V

Chapter 26: The Aftermath is the Second Round

(Un)Lucky_First_Move

Part 1

September 1, 7:09 AM.

As usual, Hishiro woke up with the sunlight hitting his face through the window of his hideout in District 10. Today was the day he would have to go back to school, but that was the least of his worries right now. All he could think about since last night was the message he had received from Nayuta.

The mutated DNA sample that could be only retriven after the accident. That would only be possible if...

No, I can't get my hopes up. There gotta be another explanation for this. That was the most logical approach to the situation, but he couldn't stop his head from going wild. His feelings were getting the worst of him, and probably for this exact reason, his judgment was blinded and stopped him from looking at it from a different perspective, closing a perfect vicious cycle. Shit, I need to calm down.

He dragged his body to the refrigerator and took the first thing he saw - a small cup of yogurt. Though eating didn't cooled his head, it at least helped in fully waking up his brain. "*sigh*... I wish I could skip class today, but if Asuka finds out, she'll know something's wrong… I need to avoid that."

From his hideout, he only needed 20 minutes to get to school, but nothing he did in there right now would do him any good, so despite being early, he headed outside. Maybe walking will clean up my head somehow. Unfortunately it didn't, but on the bright side, at least the streets on the path he took were mostly empty, giving off a peaceful atmosphere.

The school Hishiro currently attended could be called to be at the bottom of the high class institutions of Academy City. It was nothing to be made fun of, but when surrounded by all the other better looking schools of District 16, it felt kind of plain in comparison. Still, it had a nice front garden and both the gate and the entrance of the main building gave off a welcoming feeling with its walls painted in gray and white, which were clearly well maintained during the summer vacation.

Having arrived early, there weren't many students around the campus. He made his way through the hallways with the familiar wood floor and beige walls and headed upstairs, going for the first room on the left side of the second floor. He was glad it was still empty, which gave him the freedom to pick whichever sit he wanted. Far from the window and far from the blackboard was always his best choice, so he sat down on the last chair of the right row, dropped his bag behind it, crossed his arms over the desk and laid his head on top of it. It was not that he was feeling tired or anything, but getting some sleep now would at least make the wait until class time more bearable. He just wanted to get this over with asap and go back into doing what really mattered.

Not long after, the boy heard a few of his classmates arriving, chatting with one another about what they did on vacation and other trivial things. None of them paid him any heed due to the "no approach" aura he was emitting.

…

"Yo!"

*Bump*

Suddenly, Hishiro felt a heavy impact on his back, following the familiar but not so liked voice. After being forcefully dragged out of his sleep, it took a while to remember where he was and figure out who had done that to him. Without raising his head, he simply replied with a growl. "Dammit, Masato! Don't do that!"

"Ihihihih, sorry, but I just HAD to. Sleeping on the first day, you're asking to for someone to prank you."

"What stupid logic is that? No one else but you (or maybe Asuka) would think like that."

"You don't know..."

"Just look around! No one bothered me until you showed up, idiot!"

Masato was the only person in the class that would talk to Hishiro like that. It was all part of the boy's strategy, actually. He would rather not get involved with anyone from the light side whose he would cross paths on a daily basis, but complete isolation on school could cause him some trouble, so after studying the class for a couple of days, he choose the most stupid and easy to trick person on the class to fulfill the role of "friend" in front of the other students. Like that, he could keep the others away after being labelled as "the one who hangs out with THAT guy", and he could give any sort of excuse to him if he needed to cover something up. Masato would believe anything he said without question and spread the story around to the teachers and the others if needed. For example:

"By the way, Shiro-kun, where were you during the vacation? I knocked on your door on the dorm the other day and no one answered."

"I left the city. Spent time with my family. Stuff like that."

"I see. Well, it's a shame. You lost quite a lot of fun while you were out."

"I bet I did. Seeing you get dumped a thousand times in the same night trying to pick up on random girls never gets old."

"How did you kno- I mean, c'mon! That never happened!"

"It did."

"But it wasn't a thousand times!"

"The last one beat you to a pulp. That raised the counter to a thousand on the score."

"B-but she was a Level 4 from Tokiwadai!"

"You're the only moron I know who would approach a girl from Tokiwadai like that."

"S-shut up, you got no girls that night too!"

"Because I didn't even tried."

"Isn't that worse?"

"The score was 0 x -1000. I don't think that's worse. And by the way, you still own me 10,000 yen for winning."

"T-the bet isn't over yet! Just you wait, I'll make a legendary come back before the end of the year!"

"Yeah, go for it."

Actually, it baffled Hishiro how the guy still wanted to be around him when he kept giving monotone replies like that. But this was way better than faking enthusiasm to match Masato's, so he didn't complain.

That moment, the homeroom teacher arrived and the class became noisy as everyone hurried to their sits. Only then Hishiro raised his head and noticed the tall male sitting two desks away from him, with a black hair that was longer than the one he remembered. Did… Masato let his hair grow? Huh... He regretted missing the opportunity to comment on that, but his mind was somewhere else entirely that day. Nor he would have time to worry about that.

"We are going to start things in a different way this term. In order to improve the performance of our students, the faculty will be implementing a new Ability Enhancement System, which will increase the chances of raising the level of your abilities, as well raising your average grades. For that, we will have an ability test once every week, starting off right now. So we're all going to the gymnasium, line up there, and wait until your names are called, like usual."

The announcement caused a bit of restlessness in the class, but everyone followed the instructions without complaining. For Hishiro, he actually preferred doing that instead of having actual classes. But the problem lies on what probably would come for him afterwards.

…

Just like he predicted, he was called to the faculty office when the results were out. Masato and a few others made fun of him, wondering what he had done to get himself in trouble, but he simply ignored them and headed to the room in question.

There, his homeroom teacher awaited him while studying a couple of paper sheets with a serious look on his face, that softened once he saw his student getting in. "Yamasaki-kun, I would like to talk with you for a moment. Do you mind?"

The boy answered with a heavy sigh. "It's not like you're gonna let me go if I say I do."

"Yes. If you understand, then take a sit there, please."

He did as told and sat on a chair right in front of the teacher. There was no one else in the room, the guy had gone to the trouble of arranging this situation for them to talk alone. Which meant this was going to take a while.

This man called Itsuki (Hishiro never bothered to learn his other name) was the most cliche image of a "perfect teacher" you could find. Tall, neat brown hair, rectangular glasses, kind voice, seemed to care deeply for all students… it was too good to be true. Needless to say, everyone liked him (specially the girls). But Hishiro's experience with the dark side allowed him to see a bit beyond his facade, so he could tell that there was more to him than your eyes could notice. Every time his eyes met someone else's, it felt like this person was trying to peer deeply into one's soul and rip out in the open any shadows within there that were meant to stay hidden (specially with the girls), which is why the boy avoided him as much as possible. After all, his "shadows" were heavier than your regular person, and he could not allow anyone to get near them.

With a (fake) smile, the Itsuki handed him the papers and asked. "Yamasaki-kun, what do you think about your test results?"

The boy glanced over them without giving their meaning much thought before answering. "They're normal, I think? It says I'm still a Level 3."

"It is true that your level hasn't changed, but the specific parameters of your abilities performance are lower than last time."

"Is that so?"

The smile disappeared from the teacher's face and got replaced by a (possibly fake) sad expression. "And you don't seem to be much worried about this either."

Hishiro could only curse his bad acting for letting that one slip. "I mean, isn't it normal for these number to oscillate every now and then? I don't understand why I should be worried."

"It is true that multiple external factors tend to influence the tests, which can lower the results occasionally even if we try to avoid them, but even I can tell that this is not your case."

"Then what do you think it is my case?"

Hishiro tried to keep his poker face as best as he could, but the smuggle face that was reflected in Itsuki eyes didn't match his efforts at all. He could tell that this man could see the arrogance hidden within his words. "Yamazaki-kun… could it be that you have been holding back during the tests on purpose?"

...shit. The boy's eyebrow twitched ever so slightly at the accusation, but he didn't gave in at all. And the teacher continued. "Also, even though everyone in your class improved their grades in the last term, yours are the only ones that were kept on the minimum acceptable average ever since you enrolled in the academy. You're also keeping them like this on your own will as well, aren't you?"

This wasn't the first time Hishiro have been called to talk about his ability and grades. Ever since he started doing dirty jobs for Academy City, his official identity had changed countless times - which implied in changing not only schools, but also years as well, since his age wouldn't be the same when he had to become someone different. Because of that, he had climbed up and down in the educational system like crazy and lost all attachment for studying in the process. It was impossible for a child at his actual age back then to keep up with all the abrupt changes. And this habit hadn't changed at all once he grew up. There would be no point in putting effort into studies if that version of him could simply vanish in a clap, so he would only study by himself the stuff he actually had any interest into, or he felt would be useful for the moment.

However, that kind of attitude had a peculiar side effect. Null Inertia was not a simple ability to use. It didn't require absurd calculations like teleportation would, but it still took a lot to create a field intended to apply the exact amount of opposite force to a moving body in order to make it stop. And aiming for more efficient use required more mathematical and physical tricks, things that schools in Academy City should be in charge of helping the Espers with. Due to his lax attitude though, his power growth not only came to an absolute halt, but he also never used them to their fullest unless his life depended on it. So more than once, the teaching staff of a few schools caught up with his irregular results, but that was the first time someone had read him enough to say he was holding back.

Trying to turn the tables on him, Hishiro made an awkward smile and replied in an innocent tone. "That's kind of cruel, Itsuki-sensei. It's not like I wouldn't want to have better grades or improve as an Esper, but I barely managed to make it to the minimum I needed. Is it wrong to be happy for not letting anything drop below the red line?"

"No, of course not." Said Itsuki, mirroring his smile (which was completely fake). "After all, your grades are also the only one among the lower averages that never ever went below the 'red line' like you said, in no subject at all. But that's exactly what makes it the most suspicious. It's just unnatural."

The boy had to avoid looking into the man's eyes to try and think of a proper reply that could take him out of this situation, but he couldn't do that fast enough. Itsuki simply put on even more pressure on him. "Listen, I don't know why you're doing this, and it's okay if you don't want to share your reasons with me. But as your teacher, I worry a lot about you. I know you can do better than this. I can see the growing potential in you… something that none of the others have."

In a subtle movement that only a pro like Hishiro would notice, the man leaned closer and intensified his glare on the boy. "Something that somewhat resembles myself… yes, I see a lot of me in you, Yamazaki-kun. That's why I know. Hiding behind this dark mask you put on the outside, there's a brilliant mind just waiting to awaken. You and I are just the same."

What is this guy implying here? Feeling an unexpected sense of danger, Hishiro pulled himself away from the teacher that leaned even further towards him. "Don't you want to find out? How far can you go? What can you achieve if you aim higher? Who you can surpass if give it your all? Aren't you curious?"

That moment, they heard a knock on the door, followed by the timid footsteps. "Teacher, Yumi-san is asking for help to- ah… is-is this a bad time?"

The girly voice changed the atmosphere in the room instantly. Itsuki, who seemed ready to jump over the boy just a moment ago, was now sitting back on his chair normally and smiled at the girl. "No, we are done here. I can go see Yumi-chan right now." And he headed to the exit, following the girl as if nothing had happened. But he left his final words just before leaving the room. "Think seriously about what we just talked, Yamazaki-kun."

Dumbfold, the boy stood still for a minute or so trying to understand what had just happened. "He couldn't have just gone back to that position so fast, so how… was it just my imagination?" Giving up, he let out another sigh and decided to go home. Since he was left alone there, no one could prove he had skipped the last period if he used the call to the faculty office as an excuse. Maybe I'm getting paranoid or something… Yeah, that gotta be it.

Part 2

Sherry Cromwell.

The woman with blond messy hair, brown skin and wearing a black goth dress had no trouble breaking into the walls of academy city using her earth based spells. It was so easy it would make anyone suspicious, but even if she was "allowed" in, it would change nothing. Her mind was set on accomplishing her goal even if the science side prepared a trap and fought back.

But, maybe that's exactly why she failed to notice that the door she had opened was also used by the other two that came walking inside behind her.

One was clearly shorter than the other, but they both wore the same dark gray robe with golden decorations and a black hood that kept their faces hidden. Once inside, they took cover from a safe distance from Sherry and out of the sight of the security cameras.

The smaller couldn't contain her excitement and expressed her feelings while bouncing around like a child. "Kihihihi! That was tooooo easy! What a narrow minded woman! I bet she wouldn't notice even if I started touching her!"

"Hey now, don't be this harsh. You do know why this worked, right? She is alert and expecting some resistance from the inside to oppose her, which is only natural in this situation, and that leaves a blind spot for those with a similar goal. It would be amazing if she actually noticed something."

"But, but - if you knew all that, why didn't you brought him with us?"

"Stupid. It is not a matter of being able to get in or not. He cannot exist outside of the sanctuary, and if I did that inside the city, Aleister would find us in a blink of an eye."

"EHHHHH? Then, how is this plan going to work? I don't get it."

The taller one sighed at her partner's carelessness. "You seriously came all the way here without thinking it through? Well, whatever… you don't really need to understand. Just trust me and do as I say. Everything will work out eventually."

"Yayay - gotcha! Can I go then? Can I? Can I?"

"Geez, be patient, Cristina. If you leave now and start making a ruckus, you'll be found in no time. Wait here until I give you the signal."

"Awwwww, that's not fair! Why are you leaving me behind? I want to go play with the Seeds of Doubt too!"

"Don't worry, they're all yours. I will call you the moment I find them. So be a good girl and wait, okay?"

"Fiiiiine..." Pouting, the smaller person sat on the ground with legs and arms crossed, revealing the high heels and stockings she was wearing, while the other adjusted her hood and left their hiding place, pursuing the other intruder while moving from shadow to shadow.

If the information Rázval provided us is correct, then I'll probably be able to see "that" if I keep following Sherry for a while. It'll be a good opportunity even if it risks the success of the our mission.

Part 3

Since that day was the first school day after the summer vacation, classes ended earlier than usual. For that reason, the blue eyes blond little girl in her elementary school uniform and a red beret on her head had to wait longer than usual in front of the school gates for her friend to come pick her up.

Her name was Fremea Seivelun.

Due to several complicated circumstances that she did not understand, she spent most of her time under the cares of Komaba Ritoku, a large man who stood as the leader of the Skill-Out - though she probably had no idea of what that meant. For her, all that mattered is that they got along well, so despite the fact they were not relatives, she saw no problem with staying with him.

But that day would be different. From afar, instead of the large figure of Ritoku, she saw a girl with similar blond hair and blue eyes that she had. "Onee-chan?!"

"Surprise! Did you miss me?"

"ONEE-CHAN!" Shouting with a wide smile on her face, the little sister jumped on Frenda's arms who had to take a step back to stop her sudden tackle. "How? In the first place, you told me you would be busy today."

"Basically, I can make an exception for my dear sister every now and then, right?" Actually, this was Frenda's plan all along. She had gone out of her way to get the day off and make sure no one from ITEM would be able to find her so she could spend the whole day with Fremea.

It was supposed to be a relaxing day for the two of them, but they unfortunately had chosen to hang out in the underground mall of District 7. And that particular day, in the underground mall…

"!"

"Onee-chan… that was..."

Not long after lunch, a telepathic message was sent to everyone in the area warning about the possible presence of a terrorist inside the mall. Frenda jumped out of her chair and grabbed Fremea's wrist without thinking twice. "Come. We need to get out of here." Had she been alone, she would make sure to make the said terrorist pay for ruining her afternoon, but she couldn't risk getting Fremea hurt over it.

Heading to the closest exit, the blonde couldn't help but click her tongue as the sheer amount of people gathered there trying to get away from danger blocked the way. Members of Judgment were trying to organize a line and make the evacuation more efficient, but it would take a while until everyone was calm enough to obey them.

Overrun by impatience, the older sister gave up on leaving by conventional methods and turned to the opposite direction, dragging the confused Fremea with her. Being an underground facility, there were many ventilation ducts and hidden passways meant for maintenance of the structure. As long as they hadn't yet isolated the place - which could happen any time - these could be used to get outside, if one knew where to go. It didn't took long for Frenda to find one of these as she ran her free hand on the walls while walking. Feeling something out of place, she came to a stop. "Okay Fremea, could you please turn around and cover your ears?"

"Huh? Y-yeas, but… in the first place, what are you going to do."

"It's a surprise." Trusting her older sister words and smile, the girl did as she was told. Frenda quickly took out her special duct tape, sticked it in key points of the wall and ignited one of the edges. The spark spread out fast along the tape, and in a matter of seconds the wall was down, revealing the hidden corridor on the other side.

Feeling the shockwave from the impact of the wall hitting the floor, Fremea curiously pecked over her shoulders and her eyes widened in disbelief. "Amazing..."

"I am, right~! Come, we're going this way."

The layout of the passage was rather simple and they managed to make their way up to a maintenance office. However, the path was badly lit, and they failed to notice the robbed figure using the same path to move within the mall without being seen by her target of observation. "My… is this fate or is luck on our side today? Cristina, the Seeds of Doubt just passed by me down here."

…

Once outside, Frenda stretched her arms and finally allowed the tension to flow away from her body. "Hmmmmmmm~ Piece of cake. But I have to admit, this surprised me a little."

"Onee-chan… won't we be in trouble for breaking the wall like that?"

"It was an emergency, so it's probably alright. In the end, these passages were made to be used in times like this too. But we can't do that without a good reason, you hear me?" She added, still trying to somehow maintain a good image in front of Fremea, but the truth was that she regretted a little having to recur to such methods in front of her sister. "Ah, it's hot outside… do you want ice cream?"

Nodding, Fremea seemed to have forgotten all about that in a blink of an eye at the mention of ice cream, much to Frenda's relief. But they would never be able to enjoy it together.

It happened just before they got to the stall.

A girl in grey robes about the same size as Frenda blocked their way with her arms while removing her black hood, revealing her beautiful face and long light brown hair. Her black eyes seemed to stare deep into their minds while her mouth twisted as if she was about to cry.

Frenda blinked a few times in surprise. Just laying her eyes in this girl made her anxious, though she couldn't exactly understand why. "H-huh… excuse me, but..."

"You two… are in terrible danger. Your future will be tainted with darkness and death if you don't act to change it now."

"Future?" Frenda asked out of confusion, but instead of answers, the girl placed both her hands on Frenda's shoulders and leaned closer, almost making their forehead touch. Before she could panic due to this sudden approach, she noticed something inside the girl's eyes. There was something like a small red dot right in the middle of it that slowly started to spread out, dying her whole iris in red.

"It's not too late yet. If you want to change your fate, I can help you." Mesmerized by the sight, the blonde simply nodded without giving any thought to what the other girl had said. And then, as a smile that seemed of pure happiness was drawn in her face, the girl pulled away and…

Everything stopped to make sense.

The street was suddenly devoid of people besides the three of them. The robe the girls was wearing dropped, revealing a quite daring black bunny outfit from within it, bunny ears appeared on her hair, and she pulled a microphone from… somewhere unknown. That happy expression was replaced by something that seemed to be both innocent and cruel at the same time.

"Then leeeeeeeet's begin! Welcome to the Wheel of Fortune! The show where our contestants fight and struggle to death in hope to change their future! I, Cristina, will be the announcer of today's trial of will! And here with me are… two of the Seeds of Doubt!"

Applause and cheers roared unaturaly around them, even though there was no one else there. The two sisters were left speechless in front of what was probably the weirdest event of their lives so far.

Ignoring them, Cristina made a big jump and pulled a huge machine… out of nothingness. It was a large colorful wheel adorned with light lamps and a long lever attached on it. "So without further ado, let's hop into our first event! Now pay attention everyone! The result of the roulette will decide the starting point of these two ladies journey. They can also get an instant game over or get the best fortune right off the bat! Aren't you all excited? I'm sure I am! Here we gooooooooooo~~~~~!"

She then pulled the lever and the wheel started spinning. Not sure of what to do, Frenda's eyes ran wild trying to find anything logical to serve as a pillar for her to understand what was going on. That's why her sight fell into the robes on the floor and she finally remembered.

Yes, that man… wasn't Rázval wearing this same robe when I met him? So that means…!

The moment she realized what was going on, it probably was already too late to stop what had been set in motion. She tried to grab Fremea's hand and run away, but her sister brushed her off. Her eyes were dyed in the same red as Cristina's, and were glued on the spinning roulette, that had just stopped on a pocket watch symbol.

"Oh, that's a good one! Aren't you two lucky? Today's game will be a timed race to the wonderland! I hope you are fast enough to keep up with the white rabbit, or else you'll get lost in the magic hole! Are you ready?"

She then stalled her fingers and golden coins rained over Frenda, blocking her sight for good 10 seconds. Once it was over….

"Huh? HUH? What the-"

Everything was gone. She was there, standing on the exact same spot as she was before the whole madness begun, surrounded by the people walking down the street. Cristina was gone, the machine was gone, and Fremea…

"Fremea? Fremea?! Fremea, where are you?!"

While looking around searching for her sister, she caught a glimpse of the gray robe making its way through the crowd. She broke into pursuit, running as fast as she could to reach it, but it seemed to move just as fast as she did. "Wait!"

Following it, she turned a corner into a dead end. The girl and her sister were nowhere to be seen, but she found a red letter lying on the floor. Being the only hint left behind, Frenda picked it up and opened it.

Find the white rabbit before 22:00, or there will be no future for neither of you. Good luck.

Part 4

For the most part, that was a tense afternoon.

Because of some terrorist that managed to break into Academy City, Hishiro and Misaka 19998, a.k.a. Kyuchi, were forced go back and forth patrolling and standby watches all over district 7 to be ready in case someone were to make use of the confusion to cross the line. After several hours, the incident was finally resolved and they were dismissed, but the uneasiness was still lurking inside Hishiro's mind. Which led him and Asuka to pry a little further into it

"There, finally managed to break through. Phew, this one wasn't like the others. Someone really put effort into defending this server. Makes me feel bad for doing this."

"You say that Asuka, but it's been only ten minutes since you started… just how much of a monster are you?"

"I'm taking that one as a compliment." She said in a tone that made it clear that she was more interested in the information on her screen than on what he was saying. "Oh~ now that's interesting."

"What? What did you found?"

"Seems like no special team was deployed to deal with the terrorist. Anti-Skill was the one to take action, but there's probably more to it than just that."

"Why do you think so?"

"Because this report here mentions Kamijou Touma and the Imaginary Number District."

And thus, Hishiro made his way to a certain hospital in district 7 where the boy had been taken to after the incident. He didn't have any plan in mind, but was determined to take out some information from him. After all, it was clear by now that this boy wasn't your regular high school student, given that Hishiro was personally asked to rescue him the other day. I bet he is either involved in the dark side, he is working under some higher up behind the curtains, or he is just really unlucky. And there's also what that nun said about him knowing about magic...

But when he got there, the one he found wasn't Kamijou Touma. Right there, in front of the entrance of the hospital, staring into the horizon with a lonely face, was the nun in white habit with gold highlights, held together by countless pins - though today there seemed to be less pins than what he remembered, and her legs were exposed from her knees on.

Once Index noticed him coming, she quickly scrubbed her face on her sleeves and smiled gently. "Hi Hishiro. What a coincidence."

"Yeah… except not really. I came knowing you would be here. Or rather, I came looking for that boy." He said while scratching the back of his head, trying to approach her in a friendly way. "But I guess it's a bad moment to bring up a serious topic."

Index blushed a little and shook her head after rubbing her face one last time. "N-no, it's fine. It's just… that a friend I just made is gone and I don't know when we will meet again."

"Friend?" Hishiro narrowed his eyes hearing this. He knew she had her own life, but it was just impossible to brush off the fact that her mere presence was an irregularity, and the more people knew her, higher were the chances of it turning into a huge problem later on.

"Yes… but it would be better if you asked Touma about her. I don't know much about science, so it's difficult for me to explain. Is it okay for you to wait for him to come out?"

"Sure. Actually, there are a few things I wanted to talk about with you as well, if you don't mind."

…

They moved to a bench covered by a tree shade nearby so they could see the moment Touma left the building and drop the subject before he could hear it. That was what Index wanted to do right after the very first question Hishiro asked, which made her face frown out of worry. It almost made the boy feel bad, but it was a matter of life and death for him. And she was kinda to blame for it too. "The thing is, I'm afraid Academy City might be trying to arm up against something, and you did mention Rüdiger could be trying to start a war, so..."

"I see… Yes, Rüdiger said that Academy City was the one starting the conflict, but I doubt that."

"Why do you think so?"

"Today the city was attacked by a magician from the same division of the Anglican Church as me." She said, clearly feeling a little responsible over it for some reason. "We stopped her, but Touma mentioned that she said she wanted to start a war. The magic side is the one taking action here."

"Couldn't it be because of Academy City doing something to them behind the curtains?"

"If that was it, I would probably be called back to England. And there are just so many people in the city that knows about magic, while almost everyone in the world knows about science. The chances of the magic side trying to do something against the science is way higher than the other way around."

"That makes sense in a way but..." He forced himself to stop there. He had told Index once that someone among the heads of the city were on her side, but thinking back, this might be an optimistic assumption. The right way to interpret the fact that she was allowed inside the walls without the authorities and the dark side hunting her was that someone influential was benefiting from it. Maybe even trying to use her to start the war. The boy didn't want to drop this bombshell on her right now. "I mean, all that those magicians have done until now seemed to be random small scale attacks. What could these even do? I may be only looking at one side of the coin here, but what if the science side is preparing for a large scale attack while poking them until they make a big incident that can be used as an excuse to fight back?"

"No, these random attacks should be enough for an excuse already."

"Why? There were no casualties, and the damage they did was no more than what already happens around here on a daily basis."

"Listen. The balance between science and magic is fragile. We are in peace right now, but only because both sides agreed on following one single rule: noninterference. Merelly stepping in each other's territory is already risking setting the whole world into chaos."

"You mean, just like you did?"

Those words made her panic for a bit, much to Hishiro's amusement. "T-t-t-t-that was… I mean, I didn't had any choice back then! And everything worked out in the end so it's okay! Let's just forget about that!"

Hehe, I guess now I know why Asuka likes teasing me so much. He made a slight smile that lasted only for a mere moment. "But nothing of the sort happened even after all these invasions."

"Someone might be dealing with this diplomatically, but..." She made a short pause and glanced at the hospital building. "There are a few wild cards that could make things turn for the worse if this keeps going."

"Which are?"

"People like you and Touma. In other words, the Exceptions."

"Oh right. I remember Rüdiger using that term… what does that even mean?"

"This noninterference pact between the two sides also involves not making any kind of research in each other's methods, tools, weapons, or anything developed by and for their own use. That includes not making any counter measures against anything I mentioned before, as a sign of mutual trust. So, for example, if a magician were to create a spell powerful enough to wipe out the whole population of Academy City from a safe distance, Academy City cannot study the particular spell to find a weakness and use scientific methods to avoid it, as is the magician forbidden to actually use it against the city. And that works both ways."

Choosing her words, she casted her eyes downwards and placed her right hand on the pin holding the cloth of her clothes on her left shoulder. "However… there are times that one side manages to create something that, by pure coincidence, could work as a countermeasure against the practices of the other. These are called the Exceptions. Like Touma's right hand, that is able to cancel any form of magic, and your powers, that caused that strange phenomena when it came into contact with Rüdiger attacks."

After taking some time to think over everything she said, Hishiro crossed his arms and asked "Why this is a problem then? That sounds pretty fair to me."

"Because there's always the risk that these were developed intentionally in secret, and it's extremely difficult to prove otherwise. That's why everytime one appears, the tension between the factions increase. And there are two of them in this city right now. And that's only the ones we know of. The great churches would never take the risk and attack based on that alone, but there are individuals and cabals that are not that prudent, or see an opportunity in the middle of all this to achieve their goals."

"Okay, I think I see where you're getting at. And I think the name 'Seed of Doubt' is kinda starting to make sense for me now. Even though that Touma was never called-"

*beep* *beep*

Interrupted by the ringtone of his phone, Hishiro gave it a quick glance to check the name on the screen.

Bomb Maniac

Huh… who was that again? Ah right, that girl from ITEM. Geez, what could she be calling me for?

Since his mind was focused in the conversation, he had completely forgot why he had given her his number in the first place. Annoyed by being interrupted, he harshly pressed the answer button and was about to shout at her, but he wasn't even given the chance to.

Frenda started talking the moment the call connected, desperately gasping for air as if she had ran a marathon, and the despair in her voice left hints that she had been crying just a moment before. "THANK GOODNESS YOU PICKED UP! Its them! They attacked me!"

Between the Lines

It was around that time after the trip to the laboratory that the kids of the institution started to split in groups. The ones that were ranked higher would always walk together in their closed circle while the rest were more welcoming. Only the younger ones - me included, who didn't understand the meaning behind all that, kept acting as always. But that didn't last long…

Just before the winter, I noticed something was… off. I was watching the older kids playing soccer when the ball started making unusual movements. While I focused my eyes on it, I felt something like a shiver running through my whole body while the ball clearly slowed down when it got closer to the goal of the team I was rooting for. Without me noticing, one of the adults nearby saw what I was doing and then came later to talk to me in particular.

Even to this day, I don't get why they took so long to explain us about the Esper abilities. That talk was really the first I had ever heard of it. I have to admit I was a little happy to find out I had such power within me, even when the others started discovering their own one by one. And it was then that things started getting difficult.

It took me too long to notice that my body wasn't the same anymore. That shiver I felt every time I used my ability… it was unpleasant at first, but since the feeling was growing weaker every time, it didn't bother me that much. And that's exactly why I failed to see the problem. This shiver wasn't happening for no reason. My average body temperature was dropping fast. In a matter of days, I ended up falling sick because of it. Then I started using winter clothes before anyone else. As the weather grew colder and colder, I felt that I couldn't handle it like I used to, and it was already too late to do anything about it. I remember one day I had to crouch in the corner of the room, far from the windows, to even be able to keep myself awake while my body trembled in vain to warm up. I tried asking for help, but none of the kids took me serious and just laughed it off. Who knows what would have happened to me if one of the adults hadn't noticed that I was about to pass out and took me to a hospital.

When I woke up, I was surrounded by doctors saying incomprehensible things one after the other. All I could make out of it is that I had suddenly become a level 2, and this sudden growth was making my body suffer. But even when they were trying to help me and looked worried, I still felt something was off… and looking back now, I wasn't exactly wrong.

They gave me medication and made everything to keep me alive. Or rather, they only did that. Every night I would still feel miserable as I trembled beneath the blankets, trying to endure the pain in my hands and feet that felt just like if they were made of ice. The lack of sleep made me less active during the days, and the other children made fun of me because of that and for different treatment I was receiving from the grown ups, but I couldn't care less about that. In my state, I was thankful to be alive and being able to eat another warm meal every new day.

The winter ended, end even though my life wasn't in risk anymore, it never went back to normal. I still had to use winter clothes in the summer, while keeping distance from the others because they couldn't understand what was going on. But despite the loneliness, what scared me the most was the fact that it would happen again. In just a few months, the heat that kept me comfortable would go away, leaving me in that nightmare for a second time. I doubt I could make it again. Even if my body survived, my mind would collapse. The child me wasn't strong enough to endure that.

Or that's what would've happened if the situation hadn't changed.

One day, we woke up to find out that a sister institution had sent some of their children to our building because they were overcrowded. And among them was the person that would change my life forever.

Bleh… completely tripped over my promise this time. I knew that my life would get busy soon, so I tried my best to release this before it happened, but at some point I was just staring at the screen with no idea of what to do. I guess that's what they call writer's block? Maybe my hype for the third season of the anime had something to do with it, who knows… But that's past me now. Things are starting to settle down again and I finally managed to finish this.

We now have another batch of new characters: the stupid classmate, the suspicious teacher, and the new members of the Golden Sages. You'll have to wait a bit to know more about the first two, but the magicians are going to take over the backstage right now. Unlike last time, the both of them will be taking action on screen, and I hope I can make them just as interesting as Rüdiger (which somehow had grown to become my favorite character if the fic… and no, this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I made him survive after getting beaten over and over again). Btw, there'll be some familiar faces appearing as well. Can't let the OCs take over the story completely, right?

Replies:

Guest: 1. Huh… you're right about that. It came out so naturally while I was writing that I didn't even notice. I guess that's a symptom of watching too much anime. I'll have to think what I'll going to do about that because I don't know if there's an English term to express the same thing, and in my mind, that is already part of the character's essence… if I don't find anything I'll just excuse this as "poetic license" and keep it as is.

2. Theoretically, yes. Most girls in the Toaru world are possible victims and there's no cure or vaccine for it yet, even though Saten and Kuroko seems to have a natural immunity to it (lol). But if the question were if she WILL… I just can't answer that yet.

3. Nope! Sorry if it felt like it! She joining in was supposed to be more of a double slap to his face than anything else, and of course, Asuka will tease him forever trying to ship them just for the heck of it. I don't think Hishiro would ever fall in love with a Level 5 or a look alike of them due to the what he had gone through because of them. It wouldn't be far fetched if he had some kind of PTSD by now. XP

The crack shipping guy: Well, she's either important to the story or I'll be getting some sparks on my- I mean, I'll have some contract issues that has nothing to do with life threats at all. BUT right now, her role is mostly just increase New Pointer's man power, because trust me, they'll need it really soon.

That will be it for now. Thanks for your support and sorry for making you all wait for so long. See you all next time!