Academy city.

The most technologically advanced city on the planet. Some estimates place it at least 20 to 30 years ahead of the rest of the world in terms of scientific development and research. This is due in part, at least, to the sheer amount of schools, universities, and research institutions in the city. After all, 80% of its 2.3 million inhabitants are students. They aren't exactly normal students, though. Most are involved in Academy City's Power Curriculum Program: a special program designed to create individuals with tremendous psychic powers. These individuals - espers - possess abilities ranging from basic telekinesis to exotic ones such as teleportation, invisibility, or control over specific substances or energies.

It goes without saying that the things which happen in such a city are often far from normal. In fact, it would probably be fair to say that it would be strange if bizarre occurrences didn't happen every day. The small, silver-haired girl currently fleeing across the dark rooftops of the city seems, honestly, pretty mundane by comparison.

She'd been running for what seemed like forever. Really, it was more like only a few minutes, but sprinting across rooftops at top speed while leaping between buildings isn't exactly easy.

She certainly didn't look athletic, and her curious attire wasn't helping her running. She was dressed in what appeared to be a nun's habit, except instead of the traditional black and white robes, hers was white with gold trimming. It looked like possibly the worst thing one could be wearing while trying to run - in fact, the girl had already stumbled over it several times. At first glance, it was hard to understand how her pursuers hadn't caught up to her yet.

Then again, the girl wasn't simply trying to outrun them. She wouldn't be bothering to do something as dangerous as running across the skyline of the city if she could get away through other means. Despite appearances, the girl had a lot of practice with evading capture. She'd been fleeing from various pursuers for almost as long as she could remember, and she knew that she had to rely on cunning and trickery to slow them down or to make it more difficult for them to follow her. Taking to the rooftops was just one of these tricks.

Although she'd been on the run for basically her entire life, that life was only about a year long. Her memory, which otherwise was exceptionally perfect, had no recollection of anything that happened before July 28th of the previous year. For all intents and purposes, she had been born on that day. Everything before then was blank - there was absolutely nothing there. Well, nothing except for the library of books stored in her memory.

Those books - 103,000 of them - were the entire reason she was being chased. She could not allow herself - or, more accurately, the invaluable contents of her memories - to be captured. She would utilize every trick she knew to avoid her pursuers and to prevent her knowledge from falling into enemy hands.

The girl leaped onto a neighboring rooftop and quickly glanced around, still running, in order to figure out her next move. Her eyes widened slightly in panic as she surveyed the surrounding rooftops: she had nowhere left to run. There were no other buildings that she could safely jump to, as the closest rooftop she could find was much farther away than any of the others she had been able to manage. But she couldn't hesitate or turn back, as that would only lead to her capture. She had no choice but to take a leap of faith and trust in God to help her across.

Summoning up the reserves for an extra burst of speed, she raced towards the edge of the roof, tensed, and leaped outwards while giving a silent mental prayer.

Her best effort wasn't enough, though. The gap between the buildings was simply too large, and time seemed to slow for her as she fell through empty space. But she couldn't allow herself to just give up yet. Protecting the library stored inside her head was her duty, and she would not allow herself to fail at it. The girl desperately stretched out her arms towards the rooftop, almost as if willing it closer to her...

In another universe, she didn't make it. In another universe, she crashed down into the railing of a balcony a few floors below and passed out. In another universe, the life of one boy was changed forever. But here, in this universe...

The girl gasped as her body slammed into the opposite wall, the impact driving the air out of her lungs. But, she had managed - just barely - to latch onto the roof with her fingertips the moment before. The girl miraculously was able to hang on, thankful for the fact that her strange robes had stopped her from experiencing any pain or actual injury from the collision. Her feet scrabbled on the building, searching frantically for any kind of purchase. They found the top edge of a window sill to stand precariously on, and she was able to quickly shift her hands to a better position on the ledge above. Now that she had a better grip, she started to pull herself up. Her shoes were able to gain a small amount of traction on the rough concrete walls, and she managed to climb, gasping, onto the roof.

She rolled over onto her back and lay there for a minute, panting heavily and trying to calm her raging heartbeat. A lightning bolt flashed across her vision, and she wondered for a moment at what could possibly have caused it when there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Realizing that she'd wasted too much of her time lying there already, the girl shakily forced herself to her feet and, after a short prayer of thanks, disappeared into the night.

A few hours later, a teenage boy with black spiky hair trudged exhaustedly up the stairs of the building the girl had almost fallen from. He stopped in front of a door with a nameplate bearing the name 'Kamijou Touma,' and began to fumble for his keys. "I mean, what the hell is that crazy Biri-Biri's problem?" he muttered exasperatedly to himself as he unlocked the door to his room. He dazedly flicked the light switch on as he shuffled into his room, and stared dumbly as light completely failed to illuminate his dorm. He toggled the switch a few more times in disbelief before dejectedly giving up.

"Such misfortune!" he groaned, hanging his head. "Don't tell me she blew out the city's power grid with her damn lightning. It's almost like she's actively trying to make my life hell." The boy let his bag slide to the floor, and attempted to gingerly navigate his way through the dark room. Despite his almost excessive caution, he still somehow managed to trip several times more than anyone else could have managed. He finally reached his bed and let himself fall into it, grumbling all the while. He was asleep before he hit the pillow, oblivious to how close he'd come to getting drawn into an incomprehensible world.

Author's Note: So, I've had this idea running through my head for quite a while now, and I figured it was about time I try and get it down on paper. Basically, this story is my answer to what would happen if Index never fell into Touma's life, but all the various plots and plans in the series continued on regardless. This is not to say she - and the rest of the magic side - won't be making an appearance here. Far from it. It's just that the two worlds will remain more separate than they did before, at least for awhile.

I don't claim to be any kind of great writer, and this is also the first time I'm really doing anything like this. Therefore, any and all sorts of constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I'm going to have to apologize in advance for what will likely be sporadic updates, due to a number of things (the big ones being school and the fact that I'm rather lazy). I'll try my best to make sure I keep the story going, though.

Anyway, I hope you like how this turns out. Thanks for reading!