I'm back with yet another chapter. Sorry this one took a bit of time, but I have a good reason for it... maybe.
Truth is, I am currently working on a collaboration with one Ray O'Neill. This collaboration is an expansion and continuation of his previous story, "Swords of a brother", a Fariy Tail X Fate crossover where Shirou Emiya is reborn as Shirou Strauss. The two of use exchange ideas and I turn those ideas into an expanded story, altering the events of Fairy Tail with the simple inclusion of a man with the soul of Shirou Emiya. If you're a longtime reader of mine (and you probably are considering how many chapters in this story is), you should know that these types of stories are my bread and butter (aka, literally what this story is). Thus, in addition to writing this chapter, I was also busy writing the first chapter of our collaborative work, "Swords of a Brother Unlimited", the first chapter of which is now up. If you're interested, check out Ray O'Neill's original story, then come back and read the first chapter of my expansion. Of course, finish reading this chapter before you go.
From now on, I will be alternating between working on this story and working on "Swords of a Brother Unlimited". After I release a chapter for one story, I'll work on the next chapter of the other story.
Now, with that announcment out of the way, let's get these reviews taken care of.
Healthcare: Glad you think so. I hope you like what comes for the rest of the arc.
SolanaLeonhart: You know Touma, always breaking down other people's illusions. In this case, Aritomi's illusions of superiority.
BlueJack22: Thanks. Kind of had to mention the space elevator during this arc considering it plays an important role later on.
felixiglesias8: Yeah, that was my favorite addition to the chapter.
RedSS: Big spoiler on that front, but I have some major plans in store that I think you're going to like.
Kim454: There's nothing like a battle of ideals. Always get chills from those.
OnePunchPlayer: No worries. Just a simple case of metaforgotten.
mohamadstar94: Personally my favorite change to the arc. Just got to love the early encounters.
5waydragon: Watched through the entirety of the Silent Party Arc before writing any of this. No such interaction between Febri and Mikoto exists. Plus, Febri was closest to Saten anyway, so it wouldn't make sense to do that. Truly, the franchises biggest mystery isn't Imagine Breaker, or even Aleister Crowley, it is the guy with blue hair and piercings.
Guest (1): Actually, the key point in this arc with Touma and Shizuri is that they are constantly separated because of the influx in jobs that ITEM has been getting. Though that was pretty obvious from the previous chapter alone.
Anycartoon123 (Guest): Touma will be playing some significance in this arc. He won't be taking center stage, but he will be sharing the spotlight with the girls. Unfortunately, Saten is in not position to be getting such a weapon. The only reason Touma has ODD in the first place is because he's a member of Judgement conducting field testing and reporting back the the Disciplinary Committee to further upgrade and improve it. Since Saten is just a civilian, she has no reason to be given such equipment.
pao pao (Guest): Thank you.
Percyfan1998: Yeah, the inconsistencies with the timeline were my biggest problem too. Particularly the shot of Accelerator with Last Order at the end, implying that the Three Stories Arc had come the pass, even though Mikoto had a story involved in that arc and Silent Party is supposed to start immediately after the Sisters Arc. That is one point I am determined to correct.
ahsoei: I'll try and improve on the dialogue. Actually, the point was that Touma and Shizuri were supposed to have very little interaction because of how busy she is. Besides, it's been 10 years and she's smart. The doting would have to have been toned down at least a little bit.
Guest (2): Comedy comes in threes, as any good comedian knows. Yeah, Silent Party is a case of good concept, bad execution. My main goal is to improve that.
Archangel Gabe (Guest): Glad you like the story so far. Honestly, I thought the Silent Party Arc was alright and stuff like calling in all of Judgement made some level of sense considering all the incriminating evidence against STUDY, but I will admit the upper atmosphere part could have been done better. Of course, that is my aim, to see how events play out with reinvented relationships and lore, and potentially improve on what was already created.
Xloki05: Wow, that's high praise. Thank you.
TheTimeWalker94: Comedy comes in threes! Oh, the little girl is closer to a can of worms. An adorable can of worms, but a can of worms none the less.
Generation Zero: I have big plans for this arc. As one of the more controversial arcs, this arc will me much more of a challenge to improve upon, but I'm willing to take that challenge.
Kami (Guest): Yeah, they sure can be showoff at times. Goes to explained STUDY's motives, though.
Chroma (Guest): Your wish will be granted.
MasterHamsters: Glad you liked the story so much. Yeah, the earlier arcs are a bit of an old shame, but I like to think I improved considerably over the last year. My biggest issue is getting the ball rolling, as I'm sure you noticed with how pitifully short the first two chapters were compared to the rest of them. Given how busy my life can get and my current update rate, Railgun III should be out by the time I get to Index II's Daihasei Arc.
RPGPersona: Thus starts the controversial Silent Party Arc. Hopefully, my usual writing style and revive this arc in a much more enjoyable form. From what you've thought of the last chapter, looks like I off to a good start.
HeroX: Thank you so much. Gald you liked the chapter.
Robby (Guest): ... I don't even know what language that is, and I don't trust Google Translate enough to try translating it.
Guest13 (Guest): Let's see, he finally reunited with his best friend but did so in the most horrible way possible and was seen at his lowest and most irredeemable state. Yeah, I'd keep my distance too if I was Yuri.
dan (Guest): Here you go.
Well, that took a while. You know the drill. Disclaimer, story, Animan Temple.
Disclaimer: All characters and plotlines of the "A Certain" franchise are credited to Kazuma Kamachi.
Chapter 45: Say My Name
When the group first found the little girl named Febri, they didn't know what to expect. The circumstances surrounding her were already strange enough, what with her just sleeping in a flowerbed in the middle of a random park in Academy City. Talking to her had been a struggle at first, but the guiding hand of the experienced older sister named Ruiko Saten was able to make progress. Getting the girl's name was easy enough after that, but the following words from her mouth left the group nothing but confusion.
"Mikoto Misaka."
That was all the girl said, leaving the group in utter confusion. While the girl who goes by that name was among the group, she had never seen or even heard of Febri in her entire life. While it was true that Mikoto was rather famous as a Level 5 Esper, the little girl in front of her seemed to only know the name and nothing more. In an effort to further their investigation, Mikoto tried to speak to the girl herself, only for Febri to run off and hide behind Saten's leg.
It was clear to the group that poor Febri didn't feel too comfortable with Mikoto, which made her knowing the Level 5's name all the more suspicious. It was an especially low blow for the Mikoto herself, who had always seen herself as good with kids. Not to be outdone by Saten in that department, she tried a different tactic for interacting with the mysterious girl.
Reaching into her pocket, the Railgun pulled out one of her most prized collectables, a Pink Gekota Finger Puppet she found as a prize in a soda can. Stuffing a spare bobby pin in the puppet, she held the little frog in her hand in front of the shy girl's face. With a little bit of electromagnetism thanks to her ability, Mikoto was able to have the puppet move on its own, instantly captivating the little girl.
"Yo! My name is Gekota!" Mikoto said in a croaky voice, "Your name is Febri, right? Maybe you can tell me something?"
Unfortunately for Mikoto, she never got to finish what she was saying through the little frog. Before she knew it, Febri snatched the figure puppet from the Level 5's hands, running off with it without a care in the world.
"Well, should have seen that coming," Touma sighed as he watched the little girl run.
"Ah! You only have a one-in-twenty-four chance of getting a Pink Gekota!" Mikoto cried.
"Honestly Sissy, are you really going to make a big deal over a stupid finger puppet?" Kuroko asked in exasperation.
Acting quickly, Kuroko teleported away and returned with Febri in hand. Once she did, Mikoto tried to lecture the little girl about stealing other people's stuff, only for the thief to hide behind Saten's leg once again.
"Aw, that's adorable!" Index cooed, eyeing the gothic Lolita.
"I think it's clear who she trusts the most," Kuroko noted.
"You know, that Gekota isn't yours," Saten gently reprimanded, "It belongs to Misaka. Why don't we give it back?"
"No! It's my Gekota!" Febri whined, clearly not willing to let the toy go.
"Come on, don't be like that," Touma said, following Saten's earlier example and getting down to eye level, "I can understand why you want that Gekota so much. I will admit that he's pretty cute, and a lot of other people thinks so too. But you can't just take things from other people like that. You wouldn't like it if someone just took something from you, right? So how about you give Mikoto that Gekota back, and we work on getting you your own Gekota?"
"No! This Gekota is mine!" Febri yelled defiantly, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
"…Huh? The guilt card usually works whenever I play it," Touma mused.
"Well, we tried," Saten sighed defeated.
After that hopeless attempt to retrieve the kidnapped frog from the little girl, the group contacted Konori at the 177th Judgement Branch Office to see if she could find anything on Febri based on what little information the managed to procure from her. Unfortunately, the search did not turn up very promising results. After checking both the listings for lost children and missing persons, she found no mention of Febri. At that point, the sun had gone down, and the streetlights had turned on, so it was too late to grab a hold of someone from Anti-Skill to help them. This left the group with no choice but to take care of Febri for the night until they could get in touch with Anti-Skill the next morning. Only question was who was going to take the girl in.
"How about I take her for the night? I mean, just look at her," Saten suggested, nodding to the girl sleeping on her back, "I have a little brother, so taking care of children is nothing new for me."
"We can have you do that, Flipper," Touma injected, "You're already taking care of Index. You don't need another headache on top of her."
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Index cried, clearly offended.
"Really, I don't mind at all," Saten insisted, "I think having both of them around will be fun. You know what they say, the more the merrier. Though, if a certain someone whose just had a roommate move out is willing to lend a hand, I'd really appreciated. What do you think, Uiharu?"
"Of course I'll help!" Uiharu cheered without any hesitation.
"Well, guess that settles it," Konori said over Kuroko's phone on speaker, "I'll see you guys tomorrow. Hopefully, we can get everything sorted out then."
With the plan for the night settled, the group continued along Saten's shortcut before splitting up. Uiharu, Saten, Index, and Febri headed for Uiharu's dorm, ready for what was sure to be a night of family-like antics. Mikoto and Kuroko headed for their dorm in hopes of escaping their dorm manager's wrath, with Mikoto's pockets now one Gekota Finger Puppet lighter. That left Touma on his own as he strolled towards the apartment that he and his sister now shared.
Unfortunately for Touma, his stroll home was interrupted by an email on his phone that Shizuri had sent him. Once again, she had been called out on a last-minute job and wasn't going to be home for dinner. In fact, she might not even be home that night at all. He let out a heavy sigh after reading the message, clearly annoyed by the reoccurring jobs Shizuri has been getting. Begrudgingly putting away his phone, Touma continued his trek home in silence.
When he finally got home, Touma found the apartment completely dark, a clear indication that Shizuri really was out on a job. He didn't even bother announcing his arrival as there was no one there to greet him in return. Turning on the lights, Touma got to work on a simple dinner for two, hamburg steaks with rice and mixed vegetables. He plated both meals before covering one of them and storing it away in the fridge. Touma then took the second plate to the dinner table and at in silence.
As he ate alone, Touma couldn't help but notice how empty the apartment felt. While he was grateful for the amount of space Shizuri was able to procure for them, the fact that she spent so much time not at home with him really made the space feel like a burden. While he did live alone for ever since he started middle school, he always lived in a school dorm room intended for a single person. Having the space intended for two people all to himself really extenuated just how lonely living alone could be.
'Guess this is how Headband felt when Haruee first moved out," Touma thought to himself as continued to eat, 'I wonder how the girls are handling Febri right now.'
Once he finished his meal, Touma quickly washed the dishes and took a shower before heading to bed. As he tucked himself under the sheets of his bed, he caught a glimpse of the small, metal charm that sat on his desk. After moving in with Shizuri, Touma had kept the house shaped milagro his father gave him in plain view in his room to potentially bless their new home. If the thing had any power at all to begin with, Touma was starting to think his Imagine Breaker was negating any ambient blessings it was granting. With such a big apartment this so few regular occupants, it wasn't feeling like much of a home.
In another part of District 7, Uiharu, Saten, Index, and Febri had safely arrived at Uiharu's dorm room. When they arrived, it became apparent that the little girl they took in was hungry, and the lollipops she was constantly sucking on where not going to satisfy her hunger. Thus, Uiharu and Saten started preparing dinner while Index kept Febri occupied by playing with her.
As the two middle school students cooked their meal for the night, the couldn't help but fawn over the sight of Index and Febri playing in the main room. Thanks to her perfect memory and her fascination with a certain magical girl anime, Index knew storyline of Magical Powered Kanamin to a T. Thus, the two girls were currently roleplaying various episodes from the show, with Index as the antagonist, Febri as Kanamin, and Gekota and Sphinx as a magical familiars. They even went as far as to use Febri's lollipop as Kanamin's Lotus Staff.
After a bit of waiting, the four girls gathered around the short table for dinner. The meal consisted of hamburg steaks, white rice with green beans, a green salad, and noodles. Febri's meal had the additional touch of a Gekota flag sticking out of the rice. The whole meal looked particularly delicious and healthy, perfect for a growing, little girl. Sphinx sat next to Index on the floor with a dish of homemade cat food.
"Thank you for the food!" the girls cheered as they started digging in.
As per usual, Index wasted no time digging into her food. Immediately after saying thanks, she stuffed a hamburg steak in her mouth and made it disappear. Saten and Uiharu did the same, but were much more reserved in they're eating, taking it one bite at a time. However, the gave pause when they noticed Febri was a bit suspicious of the food in front of her.
"What's wrong? Doesn't it look good?" Saten asked in concern.
Seeing that Febri was still unsure of the food on her plate, Saten took matters into her own hands. Taking her own fork, Saten picked up one of the mini hamburg steaks and held it to Febri's mouth. She then got Febri to say "Ah", at which point she stuffed the steak in the little girl's mouth. Having had her first bite of the food, Febri instantly brightened up, mesmerized by the taste. Soon enough, she was eating away at her dinner at the same rate as Index, something that Saten and Uiharu found very pleasing.
After cleaning up dinner, the four girls and the cat took a quick bath together to get ready for bed. The bath was particularly hectic, especially with the inclusion of the little girl and kitten. Sphinx was constantly fighting with the girls to avoid getting wet, and Febri had more than a few slip ups when handling the showerhead and washtubs. Once they were all cleaned up, Febri was dressed in a set of children's pajamas the group bought on their way home and put to bed with a bedtime story. It was just like a night with any normal family.
As they watched the little girl sleep, Saten couldn't help but notice that Febri still had a lollipop in her hand. Curiously, the Level 0 pulled the half-eaten candy out of the little girl's hand and sampled a small lick for herself. To say she found the flavor of the lollipop surprising would be an understatement.
The next day, the group had gathered at the 177th Judgement Branch Office to continue their search for Febri's origins. While Uiharu was sifting through the databases and Index was occupying Febri, Saten was presenting everyone who had not watched Febri last night with the half-eaten lollipop she sampled and encouraged them to taste it for themselves. Their reactions to the candy were all exactly the same as Saten's, completely disgusted.
"My goodness, that's an intense flavor," Konori noted after sampling the lollipop.
"I know! Crazy right?" Saten exclaimed.
"The color makes you think it'd be something like Sour Apple, but I wouldn't be caught dead calling the flavor delectable," Touma moaned, desperately trying to forget the taste in his mouth.
"Hard to believe Febri just keeps sucking away at them like they're nothing," Mikoto added, slumped in her chair.
"Honestly Saten, you're terrible," Uiharu grumbled from her computer, "She did the same thing to me last night. 'Hey, this is really tasty. You should try it'. Even Index didn't want to eat one of those lollipops after tasting that first one."
"Oh, let it go. I said I was sorry," Saten begged in a jubilant tone, clearly indicating she still found the trick amusing.
While the two friends were arguing over the morality of Saten's method of sharing information, Konori approached the two playing to check on them.
"You two having fun together?" the Judgement chief asked.
"You bet!" Index replied.
"Yeah! Index is really fun to play with!" Febri added.
"Well, I'm glad you're having fun, Febri!" Mikoto jumped in, desperately trying to gain the little girl's attention.
Said little girl remained silent, instead choosing to leave the table and run behind Saten's leg.
"Tough luck, Zapper," Touma called out from his seat.
"I really don't need to hear that from you of all people, idiot," Mikoto grumbled.
A little over an hour passed and the group was still having no luck in finding missing person or lost child reports of Febri. With no such reports existing, that meant one of two things. She either didn't officially exist at all in any of the databases, or she was a Child Error, abandoned in the middle of Academy City. As the group worried for Febri's quality of life, they were greeted with a surprise visit from a fellow Child Error.
"Hi everyone," Haruee greeted as she entered the office.
"Oh, hi Haruee," Uiharu replied, "What are you doing here?"
"We settled from the move, so I thought I'd come visit everyone here," Haruee explained before noticing the sleeping Febri on the couch, "Who's this adorable little girl.
"This is Febri. We found her sleeping in a flowerbed the other day," Touma explained, "We ran some database searches to see if there are any missing person cases on her, but we haven't had any luck. We're pretty sure she's a Child Error based on that."
"Really?" Haruee asked in concern, "That's too bad."
"It looks like we'll have to wait until someone from an institution can come and take her in," Konori deduced, placing a hand on her hip.
"I hope she gets into a good one," the fellow Child Error said meekly.
"There are good homes and bad homes?" Mikoto inquired in intrigue.
"From what I've heard, things can get pretty horrible depending on the facility that you're in," Haruee admitted.
"Maybe… we can choose where she goes," Saten suggested, "Uiharu, do you know if there's any websites that rate and review these kinds of institutions."
"No, sorry," Uiharu apologized, "They don't really do that."
"Hey, I have an idea," Mikoto beamed, eyeing Touma, "We already know a Child Error facility that's all about quality."
"What do you mean?" Touma asked, put off by why the Level 5 was looking at him in specific.
"Come on, you know the place," Mikoto nudged, "You of all people should know just how great that place is."
"Oh! Now I get it," Touma exclaimed, pulling out his cell phone and dialing a number.
After a few seconds of dial tone, Touma's phone call was answered and he was greeted with a very familiar and very warm voice.
"Hello? This is Asunaro Park. How may I help you?" the voice said over the phone.
"Hi Miss Shigenomori. It's been a while," Touma greeted, "It's me, Touma. Touma Kamijou."
"Oh, Touma! It's good to hear from you again," the caretaker replied, "What can I help you with?"
"Well, my friends and I found this little girl and we're pretty sure she's a Child Error," Touma explained over the phone, "We were wondering if you'd be able to take her in."
"Of course! We'd love to have her," Shigenomori replied.
"Awesome!" Touma cheered, "We're in luck, ladies! Febri is getting a new home at Asunaro Park!"
"Asunaro Park?" Haruee asked.
"It's a facility in District 13," Uiharu explained, "We've been there before. We know firsthand that it's a warm, welcoming place."
"Kamijou actually lived there for a bit during elementary school," Kuroko added, "They take care of both Child Errors and regular students that are too young to take care of themselves while they are studying away from home."
"Actually, now that I think about it, that's probably why the place was so nice in the first place," Saten mused, "I mean, if half of its population consists of regular students, they have to be pretty nice so they don't anger the parents, so the Child Errors benefit from sharing the facility."
"I'm happy to help. Of course, It will be some time before we'll be ready to take the girl in," Shigenomir elaborated over the phone, "We'll get to preparations right way, but it will take about five days."
"Five days, huh?" Touma murmured.
"That shouldn't a problem," Saten cut in, "I'd be more than happy to take care of Febri until then."
"I'll help take care of her too," Uiharu added.
"Me too! Playing with Febri is so fun!" Index joined in.
"Same with me," Mikoto followed.
"I guess I will assist in child care as well," Kuroko sighed somewhat reluctantly.
"Guess that settles it," Touma mused, "We'll all take care of Febri until you're able to take her in."
"Glad to hear it," the director of Asunaro Park chimed, "Alright, we'll be ready to take her in in five days."
"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, I managed to find Shizuri," Touma added quickly, "We actually moved in together not too long ago. She's apparently been a Level 5 under an alias the entire time."
"That's wonderful," Shigenomori beamed, "I'd love it if you two could visit some time. I'm sure the children would love to meet her."
"We'll be sure to do that once she stops being so busy," Touma promised, "Alright then, see you in five days, Miss Shigenomori."
As Touma hung up the phone, Febri started to stir from her nap. Sitting up on the couch, the little girl was greeted by the sight of her favorite among her new friends, Saten.
"So, little one, do you mind staying with us for just a little bit longer?" Saten asked.
"With you, Ruiko?" Febri asked in turn.
"Yeah, and everyone else too!" the Level 0 jubilantly replied.
"You mean with Uiha?"
"Yup," Uiharu replied.
"And Kuroko?"
"That's right," Kuroko answered.
"And Index?"
"Of course!" the nun responded.
"And Touma?'
"You know it!"
"And Mii?" Febri asked, purposefully skipping Mikoto, much to the Level 5's disappointment.
"Of course, I'll be here as well!" the branch chief chimed.
"Five days, huh?" Uiharu mused, "That means Febri will be with us until the day of the Reach Assembly."
"Speaking of which, it's about time for the on-site security meeting, isn't it?" Kuroko inquired.
"I swear, if you two leave me behind by teleporting away again, I'm gonna lose it," Touma grumbled, much to the amusement of the Judgement Branch Chief.
With their next destination decided, the group left the office to head to the scheduled meeting. Haruee left to take care of a few other errands, promising to visit again some time. As the child error said goodbye, Mikoto could only grimace in frustration as Febri warmly saw Haruee off while saying her name.
On the train ride to the university holding the security meeting, Febri stared out the window, watching all the buildings go by. Index kneeled next to the little girl, using her photographic memory to point out structures of interest, specifically the businesses that sold food. All the while, Mikoto watched the little girl that refused to say her name with a determined look, something that did not go unnoticed to Touma.
"You doing okay, Zapper?" the Level 0 asked quietly in concern, "You're looking kind of frustrated there."
"It's nothing," Mikoto replied, looking away, "I'm just a little bothered by how Febri knows my name, but doesn't seem to what to have anything to do with me."
"Is that so? I almost thought if had to do with the fact that she stole that figure puppet from you yesterday," Touma admitted, "Though I guess her knowing your name is a bit strange, especially considering you've never met before. Then again, you're pretty well known, so I'm sure she heard your name somewhere."
"Yeah, I guess," Mikoto shrugged, still not looking Touma in the eye.
"If you're still upset about her not liking you, don't worry too much about it. I'm sure she'll warm up to you eventually. People always do," Touma encouraged, "I mean, look at me. Before we started hanging out, I would have preferred to keep my distance from you as much as possible, and now I'm contemplating whether or not I would want you as a girlfriend."
"Does this mean you finally have an answer for me?" Mikoto teased with a smirk.
"Still working on that," Touma chuckled, "But I do think I have an answer for your Febri problem. Just wait until we get to the security meeting."
"I'll hold you too it," Mikoto sighed.
When the group finally arrived at their destination, those of the group unfamiliar with the Academic Reach Assembly were more than a little disappointed. By Saten's own confession, she was expecting something more akin to a festival, something that could keep Febri interested. When she explained this, Touma couldn't help but snark at the fact that he expletively said the assembly was less like a festival and more like a science fair just the other day.
As the group made their way through the university grounds, they had the surprising pleasure of running into Kongou, Wannai, and Awatsuki. Apparently, someone from the Tokiwodai Swim Club had a presentation at and the group was there to help her set it up. While together, Febri was introduced to the Tokiwodai trio and instantly warmed up to them, much to Mikoto's growing frustration.
"Easy, Zapper," Touma warned, gripping Mikoto's shoulder with his right hand, "Don't worry, I'll put my plan into action soon enough."
"Oh, by the way, Kamijou, I wanted to say thanks to you again," Kongou cut in, "For the other day, I mean."
"It's no big deal, really," Touma insisted, waving off the topic.
"Oh? What did Kamijou here do for you, if you don't mind me asking?" Saten asked, intrigued.
"Well, we where in town the other day when Kongou managed to stop a purse snatcher, but some guy was talking down at her for her methods," Wannai explained with a blush, "But then Kamijou can in and stood up for Kongou's defense."
"He totally torn into the man's criticisms and made him look like fool," Awatsuki added with her own blush, "It was really cool."
"Wow, you're quite the lady-killer, Kamijou," Saten teased with a nudge, "Maybe Kami Disease is a real thing."
"Come on! Don't tell me you've been taking Tsuchimikado and Aogami seriously!" Touma yelled in frustration, "Besides, how can that thing be real if people like you and Headband haven't been affected?!"
"Who says we haven't?" Saten turned away, "Uiharu has been sharing stories of your heroics with friends like you were some gallant knight, and you played a big part in saving my life during the Level Upper incident."
"I hate you so much right now," Touma grumbled.
Soon enough, it became time for the group to part ways. Kongou and her friends went off one way to continue their work, and everyone in Judgement went off in another. Thus, Touma had his opportunity to enact his plan to bring Mikoto and Febri closer together. As the group was splitting up, he told Index about a research project developing a special food pellet that could mimic the flavor of almost any food and provide essential nutrition. It was a supposed effort to create an easier to carry and preserve rations for emergency situations. This instantly got Index interested prompting Touma to insist on leading her to the alleged venue. He then gave Saten a subtle wink, silently sending her the details of his plan. The rumor hunter instantly caught on, asking Uiharu to show her the way to the bathroom, insisting that Febri stay with Mikoto.
With the group now divided, the members of Judgement went off to have their security meeting. As they walked away, Touma was fairly certain that nothing could possibly go wrong. Unfortunately, as soon as the thought crossed his mind, Touma started feeling like he jinxed the whole operation.
With her and Febri finally alone together, Mikoto did whatever she could to get Febri to like her. At the same time, she desperately tried to retrieve her stolen finger puppet. No matter what she said, Mikoto could barely get the little girl to say more than a word to her. When Febri did speak, it was only to ask about the rest of the group that had left. Getting desperate, Mikoto resolved to unleash her ultimate weapon for getting children's attention, the super rare, one in every sixty cans, Rainbow Gekota Finger Puppet.
However, while she was busy devising a plan to get Febri's attention, Mikoto failed to notice that someone else had beat her to the punch with playing the Gekota card. While she wasn't looking, a man in a Gekota costume promoting a Frog Warp experiment walked by, instantly captivating Febri. The little girl, drawing in by child friendly costume, gave chase, steadily keeping in pace with the frog as he continued to walk down the path. When Mikoto finally turned around, all she saw was an abandoned Pink Gekota Finger Puppet.
Meanwhile, Febri continued to follow the costumed man until he was reached a shady spot next to one of the university's buildings. She watched with childlike wonder as the frog sat down on a nearby bench. However, that wonder quickly turned into shock and fear when the frog pulled his own head off, revealing a very exhausted and sweaty Pierce Aogami.
"Man, third day on the job and I am already super exhausted," the blue-haired boy panted.
After catching his breath, the high school boy noticed the little girl standing nearby. Like everyone else before him, he was instantly captivated by how adorable Febri was. Unfortunately, her reaction to him was nowhere near as positive as his reaction to her, as she immediately ran away from him. What had to be the lowest blow for Aogami had to the fact that he had barely said anything, and the little girl was already running away from him.
After just getting out of the security meeting for a break, Touma and the rest of Judgement Branch 177 were shocked to hear from Mikoto that Febri had gone missing. Worried for the little girl, the group split up to cover more ground and increase their chances of finding her. In his frantic search to find Febri, Touma ended up running into Aogami while he was still on his break.
"Whoa, hey Kami," Aogami greeted, "You doing okay? You look out of breath."
"No time for that. Listen, have you seen a little girl in a black, gothic Lolita dress recently?" Touma panted.
"Yeah, she ran away from me a few minutes ago, that way," Aogami pointed, "Worse part is, I didn't even do anything the scare her off! Can you believe it?"
"Considering I found you without your Gekota head on, very much so," Touma deadpanned before running off, "Thanks, Aogami, I owe you a dirty magazine."
Continuing to run, Touma eventually found himself on an overhang looking into a pit in the middle of the university grounds. From where he stood, he could see Febri in the middle of the pit, with Kongou not to far away and Mikoto on another overhang to his right.
'Thank goodness we found her,' Touma thought to himself in relief, 'Looks like Airhead and Zapper beat me to her.'
Unfortunately, that relief didn't last long as averting one crisis lead to another. In the pit with Febri were three Security Robots, all inactive. However, the robots suddenly stood up and started racing towards the defenseless and scared Febri. Sadly, Touma was in no position to be of any direct help, so he did the next best thing.
"Mikoto! Rouge robots on your two!" Touma yelled.
Responding immediately, Mikoto jumped into action, using reverse electromagnetism to propel herself off the overhang's guardrails. With a determined yell, she grabbed the three runaway robots with some more electromagnetism before flinging them away from Febri, leaving them limp on the ground. Once she landed, Mikoto turned around the recently found child, dropping to her knees in relief.
"Good, you're okay," Mikoto sighed.
"Nice job there, Zapper," Touma complimented as he climbed down the stairs into the pit.
Now safe, Febri began to well up tears in her eyes before erupting into a full-blown bawl. Seeking comfort among those she considered her friends, she immediately started running in Mikoto's direction. Believing herself to have finally earned the little girl's favor, the Railgun opened her arms for a hug, only to have Febri run right past her and into the arms of Saten, who had arrived on the scene with everyone else after the robots had been taken care of.
"Tough luck, Zapper," Touma said, patting his friend's shoulder.
"Oh well," Mikoto shrugged, standing up, "I'm just glad she's safe."
After everyone calmed down, Mikoto apologized to everyone for not keeping a closer eye on Febri. However, Touma and Saten insisted that they were the ones at fault for causing so much trouble, as it was their plan to leave Febri alone with Mikoto and making her worry. From there, they requested that Febri apologized as well, as it was her running off that caused Mikoto so much grief to being with.
While Mikoto reassured the little girl that no apologies were needed, she was surprised to have received one in the form of a hug from Febri. However, the surprises didn't stop there, as Febri once again stole the Pink Gekota Finger Puppet from Mikoto's pocket, running off with it.
"Thank you, Mikoto! Bye-bye now!" Febri called out as she ran.
While Mikoto was inicially shocked at the brazen theft, her frown quickly turned into a grin when she realize just how much friendlier Febri was acting towards her.
"Hey you, get back here!" Mikoto yelled jokingly.
"No!" Febri laughed as she continued to run.
"I'm gonna get you!" Mikoto warned as she gave chase.
"Well, that worked out nicely," Touma mused with a smile.
"I knew they'd be friends eventually. They just needed a while," Uiharu chimed in.
"I'm glad to see them enjoying themselves," Kuroko added.
"Seeing them together like that certainly does make worth all the trouble I had to go through," Kongou admitted.
"Honestly Kongou, you're going to take all the credit?" Kuroko asked skeptically, "That isn't very graceful of you. Downright petty, in fact."
"But I really was helpful this time, I swear," Kongou insisted, "You just didn't see it is all."
"Nice to see you two getting along just the same," Touma chuckled as he watched.
In some unknown location in Academy City, there was a meeting among five people in lab coats, six if you include the man speaking to them over a audio feed. They were all intellectuals worthy of praise for their academic accomplishments. However, their current dealings were not as praiseworthy as they involved in involuntary testing of human subjects.
"As you know, there are only seven Level 5s here in Academy City," the man on the video feed reported, "And now, in addition to the fourth ranked, we'll be able to experiment on the third ranked as well. Truly, a stroke of good luck."
"In that case, I move we put it to a vote," one of the men in the room said, standing up from his seat, "Let's see a show of hands. All in favor of conducting the experiment on Railgun?"
Four hands were raised.
"And of course, I am in favor as well," the man speaking remotely added, "I would also like to report another potential test subject. A certain strange addition, if you will."
"What is it that you have found?" a woman among the group asked.
"It would appear that the Railgun is regularly accompanied by one Touma Kamijou. The boy rumored to possess the ability to negate other abilities," the absent man explained, "I propose we see just how true the rumors and how he's ability matches to our research."
"All in favor of conducting the experiment on Touma Kamijou?" another man inquired.
Once again, four hands were raised.
Special End Card Segment: Animan Temple
"Welcome back to Animan Temple, everyone!" the master of the temple cheered, "I'm your host, Animan von Elysium X!"
"Priestess Number 1 is here as well," Himegami said with a bow, "Always a pleasure."
"Not much of a change this time around, huh," Animan mused, leaning on his sword.
"There wasn't much to work with to begin with," Himegami agreed, "Such is the Silent Party Arc."
"You're still complaining about that? It's been years since the arc was first released," Animan sighed.
"Bad writing is still bad writing," Himegami reaffirmed, "No one does it better than the original creator. The anime staff should have just moved on to the next arc instead of creating their own."
"Man, I was hoping to cover more stuff than just your complaints, but now we're out of time," Animan lamented, "We'll see you all next time in the next chapter, 'Early Trials'."