Chapter 1 Where we stand
Ryusuke Isha. 15. Attending high school. Level 3. Average grades and currently bored out of my mind. Sipping my nearly finished soda before tossing it in front of a trash cleaning robot I wandered the city with nothing in particular to do. Because of my scholarship, I thankfully did not have to pay for my school fees, unfortunately, my grades were not high enough to get into a one of the better schools.
Why work hard when you've got nowhere to go anyway?
While walking down the street feeling a few AIM fields I quickly quelled the temptation to pick one of them and start fooling around. People tend to freak when you suddenly start using their ability. Compounded by the fact that I don't actually know how to use it... Had some really disastrous effects the last time I tried. Abilities had to be learned from scratch, it's like trying to run when I hadn't even started crawling.
Hearing a large amount of footsteps coming my way, I turned my head just in time to see a familiar uniform dash by while being chased by a gang of thugs.
"Fukouda!" the boy in the uniform screamed instantly identifying him as one of my schoolmates Kamijou Touma. Judging by the looks of it, he probably tried to help someone again and ended up pissing off the gang.
"Touma-san?" I called out, inadvertently catching the attention of half the mob.
"Hey! This kid knows him! Forget chasing that rat! Maybe he knows where that brat lives!"
Oh boy... Way to go.
"Uhh, I'm sorry guys I only know what class he's in. As for his address..."
"Shut up and tell us where he lives!" one of the thugs yelled giving me a punch across the face.
Hitting the floor and tasting blood, I coughed before getting up, thankfully one of my abilities lessening the full force of the impact, otherwise I would have lost a few teeth for sure.
"I seriously don't... Huh?" I gasped, detecting electricity in my AIM field.
An electric user? Turning around to find the source, I saw a girl with brown hair clipped behind her ear on one side walking... No... Strutting over.
I've felt my fair share of AIM fields, level four AIM fields feel like I'm swimming in air but hers... It makes me feel like I'm drowning in it... This girl... That uniform's from Tokiwadai! The Railgun?
"That's about enough from you!" she said dangerously, standing between me and the dweebs.
As much as I hate being protected by girls and feeling ashamed from the role reversal, I know that this girl.. She can fry me to a crisp if I even touch her. Apparently my fear wasn't telegraphed to the rest of the morons.
"Hey ojou-chan, we're not interested in you anymore, so just run along..." The rest of the guy's sentence was cut short as he was electrocuted via the hand he had on her shoulder.
Note to self, never touch an electromaster.
The rest of the thugs finally understood the danger they were in and turned to run but it was too late.
They all became... Extra crispy.
Looking back at me and sizing me up for a second before huffing a strand of hair out of her face, the Railgun simply walked off leaving me behind, surrounded by bodies.
Following her to the bridge, I hid behind the supports and could only hear small bits of their conversation until she brought her hand to her head and let loose a lance of electricity that was negated by Touma's right hand.
That hand, just blocked a shot from a level 5, how is he still a level 0?
Shaking her head at the negation, the Railgun pulled out an arcade coin and demonstrated her trademark technique, shooting a Railgun right past Touma's face.
After shooting several more million volt attacks at Touma, Misaka's face flushed an angry red as she called a lightning bolt down from the clouds above, causing a massive blackout over 80% of the city.
I think I've seen enough for one night.
Trying to sneak off before either of them saw me, Misaka caught me trying to sneak off and sent a bolt of lightning in my direction, negated by my right hand, clearly a borrowed ability from Touma.
Watching Touma run off from behind , I sighed as he disappeared, my only way of protecting myself from Misaka gone, "So you were watching us the whole time? Who are you and why are you following me?" Misaka asked, glaring at me.
"I'm Ryusuke Isha, I'm a friend of Touma's." I replied, shaking slightly.
Please don't fry me please don't fry me...
"Why were you following me."
"I just wanted to stop the thugs from chasing him, after you two started fighting I was afraid to leave after all the lightning started flying everywhere."
A lie, but still I hope she buys it.
"So you're a friend of that disaster huh? Explain to me, why you have the same ability as him!" Misaka yelled, shooting another bolt straight at me.
Oh shit, I'm totally screwed this time.
Bringing up my hands while bracing myself, I prepared to take the full brunt of the attack when it hit my arms and simply fizzled out.
"Huh?" I gasped, looking at arms just as surprised as Misaka.
"No way, he's supposed to be the only disaster. How can you have the same ability as him?" Misaka yelled, shooting another bolt from her head, this one a lot faster than the last one.
Taking the attack in the chest and feeling the feedback through my body, I blinked a few times, unsure of how I came out unscathed.
"That was... Not negated... What are you?" Misaka cried, eyes wide in fear as she took a step back.
"Touma was right. You really have bad luck." I said, smirking my hand sparking as I tried to ionize my hand.
"Y-your an electromaster too?"
"Not exactly." I said, trying to shoot the electricity in my hand, it fizzing and sparking as I failed spectacularly.
Apparently I can copy her passive immunity to electricity but actually using her ability would take a lot more practice. Her confidence returning after my failed attack, I sensed another buildup of electricity in her forehead.
Time to go.
Turning around and running for my life, Misaka started to give chase, firing lightning bolts and screaming at me to stop.
If Touma has to put up with this on a daily basis, man do I feel sorry for him.
Waking up the next morning in a room without air conditioning, I sighed as I checked the clock, 8am. I only got 4 hours of sleep after running from Academy City's number 3 into the wee hours of the morning. That middle schooling Pikachu had short circuited the insides of practically every appliance in my apartment except the battery operated ones. Now I have to get new ones...
What an awesome way to start the holidays.
Maybe I'll pay Touma a visit, I still have to return the manga I owe him anyway.
Walking a few blocks down to his dormitory, I knocked and opened the door waving as I entered the room, "Yo Touma-san, how are your holidays?"
Stopping short at the sight that was in front of me, Touma was cringing in front of what looked like a foreign girl who was wearing a nun's habit. The nun wearing nothing BUT the habit, her torn clothing falling to the floor.
"Ooook, Touma-san, I had no idea you were into this sort of thing so I'll just leave the manga here and..."
Looking up to see Touma and a naked nun start running towards me, I blinked a few times before running away as well. The nun only making it to the door before remembering her state of dress, Kamijou continuing out the door and down the stairs after me. Touma being the faster runner, caught me as I reached the ground floor.
"I can explain!" he panted, not releasing me.
"No need to Touma-san. You're into nuns, I get it, sorry for intruding on your happy time."
"That's not how it is!"
"Man Touma-san, couldn't you wait a few years? That girl isn't even 16 and your corrupting her already."
"As I said, let me explain!"
"Fine fine, you know I'm only kidding right?"
A long explanation about his hand the Imagine Breaker, the nun and her insistence on magic existing, how his hand broke her outfit the Walking Church later, I nodded and wished him luck in taking care of that girl. As I headed for a nearby convenience store.
Magic, I know Touma wouldn't lie about something like this but magic? That's stretching the truth a bit far isn't it? This is Academy City, the only place where everything natural or supernatural can be explained by Science. To talk about magic so freely...
Walking by a girl reading manga from the rack I shook my head as I recognized the uniform. Tokiwadai.
To think some ojou-samas would actually do this...
Stopping in my tracks as I felt a pair of eyes on me, I slowly turned my head and looked into the store, the look on my face akin to a deer caught in the headlights, that Tokiwadai girl was staring at me, Tokiwadai's Railgun that is.
To those of you out there who have tried running from a girl who controls a billion volts, I feel your pain, to those who haven't, feel mine!
"Eh you! Stop running!" Misaka screams, dropping the manga and dashing out the store after me.
"Like hell! You'll just shoot more electricity at me!"
Dodging to the left just as a lightning bolt made it's way through the spot my body was a second ago, I quickly turned around so as to reduce the chance of me being hit from behind, the chances of me surviving an attack from the front were decent, from the back... No way in hell.
"Finally fighting me seriously are you?" Misaka jeered, sparks appearing all over her.
"Geez what's it with girls from Tokiwadai and fighting? Is that all you people think about?"
"I'm chasing you to find about your absurd ability! Not just to..."
"Just to? You want to find out about my ability AND fight right? Right?"
"Alright I admit it I want to fight you too ok?"
"That's more like it." I said smirking, leading Misaka away to a grassy area.
Gazing around at the scorch marks here and there, I looked to Misaka as she anxiously shifted her weight between both feet and avoiding eye contact. Don't tell me she's brought someone here to fight before.
"So... What have you found out from the Bank?" I asked, nodding at the uneasy Electromaster.
"E-Eh? Uhh, you're a level 2 according to the Bank, your ability is Proximity Trace."
"Uh huh, anything else?"
"You copy abilities by mimicking the AIM field of other Espers once the you are out of the AIM field's range, you lose the ability."
"So you were able to read the tags in the bank as well huh? Those notes were researcher level clearance."
"D-don't underestimate me!" Misaka yelled, sparks starting to crackle around her."
"Misaka Mikoto, Electromaster, Level 5. Nicknamed the Railgun after her signature move where she fires a coin at 3 times the sound, due to air resistance, the coin melts after 50 meters. Controls nearly a billion volts of electricity and is proficient in using her electricity to influence ferrous materials using magnetism."
"You hacked the Bank too?"
"Learned it from you, I have your AIM field memorised and your Personal Reality adapted to mine remember?" I replied, smirking again as she started looking around frantically from the revelation.
"Tell me Misaka, are there any Espers that can control water nearby?"
"We're alone, aren't we?"
"Correct, yet I can do this!" I yelled waving a hand in a fluid motion, gathering a small amount of water from the river before flinging it at Misaka, splashing her in the face.
"Hey!" she yelled, wiping her face, "What did you do that for? Wait, how did you do that?"
"Can you keep a secret?"
"Why?"
"Answer the question. Can I trust you..?"
"Yes, but what are you on about?"
"My ability, does not forget other abilities that I've traced. But, my control over the ability is akin to a Level 1."
"So... That means..."
"Yep, by fighting you I will learn to control my abilities better, combat is the best way to advance an ability after all is it not? Too bad they forbid it in schools, can't have kids going home injured or crippled."
"So you're... Using me?"
"No! Of course not! I mean, you have never fought an ability like mine, all my abilities are only Level 1 or Level 2 so the way I see it, we're both gaining something out of it."
"If you're going to say it that way... Here I come!" Misaka yelled, shooting a bolt out of her forehead forcing me to dodge and roll out of the way or get hit.
"Even if you say it that way... I won't make this easy for you!"
Swinging my hand to splash more water at Misaka, I quickly assessed my options from the abilities I could use. I could replicate hundreds of abilities, but each of these abilities were obtained by being in range of the person's AIM field. I have no idea how to control the ability, nor was I confident in using it. Settling for copying the ability that was right in front of me, I shot a small bolt of lightning at Misaka, the bolt not even a fraction of the ones she throws at me.
"Multiple abilities, this is really annoying!" Misaka growled as she wiped her face and absorbed the bolt I shot at her.
"Never know what ability I'll throw next right?"
Pulling out an arcade coin and balancing it in my hand while pointing it at Misaka, her eyes widened in realization of what I was about to do.
Or what I wasn't to be honest.
"No way..." she gasped, staring at the coin and her signature stance perfectly copied in front of her, "You can't... You just... Can't..."
"Why not? I copy abilities don't I? Doesn't that mean that your Railgun, which is your ability, can be copied?"
"But... But..."
"Just kidding!" I yelled laughing, putting the coin away as several buckets of water dropped over Misaka, drenching her completely."
"Tada! That means I win doesn't it? There were a thousand things I could do to you while stalling for time and I thought I'd do something that wasn't life threatening."
"D-d-d..."
"Huh? D-?"
"Don't screw with me!" Misaka yelled, shooting a shockwave of electricity that shot out in a wave that I ducked frantically to dodge.
"I thought you were going to use the Railgun on me at point blank range!" "Umm, shouldn't you be relieved that I can't?"
"Can't? Can't? I'm gonna fry you until nobody recognizes you!" Misaka screamed, gathering electricity in her hand before firing a lance of lightning at me.
Bringing up my arms, I absorbed quite a bit of the lance via my arms, with one of my other abilities absorbing the rest before it hit.
"How... How come I can't beat a level 2...?" Misaka screamed, clearly distraught.
As she fell to her knees, I sighed as I made up my mind. Pressing my fingers down on my tongue, I lost my lunch all over the patch before falling to my knees.
"What did you... Do..."
Keeling over and falling to the ground feigning unconsciousness, I heard footsteps in the grass as Misaka made her way over.
"Stop faking it dammit!" Misaka screamed shooting a bolt right through my body, not doing any damage but still giving me a buzzing feeling as the feedback left my body.
"No way... But I didn't do anything! How could I have."
"Uuuhhhhhh..." I groaned, trying to make it convincing.
"I know your faking it! Get up!" Misaka yelled, kicking me in the ribs.
"O-ow! What was that for?" I yelled, getting to my feet.
"Fight me seriously!"
"I was! I'm only able to control Level 2 abilities!"
"Then just defeat me outright! Dumping water on me hardly counts as a win!"
"I got through you electromagnetic field didn't I?"
"What?"
"Why didn't you notice the water? As an Electromaster you emit small amounts of electromagnetic waves, for you it acts as a radar. But why didn't you sense the water I was gathering above you?"
"That's..."
"Simple, broadcast a different frequency of waves and mask your own electromagnetic waves from you. My faking your Railgun was to buy time for me to analyze your frequency."
"So... You beat Tokiwadai's Railgun huh? Act more proud will you? Otherwise I'll look bad." Misaka muttered, sitting down on a nearby bench.
"Huh? You admit you lost?" I gasped, following her and sitting down next to her.
Going bright red in the face even I couldn't tell whether it was from embarrassment or rage, "Stop making me say it! You idiot!" Misaka yelled, sending another bolt of electricity at me at point blank range.
Waving my hands at the incoming bolt, the lightning travelled around my hands and hit me squarely on the chest, the shock not doing any damage while I pretended to pass out.
"O-oi are you alright?" Misaka said, sounding panicky, rushing over and feeling my neck for a pulse.
So she has a nice side to her too...
Jerking awake (or at least I was faking it), I looked up at Misaka and blinked a few times.
"You were pretending weren't you."
Oh shit.
"Yes yes yes! Please have mercy Misaka-sama!"
"What's with the sama?" Misaka yelled, pushing me back into the ground.
"Say... Misaka-san."
"Yes?" she replied, looking away.
"Can you teach me how to control electricity better?"
"Only if you fight me as many times as I want."
"Ehhhh? If you fight me full out I'll end up in the hospital for sure!"
Smirking at the prospect, Misaka nodded as she looked out to the nearby river, "Yeah, so prepare for it!"
Oh gawd, if she wants to fight full out and play some kind of railgun catching game where I catch the railgun's I'm screwed for sure! Damn I regret the arrangement already!
-End of chapter 1-
And thank you for reading Chapter 1! On a side note, when Touma runs away and Ryusuke laments his only hope running off with him, this is intentional. Ryusuke is NOT copying Touma's ability but he THINKS he is (after all, Ryusuke doesn't understand the Imagine Breaker, all he knows is that Touma's right hand negates abilities). What he's actually doing is tracing Misaka's immunity to her own electricity.