that, especially considering that he didn't know if they had esper powers or not. And if they did, he had no idea how much it might take out of him to combat whatever power it was.

So running had proved itself to be the most appropiate course of action.

Luckily, Kamijou had considerable experience with the alleyways and hidden routes of the city-he had traversed them countless times, after all. He weaved through the narrowing passageways with so much ease it seemed almost professional, making sure to jump over any stray boxes and litter on the ground, ducking under pipes, not looking back all the while.

Were people really this desperate to battle with other students? He could understand people wanting to prove themselves in some way or another by emerging victorious from battles or fights, but just what on earth was there to gain from chasing him? Was this just his misfortune intervening again? Truly, the competitive nature of fellow espers was no joke.

His thoughts then came to an abrupt stop. Upon rounding the corner, his vision was filled with rough grey concrete and his nose filled with the scent of cigarettes. To be more precise, it was a dead end-one of the alleyway corners in which delinquents would often convene. It was far from welcoming most of the time, and in this case it was likely a sentence to whatever pain was going to await once his pursuers arrived.

"Wait, I thought this way was supposed to lead directly to the entrance of the underground mall! Did I take a wrong turn?!"

Frantically looking around, he saw there were only two paths leading out-however, one, on his left, was a straight path towards that mall entrance, so he could see on the other end that there were a good number of people on the other end wearing the blue headbands-meaning they were not on his team, and the other path was the one which he had ran down on his right, which his pursuers also must be running down currently.

"Either way is a death sentence..."

That was the surface conclusion that could be drawn from this situation.

"But if I'm going to be taken out of commission no matter what...I might as well raise some noise before going out!"

However, Kamijou Touma did not want to merely go out as deadweight for his team, no matter how numerous they were.

He took a deep breath.

"Uwooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh!"

Giving a great shout, he broke into a full sprint down the left path-as he reached to mouth of the alleyway, he was faced with the road in front of him-one which had several espers standing upon it, who had seemed to be discussing their plan of action moments before. Just beyond the road was the mall entrance.

Closing his eyes and bracing himself while holding up his right hand, Kamijou charged straight past the group. In what seemed like a turn of absolutely absurd luck, one of which was unbecoming of the typically misfortunate boy, the people whom he had passed seemed so dumbfounded and confused to see a singular person on the enemy team rush past them with absolutely no plan, that they failed to act for a moment. Only after a few moments once the boy had sprinted inside the mall did they realize what had just happened.

"Oi! Who the hell do you think you are?!"

He didn't need to look back to know that they were now tailing him. "Great, now I've got like a dozen of them on me..."

His memory of the mall was fuzzy-he didn't go down here very often. The last time he had visited it was during September 30th, when Misaka had wanted him there for her prize from the Daihasei penalty game. But he hadn't been keeping very good track of the mall's layout, so for all he knew he could be running circles right now.

It wasn't the most comforting thought, but at the very least that meant that he wouldn't get caught if he kept running.

SLAM!

Kamijou's instincts took over in an instant. If it was at a normal person who the potted plant had been thrown at, they would not have had the experience to roll out of the way. However, being a person who had been hunted down by people who wanted to give him a black eye multiple times, dodging something like this wasn't easy per se, but he managed to avoid it somewhat comfortably.

"The hell are they thinking?! That's the property of the mall! Why are they throwing things like that around so haphazardly for just some dumb capture the point game? I might've had to say hello to my good friend the hospital again!"

His thoughts were racing as he recovered from the near-concussion. However, he had no time to spare. He pushed himself up once the sound of footsteps began to set in again, and he caught a glimpse of his pursuers at the end of the hall.

As expected, it was a group of around a dozen students, all donned in blue headbands closing in on him. Based on their uniforms, he could see that it was a mix of schools-there was about 4 different school uniforms there, even one that he thought he recognized, but he had no time to check or dwell on it. He turned away in the opposite direction and took off once again, racing for a different hallway to divert to in yet another attempt to lose them.

SMACK!

This time, it was a mannequin which had been thrown at him, seemingly snatched from one of the many fashion stores they were passing. Kamijou dodged it once again, but seeing as it was a mannequin and was not easily broken, it fell onto the floor and began rolling across it, forcing him to jump over it as if he was playing a platformer game.

"Aggghhhh...jeez, can't you just give up already? You're gonna be caught anyways, so can you just let yourself get caught now so we can move on?"

Pause.

Kamijou Touma was normally an open-minded boy, and also did not want to waste energy by yelling in this situation.

However, the careless tone that the girl who had spoken used that clearly indicated that she was as annoyed with the situation as he was set off a bomb full of irritation in his head, and he couldn't help but open his mouth.

"YOU'RE THE ONES WHO ARE CHASING DOWN ONE GUY AS A GROUP OF TWELVE, YOU IDIOTS! DON'T YOU KNOW THE ONLY OBJECTIVE OF THE GAME IS TO CAPTURE THE POINT? TAKING DOWN ONE GUY ISN'T GOING TO EARN YOU ANY EXTRA BROWNIE POINTS IF YOUR TEAM WINS!"

Kamijou felt quite satisfied after taking the load of annoyance on his chest. However, he didn't expect the girl to speak out in return.

"THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE GAME! I WANT TO KNOW WHERE MY PHONE IS!"

"SAY WHAT?" Now Kamijou was less angry; moreso confused. Phone? Why on Earth would she be running him down to find out where her phone was?

His misfortune would sometimes have a correlation with other's belongings-such as bumping into someone and causing them to drop their wallet down a drain, which would cause a major distress in said person; stepping on someone's dropped textbook at school, which would earn him a scolding; dropping food on someone's laptop, which would require him to run for an hour or two after school; the possibilities were endless.

However, given today that he had bumped into someone on the road to school, causing their dog to chase him for a good half hour, finding out his card had been maxed out for the month(thanks to a certain freeloader he had at home) and finally, tripping on the stairs leading up to school in front of at least 100 people, among none of this was any matter about a phone.

"What is this girl on about?..." Kamijou's confused voice rang out throughout his head.

Not for long, however, as his question was answered a moment later.

"YOU'RE FRIENDS WITH THAT BLONDE KID IN SUNGLASSES, RIGHT? I SAW HIM TAKE MY PHONE AND THEN WALK OVER TO YOU AND ANOTHER GUY AFTER!"

Wait...

Kamijou quickly looked back at the girl, who was at the front of the group. There was a Judgement armband wrapped around her right arm.

Ah.

So that was why.

"WHY AM I THE ONE PAYING FOR YOUR SINS, TSUCHIMIKADO?!"

"HOW COME YOU'RE NOT LOOKING FOR HIM INSTEAD THEN?" He cried out indignantly.

"I'VE ALREADY FOUND YOU! NOW WHERE IS IT?"

"I DON'T KNOW WHERE HE PUT IT, OK? SORRY TO DISAPPOINT, MISS, BUT YOU CAME TO THE WRONG INSURANCE COMPANY!"

"THEN I'LL BEAT HIS LOCATION OUT OF YOU INSTEAD!"

"YOU'RE NOT GIVING ME ANY MORE INCENTIVE TO STOP RUNNING!"

True to his words, he pressed on, not slowing his pace by even a bit as he shouted out his rebuttals.

For around another minute, they continued their goose chase through the hall, as the girl continued to throw things at him with her ability.

"At this point, I guess I just have to assume that either most of them don't have abilities, or if they do, they aren't tailored to a chase like this. Only that girl's is. She's been throwing thing after thing once we got in the mall. But the items are all unrelated to each other-a mannequin, a potted plant, cans and litter lying on the ground..."

Every item that she had thrown were completely different and normal. As such, this meant that whatever esper ability she had must be a generalized one-one which had a large range of uses and flexibility.

If she was using her ability to pick up these objects and control them to be thrown at him...

The most obvious answer was telekinesis.

"It can't be a really advanced version of it, though...if it was, she could probably keep redirecting them to hit me if she missed the first time."

A mid-level telekinesis user and the rest had no ability suited for this or didn't have one at all-that was what he had gathered from the situation.

"...!"

Kamijou's thoughts were momentarily put to a halt as something else came to the forefront; up ahead, he could see a set of stairs, which lead up into the street. It was a separate entrance to the one which he entered from, which was the eastern entrance-he could see from the sign in front that this was the southern one.

What lay at the top of the staircase was either freedom, or there would be enemies on the other side and he would be well and truly cornered.

But between that possibility and the alternative path of continuing to run around in that mall more, possibly until the end of the event, this seemed much more preferable.

Mentally bracing himself, he reached the base of the steps, and proceeded to race upwards.


Contrary to Kamijou Touma, Sogiita Gunha was having the time of his life.

"No need to be so scared! Those with true guts will have no fear in challenging a strong enemy!"

People were scrambling as far away from him as he could. The fact that he had put a crater in the street merely by landing may have had something to do with that...

That would've been considered to an incredibly dumb plan of action if this was any other person. But when this boy, wearing his jacket like a cape with a headband wrapped around his head like a terrible superhero suit crashed into the ground after literally running on air towards the enemy team, it was natural to be afraid.

"What the hell even is that?"

"Did he slap your wind blast away?!"

"Those were my highest speed winds! How the fuck did he do that?"

Sogiita just grinned.

"You guys are neat! Make this a fun fight, alright? Don't you go running off on me!"

He cracked his knuckles. His opponents gulped.

"We...don't really have a choice though, do we?..."

There was no use in running away. Sogiita had very clearly demonstrated that he was capable of easily closing distances.

There was no choice but to fight.

"Fine then..."

Only three of them remained.

The rest had ran.

However, they wouldn't.

"...bring it on, guts man!"

They all got into a triangle formation-very basic, but logical. Two boys stood at the front, each with fists brandished. The one in the back held the aforementioned aero-manipulator from before. They all seemed to have accepted that this battle was inevitable.

Sogiita grinned. "Those are some nice fighting words! What are your names?"

"Eichi."

"Kioshi."

"Takeo."

They listed their respective last names, and Sogiita nodded in turn. "I'm Sogiita Gunha, the seventh-ranked Level 5."

He would not hide anything in this fight.

And with that, he sped towards the group of three in an inexplicable phenomenon.

Slamming into the ground, Sogiita swung a fist. It undoubtedly could slam someone into a wall across the street with ease-that was how intense the energy emanating from it felt, and how easy the power was to gauge. All three jumped away hastily.

"What even is that speed..."

The Level 5 was not deterred whatsoever from the initial dodge. Instantly, as the three recovered, he raised his leg high, and a split second later slammed it into the ground. The ensuing rumble from the earth could likely be heard for entire blocks as parts of the ground shattered beneath them from the sheer impact energy.

A few seconds later, Sogiita had burst towards the aero-manipulator.

Without a doubt, the Level 5's were monsters in terms of combat capability.

"However!..."

Gritting their teeth, both of the other boys stood up.

Both swung their fists in the path that Sogiita was flying towards them in.

The slam could be heard echo from the nearby buildings.

"WE CAN'T LET OURSELVES BE TOSSED AROUND BY A LEVEL 5 SO EASILY!"

Said Level 5 was currently sprawled on the ground. Blood could be seen seeping from his nose, oozing a little onto his face from the punch of the two boys. He very slowly rose to his feet, coughing a little with his eyes hidden in his bangs.

"Quick! Hit him with a wind gust! We'll get in position!" Was shouted as the two melees began running.

A wind blast of around 110 kilometers in terms of speed shot towards Sogiita. Slamming into his stomach, the wind carried him in the opposite direction-where the other two boys were positioned, fists drawn back again.

Another slam could be heard as the Level 5 stumbled and hit the ground.

"Did we do it?..."

The three looked on uncertainly at the boy on the ground.

"I...have no clue..."

A minute passed.

"Hah...we...did it...we beat a Level 5! Nice wombo-combo guys!" The three then slowly broke out into smiles, clapping each other on the back.

"I...can't believe we actually did it..."

"Nice wind blast, Eichi! That was the perfect trajectory!"

"Nah, nah, you and Takeo did all the work, really..."

"Nah, come on, give yourself some credit!"

"That was good teamwork. Actually, no. It was gutsy teamwork!"

That last voice was not them.

They all snapped their heads towards Sogiita Gunha-who had risen from the ground, all blood seemingly gone. The dust and dirt on him remained, but other than that it looked like he had never fought at all.

However, what was most strange was the smile on the boy's face.

It wasn't of a sinister nature, or threatening-it was completely genuine, with some respect mixed in.

A second later, the boy punched the ground. The three were not prepared for it whatsoever.

They all fell to the ground as the intense impact shook the earth once again.

"I gave you guys a bit of free reign by going easy, and I really wasn't disappointed at all!"

The Level 5 was grinning-no, beaming, as he made his way over to them as they were sprawled out on the ground.

Bitter smiles now covered their faces, although Sogiita couldn't see them.

"So...we didn't even come close to beating you in reality..." Takeo muttered in resignation. "I guess that gap between levels is too big after all..."

"Nah. On the contrary, that was impressive."

"Huh?..."

"That combination and coordination was great-it was like you were all thinking the exact same thing. Kinda like you've practiced working together like that before. And I wasn't necessarily just letting you hit me, you know. I was still trying to fight."

Sogiita crouched down next to the three of them with a smile-one which they could now see, as they looked up to face him.

"You know, teamwork like that could easily bring down a Level 4 or even a 5 if you had more time to prepare for me. You guys have some impressive guts."

The boy then stood up, grinning even wider.

"Let's fight again sometime! When you've had more time-I wanna see what you guys can become in the future! Don't stop working on that fighting stlye, you three!"

With that, he seemed to double jump into the air, away from them.

A dumbfounded look was on each of their faces.


"Man, they really did a good job-they work better together than some Anti-Skill units," muttered Sogiita as he raced through the air.

"Now, who's gonna be the next oppon-"

He was abruptly cut off as a beam shot through the air. One of pure bright light.

Or, at least, that's what it would look like at first glance.

In actuality, it was a Railgun blast. One created by firing an arcade coin.

The Level 5 caught it in his teeth and grinned. "I know that attack."

He heard an annoyed girl's voice from below.

"I still can't believe you can do that. I can't get you one bit."

His fellow Level 5, the third-ranked Misaka Mikoto stood below him.


Tsuchimikado Motoharu was in his element.

This kind of strategy game was something he was very good at-being a very prominent spy for various magic side organizations in addition to Academy City tended to hone one's skill in the cunning and crafty side of the mind.

Combined with the remarkable combat skills that he had developed over time in his line of work, he made short work of everyone who crossed him during the event. Attacking the one who seemed to be a clueless idiot turned out out to not be a very good strategy.

He was currently inside a department store-it was, quite possibly the best stakeout spot in the entirety of the district for this event. It was quite tall, given that it had 4 floors, and as such it towered over many buildings like other smaller stores, restaurants, and some schools. While the view was still obstructed by some of the taller buildings and apartments, he didn't mind that-being in the store gave him vantage points from all angles given how many windows there were to showcase products inside, and he didn't want to go to the trouble of lockpicking doors in apartments in order to get a higher view. That, and it would also be more difficult to look at ground level without binoculars, and he wasn't taking the Capture the Point game that seriously to warrant going to those lengths.

Instead, he stayed in the store. He was currently inside a clothing store, and was close to a window which gave a clear view of the red team's Point A, which was an abandoned storage warehouse. It was very easy to attack-there were many angles from the streets which lead to the warehouse, as well as a grocery store right next to it-one with only floor. Any esper who had the ability to traverse a small wall like that, and he was sure there were many, would be able to get up on it and possibly pull other people onto it for an aerial attack.

However, Tsuchimikado waited. He was sure that it wouldn't be that simple. In a battle that comprised of thousands of espers squaring off, there would always be something that no one would've expected, or some countermeasure that was not thought of prior. It seemed that around 300 espers were guarding the point-some outside the warehouse, some on the streets, some in trees or higher positions on the lookout-and he guessed that there were even more inside the buidling too.

These were the things that a well-trained spy could idly notice while getting clothes for his little sister.

"Awwww! What an adorable apron-Maika would look like an angel descended from heaven with this!"

The blonde was currently holding up an apron that was a shining silver-it had a couple beads on it as well, delicately arranged in a beautiful flow of colours at the waist level, in the order of light blue all the way through to a dark purple.

"This is truly the epitome of kitchen cooking wear! Humanity has achieved a completely new level of accessories and beauty with this creation! Aghhh...wait, we're in the middle of the event though, so no one will be at the cash register for me to buy it...would they accept it if I left a little slip about what I bought and include the money with it? It's a roundabout way of doing things, but it might be best..."

An instant.

In that one instant of fawning over that apron, any normal human being would've died.

And although he wasn't normal, Tsuchimikado Motoharu came very close to that outcome.

His battle instincts had just narrowly managed to save him from the bullet which had sailed by his head.

He instantly dropped the apron and dove to the side, taking cover behind a pillar. "That came from the north side, just past the doorway in the hall. Whoever that was, they've got a much better vantage point then me.

The classroom idiot and doting stepbrother, Tsuchimikado Motoharu was now gone. In it's place was the cold-hearted, cunning agent of GROUP.

"No person who wants to just have fun with the event would ever do this. That must be another agent from the dark side."

He instinctively reached to his pocket, but cursed internally. He had no gun-of course he didn't. He hadn't been expecting an attack like this during the event.

He went completely silent and did not move. The store they were in was small-around 100 square meters was it's area. He could very quietly hear footsteps on the back left-the assailant had entered the store, and were coming around one of the shelves.

"But, the fact that they are making any noise at all proves that they aren't a seasoned dark side operative."

He could escape or even possibly win if he played his cards carefully.

Tsuchimikado then, in a sudden movement, reached to the side and grabbed one of the shelves, and slammed it down onto the ground with it's numerous items scattering the floor.

He bolted for the side entrance. He took great care to topple the other shelves he passed by on his way out-he had to cover the routes of which she could follow, even by just a little. He had to get distance first, since she had the obvious advantage in terms of weapons.

Passing by one of the windows, he then did a barrel roll suddenly.

A bullet flew by him and broke a window.

"I knew it. She knew exactly where I was-but there was no evidence whatsoever to suggest I was there...which meant that wasn't a lucky guess, but I was being tracked by someone..."

He looked to his left out the window as he ran, straight at the neighboring apartment complex. He could vaguely see a figure with a rifle standing on one of the balconies.

"...in a nearby building!"

Racing out of the store's other entrance, Tsuchimikado instantly ran towards one of the escalators and ran down it. He cared not for how safe the method was.

His time was limited, and he needed a plan.


Aaaand there goes Chapter 4!

Poor Tsuchimikado...he just wanted to buy an apron for his sister...

"Exactly! How could they be so uncouth as to deny me that! Nyah!"

Truly uncivil.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! If you have the time and feel up to it, leave a review with any feedback you have-whether it's praise, suggestions, or criticism, I appreciate it all and it helps me write the next chapter better! If you've got any questions regarding the story, leave them in that review and I'll address them in the next chapter!

Hope you all have an awesome day!

-Cloak