Author's Note: Currently, this fic is going through a sort of rewrite? Not a full on one, just cleaning up some mistakes I've made, perhaps even rewriting certain sections. As I go through and look over what I've made, I'm going to be changing these author notes as well. Don't worry if this is your first time going through, you aren't missing much info!

As for people who have been here, I sincerely apologize for the long wait! This would be where I would bow and beg for forgiveness if you could see me. Regardless, it's inexcusable how long I've left you waiting for an update of any kind. If you've stuck with me this whole time, thank you from the bottom of my heart!

As for this story, I'm going to be changing my game plan for it. As opposed to simply following through the series, I've decided that it'll probably be easier for everyone if it's distinctly its own thing. Meaning it'd have its own beginning, middle and end. It's hard to say what parts of the main universe will stay and what won't just yet but at the very least, nothing I've already done is getting a major change, meaning that the Index Arc and Level Upper Arc are remaining.

Chapter 1: An-Unlucky-Boy

Location: ?

Date: June 11

Today was finally the day. He'd labored over this for many days and many nights, debating what he would do with his newfound power but today, he's sure. After everything that happened to him, all the beatings, all the robberies, all the bullying, he was sure that he could put his power to good use. Not to take revenge against his would-be attackers, of course not, but against Judgment! Those self-righteous bastards were never on time, they never saved him. What kind of peace keeping organization was no incompetent that they couldn't do their one and only job? Such an organization didn't deserve to exist! He'd show them!

Level Upper was truly Godsend.

He had set up his makeshift bomb on a park table, perfectly inconspicuous to anyone who would see it, and reported a possible unstable Esper to Judgment just a few minutes ago. He was a little upset that they weren't already there but what did he expect? They're slow.

"I wonder if they'll get Anti-Skill involved too." He wondered aloud, though it was a whisper.

It wouldn't do him any good if someone was eavesdropping on him.

Anti-Skill was also pretty notorious for being late and while they were not his prime targets, them getting caught in the blast would have good results as well. Unlike Judgment, which was mostly made up of students, Anti-Skill was entirely adults, teachers. It'd make a much bigger statement and the chance of injury would be a lot higher! Before he could rest on the thought for too long, however, he was approached by two students who seemed to be around his age.

"Sir, we're evacuating the area." The female called over, showing off her arm band. He merely nodded, stood up from his bench and walked away. He took one look over his shoulder, seeing the two head closer to his package and smirked to himself. He waited about 3 more minutes before activating his ability.

BOOM!

He couldn't stop the giggles from escaping his throat.

/Scene:

Location: School District 7

Date: June 16

Kamijou Touma yawned as he walked back to his dorm; his day was finally over. As usual, it was filled with misfortune, even in this city of science. Yes, that's correct, Touma lived in the amazing city known as Academy City, which was said to be at least 20-30 years ahead of the rest of the world with their technology.

It was also known as the place where some rich guys decided that the world wasn't bad-ass enough, bought the western third of Tokyo, turned it into a city filled with schools and then decided to give the residents superpowers.

Yes, you read that right, in this city of 2.3 million people, 80% are emotional, and probably angst-driven, students. And yes, a significant portion of them are now something akin to an anime protagonist. But it could be worse; a large portion of them could be nearly powerless and frowned upon because they don't have what it takes to truly awaken their abilities.

Oh wait, that describes about 60% of the student body. There were 6 levels that an Esper could have, 5-0 with those at level 0 having little to no power whatsoever. Even those at Level 1 could at least bend a spoon.

And at the bottom of the barrel of Level 0 students was Kamijou Touma, the certified weakest Esper, who didn't have even a trace of an ability to his name. No ability that can be detected by any of Academy City's computers anyways.

But the truth was that he did have something that set him apart from other Level 0s, the ability known as Imagine Breaker. A mysterious power, held primarily in his right hand, that negated any super natural force that came into contact with it, including the blessings of God, as he liked to say. Truly, it was the cause of his misfortune and he knew it. It was his hand's fault that he was required to stay after school this late, cleaning up the hallways after a certain… paint incident.

Touma shuddered in remembrance.

"Such misfortune…" He lamented. But surely it can't get much worse than this, right? The weekend begins now!

"Oi, idiot! There you are!" A chill ran up Touma's spine as he turned to face the owner of the voice he'd come to know oh so well. Wearing that ever so elegant Tokiwadai uniform, she'd been the main cause of his problems this week. Not to say she wasn't a problem before, it was just that she seemed to take extra care in running into him these days. He hadn't even noticed that he was walking across the bridge that usually ended in one of their 'meet-ups,' he'd been too caught up in his thoughts.

Such misfortune.

"Hey, Biri Biri." He gave a mock wave and a smile, which was quickly replaced with a look of fear as he instinctively held up his right hand and blocked an electricity spear that was sent his way. "You're going to kill me one of these days."

"My name is Misaka Mikoto, how many times must I drill that into you, idiot!" She stumped her foot down, electricity flowing into the bridge.

Ah, right, Mikoto. One of the seven Level 5 Espers, the highest Level that's currently reachable. As Third of the Seven, she had a reputation to up hold, though whether she actually did this was subject to debate that would most likely end in victory by knock-out in her favor.

"How many times do I have to drill into you that you shouldn't try to casually murder me every time we meet!?" He yelled back. "One of these days, you're really going to end up killing me!"

"Oh please." Mikoto smirked. "You always manage to block my attacks. Somehow."

"Oi, don't play that card!" He waved his hands in the air angrily. "If I had known this would be the result, I never would've tried to help you that day!" Okay, that was a lie, he admitted to himself, but there was no way she could know that.

Actually, what was she doing? Normally, she'd give the classic tsundere response of "I-It's not like I asked for your help, idiot!" but instead, she seemed to be pulling a coin out of her pocket; if he was closer he'd notice that it was an arcade coin. "Are you even listening, Biri Biri!?"

Ignoring the nickname, for once, she merely smirked. "Say … Do you know what a Railgun is?"

Touma's face noticeably darkened. Now, he was an idiot about a lot of things but he kept himself pretty well informed on the top Espers for numerous reasons, the most important being that his luck usually resulted in him not only meeting but fighting these overpowered anime protagonists. In fact, Mikoto was already the fourth Level 5 he'd run into during his stay at Academy City. It had to be a record of some kind.

Mikoto noticed the look the spiky-haired boy was giving and her smirked widened.

"Oh good." She flipped the coin up. "Then I won't have to explain."

Touma acted quickly, he had to or else he'd most likely die, and dropped the bag he'd nearly forgot he was carrying to the ground. Mikoto flicked the coin as it reached her hand, sending it speeding at Touma. As the coin hit Imagine Breaker, the sound of glass shattered quaked the air around them as the light slowly faded and the boy skid back several feet, somehow staying on his own feet. He straightened himself, dropping what seemed to be the remains of the coin as he did so, and then, with a deep breath, turned his attention back to the supposed ojou girl. The middle of his hand was charred where the coin had hit him but otherwise, his hand looked okay.

This didn't make any sense...

"What the hell was that!?" His eyes showing a whole new level of shock, "I was joking before but now I'm one hundred percent sure that you meant to kill me!" Mikoto laughed.

"You're an interesting guy, you know that?" Electricity crackled around her body. "I really want to fight you…" Touma looked down, hiding his eyes from Mikoto.

"You really want me to give it my all, huh?" His voice intimidating and intense, far different from the unlucky boy who stood there not ten seconds again. He looked up giving a smile; Mikoto took a step back. "Heheh. If you really want that, I can only say that a lot of misfortune will befall you."

"Tch." Mikoto stood her ground, grit her teeth and called from a lightning strike from the sky. The bridge vibrated as the electricity ran along it, lights nearby flickered and eventually fell. And then there was silence.

"YOU ACTUALLY TOOK ME SERIOUSLY!? SUCH MISFORTUNE!"

"HEY, GET BACK HERE! STOP RUNNING AWAY!"

/Scene:

Location: School District 7; Kamijou Touma's Dorm

Date: June 17

Freak Accident.

That's what they were calling the lightning bolt from last night. Mikoto's blatant attempt to murder him might not have worked as planned but if things stayed their course, she just might win. See, the electricity had been cut off from a pretty significant part of District 7, including, but not limited to, a certain unfortunate boy's dorm. Even worse, while pretty much every electronic in his room had been shut down too, his heater somehow survived.

If you thought it couldn't get worse, then you were wrong because it currently it would. not. turn. off. As such, he was currently being baked alive, laying down on his futon, reading a random manga in nothing but his underwear.

"What time is it…?" He grabbed his alarm clock from the floor, next to his futon. He was lucky enough that it ran off of batteries so it remained one of the few usable items in his room. He groaned in frustration as it was only 1:20pm, it'd take at least another two hours before power was returned to the dormitory. With his luck, however, it would probably take much, much longer.

"It's lunch time..." He thought with a grumbling stomach. Picking himself up, he waddled along to his refrigerator. Upon opening it, he shut it to protect his nose from the foul smell that seemed to now reside inside. "Just my luck, everything is spoiled. I suppose I have enough money to eat out today..." With a sigh, he walked back into the main section of his dorm, deciding that he should probably put something on, other than his underwear, before he went out. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't forgotten to do such a thing before.

That had been a weird day.

It didn't take long for him to find one of his spare uniforms; he would only be out for a little while anyway so there was no need to be fancy. He made a quick check list:

Was there yen in his wallet? Check!

Did he have his debit card just in case he somehow ate more than he could afford? Check!

Got his keys? Check!

Is his phone charged? Check!

Was he 100% sure he had all his clothes on? Check!

"Today might not be so bad after all…!" He allowed himself a smile as he stepped out of his door, then paused. No random animal attacks, no 'stray lightning,' not even a surprise visit from one of the other members of The Delta Force. After a few more cautious steps, he broke out into a grin. "This Kamijou-san's day is starting to look pretty bright!"

He was unsure why he still allowed such a possibility to present itself in his head.

/Scene:

Location: School District 7

"AH! Saten-san, this is why I always tell you not to take alleyways an-!"

"More running, less nagging, Uiharu!" Two middle school girls, Saten Ruiko and Uiharu Kazari, raced through an alleyway. "Is your phone working yet?"

"No! Yours!?"

"Nope!"

Perhaps a bit of backtracking is necessary, yes? Planning to take advantage of the weekend, the two friends were going to meet up with two of their other friends so they could all head to Seventh Mist for a major shopping trip. Wanting to get there quicker, Ruiko suggested they take a couple shortcuts. Said shortcuts led through the, usually empty, alleyways and other 'hidden' passage ways that were abundant around Academy City.

These spots were also the prime place to run into delinquents and, long story short, some had begun hitting on the girls so they did the natural thing and ran. The three delinquents didn't just give up, however, and chased after them. Being smart, the two pulled out their phones to contact Judgment, more precisely Shirai Kuroko. While Kazari was a Judgment officer too, she was not what one would call a field officer, preferring to stay inside headquarters and provide back-up from there.

The leader of the delinquents only grinned when he noticed, and with a quick flip of his fingers, their phones turned off.

"Electromancer…" was the word that had gone through both their heads at the time.

Back in the present, Ruiko pulled Kazari's arm and dragged her through another alleyway. Unfortunately, the girl with the flower headband wasn't prepared and tripped, taking Ruiko down with her.

"Sheez, what a bummer," one of the delinquents grinned as they stopped their chase, "if this is how you were going to end the chase, you shouldn't have run in the first place." Ruiko grit her teeth as she picked herself up.

"Come on, Uiharu. We have to-" She stopped as the smaller girl stood up, took a quick breath, and pulled a green arm band from her bag and displaying it to the thugs.

"I'm with Judgment, stand down now! If you continue this kind of behavior, I will be forced to arrest you."

"Eeeeeh? Little late for that, don't you think, Uiharu?" Ruiko thought; regardless, it made the delinquents pause and mumble among themselves.

"Please, guys, she's still just one little Esper." The leader spoke up. He had short spiky yellow hair and a grin that looked far too blood thirsty. "And since she hasn't done something yet, I doubt she's strong enough to take me." He held up his left hand and allowed an electric current to flow through his arm, flicking in his palm. "I'm a Level 3 Electromancer, what do you got!?" Kazari paled.

Ruiko tensed up. What could she do!? She was simply a Level 0, and Kazari was only a Level 1, there was nothing either of them could do! But just when all hope seemed lost..

"Level 3 Electromancer, eh? I've taken out worse." A voice came from behind the thugs, startling everyone in the alleyway.

"A smartass, eh? A hero too, apparently." The leader didn't turn around. "If you skedaddle now, I'll let you go." The hero expected this kind of response, however, and was quick to respond.

"Afraid of a Level 0?" If there was one thing a proud Level 3 hated, it was being talked down upon. Being a Level 0 only made it worse. Ruiko winced.

"A-A Level 0? What's he trying to do, buy us time...?"

"S-Sir, please, just run!" Kazari yelled.

"Are you fucking with me, punk?" The leader turned, seemingly forgetting about Ruiko and Kazari for the time being. The two girls couldn't see the boy as he was blocked by the three delinquents, though Ruiko swore that he sounded familiar to her."Take him down, boys."

"Right, boss!" One cracked his knuckles while the other ran forward, the first following him seconds later. Two shouts of pain, and one wham, later, the leader backed up.

"How the hell…?"

"If you guys think you can just bully others whenever you please …" The boy's steps rung out, the leader backed up more, electricity crackling around him. Ruiko and Kazari stepped back so that he wouldn't get close enough to take them hostage or something along those lines. "I'll smash that fucked up illusion of yours!" The boy dashed forward and sent his right fist into the leader's face, the sound of glass smashing echoed throughout the alleyway as the leader was smashed him into the ground, being instantly knocked out. Afterwards, the boy cracked his knuckles and sighed.

"W-Who are-?" Kazari began.

"Touma-kun!?" Ruiko smiled; the boy looked over to the girls and recognition flashed across his face.

"Ruiko?" He cocked his head to the side a bit. And then his stomach growled.

/Scene:

Location: Family Restaurant

Deciding that a dark alleyway with several unconscious bodies wasn't the best place to have a conversation, Kazari hand-cuffed them to various pipes along the alleyway, as a Judgment member she always had a couple sets on hand. Since neither girl's phone were working, they used Touma's to call the nearest Anti-Skill station and within minutes, they were being hauled away. That being taken care of, Ruiko suggested heading to a near-by restaurant for lunch. The two girls had only gotten drinks, apparently saving their appetites for after they'd met up with their friends. Touma, meanwhile, slowly chomped down a cheeseburger.

"So… you two know each other?" Kazari sat in a booth with Ruiko by her side. Touma on the other.

"Yep! It's been a while though." Ruiko put a finger to her chin and thought for a moment. "Couple months, I think?"

"Ah, yeah. Sorry, I've been busy with school and … stuff." Touma sat the burger on his plate and nervously scratched the back of his head.

"Stuff meaning saving damsels in distress, right~?" The playfulness in her voice was unmistakable, Touma merely gave a sad chuckle.

"Sounds about right…" He sighed, laying his head on his hand and looking down at the table. "And here I was thinking I could go a day without something like this happening… Such misfortune." He paused then looked up at Kazari, apparently remembering that they had yet to formally meet. "Kamijou Touma, by the way. Pleasure to meet you."

"Uiharu Kazari! The pleasure is mine, Senpai!" Kazari grinned while Touma gave another one of his near patented nervous smirks.

"Senpai? I'd prefer if you didn't, personally."

"Oh. Well, Kamijou-sama is okay, right?" She smiled again.

"Wait, isn't that MORE respectful?"Touma opened his mouth to respond before just caving, shaking his head.

"But how did you and Saten-san meet?"

"Oh well-," He began.

"We lived in the same Child Error facility for a few years," Ruiko finished for him. "To make a long story short."

"What!? Saten-san, you never told me that you're a Child Error!" Kazari's look of bewilderment amused the other two of their party; Ruiko pat her classmate's shoulder to try and calm her.

"Was a Child Error," she corrected, "my parents came back." Kazari nodded slowly.

"I see." She smiled. "I don't think there are many cases like that, now that I think about it. That's very lucky."

"Tell me about it," Touma mumbled.

"Ah, Kamijou-sama! Excuse me, I didn't think abo-," she stopped as he held a hand up.

"Just kidding; I don't hold any resentment or anything like that." Kazari's face reddened.

"Don't do that! I thought I'd seriously offended you!"

"Forgive me, Uiharu-san." He gestured to the armband that she had yet to take off, in an attempt to change the subject. "So you're a member of Judgment?"

"Oh yes," she took off what amounts to her badge and placed it back into her bag, "I should probably take it off since I'm off duty right now."

"Speaking of Judgment, why don't you join, Touma-kun? You sure saved our skin back there." It was one of the things she bugged him about when they were in contact with each other, being well versed in his "heroic" streak.

"Yeah. I think Kamijou-sama would make a great addition!" Kazari added in. Touma pretended to think about it for but a moment.

"Nah."

"Eh? That's it? No reason, just 'nah?'" His old friend gave him a skeptical look, which got a nonchalant shrug in response.

"Judgment does a fine enough job without me. Besides, I'm busy enough as it is."

"Busy saving people, right?"

"Not solely that but- "

"That's exactly what you do in Judgment!" The spiky-haired boy sighed, knowing that Ruiko wasn't one to let something like this drop. "Well that and a bunch of other stuff, but saving people's the most important thing!"

"I'll think about it, no promises though." He shrugged. "I doubt I'd be able to do much as a Level 0 with no special skills." Ruiko looked like she was about to argue against that but she was interrupted.

"Actually, that reminds me of something that's been bothering me…" Kazari spoke up, "You have an ability, don't you? I mean, you said you were a Level 0 but something abnormal happened in that fight, right?"

"Uiharu's trustworthy, Touma-kun! You can tell her!" Kazari was confused. Was his ability a secret? Could it be that he was the mysterious Sixth of the Seven Level 5s!? That'd be amazing, knowing two Level 5s! She'd heard rumors of the Sixth Level 5 being a Child Error too..

"Well, I am a Level 0," He began and Kazari's hopes were immediately dashed. "But, see, here's the thing. My right hand-" He only got as far as stretching out his hand before Kazari's phone went off insider her bag. She took it out, examined the caller I.D. and was quick to answer.

"Oh, hello Shirai-san!"

"…!"

"Yes, I'm sorry we're late. We just took a break at a cafe."

"..."

"Me and Saten-san ran into a little trouble but we're okay."

"...!? "

"No, we took care of it. "

"..."

"Yeah, we're still coming. We aren't that far now, actually."

"..."

"Okay, see you in a bit." She put her phone back in her purse, smiling as she looked at Touma. "Sorry but we'll have to cut this short, we have plans with some other friends but you can come with us if you like."

"Uh, no. I'm fine. Wouldn't want to impose or anything." He stretched his arms up. "I've held you guys up enough as is."

"Ah, forget about it!" Ruiko nearly yelled, getting the attention of some of the other customers. "You're not going to blow me off after not contacting me for months!"

"...Well, you didn't try to talk to me either..." She blushed at that, but only for a moment.

"Exactly. This is a prime opportunity to regrow our friendship." She grinned. "Besides, I want you to meet some other friends of mine. Granted, I don't know them that well either, I just met them yesterday after all... There's a really cool story behind that too." Touma was conflicted at this point, he felt like he'd stick out like a sore thumb among them and he'd already taken up quite a bit of their time but on the other hand, he was a bit curious as to his childhood friend's current happenings. That and anything was better than sitting in his smoldering room. Well, that settles it.

"Fine," he finally said, interrupting Ruiko in the middle of her little mini-rant to get him to join them, since he zoned it out a while ago.

"Oh good. I didn't even need to bring out the puppy dog eyes," Touma paled at her grin.

"I hate when you do that..." He looked off to the side. Kazari lightly shook her head and stood up.

"Since that's settling, I think we should head out." Ruiko nodded in agreement while Touma shoved down the rest of his meal.

"Lead the way then, girls." He said as he stood up.

Author's Notes: Whew, chapter one's all done! Not much has changed in this chapters two-three revisions. In fact, the changes have almost always been rewrites of certain paragraphs and sections. That being said, I hope you've enjoyed it!