Hey everyone! I'm back with another chapter! The Poltergeist Arc is starting to pick up now, which means lots of detective antics along the way. Granted, considering most of you know how the arc goes down, there won't be any earth shattering revelations in the near future. Still, I aimed to make this fanfiction more character driven than anything else, so I will just have to push forward and hope my character explorations will improve.
But for now, Q&A time!
Bluejack222: I'll keep that in mind. In my defense, the pacing of the chapters is based on the pacing of the anime. I'll try to improve on that, but pacing isn't exactly my forte, especially when the pace is previously established.
jphw: Ha! So true. the message wasn't suppose to be be funny, but I'm glad you found it so. One step at a time there buddy. Trust me, I'm excited for the Sisters Arc too.
GhostofTime: Somehow, that reference felt appropriate with your name.
ahsoei: I'm particularly proud of Index's portion. I had to do a considerable amount of research to make sure that the information I provided on ghosts was accurate and not something I just pulled out of my ass for the sake of adding a new perspective. I'll try to improve on the dialogue in the future. I thought it was alright last chapter, but hindsight's 20/20.
ArmoredCoreNineBall: Don't worry, I can wait. I'm expecting big things from you, especially after you "A Certain" and "Nasuverse" crossovers. Glad you had fun with the chapter. Not sure if you noticed, but the little rant Index had regarding festivals was pulled straight out of Index-tan episode 3. Just a little joke I thought I would slip in.
RedSS: Thanks for going to the poll. I wouldn't be so sure about too much of the Judgement Crew getting overly involved in the Sisters Arc. Touma may be Judgement now, but he was still forced to join in an unconventional way. Not to mention he only really started to pick up on the Sisters the night that Misaka 10032 was scheduled to die, so there is no logical way he can get the proper permission to investigate in an official capacity since the city will be in on the experiment and the timeframe will be too last minute for anything to be done. As for watching Railgun, definitely do it. My story is written with the expectation that the reader has seen Railgun and knows most of the plot points, so things left unchanged are explicitly left out. Highly recommended if you like "To aru" but want a more centralized cast and a greater focus on the Science Side.
Kim454: I see you liked a lot of what I've written so far. Glad to hear it! In my defense, Poltergeists are a direct application of merged Runaway Abilities, so weaker Poltergeists like the one in the Child Error Facility should be more manageable for Imagine Breaker to negate, while larger ones are so large and powerful that the most Imagine Breaker might be able to handle is a small, localized area. If you want Touma's thoughts on the case, your about to hear them this chapter. Thanks for voting and reprimanding that one user for ignoring the message. Trolls, am I right?
LookItsADoggy: Troll move, dude. Real troll move.
zcorp117: Thanks for the support.
shiroryuu012: Give it time. I need a good set up if I want them to happen.
ConnivingG: You either only watched Index, or this isn't one of the more memorable arcs for you. Personally, it's one of my favorite from Railgun.
Majin Othinus: True enough, but I also see her as an opportunist. She'll take what she can get, so if Touma has to step away for the moment, she'll happily give Mikoto all her affections for the both of them, and vice versa.
Guest (1): And the Kihara's get their first interaction with the human they can't understand much earlier than expected. I'm not sure how to implement Accelerator's story. I'll either wait a little bit on it or not at all. If the two of them do try to repair their relationship, I'm sure there would be some parts of Accelerator's life that he'd want to leave his friend out of.
mohamadstar94: Thanks for the support.
Generation Zero: Who knows? I might expand on Imagine Breaker in this fanfiction. I might even turn this into my own MCU (Multi-Crossover Universe) with other magic and sci-fi anime and manga. Don't worry about Touma's sister. Unlike her brother, she didn't get amnesia and you never forget family.
That's it for the Q&A. Disclaimer, fire!
Disclaimer: All characters and plotlines of the "A Certain" franchise are credited to Kazuma Kamachi.
Chapter 22: Suspect
Following the recent Poltergeisting at the fireworks show, MAR were sent in to handle damage control. Haruee had since passed out and the rescue teams began to process her for transport to a hospital to get checked out. Uiharu stayed by her roommate's side out of concern, with Saten and Index staying close by. At the same time, Touma reported to Kuroko about Konori's findings pertaining to the link between AIM Diffusion Fields and RSPK Syndrome. Having the tendency to involve herself in official business, Mikoto listened on as well.
Once they were all on the same page, the Level 5, 4, and 0 approached the woman responsible for saving Touma when he was too busy saving others. The woman in question, Therestina, had recently gotten out of her Powered Suit and was talking on the phone with her associates about the incident.
"As we know, what happened was not caused by an earthquake," the woman said over the phone.
"It was Poltergeisting," Kuroko supplied as they approached.
Therestine turned her attention away her phone call towards the students, acknowledging their observation.
"Yes, your correct about that, children," she replied.
"We wanted to thank you personally for helping me," Touma said with a bow, his friends following suit.
"I'm just glad nobody was injured," Therestine in reply.
"We were just wondering," Kuroko added, looking towards the MAR staff on site, "Are you measuring the AIM in the area?"
They had a variety of handheld scanner on them, accompanied by a couple of tables that were surely documenting the readings.
"Is MAR able to find irregularities in the AIM Fields before an event happens?" Kuroko added.
The group earned a somewhat suspicious look for their question.
"Yeah, it's just that you arrived so quickly, we figured you had some way of predicting them," Touma supplied nervously.
"Could you two tell me your names?" Therestina asked.
"Oh, right! I'm Touma Kamijou and this is Kuroko Shirai of Tokiwadai. We're both with Judgement Branch 177."
"So that explains it. There are some outstanding officers in your branch in particular, although some of the claims seem a bit out there," the MAR Commander concluded, "To answer your question, there is a connection between AIM and RSPK. I'm impressed you found it so quickly."
"From what we can tell, the manipulation of AIM Diffusion Fields are the cause of the RSPK, resulting in these Poltergeisting events," Kuroko explained, "It would have been helpful if you had mentioned this during the joint conference early today. Then, we would have been able to look out for any suspicious persons at these events."
"As I made it clear before, that's Anti-Skill's jurisdiction," Therestina pointed out, "Judgement's job is to counter rumors and manage day-to-day safety."
"Even so, this information would have made it easier for us to keep people calm and properly informed," Touma argued, "Had we known, we could have created clear counter arguments of the rumors or even claim that random changes in the AIM Fields were the cause."
"Fair point, but as the old saying goes, ignorance is bliss," the grown woman countered, "Although, I must say, you sure have a knack for helping people, young man. I saw what you did back there, pushing those girls out of the way, leaving yourself to take the hit."
"I don't need a reason to help someone," Touma replied as if it was the simplest thing in the world, "Those two being my friends just gave me extra incentive. If I have the power to be of use, I'm going to do whatever I can to help."
"Even if it comes to cost you in some way, like with that lamppost?" Therestina inquired, "Surely, self-preservation demands that you keep yourself out of danger first."
"Maybe, but I'd rather be the one to pay the price than let someone else suffer," Touma answered back, barely skipping a beat, "Pain's an old friend."
"Even if you were faced with a force that severally outclassed you?"
"I'd make the whole world my enemy if it would let me protect even a single smile."
Therestina was honestly thrown off by Touma's calmness about the situation. He just stood there and told her to her face that he would take on the world just to help a single person. It defied all logic. No human put others before themselves to such a degree. She just couldn't understand this boy's way of thinking. Worse part was she couldn't even collect all her thoughts on the boy before a fourth person interrupted them.
"Manipulating AIM Diffusion Fields," Mikoto mused, earning everyone's attention, "We know somebody who has done just that. Could this be her work?"
"Whose work?" Therestina asked.
Unfortunately, she never got a response as the conversation was interrupted by Saten.
"Hey guys!" Saten called out, "We're going to ride along with Haruee to the hospital!"
"Oh, will come to!" Mikoto offered.
"Doesn't your dorm manager do regular room checks?" Touma asked, pointing out a major obstacle in the Tokiwadai girl's wishes.
"Kamijou's right. We need to head back soon," Kuroko agreed.
Mikoto could only groan in disappointment at this revelation.
"Don't worry, I'll ride with them and fill you girls in," Toaum said reassuringly, "I'll see you two later."
With a quick goodbye, Touma ran straight to the ambulance and jumped in the back with everyone else, leaving the Tokiwadai girls to get back to their dorm and avoid cruel and unusual punishment.
While riding the ambulance to the hospital, Touma made a quick call for Konori to report in on everything that happened. Based on her panicked tone when she picked up, it was clear she was extremely worried when Touma hung up, especially for him. It was understandable. He did hang up on her after a Poltergeisting hit. However, he couldn't figure out why exactly she was worried to this extent. She was clearly more worried for him than anybody else, but he didn't see why his safety was anymore important. It could have been because he was the one person Kuroko couldn't teleport to safety. It wasn't like she had some secret crush on him or anything.
After making the phone call and getting Haruee checked out by a doctor, the group took her back to the dorm, form which Touma excused himself, saying he had some other errands to run that night after the fireworks display. As he made his way home, Touma quickly called Mikoto and Kuroko, informing them that everything had turned out alright for the most part. Haruee was fine, having at worse been put into a state of shock after the Poltergeist.
However, the call ran longer than expected when the topic shifted to Haruee being a possible suspect for the cause of the Poltergeist incidents in the first place. While the evidence was shaky at best, Touma couldn't deny that there was some connection. An Esper from District 19 transfers to District 7, coinciding with the shift in the frequency of Poltergeistings in both districts. It wasn't much, but it was enough to warrant investigation. Touma would hate to have to arrest someone he only recently became friends with, so he resolved to prove her innocence. As far as he was concerned, Haruee being the culprit was the result of some unlucky coincidences, a mere illusion that he would shatter.
The following day, Touma opted to visit the local Judgement Training Facility to work on his crowd control pike skills. It had been a while since he had picked up a polearm and he didn't want to get rusty. As much as he wanted to go the branch office to look for evidence to prove Haruee innocent, he knew he was never the best at searching for information in the Data Bank. He would leave that to Kuroko and Mikoto, the latter of whom could easily find her way around a computer thanks to her ability. He would have said Uiharu would be their best bet in the computer department, but she had taken the day off to spend time with Haruee. Besides, he didn't think Uiharu would take it very well to hear that her friend was a suspect, albeit a flimsy one.
Touma stood in front of a training dummy with a pike in hand and took a spearman's stance. He dipped the three prongs of the pike towards the ground, supporting it in the palm of his left hand. The opposite end of the polearm pointed upwards behind him and was held firmly in his right fist. His feet were a shoulder length apart and his knees were bent slightly, providing both stability and readied him to move. If his journal and his experiences were anything to go by, Touma thought through things better when under stress.
"Okay, let's review," Touma said to himself, "Poltergeisting is the result of RSPK Syndrome, which could be caused by AIM manipulation."
He rushed close to the training dummy, swinging the pike upward for a vertical swipe. He then quickly followed up by swinging the weapon back around another 360 degrees, resulting in a second vertical swipe.
"If the AIM Diffusion Fields are being manipulated, the it has to be the work of either an Esper or a researcher with a deep understanding of AIM."
Touma leveled his polearm and thrust it forward for a stab. He then quickly retracted it and swing it in a wide, horizontal arc across the dummy.
"The prime researcher suspect is Dr. Kiyama, who is, last we checked, locked away in an Anti-Skill Detention Center in District 17. Thus, there is no way for her to be the culprit from behind bars."
He brought the prongs of his pike down on the dummy's head before pulling back and thrusting at its waist.
"Meanwhile, Haruee is an Esper whose movements match those of the Poltergeistings' and reacted strangely after sitting through one of the events. But unless we know her ability and level, we can't rule her out from suspicion."
Finally, he positioned his weapon so that the business end of his polearm behind him. With a great amount of force, he swung the pike low to the ground before upper cutting the dummy, knocking it of balance.
"And now I'm talking to myself," Touma lamented as he put the pike down and sat down on the floor.
That had been the tenth time Touma had knocked over the training dummy in that one session, and he still had not thought of some way that he could relieve Haruee of suspicion. They only had so little information, and yet that little bit was enough to put Uiharu's new roommate on the radar. As much as he hated to admit it, the only thing Touma could do now was wait and hope that Kuroko and Mikoto's findings didn't incriminate Haruee any more than she already was.
Even is she turned out to not be the culprit, what other possible reason could there be for her behavior. Was it all just some coincidence and they just got unlucky? That would certainly be in line for Touma. Was there something else related to the Poltergeistings that was affecting only Haruee and causing her to act out like she was? What would that third variable even be?
If only he could have been able to spend the day with the young girl. If he could negate her ability while a Poltergeisting was in progress, it would provide definitive proof of her relationship to the events. If the Poltergeisting stopped, then the crisis was averted and the was culprit found. If not, she was proven innocent. Granted, that plan required a Poltergeisting, but it at least got them answers.
The ringing of his phone knocked Touma away from his thoughts. Picking it up from a nearby bench, Touma was anxious to see that it was Koroko on the line.
"Hey Pigtails," Touma answered casually, "is this about the Poltergeistings and Haruee?"
"Yes and no," Kuroko replied grimly on the other side, "It's about Uiharu and Haruee. The got caught in another Poltergeisting."
"What?!"
"Uiharu! Are you okay?" Saten asked as she, Mikoto, Kuroko, and Touma approached their injured friend in the hospital.
For Index's own safety, the group decided to leave her in the dark. With all the chaos in happening in the city, it wouldn't be very surprising if a sorcerer snuck in to kidnap her while everyone was focused on the Poltergeists.
"I'm fine. It's just a scratch," Uiharu said reassuringly, presenting her bandaged knee, "I told them it was not a problem, but they insisted."
"That's a relief," Touma sighed.
"You could have called. We were worried about you," Kuroko reprimanded.
"You and Haruee got caught in Poltergeisting incidences two times in a row. If it weren't for Kamijou, I'd say you two were the unluckiest people in Academy City," Saten joked.
"Okay, that was just uncalled for," Touma complained, "But to be honest, I'm surprised I didn't get caught in that Poltergeist with my luck."
Looking around, Touma could see several dozen patients in the lobby of the hospital with Uiharu. Most of them only had minor injuries, but a couple of patients were stretched out on the benches with IV tubes and nurses, implying that all the rooms had been occupied. With so many patients, most people were forced to sit on the floor while waiting to be looked by a doctor. It really did look like the recovery efforts that followed an earthquake.
"Hey, where is Haruee?" Mikoto asked.
"Don't worry," Uiharu replied, "she was evacuated before me, so she should be he. Plus, she only passed out so it's nothing serious."
"Thank goodness," Saten sighed in relief.
"Uiharu," Kuroko cut in sternly, "Do you remember Haruee acting strangely in any way before it happened, like back at the fireworks display?"
"Why do you ask?"
"According to my investigation, Haruee is a Level 2 Telepath with some irregularities in her ability," Kuroko explained, "If you noticed anything suspicious like before, then you need to tel-"
"Why?" Uiharu cut her friend off.
"Huh?"
"Why would you be investigating Haruee?" Uiharu asked, "No way. You can't suspect Haruee of being involved in any of this."
"Uiharu, it's not like that," Touma tried to explain, "we just…"
"How could do this, both of you," Uiharu cut her fellow Judgement Officers off once again, "Haruee just transferred to our school district. She's nervous and she's relying on us to help her, and yet you… You're both horrible!"
"Woah, easy there," Saten said.
"Listen to them, Uiharu," Mikoto added, "They didn't mean to-"
"It certainly is possible that a Telepath is responsible for tampering with the AIM Diffusion Fields," a familiar voice interrupted.
Turning around, the group saw Therestina approach them in full MAR uniform.
"We can't write it off," she finished.
"Oh, I didn't see you there," Kuroko greeted.
"It looks like they can't take anymore here," Therestina told one of her subordinates, "Take the rest of the injured to the hospital in district 15."
The MAR officer complied, quickly leaving the group to rely the orders and carry them out.
"As I was saying," Therestina continued, "A Telepath could be the culprit, but they would have to be a Level 4 at least. As you can imagine, the number of those is very small. The likely hood of a Level 2 accomplishing such a feat would be practically zero. However, I still think we should look into this, just to be on the safe side. Who is this friend of yours?"
"A transfer student named Erii Haruee," Kuroko answered without skipping a beat.
"How could you?!" Uiharu cried, clearly feeling betrayed.
"We're sending one victim to the lab a headquarters," the MAR chief said over her radio, "Have a car brought around."
"Please no!" Uiharu begged.
"Just think of this as proving her innocence," the adult said reassuringly, "It will be alright. We have an excellent staff specialist at the lab. Your friend is in good hands. Besides, you shouldn't shout in a hospital."
Uiharu could only look at the ground, clear feeling both betrayed and disappointed.
Out of concern for their mutual friend, the group traveled to the MAR Headquarters Laboratory to check on Haruee as soon as she her tests were done. The group waited out in the hall, but one would think they were two completely different parties. Kuroko and Uiharu sat on separate couches and refused to talk to one another. Touma tried to talk to them both, but Uiharu refused to even acknowledge his voice. As far as she was concerned, Touma had sided with Kuroko and was just as much of a traitor. Even Mikoto and Saten, the two girls in the group that were neutral in the conflict, were more or less shrugged off.
Uiharu only became some semblance of talkative when Therestina returned to tell them that Haruee's exams were complete. Granted, the results had yet to come in, but she was at least talking again. Besides, Therestina had something she wanted to show them while they waited.
Instead of taking the group straight to Haruee, Therestina showed everyone her office. However, one wouldn't think it was her office at a first glance. The room was full of color, with floor tiles that came in every color in the rainbow. Near the glass wall were several sets of equally colorful shelves on which adorable stuffed toys of various animals were displayed. The latter most detail especially caught Mikoto's attention. As explained by Therestina herself, she decorated the room in such a way that it helped her remember that there were pure and innocent things in the world.
However, Touma couldn't help but feel like the something was off about the room. Even though the entire back wall of the room was glass, the way the light came in made it so only one half of the room, the colorful and cheery half, was lit up. The other half was cast in the shadow of the afternoon sun and was a fairly standard in design. The floors and wall were grayscale and the shelf against said wall were a standard wood with various research binders and notebooks stowed away. That half of the room lacked any personality at all, feeling cold and calculated like some immoral businessman or machine decorated it. For this reason, Touma decided to stand behind Mikoto's seat on the couch when they talked with Therestina. That, and Uiharu was sitting on the opposite side of said couch and probably wanted to be as far from him as possible.
Once they got introductions out of the way for those that have to be properly introduced, Uiharu was rather eager to get her piece out. As soon as she gave her name and status as a Judgement Officer, Uiharu begged the commander of the Multi Active Rescue Team and head of the MAR Research Lab to not taking in Haruee, declaring that she was not the culprit of the Poltergeists. Uiharu acted made her claim purely out of emotion, not providing any solid proof of her friend supposed nonexistent involvement.
Therestina only responded by asking Uiharu for her favorite color, her choice being yellow. The head of MAR then pulled out what appeared to be a tub of colored candies and randomly dropped a single one of said candies into Uiharu's hand. The candy that fell out of the tube was yellow, matching Uiharu's choice. Therestina joyfully took it as a good sign, much to the groups confusion.
Soon enough, Therestina got word that Haruee's results were in. She then led the group to viewing platform for one of the examination rooms, from which they could see an unconscious Haruee laying on a CT scanner. Therestina quickly looked at the monitor of the scanner for the results.
"So, what is it?" Uiharu asked eagerly.
"You can relax now, she isn't the person we're looking for," Therestina replied, much to the group's relief, "You were right about her, she is a Level 2 Telepath. Once more, she's only a receiver, and unable to send out any messages herself."
"But what about the note in her record in the Data Bank saying she had anomalous ability above her level under specific wavelengths?" Kuroko asked.
"Be quiet!" Uiharu snapped, "Let it go!"
"Our examination was quite thorough," Therestina explained, "We found that she is limited to a select number of partners. She can pick up on those people regardless of the distance or obstacles in the way, but she can't hear anybody else. Whatever the case, it simply isn't possible for her to tamper with AIM Fields."
"You see! Told you!" Uiharu cheered triumphantly in a clear I-told-you-so tone.
"I was only doing my job," Kuroko said under her breath.
"Easy there, Pigtails. Let it go," Touma said calmly, placing a hand on her shoulder for support.
"Though that still leaves us with the same question," Mikoto noted, "If it's not her, who is the one responsible for the Poltergeisting?"
Later that day, the unconscious Haruee was moved to a hospital room in the laboratory to rest. She woke up soon enough to find herself surrounded by her friends.
"Hi, Haruee," Uiharu greeted as her roommate opened her eyes.
"Oh, Uiharu," Haruee replied as she sat up, "I guess, I passed out again."
"it's okay," the headband wearing girl reassured, "Everything's okay. You don't have anything to worry about now."
Haruee looked down around her neck and grasped at it, as if looking for something that wasn't there. Uiharu then pulled out of her pocket a familiar silver pendent.
"Here," she said, presenting the pendent to it's true owner, "This pendent is important to you, isn't it?"
"Yes," Haruee said as she took the accessory, "it's a momento of a good friend."
"You mean the one that you told me you were looking for earlier?" Uiharu asked.
"Yes," Haruee replied, "I can hear her, her voice."
"That sounds like Telepathy," Mikoto noted.
"It's only once in a while," the bedridden girl explained, "but when I do hear it, I get lost in I somehow."
"So that explains the weird behavior," Touma concluded.
"Is there a photograph in the pendent?" Uiharu asked.
"Yes," Haruee replied as she opened up the locket for all to see, "See? Her name is Banrii Edasaki."
"it's that girl!" Mikoto blurt out, recognizing the girl from Dr. Kiyama's memories, "I've seen her before."
"You know who Banrii is?" Haruee asked hopefully.
"Well I…" Mikoto trailed.
"There's something else. I'm like her," Haruee revealed, "I'm a Child Error too."
I hope you all liked what I did with this chapter.
I made sure to watch the rest of the arc in its entirety first so I can better plan out how events unfold. There was actually a couple of references to my original plans for this arc before I got a full refresher on how events turned out, forcing me to scrap the idea. I also ended up starting to turn Touma into Cu Cuchulain with his fighting style being based on Cu's battle animations inf Fate/GO. Then again, they have a lot in common when it comes to their luck and women.
I'm already working on the next chapter, so it should be too long before it's released. The poll will stay on my profile until the end of the Sisters Arc, so vote while you still can. Leave a review if you like!
My PV!