Hey guys... here we go again. Another chapter with a song name, which doesn't mean anything specific about me. Toaru Majut... You already understood this part. I wish you a good reading.

Chapter 10 - The Fool on the Hill

"I won't take that bait, Kamijou" The truth was that Mugino Shizuri was the kind of person who liked to be in control. She wasn't going to simply accept something without guarantees "If you want my help, you'll have to promise me that you'll answer all my questions this night. No telling vague stories, no bullshitting, no being a smartass. Try to wind me up and I will leave; Have I made myself clear?"

"Crystal clear"

Kamijou let go of the girl's wrist and left the cabin. Mugino at that instant flashed a small smile at the corner of her lips. She didn't mind helping him in this ridiculous mission, she was a level 5 after all, whatever the challenge was she would be able to overcome it without problems. So this was a good deal, if the boy kept his word of course.

"We need a better place to talk" The boy said, checking his surroundings "What I'm about to tell you could cause problems depending on who listens"

"Fine by me, as long as this is not another attempt to dodge my questions"

"I am a man of my word, Mugino-san"

The boy's eyes looked to a place far away. In the northeast part of the amusement park was the Hall of mirrors. It was in a sort of separate section of the park, which was decorated in a theme reminiscent of Victorian London. Instead of modern lights, gas lamps were in place, and there was a small black brick road leading to the entrance of the place. Kamijou gestured with his head for the girl to follow him into the somewhat gloomy place.

"What the hell is that?" Said the girl, walking into what looked like a small recreated city inside the park "They don't have much space but they decide to build all this themed shit, that's dedication"

"I mean, this place is full of classic attractions, but they've gone out of their way to divide the sections and create something unique in each part of the place. I wonder if this has something to do with what they are hiding"

"You mean they are trying to control the flow of people into specific areas?"

"Correct. Smart as ever, Mugino-san."

The two walked side by side until they reached the entrance to the Hall of mirrors. The line led to a table with a woman dressed in an old white dress. She was behind a table that was filled with playing cards, or so it seemed.

"Welcome to your journey of mirrors" The woman bowed slightly as she said this"Please choose a card. It will serve as a guide to your journey."

"A card?" Mugino looked at the hundreds of strange cards that were scattered across the table "What kind of over-the-top roleplay is this? That must be why there is hardly anyone in line"

"Just pick a card, Mugino-san" Kamijou said, sloppily putting one hand in his pocket

Rolling her eyes, the girl put her hand on one of the cards without even bothering to look at what she was doing. She didn't need to be in a hurry, since there was no one else in line with them, but she was a little anxious as she formulated the correct questions she would ask that boy.

"Oh, #17 The star" Said the woman in the white dress. She took the card from the girl's hands and removed a small sticker that was pasted on it "She represents renewal, The star will guide her out of the darkness"

"What is this occult drivel?" Meltdowner said this as she looked at the card. On it was a naked woman under the night sky, holding two jugs of water.

"A common reaction for a resident of this City" The woman sighed. It was obvious that many had the same reaction as the girl with the tea-colored hair "Put this on your clothes" The woman handed over the star sticker she had detached from the letter "It will keep you from getting lost"

"I hope that thing doesn't ruin my dress"

Mugino reluctantly stuck the sticker on the shoulder area. She cursed herself for not being the one who was choosing the rides. Just for a moment she thought that her company was doing all this on purpose to save time or something.

"Now it's your turn" The woman in the white dress addressed her words to the blue-eyed boy "Pick a card, any card"

Also without much thought, the boy picked up one of the cards from the table. He looked at the drawing on it and frowned.

"Let me see" The woman took the card from his hands and made a surprised face "Interesting. That's #0 The Fool. It is probably the most controversial card in the Tarot" She started to take the sticker off the card.

"I don't believe in anything and I don't care about this shit, but the name fits him well" Mugino commented, almost letting out a chuckle.

"You are so funny, Mugino-san" Kamijou took the sticker from the woman's hands and stuck it on his shirt.

"Because it is a special card, we only put only one among all the ones you are seeing" The woman continued, ignoring the exchange of the two teenagers "The Fool is someone who is always moving from one place to another, on a journey of self-knowledge. You could say that the entire Tarot is built around the Fool's journey, as if he were the protagonist."

"I guess my bad luck must have given me the wrong card then" Kamijou scratched his head with his right hand and sighed, looking at the image on the card that had what looked like a beggar walking near a cliff "There is no way in hell this Kamijou-san is a protagonist in a story"

With their stickers, the two teenagers were ready to enter the hall of mirrors. The place was huge, and the entrance was just a corridor that seemed to extend infinitely. An obvious optical illusion.

"What was all that Tarot stuff?" Kamijou asked Mugino, as he walked through the infinite maze.

"Don't ask me, it was your idea" Mugino looked at her reflection in one of the mirrors, noticing something strange "Interesting, it seems that some are not mirrors" She said, pointing at her reflection.

"Huh? Isn't he reflecting our stickers?"

Confused, the boy went to the mirror in question and touched it with the palm of his hand. Electronic noises were heard, causing the two of them to look at each other. The house of mirrors was changing somehow, which meant that the path behind them had closed.

"There are probably some touch screens hidden in the middle of the mirrors" Meltdowner continued walking down the corridors nonchalantly "They must be using cameras to cause this strange effect with the stickers"

"Is that just because it's cool? Or is that supposed to represent something?" Asked the boy, more to himself than to the girl.

"They're just mirrors, who cares" The girl shrugged and turned towards the boy "So, you promised me you would tell me everything you know about this 'Imagine Breaker' power of yours. I guess you picked the name, it's not bad. How does it work?"

Kamijou took a deep breath at that question. Time to try to explain the unexplainable. He knew what he was capable of doing, but he had no idea why it worked that way. The same could be said of all the people he knew. His senpai, Kumokawa Seria, was the most knowledgeable about how his right hand worked, or she thought so, but there was still much speculation.

"I think the best way to explain this is to ask you a question" He raised his right hand and looked at Mugino through one of the mirrors "Have you ever heard of the urban legend of the person who can negate any esper ability? That guy is me"

"What?" Mugino's expression was pure disbelief, but she soon pulled herself together "Stopping to think about it, it makes a little sense. There was no way you could do all that with a generic defensive skill. But it's still hard to believe. That's kind of a scientific impossibility" She pondered for a moment, taking the opportunity to touch another of the mirrors, causing everything to spin around them, revealing a new path "I mean, is there any limit to what you can negate?"

"Not that I know of" He shrugged, looking down at his right hand "My Imagine Breaker is concentrated in my right hand, going all the way to my wrist. If I touch any kind of supernatural power, it will be negated for sure. It doesn't matter if it's a laser capable of cut a battleship in half, a fireball on the level of a nuclear bomb, or the God Systems"

"God systems?" The girl found that last part interesting, so much that she thought about it for a few seconds as she walked aimlessly through the maze "I see what you mean. It's like some scientists say: Humans can't calculate god, so we need to acquire a body that exceeds humanity before we can get to god's answer. That would be the hypothetical level 6. Do you think you would be able to negate that too? That is a bold statement." Mugino stopped suddenly, looking at the boy's right hand "You said you need to touch something with your right hand for it to be negated, so how did you protect yourself from that explosion?"

"Well... this is complicated. I guess 'negate' isn't exactly the right term, but I prefer to use it instead of the correct term: Destroy. When I destroy something with my Imagine Breaker, a sort of 'chain reaction' is caused. My senpai theorizes that when it is activated, it generates 'ripples' that distort and affect the trajectory of objects. To an observer, it even looks like I can create some sort of invisible barrier. I really can't explain it very well. All I know is that if I punch a wall generated by some supernatural power, the whole wall will be broken in an instant, not only the part I punched. Since everything is connected, the chain reaction of negation will do the rest. Another strange thing is that when I negate something, I don't seem to be affected by the secondary effects of the power"

"You mean like in the explosion? Even though you were surrounded by the heat of the flames you looked intact"

"Correct. Although I can't explain why either. Perhaps the chain reaction can alter the trajectory of the hot air around me as well? I have no idea."

Taking advantage of the pause in his own words, Kamijou approached another mirror that did not reflect his sticker, while Mugino tried to process everything he had heard. Everything began to change around them again. This time, stairs made of mirrors appeared in all directions, and several mirrors moved to the ceiling, which completely confused the sense of direction of those standing there.

"I guess I can't complain about you being vague again" Meltdowner said this as she climbed a few steps "From the looks of it, your ability really doesn't make the slightest bit of sense. From a scientific point of view, a power like yours is theoretically impossible"

From the top of the stairs, Mugino could see the exit, as well as a few people lost in the middle of the maze. She waited for Kamijou to climb the stairs and stand beside her before speaking again.

"Academy City's skills work through calculations. It's true that after a lot of practice most of them become something instinctive, but the calculations still need to be done. It's like breathing, you can still do it manually, but your brain will still keep you breathing even if you 'forget'."

"Damn" The boy interrupted her as he shook his head "Did you really have to give that example? Now I can't stop thinking about breathing"

"Anyway" The girl chose to ignore the comment and continue her explanation as she walked down the stairs to the other side and toward the exit "Calculating so much subconsciously requires training and considerable calculating power"

"And where are you going with this?"

"Isn't it obvious? How are your calculations done?"

"I think we've had a similar conversation before. I thought I made it clear that my Imagine Breaker is not an esper skill"

"That's what you say"

"It's the truth. Your friend confirmed that I don't have an AIM field."

"So you must be using your personal reality in a slightly different way than others"

While the girl remained skeptical, the two teenagers approached the exit, but decided to stop for a moment before leaving. Mugino was still not satisfied with what she had heard so far. It was like crossing a desert for days and finally finding an oasis, only to find that there was not enough water to quench her thirst. Kamijou couldn't decide between trying to convince her that she was wrong, or staying silent and listening to what else she had to say.

"Mugino-san, don't you think you're being a little stubborn?" He ended up opting for the first option.

"I wouldn't call it stubbornness" She protested, walking out of the mirror room finally "I'm just being logical. I mean, how would you react if someone told you magic exists or some shit like that?"

"I obviously wouldn't believe it until I was shown solid proof"

"That's basically what I would do too"

"I'm not saying I have a magic hand.,but it's a fact that I don't possess an AIM field and that Academy City can't identify my ability, so this kind of serves as proof that technically I'm not an esper."

Returning to the outside of the hall of mirrors, the boy waved to the woman in the white dress, while Mugino still tried to counter-argue. The two walked for some time in that small 'city' set up in that park. Kamijou was leading the way, so Mugino was not paying attention to her surroundings, she was letting herself be guided by that boy as she continued to process what she had heard. There had to be a logical explanation behind his power. They passed a scenic house and turned the corner, entering something that would be equivalent to an alley. It was somewhat dark there, but Level 5 was so distracted that she would hardly notice if she was suddenly in total darkness. But something snapped her out of her trance. Just as they entered that 'alley', a hand grabbed her wrist.

"Huh?" The distracted Level 5 didn't even notice when she was lightly pushed, which caused her to touch the alley wall with her back "Kamijou, what the hell..."

Before the girl could complain, an index finger touched her lip, which instantly made her stop talking. The boy looked at her with an indecipherable expression on his face. His right hand still held one of the girl's wrists, and he was for some reason invading her personal space. Mugino's brain seemed to be overheating at that instant, considering that all she could do was stare into those dark blue eyes that were so close to her.

xxxx-xxxx

Somewhere in Academy City, a girl was walking in a carefree manner through the streets of this almost deserted district. She stopped suddenly and leaned her back against a wall. Running a hand through her shocking pink hair, she used her other hand to hold her cell phone. She checked the time and shook her head negatively in an impatient manner. But her attention shifted as soon as she heard echoing footsteps.

"You are almost as punctual as they say" Spoke the girl, without moving away from the wall.

"I had some setbacks"

The person who answered was a dirty blond boy wearing a dark maroon suit unbuttoned, revealing a red V-neck shirt. He walked up to the girl with one hand in his pocket, flashing a rather smug smile. This person was none other than one of the elite espers of Academy City. His name was Kakine Teitoku, #2 Dark Matter.

"Let's cut to the chase" He spoke, stopping a few steps away from the girl "The information you gave me was out of date. Do you have anything to say in your defense?"

In the face of the somewhat threatening tone, the girl did not seem to be intimidated. She waved one hand lazily as she looked up at the night sky in a nonchalant manner.

"That's not my fault. My team was a bunch of useless people. If you want more accurate information, then give me some SCHOOL members, or do it yourself, I really don't care."

At that instant, something appeared from the blond boy's back, and this 'something' flew at alarming speeds towards the girl, like a white flash that seemed to be able to destroy anything in its path. That something was actually a wing, one commonly found on angels, more precisely a seraphim. That was #2's esper ability. That attack was not intended to hurt the girl, but the wall beside her was destroyed as if blown by a strong wind.

"Are you sure this is how you want to play? Aihana Etsu" Kakine seemed slightly irritated by the girl's nonchalant attitude "Even if you are a level 5, you should understand the difference in strength between the two of us. I could kill you without having to lift a finger."

"I have no doubt about it" She said that with sincerity in her voice, but Aihana didn't seem shaken by having a destroyed wall so close to her "But it's not like death threats have any effect on me. After all, why would someone who shouldn't exist in the first place be afraid of death?"

This time the girl decided to look him right in the eye. Those two monsters stared at each other as if they were analyzing each other, while they seemed to fight over who would give in first.

"That girl... Shinseijou if I'm not mistaken, was she defeated by someone from ITEM?" Kakine asked that question with a demanding tone. He made it clear that the warning shots had ended.

"Yes. It was a member of ITEM" The girl crossed her arms at that instant, looking away to the night sky again "They seem to know about the operation. Although I'm not sure how they found out or what their goal is. But does it really matter?"

"Actually yes. I don't need anyone getting in my way. If this continues, the chances of me getting an audience with 'him' will diminish significantly."

"Well... that's not my problem" She shrugged "I'm not an official member of the SCHOOL, so I have no way of knowing exactly what you're planning, but good luck with it" The girl turned to leave, but stopped suddenly as if remembering something "By the way, shouldn't you be somewhere else right now?"

Without saying anything else, the girl started walking through the night streets, without making a single sound. After a few seconds, she took a quick look back, realizing that the boy had already disappeared. She gave a somewhat relieved sigh, clearly she didn't want to be in his presence. The girl with the shocking pink hair turned a corner, entering an alley. She took a good look around, before throwing words to the wind.

"What do you want this time?"

The girl seemed to stare into the void for a moment, until something strange began to happen around her. Aihana Etsu felt light in that instant, almost as if she were walking on fluffy clouds. The very light around her seemed to be distorting.

"You are taking too many detours"

That voice in the alley was like that of a soprano. No, it was more like a child's high-pitched voice, which made it hard to judge whether it was a boy or a girl. Or maybe it was intentionally modified for that purpose. Silence now reigned in that alley, a silence so intense that inexplicably it could hurt the ears. That person with the mysterious voice was right there, leaning against a wall with her arms crossed. The strange thing was that it seemed as if it had been there all along, but the girl's mind had not accepted its presence until now. But accepting the presence of this other person seemed to allow an alternative colorful world to spread around her.

"I was never a pragmatic girl" the girl replied. Her sweet voice was wavering.

That person, wrapped in a veil of calm colors, began to walk toward the girl. There were no gaps below her feet. There could not be. This distorted vision was only an illusion. The unidentifiable figure stopped only two steps away from the girl. After another second of deafening silence the person spoke with his(?) distorted voice.

"I lent you my name for a reason" The voice said, not seeming to display any identifiable emotion "I can't bring justice on my own, so I lent you 'Aihana Etsu'"

"How much more do you intend to repeat that?" The girl looked irritated now

"Until you understand that you can't go around with a borrowed power doing what you want"

"If you're done, I'm leaving" The girl with the borrowed name turned away from those calm colors "I've had enough of you level 5s thinking you're the only ones who can make any difference in this city"

No more words were exchanged. The girl who called herself 'Aihana Etsu' escaped from that colorful maze. She knew that she could not escape from that place alone, but she had full confidence that this person would not try to stop her from doing what she had to do.

xxxx-xxxx

At that moment, Meltdowner forced herself out of that state, but for some reason her body wouldn't move. The boy let go of her wrist and raised his index finger, making an obvious 'Silence' gesture. A confused expression was drawn on her perfect face. The pointy-haired boy shifted his eyes to what was supposed to be the street of that 'city', staring there for a few seconds. What was the boy trying to do?

"How much longer are they going to keep following us?" He said aloud.

Meltdowner was so stunned that it took her a while to understand what Kamijou was trying to say. The boy turned away from the girl, which somehow made her form an expression that was not relief or anything like that. She turned her head toward the street, where Kamijou stood with his arms crossed and a somewhat annoyed face. Forcing her body to move, the Meltdowner walked over to him and aimed her eyes in the direction of where the boy was looking.

"Basically, what were you guys doing?" That high-pitched voice was unmistakable.

"That's not something someone super asks just like that, Frenda" And the other girl also spoke with her notorious verbal tic.

Level 0 and Level 5 were now looking at three girls who looked a little embarrassed, two of them at least. Mugino immediately understood what was going on.

"Are you guys spying on us?" The girl almost screamed, but then she realized something strange "Wait, who are you?"

Maybe it was because of the 'effect' she had just left, but it took her a few moments to realize that the third girl standing there was not a member of ITEM. That girl had long lavender hair with ringed curls and purple eyes. Mugino was sure she had never seen her before.

"Ah, sorry about that, Mugino-san" Who said this was Kamijou, scratching his head "This is my friend, Hokaze Junko. I asked her to meet me here too"

And with those words, Meltdowner narrowed her eyes, as she looked in the direction of the girl who was standing there with a gentle smile on her face.

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Hey,hey, hey… In This chapter we had an interesting "revelation". Those who have read GT2 should already know that the girl with the shocking pink hair was not "Aihana Etsu". In that novel, although Aihana's appearance is not revealed, we do get a vague explanation of how his(?) powers work. That is why when Mugino asks about her power, she simply replies that this is just the best version of herself (to which the name of the chapter refers). The hair color of the girl who is borrowing 'Aihana Etsu' was chosen with this in mind. For those who do not know, the color pink is a kind of "Scientific Impossibility", something that is not supposed to exist. The problem lies in the fact that pink is the result of the combination of the wavelengths purple and red, which are not supposed to mix. This is probably one of the most obscure foreshadowings I have ever written (it doesn't even count as one).

About the Hall of mirrors scene, I reread the entire Touma Vs Fiamma fight and a bit of OT4 to try to explain how Imagine Breaker is supposed to work, I hope it didn't get weird. Do any of you know what kind of symbolism I was trying to do with the mirrors moving? Tarot is an interesting thing.

Now talking a little bit about how I update this story(if anyone is interested). Usually all the chapters for the week are written on the weekends when I am not busy. I usually write 2 or 3 chapters in advance(4 if I feel inspired) and then revise them when I have time left during the week(which isn't much actually), taking the time to write end of chapter notes and respond to comments. That's why sometimes the chapters come out so fast, since smaller chapters take less time to revise. The reason I'm saying this is that the next chapter will take longer than I planned since I'm running out of time due to a small problem.

Time for Reviews:

theporgs0910: Then consider yourself lucky, because here is another chapter. Thank you very much and I'm glad you're excited. The next chapter should take longer than usual, as I have to solve a small problem, but I will try to keep up the pace.

Majin Othinus: Your question was almost answered in this chapter. NT7 is a novel I didn't like initially, but when I reread it I realized how many epic moments it has. Chad Motoharu, Touma taking down a bunch of people with a single lariat, Accelerator being Accelerator, Kakine fighting alongside Touma against Rensa using Accel's power. I guess I have to reread some novels.

Emiyasatou: Aihana Etsu is the almighty BLAU, Kamachi is just embarrassed to admit it. Kamijou is probably the most empathetic person in the entire Toaru universe. Bye xD

Kai: I keep waiting for the triumphant return of that pink bastard.

Zatil Hidayah Spensa: This chapter should have cleared up your doubts. Thank you very much for reading.

DJAA: Kami-yan disease is just unstoppable

Xellos540:Yes, it's the same girl from the Mall. She's just left-handed, nothing to see here LMAO. I can't say much about the pink haired girl without going into spoiler territory. About the cameras, the answer is yes, but not really. Frenda doesn't want to lose to her boss. Hana is the nurse who appeared in the interrogation scene. *Cough... Kami-yan disease... Cough. I post references almost every chapter, I think you missed one about a 'kind' and important talk. Ability Body Crystal (ABC for Kids) was mentioned in a conversation by Uiharu back in chapter 2, she even explains to Touma that a new version is being developed. Shizuri is in denial. Wait, I just developed a reverse Kami-yan disease? Thanks as usual.

And after saying all this, I'll say goodbye for now. What the hell is Kakine planning? Nio Leaving...