Chapter 12: Little Brother Kamijou
Ten minutes ago.
On a shopping street near the student dormitories of the Seventh Semester.
The night streets were unusually quiet, yet the empty crossroad spanning several dozen meters seemed oddly abnormal.
In this strange scene, a spiky-haired black-clad youth walked down the street. The boy was of average build, wearing a white shirt and black trousers, his expression slightly weary.
"Ah~ I've been running into a lot of weird stuff lately. Such misfortune."
Misfortune seemed to have become this boy's daily routine. His bad luck could no longer be explained by science. A single trip outside might accumulate the following results: stepping in dog poop ×3, getting robbed ×1, getting into a car accident ×1, nearly being hit by a falling flowerpot ×2, and losing money while shopping ×4.
These incidents, rare for ordinary people, were just part of this boy's daily life. Because of this, he had developed an extraordinary sense of danger, such as: never walking near tall buildings, avoiding deserted alleys, watching his step, and absolutely never running a red light. If he accidentally ran a red light, the accident rate exceeded 98%.
The boy's name was Kamijou Touma, a youth with extremely bad luck but an overwhelming romantic fortune.
From childhood onward, 138 hospitalizations had taught Kamijou Touma that this world was dangerous—at least, it was full of malice toward him. However, Kamijou Touma still loved life and was eager to help others. He often called himself a "hypocrite," but in reality, he was a passionate and kind-hearted youth.
The silence on the street caught Kamijou Touma's attention. This quiet was too abnormal. His first reaction was: could a major natural disaster be about to happen? And he just happened not to have received a warning? Don't think this was absurd—for little brother Kamijou, this was normal, part of his "peaceful" life.
"Completely... no one?"
Little brother Kamijou panicked. Not only were the surrounding streets empty, but even the shops and malls near the crossroad had no noisy voices. More importantly, the lights in a nearby mall were still on, indicating people had been there not long ago but had suddenly evacuated.
"This isn't good."
Little brother Kamijou's anus tightened, and his face turned pale.
Clack, clack. Clack...
In the silent street, these sudden footsteps were strikingly distinct.
"It's just a rune to keep bystanders away."
A female voice came. Kamijou Touma instinctively turned his head and saw a tall woman with a single braid, holding a sheathed longsword. The sword in her hand was at least over one and a half meters long, but what was more unusual was her attire.
Jeans + a white T-shirt. This ordinary two-piece outfit took on a novel form when worn by this woman. The left pant leg of the jeans was almost completely torn off, revealing fair, slender thighs, with the remaining scrap barely covering her underwear. The white T-shirt was tied up, exposing her abdomen and lower back.
Judging by her clothing, figure, and build, she appeared to be a voluptuous woman over twenty. In reality, she was only eighteen years old, named Kanzaki Kaori, a key combatant on the magic side known as a "Saint." A "Saint" is a human who can use a portion of the "Son of God's" power.
According to most statistics on "Saints," they are magicians with extremely strong physical abilities. Magicians use spells to fight, while Saints use magic as support and physical strength as their main combat method.
As for Kanzaki Kaori, she fought with swordsmanship. Her longsword, "Shichiten Shichitou," was her primary combat tool.
"You are..."
Kamijou Touma sensed danger. Hearing the keyword "rune," he recalled the magician he had fought last night. This woman might be that person's companion or something.
As it turned out, Kamijou Touma, living in dire straits, had a strong sense of crisis.
"My name is Kanzaki Kaori. Unless necessary, I don't want to say my other name."
Hearing this clearly warning tone, Kamijou Touma tensed his body, ready for battle. It seemed that defeating a magician yesterday had made little brother Kamijou a bit overconfident.
"Let me be direct. I hope to take that child back for protection before I have to reveal my magic name. As for who that child is, you should know."
"And if I refuse?"
"Sorry."
With that, Kanzaki Kaori made a move to draw her sword.
With a sharp sound, a flash of light moved. Kamijou Touma only felt a blur before his eyes, and a half-meter-thick iron pillar beside him was cut in two.
Seeing this, although his heart turned cold, Kamijou Touma still charged forward. His only combat ability was "Imagine Breaker." Though his opponent was strong, he wouldn't hand over that girl. That was Index. These people might have ill intentions.
A few minutes later, little brother Kamijou, who had been brimming with fighting spirit, lay on the ground. His right arm had over a dozen shallow cuts. Kanzaki Kaori stood with one foot on his chest, her face icy. The gap in strength was overwhelming.
"Why don't you kill me? If you wanted to, I should have died many times already. Since you hesitated when attacking, it means you still have a conscience, right? If so, you should understand that a group of people chasing a girl and cutting her back with a sword is absolutely unforgivable. So, I won't hand her over."
Unable to win in a fight, Kamijou Touma chose to use words.
Actually, Kamijou Touma was mistaken. Kanzaki Kaori wasn't chasing Index to harm her but to "protect" her. This involved a clumsy lie and Index's identity.
Index: A nun belonging to the Church of England's Necessarius. She grew up in St. George's Cathedral in England and is now fourteen years old. She has complete memory ability, which saddles her with a heavy mission: using her brain's memory to store the contents of 103,000 grimoires.
For someone so important, the Church of England naturally had to keep her under tight control. Thus, they fabricated a lie, claiming that Index's brain capacity was limited. After storing 103,000 grimoires, the remaining space was only enough for one year of memories. Her memories needed to be erased annually; otherwise, she would die from memory overload. In other words, each year, Index's memories would be wiped back to the point when she first memorized the grimoires, making her easier to control.
Of course, the brain capacity excuse could only fool a fool. Strangely, some people actually believed it and believed it deeply. To "protect" Index's safety, they struggled hard. Those who were like family to Index had to endure the pain of being forgotten by her every year. Kanzaki Kaori was one of them.
In this situation, Index had run away, and Kanzaki Kaori and Stiyl Magnus were pursuing her. Stiyl Magnus was the poor magician who had been "taught a lesson" by little brother Kamijou.
The memory erasure deadline was approaching. The two needed to find Index quickly and save her—that is, help erase her memories from the past year.
As for Index being cut, that was Kamijou Touma's fault. His right hand's ability had damaged Index's defensive clothing, "Moving Church." Kanzaki Kaori thought she couldn't hurt Index, so she swung her sword.
Thus, Kanzaki Kaori, who wanted to protect Index, and little brother Kamijou, who also wanted to protect Index, clashed.
"Do you think I want to do this! What do you know? How much do you know about Index!"
Kanzaki Kaori, who had been as cold as ice, suddenly lost her composure. The guilt of personally cutting Index, along with the approaching one-year deadline, made it impossible for her to stay calm.