Author's Note: The first fight scene of the story should be showing up in this chapter so be sure to tell me what you think about it, as well as what I can improve on! Though, to be honest, it's not much of a fight… ^^;
As I've mentioned before, I've only seen the anime and I'm currently working my way through the Light Novels. The differences are actually kinda surprising, though the toned down deaths are something I suspected were anime exclusive. Eventually, I'll be reading the Railgun manga too, specifically for the Daihaseisai Arc since the rest has been adapted into the anime, which I've seen. I know the bare basics of what happens but that won't exactly fly, you know?
Back on the topic of the Light Novels, I'm on number 8 as of before I'm writing this chapter. The explanations, especially for magic, are a lot easier to, um, comprehend when I can reread them easily. Also a lot easier to find for references sake. Anyways, I'm really enjoying them!
damienus1019: Thank you! I have a surprise or two in mind for this arc, aside from the more obvious changes. For example, of course Touma's going to take part in the AIM Burst fight. He's practically madefor that fight. I'm not sure what it is about this story, or maybe it's Raildex in general, that makes me want to update so much. It's very weird and clashes with my normal style. Though I'm not complaining!
FoxOnPie: Aw yes, I have found another!
Agent Nine: Thanks! Also thanks for the feedback.
Chapter 4: GRAVITON
Location: School District 7; Kamijou Touma's Dorm
Date: June 18th
"Too many days have ended in events like this..." Kamijou Touma thought bitterly as he sat on his floor, an ice pack against his right eye. At least that frog faced doctor said it wouldn't swell or anything, not since he put that cream on it.
"Is that one still alright or do you need another one?" One of the other occupants in the room, Saten Ruiko, asked him with said other ice pack in hand.
"No, no. Put it back with the other ones." He gestured to his refrigerator with a sigh. With a shrug, she got up and went to do so.
"Why do you have so many of these things anyway?" She asked as she closed the freezer. "No wait, let me guess. This kind of thing happens a lot?"
"Bingo." Giving a depressed sigh, he turned his attention to the third occupant. "Are those at least comfortable?" The foreign nun nodded and he smiled. "Well, that's something."
"It's your hand."
"Huh?" He cocked his head to the side.
"Your hand. Ruiko told me about it." Index explained. "I think... maybe it negates God's miracles, like luck. It's crazy to think that something like that exists but…"
"I figured." He muttered under his breath. It was true that it was something that he always told anyone who asked him about his rotten luck but it did seem a little farfetched.
"I dunno. I think it's pretty lucky that you didn't get banned from Seventh Mist in general." Ruiko plopped down next to him. "They didn't even call security."
"I would've preferred security. That guy had a heck of a left hook." He groaned, remembering how the cashier, recognizing him as the same guy who brought a pair of panties not an hour before hand, had assumed the worst and proceeded to tell him off. To make matters worse, some random guy saw the scene, assumed Touma was annoying the female and proceeded to pick a fight with him. It wasn't pretty.
"I still can't believe you had to take him to a hospital. When'd you get so good at fighting?"
For the other guy, anyway.
"You pick things up." With the sheer amount of fights he got into, either because of his misfortune or during one of his heroic escapades, he was happy he'd managed to pick up some legitimate fighting skill. Not enough to take on multiple opponents head on but enough to get by, at the very least. That being said, the other man's injuries had been purely accidental. Touma had been sure that he would be able to settle the conflict peacefully.
"Well, it's getting kinda late," Ruiko stood up and gestured to the clock. Taking into account his two trips to Seventh Mist, his journey to the hospital, and the time he spent giving a report to Anti-Skill describing the incident, Touma had really lost track of time. "I should get going."
"Yeah, probably." She walked over to the door and let herself out, waving to the two of them as she did so. Wait, two of them? "Wait, Ruiko! You forgot Index!" He nearly yelled as he burst open his door.
"Huh? Wow, really? After that whole heartfelt speech, I thought you were going to house her." She raised an eyebrow and Touma stumbled for words.
"But I've got tons of homework to do!"
"So do I."
"I- Well, come on, I'm a guy. That's not..."
"Ah, I trust you not to do anything. You're a good guy." Touma had enough sense not to argue with that. "That's assuming the little incident earlier today was an accident though."
"O-Of course it was! How dare you accuse this Kamijou-san of being perverted enough to strip a crying girl down, or any girl for that matter!" He paused and realized he should probably lower his voice.
"Thought so." She giggled. "Well, see you, Touma-kun~!" With that, she turned down the corner towards the elevator and Touma evidently lost. With a sigh, he closed the door and looked at Index.
"You can take the bed. I've got some more sheets around here somewhere, though it's kinda hot so I doubt I'll need them."
"I-I couldn't! You're already giving me a place to stay..."
"Forget about it." He waved her off. "This floor's not so bad anyway, not the worst place I've ever slept..."
"I refuse." He frowned.
"We'll figure it out later then, I guess." He scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "I'm going to do some homework so you can watch TV or something, just don't turn it up too loud."
"Okay."
"Actually, just try not to make loud noises in general; I will not hear the end of it if Motoharu hears you and figures out I have a girl in my room." He sighed at the thought. He'd certainly tell Aogami and while they were both bugging him about it, Seiri would overhear and then... Well, he preferred to not think about that. Index merely nodded; Touma scratched his head again, "this is really awkward..."
Two hours later
With a yawn, Touma finished the last question. Dropping his pencil, and then his head, against the table, he gave a sigh of relief.
"It's over!" He smiled. He turned his head towards his television, towards his new roommate, and noticed that she'd passed out. His smile gradually shrunk, though it was still there, and he walked over and picked her up. He sat her on the futon, ruling that since she was asleep, she didn't have a choice in the matter of where she slept. Next, he turned off the TV, it was playing some weird Magical Girl show, and then the lights before he flopped down on the floor.
"This weekend was something else..." He mumbled in his head before he closed his eyes and let sleep overtake him.
And suddenly, he opened his eyes again. He sniffed the air and couldn't help but notice an unfamiliar odor, no not unfamiliar. He definitely knew what it was. Or did he? He couldn't remember.
"Ey, kid." A voice called out to him and Touma turned his head, stepping back in shock at how tall the man was. Or was he just short? "You Kamijou, eh?" He nodded his head.
"Who are you?"
"Don't matter." The man shrugged and held out his hand, the odor grew thicker. "I just gotta end you." Touma quickly put his hand over his mouth and immediately, the air around it grew fresher. He hadn't notice before but the sound of shattering glass had been a near constant since... he'd opened his eyes?
"Stop."
"They warned me 'bout that hand." He muttered and made his way to the small boy. "Said my 'bility won't work." The man kicked the boy down, putting his foot on his chest to keep him there. "I, a Level 3, would be useless next to a single little boy. Crazy, eh?" He chuckled as he pushed down on Touma's chest. The small boy grabbed his foot with his hands, trying to get him to stop and the man frowned as he realized he could no longer produce his gas. He pressed his foot down further, he could feel the rips in the boy's chest begin to break underneath him. Touma pushed with all of his force but he somehow didn't have the strength to move him.
"Please, stop." Was all he could say.
"Nah." Pulling a knife out of his pocket, he glared at the small boy. "Job's a job, you know? It'd have been easier if you'd went to sleep like the rest of 'em brats." He jammed the knife down into Touma's right shoulder, the boy screamed. "Go 'head and yell all you want. My gas won't let 'em wake up for a long while." He laughed as he moved it around. "Should've brought a bigger knife. Damn."
"Please..." Tears in his eyes, Touma begged. Not solely because of the pain, though it played a big part, but something just felt wrong suddenly. The second the man had plugged the knife into his shoulder and Touma felt something change. He felt something bad. He felt something unnatural.
And then, there was a roar and flames consumed his vision.
He opened his eyes again, this time for real, and sighed as he realized it was just a memory. His face had broken out into a sweet, and according to the alarm clock near his futon, he'd only slept for a few hours. It had been a while since he had last dreamed this nightmare, so he supposed he was grateful for that. He took a deep breath and, on instinct, tried to raise his right hand to take a look at it but frowned when he noticed that he couldn't. He was curious when he noticed that there was extra heat around him. And then, he panicked when he noticed that there was extra weight around him, on him even. Adjusting his head so he could see his chest, and froze when he saw Index's arm across it.
"No no no no." But alas, it was true. Sometime in the middle of his disturbing dream, Index had gotten out of bed and snuggled up next to him. He tried to pull his arm from under her but she just growled and tightened her grip. He tried again but immediately stopped when she sobbed, as opposed to her growl from before. She gripped him further, pushing her face into his side as he could feel a growing wetness. He cursed internally as he stopped and laid flat, with Index calming down in response. He strained his mind to think of the school day tomorrow; what misfortunes he would encounter; what he would have for lunch tomorrow; which Level 5 would try to kill him next; anything other than what was happening right now. Eventually, he somehow found it in himself to go back to sleep.
/Scene:
Date: June 19th
Beep beep beep!
Kamijou Touma woke up, alone, and on the floor. While he was relieved that Index was no longer there, he was also annoyed beyond belief because he hated that alarm. But, he supposed, that made it do its job better. He sat up and took in a couple things despite his tired state. One, the nun had moved from her position the night before and now sat back by the television, that Magical Girl show playing yet again. Two, the blanket from his bed had somehow found its way onto him in the middle of the night; he suspected the nun. Three, it was Monday. Groaning internally, he shut off his alarm; put on a smile and turned to Index.
"Morning." She jumped a bit, too taken into the show to have noticed him waking up, and turned to him.
"Good morning."
"Uh, sleep well?" She quickly turned her head back around and nodded. Taking that as a cue to never bring up tonight again, Touma got up and stretched. "I'm about to make breakfast, then I have to go to school." He did so, with both of them being silent. The silence persisted throughout breakfast.
After breakfast, he laid a map of District 7 on the table. "Okay, here's where we are." He marked the approximate location of his dormitory on the map with a marker. "And here's my school." He traced along a path until it reached around where his school would be. "If you need me, just follow the route."
"Understood."
"Whoa, no need to sound so professional or anything…" He laughed, perhaps this would lower the tension.
"Erm…sorry." She mumbled out an apology.
"It's fine. I think you just need to loosen up a bit, you know?" Though he wondered if she was capable of doing so.
"I'll try." Was her only response. With a sigh, he continued.
"I made some lunch in advance when I made breakfast. Just pop it in the microwave."
"Microwave…?" Touma wanted to think she was joking but the genuine curiosity, and the cute way she tilted her head, told him otherwise.
"It's the little white box in the kitchen." He explained. "Just put the plate inside and set it to one minute. That's 1, 0, 0. Not just 1 or 1, 0. It'll heat up the food."
"Ah, I see. So science has reached this level… Amazing…" Touma couldn't help but chuckle.
"If you need to leave, don't lock the door since you'll be locked out. I'll try and get you a spare key soon." She nodded.
"And if anyone speaks to you, don't tell them about Magic or anything crazy like that."
"Crazy? You still don't think Magic is real?"
"Well, um. I don't have any proof so-"
"If magic wasn't real then why did my Walking Church get shredded?" She looked as if she'd bite him again just for recalling the memory and Touma threw his hands up, caught in the painful flashback.
"I admit that I don't know how to explain that right now, Index-san." He quickly said. "So Magic is real! But still, it's not fit for Academy City and it's likely to get you detained and possibly deported." She understood that, at least, and her anger faded. Touma took a breath of relief.
"Uh. Let's see… what else is there…?" He brought his hand to his chin. "I think that's all. You got all that?"
"Perfect memory." She reminded him.
"Oh, right, right. Excuse me." Touma made a mental note to test that later; it could be useful. "Now I really should be going. I'd hate to be late again." Index nodded.
"See you later then." With a nod, Touma picked up his bag and left the dorm.
/Scene:
Location: A Certain High School
"Kami-yan~!" Touma was immediately greeted by Motoharu when he walked into the room. He was surprised that he arrived earlier than him, usually the three of them would barely make it before class began. "I heard you were incredibly busy this weekend." The grin he had on his face sent chills down Touma's spine. He noted that a couple of the other students inside the room cast a glance in his direction, seemingly out of fear(?).
"W-Whatever do you mean?"
"I'm talking about the fight yesterday, at Seventh Mist." His grin widened; though Touma felt a small hint of relief that of all the things that'd happened during the weekend, he'd only found out about that.
"Huh?" That didn't stop him from playing dumb as long as possible though.
"Don't lie, man. The video's all over the internet."
"It is!?" That was news to him.
"You haven't seen it?" His eyes feigned surprise, not that you could see behind his blue glasses. "Yo, Aogami! Get out your phone." He dragged the spiky haired boy over to the three seats they sat at. There, Touma found the third member of what can be considered his friend group. Around the class, and perhaps even the whole school, they were known as the Delta Force. Or the Three Idiots, depending on the circumstances. "He hasn't seen the video."
"You're kidding! It's basically the talk of the school." Aogami gave a similar grin to Motoharu's, Touma rubbed his forehead. He quickly pulled out his phone and, after tapping the screen a few times, brought up a video which showed Touma and a rather muscular, older guy inside a store in Seventh Mist.
"You downloaded it!?"
"Shush." Motoharu quieted him as the video played, showing the guy punching Touma and forcing him onto the ground. The crowd cheered before, well, Touma fought back. If it can even be called that. Touma simply rolled him over and got back to his feet, nursing his now injured eye. The older man looked furious and went swinging, though the Level 0 just dodged around until Touma grabbed his arm and flipped him over. Unfortunately, he didn't pay attention to their position and threw him down a flight of stairs. Just before the video cut off, you could see the misfortunate boy grab his head and scream "such misfortune!" all but confirming that it was Touma who was caught on film. "It's a classic." Touma groaned.
"What'd you do anyway?"
"I-I don't want to talk about it." He avoided eye contact and sat down in his seat.
"What? Did you insult him?"
"Nah, Kami-yan's not like that."
"That's true…"
"I bet he seduced his girlfriend or something."
"The Kami-yan disease does know no mercy!" Touma internally groaned at the mention of the 'Kami-yan disease.' Somehow, the two had gotten it in their heads that Touma was apparently a god at meeting and raising girl's flags. Hell, the idea even began spreading throughout the class, and he's sworn he's heard out it in the hallways too so it might not be restricted to his class anymore. But that was ridiculous, right?
"I would've picked a fight with him too." Aogami shrugged. "Kami-yan doesn't actually look that tough." Touma rolled his eyes and looked out the window, trying his best to ignore their conversation. It wasn't working but they both stopped speaking several minutes later anyway.
"Guys?" He faced them again and immediately regretted it. "F-Fukiyose-sama!"
"Don't you 'Fukiyose-sama' me, Kamijou." Her tone told him the whole story. She'd seen the video. "Explanation. Now."
"W-Well, you see, it was all a misunderstanding!" He brought his hands up defensively. "I-I was merely buying something and he thought I was harassing the cashier..."
"Were you harassing the cashier?"
"N-No! Of course not."
"Then why'd he think you were?" She noticed the sweat building up on Touma's face, he was avoiding something.
"She was yelling at me…"
"What could you have possibly been buying that caused that reaction?" Touma froze, his mind going into overdrive to think of an answer that wouldn't get him abused, both verbally and possibly physically.
In the end, his mind broke and he stumbled out the honest answer. "...Panties..."
"Kami-yan!" Both Aogami and Motoharu cried out but it was too late. The attack had already begun.
/Scene:
Luckily, Komoe-sensei entered the room soon after Seiri's attack began and managed to settle everyone down, though she did request that Touma stay after school. He figured it was to discuss what happened in the video, the news had already picked up around the school apparently so he figured she knew, but he was alright with it since he was going to stay behind regardless.
"Putting that aside, I'd like to collect the assignment that I gave over the weekend. Please pass it up to the front."
"Ah, I bet Kami-yan didn't do it, as usual." His blond companion snickered as he turned back at his classmate.
"He'll get two lectures from Komoe-chan today. That's not fair!" Aogami moaned while Touma sighed and reached into his things, only for his face to darken.
"Wait, where is it…?" He mumbled.
"Don't pretend like you did it just because we're teasing~," Aogami was quick to respond.
"No, I actually did do it!" Touma yelled back.
"If it makes you feel better, I didn't do it either." Motoharu grinned. Touma rolled his eyes as he checked his things more thoroughly and realized, with a whimper, that his homework wasn't there. Life was just too cruel.
"Such misfor-!" He only got part way through his catchphrase before someone knocked on the door.
"Ah, who is it?" The petite teacher turned her head towards the door.
"I'm here to see Tou~ma~!" Came a familiar voice that not only caused Touma to freeze, but caused every male student to turn towards him with a dark expression on their faces. The voice was obviously feminine, and very sweet sounding at that. Komoe paused for but a moment before she gave permission for Index to enter. The silver-haired, cute petite foreign girl entered the room and Touma felt the dark looks intensify as she skipped over to him.
"Skipping!? There's no way that reserved girl from last night would skip so merrily! Is she the type of character who acts completely different and carefree in public places!?"
"I-Index, what are you doing here?" He muttered.
"You left this." She held up a packet of papers, his homework. "You worked all night to do it so I thought it was important." Touma blinked before he accepted the packet.
"Wow, thanks." She nodded excitedly before walking back through the door.
"Kamijou-chan, who was that?" His teacher asked him afterwards, once she had collected his assignment.
"Ah… Would you believe me if I said it was my sister?" He nervously laughed. No one was amused.
/Scene:
School officially ended about ten minutes ago, the only ones still there were the teachers who had work to do and those with extracurricular activities. And Kamijou Touma. He sat in his homeroom with Tsukuyomi Komoe, who was giving him a very stern talk about how to avoid fights and how getting into brawls like that would not only damage the reputation of the school but also himself, though Touma was quick to note that he explained the whole situation to Anti-Skill and it wouldn't affect his record in any way.
"Ah! Disregarding that, what if someone really important saw that and decided that they'd never let you work under them! You're grades are already not the best, you need to think about all your options!" Touma groaned since he'd obviously heard this type of lecture before. "Don't groan at me, I'm seriously worried about you, Kamijou-chan."
"I'm sorry, Sensei." He apologized first. "But I don't think it's as big of a deal as you make it out to be." With a sigh, Komoe dropped the subject.
"Okay… But what about that girl that came to class today?" She put her hands on her hips. "Just who was she?"
"A-Ah, didn't I tell you she was my sister?"
"Touma! She was a pale skinned, silver haired foreigner with blue eyes!" She yelled, Touma recoiled on instinct, a chill going straight through his spine. Komoe using his first name was almost never a good thing. "How could you just openly lie like that!?"
"Sorry, sorry. She's just someone I'll be looking after for a while."
"Oh, taking in runaway girls?" She smiled. "You wouldn't happen to be taking after Sensei, would you~?" Then, suddenly, her smile dropped into a frown. "Wait a minute, you live in a men's dormitory! You're not allowed to have a girl live with you there! And that's not right anyway!"
"Calm down, calm down. It's only for a while then she'll be staying with a female friend of mine, and then she'll be leaving Academy City." Though he was completely unsure of that, it was more likely that that wouldn't be the result actually, he used that excuse and waved his hands down to try and placate her but it didn't seem to be working. "Please, Sensei, I actually had something important to talk about!"
"Important…? Okay but this conversation isn't over!" Touma reluctantly nodded.
"I had that dream again last night…" He eventually muttered and Komoe gasped.
"So suddenly and out of the blue… And you were doing so well."
"It wasn't really out of the blue though. I met up with one of the other people who lived with me there." Touma explained. Komoe nodded, knowingly.
"Yes, that could've caused the memories to resurface…"
"It's… a little bit more than that, Sensei…"
"Oh?" She responded with a hint of worry.
"It was Ruiko…"
"The one you were…"
"Trying to avoid, yeah." He finished for her, not wanting to let it be said by anyone other than himself. "And I don't feel right doing it again."
"I see. Jeez, Kamijou-chan. I'm not a psychiatrist, I don't really know what to say." Although she was joking, she also looked both worried and sad.
"Ah, you know me, Sensei. I won't talk to anyone I don't fully trust so I doubt I'd go to an actual psychiatrist or something." He rubbed the back of his neck innocently and didn't even notice Komoe blush.
"D-Don't say things like that. It'll give a girl the wrong impression."
"Eh?"
"Nothing." She clapped. "I think you've got the situation all together though, Kamijou-chan. You know why you had the nightmare and I think you'll be able to overcome it just like before! If you don't want to push away Ruiko-san then all you have to do is accept your past mistakes and correct them." She smiled again. "Actually, with all that in mind, I'm surprised you managed to do your homework."
"Yeah, well, I made sure I had the time to do it." He lied with a smile on his face.
"Touma… What did I just say about lying?" Though she was smiling, there was somehow malice in her words.
"A-Ah! I'm sorry! I waited until the very last night, last minute, to do it but you know how my misfortune is!" Frantically rubbing his hands through his hair, Touma continued. "It's too much, too much. This Kamijou-san just can't stand all his time being sapped away by these events!"
"You finished it and I suppose that's all that matters." Komoe allowed herself to comfort him a bit. "But do try and finish it before those 'events' happen next time." Touma bowed.
"Yes, of course, thank you for your kindness!" As he brought his head up, he took a glance at the clock. "Ah, I should be going now. Thanks for talking with me, Sensei."
"Anytime, Kamijou-chan!" Touma smiled as he grabbed his bag, stood up and left the classroom.
/Scene:
Walking home, he typically preferred to walk since Touma liked to enjoy the fresh air and it wasn't too hot today, he hummed a little tune that had been stuck in his head the past few days. The streets were bustling with students who had also just gotten out of school and probably meeting up with their friends for various activities. As for Touma, he had no intention of doing anything other than returning home and checking to see if Index was okay.
So of course something had to prevent him from doing so.
"Hey, you, idiot!" He immediately stopped and turned around, facing Tokiwadai's Ace.
"We seem to keep bumping into each other. Are you stalking me?" He said, completely straight faced. Mikoto grew red, whether it was out of embarrassment or rage, he'd never know.
"How could you accuse me of something like that!? I just happened to be walking through here and spotted you…"
"Right. Well, later Biri Biri." He waved at her and tried to walk away.
"Hey, I thought we agreed you wouldn't call me that anymore!"
"Oh right, sorry, Misaka." He turned his head to her again. "Was there actually anything you needed me for or were you just lonely?"
"Oh well…" She thought about it for a moment. "Oh!" She slammed her fist into her open palm in realization. "If we're going to do this whole friends thing, I was thinking that I should probably have your number."
"Eh?"
"Well, we seem to share friends and if you need help, a Level 5 would be a good person to have on your side, don't you think? And…"
"Ah!" He interrupted her so he could think about it in peace. The thought of getting nothing but texts from Mikoto saying "fight me!" briefly went through his mind and it was not a pleasant daydream. Not just because that was annoying, but he didn't have an unlimited text plan! "Well, uh, you see…"
"Don't even try and get out of it." She sighed. "Look, I'm not going to hound you for fights. I promised myself I wouldn't do that anymore."
"Wow, did you now?" He thought about it for another moment. "…Fine. I'm not going to be getting out of this anyway." They exchanged numbers.
"There, now was that so bad?" She remarked, teasingly, while she waved her phone around.
"Is your phone a frog?" Touma pointed out in response, the Railgun instantly went stiff.
"I-It's not like I picked it out or anything. T-They only had these in stock at the store I went to." She muttered out. Touma didn't believe her for a second but he didn't want to tempt his luck.
"Right. Well, if that's all-"
"A-Actually!" She paused, as if trying to find the right words. "Kuroko's been really busy with Judgment work and, well…" She quickly said, blushing the whole time and looking down. Through her blush, however, she had a very strange face; a face Touma knew well. It was the face of loneliness.
"Why didn't you just say so?" She looked up and met Touma's smile, only causing her blush to deepen. "Come on, we'll walk and talk." He started walking home again with Mikoto following behind, looking like she wanted to say something but couldn't put it into words. "So how did you and Ruiko meet?" Touma eventually said, deciding to help her out.
"Oh. Kuroko and Uiharu-san introduced us. Well, technically, Kuroko introduced me to them both… Anyway, we ended up stopping a robbery together."
"W-Whoa, that's a big part of the story to skip!" Touma yelled, forgetting that he would've known the whole story if he'd listened to Saten and Uiharu tell him during the weekend. Mikoto shrugged.
"Well, really, we just went out and did friend things, I guess." She seemed unsure of herself but pressed on. "What about you?"
"Ruiko and I met a long time ago, in an orphanage in Academy City."
"A-Ah, I see. You probably don't want to talk about something like that…"
"Nah. I'm fine with it." He shrugged it off. "Most of it anyway." He added in his head, almost mocking himself. "She was the only one of them to try and be friends with me."
"Mmm, I see." She nodded. "Was it because you were as much of an idiot back then as you are now?"
"…Wow, that hurt." He rolled his eyes. "But no, it was because of my bad luck. Bad things always seemed to happen around me and they avoided me because of it."
"And Saten-san didn't care?"
"Nope."
"That sounds like her," Mikoto smiled.
"What about your childhood? Anything you're willing to share?"
"Uh, no. Mine was pretty tame, all things considered."
"Really? I expected more from a Level 5." He joked.
"H-Hey now!" She began. "Actually, you've got a point." She chuckled. "Things just sort of happened. I went to Academy City and they saw that I had a really high potential so I kept up with my training and eventually developed into a Level 5."
"Oh yeah, I heard you started as a Level 1."
"Yep."
"Actually, that reminds me, you're a Level 5."
"W-What? What kind of idiot-" She began.
"No, I mean, you're a Level 5. Don't you have more important things to do than chase a Level 0 like me around?" He recalled bringing this up several times during their more violent encounters but could not remember getting a satisfactory answer.
"You can't call yourself a Level 0 with that hand of yours. It can deflect my Railgun like it's nothing." She rolled her eyes. "I just can't stand strong people who act like they're weak. Take some responsibility and show off a little."
"Sorry but that's not my style. Besides, against a normal person, I'm a normal person." He explained. "This right hand won't help me there."
"But what normal person would face off against someone who defeated the Third ranked Level 5?"
"You'd be surprised." He mumbled and Mikoto decided to take his word for it, though it still bothered her. Their friendly chat continued until they came upon Kamijou's dormitory.
"Ah, this is where we part ways then." Touma turned to her. "I kind of feel off, you know? Usually, it's the other way around."
"Usually, it's the guy walking the girl home."
"O-Oh!" She blushed again as the thought hadn't crossed her mind; Touma laughed.
"Don't take it to heart. I don't mind." He looked up. "Actually, since I've already got a guest, I wouldn't mind if you wanted to stay for dinner or something."
"Ah, no. I wouldn't intrude like that."
"Eh, suit yourself." He shrugged. "See you around, Misaka."
"Misaka-san!" She reminded him.
"Heh. You weren't so picky about me using honorifics before." He noted and she quickly replayed the conversation in her head. She turned red again, though he couldn't tell if this was from embarrassment or rage either. Although he felt like he had learned a bit more about Mikoto today, there was still a long way to go.
"Ugh, you're an idiot, you know that? Whatever. See you around." She sighed as she walked away. Touma smiled and walked into the elevator. It had been a while since he felt like he had earned a new friend, he liked the feeling. Disregarding that for the moment, he walked to his dorm's door and opened it.
"Touma-kun! About time!" And was immediately greeted by a waving Ruiko, sitting at his table with Index.
"Wha- Ruiko? How did you?"
"I came by earlier to check on you two but you weren't home so Index let me stay and wait." She explained as the nun, who few would actually see as such, spoke up.
"I thought it was alright to let her in, since she knew about me." She added; Touma nodded and closed the door.
"Wait a minute, you!" He pointed at Index. "When you came to my school, it was like you were a completely different person!" Index merely tilted her head in confusion.
"Didn't you tell me to loosen up?"
"O-Oh well, yeah but that was…" He tried to think of the right word but couldn't so he let it go. "Never mind…"
"So, how'd the night go?" Ruiko asked and was rather surprised when they both blushed. "Hey now… Touma-kun, I thought you said I could trust you…"
"What? No, Ruiko, I swear nothing like that happened!"
"Mhm, sure. I'll only believe you if you cook the best, possible meal." She stuck out her tongue. "I may or may not have skipped lunch today."
"Was that your plan from the beginning!?"
/Scene:
"Shirai-san, are you at the sight yet?" The Level 4 Teleporter heard her partner ask over her ear piece.
"Yeah. The area is ruined." She sighed as she glanced around at the park, another incident caused by the Graviton Bomber. Another Judgment member had even gotten caught in the explosion. She held that same black device in her hand from before. This time, however, it beeped only once and its screen shined a blue light. "The AIM Reader did manage to confirm the signal this time."
"Good. If we copy the information and send it off, our phones should be able to detect when the Bomber's AIM field is near them."
"I'm really impressed by this technology." Kuroko complimented. "I didn't know we had gotten so far in AIM research."
"Well, it's not perfect. It's possible that it'll react to similar AIM fields as well, and that electromancers could disrupt the program in general…"
"Ah, I see." She muttered, making a mental check to be careful when around her Onee-sama. If normal electromancers could mess things up, then the best of the best electromancers could do irreparable damage.. "I'll be back at the office soon, okay?"
"Okay. I'll have some tea ready."
"Please, Uiharu-san. You know I don't like tea with an empty stomach…"
"Right, right, sorry. The only other thing we have here is milk though…"
"Jeez, I can't believe Konori-senpai sometimes… We'll have to go out after work."
"Okay!" And with that settled, Kuroko turned off her Bluetooth and disappeared.
/Scene:
Location: School District 7; School Garden
Date: June 30th
Today had been a very misfortunate day, though surprisingly not for one Kamijou Touma. Instead, his friend, Saten Ruiko had gone through a fairly strange event that ended up with her having ridiculously large, and weird, eyebrows drawn on her face in permanent marker. All because of some Esper who had a vendetta against everyone else for making fun of her own, naturally weird, eyebrows.
"Bwahahahahah!" Touma wailed, holding his sides, as he took a good look at Ruiko's face. "Y-Your eyebrows!"
"They are not funny…" She crossed her arms and frowned. Even Index couldn't suppress her giggles. "Aw, come on, not you too, Index… They don't look that funny…"
"It's not just your eyebrows, it's the story too." He managed to suppress his laughter. "'But most of all, I hate all eyebrows in the world!' I can't believe someone would actually say that."
"B-But it is true! She had the ability Dummy Check, and used it to draw eyebrows on Tokiwadai girls while being undetected!" Ruiko slammed her hands on the table. "I only got caught in it because I was wearing their uniform at the time."
"How'd you guys end up catching her anyway? That sounds like a pretty useful ability for getting away."
"She couldn't hide herself from cameras. We had Uiharu watch them as we tracked her." She smiled, proudly. "Though it was a little weird…"
"What was weird?"
"The databases said that she wasn't able to completely make herself disappear but she could." She then wondered aloud. "It makes me wonder if Level Upper is real or not…"
"What's Level Upper? And what's a database?" Index cocked her head to the side. Touma began to explain it to her, well at least what a database was, while Ruiko became lost in her thoughts.
/Scene:
Location: School District 7; Kamijou Touma's Dorm
Date: July 1st
As he lay on the floor and try to think of anything other than the girl curled up at his side. He really needed to talk to her about this sometime. He eventually settled on trying to figure out when had she become so engraved in his life. No, that was a pretty obvious question. They'd met up on June 18th, when she appeared at Ruiko's door.
To be more specific, Touma wasn't sure when exactly Index and his class got acquainted to the level they were now. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he often forgot important work at home and she had to bring it to him, or even that she locked herself out quite often and needed his key to get back in (he never asked why she left the room in the first place).
The way it happened didn't matter though, honestly. What did matter is that they all knew Index and she knew all of them, even by name though that wasn't that hard for someone with perfect memory. They also knew that she lived with Touma, he specifically remembered not only the piercing stares he got from his classmates but also the lecture he got from both Komoe-sensei and Seiri regarding the subject.
Touma remembered a time when he was supposed to keep this a secret.
But no one reported him and it never leaked outside the class.
It's as if it was still a secret, only shared by a couple dozen more people.
Location: School District 7
Date: July 5th
"Do you think it'd be scary if you actually met her?" Ruiko xz asked the rest of the girls at the table, her 'new' eyebrows having long since vanished. "The woman of urban legend, The Stripper Lady!"
"Not at all! After all, wouldn't that just make her a weird pervert?" Mikoto questioned. She didn't say it out loud but she had plenty of experience with weird perverts, especially considering said pervert was sitting next to her right now, the Level 5's hand pushing the Level 4 from getting too close.
"Then how about this story?" Kazari pulled out her laptop that she'd been carrying in her bag and placed it on the table for all to see. "Disaster strikes when the city wind turbines begin to reverse rotation."
"Don't stand between Districts at 4:44 pm!" Ruiko continued. "You'll be taken into the illusive 'imaginary number school district!'" She read the next one too. "The Level Upper tool that can increase your Level just by using it!"
"Ha, as if such a thing could exist." Despite all the evidence suggesting it did, Shirai still had a hard time believing it. And even if she did have it, physically, in her hands, she'd have to deny it exists regardless since neither Anti-Skill nor Judgment were releasing any information that they'd collected on it to the public. "You shouldn't read such pointless sites."
"We shouldn't be bothering with urban legends, regardless." Mikoto continued. "This is Academy City, after all.
"You have no sense of romance…" Ruiko lamented.
"Sometimes, rumors are just the truth that's been distorted too." Kazari added.
"And then there are times when the rumor is spot on. Like 'the man with the ability to nullify all other abilities.'" She smirked.
"I'll admit, that sounds ridiculous, even now. But I believe that my Onee-sama wouldn't lie about that gentleman's ability." Shirai crossed her arms. "Not to mention that I've seen for myself that my teleportation doesn't work on him." Mikoto nodded.
/Scene:
She was surprised when she met the person of their conversation a short while later, after finishing her browsing of manga at Green Mart. She was even more surprised, infuriated even, when he tried to leave her with a strange woman that apparently needed directions. She nearly blew a gasket when that strange woman started to strip before their very eyes.
"The Stripper Lady!? There really are true rumors!"
And upon seeing him being blamed for stripping down the strange woman and then running off, fearfully, she felt that she finally understood why he called himself misfortunate.
/Scene:
Location: School District 7
Date: July 10th
Touma sighed and looked at Mikoto. The girl's requests for a fight had been few and far between every since they achieved 'friendly' status but, every one and a while, she'd let that desire leak through. "You know, if you're still making a big deal about it, I guess I'll accept your duel." She grinned.
"You know, I've been waiting for a chance at this…" She cracked her knuckles. "Against someone who can negate my attacks, I get to go all out. That rarely happens." And though that statement unnerved him quite a bit, he'd said he would do it and so he would. He led her to a seemingly abandoned spot underneath a bridge. It looked good enough.
"We won't bother anyone else out here." Touma told her, while still wondering if this was a good idea in the first place. Though, if he actually went through with it, perhaps she would stop bugging him about it. "I'm ready whenever you are."
"You should know that I'm the one who's been waiting!" The Railgun yelled as she allowed electricity to surge around her and then shoot towards Imagine Breaker. At this point, blocking her strikes had become engraved in his memory and he do so effortlessly. "Right, that still doesn't work… You haven't gotten rusty!" She complimented him. "But let's see how you deal with something I haven't done before." She thrust her hand downwards as electricity flowed into the ground, dragging up iron sand and forming it into a blade.
"H-Hey, hold on, isn't bringing a weapon a little unfair?" Touma took a step back.
"I made this with my powers." She said while walking forward. Touma's face went into full shock when a falling leaf was chopped in two by simply falling on it. "I can make it like a chainsaw by vibrating the iron sand. You might bleed a little if it touches you!" She sprinted towards him.
"I'll do more than bleed! Aren't we supposed to be frieeeeeeeeends!" The Level 0 shouted in respond as he dodged to the left, avoiding her first strike. She quickly moved the blade horizontally but he ducked underneath and rolled away. She tried to bring the blade down on him as he was getting up but he pushed his foot off the ground at the last moment, as if he expected the attack to come, and avoided it again. Taking that chance, he ran to try and create a bigger distance between the two of them and regroup.
"If you're going to just run away then I'll just do this!" She shouted as the blade expanded and took on a more flexible shape. She swung it again and it zipped towards Touma's back. At the speed it was going, it would be on him in seconds. He could dodge it but he couldn't be sure it wouldn't simply turn and stab him in the back.
"Ah! The sword lengthened!" He stopped and spun around, sending his right fist directly into the flowing blade and it immediately dispersed. If he couldn't reliably dodge it, he just had to remove it from the equation. He shook his right hand as if it hurt and looked at Mikoto. "Jeez, you might've actually killed me with that…"
"I haven't even gotten started yet." She gave a smug smile as the iron sand gathered up into a flowing ball above his head, streams of sand still gathering up.
"You can even control iron in the wind!?" He said while looking up. "But even this," he began as it all began to shoot down at him, "will end in the same result!" He swiped his hand against it and pushed it away, the iron sand deformed and floated in the wind.
"Got you!" Mikoto laughed as she appeared on his left side and grabbed his wrist with her right hand. Acting quickly, Touma grabbed her left arm with his right hand. "Eh!?" "His reaction time is a lot better than I thought! Then again, he can deflect my lightning… Why isn't he that fast usually!?"
"I guess this is a stalemate then…" He whispered but Mikoto wasn't taking that, not anymore. She raised her foot and placed it on his chest, pushing forward and trying to separate the two. It only resulted in her forcing Touma's wrist out of her palm, however, as he tightened his grip on her arm. This sent Touma onto his back and Mikoto on top of him.
"Ah-!" She tried to quickly pick herself up but Touma wouldn't let go. She blushed before she noticed that he was prepping his left fist to punch her. She flinched on instinct and could only wonder what was going on when the attack never came. She opened her eyes to see Touma doing his best possum impression, which wasn't that good.
"Why you…" She stood up quickly, forcing her arm out of his grip, and let electricity flow around her again. "Why do you treat me like a joke!?" She screamed as electricity flowed towards Touma again, though he was quick to raise his right hand and negate it.
"A-Ah! I thought you wanted to win!" He yelled as he stumbled as he picked himself up while also crawling forward.
"Not. Like. This!" She yelled again as a lightning bolt shot down from the sky, though it was negated like the rest.
"Have we gotten back to the relationship level where you try to casually murder me!?" He screamed back at her while he ran forward. "I thought this was a friendly, safe duel but it's like you've been trying to kill me from the start!"
"Why won't you fight me seriously!?" She ran after him, chucking lightning the whole time. To Mikoto, it was a reminder of everything she hated about that idiot. But to Touma, it was a little nostalgic.
Even so, he resolved to never accept Mikoto's challenge again.
/Scene:
Location: School District 7
Date: July 12th
"Shit, shit, shit!" Those were the only thoughts going through his head as he ran. Somehow, someway, Judgment had become smarter much quicker than he expected. His powers weren't at their maximum output yet!
But still, when he had returned to his dorm, he noticed that there were Anti-Skill vans parked outside and, looking up at his floor, that his door was already open.
That meant that they knew everything about him.
He couldn't be so careless anymore.
He had to go bigger.
He had to strike quick and then leave.
Yes, he'd be able to do so and still get away with it.
Especially with the power he now held.
Location: School District 7; Seventh Mist
Date: July 16th
"How'd you manage to drag me out here again?" Touma looked over at the silver haired foreigner, who replied with a smile on her face.
"Actually, you brought me here." She reminded him. "I asked you if you would buy me some new clothes but you refused to go alone."
"Right…" He recalled how Index had complained about only having that one pair of clothes and pajamas, which he brought a while after his first two trips in order to not have a similar incident that resulted in 'the video,' as it was affectionately called in the Delta Force.
"Onii-chan, which store are we going into?" He heard the voice of his second companion today. A little girl that he'd found in the mall, who apparently wanted to buy herself some clothes as well. She'd look rather lonely so he invited her to join them.
"I don't know, honestly…" He rubbed his neck. "I don't shop much."
"Ah, Touma! You're useless!" Index whined but Touma could only grin at how much more outgoing she'd become over the month she'd spent with him.
"Yeah, yeah." He waved her off but then noticed someone out of the corner of his eye. "Hey, hold on a minute you two, I'll be right back."
Almost silently, he walked over to Tokiwadai's Ace, who seemed to be imagining herself in rather childish pajamas. "Biri Biri, what are you doing?" He asked, completely straight faced.
"W-What are you doing here!?" She hid the pajamas behind her back, though she was too late, and looked dead at Imagine Breaker.
"What? Am I not allowed to be here?" He looked to the side. "Besides, I'm only really here for them." He pointed their way and they took that as their cue to walk over.
"Onii-chan, what are you do- Oh! You're the Tokiwadai Onee-chan!" Mikoto looked at the little girl before she recognized her. A few days ago, the Level 5 had temporarily acted as a Judgment member and on one such occasion, helped this little girl find a missing item.
"Oh, you're the girl with that purse." She quickly turned her attention to Touma. "Wait, you have a sister?"
"Of course not. She was looking for a store so I'm just accompanying her there."
"Onii-chan brought me here!" She confirmed. "I want to have stylish clothes like the people on TV too!"
"Well, I already think you're stylishly cute." She rubbed the little girl's head before she noticed the other girl, the foreigner. "And you're also showing her around?"
"Uh. She's a bit more complicated but more or less."
"Touma, Touma, there's a store over there with some nice clothes!" She grabbed his hand and tried to drag him away.
"Really? Let's go then, Onii-chan!" The little girl had suddenly grabbed his other hand and was pulling him too.
"Got it, got it." He smiled at the two before looking at the Railgun one more time. "Well, I'm a little busy, so see ya."
"Later, Onee-chan! Bye bye!" The little girl waved at Mikoto as she and Index led Touma away, Mikoto could only give an awkward wave back. The three were only able to search around for about half an hour, well...
"Kamijou-san!"
"Uiharu?" Touma raised an eyebrow as the smaller Level 1 ran over to him.
"We're holding an evacuation of the entire mall! It seems like the Graviton Bomber is here right now!" Kazari held her phone in hand, which was vibrating wildly. Was this new Judgment technology..?
"O-Onii-chan, what's going on..?" The little girl to his right grabbed his hand, Index looked confused as well.
"Touma..?"
"Don't worry, you two. Judgment's going to take care of this, right?" Touma smiled at Kazari, who couldn't help but blush, though there was another strange emotion painted on her face. "Uiharu?"
She tore her eyes away from him, bending down to the little girl. Don't mention the fact that she probably didn't need to.
"Don't worry, we'll take care of everything! I promise!" The flower headband wearing girl gave the biggest smile she could and the small girl gave her own, small one.
"O-Okay, I believe you, Onee-sama.."
"ONEE-SAMA!?" Kazari could've died right then and there, her head got dizzy, her legs almost quaked but she maintained her footing. "O-O-Okay!" Her blush had gotten worse. "Please, everybody should be heading for the exit. I'm entrusting her to you, Kamijou-sama!" The Level 0 was impressed by how steady she'd made her voice.
"Alright."He nodded. "Come on." Touma took Index's hand too, the nun blushed but he didn't notice. "Stay safe, Uiharu." He called before the three of them got lost in the crowd of people trying to leave.
Kazari took a deep breath before letting out a quick squee. She really felt like a member of Judgment!
But she had more work to do, more people to find and clear out. She headed up the stairs, unaware of the man hiding underneath them.
/Scene:
The little girl ended up alone, somehow. Her hand had been ripped free from Touma's and the three had been separated from the mob somewhere along the third floor. People were rather cruel when fleeing for their life as someone had knocked the girl down and no one even attempted to help her up, causing her to be a little bit bruised and hurt since people were walking over and around her.
The entire mall was quiet now, but she was lost and alone.
"O-Onee-sama!" She called out, cupping her hands. She walked along until she found someone. For a second, she thought it was the Judgment Onee-sama she'd met before but it pretty clearly wasn't. It was a lanky boy, around 15 years of age, with a normal high school uniform on, albeit looking a lot dirtier than it should've. His glasses seemed a bit too big for his face.
"H-Hello." He called out, meekly, once he saw her. Hesitantly, she took a few steps towards him. "I-I'm lost, are you lost too?"
She slowly shook her head and the boy looked down. "Oh no.." As she got closer, she noticed an item in the boy's hand: a stuffed frog plushie. "I saw that Judgment member drop this and I wanted to give it back to her before I left."
Oh no, had she lost her toy? She remembered those times where she would lose things in her room and how much she would panic trying to find it, and that was just in her room! That Onee-sama had lost it inside of this huge mall!
"M-Maybe I can find her?" She pointed out. She didn't realize that that'd be putting herself in danger, she just wanted to help out that Judgment member.
"You would do that for me?" The boy smiled. It sent a shiver down her spine but she couldn't tell why.
"Y-Yeah! I-I want to help that Onee-sama!"
"Wow, you must be a really good kid.." He handed her the toy. "Okay, I trust you. I'll be waiting here so we can leave together, alright?"
"Okay!" She grabbed the toy and ran, speeding up in her search for Kazari. The boy ran a hand through his hair.
"Whew... It's a good thing kids are so stupid.."
/Scene:
Touma was panicking. He was moving through the crowd standing outside of Seventh Mist wildly, asking them if anyone had seen a little girl matching her description. It didn't seem like anyone had by the time he'd regrouped with Index, who was also searching.
"Index, there are going to be a lot of Anti-Skill showing up here soon, most likely. I need you to get back home right away."
"Ah, but.. What about that little girl..?" It seemed like Index had grown attached to her in the little time they'd spent together.
"Don't worry, I'll find her and match sure she's safe. I promise." He tried his best to smile but this situation left a really bad taste in his mouth. It reminded him of the last time he'd seen Otohime..
"Alright.. B-But please, Touma. You stay safe too." She begged and Touma nodded slowly.
"I'll try my best." He couldn't promise that. "Now go." She looked at him for a few moments more before running off back towards his apartment. Touma turned back to the mall and before anyone could stop him, had run back inside.
/Scene:
Location: ?
Kuroko was teleporting as fast as she could but she knew she wouldn't reach Seventh Mist in time. She was panicking, Kazari's phone came up on their map as having picked up the Graviton Bomber's AIM Field. She knew Kazari knew the proper procedure and would evacuate everyone, but she also knew the girl would stay inside until the very last moment, even if while she was the target.
Kazari was only a Level 1.
She would not survive if she got caught up in an explosion at that magnitude.
The Teleporter pulled out her Bluetooth, going through her speed dial to someone she knew was also in Seventh Mist right now. Her Onee-sama.
"Kuroko? What's up?" She heard her roommate answer.
"You're at Seventh Mist right now, right!?"
"Yeah. I'm trying my best to stay out of this even though I really want to go in and give that bomber a piece of my mind."
"I appreciate the sentiment but right now, I feel like you should! Uiharu's the target, is she out there with you!?"
"I thought as much.. No, she's.. She's still in there. Okay, Kuroko, I'm about to head in no-"
BOOM!
A large section of the mall was blown open as an explosion rocked District 7, Mikoto almost lost her balance but for a different reason.
"U-Uiharu..?" She said to no one but herself. Her eyes narrowed and her hair began sparking, shortening out her phone as well as any other phone in the general facility. Kuroko, realizing what happened and having heard the explosion even from where she was, stopped.
"N-No.. No, no, no!" She fell to her knees and was shaking. It couldn't have ended like this, it couldn't have. She pulled out her slim phone, just to check. She gasped as she realized that Kazari's phone was still giving off its signal. If her phone survived, maybe she somehow did too.
That was enough to bring her back to her feet. She couldn't think straight still and, fearful to use her ability, began running.
Her partner might still be alive.
/Scene:
A few minutes earlier.
Kazari double checked, no triple checked, the hallways and streets and was absolutely sure that no one else remained. Her phone was still vibrating, which meant the individual was still in the building. She knew she was the target. She was scared out of her mind but.. But...
This was just how she did things. She had to pull her own weight sometime, right?
Regardless, now everyone was gone and she could leave too.
"Onee-sama!"
Kazari quickly spun around and saw the little girl running towards her, a stuffed animal in her hands. She smiled at first but then, was worried.
"What are you doing back here? What happened to Kamijou-san?"
"We got separated but luckily, I ran into someone! He told me that you dropped this!" She held up the toy to Kazari. She looked at the toy strangely before she noticed its head begin to collapse in on itself.
"No!" Putting two and two together, she quickly grabbed the toy and threw it away from both of them and covered the girl with her body. She could hear the explosion and braced for impact but it never came. Instead, the sound of shattering glass resounded through the building, drowning out the sound of the explosion.
Kazari stayed like that for a little while, arms around the little girl, before she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you guys okay?" She recognized that voice..
"K-Kamijou-san..?"
"Onii-chan! Did you stop that explosion?" The little girl popped her head out from underneath the Judgment member.
"Ah, well, it wasn't exactly that but.." Touma trailed off, he couldn't find an excuse to run with."
"Thank you, Onii-chan!"
"Don't worry about it." He grinned. "I'm just happy you're both okay."
Kazari got up slowly, looking at the damage the blast had done. She could clearly see all the people she evacuated on the ground as well as... sparks of electricity? "H-Hold on, something else is happening.."
Touma walked over next to her and immediately, a chill ran down his spine. "That's Misaka.. I can tell." He wasn't sure if that was sad or not. "She knew you were here, right?"
"Yeah, we came together.. Oh no, you don't think Misaka-sama thinks that I-"
Crackle!
The crowd on the ground was starting to disperse from around her, her electricity surging around her wildly. They could clearly see that the source was one Misaka Mikoto now.
"Uiharu, we need to get down there. Now." Touma wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Do you need help walking?"
"I-I'm fine, really! I'm not injured at all." She was fighting the rush of blood to her face. How inappropriate, to be this flustered when Mikoto needed her. "We need to hurry!"
/Scene:
Mikoto turned around, eyeing everyone in the crowd silently. The electricity wrapped around her somewhat small body, while some spiked off of her, almost looking like wings behind her. She stopped as she watched someone run into an alleyway, looking behind him as he did.
Her eyes focused on that one spot as she magnetized herself, zipping after him. The glasses that were too big on him boy heard her follow, looking behind him and yelping. "T-The Third of the Seven!?" What rotten luck!
He pulled a can out of his bag, activating his ability-
It was gone. The can was gone. He hadn't been able to see what had happened. Had that been the Railgun? Was it something else?
Worst of all, if he couldn't even see that attack. If she had wanted to, his head would instantly be removed from his shoulders.
"Get back here!" Electricity spread from her, encasing him. The bomber screamed as the electricity danced across his body and he collapsed to his knees, his bag hitting the ground.
"S-Stoooooop!" He yelled out but Mikoto kept going. She wanted to stop, she really did, but there was something inside her forcing her to go on. Some emotion that she could only describe as similar to rage filled her being. She could no longer control her movements, her ability, her anything
She was screaming inside her head, begging for herself to stop before the familiar sound of shattering glass filled her ears and she fell to the ground, her body feeling sore and heavy for some reason.
"K-Kamijou.." She muttered, she could tell it was him.
"Are you alright, Misaka? What happened?" He knelt down to her, flipping her over and checking her forehead. She had a fever, a really bad one.
"U-Uiharu.."
"I'm right here, Misaka-sama.." The small girl walked into her view.
"A-Ah.." She faced Touma. "You just... have to save... everyone.." She closed her eyes.
"I-Is she?"
"No, she's still breathing. I think she's just exhausted." "Of course she is, especially if I saw what I think I saw.."
"Uiharu! Onee-sama!" The Teleporter finally appeared, in-between the probably unconscious Graviton Bomber and the group.
"Shirai-san!" Kazari called out and smiled. "You're here!"
"Onee-sama!?" She completely ignored her partner for the time being, leaning over Mikoto. "What happened!?"
"Don't worry, she's okay. Just... exhausted." Touma wasn't really sure how to really explain it. "We should take her to a hospital."
"Right. And I'm assuming that's the bomber over there." She turned her head to get a good look at him.
"Yeah, I think so."
"I'll tell Anti-Skill before I leave then. But first..." Kazari suddenly felt a dark presence, and she was frozen in place. Her partner teleported behind her before grinding her fists into the Level 1's head.
"Aaaaah, Shirai-san, what are you doing!?"
"How could you act so reckless!? Onee-sama's condition right now is because of you, apologize! Apologiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiizeeeeee!"
/Scene:
After giving the Graviton Bomber to Anti-Skill, Kuroko teleported her and Mikoto to the nearest hospital. Kazari, in the meanwhile, was now alone with Kamijou Touma.
He was able to start heading back to his dormitory, to check on Index, before he felt a hand grasp his wrist.
"Hold on, Kamijou-sama.."
"Hmm?" He turned to face her. "Did you need something?"
"Y-Yeah, I.." She immediately looked down. Why couldn't she look at his face anymore? All she could see was those articles and she was fighting back tears even then.
"U-Uiharu, are you okay?" He was clearly worried.
"Y-Yes!" She yelped. "I just wanted to thank you again!"
"Oh, well, come on." He rubbed the back of his neck. "It's no big deal." That seemed to be his consistent reaction to people giving thanks. "Actually, do you think you can do me a favor?"
"Y-Yes, anything!"
"The little girl I was with, I left her with Anti-Skill. I want you to make sure she gets home okay."
"Oh, sure! I-I can do that!" She gave her best smile. Touma nodded and gave her thanks.
"Now, I'm sorry but I've really got to run! I'll see you around, Uiharu!" He waved at her as he bolted off at speeds she didn't expect. With all the fighting he got into, it made sense that he was physically fit, in hindsight.
Kazari let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding. She.. She really couldn't talk to Touma anymore. What was she going to do..?
/Scene:
Location: School District 7; Kamijou Touma's Dorm
Index froze. She couldn't believe it. After so long, why did they have to find her? Why couldn't she have been free? She was really starting to like it here…
"Why, hello there." The tall man, no, priest spoke, though his voice sounded nothing like what you would expect. He had a cigarette in his mouth and worth a long, black priest's robes. "It's been a while, eh? I'd have been here sooner but I ran into some unexpected trouble."
Index took a step back. Perhaps she could make a break for it and run to the elevator.
"Ah, you took off your Walking Church. That's why we couldn't track you." He smiled as if he had found the answer to a question that had been plaguing him for weeks. "But where'd you get rid of it? Ah, no matter. We'll just get you a new one, right?"
She took another step back. Just a little further. "Wait, if they couldn't track me, how'd they know to go to Touma's dorm…?" It suddenly dawned on her that they knew everything. They knew who had sheltered her, they knew where she'd lived, they might've even known about his friends and classmates, and they probably knew about Touma's mysterious Right Hand too. It was over. She couldn't flee because that would only endanger them.
She knew she shouldn't have accepted their kindness from the start.
"We can wait until your caretaker returns, if that's okay. I'd like to meet this 'Kamijou Touma'." Aleister had told him many interesting things about the boy, he wanted to see if the Esper was really as impressive as he was told. Also.. he was curious about his ability, which the General Superintendent took great care to avoid mentioning.
"What if I run?" She asked, fully knowing the answer to that question.
"Then Kamijou Touma and every single one of his classmates will be hunted." He said as if he was talking about something simple, like the weather. It truly sent a chill down Index's spine. "So be a good girl and wait. I'm not asking for much."
They stood and waited, the tension between them could clearly be felt even inside the rooms, which is why no one dared come out. They waited there until an elevator jingle and she could feel tears begin to form in his eyes.
Kamijou Touma came around the corner and froze.
"Who is…?"
"Hello there, boy. I'm Stiyl Magnus. But you can call me Fortis931."
Author's Note: This chapter ended up a lot longer than I originally planned but I'm okay with that, and I'd think you all would be too. Like, holy crap, how did I even do this!? Looking back, I did put a lot of things in here so I don't know how I thought it wouldn't be this big. Well, from the beginning, a lot of these scenes weren't planned inside. For example, Kamijou's talk with Komoe wasn't originally there. But I saw an opportunity to put it there, and perhaps foreshadow a bit of what happened in Touma's past, and took it.
But wow, I sort of feel like the jump in length is a bit too much, you get what I mean?
I hope no one minds that I jumped around with the other Level Upper users, and with parts of Railgun in general. I just felt that they weren't really story important, and also the scenes would be pretty much unchanged from what you've already seen in the anime/manga. Albeit, the existence of Level Upper would've been known just a little bit earlier. Just seemed like a waste of space, you know? I still wanted to acknowledge that they happened within the story though.
I think those scenes are what really brought out the chapter's length regardless. Especially the final part with the Graviton Bomber. Originally, it was going to be in the next chapter, as well as the ending with Stiyl as well as the fight, but I thought a cliffhanger was more fun.
Fun fact: The beta name for this chapter was 'Kami-yan disease.' Because, if you hadn't noticed, a lot of the beginning of the chapter had to do with it spreading. But alas, it is only the beginning and our poor Kamijou-san is none the wiser. Back on topic, as the chapter moved on, it 'focused' on it less and less so I thought that the name didn't suit it as much and changed it to what it is now.
Oh yeah, more fun facts. For people too lazy to figure out what day is which date, here's a little chart.
June 30th is a Friday
July 1st is a Saturday
July 5th is a Wednesday
July 10th is a Monday
July 12 is a Wednesday
And finally, July 16th is a Sunday
And yes, you're thinking right, we're nearing the date of the beginning of the core series. July 19th, to be exact.