And I'm back. Man, having pretty much nothing to do during the summer really opens up your schedule. Lots of time to write, even with all the craziness that is the FGO events.
This time, we swing back over to Touma as he continues his own investigation of Mikoto's activities. Admittedly, this one kind of pales in comparison to the last chapter. Then again, lots of things I've written pale in comparison to the last chapter. I did the best I could with what I had to work with so that's all I can do.
You know the drill. Q&A time!
Anonymous Noob the 2nd: Well, I see it as Mikoto not letting herself get worked up considering the seriousness of the situation. I wouldn't say she's a hundred percent certain about her feels just yet. As for Touma, low confidence with girls will do that to you.
Kim454: That line might be referenced in the future, but not quite yet. I can promise it will come before the arc is over. Thanks for the encouragement.
RPGPersona: Yeah, that was a difficult part about that chapter. I had to make minuet changes, like the type of iron sand technique used, to make it at least a little fresh, and really nail the narration. The Accelerator/Yuri reveal was my favorite part to write because it adds a whole new layer to the original version. I plan on making that reveal pay off where I can. I wouldn't be so quick to give up on that scene. I actually have a plan to still include that scene. Eh, you know what they say, ignorance is bliss.
SoulReaver267: Yeah, that seems to be the consensus for how Sister dialogue is handled.
Bluejack222: What, you thought I would only look at one side of a shared arc?
RedSS: I really need to start paying attention to that sin counter. Yeah, the synchronization of thoughts and dialogue was my personal favorite creative choice in that chapter.
Guest (1): Yeah, Accelerator's mysterious past was one of the driving forces for the creation of this story. A simple theory lead to a major plot point of the story, and forms one of the largest sources of relationship exploration. Man, that was one big tangent you took there. I don't even know where you were going with it.
guess (Guest): There never was any genderbend.
GhostofTime: Crazy Monday, am I right?
Generation Zero: Like I've mentioned before, I don't write down scenarios that don't need anything added to them since that would be redundant. Fights might still be added if they hold emotional value, they have a lot of plot relevance, and/or I have some way to make them fresh. In this case, it was especially true since the fight acted as the catalyst for so many reveals. If Kuroko were to get involved, it would be too good. Touma needs to be in constant contact for Imagine Breaker to work, so Accelerator would be able to reflect most of her pin attacks since teleportation works through movement in 11 dimensional space. The reunion is the part I am most excited about.
MrQuestionMark: Merging the two sides of Index and Railgun was always the focus, so I'm glad to see the standards for that mesh are still being met. I honestly thought the reveal was my favorite part to write. I actually heard the voices in my head as I wrote the scene. Then again, it might have had something to do with my having the episode running while I wrote. Nice to know some people thought that dialogue pattern was fine. Still, the poll is still going and no Sisters show up for a while, so I have a few more chapters before I have to make a final decision.
The unlucky boy: Oh, I actually read a fanfiction that had them call each other those nicknames. Honestly, I think it would be better if the two were just on a first name basis. This is incredibly important for Accelerator since everyone else would refer to him by his Esper title, while Touma was the only one to use his actual name.
icedshadows: ... thanks...
mohamadstar94: What, did you think I forgot it?
The Coke-aholic: Yeah, that's going to be the source of most of the drama during the reunion, more so on Accelerator's side than Touma.
Scarletrailgun (Guest): Thanks!
ArmoredCoreNineBall: Yeah, lots of friction and drama in the future. Also, those aren't fireworks. Those are condensed electrons following streams of electricity being manipulated through vector interference.
Chroma (Guest): Actually, a lot of what you suggested was planned a while ago, like, from the very beginning. I won't give away what those things are, but I hope you find them enjoyable when they play out.
Kami (Guest): An interesting idea. However, I always wanted to have Touma in the dark for most of the arc, slowly discovering things on his own, but never enough that he finds things out too soon. It speaks volumes of his detective skill, as well as Academy City's ability to keep things hidden.
Guest (2): As interesting as it would be to have the girls involved, I feel like it would be a bit too cluttered. The Sisters Arc was always about Mikoto and her refusal to accept help because she felt responsible. It took Touma's stubborn heroism for her to be saved because he was the kind of person that wouldn't take no for an answer. Plus, with how I have things planned out, it opens up lots of things for the story in the long run.
Man, I make an update within a few days, but I'm still overflowing with reviews. Guess that's a good sign of how my story is performing. For now, let's get the disclaimer out of the way so we can get to the nitty gritty.
Disclaimer: All characters and plotlines of the "A Certain" franchise are credited to Kazuma Kamachi.
Chapter 29: The Consultant
Touma woke up completely unrested. With so much on his mind last night and the weird feeling he kept getting, he only got, at most, four hours of sleep. As much as he wanted to sleep in and get the proper amount of rest, he still had remedial classes to take. Reluctantly, he got out of bed and prepared for the day, one that was sure to be a pain to deal with.
After a quick shower to help wake himself up, Touma got dressed in his usual summer uniform and prepared himself a small breakfast. If he couldn't get his energy from sleep, he would have to settle for a well-prepared meal. While preparing a quick omelet, he received a call from a certain pigtailed girl. Checking the caller ID for confirmation, Touma tiredly answered the call.
"Hey, Pigtails," Touma greeted with a yawn, "Did Zapper get home alright?"
"Yes, late last night," Kuroko answered over the phone, "You don't have to worry. Everything is fine."
"If you say so," Touma replied, relieved, "I'll see you girls later. I still have that remedial class today."
"Alright then. See you later," Kuroko said as she hung up.
Putting down the phone, Touma let out a sigh of relief upon hearing the good news. He was just glad everything was turning out for the better and not spiraling out of control like it usually does. If it did that, he would have to seriously reconsider what he defined as "normal" for his life. Deciding not to dwell on it, Touma continued to focus on his cooking as he prepared for the long day he had ahead of him.
Walking into class, Touma was surprised to see Tsuchimikado had arrived before him. His extremely relaxed position suggested that he had arrived much earlier than Touma did, which made sense considering that he didn't see the sunglass wearing boy on his way out of the dorm. What didn't make sense was the fact that the boy came early at all.
"You're here early," Touma noted.
"Good morning to you too," Tsuchimikado greeted, "I'll have you know I got up early to collect some money cards. Had to get a head start over all the other money card hunters in the city."
"Come on, we talked about this," Touma complained.
"Relax, Kami, I did it for your benefit," the blond boy defended, talking out a small stack of money cards, "If Aogami found these, you'd have to deal with him refusing to hand them over to he could get a couple of extra gal games."
"And for that, I'm grateful. But seriously, stop searching for these things. Lot's of people get in trouble because of the search for these money cards," Touma stressed.
"Okay, okay, I get it," Tsuchimikado replied, "Though, I saw something weird while I was out. A few blocks away from the dorm, I saw the Railgun camping out on a public bench. She was also talking to the gloomy girl from Nagatenjouki."
"That can't be right," Touma denied, "I got a call from Pigtails this morning. She said Zapper got home late last night."
"Really? Well, either she's lying for your benefit or I saw some sort of lookalike," Tsuchimikado deduced, "There was that rumor about them making clones of the Railgun a while back."
"Do you really have to be so suspicious about everyone and everything?" Touma asked, getting annoyed, "You sound like a spy that can't be trusted and doesn't trust anyone."
"Come on, I'm just kidding," Tsuchimikado laughed, "Besides, can you really see me as a spy?"
"How many times have you and Aogami attempted to peep in on the women's changing room at the public pool last week?" Touma asked flatly.
"Hey, none of those attempts were successful," the sunglass wearing boy defended.
"Which is exactly what a spy would do if he wanted to stay undercover."
"I hate you," the blond declared.
"I tell you two that every day, but I still hang out with you," the Judgement Officer replied.
Surprisingly enough, remedial class went off without a hitch. No pointless Delta Force brawls, no difficulties understanding the subject, no terrible penalty game at the end like No-Eyed Poker, nothing. Honestly, it creeped Touma out that the class went so well. When something even remotely good happened to him, misfortune always came back to bite him in the but at least as hard as the good fortune was enjoyable.
Still, he decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth and just go about his day. With remedial class done for the day, Touma sent Kuroko an email asking where she and the rest of the girls were. After getting word of where the girls were, Touma made him way through District 7 until he found himself at the girls' location, the arcade they took Haruee to on her first day as Uiharu's roommate. As he walked in, he couldn't help but laugh a bit the screams he heard upon entry.
"Damn it! How does Kamijoy do it?!" Saten screamed in frustration, "How does one guy punch so hard?!"
Near the front of the arcade, the girls were all gathered around the Punching Machine. The goal of said machine was to punch the target as hard as you could with the provided glove, translating the force of the punch into a score. Naturally, the Certain Strange Addition to Judgement, with his signature right hook, held the high score of 250lb. Sate, who was currently using the machine, had only reached 75lb, not even close to beating Touma's strongest punch.
"Still trying to beat my high score?" Touma asked, wearing a koi smile.
"Hey, Touma here!" Index cheered.
"We tried to tell her it's pretty much impossible, but she keeps insisting," Kuroko explained.
"Honestly, she's almost as bad as Misaka when it comes to beating Kamijou," Haruee mused with a giggle.
"You really should give up, Saten," Uiharu added, "Kamijou has punched people much larger and heavier than him through the air. For that to even be possible, he needs to punch with an upward force that at least matches his target's weight. It's simple physics."
"I'm telling you, it's just a fluke!" Saten argued, taking off the boxing glove, "Here! You try to hit your high score again, Kamijou!"
Not feeling like arguing, Touma decided to humor his fellow Level 0 for the fun of it. Putting the boxing on to his right hand, Touma stood in front of the Punching Machine and lined up his fist. He pulled back as far as he could and then let loose his signature right hook. His fist collided with the Punching Machine's target with a loud crash that could be heard throughout the arcade. A moment later, the machine displayed Touma's striking force on its screen.
"255lb," Mikoto read, clearly amused, "Congratulations, Saten, you let the high score become even more unattainable."
"Damn it!" Saten yelled, earning a laugh from everyone else present.
"Good to see you're feeling better, Zapper," Touma said, smiling.
"You make it sound like I had a problem in the first place, idiot," Mikoto replied, smirking confidently.
"Actually, I was a bit worried this morning during remedial class," Touma admitted, "Tsuchimikado said he saw you camping out on a public bench near my dorm talking with some gloomy girl from Nagatenjouki Academy. Weird right? Maybe you do have a clone out there."
"Yeah," Mikoto laughed a humorless laugh, "Maybe I do."
Her tone of voice didn't escape Touma's keen observations. Many people would claim he couldn't understand a girl's feelings, but he had always been able to tell when something was wrong with people, not just girls. A quick glance at Kuroko's concerned expression told Touma that there was more truth to Tsuchimikado's story than he had originally expected. Clearly, Kuroko hadn't been telling him the whole truth when she said told him that morning that Mikoto had come home. This warranted further investigation, but for now, he would at least try to keep everyone positive. Touma didn't want to get the others involved too quickly if the issue actually turned out to be nothing.
"So, anyone up for a round of Gekisho 9?" Touma asked, trying to break the tension.
The next day, Touma arrived at the Judgement Branch Office a bit latter than he usually did. Unfortunately, he ran into a few incidences on the way there. A few misplaced cans here, some shady looking thugs there, the usual. In addition, there were the recent cases of money card hunters throughout the city he had to give warnings to, creating a lot of detours in his commute and complaints when he had to take possession of money cards that were found.
On his way in, he bumped into Kuroko, who claimed to be heading out on patrol. However, he noticed that she had a depressed aura around her, albeit a subtle one. Clearly, something was wrong with her, and Touma had a good idea what. If he were to put money on it, he'd guess Mikoto had been hiding something from her and she felt left out. It was understandable, considering how close the two of them normally are. For the time being, however, Touma decided to push the thought to the back of his mind and focus on his Judgement work for now.
"Hey everyone," Touma greeted as he opened the door, "I saw Pigtails on the way in. Is everything alright?"
"Oh, hi Kamijou," Konori replied, "She just left to go on patrol after hearing about the recent cases of possible arson in the city."
"Arson?" Touma asked, confused.
"Yeah," Uiharu confirmed, "They've been happening to a whole lot of research facilities lately, and that was just last night."
"Honestly, I think it's just a false alarm," Saten admitted.
"Really? You're the last person I expected to just brush off a mystery like this," Touma noted, "Anyway, you mind giving me the list of facilities attacked so far? I think this is something we should look into."
"The list and a map of the city has already been sent to your Judgement email," Konori explained, "Why don't you help yourself to a sweet bun before you get started?"
On the coffee table was a 4x4 box of limited edition summer sweet buns. Miraculously enough, despite the limited number and Index's presence, there was still a couple of the colorful treats left. However, what caught Touma's eye was the box itself.
"Isn't this the box of sweet buns that Pigtails bought for Zapper the other day after Zapper left the arcade early?" Touma asked.
"Yeah, apparently, she didn't want them," Uiharu explained, "so, she gave them to use."
'Okay, there is clearly something wrong now,' Touma thought to himself.
"Well, can't let these go to waste," Touma said with a shrug as he picked up one of the buns from the box, "I'll eat as I work."
Touma went over to his desk and logged into his computer, placing the sweet bun next to him on his desk. Opening up the email with the list of attacked facilities and the map with those same facilities marked, he noticed something odd about them. The map was rather normal, simply having a handful of building marked out in red. The list was equally as ordinary as the list, simply being a list of names. However, closer inspection of those names revealed something unique about the attacks.
'Shinasame University DNA Map Analysis Laboratory, Geomagnetic Anomaly Research Laboratory, Foreign Medicine Research Center, Biomedical Genetic Research Facility, Movement and Cognitive Research Institute, Ryuden Sports Human Engineering Development Center, Duchenne Dystrophy Research Center. These are all labs focused on human antinomy and the brain,' Touma thought to himself, 'If someone wanted to create a fully functioning clone of a person in a relatively short amount of time, these would be the kind of labs with the research and equipment to pull it off. The only outlier is the Geomagnetic Anomaly Research Laboratory, but that could be useful if the clones happen to be of an Electromaster. This couldn't be connected to Zapper, could it? Are they actually trying to clone her and she's trying to put a stop to it?'
Further inspection of the data suggested that the first few attacks occurred simultaneously. The fires caused in all of these attacks were electrical, seemingly caused by random overloads to the facilities' computers. Touma didn't want to think that Mikoto had been the one responsible for the attacks, but so much evidence was stacked against her at the moment. Even if she was responsible, she had to have had some reason for doing it.
The next day, Touma was out on the town doing his patrol. On Kuroko's suggestion, the branch office decided to increase the number of active patrols. With all the craziness involving the possible arson attacks, everyone was required to do extra patrols to keep an eye out for suspicious activity. While patrolling past the river, he saw a rather unusual sight. For some reason, Kuroko, Uiharu, Saten, Konori, Index, and a young girl he didn't recognize were digging through the grass by the river bed.
"Hey, what are you girls doing down there?" Touma called out.
"Ah, it Touma!" Index cheered.
"Hi, Kamijou," Konori called back, gesturing towards the little girl, "We're helping Minori here find a four leafed clover!"
"A friend of hers is moving soon, so we're helping her to find a good luck charm for her as a gift," Saten added.
"Why don't you come and help, Kamijou?" Uiharu suggested.
Having heard Minori's story, Touma couldn't help but smile as the girls continued to search for the elusive four leafed clover, each of them crouched low to the ground. Minori's story honestly reminded him a bit about how he got separated from his sister and Yuri. Based on what he wrote in his journal, he wasn't able to do much for them before they got separated. This might be his chance to do for someone else what he was never able to do for them.
"Alright, I'm coming down there!" Touma called out as he began to climb down the riverside.
Unfortunately, he failed to realize how wet the riverside grass was a lost his footing after the first step. The result was him losing his balance and rolling down the hill, crashing face first into Konori's rather sizable chest, knocking her on her butt. It took a moment for the event to register properly in everyone's brains, but when it did, the reaction was rather violent.
"Why would you do that?!" Konori shrieked as she kicked the unlucky boy off her chest, leaving him flat on his back with his world turned upside-down.
"Rotten luck," Touma mumbled as he lied there in defeat.
However, his mood brightened when his vision cleared up and he saw what his head landed in front of. Right in his line of sight was a patch of four leafed clovers.
"Well, would you look at this ironic stroke of luck," Touma laughed, still flat on his back, "I get hit by a girl for a perverted accident straight into a patch of four leafed clovers. That has to be some new level of irony right here.
"Wait, really?" the girl named Minori asked in excitement.
"Yeah, look!" Touma said as he sat up, holding out one of the clovers in his left hand.
"Wow, you really did find one!" Minori cheered.
"And there's more where that came from," Touma added, getting off the ground so Minori could reap the benefits of his find.
"My, that's quite the haul, Kamijou," Konori noted, impressed.
"Well, I kind of have you to thank for it," Touma laughed, "What, with you kicking me into the patch in the first place."
"Yeah, sorry about that," Konroi laughed embarrassedly, "Though, you can't expect me to react any other way in that situation."
"Don't worry, I'm used to it," Touma replied, rubbing the back of his head.
"So you found some?" Uiharu asked as the rest of the girls approached.
"Strangely enough, yeah," Touma confirmed.
"Guess you're not the only one," Kuroko smiled, holding her own four leafed clover.
"I guess we're all going to be having a little bit of extra luck in the future," Saten mused.
"I'm not so sure about that," Touma said, looking at the clover in his hand, "But I guy can hope, I guess."
After the clover hunt, the sun had started to go down. With it getting so late, the group decided to go their separate ways for the day, with Konori volunteering to take Minori home. Now off duty, Touma had taken his armband off as he made his way back to his dorm. As he walked, he patted the four leafed clover he picked today and put in his left pocket. From what he read in his journal, his father gave him loads of good luck charms that he picked up during his business trips. None of them ever worked, most likely because of Imagine Breaker, but maybe this one would be different. Maybe it would give him even a little bit of luck. He knew he was going to need it if he wanted to get to the bottom of what was happening with Mikoto.
Eventually, Touma found himself stopped at a crosswalk on his way home. As he waited for the light to change, a certain person on the other side of the road caught his eye. It was a girl, one that appeared to be a year older than himself. She wore a school uniform and a lab coat and held an overall gloomy disposition. The sight of this girl reminded Touma of what Tsuchimikado told him a few days ago.
'Didn't Tsuchimikado say he saw a gloomy girl from Nagatenjouki Academy talking to a girl that looked like Zapper?' Touma thought to himself, 'She even has the Nagatenjouki Academy uniform. Not only that, the lab coat suggests she's also works as a researcher. Could she be involved in what Zapper is dealing with?'
By the time the light had turned green, the gloomy girl had already gone down the block a considerable distance. Acting quickly, Touma ran across the street and chased after the girl, begging her to stop. He had to know. Was she involved? Did she know anything? Did she really speak to Mikoto that morning? Touma needed answers and she was his best lead at this moment.
By the time he caught up to her, they were on a quiet side street with no one else around. Touma stopped in his tracks just behind the girl, trying to catch his breath. The girl just turned around and looked at him with a blank stare.
"Man, you know, it wouldn't have hurt for you to respond earlier," Touma said between breaths, "Is it really that hard to listen to peo-"
Touma didn't get to finish his sentence before he saw a foot flying towards his left side. Where it not for the fact the kick was extremely telegraphed due to the girl's need to do a full 360 degree to wind up and his quick reaction time, Touma would have taken a nasty blow to his side. Thankfully, he saw the kick coming and managed to block it by crossing his arms over his left side.
"Impressive," the girl said in a disinterested voice, "You managed to block my attack, despite it being a surprise."
"Not very hard when you telegraph your moves like that," Touma replied, annoyed, "Why did you even attack me in the first place, anyway?"
"Based on your possession of the prototype ODD that you keep attached to your belt and around your left wrist, I deduced you were the rumored Certain Strange Addition to Judgement," the girl explained, bringing down her leg.
'Man, that rumor has spread far,' Touma thought to himself.
"The rumor also stated you were a second year in high school," the girl continued, "I am a third year in high school. You will observe my seniority. Basically, watch you're tone with me."
"Oh, come on! That's barely anythi-" Touma argued, before getting cut off again by another surprise attack.
This time, the girl tried to chop at his forehead with her right hand. Once again, her attack was extremely telegraphed with her pulling her hand behind her head before swinging it down. This gave Touma the window he needed to catch her hand between his own just before it collided with her target.
"In addition to the tone you spoke to me with, much like you did a second ago, your behavior in trying to catch my attention was similar to that of a sexual offender. If I wanted to, I could report you for such acts and claim I was acting in self-defense," the girl threatened, "If you don't want that, I would suggest you let go of my hands."
"Okay, you've made your point, and I'm terribly sorry," Touma replied nervously as he let go of the girl's hand, "I just wanted to talk."
"Why?"
"I have a friend," Touma explained, "Her name is Mikoto Misaka. You may know her as the Railgun. Another friend of mine said he saw someone that looked like you talking to her early one morning after she camped out on a bench. Would happen to be that person?"
"Yes," the girl confirmed, "I am Shinobu Nunotaba, and I am indeed acquainted with the Railgun. Why do you want to know so badly?"
"Well, it's just that Misaka has been acting weird lately and I thought you might have known something about it," Touma admitted, "I want to help her if she has a problem, but I need to know as much as I can first."
"You really are the first one to jump in to help someone," Nunotaba said under her breath.
"Excuse me?" Touma asked.
"While it is true that I spoke to Misaka that night, and it is most likely that she is dealing with something big right now, she told me that she wanted to handle it herself.," Nunotaba explained, "She especially emphasized that she didn't want a certain boy to be involved, worrying that he would be the one to suffer most if he found out the truth. I see now that you are that boy."
"Why would she not want me involved? What's going on?" Touma begged.
"Even if I told you, you wouldn't be able to do anything," Nunotaba answered matter-of-factly, "You may be a member of Judgement and work for the law, but some things work above the law that you can't touch with your position, especially in this city."
"Well, I'm not investigating as a member of Judgement," Touma argued, "I'm investigating as a concerned friend."
"Then there really is nothing you can do," Nunotaba replied simply.
Having nothing else to say, Nunotaba turned around and started to walk away, much to Touma's annoyance.
"Wait!" Touma begged, "Where are you going? We're not done here!"
"As far as I'm concerned, we are," Nunotaba replied, not turning around, "What was your name? I don't believe you've given me it."
"Touma Kamijou. Now-"
"Goodbye, Touma Kamijou," Nunotaba said, cutting Touma off, "Take my advice. For your own safety, don't dig any further into this. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment I need to make."
Without another word, Nunotaba continued to walk down the empty street, not even paying attention to Touma's pleas for answers. Touma was left alone in on the empty street, even more lost than he was before. He went looking for answers but came out with even more questions. The case just kept getting deeper and Touma felt like he barely made any progress at all.
"How far does this all go?" Touma asked himself.
And that's the chapter. A bit shorter than most and a bit lower quality if I'm being honest, but I still think it turned out alright. Not much to work with to begin with, so it can't be helped.
Hopefully, the next chapter turns out better. I really hope it does, since in the next chapter, we take a look at Shizuri's perspective and the Mikoto's confrontation with ITEM.
See you all next time! Leave a review if you like!