A Certain Magical Index, Vol. 8 (7 page)

In the hospital, there was a bathroom with a bath in it used for in-patients.

In her green jersey, the gym teacher Aiho Yomikawa rested her back against the door to the bathroom. She was stylish and pretty enough that wearing a jersey seemed almost sacrilegious. Her breasts jutting out of the front even surrounded the simple jersey with a tremendous appeal. The fact that she didn’t realize its worth at all portrayed her as even more dangerously unprotected.

Stupid Kikyou, giving me more weird problems to deal with!
She sighed, reminded again of the face of her old friend, a female researcher currently in the hospital. During the one instance Yomikawa had been allowed to see her, all the researcher told her was to look after a certain pair of children. The requester fell unconscious right after making her request, leaving Yomikawa with no details and no way to refuse.

Apparently she’d been entrusted with a unique duo of espers.

She could hear the children’s voices from the other side of the door—from in the bathtub.

“Splish-splash-splish-splash-splish-splash goes Misaka goes Misaka, doing a flutter kick in the narrow bathtub. Maybe this is indoor leisure particularly made for tiny bodies, suggests Misaka suggests Misaka, exploring new possibilities.”

“Shit, you’re getting water in my face! You’re not supposed to swim around the freakin’ bathtub!!”

“If only you could use your reflection, says Misaka says Misaka, giving you a pitiful look. Still, the strongest esper starts crying when he gets shampoo in his eyes, huh, says Misaka says Misaka, astonished.”

“I haven’t completely lost my reflection. I can’t get all bossy with it, since I’m using your network to do the calculations, though. But if I used it here, all the water would bounce off my skin and I might as well have not come here in the first place…Also, I’m not crying, the shampoo in my eyes doesn’t hurt a bit! It might be the first time I ever got the damn thing in my eyes but it doesn’t matter!”

“Splish-splash-splish-splash-splish-splash!”

“Yomikaaaaaawaaaaaaaaaa!! Why?! Why do I need to suffer through this brat’s fucking thrashing in here?!”

Oh, they’re talking to me now.
Yomikawa raised her eyebrows. “It’s fiiine! It’s dangerous for little kids to go unsupervised in the bathtub. They could drown, ’kay?”

“Then why don’t you supervise her?!”

“It’s fiiine! If I had to play with such a rambunctious kid, I’d get all soaked and see-through, y’know? Besides, you need to wash yourself properly now that you can finally take a bath again, ’kay?”

“This is bullshit…!! Why am I constantly surrounded by people who lack the mental faculties to listen to what I’m saying, damn it?!”

“There, there, there, comforts Misaka comforts Misaka. I understand this is embarrassing for you, but as you can see, Misaka is Misaka is properly equipped with a bath towel. Paying too much attention to it will make things harder for you, says Misaka says Misaka, offering some life advice.”

“Yeah, right. Here, I’ll give you a shower to the face as thanks.”

“Bfpppft?! says Misaka says Misaka, toppling over at the sudden attack! That was rude—you risked your life to stand up for me at the end of summer, says Misaka says Misaka, her face going white!”

“Hah?…Wait a second!”

“You were so kind to me when the virus was destroying me, so why are you acting like this to me now—could you be bored of Misaka already?! asks Misaka asks Misaka, trembling and shivering at the possibility!”

“…Uh? What did you just say?…The virus?”

“Oh no, says Misaka says Misaka, clamping a hand over her mouth.”

“Don’t
oh no
me, you brat! How do you remember what happened that day?!”

“Umm, says Misaka says Misaka, poking her cheek with her index finger and stuff.”

“You were supposed to lose all your memories when I fixed the fucking virus in your brain!”

“Misaka shares her memories with all the Misakas in the network, from #10032 to #20000, admits Misaka admits Misaka.”

“…I see.”

“Basically, I guess if one Misaka loses her memories, it’s okay, since she has a backup, says Misaka says Misaka, sticking out her tongue cutely. They’re not Misaka’s memories, but I can get them back by absorbing memories from other Misakas again, says Misaka says Misaka, making all sorts of gestures in a frantic, solitary battle to quell your rage and stuff.”

“Okay…so what? Do you know what I shouted on that day—?”

“‘Yeah, I killed ten thousand of those Sisters. But that’s not reason to let the other ten thousand die. Ah, jeez, I know that sounds whitewashed. I know the words coming out of my mouth right now! But you’re wrong! We may be the epitome of human trash, but no matter what your reason is, there’s no fucking way it’s okay to kill that kid!’…says Misaka says Misaka, the memory bringing a tear to her eye.”

“You…you fucking brat…I’m gonna kill you…!!”

“It’s fiiine! Besides, a friend of mine left her to me, so don’t give me any more work to do, okay?” said Yomikawa vaguely, listening to the two of them splashing water at each other in negotiation. The doctor with that frog-like face had told her they might be hard to deal with, but nothing in particular really stood out to her as worrying.

At this rate, it didn’t seem like she needed to accompany them anymore. Time to get back to her own job.

Yomikawa sighed and pulled her back off the door. “Message for you two. The nice lady needs to go to her job at Anti-Skill, so don’t burn the place down while she’s away, ’kay? Be good children and I’ll bring you back a souvenir or two.”

“Okaaay! replies Misaka replies Misaka, flinging large quantities of water with her superpowered water splashing attack.”

Ignoring the response of “you little priiiiiiiick,” Yomikawa picked up the big sports bag at her feet and left the hospital behind her.

There was a sharp glimmer in her eyes.

Her bag was heavy and filled with the regular Anti-Skill equipment.

After Yomikawa left and the two of them had expended all their precious bathwater resources in the war, they came to a peace treaty.

“This is bullshit. The water doesn’t even come up to my lap anymore…”

“I can barely even splash anymore, says Misaka says Misaka, though tilting her head and wondering if maybe she could do something with it if she were clever enough?”

“Stop. Splashing. I’m freaking
wounded
, in case you forgot!!”

“Actually, your hair grew out crazy fast and stuff, so you can’t even see the surgery scar anymore, says Misaka says Misaka, impressed. Wait, would it be against the rules to encourage regeneration of your body tissue from the electric signal vector level? asks Misaka asks Misaka, her eyes all glowy at the wondrous secrets of the human body.”

“I’m telling you, the cracks in my skull haven’t fully healed up yet!!”

“Splish-splash bubble-bubble kicky-kicky!”

“…”

“If Yomikawa knew how much bathwater we just wasted, she’d be angry, says Misaka says Misaka, shaking. But maybe she won’t come back to the hospital today, suggests Misaka suggests Misaka optimistically.”

“Eh? You’ve heard somethin’ about it?”

“Weeell, not from Yomikawa, says Misaka says Misaka…”

Tokiwadai Middle School had two student dormitories: one within the Garden of Learning and the other without.

Kuroko Shirai and Mikoto Misaka roomed together in the one outside it.

“Kah…hah…?!”

Shirai had managed to drag herself to the dorm’s back door, then very nearly coughed up a chunk of blood. Forcing down its aftertaste in her throat, she kept pushing ahead. She needed to do some first aid on herself as soon as she could, but her body wasn’t moving the way she wanted it to. Given the pain she was in, she couldn’t rely on teleportation, either, since its strength was volatile.

Her right shoulder, left side, right thigh, and right calf.

Those were the points stabbed by the sharp metal that had torn through her clothes’ fabric, which was now forcibly thrusting into her wounds. With every step, she felt a strange stiffening feeling with her clothes and her skin, lending an odd sense to her pain.

Her flimsy bag felt like a barbell.

That drove home how much stamina she’d lost. A cold tremble settled into her stomach.

Having made it to the back of the dorm, Shirai looked at the line of windows and saw the lights in hers were off.
Thank goodness…Big Sister hasn’t…come back…yet…
She smiled very thinly and concentrated her energy at her core.

There was no way she was walking in the front in tatters like this. Mustering a shredded formula out of her pain, shivering, and panic, she teleported directly into her own room.

For a moment, her body was weightless.

The sensation of crossing space felt closer to being thrown than gravity going away. It was like a roller coaster. A heavy tension gradually rose from her stomach.

“…Gah…”

Now safely on the floor of her dark room, she wandered to and fro unsteadily, not turning on a light, gathering her first-aid kit and a clean uniform. She cut down on the amount of work she had to do by a little bit by deciding to use the underwear she’d bought earlier that day. After unhooking the clasp on her bag, she took out the package from the lingerie shop.

With that in hand, Shirai opened the door to the bathroom and entered. There were no windows in there, so it was pitch-black. After closing the door, she fumbled for the light switch and flipped it. With a
click
, the white fluorescent lights filled the small bathroom.

“Ah…guh…”

The strength left her hands, and everything she’d carried in clattered to the hard floor. She tried to prop herself up on the wall, the dart piercing her side scraping it in the process. Body shivering as if it had been shocked with electricity, she lost her balance and collapsed to the floor, causing all sorts of other kinds of pain to tear through her.

Aug…ust…twenty…first…

She couldn’t think straight with the pain. Still, as she sat on the floor, she tried. Had anything been odd on August 21st, like that woman said?

If I recall correctly…Big Sister didn’t get home until pretty late…That was the day
that gentleman
suddenly showed up at the student dorm…
Having gotten ahold of one thing, she began dredging up the rest of the information.
The gentleman was gone in a flash…Oh, that’s right. The teddy bear under Big Sister’s bed got dragged out, and then there was a strange windstorm blowing through the streets. I heard a train switchyard on the outskirts of Academy City had some sort of explosion, and people saw really bright lights…

Finally, she remembered the rumors going around about that day. She looked up despite herself.
Unconfirmed information that Academy City’s strongest Level Five got taken down by someone…Ugh.

She’d heard the stories had been immediately covered up by the Academy City General Board to prevent useless disorder and unrest. Because of that, Shirai didn’t know
who
exactly it was who had beaten the strongest Level Five in the city.

A giant explosion, flashing lights, and an M7-class windstorm. The switchyard thought to be where it happened looked like a bomb went off. Reconstruction work was being spearheaded by Anti-Skill, but Shirai had assisted them as a member of Judgment, too. At the time, everyone was saying the same thing.

The ravages of this destruction were not ordinary.

The Level Five who caused all of it was definitely the strongest in Academy City.

But…

How strong must the one who calmly stood up to a Level Five during such a catastrophic disaster be?

And not only that…
Shirai had gotten wind of another bit of news on her own.
It’s possible that Big Sister was present at the scene of the battle between the two espers.

She’d seen it.

She’d seen all the switchyard’s cargo containers destroyed, their contents strewn about. Many things of all kinds, shapes, and sizes were everywhere. Nobody would have stopped to think about a single coin on the ground—but Shirai did.

As soon as she picked it up, she knew.

It was the kind of cheap coin people used at arcades.

It was also the kind of coin a certain girl favored as bullets for her Railgun.

The intense pain interrupted her thoughts. It would certainly appear August 21st had been no ordinary day. But how much did that have to do with all this? She couldn’t tell.

She came to the decision that treating her wounds came first.

She lightly touched the corkscrew in her right shoulder—the first attack she’d taken—with a finger. The sharp, thick, spiraling piece of metal would probably tear her muscles further if she tried to pull it out normally. Fortunately for her…

“My goodness…This ability sure is good to have at times like these.”

She teleported it. The corkscrew in her shoulder vanished and reappeared in front of her. With nothing left to support it, it fell straight to the floor and made a clear ring.

Blood came from her shoulder. She’d uncorked her shoulder, letting the blood flow out. She hadn’t taken the metal darts and such out of her wounds yet because she hadn’t been prepared to immediately stop the bleeding until now.

She groaned as her world swayed, then shook her head to force it back into focus. Looking at the bloody corkscrew on the floor, she clicked her tongue.
A majolica porcelain grip on a Sheffield opener…No thought to where it was produced, its history, any traditions, any ideals—a stateless corkscrew. What an upstart I ran into.

As she began teleporting the metal darts in her sides and legs in the same manner, she took out her cell phone with her empty hand and punched in Kazari Uiharu’s number.

“Hello, this is Uiharu. Shirai, I looked into what you asked about…Whoa, um, you seem to be breathing in a lot of pain.”

She’d actually given Uiharu a quick call before getting back to the dorm, explaining what had happened—how she’d lost and how the luggage was stolen again—then requested that she investigate the Tree Diagram, look into the identity of the teleport-type esper, and try and plot out a few possible escape routes she would have taken, though it would have been hard given the woman’s ability.

She’d also told her to keep the fact that she was wounded on the down low. She knew that not doing so might have provoked a different obstruction for her.

Anti-Skill, led by faculty, went on the more important missions, not the student-led Judgment.

It was for two reasons: one, because they couldn’t expose children to danger, and two, because they couldn’t give children such overwhelming power over others.

With these major wounds, Academy City would have restricted her from doing anything else. But that teleport user had spoken of things that raised a lot of questions about Mikoto Misaka, Tokiwadai’s ace, and things of that nature.

She didn’t feel like turning in so easily.

“Are you really okay? Gung-ho women aren’t in style right now, you know.”

“Nobody…asked you. Did you find anything?”

Discarding the bloody darts on the floor, Shirai worked her tattered body and reached for her clothing. She removed her summer sweater, short-sleeve blouse, and skirt hooks, then groaned. The red had even gotten to her underwear, she realized, then took all that off and threw it on the floor, too. She hadn’t taken off her leather shoes upon coming in, either, so she removed them, too, then her socks, then the leather, metal dart–holding belts around her thighs as well. Now stripped of all her clothes, she checked her wounds in more detail.

“About the teleport esper—the data banks say there’re fifty-eight of them in Academy City, including you. Sure aren’t many people who can work through special eleven-dimensional calculations, huh?”

“Anyone who…matched…my information?” She pulled a first-aid kit over to her with a bloody hand.

“There are nineteen espers who can move multiple objects at one time, again with you being one of them. And,” continued Uiharu, “there were about three people who matched the description of the culprit you gave me. But only one of them doesn’t have an alibi. The other two were spotted on cameras.” Without seeming to be in too much of a hurry, Uiharu gave her conclusion. “Awaki Musujime, a second-year at Kirigaoka Girls’ Academy. She uses a teleport-type ability like you, but it works a little differently.”

“As…I found out…I mean, she took…ten men at once…and made them block for her! They must have weighed…around seven hundred kilograms in all. It’s…way above…my power.” She didn’t deny her own weakness—as long as she believed there was a way out of this.

She flipped open the first-aid kit lid and took out a tube-shaped object. Closing the lid, she squeezed the tube, forcing gel onto her wounds. This was an emergency external-wound treatment kit with three effects: disinfecting the wound, stopping the bleeding, and preventing it from opening. Apparently some amazing medical scientist nicknamed Heaven Canceler made it, but it wasn’t distributed to the public. You could close up most wounds with it, but it couldn’t deal with minute, irregular situations. If this kit didn’t work, it was time to see a doctor.

“Well, yes, but it’s actually fundamentally different. Your teleportation lets you touch an object and send it to a distant place—you can send it from you to point A. But Musujime can move a distant object to another place—she can send an object at point A to point B. In her case, the point of origin isn’t fixed.”

“So that’s why…That woman, she called herself a Move Point esper…” Shirai bit her lip and thought a little. She’d definitely been moving things all over the place without her hands touching them. But she had never tried to use her ability on Shirai’s actual body. If she were able to do that, then she would have slammed her into a wall or something instead of using a roundabout means like using throwing weapons. That much was for certain.

“There’s some interesting experimental data here. Apparently her power can’t be used to teleport other espers with similar abilities. Since involuntary diffusion fields are still a budding topic of research, they don’t know why, but apparently similar involuntary diffusion fields will get in the way of Musujime’s ability…From what this report says, it specifies it doesn’t only apply to Musujime but to any espers with teleportation abilities—they can’t teleport others with the same type of power. Is that true, Shirai?”

“I don’t know! This is the first time I’ve met someone else with teleportation.” She sniffed. She’d never tried it before, but she could make a guess. Espers with teleportation moved around with their absolute coordinates in eleven dimensions in mind, not in three. Even if one tried to alter the spatial coordinates of another teleporter, that mental positioning system probably served to hinder the process like a wedge.

“And I have some boring old data, too. In her curriculum two years ago, Awaki Musujime’s powers went crazy and she apparently got pretty badly hurt.”

“…Yes, that surely
was
some boring data. Nothing about any of this suggests a weakness. Why is a monster like her only Level Four, anyway?” Chewing on that, she took some tissues out of the pocket of her torn skirt and started wiping up the blood clinging to her wounds. Her skin, oddly, was a little cold as she felt the gentle elasticity it gave in return to her pats.

“I’d think you could fight on even footing even if it was against an official Level Five anyway, depending on how you went about it. Maybe she’s got a weak spot.” Easy for her to say over the phone. “Anyway, about the Tree Diagram, well…”

“I want to believe it was just her rambling like a lunatic, but it must not be good from the sounds of it.” Shirai began to wrap bandages over the gel that had coated her wounds. She could tell she was sweating a bit, and touching the cloth confirmed it.

“No. I searched for news reports about the Tree Diagram being destroyed, but I came up with no hits. They’re saying it’s still floating in satellite orbit, and they’re saying the scheduled extra-vehicular maintenance for Academy City’s shuttle that launched last month has nothing to do with it.”

“What is going on, then?” Shirai frowned, stopping her work, then thought back to the single photograph she’d been shown as she lay in a heap in that alley. A photograph of a broken satellite.

Uiharu didn’t sound convinced, either. “I suppose that’s good news…? Another one of our teams captured the one they stole the luggage from, but he was just a courier. He said he had been told to do this by District 23 and didn’t know anything about a satellite. We had a psychometer look into his memories, but they confirmed what he said.”

A courier.
A professional one, maybe?
she thought. He seemed to be quite tenacious about his job, considering he tried to pursue the group of culprits even after they’d stolen his luggage…“So District 23 was trying to deliver the luggage’s contents to some other research facility in Academy City. So they used a courier to transport it. And then, someone—probably Musujime’s own group—snatched it away. The one it was snatched
from
wanted to take back the luggage, but he couldn’t make a fuss about it because it was all supposed to be secret. That’s why they needed to get it back themselves—is that it?” Shirai slowly moved her bandaged arms and legs to make sure no blood was still coming out. The quick-drying gel had hardened already, completely closing up the wounds.