And I'm back! By the way, it's been a month! I blame college and finals!
Still, it's nice to see that this story is still getting so much attention, even with long gaps between updates. Guess all I can do is try to keep up my current pace, if not improve it.
For now, let's get to the reviews!
Totsalu: I can neither confirm nor deny my plans for the sixth ranked Level 5... mainly because I have you to make any such plans. I'll have to spell on it... for like another month.
X the Reaper: Thanks! I've been waiting to make that joke for a long time. No, the girls don't know about Komoe's noodle incidences, for now anyway. I can't just go and use all the good material all at once.
felixiglesias8: Thank you so much for putting up with my inconsistent update schedule.
OnePunchPlayer: What are you talking about? There was plenty of comedy in that last chapter. All those sweet family moment undercut by body-swap shenanigans not enough for you?
blackberry1773: Thanks for putting up with the wait.
Strife666: I hope you managed to get that last copy.
ahsoei: Yup, Kuroko took on Musujime's appearance. Shizuri's role is going to be a bit more passive than most would probably like. She'll be involved, but more on a reactive level than proactive. I just don't feel comfortable thrusting her into the Magic Side of the world head first. I also believe it is in character for Touma to avoid getting more people involved than is absolutely necessary.
Bornkiller9: Thank you. I'll try to do better with the update times.
Mercenory: I really wrote that? That doesn't sound like me at all. I love fluffy happy stuff, so why would I not write it?
mohamadstar94: Glad you liked the chapter.
5waydragon: Thanks for filling in , Sweeney. First, Touma has always been one to keep secrets if he thinks it will keep others from getting involved or worrying about him. That's kind of the reason why he kept his amnesia a secret from Index for such a long time. Second, I still have nightmares of Aogami in a 14-year-old girl's swimsuit. I think Touma is going to have them to, but I probably won't remember to write them in. Third, Tsuchimikado knows everything about Touma, even stuff Touma himself doesn't know. I think it's safe to say that Tsuchimikado knew for a long time. Fourth, probably the Railgang will beat Tsuchimikado up (if they can catch him), but Shizuri would have seen him as Hitotsui Hajime at the time so should won't know who to blast.
SoulReaver267: Trust me, I know the feeling. I love wish fullfilment as much as the next guy, but I also know that that has to be earned, and sometimes it just doesn't make for a good story. Kuroko was turned into Awaki, the teleporter from GROUP. I'm not sure if Kamachi intends this, but a large amount of the cast foils each other in interesting ways. A major part of my story is using those parallels to bring out interesting interactions, like the similarities between Mikoto's father and Touma himself, making her crush appear at least partially the result of an Electra Complex, in which children look for romantic partners that remind them of their parents' relationship. If you look around there is a lot of Freudian thinking behind some the character interactions.
TheTimeWalker94: Just a regular day in the life of Touma Kamjou.
fencer29: Both are still better than Donald Trump. At least you can take Kuroko and Robert seriously. I'm not sure if you've noticed this, but a lot of how my story is structured has to do with parallels and Freudian thought. Thus, I took Shizuri in her current interpretation as a caring older sister with a dark side and obsession with power as a result of working in Academy City's Underworld and made her look like Frenda, another caring older sister with a dark side and obsession with power. Oh, I have plans for Misaki. I'm just not going to share them since those are spoiler heavy. You can PM me if you really want to know something spoiler heavy.
TeotakuFantasia: Sorry to leave you starving like that. Hopefully this will sedate your hunger for at least a month. Can't be sure when I'll post again.
ArmoredCoreNineBall: Yup, I've been waiting to make that joke for a long time. not so sure about Oriana. Anything is possible I guess. You don't have to worry about things staying the same for too long. Things are about to get shaken up by quite a bit.
RedSS: Something tells me I'm going to get a lot a flake for this chapter if that's the case. Well, do you're worst.
OnePunchPlayer: That was not Himegami! That was an impostor trying to take what little page space she's already struggling to get!
Guest (1): Well, not much I can do when the anime is all I have for source material.
Guest (2): No on both accounts. Well, 1 and a half. You'll see during the chapter.
Generation Zero: That's what I was going for. I wanted to write the reunion as genuinely as possible and then undercut it with Touma's perception of everyone but his father having a different appearance. Misaki will show up soon enough, I just won't tell you in a public file like this since it's such a heavy spoiler. I think you're forgetting something about Tsuchimikado, he's a liar. I didn't change anything about his role in the story. It's literally the same song and dance he pulled on Touma in the original story. He just doesn't reveal the whole truth until the end of the arc, and even then that is after telling Touma a whole string of lies and half truths that lead up to it.
Savior555: Wow, I don't think I've ever had such an enthusiastic new reader. Sorry for the wait. Hope it was worth it.
Guest (3): Heavy spoiler, man. Can't just give that away.
Berix: Glad you like it. I just hope my plans aren't too ambitious for my writing abilities.
Healthcare: Thanks for the name tip. The harem is still going to be a thing, but now a few select girls will have a clear lead over the others. In this case, they will be Best Science Girl Mikoto and Best Magic Girl Itsuwa, because I'm biased like that and love both of them that.
Well, now that that's taken care of, let's get to the real deal. Right after this disclaimer.
Disclaimer: All characters and plotlines of the "A Certain" franchise are credited to Kazuma Kamachi.
Chapter 41: Secrets and Lies
As his family sat together in a lounge on the ground floor of the hotel, Touma sat alone by the windowsill of his hotel room, his only light coming from the moon. Once he got back to the hotel, his family had gathered together for dinner, discussing the many stories that they had to share. Shizuri especially had a lot to share, telling her parents of her status as a Level 5 Esper and plans to sort out some new living arrangements for her and Touma in Academy City. As for Touma himself, he simply excused himself after finishing his meal, claiming to need to take care of something in his hotel room, leading to his current situation.
While he wasn't necessarily telling the truth, he wasn't lying either. After the day he had, Touma really needed the alone time. First, nearly his entire family is body swapped thanks to a spell known as Angel Fall, then he learns the person responsible for it is someone closely connected to him, and now he knows that his friend Tsuchimikado is actual a Necessarious spy who has infiltrated Academy City.
However, the most concerning news for Touma was that there are only two people in the world who are inherently immune to Angle Fall are himself, thanks to Imagine Breaker, and the person who cast the spell in the first place. That meant that his father, Touya Kamijou, the one person in his family to keep his face, was a prime candidate for the spellcaster. Touma knew he couldn't exclude people from an investigation because of personal ties. Previous experience in Judgement had taught him that. Still, he couldn't believe his father to be the one responsible.
Touma knew his father. Maybe not as well as he should, but he knew enough to know that his dad was not affiliated with magic. Touya collected good luck charms, sure, but those were out of desperation to help his misfortunate son out of a bad situation. Touya Kamijou was nothing more than a normal, traveling business man with a hobby of collecting souvenirs out of love for his family. At least, that was what Touma thought as he stared at his most recent gift from his father, an idol of an Indian god.
'There has to be some sort of explanation for why he still looks the same,' Touma thought to himself as he waved the good luck charm in front of his face, 'Maybe this thing gave him good luck and he kept his appearance by coincidence?'
"The god's power dwells within replicas," a familiar voice said behind Touma, breaking him from his thoughts, "or at least that's what people who believe in idols believe."
Turning around, Touma was mildly surprised to find Tsuchimikado in the doorway of the room. The magic spy flashed his friend a smirk, as if he had been watching the Imagine Breaker muddle in the dark for a while. Touma simply turned his back to the blond by, focusing on the night sky visible from the window.
"Hard to believe you're a sorcerer," Touma admitted, figuring now was a good a time as any to share his concerns.
"Technically, I was a sorcerer. Not any more though," Tsuchimikado clarified, walking next to his fellow Level 0, "I used to be the best Feng Shui specialist you could find in Neccessarious. Now, because of how much of the Esper Curriculum I've taken, I can't use my magic without serious risks. Couple with the fact that I'm a Level 0 Esper, and I'm pretty much a total normal person that just knows a thing or two about the supernatural."
"I'm surprised you're spending time up here, talking to me, when you could be introducing yourself to everyone else," Touma noted, "I'd think a spy like yourself would know about earning the trust of those you infiltrate."
"True, but circumstances aren't exactly in my favor in this case," Tsuchimikado explained, "When Kanzaki and I realized what was happening, we put up a barrier to protect ourselves from Angel Fall. Unfortunately, we where not able to avoid it entirely. While We still look like ourselves to those not unaffected by Angel Fall, to everyone else, we look like completely different people, and those are the people recognize us as."
"You mean like how even though I see my entire family as looking like completely different people, they still all recognize each other as looking the same as before," Touma noted.
"Exactly, but in my and Kanzaki's cases, other people recognize use as the people whose appearances we've swapped with," the sunglass wearing boy confirmed, "In my case, based on the reactions I've gotten, I look like Hitotsui Hajime."
"Hey, I know that name. He's one of Flipper's favorite idol singers," the spiky hair teen noted, "So what about Kanzaki?"
"Oh, you're going to get a laugh out of this," Tsuchimikado grinned, "To other people, she looks like Stiyl. You remember him, right?"
"Seriously?! That's too funny!" Touma laughed before realizing something strange about his friend's story, "Wait, how did you manage to put up a barrier? I thought Esper couldn't use magic."
"They're not supposed to. If they do, bad stuff like this happens," Tsuchimikado explained, lifting his open shirt to reveal a large bruise on his side, "I used my magic one more time and my blood vessels exploded. Boom! If I try to keep that up, it's going to be the death of me."
"Guessing you don't want me telling the girls about the fact that you're a spy, huh?" Touma figured.
"Nah, you go on right ahead and tell them if you want. They already know so much about magic, knowing that I'm a double agent won't do much," Tsuchimikado replied with a cheeky grin, "Besides, I've got so much dirt on those four girls that they wouldn't dare try to double cross me."
"Unlike you, who double crosses me and Aogami on a daily basis," Touma groaned, "Just my rotten luck."
"Putting aside all this talk about double crosses, you mind doing me a favor and not talking about your luck like you normally do around Kanzaki?" Tsuchimikado asked.
"Huh? What for?" Touma replied, "I'm allowed to complain about my own unfair circumstances, aren't I?"
"Well, thing is, luck is a bit of a sour subject for Kanzaki. She can't stand thinking about her own good luck," the blond boy explained.
"Good luck is a bad thing for her? Strange, but there's a first for everything," Touma mused.
"You see, there's a secret organization in Japan known as Amakusa, an order of warriors within the Catholic Church. They set Kanzaki up as the head priestess of the organization, claiming it was her destiny to hold the position, born into it. To add to it, she's a Saint and a Stigma user, someone who holds the power of God in a human body, one of only a handful in the world. By releasing her Stigma, she can call upon that power and temporarily gain abilities beyond any normal human. She can't stand that her good luck came because she born under a lucky star," Tsuchimikado elaborated.
"I think I see what you're getting at. Because she's so lucky, nothing she ever accomplishes feels like it was a result of her own efforts. And always being the winner means everyone else is always the loser," Touma deduced.
"You're a strange one, Kami. I just can't figure you out," Tsuchimikado grinned, "Sometimes you can read a girl like an open book, but other times they can tell you they love you to your face and you still won't pick it up."
"… You know about that too, huh?" Touma sighed.
"Like I said, I know everything about you. Don't get so down, I'm happy for you, man! Don't worry, I can keep a secret," Tsuchimikado encouraged, giving his friend a thumbs up.
"For a price, that is," Touma grumbled under his breath.
Despite how annoying the conversation was starting to get, Touma couldn't help but feel a little happy about how it was turning out. It was just classic, Delta Force banter, like they always had during class, between lessons, and while hanging out. All that was missing was Aogami and it would have been just like always. It made Touma believe that while Tsuchimikado's allegiances in the war between Science and Magic were a lie, their friendship wasn't.
Before the conversation could further devolve into even more pointless Delta Force banter, Kanzaki barged into the room, clearly exhausted from having to deal with the Kamijou family. While Touma wouldn't deny his family to be annoying at times (really, whose family isn't) he wouldn't describe them as unbearable. Still, he wasn't too surprised by the saints need to get away. However, what did confuse him was her insistence on him coming along with her to where ever she wanted to get away to.
Seeing as he had no choice in the matter, Touma agreed to come along, but not before grabbing his ODD equipment from the room. With Angel Fall being what it is, there was no telling what might happen. Far all he knew, the spellcaster could be on to their little investigation and be waiting for the chance to strike, stopping them before they got to chance to stop him/her. Plus, Touma was supposed to contact the girls in Academy City again soon and lugging around his laptop to where ever Kanzaki wanted to go was just a hassle. He needed a chance to test the common communications line anyway.
Soon enough, Touma found himself standing in front of the resort's bathhouse. Apparently, Kanzaki wanted to take a bath to relax, but because of Angel Fall making her look like Stiyl, she couldn't use the women's bath without causing a scene if someone came in. Thus, she was left with no option but to use the men's bath and have Touma stand guard, so no one came in while she was there. While she still put her comfort at risk, at the very least it would create less of a scene since she and Touma would be the only people who would be aware of the mismatch of patron and bathhouse. Reluctantly, Touma agreed, staying outside while Kanzaki took her bath.
Once Kanzaki was inside, Touma brought his left wrist to his face and activated his ODD bracelet's common communication line. Connecting to his video chat account, it was only a few seconds of loading before he saw the swapped faces of his friends on the holographic screen.
"Hey Kamijou! Find any leads?" Uiharu greeted for the group.
"Yeah, and it's not pretty," Touma sighed, "When mulling over everything that has happened, I ran into a couple of familiar faces from Necessarious. They filled me on what exactly was going on."
"Did they attack you on sight?" Mikoto joked.
"No, but a girl named Misha from the Russian Orthodox Church did. Nearly cut my head off," Touma admitted, "Just a normal day for me."
"So who exactly did you meet from Necessarious? What did they tell you?" Kuroko asked.
"For one, I met Kanzaki. You remember her, right? Older Japanese girl with the katana and asymmetrical outfit?"
"Kind of hard to forget," Saten jested before realizing what she said, "Sorry. Bad memory joke."
"Anyway, she told be that someone within my area cast a spell we're calling Angel Fall, which dragged an Angel down to the human level, causing perception of others to get all messed up, which is why everyone looks like someone else but nobody knows it," Touma explained, "Kanzaki and one other member of Necessarious were able to partially protect themselves from the spell, but now they look like other people to those who are affected by Angel Fall."
"So whose the other member of Necessarious?" Mikoto inquired.
"That's the weird part. Apparently, Tsuchimikado was secretly a sorcerer," Touma revealed.
"No way!" Saten screamed, "How?! I thought Index said Espers couldn't use magic!"
"Geez, tone it down would you," Touma sighed in exasperation, "Look, the truth is he's a spy for the Magic Side, but he's unable to use his magic safely now because of his Esper training. He got pretty badly hurt just using a protection spell, so no, Flipper, this does not mean you can start learning magic to make up for being a Level 0."
"…I wasn't going to suggest that," Saten pouted, something Touma found strange considering she had Fukiyose's face.
"Should you really be telling us all of this?" Uiharu inquired.
"Actually, Tsuchimikado gave me the all clear," Touma admitted, "Apparently, he has enough dirt all of us to blackmail us into not telling anyone. I don't know about you, but I'm going to take his word for it. He knew things I've never told anyone about."
"Well, that's disturbing," Mikoto shivered.
"So, what now?" Kuroko asked.
"Well, it looks like all the action is going to be happening over here," Touma sighed, "You guys just sit tight. Hopefully, this will all be taken care of by the time I get back to Academy City. I'll keep you guys filled when I can."
"You sure you don't need us to come over and help?" Mikoto asked.
"I think I'll be fine… hopefully," Touma halfheartedly insisted, "Besides, it's not like I can just pull you guys out of the city on short notice like this."
"Well, you know where to find us," Kuroko encouraged, "Good luck there, Kamijou."
"Please don't insult me," Touma begged as he hung up.
Having finished he call, Touma leaned on to the side of the bathhouse with a sigh. Things were getting out of hand really fast. He only wished he had a clear idea of what he had to do to fix everything. As of right now, he had solid leads on who was responsible for Angel Fall. It wasn't like he could talk to his family about it either. The last thing he wanted was to get them involved.
"Here's where you went," a vaguely familiar voice called out as it approached.
Turning towards the voice, Touma saw the blond girl his sister knew approach him. It took a second, but he reminded himself that the girl in front of him was his sister. Angel Fall was not making reconnecting with Shizuri any easier.
"Oh, hey sis," Touma greeted halfheartedly, "What are you doing here?"
"To use the bath, why else?" Shizuri replied, "Are you doing okay? You've been acting strange all day."
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just feeling a bit out of it today," Touma lied.
"You know, you can come to me if there's anything you need to talk about," his sister encouraged.
"Yeah, I know," Touma replied, avoiding eye contact.
'Wish that were the truth,' Touma thought to himself, 'I can't let Shizuri know about magic. I've dragged enough people into this cold war as it is.'
"Well, I'm heading in the baths now," Shizuri explained, "Dad's coming over to use the bath in a little bit. Might be a good chance to reconnect with him."
"Wait, what?" Touma asked as his sister disappeared into the woman's bath.
Once his sister was out of sight, it dawned on Touma that he never actually thought of a way to make sure no one entered the men's bath while Kanzaki was in there. He was so busy video chatting with his friends and talking with Shizuri that he forgot to prepare some sort of excuse. With his father now approaching, Touma frantically tried to think of some way to keep his father out.
"Oh, Touma. There you are," Touya greeted his son as he approached.
'Not good,' Touma panicked in his head.
"Hey, dad," Touma replied, trying to give the impression that nothing was wrong, "What are doing here?"
"Just out to take a bath," his father answered, "Say, this is perfect. Why don't you and I go for a father/son dip? It'd be the perfect chance to catch up."
'Got to think of something!' Touma cried mentally.
"Uh, I'd love to dad, but we can't," Touma replied.
"Huh? Why?" Touya asked in confusion.
"Um," Touma trailed, his eyes darting around for some sort of hint, "Some one else is in there."
"Well yeah, it's a bathhouse. That's kind of the norm," Touya argued.
"No, I mean like they're cleaning the bathhouse right now," Touma lied.
"That can't be right. I talked to the resort staff beforehand. They said it was ready for guests," Touya noted, debunking Touma's lie.
'Well, that was my last lie,' Touma lamented.
"Oh, I see what your doing here. You're trying to pull a fast one on your old man," Touya incorrectly concluded, "Nice try, Touma, but I can tell when I'm being punked."
'Clearly not,' Touma snarked in his head.
"Come on, let's head in," Touma's father instructed as he opened the bathhouse door.
'I am so dead,' Touma lamented.
In a desperate last attempt to stop his father from going in, Touma tried to pull his father out by force. Unfortunately, this quickly turned on his as Touya grabbed Touma's hand instead, dragging both of them into the bathhouse. The timing couldn't have been worse, as Kanzaki had just finished her bath and was getting dressed. Before Touma stood a completely naked Kanzaki, who had her back turned to him and his father as she prepared to tie up her hair. A moment later, she turned to face the two Kamijou men, clearly surprised by their entrance. She could only be grateful for the fact that only one of the men before her could see her nude, feminine body.
"I'm really sorry," Touma whimpered.
'Why is she tying her hair back first?' Touma asked himself in indignation, 'Shouldn't she prioritize her clothes?'
"Hey, if it isn't the cool, redheaded, cigarette smoking, tattooed, Kanzaki," Touya greeted with a wave, "How's it going?"
Her only reply was grabbing her katana, which Touma knew was a sign to run. Sprinting out of the bathhouse at a breakneck pace, Touma was quickly followed by his father. The two barely managed to get away from Kanzaki's Seven Flashes (or in Touma's case, eight).
"Useless," Kanzaki complained as she slipped in her shirt.
"You toss aside all you owe him over nothing more than a little nudity?" Tsuchimikado asked from just outside the bathhouse, "Or have you forgotten that Kami saved Index's life when no one else could? Is seeing you naked really a big deal compared to that? You should show a bit more gratitude. He definitely deserves a lot more than he gets."
"It's not that I have forget what he's done, but," the saint replied, "I don't think you would understand."
Outside, the two Kamijou men had found themselves a chance to catch their breath after fleeing for their lives. The two of them sat alone on a single bench in the middle of the resort, with only the sound of crickets as their company.
"Well, you've made some really interesting friends, son," Touya noted, "Why was that guy so touchy about sharing the bathhouse with other men?"
"It's a really long story I'd rather not get into," Touma admitted, leaning into his seat.
"Oh, I see. He plays for the other team, does he?" the father incorrectly deduced, "I don't see what he's so embarrassed about. In this day and age, that pretty widely accepted."
"Not even close," Touma snarked, "Seriously dad, you shouldn't let your imagination run while like that. Next thing you know, you'll be believing anything that people tell you."
"That's a bit harsh," Touya chuckled, "I'm supposed to be the one giving life advice. Then again, I can't say you're wrong to say that."
Looking over to his father, Touma couldn't help but share in his light laughter and smile. Sadly, that smile quickly fell into a frown as he remembered what their current predicament was. As things stood now, his father was still the primary suspect for casting Angel Fall. He was the only person besides Touma himself who has not had his appearance changed at all by the spell and was in close enough proximity to Touma to line up with the church's reports. Despite this, Touma still refused to believe his father was the man responsible.
"You alright, son?" Touya asked in concern, "You're making your worried face again."
"No dad, it's nothing," Touma lied, averting his gaze, "Hey, can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"Those good luck charms you keep getting me from your business trips, do you actually believe they work?" Touma asked.
"Why are you asking about that?" Touya asked in response.
"Call it curiosity," Touma answered.
"Well, honestly, I'm not entirely sure," the father replied, "I guess you can call it wishful thinking. You remember how your first few months in Academy City went down. Even in a city of science, you were still bullied and harassed for your luck. Even when things got better, it was discouraging to say the least. So, I started collecting good luck charms on the small hope that they might work. That is how faith works, isn't it?"
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe those charms could do things other than provide good luck?" Touma inquired.
"Not really. They're all just trinkets when you get down to it," Touya answered, "Still, a little faith never hurt anyone. That reminds me, I have another souvenir for you that I picked up in Mexico."
"Seriously dad? Another one?" Touma sighed.
"Trust me, this one's special," Touya said as he pulled out a small, metal charm shaped like a house.
"What's this?" Touma asked, taking the charm in his left hand.
"It's called a milagro," Touya explained, "In Mexico, it is believed that carrying one around provides good luck, but the design also holds significance. It is said a house shaped milagro provides blessing to the owner's home, grants connections to that home, and insures the owner returns home safely. I want to give you as not just a good luck charm, but a reminder that you will always have a home to return to."
"… I don't know what to say," Touma admitted, staring at the charm in his hand, "Thanks, dad."
"Don't mention it," Touya smiled, before his eyes drifted to something in the distance, "Hey, is that Misha?"
Following his father's gaze, Touma too saw Misha standing all alone in a clearing not too far away from them. She stood there silently, illuminated by the moon light shining through the trees. Her gaze was kept solely on the moon, as if longing for it. All things considered, she looked pretty lonely.
"Yeah, you're right," Touma noted.
"What a pity. For such a young and innocent girl to be trouble by something. It's almost like she came here hoping someone would offer her help," Touya mused, patting his son's shoulder, "Good luck son. I know you can do it."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Touma whispered indignantly as he watched his father leave.
"You told me you started working in Academy City's law enforcement, didn't you?" Touya quietly called back, "Just do what you do best and help her out."
"Yeah, no pressure," Touma huffed under his breath as his father disappeared from view.
Not seeing anything else he could do, Touma played along with his father's half-baked plan. Besides, Misha did look troubled, so there was no harm in talking to her. Wanting to get things settled, Touma approached the young Russian girl.
"What'cha doing out here?" Touma asked curiously.
Misha barely gave Touma a glance before returning her attention to the moon.
"I can stay with you if you're homesick. I was on my way back in, but I'm not Russian or anything," Touma punned, before quickly berating himself for just how terrible it was.
Desperately hoping the girl didn't notice the terrible joke, Touma tried to switch tactics in his conversation. Reaching into his pocket with his right hand, Touma pulled out a piece of gum that he happened to have on hand. He offered it to the sorceress, finally managing to gain some of her attention.
Misha looked at Touma and the gum in his hand a few times before timidly reaching out for it. She seemed to hesitate as she picked up the candy out of his hand, almost like she was actively avoiding touching him.
Now that he had her full attention, Touma took the opportunity to ask Misha about the progress on the Angel Fall investigation. To his dismay, they had yet to find any real leads as to who had cast the spell. However, Misha did have a few theories as to why someone would cast the spell in the first place.
"Possible reason 1: To gain for themselves the incredible power that an angel possesses, or perhaps to elevate themselves from the rank of human to angel," Misah explained, "For now, Angel Fall is incomplete, but once it is complete, the caster can release the nearly unmatched power of an angel upon the Vatican, and even throw the entire world into chaos."
'This is bad,' Touma thought to himself, taking everything in, 'This thing whole thing is a lot more dire than everybody looking like someone else. This is a bigger than anything I've dealt with before. The whole world is at stake this time. Why does everything in my life escalate so quickly?!'
After his talk with Misha, Touma dragged his way back to the hotel to turn in for the night. Unfortunately, his return was met with some rather risqué banter coming from his parent's hotel room window. Even from outside, Touma could hear his parents talking about the prospect of giving him and Shizuri another little brother or sister. He especially got worried when the light in the window suddenly went out. The last thing Touma wanted was the image in his brain of his father doing the deed with his mother, especially when said mother currently looked like a fourteen-year-old nun in training.
"Sorry Misha, but I've got a crisis much more important than the end of the world right now!" Touma panicked as he ran into the hotel.
As he rushed through the halls, Touma found himself lucky enough to run into his sister as she was heading to their room.
"Hey Touma, you doing ok- woah!" Shizuri greeted as Touma grabbed her hand and dragged her along.
"No time to explain! I just need your help!" Touma yelled as he raced to their parent's room
Arriving not a moment too soon, Touma threw open the door to his parent's room before anything happened that would make him wish for another case of amnesia.
"Stop right now! Stop it! Stop it!" Touma yelled in a panic as he and Shizuri barged in.
"Ah! Touma! Shizuri!" Touya yelled in surprise, turning on the lights, "Now's really not a good time."
"Aw, how sweet. Touma's miss having us all together like this so much that he wants us all to sleep together as a family," Shiina cooed, "We'll all snuggle up in bed, just like when Touma and Shizuri were little."
"Is that what this is?" Shizuri asked, more to herself than anyone else.
With a disappointed grunt, Touya turned off the lights in the room, this time getting into bed properly. At the same time, Shiina ushered her children to join them, much to Touma's relief and Shizuri's confusion.
The next morning, Touma woke up to the sound of his parent's running out of the room, his mother in a panic. Half awake, Touma followed after his parents with Shizuri close behind, both of them failing to notice the injured Index who had been crushed against the wall by the violently thrown open door.
Once in the lobby of the hotel, Shiina explained to the rest of the Kamijou clan that she had forgotten to lock the front door to their new house before they left and was going to go back to take care of it. Such a trip would take most of the day, but the family matriarch didn't mind. Upon hearing this, Shizuri and more surprisingly Misha offered to come along with her to keep her company. Shiina, of course, gladly accepted their offer, wishing to reconnect with her daughter in private as well as learn more about her son's exotic friend.
"Why would Misha want to go with mom?" Touma asked once the girls were gone, "Sis I can get, but Misha?"
"I figured this would happen," Touya mused with a coy smile, "The two of you must have had quite the night together. Surely you know what she's up to. It's the oldest trick in the book."
"Wait as second, were you spying on us?" Touma accused.
"What? I am not allowed to see my own son court a girl?"
"Yes!" Touma yelled indignantly, "And I wasn't trying to court her! We were just talking! I already have enough girl problems as it is!"
"Relax, I'm just kidding," Touya chuckled, "Still, it's rare to fine a girl like her these days. She's so shy and delicate that she wouldn't even take your hand when you gave it to her."
"Oh… yeah," Touma agreed halfheartedly.
Thinking back to last night, Touma couldn't help but feel stupid for not noticing it earlier. Misha seemed to know an awful lot about Angel Fall, but where did she learn so much about it? If what Tsuchimikado and Kanzaki told him before was true, then the spell should have been a totally unknown and unique phenomenon, the first of its kind. There would be no prior knowledge on how it worked in any sort of records the many branches of the Christian Church. Then there was the matter of her avoiding Imagine Breaker. Under normal circumstances, most sorcerers wouldn't have any issue with it so long as they didn't have some significant artifact or where maintaining a spell. Misha's cautious behavior seemed more akin to one of those scenarios than simply being shy.
While Touma felt stupid for not putting it together sooner, he also felt relieved to find a lead that didn't point towards his father. If everything went well, they could stop Angel Fall and his dad would never be suspected by the sorcerers at all. This was the chance Touma had been waiting for.
"Wait, what was that about you having girl problems?" Touya asked, startling Touma out of his thoughts.
After presenting his theory to Tsuchimikado and Kanzaki, the two high school boys resolved to cut Misha off at the new Kamijou residence. Getting the directions from the Kamijou patriarch proved to be a bit of a hassle, what with Touya's teasing and dad jokes, but they managed to do so none the less. Thus, the two boys found themselves in front of the new Kamijou household.
Just as his mother had mentioned, the front door to the house was unlocked, so getting into the house was easy. Thankfully, the arrived before Misha did, so they had a chance to confront her before anything got messy. In the meantime, the Touma and Tsuchimikado decided to take the time to explore the house itself.
Touma found the whole situation to be rather surreal, what with him breaking and entering into his own family's house. The house itself was rather generic, but what the two boys found interesting was the numerous artifacts and souvenirs that Touya had collected over the years. There wasn't a single square meter of the house that didn't have some sort of souvenir on it.
"So it's here," Tsuchimikado mused as he eyed a set of white tiger figurines, "I must say, this was the last thing I would have expected.
"What, is there something wrong with these?" Touma asked, reaching out with his right hand to take a closer look."
"Don't touch them!" the spy yelled, grabbing Touma's hand before it reached the tigers.
The blond boy gave his friend a hard stare from behind his sunglasses before letting go. Much to Touma's confusion, Tsuchimikado continued to explore the house before stopping in front of a set of picture frames.
"Something wrong?" Touma asked, confused by his friend's behavior.
"Yeah, you mind explaining this?" Tsuchimikado inquired, picking up one of the picture frames.
"Explaining what?" Touma responded, not sure of what his friend was asking.
"Explain why you didn't tell us that your father's appearance did not change," Tsuchimikado clarified, presenting the family he had just picked up off the table.
"I…" Touma trailed.
He was at a lose for words. Touma had no idea how he was supposed to explain withholding such critical information. Now Tsuchimikado was confronting him about it with undeniable evidence. It looked like there was no way out, but the two were interrupted when Shiina, Shizuri, and Misha entered the room, having finally arrived at the house. With both parties now present, everyone froze in place, unsure of what to do.
Nobody stayed still for long. After noticing the picture in Tsuchimikado's hand, Misha quickly ran out of the house, leaving everyone behind. Frustrated by the recent turn of events, Tsuchimikado attempted to chase after her, but was stopped when he was tackled by an extremely jubilant Shiina, recognizing him as the famous Hitotsui Hajime.
"Quick Kami, get going!" Tsuchimikado ordered, "Have you forgotten what Misha tried to do when she thought you were the one responsible?!"
Realizing what his friend was implying, Touma quickly ran past his sister and out the front door of the house. As he raced down the street, he found Shizuri tailing him, running in stride.
"Touma, what's going on?" his sister demanded, trying to get her brother to stop.
"Look, Sis, I don't have time to explain right now," Touma yelled back.
Because of how focused he was to beat Misha back to the resort, Touma failed to notice that he had run into an intersection. He almost got ran over by a truck, but the driver, who strangely enough looked like Himegami, managed to stop just before hitting him.
"Hey kid, watch it!" the driver yelled, "you have a death wish or something!"
"Touma, seriously, why are you in such a rush?" Shizuri asked, thankful that her brother was not hit.
"I'll explain in a minute," Touma replied as he grabbed his sister's hand and pulled the both of them into the passenger side of the truck, "Please, just give us a ride, I'm begging you."
"What the hell! I'm not running a tax service here, kid!" the driver screamed.
"This is important," Touma explained, closing the passenger door, "It's our father. I think his life is in danger."
"What?" Shizuri asked in shock.
"If my sister and I don't get to him, he'll die. We have to save him somehow," Touma said with a bow, "Please, help us."
Before the Kamijou siblings knew it, the truck driver was in tears over Touma's heartfelt plea. Moved by Touma's words, the driver instantly agreed to drive them back to the resort, putting the peddle to the metal and driving much faster than a cargo truck reasonably should. Meanwhile, Shizuri was completely lost as to what was happening, only really catching the fact that their father was in danger.
'What the hell is happening?' Shizuri thought to herself.
Upon arriving back at the hotel, Touma and Shizuri ran up to the front door and met up with Kanzaki.
"I need to find my father, and Misha too!" Touma exclaimed, out of breath from his run.
"That's what I wanted to ask you. You where the one chasing after her," the saint replied, "As for your father, Mister Touya is at the beach. What exactly is going on?"
"I'd like to know that as well," Shizuri demanded, stepping forward, "Everything has been completely crazy since you and that Misha girl showed up here, and I think I deserve an explanation as to why."
"I'm afraid this doesn't concern you," Kanzaki replied offhandedly.
"Like hell it doesn't!" Shizuri yelled, creating a ball of frozen electrons as a threat, "I just wanted to reconnect with my family, then you two show up and suddenly my father's life is at stake! This definitely concerns me!"
"Sis, calm down," Touma ordered, placing his hand on her shoulder and negating her power, "Let me explain."
"Touma…" Kanzaki warned.
Touma tenderly raised his hand, silently telling Kanzaki to be quiet. Shizuri was his sister. It was his responsibility as her brother to make sure she didn't get involved in magic. Once Kanzaki agreed to let him handle it, Touma turned to his sister and explained everything. Or at the very least, told her a convincing half-truth.
According to Touma, Kanzaki was from a group of undercover investigators that he had worked with in the past on a small handful of Judgement cases. These cases were usually very serious cases that were not to reach the public eye, so secrecy was of the utmost importance. Misha was from another branch of the same organization as Kanzaki and they were both assigned the same case. Their individual investigations brought them to the conclusion that the culprit of their most recent case was someone in the area, and people directly connected to Touma himself were prime suspects, specifically Touya. When Touma found out, he got Kanzaki to agree to let him help, as well as prove his father innocent. Unfortunately, Misha wasn't one to listen to others, so now Touya was in danger of her making a hasty conclusion.
Surprisingly enough, Shizuri was willing to accept that story. She said that knowing Touma's previous history with Judgement over that summer, she wasn't too surprised that he was involved in such high-level cases. Touma thanked his few lucky starts that the half-truths were enough to cover up the lies.
"I would like you two to stay here," Kanzaki ordered, "Given what Touma here has told me, this is my task now. I will take your father into my-"
"Not happening," Touma cut her off, "I'm going to take care of this, not you."
"But Touma-," Kanzaki tried to argue.
"But nothing, Kanzaki," Touma said firmly, "Don't you see, Touya Kamijou is my father! He's the only dad I have. This is up to me."
"In that case, I'm coming with you," Shizuri insisted, "He's my father too."
"No Sis, I need you to stay here," Touma denied, "This just official became professional Judgement business for me, even if we're outside of Academy City. I can't allow you to get involved."
"Are you forgetting that I'm the fourth ranked Level 5? I can help you protect dad."
"Which is exactly why I need you to stay here," Touma reaffirmed, "Once I get dad, I'll bring him back here for shelter. I need you to be ready with fortified defenses so we can protect him."
"Touma-," Shizuri tried to argue, but was ignored as Touma started to run towards the beach.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine!" Touma called back, "I'm not going to let anything happen to dad!"
Shizuri tried to chase after him but was stopped when Kanzaki grabbed her shoulder.
"You should have more faith in you brother," the saint advised, "He is a very capable young man. I trust him to keep your father safe."
Shizuri, despite her urge to chase after Touma, conceded to Kanzaki's advice. All she could do was watch as Touma disappeared behind the curve of the hill.
"Be careful," she whispered, holding her hand over her heart.
Special End Card Segment: Animan Temple
"Greetings everyone. Priestess Number 1, Himegami, here," a young priestess with snow white hair and red eyes greeted with a bow, "Master Animan is in no condition to host today's End Card Segment, so I will be taking over for today."
Behind her, muffled screams could be heard, as well as the creaking of wood as if something was swinging back and forth. Inside the temple was Animan himself, tied upside down with a rope to the ceiling and gagged with a bandanna. He swung back and fourth like a pendulum, desperately screaming behind his gag as he tried to reach his Mugen in the far corner of the room.
Himegami could only laugh stiffly at the sight of her master in such an embarrassing state.
"It seems he has yet to calm down and return to reality since Angel Fall took effect, and that was a month ago," the girl explained, "Unfortunately, I had to restrain him so he didn't cause any more trouble. Don't ask how I managed that when he was swinging around a reality warping sword. I'm not too sure how I pulled it off myself."
In the background, Animan could be heard screaming what was most likely slander at the girl, claiming her to be an impostor.
"Well, looks like we're out of time for today. Come back soon of the next chapter, 'Truths be Told'. See you all soon," Priestess Number 1 said with a bow, ignoring the muffled screams of her delusional master.