Painted Prison Chronicles

by Sparity Ikari

When Kamijou Touma and Gokusai sisters reunite after a long while, things certainly go crazy for all of them when they found themselves living together through random twists of fate. In their daily life, Touma, Amazora, Kaibi, and Rikuri will learn about each other, with their light, darkness, and pasts revealed. Among the misfortune, comedy, and romance, their bonds blossom anew!

47. Chapter 47

PAINTED PRISON CHRONICLES

CHAPTER 47

OLD WOUNDS HEAL, NEW SCARS FORM

Welcome, I'm back, dear readers. New academic year, new challenges, but one thing that doesn't change is the love for both Toaru series and this now 2 year old project, which I still have so much ideas for. After a month, new chapter is here. It took lots of work and effort, lots of emotions were felt.

And also, it is rather massive. I bow my head to the floor, yet I hope the content in itself will be captivating and emotional for you, compensating the wait for this part of the story and set your willingness to see more of it ablaze. I hear the voices calling for future chapters to be shorter, (and in turn, possibly more frequent) and you are in luck. I wrote this longer one to wrap all things in Vasilisa's Arc, not confuse the reader by splitting it more. After the next chapter, which will be promised Special Chapter between the arcs, we will go back to slice-of-life formula, in which shorter chapters will be more than manageable. Sometimes, it's just very hard to split the action without some very unsatisfying pause occurring. I don't want to leave people waiting if I know that I will be busy in real life, too. Still, I will work on moderating chapter length starting again from chapter 49, I promise I will attempt it.

Aside from reviews on the latest chapters, I am very touched to receive reviews of older ones, which could possibly indicate that new people are getting into the story. Never enough thanks for that, so once again: Thank you. I am honoured that anyone considers reading my first story ever, and I consider each such person a blessing.

This chapter chronicles lots of important events, reactions, bonds, stories, emotions, and so much more. There is a lot, a lot, and once more, a lot going on, and quite possibly the best way to experience it, by diving right in. As always those days, I will probably have more to say in ending remarks.

Well... I reckon that's it for now. I don't think there are any particular changes to publishing schedule, although as always after summer, it may take a bit longer for chapters to come out, before the new writting rhytm sets in. Nevertheless, I strongly strive to get you new, special chapter (I am very, very excited for writting this particular one, for more than one reason!) at the end of the month.

Q&A corner

superboy813: As I said to You before, we will see Proserpina again. So don't worry, I will definitely expand on additional, not so obvious aspects of her history.

Average stuufy: Motorcycle ride was also one of my favourite parts of last chapter, glad you liked it

Fullbreaker: Thank you for the congratulations on the anniversary, I will do my very best to bring you the best writing I am capable of with my current ability. I am glad that you thought some of the concepts that appeared in my story are worthy of your and other's reflection. I do not always follow canon to the line, but always strive to check the compatibility of my ideas with canon to avoid oversights. And for my work to be treated as more Toaru content to wait for is one of the greatest praises one could ever receive, thank you so much. I wanted to wait for the end remarks, but you seem very insistent on it, so I can already mention that Anna is coming to the story very soon (now how soon is soon? You will see) and as promised Transcendents as a whole (at least in the plans) will be more relevant. Hasako deserves development, she is the prime example of what can you do when you attempt to flesh out the character with patience and I have such a sentiment using her... as for Ladylee, as I said before, she and Touma will have one of the more interesting and complex relationships, very important, but I wil say no more. And Neph is absolutely incredible, I love to write her, I blame her for igniting my love for dark skinned, white haired waifu aesthetic (although she wasn't first, the first was Julie from Bakguan, presumably). But anways, love to write Nephthys x Touma, because it can be brilliant if one is patient with it, especially if it runs parallel to Othinus and Niang-Niang.

FingFangFoom100: I am happy to hear that you love Hasako. It makes me so happy that people do so! I wanted to give her a mother figure to complete the family-like structure she gained in the new times she woke up in, and not to worry, Proserpina's character will still be expanded upon. When it comes to Touma's growth, I wanted him to progress, get braver and wiser.

This is a kind of a choice fanfic writes make, whether to progress a character in their own story, or to keep them static, to comply with canon at all times? There is always a risk involved, but I think one of the function of fanfiction is to expand, present alternatives, and make characters mature psychologically in ways that canons didn't do. Veritas and Rin will be back, they are on the way to friendship, but a rather specific friendship. As for Awatsuki, I am very happy I can do something for her. I just all three of Kongou's group so much, I didn't want any of them to be left out, and this is also why I did my best to incorporate them well into Touma's harem.

As for languages, well, it's yes and no at the same time. I am massive language geek, for one thing. I can speak English, Spanish, Italian, and Polish on very good levels (writing is sometimes slightly worse, but it depends on the language), and in some languages I know grammar principles and structures, like in Japanese, German and Russian, so if use a dictionary, I can navigate them decently. I also know Finnish and Latin to a lesser degree. It's just a hobby of mine. I was inspired by how Tolkien created and was fascinated with languages, too.

5had0wHand: The limitation of IB hosts to just three (till Touma's time, that is) serves the purpose you wrote about. I wanted each of them to be distinct, but not have overwhelming number of new characters. Three is a very secure number, because you have a dual interaction, with third party spicing things up, and you can do it in three different configurations. I am glad you liked it, family dynamic was very much intended. And as for animal IB hosts, yes, I think there was something about it in canon too. In my story, there is a line about IB being reincarnated in dog, for example.

I can only imagine what kinds of hallucination psychogenic substances would induce to have visions similar to Touma's experiences, but if you drew that comparison, it seems that the purpose of stylizing my writing as such worked well. Nephthys crying is always worth it XD I wouldn't say Maria is a new Himegami, but she surely has to fight to be recognized now, especially with her older sister as a competition. And yay, someone pointed out the Madagascar reference. As I mentioned above, while Proserpina initially follows the kidnapper route, her story will be expanded upon to include other, not so obvious, Toaru-specific lore bits.

Without further delay, let's begin!

Kamijou Touma was walking through the corridor at Academy City's Fashion Center.

Yes, apparently, that was a thing. He would never guessed that Academy City had a building dedicated entirely to clothing and fashion. Though, there was apparently good reason for its existence.

Kumokawa Seria, who was the one to tell them about the location in the first place, which was later confirmed by Rikuri, told him that she once attended swimsuit competition in that very place. She also said that for a place like Academy City, any area of life could be a subject to improvement. So not only things like vehicles or guns could be upgraded into high-tech marvels, but clothing could also be supplied with latest innovations and inventions, from camouflage to attack suits.

That was the explanation for the fashion center's reason to be. As for the explanation why Vasilisa was here, it was rather obvious.

'Before her role as a Secret Chief priestess, before a magician from Annihilatus, she was a seamstress... she is even insanely talented from what I've heard about her. So it kind of checks out she would seek refuge in a place that holds so close to her heart.'

As Touma walked forth, he noticed a big door at the end of the corridor.

It was right here. Everything was in place. He could feel that this was the correct spot.

As he went forward, he entered the section of the corridor flanked from both sides by large display windows.

While he moved, the reflections from both sides stopped belonging to him.

The glass on his left reflected a young woman with a hair of the colour of flame, with simple brown robe with silver accents.

The glass on his right reflected a tall man wearing slightly torn clothes, with pronounced musculature and weapon of chains wrapped up on his back

Three of them walked in synch, as Touma walked towards the door.

"Are you sure you don't want to have vengeance?" Ataxia asked him." For my taste, you deserve justice for what was done to you"

"Senpai, I did this because I chose to do it. I want to speak with her, and make her realize on her own why I did what I did, and why I didn't approve of what she did"

"Being like that will not break you free from misery. It may cost you, but if we work together, I might be able to guide your hand and give her piece of our mind. It will be all on me, so let me help you..."

The glass of the displays cracked . The red hair of young witch within the reflection rose, as if invisible wind was blowing through it, and the display itself changed into checkered, shifting and half-fluid field, as if out of surrealistic painting. Great agitation and strain was heard within Touma's mind. Very irises in Ataxia's eyes changed into kaleidoscopic vortexes. Strange, twisted shapes and figures, flashes of light and shadow, clashes of every hue of colour appeared within them. Sight of those eyes was neither pleasing nor worrying. They were just ceaseless, unbroken chaos.

But Touma shook his head.

"If letting you do that is anything like letting that invisible presence out, I don't want it. I need to speak with her and save her, not kill her."

"Save her? From whom?"

"From herself, of course. Right, Eike-san?"

Touma looked at the other reflection. The second host, Ekkhard Sündelige, was unusually silent.

"Kamijou is right." he finally admitted" Vengeance will bring us nowhere. That's not what we need, it never was when it came to her"

"Hmm... and just when I am trying to be a protective older guardian you two were supposed to have" Ataxia huffed. The pressure lessened and the aura around her disappeared." You two are more important to me than anyone alive, because only you understand our pain! I say that justice is important, and you are too merciful! And you, Saint. I expected this from our youngest companion, but you?"

"You know very well that I am very opposed to killing." Eike countered calmly

"I sincerely hope that you are not going easy on that witch just because she was your wife"

"Lover. We never got married" came a correction, tinged with regret." But you are right. I am hesitating because what linked me together with Lisa. I feel... I feel that a lot of strife and desperation she felt all that time... it was because of me."

"She caused him a lot of suffering" Ataxia argued" You are going to forgive her?"

"My priority should be saving, not avenging." Touma explained calmly" It was misguided, but she did it for me. And for Eike-san, too... so I am convinced that I cannot give up on her"

Ataxia sighed, but this time, her smile was more soft and exasperated than angry.

"Que dois-je faire avec vous deux [What am I supposed to do with you two]? You are impossible... but then I suppose Imagine Breaker, our curse, had a reason for its choice. My time has passed. It's up to you to make choices regarding its fate and destiny of the world. Whether you choose salvation or damnation upon the world is not for me to decide"

"Don't talk like that" Touma smiled back" And thank you, for thinking about me and wanting good things for me. You sounded like a real big sister, which is always a plus in the eyes of this Kamijou"

Ataxia mumbled something under her breath, but the soft look in her eyes didn't vanish.

"She warmed up to you, huh? She has that brash way of caring, that actually runs deep once you get to know her..." Eike chuckled from the other reflective surface" But in all seriousness... she is right. Our time passed, we can only guide you, not make decisions for you. But with all of that in mind, I want to ask of you... no, to beg of you... to have it in your heart to help her. She needs to come to terms with the fact that... I am not coming back. That what happened back then was not... that she was... Hilf ihr, mich gehen zu lassen. Help her let me go, alright?"

"I still think justice is more important."Ataxia protested" I am doing it only for your benefit. What will it be, justice or forgiveness? Beat her up if you need to!"

Touma hit his right fist on the interior of his left hand.

"Why can't it be both? Just trust me on this"

With this, he reached the end of the displays, and two of the echoes of previous hosts disappeared.

As he touched the entranced, a loud sound of shattering glass was heard. He most likely destroyed something that was meant to keep that place impenetrable until his arrival.

Touma took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

He found himself in a huge room filled with mirrors and mannequins. In the middle, there was an improvised runway. And at the stage set on the very end, Touma noticed a familiar, crimson red habit.

Vasilisa observed him with that face of hers that was so similar to the paintings of Madonnas in churches that Touma saw thanks to Index. As he took few steps forward, she flashed a calm, and maybe a bit sad smile towards him.

"So... you came after me?" she asked softly, her smile getting slightly warmer

"No" Touma spoke slowly, as he came to a halt" I came for you"

"For me? As in, with the intention to help me too?" Vasilisa laughed dryly" I appreciate the sentiment, but I doubt there is anything you can do-"

"I will be the judge of that" Touma stated defiantly, clenching his fist" You put me through a lot. The least you can do is let me try what I want to do!"

"But what can you do?" Vasilisa sighed, playing with fabric, as if imagining stitches and threads spreading all over the room" I admit... I didn't expect you to have such tenacity and endurance. As a matter of fact, I didn't expect you to recover your hand at all."

Touma tilted his head.

"Are you angry?"

Vasilisa didn't respond, just smiled in a way that would pass for a smile of a stupid, happy-go-lucky girl for anyone that didn't know her. That was the face that she often wore around Sasha.

But even though it was momentary, Touma didn't miss the twitch of her hands, flaring of her nostrils, raised eyebrows, and small spark in her eyes.

Since she didn't respond to his question, he instead asked another one.

"Why?"

"Why did I do it?" Vasilisa completed the inquiry for him" I wanted to honour his wish. I wanted to make sure Imagine Breaker wouldn't claim another victim. I knew about it far longer than you did, I studied it centuries before you were born. It is a power of miraculous aura. But more often than not, it brings suffering and distress. I thought you would be grateful for the opportunity given to you"

"In a way, I was. I would lie if I said that I didn't think of getting rid of that power before. But the price that was paid was far too high."

"Are you talking about the world being thrown outside of balance?" Vasilisa scoffed" I am sure Magic Gods told you already that the universe wouldn't be destroyed because of it."

"No, I am talking about people. Reality can be remade, universe can begin again, and times can pass, but people are irreplaceable."

"What good are people when no one notices that you suffer?"

In her voice, Touma heard something beyond usual goofy cheerfulness and mysterious allure, both in one person of Vasilisa The Beautiful. He subconsciously realized that in her own twisted way, that lonely and powerful woman was caring more than she allowed herself to sincerely show.

But they both were too invested in this moment, the moment to which the anger and sadness of both sides boiled down to.

"I couldn't abandon them! There was no way I would leave the world miserable like that. It all just seemed... pointless, otherwise"

"Yes, you could. For once in your life, you could be happy. Can't you see that, Eik..."

Vasilisa stopped herself and blinked, before shaking her head.

"No... I mean, Kamijou Touma. Even if this was a promise to the man I loved, I still did that for others, such as yourself, to not be burdened anymore-"

"Who are you to tell me about my burdens?!" Touma spoke louder, with a hardened protest audible in his tone" You don't know me! You may know Imagine Breaker, but there is more to Kamijou Touma than just that right hand!"

"I know enough to try to intervene. It is a duty of the old to protect the young"

"You know this is not why you were fighting. Why you were so determined to act when you knew that Hasako was around in time. You didn't do this for me"

"I assume that you were told already, but I never were your enemy"

"You confronted me in Denmark"

"That was a different story. Neither Patriarch nor myself knew what happened after you started to help Othinus. When it comes to Imagine Breaker though, I was always your ally. I did it for Eike, but also for you. You don't have to suffer"

"I know that you had good intentions. But you lied to yourself. You lied about who you really needed help. I know that you told yourself that you did it for others and for others alone."

"I lied? You know how much I lost to pick up courage to try to do the impossible and destroy that power?! I knew the imbalance of power this would create, I knew the consequences, but I still followed my heart, the desire to end the tragedy of those who bear that burden-"

"And this is why I will do what I do best. Even if it is senseless or ungrateful of a job" Touma took a step forward, looking Vasilisa with confidence" I have people who want me to be with them. I should thank you for making me realize that discarding my burdens will cut my bonds to not only those who are here now, but those who are waiting for me in the future. They are not even born yet, but they gave me a good wake-up call. Now, thanks to them, my head is clear and I can say: enough! I am standing here to remind you who really needed help in that time, to bring justice, and to save you!"

Vasilisa laughed

"You lashed out when I took the matters of your burdens in my hands, so what makes you so sure that you would be able to handle my own?"

"I am not sure. I never am. But that never stop me either, did it?"

"Also..." Vasilisa eyed the doors behind her" Please stop trying to pretend you are here alone"

The doors opened abruptly and widely.

A hand was thrown into the air, with wind blowing and spreading the glamorous raven hair like a veil of elegant ink against the background.

"Not so fast! Are you not aware that in the presence of myself, Kongou Mitsuko, none shall-UGH!"

Kongou managed to say only so much, before the draft pushed the doors back to closed position, slamming them into ojou-sama's face.

Touma opened his mouth. Vasilisa raised an eyebrow, in the mixture of disbelief and amusement.

After few moments of silence, the doors were opened again, this time by Gokusai Kaibi.

Both her and Kongou entered the room, with Measure Heart having a face that suggested that she did not know Kongou whatsoever, or at least would like to not be associated with what just happened.

"Vasilisa-san" Kaibi put a hand on her thigh, where her pistols were hidden under the dress. Her eyes glowed for an instant, menacingly" We came to confront you and offer Kamijou Touma support. Don't resist or you will be met with retaliation"

She then whispered to Kongou

"See? That's how you do it. The point is to be effective"

"But there is no 'omph!' in that" Kongou whispered in protest, gesturing vividly" In terms of points of style, it has none!"

"When you threaten someone, you don't want to be stylish, you want to get a job done"

"Well, I think I would like to distinguish myself from some random hoodlum from the street."

"Are comparing me to a thug?"

"No, I am merely pointing out that even if we are beautiful, there is thin line between brute violence and stylish interception of evildoers!"

Touma didn't know when Kongou and Kaibi talked with one another to get onto the level of bickering. Honestly, he would immensely enjoy and laugh at this relationship, but they had more important things to focus on right now.

"How... quaint." Vasilisa smiled faintly" I know there is quite a cavalry you amassed for this. Do you truly feel such necessity?"

"That depends on you" Touma smiled back" But as for me... till I manage to actually get to you and make you see this situation for what it really is..."

A memory of a similar fight from the past crossed his mind.

One that he once had with Leivinia Birdway, after she betrayed his trust.

"Let's fight and make up"

(MEANWHILE)

At Certain Hospital, Takitsubo Rikou blearily opened her eyes.

Her lips felt dry and her skin was hot. But her mind cleared out a little bit.

In the corner of the room, the unlikely couple of Aikawa Enka and Hanamiya Kaira, a former thug and ojou-sama, slept with heads resting on each other.

And just next to Takitsubo, there was a stirring and green orb illuminated the darkness.

AIM Stalker gasped instinctively upon seeing the green-lit face of Mugino.

"M-Mugino?"

"You're awake! Sorry about that orb, I wanted to see if you are okay quicker than reaching for the light..."

In the next moment, the orb disappeared, and instead, small nightstand lamp was turned on. It gave enough light for two girls to see each other, but left enough darkness for the sleeping couple to be undisturbed.

"Well..." Mugino began, in unusually awkward voice" how are you holding?

"I've... been better. But I've also survived worse" Takitsubo replied truthfully" What happened?"

"What do you remember?"

"Not much. I remember my power fluctuating widely, turning Hasako-san into... whatever that form was... passing out, and then... I was here"

"You were used to elevate that girl's power level temporarily. They somehow got you the body crystal. After you passed out, you were saved somehow by that exhibitionist in banadages and runt who looks like a blueberry... Then we tried our best to move you to the hospital relatively quicky."

"O-Oh... 'we' being..."

"Myself and that pair napping there. I honestly thought they will be more of a hindrance than anything else, but they were surprisingly useful. They helped nurses get necessary things and assisted in the operation... to detoxify you. You were hit pretty hard. It was such a long time since you took that crap that having it in your system again... well, good thing we made it to hospital"

"Thank you... all... and where is Hamazura?"

Mugino hesitated.

"He went with Touma against this... Vasilisa. To give her the piece of his mind, he said"

"I see... then I am relieved"

"Relieved?"

"I have... great trust in Kamijou Touma. And I know he could benefit from having Hamazura watch his back. That's why I am confident that they will be alright."

Mugino had to admit that, given what she knew of the boys dynamic, they did seem to strengthen each others advantages and challenge each other to be better men.

"Hmm... I guess they can fight back to back if the need arose..." Mugino nodded slowly.

"I am more..." Takitsubo paused, coughing.

Mugino wordlessly took the water and helped Takitsubo drink it, to soothe the other girl's sore throat.

After a moment, the brunette was able to continue.

"I am more surprised..." Takitsubo carried on" that you are not charging forward with cry on your lips. That would be more like you. Instead... you are here. Not that I am not grateful but... why?"

"I came... because of how you get hurt. Through what, specifically"

"Oh..."

Mugino didn't say anything for a while. The small lamp didn't fully illuminate the room, and so the level 5s attractive face looked like a solemn mask of lights and shadows.

"Takitsubo..." she finally broke the silence" Are you afraid of me?"

The question was asked in a calm tone. It wasn't angry or dramatic. It was instead deeply sad.

Takitsubo held in her breath, before letting it out.

"No" she answered firmly, before shifting and adding" Not anymore"

"Right..." Mugino sighed and forced herself not to look away, locking her gaze with Takitsubo's.

Only now Takitsubo noticed her eyes. They were just slightly red and she could swear that there were trails of dried tears.

Mugino rarely cried, and certainly to the point of sclera reddening. So right now, she was either allergic (which in itself was no laughing matter. Kinuhata Saiai's B-movie collection, half-melted in the midst of particularly unexpected sneezing fit from Meltdowner, were a 'truly' tragic testimony of that) or something moved her so much that this almost unseen sight manifested and caused it.

Given the seriousness of the situation, it was likely the latter option. It was certain that Mugino tried to hide it but it was still there.

"I am not the one who should judge whether or not someone should be afraid of me" Mugino went on" I am a pretty fucked up girl. I made a shit ton of mistakes and I will probably make twice as much... but I just want you to know that my anger will always be directed at those threaten my group, my ITEM. Never, ever against you, any of you... and you specifically, too. Do you... do you know that?"

Although to outside observer, the level 5 was using her usual, strong voice, Takitsubo heard the vulnerable plea underneath.

"Yes, I know" she nodded gently" I know how much you changed, I watched it happen. I believe you... and in you, too"

Mugino exhaled and shook her head.

"Don't know if I deserve it, but... it's good to hear."

Sensing that there was still something more, Takitsubo inquired.

"Mugino..."

"Hmm?"

"What's wrong"

"Are you an idiot? You are sick like this and you are asking me about my well-being?!"

Even though she usually didn't show much passion, Takitsubo did not let go of the subject that easily.

"You were crying. Touma-san made some progress with your emotions, on many levels, but you cry so rarely... speak with me, Mugino. What's going on?"

Mugino clicked her tongue and clenched her fist, which was resting on her leg.

"I wanted... I wanted to wait with this till you get better... didn't want to put more on you, since this is kind of heavy matter..."

Takitsbo waited patiently.

"When you woke up and saw my orb... you got scared, right?"

Takitsubo lowered her head.

"I didn't know where I was... and when I saw you in the green light, among the darkness... it just triggered the memories..."

"I am sorry, I didn't mean it... but it was the same for I saw that you got body crystal poisoning... it all came back..." Mugino's voice wavered slightly" The way I felt back then... the way I acted... the way I wrecked everything I had... and among all of that, there was you..."

"Me..."

"I was... such a massive bitch. I killed Frenda, and for such a long time, I was only focused on that part. I made peace with Hamazura, and even with Fremea, but there wasn't any moment in which I really talked about it with you. Sure, I apologized... but I never was satisfied... nor was I ready... to say that it came from my heart. So now... because you are down by that shit again, I want to say it..."

Takitsubo gasped as Mugino looked at her with a very tired and sad eyes.

"I... I apologize, Takitsubo. I am so incredibly, truly sorry. I said things... and did things... I never should have done... back then."

Takitsubo remembered. Of course she did. Mugino's deranged face and her painful grip were haunting her dreams for a long time. Sometimes, a light or stress caused them to return, like what happened now, even if she already moved on.

"I hurt you so much during that time... I made my own friend terrified, and because I wanted perfection I couldn't have... pefection that stemmed from my own weakness... our team fell apart, and I..."

Mugino chocked on her own words. She coughed into her hand, and touched the side of her head with tense face.

"Look, I am... not very good at this. I just... want you to know that I wish to atone, to you too."

"Mugino, you did hurt me. And you terrified me. But both Hamazura and myself managed to-"

"Takitsubo, you were essential to our team. But even with all of that, I still treated you like trash. I abused you, used you, got you sick, injured you... you were just a tool. You did so much, but for me... you were just a useful search tool, like a GPS or a phone app!"

Mugino growled those sentences out, but in contrary to her regular anger, this one was exclusively directed against herself.

"Objectively speaking, I don't deserve your forgiveness, Takitsubo."

AIM Stalker tilted her head and spoke in a gentle tone.

"Mugino... it's true that you hurt me. I don't think either one of us can, or should, forget it... but Hamazura forgave you, and I am willing to do so too. All in all, I am seeing your regret and willingness to be better. That's what counts." she shakily put her hand on Mugino's" After all... even though you did a lot of harm, you still took me in and gave me home. I am grateful for the days we had and ones we have now. I am not saying that what happened between us in the past... this terrible nightmare... had no weight on our souls. No, we will both carry them for different reasons. But what I mean is that I am rooting for you in your progress. Hamazura and Kinuhata too. And I am certainly sure that Touma-san does too. It was his idea for you to come and talk with me, right?"

"How did you..."

"Woman's intuition"

Mugino snorted.

"You are an esper in Academy City, no, one who can theoretically become a single-person incarnation of the City as Academy Individual, and your argument is intuition?"

"Well..." Takitsubo chuckled weakly" That's my best bet"

"That guy..." Mugino resumed, and in her tone a hint of affection glazed the serious and stern words" Somehow he always knows what to say to me. I never met a man in my life who would make me so strong and... weak, at the same time. He didn't forgive me, he embraced my darkness and said that he will stop me if I went astray. And he makes me feel things... weird things. It's infuriating that we are not even fighting, and I keep feeling like he is winning by smallest things. Over me, that is"

Takitsubo was aware that although Mugino visibly got mad, she was actually attracted to Touma putting his foot down, and although she seemed to complain, she was glad that Touma was taking initiative in some things, while she wasn't pressured into forgetting her dark side heritage.

It was a very strange relationship, but not a bad one.

Touma took genuine interest and care in helping Mugino out with her own problems, and cherished her long suppressed dreams without allowing her to stifle him. In turn, Mugino showered him with protectiveness bordering on jealousy, and served as both arm to lean on and ear to lend, as the pair was submerged in darkness for a long time.

Mugino Shizuri fell in love, and was experiencing it in a peculiar way, the way that only those who were tainted by darkness could experience. That boy made her think things she wasn't used too, challenged her, and allowed her to be herself while also bringing her to light.

"Mugino..." Takitsubo's eyes glossed over and it seemed she was slowly drifting into the sleep caused by a fever accompanying the body crystal of the overdose of the body crystal" Touma-san... if you two get your feelings in order... don't let him go. He is the one that will manage to finish what Hamazura started, pulling you out the darkness... Touma-san will make you happy and I know you can make him happy too... so, don't lose him..."

Something stirred within Mugino's heart and the feeling remained messing with her inner emotions long after Takitsubo drifted back into sleep. Keeping her hand on Takitsubo's, Meltdowner looked at the other buildings, in the general direction of where Touma and Hamazura were supposed to be.

The stirred sentiment wasn't anger, usual reaction at Touma when he was away till this point. It was worry.

"Damn right I won't let him go" Mugino spoke with great force" Mugino Shizuri doesn't lose what is hers, she gets it. He is mine, and as far as it's going, he earned for me to be his. I always laughed at the idiots spouting shit like that... but should someone try to take that away... I will burn them, alongside with rest of this wretched shithole of the world."

Such were Mugino Shizuri's feelings.

If the fate was to uphold, Shizuri's daughter would become of one the most potent espers of the future era, with unfathomable firepower and even greater heart, one of the eldest among her many siblings.

But this, of course, was complete mystery to Mugino in the present day. Additionally, like any future, this one could vanish like a mirage on the smallest change of events.

Mugino Shizuri promised to atone. So she stayed and tended to Shizuri.

And with her heart, she hoped for the best, with all of her might. Not just about the fight with Vasilisa, but the future in its vast expanse.

(MEANWHILE)

"Fight to... make up?" Vasilisa asked, with slightly amused voice. "Do you really intend to fight me?"

"Well... I didn't want to at first... but I think sometimes, the true understanding can be reached through fists before it can be expressed into words. You forgot whose pain is the greatest here. And I will punch the realization into you if needed!"

With those words, Touma took off running in Vasilisa's direction.

Vasilsa raised to her feet, and lowered her head for a moment, with a small smile.

"Very well. I acknowledge your challenge"

Touma never managed to reach her.

A shadowy figure swiped the long, bony arm at him, with a menacing cackle. He raised Imagine Breaker, and intercepted the blow, but it still caused him to slide rapidly backwards, hitting the wall in the process.

"Ow! What the... ah, I see..."

The figure of the shadowy witch blocked Touma's path towards Vasilisa.

"You didn't honestly expect me to just let you approach me once we start to duel for real?" Vasilisa asked rhetorically" Even if you are Eike's legacy and I am not going for the kill, I will not go easy on you"

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

"Ackackackack!"

Touma dodged, avoiding three consecutive swings from giant pestle, held by Baba Yaga.

"Well, this Kamijou wouldn't expect anything different, given his luck... woah!"

The ground tilted, as Touma found himself trapped in a big mortar, with the avatar of old woman hovering over him, stretching the bent and thin, branch like arms. The mortar was enormous and Touma felt like a speck of dust inside of it, as he had to run inside it, and wave his hands to not fall.

"Those constructs are continuously supplied with my own mana" Vasilisa spoke lightly, not looking in his direction" Don't bother trying your right hand on them. If you resist, the avatar of Baba Yaga will grind you into fine bone dust. мне жаль, дорогой, but you will not even approach me"

The ghostly old lady cackled even more and attacked with the pestle once more.

"Damn it..." Touma cursed. He tried to climb the steep walls, but couldn't achieve much with dodging the grinding attacks." Doesn't seem like a honourable fight..."

"Are you fighting to show off or to win?" Vasilisa waved her hand dismissively" If you want to best me, show me something that can do so"

"He is not alone, you know!" Kongou Mitsuko declared proudly" Prepare for your annihilation"

"Ekhm..." Kaibi cleared her throat.

"Oh, right..." hot blush grew on Kongou's face, as she realized that she overdid the dramatics" I mean... prepare for non-lethal, but still glamorously magnificent subjugation to our might"

This didn't make it any less over the top.

"This girl is impossible..." Kaibi groaned to herself.

Vasilisa turned towards two girls who approached her from behind.

"We don't want to interfere, but given the circumstances..."

Kaibi was cut off as Vasilisa beamed at them, giving them a glint of blue eyes, and raising her hands. Touma yelled in the background, swatting the attacks of shadowy avatar and running around the illusionary mortar. It seemed Vasilisa didn't need to have her full attention on the mighty force she was a priestess to.

"Oh, so you join the fray too? Welcome, daughters of science. However, if you step forward towards battle, you must be prepared to fight with all of your strength. I would rather not cause you harm. You, dear blond girl, have absolutely magnificent ensamble. So charming, and I adore cute and daring clothing"

Kaibi looked down at her dress, glimmering golden bracelets, and silvery necklace.

"Thank you, I guess?"

"So I hope that you will see the difference in power and stop this foolishness"

"What are you talking ab-" Kongou stop mid-step. A shock appeared on her face.

"I... I can't move"

"What do you mean you can't-" Kaibi stopped talking.

She also felt it. As if something suddenly stopped her in place.

"What did you do?" she yelled to Vasilisa. She shrugged.

"дорогая, you can, or will surely, find out in a moment. It's better to show instead of telling"

Kaibi's hand reached under her skirt and slowly pulled out a gun, lifting it up.

At the same time, Kongou took a step forward, but not in the direction of Vasilisa, but the Measure Heart.

"Huh?"

"W-Why are you pointing your weapon at me?"

"I-I am not. I mean, I am, but I am not doing it... my body is..."

"Moving on its own? So does mine. Oh my... this is quite... unsettling..." Kongou swallowed hard" S-Stop, legs! Listen to me at once!"

Touma's fist clashed with Baba Yaga's hand and pushed the old women aside. He managed to reach over the mortar, shouting:

"Vasilsa! Your fight is with me! Don't engage with them"

Vasilisa smiled cutely, winking at Touma.

"It all depends on you. Let me fufill my promise, one way or another, and this will all be over, Kamijou Touma. I am honourable, and you are my love's legacy. If you step aside and let me do what I ought to do, I will not cause them any harm. It was a mistake to bring others here. They were the ones to step forward, and they are going to learn who they are fighting... as even though I don't want to kill, I have a duty of heart... and I am..."

The draft caused her headpiece to rise and flutter, as the mischievous twinkling in her eyes was comined with aura of power and charisma.

"I am the priestess of the Old Power of Earth, Baba Yaga. My name is Vasilisa The Beautiful. I am Maiden of Legend, Living Water of Life, the Sewing Witch. I was the lover of Ekkhard Sündelige and to fufill the desire he spoke with his dying breath, I am going to ensure Imagine Breaker won't hurt anyone, neither now or in the future. So..."

Her eyes were as strong as steel, as she looked at Touma.

"Show me something that would be capable of changing my conviction in doing what must be done."

The actual battle, the test of wills, was about to begin.

(MEANWHILE)

Kankyougami Hasako was looking directly at Saronia Irivika as they returned to the old Kamijou Dorm.

"Girls, we should leave for now" Bayloupe commanded everyone else" Those two need to talk"

"Fiiiine..." Lessar whined, looking outside the window. "I wonder what Lover Boy is doing."

"They will probably fight and make out..." Helcalia said in hopeful tone, unaware of the mistake she made in a sentence.

Ever since they returned the labirynth, the way the girl walked and tone in which she spoke changed, the prolonged visit in space between dimensions marking her with maturity and greater reasonability. Additionally, thanks to Amazora's lessons, her japanese improved to a very good level.

Still, Amazora was not exactly master of linguistics, thus mistakes still happened. With more or less fortunate consequences.

"Helcalia... I think you mean make up, not make out..." Lancis pointed out before Lessar wailed loudly:

"I WANT TO FIGHT AND MAKE OUT! With fighting part being optional..."

"Will you ever start to reading the room?" Birdway whacked her on the head with a magazine" He doesn't need it right now!"

"You are only saying it because you are jealous as... hey, is this... a magazine of this sort? You know what sort? The pleasuring kind? The boy's Arcadia? The Kamasutra of Youth? The Tale of Valleys and Hills?"

Birdway realized what she held in her hand and pulled away.

"I don't-"

"IT IS!" Lessar roared in outrage" He still left one behind? I was searching for days, trying to find any left over! Do you have any idea how valuable this is... why are you even reading it?!"

"What I do and don't read is none of your concern!"

"You want to get into his good graces by researching his tastes. Well, you are still underqualified!"

"And what is that supposed to mean? As if you are any better. You will see just how qualified I am when I will be the age of those... women, in the magazine. He will be at my feet from desire! Bodies change, stupidity may not... if you are too dumb to get the reference, you are the recipient!"

Two girls grabbed each other, in half-wrestling quarrel.

"Here they go again..." Bayloupe groaned, pushing everyone out" Alright, let's go. Hasako, we will be back in a half an hour, kay?"

Hasako absentmindedly nodded, her eyes still fixed on Saronia.

The trouble inducing magazine fell onto the ground during the commotion. Not seen by anyone, Floris picked it up, discreetly and with red face, hiding it under her hoodie before everyone left and door closed, leaving Hasako and Saronia alone with each other.

Some time passed. Finally, Saronia attempted to speak

"I can expla-"

Hasako lifted her hand and Saronia instantly got quiet from this one gesture.

Even if the girl in front of her was one of the gentlest souls around, there was something so commanding and powerful in that simple motion that she dared not to make a sound unless Hasako decided it was time.

Saronia didn't consider herself weak, even though she knew there were far stronger people out there. But she knew why Vasilisa was interested in this esper, called Beginning Child.

Saronia already made her angry, she could feel it. It would be foolishness to cause her to become even angrier.

In this respect, the magician much more preferred Maidono Hoshimi. The telekinesis user's wrath was painful and expressive, like hammer hitting you with full force, a destruction ripping everything to pieces, very bluntly and to-the-face. Even if funny and goodhearted, she also had a short-fuse.

Kankyougami Hasako was different. Her anger was like a storm welling over the vast planes of Russia that Saronia remembered from her childhood. Like those dark clouds in the distance, with wind stopping in its sound in that terrifying storm before hell broke loose, it was a force that was unbelievably quiet but holding an unimaginable might within itself.

Those two best friends were at times like day and night, but this duo of young women shouldn't be angered equally.

Finally, Hasako sighed and put her hands on her knees.

"You hurt me" she stated matter-of-factly" You are aware of that?"

"Yes" Saronia admitted" It was hard to miss..."

"Tell me about you and Vasilisa.

"Is what I heard before now true? Did you not realize the consequence of your actions will have against me?"

"I had no idea Vasilisa's actions were going to almost kill you" Saronia looked to the ground, sighing" Seriously, I didn't. I knew she was going to use you for something, but I would never imagine that it would be for something like this. I didn't pry into what she wanted, I just wanted my debt repaid..."

"And endanger so many innocents? Manipulate others against their will just to create commotion?" Hasako shouted, with a tone of shock and hurt in her voice, tears filling her eyes" Repaying one's debt is one thing. In many instances, it's quite honourable to do so. But what you are doing is not the only thing that matters. How you proceed in doing it is crucial too. Touma told me about what you did during on Hawaii. Using children like tools... I thought we were friends. I really, really thought so. But this clearly isn't the case. As you are now, you disgust me"

For this gentle, kind-hearted girl this was one of the heaviest things she could say.

For some reason, it hit Saronia hard.

It shouldn't have. She didn't intend to be Kankyougami Hasako's friend. She wanted only to get close to her so she could allow Vasilisa's plan to be realized and had the debt repaid.

She couldn't really start to like her, could she?

"Czasami możliwe są tylko złe wybory, ale i tak musisz wybrać... [sometimes the only choices possible are the wrong ones, but you still have to choose]" Saronia whispered under her breath with grim eyes.

After a moment of silence, she shook her head.

"I am... I am not trying to make excuses...I... don't know what to feel. I am a mess, really. Honestly... I didn't expect anything that is happening right now"

"Neither did I. Is this why you aren't trying to escape?"

"Maybe..."Saronia in truth considered doing so, now that her modfied and upgraded Leshy spell was lifted. She could try gather enough mana to activate Światowid spell and make a run for it. But she didn't...

Maybe it was due to fear. The weather outside was getting worse, and it was reminding Saronia of the incredible power the elegant girl in front of her wielded. A power to remake the environments of the very world they lived in.

Saronia knew it wasn't exactly weather manipulation, and couldn't happen out of the blue. But the condensing clouds and distant echo of thunder did not exactly form a reassuring sight when combined with the sight of those prismatic, multicoloured eyes, dangerous in their beauty, reflecting colours of sea, desert, ice, fire, flowers, vines, and sky.

"I think..." Hasako shared her judgement" that I know the reason you are not escaping"

"You do?"

"Yes. Because deep down, you realize what you did... and kept doing... was wrong. You must have realized it when you faced Touma, but because you needed to forget it for the sake of repaying that debt, because you wanted to go the easy way. You are staying because you feel you should."

"If I did, would you try to stop me?"

"Yes."

"Because..." Saronia slowly asked a question that was the core of the discussion" you want to get your revenge on me? Because you want to have a just exchange of hurt ocurring?"

This should be the most logical thing. Even if she was scared, Saronia wouldn't fault Hasako for doing so.

But to her surprise, the first esper shook her head.

"No. That would be easy, and I am not making that mistake. No, you made me realize important thing. I took many things for granted, and I thought idealistically about friendship and love. I don't want to change that. I wish to shower man I love with affection and receive love as well. But at the same time, I have to put my effort. This is why... I will take you as my responsibility"

"Your... responsibility?"

"Yes. I can punish you, I know I am able to. Even if you run, far and far away, my ability will reach you. Yet I don't want to do that unless you make me. I am certain that you have something in you that knows that you can change. You didn't want to because it's hard, because it confronts you with something vile and ugly about yourself. Well, this is the price you will pay. Touma made the start happen, I will make sure your change will actually occur. You will work tirelessly in securing Kamijou Touma's dream in matter's that we see fit. That's how your debt will be repaid"

"M-My debt? What kind of debt?"

Perhaps by pure coincidence, the lightning striking outside gave additional weight to already grave meaning of following words.

"Your life. I can injure or kill you at any time. I will not do it, and you shall always remember that I held your life in my hands, and on that day, decided not to take it"

Saronia paled, and felt her mouth go dry.

While Hasako managed to maintain the serious and cold face, inside she felt like she was dying

'This is so awful. I want to apologize for being so cruel, but... I know this is how it has to be'

She talked with Gokusai sisters in hopes to be more firm. Kaibi lectured her for hours regarding psychological tricks that she knew, to subdue, sway, or make someone feel respect. Although usually aiding herself with Measure Heart, Kaibi knew quite enough to, not unlike Kumokawa Seria, manipulate people with just her beauty and skill.

(FLASHBACK)

"You need to make sure that one you are talking with understands hierarchy. You hold control. If you have the advantage, make sure to point it out. Subtly, just once will suffice. Best if you have the possibility of danger hovering over the enemy, making them not eager to run and defy you"

"B-But I don't want to make anyone... o-obey me... isn't there a gentler way than threatening someone?"

Kaibi sighed and put her hands on Hasako's shoulders.

"I am not saying you should do this left and right. Moderation is the key in everything"

"But still..."

"I think what my dear little sister is trying to say..." Rikuri, working near them on a complicated piece of machinery, wiped her brow with a handkerchief, before offering a comforting gaze to Hasako" is that you don't really need to have someone on the leash, so to speak. You just need to give an initial illusion of power, to give a first step to the process of healing. You cannot have people walk over you."

"Precisely" Kaibi seconded Rikuri's explanation" You don't have to be mean about it, just care for yourself and later adjust it. Do you understand?"

"And if they are still causing problems, you can always drug them, just a little. With good suggestions, lysergic acid diethylamide, which I can whip up in a moment, can do wonders..."

"Nee-san..."

"I am joking, I am simply joking..."

Hasako nodded, sniffing slightly, as Kaibi and Rikuri walked up to her.

"Why are you crying?" Measure Heart asked in surprise" Now I feel like I am doing something evil..."

"No, that's not it. Quite the contrary, actually. It's just that..." Hasako tried to stop tears, to no avail" In my time... my proper era... no one really talked about emotions... I just had to be strong, all the time, and achieve success... so having such support is just... I am sorry, I know that I am unslightly, I will..."

"Hush, hush..."

Rikuri gently embraced Hasako. As time passed, the oldest Gokusai developed strong sisterly affection for the girl lost in time. Perhaps sensing Hasako's distress and desire, and perhaps never too generous for helping people who had their family broken, she gently stroked her head, allowing the crying girl to rest on her soft bosom.

"That's alright" she whispered" Trust me, I know my fair share of overwhelming responsibility without a moment of self-care. I know what it does to a person. So please, don't be ashamed to let us help you. We may have our morality tilted a little bit into darkness, but we still have hearts. Hearts that are big enough to care for you too. Although, Kaibi-chan's shielded heart grew so much because of our dear Touma that I fear it may explode... ow!"

She winced as her sister pouted and punched her.

"Thank you..." Hasako smiled, not breaking the hug" I am so glad all of you found me..."

(END FLASHBACK)

"You are not my friend now" Hasako addressed Saronia" But I am giving you a chance to become one, some day, some time, when all of now goes into the past. We will not forget, but instead, use this to go through this the hard way. You had your chance, so now you will havve to earn my friendship. It will take time, but I am sure that we will get rid of the darkness still present in you. This is the only chance I can offer you"

"W-Why do you think I want to have anything to do with you?"

"I see how torn you are, as simple as that. You feel regret, even if you can't name it. There is something in you, deep inside, that wants to repent. So I will try to make you work hard, so this part can come out and change you for the better"

"But I don't understand. Why would you even want to do this for me?"

"Would you rather want to be punished?" Hasako raised an eyebrow.

"I... no, but... well, I... I..."

"I don't know if I have a good, rational reason. But... a man I love wants to build a future. A certain future, filled with smiles and love. If I am to follow him there, I want to respect his values. As I heard, he suffered great hurt from the hands of Othinus-chan, one that you are acquainted with as well. Hurt so bad that, many would surely say, it would be unforgivable. But he never gave up on her, and now they love each other and understand one another more than many. I see that. So I wish to be someone who won't give up on you. You will work hard, show deep regret and try to work your way to forgiveness for what you've done. But I won't abandon you. Because the foundation of the future of which we dream of is the man who wouldn't give up on saving the other"

As speechless Saronia observed her with silence, Hasako turned to look outside the window.

'As for Touma and Kaibi-chan... what are they up to now? I have that everything is alright, and whatever they are confronting now, they are still safe...'

(MEANWHILE, IN THE ACADEMY CITY FASHION CENTER)

A high-pitched, wicked cackle resounded in the air.

Baba Yaga's vestige, created from shadows, loomed over Kamijou Touma.

The boy parried most of the strikes but some were close to grazing him due to the shifting surface of the giant mortar he was in. Imagine Breaker resounded time after time, but Baba Yaga didn't disappear at all. Like Vasilisa said, the summoned avatar was externally fuelled.

At the same time, Vasilisa looked at two girls in front of her with amusement.

"I think it's painfully obvious that there is no point in stopping me. You will only hurt each other... quite literally. I do not wish to cause any of you harm though. Пожалуйста, stay down"

"That's quite a rich talk when you are the one pulling the strings." Kaibi muttered, biting her lip, as she tried to move a hand holding a gun back down, so it wouldn't be held in the direction of Kongou Mitsuko.

"So you realized?" Vasilisa moved her fingers and the girls both took steps forward." Personally, I really prefer calling it thread magic. The girl of legend, Vasilisa, was a seamstress above all else. Thread manipulation is the most intimate form of magic I possess, except for my connection with Baba Yaga. It may be a bit vain to use my own legend as a basis for my spellwork, but, well, if something rises to the status of legend and symbolism, it becomes a good foundation of magic. It should also be something one holds close to his or her heart, so this is perfect for me"

"Is this like Kanzaki's nanasen?" Touma growled, trying to push the witch's phantom back, while glancing at the immobilized girls." Wires that are infused with mana to strengthen it and becoming weapons through the force of the body movements?"

Vasilisa scoffed.

"While I understand the appeal of this comparison, it's not the same! I admit that Saint of Far East is formidable in what she does, but she uses wires, not threads. And above all, I was the source of all thread manipulation magic in modern era, even if it was distorted and reworked for the purposes of swordsmanship. But nevertheless, those threads are infused with mana to appear colourless and gain greater strength."

"My, my, such boasting!" Kongou lifted her chin up in disapproval" People like that should truly be taught a lesson in modesty!"

"You are the one saying that?!" Kaibi screamed in exasperation" REALLY?"

"Enough stalling!" Vasilisa moved her fingers with lordly finesse. "Now..."

Kaibi's hand tightened on the gun, with threads wrapping tighter around her.

"Stand down. Now! Or else..."

Then, something interrupted her.

Kaibi puckered her lips, and started to laugh.

"What..." Vasilisa's eyes widened comically" Why are you laughing..."

Kaibi laughed, giggles rocking her body, until she finally calmed down.

She blinked the tears away, and lifted her head.

"Sorry, it's just... I am in love, you know. With that moron there" Kaibi's eyes drifted to Touma. She winked at him, which was equivalent of air kiss she sometimes blew him when she was in a particularly good mood" As you know, he has a rather persistent tendency of getting into all sorts of trouble. So if he insists on saving us, getting all the world's pain on his back, et cetera, et cetera... and because of it, remaining so misfortunate... I wouldn't be able to call myself a good partner for him if I were scared of this situation, would I?"

Kaibi smiled wickedly, and her eyes flashed with intense flare of magenta-pink. It was that sort of situations that made her an icon of the dark side, with her beauty becoming more enchanting in such dangerous and daring aura. Although Touma had no memory of his first, true encounter with Kaibi and her sisters before his memory loss, he subconsciously shared this sentiment.

"I know I am weaker here. But you will still be showed, what happens when you underestimate me and mess with my love!"

Suddenly, Kongou flinched and her eyes widened.

"No! I WILL NOT DO IT! I-I CAN'T! GET AWAY!"

Slowly, very slowly, she took a step backwards.

And Kaibi, also in a painful, painful slowness, started to lower her weapon.

Confusion permeated Vasilisa's face, as she flexed her fingers again.

Once more, the motions of the two girls stiffened. Kaibi clicked her tongue, and narrowed her eyes. Then slowly but steadily, she and Kongou distanced themselves from each other.

"That's... you are not supposed to be doing that..." the nun in red tilted her head, more in curiosity than anger" How can you be unfazed by my threads?..."

"G-Get away!"

Kongou still looked terrfied beyond belief, and with strain, she managed to do one more step backwards.

"Well, I have this little ability called Measure Heart" Kaibi said with ferocious smile still on her face" A fancy, sophisticated power. Not really combat oriented, fares better with information gathering. But it's good for changing the tides of battle with unexpected turns of events."

"Turns of events?" Vasilisa frowned.

"I wouldn't exactly call us unfazed. Those threads cannot allow us to really move. But the thing about Measure Heart is that if you want to influence emotions and have a mind over matter ability, there is nothing better. I even dare to say that famous Mental Out is not as well-versed when it comes to emotions alone, compared to my ability. Sure it, is excellent with all the processes: memory, attention, cognition, perception... but pure emotions, unfiltered feelings, which are encapsulated in the concept of the distance between hearts... those are my domain."

"What is it that you are trying to say?"

"Decreasing emotional distance can make someone fearful, terrified either." Kaibi looked at Kongou's pale face" Increasing it makes you unwilling to hurt the other party. You wouldn't fire on someone you love more than anything. It took a lot of effort, and it's not something I can do regularly, but I taught myself how to differentiate the perception of the distance on both sides of the bond. Nothing comes without some effort right. In this moment, Kongou-san is terrified of me, while I am incredibly fond of her. It sure is tricky, like pushing and pulling the rope at the same time from both ends, trying to keep it from snapping"

With that, her smile become a little more sultry, with her eyes like two magenta lanterns.

"I would never shoot my sweet honey. That's right, we can resist you, even if it hurts. I will not shoot a person I love, and Kongou-san will do anything to resist and fall back. You would not believe what crazy things people with their emotions being manipulated will do, even if it breaks their bodies. Ours will surely feel it later"

"Even so... you cannot hope to overpower me" Vasilisa cut Kaibi short" I will immobilize you and then will make Kamijou Touma come to his senses and allow me to carry on the alternative to my plan"

"I wouldn't be so sure"

"Why? Like I said, you cannot defeat me..."

"Defeat? It was never my intention to defeat you. It is a family trait, I suppose, because I was told..." Kaibi made innocent eyes, batting them" that me and my sisters can be pretty distracting, for different reasons."

Suddenly, a voice was heard above them.

"T-I-O-T-F-D-I-N [Betray Your Intent, Attack Your Allegiance, Give Harm Onto Yourself]"

"This is method of invocation... Grimoire Library!"

Baba Yaga was strangled by her own hands. She struggled and screeched, trying to regain control of her own body, which turned against her due to Index's Spell Intercept.

Simultaneously, a sound of someone landing on the ground was heard behind Vasilisa.

And then, a figure of a boy zoomed past astonished Vasilisa.

As she turned around, Imagine Breaker resounded, breaking the magical threads controlling Gokusai Kaibi and Kongou Mitsuko.

Kamijou Touma, panting and ragged, but otherwise unharmed, was standing in front of the russian nun.

"So..." he said, smiling and taking a fighting stance. "I am right here. No more messing around! Or do you want to avoid fighting me so badly?"

Behind Vasilisa, Baba Yaga's avatar tried to regain her bearings and launched at the boy.

And yet...

"E-I-T-V-S [Stray From Your Way, Turn To The Left]"

The avatar suddenly veered left and smashed into the wall, as if something invisible blow.

"Where are they?" Vasilisa turned around" Where are you hiding?"

"IDIIOOOOT!" Niang-Niang's voice echoed around them. It was impossible to discern from where the voice was exactly coming form because of the distortion."Who in the right mind would give themselves away just because one asked?"

"It took considerable effort to convince our human to let us do this. It's quite heart-warming that he changed enough to go along with this" Nephthys added soothingly a moment later.

"That's right." Kongou Mitsuko looked turned her head towards Vasilisa" He is bent on saving you, even if we don't completely understand the reasons. But for the mere reason that he needed me, I am here for my darling. This is team effort. And each one of us has a role to play!"

Indeed, they were only meant to be a distraction, for now. Their unexpected resistance would take Vasilisa's attention from Baba Yaga just enough for Index to intercept the spell and Touma to be free from relentless attacks for long enough to escape and stand in front of Vasilisa.

Kamijou Touma sprung forward towards Vasilisa, rising his fist.

But the nun stepped aside. The hit missed. And another. And another. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't reach the blond.

"So what Othinus said is true..." the boy muttered "She really has a cheat code..."

(AN HOUR EARLIER)

"What?!"

Earlier, Touma's group had a meeting regarding their strategy. Touma, Index, Othinus, Kaibi, Hamazura, Maidono Hoshimi, Nephthys, Niang-Niang, Kongou Mitsuko, and Awatsuki Maaya all participated.

They went through the plan of Kaibi and Kongou distracting Vasilisa, and Index attempting to incapacitate Baba Yaga's vestige, when Othinus dropped a piece of trivia that got Touma worked up.

"She has a help that allows her to do all the tasks she sets her mind to?"

"In the legend, Vasilisa the Beautiful had a doll." Othinus explained" A last gift from her dying mother, that doll helped her on every endeavour and task on her journey. It acts like a second pair of eyes and hands."

"It can do anything? That's incredibly vague!"

"Vagueness is something on which the magic thrives. It would be safe to assume that this doll will help her avoid strikes, to find escape roots, and aid her various plans..." Index elaborated.

"Why didn't we ever see this doll?" Kaibi inquired, and Touma nodded, also intrigued.

"If the story is to be trusted, the doll exerts a binding vow. She must not be seen or spoken of by Vasilisa or it will lose her magical abilities. It's like that question... if the tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

"But this is a cheat code." Touma lamented" A helper that will solve all the problems and clear all the stages for you?! What the hell? How is one supposed to do anything with that?"

"But here is the thing" Nephthys waved her finger in front of herself" It's not invincible."

"It can only do what Vasilisa can instruct it to do and aid with one thing at the time" Niang-Niang added" That's why we need to do something she won't expect. Here is what I propose..."

After she explained her idea, Touma winced.

"Niang-Niang... I sworn I will not overuse it. And honestly, this power doesn't sit right with me."

"It will be effective though. Don't let it out, don't let it be a replay of your fight with CRC. Just show her a glimpse. Of everything you actually have. This may be enough for her to drop her guard and switch to countering the attack from their side. And then... BAM!"

Touma slowly nodded, looking unsurely at his right hand.

Meanwhile, Hamazura raised his own.

"Yes?" Nephthys looked at him.

"You two have those overpowered godly powers, right?"

"Quite a crude way to put it, but you should already know that this is the fact"

"Yeah... so I want to do my part in this whole thing" Hamazura scratched his head, looking hopeful" And since you are own cheat code to the battle... I was wondering if you could bring me something from within the city"

"We Magic Gods can do many things, including doing what you espers call teleportation, throughout all known universe... but if you want to be boring and limit yourself to one meagre city, be our guest. What do you need?"

Hamazura described the desired tool and his plan of action.

"Nephthys! This is so funny! If she uses that spell, it will be hilarious! Let's give him what he wants!"

"It is a bit unconventional... but I agree, the vision does look amusing. Do you have the approximated location?"

After Hamazura explained what he needed, Nephthys snapped her fingers.

"I've been wondering for a while, why do they like to snap their fingers or wave their hands when they use their abilities and make something happen?" Kaibi whispered to Index.

"Oh, that's simple. Finger snapping is consider act of manifestation and creation in many mythologies, while hand waving is a symbol of power and obviousness for universe to yield to your will. Both can be used to channel magic effectively if some effect should be brought forth into reality" the nun explained happily.

"O-Okay... that's a whole ton of precise trivia put into that vague piece of action"

(BACK TO THE PRESENT)

Vasilisa was easily evading Touma's punches, smiling lightly.

"You are an admirable boy, and a decent fighter. But you must understand that I survived for centuries and have much more time on my side in terms of experience. Why are you even insisting on fighting me in the first place?"

"Because..." Touma delivered a particularly low blow, which Vasilisa also evaded, her habit fluttering upon the jump" you made quite a mess, and I also want you to see something important. And I will get there..."

"Oh? And how would you-"

Touma reached inward. Deeper than his muscles, bones, all of his physical body, until he felt familiar presences, elemental forces bonded with different phases, manifesting themselves as dragons of many colours.

'What are you seeking here, human?' spoke crystal dragoness

'I seek assistance' Touma thought ' I need you to help me'

'You want to summon us all for one enemy?' Lightning Dragon roared 'She must be powerful!'

'She is... but you can't come out.'

'WHAT?!'

'We just need to create illusion to cause fear and get her to be shocked, to bypass her defense' Touma looked (as much as he could look in space beyond his mind) towards the Obsidian Dragon.

'If fear is what you desire, I should grant it to you...' Dragon of Darkness' However, I sense that it is not all there should be...'

'Let us feast!' Dragon of Memory slithered around him, his reptile, slit-like eyes narrowing at him' Do not forget that we are not simple pets. We are beyond you and matter you are made of. We respect you, but you never owned us'

'I... I never said I did'

'We should not forget that we shall ssssstrive for coexistence...' hissed the Cobra Dragon, reprimanding him' This human achieved the impossible and reclaimed our proper connection. Without it, we would be hollow, or worse, lost'

'Let us honour that scarfice' soothingly growled the Emerald Dragoness' Our young host earned it, you have to agree'

'No! While I do not deny his bravery, this is supposed to be a two-way truce. We honour his wishes in exchange for a meal. Meal of energy, like the one from the entity we faced all together' the arcs of electricity crackled on the golden scales of Lightning Dragon as he roared in protest

'Order, my brethren' Dragon of Darkness growled lowly, dark mist leaving his mouth. All other voices fell silent. Then he turned to Touma' I sense... shadow, within you. A darkness on your soul'

'Oh, that's probably just my regular misery at misfortune.' Touma laughed, which echoed in the void.

The dragons growled louder, and Touma sensed that they were not amused.

'We told you back there, in the space between reality and dream, that jokes will only get you so far. You need to heal, you are only human. And that is the price of humanity'

'If you try to push forward, stretching imperfection on the fabric of your very being, whole tapestry - your entire existence - will unravel, to your doom' the fire between the bones of the Dragon of Flame grew brighter.

'Alright, I can take care of that afterward, but right now I don't have a time for long debating. I need...'

Then everyone get silent. A strange sensation permeated the space.

Then a void opened its eye.

Or rather, it looked that way given the sheer enormity of the creature the eye belonged to.

A being so huge that Touma and the dragons seemed tiny in comparison shifted and focused on the boy. Here, unrestricted by physical restrains, it could truly showcase its might.

When he lurched forward, it looked as if the starry sky moved, made up of the dark scales with star-like speckles, with eyes lighting up the shadows.

'Father...' Dragon of Memory spoke faintly

'Why is he awake?'

'What does he want?'

'Should something be done about this?'

Touma ignored the chatter, which grew more indistinct, as he focused on the Dragon King.

The eye, with sclera tinged neon blue and with black, vertical iris encased in the halo of bright gold, was the size of the small stadium. The teeth, shining like moons, were like mountains, legs like trunks of millenia old trees, thick with muscles. The claws themselves were like skyscrapers.

Touma felt like a speck of dust in front of that monstrous power.

He knew the septet of dragons he got used to were powerful.

Dragon of Darkness, which seemed to command the most respect, could entice worst nightmares to the point of cardiac arrest.

Dragon of Memory and Decursing could quite literally devour memories and identities, and could break hexes as easily as its jaws could break through thoughest materials.

Emerald Dragoness of Illusion could weave mirages and illusions so potent that they could very well substitute someone's reality.

One Eyed Cobra Dragon could secrete and control any kind of poison, change any liquid into toxin, and also grant poison immunity.

Dragon of Lightning wielded incredibly energy-based firepower, that would put even the likes of Mugino Shizuri and Misaka Mikoto at awe.

Crystal Dragoness could withstand planet shattering blows, providing ultimate defense with crystal magic.

Finally, Dragon of Undead Flame generated fire that burned life itself, and was a guardian of enlightened wisdom, granting Touma passage through nine aspects of human soul.

The incident with Konori Mii. Aftermath of battle with Veritas. Training with Niang-Niang. Labyrinth of All Fates. And most importantly, the grand battle against Kamijou No Touma.

Touma, with better or worse enthusiasm, used those abilities a few times prior.

But this creature, which those dragons referred to as Father (Touma didn't know if it was literal or figurative) emanated so much power that Touma felt that he could simply breathe at something and cause it to disperse into nothingness.

He remembered the time in which he let him out. He remembered the feeling of absolute might and equally potent dread. And so, he addressed the apocalyptic monster.

"No! Not you! I don't need you! I know what Niang-Niang and Nephthys were going for with that suggestion, but this is too much! I promised that I won't use you again. I already broke this promise once, I am not turning to that destruction again. Do not come out!"

The enormous eye narrowed, and the sharp fangs glinted in the darkness.

Rumbling permeated the air, causing every cell in his body to tremble, with the feeling that his body will burst at any moment.

Only after a moment, Touma realized that Dragon King was laughing

'Amusing'

In contrast to the smaller dragons, Dragon King didn't speak using the actual words... or, to be more precise, his thoughts were not conveyed in any language known to mankind. But the rumbling and presence still conveyed the meaning into Kamijou Touma's mind, as if the existence itself burned the words into his mind.

"NO!" he protested.

The Dragon King reared his head back and roared.

It was the loudest sound Touma have ever heard.

In that moment, Touma knew that the total subdual was not meant to be.

Also, he was almost sure that the dragon was smiling... if it was even possible.

He wanted to amuse himself, that much was clear.

For the record, the entire conversation inside his mind lasted less than what was perceived as a second outside of it.

As the roar sounded, his arm was severed from the inside, flying under his feet

He took next step.

It happened between two heartbeats. Only for a briefest of moments.

In that striking moment, a enormous pressure rose up around the boy and swallowed everything around.

Vasilisa still had confident face when this pressure hit her. Over the span of next second, that look was about to change.

It felt as if everything went to move in slow motion.

The pressure of power condensed around the boy. It was on the edge of being visible, but it was sure perceivable.

In that one moment, everything in all of creation felt a chill and strange feeling permeating itself.

'Is this... aura? There is an aura around him' Vasilisa thought, witnessing the momentary burst of enormous pressure.

Indeed, that was the most approximate description of shocking phenomenon.

Ground didn't break. Wind didn't speed up. Oceans didn't leave their boundaries. Volcanoes still slept soundly without erupting.

No blade of grass moved.

And yet for that moment, all of things dead and alive were a step from falling to their knees.

That was not due to fear or any logical weighing of arguments.

In front of the King of Dragons and his presence, no other option was simply viable.

Vasilisa was hit with full force. Only her long life and mental fortitude didn't cause her to completely loose her bearings.

But that moment caused her to lose concentration. Her thoughts scattered.

And this was exactly what Kamijou Touma needed.

"Go back!" he roared.

He felt as if his body was torn apart. Blood burst from his nose and mouth.

He felt incredible resistance, but finally, the presence dissipated. Dragon King went back inside him, without manifesting fully.

Touma didn't know why the mysterious Ruler of Dragons chose to entertain himself and, even if indirectly, help him. He also suspected that this subdual would cost him in some way.

But in that very moment, he couldn't care less.

"VASILISA!"

He rushed forward, blood dripping to the floor, amongst mirrors and mannequins, through the straight path between himself and blond haired woman.

"Don't tell me that you still can't see the reason I want to oppose you! If you still can't accept it, I will just straight up confront you about it!"

Still slightly shaken, Vasilisa raised her arm.

"You can't reach me with Imagine Breaker. Your arm is still severed. And I can still avoid-AH!"

Everyone who knew Kamijou Touma, also knew that he didn't pulled back during the fights and sometimes could apply some techniques that would be seen as outrageous from the outside point of view. Punching female opponents to the face and employing 'equal rights, equal fights' policy, was just the tip of the iceberg.

With Vasilisa focused on right side of his body, she disregarded Touma's left hand, which reached forward and grabbed her golden hair. With slight pull, it caused the distance between them to close, as Touma twisted his body slightly.

Vasilisa clicked her tongue.

"That's a rather uncouth move"

"Sorry about that..." Even though Touma sounded genuinely apologetic, he still smirked slightly" Someone told me that if you actually engage in a fight, you should fight to win. I agree. I actually don't like to fight that much. But if I have to... it is to claim victory. And for me, there is no victory without salvation!"

As Touma turned Vasilisa's own words against her, Touma's body jolted slightly as his right arm reconnected with the rest of his body. He immediately clenched its fist, shifting his weight.

Everything went to hell and he didn't plan for this at all.

But improvisation was also skill on the battlefield. A skill in which he actually was not half bad at all.

Gokusai Kaibi and Kongou Mitsuko winced at the tactical tug on Vasilisa's hair. Kongou in particular, having long hair, was cringing quite hard.

"You forgot that someone else was hurt because of what happened to Eike-san. I am talking about you! You alone are hurting more and more, you just assumed a mask so perfect you believed it for the most time."

Fortunately, earlier shock didn't stop Kongou from hearing Touma's shouting their previously set code-word.

"HURRICANE!"

"Y-Yes, darling"

And so, she released her ability.

The jet of compressed wind burst out the point just over Kamijou's elbow, propelling the already powerful blow forward.

"That hurt and longing causes you to hurt others in turn, even if through good intent. I can't allow that!"

The fist smashed into the side of Vasilisa's head with tremendous force, rattling her body.

"If you assume that you could dictate the course of the lives of others without taking care of yourself..."

The burst of air reached its peak and Vasilisa was sent flying backwards, smashing into a nearby mirror, breaking it to pieces.

"...then I will destroy this illusion!" Kamijou Touma screamed, raising his fist above the battlefield.

(MEANWHILE)

Shirai Kuroko teleported throughout the street, jumping higher and higher to get a better look at her surroundings.

She was looking for some time. And just when she started to lose hope at fighting her onee-sama, she saw a flicker of familiar electric glow in the distance.

She had a good idea to rise her elevation. She saw the lightning in the distance and instantly began teleporting in that direction.

Lightning itself wouldn't be peculiar in any way. Except this one was striking upward, diagonally, from the level of earth towards the sky.

While not completely unprecedented in nature, it was a pretty good clue to where the Railgun was.

Kuroko's nose detected faint smell of ozone, just as her eyes confirmed clouds gathering over the river and southern part of the city.

Just as Academy City was not just a city, a storm here was not just a storm. Kuroko knew better than anyone whose presence they announced.

Espers, especially powerful ones, could subconsciously cause their personal realities and effects associated with them to 'leak out' in the moments of particular stress or aggravation.

Shokuhou Misaki was capable of freeze-drying living being during moments of fury. Maidono Hoshimi's mere presence could cause objects to bend and fold on themselves. Kankyougami Hasako once turned entire street into magma field in her anguish.

Misaka Mikoto could entice storms. And not just your average drizzle.

Whatever was causing that storm, didn't speak well of Railgun's mental state at the moment.

Kuroko followed the lightning to the Iron Bridge atop of the river. On it, there was a lone figure with chestnut hair.

Mikoto turned slightly to the side as Kuroko touched down.

"Kuroko..." she said blankly, in a neither friendly nor hostile manner.

"Onee-sama!" Kuroko threw her hands up" Where have you been? Others were wondering where you run off to. What's gotten into you? Quite frankly, myself and Kamijou were quite worried about you!"

"Were you?" Mikoto responded as emotionlessly as before." That's nice..."

Her body crackled, and few loose sparks were released.

There was a lengthy pause. Kuroko wasn't used to her usually quick-to-action roommate behaving like this, and after a minute or two, the awkward tension started getting to her.

"In the forecast, they said we will have a nice cloudless night..." she spoke, looking at the sky" You wouldn't know anything about why that isn't the case?"

"Did they? I can feel it... all the energy above us... I think it will rain, you know..."

Mikoto frowned. Lightning split the sky with a rumble of thunder.

"Onee-sama!" Kuroko inquired again, getting closer to Mikoto" Stop messing around! What is going on? There is obviously something wrong! Just talk to me. Do not try to bottle it up and deal with everything yourself. You did it too many times in the past, times, in which I could actually help!"

For a moment, Kuroko thought Mikoto would get mad at her. But instead, she finally spoke in her (somewhat) normal voice

"Kuroko, what the hell was I doing?"

"Onee-sama?"

"All that time, I was blind and deaf to what he was going through. He went through hell, and I was only adding salt to his injuries. Because I couldn't deal with how I felt, because I didn't know how to act, I did every single thing wrong!"

"Onee-sama... if it's about Kamijou, you are his ally." Kuroko tried to argue" He said that he appreciates you, and trust me, I know full well how your relationship was changing over time, I was made painfully aware."

Mikoto raised her hand, and arcs of electricity danced between her fingers. She reached to the metal around her and soon, parts of machinery and trash, made from iron or nickel started to rise from the water, forming a large ball over the water.

"Did it really change though?" she said in a part angry, part sad voice" Sure, I knew more about him and stopped challenging him. But the only thing I could afford is not treating him like crap, which after consideration, I still failed at. Merely not making someone miserable doesn't count as being a good friend. What kind of sick world we would live in if it would? I was an egoist through and through. Not only because I followed him like some child, wanting to battle him, but when I grew up of that, and realized that maybe my heart is feeling something else, I switched to focusing on directly that! And nothing else. When I realized that I might have feelings for him, I focused on trying to make baby steps in romance, while he needed my actual help and support. I thought only about myself. I never know what I need to do!"

Lightning descended from the sky and hit Mikoto, then it flew through her body and arm, shooting the ball held together by magnetism. The ball exploded, and remnants fell to the river.

Mikoto let out a hissing exhale. For anyone else, direct hit from the lightning would be an untimely end. But for Railgun, it wasn't even something worth noticing.

Kuroko planned to come here to console Mikoto. But in that time, maybe because of the intensity of the moment, or maybe because of her own emotional load regarding her precious roommate and Kamijou Touma, she said something that was brewing inside her own soul for quite some time

"Maybe you would know about him if you could actually have a normal conversation with him"

Mikoto paused and looked unsure if she should be absolutely confused or offended.

"Excuse me?"

Kuroko felt that she let herself slip a little, but for some reason, her own irritation caused her to further the subject

"Yes, you keep talking about him, but when you are around him, you either try to fry him, or berate him for doing something stupid, which I can sympathize with, but half of the problems stems from the fact that you never have proper conversations beyond the conflict!"

"Kuroko... you are lecturing me about hurting him?" Mikoto replied angrily. Her gloomy demeanor was gone, replaced fully by anger" Do you hear yourself?"

Kuroko blushed slightly.

"I hated his guts back then! This is something different. And besides, when I hate something, at least I am direct about it. Not like some mixed signallers I happen, one of which I happen to share room with! I would do something straightforward instead of going to the bridge to mope over my fate!"

"I wasn't moping! I was going to the dorm!"

"Really? It's not even on the way! You have to go north, which you would know if you were actually going there!"

"Kuroko, I am a living electromagnet, I always know where the north is! Besides, that's not the point! What's got into you? I don't have time for this!"

"Oh really? I thought you were sad because you had no time for everyone except yourself, I guess you are proving yourself right."

Lighting flashed again. The wind was agitating the river below them, and wind started to blow over the first droplets of rain as Mikoto and Kuroko glared at each other on the Iron Bridge.

"You are the last person I want to hear lectures from when it comes to how to handle romance" Mikoto snapped" Your idea of a direct approach is just disturbing. And this talk about sincerity isn't really about him, is it?"

Kuroko did her very best to not let tears show. She did not know, nor did she really care in her frustration, how much she succeeded.

"I was trying to get your attention for so long! And all you did was push me away, while also pursuing him!"

"What else should I do? You were feeling me up, drugging me, trying to... I don't even want to know or think about things you were trying to do to me, that you called love. You want me to believe there were actually genuine feelings behind it?"

"Yes!" Kuroko shouted, stomping her foot to the ground" There were! There always were. If we could talk about it, there would never be any need for a conversation like the one we are having right now. I always loved you... I still care..."

Mikoto's voice died in her throat for a moment, before she spoke again.

"I should talk about it? Why would you ever think throwing yourself at me was a good idea? What kind of standards you have? You should be the one to talk about it instead!"

The wind picked up and both girls were wobbling slightly in the rain. But the downpour was nothing compared to flood of feelings that was accidentally opened on both sides.

"And you would believe me? Right, as if..." Kuroko snorted, waving her hand" You were too busy chasing after him to notice. I was furious but over time I learned to tolerate him because he made you happy. And yet you are squandering it because of what... uncertainty? What uncertainty? He is right there. If you choose someone, go through with it. In other case it keeps breaking other person's heart"

"Kuroko..."

"Yes, even I have heart. Is this such a surprise? Maybe I also couldn't let you go? That's why I did all of the outrageous things to seduce you. Sure, it hurt when you got mad, but it never hurt as much as you ignoring me and never once asking if my feelings could be genuine!"

"I never wanted to hurt you. I never fell in love I was confused, I didn't want to push anyone away! You kept interrupting us, so I could never discern what to do. I still don't know! You talk about my indecisiveness, but what about you? Don't think I don't hear that you don't call him an ape anymore! Is he your friend or foe? Can you decide and be done with it"

"I can't"

"Why? Why can't you?"

"Because he was with you, he took you from me... but he saved me, many times. And as much as he annoyed me, he is in truth a true hero. Hero not unlike those I wanted to become. I can't overlook that anymore, I just can't"

"So in the end you are not any wiser than me, even if you say I am insincere one here!" Mikoto shouted, heavens above responding with a biggest network of lightning yet" Was all those tension, all those perverted plans of yours really worth it if we just end up jaded and conflicted. Aside of anything else, you are one of the most important people in my life. Was all of those horrid arguments worth it?"

"At least then you looked at me again."

"Did I hurt you that much? Heh, that's just amazing. I wanted to find the way to satisfy both the boy I started to like and my best friend, but I end up repeatedly pushing them away. Oh, that's just incredible! Trust me, I loathe myself for that more than you can imagine. He just revealed something so horrible... he took humanity's pain on himself. I don't know how, or why, can it be even be possible... but it's him. He always finds a way to bring suffering upon himself, even if he doesn't want it. I want to change! I really want, but no one ever tells me how. I can calculate how to bring upon billion volt lightning, but romantic relationship doesn't have any equation. You fumble, sweat, feel uncertainty, and just want to run. Maybe there are people who do it as naturally as they breathe, well, not me. Kuroko, I really tried my best, even if it is not enough!"

"I don't doubt that, but I also know Kamijou Touma doesn't deserve being led astray"

"That's it! Everyone can give advice, but when it comes to application, everything is suddenly silent. Maybe you think you could do a better job?!"

By this point, they were both completely wet, droplets and small streams of water falling down to the ground from them.

After a moment, Mikoto's face turned into shocked one, after examining Kuroko's expression.

"Oh gods... you actually think that, don't you?"

"I..."

"Kuroko..." Mikoto's tone momentarily shifted, to a surprised and soft" Do you... also..."

The teleporter also got silent, and awkwardly looked to her feet. This time, it was Mikoto's turn to feel unsure. Kuroko rarely got so flustered.

Slowly, the younger girl nodded.

"Mhm... I-I suppose... demanding sincerity from you only obliges me to show mine in kind..."

"You have... for him..." Mikoto whispered, trying to wrap yourself around that concept" For how long?"

"Not... not very long. I don't really know. In one moment, I want nothing but to see him miserable and humiliated for tainting your heavenly beauty with his brutish presence..."

"Yeah, I know that part..."

"Then he started to help you and helped me too... so I began to tolerate him..."

"I suppose that happened too..."

"And then for some reason I kept landing in his arms, and we worked side by side, and I started having this weird dreams... aaaand everything got real complicated."

"Yeah, that's... new. So do you... l-love him?"

"I don't know"

" Do you still love... me?"

"I don't know!"

"But you care for both of us?"

"YES! Well..." Kuroko groaned grabbing her head" Look, I thought I knew that I love you and I hate him. But over time, I started to realize that you are not responding to my feelings, and I kept conveying them all the same. Maybe it was lust? But I still want to be with you... arrgh, and suddenly, I want to protect him, and not let him be in danger, just like I did for you. I thought I knew my feelings well, and now the only certain thing is that I care deeply for both for you."

"But the question is... where do the three of us go from here?"

"Yes. That is, indeed, an important question to ask ourselves"

"Will you... tell him?"

"When I figure it out myself? Of course. With respect, onee-sama, I don't want to circle around my feelings like-"

"Alright, alright, I got that point somewhere along the line, I was just too mad and upset at myself for not being there when he suffered to notice..." Mikoto sighed, looking at the moving storm, which was slowly drifting beyond the city.

She then shifted slightly, glancing sideways at Kuroko.

"Onee-sama, I think the point of this quarrel is that there should not be dishonesty between us. I can see that something is on the tip of your tongue"

"Well, I just assumed..."

"Yes?"

"That because you were so obsessed with me... you were kind of... not... interested in boys... at all"

"Oh no" Kuroko waved her hand" There were boys I was interested in before I met you. I suppose that after meeting you, I kind of pushed away memories of ever being interested in anyone else... you just seemed too perfect"

"Emm... thanks..."

"But it was a surprise for me too. That I like both sides, actually. And now I apparently like two people... what am I supposed to do?"

Mikoto chuckled tiredly.

"Don't ask me. I am as much of a fool in this as you. We both screwed up big time. But hey, after screaming out hearts out, I feel a bit better. Don't you?"

"I... yes, I do too. But onee-sama... we are one thing, but what about him?"

"Achoo! Sorry..."

"You are freez... achoo!"

Instead of a reply, Mikoto responded with a sneeze. As if through some hidden rehearsal, Kuroko let out her own sneeze, almost at the same time.

They were both very cold and wet. Mikoto started to use her ability to dry and warm them up, while musing out loud.

"I think he doesn't need our own uncertainty right now. He went through some nasty experiences, and needs support. I don't know if we are good people to give it to him, but we can't add problems. But I know that we need to convince him that we want to make a difference in our relationship. We both need to think of something we can do for him to actually spend time with him and help him to be happy."

"I want to try it too. I don't know how my feelings will change, but I don't want to give up without finding out where I am going"

Mikoto suddenly embraced Kuroko.

"Look, we can agree that we both messed up. And I just want to say... sorry. Sorry that I didn't think your feelings could be genuine. I am happy that I have your love..."

"Onee-sama..."

"Though, I cannot sincerely say that I reciprocate it... but honestly, this is much better than all of those... attempts you tried over those many, many months. I think he is the one we should thank for making us address that elephant in the room. Also... you wanted me to be happy, right? Even when you realized that you also could pursue your feelings, you prioritized mine. So I will also help you figure all of this out. Let's head back home for now..."

Her gaze rested on Kuroko's thigh, where ugly-looking purple mark was running around the entire leg.

"What happened to you?"

"Just a some minor disagreement on the street"

"Wait, someone did this? When I find them..."

"Onee-sama, it was partially my fault. We made our amends..."

"Well, if you say so..."

In truth, it was hardly the first time Shirai Kuroko and Maidono Hoshimi butted heads since Veritas affair and Mitsuari Ayu rescue action. Maidono didn't do anything for Kuroko to loathe her or something of this level, but the twintailted Tokiwadai student still didn't approve of carefree attitude, show-off quirks, and occasional disrespect for the laws Maidono tended to display. She chased the telekinesis user a few times. Subduing her was not a problem, partially because she wasn't fighting back.

The problem for Judgement in regards to Maidono Hoshimi was that this girl was annoyingly powerful. Kuroko sometimes could not believe she was a level 4 like herself, and she wasn't one to give praises lavishly.

Also, as Konori Mii lamentably remarked, there was no cell that could hold such a powerful telekinesis user, even if only to reprimand her. Telekinesis as an ability was very widespread in Academy City, but mostly on lower levels, such as level 1 or 2.

This also explained why Maidono allowed to be thrown to the cell in the first place. She just pointed her fingers, and the bars bent in two directions, forming an oval passage. Or alternatively, jabbed the wall, which caused it to crumble, or causally waved her hand, causing a window to be ripped out. Afterwards, she escaped with a smile on her face, sticking her tongue at Kuroko.

She dismissed her thoughts, focusing on preparing for the return home.

"How did you know to look for me here?" Mikoto asked.

"I didn't. I saw your ability from above the ground. Is this place important?"

Mikoto smiled, looking around.

"This bridge... has quite the history. It holds certain significance for us."

"Is that right?"

Kuroko had a lot to think about.

But somehow, she felt that it was beginning of something new and better in her life.

She always laughed at Saten for citing intuition as credible source for knowledge.

But this time, she sure as hell hoped her own was spot on.

(MEANWHILE)

Kamijou Touma panted heavily as the effect of Kongou's air jet ended. As Vasilisa slid down the surface of the mirror, Kaibi and Kongou ran to him. The dark Baba Yaga shadow disappeared completely.

"Are you alright?" Kaibi tenderly but prudently checked Touma's body, as he fixed his gaze on Vasilisa." You always know how to give

"You were spectacular!" Kongou cheered, grabbing his arm."That was a bit intense, but certainly spectacular. I am so glad my ability could be of use to you"

"Is she conscious?" Kaibi asked, pointing at Vasilisa" I want to try something with my ability"

"I don't see why not" Touma said, before carefully looking at Vasilisa and around the room.

It seemed Magic Goddesses and Index still stayed in hiding. Which Touma was actually rather grateful for.

" She should be up any moment"

"Really?"

"You punched her really good though. I thought she would be out for a day or so"

"She would be if she was normal human, but she is a vessel for something called Water of Life. She can heal exponentially fast"

"Well, no time like the present" Kaibi said, rushing forward.

"Speaking of your ability... can we address the fact that you called me honey?"

"Oh my stars..." Kaibi covered her face with her hand" Spare me this..."

"I mean, I completely understand. I would ask myself for an outing if I could, I am me after all" the ever proud ojou-sama assured the blond assassin" But... how do the commoners phrase it... I am flattered, but very taken."

"Kill me now..."

"Still, calling someone her honey is rather forward... I was honestly convinced that you are just interested in my darling alone, a final, beautiful rival for a great Kongou Mitsuko... but if it's like that, I can arrange formal rejection..."

Kaibi groaned and hugged Touma's chest, screaming into it. Even without seeing it, Touma knew the girl's face was red.

"Kaibi?"

"That's why I hate manipulate my own emotional perception with Measure Heart! You always say stupid things and can't live it up for years! I just want to die!"

"D-Don't die though. Didn't you have something with Vasilisa?"

"Oh, right?" Kaibi separated from him and stepped to the nun.

Vasilisa blearily opened her eyes and began to rise up just as Kaibi crouched down and activated her ability.

Their eyes met and Kaibi felt the great resistance from Vasilisa. But then, Touma also bent down and touched Vasilisa with his right hand.

Kaibi's eyes shone brighter.

"That actually helped. Maybe it was some sort of... shielding from her side? Still, her mental fortitude is astonishing" she whispered to him before she focused on Vasilisa" Can you hear me?"

The resistance on Vasilisa's face lessened. She answered in a slightly dazed tone.

"Yes"

"You are safe with me. I am the person you could trust the most in the entire world, am I not?"

"You... are..."

"Please, tell me what you feel. We can help you" Kaibi glanced at Touma.

Kongou was waiting on the side, observing the unfolding events.

"Why do feel the need to do what you do? This entire plan of yours? Please, share with me"

Slowly, very slowly, Vasilisa spoke.

"I... was so hurt. I was alone. I didn't want all of that to repeat."

"What to repeat?"

"The loss, the death, the mourning. Taken prematurely, instead of me, who could take it. I can only wear mask of happiness to honour my love for you. I pretend to be smiling and happy, because I would fall apart if I allowed my grief to come to me... you wouldn't want that."

Kaibi looked touched. Touma understood why.

Vasilisa was telling them that she wanted to spare the pain of loss and sorrow of not only those wielding the Imagine Breaker, but also, maybe especially, their loved ones.

She confessed to the fact that that in line with her nature as an eminence in the shadow, the scatterbrained, happy-go-lucky mask she presented Sasha Kreutzev, was just that: a mask.

Didn't Vasilisa herself mention that she was much more solemn and serious woman until she met the Saint whose bones caused the turning point in the Battle of Blythe Road, Eike Sündelige?

Gokusai Kaibi herself crafted such an illusionary image. A painted prison, in line with her surname, the mask of pretense and appearances to keep her true self from being hurt by genuine human contact she secretly feared.

She was saved by Kamijou Touma, who shattered that mask, allowed her to feel genuine affection and love for him.

Was this what she would become if that mask was pushed too far? Could Touma achieve something like that for Vasilisa?

I didn't want to lose him again, no one should. If I allowed that to repeat, I would let him down... you down... you... him... you... him..."

Touma frowned.

"Kaibi... what is going on?"

Kaibi understood a second too late.

"I overstepped. She is going to-"

With sudden burst of strength, Vasilisa pushed both Touma and Kaibi away

"You are not here! You are dead! GO AWAY!"

"Kaibi, what happened?"

"I... I put the distance wrong. The person you trust the most... hers is dead. This why she snapped. She might not think rationally beacuse of it..."

"Is it... like the reason you didn't want to control Accelerator? Because you thought he would snap?"

"Y-Yes, exactly! But she didn't seem like a kind of person who would do that. Too calm and collected... I didn't expect it at all!"

"Well, just factor it on my luck! But thank you for that moment. I got confirmation of something I wanted."

"What did you-"

But their frantic conversation was interrupted by Vasilisa's loud voice.

She rose up to her feet with outraged face and lifted her hand, with tears in her eyes.

"As the girl was working in the Baba Yaga's hut, three riders passed..."

"TOUMA! You all have to get out there!" Index's voice sounded above them" This spell is the second most powerful in the legends of Vasilisa The Beautiful. I don't know what happened to her, but she is different now. She wants to end this right now"

"This is my fault" said Kaibi, pale as a sheet. "I set her off! And now, she might be doing something she will regret later, this is how it always is. You will not make contact with her until she calms down. And-"

Touma gently embraced Kaibi, nuzzling her reassuringly.

"You didn't do anything wrong. In fact, I will be able to win now."

"But at what cost"

Touma smiled. His eyes were tired, but the sincerity of the positive feeling still radiated through them.

"Now, that's always a mystery box, huh. I guess I will find out. One thing is for sure..."

He looked at Vasilisa and frowned.

"I am not moving from here, until I save her. Get Kaibi and Mitsuko-san away from-"

Kongou Mitsuko didn't hesitate. Although she was unsure, and there was sweat on her wide brow, she put her hand on Touma's right palm.

"Not happening, darling. You will not be facing the peril alone"

"Hell will freeze over before I leave you in a situation like this" Kaibi affirmed, mimicking Kongou.

"The spell is set in motion either way. There is no time" Othinus said over Index's protests" As Vasilisa was in Baba Yaga's hut, three riders rode past it. The spell based on that fragment is meant to stupefy the enemy, incapacitate them, and then for the caster to flee safely"

There was a sound of horse galloping and the light inside the room bent creating a shining image of a man on white horse.

"The first rider passed by the hut, clad in pure white, and his name was Day"

A wave of blinding light hit everyone at once. It was the brightest light Touma ever saw. He somehow managed to shield his eyes, but was still blinded. Kaibi and Kongou weren't as lucky and actually screamed in pain, covering the eyelids with their hands.

But the worst was to come.

The light receded. The room grew hotter. Touma, regaining his senses, saw all the walls becoming red.

"The second rider passed by the hut, clad in crimson red, and his name was Sun"

As the illusionary rider in red passed them, Touma screamed to Kongou.

"Make as many jets around us as you can"

"What?"

"Just do it!"

As Kongou traced a circle around them, Kaibi tried to take her gun.

"Ow! It's hot!"

She frowned and still grabbed it, biting her teeth as it burned her hand, as she tried to aim at chaotically acting Vasilisa.

'If I shoot her in the leg or something, maybe she will drop this... spell, or anything that this is' she thought.

But she couldn't aim properly, because of the smoke and earlier blindness thou. The flames burst out of the walls, and from the ceiling.

As they roared forth, Touma screamed, taking both girls to his chest and spreading Imagine Breaker above his head.

"Mitsuko-san, activate them now!"

The jets of air shot them, encircling them, as wind fought with wall of fire from the sides, as Touma negated the fire from the above. For some time, it worked well.

But the spell kept going, and the jets were running out.

The fire of the solar spell came from three directions, from 180 degrees. There was no way Imagine Breaker would intercept it fully.

So, Touma made a quick decision.

In one swift motion, he caused Kaibi and Kongou to fall to the floor, and used his own body as best he could do, using every milimeter of his body to reduce the damage to them.

"NO! Please, get off!" Kaibi screamed in fright, aware of what Touma was planning to do." Kamijou Touma, don't you dare-"

And then firestorm descended.

Touma spread his body as wide as he could.

He screamed, more to brave the pain and to give himself courage to brave the awful sensation rolling above his back, and not to lose focus on protecting two girls below him, dismissing the screams of protest and horror.

Finally, the flame subsided.

"The third rider passed by the hut, clad in darkest black, and his name was Night"

The rider of black passed through the room. And suddenly, nothing could be seen at all, as if it was the starless night, with no light in sight.

In the midst of that, Vasilisa The Beautiful slowly regained her senses, and realization what she did struck her.

She opened her lips, and they quivered.

"Eike, I didn't... I wanted to, but not like this..."

Meanwhile, Kaibi reached for Touma in the darkness.

"Darling! Darling!" Kongou's voice sounded nearby" Are you alright? Why did you do it?"

"I am..." came a voice from above them" still alive... I didn't... really think... I just didn't want you to get hurt, that's all... most importantly, Kaibi... it's time... you still have vague sense of where Vasilisa is, even though we can't see a thing, right?"

"Yes, but-"

"Tell him it's time. Let's do it"

Some distance away, Vasilisa took few steps backwards.

She went too far, even if she was taken out of her right mind. She needed to fall back, and employ another strategy.

She didn't plan to use Three Riders incantation, but it was already cast, and her guilt could wait.

This darkness existed only to those besides the caster could not be penetrated by any human eyes.

She just needed to retreat-

Two arms grabbed her by the waist

"WHAT?!"

"I didn't think I would live to the day I will work side by side with you, Gokusai-san. Thanks for the tips, I got her."

"Who are you? How did you do this?"

The silhouette was in some sort of body armour, a high tech suite, but the voice was undeniably Hamazura Shiage.

"I heard about you... we met recently... and you were on the plains of Syberia during World War III. Why are you..."

Vasilsa gasped.

"Your loved one."

Yes, she is very sick because of you. I hope you understand you could not take it lying down"

"But... my spell! This is impenetrable spell by any kind of eye."

"Well, I had some clues from Measure Heart, which doesn't rely on sight, as well as my own tricks. I know that a low level guy such as myself is not as impressive, but I have a little thing called steet smarts and technology. Well, that's two, technically"

Vasilisa's feet left the ground.

"Heh, it's so nice to have gods on your side. ANERI-equipped new generation body suite, with fire and pressure resistance, and noctovision. Welcome to Academy City, the forefront of modern tech! This is from me, for Takitsubo!"

Vasilisa's gasp was more that of surprise than fear when she was supplexed, the air cracking from the impact.

"Gah..."

This was followed by an immediate fist to the gut, making the air leave nun's body.

"And this... is from Mugino. I know I should probably do more, but that will do, unless something worse happens to Takitsubo. There is only so much I can do for now without boss getting mad at me.

The spell of the night ended.

Slowly, someone else approached Vasilisa and Hamazura.

"Thanks. I really appreciate it"

Now that the darkness ended, and everyone could get a good look at each other, a series of gasps escaped a couple of throats, with the object that gave rise to them being one person.

Kongou's face scrunched up and something uncharacteristically feral entered its features.

"I WILL DESTROY HER!"

Later on, Kongou reminisced on that episode and felt strange to admit how much anger was unleashed in her soul. It was so out of place, but at the same, perfectly aligned with feelings she held for the boy, which grew in clarity in moments like that one, to almost blinding degree.

Ojou-samas like herself didn't really dealt with emotions of intense rage often. In fact, her friends, Wannai and Awatsuki, admitted to never before experiencing genuine anger... that is, until the incident with Baba Yoshino and Kongou's protection of Later.

And just like Wannai and Awatsuki in their confrontation during Daihaseisai, Kongou looked at Vasilisa as if the level 4's blood was replaced with venom and her soul with pure fire.

Hamazura quickly stepped between them and managed to grab Kongou.

"LET ME GO!"

"I get how you feel, but..."

"I WILL SEND HER FLYING TO SPACE, I CAN DO IT, I DON'T CARE ABOUT EXERTION! OR I WILL CAUSE YOU TO BE COMPRESSED BY MY WIND FROM EVERY DIRECTION, UNTIL SHE IS A SIZE OF A SOFTBALL!" Kongou roared through tears" You will pay! You will pay for hurting someone I treasure and cherish. I... I will... I WILL..."

"Enough..." Touma gently said, placing a hand on Kongou's shoulder, as he slowly moved forward" This won't do any good for what I am trying to accomplish through all of this"

"Dar...ling?" Kongou looked at Touma, tears flowing down her cheeks. She still breathed heavily, but Touma's voice made her anger back down" W-What are you saying?"

"I want to talk with her"

"But... your body..."

"What? Is something wrong... I feel fine, Mitsuko-san... now, let me pass, both of you..."

Kaibi was too shocked to argue that it was her fault. She knew what Touma would say.

And just as if he read her thoughts, he turned to her.

"Don't worry about it. Nothing happened. And you helped me tremendously. My misfortune just likes to make a mess of things. That was a good test to confirm it all came back to me... there was no way in hell this would happen if I was lucky, I admit"

Finally, he looked at Vasilisa.

"How... how are you still standing?" she whispered softly" I didn't mean for that spell to be unleashed... but how... how are you even alive? How can you possibly be conscious?"

"I suppose I have practice with pain... that's all... besides, in most places, I don't feel much... although I probably shouldn't count that as a good thing..."

While the face and front of the torso of Kamijou Touma were relatively fine, his back and arms, as well as the backside of his legs, all told different story.

They were covered in third and fourth degree burns all over the arms and the exposed back. Some parts were red, inflamed, and covered with blisters. And those were the good parts.

Others were black and stiff. The blood itself dried from the sheer heat of still steaming skin, splattering like a web of red spider over the coal-black tapestry. The patches of blackness marked the otherwise red skin. In one place, there was something white sticking over carbonized skin. Kaibi covered her mouth upon noticing it.

Still, Kamijou Touma strained a smile. Slowly, like a marionette held by unexperienced puppetmaster, he reached to his head and chuckled

"I have a burned bald spot? Come on! I look like a middle aged man"

He sighed and looked at Vasilisa.

"Vasilisa-san, are you calm enough to listen to me now? I am good at holding on through the pain, but I am not sure how much longer my body will last"

Vasilisa nodded weakly, shaken by the display before her eyes.

"I think our blows told us the story we wanted to tell to one another" the boy said, exhaling and clenching his fist, despite the bad state of his body." I think you understand now. In all of the mess surrounding the death of your lover, you forgot about yourself. You never got to mourn. You never got to let go."

Vasilisa stared, as if in trance. The burned body of the boy in front of her reminded of another burned corpse, with life seeping through her fingers, in another country, over a century earlier.

A sob shook her body.

"Stop..."

"No... even if I am in pain, there is nothing more painful than what you felt... what drove you to this desperation, which let you endanger so much and so many... which was driven by your guilt and depression. You never allowed yourself to be happy because by pretending to be happy, you kept him with you, at all time, all the silliness and mirth he brought into your life. Not in memory, but by fashioning Eike-san as part of yourself. Not only he was always with you..."

"Замолчи!"

"...but because by acting like him, you would never forget your guilt. You tortured yourself by pretending. You never forgave yourself for losing him. But there is something you still need to understand. And it's because of what you did, that I could reach within myself to connect with him, and convey it to you"

"What... what are you even talking about?"

"If I was the one to say this about this, you would protest and oppose me. So I will just be a messenger today. Someone told me that if you care about someone, you can share the heroism with others. You can be hero for someone..."

He thought fondly of his newly regained memories of Shokuhou Misaki, with her smile always making him think of smell of honey and feeling of warm summer sun on his skin.

"... but you can also let someone else be a hero. And that's okay... that's more than fine with me. If this leads to you being saved from the illusion that binds you... I will be more than happy to be an indirect cause. So then..."

He looked around

"I doubt anyone has a pen or something... so maybe..."

He slowly pinched a part of his arm.

There was a carbonized fragment, that Touma slowly used to write on the floor.

"Come, look..."

Vasilisa, unsurely, moved to Touma's side. He closed his eyes, as if listening to something. His hand moved. Others soon gathered around too, the message formed, black letters being written on the white floor .

'Lisa, it's me. To prove it, I will tell you, through Kamijou Touma, how I called you when we were alone, thing no one else, not even Giro, knew."

Touma leaned and whispered something into Vasilisa's ear. The woman staggered slightly, looking close to fainting, as the message continued.

If you are listening to this, it means that this young man, in which myself and my put high hopes in, succeeded in achieving some form of understanding. I know how stubborn you are and I know that both of you probably messed each other up. However, I want you to clear your head and listen to what I have to say'

Vasilisa looked up, towards the nearby mirror.

In it, a tall man with hair of brown with stripe of grey, with weapon of chains on his back and mischievious green eyes smiled to her.

She turned around but there was no one behind her. How could that be?

As Touma wrote, the reflection of Ekkhard Sündelige spoke, mirroring the exact words written by his successor.

'Just like Kamijou Touma said, you didn't let yourself mourn. You didn't let yourself change, when you should. You didn't move on. And I am here to fix this"

"How... how are you here?" Vasilisa whispered. Others heard her, although they couldn't see who she was talking to.

"I am a part of him. We had a small help, so we could talk too. Lisa, you need to stop. You need rest, as do I. It was just how it was. Bad luck, that's all"

"This is... this is not so outrageous. I am not trying to bring you back, even though I would love to. I just want you to find peace."

"Lisa, you need this peace more than I do. After all, I am already dead. Nothing much can bother me now.

"I can see that! How can you be so calm when you died..."

"... and left you alone?"

Silence fell.

"If you stop feeling pain, sadness, sorrow, you will stop being human." Eike carried on, soothingly" You will stop being the woman I loved. You are not me. You should not be me or cling to me just to keep my memory alive. I love you too much "

" I love you too. I never said it enough when I could... But I have the power. I have the ability to fulfil your last words, Eike" Vasilisa put a hand to her chest.

"Ah..." The Saint made a throughtful face." On that day, I said to you that I didn't want another story like that one. But I think you really missed the point. I appreciate what you did. But I didn't mean that I wished for Imagine Breaker to be destroyed"

"What? How can you say that?" Vasilisa frowned, blinking the tears away."Imagine Breaker was the cause of your death, I know it had to be as such!"

"Lisa, the cause of my death was an explosion. If didn't hold Imagine Breaker, I would have still died there. Would you think I would allow the innocents and the woman I love be caught in that?"

"I would live, you idiot. I have Water of Life..."

"I guess I just... didn't want you to suffer. I kind of messed up, because you suffered still."

"You should be the one to live. You could do more to the world than egoistical woman like myself ever could"

"But look at you. Your actions are proof that you wanted to do something for another, so much so that you forgot about your own pain. You have to let me go, Lisa."

"No... I can't... Eike, I was better when I was with you. I wanted to be with you forever, you know... Пока жизнь не разлучит нас. We promised each other!"

"I know" the Saint crouched down in the reflection, so he was on Vasilisa's eye level" Leaving you alone is one of the only two regrets I have. I wanted to give you something greater, to make your long life seem truly fulfilled. If you want to hate me, I am fine with that. If that means you find peace and happiness, I would be more than happy to accept it. I miss you so much. I was aimless before you came along. And you know..."

He smiled brightly despite the sadness in his eyes.

"I think both of my companions in sharing Imagine Breaker's burden will agree that for the three of us, the prime happiness is just living through the other day. Everything can be a blessing if misfortune looms around the corner. You just learn not to expect much and realize how many wonderful things actually wait in life. Mine was the life of pain, but also love. Never in any world would I imagine I have a blessing like you in my life, even for a moment. Thanks to you, it was a life worth living. I said that to you, remember? Just before the explosion..."

"You said that you didn't mean what I thought you meant..." Vasilisa whispered solemnly" So what did you want to say to me in those last moments?"

"Kamijou Touma needs any form of help he can get. And I don't mean in a fight, he has plenty of hidden strength. Those who bear the Imagine Breaker are lonely beyond belief. Don't solve the problem through destruction. When I gave my life in exchange for yours, it was my decision. When he fights for others and gives it his all, it is his decision. When Fräulein Ataxia decided to face death with dignity, it was her choice. We all own so little choice over what bad fate will do with us... but we still have the choice. This willpower is something that might have drawn the power to us in the fist place. So I beg you, in the name of love we share, help him. Aid him and give him something I never had: a mentor when it comes to the history, the expanse, the knowledge, responsibility of that power. I understood all of it far too late. Besides Gods, there are only few who can do that. Even fewer aren't his enemies. Please, give some of the affection to him. Do it for me"

Vasilisa managed to smile a bit.

"You really came to like him."

"In truth, I wouldn't mind having a son like him"

"Because you see yourself in him?"

"Maybe... but you two also share more things than you may realize..."

"Oh, I see..." Vasilisa touched her abdomen" I am so sorry we couldn't..."

"No, no..." Eike raised his hand" This... I didn't react in a good way. I was scared, I thought I failed you... I just couldn't face you. That was no one's fault, but... it is my second regret. I would die to see you as a mother... whoops, poor choice of words. But the truth is, I wished for nothing more than to raise our child together. And it seems I wasn't the only one."

Vasilisa nodded.

"She thinks I only tease her. But I actually care for her like my own daughter"

"You always wanted for the girl to be named Sasha. Even though I thought names in German would be much cooler"

"As if ever let you get away with Hermenegilda or Klotilde"

"Point taken. So Sasha... you care for her? I would love to meet her... maybe one day, through young Kamijou's eyes..."

"When I met her, she was very little. But she was so similar to you, that I thought that your spirit was watching over me... and we kind of got stuck together, ever since"

"So... we adopted a son and a daughter? Talk about independent parent choices"

Vasilisa chuckled through the tears.

"Standing here, I realize the foolishness of it all. I suppose this the true might of Kamijou Touma, huh? So... this is it, then?"

"It? I am not going anywhere. I am dead, remember?"

"Stop reminding me..."

"That's not cruelty, Lisa. It's reality." Eike gently placed his hands on heads of both Touma and Vasilisa. She didn't feel it, but the vision itself was comforting beyond words" Das einzig Sichere im Leben ist, dass es weitergeht. One thing sure about life is that it goes on. You will just have to listen to it deep enough. Look after Herr Kamijou and Fräulein Sasha, and with time, it all will get better. I know it's scary. I am scared as well. But I will always love you. You will just have to listen to your heart deep enough to find me, meine Liebe. Ich werde bei dir sein...hab keine Angst "

Eike faded and the reflection of his smile turned into face of Kamijou Touma. He looked at Vasilisa.

"Are you okay?"

"You are asking me" the nun choked out" I... need to think... I have to..."

She touched his hand and shook her head

"I am sorry"

"I know. Although... there is someone else who needs to have a talk with you before we can make amends... and her patience should be running low right now..."

The ground shook and vibration travelled all throughout the room.

"Earthquake?" Vasilsa looked around in surprise.

"Well... earthquake is what can follow." Touma looked up" But no this is someone who is more over the top"

The walls cracked, and upward pull was felt, before entire build split in half.

Touma could only assume that Index and company already moved elsewhere before it happened. Or maybe they were never hiding above them in the first place?

Maidono Hoshimi stood on the top of one of the buildings. With a gesture, she moved half of the building away, letting the light flood inside.

And that was done with just one of their hands.

The other one lifted another building, a tall construction that floated in the air unbothered by gravity.

"There you are. Now, I will get to-"

Maidono paused looking at Vasilisa.

"What did you do to him?"

"Oh crap, here we go again" Hamazura said with a wince, audible in his voice.

"Maidono, wait, we already-"

Maidono pointed at Vasilisa's feet and sharply raised her index finger upward.

The ground erupted, sending the nun high into the air.

"Hey, you heard of baseball?"

In the next few seconds, Maidono took a swing with a building. Vasilisa's eyes widened. Although she had the ability to counter, she didn't do so.

"THIS IS FOR HASAKO AND TOUMA! STRIKE!"

The building connected.

BAM!

If you can imagine skipping stone on the water, subsitute stone with a human body and surface of water with the roofs of the buildings and skyscrapers, and you get the image of Vasilisa The Beautiful being turned into living skipping stone, which bounced across the entire city.

Maidono cracked her neck.

"Hah... now I feel satisfied."

"Will she survive this?" Hamazura shouted. As always, Maidono's telekinetic feats were sight to behold, but the question wasn't without reason.

"I wouldn't allow that if she was in danger of dying. And she needed a good justice for Hasako..." Touma said, his voice weaker than before" We shouldn't worry about her now. I have a feeling that she has things to sort out, but won't pose problems anymore. When the time comes, she will come to me, not the other way around"

"So... what now?"

"If I know Maidono, our private force of destruction, then..."

The floor broke beneath them. Touma sighed.

"The structural integrity of the building went to shit!"

The yell of Hamazura echoed through the chasm.

Touma slid down the wall and managed to catch Kongou into his burned arms. He winced, but managed to somehow stabilize himself.

"Are you alright?" he looked at the wide-eyed girl.

"U-Uhm... but everything is falling apart..."

"Yes, I noticed. Aside from that, I am barely holding on to consciousness because of blood loss and pain, but hey, it's just a regular Tuesday. Any other thing that should be brought to this Kamijou's attention"

Konogu slapped both sides of her face with

"I think I want to marry you"

"Great, now... what?!"

"Oh, I am sorry, it went ahead of myself. Little Freudian slip. I wanted to say that I think that I am certainly in love with you"

"W-Wait, now?! This important development is happening now of all moments?! I am pretty sure that one part of Freudian slipping should be relevant to the actual situation! I think there is something off with the timing here!"

"You see darling, I thought that since I met you during murder spree of a level 5, my first kiss was a CPR, so I figured that confessing my love in the building that was falling apart wasn't so bad..."

"We will return to this conversation, we need to get out of here first!

"Kongou-san! Kamijou-san!"

Awatsuki Maaya's voice was heard as she jumped through the chasm with Gokusai Kaibi in her arms.

"Maaya-san! You were here?"

"I came waiting with Yakumaru-san and Naru-san as reserve, like we discussed. I jumped in while I saw Maidono-san moving on. Honestly, she needs to learn how to hold back!"

Meanwhile, Hamazura landed on his feet. His body rattled, but the suit absorbed the impact flawlessly.

Awatsuki landed gracefully, Kaibi jumping on the ground and pointing at Kongou.

"Oi! How much longer will you burden him?!"

Kongou blinked and then jumped from Touma's arms.

"M-My apologies, of course, I must have caused you unbelievable discomfort!"

"That's... fine..." Touma wobbled on his feet.

Kaibi managed to catch him before he fell.

"Moron, look at you... are you sure that it was worth it? The cost of saving someone?"

Touma's eyes, barely seeing her anymore, smiled faintly

"Always"

"But you will come back? To Amazora, to Rikuri... to me" Kaibi said pleadingly" Don't you dare die, Kamijou Touma, or I swear, I am going down to the underworld, and taking you out-"

"I don't want to go through the gates of hell again... once was enough... no Kingsford hills and curvy valleys this time around..."

"Are you delirious?"

He quite possibly was. But in the last moment of clarity, he willed his eyes to remain open just a moment longer and adressed Measure Heart.

"I will be back! Tell Index, Othinus, Amazora, Rikuri, everyone who needs to hear it... that I will not die! And if you need a proof of my conviction... then I suppose that this is better than anything I can give right now... come here..."

He whispered something into Kaibi's ear.

The girl's eyes widened, fixating themselves on the boy's face.

"Did you just... said that..."

Kamijou Touma's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he didn't say anything else.

Kaibi also went silent. She pressed a gentle kiss on Touma's forehead, before softly hugging him and closing her eyes.

Maidono Hoshimi descended from above.

"How is he?"

Kaibi reluctantly parted with Touma, giving him to Hamazura Shiage.

"He needs medical attention, immediately" she turned to Maidono" You didn't need to bring entire thing down!"

"It's not like I tried to! It's much easier to rip something apart with my ability than to keep it from falling apart."

"Can you do that now?"

"Of course I can! Let's get him to safety!"

"I will clear the path!" Awatsuki was on the move, lifting and pushing aside the fragments of the wall.

They moved, steadily going forward, with Hamazura carrying Touma. He cast glance at him from time.

"Don't worry, boss. We will take care of you"

Everything else in the following moments happened really fast.

They found they way out. Index burst out into tears and Nephthys wasn't far behind. Niang-Niang cursed herself for not being able to cast any healing magic. Othinus clasped her hand over Touma's blackened one, shaking slightly, only half of her face visible.

It wasn't the worst outcome of the battle. After all, the boy known as Kamijou Touma actually died once already.

The thing was, terrible things were still terrible, no matter how much time passed. There was just no accomodation to Touma's battered body after the battle.

"That's horrible" Yakumaru, who was on standbye in the jeep from reinforced paper gasped, examining the burns" It should be applied much sooner, but still..."

She poured a flask of liquid over Touma's arms and back, which instantly covered with blue foam.

"Is it safe? I heard to never use ice or iced water or burns..."

"This isn't ice, idiot? Who are you take me for?"

"Naru-san, we have to go to the hospital."

"Say no more. I don't know street signs or couldn't care less about traffic lights anyway!"

(15 MINUTES EARLIER)

Ladylee Tangleroad was sitting in the mountainous area of District 21, plucking the flower petals from the flower and letting the fall through the air onto the surface of the water of the lake.

The petite immortal had distant gaze, one that only those seeing things beyond reach of sight and other senses have.

Her thoughts lingered on Kamijou Touma, future she was inevitably marching towards, about what that meant for everything she desired and wanted to achieve...

Wait, desired? Since when did she actually desire anything?

That was a particularly concerning change for her.

Ladylee Tangleroad desired death. She desired to not exist.

But it wasn't a mere suicidal thought. It wasn't something merely born from obsessive over negative magnitude.

As many who lost hope, she cared far too much. That was the case with the compassion she showed to a crusader, tending to him, and honouring his wish by eating Ambrosia. She also showed compassion to others on her way, she tried her best to live... and it only led her closer to death.

Why would this be different?

She couldn't ever attach herself to anything. So many people passed her and so many will come, so many went to sleep forever, so many didn't yet awake, but she was here, on that planet in the cosmic void, apparently destined to walk its face as long as it circled the sun and maybe even longer.

What was the point? What was the meaning of her life if she couldn't attach the meaning to anything beside herself, as each and every thing beside her will turn to dust?

With almost every step, there was someone beneath her. Someone who loved, someone who was one in eternity. And now he was dead, no one would know their name or face. Nothing.

'I am so sick of losing'

There was no point in seeking a connection. There was no point in loving.

So why Kamijou Touma seemed different?

Because he could have an answer? Maybe. But...

He understood what that eternity felt like. This hopeless void in which you could swim never reaching the shore. In which you had to fall endlessly, knowing that there is only you there...

She felt... and that was inexplicable in itself... the desire to stay close to him. To observe him. For what purpose?

She was sure what she and Kamijou Touma were going to head towards the future together.

She saw raw determination in his eyes, drive to hold her hand and never let go of it as long as she allowed it, as long as she... wanted.

And what about her?

"I... shouldn't... I can't... that's right... he is only an instrument... a part of my plot" Ladylee rubbed her aquamarine eyes, trying to control herself" He has to be... because if I allow myself for one moment to be anything else, then I... I will... I will..."

Never attach yourself. Always move on. Don't engage, just witness. Always move on, never move in.

This was the method for the preservation of sanity.

And yet... and yet... something was there in her heart... something that said...

"No! If I let that happen... if I allow myself..." she bit her lip, as always covered with lip gloss" If I allow my heart to engage in anything else... he will still leave me. He is mortal! So if someone like him, who appears to make me have feelings again, who is able to give some meaning to the world... perished..."

She would lose all the will to fight. She would just lay down and let the seasons and changing planet consume her. But even if she sank into the depths of the ocean, or got surrounded by earth, she wouldn't die.

Not being able to neither die nor live. This was probably the closest thing to hell if someone still didn't depart to the other side.

"What should I do?" Ladylee whispered to herself, looking at the petals floating on the water. Her rhomboid earrings glinted in orange hue, moved by the gust of the wind" I don't see the future clearly... I do not know which path to take"

First and foremost, Ladylee Tangleroad was a sybil, and a soothsayer. Divination, prophecy, and seeing signs on the earth, in flames, and in her beloved stars, was like breathing to her.

But now, the fate was silent.

Logically speaking? She knew how she should act.

Immortality and over 8 centuries of life, as much she got to loathe it, allowed her to achieve many things, pragmatically speaking. Ladylee could speak few thousand languages, had countless talents, to name only proficiency with almost all known instruments and weapons, over dozen scientific degrees, ability to design and drive most vehicles (if she could see the road that is), and decent proficiency in many sports. She visited almost all countries of the world, was witness of amazing societal, historical, and cultural changes. She collected thousands of precious and valuable items, books, and other possessions. She had body that was frozen in stasis, that could heal from any wound down to cellular destruction, never got sick, was immune to all forms of diseases and malfunctions. She didn't even need to sleep, eat, or breathe. Her physical constitution was so utterly bizarre after eating the Ambrosia that Ladylee welcomed occasional sneeze or two, as well as coughing, yawning, vomiting, and other autonomous functions that she retained, with somewhat of a nostalgic and homely feeling.

Yet for all she could do, the so called normal life, in terms of social relationships and romantic developments, was simply out of reach. Because she stayed, and people went away, as simple as that.

If there was any indication that Kamijou Touma could cause her to develop an attachment, she had to push him away. Of course, it was a pity that her plan regarding Imagine Breaker wouldn't work out, but she still had time to think of something else.

So what was stopping her?

She desired death. Could it be that she started to fear it?

No, that was impossible. She had no reason to be scared of death now when she couldn't die. And if she could, she would welcome it with open arms.

She was scared of living? That made even less sense.

Unless...

The fear wasn't exactly about dying per se. It was about leaving someone behind...

Leaving Kamijou Touma behind.

Too determined to carry on, too scared to leave.

"Why does he have to make every single thing complicated?!" Ladylee growled in frustration.

Then, she frowned.

She heard something.

A strange noise, as if something was flying through the air to-

BOOM!

Something hit the ground nearby. Ladylee groaned, rising up and dusting herself off.

"Honestly, a moment of peace in this city, is this so much to ask for?"

She walked towards the direction of the explosion, and soon found a body in red robes, in a crater from the impact.

Ladylee stared at the sight, before screaming.

"Okay, can you not die so bluntly in front of me, when I am having a crisis over not dying? Some tact please!"

The corpse convulsed, and only then Ladylee recognized who it was. Instead of blood, water bubbled out, and the body realigned itself. Vasilisa spoke, groaning softly

"Well, excuse me, I was just tossed through the entire city. This girl really knew how to hit a person. I deserved it, but I wasn't hit that hard in a long time"

"Young people, everyone has a problem" Ladylee sighed"

"I am over 500 years old"

"Still 3 centuries younger than me. So, what's your story?"

"What?"

"If you so rudely interrupted my meditation, I guess there is a reason. You don't look so well"

Vasilisa closed her eyes and chuckled weakly.

"I don't, do I? Well... I am..."

Tears started falling from her eyes.

"Do you know that feeling when you pretend to be one way so long that you forget how to cry?" she spoke quietly.

"Do I know it? You just described recent centuries of my life" Ladylee chuckled grimly" Until recently, I didn't even remember how to genuinely smile"

"I see... heavy is the burden of eternity..."

"But you find it back? Your tears..."

"I think so..." Vasilisa exhaled, more tears leaving her eyes. In that moment, she seem more vulnerable than ever before. "I will have to... find Sasha... I have some things to say to her..."

"Well... take care then..." Ladylee turned around.

"Wait..." Vasilisa waved her hand, smiling through her tears" Can you please stay a little longer? I wouldn't mind a moment with one as ancient as you. We can share our pain, even if it's only a little"

"Huh?"

"Can you sing? Come now, music can touch hearts beyond the boundaries of space and time. Sing for me, маленькая"

"Well... since I was in that mood anyway... I suppose I can do it. But I will smack you if you call me 'little' again"

"You speak Russian?"

"I speak almost every human language from the span of last few centuries and those recorded earlier. Now then..."

Ladylee sat down and looking at the sky, she began to sing in a language that wasn't alike around any other on earth. It wasn't any of the languages from around the world that she could speak. It was something that was a testimony of many places she visited and many experiences she had in her long, long life. She was speaking all of the languages... and none.

Neither was it a language of united humanity before tower of Babel fell, nor any that came after. This was a language of mixture, which encapsulated the rich journey of Ladylee Tangleroad, her own language of Babel. The major component was dialect of Ladylee's hometown, the dialect that was long gone, and whose speakers all were dust in the earth. She didn't make effort to rhyme it and yet, it still conveyed the deep sadness that ancient woman in small body felt.

As heavens were lit with stars

The love was born in blaze

When earth formed in shadow's hold

The love was a seed under their gaze

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Under the moon, night's shining crown

A maiden seeks through meadows and hills

Bracing through death she seeks the dawn

Of one that she was meant to love

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

But he went away, carrying that light

Beyond the ocean, towards the distant land

Leaving the maiden in sadness and fright

As he went, the time still went on

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Gentle were forests, and gentle were clouds

The meadow was green, and cold was the spring

The wind was calm, and fire were strong

Yet to no hope did maiden cling

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'Ah, so dark is the light without you here

So cold the sun without your eyes

Without you, moon brims with fear

I miss you so, I miss you dear

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

And so she begged and plead

With God to take her soul

To bring her beyond distant shore

To seal pain's gaping hole

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

But twas not time to yet depart

And so there she stood

With yearning, longing in heart

Under the sky of blue

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Her song will reach the ocean's deep

The shadows heart encase

The sands will mark her every step

Without the death on trace

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

And someday may she see again

Eyes on the distant shore

In eyes of love it all began

In love, she'll be no more

As Ladylee sang, shedding a few tears of her own, Vasilisa exhaled. She didn't understand, but strangely, she felt at peace, as she was sadder than ever before, and when she understood, that her own love was never coming back. No amount of messing with the force that took his life in the first place... no, with motivation both he and Kamijou Touma shared... could change that.

"Thank you" she said, to no one in particular, but also to everyone, thanks to whom she finally got to feel again... and said most important goodbye in her life.

(5 DAYS LATER)

Gokusai Kaibi rubbed her eyes. She felt drowsy, but she endured it and looked at Touma, surrounded by hospital equipment, in the oxygen mask, and hooked to various IVs.

It's been a long five days. How else could it be, when Kamijou Touma was in such a bad condition?

Was it worst thing that ever happened to him? Hardly.

But was it still threatening? Very much so.

So much so that Heaven Canceller himself, who saved Touma countless times, clicked his tongue as he rushed Touma to the room.

The burns were treatable, and Touma's life wasn't in immediate danger. But the degree of damage was still extensive. And most concerningly... Touma was still in a coma and there wasn't a sign of him waking up any time soon.

Kaibi covered Gokusai Rikuri, who was napping with lock of her hair almost in her mouth.

She knew that the reaction of her sisters would be devastating. Unfortunately, she was right on the money.

Rikuri was absolutely frantic, beyond anything Kaibi saw in a long time. She begged, absolutely begged Heaven Canceller to allow her to help Touma's recovery in any way. Upon examining her skills, he allowed her to synthesize more of the cooling agents and the liquid formulas that were to boost tissue regeneration. Kaibi didn't know if there was actual need or was it just a courtesy but it was obvious Rikuri needed to contribute something or she would go absolutely insane from her love returned in a coma. Soon enough, she was joined by equally frantic Yakumaru Itsuki.

Kaibi knew that the reason Rikuri was so distraught was the fact that with all her knowledge, her main expertise was poison. She was a chemical prodigy, but never felt as confident in healing as opposed to harming. Which probably made her insides burn with fear and anxiety.

The oldest Gokusai didn't need to be told twice. She worked tirelessly, keeping just enough concentration to conduct her chemist duty, but every time she stopped, it was clear that she was on the verge of crying. She stared at Touma with such flaming intensity, such emotional longing, as if she thought that her very being could grab the boy's spirit and bring it back.

Amazora was even more in disarray. To Kaibi's surprise, she didn't throw a loud and rather childish tantrum she used to do in the past in the face of some tragedy. Maybe those 10 years of time in the labyrinth really made her more mature?

However, Kaibi knew her younger sister and also recognized when she was distressed. Amazora was always first spurred into action, and tended to occupy herself with something to distance herself from depression.

And judging from the fact that she was bringing them food, supplies, running between hospital and the apartment, checking Touma's school and their own facilities... she was absolutely dying on the inside.

She also frequently talked with Touma when she thought Kaibi wasn't listening, even though he most likely could not hear her. Kaibi made a mental note to talk with her younger sister. Amazora had tendency to disconnect from her actual emotions in favour of action and staying in motion, which was not healthy at all, not in the long run.

As for Kaibi... she wasn't the type to run around like a headless chicken when calamity struck. Still, this doesn't mean she was fine. In fact, the sense of guilt permeated her very being.

She felt that she shouldn't go with Touma. Back then, she was convinced that Rikuri and Amazora should stay behind because even though they were as efficient as she was, she thought Touma expected delicacy and finesse, a diplomatic approach provided by her mental ability.

And as much as both her sisters and earlier Touma himself denied it, she felt that it was because she miscalculated the distance between the hearts of her and Vasilisa, that the nun lashed out and Touma ended up burnt. If Rikuri or Amazora were there, the situation would unfold very differently.

And most importantly...

The words Touma whispered to her before passing away and falling into the coma. The words that meant world to her and brought her hope that he will wake up and go back to them.

And yet...

"I have to make this up to you. Only then, I can live up to those words and follow through" she whispered, tears clouding her eyes" I will treasure this message and do my best to return to you the faith you gave me by speaking those words"

Even though she allowed herself few tears, being practically alone, she still smiled to the unconscious Touma. She felt his pulse, steady and constant, a beat of life despite seemingly lifeless state he was in.

"We will be waiting" she simply said.

"Well said."

The doors opened and Kaibi saw Oriana Thomson, strolling towards her with one cup in each hand.

Although she tended to be a bit over the top in Kaibi's opinion, she never felt such joy from seeing her older cousin.

"Hot chocolate. Drink, you will feel better" the voluptuous blond winked to her with a smile.

"Thank you" Kaibi accepted the beverage. Her nose got tickled by the smell of cinnamon and other spices" How are you holding on?"

"Well... it is very sad moment indeed" Oriana gently touched one of Touma's bandaged arms. Her beautiful face twitched slightly, her eyes losing their glimmering shine" Kamijou Touma is one of the people I would not like to see die more than anything"

"Any particular reason?"

"Can't you guess, cousin?"

"You fell for him?"

"Maybe" Oriana said cryptically" But more importantly, I wished to thank him. I love to tease him, but I feel that I genuinely owe him a lot now. Not only from learning me a thing or two from time he defeated me, but also because he reunited me with my mother's family, which is the only family I have left now. And seeing him like this made me realize..."

She sighed, her full lips blowing on the chocolate gently, before she resumed

"It made me realize that I had no idea how I appreciated his involvement and help. Flirting is in my nature, is akin to hobby... but I think I need to seriously think about my relationship with him. This is why I want to spend some time with him when he wakes up. To see if we just feel lust, or something else. And regardless how it ends, I think the two of us has to spend time so that we can have no regrets later. My job is not always an easy one either"

"No regrets?"

"I once witnessed a woman dying in an explosion, explosion that occurred in a bus I helped her board onto. It left me very shaken, to my core. I know that I like to be with him, and even though I am accustomed to being eyed by others, I feel happy, instead of just excited, when he does it. So I have to be sincere, to not regret. In the meantime, I will take care of both him and my cute cousins..."

She smiled, pulling Kaibi into the hug, face first into her chest.

"Oriana-san..."

"Hmm..."

"You know, you are really very cool sometimes..."

"Oh, this is nothing, my dear..."

"Can you take my head out of your breast though, it's getting unbelievably hot in here"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Aside from the Gokusai sisters and Oriana Thomson, quite few others visited and reflected on Kamijou Touma's predicament throughout those days. For some, it was a turning point, the importance of which became apparent only in times that were to come. As such, it would be wise to say a few words about those as well.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Index Librorum Prohibitorum sat silently in the corner of Kamijou Touma's room. Accompanying her was Othinus, for the time being in her fairy form, and Sphynx, who was smuggled into the hospital under the Walking Church.

The nun prayed for quite some time, and then was silent even longer, before finally speaking.

"It was bound to happen, wasn't it?"

"In every situation, there is always a better way" Othinus replied" There are countless strategies that can yield better outcomes... but in life, just like in battle, the factor of chance always makes everything change from second to second. Perfection is a foolish dream. And when fate isn't exactly on your side... well, let's just say that there was no way in which he didn't end up saving Vasilisa"

Sphynx walked towards Touma's bed and sniffed the air.

Touma's body still smelled like both sharp chemicals and grilled meat.

'Father' the cat thought with closest equivalent to anxious worry disposable to his feline mind. 'Uncertainty. Danger. Need Father. Need here.'

"One thing I don't understand is..." Index spoke at the same time" Why didn't he save himself? He surely could use some of the draconic powers to escape the fire."

"I think I know the answer to that" Othinus mused out loud, looking at the neutral face of the boy in front of them" Some may say that he gained ultimate power, by learning of his inner abilities and utilizing them. But I assume that by this point, he realized that there was a price for those abilities"

"A price? Really?"

"Yes. I don't know how or why, but the usage of those powers strips away once humanity, bit by bit. Now, as a former god myself, I am not say that transcending the level of humanity is bad. But is not something that Kamijou Touma would want. Being human, stumbling, enduring the imperfection and pain in the name of light of the future, is intrinsic to him. It is something without which he would cease to be himself"

"Even if it ends like this?" Index protested.

"You cannot have the light without shadow" Othinus reminded her" The meaning of word is only heard through silence that surrounds it. The value of life is only apparent and cherished in the presence of death. I know that he gets that, because I understand him"

"Nyaaaa..." Sphynx added.

"Will it always be like this?" the grimoire library asked quietly.

"It is his choice. It is a huge chance, but we can still try to avoid it"

"Would it make a difference?"

"I don't know, but it's still good to keep trying"

"Then I decided" Index put her hands down, sitting straight and looking at Othinus" I want to make a difference. In the past, I was always mad at Touma for going to fight and not taking me along. But when did I ever reach out to actually follow him? Even now, even when I was there, I was still too weak. Each and every time something like this happens, I am reminded how much of his pain could have been avoided if I stepped up earlier on. Othinus, I want to do as much as I can. I want to harness my knowledge become someone who can keep Touma from harm"

Othinus narrowed her eye and spoke in a very stern and serious voice.

"He wouldn't want to go too far, but certainly, something can be done. Or rather, we can do something together, with your potential and my expertise. But what would you be able to give from yourself to ensure that he would be safe and his future comes to be?"

Index didn't waver. She spoke quietly, but with great resolve

"Anything"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Invisible to the naked eye, Nephthys and Niang-Niang observed the boy in the coma.

"Could we done more?" Niang-Niang asked. "It was our task to project his thoughts and inner mind for Vasilisa to have her farewell, but what about the spell of Three Riders? She took us by surprise..."

Nephthys wasn't crying, but the slightly puffy eyes indicated she did so quite recently.

"Well, we aren't perfect, as much as humans would like us to be. Even if we couldn't affect him directly, there could be some solution... but there is no use crying over the spilled milk."

"We used every trick we could to ease his situation, which is not a lot given that right hand. It's not just physical trauma, he went into this state due to accumulated fatigue and mental unravelling from the time in the Labirynth and even earlier experiences. I think recovery may take time, but... I doubt you want to leave him, right?"

"Do you?" Nephthys looked at her best friend sharply.

"No, of course I don't" Niang-Niang protested" But what can be done? Should we trust human medicine? I know this human is not mere doctor, but..."

"Well, if it's the body that is the problem, then I am confident in his abilities. But coma is often not what it seems... we don't know how long he will be out."

"He is not dying. You are bonded to him through your name magic and I have my amulet. We both would feel it"

"Yes..." Nephthys nodded, absentmindedly stroking Touma with her hand. She had no idea if it brought any comfort, but she wanted to give her willingness to help through any form" I wonder..."

"What?"

"We know each other's true names... true name, name of mind, name of shadow, name of the body... if I can invoke his mind name, maybe this will bring him back to his senses if the body will be strong enough..."

"As the expert in cheating death, I applaud of this. The question is... why didn't you do it already?"

Nephthys smiled lightly.

"Something tells me that our human wants to come back at his own rules. Maybe he is in midst of his own change. Should this state persist, I will think about it. I just... sense that he would want me to wait"

"How can you be sure?"

"I just... feel it." Nephthys said enigmatically" I think... I think that I really get it now. All that time I knew that I was jealous of Othinus. I was furious that this boy chose her, someone who murdered him just to get what was once hers, and yet he forgave her. I wanted him to look away from her, initially because I thought he was a good human to have as an asset. But when I thought this was all it was to it, he gave me greatest gift I ever received: someone who would feel emotions for me, in the first time in eons. I wasn't jealous anymore, I was afraid. I was afraid that I would not be able to be understood by him in the way Othinus was. But now I know I don't need to be like Othinus. I will give him understanding different from hers, something else he needs and what only I can give"

A small tear from her eye fell onto Touma's wrist. Niang-Niang looked at her ornament, the twin of which was laying on the nightstand.

"You know what..." she grinned" I think you are right"

"We have debt to pay. We will shape the future he dreams about."

Wanting to slightly lighten the mood, Niang-Niang mused

"Hmm... speaking of the future, can you imagine us as mothers?"

"Hmm..." Nephthys gained a small look of bliss" It would be pleasant to have a daughter, and travel together to see the universe... and although I am merely collection of mummy dust given corporeal form, I do hope he will find me pleasing"

"Hmph, you bet he does. You are his type. I have my way on a thorny path... but I am not the one to shy away from hard work"

"..."

"You know, you talked about him, but let's speak of your interests. You would want to, well... you know..."

"NIANG-NIANG! THIS IS NOT THE TOPIC T-TO DISCUSS WHEN HE IS UNCONSCIOUS!"

"I didn't hear a no~"

"Sedid gher! Be silent!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"How is he?" Awatsuki Maaya worryingly looked at Kongou Mitsuko, who sat by Touma's bed with a saddened face.

Wannai Kinuho, who was doing tea by the nearby table, shook her head.

"I am sorry to inform you, Awatsuki-san, that there is no change" the brown haired girl sadly stated.

"I see..." Awatsuki sighed, giving her friends some food she bought from the outside caffeteria" I tried to speak with our Dorm Manager about the situation... she is accomodating, but we still have to leave soon..."

"Please, a bit more..." Kongou said with a wistful expression.

"I agree. I just... there must be something I can do here..." Wannai seconded her friend's desperate plea.

Kongou was especially quiet, and also seemed to fight embarrassment.

After the quite literal heat of the battle (she also had minor burns), she calmed down and realized in which moment she made her confession.

She didn't regret in saying it. She did it because her own reaction, the fury and rage over seeing Touma's burnt body, combined with the fear of what was happening, just how tangible possibility of death and serious injury was, the words of her feelings, filled with blunt honesty Kongou Mitsuko was known for, just found their way out.

Come to think of it, nothing about her relationship Touma went with the way she envisioned her fist love, and it still didn't make it any less wonderful. It was completely inexplicable and illogical in many regards, but Kongou could not care less.

She need not to agree with Kamijou Touma in every regard, she could acknowledge that they came from different worlds, but she also felt that at her core, they were linked by something greater than those superficial reasons, that could bring them occasional conflicts, but wouldn't be enough to truly divide them.

Still, her face burned as she spoke about it to her friends.

Wannai Kinuho was absent from the events regarding conflict with Vasilisa. When she began to investigate why her two friends didn't return on time and later learned the reason over the phone, she almost fell under the car from faintness of the body.

But after first wave of dread came, the girl rushed through the city, and stormed the hospital so carelessly that she actually skidded past the room on waxed floor and slammed into the wall beyond it.

Nevertheless, the Hydro Hand user was distraught and depressed, to the point in which pipes in the hospital walls started to bubble dangerously and thin streams of water shot out in places, not to mention Touma's IV and tea behaving like miniature storm's in the respective containers.

"How could this happen when I was away?" she lamented, despite Kongou and Awatsuki assuring her that their own involvement was largely coincidental.

Out three of them, Wannai managed to achieve the most natural progression of interactions with the boy, with Konogu being sometimes too forward, and Awatsuki being held back at times by her uncertainty regarding the balance between her strength and femininity. As such, the water manipulator came to greatly appreciate Touma's advise and help she received from him on past occasions.

The memory of the time in which she got flustered by him during the heatwave and the following decimation of Tokiwadai forces compelled her to prove to him how serious she was in investing into their relationship.

As such, the fact that she wasn't in a good place and in a good time was like a smack to the cheek for her.

As for Awatsuki Maaya, who took the teacups into her hands, she assumed the role of logical and level-headed, but it was only a front. It became apparent when she almost spilled the tea from how much her hands were shaking.

Kamijou Touma was someone thanks to whom she found equilibrium between her ability which made her able to commit unladylike actions, and the fact that she was a young woman and Tokiwadai lady. Touma neither denied, nor shunned her for any those parts, in fact, he encouraged her to embrace them. He frequently made her amused, and quite recently, she found herself enjoying being the one to carry him as much as she fondly remenbered being carried herself by the boy.

Right now, Kamijou was too quiet for her liking... it made her incredibly sad. Even if she didn't show it outright, the atmosphere compelled her to say

"W-Well... he isn't dead. He will be getting better, we can rest assured of that. This the best hospital in Academy City, and one of the best in the world"

"Yes... but it's hard" Wannai whispered. She levitated portion of water, spread it thinly, and gingerly moistened Touma's forehead" Are we supposed to just sit and wallow in misery?"

"Not necessarily." Kongou replied, as if suddenly rejuvenated" We can talk about him. Even if it isn't much, it can bring some hope. We are here, he is important, so even if he can't hear us, let's make sure this importance is pronounced. What do you say?"

"I think... I think it's a lovely idea" Awatsuki nodded.

"As expected of our Kongou-san" Wannai smiled, for the first time in some time.

And so they spoke, one after the other, about Kamijou Touma and their shared moments.

Kongou reminisced of the time she met Touma near the Child Error Orphanage...

(FLASHBACK)

Kamijou Touma raised an eyebrow at the sight of the now familiar ojou-sama with a fan and wide forehead, hiding behind a tree in front of building that served as the living quarters for the sizeable part of Academy City's Child Errors.

Touma approached the muttering Kongou Mitsuko and spoke casually

"So, what are you up to this fine day?"

"KYA!" Kongou jumped up, before trying to regain her regal composure" D-Do not frighten me like that! I-It's nice to see you here, darling... and as for why, I am here... w-well..."

"Let me guess, you want to go inside, but you are too shy to do it?"

Kongou blushed, and hid her face behind the fun, muttering weak attempts to negate Touma's guess.

"Why would you be afraid? You are one of the most straightforward people I know" Touma asked in a supportive tone.

Touma linked both of her index fingers together, pouting slightly.

"Some time ago, Misaka-san and her friends introduced me to a cute girl known as Febrie-chan. I never turn away a new friend, and after she went away, I missed her. I thought that maybe I could try befriending other girls her age... to also give them some fun memories..."

"So what's stopping you?"

"Well, I kind of... didn't have many friends in my early life. What if I mess up? Febrie was kind of special. What if those children won't like me?"

Touma smiled

"Well, if that's so, you don't have to worry. Because this Kamijou is visiting the children right now. And look, I brought special guest."

Only now, Kongou noticed Sphynx sticking his head from the hoodie.

"Aww..." she cooed, scratching the calico under the chin" Who's a good kitty?"

"You like cats, don't you?"

"Mhm..." Kongou nodded enthusiastically" I would get one, but dorm is already merciful for letting me keep my beloved Ekaterina. Of course, I can always pay them more, but that's last resort. Not having one in person just makes the encounters all the more precious"

"Well, the tolerance for the boa is just a stuff of mystery for me anyway"

"Take that back darling, Ekaterina-chan is an angel!"

"Well, I know she is well behaved, but when we were together in the past, she gave me serious yandere vibes. I am sure she dreams of biting me"

"Ohohoho, such a jest you have, no, she is not. She is a constrictor, she coils and crushes her prey"

"That was very reassuring when it comes to my future health. Well, I got along with worse, and she is important to you. Now, come and join us" Touma said, grabbing her hand.

"O-Oh... alright..."

When they stepped onto the stairs, Kongou frowned and asked a question of her own.

"Wait... why do you do it?

"Why I do what?"

"Visit the children. Do you have a relative or..."

"What? No, no... it's just... I had a bit of a challenging childhood... I don't remember much, but I know it wasn't pretty. Also, I know how it is to feel like the world is against you" Touma shrugged" I guess what I want to say is that from time to time I visit those children, because I know it's hard for them. Not remembering the family, being left alone in city so big... I am busy most of the time, but when I have a bit of time, I wish to show them that life is not all that bad"

"It seems that... for different reasons..." Kongou whispered, genuinely touched" That we both knew our share of loneliness... even if it stemmed of misunderstandings..."

"I guess so... come on, what do you say we will be a little less alone together and give those kids a fun day?"

"Nyaaaa!" Sphynx meowed loudly, as if in approval.

Kongou Mitsuko smiled sweetly and they passed through the door as one.

(END FLASHABCK)

"What happened then?" Awatsuki asked.

"Oh, we had marvelous time. The children were a bit shy when it came to me at first, but with his help, they warmed up, especially since we both played with Sphynx-san. I allowed them to paint my face, which I never did before. Darling let them ride on his back... it was such a delight, we laughed so much. We also played with the ball, with a bit of added difficulty with ability of yours truly. Such a delight! Although... there was one episode I didn't quite understand..."

(FLASHBACK)

As the ball, propelled by Kongou's ability, wheezed past one of the orphanage's stuff, Touma's eyes widened... only to turn blank at the next moment.

The girl in the facility's apron, with dark black hair and brown eyes of almost red hue, who was watching them play earlier on, looked at him too.

"P-Please be careful... that could have hit someone..." she spoke just at Touma

"Can we talk for a moment?" he said, as sweat appear on girl's brow.

"W-What is the prob-wah"

But Touma already dragged the assistant away. Kongou raised an eyebrow, surrounded by small kids.

"Oh, is onii-chan going to betray onee-chan?" asked one of the Child Errors.

Kongou coloured a bit at that.

"He is not... we are not..." she mumbled, before silently following Touma as the pair closed the doors behind them.

Besides the door, Touma sighed and abruptly pulled the wig out of girl's head.

Musujime Awaki raised her hands.

"I swear I can explain..."

"We were making progress, Jime..."

"And I am clean! No short shots, no sniffing, not peeping, nothing like that"

"So you are here just to help?"

"W-Well, I can stop myself from doing more extreme things, but I had to see the children."

"Jime..."

"I swear my intentions were pure. Baby steps, I can't make such a radical change... especially when you are not feeding me tales about yourself..."

"We are friends, and friends give each other a push to support one another. I appreciate that you became interested in me..."

"In your childlike, naive side, specifically..."

"But substituting one addiction with another one is not good..."

"Don't worry... I am not going to get addicted to you... unless you would like to... I wouldn't mind... ow ow! Not the tails again!"

"Don't tease me, you are better than that!"

"Come on, you earned my friendship and loyalty, don't worry about a thing."

"That's a challenge with you... you spring from every place lately"

"That's because I am watching over you, idiot. I owe you twice, remember? First for the ambulance, second for my panic attack"

"Don't act like overprotective girlfriend! I already have two stalkers, who apparently are in rivalry with each other."

"Don't make a fuss! I am not a stalker. Besides, you are also watching out for me, don't deny it."

"Jime, you are sending a lot of mixed signals. You are fascinated by my own actions, but you still visit places with children. I need the assurance that my friend is doing well, and I can't support you if you don't have will to hold your promises"

"You almost sound like you don't want to encounter me" tinge of hurt entered Awaki's voice.

"No, it's the opposite. I have lots of fun with you, and if friendship with me and tales of my life helps you overcome your weaknesses, it's all of the more reason for me to like you. But I need to know that I can trust you"

"Of course you can! The fact that we meet in those circumstances is just fate or something"

"My fate is never good when it comes to coincidences"

"Then I will be an exception! Wait... do you want to make me mad because you actually enjoy your senpai quarreling with you. I can get behind that..."

"N-No, stop introducing things I never said... we are talking about you!"

" Do we know I thought we were talking about us! Why are we even arguing?"

"Because you are a stubborn as hell!"

"No, you are, idiot! You can even except my offers-"

"We are not talking about it here! Aggh! Stop twisting my cheeks!"

"That's what you get for- mmmmhmmm?!"

Kongou couldn't stand it any longer.

"Is it the toilet... oh?"

She pretended to make a mistake while opening the door, and saw the redheaded girl whose long twintails were tied around her neck and lips, making an effective natural gag. Meanwhile, said girl was pinching and twisting Touma's cheeks so hard it looked like she was pulling his entire head.

Kongou stared at the sight, before slowly and wordlessly closing the door.

(END FLASHBACK)

"What was that about?" Awatsuki questioned.

"I kind of... repressed that scene from my mind" Kongou muttered" It wasn't wrong by all means, Touma explained that he was helping his friend with... addiction, of sorts? Anyway, it's not fit for a lady to pry into friendships of others"

She didn't say a word about the fact that in her opinion, Musujime sounded and looked a little too friendly to her. That was why, till the end of the visit, Kongou cautiously walked practically arm to arm with Touma.

"Well..." Wannai crossed her legs, elegantly sipping tea" Then maybe I can contribute as well... since Kamijou-san helped me so much with my own esper training, I thought hard about things I can help him with... and there we was, in a public pool... I was taking it very seriously..."

(FLASHBACK)

Kamijou Touma swam with great speed in crawl style. The girl with brown wavy hair had a whistle in her mouth, in which she blew in regular intervals.

Finally, Touma reached the other end, panting slightly.

"That was excellent!"

"Wannai-san... are you sure that we have to do this that fast?"

"Yes, it is essential" Wannai nodded her head sagely" You are quite unlucky. You need to improve your swimming abilities beyond the norm if you ever find yourself in perilous situation while in water. You need to flee fast or avoid obstacles. I think I am more than competent to help ensure your safety, given that I am the best swimmer in Tokiwadai"

"Wannai-sama, mercy for this poor Kamijou! You are a Hydro Hand. Are you sure that this is adjusted for level 0 such as myself"

"I am fairly sure. But I am not cruel. For your hard work today, I prepared this"

She took of her uniform, revealing the yellow-and-green swimsuit. She stepped into the water, going knee deep, before smiling softly at the amazed Touma.

"I heard that the gentlemen are particularly fond of such costumes. I usually wear my school suit, but for such occasion, I will allow you to see me in this... please, feel free to look"

Touma put his hands together and bowed, still afloat.

"Itadakimasu"

"Pardon?"

"I mean... arigatou gozaimasu! This Kamijou is thankful for such a generosity!"

Wannai put the hand to her cheek, inwardly pleased with his reaction.

"My my, think nothing of it. Now, let's swim together, and do some exercises"

So they did. Wannai gracefully moved through the water alongside Touma, giving him pointers, and causing the water to circulate around their feet so they could talk without tiring. She seemed to fly more than swim, as if she was mermaid more than a girl.

Everything was good, until they attempted to swim in fast rotating spiral motion.

"Wannai-san, given my experience, I am not sure that this is a good idea, because you are-"

The girl patted his head.

"Don't fret, this exercise is crucial to train sense of aquatic equilibrium. Just link your left hand with my right, keeping your right hand away, and focus on my eyes. Take a deep breath, and-"

Both of them submerged, liking the arms. Wannai summoned the current of water, and they shot forward, moving in the spiral around each other, moving under the water.

Although the sense of direction was damned, Touma felt there was something enchanting about the feeling of Wannai's green eyes looking at him reassuringly.

After they resurfaced, both felt slight vertigo. Wannai was first to recover, gazing at the blue surface of the pool, with yellow-and-green spot floating on the surface, as her vision stabilized.

Wait... yellow-and-green?

Touma looked forward, and paled, just as Wannai looked downward, and blushed bright red.

"This what I was afraid of... those types of swimsuits in those kind of scenarios tend to snap..."

The bra was innocently floating on the water, but soon disappeared under the agitated waves, as Wannai squealed in protest.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

The water exploded upward, alongside Kamijou Touma, carried by wave so enormous that he ended upside down on the decorational tree near the pool.

Wannai noticed it only when she frantically salvaged the bra.

"Oh no, I am so sorry, I guess I overreacted..." the girl shouted, climbing up the ladder, attempting to assist Touma.

Kamijou Touma majestically fell down... without his swimming trunks, which stayed, hooked on the branch.

"No... that's okay... this kind of situation is a classic by this point..."

The reversal of the accident, as Wannai's innocent eyes fell on the region between between boy's legs.

Her lips parted, face reddened even more, before she fainted, collapsing backwards into the pool

"WANNAI-SAN!"

(END FLASHBACK)

"In the end, he had to save me from drowning, again. Me!" Wannai muttered with hands over her face.

"You do seem to cherish this memory though" Kongou pointed out

"W-Well... because afterward... lips-to-lips were.. ap... app... applied..." Wannai managed to mumble, with a mortified embarrassment mixed with a kind of hidden glee, as she shook her head.

"I wish I had anything as exciting" Awatsuki mused" I always have such insubstantial additions..."

"Oh, I am sure it's not that bad..."

"Well, I suppose there was one time when I got a bit... jealous..."

(FLASHBACK)

Kamijou Touma panted, looking at the girl at his feet.

"What the hell happened?" he asked.

"Nuffin... come ohh, pig me uuuuhp..." came the answer of the red and very smiley girl.

Two hours earlier, Touma and Awatsuki Maaya didn't plan to meet near the arcade, but upon seeing one another, they played a few games, which was a guilty pleasure for Awatsuki. Before meeting Touma, she never played them and it became a bit of their ritual for a pastime.

They were in a good mood, when something else happened. Namely, the group of girls from Tokiwadai, from Awatsuki's own classmates, swarmed Touma, talking one over the other. By this point, all three years of Tokiwadai's middle school knew Touma, with third years devising elaborate plans to approach him, first years being very innocent and straightforward, and seconds being a mixture of the two.

The girls were relentless, and only after few rather loud coughs and very telling glare from Awatsuki, they said their goodbyes and ran away, giggling. But not before they managed to push the sizeable box of chocolates into Touma's arms.

Awatsuki frowned at that, her eyebrows knitting together. She only recently got comfortable with expressing her affection. Most of her life she was outshined, either by her brothers, or by other girls, which she considered more feminine than herself. Well, not anymore.

She knew it was rather unbecoming, but the fire of jealousy that burst in her heart at that moment compelled to take the box from Touma's hands.

"I can see that you are awkward with it. You don't even know this girls well"

"Yes, but... I don't want perfectly good chocolate to go to waste..."

"Well..." Awatsuki made a determined face, before opening the box, taking almost all the chocolates, and shoving them into her mouth. She chewed for a moment, before swallowing" Ugh, they weren't even that good. Don't worry, I promise I will make you some personally. I remember that you like handmade sweets. Those girls didn't know what they were doing..."

"Well, if you say so. This offer sounds promising, Maaya-san." Touma agreed, not to offend visible annoyed girl.

With time passing, the jealousy evaporated, but something else occurred.

Firstly, Touma noticed that the girl got flushed, but dismissed it, thinking it was due to earlier anger. Only when she started to sway slightly, Touma started to suspect something more serious.

"Maaya-san..."

The girl looked at him half-consciously...

"Yesh?"

"Are you... feeling okay?"

"Nevah betta..."

With that said, Awatsuki Maaya turned around and walked face first into the street lamp, with a resounding, metallic vibration, after which she fell to the ground.

Touma looked in shock for a few minutes, before he understood, crouching next to Awatsuki.

"Such misfortune... were those chocolates with liquor? Like those fancy types? How did they even get those in Academy City? External shipment? Maybe there was a mix-up?"

But he didn't have time to contemplate, because Awatsuki suddenly sat straight.

She swayed, looking around, before noticing him.

"Pih me uhhhhp... *hic*..." she hiccupped adorably, with a silly grin and hands stretching and circling in the air in front of him.

"W-What?"

"Cahhhri meeeeeeh..." the long haired bouyancy controller slurred" Cahhhhrii... *hic... meeeeee..."

"Maaya-san, this is not time for fooling around! You are drunk..."

"Am nooooo...nooooo...druuung... ladiesh don... geth drunnnn..."

"You obviously are! They say you cannot get drunk from chocolates, but that's clearly doesn't apply to someone gobbling all box at one go! You are a lightweight like me, note to self, never allow us to, for some reason, get drunk together. Why did you even do that?"

"Becaaaussh...ish shoooo hard to get you to... too looooh maaaah way... everiih girrrr is alweish firsssht... I want yuuuuu to sheeee meee... piiggh me uuhppp..."

Touma finally agreed, when Awatsuki uprooted few objects and threw them. Despite her drunkenness, her ability to lift heavy object by manipulate buoyancy seemed to only increase with no limiters, and Touma picked the girl up after mailbox almost collided with his face.

She immediately clung to him, but not on the back, but on the front, like reversed backpack, with Awatsuki long hair falling over them.

"M-Maaya-san..."

"Hehehe..." Awatsuki giggled, nuzzling against Touma's neck" I goooth yuuuuu..."

"Alright, Kamijou Touma. Only a moment before people start to call Anti Skill. You have great will, you will do just fi- ow! M-Maaya-san!"

"I cauuught... yuuuuu..."

With the girl Awatsuki Maaya against him and nibbling his neck while smiling goofily, Kamijou Touma let out what sounded like a war cry to retain any sense of responsibility and took of running down the street.

(END FLASHBACK)

"And how it ended?" Wannai asked.

"In the end, I sobered up on the riverbank. Apparently, I later got the idea to carry him myself, but because his ability negated mine, I lost balance... which I didn't have much of anyway... and we fell into the river..."

"Oh dear, it seems that we all have our fair share of endearing and embarrassing stories" Kongou smiled" But you know what? Telling those stories really does make me feel better"

"I can agree"

"Here here"

And so three best friends talked, with every visit to the boy's room, after a while moving from the stories about the past, to hopes for the future, all while looking after the comatose.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"What?" Leivinia Birdway looked at the girl on her feet with mild surprise" What are you asking for again? And drop the japanese, my native language is english, like yours"

Helcalia Grocery raised her head. Her silver hair fluttered slightly on the wind as she caught up to the small cabal leader in front of hospital

"Sorry" she responded, switching to english" I wish to ask for assistance. When Touma and others went to find Vasilisa... I stayed behind with you and Lessar-san. I talked and spent enough time with you, even if it was short, to discern that you are powerful and have charisma. I know you are the right person to ask"

"And why do you think as such? What do you desire?"

Helcalia's blue eyes, filled with determination, shone like sapphires, the reflection being amplified by equally blue eyes of the blond girl in front of her.

She put a hand on her heart.

"I wish to be of use. My mind alone can only take me so far. I don't want to feel like I couldn't do anything for him, I don't want to feel like I am someone to be protected. I admire him so deeply, I can't bear the fact that he is so hurt. But I cannot change that. All I can change is myself. So I will do my utmost. I am going to become one of the strongest espers of my generation, but not for fame or power itself, but for him, to be aid through mind and skill. That's why I thought of you. You are roughly my age, but I can sense intense charisma and power from you. You can destroy me in one moment. Then, please, give me advice. I am done being a background character in his life, I cannot allow this anymore! I am going to undergo the procedure to become an esper in a few days"

Birdway listened with neutral expression, before grinning wickedly.

"Well, well, I was about to turn you away, but... hmmm... you have a way of words. And you grovel better than some of my subordinates. I like good groveling. I wish someone like you could be in my cabal, but from what I heard, I can understand why your mind is more calibrated for science, and being an esper. Quite a loss for magic, but oh well. Fine, here is what I say to you: from me specifically, there is not much you could take. I am not an esper, and frankly, my mind never bothered with that side of the world. Thus, I would strongly recommend you to find someone from the City to be your mentor. But still..."

She pulled out her phone, and dialed a number. She spoke a moment later.

"Yes, yes, it's me... everything okay on your end... yes, I know I didn't phone lately... wait, slow down... I wanted to introduce you to someone... yes, yes, she need help... no, I didn't... listen, you have my word, she is very promising... why are you laughing... okay, okay, stop rubbing it in... see you later..."

Leivinia hung up and looked at Helcalia with satisfaction.

"I got you a meeting. She is someone I can recommend you from the bottom of my heart. She is deep in scientific research and although we don't know what ability you will develop, I am sure that this will turn beneficial"

Predicting Helcalia's question, she said

"It's time you met my twin sister, Patricia Birdway. She is the genius of science, just like I am in magic. From my expertise, she might be able to help you"

"Thank you" Helcalia smiled, nodded, and swung around to leave.

"Hey" Birdway called after her.

"Yes?"

"I can tell by your determination alone that you will have the diligence alone that you may be able to keep your promise and achieve great power. When this time comes... let's test our strength"

Helcalia smiled, sensing undertone that Leivinia masked, while also speaking with a challenge on her face. And yet, it was a goodhearted challenge.

"I will be there, I am sure I will get there. Wait for me"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Maidono Hoshimi and Kankyougami Hasako looked at Touma by his bed.

"How could this happen?" Maidono grabbed her head" I should just get there and help him, plan and being a reservist be damned"

"Maybe..." Hasako smiled sadly. She made quiet noise, touching her necklace.

The air became slightly fresher, as the sun shone brightly.

"... or maybe not"

"What do you mean by that?" Maidono sighed, looking at her best friend.

"Hoshimi, I know that you and I, despite opening our hearts to each other, differ in some respects. I'm aware that you are a firm believer in your actions shaping your life. This is why you wanted control over your own body, over your own life, why meeting Touma was such a blessing. He put you back in control... but I do believe in some form of fate. I just know that it was fate that allowed me to sleep for all that time and meet the love of my life, as well as my best friend"

Maidono, filled with anxiety, played with the phone on the cupboard, which slid form one side to the other, as if pulled by invisible string.

"So what does this fate tells us? To sit on our asses and do nothing?"

"Language. And no, I don't think so." Hasako said calmly, looking at Touma, with small tears forming in her own eyes" In fact, I am not fully sure myself. What I do know that we have to believe. Not only in him, but in us. All of us."

Maidono threw a knife for peeling apples a couple times to calm herself down, with the utensil returning to her hand mid-flight across the room.

"Thanks, Hasacchi. If you weren't here, I am sure that I would cause an earthquake and quite literally turn Academy City upside down from frustration"

"I have no doubt you could do that. And don't mistake my reassurance for calmness..." Hasako suddenly choked up, shielding her face with her hand" The thought that he might, for some reason, not wake up..."

"Hey, hey, hey..." Maidono hugged Beginning Child, mustering a smile" That's not gonna happen. He will fight his way back to us. I am certain"

"You are?"

"He is the one who will give us the idea of the best world ever. And we will be there to make it happen. Destruction and Creation, working together, to create best ending we could dream of. You ground me, calm me, make me feel better. I encourage you, emporwer you, make you feel stronger. We cannot do this without each other, and sure as hell cannot do this without him. I am not losing him. There is no possible world in which I allow him to die"

"Yes... you are right. Thank you..."

"Don't mention it. After all you've been through, you don't deserve to cry..."

"I could say the same to you..."

Two girls separated and after nodding to each other, planted two simultaneous kisses, one for each cheek.

"We will wait for you too, as long as it takes"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Shokuhou Misaki and Mitsuari Ayu cried in each other's embrace, before closing themselves in a secluded room, to discuss what to do now.

"Unfortunately, our abilities cannot quite reach him" Misaki sniffed, rubbing her red eyes. Because of the crying, starts in her eyes looked more like setting sun against the red sky.

"Even if they did..."Ayu added" I doubt this would be a good idea... to wake him up, given the state he was in"

"Yes... we have to be patient..." Misaki bit her lip." Although I am done being patient in life. I just wanted to enjoy it"

"Tell me about it. But... can we talk about what we think we saw? In his mind? Even if it made me faint, I grasped enough, foggy or not."

"Yes, I got a relay from you... and... it bothers me, to be honest" Misaki sighed" This is... huge."

"Beyond us?"

"Nothing that is within the mind is truly beyond us" Misaki stated confidently, before frowning" Although... if we won't be careful, it will break our own minds, permanently"

"Yet, this has to be done" Ayu spoke firmly" The memories I saw... Shokuhou, it is a miracle that his sense of self and mind didn't crumble... the span of time escapes me... and we are supposed to be experts!"

"What do you suggests then?" Misaki asked Mental Stinger.

"Maybe if we keep Imagine Breaker away, I will be able to alter serotonin levels, and emotional cognition."

"No!" Misaki protested sharply" No perception alternation and endocrinal manipulation. Only memory applications. No direct messing with the brain chemistry. I still have nightmares of that time..."

"So... old school?"

"Yes. We are doing therapy"

"Those memories are blocked. We can undo the repressors, but..."

"It will be slow. One by one, we will undo them. If we do it together, we can stand a chance with securing ourselves, watching each other's backs."

"Hmm... I never thought I will collaborate with you on anything... and when it comes to him, too"

"Well, maybe it's especially since it's about him. It's like we were born to help him in that regard"

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"How are you feeling?" Takitsubo asked Hamazura.

She was still hospitalized, but her fever went down, she could carry on conversations for far longer, and was on good way to recovery.

"I should be the one asking you this" Hamazura put his arm around her.

"I am not the one who was there. Your best friend was sent into a coma"

"It sucks, like everyone, I wish I could do , I know boss will pull through. I can look after his affairs for time being, and talk with Accelerator... I will do my best to help him" Hamazura paused, before looking at Kinuhata" What worries me more at the moment... is she still out?"

"Yup, super out, about, and furious"

"I see... well, no surprise there..."

"Should someone try to talk to her?" Takitsubo whispered.

Far, far away, green light flashed brightly from in the distance. Hamazura groaned, scratching his head.

"I would love to... but we have to wait until she calms down. Right now, she is in state in which she would attack everything that moves. When he didn't wake after two days... she took a turn for worse. She feels helpless. It's a new feeling for her, and I surely can relate to how painful it is"

"You can relate?"

"When I travelled with you through Russia, with fever and poisoning eating you away, I felt like worst trash in the world. And I was a level 0. Mugino is accustomed to being powerful."

"But..." Kinuhata thought out loud" It's not a super first time when Kamijou got hospitalized since she met him"

"Yeah, I am not an expert... but Kaibi says there is something more symbolic and often scarier in the coma. Anyway, boss had a knack of unlocking the emotions and true sentiments behind the masks people like Mugino built around themselves. Well, now she is feeling all of it..."

At the same time, by the river, brown haired girl seethed with rage and fatigue.

She clenched her fists. The air crackled as over 20 spheres appeared in the air.

"RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!"

She roared, fusing the orbs and firing enormous beam, that dwarfed her in comparison.

The fast, ultra-heated beam tore through the riverbank, and later evaporated surface level of the water in the river before finally dying down.

Mugino Shizuri looked up, her face contorting with emotions of fury, worry, pain, and sorrow.

"I get that it was your choice!" she yelled, her voice hoarse from earlier roars" But still... don't you dare leave me here! I am not done with you! I only began! You better get your ass back to consciousness, or I will look like an idiot! I promised to get close with you. Do you understand the weight of those words, from me?!"

She shivered, looking at the wide line alongside of the river, molten stone sizzling and smoking. She created new canal for the water to flow.

"You made it so difficult! I never regretted my power! But now, when someone I care about lays comatose, what the fuck can I do?! My ability can destroy. At best, it can be used to weld or compliment high-speed message transmission."

She looked at her trembling hands.

"If I were there, the most I could would be to severe or burn, and you wouldn't need that. I could fight against someone. You would hate me if I killed the bitch who would do this to you. I so want to hurt her... tore her limbs, make her bleed..."

'This is not what you really want' Touma's voice spoke in her head.

"Shut up" Mugino snarled, another beam shooting forward. A trickle of blood of squirted from her human arm.

'Mugino, you need to rest. You are overloading you Meltdowner. A few more shots of such enormous magnitude and you will lose your other arm'

"LIKE I CARE! Stop this! It's easier to hurt myself and manage that pain than get back there, and look at you all-... all-"

Her voice broke, and her lip trembled. She shouted again, but this time it was more of a strained whimper, less ferocious and more vulnerable.

"I never fought to protect someone I love, damn it! I never even loved anyone before! Show me how! Show me how to fight without killing, without breaking your trust!"

She fell to her knees, gritting her teeth to the point of drawing blood from the inside of her mouth.

"I want to fight for salvation... but I can only destroy! SO I NEED YOU HERE WITH ME, THIS INSTANT! What the fuck is happening?! All those years trying to be on top, I never learned all that much! So please, come back... come back and show me more... be with me more... for the first time in my life, I was nervous! I planned to impress you, to make your jaw drop in awe. I will learn even more about saving others... so get back here..."

Her vision distorted, as she put her hand to the brow and took a shaky breath.

"Now you've done it... I am such an ugly crier... I am pu...punching you so ha...hard for that..."

Her speech broke.

Mugino Shizuri didn't allow anyone to see her cry, even ITEM members, and would kill anyone who witnessed it. She cried rarely anyway, and because of that, there were rumors that she was so heartless that she never shed a tear in her life.

But those was all that was. A rumour.

Even if she associated tears with weakness, deep inside, she was still a hurt, lost girl.

Her body shook as few sobs were heard and tears which appeared to be tinged green from the final, dying down reflexes of her ability, started to fall down to the rock bellow her.

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There were many such stories, too many to tell all of them in their entirety.

Kumokawa Seria locked herself in her room and didn't allow anyone in, going to the hospital only every few days. Her sister Maria ran between the comatose boy and Seria, not able to decide who she was more worried about, her master or her sibling.

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Fukiyose Seiri was visited by Himegami Aisa when they learned about Touma's predicament. They both rushed to his room, and spoke to each other for over a hour, Fukiyose screaming and looking a step away from wrecking everything in the room, and Himegami trying to calm her down, and not break into crying instead.

Similarly to Mugino Shizuri, Fukiyose had recently unlocked some of her more guarded feelings. Also, she was much better with dealing with them through actions than words. Since she was still staying in hospital anyway, she volunteered to aid the nurses with whatever they needed when it came to tending to the immobile and heavily burned boy.

Himegami thought that she never before saw look of such a focused devotion on her friend's face.

Initially, the hospital staff was reluctant, since Fukiyose's stab wound could reopen, but they were finally persuaded, with the promise that Fukiyose will keep some security measures.

Himegami, aside from informing the school of their situation, was there to keep watch over Seiri, pleading for her to sleep or rest. Iron Wall Girl's stamina was enormous, but it was still limited, especially since she just recently ended the proper treatment.

Yet, the change in attitude was noticeable. More often than not, Fukiyose actually tended to Touma, helping to change bandages, check his temperature, even massage him, being better in it that most, with her strength being able to generate accurate of force.

When she thought nobody was looking, she was holding Touma's hand, with Himegami holding the opposite. Together, they spoke to Touma of what transpired in the day that passed.

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Seike Taromaru and Izumi Riita groaned under the weight of their two friends, walking out of hospital.

Yakumaru was half-asleep, her head lolling slightly to the side. Naru was equally exhausted, but her eyes were opened and conscious.

"They really were there all that time?" Rita asked Seike.

"Yep, ever since he got there."

"Alright, enough is enough. You two need to rest"

"But... I still need to... adjust... the density of the..." Yakumaru mumbled incoherently.

"She was working non-stop on enhancing the solution for body regeneration with Potion Lady" Seike explained again" No sleeping, no eating, no anything."

"And you, Naru?"

Naru stubbornly kept silent.

"She is cleaning his room." Seike spilled the beans once more" Every few hours. I hate to break it to you, but he won't really appreciate it now because he is-"

"I KNOW THAT HE IS IN THE COMA! STOP REMINDING ME!" Naru snapped angrily" BUT HE MAY APPRECIATE THAT IT'S CLEAN ONCE HE WAKES UP!"

She paused, and lowered her eyes.

Rita gave another tired sigh and looked at the hospital windows.

"I too hope he wakes up soon. For everyone's sake...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lessar and New Light also visited the boy.

"I don't like this..." Lancis muttered, glancing sadly at Touma." I don't like this at all... he is too quiet..."

Lessar was by the bed, poking Touma with her finger, her eyes uncharacteristically downcast.

"Well, that checks out, he is in the coma after all" Floris sighed, hugging her brown haired sworn sister" It would be weird if he was jumping around in that state. Although, you never know with that guy"

Bayloupe took few deep breaths, calming her own emotions.

"Alright. So we have such a situation... there is no use lamenting over the past. We have to focus on making sure we can support him when he wakes up"

"And what if..."

"He will wake up, end of story. New Light, we have to complete our work at the dorm"

"But... this was our..."

"I know it was our excuse to stay here, I don't care... we have to be honest here. If our feelings towards him are such that we need an excuse like this, they were too weak in the first place!" Bayloupe stomped her foot onto the ground.

Floris and Lancis got silent, before nodding

"You are right, his happiness comes first..."

"As always, you are right..."

"I know I am, that's why I am the leade- NO! Lessar, stay!"

Lessar was in the middle of undressing, and looked ready to climb onto hospital bed.

She spoke, turned away from her sisters.

"Are you sure I can't put myself on him?"

"Lessar..."

"Or maybe sit on his face? Or stuff his face into my chest?"

"Lessar!"

"Or maybe if I will touch him in a good way..."

"LESSAR! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH Y-"

Lessar turned around, and the other three noticed her eyes.

They were filled with tears and her entire body started to shake.

"B-B-Because if I do so, h-he has t-to wake up, r-right? He always does, w-when I am a pervert! A-And he will b-be like... 'L-Lessar, w-what the h-hell are you doing?'... a-and I will j-joke... a-and w-we will l-l-laugh a-about it... a-and he w-will lecture m-me... p-please l-lecture me... y-you are right, Lancis, h-he is too quiet..."

"Oh Lessar..." Bayloupe sighed and pulled her into a hug" We are all worried you know... but denying reality altogether will not do us any good..."

"We have each other. And this will be enough to hold on until he wakes up"

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Oyafune Suama appeared in the hospital, carrying flowers, which she placed near Touma's bed. After their shared adventure, the beauty-obsessed teacher grew fond of the boy, almost to the level of Tsukuyomi Komoe. The fact that she didn't even do a perfect makeup while visiting was a sign of this distress. She promised to regularly gather any schoolwork he will miss out on, and visit regularly.

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Witch Goddess Aradia whispered quiet words of encouragement while greasing the burns with the bluish-green ointment.

"You know magic will not any good" Mut pointed out, sitting by the window and observing the room.

"It's not magical, it's natural. I am proficient with herbs and natural medicine, I will use every piece of my knowledge to bring him back to us"

Her voice was shaking slightly.

Good, Old Mary decided not to point out that Kamijou Touma's coma apparently was caused by something far more profound than solar fire in which sustained the burns. That was merely the breaking point.

Similarly to Gokusai Rikuri, and many others, Aradia had to do something, because otherwise she would just break down and cry.

The tall woman looked at Bologna Succubus, sitting on the other side of the bed.

It was uncanny how much personalities of the Transcendents who fancied Kamijou Touma inverted in this situation.

In contrast to Aradia, who was usually less prone to showcasing her feelings, and now seemed to be bursting with them, Bologna sat silently, with her wings drooped.

Instead of usual quirky, boisterous self, she was very gentle, her demon tail delicately moving along the surface of boy's arm.

"If he felt any pain, maybe I could help..." Good, Old Mary heard her say" It's unconventional... but maybe I could reverse the effects of my Cold Mistress to give him pleasure instead of pain... yet without any sensations, my magic is useless. I already saved him once, I don't want to let him slip through my fingers... not when my girl's happiness depends on that too"

Shaking of her wings was only matched by quivering of her lips.

And Mut Thebes... that loud, sassy, opinionated Mut Thebes... was simply silent and bleak.

Good Old, Mary inhaled deeply through her nose and exhaled through her mouth.

"Mama thinks that for now, there is nothing we can do" she simply stated, trying not to grit her teeth too hard" Aradia, your efforts are commendable, but-"

"H-He will wake up faster... I'm sure I can do it!" Aradia blurted out, her fingers trying to reach for another portion of the ointment.

"Don't say that there is nothing to be done..." Bologna sniffed, and raised from her seat. Her wings spread to their full width, covering almost entire distance from wall to wall" When it comes to him, there is no such thing as too much effort!"

"What about Anna and Alice? If this continues..." Mut interjected" they will return shortly. Gods know how they will react"

"Mama doesn't know all the answers!" Good, Old Mary answered sharply, before sighing" Apologies... his state worries me as much as you, but... we must think of something within our power. However trivial it might be"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko were laying on the beds in their dorm room. The light was off, and only shadows and light from the outside played tricks on the walls.

"Onee-sama... isn't it the time? I can take you to the hospital..."

Mikoto didn't respond. Her face seemed to betray deep contemplation.

Kuroko sighed, and got up.

"Well, I will be going, so please, if you want to join, make your decision quick"

Ever since they learned what happened to the boy, Mikoto was rather quiet.

Maybe she understood that becoming angry at the boy who was unconscious was pointless.

Or... maybe she decided that she didn't want to lash out at all. And maybe, just maybe, she didn't know what to with the void the earlier anger left.

So, she was quiet. And thinking.

It was actually strange for Kuroko that she was more frazzled about all of this.

But one shouldn't judge the exterior.

Whatever was happening within the self of Misaka Mikoto would send the waves throughout her world.

The grand change was occurring in front of their eyes.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sasha Kreutzev heard the noise coming from the door of her hotel room.

To her surprise, at the door was very ragged nun with blond hair and tired smile.

"Question: Where have you been?! I got into major trouble because of you... which shouldn't be a surpise by now but..."

"I got a little... lost... in a few ways I suppose..."

"Exasperation: Yes, few days passed!"

Sasha groaned, but still helped Vasilisa sit down and tidy herself up

"Disbelief: What exactly was going on in you head for causing such a commotion to begin with?"

"I... thought I knew what was best for those I cared for..." Vasilisa chuckled with tinge of sadness in the sound" But ultimately... I woke up to reality. I suppose I was a fool for not factoring that in... this is what they always did best after all..."

"Confusion: I do not fully understand..."

But before Sasha could finish, Vasilisa hugged her gently, causing the small girl's eyes to comically pop out in shock.

"Сашенька..." Vasilisa whispered gently" I owed a lot of explaining to you, and a lot of apologies to you and others, but what do you say we do something together? Something that you would like?"

"Suspicion: Is this some kind of trick to fulfill your own selfish desire?"

"No, not at all. I am quite serious, although seeing you in a cute dress would make it a finely spent afternoon..."

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At the same time, perhaps one of the most important reunions was taking place.

Two girls were sitting in front of each other in Joseph's, with hot beverages in hands. One had a frayed, purplish-black bobcut, and wore tank top in combination with a sweater. The other had a long black hair with a single flower ornament, blue-green eyes, and sported a Sakugawa middle school uniform.

"You really got kidnapped?" Itsuwa leaned forward in genuine interest" And I thought your adventure with that thing... what did you call it?"

"Level Upper" Saten answered with a smile, after taking a sip from her cup" And it's nothing special. Compared to you? You went to London and Avignone. And that time you fought with that guy... Acqua, right? Literal chills, I tell you"

"Fighting... is a very generous term" Itsuwa cringed" I was wrecked around. But thank you, you are very sweet for complimenting me"

"Are you kidding? You are so awesome! I can't believe you can drive, fly, and fight with a spear, senpai" Saten threw her hands over her head, emphasizing her amazement.

"But you are so... welcoming and forward, and you make friends like that. Not only from here, but apparently, from all of the world. You are as bright as the sun, Saten-san I am a bit envious" Itsuwa said, looking at Saten with equally appreciative look" I usually struggle to find even a bit of faith in myself, and loose some opportunities because of it. You look like a person who would seize them"

"Are you kidding me?"Saten did a double take: This is my life! Sure, I try to make the best of it, but being level 0 is not piece of cake, oh no! Compared to my friends... my abilities are just a bit underwhelming."

"My superior is my rival and has talent in so, so many areas, so I can really relate to that" Itsuwa nodded her head with serious face.

What where those two girls, from two different sides of the world, doing together?

Did you ever experience meeting someone and almost instantly feeling that metaphorical 'click', that sensation that you just understood and bonded with another person, despite not having prior interactions? That you thought that you already knew each other for years and regretted immensely that this wasn't actually the case?

Such was the case with Saten Ruiko and Itsuwa of Amakusa.

Meeting through the shared acquaintance, rather coincidentally, two girls came to like each other immensely just after half an hour of talking. Saten admired Itsuwa's resourcefulness, gentleness, and skill, while Itsuwa enjoyed Saten's optimism, hospitality, and straightforward bravery to speak up or act with her heart.

Of course, besides the common denominator of feeling like a regular girl surrounded by very powerful, irregular people, two girls were quite different. Yet, those differences also drawn them to each other, not to mention the endless well of gossip which were their adventures and Kamijou Touma himself, who was, in fact, subject of their present meeting.

"What are we waiting for agian?" Saten, who was surprised (but not in an unwelcomed way) to be summoned by her new friend, looked around.

"Not what, but a who. And... oh, she is here!"

Kankyougami Hasako, tidying her hair and slightly flushed from running, entered the restaurant.

"I am sorry for being late!

"Well, no matter. It's great that you are here! And..." Itsuwa brightened up, before tilting her head." You brought someone with you"

Bellow Beginning Child were two girls. One of them head a visible forehead, smooth, glossy black hair, and indigo skirt. Next to her was a girl with a short black hair under the white headband, looking morbidly shy.

The long haired girl bowed elegantly.

"My name is Arisa Meigo. I... well, rather my co-sharer of this body... captured this girl. She is my responsibility, her name is Sukemi Rin."

"Uiharu's cousin?" Saten exclaimed with shock" Shouldn't you be in hospital? And Arisa-san? We didn't each other for such a long time! So it's true that you really look different!"

"H-Hello Saten-san..." Rin spoke in a sweet, quiet voice" I was... but then I wanted to see what was going on with Touma... and so I went outside. I didn't for Shutatura-senpai to capture me though. I am grateful for her help"

"Well, Quen-chan is particularly good in what she does" Arisa exclaimed proudly. She pulled out a notebook" Well, after she managed to trap and subdue dark personality of Rin-chan, we switched with each other, and after that... I met Hasako-san, who was in a hurry. She told me about the meeting you had, and... forgive me, but I just got so excited that I had to try to become a part of your initiative"

"Is that so?" Itsuwa looked at Hasako" You told her what we want to do?"

"From what I saw and what I heard too, Arisa-san had incredibly endearing and precious bond with Kamijou Touma. Her presence in our endeavour will be invaluable. I can definitely recommend her as a member"

"I second that" Saten waved her arm" Arisa is so cool, it would be nice to get her back in the game!"

"Thank you, Saten-san" Arisa looked at her friend with glee" You won't regret it. Although... I need to join with Sukemi-san."

"Is that the problem?" Itsuwa inquired.

"Well, she is... the thing is... her mind is split in two. And contrary to mine, her other side can take over in an unpredictable manner. Rin-san as herself is an absolute angel..."

"I-I am sorry for posing such an inconvenince to you all" Rin blushed, bowing repeatedly." In truth, I would be honoured if you allowed me to join. I... K-Kamijou Touma is my childhood friend! I want to make things right and make him remember the times we shared, even if a little!"

"Oh my..." Hasako put a hand to her mouth" I heard about it, but it carries more weight when you say it outright..."

"Y-Yes..." Rin squeaked out, her eyes closed" J-Justice for the forgotten childhood friends! I want to be useful and be your friend"

"But... what about her other side?" Itsuwa wondered" I have heard about it... want she cause problems?"

"Oh? I am famous, am I not?

Rin spoke in a lower tone, something flashing in her eyes.

"N-No..." half of her lips mumbled" Don't mess this up for me..."

"Be silent" the other half countered.

The girl with a headband lazily flexed her fingers.

"While I would love to slash through and dissect all the hussies who still him from me, for now... I will allow myself to be a bit bored... and not cause drama. For now~"

"How can we trust you?"

Rin shook her head and spoke with her regular voice, raising her hands.

"Do you see the gloves on my hands? They have a diamond net interwoven between the fibbers. It's one of the few things she cannot cut-"

In the next moment, speech changed again.

"What the hell are you doing?" Shadow asked.

"I am trying to appear harmless" Rin said with the same lips." I show them we mean no ill will"

"We look like a biggest idiot in the city. Get them down!"

The girl put her arms down, only to raise them again...

"I do it because it's polite!" she exclaimed firmly

.., and drop them again.

"No, it's stupid!" growled Shadow's voice.

Saten couldn't help but laugh.

"Whatever is the case, you have rather amusing body"

"We hope that with therapy and medicaments, her mind will become whole again. I want to help her because my own body is governed by three entities. I can sympathize with her" Arisa explained.

Shadow side of Sukemi Rin finally growled and finished her earlier thought.

"Either way, what she said is true. For now... I am unable to cut through diamond. I agree to wear those gloves, in exchanging for letting me participate in your little group."

"What is in it for you?"

"Kamijou Touma is intriguing presence. He bested my master. Don't pee your pants, I have no intentions to harm him or torment him... if everyone behaves"

That comment aside, the others voiced their opinions.

"Well, if Hasako-san is vouching for her, I am in" Saten nodded.

"I will be personally responsible, in all three of my selves, for keeping the eye on her" Arisa put a hand on her chest" I am not leaving her alone with him"

"Hmm... very well then. But no more than this!" Itsuwa said after everyone got comfortable. She cleared her throat" You may be wondering why exactly we decided to meet. You may have a faint idea, but allow me to say it clearly: it was suggested to me, and I am agreeing very much, to create a circle focused on promoting Kamijou Touma's happiness and wellbeing, preserving it, and making him feel special through kindness, happiness, and homely, caring atmosphere. This is why we must be exhibit such traits."

"So this is basically housewife association for Kamijou Touma? Cool... although it sounded better in my head" Saten said sheepishly.

"This is why we gathered the gentlest, most positive, and patient here" Itsuwa glanced at Rin for a moment, as if unsure of her subscribing to that last part, before shaking her head and carrying on" We are here because after we all cried our share of tears, lots of them, over what happened to him recently, we decided that even if his life, as misfortunate as it may be, a difference can be made, for the better, even if it's a little. With our skills and personalities, with our devotion and affection, we can make this change! All of us!"

She looked at other girls, and pursed her lips, reddening slightly

"T-This is a little embarrassing, so I would be grateful for your assistance. Are you in?"

"Well, I won't tell you that I am able to deal with city levelling enemies, but..." Saten grinned and gave thumbs up"... I know a thing or two about having fun and spreading laughter"

"Of course I want to participate. I wished to do something like this regardless, and it is very satisfying to do so with friends" Hasako seconded the sentiment.

"I am staying not only to keep an eye on Rin-san, but because I longed to spend time and take care of Touma-kun ever since I was reborn" Arisa clapped her hands" You have my aid! I dont know about Sequenzia, but I will communicate with her about her. And if we reach an agreement, it is safe to assume that Mutsumi-san will contact with you quicker. I know she shares my sentiment, along whatever feelings Quen will have on the matter"

Itsuwa looked at Rin

"And-"

"YES!" Rin shouted, before clasping her lowering her head" P-Please, I will be honoured..."

"And... shadow-san?"

"I fucking hate that nickname!" the small lips of Rin snarled out the sentence" But since I have yet to think of one myself... I want to observe and participate in closeness with Kamijou Touma."

"Okay then, be sure however, that we will be watching you closely" Itsuwa put her hand onto the table" Do you swear that you will work towards betterment of Kamijou Touma's mental and physical state worsened by his ill fate, help him in sickness and health, in good and bad days, that you will aid him gain the sense of normalcy that he longs for that, you will do your best to make good memories with him, to make him feel special, wanted, and happy to be alive, to make sure he feels valued for enormous sacrifices he undertook, to cherish your own affections and turn them into a tool of changing your own lives, together, into something better, to support others present here in that endeavour, to respect wishes of one another and above all, Kamijou Touma, to balance your own desires with his dreams, in short, to make his life happier?"

Itsuwa was completely red when she finished the oath she thought of herself, but her voice didn't lose firmness.

"I, Itsuwa of Amakusa, swear to that"

She was followed by other girls, each putting her hand on top of Itsuwa's.

"I, Saten Ruiko, swear to that"

"I, Kankyougami Hasako, swear to that"

"I, Meigo Arisa, swear to that"

When Rin shyly mumbled her promise, Itsuwa managed to get a very annoyed 'mhm' from Shadow, and Arisa promised to get in contact with Shutaura and Mitsumi, Itsuwa smiled and bowed her head.

"Then it's official, we are starting off! I cannot wait for our shared effort!"

And so, the group of girls wanting to preserve Touma's wellbeing through homely kindness was born.

Before each of them went their way, there was a lengthy discussion on the group's name. For Itsuwa and Hasako it wasn't all that important, but Saten was vehement and said that adjourning first meeting without group name would bring bad luck.

After first attempts to make an acronym referring to the group's mission felt awkward, they tried to make it from the names of surnames of the members

"Arisa, Hasako, Itsuwa, Rin, Ruiko... A.H.I.R.R?"

"No, that doesn't mean anything..."

"Maybe instead of names, let's see with surnames... K.M.I.S.S... no, that's not it too" Hasako mused on" Kankyougami, Meigo, Sukemi, Saten... by the way, Itsuwa-san, Itsuwa is a given name, right? What even is your family name?"

Itsuwa opened her lips, but whatever she said was drawn out by sound of broken plates as Sukemi Rin started to battle her own body, over Shadow's annoyance for Rin not picking something of her liking for the group name. And after the commotion, the conversation moved along.

After few more efforts ( A.H.I.S.S - rejected. Sounds like a sneeze, according to Itsuwa; S.I.M.H.S - rejected. Funny but too much of a mouthful, according to Saten; K.A.S.S.I - rejected. Close, but there is something missing, according to Hasako), Arisa Meigo snapped her fingers.

"What about... A.K.I.S.S... or K.I.S.S, for short?"

Other girls blinked, the idea hitting them.

"That's... very nice" Itsuwa admitted.

"Very cute too... lovely even" Hasako added

"It carries the sentiment of the nature of what we want to do" Saten spoke, before she realized the implication" I-I mean, not that we just want to kiss him... I-I meant that we work with our hearts here!"

"I-It's nice.. b-but..." Rin pointed out" Arisa-san would be excluded if it will be just K.I.S.S"

"Well, the 'A' can be silent." Arisa waved her hand" I am more than satisfied with the fact that I came up with that. And there is always K.I.S.S.A, as an alternative"

"Which means... oh, it means 'cat', in Finnish." Saten, as always, as the first to discover strange trivia" Maybe we should invest in cat ears"

Ultimately, the quintet of girls made the name of their Kamijou Touma-supporting organization A.K.I.S.S, with silent 'A' (thus, alternatively written just K.I.S.S), and after promising to stay in touch, went their ways, with plans to wait for Kamijou Touma to awaken.

Sitting in the next booth, the redehead girl that was once known as Veritas clenched her fists.

"Uuugh... I couldn't bring myself to muster courage to speak with them... I also want to make a difference for Kamijou Touma... but how?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After a week, Kamijou Touma was moved. The treatment that was planned for him was very special indeed, and was suggested for someone even more characteristic.

Accelerator (leaving his cell for a few hours for this very occasion), Aleister Crowley, Mina Mathers, Lilith Crowley, and Heaven Canceller were standing in the big room with a tube filled with golden liquid.

Kamijou Touma was floated naked, upside down, in the midst of the fluid, yet still able to breathe.

The woman with blond hair touched the column and looked at the

"Would you look at that... the roles changed, so it seems... he really is in a coma... the inexperienced would choke while floating upside down like this... I should know the best..."

"I appreciate your suggestion, Aleister" Heaven Canceller spoke, checking parameters on the monitor" Your old system is indeed the best method for keeping him in conditions that are fit for bodily reconstruction. And thanks to the chemistry efforts of Gokusai-san and Yakumaru-san, we may achieve said recovery with rather good timing"

"Is there anything we can do?" Mina asked the doctor

"Not at the moment. If there is something, I will notify you"

Aleister looked at Accelerator

"Look at you" he teased" Breaking your own rules for him. It is high time you admitted that you care"

"I only wanted to made sure that-"

"That he is well and cared for? Awww..."

"Oh, fuck off! I am out of here!"

"Aren't you worried? I for one thing was a bit concerned... since I feel rather responsible for his suffering"

Accelerator looked behind his shoulder.

"Concerned for hero? Nah, I am not"

"Why such confidence?" Mina inquired." Is it because you believe in his willpower? Stamina? Endurance?"

"What? No! I am not that shallow, and neither am I sentimental enough to link my faith to such weak concepts. No, I believe in reality. The harsh, genuine, shitty reality we call home. And I just know that in reality, death is more often than not a release from suffering. So if his right hand throws as much dirt at his life as it can, he will live, simply because this way he will suffer more"

"How heart-warming."

"Tch, it's the truth though." Accelerator nodded slightly toward Heaven Canceller" I will be checking the progress. We are going back"

Mina nodded and left the room.

"You two are working on something together lately. Any spoilers about what you are up to?" Aleister asked.

"That's not really your concern. After all, you left me with that position, which I can handle with my own strength" Accelerator answered curtly, and also exited through the door.

Aleister and Heaven Canceller looked at floating Touma.

"I wonder what he dreams about" Aleister finally said, as both he and his friend turned around, ready to leave

"I am not certain he does at all. Not every patient in the coma does dream, even if there are raports about it" the frog faced doctor replied.

"Oh, I am sure he does. After all, he is Hadit, the center point of everything, and his Nuit, the starry sky of space, forms for the connections he made to others. Dream, Kamijou Touma, about what is to come and the bonds that await for your return. Dream of the world you need to reach... the world that you will truly find yourself"

And so, left alone in the room filled with shadow and sun, the lonely boy, in the column filled with gold liquid, drifted unresponsively, healing painstakingly from wounds that reached far deeper than his burned flesh...

And in the depths of his heart of hearts, he dreamed the longest dream of his life.

(TO BE CONTINUED...)

And so we reach the conclusion of Vasilisa's Arc, and leave Touma in rather difficult situation. As was pointed out, the coma is result of not only physical damage, but also mental exhaustion? When will Touma wake up? What others will do to help if he does? And so many questions for the future...

This is another turning point for the story. In this chapter, we dealt with Vasilisa, her struggles, and misguided vendetta against Imagine Breaker, will repressed and twisted her emotions of grief and loss.

The fight was interesting to write. I took deep inspiration from the proper Vasilisa's fairy tale, with Baba Yaga with mortal and pestle, Vasilisa's doll, as well as Three Riders hailing from there. There is also one more spell (remember that Index said that Three Riders Invocation is the second most dangerous spell in Vasilisa's arsenal?) connected with the Tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful, but it will have to wait for the future chapters.

Of course, this entire arc was first and foremost a love tragedy of Vasilisa the Beautiful and Saint Eike Sündelige. The tale of change, or lack of it, of romance, of sacrifice, reality of life, letting go, devotion, and passion, which is often discovered when it is too late. I wanted to portray Vasilisa as cunning but torn, powerful but empathetic, jaded but somewhat hopeful. She is irritated that Touma opposed her, but she also views him as the continuation of her lover's destiny. Neither Touma nor Vasilisa wanted to go all out or kill each other in that fight. Three Riders were the accident which Vasilisa actually regretted, Kaibi even more so.

It also served as focus on Eike himself. Ataxia, despite her introduction in this arc, will still receive her own focus, similar to Eike's, somewhere down the line, just like already mentioned Dragon Queen.

It is also of symbolic value that Eike and Vasilisa, not able to bear children themselves, independently, through Imagine Breaker and Annihilatus, respectively, brought into their broken family Touma and Sasha, thinking about them as non-blood related son and daughter. In some alternative universe, they would make rather cute pretend family.

We have many interjection scenes. Mugino having reconciliation with Takitsubo, which I feel is rather missing from main series. Mugino and Takitsubo should talk more after OT! Before Battle Royale, they were in touch, but only when Mugino needed something. Also, it is I think nice sentiment to think that Takitsubo trusts and likes Touma, being that one reality check girl who will never be in love with him, but is still on his side as a good friend. We will go back to Mugino in a bit.

We have Saronia and Hasako. Saronia is a real wild card of recent events, and her character progression is dynamic in the sense of being unpredictable. Nevertheless, I want her to learn to integrate with others the hard way, and to earn the broken trust back. I think that if someone like Othinus, who inflicted unimaginable pain on Touma, is not only forgiven, but also has a chance to become Touma's lover, why would it be wrong for Hasako, who adores and is inspired by Touma's example, to be someone similar for Saronia, and save her in the end of the long, long road to redemption?

We also experience the stormy and turbulent, but very much needed clash between the tensions of love triangle (with no Touma present) of Mikoto and Kuroko. Something like this, in my personal opinion, would benefit their relations, because they need to address the potential toxicity, dismissal, and overall (partial) dishonesty from both parties, stemming from either personal inability to express it (Mikoto) or from choosing wrong form of expression (Kuroko). Also, we made a leap towards Kamikuro, which I don't regret in the slightest.

I wanted to write Kongou and Kaibi dynamic for a long time, and I am glad that it happened. I love both of them (if my fic wasn't dedicated to Kaibi and her sisters, it would most definitely have Kongou as main heroine, and this bias probably shows at places) and thought of dramatic vs pragmatic dynamic was too hilarious to pass.

Kaibi is very multifaceted in this chapter in a sense that she is rather flawed, while also (I hope so) being very valuable. She manages to somewhat counter Vasilisa's influence, but makes a mistake while using her ability, and partially blames herself for Touma burning himself to protect them. Partially, because as Touma himself said, this would probably still happened, the spell being to grand for Touma to fully shield himself from it, even if he didn't use his body to guard Kongou and Kaibi. I thought there needed to be something to be added to emphasize that even at this point of character growth, mistakes happen. What I love about her that her character is empathetic but very relentless, and she will take this experience to help Touma after they reunite again. I love Kaibi in all honesty, she is such an intriguing and beautiful character, inside and out.

Ladylee Tangleroad is apparently one of the more liked characters from setting I thought of. Well, I cannot disagree with those opinions. There is something so captivating about that woman, with amazing potential for depth and wisdom in her thoughts and motivations, with her still retaining humour due to her young looks and sassy wit. We also see that she has a bit of a bonding moment with Vasilisa, as the latter, although not fully immortal, can sympathize with Ladylee well. People pointed out that Ladylee is not seen in the Future Phase yet What does it mean will be revealed eventually, but even now, I want Ladylee's character arc to be something that I took great care in.

After Touma goes into the coma, we have entire parade of characters and their reactions. Let's talk about some of them:

Gokusai sisters and Oriana Thomson: We have three different styles of coping from three sisters (throwing oneself into action, internalizing, and overworking), guilt of Kaibi, and Oriana hanging around. Touma and Oriana's relationship will also be definetely expanded upon before series ends.

Helcalia's determination to help Touma and become an esper. I actually have a concept and range of capabilities of her ability, and actually, I am very hyped! I don't know how much am I succeeding in writing Helcalia, but she is a character I have high hopes for. Here, I mirrored her devotion and ambition with Index's, which is intentional because they have same design model, and in this story, they will both try to reach higher in science and magic, specifically. Both Helcalia and mentioned Patricia Birdway will have a role to play really soon. So if you want some fan-made Helcalia relevancy, I am your writer.

Nephthys and Niang-Niang's characters are still continue to evolve, with Touma's hurt allows them for some reflection. Nephthys in particular realizes the shift in her relationship with Touma and bond with Othinus. Both of them, and naming magic of Nephthys, will rise to prominence even more.

We have ITEM and Mugino, with the latter trying to cope (and being very new to the feeling) with Touma being severely hurt and in a coma. Mugino is such an interesting character to write when it comes to emotionality, she is very intense and prone to anger, but she is not downright furious at everything, she has a lot of inner sadness, and guilt, which just beggs to be explored, and utilized in both slice of life and romance.

We have Lessar and Aradia trying to wake Touma up in desperation, Bayloupe and Good, Old Mary being the voices of reason, Mut and Floris questioning the state of affairs, and Bologna being deeply bothered and wanting to take action with Lancis. Those parallels were not intentional, but it surely deepen the messages of one another.

We also have Fukiyose (another character with very dynamic character progression) Himegami (will get her moment before the end) and even Oyafune (who I think is a great person for cameos. She can be fun, and there is so little about her!)

Hasako and Maidono do one of the things they do best, and play the dynamic of similar oppositions. They both are scared, and they both try to devise strategies to deal with it. Dialogue about fate and faith in their shared dream is one of my favourite conversations between those two.

And of course, the very important inclusion of the Kamijou Faction Housewife Group, A.K.I.S.S, with silent 'A'. Keep your eye on that group, because after the next, special chapter, some of the major events will revolve around those gentle girls. I dreamed about said idea ever since I progressed the characters enough, with each girl contributing something to the picture, even Rin. Veritas is also out and about, we shall see what is in store for her.

Kongou, Wannai, and Awatsuki have one more extension into their stories with Touma. I hope that you don't mind it, I just love each of those girls so much that I wanted to have each take a spotlight for even a short while. I want Kongou to have a fanfic with big, well-executed, patiently planned character arc, ranging from motivation through dreams to romance. But I also want to make sure Wannai and Awatsuki, who are rarely explored as characters, have their fair share of characteristics showed, and new stories with Touma told. Their involvement is important and not only for themselves. It is the daughter of Wannai in FP who chronicles her father's life, and Awatsuki's son is one of the more powerful offsprings of Kamijou Touma.

Well, the very, very last thing. I promised some announcement when it comes to future direction.

Next chapter, as I said, will be Special Chapter for 2 years of the work (its publication delayed because of various duties I had), split between FP and present, with some things I really wanted to show you.

This would be it, for now. I thank you sincerely, those who made it all the way down. I hope to give you a Halloween present in the form of next chapter. I cannot guarantee it. But I truly hope that it will be the case. See you later!