Author notes:

Alright! This chapter was a doozy to write. It is currently 10 o' clock at night, and I am running on fumes right now. But it was the first chance I've had in a while to update the fic, so I tried to work as well as I could. Please don't judge me for the possibly-a-bit-lower writing quality of this chapter.

There weren't really any new comments to reply to, so no Q&A this time, I guess. :(

As far as the chapter itself, it was difficult. Not just because of my exhaustion brought on by a day of theatre rehearsals, a long talk with a parent, and an ill-timed caffeine crash, but because the whole thing is a conversation. And, as previously mentioned, I don't like writing conversations.

Hopefully with this transitional scene out of the way we can try to get to the Demi-Fiend's actual characterization in the next chapter, a conversation I'm actually looking forward to writing, believe it or not, and one that will involve a very familiar character to any Shin Megami Tensei fan, and one that I hope will streamline some exposition and character development.

But without further ado, please enjoy my next chapter! Remember to leave a review telling me what you thought, don't shy away from constructive criticism, and as always, thanks for reading!

Touma winced as he rubbed his arms, shooting pain rushing through him every time his hand passed over one of the deep grooves in his skin. He currently sat crisscrossed in front of the couch, his back leaning against it. Dozens of very severe bite marks covered every piece of exposed skin. His arms, his hands, his face; even his hair had chunks taken out of it.

"Good grief, you must have bitten me over a hundred times!", he exclaimed, directed at Index. "You're like a really big, really angry mosquito!"

Naoki Kashima sat on the couch behind Touma, also crisscrossed, watching Touma's movements with a look of detached curiosity. "Mosquito...", he repeated quietly, apparently once again lost in thought.

Index, meanwhile, was huddled into the opposite end of the couch, facing away from the two boys, covered in a thick woolen blanket that Naoki managed to locate in a backroom while she mercilessly assaulted Touma. Her back hunched over, she muttered grumpily to herself, apparently fiddling with something that she refused to let the others see. Touma looked in her direction, and could have sworn he could see the virulent aura around her.

"Look, Index...", Touma began, "I really am sorry. Maybe we should just forget about it and-"

"Shut up", she interrupted. Touma sighed.

"Index, come on. You know I didn't mean to- gah!"

Thwap!

Touma nearly fell backwards as Index hurled his alarm clock over her shoulder, clocking him on the forehead.

"You really expect me to forgive you for this?", she muttered, "How much of an insensitive jerk can you be?"

"Well, I... I don't know. I thought it would just be easier not to talk about it", Touma said, reddening slightly. "I'm actually pretty embarrassed, myself."

"You're still a jerk", she huffed, once again engrossing herself in her unseen project.

Touma groaned, an expression of both exasperation and physical agony. Then there was the matter of what had actually occurred. She wasn't lying, then. If her robe blew apart when I touched it, then she has to be involved with the supernatural somehow. And what the heck is with that other kid? He's clearly not a normal esper, so what the hell is his deal?

"All done!", Index cried triumphantly. Touma and Naoki both turned to see her dramatically fling the blanket off of her and stand up, revealing that she had completely repaired her Walking Church, which now shimmered just as brightly and regally as before...

And was held together by safety pins.

"Congratulations", Touma told her sarcastically, "you look like a pincushion."

Index smiled smugly back at him. "Who knows? Maybe I'll start a fashion trend. Anything can get popular with teens nowadays." Then she slumped down, suddenly looking very depressed. "Who am I kidding? I look like a weird nerd in a cosplay now."

"Fashion..." Touma and Index both looked over at Naoki, who was clutching the sides of his head and slowly leaning back. They raised their eyebrows curiously as he began to speak in a groaning, halting voice.

"Popular... Teens...", the mysterious boy's eyes twitched and he gripped his temples more tightly, ruffling his hair, a look of distraught confusion on his face. "Nerd... School... Friends... Classes... Teacher..."

Touma's eyes jolted open at Naoki's words.

"Oh crap! My remedial class!", he yelled, pulling out his phone and checking the time. "You gotta be kidding me! It's already started! Miss Tsukuyomi's gonna kill me!" Leaping to his feet, he started for the door, then pivoted around and pointed to Index and Naoki. "You two wait here! I'll be back tonight! Don't break anything!"

"I'll probably be gone when you get back, anyway", Index said, "I wouldn't want to get you wrapped up in all this sorcery business after all-"

"Whatever, just make sure you lock up!", Touma screamed over his shoulder as he dashed out of the apartment and down the fire escape. The door slammed behind him, producing a loud crunching sound as it crushed his phone, which had apparently fallen out of his pocket as he left. Index sat shocked for a moment, musing over how one boy could have such terrible luck, then turned to look at Naoki.

The boy had ceased clutching at his hair, and now leaned back in a daze. Hesitating for a moment, Index steeled herself and moved towards him, kneeling until her face was level with his. Leaning forward, a look of determination on her face, Index whispered a single question in his ear.

"What are you?"

Naoki turned towards her slowly, his yellow eyes coming to rest on hers. Index shivered and gulped, her palms already sweaty. Everything about his piercing gaze felt dangerous to her, despite how much she had braced herself so that she wouldn't be paralyzed like before. She felt like a young rat staring into the eyes of a domesticated eagle, as though she was peering into the soul of a creature she had never even imagined could exist, one so utterly powerful and destructive that it could have crushed her in an instant, and maybe even would have done so, had it realized that she was prey.

But now was the time to get answers.

"I have the combined knowledge of uncountable wizards, priests, exorcists, and scholars locked away within me, accessible at any time. Every name of every spell, every demon, every ritual, is carved into my memory. I could glance at the barest smudge of a cave drawing and tell you the exact mythology that its painter believed in, and every god from his pantheon. Do you know what I can tell about you, having fully experienced your physical presence for over an hour?"

She leaned in closer to him, forcing herself to stare deeper into those nebulous, alien eyes.

"Nothing."

Naoki blinked slowly as he seemed to consider her words. His expression was entirely unreadable, foreign. It was as though he had no emotions anymore.

"You don't match any description I have. You have humanoid form, but your body is clearly not fully human. You have a demonic aura around you, but your behavior doesn't correspond to any demon. Everything about you seems like a paradox, and none of my knowledge can find an answer for your existence. So I'm going to wait right here until you-"

"I...", Naoki began to speak, interrupting her, "I was... not always like... this...", he mumbled, looking down at his hands. "I was..."

...

...human."

Index recoiled, not expecting an answer like that. She opened her mouth to ask further questions, but he continued.

"I was... a teenager", he recalled, placing a hand on his face and furrowing his brow. His emotionlessness was gone, replaced by a distinctly human expression of strain. He looked less like the dangerous force she had felt and more like an ordinary kid trying to tap into a deeply-repressed memory. "I went to school... I had friends.. and a teacher..."

Then his hand dropped to his side, and he looked up at her with wide eyes. Index was startled. For the briefest of moments, his eyes seemed to flicker. For the briefest of moments, his irises turned a normal, human shade of cloudy grey that seemed to instantly dispel her earlier nervousness, even as they faded back to their golden hue. They stared at each other, his expression that of a man who had just had a life-changing revelation, hers that of a girl who felt like a completely new person sat before her.

"I was just like... him."

"Like... Touma?", she asked, in equal parts shocked by what he had said and mesmerized by his suddenly familiar eyes. She barely even heard herself ask the question, her attention focused completely on the mysterious boy.

Then he leapt to his feet, snapping her out of her trance. Turning away from her, he immediately made for the door, snatching up Touma's cracked phone as he opened it.

"Wait!", Index yelled after him, still frantically trying to process what had just transpired, "Where are you going?!"

The boy stopped halfway out the door and looked back over his shoulder at her.

"I have to find him", he said, "I don't know why, but I have to find him."

Then he was gone.