Between the lines: At a Certain Ward of a Certain Hospital

Tsuchimikado woke up to the soft cacophony of hospital instruments. Their beeps and whistles assaulted his delicate senses and proclaimed his current state of consciousness. He was lying on a hospital bed with little railings on each side. His favorite Hawaiian shirt was gone and was replaced with a green hospital gown. His arms were above the covers, and he saw a long plastic tube snake out from inside his elbow, connecting him to a plastic and mylar bag hanging on a hook on the wall. He could barely make out the word's "lipids" and "glucose" on the bag.

He laughed. They're feeding me through a tube in my arm, but I still feel so hungry!

He groaned and tried to sit up, but all his efforts left him with extreme vertigo. White hot pain lanced up into his brain, and he cried out in agony. Weakly, he heard someone get up from a chair, but the throbbing headache kept him from seeing who it was. At last, all the strength left him, and he felt his body give out. Falling back down, he felt two strong arms catch him and cradle him in a warm embrace.

"Dame-desu yo! The nurse said that you need to rest!" The soothing voice comforted him, and the loving arms had a familiar scent. As they laid him back down to rest, the beautiful visage of his sister came into view. The soft smile on her lips reassured him, but he could see the tracks of moisture falling from her eyes.

"Maika!" he croaked, reaching up to wipe away her tears. She grasped his hand with her own and caressed it against her cheeks. Closing her eyes, she focused on the sensations. Then, she brought his hands to her lips and kissed each knuckle of his finger.

Her eyes opened again, and she found him watching intently. Tsuchimikado tightened his grip and pulled her closer, and she yielded without question, without any hesitation. As he was to claim the ultimate prize, the hospital doors slid open with a loud Thud!

Fukiyose burst through the door, crying out shrilly. "Is everything okay? I heard screaming! Please tell me that you're alright!"

"Damn!" He cursed quietly, his eyebrows twitching. Maika was so close that he could feel her giggles dance on his lips. Sadly, he had to settle with a tender peck to the cheek before he let the maid-in-training go. "Ohayo!" Tsuchimikado said as he feigned a large yawn, "What time is it, Fukiyose? I haven't slept this well in ages!"

It was so funny to watch the girl's distress twist into a frustrated scowl. This girl was an open book and never bothered to hide her true feelings.

"Baka!" She snapped, "You scared me to death with all your antics! What were you doing in such a dangerous place?"

"I wasn't doing nothing!" He said dismissively, "A friend of mine just wanted to get into the performing arts school, and all I wanted was to get a tour of the classrooms."

"Oh really?" Fukiose snorted, "And what was with all those scantily clad warriors doing there? What about all those zombified people?"

"Hell, if I know," Tsuchimikado shrugged, "Maybe they were putting on some kind of play. Maybe they're doing a mashup of Apocalypto and world war Z."

Fukiose coldly fixed her eyes on him and planted her hands firmly on her hips. "Tsuchimikado, I'm not going to play this game with you. You know the state you were in when I saw you!"

Her hard stare whittled down what was left of his broken façade. Tsuchimikado sighed and let his arms fall back down. "I really wish that you hadn't," he said, staring at his fingers, "Hell, you shouldn't even be here."

She snorted, "I could say the same to you. I have half a mind to drag you and that idiot back to school before either of you come up with another clever idea to get yourselves killed… or worse, expelled!"

Tsuchimikado cringed. She really needed to sort out her priorities! "There're a lot of things in this world that are more important than school," He said, "With Aleister's passing, we've become a part of a bigger universe. You just don't know it yet! Kami-yan dropped out just so he can deal with all that's happening right now, and frankly, I'm tempted to join him, if only so that I could get away from all your nagging."

"Now we can't have that, can we? I've already lost one of my kawaii pupils; I'm not going to lose another!" Tsukuyomi Komoe stood at the doorway along with Aogami Pierce and Himegami Aisa.

Tsuchimikado sweat-dropped as the elfish teacher came in with the entire class 1-7. Soon enough, the whole ward had filled up with gawking high school students, and Tsuchimikado wondered if the hospital staff was bribed to look the other way.

The blonde idiot chuckled nervously. "Ohai-o, Komoe-sensei! I'm sorry to have let you see me like this. Jouto hazukashi!"

"Ohai-o, Motoharu-kun!" Komoe-sensei said cheerfully, "I'm simply glad to see you safe and well rested. I'm grateful, also, that you chose this opportune time to wake up, as I was just about to ask one of my kawaii pupils to rouse you, by any way necessary."

"Yes, I'm relieved too," Tsuchimikado chuckled nervously as he watched Aogami put away something shiny. The blue-haired idiot gave him a big grin and flashed him a peace sign, as if he weren't plotting something diabolical.

"You've been very busy during your delinquency, haven't you?" Komoe-sensei went on, "Infiltrating an art school, engaging with espionage-like activities, getting into fights with strangers from outside ours school district. I don't know what arrangements you have with Kamijou-kun, but you can't just go on such exciting adventures without at least giving me prior notice."

"Sorry, Komoe-sensei," Tsuchimikado laughed sheepishly, "I was just trying to help a friend. I owed him for helping me through some…difficulties, and I wanted to pay him back, anyway I could. I just couldn't predict how big the job really was."

Komoe-sensei sighed. "I understand the folly of underestimating a project, and I do appreciate your sentiments towards your friends. Unfortunately, there's no way I can forgive you for your recklessness. You didn't call in early, or leave a note explaining your absence. You could have died! You could have gotten others killed! I can no longer trust you to be safe on your own. What if you got into even more trouble and got hurt again?"

She snapped her fingers, and another student emerged from the crowd, unceremoniously plopping a thick manilla folder onto his bed.

Tsuchimikado sweat-dropped. "Is this my punishment, Komoe-sensei?"

"Hmm? Oh no," Komoe-sensei shook her head, "This is just the material we covered in class, while you were stuck in an art school fighting off Aztecs and zombies."

"Obviously, there will be detention, and I will come up with a suitable punishment for you. It's bad enough that you even suggested on following Kamijou-kun's footsteps and becoming a Ronin. Right now, though, all I want is for you to rest and recover from your injuries."

Tears welled up in Tsuchimikado's eyes, and he hastened to wipe them away. "Sensei is merciful! Sensei is wonderful!"

Komoe-sensei beamed in response. She gestured to Fukiyose to join her, and then turned to leave. Aogami gave Tsuchimikado a fist bump before rejoining the departing class.

Alone at last!

He yawned and stretched out his muscles, waiting for the door to close.

Then, he quickly pushed all the schoolwork to the floor and then motioned for Maika to join him on the bed. The maid-in-training came willingly, and soon, the room was quiet, except for the couple snuggling with each other. At last their lips met, and Tsuchimikado savored the taste of his sweet sister. As he pulled her on top of him, the blonde idiot could faintly hear a thunderstorm rolling in the distance.

Why is there a thunderstorm in the middle of winter? Came his last fleeting thought, before Maika's probing tongue snuffed them out.

Chapter 27: Thunderstruck

After our trip into Yotsuba's School for Performing arts, we met up with Misaka-san again. She told us what happened on the rooftop, while we were in the GROUP headquarters.

Mugino-san was charging a phalanx of warriors when storm clouds billowed overhead. A bolt had struck the building, and the shockwave send both espers and mages reeling. Out of the dust emerged a tall lanky teenager with long blonde hair gathered into a braid. He was crouching in a crater as if landing from a long fall, and as he stood up, sparks leaped from his brow.

"M'lord Xolotl!" The Aztec leader stammered as he dropped to his knees. The other warriors followed suit, prostrating themselves before the boy. "Praise to the gods!" He stammered as he kowtowed again and again, "Hail to our savior!"

The boy favored them with the nastiest sneer before motioning them away. "We will talk about this later. Now go!"

Quickly, the Aztecs bowed and piled into their aircraft. With the espers distracted, the helicopter climbed into the air and escaped. As the winds died down, the newcomer smirked and leveled his razor-sharp gaze at Misaka-san.

"Thor!" Misaka-san muttered warily, "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" He repeated mockingly, "Why, I was just protecting my new friends! And I wanted to meet the one they chose to replace me. I daresay that Marian picked a worthy candidate, but you have a long way to go before you can take my name!"

Misaka-san grimaced at his words. "Why are you helping them?" She growled, pointing at the retreating aircraft. "Why did you bring so much pain and suffering upon us?"

The thunder god shrugged and said, "Peace is just so boring, especially peace between the science side and the magic side! There's just nobody to root for! Besides, I'm hearing rumors about me that are unflattering. Honestly, can anyone mistake the Mighty Thor with some boring old trickster? This is what I get for getting lazy and letting the world forget all about me! I guess I'll just have to set everyone straight by destroying the world!" Thor tilted his head back and laughed at his own joke, completely disregarding the horror on Misaka-San.

He barely acknowledged his own danger, as Mugino-san clambered back to her feet and conjured a ball of green energy. "Oi! Don't just ignore me!" she growled, "I don't know who the hell you are, but nobody gets between me and my prey!"

Roaring, she charged towards the boy, but Thor only acknowledged her with a sneer.

"Ja-mada!"

All of a sudden, there was a mighty earthquake. Within seconds, Thor had disappeared, only to reappear right next to Mugino-san, with his fist sunk deep into her gut. The fourth most powerful esper in the world crumpled beneath the Thunder god's feet, who merely looked down at her with contempt.

Gritting her teeth, Misaka-san tugged at her collar, revealing a T-shaped pendant hanging from a silver chain, but Thor waved her off dismissively. "Don't bother! By the time Mjolnir gets here, I will have killed you already!" He yawned, "Besides, I'm not here to fight. I just want to convey a message to your boyfriend!"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Misaka-san stammered, blushing furiously, "it's not like I have feelings for that idiot or anything! We just hang out a lot, that's all!"

"I didn't even mention his name, and you already knew who I was talking about!" Thor laughed again. "Give my regards to Kamijou-kun. Tell him that a storm is brewing, and he'd better solve the case of the missing worshippers before that man shows up!"

"Who?"

"One who has seen the burning bush. The prophet who shall deliver his people to the promised land."