Chapter 36 - What was expected of her.
To get 2 level 5s together in the same place and expect them to get along is an almost impossible level task. In the case of those two, the word 'almost' can be removed from that sentence. In another world perhaps.
"What's the matter, #3? Did the morning chill hold your tongue?" Shizuri knew very well what she was doing, as she made a point of nestling her head on Touma's shoulder.
"W-whawha-what?" The poor electric girl found herself unable to say a single word right, so formulating a sentence was impossible. Until her expression changed from surprise to anger. "What are you doing here with her, you idiot?"
"Misaka-san, please calm down," Touma said, desperately pulling away from the girl next to his, which didn't make her happy at all. "I have a very reasonable explanation for all this."
Regardless of whether the explanation was reasonable or not, that park lit up. That spear of lightning that flew towards him without warning was certainly unreasonable.
Shizuri let out a long sigh just after deflecting the lightning thrown in their direction.
"Now I understand what you meant about me not liking this," muttered Shizuri to Touma, casting a bored glance in Railgun's direction. "Do you have trouble controlling your powers or is this some kind of weird greeting? Can I try too?"
In the next instant, Meltdowner put on a devilish smile as she pointed her hand towards the other girl, who snapped out of her stiffness and raised her guard. However, the boy's hand lightly touched her wrist, which prevented her from activating her ability. She grimaced at the contact, but he quickly withdrew his hand and leaned back on the bench.
"Shizuri, you promised you would stay calm."
"I am perfectly calm. It's that one over there that needs lecturing."
Once again, Shizuri grinned, a smug expression spreading across her face as she crossed her arms and lifted her chin. Her legs were also crossed, and one of them leaned against Touma, a deliberate move on her part.
The Railgun was about to explode again, but Shizuri was not worried at all. It was strange, but for some reason she felt even angrier about that girl in this world than in the other. Because of this, she was enjoying teasing her, trying to force her to make a move.
"What is your business with him anyway?" the electric girl growled, showing her fangs. "Did you force him to send me that message to trap me here?"
"Eh? Are you dense by any chance, girl? Can't you see that he is perfectly at ease beside me?"
Number #3's eyes were focused on the boy still nonchalantly sitting on that bench. She didn't seem convinced, although it was clear that the boy was there of his own free will.
"It must be some kind of trick," Railgun asserted. "Let him go, we'll settle it woman to woman..."
"You mean from woman to brat, don't you?"
"Forget what I said about woman, I mean, do you even have feminine traits?"
"No. Liking to wear dresses, painting my nails pink, being addicted to fashion and shopping are all traits of the classic male stereotype after all. Nice try, Railgun."
"What about swearing like a drunken sailor and having a personality as pleasurable as someone scratching their fingernails on a chalkboard?"
"Okay, now I'm getting annoyed." Shizuri stood up from the bench, however once again Touma held her back so that she would not cross the line.
"Misaka-san, it's not what it looks like. I called you here because I need a favor from you." The boy preferred to hold his girlfriend's hand, which made the other girl start to grit her teeth. "You know the Queen of Tokiwadai, don't you? I need you to arrange for me to meet her for -"
"What?" #3 yelled, looking like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You called me all the way over here to ask me for help talking to another girl? With Shokuhou on top of that?!"
"Shokuhou... hmm..."
Shizuri did not understand her boyfriend's reaction to that name. It was as if he was trying to recall a childhood memory that had faded long ago.
"This all seems like a waste of time to me, what a pain," said Shizuri, growing increasingly impatient. She then casually looped her arm around Touma's waist and leaned in to whisper something in his ear. "We'd better go, let's find another solution to this problem."
"I warned you it was a bad idea," complained Touma. "Do you already have something in mind?"
"Why are you whispering to each other now?"
"Yes, we just have to get rid of her," whispered Shizuri once again.
"Hey, idiot, old hag, stop ignoring me! What's going on between you two anyway?"
The distilled anger escaping that girl's mouth made Shizuri roll her eyes. In this instant she was just an annoying obstacle, but one that would be difficult to deal with.
"We are... good friends," Touma replied hesitantly.
Shizuri twisted the corner of her lip upon hearing this. She knew that telling the truth was not a good option. But, as far as she knew, they were not "good friends" in this world either. So, if he was going to lie, then he should fully commit. Hearing him call her "friend" irritated her to no end.
"Don't be shy, Touma. We're more than friends," Shizuri added without a second thought.
Railgun's reaction put a shit-eating grin on Shizuri's mouth. Someone there had stopped functioning, which was not unexpected. The electric girl was red as a burning ember, and her body seemed to be having spasms as she stammered meaningful things to herself.
"Y-you... Y-you..." #3 trembled a few times. "You called him by name?! And he didn't even seem to care?"
"Huh?" Shizuri tilted her head and wiped the smile off her face. "Wait, is that the part that bothered you?"
"Even I don't call him by his first name.… nor his last name."
"Well… That's your problem," Meltdowner said, shrugging. "By the way, how long have you two known each other?"
"I met him a few months ago… it's almost been a year now."
"ONE YEAR?" Shizuri frowned. "And you don't even call him by his family name? That's a fucking dedication to that Tsundere skill tree."
Crimson decorated the Tokiwadai girl's cheeks once again, she was more of an embarrassed mess than an angry one. Shizuri was even beginning to feel bad that she had provoked her so much. But that feeling passed very quickly.
"Let's go, Touma, it's getting late and this conversation has made me hungry."
"No, wait a minute." The chestnut-haired girl stepped into their path and opened her arms.
"She recovered pretty quickly. Impressive. Can you get out of the way, brat?"
"I still don't believe you. For all I know, you must be taking advantage of his kindness."
"My God, how stubborn. Don't you have anything better to do? I suggest you go get some food too, who knows, maybe you'll put some curve on that board you call a body."
The younger girl lit up once more, a vein popping out on her forehead. Shizuri had hit a very sensitive nerve, but this time she was lucky, as another person whose body was also not very developed literally appeared out of nowhere.
"Onee-samaaa!" That was the cry of the girl who made her entrance materializing in mid-air near Railgun.
"Kuroko? You followed me again? How many times am I going to have to tell you to -"
"I knew it, you came all this way to meet that ape once again, just like she said." The teleporter pointed a slender finger in Touma's direction, however she seemed to think for a moment, staring at Shizuri. "What about that other one?"
Shizuri was wondering if the situation would continue to get worse, but her eyes went down to the arm of the newly arrived girl, noticing an armband there. This was her chance.
"Oh... you're from Judgment?" she smoothed her hair nonchalantly, striking one of her superiority poses. Her tone even turned formal suddenly. "That's great. As you can see, this girl has been bothering us for a while now. And just at the time I planned to take the next step in our relationship."
"Next step?" The Judgment girl seemed quite interested.
"Yes," Shizuri shook her head positively several times and continued with a straight face. "I brought my Touma here to this park with the intention of us having a moment alone. I think you understand, don't you?"
If you were to judge by the neutral face the Judgment girl put on, she didn't understand. Sometimes gestures speak more than words, but that didn't seem to be the case here.
"As a girl who has a heart devoted solely to one person's love, I fully understand." The twin-tailed girl also shook her head positively. "I apologize for my Onee-sama."
"Huh? Kuroko don't listen to that hag, she's planning something."
"Onee-sama, I respect you more than anything, but I cannot force myself to stand in the way of their love," Kuroko said with a solemn tone. "I apologize to you too, Kamijou-san. I misjudged you." She bowed slightly and then put her hand on the shoulder of the other Tokiwadai girl.
"Wait, Kuro -"
Unfortunately for Railgun, her teleporting friend had other plans.
With that, Shizuri could finally breathe a sigh of relief. However, what they had come to do there was not yet over.
"That was kind of unexpected," Touma said. "Are you sure this was a good idea? We need Misaka to find the queen."
"Touma, your lack of trust in me is a bit disconcerting at times."
"I trust you completely. The problem is that you tend to cross the line sometimes… Actually, staying within acceptable limits is what's rare about you." He grunted as he was hit in the ribs once again.
"Smartass." Shizuri began to gently stroke where she had hit him. "You think I would just screw it up on purpose without a perfectly acceptable reason?"
"Well..." He hesitated, clearing his throat as he looked at her serious face. "I mean, it's obvious that my Shizuri-chan would never do something like that. She's so amazing and perfect."
"Good boy." This time she stroked his spiky head. "Now...you can show your face whenever you want."
"Eh?"
"I'm not talking to you."
Turning away from him, she began to look around, focusing on a nearby tree. Earlier, the girl had felt something strange. Her head had been hurting often recently, but what she felt was different. There was a short list of things this could mean.
"Ara, ara... it seems I have been discovered." That voice sounded from behind that nearby tree. "My hide ability seems to be getting worse."
This was the third girl from Tokiwadai that Shizuri was meeting in such a short period of time. But this one barely looked like a middle school student. Her body was curvaceous bordering on obscenity, rivaling even that of Meltdowner. She had long golden hair and starry eyes, and she walked around with a remote control in her hand.
"I suppose you must be the queen of Tokiwadai," Shizuri said, stepping forward. Her face was still serious. "We need a little favor, Shokuhou Misaki."
The blonde's gaze was not on Shizuri, which made her slightly irritated. She knew that #5 was interested in her boyfriend, at least from the world she came from. Apparently the case was the same here. But that look, there was pain there, anyone could tell.
"That is somewhat unexpected," Shokuhou said, forcing a smile. "You always find a way to surprise, don't you, Kamijou-san?"
"I hope that's a good thing, Queen."
The stars in her eyes even seemed to twinkle, which puzzled Shizuri. She had no idea what kind of relationship those two had. According to Hokaze from the other world, she had a romantic interest in him, but if the Touma here didn't even have her phone number, then it was easy to assume that they didn't have such a deep relationship. That was rational thinking, but it was obvious that there was something more there.
"So," the blonde began, "would you guys like some tea?"
x-x
The queen lived up to her nickname if one were to consider the restaurant she chose. It had an imposing and elegant structure, with tall pillars supporting a gilded ceramic roof. However, instead of sitting at the tables there, an impeccably dressed butler welcomed them with a warm smile and guided them to the outside. They followed a path of small white pebbles, passing through a perfectly trimmed garden.
The exterior of the restaurant was even more impressive: white marble tables and dark gray velvet upholstered chairs occupied a spacious, climatized hall. Yes, Shizuri knew they were not exactly outside. A sort of glass dome separated them from those roses that were probably artificial, nothing could be so perfect in the end.
Mugino Shizuri's experience on the dark side allowed her to judge the threat level of something very well, and because of this, she could state with certainty that this girl was dangerous.
Number 5's power didn't seem to have the desired effect on Number 4, but in a matter of minutes, she proved that her ability didn't have to work so directly to impress.
"Don't worry about them," Shokuhou said, pouring tea for the three of them at that fancy restaurant table. "I have put them in a state of alert using my powers. They will protect us from any third party who wants to hear our conversation, but they will forget about anything they hear here."
She was choosing her words very well. Those girls surrounding them were not just here for what she said, Shizuri was not an idiot. Just like Railgun, the Queen of Tokiwadai didn't trust her, but she found another way to show it.
"Just for the record," said Shizuri, "you're going to need more than these girls if you're planning to impress me with numbers."
Intimidation was also an important weapon in negotiations, but a professional assassin would not cower so easily. There was a small army of Tokiwadai girls there, and adding the fact that they were here, in a luxurious place in a VIP area before they arrived, made it clear how much the Queen wanted to demonstrate who was in control.
"Is that the impression I gave?" Shokuhou smiled, taking a sip of the herbal tea. She savored it for a few moments, totally unconcerned. "Your friend has quite a scare ability, Kamijou-san. Looks like we have another one of those situations, doesn't it?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Touma pushed the tea away from him. "Let's skip the phase of showing who is in control. We need your help, Shokuhou. If you are willing to negotiate -"
The blonde girl interrupted the boy with a deterrent gesture with her hand and a sweet smile on her face.
"As I said, that was not the impression I wanted to convey, Kamijou-san." She tilted her head in the direction of the two, still smiling, "If you need help, I am more than willing to help."
Shizuri's eyes sharpened, perhaps she had misjudged the situation. In that instant, when Touma spoke #5's name, she was sure she saw the girl move awkwardly in her chair.
"Hmm... it seems you are no different in this world," Touma said softly. "But that blind confidence has always made me suspicious."
"In this world?" Shokuhou tilted her head, her mouth slightly open in confusion.
"Straight to business, huh?" Shizuri cast an intense glance in the other girl's direction, gauging the level of disbelief. "You could have at least prepared the ground beforehand, Touma."
"We'd get to that at some point anyway," Touma complained, "she'd better get up to speed. I know it's kind of hard to believe, but I'm not the Kamijou Touma you know."
"That again?" #5 sighed. "Oh, sorry. You can go on, I won't interrupt anymore."
A look was exchanged between Shizuri and Touma, but neither seemed to have any idea what the girl meant by that. Since it was not important, Shizuri decided to continue where her boyfriend left off.
"There is another universe beyond this one, and a pink-haired bitch has found a way to send our consciousnesses into these bodies."
"Yeah, I could kind of deduce the first part. But what about this 'bitch', she has a name?"
For a moment the girl thought of answering that with a gesture of unimportance with her hand and continuing the explanation, but thinking about it, from the world they came from, that girl technically didn't exist. That was the information Kumokawa had given her.
"She calls herself 'April,'" Shizuri continued. "Have you heard of anyone with that name and appearance?"
"A girl named April with pink dyed hair...no...I don't remember anyone with that description."
"Hmm... strange." Meltdowner looked away into the void, letting her mind fill with theories. "I was hoping to find information about her here."
"What do you mean, Shizuri?" Touma was in a confused tone.
"I have received information that April basically does not 'exist' in our world. The next logical leap would be to think that she originated in this world."
"So you guys need my help ability to find information about this girl? That won't be difficult. My information network is gigantic." Considering the proud tone, that was pretty convincing, which made Shizuri tempted.
"Better to focus on one thing at a time," suggested the level 0. "Shokuhou-san, we need your help to pick up a piece of information in my head, in this case, a piece of information that belongs to the memories of the me from the other universe. Do you think you can do it?"
An uneasy silence arose at that table. Shokuhou dropped the cup of tea on the table, nervously adding some sugar. Shizuri's attention had now redoubled. Once again she had reacted strangely when the boy had pronounced her name, for an instant she even thought she saw a trace of joy on her face.
"If your consciousness is in this body, then I don't see why I would have a problem." Shokuhou looked away and touched her own cheek with her index finger, hidden behind her white gloves. She seemed to be making a decision or making a mental note. "The thing is, I promised myself I wouldn't look at your memories...does your consent still count here? I mean, you're Kamijou-san from another world... I have to be extra careful when making these decisions."
"I can guarantee that the Kamijou Touma of this world wouldn't mind," he said, leaning toward the table and pointing to his own head. "So don't worry, the sooner we resolve this, the sooner you'll get your Kamijou-san back, Shokuhou."
"Eh!" Shokuhou almost spilled tea on the table. "Don't say things like that all of a sudden."
"Sorry." The boy forced a smile, which came out somewhat embarrassed. "I guess I still don't know how to deal with girls in love."
"Eek!" The table was now not spared from that hot liquid spreading as the girl practically fell off her chair. "K-Kamijou... san, what does that mean?"
"Can we get back to the subject?" asked #4 angrily. "We need you to look for something specific. It's a very recent memory." Shizuri pulled a sheet of paper from her purse and held it in front of her face, as the table was now filled with tea. "Those are supposed to be stars. Look in the memories for something like that."
"That's a pretty strange diagram," Shokuhou said curiously. "Is it something to do with that so-called magic?"
"Do you know anything about magic, #5? That kind of makes it easier."
"I started to get slightly interested after a certain desperate situation with that damned Anna Sprengel." A shadow hovered on her face. "Let's forget about that for now. May I begin?"
Shokuhou Misaki took out a specific remote control from her golden bag. It was black and had an antique appearance, more like one of those audio recorders used in interviews.
"Category 042: Search for the correct 'keyword'."
As soon as she said this, her head jerked back as if it had been hit by a hard slap. The grip on her hand was released, and her free hand was placed on her forehead. The sound of the girl's breathing became irregular, which made Shizuri wonder what she had seen.
"Damn, I bumped into something I shouldn't have," Shokuhou said, her voice almost fading. "Mental note, erase those memories as soon as possible."
"Hey, are you okay?" Touma leaned as far over the table as he could, getting a good look at the girl's face. "We can take a break if you want."
"I'll be fine, it's you I'm worried about." She didn't let anyone ask for details. "Let's try again...using another technique."
The white glove that the blonde girl wore on her right hand was removed and placed gently on the table, taking care not to let the tea stain it. Soon Shokuhou stood up and took another remote control out of her bag. This one looked like a remote control used in projectors.
"I need you to keep your right arm as still as possible, Kamijou-san," Shokuhou ordered, holding his forehead with her bare hand. "I think the memories of the last 48 hours should be enough." She pointed the control to her own head as if it were a gun. "Good, I think I have what you need."
Two other Tokiwadai girls approached them as soon as Shokuhou had moved away from Touma. One of them had a napkin in her hand, which she used to quickly wipe the table clean. The other held a pen and extended her hand in Shizuri's direction. Understanding what the girl wanted, the level 5 girl handed over the sheet of paper.
Hasty but precise scribbles began to appear on that sheet of paper, courtesy of the second girl and her drawing skills. Before long, a diagram much larger than the other was drawn on the back of the sheet.
"Okay, that should be it." Shokuhou took a good look at the sheet of paper before extending it in the direction of the other level 5. However, before the other girl took the paper from her hand, she moved back with a smile. "Just to make something clear, I do not support the relationship of you two."
The girl's audacity almost made Shizuri lose her composure, but she just decided to smile back.
"If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't approve either, but life is usually a bit unfair," she said, holding out her hand nonchalantly, hoping the other girl would give in. "If you want my advice, make your move as soon as possible when we leave. You won't stand a chance if this 'Mugino' decides to get into the game."
A strange sensation made Shizuri's body go rigid, it was like a cold wind whispering nothing in her ear. She was sure that the other girl sharing her body was responsible for this, but when she looked around, she saw no one with her face there. She felt relieved that she didn't have to deal with the other version of herself in that moment.
"Shizuri, is something wrong?" Touma put his hand on her bare shoulder, which snapped her out of her trance. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Almost," she replied, looking around to make sure. She soon gave up, deciding to focus on something else that was bothering her: "I think my sugar must be getting low since I haven't been eating properly. Could you bring me a really sweet soda, Touma? I saw a vending machine near the entrance."
"Sure." He got up from the table and started walking, but soon turned around. "Try not to kill yourselves until I get back."
"I'm not promising anything."
"I'm not promising anything."
At least the two momentarily got in sync.
Shizuri decided to wait a few seconds to make sure Touma was far enough away, however Shokuhou Misaki didn't seem to care much.
"Let me guess," the blonde girl began, "you sent him away to ask me what I saw there, didn't you?"
"That obvious?"
"Not so much, but I'm pretty confident in my deduction skills... although asking someone to buy a soda from a vending machine considering the place and situation we're in... never mind, it doesn't take a genius to deduce that." She smiled wryly.
It would be naive of Shizuri to assume that the girl would cooperate so easily without Touma around to persuade her. However, Shizuri still wanted to try. Shokuhou's knowledge of her romantic relationship with Touma was evident, even though they had not disclosed it to her. Shizuri was curious about what else Shokuhou knew that caused her to have such a strong reaction of revulsion. Merely witnessing a romantic scene between the two of them was not enough to elicit such a response.
"I'm his girlfriend, I deserve to know." Shizuri seemed to have played the worst possible card. Even she couldn't believe this was a good idea, but she couldn't think of anything else that would convince the girl in front of her.
"What's the secret?" But the girl seemed willing to negotiate if the tone she used was sincere. "Did you just confess to him?"
"He confessed first, however, I was quite obvious in my intentions."
"That's good news. I think I'm on the right track. All I need is to continue on my quest for that miracle." She sighed, tucking a smile into the corner of her lip. "As a reward, I can tell you why I reacted that way when I saw his memories."
"I assume you saw something pretty dark there." Shizuri leaned toward her, hoping no one would hear what she had to say. "He told me some things about his past. Is that what you saw?"
"I saw almost nothing...just...some strange flashes...as if some memories were fragmented. Maybe some kind of defense mechanism was activated, both one of mine and one of his, I'm not sure." Her lips were pressed firmly together in a perfectly straight line. Shizuri watched her shake her hand on the table for a single moment. "His mind is a mess. He has too many memories there, it doesn't make sense."
"It must be the fault of that parallel universe's problem of ours."
"I'm afraid not," Shokuhou revealed, shaking her head as if to push the memories away. "Even two full lifetimes wouldn't even come close to what I saw there. What was that void anyway?" She brought her hand to her purse, removing a white TV remote control and pointing it once again toward her own head. "That's all I have to say. I'd better get rid of all this."
The remote control was pressed. Shizuri knew very well what that meant. This left her with more questions than answers, ones that wouldn't be answered anytime soon. Despite her desire to press Touma for more information, the guilt of withholding the truth coiled inside her chest like a viper, making it challenging for her to do so. But she would keep that in mind for when she built up the courage.
"I guess this is where we say goodbye," Shokuhou said. "I wish you luck ability in resolving this whole situation."
"Wait, there is one last favor I want to ask of you. When we leave, it would be nice if the memories of the people in this universe were changed, avoiding future problems."
"Um... are you sure? I can do that, although Misaka-san is a problem, but I can think of something."
"You're being too kind, what's the catch?"
"A girl needs to follow a path of kindness if it is a miracle she seeks." She gave a pure smile and put her hand on her left chest. "I want my Kamijou-san back as soon as possible... hehe... he really said your Kamijou-san... hehe... I can't wait for our next 'date'."
"Huh?" A frown formed on Shizuri's face.
"What new clothes should I wear?" She seemed to be trapped in her own world. "Yes...that's a fair amount of perversion ability. There's no way he can resist this time."
With a snap of her fingers, all the girls on guard clustered near the Queen of Tokiwadai. Shizuri could even see a familiar face among them, although her version of this world had never met that lavender-haired girl. They all marched out of that place, led by the blonde girl who now displayed a smile so mischievous that even Shizuri felt goosebumps.
"Tokiwadai girls," muttered Shizuri. "Bunch of nuts."
"You are no one to talk." And there she was, the owner of the body that Shizuri inhabited. The chair that Shokuhou was on the other side of the table was now occupied by her. "By the way, I confess I'm a little surprised. That guy has the Queen of Tokiwadai practically wrapped around his little finger."
"Is that more surprising than finding out that you from another world are dating him?"
"I can't tell..." She brought her hand to her chin. "Maybe there really is more to him than I see. Hey, how about you let me take a better look at your memories?"
"After that scene there in the park? I don't like the sound of that."
"Talking to yourself, Shizuri?"
Lifting her face, she saw Touma extending his hand with a can of soda in it. She was so engrossed that she forgot she was talking to herself out loud. If this continued, she would have to find an excuse, or simply tell the truth. The latter was becoming more and more tempting.
"Yeah, I'm just talking to myself." Shizuri took the can from his hands and stood up from the table. "We'd better go, we have to show the diagram to that nun."
"Where did Shokuhou go? I even brought an extra soda to thank for the help."
"Your self of this world can take care of thanking her later. She seemed somewhat excited to see you again."
"It's good to know that she and I have a good relationship here too. Some things never change."
"Yep." She looked in the direction of the other her, right there sitting carefree in her chair. "Some things never change.
x-x
The door to Kamijou Touma's dormitory was hastily opened. Mugino Shizuri had not yet solved her credit card problem, which meant that she barely had enough money now to pay for a cab.
"Walking around so much is so tiring," she said, collapsing on the only bed there. Droplets of sweat formed on her neck like pearls, glistening in the light. She smiled as she saw Touma staring at her. "How long until she comes back?"
"Another hour or two." He looked away, which made Shizuri disappointed.
"I think I'm going to take a shower. Do you have an extra towel?"
"You can use any of those hanging there."
One can tell that Shizuri expected a different reaction from him. Of course, you couldn't ask for more than that considering their situation, but a girl could dream.
Trying to stave off the urge to tease him some more, she went into the bathroom and not even 10 seconds later she was back in the room, staring at her boyfriend sitting on the floor with a dumbfounded look on her face.
"Touma, why on earth does your tub look like a makeshift bed?"
"Because, in case you haven't noticed, there's only one bed here."
"Ah... so that nun sleeps in the bathtub. Kind of cruel coming from someone so kind..." She paused for a long moment as soon as Touma sighed. "Wait, are you the one sleeping there?"
"The other option would be to buy another bed, but I don't have any money left over, or space anyway."
He walked straight past her and began rummaging through the cabinet under the sink. His idea must have been to clean the place as he took a mop and some strong-smelling cleaning products.
"Living with two girls in such a small place like this must be… complicated."
"I've gotten used to it...like all the other things."
"You're too good for this world, you know that?" Shizuri walked over to him and gently took the mop from his hands. "Let me help you with this."
"Weren't you going to take a shower?" Touma reached out to take the mop back.
"A shower is not enough to relax me, so I will wait until I get home. Now let me work."
"Hmm..."
"Don't look at me like that! I know how to use a damn mop."
Sort of. Shizuri was a girl who always had everything, so it wasn't hard to imagine that she didn't understand anything about housework. She could follow basic cooking instructions, but cleaning the house was something she only did on special occasions, like when she accidentally blew up part of the apartment after a sneezing fit. And even then it was poor Frenda who ended up having to finish everything since she was bored after 2 minutes.
In the end, Touma had to do most of the work, not that she was going to complain. While he skillfully demonstrated that he was the househusband of her dreams, very recent dreams to be honest, she looked over to a corner of the room, one that a girl just like her was standing in.
Unlike the other times, that imaginary girl, 'Mugino', was not making any kind of provocation. She was just standing there as if to make sure that Shizuri knew of her presence, and her watchful gaze at the boy had made the girl suspicious.
'I know you want to say something. Spit it out.'
"Now you want to talk?" Her arms were crossed. She stepped back a little to lean against a wall. "I admit, he has some qualities."
'More praise? I didn't expect that. So your kind of guy is one who can take care of the home. I see.'
"Don't make stuff up," she complained, walking toward Touma who was distracted cleaning up the Kotatsu. "I haven't heard anyone mention it yet, but what level is this guy?"
It was hard to hold back that smile that formed at the corner of Shizuri's lip.
'Level 0.'
She didn't even bother to elaborate, it was better that way, especially after seeing that surprised look coming from the other her. But the reaction was far less than she had expected.
"Strange," said 'Mugino', "I'm sure I saw him do some impressive things that day."
'Mugino's' nonchalant shrug left Shizuri with a question mark drawn on her face. She had expected to be judged more by this other version of her that claimed to be superior, but the fact that Touma was a level 0 barely seemed to bother her. That surprised face from earlier was merely an initial shock, perhaps due to the 'impressive things' she saw him do.
'Doesn't him being a level 0 bother you?'
"That doesn't come close to being a problem. Not after I found out about the parameter list." She stalked Touma across the room, still not looking at Shizuri.
'Parameter list? And that would be?'
"Basically a document that tells exactly the potential of an esper. You know all that stuff about with effort and hard work anyone can become a high-level esper? It was just a bunch of hooey."
Shizuri's eyes narrowed. The casual way that girl revealed something so controversial made it clear that she was not lying, she would at least make an effort to do some drama if that was the case.
'I kind of suspected that at times.'
It wasn't hard to deduce something like that if one stopped to think about it for a while, and someone as smart as she was, wouldn't even need that much time to think. If all you needed to be a high-level esper was hard work, then why were there so many levels 0? This would make sense if the system was lax enough not to push students to try as hard as possible, but when there were so many people being forced to work hard every day without seeing any improvement for years, it was all the more obvious. But she always chose to put her suspicions aside, as she was one of the people who should be the main advocates of the system after all.
"Talent is the most important part of our entire power system," 'Mugino' continued, finally looking in Shizuri's direction. "People like us, level 5, were already born with enough talent to achieve greatness. It's true that if more resources were used, more people could achieve better levels even without so much innate talent, but this city isn't interested in something like that. Assembling complex curricula for people who will not grow is considered a waste of time, money, and resources. By distributing what would have been wasted by focusing on useful espers, everything is much more effective in the end." She clenched her fists tightly. "When I found that out...I was disgusted."
Shizuri almost spoke out loud once again upon hearing that revelation. From what she had observed, that girl seemed to have an even more brutal personality than she did, so seeing her say that seemed even a little out of character, especially considering the angry tone she used.
'Good to know that your heart is not as icy as you make it sound.'
"Fuck you." She turned around, putting on an annoyed expression.
Shizuri smiled slightly as she saw the girl trying to disguise her feelings, just as she had done in the past. Maybe they really were alike.
The door to the room was suddenly opened, Index had finally arrived. The nun's cheeks puffed up as she looked at the level 5 standing there with the boy she clearly liked.
"Why are you here again, creepy eyes?"
"Index," Touma spoke, taking off his yellow cleaning gloves and putting on a straight face, "I already told you not to call her that. Shizuri is an important person to me, so you need to get along with her."
"I don't need to get along with anyone -"
"Besides, she bought more pudding for us."
"Maybe I was a little too hard on her," The gluttonous Nun had a flame in her eyes now.
"Here," Shizuri said, picking up a convenience store bag and handing it to Index, who held it so tightly that for a moment she thought she would need a second fake arm.
The little physical money Meltdowner still had was used to buy that dessert and bribe that Nun, a risky bet since that little girl had an insatiable stomach. She would have to borrow from someone if she wanted to continue living normally.
"So, Index," Shizuri began, taking out the sheet of paper with the diagram drawn by one of #5's bodyguards, "could you help me decipher this? You're pretty good with codes after all."
"Sure, creepy eyes." She smiled, her teeth filled with sugar and syrup. "It looks like a simple system, but most of the diagram is made up of meaningless symbols that lead nowhere."
"That's what I thought." That voice belonged to the former 15cm goddess. This whole time she was taking a nap in Touma's pocket or something. "I hadn't seen the whole piece, but that system...it's like two different things were put in there."
"This whole quadrant here," Index said, pointing to the leaf in Shizuri's hands, "reminds me a bit of a rustic illustration of the Sephiroth tree... no... it can't be that... it's not even inverted."
"So it has nothing with Qliphot either?" asked Othinus, finishing climbing on Index's shoulder. "That part doesn't even seem to be part of the whole." She pointed to the tip of the sheet. "Some kind of hint?"
"What?" Shizuri chuckled. "Did someone put a 'forgot password' option in there?"
"No...I think it's something else." Index seemed to have gotten somewhere. "Yes, of course."
The paper was taken from Shizuri's hands by Index, whose eyes remained as if in a trance. She sat on the floor, her face inexpressive, her gaze scanning the sheet to make sure no detail was left out.
"That must be it," said the nun with certainty in her voice. "One-way road."
Everyone was silent, but it stretched on too long. Shizuri and Touma looked at each other, waiting for the other to break the silence, but it was Othinus who did.
"That's it?"
"No," replied Index, "but that's all I can decipher. It's strange, why does it have such a disconnected and easy to decipher message in the middle of all this?"
"That's a problem." Shizuri brought her hand to her forehead, that damn headache returning. "If you two couldn't come to a conclusion, then it looks like a dead end for me." She looked at Index, still puzzled but busy with dessert, and then put her hand on the nun's head. "Good job Index, you really are a lot smarter than you look."
"I don't know if that counts as a compliment, creepy eyes."
"You did well," she said in a softer tone now. "We haven't solved the problem yet, but thanks to you, at least we're not totally clueless."
The smile on Index's face came out a bit crooked, but this was really a sincere compliment.
An annoying vibrating sound rang through the room. Shizuri pulled her phone from her purse, discovering that her friend, Takitsubo, had just texted her. Interruptions were the last thing she needed right now, but considering that her best clue was leading nowhere, she decided to distract her mind for the moment.
'She's worried about me. It's best to let her know the situation.'
She typed a quick message that said: I am with Touma trying to find a way back home.
'Any progress?' was the girl's reply.
'We have a lead, but I have no idea what it means.'
"Is it Frenda?" asked Touma, leaning a little in Shizuri's direction. "I haven't seen her in this world yet."
"No, it's Takitsubo. She wants to know if we have progress."
"Where is she now? It would be great to get the whole ITEM together somewhere, with more thinking heads, who knows we might find something."
"I doubt they'll be much help, but I'm starving and there's nothing decent here to eat. I'll have them meet us at Joseph's." She quickly typed the message, and then locked her gaze on Touma. "You're paying today, so I'll be settling the score for that time you left me to pay the bill at that fancy restaurant." Her smile was like a cat that had just caught a defenseless mouse
"Shizuri... have a little mercy on this Kamijou-san... wait, this Kamijou-san is not really me. Whatever, it's not like a family restaurant has something this expensive anyway."
"Like I'm going to eat something from there. You're buying me a premium quality salmon bento. One of those artisanal ones, not that processed, mass-produced stuff that's become trendy for a reason god only knows."
"Wait... we're going to a restaurant."
"Yes, the drinks there are great."
The casual way she said it made Touma make an empty expression...and his wallet would be just as empty soon.
x-x
"Such misfortune." Touma sighed audibly.
Another person synchronized her sigh with his, in this case a waitress who was almost crying. To see someone come into a restaurant with food already in hand, sit down at a table, and start eating as if the rest of the world did not exist seemed to be too much for that poor girl who only wanted to do her job.
"Umm... are you guys going to order something?" the waitress asked in an embarrassed voice.
"A glass of water," Touma replied, mentally contemplating the damage Shizuri had done to his monetary funds. "No gas, no ice, and no anything else I can buy with money."
"The ice is free, sir."
"At least a light in this darkness." He let his head droop and hit the table making a deafening noise.
"Get me an orange juice," said Shizuri, busy with her salmon bento.
"We have several options, Miss -"
"Bring me whatever is more expensive." She made a nonchalant gesture with her hand, then patted Touma on the back, "You're still paying for this, just to be clear."
Touma didn't even react to this. His body looked a bit flabby, he probably preferred to give himself a severe concussion to deal with the pain of the loss.
"You are making me feel bad." Shizuri picked up some of the grilled salmon with her chopsticks and pointed in the direction of the defeated boy. "Here, have some too. Enjoy that I'm feeling generous today."
"Wow, thank you so much Shizuri-chan," he said, lifting his head and looking at her with blank eyes. "How very kind. This Kamijou-san accepts your generosity, oh! Benevolent Goddess."
"Cut the sarcasm or I'll order dessert."
"I swear if you do that I'll give your ass a good spanking when we get back to our world." He accepted the girl's 'generosity', but he was chewing with an abnormal intensity.
"A spanking?" She smiled mischievously. "That sounds pretty hot."
"Wha -" He choked on his food.
"Why are you threatening me with fun?" Shizuri offered more of her food, but Touma backed off for some reason.
"Shizuri, will you stop?" For some reason he was indignant. "You are supposed to be a huge S. Stick to your character, please."
When he crossed his arms, she almost laughed.
"You know it was just a joke, right?" Her tone changed very suddenly, which made Touma narrow his eyes. "I mean... we both know that things will be quite different."
"Eh?!"
"You have a pretty high resistance to pain if I remember correctly. That's great." Her hand went to her chin, a frightening smile adorning her face.
"I don't like where this is going."
"Your favorite word is 'dorm manager,' right?"
"That's two words!"
"They say that using more words is ideal."
"Don't make things up!"
Her evil laughter almost broke the boy's spirit, but luckily she stopped when she looked at the entrance and saw 3 familiar people entering.
Takitsubo, Kinuhata, and Hamazura greeted those two and sat down at the table with them. Shizuri heard Touma's friend call him "boss" once again, which puzzled her. Of course, it was still a good feeling to know that people here admired him so much. Those two must have had a lot of history together, but she had no way of knowing how much of that history the Kamijou Touma sitting there knew.
"So," Kinuhata began, "why did you call us here? I had to stop my super movie halfway through."
"First of all, everyone at the table better know the situation here," Shizuri said, looking in the direction of the blond boy sitting across the table.
"Are you sure that's a good idea, Mugino?" Takitsubo didn't seem to agree with that.
"I've already told Kinuhata, so he'd better know too. On second thought, it would be better if we wait until Frenda arrives, that way everyone is up to speed."
An uneasy mood hung over that table, as if what she had said was considered taboo. It reminded her of the strange way Kinuhata had reacted earlier when she had asked about Frenda. For a moment, she thought the blonde girl had left the team or something, which would be surprising.
"If this is some kind of joke," Hamazura said, looking away, "it's not funny."
"…Mugino," Takitsubo began hesitantly, "Frenda... is not coming."
Her tone made Shizuri uncomfortable in her seat. She really was stepping on a land mine and hadn't realized it yet.
"She's... not coming?" The level 5 pushed the bento away from her, as if she had lost her appetite. A lump was forming in her throat. "Why do you make it sound like she..."
Shizuri couldn't go on. She began nervously ruffling her tea-colored hair, trying uselessly to keep her body moving to try to forget about that discomfort growing in her chest, as if a weight had suddenly been put there.
"I thought it was super weird at the time," Kinuhata said, "but it makes sense now since you don't remember."
"I don't remember..." Shizuri put her hand on her forehead. A sharp pain formed there, as if a hot knife pierced the brain.
"Frenda... she..." Takitsubo's tone was even more hesitant. The words seemed to be stuck in her throat, being forced out. "Frenda is dead."
A/N: Hey, another week, another chapter. I received feedback that one chapter a week is actually too fast, so maybe I should cut it down to one every two weeks? I'm back to my standard routine, so I have no problem writing one a week, so what's your opinion about this?
I don't have much to say about this chapter, except that I made a lot of references to the novels, some subtle, some not so subtle. But we have something important at the end, and also Shizuri is suspicious about what Shokuhou really saw in the memories.
This arc is more or less at 2/3. Two or three more chapters and we will be at the climax. Just a heads up, things are going to get pretty confusing from here on out for those who haven't read all the novels. I'm really not the type that likes a lot of exposition, and I try to avoid it as much as possible and fail (almost) every time, so a lot of things that have already been explained in the novels will not be explained here again. Maybe in my chapter notes, or if someone asks in the reviews.
Speaking of that:
xellos540: ;I have insomnia, so I "third" that LOL.
;If we theorize using the new spin-off, only the top part is left. Maybe.
;There is something about ignoring obvious clues that still drives me crazy today. In NT16 Shokuhou explicitly tells Mikoto that Touma has a memory problem regarding her, and in GT7 Mikoto just goes: Huh? Why don't you remember her? Yes, she didn't explain the whole situation, but seriously?
;This fact will be brought up here. Kinuhata is being friendly because she is Kinuhata, and she is teasing because she is Kinuhata. Apart from a few specific situations, this is normal for her.
;Forget what I answered xD
;IB simply erases things from existence. There are instances that it can banish beings from another phase to the place they came from, but Othinus was not referring to this. She was talking about World Rejecter here, also known as the power that leaked from Imagine Breaker.
;Also Neoka: I'll pretend I didn't do anything.
;About the phases, it's almost like that. I think it will be better understood in a future chapter.
;We can only agree that Othinus programmed the universe with some spaghetti code that she randomly found on the internet. Hyperbole aside, that is technically the truth.
;This thing about Touma kicking the machine is something that just popped into my mind and I wrote it down. I'm glad I did that xD
;If Pixar can do something like that, then so can I.
;About Takitsubo, the canonical explanation of her powers is the same as the one given in this fic. In her 'base form', she receives 'signals' that are like premonitions, and only by using ABC can she track AIM diffusion fields. We cannot know what effect IB has on her, so in this fic I have taken liberties with this since we have almost nothing in canon to back us up. This is only valid until today's date of course, as Takitsubo seems to have improved in this department in NT, but we have nothing concrete. By the way, Takitsubo is a 'supporting unit' (usually), and I think she is excellent at it, even without using ABC.
;Thank you very much :)
;"oh c'mon, if this is supposed to reference Frenda, then even the other Mugino shouldn't be able to just speak about it like that." ? Are we talking about the same character here? Because there is nothing that says that NT Shizuri has any 'problem' talking about Frenda's death, whether directly, indirectly, subtly, metaphorically, or anything like that, she actually talks about it casually. She does regret doing that, NT2 makes that clear, but just because she is a better person now, doesn't mean she is a 'good person'. There is a line from her that makes this clear: "I have no intention to rely solely on what is good." She's still pretty much the same old sadist btw, and having a person in her body isn't helping her improve on that.
;I don't know yet whether you found the conversation painful or not, but we don't have much to do in this universe, these two hate each other.
;About Touma, starting off by making it clear: Yes, Touma definitely cares about people in general, we have the definitive proof in the first scene of the first novel, someone would have to be very high to say otherwise, I just expressed myself in a weird way. The problem was that my phrasing got a little ambiguous there, when I said he doesn't care, I was trying to reinforce the fact that he barely puts effort into certain social situations. I blame my eternal sleep-deprived brain for being unable to formulate coherent sentences sometimes.
;One last thing: "obvious romantic signs" This is a very strange way of writing Mixed "romantic" signs at best. Unless we consider what Lessar does "romance." She definitely doesn't agree.
Misaka Phenex: If you someday get this far, I think you already have your answer. This fic has as much 'harem elements' as the novels do.
5queso: I hope it was minimally interesting. We will have a lot more interaction between the two Mugino, so I am glad you are enjoying it. Shokuhou and the other Tokiwadai girls didn't shine very bright here, I planned a longer scene, but ended up cutting it. Thanks, I just need to decide how quickly I want to update this fic.
The next chapter got a little too long. I thought about cutting it in two, but I think it's better this way. All that remains is for me to decide when I will post it. And also whether I should tone down the drama a bit. That's it for now. Moon Leaving.