The concept of destiny is firmly connected to one's worldview on life. Some strive to overcome everything with power of will, while some lay down and take everything life throws at them. Some take their own personality and circumstances for granted, while some oppose them and change themselves, improving and striving for perfection.
There may not be good or bad answer for the questions regarding fate or free will. Maybe there are no answers at all. However, people will still search for the way of their lives that seems right to them. And this is exactly what this story entails. The encounter of people whose ways seemingly disconnected, yet found each other again. By a chance of fate, a choice can be given. To live your true life, the very thelema of your soul. Or to vanish in the painted prison of illusion.
Academy City was definitely place of strangeness and wonder. Covering 1/3 of the area of Tokyo, out of its 2.3 million inhabitants 80 % were students, trying to develop supernatural powers. "Trying" was often a good word, because students were by no means equal in their accomplishments. The City's power grading hierarchy formed a cast-like system, with level 5s at the top and with level 0s at the bottom. It went without saying that in the City of Science those with no visibly manifesting powers, that is, level 0s, were treated like the worst. Both socially and economically...
However, there were even stranger things in the city than esper powers themselves. You could take 7 powerful level 5s as a primary example. However, if you took a detour, and focus your attention of something less flashily obvious, you would be in for a big surprise.
Said surprise was located on a 7th floor of Certain High School Dorms and was snoring without a care in the world, snuggled in the bathtub. It had a form of a boy with spiky black hair and his name was Kamijou Touma. Although at first glance he did not seem special in any way, that was the farthest thing from truth.
Touma was a level 0, the lowest ranking one at that. More so, one could argue that there was probably not one soul in the universe as unlucky as him. All kinds of accidents befallen him, without exaggeration. That was due to a peculiar ability dwelling in his right hand, called Imagine Breaker. This power, of ancient and unknown origin, could negate any kinds of supernatural phenomena, such as esper powers, magic, or divine blessings. However, it also robbed Touma of all his good fortune. Also, while it was also thanks to this power Touma could save so many people, it did nothing for his grades or his ordinary life... well, nothing positive at least.
Touma lived alone at the beginning, but then was joined by unexpected companions of his daily life. The both hailed from the world entirely different from modern day sci-fi world of Academy City. Namely, it was the magic side, filled with occult and esoteric phenomena, found in mythologies, religions, and legends. It so happened that two other freeloading occupants of his apartment were key figures of magic side. One, Index, a silver-haired nun with a monstrous appetite, was a vessel for 103 000 grimoires, forbidden magical books of great power. The other, Othinus, was once a formidable goddess of war and a Magic God, being standing among the strongest creatures in existence, able to manipulate reality with mere thoughts. She once inflicted nigh-infinite number of deaths and tortures upon Touma, before the two of them found peace and became each others' Understanders. Touma deeply treasured the time and bonds he had with those two. However...
There was a loud explosion and Touma was jolted awake. He hit his brow on the edge of the tub while trying to get up. He then slipped and fell, hitting his head again, this time on the back. Hissing from pain, the misfortunate teen burst through the doors
"Index? Othinus? What happ-"he tried calling out to his roommates, however he was stunned beyond belief before words could fully form themselves.
The walls were all smudged with various foods, and there was a large blob of something black growing into a puddle in the middle of the room, with his poor homework inside of it.
Index emerged from the kitchen, trying to get a mixer under control. The device was covered in something sticky and was still splattering the gooey mass around.
Index smiled sheepishly
"Good morning Touma! I made you breakfast but this devilish machine is clearly evil!"
"HUUUUUMAN! Get this beast away!" a shriek could be heard, and a tiny figure emerged running from behind the sofa, chased by a calico cat. This tiny figure was none other than former Magic God Othinus, pursued by a seemingly hungry cat named Sphynx. Touma could only watch as the once all powerful deity skidded past him. She was covered in the same sticky mess that was splattered throughout the entire room. Not only that, but Sphynx took the liberty to bump into every object that was on the cupboard, following Othinus' desperate attempts to escape. Touma let out a painful groan when the TV overbalanced and began to fall. He managed to catch it, but then slipped yet another time in the short period since his awakening. The TV screen flew upwards and then hit him straight in the face, breaking.
Index ran to his side, with worry lacing her features:
"Are you all right Touma?"
Touma could only sigh in defeat and mutter his most frequent catchphrase:
"Fukou da..."
Touma crossed his arms, looking at Grimoire Library and former goddess sitting in front of him.
"Index" he said, scratching his head" we talked about this. Leave the cooking to me. That will be safer... and we actually get to eat something out of it..."
Index pouted her lips.
"But Touma, how am I supposed to learn how to cook when I have no practice? Don't you appreciate your efforts."
Wielder of Imagine Breaker looked at her flatly.
"Your efforts" he said slowly" always end up on the walls or burnt, Index-san. It's not like I don't appreciate you trying. In fact, I am surprised that you even considered making something and managed to endure without eating it. HOWEVER, what is the point of cooking when it all goes to waste? In this month, we are a bit... you know..."
"Poor" the goddess of war sighed" and it's not this month, it's every-"
"FINANCIALLY CHALLENGED AND IMABALANCED!" comical tears welled in Touma's eyes, as he tried to preserve the semblances of dignity" That's why no amount of food should be wasted! And this... wait a second, what the hell even is that?"
Index tilted her head a little.
"I read in the magazine that one should put all their heart into cooking and choose his favourite products to make a dish. I love to eat everything, so I put in everything I found in the fridge into it."
Touma felt almost physically crushed by this logic.
It all started when Index read an article about cooking improving your image as a housewife. Ever since, she was trying to cook something for Touma. Well, it didn't happen fairly often because she usually ended up gobbling up the ingredients before she could prepare them into something. Initially, Touma was happy that his workload would be somewhat lessened. More so, Index fared well with really simple stuff. The trouble began once she desired to make a real dish, something more complex Not only she did not have any common sense when it came to cooking procedure, she used the tools in a completely wrong way, also being wary of modern technology, like most magicians.
It made more mess than good. Well, it was not like every girl was like Itsuwa, who had outstanding skills in regards to everyday life, and not only managed to cook wonderful meals, but also look fantastic while doing it.
Othinus raised an eyebrow.
"Human, stop daydreaming. This nun is one thing, but can you please do something about this beast?"
Touma snapped out of a very pleasant vision and looked at the small ex-goddess.
"Well, I guess that we can move your dollhouse to even higher place. But then you will hurt yourself getting down! Besides, it's not like I am defending Sphynx, but do you really have to insist of bathing in the open? You are the one tempting him that situation."
Othinus insisted that she will bath (well, calling what she did bathing would be somewhat grandiose gesture, because she did so in a teacup) on the lower shelf in their living room. Touma somewhat understood her fear of falling to the bathtub or toilet and being flushed down. But still, for some reason, Sphynx was eager for a hunt especially during Othinus' bath.
Othinus pouted and looked away
"I have my pride as a god and I will not let this beast rob me of pleasure of bathing."
Touma rubbed his temples and looked at two girls
"Okay, let's see what we can do to fix this mess..."
Few hours later, Touma was walking outside, near a familiar park with vending machine. He sighed and smiled slightly, wondering what a very familiar girl with brown hair and wearing shorts was doing right now. As violent as she could be sometimes, Biri Biri's antics were at the very least somewhat predictable. A lightning spear here, iron sword there, and of course, 3 times speed of sound railgun. Bothersome, but Imagine Breaker could take it. Meanwhile, his right hand could not do a thing with the craziness that was going on in his home right now.
"ARRRGH! As much as I pray it would be some strange illusion, this seems to be real! I know the girls are trying, but this is one disaster on the other!" Touma looked at his right hand. Then he shook his head, and slumped on the bench. He looked at the sky.
"I know it's crazy to ask of this and my life is one misfortune over the other, so it may be stupid to even consider it... but some alone time with on a calm holidays would be nice..."
Right after that, he started snickering at the impossible, until people started staring at him. Touma closed his eyes and remained in that position for a while, until a familiar voice brought him back to reality.
"Oi, Kami-yan! What are you doing here? You looked as if someone died, nyah~"
It was, without a doubt, voice of certain teen with a blonde hair, sporting a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses. Tsuchimikado Motoharu, a multi faction spy on both sides of the world and Touma's neighbour, was looking at him, standing in front of the bench.
"Tsuchimikado? Well, I was just thinking, that's all."
"Thinking?" the sassy grin on Motoharu's face widened "oh, then clearly something is wrong. Kami-yan I know would not think, instead he would punch someone in the darkness of the night and save some girl in distress~"
"Oi, listen here..." Touma's eye twitched slightly "I think plenty in the fights YOU throw me into. Besides, what is exactly that vision of Kamijou-san you have in your head?!"
"Am I wrong though?"
"Yes... no... fukou da..."
" More importantly" Tsuchimikado casually sat down near Kamijou, crossing his legs "what was all the ruckus about in the morning?"
"You heard that?"
"We are neighbours, and the walls are paper thin. Now, spit it out. What got you so worked up?!"
And so, Touma told Tsuchimikado everything about Index's cooking attempts and the mayhem Othinus and Sphynx's chases caused.
"Now I get it, the girls are really getting into your head lately" the spy nodded slowly.
Touma bit his lip, looking at the skyscrapers of the city, glistening in the distance.
" It's not like I don't appreciate their efforts and everything that we share. But recently I feel that I lack space! When I tried to talk to her about the situation, she told me it's about woman pride. When exactly Index started caring about that? I need some holidays, or something of this sort. I know it's selfish, unlike me, and everything... but some quality time would be nice"
Tsuchimikado looked at him with somewhat irritated look and suddenly grabbed Touma by the cheek, yelling:
"Kami-yan, what is more cute and of quality than a young girl you are living with making you a meal? Index-chan is a nun... so you can call her a "sister"... oh, it send shivers down my spine, nyah~..."
Kamijou grabbed him by the face as well.
"You are the only one that gets excited because of the things like that! How does your sister put up with that anyway?"
"Don't bring Maika into this!"
"Listen, I would enjoy those attempts, if they didn't destroy the dorm or waste the food. At this point my finances would go into negatives!"
The two of them struggled for some time before separating.
" But seriously, Kami-yan, aren't you exaggerating?" Tsuchimikado put a finger on the bridge of his sunglasses, seemingly deep in thought "I mean, comparing to everything you've been through, this is walk in the park. Besides, isn't it strange that Index-chan is cooking instead of only eating?"
Touma smiled and chuckled.
" She eats more than half of the ingredients before she manages to use them. Well, at the very least she is not biting my head off because she is hungry..."
He got up of the bench and lifted his fist high to the sky.
"You know what? You are right! This is not like me! Not at all! I will do my best, I will support her efforts. Damn right, it's strange that Index behaves like this at all. This is why I must be supportive. This is nothing for someone like me!"
"Kami-yan, you are still crying-"
"Shut up, I am having a moment here!"
The sun came behind the clouds, enveloping Kamijou in golden hue.
'That's right' he thought 'I fought strongest espers, crazy magicians, or even gods and demons. With determination and patience, I can overcome this!'
This state of serenity and (unsupported) glory was interrupted by quickly approaching footsteps. Index came by running, with Othinus on her arm.
"Touma, Touma" the nun shouted with a happy tune in her voice" I have a surprise for you."
Touma eyed Tsuchimikado and spoke slowly.
"What is it?"
Index smiled, putting her two index fingers together in rather cute fashion.
"You see, at first, I ended up eating first batch of ingredients. And then the second... but I managed to prepare the third. I followed the recipe"
Touma blinked in confusion.
"Index, how did you know the recipe? We don't have cooking books, and you can't operate phone that well..."
"It was on TV and I memorized it."
She then explained all of the steps she undertook while cooking. Touma listened, his eyes widening.
"She really did everything as she said" Othinus confirmed Index's words.
"This sounds... edible. And if you really did as you said... then it may not be a disaster like everything else!"
"Huh?"
"N-Nevermind. I would never imagine that you would do something that requires-"
Then Touma stopped. And then slowly looked at his silver haired freeloader.
"I-Index-san... y-you... did turn the oven off when you came all the way over here... did you?"
Index looked at him as if he grew a third head
"Doesn't it turn itself off?"
Touma went sickly pale. He opened his lips to speak-
BOOOOOOM!
A loud explosion was heard, followed by the column of black smoke in the distance.
Tsuchimikado, who was listening without interruption, paled as well. Touma's eye twitched... again.
" Hmm, Kami-yan..."
"No... that has to be some unrelated explosion. That can be anything. Anything! Lots of people in this city have the powers to explode stuff!"
'Fire at the Certain High School student dorm! Fire emergency protocol activated! Students are asked to evacuate in orderly manner!' a mechanical alarm screamed into the air.
Touma wobbled, as if deflated.
"Fukou... daaaaaaaah~..."
"Don't just stand there. Let's go, Kami-yan!"
"W-Wait for me!" Index ran behind the boys, still confused about sudden turn of events.
(FEW HOURS EARLIER, A RESTAURANT WITHIN AC DISTRICT 4)
In the same time when Kamijou Touma and girls were struggling with gooey mass covering their dorm, in the different location, a certain elegant beauty rubbed her temples and spoke quietly:
"How could this happen?"
Academy City was officially a place of learning, where everyone could develop equally in pursuit of humanity's dream of having supernatural powers. While certainly some residents of the city did have esper powers, anyone who stayed in the City long enough would notice that equality and ethical practices were a pipe dream. Even aside unjust treatment of level 0s in the social hierarchy, which led to creation of Skill-Out among others, City was filled with darkness that took various forms, such as child experimentation, corruption, violence, and lack of morality in almost every area imaginable. Of course, this darkness was not only a formless abstract concept. It was formed by people. These people had their various stories and reasons for tainting themselves in darkness and straying from the path of light. They formed various factions and fought between each other to meet the expectations of the higher ups, while also pursuing their own purposes. But that digression aside, three of the aforementioned members of Academy City's darkness, called dark side, were currently sitting at the table at an exclusive restaurant in Academy City's district 4.
One thing that immediately could come to mind was their striking similarity. All of the girls sitting by the table had same hue of blond hair, wore similar dresses (although with changes of stylish flare between each other). Their eyes had the same pinkish-violet hue. It was not hard to make an assumption that they were sisters. And that was indeed a correct guess. Finally, they all exuded style and beauty... although...
The youngest girl had short, slightly curled blond hair, and her eyes were shining brightly from excitement, probably related to plate of oysters she just received. She wore a gaudy pink dress, that showed dangerously lot of her still developing chest and legs. She looked about 10 or 11 years old, and sported a sneaky smile, suggesting a mischievous nature. Her name was Gokusai Amazora, and although she was definitely much less maturely elegant than her older siblings, she was also not a cute girl she seemed to be. She was a gattling gun specialist and there was a sticking dissonance between her cute face and the fact that she hurled truly monstrous weapon to battle, asking if people could die with a smile on her lips.
The middle sister, the one that currently was massaging her temples with irritated expression, had longer blond hair, rather obviously bleached, and looked like a hostess in some expensive club. She had a very pretty face and body, seeming like someone aware of her own charm. She also got the look of calculative contemplation quickly turning into either disdain or boredom, and smirk slightly colder than that of young Amazora. Her dress was quite showy, with an open back, and accompanied by jewellery. Her name was Gokusai Kaibi, and she was once the operative of dark side faction SCHOOL, under the leadership of #2 esper Kakine Teitoku, but, like her siblings, switched loyalties as many times as flag that changes direction by the gusts of wind. Kaibi was also the wielder of Measure Heart, a specialized thelepatic ability that allowed her to regulate emotional distance between people, and change their perception in order to get what she needed.
The third and oldest sister was the most mature in beauty and age of the trio. Her entire silhouette oozed with sexiness and attractive nature. She had long and shapely legs, hourglass figure, very big bust, slender arms, a beautiful face adorned with gentle smile, and cascade of blond hair reaching to her back. Her dress seemed to be exotic, as it shimmered with the violet sparkling light. The girl seemed to be in college age, and attracted glances of admiration from men in the restaurant, as well as those of jealousy from the female portion of the guests. However, the young woman that was the centre of attention seemed genuinely ignorant of all the commotion, which made her small, gentle smile all the more charming and attractive. The oldest siister's name was Gokusai Rikuri, and she was a specialist in poison creation, which she utilized in combination with flying drones. Though not suited for battlefield, she made up for it with her intel scouting skills, chemistry knowledge, and her support for younger siblings.
Those three worked as dark side mercenaries for some time now and, as it was mentioned, they often switched loyalties. Thanks to their battle prowess, esper powers, connections, and sisterly bonds, they endured and endured throughout good or bad. However..
"As I was saying" Kaibi sighed, and looked up" how could this happen? There may be many things that I can work out here with my Measure Heart, but the primary rule is: when there is a danger, retreat should be possible..."
"Munch, munch..."
"However, there is one crucial thing about this: when you retreat, you have to have a place to retreat TO. Isn't that correct?"
"Munch, munch, slurp..."
Kaibi gritted her teeth, yelling:
"Amazora! Would you mind not engrossing yourself in those oysters when I am talking to you? Especially since you are the one that messed up!"
Younger sister coughed and swallowed the inside of the oyster.
"S-Sorry, Kai onee-chan" she added quickly. However her eyes still darted at the dish.
Kaibi groaned, looking accusingly at her older sibling.
"Rikuri nee-san, why did we even order those oysters? With mixed signals like that, Amazora will never learn."
Rikuri clasped her hands on her big chest.
"I just couldn't leave my adorable little sister unfed. Even if she did mess up, nutrition is important. And she would not listen without food anyway."
"Riku nee-chan understands me!" Amazora beamed. Her hand, as if having mind of its own, reached slowly for the plate with oysters" so then, itadakima-"
"A-MA-ZO-RAAAAA..." Kaibi's voice was so cold that it was a wonder why the entire area didn't freeze in an instant. It instantly stopped the youngest sister" Do you know why we are here?"
"T-To eat tasty oysters?" a droplet of sweat formed on Amazora's brow."
"Ye... NO! I am asking, why are we here and not, for example, at home?"
"Because... home went... boom..."
"And why did it went boom?"
"Because of my... gattling gun... ammunition... and other explosives?"
"EXACTLY!" Kaibi grabbed her younger sister by the cheeks" Do you have anything to say?!"
"I am shoooowwwwwy..." Amazora cried tearfully.
Rikuri put a hand on Kaibi's shoulder.
"Kai-chan, I think that's enough..."
"I AM SORRY ISN'T GOING TO CUT IT! And don't call me Kai-chan!" Kaibi fumed, before letting Amazora go" How many times did I tell her to be careful? And if you keep forgiving and spoiling her, Rikuri nee-san, she will be at standstill with hers skills."
" But Kaibi-chan" Rikuri pouted and pointed at Amazora" she really is sorry. Just look at her eyes and tell me you that you don't feel her genuine remorse."
Kaibi looked flatly at the puppy eyes Amazora was giving her, and groaned in defeat.
"Well, the good thing is most of our stuff was in deposits for the time being" Kaibi assumed the elegant and professional manner of speaking she was known for "However, the problem is that we all have no place to go now."
Rikuri stretched herself with a smile, causing a certain part of her to bounce up and down. The gazes scattered throughout the restaurant also followed the bouncy movement, until they met magenta eyes of middle sister, that were surely glowing, which caused all the attention to be immediately directed elsewhere.
"In that, case why don't we use my lottery coupons? I don't want to brag, but I totally rocked recent round"
"Rejected" Kaibi looked at her older sibling with somewhat doubtful gaze" I know that you win them, but there is always, always, something else that goes on behind it. Remember that makeup set you won last time? We couldn't get it from Amazora for a week!"
"I looked like a clown" the youngest sister shuddered.
"That's because you tried putting it on yourself, my adorable sister" Rikuri shook her head.
"Oh yeah... oops?"
"The point is" Kaibi allowed herself a small smile" that we have me. And we are going to do so Measure Heart way."
***********************
"How am I supposed to find another flat to live on?" Touma spoke to his phone with resignation.
He was currently watching the remaining of the smoke after a fire in his dorm was extinguished. The fire broke out after Index left the dorm. The oven simply exploded and engulfed the room in flames. Luckily, if any luck could be spoken of in this situation, the fire was rather short lived, and ended up burning furniture before it was extinguished by the sprinklers. However, most of the room was now black, smoky, and definitely not desirable for the place to live. Not to mention most of his stuff got either burnt, wet or both.
"Don't worry Kami-yan. It's not that bad" Tsuchimikado said in half-hearted tone on the other side of the line."
" Not bad, huh?" Touma chuckled darkly "you only say that because the fire stayed contained in my room and didn't damage your collection of maid uniforms that Maika dresses up for you, you damn siscon sergant!"
"A-Anway, I think I found a solution for your earlier problem. This is your chance!"
Touma blinked in surprise
"Chance? What are you talking about."
(The next day...)
Touma could not believe it. This could actually work. No, he was already sure it will work out.
Tsuchimikado suggested rather simple thing. Because the dorms deemed Touma's quarters too dangerous to live, a certain timeframe had to pass in order for dorm to be fixed. Fortunately, it seemed that dorm management deemed it an accident because of the malfunction of the oven. However, as the repairs were underway, Touma and company had to find a place to live. Or they would... however, it was actually already found. And not for three, but only for Touma himself.
It took some time to arrange it, but Tsuchimikado sent the girls away on the (reasonable) pretext of Touma needing time to get everything under control when it came to his dorm's reconstruction. That was partially true, but was still met with vehement opposition. Ultimately, Index and Othinus were sent on a bonding experience with rest of Necessarius females and with additional mission to investigate a reality changing grimoire (Touma prayed that this was Necessarius's foil, as he did not want to deal with any changes of reality), so both Index's and Othinus's knowledge were needed. Nevertheless, letting them go without him was a challenge in itself, but ultimately, they both yielded. Touma suspected that Tsuchimikado bribed Index with some sort of "all you can eat buffet" included in wherever "girl integration time" happened. As for Othinus, she was truly hard to convince, but eventually gave in under Index's peer pressure, which was basically screaming into her ear about all the fun things they can do together. He could only guess that chibi ex-goddess relented only to have some peace (and preserve her hearing).
It was not that easy for him either. Except the biting he got from Index on the suggestion of staying in Academy City, lecture from Othinus, and promise to both of them to stay out of trouble and notify them via Tsuchimikado if something strange happens, Touma felt kind of bad for staying. Just a little. Even if he had a bad time (which was honestly a miniscule amount of misfortune in the grand ocean that was his life), he should not just send them away.
He shook his head, marching to his destination. He needed this, no, they needed it. He needed some time to himself to solve all of the problems of domestic life without being subjected to potential catastrophes his own misfortune and his freeloaders would cause. He needed a solo male time and most importantly, he just had to give the best place for to live. Well, Index was the one to blow it up, so maybe they were reasonable enough to give him some time, right?
He stopped in front of the address he received in the message from Tsuchimikado. He looked at front of himself, then at the phone, then back up. His eyes widened.
"THAT'S THE PLACE?! IT'S ENORMOUS!"
He was standing at front of high building that was supposedly an apartment complex. It was a nice, clean building, a composition of white marble and skyscraper-like glass windows. On upper floors, the apartments were more spacious and the facade was filled with antic styled monuments.
Touma started to sweat a little.
"O-Oi, Tsuchimikado, you said the church will pay for the stay, but you really meant it?" he whispered to himself" this isn't one of those instances when the beautiful dream ends and we are back to 'poor Kamijou-san pays for everything', r-right?!"
With hesitation, he ventured on, entering the ornamented gate, and putting in a code he received. And indeed, the doors opened.
Kamijou gulped but came in, looking for his temporarily home.
(MEANWHILE...)
"Wow, it's even bigger than I thought" Amazora fell on her butt while looking up in wonder "this is our new home?"
" I am surprised too, Kaibi dear" Rikuri helped Amazora up and looked at middle sister" this is certainly an amazing place."
Kaibi crossed her arms while approaching the gate
"Don't act so surprised! With my ability, getting what I want is always a child's play. Do you know anyone who opposed me when I used it before?"
Kaibi's Measure Heart regulated psychological distance between herself and the target, which allowed her to manipulate people and the victims of said manipulation never questioned it. After all, was it wrong to offer best lodgings to an old friend or even a lover. Of course, Kaibi were never any of those things to the people in the general dorm management, but her esper ability made others believe in the existence of those connections. This was why Gokusai sisters could escape from prison multiple times and allow themselves to a semblance of normality in many things even if they were a dark siders. While Kaibi was not unreasonable and did not used her power left and right, as this would give enemies amount of data to figure her out, she was also a rather prideful young woman, and had great amount of confidence in her own manipulation prowess.
However, the lovely lips of Rikuri formed a small smile
"If I remember correctly... except for level 5s and other thelepatic types... there was one person to truly oppose you..."
Amazora's eyes lit up, as she put her hands up while smiling.
"Oh yeah! There was this super onii-chan while we were involved with the Biohacker and this first esper..."
Kaibi stopped on her tracks to the elevator. Apparently, one of the elevators were occupied, so she chose another one. She grit her teeth while calling it down.
"Ah yes, him. The one with the black haired girl on the motorcycle, who protected our target, Mitsuari Ayu. The one who made fools of us all and somehow managed to brace through my power! That was over a year and half ago... but still..."
"But he was amazing! "Amazora whirled around" he managed to dodge my baby's bullets like it was nothing! He also fought both me and Riku nee-chan in the middle of the fire and won!"
"Amazora-chan is right " Rikuri also added" this boy could leave us to die after knocking us out, but still decided to rescue us."
Kaibi bit her lips, her eyes narrowing.
"Tch. He surely did it for some other reason. Not even he could be this stupid. Besides, I will not forgive him! He... he made a fool out of me! As a member of dark side, as an esper, and member of this family!"
"But Kai onee-chan, we are not blaming you for having to leave us there! Big brother did save us in the end. We trusted you too" Amazora, in rare instance of mature insight, tried to console her older sibling. But Kaibi was not that easy to persuade.
"It should have been me instead of that fool. Arrgh, just thinking about this stupidly smiling face of his irritates me. I couldn't figure him out! He just waltzed in with two girls practically eating out of his hand, put up an impossible fight, saved everyone, and left. This is NOT how things work around here. There had to be a reason. And worst of all, he seduced my sisters and now they act like a bunch of giggling schoolgirls!"
The elevator arrived and three sisters got in, beginning their journey upwards.
Amazora got slightly red, pouted, opened her mouth, closed, and opened it again, before looking down to the ground and settling on the eloquent comment:
"But I am a schoolgirl..."
Meanwhile Rikuri crossed her arms while looking at Kaibi
"My dear sister, I was not seduced! He acted like a true gentleman, even if quite a dense one. However..." she licked her lips slightly" that made him a little cute too, actually.
"See? This is what I am talking about. The next time I see this guy... " Kaibi growled and fumed. Amazora and Rikuri and looked at each other, and giggled slightly.
"You know, Kaibi-chan, for a guy that uninteresting and frustrating, you still put a whole lot of attention to him. Normally, you look at guys around you like... hmm..."
"Like a dried off poop!" Amazora completed without missing a beat.
"A-As Amazora-chan said, your attitude is a bit... dismissive, at best. However, that guy managed to rile you up. Hmm, is my little sister dishonest with her true intent?
" If you are suggesting what I think you are suggesting, quit it" Kaibi was now twirling her blond locks in her fingers, looking frustrated beyond anything.
"But you were searching for him! I saw you reach for intel on our contractors regarding "incidents with spiky hair guy". Even when you worked with this angel guy!"
Kaibi remained composed, however her cheeks got dusted with a slightly visible tinge of pink.
"Amazora-chan "she hissed in sickly sweet tone" what did we talk regarding you using my personal computer?"
Amazora got pale, and looked away, with a horrible attempt to whistle.
"W-Well, I wanted to check on the bullet prices, and you were always busy so"
"A-MA-ZO-RAAAAA!"
But before middle sister could pounce at her younger sibling, there was a sound from the elevator.
"We are here" said Rikuri, as they got out" now, let's see, let's see... it's 9th floor, number 913, right?"
Kaibi marched forward, leading the way.
"Yeah, that's right. In fact, I can see it straight out there!"
She quickened her pace to the door, with victorious smile gracing her lips
'Why did that guy even pop up in the conversation? It's been well over a year, and his a goody two-shoes with no dark side ties. I won't ever be bothered by him again'
WHAM!
Before Kaibi could finish her sentence, something, or rather someone, collided with her from the side, and send them both to the floor.
That gave Rikuri and Amazora time to catch up to their sister, and they witnessed a truly peculiar site.
When slightly dizzied Kaibi came to, she realized a prickly feeling between her legs. This sensation was simply from the fact that there was a head between her legs. A guy's head.
With her face reddening slightly, she skidded back.
"W-What the hell are you doing, you pervert? Is this some kind of new method to glance on girls panties, huh?!"
However, her voice got caught up in her throat. The eyes of her sisters widened.
"Oi... you aren't..." Kaibi muttered.
The guy slowly rose at his feet, taking a student bag that fell near him.
"Itatata... what was that? First I got lost trying to find my place, and then I feel something hot around my face... and... pink panties? What the hell is..."
He then acknowledged the presence of three sisters in front of him. His eyes flashed with understanding and he quickly looked at Kaibi.
" Oh, I ran into you? Sorry, I got a little confused with this place, I am normally not used to... well, that. Are you hurt? Is everything okay?"
Kaibi's mouth opened.
"You..."
There was no mistake. Although slightly older, the spiky hair, the way of speaking, concern he was showing and the look on his face were unmistakable.
Kamijou Touma looked at Gokusai Kaibi, who looked stunned, although the confusion was quickly turning into anger. The glamorous girl pointed a finger at him.
"You... it's you again!"
"Eh? Miss, do I know-" Touma tried to ask something through the confusion
Other sisters also shook off their shock
"It's the super onii-chan!" Amazora cried.
"Ara maaah~..." Rikuri placed hand on her lips.
"E-Eeeeh?!" Touma tilted his head, trying to place where did he see them before.
Meanwhile, at special prison cell, a certain white haired Borad Chairman smiled wickedly
"Haaah?! Interesting... very interesting..."
Accelerator was currently watching the city from his confinement. It was a little unnerving that the procedure made him similar to Aleister, who manipulated his life and life of many others. But Accelerator did not call about morality that much that it would really phase him. Their similarity, that is.
"What's so interesting, master?"
A peculiar girl with jellyfish-like hair and bat wings, sporting wide grin and dressed in old newspapers materialized close to him. Her name was Qliphoth Puzzle 545. Once created by Great Demon Coronzon, she was a demon of misinformation and currently, contracted with Accelerator as his demonical servant.
"This" Accelerator pointed out to a screen" is an unforeseen turn of events. The damn funniest of its kind. You know who that is, right?"
The demoness pondered quietly and then exclaimed
"It's the spiky haired guy who was in England. The one bonded with Imagine Breaker."
"Right. And with him is the little girl of the fairy tale bastard. Hmm, interesting... I will watch this... make this entertaining, hero..."
"Master, why do you find this entertaining?"
"I admit that this place does not have the best entertainment factor - Accelerator crossed his legs, and smirked slightly" and while we are no longer enemies and I pity him actually because of how much of shit-show his life is... his misfortune is still damn funny at times. With the Measure Heart girl, he will surely do something stupid."
He chuckled in a hyena-like fashion.
"Sometimes I wonder who really is the greater demon here, master~" Qliphoth also smiled.
After scanning his memory, Touma came to a quick conclusion. He must have known them before. That is, before his memory loss. On July 28, while saving Index, he lost all memories of his previous life. If that was the case, he needed to assess what kind of relationship they had and act accordingly.
He got out of the elevator only minutes before and somehow got lost looking for the room. Well, it was probably his misfortune that one of the signs were in the wrong direction. Ultimately, his brain of a level 0 "financially challenged" member of society was overwhelmed by sheer splendour of the place and he took on running, which led to the unfortunate collision.
Well, some, like his friend Aogami Pierce, would call this a god blessing, because when Kamijou regained his senses, he was squished from both sides by warm, smooth thighs, and staring at something pink in close distance. He felt as if he entered a dimensional tunnel or were attending some strange eyesight assessment. However, this heaven-like feeling of comfort did not last long because he was yanked out. He had no idea how he and the girl had to land for him to find himself exactly between her thighs.
Now, he was standing in front of 3 girls. His first observation was that each of the three was very beautiful, well, the youngest one being "cute" rather than "beautiful". The oldest was an absolute bombshell, and Touma felt his cheeks growing slightly hot just by looking at her. Middle one also had look of elegance and charm, and as for the youngest, she had the potential to be just as pretty in older years. Secondly, they had to be related, as each resembled the others to the point that Kamijou felt that they could very well be an aged-progressed versions of one person. Thirdly, his appearance shocked them and the middle one looked really angry.
It was completely normal, given that he landed on a bullseye view down her skirt but still... they had to know him from before. If Kamijou could deduce anything this early on, it looked that they were acquainted in the past, but not close with his past self. In that case...
"Oh, it's you again. What a coincidence" he tried to sound as normal as he could" what are you doing here?"
"Y-You have a nerve, I have to give you that" the middle one in hostess-like dress spoke quietly" I can ask you the same thing, Kamijou Touma.
" W-Well" Touma quickly approached the nearest door and reached for electronic card " I am here to see my new dorm..."
The middle one's anger was now joined by the expression of terror.
"O-Oi, what are you doing? Nr. 913, 9th floor. That's our dorm!"
Touma shook his head
"I am sorry, but this must be a mistake"
"Yes, your mistake! Now step aside, let us go into our rooms, and go away!" the blonde quickly approached and faced him, her angry pinkish-violet eyes flashing an intimidating glare.
"No, seriously, I was just at Dorm Management and they gave me this room. Here are the papers" Touma quickly pulled out a sheet of paper from the student bag he was carrying.
Girl in the dress quickly snatched it up.
"Kai onee-chan, what does it say?" the little sister asked.
The girl in the dress, who Touma now identified as Kaibi, read the document and paled.
" It... it looks genuine... it really does seem... like he rents the place for a time being... but that's impossible!"
"And why is that?" now it was Touma's turn to get offensive, as his rights to hard fought dorm were questioned.
"Because WE were at DM too" Kaibi pulled out an almost identical document "and it states we are the temporary owners.
Touma took the document and scanned it. He scratched his head, looking at the other two blond girls.
In not-planned synchronisation, the misfortunate Imagine Breaker host, Kamijou Touma, and glamorous dark side agent, Gokusai Kaibi, uttered the same question:
"What is going on here?!"