italics - thoughts
Bold - Emphasis
Italics Bold - Magic names or titles
"normal" - speech
" underlined bold " - Mental transmissions
Underlined - Flashback/ Timeskips
{Bold}- Magic spells or abilities
Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create
Chapter 15: The end of a god.
"Ka ka ka!"
"Shut it, you old geezer!"
Percival was hanging on for dear life as he rode the rocket. As planned, High Priest had been captured, and was being forcefully departed by said rocket into outer space, where he would be unable to hurt anyone for years to come.
...At least, that was the plan.
When Touma's luck is involved, you can never count on luck to help you out, huh. Percival sighed inwardly. Well, it's not like I am unhappy about this arrangement, though.
The rocket which Percival had just launched using combination of fuel he made, electrical propulsion, and a large earth wall being erected suddenly at the moment of the explosion did not have nearly enough power to launch High Priest into space. Because of him hitching a ride to around 3-quarters of the distance from space and the ground, this resulted in the expected distance for the rocket to go to be reduced. Also, because the rocket was to not explode until Percival was a safe distance away, he had to use his electrical powers to keep the rocket intact, while clinging onto its side like a certain spandex-wearing red and blue hero.
Already, he was down to 5 fuel capsules. He could not afford to make more. Not when he was fully focused on keeping himself onto the rocket long enough that they were high up in the stratosphere.
Then, speaking out loud, he said. "This is a message intended for the individual named Kihara Noukan. Please meet up with me after you do what you must. We need to talk."
"Ho?" High Priest smirked. "Have you gone delirious, little boy? Perhaps, with madness?"
"Not really, no." Percival gave a knowing smile towards the old man. He had lost his golden blade sometime during the launching. "This is a wish of mine. A request, rather. If he responds, well, that's great. If he doesn't, well, there is plan B. But that plan is too long. This world is about to descend into organised chaos, and I intend to help with the reduction of casualties."
"Ho ho." High Priest smiled in response. "You are similar to Kamijou Touma to a certain extent. Perhaps you would have done well as our Scorer as well, young one."
"Not really."
"...Do tell. What makes you so different from the rest?" High Priest suddenly asked. Percival looked down. Looks like we are pretty high up. He listened to High Priest as he inserted yet another capsule. Three left. "Your mana and your aura...they do not resemble that of a typical magician."
"...You wish to know?" Two left.
"Yes."
Percival was hesitant in speaking. Not only because he knew what was coming, but because if he did, he would be putting himself in the scopes of any Kihara in Academy city. The danger far outweighed the benefits of him telling High Priest. Overly so. But...
A dying man's last wish then. "I come from-"
The wind blew harshly in everyone's ears. Percival's voice could not be heard, but his mouth was moving.
High Priest laughed. "I see! So that is what makes you so different!"
"Goodbye then, old man High Priest." Percival waved his hand at his captive, before he released his grip. "It's the afterlife for you."
"Pah!" High Priest scoffed. As it was, they were now getting further away from one another. "You can't kill me."
"Not me." Percival's voice could be barely heard, but High Priest was able to discern his words. "Someone you know."
"Wha-"
*Boom!* *Slink*
Two sounds were made in that lonely sky. Only one could be heard in High Priest's ears.
Numbly, he looked towards his chest. A long drill of tungsten had pierced the center of his body. It had gone through the engine he had been strapped to, blew it up, and skewered his chest like a piece of meat. As he looked at the tip that was protruding through his chest, he could feel his very being being destroyed.
"This is a message from the ghost named Aleister."
The weapon, the special steel drill, tore through the High Priest's giant form and its rotation produced and extremely high-speed and systematic fluctuation. Not only did it bring about the High Priest's death, but it created waveforms which were converted into words to convey someone's will directly to the High Priest's body rather than through the vibrations of his eardrums.
"Do you remember the life that was taken by destiny as if to smash the childish gears of a desire to make the world a better place and to save every last member of the human race? Do you remember my daughter's name?"
The mummy High Priest received that will and his body was still pierced down the center.
Oddly, what he remembered was not the daughter's name, but the "ghost" who had created that situation.
That ghost had been a coldhearted pragmatist and yet went on the passionate rampages of a madman. Even as he cursed the imperfections of mankind, he had married a woman.
Even as he rejected human emotion as impure, he had kept a journal. Even as an expert who had mastered magic, he had shown interest in the path of science. And even as he had determined he would need to fill so many boys and girls with chemicals, he had left a transparent tearstain in his journal on the day his own daughter had died. That "human" was the king of man who had rejected becoming a god of magic. He had seen meaning in that and had chosen to remain in the same realm as his family without giving up on anything.
"...I see..." High Priest would have muttered this if he had the time. Percival's words made sense to him now.
"Goodbye then, old man High Priest. It's the afterlife for you."
"Not me. Someone you know."
His last thoughts were of the ghost that had killed him, before he was ripped to shreds by the combination of the rocket exploding, the tungsten drill fragmenting in his body, and the wind pressure from the rocket exploding with the force of a thousand fireworks.
Back below. Far below the exploding rocket, a golden retriever hovered in the air, surrounded by countless rockets and pieces of tech that served multiple functions. A skinny arm unrelated to all of the weaponry loaded on that metal unit surrounding the dog extended, placing a cigarette in the dog's mouth and lighting it.
"...Message received, Percival Yurei." The golden retriever, now identified as Kihara Noukan, muttered. "We shall talk at a later date. As for right now," The golden retriever jumped off the building he was on, the large equipment he was wearing following him as he moved. "I have a meeting scheduled with two certain magic gods."
Somewhere in academy city...
It was a very nice day in Academy City. Other than the scorching sun in the sky, it was a very good day for a person to have a picnic.
Several students were actually having a picnic in the side of a riverbank, while others lounged in the sun. All was peaceful, until-
*Bish!*
A large fountain of water appeared! Students started to panic, not having expected this large amount of water to be suddenly shot into the air.
Actually, Percival had smashed into the waters with the force of a bomb dropped during WW2. The surrounding waters was brought up into a large wave, crashing against the sides and dousing it with water, before it receded back into the canal. The few students who were lounging on the sides caught unawares were also drenched, spluttering for air by the sudden douse of cold water.
Amidst the chaos that ensued, a soaking boy appeared from its depths like something out of a horror movie, a metallic shield strapped to his arm.
"...Well, that was shit-tastic." He muttered under his breath sarcastically. "Even though I used {Durability} to reduce the damage I would get from falling nearly 85 kilometres, and -ow- using mud to soften the impact, plus my electrical abilities to slow down my fall, I still ended up with -ow-, a broken bone."
Nursing his bruised ribs with his left hand, Percival tapped into the gem in his shield. Its surface rippled, before it spat out a phone. Limping, he made his way to behind a large building, before he rested against it's side.
He pressed a number and placed it against his ear. The dial tone rang for a few seconds, before it ended. "Hello~?" A female voice rang out.
"It's me, Niang-Niang." Percival winced as he shifted his weight. By now, a few sirens could be heard. The large spout of water from earlier was bound to have attracted needless amount of attention.
"Oooh! Percival Yurei-kun!" Niang-Niang's overly excited voice resounded dully in his ears. "Are we meeting now?"
"Yeah. Come to this location." As Percival told her the location, he knew he had to move fast. For various reasons. "We need to have a small chat on a few things."
After Mikoto managed to get the entire group back to a reasonable degree of awareness, they decided to make their way to the Kuroko's workplace, seeing as it was a branch that was not very frequently approached. However-
"..."
"..."
"..."
Silence was enveloping the entire Judgement Office branch 177. All of them were just sitting there, heavy expressions on their face. Despite the number of people around, it was dead silent. If one ignored the occasional shout and talking outside, the office could have been mistaken for a ghost house. Ruiko tried to break the silence first.
"H-hey, Konori-san", she stuttered. "Do you have any of those doughnuts left?"
"Hm?" Konori replied, albeit distracted at first. "A-ah, yeah. They are in the fridge. Let me get the-."
"KAMIJOU" A sudden roar shocked everyone out of their current state. The door burst open, revealing-
"Aogami?" Touma leapt up from his seat, shock clearly on his features. "Why are you here?"
"Tsk tsk tsk," Aogami waved his finger. "The right question should be: 'How are you here?'.And the answer to that is because I found you with my Kami-disease sensor! And to answer your earlier question..." Aogami jumped at Touma. "It's for DIVINE RETRIBUTION!"
"Get off me you maniac!" Touma attempted to fend off the craze blue-haired boy, to no avail.
"Nyah~ You deserve that Kami-yan~" A familiar blonde-haired boy's voice drawled through the air. "After all, you got an ojou-sama as your girlfriend."
"Oi! Tsuchimikado!" Touma managed to pin Aogami down long enough for him to shout at Motoharu. "How did you know that?! Or rather, did you say that on purpose to get this idiot here to attack me!?"
"Nah, that was all Aogami." Motoharu frowned for a bit. "But how he managed to get that guess of his spot on is beyond me...you awakened something terrible in him, Kami-yan~"
"Never mind that, get this pervert off of me!" Touma sent a few kicks at Aogami, further pushing the downed pervert into the floor.
"I'd rather not." Motoharu's smile pissed Touma off. "Maika would be angry with me if I did something like interrupt a fight, so I'm staying out of this."
"Ah~ Maika is such an angel." Aogami stopped his attempts at attacking Touma for a moment. "She offered to help clean my room just last week, as well as give me some food for the next day." Touma took this chance to give a strong elbow, forcing Aogami off of him for that moment.
"What?!" Motoharu's sunglasses glinted as he stared at the blue haired pervert. "You stay away from my sister you pervert!"
"Who, me?" Aogami scoffed as he adjusted his posture, allowing him to pin down Touma. Sometime during the conversation, their positions had become reversed, with Aogami sitting on Touma's back and pulling his legs up. "If anything, you are the pervert, Sis-con Sergeant!"
""NO, ITS YOU!"" Twin yells echoed in the small office as Motoharu jumped into the fray in anger. The three of them fought so hard and vigorously, they became a cloud of dust.
"Maika's innocence is at stake here! I am not allowing someone who is a pervert to be near her!" The sound of a fist hitting flesh could be heard.
"You can't label me as a pervert!" The dust intensity grew. "I just love any girl from any genre, from 2-D to 3-D, to catgirls, dog girls, mermaids, zombie girls, cyborgs, witches, slime girls, elves, lolitas, big breast, small breast, no breast, futanari, tentacle girl, ghost girl, dark elf, vampires, dragon girls, yanderes, tsunderes, kuuderes(1), danderes(2), maid-san, priestess, nuns, holy women, angels, devils, clones, monster girls, little sister, big sister, divorced wife, recently married mother, widowed mother, gluttons, sadists, masochists, and muscle girls!"
"You're not helping your case!" Touma's voice could be heard clearly, despite the ruckus the trio were making. "Someone, arrest this man! He is a true, honest-to goodness, pervert who would not think twice about marrying underage girls!"
"Even I draw the line at that, Kamijou!"
"Well, would you do it if she was 12 years old, but gave you the 'Onii-chan, will you marry me?' talk!?"
"Maaaaayybeee..."
"See? See? Officer-san, arrest this man!"
"Nyah~ You can argue all you want, but sisters are the best, even more so if they are adopted ones! Its legal in the eyes of the law!"
""Screw you, Sis-con Sergeant/ Nyah-Nyah bastard!"" Twin voices refuted Motoharu at the same time.
"At least have a respectable preference which is attainable, like a Dorm-manager onee-san!"
"Yeah! What Kamijou said!"
As this was going on, all the girls in, the room plus one boy, were watching this unfold with wide eyes and gaping mouths.
""...Ehhhhh...?""
"This...I can't even..." Informant sat down heavily. "This is soo stupid, yet interesting at the same time."
"Yeah." Kuroko found herself agreeing with Informant's line of thought. "Even though I despise the ape, this sort of conversation sort of just...draws you in if you are interested in it. Hey, you!" She cut herself off, instead shouting and pointing at Informant.
"?" Informant titled his head, a doughnut in his mouth. He looked around him, before he pointed to himself. "Mmff?(Me?)"
"You still owe me!" Kuroko teleported directly in front of the relaxing male, landing on his lap. "And I intend to pay you back a thousand fold!"
"Wmf vu I ohf veu?(What do I owe you?)"
"Yoouuuuu..." Kuroko growled in rage, her twin tails coming to life. "HOW COULD YOU FORGET, Ape No.2 ?!"
""Hoh~"" Synchronized voices made their way into Kuroko's ears. ""A yandere and tsundere character, huh...""
"Eek?!" Surprised and a little creeped out, Kuroko teleported herself behind her initial target.
"Mm mm." Aogami nodded as he appraised Kuroko from his position. "This girl...she has the makings of a tsundere, plus a hint of yandere mixed into it. With, maybe...a loyal dog attribute?"
"Who you calling a yandere?" Kuroko's tsukkomi fell on death ears.
"Naw," Motoharu disagreed, getting closer to the fuming girl. "She is not a tsundere or yandere. But, she does fit the Ojou-sama category, since she attends Tokiwadai. And, she does have a hint of the loyalty attribute. Your thoughts, Delta Force member 3, Kami-yan?"
"I'm...staying out of this." Touma slowly backed away. "You guys dragged me into your pace so many times before. No way am I making that mistake when it comes to a teleporter."
"Kami-nyan~" Motoharu slung one arm across Touma's neck. "There is no risk when it comes to do just saying your opinions."
"Yeah Kamijou~" Aogami did slung his arm on the other side of Touma. "It's fine, its fine. We will have our back~ You scratch our backs, we scratch yours, and all that~"
"Fine...mmm..." Touma relented, albeit with a face that said he had surrendered. He hummed in thought for a bit, before he opened he spoke. "Well, she is ferociously protective of Mikoto, so she kinda has the loyal attribute. But, despite being an ojou-sama, she does have the hidden attribute of an M."
""M?!"" The remaining members of the Delta Force exclaimed in shock.
"This Ojou-sama?" Motoharu scoffed. "Her skin is so smooth and delicate. There is no way she would enjoy an S's attacks."
"What if it does not leave any cuts or bruises?" Aogami suggested. "Then, she would be able to keep her 'M' side hidden. Kamijou did say that that attribute of hers was hidden, after all."
"Plausible." Motharu agreed. "So, does she have a thing for this buff man she is currently cowering behind?"
"I concur."
"...No comment."
"What the hell is going on?" Konori, who had the closest idea to what was going on, seeing as she was the same age as them, asked in disbelief. "Weren't they arguing just a few minutes ago, and beating each other to the death?"
"Male...bonding...perhaps?" Ruiko asked with her head titled slightly.
"Well, Othi-chan, do you want to talk?" Informant slipped away from the chaos. Now that Kuroko had gotten over the 'attack' from the two boys, she had started to teleport spikes into the clothes to pin them down and arrest them for sexual harassment. Including one spiky haired misfortunate boy, who let out a cry of "Such Misfortune!" when one of said spikes caused a tear in his pants.
"I said not to call me Othi-chan." Othinus grumbled. "And I shall agree to a chat, little boy."
"Good." He quietly slipped out of the room, drastically reducing the shouting and crying when he shut the door. They(Or rather, he) headed to the top the of building. They would not be heard there, unless one counted the countless nano-drones that made up the entire network system of the superintendent of Academy City. "Its about the future of Kamijou Touma."
Othinus narrowed her eye."Watch your words, worm."
"I got degraded to a worm?" Informant placed his hand over his heart. "I'm hurt you would think so lowly of me, Othinus, Goddess of war." Othinus noted Informant's tone changing fro m somewhat playful, to being very serious."It is nothing that would be too harmful to Kamijou-san. Although, this might increase the number of times he has to go the hospital."
"...You wish for him to make a faction." The wind blew across the roof.
"Not me, per-say, but yeah. That's the gist of it." Informant placed Othinus down on the ground, where he sat down across from her. "Right now, he has a faction in name, even though he has had no intention of forming one from the beginning."
"...My Understander draws people to him, whether he likes it, or knows it." Othinus agreed. "It would be inevitable that there would be many bonds forming from every encounter, and as such, the assumption of the formation of the 'Kamijou Faction' from a few weeks before WW3."
"Which leads me to the topic of today's conversation." Informant crossed his arms over his chest. "The official creation and formation of the Kamijou Faction."
"And, do tell, why must I be asked about this?"
"Its because you will not only be part of the Faction's core members, but also be part of the Faction's secrets." Informants reasoning made sense to Othinus. After all, she was the first ever word-wide wanted world terrorist. Granted, she had changed because of Touma, but not everyone knew that, nor would they care. Out of the 7 billion plus people in the world, only a total of 18 people allowed her continued existence willingly.
"...That still does not explain why we are having this conversation." Othinus sat down. "You could be giving me this information whenever you discuss this with Touma."
"That's because Touma would rather leave everything up to him then others. The best way to get him to agree to something is to either trick him into doing it, force him to do it, or push it onto him." Informant indicated each option with three fingers, before he closed one of them. "But the second option is bound to either backfire spectacularly, or end up with no progress, so option one and three are the most viable options. And out of both of them, the third one is the best, seeing as he is an individual which is easy to drag into various problems or events, given enough prodding."
"...That is too accurate a description of my Understander." Othinus's expression did not change. "So, you wish to make the faction behind his back, and when it is almost done, you will push it all onto him?"
"Basically." Informant nodded. "So, we will need you to distract him from getting too close to our plan before it is ripe enough for him to use."
"...I will agree with you. But on one condition."
"Name it." Informant did not looked surprised by the demand.
"Keep Touma safe from harm as much as possible."
"That's a loaded demand and you know it as much as I do!" Informant exclaimed.
"...then I shall leave it for a later date then. You both owe me one." Othinus decided. "Is that all?"
"Yeah." Informant stood up, before he knelt down and offered his hand to Othinus. She jumped on. "Let's get back down. I really want to see what has been happening during this five minute chat of ours."
"...This is absolutely insane." Was what Informant said the moment he opened the door.
"Ehehehe..." Ruiko rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah...everything went out of hand."
Why was Informant giving such a dead look towards the small group inside the Judgement office? Well, its because somehow, during the five minutes he was up on the roof, everything had went to hell.
The entire office seemed to have had a hurricane swept through it, as well as a flood. Papers were lying everywhere inside the office. Puddles of liquid were also here and there. Some was milk, some was tea. The rest was water. And then, there was the food he had made.
Bits of the doughnuts he had painstakingly made were strewn all over the place. Some of them had spikes in them, pinning them to walls, chairs or the floor, as if they were being crucified(All of them had been pierced through the center. They did not have the typical hole in the center.). Others had been smashed or crushed. One even looked like it had been face-planted into, its red strawberry insides spilled all over the once clean floor.
"How did a punishment being inflicted on three people," informant gestured wildly to the current state of the office. "lead to THIS?!"
""We are very sorry for making this mess,"" Four voices said in tandem, their respective owner's heads placed down to the ground.
"Are you?" A currently furious Konori Mii tapped her foot against the floor. "The papers will all have to be refiled and printed, the floor would have to be mopped and scrubbed to get rid of any sticky residue. The same goes for the walls. We will also have to replace a few chairs because of how damaged they are." Konori listed off each item that had to be done, her tapping increasing in frequency as she listed them out. "AND the walls will have to be patched up because of the holes you made, Kuroko! Plus, we had to do some more paperwork regarding those mysteriously injured espers, but since this place resembles a food court which was used for a food fight, we would have to do it somewhere else."
""We are very sorry, Konori-san!"" Three male voices spoke in tandem.
"You will be, because all of you are cleaning up this mess, and the repairs are coming out of your budget." The tapping finally stopped, but her tone of voice did not change.
"...How much are the repairs going to cost?" Touma asked in a small voice.
"Well..." Konori looked around. You damaged four chairs, each of them a 1,000 yen, the walls would be about 5,000 yen, and the floor...if you clean it up properly, its free. But, if you mess up, you will have to pay 10,000 yen for the insect killers. So, in total you would have to pay between 9,000 yen to 19,000 yen."
"1-19,000 y-yen!?" Touma wailed in sorrow. "I'm already broke! How will I pay for even 5,000 yen, much less 19,000 yen!"
"It's not as if you are paying for everything yourself, you know?" Konori raised her eyebrow, a little taken aback by Touma's reaction.
"Konori-san, his luck is so bad, he would most likely end up having to pay the entire cost." Mikoto sighed. "Once, he wanted to buy some groceries for his next week's worth of meals. But at the end of the day, he somehow ended up with no groceries, his money all spent, and a new girl's phone number."
"T-that's..."
"Nyah~ It's true Konori-san!" Motoharu spoke from his still bowing position. "He is horrible with his luck regarding almost everything around him. But when it comes to girls...he is the luckiest man in the world! The entire population of girls in our class already have feelings for him, and that's not even counting the number of girls he saved every other week!"
"C-come on...not every girl has a crush on me." Touma tried to defend himself. "I would be lucky if I even get a...ah, never mind. Such misfortune." Tried, being the key word.
"We have proof!" Aogami lifted his head, digging into his pocket for something, before he brought it out for everyone to see. "Our teacher absolutely favors him! Every time its her class, she would pay more attention to him than anyone else!"
"K-komoe-sensei is just looking out for me! Plus, if I do not have to take supplementary lessons, I would take that chance!" Touma tried to worm himself out of potential misunderstandings and trouble, but-
"No way that is your teacher." Kuroko took one look and dismissed his claims, before she gained an evil look. "But, now I can arrest the ape for attempting to seduce a preschool student!"
"Wai-" Touma's plead for help was cut short but Ruiko shout.
"THAT is you teacher!?" Ruiko looked at the picture , her eyes nearly popping out of her head. "She was the one who taught all of us after the Level Upper incident!"
""...Eh?""
After all the chaos (from various things)subsided, Aogami and Motoharu left the office.
"...You guys alright now?" Informant made sure the duo had left before he said anything.
"Why ask us that?"
"Well, its because author-san has no clue on how to proceed this part smoothly, so he is making this part super awkward for everyone." Informant deadpanned.
"Huuuuuh? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Anyway, are you guys finally out of that funk you were in?" Informant sat across from Touma, Mikoto and Misaki. "It was getting real depressing, you know?"
"We are...I guess..." Touma looked conflicted as he spoke. "Its just...what happened to Percival? He was blasted off into space...right? How can anyone survive in space?"
*Ding*
Touma looked surprised as he heard his phone go off.
Touma took it out of his pocket. "Who-" His eyes widened dramatically, before it clattered to the floor, free from his grasp.
"What's wrong?" Mikoto bent down to pick up the phone. When she looked at the screen to see what it was, her face became beet red almost immediately. She too dropped the phone. "Wha-wha-wha-hwa-ahw-wha"
"Misaka-san." Misaki looked cross as she bent down to pick up Touma's phone. "That is not very..." She trailed off as she looked at the screen and saw its contents. "...Ara..."
"Why is everyone overeating over something?" Informant lightly sighed.
"Touma was sent a picture of Misaka-san in a dress from when she was performing." Misaki smiled. "This person's photo taking ability is very good." She then showed the phone to everyone to see.
It was a photo off Mikoto, as she had just said. The dress what what she had worn when she represented Tokiwaida when they had their open house. That was the first thing anyone saw.
Then, their eyes were drawn to what she was holding in her hand. Instead of the violin she had played that day...
"These are very amazing photoshopping skills." Uiharu commented as she looked at the image closer.
"...Stupid idiot..." Informant sighed, this time much heavier than earlier, when he saw the person who had sent it.
*Ring-ring*
"Hey, you idiot, what the hell do you think you are doing?" That was the first words that left Informant's mouth when he answered the call.
"Really?" Percival's voice rang through the air. "I thought it would be a good way to show that the 3rd Level 5 esper was now taken. Why, was that bad?"
"Ohhhh hell no, sonny boy. That was not bad. It is a can of hell's worms."
"Ah..." Percival nervously chuckled through the phone. "I'm sor- wait, I'm on loud speaker, aren't I?"
""YES!"" A chorus of shouts filled the air.
"Tee hee?"
"Tee hee my ass, Percival!" Informant yelled. "You made these guys feel guilty as hell! When I get my hands on you..."
"I'm sorry, Please forgive me." Percival was silent for a bit, before he spoke again. "So, just a heads up. I'm alive and well, don't worry about me. I'll be out of action for awhile though, so don't come looking for me. I'm doing some behind-the-scenes type of thing. Plus, a few missions to do on my end."
"Percival..." Touma's word made everyone look at him. "You have some explaining to do when you get back."
"I know that. And I might consider telling you people everything, if the situation dictates it to be so." They heard some crashes in the background, as well as someone speaking. "Whoops. Looks like I have to get back. Informant-"
"Yeah?" Informant's face turned impassive.
"Stay with them. You gonna need to help them out with things I left for them. They are at Kamijou's place, so do go there when you are free to help them."
"Oh, and Saten-san." A pause. "The tablet auto marks the questions you have done, as well as times the time taken for each question. So, keep at it."
"Yes Sir!" Ruiko could not help but make a mock salute, even though she knew he could not see her. "I will do my best!"
The line went dead.
"...Well, you heard Percival." Informant placed the phone back in his pocket. "Looks like I would be sticking with you guys."
"..."
"..."
"..." Everyone remained silent.
"I thought you guys might react more, but whatever." Informant shrugged, making his way to the door. He opened it and left but not saying some parting words that drove the entire room into a frenzy.
"Oh, and your entire class knows you have a girlfriend now. Percival texted them a picture of you and Misaka-san kissing. Good luck tomorrow."
It took a while before everyone calmed down.
Timeskip. Two days later.
It was very silent. Too silent for Touma's liking. Right now, he was standing outside the door to his classroom.
It had been two days since the incident with High Priest. Two days since the class had been told of Touma's new relationship status.
When he entered the school, everything seemed to be fine. The students were noisy, the constant sound of chatter filling the air of the school. Everything seemed normal.
But, when he neared his classroom, the bustle and hustle from earlier quietened down, like it was all an illusion. The sounds of chattering students faded to become mere background music the closer he got to his classroom(Which was, conveniently, located at the middle of the hallway he was walking). By the time he reached his classroom, the noises were distant.
It seemed that all the hustle and bustle were just located at the front of the school, as well as the above and below the levels he was currently on.
What do I do? Not surprisingly, he was sweating slightly. Of course, this was to be expected.
His classroom was easily the noisiest of the bunch, as well as the one which cared for their teacher the most(Not surprisingly, it was Komoe-sensei's class). And it was because of this care that they would listen to their teacher the most, when push came to shove. And yet, it was dead silent.
A few scenarios ran in his head for this reason of silence, as well as the expected outcome for his entering the class.
Scenario A: The class was busy doing some self-study because of Komoe-sensei's tears. When he entered, not much would happen.
Scenario B: The class(Mostly the boys) was waiting in ambush for him to enter. When he did, they would restrain him, tie him up, and feed him to the sharks. (Aka the Iron Wall Girl, Fukiyose Seiri, Tsumikado Motoharu, and Aogami Pierce.). Then Komoe-sensei would cry and tell them to release the spiky haired boy and resume class.
Scenario C: The class would act like nothing is wrong, then they ask Touma about his relationship status, after which he would get beaten up and chewed out by his class(His gut was actually thinking that this one was most likely.). Then, he would be given even more homework, and be forced to go though more torture via more rounds for Touma in his injured state.
Maybe I am just overthinking things. Touma smiled, even though inside his heart, he was extremely terrified. A-after all, t-they would no over-react to something like this...r-right? He nodded his head firmly. Y-yeah! I'm just overthinking things! Everything will just be fine!
Steeling himself, he opened the sliding door that led to his classroom.
..
..
..
..
"Such Misfortune!"
Touma cried out, tears running down his face as he feebly moved left to right to avoid the incoming blows.
"Shut up" A classmate of his cried out, tears similarly running down his face. "How do you think WE feel! Death to the Kami-yan disease!"
""Death to the Kami-yan disease!""
In tandem to his shout, the rest of the males in the class raised their voices and cried out, hands in the air.
"Curse you Kamijou!" More tears running down his face, the first boy raised his fist. "You always lament your misfortune, yet every time you do so, you have a new girl going after you, infected by the Kami-yan disease!" Raising his head, the boy picked up something he had dropped earlier. A bag full of an unknown substance. "And now, you get a girlfriend!? Moreover, it is the rich Ojou-sama type! How could you do this to us!" The boy placed his hand inside the bag, revealing-
A tomato.
"Curse you Kamijou!" In response the other boys in the class took out their various weapons of fruits and vegetables.
""Curse You!""
With that cry, Touma was further bombarded by the flying fruits and vegetables.
"Such Misfortune!"
..
Now, why was Touma being bombarded by fruits and vegetables? The answer was because of Percival's message. More specifically, the contents.
It had been sent to every student in Touma's class. Their messages all varied, but the one thing that was constant was this.
A single photo. One that showed Touma kissing Mikoto.
Now, the photo had been censored very well, so the features of the person could not be seen at all. But it was clear that the person was female, due to her attire. Nor did that change the fact that Touma was in the photo.
Kissing.
Said girl.
In the photo.
The first thing everyone thought was that this was a prank of Percival's. In the short one month, it became clear that he loved to prank or tease his classmates. Crushes, likes, dislikes. Any and all things could be used as an arsenal in his teasing or pranking scheme. That part of him made him easily accepted by the class, although it made him a little less trustworthy to take facts from about others(Disregarding schoolwork. He tutored those who asked for his help.)
But then, after some discussions with each other online, it was clear the photo was real.
For one, the photo's background behind Touma and the girl matched smoothly. This left two options. One, the picture was from two pictures, each coming from the same area it was taken from. The other, more reasonable option, was that Touma and the girl were actually dating.
His expression in the picture did not help matters either.
So, the males hatched a plan. One that was executed brilliantly partially because half the girls in the class were still reeling from the fact that Touma now had a girlfriend, and partially because half of the girls were out of it, their delusion of being with Touma having been smashed. Well, except for Fukiyose and Himegami. The former would most likely bash Touma's head in for getting a middle-schooler as a girlfriend, while the latter would more likely take a passive approach towards Touma being unavailable from the market . She had a passive-aggressive stance towards Touma from the start. No need to change that now.
..
Anyway, back to the current situation. How did Touma end up being pelted by various fruits and vegetables(Just to be clear, these came from dirt-cheap sales)? Well-
When he entered the classroom, a rope was there to grasp his foot the moment he entered the classroom. Surprised by this, he was then dragged through a few desks, each with various liquids in small buckets on it(Sesame oil, tartar sauce, mayonnaise and olive oil), then hoisted up into the middle of the classroom, a tarp underneath it.(Hey, they did not want to clear up TOO great a mess!). From there, various boys and girls vented their anger, frustrations and shattered illusions at the hanging Touma.
In fact, the only people who were not participating in this was Fukiyose(She was not in class yet.), Himegami(Her presence was thinner than air.), their teacher(Komoe-sensei was busy bringing various papers she had graded into her car.), a few girls(they had neutral feelings towards Touma), and the two members of the Delta Force(They would rather fight it out instead of waste precious food. A certain Judgement officer's punishment was still on their mind.)
"Death to the Kami-yan disease!"
""Death!""
"Such Misfortune!"
This witch-hunting cry echoed throughout the school for the next few minutes, until Fukiyose entered the room, forcibly brought order to the room through her will-power filled shout and pumeling(boys only, including the Delta Force and the already abused Touma -"Frozen tomatoes are hard!"- ), and subsequent pummeling of the Delta Trio. The mess was cleaned up in time for Komoe-sensei to start her lesson.
Although the food remains dripping from Touma, Fukiyose, Motoharu and Pierce did draw eyes to the four students more than a few times over the course of the next periods.
School had ended. Touma, still having a few bits of food in his clothes(Thankfully, it did not draw too much attention to him), made his way back to his room.
"Haaa..." Touma sighed out. Opening the door, the first sight he was met with was-
"Touma, Touma!"
-Index excitedly slurping up some noodles from a large package.
"Look!" She excitedly pointed towards the large package. "A kind soul sent us this package! And it was full of food too!"
A bad feeling welled up inside Touma. "Index..." He cautiously made his way to the opened package. "Exactly, where, did you find this package?"
"Hmm?" She looked up from her bowl of cup noodles, momentarily pausing her eating. "Ah, it was outside the door!"
Slo~wly, he opened up the flap of the package. There, written on the flap-
-..-
To: Kamijou Touma
Location: A Certain Dormitory, Room 07-XX
From: A certain individual
Fragile! Handle with Care!
-..-
"It is addressed to me..." Touma felt the bad feeling in him grow. I am never this lucky. Or rather, who sends a box full of food to my dorm? Not that I am complaining or anything, but I would rather have a box full of ingredients to use.
"Ah, Touma!" Index put down her cup noodles(Now empty) on the newest table(The last one collapsed under the weight of the Daybreaker, surprisingly. It had been pretty light when Touma wore it.), and went over to the bed. Lifting the covers, she took out a piece of paper from under the covers. "I found this! Someone sent it to you!" The seal had been broken, signifying it had been opened by Index.
Taking it cautiously, he unfurled the paper. Oh? This is a letter. Addressed to me. His eyes scanned its contents.
-..-
Dear Touma,
Here is a gift, from me to you.
Well, not too sure on when it would arrive at your place. It's full of food, as you can see. Don't worry, it's not poisoned or anything. After all, its meant for you to survive your days with the growing nun. You, having such a pitiful amount of money due to your status(A small tickmark appeared on Touma's head as he read this), can't afford having to deal with the huge appetite she has, so I am helping you with this. By buying loads of cup noodles for her to eat. There are about 100 cup noodles, each meant for a family of 4, so this should last you a while. They are all different flavors, so hope she enjoys each one properly!
But enough about that. If you still do not know, it is I, Percival Yurei, who sent you this food! As I know your plight, so I have taken it upon myself to help you with your predicament! Think of this as an apology for whatever I am about to put you through, as well as a gift of thanks for what you did. You could say that this because of you, I am here!
By the way check the back after you ponder on my words. ;)
-..-
Touma took a hot minute to digest this new information. So, Yurei-san sent me this? He looked at the deceptively small box out of the corner of his eye. That...is nice of him?
Honestly, Touma kept getting mixed feelings(or vibes) from Percival. One moment, he would be cheerful, playful. Then, like a switch that was thrown, his attitude would become a total 180. He would be serious, sacrificial...
...even dangerous...
When he out of battle, in it, or even in the midst of combat, his personality, emotions, and such would be all over the place. It gave the impression he was either a good actor, or someone who does not follow the TPO(Time, place, occasion) rule closely.
But somewhere in his gut, his sixth sense was acting up. It was telling Touma that despite this erratic changes, there were a few things that were not changed, no matter the change in his attitude, actions, etc.
His intentions. His goals. And-
His personality.
His intentions were not very clear, but one thing was for certain. He was someone that held some of the same ideals that Touma had. Keeping family and friends safe from harm, and don't drag them into their problems.
And keep the trouble around them to a minimum.
Those two things are the similarities between the two.
So, it was safe to say that his intentions, in the long run, was to keep everyone safe(he guessed(?)).
Then, his goals.
Touma did not know much, but his sixth sense was telling him that Percival's goal had good intentions. For the public, or for himself, he did not know.
It was the same with Fiamma of the Right. He wanted to save the world, but his method involved using his right hand. Touma's right hand, as well as his own. This led to the creation of WW3, so Touma fought against Fiamma. Essentially, it was like a clash of ideals to save the world. That resulted in Touma's win.
And finally, his personality.
Touma had only been with the boy for about a month, so his grasp on his personality was not that great. But, from what he had seen, his playful personality and serious one were both real, and fake.
They showed his emotions, and hid them. It was like hiding in plain sight.
Touma did not know this consciously.
His subconscious did, however.
Right now, all of these inferences? They were being made in his subconscious, in the back of his mind. By the time he thinks about this again, he would have forgotten all about these inferences he had made.
Why?
Well, it was because Touma had fainted.
*Thunk*
"...Touma!" Index was slow to react, but when she saw Touma's prone form, she stood up quickly to go to him to check if he was fine.
"Touma, Touma, " She gently slapped his face, each contact making a sharp *piak-piak* sound. "Even if you are tired, you can't sleep in the middle of the entrance to the door! You should sleep on the bed!"
...Okay, maybe Index had the wrong idea about Touma's sudden collapse.
*Piak-piak, Piak-piak* Index continued to worriedly slap Touma's face gently. As she did so, Sphynx, the resident calico cat, slowly made its way to wards a brand new doll house, where a certain witch stayed in to avoid the 'hanging by cape' treatment.
In the background, a piece of paper fluttered onto the floor, exposing its contents to the world.
-..-
P.S. The food costs around 100 thousand yen. Just saying 0w0
-..-
In a certain dormitory...
"Hey, hey, did you hear?"
"Hear what?"
"That the 3rd Level 5 has a boyfriend?"
"Really? *Shrieks a little in excitement* What is he like? What is he like?"
"Well-"
Gossips flew left and right in the large dormitories of the prestigious all-girls school, Tokiwadai. Its contents were very easy to guess.
After all, there was a large circulation of pictures on the internet about a certain girl kissing a boy, with said boy having his face censored completely.
(1) - Often cold ad blunt. But, on the inside, they are caring(Angel beats 'Kanade' is a good example. Great series too!)
(2) - Often quiet and keeps to themselves, unless it is with a person they are attracted to
..
Ka ka ka! I am still alive! I have gone through the hell known as Writer's block and won!
But, in all seriousness, this chapter marks the end of the High Priest Arc. This chapter, or rather, this arc, is my first one, so the story will fluctuate from good to bad many times over the course of the series. So, I thank those who frequently comment my story. The criticism is really needed, especially since I am doing two stories simultaneously, with an average of 4 chapters a month. So, things will be messy.
Of course, this will not excuse my bad skills in plot and writing right now. As time goes on, I'll try to make it better, and adjust past chapters. Although...that would take a lot of time, so I might not do it. Depends on the situation.
Thank you for reading this fic, please review more often(If you are a guest, pls use your account or type in a name so that I can shout you out for your comments that help me and such. If there is a need, I will repost a chapter that has comments that say that it need improvements. My other fic has done this already, so I'm not fibbing.)
And, because thus chapter is the end of an arc, and since I suck at endings(look at my first fic, Angel Beats one), I ended up with a mix of funny, depressing, stupid, and boring. I guess?
As always, Anime is Life!