Archive of Our Own ^beta

Author Notes:

* When it comes to Index continuity, assume that for Touma Kamijou, everything from A Certain Magical Index: Old Testament, New Testament, Genesis Testament, and the spin-offs all happened from his POV.

PART 1

POV: Touma Kamijou

There is an old saying that one Touma Kamijou often utters with his mouth: Such misfortune.

The young man with black hair, formerly spiky, but he hadn't made it one ever since he never had the time to apply any hair gel. On his normal days, he wore a high school uniform of black, underneath his orange shirt, but right now, he wore civilian clothing with a black aesthetic with white lines, along with a brown jacket hoodie. His shoes were red and white, with a check symbol on the sides.

Quietly, his feet touched the sidewalk. He steps out of a blue wooden door as his eyes beheld a place he'd never thought he would ever see again. Tall modern skyscrapers, but one cannot be deceived by the modernity of its structure, for around the corner, one can see silver cleaner robots with beeping sounds hovering through the early morning daylight.

Academy City.

A city populated by over 2.3 million people, at least according to official statistics, but Kamijou couldn't help but not trust it, because he figured there were far more than 2.3 million people who lived in the city. It was given the hype of being the finest place where one could receive one's education and be given a wonderful school life full of esper abilities. But it wasn't as cracked up as it looked. In some ways, Kamijou had thought it was a mistake to come here. On the other hand, he wouldn't have met all of the people he knew in this city if he had never lived here. Not that he had a choice. Either that, or he would be persecuted by his own neighbors, and blamed for misfortune.

"Alright, lads," says one foreign Scottish accent and voice. A handsome and tall man with brownish hair, with cheekbones, with a dark trenchcoat with five silver stars. Wears a Men in Black type of suit, with a white collar and a black necktie. His right hand casually waves at him and the other people who had stepped out of the special blue box. "Now, all of you have some fun and run along now while I take the ship back to Gallifrey-Alpha. I'll be back before you-"

"Yeah, yeah, Doctor," says one young man who rolled his eyes out of sarcasm. "But we all know you're gonna be late somehow."

Kamijou looked at the young man. Dark brown hair and eyes. Wore a normal set of clothing that had a dark blue jacket, a little worn out, with a white collar shirt and grey pants with grey shoes. His real name was strange, regal even, so Kamijou calls him Kyon. Whenever conversations arose between Kamijou and the others amongst their group of misfits, it was Kyon who broke the tension with his usual snark. Kamijou couldn't help but compare Kyon to some professional commentator within a sports event, mentioning even the minor details as if that was relevant to what was happening. He would not be out of place to suspect that he'd be the person who would really get under the skin of Birbiri a.k.a. Mikoto Misaka, someone he knew for quite a while, ever since their first meeting, when he could still recall the times she had been trying to challenge him to a fight. Those were the early days, around the time when Misaka and his meetings were, while annoying, innocent.

"Just go already," says an exasperated Kyon, waving his right hand as if shooing a flea.

"Hmph..." the foreign man pouted a little. The Doctor. The man, the myth, the legend, the mentor that nobody asked for but got anyway. But Kamijou and everyone else in their group got. To describe who and what he is... Kamijou can simply say he is not a human being, even though he looks like one. He was from a species called the Aeviternal Lords of Gallifrey, also called Aevum Lords, the humble shepherd masters of aevum, who had been around since... forever... though even that term is a gross understatement. "Alright, fine, Kyon," says the Doctor, sighing heavily. "Really, one of these days, I really need you to get into William Shakespeare—learn a bit of proper tragedy and comedy—just because you keep tending to point out the obvious."

"Hey, don't lump me in with a man from a foreign country known for dramatic flair," Kyon spoke with his typical deadpan. "I'm more of a practical realist who's seen enough tropes being shot at me for a lifetime."

"Ah, but that's part of the fun, isn't it?" says the Doctor, who winked at them all, as he closed the door that held a sign: "POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX".

Then...

Vworp Vworp Vworp

The winds quietly erupt from the blue box as it dematerializes somewhere else. Kamijou understood that this blue box, an actual ship in disguise, which he and the others were watching take off, is about to enter into something called an Aeviternal Vortex, a complex series of total created orders that acted like... well, think of a world bridge but dash it with a mixing bit of Norse myth's Bifrost, though even Kamijou felt like this description is underselling it. The ship, which Kamijou and the others remember fondly as the TARDIS, quietly left, leaving him and the others with him on the street that was nearest to his dorm apartment building.

All eyes looked at Kamijou.

"...So," says one young-looking child of seven years of age. His sharp blue eyes were covered with spectacles as a disguise, though they weren't ordinary ones, as Kamijou could personally attest, useful for multi-tasking purposes. His face looked serious, which was out of place for someone who looks seven, wears clothing that was a dark blue jacket with a white collar, and a red deceptively normal bowtie. His hands were placed in the pockets of his grey trousers that held a kind of black belt at the center.

Kamijou calls him Conan Edogawa. But that's just an alias. In reality, the boy has another name. He was, in fact, a teenager by the name of Shinichi Kudo who somehow turned into a child due to a chemical drug that, if the circumstances had just been right, would have killed him then and there. Though, despite being young, in more ways than one, he was a private detective. From where Conan comes from, there are plenty of them running around. It reminded Kamijou too much of those old detective animes like Town Hunter (*1).

"...This is Academy City, huh?" says Conan, as his eyes already started analyzing the surroundings around him. Though it wasn't obvious, because his expression, even when serious, was too casual. Unless one is really that sharp on the toolshed like some Kihara with a brilliant criminal mind or something. "It looks a little normal at first glance, until you see all of the hovering robots cleaning the streets."

"And here I thought I'd see a couple of flying cars near the skyscrapers like that 80s' Sword Runner (*2) movie. Feels a little bland looking at the city now. Where the heck are all of the flying cars around here if this city is so advanced? Give me my money back, please?" deadpans Kyon, who couldn't help but question the validity of the claims of this city of science. Said snark brought a chuckle to almost everyone gathered around the corner.

Kamijou, while chuckling, was happier. Happier than he's ever been. He has friends who aren't like his usual ones. Yeah, there were a few, like Tsuchimikado and Aogami, but that's not what Kamijou was getting at. He just secretly wanted a little sense of grounded normality and quiet, with none of the exaggeration. This feels like a break since he didn't have to play-pretend to be that one guy who hid the mask to prevent anyone from finding out about stuff they didn't need to know. Here, he was just Touma Kamijou, a young man with peers. It felt... liberating.

"...Well," says one black-haired young man wearing a brown jacket, with dark purple eyes that matched the sharp-edged intellect that often made Kamijou feel cautious, at least in the beginning. Why? Essentially, this young man, Lelouch Lamperouge, was someone who had... frankly, the worst childhood, and that's all he's going to say about that. An exiled royal by blood prince, an older brother who had tried to keep himself and his younger sister alive in a world where everyone on both sides was outright hostile to them. His world wasn't like Kamijou's.

Here's the thing. Every single person here comes from different planet Earths. Conan's world, for instance, is far too normal for the most part, with none of the magic and science side shadowy conspiracies. Though that didn't mean it was peaceful since there were still criminal conspiracies and some hidden preternatural powers lurking around Conan's world. Kyon's world was normal... until you realized that there was an eccentric high school girl that Kyon had to legitimately worry over and take care of to prevent her from blowing up the universe. Kamijou quietly had to remind himself that meeting her may not be a good idea, because if his Imagine Breaker interacts with her, it ends up with... not so good results, unpredictable results. It's like two opposites essentially meeting each other and cancelling each other out. Lelouch's world, however, is what happens when a discriminatory, racist empire becomes a superpower, and its main plan is to take over the world. That's just as generic as that sounded, but it's an understatement to the raw pain that Lelouch himself had experienced. The man literally lived through a world of survival, while most people here didn't. Kamijou certainly wouldn't count himself to be excluded, since his world is full of conspiracies, but add it with superpowers, madmen, and would-be gods.

"...I wouldn't be so hasty about your conclusions, Kyon-kun," says Lelouch, flashing that smirk that quietly reminded Kamijou of someone with blonde starry eyes. "What lies on the surface may not be the indicator of how advanced a society truthfully is, but of how it indicates just how thoroughly smart a society can be."

"That's right," Conan quietly agreed with a bittersweet, subtle smile as everyone looked at him. "You don't bring your best products out in the open until you get better products under its inventory."

Kamijou couldn't help but wince. Because yes, that is in fact how Academy City is. It hides private projects with public projects. He couldn't help but remember the bloody massacre of the clone sisters of Mikoto Misaka. He was involved in putting a stop to the massacre that had probably gone on for far longer than it should have. Conan and Lelouch were right as well to be vague when describing the city, because they, and Kamijou, are smart enough to know that there may possibly be anybody watching them.

That wasn't paranoia. That was reality. Kamijou wasn't stupid. He just didn't pay any or much attention to it.

Then, Kamijou glances at another young man amongst the group. He calls him Souta Mizushino. He is, in fact, out of the bunch, the most normal. At least that's what's on the surface, because he could recall the Doctor's explanations. The basic gist of it was that Souta's world was strange, which essentially subscribes to something the Doctor called Solipsism. Kamijou was no expert in philosophy, but the basic gist of it was that only one's mind is sure to exist, and anything that lies outside one's own mind is unsure. That was how the worlds of reality and fiction operate within Souta's world.

The Doctor also brought up the fact that Souta's world's humanity has that unique trait of being what's called "creators" which allows them to somehow "sub-create" worlds. The Doctor was very specific, carefully saying "sub-creation" when people in Souta's world may mistake that for creation out of nothing, because nobody could actually do that. No so-called god, no so-called demon, no so-called human, no anything could create out of nothing. Only the One-In-Three who is Otherly.

That's where Kamijou recalls the subject of different humanities. Just because all of them, including Kamijou, look human, doesn't mean they are the same kind of human. They all had different histories, different evolutions, different walks of life. One's humanity doesn't mean the same as another's, and this isn't discriminatory; it was practical realism.

Souta spoke up, looking at Kamijou with a smile. "Then... Kamijou-san, where do you think we should go first, since this is your city?"

Kamijou became quietly thoughtful, putting his hands to his chin. "I guess we can go back to my place. That way, we can take a little time to cool off [translation: prepare] before we head out again, and I can show you around."

"Then by all means, lead the way, Kamijou-kun," Lelouch smiled, yet carried a subtle gaze.

Then Kamijou glanced at the last person in the group, who never spoke at all. On the surface, he looked normal, just like Souta, but... he wasn't like everyone else here.

No, he wasn't what Kamijou and the others would usually understand as human. He was completely different. The Doctor had a phrase for that. True Adamus. Why? Because the young man, somewhere around their age, was a true descendant of the Originals, Saint Adam and Saint Eve, which brought Kamijou's thoughts back to the subject of different humanities, which are in reality just different parallel anthropoid species, all categorized as antipodes, that managed to develop their own sets of evolution and history entirely unconnected with the covenantal line.

But this one? This young man? Black hair and golden-brown eyes. Handsome yet solemn and smiling face. Doesn't say a word. Just a subtle acknowledging gaze directed at Kamijou, which gave the latter a shivering clenching heart. He wore simple clothing, a dark blue jacket with white lines on his shoulders, grey trousers, and white lines on the sides of his legs.

Kamijou calls him Georgius Artorius. That's Latin, of course. In Japanese, his first name sounded like Jouji. In English, it would translate as George. It wasn't just Kamijou, but everyone else, silent and aware, looked at Georgius, who went by his original name, George Kurai.

What did it really mean to be human? The more terrifying answer wasn't like anything Kamijou had thought about before. Not with science. Not with magic. Not with any definition one could have thought about. No, it was... something else. It was none of the above. None of them was right. Instead, what defined humanity... as crazy as it sounded... is Love Itself, because true and real humanity was the lowest in what was called the Great Chain of Being, a hierarchy of participation of sorts within creation, where all creatures have their dignity and place in the grand scheme of things. Kamijou's humanity, Conan's humanity, Kyon's humanity, Souta's humanity, and Lelouch's humanity were never the lowest. Georgius and everyone like him were the lowest.

Kamijou now had an answer without any of the evolution nonsense that he always had to hear over and over when Komoe-sensei discussed it in class. The reality of the answer made him quietly terrified, just because of how utterly raw, simple, and gentle it was. The Human is Human, because of Love Itself. Nothing more. Nothing less. A Mystery of Love, to bring all things upward back to Love Itself.

His eyes couldn't help but lower themselves. The real dignity of a True Adamus was something not even his Imagine Breaker could negate or break. Because this wasn't an illusion, this was the loving plan of a Father-Forever that existed long before the First Dawn of Creation.

...Kamijou couldn't believe his luck. Not that he ever believed it in the sense that the system itself owned him. It didn't, not in reality. It wasn't because of Imagine Breaker that he claimed such a thing, but because of Someone else, Someone who had always been watching.

He and the other companions all looked at the door with varying expressions of incredulity, except for George, who kept silent with an observing gaze. It held a sign that said: "ROOM NO LONGER AVAILABLE.".

"...Wow, first day you come back to your world, and already you somehow got evicted out of your own dorm room," Kyon couldn't help but mutter with a deadpan that subtly held a quiet empathy.

"...Umm, we could maybe try to check this out?" Souta asked carefully, with an exasperated smile. "Asked the owner of the dorm apartment about what happened?"

"Yeah, that's a good plan," Kamijou quietly drew out his phone. It was brand new, yet held all of the older contacts from his old phone. In this case, all old data from every phone he ever broke due to misfortune. Thank you, Doctor. Who knew that an aevum travelling mentor would make things a little simpler? Not easy, just simple enough that Kamijou doesn't have to keep starting from scratch anymore.

While he held his phone, he heard Conan speaking with arms crossed. "That's honestly strange. Why would there be a sign that says: "ROOM NO LONGER AVAILABLE."? Even if that were the case, you'd think someone else is free and open to occupy it. Dorm apartments don't just close down one of their rooms permanently unless something serious requires it, like maintaining the appliances in the bathroom, the kitchen, and such."

"That's a good point," Lelouch narrowed his eyes and spoke grimly. "Something must have happened. Perhaps we can take a look inside for ourselves."

"Are you honestly suggesting we break into my own dorm room?" Kamijou looked exasperated at Lelouch's idea.

"Well, beats doing absolutely nothing and standing around here like morons until someone accuses us of being suspicious burglars, because that would totally happen, admit it," Kyon shrugs his shoulders, before glancing at the others. "So who gets to open the front door?"

"Me," Conan said, using his glasses, turning on something from the side of his glasses. A quiet whirling sound beeped, and the door's automatic locks were suddenly opened, allowing everyone to go inside.

And he and the rest would head inside, as Lelouch opens the door, with Kamijou walking inside last. As they head inside... they noticed that there's no sign of any furniture, or the various materials that Kamijou uses for his school life, or anything. It was... clear. Like someone had recently moved out.

"...No...No...No... You've got to be kidding me!" Kamijou, who still hadn't gotten the call from the landlady in charge of the dorm apartment for some reason, held both of his hands to his head in shock. "What the hell?! I was having adventures in aevum for months, and I found my own room completely cleared out like some garage sale! Such misfortuneeeeeeeeeeee!"

His movements were exaggerated, as he looked at every single place, clean yet deprived of everything that Kamijou used and had used. The others were not surprised and were more empathetic. This was nothing new to them. Kamijou literally had fate and destiny against him... for not very good reasons.

Everyone scrambled and checked the house for anything worth of evidence. Kyon quietly checked around the corner, looking through the veranda after moving the sliding door, checking through this seventh-floor balcony, with Lelouch stepping behind.

After a glance, Kyon muttered grimly. "...I don't like this," he said, putting his hand to the corner, glancing down where the streets were. "...Feels too clean."

"You can feel that too, huh," Lelouch shared Kyon's sentiments, narrowing his eyes downward.

They didn't need to blurt it out. This didn't feel normal.

They both looked at George, who was standing nearby. His expression was quiet, solemn, looking around with his golden-brown eyes.

"...Georgius," says Lelouch with quiet respect. "...What do you think?"

George looked towards Lelouch and responded quietly. "It looks normal, if one uses one's five senses. But..." Both Lelouch and Kyon, and the others, with Kamijou stopping his complaints, look at him with attention. "...I sense...grief. Sorrow. Like...someone was crying here, mourning for someone."

Everyone was quietly alarmed.

Kamijou ceased his exaggerated reactions and took the warning seriously. They call this boy, who looks close to their age, Georgius, because... it's either calling him that, or calling him Majesty or Emperor, for good reason. He's someone nobody in any of their worlds could ever categorize. He wasn't talking about a mere royal, no, even royals would answer to him... because he was the Last World Emperor, which is a sacred office that multiple people had taken. Not by blood, but by Love.

Georgius, like all of the Emperors before him, was unique and could not be replaced. Amongst the gifts he has is discernment beyond the five senses. Time itself is something he could sense. And through that, the emotions within time.

"...Mourning," Kamijou muttered, now worried about a certain nun. "Index... Othinus..." Kamijou, who couldn't contact the landlady, tried instead to make contact with Index Librorum Prohibitorum. A sound of continuous beeping occurs after pressing the contact number. A quiet dread came from Kamijou's heart. What had happened here while he was gone? If Index is gone, Othinus was probably with her, so contacting Index meant hearing Othinus, the same magic god with whom he spent Infinite Hells with a while back.

And after a while, Kamijou could only hear from the phone: "We are sorry. The number you have dialed is not available. Please try again later by dialing-"

"...No...No way," Kamijou muttered grimly, widening his eyes.

Everyone else looked at each other, with grim expressions on their faces. Conan, who was quietly scanning the entire area with his glasses, looked around and, at the very least, found footprints, indicating that there were indeed people who had moved Kamijou's things. He obviously didn't have data on who, since he has yet to scan the databases of the city, but even the young child secretly high school teen wasn't suicidal enough to draw in unwanted attention unless it was really necessary.

"...All I could see were footprints, indicating Kamijou-san's belongings were moved naturally. But that's all I could detect. Apart from that, everything else looked spring-cleaned," Conan spoke grimly.

"...Is...Is this even the right timeline?" Kyon couldn't help but ask, a little irritated. "Or did the Doctor just strand us in some weird alternate universe?"

"No," George quietly shut that theory down, making everyone pay attention to him. "This is Kamijou-san's native timeline. There's no doubt about it. I can sense it. It's..." He was silent for a little while, looking around outside the sliding door.

"...It's what?" Kyon asked, carefully, as if he didn't like where this was going.

"...It's nothing, that's the main issue here," George spoke grimly. "Nothing I see indicates something is wrong. But just because I don't see anything doesn't mean the world hasn't been tampered with."

"So we would need to consider the possibility that someone had manipulated circumstances that led to this," Lelouch spoke grimly, acknowledging the reasoning while quietly putting his hand to his chin.

"...So should we try to...I don't know, visit Kamijou-san's school and find his teachers so that we could clear this up?" Souta asked, a little hesitantly.

"...That is, assuming they can be reliable, though," Lelouch spoke grimly, pointing out the fallacy.

"Great, a conspiracy, just what we needed," Kyon sighed as he leaned on the wall, putting his arms to his chest. "So what do we have? A magic or science side-related showdown? Kamijou here being called to swing his right arm like it's WWE?"

"While the humor is appreciative," Lelouch couldn't help but smirk a little before turning his expression serious. "That's still within broad yet predictable speculation. We don't know who the culprits are, nor do we know their motives, but we at least know a few factors. Kamijou-kun's property was taken from him, and Kamijou-kun can't seem to contact anyone on his phone."

"...I guess it couldn't hurt to scan through the latest news," Conan spoke grimly, as he pressed the sides of his glasses, which allowed him to see the latest news headlines. Just not a moment later, his eyes widened immediately.

"...You all need to see this, now!" Conan's tone became sharply urgent, something Kamijou himself became familiar with, the same tone where the real identity of one Shinichi Kudo revealed itself like an ace of spades, the spiritual modern successor and spiritual son of Sherlock Holmes himself. Conan pressed the view button with a mental click, showcasing the projection screen from his glasses.

They looked and saw... something terrible. It was current news headlines. It all spoke of one thing. A young high school student from A Certain High School had died. Everyone turns quietly pale and serious. Kamijou most of all couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Record. Live. Taking place somewhere around... last month? Wait... August...? No, that can't be right, it should be next year, not August. August was around the time when Kamijou had dealt with a few incidents, like that one time some Aztec magician was using Misaka to target him, among other things. But...

...No. Kamijou thought in horror, as he saw actual live footage of... himself. Walking around with his eggs and sighing about his own misfortune, before suddenly, without any warning...

...He sees the other him getting shot through the right lung. Every civilian nearby screamed instantly as they saw the horror taking place. The assailant who did this felt like he just stepped in without anyone noticing. He didn't bother with introductions; he simply did a job and executed it. He was tall, carrying a gun that resembled a Walther PPK. No silencer. The shot that was fired echoed across the streets in broad daylight.

Most of the companions looked genuinely disturbed by this.

"...What the actual hell?" even Kyon looked disturbed, murmuring in disbelief as he watched the footage.

"Shooting in broad daylight?" Lelouch sported a grim look. "This is either reckless or deliberate."

"...Maybe it's both?" Souta murmured, grimly. "But why? And did you see that, that guy moved too fast. Even I didn't see him."

George was quietly silent and didn't comment, just continuing to watch the news.

The unknown man was covered with a black face mask, shades, and a cap, which made it difficult for him to be identified in any record. He was already aiming the gun he held, and shot. Bang. Bang. Two more shots in quick succession, which made Kamijou flinch at seeing the brutality of the cold, efficient kill that occurred to his other self. His other self didn't even have the luxury of reacting; he was just killed on the spot and couldn't even raise his Imagine Breaker.

Then, the unknown man dodged, moving a side-step as he was almost grabbed by one familiar teleporter from Judgment, Kuroko Shirai, with her tawny twin-tailed hair. Her expression was grave and desperate as her hands were just inches away from knocking out the perpetrator, who immediately disappeared, as if by teleportation. Kamijou watched the dawning horror on her face, as if in self-denial of what had just happened, clenching her fists when doing so.

The man disappeared, with no sound effect, no special effect; he looked like he slipped away from somewhere unknown. Kamijou continued to watch Shirai slowly turn towards the other clearly dead Kamijou on the floor, and quietly took a step back, covering her mouth. Another familiar face that Kamijou saw on the footage, dashing towards the other dead Kamijou, was none other than Mikoto Misaka, who looked...

...Worst for wear. Extremely distraught. Her eyes looked numb, dangerous, and broken-hearted at the same time as she crouched to the floor and touched the dead boy's body. Her eyes looked like they were in absolute denial. Her body was quietly emitting sparks of electricity, yet it was very subtle. He could see Misaka clearly screaming something while holding the other dead boy's body, but Kamijou couldn't hear from the footage.

From around the corner, he could clearly see two more of Misaka's old friends, Kazari Uiharu and Ruiko Saten, whom he had both first met around the Daihasei Festival, who looked at the scene with shock and horror on their faces as they dropped their bags. Uiharu was already scrambling and asking Saten something with a desperate look on her face. Kamijou didn't even know what they said, but Saten was immediately dialing the phone with trembling, hurried fingers, calling for a medical ambulance.

...But it wouldn't really do any good. Caught on camera. Seen by a hundred witnesses. Assassinated in broad daylight.

Kamijou clenched his fists, his black eyes narrowed like the slit of serpents, his face turned grim. "...What the hell happened to my world while I was gone?"

...Because he doesn't recall this. He never once experienced what the news is reporting. Something was definitely wrong with his world, and he was going to find out why. This wasn't just simply about his death. No, this became personal to Kamijou. Why? He could see a brokenly crying Misaka who held the dead body of Kamijou in her arms, shouting in tears, while the horrified Kuroko was silent and couldn't believe what she had just seen. If this was how Misaka and Shirai saw and reacted... he wondered about everyone else who knew him, both in the magic and in the science sides.

Kamijou wasn't stupid. He had an impact on everybody, regardless of whether he intended it or not. If he died, in broad daylight, there would be consequences, and while on the one hand, he personally hated thinking of the implications, on the other hand, he couldn't leave this be.

"...Wait," says George, who brought Kamijou's and the others' attention. The young man with golden-brown eyes, with a serious look, quietly waved his right hand. "Look at the screen again." He spoke grimly.

Kamijou and the others looked back, and their faces turned pale, sharp, and dread as they looked at what George quietly revealed by silently tearing the invisible veil down.

"...Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Kyon muttered grimly.

They all looked and saw countless human-like beings, invisible to the naked eye of all. Wear countless forms of civilian clothing. The one that stood out, however, was the eyes. Pitch dark black, like they never had the stars.

"...Black-Eyed Daimoniacs (BEDs)?" Conan spoke darkly. "What are they doing there?"

Kamijou grimaced. Black-Eyed Daimoniacs (BEDs). No, not demons. Daimons. Something that neither the magic side nor the science side would ever know, because one... The Greco-Roman philosophers never existed here, who literally explained these things from the top down, intermediaries of a variology too long to list and pin down, prayed to and worshipped. His world never really could pin down the concept of a soul, how much more other more important things that had been lurking in the dark since his world's primordial soup?

"I don't know... but something tells me they've probably been here for a while," Lelouch spoke grimly. "And I feel like they aren't responsible for the assassination. It's not like them to be this blatant."

"...So, what? We got a Dark Side Faction War within Academy City now?" Kyon spoke grimly.

Kamijou knew what Kyon was talking about. He wasn't talking about the Dark Side of Academy City. No, he was talking about something much, much older. In the same way the Pharisees and Sadducees are unified enemies of Love, there were... hierarchies, so to speak, united in evil, but differ in goal and purpose, and when nothing unites them, they fought each other for pieces of scraps of turf and territory like they were wild dogs.

"...Think subtler," Lelouch spoke grimly. "...I wouldn't put it past the entirety of the Dark Side of Academy City to be completely compromised, and the ones pulling the strings are... multiple chess players."

...Kamijou came back, only to find that his timeline had radically changed while he was gone, and there were far darker enemies compared to even the magician Crowley and the demon Coronzon that now lurked, with probably no one to stop them, because how could you fight an enemy you didn't know even existed?

Quietly, Kamijou was thinking a little. He has to find Misaka... no, not just her, he has to find Shokuhou as well. He... has his memories back. He had for a long while. Long story. If this really happened, then... Kamijou couldn't imagine what Shokuhou would try to do.

"I have to find her..." Kamijou spoke grimly, with everyone looked at him. "...People think I'm dead, and it's literally on the news. I have to find Misaka-san and Shok... no, Misaki." He muttered grimly as he looked at Conan, quietly determined as he asked the latter. "...Ne, Edogawa-san," he didn't use the young boy's real name, you never know anymore who's watching. "I'm gonna need your help. All of you." He glanced at the others. "I have to find the people who... may have been heavily affected by my own death."

"That's... a long list," Lelouch said grimly. "...I propose at least that we should focus on one by one, starting with who's closest."

"Yeah, there's strength in numbers, so... the first place I could go to would be Tokiwadai. If... If something changed the timeline in my world, I'm not even sure what's even there and what's not anymore." Kamijou spoke grimly.

"Alright," Conan spoke grimly as he mentally started to type specific keywords on the subject, with his glasses performing the search. "Lelouch-san and I would handle the info gathering. What about the rest of you?" he asked Kamijou and the rest.

Kyon spoke with a side glance, with a quiet pinching sigh. "I guess we could maybe, I don't know, retrace Kamijou-san's steps. Obviously, we can't just go to where the other Kamijou-san was killed. That would bring a whole lot of unwanted attention."

"...I think it's too late for that, considering who's possibly watching, if he's even still around that is," Kamijou muttered darkly, as he quietly recalled the one man who pretty much invented Academy City, and one of the main plans for doing so was for Kamijou's sake, or rather, the Imagine Breaker's sake.

Kamijou quietly proposed. "I guess we could go to the hospital I used to go to, but..."

"...But considering the fact that you died, and every person on the street and every camera out there saw it, well..." Kyon pointed out with a grim deadpan.

"...Not even my records are that easy anymore to access, even if I asked that frog-faced doctor," Kamijou muttered, quietly facepalming. This was going to be harder than he thought.

And then... George quietly spoke up. "Perhaps we should wait and let Conan-kun and Lamperouge-kun gather information about Tokiwadai first."

Everyone looked at George with grim expressions.

"...I mean, your..." Kamijou quietly stopped calling George "Majesty." since he'd rather not let the greatest magician of the 20th century ever find out about the Great Catholic Monarch being right here. Not that Crowley would know of such a concept. It doesn't even exist here. At least, not what it's actually described. Every religion here is corrupted. It's all magic side. All of the symbolism, all of the mechanics... but none of the heart. He always knew, long before meeting his new fire-forged friends and the Doctor, even though Kamijou never articulated it, he always did had a sense of something wrong with the magic side. He just didn't have the words, until he realized what was really lacking.

"...Georgius," Kamijou spoke respectfully, like a subject before the High King. "My death isn't exactly gonna make anyone I love stand still."

"I know..." George nodded grimly before gently explaining. "...I never said that we literally stand still and do nothing. We wait, quietly thinking of every option we could reasonably do first. Because of the confirmation of the presence of rebellious daimons, every movement could trigger an event. We cannot take steps lightly; otherwise, we may accelerate something we cannot reverse if it's too late."

Kamijou and the others were quiet. George did have a point. Academy City... or rather, the rest of the world, is compromised. The entire timeline is suspect. Not to mention... It's September. That couldn't be right. Kamijou knew that this wasn't right. It shouldn't be September. It should have been next year. But... someone railroaded the timeline back to the past. Could he actually negate something of this scale with his Imagine Breaker? Kamijou doubted it completely, because he could at least recall his experiences with Othinus. There are just some things that are far too big for him with Imagine Breaker alone.

"...Alright," Kamijou nodded grimly. "...Let's wait, and let Edogawa-san and Lamperouge-san do their work."

"...Yeah, great," Kyon muttered with a heavy sigh, but he too quietly agreed with this practical solution. Not like they've got anywhere else to be or where to go.

PART 2

...After a while.

With a little help from Conan and Lelouch, Kamijou and the others had managed to look into things in Tokiwadai. Kamijou was quietly in shock. Tokiwadai... apparently had a high school now. No, hold on, since when did Tokiwadai have a high school? Based on the records, it seemed to have been under construction since last year ago. The timeline couldn't have changed this much. Now Kamijou couldn't help but wonder whether Aogami and Tsuchimikado in this timeline ever discussed with him about Tokiwadai's high school ojou-samas.

"...Okay, now I'm definitely sure my world's timeline has gone off the rails," Kamijou sighed heavily, rubbing the side of his head a little.

"According to the data I've uncovered," says Conan, who was looking at the screens projecting from his glasses. He was using elastic white gloves that allowed him to touch the screens and organize them. "Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki are still well-doing students there. There's... no record of them ever causing any sort of problems in the last month up to now."

"Kind of hard to believe they'd go silent, considering Kamijou-san died in front of everyone," Kyon spoke with a skeptical tone, putting his right hand to his waist.

"They wouldn't go silent," Kamijou spoke grimly, arms crossed. "I know those two, from the inside out. They wouldn't just go sit around the corner and not get involved. I've... worked with them too many times in the past."

"In other words," says Lelouch, who was quietly analyzing the situation with a grim face. "They were probably out hunting for the ones responsible for your death, Kamijou-kun, while maintaining a facade."

Kamijou twitched. Yes, he wouldn't put it past them for such a thing. He could still recall how Misaka, back during the Radio Noise incident, never actually asked for help from anybody. By the time he found her, she was already suffering on the inside. It would probably feel like that time, if not worse. And then, there was Shokuhou. She'd probably be trying to look into any records from the dark side, or maybe the magic side if she were let in on the secret by either Index or Othinus.

Oh wait... this was September now, so he hasn't actually met Othinus yet. Though even he's not sure about this conclusion, the timeline had completely rewritten itself, so did the Infinite Hells even still happen, or has it yet to happen? If it's the latter...

Kamijou couldn't help but twitch even more. Of course, he couldn't forget that time. He doesn't think he ever could. It's something he'd rather not have to go through again. His sanity barely survived it last time. Quietly, as turbulent thoughts washed through the shores of his mind, he felt a gentler hand on his shoulder. He looked back and saw George, who quietly looked at him without speaking.

Then, Kamijou quietly lowered his head. No... Not this time. The Infinite Hells no longer defined who he was. Not with Someone gentle up there watching.

"...Alright, so, does anybody have any ideas on how to get into Tokiwadai without getting jumped easily?" Kamijou asked grimly.

"...Well, we could just...you know...disguise ourselves as women," Kyon groaned a little, already dreading the option. "Like, we've got the disguise tech already in our pockets, so we don't need to barge in there like perverted idiots."

"Conan-kun, Mizushino-kun, and I, in the meantime, would stay together while you all head towards Tokiwadai and investigate further," says George, grimly.

"...There's still one problem," Lelouch pointed out the flaw. "...Some of the students may be bound to notice. Tokiwadai's boast of intelligent women of high class is not an exaggeration. They may spot a fake student as quickly as a fly."

"That's why we have to think fast, I need to find Misaka and Misaki, if only to make sure they're really okay," Kamijou spoke grimly.

"Define okay..." Kyon looked at him grimly. "Because we're talking about two dangerous Level 5s here. Who's to say they haven't gotten their hands dirty while you were gone, because they saw you die?"

Kamijou couldn't answer this. Because Kyon was right. When it comes to women being attached to him, sometimes... that attachment becomes a potential monster when pushed. That's why he needed to find them. Make absolutely sure.

...Tokiwadai.

But not something Kamijou fully recognizes. He could still see the familiar gate and fancy architecture. It's all still there. What was very glaring, however, were the new buildings nearby, that high school section that's just right next door.

With the help of a perception mask, a handy gadget for disguising appearances where he could wear it on his face, he, along with Kyon and Lelouch had taken the appearances that, on the outside, were of the opposite sex, wearing Tokiwadai uniforms. Kamijou, in this case, had long, little spiky black hair seen on his back. Kyon had long brown hair. Lelouch... well, Lelouch fits right in as a woman.

"...This had better be worth it, I swear," Kyon muttered, with a wince, with his voice sounding like a woman's due to the disguise, which had long dark brown hair.

"...If it means anything, I can understand your pain," Lelouch muttered grimly, sounding like a woman due to the disguise, which had long dark black hair.

"I do not need your pity, princess," Kyon muttered in a groan, already hating this idea.

They entered the gate. So far so good. Kamijou looked around and saw that it was around lunchtime. He could see the countless Tokiwadai ojou-samas walking about, talking about tea parties, club associations, the latest fashion, and every other topic. Though one stood outt to Kamijou and he and the two companions stopped and heard the details, in a specific shade under the parasol.

"...Ne, is the Queen...alright?" says one black-haired young middle schooler, sporting a look of hesitation while asking about the familiar Misaki Shokuhou.

"She's...alright," says one young woman by the name of Kazan Mibuki, who has long straight black hair with a partial hime-cut and wears oval-rimmed glasses. Her arms were crossed, yet her face grimaced, trying to keep the pain in. "...I mean, as alright as she can be, especially when...Kamijou-sama...died."

Kamijou frowned.

Kamijou-sama? Since when did Misaki's clique address him that way? More to the point, how did they know him? Because Shokuhou never tells almost anyone about her relationship with him. Okay, Kamijou thought, that's another change in the timeline. That means that he was close in a way to all of Shokuhou's clique members.

If this were any other day, the guys behind him, Kyon and Lelouch, would joke about Kamijou's reputation with women. But no, the latter two were just as silent and grimacing.

"...Pfm. Hm. Hm."

Kamijou would quietly look at another student. She didn't look middle school. She looked like she was right around high school, probably first year. Her face was covered by her hands as she cried.

"...Mi-Miyuki-senpai!" says the first black-haired girl, putting her hand to her back, expressing concern.

Kamijou grimaced as he looked at the young woman. She looked beautiful, yet her brown eyes were red with tears. That kind of face. This Miyuki probably knew him in this timeline.

...People he never knew, but this woman and possibly others knew him, a him that lived through this timeline.

He glanced around and noticed that the other Tokiwadai students were either flinching or silent. The so-called girl talks ceased when Kamijou was brought up. So Tokiwadai as a whole probably knew what had happened to him in this timeline. Not surprising. Considering it was on the news, of course, these girls would know.

With nothing left of the girls to say, Kamijou quietly walked away. Kyon and Lelouch glanced at each other in hesitation before moving further. But every time the three moved, it almost felt like they were walking into a trap.

They walked through the hall. But the atmosphere for Kamijou was quietly suffocating.

"...Took a while, there were a lot of firewalls where one mistake could trigger an alarm, but I managed to hack through Tokiwadai's servers," says Conan, as he was heard through the comms in the ears of the companions walking through the uneasy corridor.

"Please tell me you've got something," says Kyon, not out loud, but by mind communication. "We've got crying ojou-samas and Kamijou-san being famous around Tokiwadai... like, I'm talking real famous here."

"That's because... apparently he is," says Conan, as he explained grimly. "Since around January, he was well known around Tokiwadai. Been involved in several incidents. Works for Judgment."

"Wait, hold on," says Kamijou, not out loud, but by mind communication, widening his eyes. "Judgment? I work for Judgment?"

"So it says in your record, and your rank in Judgment is Sergeant," Conan said. "Your P.E. teacher, Yomikawa Aiho, practically dragged you kicking and screaming into the service after you, or the you that this history is detailing, was responding to a crisis that happened around January, where you happened to be there around the late evening of an Anti-Skill operation."

"Hold on... Sergeant?" says Lelouch, not out loud, but by mind communication. "Is Judgment in this timeline actually organized as a legitimate police organization?"

"Yes, it's based on the United Kingdom's law enforcement and constitutional body," Conan explained. "Judgment had been a police based organization since Academy City's founding in 1945, with its first officers being somewhere around their late 18s to early 20s who were applying for a scholarship in Academy City when they couldn't apply elsewhere after World War II, since all of the schools were closed, especially the ones affected in Hiroshima and Nagasaki because of the atom bombs that had been dropped."

"...If I were a police officer in Judgment, I would have received police training then," Kamijou spoke grimly as he glanced at the two quiet Tokiwadai girls nearby, one of them mentioned "Kamijou-sama." which made him stiffen.

"Fat load that training did, considering your other self just died without even being able to put up a fight," Kyon spoke grimly.

"Not like it would have mattered either way," Lelouch spoke grimly. "The assassin who killed the other Kamijou-kun was far too fast, to the point where I didn't even see him. The assassin didn't even seem like he was on the sidewalk until right when the assassination took place. Georgius even ruled out the possibility of invisibility abilities, because he'd notice if that was the case, which just leaves us to the conclusion that a kind of teleportation technology had been used, one so advanced that you could appear in the blink of an eye and you wouldn't see it coming until it's too late, and even then, it leaves no trace of where it's going, or possibly when..."

"...And, Kamijou-san, I don't think you're gonna like it, but... apparently you had a partner in Judgment, Inspector Shirai Kuroko," Conan explained grimly.

Kamijou stopped walking. The other two stopped walking too as they both looked at Kamijou with concern on their faces. Kamijou's mind flashed to the news report, recalling Shirai's haunted gaze while Misaka was crying over his dead body. His hands clenched slightly.

...Kamijou didn't like where this was going. That meant that Shirai was just as affected by his death too. In the original timeline he could remember, Shirai wasn't that close with him. If anything, she was... well, he wouldn't say hostile, but it's often that it's either she keeps him away from Misaka, or gets drop-kicked in the head for his misfortune.

...He didn't want to imagine that bright, dedicated twin-tailed Judgment girl just... just get depressed for him.

He glanced back at Kyon and Lelouch. He quietly cocked his head, as if saying, Let's keep moving. And so they did. They kept walking. But everywhere they go, Kamijou could always hear a whisper of him, from these ojou-samas who speak of him as if they were some important person. No, more than that. It almost felt like they had him far too much, like he often visited here.

...Still no sign of Misaka or Shokuhou.

"...Edogawa-san," Kamijou spoke grimly. "Any sign of Misaka and Misaki?"

"I checked through every camera within Tokiwadai, inside and out, but I can't find them. They may have possibly been here, but we were a few seconds late," Conan spoke grimly.

Kamijou quietly sighed, before... remembering with a twitch, a certain girl that he had failed to save once upon a time, and had a grudge match against Shokuhou. "...Edogawa-san, what about Mitsuari Ayu? Have you seen her around?"

"...Actually, yes. She's... right behind you," Conan spoke grimly.

Kamijou stiffened as he glanced slowly behind him and found... There she was.

Ayu Mitsuari.

Her long, wavy, chocolate-colored hair flowed naturally as she walked, fluffy as cotton candy. Like all girls in Tokiwadai, she was beautiful. Kamijou's guilt for not saving her then, and her walking through a dark path, naturally snap through his mind. I wish I'd remembered you sooner, was the whisper of his regret. On the surface, she looked fine, walking through the hallways like any other Tokiwadai student...

...Until.

"...Any word from Misaka-san?" says one brown-haired Tokiwadai middle schooler nearby.

"No... umm... but rumor had it she's been walking towards Kamijou-sama's grave every now and then..." says another black-haired Tokiwadai middle schooler talking with the first one.

Kamijou looked at Mitsuari's face as it turned twitchy and quietly clenched her cold fists. Her eyes were very controlled, but it was clear she was on the verge of crying again. No... Not Mitsuari... Ayu... Not her too... She already suffered enough back in the timeline he finally remembered, but even here, in this new timeline, she was suffering again. How much of what he remembered still occurred here? He hoped at least that Mitsuari was spared from that darker path to the dark side, but he wouldn't realistically count on it, especially with Mitsuari's track record.

Mitsuari slowly walked forward again, but Kamijou wasn't going to leave her this time.

...This timeline may have changed, but the people here... they were the same people, just remembering different lives.

Kamijou doesn't care if he can't get his original timeline back. He needs to make sure that the people who love him are safe. And that's what he's going to do.

"...Edogawa-san, keep me posted on what's happening with every Tokiwadai student," Kamijou said.

"Will do," Conan spoke grimly from the comms.

Kamijou glanced at Kyon and Lelouch. Kyon waved her hand a little and said. "Go, we'll investigate on our end while you handle one of your ex-girlfriends."

Kamijou twitched with a smile at the humor, grateful for the levity. He nodded before walking forward, following Mitsuari's tail.

...Kamijou followed Mitsuari somewhere outside Tokiwadai. He got a little worried. Why would she leave Tokiwadai right now at lunch hour? He kept his distance as he walked through the old sidewalk of School Garden, which was full of Western architecture, and yet Kamijou felt like he was seeing artificial plastic instead of concrete history.

Kamijou remembered travelling through real eras where these Western architectures did have meaning, it did have purpose, and it was made out of a culture that was paid with the price of martyrs and saints. The real heroes. The ones who never had powers, who never needed powers, and yet their sacrifice was never in vain, for out of it came these architectures and other forms of wisdom that would not be possible.

Despite being back, Kamijou could just feel the artificiality of his old home. It felt too fake. Like it was always part of a script, with the will being the center. But will is fickle. No free will is the same. That's the collapse of the uniformity of the will. Once you set free will up as the standard, then it's a free for all where the weakest will get trampled like garbage.

That's Academy City, and the rest of his planet in a nutshell. Such misfortune indeed, for everyone else that isn't Touma Kamijou.

"...Hey, managed to break into Judgment 003 Branch's office," says Kyon from the mental comms. "Found a... photo of you, Kamijou-san. You looked like you were gonna die of embarrassment, being with all of those female Judgment officers near you. Shirai-san's there too. They all look happy."

Kamijou twitched in a grimace.

"Lunch hour is almost over," says Lelouch from the mental comms. "Let's get what we can and get out. Passing ourselves as Tokiwadai students won't last long, not with us just literally not being in any class."

And while the two gathered for any evidence on their end to bridge the gap of information between the old timeline records and this new timeline, there was Conan who spoke grimly from the mental comms.

"I've analyzed the worldline coordinates," says Conan. "Coordinates are the same as the old timeline records: 1.72004%. This confirms Georgius' insight further. This, truthfully, is Kamijou-san's original timeline. And yet... that original timeline has somehow changed completely. Like someone had edited all of the attractor fields from the inside out without being part of any of them."

"Then the only suspects we have left are the ones who never come from Kamijou-san's universe and from a completely different metaphysics," says Souta from the mental comms, with a concerned tone.

"Well, the BEDs are out obviously," says Kyon with a deadpan on the mental comms. "They're not the type to just randomly do this on the fly. They're the subtle predators who take advantage of what's already leaking from the sewers and the canals after the invasion."

"What about that assassin, though? Is he connected to whoever did this?" Souta asked from the mental comms.

"Possibly, but it's all just conjecture at this point," says Conan from the mental comms. "What we should worry about, really, is how the assassin who killed Kamijou-san even worked. That guy was far too fast. He could just appear randomly and shoot us in the back without expecting it, and leave no trace. Perfect, efficient, none of the sadism."

Kamijou kept walking further and saw Mitsuari entering a restaurant. The familiar Josephs brand. He recalled Misaka usually heading over to this place. Maybe he would run into her somehow? Doubtful.

He entered and took a seat nearby. He sees Mitsuari ordering from the counter. Typical order. Hamburger and French fries. Listening to her voice a little with the help of his comm device, he couldn't help but smile sadly, with his thoughts hidden. The rest of the moments that passed were simply Kamijou watching Mitsuari eat in peace. But...

"...Bhm..."

Kamijou noticed, his heart dropped as he looked at the tears finally leaking while she was eating. She'd been holding all of those in since Tokiwadai, no doubt. One of his hands was on the table, clenched. What hasn't changed, and what has changed? How did Mitsuari suffer this time, besides his death here? Is it the same old script, just with a few additions? He didn't know. He wanted to head over there, but he restrained himself. What good would that do? Show the face of a dead man, and Mitsuari would just be even more suspicious and lethal.

...He didn't know what to do.

Thus, he quietly took something from his pocket. A wallet, which, on the side, held a photo of some kind. It was the image of a holy friar from the 20th century. Italian. With that good old Italian sense of humor. Quite strict when he needed to be with that intimidating gaze to bring the stubborn out of their funk. Yet quite compassionate when someone really needed it. His hands were covered with those familiar brown fingerless gloves, which had subtle bleeding on the center palms.

Nobody in Kamijou's world probably knows who this was, because this man doesn't exist here. His name was Francesco Forgione. Kamijou often calls him the Old Padre. He was at the center, along with Kamijou, Conan, Kyon, Souta, Lelouch, and George. It was the only comfort he had here. Because he learned a long time ago. Even his own opinions of what was and what could be are just chains. Chains are illusions. And he needed a clear head to really set everything into action.

Quietly, as Kamijou brought his wallet back to his pocket, he noticed at least two Anti-Skill officers, with their familiar S.W.A.T. uniforms and blue armbands on their shoulders, suddenly appearing on the door, looking armed. He narrowed his eyes a little.

Anti-Skill.

He kinda wondered what had become of this organization in the new timeline. When it comes to Academy City, it's unfortunately a little wiser to not trust law enforcement. He's not talking in general, he's talking about specific individuals within the organization that could very well have ill intentions. He did recalled that last conversation he had with Accelerator once upon a time.

"...I just remembered fucking up a bunch of corrupt cops within Anti-Skill. Called themselves Disciplinary Action. DA for short," says Accelerator, that one time when he, Hamazura, and Kamijou were talking to each other in the past.

From what Kamijou remembers, Disciplinary Action (DA) is a rogue group within Anti-Skill that's... kinda obsessed, in a not-so-healthy way, of trying to bring justice to Academy City to the point of extremism and zealotry. That's just one group. Kamijou knew there were plenty of others who used Anti-Skill to disguise themselves and their illegal operations. Hiding in plain sight was the definitive expertise of the dark side.

So which one was he dealing with here, which he hopefully wasn't?

"Mitsuari Ayu?" says one police officer with the helmet, which made Mitsurari flinch in her tears while she had already dropped her hamburger on the plate.

...Damn it. Such misfortune. Kamijou thought grimly, resisting the urge to facepalm. So much for needing to keep his identity a secret from Mitsuari for a little longer until he comes up with a plan to tell her. He's gonna have to go over there. If there's even the slightest chance these men aren't really Anti-Skill, he'd needed to ask fast, while not permanently killing them. That never actually changed.

But now, he has a real reason why he couldn't just kill. Killing is the Way of Cain. And the Way of Cain makes more daimons.

And so, he started to stand up.

Song Begins: Zero Kara no Gyakushū - Atsushi Abe (Kamijou Touma's Character Song)

"We need you to come with us for questioning," says the other police officer, producing a holographic pad, detailing an arrest warrant.

"W...Wait, what did I-" Mitsuari tried to talk, before her left arm was forced and dragged by the officer.

"Don't try to resist, we-KAAAHHHHHHHHH!" one officer felt himself shot in the leg, as he fell to the floor.

Everyone in the crowd was shocked as some of the people screamed at the commotion.

It was Kamijou, who suddenly got the gun from the holster of the other police officer. By the time said police officer realized it, Kamijou knocked him out an elbow punch, sending his face dizzy to the floor, rendering him unconscious.

"Kaahhhhh...You bas-Ügh!" by the time the first officer spoke and noticed Kamijou, the latter already got the other officer's rifle, and rifle butts his face, knocking him over.

Mitsuari looked shocked, as she saw this random spiky black-haired woman wearing a Tokiwadai uniform just took out two Anti-Skill personnel too fast that she never even saw the woman coming.

Kamijou looked at the shocked Mitsuari, as he first dropped the rifle carefully towards somewhere where no one could pick it up accidentally while keeping the Glock sidearm. After taking the mags for the Glock from both unconscious officers, he moved forward and gently took her hand a little, whispering. "Come with me if you wanna live."

Then, Mitsuari was gently lifted up as her legs were already moving on their own while Kamijou led her to the back of the restaurant. The moment those words came out of this woman's mouth, she couldn't help but mutter, as she saw an afterimage in her mind, as if it blended. "...Kamijou...san..."

POV: Ayu Mitsuari

...Her name was Ayu Mitsuari. And she has no idea what was happening.

Her hand, held by a woman she never knew, and was yet reminded of the one man who had failed to save her. But that one man had died. Touma Kamijou. Last month ago. Gunned down in broad daylight by an unnamed assassin. No face. No identity. No nothing. There was no record of the assassin. He was too fast. Nobody saw it coming.

She was one of the first to find out. Rumor spreads fast around the dark side of the city, long before the first news catches up. She remembered being at first in disbelief. Then, shock. Then, horror. Then, breaking down.

She remembered screaming. She barely remembered what she was thinking at that time. She felt like she no longer cared. She no longer had a concrete reason anymore to hate Misaki Shokuhou for taking everything from her the moment Touma Kamijou died. The moment he died broke her like nothing else. It caused her to completely abandon all of her plans. What was the point? The boy whom she hoped would save her was already gone, and she didn't even know why.

She had tried to find out why. Who did it? What dark side faction did it? Ayu Mitsuari wasn't going to stop until she burned them all to the ground. She had put her revenge against Misaki Shokuhou on the farthest corner of her mind, because she could honestly care less about that bitch. Someone hurt Kamijou... Someone killed him... Whoever that person was is going to die for what they did to him, and they had the audacity to do that in broad daylight, when the dark side doesn't come out in the open.

Now...?

Now she was being held in the hand by this strange woman she had never met before. They ran, across alleyways within School Garden, before they eventually hid inside a manhole that led to Academy City's sewers. Mitsuari was first, while this strange woman came last, before the latter closed the hole.

Song Ends:

The strange woman sighed heavily as she glanced towards the closed manhole. Quietly, he sat down and leaned on the wall, where he dropped the gun to the floor, keeping the safety on. Her eyes were closed, while breathing heavily. There was no dialogue coming out of her. No quips. No one-liners. No anything. The woman was just too quiet.

Mitsuari clenched her fists a little. A moment passed. Another moment passed. Then another. Then another. Why was this woman not saying anything, and look at her?

The woman wasn't getting up any time soon. Her face was lowered, her eyes were closed. Yet Mitsuari knew that she couldn't underestimate this. Quietly, she took her hand to her bag, drawing out a smartphone camera, one of the two ways she could use her ability, Mental Stinger. Even with this, the woman was still not talking. Was she even noticing her?

The woman now opened her eyes at last. But her eyes weren't even bothered at seeing Mitsuari now holding her smartphone with a grimaced, suspicious expression.

"Don't... move..." she muttered softly. Her eyes were glaring coldly at the woman. Her movement was cautious around the latter, as the former was stepping back a little, then stopped, while still holding her smartphone. "...While I appreciate what you did for me back there," she spoke, with a measured tone. "I have to ask, who are you, and what do you want?"

The woman didn't answer. Her eyes didn't even look hostile. They looked sadder even. Yet her thoughts were unknown. One moment. Another moment. More moments. Mtsuari gripped her smartphone. Why the hell is this woman not even talking? Doesn't she already know who she is? With her Mental Stinger, she could force this woman to talk, so why is she not even reacting and just sitting there?

"Why aren't you even talking?!" she complained, as she couldn't help herself.

The woman didn't answer. Until...

"...If you want to look into my mind, I won't stop you," says the woman grimly, yet sadly. "But... I don't think you'd like what you'd find. But again, I won't stop you," says the woman.

Mitsuari twitched her lips. "...If this is your idea of wanting me to trust you-"

"No," the woman denied immediately, shaking her head. "I cannot demand your trust. If I did... I'd be no better than anybody else in this city. Demanding trust is the same as stealing what you have. I can't do that. Not even if you hold me at mind point."

Mitsuari couldn't respond. She looked annoyed. "You don't demand my trust, but you still got me out of Anti-Skill's custody?"

"Assuming... that is Anti-Skill?" the woman pointed out gently.

Mitsuari narrowed her eyes, but she didn't comment. Of course, she'd know the ones who were about to arrest her weren't the squeaky-clean officers of the law.

"Why exactly were they after you?" the woman asked grimly.

"...I don't see how any of that is your business," says Mitsuari, taking options into account within her mind.

"It is, if I'm going to help you against whatever's after you," says the mysterious woman.

"Help me? To what end?" asks Mitsuari, suspicious.

"...MERCY, that is all," says the woman.

That... made Mitsuari blink. She did not expect that as an answer.

"...Mercy? For yourself or for others?" Mitsuari tested, as she didn't know what this woman was referring to.

"...MERCY...as THREE PERSONS with ONE WILL," says the woman, smiling contritely and wryly. "Though you probably don't even know that kind of concept. Nobody in this city would really."

Mitsuari was annoyed even further. What the hell was this woman talking about? More importantly, why is she even feeling like she could trust this mysterious woman? She didn't even know her. And yet... she couldn't help but be reminded of Kamijou for some reason. No, Kamijou is dead, he died, get rid of this, Mitsuari Ayu. And yet, she couldn't even remove the memory of that boy.

She shook her head mentally. Focus. This wasn't the time. She needed to assess. First of all, this mysterious woman was far too vague in her intentions. She couldn't even find a single matchable pattern. Her arms were crossed before glancing to the corner.

"...I'm sure you've been aware of the news by now," says Mitsuari, making the woman pay attention. "...A boy named Kamijou Touma died," she said, before she could notice a little tiny wince from the woman. Odd. Why did this woman wince when she said that? She took note of the reaction. "You could say I've been doing some investigations here and there since then. Tracking whoever killed that boy."

The woman remained silent. Mitsuari noticed further. The woman never asked if this Kamijou person was important to her. That's stranger, because normally when you bring someone up, they'd spill a little of themselves, one that Mitsuari could use to her advantage. But the woman wasn't even giving her that luxury, and it was annoying her.

"In the past month, I found nothing on the assassin who killed him. Not a trace. Not an identity. Not a word from any organization I'm familiar with. It was always a dead end," says Mitsuari. But still, no response from the woman, who didn't even ask if the latter had any kind of help in her investigation.

She was annoyed further, before she blew off steam. "Alright, that's it! Why the hell are you even silent?! Aren't you supposed to be asking more questions about me right now?!"

The woman blinked a little. "...Well, you are already explaining yourself, so I just thought to listen to your story."

"You..." Mitsuari looked at this woman in disbelief. Is this woman just an airheaded idiot, or is she just smarter than she looks?! She quietly pinches her eyes a little. "You're not gonna ask me if I had this or that connection?! You're not gonna ask me about what kind of work I've been doing specifically?! You're not gonna ask me all of that?!"

"I mean..." says the woman, contritely. "Some things are just too obvious that asking those kinds of questions feels unnecessary right now."

...Who the hell is this woman? Mitsuari grew irritated as she groaned. This felt very familiar. The familiar kind of annoying that could only come from... no, damn it, Mitsuari, stop thinking about Kamijou.

"...Hmm?" And the woman narrowed her eyes, extreme caution had settled in.

Mitsuari noticed. She looked at where the woman was looking and found... something that disturbed her.

A young woman's body, half torn and bloody, was floating through the canal before it stopped with a thud towards the side. She had long black hair, a grey school uniform, and a beautiful face whose expression had wide eyes like she saw terror before her last.

Quietly, the mysterious woman who saved Mitsuari took the Glock with her as she moved forward and immediately positioned herself to shield Mitsuari subtly.

"...Stay behind me," the woman muttered grimly.

Mitsuari noticed the tone. The woman wasn't surprised or terrorized by the gore. It was like she was used to it. No, that wasn't right. The way she spoke, it was steel, a vengeful subtle steel, but not the kind anyone was familiar with. She didn't know what to call that tone of voice.

"...Georgius," says the woman respectfully towards someone. "I'll let you take care of Ay... I mean, Mitsuari-san," she corrected herself, which Mitsuari noticed. Mitsuari noticed her first name about to be named, but this woman stopped herself. Odd. "...While I investigate the body." the mysterious woman said.

"Georgius?" Mitsuari frowned before she glanced and froze.

Someone else was here, walking. Black hair. Golden-brown eyes that were gentler yet piercing. Handsome yet solemn and grim. Doesn't say a word. He wore a simple dark blue jacket with white lines on his shoulders, grey trousers, and white lines on the sides of his legs.

How... How long has this person been here? Mitsuari was concerned. She never even noticed him.

And with this Georgius here, who quietly stood guard yet respectful of distance, it now allowed the mysterious woman to slowly head towards the body.

Mitsuari observed that this disguised woman stepped forward and took something from her pocket, glasses of sorts, and put them on her eyes. Why? Is it some kind of strange habit or is it some kind of device? She sees this mysterious woman, now next to the body, crouching and examining it silently. Neither this woman nor Georgius was talking.

After a moment, the mysterious woman responded grimly. "...This isn't normal." She pointed at the torn half body's injury. "Something deliberately tore her in half. Her intestines and other organs are splattered, yet they clearly have bite marks on them, as if they came from an alligator's teeth."

The mysterious woman then brought up something ominous. "...I don't think these sewers have been this safe in a while."

Mitsuari twitched. Something told her that this woman wasn't talking about the dark side of the city. The dark side had used the sewers for a long time for multiple reasons. Hence, there were a couple of underground bases that had been used for esper programs that wouldn't make it past public PR due to maintaining the reputation of the city.

So what made this different?

Mitsuari looked at the body. It looked like the dead woman had been chomped on. This could just simply be yet another dark side operation, even if gruesome. But why did the atmosphere feel so heavy with these two? This mysterious woman and this Georgius? Who even are these people?

The mysterious woman glanced at Mitsuari and asked with concern. "...I don't think I could ignore this. I need to find out what did this."

Mitsuari raised an eyebrow. "O...Oh? So what does that have anything to do with me?"

But instead of the mysterious woman asking Mitsuari information, she simply suggested. "I'd think you should go with Georgius, my friend over there, I mean," she said, pointing to the silent Georgius who didn't speak, yet was calm and serious.

"And why should I do that?" Mitsuari asked, testing a little.

"I don't want you to be anywhere near here, if whatever did this..." the mysterious woman gently pointed at the dead body. "...is still out there. I don't care where you go either way, just keep your head down, and don't go into any of the sewers."

"...So what? You're not forcing me to come with you and whoever you work for, and just leave me be?" Mitsuari asked, uncertain.

"I'm more worried about you. You've got corrupt Anti-Skill gunning for you, and now there's this dead body flowing in the sewers. If I don't find out who is responsible for this dead body, they're bound to do it again, and again, and again. More people will die if I don't do something about this," says the mysterious woman.

Mitsuari couldn't help but be surprised. And her heart twitched. Why...? Why was she being reminded too much of Kamijou? She doesn't get it. Why was this woman getting under her skin?

"...Hmph," Mitsuari, sporting an annoyed look, would glance to the side. "When you say it like that, I suppose I don't have a choice. However..." she looked at this mysterious woman. "I'm not staying somewhere and hiding like some good little princess; you're going to have to deal with me for company."

Mitsuari was testing. Testing just a little bit. Would she be given the usual, it's too dangerous, excuse?

But the mysterious woman just glanced at the silent Georgius, who nodded solemnly in trust. The mysterious woman turned back to Mitsuari. "...Alright, you can come."

Mitsuari blinked. Hold on... that... "...You're...just letting me do what I want?"

The mysterious woman spoke grimly. "...To phrase once again, I won't coerce you into anything. You have a will to choose, and I respect your decision. That is all. The only thing I'm really asking... is you to be safe. That's all there is."

Mitsuari looked at this mysterious woman in disbelief. No... Not... Not even Kamijou would... Not even he would just accept the company in dangerous scenarios that easily. That... That proves it, doesn't it? Kamijou's dead. Whatever she was imagining was her imagination.

...But.

"...Phm. Hmm. Ahhmmmm..."

Mitsuari broke down quietly, her hands were already covering her face as she knelt like a broken doll.

Why...? Why did you have to die, Kamijou-kun...? Why...?

And the mysterious woman in front of her grimaced a little, while the silent Georgius maintained a respectful distance from the grieving woman.

PART 3

POV: Ayu Mitsuari

...She didn't know how long she cried. She still felt dead inside, even after she let loose every tear. That was the problem she had always faced since Kamijou's death. It had only been one month. But it felt like years. Now, she was reduced to holding the left arm of some mysterious woman who keeps reminding her of Kamijou, and yet... didn't even act like the Kamijou she'd remember.

This Georgius person was quietly behind them, yet he didn't speak, but kept watch over them both.

She hated this silence already. Neither the mysterious woman nor this Georgius was even talking to her. They just kept moving through the sewers. At least say something. Anything. Maybe she was just being irrational, and perhaps she was. After all, they were literally walking into the territory of a potential serial killer stalking the sewers. Not like serial killers are a shocker in Academy City. There are plenty of low-lives who have taken up shop underneath the city's underbelly, from criminal organizations, to terrorist groups, to scientism nut-job cults, to bitter Level 0s, and more. Never let it be said that Academy City's dark side doesn't have diversity.

She quietly remembered, right before this, that this mysterious woman and Georgius had placed the dead body they found somewhere in an alleyway for the proper authorities to find. Actual proper authorities. Their anonymous other contacts, the mysterious woman explained, made sure of that. As for how they managed to bring the body over, they got strange gloves that they wore to prevent their finger marks from being found, as well as some kind of stealth teleportation device that conjured up portals that could get them in and out of every location. How did they get all of this technology, she has no idea. She was, however, genuinely curious about that mysterious teleportation portal device, because she'd never once seen anything like that before, not even in her deepest submersion within the dark side.

This was getting stranger and stranger every moment she spent time with these two.

"Her name was Rikka Hasashi, a student of Nagato High School, a Level 2 esper. Apparently, she'd been declared missing just recently, about two days ago, that meant this was a fresh kill, and possibly there could be other potential victims if we don't put a stop to it," says the mysterious woman who explained what she uncovered.

"I suppose you got that from your glasses then," Mitsuari suspected as much, as she had pegged an earlier guess on whether this was a habit or a device.

"Yeah," says the mysterious woman with a nod. "It helps me with a lot of things. And before you ask, no, I didn't use this to get info out of you. I got my info from you from... personal experience."

"That's rather vague," Mitsuari narrowed her eyes. "What kind of personal experience?"

"...I don't know how to explain that, to be honest," says the mysterious woman, with a grim, sad tone.

Thus, here they were, walking through the canals, hunting the mysterious serial killer that had caused the incident. All the while, the silence itself was infuriating, in more ways than one.

Then...

She noticed that they stopped walking. She looked and saw the scratch marks within the wall, which had a few bloody entrails on it. The mysterious woman quietly held the gun with both hands with precision, as if she had done this before.

"...I'll take point," the mysterious woman whispered.

POV: Touma Kamijou

"...I'll take point," says Kamijou as he quietly takes point, holding the gun in his hand.

It kind of felt familiar, like he was back in the War, but he never really left it.

If people that he knew in this world saw him this way, they may object to the fact that Touma Kamijou isn't the type to wield weapons. In a sense, that's true, in the case of killing. But the Kamijou of back then didn't really know just what the actual consequences of killing were. In every mockery of a no-kill rule, there was always that whisper, and even the very concept of fate seemed to keep pushing it. Kill this one. Why take a chance? Why not end one to save the many?

But the problem is...

In a sense, it didn't matter. It didn't matter if you directly choose to kill someone or not. Because the moment someone tries to choose the better option, it's like something sinister just gently pushes things a little, then the dominoes are set in, and it makes the no-kill rule irrelevant to practicality. But that was the horror. People think preservation through the act of killing someone is normal. Everything about death had been normalized, like it was a status quo upheld without flaw. Every argument has a flaw, and a majority seem to be pointing to a reality; the horror itself settles within the mundane.

Kamijou walked through the sewer's waters, but every splash made him feel the cold, remember the cold, like every page of his life, where all sides criticize every choice.

What was his point here?

That the choice to kill or not was a machine of fate built by false gods.

You could give reasons why you refuse to kill, or why you choose to kill. All of that... is still part of that very machine that served as the foundation for the Way of Cain, to craft more abominations that didn't need to manifest, just whisper, and let free will do the rest. An endless series of cycles where nothing seems to matter, because that was the illusion of advocating a free will that held no anchor. Without Love, even the good actions of others, without knowing it, become an illusion.

"...Grrr."

Kamijou stopped moving. So did everyone else. As they heard an echoing sound coming from the left corner.

POV: Ayu Mitsuari

Mitsuari stopped moving as she heard the same sound.

"...Grrr."

The way it echoed was heard around the left corner. It didn't sound human. She glanced at Georgius as he quietly stepped a little forward, intentionally forming a perimeter around Mitsuari, as if sensing danger.

The mysterious woman, who held the Glock pistol high, quietly took cover across the nearby wall after making sure not to make a sound with the water. Mitsuari and Georgius followed closer, as all three glanced to where the sound pointed.

There was nothing. But they did see the bodies of two scientists who were literally devoured. Mitsuari covered her mouth a little, feeling a little sick. Their bodies were completely mutilated. One was spiked towards the wall, and the other had his entire entrails scattered throughout the floor. It was like something made a snack out of them.

The entrance led to somewhere. The doors were completely dislocated, like something had barged in. It led to a laboratory of some kind.

What did this?

The mysterious woman glanced back at Mitsuari, speaking grimly. "...Just a heads up." It made Mitsuari pay close attention. "If things get bad, my friend Georgius would take you as far away from here as possible, towards a safer location where our other friends are waiting. If my suspicions are right, we're not dealing with humans anymore."

...Not dealing with humans. What the hell was that supposed to mean here?

"...If this is some kind of attempt to dissuade me, you're going to have to give a much better argument than that," says Mitsuari, coldly and swiftly.

The response that she got from the mysterious woman was neither offense nor defense. Not even a sigh. The mysterious woman looked at her with a sad smile.

"...I'd think both of us could agree that arguing solves absolutely nothing, not for us, and especially not for Academy City," says the mysterious woman, who quietly walked forward and lifted himself up to the surface floor.

It left Mitsuari speechless... and irritated further, grinding her teeth, clenching her smartphone. She glanced towards Georgius, who was looking at her, yet no comment.

"...What about you then? You've got something to say?" asks Mitsuari with a quiet yet silent venom.

Georgius simply shook his head and didn't respond.

...Mitsuari bites her lip as she looks at the mysterious woman who seems to be heading towards the bloody jaws of hell itself with no fear. Just like Kamijou... but nothing like Kamijou.

Quietly, she stepped forward. As they kept walking through the laboratory hallways, Mitsuari would eventually stumble into a dead body, whose head had been decapitated without mercy. Or rather, devoured. There were dead bodies of scientists everywhere. From what she noticed, the common pattern was how they died. They were chomped, like some animal had lunged on them with ferocity that their entrails were scattered across the floor.

Mitsuari felt sick. If she hadn't been embedded deep into the dark side's underbelly, she would have already puked by now. The stench was even worse. What got her curious, though, was this laboratory. What was this place? It was an underground laboratory, just one of many within the city. What were they performing in this lab? Since it's an underground laboratory, the possibility was most likely that it's an illegal site for potential experiments to commence. Was it related to esper powers? Or was it the latest technology that had been saved for the betterment of Academy City's Armed Forces in the event when an act of war commencing?

It didn't matter. It was always paid in some kind of blood, innocent or guilty.

That's why she hardly felt sorry for these dead scientists. They were all the same.

But there was one scientist who had been an exception. It was... a long time ago, for her. But she couldn't save that scientist then. It was back when she used to be part of something called Ideal. Her childhood dream... to become a Level 5. To think back then she was quite too gullible and naive. Everything about the system was rigged. It's the ones on top who would choose who the Level 5s are. There are over seven Level 5s in Academy City, one of which of course includes that bitch, Misaki Shokuhou.

And speaking of her, Mitsuari didn't even make a move to interact with the latter for the past month. Mainly because, while she hates Shokuhou, she wasn't stupid. Trying to engage a Level 5 when in grief is tantamount to suicide. Not to mention, it would prove detrimental to her revenge plan against the ones who killed Kamijou.

For the past month, instead, she asked a familiar acquaintance. A certain beauty senpai by the name of Seria Kumokawa, who was just as affected by Kamijou's death as the rest. Just like back then, they worked together. Two brains for the price of one. They swift through every single corner of the city, trying to find any lead, any info, any data, but they found absolutely nothing.

It had only been about a month. But every day turns bitter like years have passed.

Just as she was bitter right now, as she glanced coldly at all of the dead scientists.

They quietly entered the security room. No one was here. The mysterious woman quietly heads towards the security feed, presses her hands on the keyboard and tried to observe what the camera had caught within the facility. Mitsuari looked as well, with Georgius silently observing.

The mysterious woman hit the rewind, then played a little faster for everyone to take notice. One moment. Blink. Dead bodies everywhere.

"What?" Mitsuari's eyes widened. Did her eyes deceive her? But no, as the mysterious woman further confirmed the record by pressing the rewind then play, over and over. Around five times in a row, it was the same. One moment. Blink. Dead bodies everywhere.

"...Georgius, what do you think?" says the mysterious woman.

Georgius responded grimly. "...Something lurked from that blink. I could see its shape."

Mitsuari frowned. Shape? But Mitsuari didn't even see anything. Could it be that this Georgius was some kind of esper? If so, what kind of ability allowed him to see what she couldn't.

"Describe it to us, please?" asks the mysterious woman, respectfully.

"Quite tall, beastial in appearance, has an alligator tail with spikes, claws sharp as nails, a jaw quite long for decapitating a body, and it has sickly pale yellow eyes with black slits," explains Georgius.

The mysterious woman frowned grimly, her right hand almost gripping. "...Preternatural?" The specific word made Mitsuari take notice.

"...Yes," Georgius nodded grimly. "...We're unfortunately dealing with a Sobek."

Then, a quiet, frozen silence.

Mitsuari, however, was confused, as she looked back and forth between the mysterious woman and this Georgius.

"...I'm sorry, a Sobek?" she asked.

The mysterious woman glanced at her grimacingly and asked. "Has... Tokiwadai, as far as you remember, covered Egyptian mythology?"

"...Not that I'm familiar with, no, but they do often come up in world history classes," says Mitsuari, placing her hand to her waist. "Why?"

The mysterious woman and Georgius both looked at each other for a moment. Then the mysterious woman looked back at her. "Then, let's take a scenario. What does Academy City think of the possibility of non-human intelligent life from the scientific perspective?"

Mitsuari frowned at the strange question. "While there is no evidence, such a thought isn't paid much attention to in the scientific community within Academy City and is pretty much just a speculative afterthought. Of course," she shrugged as she placed her hand near her pocket. "It doesn't help its cause that it's become the subject of multiple filmographies, such that a subject is described as utter nonsense when one could focus on other agendas. That's not to say that branches like astronomy have become a thing of the past, otherwise, we wouldn't have satellites launched out into our orbits."

"In other words, aliens are seen as a joke," the mysterious woman spoke grimly.

"Precisely," Misuari spoke in a matter-of-fact tone. "So why this sudden question, and what does this have to do with your last question?"

The mysterious woman quietly breathes a little sigh, closing her eyes, before speaking grimly. "...That's because a Sobek is a non-human, that's why."

Mitsuari blinked a little. But before she could respond, the mysterious woman explained further. "Before you say anything, just know something. Forget everything you think you know about non-humans. None of that can be trusted. You can verify that by personal experience after living in Academy City for so long, so you would know I'm not lying in that regard."

Mitsuari twitched. This woman had a point. She glanced at Georgius, who never even spoke and just listened.

"So... when I said, forget everything, let's start with getting rid of every baggage that television ever soiled when it comes to non-human intelligences, or what I should call NHIs. It's an umbrella category, relating to a countless variety of beings that cannot be exhausted or concisely put in a table of contents, because there are just that many, and that's just one category.

And as for the Sobek... this one's old, very old, very dangerous. Has a cannibalistic streak for flesh. As... well, you could see from the hallways," says the mysterious woman.

Mitsuari was twitching further. NHIs? Sobek? Like, what nonsense was she even listening to?

"And before you say anything again, I'm not here to convince you to believe me; I'm asking you instead to discern what I'm saying. I can't explain everything here like I'm just a dumpster for info, because we're still in enemy territory, and this Sobek could still be here," says the mysterious woman, as she glanced at the camera feeds, but no sighting.

Mitsuari crossed her arms. As she frowned, she spoke carefully. "...Alright, say I indulge this ridiculous farce, is there anything this Sobek wanted besides munching a few dirty scientists?"

The woman was quiet before glancing seriously at Mitsuari. Mitsuari flinched because she saw a kind of grim, haunted gaze underneath this mysterious woman. The way she looked, it was like this mysterious woman really believed what she was saying. No, not believed. Experienced. She glanced at Georgius, and it was a similar look, tempered yet there.

"...Well, define want..." says darkly the mysterious woman. "...This thing, along with countless of its kind, used to be worshipped as gods. But they're false gods, predators who prey and munch on their own followers. These, and a variety of others like them, hid behind the Egyptian pantheon, like leeches carrying the symbols, with darker shades of meaning behind the names. Sobek, in Egyptian mythology, is quite aggressive and vicious. What that mythology never knew was that Sobek, as a name, referred to a broad category."

"Broad?" asks Mitsuari, raising her eyebrows.

"...Every mythological god's name has multiple layers of meaning. It didn't just mean one. It's the same way that humans can have the same name but be different people entirely. The gods are the same. Some good. Some... not so good. The latter is what this type of Sobek is. A predator who should not even be here, or exist here, mainly because it's incompatible with our world's rules."

"Rules?" Mitsuari asked.

"Metaphysics," says Georgius, answering at last. "If physics is the study of physical reality, then metaphysics is the study of first principles of why the entire universe, creation itself, exists at all."

"Meta...physics?" Mitsuari frowned. "I've never heard of such a thing."

"You wouldn't..." says the mysterious woman, with a sad smile. "Because the people who founded it never existed here."

"What are you implying?" Mitsuari asked, before...

...She gasped. Her eyes widened in dilation as she noticed something lurking on one of the camera screens.

It was...

The very sight of that thing which passed by the camera made her tremble. It was recent. She saw what looked like a giant alligator with sharp-edged scales. Its large teeth were sharp as a bark that could cut a man in half, and it was bloody, having just recently chomped another scientist victim, whose body was being dragged by its large scaly hands.

The mysterious woman and Georgius saw it as well.

"...What...What was that thing?" Mitsuari muttered. Her thoughts felt incoherent. What was that thing? She... She felt frozen to death. Like she just encountered something far older than humanity. Even if it was an image on the camera, she could still feel its chilling presence.

The mysterious woman looked at Georgius.

Georgius spoke grimly. "You can stay here with Mitsuari-san. I'll trust whatever judgments you'll deem fit from here on out."

The mysterious woman nodded in gratitude.

Georgius quietly walked out the door and headed outside, closing the door behind him. Mitsuari blinked a little, and looked back at the mysterious woman and asked, asking with an unsure tone. "...What...Is he seriously going to go over there and fight that thing?"

The mysterious woman had a contrite tone and said. "Georgius has dealt with this before, don't worry. But..." she sighed heavily, before saying. "I think it's time you should know who I really am."

Mitsuari couldn't help but latch onto that voice. Anything. Anything to get back to normalcy. Just... she'd rather not have to think about that thing that she saw on camera.

"...So I take it this isn't what you really look like, then?" She tried to narrow her eyes, but it was clear her composure was shattered upon seeing the footage of that monster.

"...Basically," the woman answered. "So, the only thing I'd request was... well, don't run away."

Mitsuari simply crossed her arms and let the woman show what needed to be shown.

The mysterious woman quietly took off her glasses, putting them in her pocket, and then she quietly...

...Tore her digitally enhanced mask off, and... out came a face.

Mitsuari slowly widened her eyes as she saw... someone impossible. That face. The hair wasn't spiky, but natural, yet... There was no doubt about it. No, it couldn't be! Not a woman. A young man who was too painfully familiar. His clothing had a black aesthetic with white lines, along with a brown jacket hoodie. His shoes were red and white, with a check symbol on the sides.

She slowly shook her head. Her tears were already leaking through her eyes. The dread of the creature she could not explain was suddenly forgotten as it was replaced with a grief that had thrice come back.

"...No. No. No. No. No. No. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. You can't be him! You can't be! I SAW YOU DIE!" Her voice was already reduced to shouting.

Yet the man in front of her... who looked like Touma Kamijou himself, the young man who died such a pathetic death, simply stood there, and lowered his head, with no explanation coming out from his mouth. His familiar black eyes were already lowered, as if he already expected not to be believed, but he showed himself anyway.

Mitsuari gritted her teeth. Her fists were clenched. She couldn't help but march towards the man and...

WHACK!

She slapped the man in the face, somewhere on his left cheek. The man simply stood there, taking the hit, never explaining himself.

"Why?! WHY, DAMN YOU?! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STILL HERE?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU PUT ME THROUGH?! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I'VE SEEN YOU DIE IN THE DAMN FOOTAGE?! I TESTED IT OVER AND OVER! YOU WERE CLEARLY DEAD! SO WHY?!"

But her voice cracked under the pressure. Every pain that gnawed within her had released violently as she grabbed onto his collar, but he did not resist. He simply looked at her, without hesitation. Those eyes. Those damn, familiar eyes. No wonder. No wonder she felt something familiar.

"...Why...Why did you...make us all think you were dead...damn you..." she muttered, crying as she leaned her head on his chest and hugged him tightly. She didn't want to let go. She didn't want this to be yet another illusion.

Kamijou was silent, as he quietly held her without explaining himself. One moment passed. Another moment passed. Then another. Till finally, Mitsuari was crying further than she should have been. She cursed him over and over, yet... her bitter heart couldn't take it. Something she hadn't felt a long time resurfaced. Joy. Something that she never thought she'd feel again. Not after how cruel the world had been with her. Not after everything was gone, including him.

But here he was. Standing right here. Alive. But how?!

She cried, as she hugged this boy for dear life. And the boy still hugged her back.

OP Song: METAL GEAR SOLID Δ SNAKE EATER OPENING MOVIE Δ Version(clean ver.) - Konami

Trivia For Chapter:

(*1) - A reference to the manga and anime, City Hunter.

(*2) - A reference to the franchise, Blade Runner.