Volume 9, 3: Tactics of the Pursuers and Pursued. Worst_Counter.

Volume 9, Chapter 3: Tactics of the Pursuers and Pursued. Worst_Counter.

Part 1

Fukiyose Seiri was a member of the Daihaseisai organizing committee.

Though the committee members didn’t have any of the special privileges that were given to the security guards and the disciplinary members, they were in charge of preparing and refereeing the matches, a job which didn’t allow any room for error. To any ordinary person, though Daihaseisai was just a large-scale sports meet, it could allow people to easily evaluate the esper power development program of each school, and thus affect the budget that each school received.

Of course, the committee members had to take part in the matches.

Because of this, they had to arrange their work schedule such that it didn’t affect their own matches. It sounded simple, but Academy City itself was one-third the size of Tokyo. The distance to each competitive arena may vary due to the different locations, and sometimes, the distance may be too far. It was impossible to excel at this job if one was unable to plan intricately like those suspense novels, or adapt to the situation immediately when the start and end times of a match were changed slightly. It was a race against time.

(I have to get to the arena where the ‘ball tossing contest’ is, so it’s probably better to use the auto-bus than the subway train if......no no, this won’t work. There’s still a long-distance race on that road, so the road should be closed. If so, it’s better to use the subway......ar never mind, since it’s in the same district, it might be faster if I run there!)

Fukiyose was holding a container filled with drinks with both hands as she continued to do her calculations. As a committee member, it was expected that she had to memorise the map and the schedule in her brain. If she didn’t do this, it was impossible for her to adapt to any unexpected situations that occurred.

Right now, she was heading towards the arena where she’d be acting as a referee. She purposely chose to stay away from the shortest route and walk on a long, roundabout route. The reason was simple, the ultimate way to shorten the time was to avoid moving with the crowd.

Because of this, Fukiyose chose to move quickly along the road where she had dragged Kamijou along a while back.

(If I chose to leave from the subway or the bus stop, there would still be quite some distance to the arena. I still have to get past the crowded areas as well. In terms of results, it might be faster to walk along the alleys where there are fewer people walking on......but isn’t it scary to be running before I even get to warm up?)

Fukiyose, who was muttering to herself, suddenly stopped in her tracks and frowned.

Several hundred metres away, Fukiyose saw a silver-haired girl in cheerleader attire prostrating on the floor. Wouldn’t it be extremely hot for her hands to touch the asphalt on such a hot day? Fukiyose thought. There was a botanical test centre nearby, so wasn’t it better for her to rest under the trees, where it was cool and shady?

“Uuuu......uuuuuuuu......I finally changed my clothes, and so I want to show them off to Touma, but he ran off to some place without waiting for others......”

“Sister......Sister-san, please don’t despair. I guess maybe Kamijou might have some difficulties that he’s not willing to talk about?”

Beside the lifeless cheerleader girl was a more petite looking girl with a sympathetic look. She was Fukiyose’s class teacher, Tsukuyomi Komoe, and like the foreign girl, she was wearing a brightly coloured-cheerleading uniform.

Fukiyose frowned.

“How’s that issue that I talked to sensei about? What are you doing in public? If it’s a slight mental disorder, does she need to fill her stomach with some warm milk or some other hot beverage? How about I use some stimulant to divert her attention, like some chilli powder? I have some chilli powder with me now, do you need it? Take it!”

“No......there’s no need, Fukiyose-san—really! Everything’s fine! You don’t have to stuff Sister-san’s nose with chilli powder! It feels like some strange punishment that’s done to women during the Edo period!”

“Is that so?”

Fukiyose tucked the small gourd of multi-flavoured pepper back into her pocket.

Komoe-sensei was so terrified that her face was all green. However, the cheerleader girl prostrating on the floor was so depressed that she didn’t notice anything that was happening around her. Her butt was sticking out, and what was inside her skirt looks like it was about to be revealed. However, nothing was exposed.

She said,

“Tou...Touma? Where on earth did Touma go to?”

About this... Fukiyose tilted her head as she thought.

What is that boy doing right now?

Part 2

Stiyl Magnus was lying motionlessly on the ground.

The autumn wind was slowly flowing through the depot, as it blew through Stiyl’s black coat. However, he was lying motionlessly on the ground. He was still breathing, but things didn’t look good right now.

Tsuchimikado Motoharu said,

“Response......ah, got it. There’s a response from the ‘Divination circle array’. Here......according to such a change......it’s from the north-west direction?”

Tsuchimikado didn’t even bother to look at his comrade who was lying on the ground right in front of him. He just continued to stare at the red magic array around Stiyl that was 2 metre in diameter.

“From the response, the location of the ‘shorthand original’ is......from this colour intensity, 302 metres from here. To think that it’s set up nearby, and the response didn’t move at all. Just as I guessed, it’s a stationary type that requires some set up nya. If so, Oriana can’t possibly be too far away. Instead of running around, it’ll be easier for her to mix into the crowd by walking slowly. Oi, Kami-yan, did you bring a map nya? I’d like to know what’s 302 metres away from here.”

“Tsu...chimikado......”

Kamijou was standing around, stunned, and shuddering slightly, but Tsuchimikado didn’t seem to notice it. When he realised that Kamijou didn’t reply back, he repeated himself without looking at Kamijou.

“Kami-yan, the map, map. Either that or the Daihaseisai tour guide booklet will be good. Oh yeah, there’s the GPS map on the handphone. I’ll look for it myself.

“TSUCHIMIKADO—!!”

When Tsuchimikado recovered, Kamijou suddenly grabbed the front of his sports shirt. The gold ornament hanging on Tsuchimikado’s neck snaps, creating a loud sound. Kamijou, who was overly enraged, really wanted to destroy the magic array on the ground with his right hand, before considering that he forgot about Stiyl, who was neglected and was lying on the floor, thus preventing him from doing so.

Tsuchimikado, who was being grabbed by the front of his shirt, calmly stared at Kamijou’s face.

“Kami-yan, you don’t have to worry about Stiyl. That guy is a professional magician as well; he should have enough endurance to take these magical attacks. Besides, the spells that Oriana set up are mainly to ‘obstruct’, and not to ‘attack’.”

He casually said to Kamijou, who was extremely enraged.

“This kind of counterspell is basically about ‘refining and modifying Stiyl’s magic’. Magic is created by lifeforce, if it continues to modify, it’ll cause changes in the human body like an engine being burnt, that’s all there is to it. Kami-yan, this just looks like heatstroke, there’s no need to make a fuss about it.

“Stop speaking to me like this! Don’t you know who’s the one who purposely got injured because of you!? Why must you be so cold!!”

Just when Kamijou decided to add more strength and pull Tsuchimikado closer to him,

(Cracking sound)

Tsuchimikado’s temple was cracking slightly.

As blood emerged, his flanks that were covered by the P.E attire began to turn red from the inside. The redness began to spill over, forming a wound that looked like he was stabbed with a blade-like thing.

“Tsu...chimikado......”

Kamijou frantically let go of his hand which was holding onto Tsuchimikado’s shirt. However, Tsuchimikado’s expression didn’t change.

“This ‘divination circle array’ is a spell that can react to the magic used by the enemy and give information like the distance and direction. It’s impossible for such a convenient thing to be activated without using magic, right, Kami-yan......”

Kamijou gasped.

That was right. If it was just drawing a magic array and using spells without any magic power, even Index could do that. To someone like her who didn’t have any magic power, this was a skill that was suitable for her. But Kamijou had never seen Index use anything like this before, and neither had he seen her cheerfully explain this type of magic array called the ‘Divination circle array’.

Tsuchimikado appeared to have some disruption in his breathing, but he continued,

“Compared to......the seeking magic that Stiyl uses, my magic isn’t as impressive......just like this, I’ve made a mockery of myself.”

He pressed against his flank that was already drenched in blood with one hand, and said,

“Listen carefully, Kami-yan. Like you said, it’s my fault that Stiyl fell. If I were able to use better magic, this wouldn’t have happened. I have to admit this. So it’s alright no matter how much you hate me.”

His legs continued to exert force onto the ground, supporting that body of his that was going to fall any second.

“But, I succeeded. I’ll find that counterspell which Oriana set up, and destroy it. Also, with this hand of mine, I’ll prevent this deal of the ‘Stab sword’ from taking place. With this, our debts are even. The remaining interest, when everything’s over......I’ll return it with interest back to Stiyl.

He couldn’t possibly not care about Stiyl’s injuries.

Because he was aware about this, Tsuchimikado chose to keep a cold attitude about it in order to repay his fallen comrade. The faster they could end the battle, the lesser Stiyl’s burdens would be.

Facing Kamijou, who was stunned in front of him, Tsuchimikado smiled.

He seemed to be saying: The fact that I hurt Stiyl hasn’t changed, so please don’t change your attitude so fast.

“Kami-yan, the map. I’d like to know what’s at 302 metres away from here in the north-west direction. The counter spell ‘shorthand original’ that Oriana set up is definitely there.”

“Ah......Orh......”

As the Daihaseisai tour guide booklet was extremely thick, it was impossible to put it inside the pocket of a sports attire. Kamijou used the GPS function of his phone to found the place that Tsuchimikado specified.

In the end.

He began to doubt his eyes.

“This......Tsuchimikado, is it really in the north-west direction? Distance is 302 metres, right?”

“More accurately, with 0 degrees in the north direction, the angle is 318 degrees from here, so it’s the north-west direction alright. It’s an approximate distance given, but generally, there’s nothing wrong.”

“......That bastard.”

Kamijou showed the designated location to Tsuchimikado.

Tsuchimikado’s face was frozen in shock.

Kamijou thought, it wasn’t weird for him to have this kind of reaction.

Because the location given was in the middle of a certain junior high school.

The flying ship that was slowly flying in the autumn sky was airing the introductions for the next match. There were only ten minutes before the match started within the school.

Part 3

Kamijou and Tsuchimikado couldn’t do anything for Stiyl, who was lying on the ground. If possible, they didn’t want to leak this out before everything gets chaotic. Tsuchimikado was again beside Stiyl, setting up the coloured paper and the magic array of the ‘all-around reality array’ that was used to seek out Oriana. Tsuchimikado mentioned that at the same time they broke the counter spell, he’d contact Stiyl through the phone to activate the ‘all-around reality array’.

Stiyl, who was lying on the ground, nodded his head slightly. Just this expression alone was enough to tell others that ‘he was still alive’. Kamijou finally heaved a sigh of relief.

Tsuchimikado seemed to have expected that he would get injured, as he pulled out some bandages from the pockets of his sportswear, and cleanly stopped the bleeding on his flank. However, it was impossible to hide the blood stain on the clothes, and it’d cause a ruckus if he walked out like this.

“I’ll think about how to deal with my clothes, you better hurry up,” Tsuchimikado said. Besides, there was nothing the two of them could do just standing around there, so Kamijou first ran out towards the problematic school.

That was why, right now, Kamijou was running on the broadwalk in this clear autumn day at full speed. People were staring at him, from an old man holding the hand of a child, to the people carrying the tour guidebooks in their hands.

However, he didn’t have time to look back at them. Passing by the windmills, of which the rotor blades were spinning slowly, Kamijou picked up the pace as he held the handphone in his hand.

It was Tsuchimikado who was calling.

“To be able to seal off Stiyl’s magic, and be able to set up a clever spell to counter an individual seeking spell, that Oriana should have a certain grasp on our side nya. To set up this spell at the arena where everything’s visible, she’s such an annoying person.”

“But, even if it’s before the competition, can she really do this in the middle of school? Did that Oriana use some spell that can turn her invisible?”

“If she could really do that, it’d have shown up during our initial attempt. Oh yeah, Kami-yan. How much time till the next match?”

“7 minutes. It should be shown on that electronic bulletin near you guys.”

Kamijou stared at the gigantic display on the wall of the department store as he continued to run down the straight path.

“If so, the preparations for the match should be over. The spectators and the camera crew should be inside as well, right? Seems like it’d be very difficult to sneak into the school and take care of Oriana’s ‘shorthand original’.”

The time taken for a match would depend on the activities done. Normally, it’d last thirty minutes, but sometimes, it might take around an hour.

Considering that the range of the ‘all-around reality array’ was only 3 kilometres, if they were to wait till the match was over, even if Oriana was to walk away slowly, she’d escape.

“Then what should we do? We can’t just leave the counterspell in the school.”

“Of course, Kami-yan. What’s the match in that school?”

“What? Lemme see—”

Turning around the corner, Kamijou started to look around for an electronic bulletin. A circular security robot was moving forward slowly, and was using audio speakers to report about the nearby arenas and the latest news. As he listened, Kamijou said,

“—Seems like......a ‘ball tossing contest’. That’s a school based contest, and seems like all the students are taking part in it.”

“I see. Ah, I just saw the introductions on the flying ship as well. Although I have no idea what the ‘shorthand original’ looks like, it’s definitely there. If so, there’s only one way, Kami-yan......take part in that match as a player.”

Upon hearing this, Kamijou tripped and nearly fell to the ground.

“Are you serious?”

“In this situation, it's the only way to get into school without looking suspicious nya. In an inter-school match, there should be a three digit number of people there, so there should be no problem sneaking in one or two people.”

“But we are high school students, it’s improbable that we could blend in with a group of junior high students, right? Do you have any countermeasure for this?”

“Kami-yan, it’s the sense of youth. Once you give off this young sense of youth, you won’t be suspected.”

From the looks of it, wasn’t it improbable? Kamijou couldn’t help but sigh dejectedly. There were television cameras broadcasting during the match, and one slight mistake would really embarrass him on television.

At this moment, Tsuchimikado spoke in a tone that was softer than normal.

“No, Kami-yan. We can’t stop here. Besides searching for Oriana, there’s a much worse reason.”

“Eh?”

Kamijou continued to run as he listened to the phone.

“That counterspell may not be just used to target Stiyl’s magic. Once the conditions are met, ordinary people other than us will be endangered.”

“......What did you say?”

Maybe because the arena was nearby, there were a lot more people around him. If it was an actual competition, they’d have finished the admission formalities 10 minutes ago. But this was just a ‘sports meet’, and because the admission conditions were a lot more relaxed, there were many more security guards around.

“Listen carefully, Kami-yan, listen calmly and carefully. What Oriana’s counterspell does is that it ‘reads the preparations to cast the magic, identify the lifeforce of a caster, and prevent the caster from using it.’ Up till now, do you understand?

“Un, I do.”

Actually, Kamijou didn’t really understand.

Basically, what he knew was that the ‘shorthand original’ that Oriana had set up could identify Stiyl through some means, and prevent him from using magic.

“But so what?”

“Which means nya......here’s the problem. ‘The preparations to cast the magic,’ do you know what that means?”

“......Ah? About that, I guess......it’s just mumbling about some strange chants, and drawing some magic arrays that no one can understand?”

Even if Kamijou was asked about the process of preparation, as he couldn’t fully grasp ‘what kind of thing magic was,’ he couldn’t answer this clearly.

Tsuchimikado’s tone became even more bitter.

“However, it’s still okay if it’s just like this......Kami-yan. For example, there’s some spell called a......‘spiritual talk’. It’s a spell which uses the significance of speech to determine its power. If it’s this kind of magic preparation, wouldn’t making a sound be enough to activate it?”

Kamijou was terrified.

But, as he was about to reach the problematic middle school, he didn’t stop.

“This is just a complete guess of mine, but if it can really react to this, we have a rather troublesome problem on our hands. Once Oriana is to speak near that ‘shorthand original’, she’ll be able to input additional commands into the counterspell, and the other party will fall like Stiyl......if it’s just making a sound, do you think there are any differences between a magician and an ordinary person? It’s dangerous to these ordinary students as well, you know.”

“But is that possible? While Stiyl was down, we were still talking like usual.”

Kamijou rushed past the spectators heading towards the arena, and reached the entrance of the school.

As they had paid the entrance fee when they first arrived in Academy City, there was no need for them to have an entrance pass to enter the arena.

“You’re right nya. There’s an order for the spiritual talk, and there’s a limit to the number of words to be used, like a ballad and a haiku. So just making a sound shouldn’t garner a response......if so, do you know what’s the easiest magic ritual in the world??”

“Eh???”

At the main entrance of the arena, or the school, there were groups crowding the entrances, trying to get in. Kamijou thought, I have to somehow cleverly get past them.

“It’s ‘touch’. The significance of ‘touching with a hand’ is especially large. In many religions, the values of the left hand and the right hand are different, because the left hand and the right hand have their own uses. In the New Testament, the ‘Son of God’, who’s especially prominent, is able to heal the sick or revive the dead just by touching them with his right hand. What if Oriana’s ‘shorthand original’ can react to that?”

“Wait......wait a sec.”

Kamijou stopped.

Tsuchimikado continued,

“We would say that if it was a real magician, just ‘touching’ alone isn’t going to cause anything to happen. ‘Touching’ is a magical action that several religious sects will use, and not just Christianity. Just like this, the ‘analytical conditions’ that uses the caster’s lifeforce may be a little ambiguous. If it’s a professional magician who has some form of defence, they can still reflect the invading attack of the ‘shorthand original’—but,”

He paused.

“To any novice who completely doesn’t have any defence, even if there’s a degree of ambiguity, it’ll still be forced to analyze the lifeforce and carry out the attack. Also, without the defence of a magician, the symptoms will be much worse than Stiyl. Like how someone with severe heatstroke can die, they’ll end up endangering their own lives.”

“But......but the spell used to attack Stiyl is a spell that prevents magic, right? Will that react to any non-magicians or espers?”

Running off after he stopped, Kamijou’s movements were slower than before. This was to prevent his legs from tripping due to nervousness.

“Strictly speaking, the target for any response is the ‘lifeforce’ of anyone who is preparing to use magic, so even ordinary people are in danger. This isn’t related to whether it can seal up magic, and it’s likely that it doesn’t matter whether the person has any knowledge of magic. Didn’t the searching spell ‘all-around reality array’ that Stiyl used receive what I drew?”

Kamijou thought, this was the worst case scenario.

From the front of the entrance, one could see the school with a soil ground.

In that school, it seemed that something like a land mine was buried somewhere. As they didn’t know that there was a land mine buried there, many unsuspecting people were heading to the arena where a match was about to occur. This ball tossing match wasn’t going have a fixed route like a 100 metres race, but rather, they were going to use the entire place. Thus, the chance of getting the jackpot was rather large.

“Anyway, Kami-yan, we have to settle this before sacrifices are made. It’ll be bad if there’re signs of magic in front of the camera — either way, I don’t want to hurt any ordinary people.”

The conversation ended.

Kamijou placed the phone into his pocket and left the main entrance. He wouldn’t make it in time if he was going to queue up. He walked along the wired fence that separated him from the school. The fence was about two metres tall, and if he tried to climb over it, the unmanned reconnaissance helicopter in the sky would begin to take action. Once this trouble was stirred up, combat helicopters may fly over from other places.

He walked around the school, and reached the back of the school compound, finding the backdoor to the school in the process.

There were guards at the back. It’d be alright if he had the P.E. attire and ID of this middle school, but if he was going in like this, he was going to be stopped even if he was just an ordinary resident of Academy City.

(Now what......)

Kamijou leaned on the fruit juice vending machine as he thought. There were five minutes before the match started, and there was no time to look for any other entrances.

Suddenly, there were some movements near the backdoor. A female student was carrying an ice tub that was filled with sports drinks into the compound. There was a thin jacket over her short-sleeved P.E shirt, and below her shirt, one can see her butt covered with shorts.

It was the committee member, Fukiyose Seiri.

“No way!?”

From the front of the vending machine, Kamijou frantically moved to the side in order to conceal himself.

“......?”

Fukiyose, who was carrying the ice tub, suddenly turned around and stared in this direction. She then tilted her head and vanished into the school compound.

I guess I wasn’t spotted......Kamijou thought. If she found out, she’d be angrily yelling, “WHY DIDN’T YOU GO CHEER FOR OUR SCHOOLMATES!? WHY ARE YOU SLACKING OFF HERE!? KAMIJOU TOUMA!! IF YOUR BRAIN ISN’T DEVELOPED ENOUGH, GO GET SOME DHA!! GO EAT SOME TUNA FISH EYEBALLS!!”

“Oh......oh no......that Tsuchimikado wants me to sneak into the competitive arena, but if Fukiyose is to act as the referee, she’ll find out immediately......bastard, is this plan impossible from the beginning?”

“......What’s impossible nya?”

Hearing the low tone of a man behind him, Kamijou jumped in shivers.

“I’ve already caught up with you yo!?”

Kamijou frantically turned around, and in front of him was Tsuchimikado, now in a brand new P.E. attire. The wound seemed to be completely healed now, and there was no sign of injuries anywhere.

“You......do you still intend to go in from the back door?”

“Yeah. At least it’s easier to go in from here than the front door.”

Tsuchimikado said casually. Kamijou looked at the back door again. There were three fully armed security guards, and there were unmanned reconnaissance helicopters in the sky. How on earth were they going to sneak in?

Seeing Kamijou’s thinking and surprised look, Tsuchimikado smiled,

“It’s simple. Look there, Kami-yan, there’s a puddle of water. There’s no rain recently, so it seems like the committee members just sprayed some water around.”

“Hm. Then......what next?”

“Like this!”

After he finished speaking, Tsuchimikado suddenly tripped Kamijou.

“Wa!?”

As Kamijou shouted, his body rolled into the puddle.

Tsuchimikado laughed, “To think that we can have a mud battle at this age nya!!” as he did a flying swoop at Kamijou.

Pa thong! With a sound that's never heard in a cartoon movie, Kamijou’s body sunk even lower. The guards at the backdoor were staring at them suspiciously.

“Eh......WAAAHHHHH......! You......what are you doing all of a sudden......!?”

Kamijou was being pressed down by Tsuchimikado’s mass. To Kamijou, Tsuchimikado, who donned a pair of blue sunglasses, softly said,

“(......Kami-yan, are your clothes fully stained with mud? We have to mess it up such that they can’t tell which school we belong to from the design.)”

What?

Just as Kamijou was about to raise his doubts, Tsuchimikado, who was drenched in mud, stood up. He extended his hand towards Kamijou, or should I say, he grabbed Kamijou’s arm as if he was going to pull Kamijou up forcefully, and said to the male security guard nearby, who was on his guard,

“Wa, I’m sorry! How are we going to take part in the match! Must we take part in the match like this? There are still cameramen around to interview us, you know!”

Hearing this request, the guard seemed to be shocked.

He stared at Kamijou and Tsuchimikado’s clothes, which were stained with mud all around, from the top to the bottom. It was impossible to tell which school they belonged to, as the original characteristics of the uniforms were completely covered in mud.

“Wha......what? I have to really hand it to you. Did you guys prepare any extra clothes?”

“Ah, yes. However, it’s in our clubroom.”

“Then why don’t you hurry up and get there? There’s only four minutes to the match. Ah sorry, let us check your IDs, proper procedures, you know. It’ll be over soon.”

Kamijou was inadvertently shocked.

The security pulled out a round cylinder that was like a ball-point pen. By pressing the button on top of the cylinder, a transparent sheet would extend out from the side of the cylinder like a scroll being unravelled. It was around 15cm long, and by placing the palm on it, one could read the fingerprints, veins, electric signals to read the state of the body, etc. It was an easy ID identifier in Academy City.

(......Wait......oi, Tsuchimikado, how are we going to get past this......!?)

Kamijou was so tense that he was about to shout it out, but Tsuchimikado merely extended out that palm of his that was covered in mud.

“Alright, stick onto it right......eh!? Seems like there’s some wrong signals here!!”

“What! You didn’t wipe your hand clean before pressing on it!!”

The guard frantically operated the identifier, but there was no response from the part that had absorbed mud. He turned to look at his colleagues, but they both shook their heads. Seemed like he was the only one who had brought the identifier.

“Damn it, now we have to send someone to get another one from the front gate.”

“There’s no time! Don’t we have to go to the clubroom to change and get into the arena ya!?”

Hearing Tsuchimikado’s frantic tone, the guard again turned towards his colleagues. Of the remaining two, one of them beckoned them to move on, while the other one waved a hand in front of the face, signalling that they shouldn’t.

After considering about it for a while, the guard nodded. With a 2 vs 1 decision, the guards allowed them to move in.

“If you want to get in, hurry up! You’re not allowed to take part in the match if you don’t get there on time!”

“Thank you—”

Tsuchimikado pulled Kamijou’s hand and walked through the back door in an upright manner. Kamijou felt that this couldn’t be helped, but he didn’t forget to get to the main point,

“Oi, Tsuchimikado! Where’s our spare clothes!? Isn’t it hard to ‘mix’ in with all the mud on us?”

“What are you saying, they have those in the health room! In order to save the injured, that place should be opened today nya! Hurry up and change, we’ll sneak in after that!!”

Kamijou and Tsuchimikado continued to converse among each other as they dashed into the school with a dirt ground, towards the cement covered campus.

There were three minutes before the match began.

Part 4

The next match would be a ‘ball tossing contest’.

Misaka Mikoto was standing on the school compound with soil ground.

To her, who was used to the new facilities of Tokiwadai middle school, it was refreshing to be in this arena where the ground was uneven, which caused a difference in shock absorbance. With a little wind, dust would fly up. Could anyone really carry out precise tests in this place that was like those places depicted in Western movies? Or were they really setting this irregular terrain as a practical training ground?

There were only around 200 students on the Tokiwadai Middle School side, and they were all ojous, so they looked elegant, charming and petite. The reason why there was so much spotlight from the spectators was, well besides their prowess, these girls on lens were like a beautiful painting.

However, that was an ‘external’ viewpoint from outside Academy City.

The views from those ‘inside’ Academy City were completely different.

When the ojous of Tokiwadai took part in a battle, it meant that their weakest, Level 3s, all the way to their strongest, Level 5s, would be taking part. Even if the numbers and physique were different, the opponent was simply pessimistic against this group of ojous who could sink an Aegis-class warship with smiles on their faces.

In actuality, on the other side of the school compound......behind the pole baskets used for the tossing contest that was separating them, was the opposing school. Though there were more than 2000 of them, one could see from afar that there was a sense of realisation over there, which was covered by an atmosphere of tragedy. In the eyes of the Tokiwadai camp, these people were giving off a sense of failure. The proud ojous quickly realised this as they gave a sharp Ohohohohoho laugh.

But Misaka Mikoto was not pleased with this situation at all.

Her two hands on her hips, Biri Biri, she began to emit some blue and white sparks.

(......WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON!)

In the enemy’s camp, 100 metres away, among the 2,000+ middle school students, was a person who shouldn’t have be there. And to think that guy even carefully prepared by putting on the school’s designated P.E. attire.

She had never beaten that guy before.

The only teenager she had ever showed her crying face to.

(WHAT–ON–EARTH–ARE–YOU–DOING–OVER THERE!! OI......!?)

The kouhais around Mikoto were somewhat afraid to ask her what was wrong, but Mikoto, who lowered her head as she gave an eerie laugh, didn’t realise that the air around her was crackling.

After the participants were in the arena, Kamijou Touma, who heard the name of the opponent from his own camp, went green immediately.

“(Eh......!? The opponent is Tokiwadai Middle School! Fa...face it, Tsuchimikado! If the ojous over there are angry, they’ll probably send out a railgun that can even cut Tokyo Tower in half!)”

“(......Nya. I heard that with their abilities and Levels combined, they can even take down the White House with just flesh. Kami-yan, we should be careful about stray bullets.)”

After talking about things that would guarantee that they’d be attacked by the ojous if the ojous had heard them, the two started to talk about emergency battle plans.

“The ‘shorthand original’ is just a code name. in fact, it’s impossible to set up such a thick book down there nya. The divination circle array’s response points to this school; do you see anything that’s strange on first glance?”

Like what Tsuchimikado said, there was no ‘magical item’ to be seen at this school.

On the soil ground, the ten metal pole baskets were arranged in a line. Placed around them were red and white balls. As there were more than 2,000 people taking part in this, not only was the basket big, there were a lot of balls to be used.

If she was to set it up, where would she put it?

“Really, it’ll be good if it’s shaped like an old book.”

“That’s the objective of the enemy. Though we don’t know Oriana’s modus operandi, since it’s a set-up type, there must be a spell that’s set up. It can be disguised as graffiti, scratches, dyes or even stains. Does she think that I can’t find it? Kami-yan, the Onmyoji techniques that I learnt include Fengshui techniques of scenery and buildings. ‘Reading’ these magic marks is my speciality.

Tsuchimikado smiled as he answered.

Kamijou started to think.

“Oh yeah, Tsuchimikado. Speaking about where Oriana’s ‘shorthand original’ is, isn’t that a magic book as well......also, it’s still an original, right? I heard that people’s hearts will be broken if they read it, so won’t the people taking part in this ball tossing match all fall?”

“No, I don’t think so. The ‘shorthand original’ is a magic book that doesn’t allow any reader to understand it. Since it’s a scribbled book that cannot be read, no corrupted knowledge will be passed on. So you don’t have to worry about that.”

I see. Kamijou finally relaxed.

However, Tsuchimikado’s face still looked stern.

“The important thing is how that Oriana set up the magic book nya. If it’s carved on a stone tablet, the stone tablet itself will become a magic book. Though I don’t know how far it extends to, I hope that she didn’t set up something too big, because the chances of touching it would be extremely big.”

Kamijou looked past the students’ heads, at the school. What he saw was a row of ten pole baskets that were used for this match, with some red and white balls scattered around it.

“It’s alright if it’s those baskets......for example, it’ll be disastrous if one of those balls is the magic book. There’re a total of around 2,500 people after totalling both sides, right? If so, the number of balls prepared will be twice the number. More importantly, the chances of touching it are high.”

Not only would finding it be difficult, the participants would also be tossing the ball. Even if it was set up among them, they didn’t know where to start looking from.

“No, the balls were only added just now. When Stiyl was attacked by the counterspell, these balls were still in the warehouse. If so, it’ll be weird if the ‘all-around reality array’ didn’t point towards the warehouse.”

“So now what?”

Kamijou turned around to stare at Tsuchimikado, before looking back at the school campus, and then back at Tsuchimikado.

“The baskets are rather suspicious nya. It seems like they have been set there for quite some time. They have to decide where the baskets are to be placed because they need to ‘scatter the balls around the basket.’ If so, it’s likely that she set the spell at the basket.”

“But, what do we do......? Though it’s only preparations, this is when the spectators are gathering. Won’t we be noticed if we just casually approach it?”

This was obvious, because there was nothing blocking anyone’s view. Or had she disguised herself like how Kamijou thought?

“No. It’s likely that Oriana wouldn’t get close to the school. Kami-yan, didn’t you notice the security guards at the back door? Trying to break through it while running away is a waste of effort... Those baskets may be borrowed from some other place nya. Maybe she set up the magic array while they shifted them here.”

“But, just touching it alone will create a victim. Then how did the courier not fall?”

“It’s likely that Oriana set up when it’ll start and stop. The proceedings of the match will be televised through broadcast. By looking at the electronic bulletin, one could get hold of the situation that’s required for her to prepare this nya.”

“Stop......?”

Kamijou raised a doubt, but Tsuchimikado smiled,

“Oriana will try her best to avoid any chaos in order to allow the deal to proceed smoothly. It’s likely that she’ll stop it when the match is over and the committee finishes clearing up. Of course, she’ll be far away by then.”

But once anyone touched that magic book ‘shorthand original’, whose shape and whereabouts were unknown, it’d be disastrous.

“That Oriana......thought about these right from the start?”

“I don’t know nya. It’s likely that she didn’t think that far. Besides, there’s a competition schedule on the tour guidebook. Investigating the actions of the committee members isn’t impossible.”

As Tsuchimikado answered, the audio broadcast of the school could be heard.

“Everyone, get into position.”

A voice could be heard.

The fight against this enemy that wasn’t there was about to start.

On one side of the school compound, inside the tent for committee members, Fukiyose Seiri was holding a microphone.

“Everyone, get into position.”

The voice released by her throat overlapped with the noise from the audio speakers. The work of a committee member was rather diverse, ranging from recalling the injured to giving the start and stop signals for a match. The actual broadcast was left to the broadcasting crew inside the broadcasting tent, so the committee members just needed to give the starting signal.

There was other troublesome work like counting the number of balls tossed into the baskets. Because there were so many participants, the number of balls tossed into the baskets could not be underestimated. In this ‘ball tossing contest’, 1/3 of the estimated time taken was used for counting the balls.

“Get set.”

Fukiyose was only in charge of giving the starting command, whereas the other commands were to be handled by the other committee members. After this was done, she had to count the balls afterwards. Others may feel that it was bothersome, but she had other things on her mind.

(I’ve been feeling that someone’s inside that group......is it fatigue? Do I lack vitamins? I recall that soybeans can relieve mental fatigue. But didn’t that shopping program mention that soy isoflavones is effective against anything ranging from obesity and blood toxins to memory loss and aging of skin?)

While her doubts weren’t solved yet, Fukiyose raised her voice,

“START!!”

Beep!! With the sound of the whistle, the ‘Ball Tossing match’ started. The loudspeakers in the school started blaring a march that was normally heard during a sports meet.

The students from both schools ignored the fast paced and entertaining music as they advanced to the middle from the left and right side of the arena. Their targets were the pole baskets that were approximately 3 metres tall.

“Woah! Kami-yan, get down!!”

Tsuchimikado shouted. Just as Kamijou got down onto the ground, colourful lights and flashes of red, blue and yellow flew over from the Tokiwadai Middle School side that was several metres behind the baskets. The flashes arrived, creating shockwaves. With this volley of attacks, dozens of boys were blown away.

“Wah, to think that those guys were knocked back by 10 metres!?”

A part of the crowd vanished. During the Wrench Pole match that Kamijou had been involved in, there had also been esper attacks, but these were of a completely different level. A crater several metres in diameter, one that was comparable to the craters on the moon, was made. Even the dust floating in the air was blown away by the impact.

Kamijou was terrified, and turned to look behind. Though the students that had been blown away were still wobbly in their legs, it seemed like nobody was hurt. Seemed like as the explosion occurred, other espers from Tokiwadai had added some protective thing like an ‘air balloon’ or a ‘shock proliferation’. As expected of the ojous that liked to take care of the enemy’s welfare.

However, Kamijou’s right hand, which contained the Imagine Breaker power, may end up destroying this kind protective power. The wound on Tsuchimikado’s flank may open once there was an impact.

“......”

“......”

Kamijou and Tsuchimikado inadvertently communicated with each other wordlessly.

Next, flashes of red, blue and yellow were heading towards the two of them. Fireballs, electric guns and vacuum bullets were flying towards them.

“Wha......what is going on......! Didn’t the schedule say that it’s a Ball Tossing contest?”

“Instead of balls, we might as well call them cannons nya!!”

Because of these cannon blasts, parts of this group of student began to vanish one by one. Kamijou and Tsuchimikado got into the crowd, making their way to the middle of the school compound with all their might, to the baskets that were arranged in a row. The posts weren’t supported by humans, but by metal bases on the ground.

“...(Listen carefully, Kami-yan. I’m going to check the posts in order.)”

“...(Ah, is there anything I can help with?)”

“...(I’ll tell you if there’s anything to be done. Okay, stay here nya. You’re up next once I find this ‘shorthand original’.)”

“...(Got it, however...)”

Kamijou thought, what am I going to do in the meantime? Anyway, in order to avoid suspicion, he threw a white ball that was on the ground, and thinking that if he, an outsider, was to really take part in this match, it could really change the outcome of the battle, so he was not too enthusiastic about it.

Under a post, Tsuchimikado purposely tossed a ball that would definitely not land inside the basket, and examined it from top to bottom. The pole basket was 3 metres tall, so just twisting his head up to examine it was really tedious.

Besides checking for any flash card that Oriana may be using, Tsuchimikado was checking different areas, whether there were any strange words that were carved on the pole, or whether there were any strange markings on the metal base.

“(...Tsuchimikado?)”

“(...Not this one, Kami-yan.)”

He shook his head, picked up another white ball, and headed towards the next post.

Next, he checked the second one beside it, then the third one, only to be let down. Seeing this, Kamijou felt that time was running out.

There were still seven more to go.

Just when Kamijou was going to follow Tsuchimikado from behind, a white flash was shot from behind him.

“Wa!?”

He immediately used his right hand to block. The light bullet flew over, and upon touching Kamijou’s hand, Shoosh! A sound could be heard as it gently bounced off. Somewhere rather far away from him, he could see the girls of Tokiwadai staring, wide-mouthed, but Kamijou didn’t care. It would be bad if he was noticed. Thus, he nudged his elbow on a trembling male student nearby, pretending that it was this boy who had saved him.

“(...Kami-yan, it’s not the fourth one either. Next one.)”

The angry girls of Tokiwadai Middle school turned to aim at that boy. Tsuchimikado and Kamijou then proceeded on to the fifth one.

The human wall in front begins to shake.

A group of boys who were only focused on tossing the balls into the baskets were blown back like a row of dominoes. They were crowded together as they knocked into the fifth basket.

Dang! With a metallic sound, the basket started to shake.

If Oriana had set the ‘shorthand original’ at the fifth post—lots of sacrifices would have been made.

Like how Stiyl seemed to be suffering from severe heatstroke.

Those without magical capabilities could die at the hands of this counterattacking spell.

“Damn it!!”

Tsuchimikado frantically dashed towards the group. Kamijou wanted to go after him, only to stop in his tracks.

The fifth pole was shaking heavily.

It fell sideways, crashing heavily into the sixth pole beside it.

The sixth pole was shaking about as well.

In front of the falling metal was a female student from Tokiwadai.

The girl, who was holding a red ball with both hands, was wide-mouthed as she stared at the heavy equipment, which weighed over 30kg, falling onto her.

Kamijou wanted to run over, but the group of boys who fell at the fifth post were blocking him.

“Damn it! Tsuchimikado!!”

Kamijou shouted. He jumped onto the back of Tsuchimikado, who was dashing towards the fifth post, and leapt over the group of boys on the ground. He lost his balance in mid-air, but still managed to grab the collar of the girl’s jogging suit, and used momentum to drag her aside. At least he managed to get out of the path of the falling pole.

At this moment, from far away, an explosion caused by esper powers colliding occurred.

The sixth pole, which was falling down, was affected by the storm generated. The metal pole was now falling towards Kamijou and company, with numerous times the weight and momentum.

(Damn it, got to get out of the way first!)

In this posture, when he was lying on the ground, Kamijou was unable to jump away. Due to the impact when he fell down, Kamijou’s body was hurting all over. He shifted his aching body over, and pushed the girl, now unable to move, away. The girl looked surprised, and it seemed that she didn’t even know what was happening around her.

(...Really!!)

Kamijou gritted his teeth.

The pole basket that was over 30kg was falling onto him.

In that instant.

Dang!! Like the sound of a Church bell being rung, the sixth pole basket was forced aside. It was cut in half by an orange beam of light, continued to bounce on the ground, and rolled away for several metres. The surrounding students instantly ducked, but several seconds later, it was back to the chaotic battle mode. During this time, what was left of the pole continued to bounce on the ground.

Railgun.

One of the esper powers, a bullet which moved at three times the speed of sound.

Kamijou Touma shakily looked back. In front of him was a girl who had flicked a coin with her thumb, the general of Tokiwadai Middle school who was emitting sparks all over her body, Misaka Mikoto.

The two stared at each other.

“Hehehe...”

Kamijou laughed weakly.

“Really...you...YOU-REALLY-WANT-ME-TO-BE-THE-ONE-PUNISHED!!??”

At the same time, Mikoto continued to fire an electric shot.

“Ww...waaahhhh!! That girl down there, before you get hit by this large-scale attack, run away!! I’ll block this, so hurry up and run!!”

Kamijou frantically waved his right hand to deflect the electric shot.

The girl just shouted from behind, “Thank you very much! I’m sorry!!” bowed politely, and ran away from the battlefront with amazing speed. In a flash, she was lost among the participants who were duking it out.

Kamijou didn’t look behind as he calmly said,

“...Phew, seeing her being so lively, guess nothing’s wrong.”

“You...sneaking into another person’s match is bad enough, why are you acting so cool...?”

While arguing halfway, Mikoto felt somewhat tired as she placed a hand on her forehead. She then extended her small hand out to the side—the seventh pole.

“STOP! Wait a second, Misaka-san!!”

“Wha...what are you doing?”

Mikoto’s pulled her hand back, suspending it in mid-air.

Kamijou didn’t look at Mikoto’s face. He was observing the seventh pole. At the height where Mikoto was about to place her hand, there seemed to be something.

A rectangular piece of paper...that was as big as a chewing gum wrapper.

Though he couldn’t see it from here, there seemed to be some small words written on it.

(A flashcard!? Don’t tell me that’s the ‘shorthand original’?)

Kamijou’s back suddenly froze.

A foreboding struck him, stiffening his body.

(I see...it’s likely that the ‘shorthand original’ that Tsuchimikado talked about, that thing that creates a counterspell, is referring to that. Don’t tell me every single one of Oriana flashcards is a ‘shorthand original’?)

Kamijou thought, this was bad.

Both Kamijou and Mikoto were about 1.5m away from each other.

Though they were near to each other, it was not a distance that could be covered by just stretching a hand out.

The thick piece of paper was only taped onto the pole at the top.

As the autumn wind blew, the piece of paper would sway about slightly.

Misaka Mikoto’s palm was only 3 cm away from the pole.

Once a strong wind blew—the thick piece of paper might touch her.

Thinking about how Stiyl was lying on the ground right now, Kamijou inadvertently gasped.

He carefully selected his choice of words, and calmly, he said to the girl, who was in danger,

“Listen, Misaka-san. I’ll explain it to you later. Listen to me, get away from there. What I’m going to say will be very important.”

“Ah??? What are you talking about? Saying this all of a sudden?”

As expected, Mikoto frowned. Her hand...continued to remain at that position though. It was neither moving forward, nor backwards, maintaining a distance of 3 cm.

The thick piece of paper suddenly swayed about slightly.

Mikoto didn’t notice the danger hidden in this situation.

“I say. Right now, what authority do you have to order me around? Why are you here? We can’t continue the match when the pole is down, so you better give me a proper explanation—”

At this moment, one could hear the air being cut.

The sound came from behind Kamijou. The male students from the school facing off against Tokiwadai fired dirt shots at Mikoto. Because of the esper powers, the dirt shots were accelerated and cut through the air like a bullet. If one was hit by it, the person’s bones would break.

Seeing this sudden situation, Mikoto was shocked, and emitted some blue sparks, ready to strike back.

“Stop interfering!!”

Before she could take action, Kamijou’s right hand stretched out to the side.

The boy’s fist, which was between the dirt shots and Mikoto, smashed the dirt shots in one hit.

The dust that was flying about dirtied Kamijou’s face, but he didn’t even bother rubbing it off.

It seemed like he didn’t have time to do this, as his eyes were fixated on Misaka Mikoto.

“Bak...”

Mikoto looked at what was left of the dirt shots, and then turned to look at Kamijou.

“Are you an idiot? Why are you blocking your own allies’ attacks? Eve...even without your help, I can settle this on my own. What’s this important thing that you want to talk about? Can’t you say it after the match? What is it that requires you to sneak in here and say it to me!?”

“I’ll explain it to you later, Misaka-san. Anyway, just hurry up and get out of here!!”

“Really! Why aren’t you listening to other people’s words! The one who should be leaving is you, right!!”

Mikoto angrily smacked against the pole to vent her frustration.

Frantically, Kamijou inadvertently shouted.

“Wait a second, Misaka-san! Don’t say anything now, and come over now!! It’s dangerous there! I don’t want you to get hurt!!”

Mikoto stopped what she was doing.

For some reason, her face reddened. Her head didn’t move, but her eyes seemed to be looking away from Kamijou.

“There’s no need for you to worry about me in this minor competition. No matter who attacks me, I’ll be fine as long as I use my powers...”

Kamijou couldn’t hear what she was saying, and right now, there was no time for that. His eyes were watching each and every single action that Mikoto did. Sweat flowed onto his face, so he quickly rubbed it away with his right hand, and could feel a gritty feeling as he rubbed it away.

On the other hand, Mikoto, who was being observed by Kamijou, made a sound as she straightened her back. The hand that was about to touch the pole slowly pulled back in front of her. After a while, she violently shook her head.

(Anyway...there’s nothing wrong right? However, why is she blushing???)

Kamijou had this doubt in his head, but Mikoto’s hand did leave the pole after all.

Just when Kamijou relaxed,

“What the heck, stop saying such things to scare me.”

Mikoto bent her back that she had straightened just now, and listlessly grabbed onto the pole with her right hand.

“Damn it!!”

Kamijou dashed forward with all his might. The thick piece of paper was being blown about wildly in the wind, and was about to touch Mikoto’s palm. Before that happened, Kamijou leaped towards her, and using the momentum, ducked. He clung onto Mikoto’s waist with both hands, and sent her to the ground in one go.

“Eh? EH?”

Mikoto lay on the ground and looked up at the body covering her. The two hands in front of her chest froze.

“Wah...wah...wh...whywhywhywhywhy...?”

Like an explosion, Mikoto’s face was fully flushed red, and she was unable to complete her sentence. Kamijou’s face became even more serious.

“Quiet, don’t move.”

After saying this, while Mikoto was still lying on the ground, Kamijou observed her face. Since he didn’t know anything about magic, he was unable to make any judgement. However, just by looking from the view of a layman, her face was extremely red now, like she had some sort of fever.

(He did mention that there would be symptoms like severe heatstroke...)

In order to examine it better, Kamijou brought his face closer.

“Eh...that...?”

Mikoto blinked. To her, it seemed like Kamijou, who had brought his face closer, realised something, and slowly closed her eyes.

Seeing this situation, Kamijou sucked his tongue, and frantically placed his right hand on her forehead.

“Damn it, are you really unwell, Misaka-san!!? A rise in temperature...damn it, why is your face that red!!?”

Hearing Kamijou shout, Mikoto snapped back into reality, and frantically retorted back violently,

“Wha...what! Since when was it red since when was it red since when was it red! I’m not having a fever!!”

Eh? Kamijou pulled his face backwards. If any ordinary person was supposed to have worse symptoms than Stiyl, then it meant that Mikoto had never touched the pole basket.

However, they had found where Oriana had set up her flashcard — the location of the counterspell.

Kamijou got away from Mikoto, and looked around.

“Tsuchimikado, it’s here! The seventh one—!!”

Just as he was about to shout this out, he stopped.

He saw it.

The thick piece of paper that was stuck on the seventh pole with tape had the words ‘property of Noyi Middle school’. Was this pole borrowed from other schools?

Tsuchimikado said.

This is a tag to prevent them from losing it.

(It’s not this!? Then, where’s the real ‘shorthand original’!?)

Kamijou frantically looked around.

At this moment, the whistle was blown. The march that was being played on the school’s audio speakers stopped airing.

After that, another hand stretched out, and grabbed onto the eighth pole.

“Really. Kamijou Touma, what are you doing here?”

An accusing voice was heard.

“I’ll ask you for the reason later, so right now, leave quietly. The match has to stop, since it’s impossible to have a fair game when so many posts are down.”

The committee member, Fukiyose Seiri, looked at him with a surprised look.

The girl was wearing a thin jacket over her P.E. attire.

“You hear me? Do you still want me to force you to eat calcium?”

But Kamijou wasn’t looking at her, and neither could he hear her voice.

In Fukiyose’s hand...

There was a piece of paper between the metal post and her soft palm.

It was a piece of paper that was taped on.

Kamijou hoped that the thick piece of paper was an ordinary piece of paper like the one on the seventh pole.

There were blue words written on this piece of paper, and it seemed to be written in English.

PAcha!! Suddenly, a strange sound was heard.

Fukiyose’s body was shaking.

“Fuki...”

Her hand left the post lifelessly.

On the position she had been holding onto, there were the words ‘Wind Symbol’ written in blue pen.

“Fukiyose-san—!!”

Kamijou couldn’t help but shout out, but Fukiyose didn’t respond.

Just like this, Fukiyose’s hand left the pole, as she fell onto the ground. Pow. It was a lifeless way of falling down. She was on the ground, and couldn’t move her limbs. One could associate her expression with a deflated soft leather bag.

ParaParaPilaPila, around Fukiyose, the sound of air being compressed could be heard.

“Wha...what?”

Mikoto was surprised as she let out a cry. But among the participants, it seemed like only Mikoto had realised that something strange was going on. Though the other students looked suspiciously, nobody expected this to be an unknown attack from the magic side. As there were so many espers taking part in this battle, nobody would find it strange even if something unbelievable occurred.

At this moment, Tsuchimikado managed to get beside Kamijou.

“(...Kami-yan, hurry up and knock Fukiyose! She’s not a magician. She’ll be in danger if this continues!!)”

Hearing Tsuchimikado, Kamijou collected himself. He rushed towards Fukiyose Seiri, who was lying on the ground, lifted her up, and brought his right hand behind her.

Pashoo, a deflating sound could be heard.

Even so.

Even so, Fukiyose Seiri hadn’t recovered.

“Damn it...”

He knew the reason. Between Stiyl Magnus and Fukiyose Seiri, there was a difference in magic resistance. Even a magic specialist like Stiyl had been hit badly. Fukiyose Seiri, an ordinary person, was attacked without warning. Anyone could expect what kind of outcome this would warrant.

But.

No matter how anyone thought, the doubt in the brain couldn’t be stopped.

Why?

“Tsuchimikado!!”

“Calm down, Kami-yan. This is just physical fatigue caused by removing some lifeforce—didn’t I say that it’s like severe heatstroke? The health room...probably won’t be able to save her. If we call an ambulance now, we can still make it. At least it’s better than letting her lie down in the sun.”

He calmly said what they should do.

But, saying something like this wasn’t convincing. It was like saying, because he was a specialist, he knew the seriousness of the situation, so he wouldn’t purposely say anything that would make Kamijou optimistic.

From the tent in a corner of the school compound, several committee members were running out. They must have realised that something was wrong. One could also see teachers among them as well. In their eyes, it seemed that they felt that Kamijou and company were hesitating, not knowing what to do to take care of this girl who suddenly fell down.

The committee and staff members quickly grabbed Fukiyose’s body from Kamijou’s hand, and quickly moved somewhere to establish contact.

Kamijou Touma, who was left alone on the same spot, slowly got up.

He lowered his head and quickly swung his fist to the side. DANG!! With a metallic sound, the piece of paper that Oriana had stuck on the pole shook. Mikoto stared at Kamijou, looking surprised, but Kamijou didn’t mind at all. On the piece of paper that was hit with Kamijou’s right hand, the words on it vanished as if it melted away.

“What a brilliant idea, huh, Oriana Thomson...”

His vibrating lips started to move.

“If this was your doing, if you are willing to involve innocent people into this situation without guilt—”

He lifted his head, looked in front, and declared.

“—THEN I’LL USE THIS FIST OF MINE, TO SMASH THAT NONSENSICAL ILLUSION OF YOURS COMPLETELY!!!”

Between the lines 2

It hurt.

In Fukiyose Seiri’s subconsciousness, this was what she thought.

She knew that she was lying on a stretcher; she knew that she was being carried down an ambulance to the entrance of the hospital’s emergency department.

But there was no sense of reality.

Right now, she was in a state where she was unable to tell which way was up, down, left, or right, a groggy feeling. Either it was because she was lying on the stretcher, or there was something wrong with her subconsciousness. Seemed like the adults surrounding her were shouting to confirm whether she was awake, but she didn’t hear what they were talking about. To her ears, these words were like gibberish that a drunk would say, nobody could make out what he said. Among them, only the word ‘heatstroke’ inexplicably stayed in her ears.

Heatstroke.

It was a common illness seen during school P.E. lessons or school meets, so it was commonly neglected. The reason was because of rapid dehydration, and if it was severe, may have the risk of causing death.

Of course, this wasn’t the first time that Fukiyose got heatstroke, so she could imagine how she fell.

But this time, there was a completely different feeling from before. Normally, when suffering from a normal heatstroke, the headache would disappear after a while. This time though, the headache didn’t subside, and the pain was getting worse.

(...Ugh...)

As a member of the Daihaseisai Organising Committee, Fukiyose had given basic emergency treatment before. Because of this, she was more aware than ordinary students that one could not belittle heatstroke.

What is wrong now? She thought.

She had gotten enough water, her body temperature was normal. It couldn’t be fatigue, lack of sleep, or ill health. She had already done all the preparations to keep herself healthy, but to think that this still managed to happen.

(If so...the only thing I can think of is...)

Nervousness. Maybe?

Fukiyose thought, was I really that nervous?

Like a psychological problem, most people wouldn’t feel it. If so...Fukiyose thought, she worked so hard on the preparations all for this day. If she failed here, everything would go to waste. The laughter she had when working on the preparations with the other committee members, the effort she put in to memorise the judging order, going to a café while on her way home to confirm the match schedules, all these efforts could be wiped away by ‘failure’. Because of this, she had subconsciously become so nervous.

(...I’m just like an idiot...)

To impulsively work so hard, to impulsively fall down out of a sudden, to impulsively ruin the match.

Fukiyose thought, this is all my fault, I brought too much trouble to everyone else. In order to not add on to other people’s burdens, I might as well quit getting involved in Daihaseisai.

(It’s entirely my fault.)

But, why?

Why had that boy been shouting at her with such a distorted expression.

That was not a reaction one would have when someone had heatstroke.

That was something that was out of his predictions. It felt that this situation was completely out of what he expected. Instead of saying that it was a sudden reaction to what happened, it was more like he was well-prepared and guarded, but still let something slip by.

What did he know?

What was he regretting?

(I want to know.)

She thought.

But she was more mindful about...

(So irritating...)

Fukiyose Seiri slightly moved her lips.

What Fukiyose was surprised about was that that boy, who always looked casual, and always gave the impression that he wouldn’t treat any matter seriously, would give that sort of expression.

Thinking about how that boy would continue to live with that expression for the next few days of Daihaseisai, Fukiyose inadvertently frowned.

(...I—really hate—those kind...)

She didn’t really like or hate Kamijou Touma.

Frankly, to her, he was just an outsider.

But up till now, Fukiyose Seiri was a committee member who worked hard in the preparations for Daihaseisai, all to let everyone be able to enjoy themselves. This was completely unrelated to her individual likes or dislikes.

Therefore, she really didn’t want him to be the only one who continued to be like this in this event.

Because this was an event that she took part in.

For this, she continued to work hard till this day.

This may sound a bit capricious.

But she still wished for this event to be a success to anyone.

The stretcher, which was carrying the groggy Fukiyose, passed through the entrance of the emergency ward, and into the building. A doctor wearing a white lab coat was waiting for her over there. The doctor had the face of a frog, causing Fukiyose to almost laugh out.

The frog-faced doctor gave a completely different feeling as compared to everyone else, as he immediately gave orders clearly.

Fukiyose, who was still groggy, was unable to hear the contents of those words clearly. Her head was aching severely, and it seemed like several gears in her thoughts were loose. Even if she tried to integrate her thoughts together, her awareness continued to worsen.

Only the words ‘Severe heatstroke’ continued to bounce around in her head. This was an illness that was caused by severe dehydration, and if serious, would be bad for her circulatory system. Once the balance between the amount of oxygen and nutrients was lost, it may cause the internal organs to dysfunction, and in the worst case scenario, even cause death.

The extent of heatstroke may end up leading to a high risk.

If it was serious, it may cause damage to the other body parts, like a switch being turned on and off.

Thinking up till here, Fukiyose’s teeth couldn’t help but clatter.

(I don’t want to die.)

She thought.

Fukiyose herself was unable to understand where the fear came from. Was it because she hated this sudden headache, or the chill that spread through her body? Or was it that she didn’t know what was going to happen later, that made her feel so insecure? She was unable to get rid of this feeling, while her mind was continually being tortured by these complicated feelings.

She didn’t know what the people around her were saying.

And she was unable to tell how bad the state of her body was currently.

Because of this, she didn’t care about anything, and just raised one question.

“...Can...I be...saved...?”

She didn’t know if her voice could be heard, and she didn’t even feel confident that her lips moved.

But the frog-faced doctor heard this, immediately stopped issuing orders, and stared at Fukiyose’s face.

In this groggy state, when she was apparently unable to hear other people’s voices, the doctor’s voice clearly reached Fukiyose’s ears.

To the girl lying on the stretcher, he only said one thing.

His face gave a perfect smile that would gain anyone complete trust, and said,

“―Who do you think I am?”