*Disclaimer – I do not own the copyright for the Toaru Majutsu no Index series. All characters and story elements belong to their respective copyright owners.

*A/N – Greetings everyone, hope you're all doing good. Really enjoying all the support and reviews this story is getting and everyone that is willing to stick around for this story to get going. Just for clarification, this is a Mugino x Touma story. Something I think we need more of in the Toaru fanfic space. Since, you know, the Toaru universe is already crazy. Why not add more craziness to it. You know. Either way, thanks for all the support and concerns that you have while checking this story out. Without further ado, I hope you all have a wonderful day and enjoy this chapter.

- Moments before Mugino left her apartment to search for Kamijou -

Inside a tall windowless building located in School District 7 in Academy City. A chamber-like room filled with tubes and pipes scattered all over the quadrangular chamber. However, a notable feature located in the chamber-like room was a singular glass cylinder that housed a single individual that was floating upside down. That individual was Aleister Crowley, the Board Chairman of Academy City.

Many things were known about Aleister Crowley. Things that were briefly known to the Board of Directors of Academy City. And things that only he knew and would not reveal to the outside world. Aleister Crowley was a fearsome and formidable individual that withheld aspiring plans only he would be able to understand and strive towards completing. Hence, for anyone to become a problem in his strategic plans, they would be removed swiftly and with the use of a single command.

Therefore, Aleister was still floating in the tube upside down and not moving any of his limbs or even opening his mouth and yet the sound of a call going through was being played in the chamber. Within a matter of a few seconds, a sound was played, and a voice began to be heard in the chamber room.

"Mr. Crowley, there appears to be a problem" the voice of what sounded like a middle-aged man entered the room and was heard.

Once again, Aleister was not moving his body or even his mouth, yet a voice could be heard along with several display screens popping up all around the glass cylinder containing him.

"I'm well aware of the breach of security in the data codex library. It seems several files were copied and tampered with. Someone was poking their head where it shouldn't be" a calm yet mysterious voice responded. This voice belonged to Aleister Crowley, board chairman of Academy City.

"Sir, we located the culprit and who…"

"Oh, I know who breached security. Don't worry, they are being dealt with as we speak" Aleister said while several screens were being projected to show files of data and pictures along with a video feed of the culprit.

"In what manner is the culprit being dealt with, sir?" the intercom voice asked not sure what Aleister meant completely.

"I've informed Task Force Alpha. They'll handle the memory alteration so that our not-so-impressive culprit won't remember a single thing of their life" Aleister replied while another display screen popped up a picture of a familiar face with spiky hair.

"I see, that's very generous of you, sir," the intercom voice said, having a surprised tone in their voice.

"You seem surprised?" Aleister said, having a hint of amusement in his tone.

"Normally, in a situation like this, you would have the culprit removed and dealt with in an unforeseen accident. However, you are allowing the culprit to walk off free from any harm" the intercom voice said, having worded their statement to highlight Aleister's light punishment.

"Oh, make no mistake, I intend to have the culprit continue to work. However, they will be under the guise of someone else. We recently had a member here that was seemingly… caught up in something they should not have been. Therefore, I am simply going to have the culprit take that member's position both physically and literally" Aleister said while another screen popped up showing what appeared to be a photo of someone running in the middle of the night along an empty street.

"Hmm, in any case, what information did the culprit manage to gain access to and decompress and ship off?" the intercom voice asked becoming curious about the mismanaged data.

"Files… particularly files on a certain individual that is of the utmost importance" Aleister replied while another picture of a certain boy with spiky black hair holding what appeared to be a bag of groceries with a small nun walking next to him.

"Kamijou… what files on Kamijou were tampered with by the culprit?" the intercom voice asked while sounding puzzled at what Aleister had said.

"Testimonies and recollections of incidents that have happened to Kamijou recently. Information that has now been taken out of the system and placed into my own database collection. An incident like this will not happen again" Aleister said while still not moving or even speaking inside the tube containing his body.

"Where was the data collected on Kamijou sent?"

"The data was sent to a certain individual that I had not foreseen becoming a part of my plans," Aleister said while avoiding saying who the individual was.

"Well now, from your tone of voice I take it that this certain individual is someone that poses no threat to your plans. Or this individual is already a part of whatever scheme you have cooking," the intercom voice said while hearing that Aleister was not that worried about information being leaked.

"You could say it's something along those lines" Aleister replied leaving much to wonder by what he just said.

"I see since it seems you have the situation under control. I will take my leave. Project Azur is still underway, and results should be coming in later today," the intercom voice said while reporting on another subject that was of interest to Aleister.

"Good. I expect a thorough report on the results around Project Azur" Aleister said while another display screen popped up showing someone a good distance away from where the picture was taken.

"Understood, sir. If you'll excuse me" the intercom voice said right before a light jingle sound was played signaling that the person on the intercom left the call to Aleister.

Once Aleister was sure that no one else was calling into the room and that no magical or scientific devices were eavesdropping on him, the display screens all began to expand and become clear in resolution.

On one screen it showed what appeared to be Touma Kamijou walking with Index Librorum Prohibitorum carrying what appeared to be groceries. Another screen displayed a picture of Kamijou running away from a group of thugs taken by a security camera. Moreover, other display screens showcased files and documents detailing the incidents with that Kamijou was involved himself. The boy was essential to Aleister's plans and acted as both a lynchpin and central figure in many of his plans.

However, what Aleister was not expecting was that the certain individual who was sent information on Kamijou was someone he had not expected to cross paths with Touma.

Shizuri Mugino.

The fourth Level 5 of Academy City. The wielder of the Meltdowner Esper ability. A formidable yet beautiful young woman that could be quite deadly once she was allowed to use her ability. She was an associate under the Dark Side of Academy City along with her team ITEM.

Normally, the procedure around a data leak like this would result in the expulsion of her and her entire team. Along with memory manipulation to avoid any precautions of the many incidents Kamijou had found himself involved in getting out to the public.

However, in what way did Mugino manage to cross paths and become interested in Kamijou. That fact alone surprised Aleister. There had been no situations where the two had even met or heard about each other. Sure, Mikoto Misaka and Touma Kamijou had a friendship and tended to find themselves in scenarios together, but the possibility that Misaka would consult Kamijou about running into Mugino was merely unlikely.

Another issue that left a bad taste was the whole ordeal of how the culprit was able to access files on Kamijou and send them to Mugino. It all seemed easy… too easy. Aleister was well aware of the extent of his powers both relating to the magical and scientific side of things, so he was well aware that information as important as files on Kamijou was locked and secured. Away from any suspecting eyes that would grow curious about the boy. But to see that some Dark Side contractor was able to steal files so easily on Kamijou puzzled Aleister. This had to have been planned for quite some time.

Even so, Aleister had to admit that Kamijou with all his bad luck surrounding him tended to draw people close to him that you would never imagine possible. Accelerator was one person that supported that theory given that the two boys' paths crossed and ended up leaving Accelerator with a wake-up call.

Moreover, other individuals crossed paths with Kamijou both on the science side as well as the magic side. Leaving young Kamijou to act as a wild card of sorts that no one could predict.

Hence, Aleister was not going to do anything against ITEM and instead began to construct a report of sorts regarding Mugino researching more about who Touma Kamijou was. This ordeal was not something that Aleister had predicted, and he was growing curious about what the implications would mean for Kamijou. Since the boy had the displeasure of running into several of the Level 5's.

Plus, there was still the issue of how Mugino had suddenly found an interest in Kamijou without having any prior knowledge about the misfortunate boy. Questions without answers were something that Aleister found both quite interesting and dangerous. Traversing into the unknown was something most people would become cautious about, but Aleister was not like most people.

Therefore, Aleister decided to keep a close eye on Mugino and Kamijou to see just how their fates would cross paths with each other. Along with what possibilities could be created with these two meeting.

"Now then, let's see where things go, Touma and Shizuri…" Aleister said while another display screen popped up showing a picture of Mugino walking along the sidewalk that was taken minutes ago.

Making her way down the sidewalk and turning the corner, Mugino was only a couple of blocks from her current apartment and had her phone pulled out with the files containing information on Touma Kamijou. Thanks to her experience working in the Dark Side of Academy City, Mugino wanted to make sure she reviewed all the information surrounding Kamijou.

It all seemed too easy for her to be able to get access to the information on this mysterious boy. Something about all of this was not making sense. No way in hell was she that lucky to find the boy she had been dreaming of just at the click of a button and one phone call away.

However, thinking about how she got the information so easily would have to be another concern of hers later. Right now, she wanted to get a better idea of who Touma Kamijou was as a person. Sure, she could continue to read all the little details written about him and get a picture of how he acted. Or she could watch him from a distance and see what kind of person he truly was.

In most cases, when it came to scouting a target or location Mugino tended to have the rest of ITEM cover all areas and provide multiple eyes and ears. However, seeing that it was just her alone, she would need to blend in without sticking out like a sore thumb. A covert operation of sorts which was something she was very familiar with.

Taking another look at her phone, Mugino noticed what time it currently was and why the time was important.

"7:49 A.M."

Based on the information on Kamijou, he attended A Certain High School and had homeroom start at around 9:00 A.M. which made Mugino's job of sneaking around and spying on Kamijou quite easy. Since she didn't put herself out there for the public to recognize her for being a Level 5 unlike the Railgun and Mental Out. Mugino figured she could play the role of a regular second-year high school girl that was minding her own business. Of course, avoiding any unnecessary interactions with people was something she needed to be aware of.

Despite sticking to herself and avoiding any unwanted attention, Mugino knew that she was bound to become the center of attention. She was well aware of her looks and how she showcased a sense of beauty and maturity that resulted in guys checking her out or girls being taken back by her appearance and features. Moreover, Mugino had used her attractiveness once before to get a target to lower their guard for a split-second right before she ended their life with a single blast of her Meltdowner ability.

Deciding to bite her tongue and ignore all the unwanted attention that would be coming her way, she continued to make her way to Kamijou's school to spy on him before he went to class. And while she could pose as a student and find a spare uniform somewhere to get a closer view of Kamijou, Mugino still wanted to play it safe and watch him from a distance. Not drawing any unnecessary attention to herself was something she wanted to maintain.

Hence, she continued to make her way down the sidewalk and head towards A Certain High School to spy on Kamijou and see just what he was like in person.

At the same time, a certain misfortunate boy was running around the corner while breathing heavily and looking frightened. That boy was Touma who was sweating and terrified at the thought of being eaten. In the distance, the sounds of dogs were barking and running in the same direction that he was running. Spotting a large trash bin that could hide him, Touma sprinted at the trash and lifted the lid, and jumped headfirst into the trash.

Scrambling to find the lid of the trash can on the ground, Touma was anxiously looking back and forth between locating the trash can lid and the dogs heading his way. Feeling the lid hit his fingers, Touma grasped the lid and slammed it on top of the trash bin, and silently prayed that the dogs wouldn't find him.

Within seconds, Touma could feel something touch the side of the trash bin and could hear a dog sniffing around the trash. The area around the trash bin then began to get knocked around realizing that the other dogs chasing him were sniffing the trash bin trying to locate him. Doing his best to stay upright and not let the trash bin tip over and reveal his hiding spot, Touma was holding the sides of the trash bin upright and grimacing at how much force was being pushed into the trash bin.

After a couple of minutes of being traumatized by the dogs sniffing the trash bin, the pushing and sniffing stopped and only silence was heard. The pack of dogs could be heard running away from the trash bin and their barks growing faint. Touma grew curious and anxious at the fact that he needed to check his surroundings for the dogs and that the best course of action would be to risk his life.

In a moment of desperation, Touma lifted the trash can lid and jumped right out of the trash bin, turning back and forth multiple times to look for his attackers.

To his relief, Touma saw no dogs sticking around and was in the clear. Looking down at himself, Touma saw the remnants of leftover food and trash covering his clothes. Touma figured that he probably looked like a mess and gave off the idea that he went dumpster diving for the heck of it. Letting out a sigh, Touma realized that things weren't all that bad.

However, Touma knew that his luck was filled with misfortune and that something bad was bound to happen. Not wanting to be chased by the dogs again, Touma grabbed his bag which was covered in leftover pudding and had half-eaten fruit spread all over the bag.

Touma let out a tired sigh and shook his head while shaking his bag to remove the leftover food and figured that he could clean it off once he gets to school. Raising his head while internally crying, Touma continued to make his way to school to turn his homework in and impress Komoe sensei for once.

With that little incident out of the way, Touma began walking away and mentally preparing himself for the next bundle of misfortune that would make his way. However, Touma felt off about something and couldn't quite think of what was wrong. Almost as if he was feeling a sense of precognition or just conditioned to know that something bad was coming his way.

Either way, Touma began to make his way down the sidewalk and onto school where who knows what kind of misfortune was waiting for him.

Having made it to the front of the school, Mugino was checking her surroundings and making sure that nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Her goal for today was to observe Kamijou and how he acted in a public sense. What kind of persona did he present to those around him when he was not involving himself in incidents throughout Academy City.

Spotting a bench to sit at, Mugino made herself comfortable yet ready to spring into action if anything were to happen. She also brought her phone out and began scrolling through all the documents around Kamijou. Reading up on the information written on Kamijou, Mugino learned that he was quite the figure when it came to school. And not in a good way.

Kamijou had many reports made around his school status and they did not look all that impressive nor flattering. He tended to skip class or show up late so many times that it was practically common to the point that if he did show up on time, then that was a rare occurrence. Another thing noted about Kamijou was that he was not the best when it came to academics. His grades resulted in low C's or D's barely passing by. Of course, that could be due to his absence from class doing who the hell knows what. Or Kamijou was just not school smart and was a dumbass.

However, while scrolling past more of the data on Kamijou, Mugino did a double-take upon seeing something out of place. Marked on all the dates that Kamijou was absent or even late to class, the data presented were all verified to be excused. Meaning that someone was giving a pass to Kamijou ditching class. That sure as shit was not normal.

Moreover, another thing that didn't sit right with Mugino was that with all the shit that Kamijou was involved in; how did no one ever come across Kamijou when he was dealing with that priest freak that torched up his dorm building or when he was dealing with Accelerator. Sure, the Railgun and her clones were there but no one else. How the hell does a Switchyard in District 17 end up destroyed and no one notices it. I mean all that shit was happening in the middle of the night and still no one gave a damn to check out all the noise that was going on.

Mugino pondered how it would be possible for no one to realize the destruction both at the dorm building and Switchyard until something clicked in the back of her head. Some big shot higher up in Academy City was watching out for Kamijou. And not any old asshat of a higher up. No, it had to be someone with enough power to make sure that Kamijou had a veil of protection covering information on him.

This brings forth the question of how the hell was her contractor able to dig up information on Kamijou so quickly. Something about this whole thing seemed off. There was no way it would be that easy to pull information on the bastard. The feeling of frustration was starting to seep in as Mugino just had more questions about what was going on and how it all connected back to Kamijou.

Hence, Mugino's interest in Kamijou began to increase even more considering that he was a piece of something much bigger than she originally thought of. And now realizing that there's more than meets the eye with this guy, Mugino could not wait until she got a better look at what she was dealing with.

As if by coincidence, Mugino looked in the corner of her eye while still sitting on the bench and spotted a familiar set of spiky black hair along with a plain and ordinary-looking face. Something she had been looking at for so long both in her dreams and the reports she read, and now seeing the target right there got her ready to watch and take note of him carefully.

There in the flesh was Kamijou Touma.

Covered in what looked to be garbage almost as if he was rolling in the trash, Kamijou stood there looking tired and barely staying awake. Moreover, the boy was walking at a snail's pace while carrying his school bag which looked disgusting as it was covered in pudding of all things.

Mugino had to scoff at the realization that this was the guy that had run into the first-ranked Level 5 and managed to beat him.

She didn't know whether to get up and take her frustration elsewhere or to continue to spy on the bastard. Cringing internally, Mugino decided to continue to watch the boy and see what else was so special about him.

Touma was exhausted from having run several blocks and was moving so slow that a sloth could pass him. Not to mention, he was very hungry and dreading the fact that he spent so much time and energy running from the dogs that his stomach was calling out for food. He figured that he could find something once he got inside the school.

Making his way forward, Touma was able to spot his high school and let out a tired chuckle. The day had just started, and he had already run into some trouble. Nothing out of the ordinary for this unlucky Kamijou.

However, something didn't feel right and caused red flags to start popping off in Touma's head as he began to take notice of his surroundings. Having had enough experience to not make it apparent that he was beginning to become nervous, Touma pretended to shake his head and wake himself up while getting a look at the environment around him. He also played the card of having allergies hit him and cause his eyes to be itchy and need to be rubbed with his hands.

Nothing looked completely out of the ordinary. A few students were walking and chatting about something he couldn't quite hear but it didn't look too suspicious. A delivery guy was making his way into a building while checking something off on his clipboard. Nothing suspicious about that or at least for the moment. A mother and daughter were walking their small dog along the sidewalk while chatting about something. An older high school girl was sitting on a bench and looking at her phone.

Truly nothing was out of the ordinary. Touma was beginning to think that he was overthinking things and probably had PTSD given all the crazy situations he's involved himself in. With nothing else to think about Touma was about to…

Wait…

That girl sitting on the bench and on her phone was suspicious. Touma wasn't sure why he was interested in her or why he felt something off about her, but he decided to hide his intention of observing her and fully committed to faking allergies by rubbing his eyes. This would theoretically allow for him to get a peek at the girl.

Staying calm and collected on the outside but sweating intensely and swearing internally, Touma began to shake his head and bring his hands to rub his eyes while also peeking at the girl on the bench and seeing what she was doing.

Getting a better look at the young woman, Touma was taken back by the girl having a tall and slender figure with long tea-colored hair. The girl was also wearing a violet dress with shorts, along with black thigh-high socks and white boots. If Touma had to describe the girl in one word his answer would be mature, or a more honest answer from him would be to classify her as downright beautiful with that mature atmosphere that was very appealing and attractive. Curse his teenage hormones.

However, while quickly observing the girl under his false allergy distraction, Touma was able to get a clear view of the girl and how she was scrolling on her phone almost like she was reading something. Realizing that he was just being paranoid, Touma was about to stop the rubbing of his eyes and drop the whole suspicious act until he saw something that made him swear internally.

The beautiful and mature girl was staring right back at him.

Ochre eyes met Black eyes.

Touma immediately went rigid and began actually rubbing his eyes to calm himself down. Rubbing his eyes to the point where he was seeing colorful dots all around him. Had he made it obvious what he was trying to do? There was no way the girl was able to spot him checking her out in the span of a few seconds, right? Was she going to get up and confront him for staring at her? Questions like these began to swirl all around his head and made him even more anxious.

With adrenaline starting to kick in and the possibility that there was something up with this girl, Touma decided to play it cool and keep his composure. Keeping to a solid plan, he could continue making his way to school, and if this girl continued to follow him then he would lead her to somewhere else away from any citizens that could get hurt in the crossfire.

There was really no recollection of running into this girl before which worried Touma greatly. She was a wild card that could pull any move and he wouldn't even see it coming. In addition, his sense of danger was still in effect and the girl was most likely the reason.

Or…

Perhaps she is just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe she has nothing to do with him becoming nervous and having a chill going down his back. There was the possibility that she was just a random yet attractive girl who ended up being misjudged upon his first reaction towards her. Guilt and worry started filling Touma's subconscious.

Then again, there could be another person that was cloaking themselves from his view and causing him to be anxious about everything. Someone from the magic side could be casting a spell that made them undetectable to the naked eye. Or maybe some batshit crazy scientist on the science side was wanting revenge against him for messing with an experiment of his that he had no idea he stopped.

So many ideas and questions were filling the misfortunate boy's head that he started to feel a migraine coming and the day had only just started. The only thing Touma knew at that moment was that his misfortune was surely making the rounds today. Looking up at the school, which was within his reach, Touma knew he was either going to be late to class or be missing for the day once again.

Taking in several options that started appearing in his head, Touma figured that he could either:

A- Continue making his way to school and hope that the tea-colored beauty did not follow him.

B- Walk in a different direction and see if the girl would get up and follow him.

C- Confront the girl and ask her what she is doing. This would also result in him getting rejected and admonished by the mature young woman for approaching her.

D- Give up on the situation and go back home.

Touma was honestly considering the last option but then remembered that a monster was still back at his dorm and would force him to feed her. Deciding to eliminate Option D, Touma knew what he had to do as much as it pained him. Option B was the winner, Touma thought sadly.

Readying himself mentally and emotionally, Touma was about to turn tail and walk away from the school until he spotted a familiar yet worrisome face.

"Why, if it isn't Kami-yan! What are you doing looking up at the school in sadness? Komoe sensei call you a bumbling idiot for not doing so well on the last test? Or did you forget your homework again and let your roommate chew it up again?" the voice of one of Touma's friends replied.

The boy had dyed blonde hair along with a gold chain around his neck and ridiculous-looking sunglasses on his face. In addition, the boy was wearing his school uniform but with a green shirt with floral patterns similar to a Hawaiian shirt. This idiot was one of Touma's friends and a member of the infamous Delta Force. His name was Tsuchimikado Motoharu and he was secretly a spy for both the magical side and science sides of Academy City. But he surely did not act the part.

"No, Tsuchimikado, Index did not eat my homework this time. I was able to feed her a melted chocolate bar I found in the trash yesterday. That saved this poor Kamijou's head from becoming bitten" Touma said while remembering when he fed Index the trash can chocolate and feeling guilty but also not guilty at the same time.

"Well now, Kami, that's pretty cruel of you to do. Now I know not to come over for dinner otherwise you'll be feeding me food out of the trash" Tsuchimikado replied while shaking his head in disappointment but having a smirk on his face.

"Look, I don't always feed her trash. It was a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. And besides, I had lost my wallet that day and Index threatened me if I didn't bring any kind of food back. So, while walking home I spotted an unopened chocolate bar that was completely melted. It's not like Index would've even noticed and she never even did care. She just ate it all" Touma said while trying to justify his point to Tsuchimikado.

"Still Kami, that's messed up. Even being a quadruple spy for the magic and science side in Academy City I would never give my teammates food found in the trash. That's too far man" Tsuchimikado said while taking a step back from Touma and looking at him differently.

Touma wanted to clarify this whole situation about the trash chocolate he gave to Index, but he remembered that while looking up at the school he had to do something about the girl sitting on the bench. Deciding to take another look at the school, Touma realized what he needed to do. A moment of hesitation turned into determination.

"Oi, Kami, what's got your feathers all ruffled up?" Tsuchimikado asked while seeing his friend acting all worried.

Not wanting to make a bigger scene than he already did, Touma knew that he had to at least come up with some way to draw the girl's attention away from going near the school. Thinking of several different ideas to lure the girl away, Touma decided to use his last couple of options.

Looking back at Tsuchimikado and pushing himself to act like nothing was out of the ordinary, Touma began to put his plan to action.

"Oh, uh, it's nothing. I just remembered I needed to run to the store and buy some microwaveable sandwiches for Index. Think you could give Komoe sensei my homework and tell her I'll be late to homeroom" Touma said while sweating profoundly at how stupid his plan sounded.

"Eh? Do you have to get Index food? Kami-yan oh Kami-yan. Ditching class so you can feed your starving roommate. That's cold even for you. First the trash and now not feeding her. Poor Index is probably crawling around the floor looking for spare crumbs to feed her" Tsuchimikado said while having an amused grin across his face.

-At the same time inside Touma's dorm-

Index was sitting right in front of the television screen along with Sphynx sitting in her lap listening to her cheer and shout at the anime being watched.

"Come on! Don't give up! Show him who's the boss! Kick him to the curb! Show him the light! Sphynx! We gotta help the hero do his ultimate move" Index said while moving left and right back and forth imitating what the hero was doing in the anime.

"Meow?" Sphynx said… well in a better case he meowed.

"Ah… if only I could jump into the TV and help the hero win this fight" Index said while dreaming about fighting alongside the hero and saving the day and being treated to glorious food for helping out.

The anime Index was gushing about was something that she picked up on after living with Touma. She by coincidence caught an episode of the show and didn't think much of it since it was all about a brother and sister being sent to another world to save the day and defeat the evil king. But after watching a couple of episodes, Index became infatuated with the show and had made herself and Sphynx presentable to watch the newest episode.

Taking a look at the time presented on the TV, Index began to freak out and jumped-up clutching Sphynx in her chest while becoming worried. Index then began to yell out to Sphynx about the dilemma that presented itself to her.

"Sphynx! We only have 5 minutes until the end of the episode! How are they going to finish the fight with the hero and villain along with saving the hero's sister?!" Index exclaimed while on the verge of losing her mind.

The poor palico cat could only meow at his owner's craziness and watch her thrash around at what was happening on the television screen.

Index was at the point where she was jumping up and down and hurling her habit off her head and straight at the television screen.

"What are we going to do!?" Index yelled while getting all excited about what was to come in her anime.

-Back with Touma and Tsuchimikado-

"I doubt she's crawling on the floor. Index may be a pain in my butt sometimes… well, a lot of times, but I would at least have the courtesy of feeding her and not letting her starve" Touma replied while going from nervous about the mature-looking girl staring at him to annoyed with Tsuchimikado.

However, Touma knew that there would be another time to argue with his idiot friend. And now he needed to act to get the mature girl away from his school.

"Either way, please Tsuchimikado! Hand Komoe sensei my homework and let her know I'll be late" Touma said while reaching into his bag and pulling out his crumpled-up homework.

"Hmmm, I don't know, Kami. Sounds a little fishy to me" Tsuchimikado replied while bringing a hand to rest under his chin.

"Please, Tsuchimikado, I'm begging you. Things will get worse if I don't do this. Spare this poor Kamijou the misfortune that will befall him if I don't get Index those groceries" Touma pleaded while slightly bowing to the blonde teen unable to see his reaction thanks to the dumb sunglasses on his face.

After a moment of silence from the blonde teen, Tsuchimikado let out a sigh and nodded his head.

"Alright, Kami, you win. But only because I'll be letting Aogami know about your little mishap and later we'll be calling a favor from you" Tsuchimikado said while having a dangerous grin plastered on his face.

"… of course, such misfortune…" Touma said while knowing the pain that will be coming his way later.

Putting aside his despair, Touma handed Tsuchimikado his homework and thanked him once more before quickly walking away from the school and hoping the mature yet suspicious beauty would follow him.

While all this was happening, Mugino off handedly was staring at what Kamijou was doing.

As soon as Kamijou came into view and began observing the area she knew something was up. And then once he tried to cover up rubbing his eyes to scan everyone around him. He spotted her just reading more about him on her phone.

Which immediately raised concerns in Mugino's mind. For sure, while skimming through Kamijou's personal information she did not come across anything about him having allergies, or at the very least any previous experiences of allergies while in Academy City.

So, once she saw him pretending to deal with allergies by rubbing his eyes, she knew the bastard was faking it. Hence, once he turned toward her she shot him a quick glance and was staring right into his black eyes.

He must've shit a brick.

Experience called and Kamijou answered without even hesitating. He quickly composed himself while also thinking deeply about something which caused him to stare towards the school. And now he was talking with some guy wearing sunglasses on top of his school uniform. The moron looked stupid and probably thought that he looked cool and had some type of style.

Mugino had gone on countless missions that involved spying on a target before so if Kamijou decided to book it, she would be on his ass. And wouldn't you know it, Kamijou just handed what looked like a crumpled lump of paper to the sunglasses moron and walked away in a hurry.

Not wanting to bring any more attention to herself, Mugino decided the best thing to do now was to stay at a far enough distance away from Kamijou so that he would not spot her. In the corner of her eye, Mugino spotted the blonde hair moron with sunglasses now walking towards the school with the papers Kamijou gave him. Leaving her enough time to enact her pursuit.

Tsuchimikado figured that Kamijou was just having another moment of his misfortune coming into play and had to run off to save some girl. But he couldn't lie that while Kami was pleading with him about taking his homework and running to buy Index food it all sounded suspicious.

Kamijou wasn't that heartless enough to leave Index without any food and would have at least given her something while he attended school. So, that raised some issues with his claim. Keeping his cool, Tsuchimikado looked around the area to get a better look at everyone and found nothing out of the ordinary.

When he turned to look at a certain bench, he found that he was staring at nothing. And no one was sitting there.

Deciding to go ahead with what Kami wanted, Tsuchimikado continued to make his way to the school to confront Komoe sensei and explain to him that Kamijou was out skipping homeroom while hitting on girls. That'll be hilarious to see once Kami gets back from wherever he was going.

Having gotten a good distance away from the high school and into an alleyway, Touma stopped and caught his breath while looking around and seeing if that girl was following him. He had no idea what his plan was now since it only came down to him getting her away from civilians. The fewer people around the better.

Touma knew that he could try to hide and leave the girl to search for him or that he could keep on running away and head in a completely random direction. He didn't care if he ended up in another District in Academy City, as long as he could get the girl away from his school and away from civilians. But then again maybe the girl was completely harmless and did not pose any sort of threat and he was just being paranoid.

Unsure of what to do, Touma was about to start making his way around the corner and into another maze-like alleyway when he heard something coming not that far away.

The sound of shoes or boots walking at a calm and steady pace. Touma was sure that once he started running down the alleyways that no one else was around. Unless someone just walked into the alleyway by coincidence, there shouldn't be anyone around. Anyone but…

Before Touma could haul ass out of there, the sound of someone walking was getting closer and closer. Unable to confirm who was making that sound, Touma became anxious and began coming up with all sorts of scenarios in his mind of how things would play out.

Scenarios, where the girl would appear and charge at him with a knife or the girl, pulled out a gun and began to fill him up with lead. Another scenario that popped up was that the girl would be from the magic side and cast a spell that would knock him unconscious before he could raise his right hand to his head and kidnap him and make him her slave. Or the girl could be chasing him down for his number only to humiliate him in front of everyone and leave him in an endless pool of despair.

So many thoughts and scenarios began to fill Touma's brain that he had to shake his head and cool himself down. Taking a deep breath and thinking of happy thoughts such as coupons on food or a day of Index not biting him was enough to let him regain his composure. Now he was somewhat mentally and emotionally prepared, Touma was ready to jump around the corner and confront whoever was making their way towards him.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Touma muttered silently before thrusting his body from behind the corner of the alleyway and ready to confront whoever was coming.

However, once Touma moved to confront whoever was making that sound he was met with the unexpected. No one was there.

Not sure what to think, Touma was beginning to think that he had just imagined the sounds of someone getting closer and footsteps coming his way. Letting out another sigh, Touma began to turn around and continue walking further away from the school when alarms sounded throughout his head and his body went rigid along with him beginning to swear under his breath.

There standing in front of him was the girl that was sitting down at the bench from earlier. The same girl he was trying to lead away from the school to avoid anyone else from getting hurt. Getting a better look at the girl, Touma realized that she wasn't that much older than he was. Of course, her mature looks did give off the impression that she may have been a little older than he was. There was definitely nothing wrong with that.

Touma was about to open his mouth and say something but the tea-colored girl beat him to it.

"Well now, it's nice to finally meet you, Kamijou Touma," Mugino said with a smirk on her face and in a friendly yet dangerous tone of voice.

"Do… Do I know you by chance?" Touma asked not sure how this girl knew his name since this really was the first time they met. Or at least for him since there was a chance his past self may have known her.

"No, you don't know me. This is our first-time meeting" Mugino said while crossing her arms under her ample chest and making Touma lower his gaze for a millisecond before staring back at her ochre eyes.

"I see, but that doesn't explain how you know my name. Who are you exactly?" Touma said while trying to get a read on the mysterious girl.

"..."

Mugino remained silent and continued to stare back at Touma leaving him confused about what she wanted from him or how she even knew his name.

"My name is not that important right now. What is important is that there is something I want from you" Mugino said while slightly tilting her head to the side.

"Something you want? Well, what is it that you want?" Touma asked while becoming more concerned by the second.

Taking a few steps towards Touma, Mugino continued to stare right at his black eyes and give off a somewhat friendly smirk.

"I would like for us to have a little… chat" Mugino replied with a calm yet suspicious tone of voice.

At that moment, Touma had no idea what he was about to walk himself into and the countless amount of misfortune that would come his way. Even if it was normal for Touma to encounter misfortune, Mugino now involving herself with him was bound to bring even more despair. There would be no peace for the poor boy.

May a moment of peace make its way to him for he will for sure need it.