Editing IndexVSDRRR Crossover Ikebukuro Chapter (section)

===Part 1===

Tokyo | Ikebukuro | Summer

"Such misfortune..."

Kamijou Touma, under the sweltering sun, spoke his catchphrase.

However, there was just one thing that was different from normal.

He was neither in his usual stage known as "Academy City,” nor in the sky above Russia, nor in the eternal darkness made by the Magic God.

It was a place that wasn't that far from Academy City. He was in a city only a few kilometers to the northeast of one of the entrances of the "Outer Wall.”

Ikebukuro, Toshima City, Tokyo.

Although it couldn't compare to Academy City, Kyoto, or Akihabara, it was one of the most famous cities in Japan.

"Ikebukuro, huh... Come to think of it, I don't think I've been to many cities in Japan apart from Academy CIty..."

Kamijou deliberately added the word "Japanese" because he remembered that he had been to several cities outside of Japan in just the past few months. It was ironic that he had never been to a much closer city in Japan, yet he had been to Russia and Italy.

"Though if I wanted to shop, I could just do it in Academy City..."

At that moment, something similar to a news commentary could be heard from the side.

"...President to be at the summit..."

When he turned around toward the sound, he saw a prototype laptop displayed in an electrical appliance store, converting the news images from the TV to high definition and then broadcasting them.

The news of the summit between the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Japan came on, and at that time, Kamijou tilted his head and said,

"Huh? He’s not that old guy?"

After a while, Kamijou, surprised at the appearance of a man who looked nothing like the Hispanic president Kamijou had known, suddenly noticed something and said,

"His approval rating didn’t drop because of that incident in Denmark...right?"

After he spoke with such anxiety, he heard a sudden beeping sound in his head.

Then, in the next instant, he had a question about what he had just said.

Huh?

"That incident in Denmark…” What was that again?

"Well, that old guy was really one of a kind... I guess he finally got the sack."

Kamijou, who easily accepted his acquaintance's sacking even while cocking his head in worry, started walking forward, and then sighed deeply once again. 

"Why on earth would I want to spend my hard-earned days off on something that feels like what an envoy would do?"

In the bag hanging from his hand, there was a cylindrical protective case made of stainless steel and some sort of cushioning material.

It seemed to have been found at a station at Academy City, and after being bounced between various organizations, it ended up in the hands of the troubled Kamijou as usual. And now it had to be sent back to Ikebukuro.

“Anyway, all you have to do is casually walk around with it. It’s bound to be reclaimed soon enough thanks to the law of causality.”

"At least, that's what Birdway said, but I really don't get it. That bartender guy beat me up so bad yesterday that I can't even straighten my back anymore, and she had the nerve to oh-so-politely help me fill out my application to exit Academy City? No matter how you think about it, it can’t be anything other than her using me. Speaking of which, isn’t she spending way more time in Japan than in England…?”

Whining, Kamijou took a look at the box. There were signs that it had already been opened, but there was no way to know if the person who found it had drunk any of the "something" inside. As the transporter, Kamijou, who was a minor, didn't even think about the option of "drinking" the thing.

"Ahhh, seriously, will there never be a chance for me to relax other than on a hospital bed...?"

Beside the sighing Kamijou, one of his classmates opened his mouth with a happy smile.

"Don't say that, Kami-yan. I'm looking forward to it, you know? Ikebukuro is filled with a different flavor of chaos than Akihabara. The mere mention of the word "Otome Road" alone transforms my heart into a great-journey-gangster-gold-mine!"

The boy who spoke such nonsense was none other than Aogami Pierce. 

Just as his nickname suggested, he was a blue-haired boy with perpetually closed eyes and pierced ears.

Although this bad friend of his had also applied to leave Academy City, it seemed as if he had applied to go out in the name of "external training experience instead of supplementary lessons," and in order to meet the requirements, he had to have a tutoring partner.

"Anyway, I'm going to leave the tutoring to you… or should I?"

As Kamijou expressed his unease, another fellow student smirked mischievously at him.

"Nyaa~ As soon as I said I was going to Ikebukuro, my step-sister told me to "hurry up and go to the butler cafe to have the essence of a gentleman carved into your spine." But before that, I should pop into a cosplay cafe, and in there, I'll think about world peace and the safety of my sister: that's the real essence of being a gentleman!"

The upbeat boy with dyed blonde hair and a Hawaiian shirt was Tsuchimikado Motoharu.

These three were a group of delinquents known as the "Delta Force" (“Idiot Trio”), famous among their classmates in a very small subsection of Academy City. Because Kamijou was always covered in blood, their characteristically red, blue, and yellow colors may have given them the nickname "Academy City's traffic light trio."

Those three were striding through the streets of Ikebukuro, but--

"Anyway, the subway to Ikebukuro was surprisingly crowded..."

The moment Kamijou said that, he noticed something strange—

Huh?

Subway?

That was strange. Was it even possible to reach Ikebukuro by subway from Academy City?

The last time he was able to leave Academy City so easily was that time on the beach in Kanagawa—

He was pretty sure...that leaving the city would require walking through the ‘gate’.
 
Kamijou, who had been repeatedly manipulated by various organizations, had gone to many countries like England and Italy through questionable means, having even been thrown out of planes, needing to stick a parachute landing. That was why he didn't think there was any point in formalities like "having to walk out through the gate" at all.

However, even so, he didn't think there was such a thing as being able to leave Academy City using the subway.

In order to go outside, students had to prepare an application and a guarantor. Before they went out, they had to accept the procedure of getting a nano transmitter injected into their bodies.

They say the extra security protocols were countermeasures against industrial espionage, but to students, it gave the illusion that Academy City was actually a prison and that they were applying for parole. Therefore, was it even possible that they could’ve gone through all of that and not remember any of it?

That... Eh?

In the first place, why didn’t he realize something so important until now?

Anyway, what was today’s date again?

He realized that even such simple facts had become so vague for him and was suddenly filled with unease.

"Hey, hey, it's not like we’ve been hit by some mind-altering magic or psychological esper power, right?"

Kamijou touched his head with his right hand just to be on the safe side, but didn't seem to notice any significant change.

After all, his right hand could dispel any supernatural ability and restore the world to its proper form. If his right hand, named "Imagine Breaker," touched it, any illusion or the like should have been dispelled at once. However, it seemed like his memories and vision haven't been tampered with.

He began to relax about that, but then another bout of unease arose. 

"I don't think I went through any procedure, no matter how much I try to think about it. I don't even think I took a subway at all..."

Was this really Ikebukuro? He looked around in a panic, wondering if he had mistakenly gone to the downtown area of District 15.

Then, in just a few seconds, he found a subway station entrance marked "Ikebukuro station.”

"Huh? Am I even more tired than I had realized…?"

Looking at Kamijou, who was breaking out in cold sweat, Tsuchimikado whispered quietly.

"(Calm down nyaa~ Kami-yan. I also feel like something is out of place here.)"

"(Hey now, don't tell me it's some trick you Anglicans are pulling!? If I get taken away somewhere again, I'm actually going to be held back a grade at this point...)"

“(If that were the case, I wouldn't have done any of this. I would have just kidnapped you quickly, nyaa. In any case, if this is some kind of attack, panic is what they would want you to feel, so pretend like you’re totally fine. This is perfectly normal, okay?)"

"(What about Aogami Pierce?)"

Kamijou focused on his friend who was just an ordinary person, despite being an esper, and Tsuchimikado straight up gave a thumbs up.

"(That’s not a problem, nya. He’s an idiot, so he probably has no inkling as to what’s really happening!)"

"(Wait, that's true.)"

Saying something like that made one wonder if they were really friends—

Aogami Pierce suddenly stopped and said to Kamijou and Tsuchimikado.

"Hmm? By the way, we never went through the “gate,” did we?"

"Ohhhhhhhhhh! I can't believe this guy just said it aloud!"

"Nyaa!! This guy really can't get with the program!"

Faced with inexplicable spite from his two evil friends, Aogami Pierce silently clenched his fists and prepared to defend himself while not even knowing why.

"Wait a minute! I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I can definitely at least read the mood! Say if some president’s voluptuous secretary, who’s wearing glasses and has an air of maturity, and some depressed-looking, blonde, Nordic girl appeared in front of my eyes, even if they looked like mother and daughter, I would politely say "did you sisters come to see the sights around here?" while desperately fantasizing about those two as my older and younger sister. See, I can read the mood on that level of making a paradigm shift and turning it into a paradise shift!"

He was probably trying to say that he could be polite enough to refer to an older woman as much younger than she actually is, but the entire message was soiled by his later words.

"As expected from Aogami Pierce. Choosing to be the middle sibling of three instead of being a lover—I'm impressed by the depth of your skills."

"The moment you use the words "depressed-looking" and "president's voluptuous secretary" while trying to explain how you can be polite to women, you’re just proving that you really can’t read the mood…”

"No, that’s the key. By imagining our positions in detail, we can make our delusions more realistic and our hearts more satisfied."

“Oh, I see you know your stuff! See, I’ve already fantasized away and came up with this. The two sisters are actually assassin sisters who were sent here to kill me, but thanks to that lucky pervert Kami-yan, they got their breasts fondled somehow, and as a result of their mental shock, the brainwashing that had been placed on them got lifted, and the plot of escaping their evil organization begins! Then, 80 years later, surrounded by a total of 128 heroines that I met in my journeys, including eternally young mothers, maid robots, and shota step brothers, I die from pure moe overload!

“That’s a surprisingly long life you live in that fantasy… More than that, don’t just casually put other people inside your own perverted fantasies!”

"Though, Aogami Pierce... in order to differentiate each person, it's important to set up costumes for everyone! Also, is there really a need for the "shota step brothers" thing, nyaa?"

"What are you talking about! I've said this before, but no matter if its a step sister, a stepmother, a stepdaughter, twins, widows, (omitted), soldiers, secretaries, lolis, shotas, tsunderes, cheerleaders, (omitted), non-humans, ghost girls, or animal-eared girls, I can accept them all! As long as you feel attraction, trivialities like gender cease to matter, don’t they?"

“Well, homosexuality is indeed a form of love, but the moment you do anything with a child, it’s a crime whether or not you’re a man or a woman.”

“Mmmm, and the dream that allows us to bypass the wall known as the law is called the second dimension. After all, I firmly believe that as long as it’s only in 2D, even lolis and shotas are totally acceptable. Of course, if you bring that dream over into the 3D world, you’re really suspicious.”

“You know, I had a phase where I thought like that as well, but now that I’ve seen some guy who manages to build a harem with every single girl in his class, his loli teacher who looks like she’s still in grade school, some little nun he found somewhere, and the ojou-samas in some fancy middle school, I’ve come to realize that the wall between 2D and 3D is basically nonexistent.”

“Exactly. And then he always uses the “I like older women” card to spread the fake news that he doesn’t have a harem or anything like that, like he’s some kind of messenger from hell! What’s more, even though there should be no way he could develop a relationship with her, he’s been calling my sister by her first name from the very start, nyaa!”

"Hey, watch it."

Because the debate seemed to be perpetually ongoing and because he felt like he was being insulted to his face, Kamijou decided to change the subject by voicing a concern he had had for some time now.

"Anyway... Who in the world are you?"

The three of them focused their attention to one place where there was a man who had somehow so naturally joined the conversation.

"Ah, hey guys. I'm Yumasaki Walker."

The teen, who seemed to be the happy-go-lucky type, cheerfully gave out his name.

"Wow, to see the Kamijou Touma in the flesh, it's such an honor to meet you!"