Prologue: Eight Paths.
A new morning was lighting up Academy City with such warmth that it could melt it.
Located west of Tokyo, Japan, the city was the pinnacle of scientific advancement 30 years ahead of the rest of the world.
But beyond that, the most interesting thing about Academy City was the quirky ESper development program; a program designed to build superhuman skills from scratch with nothing more or less than pure science. For a sci-fi lover, these skills fell into the "psychic" category, all due to the concept of how Personal Reality could affect skill development.
As the name indicated, the city was full of academies for young ESper of which only 20% received regular classes. The population was very diverse: from Meltdowner users, Electro Masters to... ´ordinary´ youngsters, the Level 0s.
Most of these Level 0's lived quietly waiting to develop their ESPer skills while studying, others fell into mischief... and then there was this one on whom the spotlight falls.
"Let me get this straight... Did Othinus and you try to cook?"
Named Kamijou Touma, he was an "average" student noted for one thing: his bad luck.
Those who knew the truth believed his bad luck was caused by the mysterious force residing in Kamijou's right hand, an "ability" or "power" that negated both ESper powers and magic and consequently, God's blessings or Satan's curses.
It was called Imagine Breaker.
"Well? I'm waiting for an answer", the hedgehog-haired boy asked this while gritting his teeth so hard that he had inadvertently removed a small layer from his lip.
"... Yes..."
"And then, Orsola called, just to know how things were around here."
"Aha..."
"Because of that, you were distracted on the call while Othinus was running away from Sphyx, therefore, he didn't pay attention to the food and it caught fire along with about twenty-five percent of the kitchen..."
"Yes... that's how it happened..."
The person Touma was talking to all this time was a nun with silver curls dressed in a white habit full of golden embroidery that made her look like a teacup.
Her name was unknown, but she was always referred to as Index and to her it already seemed commonplace.
"I understand".
With the sound of ´thump´, the boy crashed the apartment door on his way out with a warm smile on his face.
That was not a good sign.
"He seemed to take it well."
"¿Do you think so, Othin-?"
"¡I knew it, such misfortuneeeeeeeee!", he shouted at the top of his lungs to the four winds.
... ... ...
... ... ...
"Yeah, yeah. It's nothing that can't be fixed".
A small girl, too small, she was no more than 13 centimeters- was trying to comfort Touma as he lay on the ground with no energy.
Her name was Othinus.
She had once been the most powerful Magical God and made Kamijou suffer in Infinite Hells, but now? She was reduced to a ´fairy´ and her status was that of ´girl in love´ and ´Kamijou-san's number one advisor´.
"That's not fair! Today wasn't a good day, you know, I just wanted to get to eat something and get some sleep in bed before I had to go to the bathtub."
"I'm really sorry Touma...", Index really felt bad for the poor boy and of course, also because she almost destroyed his entire power supply.
"It's, ´sniff´, okay. You had no bad intentions...", Touma sat on the floor looking up at the ceiling as he pondered. "Index... You said Orsola called you, didn't you?
"That's right. Why?"
"So? What was it for? I don't think it was just to see how we've been doing."
"That-that... W-well... Well, you see...", Index looked at the corner of the room. "She sent this, apparently it was a few days ago, but the post office forgot to deliver it", said pointing to a simple cardboard box.
It wasn't very big and it wasn't that thick either, in fact, it was more like a packet of white sheets.
"Let's see...", The Kamijou boy opened the package with a box cutter.
Apparently it was a couple of letters that he would see later, but that wasn't all. Under the letters was a note.
[To: Kamijou Touma.
We are aware that you are the current assigned guardian for the living library with 103,000 stored grimoires, Index Librorum Probihitorium.
We are extremely grateful to you for that, moreover, after a meeting, we have decided to leave the girl's formal education in your hands.
We believe she needs not only the cursed knowledge of grimoires, but also the basic knowledge about the world.
This package brings everything needed to start her formal education, where will that be? One of our staff will decide and inform you as soon as possible.
Sincerely: Anglican Church of England
Signature: Laura Stuart. Stiyl Magnus. Kanzaki Kaori]
Touma's face was grimacing somewhere between disgust and confusion.
He felt it, that bad feeling was once again upon him. It was his fictitious sixth sense to know that a misfortune was near.
"Heh... heh, heh."
"Human, ¿are you all right?", for Othinus to be concerned about Touma's reaction to something like this had to be serious, after all if that boy endured the almost eternal torture of the former Magical God, what couldn't he endure?
"Oh well, let's see this mistake through to the end."
Touma proceeded to open the next letter. Just by looking at the beginning he knew who it belonged to.
[To: Kamijou Touma-san.
Hello Kamijou-san... I'm sorry if it's taking you a while to read this, but you see...
I was given the task of enrolling Index-san in some institution in Academy City, after all we already have the permission of the General Director... The problem comes in that... I don't know what went wrong with the documentation, ¡but it seems that both you and Index-san were sent to an institution outside of Academy City!
I don't really know what to do, I'll send this letter as contraband and figure something out... I am very sorry for this.
Attn: Orsola Aquinas]
Touma looked stoically at the rest of the papers inside the package, these were school documentation of both Index and him.
"I knew this wouldn't go well..."
"Hmm? Hey, human", Othinus looked at the bottom of the package. "What's that other note?".
"Sigh", defeated, he let out a sigh and looked at the note... no, it wasn't a note.
It was a statement.
[Your transfer was successfully completed. We look forward to welcoming you with great excitement to our facility.
Yours sincerely: Board of Directors of Kuoh Academy for Ladies]
"Well... things might not be as bad as they seem- ", Kamijou better shut up. He looked again at the end of the communiqué and what it said; Academy for...
´FOR LADIES´.
"Th-that means... It's only for girls?! I'll have to cross-dress if I want to continue studying?!"
"T-Touma calm down", Index tried to calm the boy down by giving him a sweet voice. It was no use trying.
"This is it!", Touma put his hands to his head while jumping out of the window. "A disgraceeeeeeeeeeeee!".
... ... ...
... ... ...
In a large room located on the second floor of the Kuoh Academy for Ladies, a discussion about their latest business was going on at the Student Council table.
"Well Saji, what did you want to inform us about?", asked the council president, Souna Shitori, in a formal tone.
She was a girl with a shifting look between cold and warm, her red-rimmed glasses further emphasizing this fact. Her black hair was cropped a little above her shoulders, giving her an air of a… responsible person?
"Yes!", the blond boy named Saji stood up from his seat briskly at Souna's call. "You see President, have you been informed about the... ehh... three exchange students?"
"Indeed. I have already been informed about what you say", Saji only showed a fallen face at Souna's words. "But, thank you for reminding me. I have to show the files to the other members. Thank you, Saji".
"Y-you're welcome, Pres".
The poor boy felt his thoughts once again going somewhere in the back of his mind. The companion at his side only denied.
´Love makes you dumb´, the girl thought.
"Well...", the young Shitori went to a drawer and took out 3 folders. "These are the files on our new students", said the president as she passed the 3 files to all the members of the Student Council.
The first one was marked Index.
"Uhh... President, what kind of name is this?"
"Don't ask me, even I don't really know. Human stuff I guess".
The second of these was engraved in capital letters with the name Tsuchimikado Motoharu...
The name in capital letters was already alarming in itself which was affirmed by looking at the file photo. This was of a blond-haired boy with blue-glass sunglasses embracing a... young maid.
"W-what kind of people will come to our poor academy...?"
The third folder was marked with a name alarming only to council members, why? That was due to its nature.
The name was Kamijou Touma.
Everyone in the room fell silent, including Souna.
"P-President... Tell me if I'm w-wrong, ¿but doesn't that name have several meanings?", mentioned a tall blue-haired girl, her name was Tsubasa Yura.
"It is just as you say", said the young ´Shitori´ as she took out a piece of chalk and pulled a blackboard from a corner. On the board she began to write down the various meanings of the name.
After a while, all the meanings the council came up with were written down.
The first of these was Toruma (透魔) whose meaning was ´Invisible Demon´.
The second was ´The Person Superior to God´ (神上).
And the third and most alarming was ´The One who Purifies God and Slays Demons´ (神浄討魔).
Noticing the uneasiness in the members of his Nobility, Souna took the initiative to calm them down.
"´Sigh´, let's calm down first. From what the file says, it's very likely that this kid is just a normal student becoming a problem student. His name is possibly just a disturbing conscience", Souna stated as she looked firmly at her Student Council members.
"You are right. Besides, those meanings are spelled differently from his name... It's really curious".
"It's just as you say, Saji. We'd better drop this, for the sake of everyone's peace here".
"Yes!", shouted all the members at once.
"Now, on the other hand... When are you planning to leave, Rias?", ´Souna´ spoke to the corner.
It seemed like he would get no answer when shortly after a few red-hot glowing locks came into view.
"How long have you known I've been here?"
"Since we pulled Hyoudou Issei's life file because of the trouble he caused today..."
... ... ...
... ... ...
"Really?! The Neanderthal is going to leave the city?!"
The girl elated by the news of Kamijou Touma aka The Monkey's departure -to her- was Shirai Kuroko, a student at Tokiwadai Middle School, the best institution for girls in Academy City. In turn, she was best friends with the Level 5 ESper ranked number 3, Misaka Mikoto.
"Bless you Uiharu! Now, I can spend all my time healing Onee-sama's heart!"
"S-Shirai-san, y-you're scaring me".
... ... ...
... ... ...
"What? The fucking hero's leaving the city?"
"Just like that... Although it disturbs me that you call him a ´hero´, Accelerator. What? ¿Do you have a crush on him? You know, I don't judge you if you do, I'm open-minded".
"... Why don't you mind your own damn business and leave me alone?", the boy started to approach the living room of the apartment where he lived.
His name, according to his ´memories´, was Accelerator, the number 1 ESper Level 5 in the city. Both his eyes and hair had long since lost their pigmentation as a result of his own power that made him nearly invincible.
"Hey, Last Order".
"What's up? Misaka Misaka says while playing with her cutlery".
"Worst says she wants to watch that series with you, she finds it very interesting to learn about farm animals with crude drawings".
"Wh-what the he-?"
"It's my revenge, bitch", proudly declares the Level 5 while showing a triumphant sharp smile.
... ... ...
... ... ...
"Apparently a truck will be taking our things to a house already selected for us in that área", Kamijou was reading a pamphlet that appeared in front of his door this morning.
He was supposed to leave tonight for the district where his new school was located.
"What about your parents Touma?"
"They've already been notified and agreed. I guess they think that place could give me a better education since it would give a balance between the bizarre of Academy City and the common life of a Japanese citizen".
"No, that's not what I mean. ¿Are they going to visit us to see that everything is all right in the new house?"
"It seems not. I'm the caretaker apparently so, if something happens to it, I have to pay for it? Heh".
"You're wrong Touma", said Index pointing to the section ´in charge of expenses´ in the documents that came with the pamphlet.
"Kaori... Kanzaki?"
"Yes, it looks like it's all coming out of that Saint's pocket", Index let out her Cheesire Cat smile in triumph. Apparently she was already clear about her intentions.
"What is this blessing?!"
"I'll be able to eat all I want!"
"Finally the cat will leave me alone!"
What would things be like for Kamijou Touma now? It was a strange question.
All his life Touma had lived surrounded by misfortune or strange things?
Well, those strange things were about to be multiplied many times over.
... ... ...
... ... ...
"Will Imagine Breaker have to leave town because of an incompetent nun?"
"It's just as you hear. It seems that once again an external factor is interfering with your plan".
"... You may be right, but this could also be beneficial to its development. The Imagine Breaker still lacks a lot of knowledge about the world, if he does it outside the city walls, his development could increase bestially".
"You're always trying to take advantage... Aleister".