He Will Surely Save, part nine: Hands are Meant to Hold

I do not own the RAILDEX universe

Author's Note:

Hello again, dear readers!

It has been far too long, right?

I have the feeling that once the first section has been read, all will be forgiven . . .

We have moved on to Saturday. Touma is in the hospital and Middle Line is meeting with Uiharu.

What mysteries will resolve as this chapter closes?

Read on!

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"Hero!"

All around them was destruction. It was a sea of confusion and loss, but the pair stood heedless of it.

Instead they focused only on each other and the pained words tumbling out of their own mouths.

It was Accelerator who cried out once more to the boy.

"Do you really think that one little act of kindness can wash the blood from this murderer's hands?!"

The hero only chuckled to himself as he heard those words.

"This isn't about what happened in the past!"

The boy brought his clenched fist to eye level and shouted his resolution.

"If you still believe that even you can't be saved . . ." Accelerator's eyes narrowed at the boy. "Then I'll have to kill that messed up illusion of yours!"

Without a further word the boy then dashed forward at a rapid pace, Accelerator's body bracing for the clash.

"Purse your lips, Strongest!" The boy yelled as he threw his hand out in front of himself. "My deepest kiss might just shake you up a bit!"

Wait. What?

Accelerator felt the vector field dissipate when the boy made contact, the frills of her skirt wrapping around his legs. She gasped as his arms encircled her and drew her in close to him, the soft mounds of her chest mashing against the hard muscles of his own.

The albino girl shivered as she felt his strong hands slowly caressing up and down her slender back. It was such a heavenly feeling! A sweet moan of pleasure was released from her mouth as her trembling lips accepted his. The feverish blush ran red upon her cheeks as the slick muscle of his tongue danced for countless moments with her own.

She never wanted it to end . . .

But all to soon, it did.

Disappointed, she tightened her grip on his shirt when he finally pulled away. She licked her lips, still finding the sweet taste of the boy's lips upon them.

He looked deeply into her blood red eyes and smiled, a feeling of heat engulfing her body as he tightened his grip. The slender albino girl felt herself melting into his embrace once more, her eyes falling closed as her lips pursed in preparation for what was to come next . . . .

"H–Hero-chan . . ."

She whispered in ecstasy as his face once again approached her own, slowly, oh so very slowly . . .

"AHHH! ! !"

Accelerator threw himself upright in his bed and shook his head wildly.

That image was still burned into his eyes each time he closed them!

After a moment's hesitation, he reached under the sheets of his bed and confirmed that, yes, he was still male. He sighed in relief and grabbed the cell phone from the table beside his bed. The clock verifying the time: 4 am.

He sat growling as he searched through his contact list for the number. Finding it, he brought the phone to his ear, gripping it with white knuckles as he waited for the line to connect. Finally . . .

"HERO! ! !"

" . . . "

"Wait." He paused at the unfamiliar voice. "Who the meff is this?"

" . . . "

The voice gave a brief explanation.

" . . . Hospital? What the Hell?!"

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Visiting hours had opened in a certain hospital and our spiky-haired hero was entertaining visitors, but Touma was rapidly finding the situation to be less than pleasant.

In particular, when he began to explain exactly how he ended up in the hospital in the first place . . . .

" . . . You fell down the stairs."

"Ye–"

There was the sound of crackling electricity as Touma was cut off.

"You slipped on a pencil and fell down the stairs."

Touma flinched at the girl's tone.

"Uh . . . Bir–"

"The undefeated IDIOT was nearly taken out of this world by a discarded WRITING UTENSIL!"

"Onee–"

"WRITING. UTENSIL! ! !"

The small girl with the flower hair jumped forward from the sparking level five's side and started waving her hands in front of her to try to calm the electromaster down.

"Misaka-san, we're in a hospital!"

Mikoto crossed her arms and looked away in a huff, but otherwise let the halo of crackling electricity surrounding her dissipate.

"Fine . . . ."

"It's just a broken leg, Biri-biri." Touma pointed out as the girl glared at him for the nickname. "I'll be fine."

"Can you really blame me?" Mikoto smirked at the bedridden boy. "Having my number one rival on crutches will make the both of us look bad."

"I suppose it will . . . " Touma chuckled and glanced around the room at his visitors. On the left of his bed near the window stood Kuroko and Mikoto. Uiharu and Saten were leaning on the foot of the bed, while Erii and Banri hovered near the privacy curtain shielding his bed from the door of his hospital room. He smiled and waved his arms in a grand gesture of welcome.

"Thank you for being here to witness this poor unfortunate soul's latest bout of misfortune." He pumped his fist in the air. "Feel free to ask for your money back at the door when the show ends!"

His playful words were met by a chorus of giggles from his audience. Banri took the opportunity to speak up.

"It's good to know that you still have your sense of humor after all this." The other girls nodded as she continued. "Honestly, it feels a little strange for me to not be the one in the bed during these hospital visits . . . "

"I understand that logic." Touma chuckled. "I'm just glad that this stay won't be too long."

Saten's face took on a hopeful look. "Are they releasing you tomorrow, then?"

"Interested in nurse play now, Saten-san?" Uiharu whispered at the rosy cheeked girl who silenced her with a swat. Touma shook his head, not catching her words.

"No, I have to stay in this bed for a week."

The Railgun, having long since stopped pouting, tilted her head in confusion. "Why so long? You don't look that badly off to me."

"It's a new treatment being developed for fixing broken bones. It's pretty impressive, really." Touma scratched his cheek for a moment. "The process only take a week, but I can't leave this bed . . . "

Touma flinched at the sight of the girls' faces: several of them had taken on disturbingly playful expressions.

Kuroko seemed lost in thought as she muttered to herself "Can't leave the bed . . . "

"Oh, I've heard of that!" A light flickered in Uiharu's eyes for a moment before she put up he hand to get everyone's attention. "It uses nanotechnology to fuse the bones and repair damaged nerves and muscle!"

Kuroko blinked I surprise. "Isn't that still experimental?"

"It is, but I know this doctor." Touma nodded confirming the teleporter's suspicion. "If it's a choice between several months in a cast or a week of immobility, then it's an easy decision to make . . . "

Mikoto crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow in disbelief at the boy in the hospital bed. "And what do you plan to do when your blasted hero gene kicks in and you want to go save the latest damsel-in-distress?"

A certain dark haired wind esper flinched subconsciously when she heard those words.

Touma's face scrunched up for a moment as he thought about it. "Actually, I have a rather large incentive to stay put this time . . . "

The Railgun had shock openly written on her face. "What power is capable of that?!"

"Apparently someone at my school called Tokiwadai . . ." Touma looked away as he scratched the back of his head. "If I leave the hospital before the treatment is complete, then you, Shirai-san, and Shokuhou-san will be held personally responsible . . . "

The electric girl was stunned. "What . . . ?"

Touma was apologetic to the slack-jawed level five. "It seems they think that you three are the most likely to succeed in breaking me out of here."

The white beetle's voice floated up from its place clipped to Uiharu's skirt. "Feeling just a little insulted here . . . "

Mikoto had a strangely menacing grin on her face as she muttered under her breath. " . . . Getting that blonde witch put in her place . . . "

"Onee-sama."

" . . . Fine." Mikoto huffed in annoyance and shook her head. "We'll leave it alone."

"That's probably for the best." Uiharu consoled her friend before turning back to the boy on the bed. "So, Kamijo-san, how do you like this place?"

"Well, I am here a lot . . . " Touma gestured around the room. "It's almost like a second home to me!"

Despite the boy's cheerful tone, the girls collectively flinched at the implications of his words. Such cheerful resignation felt ugly . . .

Erii took the opportunity to broach a subject that had been bothering her since she and Banri arrived.

"Is that why this wing of the hospital is named after you, Kamijo-san?"

The boy in question gawked at her, unable to comprehend this development. The other girls glanced among themselves as he finally sputtered out a response.

"Wait, what?!"

She continued. "Well that's what the sign over the entrance says . . . "

Touma started making strange gestures as his mouth silently flapped open and shut. The remaining Railgang were no less mystified. Banri tried to prompt them.

"You know, the entrance next to the giant bronze statue of Kamijo-san . . . ?"

That got Saten's attention.

"Statue?"

The girls turned to the boy in question, but found him frantically pressing the call button next to his bed. Uiharu turned back to her telepathic friends.

"There wasn't anything like that in the main entrance."

"We came in the rear entrance." Erii explained as the boy on the bed threw the call button down and stared in the direction of the door with arms crossed over his chest. "The way to our dorm is on that side of the building."

The Railgang heard the door to the room slid open and turned to see a pretty middle-aged nurse walk into the room. When she came into sight, Touma sent her a brusque greeting.

"Juuniko-san."

The nurse (Juuniko obviously) sent a small smile to her patient. "Is something wrong, Kamijo-san?"

"Statue."

"Ah . . . we've all been placing bets on when you would find out about that." The nurse sent him a playful grin. "I suppose you want to see it . . . "

Touma sat silently and glared out from his place on the bed with his arms firmly crossed over his chest. Juuniko sighed.

"I'll put your bed in travel mode."

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A young woman with lustrous blonde hair and a Tokiwadai uniform strolled down the quiet path towards the hospital, nearly bouncing with every step. As she walked she hummed a strange playful tune to herself, the melody being punctuated every so often by a giggle that could be called adorable. Provided that 'adorable' could also be used as a synonym for 'ominous' . . . .

The hospital building itself had just came into view when Misaki heard an irritated voice speak up from just over her shoulder.

"I hope you realize that controlling 10 people to make cookies for you defeats the purpose of 'homemade treats' . . . "

"Maybe so, but with the kind of diversity ability I bring to the table, I can't be defeated~" The Queen waved over her shoulder, fluttering her fingers in a dismissive gesture. "No matter who that witch brings to the party!"

"Then why are you making me carry all of it?!"

The Queen paused and turned back to regard the slender male in the leather jacket behind her. The 'shadow striker' Aihana Etsu was currently laden with two enormous bags overflowing with baked treats. Smirking, the starry-eyed girl stepped up to him and tapped his nose with a gloved finger.

"Obviously, since Nini-ue can't be seen with me, you have the Forward Echelon's designated pack-mule power~"

With that the Queen turned on her heels and marched off once again, leaving the boy behind. Aihana grunted in annoyance as the girl began to retreat into the distance.

"Have I mentioned that I hate you lot today?"

Her voice floated back to him, the teasing warble making the boy scowl.

"Seven times since we left my dorm~"

The slender pseudo-six grumbled and began to stomp after her. He twitched briefly as he voiced his complaint.

"We may be going for a record then . . . "

"My, my~" The golden haired girl turned and sent the boy a thoughtful, if cutesy, pose. "Do I need to give the zombify ability to my insolent little puppy today?"

"At least I wouldn't have to listen to your inane conversation then . . . "

"Well too bad, Actor-chan~" Misaki waggled her finger at her cohort and grinned. "I need your reflex power on high alert."

"Dare I ask?"

"With Seven running around, I'll need a body guard." Her grin quickly took on a sinister air. "Or at least a sturdy human shield slash sacrificial lamb~"

"Wonderful." The Queen's face tightened at the flat response, her eyes going hard. "Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll take your block off this time."

The level five stood in her companion's path until he stepped directly in front of her. She made a show of reaching her hand into her purse.

"Unless you want to eat mud for dinner tonight, I suggest you keep your insolence ability to yourself."

"Oh yes, my mighty mistress . . . " Despite the dripping sarcasm, Misaki giggled at the boy's reply. "Aihana is ever your humble servant!"

"Whatever." She scrubbed his head with her hand before spinning around and motioning for him to follow. "When we get to Touma-chan's room, I want you to keep a look out for the high school witch."

"Fine. Then what?"

"Keep her out until I'm done~"

"And how do you expect me to do that?" Aihana didn't bother hiding the exasperation in his voice. "I'm at a pretty severe disadvantage to that one, no thanks to the both of you!"

The Queen sent a cruel smile over her shoulder in response.

"That's your problem, not mine." She teased the edge of her bottom lip with a gloved finger. "Now pick up the pace ability or that witch will beat us there~"

The leather clad boy only sighed one last time and stomped after her.

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After a short trip down the hall, the Railgang had found themselves in the hospital's rear lobby and, yes, there was a statue. The reaction to it varied from person to person . . .

"Well, at least it's wearing pants . . . "

The spiky-haired boy called Kamijo Touma grumbled as he surveyed the horror in front of him. Juuniko the nurse giggled.

"The nurses all had a long debate about that . . . "

" . . . Such Misfortune."

The boy turned his head back to view the statue in question once more. The life-sized bronze statute of the very same hero currently bedridden in front of it. Bare-foot and bare-chested, it was ascending a crag as though surmounting some chilly peak like a god from myths of yore. The statue's right fist was raised to eye-level and its face was locked in an expression of defiant determination. Each one of the girls recognized this look and it brought a shade of color to their cheeks. A simple plaque adorned the base with those familiar words: 'That foolish illusion of yours . . . I will kill it!'

Touma's eye twitched as he twisted on the bed and yelled down a random hallway. "You think you're funny Doc, but you are NOT!"

He heard faint laughter from somewhere else and shook his head in frustration. When he turned back around, the sight of the girls made him flinch. An assemblage of rosy-cheeked maidens stealing none-too-subtle glances between the boy and the disturbingly ripped statue standing next to him. The nurse sent the girls a cat-like grin.

"If you girls are interested, there are miniature versions of it available in the gift shop." She leaned closer to the boy. "It's our best seller . . ."

Touma was appalled when the girls, in perfect unison, turned their heads towards the gift shop and began fishing into their pockets for money. Uiharu seemed to recover first and raised her hand to get the nurse's attention.

"On some level I can understand it, but still . . . " She points at the man of bronze. "Why is there a statue of Kamijo-san?"

"It was paid for by Kamijo-san's insurance company." The nurse explained. "Over one third of this hospital's funding is a direct result of his treatments."

Touma cried out in rage as he pointed to the sign over the door.

"Still, 'The Kamijo Touma Memorial Wing'?!" He started to wave his fist in the air. "I'm. Not. Dead. Yet!"

Mikoto sent him a sly look. "The insurance company is probably just thinking positively."

Touma groaned and rubbed his face. "I just want to help people . . . . Is that so wrong?!"

The Railgun turned away as she muttered under her breath. "Then why is it that only one type of people ever end up being saved?"

"Did you say something Misaka-san?"

"Nope." She scowled and replied with a flat voice. "Nothing at all."

Erii suddenly waved her hands, bringing the group's attention to the pair of telepaths.

"Did anyone else see that boy just now?" She gestured behind herself. "I think he was at Saten's scan yesterday."

That certain previously scanned girl started to twist her head in every direction to try to confirm this possibility, but only saw a vaguely familiar young man struggling with a cat. Saten finally gave up her search and grumbled.

"Who brings a cat to a hospital . . . ?"

"I don't know . . . " Banri scratched her cheek. "Sorry to cut this short, but Erii-chan and I have to head out early."

Erii nodded and continued. "We didn't get a chance to put our new furniture together yesterday."

"That's right!" Uiharu walked over to the two girls. "The people who helped you wanted to talk to me, right?"

Banri nodded. "Yeah. Do you have time to meet them today?"

"It'll have to wait until later." Kuroko broke in. "We have Judgment matters to deal with until late afternoon."

Uiharu nodded. "We should be able to call it a day at about 5pm."

"We'll give them a call." Erii made a gesture with her hand. "They can probably meet you at the branch office."

"That sounds good." The flowery girl from Judgment waved as the girls headed out the nearby door. "We'll see you later then!"

As the rest of the group made similar gestures of farewell to the girls, Kuroko spoke up again.

"We should probably head out too, Judgment awaits."

"No problem." Mikoto waved them on. "Saten and I will bring the Idiot back to his room."

"Then I'll see you back at the dorm, Onee-sama!" Kuroko tapped the side of her nose. "Keep an eye open. Farewell, Saten-san!"

Saten hesitated before responding. "Thanks, I'll see you later . . . "

Upon grabbing her wrist, the teleporter disappeared with Uiharu and left Saten and Mikoto alone with Touma and his nurse. Juuniko motioned for the girls to follow as she maneuvered the boy's bed back into the hallway it came from. As the quartet approached his room, Touma noticed a dazed and distracted looking girl sitting in a wheelchair, squeezing a dolphin doll to her chest. He yelled out to her as they passed by.

"Hey, Umidori-san!" He waved at the blank-eyed girl. "How are you holding up?"

"Make me your own . . ."

Touma couldn't quite make out her muttering. "What?"

The girl straightened up in her seat like someone had touched an ice cube to the middle of her back.

"Nothing!" Dropping the dolphin in her lap, she wheeled herself around with all her might, spinning around twice in the process. "I hear a hot physical therapist calling me!"

With that final cry her chair took off like a shot down the hallway, causing patients and nurses alike to leap out of the way. Touma scratched his head in confusion.

"That was strange . . . " He said with a concerned tone. "I hope she's not undergoing post-traumatic stress or something."

He turned his head to the two girls standing next to him and found them turning a sickly shade of green.

"Speaking of worry, are you guys okay?"

"They probably just caught the bug that's been going around. Mostly in women . . . " Juuniko waved dismissively and wheeled him into his room with a chipper voice.

"Come on Typhoid-Touma, it's almost time for your sponge bath!"

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While the threat of the sponge bath had not been fabricated, it turned out that there was still some time needed for preparation, so the nurse named Juuniko left the trio in the room in order to do just that. Shortly thereafter, the girls decided it was about time for them to leave as well. Before leaving, Mikoto excused herself to use the restroom, leaving the red-faced wind esper standing all alone at the foot of a certain injured boy's bed.

Saten, feeling rather awkward, had jumped on the opportunity to bring Touma up to speed on the events of the day before, after he had left her scan.

" . . . By the time they managed to cut the power, the vortices smashed half of the equipment in the gym." Saten tapped her hands down on the bed's railing. "And everything had been tied down before hand!"

Touma was nearly beaming as he listened. "That is really impressive, Saten-san!"

"It's a bit embarrassing, though" Satan rubbed the back of her head as she looked away. "I hate to think that I am capable of so much destruction . . . "

"You're still learning, so you shouldn't be too worried about it right now." Touma waved his hand in a reassuring way. "With the proper training, you should have no trouble controlling it."

"Kirigaoka offered me a place at their school, but I didn't feel comfortable leaving my friends." Saten admitted and gave the boy a slightly sheepish grin. "Plus, Misaka-san and Beetle-san were pretty dead-set against it as well, for some reason."

"They were probably just concerned for your well being after such a shock." Touma made a vague gesture of distance in the direction of the room's door. "My friend used to go to Kirigaoka and she said it was a bit intense there. Not somewhere you go to make friends. At least not good ones . . . ."

Saten shifted uncomfortably. "I was afraid of that . . . "

"Even then, it seems like a waste to just let things go." Touma had a thoughtful expression on his face as he traced a finger under his chin. "How do your powers work again?"

"I couldn't quite follow everything the woman was telling me, but I have some control over air currents." Saten did her best to explain what she knew. "In addition to that. I can create strong changes in air pressure between two points: one high and one low. It seems to work together with the air current manipulation."

Touma raised an eyebrow when he heard her explanation before an idea seemed to pop into his head.

"A friend of mine has had some good experiences controlling air currents." Touma smiled as he continued. "If you like, I could see if he is willing to act as a tutor or something."

"You think that might work?"

"He is rather ornery, but I can probably call in some favors or evoke a guilt trip."

"Uiharu will probably be happy to hear that." Saten grinned a little at the memory. "She wants me to join Judgment so I can clean alleys for her."

Touma responded with a laugh. "That sounds about right."

The pair falls silent for a moment as Saten looks hesitantly at the door before turning back to face Touma.

"Touma-san . . . "

"Yes, Saten-san?" He blinks when he sees the dazed look on her face. " . . . Are you okay?"

"Yes! Yes!" She waved her hands in front of her briefly before letting them fall back down to her sides. "I just have something important to ask you."

Touma nodded. "Okay then, what is it?"

Saten took a deep breath before placing her hands on the railing at the foot of his bed.

"I know I haven't known you a long time, but . . . "

Touma was silent as he watched her knuckles turn white from her grip. She continued.

"It feels like forever, though . . . "

"Sate– "

She shook her head firmly. "I know how things are with Misaka-san, but I couldn't just let this go unsaid."

Saten locked eyes with the boy, who was currently sitting there and blinking in confusion. She could feel her face growing a deeper shade of crimson with each passing second. The heat was becoming unbearable.

"I know that I have no right to ask, but I'm going to come right out and say it . . . ."

Touma began to get a hesitant expression on his face as he waited. This conversation was starting to feel dangerous for some reason . . .

"Wha– "

"Touma-san, will you please be–"

The pair were startled out of their skins by the sound of a door abruptly sliding open.

"I'm back!" The voice of a certain scientific Railgun thundered into the room. "Sorry it took so long, but there was a line."

A strange creaking sound coming from the railing at the foot of Touma's bed suddenly filled the room. Mikoto and Touma turned to see Saten standing there with a tense expression, twitching every so often.

Mikoto blinked at her friend. "You okay, Saten-san?"

A flat, dead voice was returned to her. "I'm fine. Lets just go."

Mikoto watched as Saten hobbled out of the room on unsteady legs without further conversation. She turned back and shrugged at the boy in the hospital bed.

"Well I guess we're going then . . ."

"You guys can feel free to visit." Touma gestured to his bed. "I'm not going anywhere . . . ."

"I'll pass that on. Take care of yourself."

Touma smiled and nodded as the Railgun turned to leave.

"I will."

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After the unexpected trip down to the lobby and subsequent departure of the Railgun gang, Touma was doing his best to entertain himself. After an hour or so of staring at the rather miniscule TV in the corner, he decided that the hospital had to have the channels specially programmed to induce boredom. That's all there was to it. He couldn't imagine who green-lighted the vampire-talking-horse courtroom-drama that he had been subjected to for the past hour, but decided that it must serve the purpose of getting people out of this hospital as soon as possible. He had just started to nod off from boredom, when the sound of stampeding outside his door caused him to jerk himself awake.

Just in time for the privacy curtain separating his bed from the door to billow up and for a pair of tiny forms to land heavily on his torso.

"Gah!"

A doll-like little blonde girl with blue eyes and a beret threw her arms around the bewildered bedridden boy.

"Nyaaa!" The blonde cheered as she clamped down on Touma's neck with all her might. "Essentially, your favorite little sister is here to visit and make you feel better!"

The little blonde then found herself being shoved to the side as a small brunette with an antenna of hair forced her way onto the boy.

"Misaka takes offense with that ranking of little sisters 'says Misaka as Misaka jumps on the big brother figure along side the stuck up blonde'!"

"Nyah! That's a baseless statement!" Fremea pulled the brunette from her hug by the shoulders and began to shake her rival. "Essentially, I demand satisfaction!"

Last Order then twisted around and gamely tackled the blonde, send the pair rolling on top of the poor injured boy as they tussled. Touma began to wonder why he had the sinking feeling that every girl he knew was about to walk into the room and seen him as the referee in this mini-moe wrestling match. Not good.

"Whaaa!" Touma began to wail to himself as the thought hit him. "Why is this the only flag this poor Kamijo Touma ever seems to raise?!"

A raspy, and all too familiar voice then caused the girls to freeze in a somewhat comical position, Fremea tugging on Last Order's cheeks while said girl tried to swipe the other girl's beret.

"Miffing brats, don't climb on someone in the hospital."

A slender pale-faced boy hobbled into view followed by a blond delinquent boy who sent him a wave and grin.

"Hey Boss!"

"Hamazura and Accelerator?" Touma looke back and forth between the pair. "What are you both doing here?"

"We heard you were in the hospital." Hamazura responded

"How?"

Accelerator looked away with a slightly red face. He seemed rather fascinated with something out the window . . .

"I got lucky . . . ."

The blond boy pointed to the hot-bottled-water girl currently rubbing Touma's hand against her cheek. "Fremea heard it from Beetle-san, so she insisted we come to visit."

The mini brown-haired bug-zapper pumped her fist in triumph as she snuggled herself into the space between our hero's arm and chest. "Same here 'says Misaka as Misaka lives out the network's secret fantasy'!"

"Nyah! Onii-chan would no doubt prefer a more mature little sister." Fremea sent the other girl a proud raise of the chin. "Not one with a nightlight and frogs on her pajamas!"

Last Order pushed herself upright from her nested position and raised a fist at the blonde.

"How dare you 'says Misaka as Misaka searches through the network for the appropriate hand-to-hand combat techniques– Whaa!"

Last Order cried out in surprise as she was dragged off the bed by a pale-faced boy who was now seemingly fascinated by the curtains next to the bed . . . .

"We've confirmed the Miffing Hero is fine." Accelerator began to tug the little clone in the direction of the door. "Lets go."

"What? And leave him in the hands of that thieving cat 'questions Misaka as Misaka points at the offending blonde'?"

Fremea crossed her arms and sent her rival a smug look.

"Essentially, this is my victory!"

"Actually, Fremea-chan . . . " Hamazura gently picked the blonde girl up and placed her on the floor. "You have a doctor's appointment that I have to get you to right about now."

"Nyaaaa!" She began to flap her arms in a panic. "This unexpected event will no doubt spoil Onii-chan's beloved little sister time!"

"I think I'll live . . ."

Last Order then poked the beret wearing girl in the cheek and spoke up defiantly. "This isn't over! Misaka challenges you to a race to the vending machines 'goads Misaka as Misaka runs out the door'!"

The little clone then dashed out of the room's door and into the hallway with the blonde in hot pursuit.

"Nyah! Essentially, the loser owes the winner hot chocolate!" The boys could hear the voice receding into the distance. "Now eat my dust!"

Accelerator gave a blasé call out the door after the girls.

"Don't run in the hospital."

Hamazura started for the door himself.

"I'll go after them . . ." He then paused as though remembering something important. "Hey boss, you feel like having a poker game later?"

"I've got nothing else to do . . . "

"Great! I'll ask around." The delinquent turned to the distracted looking level five standing next to him. "How about you Accelerator?"

"Yeah fine, whatever . . . "

Touma nodded to himself. "I'll ask around too."

"Sounds good, see you later!"

The boy jogged off as the pale boy began to hobble towards the door himself

"Yeah, what he said . . . "

Touma remembered the promise he had made earlier and called to the initially relived looking number one. "Hey, Accel. Can I ask you something?"

Accelerator paused, his eye twitching and a tension evident in his face. It looked like he was about to throw himself into the hallway. This look only intensified then the hero began to voice his request . . .

"You see, there's this friend of mine . . . ."

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Early evening had arrived at the Judgment Branch office. A slender girl wearing a Tokiwadai uniform finished packing up and turned her head in the direction of her floral-headed friend.

"You're going to be staying here, then?"

"Right." Uiharu nodded at her teleporter friend. "I plan to leave after I meet with the people who need my help finding that missing person."

"Are you sure you don't want me to stick around?" Kuroko asked and looked down at the beetle clipped to the girl's skirt. "Although, you probably have enough firepower with that thing on hand . . . "

A smooth voice floated out of the beetle. "I doubt that they would have anything that would be capable of stopping me."

"I don't think you have to worry, guys." Uiharu chirped to her friends. "They sounded pretty polite to me when Haruue-san and Edisaki-san described them. Scary, but polite."

"Fine then. Just keep your guards up and I won't bother worrying." Kuroko sighed before a grin spread across her face. "Perhaps I can convince Onee-sama to do a little shopping before curfew. Matching intimates will win this game for sure!"

The beetle twitched on its clip while Uiharu tilted her head in confusion. "What 'game' do you mean, Shirai-san?"

Kuroko flinched when she realized that she had said her previous statement out loud.

"Ah, nothing! I'll see you later, Uiharu!"

With that final bid, the teleporter vanished into thin air, leaving the flowery-headed girl and small white beetle alone in the Judgment office. She looked down at it.

"So what should we do in the meanti– "

Her question was interrupted by a brisk knock on the door, startling her enough to make her leap a noticeable distance into the air. She quickly recovered and called out to the person outside.

"Ah, come in!"

A rugged looking young man with calm eyes and closely cropped black hair peeked around the door.

"Pardon the intrusion. You are Uiharu-sama, correct."

Blushing at the honorific, Uiharu nodded. The boy smiled and bowed low to her.

"I am honored to make your acquaintance on behalf of the Middle Line." He raised an eye towards the beetle clipped to her skirt. "I also acknowledge your excellent taste in bodyguards."

The white beetle shuddered in its place, the girl quickly giving it a brief pet to calm it. She nodded at the newcomer and smiled with a thankful look on her face.

"Thank you for saving my friends."

"It was my honor as acting commander of the Middle Line." The boy straightened up and stood with his hands on his hips in a relaxed gesture. Uiharu blinked in confusion at the boy's words.

"I thought the General was in charge of the Middle Line."

The boy shook his head. "Only in the loosest sense of the word."

Uiharu tilted her head, waiting for further information.

"While Mairo-sama did transfer nominal control over the group to her, it was mostly as an adviser and strategist." The boy continued his explanation. "I am, and have always been, the chief of operations for the entire group. I am also its most senior member, after Mairo-sama of course."

"How big is your group exactly?"

"There are several thousand official members, not including allied outside groups and cliques scattered across the city." He shrugged. "Honestly, even I'm not sure of the exact number. The General is rather . . . proactive . . . when it comes to recruitment."

Uiharu seemed a bit disturbed by this fact, as attested by her slack jawed expression. The boy waved his hands.

"Back to the issue at hand, I have come here to request your assistance as the premier hacker of Academy City." A strained look took over his face as he looked off to the side. "We're also here to offer our apologies . . . "

"Apologies?" Uiharu scratched her head, utterly bewildered. "For what?"

"For recently." The boy turned and waved at the doorway. "Myuri-chan, stop hiding and apologize with me!"

Uiharu watched as a girl with spiky red hair hesitantly entered the room. She seemed just slightly taller than Mikoto with a slender and wiry body, arms crossed over a chest not far removed in size from Uiharu's own. The girl's suspicious brown eyes were hidden by long lashes as she struggled to avoid the Judgment member's gaze. Uiharu felt the beetle shivering as a thought crossed her mind.

"Why does that name sound fam–"

She cut off in mid sentence as she pointed at the girl. "It's you!"

Before anyone could so much as twitch, an explosion of white erupted from the girl's skirt and hit the two newcomers like a freight train. As their backs hit the wall hard, the mass reformed into the shape of a slender boy holding them against the wall by the necks. His face contorted in a mask of barely contained rage.

"Beetle-san!"

While the red-haired girl struggled in terror against the unbreakable grip, the young man's face maintained its calm expression as the white boy leaned towards the pair.

"The next words out of your mouth will be the most important ones of your soon to be very short lives." Kakine hissed in their ears. "Make them count!"

"Please, find him."

The level five hesitated at the boy's words.

"Before She does . . . "

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The mini-moe attack had left our spiky-haired hero's bed in a shambles, but he decided against bothering the nurses with something so trivial. Taking matters into his own hands he did his best to straighten the sheets, until an uncomfortably familiar voice brought his attention to his newest visitor.

"Touma-chan, I'm coming in! Are you decent?" A voice like water over smooth stones warbled into his ears. "I certainly hope not~"

Touma slapped his right hand to his head when he felt that teasing tone fill his ears. Beads of sweat began to roll down his brow when a Blonde haired girl in a Tokiwadai uniform sauntered past the curtain and began to hungrily pore over him with her starry eyes. Touma noted that she was burdened by a pair of heavy bags and raised his other hand in greeting.

"Hello, Shoku– Mi-chan . . . "

"Is that any way to greet your favorite girl in all of Academy City?" The blonde pouted as she leaned slightly forward and wiggled her shoulders. "Despite the lies that some people might tell you, I brought you some homemade cookies~"

"Thank you." The bed ridden misfortune magnet gestured to the small table next to his bed. "Please put them with the others."

The Queen scowled when she noticed the large pile of baked goods next to the boy's bed. She shook her head and began to mutter under her breath as she placed her bags on the floor.

"It looks like I'll have to step up my game ability a bit . . . "

"Did you say something, Mi-chan?"

"You are in the hospital an awful lot, Touma-chan~" The now unburdened girl sent Touma a mock-shocked pose. "Am I right in assuming that naughty nurse play ability is in your strike zone?"

"What? No!"

"Your mouth says 'no', but your eyes say 'yes'~" Misaki giggled at the boy's appalled expression. "At least with you injured, you can't just run off on me."

"I couldn't run if I wanted to." The boy replied mournfully. "This bed automatically restrains me if I move too far in any one direction."

Touma felt his back digging a little harder into the pillows behind him as caught the change in his visitor's eyes. A dark glint in those starry eyes was accompanied by a subtle change in her breathing pattern and a smile formed on her lips that was unlike anything he had seen from her. He shivered.

"Why did I just tell you that . . . ?" Touma looked away as he tried to swallow the lump which was forming in his throat. "Such misfortune . . . "

The Queen took a single step forward towards him and sent the most chilling warble of a voice he could imagine.

"So in essence, you are tied down to that bed~"

" . . . Yes."

"Marvelous."

If Touma wasn't panicking before, it was setting in at full force by this point. The Queen retrieved a remote from her bag and aimed a single click in the direction of the hallway outside. With that out of the way, she returned it to its place and dropped the bag on the floor next to his bed.

Then, ever so slowly, she placed one knee after another on Touma's bed, taking her time as she crawled towards his upper body. In a violent motion, he jerked himself upwards to put some distance between the two of them, but was rewarded by the sound of snapping restraints locking him into place.

"Shokuhou-san!"

"Mi-chan, Touma." The boy shivered as her fingers drifted up the side of his body. She planted them on either side of his chest and leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Say it or I may have to punish you~"

"Nurse!"

"I gave them the suggestion ability to ignore any screaming from this room." The Queens husky voice made Touma cringe as he struggled to make a response. "We can be as loud as we want~"

"SAVE ME RHINOCEROS BEETLE!"

"Okay, now you're just being a drama queen . . . " The Queen's gloved hand pulled the boy's face back in line with her own. "Your mouth is telling me to stop, but I can feel other parts of your body ability urging me to fulfill the prophecy!"

With those final words, Misaki leaned in towards his lips, her eyes falling closed. Just as Touma felt the warmth of her skin, he heard her cry out in protest and the weight of her body being dragged roughly from his own. A pair of familiar busty girls had seized the Queen and pulled her off the bed. Another girl with princess hair picked up the Queen's bag from the floor and kept it out of the blonde's reach.

"Really now, you dark-haired witches!" The level five complained and struggled against her captors. "Pulling me away halfway through . . . . That's not cricket!"

"Sempai? Fukiyose and Himegami, too!" Relief was evident in Touma's voice as he passed his eyes from one girl to the next. "I've never been so happy to have you walk in on a girl sitting on me!"

The Queen only chuckled.

"You're not out of the woods yet, Touma-chan~" She turned her head towards the girls restraining her. "Judging by the looks on their faces, I may have given them ideas . . . "

"What?! We'd never do that!" Fukiyose, indignant at the implication, turned her head to look at her companions. She scowled when she caught the thoughtful expressions showing on the other girls' faces.

"I said: we'd–"

Fukiyose gritted her teeth when the responses from the other dark-haired girls broke into her determined assertion.

"We're thinking."

"I could get into it . . . "

Touma began to massage his forehead and groaned.

"Stupid luck . . . "

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

A busty girl wearing a green Judgment band on her arm quietly walked out of the intensive care room and slid the door closed. Adjusting her glasses to a more comfortable position, she shook her head and made her way to the hospital's exit.

It just didn't make sense. How could one girl do– was that a cat screaming?

Konori was bewildered as she followed the sound of a very angry feline and muttered cursing from a familiar sounding voice.

"Stop . . . clawing me . . . and relax, you stupid cat!" Konori turned the corner to find a certain boy trying to juggle a squirming cat and a heavy bag from one hand to the other as he struggled to dig out his cell phone.

"Yabumi-san?"

"OW!"

Having gotten in a decent hit on the boy, the cat finally extracted itself from his grasp and dropped to the floor. When it saw the newcomer, it scampered over to her and placed one paw on her knee and stretched itself upwards on its back legs, the other paw waving upwards at the girls face. Konori felt herself about to gush and melt into a puddle at the cuteness.

"It's so beautiful!"

She bent over and picked it up, cuddling it to her chest. The cat slowly blinked its green eyes and rubbed its white muzzle against her face. Cooing in delight, the girl from Judgment buried her face in the silky gray and cream washes of the little animal's fur.

"Her name is Missy." Yabumi grumbled as he tried to sooth his bleeding hand. "She's an American Longhair."

"Really?" Konori looked up to gawk at the boy. "What are you doing with it, then?"

"Sogiita found her on a website for the Connecticut Humane Society sometime on Thursday." Yabumi explained with a somewhat disgusted tone. "He sent people from the Institute to fly her here from America."

Konori blinked. "He can do that?"

"I think they decided that staying on his good side was important for the integrity of the Institute . . . " The boy sighed and continued. "She arrived yesterday afternoon. I've been doing my best to deal with it."

"So you guys are living with a cat now?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Yabumi crossed his arms and gritted his teeth. "He said he could have gotten us a Lhasa Apso, but he didn't want to make it any more obvious to people than it already was . . . "

Konori tilted her head. "What does that mean?"

"I'm pretty sure he was just making fun of me." The scowled and looked away before continuing, unwilling to look the girl in the eye. "Look . . . Konori-san, I want to apologize for the other day."

The Judgment girl felt herself going red from embarrassment as she remembered the events of Thursday. "Well, I'm just about as much to blame for that as you are . . . "

"It was a stressful day . . . " The boy broke off before looking the girl in the eye with a serious face. "Konori, I'm scared. What if he never goes back to the way he was before?"

"We can't think like that!" Konori shook her head firmly. "We just need to give him some time to find himself again."

Yabumi growled to himself. "I want my idiot back . . . "

"Now that I think of it, why are you guys here anyway?"

"Homemade pastries." The boy held up the heavy bag and shook it next to his face. "Sogiita said a friend of his was in the hospital, so we're here to drop them off."

"Where is Sogiita-san then?"

"He handed me the cat and wandered off to find the person. Why he couldn't just have asked someone I'll never know. Why are you here, Konori-san?"

"Judgment duties." The girl pointed back the way she came. "Yesterday evening five teenage males were beaten half to death. The only one not in a vegetative state is currently slipping in and out of a coma."

"Is he speaking?"

Konori shook her head. "The only thing we can get out of him are a lot of random syllables: 'oh', 'ka', 'nii', and 'tou' are the most common."

"What happened to them?"

"From the surveillance footage, we think the group was accosting a girl in an alley. Another young girl with black hair and a miniskirt entered the alley and then the first girl ran out, but stumbled in the entrance. Shortly afterwords, the new girl walked out drenched in blood and the first girl ran off screaming."

"You think the blood-girl beat them?"

"Possibly. We still need to find the two girls to determine what happened."

Yabumi nodded in understanding and stretched his back in weariness.

"I was just about to go look for Sogiita, when you arrived." He pointed to the cat in her arms. "If you would like to come with, it would save me the trouble of trying to carry that devil-spawn of a feline."

Konori smiled as the cat in her arms let out a growl somewhere between a moan and a grumble.

"Sounds like fun. Lead the way!"

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A certain white beetle clinging to the ceiling of the hallway outside of Touma's room was treated to an amusing scene.

That leather-clad red herring had been standing outside the boy's door when the irritating false-six was accosted by a trio of young women. The beetle found himself deeply amused when, after trying to stop the girls from entering the room, one of them said the magic words and he slumped slowly down the wall in a stupor.

"So that's the 'witch' Five was talking about." The tiny beetle muttered to itself as the girls entered the room like a SWAT team. "Interesting."

An argument inside the room grabs his attention for a moment before he dismissed it.

"He'll probably be fine . . ." The tiny level five skittered down the wall. "Lets see what our little red herring has to say."

Stopping just above the boy's head, the beetle unfolded it wings and set them in motion. A familiar girlish voice bubbled out of them . . .

"Actor-chan~ What is our current status?"

The boy flinched and responded in a monotone.

"The Forward Echelon remains stable despite the loss of the Sleeper and the Other Six."

"Define 'the Sleeper'"

"The sleeper is founding member of the Middle Line and linchpin of the Forward Echelon: Sotomawari Mairo" The boy paused and tilted his head from one side to the other. "Currently being held captive by Other Six."

"What use is the sleeper?"

"He is the key to the General's current plans."

The beetle tapped the wall under itself in annoyance.

"Elaborate on the goals of these plans."

The boy seemed to hesitate for a moment before finally responding.

"Primary goal: Destruction of Number One, by order of the General."

The beetle shook once.

"Secondary goal: Control of existing level fives and ascension of new level fives under our control, as ordered by the General and yourself."

Now the beetle fell still.

"Tertiary goal: acquisition of one Kamijo Touma, in pursuit of the prior goals. As mutually agreed upon by the General, Other Six, Mairo-kun, and yourself."

The bubbly voice seemed slightly strained as it prompted the zombie boy.

"Any threats to these goals?"

"Number One is the primary threat. Middle Line has also evidenced wavering loyalty after the loss of Mairo-kun." The beetle didn't seem surprised. "Numbers Two and Seven have proven uncontrollable by normal means and will have to be dealt with by proxy."

At that final statement, the beetle's tiny legs dug into the wall it was clinging to, leaving deep scratches. It began to shake, but managed to regain control of itself when it heard the girls in the room moving towards the door.

"That's all for now. Please stand by~"

With those parting words the beetle disappeared in a puff of smoke just as the door was opened. The Queen was the first to stroll out and, upon finding her bodyguard on the floor, reactivated him.

"Gemini~"

"GAH!" Aihana lifted his head to stare the Queen in the eyes. "Do the words 'talk out your differences' mean anything to you people?!"

"But our way has much more humor ability~"

The boy was then addressed by a certain high school's beauty sempai.

"Anything happen while we were out?"

"How do expect me to know that?!"

"Like we said: humor ability~"

Aihana rubbed his forehead in frustration at the childish antics of his handlers, before finally pointing at the two unfamiliar girls in the group.

"I don't believe we have been introduced."

Misaki sent him a patronizing pose.

"You asked how we were going to get a handle on the Hero, right?"

When he nodded the Queen sent over a smile that chilled him like a cloudless night.

"These are the keys that will open that lock for us~"

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"Please, find him. Before She does . . ."

The room was silent for a moment as the white level five held the pair against the wall, his glare unchanged from before. A quiet, plaintive voice broke out from behind him.

"Please, Beetle-san . . . "

Gritting his teeth, Kakine removed his grip from the pair's necks. They dropped to the floor with a thump, rubbing the tender bruises blossoming on their throats. The white boy growled at them.

"You have ten minutes." His hand clenched into a fist. "So you better talk fast."

There was a light tapping at the door which drew the attention of the room's occupants as a dark-haired boy peaked around it.

"Are we good with the monster yet?"

There was a collective flinch from the occupants of the room as he said those words, Myuri twisted around to face him while raising a fist in his direction.

"Yakiin-kun, where were you thirty seconds ago?!" She howled at the grinning boy with the red earrings. "I thought I was going to die, you dork!"

"Oh, and what did you expect me to do? Burn this place to the ground?" Yakiin crossed his arms with a sneer. "That would have gone over wonderfully."

A young woman's voice caused him to turn his head to the side.

"Um, excuse me, sir." Uiharu pointed at the newcomer. "I know this is rude to ask, but what happened to your eye?"

"What, you mean this?" Yakiin pointed the the silvery blue splotch over his otherwise piercing black eye. "I was young and stupid once. The gentleman had an exquisite right hook."

The white boy spoke up. "He didn't happen to have spiky–"

"While that would have been an honor . . . " The dark haired boy shook his head firmly. "I have never met the Hero in person."

"I assume you are part of this lot, then." Kakine motioned at the pair on the floor with a distasteful look in his face.

"Yes, he is!" Myuri started yelling in newcomer's direction. "And he was supposed to apologize with us!"

"The only thing I have to apologize for is providing the knives that day." Yakiin replied in a dismissive way. "Knives that you suggested and that he ordered me to give you."

"Are you trying to get him to kill us?!"

There was the sound of a throat being cleared, which silenced the girl. "Remember, I said ten minutes."

"That's right, we shouldn't waste the time you have so generously given us." The rugged boy stated as he stood back up and bowed again. "I am Ikari and on behalf of the Middle Line, I would like to apologize for the prior Wednesday."

"The General believed that the Hacker would be able to locate Mairo-sama." Myuri explained as she pushed off the wall into a standing position. "We wanted to remove her from Three's influence so that she could be free to do so."

"I can respect that . . ." The white boy muttered as he turned his head to the side. Ikari continued.

"We were also hoping that the both of you would be willing to introduce the Hero to us." He gestured in the direction of the white boy and the girl behind him. "We know that you are close to him, so that shouldn't be difficult."

"I am well aware that your boy needs Kamijo-san." Kakine's face took on a dark cast as he glared at the trio in front of him. "I don't intend to let my friends consort with such a dangerous individual. I draw the line at Three."

"HOW DARE YOU MAKE THAT FACE WHEN YOU SPEAK OF MAIRO-SAMA!"

Myuri dashed forwards at the level five before the boys on either side nonchalantly grabbed an arm to hold her back. Her face twisted as her voice started to break up. "H-he was kind . . . "

"He always chose to take the pain onto himself rather than risk letting others be hurt." Ikari turned his head away a distant expression of sorrow showing on his face. "It was particularly bad towards the end . . . ."

"Six was pretty much the only thing keeping him alive." Yakiin stared at his hand as he spoke, his thumb threatening to rub the skin off of his finger as he did so. "Even if it was his fault that Mairo-sensei was in that situation to begin with."

"Sotomawari-san has a past connection with number Six?" Uiharu asked the trio. Ikari nodded and looked back to her.

"Six was the one who introduced Mairo-sama to the General." Kakine's eyes widened as the boy continued. "Six was associated with the General through Five, although he never spoke of what the relationship between the three of them was."

"What can you tell me about Six?" The white boy pressed the group. "Other than the fact that he is a pain in the everything."

"I assume the two of you have met?" The white boy nodded. "Then I can't add much."

Myuri broke in. "On the rare occasions that he visited us in person, he usually wore a mask."

"I remember Sensei saying that they became acquainted in middle school before he transferred to a specialized program."

"You mean Mairo transferred." The boy nodded and Kakine looked thoughtful. "Well that narrows it down somewhat . . ."

"Not really." Ikari added mournfully. "There were several middle schools in that area, so he could have come from any one of them and from any year. He even could have been visiting someone who was a student without actually being enrolled himself . . . "

"So you've got nothing."

"He leaves no footprints, metaphorically speaking."

"That's probably Five's doing. They seem to be closely connected."

"We'd never be able to prove that though."

The white boy nodded with a scowl. "True."

"It's been ten minutes." Ikari reminded the white level five in front of him. "Will you help us?"

"Of course we will!" Uiharu chirped up when the white boy hesitated. "We will fight to bring a lost friend home, no matter what!"

Kakine shook briefly upon hearing the girl's words, but recovered almost immediately. After crossing his arms, he muttered in reluctant agreement. "It's probably best that we keep that boy out of the wrong hands, if nothing else . . . ."

"Excellent!" The rugged boy clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Give us some time to put something together. We can have it sent to you by Monday."

"Sounds good. I'll look it over after school." Uiharu smiled and looked over at the white boy who nodded with a non-committal grunt.

"Do you feel that?"

The group looked over to the boy with the red earrings and found his face holding a playful but strange grin as he turned his head from side to side. He abruptly stopped and stared at the others.

"It feels like fate to me."

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"I think we have made a mistake here . . . ." A blond delinquent named Hamarura offered.

Touma nodded as he rubbed his forehead to remove some of the tension building up. "More coordination on the guest list would have been a good idea."

The unease of the blond delinquent and his spiky-haired hero friend were not unjustified. The game room at the moment could best be described as tense, what with the other six participants in the room glaring at each other from their seats. Well, strictly speaking, only the level fives in the room were glaring at each other.

Nearest to Touma, the pale-faced number one and the pure white number two where exchanging daggers across the table with their eyes, each one with trembling fists that they were struggling to keep to themselves.

In the next pair of seats, the number three and four of the level fives were taking a less active approach to their discontent. The two simply stared across the table at each other, their arms tightly crossed over their respective chests and letting the twitching of their eyes do the talking.

The last pair of seats, nearest to Hamazura, were occupied by the resident level fours. A certain thigh exposing nitrogen esper was sending bewildered looks at the dolphin-loving nitrogen esper sitting on the other side of the table. Who was currently glancing furtively around the table at the males present, a ruddy flush evident on her cheeks. Touma grew alarmed as she flinched upon meeting his eyes with her own and twisted her head the other direction, only to flinch again when she met the blond's eyes instead. With a less that gracefully motion, she turned her face to the table and began to squeeze the stuffing out of the dolphin doll in her lap.

Touma grumbled for a moment and addressed the room at large.

"I guess this explains why the nurses were complaining about Anti-skill and Judgment setting up a perimeter around the building."

The pure-white boy pointed across at the table as he regarded the hero on his left.

"If I had known this white chocolate coated bastard was coming, I wouldn't have shown up."

"Likewise, you miffing roach-faced backup plan!"

Hamazura tried to reason with the terrifying boys at the other end of the table.

"Guys, there are severely injured people all around us . . . "

Accelerator grinned with malice at the seraph-esper and sent a raspy challenge.

"They might have company in a minute."

The white boy raised a hand and let his fingers take on the shape of five twitching sickle-like blades. Mugino grinned at the thought and replied over her right shoulder to Accelerator while motioning across the table.

"You got that right!"

Mikoto slammed her palms against the table and leaned forward. "Hey glow sticks, where's that stupid blonde from before? She too busy at a weight loss meeting to show up?"

Mugino began to shake as her face contorted in fury. Kinuhata's jaw dropped and looked at the number three as if praying that her ears had been mistaken.

"You super did not just say that . . . "

Mugino's voice came out in a whisper as her fingers dug into the flesh of her upper arms. Touma could swear that tiny will-o-the-wisps were blinking in and out of existence almost too fast for his eyes to follow.

"If you mention her one more time, I'll take you and this entire half of the hospital out if I have to!"

Mikoto leapt to her feet slamming her fists down onto the table in front of her.

"Bring it on, you half-gynoid reject!"

"Can we set our personal problems aside for five minutes?!" Touma yelled out, waving his arms in a panic. "Such misfortune . . . this was supposed to be a friendly game."

"Speaking of personal problems, what's up with dolphin-girl here?" The thigh flasher girl pointed at her rival across the table. "She super looks like someone jammed a red pepper where the sun don't shine."

That woke the other girl up . . .

"Watch your mouth, thigh-girl!" Umidori clenched the stuffed dolphin in her fists hard enough to tear the fabric. "I have a way of taking even you out now and I'm itching to try it!"

Kinuhata gave an unconvinced grunt. "I'd super love to see that, tin-man."

"That's it!" The dark-haired began to wheel herself out of her spot to circle around to the other side of the table. "You asked for it!"

A panicked yell erupted from the blond at the end of the table.

"Hey, Beetle-san!" Hamazura tossed a deck of cards in front of the pure-white boy on the other end of the table. "Would you do us the honor of cutting the cards!"

Without removing his eyes from the boy across from him, Kakine shaped his hand into a giant cleaver and chopped the deck of cards in half. The room froze for a moment until Hamazura muttered quietly to himself.

" . . . And with that the game ends in a tie."

"NURSE!" The spiky-haired hero twisted around in his mobile-bed and started waving frantically at the game room's entrance. "I'm ready for my sponge bath! STAT ! !"

At that point, nature took its course . . .

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A small brown-haired girl was perched on the edge of an examination table, gently kicking her legs with her ankles fetchingly crossed. She looked distractedly around the room until a calm voice brought her attention to the only other occupant of the room.

". . . And for how long have you been experiencing these symptoms?"

Last Order scrunched up her face in thought as she regarded the frog-faced doctor sitting in the chair across the room.

"It's hard to say 'ponders Misaka as Misaka strains her mind to remember how many months ago she first noticed the issue'."

"Has there been a recent change that made you choose to seek my advice?"

"Yes 'agrees Misaka as Misaka explains the situation'" The little clone raised her hands up and started gesturing randomly. "The least priority calls have been noticeably more frequent starting a week ago."

The doctor raised an eyebrow and made a note in his chart.

"And you cannot trace the source of the network intrusion?"

"Misaka believes this access has identical privileges on the network as Misaka 'says Misaka as Misaka shivers at the connotation'." Last Order paused before adding: "But the priority of these instructions are lowest rather than highest like Misaka's . . . "

"So these instructions are shunted to the background?"

The little girl nodded. The frog-faced doctor then pressed on.

"Can you narrow down the specific calculations being acces–"

The pair nearly jumped out of their skins when an enormous explosion shook the room. Last Order began to look around in a panic.

"What was that 'cries Misaka as Misaka hopes that the new highest priority load on the network isn't what she thinks it is'!"

When the little clone jumped off the table and ran at top speed out of the office, the doctor sighed and shook his head. Placing his chart down on the desk next to him, he left the office and headed down to the game room, where he was certain the source of the disturbance would be found.

All in a day's work.

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A certain frog-faced doctor and tiny clone reached the entrance to the game room just as a horrific mechanical whine erupted from within. Reflexively clamping her hands over her ears, Last Order wobbled once on her feet before falling to the floor, unconscious. The good doctor gently picked her up and shook his head as he looked in on the scene.

"Well, it seems that the Capacity Down installed in Kamijo's bed isn't as effective as I would have hoped . . . "

He shook his head and carried the little girl back to his office, leaving the participants to their work. Other than holding their hands over their ears, the espers seemed to be largely unaffected by the noise, which would have fallen a lesser psychic with ease . . .

Currently, Kakine had brought out his wings and was sending one after another at the collared level five who batted them out of the way with unconcerned swats of the hand. Enraged, the white boy shouted out at the number one.

"You can't keep that up forever, you coffee-addicted bean pole!"

With a twitching eye, Accelerator redirected yet another wing and pointed at the ceiling.

"The only reason that I haven't sent you to the international space station is the fact that we're in a hospital, you second rate insect!"

Kakine growled and brought his wings into a guarding position.

"As soon as I figure out those stupid wings of yours, I will rip them off of you and make you eat them!"

"Don't make me laugh!"

Further in the room, Mugino and Misaka danced around each other as each sent their powers to cut the other down, more or less canceling each other out in the process. Each bolt or beam was accompanied by the requisite trash talk from one or the other . . .

"Hold still so I can give you that rematch with Frenda, you high-voltage fetus!"

"Why don't you make me, you psychopathic old hag!" Mikoto's lightning was swallowed by a glowing orb. "At least I don't need my chest to get people to like me!"

"Yeah? At least I'm smart enough not to get myself xeroxed!" Mugino snarked as her own bolt was redirected by the Third.

"And I didn't spend my formative years killing people for no good reason!"

A metal wastebasket launched by the girl was then disintegrated by the Fourth. Mugino pointed at the bedridden boy on the other side of the room.

"If that boy had any sense, he would have told you to take a hike after cleaning up your mess!"

Mikoto pointed at the blond pushing the boy's bed.

"So would yours!"

The level fours were the most affected by the Capacity Down, but still gave it their all despite the difficulty in concentrating. At some point during the proceedings, Umidori had spilled out of her wheelchair and was currently pinned down by Kinuhata's weight. The thigh-girl was currently sitting on her, with a foot lodged under Umidori's chin.

"You are so lucky I can't use my hands right now!"

"What's your problem?" Kinuhata leaned forward to shout over the din. "Are you still super hung up on the project?"

"Not everything is about you!" The dolphin-girl's cheeks were bright red as she shouted back. "I have four hot options just begging for a little Umidori!"

The thigh-girl raised an eyebrow. "I think they super need to change your medication, or something."

"Ha! It's not my fault I'm so awesome that I need to beat them off with a stick!" Umidori tried to sit up but received a quick boot back into a supine position.

Kinuhata muttered. "A cat scan might be a super good idea too . . ."

"I'll give you cat-ears!"

The two level zeros were having a merry time as the blond wheeled the spiky-haired boy in his bed around the room as fast as his legs could carry him. All the while Touma swung his right hand around like a madman, negating bolts, beams, and wings like he was living in a demented pinball machine.

"We're in a hospital, you lunatics!" Touma howled as he redirected a blade-like wing into the ceiling before his bed was dashed to the other side of the room. "SUCH MISFORTUNE!"

It was this melee that the frog-faced doctor returned to after dropping the tiny clone to his office. He sighed and glanced down at the small remote that he had picked up in the meantime.

"It looks like the anti-field has been calculated." He muttered to himself. "Lets give it a try . . . "

With a simple click of the button, the espers in the room dropped to the floor. Their bodies sprawled out as though their higher motor functions had been disconnected. Touma and Hamazura looked around in wonder.

"What just happened, Doc?" Touma asked.

"It's a new anti-esper device." The frog-faced doctor replied to his patient. "It analyzes an esper's quantum output and then generates a negating field. Basically, it leaves them unable to take conscious actions. Unfortunately, it requires an esper to be near a scanner for several minutes, otherwise it won't work."

Hamazura pointed at the First and Second, who were still crawling towards each other as best as they were able. "It doesn't seem to be 100% effective."

"Well, no technology is perfect. I'll have the nurses cart them all into different rooms until they calm down a bit." The doctor waved as he turned to leave the room. "Now, Kamijo-san, why don't you follow me back to my office so we can talk about damage expenses . . ."

"Stupid Luck . . . ."

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Shortly after the scuffle between the participants of the ill-fated poker game had been sorted out, Touma found himself back in in his room. He rubbed his head to remove the tension from the previous ordeal and picked up the sleeping medication Juuniko had left for him. He had just swallowed the pair of pills with a drowning wash of lukewarm water from a plastic cup when a soft tapping brought his attention to the door.

A slender pure white boy with a remorseful expression peeked around the curtain.

"How are you holding up Kamijo-san?"

"Not bad." Touma waved the boy into the room with a weary gesture. "It's a shame that our game was cut short earlier, though."

The white boy rubbed his head and looked away before responding. "Yeah, I could have been a bit more understanding during all that . . . "

"It was a bit tense, but it did take my mind off things."

Touma's visitor flinched. He slowly turned back around, the look of sorrow on his face was unmistakable. Touma frowned when he heard his friend's shaking voice.

"Kamijo, I'm sorry . . . "

"Beetle-san."

"It's my fault it happened." Kakine's voice was raising in volume as he spoke, fists clenching and relaxing at regular intervals. "If I had just gotten there sooner–"

"Beetle-san!"

The white boy fell silent again when the angry voice of his friend cut off his moping.

"If she knew anything about you, she would have called for you." Touma crossed his arms in defiance as he locked eyes with the level five. "It's not your fault!"

" . . . How is she?"

The tension in the room re-established itself for a moment before it finally dissipated. Touma sighed and nodded.

"The Doc says that she will recover." The boy's shoulder's relaxed as he shifted on the bed. "Since he's treating her out of the goodness of her heart, she'll have to be released on Monday."

"Will she really be ready by then?"

"Physically, yes. Doc says that she has stabilized perfectly with minimal damage." The bedridden boy tried to reassure his visitor. "He's actually more worried about the potential changes to her thought processes . . . "

The white boy leaned forward.

"Uiharu and I could probably take care of her while you recover."

"That's unnecessary. Index can look after her with Maika's help." Kakine flinched slightly at the response. "She knows Index, so that would probably be more comfortable for her."

"I understand." The white level five's voice came out quietly as he nodded to himself. "I'll just keep an eye on her to be on the safe side."

Touma smiled, keeping his eyes on the other boy. "That's probably a good idea . . ."

"Well then, I'll let you get some rest."

He started to turn away when Touma's next words sent a shivering feeling of ice down his unearthly white back.

"Don't blame yourself. Beetle-san." The calm voice of the injured boy filled Kakine's ears like a melody, but it filled his mouth with a taste like poisoned honey. "I don't blame you and I know that she wouldn't blame you either."

Kakine turned back towards the bed, the hollow look in his eyes making the hero's own widen in shock.

"I will find who did this to her."

The pure white level five began to dissolve away, his voice rising with every word that crossed the black slit of his lips

"When I do. They. Will. PAY."

With that final vow, Touma found himself once again alone in his room. He suddenly realized how tired he really felt, but brushed it off as the medication finally kicking in.

"You are a good person, Beetle-san." The boy's voice came out in a whisper as his head slowly sank towards the pillow, the darkness creeping around the edges of his vision.

"I hope you never forget that . . . ."

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After the effects of the paralysis field wore off, the nurses directed the hobbling number one to the room where Last Order was currently resting. The click of his futuristic cane making a steady rhythm as he progressed through the hallway, finally turning one last corner. A short distance down the other side, Accelerator found a young man with floppy blond hair wearing a long coat of some oily white material. This boy was standing with one hand on his hip and his other hand outstretched and planted against the nearby wall. He grinned as he blocked the pale boy's path.

"My, my . . . what is this I see?" The blond murmured out as he leaned slightly forward. "An angel with broken wings . . . ."

The pale boy scowled.

"I don't know what your problem is . . . " Accelerator stepped forward menacingly. "But unless you want to add 'severe injury' to the list, you better get out of my way."

The boy turned his head away with a pout and seemed to huff in disappointment.

"You don't recognize me at all, Accel-kun?" The blond crossed his arms and tapped his foot. "I'm truly, truly insulted!"

"I don't bother remembering the miffing bastards that I run into on a daily basis."

The boy in the white coat rubbed his chin for a moment before responding.

"I am so far above that rabble that I should have caught your eye at least once . . . " A dark grin spread across the boy's face. "Why don't I make it easy for you. My name is Saishou, but you probably remember my father better. Kihara Amata."

The light on Accelerator's collar switched to active as the First of the Seven flew forward with a howling facial expression. The blood in his eyes turned to shock when his hand made contact with the other boy. His collar started to beep erratically as the pair bounced apart and spun a short distance away from each other. The blond boy looked around and shook his head to clear it.

"Oh, I'm still alive then?" He chuckled as he picked himself up off the floor. "I told them they were fools for scraping this project!"

After switching his collar to standby mode once more, Accelerator pointed at the boy who was, at that moment, far less dead than he would have liked.

"What the hell just happened!?"

The blond made a sweeping gesture down the front of his body. "The coat just happened."

Saishou flapped the edges of the coat and spun in a slow circle, giving Accelerator a view from all angles.

"My family made certain to put the old number two to good use." Saishou's voice took on a taunting quality. "This is the first prototype of the 'White Wolf' project and probably the least effective . . . "

"White wolf project?"

"The universe really does revolve around you. It was just one of many plans to collar you. " The boy sent Accelerator a narrow eyed grin. "Although, none of them involve an actual collar, despite what my dream diary might tell you . . . ."

Accelerator looked as though he couldn't choose between looking thoughtful or enraged. He shuddered for a moment before looking the boy dead in the eyes.

"That thing seems to be generating an interference field around you." The pale-faced boy's face split wide in a brutal smile. "I should be fine if I stand back, pull a girder from the wall and squish your head like a grape."

"So the rough stuff is more your speed?" The blond tilted his head to the side as he brushed one cheek with the tips of his fingers. "Marvelous."

"Close your mouth or I'll wire it shut!"

Saishou waved the level five's words off with his other hand, still maintaining the previous pose. "Now, now . . . I'm nothing like my father, you know."

Accelerator wasn't impressed.

"I don't see a difference."

"Unlike me, the man was a fool."

Saishou touched his lips as his eyes narrowed. A smile creepy enough to make Accelerator flinch pulled across the blond boy's face.

"He just couldn't appreciate the God that you really are . . . "

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'Am I awake?'

The thoughts of the spiky-haired boy came slowly as he tried to get his eyes to focus in the darkness of his room, his medication making this quite an ordeal.

He felt a sensation of pressure on his chest, which experience told him was the result of a cat walking on him. This was soon confirmed by the sound of purring and the presence of a furry muzzle rubbing against his cheek.

Touma initially wondered if Index had snuck into his room at some point. The thought was dismissed soon after when the boy realized the coat on this animal was far too long to belong to Sphinx. As he struggled to make out the shape of the cat in the darkness, he gradually became aware of a new sensation.

The subtle feeling of fingers being drawn across the back of his right hand. And whispering. He could definitely hear whispering . . .

"I acknowledge the Elder Powers . . . "

Touma strained to hear.

"I acknowledge the Lock, the Gatekeeper, and the Master of the House . . . "

Touma flinched as he made out the sound of a boy. The voice was familiar, but Touma couldn't place it. The next words came out clearly.

"I acknowledge them and I am humbled."

The boy removed his hand from the Imagine Breaker and walked around the bed to look out the window. He turned to the side and scratched at the sheets at the end of the bed. In response, Touma could feel the cat sitting on his chest walk over to the boy, who picked it up and brought it to the window.

"Do you see it, Missy?" The boy asked. "The lights of the city are just like fireflies dancing in the night."

The cat in his arms gave a little chirrup as the boy continued. "Of course, they all look like ants to me . . ."

Touma shuddered at the suddenly icy tone that overtook the previous warmth in the boy's voice.

"They have gone unpunished for far too long."

Touma watched as the boy briefly turned his head towards the privacy curtain separating Touma's bed from the door. A playful smile crossed the other boy's face as he did so, holding his gaze in that direction for a long enough stretch of time that Touma began to wonder what might be on the other side of it. He flinched as the boy suddenly turned back to him.

"You have fallen, but are soon to walk."

Touma blinked in surprise at finally being addressed directly and opened his mouth to respond when he was cut off by the boy.

"Until that time, I will take your burden onto myself."

Touma watched as the boy and cat both began to dissolve into a shimmering wave, the final words ringing into his ears . . .

"I will decide how far is too far."

. . .

Outside the unfortunate boy's hospital room, the girl struggled to hear. She shifted her wheelchair as close to the door as she dared in order to make out those words.

"I will decide how far is too far."

The girl's eyes drifted down to her hands as they clenched into tight fists. The sudden silence within the room brought her eyes back to the door.

After waiting for a moment, a scowl of determination broke over her face as she silently turned her wheelchair back to the hallway and returned to her room.

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"He just couldn't appreciate the God that you really are . . . "

When Accelerator finally manged to recover from his dropped jaw, he growled like a wild animal at the irritating boy who was currently staring at his fingertips.

"There's only one reason that your head isn't a puddle right now."

"You're captivated . . . " The other boy stopped brushing the tips of his fingers together for a moment before glancing up at the level five. "Aren't you?"

"It's because if I get rid of you, I may never find out exactly what kind of threat this white wolf thing is to me."

"So very practical." Saishou glanced back down at his fingers. "I love that about you."

"Just start talking!"

"Now, now . . . keep you pants on." The blond then raised an eyebrow. "Or don't, either way works for me!"

Accelerator growled at the boy who finally started talking.

"As I mentioned before, the white wolf project was based on dark matter we wrung out of the old Two." Saishou crossed his arms over his chest. "While it was primarily focused on you, it later branched out to control the other level fives."

"And Two is just letting you keep these toys?" He turned his head to the side and muttered to himself. "Bastard."

"That's the beauty of these things." The blond stroked the sleeve of his coat. "He doesn't know they exist."

"How is that–"

"They are parasites." The blond stated simply and gestured a box shape with his hands. "Living independently within his power."

Accelerator stood silently, waiting for more information.

"While they are unable to exert influence over him, they are capable of regenerating to their base forms." Saishou spread his arms in a grand gesture. "In essence, by being, they are forever shaped like themselves."

"There are more of these things? Where are they?"

"I'm afraid I don't know."

Accelerator started to take a menacing step forward. The other boy put up his hands in front of himself.

"Our facilities were attacked a while ago and all of our prototypes were taken." He looked down. "Besides this one, of course."

"So they could be anywhere."

"Personally, I say good riddance."

Accelerator wasn't sure what to make of that statement.

" . . . "

"The final prototype was far more willful than the others and tended to lash out when anyone approached it." Saishou grinned mischievously. "The injuries were quite grievous when we tried to store it."

"What made it so special?"

"Like all of the prototypes, it was made to be worn." Saishou gestured to his coat again before continuing. "While we can't say anything for certain about Two or Seven, it would have been an effective weapon against the current level fives."

Accelerator placed a hand on his hip.

"You sound rather sure of yourself."

"It projects a high level electromagnetic distortion field, essentially rendering the powers of Three, Four, and Five useless."

"Pathetic weaklings." Accelerator shook his head. "I'm not impressed."

The coat wearing boy took a tiny step forward.

"It's capable of absorbing supersonic impacts, rendering the railgun and physical attacks from Six and Seven pretty much useless."

"Still not impressed."

The boy took yet another step forward.

"It is capable of implanting dark matter calculations into the wearer's mind, using that AIM field to build on itself." The blond glanced at his nails in a nonchalant way. "It's the only prototype capable of that."

". . . "

"But wait, there's more!" A brilliant grin crossed Saishou's face as he stepped forward one more time. "Besides creating dark matter protuberances, it possesses my father's battle reflex calculations."

A dark look crossed Accelerator's face at the memory.

"We remember how well you fared against that . . . "

The pale boy stomped as he shouted in rage.

"You insect!"

"Calm down." The flippant response put Accelerator's teeth on edge. "It was basically useless, since it tried to kill anyone who got close to it. I'm surprised they were able to steal it in the first place."

"Is that all?"

"Not quite. I believe that this theft was tied to the disappearance of a splinter project." He flapped the edges of his coat. "Thanks to this coat, I am the only one who remembers it."

The First of the Seven narrowed his red eyes.

"What blood soaked plan did you have for that?"

"Pure kindness, I assure you. It was using dark matter to try to create a dual skill based on existing templates." The blond waggled a finger in the other boy's direction. "They were trying to leash you by sneaking in the back door."

Accelerator blinked in confusion. "Back door?"

"Lets just say we had an old key made redundant by a new lock." Saishou took a deep breath. "It does lead me to my reason for seeking you out."

"This had better be good."

"Save us."

The hall was silent for a moment.

"What."

"She came back different." The boy looked down at his hands before slowly closing them into fists. "Now she's killing the family one by one and we can't stop her."

Accelerator made a flat statement in response.

"I think I'm in love."

"This is serious!" Saishou's face was flushed in rage. "You have to help us. Seven already refused."

"The first smart thing he ever did."

"Whether you like it or not, you are a hero now." Saishou was now in the level five's face and grinned at him. "You will save us."

Accelerator stood unflinching. "Why should I?"

"There is a boy out there. We know him well."

"?"

"He was made to be your end." The blond paused and tilted his head. "But he could just as easily be your start."

Accelerator cringed as Saishou took one final step closer to him and reached out his hand, brushing the level five's cheek with his fingers.

"Save us. We have a way . . . " He whispered, so close to that pale face. The other boy gritted his teeth.

"To put you back together."

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Author's Note:

And with that, this story comes to a close.

The end is only the start . . .

There was a lot going on in this chapter, so lets take things by section.

Accelerator's Dream:

Can you imaging receiving that call from Accelerator at four in the morning . . . .

The Railgang's visit:

We learn the reason behind Touma's trip to the hospital. It turns out Sogiita was speaking literally about 'waiting for the fall' and being 'soon to walk'. For those keeping score, Touma's slip was foreshadowed by Touma almost slipping on the twig before Saten's scan.

While Touma's injury may seem mundane, Touma's talk with Kakine after the poker game hints at more going on behind the scenes . . .

The giant statue of Touma in the hospital seems possible, doesn't it?

Saten's confession interrupted, part two. Turning into a running gag now . . . .

Misaki and the Forward Echelon:

We learn a bit about the Forward Echelon and their goals.

In that group, little is what it seems on the surface.

The General will be named in the first chapter of the sequel stories, so hang on for just a little longer.

Konori, Yabumi, and Sogiita:

Yabumi and Konori aren't taking Sogiita's personality change without a fight!

Sogiita's cat's appearance, personality, background and nickname are (mostly) the same as one of my family's own cats.

Sogiita seems to have plans of his own now . . .

The Middle Line:

I think we all foresaw Kakine's reaction to seeing Myuri.

A little more information on the power structure within the Middle Line. And Mairo's shadowy connections.

Myuri calling Yakiin a dork is a favorite.

The Poker Game:

This was a poorly planned out game, wasn't it . . .

'Cut the cards' is an old gag, but it's a classic.

Umidori is having some epic reverse harem delusions. Man, is she fun to write . . .

Accelerator and Saishou:

We receive some information on the White Wolf which Myuri was trying to check out from the armory.

We also learn who was calling Sogiita during Saten's Scan.

'Saishou' can mean 'minimum' or 'another victory'

I had to fight myself to not have Saishou quote 'I will possess your heart' by Death Cab . . . . Since I'm trying to stop doing that, lets just say the song is playing over the hospital's radio when they are talking.

Does Saishou really have feelings for Accelerator or is he just trying to creep the level five out? Good question . . .

Who is killing the Kiharas?

::::::::::Reviews::::::::::::::::::

Part Eight:

Sargent Crash: Glad you're enjoying Kakine and Sogiita! They both are playing an important role in the sequels, so I hope you will enjoy them as well.

The Writer of Souls: Always good to see another Touma/Saten shipper in the audience. I hope this chapter answers some questions about the plot while inspiring everyone to continue on to the sequels. We'll just have to see . . .

Part Nine:

Loopsy:Hang in there!

Sargent Crash: We may have to have poker game, round two at some point then . . .

The Writer of Souls: Thank you!

Dimak: As always, excellent guesses all around. When the sequels start it will turn into less of a 'who' and more of a 'why' type game. I just hope you will enjoy it as well . . .

LoveMadness: So does Saten!

The Epic Legion:Glad you are enjoying!

ShinobuAnicca: Lots of revelations in the next chapters!

Addikhabbo: Lots of reviews! Excellent!

Kage15oni: It's good to be forgiven . . . Sequels soon!

A Certain Unfortunate Guy: Thank you!

Guest: Or possibly some kind of secret hand shake . . .

Guest: FUNYA!

Whwsms: The insurance company is probably using the proceeds to offset Touma's misfortune.

Ultimate Warrior of Zera: The girl is one of the main characters of the sequels. She is one of the three girls Misaki warned Seria about.

Guest: I can hear them howling in terror as we speak. Perhaps the special 'pants-less' statues are now to be rolled out . . .

Luna Warsong: Touma's reaction would probably be complex . . .

Tk Macintosh: Saten is both aggressive and impulsive to do just that . . .

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Thank you all for reading!

I hope you will all join me for the sequels!

Now, Lets get writing!