Author's Notes: First off, I'd like to thank everyone that has given constructive feedback so far. Reaching the 100 review mark was a pleasant surprise, that's for sure.
Second, I'd like to address the issue of Gunha's apparent strength in comparison to other Level 5s.
By no means is the Seventh the 'weakest' of the Level 5s. It's just that a) Academy City rankings isn't about raw power (ref Railgun manga Chapter30, when Mugino says why she fights Mikoto), but about how useful a esper is to Academy City's research; and b) Gunha's ability is a "complete black box" according to the 'A Certain Vending Machine's Proof of Existence' SS, also known as 'Toaru Jihanki no Fanfare'. Not much known about ability lead to not much contribution to research despite the raw strength, which resulted in his ranking not accurately reflecting his actual power.
SS2 shows the aftermath of Gunha's ability fairly well: in Chapter 22, the same place Touma and Accelerator fought during the Level 6 Shift Experiment was ripped up and there was a cliff rising out of the ground in Gunha's fight against Ollerus. I'd roughly estimate Gunha to be on par with Mugino at least in terms of power, if not Mikoto. Kakine and Accelerator most definitely can defeat him, however.
I've stated before that I'm writing this fic for people that have read the Index Light Novels on Bakatsuki. It appears it was a correct move, otherwise I'd be annoyed every time someone make claims without a in-depth understanding of canon. Thankfully those who have no idea what they are talking about (for example, the guy who said Sogiita Gunha was a OC) are in the minority, and I appreciate the other reviews that speak up about any inadequacy in my writing while being civil about it. Many thanks for that.
Third, attacks with a LOT of supernatural power/energy takes time to be negated. For example, Fiamma's 40km flaming sword and Accelerator's black wings on the plains of Russia. I'm not saying Gunha is anywhere as powerful as those two (though Ollerus had stated Gunha may eventually surpass his Hliðskjálf, and those of you who knows how strong Ollerus is should know what that means), only that Gunha has enough power to reach that threshold of Imagine Breaker. Even Mikoto can feasibly do that if she throws her strongest move, the thunderbolt from the sky like in the 1st Volume (Season 1, first episode from the anime).
Now, I've skipped to right after Volume 10, where it's past the first day of Daihasei Festival and the Croce di Pietro was stopped by Touma and others. I didn't see the point of writing the Croce di Pietro incident as that was a foregone conclusion: I'm not going to let Academy City fall before Touma's love life is settled one way or another, after all.
Hope you people enjoy this chapter, I've had this planned out for quite a while now.
A bit of a note: I strongly suggest everyone go read the first chapter of Index Volume 9 before reading this chapter. The anime cut out quite a bit from there, and refreshing the first event Touma went through in Daihasei Festival will help you understand the things going on here. I've placed in a lot of reference towards that bit in this chapter.
Chapter 9 - Wager
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"Fukou da…" Touma moaned.
It is the third day of the Daihasei Festival. The high school Touma goes to have just suffered another loss, and the insurmountable wall of points between his school and Tokiwadai continued to grow.
As it is right now, it would probably take a miracle for his school to turn it all around.
Especially since Tsuchimikado Motoharu was almost practically out of the events due to his wounds on his hands, the fence he grabbed right before fighting Oriana Thomson left its marks. Others like Himegami and Fukiyose being injured only worsened the situation, albeit Fukiyose is able to participate again by the third day.
The only silver lining of all this was Aogami still looked relatively full of energy, but just one guy out of the entire class won't be able to do much.
"I can imagine it now! Biribiri will be forcing me to play catch with her Railgun from dawn until dusk by the time we're finished!" Touma lamented, and not for the first time within the last two days.
Then there was the result of the test the few days before the festival itself. When he received the envelope containing the report of his new level, he eagerly ripped it open in front of Komoe-sensei.
What he had found made his jaw drop, with both Komoe and himself looking at each other's eyes as if to ask if they're reading this right.
[Kamijou Touma:
Level: Undefined]
Ultimately, the new machinery detected nothing from Touma, even after all the attacks he blocked. It did manage to state beyond reasonable doubt that Sogiita Gunha is a Level 5, considering the amount of something he gave off, and eventually they might change the rankings a bit.
A literal Level 0, managing to stop attacks from a Level 5; it's no surprise that Touma's own Level was changed then, even if it's practically the same as before. No longer ranked as the weakest, but by no means did he have a place among the higher Levels. His current label was more of a placeholder, until they run more tests and finally decides to just bite the bullet and throw him into a category and fix it later like they did with Gunha.
Really, some scientists can be such perfectionists they'd rather make a new label instead of admitting they're wrong in placing him somewhere he doesn't belong.
To be honest, Touma didn't really care about his level; what he really did care about was his allowance paid by Academy City being adjusted. Each student had some kind of scholarship fund paid weekly into their account, and depending on their levels the amount varies greatly.
It certainly was a good day when he found the amount he receives was tripled in the aftermath of the test, and without any other obligations like additional research participation being forced upon him. Apparently once other issues like paperwork was sorted out and he was scheduled into a study the amount he can receive will increase even further.
His old allowance was enough for one person to live if they do careful allocation, and enough to feed both Index and himself if he really cut back on the luxury goods. Now that seems to no longer be a problem as long as he don't overspend, and he celebrated by not having to go chase after last minute supermarket sales anymore by ordering expensive takeout.
Other things his change in Level never occurred to him; such as Aleister used the excuse 'we might not know exactly what is going on with Kamijou Touma, but in the end he can't steal Magic Side's knowledge and even if you gain anything from him it won't be our trade secrets' to let him continue to fight magicians.
Those are flimsy excuses, yes, but so was the original excuse 'Kamijou Touma is a Level 0, someone with no power and so allowed to cooperate with people of the Magic Side' when he managed to take down magicians. Apart from the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church which was directly involved in his incidents, almost every other magic faction out there believed Kamijou did practically nothing and Index was the heroine that solved all the incidents before the Croce di Pietro was destroyed.
It certainly was more believable that a expert specialising in countering magic users, the Index Librorum Prohibitum, solved the incidents rather than a normal high school student. Ridovia Lorenzetti's plans have changed that somewhat, making the name Kamijou Touma stood out more to those on the Magic Side; something Aleister known would have happened eventually, and so changed nothing in the long run.
After all, within a few days a certain boy for a certain reason would be sent to Chioggia, Italy, and the results would get him unwanted attention. There was no point delaying the inevitable.
-][-
"Hmm? Why the long face, Kamijou-san?" A curious voice asked Touma as he left the rest of his classmates to meet up his parents (and Index) for lunch.
Touma stopped ruffling through his hair in stress and turned to look at the speaker. In a similar uniform he had seen Mikoto in a few days ago, Shokuhou Misaki's clothes are roughly the same with the exceptions of long pants instead of shorts, in addition to her usual gloves.
"What are you doing here, Shokuhou-san?" Touma asked.
"I'm scouting out the competition. We're your opponents this afternoon, and I want to see just what surprises you have in stall for us." Misaki said, taking a long look at the rest of Touma's class, many of them wilting in the exhaustion and the fact they lost another event.
"'We'?" Touma asked with a blank look.
"Didn't you see the schedule? Your school's opponent this afternoon is Tokiwadai Middle School." Misaki said pleasantly. While Misaki expected him to look surprised, she certainly didn't expect him to sag in despair and looked like he gave up on life.
"Fukou da…" It almost looked like the gloom from Touma is becoming visible. A direct confrontation against Mikoto's school? He already knew firsthand those ojou-samas would unleash a barrage of attacks that would put any other school to shame, back when he snuck into their match to investigate one of Oriana Thomson's shorthand originals.
Fighting them won't be called a match. It will be a one sided slaughter.
"I'm doomed…" Touma muttered, a image of a haughtily laughing Mikoto pointing a arcade coin at him, before firing it at full power.
"What's wrong? I know you're worried about losing to us, but isn't this over the top…?" Misaki said with one eyebrow raised. If it was anyone else she would have just read their mind and be done with it, but she found out the hard way that reading his mind is most definitely NOT a good idea.
"…" Touma glanced around him, noting that nobody else is listening in. He leaned in and asked "Can you keep this a secret?"
"What?"
"The thing is…" Touma outlined the events that lead up to them agreeing for a 'punishment game', with the winner allowed to do whatever they want to the loser.
"Oh, my…" Misaki shrunk away, a look of feigned shock in her eyes. "I never knew you were this desperate. Did you want to get your hands on Misaka that badly…?"
"How in the world did you end up in that conclusion!" Touma yelled out, before realising she said that in jest.
"My mistake then. I never knew you had that kind of interests, picking a fight you'd definitely lose so you can be brutally tormented by a little girl like her…"
"Arrrrrgh!" Touma wanted to smash his head repeatedly into a nearby wall. "It's not like that!"
Why did he say all this to her? It's like a replay of the time he told Mikoto about the 2,000 yen being eaten by the vending machine. The same desperation in thinking maybe she can help, but only for it to turn out otherwise.
Did he have some weakness to trusting younger girls or something? He had trouble before with Index at times when she promised not to bite him but immediately renege on her words, not to mention being fooled by Agnese Sanctis in the incident with Orsola Aquinas too…
"Maybe." Misaki said with a mischievous smile. "Your unfathomable reason of thinking your school can beat a elite school like Tokiwadai, ranked in the top 5 schools in Academy City aside… Misaka does have that kind of tendencies to do things like that."
"What?" Touma stopped his frantic attempt to convince Misaki, sure he heard something wrong.
"There was this one time when Misaka and Shirai was sent to clean the swimming pool on school campus," Misaki said in a conspiratorial whisper, sharing a bit of juicy gossip. "Some of Shirai's friends found the two in some sort of… play, I believe that word is used to describe what happens in that situation… where Mikoto was using her ability to stimulate the pain sensors in Shirai."
Touma gulped. It's like he was there, hearing the electricity crackle.
"Shirai screamed out in pain and exhilaration, and she asked for more and more. Misaka complied."
Is it just him, or is the sound of electricity getting louder?
"Now, I don't think her ability will work on you, but that doesn't mean she won't think of something else. I believe there are all sorts of items Shirai had ordered and snuck inside their dorm, and Mikoto have been putting them to good use on her kouhai…"
"STOP MAKING THINGS UP LIKE THAT, DAMN YOU!"
A bolt of lightning shot at Touma, one that he blocked on reflex. Turning around, he found a flustered Mikoto panting at the kind of things she heard Misaki saying.
Obviously that was her; her attacks on Touma knowing he can just stop it served to cut off the conversation, at least. Mikoto have more sense than to attack someone and injuring them in broad daylight, and in public too.
"Stop spreading rumours like that, Shokuhou! I most certainly didn't do anything like that!"
"What rumours? I'm just stating the possibilities that could happen to him after your wager is won." Misaki shrugged. "You'd have him helpless in your grasp and you're free to do whatever you want to him. Shirai would love that happening to her, won't she?"
"Stop suggesting I'm that kind of person." Mikoto said with a angry blush, although she stopped the lightning attacks. "Just because Kuroko like that kind of things doesn't mean I did do all that."
"And how did you know Shirai like that kind of things?" Touma's tone is suspicious, almost like he thought she found out first hand when they tried it.
"You ever had someone like her tackle you, declaring undying loyalty and then wants to be ravished?" Mikoto said coolly.
"Well, no…" Somehow, Kuroko going that far wasn't beyond imagination. Touma can easily accept it's not perversity on Mikoto's part but just solely because of Kuroko's action that forces Mikoto to react accordingly, which lead to misunderstandings by others not knowing the details.
"You might say that, but tell me, what do you plan to do once you win?" Misaki asked. "Have him take you out on a date? Force him to serve you for a entire day? Or something more sinister?"
"What? No!" Mikoto objected to Misaki's choices, her blush not receding even slightly. "I'd…"
Mikoto paused. What did she have planned to do with him when she win, anyway?
"Hey now, don't you think it's unfair I have to be treated that way? My class got quite a few injuries on the first day through no fault of their own, so by no means it's a accurate record of how good both sides are." Touma tried to argue. "Shouldn't there be some sort of handicap?"
"Tough luck." Mikoto said bluntly. "Besides, didn't you say you'll be steamrolling the opposite team? It's your own fault for not taking events into account."
"They were unforeseen events that sent them into hospital! How can they be predicted? I'm not a esper that have visions of the future here!" Touma said exasperatedly.
"Even without that, did you really think you can come out in the top 5 schools of Academy City?" Misaki asked curiously. "I know Misaka here call you a idiot, but not even I thought you'd be dumb enough to challenge us like that."
"Well, my reasoning was a bunch of little girls can't possibly beat high school students in terms of a festival that depends on physical abilities." Touma muttered to the side.
"This is Academy City. A place of espers. Tokiwadai is a place filled with the elite, everyone among us at least a Level 3." Misaki said unbelievingly. "I just don't see how you could have thought you can defeat us in points. The events depend just as much on ability as it does on physical side of things sometimes."
"Shokuhou, don't you know he don't place much focus on Levels?" Mikoto sighed. "Normally I'd agree with him that Levels don't matter. But really, even with his ability he can't possibly stand up against a entire team by himself."
"I'll have to disagree with you there." Misaki pointed out. "He might be able to defeat Tokiwadai by himself, the problem is in team events that won't get him enough points to beat us that way. Technically we'll still come out on top."
"What? That's…" Mikoto wanted to say 'impossible', but she had said the same when fighting Accelerator.
"How about this? Right now the situation is unfairly skewed in your favour, why don't we change the wager slightly?" Misaki said impishly.
"What do you have in mind?" Touma said warily. Misaki might mean no harm in all her teasing, but he still doesn't understand what she thinks at times.
Besides, he have a bad feeling about this.
"Instead of total ranking of our schools, let's base it on the outcome of our match instead. If you win, you get out of the punishment game."
"That's ridiculous! He can't just get out of it that easily!" Mikoto said hotly.
"Do you really have that little faith in our school, Misaka? I said he's powerful, but he won't be able to get enough points." Misaki waved airily. "Or do you know something I don't?"
Mikoto thought back to the first match, when he led his school to a victory against another school that had prepared much more than them and had better abilities. Sure, the difference this time is many times larger with Tokiwadai as his opponent, but still…
"Too risky. Over many games he might not be a threat but if it's one crucial game then he'll pull through." Mikoto stated confidently.
"It's not like I'll be able to do a punishment game to you even if I win." Touma begged. Maybe Misaki isn't so bad after all? "Come on Misaka, have some mercy."
"And to make it fair, if he loses he'll have to do a punishment game each for both of us." Misaki said as if as a afterthought.
"… What?" Both Mikoto and Touma stared at her.
"It was my idea. Surely I get something out of this?" Misaki said innocently. "Besides, something worse has to happen if you lose this bet."
"Hell no! No way am I letting you get your hands on him!" Mikoto snarled.
"I'll pass. I'd rather take my chances with ONE punishment game rather than getting into TWO." Touma nodded with absolute certainty.
He takes back what he thought about Misaki. And also anything good about ojou-samas from Tokiwadai.
"Come oooon. Do you even know what I'd do to you if you lost?" Misaki pouted.
"No, but I don't think I want to know." Touma shuddered.
"Well, I'll tell you anyway." Misaki dragged him closer, his right arm trapped between her more developed chest.
"Hey…!" Both Touma and Mikoto said, though Touma was more in surprise and Mikoto was in shock and anger at Misaki's blatant show of her assets.
"I'm going to force you into dressing up as a maid, call you Touka, and sneak you into the School Gardens." Misaki whispered into Touma's ear. "Once inside, you will be forced to serve me and my clique on hands and knees, and ojou-samas who have little contact with members of the opposite sex will use you as they want for a entire day. You will pay for your insolence in challenging us with your body, and you will not be released until every last one of the fifty members I have under me had their fill of making you scream like the 'little girl' you call us in penance."
Touma's face went white at her words, then bright red and breathing heavily at the implications Misaki is suggesting; even if he knows intellectually most of that was definitely just teasing and knowing his luck all he would have is pain and agony.
"Then, to top everything off… I will make you declare undying loyalty to me, as you can never go back to how you were before, alone and away from others. You will be by my side and I will make you enjoy every last second of it."
Misaki caressed his face tenderly with her gloved hand, and Touma reached up, though not quite sure if he wanted to push her grasp away from him or (for some obscure and unknown reason) to pull her closer.
He definitely thanked Mikoto's intervention via a thunderbolt, however.
"What did you say to him?" Mikoto's temper is swiftly reaching critical point. Misaki being that close to him definitely rang the alarm bells in her head of being 'not good,' even if it was for other reasons than she thought.
"Just that it won't be too bad even if he loses to me. I'll just have him do some manual labour, that's all. Compared to you and your antics with Kuroko, he's probably safer with me." Misaki raised one hand as if to cover her smile, while letting go of Touma as he blocked the attack and stepping away.
"Hey, Touma! It's lunchtime and- Woah!" A deeper voice approached him was cut off in surprise.
The two Level 5s and the new 'Undefined' esper looked at the source of the voice, and found a man wearing casual clothes that froze in the act of waving at his son. Along with him is a young looking woman that would be comparable to Misaki in terms of a high-class lady, a girl with silvery hair dressed in a nun's habit holding a calico cat, and another woman that looked like Mikoto's slightly older sister in rich clothing but seemed juvenile wearing them.
The three teenagers stared at the approaching group, and their surprise was reflected back on the other group.
"…" Kamijou Touya stared at the two girls next to his son. "Another one?"
In response, a black aura momentarily flared from Kamijou Shiina as she remembered Touya's current 'problem' that is Misaka Misuzu.
"Ara ara, it looks like Mikoto has some competition!" Misuzu smirked, not letting go of the chance to prod her daughter further.
"We're not like that, mum!" Mikoto retorted hotly, sparks flying here and there involuntarily.
"'Mum'?" Misaki looked incredulously over at Misuzu. "Wait, you're Mikoto's mother?"
"It's not that much of a surprise, is it? Touma's mother looks fairly young too." Index pointed out, though her earlier point of how so many women around Touma all looked exceedingly young for their age still stands.
"Kamijou-san's mother?" Misaki looked at Shiina with astonishment. "I find it hard to believe."
"If you think that's bad, you've obviously never met Komoe-sensei." Touma snarked. Seeing Misaki still staring at the group in front of her, he placed his right hand onto the top of Misaki's head and leaned in to whisper: "Don't read their minds, okay?"
Unspoken was a warning that he would not forgive her if she tries something to do with his – or Mikoto's – family.
"And whatever you do, NEVER read Index's mind." Touma emphasized how much of a Bad Idea it would be to venture into Index's head. He still hasn't forgotten about Yamisaka Ouma during the last day of summer vacation. "Not even I'll be able to save you if you try."
Misaki turned to look questioningly at Touma at his implication the nun was incredibly dangerous, only to find him being absolutely serious in his claim. She nodded, since if there's one person out there that would make her regret reading his or her mind, then there are probably others out there.
"Are we perhaps interrupting something?" Misuzu soughed to get their attention, and placed one hand to her mouth to conceal mock surprise at how apparently close Misaki and Touma is. "Really now, I didn't think Mikoto had it in her. Going after another girl's man, oh tou-san will be shocked when he hears about this-"
"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" More electricity was given out, and the way Mikoto said it was more convincing than Touma's same words earlier.
If Mikoto's face wasn't bright red, anyway.
"I'm Shokuhou Misaki, pleased to meet you all." Misaki said with a smile. Pleasantries were exchanged with the various adults and her, while Index only spared a moment to mention her full name before chomping down on Touma.
For reasons not known to him, as usual.
"I'll leave you two to your lunch with your family." Misaki politely declined the invitation to stay with them. "I wouldn't want to interrupt."
She'd already given enough 'motivation' to Mikoto to go after Touma at this point, and it appears Misuzu's teasing would prod Mikoto into doing something eventually.
And as a parting shot:
"I'm looking forward to the result of the match between our schools, Kamijou Touma." Misaki waved cheerfully as she left. "And especially when we win and you have to serve both Misaka and myself too."
With a smirk on her face, Misaki left Touma as he objected and said he never agreed to her deal. Then he decided to quickly explain things to his parents so they won't misunderstand things, and to ward off Index's bared fangs.
It certainly didn't help that somehow Mikoto got the idea he doesn't really mind losing to Misaki. The Queen of Tokiwadai relished the fact that Mikoto had fell for it hook, line and sinker, and with a few more moves she'd be able to get the Railgun pursuing Touma.
It was definitely worth the façade of being interested in Touma, seeing the look on both his and Mikoto's face.
-][-
-][-
"Siiiigh…" Touma met back up with the class at their next event. The lunch was good, however Mikoto's death glare at times was disconcerting.
Things spiralled out of control as he was teased by the adults without reprieve, with Touya and Shiina somehow found out about his wager with Mikoto on the first day when he hadn't seen them. He was spared 'the talk' due to the company they kept, but both of his parents seem to enjoy making fun of him and his 'conquests'.
It reminded them of their own high school days, it seemed.
Misuzu seemed to have fun joking around with Mikoto, saying he better take responsibility after all he has done with Mikoto. Judging from the look on Mikoto's face, she really didn't like the idea of being with him.
If only he knew what she really thought.
"What's with the long face, Kami-yan?" Aogami said, starting to warm up.
In contrast with other members looking like the walking dead, Aogami can only be described as 'enthusiastic'.
"We're facing a entire school of Level 3 or higher espers, and we're going to be barraged with attacks." Touma deadpanned. "How could I not be worried?"
"Look on the bright side!" Aogami said, raising one fist into the air. "This is a perfect opportunity for us to capture a maiden's heart as we bravely endure any and all attacks that come our way! This is the time where we valiantly overcome all odds and win, securing the love of those that is not a overly muscled bald man!"
The revelation of who Aomagi's admirer was, from the first event a few days ago must have left a scar in his heart. Even the guy that has a wide range of accepted targets draw the line somewhere.
"Sheesh, Kami-yan, where have your sense of adventure gone?" Tsuchimikado Motoharu said leisurely from where he stood. "Have you been henpecked by your girlfriend already?"
"We're not like that." Touma said, knowing it didn't matter one iota what he said; it's already widely accepted he had girls after him, and only Touma's class pitied him (albeit only very slightly) as they heard about how much trouble he was in.
Then again, things like being chased by mobs is a fair price for two girlfriends in their eyes.
"Are you even capable of competing right now? You were pretty badly hurt a few days ago." Touma asked Motoharu worriedly. The burns had looked pretty nasty, thanks to the magically heated wire fence Motoharu was climbing back then.
"Don't worry about it Kami-yan." Motoharu said lazily. Earlier Motoharu gave the excuse if he sat out of the festival his cover will be blown as a spy working against magicians, as they figure out he was hurt during the fight against Oriana on the first day, so he had to act as if he missed the first day due to a combination of minor injuries and delinquency.
It might not fool the major factions like the Roman Catholic Church, but it should be enough to get the various other magic cabals off his back. Every little bit count in his profession.
"By the way…" Motoharu said in a stage whisper. "I've heard about your 'wager' with the Railgun and Queen of Tokiwadai. It seems like the winner can do anything to the loser, huh?"
"Eeeeeh!" Aogami glared at the 'unfortunate' classmate of his. Several other classmates also overheard.
Touma shot a look towards Motoharu that said 'How could you do this to me, you traitor!', to which Motoharu returned a 'I'm the back-stabber; what did you expect?' look.
"Look, that was before we changed the deal. The point difference was so large that now it turned out if I win this next match I escape any punishment," Touma placed heavy emphasis on the word, "and if I lose I suffer twice as much as before. I don't get anything out of this."
It certainly won't do if they hear about he's doomed to be the plaything of Mikoto after the sports festival is over. He had to portray things like there's really nothing good will happen, or else there will likely be consequences.
"Really now…" Motoharu said in a suggestive voice. "So basically we're in a position where if you make a comeback here you lose any kind of 'alone time' with two incredibly hot girls at once? I'm impressed, Kami-yan. You knew we'd have no chance of winning a event, and you managed to fool the other two into agreeing into giving you 'special treatment' if they win. You crafty bastard, you."
"Wait, what?" Touma's jaw dropped at how Motoharu's interpreting this. "That's not how it is!"
"Oh ho… so that's what you have planned, is it?" Came Fukiyose Seiri's voice, one thinly veiling the contempt behind it. Touma turned, to find his classmate with eyes blazing in annoyance in what Touma have supposedly wrought to his advantage.
"Well too bad. You're mistaken to think it'll work after we hear about this. We are going to win, and we are going to make sure you're the one behind our success." Seiri said frostily.
"Wait, I don't mind winning, but I really don't think I'm going to like what you're going to suggest here…" Touma gulped, some sort of premonition telling him if he doesn't run NOW he will be in a world of hurt.
"Too bad." Seiri repeated, clamping one hand onto his arm. "You're coming with me. I've got a plan that'll practically guarantee us victory. Consider it a honour that you'll go down in history as the one who single-handedly is responsible for the biggest turnaround this year."
Waaaaait! Touma's cry for help went largely unanswered by his classmates as he was dragged away.
"Sorry, Kami-yan! I might support your conquests, but not when it clashes with my own plans!" Aogami shouted behind them. If they lost then his 'Win spectacularly and steal the heart of girl/s on the opposing team' will go up in smoke, so better to let Fukiyose handle this one.
Motoharu on the other hand chuckled in satisfaction as he saw how things turned out.
-][-
-][-
Mikoto reached the newly fixed battlefield at Touma's school, joining the rest of her classmates. With almost indecent haste the place was fixed up compared to what she remembered the place was like, but then with Academy City's technology that wasn't impossible.
The event this time, surprisingly enough, was another 'Wrench Pole' battle, like the one she saw in the first event Touma's school participated in. Poles seven metres high are placed vertically, one for each class as the entire school faces off against one another. For fairness, the percentage of poles left standing from the ones originally placed will count, not the number of poles knocked down. That meant Tokiwadai will have to push down more poles in order to get the same effect as if one of their own poles are knocked down, but considering the power difference between the two sides the organizers felt it was not much of a handicap.
Considering how this is a festival lasting for seven days, and ostensibly there was the excuse of 'collecting data during massive conflicts between espers', doing the same events again is not unheard of. Having one side already done it once only serves to even the odds, as with prior experience knowing what will work in such a event might help against superior firepower.
"Onee-sama!" Kuroko teleported next to her. "Oh, Onee-sama, I'm so glad to be finally free from the restraints of my recent injury, let me celebrate by showing my devotion to you-"
"You can do that without a tackling hug, thanks." Mikoto side-stepped Kuroko's attempt to glomp her, being too used to her antics by this point.
"Why are you so cold all of a sudden? Kuroko here have been weeping at the period where we were separated from one another… Don't tell me you found someone else?" Kuroko said that last bit in horror.
Mikoto held back on the urge to just zap her roommate. Kuroko did indeed just heal recently, and showing that kind of disciplinary action in front of everyone will only fuel the rumours of the… 'relationship'… they have with one another that Misaki is shamelessly saying they have. Best to just ignore her for now.
Mikoto glanced at their opponents, somewhat glad that she won't be facing the same kind of determination she saw Touma's school had when they last did this event.
What she saw made her blink, sure it has to be some kind of illusion.
While it wasn't the same kind of atmosphere of those standing on the battlefield in the Sengoku era like she saw back on the first day, the determination to win was just as fierce. Tainted in their resolve was some of dark accusation, directed at one person they have placed at the forefront of their formation:
Kamijou Touma.
He looked like he was thrown into a washing machine and then violently ejected out, but behind that look of someone who was unjustly punished there is also determination to win. With his right arm outstretched to one side and gripped rightly, he looked for all intents and purposes like a general commanding his army, ready to unleash bloody carnage onto their opponents.
W-what the hell is going on here! Is he really scared of what I would do to him or something? Just what did Shokuhou say to him! Mikoto panicked slightly as she saw the forces lined up in front of her. Kuroko narrowed her eyes, seeing that once again her beloved Onee-sama have eyes only for her idiot.
Next to her, her classmates were subdued and lacked the feeling of superiority they had against other schools. The noticeable 'noblewoman's laugh' from them was toned down, if not gone completely, as they looked upon their foes.
This wasn't going to be a one-sided slaughter like the other matches, it seemed. Quite a few of the older girls smiled like a predator, almost glad their prey will put up a fight before being struck down. The younger ones tensed with the nervousness they have seldom faced before, subconsciously knowing this will be a serious battle.
None of them knew that all this was stemming from the words of Tsuchimikado Motoharu, spreading word of the 'reward' awaiting Touma if they lost. The young men reacted with predictable indignant fury, that the 'lucky bastard' once again got into something that all of them envied and swore to win just to spite him.
The young women on the other hand seemed to misunderstood Touma to be a womaniser of the worst kind, toying with not one but TWO others at once. Whatever pity they had for his misfortune was buried in their incensed purpose to ensure he does NOT get what he planned on obtaining.
Sure, this was one misconception that would not last the month with how Touma normally act in front of others, but it definitely was enough motivation for one match. The fact that knowing Touma's luck with girls, the misconception would clear up quickly was one reason why Motoharu was confident he can just throw his friend into the lion's den, so to speak.
The boy's opinions, however, Motoharu gave up on trying to salvage that after the rumours of him dating a Level 5 was leaked out. Not even bottling up the 'Kami-yan disease' and handing them out would be enough to appease the masses, for it will only remind them of how the original user's legacy taunted them in that they can never match his conquests.
With the signal for starting echoing, the battle commenced.
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"Uwoooooh!" Touma shouted as he charged, sure agreeing to Fukiyose's plan was a very bad move back then.
He wasn't mistaken.
A full third of the projectiles was aimed directly at him, with the girls of Tokiwadai knowing full well what Touma might be capable off. Fire, ice, wind, bullets of all sorts of elements was directed at him, the ones that missed him causing large shock waves that blew anyone within several metres backwards before the wind or telekinesis laced into the attacks saved them from serious injury.
After the first volley, everyone realised standing close to Touma is a VERY Bad Idea. Even if his right hand can negate attacks, there was just no way he can protect anyone else as it is.
Like a berserker, Touma continued his charge. With each bullet that came after him, his arm sped to intercept it in quick and sudden movements. With reflexes honed from constant attacks towards him, bullets was negated and dodged as Touma weaved in and out, the distance of eighty metres between the two sides slowly decreasing.
"What the hell is he!" One irritated girl with brown hair growled, sending a water bullet many times larger than normal size with the help of classmates towards the indomitable juggernaut.
The plan of the bullet breaking apart before reaching him and showing him with its contents was thwarted with a simple wave of his hand, his pace not even slowed. Cheers went up from the sidelines as Touma weathered the attacks continuously, heading straight into the heart of the enemy lines.
What was even more surprising was not many other people from his side was running to support him, or even to try and score. There was a few attempts, but even from this distance it was apparent they weren't serious and is just seeing the accuracy of their enemy's firepower. The ojous of Tokiwadai wanted to think it's because they are completely suppressed by the attacks and too busy defending their poles, but it felt wrong for them to send just one man to challenge the (currently) second strongest school in the city.
And what's even more irritating was he's actually winning.
With all the extra fights he had been through since the rumours of him and his relationship with Misaki and Mikoto spread, Touma was in almost constant danger. Nothing life-threatening, but he certainly had to rely on his wits and skill to survive against people trying to beat him to a pulp. It stemmed from jealous people at the love life he supposedly is enjoying, and those that wanted to test their skills against him when he is rumoured to be able to match even a Level 5; the reasons for coming after him are varied to say the least. Running was one option that ended up being inefficient, so at times he had to fight.
And in his fights, he learned. From constant exposure to dangerous attacks, his reflexes, already honed in whatever fights he had gotten into before his memory loss, sharpened further.
With experience, he learned the best way to conserve energy to fight multiple opponents. He learned when best to fight, when to flee.
Now, those experiences are put to the test.
He had ran half way across the distance between the two, and there didn't seem to be even a single scratch on him by this point. With the exception of some supporting fire helping the runners of Tokiwadai against their opponent's efforts that's mostly focused on defence, over half of the attacks are now directed towards Kamijou Touma.
As it is now, Touma spent more time negating incoming attacks instead of dodging, due to the sheer volume of them if nothing else. Touma's pace slowed to that of a brisk walk, unlike his breakneck charge from earlier. With the shortening distance, the attacks were getting more and more accurate.
Amazingly, he is still managing to move forward despite the resistance, the sound of glass cracking that accompanying his negation sounding a continous irregular staccato pattern. At this distance many of the attackers can see the determined face he has as he approached, and more than a few first-year students participating in the Daihasei Festival as members of Tokiwadai was cowed when faced with the iron will for success that Touma is exhibiting.
The earth trembled as the ground was broken up, showing fissures that would soon end up as a ledge that would stop Touma from being able to continue. Placing his right hand down onto the ground as he leaned down to avoid another strike of wind, the fissures abruptly stopped expanding and he ran over the ground before it can be raised and force him to turn around.
This time, instead of trying to aim for his person spheres of fire smashed into the ground in front of him, trying to force him to stop of his own accord. Staring at the flames unflinchingly, Touma leapt high across the obstacle, feeling the hot air on his skin and soared past the fire, looking like this was nothing more than a high jump exercise in a class. Without paying attention to surprised gasps from both the ojous responsible for the attack and from the spectators, he fell down in time to land on the back end of another bullet as it flew past him.
With physical contact the bullet exploded, softening his landing with the first layer of telekinetic shell as he took care to keep his right hand away from it. The lightning left inside tried to follow after the flow of the force, to shock him or at least paralyze his limbs; but his long practise with dealing with Mikoto made sure it did no harm with one sweep of his right arm as he spun on his way down.
Just 25 metres left to go.
Touma continued to race forward, too focused on keeping track of the bullet hell he found himself in than hearing the support and cheers the excited crowd is shouting. In front of him is one of the poles, and afraid of hitting their own targets or harming allies with friendly fire the attacks will be much more restricted once he got close enough. If he reaches the poles and run along the enemy formation on close distance, he will be nigh unstoppable.
After all, if concentrated fire from the majority of the Tokiwadai cannot stop him, what can vastly reduced volume of attacks do to him when he's well practiced in dodging?
Unfortunately, something will obviously come around to stop the best-case scenario Touma's side have planned. It's almost like whatever divine entity that exists out there takes a perverse pleasure in watching Touma not succeeding.
Said something happens to be a violent flow of electricity from his right, eclipsing all other attacks so far and swallowing up the various rain of attacks in its metres wide torrent. Touma reached out his right hand and let it act as a lightning rod, and once again his body withstood a attack from the 3rd strongest of Academy City and let it washed over him like nothing.
The camera crew from the various channels yelled in surprise as their gear sparked, the images fizzled out briefly before refocusing on the event before them.
Walking in slow, deliberate steps towards Kamijou Touma is Misaka Mikoto, who are also known as the Railgun, the Ace of Tokiwadai, and contested girlfriend of the boy standing in front of her. With a irritated look on her face and lightning wreathed around her, nobody else was foolish enough to interrupt the two of them with a attack on Touma as they stared each other down.
"You." Mikoto scowled. "You sure have some guts, trying a head on assault like this."
The only reason she hadn't attacked earlier was simple; with her power, she was more likely to affect her allies than her opponents. In such events all she would normally be the one on the offence, let the Queen handle the defence and her power will be directed at her opponents far away from the rest of Tokiwadai and defending herself.
However, with what happened between Shokuhou and Touma earlier, Mikoto thought it was prudent to stay behind in defence. That idea paid off when she saw him running towards them alone, and unable to be stopped by her classmates.
If she wasn't here, he probably would have reached the poles while she's bogged down fighting his entire school using limited effort in trying not to step into 'overkill' territory as she tended to do against him. That would have been bad.
"Please, don't mention the word 'guts'." Touma said, momentarily shifting his gaze to the other ojou-samas looking at the two of them to evaluate their threat, before looking back at Mikoto. "I've had enough of that word from Sogiita Gunha already."
"The Seventh Level 5." Mikoto's scowl deepened. "You never try your best unless you have to, don't you? You weren't even trying half as hard as you are now a few days back against him."
"You say that like it's a bad thing." Touma ignored the stunned and animated whisperings of the other girls as they heard about his run-in with Gunha. He was curious in how she knew about his meeting with Gunha, but that can come later. "Besides, I have more things on the line here compared to when I faced him. This concerns my continued purity, after all."
"Huh?" Mikoto said, not quite knowing what he is on about.
"I really don't want to think about what you would do to me if I lose this match. I'm sure Shirai enjoys that kind of attention, but let me say that even as a normal guy interested in the opposite gender, some of the things you two get up to together would be too much for me I think-"
BOOM!
Without warning, a thunderbolt shot from Mikoto's forehead and negated by Touma's right hand as it came up of its own accord.
"Just what kind of things have you been imagining us doing?" Mikoto said between clenched teeth, as she's filled with rage that she's not quite sure who to aim it at: The idiot in front of her, Kuroko, or Shokuhou?
"The kind of things that would 'put shoujo manga to shame', paraphrasing your own words." Touma said dryly, reminding her of the conversation they had after she zapped a certain vending machine out of 2,000 yen worth of drinks. "So if you don't mind, please let me through."
"I don't think so." Mikoto said, gathering crackling electricity in her hands. "That load of rubbish about what I'd do to you aside, I can't just let you pass in a event like this."
"This is a sporting event right? Then all I have to do is get past you, and you'll have to stop." Touma noted. "It's not like you can just indiscriminately attack all around you, not when you have your classmates with you."
Mikoto widened her eyes as he said that, finally taking her gaze off of Touma and looking behind him. He was the only one from his team here because they planned on having him fight her all along! So his allies won't be dragged in, and they can come in and mop them all up after being weakened by Mikoto's own attacks. She can't just go all out then.
On the other hand, if she doesn't… he will be able to run past her, and this 'duel' of sorts will be his win. For the first time since they fought, he actively planned for his success.
"By the way… in the old days, you went all out at me and I just stood there and take everything without attacking back, isn't that right?" Touma asked, remembering Mikoto's words back at the vending machine since his own memories are severely lacking in this part. "Do you think you can handle it when I do more than just stood there and take it all? Step aside, if you don't think you can do it."
One step.
Touma stepped forward a single time, and Mikoto involuntarily stepped back once. Whether it is because of apprehension, or because of awe, who can say?
The distance between them is roughly ten metres. Beyond Mikoto, is approximately another ten metres before the pole that's guarded by five girls, all of them standing their ground but trembled once when Touma looked past Mikoto and looked at his destination.
"Here I come, Misaka." Touma said, looking directly into her eyes. "Stop me if you can. Leave if you can't. Either way, I'll be giving it my best shot.
"To victory!" Touma roared. And then he charged.
Seconds later, a flash of lightning temporarily blinded everyone else present.
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*End Chapter 9*
Author's Note: Yes, I know this is a cliffhanger. I had planned on making this entire match a single chapter, but it got kind of long. I'm splitting this into two parts and making more adjustments to the second half of this match, so see you next time.
Oh, and if anyone have questions/comments/suggestions, feel free to say them in a review. I'm willing to listen to new ideas and may incorporate them into my story if I really like it, provided they are said in a polite manner.
If anyone wants to flame/insult me, then at least do me the favour of saying where/why you thought my writing needs improving, and tell me how to fix it. That's more likely to change the story into something you're willing to read than insults alone.