Footsteps echoed through a dark alley.

Index was wrong when she thought she would finally be safe inside Academy City.

A fireball bounced off her Walking Church, a white habit with gold outlines. While the magical defense of her Walking Church was powerful enough to protect her from even the legendary Dragon Breath spell, she could still be physically captured by the red-haired man behind her.

Or the swordswoman who caused a mini earthquake when she landed in front of her.

"There's no place left for you to run. If possible, I'd like for you to come with us peacefully," said the swordswoman.

"And then steal the 103,000 grimoires in my head for your nefarious purposes? Not a chance. Romans 12:19, do not ta-"

The tip of the swordswoman's blade touched Index's throat.

"Try anything funny and the blade goes right through your throat."

Index's lips quivered, and an invisible force blasted the woman and the red-haired man into the night sky. This was a spell based on the line from Romans 12:19 "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord." in the Bible that was triggered when she finished the required incantations by moving her lips in a very specific manner rather than chanting the words out loud.

Index slipped into another alley from the backdoor of a building. There were twenty-three districts in this city, and Touma could be in any one of them. District 7 seemed promising, but it was still a large area, and also the largest district in the entire city.

There was something she wanted to tell Touma before Necessarius erases her memories again.

"Oh no, my mana supply is running low from casting that spell."

There was a mana restriction system placed inside her. Each day, she could only use a certain amount of mana but her mana will automatically recharge itself when the clock strikes twelve. The original system inside of her had completely destroyed her ability to use magic until Touma changed that into a mana restriction system with his blasphemous right hand. Like an RPG system, she only had a limited amount of mana that she could use. At 12.00 am, it will recharge itself. If the mana gauge is full, it will recharge nothing and she'll have to wait for another 24 hours for it to recharge again.

Index exited the alley and looked around. All the shophouses were closed, and no one could be seen, so this gave her a desolate feeling of someone wandering inside a dead city. However, this also meant that she lost her pursuers as Index could not sense their mana anymore.

Alright, I just need a safe place to sleep now.

Index fell inside a blue portal that opened underneath her into a building lobby. The night was cold, but this building was even colder. Life had been sucked out this building, leaving behind only a stench of death so overwhelming it started to freeze the air around her. The boundary surrounding the area was specifically designed to make it easy for anyone to enter but impossible to leave. Just how many people have died within this building already?

From the faint lighting, Index could make out a man with green hair in a white suit. It was a rather odd appearance for a businessmen because almost all of them would not sport such a striking color for their hairstyle to maintain a sense of professionalism and green would ruin the image. She sensed that he was a magician from the mana he was emitting. He must have summoned that blue portal to trap her in this building.

"Does the name Aureolus Izzard rings a bell?"

Index paused for a moment, "Have we met somewhere before? My memories get wiped every year, so I must have forgotten you."

Aureolus extended a hand with a sincere smile, "I was your partner tasked to protect you four years ago. I can find a way to restore your memories. Will you come with me?"

"No."

It was difficult enough to trust magicians claiming to be her friend when they were actually after her grimoires, let alone someone who summoned a portal to trap her.

"Sleep."

Index found her consciousness slip towards darkness. It was too late to formulate a counterattack. Ars Magna takes effect as soon as a command is spoken. While it was an incredibly powerful alchemy spell that allows its caster to turn their thoughts into reality via modelling the world and all of its laws, it requires about 400 years of chanting before the spell would work. So how did he...?

It was break time from classes in Misawa Cram School, so Touma and Misaki decided to grab something to eat at the cafeteria.

Mikoto tagged along, unwilling to leave him alone with Misaki. Being a student of this cram school was surprisingly easy, and she was also 'coincidentally' placed in the same class as the both of them. All of this must be Misaki's doing. What exactly was she planning? There was no point in investigating when Misaki could just tamper with people's memories and render any information unreliable. Disgusting

Mikoto glared at Misaki who smiled back in response. What's this? Taking the chance to win Touma back since he forgotten about everything Misaki did to him?

Touma took a spoonful of curry rice and fed Misaki. He probably went along with Misaki's childish request out of politeness. Someone as childish as Misaki had no rights to have such a large adult-like chest.

Mikoto suppressed an ominous lightning spark, "Can't you feed yourself? What are you? Five?"

"I don't want to hear that from someone who is still wearing those childish Gekota panties."

"Ho-How do you even know that, you pervert?! Serves you right for getting your panties exposed during last year's Daihasei Festival opening speech."

Misaki whipped out her remote with her face flushed red. "Th-That's just an urban rumor! It's not true at all!"

Mikoto winced at the recoil as Misaki applied her powers around everyone else to erase their memories. "Geez. You don't have to be that paranoid."

Misaki pouted as she pushed a spoonful towards Touma, "I can't finish my food. Could you please finish it for me?"

Touma swerved behind to block a kick from Kuroko.

Kuroko teleported away but Touma grabbed her by the neck as soon as she reappeared.

Touma flashed an embarrassed smile as he dropped Kuroko. "Sorry, I didn't know it was you."

Misaki pressed a remote button. Everyone else in the cafeteria gave Kuroko a quick glance before returning back to their food like nothing has happened.

"Kuroko, why are you here and why are you attacking Touma?" said Mikoto.

"I just simply cannot stand this bimbo trying to steal your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend!"

Kuroko pointed a finger at Touma, "Is this some sort of a cruel joke that you enjoy playing with my onee-sama? Do you really remember nothing at all? Do you at least remember what Shokuhou Misaki did in the past? She is the reason why your stepsister Kumokawa Seria is dead."

"Who is Kumokawa Seria?" said Touma. "I've never heard of that name before. I'll go get some fresh air while you three sort yourself out."

Touma leaned over the railing at the skyway. Of course he still remembers Seria-nee. She had plunged herself into the darkest part of Academy City and committed unspeakable evils to obtain enough power and influence to protect Maria and him.

I'm sorry Touma. I became the big sister I wanted to be instead of the big sister you wanted me to be. So please don't cry over such a selfish person like me. I don't deserve any of it.

Tears dripped onto the railing. This was Seria-nee's last words before she died in his arms due to excessive blood loss from the bullet through her heart. Just because she did it to protect him and Maria doesn't excuse her from all the bad things she did. But she was still his big sister who loved him.

Touma felt a blade resting behind him. He raised his hands and slowly turned around to see Kanzaki Kaori. Kaori was a Saint born with superhuman strength. If she wanted, she could end him right here right now. Imagine Breaker was useless against beings like Kaori who gained their powers through natural means.

"Tears?" Kaori clenched her teeth in anger, "No matter how many tears you shed, those lives you took aren't coming back!"

Stiyl lit up a cigarette with a sigh, "I really shouldn't be bothering you, but Index has been captured and I think even Kaori might not be powerful enough to defeat Ars Magna."

"You want me to save Index? To be honest, I'm not so sure if I still have enough power to do so."

Stiyl was a towering man wearing a robe with a barcode tattoo under his right eye, but it was incredible how he was only 14.

"Tell me, what exactly happened? It can be a secret between the both of us."

Touma smiled, "I'm not telling you anything until you're high-ranking enough in Necessarius to know. Try again in about 20 years or so."

"You know, you and I could actually be good friends if you weren't such an asshole."

"By the way, could you do me a favor? You see, I'm supposed to be someone who has lost all of his memories."

Mikoto sat at a staircase just outside the cram school with several juice cans lying about. It was too much of a hassle to get alcohol so juice cans will have to do.

Even if Misaki had a disgusting personality, she wouldn't go as far as to wipe Touma's memories in an attempt to get back with him. And besides, Touma could easily negate Misaki's ability anyway. According to Misaki, the reason why Touma lost his memories was because he messed with powers beyond his understanding. Science could not bring his stepsister Seria back, so Touma left Academy City in search of a new way and ended up losing his memories as a result.

Mikoto magnetized the empty drink cans littered around her and directed them towards a trashcan. Maybe Misaki was right. Touma is better off forgetting about everything that has happened. If only she could also forget about everything like Touma. At least she wouldn't be haunted by nightmares of her murdering people in cold blood every now and then. But she couldn't bear to forget about all the happy memories with Touma.

Let's start all over again then.

Reviews:

Guest: If you're talking about a different story, then I probably won't be writing Touma x Harem in the near future. There are already so many other people who have written this kind of story, and this isn't the kind of story I feel like writing anyway.

Author's Note:

It's another short chapter, which is why I managed to update faster than usual. Next update will be slower because its a 4 to 5k word chapter, so I need more time to edit. I hope you liked this chapter and feel free to leave a comment below if you have any. See you.