Chapter 2: After School. Break_Time.[Part 9]

Not giving up, Kamijou tried to look for another exit, but it was useless. The stairs and elevator were sealed off by the wall, and the air vents weren't large enough for people to pass through.

The temperature underground started to rise, maybe because the air-conditioning system wasn't working any longer. Under the shining emergency red lights, the entire underground seemed like it had become an oven. He knew that it was a psychological effect, but there was the feeling of air becoming less. The uneasy feeling of being buried in a large space continued to build up within his heart.

Kamijou stared at the far end of the dark corridor, gritted his teeth, and said,

"…The one who attacked us seems to be clear about our appearances, seems like we can only fight back. Index, go find a place to hide with Kazakiri."

The enemy knew where they were. Though the enclosed space was spacious, once the enemy did a thorough search, they would be found out no matter where they hid.

The enemy's objective was to kill all three of them, and there was no way to escape. There was only one thing to do.

(Before the enemy can attack Kazakiri, I have to take the initiative and fight back. Damn it, if I knew how many enemies there are, at least I could come up with some sort of strategy…)

Just as Kamijou was thinking about this, Index, who was carrying the calico cat, puffed her cheeks and said,

"Touma, you should go ahead and hide with Hyouka. Since the enemy's a magician, I should handle this."

"Idiot, you're so skinny and frail, how can you fight? If you punch someone with your fist, the one likely to be injured is your own fist. Enough talk, hurry up and go hide with Kazakiri."

"Humph, Touma. Did you think that those past lucky breaks of yours were of your own ability? Even if you have an inexplicable power, you're still an amateur to magic. Since you're an amateur, you should go and hide with Hyouka."

"HA! What nonsense are you spouting!? This Kamijou is the incarnate of misfortune, there's no such thing as being lucky in my dictionary…uu, I made myself unhappy by saying that."

At that moment, Kazakiri timidly asked the boy who was wallowing in extreme self-inferiority,

"…Excuse me…I don't know what's going on…but…is there an option involving me helping out…?"

"None."

Kamijou and Index immediately responded in unison. Kazakiri lowered her head dejectedly.

At that moment, the sound of footsteps could be heard nearby.

"…"

Kamijou rushed forward, intending to protect Index and Kazakiri, and Index rushed forward to protect Kamijou and Kazakiri—in the end, both Kamijou and Index crashed into each other and fell to the ground. Only Kazakiri was left standing , not hurt at all, timidly putting both hands in front of her and not daring to do anything. The footsteps were approaching closer, and the calico cat that was almost being flattened in Index's chest purred, struggling by moving its front paws.

Clack, clack, clack…the footsteps echoed like an old mechanical clock.

From the other side of the corner, there was the voice of a girl.

"Eh? There seems to be a cat meowing."

"Aren't you not interested in animals, Kuroko?"

"Onee-sama's unexpectedly interested in them though."

"I…I'm not…"

"Ho, you can't fool my eyes. Onee-sama will go off to feed the stray cats that gather behind the dorm. The problem is that onee-sama's body always gives off weak static electricity, causing the stray cats to run away, leaving onee-sama alone with the can of cat food in her hand."

"How did you…? Kuroko! Were you tailing me!?"

The two girls who had appeared from around the corner saw Kamijou and Index on the floor, and stopped. These two people—Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko were definitely not enemies.

I got worried over nothing…Kamijou thought as he relaxed his body, his entire body collapsed onto the floor. Mikoto stared at him with an intrigued look, and asked,

"Why are you here? Why are you tripped by a girl in this situation?"

"…Ara ara, so daring, in broad daylight."

Shirai coldly remarked. For some reason, Mikoto started to let out sparks from her bangs.

On seeing the two girls, Index still had no intention of getting up from Kamijou, and said,

"Touma, who're these two classless women? Do you know them? What's their relationship with you? That short hair looks like that ice queen I met the last time, are they the same person?"

"What…"

On hearing this, Shirai was utterly speechless. In response to Index, who was clearly taunting them, Mikoto revealed a seemingly friendly but dangerous smile.

(Ah…speaking of which, Index did meet Misaka Imouto before.)

Trying to escape from reality, Kamijou thought.

(Eh? But why is it that the atmosphere between these people's rather explosive?)

After a long while, Kamijou dared to drag his thoughts back to reality.

Index and Mikoto exchanged looks.

"From the looks of things, are you Touma's friend?"

"Sort of…? Hold on, then you're also…?"

"…Eh, don't tell me Touma's your saviour?"

"Ah…don't tell me you're another 'I didn't ask to be saved but he saved me anyway'?"

"…"

Both of them remained silent for a while, and then sighed. Kamijou was happily thinking that the tense atmosphere between those two had been resolved, only to hear them shout at the same time,

"TOUMA (YOU)!! WHAT ELSE WERE YOU DOING BEHIND MY BACK!?"

They had actually turned from being enemies to having a common enemy.

"WAAAHH!!"

Kamijou quickly closed his originally opened heart.

Seeing Kamijou bombed from two sides, Kazakiri couldn't help but cover her wide open mouth.

Though she felt that Kamijou was rather pitiful, she didn't dare to enter the battlefield. Kazakiri guiltily looked around for a while before finally spotting Shirai Kuroko, who was one step away from them. She decided to muster up courage and ask the only neutral party to mediate; but on closer look, Shirai Kuroko seemed to be muttering to herself.

"(…Really, what savior? I already noticed that something's amiss, that day this boy came to onee-sama's room, something definitely happened. However, does this mean that onee-sama, who doesn't tell me anything, would tell all her secrets to him? Hoho, really interesting, hohohohoho.)"

Hearing this terrifyingly calm muttering, the spectacles on Kazakiri's face slid down even lower.

So the twin pigtailed girl wasn't a neutral, but a third party. Isolated, Kazakiri could only stand aside, not knowing what to do. To her, barging into this complicated conflict was thoroughly impossible.

After a long lecture, Kamijou was finally let off as he crawled up from below Index. After that, he gave a brief explanation to Mikoto and Shirai. Of course, they wouldn't believe anything about magic, so he avoided it.

"Oo…I'm a little confused here, but anyway, you got involved in something troublesome again? It's a terrorist this time? Hm…Kuroko, speaking of terrorist, is it possibly related to that crazy woman in that gothic dress?"

Mikoto asked Shirai in helplessness.

"Yeah. According to the features of the sounds, there should be a relationship, right? However, I didn't think that there would be an esper who would attack Academy City from the 'outside'…of course, it's not impossible for natural espers to exist, however…"

"Maybe there are other esper development groups other than Academy City. However, in regards to the rumors of espers 'outside', these are as baseless as government conspiracies."

It seemed like since Shirai and Mikoto didn't know about the existence of magic, they tried to explain the current scenario through espers. From the corner of his eye, Kamijou glanced at Index, who was giving an unhappy expression. In order to prevent this from getting complicated, he immediately reached his hand out to prevent her from talking.

Shirai sighed, the Judgment armband on her arm swayed slightly.

"Really, we actually let a terrorist enter. Looks like I've to motivate myself. I heard that there were two groups of intruders today. One group alone created quite the commotion, I'm really worried about what the second group will do."

"Hm?"

On hearing Shirai Kuroko's words, Kamijou felt that something was not right.

"What now, Kuroko? Are there other factors that are causing problems?"

"Yeah. According to the information that I got from Anti-Skill, there are two groups of intruders. As the paths they took were completely different, it's likely that they're not the same group of people. However, we can't confirm that right now."

"Hm…?"

Shirai Kuroko's words caused Kamijou to start sweating.

Index was the first to realize that something was wrong with Kamijou as she reached out both hands to tug at Kamijou's shirt, asking,

"Touma, why is your body trembling? What's wrong?"

Mikoto smiled slightly at Index,

"Hoho…maybe he finds you to be too irritating?"

"I'M NOT IRRITATING!"

Index shouted, but Kamijou ignored them, saying to everyone,

"Erm…everyone…please don't get angry…but the other group of intruders…may be me."

Everyone present stared at Kamijou in surprise.

Kamijou skillfully avoided all the stares and said,

"Erm, it was like this, I met a foolish man called Yamisaka yesterday. In order to save his friend, I went out of Academy City and only came back this morning. In the end…erm…what? Misaka, Shirai, why are you two giving me that 'I got it, I got it, your old habit's at it again' expression?"

Kamijou's basic instincts told him to quickly change the topic as he managed to quickly think of something and said,

"Oh yeah, why are you two here?"

"I'm a member of Judgment, I'm here to help the people who're trapped here. Don't look at me like that, I do have the Teleport ability."

"Oh, then Mikoto?"

"Me? Ah, it's nothing…"

"?"

"S…so what!? Why bother about why I'm here!?"

For some reason, Mikoto blushed as she shouted, making Kamijou confused. Standing beside Kamijou, Shirai closed one eye as she didn't even hide the slight dissatisfaction on her face, muttering to herself,

"…(Hai, onee-sama was working with me, but just so happened to spot you on the guard room's red alert surveillance camera, and came running over because she was worried. Of course it's embarrassing for her to say that.)"

Kamijou turned towards Shirai, who in turn turned her head away and ignored him.

Not understanding what games these two were playing, Kamijou started to seriously consider Shirai's Teleport ability.

Truly, as long as they used that ability, it was not hard to escape from the sealed underground street.

"As a member of Judgment, I can't just leave the terrorist alone."

Shirai glared at the far end of the dim passage, and then said,

"However, human safety is more important. If Anti-Skill's decision to lower the wall is correct, it means that we don't have much time left. There's going to be a large scale battle here, I have to let everyone escape first."

There were numerous students still stuck behind the wall, unable to escape. They knew that they were just wasting their effort, but they were still trying to push the steel wall aside.

"I understand, Shirai. I'll go buy some time before you save those people who're trapped. You just need to bring those people out."

After saying that, Kamijou was slapped by Shirai, Mikoto and Index from three directions, all at the same time. Mikoto and Index stared at each other bitterly, the meaning seemed to have been 'we have the same idea in regards to such a useless thing'. Only Kazakiri wanted to say something, but didn't dare to, the hand that she had raised didn't seem to know where it should go.

After that, Mikoto seemed to be representing everyone as she said,

"You're the one who should leave. Aren't you people the enemy's targets? How can we leave the people in most danger on the battlefield?"

"…The problem is…"

Kamijou scratched his head, and said,

"My right hand can negate all supernatural powers, including Shirai's."

"Speaking of that…that day when you came over to the girls' dorm, I did fail once."

Recalling this, Shirai muttered to herself. At that moment, Mikoto's eyes became sharp. Kamijou panicked as he took a step back. Because of several circumstances, Kamijou had once entered Mikoto's room.

"An…anyway, Shirai's power isn't going to take me out of here. If so, I can only stay behind and fight the enemy."

On hearing that, Index grabbed onto Kamijou's wrist, and said,

"Then I'm staying too!"

This time, Index was slapped by Kamijou, Mikoto, Shirai and Kazakiri at the same time. Even the frail Kazakiri mustered up courage as she closed her eyes and aimed at the back of Index's back before attacking.

Shirai then placed both hands on her hips and said,

"My power does have its limits…I can at most get two people out. If the kid's heavier than what I expected, it's another case altogether."

"Humph! Do you have any right to call me that when you're the one who most looks like a kid!?"

"What…what did you say? As a piece of washboard, you dare to be so cheeky…!"

Seeing the agitated Shirai Kuroko, Mikoto sighed, and said,

"Alright alright, is there any point in arguing about this? To me, you're all kids."

To a high school student, everyone was a kid, including Mikoto. However, Kamijou didn't say that, only showing a slight smile. This was Kamijou Touma's gentle side.

However, Kamijou didn't realize that Kazakiri, who was standing slightly further away, was now giving a 'babysitter watching over a bunch of immature brats' look at everyone else, including Kamijou.

"However, since you can send only two people at one go…bring Index and Kazakiri away first."

"Touma, you're saying that you want to stay behind with this shorthair?"

Index said in a rather calm tone. She was revealing her fangs, looking like she was ready to strike anytime and bite Kamijou's head.

"…Erm…then Mikoto and Kazakiri."

"Ho, so you're saying that you're going to stay with the brat? Hoho…"

This time, Mikoto's tea-colored hair started to float in the air due to the static electricity. Bluish-white sparks continued to be emitted in this darkness.

"AAHHH! DAMN IT! THEN INDEX AND MIKOTO!"

Kamijou grabbed onto his head with both hands as he shouted. Shirai sighed and said,

"Alright, I'll bring onee-sama and that brat away, I'll be going with them."

"What? Wouldn't it be tiring for you to teleport here and there? Why can't you just stay here and teleport them one by one?"

"With me around, it's easier to make minor adjustments. If I'm to randomly teleport them out, what would happen if they're buried inside a building? I don't want to end up creating a weird human pillar[1]—alright, let's go."

As if she was rounding it off, Shirai placed both hands on Index and Mikoto's shoulders, who were glaring at each other.

The next moment.

'Shua!' A sound similar to that of a bird opening its wings could be heard, as Index, Mikoto and Shirai disappeared into thin air just like that. Before they vanished, Kamijou seemed to hear Mikoto shout "EH!? WAIT, KUROKO! I WANT TO STAY!" Kamijou thought, maybe Mikoto was uneasy about leaving her kouhai Shirai alone to stay inside the battlefield and carry out her duty.

Kamijou and Kazakiri unknowingly stared towards the surface. Had they arrived at the surface safely?

"Sent those two away first…sorry to leave you for last."

"…Ah, it's okay…it's okay for me to be last…as for you…"

Kazakiri was interrupted before she could finish.

BOOM! The entire ground trembled again.

But unlike before, the impact seemed to be closer. Along the dim passage, they seemed to hear sounds like the explosive sounds of gunfire, roars and screams.

(The big bad's about to arrive…why can't he wait a while longer!)

The enemy had already used the eyeballs to scan through the entire underground street, and right now, it was obvious for the enemy to come at where Kamijou and Kazakiri were.

On hearing the sounds of fighting far away, the students who were gathered beside the wall sank into commotion once again. Even with special abilities, they were just ordinary students. In order to get away as far as possible from the danger, they started to stick together and run forward. However, due to the emergency red light being too weak, one person tripped, followed by the rest in a domino-like effect.

Kamijou glared at the far end of the passage.

There was no time to slowly think.

If there was a battle in this place with numerous people gathered, there would be victims. Though Kamijou's right hand could erase all supernatural powers, he couldn't protect so many people at once.

(Since a battle's inevitable…)

Kamijou made a quick decision

"Sorry, Kazakiri, wait for Shirai to pick you up here."

"Eh? Then…what about you…?"

Before Kazakiri could finish, another tremor occurred underground. It was extremely close this time. The air leading inside seemed to be completely compressed as he could feel some wind coming at him.

The interrupting sounds of gunfire and roars seemed even clearer now. The enemy was now within close proximity.

Kamijou was not looking at Kazakiri at all, only staring at the darkness in front of him as he said,

"I'll go over…and stop that thing!"

After saying that, without waiting for Kazakiri's response, Kamijou dashed into the darkness.

Kamijou was completely clueless about the enemy's specialty and strength; he was trembling at the sound of battle. But if the enemy reached here, numerous lives would be lost, including Kazakiri Hyouka.

Kamijou definitely couldn't allow that to happen.

Clenching his right fist, Kamijou sprinted madly into the darkness.