italics - thoughts
Bold - Emphasis
Italics Bold - Magic names or titles
"normal" - speech
" underlined bold " - Mental transmissions
Underlined - Flashback
{Bold}- Magic spells or abilities
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 17: Akikawa Mie
"So...why are we here?"
"Waiting for Akikawa-san to show up." Shutaura dropped a few cubes of sugar into her cup of tea, before she took a sip out of it. "The cameras in the vicinity last caught her entering an abandoned warehouse. Right now, members of the Black Crow unit are staking out at locations the girl is most likely to appear from."
It was the next day. Thankfully, it was the weekend, so Touma did not have to worry about missing yet another school day. His poor record could not take another hit, helping save the world from total annihilation or not.
"Erm, can I see the locations?" Touma sat up a bit straighter. "I want to actively help instead of just following around you."
"...Normally, I would say no. But," Shutaura sighed. "Since it is you, I'll make an exception." A beat. "I just sent you the map."
"Thanks Shutaura." Touma took a look.
"..."
"..."
"...?" Touma's eyes noticed something. "...so, did Akikawa-san enter from this circle on the map?"
"-? Ah, yes." Shutaura nodded, a little confused. "Did you notice something?"
"Maybe." Touma's mind was keeping itself into overdrive. "Akikawa-san is running from her pursuers for nearly two full days now. She would not risk to stopping in some place open. Not since that van smashed through that building yesterday. I assume she had appeared to get some food and water?"
"...yeah..."
"Then, Akikawa-san would try to remain hidden, since she can no longer count on being out in the open, among the crowd. And, since she is being tracked by magic, and that she does not know how they are tracking her, it can be assumed she would try to keep moving in an attempt to lose her pursuers. So..."
"Kyah!?"
Akikawa Mie screamed in shock, her pupils dilating in fear.
"Hello, Akikawa Mie." The horrible distorted voice that she had heard back in her apartment was grating against her ears, making goosebumps appear on her arms. Her legs were trembling in fear. "You have something of mine."
"N-no!" Despite her trembling body, her voice came out strong. "T-these things are not yours! They belong to my parents."
"Ah, but they DO belong to me." The chilling voice gave a chuckle, making Mie's skin crawl due to its repulsive sound. "In exchange for your life, your father's and your mother's, we would take the data."
"E-even so! I-i won't let you take my parents hard work!"
"Your parents are not the only one that we are targeting. But, that is not what we are talking about." The voice somehow gave off a bored tone. "Men, take it by force. I would rather save my strength for what is to come."
"""Yes Sir!""" A dozen men suddenly appeared along with the shout, immensely surprising Mie. When did they-
"Little lady, give them up. We promise not to hurt you...much..."
"Oi oi, you are a sicko, you know that?"
"What? I meant by breaking her legs. What did you think I was talking about? You lolicon."
"...It ain't being a lolicon if we are the same age, right?"
"Oh my god, are you dense? We are supposed to keep our ages a secret!"
"...sorry..."
Most of this conversation was filtered out of Mie's head. Not that it would have given her any sort of hope or such from the current situation she was in.
Being surrounded by males. Outnumbered, 12 to 1. And-
"...gyaaaaaaaaah!" Suddenly, a figure blew past her face, and dust blew up into the air.
-Spiky-haired guys falling from the sky!?
Mie(and the guys around her) blinked in surprise at the sight of the male who had just fallen from the sky. He had, unfortunately, fallen flat on his face, so Mie was sure he had suffered a concussion, or at the very least, knocked out.
Upon closer inspection, she realised that the male was wearing a very familiar jacket. ...Where have I seen him from?
"Geez..." Another person, this time female, dropped down from above. This time however, she landed on her feet. unlike the male below her. "Your luck is horrid as always."
"Erm...is he-"
"...Not my fault that my luck hates me"
"YEEEEEKKKKKKKKKK!" Mie's shrill scream pierced the area, causing many of the individuals present to cover their ears in a panic.
"Damn." The distorted voice tsked. "That wold definitely attract attention. Men, hurry up and deal with them."
Thank goodness we arrived on time.
Shutaura gave a brief look around her surroundings. She quickly noted down the enemies, as well as their current positions. A dozen people, plus one at the back...Even if Akikawa Mie had been an esper, she would have been unable to last...thank goodness we were quick.
..
After Touma had pointed out the locations that Mie would have most likely taken(from his experiences, as well as his dealings with people who panic a lot.), Shutaura quickly re-positioned the entire Black Crow unit to the respective areas.
The results quickly came in.
"Squad leader, this is Crow 5 and 4. We have found the target." A voice transmission entered her ears, not even a few minutes after she had told everyone to move.
"What is your position?" Shutaura stood up, placing some money at the counter to pay for their drinks.
"We are at location C. I just spotted the target dashing out of an alleyway, while Crow 4 tracked her into a different one. There is also assumed to be hostiles approaching her location. There are espers in the group. One of them in particular seems to have the ability to manipulate kinetic forces."
"Keep a look out for more potential hostiles." Shutaura ordered as she and Touma dashed to the location. It would take around...10 minutes if we go by the walkways. But...
"Me and the IB are going to approach by the roof." Shutaura spoke into the communicator, ignoring Touma who was behind her. "Do not make contact unless the target is about to be taken away. The rest of the unit, co-operate with Anti-skill to keep the civilians out of this, and to detain any prisoners we might get from this confrontation. Keep us updated Crow 5."
"Roger!"
"Erm...Shutaura-san, what did you just say just now?" When she turned to look behind her, she could see Touma's head beaded with sweat.
"We are going to climb to a roof, a cut across to their current location." Shutuara answered absentmindedly, making sure no one was around before she dragged the unfortunate Kamijou into a nearby alleyway, taking out a grappling hook as she did so.
"Never mind...just leave me behind..." Touma tried to back away from the girl beside her. "I'll just...run there- EEK!" Touma was stopped by a hand that had shot at his direction.
"This is faster. And less energy consuming compared to your usual activities, no?"
"That is not the problem here!"
..
Kamijou's misfortune is as bad as ever. Shutuara took a quick peek at the boy below her. Already, he was moving slightly. Well, no sane person would have thought there was a banana peel on a roof, nor would they have assumed to slip forwards instead of backwards, like the usual trope. I mean, I know it was amusing to see Kamijou's misfortune from Arisa's memories, but it is another thing to see it in person.
"You okay?" Shutuara called down to the boy who had the misfortune of face-planting into the hard ground below, face first.
"Ow..." The boy groaned. "Somehow...I think my nose is fine, too."
"Your nose can come later." Shutuara bent down, hand slipping into her boots. "They are starting to pick themselves up."
As Shutuara said, the enemy group was finally regaining their senses. The one at the back was first to react to their arrival.
"This is...men, stop those two quickly!"
"YES BOSS!" The first few were quick to act. But the duo before them were faster.
*clink*
"What is-"
*Doon!*
The two boys in front of her, a pyrokinesis and hydro hand user receptively, were blinded by the resulting blast that had come from the tiny, unassuming disk she had thrown at them, before they were taken down quickly by her martial arts.
"You-" An enraged enemy attempted to use his ability, but was unable to do so. He had been knocked out by Touma's right hook.
"When did you-" Surprised by this turn of events, the once dozen, now nine, enemies were slow to react to the sudden attack, but they were quickly regaining their bearing. "Take this!"
"Hah!" In response, Shutaura threw several more disks at the crowd, before the were stopped in mid-air.
"Bet you did not expect that, did you? You-" What ever the guy was about to say was quickly lost by the sudden explosions.
The disks had all exploded simultaneously.
"Kah, kah, you bitc-" The source of the telekinesis, a young boy, coughed and tried to strike back at the black elite, before a new face suddenly appeared in his vision. "What in the-"
The telekinesis he had used to restrain the new face that had popped out disappeared with a sharp sound.
"Wha-"
"That won't work!" Touma shouted out, using the surprise the boy felt to his advantage, punching the daylight out of him with his signature hook.
More enemies, now revealed to be espers, attempted to surround him, but they were quickly dealt with.
..
..
"Any more?" Touma looked over at the last individual. He was the one who had remained cloaked the entire time.
"This is such a troublesome situation." The cloaked figure gave out a distorted sigh. "It is a pain to do work, but I shall have to oblige for you two." His robe parted, revealing...
...a shield.
"...what?" Touma was surprised by the appearance of a very familiar defensive weapon. "Percival's shi-" Touma quickly cut himself off, his instincts screaming at him.
The figure had dashed forwards with incredible speed, cracking the ground below him as he sped towards Touma. He swung out his shield, parallel to the ground, instead of bashing them.
*Doon!*
With a dull sound, the shield smashed into the wall, cleaving a large crack into it. Had Touma not dodged when he had, he would have become a piece of art against the wall.
"How strange." The robed figure tilted its head. "I could have sworn I tore of your head."
Tore?! Touma thought in shock. His eyes were on the area where the shield had smashed into. You swung that thing at me, and its edge gouged out a large slice in the wall! In fact, aren't you tugging it out of the wall? My head won't be torn, it would be cut clean off!
"Hah!" Shutaura threw some disks in his direction.
"Kah!" The robed figure grunted, Shutuara's disks having exploded directly in front of his face. Smoke hung in the air, covering the robed figure's body momentarily. Is he down?
"That surprised me..." Unsurprisingly, the shielded hand swung through the air, dispersing the smoke. Of course, my misfortune would not allow me to take a break.
"You know, I wished to finish this quickly and without drawing attention to myself, but it seems that this would be near impossible now." Glints of metal showed in the areas that had been damaged by Shutaura's explosion. "Tch. I would need to get a new mantle after this, it seems." Saying that, the robed figure tore off the damaged and singed cloak. Revealing-
-A shiny, metallic body.
At first, Touma thought it was metal armour, similar to the ones he had seen from the Roman Catholic church when he had 'first met' Stiyl. But, as his eyes trailed upwards, he realised that was not the case at all.
From the hips down, the legs were covered by a pair of long pants, making it indistinguishable from that of an ordinary person's. But, that was where the similarities ended.
His head was similar to that of a human's, but it had multiple lenses instead of two eyes. His torso was a metal frame, with a constantly rotating cylinder in the middle. His right arm, which held the shield, was shown to be a little thicker than an average man's arm. The sides of the shield also glinted a little sinisterly to Touma, no longer was it covered by the dark mantle. His left arm was a little flatter and bigger than the average man's. It was also the same one that had reached out and torn off the mantle. Touma managed to glimpse a flat screen embedded in that left arm. Most likely, that would be a display, right? Or rather-
"-Why did I tempt fate!? SUCH MISFORTUNE!" Touma screamed into the air. "I thought that it would be easy to deal with you if you were human, but you were a robot this entire time! What's next, aliens in tiny spaceships coming into my life, or mystical beasts being taken into my home?" Now that the mantle was off, the distorted, horrible voice made sense to those present.
"Kamijou Touma, I presume." The android chose to ignore the screams of Touma, instead heading straight down to business, so to speak. "This saves me a bit of trouble. I was wondering when we would meet."
"...You know me?"
"Those who are in my line of business can NOT afford to not know who you are, Kamijou Touma. I may look like this, but I am an A.I. with the personality of a person that had died many years ago."
"Sounds like something Academy City cooked up..." This time, it was Shutaura who spoke.
"? Who are you?" The robot, nay, the cyborg tilted its head.
"...There is no need to tell people my name unnecessarily. Especially if it is against enemies."
"Such a cold answer. But, it is acceptable." The cyborg titled its head, before it looked at the trio again. "Such a shame our time together is coming to an end so soon. But no matter. Legion would get what it desires. This Dom ensures it." With those words, the cyborg released a few smoke pellets, causing his form to be shrouded in smoke. When the smoke cleared, the cyborg was nowhere to be seen.
""?!"" Both Shutaura and Touma were surprised by the now identified Dom's disappearance.
"What happened?"
"It most likely used some form of cloaking technology." Shutaura fingered her gun, before she relaxed. "If that were the case, then Academy city's hands are most likely all over this incident. Optical camouflage is something that is not readily available on the market, and even if it were, the best a country could do would cloak a large vehicle, and even then it would be the size of a tank."
"So, Academy city is most likely in on this kidnapping." Touma sighed. "Such Misfortune."
Some time later,
"Ergh..." Akikawa Mie groaned out, eyelids fluttering, before vision was gradually restored. "...where am I?"
"Safe." The sudden answer caused the young girl to jump. She looked around her, taking in her surroundings.
Right now, she was on a comfortable bed. The room's decor and furnishings made it look like she was in a fancy hotel room somewhere.
"Sorry if I surprised you." An unfamiliar girl entered her vision. Mie realised she had been the one who had answered her earlier. "I work better from the shadows, but circumstances have dictated we stick close to you, Akikawa Mie."
"...who are you?"
"Someone who is here to protect your well-being." Mie took the time to pay more attention to the girl and her surroundings. The girl standing before her was rather tall, with straight, black hair. She wore a skin-tight suit lined with red and varying shades of grey, with thicker looking areas located at her arms, legs, joints, shoulders and chest area. There was a small pouch on her waist. A lock of pink hair was also hanging from the left side of her face. Surprisingly, it looked good on her. "You can call me Sequenzia."
"Sequenzia-san..." Any other words she would have said were lost when her stomach growled rather loudly, eliciting a faint blush to form on her face.
"You must be hungry." A tiny upturn of her lips was the only indication that 'Sequenzia' smiled. "My friend is cooking some food for us."
"I hope its good."
"It will be."
..
..
The door was shut moments later.
"How is she?" Touma asked. In his hands was a bowl of the food he had just served to Mie. The smell of the food that had been cooked wafted in the air, making Shutaura salivate a little.
"She's fine. For now." Shutaura sighed, briefly thanking Touma for the bowl before she dug in. "Akikawa-san's mind is currently focused on the food you just made. Give her some time alone, and her psyche will be composed enough for her to start asking questions. Especially on our arrival."
"...why?"
"I'll explain later." Shutaura hurriedly finished up the small, yet filling, bowl of rice and chicken with some simple egg omelette, before she placed it down in the sink. "For now, we are going to interrogate that kid we just got."
"Interrogate..." Shutaura saw Touma shiver a little at the word.
"It won't be bloody or messy." Shutaura assured the boy. "My men are taking turns to keep watch on him, and one of them should have just recently injected him with some sodium thiopental. We would be able to question him by the time we get there."
"sodium...thiopental?" Despite it being a word he was not familiar with, e had little trouble allowing it to roll of his tongue.
"You would call it a truth serum, I suppose." Shutaura opened the door, allowing Touma to exit.
The building they were currently in was one of the many buildings that the rich and high-class would use. In fact, this was a place that Touma was very familiar with, having visited it three times in the past half a year.
The Dianoid.
It was the famous building made entirely of carbon, and being supported by an anti-gravity machine. The building itself was a combination of apartment rooms, and a mall with a bank. And, as such, there would be tight security, meaning it was a great place for someone to hide out, and be protected from an enemy until they are able to move to another safe location. The room that Touma and Shutaura just exited was a custom room that was actually three rooms connected to one another, with only one way in or out. This makes it the best place to protect an individual such as Akikawa Mie, who was just a young girl.
"Ma'am!" One of the B.C unit members, having noticed Shutaura's arrival, saluted her.
"Give me a sit. report."
"Straight to the point as always, eh boss?" The man smirked. "Well, the young'un was pretty calm for the most part. He did not even touch the food or water we gave him. Nothing changed until we injected him with the sodium thiopental. THAT was when things went nuts."
"...how bad?"
"The entire room started to become freezin cold, even though the air conditioner was off. Plus, whenever someone enter, he would just pounce on the guy and try to gouge out their eyeballs. 4 and 8 were especially badly hurt. As for the women..." He looked visibly uncomfortable as he said it. "...he tried to cut off their breasts and hands."
"...,...,...,..." Touma felt Shutaura's aura change. "...What did he try to do?"
"...rip off their chest and hands, Ma'am!" The soldier's back stiffened, cold sweat dripping down his face. Apparently, he had never seen his commander like that. "With some of the plastic spoons we got for him to eat the food, Ma'am! We managed to stop him by throwing in some teargas, but the ladies has severe lacerations on their arms and cuts on their chest."
"...,...,...,..." Wordlessly, she moved down the hall, straight to the room where the captured esper was.
Touma moved to follow her as well, but he found his way blocked by an arm. "?"
"Hey kid." The man bent down slightly, looking Touma directly in the eyes. "Keep an eye on the boss, would you? She treats all of us like family, and since some of us got badly hurt..."
"Why ask me this?"
"The boss seems to be fond of you. Plus, she seems to be calmer, happier, when she is with you."
"...got it." Touma nodded. The man smiled, before he pushed Touma forwards.
Stumbling a little, Touma managed to regain his balance and catch up to Shutaura.
"...what did he say?" Shutaura, to her credit, had a very calm face on.
"He just told me to tell you to keep you calm? I guess?" Honestly, Touma was bad at these sort of things. Even though he had a girlfriend.
"I see..." Shutuara nodded, her expression not changing in the slightest. "Well, I will restrain myself then. As much as I can."
Ah, Shutaura-san, your knuckles are white. I can see the whites. Please, calm down. Touma's thoughts went something like this when he saw how not-calm Shutaura was. It was also to be noted that these sort of words were spoken in a dry tone.
"Ma'am, please be careful." The soldier who was guarding the door also spoke in a somewhat placating tone.
"...I am calm." Shutaura took a few deep breaths, before she steeled her nerves. So that she would NOT kill the kid the moment she entered the room. "I'll start the interrogation now."
"Ah ha ha ha ha!" Crazed laughter was the first thing the two heard when they entered the room. It went on for half a minute longer, until he noticed the presence of the two arrivals. "So, another one comes, eh?"
"This time, not alone." Shutaua spoke in a dry tone.
"I can see that." The boy finally stopped his insane laughter, choosing to chuckle instead. "Oh, this is precious. You think that would be enough to stop me ...from doing this?"
*Cra-ck*
A bright purple light surrounded Shutaura and Touma. Touma felt a slight resistance around his body, but then his negation kicked in, dispelling the light with a clear sound of glass being destroyed. Nudging his hand a little, his fingers brushed against Shutaura's clothes, allowing for the light surrounding her to be dispelled as well.
"Oh-ho...oh-ho...oh-ho!" The boy's eyes widened when he saw the light disappear from the two in front of him. "You must be the one they call Imagine Breaker then? Such a shame, such a shame, I wanted to meet you in a different sort of setting. Preferably, in a warehouse, filled with the parts of my victims. Kah kah kah kah kah!"
"Your disgusting." Indeed, this was a first time for Touma. Whenever he met someone from the magic side, they would be doing all sorts of things. Plotting the mass murder of the world just to bring about peace. The calling of an angel to bring about the deaths of their enemies. Sacrificing people, more often than not young ladies, just to preserve the status quo or for more power. Even the trampling down of the dignity of a person just to ensure that there would be no more incidents that would happen unnecessarily(in their eyes.). That last one would be a justifiable action.(In their eyes.) For the greater good, they would say.
Out of these times, he would feel a whole range of emotions. Anger, pain, worry, rage, shock, even protectiveness. But, this s the first time he can even remember feeling so disgusted...so repulsed, by someone who was considered a human being. Actually, could he even classify the person in front of him a human?
"Body parts?" Shutaura leaned a little closer to the person they had just captured less than a few hours ago. "I take it then, that you have killed before? Murdered and butchered the dead?"
"Sure, let's call my art that distasteful word." The person before them chirped, before he frowned. "...You aren't shivering."
"Should I?" Shutuara said in a humourless tone. "I am not afraid of you, nor am I worried about you...I heard that this room suddenly felt very cold. Perhaps...you can not use telekinesis, like we originally assumed, but instead, you cam control liquid?" Touma's hand was touching Shutaurars side, preventing the clearly unnatural cold from getting to her. If it were the manipulation of liquids, then it would make sense for why the room was so cold. But, that does not explain how he is able to control some liquids, but not others. If he wanted, he should be able to get out of here rather easily...perhaps, a certain range or limitation?
The boy stiffened. "I'll take that as a confirmation on your ability then." Shutaura leaned back. "So, why this kidnapping of the girl? What's the purpose?"
"...,...,...,..."
"Who do you work for? Or rather, how did you get your ability?"
"...,...,...,..." The boy just smiled, his eyes giving off a cold gaze.
"...Fine then." Shutuara took out some wires. "Let me change the question. Why did you try to mutilate my unit?"
"...,...,...,..."
"Perhaps...it was for magic?" The boy's eyes widened by a small fraction. Shutaura saw the opportunity presenting itself. So, she took it. "SO, you DO know about the other side. Perhaps, this is no esper ability, but rather, the manipulation of certain liquids from rituals?"
"...,...,...,..."
"If that were the case," Shutuara pretended to hum. "then, all I need to do is destroy you hands, or whatever you are using as a medium to make this supernatural phenomenon stop and inaccessible to you."
"...urse you..." An almost inaudible sound could be heard.
"Sorry?"
"Curse you, you bitch!" The boy spat out, spit flying form his mouth as he screamed. He lunged across the table, the handcuffs attached to his feet preventing him from getting far. It scared Touma, who jumped out of his seat, by Shutaura remained unfazed, instead looking indifferent to the entire thing as the boy screamed.
"You think you are SOOOOOOO smart, deducing where my abilities come from? What a sorry excuse for a female specimen like you." The boy grinned manically. "MEN are the ones who get all the shit done! Female specimen should just stay obedient like the bitches they are! They should just grin and bear it when they are used as nothing more than something that should be used to repopulate our species! Hell, they should be thankful they even get to move about and do things of their own fee will! Men are ALWAYS the top dog! You hear me, you sow!"
"...so, you are a misogynist..." Shutuara continued to remain unfazed by the screaming of the boy. "That somewhat explains the reason for your behaviour against women and men."
"Try to reason with me however you want." The boy spat out. "I won't tattle. Never!"
"Did not expect you to do so in the first place."
"...what?"
"Oh please, if we could actually obtain information that easily from captured prisoners, there won't be a need for something called torture, you know?" Shutaura's eyes glinted menacingly. "I have quite a number of torture routines that I want to try out on you particularly...but that would serve no purpose, seeing as I can tell that you are someone who would never spill information, especially to a woman."
"Got that right..." The boy's smirk remained on his face.
"Instead, I shall just give my deductions." Shutaura interlocked her fingers, making her a little more menacing to the boy seated in front of her. "We know that you have an ability to control certain fluids. Whether it is a magic or scientific ability, or there is a limit to how much you can control within a time limit, or even if there are some restriction, does not matter that much right now. Since we have the ultimate weapon against such abilities called Imagine Breaker. Even if you came from Academy city, some magic sect, or an unknown place like Baggage City, the source of your power is rather helpless against Imagine Breaker, no?"
"You most likely were recruited for your ability," Shutauta continued. "seeing as you have already admitted to the killings and mutilations of numerous people already. And, most likely, you are slightly stronger than your other peers in the organisation known as Legion. Well, that is compared to the other grunts. Your manner of speech and actions also suggest you are very confident in your abilities, like you have not known defeat. If I were to give a rough estimate...most likely you have won 9 out of every ten fights. And, that is including those significantly stronger than you, no? "
"And as for the way you fight...thanks to your earlier actions, I have a solid grasp of how you do so. When in a team, you work to immobilise a target, so that others can help deal the finishing blow to you. That puts you near the middle or end of the attacking group. And as for when you fight alone, you would also immobilise your target, but also manipulate the temperature around them to dull their senses suddenly, and deal a killing blow while they are disoriented and unable to act. Of course, this works best against a single person, or a group of no more than three. Any more, and you would be severely beaten."
With every word, the smirk on the boy's face became strained, slowly disappearing and turning into a down turned frown. His facial features shifted from proud and arrogant, to shock, fear and anger. Well, the shock and fear is most likely due to how Shutaura-san is correctly guessing his way of fighting and actions. Touma reasoned in his mind. The anger...would most likely have to deal with what Shutaura-san said just now. Not sure on what it meant though.
"...very nice for guessing. But that did not change my mind or anything." The boy murmured once Shutaura was done speaking.
"Not that it matters." Shutuara stood up, prompting Touma to do the same, lest she start to get affected by the cold. He briefly checked his phone during Shutaura's 'interrogation', and the temperature shocked him. (Minus 5 degrees. That was what his phone read.) "Best stay comfy. You would not be able to sit in such a nice chair where you are going."
"You think confining me is going to the worst thing that I fear?" The boy gave a malicious grin, jumping at Shutuara as he spoke. The leg clamps prevented him from smashing into her, but the loud clanking did give Touma a small shock. "In your dreams, you sow."
The hair on Touma's hair stood up when he saw the glint in the boy's eyes. Now that he was close up, he could 'read' the emotions that were coursing through his mind. Multiple emotions were running through his eyes.
But the most prominent ones were fear, amusement, and rage.
Alarm bells rang in his mind. "Shutaura-san, watch ou-"
"For the everlasting Legion's reign!"
The world turned red.
..
..
..
Darkness. That was what Touma was only able to see. No matter where he turned his head, he could only see black. But, when he raised his head, he saw something shine.
A light? Touma felt like he was drifting about. Very similar to being submerged in water. But, the first thing he could see was a bright light, somehow distorted. Where am I? He tried to move his head, only to find he could not do so. What?
Suddenly, the light shined brighter, forcing Touma to attempt to raise his hand, only to find that it was all stuck to his body, like leaden weights were attached to them. The light got brighter and brighter, making Touma feel like his very core was being burnt by the light, when-
-his eyes shot open, revealing a white ceiling.
"Ugh..." Touma's mind felt very fuzzy. What...happened...? He could vaguely feel that his body was lying against a soft bed.
"You awake?" A very familiar weak voice prompted Touma to turn to his side. There, his eyes met those of a girl with a lock of pink hair across from him.
"Shutaura-san..." Touma's head felt like it was splitting open, and his throat felt like it was on fire, but he managed to force the words out. "Are you okay?"
"No worse for wear." She grunted, sitting upright on her own bed. Her black locks fell onto the bed sheets, showing bandages wrapping around her head. "How about you?"
"My head feels like it was just bitten by 10 Index's starving." Touma groaned, trying to sit up, only to feel spikes of pain shoot up his right arm. What is...
Curious, he pulled back the covers.
"Eh?" Touma blinked. Rubbed his eyes. Then, blinked again. "...I'm not dreaming...right?"
"Nope." A male's voice answered his question. Looking up, Touma saw a thick-set man sitting on a chair near the door. "Looks like you are awake, IB."
"IB?"
"Don't tell me that lunatic knocked your brains outa ya!" The man scowled a bit. "Your name is IB, no? I mean, that was what leader called you."
"What happened?" Shutuara cut off the man before Touma could say anything.
"That brat blew himself up." The man growled. "Said something before he did so. Did you hear what he said, boss?"
"...how big was the blast?"
"Enough to take down a reinforced pillar." The man frowned. "Boss, are you sure you are-"
"We're fine." Shutuara raised a hand. "More importantly, how is the asset?"
"...She is sleeping. After eating, she laid down to nap. Hasn't woken up since."
"...how long were we out?"
"4 hours." Came the immediate reply.
"Thank you." Shutuara nodded. "We will rest for 10 more minutes before we leave. There is a chance the death of one of their subordinates has exposed our position."
"Yes Ma'am!" The man saluted before he left, leaving Shutaura and Touma alone.
"...they turned a young kid into a bomb..." Touma clenched his fists tightly, finally able to say wanted had first came into his ind when he head the news. He had been momentarily stunned into silence by the revelation the kid had became a living bomb, but now, all the rage was flowing into his mind. "Legion is inhumane!"
"That may be so." Shutuaura leapt off the bed rather energetically, as if the head injury she had sustained was a lie. "But, the mission right now is to keep Akikawa Mie safe. If we to focus our attention on this organisation, there is a possibility we would fail to protect her."
"But-!"
"There is no room for emotions in this sort of missions, Kamijou!" Shutuara walked briskly, coming face-to-face with the still barely sitting boy. Bringing her hand forwards, she clasped them on his shoulders, forcing him to look at her. "Right now, we are dealing with an organisation that has come from an unknown background, with abilities from unknown sources, and my unit is going into this almost completely blind as well due to this lack of information. Trained agents we may be, but if we misunderstand or underestimate the abilities of our opponent, which we are doing right now, we will not be able to protect Akikawa-san. That should be abundantly clear to you now, right?"
Touma stared into Shutaura's eyes. "...yeah..."
"Good." She visibly relaxed, the tension draining from her shoulders. "Grab a change of clothes. We have to be ready in five. And keep your perverted misfortune to yourself, got it?"
"Its not my fault my misfortune lands me in rather perverted states especially with the opposite sex!" Touma complained, but there was no heat in it. It was just the usual complaints for him.
The time they took to change was very quick, so Touma decided to ask Shutuara something before they left.
"Shutaura-san," He began. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Make it quick." Shutuara slipped on a new bodysuit(the previous one was covered in blood and gore.). Thankfully, when they were out, the members on standby cleaned them up as best as they could, so they did not have to deal with half-dried, sticky blood. Nor he nauseating bits of guts and brain matter that was sure to have been splattered onto their bodies.
"Why is everyone calling me IB?" Her hands stopped.
"...Let's just say...it is for your own protection."
"Please elaborate." Touma deadpanned. "I live with a nun who is one of the most sought after person in the world because of the 103,000 grimories in her head, and I live with an ex-Magic god that is thought to be dead to the world, who was also coincidentally the one person that was, for the first time in history, the first WORLD terrorist. Both of whom, should they be discovered, will be immediately deported from Academy city, and I will be locked up, and most probably sentenced to life imprisonment, should any government beside the British, American, Russian, or the Pope find out that Othinus is living with me. And that is not counting the fact that magicians and such keep coming after me or Index every few days. So please, do tell me why it is for my own protection."
"Ah." Shutaura sweatdropped at the rather long list Touma had just given to her. "...I can see why you would ask now...Fine." She sighed. "It's protection against any person that we encounter that works for the Board of Directors. Especially the ones that work in the shadows, and my unit."
"...I can somewhat understand the protection from the other people working with the Board, but why your Unit? You know, since you control it and all, I thought-"
"It's not that simple." Shutaura glared at Touma. "Let me explain it to you clearly. I am calling you IB as it is your codename. Like how everyone in my unit uses codenames, like Crow1, or Feather or talon. It's to protect their identities in their everyday lives. We have our faces protected by a piece of equipment that scrambles our faces, so that if one tries to recall what we looked like, or catch us on surveillance, they would only see a censored face. You are also protected by that equipment, by the way."
"So, if enemies hear your codename, they would be unable to act against you in the day, as they do not know who they should be looking for. But, as for my team..." Shuaura pinched the bridge of her nose. "...its more of a way to prevent them from giving you a surprise visit."
"..."
"D-don't give me that 'Ah, so what's with this development?' look!" Shutuara blushed. Ah, it looks like she still has the memories of when Arisa-san watched some anime episodes with Index and got hooked. "They are rather protective of me, like I am of them. While I see them as family, like brothers and sisters, they see me as a little sister or daughter."
"...So you are saying that if my name is found out, they might-, no WILL use the system they have access to to look for where I live, and make sure that I do not make you unhappy, just because they are acting like an over-protective parent or older sibling?"
"...you got that right...and don't forget that they have the skill to kill you, dispose of your body, and make it seem like you had left from a really believable reason."
Predictably, Touma knew that this was the sort of development he would have landed himself into.
"Such Misfortune."
"Wake up..." a voice entered Akikawa Mie's voice, but she paid it no heed, instead opting to roll over. Go away mom...
"I'm not your mother, but if you won't wake up..." The voice came clearer now. "Do it." Hmm? That does not sound like what Mom usually sa-
*Cra~sh!*
"Cold!" Mie's head shot out of bed like it was fired from a canon, water dripping from her face and hair.
"Good, your awake." Sequenzia placed down the glass she was holding. Mie put two and two together. "You threw ice cold water at me!"
"Be thankful it is not filled with ice." A male's voice entered her ear. Wiping the water from her eyes, she noticed the a male figure standing by her bed. His spiky hair dripped water onto the carpeted floor. "I tried to take a quick nap, but she threw some cold water with ice at me."
"I'm sorry about that." Sequenzia did not face the male. "I thought I grabbed the one that you had been drinking."
"Don't worry about it." The male sighed. "My misfortune acts up all the time, so you are not to blame. If anything, its my right hand."
Hand? "Who are you?" Mie asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"This is my friend IB." Sequenzia introduced the male to her, who raised his hand in greeting. "For certain reason's, I will be calling him IB instead of his real name."
"Is your name a codename? Or is it your real one?" The words popped out of Mie's lips before she could even stop herself.
Sequenzia gave a thin smile. "It's...complicated, I suppose. But, I have been called Sequenzia half of my life, so it is fine to call me by that name."
Half her life? Mie titled her head in confusion, but she decided to put off the question that had popped into her head. For now. "Sequenzia-san, why did you wake me up?"
"We need to leave." Sequenzia tossed the still drenched girl a towel and a change of clothes. "Be quick. We are leaving in ten minutes."
There were many things that Mie wanted to ask, but when she saw the serious faces of the two individuals in the same room as her, she decided to act upon what Sequenzia had just said. My questions can come later. People are after the data of my parents projects. I can't let them get it!
"Yes, Sequenzia-san!"
Not even these people.
Meanwhile, in another part of Academy City...
Meanwhile, in another part of Academy city, two girls were gathered around a pot of tea and some sweets.
"Did you get anything?"
"...Unfortunately, my information gathering ability was unable to procure any useful information. What about you, Misaka-san?"
"...same here...even though I tried to trace its origins on the internet, I could not find the person who did this."
Both girls sighed in tandem, before they each took a sip out of their drinks, a cup of hot tea and some iced tea for Misaki and Mikoto respectively.
"...why did we not do this sooner?"
"Partially because our personalities are so incompatible, some jealousy on your part, me having issues with other Level 5's, and the both of us being rivals, since we are both one of the 7 Level 5's in Academy City." Mikoto stirred the tea in her hand with the straw, a dull, uninterested look on her face.
"...its a little surprising for you to be able to come to such a conclusion, even though I am the mental specialist." Misaki picked up flower shaped biscuit before taking a dainty bite from it.
"Don't act so surprised." Mikoto took a sip from her tea, before she popped a biscuit, this one in the shape of a Gekota, into her mouth.
"..."
"..."
Both of them sat in silence for little while longer, enjoying the calming atmosphere.
AN
So, how was this chapter? Good? Bad? Or pretty horrid?
This is the introduction of a new arc. As I know many of you have been asking(read, wanting) Percival to be out, I am going to cut him off for a while. Well, that is to be expected, since he has disappeared for a few chapters already.
So, how is Shutaura? Is she pretty much in sync with the one from the movie? OR is she a little OC? I don't know, since this is my take, as I have stated before(maybe not, since there is my other fic.)
And now, for an announcement.
Updates will now be slower, as they would be done in a new format I am not used to yet. Which is Word. Currently, I have been doing this all on the (fanfic)website itself, so it has been easy for me to adjust my writing whenever I want. Now, I will have to work on it in parts, in a fixed location. Which might make things better? Not too sure, but it would be great since I am able to do the things I want for the fic. Well, more of the things that I want, is a better way of putting things into perspective. Plus, the other would be me catching up on my anime. My sleep...is disappearing...
Anime is Life, and keep up those reviews and comments!