Time to make up for lost time with another update less than a week after the previous on! I didn't want to keep you all waiting after that last lackluster chapter, so I'm here again with the start of the Poltergeist Arc! Finally, things are starting to pick up again. Admittedly, this chapter feels a bit like a rush job, but a decent rush job.

Time to get some Q&A taken care of.

Bluejack222: Eh, the definition of filler has always been loose, at least for me. Thanks for the high rating.

Syko-Soldier963: No, at this point in time, Shizuri, Accelerator, and Misaki are the only Level 5s Touma has had contact with before Mikoto. I might retcon that in the future before I introduce the other Level 5s, but I'll leave it at that for now.

RedSS: Like I said, lackluster. Bet you didn't expect this to update so soon, now did ya?

RPGPersona: Yeah, just one last breather chapter with a lot of comedy before getting back into the action. I'm glad you liked all the jokes and expanded growth of Index's character. I can see why you thought the ending was a bit weak. I honestly wish I could have done that part better.

GhostofTime: Trust me, I'm excited for the Sisters Arc too, but hold your horses. I need to get past this arc first.

Handsomistic1: Yeah, that last chapter was a bit of a rush job. I wanted to include the auction scene, but I couldn't think of any way to make it unique from the original scene. Thanks for the support.

mohamadstar94: Technically, she was always in love with him. The last chapter just brought the two of them a bit closer together.

Anonymous Noob the 2nd: I know it's taking a while, but I want to do this relationship justice. I want to give them proper development for a relationship, which takes a lot of time.

ArmoredCoreNineBall: Lacking but fun. I can live with that. That's for the support. Can't wait for whatever secret project you have planned.

guest (Guest): Already read it. It was the inspiration for the concept in the first place. Real classy alias.

Kim454: For the Sisters Arc, I will probably include elements of both the Index and Railgun versions. Since Touma will be much more familiar with the girls, his personal investigation might start a bit sooner, depending on if he picks up on any of the clues Mikoto accidentally leaves behind. Yeah, your right, I bump in the road for Kamikoto is in order. I'll just need to find an appropriate time to implement it. I thinking the bridge scene during the Sisters Arc, but I'll see if I can squeeze it in a bit sooner. You sir, honestly frighten me. Having an infinite number of swords means nothing against a opponent that has mastered one, but an infinite number of reviews can easily cripple someone with limited time.

Guest (1): Thanks for the support.

Guest (2): Thanks for being so understanding.

Okay then, roll the disclaimer!

Disclaimer: All characters and plotlines of the "A Certain" franchise are credited to Kazuma Kamachi.

Chapter 21: Ghost Stories

"Hey Touma, where are we going?" Index asked as she, Touma, Mikoto and Kuroko followed Saten down Academy City's streets.

"Flipper said that Headband got a new roommate," Touma explain in stride, "She's a transfer student from District 19, so Flipper wanted us all to meet her."

"Doesn't seem a bit odd to be getting a transfer student in the middle of the year?" Mikoto asked.

"Yeah, usually transfer students join at the beginning of a year or start of a term," Kuroko agreed, "Not only that, but you seem rather happy about this, Saten."

"Well of course I am! She's going to be Uiharu's roommate," Saten replied, "That means she's going to be my friend too."

"You do realize that's not necessarily true, right?" Touma asked, remembering his rocky relationship with the sorcerer Styil Magnus.

As much as he wished their shared friendship with Index would improve their relationship, Touma knew very well that the sorcerer would sooner barbeque him rather than come to a barbeque with him.

Not long after, the group met up with Uiharu at her dorm building. Accompanying her was a quiet, middle school girl with short, brown hair. The girl was introduced as Erii Haruue, Uiharu's new roommate. Once introductions were out of the way, the group got to work on helping Haruue move in, emptying out all the boxes the movers left in front of the dorm.

"That's that," Touma said as he folded the last empty box.

"Thank you all," Haruue said in a near whisper, "I really apprieciate all of you helping me."

"It was no problem at all," Mikoto insisted, "Anyway, how about we all do something fun."

"That sounds great, but unfortunately, Pigtail, Headband and I are going to be a bit busy," Touma lamented.

"What do you mean?" Uiharu asked.

"Don't you remember? We have that joint conference we have to attend today," Kuroko reminded.

"Rotten luck," Uiharu whined.

"Hey, that's Touma's line!" Index yelled.

"Don't make it sound like that's my catchphrase or something," Touma complained.

"It kind of is," Mikoto pointed out.

"What conference are you talking about?" Saten asked.

"Judgement and Anti-Skill are meeting this afternoon," Touma explained, "Something about all the recent Earthquakes."

"Yeah, we have to go," Uiharu lamented.

"Misaka, Index and I can still show Haruue around," Saten offered.

"Without me, no fair!" Uiharu argued.

"It will be fine," Saten insisted, "You can meet up with us later."

The two new roommates shared a look before coming to a consensus.

"Saten and Index can be a bit of a hassle sometimes, but Misaka's nice," Uiharu said reassuringly, "We'll join you as soon as we're finished."

"'Bit of a hassle'?" Saten asked.

"Yeah, what does that mean?" Index added, clearly insulted.

"Okay, that's enough of that," Touma interrupted, starting to push Uiharu towards to the door, "We don't have time for your comedy routine."

"Wait! I need to make sure Saten doesn't flip Haruue's skirt!" Uiharu begged, feeling a sense of duty to ensure her roommate's dignity.

"Relax, we all know Flipper's only target is you," Touma argued as he guided the middle school girl out the door, "If we don't get going now, we'll be late."

"We'll catch up soon enough," Kuroko added as she followed her Judgement colleagues out the dorm room.

The remaining group could only laugh stiffly as they watched Kuroko leave, taking the strange turn of events in stride.

"So…" Mikoto trailed, "Where do you guys want to go first?"

Soon enough, Mikoto, Saten, Index, and Haruue were exploring the streets of District 7. Eventually, they found themselves at the same bench and crepe truck that the Tokiwadai girls met their lower level friends. Each of the girls was enjoying a crepe of their personal preference, with Index hold five, each on a different flavor.

"This place is starting to become a place where friendships are made," Saten noted.

"It sure is," Mikoto laughed.

"How are you finding your crepe, Haruue?" Saten asked, earning a nod.

"Still, it's too bad the others couldn't come," Mikoto said, "Why would Judgement and Anti-Skill be holding a joint conference about something like earthquakes."

"I didn't want to say anything earlier, but there's a hot rumor going around about that," Saten admitted, "Apparently, they're not earthquakes, but poltergeists."

"You're kidding, right?" Mikoto asked, unconvinced.

"No, I really think this is true!" Saten insisted, "There were no P-waves or S-waves during any of the supposed earthquakes. It's a paranormal phenomenon. Paranormal! It's a pulse from an alternate dimension! Or maybe another planet! Or maybe the result of a series of secret underground experiments conducted by the government! They say we can expect another big one soon enough! Look!"

At that point, the other girls were just leaving Saten to ramble on, not bothering to pay too much attention. They only really listened after the rumor hunter shoved her phone in Mikoto's face, presenting an online forum discussing the rumors about the incidents.

"You're from District 19, right Haruee? Weren't there a lot of Poltergeist outbreaks in that area? What was it like?" Saten asked.

"You shouldn't be getting so excited about this. It could be really serious," Mikoto reprimanded.

"Y-yeah, sorry," Saten apologized sheepishly.

"Besides, all those theories of yours seem pretty flimsy to me," Index added, "If it is some kind of poltergeist or ghost, I doubt it would go out of its way to create earthquakes, if a ghost could form here in Academy City at all."

"Index?" Mikoto asked in confusion.

"According to the Necronomicon, or the Book of the Dead, a ghost is the spiritual remnants of a human soul that had not moved on to Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory. This usually results from something keeping that soul bound to this world, like a grudge or a disturbed grave," Index rambled, "The issue in this case is that a ghost wouldn't go out of its way to cause mass destruction throughout the city like this. If Academy City was built on top of some sacred grave-site, then the disturbances would have started during the city's founding. If it was a grudge of a recently deceased person, then the target of that grudge probably wouldn't be so broad as to attack the whole city. While there's still a chance of the latter case, I'd say it's rather unlikely. Besides, the Roman Catholic Church makes it a point to remove wandering spirits as soon as possible. If they have yet to act, then it's most likely not an actual ghost."

"Um, Index," Saten interrupted nodding towards Haruee, "Ex nay on the sagic mide, okay?"

"Sorry about that," Mikoto intervened, "Index's imagination tends to get the better of her some time."

"Your so mean, Mikoto!" Index whined, clearly offended by Mikoto's attempts to shake suspicion about the existence of magic.

"Anyway, where to next?" Saten offered.

Across District 7, Kuroko, Touma, Uiharu, and Konori were just getting out of the district's Main Anti-Skill Office. The conference had just finished up and Touma took extra care to write down all the important bits in his journal for further investigation.

According to Therestina of the Multi Active Rescue Team, the earthquakes were the result of Poltergeists, which in actuality were not ghosts but a byproduct of RSPK Syndrome. The syndrome was when and Esper loses autonomy and their power runs out of control. Supposedly, multiple cases of this syndrome were occurring simultaneously, causing the Esper powers to merge and create an effect nearly indistinguishable from earthquakes.

Judgement's job was to keep the rumors surrounding these incidents from spreading. Should such rumors get too out of control, the public could go into mass hysteria, causing more casualties then there already would be. Touma made sure to put Saten down as a number one priority in this particular goal.

"Well, that was over a lot sooner than I expected," Uiharu noted.

"I'm just glad we didn't have to stick around for the second one since that's exclusively for Anti-Skill," Touma said, closing his journal.

"You seem to have something on your mind, Konori," Kuroko pointed out.

"Something about RSPK Syndrome and the way their handling the case just doesn't feel right," Konori admitted, "I've never heard of this condition before."

"I can't say I disagree," Touma added, "That Therestina woman seemed to know an awful lot too. I don't get how she could know so much about this new Esper condition in such a short amount of time. It's almost like she's had firsthand experience researching the stuff."

"Well, she is part of the team investigating the occurrences in the first place," Kuroko pointed out, "She could have gotten her information form them. Anyway, it won't do us any good to try to figure it out all by ourselves."

"I guess you're right, but I still can't shake this feeling," Konori admitted.

The entire conversation, Uiharu was preoccupied by her phone. Eager to join up with the rest of their friends and her new roommate, she quickly dialed up Saten and asked where they where headed. Everyone else could only look on as she spoke into her phone with a bit more volume than one would think to be necessary.

We interrupt this story for a public service announcement. The author humbly asks that guest readers stop sending him reviews pertaining to the "A Certain" fanfiction, "My little brother". He has already read it and was the inspiration for the concept of Touma's sister, so please stop bringing it up. We now return to our irregularly scheduled fanfiction.

Soon enough, the group of friends were reunited at the arcade that they frequent, as did many other students. Not only was the location very popular, it was where Mikoto stocked up on arcade coins for her railgun and where Touma holds the high score for the strongest punch, a high score that Mikoto has desperately tried to beat.

The trip was harmless enough, but some would say it was too harmless. One of Haruee's favorite games in the arcade was Whack-a-Mole. As anyone would know, the goal of the game was to whack as many moles as possible when they pop out of their holes within a certain amount of time. However, Haruee found the moles too cute to whack over the head, preferring to just watch them pop up and down their holes. She played the game three times in a row like this, much to the groups disbelief.

"Hey Touma, what's that over there?" Index asked, pointing towards a large, sparkling box with the words "Beauty White" written on the side.

"Looks like a photo booth, and a flashy one at that," Touma noted.

"Hey, why don't we check it out?" Mikoto suggested.

"Great idea, Sissy!" Kuroko agreed, "We should all go in for a photo."

"You guys go on ahead," Touma said, "I'll just wait outside."

"Come on, don't be like that," Saten encouraged, nudging the unlucky boy towards the booth, "This is to commemorate our new friendship with Haruee. You have to join in."

"Seriously, I'm fine," Touma argued, pushing back, "I've always stuck out like a sore thumb in the group anyway. Plus, if I go in there, I'll lose man-points, heavily!"

"I'd thing that Tsuchimikado and Aogami would beg to differ," Kuroko added, helping Saten push him alone, "Come on, just take the photo."

"Come on! Touma!" Index whined, dragging him by his arm.

"Why are you all so adamant about this?" Touma cried, "Rotten luck!"

Reluctantly, Touma eventually got into the booth with the girls, taking a set of three pictures with them. One was formal, one was silly, and one was casual, but Touma looked awkwardly placed and Haruee looked lost in all three of them. Afterwards, they group took a break by the vending machines in the back corner of the arcade, giving them time for a quick drink and for Uiharu to send Haruee a digital copy of the photos to her phone.

"How can I put this… The girl is a curiosity," Kuroko commented, referring to Haruee.

"I have to agree with you on that," Touma added, "Who doesn't whack the moles when playing Whack-a-Mole and not pose in a photo booth?"

"I think she's kind of sweet," Mikoto argued.

"Actually, she reminds me of how Uiharu was back then," Saten admitted.

"How so?" Touma asked, intrigued.

"You know, like when she first transferred in."

"So, Headband was shy, timid, socially awkward, soft spoken, and has an affinity for cute things when she first transferred in," Touma listed, taking out his journal and a pen.

He gave Uiharu's entry a quick onceover before quickly closing the journal.

"Nope, that description is still accurate to what I have on her for the current day," Touma announced.

"That's a little harsh," Kuroko noted.

"Just writing what I see," Touma shrugged.

The entire time they were talking, Index was completely absorbed in her drink, passively remembering the conversation without actually paying attention. However, even the gluttonous Index took notice when Haruee walked straight into a glass wall. Touma opened his journal to Uiharu's section once again to find that he also had "occasionally absentminded" listed under her traits. The two roommates were looking more and more similar by the second.

"You okay?" Saten asked in concern.

"What could have compelled you to walk into a wall like that anyway?" Touma inquired.

"Up there…" Haruee said weakly, pointing towards a poster on the other side of the glass wall.

Upon closer inspection, the group saw that the poster was for the fireworks display scheduled for later that night. They quickly came to a consensus, agreeing to all meet up to see the show and even planned to invite Konori to come along with them. Mikoto and Kuroko even quickly made a plan to sneak out of their dorm to join them. With plans made, the group dispersed to their own residences to prepare.

"Yay, it's a festival!" Index cheered as she looked over the booths lining the street down below.

All the girls were present and accounted for. Every one of them was wearing a kimono that they bought just for the occasion. Even Index chose to abandon her usual, broken nun's habit for a similarly colored white kimono with gold sash, provided by Saten's shopping and Mikoto's funds.

"You sure seemed excited," Uiharu noted.

"Of course, this is my first time going to a traditional Japanese festival. But because the youngsters these days can't fit in with the tradition, it's not exactly popular," Index began to ramble, "But imagine if everyone just started practicing their dancing! But then they'll say, 'It's so stupid, why should I?' And then the girls start crying… Then guys come out to comfort them, and then after the festival ends…"

"Index?" the girls asked in concern as she suddenly grew quiet.

"They start going out…" Index whispered darkly, as if declaring one of the darkest secrets of the universe.

"A-anyway, speaking of boys showing up," Mikoto stuttered, trying to move away from Index's dark shift, "When is that idiot going to?"

"Sorry I'm late!" a familiar voice cried out behind them.

"Ah, it's Touma! It's Touma! It's Touma!" Index cheered as the unlucky high school boy ran towards them in his casual attire.

"What took you so long?" asked Kuroko.

"Sorry," Touma apologized sheepishly, "I asked chief if she wanted to come along, but she insisted on looking into RSPK Syndrome, so I decided to stay around to help. Eventually I lost track of time and she had to shoo me out of the office so I could get here at least reasonably late."

"You and helping people," Mikoto shook her head in exasperation.

"Well now that we're all here, how about he hit a couple of stands?" Saten suggested, "They've got a lot of good stuff lined up, especially food!"

"Food!" Index yelled as she immediately started running down the hill.

"Index, wait! We need to pay for that first!" Touma cried as he ran after her in a panic, "Rotten luck!"

"Wait for me!" Mikoto followed.

"Sissy, be careful!" Kuroko said in chase.

"Oh no you don't! I'm not getting left behind," Saten yelled.

"Shall we?" Uiharu asked her roommate.

"Mhm," Haruee hummed in agreement.

The group went into full fun mode once they hit the stands. They indulged themselves in the various games, foods, and other traditions of Japanese summer festivals. It was a eventful night filled with Touma's bad luck with games, Kuroko's blatant cheating with her ability, and thousands of Yen spent on food that disappeared into the black hole known as Index's stomach.

Unfortunately, the atmosphere of the festival was slightly hindered by presence of the Multi Active Rescue Team, who stationed their trucks just outside the festival grounds. It was understandable why they were there. With so many people at the festival, it would be a disaster if a Poltergeisting occurred and there was no one to protect the civilians. They just didn't do anything to make the festivities any more enjoyable.

Regardless, the group of friends weren't going to let a few guys in Powered Suits stop them from having fun and enjoying the fireworks show. Saten happened to know the perfect spot for viewing them further up on a hillside. There was a paved ledge that provided the perfect view, allowing anyone standing on it to see the fireworks above and the festival below.

When the fireworks display started, the group was treated to a true spectacle. The night sky burst into lights of various colors as each rocket went off. The sound of the exploding pyrotechnics echoed through the air and was loud enough to create a resonance with the liquids of the human body, creating a tingling feeling. It was truly a sight to behold.

However, things quickly turned sour and only escalated from there. For some reason, Haruee began to walk away form the rest of the group, seemingly lost in her own world. Uiharu, Saten, and Index quickly followed suit out of concern for their new friend's strange behavior. The commotion drew Touma's attention away from the fireworks, which was then redirected at his phone, which suddenly began to ring. Excusing himself to take the call, he left Mikoto and Kuroko alone on the ledge, giving Kuroko the 'perfect' chance to attempt another advance on her senior. When Touma picked up the call, he was surprised to fine Konori on the other end and dreaded what she said.

"Hey chief," Touma greeted, "something wrong?"

"Definitely," Konori replied, "It's about the Poltergeisting incidents!"

"Did you find a lead?"

"Not just a lead. I found a possible cause for the RSPK Syndrome activity: intentional outside interference with AIM Diffusion Fields!"

"AIM Diffusion Fields? Give me a second," Touma said as he pulled out his journal.

He quickly flipped through the pages until he found the last incident he was involved in that included AIM Diffusion Fields, the Level Upper Case.

"A gaint monster was born the a few weeks back because of manipulated AIM Diffusion Fields, right?" Touma noted, "Are you suggesting…"

"Yes, that all this Poltergeisting was intentional!"

At that moment, shit it the fan. Without warning, another Poltergeist hit the festival grounds, specifically the hill the group was standing on. The shaking was so intense, in caused a section of the paved ledge to fall off. The bad news was it was the part that Mikoto and Kuroko were standing on. The good news was that Kuroko was able to teleport the both of them to safety on the stairs the led down the main path to the ledge.

Seeing that Mikoto and Kuroko could handle themselves, Touma quickly ran up the steps back to the main path to check on the others. When he got to the top, he saw Saten and Index were more or less okay. The main concern was Uiharu and Haruee, who were on their knees and right underneath a falling lamppost. Acting before he could think, Touma ran in and dived, shoving the girls out of the way of the fall rod of metal. However, he ended up landing underneath the falling object instead. He braced himself for the impact, already familiar with far greater pain.

But, the pain never came, looking up, Touma saw that someone in a hot pink, and ironically cameo patterned powered suit had caught the lamppost before it hit him.

"That was a close call," a clearly female voice said from within the powered suit.

The cylindrical helmet of the suit lightened its shaders, allowing a familiar face to be seen.

"Are you injured?" the suit operator asked, "Your safe now."

"It's you," Touma breathed out, recognizing the woman as Therestina from the Multi Active Rescue Team.

However, Touma didn't have time to dwell on his savior. Instead, he turned towards Uiharu and Haruee, the latter of whom was acting particularly strange. She sat on the ground, seemingly ignoring everyone and everything else around her. She sat there, clutching a locket in her fist, asking the same question to herself, over and over.

"Where are you?"

And that's the end of that chapter.

Sorry about that little interruption int the middle of the story. It looked like not everyone reads the notes at the beginning or end of the chapters, so a pulled a little trick from Youtube and put the messages in the middle, since those seem to get more attention.

So, we have the Poltergeist Arc starting now, and the Sister's Arc starting soon after. And after the Sister's Arc there is a continuity branch, one for the main storyline, and another for the idol story line. Because of that, I've been considering writing a similar spin-off for this fanfiction where Touma acts as the collaboration agent for all of the Level 5s. Just an idea, but one that can very well be made real. There is a poll on my profile about it, so vote if your interested.

Leave a review if you liked the chapter!

Thank you for the letters. Now burn them all!