Chapter 31 - Stars of the long night.

The walk back to the apartment was disconcerting. Touma kept looking around with a worried face, occasionally glancing at the cell phone screen in his hand as if waiting for something.

It seemed that what April had done to Takitsubo was not limited to her alone. District 7 was filled with ambulances. People were running around in desperation, trying to save their lives from that invisible disease that was spreading through the city.

"I should go to the hospital." Touma said hesitantly as he entered the apartment.

"I know what you're thinking. Takitsubo will be fine, just relax a little."

Holding his face tenderly, Shizuri leaned in to kiss him, but Touma turned his face, forcing her to stop midway. She was trying hard to make her boyfriend's mind focus on things other than his faults, but it was difficult when he remained indifferent to her affections.

"There must be something I can do," he insisted, starting to walk in circles in the living room. "What was the name of the project? April something."

"April's Fools. But that should be irrelevant."

"What makes you think that?"

"She was winding us up. I'm sure almost nothing she said is useful."

Shizuri wasn't really sure about that. It was obvious that girl was just buying time, but much of what she said could help them understand what she was planning. But in this instant, the level 5 felt that insisting on this would only make the boy feel worse, and she couldn't stand to see him like that. Those trembling hands, the distant look. None of it was right for this boy. She wanted to see him smile, to hear his unfunny jokes, she wanted him to tease her, to make her forget the rest of the world.

"I think you're right," he said, stopping walking in circles. "But that only makes the situation worse. What leads should we follow then?"

"None. You said yourself that we can't go after her yet. Let's just wait a little while."

"I can't just stand by and do nothing."

"You can...and you will." She reached up and held his face with both hands. "As your girlfriend, I'm not going to let you keep hurting yourself. That's not getting us anywhere."

"Shizuri..."

"You're not going to convince me, so don't even try."

Touma sighed tiredly. He removed the girl's hands from his face, but continued to hold them. Shizuri knew that he was still thinking about doing something stupid, so she decided to speak up before he could.

"I'll help you with anything you need, but I'd rather you sit down for a while and relax. Can you do this for me?" She smiled faintly.

"You're playing dirty." He tried to look away, but it was hard to ignore that smile. It calmed him, even if only a little. "I'm a terrible boyfriend, aren't I? I'm sorry."

"I don't know how you came to that mistaken conclusion, but this is even worse than before. Didn't you hear what I said earlier?" Shizuri had to bite her lip to contain her irritation.

"I love this, you know?" Touma on instinct held her face.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"When you bite your lip. I don't know why but I feel... weird every time you do."

"Hmm... now this conversation is going in the direction I want. You mean like this?" She bit her lip harder this time and then let go very slowly, maintaining eye contact the whole time.

"Yeah...you should have used that technique that day when you wanted me to kiss you in the kitchen. Maybe I would have taken the hint. We should cook together more often in the future."

"That would be great. I even bought a cute apron with a bear print on it."

"Are you serious?" His eyes seemed to sparkle at that instant.

"Don't underestimate my DereDere side. It's good to think of interesting recipes to compensate for my effort and dedication." An idea popped into Shizuri's head at that moment. "Hmm... that reminded me of something I bought."

Her boyfriend seemed to be starting to forget the trouble they were in, so she wanted to speed up that process a little. It was obvious what they needed.

Holding his hand, she guided him into the dining room. She left Touma sitting at the small table where they used to eat breakfast and then went into the kitchen. In one of the cupboards, she had stored an item that her boyfriend had mentioned while they were cooking. Remembering that day when Touma moved into the apartment made her happy.

A strange smile adorned Shizuri's face when she returned and placed two crystal glasses on that round table. The girl made sure to sit as close to him as possible.

Touma raised an eyebrow as he realized his girlfriend's plan.

"Shizuri, is that cognac?" he asked, tilting his head to read the label. "You're not thinking of drinking this stuff are you?"

"I had no such intention when I bought this, since I expected you to use it in one of your recipes, but who cares right?"

Shizuri opened the bottle and poured a good dose of cognac into each glass. The smell of alcohol wafted up her nostrils, which almost made the girl rethink her reckless actions. But if she wanted Touma to forget his troubles at least for the time being, this was a foolproof option.

"Here, let's toast." She said, handing one of the glasses to Touma, who accepted it with great reluctance.

"That's a terrible idea."

"I'll take responsibility."

"That doesn't change the fact that it's a terrible idea." He grimaced as he brought his face closer to the glass. "Argh... this smell. That must have about 40 percent alcohol content. I'm going to pass out before we finish the bottle."

"Ohooo...is that a subtle way of saying you want to see me drunk? I have two more bottles where that one came from."

"First: That doesn't even come close to what I meant, so it counts as gaslight. Second: You are a terrible influence."

"I know that. But you were the one who said you wanted me to distract you."

Shizuri lightly clinked her cup against his and then took a big gulp of that strong drink. She wasn't exactly experienced when it came to drinking, so it didn't go down very well. It felt like hot coals were stuck in her throat, but she ignored that and kept drinking until she finished her glass.

As soon as she finished, she gestured with her head for Touma to taste the drink as well.

"They say espers have high resistance to alcohol, so don't worry." Shizuri curved her lip and poured herself one more time. "Now don't be a coward."

"You really are a terrible influence." Touma barely touched his drink and already made another grimace. "This tastes terrible."

"I agree, but taste is not the main selling point." She lifted her cup so that Touma could lean his against hers. "Here's to our futures together."

With a sigh and a shake of his head, Touma toasted Shizuri and then looked at his half-empty cup and twisted his lip. Imitating his girlfriend, he took a big gulp and continued until there was nothing left in the cup.

"Komoe-sensei will lecture me for two hours if she finds out about this." He said, picking up the bottle on the table and filling the cup, which made Shizuri smile.

"It will be our little secret then." She also filled her cup once more.

Several shots of cognac later, Shizuri's mind was beginning to cloud. She had been laughing non-stop for some time, without even knowing why, while Touma kept pouring himself and drinking even faster than she did. They talked non-stop in a pleasant atmosphere after all. The bottle was half full now.

"So...your blue-haired friend goes around making offerings at temples in hopes of finding a cute priestess who will call him out? That's ridiculous." Spat Shizuri, turning the cup over and giving a nice laugh afterwards "He calls that flirting? I think he needs to take some lessons from you in how to seduce girls."

"You talk as if I am an expert in flirting. This Kamijou-san wouldn't learn to flirt even if his life depended on it." Touma's voice was already beginning to grow coiled.

"Sorry, but I have to disagree with you." Shizuri moved closer and slipped her arm around his shoulders. "It was very effective on me, and as far as I know, for many other girls as well."

"That doesn't count as flirting. It's just me being myself."

"That sounded slightly presumptuous...I liked it." Her other hand rested on Touma's leg almost spontaneously. "You're probably the most popular guy among the girls in this town, you know. Today back at school...all those poor heartbroken girls watching while I pampered you... all those jealous glances cast in my direction. Thinking about it makes me feel so… good"

"Shizuri, you're exaggerating. Not all the girls in my class are in love with me or something."

"Hmm... so you admit that at least some are?"

"You can wipe that grin off your face." He touched her lips with his fingertips. "I bet a lot of them feel sorry for me or are just grateful that I help them out once in a while."

"Maybe you are right, but I can say with certainty that some of them had expressions of defeat on their faces. I loved that."

"I still find that quite weird." Touma was now pouring the glass as if he was drinking water. That was never a good sign.

"Is it that hard to understand?" The hand on the boy's thigh was now sliding up his chest as the girl leaned in to get closer and closer. "Dating you is like winning something every day without even having to play. I bet you were feeling the same way in front of those boys dying of envy."

"I don't know...they were sending some really weird looks in your direction. It was making me a little... angry."

"So you got jealous? I guess it's normal to feel a little. I mean, if some girl tries to make a move on you… things are going to get a little ugly for her. Is that how you feel?"

"Eh? Well... maybe just a little bit."

"It's okay. You have nothing to worry about, after all..." Shizuri brushed her lips against his ear so that she whispered the end of the sentence "I am yours... and only yours."

A mischievous smile appeared on her face once again as she saw Touma shiver when she whispered those dangerous words. Although Shizuri had said that she had no experience with alcohol, she was relatively sober still, unlike her boyfriend who was already totally under the effect of the strong drink they were taking. She had cheated, but her boyfriend had certainly forgotten his worries by now. But that aggressive girl still had more plans for tonight.

"You were so quiet all of a sudden." She said, still whispering, but the boy seemed frozen. "Come on Touma, it's no fun if you don't tease me a little bit."

"I think my brain shut down for a second. What did you say to me just now? I didn't hear right."

"No...I'm sure you heard me just fine." She took the opportunity to press her body into his, which made him hold his breath. "By the way, this would be a good time for you to start loosening up a bit. Enjoy it while I'm drunk and unable to make rational decisions."

"Shizuri...that sounded pretty weird."

"It was just a joke." The mischievous smile on her face didn't match what she said. "It's not like I've been thinking all day about how bold you were earlier. You ruined the mood at such a good time...did you really have an epiphany or was the whole thing purposeful?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" His intoxicated brain was barely keeping up with the conversation.

"At that time you asked me about the mansion, but you used different reasoning in the interrogation earlier. That was a little strange."

"I only used two paths to get to the same answer. Don't be paranoid."

"That time in the car I was loving your kisses, but you stopped so abruptly." The girl put a finger on her chin, not moving away from him "Maybe because you knew the trip to District 16 was going to be long. And at the hospital, too. All that hesitation even after you started it all yourself. It was as if you were buying time for someone to interrupt us. Is this all a continuation of that time at the Mall when you stopped me from confessing my love for you?"

A confused expression appeared on Touma's face. Shizuri felt a little relieved by that genuine expression. Everything she said was just something that came to her mind suddenly, like someone looking at the clouds in the sky and seeing all kinds of strange figures. But she had to take advantage of the fact that she had touched on the subject.

"Maybe I'm thinking too much," she said, holding his hand abruptly. "If I was right, that would mean my boyfriend is a coward. And that would be a shame." In a bold move, she placed his hand on top of her thigh and then brought it up just a little. She still kept that smile on her face. "A girl like me doesn't settle for little after all."

"Shizuri...we're going a little too far here."

"I don't know what you're talking about. We're not even kissing violently on top of that table yet. That would be a good appetizer."

"You're drunk." He tried to remove his hand from her leg, but Shizuri was quick and stopped him.

"Maybe a little bit. But throwing alcohol on such an intense flame changes practically nothing."

"This is all a big mistake. We should be doing something to prevent more people from dying, not drinking cognac like everything is fine."

"Your attempt to ruin the mood won't work this time." As if she hadn't even heard, Shizuri began to play with his hair. "You're getting tense again. Let this Shizuri-chan take care of you until you forget that the world exists."

"I'm going to need a lot more alcohol if you want that to happen."

"No problem. Like I said, there's more where that came from." She stood up from her chair still smiling as she looked at him. "We're going to have a long night, I promise."

The bottle on the table was still half empty, so the girl decided that getting a new one before this one ran dry would help keep the momentum going. She practically paraded into the kitchen, hoping that her boyfriend was noticing the flashy moves she was making.

Whistling a cheerful tune, Shizuri opened the shelf where the other bottles were. Although her idea was for Touma to forget his troubles for the moment and relax, it was she who was enjoying all this. Or rather, she was the one who wanted to forget all about it. But there was an obvious problem there. On the way to the dining room, one of the windows caught her attention.

"How strange." She tilted her head in confusion. "What are those lights?"

Not even five seconds passed and the girl shrugged. Those strange lights in the sky looked like something important, but her mind was too focused on her boyfriend to care. She started humming, like a distracted child on the way home from school.

"Sorry for the delay, I..." Shizuri stopped talking as soon as she looked in the direction of the round table. "What the hell?"

The reason for Shizuri's tone of anger and disappointment at this moment was simple. Her person of interest, the one she really wanted to spend time alone with, was no longer there. She put the bottle on the table and then went into the living room. The boy was not there either.

"Touma?!" she shouted, internally begging him to answer. "Touma... could he..."

Her gaze drifted to the balcony. She didn't remember it being open. The boy probably used it to get out of the apartment as quickly as possible using his item. This realization made her see that it had been a mistake to leave him alone. Clenching her fists, the girl took a deep breath to suppress that bad feeling forming in her chest. Her focus hadn't changed. She needed to find her boyfriend, and considering the state he was in, she had to be quick before he did something stupid.

xxxx-xxxx

In an ordinary girls' dormitory, two girls who barely knew each other stared at the ceiling in a rather awkward silence. They were facing each other with their heads resting on a small table full of pillows. There were two glasses filled with clear liquid in their hands. A sigh reverberated through the room.

"Basically, I think I can get used to this." Said Frenda, her tone too cheerful for someone with such a neutral expression.

"With what exactly? Eating too much? Drinking non-alcoholic champagne? Talking for hours? Watching strange movies?" Saten asked, opening her eyes in her almost lying position on the table.

"That last part I'll never get used to, believe me." Another sigh was heard. Frenda took another sip from her cup. "This stuff tastes amazing. Academy City sure knows how to make drinks."

"Are you sure that's not really champagne?" Saten examined the bottle next to her. "It says non-alcoholic here, but the taste is kind of alcoholic."

"That's the fun of it." Frenda snatched the bottle from Saten's hands and took a nice sip. "Basically, life is better when you can drown your sorrows and skip the hangover the next morning."

"You talk as if you have experience about the hangover part."

"I've had my moments." She finished drinking the rest of the bottle. "Basically, I think it's getting late. I should have been back at the apartment a couple of hours ago."

"Really? But you haven't finished giving me the details of your work. Something tells me there's a lot more you haven't told me."

"If I tell you more than that, there's a big chance that people will knock on your door...or actually just break in and -"

She didn't finish. With a jump, she slid her hand to the back of her skirt and looked at the door to the dormitory. As if waiting for a cue, someone was turning the knob at this very instant.

With a puzzled look on her face, Saten looked at the door. Her heart soared, perhaps this would be the time she would stop looking for urban legends and become a part of one. However the person who entered the dormitory was not an assassin ninja or another hired mercenary. Or at least she didn't look like one. You never know.

"I'm back."

The two girls breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of that familiar face. Saten was the first to shake her head, almost as if she were disappointed. It had been a dull few days in Academy City lately. A little action wouldn't go amiss.

"Welcome, Uiharu." Saten replied, watching her friend look at the guest."This is Frenda. Remember her that day at the Mall last month?"

"I remember. It's a pleasure to see you again, Frenda-san."

The greeting was not answered, as the blonde girl's eyes were focused on the dormitory window. Confusion painted the faces of Sakugawa's two students, but they discovered the reason for the silence as they followed Frenda' gaze.

The three of them hurried to the window. What they were seeing was the kind of thing that some people would consider common in this city, but there was nothing common about this strange event.

Those lights were bright enough to make the stars in the night sky blurry. They were clearly something artificial. It was as if they formed a design, or perhaps an indecipherable pattern.

"What is this anyway?" Saten asked. "Some kind of weird experiment?"

"Basically, I hope that doesn't have something to do with -"

A ringing noise interrupted Frenda. Uiharu pulled her cell phone from her pocket and promptly checked to see who it was before answering. She pressed her lips together in a straight line. For a person involved in the dark side, it was easy to know when a problem arose, and also how big it was.

"Hello, Kamijou-san. Is this an important matter?" The way Uiharu said that seemed to catch Frenda's attention.

"Kamijou?" The ITEM member sharpened her eyes upon hearing her teammate's name.

"Roger that." Uiharu nodded and moved a little away from the girls. "Yes… yes, I can do that."

Uiharu continued to confirm something vaguely as he walked away from the two girls, speaking lower and lower. Frenda and Saten locked gazes. Gestures were also exchanged between them, until Saten decided to ask quietly.

"What do you think? Is it some secret matter you commented that Kamijou is involved in?"

"I can't tell." She denied with her head. The tone of her voice left nothing to interpret. "Basically, I'd better get back to my apartment. Something tells me that a big thing is about to happen."

"But already?" Saten put on a pout, even though she knew it wouldn't be effective since she had actually already held the girl here for hours. "At least promise to tell me some of what's going on later."

"You're no good. Okay...I'll text you on that app I commented on, but don't expect anything concrete."

"Those are the best kinds of rumors." She smiled mischievously.

"Basically, you're crazy..." Frenda smiled, too. "But I'm the last person who should say that."

xxxx-xxxx

It was obvious that Mugino Shizuri had made a mistake. This was not about leaving Touma alone, but offering him such a strong drink to begin with. After the spiky-haired boy fled over the balcony, the worried girlfriend wasted no time and made a direct call to one of her dark side contacts. Shizuri had no idea what he had in mind by running off like that, but she was willing to do anything to stop him from hurting himself for no reason.

She was already giving up waiting for more information, but suddenly the doorbell rang. This was strange. Everyone in the apartment had a key to get in whenever they wanted. Touma had more than one just in case. ITEM also did not usually receive visitors, and even when it did, it was usually warned before anyone came to the door. So who could it be?

As a high-level esper and professional assassin of the dark side, she usually didn't fear much, but still, Shizuri found herself worried about the current situation. Of course, this could all be for nothing, but she made her way cautiously to the door.

Hesitating, the girl looked through the peephole. The person on the other side was unfamiliar to her. It was a girl, an exceptionally beautiful one. Her face displayed a smirk at the corner of her lip, as if she knew someone was watching her.

Faced with this situation, the ideal was to shoot first and ask later, or not ask at all, but she had two things that prevented her from doing something so absurd. First, Shizuri was no longerthat kind of person, and second, that school uniform the girl was wearing was familiar to her, since she owned one just like it.

Meltdowner's eyes narrowed. Something told her that the person on the other side was dangerous, but she turned the doorknob anyway. Only partially opening the door, Shizuri tried to put a carefree expression on her face as she tilted her head out.

"Do I know you?" That was Shizuri's rhetorical question.

That harsh tone of voice was necessary. Even if the girl standing there was from the same school as her and Touma, that didn't say she had to be friendly, not when that person stank so much of darkness. Yes, Shizuri had spent too much time in this world to know by pure instinct something like that. And people from this world were not usually allies. Even people from the same group preferred to have shallow relationships in most cases, which meant that everyone expected that they would be betrayed at some point.

"I'm an ally of yours, so you can let your guard down." Answered the girl, still with that half smile, however Shizuri was not convinced at all. "Kamijou asked me if I could help you guys with something, that's why I'm here."

Hearing her boyfriend's name, Shizuri opened the door a little wider so she could take a closer look at this girl. She seemed to be the same age as she was. The slender and athletic body, that aura of mystery and superiority, that modified uniform that showed her belly button. Shizuri couldn't remember anyone with that description, but she had a good guess who she was.

"You weren't in school today, senpai." Shizuri's tone was almost mocking. That made the other girl's smile widen.

"I had bigger problems to deal with. Aren't you going to invite me in?"

"I would invite you, but I think you'll have to wait." Shizuri sighed and smoothed her hair to hide her stiff face. "My dumbass boyfriend is out there pulling some reckless stunt, and I want to do what I can to keep him from killing himself."

A frown appeared on the mystery girl's face. She didn't seem to have reacted very well to the word "boyfriend," but it was the rest of the news that stiffened her posture.

"I guess there's no way then." Said the black-haired girl, pulling out something from a black bag she was carrying. She gestured with her hand when she noticed Shizuri raising her guard once again. "Calm down, I just want to hand you this."

"Huh? Are those... documents?" She opened the small folder carefully. She intended to flip through a few pages, but she didn't even get past the first one before the expression on her face twisted. "April's fools project." Shizuri looked either side of the empty hallway. That was just distraction for her to make a decision. "Come in."

Closing the door behind her, Shizuri stuck her eyes once again to those documents. Her head couldn't focus completely. She wanted to go after her boyfriend, but she found it strange that mysterious girl decided to hand them to her so readily. It was clear she knew Shizuri was an important person to Touma, but still, something didn't fit. Level 5's intuition told her that she needed that information in her hands.

"I can give you a summary, since you're so worried." Said the 'senpai', settling herself on the couch.

"Is it that obvious?" She put the document in her lap after sitting down on another couch. For some reason, Shizuri still wanted to remain cautious.

"It's good that you are, isn't it? It proves that your feelings are genuine." She turned her face away to subtly roll her eyes. "By the way, I haven't told you my name yet. I am Kumokawa Seria. You may consider me primarily responsible for this turn of events that brought my cute Kohai to you."

"Hmm... So you are the person who brought him into darkness?" The documents in her lap were gripped tightly. "I don't know how I should feel. Grateful maybe?"

"You'll have plenty of time to think about it, but I want you to know that I'm not proud of anything." Kumokawa looked away suddenly. Her aura of intimidating mystery seemed to fail for just an instant. "But that's the way life is. We all have to learn to deal with the weight of our choices. You must know the feeling."

"Yes...I know very well. But that's not why I called you in." Shizuri tapped twice with the tip of her index finger on the folder in her lap.

"Straight to the point then. Kamijou suddenly asked me for help this afternoon. I heard all the interrogation you guys did and..."

"Have you been spying on him?" Her tone was one of pure indignation. "Spied on us?"

"Like I said, it was his idea."

That girl didn't seem to be intimidated by the abnormal tone. She just crossed her legs and leaned her body back, making herself comfortable on that sofa. Pointing her finger in the direction of the documents, she spoke again in a more serious tone than before.

"The thing that caught my attention the most was this so-called April's Fools project. The reason was that I'd had my eye on it for a while."

"Wait... so you already had this information before today?"

"Not exactly. But this project had interested me in the past, but the fact that it was canceled so quickly made me let it go."

Sounds of pages being flipped echoed through the apartment. Shizuri stopped when she saw a picture of a pink-haired girl, the self-named "April". Except for her clothes, she looked exactly the same. Either the project was recent, or she hadn't aged a single day.

"It says here that the project didn't have an official name." Shizuri said, turning back to the front page.

"Yes. The reason is that it was cancelled too early, but it seems that some scientists wanted to name it 'Dark April,' as a sort of inferior version of the 'Dark May' project."

"That again..." Her tone was one of curiosity. She settled herself on the couch, placing the folder right in front of her face as she rested her chin on the palm of one hand. "So they implanted someone thought patterns into the brains of these guinea pigs, and this pink-haired girl was one of them..."

That sudden pause left an uneasy silence in the room. Shizuri had a perplexed expression. Her relaxed posture became rigid, as if she had seen something unpleasant.

"So… you got to the important part," Kumokawa said. "This project was bound to be a failure. And it failed so resoundingly that the scientists who examined the data afterwards nicknamed it 'April's fools'." She looked away to the balcony, seeming not to want to look at Shizuri when she continued. "A big joke, isn't it? To think they would implant Kamijou Touma's thought patterns into someone."

Joke or not, Shizuri kept her lips in a perfect straight line. The only thing that disturbed the complete silence was the rustling of sheets of paper being passed quickly. No information there would help her calm what she was feeling, but she kept looking. Her eyes moving fast, her breathing suddenly becoming irregular. It was almost unbelievable.

"Does it say anything in here about what they wanted to get out of it?" She asked finally, already feeling tired from flipping through dozens of sheets. And that wasn't even half of all the documents. "Or at least something that helps us understand what that girl wants?"

"No. But we both know that Kamijou Touma is more than meets the eye. However, by the looks of it, that is not something that can be reproduced so easily. The experiments were a complete failure, as you may have already noticed."

"But that's strange," Shizuri continued, negating several times with her head as if refusing to let some thoughts form. "The experiments didn't yield a noteworthy result, but why did the scientists give up so quickly? It says nothing here about accidents, and the guinea pigs were not subjected to such intrusive or traumatic tests."

"I know what you're thinking. But believe me, that's it. There's virtually nothing important to talk about this project. It makes sense considering that that girl deliberately talked about it."

"Is it a red herring then? That bastard was just buying time anyway." Shizuri set the folder aside, losing interest. "But it's still weird to think that some mad scientist implanted my boyfriend's thought patterns into that bitch. And now she's out there hurting people... Touma is going to feel even worse when he finds out about this, even if it's not his fault."

"I think you missed a detail." Kumokawa's voice suddenly became somber, harsh.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Shizuri inclined her head, looking for just a moment at the folder full of documents beside her.

"That girl... April, as she decided to call herself, the scientists of this project did not implant Kamijou Touma's thought patterns in her..."

The pause and hesitation in Kumokawa's voice made Shizuri apprehensive. Her eyes narrowed and her head was tilted in confusion to the side. It didn't make sense. She was part of this project, but thinking about it, hadn't she said something about that? About the whole project being special because of her?

"April already had his thought patterns before the project started." Revealed Kumokawa finally.

The expression on Shizuri's face twisted. Sharp eyes, hand covering her mouth so as not to let everything she felt show. She had always been good at hiding her feelings, but she felt herself going back to her childhood, where everything about her was more transparent. Just to think that someone had collected the thought patterns of the person she loves and implanted them in someone else seemed absurd, something imaginable to her until recently, but to hear that someone had possessed them for longer? None of it made sense. So that detailed knowledge about the boy, his past, his tastes, even the way he acted and behaved, wasn't just pure obsession of a girl in love or something?

But something still didn't add up.

"I don't have the answers," Kumokawa said, as if reading her thoughts, "probably nobody does. That girl... it's like she doesn't even exist."

"What do you mean? Did they do something to hide her past?"

"If that were the case, their work was more than exemplary." She sighed, crossing her legs and rubbing her temple. "I did everything I could to find something more about her, but like I said...she doesn't exist. I bet your contacts would tell you the same thing if you tried to find anything, so I wouldn't waste my time if I were you."

"Considering they've barely found anything on Touma, I'd better take your advice." Her gaze shifted to the balcony, which still remained open. "I'm at a dead end then. If you have nothing else to tell me, I'd better go after my dumbass boyfriend. I have a bad feeling about this."

"I wouldn't worry so much, he can handle himself very well."

"I know that, but in the state he's in...I don't even want to think about anything else."

Shizuri held up the folder full of documents and looked at it once more. With a decisive nod, she held out her arms and handed the folder back to the mystery girl, who made a confused face, but accepted it anyway.

"I won't need that," Shizuri said, getting up from the couch, "so save it for me for now."

"Are you sure? There is a chance we may never see each other again."

"I doubt it very much. You seem to like him a lot, and I am his girlfriend, so we are bound to run into each other again and again. I can't wait for all the drama."

"Be careful what you wish for, you don't want to see me doing drama. Even my sister can't stand me when I go into my 'full-on soap opera mode'."

"Sounds like fun." Shizuri smiled sarcastically. "Let's go, I'll walk you outside."

"You know...honestly I expected you to be a little more...rude." She said, getting up from the couch and walking toward the door.

"Come on, why do so many people think I can't be civilized?" She made an exaggerated gesture by turning her right hand and then rolled her eyes. "I just have trouble controlling my anger sometimes, but I've made great progress at it. I'm a different person now."

"If you say so."

The two left the apartment and got into the elevator. Shizuri hadn't imagined that she would run into her boyfriend's famous "Senpai" in this situation. She understood now why he spoke so highly of her, but she expected her to be more aggressive considering her and Touma's relationship.

"Can I ask you something... personal?" Shizuri said, fixing her hair using the elevator mirror, not wanting to look directly at the girl next to her.

"Normally I would answer 'no,' but go ahead."

"What is the relationship of you two anyway?" She stopped smoothing her hair as she saw the girl slowly turn toward her, but without saying a word. "It's weird to say this, but I could tell the excitement in his voice when he talked about you. It makes sense, considering you're his type. Not as much as me of course, but close enough."

"You're a pretty straightforward girl, Mugino Shizuri. But, so much jealousy will keep you up at night. This is not good for your skin." The tone she used was teasing, but Shizuri only shrugged. Kumokawa let out a somewhat exasperated sigh. "What's this all about anyway? I don't intend to get in the way of you two. At first I even made some plans, but I put it aside. It's not worth it."

"That's good to know, but I'm more interested in why you haven't made any moves. You've known him for a while now, far longer than I have, and I can say with certainty that you're not the shy type...you don't strike me as a tsundere either."

"Things between me and him are... complicated."

The elevator stopped after a few seconds of silence. The two girls, who would have been rivals in the past, walked side by side into the cold city streets without exchanging a word. Shizuri did not want to press for a more satisfactory answer. Only the tone used by Kumokawa made it clear that she did not want to talk about it.

But unexpectedly, the subject was taken up again.

"I don't know how much he told you," Kumokawa said, "but the situation we met, and how it all ended, left no chance for us to get involved in that kind of relationship." Both her fists were clenched suddenly. The expression on her face was hidden as she stared at the floor. "That boy...he doesn't know how to deal with loss. I didn't want to take advantage of his vulnerable state. And I didn't want to drag him into the darkness either. So I decided it would be like this. I decided that -"

"Say no more," She interrupted her with a firm tone, yet there was none of Shizuri's natural aggressiveness there. "I shouldn't have asked. Thank you for what you did for him."

That was the most kindness that girl could express in that instant. She turned away from Kumokawa and, unable to look at her expression, she wandered the streets for a few seconds. Removing her cell phone from her pocket while breathing deeply, Shizuri tried to process everything she had heard. There was a lot more about Touma that she didn't know, and as much as she wanted to find out, she wouldn't feel right if someone else told her. So she had to try to forget all that and focus on what mattered. She had to find that boy, and finish what they started.

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Hi! This chapter was supposed to have two or three more scenes, but I saw that it was getting too long and not flowing very well. I hope the final version didn't end up too short instead LOL.

The first scene of this chapter was more to show that Shizuri and Touma are disagreeing on how things should be handled. And of course she wants to advance the relationship further. It's a shame that she's picking the worst moments, or maybe it's just bad luck.

We had a revelation in the final scene. By the way, this about someone with Touma's thought patterns is not something completely original, since the idea is used differently in canon. The next chapter will be strange, as we will have another revelation that will more or less explain why the pink-haired girl "doesn't exist". Come to think of it, "explain" is too strong a word, since it will be confusing.

Reviews:

xellos540: Hello!

; Huh? Touma is not talking about his luck here, maybe I phrased it in a strange way. Basically, Aihana/April says "It took you long enough to figure it out. I'm so lucky." And then Touma responds with "You're not lucky, I'm just dumb."

; That was a reference and at the same time a foreshadowing.

; Frenda stayed the whole day in Saten's company.

; This is 'classic' Touma, sometimes he just doesn't care.

; You got two out of three right xD

; You seem to be onto something here, so I refrain from commenting.

; Aihana's power was vaguely explained in GT2, so yes, this "ideal version" thing is canonical.

; Aleister and Aiwass commented on this.

; The events are not considered canonical, but the manga is "in-universe canonical".

KHVSFF: Thank you! This will not be fully explained until near the end of the arc, but will have a few hints here and there. I plan to write more of these moments of Shizuri and Touma opening up to each other, it will be great when we find out more about her as I can use this new information here. Shizuri has some rare moments of cuteness in the novels, and they are always great, so I love showing that side of her here, so it's nice that they are your favorites. Since this arc is shorter than the previous one, it won't take so long for the situation to be understood, although it will be somewhat confusing. By the way, a certain character involved with the magic side will appear soon, another 2 or 3 chapters if my plans don't change a bit, but the situation will be somewhat... bizarre.

Zatchbell511: I'm glad you liked it. It is hard to show in subtle ways how Touma thinks and acts, since it is said in canon that he is always hiding or repressing something. Thank you.

5queso: Thanks for the compliment. I think sometimes my chapters are too big, so the consistency ends up being bad, I have to improve this. Touma, especially before he lost his memory, used to make decisions that he would regret in the future, a good example is not returning or warning Index about the "veil", which made him feel guilty, and that is his initial motivation in OT1. I wanted to show that here, so it's great to know that you appreciated it. Their conversation here was all based on their meeting in GT2, but summarized since the situation is not so desperate, but I focused on the part that some people, like Aihana, do not admire Touma, quite the contrary. Aleister's plan here is the same as the current one, this is kind of Spoiler LOL. See you next time.

One more thing to note: The cute bear apron is the same one that Shizuri wears in NT5 when she is cooking. Some things just don't change, do they? That's all. Nio Leaving.