Man! This took much longer than it really needed to. Sorry about that. I was really busy with life and struggled to find time to write. Also, I am officially qualifying this story as a harem story, but I will still make Kamikoto the ship with the most focus. Sorry, but that's how I roll. But now that I have finished this chapter, let's get the ball rolling with the Q&A!
ArmoredCoreNineBall: Oh, my ships are more than prepared to take on you Unlimited Harem Works. On board each of my ships is an entity that represents everything that the ship stands for. With my Harem Loader, I can use the power of Harem-Fuse to fuse my ship entities together! Now face the power of the greatest Harem-Fuse, the Final Fusion! Prepare to face the combined power of all of my ships in the form of Kamikoto X7F Superior Mode! Now, on to the actual review response. That was the main goal of many of the changes. The idea is that with more people in on the magic secret, more people can provide help in whatever way they can and ease his suffering, because he suffers enough as it is. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure how much more of an active role I want to give the rest of the Delta Force. Tsuchimokado is a given but Aogami has always been a wild card. I do plan to have the Delta Force fully involved in something, but not anything too important.
ahsoei: I figured a lot of people would like the changes with Index's living conditions. I'll try to improve on being descriptive with emotions. I think this particular chapter might be a good start to practice that.
MrQuestionMark: The way I see it, if they provide something to progress the plot in some way, whether through plot progression or character exploration, it's not filler. I'm glad you liked the direction with Index. Also, Mikoto doesn't confront Konori until after they learn the connection between her and Kurozuma. I promise, more diversions from canon will come, just that most of them are character relations rather than plot points. Yeah, I liked the nickname too. I had to put a lot of thought into that one.
RedSS: I figured the placement of the Big Spider Arc was perfect to explore Touma's personal issues with his memory lose, something I didn't feel got enough attention. Glad I can provide some context of Railgun for you.
narufuuin: I take a note from Scott Cawthon when it comes to writing stories; every detail is important, no matter how small. Also, this is a few days after the incident, so Touma would have taken the time to look at the friend profiles and recent entries in the journal to be at least up to date on current events. Also, Index life support group was a change I had planned from the get-go, so it's nice to finally have it in place.
Awareness Bringer: Thank you.
Guest (1): Sorry this took so long. The girls helping to house and feed Index was planned from the get-go so it nice to finally have it in place.
Guest (2): I'd need to catch up on the Accelerator manga and find out how all of those events line up with all of the other events to get Touma involved in them. I'll have to keep that change for Mikoto in mind. More sisterly love is always a win.
ALostBlueIdiot : Aogami has always been a weird one. We know practically nothing about him. Other ships will still get some focus. It's really me just spending more time on ships I prefer. It will still be a harem, just a more unbalanced harem.
Bluejack222: I just wanted to throw Touma a bone. Besides, it's not like her not living with him will affect how certain plots progress to much.
Agent Nine: Thank you for the kind words. Sorry for the wait.
RPGPersona: Well, that was the point of pawning Index responsibilities on girls more capable of handling them. Touma did suspect that Index has selective photographic memory. I needed some way for Touma to viably fight security bots and powered suits later on. The chapter needed comedy, so a threw in some more comedy. That just my honest interpretation on a lot of these characters. If you've seen 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' you might know of the joke "hide the cucumber' which is a modification of the original joke made specifically for Hulk.
AriaTheLostMelody: One of my favorite joke in the chapter, to be honest.
School (Guest): I'll try, though it might happen a bit latter. I'm thinking Silent Party Arc for Mugino and ITEM. The number 6 is really less of a plot hole, more of a secret Kamachi refuses to give us answers for.
Anonymous Noob the 2nd: That is why I included it.
Guest (3): I might make a crossover at some point, but for now, they are just references because I like references that much.
mohamadstar94: Sorry it took so long.
Cyber dragonarmy: Thanks! Sorry it took so long.
dark knight 52: Sorry it took so long.
Disclaimer: All characters and plotlines of the "A Certain" franchise are credited to Kazuma Kamachi.
Chapter 14: Face the Future
"It's been a long time, Mii."
That one sentence from the man with greasy red hair was enough to leave the other students in a stupor. Said stupor only became more intense when Konori replied in a rather familiar manner.
"Kurozuma," she said, "you're really alive."
"Sure looks that way," the man now identified as Kurozuma mused.
"But why? Why didn't you bother to contact me after all this time?" Konori asked, clearly upset, "I thought, you were dead."
The two of them exchanged a look, as if to silently communicate to one another. Kurozuma's eyes then drifted downwards towards Konori's arm, where she wore her armband. Noticing this, she quickly covered it, trying to keep Kurozuma from seeing, but it was too late. Kurozuma simply laughed to himself quietly before starting to walk away.
"Don't worry about me," he said as he walked past Konori, "I can easily disappear again."
"Come back!" Konori yelled.
She watched as he silently continued walking, seemingly ignoring her.
"Please don't go," Konori whispered as she watched Kurozuma leave.
As Kurozuma continued on his way, he passed by Touma, who was still standing a few meters behind Konori. The two boys' eyes met, albeit briefly. In that moment, Touma felt something deep inside of him. There was something about this young man named Kurozuma that just didn't sit right with him. The vibe he gave off was both familiar and unfamiliar, but Touma couldn't figure out what it was. When they finally broke eye contact, all Touma could do was watch Kurozuma leave.
'What was that.' Touma thought to himself.
The next day, Touma, Mikoto and Kuroko told Saten and Uiharu about the apparent connection between Konori and Kurozuma. They were having lunch at Joseph's, as per usual. The only person not present was Index, who elected to stay at Saten's dorm to watch television since Saten had left some food for her. Of course, elaborating the situation was no easy task as Uiharu and Saten kept interrupting with outbursts of disbelief and questions that Touma and Mikoto were already trying to answer. It also didn't help that Kuroko didn't feel like chiming in as she preferred to stay an outside observer regarding Konori and Kurozuma's relationship.
Eventually, Saten had enough and decided to just go straight to Konori for answers. Unfortunately, the Judgement Officers revealed that Konori never showed up at the office. Not only that, but they couldn't contact her on her cell phone either. It was strange. It just wasn't like Konori to disappear during a big case like the Esper Hunts. With her off the radar, they didn't have many leads for her relationship with Kurozuma. However, Touma had an alternative.
"Well, if we can't go to Konori, for answers, I think I might know someone who can," Touma admitted with a sigh.
"Who?" the girls asked in either curiosity or desperation.
"Nice to see you again, Kamijou."
"Same, Yanagisako," Touma replied with a nod.
'His friends were right, he does get around,' the girls thought among themselves.
Not long after leaving the diner, Touma had led the girls to Konori's dorm they were introduced to Yanagisako, Konori's roommate. After the usual bit of everyone else accusing Touma of picking up girls behind everyone's backs and explaining their concerns regarding Konori, Yanagisako invited them all in to talk in a more comfortable setting.
With everyone sitting down at the kitchen table, the group explained the recent discovery of Wataru Kurozuma, something that felt Yanagisako surprised to say the least.
"So, he's alive," Yanagisako mused.
"You know him?!" Saten and Mikoto yelled, jumping out of their seats.
"It shouldn't be that big of a surprise," Touma reasoned, "Konori did tell me that she had a complicated history with Big Spider."
"Complicated is certainly one way to put it," Yanagisako agreed, "After all, until two years ago, she was a member of Big Spider."
The room remained silent for a moment. Afterwards, all hell broke loose.
"Huh?!" all the girls replied.
"So that's what she meant by complicated," Touma mused.
"What's with that under reaction?!" Mikoto asked in shock.
"Unbelievable! There's no way!" Uiharu protested, "She's a senior member of Judgement!"
"She is now, but she used to have a wild streak," Yanagisako explained.
"Sorry for speaking out of turn, but this doesn't make much sense," Kuroko interrupted, "Konori is a Level 3 Esper and could have joined any number of organizations. A Level 3 like her has no place among a gang of Level 0s."
"You would think that, but that's simply not the case," Touma countered, "She told me the other day that she first ran into Big Spider when she hit a wall with her ability and was stuck as a Level 2."
"That's right," Yanagisako confirmed, "The depression was too much to handle for her. She didn't feel like she belonged anywhere. At least, that was until she met Kurozuma and Big Spider. They may have been a gang, but they never did anything more harmful than hang out and goof off. I was worried too; she was hiding the fact that she was an Esper and it didn't seem right. But, according to Mii herself, it was the one place where she felt she could truly be herself."
"Being yourself, huh?" Saten mused with a smile.
"Alienation. Self-discovery. Everyone in Academy City experiences those at some point," Yanagisako summarized, "It's a fact of life here, like Chicken Pox."
"The problem with that is you only catch Chicken Pox once," Mikoto argued, much to everyone's shock.
Although she didn't say another word, the look in her eyes clearly showed that something just didn't seem right to her.
It was late in the afternoon and the group had just left Konori and Yanagisako's dorm. There was an odd tension in the air as they walked in silence. The only sounds that could be heard was the neighboring traffic.
"I don't get it," Mikoto said out of nowhere, stopping in her tracks.
"What don't you get?" Kuroko asked.
"It's bad enough already that Konori used to be a member of Skill-Out, but now she's missing all of this Judgement work too," Mikoto replied, "The two seem to be connected so how."
"I'm sure the chief is-," Touma began to say, but was cut off.
"She's past all that!" Mikoto interrupted, "Whatever happened before, Konori is a hardworking member of Judgement now! She's strict sometimes, but nice to us and she's dependable. That's the Konori we know. So why is she behaving like this now?"
"I have a feeling it's not as cut and dried as you make it sound, Misaka," Saten offered, "Just like everybody, who Konori is, is a result of who she was. Besides, it sounds like that part of her past has special meaning to her and is hard to let go."
At that point, Touma had stopped paying attention to the conversation. All this talk about a person's past shaping who they are was starting to bug him a bit. It was only natural, he has no true recollection of his past before July 28th. He has no memory of what shaped him into who he is today or if the current him was actually shaped by any past events at all. Sure, he had his journal which was filled with important events going back as far as his days in elementary school, but it was a big journal. The most he had been able to go through so far was the last couple of weeks and the profiles of his closest friends. It made him feel vulnerable.
Who was he supposed to be? Is he Touma Kamijou, a normal high school student that happened to be a member of Judgement? Is he Touma Kamijou, the hero with the mysterious right hand known as Imagine Breaker that could negate anything supernatural? Or is he a faker, a boy with no identity, ideals, or ambitions of his own who only borrowed them from a boy named Touma Kamijou whom had passed away? These questions plagued his mind to the point that his discomfort with them was visible on his face.
"Hey, Kamijou, are you okay?" Uiharu asked in concern, "You spaced out for a second
"Peachy," Touma replied, attempting to hide his own issues.
"Anyway," Mikoto said, returning to the current conversation, "I just don't get it.
At that moment, something inside Touma snapped. For Mikoto still not get the importance of one's past just felt like a punch to the face for him.
"I don't get what's so hard to understand. A person's past is what builds them up, and everything, the good and the bad, contributes. It's not something someone would like to throw away. I know I didn't," Touma said rather coldly, especially the last part.
"Kamijou, I sure Sissy didn't mean it like that," Kuroko insisted.
"Look, I need to get home, I have a lot of homework," Touma replied, ignoring Kuroko's attempts at comforting him, "I'll see you girls tomorrow."
Without another word, Touma walked off, leaving the girls to contemplate on what his stake in all of this was.
The next day, Konori once again never showed up to the branch office. While everyone was doing their work, Mikoto just stood looking over Konori's unoccupied desk.
"She looks sad. Has Misaka been like that for long?" Saten asked.
"Oh, yeah. All day," Kuroko replied, not looking up from her tablet.
Soon after, Touma came into the office after completing his remedial classes for the day. When she heard the door open, Mikoto turned in Touma's direction. The two of them looked each other in the eye for a second before Touma averted his gaze and pretended nothing happened. Without a word, he walked past Mikoto and sat at his usual desk on the other side of the room.
"Do you think Kamijou's still mad about what Misaka said the other day?" Saten asked.
"Seems like it," Kuroko answered, "It is a bit odd though. He's never been one to hold a grudge."
"I guess the topic just got a bit too personal," Saten suggested.
"Hey, guys," Uiharu interrupted, "I just got an email from Anti-Skill."
Uiharu read the email out loud for everyone to hear. Apparently, Anti-Skill was going to do a comprehensive sweep of Strange the next day to deal with the Esper Hunts. This information visibly shocked Mikoto, who quickly excused herself from the office. She claimed she had some errands she needed to take care of. Shortly after Mikoto left, Touma got out of his seat and let out a sigh, whispering "Rotten luck" under his breath.
"I'm heading out on patrol," Touma said as he walked out of the office, earning a few strange looks from the girls.
As soon as he stepped outside of the building, Touma scanned the area for Mikoto. When he found her, she was running in the direction of School District 10. Sighing in exasperation, Touma quietly tailed after her. Eventually, he followed her into a slightly degraded building in the middle of Strange. Remaining close by, he went up the stairs of the building before stopping just before the door to the roof. Listening carefully, he could tell that Mikoto was talking to Konori about the comprehensive sweep.
"Let's go, Konori," Mikoto insisted, "This isn't the place for you. You have to know that."
"Yeah, this isn't the place for me anymore," Konori replied, "But do you know who helped me figure it out in the first place? It was Kurozuma."
"Does it have something to do with what happened two years ago?" Touma inquired, coming out from behind the door, "You never did tell me what exactly happened."
"When did you get here?!" Mikoto asked in shock.
"I was following you the whole time. Did you honestly think I would buy you having errands to run? That excused was way too well timed," Touma explained, "So, am I right?"
"Honestly, I though you were holding a grudge from what happened yesterday and ignoring me," Mikoto admitted.
"You know me better than that. I was just giving you some space, so you could figure it out yourself. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like you've figured it out yet," Touma clarified before turning his attention back to Konori, "So, am I right?"
"Yeah, that's pretty on point," Konori replied, "Two years ago, a rival gang kidnapped Hebitani, the guy currently using Kurozuma's name. It was clearly a trap, but Kurozuma went to rescue him anyway. By the time I arrived on the scene, the building had been blown up. Hebitani obviously got out okay, but all I could find of Kurozuma was his jacket. We all believed he died that day. At that point, I couldn't bare to stay with without Kurozuma there, so I finally left. And here I am, back up on this roof again."
Konori gingerly touched the railing of the roof, something that didn't go unnoticed by Touma. Walking up next to the high school girl, Touma kneeled down to get a closer look at the railing. On the railing, just underneath Konori's hand, was the drawing of an umbrella with the names "Mii" and "Kuro" written underneath it.
'So that's why she's so attached to him,' Touma thought to himself.
"But, you can still leave," Mikoto argued, "You have to think this through, you're a senior Judgement Officer now. That means it isn't right for you to let criminals get away!"
"You still don't get it, do you?" Touma sighed in disappointment.
"Still, she brings up a good point," a new and familiar voice added, "That would be wrong, wouldn't it."
The group quickly turned towards the origin of the new voice. It was Kurozuma.
"So, you came," Konori observed.
"It's really been two years, huh?" the former gang leader mused as he approached the railing, "Hard to believe. After it happened, I woke up in a hospital. From there, I was sent to a treatment facility and I didn't get out of there until about six months ago."
"All this time, and I didn't…" Konori tried to say.
"It's still nice up here, huh?" Kurozuma pointed out, "I thought I'd never get to see this view again. I also thought I would be better if I didn't see you again, either. I know what you'll say."
"What? That it's stupid for you to go in on your own? Like you did last time?" Konori offered, clinching her fists.
"I'm the one that first created Big Spider," Kurozuma replied, "I should be the one to take it down, not Anti-Skill."
"No! Don't go!" Konori begged, grabbing Kurozuma's left arm, "You still haven't changed at all! You always put others before yourself no matter what the cost might be to you! I couldn't stop you last time, but now…"
"You're the same way, aren't you?" Kurozuma noted, "That's way you're standing here right now. Well, you should really get going. Go on, these two are waiting patiently for you."
Kurozoma removed his arm form Konori's grip gently before taking his leave.
"So long," he said, "You should try to cherish the place where you belong now."
"I'm coming with you," Konori insisted, stopping Kurozuma in his tracks, "I… I can't go through that again."
"Enough already Mii, just let it go," Kurozuma argued, "It not like it was last time, okay? For either of use."
"What used to be has nothing to do with it!" Konori yelled back, "The place that I belong may have changed, but the way I feel hasn't!"
Kurozuma simply remained silent before continuing to walk away, ignoring everyone else as he went through the roof door and down the stairs. However, Touma wasn't having any of it. After everything he had learned that day about Konori and Kurozuma's past, he wasn't going to leave it at that. Something about the guy bothered Touma ever since they first met, so Touma decided it was about time he let Kurozuma know.
Ignoring Mikoto demands for answers regarding what he was doing, Touma ran through the roof door and down the stairs of the building as fast as he could. Once outside, he scanned the street to find Kurozuma walking down an alley just across from the building they were just in.
"Hey, spider guy!" Touma yelled as he caught up with Kurozuma, "What's the big idea just up and leaving like that?"
"What's the problem?" Kurozuma asked, clearly confused as to why Touma was mad.
"The chief clearly cares deeply about you, so why would you move her aside like that?" Touma demanded, "Is this something you just go around making a habit of? Helping girls in times of need, causing them to fall in love with you, then pushing them aside so they don't get involved when you go off to do something else that's stupidly dangerous. Don't you ever consider how the chief feels about you leaving her out of the loop like that? She thought she lost you in that accident and you never bothered to contact her to let you know you were alright! Then, you go and tell her to stay out of it when all she wants to do is help you and make sure you don't die on her again! She says you always put others before yourself, but how can you do that when you putting your own life at risk for others causes pain to those that care about you? How insensitive can you be?!"
Kurozuma didn't respond, at least, not immediately. Instead, he carefully examined Touma, appearing to be contemplating deeply on something, something that the unlucky Kamijou took note of.
"What?" Touma asked, curious as to what Kurozuma was thinking about.
"You're that Judgement Officer from the rumors, aren't you?" Kurozuma guessed.
"What are you talking about?"
"There have been rumors of a certain strange addition to the ranks of Judgement," Kurozuma explained, "This new Judgement Officer joined in a rather unconventional manner, going through his PE teacher that happened to be a Skill-Out officer and was trained through field work. Supposedly, he has spiky black hair, a mean right hook, and a knack for giving speeches about how and why the criminals he apprehends are lowlifes. Based on what I've seen so far, you seemed to fit the bill."
"So what if I am this strange addition to Judgement?" Touma asked.
"The rumor goes on to say that this Judgement Officer does a lot of the same stuff while off duty as he would while on duty, even going as far as to say he was doing that kind of stuff before he joined Judgement. Apparently, he went above and beyond to help others, always putting others before himself, never asked for thanks of any kind and always walked away from the people he's helped, never to be heard from again. They even say that he's gained the attention of every girl he has meet and those he ended up forming more lasting relationships with worry about him to no end, desperately wishing he would let them help him."
"What's your point?"
"If you really are the certain strange addition to Judgement, then you and I are the same," Kurozuma concluded, "If I'm wrong for acting this way, where does that leave you? What are you then?"
This statement left Touma rather shocked. When he really thought about it, Kurozuma was right. The two of them really were the same in many ways. Aside from this claim that he was some sort of chick magnet, everything that Kurozuma had just described Touma as was true. To make matters more confusing, all of these things were things Touma described Kurozuma with and called him insensitive for it.
Where does that leave him? More than ever before, Touma was questioning who exactly he was. At many different points in time after waking up in the hospital, he had considered several possible identities that he could have associated with. Student, hero, faker, and now hypocrite. At this point, he was completely lost. Touma didn't even know who he considered himself to be anymore.
"You might want to take the same advice I gave Mii," Kurozuma said, "Make sure you really are where you belong. If you can be yourself in that place, then you're good to go. Once you can act how you truly believe you should, then you've found your place in the world."
Without another word, Kurozuma left Touma alone in the alley, only leaving the fellow Level 0 his advice. Soon afterwards, Mikoto arrived to find Touma just standing there, staring into space.
"Hey, are you alright?" Mikoto asked in concern.
"Yeah, peachy," Touma replied halfheartedly as he turned around and walked out on to the street, "Come on, let's go home."
The two students walked silently for the majority of the trip back to District 7. It was getting late and both of them were rather tired after everything that had happened that day. Eventually, they reached the Tokiwodai Dorm building where Touma intended to leave Mikoto. However, she stopped him before he had a chance to leave.
"Hey," Mikoto said, "I think I finally get what you were trying to say earlier. Seeing Konori and Kurozuma today helped me figure it out."
"And that would be?" Touma inquired.
"Even if you change, those feelings that connect you to other people stay the same," Mikoto replied, "It was the same with you, wasn't it? You lost all your memories, but you still felt some sort of familiarity with everyone when you met us that day. People can change, but their pasts will always be a part of them, even if they put the past behind them."
For the first time all day, Touma was able to smile. Despite all of his misfortune and his identity issues, something good came out of all of it. In addition, Mikoto had given him a better answer than he had expected; one that he found helpful in dealing with his new identity issues. Still smiling, Touma placed his right hand on top of Mikoto's head, giving her a gentle pat.
"Thanks, I needed to hear that," Touma admitted, "More than you know."
"Whatever," Mikoto said, batting away Touma's hand from her head, "Besides, I really should be thanking you. I think I know how we can help Konori. We just need Kuroko's help to pull it off."
"Is that so? What did you have in mind?" Touma asked, his chin in his hand.
"I'll email you the details later," Mikoto replied, "I need to get Kuroko to agree first."
"Fair enough," Touma agreed, "Now, get in there before your Dorm Manager tries to kill you for being late,"
"Don't remind me," Mikoto laughed as she ran inside, leaving Touma to make his way home.
The next day, Konori was walking through an alley on her way towards Strange. She wore her usual school uniform with the addition of her old, red leather jacket. The jacket was a bit tight on her considering she hadn't worn it in two years, but it fit regardless.
As she made her way down the alley, she was surprised to see Kuroko and Mikoto teleport in front of her, cutting off her path. In addition, Touma came around the corner behind her, boxing her in between the three of them.
"You three? What are you doing here?" Konori asked in confusion.
The only response she received was Mikoto teleporting directly behind her. Against her will, Konori found herself wearing her Judgement armband. A simple look from Kuroko was evidence enough that she had broken into Konori's dorm with her ability and retrieved it for them.
"You know Konori, I think that look suits you," Mikoto admitted.
Konori looked down at her armband and couldn't help but smile. It was true, the look did suit her best. Her past and present true mingled together with both the armband and the jacket. The contrast in colors, green on red, only added to the display of her contrasting homes in Big Spider and Judgement. She gave each of the other students a look of approval and lead them towards the location of Big Spider.
By the time they arrived, the doors to the building had already been kicked in and the sounds of falling Big Spider members could be heard inside. Knowing it was time to join the fray, Konori was the first to step into the building.
"Hold it!" Konori yelled, making her presence known.
"Mii?" Kurozuma asked in surprise as he turned around to look at her.
He noticed her outfit and couldn't help but smile.
"You're looking good today," Kurozuma complimented, causing Konori to blush.
"Is that you, Konori?" the fake Kurozuma asked in shock."
"Hebitani," Konori greeted in a half-joking manner, "You've become quite the scumbag since the last time I saw you, haven't you? Relying on you minions and weapons to win you battles for you."
"Please, you dumb brat!" Hebitani yelled, "You don't know anything! You turned your back on us and joined with Judgement! Go on, show these two just how much we're capable of!"
Several of the gang members drew their handguns and took aim. However, their pistols were rendered useless when still pins teleported into them, piercing the barrels. Kuroko promptly teleported into the room with Mikoto in tow, much to the shock of Big Spider.
"Hello there. I'd be happy to stick these into your bodies if that would be quick," Kuroko greeted in a innocent manner, presenting the pins she used to pierce the guns.
"Esper!" Hebitani yelled, before brushing off the potential threat, "No matter. We still have our ways of dealing with you!"
"Oh yeah?" Mikoto asked as she flipped an arcade coin into the air.
She then promptly fired her railgun through the wall of the building, striking the car on the other side that held the Capacity Down System, a device that disrupts Esper abilities by impairing the brain with a high pitch sound.
"You mean that thing?" Mikoto asked, "You didn't think we'd fall for the exact same trap twice, did you? You must be stupider than you look."
Growing desperate at the lose of his greatest weapon, Hebitani demanded that Big Spider kill the two middle school girls. However, the gang was too terrified by Mikoto's power to fight willingly, at least without their Anti-Esper weapon. It got to the point where Hebitani had to threaten his own men at gunpoint to get them to fight.
"Man, you really are the lowest kind of thug there is, aren't you?" Touma asked as stepped through the hole in the wall.
"Who the hell do you think you are, waltzing in here like that?" Hebitani demanded upon seeing this strange addition.
"No one special," Touma replied with a shrug, "I just a guy that can't stand seeing someone else hurt others for no good reason. What's hunting Espers going to prove? That you're strong without abilities? That with a couple of handguns, backup, and a glorified noise maker you can take on any Esper in the city? Let me tell you something, that's just common sense! It doesn't prove anything about your strength as people, just that your too afraid to go in on your own! You think that by ganging up on individuals, the city will respect you more, but it's only making the city despise you even more and want to get rid of you! People like you have created a negative image for Level 0s all over the city, so I swear, I'll shatter that illusion you and other people like you have created!"
Something about Touma and his response felt off to Hebitani. This boy in front of him was a Judgement Officer, as evidenced by his armband, but he had a unique look to him. He looked average by every standard save for his hair, which was stylized into spikes like some sort of manga or anime character. Not only that, but he just spent a good minute or two just to give a speech about how he despises people like him. Hebitani knew he, at some point, heard something about a boy with spiky hair and a knack for speeches, but he couldn't put his figure on what exactly it was.
"I want you to stay out of this," Konori requested of her friends, "Please respect your elders for once, okay?"
Kurozuma looked back at Konori in approval before charging into the mass of Big Spider members. As soon as he got close, he let hell loose on the gang he created that had fallen from grace. He unleashed a smooth stream of punches, kicks, and elbows on the various gang members, taking out most of them in a single hit.
At one point, one of the gang members reached into his hoodie, as if to grab something. Using her Clairvoyance, Konori saw that that gang member had a gun in his hand and a stun-gun in his hoodie. Acting quickly, Konori grabbed the thug's arm, wrestling the gun out of his hand before he could fire. She then reached into the thug's hoodie and took his stun-gun, shocking him with his own weapon.
"So that's your ability, is it?" Kurozuma mused, "Feels good to use it, huh?"
"Sure does," Konori replied with a blush.
However, because she was talking to Kurozuma, Konori failed to notice the thug running up from behind her with a fist chambered. Kurozuma tried to warn her, but the thug was already right on top of her. However, the thug never landed a hit as something else hit him first. Acting on impulse, Touma rushed into the fight and jumped at the thug with his own right fist chambered. Once he was close enough, he let loose his signature right hook, punching the thug square in the face. The thug was launched by the punch several meters away, knocking into another gang member and incapacitating both.
"Kamijou!" Konori yelled in surprise, "What are you doing?"
"Last I checked, I'm the same age as you," Touma reminded her, "So, I figured the 'respect you elders' part didn't apply. I hope you don't mind if I pitch in a little here."
"Guess the two of use have more in common than I originally thought," Kurozuma laughed.
"Wait a minute, that hair, that knack for speeches, that right hook…" on of the thugs said in a faint voice.
"It couldn't be…"
"He's the certain strange addition to Judgement!"
"Are you all idiot?!" Hebitani yelled despite being a little scared himself, "That's just a rumor! One more kid isn't going to change anything! Just get him!"
Hesitantly, several members of Big Spider charged at Touma, but they were ill-prepared for what Touma was capable of. The first member attempted to punch Touma in the face, but Touma simply grabbed the arm with his left hand and turned his body so he could grab his opponent's lower back and threw the gang member about his own waist, flipping him over and slamming him into the ground. Touma then quickly turned around, stunning the next gang member with a left backhand before getting behind the gang member and crossing his right arm over his opponent neck. Touma then locked the thug into a chokehold, locking the hold by clasping his hands and trapping the thug with his head.
Normally, it took four to five seconds for someone to pass out from a chokehold such as this, but the next opponent was coming too quickly. Instead, Touma used his chokehold victim as a human shield to defend against a punch from the next opponent. That punched knocked out the chokehold victim for him, so Touma kicked the now knocked out gang member and the thug that just tried to punch him. The knocked-out thug distracted the new one, allowing Touma an opening to land a right hook to the thug's face, knocking him out as well.
"I have to say, you're pretty good in a fight," Kurozuma complimented as he stood back-to-back with Touma, "What was your name again?"
"Touma Kamijou."
"Nice to meet you, Kamijou, but save some of these guys for the rest of us!" Kurozuma requested.
"With pleasure, Kurozuma!" Touma replied as the two of them charged head first into the fight.
Within a few minutes, all of the members of Big Spider had been taken down. The only exception was Hebitani, who was left to face Kurozuma one-on-one.
"So, what will it be?" Kurozuma asked.
"You really think you've beaten us, don't you?" Hebitani laughed, "You're wrong! Take a look at this!"
He opened up his jacket, revealing a belt of dynamite strapped to his waist. Needless to say, everyone was shocked to see such extremes. That is, everyone that was not a member of Big Spider at one point.
"Go ahead, I dare you!" Hebitani yelled as he took out a lighter, "I'll blow us all sky high! Well, what's the matter? Are you scared now?"
"What a pain," Kurozuma sighed as he took off his jacket, revealing his giant spider tattoo.
"Stay back! I'll blow us up!" Hebitani threatened.
"Ah, Hebitani, we used to have such good times together, didn't we?" Kurozuma asked as he approached.
"Stay back, not one step more!"
"We all used to hang out, just because it was fun. What happened to that?"
"Stay there, stop!"
Before he knew what hit him, Hebitani was punched in the gut by Kurozuma, causing the dynamite belt to fall apart.
"What happened to you?" Kurozuma asked, "What changed?"
"I didn't have a choice," Hebitani explained, "What else could I have done? This is the only place where we belong. I had to find a way to keep Big Spider together, and that could only happen if I became Kurozuma. And that's why I have no choice but to get rid of you once and for all!"
In a flash, Hebitani pulled a knife from his jacket and jumped at Kurozuma. However, Kurozuma barely dodged the attack, only suffering a slash on his cheek. At the same time, Kurozuma delivered a punch to Hebitani's face that left him with his head resting on the ground in a pool of his own blood.
"Hebitani, this isn't where you belong," Kurozuma declaired, "Your place is where yourself. Haven't you realized that yet?"
Eventually, Anti-Skill arrived and rounded up all of the Big Spider members that the students had apprehended. With Big Spider taken down, that left only one thing for Kurozuma to do. He held out his wrists and asked her to arrest him. Although hesitant at first, Konori obliged and arrested him in the most professional manner possible.
"That looks good on you," Kurozuma complimented, "I have to say, it does look a little tight in the bust area, if you know what I mean. It's no wonder you attracted the certain strange addition into being your boyfriend."
"Oh, it's not like that at all!" Konori quickly denied, "And anyway, it's only because I drink it every day."
The two former members of Big Spider shared a look before coming to the same thought.
"When it comes to milk, it's got to be Musashino!" they cheered, before bursting into laughter.
"There he goes, talking about breasts, just like before," Kuroko mused, staring at her own chest.
"And somehow, it's still not offensive," Mikoto added.
"Of all the things that could have been different between us, why did that have to be one of them?" Touma lamented as he and the girls looked on from the sidelines.
Later that day, Touma, Mikoto, and Kuroko stood on the rooftop of the building that Konori and Kurozuma often met on. They were simply leaning over the railing, enjoying the view of the sunset and the afternoon breezy.
"The breezy up here really does feel incredible," Mikoto sighed.
"I've got that right," Touma agreed, "If it weren't for the location, this would be a great date spot for some lucky couple."
"For once, we agree," Mikoto mused.
"You two sure seemed to be on better terms," Kuroko observed, taking a break from her Musashino milk, "I take it you moved past that grudge from a few days ago?"
"There was no grudge to begin with. I was just giving Zapper here some spaced so she could figure out why the chief was so obsessed with Kurozuma," Touma clarified, "Although, I would be lying if I said this case didn't bother me a bit when it came to my memory."
"Why's that?" Mikoto asked.
"Because of my memory loss, I don't know about my past," Touma explained, "I wasn't sure of where I came from so I wasn't entirely sure of who I was. Was I a regular high school student, that happened to be in Judgement? Was I some sort of hero? Was I a faker living the life of someone who had already died? I didn't know. But, Misaka's answered helped me figure it out. I'm all those things. I'm a regular high school student that likes to pretend to be a hero just because I can't stand seeing people in distress. My memories are gone, but the feelings that connect me to the people I have met still exist. Simply put, I'm Touma Kamijou, and that's all that really matters. I'll move forward with this identity because it's was my identity before and after my accident."
Touma got off of the railing and bowed slightly to Mikoto, giving her a warm smile.
"So, for that, I must thank you, Misaka."
"H-hey! What's with the bowing?" Mikoto asked, flustered.
"What? I'm just trying to show so gratitude. You don't need to be so embarrassed about it," Touma countered.
"W-well, fine," Mikoto agreed with a stutter, "b-but remember, you owe me now, so I expect you to treat me to something.
"Sissy, doesn't that seem a bit much?" Kuroko asked.
"No, it's fine," Touma insisted, although his smile was a little more awkward, "Just name the date."
"Sure," Mikoto replied with a smile, having been able to regain her composure, "I'll be counting on you."
Finally done! Guess I did a bit more writing in this one. It came out longer than most of the previous chapters. I'm starting to think that Kazuma Kamachi is a fan of George Lucas, because rewatching these episodes, there are a lot of plot parallels through out the story that are just begging me to point out in this story as plot devices.
I decided to delve deeper into the identity issues that Touma could have faced as a result of his memory lose, something a feel wasn't used to it's full potential early on in the franchise.
Next chapter will start covering the Deep Blood Arc. Hopefully, I can give Himegami a bit more relevance in the future. I hope you were all paying attention this chapter, because remember, no detail is an unimportant detail.
See you all next time and happy holidays!
Money gotten should be immediately spent! (I'm running out of funny Taiga quotes.)