Hey y'all, hey y'all: the name's Fantasina, or Fanta, for short! Here's something that came out of nowhere. Not much else to talk about here, so, anyhow, here's the story: and to not waste too much of your time. I'll talk down below, in a space that I have dubbed as Fantasinia Theater, that is located at the end of the chapter~.
-Contra Spem Spero-
To Aru Majutsu no Index - Vice Versa
Arc 1 - The Misfortunate Bunch, The Lucky Few [Part 1]
Date of Chapter Completion - 11/11/2022
Willingness to Post Chapter - 11/23/2022
Notes:
- Even if there is no need to do this in this day and age, I own nothing here. The only thing I own is my idea, in which you are reading right now. Heh!
- I would've like to mention that a crap-ton of ToAru fics (ACUL [A Certain Unknown Level Zero], ACIP [A Certain Infinite Possibility], ACSA [A Certain Strange Addition], PPC [Painted Prison Chronicles], and all of WwEpsilonwW's ToAru stories) is what caused me to have this story idea in the first place. That, and having the time to read all of the spin-off Manga from Accel's (both the idol one and the one that got an anime), Mikoto's, Kakine's, Junko's, and even Misaki's.
- To let it be known... I'm going to be using the name format of "first name, last name" and not the name format of "last name, first name". Will still use japanese suffixes because I can, though.
- From what I've gathered, there is very little that says exactly what Touma and Index did until the Deep Blood Arc rolled across on August 8th. Thus, I decided to make this fanfic based on things based on that unknown timeframe, which soon evolved into an A.U fanfic like ACIP and ACSA for example!
- If this story ever has any reviews, I might put the more interesting ones here and give my own replies to them. Heh!
End of Notes
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Part 1
Welcome, transparent boy, to the life of Touma Kamijou.
Part 2
"Thank you for the meal, Touma!"
Today's August 1st, twelve noon. A certain boy has been released from a certain hospital and has returned to his dorm that he lives in with Index apparently, and was promptly compelled to start cooking once Index (loudly) told him that she was starving as they were walking back to his dorm.
So, with the limited supplies in his refrigerator and skills in making meals on a poor man's budget (that his brain, apparently, had), a Transparent Boy thought he would be able to satisfy the hungry nun known as Index and make her stomach feel full!
... That was a mistake.
'How can such a petite-looking nun hold so much food in her body...?' Wondered the boy in his head as he watched the green-eyed, silver-haired nun with safety pins all over her extravagant habit devour what he'd cooked from her with as much ease as he would've with drinking a glass of cool, refreshing water. And, honestly, it made him curious on what the relationship between Touma Kamijou and Index Librorum Prohibitorum was, and if he'd arrange things this way.
'Were they close? Index did say that she loved Touma Kamijou when they met in the hosptial, so maybe...' It was such a misfortune for him to not know this.
Although, the Transparent Boy did have half a thought that it was a bit weird to think this way. For an ordinary person, they would think that the Transparent Boy and Touma Kamijou would know each other very well - more than friends, more than family, more than anybody else in the world.
They are the same person, after all.
Not in the sense that the Transparent Boy is a clone of Touma Kamijou or in the metaphorical sense of "them being alike". The Transparent Boy is, in the physical sense, the one and only Touma Kamijou, no doubt or what ifs about it, and the issue here is...
Because the Transparent Boy-no, Touma Kamijou lost his memories on July 28th.
To save the smile of a single girl, or so he was told. And every fiber of his being had the sentiment that such a thing wasn't a mistake, and he would do it again if he had to. Illogical as it may be; this Kamijou-san had the past Kamijou-san in his heart, and nothing could ever make him think otherwise, as-
"Touma, why aren't you eating?"
The silver-haired nun suddenly speaks up, breaking his train of thought, and looking at him with a slight amount of puzzlement in her eyes as he sat across her on the table yet hasn't started eating anything that he'd made.
"Um, well, this Kamijou-san was ju- Wait, Index... Did you eat all of the food that I made while this Kamijou-san was having a deep and meaningful monologue in his head!"
"WAH-Th-the food was to-oo good, Touma!" Index frantically yelled as he started shaking her roughly by her shoulders, "You-you shouldn't ha-have been staring offf into space, stupid Touma!"
Unable to withstand the shaking anymore, Index, with her shining teeth, took action. As if his life was flashing before his eyes, Touma's mind recalled what had happened once his heart decided that he should lie to Index about his memory lost to dispel her tears. Specifically, he remembered the yelling... the pain... the teeth- and he had but a moment left as Index rocketed towards his head like a heat-seeking missile; he only had one thing he could say.
"Such Mi- GAH, SUCH MISFORTUNE!"
Touma painfully cried out in reflex, once his body registered the sensation of a human's teeth biting his head. Because of the pain, Touma waved around his arms uselessly in a vain attempt to pry Index off his head.
.
..
...!
"Sorry, sorry, this Kamijou-san shouldn't have shook you too hard."
A repentant-looking (read: wanting-to-get-this-over-with-looking) Touma was on his knees, asking for forgiveness, in front of a stern-looking (read: red-faced) Index with her arms crossed over her chest.
Which looked flat as a board, and Touma would bet his right hand on them ever getting big... No- don't, pursue that line of thinking, me. Only misfortune awaits there. Touma thought in passing.
"... I feel like you are having thoughts about me, Touma. Thoughts that I wouldn't like if I found out what exactly you are thinking."
Index threatened with a wide smile, her teeth shining brightly as she did. Understandably, those weapons of hers are causing poor old Touma to sweat in fear.
"No, no, Index-san, nothing like that at all!"
It was like he was in a tense life-and-death stand-off. Every action could lead to a painful end. Thus, Touma Kamijou needed to do something completely unexpected to stand a chance!
"INDEX! LET'S GO OUTSIDE! I NEED TO BUY MORE INGREDIENTS TO COOK, AND I CAN BUY SOMETHING FOR YOU TO EAT AS WELL! C'MON LET'S GO! THIS KAMIJOU-SAN WALLET CAN HANDLE THE STRESS!"
And, after careful consideration (read: half-a-second of thinking), he unleashed his ultimate and surefire method to pacify Index - taking her outside to eat and getting ingredients so he could cook something for her.
A win-win!
Index's response?
Complete silence. It was like Index and him were in a bubble that only housed the both of them, and then- HUG! Index went and hugged Touma's head, pressing him against her flat stomach. +1 in the affection matter for Index, Touma supposes. "That's a wonderful idea, Touma! I seen plenty of places with wonderful smells and tasty-looking food, so we can have a meal in each one! I even have a few things in my head that I want you to cook here! Let's go, let's go!"
Heh, score one for Kamijou-san, Touma thinks.
"Okay, glad to hear it, Index," Touma finally says, wiggling himself out of Index's hug and standing up on his own two feet all-the-while. "Whatever you want, I'll get it; it's my treat."
Surely, this won't lead to any misfortune, Touma again thinks.
Even if this is hopelessly naive thinking, he can't stop himself from thinking this way.
Because, because... The joyful smile on the sliver nun's face was more than enough for him to deal with any-and-all misfortune that may come his way, Touma Kamijou concludes with utmost finality. 'Kamijou Touma, is this why you protected Index with all of your might and saved her at the cost of yourself? Because of her smile that you wanted to protect this precious smile of hers? Was it worth it to you?'
His mind couldn't remember. His right hand couldn't conjure up the dead to ask the dead. His non-existent Esper power couldn't help with this matter, yet...
Yet, Touma's heart replied to his question with a resounding yes. An answer that the transparent boy now known as Touma Kamijou could get behind and protect with all of his might.
"..."
In order to honor the feelings of Kamijou Touma, the transparent boy gathered his resolve to try his best to be the Kamijou Touma that left this world; that was the best he could do for the sake of his past self and the sliver nun in front of him that happily skipped her way out of his dorm.
For this is the way for this Touma Kamijou.
Part 3
"This looks good, Touma!"
The first purchase was a bento, meant to be shared with two people, i.e, it was a meal designed for a couple to share with each other. He thought Index had a weird idea in her heart as he bought it for her after she told him to buy it, but no, Index devoured it at a rate that would make competitive eaters green with envy.
"Ooh, I want to try this!"
The second purchase was a large drink meant to be shared by a couple via one of those double-mouthed straws. Again, Touma's teenaged heart, fueled by the fantasy of getting a girlfriend, perked up, but no, Index had casually swallowed the drink's contents within two minutes
"Let's have some of this!"
The first purchase was two ice creams in a cone, and... No, actually. Index asked him to buy those two items so that they could eat them with each other - which was nice for a few minutes until Index decided that she wanted her ice cream to be over-the-top in terms of size, which made the price of the ice cream skyrocket from what he had been expecting.
Really, as odd as it sounds, Touma Kamijou had to thank the fact that he had parents that were loving and sending him an allowance; even if it was slowly being devoured by a gluttonous nun, so...
"... Index..." Slowly, Touma spoke up in a resolved tone; while Index was a person nearest-and-dearest to his heart, on the basis that besides his his dorm neighbor, Motoharu Tsuchimikado (and his sister) and that frog-faced doctor (and all of the other people at the hospital who knew him), Index has been the only person he'd been interacting with for an extended period of time, even he knew that there are limits.
"Hmph? To-hm-uma?"
"... Don't you think this is enough for your stomach!?" Touma half-yelled, half-asked as Index attempted to drag them to another place to eat, the ordinary boy that you could find anywhere hoped Index's stomach had reached its limit, but alas...
"Huh, but I thought we were just getting light snacks?" The sliver-haired nun questioned while wondering how Touma could possibly think that she had enough food to satisfy the black hole that was called her stomach.
"... Such misfortune."
On an unrelated note, Touma wondered how many times that Kamijou Touma had uttered that phase to the point that even his body's muscle memory had accepted such words as a normal thing and something he should say on a daily basis.
... and that the people around Kamijou Touma expected him to say such a line whenever a misfortunate thing happened to him.
Seriously, what the heck was the life that Kamijou Touma lived before he had to take his place?!
Shaking his head, Touma knocked himself out of the skies and refocused back on Index.
"Ind- Wait! Index!? Where did you go!? DON'T TELL ME THAT INDEX LEFT THIS KAMIJOU-SAN ALONE BECAUSE HE THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD TIME FOR AN ENTIRE MONOLOGUE, YOU GLUTTONOUS NUN!"
Running like a bat out of hell at the direction where he last saw Index, Touma Kamijou swore he would give that sliver nun a piece of his mind when he finds her.
Once they get back to his dorm, of course.
Touma's declaration caught the attention of shocked passersby, who, once they got over their shock, looked at him like he was an idiot that didn't know how to uphold himself to common manners. Which gave Touma a bit of a hint of how people would look at him when he scolds Index outside.
Worse than that, if he scolds Index outside, he might embarrass her so much that she decides that she has to bite his head in retaliation or something.
'Please be reasonable when I find you, Index.' Touma though-
.
..
...
"...!?"
Suddenly, Touma Kamijou made a sudden stop and looked around in his general surroundings.
He couldn't say why exactly, but his instincts were yelling at him that something was off as if something or someone was watching him.
He could only spare a few more moments of looking around (and finding nothing) before he took off running to find Index.
Perhaps, he was hoping that his instincts were wrong or he was hoping that he could lose whoever was watching him.
Probably both, to be honest...
"Please just let it be this Kamijou-san's overactive imagination- he doesn't need anymore misfortune for today!"
Part 4
And of course, life refused Touma's request...
"Tch..."
A lone man went out as he watched the spiky-haired boy run.
He had dyed green that was neatly combed and held a stern-looking and very distinguished face that made him look older than his actual age. His attire didn't help, however. The aura that he had when he wore his striking white suit, his blue dress-suit, and light-pinkish tie made him seem mature and more put together than most eighteen year olds in this world. Or perhaps, this was his attempt to hide the immaturity he's in his heart; which was the second reason why he even decided to take a step in this bastion of science that didn't look kindly to people like him.
The first, and most important, reason is to return the smile Index Librorum Prohibitorum held so long ago, so swore Aureolus Izzard.
He didn't expect this event to happen at all, for him to happen across Index while he was scoping out the city in order to prepare for his attempt to raid Misawa Cram School to take hold of Deep Blood...
'This must be fate!'
The alchemist thought to himself.
That was the only explanation his mind could come up with. His plan for Ars Magna wasn't even achieved yet nor does he have the important Deep Blood. But with Index by his side, he could, he could...!
"This time... I'm going to protect your smile, Index." Aureolus spoke to nobody but himself as he trailed behind that spiky-haired boy that was with Index. He didn't seem a magician as he was obviously dyed by the colors of science, Aureolus figured that Index had somehow had that boy be her caretaker to shield herself from the church's grasp or something along those lines.
Aureolus didn't pay that boy much worth.
At best, the boy kept Index safe and comfortable until he came along to save her; he'll try to make the boy see reason and make an attempt to not harm him too much if he doesn't, to not make Index cry.
At worst, he is keeping Index hostage for his own ends; in which case, he'll dye his hands red with that boy's blood in order to save the precious smile of that silver nun.
Who knows maybe that spiky-haired boy would make for a good assistant-slash-lab rat if Index wants to keep him around, Aureolus thought.
Aureolus could entertain such thoughts as he felt that the world was going his way, no buts about it.
Aureolus was confident he could deal with Misawa Cram School with ease - no, he was certain that he could take over the entire school within half-a-day at most. He believed that he could win Index to his side, she surely would be able to after he tells her about the times that they had before it was cruelly taken away. He was certain that the church wouldn't discover his plans until it was too late and that he had gained enough power to deal with all the twenty saints in the world fighting against him with the upmost ease.
And with the only obstacle in his way is a seemingly harmless spiky-haired boy, it wasn't wrong for Aureolus Izzard to think this way.
'This time, even if you just have to wait a little bit longer, I swear... I'm going to save you, Index Librorum Prohibitorum; no matter what stands in my way.'
What could possibly go wrong for him?
Part 5
The boy who saved the girl but lost everything in exchange for saving that girl.
The boy who lost the girl and decided to sacrifice everything for the sake of that girl.
And the boy who has to take on the shoes of another in order to protect that girl's smile.
Who will win?
Who will lose?
Who will have their illusions broken?
Will it be the green-haired Alchemist or will it be the spiky-haired Level Zero?
And the most important thing of all... Will he be saved?
Part 6
"-and that's why my Walking Church looks this way..."
Index said with embarrassment in her voice, her cheeks dyed red as she cursed her past self for letting Touma's right hand touch her habit and not just stabbing it as she intended.
It was a bit of a bother on how she got to this situation since Touma had been so preoccupied with his thoughts lately that it made him so slow, but Index supposes that she can tolerate Touma's behavior for now since he'd gotten her some decent things to eat. Plus this is what allowed her to meet the person before her that'd thought she looked lost and decided to strike a conversation with her- before something happened to take away their spirits, and Index had to step up by engaging with her until she perked up. She seemed nice and was willing to buy food for her after she ran out of non-embarrassing things to talk about and said she would only talk about her outfit after she buys her some food, so the silver nun considered this a blessing.
This chance encounter also gave her a chance to make her first friend in Academy City. So that's another blessing, right there, Index thinks.
"Um... Ignoring the bits and pieces regarding magic, Index-san, I'm pretty sure that stripping someone naked is a crime."
"Of course, I know that! I made Touma pay for it by biting him all-over!"
"Is biting a fetish of yours? ... Scratch that, why did you even touch that boy touch you after he explicitly stated what his hand could do?" Index's companion mumbled under their breath, the sliver nun still didn't know what fetish meant (as her only encounter with the word came from Touma), but she figured it was nothing serious and ignored it and focused on the other thing they said.
"Because Touma had the audacity to say that his right hand could affect the blessing of God; as a nun-in-training, I felt it was my duty to prove him wrong!" That line earned a head-tilt and a whispered line from her companion that basically stated that she thought she was just a weird cosplayer and not an actual nun.
Of course, like the last thing she said, Index ignored it because, even if her if her black-haired pig-tailed female companion was ignorant about magic, she found herself enjoying her company. The nun also easily noticed that her companion was also enjoying her company - even if she said things that were complete nonsense to her ears.
'Why is this godless city making the young so ignorant of God and filling their head with weird ideas about God and the holy bible?'
Like say... What the people in this city think angels look like, judging by what Touma and Komoe's words about them, for example.
However, with her first friend in Academy City Index felt that she'd gotten the chance to correct misunderstandings and act as the nun(-in-training) she is! She just needs to clear the first obstacle of convincing her friend, which she knows is something going to be slow but she won't give up on hope.
After all, the Anglican Nun side of her won't let her give up!
"Index, Index...! You there? I want to hear more about your story!"
... Maybe later, though. The sliver-haired nun figures it wouldn't be a sin to enjoy time with a friend.
"Sure thing, Rakko!"
Honestly, she did not know how things would turn out this way.
She only came across Index Librorum Prohibitorum while walking down the street in a bid to attract the attention of some classmates of her that were nearby in hopes seeing her talk with the strange cosplayer might entice them to come over and join her, so that she could jump start her popular phase - they didn't, of course.
Thankfully, Index noticed her plight and stepped up.
"So after I figured out that electric Agathion wasn't the one who stole my hood, I figured I left it at Touma's place and-"
Sure, Index kept talking about stuff that made the school girl strongly consider that she was a cosplaying level 0 with a strong case of chunibyo but that didn't mean she was bad company; it was fun, in its own way, to hear the girl speak so passionately of things that don't exist in real life.
'Maybe, when I get the chance to exchange numbers with Index, I can check out where she is living and make sure that Touma Kamijou guy is on the up-and-up, after all, isn't that what a friend should be?'
In the depths of the girl's mind, she was sure that this wouldn't be her last encounter with Index; a girl meets girl who is isn't like anybody else and that passionately talks about stuff that could only be conjured up in a chunibyo's mind is like a plot of a light novel and is surely a sign that her life is going to change!
Hell, she was told that there wouldn't be any jobs for her until the 9th, so there were going to be no interruptions from her work! Her younger sister had even sent her a list of popular places for friends to hang out yesterday, so she isn't short on places to hang out with Index either.
All and all, things are looking up for one fortunate girl named Rakko Yumiya!
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The End - Fantasina Theater Time
Well, that's that... It isn't the best piece of fanfic in the world, but I do hope that any readers had a decent time with reading this. Personally, my main inspiration for this piece was the idea of making something that could explore the relationship between Touma and Index while giving characters that didn't have much screentime a chance to shine.
Then, the idea of Touma saving the people he couldn't save and meeting people that he hadn't met in canon came to me - and then more ideas came and came, until we have his story here.
Also... As obvious as it may be, the next chapter will be my first fight scene. Won't promise that it'll be good or anything but I'll try my best to make it somewhat decent. And to make it clear, Aureolus won't have Ars Magna and will be using other things to fight.
And that is the only thing I'll say about the next chapter. Ha!
Follows, favorites, and reviews will be loved and appreciated by me and all of that jazz, but, don't feel pressured to do so, heh.
On a side note, this Fanta wants to say that I hope to see you all again, soon, and so... Bye, have a great time!