Author's Note: Happy New Years, everyone!
The name Shifting Sides Arc has grown on me, it really has, so I think I'll stick with that.
damienus1019: Thank you so much! And I'm really happy that you're looking forward to the chapters! I try to make the chapters long but each chapter has a certain cut off point, as far as important information goes. That being said, this chapter's a long one. For me anyways.
Han-Ko: And thanks for the review! Hopefully, I've got some stuff that keep you guessing. I'm pretty satisfied with them myself.
Agent Nine: Thank you, that means a lot! As for your second question, you'll find that out in this chapter, actually.
Chapter 3: INDEX-LIBRORUM-PROHIBITORUM
Location: School District 7
Date: June 18th
"Hey, um, Touma-kun... I have a bit of a problem..."
Saten Ruiko would not say more after that. Touma doubted she was trying to be secretive but the phone call had ended, suddenly, after that and she didn't pick up any of his other calls. Now fairly worried, he couldn't justify staying inside all day and was quick to get dressed and head out.
He had ended up sleeping pretty late, it was already past noon, so the city was packed. Students were buzzing about, trying to squeeze the last bit of fun they could out of the weekend, which reminded Kamijou that he had still not finished his homework. Nothing a sleepless night wouldn't fix, he figured, though he had a feeling that he wouldn't be having much sleep tonight for a different reason.
He pushed those thoughts aside as he knocked on Ruiko's door. Admittedly, he'd gotten a bit lost on his way to her dorms, he'd missed the bus so he just decided to walk, but none of that mattered as he was there now. There were a couple quick shuffling sounds, a crash to two, and maybe a yell of 'hide!', before Saten finally opened the door.
"Touma-kun! About time!"
"Yeah, sorry." He blinked. Where they really going to ignore all those sounds just now? "What was that...?"
"Was I loud?" She almost giggled but her question was sincere. At his nod, she sighed. "Well, I need to work on that, I guess. Come on in." She gestured for him to follow as she stepped back into her student apartment. Touma closed, and locked, the door behind him. The female Level 0 was not known to keep her room in tip top shape, though Touma would admit that it was better than his, her room was a far cry from what it usually was. In a bad way. Her refrigerator door hung open, and was surprisingly empty, and there were various wrappings and such thrown across the floor. The main portion of her room looked no better, but it was at least closer to the usual. There were papers thrown about, some homework related while others seemed to be articles about rumors and other miscellaneous things that the girl seemed to find interesting.
"Did a tornado blow through here?" He mused, a grin planted on his face. "Wait, you didn't call me here to help you clean up, did you?" Genuine worry spread through his being.
"Of course not!" Her hands on her hips, she looked more than insulted. "There is something very serious."
"Is it safe to come out?" The misfortunate boy's eyes widened at the unfamiliar, and surprisingly sweet, voice that came from somewhere in the room.
"Mhm. This guy's going to help you out, I'm sure." The female Level 0 assured whoever was here.
"Um. Ruiko...?" He eyed the girl carefully but his attention was soon completely taken away by the girl that crawled from underneath Ruiko's bed. She was obviously a foreigner, her long, white (no, silver) hair and green eyes told him that. She had a cute face, and fair skin, and wore a white... habit, yes, that's what nuns wear. "Who?" Touma's mind raced. Who was this girl? Why was she here? Did she sneak into the city? Is that why she was hiding when he knocked?
"Calm down and let me explain." Ruiko suggested, moving her arms in tandem. He wasn't freaking out outwardly but she knew he had a knack for letting his mind go crazy, so he tried his best to keep those in check.
"Hello." The foreigner spoke and stuck her hand out, intending for him to shake it. He did so lightly, blinking.
"Uh, hey."
"Okay so long story short, I found her collapsed outside my room when I woke up today." She explained it in such a rush that she wasn't sure Touma understood her, but a quick nod from him confirmed that he did. "I brought her in and fed her... She kinda ate everything though." The foreign nun frowned, puffed out her cheeks, and crossed her arms in a way that could only be described as cute.
"I'm hungry."
"Don't you mean you were hungry?" Kamijou asked, thinking maybe she had just made a mistake. It was common for those unfamiliar with the language to do so.
"No. I'm still hungry." Ruiko turned to him with a smile that basically spelled out her request.
"I was wondering if you'd take her to your place give her something eat. I'm all out..." She explained. "and, well, you're a really good cook so..."
"Okay." He said, blankly. Perhaps it was because he was still tired, maybe his brain had finally stopped functioning properly, or maybe there was something about the little nun that made him want to help her. Either way, Touma had nothing on his mind but to accept her request.
"I know it's sudden bu- Wait, 'okay!?'" She gave a breath of relief. "See, I told you he'd be fine. Needed less convincing then I thought though..." She mumbled the last part.
"What's your name?" He turned to the nun again.
"Index." She smiled at him. "And thank you for helping me."
"Index...? That doesn't sound fake at all." Ah, there it was. Snarky, sarcastic Touma was back. "What do you think this is, some shounen manga where you can just pick a word and apply it to yourself? It's a pretty childish thing to do, you know."
"A-Ah, Touma-kun!" He looked at the black haired girl, who was throwing up weird symbols and hand motions, apparently telling him to stop. He could only cock his head to the side as he turned back to the smaller girl.
"Fake, eh...?" She'd gained a dark aura around her and Touma's misfortune senses began tingling. "And calling me a child too..."
"A-Ah, Index-san. It was a joke, a joke!" He pleaded but to no avail. He immediately regretted what he'd said.
Only minutes after meeting her, Kamijou Touma learned that Index had a very sharp, and very dangerous, set of teeth. And that she wasn't afraid to use them on him.
Now nursing the wound(s?) on his arms, he glared at his fellow Level 0. "A warning would've been nice..." Ruiko put her hands up defensively.
"I tried! It was already too late by then!" She frowned and then bit her thumb. "It's weird, though. She only got really scary when I made fun of her name."
"Oh, so this Kamijou-san was a special occasion! That makes me feel so much better..." He sighed and looked at the nun, who sat on Ruiko's bed and looked away from the two of them. "Look, Index. I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have made fun of your name."
"Probably?" The aura was back, though not nearly as strong.
"A-Ah, definitely!" He nodded his head and she softened, now turning to face him.
"And I apologize for biting you." Her face turned a light shade of pink. "I don't know what came over me," she admitted sheepishly.
"Forget about it, water under the bridge. You're still hungry, right? We should head over to my dorm now." He stood up. "We can probably catch the bus."
"You're... still willing to feed me?"
"Of course. You're obviously in need, we'll talk about that later though." He smiled, and the nun felt her cheeks heat up even more.
"Jeez, Touma-kun... You never miss a beat, do you?" The female Level 0 said, almost absentmindedly. Touma raised an eyebrow at her phrase but she merely waved it off. "I told you, Index, if there's anyone who would help you, it'd be this guy." She smiled at the other girl, who merely nodded.
/Scene:
Location: Judgment HQ
Uiharu Kazari sat patiently among many other Judgment members, waiting for the meeting to properly start. She was a little restless, honestly, since she knew the subject and reason behind the gathering already. That and her search results from the previous day still did not sit well with her. She glanced around the room at the other members of Judgment, thinking about whether or not they knew it was connected with the Graviton Bombings or not.
"Hello, fellow Judgment Members." A woman stepped on stage. Her hair was near golden but her eyes were a dull, black. Kazari instantly recognized her as the head of Judgment, Minamoto Arianna. "As you are all aware of, the Graviton Bombings have not ceased in the past month. In fact, their frequency has increased."
Uiharu knew all that, she was more interested in hearing about what Kuroko told her over the phone earlier today.
"We had no clear idea of any motive or pattern until very recently, when one of our own noticed something very... disturbing about the chain of bombings. It has lead us to believe that the bomber is, in fact, targeting Judgment." Gasps and murmurs waved through the collection of Judgment members, Kazari ignored them. So it was true. She took a second to take that in, that someone had it out for the force dedicated to protecting people. The thought disturbed her, to say the least.
"That's not all, however." Thermal Hand's attention was grabbed again. "We have reason to believe that the rumor going around Academy City, Level Upper, is in fact true." She sounded a bit skeptical herself but nonetheless, it was the only thing that could possibly justify the bomber's strength. "Knowing this, it is unlikely that the Bank has adequate information and it is advised that you no longer rely on such systems until things are worked out."
"Level Upper... is real...?" She whispered, she heard similar sayings among her fellow Judgment as well. She also began to wonder where Shirai Kuroko was; they usually sat together during meetings like this but she was nowhere to be seen. "Saten-san..."
"For now, we shall discuss how we will be handling ourselves and the Graviton Bombings until we capture the culprit. I suggest that you all pay attention." She started before she began to lecture them.
Location: School District 7; Kamijou Touma's Dorm
Index was certainly a foreigner, Touma found himself chuckling. She'd been completely captivated by everything they saw, the lights, those bots that collected trash, everything. It was certainly more than cute.
Having to chase after a cleaning droid that had somehow managed to swipe the hat portion of her habit, however, was not.
But other than that, the trip from dorm to dorm was standard affair. They'd managed to catch a bus, Touma attributed it to the fact that he wasn't alone, and they'd made it there in record time. Tsuchimikado wasn't even around to bug him about taking two girls into his dorm, though Imagine Breaker was certain he'd find out later. The blonde had his ways.
Now working in his kitchen, Touma was happy for a couple reasons. One, he was happy that he'd managed to get his room presentable a few days prior. And seeing how rarely he was in his room this weekend, it helped keep the room looking decent. Two, he was happy that he went shopping the previous day. If what Ruiko had told him about the petite nun was true, he'd be making a lot of servings, though he did believe she was exaggerating a bit.
To his misfortune, she was not.
"That was incredible!" The nun smiled and rubbed her belly.
"I know, right? I can't believe the stuff he makes." Ruiko started to daydream. "And on a budget too? He's insane."
"You guys are overreacting." Touma rolled his eyes.
"You're just underestimating yourself again!" Ruiko countered. "You should be a chef."
"I don't have time for a job." Kamijou muttered, though he thought about how the added income would be welcome.
"What do you even do?"
"Huh?"
"You always say you're busy. What do you actually do?"
"Oh. Um. Well, homework takes up a lot of time..." He muttered and trailed off as he began to think about it himself. What did he do that consumed his time so much? He supposed a lot of time went into studying, okay not a lot but still. More often than not, however, he would end the day in the hospital. Either because he himself was injured or because he was taking someone else there. He made a mental note to thank that frog faced doctor next time he stopped by, which was sure to be sooner rather than later.
"That's a lame excuse." She crossed her arms. "You're not that much of an idiot."
"That much?"
"A-Ah, uh, Index!" She turned her attention to the foreigner. "I think it's time you explained why you're here." Touma let the topic drop, it wasn't going anywhere anyway. Index visibly shuffled uncomfortably as she thought about what she was going to say.
"To be honest, I didn't want to come to this city." She frowned.
"Then why'd you come?"
"...I was being pursued." She admitted, Touma raised an eyebrow.
"Pursued? Why?"
"Like I told you, my name is Index." She paused. "Like, an index for forbidden books. Grimoires. I possess 103,000 Grimoires. That is why I was being pursued." Ruiko and Touma exchanged looks that amounted to a tiny argument over who was going to ask 'what.'
Eventually, Touma won. "You don't... have books with you right now though." She sounded unsure of the question itself. Index nodded.
"I do. In here." She pointed to her head. "I was blessed with perfect memory. I remember everything I see."
"Okay then..." Touma's eyes narrowed. "Who's chasing after you?"
"A Magic Cabal, though I don't know which one."
"Magic Cabal...? Is that religious or something?"
"Are you making fun of me?"
"O-Of course not. Continue, continue."
"Right. I'm unsure what Magic Cabal it is but they have powerful Magicians with them." She took off the top portion of her habit and played with it with her fingers. "I don't really stand a chance against them."
"Magicians...?" Unnerved a bit, Ruiko felt completely confused. She turned her head to Touma, who looked to be in a similar state and yet... different. He still had that look in his eyes, the one she could never really explain. It was that look he got when he was prepared to dive head long into something.
"Oh. I forgot none of you are really religious here. What do you two know about magic?" She eventually muttered and noted the blank looks on both their faces. "Right, I thought so." She stood up. "Thank you for your kindness but I really think I need to go." She started to make her way towards the door but only gasped as she felt someone grab her hand and stop her.
"Hold on." She turned around to face Imagine Breaker. "Where will you go?"
"I don't know." She admitted right off the bat. If she could make it to a Church, an Anglican Church, she might find shelter but... she had no idea where the nearest one was, if there even was one in this city. "I haven't been found in a while so I can assume that they haven't entered Academy City, I might've finally lost them."
"But you don't know for sure?"
"Correct."
"Then what if you're wrong and they're waiting for you outside?" Index's face slightly paled, the thought having not occurred to her.
"I'll run like I always have."
"That's not going to cut it."
"But you two are completely innocent in this, it wouldn't be right to get you involved, especially not after you showed me nothing but kindness." Touma frowned.
"You can't honestly expect me to leave you alone after you just told us you were being pursued." He muttered, barely loud enough for the two others in the room to hear. "I don't know about Grimoires or Magic but I am certain that you need help." Index just stared at him, right into his eyes. He was serious. She blinked back tears as she stared at him again.
"Then... would you accompany me to the depths of Hell?" Touma frowned at the look she gave as she said it. It was the look of someone who accepted that there was no way but the bad way, who had given up on truly being free of whatever torment they had. Touma knew that look well. Index, on the other hand, took his frown as a 'no' and began to pull her hand out of his grasp but he only held on tighter.
"What kind of idiot would accompany a stranger he just met to Hell?" He asked, unceremoniously.
"T-Touma-kun-!" Ruiko began.
"It's not necessary either. If it comes down to it, I'll just drag you out." He finished. And Index just stared at him, again, noting that he was serious. She tried to blink back the tears, then wipe them with her free arm, but neither worked. Looking at him for a few seconds more, she threw herself at Imagine Breaker, sobbing into his chest. A bit surprised, his eyes widened before he wrapped his arms around her and let her cry it out. He could only assume how alone she had been before this. And it made him sick that no one ever offered to help her before. He'd do more than offer, though, he would help her. But for now, he just stood there with the nun in his arms. He felt a little awkward, to be perfectly honest, especially because Ruiko was just watching. She hadn't said a word since Index had started crying, actually. He wondered what was going through her head. Perhaps-
RIP!
"AH!" Index screamed as Touma felt something different. No longer did he feel the smooth cloth of a nun's habit. Instead, he felt... skin? He looked down and instantly regretted it.
Index was naked.
"Why are you looking at me!?" She screamed and before he could even mutter a sorry, CHOMP!
/Scene:
Location: School District 7; Green Mart
Shirai Kuroko teleported next to the ruins of the convenience store with a sigh and a scowl. She made sure her Judgment armband was secured properly before going through the entrance that was once a door. She held out a device and walked around the ruins of the shop, noting how it seemed to constantly go off. With a sigh, she placed the device down on the ground and tapped her Bluetooth.
"Konori-sama, I've got it set up." She waited for a response, then looked down at the small, black device. "So we were too late." She cursed under her breath and picked the item back up, turning it off.
"Is the Judgment meeting over yet?" She questioned and frowned at her answer. She wouldn't be getting her partner back for a long while.
"Understood. I'm coming back to the office." And with that, she'd disappeared.
/Scene:
Location: School District 7; Seventh Mist
Touma was not one for shopping, which is why it was weird that this was the second day in a row that he'd been inside the biggest shopping center in District 7. While yesterday, he had been there for fun (it was a very loose definition of the word), today he was there for business.
To be precise, he was there to buy woman's clothing.
The nun had bitten him for a whole two minutes before Ruiko managed to pull her off, and subsequently get her to his bathroom. She absolutely refused to come out afterwards and Ruiko basically kicked him out of his own dorm, telling him to come back with clothes for her. He understood why Ruiko couldn't go, there was no way she'd leave him alone with a naked girl, but he didn't understand why he had to go buy new clothes. Surely, Ruiko had extra clothes, right?
Maybe he was thinking with his wallet again, he figured. There were more important things to think about anyway. Like, for instance, how exactly did his right hand shred her habit? Was her story of Magic perhaps true? He knew Imagine Breaker negated Esper powers, and his own luck, so it would obviously do the same for Magic, should it exist. So unless her clothes were literally made from scratch by an Esper power, and he knew not a single one that would allow one to do so, there was truth to her story.
Just great, he thought sarcastically.
He sighed as he stood outside a rather empty shop, the less women inside the better, and entered it. He tried his best to ignore the stares that were sent his way as best as he could and eventually, people ignored him. Perhaps they assumed that he was getting clothes for his girlfriend, or perhaps just a present for a girl in general? He couldn't care less at this point. Having collected all the easy items, and hoping with all his might that the sizes were close enough to fit, he gulped at what came next.
The nun was lacking in the chest department, he could feel her teeth sinking into his flesh if she'd heard him say that out loud, but that still left the other undergarment. Arguably, the worst undergarment. Or the best, depends on how you look at it.
Touma shook his head, realizing that he was getting side tracked and that he should really just get this over with. But he also had to be careful, he realized as his misfortune senses screamed at him. If he got chased out of the store then not only would he never be allowed to show his face here again, though whether or not he'd actually need to come back to this particular shop was yet to be known, he would also have to start from scratch at a new store.
Using his 'expert' stealth skills, he walked around the store floor, taking glances at... 'the item' whenever he could.
There!
He spotted the perfect, white pair. He took a second to shake the obviously dirty thoughts from his head, and another to make sure no one was paying attention to him, before he dashed past and picked them up. He was equally quick in hiding them behind the other clothes he'd picked out. With a sigh, he looked at the ceiling and smiled.
"Misfortune avoided!" He wanted to scream but simply yelling it in his head was good enough. But then, a sudden sense of foreboding gathered upon him and he had no idea why. He scanned the store, eyeing everyone suspiciously until he noticed the female clerk waiting behind the counter of the check out line. He realized that he wasn't out of the woods yet. He still had to buy them! As he walked into line, and waited for his turn, his brain was wracked with possible excuses as to why he was buying 'the item.'
"Hello, sir." The cashier smiled at him, knocking Touma from his thoughts. He'd drawn a blank and decided that he wouldn't mention them if she didn't.
"Uh. Hey." He placed the clothes and the counter and watched as she raised an eyebrow at them.
"Buying clothes for a friend?"
"Ah, uh, my sister actually." He rubbed the back of his head. "I still don't know how she talked me into this." He chuckled. So far so good.
"Huh? Well, I don't know about you but I'd never let my brother pick out my panties." She said with a chuckle as Touma's face nearly began to boil.
"T-That's what I said but s-she insisted."
"Mhm, sure. Now I won't ask why you're buying these, that's your business and all that, but perhaps you should be more discreet next time?"
He could never come to this store again.
"There won't be a next time!" He wanted to scream but instead, he just nodded and accepted the bag once she was done. With the food he'd given to the nun earlier today, and the money he spent on clothes, he prepped his stomach for a few missed meals until his next allowance check.
"Oh, right. One more thing!" She reached underneath the counter and pulled out a small object, a key chain. It was a weird, green frog mascot. Gekota, if Touma's memory was correct. "We're giving these away to customers today. You actually got the last one." Touma grabbed the key chain from the clerk and blinked. Last one? That sounded lucky and if there was one thing that was set in stone about Kamijou Touma, it was that he was never lucky. It's too bad he was too caught up in other things to realize this.
"I guess Index'll like this? Maybe Ruiko, she likes cute things right?" He thought to himself as he stepped out of line. "Then again, I wouldn't really call this thing cut-" He was cut off as he fell face first into the ground. "Ow!" He rolled onto his butt as he gripped his face, turning to see just what he'd tripped on. Or rather, who.
"I can't believe I was too late..." A familiar brown haired girl rested on the floor on all fours. As opposed to the usual air of confidence around her, she seemed to be... depressed, maybe even vulnerable. Her miserable chanting of 'I was too late' didn't help either.
"Ah, uh, Biri Biri...?" He stared at her, speechless, as she registered his voice.
"You! You took the last one!" Sparks began to form in her hair and Touma quickly raised his right hand up in anticipation. He waited for the eventual sound of glass shattered that accompanied Imagine Breaker's activation but heard no such thing. "Are you just going to sit there, scared?" He moved his hand from his face and looked up at Mikoto's outstretched hand. "Come on. I thought we agreed no fighting in public."
Still a little skeptic, he slowly reached for her hand. She helped pull him up and sighed.
"What are you doing here anyway?"
"I could ask you the same thing. Forget something yesterday?" He raised an eyebrow then remembered her depressed state from before. "Or maybe..." He held up the key chain. "You wanted this?"
"O-Of course not!" She was quick to cross her arms, a little too quick, and the blush on her face all but confirmed Touma's suspicions.
"You can have it if you want." He tossed it at her and she snatched it out of the air, a look of pure bliss evident on her face.
"No way, I can't thank you enough for this!" She admired the child's key chain and Touma couldn't help but chuckle.
"Don't worry about it. Just, uh, don't tell anyone you saw me today." Her attention snapped back to him as she pocketed the newest addition to her Gekota Collection.
"Ah, worried about damaging your reputation or something?"
"Something like that..." He admitted as he scratched the back of his head and placed his bag behind his back. Absolutely no good would come from her seeing it. "So see you around, Biri Biri." He turned around with a wave.
"Hold it!"
"Eh?" He whipped back around.
"Misaka." She crossed her arms. "If this whole friend thing is going to work, you're going to call me by my actual name."
"Right." He nodded. "Kamijou Touma. Pleasure to meet you, Misaka."
"Don't think you'll get off without using some honorifics."
"Seriously? Fine, Misaka-san. Is that better?" He tried his best to not sound sarcastic but still ended up rolling his eyes at her happy face.
"Perfect." She walked past him. "Goodbye, Kamijou-san."
/Scene:
Location: School District 7; Kamijou Touma's Dorm
"How much longer is he going to be?" Index asked for, perhaps, the hundredth time from Touma's bathroom.
"Soon. I promise." Ruiko sighed, tired of the question. "Before you ask again, how about you tell me why your clothes exploded."
"I don't know!" She yelled. "My Walking Church's protection is Pope-class!"
"Pope-class?"
"It's... really strong." She replied, a bit sheepish as she recalled that Ruiko was completely unfamiliar with magical terms.
"Maybe it's because of Imagine Breaker." The Level 0 wondered aloud.
"Imagine Breaker?"
"It's the ability Touma-kun has in his right hand. It negates the supernatural."
"Impossible! I've never heard of something like that, not even within my Grimoires..." She trailed off.
"I've seen him use it against Espers before, at least." She scratched her head. "I don't know about Magic or anything." Suddenly, her eyes lit up. "Hey, Index?"
"Yes?"
"Could I learn Magic?" As a Level 0, she didn't have an ability that she could use, not even a little bit.
"I'm afraid not. Those who are talented can not use Magic."
"But... I'm not talented." Though it pained her to admit.
"But you're still an Esper, right?" Index waited for a response. She eventually took her silence as a 'yes.' "Espers are too different from a normal person, if they attempted to use Magic then they would die."
"Die... I see..." Ruiko let out a deep breath. Then, a knock at the door attracted her attention. "That must be him, let me go see." Getting up, she walked over to the door and opened it for it's actual resident.
"Here." He shoved the bag of clothes into her hands and walked past her, immediately going into the kitchen and grabbed a can of tea. "That was so much more trouble then it was worth."
"Things didn't go too badly, did they?" Ruiko chuckled as she handed the bag to Index, who shut the bathroom door quickly.
"No. There were a lot of close calls though." He paused as the weight of what could've happened played in his mind. "Actually, today wasn't so bad." He smiled.
"Ah, finished!" Index declared as she threw open the bathroom door, emerging in a dark blue shirt and blacks jeans.
"That's pretty plain, don't you think?" Ruiko turned his head to the misfortunate boy as he took another sip of tea.
"Sure. I was just more focused on not dying as opposed to how fashionable what I was picking out was."
"I thought you said it wasn't that bad?"
"That does not mean it was good." He glared at her. "It just means it was better than my usual luck. Which isn't saying much." He sighed.
"Right. Well, Index, do you like it at least?" The silver haired girl nodded.
"It is very nice, though not as comfortable as my Walking Church." She smiled at Touma. "Thank you... um, oh dear..."
"Kamijou Touma." He finished for her. "I guess I forgot to introduce myself before."
"Touma..." She whispered. "Thank you, Touma." Touma smiled back. "Though..."
"Is something wrong?" Ruiko raised an eyebrow.
"Um..." She began to blush. "You see..." Touma's face paled as a sense of foreboding overtook him, it was far thicker than it had been in... had it ever been this bad before!?
"Don't tell me..."
"My underwear... They're... um, kinda tight."
"Such misfortune!" Touma yelled as he tossed his can in the trash and immediately walked to the door. "I'll be back in half an hour. If I don't come back, well, tell people to remember this poor Kamijou-san." He muttered before he closed the door behind him.
"Wait, Touma-kun!" Ruiko started but it was too late. "I could've gone..."
Author's Note: This chapter properly introduces Index! Now, I know a lot of people dislike her but I'm not one of those guys. I do, however, understand the reasons behind it. Which is why I'll be seeking to correct a couple of those things.
Admittedly, I was on the fence about keeping her biting in but I eventually caved, though I hope to make it a lot more restrained then in the main series. Also, yes, Index won't constantly be in her nun's habit. This was something that I wanted to do from the beginning and I'm interested in hearing about your guy's opinions on it.