Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume9 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 9===

It was the afternoon period past midday but before evening.

That in-between time period may have been the least crowded time. Kamijou was all alone seated in the break area with plenty of vending machines lined up alongside it.

Aogami Pierce’s words had been so simple and expressed a viewpoint Kamijou lacked.

Simply protect what you love.

That had to be one correct answer.

It was also a very easy one to cling to for a high school boy like Kamijou.

“But.”

Could he really drag everyone else into this for no more than that?

Who was Anna Sprengel really?”

''“Merry Christmas, my amnesiac enemy. You looked good out there today.”

She had undoubtedly been an enemy at first.

Her mouth-to-mouth attack had taken the form of the deadly microbes known as St. Germain. Worse, due to the conflict with Kamijou’s Imagine Breaker, the strange Rosicrucian ally was doomed to die whether he won or lost.

''“Did you use magic!? By making an ally of the St. Germain I implanted in you!?”

Even after they worked together to defeat her, Anna Sprengel easily escaped Anti-Skill custody and fled. She then caused another major incident in Los Angeles.

She joined the Transcendents of the Bridge Builders Cabal and messed with Alice Anotherbible to successfully push that mysterious magic cabal beyond any semblance of control.

But even Anna had a nemesis.

Aleister Crowley. And Anna Kingsford who he controlled.

Kamijou couldn’t explain why he had reached out to help when he saw Anna Sprengel transformed into a helpless film canister. He had simply responded to the thought in his head.

Yes, he hated Anna Sprengel.

But that result wouldn’t have brought him any joy.

''“Fine, fine. Just this once, I will use my trump card.”

Then what was it he did want?

He couldn’t put it to words, but he could say for certain it was incompatible with Mut Thebes, who had tried to execute Anna with the Shrink Drink, or with Aleister, who had tried to kill her with Kingsford.

Maybe he wasn’t right.

Maybe he wasn’t being logical.

But he could hold his head high.

''“I don’t know if someone like that exists, but if they do, I can make a compromise with this world.”

Yes.

That was right.

''“I do hope they are out there somewhere, fool.”

That was it.

So what if she was wicked? Why should it matter what a powerful enemy she was?

No matter how this conflict ended and no matter where they all ended up, he did not want it to be ended by Anna Sprengel’s death.

What was so strange about being so certain of that?

“…”

''But. Even so.

Kamijou had made up his mind, but a mere high school boy had no realistic way of saving Anna while she was hooked up to all that machinery in the ICU.

He couldn’t even defeat Rosencreutz who was on his way here.

The hospital contained plenty more patients. Not to mention the doctors, nurses, and other medical staff caring for those patients. Those hospitalized people had their everyday lives taken from them. They were all fighting with all their might to reclaim those everyday lives. Anna Sprengel wasn’t the only person here at death’s door. She wasn’t special. So how could he put those others at risk?

He wanted help.

But who could he ask for help and how could he convince them?

Someone approached while he was agonizing over these questions.

“Oh? I was wondering where you got off to.”

It was the frog-faced doctor.

“How’s Anna?” asked Kamijou on reflex.

“I don’t know anything about Alice Anotherbible or that Shrink Drink you mentioned.”

He wasn’t lying. The frog-faced doctor’s next words were simple.

And they tore into the core of Kamijou Touma’s being.

“So what are you going to do?”

“…”

Kamijou clenched his teeth.

He tried thinking, but it didn’t do any good.

“Anna is a villain. There’s no denying that at this point.”

He couldn’t stop himself.

His voice seemed to spill from his heart more than this mouth.

“But I still don’t want her to die.”

That settled it.

No, he had made up his own mind.

He knew where he wanted to stand, which direction he wanted to face, what stance he wanted to take.

So he let it all out.

He released the ugliness within.

“I mean, everyone keeps calling her a villain, but she still saved me. I never would have gotten that mobile combat vehicle without her there. In fact, I probably would’ve screwed up and gotten myself killed on that first night. Sure, I freed her from being a human film canister, but if all she wanted was to survive, what reason did she have to bring me or Aradia along with her? She could have lied to us and run off on her own. She loved to tease people and laugh at them, but there were moments when she reached out a helping hand for nothing in return! No, that’s not the point. I don’t want to save her because she saved me. This isn’t some transactional thing where I’m just repaying a favor!! It’s really not. She teased me and wouldn’t leave me alone in that discount store. She laughed at the duct tape around Aradia’s ankle at the gas station and she loved the Japanese candy she tried. She was a normal girl. She might be an irregular Transcendent with exceptional power, but she’s still no different from anyone else. I can’t leave her to die. I just can’t!! I can’t accept that just by saying she’s an enemy and drawing a line between us! I don’t want Anna to die!! I don’t even want to think about it! I don’t know how great a monster Christian Rosencreutz is. It doesn’t matter how stupid it is to think about fighting him. I won’t let him take her away from us. I can’t stand idly by when I know what he’s going to do! I’ll do something about him. I swear it. I’ll do whatever it takes to snatch victory away from him and protect Anna! But that isn’t enough. Defeating Christian Rosencreutz is just one battle won. It doesn’t mean I’ve won it all and it doesn’t actually save anyone’s life. That isn’t the goal. It’s all meaningless if Anna doesn’t wake back up!! There are things you can’t accomplish with a punch! Anna was hit by the Shrink Drink and now my right hand can’t save her. With Alice dead and unable to help, you’re all I have left. Your medical skills are all based on ordinary science, but you can do things I never can!! I don’t want to give up. I refuse to give up on Anna Sprengel!! I couldn’t bear to give up on her life here!!! It’s not about how much time we spent together. I’ve seen her smile. I don’t care about her mysterious ‘king’. We will drag her up out of the darkness ourselves. I want her to smile. That’s all this is about. I want to see Anna’s smile again!! I’d gladly throw my own life away for that!! So please. Once this is all over, I’ll turn myself in to Anti-Skill. If helping a villain is wrong, then I’ll accept whatever punishment I deserve. They can badmouth me on TV and online – I’ll walk into juvie with my head held high!! Ugh, ahh, so please don’t give up on Anna!! Ugh, ahh, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

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Kamijou’s face was a mess.

He couldn’t find his strength. He clung to the doctor in front of him as he fell to his knees.

In response, the frog-faced doctor only breathed a quick sigh.

And he spoke.

''Just like he always did.

“You’re overthinking this, if you ask me.”

“…”

“Think about this as deeply as you want, there’s no point in endlessly worrying yourself when it isn’t necessary. I’m a doctor, so you don’t need to find any lengthy justification. You only need to speak two simple words: save her.”

For a doctor, it was a normal, natural, and commonplace thing.

“But…but.”

“Hm?”

“Anna is a villain.”

“And? What’s wrong with wanting to reach out and help someone whose life is being threatened by that very accusation?”

“But I asked everyone to help…and none of them would do it.”

“If you could use a doctor, then I will do whatever I can to help. But what can you do to help?”

''He had help.

''He had one person willing to help his selfish and ugly wish to keep a worldclass villain alive even though it would worsen the situation and put so many unrelated lives at risk.

That man’s dedication to preserving lives was not shaken. It never was. Not even in an emergency when everyone else was panicking. Even though reading the room and cleverly pretending not to notice might be so much easier. Was he driven by his pride as a professional life saver?

Seeing it for himself reignited something within the hopelessly inexperienced Kamijou Touma.

That something was quite small but it was a solid presence within his heart.

That was his core. He now had something to support his heart.

''This doctor did not lie.

''If he said he would save a patient, then that patient would be saved.

Kamijou could believe that without any real evidence because of the many times he himself had been brought back from the brink of death. He didn’t know who this frog-faced doctor was, but he knew he would not betray a human life.

The real answer was nothing special. Its basis was found in the experience he had built up for himself.

And with that settled…

He would accept his disadvantage and do whatever it took to save Anna. That meant stopping anyone who would intrude on the hospital and interrupt the doctor’s actions.

Do that and he could solve everything.

Then he could once more see that little wicked woman mocking him, verbally abusing him, throwing a tantrum, and causing trouble in general. And he could once more see her smiling.

If so, that was the best possible reason for the puny boy to clench his right fist.

“Doctor.”

“Yes?”

“''Thank you.''”

Kamijou Touma bowed deep and then turned around.

He walked toward the hospital’s front entrance. And the dangerous city beyond.

Now that he had a goal in mind, he only had to clench his right fist tight and continue onward.

Christian Rosencreutz.

He would do whatever it took to defeat that greatest of enemies.