"italics" / italics - thoughts

Bold - Emphasis

Italics Bold - Magic names or titles

"normal" - speech

Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create.

Chapter 7: Background check

Kuroko was the first to break the silence.

"All that shows is that you are a geomancer, mental ability user, or ,unlikely as it sounds, the fabaled Dual Skill." Kuroko tried to dismiss Percival's claims of magic being real. And Percival knew that this would be the first reaction. After all, there was little proof of magic even existing.

"Hmm? Then what about these?" Percival indicated to his right hand, where the lightning, light, earth, fire and black, water-like substance were now orbiting his fist. "This shows that I am either a Dual Skill, going by your logic. And if that is the case, I would be pretty famous. But as not one of you has heard of me, it pretty much confirms me being a magician and that magic is real."

"Grr..." Touma could tell that Kuroko knew that she was beat, in terms of logic. But she still refused to believe that magic was real, even if the facts state that it is possible.

"But that does not prove anything." Ruiko spoke up, causing Kuroko to raise her head. "All it shows is that you are capable of manipulating some elements. Not that magic is real."

"Oho..." Percival was impressed. "I expected that from Uiharu-san or Shirai-san. Why did you say that, Saten-san?"

Ruiko was taken aback by Percival's question. "Oh! Erm...well," Ruiko tried to explain it best she could. "Well, magic is ,to us, an illusion, misdirection, or a slight of hand. There is some science behind it in the psychological sense. But what you are talking about is magic that we find in games, like wizards or mages. So, you could say that you are using magic through misdirection and illusions. But, that also means that magic, like the ones in games, does not exist, and you are tricking all of us."

Touma was stunned, as was Mikoto, Kuroko and Kazari. What Ruiko had just said was correct. And, like she said, magic can, in this case, be considered to be real. "She's right." Touma thought as he looked at Mikoto worridly. "This does not show that magic is real, and only shows the fact that this could be an aplication of esper abilities. And it seems that Yurei-san has no idea on what to do." Touma looked at Percival. His face was frozen, most likely from having not expected that explanation.

He was a little shocked when Percival started to clap. "Very good." Percival was smiling, causing the gathered audience to be a little confused. "I must say, that is a very good scientific explanation. Unfortunately, I have a few cards to play. First, would be this. Misaka Mikoto."

"Misaka-san is a Level 5. Yet, she says that magic is real. That alone would give what I, as well as Kamijou-san and Index, some weight in what we say." Percival was smirking as he saw the realisations hit the three girls. "The second card would be what I just did, and its aftereffects. In theory, it is possible to have a Dual Skill user out there. However, in reality, it is very hard to acheive this because of the calculations required. For example, a person is a Dual Skill user with the abilities telekinesis and geomancer. That combination alone is very powerful. Yet, the ability level of both skills would be, at highest, level 4. And, if both abilities are level 4, this would also, in theory, mean that the person would need to have the calculative ability of a level 6, at least. And that is not including the chances of a person having either a unique Personal Reality, or two seperate Personal Realities for each ability."

"And, my final card. Othinus."

"Hmph. You called, human?"

As he spoke her name, Othinus emerged from her hiding place and landed on the table, not paying any heed to the blinking faces of her audience. Touma, Index and Mikoto, however were panicking.

"Hmm? A doll?" Kazari prodded Othinus's body lightly. Despite this, she was forced to move from the force behind it. "...why does she look so familiar?"

"You are that terrorist, aren't you." Kuroko looked at Othinus with a wary gaze, hands moving to her spikes.

Othinus looked back at Kuroko. "And if I am?"

"I will stop you, to protect Onee-sama." Kuroko replied in a firm tone, teleporting her spikes into her other hand. "And I shall report this ape to the proper authorities for harbouring a criminal."

"Try it." "Kno-"

"Oh, no need for any of that." Suddenly, Kuroko's hand felt a lot lighter. As did her thigh, where she kept her spikes. "Wha-"

"Here." Kuroko looked towards the source of the voice. There, she saw Percival holding her spikes, her belt included. "If you tried to do that, all of Kamijou-san's effort would be for naught. Also, a number of people already know about Othinus's survival, as unbelievable as it sounds."

Kuroko's throat felt very dry all of a sudden. "Spatial manipulation? No, there was no way that he is a teleporter. Otherwise, he would have just teleported us to the ape's apartment, or else. Then, some sort of stealing ability? But what are the conditions?"

"Hmm. Interesting." Othinus thought as she observed Percival tossing the spikes in his palm up and down. I sensed a sudden increase in mana flow. What's more, it was very unusal. Did he do some form of body enhancement? But, in theory, that should be very impractical and taxing. So, how did he do that? "Who are you?"

"Oh, me?" Percival had a humorous look on his face. "I would say an ordinary guy you can find anywhere, but that would be a lie, after all the shit that Kamijou-san here has faced. And you know exactly what he has faced, Othinus. Don't you?"

"Just speak."

"Jeez! Don't get your hat in a twist!" Percival dropped the spikes onto the table, where they stayed. "As I said before, I am Percival Yurei, or Yurei Percival, if you prefer it the japanese way, and I am 15 years old. And to clear things up, I am both a magician and an esper."

"You are a magi- omph"

"Ah ah ah," Percival made a 'tsk tsk' noise as he covered Index's mouth with some of the dark, water-like substance. "Please save your questions until the end of the presentation. And, avoid analysing my magic. All you would get from that is a splitting headache."

"And where was I? Ah, yes. Me explaining what I am." Percival plowed on, ignoring Index's unsatisfied muffled words. "In a sense, I am one of the few exceptions to the rules of Magic and Science. And before you ask, there would be further explanations down the road." Percival stopped Kazari from asking him a question.

"Magic, when going down to the very basics of explanations, follows a set of rules. However, when compared to the esper abilities in Academy City, they are more diverse. Magic can be used to achieve a variety of results from a single 'base', while esper abilities can only achieve certain results based on the base you have, which is your Personal Reality."

"For personal reasons, I would not yet tell about where I come from, how I became a magician or an esper, and how I am one of the few exceptions to the rules, as I am sure some people are confused right now. What I will say is the basis of my abilities. For starters, my s-"

*Bang bang*

"Oh, Sorry. I forgot that there were others coming." Ignoring the looks on everyone's faces, Touma followed Percival as he went to open the door. What he saw caused him to be stunned.

Blonde hair, with a face that was cute in Touma's mind. Lacy white gloves that reached to her elbows. And, most noticeably, the huge breasts that did not fit the supposed attire of the girl. A Tokiwadai Middle School Uniform.

Behind this girl was someone that Touma recognised much faster. After all, there was only a small handful of people that he knew wearing that sort of outfit.

"...Sequenzia-san?"

"Why are you here, Shokuhou?'

To say Mikoto was pissed would be an understatement. First, a 15 year old seems to be playing around, even though he said that lives were at stake. Next, her friends were involved with said boy, who was a magician. And finally, the Level 5 which she could not get along with, Shokuhou Misaki, was in the same room with the boy that she liked. Not that she would admit it.

"My my, Misaka-san." Misaki gave a coy smile at her 'rival'. "What could you possibly mean? I am just visiting this Kamijou-san here, as thanks for helping me with some...things in the past."

"Yeah, and I'm the best esper." Mikoto scoffed. "Why are you really here? I know that you would usually leave this to one of your clique members, or control someone to do it for you. So, why are you here?"

"It's very simple, really." Misaki decided to throw away all pretences. "I was...coerced, into doing this."

"Blackmail?"

"Indeed, Misaka-san." Misaki suppressed her feelings from showing on her face. "It pains me to say it, but my caution ability was overpowered by a certain person's information gathering power."

Mikoto caught on quickly. "Yurei-san."

"Yes." Misaki was a little angry at herself for getting blackmailed. As it was, she was the Queen of Mental Ability users, and a level 5 to boot. As such, she made precautions to reduce possible info being used against her. Memory wipes, suggestive thoughts, mental control, and even a group of espers which were both her friends, classmates and trusted subordinates. All these helped with reducing her public image. As well as escaping from those scientists. So, for her to be actually blackmailed by someone that was new, it was, in a few words, shameful and depressing. On the plus side, I get to be with my Prince!

Meanwhile, the other girls had their eyes on Shutaura.

"Arisa!" Index looked at her with sparkling eyes. "How have you been? Its been so long!"

"Meigo-san?"

"But she does not look like her...Could it be someone else?"

"Yeah, Index. It had been awhile." Shutaura smiled at the joyous nun. It had been a while for sure. The last time she had met Index, it was before her concert as Arisa. They did not have any time to meet after the collapse of the Endymion, what with the fusing of her two bodies, Arisa and Shutaura, the sudden changes to her personality and tastes, and her responsibilities as a leader of a unit in Academy City, the last one being the main reason she did not seek out Touma or Index after the Endymion incident.

"Anoh," Ruiko was the first one out of the three(more like two, as Kuroko was busy staring at the whispering forms of the two level 5s) to ask the 'supposed' idol. "Are you really Meigo-san?"

Smiling, Shutaura decided to answer. "Yes. A lot of things happened, but I am the Arisa that you met before." She recognised Ruiko from Arisa's memories. Although she also saw her as Shutaura, it was but a brief glimpse. So, it was better to rely on Arisa's memories, with said person interacting with the girls more. "Most of them, I rather not, as well as can't, discuss."

"Wow! You look so different! I mean, your hair colour is the main difference, but that alone makes you hard to tell as the idol!" Ruiko examines the agent of the Black Crow Unit. "Besides your hair colour, you seem...different...somehow. More...fit?"

es"I have been working out. Need to keep fit for my job." Shutaura saw no need to keep the girls completely in the dark. Half truths should work to keep these girls off my back.

"Ahem." Percival coughed into his fist, catching everyone's attention. "Now that everyone I asked has gathered, it would be best that we get back on track. As I was saying, my special ability, or as you espers might call it, esper ability, is Mimicry. That is my main ability."

"Mimicry? And main?" Touma asked.

"Basically, it allows me to 'copy' an ability or skill to a certain extent. A level 0's 'Auto-regeneration'. An Aerohand's ability to create ejection points of air. Even the Level 5's abilities, if I so wished."

"Sounds like the jackpot, right? Well, you are dead wrong." Percival smiled coldly at his words. "Dead not being an exaggeration. Like everything, there is something that makes it more even. More balanced. In my case, it would be the type of skills or abilities I copied, as well as the proficiency that I have over them."

"What do you mean types? Are you classifying them into Mental, Physical, Muscular, Matter, something like that?" Kazari asked Percival. As she asked, her hands were busy typing away at her computer. Beside her, Ruiko nodded her head excitedly.

"Sort of." Nervously smiling, he continued. "When I copy a skill or ability, they get categorised into one of the four I have. Mimicry. Esper. Shield. And Magic, which as I had explained before, exists."

"Hmm, Yurei-san is saying some pretty complicated yet simple things." Misaki frowned to herself. "Perhaps reading a mind or two would help me. The nun? The flower-band wearing girl? Misaka's teleporter friend? Or perhaps Yurei-san?"

*Pii*

Discreetly, Misaki aimed her remote at Saten and read her mind. Normally, she would have no qualms about doing so in the open. But, now that her Prince, AKA Touma, was near her, she decided to do so secretly. She would have chosen Percival, but her attempts so far had borne no fruit. Perhaps it was that gadget he had then.

Meanwhile, Percival continued with his explanations. He had noticed, or rather, felt, Misaki's gaze on him. Might have to talk to her later. Knowing her, she might end up digging some too dangerous info. "The first one, Mimicry, has only two skills. Mimic. And Amplification. Mimic, as I explained before, allows me to copy someone's ability to a certain extent. But,"

"There is a catch. It only allows me to copy the level 1 equivalent of the ability. Like, if I mimicked a Level 5's electromaster ability, I would get the level 1 equivalent of its power, proficiency, and use. The more I use this copied ability, the more I will be able to, unlock, for a lack of a better word, more uses, power and proficiency of that specific esper ability."

"So, like using a muscle." Kazari summed up. "The more you use a certain muscle, the stronger and more used to it you are."

"Right in one." Percival took a sip out of a bottle he suddenly materialised from somewhere. "Which leads me to its flaw. I can only level certain abilities to a specific level. Electromaster, for example, I can only go up to the equivalent of a Level 3. However, for something like Auto-Rebirth, I can possibly reach the level of a level 3, despite the two coming from a level 5 and 0 respectively."

"The reason for this is simple. Human limitations. You can use this analogy. I am a computer, and these esper abilities are like programs. If the program is too new, I can only run it until the version that it allows me, as the computer does. But, if its is very old, I can adapt it to a new format to run on me. So, if I copy Auto-Rebirth, I would be making most of my cells as stem cells, like in plants, to allow me to rebuild the body parts I lost. If its like a scratch or deep wound needing a month to heal, it would heal in an hour, at most. But if I lost a limb, I would need a few weeks to regain it, unless I find the one I lost and fix it close to, or against, the severed area."

"But, if I copy an electromaster's ability, I would only be able to give out a level 3 to 4 equivalent, because my body can only produce so much electricity without causing my body any damage."

"Now, for my other ability, Amplification. It is similar to stats boost, where it increases my physical abilities. But Amplification allows me to boost both my mental and physical abilities. The limit for this is it can only amplify, or in simpler terms, multiply, my strength by, at most, 20x. Any further than that, and a simple movement would tear my arm or leg off."

"Esper is the category for all mimicked abilities that I have. Shield has abilities which I both mimicked, as well as made. The final one, Magic, has spells for me to use. Each with varying uses."

"This sounds very cool and all," Kuroko decided to speak for the first time in the past few minutes. "but that does not explain why you called us all here."

"I'm getting there." Percival plopped onto the floor with a sigh, taking a drink out of his bottle(Something Touma still had no idea where he got from). "It involves both the two sides that we like to call the Magic side and the Science side, which is Academy City, as well as the entire population in first Japan, than half the world."

"And we are chosen because of the things that we have seen, I suppose." Touma slammed his head against the table. "Such Misfortune."

"Oh, look on the bright side!" Percival cheerfully patted Touma on his back. "You get to have a girlfriend at the end of this, plus some shit that has been going on in your life being sorted out!"

Touma would have been happy at what Percival had said, had it not been for the sudden dark auras that exploded in the small room, shocking the people living in, and beside, the room.

"I see." Misaki commented as she looked at her competition. "My seduction ability would triumph over all of you. Especially you, Misaka-san. With your body, you could never hope to make Touma happy."

"Oho?" Mikoto kept her feelings in check, although a vein in her head throbed in anger. "But I don't believe size is all that matters. Rather, your blobs of fat would just be a hindrance."

"Say what you want," Shutaura calmly spoke. But everyone could see the fire in her eyes when she looked at the girls that also liked Touma "but you would not be able to protect him as well as I can."

"With that ridiculous unit of yours? It would be a miracle if you can even stop an attack from a Saint." Othinus waved off Shutaura's claims. "In fact, you would be the least suited to satisfy this human."

"Shut it you witch!" (Mikoto Misaki)

"You are so small, you can't even reach his waist, much less be his lover!" Mikoto shouted half in embarrassment, her blushing face a testament to her usually timid nature in regards to anything related to love.

"Plus, I know that you did bad things to Touma, so you should forget about him, you old hag!" Misaki, on the other hand, was the opposite of her level 5 rival. She was by no means shy when it came to sexual advances. Rather, it was because it was sexual in nature that she held an upper hand against the brown-haired girl.

"Uwah." Kazari was stunned at the number of girls that had suddenly started a catfight. "That's...something..."

"I have to kill this triogedtyle. I have to do it in order to get Onee-sama's attention on only me..." Touma moved away from Kuroko when he heard her muttering, already fearing for his life. Shrai-san really looks like she would kill me. That would not be funny. To be killed by a middle school student afer surviving WW3 and Othinus.

Percival, the starter of the current chaos, decided to open his mouth yet again, which Touma could tell would end up in even more chaos. "Shirai-san. You knew about magic."

"Hah?" Kuroko glared at Percival in visible anger. "First you say that magic is real. Then you say that I knew about magic before this? There has to be a limit to your foolishness."

"You can hide it, but you can't fool me that easily." Percival stared down Kuroko, who had her malicious aura up again. Mikoto, Misaki and Shutaura had stopped their argument, and were watching this unfold. "Your reaction earlier did not match what I knew about you. If you did not know about magic, you would not have acted as you did against Othinus, even in her fairy state. So, that begs the question. When did you find out? A few weeks ago, when I presume you were tailing Misaka-san and Kamijou-san? Or perhaps...yesterday?" She flinched slightly when she heard Percival say the word 'yesterday'. "I see."

"Kuroko..." Said girl winced slightly upon hearing Mikoto's hurt tone. "You were following me?"

"No, Onee-sama!" Kuroko tried to explain. "I did no such thing! It was yesterday! Yesterday! I found out yesterday. It was just...I was just...taking some time to process this." Kuroko's voice became smaller as she explained what had occurred yesterday

Flashback(Yesterday, around the time Mikoto received the meessage)

"So, this is the place?"

"Hai, Shirai-san." Ruiko turned her head back to the phone. "This seems to be the place."

It took a while, but they finally managed to get to the location that the Informant wanted them to be. They took a slight detour, though. As Informant had said that they were to prepare for a fight, they picked up on some self-defense items.

Shifting uncomfortably, Kazari looked around her, the shadows cast by the buildings nearby making her slightly jumpy. "So, do we wait? If we are, can we wait somewhere with some better lighting?"

"Don't worry, Uiharu," Ruiko held up another stun baton that Kuroko had managed to get for the two of them. "There is no one here. It's pretty late after all."

"Quiet." Kuroko suddenly held up her hand. Both had spikes held between her fingers, making the total number she currently had be 36. "There."

Mentioning with her spike-filled hand, the three girls looked at the road that was near the alley they were currently in. Although the alley was less of an alley, and more of a third a road.

What they saw, they did not expect.

Vaguely humanoid shapes were making their way to their position, their forms getting bigger with every passing second. Leading them was a human figure. It was clear, from their sizes, that the person in-front was the one being chased. And, as such, it would mean that that person was the Informant.

They could make out more features as the person they presumed to be the Informant came closer to their position, as well as more actions.

The person was wearing what seemed to be a skintight suit, midnight black in colour. Various weapons were strapped to each part of the body, some easily recognisable. Daggers lined his abdomen, along with clips of ammunition. His left hand held a pistol, while his right held a sword. His left thigh was strapped with a crossbow like item, and his right had what appeared to be arrows for his crossbow. As they looked on, the man fired off some shots into the encroaching army.

"Hmm? There you are!" The man suddenly shouted out, surprising the trio. "It's me, the Informant!"

"That can't be his real name, right?" Ruiko muttered to Kuroko, who was keeping a close eye on the 'Informant'.

"Of course not. It has to be his alias." Kuroko sighed as she stepped out from the cover of the buildings, exposing part of her body from the safety of the shadows. "So, for now, we shall call him Informant, as he wants us to, I suppose."

"First, Ima' tossing you this secret. Then, get ready to run." The Informant got closer to their position, not slowing down in the slightest as he took out a folder. Now that he was much closer, they could see even more details. The daggers and clips of ammo, now that they could see clearer, were actually attached to a vest, which was unbuttoned in the front. Underneath, they could see even more clips of ammunition. A hood covered the face of the Informant, masking his features. And his arrows for the crossbow contraption were indeed on his right, held down and prevented from spilling everywhere when he moved by leather straps that wrapped the arrows close to his thigh and a small, circular lid. "These enemies of mine have nothing to do with you, so only attack them if they chase after you. Which, they probably will. Now, passsss!"

"Waaa!"

Kazari managed to catch the folder that was tossed her way. Just barely though. Kuroko's shout aimed at the Informamt's reckless behaviour died in her throat when she saw the number of enemies that were chasing the Informant.

A swarm of metallic heads were the only things that could be seen from her position. That showed the sheer number of enemies. But that was not the fearsome part. Instead of an armoured body akin to the powered suits, or the bulky parts from a Power Lifter, all that could be seen was an endoskeleton made entirely of metal. Or what could be made out from the mass of weapons that were attached to it.

From literally every part of the frame, weapons jutted out. Blades, spikes and gun barrels were the only things that made up the body of the machine, but they were numerous in number, making them very deadly in close range. One hug, and they would turn into swiss cheese!

The chest was not the only one that had gun barrels. The arms, as well as the shoulders, were guns. The left was just a large barrel, giving it the impression of a launcher of sorts. The right was a very long barrel. It was so long, it would have scraped the floor had the 'arm' not been pointing upwards. For Kuroko, the only gun that came to mind was a sniper rifle.

Lastly, was the head. That too had not been spared the 'walking armoury' treatment'. Mounted on both sides, were unmistakably harpoon launchers. Despite its miniature size(length of a hand to elbow), its barbed tips glinted in the dim moonlight. And as for its face, it was a mass of cameras and laser pointers, making it look not too different from one of the aerial drones that could be found outside Academy city.

Cold sweat dripped down the trios backs. "We have to fight these!?!""

"Let's go, Shirai-san." Ruiko's tapping on her shoulder brought her out of her stupor. "He said only to fight when necessary. And we don't need to do so."

"Okay." Kuroko quickly held onto the two girls' shoulders. "I'm teleporting us back to the bus stop. You two will go first. After that, I will come back to help the Informant." Plus, I could ask him a few questions of my own about Onee-sama. That is, if he has any...IF he does, I'm extracting every but of info I can get, before I dispose of his memories. No stalkers are allowed to approach Onee-sama!

"What in the world..."

Kuroko gaped at the scene before her. After dropping off Ruiko and Kazari, Kuroko told them to get going first, as they had no means of teleportation besides her. After getting Kazari to send pictures of what was inside the document folder, she teleported back to their previous location, taking care to do so inside the cover and shadows of the buildings, before making her way to the Informant's location, the trail of metal body(or armament) parts giving her a clue as to where the man was.

But, when she arrived at the end of the trail, she was gifted with a rather unbelievable sight.

Metal bodies were littered around the small alleyway she had found the trail ending. Or what was left of them. Some bodies were torn apart, obviously by a large amount of force. Others were melted, and there were a few with arrows or daggers sticking out of their heads, most likely the place which housed the CPU that ran these abominations of weaponry.

And the main reason for this mess, the Informant, was casually making a phone call as he sliced up one of the few remaining machines, each move quickly deflecting or bisecting bullets and robot parts alike. Kuroko was not too sure, given her current position below a window, but she thought that he had a sinister look on his face.

"Mm. Yeah. I did it. Gave them the first secret." Informant's voice echoed in the alley. "So, Academy City eh? This is a place I could get used to! Wait, but that means..." The Informant switched out his blade for his pistol, his phone now held in his right, somehow. Speaking off, how did he hold his phone in his left hand, gun included?

"Isn't this the place were Othinus is?" His words caused her blood to run cold. Othinus? Does he mean the world terrorist that is in the maximum prison? Unable to resist, Kuroko shifted her body to a closer position to the Informant, taking care to avoid the metal parts that were lying about. "Yeah. How about that. Because of her magic, we got here...so you have the same theory then?...worried about me? Don't worry too much. These little attacks are no sweat. With magic that is."

Magic? Kuroko would have yelled at the Informant, had she not seen him slice a robot cleanly in half, even with its guns firing straight at it, and him destroy three robots with a single shot from his pistol. Is he dumb? Magic does not exist! Its basically the occult, something that is, and cannot, be explained by science! Although, there are tricks of light, sleight of hand, type of 'magic'. But if that is the case, why say that the terrorist can also use magic? Unless they are talking about the same th- "Yeah, I thought so to! The magic that Othinus uses is awesome!"

Nevermind. I can say that the gun may be a product of Academy City. But what about the sword? Its obviously too plain to be scientifically upgraded. And besides, swords and crossbows are quite obsolete in the world of guns and machines, unless it is for a sport, like kendo. Peeking her head out there window, she realised that the Informant was gone. As was any 'alive' robots. Looks like its safe for me to test out some things.Standing up, she teleported herself into the alleway, taking care to not accidentally land on any of the lying pieces of metal. This is pretty sturdy, despite its looks. Kuroko observed one of the more intact robots. Its head, however, as well as its surroundings, were melted though. My spikes can't even scratch the surface! Even though they are unable to pierce through some Power Suits, they are at least able to leave scratch marks on the material that makes the suits. And they are somewhat deep too. around 5mm. And yet...these robots can resist any damage from my spikes. Making it a harder metal than these spikes of mine. Stretching, Kuroko decided to leave this place. It was, after all, rather late. And, she would rather take a peek at what the Informant gave her and her friends.

But something still lingered at the back of her mind. Is magic real then?

PRESENT TIME

"So, what was this big secret that this Informant wanted you to know?" Mikoto took a deep breath to calm herself. She knew that Kuroko did rather stupid things. Sure they may be for the right reasons, or had good intentions, but that did not excuse the fact that she was risking her life for no reason.

"So...the Tree Diagram is...kinda...gone.."

"Ah." Mikoto took a minute to process what she said. "WAIT! THAT'S THE SECRET?!?" Why on earth did Informant tell them tha- Wait, didn't Percival say that his friend was the Informant?

"That is some secret." Shutaura blinked. Despite being a part of Academy City's force that protects the city, she was not given much access to information. And, even if they did, she believed that the Board of Directors would keep this sort of information under wraps. After all, many things in Academy City was supervised by the Tree Diagram. If word got out that the famous super computer of Academy City, quite a number of things would go down. Mainly riots in the city, as well as some hysteria. This computer was one of the reasons the city was safer. Another being its ability to help predict and steer Academy City out of some dangerous waters.

"Yeah, that surprised us too." Kazari spoke up from behind her screen. "At first, we thought that this was a fake, but after we did some research, it made sense."

"After July 31," Touma stiffened slightly, as did Mikoto and Misaki, "The weather predictions started to be less accurate then before. And, there started to be more intruders entering Academy City. Plus, there was the thing that Shirai-san did last year, about a month or two after July 31. She encountered another teleporter, who had with her a metal case. If we take into account the number of space shuttles that were sent to space a few days before Shirai-san's encounter..."

"Then that show that the Tree Diagram was indeed destroyed." Shutaura muttered, completing Kazari's analysis.

"Yep yep yep!" Percival chose this time to intervene. "And with that, I believe all the important points have been covered. Plus, there is gonna be school for these unfortunate souls, so they need to rest early, lest they wake up late. So, off you go!"

"Wa-wait a minute!"

"Eehhh?"

"Ahh!?!"

A variety of responses were uttered as Percival unceremoniously dumped Ruiko, Kazari, Kuroko, Shutaura, and Misaki out. Mikoto too would have been thrown out, had she not decided to make a move first, but not before she gave her greetings to the trio.

"So sorry for that, but if we stayed any longer, it would be rather...painful... for all of you." Percival grinned in amusement as he watched the girls pick themselves up from the ground. Despite the fact that they were on the fifth floor at first, they had somehow managed to make their way onto the ground floor, outside the complex's area.

"Like you actually are." Kuroko muttered to herself as she checked her watch. Eyes widening, she gave a quick goodbye before she started to make her way back to Tokiwadai, the time already quite late. Time does fly when you have fun, no?

Ruiko, Kazari, and Shutaura too made their way back to their respective destinations, though not entirely by their choice. Leaving only one left.

"Now then," Misaki made a cute pose at Percival. But her eyes, which were full of suspicion, unnerved Percival slightly. They gave the impression she would kill him, even if he did what he had to to get her there for her sake. "what shall we discuss then, Yurei-san!"

...Her voice being all cutesy and carefree did not help...

AN

So...yeah...sorry guys.

I had to take a quick break from writing. Too busy reading LNs, WNs, and watching anime. Thankfully, I just finished up Food Wars, so no more binging on that series. And, more ideas are going through my mind for thus series. That said, I don't know if I will be able to achieve the end goal I set up.

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!