6_Final Chapter_ My Betrayer in the World of Normalcy

FINAL CHAPTER My Betrayer in the World of Normalcy When he came to, he was in a hospital room. As far as he could tell from checking the equipment and things, this was a hospital in Academy City. Well, suppose so, thought Kamijou. He was an esper, and for his Development, all sorts of medicines had been used on him. If even a drop of his blood were sampled, then there was a possibility that industry secrets he didn’t really understand would be leaked. He couldn’t be brought to a normal hospital. As he lay there on the bed, he looked out the window. It was early in the afternoon, though the sunlight in the August sky was too strong to call it that. Beneath it were walking parents taking a child for a visit, an old man being pushed around in a wheelchair by a nurse, and others. On the television, the newscaster lady was conveying the report of Jinsaku Hino’s rearrest. Atop the side table was something that looked like a letter, written on loose-leaf paper. On it was a single sentence: “I suppose I should say, welcome home, Touma Kamijou?” and a small sticker of a tree frog was stuck on the edge of the letter. He’s my doctor again? Kamijou thought as he sank deeper into the bed, then silently closed his eyes. A world in which everything was back to normal. A world in which everything was back to normal? Don’t make me laugh. Angel Fall had definitely lost its effect. The people in the city, the people all over the world, all of them were probably back to the way they used to be. He didn’t think they’d even have realized they’d been caught up in something strange. It seemed like people’s memories of the incident, including those of the angel’s purge, had been rewritten, maybe because of a side effect of the spell being interrupted. But there was still something that would never come back. A certain young man had resolved himself to his own death, and he still grinned at Kamijou. “…What the hell? Damn it,” said Kamijou to himself, alone in the hospital room. Motoharu Tsuchimikado had apparently been trying to protect Touma Kamijou’s normal life. But was he thinking that this world, which was now missing just one person, could really be called normal? “Damn it, what the hell?!” shouted Kamijou at this abnormality. The moment he let loose his wail of lament at the normal life that would never come back— “Hey, been a while, nya~! Kammy, you doin’ all right over there?” In an absolutely impossible event, Motoharu Tsuchimikado came storming into the room. “—…Hey, huh? Just a minute! What is this? Some spare cloned body?!” “Huh? Good ol’ Tsuchimikado’s got enough personality not to overuse a cliché trick like that, y’know.” The young man, flashing a toothy grin, had on bandages here and there. When Angel Fall activated, Tsuchimikado should have become the super-good-looking idol Hajime Hitotsui…Did his wounds and memories from its active duration not return to the idol? Or had Tsuchimikado been an exception because of how he resisted the spell using some weird magic? No, there was something more important here. How was he alive in the first place? Kamijou decided he’d throw the pillow at him for now. “Ah, damn it, it hit you! It didn’t go through?! So then I’m not in some dream world seeing illusions?!” “I’m neither illusion nor ghost, nya~. I’m the real thing, Tsuchimikado in the flesh, okay?” “But, but how?! What was all that explanation for about you having a body that would die if you used magic one more time because your circuits are different because you’re an esper?!” “Oh, that was a lie.” “Uh?!” “I mean, c’mon, good ol’ Tsuchimikado is fundamentally a liar,” he said, waving a hand dismissively. “Good ol’ Tsuchimikado’s power is the weak Level Zero ‘Auto Rebirth,’ y’see. I could use magic four or five times and come out all right, but it’s a real pain in the ass. If I came out and said it, the Church would demand I use magic as much as I possibly could, and it gets honestly tiring. Sorry ’bout that. ” “Ubhaah” A moment later, Kamijou reflexively hurled the futon covering him at Tsuchimikado. He dodged it easily, with only a half step’s movement, and continued. “Whoa, there. Kammy, this is the scene where you’re supposed to get all choked up and moved to tears, you know?” “Shut it! A professional moron is what you are! So what? Why the hell did you beat the crap out of me, then?!” “Well, I mean…Gotta keep up the act until the show’s over. And, Kammy, even if I had said, ‘Hey, it’s okay, I won’t die,’ you’d’ve stopped me anyway. You probably would’ve said something about fixing everything with nobody getting hurt and sprinting to your house and using Imagine Breaker or something. I couldn’t risk your right hand busting up my shiki, nyan~.” Kamijou grunted and fell mum. Taking the lack of argument as a good thing, Tsuchimikado forced the conversation onto a different topic. “Yes, yes, let’s leave the moving reunion scene here, shall we? But man, Kammy, we both managed to barely live through this one, too, huh?” “You almost killed me—and you look fit as a fiddle!” “Oh, you don’t hafta worry ’bout Zaky. She ain’t in the best of health, but she’s already slicing the skins off apples with her stupid long katana and stuff in rehab.” “Listen to me! I mean, I’m happy she’s safe and everything, but—” “But there’s one problem still left.” Tsuchimikado wasn’t listening. “Now, this whole incident…We gotta figure out who should take the responsibility for all this.” “…” Kamijou clammed up. In the end, whether there was an evil intent behind it or not, Touya was the one who had caused the trouble with Angel Fall. It meant that the world was thrown into chaos, the remaining sorcerers were jumping around with blood in their eyes, Jinsaku Hino was gravely injured by a stray blow, and Kanzaki ended up being forced to fight a real-life angel. So then perhaps part of the responsibility did lie with Touya. But how should he take that responsibility? Kamijou knew of an alchemist. Aureolus Isard. He caused a bunch of commotion in Academy City, and he mastered the secret art of Ars Magna, something no one else in the world had ever accomplished. He’d ended up on the list of targets for all sorts of organizations and agencies seeking that mystique. Right now, he’d be living as a different person after some plastic surgery. Wasn’t Angel Fall in the same vein? So then, waiting for Touya now would be… “…Well, see, from my position as a spy for English Puritanism infiltrated into Academy City, I’ve got a duty to report the truth to the Church if they ask me,” explained Tsuchimikado, looking worried—though only a bit. “But that would be a huge pain, and good ol’ Tsuchimikado here is fundamentally a liar, so I’ll just make up something and tell them that, nya~.” “Hey!” Kamijou blurted out automatically. Was it really okay to push things forward so easily? “It’s fine, it’s fine! Well, the English Puritan Church is at the forefront of witch-hunting and inquisitions, so liars are the first ones to be tortured, but you can’t work as a spy saying things like that.” Tsuchimikado clucked his tongue and waggled his index finger. “Oh, and Kammy, one more thing. That was another lie. I said I was a spy undercover in Academy City, but it’s actually the opposite. I’m a double agent pretending to be the English Puritan Church’s ally while I dig up their secrets. So I have no hesitation lying to them—none at all, nothing!” “Wha…?!” “In addition, that was a lie, too. I actually take requests from other agencies and organizations besides the Church and Academy City, so I’m not a double agent—I’m a spy for hire.” “Who are you?! Wait, that just means you can’t keep your damn mouth shut, doesn’t it?!” So he’s like an informant who different organizations solicit the services of, in a way? Kamijou wondered, tilting his neck. “That’s why I came here today, too—to make sure our stories line up. Whaddaya wanna go with, Kammy? Should we stick with something Asian and say we survived some remnants of Tachikawa-ryu, nyan~?” “I can’t believe this guy! I don’t wanna share a secret with you!” shouted Kamijou half seriously, face in his hands. “A-ha-ha.” Tsuchimikado laughed at him lightly. “But still, nya~, for good ol’ Tsuchimikado, anything goes—whether it’s tricking, lying, tattling, or betraying—but I make sure my work life and personal life are separate, nya~. I don’t bring my job lies into my private life, so rest assured.” “…” Kamijou stared at him dubiously for a few moments. Then, he sighed, as if he’d finally gotten tired. “Well, since Dad’s face has already been identified, I guess I’ve got no choice but to trust you. I’m saying this once—thanks. You saved my dad’s life.” “Nah, I didn’t do nothin’ that worthy of praise. I mean, after all, I did blow your house into bits to put an end to Angel Fall, nya~.” Eh? “W-wait. Tsuchimikado, what did you just say?” “Huh? I said I blew your house to kingdom come with my shikigami. There were all those souvenirs making up the pillars for a temple there, so since I needed to bust ’em all up in one shot, then I needed to blow the whole house up, get it?” “Don’t ‘get it’ me! This is terrible! Is my whole family homeless now?! The mortgage on it is definitely not even paid off yet!” “Ah, right, another thing.” Tsuchimikado wasn’t listening. “There was another problem, wasn’t there? Kammy, all those memories of people who were substituted during Angel Fall—it was set up so they would go back to their former locations. So if Alice was substituted into Bob, then Alice’s memories of her time spent as Bob would go back to Bob. Couldn’t hurt to remember that, nya~. Well, Kanzaki and I both used a couple of techniques, so we’re sorta like exceptions, I guess.” “Don’t change the subject What the hell am I supposed to do about my house?!” With Kamijou’s pained shriek, Tsuchimikado laughed heartily and exited the hospital room. Damn, I really can’t trust him! Kamijou shouted internally, but since he was pretty badly wounded, he couldn’t get out of bed. Unable to do anything, he stared out the opened door, mouth agape, when suddenly someone entered the room with a ghostlike gait. It was the sister in white, the silver-haired foreign girl, Index. In contrast to her usual leaden mood, Kamijou automatically forgot all about Tsuchimikado and fixed his stare on Index. She was hanging her head, so her bangs were getting in the way of her face; he couldn’t see her expression. “Wh-what’s wrong, Index? Did you get sunstroke? Jeez, it’s because you insist on wearing those long-sleeved robes in this damn heat. You shouldn’t underestimate Japan’s summers—” “…—it me,” she said suddenly, cutting him off. What? Kamijou furrowed his brow at Index’s words. “Touma, you hit me!” Whaaat?! Kamijou’s shoulders jerked at Index’s words, meaning unknown. Touma Kamijou would assert that he had absolutely no recollection of committing any acts of domestic violence. Despite that, Index stared at his face, half crying, and said: “We finally, finally, finally got to the beach, so I was looking forward to it so much, but when we got there, when we were there, Touma, you never even looked in my direction, and whenever I butted in you would seriously hit me, and on top of all that when all I did was call out to you from behind, you buried me up to my head in the sand! Just what do you have to say for yourself?! Mmgyaah” she shouted, causing Kamijou even more trouble understanding what she was talking about— —Oh. Suddenly, he remembered something he should not have. —Kammy, all those memories of people who were substituted during Angel Fall—it was set up so they would go back to their former locations. Now that he thought of it… Now that he thought of it, while Angel Fall was happening, Blue Hair was standing in for Index. —So if A was substituted into B, then A’s memories of her time spent as B would go back to Bob. Then, what? Blue Hair’s memories of his time spent as Index were changed into being Index’s own memories? He certainly remembered he had slammed the door shut in Blue Hair’s face when he came out wearing that habit and, reflexively, without thinking, buried him in the sand. Did that mean…? Kamijou looked at Index. She was baring her teeth and drawing closer, half crying and red-hot with anger. “Uh, wait, hold on a second. PLEASE HOLD ON A SECOND, MISS INDEX. There’s a very good reason for this, and, well, actually, the world was having a huge crisis while you didn’t know, and?!” “Be quiet! You stupid Oedipus complex! You were staring at your own mother so much like that and paying attention to her, so why did you treat me like that?!” Kamijou distinctly felt the tip of her words driving themselves into his forehead. Caution: Incidentally, during Angel Fall’s active period, his mother was standing in for Index. “That’s why I’m telling you there’s a really complicated circumstance here—and how did it come to this? I tried my best! I really tried my best for your sake!” Kamijou’s excuses turned into complaints halfway through, but Index didn’t stop to think about it. She said, “I’ll never forgive you, Touma! I shall crush your skull with my teeth!” With a bit of this and that, Kamijou’s daily life resumed with rotten luck and a cry of pain.