*Disclaimer - I do not own the Characters/Story/Copyright for the Toaru Majutsu no Index (A Certain Magical Index)
*A/N - Reading all the great reviews was really supportive and appreciated so I want to thank everyone for leaving a review and even checking the story out. As for what's next, I've decided to continue with this story and drop the one-shot idea. I plan on going full throttle with this slow yet entertaining Mugino x Touma story.
Also, for simplicity and fairness, I'm going to be going off of the anime and picking up sometime after Tree Diagram Remnant Arc for this story. I'll be doing my best to stay in tune with what's going on in the actual timeline of Toaru. However, for the sake of everyone and myself this story is now officially classified as an AU (Alternative Universe). Plus, this is fanfiction and what can I say...I'm a fan of Mugino and a Touma x Mugino shipper.
There will be a mix of some old events and other random events involving Touma that Mugino will dream of so enjoy those. Nevertheless, stay tuned for future updates. And enjoy the story.
Throwing the blankets off her, Mugino was in a joyful mood with a strange smile gracing her lips. Compared to the last few days when she would be in an irritated and tense mood. Now she was eagerly ready to leave her bed and start the day with a goal in mind.
The goal being finding out who the hell the spiky-haired boy was. And she realized that she had enough pieces of the puzzle to make some significant progress. Hell, Mugino was betting that she would find the son of a bitch today given that she would need to make a few calls and get some intel sent her way to help pinpoint who the spiky-haired boy was.
Mugino was still sitting up in bed with her hair sprawled all over the place and her clothes disproportionate. It looked like she had just gotten out of a fight when in reality she must've been moving around in her sleep. Which can honestly be believed since she dreamed about the spiky-haired boy fighting not just one Level 5 but two to be exact. And it was the bloody Railgun and Accelerator that the bastard encountered in one night.
Realizing that she had a lot to do today, Mugino got out of bed with her clothes disheveled and in a mess. Ignoring her appearance, Mugino strutted towards her door and opened it swiftly while noticing that Kinuhata, Frenda, and Takitsubo were all in the living room of the apartment still in their pajamas and nightclothes while eating what appeared to be cereal.
Taking notice that Mugino had just appeared from her room, Kinuhata decided to call out to Mugino.
"Hey, morning Mugino. You super gotta try this new cereal brand. It's not half bad. Better than that other lame-ass brand we got last week. This new brand has more flavor" Kinuhata replied while holding the cereal box up so Mugino could get a better look at the cereal.
"If it's even remotely better than that last brand then I'll pour myself a bowl in a minute. However, before you all go about your business, I've got our orders for the day" Mugino said while observing the girl's reactions which turned from casual to serious in a split second.
"Who or what is the target today Mugino? That way I can let Fremea know if I'll be busy today" replied Frenda who was still wearing her pajamas if you could call her pajamas that since the shirt, she was wearing had an image of "I heart mackerel" plastered over the center of the shirt and her shorts had pictures of cans of mackerel all over. Her sister must be embarrassed to be seen in public with her.
"You might as well let your sister know that your ass will be busy all day today because we have a mission. And it's not from our regular contractor" Mugino replied to Frenda while feeling butterflies start to appear in her stomach thinking about her goal today.
"It's not from the Dark Side? Then who is it from?" Takitsubo quietly asked while still eating her cereal.
"The mission is coming from me. And we have a lot of ground to cover" Mugino answered while feeling anxious about the whole ordeal.
"A mission from you, Mugino? This is new and super exciting!" Kinuhata replied, starting to become curious about Mugino's mission.
"Yeah, well something has come up. There's this bastard that's piqued my interest and I want answers as to who the hell he is. And why was he involved with a recent mission that we just got done with" Mugino said while simplifying her initial interest in the boy.
Confused by what Mugino was saying, Takitsubo spoke up, "Do you have any clues we can go off of?"
"Nothing at the moment other than this guy has had a run-in with two Level 5's" Mugino stated while observing the girls' faces to see their reactions. What she got was what she expected to see.
Kinuhata had gone wide-eyed and was now very interested in Mugino's target. Frenda was on her phone but stopped typing when she heard Mugino mention that this guy had run into not one but two Level 5s. Takitsubo's reaction was that she was eating her cereal but hearing Mugino's comment made her stop eating her cereal and leave her spoon hanging in the air while the cereal was beginning to become soggy.
Realizing that the room had gone silent longer than Mugino wanted she cleared her throat getting all the girls' attention back on her. Frenda was the first to speak up.
"Eh? This guy ran into two Level 5's. How unlucky is this guy and how is he even still alive!?" Frenda practically yelled while still unable to comprehend how one guy managed to run into even one Level 5 and survive. Frenda knew firsthand how scary an angry Level 5 could get.
"Did this guy do anything to you Mugino? Did he call you fat? Did he catcall you? Did he try to buy you lunch? What does this guy have to do with you?" Kinuhata asked while still not seeing the connection between how this unlucky guy and Mugino were connected.
Takitsubo was silent and went back to finishing her cereal while watching Frenda and Kinuhata banter about this mysterious and unlucky guy.
"No, this guy did not do anything to me. However, based on some….research I was able to learn more about this guy. For starters, he looks about my age, maybe a year younger, and looks plain and ordinary. He has distinctive spiky hair that sticks out like a sore thumb. And from what I've seen he has had an encounter with the Railgun" Mugino said while not exactly wanting to bring up the fact that she had been dreaming about this guy for several nights now.
"So, this super unlucky guy is in high school and the typical run of the mill ordinary student, but he's run into two Level 5's and one of those Level 5's is the Railgun. Who is the other Level 5 then?" Kinuhata said while trying to compile all the information that Mugino dropped on them.
Mugino silently thought to herself about whether or not she should tell the others about the boy's run-in with Accelerator and how the spiky-haired boy actually managed to beat Accelerator if what the dream showed her was true. Mugino also still had no clue as to whether or not the dreams were real, but with what the most recent dream had shown there was a good chance that the dreams were true. Given that the Railgun was connected with the facility that ITEM was tasked to defend and the entirety of the Sisters Project was connected to Accelerator.
Coming up with her answer, Mugino decided to mention Accelerator but not bring up the fact that the spiky-haired boy managed to defeat Accelerator and stop the Level 6 Project.
"The other Level 5 that the boy encountered was Accelerator" Mugino uttered while constructing her plan and waiting for the girls to get over their shocked reactions.
As expected all the girls were shocked beyond belief that someone could survive a run-in with Accelerator. Frenda and Kinuhata were wide-eyed and mouths slightly opened while confused about the whole ordeal. Takitsubo was again quiet but her expression was that of shock and she even dropped her spoon letting some milk and bits of cereal splash around her on the table making a small mess.
"A-Accelerator!? Seriously, how the hell is this guy still alive?" Frenda yelled not understanding how someone could run into the number one in all of Academy City. Sure, the idea that someone could encounter a Level 5 and live to tell the tale. I mean practically all of the Level 5's were people living in Academy City as well. It would be believable that a Level 5 could be seen at the store buying something or getting a bite to eat at a restaurant. But to hear that some guy managed to have a run-in not only with the Railgun but Accelerator himself.
This guy is unlucky.
"Whoever this guy is must be super ballsy to have had a run-in with Accelerator. Anything else you can tell us about him, Mugino?" Kinuhata asked while becoming curious about this guy.
"The only other thing I know about this guy is that he's familiar with the Railgun. Based on what I've seen in the short video I came across when the two of them were fighting they seemed to already know each other" Mugino said while quickly coming up with an explanation as to how she knew the Railgun and spiky-haired boy were connected. Plus, she couldn't exactly say that she came across the boy and Railgun interacting with each other in a dream. Otherwise, she would be deemed crazy.
"Well then, it seems like we have some stuff to work with. It's not much but enough to start our search. Mugino, do you know what kind of Esper ability this guy has? Since he'd at least need to be strong to try and fight the Railgun and Accelerator" Frenda asked while typing on her phone and sending a message most likely to her sister that she'll be busy today.
Recalling back to her dreams about the boy, Mugino could not determine what sort of Esper ability the boy had given that the closest she got to see him using his ability was when he encountered the Railgun back on the bridge. Even then while the Railgun was charging up her attack she was staring at his right hand almost waiting for something to happen.
Taking that little tidbit into consideration, Mugino concluded that the boy might have an Esper ability that seems to work more so on his right hand rather than his left. However, Mugino still had no clear proof that the boy had an Esper ability. There was the chance that he was a Level 0 with a weak ability. But until further investigation, the subject of his right hand would remain in the back of her thoughts.
"No, I don't know what ability the bastard might have. I'm not even sure if the bastard has an ability. From what I've seen in the footage given to me he didn't appear to use any sort of ability at all. Either he's hiding it or just doesn't have one" Mugino stated while sticking to the idea that someone showed her footage of the boy rather than stating it came from a dream.
"Do you have the footage of the boy you're talking about?" Takitsubo said while appearing to be done with her cereal and was washing it in the sink.
"The footage that I came across disappeared within minutes of me watching it. Someone must not want people to see what was recorded" Mugino replied while still making up some bullshit to save face for the fact that she's been dreaming about this spiky-haired boy for days now.
Besides, even if there was a video of the boy encountering the Railgun and Accelerator some higher up on the board of Academy City would want that footage destroyed. Moreover, if a video of that nature did get recorded then chances are ITEM would be sent to find the video evidence and destroy it along with whoever recorded the hypothetical video.
"In any case, that's what we have planned for today so cancel anything you had to do cause we are on the hunt for some information about this spiky-haired bastard," Mugino said while feeling something akin to excitement about learning more about this boy.
With that said, the girls seemed to understand their orders and all went their separate ways to either get dressed or finish eating their breakfast. Mugino for her sake figured that she would take a shower and get dressed for she had a long day ahead of her.
Meanwhile…
In a certain beat-down apartment complex used by mainly students inhabiting Academy City, a certain spiky-haired boy was sleeping peacefully with not a care in the world.
That is until a sudden barrage of sneezes came out of his nose causing him to jolt up instantaneously and hit his head on the side of his bathtub.
Touma Kamijou himself was sleeping peacefully in his bathtub or at least appeared to be sleeping peacefully but given the location where he was sleeping not many people would agree with that idea of peaceful sleeping.
Raising a hand to the side of his head that was hit by the bathtub, Touma began to check and see if any blood happened to appear thanks to how hard he hit the side of the tub. Fortunately, no blood appeared but a sudden and drastic realization hit Touma at that very moment.
"Oh no… Someone's thinking about me. *Achoo* *Achoo* Oh man, someone's thinking about me. What did I do now? I just woke up" Touma muttered while having a bad feeling.
"Today's not going to be a good day. Starting the morning off like this huh. Nothing is ever easy for this poor Kamijou" Touma muttered while patting the back of his hair and letting out a defeated sigh. "Such misfortune," Touma said while relishing his last peaceful moments before facing another day filled with misfortune right up his alley.
Not that long after, Mugino had just gotten out of the shower while she was wearing her light violet dress with shorts under her dress and black thigh-high socks. She was also carrying her laptop in one hand while the other was holding her phone. Mugino wouldn't admit it but she preferred wearing lightweight clothes given that if she were attacked she could move around easier and faster. Plus, she really liked the violet dress and actually had multiple violet dresses tucked away in her closet.
Walking back into the living room, Mugino noticed that the other girls were all wearing their typical clothing with Takitsubo in her regular pink tracksuit. Frenda was wearing her sailor top with a pleated skirt and dark pantyhose but was without her usual beret. Kinuhata had her sweater dress and striped socks, nothing out of the ordinary on her part.
With every member of ITEM now in attendance, Mugino was ready to conduct her search on who the spiky-haired boy was. Making her way towards the dining table located in the apartment, Mugino was getting herself situated while the other girls followed suit and were awaiting Mugino's orders.
"Alright, since we don't know exactly anything solid about this bastard. I'm gonna make some calls with our contractor. See if they can find anything. Plus, our contractor owes us since we still have a couple of favors to use still" Mugino said, getting ready to call the contractor they usually work with to receive orders from the Dark Side.
"Anything you super need us to do, Mugino?" Kinuata asked while getting herself a bottle of water.
"Once I get in contact with our contractor, I'll know exactly where we should begin our search on this guy," Mugino said while picking up her modified phone and calling ITEM's contractor.
As Mugino was calling their Dark Side contractor, Kinuhata was mixing her bottled water with a lemonade package while shaking the bottle in the kitchen. Frenda laying down on a couch while her fingers were typing away on her phone while having a dumb goofy grin on her face. Most likely talking with her younger sister. Takitsubo was appearing to try and stay awake but was dozing off while sitting on the other couch located in the living room of the high-end apartment.
Not a second later, Mugino's call was received and the phone began transmitting to ITEM's contractor causing Mugino to start speaking without waiting for the contractor to even utter a word.
"I'm calling in a favor. You can nag and bitch all you want but you still owe us a couple of favors for that slip up you had not that long ago" Mugino stated getting right to the point leaving no room for complaining.
"Well now, nice to hear from you too, Shizuri" a female voice on the phone replied.
"Cut the bullshit. No one gets to call me that. Now, I'm not repeating myself" Mugino said, becoming irritated that the contractor used her first name without her permission.
"Sheesh, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. What is it you need to be done? As far as I'm aware, ITEM does not have any orders requested today" the contractor said while becoming curious about why Mugino called her.
"I'm looking for some information on a person of interest. I have a few details about their appearance but don't really know anything about them" Mugino said while beginning to type up the information provided to her on her laptop.
"Information about someone? My my, has the Meltdowner fallen for someone without knowing who they are?" the contractor said while having a bit of tease in their tone of voice.
"Piss off, the guy I'm looking for has distinctive spiky hair with plain and ordinary features, and he is about my age," Mugino said while having a bit of venom in her voice.
"That's not much information to go off of. Anything else you can tell me about this guy that piqued your interest" the voice on the phone said while typing could be heard on their end.
Biting her lip, Mugino realized that she would be entering a spotlight of suspicion given that she was going to be blurting out loud that she saw the boy with the Railgun. Letting out an annoyed sigh, Mugino replied to the contractor.
"I don't know if this guy has an Esper ability primarily located in his right hand or whatever is his deal. But this guy was seen fighting the Railgun on a bridge of sorts" Mugino said while the contractor was silent on her end.
"And… and this guy was seen running into Accelerator" Mugino muttered while waiting for the contractor to say anything.
After a few seconds of silence, the contractor let out a sigh that sounded like she was almost regretting talking with Mugino. The contractor then started to speak on the phone again.
"Mugino, this guy you're looking for…I advise that you forget him and go about your day" the contractor responded while silently hoping that Mugino would walk away from this topic.
"Oh, hell no, I'm not backing out of this. Not now. I figured he was a nobody who got unlucky running into two Level 5's. But you're making this sound like he's a bigger deal" Mugino stated, now getting excited that her dreams were beginning to sound more and more real along with the fact that the boy did indeed fight Accelerator.
"Look Mugino, I can get you some information on this guy, but it'll cost most of your favors you have saved up. Once I pull a single line of text on this person, then my ass will be on the line" the contractor said while a bit of worry was behind her tone of voice.
"Ass on the line? What the hell does that mean? Are you telling me that this guy has a security system built around him" Mugino asked, becoming more excited by the second.
"Not him personally, but someone sitting at the top in Academy City has put a security system in place around this guy's profile. And from what I can see on my end, this guy has quite a lot of data on his profile" the contractor replied silently hoping Mugino would not continue to look into this guy.
"Well, well this guy is sounding like he'll be worth the favors. Go ahead and send me everything you can about this guy" Mugino said with a hint of what sounded like joy and almost infatuation behind her voice.
"...sigh"
"Alright, I'm sending you everything I could pull up on this guy. Once you confirm it's all been sent I'll need to ditch my setup. The security system built to protect all data surrounding this guy has already been activated. You probably won't hear from me on this line again. I'll contact you when I have an offer for ITEM" the contractor said while rustling could be heard through the phone.
Not even a second later, Mugino got a notification that popped up on her laptop that had alerted her that she received the valuable data on the spiky-haired boy.
"I Got the data. Pleasure doing business with you as usual" Mugino remarked while having a smile plastered on her face that showed even the Meltdowner knew how to give a real smile.
"Mugino, that data I sent you…. Watch your back. From what I've seen just taking a peek into that guy's personal file. There's a lot of stuff that doesn't make any sense and the events that that guy has gotten involved in could paint a target on your back" the contractor uttered while almost sounding worried.
"Oh please, I'm involved with the Dark Side of Academy City. I already have a target painted on my back. I can handle the idea of more eyes ogling me from a distance" Mugino announced while not feeling threatened by the contractor's words.
"...ok. Just be prepared for what you're going to see" the contractor said before the line on the phone went dead, leaving Mugino to close her phone and begin typing away on her laptop.
Once the phone call ended, Mugino pulled up the message that was sent to her laptop and began to extract the message that was encoded with a security lock of sorts. Fortunately, ITEM's contractor tended to lock encoded messages entailing their mission details behind several different passcodes. This time around Mugino figured that the passcode would be involving a set of numbers that was used when involving a target that needed to be dealt with. Typing that specific set of numbers for the encoded messages, not even a second later the message was successfully opened and allowed Mugino to access all the files.
Before examining everything that was sent her way, Mugino called out to the girls in the room.
"Kinuhata, make sure the apartment has its private network running and that no prying eyes make their way in. Takitsubo, use your AIM Stalker to make sure no one is nearby trying to eavesdrop on us. Frenda, make sure our gear is set in case of anything going wrong once I open the files sent to me" Mugino said in a demanding tone signifying to ITEM that things could get worse once she accessed the files based on what her contractor mentioned.
Realizing things could get ugly, the girls all got moving around the apartment to complete their orders while Mugino was hovering over the now accessible file withholding vital information regarding the spiky-haired boy. For several nights nonstop Mugino had been dreaming about this boy. This boy seemed like a nobody at first but ended up being a great mystery that also seemed to be very important to some higher up in Academy City.
Pushing all of her thoughts to the back of her mind, Mugino clicked on the file and opened it only to be stunned by just what had appeared on her screen.
"…."
"Touma Kamijou…"
The boy that had appeared in her dreams and had now become a target of interest was right there on the screen with his name. Many various pictures of the boy with his signature spiky hair in random locations throughout the city. One picture had him coming out of a school that Mugino did not recognize but would soon find out. Another picture showed the boy in a park near a vending machine with what appeared to be the Railgun of all people and the two of them were sitting down next to each other with a lot of cans around the boy.
Quickly glancing at many of the other pictures that were found within the file sent to her, Mugino noticed other photos that had the boy…..that had Kamijou carrying what appeared to be groceries along with a nun right next to him. Why the hell was there a nun in Academy City of all places. Setting that thought to the side, Mugino continued her search through Kamijou's file and found more pictures of him out in public as if he was an ordinary student in high school.
However, scrolling through all the ordinary pictures, Mugino then stumbled upon a plethora of files that had all been titled with various names that she had never heard of before. One file that caught her attention was titled Index Librorum Prohibitorum Confrontation. Intrigued by what the file had in store, Mugino decided to access it and see how it related to Kamijou.
Upon opening the file, Mugino was presented with a report along with multiple pictures that showed what appeared to be strange-looking symbols plastered over small pieces of paper that were taped all around a damaged dorm hallway.
"What the hell?" Mugino remarked, feeling a rush of emotions hit her all at once. The dorm hallway looked familiar and there was a reason for that.
The damaged hallway was the exact one that Mugino had dreamed about when she witnessed Kamijou fighting that red-haired priest-looking, guy. Realizing that she was reading about the incident from her dream, Mugino scrolled back up to the report and began to skim what was all said in the report about the hallway incident.
"Date [July 19, 20XX] - Confident - Necessarius - Member - M - Dispatched to retrieve 117115 Index Librorum Prohibitorum71942822 - Error - Complications - Touma Kamijou - Request Extension - Accepted - Member - K- Operation - Error - Miscalculation - Resolution - Resolved - End Line"
Bewildered by what she had come across, Mugino could only think of one thing to blurt out after reading that short exert.
"Someone was hiding details around the report"
Continuing to read over the report, Mugino found a regular-looking statement on the topic of the hallway being scorched and Kamijou dealing with the priest guy.
"After observing the incident on July 19, 20XX and collecting a testimony from M regarding Touma Kamijou encountering Index Librorum Prohibitorum, circumstances resulted in an unexpected outcome as Index Librorum Prohibitorum retreated to Kamijou's apartment only to be struck down by M in which case Kamijou engaged In combat which resulted in damage to the dorm hallway. No eyewitnesses were reported. Further investigation has proven this statement as correct as only Kamijou was present"
Reading this part of the report started to clear some of the many questions that Mugino had in regards to what happened in that dream with Kamijou and the red-haired priest. Continuing to read the rest of the report, Mugino found another statement recorded.
"Cont. Kamijou was reported to be protecting Index Librorum Prohibitorum from prior wounds received. The testimony states that Kamijou along with bystander [Identified] Tsukuyomi Komoe helped Index Librorum Prohibitorum with injury. However, mconfided that additional support would be needed and called upon member K for the need of support. The report states that Kencountered Kamijou and engaged in combat. Result left Kamijou badly injured and out of commission for [Identified] 3 days unconscious. Upon recovery, Kamijou was stated to have saved Index Librorum Prohibitorum from system defense JPM resulting in the safety of Index Librorum Prohibitorum. Decision made by [Redacted] for Index Librorum Prohibitorum to stay under the guidance of Kamijou. Testimony reiterates the decision made by [Redacted]. End Line"
Confusion covered Mugino's face as she was processing everything that was said in the report. Having dealt with many reports given to her from the Dark Side of Academy City, Mugino was able to understand the report clearly. However, what bothered Mugino was how there wasn't much detail on how the dorm hallway was damaged. From what she remembered from her dream, the boy and priest were in a hallway that was completely scorched at one point, and then that large fire-looking creature appeared.
Mugino was aware of many various Esper abilities and how implemented correctly a single basic ability could be compounded into something entirely different and complex to replicate. That priest guy pulling the large creature out of nowhere was something that didn't make sense. Not to mention, the pictures that showed the weird-looking symbols that were plastered all over the pieces of paper around the hallway. Whatever that priest guy did to attack Kamijou, it wasn't documented in the report.
Moreover, something that left Mugino puzzled was the inclusion of another individual that seemed to back up the priest that was targeting Kamijou. That backup seemed to have encountered Kamijou and was able to leave him badly injured and out of commission for three days. Either Kamijou got lazy and his ass kicked pretty bad. Or that backup managed to overwhelm Kamijou. Without knowing enough information, Mugino decided to move on to another case and learn more about Kamijou.
Another file that caught Mugino's eye was titled "Kamijou Touma Request to Exit Academy City For Vacation". Taking a look into the file, Mugino found that this file was completely covered with redacted statements all over the damn document making it difficult to read. The only thing that was readable was the following:
"[Redacted]request for Touma Kamijou and Index Librorum Prohibitorum to vacate Academy City for a vacation on August 28, 20XX due to [Redacted] Circumstances. Kamijou was to be joined by his family identified as [Father] Touya Kamijou [Mother] Shiina Kamijou and [Cousin]Tatsugami Otohime. The vacation was interrupted due to an incident involving what was noted under a Testimony from [Redacted], distortion of facial features to immune victims. Kamijou is noted to be one of the victims in the case of [Redacted]. The situation was resolved with the help of occupants X, K, and Kamijou defusing the situation. The situation was cleared while Kamijou sustained minor injuries which caused his prompt return to Academy City. End Line"
Once Mugino finished with the report detailing the vacation that Kamijou took back on August 28 something didn't make sense about him leaving Academy City as soon as he did. Sure, people could leave Academy City but most of the time you had to go through some sort of security bypass check since Academy City was vastly superior to the rest of the world. The higher-ups wanted to take precautionary measures for any citizens that left Academy City for any reason since being a citizen here meant that you were a valuable asset to the city. More like a valuable test subject if you really want to know your place in the higher-ups' eyes.
Trying to piece together the information presented to her, Mugino decided to look back at the date that Kamijou left Academy City. August 28, 20XX. That wasn't even two weeks after she and the rest of ITEM had been tasked with protecting that facility acting as a lab. Mugino remembered the date well since that was her run-in with the Railgun and not that long after she found out about the Level 6 Shift Project.
Perking up after coming to that realization, Mugino began to scan through the various files all holding some sort of connection with Kamijou's involvement. Some of the files Mugino combed through were titled, "Incident Report - Kidnapping of Index Librorum Prohibitorum by [Redacted]" another file was titled, "[Redacted] Incident - Victim Aquinas". A bunch of other files were titled just "Kamijou Incident 039" to"Kamijou Incident 098". One file that piqued Mugino's interest was given the title, "Kazakiri Hyouka". Just the simplicity grabbed Mugino's attention, but she noticed another file that caught her attention instantly.
"Sister's Project - Level Shift Project - Accelerator"
Letting out a very concerning smile across her face, Mugino was grinning and had a glint in her eye that could be taken in many different ways. If anyone were to see Mugino's facial expression right now, then they would probably stay clear from her and go back the way they came from.
Opening the file that caught her full-blown attention, Mugino was greeted with many pictures and documents all with test result titles. A good chunk of the pictures that Mugino could see were pictures involving the Railgun. However, it was not the original Railgun.
The girl in the picture did look like the Railgun but it was not Misaka Mikoto. It was her clones. From what Mugino learned from the scientist she cornered back when she was tasked with protecting the facility that was being ransacked by the Railgun. The Sister's Project was created by the Dark Side of Academy City to help progress Accelerator to reach Level 6. However, to do so realistically, Accelerator would need to kill 20,000 clones to reach Level 6.
When getting a better look at the pictures provided in the file, most of the pictures were of the clones in different environments while holding a machine gun and a headset on their head. In addition, statistical records and lists of the clones' capabilities were presented which made sense since the clones were not as strong as the original. Moreover, a good chunk of the pictures were pictures of the clones before they were killed engaging in combat with Accelerator.
While viewing the pictures and records around the sister clones being killed something bugged Mugino about the whole thing. You would think a top-secret project that involves the killing of clones based on the genetic makeup of the third Level 5 in Academy City would be protected and not sitting in a file.
Continuing her search into the Level 6 Shift Project, Mugino then came across a report detailing what exactly happened with Accelerator and the sisters along with Kamijou's involvement.
"Testing procedure for Level 6 Shift progressed as usual given that Accelerator has so far managed to eliminate 10,031 of the Sister Clones. However, an incident occurred when Touma Kamijou managed to make contact with Misaka 10,032 after finding the remains of another clone in an alleyway. This encounter with the sister clone would force Kamijou to become involved with the Level 6 Shift Project and confront Mikoto Misaka about finding a way to stop the experiment. Kamijou and Mikoto Misaka exchanged words with each other which ended up leaving the Railgun to strike at Kamijou trying to stop him. However, Kamijou confided in Mikoto Misaka to stop Accelerator himself and stop the Level 6 Shift Project. Security cameras were positioned around the location where Kamijou and Mikoto Misaka identified the two meeting on a bridge"
Once Mugino was done reading the first half of the report detailing what had happened that caused Kamijou to encounter both the Railgun and Accelerator she had a cocky grin plastered over her face.
Realizing that all the dreams were essentially real was a feeling Mugino could not exactly put into words. Having dreamed of this event and now having a better picture of the whole ordeal, Mugino was ecstatic. Not wanting to waste another second, Mugino eagerly shifted her eyes onto the second half of the report.
"Cont. At 8:30 PM on August 21 Sister Clone Misaka 10,032 was stationed in the Switchyard located in District 17 School District. There the Misaka clone engages in combat with Accelerator. Not long after, Kamijou makes his way to Accelerator while dissuading him from killing the Misaka clone. The two engage in combat where Kamijou is badly injured while surviving the encounter against Accelerator until Kamijou is able to make physical contact and knocks Accelerator down. Enraged by this sudden action, Accelerator destroys most of the Switchyard and begins the process of creating Plasma to finish the Misaka clone and Kamijou. At the same time, Mikoto Misaka arrives, and together with the help of Misaka 10,032 the two are able to disrupt the creation of Accelerator's plasma leaving Kamijou the chance to finish the fight leaving Accelerator defeated and Kamijou the victor.
Following the aftermath of the confrontation, though information regarding the incident had been controlled, a leak occurs letting out information about Accelerator's defeat at the hands of Kamijou who was now being targeted by many individuals who are pining to take the glory of defeating the one who managed to beat Accelerator. Due to the overwhelming presence surrounding Kamijou, General Superintendent, Aleister Crowley, implemented a warning to those seeking Kamijou that he is now involved in his plans and has protection plans in place around him. End Line"
"..."
"So, that's what I dreamed of" Mugino uttered while slowly bringing a hand to comb through her hair. It was honestly a lot to process given that Accelerator was really defeated by Kamijou.
Trying to figure out how in the hell she did not hear about Kamijou or even Accelerator being beaten back at the end of August. Mugino began to ponder the thought. Sure, she did not participate in any events that featured any of the Level 5's and tended to stay in the background. Mugino at least managed to stay in touch with any big events happening around Academy City and especially being involved with the Dark Side. Letting out a sigh, Mugino closed her eyes and brought a hand to her face to massage her temple.
Before she could relax and let her mind wander through many various thoughts rummaging in her head, Mugino peered her head over to the side and noticed Frenda and Takitsubo standing there just staring at her. Like a deer in headlights.
Getting pissed off immediately, Mugino moved her laptop to the side and crossed her arms under her ample chest while sending a deathly gaze at the two girls.
"So, you two gonna stand there all day looking like idiots staring at me?" Mugino said while growing irritated at the two or most likely just at Frenda.
"Wait a second Mugino, we were just coming back to report to you, but you were so invested with whatever was on your laptop that you didn't even notice us standing here for like five minutes" Frenda pleaded while praying that Mugino would not go ballistic.
"It's true we finished scanning the area and making sure the private network is up and running. Kinuhata is still keeping an eye on things" Takitsubo responded, helping back up Frenda's claim.
Taking a moment to think over Frenda's comment, Mugino checked her phone and realized that a significant amount of time had passed since she started looking into the files on the boy now known as Touma Kamijou. Letting out a quiet yet muffled sigh, Mugino glanced back at Frenda and Takitsubo before responding.
"I see… guess I lost track of time while viewing the files sent to me by our contractor," Mugino said while calming down and losing most of her irritation towards the two.
"Did you at least find anything useful in the data?" Takitsubo asked unsure whether Mugino actually found anything interesting about the boy.
"Yes, I did. And I found a lot more information that's gonna be fun looking over" Mugino replied with a chipper tone in her voice recounting everything she learned about the boy.
"So, what's this guy's name? And basically, why is he super important?" Frenda asked, wanting to know more about the boy.
"The guy's name is Touma Kamijou and he has some sort of connection with the Railgun. Kamijou also ran into Accelerator thanks to something happening that involved the Railgun, so that answers why I saw a picture of him running into Accelerator" Mugino said while also making sure to not bring up the whole dream sequence ordeal.
"Touma Kamijou…sounds like an unlucky guy," Takitsubo said while walking towards the kitchen to grab something.
"Kamijou… Well, is there anything else that's interesting about this guy? I mean we basically went into lockdown because of getting information on this Kamijou" Frenda muttered while still not sure why Kamijou was important.
Not wanting to tell Frenda everything that she saw in Kamijou's files, Mugino decided to give short and summarized details that were not necessarily true or false.
"Kamijou tends to run into crazy encounters and get himself involved in projects that are being watched by the higher-ups in Academy City. He also hasn't made any noise addressing the projects he's been involved in. Moreover, Kamijou seems to have a habit of involving himself in matters that don't really concern him" Mugino said while paraphrasing what she read in the reports since it really did seem like Kamijou had a hard-on for getting himself involved in other people's problems.
Digesting everything Mugino said, Frenda decided that was a sufficient enough answer as to why this Kamijou had piqued Mugino's interest. Taking a look at her phone, Frenda realized that ITEM had spent most of the morning in lockdown while Mugino was looking up information regarding who this Kamijou really was. Turning to look at Mugino, Frenda spoke up.
"Well, we basically got the information you were looking for on this guy. Anything else you want to do regarding him?" Frenda asked not sure what else Mugino wanted since she got what she wanted and found out who this guy was.
Closing her eyes to help her think, Mugino began to process everything that she had seen while browsing part of Kamijou's file. There were many more files that had been titled which most likely meant that he was involved in who knows how many different conflicts. Not to mention, the first file she opened which contained the incident in the dorm hallway still wasn't fully comprehended since it was very vague about who that priest guy was or what the hell that dark creature that attacked Kamijou was.
Realizing that she could either continue looking through Kamijou's file to learn more about him and what events he was involved in since it seemed like he was involved with the Dark Side of Academy City to a certain degree. Or….
She could go and find him and the two of them could have a little…chat.
Thinking about going and meeting Kamijou got Mugino's heart beating faster and the feeling of butterflies flying around in her stomach. It didn't help that she had a beautiful yet malicious grin on her face that could be interpreted as either really good or really bad.
Settled on the idea of going to see Kamijou and have a chat of sorts with him, Mugino opened her eyes and turned to Frenda who was still staring at her waiting for an answer. Mugino then responded with a bit of joy in her voice.
"No, I think we are done here. If Kinuhata has been watching our firewall and Takitsubo didn't mention anyone around the perimeter, then it's safe to say we are good" Mugino proclaimed while going to pick up her laptop and search for something regarding Kamijou.
Frenda on her part was a bit surprised about Mugino's sudden attitude change and was thinking about asking about it, but she decided against it and would take the free day now given to her.
"Really? Is that so, alright then I'm gonna go meet up with my sister. I'll let Takitsubo and Kinuhata know that we are in the clear" Frenda said while making her way towards the kitchen to let Takitsubo know about the mission being cleared.
Mugino on her part was scrolling through the file on Kamijou and found a bit more about his personal life. What apartment building he was currently residing in and which school he was attending. Other details about Kamijou in the file she managed to make a note to remember in case they came in handy.
Pleased with the information she got giving her a better understanding of just who Touma Kamijou was, Mugino stored the file around Kamijou in another file on her laptop and shut it down while also taking out the battery in case anything were to try and happen with her laptop.
Walking back to her room, Mugino put her laptop away and locked her door while making her way to the apartment door. Deciding to let Frenda tell the other girls about her mission being done, Mugino opened the door with a grin on her face.
She was about to go and personally meet with a certain someone…
That someone being Touma Kamijou