Chapter 2: The Illusionist Bestows Demise. Part 1

It was night; the sirens of an ambulance and fire trucks rang from the main road and echoed by.

The dorm had seemed mostly abandoned, but the triggering of the fire alarm and the subsequent sprinklers going off had changed matters. In no time at all, the empty dorm was filled with fire trucks and onlookers.

Kamijou had used his right hand to destroy the tracking function of the hood in his room before taking it with him. Had he left it working and abandoned it in some arbitrary place, he could have fooled the pursuers, but she obstinately insisted that she take it with her.

Kamijou Touma clicked his tongue in a back alley. He held Index's bloody form in his arms as he could not let her wound touch the dirty ground.

He could not hand Index over to an ambulance.

Academy City fundamentally disliked outsiders. That was why walls surrounded the city and three satellites were constantly monitoring all activities. Even the drivers of the trucks that supplied convenience stores needed an exclusive ID to get in.

For that reason, information about an outsider without an ID, like Index, would spread if she were hospitalized.

Not to mention, her enemy was part of some organization.

If she were attacked there, the damage would have spread to those around her. Also, she would be defenseless if she were attacked while recovering or in surgery.

"But I can't just leave her like this."

"I'll… be fine. If you… can just stop the bleeding…"

Index's voice was weak and showed no hint of the mechanical voice she donned while she explained runes.

And, that was why Kamijou immediately knew that what she had said was wrong. Her wound was beyond something an amateur could solve by wrapping bandages. Kamijou was accustomed to fights and he performed first aid on himself for most of the wounds best kept secret. But, the wound on her back was bad enough to make even Kamijou lose his cool.

There remained only one thing that they could rely on.

He still did not believe in it, but he had nothing else left to believe in.

"Hey, hey! Can you hear me?" Kamijou lightly slapped Index's cheek. "Is there anything that can heal wounds in those 103,000 grimoires of yours?"

Kamijou's idea of magic was nothing more than the attack magic and recovery magic in RPGs.

It was true that Index had said that she was naturally unable to process magic power by herself and therefore could not use magic; but, Kamijou could handle supernatural powers, so if Index would just tell him what to do…

Index's breathing was shallow. However, this was more due to blood loss than pain. Her pale lips trembled.

"There is… but…"

Kamijou's face lit up for an instant until the word "but" belatedly caught in his mind.

"You… can't do it…" Index let out a small breath. "Even if I… taught you the spell… your power would surely… get in the way… ow… even if you perfectly… imitated it."

Kamijou looked down at his right hand in shock.

Imagine Breaker. The power residing there had indeed completely negated Stiyl's flames. And so there was a chance that it would negate Index's recovery magic the same way.

"Shit! Not again… Why is it always this right hand's fault!?"

That just meant that he needed to call someone: such as Aogami Pierce or that Biri Biri girl Misaka Mikoto. The faces of a few tough people whom he would have no worries about getting involved in this kind of trouble floated up in his mind.

"…?" Index fell silent for a bit. "No… That isn't what I meant."

"?"

"Not your right hand… The problem is… that you're an esper." In that broiling night, she shivered like on a snowy mountain in midwinter. "Magic is not… something to be used by 'talented people' like you espers. 'Untalented people wanted… to do what the 'talented people' could do… so they created certain spells and rituals… which are known as magic."

Kamijou was about ready to shout, "This is no time for explanations!"

"You don't get it…? The circuitry is different between 'talented people' and 'untalented people'… 'Talented people' cannot use the systems created…for the 'untalented people…'"

"Wha-…?"

Kamijou was left speechless. It was true that drugs and electrodes were used on espers like Kamijou to forcibly expand the circuitry of their brains in a way that made it different from a normal human's. It was true that their bodies were different from others.

But he could not believe it. No, he did not want to believe it.

2.3 million students lived in Academy City and every single one of them had undergone the powers development Curriculum. Even if it were not visibly apparent, even if they could not bend a spoon with efforts so strenuous they burst the blood vessels in their brain, and even if they were the weakest of espers, they were indeed made differently from a normal person.

In other words, the people who lived in that city could not use magic, the one thing that could save the girl.

There was a way to save the person before who lay before him, and yet not a single person could.

"Damn it…" Kamijou bared his canines like a beast. "How could this happen? How could this happen!? What the hell is this!? How is this fair!?"

Index's trembling grew worse.

What Kamijou found the most difficult to bear was the fact that she received punishment for his own inability.

"'Talented' my ass," he spat out. "I can't even save the girl suffering before my eyes."

However, he could come up with no other solution to the situation. The fact that the 2.3 million students living in the city could not use magic was the rule he needed to break down first.

"…?"

Kamijou suddenly noticed something off about his thought process.

Students?

"Hey, any normal 'talentless' person can use magic, right?"

"…Eh? Yes."

"And this isn't going to end up being useless because the person has no talent for magic, right?"

"You don't… need to worry about that… As long as they prepare correctly and perform it correctly… even a middle school student should be able to do it." Index thought for a bit. "Although, if they get the steps wrong, the pathways in their brain and their neural circuitry could be fried… But with the knowledge of my 103,000 grimoires, it will be fine. Do not worry."

Kamijou smiled.

Without thinking, he looked up as if to howl at the moon in the night sky.

It was true that 2.3 million students lived in Academy City and that they had all been developed to have some kind of psychic power.

However, the teachers that developed them were normal humans.

"I hope she isn't already asleep."

The face of a certain teacher appeared in Kamijou Touma's mind.

It was the face of Tsukuyomi Komoe, the 135 centimeter tall homeroom teacher of his class who a red randoseru would suit despite her being a teacher.

Kamijou used a pay phone to get Komoe-sensei's address from Aogami Pierce. (Kamijou had dropped and broken his phone that morning. Why Aogami Pierce knew Komoe's address was a mystery. Kamijou suspected he was a stalker.) Kamijou then began to walk with Index's limp form on his back.

"This is the place…"

He arrived after 15 minutes of walking from that back alley.

Utterly unbefitting of Komoe-sensei's 12 year old appearance, it was a two story wooden apartment building that looked so old and worn down that Kamijou felt it must have weathered the bombing of Tokyo. Since the washing machine was sitting directly out in the passageway, it must have had nothing like a bath.

Normally, Kamijou would joke about it for the next 10 minutes, but he did not even smile.

After checking the nameplates on the first floor's doors, he climbed up the run-down and rusty metal staircase and checked the doors there. When he reached the door furthest back on the second floor, he had finally found "Tsukuyomi Komoe" written in hiragana.

Kamijou rang the doorbell twice and then kicked at the door with all his might.

His foot striking the door made a tremendous noise.

However, the door did not so much as budge. True to form, Kamijou had the misfortune to think he heard an unpleasant crack come from his big toe.

"~ ~ ~!!"

"Yes, yes, yeees! The anti-newspaper salesman door is the only sturdy thing here. I'll open it, okay?"

Why didn't I just wait? He reprimanded himself.

As Kamijou had that teary-eyed thought, the door clicked open and a pajama wearing Komoe-sensei's head poked out through the crack. Her relaxed expression made it clear that she could not see Index's back wound from her position.

"Wah, Kamijou-chan. Did you start working part time as a newspaper salesman?"

"What newspaper has its workers solicit people with a nun on their backs?" remarked Kamijou with displeasure. "I'm in a bit of trouble, so I'll be coming in. Excuse me."

"W-Wait, wait, wait!" Komoe-sensei frantically tried to block Kamijou's way as he pushed her aside. "I-I can't have you suddenly coming into my room. And it isn't just because my room is a horrible mess with empty beer cans littering the floor and cigarette butts piled up in the ash tray!"

"Sensei."

"Yes?"

"…See if you can make the same joke after seeing what I'm carrying on my back."

"I-I wasn't joking! …Gyahhh!?'

"So now you notice it!"

"I didn't see you had such a bad wound on your back, Kamijou-chan!"

Komoe-sensei began to panic at the sudden sight of blood and Kamijou finally managed to push her aside and enter the room.

It looked like a room belonging to a middle aged man who loved betting on horse races. The badly worn tatami mats had countless empty beer cans strewn across them and the silver ash tray had a veritable mountain of cigarette butts in it. In what seemed like some kind of joke, in the middle of the room there was even a tea table of the kind a stubborn father would flip over.

"…I see. So you weren't joking."

"I suppose it is hardly the time, but do you have a problem with girls who smoke?"

Kamijou felt that was hardly the problem as he stared at his homeroom teacher who appeared 12 and kicked some beer cans out of the way to clear an open spot. He was reluctant to sit on the worn tatami mat, but there was no time to worry about preparing a futon.

He laid Index face down on the floor to ensure her wound did not touch the floor.

The way her clothes were torn hid the actual wound from view, but a dark red liquid was flowing out like fuel oil. "Sh-Shouldn't you call an ambulance? Th-The phone is over there."

Komoe-sensei pointed toward a corner of the room with a trembling hand. For some reason, her phone was a black rotary dial phone.

"The mana in the blood is flowing out along with the blood."

Kamijou and Komoe-sensei reflexively turned toward Index.

Index was still sprawled out limply on the floor but her eyes were silently open even as her head lay on its side like a broken doll. Her eyes were colder than the pale moonlight and more precise than the gears of a clock. Her eyes were so perfectly serene that they looked inhuman.

"Warning: Chapter 2, Verse 6. The loss of the life force known as mana due to blood loss has exceeded a certain amount and John's Pen is being forcibly awoken. …If the current situation persists, my body will lose the bare minimum of necessary life force and expire in about 15 minutes according to the international standard minute defined by the clock tower in London. It would be best if you followed the instructions I am about to give in order to perform the most efficient treatment."

Komoe-sensei stared at Index in shock.

Kamijou could hardly blame her. Even though he had heard that voice once before, he simply could not get used to it.

"Now then…"

Kamijou looked over at Komoe-sensei and thought.

If he out and bluntly asked her to use magic, she would surely tell him it was hardly the time to be pretending to be a magical girl and that she was much too old for that kind of thing anyway. So, how was he supposed to convince her?

"Hmm. Sensei, sensei. Since it's an emergency, I'll keep this short. I need to tell you a secret, so come over here."

"What?"

Kamijou waved his hand like he was calling over a small dog and Komoe-sensei approached with no caution whatsoever.

"Sorry," Kamijou apologized to Index under his breath.

He lifted up her ripped clothes to reveal the horrible wound hidden beneath.

"Ee!?"

He could hardly blame Komoe-sensei for jumping in shock.

The wound was so bad that it shocked even Kamijou. It was a horizontally straight line cut across her back. It was as if a cardboard box had been sliced using a ruler and box cutter. Beyond the red blood, pink muscle, and yellow fat, something hard and white that seemed to be her backbone was visible.

If the wound were viewed as a red mouth, the lips around it had gone utterly pale like a person who had been in a pool.

"Gh…" Kamijou forced away some dizziness and carefully lowered the clothing that was wet with blood.

Even when the clothes touched the wound, Index's icy eyes did not move in the slightest.

"Sensei."

"Eh? Yes!?"

"I'm going to call an ambulance. In the mean time, you need to listen to what this girl has to say and do whatever she wants… Just make sure she doesn't lose consciousness. As you can tell by her clothing, she's religious. Thanks."

If she viewed it as nothing more than consoling the girl, she could continue to view magic as impossible. For that reason, Kamijou had changed the focus in Komoe-sensei's mind from treating the wound to continuing the conversation by any means necessary.

Komoe-sensei was nodding with an extremely serious expression and pale face.

The one problem was that Kamijou had to kill time outside while it happened.

If an ambulance arrived before the magic were complete, the "consolation" would end, meaning that he could not actually call an ambulance.

But, that alone did not mean Kamijou had to leave. After all, he could just dial 117 with the room's black phone and pretend to be calling an ambulance while actually speaking to a recording.

The real problem lay elsewhere.

"Hey, Index," Kamijou spoke softly to Index as she remained collapsed on the floor. "Is there anything I can do?"

"There is not. The best option for you would be to leave."

Her overly clear and concise wording made Kamijou clench his right fist so hard it was painful.

There was nothing Kamijou could do and it was all because of his right hand that would negate the recovery magic simply by being present in the room.

"…Then, sensei. I'm gonna go look for a pay phone."

"Wait… eh? Kamijou-chan, I have a phone he-…"

Kamijou ignored Komoe-sensei's words, opened the door, and left the room.

He gritted his teeth at the fact that he could do nothing but leave.

Kamijou ran through the city at night. As he ran, he clenched his right hand that could negate even the systems of God but could not protect a single person.

After Kamijou Touma left the room, Index moved her pale lips.

"What is the current time in Japan Standard Time? Also, what is the date?"

"It is 8:30 PM on July 20th…"

"You did not seem to reference a clock. Is the time accurate?"

"I do not have a clock in my room, but my internal clock is accurate down to the second, so do not worry."

"…"

"You don't need to doubt me that much. I have heard that some jockeys have internal clocks accurate to a tenth of a second and you can regulate it with certain eating habits and rhythmic activities," explained Komoe-sensei in puzzlement.

She may not have been an esper, but she indeed was a resident of Academy City. The concepts of common knowledge that were normal for medical and scientific fronts were different between those within the city and those without. Still lying face down on the floor, Index glanced out the window with only her eyes.

"From the location of the stars and angle of the moon… the time matches the direction of Sirius with an error of 0.038. Now, to check once more: the current time in Japan Standard Time is July 20th 8:30 PM, is that correct?"

"Yes. Well, technically it is now 53 seconds past that, but… Ah, no!! Don't get up!!"

Komoe-sensei frantically tried to push Index back down as she tried to sit up, further damaging her already injured body, but Index's gaze did not waver in the slightest.

Her gaze was neither frightening nor piercing.

All emotion had simply disappeared from her eyes as if a light switch had been turned off.

There lacked any real presence in her eyes. It was like her soul was missing.

"It is no matter. It can be regenerated," said Index as she headed for the tea table in the center of the room. "It is near the end of Cancer. The time is between eight and midnight. The direction is west. Under the protection of Undine, the role of the angel is the cherub…"

The sound of Komoe-sensei gulping could be heard throughout the room.

Unexpectedly, Index began to draw some kind of figure atop the small tea table with her bloody finger. Even those unfamiliar with a magic circle would recognize it as something religious. Komoe-sensei had already grown timid, but now something overwhelmed her to the point of muteness.

After drawing a circle of blood that filled the tea table, Index drew a star-shaped symbol known as a pentagram.

Characters in some strange language were written all around it. The words were likely the same as Index's mutterings. She had asked about the constellations and time because the words written changed depending on the time and season.

As Index crafted her magic, she showed none of the weakness of an injured one. Her extreme focus made it seem like her sense of pain had been temporarily cut off altogether.

A silent chill ran down Komoe-sensei's back as she heard the dripping of blood coming from the girl's back.

"W-W-Wh-What is this?"

"Magic." Index paused after that one word. "I will now need your help and your body. If you do as I say, no one will meet any misfortune and you will avoid the target of anyone's resentment."

"H-How can you say that so calmly!? Just lie down and wait for the ambulance! Umm… bandages, bandages. With a wound this bad, I should bind the area around the artery to stop the flow of blood…"

"That level of treatment cannot completely close up my wound. I am not familiar with the term ambulance, but, is it capable of completely closing this wound in the next 15 minutes and supplying me with the needed level of mana?"

"…"

It was true that an ambulance would take 10 minutes to arrive even if they called at exactly that instant and would also take that long to take her back to the hospital and on top of that, the treatment would not start the second she arrived at the hospital. Komoe-sensei lacked the understanding of what an occult term like mana meant, but it was true that just closing the wound would not bring back her stamina.

Even if the wound were closed at that exact instant with a needle and thread, would that pale girl be too weak to live long enough to recover her missing stamina?

"Please." inquired Index without the slightest change in her expression.

A mix of fresh blood and saliva was dripping from the corner of her mouth.

She had no intensity and there was nothing ghastly about her either. But, her calmness and composure were more frightening than either. How everything she did seemed to widen the wound made her seem like a broken machine continuing to run without realizing something was amiss.

If I do anything that makes her resist, her situation could become even worse. Komoe-sensei conceded.

Komoe-sensei sighed. Of course she did not believe in magic. However, Kamijou had asked her to keep the conversation going to make sure the girl did not lose consciousness.

All she could do was try not to provoke the girl sitting before her and place her hopes in Kamijou's calling an ambulance as quickly as possible if not sooner and in the splendid first aid of the EMTs in the ambulance.

"So what should I do? I am not a magical girl."

"I thank you for your cooperation. First… take that… that… what is that black thing?"

"? Oh, that is a video game memory card."

"??? …Well, fine. At any rate, take that black thing and place it in the middle of the table."

"Technically, it's a tea table…"

Komoe-sensei did as she was told and placed the memory card in the middle of the tea table. She then took a mechanical pencil lead case, an empty box of chocolates, and two small paperback books and put them on the tea table as well. She also took two small figurines that came with her food, and lined them up next to each other.

Komoe-sensei wondered what the point of it was but Index was still completely serious, despite looking about ready to collapse. All of her complaints disappeared before the gaze as sharp as a Japanese sword that emanated from that pale face.

"What is this? You called it magic, but isn't this just playing with dolls?"

Sure enough, the whole looked like a miniature version of the room. The memory card was the tea table, the two books standing up were the bookshelf and closet, and the two figurines were in the exact place of the two individuals in the room. When glass beads were scattered over the tea table, they seemed to stop in places that perfectly emulated the beer cans scattered across the floor.

"The substances do not matter. It is the same as how a magnifying glass magnifies regardless of whether the lens is made of glass or plastic… As long as the form and role are the same, the ceremony is possible," muttered Index as she dripped with sweat. "I just need you to accurately carry out my instructions. If you mistake the order, the pathways in your brain and your neural circuitry could be fried."

"???"

"I am saying that failure will turn your body into mincemeat and kill you. Please be careful."

"Bh!?" Komoe-sensei almost spat out, but Index continued without paying any heed.

"We will now create a temple for the angel to descend into. Follow my lead and chant."

What Index said after that went beyond words and become nothing but sound. Without thinking about the meaning, Komoe-sensei attempted to copy just the tone into something like a hum or song.

And…

"Kyahh!?"

Suddenly, the figures on top of the tea table started to "sing" as well. "Kyahh!?" one of them screamed with the exact same timing. The figures were vibrating. Just as vibrations are transmitted along the string in a toy telephone and come out as a voice in the paper cup on the other end, the figure vibrated and reproduced Komoe-sensei's voice.

The reason Komoe-sensei did not panic and run from the room right then and there was likely because she lived in a city housing 2.3 million espers. A normal person would have thought they were out of their mind.

"Link complete." Index's voice and the voice from the tea table made it sound double. "The temple created on the table has been linked to this room. To put it simply, everything that happens in this room will happen on the table and everything that happens on the table will happen in this room."

Index pushed the tea table lightly with her foot.

In that instant, the entire apartment shook under Komoe-sensei's feet as if from some great shock.

She could feel the stuffy air of the room growing as clear as the air in a forest in the early morning.

However, nothing akin to an angel was present. All that was present was what could only be described as an invisible presence. A feeling assaulted Komoe-sensei's entire body like she was being watched by thousands of eyeballs from every direction.

And then, Index suddenly shouted.

"Imagine! Imagine a golden angel with the body of a child! Imagine a beautiful angel with two wings!"

When carrying out magic, determining the field was important.

For example, a pebble thrown into the sea creates a feeble ripple. However, a pebble dropped into a bucket makes quite a ripple. The concept was the same. To alter the world with magic, the field in which the alteration would take place had to be demarcated.

A protector was a temporary god in a small demarcated world. If one properly imagined a protector, fixated its form, and freely controlled it, one could more easily cause mysterious things to happen in a limited field. Komoe-sensei did not receive any such explanation and was having a hard time imagining an angel. The term "golden angel" only made her think of that thing about one gold one or five silver ones. 1

As the image in Komoe-sensei's mind lost coherence, the surrounding presence followed suit and lost its form. An unpleasant feeling ran down Komoe-sensei's back like she was wrapped in the rotten mud from the bottom of a swamp.

"Just imagine it! This will not actually call in an angel. It is just a gathering of invisible mana. It will take form according to your will as the magic user!" She must have truly been desperate because even the voice of that cool, mechanical Index grew as sharp as an icicle.

Komoe-sensei's eyes opened wide at that sudden change and she hurriedly began to mutter under her breath. "…A cute angel, a cute angel, a cute angel."

Hazily, she frantically called up an image of the girl angel she had seen in a shoujo manga long ago.

Whatever it was that felt like invisible mud hanging in the room's air took form as if it had been shoved inside a human-shaped balloon… or at least that was how it seemed to Komoe-sensei.

She timidly opened her eyes to check.

…Huh? This will not actually call in an angel? She considered the idea.

The instant that doubt entered her mind, the human-shaped water balloon burst and the invisible mud splattered across the room.

"Kyahh!!"

"…The fixation of its form has failed." Index looked around with her sharp gaze. "If the temple is at least protected by a blue color Undine, it will be enough. …Continue."

Her words were positive enough, but Index's eyes were not smiling in the slightest.

Komoe-sensei flinched back like a child whose parents had just seen a failed test that she had tried to keep hidden.

"Chant. It will be over with just a bit more."

The sharp order refused to let Komoe-sensei lose her composure despite her rising confusion and flagging thoughts.

Index, Komoe-sensei, and the two figurines on the tea table sang. The back of Index's figurine on the table began to melt.

It was as if it were rubber being held up to a lighter. It melted, the surface lost its unevenness, it grew smooth, it cooled and hardened once more, and its form came back together.

Komoe-sensei felt like her heart was freezing over.

Currently, Index was sitting across the tea table from her.

She did not have the courage to circle around and see what was happening to Index's back.

Index's pale face was covered in oily sweat.

Her glassy eyes still showed no sign of pain or suffering.

"Replenishment of mana and stabilization of condition confirmed. Returning John's Pen to dormant mode."

Like a switch had been flipped, a soft light returned to Index's eyes. Like a fire being lit in a cooled fireplace, warmth filled the room's atmosphere.

The look in Index's eyes was so kind and warm that Komoe-sensei could not help but feel that warmth. It was the look of a normal girl.

"Now, if the descended protector is returned and the temple destroyed, it will be over." Index smiled painfully. "This is what magic is. It's the same as how "apple" and "ringo"2 mean the same thing. You don't need a glass wand when a plastic umbrella is just as clear. It's the same thing with tarot cards. As long as the design and numbers match, you can perform divinations with the cut outs from the back of a shoujo manga." Index's sweating did not stop.

Komoe-sensei grew even more afraid. She began to worry that what she had done had only made Index's condition worse.

"Don't worry." Index looked about ready to collapse even then. "It's like a cold. You need your own strength to get better. The wound itself has been closed up, so I'll be fine."

As soon as she said that, Index collapsed to the side. The figurine fell over, too. The tea table shook slightly and the room linked to it was assaulted by a thundering tremble.

Komoe-sensei was about to run around the tea table to Index, but Index began to sing.

When Komoe-sensei followed along and sang one last song, the strange atmosphere returned to the normal and stuffy atmosphere of the apartment. Komoe-sensei cautiously shook the tea table but nothing happened.

Thank goodness, she thought.

As Komoe-sensei closed her eyes in relief, Index spoke. Komoe-sensei thought that anyone would be glad to have their deadly wound healed, but the nun said something else.

"I'm glad I did not burden anyone with anything." Komoe-sensei stared at Index in surprise. "…If I had died here, he may have had to bear the burden."

Index closed her as if to sleep and said nothing more. When that girl's back was sliced, when she collapsed and when she had performed the strange ritual, she had never once thought about herself. She had been thinking about the person who had carried her there.

Komoe-sensei could not think the same way. She had no one to think that way about. That was why she asked one thing.

She was sure Index was already asleep and would not hear her; but that was exactly why she asked it, yet the girl answered with her eyes still closed.

"I don't know."

She had never felt that way about anyone before and she did not know what the feeling was. But, when he recklessly angered for her while facing that magician, she had wanted him to run away even if she had to crawl to him and force him. When he had run away from Innocentius, she had thought she would cry when he had returned.

She could not fathom it, but when she was with him, nothing ever went as she wanted and she felt pushed around.

And yet, those unexpected things were enjoyable and made her so happy. She did not recognize what the feeling was, however.

This time, Index fell into a deep sleep with a smile on her face, as if she were enjoying a pleasant dream.