The Dragonsong2795 Archive

by Dragonsong2795

Please read the first chapter for a Summary. In short, a complete copy of all of my stories as up to date as possible.

30. DA SOM

Toaru Majutsu no Index (Earlier this Year)

The Saint of Misfortune

Prologue

Calamitas 000

The One who Bears the Misfortune of Mankind

SCIENTFIC_SAINT_CALAMITAS

Academy City

In 2047 a great city located on what used to be the western wards of Tokyo was founded, following the Midnight War that left dozens of nations weakened and halved the population of Humanity, soon thousands flocked to the new city, a paradise where Scientific progress was paramount.

It didn't take long for the city's fame to grow, especially when the research conducted there revealed something special.

Espers.

Humans with abilities that could only be called supernatural, they manipulated reality with just a thought and performed impossible seeming actions.

Eventually these Espers were ranked on their abilities and power, the ranks became known as Levels.

Originally there were four levels and they were: Level 0, Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3.

Then the breakthrough to Level 4 happened and following that Level 5.

Each Level was magnitudes more powerful then the previous level, to the point where the difference between a Level 5 and a Level 1 was similar to that between a Human and an Angel, that is to say.

Vast.

But the growth of Science had an effect on the world, in order to maintain balance Magic began to flow stronger and stronger and old and forgotten Magics and Grimoires were returning.

However the will of Earth, Gaea, was not foolish, she knew that the possibility of war between Science and Magic was high, so she created another Saint, one that would stand on the Science Side and protect them from the power of the Magical Side.

Saints were the epitome of Magic, beings of incredible power and skill, blessed by their Gods and Goddesses. This one however was different, born to an ordinary family with no knowledge of Magic this young girl may never have reached her potential, but the God of the Bible, sensing Gaea's gambit, decided to help. He gave the girl the greatest blessing he had, a power that should only belong to a divine being.

Imagine Breaker.

The ultimate ability to cancel out all powers, no matter the source. While it couldn't kill a God or Outer Being, it could render them weak and helpless.

The young girl entrusted with this ability was named ironically after a flower thought to have no scent, her name was Kamijou Tsubaki.

A name that could be translated as 'The One Above God, Camellia' a powerful position with a scentless flower, this contradiction was the same as Tsubaki herself. By wielding the Imagine Breaker she should have no supernatural abilities, but she is also a Saint.

There in lay the ultimate contradiction.

The being capable of destroying all supernatural power, also being the being capable of wielding the strongest of Magics.

Such a being should not exist.

However this power came with a price, her luck was abysmal and if she was angry or sad enough it could effect others.

After several attacks and an attempt on her life her parents, wanting her to be safe, sent her to Academy City.

Upon her entry into the Famous City, the Superintendent of the city, Aleister Crowley, immediately took note of her, easily noticing that there was something strange about her. Using his power he secretly set it up so that she would read a magical spell designed to create a small fireball in her left hand, however instead of forming a fireball, Tsubaki instead formed an inferno. From that moment on Tsubaki's powers were kept secret from the rest of the city and especially the Magical Side.

She was the Saint of Academy City, a secret protector with the unfortunate task of shouldering the misfortunes of mankind.

As such she named herself with magic,

Calamitas 000

The One who Bears the Misfortune of Mankind

Tsubaki was in a way, the only true Saint. Without even thinking about it she shouldered the misfortunes of those around her.

Over the years Tsubaki watched the going ons of Academy City from the shadows, seen as a powerless Level 0 that was not allowed to go through the Testament nor any of the Esper curriculum. Tsubaki kept a careful watch out for the Magical side, while dodging thugs and a persistent Railgun coming after her.

That leads us to the current time, a new chapter in the history of Academy City is opening and Kamijou Tsubaki is the catalyst for everything that followed the opening act.

Act I

A Certain Magical Index

INDEX_LIBRORUM_PROHIBITORUM

Prologue

A Shocking Encounter

LEVEL_5_ELECTROMASTER-RAILGUN

Academy City, June 19th 2063.

"Fukou Da" Tsubaki screamed as she fled from a group of angry thugs.

Even as she realized her cries sounded rather strange, Kamijou Tsubaki showed no sign of stopping her tremendous flight, her long black hair streamed behind her as she fled.

As she ran through back alleys late at night, she glanced over her shoulder.

There were eight of them.

She ran frantically all over for almost two kilometers, but there were still eight of them.

Of course, Kamijou Tsubaki had no (normal) way to win in a fight against that many unless she happened to be a former foreign unit's cook or a cyber-ninja from the Midnight War that had survived to the present day.

In a fight between high school students, anything beyond 1-on-3 was out of the question. That could be called "impossible" even before taking any skill she might have had into account.

However Kamijou was a Saint, one of twenty-one beings that defied the limitations of the human body. But, due to both a Geas she was bound to and the nature of her connection to Academy City, she could not cause harm to an individual of Academy City unless certain criteria had been met, and in this incident, they hadn't been met.

Kamijou kicked over a filthy plastic bucket and frightened off a black cat as she continued running.

It was July 19th.

The fault lay in that date. Because summer break would start the next day, she was in such high spirits that she grabbed a manga at the bookstore despite a glance at the cover telling her it was no good, entered a family restaurant to treat herself, for once, to a nice between-meals snack, found a middle school-aged girl surrounded by clearly drunk delinquents, and decided that some rescuing was in order.

But, she had not expected more of their comrades to come swarming out of the bathroom.

She had always thought that going to the bathroom in groups was something only girls did.

"I had to run out before the hellish goya and escargot lasagna I ordered even arrived. I didn't even get to eat anything, but I'm being treated like a dine-and-dasher. What kind of misfortune is this!? Gyahh!"

Kamijou scratched her head as she ran out from the back alley and into the moonlit street.

Even if Academy City were as large as a third of Tokyo, she could see nothing but couples no matter where she looked. That was also surely because it was July 19th. It's all July 19th's fault!, Kamijou, who was single, shouted in her heart. The three blades of the wind turbines located here and there throughout the area glittered in the pale moonlight and the lights of the city nightscape, making them look like the tears of rich bachelors.

Kamijou tore through the couples as she ran through the city.

She ran and glanced down at her right hand. The power that resided there would be of no help in the current situation. It would not let her defeat even a single delinquent, it would not raise her scores on tests, and it would not make her popular with girls, yes Kamijou Tsubaki was a lesbian (Actually Bisexual but with a clear inclination towards homosexual).

"Uuh…Such misfortune!"

If she escaped the group of delinquents, they possibly would have used their phones to call in reinforcements and bikes. In order to simply run down their stamina, Kamijou Tsubaki had been letting them catch occasional glimpses of her as bait so that they would continue to run and wear themselves out.

It was akin to letting boxers hit you to weaken them.

Kamijou's goal was only to save any possible victims.

If she could lose them and have them give up without getting into a fistfight, she would win.

Incidentally, Kamijou had confidence in her long distance running, her body was that of a Saint, capable of physical feats no ordinary human body could match. On the other hand, her opponents damaged their bodies with alcohol, cigarettes and were wearing boot with almost no real functionality. On top of that, running full speed for long distances without pacing one's self was impossible by its very nature.

As Kamijou alternated and weaved in and out through roads and back alleys while seemingly simply clumsily running about in a panic, she saw one and then another of the delinquents drop out of the chase, leaning forward with their hands on their knees. She felt her plan was the perfect way of resolving the situation without any injuries.

"D-damn it. Why do I have to waste my youth on this stuff!?"

Everywhere she looked, she saw nothing but couples full of dreams and happiness. Unable to stand it, Kamijou Tsubaki felt as if she had somehow ended up on the short end of life.

The date need only change and it would be summer break and yet she had neither love nor comedy to speak of.

It made her feel like quite the loser.

She then heard one of the delinquents shouting from behind her.

"Hey! You fucking bitch! Stop, you master runner!"

It only angered Kamijou more to receive such a violent love call.

"Shut up! You should be thanking me for not turning around and knocking you and your monkey-level IQ out cold!" Kamijou shouted back despite knowing it was just a waste of stamina.

'He really should thank me for going this far out of my way to keep him from getting injured'

After another two kilometers of heavy running, she exited the urban area and came to a large river. A large metal bridge spanned the river, about 150 meters across and no cars could be seen on it. Not lit up, the plain metal bridge was wrapped in an eerie darkness much like a midnight sea.

Kamijou glanced back as she darted across the bridge.

She then stopped: at some point, she had escaped all of his pursuers.

"Sh-shit. Did I finally shake them?"

Kamijou desperately suppressed the urge to sit down right then and there and sighed as she stared up into the night sky.

She had actually managed to resolve everything without having to punch anyone. She wanted to praise herself for that.

"Really now, what are you doing? Do you think protecting those delinquents makes you a good person? Are you some overzealous teacher?"

In an instant, Kamijou's body froze over.

Because the bridge had no lights, Kamijou had not noticed the girl standing about 5 meters ahead in the direction she had been running, a completely normal middle school girl wearing a gray pleated skirt, a short-sleeved blouse, and a summer sweater. Kamijou stared up into the sky and seriously considered collapsing onto her back. The girl before her was the same one from the family restaurant.

"Wait, so that's why they stopped chasing me?"

"Yeah. They annoyed me, so I roasted them."

The zapping sound of bluish-white sparks echoed. Rather than a stun gun, as her shoulder-length brown hair swayed, sparks flew from it like an electrode.

The moment a convenience store bag in the wind passed by her head, it was blown away by bluish-white sparks reminiscent of an interception device.

"Ugh," sighed Kamijou wearily. 'I wondered why they disappeared so suddenly'

July 19th. That was why she had grabbed a manga at the bookstore despite a glance at the cover telling her it was no good, entered a family restaurant to treat herself, for once, to a nice between-meals snack, found a middle school-aged girl surrounded by clearly drunk delinquents, and decided that some rescuing was in order.

However, Kamijou had not a single thought about rescuing the girl. Instead, had tried to rescue the boys who had carelessly approached her.

Once again she sighed. The girl was always like that. She had seen her here and there sporadically for almost a month, but they had yet to learn each other's names. In other words, they were by no means friends.

This time, the girl would arrogantly arrogantly attack in an attempt to beat her opponent into a pulp and Kamijou would be the one to put up with it. Without a single exception, it went that way and she won every time.

If she actually lost, the girl would likely be satisfied, but Kamijou was a terrible actor. She once tried to fake her defeat and she chased her like a demon for the rest of the night.

"…What did I even do?"

"I cannot allow anyone to be more powerful than me. That is enough of a reason."

That was how it was with her. She felt that even a character in a fighting game would have a more detailed incentive.

"But you're treating me like an idiot, too. I'm a Level 5. Do you really think I would go all out against a powerless Level 0? I do know how to handle the weak."

In that city, the usual standard of a back alley delinquent being the strongest in a fight did not hold up. Those delinquents who could not keep up with the psychic powers development Curriculum were the Level 0s, the powerless.

The truly strong in that city, the top-tier students, were Espers.

"Yeah, about that, I do understand that you possess a talent that only 1 in 328,571 have. I really do. But if you want to live a long life, you should stop speaking to people so condescendingly."

"Shut up. If you couldn't bend a single spoon after having various crazy things done to you like have drugs injected directly into your blood vessels or have electrodes stabbed in through your ears and into the brain, what could it be but lack of talent?"

"…"

That was indeed the kind of place Academy City was.

The other side of Academy City could be seen in how means of developing the brain had been calmly added into the Curriculum under the name of "documentation methods" or "memorization methods".

However, not all of the 2.3 million students living in Academy City had ceased to be human and became something like a manga protagonist.

Just under 60% of the whole population were utterly useless Level 0s who could only bend a spoon after focusing their brain to the point of blood vessel bursts.

"If I need to bend a spoon, I can just use pliers, and if I need fire, I can just buy a cheap lighter. Also, what do I need telepathy for when I have a cell phone? Are psychic powers really that great?"

'Also my magic is rather more impressive and it can do multiple things unlike an Esper who only has ONE ability'

Those were the words of Kamijou who had been branded as useless by Academy City's physical examination sensors (On purpose by Alistair to hide her magic)

"And everyone's priorities are all messed up. They're all rejoicing over the byproduct we call psychic powers, but isn't our real objective something beyond that?"

In response, the girl who was one of Academy City's seven Level 5s twisted the edges of her lips.

"Hahh? …Oh, that. What was it again? Something like, 'Humans cannot calculate god, so we need to acquire a body that exceeds humanity before we can arrive at god's answer', right?" The girl gave a haughty laugh. "Hah. Don't make me laugh. What is all this about the 'brain of god'? Have you heard how my DNA map was supposedly analyzed and military Sisters were created based on it? It seems to me these lucrative side effects are more important than that objective."

'I wonder, does she actually know of the Radio Noise Sisters? And the Level 6 Shift Project?'

After saying that, the girl suddenly stopped.

In the silence, it felt as if the quality of the air was changing.

'She's getting ready'

"…For God's sake, those are the words of the strong."

"Hah?"

"The strong, the strong, the strong. Those are the fearless and cruel words of a manga protagonist who was born with his abilities and does not understand the pain of arriving there on his own."

The river below the bridge began to make an unsettling amount of noise.

A dark flame could be felt on the grit of her words that hinted at just how much of her humanity she had abandoned to arrive at the position of one of Academy City's seven Level 5s.

'You poor thing, you gave up so much, and received so little in return'

Kamijou denied all of it with just a few words. Not even once did she turn around.

She did this by never losing, but she still had a role to play, that of a powerless Level 0, she couldn't reveal herself, yet. That damned Geas still bound her.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Take a look at the results of the annual physical examination. I'm a Level 0 and you're a Level 5. Ask anyone you find out on the streets, and they'll tell you who's stronger!"

Academy City's powers development heavily used things such as pharmaceutics, neuroscience, and cerebral physiology. It was a purely scientific endeavor. After undergoing the Curriculum to a certain extent, one could bend a spoon even without talent.

And yet Kamijou Tsubaki could do nothing (As far as Academy City's machines were aware)

According to Academy City's instruments, she was truly powerless.

'Ironically I'm one of the strongest beings in this city'

"Zero, you say," repeated the girl as if she was turning it over in her mouth. She stuck a hand in her skirt pocket and pulled out an arcade coin. "Have you ever heard the term Railgun?"

'She wouldn't-'

"Ahn?"

"The idea behind it is the same as a linear motor train. It is a ship-borne weapon that uses powerful electromagnets to fire a metal projectile."

The girl flicked the coin up into the air with her thumb. The coin rotated a few times before landing back onto her thumb.

'She would'

"It refers to something like this."

Just as she spoke, an orange spear of light suddenly and silently shot past Kamijou's head. It was more like a laser than a spear. She could only tell it had originated from the girl's thumb because the afterimage of light stretched back to it.

Almost like thunder, the noise rumbled in with a slight delay. As a shockwave tore through the air around her ears, Kamijou's sense of balance was partially destroyed. She staggered and glanced over her shoulder.

'Bitch, I felt that'

The instant the orange light struck the road surface on the bridge, the asphalt was blown away like an airplane making an emergency landing on the ocean. Even after traveling a 30 meter path of utter destruction and stopping, the orange afterglow was still burning the air like an afterimage.

"Even a coin like this can be quite powerful when it's fired at three times the speed of sound. Of course, the coin melts after 50 meters because of air friction."

That bridge made of steel and concrete swayed like an unreliable suspension bridge.

'Nanobots 240,509 through 380,284 reroute to repair bridge 28-R'

Failing metal bolts could be heard occasionally.

"…!"

Kamijou felt chilled like dry ice was stuffed into her blood vessels.

She felt like all the moisture in her body had been turned to sweat and evaporated.

"Damn you. Don't tell me you used that to drive them away!"

"Don't be stupid. I match my methods to my opponent. I don't want to accidentally become a murderer." As she spoke, sparks flew from the girl's brown hair like an electrode. "This was enough for those Level 0s!"

'Thankfully she has that much sense, what would Meltdowner or worse Accelerator do in this situation… they wouldn't get into this situation in the first place'

Bluish-white sparks flew from the girl's bangs like a horn and a spear-like line of lightning flew towards Kamijou.

There was no way to evade. After all, she was against a bluish-white lightning spear shot from a Level 5's hair. It was an experience like watching a thundercloud fire a bolt at light speed and then try to dodge it.

An explosive noise followed after a slight delay.

Kamijou immediately held up her right hand to protect her face and the lightning spear struck it. It rampaged through Kamijou's body and sparks scattered in every direction and into the bridge's steel framework.

…Or so it had seemed.

"So, why are you completely unhurt?"

Her words seemed lighthearted enough, but the girl baring her canines was glaring at Kamijou.

The high voltage current that had scattered into the surroundings had been powerful enough to burn the steel framework of the bridge, yet, Kamijou's right hand had not been blown off by the direct hit. …In fact, it lacked even a single burn.

Kamijou's right hand had erased the girl's electrical strike that numbered a few hundred million volts.

"Honestly, what's with you? That power of yours isn't listed in Academy City's Bank. If I'm a one in 328,571 genius, then you're a one in 2,300,000 disaster," the girl muttered in annoyance but Kamijou neglected to give even a single word in response. "If I pick a fight with an exception like that, I might be able to raise my level, don't you think?"

'…Actually, she has the right idea, if she managed to beat me at full power the strain and non-linear thinking required to beat me would mostly likely raise her level'

"…But you always lose."

She received a response in the form of more lightning that shot from her forehead, well over mach one at that.

However, it scattered in every direction the instant it met Kamijou's right hand.

It was very much like a water balloon bursting.

Imagine Breaker.

Psychic powers ranged from the ones mocked on TV to the ones established with numerical formulas in Academy City. Anything using that kind of supernatural power, even if it were part of god's system, would be negated without question by that supernatural power of hers.

As it was supernatural in origin, even that girl's Railgun ability was no exception.

However, Kamijou's Imagine Breaker only worked on the supernatural power itself (Except her own magic for some strange reason)

Simply, she could negate an Esper's fireball, but she was still vulnerable to the concrete shards broken by the fireball. Also, the effective range was only her right hand and wrist. (However her magic and nature as a Saint protected her… mostly, she'd had to run home partially naked a few times due to her clothes not being anywhere as near resilient as her body)

If the fireball hit her anywhere else, she would be burned (If she was unshielded or the spell/power was strong enough)

And yet…

'I really, really thought I was going to die there… NOT!'

Kamijou Tsubaki's calm and composed expression remained unperturbed. Even with a right hand that could completely negate those light-speed lightning spears, it was sheer coincidence that they struck her right hand.

'Actually since I usually keep it in front of me the lightning would automatically be drawn to it, so it's not really a coincidence after all.

Her heart was calm in her chest as she made a mature smile appear onto her face.

"I guess you could say that was either some misfortune or you're just unlucky."

That was how Kamijou brought that day, July 19th, to an end.

With just one comment, she seemed to be lamenting to everything in the world.

"You just really aren't lucky at all."

Act I

Part I

The Hungry Nun

FORBIDDEN_KNOWLEDGE

Verse I

"You Aquarius's born between January 20th and February 18th have the greatest luck in love, work, and money! No matter how incredibly improbable things may get, only good things will happen, so how about you go play the lottery!? But no matter how popular you may be, don't try dating three or four girls at the same time "

"…Y'know, I knew it would be something like this, but still."

It was July 20th, the first day of summer break.

Kamijou Tsubaki was at a loss for words in his Academy City dorm room that was ruled by a boiling heat due to a broken air conditioner. Apparently, lightning had struck during the night and taken out 80% of the electrical appliances. 'That Bitch' That also meant the contents of her fridge had been wiped out. When she had tried to eat the cup yakisoba she kept as emergency rations, she spilled the noodles all over the sink. With no other option, she decided to eat out, buts he stepped on and broke her ATM card while searching for her wallet. When she spitefully crawled back into bed to cry herself to sleep, she had been woken by a love call on the phone from her homeroom teacher saying, "Kamijou-chan, you're an idiot, so you need supplementary lessons "

She had always felt that horoscopes given on TV like weather forecasts tended to be just that, forecasts, but she was unable to laugh it off when it was that far off.

"…I really do get it. But I can't fully grasp it without speaking to myself."

The horoscope was always wrong and Kamijou had never encountered a true good luck charm. That was simply everyday life for Kamijou Tsubaki. She had thought the fantastic extent to which luck deserted her ran in the family, but her father had won fourth prize (about 100,000 yen) in a lottery and her mother had won a vending machine roulette again and again without end.

Sometimes she wondered if she wasn't blood related to them, but she could not enter the "heir to the throne" route without activating the little sister/brother flag, so that kind of pointless foreshadowing would actually be a problem.

To sum it up, Kamijou Tsubaki experienced nothing but misfortune.

It was to the extent that it could pretty much be called a running gag at that point.

But she had no intention of just lazing around because of that.

Kamijou did not rely on luck. In other words, she had a lot of drive.

"…Now then. The immediate problems are my card and the fridge."

Kamijou scratched her head and looked around her room. As long as she had her bankbook, she could get a new card easily enough. The real problem was the fridge… or rather, breakfast. They called it supplementary lessons, but she was sure to be forced to take (fake) Methuselin pills and (fake) Elbrase powder for the sake of (faked) powers development. Doing that on an empty stomach would not be a good idea.

As she changed out of the T-shirt she wore instead of pajamas and into her summer uniform, Kamijou considered stopping by a convenience store on the way to school.

Living up to her position as an idiot student, Kamijou had been pointlessly staying up all night as summer break approached, so a grating pain was running through her sleep-deprived head. However, she forced herself to think positively.

'Well, I guess I'm getting off easy if a single week will wrap up everything I missed in the full four months' worth of class I skipped during this term.'

Her mood rebounded to the extent that she suddenly muttered, "The weather sure is nice. Maybe I should air out my futon."

Kamijou then opened the screen door to the balcony. She expected the futon to be nice and fluffy once she got back from her supplementary lessons.

But on that seventh floor balcony, the wall of the neighboring building was less than two meters away.

"The sky is so blue, but the future is pitch black "

Her spirits dropped sharply. Forcing herself to say it cheerfully only had the opposite effect. Having no one around to act as the straight man only tormented her with a feeling of loneliness as she used both hands to grab the futon on her bed.

'Failing all else, I have to at least get this nice and fluffy.'

Just as she had that thought, she felt something soft squish under her foot. She looked down to find a yakisoba bread still in its plastic wrapping. It had been in the aforementioned ruined refrigerator, so it had surely gone bad.

"…I just hope it doesn't suddenly start raining this evening."

Voicing a sudden bad premonition she had, Kamijou headed out the opened screen door and to the balcony…

…and spotted a white futon already hanging there.

"?"

It may have been a school dorm room, but the layout was exactly like a one-room apartment, so Kamijou lived alone. As such, there was no one besides Kamijou Tsubaki who would be hanging a futon over the railing of her room's balcony.

When she looked closer, it was not a futon hanging there at all.

It was a girl wearing white clothes.

"Hahh!?"

The real futon fell from her hands.

It was a mystery. In fact, it was nonsensical. As if she had exhaustedly collapsed across a metal rod, a girl had her waist pressed up against the balcony railing and her body bent such that her arms and legs were dangling straight down.

Her age was… about 14 or 15. She looked a year or two younger than Kamijou. She must have been a foreigner because her skin was pure white and her hair was white…no, silver.

'She's a Magician, but her mana feels strange, abnormal'

Her hair was rather long, so it completely covered her upside down head, hiding her face from view. Kamijou guessed it must have gone down to her waist normally.

And her clothes were…

"Wah, it's a real sister… The nun kind, not the sibling kind."

'Shit, a Church Nun, what order is she?'

Was habit the term for what she wore? It was that outfit you expected to see on a nun in a church. Her clothes looked a bit like a long dress that reached her ankles, and she wore a one-piece hood over her head that was a bit different from a hat. However, while normal nun habits were jet black, hers was pure white. Was it made of silk? Also, at all the important points of the outfit, embroideries made of golden thread had been sewn in.

Kamijou could not believe how much the impression given by the exact same design of clothes could change just by altering the coloring. What she saw reminded her of a nouveau riche teacup.

'Why does this design seem so familiar? Think Tsubaki! Think!'

The girl's lovely fingertips twitched.

Her head slowly rose from its hanging down position. Her silk-like silver hair smoothly split to either side like a curtain and the girl's face appeared from between the long, long hair.

'Wah, wah… so Kawaii!'

The girl's face was relatively cute. Her white skin and green eyes were a new experience for someone with overseas skill level of exactly zero like Kamijou, and she somehow seemed like a doll to her.

However, that was not what had left Kamijou so flustered.

She was a foreigner and Kamijou Tsubaki's English teacher had suggested she take up a lifelong policy of avoiding foreigners. If someone from some strange country suddenly started talking on and on to her, she would likely end up being sold as an overseas wife without even realizing it.

'Although the fact I am fluent in nearly forty different languages due to my… job, has been kept a secret from my teacher. I just hope that this doesn't mean what I think it means'

"I…"

The girl's cute but slightly dried lips slowly moved.

Kamijou took a step or two back without even thinking. With a squish, she stepped on the yakisoba bread once more.

'Ugh, disgusting'

"I'm hungry."

"…"

For an instant, Kamijou thought she was so stupid that her mind had automatically substituted the foreign language she had heard with Japanese. Something like how stupid elementary school kids would give ridiculous lyrics to songs they didn't know the real lyrics to.

'Wait, wait, she's automatically using translation magic? And one of such high caliber? How the hell does that happen?'

"I'm hungry."

"…"

"I'm hungry."

"…"

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm hungry?"

The silver-haired girl seemed to get a little mad at how Kamijou just stood there frozen.

'No. That settles it. This can't be anything other than Japanese, I just thought she was using Translation Magic'

"Ah, umm…" she said as she stared at the girl draped over the balcony railing. "What? Are you trying to say you collapsed from exhaustion or something?"

"You could also say I have collapsed and am about to die."

"…"

The girl could speak Japanese really well.

"It would be great if you could feed me enough food to fill me up."

Kamijou looked down at the squished and likely spoiled yakisoba-pan still in its wrapper at her feet.

She had no idea what was going on, but she knew she would be better off not getting involved. In the hopes of getting the girl happily off to some distant place, she stuck the squished yakisoba-pan up to her mouth. She was sure she would run off once she caught a whiff of the sour smell, so she meant is as something similar to chazuke being given to a guest one wanted to leave in Kyoto.

"Thank you. And it's time to eat."

Her mouth engulfed it, wrapping and all. And Kamijou's arm for that matter.

Once again, Kamijou's day began with misfortune and a scream.

-SOM-

Verse II

-SOM-

"I suppose I need to start with an introduction."

'Yes you should you little bitch, but first…'

"Actually, I would rather you started with explaining why you were hanging there."

"My name is Index."

'Shit, I need to act like I don't know anything about magic, pronto'

"That's clearly a fake name! What do you mean Index!? Are you a table of contents or something!?"

'I feel so stupid saying this'

"As you can see, I am from the church. That is important. Oh, but I'm not from the Vatican. I'm from the Anglican Church."

'So it is THAT Index'

"I don't know what that means and are you just going to ignore my questions!?"

"Hmm, is Index not enough? Well, my magic name is Dedicatus545."

'Is she an idiot? You don't just go saying that to random strangers, especially not ones that might know what it meant and take it as an insult. But I have to keep acting, if she finds out I'm a Magician, I don't even want to think of the consequences'

"Hello? Hello? Just what kind of alien am I talking to?"

Kamijou pretended to not understand so she dug her finger inside her ear, and Index chewed on her thumbnail. Was that a habit of hers?

Kamijou wondered why they were seated politely and facing each other from across a glass table like they were in a marriage interview.

If she did not leave soon, she would be late for his supplementary lessons, but she could hardly leave this Magician in her room. To make matters worse, the mysterious silver-haired girl calling herself Index seemed to have taken a liking to the room to the extent that she seemed willing to laze about on the floor.

Had Kamijou's misfortune called her here? She seriously hoped not.

"Anyways, it would be great if you could feed me enough food to fill me up."

"Why would I do that!? I don't want to raise your parameter. I'd rather die than activate some strange flag and end up stuck on the Index route!"

'God I feel so stupid saying this'

"Um… is that slang? I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you are saying."

As expected of a foreigner, she did not understand Japan's otaku culture.

"But if I leave now, I will collapse three steps from the door."

"…Don't give me that collapsing nonsense."

"And I will draw up my last remaining strength to leave a dying message. It will be a picture of you."

'Little Bitch, but the Anti-Skill and Judgement forces would just ignore it the moment they entered my name into the system'

"Wha—?"

"And if someone happens to save me, I will tell them I was imprisoned in this room and tormented to the point that I collapsed. …I'll tell them you forced your cosplaying tastes on me."

'The scariest thing about that threat is I think that Yomikawa-sensei already knows of my tastes and might just believe it'

"Don't you dare say that! And you do know a thing or two about otaku culture, don't you!?"

"?"

She tilted her head to the side like a kitten seeing itself in a mirror for the first time.

She regretted letting Index get a rise out of her. She felt like she alone had been somehow horribly sullied.

'Okay, let's do this! Time for some vengeance you little brat'

Kamijou noisily headed toward the kitchen. Only spoiled trash was left inside the fridge, so it would not hurt her wallet to feed it to her. She figured it would be fine if it was heated. He dumped everything left into a frying pan and made something similar to stir-fried vegetables.

Of course, there were foreigners in Academy City. However, she did not have the characteristic "scent" of a resident. But it was also strange for someone to come in from outside.

'Come to think of it, how did this Magician get in?'

Academy City was treated like a city made up of hundreds of schools, but it was more accurate to think of it as a city-sized boarding school. It was large enough to cover 1/3 of Tokyo, but it was surrounded by a wall like the Great Wall of China. It was not as strict as a prison, but it was still not a place you could just wander into.

…Or so it was made to look.

In reality, three satellites launched for experiments by a technical college were constantly monitoring the city. Everyone going in or out of the city was completely scanned and if any suspicious person who did not match the records at the gate was found, either Anti-Skill or Judgement from different schools would immediately head there.

'But Railgun called in that thundercloud yesterday. That may have hidden her from the satellites, also I will have to re-run the calculations… I might just have to send some misfortune her way as payback.'

"So why were you hanging out to dry on my balcony?" Kamijou asked the girl as she put soy sauce on the stir-fried vegetables-like dish she was making with purely ill intentions, it took all she had for Tsubaki to not cackle like an evil witch, aloud.

'Heh, heh I'll get you, you brat'

"I wasn't hanging out to dry."

"Then what were you doing? Were you blown by the wind and just landed there?"

"…Something like that."

Kamijou had meant it as a joke and stopped moving the frying pan as she turned around to face the girl.

'Shit, she is being chased'

"I fell. I was trying to jump from rooftop to rooftop."

'Rooftop? But what about my Wards?'

Kamijou looked up at the ceiling as if in idle thought.

'Hmm, my wards are perfectly fine, but they appear to be non-functional, did Index shut them down on pure instinct?'

Cheap student dorms lined the area. More of the same type of eight-story building were lined up and one glance out to the balcony showed there was a gap of two meters between buildings. It was true that a running jump could get you from one rooftop to the other, but…

"But that's eight stories high? One wrong step and you'd be headed straight to hell."

'Literally and figuratively'

"Yeah, you don't even get a grave if you commit suicide," said Index cryptically. "But I had no choice. I had no other way to escape."

"Escape?"

Kamijou frowned at that ominous word.

'Dammit, she IS being chased'

"Yeah," said Index like a child. "I was being chased."

"…"

Kamijou's hand shaking the hot frying pan stopped moving once more.

'Don't tell me-'

"I made my jump just fine, but I was shot in the back in midair." The girl called Index seemed to be smiling. "Sorry. It seems I got caught on your balcony as I fell."

She gave a pure smile in Kamijou Tsubaki's direction without even a hint of self-deprecation or sarcasm.

"You were shot…?"

'I wonder-'

"Yeah? Oh, you don't need to worry about a wound. These clothes also function as a defensive barrier."

'So it is the Walking Church'

The girl spun around as if to show off new clothes and she certainly did not look injured.

Kamijou had to wonder if she had really been shot. The idea that she was delusional or making it all up seemed more realistic.

But… 'When is Magic ever realistic?'

The fact remained that she had indeed been hanging from her seventh story balcony.

If, hypothetically, everything she was saying were true…

'Who had she been shot by?'

Kamijou thought.

She thought about just how determined one would have to be to between the rooftops of an eight-story building. She also considered how lucky Index was to be caught on her seventh-story balcony. And she thought about the hidden meaning to the fact that Index had collapsed.

Index had said she was being chased.

She thought about the meaning of the smile on Index's face when she said that.

Kamijou did not know what circumstances Index was in and she had pretended to not understood what the few things Index had told her meant. Most likely had she been an actual Esper, she would only understand half of it if Index explained everything from start to finish and she would likely have no idea how to even start to understand the other half.

Nonetheless, one truth remained.

With a tightening in her chest, she understood the fact that Index had gotten caught on her seventh story balcony when one wrong step could have sent her straight to the asphalt below.

"Food."

Index poked her head in from behind Kamijou. Despite speaking Japanese, she must not have been used to chopsticks because she was holding them in her fist like a spoon while staring excitedly into the frying pan.

Her eyes were like those of a kitten taken from a cardboard box in the rain.

"…Ah."

Kamijou had put the food that was nothing more than trash into the frying pan to make something like (poisonous) stir-fried vegetables.

For some reason, the Angel Kamijou inside her (that usually came along with the Devil Kamijou) was writhing horribly at the sight of the starving girl.

"Ahh! I-I know! If you're really that hungry, how about we go to a proper family restaurant rather than give you this horrible meal made by a guy with the leftovers!? We can even get it delivered!"

"I can't wait that long."

"….AH…kh!"

"And it isn't horrible. You made this food for me without charging anything. It has to be good."

For the first time, she gave a shining nun-like smile.

'What a Naive fool'

As pain assaulted Kamijou like her stomach was being wrung out like a wet cloth, Index scooped the contents of the frying pan out with her fist-held chopsticks and into her mouth.

Munch munch.

"See? It's good."

"…Oh, is it?"

Chomp chomp.

"It's nice how you added that sour flavor to help get my strength back."

"Geh! It's sour!?"

'How out of date was some of that stuff?'

"Munch munch.

"Yeah, but that's fine. Thanks. You're like a big sister or something."

She gave a large grin. She was eating with such a pure heart that she had a bean sprout on her cheek.

"…Gh…Uuwhaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

At the speed of sound, Kamijou grabbed the frying pan. Index looked incredibly displeased, but Kamijou swore in her heart that she would be the only one to fall down to hell.

"Are you hungry too?"

"…Hah?"

"If not, I'd rather you let me eat the rest."

When Kamijou saw Index looking at her with slightly upturned eyes while chewing on the end of the chopsticks, Kamijou received a divine revelation.

God was telling her to take responsibility and eat it herself.

This had nothing to do with misfortune. She had completely brought it on herself.

Kamijou Tsubaki stuffed her mouth full of the heated garbage and grinned.

'Damn it all, I feel like I'm going to puke'

-SOM-

Verse III

-SOM-

"Mhh," said the girl naming herself Index with a look of complaint on her face as she gnawed on a biscuit. The way she held the small biscuit in both hands made her look a bit like a squirrel.

"Okay, you said you were being chased. Chased by whom?"

Having returned from Nirvana, Kamijou once again asked about the biggest issue in her story.

She was not about to follow a Magician she had met less than 30 minutes ago down to the depths of hell. However, it was likely already too late for nothing at all to happen. 'So in the end, I have to go with fox words,' thought Kamijou using her personal term for pretending to be nice.

She knew it would not resolve anything, but she still wanted to comfort herself by feeling like she had done something.

"Hmm…" she said with a slightly dry throat. "Now who was it? Maybe it was the Rosicrucians or S∴M∴ aka Stella Matutina. I think it was some group like that, but I don't know their name yet. …They aren't the type to find meaning in names."

'She speaks so casually of such powerful groups'

"They?" Kamijou asked meekly.

'I hope I'm wrong…'

"Yes," said Index surprisingly calmly. "A sorcerer's society."

'FUCK, FUCK, FUCK! Still, I have to pretend I don't know a thing about Magic'

….

"Hah? Sorcerer? Hah? What!? That's crazy!"

'I feel so dumb right now'

"Eh? Huh? W-was my Japanese weird there? I mean magic. A magic cabal."

'Little pretentious brat'

"…" Hearing it in English did not exactly help. "What, what? Are you talking about some dangerous cult that says anyone who doesn't believe in the cult's leader will receive divine punishment and then gives you LSD to brainwash you? That's bad in more ways than one."

"…Are you making fun of me?"

"…Sorry, I just can't. I can't accept magic. I may know all sorts of supernatural powers like Pyrokinesis and Clairvoyance, but I just can't accept magic."

'Forgive me Sensei'

"…?"

Index looked confused.

She had likely expected a believer in only science to deny that any kind of strange thing could exist in the world.

However, Kamijou's right hand held a supernatural power.

It was named Imagine Breaker and it could negate even the systems of god seen in myths in a single strike so long as it was a supernatural power that exceeded the ordinary.

"Psychic powers are pretty common here. Anyone's brain can be 'developed' so the pathways open up by having esperin injected in their veins, electrodes attached to their neck, and certain rhythms played through headphones. It can all be explained with science, so it's only natural to accept it, right?"

"…I don't really get it."

"It's normal! It's completely normal and utterly normal. Is three times enough!?"

"…Then what about magic? Magic is normal."

'No it really isn't'

Index sulked as if someone had insulted her pet cat.

"Umm… Well, take rock, paper, scissors for example. Wait, is rock paper scissors known worldwide?"

"…I think it's from Japanese culture, but I do know it."

"Okay, if you played rock, paper, scissors ten times in a row and lost each time, would there be a reason behind that?"

'I'm breaking down the belief behind my entire arsenal of super-powered abilities to pretend that I am not a Magician. Why does my Magic work for me again?'

"…Mh."

"There wouldn't, right? But it's human nature to think there is," said Kamijou with little interest. "You would think there is no way you would keep losing like that. You would assume there was some rule behind it that you couldn't see. And once you start thinking like that, what happens when you start adding in things like horoscopes?"

'Which are bullshit for me anyway'

"…You mean like, 'you cancers are unlucky, so you should not attempt any kind of competition'?"

"Right. That is the true identity of the occult. Luck is just us dreaming of these invisible rules. While reality is just something pathetic like a coincidence, our hearts mistake it for some great inevitability. That is the occult."

For a bit, Index frowned like a displeased cat, but then she said, "So you didn't just deny it without giving it any thought."

'Actually, I don't deny it…'

"Right. And it is because I gave this serious thought that I can see why those musty old stories are no good. I can't believe in some magician from a picture book. If we could raise the dead with the only cost being a bit of MP, no one would be developing these other powers. I just can't believe in the occult that has no connection to the reality of science."

'I feel so horrible saying all this'

She felt that people only saw psychic powers as strange and mysterious because they were idiots.

The fact that those powers could be explained scientifically was common knowledge in that city.

"…But magic exists," said Index as she pouted.

'So Kawaii!'

Most likely, that was something like a pillar supporting her heart. Similar to Kamijou's Imagine Breaker.

'I feel so horrible for doing this to her'

"Well, whatever. So why are they chasing you?"

"Magic exists."

"…"

"Magic exists!"

It seemed Index obstinately wanted her to accept it.

'I already do little one'

"Th-then what is magic? Can you shoot fire from your hands without undergoing our PSY curriculum? If so, I'd like to see it. I might believe you then."

"I have no magic power, so I can't use it."

"…"

Kamijou felt like she had just seen one of those failed Espers that said they could not bend a spoon when a camera was present because it distracted them.

All the same, a rather complex feeling filled her chest.

She was insisting that the occult did not exist and that magic was ridiculous, but she really knew that it did and knew nothing about the Imagine Breaker power that resided in her right hand. How did it work and what was going on that she could not see or comprehend? Academy City was at the peak of the world's powers development, but even its System Scan could not see through her power in her right hand, so she was labeled as a Level 0.

'Also that is because of Alistair's little machinations behind the scene'

Also, that power had not appeared later due to a scientific timetable. It had been in her right hand ever since she was born.

She was insisting the occult did not exist while knowing it did and yet she herself was part of the occult that ignored the rules, as both a Saint and the wielder of Imagine Breaker

But even so, she was not about to (openly) accept the ridiculous reasoning that magic could easily exist just because there were strange things in the world.

"…Magic exists."

Kamijou sighed.

"Okay. For argument's sake, let's say magic exists." 'Yes, for Argument's sake'

"For argument's sake?"

"If it does," continued Kamijou, ignoring her. "Why are they after you? Does it have something to do with how you're dressed?"

'Although I already know what that is…'

Kamijou was referring to the extremely extravagant habit Index wore made of pure white silk and embroideries of golden thread. Another way of saying it would be, "Does this have to do with the church?"

"…It is because I am the Index."

"Hah?"

"They are likely after the 103,000 Grimoires I have." '…'

…

"…Once again, I don't understand at all."

'I hate having to act like this to protect myself'

"Why do you seem to lose all motivation every time I explain something? Are you a fickle person?"

"Um, let's go back over this. I'm not sure what these Grimoires you mentioned are, but the image I have is of a book. Something like a dictionary."

'Dear God, the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, is sitting right in front of me, this is a good opportunity'

"Yeah. The Book of Eibon, the Lemegeton, Unaussprechlichen Kulten, Cultes des Goules, and the Book of the Dead are good examples. The Necronomicon is so famous there are all sorts of imitations and fakes, so it isn't very reliable."

'I have the real one, but telling her that might not end well for me'

"No, I don't really care about the contents." She wanted to add, "because it's all a bunch of nonsense anyways", but she held her tongue.

'If I go too far she might respond badly'

She instead asked, "So where are these 103,000 books?"

She refused to back down on that. One hundred and three thousand books was enough to fill an entire library.

'Although if I remember correctly (no pun intended) she has memorized them'

"Do you mean you have a key to where they're stored?"

"No." Index shook her head. "I have every single one of the 103,000 Grimoires with me."

"Hah?" Kamijou frowned. "You aren't going to say these are books idiots can't see, are you?" 'Good God, the stupidity, it hurts'

"You couldn't see them even if you weren't an idiot. There'd be no point if anyone could see them."

Index's words were so removed from reality that Kamijou felt like she was being mocked. 'I probably am being mocked'

She pretended to glance around, but he could not see a single musty old book that might be a Grimoire. All he saw scattered on the floor were game magazines, manga, and the summer homework he had tossed into a corner.

'As well as the hidden trapdoor to the empty apartment below where I am storing my Grimoires and Magical Items'

"…Wahh."

She had pretended to force herself to pretend to listen up until then, but she could not pretend to stand it anymore.

She started to worry that Index was merely imagining that she was being chased by someone.

'Although more then likely it is her guardians after her'

If she had jumped from the eighth story rooftop, messed up all on her own, and gotten caught on his balcony all due to a delusion, she was not someone he wanted anything more to do with.

"Believing in psychic powers but not in magic makes no sense," said Index, pouting.

"Are those psychic powers really all that great? It isn't right to make fun of people just because you have some kind of special power."

…

"Well, yeah." Kamijou gave a small sigh. "I agree. That's exactly right. It's wrong to think of yourself as above others just because you can pull off some little trick."

Kamijou's gaze dropped to her right hand.

'Also I hate that being a Saint makes me so powerful'

No fire or lightning should be able to come from there. It should not cause any beams of light or explosions, and no strange markings should have the ability to appear on her wrist. 'Yet they can and did'

However, her right hand could still negate all kinds of supernatural powers. It did not matter if that power was good or evil or even the systems of god seen in the myths.

"Well, for the people who live in this city, the power they have is like a part of their personality, so you should probably be a bit forgiving as far as that goes. In fact, I'm one of those Espers, too."

'Actually a Saint and Magician'

"Is that so, idiot. Hmph. You can always just bend a spoon with your hand instead of messing around inside your head."

"…"

"Hmph, hmph. What's so great about a woman who has cast aside her natural side to artificially color herself? Hmph."

"…You don't mind if I shut that mouth of yours along with that ridiculous pride, do you?"

"I-I won't give in to terrorism. Hmph," said Index like a displeased cat. "A-anyway, you say you're an Esper, but what can you do?"

"Umm, well, if you put it that way…"

Kamijou was a bit unsure of what to say.

She did not often have to explain her Imagine Breaker to people. Also, since it only reacted to supernatural powers, it could not be explained without knowledge of the supernatural or psychic.

"Y'see, it's this right hand of mine. Oh, and in my case, it isn't doping; I've had it from birth."

"I see."

"If I touch it with my right hand, any kind of supernatural power will be negated. That goes for A-bomb level fireballs, tactical Railguns, or even the systems of God."

'I think, I haven't exactly tangled with God lately… and I don't plan to'

"Eh?"

"Why do you have a look on your face like you just saw a miracle stone that brings good fortune in a magazine?"

"But you don't even know the name of God and yet you just said you could negate His miracles."

'I do know the name of God, it's *** you little witch'

In surprise, Index dug into her ear with pinky and gave a scornful laugh.

"…Kh. Th-this is really annoying. I hate being made fun of by some kind of fake magical girl who claims magic exists but can't show you it."

'Take that you little witch'

That muttering of Kamijou Tsubaki's fake soul seemed to upset Index.

"I-I'm not a fake! Magic really exists!"

"Then show me something, Halloween girl! You aren't going to believe me about my Imagine Breaker until I destroy it with my right hand anyway. C'mon, fantasy head!"

"Fine, I will!" Index threw both her hands above her head in annoyance. "Here! These clothes! They're the highest quality of defensive barrier called the Walking Church!"

'Bingo, I was right'

Index spread her arms to show off the teacup-like nun's habit.

"The Walking Church? What? You're not making any sense! It's not very nice to keep using these incomprehensible technical terms like Index and defensive barrier, y'know!?

'I feel like my IQ is dropping just from saying that'

Explaining things means to tell things to someone who doesn't understand in a form simple enough for them to understand. Do you not get that!?"

"Wha-? How dare you say that when you aren't even making an attempt to understand!?"

Index swung her arms around in anger. "Fine, seeing is believing, right? Take a knife from the kitchen and stab me in the gut!"

'Is she insane!'

"Stab you!? Is this going to end up as a news story where it says 'it all started with a trivial argument' or something?"

'It just might if she keeps insulting me'

"Ah, you don't believe me." Index's shoulders rose and fell as she breathed heavily.

"These have the bare minimum of components required to make up a church so that they are a church in the form of clothes. The way the cloth is woven, the way the threads are sewn, the way the embroideries decorate it…It's all calculated. A knife won't even put a scratch on it."

"Yeah right. What kind of idiot would just agree to stab you? She'd have to be some unprecedented kind of juvenile criminal."

"Will you ever stop mocking me? This is an accurate copy of the Shroud of Turin, the cloth worn by the Saint that was stabbed by the Lance of Longinus, so its strength is Pope-class. I guess you would say it's something like a nuclear shelter. It turns aside or absorbs any attack, be it physical or magical. I told you I got caught on your balcony after getting shot, right? Well, I would have a giant hole in me if it wasn't for the Walking Church. Do you understand now?

'Shut up, idiot.'

Kamijou's appreciation gauge toward Index rapidly dropped and she stared at her clothes with scorn.

'Don't be too proud girl, everything can be broken'

"…Hmm. So if that really is a supernatural power, then would it be torn to pieces if I touched it with my right hand?"

"Yes, but only if your power is real. Heh heh heh."

"Perfect!" Shouted Kamijou as she grabbed Index's shoulder.

'Payback!'

As if she had grabbed a cloud, he felt a strange feeling like the impact was being absorbed by a soft sponge.

"Wait…huh?"

Kamijou cooled his head and thought.

What if everything Index was saying was true (as unlikely as that was) and this Walking Church really was sewn together with supernatural power?

Would negating that supernatural power send her clothes to pieces?

"Huuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?"

Kamijou reflexively yelled out at the sudden premonition she had that she was about to suddenly go up a few steps on the stairway to adulthood. But…

…

…

…?

"Ehhhhhhh? …Huh?"

Nothing happened. Nothing happened at all.

'Oh, c'mon. Don't make me worry like that.'

Kamijou just could not stand it.

"See? What was all this about your Imagine Breaker? Nothing at all happened. Heh hehhn."

Index put her hands on her hips and puffed her small chest in pride.

But in the next instant, her clothes fell straight down like the ribbon on a present.

All the threads sewing her nun's habit together had cleanly come apart, turning it all into mere pieces of cloth.

The hat-like one-piece hood must have been an isolated item because it alone remained.

Having only her head covered made it seem all the more painful.

The girl froze still with her hands on her hips and her small chest puffed out in pride.

To sum it up, she was completely nude, Tsubaki barely stopped herself from laughing aloud.

'Ahahahaha, payback's a bitch you little witch'

-SOM-

Verse IV

-SOM-

Apparently, the girl naming herself Index had a habit of biting people when she was mad.

"Oww… You bit me all over. What are you, a mosquito at a camp?"

'Or a vampire in disguise'

"…"

Tsubaki received no response.

Index was naked and wrapped in a blanket. She was sitting with her legs bent back to the sides while (futilely) attempting to return her clothes to their original form by sticking safety pins into the pieces of the nun's habit.

The sound effect dohhn seemed to dominate the room.

It was not that a new Stand user had attacked.

"…Um, princess? This may be presumptuous of me, but I have a button-down shirt and a skirt you could wear."

"…"

She stared at her with snake-like eyes.

"…Um, princess?"

'What kind of character is this she's playing?'

"…What?" She replied when Tsubaki called out to her again.

"I was completely the one at fault there."

The only response she received was an alarm clock flying at her.

"Ee!" Kamijou shrieked just as a giant pillow flew at her as well.

To make matters even more ridiculous, a video game system and small radio came flying her way as well.

"How can you talk to me like normal after something like that happened!?"

"Ahh, no! It was quite the concerning event for this old man as well. But that's youth for you!"

"You're making fun of me…Uuuuuuuuhhhhhh!"

"Okay… I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Don't bite that rental video like it's a handkerchief, you idiot!"

Kamijou Tsubaki bowed down to the ground with both her hands straight forward like it was part of some kind of joke.

Deep down, Kamijou felt like her heart was being crushed in someone's grip over having seen a girl (other then herself) naked for the first time.

However, Kamijou Tsubaki was the type to not show it on her face.

…Or so she thought, but she would have been quite surprised at what she saw if she looked in a mirror.

"Done."

While triumphantly blowing air from her nose, Index spread out the pure white nun's habit that had somehow regained its original form from that hellish do-it-yourself job.

Dozens of safety pins glittered across the nun's habit.

"…(sweat)"

"Um, are you going to wear that?"

"…(silence)"

"You're going to wear that iron maiden?"

"…(tears)"

"In Japanese, we call it a bed of needles."

"…Uuuuuuhhhhhh!"

"I get it!" Apologized Kamijou as she head-butted the floor with all her might.

Meanwhile, Index stared at her like a bullied child and was about to bite through the power cord to the television. Was she a naughty cat?

"I'll wear it! I'm a nun!"

Kamijou was not quite sure what sense that made, but Index started changing by squirming around inside the blanket wrapped around her such that she looked like a caterpillar. Her head was the only thing sticking out of the blanket and it was as red as a bomb.

"Ahh, this reminds me of when we had to change for the pool at school."

"…Why are you looking at me? At least look the other way."

"What does it matter? Compared to what happened before, just changing isn't all that arousing, not to mention, we're both girls."

"…"

Index suddenly stopped moving, but when Kamijou did not seem to notice, she gave up and started changing inside the blanket again. She was so focused on what was going on inside the blanket that she did not notice at all when her hood fell off her head.

The awkward atmosphere of a silent elevator took over the room.

Kamijou's mind had started to flee from reality, but then the term "supplementary lessons" floated up into her mind.

"Wah! That's right! I have supplementary lessons!" Kamijou glanced at the clock on her cell phone. "Um…I have to get to school, so what are you going to do? If you're going to stay here, I can give you a key."

The option of simply kicking her out had disappeared from her mind.

'I can't let this opportunity get away from me, I might be able to learn more Grimoires from Index

Since Index's Walking Church nun's habit had reacted to Imagine Breaker, she clearly had some connection to the supernatural. That meant that not everything she had been telling her was a lie.

It was possible she really had fallen from the roof because she was being chased by magicians.

It was possible she really would have to continue playing a deadly game of tag.

It was possible wizards from a picture book or something crazy like that really were running amok in that city of science where established theories existed about even ESP/PSY.

And even if those things were not true, she did not want to just abandon Index.

"…That's okay. I'll leave."

However, Index stood straight up and made that dramatic announcement. She then slipped past Kamijou's side like a ghost. She showed no sign of noticing that her hood had fallen from her head. But if Kamijou tried to pick it up, she would likely cause it to fall to pieces.

'That would probably be a good idea, but, it would feel like adding insult to injury'

"U-umm…"

"Hm? No, not that." Index turned around. "If I stay here, they will likely come after me. You don't want your room blown up, do you?"

'It wouldn't be the first time, I still owe Mugino some payback for that'

That smoothly delivered response left Kamijou speechless.

As Index slowly exited the front door, Kamijou frantically ran after her. She wanted to do something, so she checked his wallet and found he had only 320 yen left. She ran after Index to give her what little she had, but her little toe struck the door frame at the speed of sound as she tried to exit the front door.

"Bh…myah! Myaahhh!"

As Kamijou held her foot and let out that strange cry, Index turned around in shock. As Kamijou writhed around in great pain, her cell phone fell from his pocket. At the exact moment she realized that, the LCD screen struck the hard floor and she heard the crack of a fatal blow.

"Uuuuhhhh! S-such misfortune."

"I'd say that was clumsiness, not misfortune," said Index with a slight smile. "But if this Imagine Breaker is real, it may be inevitable."

"…What do you mean?"

'Has she already figured it out?'

"This is related to the world of magic, so I doubt you will believe me," said Index with a giggle. "But if the divine protection of God and the red string of fate actually exist, then wouldn't your right hand negate all of those things?" Index shook her safety pin-covered nun's habit and added, "The power of this Walking Church was a blessing of God after all."

'Damn, she's smarter then she looks'

"Wait. What we call fortune and misfortune are just matters of probability and statistics. What you're talking about is completely-…!"

The second she said that, Kamijou's finger touched the doorknob and was shocked by static electricity.

"Wha-!?" She cried out as her body twitched reflexively.

The odd way her muscles moved caused a cramp in her right calf.

"~ ~!"

The agony left her incapacitated for about 600 seconds.

"…Um, sister?"

"Yes?"

"…Please explain."

"There's not that much to explain," said Index as if it was obvious. "If what you said about your right hand is true, then merely having it is enough to be continually negating the power of fortune."

"….Do you mean what I think you mean?"

'Please don't say it'

"Just by touching the air, your right hand is giving you more and more misfortune "

"Gyaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! S-such misfortuuuuuuuunnnneeeee!"

Kamijou did not (publicly) believe in the occult, but things were different when it was related to misfortune. At any rate Kamijou was the type of person to whom nothing she did ever turned out well (unless it involved magic of course). It was to the point that she felt like the entire universe was out to get her.

Meanwhile, a pure white nun gazed upon her with the smile of the Virgin Mary.

In her eyes was what people called an inviting look.

'That little bitch, she knows exactly what she is saying will do to me'

"Wouldn't the real misfortune be having been born with that power? "

The smiling nun brought tears to Kamijou's eyes and she finally realized the conversation had gotten off track.

"W-wait, that's not it! Do you have somewhere to go once you leave here? I don't know what situation you're in, but you can just hide here if these magicians or whatever are nearby."

"If I stay here, the enemies will come here."

'Following her Walking Church, no doubt'

"How can you be sure? If you just stay in my room and don't draw any attention to yourself, there shouldn't be a problem."

"That's not true." Index pinched at the chest of her clothes. "This Walking Church functions using magic power. The church seems to call it 'divine power', but it's the same mana. Simply put, the enemy seems to be searching for the magic power of the Walking Church."

"Why are you wearing clothes that act as a tracking device!?"

"I told you its defensive power is Pope-class, remember? You're right hand tore it to pieces, though."

'Oops, I forgot about that, damn that was embarrassing, at least no one saw it'

"…"

"You tore it to pieces, though."

'Ha ha, deal with it'

"I said I was sorry, so don't look at me with those tearful eyes. …But Imagine Breaker destroyed that Walking Church, right? So shouldn't the tracking device-like functionality be gone too?"

"Even if it was, they will know the Walking Church was destroyed. As I said before, its defensive power is Pope-class. Simply put, it is like a fortress. If I was the enemy, I would make an appearance when that fortress was destroyed whatever the reason might be."

"Wait a second. That's all the more reason I can't just let you go. I still don't believe in the occult, but if someone is after you, I can't just let you leave."

'I really hate having to act as if I don't know about magic'

Index stared blankly at Tsubaki.

From just that look, she truly, truly seemed like nothing more than a normal girl.

'Although, this is no girl'

"…Then will you follow me to the depths of hell?" 'Yes'

She smiled.

It was such a heartbreaking smile that Kamijou was left speechless for an instant.

Index had used kind words to implicitly say, "Do not come with me."

"Don't worry. I am not alone. If I can escape to the church, they will shelter me."

"…Hmm. So where is this church?"

"In London."

"That's a long way away! How far are you planning to run!?"

"Hm? Oh, don't worry. I think there are a few branches in Japan," replied Index as her nun's habit that looked the result of a bullied wife fluttered.

"A church, hm? There might be one in the city."

The term "church" brought to mind a giant wedding hall, but the examples in Japan were pretty shabby. First of all, the culture had little to do with Christianity. Also, a country with so many earthquakes had few historical buildings. The churches Kamijou had seen out of train windows had all been small prefab buildings with a cross on the top. She had a feeling she was mistaken in thinking those were nouveau riche churches, though.

"Oh, but it can't just be any church. It has to be the British style I belong to."

'Oh, right, she's Anglican'

"?"

"Um, there are lots of different kinds of Christianity," said Index with a bitter smile.

"First, there is the distinction between the old style Catholics and the new style Protestants. Also, while I belong to the Catholics, there are various types of them as well. For example there is the Roman Catholic Church centered on the Vatican, the Russian Orthodox Church with its headquarters in Russia, and the Anglican Church with its core at St. George's Cathedral."

"…What happens if you accidentally go to the wrong church?"

"They would turn me away," said Index with the same bitter smile. "The Russian Orthodox Church and the Anglican Church primarily exist within their respective countries, so Anglican churches are rare in Japan."

'Assholes, the Science Side wouldn't do that… we would just charge the other sect a fortune'

"…"

Things were not looking good.

Was it possible Index had tried going to church after church before she collapsed from hunger? What had she been feeling as she fled and fled while being turned away at each church she went to?

'Probably like she was less then human, I know that feeling very well. That stab wound still aches sometimes'

"Don't worry. I just have to keep at it until I find a British-style church."

"…"

For just an instant, Kamijou thought about the power in her right hand.

"Hey! …If you're ever in any trouble, you can stop by here again."

That was all she could say.

Tsubaki had the power to kill even God and yet that was all she could say.

"Sure. I'll stop by if I'm hungry."

Her sunflower-like smile was so perfect that Kamijou could not say anything in response.

And then a cleaning robot passed by, having to go out of its way to avoid Index.

"Hyah!?"

That perfect smile was blown away in an instant. Index jumped as if she had a cramp in her leg and then tripped backwards. With a horrible sounding thud, her head struck the wall behind her.

"~ ~ ~ ~! S-some weird thing just showed up like it was nothing!"

Index had tears in her eyes, but she completely forgot to even hold the back of her head as she shouted out.

"Don't point at it and call it weird. It's just a cleaning robot."

Kamijou sighed.

Its size and shape were similar to a drum container. It had small tires on the bottom and a circular rotating mop similar to those on a street cleaner. It had cameras in order to avoid people and other obstacles, so they were quite hated by girls in miniskirts.

'Luckily I managed to delete that one photo, that time when Misaki… blackmailed me into wearing one'

"…I see. I had heard Japan was a leading nation in technology, but I didn't know you had made mechanized Agathions."

"Hello?" Kamijou was a bit frightened by how impressed Index seemed. "This is Academy City. You can find those things all over the city."

"Academy City?"

"Yes. It's a city made by buying up the entire western area of Tokyo where development had slowed. The name comes from the fact that it has dozens of universities and hundreds of elementary, middle, and high schools in it." Kamijou sighed. "Eighty percent of the residents are students, so all the apartment buildings you see are dorms."

He omitted the fact that it had a hidden face where powers and bodies were developed alongside the studying.

"That's why the city is a bit odd. The city is overflowing with university experiments like the automated disposal of kitchen waste, the wind turbines that function well enough to be practical, and the cleaning robots like this one. Thanks to all that, our level of culture is about twenty years ahead of anywhere else."

"Hmm." Index carefully examined the cleaning robot. "So are all the buildings here part of Academy City?"

"Yup. I guess it might be best to leave the city if you're looking for an Anglican church. All the churches here are probably teaching institutions for theology or Jungian psychology."

"Hm."

Index nodded and then finally brought a hand up to the back of her head where she had hit the wall.

"Hyah!? H-huh? My hood is gone!?"

"Oh, you finally noticed? It fell off earlier."

"Hyah?"

By "earlier", Kamijou had meant when she was changing in the blanket, but Index seemed to mistake it for when she had tripped backwards in shock over the cleaning robot. She started looking around on the floor and a question mark appeared over her head.

"Oh, I know! That electric Agathion!"

While still mistaken, she made a dash after the cleaning robot and disappeared around a corner of the passageway.

"…Ahh, what is going on?"

Kamijou look at the door to her room where Index's hood was and then down the passageway. Index was nowhere to be seen. There had been no farewell, tearful or otherwise.

'From the looks of her, I get the feeling she'll live on even if the world is destroyed.'

Tsubaki had no proof of that, but nevertheless that was the thought she had.

-SOM-

Verse V

-SOM-

"Okay, I have a handout for you. Follow along while we go through this supplementary lesson."

Even after spending an entire term in that class, Kamijou still could not believe it.

The homeroom teacher of Year 1 Class 7, Tsukuyomi Komoe, was a ridiculous teacher who was so short that only her head could be seen when she stood behind her desk. That little girl teacher was one of the school's seven mysteries, she was 135 cm tall, there was a legend saying she was refused riding a roller coaster due to safety concerns, and she looked all the world like a twelve year old who should be carrying a soprano recorder and wearing a yellow hard hat and a red randoseru.

"I won't stop you from talking amongst yourselves, but you need to listen to what I say. I put a lot of effort into making a quiz, so if you do poorly on it, you will be punished with the See Through lesson."

"Sensei, isn't that where you play poker with a blindfold on!? That's part of the Curriculum for Clairvoyance! I've heard you can't leave until you win 10 times in a row despite not being able to see your cards, so wouldn't we just be stuck here until morning!?" Protested Kamijou Tsubaki.

"Oh, but Kamijou-chan, you don't have enough development credits, so you'll be doing the See Through lesson regardless."

'I may have to speak to Aleister, I don't mind being the class clown, but all it is going to do is get me held back and forced to do stupid experiments and pointless tasks. I may have to drop my idiot facade'

"Ugh," Kamijou was at a loss of words when faced with the salesman smile of a salaryman teacher.

"…Mhh. I see. Komoe-chan finds you so cute she just can't help herself, Kami-yan," said the blue-haired pierced-eared (male) class representative who was sitting next to Kamijou.

"…Do you sense malice coming from that teacher's back as she enjoyably stretches up to reach the blackboard?"

"What? What's wrong with having such a cute teacher scold you for failing a quiz? Getting physically abused by a little kid like that gets you a ton of experience points, Kami-yan."

"I knew you were a lolicon, but you're a masochist, too!? You really are hopeless!"

"Ah hah! It's not that I like lolis! It's that I also like lolis!"

Kamijou almost shouted out "You're omnivorous!?", But she was interrupted.

"You two over there! If you say a single word more, you'll be stuck with Columbus's Egg."

Just as one would expect, Columbus's Egg involved standing a raw egg upside down on a desk without anything supporting it. Those specializing in Psychokinesis could keep the egg from falling when they worked to the point of the blood vessels in their brain almost bursting. (It was actually an extremely difficult challenge because the egg would break if the Psychokinesis was too powerful.) As with the previous example, you would be stuck there until morning if you could not do it.

Kamijou and Aogami Pierce stared at Tsukuyomi Komoe while forgetting to breathe.

"Okay?"

Her smile was quite frightening.

While Komoe-sensei loved being called "cute" she got incredibly angry when called "small".

However, she did not seem to mind being looked down on by the students. Part of that was just something that could not be helped within Academy City. The city was a veritable Neverland where over 80% of the population was students. The opposition to salaryman teachers was harsh even compared to a normal school, and more importantly, the "strength" of a student was based on both their academic ability and their power.

The teachers were the ones that developed the students, but the teachers themselves had no powers. Some, like the PE teachers and guidance counselors, seemed like they were from some foreign unit because they had to train Level 3 monsters with their own fists, but it would be cruel to expect that of a chemistry teacher like Komoe.

"…Hey, Kami-yan."

"What?"

"Would it turn you on to get lectured by Komoe-sensei?"

"I'm not you! Just shut up already, idiot! If we have to play with a raw egg even though we don't have Psychokinesis, we'll be spending our entire summer break here! If you get it, shut that fake Kansai dialect mouth of yours!"

"Fake… D-d-d-d-d-don't call it fake! I'm really from Osaka!"

"Shut up. I know you're from a rice region. I'm in a bad mood, so don't make me play the straight man right now."

"I-I-I'm not from a rice region! Ah. A-ahhh! I sure do love takoyaki."

"Stop trying to force yourself into the Kansai role! Are you going to bring takoyaki for lunch just for this role?"

'If he does I'll steal some, I haven't had takoyaki for a while'

"What are you talking about? Not even someone from Osaka eats only takoyaki, right?"

"…"

"Right? I think that's right…no, wait. But…but yeah….but huh? Which is it?"

"You're falling out of character, Mr. Fake Kansai," said Kamijou before sighing and looking out the window.

'What an idiot, I can keep up the act even when shocked'

Tsubaki felt like she should be by Index's side rather than dealing with that pointless supplementary lesson.

The Walking Church nun's habit she wore had indeed reacted to Kamijou's right hand 'although "reacted" may be an understatement'. Leaving her to wander the city without her protection is dangerous, I should have skipped and gone to help her.

Even so…

'I guess the fish that escapes always seems huge.'

Kamijou sighed again. If the alternative was being stuck in that desk in that sauna-like classroom that had no air conditioning, charging into a world of darkness and magic may have been better. And she even had a cute (she was somehow hesitant to say beautiful) heroine to go with it.

"…"

Kamijou recalled the hood Index had forgotten in her room.

In the end, she had not returned it. Tsubaki did not view it as having been unable to return it.

Even if Index had disappeared, she would likely have found her if he seriously started looking for her. And even if she had not, Tsubaki could still be out there running around the city looking for her with the hood in one hand.

When she thought about it, she realized she had wanted some kind of connection. She had felt that she might come back to get it someday.

Because that white girl had shown her such a perfect smile…

'One I've rarely seen in my life'

Tsubaki had felt that she would disappear like an illusion if she did not leave some kind of connection.

She had been afraid.

'…Oh, so that's it.'

After going through those slightly poetic thoughts, Kamijou finally realized something. When it came down to it, she had not hated that girl who had gotten caught on her balcony. Tsubaki had liked her enough that the thought of never seeing her again left her with a slight twinge of regret.

"…Ah, dammit."

Tsubaki clicked her tongue. With how much she was weighing on her mind, she wished she had stopped her from leaving.

'Come to think of it, why had I gotten so close to her, we are from separate Magical Cabals after all'

Index had said that the group called a magic cabal that was after her seemed to be pursuing her because they wanted those 103,000 Grimoires. And Index had been fleeing with those 103,000 Grimoires in her possession.

It was not a key or a map to the place where all those books were stored.

When Kamijou had asked where all those books were, she had simply said, "Right here."

However, as far as Kamijou could see, she did not have a single book, but she had memorized them after all. At any rate, Kamijou's room was not large enough to hold 100,000 books.

"…What was that all about?"

Kamijou tilted her head to the side in puzzlement. Since Index's Walking Church nun's habit had reacted to Imagine Breaker, what she was saying was not purely a delusion.

But…

"Sensei? Kamijou-chan is staring out the window at the fluttering skirts of the girl's tennis team."

'I'll kill him, they won't find his body I swear'

Aogami Pierce's forced Kansai dialect sent Kamijou's focus in a U-turn back into the classroom.

"…"

Komoe-sensei fell silent.

She seemed to have undergone quite a shock by the fact that Kamijou Tsubaki-Chan had not been focused on the lesson. She had the look of a twelve year old who had just found out the truth about Santa Claus.

'I'll kill him for real, making her look like that, I was listening to the lesson'

Just as that thought reached her mind, Kamijou Tsubaki was pierced by the hostile gazes of her classmates who wished to protect the human rights of that "child".

'This will hurt, I know it will, Such misfortune'

-SOM-

While it was called a supplementary lesson, they had been stuck there until the time when all students were supposed to have left school.

"…Such misfortune," muttered Kamijou as she gazed at the three propellers of a wind turbine glittering in the sunset. Any kind of nightlife was forbidden, so the last bus and train in Academy City were set to go out when the students were all supposed to have left school. 'That propeller is slightly damaged, I'll have to have it fixed'

Kamijou missed the last bus, so she was trudging along through the scorching shopping district that seemed to go on forever. A security robot passed by her as she did. It was also a drum on wheels and it functioned as something like a walking security camera.

'I could have summoned a bus, but that would look strange to anyone watching'

They had originally been improved versions of robot dogs, but children would gather around them and block their path. For that simple reason, all the work robots had been made into drum container shapes.

'That was annoying, but so Kawaii… note to self, create some robot dogs just for the purpose of entertaining children'

"Ah, there you are, you bastard! Wait up…wait! You! I'm talking to you! Stop!"

The summer heat had done Kamijou in, so she just stared at the slowly moving security robot and thought about how Index had run off after a cleaning robot. Finally, she realized that voice was calling out to her.

Tsubaki turned around to figure out what was going on.

It was a middle school-aged girl. Her shoulder-length brown hair glowed a flame-red in the sunset and her face was dyed even redder. She wore a gray pleated skirt, a short sleeve blouse, and a summer sweater… At that point, she suddenly realized who she was.

'Railgun, this'll be fun'

"…Oh, it's you again, Biri Biri Middle Schooler."

"Don't call me Biri Biri! I have a name! It's Misaka Mikoto! Why don't you learn it already!? You've been calling me Biri Biri since we first met!"

'Never, it's far too funny to watch you complain about it for me to change'

'Since we first met…?' Kamijou thought back. 'Oh, right.'

When they had first met, she had been surrounded by delinquents just like the other day. As the children approached her, Tsubaki had thought they were after her wallet and stepped forward in an Urashima Tarou-esque move. However, for some reason, the girl was the one that got mad, saying, "Shut up! Don't get in the way of other people's fights! Biri Biri!" Kamijou had of course blocked her Biri Biri with her right hand and she had responded with, "Huh? Why didn't that work? Then what about this? Huh?" One thing had led to another, and things had ended up in their current state.

'That fight by the river was fun though, I'm a bad girl if I think watching a Middle Schooler scream in frustration is hilarious'

"…Huh? What? I'm not sad, so why am I crying, mother?"

"Why do you have a distant look in your eyes?"

Kamijou was exhausted from the supplementary lesson, so she decided to not give much thought in how to deal with the Biri Biri girl.

"The girl staring at Kamijou's face with a stunned expression is the Railgun girl from yesterday. She is so frustrated over losing a single fight that she has come back to Kamijou again and again to challenge her to a rematch."

"…Who is that explanation for?"

"She is strong-willed and hates to lose, but is actually quite a lonely person and is in charge taking care of the class pet."

'Man this is too much fun'

"Don't tack strange additions onto the setting!"

The girl, Misaka Mikoto, flailed her arms around and all focus on the street was drawn to her. That was not too surprising. The completely normal summer uniform she wore was the uniform of Tokiwadai Middle School, one of the 5 most prestigious and elite schools in Academy City. For some reason, the explosively refined girls from Tokiwadai seemed to stand apart even in a station at rush hour, so it would surprise anyone to see one sitting on the floor of a train messing around with their cell phone just like anyone else. 'If I wanted to I could easily enroll in Tokiwadai, but I would get annoyed at having to deal with Misaki all the time, come to think of it I haven't seen her for at least a week, somethings up'

"So what do you want, Biri Biri? Actually, why are you wearing your uniform during summer break? Do you have supplementary lessons?"

'Nope, the Tokiwadai girls are forced to wear their uniforms at all times'

"Gh…Sh-shut up."

"Were you worried about the class bunny?"

'Actually isn't it a hamster?'

"I told you to stop adding in that animal stuff! Also, today I'm going to make you twitch like frog legs with electrodes attached, so get your will and inheritance in order!"

'Very descriptive, I might have myself a little apprentice, now to corrupt her some more, but I need to inform her of her place in the world…'

"I don't think so."

"Why not!?"

"Because I'm not in charge of my class's pet."

"Why you… Quit making fun of me!"

The middle school girl stomped down on the tiles of the footpath.

At that exact moment, a tremendous noise came from the cell phones of the people walking along the area. Also, the cable broadcast in the shopping district cut out and a horrible noise came from the security robot.

'Electronic Terrorism detected by Security Unit 923-A'

The crackling sound of static electricity came from the middle school girl's hair.

That Level 5 girl who could use a Railgun with nothing but her own body smiled such that her canines were bared like a beast.

"Hmph. How about that? Has that changed your cowardly mind? …Mgh!"

In a frantic attempt to cover her mouth, Kamijou's hand covered Misaka Mikoto's entire composed face.

'Is she an idiot, she just admitted to around 1.3 million yen worth of destructive terrorism'

(Sh-shut up. Please just shut your mouth! Everyone's cell phones were fried and they're looking none too pleased! If they find out it was us, they'll make us pay, and I have no idea how much that cable broadcast costs!)

Due to her recent encounter with that silver-haired nun girl, Kamijou openly prayed with all her might to the God who she secretly worshiped at a nearby church.

His prayers must have made their way to heaven because no one approached Kamijou and Mikoto.

'Thank goodness.'

Kamijou gave a sigh of relief (as he continued to suffocate Mikoto).

"Message, message. Error No. 100231-YF. Offensive electromagnetic waves in violation of radio laws detected. System malfunction detected. As this is possible cyber-terrorism, avoid using electronics."

'Report logged, sending reinforcements and a retrieval unit'

Imagine Breaker and Railgun hesitantly turned around.

A drum container was on its side on the footpath spewing smoke as it spoke to itself nonsensically.

In the next instant, the security robot began sounding a high-pitched alarm.

Naturally, they ran away.

They entered a back alley, kicked over a dirty plastic bucket, and scared off a black cat as they continued running.

'Mwahaha, I've corrupted her this much already… I'm so proud!'

Even with that thought, she kept running. After all, she had heard on a talk show that those security robots cost 1.2 million yen each.

'Actually 1,240,350 Yen each'

"Uuhh…S-such misfortune. Why do I always get caught up in things having to do with her?"

'It really is misfortune, but so much fun!'

"What do you mean by that!? And my name is Misaka Mikoto!"

'I know, I just keep calling you by nicknames to annoy you'

The two had finally come to a stop in a back, back, back alley. One of the lined-up buildings must have been demolished because a rectangular area opened up there. It looked like a good place for street basketball.

"Shut up, Biri Biri! You're the one that destroyed all of my electronics with that lightning yesterday! What could you possibly need after that!?"

'Note to self, replace electronics in substation I-48'

"It's your fault for pissing me off!" '…Fair enough'

"I don't even understand what has you so mad! I've never even laid a finger on you!"

'You're too young for me, but in a couple of years…'

Afterwards, Mikoto had attacked Kamijou with everything she had, but Kamijou had stopped it all with his right hand. Her attacks did not end at that Railgun. She could twist together collected iron sand to create a whip-like sword of steel, send powerful electromagnetic waves to mess with internal organs, and she could finish it all off by sending real lightning down from the sky.

But none of it was a match for Kamijou Tsubaki.

As long as it was a supernatural power, Kamijou Tsubaki could negate it (except her own for some reason).

"You just kept coming in at me and wore yourself out! Don't use your powers too much and then blame me when you don't have enough stamina to keep it up, Biri Biri!"

"~ ~!" Mikoto ground her back teeth together. "Th-that didn't count. It can't count! You never attacked me! That makes it a draw!"

"Sigh…Fine, fine. It was your win. Punching you isn't going to fix my air conditioner."

'It really won't, maybe I should move to one of the apartments Aleister keeps recommending'

"Gah…! W-wait a second! Take this seriously!" Shouted Mikoto as she flailed her arms around.

'Man, that'll never get old, I just hope she doesn't go off the deep end like Accelerator'

Kamijou sighed and subtly released some of her power.

"Are you sure you want me taking this seriously?"

'I love using the serious voice'

"Ah…" Mikoto trailed off.

'Wimp, but fair enough, I can be terrifying to those who have never fought in a life or death battle'

Kamijou lightly clenched her right fist and then opened it again. A cold sweat started pouring from Misaka Mikoto's entire body at that simple action (plus the latent magical energy in the air). She froze in place, unable to even take a step backwards.

Mikoto did not know what Kamijou's power really was, so Kamijou was truly an unknown horror to her for having sealed all of her trump cards without breaking a sweat.

It was not all that surprising. Kamijou Tsubaki had received Misaka Mikoto's attacks for over two hours straight without receiving a single scratch. It was only natural for her to wonder what would happen if she got serious.

Kamijou sighed and averted her gaze.

'Now it's gotten awkward'

As if the strings holding her in place had snapped, Mikoto finally staggered a few steps back.

"…What can I call this other than misfortune?" Kamijou was shocked at how frightened she was. 'Poor thing, I think I went overboard' "First my room's electronics were done in, then I meet that self-proclaimed magician in the morning, and now I meet this Biri Biri Esper in the evening."

"Magician? What?"

"…" Kamijou thought for a bit. "Yeah… That's what I want to know."

'I really do'

Normally, Mikoto would have likely shouted, "Are you making fun of me!? Is your head as messed up as your power!?" and then Biri Biri'd. However, she only jumped in fright whenever she looked at her that day.

It had only been a bluff to fool her, but Tsubaki felt bad about how effective it had been.

Kamijou was reminded of what had happened that morning. That white nun had used that word readily enough, but now that he thought back, the term was definitely removed from reality.

'I wonder why it didn't seem so strange while Index was around.'

Had there been some mysterious something there that made it seem more believable?

'Now that I think about it, it was probably her latent energy affecting me slightly'

"… Wait, what am I thinking?" Muttered Kamijou while completely ignoring the Biri Biri girl named Misaka Mikoto who was trembling in fear like a puppy.

Tsubaki had cut her ties with Index and whatever world she lived in. The world was a large place, so it was unlikely she would run into her again in a meaningless coincidence.

Thinking about magicians was entirely pointless.

'She'll find me again, I know she will'

Despite that, she could not get it out of her head.

Tsubaki still had that pure white hood she had forgotten in her room.

'I wonder if it would look good on me?'

That one remaining connection continued to irritatingly prick at the edges of her mind.

Not even Kamijou Tsubaki knew why she was thinking about it so much.

After all, she had the power to kill even God.

'At least I think I do'

-SOM-

Verse VI

-SOM-

Those days, one could not buy even a large gyuudon with only 320 yen.

"…Regular, hm?"

The girls who happily ate a bento the size of a light novel would likely not understand, but a sweating growing girl like Tsubaki saw the regular size as nothing more than a snack.

After driving off the Biri Biri girl, Kamijou had headed to a gyudon restaurant to eat her "snack". With only 30 yen remaining (tax included), she approached her dorm building with the sun having already set.

The place seemed deserted.

It was the first day of summer break, so everyone was probably out having fun.

The building looked like a stereotypical one-room apartment building. Pathways along one wall of the rectangular building had doors lined up on them. The metal railing had no plastic sheets to prevent peering up girls' skirts because it was a guy's dorm.

'Why do I live here again?'

The front doors and balconies on the opposite side were built on the sides of the building going back as seen from the road. In other words, they were in the gaps between buildings.

The entrance to the building was self-locking, but the distance between buildings was only two meters. You could easily sneak into it by jumping from roof to roof as Index had been doing that morning.

Kamijou went through the self-locking entrance, passed by the storage room known as the dorm manager's room and got on the elevator. It was just for fun that the elevator was more cramped and dirty than the elevator for bringing items into a factory, but the "R" button, indicating the roof, was sealed with a small metal plate in order to prevent Romeo and Juliets from heading up to the roof night after night.

'I know how to pop the plate however'

With a microwave oven-like ding, the elevator stopped on the seventh floor.

Kamijou pushed aside the door that clanked as it opened and exited to the passageway.

She was on the seventh floor, but there was no wind and it seemed even hotter and stuffier than before due to the neighboring building being so close.

"Hm?"

Kamijou finally realized something. Down the straight passageway and right in front of her door, three cleaning robots were gathered. Seeing three of them was rare. For one thing, she was pretty sure only five were ever deployed to that dorm.

'Systems check, Dorm 24-A, Cleaning Unit Assignment'

From the way they were trembling and moving back and forth, they seemed to be cleaning up quite a horrible mess.

'Error 34-D, Biological Contaminate 3 detected'

For some reason, Kamijou had an intense feeling of impending misfortune.

Those drum robots had enough power to cleanly rip up gum that was stuck to the floor, so what was giving three of them such trouble? Kamijou shuddered at the thought that her neighbor Tsuchimikado Motoharu might have gotten drunk while acting like a delinquent in order to lose his virginity and had ended up vomiting in tremendous quantity while using Kamijou's door in place of a telephone pole.

'If he did, I'll neuter him. The last time he got drunk he tried to peep on me, I wonder if the scar on his right leg has faded yet?'

"What happened…?"

People had an unfortunate tendency to want to see horrible things.

After taking a few more subconscious steps forward, he finally saw it.

The mysterious girl named Index had collapsed from hunger.

"….Ahh."

Tsubaki could not see all of her due to the robots being in the way, but someone wearing a white nun's habit covered in glittering safety pins was clearly collapsed face down there.

'Wait, Biological Contaminate 3… isn't that…'

Even though the three drums were doing nothing but ramming her, Index was not moving at all. It made her seem all the more pitiful, just like if she was being pecked at by city crows. For one, the cleaning robots were made to avoid people and other obstacles, so why was she being treated as not human even by those machines?

"…I guess this is misfortune, too."

Kamijou Tsubaki would have been surprised to see her face in the mirror at that moment.

She had a clear smile on his face.

She had been worried deep down. Tsubaki may not have (Openly) believed her about the magicians, but it was possible some cult was chasing the girl around.

Tsubaki was glad to see her in her usual(?) state.

And even ignoring those worries, she was simply happy to see her again.

Kamijou then remembered the one thing she had forgotten: the pure white hood she had not given back to her. She found it strange that she saw that hood like some kind of charm.

"Hey! What are you doing here?"

Tsubaki called out to her and ran over.

'Why does just running over put me in the mood of an elementary school kid who can't sleep on the night before a trip? Why does each step I take forward make me feel like I'm headed to the store on the release date of a major RPG?'

Index had not yet noticed her.

Kamijou Tsubaki forced down a smile at how "Index-like" that was.

And then she finally noticed Index was lying in a pool of blood.

"…Ah…?"

The first thing she felt was confusion, not shock.

'How was she injured? And without me noticing!'

Tsubakihad been unable to see it before because the group of cleaning robots had been in the way. As she lay face down, she could see a single horizontal strike near the bottom of her back. The wound was from a blade, but it was so straight it looked like someone had used a ruler and a box cutter. The end of her waist-length silver hair had been cleanly cut off and that silver hair was dyed red by the red substance flowing from the wound.

For an instant, Kamijou was unable to comprehend that it was human blood.

'Error 34-D, Biological Contaminate 3 detected'

The difference in reality between the instant before and the instant after sent her thoughts into chaos. Red…red…ketchup? Had Index been using her last strength to suck up ketchup just before she collapsed from hunger? With that pleasant image in her mind, Kamijou almost smiled.

Tsubaki almost smiled, but she did not.

There was no way she could.

The three cleaning robots continued to move back and forth while making a clanking noise. They were cleaning the stain on the floor. They were cleaning the red substance spreading across the floor. They were cleaning the red substance flowing from Index's body. Like digging at a wound with a dirty rag, they were sucking out everything inside Index's body.

"St…op. Stop! Shit!"

'Unit Override 29-A'

Kamijou's eyes finally came into focus with reality. Tsubaki frantically grabbed at the cleaning robots gathered around the seriously injured Index. The robots were made unnecessarily heavy to prevent theft and they had a good bit of horsepower, but as a Saint she could easily tear them away from her.

Of course, the cleaning robots were only cleaning the continually spreading stain on the floor, so they never actually touched Index's wound. Even so, Kamijou saw them as bugs swarming over a festering wound.

And yet she was having trouble moving aside all of those heavy and powerful robots. While her focus was on one of them, the other two would head for the stain.

'Unit Override 29-A… Why isn't this working?'

Tsubaki was supposed to have the power to kill even God.

And yet she was unable to move those toys out of the way.

Index said nothing.

Her pale purple lips were so still Tsubaki was not even sure if she was breathing.

"Shit, shit!" Kamijou shouted out in confusion. "What happened? What the hell happened!? God dammit! Who the hell did this to you!?"

"Hm? That would be us magicians."

And that was exactly why the voice coming from behind her was not Index's.

'Threat detected, Magician, Necessarius, Activating defenses'

Kamijou spun her entire body around as if to rush in to punch the person. A man was standing there who had come from…no, not the elevator. It seemed he had come from the emergency staircase next to the elevator.

The white man was over two meters tall, but his face looked younger than Kamijou's.

His age was…probably fourteen or fifteen just like Index. His great height was characteristic of foreigners. His clothes were…a pure black version of the habits worn by priests in the church. However, it was unlikely you would find anyone who would call that man a priest even if you searched all across the world.

It may have been because he was standing upwind, but Kamijou would smell the horribly sweet perfume on him even though he was over fifteen meters away. His shoulder-length blond hair had been dyed red like the sunset, silver rings glittered on all twenty of his fingers like brass knuckle, he had poisonous earrings on his ears, a cell phone strap could be seen sticking out of his pocket, a lit cigarette moved at the edge of his mouth, and as if to finish it all off, he had a barcode like tattoo underneath his right eye.

You could not quite call him a priest and you could not quite call him a delinquent.

The air around where the man stood in the passageway was clearly odd.

'Magical residue detected, fire and rune magical specialization possibility above 90%'

It was like the area was being ruled by completely different rules from the ones that Kamijou had used up until that point. That strange feeling spread out throughout the area like icy tentacles.

What Kamijou felt first was neither fear nor anger.

It was complete and absolute rage, a foreign Magician had entered HER city and injured one under HER protection, this could not, would not go unanswered, not by a long shot.

"Hm? Hm, hm, hm. She got her pretty good." The magician looked around and the cigarette in the corner of his mouth waggled as he spoke. "I heard Kanzaki sliced her, but this is… I thought there wasn't anything to worry about because there was no blood trail…"

The magician looked at the cleaning robots gathered behind Kamijou Tsubaki.

Most likely, Index had been "sliced" elsewhere and had barely escaped here with her life before collapsing. She must have left fresh blood as she went, but the cleaning robots had cleaned it all away.

"But…why?"

'Why you bastard, why did you hurt her?'

"Hm? You mean why she came back here? Who knows. Maybe she forgot something. Come to think of it, she had her hood when I shot her yesterday. Did she lose it somewhere?"

The magician standing in front of Kamijou had said "came back".

In other words, he had been following Index's actions all day. And he knew that she had lost the hood to her Walking Church nun's habits.

Index had said something about the magicians searching for the magic power of her Walking Church.

'Dammit, they traced her right to my apartment, and Index's actions had left my wards disabled and I didn't re-enable them. Stupid, so stupid!'

That meant the magicians had been following Index by detecting the supernatural power in her Walking Church. They would have known the Walking Church was destroyed when the "signal" cut out…Index had mentioned that too.

But then Index had to have known.

She had known, but she still seemed to have relied on the defensive powers of the Walking Church.

But then why had she returned? Why did she need to recover a portion of the destroyed and therefore useless Walking Church? Kamijou's right hand had rendered the entire Walking Church useless, so there was no point in recovering the hood to it.

"…Then will you follow me to the depths of hell?"

Suddenly, it all clicked.

Kamijou remembered something. Tsubaki had never touched the hood of the Walking Church that had been left in his room. In other words, the hood still had magic power.

She must have thought the magicians might detect it and head there.

And so Index had braved the danger to "come back".

"…You idiot."

'You complete and utter idiot'

There had been no need to do that. It had been Kamijou's clumsiness that had destroyed her Walking Church, and she had realized she had left her hood in her room yet had left it there. And more importantly, Index did not have any obligation, duty, or right to protect Kamijou.

Even so, she had not been able to help but head back.

Kamijou Tsubaki was a complete stranger she had met less than half an hour before.

And yet she had not been able to help but risk her life and head back to keep her from getting involved in that fight with magicians.

"You idiot!"

'I was already involved, since the day I was born'

Index's unmoving back got on her nerves for some strange reason.

Index had told Kamijou before that her misfortune was due to her right hand.

'That's not the whole reason'

Apparently, her right hand was subconsciously negating even the faint supernatural powers that were things like the divine protection of God and the red string of fate.

And if Kamijou had not carelessly touched her and destroyed her Walking Church nun's habit in a small revenge for something her own actions caused, she would have at least not returned.

'No. Those kinds of excuses don't matter.'

Tsubaki's right hand and the destruction of her Walking Church were not the reason she had felt the need to return.

If Kamijou had only not wished for that connection…

If she had only returned her fallen hood to her in that instant…

"Hm? Hm, hm, hm? C'mon, I can't have you looking at me like that." The cigarette in the corner of the magician's mouth waggled as he spoke. "It wasn't me that sliced her and I doubt Kanzaki meant to turn this into something bloody. The Walking Church is supposed to be an absolute defense, after all. Really, she shouldn't have been injured at all by that. …Honestly, what twist of fate led that being destroyed? Unless St. George's Dragon has come again, I don't see how a Pope-class barrier could have been destroyed."

'Easily you idiot, there are at least seven different ways to defeat a Pope-class barrier'

That last bit had been spoken to himself and his smile disappeared as he said it.

However, that was also only for an instant. The cigarette in the corner of his mouth twitched back up as if he had suddenly remembered to smile.

"Why?" Kamijou said despite not expecting an answer. "Why? I don't believe in the magic from fairy tales and I don't really understand Magicians or whatever you are. But aren't there good and evil types of you? Aren't there Magicians that protect things and people?"

Tsubaki knew very well that she had no right to use fox words there, her foolish actions had hurt one under her protection.

When Index had left, Kamijou Tsubaki had let her go and gotten back to her normal life.

And yet she could not help but say it.

"You ganged up on this little girl, chased her all over the place, and then injured her this badly. Can you really say you're just with this reality staring you in the face!?"

'I will hurt you… Badly'

"Like I said, it was Kanzaki that did this, not me." The magician paused for a second.

'That is no excuse'

Kamijou's words had not hit home with him in the slightest. "And whether she's injured or not, we have to retrieve her."

'You… Monster'

"Retrieve her?"

Kamijou easily understand what the Magician meant.

"Hm? Oh, I see. You knew the word Magician, so I assumed you had been fully filled-in. I guess she was afraid of getting you involved." The magician exhaled cigarette smoke.

"Yeah, we need to retrieve her. Technically, it isn't her we need to retrieve though; it's the 103,000 Grimoires she has."

…There was those 103,000 Grimoires again.

"I see, I see. This country isn't very religious, so I guess you don't understand," said the magician in a bored sounding voice despite the fact that he was smiling. "The Index Librorum Prohibitorum is a list created by the church of all the evil books that will sully your soul just by reading them. Even if you announce that these dangerous books are out there, people can still unknowingly acquire one if they don't know their titles. Thus, she has become something of a crucible of poisonous books with 103,000 such books. Oh, but be careful. Reading just one of the books she has would make a vegetable out of someone from an irreligious nation like this."

Despite what he said, Index did not have a single book. The lines of her body were clearly visible in that nun's habit, so it would be obvious if she was hiding any under her clothes. Not to mention that no person could walk around carrying 100,000 books. That was an entire library's worth of books.

"Don't be ridiculous! And where exactly are these books!?" 'I will give him just enough rope to hang himself'

"Oh, they're there. They're in her memory," said the magician as if it was obvious. "Do you know what a perfect memory is? It seems to be the ability to memorize anything you see in an instant and never forget even a single sentence or letter. Simply put, it makes you a human scanner." The magician smiled disinterestedly. "It has nothing to do with our occult or your SF. It's a natural condition. She has been to the British Museum, the Louvre, the Vatican Library, the Pataliputra ruins, Château de Compiègne, Mont Saint-Michel Monastery, and everywhere else that has Grimoires that cannot be taken from where they are sealed. She stole them with her eyes and stores them as a Grimoire library."

Kamijou easily believed it, she knew what the Magical Side was like.

Tsubaki did not have to believe that these Grimoires existed or that index had a perfect memory, she knew these things were fact.

But what mattered was not if that was correct. What mattered was that someone believed it was true and had sliced open a girls' back.

"Well, she has no ability to refine magic power herself, so she's harmless." The cigarette in the corner of the magician's mouth moved up happily. "But since that stopper was prepared, the church must have some concerns. Well, that has nothing to do with a magician like me. At any rate, those 103,000 Grimoires are quite dangerous, so I came to shelter her before anyone who would use them comes to take her away."

"Shelter…her?"

Kamijou Tsubaki was utterly astonished. What had that man just said in the face of such a blood-red scene?

"Yeah, that's right. Shelter her. No matter how sensible and good hearted she may be, she cannot stand up to torture and drugs. The mere thought of handing a girl over to the likes of them hurts my heart, y'know?"

"…"

Kamijou's body was trembling in places.

It was not pure anger. Goosebumps covered her arm. The man before her viewed himself alone as right. He lived not seeing his own mistakes. All of that put together sent a chill across Kamijou's entire body like she had just plunged into a bathtub filled to the brim with tens of thousands of slugs.

The term "mad cult" oozed into her brain.

The thought of Magicians that hunted people based on foolish beliefs made her feel like the nerves of her brain were going to burst.

"Who the hell do you think you are!?"

Her right hand felt wrapped in heat as if in response to her anger.

Her two feet that had been planted to the ground moved before she even thought about moving them. Her lithe but strong body filled with flesh and blood charged toward the magician like a bullet. Tsubaki clenched her right fist so hard, she felt like she was smashing her fingers to pieces.

Her right hand was of no use. It would not let her defeat even a single delinquent, it would not raise her scores on tests, and it would not make her popular with girls.

But her right hand could also be quite useful. After all, she could use it to punch out the bastard standing before her.

"I would prefer to name myself as Stiyl Magnus, but I guess I'll have to go with Fortis931."

However, the magician was completely motionless expect for the wagging of the cigarette in the corner of his mouth.

After muttering something under his breath, he spoke to Kamijou as if introducing the pet black cat he was proud of.

"That's my magic name. Not familiar with those? It seems we magicians cannot give our true name when we use magic. It's an old tradition, so I don't really understand why myself."

To Stiyl's surprise, Tsubaki answered "It is to protect yourself, from a Magician who can use soul magic, you fool. But since you are being traditional I will as well, my name is Kamijou Tsubaki, but you can call me Calamitas000, The One who Bears the Misfortune of Mankind'

They were 15 meters apart.

Kamijou Tsubaki filled half of that gap in just one leap.

"A Magician… here, how, why, what are you doing here?"

Kamijou Tsubaki took two more steps down the passageway.

The Magician's smile crumbled in seconds. He rapidly was shifting from the mindset of 'This person is no threat' to the mindset of 'This person is a major threat' and back again as his mind attempted to deceive itself as to the true nature of the girl in front of him.

The Magician named Stiyl Magnus grabbed the cigarette from his mouth and flicked it away to the side, he was now all business, having met a Magician unexpectedly.

The lit cigarette flew horizontally, over the metal railing, and hit the wall of the neighboring building.

An orange line traced the cigarette's path as an afterimage and sparks flew when it hit the wall.

"Kenaz (Flames)."

The instant Stiyl muttered that, the orange line exploded.

A sword of flames appeared in a straight line as if someone had turned on a fire hose loaded with gasoline.

The paint gradually changed color like a picture being scorched by a lighter.

Tsubaki was not touching the flames, but it still felt like her eyes were being burned just by looking at it, so Kamijou instinctually stopped running and brought her right hand up to cover her face.

Kamijou stopped so suddenly that it looked like her feet had been staked to the ground.

A sudden question entered her mind.

Imagine Breaker could negate any kind of supernatural power in one blow. Not even the Level 5 Biri Biri girl's Railgun that could destroy a nuclear shelter in one blow was an exception to that.

But the truth was…

Kamijou had yet to see any supernatural power that was not psychic or her own in nature.

In other words, she had never tested it.

Tsubaki had never tested it on another's magic.

Would her right hand really work on the strange power known as magic?

"Purisaz Naupiz Gebo (A gift of pain for the giant.)"

Past the hand covering her face, Kamijou could see the Magician smiling. 'The bastard must think I am a novice'

While smiling, Stiyl Magnus swung the blazing flame sword horizontally at Kamijou Tsubaki.

The instant it touched her, it lost shape and exploded in all directions like an erupting volcano.

Heat waves, flashes of light, explosive noise, and black smoke burst in every direction.

"Maybe I overdid it."

Stiyl scratched at his head in front of what looked like the aftermath of a bombing. Just to be sure, he looked around to see if anyone was coming out to see what was going on.

It was the first day of summer break, so most of the residents of that boy's dorm would be out. However, it would be bad if some friendless shut in was in one of the rooms.

'Come to think of it, why is that girl here anyways?'

He could not see directly ahead due to a screen of flames and smoke.

However, he did not need to check. That strike had created hellish flames of 3000 degrees Celsius. At temperatures higher than two thousand degrees, the human body would melt before it burned, so the girl likely looked something like the metal railing that had melted like a sugar sculpture. She was likely splattered across the dorm wall like a used piece of gum.

Stiyl gave a sigh as he reflected on how right he had been to get the girl away from Index.

Things would have been a bit more difficult if the girl had used Index's injured form as a shield.

But he could not retrieve Index as things were.

Stiyl sighed again. The wall of flames blocked him from heading to the other end of the passageway where Index was. If there was another emergency staircase on the other side of the passageway, he could manage, but it would hardly be funny if Index got caught up in the flames while he took that detour.

Stiyl shook his head in annoyance and spoke as he peered into the smoke one last time as if he could see through it.

"Thank you, excellent work, and too bad. Well, at that level, you couldn't win even if you had 1000 tries."

"Are you really so sure I can't win no matter how many times I try?"

For an instant, the magician froze in place at that cold, emotionless voice coming from those hellish flames.

With a roar, the wall of flames and smoke swirled and was blown away.

It was as if a tornado had appeared in the center of the flames and smoke and blew them all away.

Kamijou Tsubaki stood there.

The metal railing had been melted like a sugar sculpture, the paint on the floor and walls had peeled, and the fluorescent lights had melted and dripped down in the intense heat, but that girl had remained unharmed in the middle of those hellish flames and scorching heat.

"Honestly, what was I so worried about?" said Kamijou with the sides of her mouth twisted in disinterest. "This is the same right hand that destroyed Index's Walking Church."

Kamijou truly did not fully understand everything about what was known as magic.

She did not know how it some of it worked or what was going on where she could not see. Most likely, she would only understand some of it if it was explained to her from start to finish.

But there was one thing even a Saint like her knew.

In the end, it was just a supernatural power.

The crimson flames she had blown away had not been completely extinguished.

In a perfect circle around Kamijou, the scorching flames continued to burn. But…

"Out of the way."

With that one statement, Kamijou touched the 3000 degree magical flames with her right hand and the rest of the flames vanished.

It was like the candles in a birthday cake had all been blown out at once.

Kamijou Tsubaki looked at the magician standing before her.

The magician was as flustered as any normal human being at the unexpected turn of events.

In fact, he was a normal human being.

If you punched him, he would feel pain, and if you cut him with a cheap knife, he would bleed red blood.

He was a mere human being.

Kamijou's legs were no longer cramped with fear and her body was no longer frozen with nerves.

Her arms and legs moved like normal.

Tsubaki moved like few others could!

"…Wha-?"

Meanwhile, Stiyl very nearly took a step backwards in shock over the incomprehensible phenomenon before him.

From what had become of the surroundings, that attack could not have been a dud. But did that mean that girl was powerful enough to withstand 3000 degrees? No, then she would no longer be human.

Kamijou Tsubaki paid no heed to Stiyl's confusion.

She clenched her heated right fist as hard as a rock and took a step toward Stiyl who was swaying on his feet.

"Tch!"

Stiyl swung his right hand horizontally. The flame sword that appeared followed suit and flew forcefully toward Kamijou.

It exploded. Flames and smoke flew about.

But after the flames and smoke were blown away, Kamijou Tsubaki stood there just as before.

"WHAT MAGIC IS THIS?" Stiyl shouted at Tsubaki, his mind did not want to accept this new turn of events, there couldn't be a Magician here, despite having accepted her as a Magician earlier, he thought she was a Novice or Acolyte, he did not want to accept the possibility of a fully trained Magician standing against him.

There could not be any Magicians in that country that knew more about Christmas than magic and only knew Christmas as a day of dating and sex.

Also…Also, if Index who had no magic power had joined forces with a Magician, she would not have needed to run away. That was how dangerous Index's memories were.

Those 103,000 Grimoires were on a completely different level from merely having a nuclear missile. Stiyl could not accept the fact that there might be a Magician who was not interested in the power of the Grimoires.

All living creatures would eventually die, an apple dropped from above would fall down, and 1+1=2. You would be able to take those kinds of natural and unchangeable rules of the world, destroy them, rewrite them, and create new ones. You could make 1+1=3, make an apple dropped from below fall up, and make all dead creatures eventually be revived.

Magicians called such a being a Magic God.

Not the god of the demon world, but a magician who had thoroughly mastered magic to the point of entering the domain of god.

A Magic God.

But Stiyl could not accept the feel of the magic power in the girl in front of him.

He would be able to tell at a glance if she was a Magician. The girl did not just have the "scent" of someone from the same world as him, she was bathed in it, it was radiating from every inch of her body, but once again his mind could not accept this.

But then why?

"!"

To hide the shuddering spreading across his body, Stiyl created another flame sword and attacked Kamijou.

This time, it did not even explode.

Kamijou swatted at the flame sword with her right hand as if at a fly and the flame sword shattered like glass and disappeared into thin air.

Tsubaki shattered that 3000 degree flame sword with a right hand that had no magical reinforcements of any kind, at least that was what Stiyl's mind was telling him.

"…Ah."

Abruptly, truly abruptly, something floated up in the back of Stiyl Magnus's mind.

Index's Walking Church nun's habit was Pope-class and its barrier rivaled a London cathedral in its power. It was absolutely impossible to destroy it unless the legendary dragon of St. George appeared.

But Index's Walking Church had clearly been utterly destroyed since Kanzaki had sliced her.

Who had done it? And how?

"…"

By that point, Kamijou Tsubaki had walked right up to Stiyl.

With one more step, she would be close enough to punch the magician.

" O. (One of the five great elements from which the world is constructed.) F. (The great flame of the beginning.)"

An unpleasant sweat started flowing from Stiyl's entire body. This was because the creature in a summer uniform before him had taken the form of a human. Stiyl's spine trembled as he got the feeling that inside that girl's skin was not flesh and blood but a pure wellspring of Mana and Telesma.

" E. (It is a light of blessing that raises life and a light of judgment that punishes evil.) D. (It is overflowing with calm blessings and with freezing misfortune that destroys cold darkness.) S. (Its name is fire and its role is the sword.) P! (Be manifested and become the power that eats into my body!)"

The chest of Stiyl's priest's habit swelled out and the power from within popped off the buttons.

With the roar of flames sucking in oxygen, a giant mass of flames shot out from within his clothes.

It was not merely a mass of flames.

The crimson burning flames had something black and dripping like fuel oil at its core. It was in the form of a human. The thing was reminiscent of the seabirds dripping with black fuel oil after a tanker accident and it was eternally burning.

Its name was Innocentius. Its meaning was "I will surely kill you."

That giant flame god who bore the meaning of certain death spread its arms and charged toward Kamijou Tsubaki like a bullet.

"Verschwinden (disappear)."

Kamijou used a backhanded blow with the annoyed attitude of someone brushing aside a spider web.

Kamijou Tsubaki blew away Stiyl Magnus's final trump card. As if she had stabbed a water balloon with a pin, the human-shaped fuel oil symbolizing the giant flame god burst into blazing spray and scattered about the area.

"…?"

Kamijou Tsubaki had no real reason for not taking her last step at that moment.

It was simply that Stiyl was still smiling despite having his final trump card destroyed.

That expression was enough to make her hesitate before carelessly taking that last step.

The sound of a viscous liquid moving could be heard from all around.

"Wha-…!?"

As Kamijou took a step back in surprise, the black spray returned from all directions, gathered in midair, and reformed into a human shape.

If Kamijou had taken that last step, she would certainly have been enveloped by flames from all directions.

Kamijou's mind was thrown into disarray at the scene before her eyes. If her magic could do what she was always told it could, it could negate something as simple as this in a single strike. If that had been the supernatural power known as magic, she should have been able to negate it with that spell. And yet…

The fuel oil within the flames writhed, changed form, and now seemed to be holding a sword in both hands.

No, it was not a sword. It was a giant cross over two meters long, the type used to crucify people.

It lifted the cross up with both hands and swung it down towards Kamijou's head like a pickaxe.

"Rune Magic…!"

Kamijou immediately held up her right hand to receive the blow. Not counting her right hand, Kamijou was a Saint. She had the battle skill needed to see through the attack and evade it.

'But doing so would cause massive damage to the building and might end up killing Index'

The cross and her right hand clashed.

This time, it did not even disappear. As if she was grasping a mass of rubber, Kamijou felt she was not going to be the one to lose that struggle. His opponent was using both hands while she could only use his right hand. The flaming cross remained stationary, held aloft by the girl with no apparent effort.

Despite her confusion, Kamijou just barely managed to realize one thing. That mass of flames known as Innocentius was definitely reacting to her Imagine Breaker. However, it was being revived just after being annihilated. Most likely, the lag between annihilation and revival was less than a tenth of a second.

'Rune Magic, it has to be'

Her right hand had been sealed.

If she let go for even an instant, she would likely be turned to ash by Innocentius in that instant.

"Runes."

Kamijou Tsubaki heard something.

Due to the danger in front of her, she could not turn around, but she certainly heard someone's voice.

"Those twenty four characters used to indicate mysteries and secrets have been used as a magic language by Germanic tribes since the 2nd century and are found in the roots of Old English."

However, Kamijou could not believe it was Index's voice despite knowing it was.

"Wha-…?"

'With how beat up and bloody she was, how could she be speaking so calmly?'

"Attacking Innocentius will have no effect. Unless the rune engravings carved into the walls, floor, and ceiling are eliminated, it will revive as many times as necessary."

Kamijou Tsubaki merely braced her right wrist with her left hand and easily managed to push the cross backwards towards Innocentius.

Then Kamijou simply turned her head around.

The girl was indeed collapsed there. But Kamijou was unable to give the name Index to "that". Like a machine, her eyes were utterly lacking in emotion.

With each word she spoke, more blood flowed from the wound on her back.

She paid no heed to that and seemed to truly be nothing more than a system meant to explain magic.

"You're… Index, right?"

"Yes. I am the Grimoire library belonging to Necessarius, the 0th Parish of the Anglican Church. My proper name is Index Librorum Prohibitorum, but that can be abbreviated to Index."

The way that Grimoire library named Index was acting, Kamijou almost forgot about the giant flame god trying to kill her. She felt such an inhuman chill coming from Index.

"With my introduction complete, I will return to my explanation of rune magic. Simply-"

Tsubaki interrupted Index before she could continue "I need to destroy the runic array being used to summon this supernatural being into the realm of reality, otherwise it can continue to reincarnate no matter what, correct?"

Index paused in shock, even in this mode "You know of Magic?"

Tsubaki rolled her eyes in annoyance "Yes, of course. Did you think Academy City didn't have a Magician on staff to deal with incidents like this?"

But with Innocentius sealing her right hand and keeping her from moving, she couldn't test anything regardless. And it would be difficult to ask Index to help her given her bloody state.

"Ash to ash…"

Kamijou looked up in shock. From beyond the giant flame god, a flame sword had appeared in Stiyl's right hand.

'Prick, smug little son of a bi-'

"… Dust to dust…"

And another one. A bluish-white burning flame sword extended silently from his left hand.

"…Squeamish Bloody Rood!"

With those power-filled words, he swung the two flame swords horizontally so they would slice straight through the giant flame god from left and right like a giant pair of scissors. With her right hand sealed by Innocentius, Kamijou could not block anything else.

At least, that was what Stiyl thought "Heiligtum (Sanctuary)" a powerful shield of golden energy immediately covered Tsubaki's body.

-SOM-

Verse VII

-SOM-

When the smoke and flames cleared, the entire area looked like hell.

The metal railings had warped like sugar sculptures and even the floor tiles had melted into something like glue. The paint on the walls had peeled so the concrete was visible.

Tsubaki stood defiant in front of Innocentius, still armored in the strange golden energy.

Stiyl stared at her in disbelief

"…How," he whispered.

Tsubaki smiled viciously "It's simple, your Magic isn't enough to overwhelm mine, at least not inside the borders of this city. For this city is my temple, a city-sized temple in which I know everything and anything that happens. However you and Index managed to enter thanks to last nights unexpected thunderstorm, so I am having to adjust my strategy without forethought like I normally would, now I will defeat you and your monster"

Inside, Stiyl was astonished. Something amazing had just happened. Just before the explosion, in the instant Stiyl had sliced through the giant flame god with the two flame swords, Kamijou had raised a powerful shield, without any preparations at all.

"But…"

Stiyl gave a gentle smile. Kamijou now knew the weakness of the runes thanks to the knowledge of Index's 103,000 Grimoires. As she had said, the rune magic Stiyl used was activated by carved engravings. That also meant that getting rid of the engravings would negate even the most powerful magic.

"So what?" Stiyl's expression showed no sign of concern. "Even if you know of the weakness of my runes. You can't do it. It is utterly impossible for you to completely get rid of the runes carved into this building."

Tsubaki's vicious smile turned into a vicious smirk "Oh really, well then Magician, I think I should warn you… your Runes are not as foolproof as you think they are"

'Emergency override 02-F Activate Fire-suppression systems in Dorm 24-A, activate the loud and silent alarms. Administrator code: Calamitas000, Password Alpha-Omega-000'

Before Stiyl could respond, the Fire alarms and sprinklers of the Dorm suddenly activated. Covering the three Magicians and Eldritch Creature in copious amounts of water.

Stiyl was shocked and then he started to laugh "…You can't mean! Those 3000 degree flames couldn't be put out with that!"

"Don't be stupid. Not the flames. How can you put those things all over people's homes?"

Stiyl then recalled the tens of thousands of rune papers he had set up on the dorm.

Paper was weak to water. Even kindergartners knew that.

By spraying water all over the building with the sprinklers, it did not matter if there were tens of thousands of the runes. Tsubaki did not need to run around the building. Instead, she could activate a simple system and destroy all of the scraps of paper.

The muscles of the magician's face spasmed.

"Innocentius!"

The fiery giant redoubled it's efforts, but it's regeneration began to slow and parts of it began to break off of it.

Tsubaki then surged forwards and slammed her Imagine Breaker into Innocentius and it exploded

in all direction with a laughably pathetic noise.

"Wha-!?"

Stiyl Magnus's heart truly did stop for an instant out of shock.

After being blown away, Innocentius did not revive. Black fuel oil-like chunks of flesh were splattered about the area and all they could do was just barely squirm a bit.

"Im…possible… How…How! My runes haven't been destroyed yet!"

"What about the ink?" It seemed to take 5 years for Kamijou Tsubaki's voice to reach Stiyl's ears. "Even if the paper hasn't been destroyed, the water will make the ink come off." Kamijou spoke in a leisurely manner. "Although that doesn't seem to have taken care of every single one of them."

The squirming pieces of Innocentius disappeared into thin air one at a time as the man-made rain continued to flow from the sprinklers.

It was as if the ink on the copy paper taped all over the building was coming off in the rain one by one, causing Innocentius to lose power bit by bit.

The chunks of flesh disappeared one by one until finally the last one dissolved and disappeared.

"Innocentius…Innocentius!"

The magician's words were like those of a man shouting into a phone receiver after being hung up on.

"Now then."

That one statement was enough to make the magician's entire body flinch.

Kamijou Tsubaki took a step toward Stiyl Magnus.

"Inno…centius…" the magician said…but nothing in the world responded.

Kamijou Tsubaki took another step toward Stiyl Magnus.

"Innocentius…Innocentius, Innocentius!" the magician shouted…but nothing in the world changed.

Kamijou Tsubaki finally started charging toward Stiyl Magnus like a bullet.

"A-Ash to ash, dust to dust, Squeamish Bloody Rood!" the magician finally roared, but not even a sword of flames appeared, much less the giant flame god.

Kamijou Tsubaki drew near Stiyl Magnus and then continued even closer.

She clenched her fist.

She clenched her utterly normal right hand. She clenched her right hand that would be of no use unless she was using it on some kind of supernatural power. She clenched her right hand that would not let her defeat even a single delinquent, that would not raise her scores on tests, and that would not make her popular with girls.

But her right hand could also be quite useful.

After all, she could use it to punch out the bastard standing before her.

Kamijou Tsubaki's fist slammed into the magician's face.

The magician's body rotated like a bamboo copter and the back of his head struck the metal railing

Act I

Part II

Saint Versus Saint

MAGICAL_SUPREMECY_UNDETERMINED

Verse I

It was night. The sirens of fire trucks and an ambulance rang from the main road and passed by.

The dorm seemed to have been mostly abandoned, but setting off the fire alarm and starting the sprinklers had changed matters. In no time at all, the empty dorm was filled with fire trucks and onlookers.

Kamijou had used her right hand to destroy the tracking function of the hood in her room before taking it with her. If she had left it working and abandoned it in some arbitrary place, she could have fooled the pursuers, but she obstinately insisted that she take it with her.

Kamijou Tsubaki clicked her tongue in a back alley. She was holding Index's bloody form in her arms as she could not let her wound touch the dirty ground.

Tsubaki could not give Index to an ambulance.

Academy City fundamentally disliked outsiders. That was why walls surrounded the city and three satellites were constantly monitoring everything. Even the drivers of the trucks that supplied convenience stores needed an exclusive ID to get in.

For that reason, information on an outsider without an ID like Index would get out if she was hospitalized.

And her enemy was part of an organization.

If she was attacked there, the damage would spread to those around her and she would be defenseless if she was attacked while recovering or in surgery.

"But I can't just leave her like this."

"I'll…be fine. If you…can only stop the bleeding…"

Index's voice was weak and showed no hint of the mechanical voice she used while explaining about runes.

And that was why Kamijou knew immediately what she had said was wrong. Her wound was beyond something an amateur could handle by wrapping a bandage around it.

Kamijou was used to fights and even full out battles, so she performed first aid on herself for most of the wounds best kept a secret. But the wound on Index's back was bad enough to make even Kamijou lose her cool.

There was only one thing left they could rely on.

She still did not believe in it, but he had nothing else left to believe in.

"Hey, hey! Can you hear me?" Kamijou lightly slapped at Index's cheek. "Is there anything that can heal wounds in those 103,000 Grimoires of yours? I'm no good a healing magic"

Kamijou's Magic was focused around doing damage and protecting herself, what few healing spells she knew were for minor things or broken bones, her nature as a Saint would allow her to shrug off anything else with ease.

It was true Index had said she was naturally unable to handle magic power herself and therefore could not use magic, but Kamijou use Magic, so if Index just told her what to do…

Index's breathing was shallow but more due to the blood loss than to pain. Her pale lips trembled.

"There is…but…"

Kamijou's face lit up for an instant until the word "but" belatedly caught in his mind.

"You…can't do it…" Index let out a small breath. "Even if I…taught you the spell…your power would surely…get in the way…ow…even if you perfectly…imitated it."

Kamijou looked down at her right hand in shock.

Imagine Breaker.

The power residing there had indeed completely negated Stiyl's flames.

So there was a chance it would negate Index's recovery magic in the same way.

Then Tsubaki giggled lightly

"Don't worry Index, my Imagine Breaker doesn't effect my own Magic"

"…?" Index fell silent for a bit. "No… That isn't what I meant."

"?"

"Not your right hand…The problem is…that you're an Esper." In that broiling night, she

shivered like on a snowy mountain in midwinter. "Magic is not…something to be used by 'talented people' like you Espers. 'Untalented people' wanted…to do what the 'talented people' could do…so they created certain spells and rituals…that are known as magic."

Kamijou was about ready to shout, "I'm not an Esper!"

"You don't get it…? The circuitry is different between 'talented people' and 'untalented people'… 'Talented people' cannot use the systems created…for the 'untalented people'…"

"Wha-…?" 'It seems that Index cannot comprehend the fact that I am a Magician, why is that?'

Kamijou was left speechless. It was true that drugs and electrodes were used on Espers like Kamijou to forcibly expand the circuitry of their brains in a way that was different from a normal human. It was true that their bodies were different from others.

But she could not believe it. No, she did not want to believe it.

2.3 million students lived in Academy City. And every single one of them had undergone the powers development Curriculum. Even if you could not tell by looking at them, even if they could not bend a spoon when trying so hard it burst the blood vessels in their brain, and even if they were the weakest of Espers, they were indeed made differently from a normal person.

In other words, the people who lived in that city could not use magic, the one thing that could save that girl.

There was a way to save the person who lay before her, and yet no one could save her, and Index would tell her how to use the magic because she thought Tsubaki was a Esper.

"Dammit…" Kamijou bared her canines like a beast. "How could this happen? How could this happen!? What the hell is this!? How is this fair!?"

Index's trembling grew worse.

What Kamijou found the hardest to bear was that she was receiving the punishment for Tsubaki's own inability.

"'Talented' my ass," she spat out. "I can't even save the girl suffering before my eyes."

But she could not come up with any other way of resolving the situation. The fact that the 2.3 million students living in the city could not use magic was the rule she needed to break down first.

"…?"

Kamijou suddenly noticed something off about what she had thought.

Students?

"Hey, any normal 'talentless' person can use magic, right?"

"…Eh? Yes."

"And this isn't going to end with it being useless because the person has no talent for magic, right?"

"You don't…need to worry about that… As long as they prepare correctly and perform it correctly…even a middle school student should be able to do it." Index thought for a bit.

"Although, if they get the steps wrong, the pathways in their brain and their neural circuitry could be fried…But with the knowledge of my 103,000 Grimoires, it will be fine. Do not worry."

Kamijou smiled.

Without thinking, she looked up as if to howl at the moon in the night sky.

It was true that 2.3 million students lived in Academy City and that they had all been developed to have some kind of psychic power.

But the teachers that developed them were normal humans.

"I hope she isn't already asleep."

The face of a certain teacher appeared in Kamijou Tsubaki's mind.

It was the face of Tsukuyomi Komoe, the 135 centimeter homeroom teacher of his class who a red randoseru would suit despite her being a teacher.

Kamijou used a pay phone to get Komoe-sensei's address from Aogami Pierce. (Kamijou had dropped and broken her phone that morning. Why Aogami Pierce knew Komoe's address was a mystery. Kamijou suspected he was a stalker.) Kamijou then began walking with Index's limp form on her back.

"This is the place…"

She arrived after fifteen minutes of walking from that back alley.

Utterly unbefitting of Komoe-sensei's twelve year old appearance, it was a two story wooden apartment building that looked so old and worn down Kamijou felt it must have weathered the bombing of Tokyo. Since the washing machine was sitting directly out in the passageway, it must have had nothing like a bath.

Normally, Kamijou would have made jokes about it for the next 10 minutes, but she did not even smile.

After checking the nameplates on the first floor doors, she climbed up the run-down and rusty metal staircase and checked the doors up there. When she reached the farthest back door on the second floor, she finally found "Tsukuyomi Komoe" written in hiragana.

Kamijou rang the doorbell twice and then kicked at the door with some of her might (it would be bad manners to destroy her sensei's door.

Her foot striking the door made a tremendous noise.

However, the door did not so much as budge. True to form, Kamijou had the misfortune to think she heard an unpleasant crack come from her big toe.

"Heilen (Heal)" Tsubaki muttered a simple spell to heal her toe

"~ ~ ~!"

"Yes, yes, yeees! The anti-newspaper salesman door is the only sturdy thing here. I'll open it, okay?"

'Why didn't I just wait?'

As Kamijou had that teary-eyed though, the door clicked open and a pajama wearing Komoe-sensei's head poked out through the crack. Her relaxed expression made it clear she could not see Index's back wound from her position.

"Wah, Kamijou-chan. Did you start working part time as a newspaper salesman?"

"What newspaper has its workers solicit people with a nun on their back?" said Kamijou with displeasure. "I'm in a bit of trouble, so I'll be coming in. Excuse me."

"W-wait, wait, wait!" Komoe-sensei frantically tried to block Kamijou's way as she pushed her aside. "I-I can't have you suddenly coming into my room. And that isn't just because my room is a horrible mess with empty beer cans littering the floor and cigarette butts piled up in the ash tray!"

"Sensei."

"Yes?"

"…See if you can make the same joke after seeing what I'm carrying on my back."

"I-I wasn't joking! …Gyahhh!?'

"So now you notice it!"

"I didn't see you had such a bad wound on your back, Kamijou-chan!"

Komoe-sensei started panicking at the sudden sight of blood and Kamijou finally managed to push her aside and enter the room.

It looked like a room belonging to a middle aged man who loved betting on horse races.

The badly worn tatami mats had countless empty beer cans strewn across them, and the silver ash tray had a veritable mountain of cigarette butts in it. In what seemed like some kind of joke, there was even a tea table of the type a stubborn father would flip over in the middle of the room.

"…I see. So you weren't joking."

"I suppose it is hardly the time, but do you have a problem with girls who smoke?"

Kamijou felt that was hardly the problem with it as she stared at her homeroom teacher who looked twelve and kicked some beer cans out of the way to clear an open spot. She was reluctant to sit on the worn tatami mat, but there was no time to worry about preparing a futon.

Tsubaki laid Index face down on the floor to ensure her wound did not touch the floor.

The way her clothes were torn hid the actual wound from view, but a dark red liquid was flowing out like fuel oil.

"Sh-shouldn't you call an ambulance? Th-the phone is over there."

Komoe-sensei pointed toward a corner of the room with a trembling hand. For some reason, her phone was a black rotary dial phone.

"The mana in the blood is flowing out along with the blood."

Kamijou and Komoe-sensei reflexively turned toward Index.

Index was still sprawled out limply on the floor, but her eyes were silently open even as her head lay on its side like a broken doll.

Her eyes were colder than the pale moonlight and more precise than the gears of a clock.

Her eyes were so perfectly serene that they looked inhuman.

"Warning: Chapter 2, Verse 6. The loss of the life force known as mana due to blood loss has exceeded a certain amount, so John's Pen is being forcibly awoken. …If the current situation persists, my body will lose the bare minimum of necessary life force and expire in about 15 minutes according to the international standard minute defined by the clock tower in London. It would be best if you followed the instructions I am about to give in order to perform the most efficient treatment."

Komoe-sensei stared at Index in shock.

Kamijou could hardly blame her. Even though she had heard that voice once before, she simply could not get used to it.

"Now then…"

Kamijou looked over at Komoe-sensei and thought.

If she out and out asked her to use magic, she would surely tell her it was hardly the time to be pretending to be a magical girl and that she was much too old for that kind of thing anyway.

So how was she supposed to convince her?

"Hmm. Sensei, sensei. Since it's an emergency, I'll keep this short. I need to tell you a secret, so come over here."

"What?"

Kamijou waved his hand like he was calling over a small dog and Komoe-sensei approached with no caution whatsoever.

"Sorry," Kamijou apologized to Index under his breath.

Tsubaki lifted up her ripped clothes to reveal the horrible wound hidden beneath.

"Ee!?"

Tsubaki could hardly blame Komoe-sensei for jumping in shock.

The wound was so bad it even shocked Kamijou. The wound was in a horizontal straight line across her back as if it was a cardboard box someone had used a ruler and box cutter on. Past the red blood, pink muscle, yellow fat, and even something hard and white that seemed to be her backbone could be seen.

If the wound was viewed as a red mouth, the lips around it had gone utterly pale like someone who had been in a pool.

"Gh…" Kamijou forced away some dizziness and carefully lowered the clothing that was wet with blood.

Even when the clothes touched the wound, Index's icy eyes did not move in the slightest.

"Sensei."

"Eh? Yes!?"

"I am going to tell you about the mysterious power known as Magic, this girl will instruct you in a spell that can heal her. Despite what Science may say, Espers have existed for thousands of years, in order to combat that the ordinary people without power developed a way to create their own power, this 'power' was called Magic, it is far more esoteric then an Esper's power, but also more versatile. I am the only person inside Academy City authorized to use Magic, but for right now I need your help to heal this young girl."

Tsubaki broke several laws and personal morals and flat out told Komoe the basics of Magic and her relationship to it.

Komoe-sensei was nodding with an extremely serious expression and a pale face.

The real problem lay elsewhere.

"Hey, Index," Kamijou said softly to Index as she remained collapsed on the floor. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Yes, you can help with the Magic, my normal self may be unable to detect your power, but I am not bound by that problem, you are the twenty-first Saint of the world, your help will be invaluable"

"…Then, sensei. We are going to begin."

"Wait…eh? Kamijou-chan, I don't know what…"

After Kamijou Tsubaki said that and Komoe responded, Index moved her pale lips.

"What is the current time in Japan Standard Time? Also, what is the date?"

"It is 8:30 PM on July 20th…"

"You did not seem to look at a clock. Is that time accurate?"

"I do not have a clock in my room, but my internal clock is accurate down to the second, so do not worry."

Tsubaki nodded as she checked with the central time management of Academy City

"She is correct"

"…"

"You don't need to doubt me that much. I have heard that some jockeys have internal clocks accurate to a tenth of a second and you can regulate it with certain eating habits and rhythms of activity," replied Komoe-sensei in puzzlement.

She may not have been an Esper, but she was indeed a resident of Academy City. The idea of what level of knowledge was normal from medical and scientific fronts was different between those within the city and those without.

Still lying face down on the floor, Index glanced out the window with only her eyes.

"From the location of the stars and angle of the moon…that matches the direction of Sirius with an error of 0.038. Now to check once more. The current time in Japan Standard Time is July 20th 8:30 PM, is that correct?"

"Yes. Well, technically it is now 53 seconds past that, but…Ah, no! Don't get up!" 'Impressive Komoe-Sensei'

Komoe-sensei frantically tried to push Index back down as she tried to sit up which would further damage her already injured body, but Index's gaze did not waver in the slightest.

Her gaze was neither frightening nor piercing.

Tsubaki watched with interest.

All emotion had simply disappeared from her eyes like a light switch had been turned off.

There was no real presence in her eyes.

It was like her soul was missing.

"It is no matter. It can be regenerated," said Index as she headed for the tea table in the center of the room. "It is near the end of Cancer. The time is between 8 and 12 midnight. The direction is west. Under the protection of Undine, the role of the angel is the cherub…"

The sound of Komoe-sensei gulping could be heard throughout the room.

Unexpectedly, Index started drawing some kind of figure atop the small tea table with her bloody finger. Even those who did not know what a magic circle was would recognize that it was something religious. Komoe-sensei had already grown timid, but now something overwhelmed her to the point that she could not speak.

Tsubaki nodded in appreciation "A temple"

After drawing a circle of blood that filled the tea table, Index drew a star-shaped symbol known as a pentagram.

Writing in some strange language was written all around it. Those words were likely the same thing Index was muttering. She had asked about the constellations and time because the words written changed depending on the time and season.

As Index put together her magic, she showed none of the weakness of one who was injured.

Her extreme focus made it seem like her sense of pain had been temporarily cut off altogether.

A silent chill ran down Komoe-sensei's back as she heard the dripping of blood coming from the girl's back.

"Wh-wh-wh-what is this?"

"Magic." Index paused after that one word. "I will now be needing your help and yours as well Tsubaki. If you do as I say, no one will meet any misfortune and you will not be the target of anyone's resentment."

"H-how can you say that so calmly!? Just lie down and wait for an ambulance! Umm…bandages, bandages. With a wound this bad, I should bind the area around the artery to stop the flow of blood…"

"That level of treatment cannot completely close up my wound. I am not familiar with the term ambulance, but is it capable of completely closing this wound in the next 15 minutes and supplying me with the needed level of mana?"

Tsubaki shook her head "No Komoe-Sensei, an ambulance wouldn't be able to heal her, Heaven Canceller might be able to, but I doubt it."

"…"

It was true that an ambulance would take 10 minutes to arrive even if they called right that instant. It would take that long again to get her back to the hospital and the treatment would not start the second she arrived at the hospital. Komoe-sensei did not really understand what an occult term like mana meant, but it was true just closing the wound would not bring back her stamina.

Even if the wound was closed right that instant with a needle and thread, would that pale girl be too weak to live long enough to recover her missing stamina?

"Please," said Index without changing her expression in the slightest.

A mix of fresh blood and saliva was dripping from the corner of her mouth.

There was no intensity in her. There was nothing ghastly in her either. But that calm and composure was scarier than either of those. The way everything she did seemed to widen the wound made her seem like a broken machine continuing to run without realizing anything was amiss.

'If I do anything that makes her resist, her situation could become even worse.'

Komoe-sensei sighed. She of course did not believe in magic. However, Kamijou had told her of Magic and had even given her a brief history, something that Kamijou couldn't have made up on the spot.

All she could do was try to believe in Magic and follow the girl and Kamijou's instructions.

Sensing Komoe's doubts Tsubaki placed her right hand on Komoe's shoulder and smiled, to help give some hope to Komoe.

"So what should I do? I am not a magical girl."

"I thank you for your cooperation. First…take that…that…what is that black thing?"

"? Oh, that is a video game memory card."

"? …Well, fine. At any rate, take that black thing and place it in the middle of the table."

"Technically, it's a tea table…"

Komoe-sensei did as she was told and placed the memory card in the middle of the tea

table. She then took a mechanical pencil lead case, an empty box of chocolates, and two small paperback books and put them on the tea table as well. She also took three small figurines that came with her food, and lined them up next to each other in a semicircle around the memory card.

Komoe-sensei wondered what the point of it was, but Index was still completely serious despite looking about ready to collapse.

All of Komoe-sensei's complaints disappeared before the Japanese sword-like gaze coming from that pale face.

"What is this? You called it magic, but isn't this just playing with dolls?"

Sure enough, it all looked like a miniature version of the room. The memory card was the tea table, the two books standing up were the bookshelf and closet, and the three figurines were in the exact place of the three people in the room. When glass beads were scattered over the tea table, they seemed to stop in the places that exactly replicated the beer cans scattered across the floor.

"The substances do not matter. It is the same as how a magnifying glass magnifies regardless of whether the lens is made of glass or plastic… As long as the form and role are the same, the ceremony is possible," muttered Index as she dripped with sweat. "I just need you to accurately carry out my instructions. If you mistake the order, the pathways in your brain and your neural circuitry could be fried."

"?"

"I am saying that failure will turn your body to mincemeat and kill you. Please be careful."

"Bh!?" Komoe-sensei almost spat out, but Index continued without paying it any heed.

Tsubaki interjected at this point "Don't worry Komoe-Sensei, I'm here, any negative feedback will effect me first as I am the most powerful, also if it helps think of this table as the Magical version of a Personal Reality, by altering it you are altering what it represents"

"We will now create a temple for the angel to descend into. Follow my lead and chant."

What Index said after that went beyond words and become nothing but sound.

Without thinking about the meaning, Komoe-sensei tried copying just the tone in something like humming or singing. Tsubaki joined in with a voice that nearly made Komoe cry, it was just that beautiful, she never knew that Tsubaki could sing like that.

And…

"Kyahh!?"

Suddenly, the figures on top of the tea table started to "sing" as well. "Kyahh!?" one of them screamed with the exact same timing. The figures were vibrating. Just as the vibration is transmitted along the string in a string telephone and comes out as a voice in the paper cup on the other end, the figure vibrated and reproduced Komoe-sensei's voice.

One of the reasons Komoe-sensei did not panic and run from the room right then and there was likely because she lived in a city with 2.3 million Esper in it. A normal person would have thought they were out of their mind. The other was that Tsubaki was next to her and holding her hand, she truly thought of Tsubaki as a surrogate daughter and trusted her implicitly.

"Link complete." Index's voice and the voice from the tea table made it sound double.

"The temple created on the table has been linked to this room. To put it simply, everything that happens in this room will happen on the table and everything that happens on the table will happen in this room."

Index pushed the tea table lightly with her foot.

In that instant, the entire apartment shook under Komoe-sensei's feet as if from some great shock.

She could feel the stuffy air of the room growing as clear as the air in a forest in the early morning.

However, nothing like an angel was present. All that was there was what could only be described as an invisible presence. A feeling assaulted Komoe-sensei's entire body like she was being watched by thousands of eyeballs from every direction.

And then Index suddenly shouted.

"Imagine! Imagine a golden angel with the body of a child! Imagine a beautiful angel with two wings!"

When carrying out magic, determining the field was important.

For example, a pebble thrown into the sea does not make much of a ripple. However, a pebble dropped into a bucket makes quite a ripple. It was the same as that. To alter the world with magic, the field in which the alteration would take place had to be demarcated.

A protector was a temporary god in a small demarcated world.

If one properly imagined a protector, fixated its form, and freely controlled it, one could more easily cause mysterious things to happen in a limited field.

Komoe-sensei did not receive any such explanation and she was having a hard time imagining an angel. The term "golden angel" only made her think of that thing about one gold one or five silver ones.

As the image in Komoe-sensei's mind lost coherence, the surrounding presence followed suit and lost its form. An unpleasant feeling ran down Komoe-sensei's back like she was wrapped in the rotten mud from the bottom of a swamp.

"Just imagine it! This will not actually call in an angel. It is just a gathering of invisible mana. It will take form according to your will as the magic user!"

She must have truly been desperate because even the voice of that cool, mechanical Index grew sharp as an icicle.

Komoe-sensei's eyes opened wide at that sudden change and she hurriedly started muttering under her breath.

(…A cute angel, a cute angel, a cute angel.)

Hazily, she frantically called up an image of the girl angel she had seen in a shoujo manga long ago.

Whatever it was that felt like invisible mud hanging in the air of the room took form as if it had been shoved inside a human-shaped balloon…or at least that was how it seemed to Komoe-sensei.

She timidly opened her eyes to check.

(…Huh? This will not actually call in an angel?)

In the instant that doubt entered her mind, the human-shaped water balloon burst and the invisible mud splattered across the room.

"Kyahh!"

"…The fixation of its form has failed." Index looked around with her sharp gaze. "If the temple is at least protected by a blue color Undine, that is enough. …Continue."

Her words were positive enough, but Index's eyes were not smiling in the slightest.

Komoe-sensei flinched back like a child whose parents had just seen a failed test she had tried to keep hidden.

"Chant. It will be over with just a bit more."

That sharp order would not let Komoe-sensei lose her composure despite her rising confusion and flagging thoughts.

Index, Tsubaki, Komoe-sensei, and the three figurines on the tea table sang.

Then suddenly from Tsubaki's back burst two beautiful silvery-white wings that glowed with an inner light almost like that of a star, that could only be called Angelic.

The figurine on the table mirrored this strange turn of events.

The back of Index's figurine on the table began to melt.

It was as if it was rubber being held up to a lighter. It melted, the surface lost its unevenness, it grew smooth, it cooled and hardened once more, and its form came back together.

Komoe-sensei felt like her heart was freezing over.

Currently, Index was sitting across the tea table from her.

She did not have the courage to circle around and see what was happening to Index's back.

Index's pale face was covered in oily sweat.

Her glassy eyes still showed no sign of pain or suffering.

"Replenishment of mana and stabilization of condition confirmed. Returning John's Pen to dormant mode."

Komoe turned her trembling eyes towards Tsubaki who still had two wings fluttering out of her back, Tsubaki noticed the direction of Komoe's gaze and smiled at her "Don't worry sensei, these wings will disappear eventually. This is not the first time they have appeared"

Like a switch had been flipped, a soft light returned to Index's eyes.

Like a fire being lit in a cooled fireplace, a warmth filled the room's atmosphere.

The look in Index's eyes was so kind and warm that Komoe-sensei could not help but feel that warmth. It was the look of a normal girl.

"Now if the descended protector is returned and the temple is destroyed, it will be over."

Index smiled painfully "This is what magic is. It's the same as how apple and ringo mean the same thing. You do not need a glass wand when a plastic umbrella is just as clear. It is the same with tarot cards. As long as the design and numbers match, you can perform divinations with the cut outs from the back of a shoujo manga."

Index's sweating did not stop.

But then Index turned to Tsubaki and openly gaped "T-Tsubaki, you- your a Magician?"

Tsubaki slowly shock her head in disbelief "Index, I tried to tell you, but you refused to believe me"

Komoe-sensei grew even more afraid. She started to think what she had done had only made Index's condition worse.

Index turned back to Komoe with some shock still evident on her face.

"Don't worry." Index looked about ready to collapse even then. "It's the same as with a cold. You need your own strength to get over it. The wound itself has been closed up, so I'll be fine."

As soon as she said that, Index collapsed to the side. The figurine fell over, too. The tea table shook slightly and the room linked to it was assaulted by a thundering tremble.

Komoe-sensei was about to run around the tea table to Index, but Index began to sing.

When Komoe-sensei followed along and sang one last song, the strange atmosphere returned to being the normal stuffy atmosphere of the apartment. Komoe-sensei cautiously shook the tea table, but nothing happened.

Tsubaki smiled slightly as her figurine lost the wings it had and then she turned to Komoe-sensei "Don't worry, Index simply shut down the connection, a more easier idea for you might be that she opened the box and looked in on the cat"

Komoe nodded slowly as Tsubaki's science related explanation reached her and explained what happened.

'Thank goodness.'

As Komoe-sensei closed her eyes in relief, Index spoke.

Komoe-sensei would have thought anyone would be glad to have their deadly wound healed, but the nun said something else.

"I'm glad I did not burden anyone with anything."

Komoe-sensei stared at Index in surprise.

"…If I had died here, she may have had to bear the burden."

Tsubaki shook her head slightly at the idiocy of that statement. 'I am the Saint who bears the Misfortune of Mankind, Index. A little more would not have harmed me, it is nothing in comparison to your life or the life of any under my Aegis'

Index closed her eyes like she was dreaming and said nothing more. When that girl had been sliced in the back and collapsed and when she had performed that strange ritual, she had never once been thinking about herself. She had been thinking about the person who had carried her there.

Komoe-sensei could not think in the same way. She had no one to think that way about. That was why she asked one thing.

She was sure Index was already asleep and would not hear her, but that was exactly why she asked it.

And yet the girl answered with her eyes still closed.

"I don't know."

She had never felt that way about anyone before and she did not know what the feeling was. But when Tsubaki had recklessly gotten mad for her when faced with that magician, she had wanted her to run away even if she had to crawl up to her and make her. And when she had simply held off f Innocentius, she had thought she was going to cry when she triumphed over it.

She did not really understand, but when she was with Tsubaki, nothing ever went as she wanted and she felt pushed around.

And yet those unexpected things were so much fun and made her so happy.

She did not know what the feeling was, though.

This time, Index fell into a deep sleep with a smile on her face like she was having a pleasant dream.

Tsubaki smiled and began to lightly stroke Index's hair as she slept.

Komoe nearly squeed at the sight of Kamijou acting for all the world like a mother watching her child sleep.

Verse II

After dawn came, her symptoms were very similar to those of a cold.

Index was bedridden with a high fever and a headache. She did not have a runny nose or a sore throat because it was not due to a virus. It was simply a matter of regaining her missing stamina, so no matter how much immunity-strengthening cold medicine she took, it would not solve anything.

"…So why are you wearing only panties down below?"

As Index lay with a wet towel on her forehead, she must not have been able to stand the hot dampness inside the futon, so she had one leg sticking out in Kamijou's direction.

She was wearing a pale green pajama top and yet her bright skin-colored thigh was sticking out up to its base. Due to her fever, the skin was a bit pink.

The towel had grown lukewarm, so Komoe-sensei stuck it into a basin of water and splashed it around while glaring at Kamijou.

"…Kamijou-chan. I think those clothes were a bit too much."

"Those clothes" likely referred to the safety-pin-covered white nun's habit.

Kamijou agreed with her 100% on that, but Index looked like a displeased cat over having her familiar habit taken from her.

"The real question is how the pajamas of a beer-loving heavy-smoking adult like you fit Index so perfectly. Just what is the age difference between you anyway?"

"Wha-?"

Komoe-sensei (age unknown) was at a loss for words, but Index went in to kick her while she was down.

"Please do not look down on me like that. These pajamas are actually a bit tight around the chest."

"What…impossible! That can't be right. Now you're just making fun of me!" protested Komoe-sensei.

"Actually, do you even have anything in the chest area for it to be tight around!?" asked Kamijou.

"…"

"…"

As the two ladies glared at her, Kamijou simply smirked and said "I'm a girl so I can so that sort of thing, deal with it"

"Right, right. By the way, Kamijou-chan, who exactly is this girl?"

"My little sister."

"That is a blatant lie. With that silver hair and those green eyes, she is clearly a foreigner!"

"She's my stepsister."

"…You're a pervert?"

"I'm just kidding! I'm well aware that a stepsister is bad manners but a real sister is against the rules!"

"Kamijou-chan," she said, suddenly switching over to her teacher voice.

Kamijou fell silent. It was not really surprising that Komoe-sensei wanted to know what was going on. Not only had she brought a strange foreigner to her, but the girl had had a blade wound on her back that clearly smelled of bad news and Komoe-sensei had even been made to take part in some strange bit of magic.

It would have been difficult to ask her to turn a blind eye to it all.

"Sensei, can I ask one thing?"

"What?"

"Are you asking so you can tell the police or Academy City's board of directors?"

"Yes," Komoe-sensei said immediately with a nod. With no hesitation, she had told her student she was going to sell them out. "I do not know what kind of situation you two are in." Komoe-sensei smiled. "But if it happened here in Academy City, it is our duty as teachers to resolve it. Taking responsibility for the children is the duty of the adults. Now that I know you are in some kind of trouble, I cannot sit idly by."

That was what Tsukuyomi Komoe said.

And yet she had no power, no strength, and no duty to do so.

She merely said it with the straightforwardness of a famous katana slicing straight through the proper place at the proper time.

"That would lead to nothing, as I said I am the only individual within Academy City authorized to use Magic, as such my authority is equal to that of the Board of Directors with only the General-Superintendent being above me in authority" Tsubaki stated without even a hint of deception.

Kamijou had lived a long 15 or so years and yet she had never seen someone else like that teacher of the type seen in dramas and not even seen in movies anymore.

And so…

"If you were a complete stranger, I would not hesitate to get you involved, but I owe you for that magic, so I can't let you get involved."

Kamijou's response was just as straightforward.

She had already had enough of seeing people who were willing to protect others for nothing in return be hurt before her eyes.

Komoe-sensei fell silent for a bit.

"Mhh. I am not going to let you get away with trying to trick me with some cool line."

"…? Sensei, why did you just stand up and head for the door?"

"I am giving this a stay of execution. I need to go to the supermarket for groceries. Kamijou-chan, you figure out exactly what it is you need to tell me in that time. And…"

"And?"

"I may get so caught up in shopping that I forget. No cheating when I get back. Make sure you tell me, okay?"

Kamijou thought Komoe-sensei was smiling as she said that.

With the sound of the apartment door opening and then closing, Kamijou and Index were left alone in the room.

'She's trying to be kind.'

From the smile of a child plotting something on her face, Kamijou had a feeling Komoe-sensei would have "forgotten everything" once she returned from the supermarket.

If he later decided to consult her about it, she would surely act furious and say "Why didn't you tell me sooner!? I completely forgot!" as she happily agreed to help.

With a smile, Kamijou turned toward Index who lay in the futon.

"…Sorry. I know this is no time to be worried about appearances."

"Don't worry about it. This is for the best." Index shook her head. "It would be wrong to get her any more involved. …And she cannot use any more magic."

"?"

Kamijou frowned.

"Grimoires are dangerous. Written in them is aberrant and uncommon knowledge as well as twisted laws that break the common laws of this world. Whether they are for good or evil, those things are toxic in this world. Merely learning knowledge of a 'different world' will destroy the brain of the one who learns it," explained Index.

Kamijou simply waved that off "As a resident of Academy City she is protected from the destructive effects of Magic, trust me on this. Her spirit and brain are protected from the Eldritch horrors"

"My brain and spirit are protected by religious barriers, and magicians who attempt to exceed being human must exceed the boundaries of their own common knowledge to arrive at the desired state of mind which could almost be likened to a type of insanity. However, for a normal person from a weakly religious country like Japan, it could all be over after just casting one more spell."

"I see…" Kamijou somehow managed to not let the shock she had received show, she never knew that it was that dangerous, but if that was the case, why was she protected? "Well, that's a shame. I was hoping she would be able to perform alchemy for me. You know alchemy, right? It can turn lead into gold."

She of course omitted the fact that she knew this from an item mixing RPG with a young female alchemist as its protagonist and also from the fact that she herself was a budding alchemist, although one that is only capable of transmuting one kind of gas to another under an atomic weight of seven.

"Well, there is a technique for that called Ars Magna, but preparing the tools with modern materials would cost…um…7 trillion yen in this country's currency."

"….Well, that definitely isn't worth it," muttered Kamijou soullessly.

Index smiled weakly and said, "…Yeah. Turning lead into gold accomplishes nothing more than making nobles happy."

"But…wait. Now that I think about it, what does that do? How does it work? If you're turning lead into gold, are you rearranging the Pb atoms into Au?"

"I don't really know, but it's only a 14th century technique."

"Wait, do you mean what I think you mean? It might actually be changing the atomic arrangement!? You mean you could cause proton decay without a particle accelerator and nuclear fusion without a nuclear reactor!? Wait just a second. I'm not even sure the seven Level 5s of Academy City could do that!"

"?"

"Wait, don't look so confused! Um…um…Ah. If you're wondering just how amazing that would be, that kind of thing would let us easily create atomic robots or mobile suits!"

"What are those?"

With those three words she cast aside all of the dreams of men.

As Kamijou's head hung down limply, Index seemed to feel she had done something wrong.

"A-anyway, the holy swords and magic wands used in ceremonies can be made with modern materials as substitutes, but there is a limit. …This especially goes for sacred items related to God such as the Lance of Longinus, Joseph's Holy Grail, or The_ROOD. Even after 1000 years, it seems no substitutes can be made…ow…"

As she talked on and on excitedly, she started holding her temple like she had a hangover.

Kamijou Tsubaki looked at Index's face as she lay in the futon.

She had 103,000 Grimoires in her head. Just reading one of them could drive you insane and yet she had put each and every letter of all those books in her head. How much pain had that process caused her?

And yet Index never once complained of her pain.

"Do you want to know?" she asked as if apologizing to Kamijou and while ignoring her own pain.

Index's usual cheerful tone had set a context that made that quiet voice stand out and seem to hold even more determination.

'Sensei, you idiot.'

Index's situation did not particularly matter to Kamijou. Whatever situation she might be in, there was no way he could abandon her. As long as he could defeat her enemies and keep her safe, he saw no reason to dig into her old wounds.

"Do you want to know what my circumstances are?" repeated the girl naming herself Index.

Kamijou made up his mind and replied, "That kinda makes me feel like a priest, y'know?"

In a way, it really did. She felt like a priest listening to the confessions of a sinner.

"Do you know why?" Index asked. "The Christian church was originally a single organization, but now there are the Catholics, the Protestants, the Roman Catholics, the Russian Orthodox, the Anglicans, the Nestorians, the Athanasians, the Gnostics, and more. Do you know why this split occurred?"

"Politics"

Kamijou had a good idea of why that had happened as she had studied the Church and all Magical Cabals with a great deal of interest. After all 'know thy enemy to know thyself'.

"That's good enough." Index actually smiled. "It was because politics were mixed in with the church. Sects split, opposed each other, and fought. In the end, even people who believed in the same God were each other's enemies. Even as we believe in the same God, we each walk a different one of many scattered paths."

Of course, people's ideas on things naturally differed. Some wanted to make money with the word of god while others refused to allow that. Some felt they were loved by god more than anyone else in the world while others refused to accept that.

"After the sects stopped interacting with each other, we each underwent our own isolated development which gave us our individual characteristics. We changed in accordance to the situation in or cultures of our countries." Index let out a small breath. "The Roman Catholic Church manages and controls the world, the Russian Orthodox Church searches out and eliminates the occult, and the Anglican Church I belong to…"

"Necessarius"

Index's words caught in her throat for a second as Tsubaki interrupted with the name of her Cabal.

Tsubaki smiled at Index's surprise "But by all means continue your explanation, I only know an outsider's view of Necessarius, your own experiences and knowledge of Necessarius are more accurate then mine"

"England is a magic country," she said as if that was a bitter memory. "So the Anglican Church is especially advanced in anti-magician culture and techniques such as witch hunts and the inquisition."

In London alone were a number of public companies calling themselves magic cabals and there were 10 times that many shell corporations that really only existed on paper.

Their trial and error that had begun as a means of protecting the citizens from the "evil magicians lurking in the city" had developed too far in one direction and at some point became a culture of slaughter and execution.

"The Anglican Church has a special division," said Index as if she was confessing her own sins. "It investigates magic and develops countermeasures with which to defeat magicians. It is known as Necessarius." She sounded exactly like a nun. "If you do not know your enemy, you cannot defend against their attacks. However, understanding an impure enemy will make your own heart impute and touching an impure enemy will make your body impure. That is why Necessarius, the church of necessary evils, was created to draw all of those impurities into one place. And the most extreme case of this is…"

"The 103,000 Grimoires and you yourself., please continue your explanation, I only know the basics of Magic after all"

"Yes." Index gave a small nod. "Magic is something like an equation. If you skillfully reverse the calculations, you can counteract your opponent's attack. That is why I had these 103,000 Grimoires put into me. …If you know magic from all around the world, you can neutralize magic from all around the world."

Kamijou looked down at her right hand.

She had thought his right hand was of no use. The power of her right hand would not let her defeat even a single delinquent, would not raise her scores on tests, and would not make her popular with girls, so she had mainly just ignored it.

But this girl had gone through hell to achieve the same thing.

"But if these Grimoires are so dangerous and you know where they are, why don't you just burn them without reading them? As long as there are people to read and learn from these Grimoires, magicians will continue to appear without end, right?" Tsubaki asked the question that had bothered her ever since she had read the Necronomicon.

"The actual books are less important than the contents. Even if you got rid of an Original, the magicians who knew the contents would pass that on to their followers, so it would be pointless. Although someone who does that is known as a sorcerer rather than a magician," explained Index.

'Ah, It's something like data posted on the internet? Even if you delete the original data, copy after copy of the data will continue to exist.'

"Also, a Grimoire is nothing more than a textbook." Index sounded like she was in pain.

"Just reading one does not make you a magician. Magicians change it up to suit themselves and create a new type of magic."

It was less like data and more like a constantly changing computer virus.

To completely eliminate the virus, you had to be constantly analyzing the virus and creating new antivirus software.

"As I said before, Grimoires are dangerous." Index narrowed her eyes. "When disposing just a copy, an expert Inquisitioner must sew his eyes shut to prevent pollution of his brain, and even then it takes 5 years of baptisms to fully rid him of the poison. The human mind cannot handle an Original. The only option for the 103,000 Originals scattered about the world is to seal them."

It was as if she was discussing what to do with a vast collection of leftover nuclear weapons.

Actually, that was more or less what it was. Most likely, the very people who had written them had not expected this.

"Really? I never had a problem when I read the Necronomicon or the Buch der Anfänge (Book of Beginnings)"

Index's mouth nearly hit the floor even though she was lying down "You've read TWO Original Grimoires?"

Tsubaki shook her head "I've read eight Originals and two Copies"

Index shook in awe "Are they secure?"

Tsubaki nodded with a smile "Yes, they are sealed behind a Divine-class barrier with Magical Signal neutralizers and an energy reactive seal calibrated to myself only"

Index gasped and Tsubaki wasn't surprised, after all that level of defenses would stop everything short of a Magic God, even then it would slow a Magic God down significantly.

Then Tsubaki asked another question that had bothered her for a while.

"? Why are Grimoires and Magic not openly talked about? Wouldn't it be better for the Magical Side to have more comrades to fight for them?"

"That is exactly why. If every single person who had a gun was friends, there would be no war."

"…"

Just because two people knew magic did not mean they were on the same side.

It was because they knew the power of their trump cards that they did not want to recklessly create enemy magicians.

The Grimoires were treated like the plans to a new weapon.

"Hmm. I think I get it." Kamijou seemed deep in thought. "So basically, they want to get their hands on the bomb in your head."

She was a library with perfect copies of the world's 103,000 Original Grimoires in her head. To obtain her was to obtain all the magic in the world.

"…Right." From her voice, it sounded like she was about to die. "With the 103,000 Grimoires you would be able to twist everything in the world to your will without exception. That is what we call a Magic God."

Not the god of the demon world, but someone who had thoroughly mastered magic to the point of entering the domain of god.

A Magic God.

'…Fuck that.'

Without realizing, Kamijou had begun gritting her back teeth. She could tell from how Index was acting that she had not had those 103,000 Grimoires put into her head because she wanted to. Kamijou recalled Stiyl's flames. She lived like that for no other reason than to prevent as many victims as she could.

Kamijou could not stand how the magicians were using those feelings to their advantage and she could not stand how the church referred to her as "impure". All of them were treating a human being like a thing and Index must have seen nothing but people who did that. The fact that she still thought of everyone but herself despite that was what Kamijou could stand the least.

"…Sorry."

Kamijou had no clue what it was she was so mad about.

But that one word made her truly snap.

She lightly tapped Index on the forehead.

"…Oh, come on. Why did you not tell me about something that important?"

Index froze in place as Kamijou stared at that bedridden girl with her canines bared. Her eyes opened wide like she had done something horribly wrong and her lips frantically moved like she was trying to say something.

"But I didn't think you would believe me and I didn't want to scare you. And…um…"

Index seemed about to burst into tears and her voice grew quieter and quieter as she spoke. Kamijou could barely hear her toward the end.

Still, Kamijou heard her say "I didn't want you to hate me."

"No, fuck that!" She literally heard a snapping noise. "Don't look down on people and come up with your own estimation of them! Church secrets? 103,000 Grimoires? Yeah, that stuff is amazing and incredible. And yes, you are from a rival of my own side and entered my City without permission. But…" Kamijou paused for a beat. "Is that all?"

Index's eyes opened wide.

Her small lips frantically moved like she was trying to say something, but no words came out.

"Don't look down on me like that. Do you really think I would call you creepy or disgusting or something just because you memorized 103,000 Grimoires!? Did you think I would abandon you and run off the instant the magicians showed up? Fuck that. If that was all I was capable of, I wouldn't have taken you in the first place!"

As Kamijou spoke, she finally realized what it was she was so upset about.

Kamijou had simply wanted to be of some help to Index. She had not wanted to see Index get hurt anymore. That was all. And yet she had not let Kamijou protect her while she put herself in harm's way to protect her. Kamijou had wanted to hear her ask for help just once.

That had been frustrating for Tsubaki.

So very, very frustrating.

"…Just trust me a little. Don't come up with your own estimation of people."

That was all there was to it. Even if she had not had her right hand, her magic or her Saint body and had been a normal person, that would have been no reason for Kamijou to back down.

No such reason could exist.

Index merely stared at Kamijou's face in astonishment for a while.

But then tears welled up in her eyes.

It was as if her eyes were made of ice and had begun to melt.

Index clenched her lips sealed to choke down the sobs, but they trembled as if she could not stand it much longer. She drew the futon up to her mouth and bit onto it. The tears in in her eyes grew so large it looked like she would have been bawling like kindergartener if was not for the blanket.

In all likelihood, those tears were not merely in response to the words Kamijou had spoken just then.

Kamijou was not conceited enough to think it was. She doubted her words had made that much of an impression on her. Most likely, something that had been building up within her had come flowing out with her words as the trigger.

Just as she felt his heart break at the thought that no one had ever said those words to her before, Kamijou also felt that she had finally seen Index's "weakness" which made her a bit happy. Tsubaki then reached down and pulled Index into a hug, giving her some of the simple human warmth she had been denied for so long.

If Komoe-sensei unknowingly entered at that moment, she was sure she would unhesitatingly gush and start taking dozens of pictures with a camera pulled out of some strange hidey-hole.

"U-um…Y'see. I have my right hand and my Magic, so no Magician is any match for me!"

"…But…sob…you said you have supplementary lessons during summer break."

"…Did I say that?"

"You definitely did."

Apparently, the girl who had perfectly memorized 103,000 books had an excellent memory.

"Don't feel bad about throwing someone's everyday life into disorder over something like this. My supplementary lessons aren't that big a deal. The school doesn't want to hold me back if they can help it, so if I ditch the supplementary lessons, I can just go to supplementary lessons for the supplementary lessons. I can put them off as long as I need to."

If Komoe-sensei had heard that, that room would likely have turned into a battlefield, but Tsubaki paid that no heed.

"…"

With tears still in her eyes, Index looked up at Kamijou.

"…Then why were you in such a rush to get to your supplementary lessons?"

"…..Oh."

Kamijou thought back. Sure enough, after she had stripped her nude by destroying her Walking Church with Imagine Breaker and that closed elevator-like silence had taken over, she had…

"Because you had plans and because you had a normal life to live, I felt it was wrong to disturb all that…"

"O-oh. Yeah…"

"I was in the way there."

"…"

"I was in the way…"

Once she repeated herself with tears in her eyes, it was downright impossible to try to get out of it.

"I'm sorry!" Kamijou Tsubaki apologized as she gently tightened her hug with Index.

Index simply smiled and leaned into the first hug she could ever remember and she wondered 'Is this what a mother's love feels like?'

-SOM-

About 600 meters away on top of a multi-tenant building, Stiyl took his binoculars away from his eyes.

"I've looked into who this girl Index is with is. …How is she?"

Without turning around, Stiyl replied to the girl who had spoken to him.

"She's alive. No surprise there with that Magician she is with"

The girl gave no response, but it seemed she was more relieved that no one had died than worried about a new enemy.

The girl was 18, but she was about a head shorter than Stiyl who was only 14.

-SOM-

But then, Stiyl was over two meters tall, so the girl was still tall when compared to the average Japanese height.

Her waist-long black hair was tied in a ponytail. At her waist was sheathed Japanese sword over two meters long. It was a type known as a "command sword" that was used in Shinto rain calling ceremonies.

However, it would be a bit difficult to call her a Japanese beauty.

She wore used jeans and a white shirt. For someone reason, the left leg of her jeans were completely cut off up to the base of her thigh, the extra cloth at the bottom of her T-shirt was tied off so her midriff was visible, she wore knee high boots, and her Japanese sword was hanging down in a leather holster like it was a pistol.

She looked something like a sheriff from a Western who had traded his pistol for a Japanese sword.

Just like Stiyl the perfume-smelling priest, her outfit was hardly normal.

"So who exactly is this girl, Kanzaki?"

"The thing about that is…I was not able to get much information on the girl. At the very least, it appears she is not a magician or supernaturally powered in some other way."

"What, are you trying to say she's just a normal high school student? I saw her use Magic, one with German roots as well, you know how powerful and difficult that kind of magic is" Stiyl lit the cigarette he pulled out just by staring at the tip. "Just stop. I may not look it, but I'm a magician that has fully analyzed the existing 24 runes and developed 6 new powerful runes. This world is not kind enough to let a powerless amateur drive back Innocentius's flames of judgment."

Even with Index's assistance, she had put together a plan using that help almost immediately, without even moving. Plus there was that strange right hand of hers. If that was a normal person in Japan, than it truly was a country of mysteries.

"True." Kanzaki Kaori narrowed her eyes. "The real issue is that someone with that much battle ability is categorized as nothing more than a hopeless student who is prone to getting into fights."

Academy City had a hidden side where it was an institution that mass produced Espers.

Even if the organization under which Stiyl and Kanzaki worked was hiding Index's presence, Stiyl and Kanzaki had contacted the organization known as the Five Elements Institution beforehand to get permission to enter the city. Even the magic group that was known as the greatest in the world could not remain hidden within the enemy's field.

"Perhaps the information is being intentionally blocked. Also, Index's wounds were magically healed. Kanzaki, do any other magical organizations exist in the Far East? Someone must have trained that girl"

They had decided that the girl must have an organization other than the Five Elements Institution on her side.

They accurately believed that this other organization was thoroughly eliminating all information on Kamijou, however they were unaware that it was actually the General-Superintendent who was withholding this information.

"If they're doing something in this city, the Five Elements Institution's informants must have picked up on them." Kanzaki closed her eyes. "We have an unknown number of enemies and no chance of backup. This is a difficult development."

It was all a misunderstanding. Kamijou's Imagine Breaker had zero effect unless it was being used on supernatural powers. In other words, Academy City's System Scan was unable to measure her power because it used machines to measure it. And so Kamijou had the misfortune to be treated like a Level 0 despite possessing a top class right hand and being a Magician and Saint.

"In the worst case scenario, this could develop into a magical battle against an organization. Stiyl, I heard your runes have a fatal flaw when it comes to waterproofing."

"I've already compensated for that. I laminated the runes. The same trick won't work on me again." Like a stage magician, he pulled out the runes that now looked almost like trading cards. "This time, I will place the barrier 2 kilometers around the area rather two than just on the building. It will take 164,000 cards and the preparations will take 60 hours to complete."

Unlike in video games, real magic took a bit more than just chanting a spell.

It may have seemed that was all it took at first glance, but quite a bit of preparation was necessary behind the scenes. Stiyl's flames were the type of thing that had instructions along the lines of "Take a silver wolf's fang that has soaked up 10 years of moonlight and…" For this reason, Stiyl's speed was actually that of an expert.

In short, magical battles were a matter of reading what was to come. When the battle started, you were essentially caught in the trap that was the enemy's barrier. When defending, you had to determine what the enemy's spell was, and find a way to turn it back at the enemy. When attacking, you had to predict what kinds of counterattacks would come and rearrange your spell accordingly. Unlike simple martial arts, you had to think 100-200 steps ahead amidst constantly changing surroundings. While savage terms like "fighting" were used, it was actually more of an intellectual battle.

For that reason, an enemy force of unknown numbers put a magician at a serious disadvantage.

"…She looks so happy," said the rune magician suddenly as he stared six hundred meters ahead without using his binoculars. "She looks so very, very happy. She always lives such a happy life." His sounded like he was spitting out some kind of thick liquid. "How long do we have to keep ripping that to pieces?"

Kanzaki stared six hundred meters ahead from behind Stiyl.

Even without using binoculars or magic, she could see clearly with her 8.0 vision.

Through the window, she could see the girl happily snuggling into the older girl holding her in her arms.

"It must be a complicated feeling," said Kanzaki like a machine. "For someone like you who was once in that same position."

"…I'm used to it," replied the flame magician.

He truly had experienced that feeling many times before.

Verse III

"Bathtime Bathtime " sang Index as she walked next to Kamijou, holding a wash basin in both hands.

As if to say she was done being sick, she had changed from the pajamas and into her safety-pin-covered nun's habit.

Kamijou had no idea what kind of magic trick she used, but the bloody habit was perfectly clean. Tsubaki had a feeling it would have been torn to pieces if she had thrown it in the washing machine, so she wondered if Index had taken it apart and washed each individual piece.

"Does it bother you that much? To be honest, I don't care about the smell."

"Are you the type that likes the smell of sweat?"

"I didn't mean it like that!"

After three days, she was finally well enough to head out and a bath had been her first request.

Komoe-sensei's apartment did not have anything even remotely resembling a bath, so their only options were to borrow the one in the manager's room or head to the nearby run down public bath.

And so the young boy and girl were walking along a footpath at night with wash basin in hand.

"Just what era of Japanese culture are we living in?" Komoe-sensei had commented with a smile as she explained the public bath system. She was letting Kamijou and Index stay in her apartment without asking for details on their situation. Kamijou was going along with freeloading with her because she did not want to return to her dorm that was undoubtedly being watched by the enemy. At least not until she had a chance to repair her wards.

"Tsubaki, Tsubaki," said Index in a muffled voice because she was lightly hugging Tsubaki's left forearm.

Because of Tsubaki's habit of hugging Index, that was nothing more than a gesture similar to grabbing at someone's clothes to draw their attention.

"…What?' replied Kamijou in exasperation.

That morning, Index had realized she didn't know her name, so Tsubaki had introduced herself to her. In the time since then, she had to have called her name about sixty thousand times.

"Nothing. I just like calling your name even without a reason."

Index's expression was like that of a child going to an amusement park for the first time.

Index seemed very attached to her.

It was likely due to what had happened 3 days prior, but Kamijou was less happy, than she was unsure how to feel about the fact that no one had ever said something that basic to Index.

"Komoe said the Japanese public bath has coffee milk. What's coffee milk? Is it like a cappuccino?"

"You're not gonna find anything that elegant in a public bath. Don't get your hopes up so much," said Kamijou. "Hmm, but the giant bath might be a bit shocking to you. In England, the cramped baths like those at a hotel are most common, right?"

"Hm? …I don't really know." Index tilted her head to the side as if she really did not know. "The first thing I remember is begin here in Japan. I don't really know how things are back in England."

"…Hmm. So that's why you speak Japanese so fluently. If you were here since you were little, then you're practically Japanese yourself."

That gave her certainty that she would be safe if she escaped to the Anglican Church a little less credibility, though. He had thought she would be heading home, but she would actually be heading to another country she had never seen before.

"No, no. That isn't what I meant." Index shook her head, shaking her long silver hair back and forth. "Apparently, I was born and raised in London's St. George's Cathedral. Apparently, I only came here about a year ago."

"Apparently?"

Kamijou frowned at that vague term. 'That sounds ominous'

"Yeah. I have no memories from before about a year ago when I arrived here."

Index smiled.

Just like a child heading to an amusement park for the first time in her life.

It was the perfection of that smile that showed Kamijou the fear and pain behind it.

"When I first woke up in a back alley, I had no idea who I was. All I knew was that I had to run away. I couldn't remember what I ate for dinner the night before, but knowledge of things like magic, the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, and Necessarius were swirling around in my mind. It was so scary…"

"Then you don't even know why you lost your memories?"

"That's right," she replied.

Kamijou knew quite a bit of psychology, neurology and physiology, but she knew from video games and dramas that there were two major causes of amnesia: receiving a major shock to the head or sealing a memory that your heart simply could not bear.

"God dammit…" muttered Kamijou as she looked up into the night sky.

While she did feel anger towards the magicians who would do that to a girl like her, she was mostly overcome by a sense of powerlessness.

Tsubaki now knew why Index had covered for her and grown so oddly attached to her. It was simply that Kamijou just so happened to be the first person she gotten to know after spending a year alone in the world without knowing anything.

This did not please Kamijou.

Tsubaki had no idea why, but for some reason that answer really pissed her off.

"Mh? Tsubaki, are you angry?"

"Not at you Index, but at something yes."

The question had caught her off guard, so Kamijou answered in complete honesty.

"If I upset you in some way, I apologize. Tsubaki, what has you so mad? Is it puberty?"

"I don't want to hear you talking about puberty with that childlike body of yours."

"Mh. What was that? I really do think you're mad. Or are you only pretending to be mad to trouble me? I don't like that side of you, Tsubaki."

"Hey, don't say that when you never really liked me in the first place. I'm not expecting that kind of wonderful love comedy-esque turn of events with you."

"…"

"Huh? …Why are you staring up at me like that, princess?"

"…"

Even when she tried to force it in the direction of a gag, Index gave no response.

'Odd. This is weird. Why is Index folding her arms, looking up at me with tears in her eyes and a hurt-looking expression on her face, and lightly biting her lower lip?'

"Tsubaki."

"Yes?" Kamijou responded, deciding she might as well respond since she called her name.

Tsubaki had a strong foreboding of misfortune.

"I hate you."

In that instant, Kamijou gained a good amount of experience points for the rare experience of a girl biting down on the entirety of the top of her head.

Verse IV

Index headed on to the public bath alone.

Meanwhile, Kamijou trudged on toward the public bath. Tsubaki had tried running after Index at first, but the angry white nun would run off like a stray cat whenever she saw her. Despite this, he would see Index's back after walking a bit further as if she was waiting for her. After that, the cycle would repeat. She was truly like a capricious cat.

'Well, we're headed to the same place, so we'll meet up again eventually.'

With that thought, Kamijou gave up trying to run after her.

Not to mention that he sensed impending misfortune in the form of being arrested if someone saw her (seemingly) chasing a weak and helpless young British nun down a dark pathway at night like she was a Namahage.

"A British nun, hm?" Kamijou muttered under her breath as she walked down the dark pathway alone.

She knew that Index would be brought to the Anglican Church's headquarters in London if she brought her to one of their churches in Japan. There would be nothing left for Kamijou to do. It would all surely end with something like, "It may have just been a short time, but thank you. I will never forget you because I have a perfect memory."

Kamijou felt something sharply stabbing inside her chest, but she had no other ideas of what to do. If Index was not brought under the church's protection, she would continue to be chased by those magicians. Also, it was unrealistic to try to follow Index to England.

They lived in different worlds, they stood different places, and they existed in different dimensions.

Kamijou lived in the world of scientific ESP and hidden Magic and she lived in the world of the magical occult.

Like land and sea, their two worlds would never cross paths.

That was all there was to it.

That was all there was to it, but it still annoyed her like a fish bone stuck in her throat.

"Huh?"

Suddenly her vainly spinning thoughts cut off.

Something was not right. Kamijou checked the time displayed on a department store's electronic billboard. It was exactly 8 PM. It would still be some time before most people were asleep, and yet a horrible silence had fallen over the area like in a forest at night. A strange out-of-place feeling hung over the area.

'Come to think of it, I haven't seen anyone since I was walking with Index…'

With a puzzled look, Kamijou walked further along.

And when she came to a major road with 3 lanes in each direction, that out-of-place feeling shifted to a full-blown sense of things being just plain wrong.

There was no one there.

No one was entering or exiting the major department stores that lined the road like drinks on a convenience store rack. The footpath that usually felt overly narrow now felt horribly wide and not a single car was driving along that runway like road. All the cars parked on the side of road were empty as if they had been abandoned.

It was like looking at a farm road way out in the country.

"This is because Stiyl carved the Opila rune for a people clearing field."

A female voice suddenly entered her head like it was a Japanese sword stabbing through the middle of her face.

Tsubaki had not noticed at all.

The girl had not been hiding behind anything and she had not snuck up behind her either. She was standing in the center of the wide runway-like road about 10 meters ahead of her, cutting off her path.

It went beyond the level of not seeing or noticing her due to the darkness. An instant before, there had truly been no one there. However, in the time it took her to blink, the girl had appeared there, only a Saint had the ability to perform such a feat.

"All the people around this area have had their focus averted so they do not think of approaching here for some reason. Most of the people are likely inside the buildings, so do not worry."

Tsubaki's body reacted before her mind could. All the blood in her body seemed to gather in her right hand. With a pain like a rope was tightly binding her wrist, Kamijou instinctually sensed that the girl was dangerous.

The girl wore a T-shirt and jeans with one leg boldly cut off, so her clothes were not completely removed from what was normal.

However, the over two meter long Japanese sword hanging from her waist like a pistol gave off a freezing killer intent. The blade was hidden within the scabbard, but the black scabbard appeared as full of history as the pillar of an old Japanese building, so it seemed clear that the sword was real.

"The God Purifying Camellia, An excellent true name."

However, the girl herself showed no sign of nervousness. The way she spoke with the comfort of someone having a casual chat made it all the more frightening.

"…Who are you?"

"I am Kanzaki Kaori. …I would prefer not to give my other name if possible."

"Your Magic name?"

"… Yes my Magic name."

Tsubaki had expected that to a certain extent, but Kamijou still took a step back. A magic name. The exchange of Magic Names was the sign of a true magical battle commencing.

"So…what? Are you from Necessarius just like Stiyl?"

"…?" For a split second, Kanzaki frowned in doubt. "Oh, did you hear that from Index?"

"No, I have been aware of Necessarius' existence for some time, about two years" Tsubaki casually mentioned.

"To be honest." Kanzaki closed one eye. "I would like to take her into our care without having to give my magic name."

Kamijou shuddered.

Kamijou had the trump card of her right hand, her Magic and her hidden nature as a Saint and yet the enemy standing before her sent a chill down her back.

"…And if I refuse?" said Kamijou nevertheless. She had no reason to fall back.

"Then I will have no choice." Kanzaki closed her other eye. "I will have to give my name until she has been taken into our care."

An earthquake-like shock caused the ground under Kamijou's feet to tremble. It was like a bomb had gone off. The night sky at the edge of his vision that should have been covered in the pale blue darkness was instead colored with a burning orange like the sunset. Giant flames were spreading a few hundred meters ahead.

"Index…!"

The enemy was an organization and Kamijou knew the name of a flame magician.

Kamijou reflexively looked over in the direction of the exploding flames.

And in that instant, Kanzaki Kaori's slicing attack came at her.

A distance of ten meters lay between Kamijou and Kanzaki. Also, Kanzaki's katana was

over two meters long, so it looked impossible for her slender feminine arms to pull it

from its scabbard, much less swing it around.

…But that was just how it looked.

In the next instant, a loud snick echoed through the air as a chokutō that had simply appeared from nowhere was now cutting through the hidden wires of Kanzaki's Nanasen.

"H-how did you do that? Where did that blade come from?" Kanzaki stuttered out, her voice full of shock.

Kamijou simply sighed, her right hand held the chokutō, while her left held an experimental automatic one-handed shotgun with magical enhancements that gave it nearly ten thousand rounds of ammunition enhanced with Tsubaki's magical energy.

These are the weakest of Kamijou Tsubaki's four weapons, and the least lethal.

Tsubaki then giggled slightly "It always amazes me the reactions that some people have to seeing my weapon's appear from nowhere. It's simple, I'm using a special form of Magic that creates a small area of folded space-time in which I hold my weapons, or in simpler terms I have an 'Inventory' where I am keeping my weapons at all times"

Kanzaki gritted her teeth and stated "I will not let you stand in my way, give up and let us take Index back"

Tsubaki's eyes quickly darkened and the face of a (somewhat) normal high school girl was replaced with the cold emotionless face of a member of the Darkside of Academy City and in a voice made from liquid nitrogen Tsubaki replied "Never, I will never hand Index over to someone like yourself who sees her only as a 'tool' or the 'Index Librorum Prohibitorum', you will have to slay me first… Saint and trust me when I say that you will find that a most difficult task to accomplish"

Kanzaki without any outside input sensed that Tsubaki was a foe that could not be underestimated, she quickly grabbed her blade Shichiten Shichitou and gathered magical energy into it with a single word she unleashed one of her most powerful attacks "Yuisen"

A powerful wave of energy flies towards Tsubaki, with but a mere thought Tsubaki swaps weapons from her chokutō and shotgun to a Nodachi engraved with a massive amount of runes to instill power and resilience into it, several of those runes look to be written in blood. Tsubaki without a word fills her blade with power and launches a wave of her own energy towards the oncoming energy wave of Kanzaki's.

When the two waves collide they almost seem to hover, before they explode in a massive burst of energy, filling the intersection with the blast of two Magics annihilating one another. When it dies down all that is left is a few glowing strands of energy falling to the ground.

Kanzaki stared at her opponent in horror, she had never expected to see such power from what was by all sources a simple Magician.

"W-who are you?" Kanzaki muttered, but Tsubaki's Saint senses allowed her to hear Kanzaki's muttering.

Tsubaki sighed and then stated in an emotionless voice "I am Kamijou Tsubaki, or if you prefer Calamitas000, 'The Saint who Bears the Misfortune of Man'"

Kanzaki froze in shock, it was after all expected, she had just learned that there was a Twenty-First Saint. Little did people know, but the Kabbalah, which held a perfect hierarchy of Heaven and Mankind, had twenty spaces for the twenty Saints, so where in the Kabbalah was this Twenty-First Saint placed? For the first time in her life Kanzaki found herself to be the weaker opponent, which merely led her to wonder 'If as a Saint I am equal in power to a Lower Angel, where does this person stand, for she barely placed any of her power into her blade and she was able to match my Yuisen with ease'

That was the question, why was this Saint so powerful. Naturally Kanzaki remembered that there was one final open space in the Kabbalah, however she had dismissed that spot out of hand.

Tsubaki sighed once more "Although I hate to say this, are you going to continue this fight, or is this my victory. For if you rise again, I will show you no mercy, Saint of the Amakusa"

Kanzaki faced with a stronger opponent who knew her past and more then likely had a good idea of her fighting ability did the wisest thing she could, she surrendered "I… Yield"

Tsubaki's eyes began to glow with golden energy "As the Soul, Body and Heart of Academy City, I accept your surrender and your yielding to my power. Until such a time as our conflict is over, you may not cause harm to myself nor any other resident or guest of Academy City. So Mote it be, So Mote it be, So Mote it be" A incredibly powerful pulse of Magic followed Tsubaki's announcement and it covered Kanzaki Kaori and bound her by the Geas that Tsubaki had created.

Tsubaki then asked a question, one that had been bothering her for some time "Why?"

"Why what?" Kanzaki responded.

"Why chase Index, why make her flee from you. You know that chasing a girl around until she collapses from hunger and then slicing her back open with a sword is wrong, right?" As she spoke the words with a dark tone full of disgust, Kanzaki could only continue to listen. "Did you know that she has no memories beyond about a year ago thanks to you? What the hell did you do to her while chasing her down to cause something like that?"

Tsubaki frowned in anger "Why? I am the Soul, Body and Heart of Academy City, I cannot fully protect Index from the machinations of both the Magical and Scientific Sides. But you are a Saint, you are one of Twenty-one beings given the power of God, you are a protector of man. So why? Why do you chase her?"

"…"

Silence built atop silence, creating an even greater silence.

Tsubaki was surprised, by the look of shock and horror on Kanzaki's face.

"…I…"

Kanzaki was the one driven into a corner.

With only a few words, Tsubaki had driven one of the top 10 magicians in London into a corner.

"I really did not mean to slice her back open. I thought the barrier of her Walking Church nun's habit was still functioning… I only sliced her because I was absolutely sure it would not hurt her…And yet…"

Kamijou did not understand what Kanzaki was saying.

"I am not doing this because I want to," said Kanzaki. "But she cannot live if I do not do this. …She will…die."

Kanzaki sounded like a child about to burst into tears.

"The organization I belong to is the same as hers. I am from Necessarius of the Anglican Church," she said as if coughing up blood. "She is my colleague…and my precious friend."

-SOM-

Verse V

-SOM-

Tsubaki did not understand. She did not understand what Kanzaki was saying.

While Kamijou stood triumphant and unharmed on the road and looked down at Kanzaki, she thought she had hallucinated what she heard due to the shock. After all, it made no sense.

Index was trying to escape to the Anglican Church while being chased by magicians.

How could those magicians be from that very same Anglican Church?

"Have you ever heard of a perfect memory?" asked Kanzaki Kaori. Her voice was weak and she looked pained. At that moment, it was hard to believe she was one of the top 10 magicians in London. She looked like nothing more than an exhausted girl.

"Yes, that's the true identity of her 103,000 Grimoires, right?" Kamijou murmured with a weak voice. "They're all in her head. I find it hard to believe she can remember every single thing she sees even once, though. I mean, she's an idiot. She just doesn't look like that kind of genius."

"…What does she look like to you?"

"Just a girl."

Kanzaki looked more exhausted than surprised, and she said, "Do you think she could have escaped our pursuit for an entire year if she was 'just a girl'?"

"…"

"Stiyl has his flames and I have my Nanasen and Yuisen. She is up against magicians who name their magic names, but she cannot rely on a supernatural power like you or magic like me. She can only run away." Kanzaki gave a self-derisive smile. "And Stiyl and I are only two opponents. Not even I would last a month against the entire organization of Necessarius."

That was right.

Kamijou finally learned the truth about Index. Tsubaki would not have been able to escape for even four days without her Imagine Breaker that could smash even the systems of god in a single strike. And yet, she…

"She is, without a doubt, a genius," declared Kanzaki. "To the extent that using her ability in the wrong way could cause a disaster. The reason why the higher ups in the church do not treat her normally is clear. They are afraid of her. Everyone is."

"That may be." Kamijou clenched her empty right fist, while her Nodachi was loosely held in her left. "But she's still human. She's not a tool. I can't…let you call her that…!"

"Yes." Kanzaki nodded. "But her current specs are not that different from normal people like us."

"…?"

"Over 85% of Index's brain is filled with the 103,000 Grimoires. The remaining 15% is just barely managing to function enough for her to be the same as us." 'That's incorrect, where is she getting this information from?'

That was amazing and all, but there was something Kamijou wanted to know first.

"…So what? What are you people doing? You're part of the same church as Index, right? That Necessarius thing. Why are you chasing her around? Why was Index saying you were evil magicians from a magic cabal?" Kamijou silently clenched her back teeth. "Or are you trying to say Index was the one tricking me?"

Tsubaki could not believe that. If she was simply trying to use Kamijou, she did not see why she would have risked her life and gotten her back sliced open to save her.

And even without that logical reasoning, Kamijou simply did not want to believe it.

"…She was not lying," replied Kanzaki Kaori after a slight hesitation.

She sounded like she was holding her breath and like her heart was being crushed.

"She does not remember anything. She does not remember that we too are from Necessarius or the reason that she is being chased. Because she does not remember, she has to use her knowledge to fill in the gaps. It is only natural to assume magicians chasing the Index Librorum Prohibitorum are from a magic cabal that is after her 103,000 Grimoires."

Kamijou recalled something.

Index had lost her memories from before about a year ago.

"But wait. Wait a second. That doesn't make sense. Index has a perfect memory, right? So why did she forget? What made her lose her memories?"

"She did not lose them." Kanzaki stopped even breathing. "Technically, I erased them."

Kamijou did not even need to ask how.

–Please do not make me give it, boy.

–I do not want to give it ever again.

"…Why? Tsubaki asked instead. "Why!? I thought you were Index's comrade! And that wasn't just something Index thought. I can tell from your face! You saw Index as a precious comrade, didn't you!? So why!?"

Kamijou recalled the smile Index had given her.

It was been the reverse side of the loneliness that had led to her being the only person in the world she knew.

"…We had to do it."

"Why!?" she shouted as if she was howling at the moon above her head.

"Because Index would have died otherwise."

Her breathing stopped. For no discernible reason, the heat of the midsummer night she felt on her skin departed. All five of her senses grew thin like they were trying to escape reality.

It felt like…It felt like she had become a corpse.

"Like I said, 85% of her brain is taken up by the memories of the 103,000 grimoires."

Kanzaki's shoulders trembled slightly. "She only has the remaining 15% to use like normal. If she continues to amass memories like a normal person, her brain will quickly burst."

"Foolish, you complete and utter fool"

"Fool, what do you mean fool? The specs of the human brain are surprisingly small. The only reason a human brain can keep functioning for 100 years is because unneeded memories are disposed of using the process of forgetting. For example, you do not remember what you ate for dinner a week ago, do you? Everyone's brain undergoes this maintenance without them even realizing it. Otherwise, people would be unable to live. But," Kanzaki said with an icy voice, "she cannot do this."

"…"

"She cannot forget anything, be it the number of leaves on the trees lining the road, the faces of each and every person during rush hour, or the shape of each and every raindrop falling from the sky. All of those pointless garbage memories fill up her head in no time." Kanzaki's voice froze over. "Only having 15% of her brain leftover is a fatal blow for her. Since she cannot forget on her own, her only way to live on is to get someone else to make her forget."

"Her memories are erased at precise one year intervals." Kanzaki sounded exhausted. "The limit is three days from now. It cannot be done too soon or too late. If it is not done at that exact time, her memories cannot be erased. …I hope she has yet to experience the powerful headaches that precede it."

"Do you understand now?" asked Kanzaki Kaori. There were no tears as if she refused to allow herself to display such cheap expressions. "We do not wish to harm her. In fact, there is no way to save her without us. So will you hand her over before I must give my magic name?"

Tsubaki merely shook her head "You fool, you don't understand anything"

"Shut up! You know nothing!"

Kamijou's icy facade was assaulted by Kanzaki's yell at her from below. It was less the words she spoke that seemed to squeeze at Kamijou's heart and more the raw feelings that had been stripped bare.

"Don't act like you understand! How do you think we felt erasing her feelings all this time!? How could you possibly understand!? You spoke like Stiyl was some kind of sadistic murderer, but do you know how he felt seeing her with you!? Do you know how he has suffered!? Do you know hard it was for him to name himself her enemy!? What do you understand about Stiyl's feelings as he continued to sully himself for the sake of his precious comrade!?"

Tsubaki heard a dull noise. Kanzaki had jumped to her feet

The flat end of Shichiten Shichitou's scabbard had slammed into Kamijou's arm like the heel of high heels.

But she did not even cry out in pain.

The expression on Kanzaki's face made it look like she was about to shed tears of blood.

For the first time in a long time Kamijou was afraid.

Tsubaki was not afraid of Nanasen or Yuisen or of the power of one the top 10 magicians in London.

She was afraid of the raw human emotion that was pelting her.

"We tried, too! We tried everything we could! We spent spring trying, we spent summer trying, we spent fall trying, and we spent winter trying! We promised to make memories so she would never forget and we made journals and photo albums!"

The end of the scabbard rained down on her again and again like a sewing machine.

Her legs, her arms, her gut, her chest, her face, Tsubaki did not even dodge. The blunt blows impacted her body again and again.

"…But none of it worked."

Kamijou heard the sound of her gritting her teeth.

Her hand stopped.

"Even when we showed her the journals and the photo albums, she merely apologized. No matter what we did and no matter how many times we tried, even if we remade the memories from scratch, nothing worked. Everything was returned to zero even if you were her family, her friend, or her lover." She trembled to the extent that it looked like she could not take another step. "We…could not stand it anymore. We could not bear to see that smile of hers any longer."

With Index's personality, having to say farewell must have been as painful as dying.

Having to experience that over and over again would be like living in hell.

Immediately after experiencing the misfortune that was the farewell, she would forget it all and tragically start running toward that same determined misfortune once more. That was why Kanzaki and Stiyl had chosen to lessen the misfortune as much as possible rather than give her the cruel fortune of getting to know them. If Index never had the precious memories she had to lose, then the shock of losing her memories would lessen. That was why they abandoned their good friend and played the part of her enemy.

They would blot out her memories to make that final hell as easy as possible for her.

"…"

Somehow or other, Kamijou understood.

They were expert magicians. They made the impossible possible. The entire time Index was losing her memories time and time again, they had to have been searching for a way to keep her from having to lose her memories.

But they had never managed it.

And Index had certainly not blamed Stiyl or Kanzaki.

She had surely given that same smile as always.

Being forced to connect with her anew each time had led Kanzaki and Stiyl to blame themselves and see giving up as the only option.

But that was…

"To hell with that!" Kamijou gritted her teeth. "That reasoning only takes yourselves into account. You didn't give even a single thought about Index! Don't put the blame for your own cowardice on her!"

For the past year, Index had continued to flee on her own without relying on anyone.

Kamijou could not accept that that was the best option. She would not let herself accept it. She did not want to accept it.

"Then…what else are we supposed to do!?"

Kanzaki grabbed Shichiten Shichitou's scabbard and swung it forcefully towards Kamijou's face.

Kamijou moved her right hand and grabbed the scabbard just before it struck her face.

"If you were a little stronger…" Kamijou gritted her teeth. "If you had only used fox words powerful enough to become a reality! If she was afraid of losing her memories of that year, you just had to give her even better memories during the next year! If happiness great enough to erase her fear of losing her memories awaited her, she wouldn't have to keep running! That's all it would have taken!"

Tsubaki merely lifted up her left hand and impaled the Nodachi grasped in that hand into the ground forcing a blade lock with Shichiten Shichitou.

"W-what, what are you doing? "

"…Shut…up."

"What will you gain by fighting?" Kanzaki seemed legitimately confused. "Even if you did defeat me, Necessarius awaits behind me. I may have said I was one of the top 10 magicians in London, but there are those stronger than me. …From the church's view, I am nothing more than a subordinate to be sent out to this Far East island nation."

That was likely true.

If they really were Index's comrades, they would have opposed the church's way of treating her like a tool. The fact that they did not meant there was enough of a gap in power to prevent it.

"I said…shut up!"

But that did not matter.

Tsubaki merely glared with deep disgust and malice at Kanzaki who stood directly before her.

It was a simple gaze that held no real power, but it was enough to make one of the top 10 magicians in London take a step back.

"That doesn't matter! Do you simply resign yourself to protecting people because you have strength!?" Kamijou took a step forward forcing Kanzaki back with ease. "No, you don't, do you!? Don't lie! You worked to gain power because there was something you wanted to protect!"

Tsubaki grabbed Kanzaki's collar with her left hand, leaving her Nodachi impaled in the ground.

"Why did you acquire power?"

She made a fist with her right hand.

"Who did you want to protect!?"

She used that fist to strike Kanzaki's face. There was nothing even remotely resembling human levels force behind the punch.

Kanzaki stumbled back and feel down onto the ground in front of Tsubaki.

She let go of Shichiten Shichitou. It spun as it fell to the ground on Tsubaki's right.

"Then what the hell are you doing here!?" She looked down on Kanzaki who had collapsed to the ground. "If you have so much strength…if you have so much almighty power, then why are you so powerless?"

"Do you know, see fool, let me tell you some harsh truths"

Kanzaki's head shot up and she looked into the cold apathetic eyes of Kamijou Tsubaki, she found no remorse or even human warmth there. She only found righteous anger and disgust, disgust at her, for her actions against Index.

"The human brain is the single most complex biological system on this planet, even in Academy City we have still not discovered everything about the brain. But, I can tell you that Index is in no danger from her brain being overloaded. As she would have to be over one hundred and forty years old for it to even begin to be a problem. Not to mention even a person with Photographic memory will forget things eventually, they just immediately move everything from short term to long term memory and eventually the brain removes the 'dead-weight' so to speak. Finally" Tsubaki paused, Kanzaki had shrunk closer and closer to the ground with every word Tsubaki uttered.

"Finally, if what you said is true. Then I should be long dead, as I have the entire data-bank of Academy City in my memory. That is over a thousand times larger then a mere 103,000 Grimoires worth of memories. So, you have been lied to Saint Kanzaki Kaori, so what will you do about it? Will you follow this foolishness to it's final conclusion" Kanzaki froze as Tsubaki paused

"Or will you take my hand and help me save Index from this dark illusion" Tsubaki held her right hand out with her intention obvious, she was offering a way out for Kanzaki, a way that she wouldn't have to utter her name in order to harm Index, but to save her instead.

Kanzaki didn't even hesitate, she reached out and grasped the hand.

The hand that would pull her from the shadows of her past.

For the first time in years Kanzaki Kaori cried, as she no longer had to stand the burden of being a Saint alone.

Act I

Part III

Nevermore

NONE_WILL_BE_FORGOTTEN

Verse 0

Academy City, Central Mainframe LOCATION REDACTED

The Academy City Central Mainframe, it is a place of such rumor and fables that only the Imaginary Elements District is more shrouded in mystery.

It is hidden behind some of the most advanced shields in the world, some of them are even more powerful then the protections on the infamous 'Windowless Building'

The reason for such security and secrecy?

Some would say to protect the data stored within.

Other would say that it was to prevent Academy City from suffering cyber-terrorism on a grand scale.

A minority murmur that a AI exists within the mainframe and that if unleashed it would make the mythical Skynet look like a child's toy.

…

…

…

…

…

All of these are wrong.

The reason is of the abomination stored within.

It is a melding of the sacred and the profane, the physical and the mystical.

What is it?

A spell, known as the Wise Woman's Web, said to be one of the spells used in ancient Greece as a sign of Athena's favor.

It allows all the knowledge of a library to be linked to an individual's mind.

This one however has been… Twisted.

It was supposed to link the knowledge of Academy City into Kamijou Tsubaki's mind.

It failed and succeeded simultaneously.

From this melding came one of the rare Absolute Secrets of Academy City.

…

Foundation

…

The Heart of Academy City,

…

The Soul of Academy City,

…

And The Mind of Academy City.

…

Three of the Five major parts of a being melded into one individual.

Whatever was created in this magical disaster.

Has never been fully experimented on or even researched.

However two individuals have experienced it's power.

Stiyl Magnus, felt the fear of a high power when he faced Tsubaki.

Kanzaki Kaori, discovered what it meant to be the weaker of two combatants.

Now, the winds howl around Academy City, as it's Heart rages in anger.

The finale of the first Act approaches.

And with it, comes the closing of the curtains down upon the tragic tale of Index Librorum Prohibitorum.

But…

At what cost will the resolute of this story cause to the Heart of Academy City?

Will the price be paid in blood?

In spirit?

Or perhaps even, in memory?

The actors are assembled and the stage is set.

The finale begins.

-SOM-

Verse 1

-SOM-

In stunned silence Stiyl Magnus stood, before him was an event thought impossible.

'Kanzaki… Lost?'

His minded struggled to process what it thought was an impossible event, the defeat of the power Saint of Necessarius.

No…

Not defeat.

The defection of Kanzaki Kaori.

The saddest thing about this?

Stiyl couldn't even blame her, he had similar thoughts.

'A Twenty-First Saint, what secrets does she hold?'

Stiyl thought with a stunned expression, that quickly turned to fear.

'Could she be the one mentioned in what fragments of the 'Book of Law' we have managed to translate?'

Stiyl's mind ran in circles as he tried and failed to think this situation through.

His train of thought stopped abruptly.

When Tsubaki's fist slammed into the back of his head.

With a mighty thud, Stiyl Magnus fell to the roof that he had stood upon.

Tsubaki walked past his slumbering form and faced towards the Bathhouse where Index stood waiting for her to appear.

Tsubaki then looked up to the sky and nearly gasped when she saw the powerful storm forming over Academy City, she knew that this was an extension of her will, a physical form to her anger, rage and disgust.

It would not easily abate.

Tsubaki then returned her gaze to Index, who was easily visible to her inhuman vision.

"It's time, to break this twisted illusion"

Kanzaki just nodded behind Tsubaki.

No words were needed.

Now.

Now it was time for action.

It was time.

To free Index of a curse she had been burdened with for far, far too long.

-SOM-

With the speed of a Saint Tsubaki moved towards Index, she didn't care about being caught on the security cameras or any other security devices as they would just ignore her.

Tsubaki didn't even hesitate, she swooped down upon Index and with a wave of her hand and a simple incantation "Schlaf (Sleep)" made Index fall unconscious.

Kanzaki quickly dropped down next to Tsubaki and asked "Was that necessary?"

Tsubaki nodded sharply "Yes, I am going to take her into one of the magical hearts of the defenses of Academy City, her ability to memorize the ward scheme would be a danger to Academy City, one I cannot allow. She'll be fine, the spell simply encourages her body to sleep, it is difficult for magic to defend against as it appears as a natural sleep. But simultaneously, the most basic magical shield can block it with ease"