Chapter 15: A New Day

December 28

The next day dawned cold and crisp. I looked out of my dorm room window and found the cobbled streets filled with snow. Quickly, I threw off my covers and climbed down from my bunk. Then, I picked up my toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, and towel, and I raced off to the showers.

My phone was ringing by the time I got back. I picked it up, and Uiharu was on the other side.

"Moshi-moshi," I said, "Uihara-san?"

"Hai! Ohayo Otohime-chan!" she replied cheerfully, "I just wanted to let you know that we're on our way to pick you up."

"Pick me up?" I said, confused.

"Hai! We're going to check on Touma-san!"

"Oh right!" I said, "Where are you now?"

"Well, we just left district 7, so it will take about 40 minutes to reach you."

"Great! I'll see you soon!"

I hung up.

Looking out the window, I suddenly thought of a brilliant idea. Quickly, I cast my towel to one side and got dressed. Three minutes later, I was flying out the dorm and into a huge snow pile.

Laughing, I turned onto my back and carved out a snow angel with my arms and legs. I stood up to admire my handiwork and then trudged off to build a snowman.

I had just finished sculpting the body when a yellow minivan pulled up. Saten Ruiko climbed out and was waving at me. "Ooo-oi!"

Quickly, I stuck two branches into the snowman's sides, and I drew a smile on the face. I would come back to finish my handiwork.

"Ohayo!" I said, trudging towards the taxicab.

"Ohayo Otohime-chan!" Saten-San stood with her hands behind her back, beaming at me. "I bet you're hungry!" She said in a sing-song way.

As if on cue, my stomach growled. I smiled sheepishly.

She smiled craftily and pulled out a large plastic bag. "Ja-jang!" she cried, "I prepared this especially for you."

"Wah!" I cried, "Arigato!"

She escorted me towards the yellow minivan. I climbed in and found everyone sitting there waiting for me.

"Ohayo-gouzaimasu," I exclaimed, and Misaka, Kuroko and Uiharu all greeted me in turn.

"Ohayou, Otohime!"

"Ohayo-gouzaimasu!"

"Ohayo-gouzaimasu-desu-no!"

I sat in to the middle row with Misaka. She smiled warmly, "Ohayo."

"Ohayo," I said, "It's sure cold outside!"

"Soudesu-wa," Kuroko said, sitting in the passenger seat, "Although, I'm glad to be in a warm car."

Saten climbed on and shuffled to the backseat, where Uiharu sat in the corner. The sliding door shut on its own, and the taxi pulled away.

As we entered the highway, I unwrapped the cloth sack and cried out in delight. Inside, I found a two-tier bento box containing a complete Japanese breakfast. Grilled salmon and tamagoyaki lay on top of a nori sheet. Under that was a bed of white rice, with a ball of natto in the center. I opened the bottom tier and found piping hot bacon-and-onion miso soup keeping the rice warm. My mouth was watering as soon as I caught that rich aroma.

"Wah!" I clapped my hands together, "Itadakimasu!"

We were driving eastbound between district 2 and 15. Lookin up from my meal, I could see the Anti-skill headquarters passing by. It's blue-and-white striped façade gleamed in the morning light, and the giant emblem sparkled like blue topaz in an azure crown. My mind drifted back to the previous day, and all the strange people I had met. There were so many things I didn't understand.

The driver turned us away from the blue building and changed to a northbound freeway. Soon, we entered district 7. At once, a great stone wall loomed next to the highway, a stark contrast to all the steel and glass buildings to our other side. Inside, I knew was the garden of learning, where Misaka-san's school was.

"I wish I could go inside," I said wistfully. Misaka heard me and smiled. "I'll get you a day pass. We can spend the day there later."

"Really?" I cried, "Ya-ta!"

She beamed, then turned to the girls in the back. "Of course, you're all invited too!"

Saten-san and Uiharu-san both cheered.

The rest of the journey went without incident, and we arrived at the hospital without much trouble. Kuroko paid for the fare, and we got off at the entrance.

The hospital was set up as you would expect, with patients and guests in a lobby waiting for their appointments. A nurse ushered us to the receptionist who greeted us as soon as we neared her. "Ohayo-gouzaimasu," She said, Are you here for a visit?"

"Hai," Misaka said, "We're here to see Kamijou Touma."

Suddenly, a shadow passed over the receptionist's expression, and her voice was suddenly cold and terse. "Oh, is that so? In that case you will find him in his usual room, 221B." She pulled out a clipboard and handed it to us. "Please sign in here."

Each of us took turns appending our names to the sheet. When it was my turn, I marveled at the dozens of names listed for Oni-chan. Who would have thought him to be so popular!"

At that moment, the elevator door opened, and Tsuchimikado Maika emerged. She smiled as soon as she saw us.

"Hah! Hi everyone! Ohayo-gouzaimasu!"

"Ohayo-gouzaimasu!" We chimed at once.

"You're here pretty early today!" I said, "Did you come to see Oni-chan?"

"That's right," she said, "I just knew he needed better food than what the hospital could serve." She said proudly, "Naturally, nobody can beat my breakfast bento!"

At this moment it was like the whole atmosphere was crackling. I turned to look at Misaka, but it was Saten who boldly strolled forward. "Ahem! Well I just so happen to make a breakfast bento myself!"

Maika raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh? Is that so?"

"Hem! hem! hem!" Saten looked at me confidently, "Otohime, did you like the breakfast I made for you?"

"Hai!" I said, "It was delicious!"

"Ha ha ha! Why of course it was! I put a lot of effort making it!" Saten-San said, slapping a hand to her chest, "You could say that it's world class!"

If looks could kill, both girls would have fried each other long ago. The rest of us watched as they stared each other down.

"Oho?" Maika smirked, "Those are bold words coming from someone without proper training! Are you prepared to eat those words when you lose to me?"

"Ha! I'll stake my life on them! Tomorrow at dawn, I'll crush you!"

"It's a deal then!" Maika said, holding out a hand. "Meet me in Ryouran Maid School in the test kitchen, and I'll serve you some just desserts."

The two girls shook hands. A moment later, both girls broke down laughing at the absurdity. Just like that, all the tension left, and we were all back to being friends again.

"Anyway," Maika-san said, wiping a tear from her eyes. "I'm assuming you're all coming to see Kamijou-chan as well, correct?"

"That's right!" I said, "We heard that he was getting discharged, and we wanted to celebrate the occasion."

"Sound nice!" She said, "If only I could share in on the happiness."

"Eh?" I said, "What do you mean? What's wrong?"

"Well actually…" She hesitated. "I came to get his help with some difficulties."

"Difficulties?" This time, Misaka and Kuroko perked up.

She hesitated. "Well you see, Aniki hasn't come back, and I'm getting worried."

"Aniki?" I asked, "You mean that blonde guy with sunglasses?"

"That's right," Maika said, crossing her arms, "That bastard didn't come back, even though I waited all night! Hmph!"

Misaka whispered something into Kuroko's ear, and the twin-tailed girl approached Maika. "If I understand this correctly," Kuroko said, "Kamijou-senpai ask him to investigate one of his cases?"

"Hai" Maika said, "Aniki does this all the time! He's always diving head-first into dangerous situations and getting himself hurt, but at least he always checks in to let me know if he was okay."

"Mata-ke! He tries to hide everything he's doing from me." She sighed, shaking her head, "I wish he had a little more faith in me. I would have understood what he was up to!"

"Hai!" The nurse suddenly cut in, "You're all free to go. Please don't hold up the line, as there are guests who have to register as well."

We looked around and saw that a long line had formed behind us. Sheepishly, we moved out of the way. Maika laughed. "Well, don't let me keep you away from your precious Oni-chan. He is expecting you!"

Side-story: A disturbance

Hamazura didn't come home last night. I tried calling but couldn't get any connection. I tried texting him, but no reply ever came. It was as though he had dropped out of this reality. Yet I could feel his presence in the AIM diffusion. He was somewhere out there, somewhere in Academy City.

He wasn't the only one missing either. Kinuhata didn't respond when I texted her about the situation, and I haven't seen her since yesterday.

Mugino, on the other hand, couldn't be bothered to look into the matter. I called her in the evening last night, but I she couldn't care less about them.

"Kinuhata isn't some damsel in distressed like you. She can take care of herself!" she snapped, "And as for that bastard, its best if we never think of him again! Clearly, he doesn't care for shit about your feelings for him. Otherwise, would have come running back long ago and begged you for forgiveness! Screw him!"

In the end, I have had to look into the disappearance myself, and there was only one lead I could find. Everything about him screamed run-of-the-mill high school boy. Yet, the way Hamazura described him made me think otherwise. I've heard so many stories about the boy, like how he and Hamazura went to Hawaii to stop an invasion from group of terrorists, and how that ordinary high school boy saved Fremea from that City-run experiment called Agitate Halation. He also told me how this boy inspired him to stand up to Mugino and save me from her machinations. It's strange to think how my own life was affected by someone I had never met until yesterday.

Meeting him for the first time, I knew right away that there was something odd about him. The AIM field around his right hand was heavily distorted, as though I was gazing through a crystal ball. It reminded me of gravitational lensing, like how light bends around a black hole. Moreover, he seemed extremely plugged-in to the inner workings of academy city, to the point that ex-GROUP members, skill-out members, and even higher-ups would seek him out for assistance.

Digging through Academy city's archives, I found something interesting. This boy had been traversing the globe like some sort of double-O seven secret agent. I don't even remember seeing him in Russia, but somehow, he was instrumental in stopping World War III. he seemed to have made many powerful friends, like Accelerator and Railgun. Even Aleister Crowlery favored him above all other students.

Since yesterday, a viral video had popped up in the always-popular urban legends website. It showed a spiky-haired high school boy getting his arm bitten off by a giant wolf, and instead of his bleeding to death, a giant serpent erupted from his stump and attacked the wolf. It was like watching some Kaiju movie or reading something from Greek mythology. The boy's face was pixelated but I knew from the spiky hair who it was.

Kamijou Touma is an enigma that I want to crack. I want to meet him more formally, and I want to understand him thoroughly.

Today.