Kept you waiting, huh?

Well it took me a decade to write this chapter and i really hope you guys enjoy this. And that's not the nervousness talking, maybe.

It's not like i put this off or something, and made you guys wait.

Anyway, i'll let you read.

"You guys never learn, do you?" said the long-haired boy as he stared down the three bullies. "And I thought I told you to not get in more trouble." He looked towards the boy, panting for breath while nursing some of his cuts and bruises. The three bullies had run away again, as they usually do.

The boy and the three bullies had developed some sort of routine. The three would find and assault the boy, who'd hold them off long enough for the long-haired boy to come and deal with them. However, more recently the boy was able to fend them off himself. "Tch, they ran away again. I really hope they leave me the fuck alone." Said the boy as he picked up his dirtied bag.

It has been four months since the two boys met, and they quickly became friends. "You know, the whole gloomy and depressed look doesn't pick up chicks all that well."

"I don't care about stuff like that, and it's not like I have time for it anyway." Replied the boy as he began to walk home, the long-haired boy joining his glum friend.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to remind you." Said the long-haired boy, showing regret on his face. "I'll make it up to you. I know. How about next time you come over to my house, I'll play wingman and let you talk up my sister!"

The other boy was taken aback by his friend's words. Quickly finding his voice to dispute the claim. "I don't have a thing for your sister, and besides, why are you so nonchalant about giving her away!? She's your sister!" Yelled the boy.

"Well, I mean it's obvious you like her, and I need her gone because of all the grief she causes me. If you think I'm tough, my sister is the main reason why I learned to fight. Just because she's a year older doesn't mean anything." Said the long-haired boy as he began to weep to himself.

"But she seems so nice, like a really kind and caring older sister." The boy responded timidly with a slight blush on his face.

"She's only like that when you're around. The moment you leave, she puts me in a full nelson." The boy didn't know how to respond to that. The fact that she was nice around him, or the full nelson part. Either way, he said nothing.

As the two went their separate ways, any joy and fun the boy had, disappeared quickly. He walked with a disinterested face the rest of the way home. The boy stared at the door with key in hand, not wanting to enter. Eventually, he took a deep breath and unlocked the door to his 'home'.

He stepped inside and immediately saw his brother playing with a game console. Although the console was his, he said nothing. Most likely his mother had given it to his brother. He walked to his room and laid on the bed for a moment. A knock soon came to his door before it swung open, it was his mother. "Are you going to start dinner?" she asked. The mother wore a bandana around her head, as she had lost all her hair. Somewhat sadly, the boy had to learn to provide for his family. His stepfather not being of much help.

He sighed and lifted himself off the bed. The only thought he had was one exasperated question. 'I have to do everything, don't I? Just another shitty day in this house.'

It was another hot summer day in Academy City, the date was July 30th. Touma and Index were walking through the streets towards their destination. The duo had a look of intense determination, as if they were on their way to fight a foe the likes that would require their combined effort to defeat.

"Are you ready Index?"

"Yes, Touma. I'm ready."

Touma gave a pleased smile, facing forward with that same look of determination.

"Let us eat at the buffet of the Tokiwadai Midsummer Festival!" Declared Touma with a straight face as the duo arrived at the front door. Just then, a pair of girls strolled up, roughly at the same time as them. One was a long-haired girl with a flower pin by her ear, wearing a dark blue blouse and beige pants. She was accompanied by a short-haired girl with what seemed like a crown of fake flowers on her head, who herself wore a red dress that went down to her ankles.

"Those two sure look familiar." Thought Touma to himself as he looked at the girls that were walking towards him. "Oh jeez, they're Saten and Uiharu. And if they're here then…am I in a Railgun episode, or is this a manga event instead? No wait, this seems like a filler thing. Damn it, I hate filler!"

"Touma! Let's go in already!" yelled Index as she grabbed his hand and began to drag him towards the front door.

"Man, this is going to be annoying to deal with today. I just know it." He thought to himself as the duo entered Tokiwadai. When they entered, they were greeted by a western-style front hall with festive decorations all over the place. Some of the female students were even dressed up as maids and were handing out pamphlets to the visiting students.

"Wow! Touma! Touma! Look how fancy this place is!" exclaimed the eager Index, as she took in the environment with amazement and wonder. Touma laughed to himself about how much Index acted like a child, before laying eyes on an expected sight. Touma saw the Level 5 Railgun in a maid outfit pinching the cheeks of a younger-looking Tokiwadai girl with brunette twin-tails, who was holding a camera in her hand.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me..." Said Touma to himself, he didn't expect the two girls to hear his disheartened words. Misaka turned her head very slowly towards him letting go of the girl.

"Wha-wha-what are you d-doing here!?" She yelled as she pointed an accusing finger straight at the boy. Touma simply stood there with a deadpan look and sighed as if the sight of a cute girl in a maid costume was nothing more but a troublesome event.

"I'm just here enjoying the festival like everyone else is. So please don't make this a big deal."

"Well f-fine, I guess that's fair." Mumbled out Misaka with a slight blush dusting her cheeks as her head quickly turned to the side and her arms crossed together under her chest.

"Wow, how cliché." thought Touma as he tried to keep a straight face. There was a short silence between the two which was broken by their respective tag-alongs.

"Onee-sama, who is this gentleman?"

"Touma, who is this maid?" they both asked at the same time. Both Misaka and Touma were thinking of how best to describe their relationship.

He spoke first. "She's just some BiriBiri girl I run into sometimes." Said Touma bluntly.

"BiriB- I told you not to call me that! You idiot!" silently shouted the raging esper attempting to not make a scene in her own school, else she attract the attention of some unwanted rumours. She ground her teeth back and forth in a futile attempt to calm down.

Suddenly the younger girl beside Misaka disappeared from her side and reappeared in front of Touma, getting really close to the boy who couldn't help but attempt to distance himself.

"Wha- Kuroko! Wha-what are you doing?" yelled Misaka as she was surprised by Kuroko's sudden actions, and causing few onlookers to look their way at the sudden outburst.

Index had jumped back by her action as well, stunned by the girl's ability to move instantaneously.

Kuroko slowly closed the distance to Touma's face to the point where onlookers might have thought that the two were kissing. Misaka and Index were of the same mindset, and they quickly turned red with both anger and embarrassment.

"Uh, can you not be so close? This sort of thing normally comes with a 'Take the Unlucky Kamijou to a Fancy Dinner Deluxe Edition' you know." Stated Touma as he tried moving his head back.

"Hmm…" Kuroko stopped what she was doing and teleported back to Misaka's side.

"Well Onee-sama, he's certainly a very calm individual, I'll say that much. But he seems much too boring and plain for someone like you." The girl said as she shrugged her shoulders. "Also, please forgive me for such a rude action. My name is Shirai Kuroko, I'm pleased to meet you."

Touma sighed and shook his head. "Normally the introductions are done first, but that's okay. I'll let that plain comment slide for now."

"Ah! This is where you two were? We should've known you two would cause a scene." Said a female voice behind Touma and Index. It was the two girls that Touma saw earlier.

"Thank you, Shirai-san, for inviting us to the Midsummer Festival." Said the short-haired girl as she bowed. Quickly enough, Touma and Index were stuck between the four girls. Index gave a look at Touma that said, 'Do you know all these girls!?' and she wasn't entirely wrong. Touma quickly tried to make his escape with Index in tow, however, a certain someone stopped them.

"Kamijou Touma, you're here early. I thought I told you the food would be available later in the afternoon." said a short bluish-black haired maid with blue eyes, who walked up to the group.

"I thought that maybe the food would be ready by now."

"Touma! I'm hungry, we didn't eat breakfast because you wanted to eat lots here!" yelled Index as she pouted while also sharpening her fangs at the same time.

"You two know each other?" interjected Misaka from the side and soon the rest of her friends were looking at the trio.

"Yeah, Kamijou Touma is friends with my Onii-chan. So I've known him for quite some time now. I actually wanted Onii-chan to come instead, but he wasn't home at the moment. So, I invited Kamijou instead. I wasn't expecting him to use the 'plus one' for a date." Explained Tsuchimikado Maika, tilting her head to the side in a cutesy manner.

"A D-D-DATE!" Shouted the reddening Misaka, quickly covering her mouth in order to not bring attention to herself (which failed spectacularly). Her three friends quickly turned towards her, wanting to know what her sudden outburst was about. Much to her increasing embarrassment.

"Touma, what's a date?" asked Index innocently while the commotion was going on.

"It's when a guy and a girl to do things together, in a romantic sense." He replied as he let out another sigh while his head shook back and forth. Index tilted her head, then gave a slight blush as what he had said clicked in her mind as she looked up at him.

Maika clapped her hands together in a refined manner and silenced the girls with that simple action. "Shirai, your assistance is needed in the kitchen. And may I remind you, that you also need to take pictures of something other than Misaka."

She quickly grabbed Kuroko by the back of her collar and began to drag her away. "Kamijou, you should enjoy the festival until the buffet is ready. I'll see you then."

"Yeah, that's going to be a hassle I just know it." Thought Touma as he looked over his shoulder at the group of girls. He simply sighed and shook his head as he cursed his bad luck.

It was another day in the Judgement 177th office, as Kiryu was doing paperwork by himself.

"I had a suspicion on the amount of paperwork involved, but this is ridiculous." said Kiryu as he leaned back in his office chair. Konori and he had many files to turn in due to the RAID incident the other day, alongside with Kiryu's initial paperwork finalizing him as a member of Judgement.

Kiryu began stretching his arms and neck in order to relax himself. At that moment, the front door opened and Konori entered with a box in her hand.

"Ah, welcome back Senpai. How was the trip?" asked Kiryu as he peeked over from his desk without moving his lower body.

"It seems pretty calm today, almost as if that incident never happened."

"I don't know if that's a good thing or not. You would think that people would be a bit more scared after yesterday."

"We can't let fear stop us from living our lives, Kiryu-kun. If we do, then how would we progress or change ourselves?" replied Konori as she set the box on the coffee table in the middle of the office.

Kiryu questioningly stared at the box for a second. "What did you bring Senpai?"

Konori opened the box and revealed half a dozen anpans. She moved over to the kitchen to begin making some tea. "I bought anpans for us. I figured that we could have some snacks while we worked."

Kiryu rose from his seat and stretched his legs in order to get his anpan. "Wait, why anpan? You could've gotten senbai, or at least some dango. They go well with some tea. Ah, the memories of hot tea with senbai during wintertime."

Konori was a tad curious on Kiryu's odd knowledge of Japanese snacks. "They go well with milk, and besides I haven't had any in a long time." She said as she poured Kiryu his tea. He ate the anpan regardless, despite his preference for senbai.

As the two continued to eat, Kiryu's mind began to wander to the incident. "Just who is this Dragon King?" he asked out loud.

Konori tilted her head in thought after hearing Kiryu. "Dragon…King?" she spoke softly as she recalled a name she hadn't heard in a long time.

"Have you heard about him, Senpai? One of the Anti-Skill officers mentioned him yesterday. I'm really curious as to why everyone is kind of scared of him."

"Hmm…he was kind of a big deal back in the day. There was a big surge in Skill-Out gangs because of him." She said as she grabbed another anpan.

"A surge of Skill-Out? But why? After all, RAID is after him supposedly." Said Kiryu as he finished his anpan and took another sip of tea..

"Well, he was a Level 0…well, at least if we believe what the rumours say." She said as she averted her eyes to the side in thought. "A Level 0 that could defeat espers with no problem. Of course, such an image gave rise to more Skill-Outs, inspired by this supposed nobody who was able to tango with the big shots. Due to the rise of these Skill-Outs, a number of other gangs popped up to fight them off. They were similar to RAID, but that wasn't around at the time. Most of these gangs consisted of low-leveled espers, banding together to take on the Skill-Out gangs due to how big they had gotten. Some espers even faced harassment from them and resented them. Others thought fighting them would make them level up. Honestly, it was a complete mess."

"Wow, that does sound crazy. I'm surprised I haven't heard about this until now.." Replied Kiryu as he finished his tea.

"Well Judgement and Anti-Skill tried their best to make sure that this didn't spill out into everyone's daily lives. Even some Skill-Out gangs helped to keep the peace." Said Konori as she leaned back in her seat while drinking her glass of milk.

"Really? That sounds really hard to believe."

"You'd be surprised. Not all of the gangs are about pure violence, some were trying to protect others or at least help others. Besides, even the Dragon King himself helped remedy the situation, if we are to believe the rumours saying so."

Kiryu tilts his head from this information. "Wait, didn't he cause this gang war in the first place. Why would he help others stop it?"

"Well, the information is muddy 'cause it's nothing but rumors. But they say he protected the innocent or felt bad about causing it in the first place. He also helped some gangs in some fights if he felt like it…when the cause was right, that is." She replied.

"Hmm…This Dragon King sounds like quite the character, but he also seems like a good person. He reminds me of why I decided to join Judgement in the first place." Said Kiryu as he put his hand to his chin to think.

"What was your reason for joining Judgement anyway? If you don't mind me asking." She shot him a curious question.

"Ah…well. When I was younger, someone saved me from a thug. He looked so cool to me that I wanted to be like him, but he…he told me to be better than him. I figured that joining Judgement would be a way to be like him, but also maybe be 'better' than him. I really want to find him and thank him for giving me the strength to move forward while also bettering myself." Kiryu admitted somewhat abashedly, nervously scratching his cheek..

Konori was pleasantly surprised by Kiryu's reasoning for joining Judgement. "That's quite admirable, Kiryu-kun. It makes me glad that someone like you joined Judgement. So, have you ever found the person who saved you? It only seems right, don't you think? You have to thank that person."

"I wouldn't know where to start to look for him. The only thing I remember was that he had dark spikey hair, a blue leather jacket, and that he could misdirect or reroute electricity or something like that. But it would be nice to meet him again, at the very least just to properly thank him."

Konori seemed to be spacing off after his response, silently realising that the person who helped Kiryu might be none other than the Dragon King himself.

Much to Touma's chagrin, he was forced to walk around the Tokiwadai Midsummer Festival with Mikoto and her friends, as they went through different exhibits. Although Touma didn't care much for the exhibits, Index found them interesting and was having fun interacting with the other girls. It brought a smile to his face.

"At least she's having fun." he thought to himself. The group had entered a variety of other displays. One such display had the group learn about embroidery and while the girls were earnest in learning, Touma wasn't really interested.

"Oh, I just realized we never introduced ourselves." Said Saten as she finished sewing in her name on the cloth. "I'm Saten Ruiko, nice to meet you two."

"Ahh, I'm sorry I forgot too, after all of that commotion that happened it slipped my mind. My name is Uiharu Kazari."

Touma also concluded that there was never a proper introduction between the two parties. It also slipped his mind, but he also didn't care much for introductions either. "Ah, I'm Kamijou Touma and this is Index." He responded. The girl's head tilted a bit at the mention of the girls odd name, but they quickly dismissed it.

"Oh, you're good at this." Commented Touma as he looked at Saten's sewing skills. The other girls quickly looked at her design and were taken aback at how skilled she was. Mikoto herself wasn't as good as Saten, and Uiharu was acting a bit jealous.

"This is nothing really. When you live with siblings, you learn quickly how to help patch up ripped clothes. I really enjoyed it and got into it as a hobby for a bit." Humbly stated the dark haired girl.

"I see, you're acquiring some housewife skills and slowly raising your appeal, makes sense." Said Touma with a hand on his chin. Mikoto and Index looked at their embroidery and felt dejected for a moment, while Uiharu wanted to learn more.

"Wait, really?" replied Saten as she giggled, "I never heard of that. I didn't think any guy would check if a girl can sew."

"Well, I guess I'm just a guy who likes hard-working girls. Besides, wouldn't it be nice to make something personal and handcrafted for that special person."

"I think that's just your taste, Kamijou-san. As idealistic as it is, that does sound nice."

"Well, aside from that. It still is pretty cool you can do that."

"Oh, and here I thought you were hitting on me." Said Saten with a smirk. Mikoto and Uiharu stopped in their tracks to look at the bold Saten. They couldn't believe what she had said just now.

"Oh, don't tempt me." Replied Touma with a small laugh which Saten joined in on as well. It was a nice atmosphere for the two despite making things awkward for the other two girls who were shamelessly listening in on them, meanwhile Index was still deep in thought about her sewing.

The group eventually entered a classroom that was displaying cakes. Uiharu looked at them with wonder, while Index looked at them with hunger. Touma had to stop her from jumping at the cakes and thus had taken Index by the waist to stop any of her attempts at devouring the delicious looking pastry.

"TOUMA! LET ME GO! WHY EVEN HAVE THESE DELICIOUS CAKES OUT HERE IF WE CAN'T EAT THEM!?" screamed Index as she attempted to escape Touma's grapple.

Mikoto simply stared at the two of them with disdain. As Uiharu was taking pictures of the cakes, Saten looked at the three of them and tilted her head in confusion. Once Touma let Index go and promised her food afterwards, she calmed down and simply admired (while drooling) the glorious cakes.

"You sure have your hands full, don't you?" asked Saten with simple curiosity.

"Unfortunately, it happens all the time. This is just us on a regular basis." Said Touma while shedding a tear.

"Oh, are you two together often?"

"Don't remind me."

"Are you two… a couple?" cheekily asked Saten with the clear intent to embarrass Touma. Mikoto had quickly shifted her head towards the two and with an intense look yearning for answers.

"A couple? That idiot and that nun are a c…couple?" thought Mikoto to herself with what could be described as a nervous look.

"HAHAHAHA!" was what came out of Touma's mouth. "A couple? That's a good joke. As if me and Index would get together."

Some of the people in the room turned towards Touma due to the sheer volume of his laugh. Saten was taken aback by Touma's reaction, she was expecting him to be like any other boy and start blushing when mentioning romance.

"Why do you ask, are you interested in a date?" Said Touma as he threw a cheeky remark back at her, in an attempt to tease her. Saten was caught off guard by his retort, as well as Mikoto who's eyebrow began to twitch in an annoyed fashion.

As Touma stared at Saten, her body began to shift a bit and soon she gave a quick chuckle. "Sorry, I'm not interested in relationships right now." She said with a smile.

"Wow, so quick to reject this poor Kamijou. You must be used to this kind of thing, it's hard being popular."

"What? I'm not popular at all! What are you even talking about?"

"But you're so cute, how are you not popular?" Said Touma with a rising smirk.

"Oh, I see what you're doing there. That joke is in bad taste, any other girl would shamelessly believe you. You really shouldn't play with a maiden's heart like that."

"I know you liked it. Plus, who said I was joking?"

Saten give a quick turn and began to walk back towards the others. "Hmm, maybe. Who knows?" she said with a little smile. Touma simply shook his head and followed suit once he saw Index attempting to eat the cakes again. Mikoto had watched the two converse and couldn't help but notice the ease at which the two played off of one another. She tightly clutched her chest, feeling a suffocating emotion she never felt before.

Kiryu was still at the Judgement office, he had finished filling out his paperwork and was now using the Judgement database in an attempt to find information on the Dragon King, and on the boy that helped him years ago.

"Nothing on that boy, I've tried everything in the search engine. I've looked up the ability, I thought maybe he could redirect electricity, or that he was also an electromaster. This search is harder than I thought." Kiryu mused to himself as he stared at his computer monitor.

"The Dragon King is just as bad, or arguably worse. The only thing the database has on him is just that he was a powerful factor among the gangs. Anti-Skill didn't focus on him, mostly due to how useful and cooperative he was. He would keep the gangs in check, and although there was fear that he could easily gather up all the Skill-Outs. Buthe never did so, I wonder what his reasoning was? Either way, I've got nothing."

"Kiryu-kun?" chimed in Konori from her desk on the other side of the room. Kiryu quickly snapped back to reality and turned towards her.

"We got a call about someone needing help over by the underground mall. Some students have been reporting RAID sightings over there, and Anti-Skill wants us to confirm the reports. I need you to go and take a look"

"You mean, all by myself?" he asked nervously, not quite sure in his ability to do so.

"Yeah, I still need to finish these documents, and besides it's a simple job. Worst-case scenario you follow standard procedure and call Anti-Skill." Konori replied without looking at him continuing to fill out the paperwork.

Kiryu was already getting nervous, this being just his second day and he was already being sent out by himself. His face was already showing his doubt in his abilities to complete this task. It was a very simple one, but the possible chance of RAID actually being there made him very nervous.

"Normally, I would send you out with Shirai-san but she's not available at the moment. Although once I finish this, I'll rendezvous with you there and then we can go meet up with the others for your welcome party."

"Calling it a party is a bit much. After all, we're just meeting up for a get-together. But knowing that helps my nerves a bit. Well, wish me luck." Said Kiryu as he opened the door and walked out onto the streets of Academy City.

The rattle of plates constantly moving was a sound that reverberated throughout the cafeteria. Many young girls of Tokiwadai crowded the source of the sounds. One spiky-haired boy and a young nun wearing white habit were more akin to a pack of hyenas eating an animal's carcass as they stuffed their faces full with food.

"Index, stop stealing my chicken! I don't want to deal with eating and protecting my food from you, it ruins the perfect flow I've been building!" yelled Touma as he ate from the wide variety of food being brought to him and Index. Index simply ignored him and continued her onslaught on the table in front of her.

"Those two sure can eat." Said Uiharu as she stood in amazement within the budding crowd and wondering exactly how much those two were consuming.

"It's almost disgusting how much is going into their body." Commented Kuroko with clear distaste on her face. "I can't let these animals get near Onee-sama's performance. They'll taint it with their barbaric behaviour."

"I think that's a bit much. Kamijou-kun did say they didn't eat all day just for this buffet. So, you can't really blame them for eating so much." Replied Saten "Besides my younger brother was kind of similar from what I remember. I think they look funny stuffing their faces. I mean just look at Kamijou-kun, he can barely keep up with Index."

"Say, you were talking an awfully long time with him earlier today. You two kept going back and forth while constantly changing topics. It was hard for me to keep up. How's an introvert like me going to make new friends if you steal my chances with your social skills!" exclaimed Uiharu with a pout. "Even Misaka-san was out of her wits." Uiharu pointed to a table where Misaka was sitting by herself, a blank look on her features as she stared at the boy and nun's crusade on the buffet.

"Sorry about that. I was just having a lot of fun talking with him that I forgot about you guys." Saten replied, scratching the back of her head in mild embarrassment.

"Sounds to me like you developed some interest in this barbarian." Said Kuroko in an obviously sarcastic tone. However, hearing this, the Level 5 woke from her daze and quickly turned her attention towards her friends. Uiharu began to blush slightly at Kuroko's insinuation.

"Interested?" Saten tilted her head in thought. "I guess you may be right. He is more interesting than any of the boys at my school, and he has a certain infectious charm to him. Hmm, I don't know. He is fun to talk to, maybe it's not a bad idea. But I should get to know him some more."

All of the girls were in shock by what Saten had said. "I was just joking, Saten-san. I didn't think you'd actually consider it, especially with a barbarian like him. I know you can do way better than him, isn't that right Onee-sama?" Replied Kuroko as she turned around to see Misaka with a blank, dead-like expression.

"Is she okay?" asked Saten as she pointed towards Misaka. The twin-tailed teleporter ran over to her side and violently shook the girl back and forth.

"Onee-sama, are you okay?! Come back to me!" Cried Kuroko. "I'll have to give you the kiss of life in order to rejuvenate you!"

After a quick zap, Kuroko was down for the count. "S-Sorry, O-Onee-sama. I just couldn't resist." said the twitching mess on the ground.

"Jeez, I just can't even relax for one moment, can I?" said Misaka as she dusted herself off.

"Misaka-san, what do you know about Kamijou-kun?" asked Saten-san. The question made Misaka jump a bit, being caught off guard by the topic relating to her target of affection. But, at that moment, she realized she knew next to nothing about the boy she secretly adored.

"Well…uh. We're not really…that close. So, I don't really...know." She replied with a slight sweat drop coming from her brow.

"Oh really? I assumed that you did since you knew him enough to shout insults at him, but I guess I'll have to find out myself." cheekily finished the dark-haired girl.

The esper lightly twitched at Saten's bold proclamation.

"Wow Saten-san, you seem so mature about this. Could this be…true love?" said Uiharu with a sparkly aura around her. All while Misaka felt as though an arrow had gone through her chest.

"I think that's a bit much. It's not really love, Uiharu. I'm just interested. Who knows, we might just end up being friends. I just want to get to know him more is all, but who knows, maybe?" replied Saten with an unnoticeable blush at the end.

Misaka had a worried face on her as she turned towards where Index and Touma were last seen sitting. However, she only saw Index sitting by herself while still eating. "Where did he go?" she thought to herself as she looked around for him.

"What are you doing, BiriBiri?" asked the sudden voice of Touma as he stood behind the girl who jumped from the unexpected voice in her ear.

"Ahh! Don't sneak up on me like that!" she yelled while trying to recompose herself.

"Uh, okay. I was just interested in what you guys were talking about."

"Nevermind that, you're done eating? You guys really went all out on the food. I don't know if I should be impressed or freaked out by the size of your stomach. Honestly I rather not think about where it all goes." She said.

"Uh, sure. Anyway, are you ok? You seem out of it today, like something is bothering you." Asked Touma with mild concern. Although he had his suspicions, he would rather ask her directly.

Misaka was taken aback about this question, as throughout their past meetings, she had formed a misconception about Touma being someone who was somewhat unaware of his surroundings. "I should be asking you that after last time." She exclaimed as she recalled their last interaction.

Touma tried his best to remember but nothing came to mind. Misaka could tell from his face that he had forgotten about this incident, which served to upset her more. "Are you kidding me? You actually forgot!?" she exclaimed, beginning to release sparks from her bangs. "And here I was actually worried about you, and you show up on a date with some nun with a stomach that might as well be a black hole!"

The boy was taken aback by Misaka's words and actions. "Ok, calm down, will you? I'm sorry and… thanks for worrying about me." Said Touma as he looked away from her abashedly.

Misaka stopped her sparks and took note of Touma's face and words. She began to blush more. "Of course… I was worried, you idiot." She muttered the last part to herself. Touma scratched the back of his head and recomposed himself after taking a deep breath. Touma was going to say something but was interrupted by the sound of other girls gasping. He quickly turned only to see a stack of plates and a crowd surrounding where Index was.

"Oh, come on... I thought I told you to stop eating shortly after me!" said Touma as he ran towards Index leaving Misaka alone with her racing thoughts. She simply stood there and stared at Touma while giving a slight smile. But at the same time, that strange feeling was coming back to her and it grew worse when she saw Saten go over to help Touma deal with the gluttonous Index.

She gave a quiet sigh and simply stared out a nearby window. "Great, now I have to deal with this alongside that stupid recital. Just what's wrong with me today?"

Kiryu was walking down the streets in District 7 towards the Underground Mall. He walked with a stern face and a quick pace. If someone was to see him from a distance it would seem like he was worried about something, and that assumption would be correct. After all, he was told to do a patrol by himself, and given that the last one involved cleaning up after a RAID attack, he was certainly nervous and quite scared about any events that may occur.

"Ah, man. Why me? It's only my second day and I have to go confirm a report about RAID at the underground mall. I really hope this isn't going to be the norm for me from now on." He thought to himself while giving a large sigh, one that attracted some attention from the other students around him.

He would soon arrive at the Underground Mall beginning his descent down the stairs. The Underground Mall was quite the popular spot in Academy City, as many students would go there for basic shopping necessities but also because it was a popular dating spot for many teens.

Kiryu checked his pockets and reviewed the items on his person. A Judgement armband, a flare gun for emergencies, a small Judgment training manual, and his standard flip phone. "You would think that Judgement would be more properly equipped for gangs like RAID. At this point, we're more like a glorified disciplinary committee instead." Thought Kiryu as he slipped on his armband.

He looked around the mall and saw that everything was the same as always. Couples and groups of friends were coming to and from different shops, stands, and restaurants. Kiryu noticed a cleaning robot doing its duty, figuring his next move he walked up to it. He reviewed his training manual and flipped through the pages. Once he found the correct page he gave it a quick overview, before clearing his throat to speak.

"O-okay. This is Judgement Officer 1247, I would like a report on recent activities." Said Kiryu to the cleaning robot. The robot stopped what it was doing and quickly turned towards him. It then printed out a sheet of paper and once Kiryu took the paper, it then returned to cleaning as if nothing happened.

"Oh, wow that actually worked. And here I thought that was just a rumor. Now let's see here." Kiryu began to read the sheet and looked for the RAID reports and where they were located.

"That's not that far from here." He folded the piece of paper and placed it between the pages of his notebook, soon continuing his walk through the mall. He only took two steps when he was stopped by a girl in an apron. She had grabbed his wrist and tugged hard in order to grab his attention.

"Please help! You're with Judgement, right?" she said with a desperate voice. Kiryu was taken by surprise and was shaken for a split second by this action.

"Uh, yeah. Are you okay?" he asked but she shook her head and began to drag him in a certain direction. "W-Wait, tell me what's wrong?" he repeated himself.

"My friend needs help." Said the girl as she continued to drag Kiryu. He noticed that she was trembling and choose to take the lead. He walked past her and quickened his pace.

"Just tell me where." He said as he turned to face her. She quietly nodded her head to the right and the two began to run towards her friend.

They arrived by the bathrooms and the girl lets go of Kiryu's wrist. She attempts to catch her breath as Kiryu steadies his own breathing. "What exactly happened?" he said.

"I work at the flower shop just next to us, and my friend stops by occasionally for a visit. But when he was visiting, some RAID members were in the area and they started bothering me. My friend told them to knock it off, and then the RAID members focused on him instead. The only problem is that my friend is a LVL 0 and they just took him to the bathroom. Please, you have to help him!" Wailed the girl as tears threatened to flow.

Kiryu was taken aback by this. Although Kiryu wasn't afraid of Skill-Out members, his attitude changes when it concerns RAID. He can't get the image of yesterday out of his mind. The wrecked convenient store nor the man that he held in his arms. It put fear in him, the kind of fear that reminded him of two years ago. When he was walking home only to get ambushed by an Esper who wanted to level up quickly by picking fights with those weaker than him.

"I'll contact Anti-Skill. They'll have the manpower to stop this." He said as he reached for the phone in his pocket. But his hand was grabbed by the girl once again. This time she was shaking even more than before.

"You have to save him! Who knows how long it will be until Anti-Skill gets here! We can't waste anymore time. I know I'm asking a lot from you but please, save him!" She let go of Kiryu's hand as the tears in her eyes started to spill. Some bystanders also noticed, but they all continued as if nothing was out of the ordinary, another sensation that Kiryu was familiar with. He steeled his resolve and used his phone to call Anti-Skill.

The phone continued to ring, his laboured breathing being the only other thing he registered in his mind until the line connected. "Anti-Skill hotline, what is your emergency?" said the female operator on the other side of the phone. Kiryu was caught off guard and had to compose himself.

"A-Ah yes, this is Judgement Officer 1247, Kiryu Issei. I'm reporting a confrontation between RAID members and a student. I have a witness claiming that three RAID members are assaulting the student. We are located at the Underground Mall in District 7." His fist was clenched harshly, knuckles turning white as his nails dug into the skin of his palm, the pain being the only thing grounding his nerves to reality. He understood well enough, that only he could help at this moment and that this call only served to weaken his fright.

"Understood. Please stand by for Anti-Skill to arrive on the scene, they should arrive in ten to twenty minutes." Said the operator with the same tone of voice as earlier. Kiryu was disappointed by the ETA but at the same time, relieved. At that moment Kiryu heard sounds from the men's bathroom that sounded like muffled screams. Kiryu almost dropped the phone from shock.

Espers were nothing but trauma in his mind, he was afraid of them. After the incident, he grew into a LVL 3 but he chose to remain there. He realized that Espers didn't want to help one another, with groups like RAID going around and destroying any good image of Espers he had in his mind. The only semblance of respect and hope for them remained with the spikey-haired boy and how he fought with little to no power. He truly wanted to be like him, and he joined Judgement because of people like him. However, he realized that the only thing he wanted to do was run away.

"I would like to… request permission to engage the RAID members." His request came out unsure, voice growing more nervous as the implications of his words started to sink in.

"I'm afraid we can't allow you to do that. You're just a student as well, and we can't let kids like you get hurt. I appreciate what you want to do, but leave this to the adults."

Kiryu nearly complied with the words of the Anti-Skill responder, but the image of that heroic and selfless boy flashed in his mind. The image that served to drive him forward and better himself all this time. He wanted to become as fearless as him and help others without a second thought. While becoming better just like he told him to. He knew what he had to do. So he internally let out a weak sigh, mulling the words he was going to regret saying.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let them keep beating someone while I can easily help stop it before you arrive. I can't just stand by, after all, I'm a member of Judgement. Just like Anti-Skill, others trust us to help and protect them if need be. If I have to disobey orders to protect, then so be it." He said without a second thought.

"Wait-!" Was what came out of the phone but was cut off due to Kiryu hanging up. He looked back at the girl with a small smile. While trembling a bit he gave a thumbs up to her, in an effort to calm her down. After taking a deep breath he walked towards the bathroom door and entered his battlefield.

Once he opened the door, he started to regret his decision. The view that met his eyes was horrifying. The three RAID members were surrounding a boy that seemed slightly older than Kiryu, who was covered in various blood stains and bruises. The sight was surreal for Kiryu, he felt as if he had stepped into a nightmare as his eyes rested on the beaten boy.

The RAID members were all wearing black leather jackets with 'RAID' embroidered on the back. Each one had a certain accessory on them that made them stand out individually. One had a pair of glasses, another a shaved head, while the last one wore a bandanna. The bald-headed one and glasses-wearing members were holding the boy up by his arms, while the bandanna guy was beating him senseless.

"What a pathetic Esper you turned out to be, garbage like you shouldn't even belong here in this city. LVL 0's like you are only good for training dummies. In fact, let me get some practice in real quick." He snapped his fingers and a small blue beam a foot in length came out of his index finger.

"What do you think? Pretty cool, huh? I can create a small lasers from the tips of my fingers, but only one at a time and obviously not very far. Although I can still do some nasty stuff with it, like this." He took out a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket and placed it against the beam coming from his finger. The pack showed no sign of change at first, but soon smoke rose from the pack and a flame quickly burst through the package. The beaten boy's eyes grew frightened at the sight. His body jerked against his two captors in a vain attempt to set himself free.

"No! Please don't do this!" he yelled as he attempted to kick away but he was held back by the other RAID members. The three laughed at his futile attempts and Kiryu shook while watching the scene play out.

"I wonder what would happen if I use this to perform a bit of surgery on you. How long would you last before you started screaming?" The bandanna wearing member began to laugh as he pointed the blue beam towards the boy. The boy began to form tears in his eyes and attempted, in any way possible, to avoid the scorching ray.

"Please, someone! Anyone! Please, help me!" at that moment a phone began to ring. All four looked towards the source of the sound and there they saw a middle-school aged boy simply staring at them with a frantic look on his face. Kiryu quickly reached for his phone and silenced it. The bandanna wearing member stopped his power and turned to face Kiryu.

"What the hell are you looking at, kid!"

Kiryu was taken aback and subconsciously took a step back. This action had caused the members of RAID to notice the Judgement armband that was on Kiryu's left arm. They all began to laugh once again when they realised who exactly this boy was.

"Oh no, guys. Looks like Judgement is here, we better just give up now." Said the glasses-wearing boy as he smirked. "Yeah, I'm just shaking in my shoes." Added the shaved member.

"Hey kid, you better just leave now and forget you saw anything. The last Judgement brat that messed with us got beat so bad, he got sent to the hospital. Now be a good boy scout and go help someone cross the street." Said the bandanna wearing member as he turned his back towards Kiryu.

The nervous boy simply stood there and looked at the group. Every fiber of his being was telling him to leave, that joining Judgement was a mistake, that someone like him could never change. His heart was thumping loudly, and he began to shake. He wanted to turn around and leave. But instead, he moved his body towards them. Kiryu was confused himself. He was scared. He wanted to run. But his body was going against him as if it knew what to do. At that moment, Kiryu remembered the look of the girl that brought him here and the look of fear on the boy who was about to get burned. That look of despair was burned into his mind. He was scared but he knew he could never forgive himself if he ran away. After all, he wanted to better himself and follow his hero.

He took another step forward.

"So, the boy scout just won't listen to us. I guess I don't mind another practice dummy, but don't say we didn't warn you!" yelled the bandanna wearing member as he charged forward towards him.

Kiryu reflexively brought up his arms in defense and prepared himself for the attack. However, this action left him open from below as the bandanna wearing member give a quick low kick to Kiryu's knee, which caused him to drop his guard and quickly received a punch to the left side of his face.

"I'm making mistakes. Judgement taught me better than this. They taught me basic aikido for self-defense, but they honestly never really expect us to actually handle situations like this. Anti-Skill deals with criminals, we deal with missing books or lost cats. Judgement is a group of teacher's pets, just what I am doing?" thought Kiryu as he fell to the floor. He caught himself on a nearby sink. The sudden weight caused the sink to break off from the wall and lean downward.

"Should've walked away, when you had the chance Judgement boy. Now you have no one to blame but yourself." Said the bandanna wearing thug as he gave a kick to Kiryu's midsection causing him to let go of the sink and grovel on the floor, holding his stomach in pain. The RAID members surrounded Kiryu and began stomping on him.

The pain was overwhelming for him, as the stomps become too much to bear. He regretted attempting to save this student. He regretted ever joining Judgement, most of all, he regretted being so weak. At that moment Kiryu looked towards the student and saw the fear in his face. The fear when all hope was lost, a face that Kiryu knew too well.

"What am I doing?. Why am I on the floor taking this? I'm here to save that guy, aren't I? If I don't save him now, then who will? No, I have to be better, I need to stop this fear in me. It doesn't matter if I can't do it, but I have to try anyway!" Kiryu clenched his fist and felt how wet his hands were. It wasn't with blood but instead with water. Kiryu noticed that the sink pipes were broken, and water was leaking out onto his body and the floor below It was meaningless to anyone else, even more humiliating in the eyes of the RAID thugs, but to Kiryu, this was an opportunity.

The glasses-wearing thug had fallen on his back once he had lifted his shoe for another stomp. It felt as if someone had swept his leg, and soon the bald-headed thug had fallen as well. The bandana-wearing thug was the only standing and he had noticed what was the cause of the others fall. A small sheet of ice formed underneath their feet and with all their weight on one foot, it was only a matter of time until they fell

The bandanna-wearing thug's foot was already in the air and was swiftly coming down to Kiryu's body. The ice had caused him worry, but it only served to distract him for a moment so Kiryu could grab hold of his leg.

"People like you make me sick." He uttered those words when he caught the thug's foot and began to rise back up. "It's people like you that make others feel fear, that make them feel weak, that make them feel like they're helpless souls that no one cares about!"

The thugs stopped to stare, shocked at the boy's newfound courage. The bandanna-wearing thug was attempting to get his foot out of the boy's grip, but it was surprisingly strong. Then he slowly felt his ankle grow colder in the boy's grip.

"People slowly start to give up! They start doing whatever it takes to get strong, or even escape their helpless lives! Have you ever felt weak at all!? Or do your minds not register the damage and pain you cause to people weaker than you?! Espers like you make me wish I wasn't one, but now I realize that I have to use what I have to inspire hope in others. I won't just stay on the sidelines when someone needs help from scum like you. I will stop you no matter what, so you can never hurt these people ever again! That's what Judgement means to me!" He yelled at the RAID members, as the thug he had in his grip slowly found his foot enveloped in ice.

"Let me go, you bastard!" yelled the thug as he activated his power on his fingertip, directing it towards Kiryu. The boy simply let go of the boot and swept the thug's other leg. The sudden action caused the thug to hit his head on the sink to his left. Leaving him bleeding on the floor. The other two thugs had carefully risen back up and began to attack the cryokinetic esper. The glasses-wearing thug gave a swift kick aimed towards Kiryu's head who narrowly ducked under it and quickly moved forward to grab the thug by his jacket's collar, using his weight to tug the man to the ground.

The bald-headed one quickly seized the opportunity and swung his fist towards Kiryu, but the boy saw the attempt at his head and rolled backwards away from the baldie. They both stared each other down and gave quick glances towards their back. Behind Kiryu was the student he had come to save, and behind the thug were his companions and the door out.

Kiryu was attempting to read the thug's next move while counting down the minutes until Anti-Skill arrived. The glasses-wearing thug got back up and moved towards the bandanna wearer. He supported the other back to his feet against his wishes.

"THIS FUCKING PUNK IS DEAD MEAT. I DON'T CARE ABOUT HOW MUCH FUCKING NOISE WE MAKE!" yelled the bandanna wearer as blood dripped down his temple. The other two began to smirk deviously and reached for their jacket pockets. The bald-headed one revealed a brass knuckle, that once he slipped on, began to refract the light around it. The bandanna-wearing one revealing a simple laser pointer that could be found anywhere.

Kiryu was on his guard taking note of their tools, and coming to the conclusion they're a means to use their Esper abilities more efficiently. He looked around and noticed the amount of water that was building up on the floor. However, any plan that Kiryu was attempting to form in his mind was quickly put aside, as the bald-headed thug dashed towards him and swung a right hook with the knuckleduster. Kiryu quickly sidestepped to his right and barely avoided the brass knuckle to his face. He could tell a tremendous amount of heat was radiating from the thugs hand, feeling it as he dodged.

Then a sudden shock of pain hit Kiryu's right arm. He gave a grunt, finding the attack came from the bandanna guy and his laser pointer. But before Kiryu could even gather his thoughts the bald-headed thug swung once again. Once again Kiryu dodged only to get burned by the laser wielder, this time on the side of his calf which caused him to fall onto his knee.

The pain distracted Kiryu from the oncoming thug and his heated brass knuckles, receiving a grazing punch to his forehead which now burned and started to bleed slightly. The boy kicked himself back, steadying himself with a hand on the ground, finding his hand grow wet as he was reminded of the pooling water beneath them. "If I can freeze the water under them, I could trap them. I have to do this quicker than ever before." He weighed his options, and struck.

He quickly flicked droplets of water towards the glasses-wearing thug coming towards him. The thug thought nothing of this action until the droplets of water struck him in the face. He winced as the frozen droplets cracked his lenses, allowing Kiryu a chance to get onto his feet and kick the boy in the side of the head. He needed time to unleash his trump card. Yet, a punch still hit Kiryu's midsection when the thug regained his senses. The punch made the boy stumble due to the injury on his leg, making his attempts to back off even harder.

However, he wasn't given a chance to rest as the member with the brass knuckles charged him once again. Predicting his attack, Kiryu grabbed him by the collar and forced him onto his shoulder, where he used the momentum of his punch to throw the burly man into one of the stalls. The sheer weight of the thug caused a loud slam in the room as he crashed through the stall door and against one of the toilets inside. The bald thug was down for the count. The two remaining thugs were in disbelief at how easily they had lost one of their own.

Kiryu began to pant hard and was attempting to catch his breath as the others were distracted by the fall of their comrade. However, this small break was short-lived as another burn hit Kiryu's leg. The bandanna-wearing thug had begun to shoot with great anger, forgetting to maintain distance between them as he stepped closer to aim his shots.

One after the other, beams shallowly pierced Kiryu's body. The pain was beginning to affect him as his body continued to weaken. "I need to get out of this barrage. I need to turn the tides." He took in his surroundings and made a dive towards one of the open stalls. Kiryu almost hit his head on the toilet seat as he made the dive, but as luck would have it that didn't happen.

He quickly got back up and caught his breath once again. "I need to find a way to stop his lasers from hitting me. Every hit slows me down and I can't get in close. I need something to help me." He thought fast, then his eyes caught sight of something. "I guess I can't complain"he grimaced at his next action.

The bandanna-wearing thug was getting impatient with Kiryu, forgoing the safety of his ranged attacks and coming after the boy in the stall. "You know Judgement, you might have given us a hard time, but yours is up." He said as he readied his laser pointer and beginning to increase the voltage in order to make the next shot really hurt. He grinned at the thought of making the shitty boy scout give in.

The thug turned towards the entrance of the stall to zap Kiryu when suddenly an object hit him square in the face. It was a frozen roll of toilet paper that Kiryu utilized the water from the toilet bowl to freeze. What would be a soft, harmless object turned into the equivalent of a rock which had just struck the thug in the face. The thug had fallen onto his back once again, his forehead adding to the blood-stream seeping down his temple from the hit before. He was out just like his bald friend.

Kiryu had slowly walked out of the stall with wrapped paper on his right fist. All of his injuries were catching up to him, but he had taken out two of three thugs. The only one remaining was the glasses-wearing thug, who was still suffering from the kick to the head. The RAID member took his cracked and broken glasses off his face, cracking them under his foot as a smirk graced his face.

"Hahaha! So, it is true! If we push ourselves to the limit, we can see reality in a new light. It's just as Jack-san said, I thought it was all bullshit this whole time." He said to himself, pointing to Kiryu a moment later. "But you're proof it can work! I bet you barely used your powers beforehand and simply hit a wall with your progress. So, you chose to join Judgement to level up, didn't you?"

Kiryu slowly walked up to the thug despite his injuries. "I never cared about my level or my powers. All I wanted was to better myself as a person so stop assuming you know me. All I want is to stop people like you from hurting others. I just want to be like my hero, someone you people could never understand." He spat as he continued to walk.

"Shit, another fan. I should've known you're just another damned Dragon Fan. You and Jack-san are more similar than I thought. You guys follow an ideal that no one else can. But let's end this, kid." Said the thug as he entered his stance and readied his fists.

Kiryu weakly readied his own stance as he faced the thug. The two stared at each other as if they had entered a western movie. Their badly beaten bodies were going to end it in this final confrontation. The finale was upon them.

The jacketed man chambered a fist and thrusted it at Kiryu. Kiryu swung his own fist towards the balled up hand of the thug. He felt no fear, he was confident in his abilities. He knew he could control his Esper ability well enough to defeat this guy, he knew it. Because he had no other choice. So he froze the wet roll of paper on his right fist. The burn of the sheer drop in temperature around his fist keeping him focused.

Kiryu's fist made contact with the thugs fist. The impact made them both wince from the strike, the thug taking a step back to handle his bruised knuckles which sustained worse damage. Some ice got onto his hand, seemingly spreading from the boy's fist and trying to encase it in ice.

The thug raised his hands and let the ice melt off his bruised knuckles. His hands were beginning to glow a faint red colour at his action.

"Thermal Hand?" asked Kiryu.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Gruffly replied the man.

"Oh nothing, just looked familiar." The boy then made an attempt to swipe at the thug, gaping in surprise when the thug bent over and dodged by tackling the boy in the gut.

Kiryu gasped for air when he hit the ground, the thug mounting his stomach and taking hold of his throat with his scalding hand, drawing a weak scream from the downed boy who desperately tried to get the heavier man off of him. "Die, you little shit!"

Quickly losing air, Kiryu dryly gasped for air. He swung his frozen hand against the thugs head, breaking the slab of ice against his temple, giving the boy a chance to throw the thug off of him when he raised his hands to nurse his head.

Kiryu coughed violently for air, imprints of fingers on his neck burning painfully. He then stood up, weakly finding his footing as he faced the thug crouched in pain on the wet floor.

The RAID member looked up at the boy, gripping one of the stall doors to try and stand up but Kiryu followed up and landed a strong right hook at the thug's face slamming him towards the stall door and finally knocking him out. The long fight was over for Kiryu and despite all odds, beaten and bruised, singed and wet, stood victorious.

He turned towards the student who was sitting by the opposite wall still covered in bruises and blood. The student was on the verge of tears, too frightened all this time to even move from his spot. "Thank you. Thank you." was all he said in between budding sobs. Kiryu gave him a smile and a weak thumbs up, only to jump out of his skin a moment later once the door to the bathroom got kicked in.

"Anti-Skill!" yelled the leader of the squad of five armored people that entered the room. Both Kiryu and the student were frightened by their entrance but soon the armoured personnel blocked off the exit and assumed various positions around the room. Kiryu quickly gave a salute to them despite the pain he was in.

"Kiryu Issei, reporting in. Judgement member twelve forty-seven…" he didn't get to finish his statement as the exhaustion from fighting three men and receiving multiple injuries for his trouble finally caught up to him, falling unconscious a moment later. Luckily, an Anti-Skill member caught him before he hit the floor. The Anti-Skill removed her helmet and revealed her long black ponytail and beautiful facial features.

"Geez, I don't know if I should reprimand him or praise him. I guess I'll figure it out after he wakes up." said Yomikawa Aiho.

Misaka had finished changing into her white dress with a blue flower hairband on the side. Her heart was thumping hard and heavy due to nervousness. "I really don't want to do this dumb recital. It's so stupid why do I have to do it, and that idiot is out there flirting with Saten-san and that nun. I can't believe I was actually worried about him, and after he asked me what I thought about him. Maybe, he was actually…" Misaka's face turned red at the thought of Touma potentially trying to ask her out that day. She quickly shook her head to get her thoughts back on track.

She took a deep breath and got her thoughts in order as she took a look through the window, her eyes catching a random couple passing by outside of the room she was changing in. "Why is Saten-san so interested in an idiot like him? He's a good-for-nothing punk, who charges ahead without ever thinking things through, he's brash and rude, he's cool and heroi- Why do I even care!?" she shouted to herself as she walked towards the door. She sighed and took another deep breath in order to calm her nerves.

She walked out the door and was soon met with the praise of her admirers. It would normally be a lot for a young middle schooler, but for Misaka Mikoto it was normal everyday business, here in Tokiwadai. "These shoes are hard to walk in..." she muttered to herself.

Touma was walking towards the stage of Misaka's recital alongside Index and Saten. "Touma! I still wanted to eat more food!" cried Index as she continued to eat from what seemed to be a popcorn container.

"Oh my god, please just stop. Others need to eat too, I thought we've talked about this Index. You can't keep doing this." Lamented Touma as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Saten could only give a troubled smile as she had no context or understanding of Touma's and Index's true relationship.

"But Touma, I want to eat more so you can eat at home knowing that I'm full!" she cried out. Touma stopping in his tracks when he heard her confession. "I know you go without meals for me, Touma. I don't want you to go without food because of me. I know I eat a lot so I want to eat a lot so you can get food too."

Touma frowned unnoticeably, softly whispering under his breath "God damn it, why worry about me?" he quickly turned around and gave a swift chop to Index's head. She put both her hands to cover her head with one of her trademark pouts and puppy dog eyes. "You dummy, I've been eating on the side. Why would I eat at home when I can eat much better food outside?" said Touma in a weirdly show-offish manner which he followed up by a shameless guffaw.

"Ehh! Touma, and here I was worried about your well-being! That's it I'm raiding the fridge for your pudding." Exclaimed the angered Index as she walked past him and towards Uiharu and Kuroko. Touma simply sighed, a disheartened and sad look in his eyes. It didn't escape Saten's notice as she gave a light smile to this new person she met.

Then she began to giggle to herself. "What are you laughing about?" asked Touma, tilting his head in wonder.

"Nothing, it's just you're so interesting. You're a really nice person too, you know that?." She said with a smile. Touma recoiled a bit during her last statement, it fueled some memories he would rather forget about. Memories of a cycle he didn't want to repeat. A certain girl would be recalled alongside words and details such as long hair, cute, "nice person", blood, and death.

"I know this might be sudden, but…" Saten began to lightly blush and stopped her rushing words. She got nervous all too suddenly but quickly regained her thoughts. "I was wondering if you wanted to…" she stopped once again.

"Just say it! It's so easy! Why am I getting so nervous?"

"If you wanted to, go on a d-date with me?" She asked meekly. It was quite a contrast compared to earlier in the day when she seemed quite mature and outgoing for her age, for Touma at least. Thus, it wasn't a surprise that Touma would find himself blushing at what was said. He scratched the back of his head and gave a quick sigh.

Her heart nearly stopped at his reaction. But her worries were quickly silenced by his next words.

"Uh, sure. I don't mind." He said his words rather softly. Looking to the side in an attempt to avoid the girl's gaze. However, his eyes suddenly grew wide when he saw a flash of long blond hair. He blinked and the sight was gone, he pried his eyes off his search when he turned back to see Saten doing a little cutesy dance. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, finding himself nearly laughing at the girl

"We should probably exchange numbers, right?"

Saten quickly stopped her dance and pulled out her phone from her pocket. "Yeah, you're right. Ehehe, I guess I got too excited there." She said, blushing at her embarrassing actions.

Touma shook his head with a smile, reaching for his phone but finding that it was missing. Touma's eyes widened and he checked again in his other pocket. The same result as before and now he had realized he was missing his wallet as well.

"Oh, come on! You've got to be shitting me!" he thought to himself as he furiously checked his pockets like a mad man. Saten was beginning to worry as Touma repeatedly checked his pockets as if something was wrong.

"Did you lose your phone?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. Touma simply nodded his head 'Yes' dejected from the lack of finding in his pockets. "I'll check the buffet area then." Saten was beginning to jog when Touma stopped her.

"I, well- I also lost my wallet." He muttered with his head down. Saten looked rather amused by his bad luck, trying to hold back her laughter and only causing him to lower his head even more.

"O-Okay I'll keep an...hehe... eye out." She said between her held back laughter. She slowly walked away and once she was out of sight, she let out a hearty laugh. Touma was left to furiously scratch at his scalp in annoyance.

He began to look around the stage and chairs that were set up in the small open field in the school. He looked around and under the chairs. He knew it couldn't be under there, but he still had to be sure. He was even looking around the backstage area, with similar luck, none. While searching, he overheard a conversation between Kuroko and Uiharu with Index silently, yet still frustratedly, eating her popcorn at the side.

"Eh, senpai isn't coming?" asked the surprised Uiharu.

"Nope, apparently our newest recruit has gotten himself in some trouble with RAID and has ended up in the hospital. Konori-senpai has gone to check up on him." Replied Kuroko as she reviewed her phone on the report that was made on the incident. She sighed as she put away her phone in her pocket. "I swear it's only been two days since he started and he's already trying to be a hero. He should learn some restraint. I guess once I actually meet him, I'll get to beat it into his head."

"Reminds me of a certain someone who got involved with a bank robbery when they first started." Said Uiharu as she laughed to herself. Kuroko twitched a bit and began to comically sweat nervously.

"...I wonder who that was..." she laughed it off nervously.

"But I hope Kiryu-san is okay. He seemed quite… meek to me." Said Uiharu as she began to make a worried face.

Touma's ear twitched when he heard the name. "Kiryu? Who the hell is that? I don't remember him from the series. Is this a retcon, or an OC? Wait, am I in a fanfic? Oh god, let me out!" He thought frantically as he began to look around his surroundings as if waiting for the punchline or the camera to reveal he's been pranked. At this point, he wouldn't be surprised if this was a simulation with small bits of code glitching in the environment.

"What are you doing here?"

"Geh-!" He nearly bolted it for the gate, but quickly realised who was talking to him.

Misaka stood there with her hands on her hips, although she looked quite flushed upon Touma's sudden appearance. After all, she was too worried about her performance to notice a wild Kamijou sneaking around. Touma quickly regained his posture and calmed himself down once he realized Misaka was there.

"Oh, I was looking for my phone and wallet. I lost them somehow and I'm looking high and low for them." Touma said in a very straightforward manner. Misaka simply sighed while closing her eyes to block out the oncoming headache.

"Whatever, I don't have time for idiocy right now. So, shoo go away. You're not supposed to be back here anyway." She said while motioning Touma to leave as if he was a dog. An odd snapping sound came from Touma's temple as his anger rose.

Touma opened his mouth to say something but he opted not to, knowing it would only turn into something troublesome. "You know I'm just going to let that go. I'm not in the mood for your child-like antics right now. Now if you excuse me BiriBiri, I have to find my stuff." Said Touma as he began to walk away.

"A child? Biribiri?! I thought I told you to stop calling me that!" she yelled as she threw out a quick bolt of lightning at him. Touma quickly reacted and blocked it with his right hand. "AH! I KNEW YOU CAME HERE TO MAKE FUN OF ME!" she followed up her lightning with a chair that was set next to her. Touma, realising the potential danger to his health and the rising figures in his hospital bill, quickly backed off a good distance away.

"And here I thought you looked cute in that dress! Then you go and pull some cliché trope like getting angry and threatening bodily harm on this poor Kamijou!" yelled Touma as he pointed at Misaka. However, Misaka tuned out the rest of his ramble once the word "cute" registered in her heated brain. She blushed madly and instinctively threw the folding chair at Touma. He ran away cursing his luck quite predictably.

Misaka was red in the face and panting quite hard. She took a few deep breaths in order to calm down quickly finding herself rid of any stage fright she might have had. She was quite confused as to why, but she didn't ponder too hard about the reason. She simply brushed herself off and picked up her violin, turning towards the stage to begin a beautiful performance.

A young boy was running through the dark alleys of Academy City. He was unassuming in appearance, but he was carrying bad news. He ran towards what would be assumed to be an abandoned warehouse. Complete with dingy walls and broken windows. He ran for a good while after being greeted with the news of his RAID senpai's arrest.

"JACK-SAN! JACK-SAN! WE HAVE PROBLEMS!" yelled the young member as he opened the door to the warehouse. He was surprised to find the place empty, but he didn't have to think long of the reasons. He walked towards the middle of the warehouse, where a desk and chair were the lone décor. There sat a young boy with smooth bronze skin and medium length dreadlocks ending in a ponytail. He was a well-kept person and seemingly didn't fit in the worn-down environment of the warehouse.

If he went out in public no one would think that this well-kept, good-looking boy was the leader of RAID. Reggie Jackson, a foreign exchange student from the United States, who was only fifteen years old, yet held a sense of maturity to him. He noticed the young member running towards him and he put down the book he was reading.

"Jack-san! Some of the senpai's were arrested!" said the young member in a hurried fashion. The other members would call Reggie "Jack-san" from his last name. Some thought it would be strange to call him Jackson-san, and thus from laziness, the nickname was born.

"I know." Said Reggie with a calm and dull expression on his face. "Those three idiots brought too much attention to us anyway. It's bad enough they attacked that convince store the other day. They were getting too uppity with us. I'm not wasting resources on fools like those."

The young member was shocked by this statement as Reggie would often refer to RAID as his family, so his words placed a seed of doubt in the young member's mind as to the true feelings of their leader. Thus, the young lad was taken aback by Reggie's declaration that he would offer no support.

"Besides, I finally found him." Said Reggie as a grin slowly crept onto his face, scaring the young recruit. The smile was creepy, bordering on insane, as it only grew larger. It was a smile that, no one who knew the boy would expect to see on his usually calm face.

"The Dragon King. I finally found him. The person who set me down this path of mine. I grew stronger from my encounter with him." The boy stood and turned his back to the recruit. " You see, I used to be a part of a small-time gang that would often fight with Skill-Out. One night, he showed up and beat us all down, saying something about having fun while levelling up."

At this point the young member was getting scared of the tone Reggie's voice was taking. It shook and quivered, excitement rising within it. The young member slowly took a step back. "I thought to myself, I want to be exactly like that. Doing whatever it takes to become strong and throwing myself headfirst into danger. After all, this city respects strength above all else. If people are willing to fight the Number One ranked Level 5 in order to get strong, then we all might as well follow in their lead and get stronger." Reggie finished his words with an outstretched hand towards the sky, as if he was trying to grab something.

"Now then!" He turned around, his crazed expression boring holes into the recruit. "Find him and bring him here! I don't care how! Kidnap his girl, burn his house down, steal his food, hell, beat his friends as long he comes here. And when he does I'll beat him and take his title from him!" He exclaimed loudly, his excitement reaching an all time high as his arms suddenly burst into flames. The scared and confused member quickly turned to run from the boy. Behind him, only a trail of maniacal laughter could be heard.

Index and Touma began walking home after the event. Sadly, the boy couldn't locate his phone or his wallet. Saten not having much luck herself searching the buffet area. In the end, he received a small scrap of paper with her number on it, a cutesy drawing of a spiky-haired smiley at the end of it.

He pocketed the paper, but suddenly he sneezed, drawing the attention of his compatriot.

"Touma, are you ok?" Asked the nun as she stuffed her face with an ice-cream cone.

Truthfully Touma always hated that question, as he was never sure of the answer himself, he was always tempted to say no. He felt pretty sure that he was never ok.

"Honestly, I don't know Index. I feel lost."

And that's it folks, thanks for sticking with me and my horrible update times. Huge shout outs to healthcare for being my friend and checking out the story. And HUGE shout out to Ursa MJR for whipping this chapter (and my fragile ego) into shape. It seems the time gaps made me weak, i shall return stronger! Anyway, once again for the long wait but real life always throws me for loop with university, and work, all these new games, and anime, and... actually i just get distracted easily.

Well, I'll see you guys next time on Chapter 8: Influences

From your local (always late) Meme Devil