Quick thing: thanks, Dragonsagekyubi for following and favoriting! I'm very thankful for your support. Thanks, Artemis-Ikana for following and favoriting! It's great to have you on board! Thanks, Zimbolical for favoriting! Welcome aboard! Thanks, Peradastra for following and favoriting! It's great to have your support.
As always, let's jump into the reviews, shall we? It's always great to see what you lovely people have to say, whether it's a review, your opinions, or an omake that you've thrown my way. It's all great!
Guest: hey, no worries; this just goes to show that my own labelling system is clearly flawed, to some extent or another, which means I'm going to have to put some adjustments in place, somehow.
I did; however, unlike the scene you're referencing in A Compilation of Misfortune – and I don't mean to knock Compilation, it's a great piece worthy of plenty of praise – Touma will be seeing plenty of, shall we say, "action", all around. This is due in part to the stark differences between the traits and characteristics found in the Touma of Compilation, and the Touma of Broken Testament.
That's a good question. Just how will our hero manage to squeeze his way out of this one? Will he manage to find a way? I suppose he will; he's Touma, after all. Touma's managed to find his way out of deeper, and far more serious troubles. Though, I suppose in a manner of speaking, this situation is quite serious in its own way.
whwsms: alrighty, friend! Let's go over what points managed to catch your interest, as we always do around this time.
What sorcery indeed! Who would've thunk it, huh? As you stated, our friend Aogami Pierce had a decent reason for doing so. Still, it certainly was a strange sight.
As always, your eagle eyes never fail to impress me. It seems that Kamijou Touma has, indeed shrugged off his self-imposed, and quite strict moral compass, as well as his formerly complacent nature. Standing up to the "iron wall girl", his flaunting of the fact that a certain Beauty-Senpai clearly wants to jump his bones and his overt flirting with Himegami Aisa are all things the "old" Touma never would've even dreamed of doing. One has to wonder, does Touma himself notice this? Does he perhaps miss his "old" nature, which has since been shrugged off or otherwise lost?
A revelation is indeed due, and it will indeed be coming a little bit later in the narrative, when Kamijou Touma's recent history with a certain elderly gentleman is delved into and explored at fair length.
While a certain frog-face doctor can work wonders when operating upon a flesh and blood human, could the same be said if he attempted to work on something, or someone that isn't necessarily even human? It could be worth a shot, as they say.
Got you with that one, didn't I? I won't try and be all mysterious with this one; that scene was intended to be a nice dose of action in an otherwise relaxed chapter.
Now that you mention it, the technique used by Fukiyose Seiri upon Aogami Pierce is eerily similar to that which is used by Tokiwadai's dorm manager upon misbehaving students. Hmm, curious indeed. Could there be a conspiracy at work here?
I could definitely see the females in Kamijou Touma's life finding mutual interest in the idea of delivering one heck of a beat down upon the Kiharas, especially a certain electromaster who Touma has previously exchanged some… interesting words with. More on this little detail later in the narrative.
For the time being, Touma is the TouMAN in-name-only… but that looks like its destined to change, if a certain Beauty-Senpai has anything to say about it.
As always, it's great to know that I'm able to gain your approval! I hope to be able to continually do so, through future chapters.
321jaz: that I do, friend, that I do. Let's get to drilling.
As explained above, that little scene was intended to provide some action in a mostly relaxed chapter. The revelation that it was merely a fantasy film playing out on a silver screen was a means of ensuring that you lovely people didn't assume I was introducing "apocalypse-bringing dragon number seven thousand five hundred and seventy-eight" into the narrative.
That little scene was, in fact, a reference to that scene in NT1! Good on you for picking up on it.
That you will; it's only a matter of time at this rate. I too wonder when Beauty-Senpai's "rival" will show herself, if at all; if matters continue to progress as they are, however, Beauty-Senpai's "rival" might end up not being so much of a rival.
Komoe-sensei doubtless sensed the fact that her precious Kamijou-chan was being defiled.
I absolutely agree. It's also an issue that seems to occur when it wants to, without any sort of set pattern. There does, however, appear to be a trigger for this issue.
You'll be seeing plenty of that here! Touma's interactions with individuals, especially classmates, both male and female will be covered in this piece's narrative.
Some things never change, do they? Evidently, Aogami Pierce is among those things. In regards to how many times he's been physically assaulted for his perversions, your best guess is as good as anyone else's. Think with higher numbers, however; possibly in the hundreds or even in the thousands.
As always, it's great to know that I'm able to continually gain your approval! I hope to continue doing so through subsequent chapters!
Anon Guest: such unholy retribution could potentially end up coming to pass. Kumokawa Seria certainly possesses both the intellect and the resources to do so.
I rejoice at the approving cheers of Touma x Seria shippers everywhere, and I hope to continue bringing joy to this crowd along with many others. The topic of just how much Kamijou Touma remembers about a certain honey-scented "Queen", if anything at all will be covered a bit later in the narrative.
Kamijou Shiina very well could've experienced a similar "disturbance in the force". Who can say for certain? Such a visitation could very well become possible; as with all things, time will tell.
As always it's great to know that I'm able to gain your approval! I hope to be able to continually do so through subsequent chapters!
In regards to that "Beauty-Senpai booty", I'm glad you enjoyed that little "mention".
CD DC: thank you very much for your review, friend! It warms my heart to know that you're enjoying your reading of a Certain Broken Testament! There's plenty more on the way!
Anon: I really hope Touma's nanorobots don't suddenly start shrieking about bananas.
I might just make it so, friend. I might just make it so; keep hope alive!
As always, it's great to know that I'm able to gain your approval! I hope to be able to continue to do so through subsequent chapters!
Guest00: you don't mess with a senpai's kohai, especially not this senpai's.
linkjames24: thank you for your review, friend! While not entirely necessary, I'll attempt to defend these "incidents", so to speak. You're not wrong; in fact, you're entirely correct, here!
The point I was attempting to get across through Aogami Pierce's absolutely out of character behavior is that he really has no idea what to do or how to operate in a moment that should be one of intimacy. Perhaps he simply needs some booklearnin'?
DarkBetrayer: I'm honored that you decided to pop in and drop some knowledge for us, DB-sensei.
Your One True Pairing could just end up becoming a reality… fate has ushered in stranger things, hasn't it?
That he is, that he is. "No" certainly doesn't mean "yes".
infadinityfollower: thank you, for both of your reviews, and for your kind words, friend! I'm glad to know that you're enjoying a Certain Broken Testament!
M. R. I-401: thanks for your review, and for your kind words, friend! It's great to know that you're enjoying your reading of a Certain Broken Testament!
Kamisupporter: thank you very much for your kind words, and for your review, friend! Rest assured, there's plenty more where the previous chapters came from!
If only he could pull himself just a few feet farther from that damned no-good chain link fence that seemed hellbent on ensnaring him like some beast caught in the jaws of a hunter's trap. If only he could suddenly and conveniently gain mastery over his superior form, even for just a moment.
He could both hear and feel clusters of the nanorobots that were rushing towards the fence, wrapping around it and molesting it for no good reason that he could come up with.
Kamijou Touma's digits had penetrated the soft, green grass, and were dug into the earth as his arms pulled his torso, both its upper and what remained of its lower portions forward. As if to fight against him, more of Touma's nanorobots began to rush towards the fence, causing his lower torso to perpetually dissipate.
Some of those within the crowd that'd jogged about the edges of the middle-high school's field were running towards him, both male and female alike. The repeated, high-pitched shrieks of Yomikawa Aiho's whistle would've driven him to the brink of insanity if he'd still been a lesser existence.
Then again, if Touma had still been a lesser existence he wouldn't have found himself in a predicament like this one; maybe something similar, but nothing quite like this.
Two unfamiliar faces, both male, and two familiar faces, both female, as well as the bodies to which they were attached had rushed to his side. Before him, Othinus knelt, pulling him forward, as her heart slammed within her, beating far quicker than it should've been. Himegami Aisa had taken to the opposite side of him, and was yanking on his left arm with the greatest force that she could possibly apply; the vaguely metallic coldness of Touma's form sent an unusual shiver down the gemstone's spine.
"Did Kamijou get an ability? What's going on?"
"Shut up, Honda! Not the time! Help him or something!"
"Silence, both of you foolish huma- f-fools! Cease your bickering and put whatever talents you have to use! Help pull him forward!"
Once Yomikawa Aiho had arrived, having left Aogami Pierce behind to slumber peacefully in the grass, the quartet that'd formed around the form of Kamijou Touma was forcibly dispersed, under threat of being smacked around by Aiho's water canister.
The physical education teacher and Anti Skill operative fell to one knee, looking down at the half-existent form of Kamijou Touma who was still struggling to pull himself forward. Looking up, Aiho quietly examined the trail of grey-colored mist that spread outwards from the point where his upper and lower torso would've been separated by his pelvis. To say that Aiho was puzzled would be a grand understatement.
"Yomikawa-sensei. Can I ask you for a favor?"
"Let's hear it, Kamijou."
Student and teacher locked eyes, in a tension-filled moment; the tension in the air was thick enough to be cut with a knife, and laid between two slices of bread. It would've been a meal that Othinus wouldn't have served to even her worst, most deeply hated enemy.
"Grab my arms, and just pull me along. My legs will come back eventually. I'm developing an ability, and it kind of goes haywire sometimes; cellular division, see. Not too sure why the cells turn grey. Maybe that's just what cells look like outside of the human body? Just give me a hand, please."
"Uh huh… fine, Kamijou. Let's get you going."
Yomikawa Aiho grasped onto her student's wrists, and began to pull Kamijou Touma along, like he was a sack of grains being hauled off to market.
His flesh was cold to the touch, like the interior surfaces of a freezer, and it didn't seem to become any warmer, even as Aiho's grip on either of his hands tightened. He was oddly light, as if he weighed less than a hundred pounds. Last Order's biologically eight-year-old form must've been heavier.
Zeeee, nunununuuu.
The odd, vaguely mechanical sound, apparently produced by the student she was dragging behind her caused Yomikawa Aiho's heart to suddenly leap into her throat; Aiho could instinctually detect that something was very, very wrong with the picture presented before, or in this case, behind her.
Slipping away from his teacher's, Touma's own hands fell from his psychical education teacher's hands and to the grass-covered earth beneath him from which he rose, his lower torso and legs having apparently fully reformed. Trails of grey-colored mist continued to both swirl around, and into him for some moments, until they finally ceased to be, as if his form was some black hole.
For a few more moments, Yomikawa Aiho simply looked at her student, with a puzzled facial expression; her student's own expression seemed to be just as, if not more puzzled.
While the two young men who'd rushed to Touma's side had taken their leave, and returned to the perpetually-jogging herd, "Olivia" and Himegami Aisa remained, both looking on, concern evident in their own respective expressions. They looked to one another and then to Kamijou Touma.
Aiho found herself in something of a bind. What, exactly, was she supposed to do; not only as a teacher, but as someone who considered herself to be a decent person? Cellular division didn't function in such a way, nor could it occur at such a rapid and extreme pace, at least not in the body of the species homo sapiens.
Kamijou was lying. Her student was clearly lying, Aiho could tell that much; but what did he have to hide? What was there to lie about, even? Was this somehow linked to his month-long and completely unexplained absence? Almost certainly, Aiho was suddenly very sure of it.
Finally, the physical education teacher and Anti Skill operative's lips and tongue began to form words, as her higher mind snapped into action. "Kamijou… go take a breather. Keep an eye on your friend, or find something else to do with yourself until class is dismissed. I'll… write you up as having taken sick."
In response, Touma shrugged indifferently. The boy seemed oddly alien, and unnervingly distant to Aiho, who could only raise an eyebrow at his antics, or, more appropriately, the lack thereof.
"Olivia" and Himegami Aisa had only just finished exchanging hushed words; the latter took her leave, while the former joined her "relative", taking to his side and looking up at him as he began to take his own leave. Their teacher seemed to have no gripes with this; alternatively, she could've been too deeply involved in her own thoughts to notice such a detail.
Nonchalantly turning his back to his physical education teacher, Kamijou Touma stuffed either of his hands into his pockets, and quietly began to walk, with "Olivia" in tow.
"Imagine Breaker."
Othinus' tone of voice was stern, like that of a mother gently disciplining her wayward child.
Kamijou Touma wasn't going to ignore the girl who was, if age was taken into account, more of a woman or maybe something beyond a mere "woman".
She was just barely, and still wanted to be his Understander, even if such a thing no longer seemed possible to him. Touma could only feel "bad", as an influx of data referred to the feeling, which he permitted to step into his plane of existence.
"Othinus? Othi-chan?"
The former Magic God tossed her hair's fringe, and its silky, smooth-looking bangs away from her eyes, as she continued to look at the one being who truly Understood her.
"Can you not set aside your irritatingly cryptic business to talk with the nun and myself? Has this… insanity not become a great and negative driving force in your life? Let others help shoulder your burdens, you unfathomably stubborn human. Have you learned nothing?"
"If you don't stop smack-talking me, I'm going to tell on you, Othi-chan. I can't cancel what I've got going on, I just can't; it doesn't work like that, and I can't let it work like that. Sorry. I have my reasons, but I promise that you'll… you'll Understand again soon."
Kamijou Touma's words brought hope to the heart of the former Magic God, the being who he'd saved from herself.
Othinus reached out and grabbed at it, pulling hope close to her, and keeping it alive within her higher mind.
Having closed the distance between himself and the prone, unconscious form of Aogami Pierce, Touma threw himself down next to the blue-haired boy, and jabbed the boy's cheek with his right hand's index finger.
The blue-haired boy mumbled something about "beautiful Olivia-chan" in response, rolling to his left and protectively wrapping his arms around nothing save the air.
"I hope he dies," Othinus remarked. "In a fire. I too hope you come to your senses, sooner than later, Imagine Breaker. I'll be ready and willing to hear you out, when you finally, and inevitably do."
Huffing, she aggressively tossed her head back, and returned to the perpetually-jogging herd, slowly working herself from a brisk walk and into a jog, at her own pace; there was still mingling to be done, after all.
Eventually, Aogami Pierce did awaken from his deep, all-consuming slumber, and, in the end, he'd abandoned his fellow Delta Force member to pursue the "girl" he'd apparently begun referring to as "the love of my life".
What time remained in the school day's final period slowly passed Kamijou Touma by, as he watched his classmates and fellow students from other classes make their rounds around the field. The chain link fence stared back mockingly for a while, until Touma's silent conversations with his own influxes of seemingly omniscient data were interrupted.
"Oh, my! What are you doing sitting over here all by yourself, Touma? How unexpected. Did something happen, my little kohai? You're not hurt, are you?"
Sanctuary had sought Kamijou Touma out for one last tender moment, before it'd all inevitably go to Hell.
The being that'd once been a "normal high school boy" craned his neck, his lips having curled upwards, into a thin, but warm smile.
Having stepped through the doorway that lead into the middle-high school's halls, Kumokawa Seria made her way towards Touma. She, like her kohai, wasn't clad in any sort of physical education uniform.
"Hey, Seria. It's really good to see you again. All cleaned up?"
Kamijou Touma's smile turned into a toothy, almost sinister grin, as he knowingly winked.
"What a shame. Would you mind if we began round two? They always say that the sequel isn't as good, but hey, what can I say in my defense? I like to change up the norm."
"You're about to cause me to soak myself again with that newfound assertiveness of yours. Hush, now," Seria remarked, teasingly. "By the way, Touma, before I say another word, I have to ask; what's with the pervert?"
Touma reluctantly turned his gaze away from his jaw-droppingly gorgeous senpai, and towards the perpetually-jogging herd before him. He didn't even have to single Aogami Pierce's form out; the boy's blue hair stuck out from the crowd like a sore thumb. Picking himself up from the grass, streaks of crimson were dripping down from either of his nostrils, and down his cheeks. In the center of his face, a bright red handprint was visible.
Apparently, the blue-haired boy had noticed that his fellow Delta Force member was staring him down, and noticed that the third member of the Delta Force wasn't alone. Aogami Pierce shook his fist angrily in Kamijou Touma's direction.
"Damn you, Kami-yan! Damn you to Hell! I HATE YOU! You can't take Beauty-Senpai from us!"
"Looks like Olivia-chan got sick of his shit," Touma casually remarked. "I'm not far from being there myself. Don't blame her for smacking him up. I'd intervene, but I think it's important that she learns to deal with this sort of thing herself. Besides, she's a big girl. She doesn't need her relative to stick up for her. Never was the type to run behind someone's back and squeal "help me!" either way."
Kneeling behind her kohai, Kumokawa Seria rested the palms of either of her hands against his shoulders, and gently rubbed them, as she leaned forward.
"You don't have to explain yourself to me, my little kohai. Even if there was some perceived injustice in this situation, which there isn't – you're completely correct – I wouldn't yell at you or berate you for taking a stance of your own choosing. You're on edge, aren't you? You're under a lot of pressure. Your defensiveness just screams it to me."
Touma wasn't going to deny it, at least not when he found himself in a situation like the one in which he'd happened to have found himself in.
Kamijou Touma was safe with this woman, he could rely on her to act as a pillar of support, as a rational, stable individual in a world of individuals who were slowly becoming anything but rational, and anything but stable.
"You could say that, senpai… I mean, Seria. Got to get used to that. There's a lot of shit, and I do mean shit, going down around me, and, even being what I am now, whatever that might be, or might not be, it's weighing down on me bad. I'm surrounded by fucking lunatics who can barely keep their heads on straight, a power-hungry borderline megalomaniac… no, I didn't mean that. So much shit that I could never tell you about; you wouldn't believe me, even if I did."
Leaning further inwards, Kumokawa Seria craned her neck to her right, and looked at the face of her kohai, Kamijou Touma, with her lips having curled into a warm smile.
"I've completed all of the assignments that were… handed off to me, in my own health studies class, a series of paltry tasks, if I'm being honest. If you aren't going to be heading back into the fray, for reasons I'm not quite aware of but have a few theories about, would you like me to stay with you?"
Kamijou Touma, son of Kamijou Touya, a mild-mannered and complacent man himself, made quite the bold move.
Craning his own neck, he pressed his cold lips against the lips of his senpai, who quietly gasped as shock registered throughout her entire body. By itself, Seria's body ensured that her lips returned her kohai's kiss. Her brain began ordering for the pumping of relevant chemicals, and, just as his lips left hers, Seria's form shuddered.
"I definitely wouldn't mind if you decided to stick it out with me, Beauty-Senpai. You enjoy that? I did. You've got really soft lips. I hope I didn't come onto you too fast; you were right there."
"N-no," Seria stammered, quickly folding her legs beneath her posterior, as she sat herself next to her assertive, and sudden alpha male of a kohai.
"Not at all. I enjoyed 'that' very much, and I can safely say that I encourage you to do so again in the near future. Your own lips taste… different, but by no means is it a bad taste. It's something I could find myself getting used to, actually."
Grinning at his senpai, Kamijou Touma winked, and wrapped his right arm around her shoulder, in an act that shocked Seria a little bit less than it would've prior to her meeting with this "new" little kohai of hers.
Touma pulled Seria close to him, and watched on, as he quickly became the ire of every young man jogging in the field. Nuzzling him in response, Seria pushed herself closer to her kohai.
The feeling was a satisfying one. Kumokawa Seria was enjoying the attention herself, as she rested the side of her head against her kohai's shoulder, watching on with a grin of her own.
"They're all very jealous of you, my little kohai. Rightfully so. Word might start to spread that we're an item, you know. Word might even spread beyond the boundaries of this school. Wouldn't that just be regrettable?"
Before, when he'd been less, a statement like that would've brought a terrible sense of dread down upon Kamijou Touma, and likely would've triggered an embarrassing fight or flight reaction; inevitably, as his "old" existence always had in such situations, he more than likely would've chosen "flight".
What a pathetic joke his "old" existence had been. So weak, so frail. All he'd had was the anomalous force that'd once resided within his right hand, and nothing more to his name.
No longer. Kamijou Touma feared nothing, and no one. No longer was he a frail and pathetic thing. Again, he found himself almost thanking the partially-rotten old man.
"You think?" Touma rhetorically inquired. "I guess it's true that stranger, and stupider rumors have taken off and gotten pretty far."
For some time, the two, Kumokawa Seria and Kamijou Touma engaged in small talk, discussing matters such as current events, other rumors unrelated to those that could potentially fly due to their newfound closeness, and just about anything but the past, a subject which both parties involved seemed to be happy to avoid. The topic of the Internet inevitably came up, and, through it, Kamijou Touma learned that Kumokawa Seria was an avid fan of video games, and of "superior PC gaming", nonetheless.
Just as Touma was about to begin casually and cryptically inquiring as to which establishments his senpai frequented, and which types of dishes she was most fond of, the shrieking of Yomikawa Aiho's whistle rang out loud and clear, like the cry of a rooster suffering from some type of chronic bronchial infection.
The voices of students engaging in casual conversation slowly ceased to be as the perpetually-jogging herd came to a stop; at the back of the herd, an exhausted Aogami Pierce, his face covered in bright red handprints of different sizes dropped to the ground, relieved.
"Not bad!" Aiho exclaimed, her right hand rested upon its corresponding hip. In her left, her whistle was clutched.
"Not bad. Next time, less chatting, more running. That's it, dinger's going to go off in a few minutes. Get yourselves into a line, in front of the doors and wait it out. This one's an exercise for your minds."
Turning her attention to Kamijou Touma, and Kumokawa Seria, who'd apparently decided to drop in, much to the physical education teacher's surprise, Aiho spoke.
"That means you too, lovebirds. Kumokawa, beat it; back to your own class. Kamijou's supposed to be resting up, not spending all of his energy being all lovey-dovey."
Kumokawa Seria pouted, as she looked away from the cold boy whose arm remained around her shoulders, and towards the physical education teacher. Seria tilted her head to one side.
"Maybe I'll just have to transfer to Kamijou's class. Then you and I can be together forever, right Yomikawa-sensei?"
"You're too old, Kumokawa. You're going to be graduating soon."
If anyone other than Yomikawa Aiho had called Kumokawa Seria "old", there would've been Hell to pay.
"Oh, dear, Yomikawa-sensei; how scornful. You sound just like someone else I know. I suppose I'll have to take my leave, then."
After placing a soft, gentle kiss on the cheek of her kohai, Seria wriggled herself out of Touma's embrace, and rose, dusting the bottom of her skirt off, and tossing her bangs away from her eyes. Touma imitated his senpai, and rose as well, becoming the first student in the line that was set to form.
Taking her leave, seductively swaying her hips from side to side, Seria remarked, "I'll see you soon, my little kohai. I'll be greatly looking forward to our liaison."
He didn't have any good reason to deny it. "Me too, senpai. Me too. I'll hit you up on Messenger tonight?"
"Please doooo."
Yomikawa Aiho had taken to her student's side, both of her hands resting casually in her sweatpants' pockets, her whistle dangling around her neck by the band to which it was strung. Her facial expression was a stern one.
"Kamijou, for the love of… use protection. The Child Error problem is only getting worse, and we don't need your contributions. If only Tsukuyomi could actually teach sexual education, you lot might learn something."
Sneering, Kamijou Touma looked to his physical education teacher, and nodded. "You misjudge my intentions Yomikawa-sensei, I'm a nice guy."
Eventually, a loud, shrill sound was played over the loudspeakers scattered throughout the field, and within the halls of the middle-high school, announcing that the school day had come to an end.
As Yomikawa Aiho took her leave from her student's side, "Olivia" took his teacher's place. Touma looked to her, and, as they walked together, he rested his right hand's palm on her shoulder.
"Olivia-chan," Touma began, "don't wait for me. I'm going to be heading out, pretty much right now, so I'll be home later tonight. Dinner for Index is in the fridge, she knows where it is, and there's yen on the table if she wants to order more, or if you want more. Take care of yourself, alright? I love you."
Wrapping her arms around her "relative's" waist as the two moved to the side, towards a row of lockers, "Olivia" breathed a sigh of defeat. Her grip tightened by the second, and she whispered under her breath.
"Imagine Breaker, I love you too. Let me Understand you again soon. I cast my own pride to the side and I beg you; please let me Understand you again. I want nothing more than to Understand you again."
Male passersby found themselves feeling a bit less jealous than they had previously; Kamijou Touma and "Olivia-chan" were relatives. Obviously, there was nothing romantic between the two.
"I promise, Othi-chan," Touma whispered back. Moving in slowly, as if he was afraid that he would frighten her, Touma placed a kiss atop the crown of the former Magic God's head, and patted her back, as softly as he could manage to.
"I promise, you'll hear everything, the whole truth, as soon as I get a spare couple of hours. I'm not doing this to hurt you; that's the last thing I'd ever want to do.
"In fact, the reason I've been keeping everything from you and Index, is, well… there's a lot of shit going on with me, and it's dangerous to even talk about; but if you want the truth, it's not right for me to keep it from you, even if I think that I should.
"I can protect you both, I can protect everyone better than I ever could before, now that I'm stronger… different, but that's not the issue, see? The issue is: I don't know what they're capable of. If word gets out, and they decide that I need to be "disciplined", I just don't know what they'd try and do.
"Listen, I can't be late. I can't let them think that something, some part of their status quo is changing. They need to think that everything's going per their plan, whatever that might be, so they can't figure out that I'm fucking them over and using them."
The former Magic God nodded in relative understanding. It was a weak gesture, one of defeat, but, it was also one of acknowledgement; Othinus was going to hold her Understander to his word.
Reluctantly parting from her "relative", "Olivia" took Touma's hands into her own, and looked into his eyes, for a few moments, before she spoke her parting words.
"I'll see you… at some point, Imagine Breaker, and I'll be looking forward to it. The nun has been missing you, and I'll be missing you."
"I miss you too, Othi-chan. I miss you too, both of you, even that annoying cat. I miss you guys a lot."
The former Magic God offered her Understander a warm, if thin smile, and then turned away, making her way down the hall, her long, golden hair swaying from one side to the other, the sounds of her flats' soles clacking against the tiled floor. Heads turned to face her; the being that had once been a "normal high school boy" couldn't deny the fact that she was exotic, beautiful in a way that couldn't possibly be replicated, be it by science or magic.
For a short while, Kamijou Touma watched his "relative" walk, until she turned a corner, vanishing from his line of sight; he thought for a split second that her organic left eye glistened beneath the synthetic light, beamed down from the ceiling above.
He then decided to take his own leave; unlike his "relative", however, he had nothing to gather, and no one to seek out. He simply followed his internal compass, walking in the vague direction of the middle-high school's entranceway, arguably the quickest means of leaving the property.
Passing down hallways, with rows of lockers, some attended to, others locked and left vacant on either side of him, Kamijou Touma kept to himself; he hardly had a reason not to.
While he recognized the faces of most of his fellow students that he passed by, he couldn't quite put any names to their faces. Some nodded in his direction, and he would respectfully nod back. That would be the extent of his interactions with those he could physically recognize.
Touma passed by the entranceway doors that lead into the almost laughably small interior gymnasium, and then by those that lead into the equally laughably small cafeteria. At the very least the middle-high school's cafeteria was leagues ahead of the cafeteria that'd been found in the old high school.
Finally, after what felt like a lifetime of walking, Touma had made his way to the entranceway doors, which lead out of the middle-high school. Beams of warm, golden sunlight were intruding through the cracks between the doors, and between the doors and the tiled floors, creating odd-looking patterns and a series of crisscrossing golden lines.
Touma took one final step forward, and with his right arm extended, he pushed the nearest of the entranceway doors open, causing its hinges to creak loudly in protest.
The golden rays of natural light that'd been invading the middle-high school doused him like streams of water from a waterfall; it was a nice feeling, one which brought not only warmth, but a familiar sense of positivity that he could almost reach out and touch.
Touma's lips curled upwards, into a small grin. Considering recent events, Kamijou Touma had learned to appreciate the little things.
As always, something was there to shock him out of the moment. Touma raised an eyebrow once he laid eyes on the anomalous presence standing some fifteen feet and eight inches – an internal influx of data informed Touma of the exact distance between himself and the anomalous presence – away from him. He'd seen this anomaly before at some point; it was something from his past, from when he'd been something less.
It was a girl, or in more technical terms, a woman; she seemed old enough to be classed as the latter, as opposed to the former. She was physically sexually matured, at the very least. With her arms folded beneath her bosom, she stood tall, leaning against a nearby planter.
As Touma's vision fell in line with her own form, her eyes, and their auburn-colored irises looked into Touma's own, curiosity alive and well within them.
The girl's hair was auburn, almost dark red in coloration, like the color of her irises, styled into two long, straightened twintails. She was clad in a blue, formally designed school uniform with the emblem of some educational facility unknown to Touma sewed onto its breast. The twintails girl seemed to have purposefully exposed a few inches of cleavage. She wore white thigh high stockings, which clung tightly to her impressive legs.
Nodding in his direction, the twintails girl smirked at him, her eyelids narrowing for the shortest of moments.
"Kami-yan?" It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I assume you're wondering who I am. We've met more than once in the past, albeit quite briefly."
He only had to look upon the form of the twintails girl for a few moments before an entire profile, based on what information he had previously gathered on her formed before his vision. Data which had previously remained invisible took physical form within him, as individual nanorobots broke away from Touma's main mass, and began gathering further information from beyond Touma's existence.
"NAME: AWAKI, MUSUJIME
GENDER: [genital recognition = ENABLED] FEMALE
HEIGHT: 150 CM [4 FEET NINE INCHES]
WEIGHT: 2080 OZ [130 POUNDS]
AGE: [facial recognition = ENABLED] SIXTEEN YEARS [SUITABLE FOR COITUS]
BLOOD TYPE: AB [bodily fluid recognition = ENABLED] [COMMON]"
Touma began to make his way down the staircase, which lead downwards, towards the planter which the twintails girl leaned against.
"Musujime-san," Touma remarked, casually.
If the change in her facial expression was anything to go by, the twintails girl was seemingly surprised, as her lips parted, slightly; as well, both of her eyebrows had risen. What had come to pass was something that she obviously hadn't expected.
Musujime Awaki quickly regained her composure. Tossing her head back, as if daring Kamijou Touma to challenge her, she pushed herself away from the planter, standing tall, and proud, with her arms remaining crossed.
"So, you do remember me after all; that's interesting. I certainly remember you. I'll cut to the chase; you've caught my eye. You displayed an… interesting capability this morning, and you obviously aren't trying to hide it. I'd like to know a little bit more about the abilities of the oh mighty heeee-ro "Kami-yan". Speaking of which, that isn't your real name, is it? Some type of codename?"
Rolling his shoulders, Touma clicked his tongue. There were only two individuals who Musujime Awaki could've gotten that name from. Only one of those two individuals seemed to be the likely source; any respectable member of the opposite gender avoided "BLAU" like he was the plague itself, and rightfully so.
"You're involved with him, huh? Let me give you a useful piece of information, Musujime-san; don't be. Tsuchimikado's a fucking snake, he'll throw you under the bus in a minute if it suits him."
"I'd slit his throat wide open myself, like the belly of a swine, if it wouldn't bring a truckload of shit down on me."
"I'm not disagreeing," Awaki admitted, less than reluctantly. "He's a snake with a slithering forked tongue, but he has his uses."
As Kamijou Touma kept on walking, Musujime Awaki fell in stride with him; he didn't protest this, but merely accepted her presence, for the time being. Awaki wasn't annoying him, she seemed to have her head on straight, and she seemed to be rational enough.
"Not only that, he's also a disgusting pervert, even worse than the lolicon."
As Awaki spoke, Touma's eyes were subtly moving up and down inside of his head, looking the Move Point user's form up and down. He listened intently to her words, of course; he allowed himself to compliment his own newfound skill at seamless multitasking.
Everything about Musujime Awaki seemed to be on point; her bosom wasn't absurdly large, nor was it too small. From what Touma could see, they were just a nice size. Her voice was soft and oddly soothing, for someone who'd previously caused considerable destruction. Her form was athletic and fit with a curvy shape; if Touma tried to tell himself that he didn't want to part her stocking-clad legs and thrust into her for a few hours, he'd be a liar. The only odd presence on Musujime Awaki's form was the small mechanical apparatus that rested upon her neck.
Kamijou Touma didn't find himself in a position to be critical about such a thing.
"If it's got anything to do with that snake, I know better than to ask," Touma spat. "It's nothing I want to know about. So, before we go any further, Musujime-san, let me just repeat this back to you, to ensure that we're on the same page.
"You want me to show you my ability? It's new, so I don't quite know what I'm doing all of the time, but, I can pull off a few interesting tricks with it. That's all? You're not going to follow me around for the next few weeks of my life, constantly demanding that I pulverize you?"
"No. Why would I do that? I would literally have no reason to do something of the sort."
"Just have to be sure… forget it. I've got some unfinished business to settle with someone, and it's leaking out all over the place. I didn't mean that, sorry Musujime-san. You've caught me a weird-ass time. Don't worry about it, strange things happen to me; it's just, at this point I like to try and figure out exactly what I'm getting myself into before I get into it."
Kamijou Touma came to a halt in the middle of the walkway, and stretched, bending himself backwards as he held either of his arms above his head. Nothing was accomplished through this act; it was something familiar, something human.
"I'll show you, then. By the way, before I go – and I do have to go – it's been good seeing you again, Musujime-san. It really has been a while since we last saw one another. I remember the last time we did, if you could really call that "seeing". I was in some situation, drunk as a skunk; you and… must've been friends of yours? We crossed paths for a bit."
Awaki nodded; she recalled that evening, as well. "You seemed oddly rushed, just as you seem now, "Kami-yan". I really don't want to keep calling you that. Surely that isn't your name. Please tell me you're not actually named "Kami-yan". I have no reason to think so, it outright soundslike something that perverted idiot came up with while hunched over a box of tissues."
"Seems like you don't like the snake any more than I do," Touma casually remarked. "We'll get along well then. No, I'm not really named "Kami-yan". It's just a stupid nickname, or something. Not entirely sure how it came about, myself. It was something he started babbling about, and it stuck. Kamijou Touma, that's my real name."
Again, the Move Point user nodded, apparently in approval. Kamijou Touma. It was a different name, that much was certain; but it seemed to figuratively roll off Awaki's proverbial tongue.
With that, Kamijou Touma took a step forward. The boy that Musujime Awaki had first met during the period of time in which the remnant of the supercomputer known as Tree Diagram and that half-assed teleporter were relevant subjects proved himself to be anything but "just some boy".
Working in unison, billions upon billions of nanorobots obeyed the commands of Touma's consciousness. Like greased lightning he bolted off, his arms and legs moving at speeds far beyond human, beyond Awaki's comprehension, even; he'd become more of a grey-colored blur.
The Move Point user had to silently ask herself one question: why grey?
"Kamijou Touma" was clad in a uniform that was dark blue in coloration. Even if his hair was black, that was only a small portion of his form. If anything, the blur should've been a mix of blue and fleshy pink, the pigmentation of his skin.
Why was the boy always in such a rush, always running off somewhere to do something? Why had he even involved himself in business that hadn't been his all that time ago, that really wasn't all that long ago at all? He was unfathomable, he made Musujime Awaki's head spin.
Musujime Awaki wanted answers; she wanted closure, and she wanted it as soon as humanly possible. He'd given her his name. He was apparently comfortable enough with doing that. It was a step in the right direction, and a step forward at that.
The possibility of following the trail of damaged walkways and mildly disturbed passersby left in his wake was one which floated about within Awaki's higher mind, like a sailboat tossed about on some particularly cruel waves.
She hadn't minded the way he'd been looking her up and down, either. Having a decent human being ogle her incredibly attractive body was a breath of fresh air; Kamijou Touma was a looker himself.
Awaki's decision was made, in the span of a few seconds of thought. Spinning on her heel, Musujime Awaki cocked her head from side to side, causing her bones to crack as she walked in the direction opposite of the direction in which Kamijou Touma had bolted off in.
Kamijou Touma. That was a name Awaki was going to have to keep in the front of her mind.
By the time he'd arrived in school district ten, Kamijou Touma had left quite the trail behind. Not counting the destroyed walkways, he'd leapt to, and then from numerous structures, whether they'd been restaurants or skyscrapers, and had managed to gain more than a few moments of attention, from those both within and outside said establishments.
Though the structures had remained undamaged, unlike the walkways beneath them, the individuals within who'd witnessed some unidentifiable existence whip by their windows would have plenty to talk about.
With the tenth school district's urban decay surrounding him, Touma made his way down the twisting, winding side streets and vacant roadways, occasionally passing by individuals in far worse predicaments than his own scattered throughout the former, and passing by only material waste, such as the tattered remnants of newspapers – which were apparently still printed in Academy City – throughout the latter.
One structure was being sought out by the being that'd once been a "normal high school boy". He'd arrived before it, with some ten minutes to spare, passing by an unused public transportation terminal as he neared it.
Unlike most structures in the derelict school district, the structure that was Touma's destination found itself in an acceptable outward condition.
The metallic substance of which its outer walls were constructed wasn't completely covered in rust, nor were the structure's outer walls heavily defaced.
Tall, but not as tall as some of the high rises in the tenth school district, Kamijou Touma's quarry was approximately twenty-eight stories tall. It had no signs on its lawn, and there were no features on its outer surfaces that indicated that this structure was being used by any official group.
Touma knew that it wasn't being used by any 'official' group, far from it.
Surrounding the structure, tiny objects had piled up and had formed mounds of considerable height and width; though normally microscopic, the objects that made up the mounds were so numerous that, as a collective entity, they'd become visible to the naked eye. The occasional "zap", a sound without a visual source would ring out and more objects would join their fallen brethren.
Ejected nanorobotic scouts had informed Kamijou Touma in the past that these objects were, in fact, individual instances of a security network known as "UNDER_LINE". The significance of this "UNDER_LINE" was unknown, but Kamijou Touma had a few theories that could explain the objects' existence. Evidently, some sort of invisible and arguably lethal force had been erected, preventing instances of UNDER_LINE from closing in on the structure.
Casually, Touma made his way to the structure's rear, evading the frontal entranceway doors, which he knew didn't, and never had functioned. He strolled down a cobbled path, overgrown with strands of emerald green grass, and the protruding weeds that fought against said grass; a valiant but visibly futile effort.
In the structure's rear, where numerous metallic benches and picnicking tables, their surfaces sullied by rust were located, there were more mounds of UNDER_LINE instances, the mounds they'd created through their collective 'deaths' even larger than those scattered about the front of the structure. The structure's rear was mostly overgrown with a small field of grass whose individual blades rose to Touma's knees.
Staying to himself, an older man in casual, if dirtied attire mulled about the structure's rear, scooping the "dead" objects up with a shovel, and dumping them into a large metallic vat, which had a quartet of small wheels beneath it.
The rear entranceway wasn't directly connected to the structure itself. Instead, its doors were in the ground, facing upwards towards the sky above. Constructed of a metallic substance, and a dark shade of brown in coloration due to the multiple layers of rust that covered them, the doors in the ground shifted into the ground itself, pulled inwards by a series of dutifully-working mechanical limbs. They groaned and complained, but moved nonetheless.
As the older man in the structure's rear continued about his business, Kamijou Touma descended into the earth itself, casually making his way down a flight of stairs.
Once the doors above had slammed shut behind him, well and truly sealing him within the earth, a series of ceiling-mounted panels were automatically enabled and bathed Touma, as well as the damp, claustrophobic tunnel through which he walked in dirty synthetic light.
Kamijou Touma's stroll through what looked like the set of some horror film was less than eventful. Through the winding underground bowels of the structure Touma traversed, at one point encountering a dead and half-eaten cat in the mouldering corner of a dead end.
With the light generated by the panels above him flickering, Touma came upon his destination; another, different staircase than the one he'd originally descended. Rather than being constructed from stone material, the staircase, Kamijou Touma's destination was constructed of some metallic substance, pocked by layers of rust, as all metallic surfaces within the structure's bowels seemed to be.
Ascending the staircase, another set of doors facing upwards as the previous set had slid open, granting Touma access to what may as well have been Hell itself. The staircase, creaking and shuddering beneath Kamijou Touma's every step lead him into a barely-furnished and sterile space.
Enclosed and without even a single window to act as a portal to the outside world, the enclosed space was a dull, simplistic silver in coloration. Its furnishings, which included several plastic seats leaning against the rightmost wall were aged, and looked like they hadn't seen any kind of cleaning in a decade, or perhaps two. One of these plastic seats was missing a leg, and was perpetually wobbling quite awkwardly.
Aside from Kamijou Touma, there were no other living beings within the enclosed space. By the sounds of it, however, there was less than intelligent life just beyond the silver-colored set of doors, to Touma's left.
"You didn't have to apply the voltage spike! We had a revival kit RIGHT THERE! What were you THINKING?!"
"STOP yelling at me! How was I supposed to know she had a heart condition?! We weren't informed about anything! The whole operation was a FARCE!"
The first speaker, "the critic" was apparently male, or perhaps a female with an unnaturally deep voice. The second speaker, "the victim" was apparently female, or alternatively, a male with an unusually high-pitched voice.
Regardless of their respective biological natures, Kamijou Touma had only heard their bickering for some few seconds, and was already fed up.
Stepping through the doorway, as the door itself slid away into right side of the wall, Touma emerged from the enclosed space, and into another equally enclosed, and equally sterile hall, where the two verbal combatants were present, standing before two sets of elevator doors, both of which were closed. Between the set, one of two small, circular buttons was illuminated, brightly glowing a shade of orange.
Kamijou Touma spoke, his lips curling upwards into a smirk as they smacked together, working in unison with his tongue to form words.
"Ladies, ladies! What's the matter?! You sound like you're about to start splitting the furniture and the kids! Come on, we need some universal love here. Also, your bickering is getting on my fucking nerves, so knock it off or I'll really give you something to cry about. Do we understand one another?"
"Y-yes, K-Kamijou-san."
Satisfaction surged through the being who'd once been a "normal high school boy". The scruffy, bearded man who stood before his female cohort suddenly shut his trap, and turned away, stuffing either of his hands into his pockets. Clad in a cheap-looking doctor's smock accented by casual attire beneath it, he looked to the cold tiled floor beneath his feet.
His companion, a young woman who looked to be in her mid twenties possessed curly, tawny hair, tied up into a messy bun. Adorned in similar attire silenced herself as well, her line of vision aligning with the elevator doors that stood before her.
Kamijou Touma walked on, with his own hands placed into his pockets; there didn't seem to be anything better to do with them. He certainly wasn't laying in his bed, with his Beauty-Senpai at his side, nor was he spending time with the being who'd come to truly Understand him and the nun to whom he'd become so very attached. Until then, his hands would be getting up to far less productive things.
He knew that he would own this place, someday. Kamijou Touma's grip was tightening with every day that passed, with every inch his influence expanded throughout the structure's disgustingly sterile halls.