Chapter 32 – Phantom Pain

Looking at the city streets through the window of that black car, Shizuri examined the chaotic and oppressive situation outside. Ambulances coming and going non-stop, people running around worried that this 'invisible disease' was going to affect them too. And then there was that smell of blood, hovering in that oppressive atmosphere that was like a caustic sensation invading the nostrils, bothering almost in a physical way.

"Is this all that girl's doing?" Shizuri closed her eyes and rested her chin on her palm. "What can I do? I have no leads to follow, my friend is in a hospital bed and I can't do anything to help her and my dumbass boyfriend is out there doing god knows what."

As if waiting for a cue, the girl's cell phone began to ring. Her heart suddenly raced as she hurriedly answered the call without bothering to check who it was.

"Did you find him?" she asked, being sure it was some subordinate of hers on the other end of the line.

"If by him you mean Kamijou Touma, yes we have found him." The familiar female voice replied in a tone too cheerful for Shizuri's liking.

"Great, give me the location."

"I brought him to the Anti-Skill center in District 7. You better come soon or I'll be forced to put him in a cell. It's getting too noisy in here."

"In a cell? Have you gone fucking crazy?" Shizuri raised her tone and punched the car seat. "Why the hell did you turn him over to Anti-Skill? I gave clear orders to watch him and keep him safe, but arresting him is out of line. Don't any of my subordinates know how to follow simple orders?"

"Eh? What are you talking about girl? Do you even know who you're talking to?"

That confused voice made Shizuri tilt her head and raise an eyebrow. Only now did she decide to check the number, discovering that it was one she had never seen before.

"Who are you and how did you get my number?"

"My name is Yomikawa Aiho, I am your boyfriend's physical education teacher. He asked me to call you since his cell phone was destroyed."

"Yomikawa...your voice is not unfamiliar to me." She pondered for two seconds until she remembered that day in the restaurant. "Thank you for finding my boyfriend. I'm on my way."

xxxx-xxxx

Leaving the car, Shizuri straightened the clothes she was wearing and inhaled as deeply as she could. She was going through a ritual to keep herself from losing her mind. Even though her boyfriend had run away and almost been arrested, she had to act in a way that he would feel comfortable seeing her.

Shizuri expected Anti-Skill to be quite busy with everything that was happening in the city, but something was wrong there. The walk to the office where Yomikawa had placed Touma was interrupted because of a peculiar scene. There were many people at the reception desk.

There wasn't exactly a nightlife in Academy City, although several students disregarded this, so this was quite strange. Why was she being stared at so much?

"Finally," Yomikawa said, rising from a chair as she saw Shizuri approaching. "Your boyfriend has been causing a lot of trouble lately."

For some reason, that busty teacher smiled mischievously as she looked at those people waiting at the reception. Shizuri noticed something interesting. They were all girls there. But the most impressive thing was the variety. There were girls in sailor uniforms from regular schools, rich girls from Tokiwadai, foreign girls, tomboys, long hair, short hair, dyed hair. It was hard for a boy not to find his ideal type there.

"Is she his girlfriend?" One of the girls asked. Her eyes were almost watery.

"Now it makes sense why he dodged all my advances," lamented another girl.

"What the fuck?" Shizuri looked at Yomikawa's still smiling face, while several whispers were exchanged between those girls "What does it all mean?"

"He's drunk. That's the only explanation you need." The woman shrugged and gestured for Shizuri to follow her, but all the other girls started walking toward the two. "No, no, no. You promised that if I proved that he is a committed man you would all leave."

"We can't leave yet," the girls protested in unison. It sounded as if they were in a choir.

"Yes, we haven't had a chance to thank him properly yet," said a fan girl. She had black hair and a large forehead and looked like she was still in middle school, although her above average chest would confuse many people. "I am indebted to that gentleman."

"Me too." Another middle school girl with brown hair, kind face, and Tokiwadai uniform agreed. "I need to see him at least once more."

It was becoming a real mess with so many protests being hurled, but it fell on deaf ears as Shizuri just rolled her eyes and Yomikawa kept smiling like a generic movie villain.

The other Anti-Skill agents had to act to keep the girls away as the two walked toward the office.

"Me here dying of worry for nothing," Shizuri said, flattening her own forehead. "Seriously, what the fuck was this day? After all the shit that's going on, now all the girls from my boyfriend's 'fan club' decide to have a convention at an Anti-Skill center."

"You mean the new girls, don't you?" Yomikawa let out a chuckle.

"What do you mean 'new'?"

"Well... Kamijou-chan had a productive night from what I understand." She held up her hand and then her index finger immediately. "First he had that situation with the Skill-out," She held up another finger, "then several espers causing mayhem, there was also that attempted bank robbery, the mass kidnapping at the school garden, the leak of confidential esper development data, the attempted assassination of an important politician's daughter... the list is long. Seriously, your boyfriend deserves a medal for efficiency."

"Huh? He left not even four hours ago."

"Like I said, he's a pretty efficient person."

Yomikawa opened the office door while Shizuri maintained a stunned expression. At that moment she remembered what her boyfriend had told her. According to Kaibi, Touma was a total disaster when drunk, a threat to humanity as a whole. That girl had unleashed a monster and didn't even know it. Now she could only sigh and think of something that could calm that grotesque monster that was setting the city on fire driven by the alcohol in his body.

"Shizu-chaaaaaan!"

Actually, she didn't need it.

Shouting this in a drunken voice, Touma got up from the office chair he was in. The boy's clothes were torn in some places, and there was even some blood on them. He staggered slightly, as if he couldn't walk in a straight line by himself.

"Hey, Touma." She couldn't hold back her grimace as she smelled that strong odor of alcohol emanating from him. "Apparently your night is being a lot more fun than mine. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"You look angry." The boy smiled awkwardly and put his hand in his pocket. "Here, I bought you a present. You like salmon don't you?"

"Eh?" The girl tilted her head as she received the 'gift'. "That's sardines." She put on a confused face as she held that canned sardine.

"Close enough."

Shaking her head, her gaze moved to a bandage that Touma had on his right arm. The wound there was certainly fresh.

"I hope this isn't serious," Shizuri said, pointing at his arm. "Do I need to take you to a hospital?"

"No, it's a superficial wound." He made a deterrent gesture with his hand "I ran into a crazy girl with a Katana. She almost ripped my arm off."

"What do you mean 'almost'? You said it's a superficial wound."

"Yeah...she got lucky there."

"Okay, you two have had your romantic reunion. Now you have to leave," Yomikawa ordered. "You can use the emergency exit if you want to avoid those noisy people."

Touma looked like he wanted to say something, but Shizuri grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out of there. Clearly the boy was in no condition to walk around on his own, so she had him lean on her as they made their way through those corridors to the exit.

As they walked along, he occasionally babbled something in such an inebriated voice that Shizuri was sure it was not human language. She must have sighed about ten times before they reached the street.

"You really seem angry, Shizu-chan. Didn't you like the present?" He asked, leaning his spiky head against her shoulder.

"I loved it. So much so that I already ate it and you didn't even notice," she said sarcastically. In fact, she had thrown the can at the first opportunity, hoping that the boy wouldn't notice.

When the two finally arrived near the car, Shizuri could breathe a sigh of relief that everything had gone relatively smoothly. According to that teacher, her boyfriend had caused a mess, but at the moment the girl was more concerned about his well being than any immediate consequences of what he had caused.

"There you are." And that female voice that Shizuri knew very well was an immediate consequence. "I've been looking for you all night, idiot."

Turning sharply and moving his head away from his girlfriend's shoulder, Touma pointed a finger in the direction of the girl standing there with her arms crossed and her face irritated. This brown-haired girl was wearing the Tokiwadai uniform and showing off her fangs, like an animal about to attack its prey.

"Look Shizu-chan, it's the Biri-Biri girl."

"Railgun?" #4 said that in a confused voice. She hadn't expected to find #3 there, much less that she would talk to her boyfriend like that. "That is certainly horrible timing. What the hell do you want now?"

"That's none of your business. Let go of the idiot, I have a score to settle with him." Railgun began to tap her foot in irritation.

The weight on Shizuri's shoulders was relieved when her boyfriend stepped aside and took a few steps toward Mikoto, who was clenching her fists now.

In that instant, Meltdowner thought about all the possibilities that this entailed. She would surely lose a few years of her life that night if more problems started piling up like this. In another situation, she wanted to understand what had led to what was clearly a disagreement between her boyfriend and another level 5, but now she just wanted to get him and get out of there as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, Touma started talking before she could do anything.

"Why are you still so angry Biri-Biri?" asked Touma, although the two there barely understood what he said.

The next response was non-verbal. As if the last drop that ruined the surface tension had been put into the glass, the electric girl had enough. Sparks sprang from her bangs and a high-voltage current was hurled toward the boy. Shizuri's eyes widened at the sight of this girl throwing it at someone in that state without any hesitation. The surprise was so great that she couldn't even react in time to help her boyfriend.

However, she didn't need it in the first place.

"Fuaaaaaaaahh!"

Two surprised faces followed that meaningless grunt.

That boy had a mysterious power in his right hand that allowed him to negate that attack without problems. But he didn't even need it. With erratic and totally disjointed movements, the boy staggered to the side just in time to dodge the lightning that missed him by only a few centimeters.

Shizuri's mind went blank for a good two seconds. Not because of the stunt the boy had pulled, but because she wasn't sure if it had been on purpose.

The Railgun girl, on the other hand, grinned for some reason that eluded Shizuri.

"Showing off aren't you?" Asked #3, already ready to launch another attack. "I knew you were a worthy opponent, but when do you intend to take our duel seriously?"

"What the fuck is going on here, dipshit?" Shizuri stepped into the path of the second bolt of lightning the electric girl threw, making it divert using her own powers. "Attacking people who can barely walk in a straight line, have you gone crazy for good?"

The electric girl seemed to ponder for a moment, but not because of Meltdowner's irritation, but because of the way she so casually pushed the lightning away from her.

"Are you an electromaster?" She asked, ignoring Shizuri's irritated words, which didn't make her happy at all. "Interesting. Will it be a two-on-one then? Bring it on."

"What? Are you even listening to me? My boyfriend is barely in walking condition and you still want to fight?" She had to take a deep breath not to throw a full-powered Meltdowner in that girl's direction.

"This idiot lied to me about his level. On top of that he accepted my duel and then ran off. I won't let this opportunity pass me by."

It took all her willpower to keep Shizuri from exploding, literally. The tea-colored girl's fist clenched so hard that she had surely hurt herself with her own fingernails.

After another slow, deep breath, she looked in the direction of her boyfriend, who just gazed at his surroundings as he blinked and hung his head, almost sleeping on his feet.

"Listen, Railgun, I understand that feeling, but now is not the time for that." She raised her hands, as a sign of surrender. "How about letting us go for now? You can have your duel when Touma isn't nearly passed out from drunkenness."

"Like I said, I don't want to miss this opportunity to prove who is stronger."

"And how does supposedly defeating someone who can barely stand upright prove anything?"

This made the electric girl look in Touma's direction, seeing him with his eyes closed now. She seemed to calm down when she noticed that her opponent clearly had no intention, or condition, to continue the duel.

"Maybe you're right," said the middle school girl. "I'll let him go today, but next time I swear I'll make him squirm like a frog hooked up to an electrode."

"I really hope he punches your face with all his might," Shizuri said this in an almost inaudible whisper.

"What?"

"Nothing. Enjoy the rest of the night."

With a wry smile and a nod, she held Touma by the waist and slipped his arm around her shoulders.

'Damn spoiled brat, if she had hurt him...'

Shizuri was not a religious person, but as she carried him to the car, she was deciding whether to start praying to some god that this night would end soon, preferably without any new incidents.

After helping her boyfriend into the car, Shizuri sat down next to him and exhaled a massive amount of air. Only she knew how hard that night had been for her. Settling down on the seat, she looked at Touma, who at this moment had a silly smile on his face.

"Shizu-chan, I'm a little tired," said the boy, letting himself plummet toward the girl and landing his head right in her lap. "Now I feel a lot better."

"Seriously, what do I do with you?" she complained, bringing her hand up to her forehead.

"How about playing with my hair? That would be great."

"Touma, you...do you have any idea how worried I was?" She was really holding back from cursing him.

"Your thighs are so soft...hehe… it's as if my head is in the clouds."

It seems that holding a conversation with a drunk Touma was practically impossible, but Shizuri was certainly willing to try. She took the umpteenth deep breath that night and tried to speak in the softest voice possible.

"Can you at least apologize for leaving without telling me?"

"I'm sorry, Shizu-chan, I don't know what came over me. Now pamper me a little bit, please. I need you now."

"Oh... you need me now, do you? We were having a great time a few hours ago before you ruined everything."

"Don't worry, we'll have an even better time when we get home." With his eyes closed, he nonchalantly settled his head on her legs as if looking for the softest spot on a pillow. "I bet you're all soft and warm...like mashed potatoes."

"Somewhat strange analogy, but I'd really like to hear that from you when you're sober."

"I am... almost sober. If that girl hadn't offered me that whiskey I'd be fine now."

"You know your situation only gets worse by telling me that don't you?" Her tone suddenly became harsh. "Why does it seem like everywhere you go you end up attracting girls like flies on a pudding?

"It's not my fault, Shizu-chan. I just wanted to get to district 16, but various problems kept appearing on the way. The girls are just an unfortunate consequence."

"I heard it from your teacher. It even sounded like the plot summary of an entire series of light novels."

"Yeah. What's wrong with this city? It's almost as if everything is conveniently set up for me to get into trouble."

"Don't start with that paranoia." Annoyed, she pinched his cheek lightly. "It's all you and your urge to throw yourself into danger as soon as you see a pretty girl."

"You talk in such a cute tone of voice when you're jealous." He opened his eyes to look at her and then raised his hand to touch her cheek "There's nothing to worry about, you're the only girl I love after all. I'm only yours."

Even if only for a moment, hearing that made that warm feeling from before return. Biting her lip hard, she instinctively began stroking that spiky head tenderly. She felt like an idiot when realized she was getting carried away with a few sweet words, but still she continued to play with his hair.

"You're mine? So can you at least start letting me know before you go out there with no plan in mind?" She patted his head a few times as she tried to hold back the urge to smile radiantly.

"Being honest, my plans never work out anyway, so it's safe to say that things usually work better for me when I'm improvising."

"Don't be hard on yourself, your plans are not bad."

"You're just trying to comfort me." The boy even lost his drunken tone for a moment. "Even my plan B failed remember? What about the plan for my fight against Kakine? It was no use since I had already failed before the fight started."

"At least you gave him a good beating. Did I ever tell you that you made me proud that day? You're a lot stronger than I thought." Now she had a tiny smile on her face. That boy always seemed to find a way to make her happy, no matter how silly the reason. "And today you picked a fight with the Railgun too. Are you trying to take on all the level 5s in Academy City?"

"It's not my fault, okay? I just wanted to help her, but she said 'Don't get involved in other people's fights. Then she got all 'Biri-Biri' all of a sudden and attacked me with lightning."

"I wanted to see her face when you negated the attack."

"She looked more annoyed than surprised. After that she made a sword out of iron sand and swung at me really hard." He made an exaggerated gesture with his hand imitating a fencer. "That thing stretched out like a whip and swung quite erratically."

"It sounds dangerous. Was it hard to deal with?"

"Nah… I just gave a bitch slap. It was barely an inconvenience."

The girl smiled even wider as she watched him try to shrug as he settled into her lap. He always seemed so at ease when they talked like this. She wished their life could be reduced to these happy moments, where only she was his focus.

"By the way, you can make a sword with your powers too, can't you Shizu-chan?" Touma asked, letting out a yawn. It seems he was starting to sleep on her lap as usual.

"If I want to, yes. Although I think that simply shooting an electron beam is enough to solve most problems."

"We're not thinking about utility here. Haven't you ever thought how cool it is to wield a sword made of electrons? Like: wooon... woooooon" He again started training his drunken swordsmanship.

Almost laughing at her boyfriend's antics, the girl barely noticed the car pulling up.

Before getting out of the car, she had a decision to make: which room would she take him to? She had decided earlier that they would share the same room, but the boy's extreme drunkenness prevented him from making rational decisions. This meant that a part of her, the part that had been holding back the entire trip from tasting the whiskey he had mentioned, wanted to make up for the lost time and take him straight to her room. The boring, rational part of her, on the other hand, was begging her to let him rest in his room, which would keep him away from stupid drunk decisions.

"Looks like we're here." She announced, making her decision.

"Great. Can't wait to be used as a teddy bear."

Supporting the boy once again, the two walked side by side for only a moment before Touma suddenly stopped. The boy gazed up at the night sky now, focused on those blinding lights. They looked strange, as if they were not of this world. Surely there was something more going on here than a mere scientific experiment.

"I wonder if this is Aleister's doing," Touma said in a grim tone. It hardly sounded like himself talking

"Huh? The board chairman? I doubt it. This must be some event going on or some other silly thing. Why would he be responsible for something like that?"

"You never know what is going on in that pervert's head." Touma raised his right hand to the sky, looking at the light of those 'stars' coming through the gaps in his fingers. "Every man and every woman is a star. All people can create a monster and become a god."

"Is that a poem?" She asked that with a confused face.

"No..." He continued gazing at those 'stars', as if it was the last time he would ever see them "It's just something that came to my mind all of a sudden."

"You are full of surprises," she joked, patting him on the back. "Now come on, you need to rest. A horrible hangover awaits you."

"Shizuri, do you think that if someone were to become a god, that would change the definition of the word 'god'?"

"That question came out of nowhere. Since when are you a philosopher?"

Touma's right hand closed into a fist. A tired sigh echoed through the night as the boy continued to gaze up at that sky full of "artificial stars".

"Forget what I said," he muttered.

Grasping her waist, the boy began humming a happy tune, one that Shizuri was sure she had never heard before. Before she continued, the girl looked up once more. That whole light show, it had to be important. She couldn't stop thinking about it. Maybe she should look into it, but after she had delivered her drunken boyfriend.

xxxx-xxxx

That empty, dimly lit warehouse, which still seemed to be under construction, was all the girl needed at the moment. April got up from the chair in front of the computer screen and went to a window that was still unglazed.

The moonlight descended like a pale cloak, accentuating the white skin of the girl who should not exist. She gazed up at those lights in the night sky, flickering and imposing, drawn perfectly, as if they were part of a grand plan.

April clenched her right fist. It was force of habit. She raised that fist and positioned it in front of her face. Her gaze alternated from that fist to those "artificial stars" as her face suddenly became rigid.

"Your plans don't matter to me."

The girl relaxed her grip and took a deep breath, touching the faded scar on her face firmly with her fingertips. A subtle emerald glow could be seen in the mark, but only to the most attentive eye.

"This world...my life...it will all end tonight."

A determined look was cast into the void. But she knew that someone was watching her.

xxxx-xxxx

The trip to Touma's room was smooth, if we disregard the fact that he kept humming or talking nonsense. Shizuri made him sit on the bed, but he soon collapsed and started swinging his arms as if he was trying to make a 'snow angel' on the bed. The girl shook her head at this clowning around.

"Well, you're delivered. I'm going to my room, if you need anything..."

"I need something," he said quickly, stopping what he was doing and putting a strange smile on his face. "Stay here with me for a little while."

"I guess I'll have to say no, just this once." Shizuri shook her head again. She turned to leave, but Touma held her wrist carefully.

"Then give me a little kiss goodnight."

Turning around again, the girl didn't argue. She just bent down and gave the boy a quick kiss on the lips. Or so she intended. Touma wanted to enjoy it a little more and held the back of her neck, making the kiss take longer than it should have.

"Shizu-chan, you like to kiss me, don't you?" he asked with a drunken voice and a stupid smile.

"Yes, I like it. Although I prefer it without that alcohol spoiling the taste. Now will you let go of me? You need to rest now." She turned away, yet Touma stood, bringing his face closer to hers.

"Not yet." Touma kissed her on the lips again, but it was just a peck this time "I want to use you as a body pillow tonight, like you do with me."

"Get sober and then we'll come to an agreement." Her tone was serious.

"Come on, Shizu-chan, don't be shy."

With a movement too smooth for someone intoxicated, he interlaced the fingers of his hand in Shizuri's and grabbed her around the waist, turning her body as if they were dancing in a ballroom.

As soon as Touma let go of her, he gave a little push, which made her fall backwards onto the bed.

"How about we continue what we started earlier?" he whispered. "Without any interruptions this time."

Shizuri just sighed and forced herself to say something that would convince him to let her go.

"Another day maybe. Not today."

"You're not being fair," he complained, slowly sliding a hand down her belly. "I love that outfit of yours, but it doesn't look very comfortable. I feel like undoing some buttons, what do you say?"

"If you liked it so much, I promise to wear the same outfit on another occasion, so you can completely fulfill your wish. What do you say?"

The answer she got was a nonchalant smile and another hand sliding up to her hip, where she felt a light pressure. This made her let out an even bigger sigh.

"You know, even an exasperated sigh is kind of sexy coming from a hot older girl," teased Touma "Are you doing that on purpose to get me excited?"

"No, I'm really angry with you. But part of that is my fault, so I promised myself that I would go easy on you this time. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go now." She gestured briefly with her head toward the door.

"You say that but you are barely trying to resist." Touma smiled mischievously and then grabbed both her wrists.

"I don't have to. I have complete confidence that you will listen to me and let me go. Drunk or not, you are not that kind of person."

It was a serious statement, leaving no doubt that she really believed her own words. The girl even relaxed on the bed and showed her palms instead of trying to get the boy off her.

The boy promptly let go of Shizuri's wrists, but before letting her go, he became serious and looked at her for a few seconds. A lock of her hair was carefully tucked behind her ear by Touma's hand, and he kissed her on the forehead just before getting off her.

Unnoticed by him, Meltdowner curled her lip at the gesture. Incredibly, something so simple made her more excited than the boy's drunken flirtations. Not that the flirtations weren't working, of course. But this was no time for that. She took advantage of her boyfriend's closed eyes to walk toward the bedroom door, but she stopped suddenly when she heard the boy speak again.

"Shizuri, do you think I'm a monster?" That question sounded too serious, it was almost as if he was no longer drunk.

Shizuri's eyes turned to him immediately. She gave up leaving him alone and sat down next to him on the bed. Gently, the girl began to stroke that spiky hair she liked so much.

"Why are you asking me that?" Shizuri tried to use the softest tone possible.

"You heard my story. Everyone hated me. Even though I didn't do anything wrong. But you are different aren't you? Are you afraid of me?"

"Of course not. Why would I be afraid of my amazing boyfriend?"

"Because you saw that." The boy closed his eyes at that instant, as if he didn't want to see the expression on Meltdowner's face "I know you saw it."

"Are you talking about your power?" Shizuri tried to keep her tone as calm as possible. "I don't care about any of that. I already knew that you were hiding something thanks to Takitsubo, so don't worry. Now let's forget about it for now, I don't want to talk about that kind of subject while you're drunk."

"I don't know if I want to talk about it while I'm sober." He opened his eyes, locking with hers.

"You can talk to me about anything. Don't worry about, I promise I will listen and help you in any way I can."

She watched him rub his own head awkwardly. The expression on Touma's face suddenly contorted, but he turned his face away to hide it. Was he feeling pain? But he was smiling, even if he didn't look sincere.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, leaning in to get a better look at his face.

"Maybe that person isright...I will fail, just like all the other times."

"I don't know who that 'person' is, but I guarantee you that you won't fail this time." Shizuri held his hand carefully, stroking it gently with her thumb.

"Hard to believe that when I just fail at everything I try."

"You're wrong." Her voice rose suddenly, but the tone remained calm. Their eyes met once again. "You have not failed me."

The smile that Touma loved so much was once again drawn on Shizuri's face, and she rested her forehead against his, sharing some of her warmth.

"You're perfect, you know that?" he whispered, running his fingers through her soft, brown strands of hair.

"I am perfect for you. Nothing more than that."

"Being modest, eh? Not very typical of you." Touma's teasing made her bite her lip slightly. "Shizuri, I want you to know that I am here for anything too. Not just if you need to talk. Anything... just tell me what you want and I'll do my best to accomplish it."

"I will keep this in mind." She didn't resist. Her lips briefly touched his. "I can already think of some things."

Shizuri was once again letting herself get carried away in the moment. She needed to take another deep breath and get away from her boyfriend for her heart to calm down. However, her heart began to race for another reason.

Looking toward the window, as if he were seeing the most important thing in the world, Touma began to rub his temple. That strange expression of pain seemed to return. The girl followed her boyfriend's gaze, staring at the window partially covered by white curtains.

The strange lights from earlier were still shining in the night sky. Maybe this was bothering this boy in some way?

Getting up from the bed, Shizuri walked toward the window. Before closing the curtains, Shizuri thought she understood why the boy was looking so focused in this direction.

"Are the lights more intense?" she muttered to herself. A sharp pain in her head made her grunt and put her hand to her forehead. "Shit... I think it was a bad idea to drink so much."

She tried to ignore that pain and go back to bed, but her vision was blurred now. The world seemed distorted, as if she was looking at a reflection in a convex mirror.

With great effort, she lay down on the bed, but her strength was being drained by that pain sliding down her nerves. Was this really just an effect of the drink? This no longer seemed to be the issue. In any case, Shizuri collapsed on the bed next to Touma, watching the world around her go completely dark.

xxxx-xxxx

It was bright. That was the first thing Mugino Shizuri noticed when she opened her eyes. That pain was suddenly gone, as if it had never been there in the first place. Even though she was feeling fine, something clearly was off.

"Is this... my room?" She asked, pulling the sheets away from her body. Shizuri felt a strong urge to yawn at that moment. "How the hell did I get here?"

Sitting up in bed, she realized that the clothes she was wearing were not the same as a moment ago. She was in sleeping clothes now, in this case a purple nightgown that she didn't remember having. In addition, her bedding was different as well. The first conclusion she had was that Touma must have carried her here, but whether he was the one who changed her clothes was unclear.

'It was a pretty bold choice of his.' She smiled silly as she looked down at her rather sexy nightgown. 'But why don't I remember anything?'

As her eyes adjusted, she realized that all the brightness in that room was not coming from the interior lights. The sun had already risen, which made Shizuri check the time on her alarm clock beside her bed. It was still morning, which meant that she had forgotten the night before. This filled her with doubt. Her heart suddenly fluttered, her boyfriend's face appearing in her mind and making her smile once again.

'What am I thinking? Of course our night ended when I blacked out.'

Disregarding any other possibility, she began to curse herself for drinking. At least she should have bought something lighter, like wine for example. But this was no time to be sorry.

Opening her giant closet, once again she noticed something strange. There were clothes in there that she didn't remember having, plus many of the clothes she had recently bought were no longer there. Shizuri usually disposed of older clothes a few months later, but she had gone shopping last week.

Stopping to think for a moment, didn't her own room look slightly different than she remembered? The color tone on the wall had changed to something more eye-catching, the curtains were thicker, even the mahogany furniture she had chosen herself was no longer the same. And there was something else. Not in her room, but in herself.

"What's that weird noise?" She shook her left arm, feeling as if something was wrong in it. It was as if the weight itself was different. In addition, she could feel something like little clicks as she moved her fingers. "Is that an effect of the hangover?"

Shizuri had never drunk that much in her life, but even she knew that this was an implausible assumption to say the least. But she decided to ignore this for the time being. First she would focus on what exactly had happened last night. She picked out whatever random clothes she saw in front of her, something that was quite unusual.

'I need to go to his room...stopping to think, why the hell did I take off the clothes he chose?'

Shaking her head as she smiled, she resisted the temptation to change clothes again. She walked with hurried steps to the boy's room, her heart still pounding. Her mind could only focus on the previous night, those gentle touches, caresses, kisses with the taste of alcohol that seemed like mere minutes ago to her. The boy would probably be sober now, so she wanted to spend a little more time with him. The two of them had a lot to talk about.

"Touma?" She called softly, tapping twice on the door. "Your Shizuri-chan is awake. May I come in?"

Getting no response, the girl decided to turn the knob. The boy was probably still asleep, and she was sure he wouldn't mind if she gave him a little surprise. But the door was locked, which made her sigh in frustration. She paused to think for a moment, assessing what she should do. But a few steps in the corridor made her turn sharply.

Standing there in the hallway, wearing her usual white sweater dress, a Kinuhata Saiai was suspicious and with her arms crossed. Shizuri merely inclined her head. Apparently, Offense Armor had gone home instead of staying in the hospital with Takitsubo, which could mean she was fine.

"Good morning Kinuhata. Did you sleep well?" Shizuri asked in an overly friendly voice, which made the other girl strangely narrow her eyes.

"Hmm... you seem in a good mood. What are you super planning there?"

"A little surprise." She smiled mischievously.

"Are you trying to invade people's privacy first thing in the morning?"

"I don't think he would mind. By the way, when did you arrive? You weren't here at night."

"Huh? I didn't go anywhere last night. I stayed here watching super movies, don't you remember?" Shrugging, Kinuhata walked back down the hallway while giving a nod to Shizuri. "By the way, I'm sure he would mind." She added as she walked away, which made Shizuri follow her on instinct.

"I bet you're just jealous. I'm sure he'd love to wake up with me next to him again. Just so you know, I intend to share my room with him from now on."

"What?!" Level 4 even stopped walking. Her face was one of pure shock "Wait, what super is going on between you two? Does Takitsubo know about this?"

"Of course. And why all the shock, are you having memory problems? We've been together for almost a month now."

"A month? Okay, now you're just screwing with me." Kinuhata said that with a tone of certainty, but Shizuri only looked confused. "Mugino... are you sure you haven't been drinking lately? Or using super heavy drugs?"

"Eh? Well..." She crossed her arms defensively. "I had a few shots of cognac. Actually more than a few."

"I guess that super explains it."

The two seemed to give up the conversation. It felt like they were talking about two completely different subjects. Shizuri decided to let go of her surprise. Maybe Touma was still suffering from a hangover. She had to do something to help him with this after breakfast.

Arriving in the dining room, the level 5 had another surprise.

"Takitsubo?" Shizuri raised an eyebrow at seeing her friend there, safe and sound. "It's so nice to see you well so soon. That frog-faced doctor is really very good at what he does."

"Frog-faced doctor?" Takitsubo kept her expression as blank as ever, but her tone was slightly confused.

"She's super drunk," said Kinuhata, serving herself with a bowl of rice.

"Very funny Kinuhata." Shizuri rolled her eyes. "That was last night, I'm perfectly fine now. Except of course for those weird noises when I move my fingers. And my eye feels a little odd too." She moved her fingers slowly once more, as if testing if they still worked. "There's something wrong with my arm."

Those fingers gave her such an abnormal feeling, as if they did not belong to that body. But at that moment, something else surprised her. There was something out of place in her other hand too.

'Where is my ring? Did he take it off before he put me to sleep?'

She didn't have time to formulate another hypothesis.

"Are you talking about the prosthetic arm? Maybe it's not perfectly calibrated," said Takitsubo.

"Prosthetic arm?"

Shizuri's face contorted into a strange grimace. Again she moved her fingers, as slowly as possible. Those light clicks were not natural. They sounded like the noises of a sewing machine or a metronome, but almost inaudible. The girl had thought for a moment that this was just a joke from her friend, which would be strange since it was Takitsubo she was talking about. She felt her own breathing suddenly become heavy. There was something wrong with her body, of that she was sure.

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Well, welcome to the bottom. Are you confused?

This chapter doesn't have much going on. Drunk Touma is an absolute meme that I had to make one more reference to, sorry LOL.

The scene in the bedroom was supposed to be a little longer, but since we will have more scenes of Shizuri and Touma being cute with each other in the future, I decided to make them shorter. We had Touma opening up more about how he feels about his "failures," which is a bit ironic considering how much we heard about his "successes" in this chapter, don't you think? By the way, have you noticed that most of the times when something is described as "perfect" in this fic, it is not a good thing?

The final scene... it will make more sense in the next chapter.

Talking about the fanfic overall, taking a look at my notes, I'd say we've passed the 3/4 mark. Yes, a few more chapters and we will be in the final stretch. But considering that I am always thinking of new scenes, this could change.

You may have noticed that I often draw attention to the changes happening in Shizuri's personality, both in the dialogs with the characters and in the narration. Kamachi likes to do this in canon as well. I think the scene that comes to mind most about this is the interaction of Shizuri and Last Order. In it Shizuri acts in a rather cute way. She turns off her "electronic eye" so as not to disturb a girl she has never met, and then she starts talking to her while smiling and being very kind. When the conversation ends, the narrator says: "Anyone who had known the #4 as she once was would have been astonished at this, but it was just yet another change in the personality of the person known as Mugino Shizuri." That was a control c and control v, by the way.

It's a shame that Shizuri's character arc was kind of forgotten after NT6, since NT12 basically only had action. I hope ITEM's new series will go beyond World War III (very unlikely). That way this arc can continue. Here in this fic, she has changed more than in canon, the reason for this is kind of obvious, and this will play an important role in the future.

These end of chapter notes have gotten huge again. I have to stop talking so much about Shizuri. I blame the new spin-off.

And now for the reviews:

xellos540: Hey!

;TBF, none of the girls in canon date Touma, and some of them really show concern.

;This time, Shizuri was lucky that Anti-Skill took care of the swarm of girls xD

;It is a friend's date, nothing to see here… hmmmmm…

;She already knew, Shizuri just loves to notice the girls' reactions when she says she is dating Touma.

;As I said in my notes, this is actually not 100 percent original, considering that we have a girl in canon who uses Touma's thought patterns to fight.

;Sister as in "Sisters"? Not really, no.

;That is Seria's final form, one day we will see how strong that is LOL.

;We don't know exactly why Seria distanced herself from Touma, considering it is hinted at how close they were, so I was pretty vague here.

;Kamachi occasionally makes some strange decisions about canon. He just likes to add almost everything to the main timeline, even if some things get 'inconsistent'.

Spidergy: Oh, thank you very much. Humor is not something I think I'm very good at, so that's quite a compliment.

Zatchbell511: Thanks as always, too. This chapter had one more cliffhanger, and this one was a bit confusing wasn't it?

5queso: I try not to give spoilers, but it's almost impossible for me, so it's nice to know that you don't mind. Glad it wasn't a bad chapter, and yes, it was a great reference LOL. We will get a little more Frenda in canon with the new Spin-off, it's a shame that this is a blessing and also a curse since we know her fate. Thank you. I really try to keep my chapters to between 6 and 10k words, but I often exceed that. Lately I am always stopping when I realize they are too long, so I can focus more on quality.

Drunk Touma is too strong for this world. Thankfully, he usually only shows up in SOL moments. Well... that's it for now. Nio leaving.