Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Crossover3 (section)

===Part 4===

'''(5 Hours After)

What the hell?

Everyone had that same thought. The rules were almost meaningless in this championship. Did it all come down to whatever the White Queen felt like at the moment!? She had decided to punish the losers for whatever reason, but how was their host Shinobu (6 years old) supposed to stop her if she stopped following the rules?

They all shuddered at that frightening thought, but could they really shake those all-powerful white shoulders to wake her up and tell her to take this seriously? And it was true this had saved someone.

“Ah!? …Huh? I fell asleep?”

“Shinobu. I’m not sure why, but it didn’t count. You’re fine.”

Meanwhile…

Quenser and Heivia had ventured out into the Jinnai house’s front yard. Why? Because the Japanese-style house had too many futons. They had decided playing on the hard dirt outside would help fight off their drowsiness. However, they had to stay in the yard. The fence was an impassable barrier.

“If we even nod off, a white hell awaits us. There’s no way I’m breaking any of the rules. We can’t set foot outside the yard.”

“Not even our busty commander punishes people this harshly. What the hell are we supposed to do?”

But it was the dead of night when even the trees slept. It was 2 AM when someone made their next move.

It began with Kamijou Touma exploring the late-night home. He took on the role of everyone’s leader. If a girl was in trouble, he was there in a flash. He was worried about what had happened to Filinion and Armelina (Wait, what about the Hayabusa boy?), so he tried crawling toward the forbidden room despite the danger.

He arrived there more easily than expected, but that was why he felt so puzzled as he grabbed the sliding door’s handle. It was not locked, so he slowly slid it open.

And he screamed.

“Gyaaaaah!?”

The others kept their difference because they assumed it was a trap, but trustworthy Index and Mikoto ran over.

“Uuh… What is it, Touma? I’m so tired.”

“And the normal family members are sleeping, so be more consid-…eh? What is this!?”

There was nothing there.

Nothing at all.

Not only was there no sign of Filinion or Armelina, but the white disaster that had attacked them was missing. The room was full of old furniture, and there was no room for anyone to hide.

“Eh? But…eh?”

Kamijou had discovered it first and he was the most confused.

“Then…where did the person here go?”

The answer was obvious.

If the White Queen had ignored the rules to leave her post, it was obvious where she would go.

“…Broootherrr…”

They heard a creaking from the dark hallway. A silhouette’s head swayed gently back and forth while a dull voice escaped its lips.

“Mumble, mumble… Broootherrr…Zzz.”

In the guest room one sliding screen away, a moonlit silhouette could be seen sitting with his back to the wall. Shiroyama Kyousuke had his hands pressed to his mouth to make sure no sound escaped, but he could not stop his entire body from trembling.

He was silently complaining about the unreasonable scene unfolding before his eyes.

(Does it no longer matter if I’m asleep or not!? She just wants to grab me and crush my body with her vise-like strength!!)

But lamenting was not going to fix anything. The White Queen was not a genius at analyzing the rules and using them to her advantage. She used her own power to plow through everything in her way and her incredible charisma ensured the world would change its rules to fit after the fact. If she decided something was so, it was so. That was the simplest introduction to the world Kyousuke knew.

With his hands over his mouth, he glanced over to Aika and Lu Niang Lan and signaled with his eyes.

A summoner could not summon an otherworldly Material without a vessel, so he had to secure himself a vessel. But…

“(No. The liger is my vessel, so I can’t let you have her so easily.)” (Aika)

“(I started down the path of an assassin because I was sick of being a vessel, remember?)” (Lu Niang Lan)

They had their individual excuses, but it came down to one main issue: Throw me in front of that unbeatable nemesis and I’ll die. If you want to die, do it on your own.

“A-aren’t you being a little too cruel?”

Kyousuke began to protest, but he had forgotten a more fundamental issue. What would happen if he carelessly opened his mouth when he was supposed to remain entirely silent?

Something broke through every last panel of the sliding screen behind him.

It was a large number of white ribbons. Resistance was futile at this point. Those fragments of the Queen wrapped around him and he could no longer escape her grasp. He was dragged toward the tatters of the sliding screen and he vanished from the guest room.

“Mutter… Hee hee hee. Hee hee hee hee hee. This flavor…this smell…yes, yes…there’s no mistaking it this time☆ Broootherrrrr!!!!!!!”

“Ohhhhn! Ohhhhhhohhhhhhhhhhohhhhn!! Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhn!!”

Some kind of otherworldly screaming burst out, he was stuffed into the forbidden room, and no one dared to move.

Kamijou covered his eyes with trembling hands as he silently watched from around a corner.

“I didn’t…save him… I’m so stupid! I’m a coward! He was right there!!”

Mikoto placed a hand on his shoulder and silently shook her head.

“Don’t call yourself stupid. You know you couldn’t stand up to that.”

“His noble sacrifice kept the world safe.”

That was true.

The White Queen had been after Shiroyama Kyousuke from the beginning. The glasses cow and the flaaaat young woman had only been a tragic accident. Now that she had accomplished her goal, wouldn’t the White Queen step down and allow young Shinobu’s 1st Sleepless Championship to resume safely?

Just as that faint hope rose in their hearts…

“Ah!?”

The White Queen’s shoulders jumped slightly as she woke up in the center of the hallway. That insane silver twintail girl slowly looked around, so everyone ducked their heads out of sight.

“I was having such a wonderful dream. Oh, but I can dream whenever I want. Right now I need to find my real brother. Broootherrr.”

“(D-don’t tell me!?)”

Kamijou shuddered as a singsong voice reached his ears.

“Broootherrr, where arrre you? Ee hee hee. Come out, come out, wherever you arrre. Hee hee hee…”

“(Sh-she doesn’t realize what she did!? She doesn’t even have a clue!?)”

“(Yeah, we can never let that Shiroyama guy know about this.)”

After showing off how hopelessly outmatched the others were, the Queen cheerfully returned to the forbidden room.

The game would continue.