*Disclaimer - I do not own the copyright to the Toaru Majutsu no Index series.
*A/N - Greetings! Hope you're doing well. Lots of stuff to get through but first, let's get back to our misfortune protagonist and how he's going to survive the third and fourth-ranked Level 5's meeting each other. Stay tuned for more and hope you enjoy this chaotic chapter.
*P.S. - Holy ****! The new LN artwork for A Certain Dark Side Item's cover page has Mugino and Frenda rockin' new outfits and good god. Mugino looks good!
Left aghast at the scene unfolding in front of him, Touma couldn't help but start sweating and coming up with imaginary scenarios playing out in his head involving the two Level 5's who were glaring at each other.
'If Misaka is the first one to attack, I'll have to leap forward and block her attack from hurting Mugino since the lighting from Biri-Biri could sprawl out and hit someone or something else causing damage. But if Mugino is the first to strike, then I'll have to grab her shoulder or hand to stop her from activating her laser beam ability from hitting Misaka along with causing even more collateral damage.'
Both of the scenarios sounded ok on paper but bringing himself back to his senses and seeing that the two girls looked like they were going to start saying something caused the boy to let out a barely audible sigh.
'Just what did I do to deserve being put into a situation like this? Such misfortune…' Touma asked himself.
"What are you doing here with her!?" Misaka shouted while pointing her finger at the spiky-haired boy.
"What does it look like we're doing, brat? We're just having a talk that's all" Mugino replied, clearly irritated at the younger girl.
"You two? Talking? Yeah, right. You're probably threatening him or something!"
"It's the truth. Frankly, you're doing nothing but becoming a pain and causing a scene."
"Coming from you, that's rich,'' Misaka remarked to the older girl.
"Whether you believe me or not I don't give a shit. But sadly, it's the truth."
"That's not what it looks like!"
"Perhaps you should learn to mind your business and stop causing problems for other people."
Turning to look over at Touma, Misaka got up in his face with what looked to be a mix of worry and anxiousness followed by anger and frustration. There was no clear sign of understanding the girl.
"What's the reason for being around-" Shifting her gaze at the tea-colored-haired beauty who had an irritated look on her face, Misaka pointed her finger at Mugino. "Her!?"
"T-Take it easy, Biri-Biri! What she's saying is true. This poor Kamijou is just having a chat with Mugino-san here."
Doing his best to calm down the electrifying Level 5, Touma silently gulped when the middle school girl angrily looked at him.
"You idiot! Do you have any idea who she is?"
"Her name is Mugino Shizuri? Is it not?" Touma asked, unsure if that is what Misaka was referring to and was going to look over at Mugino but was stopped when the younger girl started yelling again.
"No! She's the fourth-ranked Level 5. Meltdowner!" Misaka basically shouted at the misfortunate boy.
"Oh… I knew that."
"W-Wha-"
"She told me. Everything is all good. We're just having a chat. That's all" Touma replied, hoping nothing would escalate the situation.
But nothing in Kamijou Touma's life was ever so simple or easy.
"And yet you're still here talking with her?!"
"Look, Biri-Biri, we… something came up which is the whole reason for us talking."
"Quit calling me that!" Misaka roared as small sparks of electricity were coming off around her.
Mugino had an unimpressed look on her face while staring at the third-ranked Level 5. Thoughts began appearing in the tea-colored-haired girl's head as she eyed the Railgun.
'How in the hell is this annoying brat at a higher-ranked level than me? She's nothing more than a moody child who can shoot electricity out of her fingers. What makes her so much better?'
Suddenly, the older girl was pulled out of her thoughts when she saw Kamijou raise his right hand and use it as a shield to protect himself from the younger girl who looked to be blowing a fuse.
"Would you just calm down!? This helpless Kamijou doesn't want to make an even bigger scene and cause trouble for the people here."
"A bit too late for that" Mugino remarked from the side.
"Not helping."
Realizing that she didn't want to hurt anyone with her ability, Misaka quickly calmed herself down all while blushing so hard. Either due to embarrassment or frustration. She wasn't sure but she knew for sure the idiot in front of her was making it worse.
"You do know that she's dangerous."
"I think you could say that about anyone?"
"*sigh* She's involved with the Dark Side of Academy City. There's no way she just wants to chat with you. She's probably got something planned to hurt you. Or worse…"
"You really know how to piss someone off, Railgun" Mugino stated, clearly done with the girl's shit excuses.
"Let's just calm down. No need to get all-"
"No, Kamijou. I've had enough of this brat's attitude."
Standing up from her seat, Mugino took a step toward Misaka and glared right at her, showing no sign of backing off.
"How hard is it for you to get this through that pathetic head of yours? All I'm doing is having a chat with this dumbass" Mugino said while pointing at Touma.
"What did I do?!"
"That's all this… whatever the hell you think this is. Once I'm done here, I hope to never see this bastard again in my life. Do I make myself clear or do I have to knock some sense into you, Railgun?"
Gritting her teeth at the older girl's words, Misaka gripped her hands and stood her ground glaring right back at Mugino.
"I hear you loud and clear. But honestly, that doesn't mean you'll keep your word, Meltdowner."
Touma could feel sweat start sliding down the back of his neck, he had been in many situations where things were cutting it close. But seeing the two Level 5's about ready to throw hands had him on the balls of his feet. Ready to jump in and stop the two from hurting anyone caught in the crossfire.
"Oh. When it matters, I keep my word. I might be from the Dark Side but let me tell you something, little girl. I'm not-"
"Okay! Haha! Let's just all calm down and not vaporize or shock the nice people here" Touma said, jumping into the conversation.
"You're taking her side?!" Misaka said in an exasperated tone.
"I'm not taking anyone's side! I just don't want to make an even bigger scene than we've already made."
Taking a look around her, Misaka could see some of the restaurant's customers staring at the trio giving them disapproving looks. The middle school's cheeks were becoming flushed again at the embarrassment.
Mugino merely gazed over at the customers and shrugged them off. Not really caring what they thought about her. All she was here for was answers, not some stranger's approval or take on her.
A moment passed before Misaka looked over at Touma and gave him… a concerned look on her face.
"I… Look, just… just be careful. She's dangerous."
Giving the girl a small yet reassuring smile, Touma nodded at her words.
"Thanks, Misaka. I'll keep that in mind. But you don't have to worry about this hopeless Kamijou."
Not sure what else she could say or do, Misaka took one last look at Mugino before deciding to leave the restaurant and head to who knows where. Leaving the two older teens alone again.
'Just what did those two have to talk about?' was Misaka's last thought before leaving the restaurant.
"...So. That happened."
Touma stated while trying to lighten the mood that was utterly demolished by the sheer overwhelming power oozing from the two Level 5s. He amazingly stopped a bomb from going off and couldn't help but let out a thankful sigh of relief.
"It's the damned Railgun's fault. Here we were having a somewhat normal conversation and she shows up whining. I was already annoyed but now I'm pissed."
"*sigh* Right, I take it you're going to get up and leave. While also leaving me the bill…" Touma asked while muttering the last bit.
"No. As much as I want to - and I really want to - I can't. Not yet at least. I have questions and I'll be damned if I don't get them here and now."
"Right… Back to the confusion" Touma said, recalling the girl's issue with him.
This brought back the idea he was about to ask her before Misaka decided to show up out of nowhere. A barely passable explanation for why Mugino kept seeing him reappearing over and over again.
Magic.
That's the only other explanation for why she kept seeing him in various ways. They had already discussed the possibility of it being an Esper or the idea she might have seen him before, but those ideas didn't get far. Hence, the next option he considered suggesting was the use of magic.
Getting ready to try and allude to the idea, Touma opened his mouth but was stopped when the waitress from earlier arrived with their salmon bentos.
"Here you go! Sorry for the wait."
"No, no. It's all good. Thank you" Touma responded.
"Is there anything else you two need?"
Shooting the tea-color-haired girl a look, Mugino replied.
"No. We're good here."
"Great! Enjoy!"
Now left alone with the Level 5, Touma figured he might as well enjoy his food. Who knows if that'll be his last time eating?
Taking a bite out of the salmon bento, the spiky-haired boy let out a surprised "Hmm" while tasting the meal. Mugino heard the boy and eyed him while confused by the reaction.
"What? Not a fan?"
"No, no. It's good. It's just a different taste than what I was expecting."
"You cook?" Mugino asked, studying the boy's facial expression.
"Yeah. When you're as misfortune as this Kamijou it's better to take your chances with food by just cooking it. Plus, I can find special deals on ingredients and whatnot" Touma explained while recalling the travesties of a broke high school student.
"I'm going to just pretend I didn't hear whatever you said and take away that you just like to cook," Mugino replied, ignoring the majority of what Touma said.
"That's fine. Do you?"
"What?"
"Cook?"
"On occasion. I'm no five-star chief but if there's something simple, I'll make it. Otherwise, I'll go out and buy it."
"...That must be nice" Touma muttered but was loud enough to be heard by the tea-colored-haired girl.
"It certainly is. But getting back on track, what's wrong with the bento?"
"Well…" Taking a look at the bento sitting in front of him, Touma took on a thinking pose while breaking down the faults he found in the meal.
"It almost seemed like there was a bit of a different taste. Granted, it might be due to the salmon having a different color than what I'm used to… which would actually explain a lot for the taste" Touma explained.
"If I'm not mistaken, then the color is the dead giveaway for it having a different taste?" Mugino asked, seeing if her cooking knowledge was right.
"You're correct about that. But I think I'm just overreacting about the taste. It's probably because I tend to buy the cheapest salmon and work with whatever ingredients I have in the kitchen."
"Hm. You must be well adverse in the kitchen then?"
"Not as much as you'd think. I only know so much from having to cook for myself and my roommate. They tend to eat quite a lot so I have to know what meals will stop them from devouring everything in the fridge and feed me at the same time."
"I see… my roommates if you could call them that, all do their own thing when it comes to cooking. One sticks to plain and simple foods while another lives off of microwaveable food. And another *sigh* has a thing for Mackerel" Mugino elaborated to the spiky-haired boy.
"Mackerel? Huh…"
"What? Not a fan?"
"No, it's just… that's not something you hear every day. I don't even think they sell Mackerel at most stores."
"They don't. That idiot has to run to a local store that has short supplies of Mackerel on sale. She's always bitching about their stock running out" said Mugino while she had the image of Frenda running out of the apartment to go and buy Mackerel.
"Ha… at least your roommates manage to cook on their own. Whether it's simple food or making it on their own. My roommate does nothing but eat everything that's in the fridge."
"Kick their ass out. Why keep them around if they're going to do nothing but eat your food and take up space" Mugino said to the boy.
"Hell, if it was me, I would've already kicked their ass to the curb. The first time would have been a warning but the second is a strikeout."
"Isn't it three strikes then they're out?" Touma asked, recalling his knowledge of Baseball.
"I don't care. That shit wouldn't fly with me. Thankfully, none of my roommates have gotten any strikes. As much as they annoy me…"
Without anything else to say, the two continued to eat their salmon bentos while enjoying the peaceful atmosphere compared to the outburst from the two Level 5's earlier.
Once the two were now finished with their meals a somewhat tense mood could be felt and Touma knew that he should at least mention his idea for Mugino's predicament.
"So… Where were we? Mugino questioned.
"Right… your problem. Well, I think I might have an explanation."
"About damn time. Took you long enough. Well, let's hear it."
Starting to grow anxious about what to say, Touma had no idea where to start. It wasn't like he was outright told to keep magic a secret. Rather it was something that would be difficult to explain to a citizen of Academy City who has had their whole life centered around technology.
Hence, how would he go about explaining the principles and idea of magic to one of the top Espers in all of Academy City? The freaking fourth-ranked Level 5!
Taking a deep breath and composing his nerves, Touma let loose a simple question to ease into the topic.
"Mugino…"
"What? I'm waiting for your idea."
"Since we've sort of eliminated the idea that it could be a random chance that you're seeing me in various events-"
"Which I call bullshit on," Mugino added.
"Right. And the idea that it could be an Esper targeting you is… well…"
"It's too broad of an idea. We already went over that idea with me being a Level 5 and being involved with the Dark Side of Academy City."
"Yeah… *sigh* which leaves me with my last idea that I could try to explain why you keep seeing me in various things" Touma explained, not liking what he was about to discuss.
"If it'll let me know why the hell I keep seeing you around, then I'm all for it."
"Well…" Taking a look outside the restaurant window that was closest to him, Touma figured he could try easing her into the idea and see what her thoughts were first.
"What are your thoughts on the idea of something not entirely impossible but hard to fathom?"
"What? Where the hell are you going with this?" Mugino asked, donning an unimpressed look on her face while staring at the misfortunate boy.
"I mean, what do you think about… magic?"
The brunette girl spent the next full minute looking at the boy and searching for any hints of a joke on the boy's face to show that he was just kidding. But after scanning the boy and not seeing him flinch or falter, she realized that he was being deadly serious.
"You're shitting me aren't you, Kamijou?"
"It's just a question. What are your thoughts?" Touma asked, raising his hands in the air in a casual gesture.
"My thoughts? My thoughts are that out of anything you could have said, talking about the idea of magic being the reason that I keep seeing you practically everywhere is honestly one of the stupidest things I could have ever heard coming from someone's mouth."
'She didn't take that too well…' Touma thought to himself.
"Not to mention, I don't know if you're aware of this Kamijou, but magic doesn't exist."
"What makes you so sure? Done your research?"
"No, Dumbass. How are you going to believe in something childish like magic when the concept of Personal Reality straight up ignores the Uncertainty Principle. And don't get me started on the relation to the quantum mechanics of Schrodinger's cat" Mugino stated to the boy.
"Ok sure… but that's only one side of the conversation."
"Conversation? Kamijou, I don't know what you believe in and honestly, I don't care to know. But what does this have to do with my predicament?"
"A lot actually. And you know, there are other ways for magic to exist?" Touma said, coming up with an idea to have Mugino at least fathom the idea.
"Like what? Pulling a rabbit out of a hat?" She scoffed.
"I mean, in other ways," Touma said while letting out a sigh. "Magic could be applied to one's culture and whatnot."
"Again. How does this help me with my problem?"
The wielder of Imagine Breaker was beginning to grow frustrated at this point. But to be fair, there was no real reason for the tea color haired girl to listen or understand him at all. Out of anyone here in Academy City, she along with the other Level 5's were the last people that could honestly be convinced that magic was real.
"What if someone… did something magical to you which is why you keep seeing me everywhere?"
It would be a second before said or did anything and when she did, it was exactly how Touma thought she would react.
"...I think we're done here, Kamijou."
With that said, Mugino began getting up from her seat and started fiddling with the purse that she was carrying. Touma hadn't spotted it before but she must've picked it up on the ride to Joseph's.
A second later, the girl had what Touma suspected to be an annoyed expression on her face as she dropped a couple of bills that made his eyes turn saucer size at the amount being laid on the table. Mugino then shot a glance at Touma.
"Well, Kamijou, while I can't say that our time together has been all that bad… it was also not that great either. But in any case, I doubt I'll get the answers I need from you and need to look elsewhere. And as I said, the bill is mine."
And with that, the tea-color-haired beauty better known as the fourth-ranked Level 5, Mugino Shizuri aka the Meltdowner began making her way out of the restaurant leaving a stumped Kamijou there.
"...Guess that's that. At least she didn't leave this poor Kamijou to foot the bill, so I'll give her a plus on that."
Touma decided to wait a bit until the waitress returned and received the bill. While waiting, the teen began thinking about the encounter he had with the brown-haired beauty and how narrowly escaped a misfortunate scene with the two Level 5's.
'She was definitely something else…intimidating…but we still didn't come up with an explanation for why she kept seeing me everywhere. I wonder… nah.'
The boy began waving at the air in front of him, realizing that he had nothing to do with her problem anymore. He did what she wanted and sat down to talk about it while trying to find an answer.
'Plus, she said that she was involved in the Dark Side of Academy City… and she knew some of the incidents that I've been caught up in… why do I feel like that'll come back to bite me in the butt?' Touma thought while hoping that he didn't jinx himself.
Before he could ponder about the mature-looking girl and her strange problem further, the waitress returned. This prompted him to engage in a small conversation while also profusely apologizing for causing a scene earlier. No thanks to those two Level 5's.
After he made sure the meal was paid thanks to Meltdowner's contribution, the poor boy was ready to start making his way back to school as he figured that he could catch the latter half of today's lecture. Better to have shown up late than miss the whole day and catch more flak later from Komoe Sensei and the Iron Wall girl.
However, after walking for a bit across the street and passing by a block, Touma was suddenly grabbed by the collar of his neck and jerked behind a corner causing him to gag at the sudden action. With great momentum, the spiky-haired boy felt his back be slammed into a wall and had a shocked look on his face when saw who threw him.
"Heyya, Kami."
Tsuchimikado said while flashing the misfortunate boy a smile while still wearing those stupid glasses which hid his eyes.
"Tsuchimikado? What are you doing here?" Touma questioned while having the air knocked out of him come back.
"I should be the one asking you that. Didn't you say that you had to get something done? And then you took off from class. Sensei was distraught and tearing up again, no thanks to you. And Fukiyose will be gunning for you again, haha" Tsuchimikado casually said as he now put his hands into his pockets and watched Kamijou's reaction.
"*sigh* Should have figured. I can try and explain myself to Sensei but Fukiyose… I might truly die tomorrow."
"Don't be too worried about it, Kami-yan. Plus, I'm also in the same boat as you."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I pulled the ole stomachache excuse to see the nurse's office. Granted, Fukiyose saw right through my bluff and had me explain what I ate to cause the problem. Had to recall something that Aogami and I mentioned that might fight off against the Kami-yan disease."
"You're kidding me… a food to combat a disease? The Kami- Don't tell me you idiots are still on that topic of me infecting girls?"
"Kami Kami Kami. The sooner you realize the effect you have on the female population, the sooner you will understand why Aogami and I have to stop you. You're spreading a disease that could affect not only the country but the entire world if it's not stopped."
"Tsuchimikado…"
"Yeah, Kami?"
"You're an idiot."
"Don't be like that. You know deep in your heart it's true. You womanizer."
"Would you get a grip and realize this poor Kamijou has no luck with the- "
Fed up with the blonde-haired boy's words, Kamijou was about to criticize the sis-con but suddenly stopped when a phone started ringing.
"Hold that thought, Kami. I have to take this."
Nonchalantly, Tsuchimikado pulled out his phone and started speaking to whoever was on the line. Nodding his head while replying to the call.
The wielder of Imagine Breaker could only look at the boy with a mixed expression of annoyance and curiosity.
Soon, the spy closed his phone and addressed the puzzled spiky-haired teen.
"Sorry about that Kami. Had to hear what our mission would be."
"Our mission? What are you- don't tell me- "
"Yep! You're right on the money. Man, you're really getting the hang of this whole secret magic side versus science side fiasco."
"No, I'm not. Besides, don't you have Styil to work with you or even Kanzaki? She's much more reliable and better suited for whatever you've got going on" Touma reasoned with the boy.
"Styil is busy doing a bit of housecleaning in London while Kanzaki is busy with some other churchly duty."
"Don't you guys keep in touch with what activities you're doing?"
"Kami-yan, what a stupid question to ask."
"Oi! Don't talk to me about stupid questions!"
"But it's the truth. See, if I were to know what Kanzaki is up to, and let's say I got thrown around a bit by someone wanting to know where she was there could be a chance I slip up and spill her whereabouts."
"You. Slip up?" Touma asked, eye-bawling the spy with a deadpan expression.
"Hey, you never know. Besides, Necessarius knows better than to mix and match information when it's not needed. Hence, we come back to where we started."
"No."
"Oh, don't be like that Kami. You're the only one that can help."
Taking a moment to process what Tsuchimikado said, Touma began to lightly pull at his hair while donning a frustrated expression across his plain face.
"Gah! Don't you guys have any other spies or support in Academy City!? Why does it feel like I'm the first one to turn to in the event of anything bad happening? Is this my misfortune coming back to haunt me for having an ok morning?"
'If you could call being watched and spied on by the fourth-ranked Level 5 of Academy City being an ok morning that is.' Touma thought to himself while having a defeated look.
While Touma was rambling on about his misfortune yet again, Tsuchimikado began playing on his phone and reviewing the necessary information provided to him by his superiors.
"Kami? Hello, earth to Kami you back?"
"…*sigh* I hear you loud and clear. Sergeant Siscon."
"I'm gonna pretend that I didn't hear that last part. Anyways, let's take a walk. We have a bit of traveling to do."
Seeing that there was no way out of this situation, Touma began following the blonde-haired spy to wherever they needed to go. He could only hope that his sanity would be intact for whatever problem he was walking into. Such was the daily routine of Kamijou Touma's misfortune life.
Such misfortune.
Having walked for some time now, Tsuchimikado had kept to himself instead of antagonizing the poor boy which did not seem normal. However, during the quiet time, Touma began to realize the opportunity he had with the blonde idiot right next to him.
'Would Tsuchimikado know or have an idea of what I'm talking about? I mean, could magic be the reason for Mugino seeing me everywhere? She certainly wasn't very descriptive of her situation.'
Looking over at his friend, Touma figured that he might as well shoot his shot and see if it lands anywhere close to his idea.
"Hey, Tsuchimikado?"
"What's up Kami? You've been quiet for most of the walk. Which is a bit strange if you ask me."
"Stick a fork in it. I was wondering- well, curious about something."
"Curious about what? Where I got these stylish shades? Well, that's one secret I'm not telling."
"You're honestly asking to get dropkicked today, aren't you?"
"Sure am. But what's bothering that spiky-haired head of yours?"
Deciding to take the chance and go ahead with asking, Touma blurted out a simple question.
"Is it possible for someone to cast a spell or… something on someone to make them be seen practically everywhere?"
Suddenly, Tsuchimikado stopped walking and peered over at the wielder of Imagine Breaker making it so that Touma stared right into the boy's sunglasses which slightly reflected his face.
"Well, that's a bombshell of a thing to be thinking about."
"I-It's just a thought I had. You know, dealing with all sorts of magic artifacts or crazy magicians got me thinking."
Doing his best to make it sound like a casual question to ask, Touma began waving his hand in the air and trying really hard to play off the question. But in reality, he was making the question even more ominous and suspicious.
"…Kamijou."
Hearing Tsuchimikado call him by his name and not his usual nickname made the hairs on Touma's arms rise. That wasn't a good sign.
"What you're asking for… is guaranteed to have you falling face first into the ground."
"Why? What's so wron- "
"You know damn well why it's wrong!"
"No, I don't know."
"Playing oblivious I see. *sigh* Since our blue-haired comrade is not here right now, then I'll have to be the one to knock some sense into you."
"Would you quit walking around the subject and just explain it to me!"
"Kami-yan, what you're asking for… you're already affecting practically every girl you encounter with your disease but now… you want to infiltrate their headspace and infect them even more. You're a monster, Kami. A monster that needs to be put down!"
"Dammit! That's NOT why I was asking the question!"
"Then what made you want to ask a question like that? Having malicious thoughts?" Tsuchimikado asked, narrowing his gaze at the boy.
"NO! I'm just curious. That's all…"
Having a judgmental expression on his face, it would be a minute before Tsuchimikado shook his head and gave Touma's question an analysis.
"Hmm… Well, to temper your curiosity, yes, someone could cast a spell like that."
Processing what Tsuchimikado just said, Touma's eyes perked up. He had to know a bit more.
"What about – "
"Look, Kami, I would love to hear what other dangerous thoughts you have in that illusion-shattering head of yours'. But we need to get going. Otherwise, we'll lose our chance."
"Going where? We've just been walking, and you haven't said anything."
Taking a step toward the misfortunate boy, Tsuchimikado pulled out his phone and began scrolling until he landed on something and showed it to Touma.
Papers. Stacks of papers all piled up.
"…You're homework?"
"Very funny, Kami. But no, these are classified documents that the church wants back or destroyed from prying eyes. I've been tasked to do either option. However, they managed to fall into the hands of a rogue group of magicians. And now they are being held inside a warehouse in District 19."
"District 19? Talk about the perfect place to hide confiscated papers."
"No kidding. Which is where we will be heading."
"Uh… how are we getting there exactly? You don't expect us to walk all the way over there?" Touma asked.
"Relax Kami-yan. We'll train hop until we get there."
Wanting to argue about not getting involved in this retrieval mission, the spiky-haired teen could only sigh about the situation he found himself in and decided to get it over with. But suddenly he remembered something or better yet someone.
"Wait. What about Index? As much as I hope this mission goes by smoothly there's a high likelihood that it's going to take quite a while."
"Not a problem. I already have that taken care of."
"You do? What did you do?"
Smirking at the boy's confused look on his face, Tsuchimikado told him his plan.
"I had Maika bribe the starving nun."
"You what?"
Meanwhile, at the Kamijou dorm residence
Index and Sphynx were rolling back and forth across the floor and pushing aside all the scattered manga on the ground that Index had gone through. Her show had finished and now she was left waiting around for the next show to start but it wouldn't be for a minute. Hence, she and the small cat were trying to kill time.
"Sphynx! What do we do now? I'm bored!"
"Meow?" Sphynx replied, tilting its head while looking at the young girl.
"I know. Touma left us with nothing. Aside from the food that was in the fridge, there's nothing here."
Picking up the calico cat in her arms, the two began making their way to the kitchen and opened the fridge to find it looking spotless with not a trace of food in there. The nun then began opening cabinet after cabinet trying to find anything to eat but was coming up with nothing.
Index then made her way back to where she was laying before and turned herself around so that she was facing forward and held onto Sphynx while falling flat to the ground in a sign of defeat.
"*sigh* When is Touma coming back?"
Suddenly, before the cat or nun could say anything else, a knock could be heard at the door.
Thanks to Touma's countless warnings about strange people, Index slithered her way under a blanket while holding Sphynx and peeking her head out to watch the door.
Not a second later, another knock could be heard followed by a voice.
"Hello? Index? Are you in there? Kamijou and my brother said you were here."
Perking up at the voice, Index grabbed hold of Sphynx and began making her way to the door when she heard the most amazing thing ever.
"Kamijou said to bring you some food."
Without wasting another second, the door to the Kamijou dorm opened instantly with Index putting on a bright smile with Sphynx popping out of the Walking Church.
"Maika! It's nice to see you! And what was that I heard about food?" Index asked the maid-in-training.
Standing there at the door was Tsuchimikado Maika and in her arms was a large box of pizza. Courtesy of Tsuchimikado's plan to keep Index busy for a bit.
"Ahaha… Sphynx. We're gonna have to thank Touma when he gets back!"
Taking the pizza box from the maid's hands, Index then smiled back at Maika.
"Thanks, Maika. Would you like to come in and have a slice?"
"Ah, thanks, Index! And while I would like to I can't. I'm making the rounds before heading back to Tokiwadai. My brother just asked me to stop by and hand off this present from Kamijou. He also said that the two of them would be busy with a homework assignment and would have to stay a bit later than usual" Maika explained.
Feeling a frown appear on her face, Index figured that Touma wouldn't be showing up for quite some time. But… if he continued to bribe her with food, then that would be an equal trade!
"All right, thanks again for stopping by!"
"Yep. See you later, Index."
"Bye Maika! And thank you!"
And with that, the maid-in-training began to zoom away while atop a cleaning robot. Index on her part immediately opened the pizza box and went wide-eyed at what she was seeing. She also dashed back inside the dorm and closed the door getting ready to enjoy her third lunch.
Back to Kamijou and Tsuchimikado
"A Bribery" commented Touma while having a deadpan expression on his face.
"Yep. Why not? It'll keep Index busy for a bit."
"While that is true… won't it come back to bite me later?" Touma reasoned while playing out the scenario of Index gnawing at his head.
"Ehhh don't worry about it, Kami. Let's just get to District 19."
Since there wasn't anything else he could say to the blonde boy, Touma decided to just follow him and get through with this mission that he was sadly brought into. His misfortune working its wonders yet again.
"How do I get pulled into these kinds of things? *sigh* Such misfortune…" Touma muttered to himself.
However, while he had to deal with another incident involving the magic side, he had gotten exactly what he wanted. Information on the possibility of magic being involved in Mugino's dilemma.
While he was elated that his idea was becoming more of a possibility, Touma also knew he had sort of shot himself in the foot. Now that magic was on the drawing board, how was he going to explain this revelation? Granted, should he even discuss it with the girl in question?
While they did manage to find some leveled ground to actually talk, even though it was about food, Touma wasn't too sure just who Mugino Shizuri was.
Obviously, she was an agent for the Dark Side of Academy City and the fourth-ranked Level 5. And she had some history with Misaka that he did not know about. Plus, she seemed to have an older sort of mature vibe to her while also flaunting her wealth status by riding in fancy cars and wearing stylish clothes that would make his heart stop if he saw the price tag. Along with the no-brainer fact that she was downright beautiful. Putting models to shame for their looks when compared to her. But other than that, he didn't know anything about her.
Taking a second to gather his thoughts and come up with the best solution in this case, Kamijou Touma figured that he should just keep this information to himself and get through whatever Tsuchimikado forced him into. Besides, it couldn't be that bad… right?
Inside the ITEM apartment
Having made it back to her apartment and strutting into the living room, Mugino walked in with a scowl on her face.
The meet-up with Kamijou once again proved to be of little use to her. And while she did go out of her way to confront the boy it ultimately did nothing to help her situation. Moreover, the son of a bitch had the balls to blame whatever was happening to her on the idea of magic being involved.
Magic.
Who the hell believes in that kind of thing? Especially in Academy City. Where technology was decades ahead of anything the rest of the world had. And even now, new revolutionary discoveries were being discovered.
Mugino let out a sigh and criticized herself for continuing to think about the plain-looking jackass and his suggestion. Besides, her opinion of the boy didn't change much.
While he may have been the one to help the Railgun and her clone problem and defeat the first-ranked Esper in Academy City, Accelerator, there was something about him that didn't sit right with her.
Perhaps she didn't just see it, but there was no way a halfwit like him could manage to come out of all the events she's seen so far of his experiences. Sure, taking on low-life thugs was something possible but everything else seemed so… unlikely.
Once again, Mugino let out a sigh and brought her hands through her hair making it so she had strands covering her face. She needed to get out and do something to get that plain-looking bastard out of her mind.
Standing up from the couch, she pulled out her phone and began to search for anything to do and by that she meant a job. At the same time, she took in her surroundings and noticed that she was the only one in the room. Scanning the place, Mugino soon realized that all the other girls were out.
"Tch. Figures. I said they had the rest of the day off."
Going back to scroll through her phone, Mugino soon dialed someone that would help get her mind out of the gutter.
"Oh? This is a surprise."
"Shut the fuck up. What jobs do you have right now?"
"Has anyone ever told you that you have temperament problems?"
"….." Mugino was silent on the phone while balling up her fist.
"All right then… I have one job that's currently unspoken for."
"What is it? Retrieval? Elimination? Protection? Surveillance?"
"Retrieval. A small rogue group confiscated a few classified documents. Mission details entail either retrieval or destruction of the documents" the voice on the phone explained.
"Where are the documents located?"
"Abandoned warehouse in District 19."
"Has any other team taken this job?" Mugino asked.
"None. You're the only one gunning for it."
"Why is that? Something off about this offer?"
"No. A likely guess is that nobody is interested in a simple retrieval for documents being held by a small rogue group."
"Hmm…" Taking a second to consider the offer, Mugino once more took a glance around her and confirmed that it was just her in the high-class apartment.
'Looks like I'll be going solo. Which is absolutely fine. I work better alone' the high-status girl thought to herself.
"I'll take the offer."
"Good to hear. I'll send over the details."
With a click of a button, the call ended and Mugino instantly got a message with the job description along with a picture of what looked like several worn-down papers.
'What are these? They look old as hell," she mentally said while examining the picture of what the documents looked like.
Deciding to get ready for the mission, the older girl got up and made her way to her room to change her outfit for a more combat-oriented appearance. Now standing in front of her closet, the Meltdowner spent a good minute looking over which clothes would not only provide her enough movement for going on the offensive while also being to her liking.
Spending another few minutes throwing around clothes that still had the price tag on them, Mugino found the outfit that she would go with. And wouldn't you know it, the outfit she picked was closely identical to her violet dress attire. The only real difference was that she now had a dark dress and dark shorts with black thigh-high socks and dark boots. Not that much of a difference but still what she preferred.
Now, reaching into her closet, she grabbed several strange-looking cards that had a triangle-like design on them. These cards were modified to work with her Meltdowner ability and create multiple beams that would be shot from the card. She recalled using it against the Railgun.
With her gear ready, the tea color haired girl began making her way through the apartment before taking one last look at the living room. There was a thought eating away at her and she was tempted to give it some of her time. However, the brunette girl shook her head and exited the apartment. Ready to get her mind back on track and away from that bumbling spiky-haired bastard.