Here we are everyone. The first chapter of the Index Arc. To think, we are here after only a month. Now, before we get started, I want to clear up a few things.
First, my spoiler policy. Many or you have asked me questions regarding how I plan to progress the story, such as deviation from canon and the like. Unfortunately, I have had to give many of you the response of "no spoilers" as many of those questions require me to reveal integral plans I have put in place for the story since it's conception. I try not to give spoilers as they can ruin the experience of a twist change in the way that the story progresses. However, if you really want spoilers that badly, feel free to ask me in a PM. This way, if I give out spoilers, only people who ask will see them. Just know that this process may take a while to answer your questions, as I do have a life outside of this site. I also realize that this bars Guest users, but that's the price you have to pay if you want spoilers. Sorry.
Second, I'm glad you all liked the chapter. I'm just disappointed so many of the references and puns were missed. I mean, card games being made tangible? "Tragically sunken ship"? Those were pretty solid. Oh well, guess my humor needs some work.
Okay them, What time is it? Q&A time!
Bluejack222: Glad you liked the chapter. I thought for sure it was going to be the least liked. Don't worry, we don't have to say goodbye to this Touma for now. We still have several chapters to get through.
ALostBlueIdiot: Yup, just like Touma.
ahsoei: Yeah, I can see where you're coming from. I'll try to tone it down a little. I did say it took some convincing before Touma was let in. As for Kongou, the first two times he used the nickname, she was distracted by her modeling and the cold, she didn't really have time to worry about some perceived insult. Glad you liked the development between Touma and Mikoto
narufuuin: Self preservation, my friend. They may be idiots, but they know when they're going to die when they anger a girl, and in this case multiple girls. Glad you're looking forward for what's to come.
mohamadstar94: Oh, I will keep going. And there will be Kamikoto! I am Kamikoto trash through and through!
Shwae: I'm pretty sure Anti-Skill is an adult, exclusive organization. It's not a place of students. Don't worry, all your wuestions will be answered in due time.
RedSS: Glad you found it fun. Sorry, but that has officially become spoiler territory. Either wait and see or PM me, or sift through the old chapters until you find the answer.
Cyber dragonarmy: Glad you liked the chapter. Don't worry, there will be repercussions for that little incident at the end of the chapter.
RareSilver: Glad you liked the chapter. To be fair, a lot of the nicknames Touma gives out in canon can be offensive, just some more that others. By the way, the Armstrong reference was from the dub, although I wish I was the one to make it. I was a bit diappointed no one saw the other references.
Awareness Bringer: Thank you.
MrQuestionMark: Glad you liked the chapter. A surprise ever once in a while never hurt any one. Honestly, I'll have to remember to reference this chapter at some point, maybe have some random character looking through the catalog. I always aim for true-to-character interactions and reactions when writing.
AriaTheLostMelody: It's always nice to relax.
RPGPersona: That was kind of the point. The plan was made to plainly flawed, or did you not pick up on the sarcasm? Glad you liked how i handled Kongou. I don't know why, but I've always liked characters that start of one-note but are revealed to be much more as a story progresses. Yeah, the main reason I handled the chapter the way I did was to deal with these problems, especially with placement. I think the room is a cross between Real Solid Vision from Yugioh Arc-V and Test Chambers from Portal. Holographic, solid projections are created while at the same time, panels move and shift to reveal, add, and remove new real elements, all while doing so in a way that conceals the changes, like putting a hologram of the additional item in the place where the actual additional item will be added. Remember, this is Tsuchimokado and Aogami we're talking about. They always assume Touma did something on purpose when a girl is involved.
GhostofTime: No worries. Glad you liked the chapter.
Guest (1): Looks like your wait is over.
Guest (2): You're going to have to wait an see.
LZWriter: I always go for the original flavor of a story when writing a fanfiction. Glad you liked it.
AC Phony: (Guest): No worries, Glad you liked the story.
Alright, now that that's out of the way, disclaimer!
Disclaimer: All characters and plotlines of the "A Certain" franchise are credited to Kazuma Kamachi.
Chapter 9: The List of Prohibited Books
It was the night of July 19th. The streets Academy City were peaceful and quiet. However, the same could not be said about a certain riverbed. Down by it were two students, one a high school boy while the other was a middle school girl. The boy was none other than the unlucky Level 0 known as Touma Kamijou. Across from him was the third ranked Level 5, Mikoto Misaka. At the top of the hill not too far away stood three other middle school girls, these people being the mutual friends of Touma and Mikoto, Kuroko, Uiharu, and Saten.
After discovering that she had accidentally broadcasted herself playing at the beach in a childish swimsuit, Mikoto had been extremely flustered and furious, especially when she learned Touma had seen. Touma honestly didn't understand why she was so mad. He even complimented her about it, saying she looked cute. Miraculously, that only seemed to make her even madder. So mad in fact, that she strong-armed him into fighter her again, saying that if she won, he had to forget about the entire incident. Seeing as he didn't have any other way out, Touma reluctantly agreed, with Kuroko, Uiharu, and Saten tagging along to watch.
"Is this really such a good idea?" Uihaur asked in concern.
"I'm sure it will be fine," Kuroko said reassuringly, "Sissy just needs to blow of some steam. Kamijou is just the right guy to hold an Esper at bay. Plus, he would never go all out against someone for no good reason.
"Do your best, you two! Good luck!" Saten cheered, before realizing what she said, "Actually, scratch that last part! Just do your best!"
"Looks like it's about time we get started," Mikoto said with a smirk, "You ready?"
"Ready when you are," Touma replied flatly, "Let's just get this over with."
"I've been waiting a long time for this rematch. Let's settle this, here and now!" Mikoto yelled.
Mikoto reached towards the ground and sent a pulse of electricity through it. Within an instant, an iron sand sword formed in her right hand.
"That trick again?" Touma asked skeptically, "You know that won't work on me."
"Which is why it's not the only weapon I'm going in with," Mikoto clarified, holding out her left hand.
In an instant, she gathered electricity in her hand and shaped it into a sword. She gripped it firmly and took a fighting stance. Touma gulped a bit at the sight of the new weapon.
"I call this my Lightning Blade. Let's see how well you can dodge both of my swords!" Mikoto yelled as charged straight at Touma.
As soon as he was in range, Mikoto swung wildly at Touma, interchanging which sword she swung. Sometimes, she would swing with both blades, either along parallel or intersecting paths, in an attempt to throw Touma off balance. Unfortunately for Mikoto, Touma managed to dodge every single strike. He did everything he could to not get hit, from sidestepping, to ducking, to rolling, to sliding. While the task proved difficult, he still managed to get away rather unscathed.
"Hold still!" Mikoto yelled, bring her hands together.
As soon as the blades met, they combined. The lightning blade merged with the iron sand sword, coating it in a cloak of electricity. Mikoto swung the sword with two hands over her head and brought it down on Touma. However, the weapon only met with his right hand. The instant they touched, the sound of shattering glass was heard, and the blade fell apart into regular iron sand. Touma took the opportunity to step back and put some distance between him and Mikoto. He had just destroyed one of her weapons, he was not about stay close enough for her to attack him with another one.
"Well, looks like your new trick failed," Touma observed, "I think it's time we call the match."
"Oh, this isn't over yet," Mikoto smirked, "I still have one other new technique I've prepared just for you."
"It's not something that's going to make me explode or something, is it?" Touma asked in a panic.
"Oh no, it's something much worse," Mikoto replied.
Mikoto released a quick pulse of electricity, covering a large area around her. The electricity charged the iron sand in the area and magnetized it, allowing Mikoto to manipulate it much like when she created the iron sand sword. The iron sand swirled into the air, forming a storm of iron sand above Mikoto's head. Touma prepared his right hand, recognizing the move. As soon as the storm charged at him, he would swat it with his right hand and negate it, just like last time.
However, the storm never charged at him. Instead, it split apart into even smaller storms, several dozens of them in fact. These miniature iron sand storms swirled and condensed before finally taking shape. To Touma's surprise, Mikoto had created dozens of iron sand swords, all of them floating in the air above her, aimed at him.
"You like it? I call it my Unlimited Blade Works," Mikoto taunted, "Your hand can only negate what it touches. Even if you negate one of these swords, two more will take its place and the iron sand from the destroyed blades will be used to create even more swords."
"Impressive. You've really thought this through, haven't you?" Touma admitted.
"That's right. Now, let's see you worm your way out of this one!" Mikoto yelled, sending a couple of iron sand swords Touma's way.
Touma immediately began running, causing the swords to miss their mark and hit the ground instead.
"You'll need to catch me first!" Touma taunted.
"Oh, I intend to!" Mikoto yelled back, throwing even more swords Touma's way.
Touma ran as fast as he could, circling Mikoto as she threw more and more swords at him. Every time a sword got too close to hitting him, Touma instantly negated it with his right hand. The rest of the swords hit the ground, kicking up dust before dissolving into iron sand and returning to Mikoto to form more swords.
Up on the hill, the girls could only watch as the fight escalated.
"Man, she's really going all out," Saten noted, "She's so determined, I'm surprised she hasn't used her Railgun yet."
"Don't even joke about that, Saten," Kuroko scolded, "Kamijou's hand only negates the supernatural, not its after effects. We don't even know if his hand could negate it."
"I'm getting really worried. I can't see what's going on down there, there's too much dust," Uiharu said.
"I know, I don't think even Kamijou and Misaka can tell what's going on in there," Saten added.
"Guys," Kuroko said in realization, "I think that's the point."
"Quit running, idiot!" Mikoto yelled, continuing to fire her swords, "Take this fight seriously!"
However, she did not get a response. Aside from some electrical buzzing, there was complete silence. She looked around her, trying to find her opponent, but could see nothing but dust surrounding her. It was only then that she realized just what kind of situation she was in. By her own hand, she had surrounded herself in a cloud of dust that she could no see out of, leaving her unable to locate Touma.
Unfortunately, she realized this too late. She found a right hand grip her shoulder. In an instant, the sound of shattering glass rang out, indicating the temporary loss of her ability. Without her power to apply and control the electricity, the iron sand above her head fell to the ground, creating a gust of wind that blew away the dust.
The girls on the hill could barely believe what they were seeing. When the dust cleared, they saw Touma with his right hand gripping Mikoto's shoulder, holding her in place. Mikoto turned her head to see Touma behind her, wearing an expression on his face that seemed to be both bored and serious. It honestly scared her a bit. He raised his left fist, chambering it for a punch. However, Mikoto immediately flinched, turning away and pulling in her arms to brace herself. From the corner her eyes, small tears began to form, something that did not go unnoticed by Touma.
'Not again,' Touma thought to himself.
Not wanting to attack her when she looked so defenseless and scared, Touma lowered his fist and let go of her shoulder, sighing in exasperation. Mikoto noticed that he was no longer holding her and turned around to face him in confusion.
"What's the big idea?" Mikoto asked, "You had a perfect opening. Why didn't you take it?"
"Seriously? You call that a 'perfect opening'?" Touma replied, "Every time you make me fight you, you tell me to not hold back and to take it seriously, but when I do, you flinch and start acting all defenseless like a little girl. You except me to attack you when you look like that? I'm not some heartless monster that attacks middle school girls just because I'm told to. If someone did that, they'd be one serious bastard. Are you seriously that scared to be hit? You started crying, just like last time!"
Touma ended his rant with a huff. He honestly couldn't understand this girl. Unfortunately, Mikoto didn't take all the comments too lightly. She grew angrier by the second, sparking more and more. Touma noticed this and immediately began running towards the other girls, telling them to run away. The group ran as fast as they could in what little time they had before Mikoto went nuclear. What happened next was a lightening bolt that took out the power in all of District 7.
The morning of July 20th, Touma found himself facing an above average amount of bad luck. First, the power was out due to Mikoto's little outburst the other night. Next, he lost all of his food due to a broken refrigerator and dropping his emergency rations in the sink. Afterwards, he had crushed his cash card after stepping on in while looking for his wallet. Finally, someone from his school called to tell him he had to take remedial classes over the summer because he was that big of an idiot. Now, this was a normal occurrence for him; his usual amount of bad luck.
The really bad luck started when he went to hang his futon out on his balcony. As he carried his futon out, he stepped on a rotten yakisoba bun he tossed out of his fridge before stepping outside to see something already hanging over the edge of his balcony. Upon closer inspection, Touma realized that the thing was, in fact, a girl. She was dressed in a white and gold nun's habit and had silver hair. In complete shock of the girl, Touma dropped his futon on the ground. However, that shock did not compare to what he felt when the nun spoke.
"I'm so…," she whimpered, "I'm so very… hungry. Very, very hungry"
"What was that?" Touma asked, confused as to why that was the first thing out of her mouth.
"I said I'm hungry," the girl said more clearly.
"What the…," Touma trailed off, backing back into his dorm and stepping on the yakisoba bun a second time.
"Weren't you listening to me? I said I'm hungry," the girl whined.
"So, uh, is this something you make a habit of?" Touma asked, "Randomly appearing draped over people's balconies."
"It's also called 'curb croaking'," the girl replied without skipping a beat, "So, do you have any food in there? I'm really starving. Please feed me."
Touma was at a lose for words. This girl just appeared out of nowhere on his balcony and started asking him for food. It was like something out of a light novel or anime with debatable merits that is defended by its most loyal fans. Thinking it was best for her to looks somewhere else, Touma devised an admittedly devilish scheme to drive her away. He offered her the rotten yakisoba bun that he had stepped on twice now. However, he did not except her to eat the whole thing in one bite, plastic wrap and all. Unfortunately, she also nearly swallowed his right hand, along with the bun.
After retrieving his right hand from her mouth, Touma let the mysterious nun into his dorm and made her a stir-fry from whatever rotten ingredients he could gather from his broken refrigerator. To his surprise, she found it delicious. She found it so delicious that she was fully dedicated to finishing the whole thing. However, Touma knew better. Even his cooking couldn't make rotten food any more edible than it already was. Based on how she was using her chopsticks, how childish she acted, and her outfit, he deduced she didn't have that much life experience, despite appearing to be fourteen years old, at least, and was from outside the city. She either didn't know better or just loved food that much.
The girl in front of him was just so naïve and innocent that Touma could stand to watch anymore. He couldn't just sit there knowing that the girl was just going to poison herself eating the rotten food he made. Out of the need to save this girl from his cooking and herself, Touma grabbed the bowl of stir-fry from her and ate it himself as quickly as he could. Unfortunately, he quickly got sick and fell on his back, dropping the bowl of stir-fry on the floor.
After recovering from the food poisoning and giving the girl a cracker to nibble on, Touma decided to get some answers. After all, this girl came out of nowhere and seemed to be of great need of help. Plus, as a member of Judgement, he had an obligation to gather intel and help in any way he could.
From what the girl told him, her name was Index Librirom Prohibitorum, or just Index, and she was on the run from magicians. In addition, she supposedly also when by the magic name, Dedicatus 545, or "The consecrated lamb that safeguards the wisdom of the mighty". She claimed that the sorcerers chased her in pursuit of the 103,000 grimoires she had on her person. Apparently, she was trying to jump from rooftop to rooftop, but the power outage made it so dark it was impossible for her see where she was jumping to, resulting in her landing on Touma's balcony.
Of course, Touma couldn't really buy what she was selling. He'd be lying if he didn't admit to buying the existence of the supernatural, he lived in Academy City after all, but magic was just not something he could believe. Not to mention, Index claimed to have more books on her that Touma could have imagined, a whole library's worth, but she had nothing but the clothes on her back. To add to his skepticism, when he asked for some proof of magic, Index admitted to not being able to perform magic herself. When Touma admitted to his possession of a negating power in his right hand, Index made a face, calling his bluff. This quickly spiraled into an argument between the two where Index dared to try to stab her with a kitchen knife, claiming that her robes were magic and would defend her from any harm. This was followed by Touma betting that his right hand would be able to negate her robe's magic, assuming they were magic at all.
"All right then, fine with me!" Touma yelled as he approached his guest, "When it's over, just remember you asked me to do this!"
He placed his right and on her left shoulder and the sound of shattering glass rang out. However, nothing else seemed to happen beyond that.
"Okay, that's weird," Touma admitted.
"Well, what do you know? Nothing's happening," Index laughed smugly.
As soon as the laugh escaped her lips, her habit immediately tore itself to shreds. Touma was left completely stunned at what happened. He expected something to happen, but nothing on that scale. Miraculously, Index was completely unaware of what happened. She only began to question the situation when she noticed Touma's shocked expression and slightly blushed face. When he insisted it was nothing, she looked down to see the state that his right and had left her in. In her embarrassment, she did the only thing she could think of doing in retaliation.
She bit Touma.
"Look at this, you must have bitten me a hundred times," Touma complained as he rubbed his wounds, "You're like a really big, really angry mosquito."
Index, who was now on the bed with her hood of and covering herself with the blanket, only formed a dark aura around herself.
"I'm sorry, maybe we should just forget about it. That way-," Touma apologized, but was cut off when Index threw a book at him.
"You really expect me to just forget about this?" Index asked darkly, "How much of an insensitive jerk can you be?"
"Well, uh, I thought it would be easier not to talk about it," Touma explained, "I guess I'm pretty embarrassed about it too."
"You're still a jerk," Index replied, turning around to continue with her task under to blanket.
Despite the embarrassing incident, Touma was still about to confirm something. Index was most definitely telling the truth, at least some of it anyway. His right hand destroyed her habit, so she had to have been involved with the supernatural. His hand wouldn't have reacted if it wasn't. Whether or not that meant magic was real was another matter.
"All done!" Index cheered as she threw off the blanket.
She was once again wearing her habit, now held together by a couple of brass safety pins.
"Nice job, you look like a pin cushion," Touma said flatly.
"Who knows, maybe I'll start a fashion trend," Index boasted before dropping her head in despair.
"Oh crap, my class!" Touma said in realization, "Sorry, I'm running late for my remedial class. What are you going to do? I can give you a key if you want to stay?"
"No, it's okay," Index replied, jumping off the bed, "It's better that I move on, otherwise those people might track me down here. And I'm guessing you'd prefer it if your place didn't get blown up."
"Hey, wait! Just a sec!" Touma yelled as he ran after her as she opened the door.
Unfortunately, Touma tripped on the rug and dropped his cell phone. In his struggle to regain his balance, he ended up crushing said cell phone underfoot.
"You want to know what I think? About your power. That right hand of yours?" Index inquired, "I think it cancels out the grace of God and everything else along with it. Your hand opposes the divine and without God's grace, you're bound to be met with ill fortune at every turn."
Touma could hardly believe what he was hearing. If what Index was saying was true, then his misfortune has been the result of his power then entire time. In addition, that meant that all of his parent's efforts to deal with his misfortune were for nothing. If his right hand negates luck itself, then all those good luck charms wouldn't have had any effect on him, even if they actually worked. The only possible bright side to this is now he has another reason to give Saten for why his power isn't all that great. Not knowing what else to do, Touma fell on his hands and knees in despair.
"Rotten luck," Touma lamented.
"If you ask me, being born with that power is pretty much the most rotten luck a person can have," Index said with a smile.
As much as Touma wanted to sulk about his rotten luck, he had more important matters to worry about.
"Index, what now? Is there anywhere safe you can go after you leave here?" Touma asked desperately.
"If I stay in one place, they can find me," Index answered.
"But how?"
"Like I showed you before, my habit is imbued with magic. Because of that magic, they're able to track my location. It will be okay though. If I can just make it to the church, they will offer me sanctuary."
"Why didn't you? Knowing all of that, how can I let you leave here?" Touma insisted, "At the very least, let me help you get to the church safely! I'm a member of Judgement, a peacekeeping and disciplinary organization here in Academy City! I can get you help so we can at least escort you out of the city to the nearest church!"
"Come now, do you really want to be dragged down into the depths of hell with me?" Index proposed, "Besides, an escort party like you're suggesting could draw in even more attention, not just from sorcerers but the people of this city as well."
Touma was stunned at what he was hearing. This girl in front of him was so gentle and kind when she wasn't mad. She didn't want to drag anyone else in her problems despite how much danger they put her in. If he was being honest, she reminded him of himself in a sense. A kind soul that didn't want to drag people into her problems and put others safety above her own.
"Goodbye," Index said as she ran out the door.
"If you run into any more trouble, you know where you can find me," Touma called out as she ran off.
"Yup! I'll come back when I'm hungry again!" Index called back, before running into and being chased off by some cleaning robots, "Ah! What are these things?!"
Touma watched with a smile as the cleaning robots chased her away. However, he soon realized he still had a remedial class to catch.
Later that afternoon, Touma arrived at the 177th Judgement Branch Office. He found all the girls present and gave them all a halfhearted greeting, not even using the nicknames he gave them. The girls could clearly tell he had a hard day, especially considering he came in late.
"Alright, Kamijou, time for therapy," Saten said, guiding Touma towards the couch, "Now, tell us what happened today this time."
Touma recounted all of the unlucky events he had faced that day after meeting Index. These included the usual bad luck he faced as a result of the power outage, Index's crazy story about magic being real, Index's theory for the connection between his right hand and his luck, accidents during remedial class, and the game of no-eyed poker Komoe had made him endure. Of course, he left out the part where he accidentally stripped Index with his ability. He didn't need attacked by his friends for being a pervert added to his list of unfortunate events. Needless to say, the girls were pretty stunned at what they heard. Mikoto went as far as to feel pity and not challenge him to a rematch for the time being.
"Well, that's certainly quite the day you've had," Uiharu commented.
"I had no idea your teacher could be so sadistic," Saten said with a shiver, remembering how innocent she could look.
"You didn't actually believe what she said about magic being real, did you?" Kuroko asked skeptically.
"While I'm not sure about magic being real, she was definitely involved in the supernatural. She had this protective talisman that shattered when I touched it with my right hand," Touma half-lied, "Clearly, there was something supernatural about it."
"And the theory about your right hand negating your luck?" Mikoto asked.
"Seems plausible," Touma admitted.
"Speaking about your right hand, the rumor about you has been getting a resurgence in popularity recently," Saten said, trying to change the topic form Touma's bad luck.
"Is that so?" Touma inquired.
"Yeah. Ever since you shared the existence of your power during the Level Upper workshop, your rumor has been skyrocketing in popularity," Uiharu confirmed, pulling up the discussion board, "They're even trying to come up with names to call your power."
"What have they come up with so far?" Mikoto asked, looking over Uiharu's shoulder at the screen.
"So far, they've come up with 'Anti-Skill', 'Negation', 'Effect Veiler', and 'Vanity Shatterer'," Uiharu listed off,
"They seem pretty hit or miss if you ask me," Kuroko commented.
"I'm not going to wake up tomorrow to find my dorm surrounded by people wanting to fight me like Zapper, am I?" Touma asked.
"I don't think so," Saten said comfortingly, "The discussion board is full of skeptics, trolls, and misinformation. I don't think a lot of people honestly believe the rumor. If they do, they have no clue who you are."
"Well, that's good to know," Touma replied, walking over to his desk, "Now if you'd all excuse me, I have some work I need to catch up on."
"Are you sure you're in any condition to do any Judgement work?" Uiharu asked in concern.
"I'll be fine," Touma insisted.
However, he soon tried on a stray piece of paper and fell to the ground.
"Maybe you should take the day off. Uiharu and I will cover for you," Kuroko suggested as she helped Touma up, "You've had a hard enough day as it is."
"Seriously, I'd hate it if they guy that beat me ended up collapsing from too much stress," Mikoto added.
"Shirai and I can take care of it," Uiharu insisted.
"Get some rest, Kamijou," Saten encouraged.
"Well, if you all insist," Touma said begrudgingly as he left the office.
By the time Touma got home, it was sundown. He made his way to his dorm to find the cleaning robots crowded around the front of his dorm. Upon closer inspection, he realized they were harassing Index again, who appeared to be asleep on the ground.
"That's just my luck. I should have known," Touma said to himself.
He walked over to the sleeping girl and shook her gently to wake her up.
"What are you doing out here? You can't sleep there," Touma said.
He stopped when he felt something wet and warm on his hand. He pulled his hand away to inspect it. To his shock, he immediately recognized the liquid on his had to be blood, Index's blood. Noticing the large wound on her back, Touma begged her to hold on. He asked who exactly did this to her and how it happened. His answer came from a man that approached him from behind.
He had long red hair, a barcode tattoo, black robes reminiscent of those worn by priests, and a lit cigarette in his mouth. He had the appearance of a man in his twenties and work a confident smirk on his face. He answered calmly, not even skipping a beat.
"Oh, that was us," the man said, "as in sorcerers."
And that was the start of the Index Arc! Sorry if it was a little lacking. I've always been a believer in serial escalation. You got to start small, you know what I'm saying?
Anyway, leave a review if you like. Share this story with your friends if they're fans of the "A Certain" franchise. See you all later!
Hell and Heaven!