Sisterly Bonds

Somewhere in Britain

A twelve year old girl with blonde hair was walking to her fridge at about 11 PM. Her name was Leivinia Birdway and she was the boss of a feared magic cabal known as the Dawn-Coloured Sunlight. Due to a certain set of events, she had ended up fighting a battle in Academy City during the Ichihanaransai to undermine the plans of a dangerous organization known as GREMLIN. She had been tracking them down and attacking their plans ever since the end of World War III.

However, the events in Academy City had led to a lull since one of her temporary allies, Ollerus, had infiltrated the organization to find out the location of their base, which for now was just denoted as Sargasso. As such, she had some time to kill until Sargasso was located. The place she ended up going to was home with her little sister, Patricia.

Ever since the event, which could be dubbed the "Kotatsu Summit" at the Kamijou Residence, a few distracting remarks and comments had led her to decide to drink more milk. Perhaps it was the off-hand remark of that half-asleep delinquent, "If you drink milk, your tits will get bigger." It could have been the comment from that blonde ten year old brat who claimed to be wearing a bra. Perhaps it was a combination of both.

Whatever the reason was, she made the firm decision to start drinking milk more regularly. All in all, the night was pretty eventless…far too eventless. As a matter of fact, it had been quite a few hours since she had last heard even a peep from Patricia. So, she did the only logical thing: check on Patricia.

She opened the door to Patricia's room and found…almost nothing out of the ordinary. The room was devoid of the girl, herself, but there was no sign of a struggle or break-in. She frantically searched the remainder of the apartment only to find that it was devoid of the little sister as well. As such, Leivinia could only conclude that Patricia had left on her own. She started a process of elimination to figure out where Patricia could have gone.

At that moment, the face of a certain priest flashed in her mind. At that moment, she picked up a phone and called a certain number.

"Mark. We're going to the headquarters of Necessarius. NOW."

Kamijou Residence

Despite the fact that only a couple of days had passed since a major battle between "heroes" in the Dark Side of Academy City, morning began as usual. Kamijou Touma had finally grown used to sleeping in the bathtub. Perhaps this was a bad sign. However, bad omens and misfortune were normal and frequent in the life of Kamijou Touma. So, Kamijou Touma removed his blanket and gotten out of his bathtub as usual.

As he looked into the mirror over the sink, he realized how silent the dorm room next door had become now that his friend Tsuchimikado was dead. However, it didn't feel real to him. Perhaps it was the fact that he had, for the first time, experienced the death of somebody close to him that made him feel this way. Perhaps it was the fact that the man counted amongst the dead made his name as a back-stabber. Part of him was hoping that Tsuchimikado had merely faked his death to escape the dark side of Academy City and was lying in wait at St. George's Cathedral. As he went about his morning business, thoughts like this crossed his head.

However, as soon as he opened the door to the bathroom and entered the living area of his dorm room, all of these thoughts vanished. In front of him was a view of a scene slightly altered from normal. Lying on the right half bed, curled up with her back facing the wall adjacent to the bed was a girl with silvery-white hair wearing a male's t-shirt. She was Index, his resident freeloader and keeper of over one hundred thousand grimoires. This, however, was normal.

The abnormal sight was the girl lying on the left side of his bed. She had short blonde hair, a blue track-suit, white vest, spandex slacks, and a pair of headphones which hung around her neck. However, what stood out to Touma was that she had a face which was eerily similar to that of a girl who he had punched in the face only a few days prior.

Touma stared at the scene for a few seconds and took a deep breath. He realized that no matter what, some form of "punishment" from Index was inevitable. However, he had learned to be calm after running through the battlefields of Russia, Hawaii, and Baggage City. Instead of screaming, "Kyaaah! A STRANGER!" or something of that sort, he went to the kitchen and began to prepare food for breakfast. After all, the only way to reach an angry, freeloading nun is through her stomach.

Birdway's Apartment

The front door to the car slammed shut as Birdway planted herself onto the passenger seat next to the subordinate who was seen with her most, Mark Space.

"That was fast, Mark. Did you fear punishment that much?"

"Now isn't the time for that, Boss," the blonde subordinate said. Since Mark still felt the mental scars from the punishment he received after the Blue Research incident, he really wanted to avoid talk of "punishment". "If Miss Patricia is missing, then why are we heading to Necessarius headquarters?"

"She left on her own. Chances are that she headed for Necessarius to find that red-haired priest. She does seem to have a crush on him, after all."

"Do you really think she would sneak off simply for a rendezvous with a person she has met only once?" Mark was worried about Patricia. She was, in many ways, the opposite of his boss. She was always kind and friendly to him and whenever she was around, his boss was much less harsh towards him. As much as he wanted Patricia back, he wanted to avoid an unnecessary confrontation with Necessarius.

"MaAAaAaAAAaaARK~" It almost seemed like a demonic cry…or perhaps angel-speak.

"FlOOOoooOOoOoR IiiiIIiiIIt. NoOOOooOoOOOooOOW." She continued to grumble as she started pulling out her symbolic weapon. Mark was unsure what she was thinking. However, he did know that he did NOT want to cross an angry Leivinia.

At that moment, the car began to accelerate off into the distance.

Kamijou Residence

"Fortune favors the bold." Kamijou honestly wanted to find the person who said that and give him a piece of his mind or at least break that guy's illusions.

He had decided to be bold and make something appetizing for Index out of beef and fish. Unfortunately, Fate had other plans for him. As it turned out, his fridge was lacking in both beef and fish. All he really had left were leftovers and some rice. So, in the end, he decided to be bold enough to make something out of what was left in the fridge.

End Result? It was something. Kamijou had put in a decent amount of effort and crafted something that looked appetizing. However, being experienced as he was in dealing with Index, he knew that it would not be enough to alleviate Index's anger when she woke up.

Soon after he put down the three servings of whatever he cooked up, the sound of someone jumping up in bed resounded throughout the room.

"FOOD!" The nun shouted waking all in the room who were still asleep.

"Five more minutes. The jetlag is still killing me." The blonde girl on the edge of the bed murmured as she sat up. It was at that moment that Index noticed that there was a girl sleeping in the bed with her. At that moment, the silver-haired nun crawled around the sleepy blonde that was sitting in front of her and got off the bed. Her body began exuding a menacing aura which only Kamijou could detect.

"TOOOOUUUMAAAAAA…"

"Index…-san…?"

"Who is that girl in the bed?" For some reason, her hair seemed to be flying around as if they were the snakes in Medusa's hair.

That's clearly not natural. There's no way that's natural. Touma continued to deny what he thought to be the illusion right in front of him. "But, I don't know who she is. Besides, look, Index-san…I made food."

"I see the third bowl, Touma. Is that for your new friend?" Index growled while opening her mouth wide.

"Um…you see Index-san…There is a perfectly logical explanation for that…You se—" His voice suddenly stopped when the nun suddenly disappeared. SHUNDOU!? Index learned how to do Shundou!? Suddenly, he felt the sensation of something digging into his scalp. He remained calm for a second before he let out a scream in pain.

"FUKOU DAAAAAAAA!"

Sargasso-Tokyo Bay

Othinus was bored. They had all of the necessary components to synthesize Gungnir. However, Marian was busy preparing to start the construction and Bersi was busy putting together the supercomputer they needed to force that which was once feared as Academy City's Number 2, Dark Matter, to spit out a holistic ESPer. The only other people nearby were Freyja, who was kinda creepy and was not the best person to talk to, and Thor, who was sitting and staring into the sky and who, unbeknownst to her, was really Ollerus in disguise.

Boredom and awkward silence. Two of mankind's greatest enemies were staring at her unhesitatingly and unabashedly. So, she stared into the empty boring space for some time. Maybe I could strip all of a sudden to startle everyone and see their reactions…

She thought for a second and touched her clothing. No…I'm wearing almost nothing as is. Showing off a little more won't elicit the proper reaction.

Suddenly, she felt this weird sensation of pain emanating from underneath her hat. It felt like something was biting her head. So, she took of the hat and groped around her scalp only to find nothing.

"Is something wrong, Othinus?" Thor looked towards the Magic God who seemed to be grimacing due to pain.

"I think the pain of some unlucky bastard is resounding off onto me thanks to my infinite possibilities…"

"That's ridiculous. That's too ridiculous to be caused by infinite possibilities."

"That's the curse of infinite possibilities."

"I still think that's bul—"

Othinus walked up to Thor/Ollerus and looked straight into his eyes. "INFINITE. POSSIBILITIES."

Thollerus could see a black aura that seemed to be screaming "Don't question me!" emanating from the Magic God with a deadpan expression. "Yes. Infinite possibilities."

Kamijou Residence

Three people sat on cushions around a small wooden table. One was Index who had changed into her nun's habit and was devouring the food in her plate like some ravenous animal. The second was Touma who rubbing the places on his head where Index had left marks. The third was Patricia Birdway who had finally snapped out of her jetlag thanks to the commotion Index caused.

"Well, I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Patricia Birdway. I'm sure you have met my older sister before."

"Birdway…older sister…you mean Leivinia Birdway is your older sister…?"

"That's right! So you really do know sis." Patricia smiled. She emanated a warm radiance as she did so.

"It's almost hard to believe you two are related." Leivinia held the tentative position of Number 3 in the Super Sadist World Rankings. Despite the fact that these two girls had the same face, the fact that these two girls were polar opposites drew away from that resemblance far too easily.

"TOUMA! SECONDS!" Index held out her plate while chewing at the food that was already in her mouth.

"Yes. Yes." He picked up Index's plate and put another plate-full of whatever their breakfast was onto it. "So, I take it you live in Britain like she does. Why would you come all the way here to Academy City…? Actually…what's with that quizzical expression?"

"Your voice…I know I have heard it before…" She pondered while staring at the boy. "Weren't you the other person on the phone with Mark asking what sis really dislikes earlier this month?"

"Panties with a large rabbit on them or anything spicy?" For some reason, that reply just stuck to Kamijou's brain to the point where he ended up blurting it out despite the fact that Index was within biting distance. Touma's face paled as he quickly turned his head to Index who seemed to be too engrossed in her breakfast to even pay attention to that remark.

"So, it was you!" Patricia's face began to glow in excitement until she heard the sound of a plate slamming down onto the table.

"Tch. Another one." Index gave a small growl before looking at her 'guardian'. "TOUMAAAAAAA. GET TO THE POINT."

At that moment, the recent memory of a nun clamping her teeth onto his forehead came back to Touma before he acquiesced to her demands. "So, Birdway-san—"

"Jou cab call mbe Mat—" She stopped talking and swallowed the food that was in her mouth. "Ahh…You can just call me Patricia."

"Okay, Patricia. What brings you all the way to Academy City from Britain?"

"Well, you see…My sister had mentioned you a couple of times before last September but she came back home a couple of days ago…and mentioned you a lot and well…I decided to find out more about the guy my little sister was fixated on. I snuck into her computer database, found your information, and bought a ticket to Academy City in secret."

"Wait…you said fixated?"

"Eh-heh. It's more like I keep hearing a lot of emphasis on you whenever she mentions you. She's a lot more moody when she mentions you as well. Pouting, averting eye contact, and such."

Index, who was eating her fourth bowl of food grimaced after hearing those words. "Tch…and another one."

"..and in secret…?"

"Well, I am pretty sure that my sister would try to stop me if she found out."

Touma began shuddering out of fear. This was not because of the bright and shiny young girl sitting before him but because of the image of her angry older sister approaching suddenly forming in his head.

However, Touma really had little time to worry about that. He sighed as he got up and put on the coat of his school uniform. "I cannot really stick with you guys right now. If I miss any more days of school…well, my attendance record has yet to plummet and I want to avoid that."

"Tou—"

"Index, I left food in the fridge for you and Patricia. Please do not try to trouble our guest." That was the last thing the girls heard before the door shut behind Touma.

A few minutes of awkward silence passed as Patricia watched Index play with the young Calico cat before Patricia decided to break a question. "Do you want to follow him?"

Index, who was lying on the floor and holding Sphynx in the air looked towards Patricia and let the edges of her mouth melt into a wide smile.

St. George's Cathedral—Lambeth, London

The night sky had left the main hall of worship in the cathedral completely black with the exception of a few candle lights. Sitting close to the front of the pews was a red-haired young man in a priest's clothing with a barcode on his cheek—Stiyl Magnus.

He had just finished giving a report to the [irritating] Archbishop on an assignment he had been sent out to do recently in Lithuania where a magic cabal had…the details are not that important. Long story shortened: a magic cabal was doing something the Church did not like and so Stiyl was sent out to do what he does best—burn them with extreme prejudice.

As such, he was just sitting and staring at the front of the prayer hall. Giving a verbal report was annoying enough of a process but he had to talk with the Archbishop and that type of combined experience was enough to irritate him to almost to a tipping point. So, he wondered. Should I pray to God for a good punching bag to show up?

It was at that moment that, with perfect timing, the door to the prayer hall of the cathedral was slammed open. "aebdsYOUszdng. ndsfbPRIESTsfrue. ndsifuPATRICIAsndfs. aksnfaWHEREnksfn. ksfnsRETURNofpds!" The angry blonde girl dressed in white and black standing where the doors used to be screamed in an almost familiar, yet incomprehensible tongue.

The quivering suited man standing nervously at a meter behind her said, "Um…Miss Birdway…you're losing your grip…"

The girl shook her head, averted her eyes, and put her palm over her eyes. "Right. Thanks, Mark." She looked back to Stiyl. "Look, Patricia suddenly disappeared and you are the only person who I can think of to whom she would go in secret. So just bring her to me and nobody gets hurt."

Stiyl was going to try and correct her at first. Under normal circumstances, he would probably try to reason with her about the fact that Patricia was not there. However, the timing was too perfect. He needed to vent his anger and the leader of one of Britain's largest cabals had just suddenly shown up at his (or more accurately, the Archbishop's) doorstep. As such, he decided to throw reason out of the window and started pulling out a rune card. "Just try to come and get her, little girl."

"That's your answer, then?" At some point, her symbolic weapon showed up in her hand and transformed into a cup. A wall of water had also formed around her at some point. "You will definitely regret making that choice."

Stiyl smiled with an expression of bloodlust forming on his face before mercilessly swing his flame sword at her.

The Streets of District Seven

After about a month of it, Index had become an expert at sneaking to Touma's school. This meant that she knew the routes to avoid, which routes were quickest, and which routes Touma would take. It was at these types of moments that photographic memory combined with some simple logic would pay off. Since Touma was running late, he would invariably take the path that would get him to school the fastest. As such, Index decided that the best route to take would be the more scenic route through the park that does not cross paths with Touma's aside from its endpoints and would still be a short walk. That was Index's sound, yet utterly roundabout logic.

Meanwhile, Patricia was watching the sights and scenery she never got a chance to see properly when she was last in the city such as the security and cleaning robots and the old vending machines with odd juices in the parks. "Are you certain that you are going the right way?"

Index turned around and gave a stern stare to Patricia. "Does this look like the face of someone who is uncertain?" She then gave a wide grin while puffing out her chest. "I have done this multiple times. I am absolutely CERTAIN that we are going the right way."

"Myaaa~" The kitten sitting on Index's head continued to yawn while clinging to its bed only to be interrupted by a loud ring.

Patricia picked up her ringing phone from her vest pocket to notice that she had received a message from Mark.

From: Mark Space

To: Patricia Birdway

Sub: Please come back quickly

Body: Miss Patricia, please come home before Miss Birdway does something crazy like causing property damage…or damaging me…

Patricia stared at the message while following Index. She merely texted a short message back before closing her phone and continuing to follow.

The Same Streets of District Seven

The life of a Level Five was actually quite mundane for Misaka Mikoto. Despite the fact that she was one of the most powerful individuals in the city, her daily life consisted of going to school, zapping some delinquents hitting on her every so often, chasing after that idiot who she never referred to by name, and the occasional out-of-place incident. It was a typical middle school girl's life.

Therefore, Mikoto relished any chance to break out of that status quo. When the opportunity presented itself, she would grab it. As she was dawdling around before classes started, she noticed a familiar nun with a cat on her head and an oddly familiar blonde stranger following her.

"That's…odd. Why is she…?" She muttered. Seeing that nun was a rarity for her and even more rare was the fact that she was not with that idiot at the moment.

Maybe she's heading to that idiot's school…I'm sure that would be trespassing. I should follow just to make sure that does not happen. After deluding herself with multiple excuses, including the fact that she could get away with cutting class due to her grades and her Level 5 standing, she decided to follow that nun out of both sheer curiosity and a hope of running into her knightly idiot in a shining armor of sparkles.

St. George's Cathedral—Underground Labyrinth

He did not understand how things ended up the way they did at this point. Stiyl ran through an all too familiar labyrinth. He remembered being on the offensive only a few minutes back before being cornered and retreating to the underground labyrinth to lure her in, apparently leaving her subordinate behind at the entrance to the cathedral. At the moment, a wall of fire his pursuer had created with her symbolic weapon was chasing him.

Stiyl responded in turn by waving his flame sword behind him to slash at the flames, which was enough to dissipate the flames of the pursuing wall.

As the flames dissipated, he caught a glimpse the blonde pursuer in black and white following with a sadistic smile engraved onto her countenance.

The symbolic weapon on her hand shifted to a cup at some point and a wall of water was swirling around her as she ran. As she ran, the swirling water rose up into the air until it hit a certain height and formed a canopy above the head of the running girl.

Stiyl, having seen something in front of her decided to spread rune cards around the wall of the labyrinth. Flames began to converge right behind him.

The canopy of water produced water daggers that flew in every direction as she ran.

"INNOCENTIUS!" A three-meter tall humanoid of flame bearing a large cross covered the area right before Stiyl and held its ground, leading the knives of water to boil at contact but allowing a few to enter through the gaps.

I see…using the high temperatures of Innocentius to block my path. However…

The girl's symbolic weapon shifted into a sword. Her smile widened even further as she jumped in the air in front of Innocentius and lifted her blade. "THIS LEVEL OF MAGIC IS NOT ENOUGH TO STOP ME FROM CATCHING YOU, PRIEEEEEEEEEST!"

Following her bellow, she forcefully swung her blade down allowing a blade of wind to swiftly cut across Innocentius while using the torque from her slash to keep a fixed distance from Innocentius. Even while the fiery humanoid remained undamaged, the blade cut through the walls and ground of the labyrinth.

However, amidst the sounds of sizzling flames and walls being sliced, Birdway could not perceive, in any form, the sensation of human flesh being cut. The flames in front of her did not cease in any form. "Dammit…he escaped my range for that attack."

She landed six meters away from the roaring flames. Her weapon shifted back to its form as a wand as she pointed it at Innocentius. In that instant, a dome-shaped explosion engulfed Innocentius and the runes that were used to support it. As plumes of smoke from the explosion filled the passageway, Birdway began to charge forward once again.

However, not a few meters from where Stiyl set up Innocentius was a fork in the road such that both paths were perpendicular to the one she was on. I see. He was trying to use the flames of Innocentius as a shield to escape, hide his escape route, keep me trapped in this labyrinth, and call for back-up when he was out of my range. He never needed to be on the offensive at all. That was a good call on his part.

Birdway stopped facing the wall at the entrance to the fork and shifted her symbolic weapon again. "Flames are only so limited in their capabilities."

Immediately she swung her weapon towards one direction and arced it towards the opposite corridor to swing the weapon towards it. On either side of her, a steel blade was knocked up out of the ground and started rotating into each corridor. "EVEN INNOCENTIUS CANNOT STOP OR MELT A ROTATING HIGH-SPEED STEEL BLADE!"

"However, I can." The voice of a single woman echoed in the corridors of the labyrinth as the steel blades were stopped dead in their tracks midair. Upon closer inspection, however, they were being held in place by seven thin and durable steel wires that intertwined and surrounded Birdway. "Nanasen. You should remember this technique, Leivinia Birdway of the Dawn-Colored Sunlight."

"Ahh…you're…that giant-chested monster Saint…"

"It's great to see that you're still the same kid from before." She began to feel a tinge of irritation as she remembered who she was facing. "Stiyl! Let's take her out immediately."

The sound of a flame sword quickly approaching Birdway from the left corridor was all Kanzaki needed to signal the start of the onslaught.

The Saint simply brought the steel wires inwards towards Birdway while throwing the steel blades back at their original user.

I guess the only way to counter a monster is with another monster. The sadistic twelve-year old smiled as she readied a combo from The Fool to The World.

Thus, the clash between monsters began in that confined labyrinth corridor.

Sargasso-Tokyo Bay

Ollerus, disguised as Thor, was lying back on the wreck of a passenger ship while staring into the sky. He was supposed to be ascertaining the location of Sargasso and was attempting to use celestial bodies to do so. However, he also had to keep an eye on the mildly bored Othinus in order to make sure he was not looking too out of place. Despite that, Ollerus looked to where Othinus was only to notice that she was missing.

Subsequently, the failed Magic God spring up to scan the surrounding area for the real Magic God. In fact, the area within about thirty meters from him seemed to be completely devoid of people. Ollerus started moving forward a bit and ran into Marian who seemed to be in a panic.

"Thor! Help me stop her. Othinus has gotten bored and is usi—"

In that moment, a blonde girl with an eyepatch in skimpy clothing zoomed behind them on what looked to be an electrically powered two-wheeled vehicle while…laughing…

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…"

"You might want to explain, Marian." Ollerus said, stunned by the bizarre sight he had just seen.

"Well, you know how Bersi had brought stuff with him for his multiple possible revenge schemes, right? Apparently, one of the things he brought with him from Academy City was one of those 'seg-ways.'"

Ollerus could not help but wonder what role an awkward vehicle like a Segway would play in any revenge scheme. Was it meant to baffle the target into a state of confusion? Would the sight of him on a Segway make his target break down in laughter to the point where she could not move? Was he planning to beat his target over her head with its platform? As these questions ran through Ollerus's mind, he just decided to ask one simple question. "What?"

"Believe me, I was probably thinking the same thing as you but Bersi was always secretive about his revenge plans. I asked on numerous occasions."

"I…see…?" Ollerus rubbed his temples to fight off the headache that was coming to him as a result of this discussion. "…and Othinus?"

"Sometime before the Baggage City experiment, she found the Segway and started riding on it, enjoyed it, named it Sleipnir…and wrecked it—"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…" Othinus passed by laughing on her Segway once again.

"So, she got Bersi to fix it and started to use it again. So far, she was able to use it in secret with only me finding out about it. But, it seems like she's gotten bored and reckless enough that everyone now knows about it.

"Anyway, we have to stop her before Sleipnir breaks down and she has to disturb Bersi and his development of the parallel processor again!"

One more time, Othinus passed by. However, Sleipnir hit a piece of debris sticking out of the floor causing it to tilt and force Othinus flying off it while it skidded, fell, and (probably for good measure) caught fire.

As Othinus landed a few meters away, she looked to her now burning toy and muttered. "Stupid infinite possibilities."

"Dammit…she is going to disturb Bersi again…"

Ollerus stared at the still surreal scene and started questioning his sanity. And this is supposed to be the person who we fear will distort the world beyond recognition…

A Certain Classroom of A Certain High School

Tsukuyomi Komoe was a girl with a passion for teaching and she loved her class. No matter how much she may have tried to protest it, she loved their rowdy antics and how upbeat the class was in general. So, it should come as no surprise that she was on edge after the class had gone somewhat somber after the passing of one of their own. Even the bell for lunch was enough at that point to startle the little teacher and that was what ended up happening.

"Hiyeeeh!" Komoe looked up to the speaker in a moment of surprise and followed up with a sigh. "That's it for today. You guys will be having PE after lunch so eat well." Komoe sighed before turning to the door.

"Komoe-sensei seems to be taking this really hard."

"What would you expect? Tsuchimikado-kun just passed away without warning."

"It really just does not feel the same at all without him."

"Even the Delta Force is too somber."

"They just feel so unbalanced with only two people."

The seemingly young teacher placed her hand on the sliding door of the classroom before looking back at the two students sitting and staring out of the window. It hurt her as a teacher to see her students who she treated like her own children looking like that. It hurt her even more that she has been and still was unable to do anything to help alleviate it. Feeling helpless, she slid open the door.

*THUD*

In less than a second, three girls of similar sizes were lying on top of each other in front of that open door. On top was a young blonde. In the middle was…

"SISTER-CHAN!?' Komoe shouted from her position on the bottom of the dogpile.

"Myaah…" The cat who seemed to have jumped out of the nun's arms onto her head at the last moment let out a cry while everyone in the class looked towards the scene in front of them.

"Index!? Patricia!? What the hell are you guys doi—bfuu!" Kamijou jolted out of seat after realizing what was going on only to be met with a punch to the stomach from his blue-haired friend.

"Kamijou, again?"

"That bastard."

"Are we REALLY that surprised?"

"Dammit, Kami-yan!" Aogami shouted for everyone to hear. "Why? First it's that silver-haired nun and now it's a cute little blonde loli character! What's next? Some blonde goddess with skimpy clothes and an eyepatch? A high-priestess of a hidden religious sect? A young Cinderella in a form-fitting outfit? Or maybe it will be a star-eyed girl w—geh!"

The spiky-haired boy who recovered finally retaliated with an identical move. "What the hell was that for!? Moreover, what's with those super specific examples?!" He stamped before moving in for another punch while Aogami moved in for a cross-counter. Within seconds, a brawl erupted between the two of them.

"Two-hundred yen on Kamijou!"
"Five-hundred on Aogami!"

While the bets were erupting from the population of students in the class, a girl with hime hair approached while slowly reaching her hand out to the spiky-black-haired boy. "Um...please don't get hurt..." Despite that, she could not muster up the courage to say or do anything more.

Suddenly another bet was announced. "One thousand on Fukiyose!"

The students who already made their bets faced the spiky-haired girl with glasses in the back who had just made her bet. More accurately, they were staring at the Iron Wall Girl who was dashing past her into the fray with an expression of obvious irritation.

"KAMIJOOOOOOOOOU!" With a single low roar, Fukiyose jumped into the fray. "You just had to get Himegami and the rest of the class involved in your damn stupidity!" Within that minute, the brawl escalated with Kamijou and Aogami fighting to stay conscious.

In the meantime, Patricia could only watch as she was unable to stop the loud brawl.

St. George's Cathedral

The blonde girl walked out of a door on the side of the cathedral near the entrance and shut the door immediately behind her. She walked to the man at the entrance with the gait of a kid who was suffering from heat exhaustion.

As she walked down the aisle of the hall she found the priest in earlier, she looked up and noticed her 'trustworthy' subordinate beckoning her over. Her ears were ringing so she had a hard time realizing the fact that he was calling out to her. Her chic piano-like outfit was singed at the edges and cut at many places on the skirt, her stockings were torn, her hair was disheveled, her face was covered in the soot, and a trickle of blood was trailing from her forehead down the center of her face.

"Are you alright, boss? You don't look like you are feeling too well. I'm surprised that priest was actually able to do this much damage."

"I'm fine, Mark. The priest, on his own, was no trouble. However, that Saint from the incident with the guy using that armor intervened and decided to make the attempt to capture me. You have no idea how many times the position of the hunter and the hunted switched in there. I was able to shake them off my tail but they could realize what happened and come here any minute now."

"Are you sure that you are alright, boss? You are being really vague here."

"Arrghhh…shut it, Mark. My point is this—I have my doubts that Patricia came here."

"About that…I sent a message to Miss Patricia a while back. She sent this as a reply."

Mark flashed the phone in front of the disheveled girl who was his boss.

From: Patricia Birdway

To: Mark Space

Sub: Re: Please come back quickly

Body: I cannot, Mark, as I have something to do here. You worry too much. Besides I'm sure-

"Mark…" Leivinia spoke in a low and authoritative tone. She seemed to have a very thin and annoyed grin while she started into Mark's eyes. "Why are you covering the last bit with your thumb?"

"Uhh…" Mark made the attempt to avert his eyes.

"Ma~~rk…"

The invisible pressure emanating from Leivinia eventually forced Mark to acquiesce to her and show the full message.

Body: I cannot, Mark, as I have something to do here. You worry too much. Besides I'm sure sis won't hurt you. I'm fine and I'll be home…eventually.

"Mark…why is Patricia saying anything about me hurting you?"

"Well…" Mark struggled to grasp for the proper words. However… "Ngh—Boss! What are you doing!?" The wobbly girl grabbed her subordinate by the ear and dragged him out of the cathedral with her.

"We're going back to Patricia's room. We likely missed some sort of clue in a rush."

"You mean that you missed—OW! OW! OW! You're mad, aren't you, Boss! Damn!"

Despite the pleas of her subordinate, the girl continued back to the car without answering even once.

Sargasso-Tokyo Bay

After a minor incident involving a Segway (which Othinus planned to revive when she finally created a phase that looked like the one that was once her home) crashing and some scolding by a subordinate/friend, a bored Othinus was sitting in the middle of Sargasso, thinking of ways to pass the time.

In the vicinity was Marian, who, after chewing Othinus out earlier, had to wait with her human furniture for the completion of the parallel processor as her own preparations were complete, Hel, who was just sitting there and playing with a flame on her fingertip while waiting like Marian, and Ollerus, who, disguised as Thor, was trying to figure out a way to get as far away from Othinus while attempting to ascertain the base's location.

Of course, the past few incidents that took place over the course of the day were definitely a driving factor of Ollerus's desire to get away from Othinus. That was not the main reason, though. The main reason was that he did not want to be caught doing what he came to Sargasso to do. Surely, it was not because he could not stand the annoyances that Othinus seemed to cause in her whimsy. At least, that is what he continued to tell himself.

In the corner of his eyes he could see Othinus sitting deep in thought. One could only wonder how heavily she must have been anticipating the endgame that she had been striving forward to up till now. Ollerus, however, was well aware that she was likely planning her next little stunt. Of course, keeping as far away from the next stunt was not the main reason for him to distance himself from her. Again, that's what he kept telling himself.

"I got bored at some point—"Othinus began.

There's a shocker. Each person around her at that moment seemed to simultaneously think this sarcastically.

"…so I borrowed a computer from Bersi and had him connect it to the internet—"

There's no point in even trying to stop her anymore. Marian moped while rhythmically poking the deck of the ship she was on and her human furniture with her golden saw.

"…and I found out about this video game with an all-female cast where characters who take too much damage become victims of heavy clothing damage—HEY! Why are you guys sneaking away!?" She called out to all of the magicians in the vicinity who were making the attempt to leave without being noticed. After confirming that they had stayed while staring with a(n oddly cute) pout plastered to her face, she continued. "Anyway. As I was saying, I feel like role playing that…in a…ummm…a tournament format. Losers have to walk with all of the clothing damage that they get."

The others stared in a manner of disbelief mixed with confusion and annoyance leaving an uncomfortable silence.

Marian, who had practically given up at this point, looked at her boss and asked, "How exactly will this work?"

"There's a spell that can be used to transfer any damage from a person to their clothes."

Those in the vicinity continued to be baffled as a result of their boss not using her usual 'infinite possibilities' excuse.

"So if there's no objections, let's all of us go into a battle royale!"

Ollerus simply replied, "One: Why me? Two: Did you not just say this was a tournament? Three: What will you do if your body falls apart due to your infinite possibilities?"

"I am a god. Bend to my whims."

"THAT IS THE WORST POSSIBLE ANSWER YOU COULD HAVE GIVEN!"

"Besides, don't you have that spell based on the story of Thor disguising himself as Freyja that allows you to take on the appearance of a woman?"

"THAT KIND OF SPELL SHOULD NOT BE USED FOR YOUR CRAZY WHIMSICAL BOUTS OF BOREDOM!"

It was as he was being dragged away by the Magic God with an eyepatch that Ollerus had an epiphany. He had finally realized exactly why Thor was so eager to leave GREMLIN. It was not simply because he disagreed with their methods. It was her. Anyone sane would want to get away from her, the crazy and whimsical god. Realizing this, he simply did the one thing he could do without blowing his cover.

"DAMMIT ALL TO HELL!"

"Glad to see you getting into the proper spirit, Thor."

A Certain High School at Lunch Time

Ever since the little incident at the front door of the classroom with Patricia and Index, it seemed the mood had lightened up. While Tsuchimikado's supposed death still held a bit of the mood, it started to look more and more like a normal day for the students as time went on. Whether that was actually a result of the antics displayed by the younger girls earlier or was just a testament to the resilience these high school students seemed to have was still hard to determine. However, Tsukuyomi Komoe felt a bit relieved to see that her cute students were at least living their lives inhibited, especially the ones closest to him.

After finally getting out of the dogpile with the other two girls and finally getting the class under control after five minutes of loud and boisterous noise coming from what the students likely saw the most one-sided beatdown of the idiot trio (minus Tsuchimikado) to date leaving the two lying in a pile.

Patricia and Index were kneeling over the spiky-haired boy lying half-conscious on the top of the pile while rhythmically poking his face.

"Toumaaaaaa."

"Are you alright, Mister Kamijou?"

Despite how much he complained to himself about her arrival, Touma really did find Patricia to be a huge breath of fresh air compared to his regular interactions. Rather than stay down, he decided to push himself up to a shaky standing position. "I'm alright Patricia. Just a little winded."

He looked back down at the unconscious Aogami. "Hey Patricia, help me out here. Just ask him if he's alright in that same voice while I poke him in the face." He crouched down over Aogami and started poking his face repeatedly. "Now."

"Mister Blue Hair, are you alright?"

At the sound of Patricia's concerned voice, Aogami's upper body shot straight into an upright position with his arms up and waving. "Yes, yes, I'm okay Patricia-chaAAAAAH!" In front of him was Touma's face, covered in the expression of someone who was not amused. In that second, Aogami scooted back into a nearby desk. "DAMMIT, Kami-yan! You just don't fake a guy out with the sweet voice of young girl!"

"I just did, you damn lolicon."

The blue-haired man did not waver at the accusation leveled at him as he stood up. Instead, he merely chuckled. "How many times have I told you that I am not merely a lolicon? I-"

He was interrupted by Kamijou, who stood up at the same time. "You are also a lolicon. I get it, you far-reaching pervert."

Tensions were obviously rising again and another skirmish seemed almost inevitable. However, that all seemed to go away when back door of the classroom was opened loudly to reveal a certain beauty-senpai standing behind it.

As everyone stared at her, she started to speak. "I'm sorry to intrude but I believe I found a certain truant student who needs to get back to his class." She dragged someone over into the space beside her by the collar. It was a familiar head of blond hair. With a quick motion, she tossed him into the room between the two members of the Delta Force in the room.

The head lifted itself to reveal a familiar face with sunglasses. "I guess I'm back nyaaa~." As he got back up on his feet, he could hear a collective gasp from a majority of the people present in the room.

"Why did you gasp, Patricia?" Index, the only person aside from Seria and Touma who did not gasp, asked.

"I did not want to feel left out."

"Is everyone really that surprised to see me, nya~?" He scratched his head before taking two punches to the face and flying back and landing on his stomach.

"That was for drugging me and leaving me in a locker room in the School Garden before disappearing, you asshole!"

"That was for leaving us all of a sudden without a word!"

A bit of silence ensued as Tsuchimikado groaned for a bit.

"Wait, seriously? Nobody is going to say anything about what Kamijou said?" One of the girls in then background asked to no avail.

"Urrgh, that hurt, nya~." Tsuchimikado spoke as he tried to push himself up. As he looked up, though, he could see his two friends kneeling in front of him each of them holding their hand out with grins that showed both relief and happiness at the fact that their friend was alive and well. Despite his outburst, Kamijou was relieved to finally see his friend alive and well again. After all, the last time Kamijou had seen him, Tsuchimikado was practically broken and laying in Kumokawa Seria's apartment.

"Welcome back, Tsuchimikado."

"Welcome back, siscon sergeant."

As he grabbed both of their hands, Kamijou and Aogami pulled their friend back up. "It's good to be back, nya~."

Buckingham Palace

The television was blaring in a guest room in the palace as the newscaster was reporting on some stowaways on a high speed passenger jet that had recently departed from London-Heathrow Airport for Academy City. "Beyond the fact that the stowaways are a blonde child and a man in the suit, we have no more information."

On the couch in the guest room was Princess Villian who was drinking tea and watching the news to pass time. Next to her was one of her maids. "It must be quite a slow news day if the only thing on the news is a stowaway on a jet, milady."

"Still, political tensions between Academy City and Britain could form because of a minor incident like this. Even if we were allies during the war, if a British magician sneaks in and causes a problem…"

"Well, I'm sure that boy would probably be able to deal with it if it becomes a problem related to magic, milady."

"I guess so. Still, I wonder if that boy is doing well right now."

Some Street in District 7

"I AM NOT DOING WELL AT ALL!" Kamijou screamed, running with Index and Patricia in tow. However, that was not the main problem. Behind them was a very annoyed and angry Mikoto. However, even she was not the problem. What was the problem was the horde of delinquents (likely Skill Out fodder) that was chasing them throughout the streets of District 7.

"Hey, you idiot, come back here!"

"Hey! STOP RUNNING FROM US, YOU DAMN RICH GIRL!"

Kamijou was definitely certain that he was now in a chase chain with Skill Out at the back and him at the front. He knew that if things did not let up soon, a fourth group by the name of either Anti-Skill or Judgement would eventually show up.

"DAMMIT! SUCH MISFORTUNE!" He screamed as he ran into an alleyway thin enough for him to run into with Patricia and Index.

A Little Earlier at A Certain High School

School had finally been dismissed on this day. Still, that meant that he still had the rest of the day to escort Patricia around since she was his guest. Due to the fact that they had appeared in the classroom in the middle of the day, Komoe had decided to try and get them to stay in the library until the end of the day since trying to send Index home did not fare well the last time she had tried. Luckily, it seemed Patricia was fairly agreeable.

The more Kamijou looked at her, the more he realized how much of a breath of fresh air she was in her life. She was nice, nonviolent, and relatively normal.

With that, however, the school day went by relatively quickly. The stifled atmosphere had finally disappeared as the class fell back into its normal rhythm. All of this really lightened Touma's mood. He felt happy. After all, his life had returned to normal.

Sadly, for the unlucky boy named Kamijou Touma, this happiness was never meant to last. As he had walked out of the gates of the school with Patricia and Index, he was greeted by an all too familiar face. "So, it was true. You…You…YOU…"

Kamijou Touma instinctively stepped back at the sight of the girl in front of him emitting sparks from her bangs. "Calm down, Misaka. I don't know why you're so angry but you're attracting way too much attention. Look, even those delinquents…" Kamijou trailed off when he saw a group of about twenty delinquents walking up to behind Misaka.

"Hey, are you the Tokiwadai bitch who offed a couple of our buddies a couple of days ago?" The one in front with a tattoo on his bare arm that said something about…crushing elites? Kamijou really didn't pay too much attention to the tattoo due to the fact that his sleeve was ripped off, much like Kanzaki's denim jacket. Part of him wanted to question this. However, the rest of him realized that staying here with such a large crowd and an annoyed Misaka was a danger…to everyone except Misaka, at least.

So, he did the first thing he could to protect everyone involved (barring Misaka). He grabbed Patricia and Index and turned tail.

"AH! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE, YOU IDIOT!" Misaka, predictably, turned around and followed.

"Huh? WAIT! DON'T JUST IGNORE US, RICH GIRL!" Of course, the delinquents followed suit.

Murmurs were spreading all over the place amongst the students. "Is it Kamijou again?"

"What did he do this time?"

"There seems to be a Tokiwadai girl involved. Does this have to do with that outburst about the School Garden from earlier?"

Kamijou ignored the harsh words of the student body around him as he ran.

"Mister Kamijou, why are we trying to leave the angry girl behind? Isn't that kind of mean?"

"Touma did something right. He left the short-hair girl behind…" Kamijou could hear Index murmuring while she ran with him.

"Argh. I didn't leave her behind. Knowing Misaka, it's obvious that she would give more priority to chasing after me. In other words, I have to find some way to draw her away from the delinquents before her focus shifts to them and she fries them like she does with all of her problems!"

"But do you have a plan, Mister Kamijou?"

"Funny enough, I feel like I've done this before so I think I have an idea."

A Relatively Thin District 7 Alley

The old carrot and stick idea. With Misaka as the carrot, Kamijou had figured out that he could manipulate her into speeding up and slowing down the way he needed her to. As such, he used a simple tactic to make it so that their (well, Misaka's specifically) pursuers would give up without calling for backup. He simply needed to tire them out. By manipulating Misaka into slowing down at times in order to create the illusion that they could catch up to her, he had kept them focused on a goal that they would eventually tire of and give up on.

After zigzagging through alleys in conjunction with using this strategy, the four had finally lost the crowd of delinquents but ended up dead tired as they all started leaning against walls in the alleyway and panting heavily.

"They…finally gave up…" Kamijou sighed as he sat down on the ground.

"Touma…." Index, who was perhaps even more tired, stared at Touma while panting. "You seem….awfully used…to doing things like this."

"He's the type who would rather save delinquents before they end up getting zapped by me." Mikoto responded while pausing to take short breaths. "At least he's done this before for sure, albeit in a bit more varied fashion."

"Save the delinquents?" Patricia asked.

"That sounds like something Touma would do."

"I would not have to do that if you weren't so quick to go biribiri, Misaka."

"You know what. I don't even care any more." Mikoto sighed. "Who's the blonde girl, by the way? She looks familiar."

"Oh, Patricia?" He looked back at her as she gave a wave and a smile. "Remember Birdway? She's her little sister."

"Birdway…Birdway…" Mikoto pondered for a second trying to jog her memory before her face matched her 'Eureka!' moment. "WAIT! You mean that crazy girl who mani-mbdmrmph!?"

Her sudden burst was interrupted by a the hands of a certain spiky-haired boy working to cover her mouth. "Shhhh!" He broke into a whisper. He definitely did not want Patricia to hear this. "I don't think she knows much about her sister's associations so please keep it silent for now."

Mikoto could only nod her head as she started blush, realizing how close Kamijou was to her. But, he paid no mind to the blushing middle school girl as he snuck a look back behind himself to notice that Patricia seemed be standing there with an expression of mild confusion.

"Is there something wrong, Mister Kamijou?" Patricia asked. "Why did you cover her mouth?"

"I don't want to draw the attention of the guys we just lost." Kamijou explained as he removed his hands from the face of the blushing tsundere maiden. "Hearing us speaking loudly may end up reinvigorating them to chase us and frankly, I don't think any of us are in the condition to start running again."

"Well, I don't think staying here in an alleyway will do us any good." Mikoto spoke up while trying to hide her blush. "The best thing to do is find some crowded indoors area."

"That's probably for the best. I can't say I know this area well enough, though. Do you have any ideas where we can go to stay until we're sure that the delinquents have completely given up? Misaka? Index?"

"Touma, I don't think I've been in this area before," the girl with the perfect memory said.

"I see. What about you, Misaka?"

"Well, there's a family restaurant close by which I usually go to with friends."

"Family restaurant?" Index's eyes lit up like a disco ball. "Touma! Let's go there. I'm starving!"

"Index-san, do you see this?" Kamijou pulled out his wallet. "Kamijou-san's wallet is unable to take much more. We can't just go and order copious amounts of fo-"

"If you're worried about money, don't." Mikoto interrupted. "I'll treat you guys. In retrospect, I was the one who dragged…you guys…into…" Her voice slowly tapered off.

"Wait, you're serious, Misaka? Thanks!" He grabbed her hands with his eyes lighting up much like Index's had moments ago. "I owe you one."

Misaka blushed once again, completely forgetting about her statement that she had owed him. "Of course, I mean…." But even then, she tapered off.

"Touma…I'm getting hungry…"

At the sound of Index's complaint, the boy let go of the hands which he was clasping. "Alright, then. Let's get going."

"U-uuuh, right." Mikoto replied while the blush continued to rest on her face.

"Let's go then." Patricia got up and started following with a minor stagger in her gait.

They were heading to the final checkpoint. Once they would reach that location, they would be free from any possible attack by the delinquents. It would just be a few more minutes. So, they stepped and moved forward.

With their first movements, the sounds of rushed footsteps resounded from behind them and then…

A Relatively Thin District 7 Alley

Things never go as planned in the end. One minor misstep or one misplaced assumption is all it could take to completely bring a situation to its worst.

In the end, there was one fatal assumption and one troublesome result.

"Ahhh…" Patricia exhaled deeply. She was definitely not in a position where she could move too freely. After all, she had a knife to her neck. It was not exactly a preferable situation for her at all.

Kamijou, Misaka, and Index stared in disbelief at the girl at knifepoint and the assailant who had run up to them from behind, grabbed Patricia, and retreated in the span of two seconds. It was then that Kamijou realized his fatal assumption.

DAMMIT! He hid and snuck around before waiting for the opportune moment! The plan he had made to escape the delinquent group had fallen apart at its very core.

"Now, hand over the Tokiwadai bitch." One look upon the delinquent's face made it obvious that he was livid. "Do that and I will let the girl go." It was at this moment when Touma and Mikoto realized something. The delinquent standing in front of them was the leader of the group that had fallen apart.

"I don't get this…" Mikoto muttered. "I can't pull the knife away. My magnetism isn't working."

"Hehehe…" The delinquent's shoulders bobbed up and down in rhythm with his laugh. "Of course you can't pull the knife away, you damn bitch. This knife is purely made out of animal bone with not a single bit of metal anywhere on it."

Index frowned at the sound of that. She had very vivid memories of a terrorist holding her hostage with the same kind of knife not even a month before. "Touma…" She muttered before looking at the boy and realizing something.

Kamijou Touma was incensed. It was an expression Index was all too familiar with. It was like that time with the alchemist she vaguely remembered due to her dotting in and out of consciousness. It was like that time on the Sky Bus when that terrorist had threatened her and the other passengers.

The anger Touma was exuding was palpable to the point where even Mikoto was completely scared of the boy in her company. Yet, the delinquent seemed to be caught up too much in his seemingly perfect path to victory. "Just hand her over and I will let little blondie here go without a scratch. I think that's a fair deal."

But the prickling anger emanating from Kamijou could only go up in this situation. "Hey, asshole. What the hell do you think you're doing?"

It was at that time the delinquent noticed the anger coming from one of the boy in front of him. "What am I doing? The answer is actually quite simple." The delinquent chuckled. "I'm offering you this little girl's life for the Tokiwadai girl to be brought to me so that we can teach her a lesson."

"What for?" Touma's anger continued to emanate like Mikoto's sparks normally would.

"That damn bitch attacked my entire group! She picked us all off in an instant! These fucking elites like her keep looking down on us so we need to teach her a lesson by dragging her down to our stage!"

"AND THAT WARRANTS TAKING AN INNOCENT GIRL WHO HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR OWN DAMN TROUBLES HOSTAGE?!" Touma shouted.

The delinquent put is free hand down on Patricia's shoulder. "OF COURSE THAT DOES! WE NEED TO USE WHATEVER MEANS NECESSARY BRING THE ELITES DOWN FROM THEIR HIGH HORSE!" In his fervency, the delinquent took the knife away from Patricia's neck and pointed it at Touma. "WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND US? YOU'RE A LEVEL ZERO YOURS-"

However, the delinquent could never finish his sentence. In the middle of his rant, a fist made direct contact with his face. "SCREW THAT!"

Touma's anger may have been pent up, but he never once lost sight of his goal: getting Patricia out of harms way. For that, he had to rile up her captor. He had to rile up her captor enough to get him to lift his knife away from Patricia and he finally saw that opportunity.

In that moment, the delinquent lost his grip on his hostage and flew back a few feet. In that moment, Kamijou had freed Patricia from the delinquent's grasp.

"That was fast…" Mikoto and Index muttered simultaneously before running forwards and pulling Patricia back.

"I'm sorry for being caught." Patricia apologized to the group.

"It's not your fault, Patricia." Touma spoke with his back still turned to the girl. He turned his head at a right angle and looked towards Patricia behind him with a smile. "There is no need for you to apologize Patricia."

"Touma, behind you!" Index shouted in a panic.

Touma turned his head back to the delinquent only to see that he had gotten back up with a stumble and was charging towards Touma with the knife in hand. His posture was crude and unrefined. He was full of openings. At this point, the delinquent was merely doing the equivalent of swinging around a sword with no semblance of tactics.

He would stab each one of these fuckers for screwing with him. That was the only thing on his mind as he charged forward and attempted to jab the knife into Kamijou's face.

Mikoto's hand shot up in instinct as she readied herself to shoot a lightning spear at the delinquent before he could reach Kamijou. But it was impossible. The boy she wanted to protect would take the blow if she did it and there may be some chance he would be unable to negate it.

But it did not matter. The knife never hit its target.

Kamijou Touma had taken a quick side step away from his assailant and used his left hand to lightly knock the arm with the knife away. At that moment, he clenched his fist. "If you really can't stand you and your friends being stomped on..."

Patricia was no longer in danger so Kamijou had no reason to be angry anymore. "…then go gain power so you can protect."

With that, he drove his fist upwards into the delinquent's chin. It was a simple uppercut that knocked the delinquent up. "That way you don't have to ever try and drag anyone else down."

He had seen it before. Whether or not that delinquent would take his advice was debatable. But he could still do it. He could still gain that power to protect. After all, others had done it far before him.

With those final words, the delinquent finally fell back, losing consciousness.

A Certain District Seven Street

The sun was setting. Mikoto had split off from Kamijou after the incident in the alleyway and was sitting on a bench at a bus station as she waited for a bus that would take her to her dormitory.

I couldn't even help him. She was annoyed. No…in the first place, I'm the one who got him into this scuffle. This mess was my fault from the beginning.

"I'm the one who keeps telling him to rely on me for once and here I am bringing trouble to him without even being able to resolve it." She grabbed at the end of her skirt and clenched her fists tightly. "What the hell am I even doing?"

The path in front of her was vast. Yet, she continued to try and chase after that boy. But no matter how far she chased she could never stand by his side. She was always a step behind. For the girl who wanted to simply stand by that boy's side so that he would be willing to rely on her the same way she relied on him, it was a horrible feeling. Yet, all she could do was grit and bear.

A Certain District Seven Park

"I'm sorry you had to deal with that, Patricia!" Kamijou Touma was giving a deep bow to the blonde girl who was sitting on the park bench next to the nun. In the end, she had gotten into a hostage situation due to his negligence despite how nice the girl had been to him the whole time.

Patricia, flustered by the boy's apology spoke out. "N-N-No, it's alright, Mister Kamijou. Really, it's alright." Patricia calmed down as the boy raised his head. "It's not like anybody got really badly hurt."

"Even so…"

"Really, I'm okay."

"Touma…if she insists she's okay, then she's fine." Index pouted.

"Is that so?" Touma scratched his head a bit and looked up. "Well, as long as you feel fine." He said before sitting next to Patricia.

"Besides, I got what I came here for." Patricia smiled as she got up and stood where Kamijou had stood before. In the end, she had seen all that she had needed to see. She understood enough about the boy named Kamijou Touma who her sister had become infatuated with. She understood exactly why her sister had become infatuated with him. In the end, she was satisfied with that.

"Mister Kamijou," she spoke. "I know my sister tends to give off an air of maturity but she's still can be quite the child. She can be immature, bratty, and rash at times."

"That seems oddly negative for a list of qualities." Touma mused aloud.

"I guess…" Patricia smiled while showing a hint of embarrassment. "My sister always said that you need to be able to take care of yourself before you can worry about others." As she started to shift her topic, her embarrassment faded away. At the same time, an air of maturity seemed to come from the girl. It was not the sense of confidence her sister emitted but something else entirely. "But, even so, I still worry about her. I've been working hard so I can get to that position where I can take care of myself and worry about her but I can't help worrying about her. She is my sister after all.

"That's why I want to ask you. I know my sister can be quite mature but she can still need support at times. Do you think you can look after her even when Mark and I can't?"

In the end, it was obvious where her maturity came from. Touma could see the girl with an ingrained sisterly bond. It was a simple, yet warm feeling.

So, he got up and walked to the girl before putting a hand on top of her head. "You can count on me and Index for that." He said with a big smile.

Patricia looked back at him and then to Index who was smiling and nodding in the back. "Thanks, you two."

"Now then, we should probably get back to my dorm. It's getting late so I assume you're going to stay over tonight." Kamijou said as he took his hand off the girl's head.

"Actually, I-" Patricia cut herself off at the sound of a familiar voice in the background.

"Miss Patricia! We finally found you!" As she turned around, she could see Mark running up to her with Leivinia coming a few feet behind. Mark came up and stopped near Patricia. However, Leivinia came up to her sister and began patting her down while asking questions.

"Are you alright, Patricia? You aren't hurt anywhere, are you?" Anyone who knew this girl in her professional setting would find Leivinia's actions oddly out of character.

"Geez, sis. I'm fine. Really. Mister Kamijou took good care of me. Besides, you look like you're more hurt than I am."

"That's good." Leivinia sighed. "Come on, Patricia. I spent a lot of effort trying to find you. Let's head back home to London."

"You have a plane booked for the return trip, sis?"

"No, but I have my ways." Leivinia said as a dark smile appeared on her face.

"Alright. Let's head out, then. I got what I came for." Patricia said before turning around towards Kamijou again. "Thanks again, Mister Kamijou."

"It's no problem, Patricia." Kamijou said.

At that moment, Leivinia also turned around. "You know, Kamijou. I…" Leivinia paused. She was ready to berate him. She was ready to say some harsh words to the boy she viewed as an older brother, but she realized something. Now was not the time. "Thank you for taking care of my sister."

"It was no problem." Kamijou smiled.

Leivinia turned around towards the others. "Now come one, Patricia, Mark. Let's head off."

"Alright, sis." Patricia said, turning around to see Mark nodding before going.

After a minute, Index walked up to Touma. "Hey, Touma. Are you alright with leaving it like this?"

"Yeah. I'm fine with that." Touma crossed his arms as he looked towards the sisters. "There's no point in bothering those two sisters."

"That is just like you, Touma." Index sighed. "But that's not what I meant. Patricia's belongings are still in your dorm, Touma."

"Eh." At that moment, Touma's moment of serenity stopped as he realized that Patricia might have completely forgotten her belongings. At that moment, he broke into a sprint to chase after the sisters. "WAIT! PATRICIA! YOU FORGOT YOUR STUFF!"

Index just gave a simple smile as she followed suit.

A/N: I spent so long writing this one-shot to the neglect of my other projects. But it's finally complete and it came out pretty nicely. In all honesty, the little Othinus snippets were something I wrote on a whim and I think I did that around the time when NT08 and NT09 were released.

Funny enough, NT14's mini-teaser was released two days after I finished writing this so I was pretty surprised to see that both Leivinia and Patricia would be involved, which is nice since I honestly would love to see Patricia do more in the canon. Now to go for that FiammaXMirror one-shot I was planning…or perhaps a one-shot about Kihara Enshuu following Maria-oneechan and Touma-oniichan after NT04.

Though, in all honesty, those would likely be shorter than this so they would probably be quicker to write than this was. Oh well, time to pick from the idea pool to determine what my next project is.