Here we are again with a new chapter, this one based on some canon events. specifically the first story of the Three Stories Arc. Of course, there's a major difference this time around in that the nature Touma and Mikoto's relationship is vastly different than in canon at this point. I'm not sure if the ripple effect with be as significant as I believe it to be, but I'll let all of you be the judge of that.
On another note, this is the moment a lot of you shippers. The first Kamikoto date. I will say to not expect too much from me here. This is a first date for the two of them. Plus, I don't really know what most people do as a first date anyway, so expect some level of awkwardness from this. Then again, it may be appropriate given the scenario.
For now, let's reply to your reviews from the last chapter.
Herox100: Hope I didn't keep you waiting!
OnePunchPlayer: Don't see why you're so touchy on the term "replicate". That's essentially how magic works in this franchise: symbols and idols are used to draw power from collective beliefs and produce effects analogous or similar to those beliefs. Well, Ezekiel is Roman Orthodox. Most of the Roman Orthodox Touma has met didn't become his allies until WWIII, and even then they were more "enemy of my enemy" scenarios. The existence of this chapter pretty much negates the idea that Ezekiel replaced Etzail. Heck, the scene in restaurant two chapters was actually a set up for this chapter. Shizuri got her first taste of the Magic Side last chapter. That will only build up in the future. What can I say? Paper fans are funny.
Nemonobody001: Thank you!
fuji92: Magic Side already making moves, but Roman Orthadox in specific will be making bigger moves later on. I already have plenty of plans for the Railgang to be involved in Magic Side events in the near future. I mean, it would be redundant of me to do them if I didn't make at least a few changes. I have everything up until the end of OT planned out. I follow the MCU philosophy of build expansive stories. I know where I want to go, it's just a matter of creating a path towards it. I have not had a chance to play Imaginary Fest since it's a Japan exclusive right now and I don't know how to download apps from other countries. Seriously hoping it gets the FGO treatment.
ahsoei: I blame Sonic the Hedgehog for confusing the spellings for me. I wanted to give Ezekiel a bit of urgency for anyone who knows what the Ten Plagues of Egypt were.
BlueJack22: Don't see how that could have happened. Ezekiel is Roman Orthodox, Etzali is Aztec. Ezekiel is a Italian name, Etzali is an Aztec name. Ezekiel using magic based on Moses, Etzali uses magic based on Aztec rituals. i guess the names are spelled similarly.
Anti-Mage 29: One of those guess is actually in my plans right now. You'll have to wait and see which it is.
Stitches (Guest): Paper fans, man. Anyone who's play Smash Bros with Items on knows how annoying they can be if your opponent spams them. That's actually a really good idea. I haven't gotten around to watching the anime adaptation yet since I'm waiting for the simildub, but I could do something like having Touma visit Accelerator in his hospital room during the more quiet moments, with Accelerator doing whatever he can to keep Touma in the dark.
Isokage (Guest): Well, at this point, Shizuri believes that the idea that Touma is a super influential figure in a world power struggle is ridiculous. She wouldn't want to discuss something she isn't even sure Touma is actually aware of. Until she sees proof of Touma actual involvement with this unknown superpower, she's not going to confront him about it. It's important to remember that Academy City's Dark Side was involved in Ezekiel's struggle, and ITEM utilized those cameras to expose him, so they would naturally take care of deleting the data themselves. All of the Three Stories Arc will be covered, though differences will occur due to changing character dynamics.
II (Guest): No spoilers.
JayMyBoy: Well, yeah, that's kinda how Notarikon works in canon.
TeotakuFantasia: That is actually a crux of Ezekiel's operation. Several people in Touma's inner circle within the Science Side (the Railgang) are aware of the Magic Side. The issue right now is that a most of the inner circle originating from the Science Side (Shizuri and later Yuri) are oblivious. Really Ezekiel is reporting a half truth in that hard hitters are unaware of the Magic Side, but the entire Kamijou Faction as a whole is unaware of the bigger picture with the world's state. Aogami's Esper Ability, Mind's Eye, is a form of Telepathy that allows him to intercept the neuro-signals originating from people's eyes. This allows him to see through other people's eyes in the most literal sense, as well as view visual memories. The only crux is that the targets must be within a hypothetical line of sight since the ability works in the same was as Telepathy in that it creates a "wire" out of air vibrations that connect's Aogami's ocular nerves to those of his targets. Touma and Mikoto's date isn't going to go off the rails in that sense, but it will go off the rails.
ArmoredCoreNineBall: Glad to know I managed to utilize the rules of ToAru's magic system well enough. With Shizuri as a more central character, especially more early on, seeing Academy City's Dark Side in action was going to happen a bit earlier too. Yeah, my original arc did feel more like an expansion on the Three Stories Arc than anything else. Thanks again for pointing out the mistake with the names. I fixed that along with the scientific errors I also made.
fencer29: To be fair, Ezekiel was more worried on hiding himself from his target, Touma, who normally would not be nose deep analyzing security camera data. Plus, he was not expecting a third party to interfere and use said cameras. If the boils are all across Touma's body, there are only so many he can negate at a time before he succumbs to his injuries. Thank you for pointing out that scientific mistake. I have since rectified it to properly align with true science.
janjakennen: Don't worry. Touma forgetting to knock isn't going anywhere any time soon. If anything, Shizuri's new paper fan will be great for enhancing comedy in those scenarios.
vampireharry the 2: Thank you very much!
Anime-ted Life116: Shizuri will learn more about magic when the time comes. I would like to have Hamazura show up a bit earlier, but I can't see a way for that to happen since he's part of a Skill-Out gang that does not actively seek out criminal activity. They act more like vigilantes, protecting Level 0's who are abused by Espers and neglected by the system. No way to really force an early confrontation between Touma and Hamazura. You'll have to read until the end of this chapter to see how the confrontation with Etzali goes.
LegallyRestricted: Yeah, really wanted to sell that connection. It helps that the way a lot of Kamachi's characters are designed have inherent parallels and connections to one another. Further exploration of the concept of Magic for ITEM is bound to happen in the future, but I think you'll be surprised to see when exactly it happens. In the previous case, it wasn't so much an issue of her willingness to kill, but an issue of the weight of her threats. Because of her promise to Touma, she wishes to avoid killing for as long as possible. However, this can become a problem with dealing with hostage and interrogation situations since targets interact directly with her. They feel less afraid since they can see in her body language that she's not ready to resort to that final step, so the threat of death is not as potent. Notice how she threatens Ezekiel by barely missing his groin rather than something more vital like his head. That was a clear sign that she wasn't quite at the killing threat yet, and thus Ezekiel didn't have to worry too much about dying if he made his escape attempt. Can't quite say for certain the tenth plague would have affected Shizuri. It helps to leave a bit of ambiguity for if I find a place to reintroduce Ezekiel.
mohamadstar94: I hope you enjoy what's to come.
GENO BERSERK: I was wondering when someone was going to make that reference.
Generation Zero: Glad you liked the encounter between ITEM and Ezekiel. I wanted to give my spy a power set that complimented his job and Moses really fit. The story of Moses was all about escape; Moses escape from prosecution as an infant by remaining hidden, and the Ten Plagues being employed to convince the pharaoh to set the Hebrews free. All of that worked into Ezekiel's magic for cloaking and creating distractions for escape tactics. That's actually going to be a major part of this story; how secrets and lies can tear apart so many bonds. While this story originally started as a "What if..." experiment, it has since evolved into something that explores certain themes the original work doesn't cover too often, like family and trust. Give it a couple of months, maybe years, and you'll see exactly. I do want to give Misaki some spotlight, but that's not happening for a while. I do think you'll like what I do in the chapter with Touma and Mikoto's date.
general ironox: Patience. She's show up when she shows up. You can't rush art!
Milly (Guest): Maybe, but that wouldn't be as funny.
Ryder (Guest): I'm thinking sometime during the Queen of the Adriatic Arc.
EDIT: Revised dialogue and general edits.
Well, that took a while to answer. You know all what happens next.
Disclaimer: All characters and plotlines of the "A Certain" franchise are credited to Kazuma Kamachi.
Chapter 54: Love is War
When Touma Kamijou woke up the morning of the last day of summer, he had a skip in his step and a welt on his face, both incidences mostly unrelated to one another. The day before, he had asked Mikoto Misaka out on a date as a way to help him gauge if he really wanted to upgrade their friendship. He knew she loved him, but he was still unsure of his own feelings, so a date was the perfect way better judge his own feelings. Since this was the first time he's ever gone on a date with a girl, Touma was naturally excited.
As for the welt on his face, he received it from his sister after walking in on her in the shower and telling her about said date last night. Now, he didn't receive the welt for those things necessarily. When he received it for was for having not learned to knock before opening a bathroom door. The result was Shizuri crafting a paper fan from newspaper and tape and whacking him with it a few times as punishment. Said paper fan now sat in the corner of the living room, waiting to be used again the next time Touma messed up in front of his sister.
The was also the additional wrinkle of a sorcerer in Academy City that Touma was apparently unaware of until it was too late. After consulting Index, he quickly learned that this mystery sorcerer used magic based on the stories of Moses, suggesting that he or she was a of the Church of the Cross. However, Index couldn't quite tell which branch they were from based on the style of magic alone, leaving everyone in the dark as to who this person was and why they were in Academy City. In addition, the cameras in the area where the sorcerer's spells were used showed no traces of someone using magic, or even a struggle.
Thankfully, the welt on his face was already going down and barely noticeable by the time Touma woke up, so it shouldn't interfere with his date. In addition, all signs pointed to the sorcerer being long gone, so there was no real need to worry about him or her anyway. Touma was not about to let a little bit of misfortune ruin his good time today. After getting dressed in a clean shirt and having a quick breakfast with Shizuri, Touma was out the door, ready for his first date with a girl.
To say that Mikoto Misaka was excited the morning of the last day of summer would be an understatement. She was absolutely ecstatic that morning, and why shouldn't she? After all, today was the day that she was going to have her first date with her crush, Touma Kamijou. Ever since she confessed her feelings to him earlier that summer, she had been nothing but patient when waiting for an answer. In the meantime, she did everything she could to paint herself in a favorable light, making small advances to get closer to him and encourage a favorable decision. Now it looked like her advances were baring fruit and the two of them were going on a date. Sure, it didn't necessarily mean they were dating, but it was a start.
After a quick breakfast, Mikoto stood outside her dorm, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the object of her affections. Unfortunately, it seemed Touma's rotten luck arrived before him, along with someone Mikoto was not particularly happy to see.
"Hey, good morning!" a certain high school boy that was not Touma Kamijou greeted, "How lucky that I ran into you, Misaka. Where are you headed to? I'd be more than happy to walk with you part of the way if you don't mind some company."
"Oh, Unabara," Mikoto greeted uneasily, "Good morning."
"You look a little pale," the boy named Unabara noted, "Do you think you might be coming down with something?"
"Oh, no," Mikoto replied awkwardly.
This is Mitsuki Unabara, the grandson of the director of Tokiwodai Middle School and a persistent admirer of Mikoto's. He had brown hair, pale skin, and wore a yellow school sweater over a white shirt and slacks. The boy had been greeting Mikoto at least once a day for the last week or so, and it was becoming suffocating very quickly. Sadly, as the grandson of her school's director, Mikoto couldn't exactly just blow him off. That would lead to some serious social problems later down the line.
"I know this great little seafood restaurant just around the corner. Maybe we can grab a bite there?" Unabara offered.
'I just had breakfast and he's inviting me to lunch?' Mikoto thought to herself in disbelief.
"Oh! Uh. Well, I appreciate the invitation and all, but I actually have plans today," Mikoto replied, rejecting the offer as politely as she could.
"Okay, I'll come along and help you then," Unabara insisted, clearly not intending to be rejected so easily.
"Um, I'm actually waiting for someone else at the moment. And you know that they say, 'Three's a crowd'," Mikoto pushed.
"I don't mind at all," Unabara further insisted.
"Well, the thing is these plans I have with this person are kind of special…"
"Hey, Zapper! I didn't keep you waiting long did I!?" a familiar voice called out.
And there it was. While Mikoto hated that nickname to no end, she was more than welcoming of the person who used it. Looking past Unibara, the Level 5 was overjoyed to see her crush, Touma Kamijou, quickly rushing towards her. With her date now here, she could easily get away from her ever-persistent admirer.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Touma apologized upon arriving.
"Don't be. You're right on time," Mikoto insisted, thankful for the excuse to get away from Unibara.
"I take it this is the person you were waiting for?" Unabara inquired, butting into the conversation.
"… Aren't you the guy Mikoto was talking to in the hospital last week?" Touma asked obliviously, apparently only now noticing the other boy.
"Don't worry about that right now," Mikoto interrupted, "We've got a lot to do today, right?"
"I actually didn't plan anything," Touma admitted sheepishly, "I kind of got caught up in some other stuff so I didn't get the chance to plan."
"…We'll think of something on the way!" Mikoto panicked as she grabbed Touma by the hand and started running the other way, "Goodbye, Unabara! Nice talking to you!"
That little outburst unfortunately attracted a lot of attention, especially from the Tokiwodai girls in the dorm that just so happened to be passing by the windows in the front of the building. Pretty soon, everyone in Academy City will have heard the rumor that Mikoto Misaka blew off Mitsuki Unabara for a totally normally looking high school boy with spiky black hair. As for Unibara himself, he could only watch with downcast eyes as the Railgun ran off with the Imagine Breaker in hand.
In a back alley a considerable distance away from the Tokiwodai dorm building, Touma and Mikoto took a moment to catch their breaths after the latter dragged the former away rather forcefully. Touma was fairly certain that at the speed Mikoto ran, she would have been able to induce lift on him had he not kept in pace with her.
"Sorry to drag you away like that," Mikoto apologized, "I just really needed to get away from that guy.
"Mind telling me what all that was about?" Touma asked in a tired voice.
"His name's Mitsuki Unabara, and he's the grandson of my school's director," Mikoto explained, "He been approaching me while I'm alone nearly every day for more than a week now, but because of his status, I can't exactly just blow him off."
"So, he's a stalker?" Touma deduced.
"… Basically, yes."
"Well, we're going on a date now, right? That should settle everything pretty quickly," Touma proposed.
"How do you figure?" Mikoto inquired.
"Well, if you're seen on a date with me, that should make it pretty clear that you're not interested in him, right?" the Level 0 deduced, "Once he sees that, he'll have to stop bothering you for a date."
"How can you be so sure?" Mikoto asked skeptically.
"I'm a guy! I know how guys think! No guy is stupid enough to try to make a move on a girl whose clearly into someone else!" Touma declared in a manner reminiscent to his conversations with the rest of the Delta Force.
"… That sounds stupid, but it's the best bet I have right now so I'll go along with it," Mikoto conceded.
"Come on, let's forget about that for now," Touma encouraged, "This is supposed to be a date, right? Let's have some fun before the sun sets and we have to get back to classes."
"Alright then. What do you want to do?" Mikoto asked.
"You have that big regional field trip to Liberal Arts City coming up, don't you? Why don't we get some last-minute shopping done?" Touma suggested.
"Better than hiding in an alley all day," Mikoto mused.
"I think Tsuchimikado and Aogami might have some objections to that," Touma joked.
"Pervert," Mikoto said lightheartedly as she led the way, "Come on. Keep up or I'll leave you behind."
The first stop for Touma and Mikoto's little shopping date was Seventh Mist's pajama department. Because of the Graviton Bombing Incident that got Touma roped into Judgement in the first place, Mikoto never got around to buying that new set of pajamas. Now that they were on their little shopping date, Mikoto figured it was the perfect chance to finally get those pajamas.
"What do you think of this set?" Mikoto asked, holding up a set commonly worn by girls her own age, a very simple set in a solid white.
"Um, I don't think so. It just doesn't scream 'you'," Touma replied, "How about this one?"
In Touma's hands was a set of pink pajamas with yellow polka dots, a design generally considered childish. Mikoto recognized this design very well, it was the same design she was looking at before she ran into Touma while he was helping a little girl look for a store.
"Are you making fun of me!?" Mikoto demanded, sparking slightly.
"No! Not at all!" Touma insisted, waving his right hand in front of him for safety, "I was just thinking you shouldn't be so embarrassed about your tastes, that's all! Besides, this should be a good thing! I know you so well I understand your tastes even though you do everything you can to hide it!"
As much as she hated to admit it, Touma had a point. How many times has she shown interest in something cute and genuinely consider childish only to turn around and deny liking it when someone made an offhand comment about said childishness? If her tastes weren't going to change any time soon, she was going to have learn to embrace them and like other people know it. It was about time she stopped hiding that side of her, and shatter that illusion.
"Alright, you win," Mikoto conceded, taking the set of pajamas from Touma, "I'll buy this set."
"Oh, thank goodness! I thought you were going to zap me there," Touma sighed in relief.
"Come on, I'm not that bad. I'm not going to zap you when you're only trying to help," Mikoto insisted.
"Keep telling yourself that," Touma joked, "So, what's the next stop?"
Following their visit in the pajama department, the pair's next stop was the swimsuit department. Since Liberal Arts City was a giant artificial island, Mikoto and the other girls were going to have plenty of time to swim. Thus, the Railgun decided she was going to try on a few new swimsuits and have her date judge them for her.
"Are you sure about this?" Touma asked wearily as he followed his date to the changing rooms, "With my luck, I'm fairly certain something will go horribly wrong."
"Oh, relax," Mikoto insisted, "I've known you for how long and you've never managed to walk in on me naked before."
"That only means it's bound to happen soon enough!" the Level 0 protested, "These are death flags your raising! Death flags!"
"Oh please! At worst, they're pervert flags," the Level 5 replied, disregarding Touma's protests, "Besides, I need someone to judge for me, and you'd done a pretty good job so far with the pajamas."
"You're not going to let me get out of this, are you?" Touma deadpanned.
"Nope," Mikoto chimed as she stepped into the changing room, "Just so you know, if you peek, I'm going to slap you."
"Well, better than getting zapped I guess," Touma conceded, rubbing his still slightly sore cheek.
"Perfect," Mikoto cheered as she disappeared behind the changing room curtain.
While his date was hidden away trying on new swimsuits, Touma was content sitting as far away from the changing room as possible. The last thing he needed was some ridiculous string of misfortunate events opening the curtain and potentially landing him some undeserved punishment. Besides, it was awkward enough to have him sit in the middle of the women's swimsuit section of the store. He didn't need accusations of him being a bigger pervert than he actual was. He could be a pervert, but he wasn't Aogami levels of perverted.
After a few minutes of waiting, the Mikoto opened the curtain to her changing sporting one of the various swimsuits she selected. The one she was currently wearing was a simple orange bikini that showed her athletic build and her unfortunately flat chest.
"So, what do you think?" the Level 5 asked her date.
"… Flat," Touma said absentmindedly.
"Come again?" Mikoto asked with a strained smile and some sparking bangs.
"I-I meant the design is flat!" Touma yelled as he raised his right hand in self-defense, realizing his mistake, "I was just expecting something with a bit more frills and color, that's all!"
"I thought so," Mikoto huffed, "Anyway, I have another one more that style if you want to see it."
"Uh, sure. Go right ahead," Touma chuckled. scratching his head.
"I'll just be a minute," Mikoto said as she closed the changing room curtain.
As soon as the curtain was closed, Touma let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding until then.
"Man, that was close," Touma sighed in relief.
"I can still hear you, you know!" Mikoto yelled from the changing room, instantly shutting Touma up.
In the end, Mikoto decided to buy two swimsuits: the orange bikini she showed Touma earlier and a frilly white bikini with rainbow polka dots. One was for her trip, the other was an emergency back-up. Which was which was for Mikoto to know and for no one else to ever find out.
"So, what else is on the list?" Touma asked as he walked alongside Mikoto, carrying her bags like a gentleman.
"Actually, that was everything," Mikoto admitted, "I've already had everything else taken care of for a while now."
"Really? Huh?" Touma mused, "So, what do you want to do now?"
"How about that?" Mikoto suggested, pointing towards a nearby glasses store, "That could be an interesting place to browse."
With no better idea, Touma followed Mikoto into the glasses store and began trying on the various pairs of glasses they had available.
"What do you think of these?" Mikoto asked, putting on a pair of pink glasses with an intricate frame.
"Very studious," Touma mused, "They make you look like a librarian or something."
"Here, you try on a pair too," the Railgun giggled, handing Touma a pair of black, rectangle frame glasses.
"How do I look?" Touma asked, resting his chin on his left knuckle and his left elbow in his right hand.
"Those… actually look really go on you," Mikoto replied, genuinely surprised, "Like, they look surprisingly good on you."
"Really?" Touma mused, checking himself in the mirror, "Maybe I'll reserve this pair for if I ever need glasses. Then again, with my luck they'd probably break as soon as the warranty expires."
"I'm not sure you can do that," Mikoto giggled, "Besides, I think you just fine without glasses."
"Thanks," Touma replied, taking off the glasses and checking the time, "It almost noon. You want to look for some place to eat?"
"You're paying right?" Mikoto asked jokingly as she walked out the store, "It's supposed to be the guy that pays for the meal, right?"
"Please don't hold that against me," Touma begged as he chased after Mikoto out of the store.
Leaving Seventh Mist behind them, Touma made their way through District 7 for some place to eat lunch. Unfortunately, everywhere seemed to be packed and there didn't seem to be anywhere that had extra space for the would-be-couple. Of course, it was only natural given that it was August 31st, the last day of summer vacation.
"You wait here. I'm going to see if I can negotiate a table at this place," Mikoto instructed, stopping Touma in front of a family restaurant.
"I thought you didn't like using your Level 5 status for getting perks," Touma said, surprised.
"It wouldn't be the first time I've done it. Remember the blimp?" the Level 5 scoffed, "Besides, it's a special occasion. Don't worry. This should only be a minute."
Once Mikoto disappeared into the restaurant, Touma decided to get out of the sun and wait under a nearby tree. As he waited there, he heard the sound of a dog barking not too far away. Following the sound of the dog's voice, Touma saw a runaway dog being chased by a young boy, presumably its owner, and another teenage boy whose face Touma recognized from earlier that day, Mitsuki Unabara. Soon after, Unabara managed to grab hold of the dog's leash and getting it to stop before handing the leash over to the young boy. With his dog back under control, the boy gave Unabara a quick thank you before taking his leave, leading Unabara to take notice of Touma not too far away.
"So, you're a friend of Misaka's?" Unabara asked, joining Touma under the tree.
"Her crush, actually. Not to brag or anything. Is that a problem?" Touma answered nonchalantly, "The name's Touma Kamijou, by the way."
"Mitsuki Unabara," the other boy replied, formally introducing himself, "Sorry. I'm just not exactly overjoyed to hear she has a crush on someone else from someone other than her. Lucky you, though. Wish she told me how she really felt."
"Trust me, I'm anything but lucky," Touma chuckled somewhat bitterly, "It's not that she didn't want anything to do with you. She just gets easily embarrassed by this kind of stuff. It took some pretty heavy stuff before she had the guts to tell me how she felt about me, and I haven't even given her a proper answer yet."
"So, you're not dating?"
"Technically no. We've just been pretty good friends for some time," Touma answered, "This date is just our way testing the waters and helping me find an answer."
"And where are you with that?" Unabara inquired.
"… Still unsure," Touma sighed, scratching his head.
"So, I still have a chance of winning her over?" Unabara asked hopefully.
"… If I say no, I guess," Touma shrugged awkwardly.
"Sorry, I'm not trying to pressure you into a certain decision or anything," Unabara apologized, "I just want a fair chance at Misaka, that's all. I just wish she was honest with me about how she felt. You understand, right?"
"Your stalking of her probably didn't help your case," Touma deadpanned.
"Yeah, hindsight's twenty-twenty," Unabara chuckled.
"Hey, idiot," a familiar voice butt in.
Looking away from his previous conversation partner, Touma saw that a rather miffed Mikoto had returned from the restaurant. She was glaring daggers at him, like he had done something wrong.
"Oh, hey Mikoto," Touma greeted wearily, "Did you get us a table?"
"No, they couldn't make room," the Railgun replied, grabbing Touma by the hand, "Come on, let's try some other place."
"Oh, uh, okay," Touma said as he was dragged away, "Nice speaking to you, Unabara."
Unabara simply waved in reply, watching wistfully as Mikoto and Touma disappeared around the corner.
As soon as she was sure Mitsuki Unabara was out of sight and hearing range, she turned around to face Touma and gave him a hard glare in the eye.
"What do you think you're doing?" Mikoto demanded, "This was your plan, so why are you sabotaging it and getting all buddy-buddy with him?"
"I wasn't trying to sabotage anything. I was just getting to know him," Touma defended, "Honestly, it made me feel really bad about this whole thing."
"What do you mean?" Mikoto asked, raising an eyebrow.
"He's actually a really nice guy, and I think he really does like you," Touma explained, "I think you should at least give him a chance."
"That's not exactly something you tell the girl your out on a date with," Mikoto deadpanned, "Besides, wasn't the whole point of making this date so public to rub it in his face and show that I'm with you and thus not interested."
"But that's the thing, we're not together," Touma countered, "As far as our relationship is concerned, the best way I can put it is it's complicated. We both know how you feel about me, but I don't know how I feel, nor what will happen if I decide to take the plunge... I'm just saying that if things don't work out between us and he seeks you out again, maybe give him a little bit more of a chance, okay? Besides, even if things don't work out, it doesn't mean we have to stop being friends."
As much as Mikoto hated to admit it, Touma was right. At this point, she was on the market and every boy she knew at least deserved chance to ask her out and prove he was a good partner. Unabara in particular had shown to be very devoted, even if his persistence came off as creepy at times. She should at least give him a chance to show that can be not creepy. Plus, Touma was a great judge of character. Surely she could trust his judgement on this.
"You have way with words, you know that?" Mikoto sighed in defeat, "Alright, you win. I'll give Unabara a chance some time. Although, I doubt he'll be able to top the guy who saved my life."
"Hey, don't look so depressed. We can still finish our date first," Touma said reassuringly, "Come on, we still haven't eaten lunch yet."
"We can always do fast food take-out," Mikoto suggested.
After a bit of searching, Touma and Mikoto were able to find a fast food restaurant, a little place called Moc Ronall's, that happened to do take-out. It was just as packed as any other place, so it was going to take some time for either of them to order, but it was better than nothing.
"Alright, I'll go order for us. You go and found a place for use to eat," Mikoto instructed.
"You're paying right?" Touma asked.
"Consider this me paying you back for setting me straight today," Mikoto giggled, "I'll be back as soon as I can."
As Touma watched his date disappear into the crowded mess that was the Moc Donald's, he couldn't help but feel like the date had gone exceptionally well. He didn't get zapped all day, he helped Mikoto get ready for her trip and deal with her stalker problem, and the two of them both had a genuinely fun time. Sure, there were a few close calls and missteps here and there, but overall nothing went terribly wrong.
That was the part that worried Touma. This was usually the part of the story where all his recent good fortune was countered with a single isolated instance of misfortune. It was all an effort to keep the universe in balance. He knew how his life worked at this point. Something terrible was going to happen like one of his friends revealing he was a sorcerer and trying to kill him, or someone he trusts to be totally innocent is going to stab him in the back. He just knew something terrible was going to happen any second now.
"Hello again, Kamijou. Fancy meeting you here so soon," a familiar voice said from behind him.
Turning around, Touma was surprised and relieved to see Mitsuki Unabara behind him. Surely, there was no way that someone as nice and unassuming as him would turn out to be a magician who would stab him in the back with a stone knife.
"Oh, hey Unabara," Touma greeted, "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for a place to eat," Unabara answer, "How about you? Is Misaka still with you?"
"Yeah, she's in that Moc Ronall's getting us lunch," Touma replied, nodding his head to said restaurant.
And that's when it happened. As he nodded his head to the restaurant, in the corner of his eye Touma saw a high school boy identical to Mitsuki Unabara run into the Moc Ronald's. He appeared to have bandages wrapped around his arm and seemed to be in a panic, as if he was trying to find help or warn someone.
"Say, Unabara, do happen to a twin? I feel like I've seen your face somewhere before." Touma asked as calmly as he could.
"Huh? No, can't say I do," the now suspicious boy answered.
"Really? Well, I need to find some place for Mikoto and I to eat, so I'll just be going now," Touma segued as he turned around, trying to put some distance between the two of them, "I'll see you some other time."
And then it happened. Just as Touma was about to leave, he felt something rush past his right ear by barely a hair. A moment later, the car parked just a bit in front of him exploded, torn asunder by some unknown force. Turning around, Touma was shocked to see Mitsuki Unabara holding a stone knife, polished to a shine. Gone was the friendly expression he wore on his face. It was replaced with the look of someone who was out for blood.
"Rotten luck," Touma growled as he took off running.
In the Moc Ronall's Mikoto had just gotten around to ordering lunch for her at Touma. With her bag of take-out in hand, she was about to leave to find her date so they could eat when a familiar face pushed through the crowd. To her surprise, Mituski Unabara collapsed on the ground in front of her, looking worse for wear with bandages all around his right arm.
"Unabara!? What are you doing here!?" Mikoto asked surprised, "What happened to your arm!?"
"You have to get out of here!" Unabara cried, ignoring Mikoto's question, "You're in danger!"
"Idiot! Worry about yourself first!" Mikoto yelled, "Somebody call an ambulance!"
A few minutes later, an ambulance and several paramedics arrived and placed the high school boy on a stretcher intending to take him to the hospital. However, before he could be taken away, he called out to Mikoto, begging her to listen to him.
"Please, you have to listen to me!" Unabara begged, "You're in serious danger!"
"What's this danger you keep talking about?" Mikoto inquired, "What happened to being uncomfortably insistent on hitting on me?"
"That wasn't me!" Unabara cried, cradling his wound, "Some guy kidnapped me and cut off the skin from my arm! Somehow, it let him take on my appearance! I've never seen an Esper Ability like that before!"
'Someone using another person's face by using their skin as a medium?' Mikoto thought in shock, 'That sounds like something a sorcerer would do. If that's the case…"
Elsewhere in Academy City, Kuroko, Uiharu, Saten, and Index was sitting down in one of their regular cafes for lunch. As per usual, Uiahru and Index were gorging themselves in sweets, although Index was showing so relative restraint, only eating twice as much as Uiharu as opposed to five times as much. Kuroko was pretty bored without Mikoto around, and Saten was hyped up on the latest rumors.
"Hey Shirai, have you heard from Misaka today?" Saten asked.
"No," Kuroko moaned, "I haven't seen her since this morning. She said she had plans today"
"Do you have any what those plans are?" Uiharu inquired.
"Not a clue," Kuroko sighed.
"Well, a little birdie told me she's out on a date today," Saten revealed with a sly smile.
"WHAT!?" Kuroko yelled, suddenly slamming her hands on the table, "Impossible! Sissy would never, ever, do something like that! Most certainly not without telling me!"
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Saten smirked, "Word on the street is she turned down some bigwig named Mitsuki Unabara in favor of an unimpressive high school boy with spiky black hair. Sound like someone?"
"You think Kamijou actually made a move!?" Uiharu asked, caught up in the rumor.
"There's no way!" Kuroko denied, "Those two couldn't possibly have a relationship upgrade! Especially not without me!"
Before Kuroko could continue her usual tirade, Saten's phone began to ring. Checking the caller ID, it was none other that Touma Kamijou on the other end of the line.
"Speak of the devil," Saten mused as she picked up the phone, "Hey Kamijou! Your date going well?"
"No time for games right now, Flipper!" Touma yelled on the other end, "Is Index with you!? I need you to put her on the phone, now!"
"Okay, geez, I was just kidding! I'll put you on speaker now," Saten whined as she pulled the phone away from her head and pressed the Speaker button, "Alright, you're on speaker and everyone but Misaka is with us."
"Index! I think we have another sorcerer in town!" Touma cried over the phone, "And I don't think he's the same one we found traces of yesterday!"
"Are you sure?" Kuroko asked, suddenly getting serious.
"Wait, why is there so much wind on your end?" Index asked obliviously.
"I don't know. Maybe because I'm running for my life here!" Touma yelled as he surfed through the back alleys of Academy City.
"Can you describe him? He's clothes, weapons, behavior?" Index requested.
"Yeah sure," Touma replied as he narrowly dodged another magical blast from the fake Unabara, "He's using someone else's face, a guy named Mitsuki Unabara and he's carrying around a black stone knife, polished to a shine. Somehow, he's able to blow things up just by pointing it in the general direction of something."
"The knife he carries is made of obsidian, I know it," Index reported, "I think it might be the Spear of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli."
"Two-loo-what!?" Touma asked in utter confusion.
"An Aztec God," the nun-in-training explained, "He's name means 'Lord of the House of Dawn'. The spear is said to kill anyone who is bathed in the light of Venus."
"Never mind the background! Just tell me what I should do!" Touma demanded as some nearby trashcans were blown up by the pursuing sorcerer, "I just need to know how I'm supposed to get rid of this guy! Quickly!"
"The sorcerer probably just has a replica of the spear. It's probably a mirror," Index replied, "He'll attack by reflecting the light from Venus from the spear's obsidian blade. I think the best thing for you to do is try to block it with your right hand."
"Okay, simple enough," Touma said as he turned a corner, barely dodging another Venus Light Blast, "Is he using this Aztec Magic to disguise himself as Unabara?"
"Aztec Priests would flay the skin of a human sacrifice and wear it. I'm guessing this is analogous," Index deduced.
"Wait, they do what with the skin!?" Touma asked in shock as he surfed down a flight of stairs.
"First they strip it off with a knife, and then they wear it," Index explained, "If he's just using it as a disguise, It's possible he just took a small portion of skin and used it to change his appearance."
"Man, these sorcerers are twisted," Touma cringed as he surfed towards a construction site, hoping to lose his pursuing inside.
"Kamijou, where are you right now?" Kuroko requested.
"A construction site in District 7!" Touma answered as he surfed right into a dead end, "And just my luck, I ran right into a dead end!"
"Don't worry, I'm tracking your location now using your ODD," Uiharu relayed, "Just keep this sorcerer occupied until we can arrive!"
"Oh yeah, totally simple!" Touma snarked as he hung up and jumped off his hoverboard.
Turning around, Touma saw the fake Unabara had caught up behind him and had his obsidian knife at the ready. Index had told him that the spell worked by reflecting light, which means if Touma wanted to disable it long enough to destroy the knife with Imagine Breaker, he needed some way to interfere with the flow of light.
Once the light reflected off the knife, it became a weapon, a destructive force that could only be halted with Imagine Breaker. The light no longer obeyed the laws of physics and thus did not reflect off of other objects, so improvising a mirror shield of some sort was out of the question. However, before the light hit the knife, it was totally normal light, so Touma's opportunity to counterattack lay there.
Spotting a shovel in a pile of cement powder nearby, Touma immediately formed a plan of attack. Grabbing the shovel, the Level 0 threw a massive amount of cement at the pursuing sorcerer. The attack created a thick cloud of cement dust, blocking out all light around the fake Unabara, blocking his view and cutting him off from the light of Venus. From behind the dust cloud, Touma threw the shovel at his opponent's head, an attack that was only barely dodged by the sorcerer.
Immediately afterwards, Touma charged at the sorcerer with ODD drawn in his left hand in baton mode and his right hand chambered for a punch. He aimed to shatter the knife with his right hand, but the fake Unabara managed to step back before the fist could reach. In retaliation, the sorcerer thrust his obsidian blade at the unfortunate student, but Touma managed to parry the knife with his ODD. The two weapons clashed a second time and locked together, with Touma trying to use the opportunity to grab the obsidian knife with his right hand and negate its magical properties. However, the fake Unabara would not allow that to happen and broke away from the blade lock, putting some distance between him and Touma.
Suddenly, a gust of wind passed through the construction site, blowing away the cement dust cloud that covered the battlefield up until that point. With the dust cloud gone and the light of Venus shining on him once again, the Aztec sorcerer raised his obsidian knife triumphantly, ready to deal the killing blow
"It's over for you! Time to say your prayers!" the fake Unabara taunted as he prepared his attack.
However, what the sorcerer failed to notice was the earlier use of the cement dust did more than just create a smokescreen. It also dirtied his blade, making it incapable of reflecting light, rendering his spell impossible is it was. By the time the caster noticed the issue, it was already too late.
"Cement dust? Damn it!" the sorcerer cursed as he hastily tried to clean his blade.
By then, Touma had already closed the distance between them. With a running start, the Level 0 unleashed his signature right hook upon the sorcerer's face. Upon impact, the sound of shattering glass rang out, as did the sound of cracking stone. The punched forced the fake Unibara on his knees and knocked the knife out of his hand, leaving him at the mercy of the misfortunate Kamijou.
Looking down at his cornered foe, Touma could see that the face Mitsuki Unibara had been cracked and shattered, starting to fall away like fragments of a clay statue. Beneath that fake face was another, one with much darker skin tones that one would expect from Central America.
"Now then, I have a question," Touma demanded with heavy breaths, "Why did you pick Unabara's body as your disguise? To get close to Mikoto? Why her?"
"Heh. You're not joking, you really don't get it, do you," the fake Unabara chuckled.
"Don't get what?"
"You have access to the 103000 grimoires," the sorcerer explained, standing up, "And if that wasn't enough, you've made friends with some interesting people lately. Among which are a few sorcerers and two Level 5 Espers, one of which happens to be your older sister. You're forming a group of supporters being referred to as the Kamijou Faction."
"The what?" Touma asked in confusion, "Dude, you're not making sense."
"Your friends. Together, their power threatens the balance between the two worlds," the fake Unabara clarified, "You aren't the only one I'm targeting for extermination. I want every member of the Kamijou Faction. My plan was to use the faces of people familiar to you to erode your trust and destroy you from the inside out."
"Sneaky punk," Touma growled, clinching his fist.
"Unfortunately, Mitsuki Unabara's identity is useless to me now," the fake continued, "I'll have you use someone else's body as my disguise."
"You don't mean… you were going to use Mikoto?" Touma growled, "You…!"
"Oh no," the sorcerer replied as he dove for his fallen knife, "I think your face will suit my purposes perfectly!"
With his knife back in hand and polished to a shine, the fake Unabara reflected the light from Venus once again with the intent to kill. However, Touma managed to dodge away before the sorcerer could get the angle of his knife just right, so instead of destroying the high school boy, all he did was hit the metal bars and girders comprising the construction site, compromising its structural integrity. While the fake was distracted by this misstep, Touma used it as an opportunity to get the jump on his opponent. Before the sorcerer knew it, Touma had closed the distance between them and launched his right fist. Unable to react quickly enough, the sorcerer could only watch as his obsidian knife was shattered by Imagine Breaker, leaving him without the use of his trusted offensive spell.
With magic no longer an option for combat, the two young men were forced into close-quarters-combat. Touma was the first to attack, swinging his ODD in baton mode at the fake's head. After taking the hit to the face, the sorcerer retaliated with two hit combo to Touma's gut, making him lose his grip on his weapon and drop it to the ground. Not one to give up, Touma charged forward again with a right hook, a move mirrored by his opponent, catching them in a cross counter. Said cross counter forced both of them back, barely saving them from being crushed by a falling girder knocked lose by the fake Unibara's misfired spell.
"I liked you. I actually thought could be friends," Touma admitted as he faced his opponent.
"Really? I never thought anything like that about you," the fake Unabara replied.
"You could have fooled me," Touma argued, the irony of that statement not escaping him, "And what about all that stuff you said about liking Mikoto? Was that all just an act too, wasn't it? And to think I went out of my way to convince her to at least give you a chance."
"Don't judge me for what you can't understand!" the sorcerer yelled back, "It's true that I'm a fake, but that doesn't change the fact that I wanted to protect Misaka! This stupid stunt wasn't my plan to begin with, but then my superiors determined that the Kamijou Faction was just too dangerous!"
"Then you…"
"If you had just been less troublesome, if you had just back down and made it possible for me to report that you weren't a threat, we wouldn't be here, and I wouldn't have had to trick Misaka!"
"… Wow, you're actually in love with her, aren't you?" Touma said in realization.
More girders crashed into the ground around them, as if to symbolize the truth bomb that just dropped on Touma.
"Yes, but you're her friend, her crush, and now I'm your enemy!" the fake Unabara declared, standing his ground.
"… You leave me with not choice," Touma said as he raised his right fist to his opponent, "That face isn't yours! It's an illusion that I'm going to shatter!"
Their reasons for fighting made clear, the two boys once again clashed in combat. Touma and the first move, changing headfirst with his right fist chambered. He threw a punch, but the fake Unibara sidestepped to the right and kneed him in the gut in a counterattack. Not about to let his opponent get a free hit in, Touma mentally recalled his ODD to his left hand, sending the previously dropped weapon on a collision course with the back of the sorcerer's head. All the while, more and more girders crashed down around them, making their battlefield and increasingly dangerous one.
When the ODD returned to Touma left hand, he immediately threw a left hook at the fake's face, sending him backwards. Touma then tried to follow this attack with a high kick, only to miss and get turned around, leaving his back open to get smashed in by the sorcerer. When the fake Unabara tried to grab Touma from behind, the Level 0 retaliated by shifting his ODD into baton mode and smacking the sorcerer in the face, forcing him back.
As soon as some distance was made between the two of them, a girder fell right between them, blinding Touma with the dust cloud it kicked up. This gave the fake Unabara the perfect opportunity to tackle Touma to the ground. Once on the ground, the two boys rolled around, fighting to pin the other down. The fake Unabara ultimately won that exchange, but in doing so he failed to see the impending danger.
From his position pinned to the ground, Touma saw a girder heading straight for them. Acting quickly, he mentally called for his hoverboard to return to him and kicked the sorcerer pinning him off him. As soon as he was free, the hoverboard arrived underneath him, scoping the high school boy off the ground and carrying him away from the falling girders. However, the fake Unabara had no luxury and was left in the path of the falling metal bars.
"Move, quick!" Touma begged.
Not wishing such a fate upon anyone, Touma stood up on top of the hoverboard that carried him to safety and stirred it towards the fallen sorcerer. As he raced to save his opponent, Touma was met with a sad, almost resigned, smile from the fake Unabara, as if excepting his fate. As Touma reached out in a last ditch effort to save the false friend, he briefly heard something from the girder about to fall on the poor sorcerer.
It was the sound of electrical buzzing.
When the girder finally hit the ground, it was followed by dozens of other girders, kicking up a dust cloud that could be seen from city blocks away. When the dust settled, Touma was surprised to see that he was perfectly fine. After all the girders fell, he had been thrown of his board and forced into fetal position to seek cover. To his surprise, he went completely unscathed with the girders closest to him having landed in such a way that they propped each other up, as if forming a tent. Getting up from his hiding spot, Touma could see that the fake Unabara was not so lucky, getting caught and pinned under two of the smaller girders that fell from above. He was hurt badly, but still alive.
"It looks like… I've lost this fight," the fake Unabara mused weakly.
"Yes, you have," Touma confirmed.
"I won't be the last one they send after you and your group. Hell, I probably wasn't even the first," the sorcerer revealed, "Like it or not... you and Misaka will still be targets. Will you protect her for me? Will you keep her safe? No matter where she is or what she's doing swear to me... you'll be there for her. Please... will you make me that promise?"
For Touma, the answer was obvious. Why wouldn't it be? It was a promise to protect, the kind of promise Touma always made good on. But more importantly, it was a promise to protect someone dear to him, a close friend who happened to love him. He never needed a reason to protect someone, but having a reason made him all the more determined to see it through.
"Of course I'll protect her," Touma replied with a smile, "No matter what my happen, I'll be by Mikoto's side and protect her and her world."
"For crying out loud…," the fake Unabara whined weakly, "That's the worst possible answer for me."
"Is that so," Touma chuckled, "What do you think, Zapper? Did I give a bad response?"
To the fake Unabara's surprise, the Railgun herself stepped out from behind one of the fallen girders. She was clutching a paper bag of fast food to her chest, and her face was a deep shade of red. It was pretty obvious that she was around long enough to hear at least the last part of the conversation.
"How long did you know I was there?" Mikoto inquired as she approached, averting her eyes from the two boys.
"Since all the girders fell," Touma shrugged, "You didn't think I wouldn't notice you using magnetism to direct those things away from me, did you? We both know I'm not lucky enough to get through something like that unscathed without help."
"So… you heard all that?" the fake Unabara asked weakly.
"… Yes, I did," Mikoto replied, "It does seem like something this idiot would say."
"… I'm sorry… for deceiving you," the sorcerer apologized, "I really did… want to… protect you… I really do… love you…"
"It's okay. I appreciate what you were trying to do, but you don't have to worry so much. I can handle myself," Mikoto said reassuringly, "Besides, I have this idiot watching my back. I'll be just fine."
"It seems… I've lost to Touma Kamijou… I more ways then one," the fake Unabara mused.
"Don't feel so bad. I really was planning on letting you have a chance at Zapper here after today," Touma said.
"Can we at least know your name?" Mikoto asked hopefully, "I want to know the name of the idiot that went this far just to try and protect me."
"… It's Etzali," the Aztec magician replied with a somber smile, "My name is Etzali."
"It's nice to meet you, Etzali," Touma returned, "I'll be sure to keep that promise."
A moment later, Kuroko and Uiharu teleported on to the scene. When they arrived, they were quite shocked to find the state the construction site had been in. Granted, given what Touma normally gets involved in, it shouldn't have been that big of a surprise.
"Sissy! Kamijou!" Kuroko greeted, "What in the world happened here!?"
"The truth: Etzali here accidentally blasted the place into falling apart. The official story: Freak construction accident," Touma replied, "Uiharu, contact an ambulance. Our sorcerer friend here is going to need medical attention. Shirai, teleport these beams off of him and help me move him on to my hoverboard. We'll use it as a stretcher until the paramedics arrive."
Following Touma's instructions, the two fellow members of Judgement got straight to work getting Etzali out of his little jam. As the Judgement Officers moved him on to the makeshift stretcher and moved him outside, the sorcerer couldn't help but chuckle silently to himself how easily Touma took control of the situation and led his peers
'You really are the leader of the Kamijou Faction, Touma Kamijou,' Etzali thought to himself as he succumbed to his injuries, falling unconscious.
Special End Card Segment: Animan Temple
"Welcome back to the Animan Temple! You all know my name! This isn't the first time we've done this!" Animan cried, plunging his sword into the ground.
"Aisa Himegami here as Priestess Number 1," the girl besides him added, "A pleasure as always."
"That was an interesting chapter, huh?" Animan asked his assistant, "It's been a while since I written a date chapter."
"I really wish you didn't," Himegami sulked.
"Come on, don't be so depressed!" Animan encouraged, "At least you got to see Touma in those glasses."
"... that handsome jerk," the miko whispered under her breath, blushing.
"Yeah, he look hot in those," the master of the temple nodded, holding his chin, "Not that I'm into guys or anything."
"Master, it would appear that we are out of time," Himegami pointed out.
"So it would seem," Animan agreed, pulling his sword out of the ground and striking a pose, "We'll see you all next time with the start of the next story of the Three Stories Arc. Look out for chapter 55, 'The Last'."
"See you all then," Himegami said, mimicking her master with her police baton.
"... You still have that?" Animan asked wearily.