Touma looked down at the large pile of drinks scattered across the floor, a complicated expression twisting his face. "Hey, Oogimiya," he said, glancing up at me. "You can store things inside those portals, right?" I turned to him with a blank look. "I won't sully my treasury with such mundane items," I said flatly, "but I'll assist you in carrying those beverages."
Opening a golden portal, I began rummaging through it. First, I slowly pulled out Excalibur, but then shoved that shit right back in. I'm not King Arthur, I can't use that since I'm not it's rightful wielder. Next came Gae Bolg, which I also put right back; it's not like I'm fighting anyone, after all. Finally, on my third try, I pulled out a soft leather bag big enough to hold all the drinks on the floor.
"Here you go, Touma. Put them inside here," I said, holding it out. He took the bag and started loading the cans one by one. "Thanks, Oogimiya. You're a lifesaver." "No problem, Touma," I replied. "Now hurry up so we can go home, before Index starts getting hangry." Touma sighed, grabbing another can. "Yeah, yeah. Last thing I need is her deciding my other arm looks tasty."
As he worked, I noticed a familiar, petite figure approaching from down the road. "Hey, Touma. Look, it's Misaka's sister." The girl stopped in front of us, her expression as blank as ever. "If you require assistance, I will help you," she said in her usual monotone. "...suggests Misaka with a sigh."
"Huh? But didn't you go with your sister before?" Touma asked, confused. "Misaka came from that direction," she replied, pointing down the road, the complete opposite direction from where Mikoto had gone earlier. Touma tilted his head. "Huh?" "In any case, what will you do about the littered juice cans?" Misaka asked. "If you leave them here, it will conflict with the road traffic law, and you may be fined up to 150,000 yen, adds Misaka."
Touma groaned. "...Right, sorry. I'll pick them all up, so go away," he muttered, her blunt statement clearly striking a nerve despite its lack of malice. As he resumed gathering the cans, Misaka spoke again. "If necessary, Misaka will help as well, proposes Misaka." "Eh? It's okay, I'll do it. Besides, you've got no reason to help me, do you?" Touma replied. Before anyone could say more, a small delivery truck came rumbling down the narrow roadway. It screeched to a halt right in front of us, the driver leaning on his horn in short, irritated bursts.
Without another word, Little Misaka crouched down and began picking up the cans. Touma looked embarrassed, ashamed that a girl he barely knew was helping him fix his own mistake. But with the truck's horn blaring at them to hurry up, he didn't have the luxury to argue. "Here, let me help too," I said, crouching beside them and sweeping several cans into my bag at once. "The faster we clear this, the faster that noise stops."
Touma shot me a grateful look as we worked in silence. Having three people made the cleanup faster, though I could tell the gender ratio still bothered him a bit. Feeling awkward, he finally said, "Sorry. I'll buy you both an ice cream at the convenience store later or something!" As he spoke, his gaze drifted toward Little Misaka again, and then he froze. The defenselessly crouching clone clearly hadn't realized how short her skirt was.
"Touma," I said sharply, snapping my fingers in front of his face. "Eyes up here." He jerked his head toward me, his face instantly turning crimson. "E-Eh?! N-nothing! It's nothing, okay? Absolutely nothing!" Still crouched, Little Misaka looked up at him blankly. "...What is it? Misaka queries." "You say that," She interjected dryly, "but I'm detecting dilated pupils, ragged breathing, and I'd bet on an elevated pulse too. In conclusion—you're in a state of excitement, aren't you?"
"Nothing! Absolutely nothing! My apologies!" Touma stammered, his face now redder than a stop sign. The Sister simply tilted her head, her expression one of pure, uncomprehending blankness. She clearly had no idea what his outburst was about.
The truck's horn blared again, shattering the awkward silence. Touma flinched and dove back into gathering cans with renewed desperation. I stuffed the last of the stray drinks into the bag, pulling the drawstrings tight just as the truck finally, aggressively, lurched forward and sped past us.
As it did, the gust of wind caught the Sister's skirt, making it flutter. She didn't even react.
Well, that's one way to tell them apart, I thought, recalling how the original Misaka always wore gym shorts under hers. This one, apparently, didn't. A small, but very telling, difference. I frowned as I noticed three leftover cans still on the pavement. "It seems my treasury's sack has reached its capacity," I said, mildly irritated by the imperfection.
The Misaka Sister glanced at the cans, then at us. "Misaka will provide assistance," she said, scooping them up and holding them against her chest with both arms. Touma let out a weary sigh. "Thanks... I guess. Let's just get this stuff back to the apartment before anything else weird happens."
After a long walk, we finally arrived back at the apartment.
"Ah, it's Touma! Touma, welcome back!" Index cheered, immediately latching onto his arm—only for her eyes to land on our silent, uniformed companion. Her cheerful expression turned to suspicion in an instant. "Touma brought home a girl I don't know! What on earth is she doing here? Who is she!?"
The Sister, entirely unfazed by the outburst, simply stood there, still holding her three cans of juice.
"Now, now," Touma said quickly, trying to defuse the situation. He took one of the cans from the Sister and offered it to Index. "Have a souvenir."
Her suspicion melted away the moment she saw the juice. "Oh! Thank you, Touma!" she said, beaming. But her smile faltered almost immediately as she frowned down at the can in her hands.
"Touma, open it!" she demanded, shoving the drink toward him. "I like juice, but I don't like pull-tab thingies!"
Touma just looked at Index with pure exasperation before asking her a question. "Index? What are you doing out in the hallway?" He asked. "Did you lose your key and get locked out?"
She looked up at him and replied. "There were fleas on Sphinx, so I took him outside!" she explained, as if this was a perfectly logical course of action. "If that's the case, Touma's bed is probably a complete mess at this point." Touma started frantically scratching his body, like he just got covered in itching powder.
"Don't worry, I know how to get rid of the fleas!" Index declared, proudly holding up a bundle of dried herbs. "You just light this..." She fumbled for a match. "I had no idea it grew around here. Did you?" A cold dread washed over Touma. "Index, wait—" "...and let it burn," she continued, completely ignoring him as the herbs caught fire and began to smolder. "...and get rid of the fleas with the sm—" "You're gonna set off the fire alarm!!" He yelled, lunging forward.
I opened up a portal from the gates of Babylon, pulled out a water bottle and slowly poured it over the flame. Touma watched the last of the flames dissipate, a look of utter exhaustion on his face and then he let out a long, weary sigh.
"Geez... what a mess!" he muttered, running a hand through his hair. He then turned to the Misaka Sister, who had observed the entire fiasco with her usual placid expression. "Sorry for dragging you along for something stupid, Little Misaka!" he said, sounding genuinely apologetic. "I'm going to buy some flea repellent, so don't move!"
The Sister looked from the cat to me, her head tilting slightly. "Essentially..." she began, her voice as monotone as ever. "...you want to get rid of the fleas from the cat's body without causing it harm, right? Confirms Misaka,"
Before Touma could even reply, Misaka put up her hand and a small electric shock was blown from her fingertips. It grazed over the cat's fur, jolting it out of its stupor and killing a mass quantity of fleas. "I used a specific frequency to kill only the pests," reports Misaka. This kind of bug-killing device is widely available in academy city, so there was no threat to animal safety." Touma and Index looked up at the sister in shock before she waved her hand and said "Now then, our business is concluded."
I turn back to Touma and gently shake him to get him out of daze. "Touma hurry up and put the drinks in the fridge, I'm tired of standing out here, also I have a surprise for you."
The promise of a "surprise" was enough to cut through the remaining weirdness of the evening. We finally filed inside, the chaotic day finally drawing to a close.
The next morning, sunlight streamed into the cramped apartment, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air. The lingering scent of ozone and herbs was gone, replaced by the quiet hum of a city waking up. Well maybe just me waking up, I fished into my pocket and pulled out my phone. It was 6:00 PM in the evening. Touma's remedial classes should be finishing soon. I climbed down the bunk bed and went to the bathroom. You're probably wondering "Touma doesn't have a bunk bed" and you would be correct, but the gates of Babylon have everything. My gift to Touma was an actual bed instead of the small singular bed he has in his room. It's more convenient for everybody to be honest.
After I showered and brushed my teeth and made my way to the fridge. Just to be astonished by the fact their jackshit inside. I turn to Index absent mindedly chewing on the last piece of Yakisoba bread. I just let out a long sigh and made my way to the shopping district. I'll get us some groceries on the way. Not having any forms of transportation besides my tiny legs is infuriating. I think I'll buy myself a motorcycle. So what if I'm twelve? Money can make people do things they normally wouldn't. I'll get my hands on one regardless of the law.
Arriving at the shopping district I found Touma talking to a small chestnut haired girl holding a cat to his chest. Upon closer inspection that girl was Misaka, well to be more specific it was one of the sisters. This deduction was easy to make due to those fatass goggles she has on her forehead. I made my way to the pair and decided to annoy Touma, mainly because of the fact that I gave him 10000 yen and there's still no food in the fridge. I start making my way towards him and to my surprise the idiot straight up chucks the feline at the sister. Well it was more of a pass but you get my point. Then he turned around and immediately noticed my presence
"O-Oogimiya! What are you doing here?" he asked, a nervous sweat already forming on his brow.
I crossed my arms, giving a pointed look at the bag of groceries I was carrying. "I'm doing what someone should have done with the money I provided. The fridge was empty, Touma. Completely. Barren." I then glanced at the Sister, who was now calmly holding the cat. "And I see you're making new friends. Or is this a stray you're planning to add to the harem collection?"
Touma winced. "It's not like that! This is... complicated." "I'm sure it is," I said dryly. "It always is." He led out a long sigh before muttering something incomprehensible about misfortune then proposing an offer to me. "I'm heading to the book store, wanna tag along?" I give him a nod of the head before following him inside said store leaving the sister outside with the cat.
I'm having a bad premonition. I don't know why but something feels off. I feel like something should be happening. I just can't put my finger on it. I mean I've been hanging around Touma for a few days and jack shit has happened to us for awhile. Touma must have noticed my distant expression. "Hey, you okay? You've been zoning out since we got here."
I blinked, pulled from my thoughts. "It's just... I'm having a bad premonition," I confessed, lowering my voice. "I don't know why, but something feels off." I turned to him, my expression completely serious. "Think about it. I've been hanging around you for a while now, and nothing catastrophically bad has happened. Doesn't that feel wrong to you?"
Touma stared at me for a second, then slightly looked outraged. "Are you saying my life is usually a disaster magnet? I can have peaceful, normal days, you know!" "Touma you've lost your memories, ended up in the hospital more than once and fought the 3rd level 5 esper in the span of like 3 weeks. I think I'll listen to my gut feeling." I replied with exasperation.
"Also, Index said it herself, your right arm literally negates all good luck that'll come to you." I said while we were leaving the store. Before I could finish my points we heard a small meow coming from our left. Touma slowly approached the cat in suspicion while I watched from the sidelines. "Hey it's ok buddy, I wasn't gone long so where did she wander off to?" He said while picking up said cat and walking around. I approached him and decided to help him on his small journey to find her.
I saw Touma staring down an alleyway, his body rigid. I followed his gaze and saw what had frozen him: a single, pristine leather shoe, the kind that belonged to the Tokiwadai Middle School uniform, lying abandoned in the grime.
A cold dread, sharp and instinctual, coiled in my gut. I followed him as he moved into the alley's mouth. The air grew heavy, the city's hum fading behind us, replaced by a silence that felt like a held breath. The concrete was stained with dark, spattered blooms of crimson, and scattered around them were the dull, brassy glint of spent bullet casings.
"Misaka, are you there?" Touma's call was thin, swallowed by the oppressive quiet.
He turned left around a stack of discarded pallets, and stopped dead. All the color drained from his face, leaving him waxed and hollow. I stepped up beside him, and the sight hit me like a physical blow.
Slumped on the floor was the Misaka Sister. Her goggles were cracked, one lens missing. Her uniform was torn and saturated with blood, the white blouse now a grotesque canvas of red. More blood pooled beneath her, a thick, dark slick that soaked into the pavement. Her head lolled at an unnatural angle, vacant eyes staring at nothing, a trickle of dried crimson tracing a path from her slack lips. The metallic tang of blood and the faint, sweet smell of decay hung in the still air.
I should've known.
The thought hit like a spike of ice through my skull. That bad premonition, it hadn't been a vague feeling. It had been a warning. And now, here it was the sisters arc. I should've known and helped them beforehand.
Then my body betrayed me. My breath hitched, breaking apart into short, useless gasps that refused to draw in air. The metallic stench of blood filled my nose, my throat, my lungs—thick and suffocating. My heart pounded against my ribs like a trapped bird, desperate and erratic, each beat a painful echo in my ears.
The edges of my vision darkened, closing in on the gruesome sight before me—the dead sister, frozen in a pool of her own blood, the light gone from her eyes. My hands trembled violently at my sides, fingers twitching like they wanted to claw the image out of existence.
And then it came.
A raw, broken scream tore itself from my throat. My stomach lurched, and I doubled over, vomiting onto the floor.
…
END OF CHAPTER. ALRIGHT GUYS SORRY FOR ENDING THIS ON A CLIFF HANGER. I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED IT, LEAVE A REVIEW. TELL ME HOW ARE YOU LIKING THE STORY. WHAT YOU LIKE AND DISLIKE.