Chapter Text
Hamazura Shiage liked to believe he was a normal man. Well, normal as a level 0 could afford to be in Academy City anyway. The chaos brought by the Skill-Out failed uprising, his days as a lackey in ITEM, going to Russia with Takitsubo to escape the clutches of an angry Mugino. Everything contributed in debunking that belief.
Much like the other level 0 he had the innate talent to survive and always come back at the worst time possible for any villain.
So what’s with this lost child?!
And all these people at Boss’ house?
“Hamazura! Come on! I won’t bite, yet.” Of course Mugino would be here. Why wouldn’t she? “Good, good. Birdway-san, Hamazura is here, nya.”
“Thank you, Tsuchimikado. Did you take care of everything else?” Tsuchimikado nodded, and then led Shiage inside, where he found the other Level 5s – except the 6th, as he was more of a legend than an actual person – and the ‘Birdway’ person Tsuchimikado mentioned, along with four girls in school uniforms and two duplicates of the Railgun.
He didn’t expect them to be a girl who looked like a middle school student. “I suppose I should introduce myself. I am Leivinia Birdway, the leader of the Dawn-colored Sunlight magic cabal. I already know who you are, Hamazura-san, Fremea-chan.”
“Oh you do?! Because you could, you know, have helped me rescue her?”
“I sent Tsuchimikado to retrieve you. That alone was of help.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Anyway, I am here to shed some light on Accelerator and Kamijou Touma’s disappearance.” Shiage noticed that the three girls in the Tokiwadai Middle School uniforms tensed, while two had puffy eyes and the last one had a curious smile on her face. “But to do so I’m not alone. Are they here?”
“Yes, who do you think I am, nya? I had a dramatic entrance staged for them, courtesy of my sister.”
“Short-hair?”
“Silver sister!?”
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Touma’s day couldn’t have been better. No pestering from the perverts, Accelerator grabbing the girls’ attention as usual. The only thing that unnerved him was why the mindscape didn’t connect with back home.
He chuckled at the idea of Tsuchimikado struggling to contain Index’s gluttony. “Partner, this is because your emotional states aren’t in sync.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that for the mindscape to work, both you and Accelerator must have the wish to see the people back home. And besides, you can’t really access a sleeping mindscape if you don’t, you know, sleep.”
“Why should Accelerator pass a sleepless night? There are no problems he can’t take care of.”
“I am going to show you a recent memory of his that Albion shared with me. He plans to attack a nearby fallen angel base to rescue a nun. He didn’t tell you because the similarities between her and little Index are striking to say the least.”
As the memory played Touma tensed. It was like he and Index’s first meeting, and he knew he had to get involved. The day ended after the last period, and he made a detour to a nearby arcade to de-stress as Accelerator walked towards the old building.
I wonder what he has to say. Asking for help certainly is not in style, so he will probably chew her out for her incompetence. Then he saw her.
He had to rub his eyes because for a second he thought he’d seen Index. “You are Asia, aren’t you?”
“Umm..”
“Oh, my brother told me about you. He told me he helped you with the directions for the local church.”
“Oh, I remember! He was a bit grumpy, but kind nonetheless! My guardians let me explore the city to acquaint myself…” She averted her eyes at that and Touma, having seem her encounter with Accelerator, arrived to a conclusion.
She understood everything and was trying to escape. Such a busy place wasn’t, unfortunately, as good as it could have been, as fallen angels didn’t really care about normal humans being caught in the crossfire.
But he also knew she needed to enjoy some time as a normal girl. “Hey, let’s go there!” He pointed at a burger parlor with some claw machines. There was a sign, catch the prize and you win a free meal!, and he almost burst into laughter because of said prize, a frog plushie that looked impressively like a certain character BiriBiri was a huge fan of.
“Hey, Asia.”
“Yes?”
“You want one of those?”
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“You must like to get your ass handed to you, so fucking much.” Rias didn’t know what was scarier. The fact that Accelerator – she still had problems accepting it was his real name – was oddly calm, or that her Queen Akeno was struggling to hold a blush.
They were talking about a clandestine fallen angel hideout with a hostage, for Lucifer’s sake!
“Anyway, I’m here to announce I’m going to storm that base and take the brat.”
“Do you perhaps need – “
“You’d only hold me back. Someone who lost to the damn hero couldn’t help me in any way.” Seriously, what was their bond? Every moment she had more questions, but Sona had carefully advised her not to pry. “He saved the stray devil you were hunting. I personally don’t like freeloaders, so do something and find her a place to live, since he did your job and he avoided killing someone.”
“How could you – “
“I’m not asking. He did what you could not do. You already owe him one, and I suspect it’s the first one of a long, very long list. Now if you’ll excuse me.” Accelerator exited the room, and caught Akeno’s sentence from behind the door before facepalming.
“That was so hot.” I already miss Worst.
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The duo exited the arcade with Asia hugging a frog plushie of considerable size. She beamed and side hugged Touma. “Touma-san! I had a lot of fun today! I hope we can do it again soon!”
Touma smiled wryly. He knew what laid behind that happiness, the uncertainty of the future from somebody who saw no worth in herself. He knew that leaving her be like this would just be…wrong.
Part of her resembled Ayu, the girl who he miraculously rescued from suicide the year before. And because she felt so abandoned, he swore no one under his watch would’ve ever felt the same. He felt a full body shiver and he noticed that they arrived at a certain park.
A people clearing field? Like when I fought Acqua in District 22…
"Are you familiar with those? Keep your guard up, a fallen one wants Little Asia back."
Touma raised his right arm on instinct and a light spear shattered on contact, starting to fill the Boosted Gear with the absorbed energy.
“Sekiryuutei!? How!”
“Let’s get going, Asia! To my house!” Notwithstanding Asia’s gasp of surprise, nor Raynare’s shock, Touma grabbed the nun and bolted, the plushie away from her grip. A light spear decapitated it shortly after.
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“Magic? As if we would believe something so ludicrous! Why can’t you go back playing with your dolls, you fucking brat?” Mugino wasn’t thrilled at the idea of magic existing, but one does not simply lash out at Leivinia Birdway like that.
Her Dark Side instincts told her to dodge as a hole was carved on the wall behind her, behind where her head was. Had it connected, it would have cleaved her head off. The ‘fucking brat’ grinned, wand still in hand. “Level 5 or not, remember who you are talking to…next time I won’t be so accommodating. Where was I… ah, yes. Magic God Othinus. Or Odin, if we stick to myths. At any rate, if we so desperately wanted to find the overarching antagonist to what happened, we would have to look at her.”
“So with Fiamma of the Right…”
“Her actions resound with the Imagine Breaker boy, just like Fiamma’s. She needs him. Although, we unexpectedly failed to rescue him. We were so sure, but something went wrong. The concentrated Telesma released when Archangel Gabriel was destroyed triggered a dimensional spell within the range of the Star of Bethlehem. Imagine Breaker can’t negate twice at once. Accelerator was also affected. Incidentally, the two assets we needed the most…”
“Misaka is deeply offended by how you described the savior and Accelerator, Misaka Misaka says while pointing her finger at you!” The child says, being ignored by Leivinia. The older clone just snickered.
“Just an asset? Was he just an asset to you!? Kamijou-san…my prince was an asset? A tool to be used and discarded afterwards?” Misaki couldn’t take it, it was so similar to how others perceived her clique, so close to home to why she never peeked in his mind. The need for a genuine relationship with him was so strong that she was disgusted at the idea of someone considering him a tool. “Don’t make me laugh, girl. Mental espers are the last ones who should be talking about tools. I am the leader of a cabal that seeks unity between magic and science, so the Imagine Breaker boy was the lynchpin to everything.”
“I doubt that you’re briefing us on the existence of magic just because. Do we need to do something for you? No, scratch that. What do we need to for you?” Seria was quick on the uptake. The girl’s haughty behavior was certainly something, but she wasn’t one to be swept by emotions.
With a laugh by Leivinia, it was Stiyl who continued. “We of the Anglican Church are collaborating with her to react to the abnormal existence known as Kamisato Kakeru. More specifically the power which resides in his right hand, the World Rejecter. Without Kamijou, the Magic Gods have reacted and this unknown variable manifested, even though he holds a grudge. We are observing him, and so far he escaped four assassination attempts.”
“That’s where I get into the picture, nya!” with a needlessly enthusiastic voice Tsuchimikado continued. “We need him to level the playing field against the magic gods, but also to make a spell that can rescue Accel-kun and Kami-yan. The Dawn-colored Sunlight just recruited everyone in this room to monitor Kamisato Kakeru and manipulate him, nya!”
“Nyah! Essentially, Hamazura, we have to rescue your boss! I will use my Agitate Halation right away!” Hamazura sweatdropped with a sigh. Fremea was a small child, who knew what she would be up to…?
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Accelerator was flying towards the abandoned church. He couldn’t know that at the same time Touma was running at full speed towards their house, he had a simple goal in mind.
To commit a slaughter. ‘I want us to be together forever, too’, he told Last Order…heh, THE Accelerator’s last words to the existence who changed his very being were those. And now, it felt that the strange new world he found himself in was giving another chance for him to be a hero.
The ruined church was a very fitting setting for the slaughter he wanted to inflict on the fallen. To chase power while ruining another’s life…he knew better than anyone what it was and it took a punch to the face to make him understand.
But at the end of the day, it was more than a punch to the face that anyone who dared to threaten those he cared about would receive. “Hey, you albino. You might wanna scram, you know?” he heard a shout, or something, by some dude in priest robes. Now, he only had met Stiyl, so he didn’t hold priests in high standard, but did this guy take the cake for ‘trash’.
Accelerator stepped, the ground exploded and the last thing that priest saw was Satan’s grin as his blood flow was reversed.
“Viser! Viser!” Touma called the once stray devil he freed from her curse. He did not expect for Rias Gremory to open the door, though. “Yes, Kamijou-kun. We do know about Viser, so don’t worry about her. I offered her a…second chance as a Pawn in my peerage, a small effort to repay my debt towards you for doing my duty in the best way there was.” He didn’t understand the apologetic words, but he chalked it to the bonds between devilkin. Having to put down someone of your kind was for her probably what a cop felt when he had to gun down a criminal.
The fact that it needed to be done didn’t make it any easier.
“Please take care of Asia! I have something I need to do!”
“Kamijou-kun, wait – aaaand, he goes.” Rias wanted to talk, but he didn’t look at her. “Say, Asia-chan,” she turned to the sheepish nun, “want to have a chat in the meantime?”
"You know you can just fly, right? We dragons come with wings built in for free."
Don’t give me that sass, Ddraig!
"And besides, what if the White One and Accelerator slaughter them all? Their own pity is non-existent so it’s only fair they get the same in return."
He doesn’t have to dirty his hands for something like this! There’s always a third option!
"Well, he doesn’t reason like that. People piss him off, take what he cares about, he kills them. There’s no wrong in acting like this."
Oh and by the way, smartass. There are people out and about so I can’t exactly fly.
"Your…brother didn’t exercise the same caution but be my guest, Partner."
“Accelerator!” Touma arrived in the proximity of the church, already calling his ‘brother’, but he saw blood in droves. Along with scattered human body parts. “He…lp me…” a woman with long hair and a top and skirt outfit barely whispered, face agonizing from what appeared to be two tremendous wounds on her back. Touma ran to check on her, and his gaze fell on the two others with similar injuries, already dead. “A…monster…ripped us apart…please…” In that moment Kalawarner didn’t even care if this stranger was a human or not, involved with the supernatural or not. She just wanted to stop her suffering.
Ddraig…can we…
"You could kill her. It would be relatively painless, considering how the White One reduced her to this pitiful state with no effort."
Don’t screw with me! Do you think I can kill a person? When I had the opportunity to save her!?
"There would be a way. One of my past hosts was a capable sage, and researched many medical spells. He used them to boost his own health when needed, and thus he outlived many White Dragons. They are all stored in here, and all use…"
Yes?
"Dragon blood. From what I’ve gathered, Imagine Breaker blocks the numerous dragon-shaped entities within you. Since I am bound with you, I could repress them and prevent them from rampaging.
Still, how do I…now that’s awfully convenient. A light spear was lying next to one of the corpses. He was about to use it and slice the arm off, but – “Can’t you just…” He manifested the Boosted Gear, to the surprise of Kalawarner. “Converge the energy? The Invisible Thing and my dragons are different, so…” A blue and yellow string manifested from the Gear’s gem and slithered towards the Fallen.
[Dragon Cocoon] – Spell based on Dragon Essence. Powered by the Boosted Gear, derives from [Blood Healing], Galenus’ very own healing spell. Of the same root of Touma’s [Dragon Shell] but with external application.
"Fascinating…" A blue cocoon enveloped Kalawarner, and it only lasted thirty seconds. Her wings were even restored. She was about to stand up, but a – quite literally – unholy screech interrupted her.
With nothing short of a sonic boom, a barely breathing, gravely injured Raynare exploded out the church, Accelerator following her. “Hey, bitch. C’mon, don’t tell me the oh-so powerful Raynare is scared! Entertain me! GIVE ME A HUG!”
“Accelerator! That’s enough!” With Kalawarner still on the ground and breathing heavily due to the shock, Touma ran in front of Raynare and spread his arms as if to protect her. “How can you say that? Don’t you know what she was going to do to her? To Asia? What if it was Index?!”
“Don’t go there! Didn’t you tell me you wanted to use your power to save? To protect? Asia is not Index, Accelerator! She’s not Last Order!” At those words, Accelerator’s draconic aura flared and the Gear manifested itself – in a second the gap closed and Accelerator was face to face with Touma. “Don’t you think it hurts me? When I told you all of that, I meant that I would’ve done anything to rid the world of monsters like me! Guess what, hero! This is my salvation!”
It was time for Touma’s aura to flare. “I will fight you if necessary!”
Just then the two heard a choking sound and they could only stare as Raynare started…strangling herself? By the look of betrayal and hurt on her face, it was clear she wasn’t doing it of her own free will, so naturally Touma rushed towards her, the Gear disappearing and Imagine Breaker exposed. With a sound of glass shattering Raynare collapsed, faintly breathing.
“What the fuck…” Accelerator thought he started seeing things, but Albion interjected. "Most likely it was a failsafe someone thought of in case they failed their mission or they were captured."
“So you do know who they are working for? And why isn’t the other bitch affected?” To his query, Ddraig answered. "Partner performed a healing spell on her, so it eliminated the countermeasure."
Accelerator turned to Touma with a look, ‘since when you can use magic?’ was the message but Touma only shrugged in response. “I adapted an old spell that Ddraig remembered from one of the past hosts and…something else.” It was clearly not the stage to say what the ‘something else’ was, Accelerator understood and stayed quiet.
From atop a tree, a mad priest observed the scene with a crazed look on his face. “So Fuckboy #1 and Fuckboy #2 did it, huh. Well, as much as I’d like to fight them, Boss sent me to report progress and report I will.”
Things were going to get that complicated.