Academy city. A city filled to the brim with a plethora of colleges, middle schools, high schools etc. It is a self-sustaining city, which can live almost completely off of itself.
From the agriculture to entertainment to research, everything could be one in this city.
It had a population of 2.4 million, about 80% of which were students. The vast majority of the students were Level zero, having failed to gain a measurable power from the ability development program. In the whole city, there were only 7 Level 5's. The students who had gained a power strong enough to level a city from the ability development program.
Well, there were 8 level 5s, but according to official system records, there were only 7. It was common knowledge just how unreachable the level 5s were. The gap between a level 4 and level 5 was the same difference between a small puddle and the Pacific Ocean. In the history of academy city, there had only been 11 of these elites developed.
As such, they were the prized possessions of the chairman. The Level 5s were the De Facto representatives of the student body, and as such, they were expected to appear and participate in many festivals and such major events in academy city.
But the level 5s all lived so different lives that it was only possible for a few to even see the light of academy city.
Accelerator, the number 1 Level 5 of academy city, was a person who was born and brought up by the darkness and experiments.
Mugino Shizuri, the number 2 level 5 of academy city, was a person who willingly jumped into the darkness to protect the light.
Misaka Mikoto, the number 3 level 5 of academy city, was a person who was largely untainted by the darkness of academy city.
Kakine Teitoku, the number 4 level 5 of academy city was a person who was blinded by his goal of becoming the strongest.
Shokuhou Misaki, the number 5 level 5 of academy city was a person who was rescued from the darkness by a certain boy.
Aihana Etsu, the number 6 level 5 of academy city was a person.
Sogiita Gunha, the number 7 Level 5 of academy city was a person who didn't put any thoughts into his actions.
And the unranked level 5 of academy city was Kamijou Touma.
The kamijou touma in question was currently sitting in a certain class in a certain high school and studying.
"Okay. I have a handout for you. Follow along while we go through this supplementary lesson."
Even after sitting a whole term in this class, kamijou could still not believe it.
The homeroom teacher of year 1 class 7 was so short only her head was visible when she stood behind her desk. Kamijou lived in academy city where mind boggling and crazy things were common, but his teacher was definitely one of the most mysterious.
Considering that she was only 135 cm tall, and still a high school teacher, made her one of Academy city's 7 mysteries. In fact, an urban legend has it that she was once denied a roller coaster ride due to safety concerns. She looked to all the world like a twelve-year-old who should be carrying a soprano recorder and wearing a yellow hard hat and a red kiddie backpack.
"I won't stop you from talking amongst yourselves, but you need to listen to what I say. I put a lot of effort into making a quiz, so if you do poorly on it, you will be punished with the See-Through lesson."
"Sensei, isn't that where you play poker with a blindfold on!? That's part of the Curriculum for clairvoyance! I've heard you can't leave until you win ten times in a row despite not being able to see your cards, so wouldn't we just be stuck here until morning!?" protested Aogami pierce.
Kamijou would have had no problem with the quiz as he was probably the smartest official level 0 in academy city.
Even the blind poker wouldn't have given much trouble as he could probably memorise the AIM diffusion trace patterns on the cards.
Kamijou wanted to be done with it.
"Oh, and kamijou-chan, since your attendance is so bad, you'll have to do the see-through lesson as well for extra credits." Komoe sensei said.
"Ugh." Kamijou was at a loss for words when faced with the salesman smile of the salaryman teacher.
"...Mhh. I see. This is Komoe-chan's way of flirting with you Kami-yan," said the blue haired class representative sitting next to him.
"…Do you sense malice coming from that teachers back as she stretches up to reach the blackboard?"
"What? What's wrong with having such a cute teacher scold you for failing a quiz? Getting physically abused by a little kid like that gets you a lot of experience points, Kami-Yan."
"I knew you were a lolicon, but you're a masochist too?! You really are hopeless!"
"Ah hah! It's not that I like lolis. It's that I ALSO like lolis!"
Kamijou almost shouted out "You're omnivorous!?", but he was interrupted.
"You two over there! If you say a single word more, you'll be stuck with Columbus' Egg."
Just as one would expect, Columbus' Egg involved standing a raw egg upside down on a desk without anything supporting it. Those specializing in psychokinesis could keep the egg from falling when they worked to the point of the blood vessels in their brain almost bursting. (It was actually an extremely difficult challenge because the egg would break if the psychokinesis was too powerful.) As with the previous example, you would be stuck there until morning if you could not do it.
However, as usual, it was an extremely easy task for Kamijou, as all he had to do was figure out the tiny bumps and divots of the desk, and place the egg down with precision in such a way that the center of mass was directly over the point of contact. Having control over every single muscle fiber in his body through his power meant he had the insane mind muscle connection to pull this off.
Kamijou and Aogami Pierce stared at Tsukuyomi Komoe while forgetting to breathe.
"Okay?" Her smile was quite frightening.
While Komoe-sensei loved being called "cute" she got incredibly angry when called "small".
However, she did not seem to mind being looked down on by the students. Part of that was just something that could not be helped within Academy City. The city was a veritable Neverland where over eighty percent of the population was students. The opposition to salaryman teachers was harsh even compared to a normal school, and more importantly, the "strength" of a student was based on both their academic ability and their power.
The teachers were the ones that developed the students, but the teachers themselves had no powers. Some, like the PE teachers and guidance counselors, seemed like they were from some foreign unit because they had to train Level 3 monsters with their own fists, but it would be cruel to expect that of a chemistry teacher like Komoe.
"…Hey, Kami-yan."
"What?'
"Would it turn you on to get lectured by Komoe-sensei?"
Kamijou fell silent and waited for Komoe-sensei to turn around, then promptly punched Aogami on the top of the head as hard as he could, knocking him out. He was not in the mood for anymore of the pervert's questions. He was more worried about index.
The Walking Church nun's habit she wore had indeed reacted to Kamijou's right hand (although "reacted" may be an overstatement), but that did not mean he believed in magic. Most likely, the majority of what Index had said was a lie, and even if she was not lying, she may have just mistaken some natural phenomenon for the occult.
Even so…
(I guess the fish that escapes always seems huge.)
Kamijou sighed again. If the alternative was being stuck in that desk in that sauna-like classroom that had no air conditioning, charging into a fantasy of swords and magic may have been better. And he even had a cute (he was somehow hesitant to say beautiful) heroine to go with it.
The girl had vanished without a trace. But, even if the girl had disappeared, he would have found her if he seriously started looking for her. All he had to do was try to remember the AIM diffusion traces that were on her clothes. It seemed really unique so it wouldn't have been that hard to find. Even if that didn't work, all he had to do was run around screaming her name, and as embarrassing as that would have been, it would have probably worked, since no one in this city had a name as unusual as her.
When he thought about it, he realized he had wanted some kind of connection.
Because that white girl had shown him such a perfect smile…
He had felt that she would disappear like an illusion if he did not leave some kind of connection.
He had been afraid.
(…Oh, so that's it.)
After going through those slightly poetic thoughts, Kamijou finally realized something.
When it came down to it, he had not hated that girl who had gotten caught on his balcony. He had liked her enough that the thought of never seeing her again left him with a slight twinge of regret.
"…Ah, dammit."
He clicked his tongue. With how much she was weighing on his mind, he wished he had stopped her from leaving.
(Come to think of it, what was with those 103,000 grimoires she mentioned?)
Index had said that the group called a magic cabal that was after her (Was a cabal something like a corporation?) seemed to be pursuing her because they wanted those 103,000 grimoires. And apparently, Index had been fleeing with those 103,000 grimoires in her possession.
It was not a key or a map to the place where all those books were stored.
When Kamijou had asked where all those books were, she had simply said, "Right here." However, as far as Kamijou could see, she did not have a single book. At any rate, Kamijou's room was not large enough to hold 100,000 books.
"…What was that all about?"
Kamijou tilted his head to the side in puzzlement. Since Index's Walking Church nun's habit had reacted to Imagine Breaker, what she was saying was not purely a delusion. But…
"Sensei, Kamijou-kun is staring out the window at the fluttering skirts of the girl's tennis team."
Aogami Pierce's was back from the world of the unconscious and wanted revenge. His words sent Kamijou's focus in a U-turn back into the classroom.
"..."
Komoe-sensei fell silent.
She seemed to have undergone quite a shock by the fact that Kamijou Touma-kun had not been focused on the lesson. She had the look of a twelve-year-old who had just found out the truth about Santa Claus.
Just as that thought reached his mind, Kamijou Touma was pierced by the hostile gazes of his classmates who wished to protect the human rights of that "child". There was only so much hostility even a level 5 could handle.
While it was called a supplementary lesson, they had been stuck there until the time when all students were supposed to have left school as a punishment for trying to catch a glimpse of the Tennis girl's panties...
"...Such misfortune," muttered Kamijou as he gazed at the three propellers of a wind turbine glittering in the sunset. Any kind of nightlife was forbidden, so the last bus and train in Academy City were set to go out when the students were all supposed to have left school.
Kamijou missed the last bus, so he was trudging along through the scorching shopping district that seemed to go on forever. A security robot passed by him as he did. It was also a drum on wheels and it functioned as something like a walking security camera. They had originally been improved versions of robot dogs, but children would gather around them and block their path. For that simple reason, all the work robots had been made into drum container shapes.
"Ah, there you are, you bastard! Wait up...wait! You! I'm talking to you! Stop!"
The summer heat had done Kamijou in, so he just stared at the slowly moving security robot and thought about how Index had run off after a cleaning robot. Finally, he realized that voice was calling out to him.
He turned around to figure out what was going on.
It was a middle-school-aged girl. Her shoulder-length brown hair glowed a flame-red in the sunset and her face was dyed even redder. She wore a gray pleated skirt, a short-sleeved blouse, and a summer sweater... At that point, he suddenly realized who she was.
"...Oh, it's you again, Biri Biri middle schooler."
"Don't call me Biri Biri! I have a name! It's Misaka Mikoto! Stop calling me with stupid nicknames or I'll shock you to the end of the world."
She seemed angry for some reason, but he didn't know much about her other than the fact she had apparently had a short temper and boyish attitude, from what he learned from a friend in tokiwaadai.
Kamijou was exhausted from the supplementary lessons, but he was in no mood to fight the level 5 again, and in a place where people could be caught in the crossfire, so he had to defuse the situation carefully.
"Go home you you brat. This Kamijou san is not in the mood to deal with any flat-headed idiots like you."
Kamijou said, clearly aware of the situation and taking the best course of action. Clearly.
"FLAT CHESTED? DID HE JUST CALL ME FLAT CHESTED?! I KNOW I DON'T HAVE AS MUCH FAT THERE AS SOME OTHER WOMEN, BUT IM PERFECTLY AVERAGE FOR MY AGE. THIS BASTARD."
"Anyway, what do you want biri biri? Did you have supplementary lessons today as well?"
Kamijou interrupted her misunderstanding.
"Gh...Sh-shut up."
"Nah. I don't take orders from flat-headed people."
"THIS FUCKING BASTARD! HE CALLED ME FLAT-CHESTED AGAIN!?"
The middle school girl stomped down on the tiles of the footpath.
At that exact moment, a tremendous noise came from the cell phones of the people walking along the area. Also, the cable broadcast in the shopping district cut out and a horrible noise came from the security robot.
The crackling sound of static electricity came from the middle school girl's hair.
That Level 5 girl who could use a railgun with nothing but her own body smiled such that her canines were bared like a beast.
"Hmph. How about that? Has that changed your cowardly mind? ...Mgh!"
In a frantic attempt to cover her mouth, Kamijou's hand covered Misaka Mikoto's entire composed face.
(Sh-shut up. Please just shut your mouth! Everyone's cell phones were fried and they're looking none too pleased! If they find out it was us, they'll make us pay, and I have no idea how much that cable broadcast costs!)
"Wait? Why the hell is my cellphone fried?!"
"Yeah, mine too."
"Hey look at that girl, she's sparking."
"Must be her."
"Yeah, look at her boyfriend trying to cover up for her."
"You are going to have to pay for our phones you know."
"SHIT THEY SPOTTED US. RUN!"
Kamijou let go of her mouth, grabbed her hand, and started running as past as he could. Practically dragging her along. He had no intentions of paying a single yen to anyone involved so all his mind was on, was running away as far as he could, as fast as he could. He could deal with biri-biri later.
When he was finally convinced he was in a good spot, he calmed himself down a bit and found out that he was in an alleyway. There were no footsteps and the only notable things to be seen was a stray cat., he put both of his hands on his knees and bent over to catch his breath. Wait? Both hands? Hadn't he grabbed biri-biri's hand? Where did she go?
Oh well. She would probably be fine. She was the third strongest esper in the city. The odds that would make her run into someone who's hostile AND stronger than her were so low, that if she did, his record for misfortune would have been broken.
Mikoto was in an alleyway after being cornered by someone. She was pinned to a corner and tied with duct tape.
She did not know what had happened. One moment she was trying to get the spiky haired idiot to take her seriously, then for some reason he grabbed her hand and started running. She had no idea what was happening until she was grabbed from the side and pulled into an alleyway. Before she knew it, she was tied to a pipe and couldn't move.
"What the-"
She looked up at her assailant and saw the face of mugino shizuri, the number 2 level 5 of academy city.
She tried desperately to free herself from her binds.
She tried to use electricity, but she couldn't generate even a single spark.
"Don't bother using your power. I have tie you to a pipe that's making direct contact with you body and is grounded. You won't be able to generate the necessary potential difference for an attack."
Mugino sighed.
"Who knew the number 3 level 5 of academy city had such an easy to exploit weakness."
Mikoto looked up at her in helpless fear, not being able to do anything and wondering what the number 2's intentions were.
"God-damnit, I just got out of a fight with the number 4 as well. That idiots lost again, but he still doesn't give. I swear he'll just try to go after the number 1 someday and end up getting killed. If it wasn't for his words, even I would have killed him."
"…"
"Whatever… Now to the important question. What relation do you have with Kamijou Touma."
Author's note
Sorry it took so long for this chapter to be uploaded, I had like zero lab credit and I needed at least some to pass, so for the last week I've just been grinding biochemistry. I'm hoping I can come back to my semi-regular upload schedule, but I really don't have any idea on which direction I'm going to take the story in.
I could go completely ooc and full god tier big brain giga strong touma, but I'm leaning more towards the original lovable idiot. Let's see.
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Gallonacho0: - Here it is.
Blackshock: - Thanks.