Greetings to all!

Recently, I've been having this unfathomable urge to write an Index fic and, after spending several hours bored out of my mind, I went ahead and wrote this. Now, to explain a few things, I'll say that this story takes place before the events of both Railgun and Index, meaning Touma has all his memories, no knowledge of Magic-side, no affiliation with anyone on either side of the spectrum. To put it simply: it's when he was most 'ordinary' and not swallowed up by the darkness that made up the rest of the world. And before the question is asked, yes I have read the light novels; I've read them all the way up to the latest Volume 6 of New Testament. While this is still a new anime criteria for me, (Naruto-fanfics are my forte) so I'm hoping this turns out well.

But, enough of my ramblings, please enjoy and know that I own nothing.

It was supposed to be an uneventful evening in District 7, an evening with no problems, troublesome situations, or hassles that required addressing. An evening where all was right in the world and one could simply walk down a couple blocks and be left to their own musings in relative peace. That was what it was how it was supposed to be, how it very well should have been, but that could be further from the truth. Academy City, a city where a majority of the population was composed of students and possessed technology twenty or thirty years ahead of the rest of the world, was still a city that contained violence within its walls. With a population or at least 2.8 million people which inhabit this place, it goes without saying that trouble often times occurs.

You see the Power Development Curriculum is just one, though the arguably the most important, factor of this City that makes this place special. Through the creation of that program, the means to unlock the full potential of humanity was achieved in the form of Espers; people who possess supernatural powers that they can use at their leisure. Of course, many of who possess those supernatural abilities tended to squander them and miss-use them, which gave birth to the peace keepers of the city known as Anti-Skill and Judgment.

Judgment was mainly composed of other Espers who were called in for cases that involve the supernatural; whilst Anti-Skill was the department that handled petty crimes and, to an extent, military situations. The system wasn't perfect, not as perfect as people would claim it was, but it ensured the safety of those who resided in this city.

But, as it seems, tonight was one of those nights where the keepers of the peace had decided to take a coffee break. For, at this very moment, a woman with soft-tea colored hair stood in the center of several brutish teenage boys who were all leering at her; their intent being pretty evident. Bystanders merely continued to walk past the spectacle, pointingly ignoring the group of thugs ganging up on a young woman who was leaning against the wall of a nearby building.

Normally, when a young woman was in a situation such as this, they would be in a state of fear or concerned regarding their well-being. Some would be a trembling wreck, others would make a strong face in a vain attempt to appear stronger they in fact were; in the worst case scenario she would have been screaming for help yet deep down know that nobody would come. None of these traits were present in the current moment however in concerns to this girl. Her purse was still hanging off her left shoulder, her body was relaxed, and her expression displayed the trait of extreme boredom.

By appearance alone, the girl was of considerable beauty and grace that would be befitting to someone of royalty or vast wealth. It wasn't so much her appearance as it was the aura which she produced with even the most subtle of movements. Her long soft-tea colored hair, lightly shaded brown eyes, and a tall slender figure to complement the rest of her features. To the common-folk, she was a girl most males would kill to gain even a brief moment of her time; a fact that wasn't as far-fetched as some would be lead to believe. Given her attire, it too further proved that she was someone who was of high-class; the fashionable white blouse with short wavy sleeves that stopped at a bit passed her elbows, the light pink skirt that blended well with the shirt, black spandex bottoms that ceased just a few inches above her shins, and even her flat-bottom white shoes looked to like they were brand-named.0

All-in-all, she was a person many would classify as high-class, someone who was bound to possess considerable amount of money, and someone who was an easy target for thugs like the ones currently surrounding her could use to get some easy cash; along with other perks as well so long as they didn't get caught.

But, in spite of being outnumbered and surrounded, the posture, calm-attitude, and dull look in her eyes were a clear indication that she was not afraid in the slightest. If anything, it was a sign to anyone that she was in complete control of her situation and was only tolerating the foolishness of these people for as long as her patience allowed. None of the brutes had directly touched her yet, and the moment they did she would surely make them regret it. For she was Mugino Shizuri, a girl who possessed a supernatural ability that made the majority of city filled with other Esper's pale in comparison to. You see, to establish the strength of an Esper's ability, the city had made a system that could accurately rate the power that ability. This system determined an Esper's ability through Levels, 0 being the absolute lowest and have no powers at all and 5 being the absolute highest.

As it currently stands, there are seven Level 5 Espers in the entire city, and Mugino just happened to be one of them. Her ability allows her to converts electrons into unstable destructive matter that is said to be in a state between particles and waves. What this means is that she could create several beams of pure energy that can pierce through any solid object she desires, melting anything and everything in its path without meeting any resistance as it travels. It was a deadly ability and rightfully deserved its Level 5 status for its destructive force; thus resulting in her ability's name: The Meltdowner.

Now, with this knowledge, one would question why she was even allowing herself to be stuck in a situation such as this? Well, the answer to such a question was simple really; she had been waiting for someone. To be more specific, three someone's who were supposed to meet here near this location at a specific point in time to carry out a specific task. The task was, more or less, the elimination of something that had caused one of the higher-ups in this city to become uneasy. It was just one of the many jobs her underground group was known for handling; along with monitoring certain people from getting too much power and keeping things under control. It wasn't a topic for open decision but the group she was in charge of, known as ITEM, was indeed one of the rather well known groups within the dark underbelly of Academy City. So infamous that, had these fools realized who she was sooner, they would have been the one's trembling with fear and running for their lives.

Sadly, if they had, she would not have been sympathetic enough for them to get away without losing a limb in the process. She'd let them live, if only because they were out in the open, but if they had been in a dark alleyway then it would certainly have been death for all of these moronic pigs.

But the thing that annoyed her most was the fact that they persisted in their attempts to make a pass on her. The fact that she wasn't responding and clearly wasn't afraid was sure to have been enough of a sign that they were nothing but an annoyance to her. If anything, their attempts to woo her were slowly but surely growing more and more irritating and thus putting a strain on her patience.

"Ah, there you are!"

It clearly hadn't been a feminine voice which had broken through the small group of delinquents around her, but it did at least serve to gain her attention. As seconds passed, along with numerous mutters coming from someone shifting his way through the small crowd of thugs, before the originator of the voice had entered her range of visibility. In the looks department, nothing seemed remotely out-of-place for someone in his mid-teens; with the only exception being his spiky black hair and deep blue eyes. While certainly more presentable than the males around her, he wasn't exactly prince charming either; an ideal for someone with ordinary standards.

His physic wasn't as promising either, standing from what she could guess being five-foot five inches tall with a bit of muscle; though not as pronounced. This, again, gave off that same feeling of normality that one would expect to see in a high-school student. Even his attire was ordinary: a button up white shirt, an orange shirt underneath the shirt, slacks, and white sneakers with red patterns along the sides and front of the shoe. Over-all, he looked like a normal, ordinary, high school student that could easily be lost in a crowd of people and become nothing more than a fleeting after-thought.

In her eyes, he wasn't anything spectacular really; a much better sight than the thugs surrounding her without a doubt, but not the best looking guy she had met in her life.

Said young man appeared quite relieved for some reason or another, as if unbothered by the group of thuggish young men surrounding the two of them, while a lighthearted smile became apparent on his features as he casually approached her. She, of course, wasn't a fool and took notice of the fact that his eyes shifted towards the hulking forms surrounding him along with a few beads of sweat most likely caused as a result of his nervousness. Upon taking note of these things, she came to the conclusion that this person didn't know anyone among this group; making him just a normal bystander. While unnecessary and largely unwanted, one of her flawlessly trimmed eyebrows rose in confusion in regards to why someone would foolishly get involved in a situation that he had no business in.

"So this is where you've been all this time. Geeze, going off on your own and leaving me to go searching all over the place for you." The manner in which the teenager spoke was calm, or as calm as possible given the situation. Before she herself realized, the boy's right hand had been clasped around her wrist, applying only the necessary amount of pressure to maintain his grip on her but not enough to create too much discomfort. With this action completed, he quickly turned his advancement away from her and back towards the path he had entered the crowd through and towards the nearest exit-point away from the group, pulling Mugino along as he did so. "Thanks for keeping any eye on her for me; we'll just go ahead and be on our way now."

Realization soon dawned on the Mugino just short of a minute after the two had passed the threshold between the crowd of thugs and the nearby alleyway that lead towards the street. That realization, while a little late, did cause the girl to scowl at the back of the teen's skull before harshly removing her hand out of his grip. This action did cause the boy to gaze quizzingly at the girl behind him, only to find the said girl glaring at him with barely repressed rage. She understood what he was doing, understood it well enough to find annoyance in the action itself. He was not affiliated with her in the slightest, this much was clear to her, so that meant he was merely acting as a good samaritan thinking that she was in danger and required saving. Normally, this action would have been rewarded in kindness for his bravado in entering a normally dangerous situation; commonly given their gratitude via thanks or, like in those cheesy movies, a kiss from the damsel in distress.

Mugino Shizuri, however, wasn't a damsel in distress, she wasn't a fucking weak little girl who needed someone else to save her; she was a Level 5 and could have turned those punks into piles of ash in an instant if she so desired. That had been the cause of her ire, the reason behind her glare, and was nearly the last straw that needed to be drawn before her patience and composure reached its end.

"What the fuck was that…" The tone in which she had spoken in had been indication enough that she was not pleased with this turn of events, and normally would have been all it would take to send other's running for their lives. It would be clear even to the most casual observer that, should she receive an answer that was unsatisfactory, she would officially snap and do away with the source of her rage.

Unfortunately, the boy in front of her either didn't take notice of her obvious irritation or flat out ignored it. Either way, his response wasn't immediate, as he took to staring at her with the same level of confusion that one would expect to receive after being addressed with a painfully obvious inquiry. It was a gaze that asked 'do I really need to explain myself' kind of look, which the girl he was applying this gaze to didn't seem to catch. Having forcefully removed her wrist from his grasp a few moments ago, he finally turned to fully address the girl whilst chuckling sheepishly and scratching at his cheek with his index finger, undoubtedly unprepared to be faced with such a question.

It wasn't the first time he had risked his neck for random strangers, not in this city, but he hardly ever stuck around long enough to have such questions directed at him. It was more or less on the grounds of his attempts to help inevitably resulted in him being the target of people's fury as a result. He was unfortunate like that, but in his mind it was a good thing since he would rather be the target of people's violent tendencies than someone else. Even if it meant he would be forced to run from dusk until dawn to escape them, it was still a much better outcome than someone else getting pointlessly hurt. It was cowardly to some people, he preferred to consider it as a tactical retreat since anything more than two people at once was something he couldn't possibly do. Two-on-One was his limit, anything above that and he'd run away and that was a general rule that most normal people in a similar situation would follow through with.

At least for people who didn't have any supernatural abilities or weapons on hand; otherwise it was a whole different ball-game.

But I digress.

"Eh heh heh heh….That was, um, the 'fetching up the lost friend' strategy." Responded the boy truthfully, his grin remaining quite sheepish as he continued to chuckle to himself quietly. "Honestly, I didn't think it'd work as well as it did. Usually when I do things like that it ends up back-firing on me and I end up being chased all through th–"

"The what?" Obviously the answer didn't sit well with her in the slightest if the ticking of her eyebrow wasn't a large enough indication. "I don't even know who the hell you are! Do I look like someone who needs other people to butt into my business!? Well, do I!?"

"W-well…there was a lot of them around you and I figured getting you out of the situation as fast as possible was the right thing to do."

"Oh, so I'm some fucking damsel all of a sudden, huh!?"

"Why are you getting so mad at me for? I was just trying to help."

"I didn't ask for your fucking help you shit-stain!"

In that instant, her anger must have reached the point of no return, as a single sphere of green energy sudden faded into existence, causing the teenager to tense and take a single step backwards. Having grown tired of the situation, combined with the annoyance of being forced to wait so long for the other members of ITEM to arrive, she decided that venting out her frustrations was necessary at this point in time. While they had indeed gained a bit of distance from the group of thugs, they weren't necessarily near the main roads; in fact the two of them were currently in an center of a long alleyway. This would allow her the means to properly vent without alerting Anti-Skill or Judgment with her powers. That and it wouldn't do for what little she cared about public image if she were seen blasting some no-named teenager's arm or leg clean off his body.

She wouldn't kill him though, she would be merciful enough to allow him to live; but he didn't get to a hospital than it wouldn't be her fault if he died.

With that though in mind and her intentions clear, a brilliant beam of green energy shot towards the young man in question like a bullet. It didn't need much of a prep-time to trigger its effects and once it was sent out than there was very little out in the world that could effectively stop her attack. It was one of the most powerful offensive abilities in Academy City, it was a power that was so great that even she couldn't completely control it. It was not a matter of her inability to do so, it was the matter that her power was incapable of being controlled. That was what the Meltdowner was, that was the reason she possessed the highest rank an Esper ability can achieve, and that was why she was the leader of ITEM.

Having seen this outcome numerous times over the course of being here in Academy City, Mugino Shizuri didn't even bother to watch as the events unfolded towards the most likely outcome. She was sure enough with what was to occur that she had already turned away from the sight whilst clicking her tongue in annoyance and making her way to exiting the dirty alleyway. It may have been in the direction those same thugs had been located, but she lacked the ability to care at this point; having decided to simply do away with them should they pester her any further. Having said that and confident that she would remain undisturbed, she reached into her purse in search of her phone; only for a sudden sound reverberating off the walls of the alleyway to reach her ears.

It was a noise that she couldn't place, a sound that was difficult to describe; hence the reason she had glanced up from her phone to see where the disturbance had originated form only to be rewarded with nothing. Just as she was about to disregard what she had heard, something else came to the forefront of her mind; something that she would surely would have been noticed at this point. But the fact that it wasn't noticed yet troubled her; and that was the lacking of an agonizing cries of pain coming from the person she had used her ability on.

"…that had been way too close."

That wasn't a statement that belonged to anyone who was on the offending side of her ability. That sort of response, spoken in a manner that was devoid of any sort of pain or fear, did not belong to anyone who was on the receiving end of the Meltdowner. Sure, it was feasible to avoid the attack, but there was little to no room in this alley for such a maneuver to be possible without at least being subjected to the heat of the blast burning away at their skin. Yet when Mugino had turned around to address the speaker of that very simple statement, she allowed herself to be momentarily stunned with what she saw. To be precise, it was the lack of what she saw that made her openly stare in bewilderment at the teen in front of her. He was still in the same place he had been prior to her attack, not a single step forward or backward; with the only different being that his right hand was raised whilst his left hand was clasped around the wrist of the raised limb. What had startled her most was that there didn't seem to be any traces of injury on his person at all. Even his clothes were undamaged from her attack.

It was as if she hadn't done anything at all to him.

In that instant, her interest in this particularly ordinary teenager raised significantly.

Those that knew precisely who this girl was would say that gaining her interest was the last thing you wanted.

"So you're an Esper, huh?" Muttered the spiky haired youth, lowering his hand slightly to stare gravely back at the person who seemed to have a strange glint in her eyes. A glint that caused his gut feeling to go berserk; screaming at him to start running now before things get out of hand. While he would normally heed that fight or flight instinct, there was still something that he needed to ask beforehand, something he honestly wanted to know before any further action was taken. "Were you going to do this to those guys who were harassing you?"

Mugino, momentarily chose to forget about meeting up with ITEM in favor of this odd phenomenon that had presented itself to her. While she was indeed arrogant, a part of her in the back of her mind was scolding her for not witnessing the odd occurrence first-hand; having chosen instead to not waste any further time on the commoner. Now she was dreading such a decision, for her curiosity was making her anxious to try once more in hopes of witnessing the event so she could discern what had happened in the first place. Though the question she was addressed with was not missed, she herself didn't feel inclined to answer him; her curiosity regarding what he had done taking precedence over everything else. Still, she would give him something since it would more than likely be the last thing he would hear before she turned him into a smear on the concrete.

"Maybe, maybe not; I'll let you form your own conclusions." The way she had said this, along with the sneer that followed this statement, caused her otherwise gorgeous face to contort into something deranged, monstrous even, as the very glint that the boy had noted grew in intensity. "That's assuming you get out of this alleyway alive, of course."

"I see." Was the boy's response as he gazed back at the girl across from him. As the two stared each other down, a delightful chill went down Mugino's spine upon taking note of the hardened gaze that was being directed towards her; those cool blue sphere's shined with such intensity that she couldn't help but admire them. They were filled with determination and courage; things she was looking forward to robbing him of once he witnessed the full extent of her abilities. "I guess I have no choice then."

She had been so ready for a fight, enthralled in the idea of ripping away his hopes of defeating her and leaving him with nothing but a memory of her magnificent form looming over him before wiping his existence away in an instant. Having been so anxious to perform this twisted act of murder, she had not been expecting the result which had followed the teen's statement.

"…Huh?"

Dumbfounded, she couldn't help but stare blankly at the hastily retreating back of the teen who had aroused both her interest in and murderous intent. For he wasn't choosing to fight, he wasn't standing his ground to defend himself to the bitter end like those sphere's had made it seem. No, he was instead following his instincts and chose to flee instead of fight. As a result, Mugino had remained in place staring owlishly at the retreating form as he was quickly approaching the end of the alley and into the streets of the city. Once the initial shock had subsided, however, the girl with soft-tea colored hair suddenly sprang back to life whilst her eyebrow twitched and a vein suddenly became more pronounced.

"YOU FUCKING COWARD, GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!"

With a surge of energy and her drive to fulfill her intentions, the gorgeous girl suddenly lost all the urge to utilize her abilities and chose to pursue the teen on foot; running as fast as she could down the alley to catch up to the lad and beat him to death with her bare-hands. Yes, I said bare hands. She wanted to actually feel his bones breaking under her fists rather than turn him into dust; that was just how severely pissed off she was as a result of his spinelessness.

"NO WAY, YOU'LL KILL ME IF I DO THAT!"

One would like to think that there was an ulterior motive behind this cowardly choice of action. Perhaps he would be leading the obviously crazy girl away from a populated environment and take care of her away from the viewing public. Maybe he was trying to wear her down by having her exhauster herself through chasing him, then in her weakened state beat her senseless. The sad truth was there was no underlining purpose behind him running away aside from saving his own hide. Of course he didn't want people to get hurt, but he himself didn't want to get hurt, or in this case possibly killed, either. Self preservation was a common trait in all forms of life, and if that meant running away like a coward then so be it. Even if he did have the means to defend himself against Espers, it wasn't something he squandered every time he was in a bad situation. In most cases, he would much rather not have to fight at all and this was no exception.

For this teenage boy, Kamijou Touma, had the simple desire to live a normal and ordinary lifestyle. He was just an ordinary boy with a special ability in his right hand; nothing more or less than that.

"THAT'S PRECISESLY THE POINT, NOW GET BACK HERE DAMNIT!"

Might I mention that he was also a poor boy with an amount of fortuity so minuscule it may as well have been nonexistent?

"FUKOU-DAAAAAAAAA!"

Even worse yet, being chased by someone dangerous was a rather common occurrence to him.

In an undisclosed location, a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes continued to stare at her phone with a mix of puzzlement and unease. She had been staring at her phone for several moments now, with each second that passed the more she grew uneasy. Her attire consisted of a black, tight-fitting sailor top, a pleated skirt, white pumps and dark pantyhose; with a black beret adorning her head. The girl's blue eyes continued to gaze at the phone; more specifically the screen which displayed all previously dialed numbers that had been made recently on it. The list of numbers had been the same, as it had been for the past half-hour, and the intravols between each call being at least five minutes. Six times in total, and each call being made remaining unanswered.

"Basically, she's not answering." Murmured the blonde, snapping the phone shut whilst she sucked on her bottom lip. "I wonder if she has her phone on vibrate or something."

"She's super going to kill you for this you know." Stated the person behind her, someone who was previously looming over her shoulder to peer at the screen on the phone. "I can't believe you super forgot to tell her the location of our target had changed."

The person who had spoken was another female with short brown hair and dark eyes who appeared to be about the same height as the blonde. Her attire, attest to the blonde, was noticeably different in contrast to the blond. The was mainly because it consisted of a orange, sleeveless, hooded vest with a white short-sleeve shirt underneath, plain yet dangerously short cut denim shorts and red sneakers. Between the two parties along, this girl appeared particularly normal if one were to overlook the amount of leg-skin that was exposed.

Said girl clearly looked amused as she stood in place shaking her head at her companions foolishness. Of course, the job had been completed anyway, but the fact of the matter was that the person the blond was trying to contact was left out of the loop and thus 'punishment' will be distributed towards the blonde for her foolishness. At the very least, though, she wasn't going to be stuck in the crossfire and could sit and watch from a distance without having to worry about being on the receiving end.

"Basically, I'm aware of that; hence why I kinda don't wanna call her again to tell her everything is done already." Grumbled the blonde as she flipped her phone back up and hesitantly hit the number to speed-dial the person's phone for the seventh time that evening.

"She's within this general area…" Was the soft-spoken statement that was made by someone who was far more secluded from the two girls, which caused both parties to turn their attention towards the person in question.

Again, it was another female; though her expression was clearly devoid of any real emotion. Short darker brown hair and matching dark brown eyes, this girl in particular was arguably the most important person among the three of them, whilst also dressed a manner that was most unflattering. It was a simple pink track-suit, nothing more or less than that with matching colored sneakers on her feet. With only a small portion of the sport's jacket being zipped down, it was still clear to note that she was at least wearing a white undershirt beneath it. Aside from those things, however, there were no additional accessories carried on her person; which many would consider appearance as plain and less stylish compared to her choice of company.

The instant those words had spoken, the blonde holding the phone open towards her ear had realized the ringing had stopped, along with taking note of the fact that ragged breathing could be heard on the receiver.

"What, Frenda!?" Clearly, the person on the opposite end of the line was agitated about something, given how loud and how harshly she answered her mobile device. To this, the blonde now known as Frenda began to grow increasingly aware of how much trouble she was going to be in the near future. Despite this, the blonde couldn't help but notice that, while she had indeed sounded quite angry, she was also just as winded; which in turn caused her to grow concerned even if it was slightly.

"U-um, basically I was calling to tell you that the job's done…" Responded the blonde, chuckling awkwardly for a moment before continuing with the message she had originally intended to give; though spoken in a much faster pace than normal. "andIforgottotellyouthetarget'slocationchanged."

In her head, the girl with the lighter brown hair began the mental countdown in which the person on the opposite end of the phone was going to explode as a result of her anger. When that timer ran up was when Frenda was supposed to reel back from the loud voice on the opposite end of the phone blaring into her ear. Yet, oddly enough, this did not occur; which now caused the girl in question to raise an eyebrow before stepping next to the girl with her ear lingering closer towards the receiver in hopes of catching whatever was to come through.

"Whatever, if that's all your calling about then you're wasting my time; I'm busy right now." That….had not been expected response from someone such as her, who usually tended to these jobs for the purpose of fulfilling her murderous intentions. She didn't care who got in her way, who was guilty or innocent; if someone opposed her she would not hesitate to kill them in response. So long as someone could continue to amuse her, she would continue to allow them to live, then once that amusement is lost she eliminates them without second thought. For her to disregard the job for the sake of some other task, it was either important to warrant her attention, or interesting to a certain degree.

Whichever the case was, it was apparent that she was not getting her way this time around; judging by the shallow breaths that were coming in through the phone.

"Is everything alright Mugino?" Asked the brunette, having decided to voice her own concerns in regards towards the person's well-being. "You sound like your super out of breath."

"That's because I am, Kinuhata! That fucking coward hasn't stopped running since we hit the open streets!"

"That's weird, we weren't told of any additional targets. Were you basically contacted about someone else that needed to be taken out?"

"…"

"Mugino?"

"Shut the hell up, I'm trying to find that piece of shit! He ran into the crowd….and as easy as it would be to kill them all I'd rather not have to deal with mess that would create for us in the long run."

"You want us to meet up with you? We'll help you find–"

"Who said I wanted your damn help!? Just go back home and don't bother me! I'll find that little pest myself and meet up with the rest of you later."

With her decision made final, the girl on the opposite end of the line hung up, the dull hum of the disconnection buzzing in the blonde's ear for a few moments before the device was closed. Shifting her blue eyes over towards Kinuhata, she found the girl's brown sphere's staring back at her with puzzlement being evident enough for even an idiot to take notice. With great uncertainty, the blonde pocketed her phone before shifting her gaze over towards the remaining female who had been silent during the course of the call. Said girl appeared as lifeless as the tone she used to speak; her eyes gazing out into the distance with no emotion truly event in them at all. Of course both girl's were accustomed to this behavior so it wasn't much of a surprise that, even with such a brief moment of communication, the girl in question wasn't paying much attention to the situation.

"…basically, what do you think has Mugino all worked up about?" Inquired Frenda, her gaze never leaving the darker haired girl, even though the question itself was directed towards the person beside her.

Said girl merely shrugged before stretching her arms out over her head as a yawn escaped from lips. "I don't know, but I super don't wanna piss her off. It'd be better if we just went ahead and just head back. We'll super be hearing about it tomorrow anyways."

"…odd…"

That single word caught both girl's attention easily, as her previously dazed expression gained a hint of curiosity whilst her head tilted ever slightly. Apparently, the effects of her ability were still in effect and tracking Mugino even now. It was for that reason that both girl's had chosen not to interrupt her, for the possibility to gain additional insight on the situation was a probability in terms of finding out who exactly the tea-colored girl was pursuing. If it was an Esper, they could relay some feedback to her regardless if she wanted it or not. The sooner she dealt with whatever she was doing, the less they would need to worry about it interrupting their job. It was one of the larger problems that their appointed leader had that was pretty much an open secrete; Mugino hated to leave things half finished and would go to great lengths to see to it that any loose ends are dealt with.

"Takitsubo?"

The silent tracker known as Takitsubo merely continued to stare out into the distance in silence; unsure if what had surfaced was worth mentioning or not. From what she could detect, there weren't any AIM fields that warranted concern within the general area of Mugino's current location. She could detect certain fields stronger than others, but otherwise there was hardly anything worth mentioning; which puzzled her a bit considering how long their leader had been chasing after them. To be truthful, most of the AIM fields she could detect were no higher than a Level 2, with a few Level 3's scattered about; but those were not even remotely near the location she was focusing on. With that being said, she began to question precisely who the girl was pursuing, and where precisely was he located? Normally it would be simple to location someone if she either had their AIM field's memorized or if they were of a significantly higher Level than most common-folk. But this situation wasn't the same; she felt no strong presense in the area and wasn't tracking the girl half an hour ago to memorize it and effectively follow it.

So, once more, Takitsubo had raised the question once more: just who was Mugino chasing after?

"Takitsubo!"

It was a question that would need to be addressed at a later time; for now she simply wanted to go home and sleep. She had long sense passed the threshold which allowed her to safely use her ability without succumbing to fatiegue too quickly. If she used her ability any longer; than it was more than likely she would lose consciousness within a few seconds. With that being said, she turned her dazed eyes over towards the two girl's who were awaiting her response; to which she merely blinked before leaning her head back against the wall behind her before responding in a rather flat tone that was common for her to use.

"It's nothing."

And its done, my first official fanfic outside the Naruto-verse. I'm not gonna lie, I enjoyed writing those stories, but Index has an allure to it that I can't shake no matter how hard I try to ignore it (read: I don't try at all) so I did this. Now, if an explanation is in order, I'll provide one that explains how/why I wrote this. Firstly, I had found it amusing in my mind when I thought of the idea of Touma doing that same scene with Mikoto and actually succeeding, only to presented with a much more...troublesome situation than what he was expecting. While Mikoto has potential to be deadly, she is seen more like an annoyance to him than an actual threat at the time. I thought it would be interesting to have someone who is literally a sociopath after him opposed to a tsundere. In addition to this, I thought that, if the circumstances had been different, it was plausible for Mugino to have been the certain Level 5 that Touma would have come across during his random acts of heroism.

Plus, for reasons even I don't know of, I like Mugino...don't judge me.

While there may have been parts in here that seem unlikely, I believe there's enough reason behind minimizing her abilities in the open streets of Academy City than there would be in some abandoned facility where there were no witnesses Given, she didn't give two shits in Volume 16, but I think we can all agree that she was long past the point of being sane at that point in time. With that being said, I have reason to believe she was much more tame with using her abilities out in the open than she was then; less the Board of Directors start hounding her and the rest of ITEM.

If there are any inquiries, thoughts, or concerns that arise in your mind, feel free to address them to me in your reviews; and I'll do what I can to answer them. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed my little piece of work.

Goodbye for now.