A new morning lit up academy city with such warmth that it could melt it.
Located in western of Tokyo, Japan, the city was the pinnacle of scientific advancement 30 years ahead of the rest of the world.
But beyond that, the most interesting thing about Academy City was the peculiar ESper development program; a program designed to create superhuman skills from scratch with nothing more or less than pure science. For a sci-fi lover, these abilities fell into the psychic category.
As the name indicated, the city was full of academies for the young ESper of which only 20% received regular classes. The population was very varied: from Meltdowner users, Electro Masters to... "Ordinary" youngsters, the Level 0s.
Most of these Level 0's lived quietly waiting to develop their ESPer skill while studying, others fell into mischief... and then there was this one upon whom the searchlight falls.
"Let me get this straight... Did you and Othinus try to cook?".
Named Kamijou Touma, he was an average student noted for one thing: his misfortune.
Many believed his misfortune was caused by the mysterious force residing in Kamijou's right hand, an "ability" or "power" that negated both ESper powers and magic and consequently, God's blessings or Satan's curses.
It bore the name Imagine Breaker.
"Well? I'm waiting for an answer," the hedgehog-haired boy asked this while he was gritting his teeth so hard that he had inadvertently removed a small layer from his lip.
"... Yes..."
"And so, Orsola called, just to find out how things were around here."
"Aha..."
"Because of that, you were distracted on the call while Othinus was running away from Sphyx, hence, she didn't pay attention to the food and it caught fire along with about twenty-five percent of the kitchen..."
"Yes... that's how it happened..."
The person Touma was talking to all this time was a silver-curled nun dressed in a white robe filled with gold embroidery that made her look like a teacup.
Her name was unknown, but she was always referred to as Index.
"I understand."
With the sound of "thump", the boy crashed the apartment door on his way out with a warm smile on his face.
That was not a good sign.
"Looks like he took it well."
"You think so, Othin-?"
"I knew it, this is misfortuneeeeeeeeeee!!!", he shouted at the top of his lungs to the 4 winds.
... ... ...
... ... ...
"There, there. It's nothing that can't be fixed."
A small girl - too small, she was no more than 13 centimeters - was trying to comfort Touma as he lay on the ground with no energy.
Her name was Othinus, she was once the most powerful Magic God and made Kamijou suffer in Infinite Hells, but now? She was reduced to "fairy" and her status was that of "girl in love".
"No fair! Today wasn't a good day, you know, I just wanted to get to eat something and get some sleep before I had to go to the bathtub."
"I'm so sorry Touma...," Index really felt bad for the poor guy and of course, also because she almost destroyed his entire power supply.
"It's, 'sniff', okay. You had no bad intentions...",Touma sat on the suele looking up at the ceiling as he pondered. "Index... You said Orsola called you, didn't you?"
"That's right. Why?"
"So, what was it for? I don't think it was just to find out how we've been."
"Th-that... Well you see...", Index looked at the corner of the room. "She sent this, apparently it was a few days ago but the post office people forgot to deliver it," she said pointing to a simple cardboard box.
It wasn't very big and not that thick either, in fact it was more like a packet of white sheets.
"Let's see...," the Kamijou boy opened the package with a box cutter.
Apparently it was a couple of letters that he would see later but that wasn't all. Under the letters was a note.
[To: Kamijou Touma.
We are aware that you are the current assigned guardian for the walking library of 103,000 grimoires, Index Librorium Probitorium.
We are extremely grateful to you for that, moreover, after a meeting, we have decided to leave the girl's formal education in your hands.
We believe she needs not only the cursed knowledge of grimoires, but also the basic knowledge about the world.
This package brings everything needed to start her formal education, where will that be? One of our staff will decide and inform you as soon as possible.
Sincerely: Anglican Church of England
Signature: Laura Stuart. Stiyl Magnus. Kanzaki Kaori]
Touma's face was grimacing somewhere between disgust and confusion.
He felt it, that bad feeling was once again upon him. It was his fictional sixth sense to know that a misfortune was near.
"Heh... heh, heh."
"Human, are you alright?", for Othinus to worry about Touma's reaction to something like this had to be serious, after all if that boy endured the almost eternal torture of the former Magical Goddess, what couldn't he endure?
"Oh well, let's see this mistake through to the end."
Touma proceeded to open the next letter... Just by looking at the beginning he knew who it belonged to.
[To: Touma-san.
Hello Kamijou-san... I'm sorry if it takes you a while to read this, but you see...
I was given the task of enrolling Index-san in an institution in Academy City, after all we already have the permission of the General Director... The problem comes in that... I don't know what went wrong with the documentation, but it seems that both you and Index-san were sent to an institution outside of Academy City!
I don't really know what to do, I'll send this letter as contraband and figure something out... I am very sorry for this.
Attn: Orsola Aquinas]
Touma looked stoically at the rest of the papers inside the package, these were school documentation of both Index and him.
"I knew this wouldn't go well..."
"Hmm? Hey, human," Othinus said looking at the bottom of the package. "What's that other note?"
"Sigh," defeated, he let out a sigh and looked at the note... no, it wasn't a note.
It was a statement.
[Your transfer was successfully completed. We look forward to welcoming you with great excitement to our facility.
Attn: Board of Directors of the Kuoh Academy for Young Ladies]
"Well... things might not be as bad as they seem-" Kamijou had better shut up. He looked again at the end of the statement and at what it said; 'Academy for Young Ladies'...
'FOR YOUNG LADIES'.
"Th-that means... It's only for girls!!! I'll have to transvestite if I want to continue studying!!!!".
"T-Touma calm down," Index tried to reassure the boy by giving him a sweet voice. Boy was the attempt futile.
"This! Is it!", Touma put his hands to his head as he jumped out of the window. "To misfortuneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
... ... ...
... ... ...
In a large room located on the second floor of the Kuoh Academy for Young Ladies, a talk about their latest affairs was going on at the Student Council table.
"Well Saji, what did you want to inform us about?", asked in a formal tone the council president, Souna Sitri.
She was a girl with a shifting look between cool and warm, her red rimmed glasses further emphasizing this fact. Her black hair was cropped a little above her shoulders, which gave her a certain air of a... responsible person?
"Yes!", the blond boy named Saji stood up from his seat briskly at Souna's call. "You see president, have you been informed about the... ehh... three exchange students?".
"Indeed. I have already been informed about what you say", Saji only showed a fallen face at Souna's words. "But, thank you for reminding me. I have to show your files to the other members. Thank you, Saji."
"Y-y-you're welcome, boss..."
The poor boy felt his thoughts go somewhere in the back of his mind again. The companion next to him only denied.
'Love makes you dumb', the girl thought.
"Well...", the young Sitri walked over to a drawer and pulled out 3 folders. "These are the files on our new students", the president said as she passed the 3 files to all the Student Council members.
The first of these was marked Index.
"Uhh... President, what kind of name is this?".
"Don't ask me, even I don't really know. Human stuff I guess."
The second of these had the name Tsuchimikado Motoharu engraved on it in capital letters... The name in capital letters was alarming in itself, the file photo was that of a blond-haired boy with blue-glassed sunglasses embracing a... young maid.
"W-what kind of people will come to our poor academy...?".
The third folder was marked with a name alarming only to council members, why? That was due to its nature.
The name was: Kamijou Touma.
Everyone in the room fell silent, including Souna.
"P-president... Tell me if I'm m-wrong, but doesn't that name have several meanings?"
"It is just as you say", the young Sitri said as she took out a chalk and pulled a blackboard closer from a corner. On the board she began to write down the various meanings of the name.
After a while, all the meanings the council came up with were written down.
The first of these was Toruma whose meaning was "Invisible Demon".
The second was "the person superior to god".
And the third and most alarming was "The One who Purifies God and Slays Demons.".
Noticing the uneasiness in the members of his [Clan, Souna took the initiative to calm them down.
" 'Sigh', first let's calm down. From what the file says, this kid is most likely just a normal student coming to student trouble. His name is possibly just a disturbing conscience", Souna stated as she looked firmly at his Student Council members.
"You are right. Besides, those meanings are spelled differently than her name... It's really curious."
"It's just as you say, Saji. We'd better drop this, for everyone's peace here."
"Yes!", shouted all the members at once.
"Now, on the other hand... When do you plan to leave, Rias?", Souna spoke to the corner. It seemed like she would get no response when before long a few locks glowing red-hot were revealed.
"How long have you known I've been here?".
"Ever since we pulled Hyoudou Issei's life file because of the trouble he caused today..."
... ... ...
... ... ...
"Really?! The Monkey is leaving the city?!"
The girl elated by the news of Kamijou Touma aka The Monkey's departure - to her - was Shirai Kuroko, a student at Tokiwadai High School, the best institution for girls in Academy City. In turn, she was best friends with the Level 5 ESper in the number 03 spot, Misaka Mikoto.
"Yeeees! Bless you Uiharu! N-now, I'll be able to spend all my time healing Onee-sama's heart!".
"S-Shirai-san, y-you're freaking me out".
... ... ...
... ... ...
"What? The fucking hero is leaving the city?"
"Just as you hear... Though it disturbs me that you call him a 'hero', Accelerator. What, do you have a crush on him? You know, I don't judge you if that's the case, I'm open-minded."
"¿... Why don't you mind your own business?", the boy started to approach the living room of the apartment where he lived.
His name, according to his "memories", was Accelerator, the number 1 ESper Level 5 in the city. Both his eyes and hair had long since lost their pigmentation as a result of his own power that made him nearly invincible.
"Hey, Last Order."
"What's up? Misaka Misaka says while playing with her silverware."
"Worst says she wants to watch that series with you, she finds it really interesting to learn about farm animals with crude drawings."
"W-what wh-?"
"It's my revenge", The Level 5 proudly declared as he flashed a triumphant sharp smile.
... ... ...
... ... ...
"Apparently a truck will be taking our things to a house already selected for us in that area", Kamijou was reading a pamphlet that appeared in front of his door this morning.
Tonight he was supposed to leave for the district where his new school was located.
"What about your parents Touma?"
"They've already been warned and agreed. I guess they think that place could give me a better education since it would give a balance between the bizarre of Academy City and the ordinary life of the Japanese citizen."
"No, that's not what I mean. Will they go to visit us to see that everything is all right in the new house?"
"Apparently not. The caretaker is me apparently so, if something happens to it, I have to pay for it? Heh."
"You're wrong Touma", Index said pointing to the 'in charge of expenses' section on the documents that came with the pamphlet.
"Kaori... Kanzaki?"
"Yeah, looks like it's all coming out of that Saint's pocket", Index let out his cheesire cat smile in triumph. Apparently she was already clear about her intentions.
"What is this blessing!"
"I'll be able to eat all I want!"
"Finally the cat will leave me alone!"
What would things be like for Kamijou Touma now? It was a strange question.
All his life Touma lived surrounded by misfortune or strange things...
Well... Those strange things were about to be multiplied by many times.
... ... ...
... ... ...
"Imagine Breaker will have to leave Academy City because of an incompetent nun?".
"It is just as you hear. It seems that once again an outside factor is interfering with your plan."
"... You may be right, but this could also be beneficial to its development. The Imagine Breaker still lacks quite a bit of knowledge about the world, if he does so outside the city walls, his development could increase bestially."
"You're always trying to take advantage... Aleister."