Sorry for taking so long, but between writers block, recovering from covid and everything else that's happened this year, I've been rather busy of late.

Last time Itsuki and Touma opened the eyes of Index's babysitters thanks to the powers of SCIENCE! (and common sense). Sadly (for index), the world does not revolve around the mini-nun (as the Railgun spin-off proves) so the story must continue despite her world being shattered.

And to think, Touma didn't even have to punch anyone to do it for once.

In any case, enjoy!

Chapter 9: July 21st Part 1.

Majority Report

"What do you think?" Kuroko asked, the pigtailed teleporter leaning over Uiharu's chair as she watched her colleague at work, the younger girl's fingers blurring across her keyboard at an impressive pace "Made any progress?"

"Not really." Uiharu confessed with a troubled frown "There's a lot of code and jargon in here, so it's hard to know for sure." She eyed the mp3 player containing the file warily "I still can't believe something that can raise Esper Levels really exists."

"Neither can I, but apparently it works." Kuroko confessed with a sigh, having tracked down one of the dealers after the group split up the previous evening and shaken him down for what little intel he possessed "The only way to know for certain would be to use it ourselves."

"Pass." Uiharu countered with a sigh, waving a hand dismissively at the suggestion "Something like that has to have serious side-effects…" She trailed off with a dreamy smile "Then again…if I did use it and my level rose higher than Shirai-san's…It could open up a whole world of possibilities for revenge…"

"You know I can hear you, right?" Kuroko deadpanned, a devious smile adorning her face as she tried to force the headphones into the terrified Uiharu's ears, only to relent with an amused sigh "Instead of wasting your time on dreams, why not focus on the here and now? Has there been any feedback from the website?"

"Yes, actually." Uiharu gasped in relief, her fingers blurring over the keyboard "I got in contact with several service providers before access to the site was banned. From our estimates, the total download count had already exceeded 5000, but I don't think all the Downloaders used this site."

"Makes sense," Kuroko conceded with a grimace, crossing her arms whilst holding her chin in thought "It's just like any other illegal substance, you wouldn't just rely on a single means of distribution."

"Pretty much." Uiharu concurred, sitting back on her chair with a troubled frown "Plus, ever since the download became inaccessible, the number of people engaging in Direct Cash Trading has increased."

"Control the Demand by limiting the Supply…" Kuroko recited with a grimace, wondering when on earth her life turned into a bad police drama "I don't suppose you managed to find any Trading locations?"

"I was actually." Uiharu confirmed, reaching over to grab a sizeable sheaf of papers that had been sitting atop the nearby printer "Here you go, a comprehensive list of Level Upper exchange spots, complete with trading times."

"That's our Uiharu!" Kuroko beamed, though her good mood soon plummeted as she glanced over the sheer number of locations on the list, which was double-sided to boot "Geh, that's a lot. There are seriously this many?"

"Those are simply the ones I was able to identify." Uiharu corrected her superior, the flower-girl appearing honestly troubled by just how out of control this situation had gotten, only to blink as Kuroko turned on her heel to take off "Where are you going?"

"It has to be one of these locations, right?" the Teleporter reasoned with a confident smile as she pulled on her judgement arm-band "So if I go through them one by one, I have to hit pay-dirt eventually."

"You're going to do it alone?" Uiharu exclaimed, her concern for the older girl apparent as she rose from her chair "Wouldn't it be better to contact headquarters and ask for help?" she proposed "At the very least Konori-sempai could…"

"Sempai has enough on her plate dealing with the fall-out from the Graviton Bomber incident." Kuroko reminded the flower-girl "And you know what the Higher-up's are like, they won't authorize additional manpower unless we can provide definitive proof that this Level Upper is a threat to society."

'You mean the possibility of Skill Out Gangs developing powers equivalent to a Level-4 aren't serious enough?' Uiharu wondered, shaking her head in abject disbelief at the stubbornness of the brass, only to blink as Kuroko turned to smiled at her.

"Besides, it's not like I'm actually going to be running all over the place." The pigtailed Teleporter reminded her "And if it's just me running around, the less likely Nee-sama is to find out and stick her nose into things."

'That's Shirai-san for you…' Uiharu mused, looking on with a smile as the pigtailed girl teleported out of the office, though not before reminding the flower girl to check in with Harumi-sensei, a concerned frown forming as she recalled the meeting's end.

'I hope Saten-san made it home alright…' she mused, glancing down at her phone in the hopes the normally energetic Level-0 would respond to one of the myriad messages she'd sent following her abrupt disappearance 'She seemed so shaken up yesterday…'

That was certainly putting things lightly, as Uiharu was confident she had never seen her shameless friend in such a state before. Saten Ruiko was simply not the kind of girl to let others opinions weigh her down, and yet she'd looked absolutely terrified by Kuroko's words the other day.

Put simply, Uiharu found herself torn between her concern for her friend's wellbeing and her duty as a member of Judgement. By all rights, she should have reported Saten's possession of Level Upper to Shirai, or at least confiscated it for her wellbeing, but as usually she found herself unable to do so.

'If only Shirai-san hadn't phrased it like that…' she sighed, shaking her head at the pigtailed teleporter's lack of tact, though to be fair it wasn't as if she'd been aware that Saten had gotten her hands on the program 'Oh I wish I knew what to do…'

Meanwhile...

'Why the hell did I ever agree to this?' I growled, offering a gruff thanks to the cashier as I made my way out of the convenience store bearing several bags loaded down with instant ramen and microwave meals 'Seriously, don't they have their own place to stay?'

Needless to say, neither of the two Necessarius members had reacted well to finding out their boss had not only been lying their face for three years, but had most likely sat back and rubbed one off to their suffering despite knowing full well a solution existed in Kanzaki's homeland.

It must have come as a bitter pill to swallow for the Saint, to learn that the very organization she'd abandoned her homeland for would manipulate her so. Even after hearing the facts spelled out, she found herself unable to believe it entirely.

And so, Touma, self-sacrificing dumbass that he is, had proposed they take advantage of the remaining time before the reset to avail themselves of Academy City's vast resources to verify our information, giving them a list of several public libraries and online medical journals they could read on a terminal.

Whether or not they'd be able to do so was debatable, considering how absolutely flummoxed they'd been by Touma's outdated smartphone, though I suppose you could chalk that up to the repressive nature of the church, considering they'd only been issued outdated Nokia flip-phones.

'Is it hypocritical of me to want one?' I mused, knowing full well how indestructible the damn things could be. Plus, there were some fads that never truly went out of style, and so far as I was concerned, flip-phones were one them.

Regardless, after a brief discussion, the pair had agreed to Touma's proposition, but only on the condition that he continue to shelter Index, both to avoid unduly stressing the little nun and to ensure none of the other Church Agents in the city made a move on her.

'Do you really think we could have managed to sneak into this city without help from the inside?' Kanzaki had demanded rhetorically in response to Touma's alarm at the revelation (ha!) that there were more magicians lurking around 'Even with magic, there are far too many security systems to bypass without inside help.'

Normally this would've been a godsend (ouch) as they could have simply holed up somewhere until the time to reset Index's memories arrived. However, given recent revelations (no more) they could no longer bring themselves to trust Index to any of the safehouses while they carried out their research.

And that wasn't even taking into account the threat posed by agents from rival factions. After all, setting aside the other religious factions, the Anglican Church was but a single branch of Christendom, and the relationship between the other branches could only be called 'civil' on the surface.

Put simply, so far as the Magic Side was concerned, the knowledge contained within Index's head was reason enough to start a Holy War. If they learnt she was in Academy City, where none of them held any influence worth mentioning, there was no telling the kind of horrors they would unleash to obtain her.

As cocky as he acted, even Stiyl wasn't stupid enough to get into a pissing competition with every would-be Sorcerer Supreme that wanted to pick Index's brain, and while Kanzaki was more than confident in her ability to do so, it would be another story entirely if she was to face a fellow Saint.

With that in mind, who better to protect the [Index Librorum Prohibitorum] than someone who had not only lacked the desire or ability to use the 103,000 Grimoires even if he wanted to, but just so happened to possess the convenient ability to negate any supernatural ability thrown at him?

'Now if only he'd learn how to say 'no' to greedy free-loaders.' I mused, shaking my head at the sheer arrogance of the little nun. 'All those memory wipes must have damaged her brain if she honestly believes biting people is the solution to all her problems.'

Needless to say, my first encounter with Index did not go well, a fact that came as no surprise to the long-suffering Kamijou, who likely bore the brunt of the nun's frustration after I left, as if the very idea I didn't capitulate to her demands was heresy.

Unfortunately for Index, I really couldn't have cared less for her opinion of me. Hell if she had landed on my balcony I probably would've had her arrested for trespassing. I had enough problems as it was without having to cater to the whims of a spoiled brat who probably never had to work a day in her life.

That being said, as annoying as his damn hero complex could be, I wasn't about to leave Touma hanging, though I made it clear that aside from helping out with the groceries I wasn't going to get involved any further unless the Inquisition came knocking on his door

'Shouldn't be too hard to get a sick-note from the Doc…' I mused, knowing full well that the ol' frog-face would be more than willing to help Touma out considering how regularly the poor bastard had to stitch him back together 'Let's just hope Komoe-sensei doesn't believe in home-visits…hm?'

With Saten...

'Level Upper…' Saten sighed, the normally energetic girl staring at her phone despondently as she made her way down the streets. The reason for her funk none other than the elusive program that was currently stored on the music-player of the device.

Just why was she hesitating? Hadn't she spent years trying and failing to manifest an ability? Sure she wasn't alone in her suffering, but it still chafed that no matter how hard she pushed herself she couldn't so much as make a leaf float over her palm. All it would take is a push of a button and-

"Anyone found to be in possession of Level Upper will be taken into protective custody, even if they haven't used it yet."

'That's right…' she sighed, gazing down at her phone, torn between annoyance and despair 'At the end of the day, this is still an unsanctioned program that threatens the status-quo. I suppose it's no wonder the authorities would clamp down hard on it.'

Contrary to her devil-may-care attitude, Saten was actually supremely conscious of just what she could get away with, and endeavoured to remain on the good side of Academy City's various law enforcement groups where possible.

After all, it wasn't as if the 'authorities' of Academy City were beholden to the Japanese Government. Rather, it was the Board of Directors who held their coffers, and Saten had seen enough rumours of what happened to those who crossed them online to be more than a little wary of doing so herself.

Unfortunately, if Shirai-san was to be believed, then even without side-effects Level-Upper was a serious enough game changer that it wouldn't be long before the higher-ups cracked down hard on anyone caught in possession of the program just to maintain the status-quo.

'It'd be such a waste to just delete it though…' she reasoned, her finger hesitating over the [Delete] key on her phone as she struggled between her desire to stay out of trouble and her dreams of finally manifesting an Ability 'Is it really so wrong that I take the easy way out?'

"Problems in paradise?" a familiar voice called out, snapping the startled teen out of her thoughts, whipping round to see Itsuki standing nearby, his arms laden down with shopping bags "Where's Flower-girl? You two are usually joined at the hip."

"Huh? Oh, Hi sempai." Saten greeted, quickly attempting to cover up her earlier apprehension with a cheerful grin " Yeah, Uiharu had to go to work today. Judgement's really working her to the bone since the bombing case."

"See, this is why I never volunteer for clubs." The blonde scoffed "Too many responsibilities, not enough me time…" he shrugged "Still, I suppose it's only to be expected. If I was responsible for tracking down an illegal stimulant, I'd probably burn the midnight oil too."

Saten flinched, sending a covert glance down at her phone, dismissing the app with a swipe of her finger before stowing it away with a smile "So what's up Sempai? Stocking up on necessities?"

"Something like that." Itsuki scoffed, hoisting up the groceries for emphasis "A friend of mine picked up a stray that's eating him out of house and home, so I offered to go grocery shopping to tide him over till he comes to his senses and kicks it out."

"Harsh…" Saten chuckled weakly, sweat dropping at the sheer multitude of cup ramen pots in one of the bags "Then again I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, you didn't strike me as a pet-lover. I'm guessing this isn't the first time he's picked up a stray?"

"I'll have you know I like animals just fine, so long as they aren't trying to eat me or shit on my carpet." Itsuki countered "As for my friend, this isn't the first time the idiot's brought a problem home with him, he's always the type to stick his nose where it isn't wanted or needed. Damned hero complex."

"Sounds like quite the guy." Saten giggled, honestly amused at how contrary the blonde was being, for despite his outward annoyance, it was clear he honestly cared about the other guy "Hey wait, is this the same guy Misaka-san's been crushing on?" she grinned at his quirked brow "It totally is, isn't it?"

"No comment." Itsuki deadpanned, refusing to surrender any information no matter how hard Saten proceeded to pester him "And you might want to avoid saying stuff like that out loud. Wouldn't want little Miss Bug Zapper to switch her attention to you."

"Pass." Saten giggled, waving a dismissive hand "I mean, don't get me wrong, Misaksa-san is cute and all, but even if I did swing that way, I'd prefer someone cute and cuddly that I could tease."

"And lacked the ability to flash fry you with lightning in retaliation." Itsuki added, smirking at her ensuing raspberry, though his features soon settled into a stern frown "I'm guessing you haven't deleted the file yet."

"…Not a lot gets past you, huh Sempai?" Saten marvelled, her distress quickly fading to resignation as she offered the older teen a wry smile "I suppose I've you to thank for not being interrogated by Shirai-san in a holding cell right now?"

"Why the hell would I make life easy for that Tele-Stalker?" Itsuki sneered, earning a choked laugh from the girl despite her best efforts to hold it in "In all honesty you'd be better off saving your thanks for Flower-Girl next time you see her. Last I checked, those two were partners in Judgement, right?"

"Kinda?" Saten shrugged, honestly unsure about the working relationship between Uiharu and Shirai beyond the fact they were assigned to the same Judgement Branch "I know she handles a lot of the computer work for her branch, but I don't think she assists Shirai-san in the field."

"Hacker, got it." Itsuki mused, sounding honestly intrigued by the revelation even as he looked her up and down "So…judging by the conflicted look on your face earlier, you haven't taken the plunge and upped your level yet."

"…Can you really blame me?" Saten mirthlessly scoffed, raising her phone so he could see the screen, where the 'Delete' option was still waiting "I mean, on the one hand, this is everything I've ever dreamed of…something that could finally make me an Esper…"

"Provided it doesn't fry your brains or leave some subliminal instruction for the creator to take advantage of later." Itsuki pointed out, his tone neither judgmental nor reprimanding, simply re-stating a fact that Saten was more than aware of.

"Why do you think I've put it off for so long?" Saten demanded, gazing down at her phone with a torn expression "I want this so much…but…even I'm not stupid or desperate enough to trust such a thing at face value."

There was literally no telling what kind of side-effects Level Upper might cause, but the fact two suspected users had fallen Comatose was pause for concern. As it was, Saten only knew this due to her ties to Uiharu, as the authorities had issued a gag-order to prevent widespread panic.

"It's funny really…" she chuckled, hints of tears forming in her eyes "It wasn't was if I was even planning on using it that day. I just wanted to show it off to Shirai-san, rub her nose in it that I managed to track it down when Judgement didn't have a clue."

"And then little miss Bug-Zapper had to rain on your parade." Itsuki recalled, his expression unreadable as he watched her wipe her eyes "Colour me optimistic, but you do realize they wouldn't have allowed you to be treated like a criminal, right?"

"I'd like to believe they wouldn't." Saten confessed with a nervous smile "But I'm not as close to Shirai-san as I am with Uiharu, and while Misaka-san has Shirai wrapped around her little finger, she doesn't hold any influence over the rest of Judgement."

There was no doubt in Saten's mind that Uiharu would try to help her in any way she could, even if it got her into trouble with her peers in Judgement. And while she hadn't known the Level-5 for very long, it was clear Misaka Mikoto wasn't the kind of person to abandon a friend in need.

But Shirai Kuroko was another kettle of fish altogether. While friendly enough, it was clear she took her responsibilities as a member of Judgement far more seriously than Uiharu, to the point not even her undying love for the Railgun could make her compromise them.

While it was doubtful she'd do anything overly dramatic to Saten if she came forward with the intel now, between seeing her in action against those bank robbers and some of the online chat-box rumours she'd read about the 'Pigtailed Rail-Stalker', she was understandably wary of crossing her.

"What should I do, sempai?" Saten asked, turning to regard the baby-faced blonde in desperation "If I'm just going to get in trouble for possessing it anyway, should I just take the plunge and use it before turning myself in?"

"And just what would that accomplish?" Itsuki demanded, tapping his forehead "Think about it, the coma victims were already Espers, so the growth in their powers was more noticeable. You're a Level-0, no matter what ability you manifest, you wouldn't get anything out of it before you collapsed."

Itsuki's POV...

'Ok, maybe that was a bit too harsh…' I conceded, wincing as Saten recoiled as if struck, averting her eyes from mine in shame even as she gripped her arm with her free hand, the other gripping her phone as if it were a lifeline 'Remember, teenage girl, not middle-aged office worker.'

"It's not like I can't understand how you're feeling." I assured the girl "Trust me, I've had more than a few run-ins with Skill Outs who were tossed aside because they lacked the potential to manifest an ability, and I can tell you right now, not one of them holds a candle to you."

It wasn't just me trying to butter the girl up either, as from what little I'd seen and Uiharu's own testimony, Saten Ruiko wasn't the kind of person who let her failures keep her down for long, a stark contrast to the countless Level-0's who'd fallen into despair and blamed society for their situation.

Sure, she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but it wasn't as if she were a hammer. She might not stand out from crowd compared to the likes of the Railgun or even Tsuchimikado and Aogami, but that didn't stop her from giving it her all no matter what the situation.

In my past life, more than so-called geniuses, people like Saten needed careful handling, not because they were a danger to themselves, but because with proper guidance, and the right motivation, there was no telling the heights they could reach if given a proper atmosphere to grow.

Needless to say, Academy City was not the best place for Saten. While there were certainly plenty of qualified individuals who could help her develop, most of them were too busy fawning over the precious level 5's to care about devising specialized criteria for Level-0's and the rest simply didn't give a shit.

So if offering the distraught girl a few words of encouragement were enough to help her reach the right decision, that was no skin off my nose.

And for a moment, I honestly believed I was getting through to her as I watched the dim light of defeat in her eyes spark with surprise and embarrassment before igniting into her usual confident grin, albeit somewhat shaky, only for the sound of tenderizing meat to distract us.

"Did you hear that?" she wondered, gazing towards a nearby off-road alleyway, the kind of place you were warned to steer clear from but more often than not took a chance with because it cut down your travel time significantly "It sounds like there's a fight."

"Too quiet to be a fight." I countered with a frown, having learned to distinguish the sound of an all-out brawl from a beating by virtue of hanging around Toma for any length of time. Seriously, the poor guy couldn't walk out his door without getting caught up in some form of violence "Probably a mugging. None of our business though, let's move on."

"But…what if someone's really hurt?" Saten insisted, reaching for her phone only to curse at the empty-battery, having apparently neglected to charge it last night in her distress "Dammit…Senpai, can I borrow your phone?"

"Don't bother." I countered with a sigh "I get what you're saying, but trust me and save your breath. Setting aside the lack of reception, Anti-Skill won't respond unless Espers are involved, and you can be sure there's at least one if they have the balls to act in broad daylight when Judgement can catch them."

"But still…" Saten persisted, grimacing as the unfortunate victim let out another cry of pain, her features setting into a determined scowl despite the trembling of her shoulders "We can't just walk away and do nothing!"

"Wait-!" I called out, only to curse as she turned on her heel and raced for the alleyway with neither a plan nor a prayer in her head "Dammit, why the hell do I keep running into suicidal do-gooders?"

With Saten...

'Why the hell did I do that?!' Saten demanded internally, wincing in pain as the leader of the thugs grabbed her by the hair in order to leer into her face 'What the hell did I think I could do on my own?'

That wasn't to say she was regretting trying to stop the beating mind you. No matter what anyone may say about her 'proclivities', Saten's parents hadn't raised her to turn her back on someone in need.

That being said, they'd also taught her better than to go sticking her nose where it didn't belong, and a fight between Level-Upper junkies & a would-be customer was the last place she should have been.

While the revelation that Shirai-san's predictions regarding Level-Upper had been disheartening, she'd pushed such thoughts to the back of her head in favour of cowering behind a wall, gripping her mother's good-luck charm to her chest as the thugs assaulted the poor guy, whose only attempt at rebellion came after it became clear they weren't going to return his money despite not handing over the goods.

Unfortunately, this proved to be one of those times where developing a spine was counter-productive to survival, as it had been blatantly apparent to anyone with a functioning brain that the thugs were content to let their victim walk until he made the mistake of lashing back.

'It really is like a drug…' she mused, glancing at the pummelled, whimpering form being held by the other two thugs out the corner of her eye 'With supply so low, people are willing to do anything to get it…'

Of course, by that point, Saten really should have made a run for it. At the very least she could've made it back to Itsuki and beg him to call the authorities, signal be damned. Sure it chafed to have to rely on someone again, but just what could she hope to accomplish on her own?

Without her phone, she couldn't contact the authorities. Without an Esper ability, she couldn't hope to distract the goons to allow the victim to escape. And even if she confronted them directly, what hope did a Level-0 Middle-Schooler hope to do against 3 Fully-Grown Espers doped up on Level Upper?

And yet that is exactly what she had done. With neither a means of calling for help or defending herself, Saten Ruiko had stepped out of cover, fighting her instincts that were screaming at her to run, and promptly told the thugs off, spouting some bullshit about Anti-Skill being on their way.

Needless to say, the leader hadn't bought it for a second. Or maybe he had and honestly didn't give a flying fuck, the deranged look in his eyes as he grabbed her by the hair certainly hadn't given her the best impression of his state of mind.

"Ah? What was that?" he demanded, a maniacal grin that revealed his missing teeth splitting his face as he leered down at her "That's quite the smart mouth you've got…but since when does a powerless piece of shit like you have any right barking orders to her betters-?"

"So having power makes you superior, hm?" a familiar voice demanded, Saten's eyes widening as Itsuki slowly stepped into view, his features shadowed menacingly, save for his piercing emerald eyes "They say the weakest dogs bark loudest, I see that doesn't change even if they learn a new trick."

"What was that?" the leader demanded, a vein bulging on his brow as he tossed an alarmed Saten aside to one of his cronies, turning to face the blonde head on "You lookin' to start somethin' you little shit?"

"Start something?" Itsuki repeated, Saten's heart soaring as the sound of sirens filled the air, "Nah, I'm just here to finish taking out the Trash before they come to cart it off." He finished, holding up his phone with a cruel smile.

"Shit! We gotta book it!" one of the thugs yelped, dropping their former victim in favour of turning to flee, only to be sent flying backwards, crashing into a pile of garbage, his body a broken mess and a smirking Itsuki standing at the opposite end of the alleyway.

'Wait…how did he?' Saten wondered, blinking in confusion as she glanced from the smirking blonde to his previous location, only to gape at the sight of the Leader's broken form lying in a puddle of bloody puke, clutching his clearly busted ribs if the size of the dent in his chest was any indication 'How did-?'

"Bastard!" the final thug yelled, shoving Saten aside as he lunged towards Itsuki, several metallic items hurling themselves at the unconcerned blonde, who merely shook his head with a disgusted sigh.

"Seriously? Even after doping yourselves, this is all your so-called 'power' amounted to?" he demanded, Saten's eyes widening as a tall, muscular figure loomed out from behind the blonde as he brushed his hair back to glare venomously at the final thug "How utterly USELESS."

A Little bit of slice-of-life to further develop the rest of the cast. I never said 'which' stripper we were talking about either.

And the first, of many, divergences from canon revealed! Will anything come of this? We'll just have to wait and see.

Next time, Itsuki gives Saten a pep talk.