Fictions Mentioned:

Episode 2

OP Song:

Adele - Skyfall (Lyric Video)

Insert Song: Start

Sharin no Kuni, Yuukyuu no Shounenshoujo - Watch out and run!

It was one moment. It was significant enough that it would have two people glance at each other in that fraction of a second that extended itself too little or too soon. Black meeting emerald. A spiky-haired young man and a mysterious nun in white look directly in the eye. And it seems to have both of them draw little breath as they seem to recognize the other in their own way.

As Index Librorum Prohibitorum was hanging near the balcony, all she could do was look at the spiky-haired young man—Kamijou with meaningful eyes.

She recalled seeing him before on a hanging screen in the streets of Tokyo. It was a time when she was still in hiding, having to fend for herself as much as she was able to. And she had a very hard life, to begin with.

Where to start...?

The fact that almost every year for everything that she could at least recall, her memories seem to have been erased for some mysterious reason. And it wasn't just one time. It was a lot, repeatable for each year. She never could recall her childhood all the way up to the present time. In this case, the present time for her would only cover last year when she ended up in a random alleyway in a country called Japan. Despite being British, she seems to have only known Japan as the only country that she ever knew.

All she felt at that time was emptiness and anxiousness. The feeling of someone who seems to have the more misfortunate lot instead of those born out of mere poverty. She was alive but was also alone at the exact same time.

And since then, she had to start finding someplace to stay. She wasn't naïve by any means. Even without her episodic memories, she could still recall basic skills and information like countries, places, objects, and other sorts that many people would still recognize from day-to-day life. There's also the fact that she is aware that not everyone would pay attention much to a stranger like her, and there were possible dangers that were hanging about alleyways. That and she always had the feeling that she was being watched from afar. Who that was, she could not tell specifically. But she was bothered more by the fact that it would seem to be a familiar feeling that never went away.

Some fortune seems to favor her when all she could actually get by was a shabby little apartment of about two floors where she had to pay the rent once a month. The young landlady in charge there was actually quite nice and had managed to teach her basic skills on how to survive in the big city.

Then she was in need of having to find an actual job, which was actually quite difficult due to the fact that she has no record of being a Japanese citizen and has no medical file to speak of, effectively making her a non-existent person. With help from the landlady, the only job that she could ever afford was at Akihabara as a cosplayer, with a minimum amount of about ¥ 400,000 a month. The benefits of having a nun habit as seemingly over-the-top as her own seem to have its benefits. And yet, she also acknowledges that she knows the downsides to this particular clothing as it's rather easy for her to spot, which in turn makes her wear other temporary ordinary clothing from time to time.

Fortune seems to favor her in subtle ways such as the fact that she at least made some friends along the way. There were her fellow cosplayers who seem and felt like good people just trying to earn a living or enjoying their dreams. There were the people impoverished and abandoned, forced to live in the alleyways while begging for alms, reminding one of the miseries of poverty. There were people from stores and simple restaurants whom she get to spend time with. So many people and places in Tokyo that she had visited a few or more times if she were to recall.

And now she would wonder as to how they had been. After all, she has known them for a year now, and she had to abruptly make her getaway once more due to the fact that she felt eyes upon her once again and needed to find a way to make her escape. Noted that the term 'eyes' meaning not just those whom she knew had been shadowing her. But something else entirely.

This...Empty...

That's all that she could describe. It was something that she had noticed for the past few days before coming to Academy City. And it was something that made her want to find a way to leave without being a burden to anyone, especially considering the deathly pale presence that she would feel. And thus, she planned for her getaway accordingly.

By stealing a car. Specifically, a Nissan Altima.

She had reservations about such behavior. She knows that stealing is wrong as it is written by the seventh commandment, but for one, she had learned from basic experiences that morality when it comes to possible endangerment of one's life tends to not be as black and white as she wanted it to be and that people make certain choices based out of their own sense of survival. And she made her choice. She needed to get as far away as possible in order to protect what few people who actually cared for her. The landlady, the cosplay acquaintances, and some others.

Perhaps she would find a way to make contact with them. Tell them that she was sorry that she had to abruptly leave because she didn't have any other option because the dangers of her life would seem to have come for her once more. But this time seemed different. It also felt like a burning flame is watching her from afar, settling in a different feeling entirely from what was once before. And that ultimately made her follow through with her official decision to leave because she had felt the danger.

The nightmares whenever one wakes up, telling one's self that it's only merely a dream, nothing more, nothing less...

The sweat dripping from one's brow...

The paranoia settled in...

She managed to hack the car by putting two wires together to start the engine. And then, she would put on her seatbelt for safety measures and would put the lever down and shift gears. Then she would drive accordingly, as far away as she could.

But where would she go?

Some parts of her would seem to make her want to go to Academy City. As if another person was telling her that she needed to go there, especially at this time.

But why was that so?

Actually, since the past year, she had slowly been getting déjà vu-like experiences. Meaning that some part of her seems to be making her think that she had experienced something of her predicament from another life before. And she didn't know why. Even more so when during the last few months ago, she first saw the spiky-haired young man from the screen at an alleyway not that long ago, a few months ago in fact when he was fighting against a man in a suit of advanced armor that had practically shaken the world due to the technology and the feats that it was capable of applying in practice. And since then, the news could only influence the rest of the world to keep its close eye on Academy City due to the first public appearance of what appeared to be a masked vigilante and eventually termed by some, including children, into a superhero.

Imagine that. The world's first superhero. He even had his own Chinese dragon logo, his mighty shield, and state-of-the-art technology that managed to put the world in awe. His real name was kept hidden due to a specific implementation of privacy law, but his superhero name was known to be affectionately called 'Captain Nippon' by the public based on his Japanese appearance, or even the term 'Illusion Breaker' based on the fact that he could seemingly negate esper powers; two terminological names that held something of a meaningful probing of one's character.

When she first saw him, she felt something odd. It was like...she knew him from somewhere. But where was the question that she needed to find out? What's strange is that the more she thought about him, the more she seem to feel that something about her life was missing. It had something to do with the 'eyes' that were chasing after her and the fact that she had to run and maintain cover for about a year or so.

Every day of her life seems like one step closer to this person. And this person was someone that she needed to see in person. Or was it once again in person? She could not tell. Past lives are something of a novelty after all. What Index had experienced wasn't something out of a concept of reincarnation, but rather it was something of a temporal nature, a ripple if you will. A prickling drop of liquid that seem to contain a blurry sense of nostalgia, reminiscence, and other complicated feelings that were present in her heart.

Why? Who was this young man? Specifically, what was he to her?

As she drove for a few hours contemplating this, she finally landed near the city gates of Academy City's checkpoint. And it seems to be surrounded by what appeared to be an overtly thick wall that seems to stretch out for miles, reminding one of the Great Wall of China. Of course, there were the security guards who were stationed there and were about to perform a security scan.

Now what?

She would begin to take notice of the security scan that is being used to verify her identity. Really, what was she thinking even attempting to head toward Academy City with nothing but a stolen car?

But for some reason...she felt that things seem to fall into place in her favor for some reason...

Index would be verified as allowed to enter Academy City, much to her bewilderment and surprise, and yet she seems to expect it for some unfathomable. The guards who were stationed there would seem to check and verify that the scanning was correct and that she would be allowed to pass. It would appear that an official ID document was provided for her in the event of her possibly coming to the city. And now she was just freaking out from the inside.

What? How? Why?

Nevertheless, she needed to get out of the checkpoint and continue to drive through the highway. And by a short time later, she was now at District 7, where she would park the car somewhere in an alleyway. Then she would breathe in and out, trying her best to calm down, even when she would seem justified in being paranoid. For it felt like people were watching her from all sides, and that she needed to get away. And...she needed to find the spiky-haired hero.

She knew...For some reason, she knew just where to go. And so, she exited and kept running. And running. And running. And running.

She didn't stop for one second, stepping out from one alleyway to the next, walking through a hole in the metal fence, and now hopping through the rooftops. And after one hop, she manages to hit her back near the metal balcony which made her fall a few floors to another balcony, leaving her hanging like a towel that needed drying.

That...hurt...

She was grimacing profusely. Sweat was present. There was no blood due to the fact that the Walking Church protected her back upon impact. But the impact still made her hurt and discomforted a bit.

It only took about the next few moments before finally saw the person whom she had been looking for.

This spiky-haired person was wearing simple clothing that consisted of a white shirt, light black pants, an orange t-shirt, and wears white shoes with red stripes as his footwear, and judging by the symbol on the side of the shoes, appeared to sport the logo of the American multinational corporation known as Nike, Inc..

Touma...Kamijou...

A whisper. A name. It was a name that seem to have brought her to tears for some reason, as it would leak from her emerald eyes, with her mouth slightly open.

Just...who...was...he...?

A growl would come forth from her stomach, much to her embarrassment and a strange sense of déjà vu. And she would see the spiky-haired boy sporting a concerned expression on his face.

"...I'm...hungry..."

She would say with an apologetic smile, but with a tone that was quite low and barely audible, with a bit of hesitation that would make her seem to not want to intrude any more than necessary.

But then...

The spiky-haired stranger, without any comment to give or any objection to her presence at all, would instantly rush to her aid, no questions asked or given, and gently pull her out of the rails of the metal balcony and into the apartment where she would stay for the time being, feeling safe for what amounted to the first time.

She would notice the boy's gestures, seeing his right hand being carefully handled as if it were some kind of dangerous object that shouldn't touch the hem of her Walking Church. She was curious about such a gesture, and yet she was drawn to that right hand which seem quite familiar.

She would gently be placed on the floor, right nearby the table, and was being asked by the spiky-haired young man if she was alright in a gentle and understanding manner, to which she would nod in the affirmative. She would also notice the way the young man checks on her with his analytical and non-perverted eyes as if he were a medical professional trying to see if there are any form of concussion or wound in the area.

"Alright, I'm going to go cook something from the kitchen, so until then, you can borrow or read one of the books over there for you to pass the time," the spiky-haired young man would point towards the top of a desk table that seems to have the Bible and a few stacks of books from different types of topics located nearby on tip-top shape, greatly telling of the personality of the young man in front of her as a man of learning just by looking at the mere books.

She would nod in the affirmative and would see the young man go towards the kitchen in order to cook a meal. Then she would begin to slowly stand up, feeling a bit wobbly based on the fact that she hit her back from the balcony a few floors away.

She would notice the title of some of the books placed on the shelves.

The Collected Works of H.P. Lovecraft. The God Equation: The Quest for a Theory of Everything - Michio Kaku. I, Robot - Isaac Asimov. A History of God - Karen Armstrong. Fighting for Christendom: Holy War and the Crusades - Christopher Tyerman. Thelema: An Introduction to the Life, Work & Philosophy of Aleister Crowley - Colin D. Campbell. Living Thelema: A Practical Guide to Attainment in Aleister Crowley's System of Magick - David Shoemaker. Concepts of Modern Mathematics - Ian Stewart. The Early Cases of Akechi Kogoro - Edogawa Rampo.

And so many others.

She would notice the Bible from the table, respectfully placed on the left side of the table.

It was titled 'The HarperCollins STUDY BIBLE - New Revised Standard Version - WITH THE APOCRYPHAL/DEUTEROCANONICAL BOOKS - A New Annotated Edition by the SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE".

Was this young man religious? Was he a scholar? Was he perhaps a magician? Was he a scientist? Or was he none of these and the books were just there to gather dust on the table, which is unlikely from what she could gleam on?

Concerning questions would come forth from within her mind. And yet, she seems to not be worried in the slightest. Rather, there was a sense of surprise due to the feeling that there was a fundamental difference that seem to be whispered upon her. As if a certain gut feeling was telling her that things are not the same as they should be. It was like the ripple of a pond.

A mystery.

And then, she waited.

Insert Song: End

ED Song:

Terminator Salvation - Break The Silence (Soundtrack)

Main Companion Protagonists:

Touma Kamijou - VA: Atsushi Abe

Main Heroine Characters:

Index Librorum Prohibitorum - VA: Yuka Iguchi