Author's Note: Updates are really sporadic for me, if you hadn't noticed, and is really determined by what fic I happen to feel like updating. That being said, I'm trying to work my way into a more consistent schedule but I can't promise anything.
Deagle: Mmmm. While I won't comment on the Esper part, I can confirm that she won't be given any Magical abilities. She still went through the Power Curriculum Program, after all.
Aznereth: Lets be honest here, does he ever?
Chapter 2: LIFE IS NORMAL
Location: School District 7
Date: June 17th
Kamijou Touma could only sigh as he followed the two middle school girls, his hands behind his head and his thoughts elsewhere. Or at least, they would've been had Ruiko not been jabbing him in the stomach every couple minutes. See, they'd started telling him about the friends they were taking them to, and more specifically the events that transpired yesterday but he wasn't paying enough attention to realize that.
He knew that he should be, of course, but the story just wasn't interesting to him. That and he suddenly remembered that he had to go grocery shopping later today. "What stores have what sales today," he wondered. "Ugh. I still have Komoe-sensei's homework too."
"Ah, ow, yes, continue," he stuttered as she once again knocked him out of his daydreams.
"Sorry if our story isn't up to your standards, Mr. Hero." Ruiko looked pretty annoyed and Kazari looked embarrassed, if nothing else.
"Ah, no, it's not that. Really!" His hands scrambled in front of his face as he quickly blurted out. "I was just thinking about the homework I haven't done and how terrible it'll be doing it in my room."
"What's wrong with your room?" Kazari questioned.
"Oh. Um." He rubbed the back of his head. "The power is out in the part of the District I'm in but my stupid heater is permanently on. I don't even know how that works."
"Oh, I read about that today, the power outage I mean. I'm not sure what's wrong with your heater..." Kazari recalled looking through a couple articles on the subject back at the office. "Anyway, a random lightning bolt struck and hit one of the power plants."
"Random lightning bolt my ass, stupid Biri Biri..." Kamijou muttered under his breath.
"What was that?" Quick on the response, Ruiko eyed Touma suspiciously.
"Nothing, just complaining about my luck."
"You still do that?"
"Of course, my luck has never stopped being consistently terrible."
"That's true." Ruiko laughed. "Did you walk under a hundred ladders or something?"
"Of course not, not even this Kamijou-san is that stupid. It's something much more sinister..." He slowly, and in a rather creepy fashion I might add, brought up his right fist. "It's all this thing's fault."
"Your... hand...?" Kazari cocked her head to the side while Touma blinked.
"Oh yeah, that phone call interrupted me back at the restaurant." He brought his hand down and looked at it. "In my right hand is the power to negate any supernatural force. That includes Esper abilities, and apparently luck too."
"What? That's impossible!" Kazari stopped and turned to Imagine Breaker quickly, causing the other two to stop as well. "You can't have an AIM Field that negates other AIM Fields. At least I've never heard of the Power Curriculum Program being able to do something like that..." Touma only rubbed his head with his right hand.
"That's the thing, it's not an Esper ability," he explained. "I've had this since birth."
"Oh! That rare event known as a Gemstone!" She wasn't sure Gemstones could have an ability like that either but well, she'd heard that the Seventh of the Seven Level 5s had an unexplained ability and he was a Gemstone so...
"Not that either, I don't think. I don't have an AIM Field at all, so I'm technically a Level 0. The lowest Level 0, in fact," he said with a strange sense of pride despite the look of absolute dread on his face. The girl with the flower headband looked as if she was going to ask something more but decided against it, she'd have better luck looking into it later. As it were, nothing he was saying made any sense.
"N-N-N-No way!" Ruiko stuttered out, the other two looking at her strangely, not having noticed her mystified expression since Touma had first described his ability. "Y-You're the Negating Man, Touma-kun!?"
"Negating Man?" His eyes narrowed.
"It's only one of the biggest rumors going around the Net!" She grabbed his right hand. "A high school boy with the power to negate other abilities, who saves people whenever he sees them! How did I never put the dots together before! I can't believe it, it's real! And you, of all people!" She remembered way back when he first described his hand's weird tendencies to her and she remembered first hearing about the rumors on all those forums. She even recalled all those incidents he'd told her about, where he saved whoever he happened to run into! She should've guessed years ago!
"What's that suppose to mean!?" He ripped his hand free and frowned.
"I didn't mean anything by it, honest."
"Sure you didn't..." He paused. "What else is in that rumor?" He asked, honestly curious. He wasn't aware that his exploits, for lack of a better term, were well known.
"Oh, well..." She thought about it as they started walking again. "It's pretty commonly theorized that you're also the same guy who regularly fights with the Third ranked Level 5 Esper." Touma's face paled.
"Fights!? More like murder attempts! Wait, how to they even know about those!?"
"Ah, Saten-san, that's Misaka-sama!" Kazari took a glance back at Touma.
"Misak-You two know Biri Biri?" Touma's eyes widened after he realized his mistake.
"...Biri Biri?" Ruiko raised an eyebrow.
"Ah! Don't tell her I called her that, please!" He practically begged. "She'll kill me for sure!"
Kazari blinked in confusion. "Are you and Misaka-sama not on good terms?"
"Uh, I wouldn't even say we're on terms, period." He sighed and raised a hand to his forehead. "It's complicated."
"So you are that guy! Ha, JTC006 is going to eat his words!" The Level 0 girl grinned and rubbed her hands together, almost evilly.
"I think you two could be friends." Kazari turned to Touma again. "Maybe you can talk it out with her once we reach Seventh Mist?"
"Ah, I doubt i- Wait!" Eyes widened, pulse quickening, misfortune senses tingling, "Bir-Misaka is the friend you're taking me to meet!?"
"Her and Shirai-san, yes." Kazari nodded. "You really weren't paying attention to our story, were you?"
"No, sorry about that again." Touma bowed before his mind went back to self-preservation mode. "Also I can't go with you guys! This Kamijou-san isn't prepared to die today!" Ruiko grabbed a hold of his right arm.
"No way am I not confirming whether or not you're telling the truth." She dragged him and picked up her pace, as Kazari moved to keep up with them.
"Saten-san, hold on!"
"We're friends, right, Ruiko!? Can't you just believe me!? Don't you want to see this Kamijou-san live a long, happy life!?"
"Now you're just being dramatic! I'm sure you won't die."
"Such misfortune!"
/Scene:
Location: School District 7; Seventh Mist
Kamijou Touma had long since accepted his fate, or maybe he was banking on the fact that Biri Biri wouldn't attack him in a crowded area. Either one.
Currently, they were on an escalator to the second floor.
"You can let go of me now, Ruiko."
"I'm not risking you running off on me."
"Saten-san, is this really necessary?"
"You bet it is!" She smiled and looked at Kazari. "Besides, it'd be for the better if we got Touma-kun and Misaka-san on better terms."
"That's true but..."
"Ah forget about it, Uiharu-san. Once Ruiko gets in this kind of mood, there's little that can stop her." Kazari could only nod, having been through a few situations like this herself. They walked along the second floor for a couple minutes before spotting the two Tokiwadai students sitting at one of the tables outside a small restaurant, apparently enjoying drinks.
"Ah, there they are! Shirai-san, Misaka-san, sorry for making you wait!" Ruiko called out, using her free hand to wave at them.
"Well it's about time-!" A rather petite looking girl with pig-tails began before she noticed the extra. "Who's this ape?" Touma frowned at the insult and was about to respond but he was cut off.
"You!" He heard the other girl growl and as he expected, there was Misaka Mikoto. Third of the Seven.
"Uh. Hey." Were the only words he was able to get out.
"Don't you 'hey' me! Just what do you think you're doing here?" The venom in her words was almost tangible. Obviously, she was still a little swore that he escaped yesterday.
"Onee-sama, you know this man!?" The pig-tailed girl turned to the Railgun with a look that could only be described as traumatized, though the other girl ignored her question.
"Calm down, Misaka-san. He's a friend of mine; he also happened to save us earlier today," Ruiko explained. Mikoto narrowed her eyes.
"Still saving damsels in distress, huh?" She grinned.
"Yeah, most don't try to kill me afterwards, though." He cursed himself internally as soon as he said it, he really had to cut down on his snark.
"Why you-! I didn't need you to save me in the first place!" She yelled, standing up and allowing electricity to sparkle around her.
"Onee-sama! Calm down, we're in public!" Though panicked, the way she held herself while saying it made Touma think that this was a normal occurrence for Kuroko. He pitted her.
"Ah, Biri Biri! Kamijou-san apologizes!" He clapped his hands together and paused, a sense of misfortune dawning on him.
"Biri Biri?" The other Tokiwadai middle schooler couldn't hold in her giggles.
"What did you just call me?"
"Shit!" Instinctively, he threw up his right hand and negated the electric spear that flew his way. The familiar sound of shattering glass filled the air as other customers, who weren't already attracted by the sound of shouting, were now interested in their confrontation. "M-Misaka, please! This isn't the place for a fight!"
"Yes, we were hoping you could just talk," Kazari brought up, she was too caught up in the situation before to speak. Ruiko cleared her throat as well.
The third strongest Level 5 looked around and sighed before flopping back down in her seat, the onlookers eventually going back to their own business once they realized nothing was going to happen. "Fine, let's talk." Perhaps, if things went okay, she'd be able to convince him to tell her his secret.
"Wait!"
"Huh? What's wrong, Kuroko?" Mikoto turned her head to her roommate, finally putting a first name to the face.
"What exactly is your relation to this gentleman? All of you! What's even going on here!?"
"Oh, remember when I told you that Saten-san and I had gotten into some trouble?" Kazari began as Kuroko nodded. Taking a seat at their table, they began to retell what happened earlier today.
"You defeated a Level 3 Electromancer? Impressive." Kuroko nodded her head. "You must be a very high level yourself, correct?"
"Nah," Touma began, though he didn't notice Mikoto's face turn red as she knew exactly what he was going to say, "I'm just a Level 0." She could barely contain her need to shock the high school boy, regardless of whether or not it did anything.
"I-Impossible! There's no way I can accept a Level 0 defeating a Level 3."
"Hold on, Kuroko!" Ruiko interrupted her. "He does have something~" She grinned. "He's the Negating Man!"
"The what?" Kukoro was not amused.
"Jeez, you guys need to look into rumors more..." She nudged Touma. "Go on, tell them about it."
"Ah, yes. Misaka, you'd be interested in hearing this." Touma nodded before rising his right hand. Mikoto leaned forward in her seat, taking a sip of her drink while Kuroko looked similarly interested. Without wasting another second, Touma explained to the two about Imagine Breaker and its ability, which resulted in a pretty obvious conclusion.
"You can't honestly expect me to believe that!" Was their simultaneous response.
"Ah, me and Onee-sama have finally linked our brain waves together!" The Level 4 Teleporter's eyes went into a dreamy state as she practically jumped at her elder. "There's no way that you can deny our compatibility now!" Of course, this resulted in her falling to the ground with a currently unknown voltage of electricity going through her veins.
"U-Um..." Touma stumbled with his words, suddenly very happy that Mikoto was never able to actually hit him with her attacks. He cast Ruiko a questioning glance, she returned with one that plainly said 'don't ask.'
"Anyway." The Railgun crossed her arms and placed one leg over the other. "That doesn't make any sense. Your hand can't just be negating abilities, you stopped my Railgun last night. The amount of force alone would've blown you away."
"Y-Yeah, I suppose so." He'd never really questioned the logic behind his hand, mostly because whenever he did it would result in a headache. "But that's how it is." Mikoto narrowed her eyes and stared at him. "Seriously!"
"While I don't see how it's possible either, I can't think of any other explanation." Kazari frowned and looked down. The Level 5 took a deep breath.
"Fine. I'll accept it for now." She narrowed her eyes and stared directly at him. "Though, if you can negate anything I throw, you wouldn't mind playing a game of 'catch' every now and then, huh?"
"I would very much prefer to not, thank you." He crossed his arms and nodded.
"Hey, uh, how about we get to doing what we actually planned on doing then?" Ruiko brought up.
"Right!" Kazari clapped her hands. "Shopping."
"Shopping!?" Imagine Breaker's mood dropped instantly, if it was even capable of going lower. But alas, he was already here and there was no way that Ruiko would let him leave even if he tried. At least he wouldn't have to buy anything.
/Scene:
Once again, Touma was forced to wait outside of a shop while the girls ventured inside. Well, I say forced but it was his own choice. He knew his misfortune well enough to know that going into a women's clothing store would only end in disaster.
Which it already had on several different occasions.
Admittedly, he was starting to regret his decision. They'd been gone for 20 minutes in this store alone. Weighing his options, however, he figured that he had made the right decision.
"Such misfortune..." He mumbled as he leaned his head back against the top of the bench and closed his eyes. He prepared to start dozing off, he prayed that Mikoto wouldn't attack him when she returned, but didn't get too far into dreamland before his bench was tilted, prompting him to fall off. "Oi, what's this all about!?"
"Where is your usual amount of guts, Kamijou!" He'd hear a voice shout, Imagine Breaker's eyes widened and his face turned into one filled with contempt. There was only one person he knew who used the word 'guts.' "You're better than this!"
"How do you keep managing to find me!?" Jumping back on his feet, Touma faced the Seventh of the Seven Level 5 Espers, Sogiita Gunha. "Sogiita!"
"Guts attract guts! You should know that by now!" Gunha's grin nearly made Touma punch him, but that'd just start a fight. And he did not want that, not since the last time he fought against the 'Black Box' anyway. He was happy that the Level 5 had paid off the damages to all those buildings, which he should've since he was the one who caused them but Touma was used to having to pay for things he was not involved in.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Touma stared down the similarly spiky-haired boy. "What do you want?"
"Are you having an off day? You're usually filled with more guts than this." Gunha's face filled with concern, Touma wouldn't feel right giving a sarcastic answer.
"Yeah, actually." He took a quick look around him to make sure his group wasn't coming his way, though more specifically a certain female Level 5. "Today's been a long day filled with close calls and annoyances. More than usual, I mean. Just once, I want a day where I don't fear for my life... Though I can't imagine you'd understand something like that." Surprisingly, Gunha nodded.
"Mhm, mhm, sometimes a guy has to take a day off." Touma blinked. "Life's just too much."
"M-My thoughts exactly!" This was... impossible, wasn't it? Sogiita 'GUTS' Gunha understood him? Was he asleep? Had he fallen into some parallel world like some generic manga plot?
"Actually, I've got a fool proof way to avoid those days as much as possible." Gunha nodded again. "With it, I've never once had an off day." Now Touma was curious. The secret behind Attack Crash's near infinite energy supply was right in front of him; he had to know. He had a quick vision of all the things he could do with Gunha's energy and livelihood. Gym class would be a breeze; Komoe-sensei would never hold him after class because he was too lazy, no, busy to do his homework; Fukiyose would never attack him for lazing around.
The possibilities were limitless.
Gunha waved his hand, suggesting that Touma lean in close so he could whisper it to him. If he used his better judgment, he wouldn't have even thought of doing it but caught in his daydream, he did so without a thought.
"Well...?"
"Guts!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, which I can assure you is several times higher than you can possibly imagine, shocking Touma enough to cause him to fall over and curse loudly.
"How did this Kamijou-san not expect that kind of answer! Such misfortune!" Gunha laughed with his hands on his hips as Touma rolled around on the floor, nursing his ear. "I never expected you of all people to be this cruel, Sogiita!"
"Sorry, Kamijou-san, but this is all a part of your training!"
"My training!? This Kamijou-san, in no way, shape or form, ever agreed to such a thing with you!" Touma picked himself up, glaring at the boy with similar tastes in hair styles.
"That's exactly why I'm doing it! You have a very high amount of guts already but if you ever want to reach my level, you need some work!" He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world; a smile on his face. "You lack the ability to ask for help so I'm doing it without you asking!"
"Why would I ever want to have as many 'guts' as you!?" Throwing his hands into the air, Touma attracted a bit of attention to the two of them, if the screaming wasn't already. "I swear, you Level 5s are all insa-" He never got to finish as a scream came from the direction of the store.
"There are two of you now!?" Misaka Mikoto dropped her bags. "They're multiplying!" Turning to her friends with a face full of fear and shock, they could do nothing but marvel at the physical similarities between the two boys.
"I look nothing like him, Biri Biri!" Imagine Breaker was quick to respond, not caring about her incredibly apparent hatred for the nickname, and just as quick to negate a spear of electricity.
"Now that's the kind of guts I was talking about!" Gunha's grin grew even wider. "Hey, Biri Biri, shoot me one too!" She obliged, though whether it was because he asked or because of the nickname, he would never know. Similar in style to Touma, Gunha raised his right hand but as opposed to negating the attack, he deflected it into the ceiling, causing the lights to flicker.
"Onee-sama!"
"Aaaah! Misaka, Sogiita, stop!" Touma yelled, going in between the two. Mikoto would note that he kept his right side to her.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't fry this copy?"
"He's not my copy, we look nothing alike!"
"Actually, you kinda do."
"Not helping, Ruiko!" Touma growled.
"Wait a minute, did you say Sogiita?" Kuroko stepped in front of Mikoto. "As in Sogiita Gunha?"
"That's my name!" He placed his hand on his hips again, his jacket acting similarly to a cape and flowing in the nonexistent wind. No one paid that any mind though.
"You're the 7th ranked Level 5!" A look of disbelief crossed over her face as she turned to Touma. "Just how many Level 5s do you know?" He started counting fingers.
"Four or five, I guess." He nodded as he was satisfied with that answer, though he questioned why he didn't give a definite number.
"What-? You can't be serious? Do you treat them all the same way you treat me?" Crossing her arms, Mikoto had a feeling she already knew the answer.
"Pretty much, yeah."
"How are you still alive?"
"A-Ah, everyone!" Kazari gripped her bag tightly, a bit timid underneath the stares of the crowd of people that had long since formed around them. "I-I think we've formed a bit of a scene." The rest of the group glanced around, having forgotten there were in a not only public but a nicely populated area. Used to this kind of thing, Touma was the first to respond.
"Nothing to see here, move along! Just some friends having an argument!" Touma began waving them off, the last thing he wanted were more rumors spreading about him.
"I think we should just go. We have what we came for," Ruiko held up her bags for emphasis and they all nodded in unison.
"It's been fun, Sogiita, it really has but-," he stopped as he realized that the Seventh of the Seven had disappeared. "That guy..." Ruiko walked over to him and poked his shoulder.
"You are Touma-kun, right? You didn't switch places with that guy?" She gave her best serious looking face.
"That's not funny, Ruiko." Touma's deadpan brought out a laugh as the group quickly made their way through the crowd.
/Scene:
Location: School District 7; Outside Seventh Mist
"Well, it's been fun but I should probably leave." Touma turned to face the girls, "I still have to go grocery shopping before heading home."
"Yeah, I have to get going to. Curfew's pretty early for us middle schoolers." Ruiko noted while scratched the back of her head. At the mention of curfew, Mikoto quickly pulled out and checked her phone.
"Ah, Kuroko! We're going to be late if we don't head back right now!" The fear in her voice was enough to send shivers up Touma's spine, and it looked like it did the same to Kuroko. Just what could make a Level 5 so scared of being late...?
"It's been a pleasure, Saten-san, Uiharu-san, Kamijou-san, but we should really go." With a quick wave from the both of them, the twin tailed girl grabbed a hold of Mikoto's shoulder and then they were both gone.
"Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Kamijou-sama." Kazari smiled and bowed. "And thank you again for saving us."
"Ah, it was nice meeting you too." He smiled back. "And don't worry about it."
"Yeah, a third of this city would be in his debt if people did."
"A third? Isn't that a huge exaggeration?"
"Might be a bit of an understatement, actually..." Ruiko seemed to be genuine thought as she counted the amount of stories he'd told her in her head.
"Anyway, later." Touma didn't wait for her to finish, turning around and walking down the street, waving at them as he did so.
"Hey, Saten-san?" Kazari spoke up once he was a nice distance away.
"Yeah?"
"Kamijou-sama's a really nice guy." Ruiko smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, just like I remember."
Location: School District 7; Second Tokiwadai Dormitory
The day had been pretty enlightening for Misaka Mikoto. The seemingly enigmatic boy who'd been plaguing her thoughts the past few weeks wasn't nearly as mysterious as she imagined, which was honestly kind of a downer. It was kind of like being really excited when a new, fancy restaurant opens up, and then your friends surprise you by taking you there but it turns out that the food's only mediocre.
He seemed pretty normal, right hand aside. That was a whole other can of worms that she wasn't sure she'd ever figure out. She was a bit ashamed to admit it but the Imagine Breaker ability had been on her mind the whole day.
"What do you think of him, Kuroko?" Mikoto asked absentmindedly from her bed. Her roommate looked up from her school work and turned towards the elder girl.
"What do you mean, Onee-sama?"
"Kamijou Touma." she clarified. Kuroko's face took on an unreadable emotion before it settled on annoyance.
"I would be lying if I said I wasn't interested in him as well..." The Teleporter tapped her pencil on her desk. "But there are more important things that I need to work out right now."
"Is your homework really that difficult?"
"How could Onee-sama have such low standards for me..." She grieved while Mikoto giggled.
"The Graviton Bombings, huh?" Kuroko nodded.
"Their frequency is increasing, Judgment and Anti-Skill are scrambling around." She sighed and held a tint of defeat. "It's quite the mess, to be honest." If only they had a hint...
"I can imagine so." This would be a good way to get her mind off of him, Mikoto figured. That and getting this figured out would really help things for Kuroko and the city in general.
"Konori-senpai got caught in one today, you know."
"What? Is she okay?"
"Yes, she came out with minimal injuries. Unfortunately, another member of Judgment did get severely injured protecting a civilian." Her tone went a little dry. "That's the eighth member of Judgment that's been-" her breath got caught in her throat as she realized a link no one had noticed before.
"Kuroko...?" The Railgun was a bit anxious, it seemed like her roommate had figured something out.
"Onee-sama... In the 9 bombings, 8 members of Judgment have been at the epicenter, and subsequently injured. That's too much of a coincidence..." The Railgun's eyes widened.
"You can't be implying-"
"Yes. I think that the Graviton Bomber is targeting Judgment members." She spoke her own words with a hint of skepticism.
"But why would anyone specifically target Judgment?"
"Many people resent Judgment and Anti-Skill because they're late to arrive on occasion." Her tone held a bit of contempt, she didn't want to admit that her organization was too late to actively help a situation on a number of cases, and regret for the same reason. "I can imagine someone wanting revenge for that."
The Judgment member frowned. "Unfortunately, that doesn't narrow down our search. Our only lead, the only person who could possibly achieve these crimes, is still in a coma."
"I remember you telling me that the only Level 4 Synchrotron user was in a coma but there are other, lower Level users, right?"
"Of course. Why do you ask, Onee-sama?"
Mikoto frowned and avoiding looking at Kuroko, taking a glance at her bed. "Do you think, maybe, that rumor Saten-san was talking about earlier could be connected?"
"Level Upper..." Initially, she met the rumor just as any other normal person would, complete and utter disregard. But now... "I need to contact Konori-senpai right away." She reached for her phone.
/Scene:
Location: School District 7; Uiharu Residence
Kazari shivered again, closing her laptop shut as she finally finished reading several articles. She sucked in a deep breath, tears beginning to swell up in her eyes, before she decided to go back over what she'd found out. At first, she merely wanted to know more about his ability and the Academy City Bank was the best place to go. It held every single student inside and detailed their abilities and Levels. She knew she shouldn't be using her status as a Judgment member to look into student's files but it was only a quick peek, to make sure his story checked out.
It didn't tell her much.
He was a high school student, a Level 0, and apparently had multiple confrontations with both Judgment and Anti-Skill but no actual criminal record; she tried to dig deeper into that but couldn't find a thing.
The only thing that stood out was the fact that he had no listed ability. Even Level 0's had an ability, they just weren't capable of actually using them, and so the Bank had that ability placed in their information.
But Touma had none.
That went along with what he'd said, he had no AIM Field so Imagine Breaker wasn't Esper related. As such, it was not listed in the Bank either because they acknowledged that it wasn't from the Power Curriculum Program or because they didn't know it existed. Either one was a possible answer.
That only made her curious, more about the boy now and not the ability. She searched for information on him and, needless to say, was horrified.
Kamijou Touma: The Plague
Plague Strikes Again
Blood is not Enough to Stop the Plague
Those were the names of some of the articles she found, either that or something similar. They went into excruciating detail on the boy who caused bad luck to all who met him, and subsequently himself. It told of how the boy was stabbed by a man who lost his entire company and fortune a mere day after meeting him; how a television studio began to tape his life for a reality show, 'Simply Misfortunate,' without permission from him or his parents and how his parents were killed in a car accident after they'd picked him up from school. His remaining family didn't want him, the city didn't want him, nor did any nearby orphanages accept him since they'd heard of the rumors. He would've been homeless had Academy City not offered to take him in. Perhaps worst of all, the articles never once seemed to care about how the boy was doing in these circumstances. It was always quick to put blame on him, even his parents rather violent deaths.
There was one article about his time in Academy City, however, and it was... different. For one, it was an Academy City only article, being that it wasn't very often that events inside the city were told to those outside. It told of how a Child Error facility had been attacked by an Esper. Though article didn't go into the specifics of why, it seemed the Esper went insane and lost his mind sometime during the attack, but it does note that no one was injured aside from the Esper and one child. When Fire Fighters arrived on the scene, that child had just dragged the last of the, seemingly, unconscious occupants out and fainted upon being questioned. He had several broken bones and was bleeding profusely, the article expressed shock over how he survived, much less carried out an entire orphanage's worth of children and staff. And from what she could gather, that boy was Touma.
Uiharu had to stop at that point.
She wanted to know no more.
/Scene:
Location: School District 7; Kamijou Residence
Kamijou yawned as he finally made his way back inside his room. He dropped the bags of groceries he'd picked up on the way back on the kitchen's floor then wobbled his way to the futon. The day had been draining to an almost shocking level, ironically not because Biri Biri tried her usual tactics.
He smiled a bit to himself as it seemed like the electricity was back. Though unfortunately, his heater still wouldn't turn off. Resigned to having an eternal heater, he simply turned on his AC and headed to bed.
/Scene:
Location: ?
Running, fleeing, those words meant the same thing to her. They had this entire year. If she wasn't running then she was safe; she was conserving her energy for when she needed it. If only she had mana. Then those Magicians wouldn't be so comfortable chasing after her all the time. For not the first time, she wished she could do more than this.
Do more than run.
She had all the knowledge the world had to offer and could do nothing. It was a depressing thought, which is why she never harbored it too long. She had more important things to think about anyway, like finding a place to eat. It was the middle of the night and, even in Academy City, most restaurants had long since closed.
Heh, Academy City. It was easier to sneak in than she thought it would be; she attributed it to an apparent power outage.
But there was another side to her good fortune, this also meant that the Magicians were almost certainly in the city too. So she had to incredibly careful not to get others involved in the situation. She took a deep breath as she stopped her feet, feeling that she was safe for now. Being safe meant that she had a good opportunity to ditch her chasers for good, though that'd require ditching her Nun's Habit which was not something she was ready to do. Not now at least. Though, she figured, she could get a new one when she reached a Church. And then she would be truly away from danger.
But for now, she'd stop where she was and rest. Yes, sleep sounded very good to her right then. She propped herself against the wall of what seemed to be an apartment complex and closed her eyes. She couldn't stop a smile from spreading across her face.
/Scene:
Location: School District 7; Kamijou Touma's Apartment
Date: June 18
With a stretch and a yawn, Touma awoke, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the sunlight. "Good morning." He said to no one in particular as he mentally prepared himself for the coming misfortunes.
Though, perhaps today did not have to be full of misfortune. He could stay inside today, it was Sunday so there was no school and he didn't really have any other obligations. He'd just gone grocery shopping so he had food. If he was bored, he could watch the television or do his homework. Yes, that's right. A whole day inside, to himself, with no outside contact. Kamijou Touma was sure he could pull it off.
That is, until he heard his phone ring. He mentally debated the odds of the phone call doing something that would make this day as misfortunate as the last but he gave in once he saw that it was Ruiko who was calling. He brought his fifth cell phone this year to his face.
"Hey."
"Hey, um, Touma-kun... I have a bit of a problem..."
/Scene:
Location: School District 7; Windowless Building
"What do you mean 'we're not allowed to search yet?'" He was annoyed, to say the least. In front of him was the General Superintendent of Academy City, sometimes referred to as some dude floating upside down in a green tube by uninformed people. Or people with a death wish. Either or.
"Exactly what I mean, Stiyl, was it?" Not moving an inch, not by his own will anyway, Aleister Crowley looked down, or was it up(?), at the flame Magician. Said Magician scowled, even more than usual. "I am not forbidding you from taking the girl. I merely wish that you wait."
"You know her condition-"
"And I know that she still has a month of time, yes." There was no outward sign of it but Stiyl somehow felt that he was annoying the white man. "You shall have plenty of time to retrieve her when I allow you to. Until then, please remain outside the city."
Stiyl, utterly conflicted, thought about his options. It was pretty obvious that the General Superintendent had a plan for the girl, and whether or not he actually went against his order probably didn't matter in the grand scheme of things, but he was incredibly likely to get them both killed if he did go against him.
No, not even Aleister would be able to get away with killing the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. "...Fine, okay. But you better have me contacted the second I'm able."
"Of course, of course. I'll have you escorted out now." The flame Magician nodded as a red headed Teleporter appeared next to him and before he knew it, he was outside of the building with no windows again. With a groan, he quickly pulled out a cigarette and lit it, Crowley didn't allow such things inside.
"This better be worth it." He mumbled as he began walking, preparing to leave Academy City for the time being.
Author's Note: That's two chapters down, eh? I've thought a long time about whether or not I want to do the Index Arc and the Level Upper Arc at the same time. Not just for the sake of being different from the source material but because I was worried about portraying two different arcs at the same time but I feel like I've got a plan that'll work out in the end.
As for names, Shifting Sides Arc, that's what I'm going with! Because both the Science Side and the Magic Side are making moves. It's a little dumb, I know, but it's the best I've got.
Hopefully, future arcs will have better names.
Speaking of future arcs, I've got the next few mapped out, and if my estimations are right, it's about 35 chapters worth of plans. That's a pretty big amount, yea