Sup! it took me longer than planned to write this (I blame 'Slay the Spire'. I'm stuck on Ascension 18). This chapter is more of an intersection than anything else, so don't expect much. I wish you a good read. By the way, did you know that "Toaru Majutsu no Index" and its characters do not belong to me?

Chapter 5: No Difference

The streets of district 7 were bustling. More precisely the streets near the Emerald Dust Mall. Anti-Skill was doing their best to keep any people away from the place, while evacuating the mall as fast as they could. Several cars and ambulances were already in place in case of emergency.

"Well, that's super convenient" Kinuhata said, placing her blonde friend on a stretcher that the paramedics carried to her.

"She has lost a lot of blood, get her in the ambulance, quick" said one of the field doctors practically shouting.

"You're lucky that guy showed up. Mugino will give you a super hard time.

"Basically, where is he?" Frenda asked, ignoring the Bob cut girl's warning. She tried to get up, but one of the paramedics stopped her "Let me go, there's someone I need to see"

"I don't know who you are talking about young lady, but worry about yourself first" The paramedic gestured for them to push the stretcher.

"Wait" asked the blonde, but the doctors ignored her "Kinuhata, I need you to... no, Basically, I'd better tell him myself"

Frenda was having conflicting feelings at this moment. This girl at first glance might seem like just another snobby rich girl, but she was actually a friendly person and the best connected member of ITEM. She had struggled to stay awake in that underground office, all so that she could see the outcome of that fight. When it was all over, she was so stunned that she forgot to thank the boy who risked his life to save her. Now that she had stopped to think, she didn't even know his name.

'Why did he come to help me? Did Mugino ask him? Damn, why did I staggered at that moment? He must think I'm ungrateful. I have to solve this soon.'

xxxx-xxxx

Some time later, a second person was also being placed on a stretcher.

"Will I see you again?" Kaguya asked in her usual monotone voice. However her eyes showed her true feelings "What am I talking about, I don't think I have the right to ask something like that"

"Why not?" Kamijou gave another of his quick and concise answers "You can't hate yourself forever Kaguya, I thought you understood that"

"Unfortunately it's not that simple"

"Who here is saying it is? You can take as much time as you need. As for your question, do you have your cell phone there?"

"Yes, why?"

"Can you give it to me? I'll give you my number"

Without saying a word, the girl took her cell phone from her skirt pocket and put it in the boy's hands. Luckily he hadn't been fried by the shock.

"I'll give you mine too" Instead of asking for the boy's cell phone, she made a call to her newest contact "Done"

"Two attractive girls gave me their phone number in a single day, I'm so screwed" He put both hands on his head. His misfortune would not allow something like this to come so easily.

"Huh?" The girl didn't understand why the boy was squirming as if he had been struck by lightning. "You're really insane. But I'm no one to talk. By the way, you seem to be popular with the girls. No surprise here."

"What? As if this unfortunate Kamijou-san is going to be lucky with women. Half the girls I know have tried to kill me at least once. A large part of the other half try to hurt me whenever they can."

"Dense as a brick too. Well, there's no one perfect after all" She smiled as she said that, it was a slightly more natural smile than the previous one "Nothing that a little assertiveness can't solve"

"Kaguya-san, although I am happy to see you smile, why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

Without warning, the girl grabbed the boy's shirt collar and pulled him close, kissing him on the cheek. It took the young man with the spiky hair a good ten seconds to react, but at least he didn't freak out.

"That was... unexpected" He put his hand on her cheek where the girl's lips had just been "That's not one of your tricks is it? Like you put a time bomb made with your saliva or something?"

"Okay, now I'm pretty sure you're in denial. But you just gave me an interesting idea."

"Please, whatever you are thinking, forget it. This Kamijou-san doesn't want to be an accomplice to murder or anything like that."

"Perhaps I should put a name on this new trick of mine, maybe 'Illusion Breaker'. What do you think?" her smile still remained on her face.

Kamijou sighed when he heard that. That girl had guts, stealing something so important from him in plain sight.

"Looks like it's time to go" The boy said, watching the paramedics approach the two "I hope you enjoyed our 'dance'"

"It was the best. I thought I made that pretty clear just now."

"See you around" He nodded, watching the doctors begin to push the stretcher into an ambulance.

"I can't wait" the smile had not left her face when she waved back.

As soon as the girl was placed in one of the ambulances, a thought struck the spiky-haired boy: Where was the blonde girl named Frenda? Kinuhata came first with her in hers arms, so the boy thought it safe to think that she should have already been taken to a hospital. He had to pay her a visit later to see if she was all right.

"Things didn't turn out exactly as planned" That female voice that came from behind Kamijou was unmistakable. "But it could have been worse"

"Mugino? You weren't there the whole time, were you?

"I just arrived, why the question? Did something important happen?"

The Meltdowner crossed her arms and waited for the boy's answer. The reason she delayed was because Takitsubo wanted to ask her something. She dodged the question as quickly as she could, since she planned to say something important to Kamijou.

"Nothing really" That answer was a little suspicious.

"Really? For a moment I thought the esper who escaped was causing trouble. By the way, the blue-haired girl, did she tell you her name?"

"Yes. Shinseijou Kaguya. She was a level 4 esper... wait, if I remember correctly she commented something about 'level 5 candidate'"

#4 was silent. She seemed to be pondering what she had just heard. A level 5 candidate and a level 5 had joined forces to make a 'terrorist attack' on a shopping mall. There was something strange about this story, that was obvious. This mall was clearly hiding something they wanted, and from what Mugino understood, they were after data. The orders given to ITEM were to kill or 'stop' those responsible and nothing else, so this didn't leave much room for speculation.

"Kamijou, did you frisked this 'Shinseijou'?"

"No, why? Was she carrying something important with her?"

"I can't tell, it's just a guess" Level 5 put her hand on her chin. She was deciding whether to tell the boy what she knew "We have to talk, but not here"

"We can go somewhere private then...come to think of it, I kind of have an appointment in a bit."

The appointment in question was his "classes" with his amazon teacher, but considering how intense the training sessions were, the more appropriate term would be torture.

"It doesn't have to be today" Mugino shrugged "Actually, it's better if I waited a bit, maybe that bitch will tell me something" This last part was said in a much lower tone than usual.

Mugino generally didn't care about the grand scheme of things on the dark side. Normally she would just get a mission, do it, get paid, and then spend the money on futility. But what that masked girl said made her think. The black-haired girl had also said something similar. She had mentioned something about someone manipulating people, and the masked girl had told her that level 5 was no exception. This was all too vague to try to deduce anything. But there was something else that was puzzling her even more. How did Kamijou Touma seem to be so aware of the situation? Was he part of a group from the dark side too? He said something about security cameras, which were probably used to find the location of her team. He has a skilled hacker on his team perhaps? Going back to that night they met, what was he doing there?

'If this guy is as involved in the darkness as I think he is, he's not just going to answer all my questions without blinking. I need to gain his trust first. Or find a way to threaten him. Maybe both.'

"I'd better get together with my teammates. I'll call you."

She gave him a subtle nod and then walked through the busy streets. The girl reached for the cell phone in her pocket. It was time to call in a few favors.

xxxx-xxxx

Watching the girl walk away from him, Kamijou turned his back and went to a more secluded spot. He looked around before opening his right hand. There was a small device similar to a flash drive there. It was not the one he usually used in his infiltrations. That device was the one that was in Kaguya's possession.

' Mugino looked a little thoughtful. She's smart, I wonder if she noticed. Maybe I should wait a bit before handing this over to Uiharu, just to make sure.'

xxxx-xxxx

That same evening, ITEM was gathered in the living room, looking at a TV that displayed the message "Sound only".

"The operation did not have very satisfactory results. Your payments will be affected because of this" said the distorted voice coming from the TV.

"Give me a fucking break" Mugino sure wasn't happy about that "Facing 3 high level espers, including a level 5 is not an easy thing to do. On top of that we barely had time to prepare and plan a proper course of action"

"She super has a point" Kinuhata said, as angry as her boss "Besides, Frenda ended up in the hospital for lack of preparation. Hospital bills are not cheap"

"Oh... I am sorry if her incompetence caused her to incur such a debt. I will send a fruit basket as a thank you for her hard work." The cryptic voice was unwilling to budge. "I am ending this connection, I hope you have no more complaints to make."

"Actually, I still have something to ask" Mugino added. her tone had a small trace of irritation "What was all this about anyway? Why did a powerful group of Espers attack that place?"

"I am not allowed to reveal such information. Why the sudden interest in this? You are not the type to question this kind of thing."

"Just... curiosity"

"You know what they say about curious people, don't you?" There was a slightly threatening tone behind that distorted voice "It's always like this with you. Anyway, you guys did a relatively decent job, your payments will be deposited soon."

Without saying another word, the "voice" terminated the connection. Mugino exploded at that instant, almost literally, as a Meltdowner beam was fired in the direction of the TV.

"The nerve of that bitch" Level 5 walked over to the couch. She needed to sit down to try to calm herself down or she would destroy that apartment "Who does she think she is to threaten me like that? I swear one day I'll..." she took a deep breath.

Kinuhata and Takitsubo looked at each other. Being around a level 5 during a fit of rage was not something a sane person would find comfortable. The inexpressive girl simply left the room without saying a word, leaving the poor Offense Armor to its own devices.

"Kinuhata" Mugino spoke, making the girl shiver in place "Go to Frenda's hospital room. I need you to ask her about what she thinks of that guy. The more information I have about him the better."

"If you need information about him, you can always super ask for some favors" Kinuhata built up the courage to give her opinion on her colleague's interest. Taking care that her tone did not irritate her of course.

"I already did that a few hours ago. Looks like my contacts will need a little more time"

"Really? These guys are super incompetent. How hard is it to collect information from a nobody like him?"

Meltdowner seemed to get a little irritated by her colleague's comment. She hadn't been looking in Kinuhata's direction until now, but she slowly turned and looked her in the eye. Level 4 swallowed dryly at that sudden icy stare.

"Kinuhata, I know that 'Dark May' project messed with your head, but that's no excuse for your stupidity" Mugino really didn't mince words sometimes "Tell me, would I be that interested in someone if that person was just a normal guy you find anywhere?" Level 5 realized that the girl wanted to say something in her defense but she interrupted her "It was a rhetorical question. Now, stop wasting my time and do what I tell you to do.

Words were not able to describe the expression formed on Level 4's face. The girl lost the will to be in Meltdowner's presence, so she left without saying anything else.

xxxx-xxxx

Two days had passed since the incident at the Emerald Dust Mall. The city seemed peaceful now, which was a word that had a slightly different meaning in the AcademyCity. At this moment our spiky-haired "Hero" was getting ready to go to school for the first time in two months.

"Fukiyose will kill me without a doubt. I hope she at least makes it quick instead of lecturing me for over two hours beforehand" The boy sighed, mentally preparing himself for his deserved punishment.

The streets of district 7 used to be busy most of the time. The district Kamijou lived in was approximately in the center of Academy City. This was where important landmarks such as the School Garden, Windowless Building and the Heaven Canceller Hospital (which Touma used to go to at least once a week) were located.

The boy did not have to walk far from his dormitory to his school. The school in question was not noteworthy, it was just another normal school that specialized in low level espers. There were several of these "generic" schools, which made sense considering that more than half the population was made up of level 0 espers.

So here was our "Hero", returning to the quiet life he was so eager to protect. Except that his life was never quiet to begin with.

"Hey, you. Hold it right there" A male voice shouted in the direction of the spiky-haired boy.

Kamijou was taking a shortcut, since he would obviously be late if he didn't, which meant that there weren't many people around, so the chances of delinquents attacking him for no reason were high. Everything was normal in Academy City and in the life of this unfortunate Level 0.

"Yes, is there a problem?" Kamijou stopped walking and looked back.

There were three of them. If he were to judge by the clothes and general appearance of the three walking toward him, the boy had no doubt that they were Skill-Outs. Of course, he could be wrong.

"You're the guy from the other day. Remember me, you bastard?" You're the spiky-haired asshole who broke my nose.

Kamijou raised his guard as the other two started to surround him. An interesting fact about Kamijou is that he was also practically a delinquent. He got into street fights more often than he went to class, which in a way made him somewhat notorious among gangs. So it was also not uncommon for some of them to come after revenge. The problem was that Touma couldn't remember this guy's face even if he tried.

"Look, I don't really remember you or any of your friends, so maybe you're wrong" He said this while keeping one of his hands in his pocket, he had to look as casual as possible so they would keep their guard down "I mean, this Kamijou-san have a face that blends in very well in the crowd and a spiky hair doesn't mean much does it?"

"Look at that, he means he doesn't remember us" One of the other delinquents said this with a rather violent grin on his face "You think we're idiots?"

"Actually I don't think so"

At this point Kamijou knew that talking would not solve the situation. So he began to look around discreetly, assessing his future opponents.

'They were a little clever, surrounding me like that. But apparently they don't carry any weapons.

"That right hookof yours hurt like hell" The one who looked like the leader spoke again "How about I return the favor?"

'The only one who looks like a threat is this guy with bleached hair. I bet I can take him down in a single blow while his guard is down. The other two won't be a problem.

The course of action had been planned. Kamijou preferred individual fights, but group fights were not uncommon in his alley fights. He had full confidence that he could beat two people who constantly spoiled his body with cigarettes and drink. If he didn't finish quickly, he could simply tire them out with no problem. He took his right hand out of his pocket and closed it into a fist.

"Hey, you guys" A female voice interrupted the impending fight "Stop bullying him" The girl's voice emanated violence.

The girl who approached the delinquents without any fear seemed to be still in middle school. She had chestnut hair and eyes of the same color. Her hair was short, shoulder length. Wearing an elegant school uniform and holding a briefcase behind her shoulder, she glared an scary look in the direction of the delinquents. Her face had an expression that was a mixture of irritation and disgust.

"Look at that, it looks like we have an Ojou-sama here" The leading delinquent shifted his gaze in the direction of the newcomer "Get lost little girl, this matter is between us"

"Wait boss, isn't that uniform from that famous school full of high-level espers?" Warned one of the goons. A glint of fear appeared in his eyes.

"So what, don't tell me you're afraid of a schoolgirl?"

Delinquents have never been known to be the smartest people around, if they were they wouldn't be delinquents in the first place. The bleached-haired thug walked over to the girl and put a hand on her shoulder, trying to look threatening.

"Listen here, little girl..."

The poor bastard didn't even have time to finish what he had to say. The moment he put his hand on her shoulder, the girl started emitting blue sparks from her bangs. In the next instant, the electrocuted body of the bandit lay on the ground, with a faint white smoke escaping from his body.

"Shit, she's an Electromaster" One of the goons snapped.

"Electromaster? And that uniform... don't tell me she's..."

The two delinquents looked at each other and then shook their heads. Without wasting any time, they ran out of there without worrying about the rest of the world. Run away to fight another day, so they say.

Watching the scene in silence, Kamijou looked at the girl standing there with her arms crossed. She smoothed her slightly disheveled hair and then looked in his direction. She didn't seem to have the posture of an upper-class girl, which was intriguing considering that she studied at a prestigious school.

"Are you okay?" She asked the spiky-haired boy, who looked at her a bit confused.

"Yes, thanks for the help" He returned to his casual posture "If you hadn't shown up I'd be in trouble" This wasn't exactly true, but Kamijou wasn't the kind of guy who was insensitive to someone who took the time to help him.

"No problem. I hate this kind of thing. These guys like to intimidate others because they know that most people won't fight back. Besides, most people just turn their faces in another direction when they see something like this happen, which gives them even more reason to keep doing it.

"Bunch of idiots" He said without thinking. The girl looked at him in surprise "So, you didn't tell me your name. Mine is Kamijou."

"Misaka Mikoto, nice to meet you Kamijou-san. How about we get out of this dangerous place?"

"That's a good idea" He started walking again, with the girl following him "So... this uniform is from Tokiwadai right? Which means you're the famous Railgun, the strongest Electromaster, right?"

"Yeah, I guess it's almost impossible to hide my identity" Lamented the girl with a downcast expression "I mean, it's not like I wanted to hide it in the first place, but... " The girl stopped talking suddenly, as if she realized she was giving too much information to a stranger she just met.

"Would you rather people treat you as Misaka Mikoto, the person, and not the #3 level 5 academic city" He shook his head positively as he placed a hand on his chin.

"!"

The girl almost jumped when she heard that. She didn't know if she had been too obvious or if the boy just read her as easy as a picture book, but she couldn't stop staring at him for a long time. He must have noticed this watchful gaze because he opened his mouth and started talking again.

"That in your bag, is that frog mascot...what was the name again?"

"Gekota" The girl suddenly cracked a smile. She held the little frog with a twinkle in her eyes "Do you know him? I didn't know he had started to get popular with the boys"

"Well... sorry to disappoint you, but I actually only know him because a friend of mine is obsessed with Gekota" He paused for a long thoughtful moment "Come to think of it, this mascot must make a big hit in Tokiwadai"

"Huh?" Mikoto didn't immediately understand what he meant "Not really. Wait, you know a Gekoer who also studies in Tokiwadai. What's her name?"

"I'm surprised you don't know her. Her name is Junko. Hokaze Junko. If you see her around, tell her that this Kamijou-san sent a 'hello'"

"Sure. Something tells me this will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship between me and her."

Kamijou was sure that the girl's pupils narrowed like a cat's at that instant.

"So, this is my school, I guess this is where we part ways" Kamijou announced, as he saw his school across the street "It was nice to meet you, Misaka-san"

"I say the same, Kamijou-san. And thank you for telling me that I am not the only Gekoer in Tokiwadai. Your friend and I will get along just fine, I'm sure" She nodded to him and started to move in the other direction.

The life of that unfortunate spiky-haired boy never ceased to amaze him. To meet two level 5s in such a short period of time was something worthy of someone with negative luck. His 'Misfortune Sense' was tingling at this instant.

xxxx-xxxx

In the ITEM apartment, Mugino was reading a single sheet of paper while the other three members looked at each other with doubt in their eyes. All 4 were standing, including Frenda who was leaning on her crutch. Level 5 must have reread that same sheet of paper six times already. To an outside observer, she looked like a theater actress giving a last check on important dialogue.

Without warning, the tea-colored girl crumpled the sheet of paper with unnecessary violence. Not satisfied yet, she threw the paper ball up in the air and fired a small beam of electrons, burning the paper without a trace. The other girls held on not to run away. Even Frenda forgot for a moment about the wound on her leg.

"Is this a fucking joke?" Mugino sure wasn't happy "It's been two days" She looked in the direction of the three girls who shivered in place "TWO GODDAMN DAYS, and this is all they send me? It is literally impossible to find anything useful about that guy? Does he happen to have an entire system designed to protect the relevant information about him?"

It was obvious how frustrated Meltdowner was. She was getting to the point of biting her nails out of sheer rage. The Level 5 looked in the direction of her blonde colleague, who felt her soul leave her body for a few moments.

"Frenda, I need details. Did he tell you anything important?"

"B-basically... "She stammered, feeling her arms getting tired holding those crutches "I already told Kinuhata everything that happened in that office"

"Give me a recap, Kinuhata may have missed something important"

"Well..." she took a deep breath, as if it was the last time she would get the chance "Basically, he came out of nowhere and nursed my wound. He told me it was going to be okay and I would have laughed if I wasn't in a life or death situation" Frenda tried to keep her gaze on the level 5's eyes, but that intensity was too much for her to handle, so she looked away "Takitsubo had told me he wasn't an esper, why did you lied to me?" The blonde looked a little annoyed with her friend.

"I didn't lie" Takitsubo defended herself instantly, as if she had been accused of treason" That guy doesn't have an AIM diffusion field. Or maybe he has one so weak that even I can't detect it, which is an absurd thing to think about"

"Okay, leaving that aside, Frenda, go on" Mugino demanded, crossing her arms.

"Basically, there's nothing very relevant that I can say. I couldn't understand his power. In fact even that ice girl had no idea what he was doing. I mean, she threw thousands of ice knives at him at the same time and instead of running away he just raised his right hand and then all the knives missed him."

"So he super has some kind of telekinesis, like I said" Kinuhata added.

"There's no way it could be something that simple" Mugino went into her thoughtful mode. "I bet he lied about Academy City not being able to detect his ability. The problem is that his power doesn't even show up in the Academy City database. That bastard must have someone high up in the chain of command backing him up. Maybe one of the directors."

"So is it really wise to mess with this Kamijou guy?" Takitsubo once again came out of her 'suspension mode' to give a pertinent opinion.

"It's all still speculation. I'm not the kind of person who gives up so quickly over a mere obstacle that we don't even know how high it is. Frenda, anything else?"

"I don't know if it's important but he made her tell pretty much her whole past. The weird thing is that it seemed like he already knew part of the story. Basically, He even figured out on his own that she didn't need the cylinder she carried on her back."

"Good deduction skills too. I'll have to be careful when I bluff around him" #4 said, with an interested tone "Any chance he already knows this information beforehand?"

"Basically, that didn't seem to be the case. Anyway, after a long conversation they fought again, but no matter what the girl threw at him he simply swatted the attack away like he was swatting away a fly. She even hit him with a high-pressure jet of water that ripped the floor to shreds, but she didn't even scratch him. After that he fried her cylinder lock with a Taser for some reason I really don't understand.

"His defensive ability is indeed powerful" Takitsubo added.

"That's going to sound a little stupid" Frenda said, drawing the attention of all the others" Basically, what if he can hide his AIM field and only use it when he's fighting?"

"No, it can't be that" The inexpressive girl shot the idea down immediately "The point of an AIM diffusion field is that it is an involuntary movement, no one should be able to just make it go away. It's like a normal person trying to control their heartbeat or their blood pressure at will"

"This isn't getting us anywhere" Mugino sighed wearily. She finally sat down on the couch "All I can say for sure is that he is completely involved with the dark side. But that time he got angry when I was about to kill someone. I have to take that into account when I'm talking to him..."

And with that Mugino Shizuri was practically back to square one again.

xxxx-xxxx

The day was going very well at a certain high school. The students were going about their normal school life until a boy with spiky hair decided to appear without warning. Kamijou noticed something strange happening as he walked through the halls of the school.

'What are those surprised looks? I study here... sometimes. Wait why did that girl start crying when she saw me?'

"Finally" A female, somewhat seductive voice was heard behind the spiky haired boy "Some people were even beginning to think the rumors were true, boy"

Standing there in the middle of the corridor was a girl with black hair and an athletic body. She was wearing a modified sailor's school uniform that showed her navel, and a skirt a little longer than the original.

"Kumokawa-senpai?" Kamijou looked happy to see her. He put his right hand on his head, looking a little embarrassed "It's been a while."

"Yes, and you haven't called me once" She crossed her arms, as if demanding an apology.

"Well... I was kind of busy so..." Kamijou stopped talking when the girl closed her face and started tapping her foot "As I was saying, I'm really sorry I haven't heard from you in weeks. My life has been a bit hectic."

"And that's why you should have called me, boy. You know I can help you with any situation.

"I will remember that senpai. By the way, I have a favor to ask" Kamijou lowered his voice as he said this.

The girl instantly realized what kind of subject this was, so she moved closer so they could talk lower without worry.

"Is this the kind of subject that can be dealt with here?" She asked.

"Not really. It's about that case that we thought had been solved."

"I understand" She narrowed her eyes "We can talk in my apartment, I will make the necessary arrangements. I will let you know when I am ready"

"Thank you. You really are the best senpai this Kamijou-san could want" He smiled in a silly way.

Kumokawa made an indecipherable expression and then smiled at that comment. The enigmatic girl relaxed her posture, moving a little away from him.

"Well, I'd better not hold you any longer, Go before you're late. Good luck, boy" She smiled at that. After all, nobody wishes Kamijou Touma good luck, it's a useless effort.

Walking alone through the halls again, the boy began to think about what his senpai had told him.

'Wait, did she say rumors?'

Leaving that aside, he made his way to the door of his classroom. Everything looked just as he remembered it, except for the fact that as soon as he opened the door, all hell broke loose.

"Kami-yan"

"Kami-yan?"

Obviously the first two to notice the presence of the unfortunate boy were the two idiots who together with him formed the Delta Force. Or the trio of idiots, as it was more commonly known. Next was Fukiyose, who looked at him in surprise, before her face changed to anger, and last ...

"Kamijou-san?"

It was not a single voice that uttered these words. In fact something that sounded more like a church choir said his name in unison. The timing was so perfect that he would not be impressed if they told him they had rehearsed. The detail is that there were only female voices in this "ritual". And these girls suddenly turned in the direction where the first two idiots who noticed him were standing. And it was a bloodbath.

"What the hell?" Kamijou stood for a good five seconds watching the one-sided massacre in front of him.

The only girl who was not participating in the collective lynching was Fukiyose Seiri. It was up to her to try to explain whatever was happening at that moment.

"Seriously, you go two months without coming to school and when you show up you bring chaos with you?" Said the stiff girl, sighing audibly.

"Wait, why are you making it sound like this is all my fault. What the hell is going on here anyway?"

"Simple" She pointed to the blond boy and then to the blue haired one, who Kamijou wasn't sure if they were still alive "Those two idiots started spreading rumors that you had died"

"Wait... what?" Kamijou couldn't believe what he was hearing "Why? WHY? And why would anyone believe something so stupid. You can easily check if it's fake"

"According to them, you would never come back anyway, so they said something like 'Rid this school of the Kami-yan disease' or some such drivel" She shook her head "As usual, you three spend all your energy on something useless instead of contributing something to society"

"Why do you keep including me in this, Fukiyose-san? Don't you think you are being a little unfair to this poor Kamijou-san?"

Before the girl had a chance to reply, a person entered the classroom, which at this point might have been about to collapse. The little girl, or rather someone who looked like a little girl of about 135 cm tall, had pink hair and wore clothes of the same color. She seemed excited for another day of school. This excitement didn't last long.

"Kamijou-chan?" The little girl looked at him with tears in her eyes.

She completely ignored the two poor fellows, who would probably need breathing apparatus after today, and began to cry as she looked at her student, or something like that, she wasn't even sure anymore.

"Komoe-sensei, please don't cry. What happened to this school while I was gone?"

"Kamijou-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan"

The little girl began to sob. The tears were now rolling down her face like a storm in the middle of the sea. If they didn't do something, she would pass out from dehydration soon. Kamijou was so focused on comforting his mini teacher that he didn't notice anything very important happening. He should have realized it sooner, but now it was too late. He studied in a mixed school, which meant that his class was practically half male and half female. And this first half didn't seem very happy to see his teacher crying.

"Hey, why do you guys have that creepy gleam in your eyes? It's not my fault, I swear."

Kamijou had chosen his last words badly. The last member of the trio of idiots would receive his punishment.

"Such misfortune"

xxxx-xxxx

Outside a certain high school, a little girl wearing her Sakugawa Middle School uniform was patiently waiting for her troublesome friend. He had sent her a text message telling her to wait for him here after school. For some reason, her friend was being more cautious than usual.

"Here he comes" Uiharu said, waving to Kamijou who was walking towards her.

She had noticed something strange. The boy's clothes didn't seem to be in good condition, and his center of gravity seemed a little off. It was kind of obvious that the boy had gotten into an ugly fight, so Uiharu didn't even bother to ask what had happened.

"Hey Uiharu, good of you to come"

Smiling, the boy offered her a handshake, which the Sakugawa girl found strange. Taking his hand, she realized that he had discreetly handed her something.

"Come on, I'll walk you to your dorm" He said in a casual voice.

The two walked side by side for some time without saying a word. They looked around, as if checking something. The first to break the silence was Uiharu.

"I think it's okay, no one is following us" She switched hands the folder she was carrying, taking a good look at what she was hiding "A flash drive?"

The device in question had an unobtrusive blue color but was quite small. Its design was modern, sporting a somewhat curved shape that resembled a teardrop.

"I think so. Kaguya gave it to me."

"Kaguya? She was that esper with the blue dyed hair right? Why would she hand you this?" The tone in her voice made it clear that she had several doubts in her head.

"I can't say for sure. But there's definitely something important there, considering how discreet she was. She even kissed me to disguise that she was giving me something."

This may seem strange to say, since a kiss would certainly attract attention. But it is a fact that most people usually look away from a public display of affection. And even if the more daring ones keep looking, they would pay more attention to the "action" instead of the hands of those involved. But the boy forgot to say something important, and this made Uiharu blush furiously.

"She...she...kissed you?" The girl couldn't muster the strength to look him in the eye.

"Yes, on the cheek" He said nonchalantly "Anyway, leaving that subject aside" He looked around once more "I contacted Kumokawa-senpai today. She said she'll be calling when she's ready"

The girl remained stunned, but hearing that person's name helped her out of her trance.

"Are you sure about that Kamijou-kun? Her methods are sometimes a bit... extreme..."

"I know, but she has helped me before and I trust her. Besides, I just want to exchange some information, nothing major. I'll try to filter her 'extreme' a bit... if I can."

She sighed as she heard this. The last time she had worked together with that mysterious girl had been hell. Things seemed to be going downhill faster and faster.

"I'll take a look at it tonight" Spoke the flower girl, closing her hand and hiding the device once again "You said you don't want to go to the Judgment branch where I work until you complete that crazy plan, so I'll call you when I find out something"

"Thanks, Uiharu. Things would be a lot harder without you" He gave another one of his silly smiles.

"No need to thank me. I'm doing what I think is right" She stammered a little as she looked at the boy's smile.

xxxx-xxxx

"That sure was a busy day" Kamijou said, calling the elevator from his dormitory "Just like all the others"

Sighing, the boy got into the elevator. At least he was home now. After a tiring day, taking a hot shower and changing into something comfortable was all he wanted. The elevator door opened, so Kamijou put his feet up in the hallway while whistling happily. His life was bitter, but he didn't have to be. He couldn't wait to get into bed and get some sleep before preparing a home-cooked meal.

"About Fucking time" A female voice instantly shattered that illusion

Standing there in the hallway leading to her dormitory, Mugino Shizuri was leaning against the wall, waiting not so patiently for the unfortunate boy. He looked at her as if his parents were being killed before his eyes, and he could do nothing to stop it.

"Mugino? How did you-"

"It wasn't that hard actually" She didn't need to wait for him to finish "But let's forget that irrelevant detail."

The girl moved away from the wall and walked toward him. She put both hands on her waist, like an older sister who had discovered her younger brother's mischief and was about to correct his inappropriate behavior. A smile, which could not be considered happy anywhere in the observable universe, adorned her pretty face.

"Kamijou Touma, I have a proposal to make to you"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hey, welcome to the end-of-chapter notes.

The electric princess made her entrance. And Kamijou used his heavy weapons against her. Mikoto calling Touma by name? Wait, that's illegal. I guess I should warn you that this story is obviously an "AU"(maybe I will put that in the synopsis), but pretty much all Toaru fics count as one, I guess. Don't be surprised if Touma meets or has met some important characters that he never had interaction with in canon, a lot has happened in this timeline, and I'm sharing it little by little.

Mugino is getting ready to play 11D Chess with our "Hero," so nothing better than a dramatic entrance to get into the mood, right? One thing that is clear in the canon Mugino is that she can be a 'little' obsessed at times. This obsession was one of the reasons for the downfall of ITEM. So I need to show some of this side of her here.

Now let's get to the Reviews.

Majin Othinus: This chapter had a bit of that, more to come soon. The comedy in this fic is not going to be very prominent, but I try to lighten the mood here and there.

Emiyasatou: Lessar is basically a succubus at this point LMAO. By the way, that was a joke, Kamachi hasn't even written GT8 yet(as far as I know, I mean, I wouldn't be impressed if he had already written GT9 as well).

Nightfang123: Thanks. I plan to include some side ships, but it will take a while.

Xellos540: All members? *thinking. You'll have to wait to find out xD. Queen Divers are those 'suits' worn by the Deadlock gang in the incident that left Touma in his state unable to remember a certain golden girl. This theory about Aihana Etsu is plausible. Ah, Kaguya, how ironic isn't it? Thank you very much for the compliment, I intend to do something similar in the fight against the final villain of this arc. I love the novels, so I can't hold back the urge to make references. In the initial draft, Kamijou would not do the 'illusion-breaking speech', but that was soon changed. I think you've already figured that out in parts in this chapter. *typing 'Orthogonal' into google. *Nods. You're goddamn right.

I don't have anything else for now. Thank you very much for reading and leaving your reviews. Nio is leaving the Matrix.