Chapter 2: A Certain Ojou's Railgun. Part 2

August 31, 12:36 PM.

Kamijou looked at the "Unabara Mitsuki" that was now fallen to the ground.

After "Unabara's" face had been punched, the surface of his whole face had turned to dust accompanied by the sound of glass cracking. Underneath it was a magician's face, looking younger than the real Unabara, and also with a darker skin tone. There were still pieces of Unabara's skin left on his face, making it look surreal—almost like skin that had been burnt black by the sun being ripped off unceremoniously.

"Alright, now speak honestly," Kamijou said while panting. "Why did you transform into Unabara Mitsuki?"

"Ha, even if I don't say it clearly, can't you understand it?"

"Understand it, my ass. Transforming into Unabara wouldn't help in attacking me, right? Why did you go after Unabara? Just to get close to Misaka? Is it because she's my friend, so you'd finish her off as well?"

"..."

"Answer me. I've heard that your transforming technique is by peeling off Unabara's skin; did you plan to do the same thing to Misaka? Misaka has nothing to do with the Magic side; why do you magicians want to drag her into this?"

Kamijou seemed to be agitated, but Unabara's tone was somewhat calm.

Plain and emotionless, the words flowed slowly from his mouth.

"Unabara should have been erased."

His voice wasn't cold like ice, but rather more like lukewarm water where emotion wasn't fluctuating.

"But at the point of death, he used his esper ability... Telekinesis. He changed every particle in his body into a solid block, going into a false death—maybe cryogenic stasis is a better term. Stabbing his heart was like stabbing a frozen slab of meat; no damage could be done. Not even the Spear could take him apart. I had no other ideas, so I could only tie him up and lock him in the room..."

It looked like this magician had done a lot of research on Academy City to be using scientific jargon such as Telekinesis and cryogenic stasis.

But what surprised Kamijou more was the overly plain voice. It sounded like forcing an old cassette to play that had nearly fallen apart.

Unabara seemed a bit satisfied looking at Kamijou's face, and his voice gradually gained emotion.

"You ask what my aim in coming here is? I didn't think that this would be your first question in this situation."

Unabara seemed to laugh at Kamijou from the bottom of his heart, and continued to speak. "Looks like you have no idea how dangerous your actions are."

"What are you saying?"

"You don't just have the 103,000 grimoires of Index Librorum Prohibitorum in your possession; you also have magicians of the Anglican Church, Tokiwadai's Level 5 esper, the trump card against vampires, and all sorts of other people gathered to your side."

The magician said in a tone like he was laughing at himself.

"The Magic side and the Science side were originally two worlds that could not coexist, but you are building an organization that incorporates both worlds. The Kamijou Faction can now almost be called a separate entity. The organization that I belong to is afraid that a new organization like yours will destroy the world's balance of power."

Organization.

Like Academy City, the Christian Churches, a Magic Cabal, or some other major country?

"That's why I was sent here, though my mission in the beginning wasn't to transform into Unabara or to eliminate anyone. I've only been in this city for a month, and transforming into Unabara was also only a week ago. The original mission was just surveillance. All I needed to do was to make sure that the Kamijou Faction had no influence to the balance of power, report to my superiors that 'there's no problem', and finish the mission."

The magician clenched his teeth.

"But you are too dangerous! From the bits and pieces I've gathered, in just this summer vacation period, you've already destroyed several organizations! Not only so, this faction of yours can't be bought off by money or controlled by brute force. The movements of the Kamijou Faction depend solely on your own emotions and whims! With such a huge unstable power, how can those 'above' possibly leave you alone?!"

"Wait... that that means..."

"That's right. My target isn't just the person known as Kamijou Touma, but all members in the Kamijou Faction. At this point, even if only you are killed, the bonds between the various members can't be dissolved."

The aim of "transforming" into a friend was this.

"Transform" into one of Kamijou's friends, do some bad things, and lower the trust between members. When there was no further use, "transform" into another friend and do the same things, using such methods to make the faction collapse from the inside.

Even if the fact that "someone is disguised" was discovered, it wouldn't matter; as long as "who's been replaced" was not known, it would only drive each member apart, to the point where they no longer trusted each other.

Internal collapse.

Such methods employed by spies had brought down countless dynasties throughout history. Even regimes that looked robust could fall abruptly. A kind king could suddenly turn into a tyrant, manipulated by aides in the shadows. Because of the efficiency of the method and also its cruelty, myths about foxes and demons had been born in some countries.

"I was going to leave you last, but I guess it can't be helped. As the mask of Unabara Mitsuki has been found out, I'll have to borrow your face next!"

After that sentence, the magician literally flew towards the obsidian knife on the ground, swiftly wiped off the cement dust, and turned from the ground to release the Spear.

But maybe the position of shooting was too forced that the place the Spear ended up shooting at was nowhere near Kamijou. The magician clucked, stood up, and raised the obsidian knife once more.

But now Kamijou was right in front of the magician.

"Che!"

The magician wanted to release the Spear, but Kamijou's fist was faster. Kamijou's right hand impacted the obsidian knife. Maybe Imagine Breaker had worked, as the obsidian knife turned to powder with a sound like glass breaking.

"Did you think I would just wait for you? That's stup-!"

Kamijou's words were cut off before he could finish.

The roar of metal clashing together came from above him. Kamijou looked up involuntarily, and saw the steel beams falling from the half-finished building.

Apparently, the Spear that missed had hit the building next to them.

That building hadn't been filled up with concrete yet, so it looked like a giant metal cube. The power of the Spear was to disassemble the physical form, so the steel beams had been released from the nuts and bolts holding them together and were starting to rain down onto both Kamijou and the magician.

"?!"

Kamijou and the magician both moved backwards. A metal rod weighing several hundred kilograms stabbed between the two, almost like a holy sword.

Seconds later, the whole building that was under construction started to fall like an avalanche. Using common sense, they should have been running for their lives. But if they ran, the chance of capturing the magician would be gone, and the magician once more would turn into someone else and harm someone close to Kamijou.

Kamijou and the magician came into eye contact.

The magician looked into Kamijou's eyes, and showed a peculiar smile.

(Dammit! My life is so unlucky!)

Kamijou cursed inside, staring at the magician who also didn't plan to escape.

"Even though it's a cliché line... I thought we could've been friends."

The workers who had been doing the construction were now escaping and roaring in anger. All the sounds from the workers were coming from ground level; apparently, nobody had been working on the building at the time. It looked like there shouldn't be anyone that wouldn't be able to make it out.

"That thought has never crossed my mind."

The magician answered without hesitation. A metal rod stabbed into the ground next to him, but there was no change in his expression.

"It's a shame, really such a shame." Kamijou sighed and said, "So the thoughts about Misaka that came from your mouth are also false. Only this point makes me feel that this is such a shame... because now, this gives me a reason to beat you to a pulp."

This sentence froze the air.

A silence colder than darkness enveloped their surroundings.

"...?"

The magician seemed to have said something in a soft voice.

Before Kamijou even had time to frown, he repeated it once more.

"Can't a fake have those kinds of thoughts?" The magician grinded his teeth and said, "A fake can't wish for peace? Does a fake not even have the right to have the thought of wanting to protect Misaka-san?"

"Ah...?"

The frightening sound of the collapsing building was now tossed to the back of Kamijou's mind as he stared at the magician's face.

"That's right, I didn't want to do this."

The magician continued his words without care of the building that could fall any moment.

"I didn't even want to harm Unabara. Nobody being hurt in the end is the best conclusion, right? I like this city. From the time I came here a month ago, even though I can't become a resident of this world, I still deeply loved this world that Misaka-san lives in."

The magician continued on.

"But I have to do this. Because the results are out, the Kamijou Faction has been judged by those 'above' as a dangerous force. Can you understand what I felt when I turned into Unabara? To be forced to destroy the world that Misaka-san exists in, can you understand what I feel?"

The magician now showed raw emotions on his contorted face.

"You couldn't possibly know! Because you ruined everything! If you were milder in your actions so that I could report back 'there's no problem', I could've left here in peace! That way, I wouldn't have had to attack Unabara or trick Misaka-san! That's right, I am your enemy now. But who did you think made things turn out this way?!"

An invisible killing intent radiated from the magician.

As if in reply to his roar, the topmost floor of the building started falling with a *Boom*.

Kamijou looked into the magician's eyes.

As for the collapsing building, he didn't even glance at it.

He said, "Do you truly like Misaka?"

As a spy that was planning to use Misaka, these words came from his mouth.

"Yeah," the magician said.

The topmost floor of the building turned into countless steel beams, falling down to the ground one by one.

"You want to protect the world that Misaka lives in?"

Even as the spy that had been planning to use Misaka, these words had come from his mouth.

"Yeah," the magician said.

The countless steel beams smashed into the floors beneath them, resulting in more sections breaking apart.

"But now, that is a dream that can't come true. Now, I am your enemy. I don't want to do this, but I have to. I have no other choice, no other path to choose. Or do you want me to be like a hero in the movies, fight against the whole organization by myself, and lose my life for nothing? I can't do that. I'm not you; I can't be a hero such as yourself."

The magician said that, and incredibly showed a plain and weak smile.

"So that's it." Kamijou Touma finally understood.

Those were the thoughts of that magician. That man hadn't wanted to become his enemy, but was forced to. That man was forced to destroy what he valued most in this world with his own hands. Such tragedy was what had twisted his heart.

There was a man named Tsuchimikado Motoharu.

When he had first called himself a spy, his casual demeanour really made an impression on Kamijou—but the truth wasn't that simple. Tsuchimikado had paid a large price, risking the danger of going against his orders in exchange for his freedom.

The magician in front of him now wasn't willing to take that risk.

It was because he knew clearly how much of a coward he himself was, that it was harder to quench his anger. He hated Kamijou who had destroyed his dream, but he hated himself more for not being able to protect his dream.

Those were the thoughts of that magician.

That man had poured all his twisted thoughts out, and was standing in front of Kamijou to block him.

Kamijou thought that if so, then he must also fight with all his strength.

Kamijou could live his life freely, with nobody to restrain his movements, and could protect whatever he wanted to protect at any time. The Kamijou like this had to bring a lot more pain to the magician. In the magician's eyes, Kamijou radiated so much dazzling light that he couldn't look at him directly.

"Hmph, so the only choice left for you is to choose to kill her with your own hands?"

Even so, Kamijou still decided to fight with all his strength.

Against someone who spoke his thoughts, Kamijou couldn't just deal with him half-heartedly.

"Apparently, I'll have to kill that fantasy of yours first."

The avalanche at the top of the building was almost like a giant's hand crushing the whole structure.

Steel beams fell down like raindrops, but neither Kamijou nor the magician looked up or tried to retreat. They only clenched their fists and charged, attempting to shrink the distance between the two to zero in as little time as possible!

"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Kamijou's fist impacted the magician's face. The magician from the start didn't seem to plan on dodging; he unhesitatingly grabbed Kamijou's chest with both hands, and slammed Kamijou into a wall. With a dull sound, the air inside Kamijou's lungs was forced out.

The magician pushed Kamijou into the wall before using both his hands to strangle him. Kamijou aimed for the magician's stomach and kicked out. Maybe the magician had been relying on magic too much and hadn't trained his body as he doubled over after the kick.

Suddenly, a huge sound erupted from the steel beam stabbing down next to Kamijou. What was more, another steel beam struck that beam, resulting in a sound like a church's bell ringing next to Kamijou's ears.

"Uu...?!"

Kamijou's body slightly shook involuntarily.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!"

The magician, who was also shaking, instead tackled Kamijou. Kamijou fell over, and due to the loud noise that hit his brain, his movements had become sluggish. On the other hand, though the magician was moving about like a drunkard, he could still aim precisely, and went to position himself above Kamijou.

Kamijou tried desperately to escape the magician that was trying to subdue him.

"Ah!"

At that time, Kamijou saw it.

A rain of steel beams was falling down, and one of them would pierce through both Kamijou and the magician immediately. It was less than twenty meters above them. There were only a few seconds before impact. The magician was staring at Kamijou beneath him, and didn't realize the existence of the beam about to come down on top of him.

"Dodge it, you idiot!"

Kamijou kicked the magician, who was about to hold him down, in the stomach, and then slapped him once across the face.

The magician's body rolled towards Kamijou's left side, to a lying position... and then he realized the situation.

Then, Kamijou and the magician glanced at each other.

Facing the rain of steel beams, the magician didn't seem like wanting to dodge it. He only smiled—a slight, lonely smile. He understood clearly that even if he won this battle, he wouldn't get anything from it.

Kamijou had no duty to save the magician.

Kamijou wouldn't have been blamed by anyone if he left the enemy for dead.

But...

"—A fake can't wish for peace?"

Even so...

"—Does a fake not even have the right to have the thought of wanting to protect Misaka-san?"

(Ah, dammit! This guy is just too devious!)

Kamijou tried to grab the hand of the magician who was still on the ground. The magician showed a shocked expression, and it made Kamijou even more annoyed. Kamijou knew it was already too late, but he still clenched his teeth.

A large number of steel beams dropped down from the sky, shaking the whole place.

August 31, 12:47 PM.

A large amount of dust obstructed the visibility at the scene.

The people around there had heard the noise, but no one was curious enough to come and see what was going on. If ordinary people wanted to come and look, then they would want to look from a safe place. In a situation like this where nobody knew where was safe, nobody was reckless enough to come close.

"...Haha."

In the middle of all the commotion, Kamijou smiled half-heartedly.

Kamijou ended up sitting on the floor, with a steel beam planted between his legs. Not only that, there were countless steel beams surrounding Kamijou—a lot like a small cottage seriously flawed in design and with a roof full of holes. The steel beams had a delicate balance, as if they would crumble if blown by a breeze. But anyway, Kamijou had escaped the fate of being buried alive.

(Am I just lucky...? That can't be; my luck's one of the worst there is. If that's the case... oh, yeah, that Level 5 esper; if she uses the power to control electricity, controlling magnetism shouldn't be a problem for her.)

That was right, it wasn't good luck at all. The path of the beams had been aligned to pierce through Kamijou. Apparently, some sort of power had changed their path slightly before they fell on Kamijou.

Kamijou, who was afraid that the roof would collapse any moment, looked around. He saw the magician lying between two of the steel beams that held the roof together.

One of the magician's hands was stuck in the gap between two steel beams. Though the magician's hand hadn't been crushed, but was instead stuck in a natural gap, it was like a super-heavy handcuff had been put on him.

The magician was incredulous at the fact that he was still alive, and was stunned for a few moments.

After a while, he finally said, "Did I lose?"

"I don't know, I didn't create this situation."

Kamijou said that while scratching his head. But the magician shook his head. No matter the reason, he couldn't even move an inch; fighting on in this situation was impossible.

"Guess it's my loss." The magician smiled slightly. "That way, my part in all this comes to an end. I don't have to kill Misaka-san, or kill anyone else now, right?"

"..."

Kamijou didn't answer; he just looked at the magician.

Carefully thinking back, maybe in his heart, the magician had always been conflicted. Even though he had been serious about trying to kill Kamijou, his heart had been clouded and that may have held him back unconsciously—because once he emerged victorious in this battle, he'd have to kill Mikoto with his own hands.

If he had used the Spear as his first attack, Kamijou wouldn't have had time to dodge and would have died then and there. When chasing Kamijou in the straight streets, after carefully thinking about it, he probably had several chances to accurately hit Kamijou in the back.

That magician didn't want to hurt Misaka Mikoto.

He didn't want to destroy the world that Misaka Mikoto lived in.

But his selfish wish was hard to make come true. If it did, then his own life would be in danger, so he needed an excuse. Something like "I tried my best, but due to obstacles, I failed to complete the objective".

The enemy organization treated the "group led by the amateur Kamijou" as a very dangerous group, so even though Kamijou was an amateur in combat, but his position, almost like the boss of an organization, definitely qualified for the "I tried my best" excuse.

"I think..." the magician said, "The attacks won't just stop here. One failure by a small fry like me won't be enough to convince the 'above' to give up. Instead, this will make them even more sure that the judgement of 'Kamijou Faction is very dangerous' is correct. My allies might appear next to you or Misaka-san; in the worst-case scenario, I might get the same order again."

Kamijou silently listened to the magician's words.

"Can I ask you to protect her?"

The magician asked.

"No matter where, no matter when, no matter who your opponent is, no matter how many times, as long as something like this happens, you'll have to be a hero and go to her side to protect her. Can you promise me this?"

It was what he dreamed of but could never bring into reality.

It was his dearest wish, but he didn't have a choice other than to give the opportunity to someone else.

And then...

Kamijou only said one sentence.

And then nodded.

"That's the worst possible answer," the magician lying on the ground said lightly while smiling.

August 31, 12:37 PM.

Misaka Mikoto held the hamburger-filled paper bag in her arms, leaned her back on the wall around the corner from the two, and listened to their conversation.

Mikoto didn't hear everything in their conversation, though. When Mikoto found out that there were two Unabara Mitsukis and one of them had started fighting with Kamijou, she had chased after the two of them. Then she had seen Unabara's face fall off like a mask, showing a completely different face; and after that, the half-finished building had collapsed, incomprehensible things coming one after another. Also, Mikoto was pretty far away from the two, so she could only hear parts of their conversation. Mikoto, who had spent much effort a moment ago to change the path of the steel beams, might have been the one out of the three of them whose emotions were most in turmoil.

But even so, Mikoto still understood vaguely.

Mikoto understood the reason they were fighting.

Why they had fought.

And for whom they had fought.

Mikoto shook her head vigorously.

(I... I can't misunderstand! I must be getting the wrong idea! His words definitely don't have those meanings to it! He's that kind of person; it's not like he's treating me as someone special!)

But her head that was shaking vigorously to deny this still stopped moving involuntarily.

Even though she knew she shouldn't get the wrong idea, her head still stopped.

(Uu...)

Mikoto leaned her head on the wall behind her. She knew that she was blushing bright red without having to look in a mirror.

(It's really unforgivable,) Mikoto thought. After hearing that kind of conversation in this situation, what kind of expression was she going to have when she walked out of here?

Especially the last sentence Kamijou had said.

(...I know I'm misunderstanding, but the way you said it is too easy for it to be mistaken otherwise, you big idiot!)

Mikoto sighed. She didn't know how long it would take for the blush on her face to finally subside.

August 31, 1:04 PM.

END