Disclaimer: To Aru Majutsu no Index is a deep and wonderful piece by Kamachi Kazuma.

This is a fanfiction of To Aru Majutsu no Index set after the second season of the anime. However, most if not all the cast will probably be original and made by me. These days living as a neet is slowly coming to an end for me so I finally decided to write this story that has been hanging around in the corners of my mind since last year (Max procrastination). Also, this is the first fanfiction I have ever written so I would be very thankful if you were to help me improve by giving some feedback.

As far as writing is concerned, I tend to progress the story in a slow pace so you will have to be very patient with me. If you haven't read the novels, then you may be confused by some of the characters that appear here as I plan to have them involved as well, but I will make sure to put that in the author's notes. Also, as I said before, this is my first work so I apologize in advance for any errors or inconsistencies!

This story, for the earliest parts, revolves around a Level 0 without any special powers, and as such, we begin our story in Academy City, however, that is not to say that Magic might not get involved. However, I won't just limit myself on these things. The story and plot may change as time passes. It may become unpredictable as I try to write this world where amazing science and magic exist.

Updates are set to monthly, but I cannot promise anything!

Updated: 8/25/2105

Chapter 1 - \Friends_

In the dark and deserted sidewalk of District 10, a lone lamp post illuminated two boys under its light.

It was already past the usual curfew time in Academy City.

"Say.. Takayama..." Turning to face the boy beside him, a young man with an almost gigantic build spoke with an accent as he crouched down by the guard rail of the sidewalk. "Your friends with that Tatemiya chick aren't ya? Why don't ya introduce me sometime?" His face was almost like a grown-up's with a chin full of bristles. It was hard to believe that he was a high school student. He was wearing a messy high school uniform which consisted of a dress shirt that was crumpled and had several ugly brown stains. He took a sip from his beer can which was already nearly empty. His already flushed face became even redder.

If a member of Judgment or Anti-Skill, the peacekeepers of this city, were to see this, the young man would definitely be in big trouble, however only the two of them occupied the street.

With a soft sound of a bell ringing, the door to the convenience store in front of them suddenly swung open.

A thin yet tall boy wearing a white dress shirt and black jeans suddenly came out. A long, silver chain connected from his pocket to his belt dangled on the left side of his jeans. He had narrow, orange cat-like eyes which looked at them with a playful glint, and short spiky black hair. "Hahaha... Do you really think Ms. Hotshot Level 4 will go for a bastard like you Mikoshiba?" After saying those words with a mocking tone, he immediately hid his pack of gums from his two friends. He let out a mischievous smirk to the drunken boy.

Normally, private establishments in Academy City disallows students from buying alcohol and cigarettes, however, the territory they were currently in was a special case. This area was one of the several territories for thugs and Skill-Outs.

"We were just classmates during middle school, senpai." Beside the drunken Mikoshiba, a young boy named Takayama Akito spoke with a bored tone as he read the magazine in his hands. He was shorter than the other two boys and he had unkempt dyed blonde hair which made him stick out slightly. He wore a monotonous grey hoodie, perfectly matching his monotonous, apathetic personality. He also looked a lot younger than the two.

"Ahhh..? yer no fun... Aren't ya supposed to be my cute little kouhai?"

Mikoshiba persisted, but Akito turned down every single one of his proposals. It seemed that this was their usual routine.

"Hm... It should be about time now." the cat-eyed high schooler casually looked at his watch. "Shall we go?"

"Sure! I'm pumped up tonight~!" Mikoshiba stood up unsteadily. His height now reached past 6 feet. He had a fairly large body frame. From far away, he would look like an athlete at his peak.

"You guys going again tonight senpai?"

"Yeah..." The cat-eyed boy named Shin paused for a bit before continuing. "Wanna come too?" A mischievous smirk came out of his face.

"Err… no... There's a scan tomorrow so I have to wake up early." Akito did not know where the senpais always went during this time of the night but he had a feeling that he shouldn't get involved.

"Just leave the kid alone, Shin~ You might make him pee his pants."

"Ahh~ I know. I was just kidding." the boy continued to smirk.

Akito watched his seniors leave before turning to the opposite direction, slightly curious of what they are up to.

"Oi! watch where yer going!"

A loud shout echoed from behind him in the dark urban street. It was from the senior, Mikoshiba.

"Wahh! S-sorry!"

Another voice followed, but he didn't recognize whose it was.

In response, he looked back towards the direction of the voices and saw the seniors he parted with under a malfunctioning light post. It seemed that some trouble was brewing up. He saw an unfamiliar boy wearing black framed glasses and wearing a uniform from his school, bowing down in front of his seniors. Feeling pity towards the boy, he slowly approached his two seniors with the intention of stopping the fight.

"As much as I'd like to have fun with you, kid, we have business to attend to." Shin thought for a bit before letting out a mischievous smile, as if he just found a new toy to play with. "But if you really want to then let's play a quick game."

"Let me break him in first." Furious, Mikoshiba cracked his knuckles.

"I'll take care of him."

Still with an apathetic face, Takayama Akito suddenly appeared behind them and grasped the giant senpai's shoulder in order to stop him from pulverizing the meek looking boy wearing glasses. "You guys have somewhere to go don't you?" He spoke apathetically. It has already been a while since he hanged out with his seniors, but he still couldn't understand why they were so rowdy and picking fights with everyone they bump into.

"Hm..? Is he someone you know?" Mikoshiba turned towards the blonde hair boy

"Not really..." Without changing his expression, the boy shrugged.

Shin glanced at the his kouhai's face, slightly curious of his unusual behavior, before letting out an amused grin.

"Well don't get too carried away now."

"Teach that punk a thing or two would ya?" Still a bit annoyed, the drunk Mikoshiba walked forward out of the blinking light of the malfunctioning lamp post before shoving the boy wearing glasses out of his way.

Shin followed and soon they reached the end of the street where they disappeared into the dark shadows of District 10.

The other two boys stared at the high school seniors as they walked out of the vicinity.

"Oi, you okay? You shouldn't go around areas where there are troublemakers especially at this time of the night."

"Ha ha ha... Are you not a delinquent yourself, Takayama-san?" The boy smiled sheepishly. He removed his glasses and quickly wiped the exhaustion off his forehead.

"Huh? Do I know you?" Surprised, Akito raised a brow as he turned to look at the boy.

"Honestly, you ought to know the names of your classmates, Takayama-san!" The boy adjusted his glasses and stood up straight. His expression grew serious.

Surprised by the boy's sudden outburst, Akito took a step back. "S-sorry. My bad..."

"I'm glad you understand." The boy nodded approvingly. "I'm the class representative, Atsu~chi~ Tomoya~!"

A special introductory skit suddenly began.

Tomoya held out a peace sign with an exaggerated pose like some kind of famous idol or comedian.

Akito squinted his eyes as he saw some kind of dazzling sparkles in the background behind the delusional boy. It was bright, irritatingly bright. He shrugged it off completely thinking it was just his hallucination. Ahh... It's one of those characters...

If this was one of those visual novel games then Atsuchi Tomoya would definitely be the main protagonist's weird best friend, is what came to his mind immediately.

"Anyway, I came here to deliver this." Tomoya took a notebook from his bag and gave it to Akito. "It was sticking out of your desk so I figured you forgot it."

"Uhh.. thanks." Akito took the notebook with a confused look. "But how did you find me? I don't think anyone in the class knew this place"

"You don't knooooooowww~?"

Atsuchi Tomoya began again.

The tension was building up with each passing second while Akito waited for the possibly stupid revelation to come out of the other boy's mouth

"It's because I'm a superhero~!" Tomoya smiled and gave a sudden wink at Akito.

The blonde haired boy frowned with the most unpleasant frown he had this entire week.

Definitely one of those characters...

"You're at least Level 2, aren't you?" Akito deposited the notebook into his student bag. "Some kind of search oriented esper?"

How annoying...

"Yep! As expected of the person Tatemiya-san acknowledges. Though you look that way, you really know a thing or two." Tomoya's eyes glittered with excitement.

Akito didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or not.

"... or you could be some kind of creepy stalker."

Akito stepped backward slightly hiding a pitying face.

"Errr... uhh.. no that's not the case. I just used my Clairvoyance as I searched around the area to find you." Sweat bullets dropped like rain on Tomoya's face.

"Doesn't that actually increase your potential as a stalker?"

"No no no no no! I'm a proper human being! I'm the class representative even! I would never misuse my powers like learning Usui-sensei's whereabouts!"

"You said something suspicious just now..."

Akito then made a mental note to keep an eye out for this weirdo.

The two high school boys continued on with their act at the dark empty street of District 10.

"...Anyway don't come here again or you'll get yourself beaten up." Akito's voice grew harsh. "If not, then I'll be the one to do the beating..." He quietly muttered those last few words. This district is only for us Level 0's. There's no place for you espers here.

The area they were in was one of several remote areas of District 10 which were rumored to be a gathering of gangsters and SkillOuts.

Suddenly, Akito noticed Tomoya's expression as it changed to a serious one after hearing his warning.

"..."

"Oi, why're you so quiet suddenly?"

"You should stop hanging out with those kinds of people, Takayama-san." Tomoya's bright brown eyes turned into an icy glare. The weirdo best friend act was now finally over and a more serious scene was about to unfold.

"Hah?!" Akito sounded displeased at that remark. His apathy disappeared.

"We are worried about you..." The class representative looked downcast.

Who is 'we'? What's this idiot spouting about now? The delinquent's eyes grew sharp. He was starting to feel even more annoyed by the busybody. "What I do is none of your business."

Akito originally wanted to scare the boy away but he got carried away with teasing him.

"Of course it is! It's my duty as you're-"

"...Class representative? Ha! Don't make me laugh." Akito sneered at the boy's comment. "So if you weren't the representative, the teacher wouldn't have to ask you to talk some sense into a troublesome guy like me?" Akito turned around, not wanting to talk any further.

"As you're friend... and I came here on my own not because someone ordered me to." Tomoya pleaded to the delinquent.

"I don't remember making friends with a stupid stalker. Get lost." Akito began to turn around to face the other direction, away from the boy.

"Please... Takayama-san. No good will come out of being around Skill-Outs. Have you seen the news lately?"

"So you're saying being an esper always makes you right?!" His voice gradually growing louder, the blonde haired delinquent spoke without turning around. Annoyed, he couldn't stand watching the esper's face any longer.

"No... it's not like that..."

Tomoya ran out of things to say. It was not that he was weak-willed but because he could not find a suitable argument that could pull Akito to his side. The delinquent was already too far gone. Tomoya already knew that the blonde haired boy had already skipped so many classes and has this hatred for every one of his classmates that are espers, but he approached the delinquent anyway without a proper plan aside from returning the notebook and acting friendly.

He slowly glanced down at his feet as his fists trembled. "Don't come here again. Espers like you annoy the shit out of me." The blonde-haired delinquent spat out those words before walking away and leaving the area.

Not wanting to press the matter any further, Akito left the streets of District 10 and headed for District 7 where his dorm was located.

How pathetic...

The street lights started to glow brighter with each passing corner. He reached the monorail which was still functioning at this time because Academy City issued an extended operation period for people who have late working hours. The power consumption factor is of course not a problem for the system runs on electricity generated by dozens of wind turbines.

I'm nothing more than a failure...

The boy's eyes were filled with emptiness as he walked the streets before reaching his dark dorm room.

There was no particular object that stood out in the room. Actually, the eerie dark room lacked any aesthetics or decorations at all. If a stranger would come in, he would definitely mistake the room to have no resident, if it not for the food inside the refrigerator.

Akito left his bag in a corner and took off his student uniform before collapsing on top of his own bed wearing a grey hoodie.

It has already been several months since the boy had moved into Academy City. Prior to moving, he had lived an ordinary life with his family and attended an ordinary middle school.

He was now living in Academy City, the city of science and technology. This was the famous city said to have technology surpassing the rest of the world by a margin of 30 years. This was the city which was famous for teaching students under the specialized curriculum known as Power Curriculum Program in order for them to gain special psychic powers and become what was known as espers. This city was also where various scientific researches were being conducted on those mysterious and special abilities they had.

And yet,

This city is so full of bullshit... It's all their fault I'm stuck here as a Level 0...

His trail of thoughts stopped there and he stared blankly at the ceiling before closing his eyes.

Meanwhile in an abandoned building in District 10. 11:28 pm.

"Yo~! How's the plans coming along~?" Shin waved at a grown man playing a handheld game console while sitting on a crate in the farthest corner of the big industrial room. The latter scowled at the sight of his two associates.

"The stuff got delayed. They won't be arriving for at least two days." the person continued playing his video game which was, in closer inspection, to be a rare retro fighting game that received great reception in the past.

"Aww~ thats no fun." Shin let out a disappointed sigh but did not seem all that serious.

Mikoshiba staggered toward a different corner of the room to sleep, not caring anymore after hearing the change in the situation.

"Man... those idiots working on the transport will get grilled by the higher ups when they arrive." With that suspicious-looking grin still plastered to his face, Shin slowly shook his head as he wandered around the dark space. "I'm so glad I wasn't assigned to transport." He took a gum from his pocket, chewed on it, and crouched near the end of a conveyor belt. His hands reached out for the incomplete contraptions sprawled around and toyed with them. "Was security as tight as always, Jun-san?"

The man was completely indulged in the epic battle unfolding in front him. "Nope, a lot of Anti-Skill doing security checks this time. The guys are having difficulty moving the bigger packages thanks to that." His thumbs almost moving past the limits the eye can see. "And you wouldn't be assigned to transport anyway since your abilities are more suitable here in assembly."

The building was quiet for a moment apart from the retro video game being played until Shin spoke an easy-going voice.

"Well no choice but to lay low until our part of this show."

Shin played with a small black object in his hand which used to be a bunch separate machinery from the floor a minute ago but now connected together to have a shape and form of some kind of small handgun similar to a low caliber S&W revolver.

"It's too bad that Komaba got taken out. He would have been a great addition to REBEL's fighting power." Shin got bored with the replica gun and threw it aside to make a new toy. "And maybe that kid as well. At this rate, if we don't find any more interesting prospects, giving the higher ups of Academy City a little shake will be a bit challenging."

Ahhh... I'm still not used to writing so I really appreciate the feedback...

END AN:

S&W is an American firearms manufacturer that has been in existence for quite a while now.

This story will most likely have more than OC protagonist so it will shift from time to time.