Welcome back everyone! I've got a special treat for you all, as this is the first chapter of my very first original arc. Don't have a name for it just yet, but hopefully I'll come up with something by the time I wrap this up.

Thank you all for all the birthday wishes last chapter. Now, let's get those reviews responded to so you can get to the new original stuff.

jonathanblade00: Thank you so much! I wanted to give Touma plenty to do, while at the same time not taking away to much from the original cast. At this point, the only people not affected by Kami-yan Disease are those who see him as a brother, guys, and those who ship him with other people to begin with.

Herox100: Glad you liked the music. It's been a while since I found a scene were some music could enhance the experience, and Silent Party was just full of them.

BlueJack22: I can see why some people might not like the paintball scene. I just always found it weird that STUDY wasn't able to recover before Ekaterina II S transformed, so I wanted something that could feasibly keep them distracted long enough for Saten and Uiharu to get started. Plus, it was a great opertunity to reveal the 6th ranked Level 5 to the audience.

Anti-Mage 29: Glad you liked the finale. Aogami being the Number 6 has been in the cards for a long time in all honesty. Silent Party just gave me the perfect medium to bring it to light. Going to have to wait a few more chapters for Three Story Arc, but that doesn't mean magic is going to be put on the back burner again. Just wait until you read the chapter.

Aminadab Brulle: Glad you liked the chapter. Sadly, Three Stories Arc is not coming out just yet. Neither is Touma's response to Mikoto's confession. That's for much later. As in, Index II later. But don't worry, it's coming. As for Liberal Arts City, I'm actually planning on skipping that since they're be no way to get Touma involved, making it redundant, and I have yet to find somewhere where I can read the original short story in English for reference.

Healthcare: Glad you like what I'm doing with Shizuri character. I think the fight was one of the most expansive I've every written. While it reuses a lot of what was used in the anime, it adds a whole lot more with the added skills of new characters. While I am disappointed I wasn't able to get you to care too much about my version of the arc, I am glad I was able to make the arc actually matter in the grand scheme of things. Yeah, longer chapter meant more susceptible to errors, an especially glaring error was the fact that the site erased a file name in the story since it recognized it as a link. Maybe I'll get around to fixing that.

Anime-ted Life116: Oh, trust me. Trying to get the timeline to work right is no small feat. I'm surprised I've made it this far without the timeline completely falling apart. As you've guessed, there is a lot to expect with STUDY now working as part of Dr. Bakuya's research team. Of course, those innovations will be a long time coming. Good science takes time, after all. Nothing I write in the story is unintentional. No threads will be left hanging! This I swear! On that note, of course there's going to be an Endymion Incident! I wouldn't have mentioned the space elevator if there wasn't.

ArmoredCoreNineBall: That's always been my core formula. Keep the general structure the same, but change the intricacies behind it. It's the same story, but different. My first original arc is here, so let's hope it lives up to expectations.

Reader2001: Glad you liked the chapter. In-character doesn't always mean sit well with the fans, I always say. Just look at Shinji Ikari. Nope, he really did say gawky, as in clumsy or ungainly.

MrQuestionMark: I have to agree, the whole arc as I wrote it felt hit or miss, but I feel like I had a lot more hits then misses. This is especially true for the last chapter. I am glad I nailed the finer details with expanded backstories and motivations. I feel like a major flaw with the Silent Party Arc was the fact that Aritomi, as an antagonist, did not juxtapose with Mikoto very well. Mikoto's arc was about her learning to rely on her friends more, while Aritomi didn't really have a solid arc. I feel like my inclusion of Touma really fixed that, making it so Aritomi's arc was of a man of greatness seeking recognition in a misguided way as juxtaposed by Touma's arc as a relatively normal man who does great things and gains recognition while never seeking it out. And as we all saw, this change and chance for Aritomi to have a redemption arc opens the door for him and the rest of STUDY, giving them a chance to play a much larger role.

mohamadstar94: Thank you so much.

ahsoei: Hindsight's 20:20. Shizuri really should have had at least one more scene slipped in there somewhere.

felixiglesias8: Well, Class 1-7 has always been pretty close knit. I mean, just look at their performance in the Daihasei.

OnePunchPlayer: Thanks for the kind words. Wish I knew what anime you were comparing to.

vampireharry the 2: Thank you so much!

Isokage (Guest): Glad you liked the chapter. Other characters will be joining Touma in escapades outside of Academy City. It would be redundant of me to include those arcs if I didn't add more cast members. Who they are will be a surprise. If Accelerator had a pet, I'd say it's be a fluffy bunny to help with anger issues. If it works for literal half-demon Tom Lucitor, it could work for emotionally scared Yuri Suzushina. Plus, bunnies are adorable.

DATONEGUY (Guest): Thank you so much!

Lone Sheep (Guest): Thanks for the kind words!

Robby (Guest): Akan membantu jika Anda mengatakan sedang menulis dalam bahasa Indonesia.Hubungan membutuhkan waktu untuk berkembang. Saya tidak akan tergesa-gesa menuju kesimpulan tanpa keduanya terjadi setidaknya beberapa tanggal tes pertama.

Stitches (Guest): If that's the case, I'll consider it. I'm still a long bit away from reaching those events, so I have time to decide. As soon as I got started on planning the Silent Party Arc, I was already brainstorming ways to make it more believable and fix some of the scientific flubs J.C. Staff was known for making in its original content. Did the same thing with the Poltergeist Arc by outright avoiding the beam struggle between Mikoto and Therestina in the finale. I'm not about deliberate, huge changes. For me, it's all about the small changes that snowball later on into huge changes. So don't worry, Accelerator is getting that head injury. Of course, that's not to say it's never going to get completely fixed at some point.

janjakennen: Glad you liked the chapter. As you'll see in this chapter, this new, original arc will include both science and magic. You just have to wait and see who exactly are the players in this round.

5waydragon: Knowing those two, Tsuchimikado definitely does and they just never told Touma because he never asked. Don't worry about me. I've got a full body rubber suit on stand-by.

GhostlyStranger: Well, it wouldn't be an "A Certain" story if an arc didn't end in a manner like that. Really, who doesn't like to mess with people every so often?

Sword-of-Solomon: Glad you liked the chapter. I never write anything without intention. It may sound like an over-the-top snark, but it will come to a head eventually... in a couple of years given my current rate.

Lalrin Mawia: Thank you!

Rajarshi Sarkar: I'm glad you liked the chapter. Well, maybe I'll figure out what's missing some day and implement it in future chapters.

Ryder (Guest): Glad you liked the chapter. I wouldn't worry too much about the original arc. I've already have everything planned. Just need to put it to text.

thewiseguyalex: Glad you liked the chapter. Patience is a virtue, my friend. I have well established myself as Kamikoto trash, so I will become a thing in this story eventually, just not right now.

GENO BERSERK: Aihana is so unknown, I'm pretty sure the other Level 5's don't even know him either. He didn't even show up for the New Years Show in A Certain Idol Accelerator. When a supposed idol isn't even known, you know they're secretive.

ArcaRoz: Thank you so much! I'll be sure to meet everyone's expectations when I get to those arcs. I have big plans, and I intend to see them through.

LegallyRestricted: Had to get a Touma punch in there somewhere. Touma's Harem seemed a bit small for where I was in the story, so I decided to pump in a new addition. As I've said in story, STUDY has a lot of potential. I'd be a shame to let it go to waste.

Percyfan1998: In my defense, Aritomi always seemed more like a Touma antagonist to me, being someone who was misguided and could be reasoned with. His arc also didn't mesh as well with Mikoto's arc as it did with Touma's so it made sense for Touma to be the one to set him straight. Not a lot of ITEM will be falling for Touma, just one, but its a big one. I just really love bringing the how universe together.

Generation Zero: I honestly really liked the concept Aritomi's character, its just that it was handled very poorly and left little reason to feel sympathetic for. Thus, my changes and expansions to his backstory came into play making him a bit more likable, at least how I see it. Class 1-7 is always a fun time. You don't get any more close knit then a group of students like these guys. The girls actually already know of Tsuchimikado's status as a double agent. They learned back during the Angel Fall Arc when he gave the okay to Touma to tell them since he has more than enough blackmail material on all of them. Uiharu definitely suspects something, but Aliester doesn't exactly leave behind breadcrumbs to follow. Don't worry, more magic side is coming now.

0 Jordinio 0: Touma is definitely going to be upgrades in the future, just nothing too extreme to quickly. I wouldn't worry too much about Touma's powers becoming too OP in the future. While I have plans to expand on Imagine Breaker, those plans don't really expand beyond negating things more efficiently and with wider applications.

HamClad: Yes, I took a note from the most popular theory and impemented it into the story. You can turn off caps-lock now.

And that's all the reviews. Well, over fifty chapters in, you all know the drill now.

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

Chapter 51: Warm Home

As the last few days of summer vacation dawned upon Academy City, the citizens within were as busy as could be. Students were rushing around town, making last minute purchases for the start of the next term. Teachers were putting on the finishing touches to their lesson plans for their returning students. Everyday workers were flooding the streets, trying to get to work so they could keep up with the increasing activity within Academy City. Naturally, this meant that many modes of public transportation were rather packed, including but not limited to automatic buses, monorails, taxis, and the occasional rental motorcycle.

One particular monorail in route for School District 13 was especially crowed, filled with all sorts of people from students, teachers, businessmen, and regular citizens. Some were busy on their phones while others were reading the morning paper. It was just a crowd of totally average people. However, among that crowd were two particular individuals sitting next to each other, a boy and a girl, a brother and a sister. They Touma and Shizuri Mugino Kamijou, on their way to visit the last home they shared before they were separated.

"You excited to see Asunaro Park again?" Touma asked his sister eagerly.

"I will admit, I'm looking forward to it," Shizuri replied, "I haven't seen the place in years. I'm curious to see how it has changed. Is Miss Shigenomori still running it?"

"Yup! Though it might not be Shigenomori soon," the younger of the two revealed, "Truth is she recently got engaged."

"Really?" the elder of the two inquired in intrigue.

"Yeah. He's a regular volunteer at the facility. We might actually see him there today."

"Well then, I suppose I'll have to congratulate them," Shizuri mused, leaning back into her seat.

The Level 5 was thankful for this chance to spend time with her little brother. After 10 years of separation, a family vacation gone awry, and a shit load of pointless experiments from some attention seeking researchers, it was nice to be able to just spend so quality time with Touma and reconnect with him. And what better place to reconnect at than at the last home they shared before their separation, Asunaro Park.

It was a happy moment, but Shizuri couldn't bring herself to enjoy it. For some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her and Touma. Looking around the monorail car, there was no one on board that she would pin as a spy or stalker. In her years as the field leader of ITEM, she had learned to notice the cracks in an espionage agent's disguise. How they stood. How they observed their surroundings. How they react when someone looks at them. These were all signs that common spies often let slip, even with the best training.

But no one present seemed to give off those kinds of indicators. Everyone seemed to be content to just continue with their personal business. No one was looking in the Kamijou siblings' way or even noticed them. All the passengers were too engrossed by their phones and newspapers to pay them any mind.

However, even with all the evidence stacked against the idea, the elder Kamijou couldn't help but feel like something was amiss.

When the brother/sister duo arrived at Asunaro Park, they were immediately with an exceptionally warm welcome, or at least Touma was. When they reached the front gate of the Child Error facility, the children living in it happened to be playing in the yard. Once the children caught Touma in their sights, they immediately crowded around him with cheers and beaming smiles. A closer look at their attire revealed they all wore numerous and various buttons of children's cartoon mascots, with the only absentee being the ever popular Gekota.

"Big brother Touma!" the children cheered as they crowded around the younger Kamijou.

"Whoa! Hey! Good to see you kids too!" Touma laughed as he struggled to keep his balance.

"Quite popular among kids, aren't you?" Shizuri giggled.

"I visit every so often," Touma chuckled.

"And it's always a pleasure whenever you do," a familiar voice injected.

Looking up from the mob of children surrounding Touma, the sibling pair was greeted by the sight of the kindly director of Asunaro Park, Kazuko Shigenomori. To her right was her fiancée, Daigo, and to her left was her most frequent volunteer, the Tokiwodai Dorm Manager.

"I see you brought your sister along, just as you promised," the director noted with a smile, "Good to see you again, Shizuri."

"The same to you, Miss Shigenomori," Shizuri replied with a slight bow, "Touma has told me you have recently gotten engaged. Congratulations."

"You are too kind," Daigo said thankfully, returning the bow.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but did you say, 'sister'?" the dorm manager butted in, her forehead visibly sweating.

"That's right," Shigenomori chimed, stepping up to and beside Shizuri, "Everyone, I'd like you Shizuri Kamijou, Touma's older sister, a Level 5 like Mikoto, and another former resident of Asunaro Park."

Upon hearing this revelation, the children immediately started bombarding the elder Kamijou with several questions. Among the questions asked included innocent questions such as what kind of Esper Ability she had or why this was the first that they were really hearing about her. Other questions were more akin to death flags, such as if being a lower rank really made her weaker than Mikoto and if she would lose if the two of them fought. It took all of Shizuri's self-control to not lash out at the insinuation that she was weaker than the ever-popular Railgun.

"Alright everyone, that's enough questions. We wouldn't want to overwhelm our guest now, would we?" Shigenomori cut in, getting the children to stop.

"Man, it never ceases to amazement me how well-behaved the kids are in here," Touma mused, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, I did practically raise the two of you during you early years in Academy City, didn't I?" the director pointed out, "You two seemed to have turned out all right."

When the director of the Child Error facility said this, Shizuri couldn't help but drop her gaze. The claim was true enough for Touma. He was a good kid. Sure, he got in fights for stupid reasons on occasion and he had his share of perversions that he was not afraid to hide, but he was a law-abiding citizen, a helping hand, and an active law enforcer, and one of the fastest rising within Judgement, actually.

So much so that higher ups in the Disciplinary Committee entrusted him with experimental equipment for field testing. His hard work had saved many lives and helped to better prepare law enforcers with better equipment. If fact, Doctor Bakuya had recently informed him that the data collected from field testing ODD in the fight against STUDY had provided him with everything he needed to make a finished product. ODD Mark 2.1 was set to be released to the rest of Judgement tomorrow, with Touma as the field tester being charged to assist in training active members of Judgement in his branch to use the new equipment. To say that Touma had grown up so far to be a respectable person was honestly an understatement.

But Shizuri? She was a law enforcer of sorts herself, just not a very tasteful one, and she knew it. She was the person people called if they had a job that needed to be done, but no one wanted to have the act on their conscience. She didn't save people. She couldn't even really say she protected people. All she did was eliminate the pieces in the system that threatened to throw it into disarray. It was dirty work, and Shizuri very well aware of it, as was Touma, and it put her to great shame. But at the same time, as horrible as it was, she enjoyed it.

The pride of seeing him look up to her as a powerful Esper. The excitement him and her shared when they celebrated her progress. The satisfaction of protecting Touma from those who harassed him for his rotten luck. Her life in the darkness twisted these feelings nearly beyond recognition. The feeling of flexing her power. The thrill of using said power in combat. The catharsis of making others feel pain after they've inflicted it on so many others. These were all things Shizuri felt when on the job and letting loose; things she shamefully reveled in. It was only her connection to Touma that reminded her what original feelings truly were. But even as she practiced self-restraint, she struggled to hold back and not spill more blood.

This poor reaction to her words did not go unnoticed by Shingenomori. For her entire career at Asunaro Park, she saw all the children under her care as her own. Even if Shizuri's time with her was relatively brief, the old caretaker could still pick up on the signs of anxiety and self-loathing present on the Level 5's face, no matter how small.

"Say, Touma, could you help keep the children entertained for me?" the kindly older woman requested, "It's been such a long time. I think Shizuri and I have some catching up to do in private."

"Oh! Uh, sure," Touma shrugged, not noticing the thinly veiled ulterior motive.

"Excellent," Shigenomori replied, leading Shizuri into the building, "Come now Shizuri, I'll make us some tea."

Watching his older sister and old caretaking disappear into the building, Touma gave them a quick wave goodbye before turning his attention towards the children. With no real clue on how to proceed, he decided the best course of action was to rely on the adults present.

"So…," Touma trailed awkwardly, "Good to see you two again."

"Likewise," the Tokiwodai Dorm Manager replied calmly, though her voice had some threatening undertones.

"So, what exactly were you all doing before Shizuri and I got here?"

"Well," Daigo mused, "If I'm remembering correctly, we were deciding on a game to play. I believe the consensus was Zombie Tag and we were choosing the style of game."

"So, what were you all considering?" Touma asked innocently.

A somewhat sadistic smile appeared on the Tokiwodai Dorm Manager's face.

"We were thinking about going for an infection style game."

Inside the building, Shizuri and Shingenomori sat quietly in the dining room, a cup of freshly brewed Green Tea sitting in front of each of them. Now that they were alone, the elder of the two decided it was about time to drop the question.

"So, what on your mind dear?" the elder woman asked her former charge.

"What do you mean?" the Level 5 replied innocently.

"Don't play all innocent with me," the facility director reprimanded, "I saw how you reacted when we spoke outside earlier. There's clearly something bothering you."

"… Nothing gets past you, does it?" Shizuri chuckled sadly.

"I take care of young children for a living. It comes with the territory," Shingenomori replied, "So, are you ready to talk?"

"Well, if I can't keep it hidden," Shizuri replied reluctantly, eyeing the cup of tea in front of her, "It's about the time I spent missing after I left your care."

"A difficult time that was," the older woman nodded solemnly, "Touma was quite distraught when he first found out."

"I can imagine," the Level 5 sighed, "While I was gone, I became involved in some… questionable groups and activities. Even now, I'm still involved in them, and the worst part is I enjoy it."

"What exactly is it that you're involved with?"

"I can't answer that," the elder Kamijou answered warningly.

"Are you on substances? Besides the ones involved in Esper development, of course."

"…You could say that," Shizuri replied hesitantly.

"Does Touma know?"

"He has a surface level understanding of what's going on, which is already more than I ever wanted him to know," the Meltdowner answered, dropping her gaze to the floor, "I've been trying to do better for Touma's sake, but it's not exactly something you can just walk away from."

As Shizuri explained her situation, Shigenomori stayed intently focused on the young lady in front of her. It was clear that this problem gave her a lot of strife. Even if she was no longer under her care, the kind older woman was determined to help her former ward in any way she could.

"So, you're involved in something you know is wrong, but you can't stop, and you enjoy it on some level," Shingenomori summarized, "Have you tried getting professional help?"

"There's not exactly any specialists out there that can help in this case," Shizuri replied flatly.

Shizuri's situation was certainly a tricky one. Even with the limited details she had been provided, Shigenomori could clearly see that Shizuri was in quite the pickle. It was a problem whose roots were found in both her personal wishes and her own sense of identity, which were both in conflict with themselves and one another. On one hand, she wished to be a good sister to Touma, someone he could look up to. On the other hand, she was involved in questionable activities that she did enjoy on some level but was also ashamed of because Touma was well aware of them. It was apparent that Shizuri was lost as to who she really was and what she really wanted.

As she pondered on how to respond, Shingenomori's eyes wandered over to a nearby window looking out on to the playground. From there, she could see Touma running for dear life from all the children living in the facility. Clearly, they had been playing a game of Zombie Tag, ultimately culminating to the point that Touma was the last survivor and had the entire residency chasing after him to win the game.

"Okay then, answer me this. What do you want most of all?" the older woman inquired, eyeing Shizuri intensely.

A simple question with a simple answer. It was all she wanted ever since she first arrived in Academy City, and that wish was reaffirmed when she reunited with Touma.

"I want to protect Touma," Shizuri replied rather easily, looking her old caretaker in the eye, "I want the power to keep him safe."

"Alright then, look outside," the director of Asunaro Park instructed, pointing towards the same window she looked out earlier.

Following her old caretaker's instructions, Shizuri saw Touma get dogpiled on by every child in living in the facility. Despite what should have been a rather painful experience, Touma and all the children were laughing to their hearts' content with massive smiles on their faces. As per usual, Touma rotten luck lead him to an unfortunate circumstance, but he still managed to take it in stride and wear a smile on his face. The sight of it put a smile on Shizuri's own face, beckoning her to get out of her seat and walk over to the window to watch. Of course, there was only so much a single person could take before that smile cracked.

"Shizuri, I want you to remember this moment," Shigenomori encouraged, walking up beside the young lady by the window. Remember his smiling face. Burn the image into your mind and never let it go. If you ever feel lost or unsure, or you feel like you don't know who you really are, I want you to think back to this moment. This is what you want to protect above all else. As long as you remember that, I'm sure you will be able to overcome whatever you're struggling with. As they say, when there's a will there's a way."

Letting what Shigenomori had said sink in, Shizuri couldn't help but feel a bit more assured. She knew very well that she was not a good person. She had blood on her hands and was not afraid to spill more of it if she deemed it necessary. But that didn't mean she was a completely bad person. She lived in darkness, but it didn't mean she couldn't reach out for light. As long she held on to her wish to protect Touma, she could at least hang on to a single, small ray of light.

"Thank, Miss Shigenomori," Shizuri said, turning to the woman next to her, "You have no idea how much that helped."

"Any time," the elder woman replied, "Now, how about we join the others. It looks like your brother will need some help getting those children off him."

Following the director's suggestion, the two women left the building and joined everyone else outside for some fun and relaxation. However, despite her recent counseling, Shizuri still couldn't completely relax. Just like on the monorail, she couldn't help but feel like someone was watching her and Touma.

After a whole day of helping out at Asunaro Park and catching up with their old caretaker, the Kamijou siblings were on their way home, happy to have had the time to stool down memory lane. It was nice for Shizuri to be able to meet with their old caretaker after leaving so suddenly all those years ago. She even got some much needed consolation from second mother figure, Kazuko Shigenomori.

Unfortunately, Shizuri couldn't exactly relax during that trip. For that matter, she couldn't even relax during the commute, either of them. Throughout their entire trip, Shizuri had the sneaking suspicion that someone had been watching her and Touma the entire time. But every time she suspected something, she looked around to see that there was no one even remotely paying attention to them. At Asunaro Park, the only people present were the children and those who took care of them. On both monorail rides, the everyone present was preoccupied with their own business and showed no interest in the siblings. If that was the case, why did Shizuri constantly feel like she and Touma were being watched?

"Hey sis, are you feeling okay?" Touma asked innocently, "You seem on edge."

"Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking that the other volunteer seemed a bit cautious about me," Shizuri lied, "It strange, considering I've never met her before in my life."

"Oh. Her? She's an acquaintance of sorts for mom and dad," Touma explained nonchalantly, "Apparently, dad was really popular back in high school and her older sister was one of his admirers. From how she reacted, I guess mom went to some rather crazy lengths to win dad over which may or may not have been emotionally scaring. She must have gotten worried considering your resemblance. Not that I'm complaining, considering our existence is solely dependent on our parents getting together."

"Is that so?" Shizuri mused, "Guess mom can be pretty terrifying at times."

"I honestly find it surprising," Touma shivered, "She's the dorm manager at Zapper and Pigtail's dorm and runs the place with an iron fist. Mikoto and Shirai are genuinely afraid of making her mad because of the punishment she can dish out. Somehow, she can snap a person's neck and not make it fatal. Shirai in particular has faced this punishment countless times. If someone like her is afraid of mom, I'd hate to know just how scary mom can be."

"Ha! She's supposed to be a Level 5 and she's scared shitless by that!? That's just rich!" Shizuri laughed, clearly enjoying this little tidbit on the girl that supposedly outranks her.

"Can you please not talk about my friends like that?" Touma sighed, "Honestly, the whole thing is pretty morbid. Can't you spare a little sympathy for them?"

"… Sorry," Shizuri apologized halfheartedly.

"What's your problem with them anyway?" Touma asked in exasperation, "You barely know any of them to begin with, and your only real interaction with Mikoto was that one fight."

"I just can't stand little spoiled princesses like those Tokiwodai girls," the Level 5 replied rather bitterly, "They just don't understand how the real world works and its infuriating. Then there's the girls that idolize them like those two other girls. I've seen how the headbanded girl constantly sings their praises."

"So it's not because Mikoto outranks you?"

"… That too."

"I still don't see why you can't at least try to be respectful towards them. They're really good people," Touma insisted, "You and Mikoto in particular are actually pretty similar."

"How do you figure?" the elder Kamijou asked skeptically, tilting her head.

"Well, you're both really protective older sisters with terrifyingly electric tempers," Touma explained, "When you first met Mikoto she was fighting to protect those close to her whom she saw as her little sisters. Even if they're not related by blood like you and I are, she still cares enough for them to do anything to protect them. Surely you can sympathize with that, can't you?"

If Shizuri were being honest, she could, at least a little bit. She would go to any length to protect Touma. That's how she lived the last decade of her life. The Railgun had done the same thing with her clones. Even if Touma didn't directly mention that incident, it was clear to anyone in-the-know that it was what he was referring to. While Shizuri couldn't see those clones as Mikoto's sisters, she could understand Mikoto's motivation for doing what she did when looking from her perspective. If she was willing to go that far, even fighting her, Shizuri supposed she could at least spare a little respect for her.

"… Wait, what was that about terrifyingly electric tempers?" Shizuri asked in confusion.

"F-forget that part!" Touma stammered in a panic, "The point is, Mikoto and the others are all really nice people if you get to know them. Can you promise me you'll at least try to get along better with them?"

Letting out a heavy sigh, Shizuri conceded to Touma's plea. He really could be quite persuasive.

"Alright, you win," Shizuri agreed, "I'll at least try to be a bit more respectful to them. But they're going to have to work really hard if they want me to like them."

"That's all I'm asking for," Touma smiled, relaxing back into his seat.

The rest of the monorail ride was relatively uneventful. All except for the still lingering feeling that someone was watching the siblings that continued to haunt Shizuri.

As the sun started to set, the Kamijou siblings finally arrived home. After a long day at Asunaro Park, Shizuri was ready to just collapse on her bed and forget about the eerie feeling that she and her brother were being watched. She hoped that she could just sleep off the feeling, disregarding it as a figment of her overly paranoid mind. Unfortunately for her, rest was going to have to wait.

As soon as she opened the front door to her and Touma's shared apartment, heard a loud pop sound from inside the room, almost like gunfire. Fearing they had a couple of intruders, Shizuri quickly sprung into action and activated her Ability, preparing four spheres of ambiguous electrons to fire. However, she was never able to launch a counterattack as Touma grabbed her left shoulder with his right hand, suppressing her Ability and dispersing the electrons.

Thankfully, Touma had a very good reason to do so. In the moment that Shizuri spent in confusion at her brother's actions, she saw that the popping sound she heard was not from gunfire. Rather, the sound was the result of simultaneously firing five mini confetti cannons held by Index, Mikoto, Kuroko, Uiharu, and Saten. Looking around the apartment, Shizuri could see various decorations, including streamer and balloons. On the dinner table was a massive spread of food, more than enough to feed everyone present. While it didn't look like something as good as what Touma would prepare, it certainly looked delicious.

"Welcome home, Kamijou family!" the girls cheered, "Congratulations on your new apartment!"

"W-what is this!?" Shizuri cried in confusion.

"It's a housewarming, of course!" Index cheered jubilantly.

"We wanted to throw you two on when you first moved in, but with everything going on, we never had the chance," Saten explained.

"So, we decided to prepare you one now while you two were out visiting Asunaro Park," Uiharu added.

"How did you even get in here!? Did you teleport? Hack the security? Fry the security?" Shizuri accused.

"If you must now, we used a spare key," Mikoto explained, slightly offended, holding up said spare key.

"A key which I intentionally provided," Touma cut in, stepping in front of his sister sheepishly, "Sorry about that. I just really wanted to surprise you."

"I must apologize as well," Kuroko bowed solemnly, "I have been spying on you two the entire day to make sure you didn't catch on to our party plans and keep everyone else informed so they could properly prepare. Please forgive me."

Shizuri was completely shocked. To think that these girls went to such extreme lengths just to throw her and her brother a belated housewarming party. She barely knew any of them and yet they felt obligated to give her this luxury. Even the Railgun, whom clearly still didn't entirely trust her fellow Level 5, was willing to pitch in just because Touma was her brother and cared for her. Even if the Tokiwodai girls appeared to have a thing for Touma as many other girls did, it was clear that they threw this party because they were kind girls at heart who deeply valued their friendship with Touma.

Despite herself, Shizuri couldn't help but giggle under her breath. She barely knew these girls at all, and they still went this far for her family. Perhaps Touma was right. These girls seemed to be alright, even if they were all naive, but hey, that's childhood.

"Thank you, everyone," Shizuri replied with a smile, "You are all such wonderful young ladies. Now, how about we get this party started?"

With the elder Kamijou's approval, the Kamijou housewarming party immediately got underway. Everyone immediately dug into the food, with Touma struggling to keep Index from eating it all in one bite. The night was filled with joy, merriment, and chaos as the group's usual antic ensued, including Kuroko's unwanted advances, Saten's skirt flipping, and Index's anger induced head biting. Despite the rather unruly chaos, Shizuri couldn't help but laugh at the sight. It was nice to see Touma surrounded by girls who didn't all have a thing for him that required her to scare them away.

The housewarming was overall enjoyable, but Shizuri still couldn't completely relax. Even after Kuroko confessed to having spied on her and Touma all day, the Level 5 still couldn't help but feel like someone was watching her and her brother. Clearly, this warranted investigation.

As night fell upon Academy City, a single man stood on the rooftops overlooking District 7. He was of European descent, dressed casually in a simple suit. Overall, he appeared to be a rather ordinary man, and he would where in not for the blanket he wore as a scarf and the staff he carried at his side. The blanket was a Levite cloth of a Hebrew, identical to the swaddling blanket worn by Moses when he was found by Bithiah and adopted into the house of Pharaoh. The staff at his side was a simple wooden scepter, identical to the scepter gifted to Moses by his former brother after he was banished from Egypt, allowing him to call upon God's aid in his quest to free his people from bondage. With the Levite cloth, he could remain hidden in plain sight, much like how Moses escaped persecution as an infant by living as the son of the daughter of Pharaoh. With the scepter, he could recreate all the miracles and plagues Moses brought about in his quest to free the Hebrews.

His name was Ezekiel Mitchell, and he was a spy from the Roman Orthodox Church. His mission? Infiltrate Academy City, observe the heretic known as Touma Kamijou, and eliminate him should he become a threat. As a sorcerer who drew his powers from Moses, he was the perfect man for the job. Thanks to his Levite cloth, he remained undiscovered throughout his entire day of observation. Even as he watched the Kamijou housewarming party from the building across the street, no one had a clue he even existed. If Touma Kamijou screwed up and made any threatening actions, Ezekiel would be the first to know, and the one to end him.

"Watch you're back, Touma Kamijou," Ezekiel mused to himself, "Your heresy ends here."

Hey everyone. Here we are at the bottom. You may have noticed there's no Animan Temple this time around, and that's because I have some very serious news and it didn't feel right to share it with all of you until after the chapter and I didn't want to stick it in a segment that is normally meant to be funny.

Recently, I have learned that my grandmother died. I'm not going to go into detail about what happened, just explaining how this event is going to affect me and my writing schedule. Because of this sudden turn of events, my family and I are going overseas to our homeland in the Philippines to mourn and pay our respects for the majority of July. As a result, I will not be writing in that time, and you may not hear much from me until August. I'm leaving tomorrow, so I wanted to push this last chapter out before then.

All I'm asking is that you're all patient with me until I can move past this event. Afterwards, I will be back to writing for all of you who have been so supportive of this project over the last year and a half, and counting. If you can, send your regards, and I'll see you all whenever the next chapter is ready.