Chapter 21 - The burden of proof

"How long do you people intend to treat me like this?"

The mood in that luxury apartment worsened by the moment. That tired and tedious voice echoed in that room but there was no answer. This was a frustrating morning for Gokusai Kaibi, just like the whole day before. The girl in the dress lay down on that couch and began to sigh non-stop, so that at least she would annoy those three girls who were taking turns watching her.

"At least let me watch TV or -"

"Basically, be quiet" Frenda interrupted the other blonde, energetically waving the detonator in her hands.

That little girl was taking no chances. As soon as her shift began, she took one of her bombs and taped it to the back of the spy's dress. If she tried anything, the carpet in the room would be painted bright red.

"You won't do that, we both know" Gokusai said, but even she wasn't sure what she was saying.

"I wouldn't super provoke her now. Frenda likes to kill people, and doing what she likes to get rid of frustrations is therapeutic" Kinuhata warned, sitting on a couch while fiddling with her cell phone.

"You're frustrated? Deal with it" Spat the girl in the dress, trying to put a debauched smile on her face "You two don't scare me. I bet this bomb isn't even lethal. Like you're going to kill someone so important to the guy you like."

"I have nothing left to lose. Basically, he's already made his choice, so keep provoking me and I'll show you my version of drowning in sorrows."

"If that's the case, aren't you too close to a person with a bomb strapped to her body?"

"I don't have to worry about that. I'm not stupid enough to use any bomb that an enemy might take advantage of in that situation. Basically, go ahead and try something." Frenda rattled the detonator a bit to make her point clear. "I've been waiting for this since the day I met you."

Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, the girl in the dress looked off into nothingness as she continued to sigh time after time. She needed to vent some of her frustrations as well, a not very smart move considering she might die in the process.

"My God, you all are a pain in the ass...except you Takitsubo, you're kinda nice" She gave a brief nod to the inexpressive girl.

"Thank you Gokusai, I am still supporting you" Takitsubo didn't even look at her as she said that.

"First this clueless blonde shows up and asks me stupid questions" Gokusai sat up and pointed with her chin at Frenda "And now all of you are treating me like I'm a spy"

"You are a super spy" Kinuhata commented.

"You get it, flat chest"

"Frenda, push the super button. No, hand me the detonator, I'll press it myself."

"That's it, go ahead and kill me. I'll laugh my ass off in hell, and I won't even have to wait long for us to meet again."

Even with the threat to her life, the girl in the dress tried to keep her composure. With her arms crossed, she lifted her chin and struck the best superior pose of all.

"I admit, she has guts" Frenda said, her thumb stroking the red button on that detonator "Basically, tell us what we want to know and I'll get that bomb off your back. What did you talk about with Kakine during our mission?"

That's what it was all about. This was not just a way for Frenda to relieve her frustration after discovering that the boy she liked had chosen her boss over her. When she arrived at the apartment at Touma's request, Kaibi was acting suspiciously. Of course, she was always acting suspicious in the view of everyone there, she was from a rival group after all. However, Frenda went further and confiscated Gokusai's cell phone, discovering that coincidentally she had received a call from Kakine before he fought her team.

"I won't tell you anything until Kamijou arrives. You can blow me up if you want, I hope it's a lot of work to clean up my blood afterwards." This time Gokusai smiled, which made the other blonde grit her teeth.

"You know that acting like this will only super incriminate you. So why don't you just spit it out?" Offense Armor asked, taking the opportunity to sit on the same couch as Frenda to get a better look at the reaction of the girl in the dress.

"Kamijou is the only one I trust, so I will wait until he recovers and I will explain my situation to him"

"If you super survive until then"

"I already said you don't scare me, super flat boobs"

Those two girls not blessed with large breasts were reaching their limits. If that level 0 didn't show up soon, that bomb would be the least of that petulant spy's problems.

xxxx-xxxx

Meanwhile, in a District 7 hospital, a spiky-haired boy had just woken up, but he kept wondering if he wasn't dreaming or trapped in an illusion inside his own perverted high school boy's mind.

"She really slept holding onto me" He said in a whisper, looking at the girl who used him as a 'body pillow' "Shizuri? Hey... Shizuri-chan, time to wake up"

Shaking the girl gently while whispering her name, the boy delicately removed a lock of hair from his girlfriend's face, who was sleeping helplessly next to him.. She was not wearing one of the hospital's pajamas, but a similar outfit that she had been wearing the day he had come to her room, which meant that her legs were generously exposed. To make matters worse, one of these long legs was on top of the boy at this very moment.

"Now I realize that I made a big mistake" He tried to move away from the girl, but at the same instant he moved she held him even tighter.

"Don't try to run away...you said I could ask for whatever I want" Shizuri's voice was sleepy, and her eyes were still closed. "That's it, now let this Shizuri-chan show you how it's done"

"Is she dreaming?"

Touma watched her as she continued to breathe with her mouth open. Her lips curved at that moment and she gripped him so tightly that he was barely able to breathe. It didn't help that the boy was now staring at those breasts that went up and down as the girl breathed irregularly.

"Seriously, that was a terrible idea..." He quickly turned his face away, but his brain played a trick on him and his peripheral vision was still focused on that region moving constantly "Shizuri, I need you to wake up now. This Kamijou-san is starting to have strange thoughts..."

"No...I won't stop. You're only mine now... all mine" The sleeptalking girl let a giggle escape.

"It really stimulates the imagination" Touma gave up moving away from her and simply began to fix her messy hair.

"Touma... Touma... you love me?"

"Yes, I love you, you sadistic sleep talker" He replied to the girl trapped in the dream world, which made her respond with a smile.

"You are so amazing...Wow, you are too bold...I'm not complaining...you can keep kissing me, when my turn comes I won't hold back"

"Oh yeah, so you like it when I'm bold?" He leaned toward her and kissed the girl on the forehead, just to see if she reacted in her dreams.

"Yes... don't hold back either... you said you wouldn't keep me waiting any longer..."

"Are you sure about that?" For some reason he wanted to tease her even while she was sleeping. "Something tells me you will back off when you see my full potential."

"It's not funny...you smartass...my boyfriend is a smartass"

"And you love that don't you?"

"Of course... you're perfect... perfect... perfect for me... I wish I had known you before... all those people that I -"

Touma hugged her tightly upon hearing this. The girl had stopped smiling, as her lips trembled now. Her mouth searched for oxygen before she continued speaking in her dream.

"Why did I have to turn into a monster?...all those fake smiles...everyone hates me...I just did what they expected of me..."

"It's all right. I'm by your side now" Touma touched her trembling lips with his index finger, which made the girl smile again.

"Only you understand me... only you will stand by me until the end... I am so happy... I... finally... I... you and I... happy..."

Her smile widened and the girl threw her body on top of his. Her lips almost touched Touma's as she continued to breathe with her mouth open. The spiky-haired boy didn't even know what he was supposed to do anymore, so like a good body pillow, he stayed still. The boy's self-control was being forced like a rope in a tug-of-war. For several seconds he stood there, while the girl dangerously tilted her head and almost accidentally kissed him. Just as the boy was about to close his eyes to keep from seeing this tempting scene, Shizuri suddenly opened her eyes. She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes with her hand, which Touma found incredibly cute.

"Good morning, did you sleep well?" He asked, gently pulling her away so that she laid her head on his chest.

"Good morning. I don't think I've slept this well in years" She answered in a sleepy voice, as she closed her eyes and searched for the most comfortable position to nestle her head on her boyfriend's chest. "Your skills as a body pillow are sublime. I think you have cured the pain I feel in my back"

"Do you get pain in your back? Something to do with 'work'?" He asked curiously, forgetting that his girlfriend was barely in the waking world.

"No, it's just gravity doing its work on my huge breasts"

"Eek!" he almost jumped out of bed hearing the girl say that in her sleepy voice. "Shizuri, you know I'm..."

"You're my boyfriend" She interrupted, starting to speak more like an awake person "So I'm thinking of revealing some secrets to you. Take advantage while I'm barely awake and in a good mood and ask me some embarrassing questions, I'll answer them all truthfully"

"Shizuri, that is a tempting offer, but I don't want to see you regret it when you are no longer groggy from sleep"

"Are you sure? I thought it would be interesting if you tried to embarrass me. I'll think of another reward then. You are a little hard to please sometimes."

"What are you talking about? Seeing you happy is enough to please me."

"I say the same, so ask me a question you think the answer will make you happy, so I'll be happy too" The Level 5 smiled discreetly, but the boy couldn't see her face at that instant.

"Okay, so... during our mission I heard something interesting. Is it true that you sleep hugging a stuffed doll?"

"Damn you Frenda. I meant to tell this the next time I took you in my room" Now she had become slightly grumpy.

Unlike Meltdowner, the level 0 boy now displayed a huge smile on his face. For some reason, he found it amazing that such a mature looking girl was sleeping with a doll. Kamijou Touma's thought patterns were a mystery sometimes.

"Ohoo...now that's interesting. So the tough, scary girl likes dolls? Your DereDere side was there all along. So much wasted potential."

"Smartass. I don't know how that counts as DereDere. I did a little research on the archetype, and being cute is not enough" She revealed casually, not knowing that was a bombshell.

"Wait...you didn't say that. Why on earth are you taking an interest in this kind of thing?"

"Simple, I don't know jack shit about romance, so I thought if I delved into the things you like it would be a good start for you to like me more. I hope you like my version of romance."

"I'm an idiot" He affirmed out of nowhere "Why did it take me so long to tell you that I like you?"

"You didn't take that long. I also took a long time to confess, so much so that it was you who took the initiative. On second thought, I'll put the blame on your misfortune. If you do it all the time, then why not me?"

"That wasn't very DereDere. If you're getting in a bad mood, go back to sleep, your somnambulism is really cute"

As usual, the blue-eyed boy talked too much. That revelation made Shizuri pull her head away from his chest and look intently into that bluish darkness.

"Did I get out of bed and walk around or did I just talk in my sleep?" The girl was just curious, which puzzled Touma.

"You just said some embarrassing things" He revealed, trying to remain serious but failing immediately.

"What kind of embarrassing things?" Shizuri opened one of her teasing smiles.

"Why do you seem excited about this? Be normal for once in your life and be embarrassed. Come on, I want to see shades of red on that cheek."

"You already made me blush once, it won't happen again." She noticed the boy opening his mouth to say something "Before you ask, it was during our mission. Forget about it and tell me what I was talking about in my sleep."

"Well... it seemed like you were dreaming about me" He began, a little embarrassed at the girl nodding for him to continue "My self from your dream apparently said he would do anything you asked and..." He hesitated for a moment.

"And… what? Go on, don't keep me waiting"

"You... did what you wanted, I guess"

"Hmmm... that's a bit vague" Her reaction was also quite different from what he expected "There are so many things I want to do with you. This dream lasted for what? Hundreds of hours?"

Her smile now became mischievous. She did what she liked to do with him, bringing her face close until their lips were almost touching, and then stopped, breathing heavily next to him. Touma was now sure that this was some kind of game she had invented. It was as if they were 'trading' kisses like a turn-based RPG, since she didn't do that when it was her 'turn'. If that was the case, then he would play along. The boy knew how competitive this girl was, so he would bring the war to her.

"You said more things too" Touma also started to smile. He wrapped his arms around the girl before continuing "If I remember correctly, you said you liked it when I was bold. Now is a good time for me to imitate my self from your dream"

Unfortunately he wouldn't, not today, as an annoying noise of someone knocking on the bedroom door interrupted him. His misfortune was being very nice lately, so obviously it would hit him at the worst possible moment. But at least what got in their way was someone knocking on the door, not breaking in and catching them in the middle of it all.

"Such Misfortune"

"Such Misfortune"

It was the fault of both of them for thinking that no one would ever interrupt them in a hospital in the middle of visiting hours.

"That was predictable. I swear I'm going to rent one of those nuclear bunkers when we get out of here," Shizuri said, fixing her messy hair.

"I don't understand what makes you think that's enough, but I'll let you dream" The boy covered the girl with the bed blanket.

"Hey, what are you doing -"

"You are not allowed to be here, so be quiet" He made her stay as close to him as possible to be convincing "Come in"

From the open door, two girls emerged. One of them was a little girl with black hair and a headband of flowers, while the other had lavender hair arranged in curls and wore the uniform of the Tokiwadai Middle School.

"Hello Kamijou-Kun. Sorry for not coming sooner" Uiharu Kazari waved to the boy covered up to his neck by the sheets and frowned. "Did I come at a bad time?"

"No. What makes you think that?" He smiled nervously.

Five seconds of conversation and his friend was already suspicious. The big problem there was the fact that Shizuri was fondling the boy's chest under the sheets. She never intended to hide in the first place after all. The Level 0 could imagine her smiling in that instant as she slowly ran her hands over his body.

"Hi Kamijou-sama" Hokaze Junko entered the conversation, much to Touma's relief "I came to wish you well. The queen asked me to bring this to you."

"Ah... thank you. That's very kind of her."

Hokaze approached the bed with a small fruit basket in her hand. She took one of the stools that were in the room and sat down beside the boy's bed.

"She also said that I failed as a friend by not getting permission to visit you earlier, so I must repair my mistake by feeding you myself"

"Ouch" Touma shivered slightly as he felt a pinch in his side. Someone was not happy with that kind of apology.

"Is something wrong Kamijou-sama? Do your injuries still hurt?" The worried girl tilted her head with confusion on her face.

"Something tells me the problem is not the injuries" Uiharu affirmed, looking at that scene still standing. She approached from the other side of the bed, opposite Hokaze.

"So maybe he has a cold. That must be why he is all covered up, which is unusual." Hokaze added.

The innocent girl began to peel an apple, while Uiharu looked with suspicious eyes at an inflated region next to Touma.

"No, he's fine. Idiots don't catch colds." joked Uiharu, but her tone was dry.

"Funny as always, Uiharu-san" He retorted, rolling his eyes "It's true that this Kamijou-san is an idiot, but my misfortune cancels out the cold cancellation. It's kind of having the worst of both worlds."

"Your misfortune is not so bad lately in my humble opinion. But mine is only getting worse. Not only have I been so busy with everything that's going on in the city, but my friend has suddenly fallen ill and now I have to take care of her as well."

"Are you talking about Saten? I hope it's nothing serious."

"Don't worry, she's been to the doctor and it doesn't seem to be a big deal. She just needs some rest" The girl looked away as she said that. Touma narrowed his eyes at that strangeness "So, I did what you asked me to do last night, although I'm not sure it was a good idea"

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to your opinion before asking for someone else's help. I just thought it would be a good idea to take this burden off your shoulders since you've been so busy."

"I don't know what this is about, but Kamijou-sama is right" Hokaze commented cheerfully, cutting a piece of the apple and bringing it closer to Touma's mouth "You work too hard Uiharu-san, much more so after the recent cases"

Touma was in a dilemma now. He wanted to accept the piece of apple because his kind friend seemed to be making an effort and he didn't want to disappoint her, but his sadistic girlfriend would not be at all happy to know that he was fed by a girl other than her. After pondering for two seconds that seemed like hours, he decided he had a simple solution for this. Instead of accepting her feeding him, he moved the arm that was covered by the sheets very carefully, so as to avoid revealing the hidden girl, and took the piece of apple with his fingertips, serving himself to try to avoid the big problem of the moment.

"Hmm... very good" He said chewing the fruit, leaving Hokaze satisfied "Ouch... ouch"

There was a flaw in his plan, of course. The girl under the covers had the power to destroy things with electrons, not see through solid objects. She probably hadn't noticed the boy's clever movement, so from her point of view, a girl had just fed her boyfriend, in her presence on top of that. The girl's attack began with a pinch on his arm and then a poke in his ribs.

"Huh? What's the matter Kamijou-Kun?" Uiharu looked at him with cold eyes when he asked that question "Are you enjoying being fed by a girl that much that you can't hold back?"

"I'm not being fed I -" He stopped after the flurry of blows to his ribs that had not yet recovered from the other assault "Damn, you did that on purpose Uiharu"

"What are you talking about?" The little girl lowered the temperature of her gaze "For a moment you made me believe that you are hiding something"

Meanwhile, a confused Hokaze Junko continued to try to feed the high school boy who was having conflicting thoughts at this point. Another piece of apple was offered, and once again the boy held it between his fingers.

"Hey Kamijou-kun, can I try this apple too? It looks tasty" Uiharu asked mischievously.

"Yes, of course" His hand moved to deliver the piece of apple, but only then did he realize his mistake, stopping midway.

"Um... you stopped a little earlier. I guess I have to bite the piece of apple on your fingers myself. That's fine."

It was not fine, not at all. Mugino Shizuri reached her limit when she heard the audacity of that girl who was using her little screen time in the wrong way. The Level 5 would not lose, she had a reputation to uphold after all.

"That's enough" Shizuri almost screamed at the top of her lungs as she pushed the sheet off her and kicked it with her typical violence. "You think I'm going to let you feed a girl in my fucking presence? I'm not into this NTR bullshit"

After declaring this and scaring the two girls, Shizuri took the piece of apple from the boy's hand using her lips and swallowed it without even chewing. The Meltdowner had such a dark aura around her that Uiharu took several steps towards the door, but stopped when Shizuri's icy brown eyes stopped on her.

"Ah... you're the girl that day at the Mall" Shizuri tilted her head in a threatening manner as she uttered those words in a lifeless tone "Uiharu... your name was also on that list. Hey you, Tokiwadai girl, hand me that knife "

Hokaze remained confused when that scary girl revealed her hiding place and started saying things she had no knowledge of. But as usual, she failed to read her surroundings and extended the hand that held that sharp object towards Shizuri. Foreseeing the worst, Touma was quicker and took the knife himself.

"Shizuri, I need you to calm down" He asked, moving the knife as far away from his irritated girlfriend as possible. "It was all a joke of hers I don't -"

"Give me the damn knife" She was so serious that Touma almost handed over the knife out of pure survival instinct.

"Look, if you calm down..." Touma had to stop talking when Shizuri tried to take the knife out of his hands, however he pulled his hand away in time.

"I have an extra knife with me. Here" Hokaze announced, handing the second knife to Shizuri, who was too quick for someone still injured.

"Hokaze, no!" Unfortunately he didn't make it in time.

"There. Now you and your friend don't have to fight anymore" The girl from Tokiwadai smiled satisfied that she had 'solved' the problem.

"Hokaze-chan, you are my best friend now... hehe... hehe... hehehehehe" That muffled laugh from Shizuri made Touma almost drop his own knife.

"I think your friend likes to cut fruit Kamijou-sama" Said the naive girl, handing an apple to Shizuri.

"You're on the right track, Hokaze-chan... hehe... hehe..."

At that moment, Touma looked at her short, black-haired friend, who was still in the room for some reason, and put a worried look on his face. His lips moved, although no words were spoken. Uiharu was smart enough to read his lips and understand a single word: Run.

"Time to do some damage" Shizuri announced, which made Touma turn his attention to her and realize that she had cut off a piece of the apple that was in her hands.

"Huh?"

Shizuri's movement began with her putting the piece of apple in her mouth and holding it with her lips. Before Touma could react, the girl brought her face closer and gently pushed the piece of apple into the boy's mouth, pushing the food with her tongue, thus almost making their lips touch. The Level 5 was pleased to turn around and see the drooping chin and the perplexed expression on the face of the flower girl, who was blushing at this scene unexpected by her.

"By the way Touma, that doesn't count as a kiss, so it's still your turn" That wasn't just a reminder, it was a suggestion too, since the girl again invaded his personal space by saying that.

"Shizuri... that would be crossing the line a bit" He stated, turning his face away in the direction of his level 4 friend sitting beside the bed, who was still very calm about the whole thing.

"Kamijou-kun, I need to get some fresh air." Said Uiharu, hurrying out the door still with a red tinge adorning her cheeks.

"Uiharu wait, we still have important things to talk about"

Touma got out of bed in one leap and ran after his friend who had suffered critical damage after that sneak attack. Shizuri didn't even try to stop him, she just sighed and looked in the direction of the lavender haired girl who kept a confused expression during most of this interaction. The Level 5 sat on the edge of the bed, opened one of the drawers of the bedside table, and pulled out a clipboard.

"So... your name is Hokaze Junko right?" The older girl flipped through it a few times and made a somewhat surprised face "Your name is not on the list... that's a little strange"

"List? What are you talking about Mugino-san?" Hokaze put the fruit basket aside and tilted his body to look at the clipboard.

"Maybe you are immune to this disease? Hard to believe. The other option would be brainwashing, but I doubt that's it either" She placed her index finger on her temple as she watched the girl get more and more confused "Hokaze, will you allow me to ask you a few questions?"

"I don't see a problem with that"

"Good. You must have known Touma for a while, haven't you?" She began, watching the girl nod her head "When you're around him, do you ever feel your heart race?"

"Yes, why?"

"Don't worry about that now. Next question, do you feel different when you are in his company?"

"Well... yes, I mean, could you be more specific?"

"Do you feel things you don't usually feel when you're away from him? Like you get lighter, or smile more than usual, or like your feminine instincts activate?"

"Yes to the first two things, but I didn't quite understand what you mean by the third"

"I'm going to guess that you are a little more naive than average then. The last question would be answered the same way so there is no point in asking it" Shizuri turned the clipboard over to her and handed her a pen "I don't know how your name is written so please sign here"

"OK" Hokaze just smiled as she picked up the clipboard and wrote her name on one of the blank lines. "There are only female names here... ah, I understand now, this is the list of your friends"

"You'd better keep thinking that, Touma wouldn't want me to spoil that purity" The older girl shrugged and took back the list with the names of the girls who lost "I don't know how long it will take them to get back and I'm not an expert at playing small talk, so how about we play some cards?"

Leaving Hokaze with a crooked smile on her face, Shizuri stood up and picked up a board from a chair in the corner of the room. The Tokiwadai maiden recognized that game immediately.

"It's the gekota game!" exclaimed Hokaze, excited about it for some reason.

"Huh? What the hell is a Gekota, a Deck of sorts?"

"Check this out"

The Tokiwadai maiden reached into her pocket and pulled out a full deck of cards from the game Shizuri was getting addicted to. The younger girl spread some cards on the bed for the tea-colored girl to take a look at what she was trying to say.

"Why are there so many frogs? They don't seem as strong as Touma's dragons" Shizuri stated, looking at that rather bizarre deck. "Some kind of synergy maybe?"

"Correct. This game is popular among us Gekoers because of the amount of promotional Gekota cards. My goal is to collect all of them to be the first to get the big Egyptian gold Gekota" There were stars in the girl's eyes now.

"Hmm... apparently it's the same frog that Railgun seems to like. Tokiwadai girls and their quirks. Anyway, let's get on with it. Let's see how good this Gekota fellow is."

xxxx-xxxx

In the corridors of the hospital, Kamijou Touma was chasing his friend who had been hit by Meltdowner's attack. She only finally slowed down when the two were at the reception desk.

"Uiharu, wait" Touma stepped into the path of the little girl who was still slightly blushing "Why are you acting like this? You're one of the responsibles for all this, so don't be childish" The boy tried to keep his voice as low as possible and a neutral tone as he spoke.

"Honestly, I'm beginning to regret ever having that conversation. What was I thinking anyway? You were right, it's a totally different case from Mitsuari-san"

"Don't start talking about her, please" He got a little irritated hearing that name "And don't give me that regret thing. You and Kaibi did the right thing, thank you very much by the way "

"So it's official. Kamijou Touma has a girlfriend. It's a little weird to say that out loud."

"Yeah. A level 5 on top of that. Sometimes it doesn't even seem real."

"It even looks like this is what you've been waiting for all this time. Your standards are incredibly high" Uiharu joked, becoming calmer and sitting down in one of the reception chairs.

"Yeah, yeah. I would never date a low level girl, it would tarnish my image as a high level esper" Touma said sarcastically. He sat down in one of the chairs next to her "Now seriously, did you talk to Kaibi?"

Uiharu looked around before answering that question. She carefully removed her Smartphone from the pocket of her school uniform and started typing something. Touma meanwhile discreetly checked to make sure there was no one suspicious around.

"Her cell phone was turned on again, but turned off soon after" Uiharu revealed, picking up a headset and plugging it into her cell phone "Listen to this"

This time it was Sakugawa's girl who began to look around. What she wanted him to listen to was a high quality voice recording that contained the voices of Gokusai and the other girls on it.

"Bomb? What the hell? So that's why Frenda hasn't given any relevant news since when she came back to the apartment" Spoke the boy softly just for Uiharu to hear "They think Kaibi betrayed us."

"If she really did talk to Kakine during the mission, there is a chance that her position as a spy has been compromised."

"Shit, you're right. I have to fix this soon" Touma removed the headset from his ear and held his head with both hands.

"Why do I get the impression that you have another one of your crazy plans in your head?"

"Your presumptions are correct as always. Shizuri will not like what I have in mind at all."

"In the end, she'll support you, I'm sure of it" The flower girl gave him a supportive pat on the back "For now, it's better to focus on solving the more urgent situation."

"I hope the situation is not as bad as it seems. I told Kaibi to only use her powers in emergencies. I wonder if she is already using them. If she gets careless...I don't even want to think about what might happen." He sighed and stared at the perfectly clean floor of that hospital. ""Seriously Miss Fortune? Haven't even had breakfast yet. My luck continues to be as rotten as ever"

xxxx-xxxx

"Is that all these frogs have?" Shizuri laughed out loud as she saw the defeated expression of the Tokiwadai girl.

"Impossible. I've never lost a match before, not even to Misaka-san." Hokaze, on the other hand, was having an existential crisis at this point as she held her deck almost in tears.. "Why did you fail me Gekota? No, what I'm saying. I'm the failure here... I don't deserve this deck."

" Don't go starting to cry. What's so great about those silly frogs anyway? What a clueless deck ."

That Level 5 had stepped into a minefield now. A vein jumped on Hokaze's forehead for just an instant, until she took a deep breath to try to restrain her violent urges.

"Mugino-san, you are a great friend of Kamijou-sama, so I will let it go this time" The lavender haired girl forced a smile.

"I'm actually his girlfriend, if it wasn't already clear" Shizuri smiled quietly as she saw the girl tilt her head to the side in surprise. She gathered her Deck and started shuffling, ready for another match. "By the way, may I ask why you use 'Sama' when talking about him?"

The girl with curly hair pondered for quite a while before answering Shizuri's question. To try to disguise her reluctance, she also began shuffling her Deck.

"I have a great reason for that" She replied after long seconds in silence "He is without a doubt the second person I admire the most. Obviously the first is my Queen, who seems to have great interest in him as well"

"Your Queen?"

"Yes, Shokuhou Misaki" She replied quickly and full of excitement "She is the leader of the largest clique in all of Tokiwadai and also #5 level 5, Mental Out. She is the perfect Queen who takes care of all of us, an untouchable being, a Goddess among mortals, a..."

"Yeah, I get it" Shizuri sighed, regretting asking "But what about Touma? Why do you admire him so much?"

"Simple, he saved me and the Queen more than once" She revealed casually, placing her deck on the board "By the way, our clique did some research out of sheer curiosity, and we found out that Kamijou-sama has known the Queen longer than we expected, which is a little strange"

"How long are we talking about?"

"About a year"

Shizuri was in shock at that instant, but she did not show it on her face. The tea-colored girl thought she had been the first level 5 Touma had met, since he had told her that Railgun met him a little after her, but that was never the case. Now she had to know what kind of relationship this 'queen' had with her boyfriend whom she had known for much longer.

"You said that #5 seems to have great interest in him. What kind of interest are we talking about here?" Questioned #4, pulling out the initial cards from her Deck.

"The romantic kind of course" She replied without even blinking, as she casually put her first card on the field. She even sounded like a different person at that moment.

Shizuri's perception of time was altered momentarily. She had expected that kind of response, but what was unexpected was to see that girl say it so naturally. It was level 5's turn now.

"You seem to be absolutely sure of that" Shizuri stated, using one of her cards focused on doing as much damage as possible to gain the lead "It's a shame for your queen. Losing that easily doesn't suit a Goddess among humans"

"She hasn't lost yet" Answered the girl smiling awkwardly, placing several cards on the field at once "If I've learned anything for all this time I've been serving her, it's that in the end, Shokuhou Misaki always gets what she wants. She still has a lot of resources that she can use after all."

"If that's true, then she should have used those resources a little earlier. I bet she's not even his type, that's why they're not together even after so long" Shizuri made another aggressive move, using an area damage card to deal with all the summoned frogs at once.

"I don't think that's the problem" In her turn, Hokaze put a frog driving a motorcycle on the field "My Queen has a perfect face and body, I doubt Kamijou-sama won't be attracted to her"

"So what's the problem? She happens to be a Tsundere who can't be honest even with a gun to her head?"

"That's not the case either" Hokaze was at a dead end. Her cards didn't seem to lead her anywhere. She would lose soon. "Maybe she's just waiting for the right moment. They usually meet quite often. It's only a matter of time before my Queen wins her prince."

"You do know this 'prince' has already been won, don't you?"

Annoyed, Shizuri stopped holding back and used her combo that was once useless against those Dragons, but was more than enough to deal with those frogs that barely had life points. Hokaze's eyes moistened at seeing what she admires so much being defeated so easily.

"Why? Gekota is supposed to be unbeatable. You must have cheated" She gave a cute pout at that instant.

"That's a lot of confidence coming from someone with a deck that is a piece of garbage"

"Mugino... san" The girl seemed about to activate her Rampage Dress as she saw her beloved Gekota being insulted again "I'm a little thirsty, if you'll excuse me"

"There's a vending machine in the hallway" Shizuri warned, watching the girl stand up with clenched fists.

As Meltdowner gathered her deck, loud sounds of violence were heard coming from the hallway.

"What the fuck?" Meltdowner was already getting up to see what looked like a car accident happening in a hospital.

"I'm back, sorry for the delay" The girl from Tokiwadai had a pure smile on her face as she handed Shizuri one of the cans of soda she brought with her "The machine was malfunctioning, so I had to punch it a few times to get it working again"

"I see. But I don't know if punching vending machines suits a Tokiwadai Maiden."

xxxx-xxxx

"Say aaaaaah" Frenda said, about to 'force-feed' the girl in the dress.

In that instant, the blonde spy was tied to a chair with duct tape all over her body. The ITEM apartment would soon become a torture dungeon if it were up to that little foreign girl. Gokusai Kaibi continued to play tough for more than an hour, while Frenda wondered if it wasn't better to just get it over with and call someone to clean up the mess.

"Come on, open your little mouth. Basically, you have no choice" Frenda almost forced that 'food' down her throat "Now be a good little lady and eat your breakfast"

"Frenda, don't you super think you're going too far?" Kinuhata asked, adjusting the sling on her broken arm. "If she swallows that bomb it will be a problem."

"I don't give a shit" The blonde began to tie duct tape over the mouth of the poor girl who was almost choking on a bomb "Basically, I need to release my frustrations on someone. Kami-Kun will forgive me when he realizes I did the right thing"

"I care about this girl as much as you do, but I doubt that super Kami-chan would approve of something like this"

"She's right Frenda" Takitsubo stood up from where he was on the couch and began to untie the captive girl "That's going too far"

"Since when are you two so boring? Basically, have you guys forgotten everything we've done so far?" She raised her tone of voice and started swinging the detonator in her small hands "Don't tell me you think you have salvation just because we're doing good things now. We are the villains here, nothing and no one is going to change that. Not even him. Takitsubo, stop what you're doing or I'm going to push the button."

"No, you will not" Kinuhata had enough and advanced towards Frenda, snatching the detonator from her hands. "You have completely lost control. It's one thing to threaten her and scare her into telling us the truth, but now you just super want to kill her for temporary pleasure."

"Quiet. We're all sure here that bitch in the dress is responsible for you having a broken arm. Basically, she betrayed us... no, she was never on our side in the first place."

"You won't super kill her, not while I'm here" Offense Armor sounded incredibly serious. She had her guard up now.

"Give me the detonator, Kinuhata. It is my first and last warning."

The blonde girl also got serious and got into a fighting stance. One of her hands slid to the back of her skirt, picking up a small grenade that appeared to be a stun grenade used by Anti-Skill.

"What do you super intend to do if I refuse? Blow me up? Shoot me? How scary!"

"Don't tease me" She used her other hand to grab a knife that was stuck in the back of her skirt. "We both live and fight together for a long time. Basically, you think I never thought of anything that would be effective against you?"

Kinuhata took a step back at that moment. Her Offense Armor was a powerful defensive skill based on the reflection of Accelerator itself, the stronger esper. However, the bob-cut girl knew that her shield was not impenetrable. Frenda always boasted that with enough information, she would be able to fight on equal footing with high level espers using her combat proficiency, traps and advanced technology to compensate for the lack of a power. But the level 4 was not afraid.

"It's a super bluff" Offense Armor said casually, stowing the detonator in her sweater dress "Even if you have come up with some weird technology that is effective against my ability, the chances of having it with you at all times are super zero"

"Basically, keep thinking like that, it will be easier that way"

The foreign girl took a courageous step forward. She brought the hand that held the grenade to the front of her body, showing off that item that Kinuhata didn't know exactly what it was. It might look like something as simple as a stun grenade, but various pieces of equipment could be camouflaged to look like something completely different, so Offense Armor remained cautious.

"I wonder how well you can fight and use your power with a broken arm" Frenda began to deftly pass the small modern looking knife between her slender fingers "Basically, I have the advantage here"

Understanding that her 'friend' was not joking, Kinuhata took a deep breath and looked in the direction of the two other girls. Takitsubo was finishing taking off the tape holding Measure Heart, who still had one bomb in her mouth and another attached to her back.

"Takitsubo, get her out of here, super fast" Shouted Offense Armor desperately "Take her to Mugino's room, break down the door if you have to. Use the emergency exit if the worst happens"

No time was lost. The inexpressive girl finished removing the tape that held Gokusai's hands and feet, grabbed her by the wrist, and ran out dragging the girl, still taped over her mouth. She preferred not to try to remove the bombs stuck to her because there was a chance that they would activate themselves when the adhesive part of them was forcibly removed. It was a small chance, but it was Frenda she was talking about here. If she was right, that would be the end of the girl in the dress.

"It's just the two of us now. It's not too late to super surrender" Spoke the bob-cut girl, already preparing the first blow.

"You know, it's strange that you are protecting her so hard. Basically, you really don't want to let him down" Frenda put on a terrifying smile at that moment "You fell in love with him that much just because of the film knowledge he must have learned in a day? That's pathetic."

"I don't want to super hear that from someone who only likes him because he saved your ass. You're too stupid to understand even if I explained my reasons."

"Don't give me that shit. Basically, you're just a stupid bitch with a brain screwed up by a failed experiment."

"Your brain is even more screwed up than mine, and you didn't even super need an experiment for that" Kinuhata spat, clenching both fists "Your obsession with taking lives is even worse than Mugino. Working with you is always a mess because of it. Consider yourself lucky that I've decided I won't kill anyone else from now on."

No more words were exchanged. The two girls moved at the same time, seeking to end this fight in their own way. The time had come for the two to settle their differences once and for all.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hello! In this week's chapter, Touma and Shizuri's adventures in a hospital room continue. And the rest of ITEM is going crazy over a spy who is too brave for her own good.

As you may have noticed, some things don't line up with the canonical story when it comes to Junko. In this story of mine, Touma met Junko at the same 'shrine' they meet in the novels (That kinda counts), but about a year earlier, so a lot changes because of this.

About Frenda and Kinuhata, the dynamic of them always arguing was a build up to this moment. There is a quote by Frenda that defines part of her personality very well "In that instant, when you take a life, it feels like I have conquered their destiny. Basically... It's as if they were born only to be killed by me." I think trying to kill someone she thinks betrayed them just to take out her frustrations, is something that suits her character. What do you think?

Now we come to the reviews:

emiyasatou: Um… Kinda ominous LOL

xellos540: The creator is from Academy City. Tou-chan is kinda approved by a certain clone. Shizuri is not the most sensible person in the world. She gave him more Ability Body Crystal, since Takitsubo needs it to use her powers better. This will be a mystery for a long time to come. That about 'purity' is something taken from the canon, NT18 to be exact. 'Aihana' as well as her group is an expert in information, and her power is very useful for obtaining this kind of thing, that's why she knows so much. The explanation for this is 'Hippocratic Oath', or rather: He is Heaven Canceller, he doesn't give a damn. Thanks as always for the detailed reviews

Majin Othinus: Thank you. I can't tell you how many chapters this fic will have in total, but this arc will have about 27, and I have planned 3 more arcs after this one, but they will be shorter than this introductory arc. This idea of yours is very interesting, I could even write along with this fic, can we talk by PM later about details?

Toumafukoda: I'm glad you liked it.

DemYoRight11: 'Aihana' is a pushy girl. Unfortunately for Aleister, his plans never succeed. Uiharu found out about it in this chapter, poor girl.

5queso: Thank you. I really enjoy making these references. I appreciate that you liked the girl's ability that doesn't exist. It will be a while before Touma fights again, he needs to rest a bit more before he goes back to the hospital again LOL.

By the way, for those who don't know, the card game 'Witch & Psychic' it's not something I made up for this fic( this again?), it actually exists in the novels, but I have taken some liberties since we barely know any information about it. There is nothing else to see here. Nio leaving.