Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume2 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 5===

An explosion sounded in the distance.

The fire alarm linked with the emergency exit began to ring and Kamijou Touma ran down the stairs while barely staying on his feet. He was still technically indoors, but the heating was less effective here. The ominous chill felt like the invisible presence of death sneaking in toward his heart.

If he was spotted from here on, he would be restrained.

They might be acting out of good will, but his presence at the hospital would draw Anna Sprengel to it. If that happened, all the emergency patients driven to the verge of death by R&C Occultics would really and truly be killed by Anna.

He had to avoid that at all costs.

But even his sense of pain was failing him, the deafening alarm messed with his senses, and the stairs never seemed to change no matter how many flights he descended. Before long, he was enveloped by a sensation like he was walking on fluffy clouds. The light seemed to blur and the sound grew distorted. He lost track of what floor he was on.

And amid it all, he heard a voice.

“Looks like you’re having some trouble.”

No one had been there a moment before.

He at least felt confident of that.

The soprano voice carried well. As a high-pitched child’s voice, it was hard to judge whether this was a boy or a girl. Or maybe it had been intentionally modified to that end. Kamijou of course did not recognize it. He looked up again, but he could not actually see someone leaning against the wall of the landing. He only saw a vague outline there.

The next thing he knew, all the deafening noise was gone.

The fire alarm and the ominous rumbling from outside had vanished.

Had those things stopped, or had his senses gone out? He had no idea. Here, he was surrounded by a silence so great it actually hurt his ears.

At the very least, this person did not seem intent on capturing him.

When he slipped past them and descended the next flight of stairs, he found the same figure waiting there.

This may not have been real.

He looked over at the floor number sign. He had it square in his field of vision, but the meaning of the number never actually reached his mind.

“Not wanting to involve Maidono Hoshimi makes sense, but that does not change the fact that there is no hope left for you if you continue on like this.”

Kamijou Touma placed his right hand on the side of his head.

The figure seemed to be laughing.

“Oh, I am not St. Germain.”

He descended another flight of stairs.

The figure was again waiting for him. He began to wonder if the stairway would continue forever and he could never escape the spiraling prison without the permission of this boy(?).

Kamijou finally came to a stop and asked a question.

“Who are you?”

“Sorry, I guess my appearance wouldn’t be much of an explanation, would it? You may have at least heard my name, but I shouldn’t just assume. I should probably introduce myself from the beginning.”

[[Image:GT_Index_v02_220.jpg|thumb]]

The light blurred even when he looked straight at the figure.

Even their outlines were unclear, like it was a scene filmed through an out-of-focus video camera.

But accepting this other person’s presence seemed to allow a more colorful alternate world to spread out around him. The walls and floor had been given calming colors for the benefit of the patients, but now they flashed with bright colors and the orderly stairs bent and undulated like smiling lips. There were no gaps below his feet. There could not be. This distorted view was only an illusion. But he still felt like he would forever vanish from the real world if he were to misstep and fall into those pitch-black gaps.

The dream refused to end.

Was it his thoughts rather than his senses that were going haywire?

“''I am Aihana Etsu, the Level 5 known as Academy City’s #6.''”

“…”

He felt a squeezing at his heart.

Was this really them, or was it someone else?

“Why are you here?”

“To do the usual. The usual for me, anyway.”

That answer seemed to prove their legitimacy.

The #1 Accelerator, the #3 Misaka Mikoto, and all the others known as Level 5s ''created a unique world all their own''. It may have been in his imagination, but it felt that way to Kamijou. Clashing with them carried the same pressure as being taken inside an action movie or suspense movie.

“Now, what power would you like? I can give it to you. But I’m not too proud of that since I can’t say I actually ‘create’ the power.”

If he did not stay strong, he would be taken in by it.

He would stop to question his presence in the world of a war movie or suspense movie where people’s lives were used up as readily as tissues.

Aihana Etsu seemed to be smiling bitterly.

Kamijou could not actually see their face, but he could just tell from their aura.

“I cannot actually do all that much. The nature of my power means I cannot bring about justice on my own. So I am always thinking about who I can side with to ensure the good guys win. I lend out the name of Aihana Etsu as a part of that.”

“What…are you talking about?”

“''You are not a good person,''” they bluntly stated. “Which is why I avoided contacting before now, but it seems supporting you is the best choice available here. R&C Occultics, this mutation that has occurred within science, is rapidly tearing through the world centered around Academy City. It seems supporting you with my power is the only way of fighting it.”

This was Academy City’s #6.

Kamijou was being offered the power of one of the Level 5s officially recognized by the city.

“Now, picture the you that you wish to be. Picture your ideal self.”

A distortion ran through that blotted-out person’s voice.

In a way, this may have been the power most wanted in this era. The modern age prioritized time-saving and cost-effectiveness over all else, so no one had to go on a test of courage or go exploring through an old abandoned building for themselves. With a video site’s streaming service, everyone could safely experience the adventure someone else had posted. As long as the one 
person charged toward certain death with a camera in hand, millions more could safely share in the same thrill and catharsis. That was what the modern age demanded.

No effort was needed on your part.

You could ignore all the risks.

You just needed a service that immediately provided the end result.

“You can be that version of yourself. Now, ''I will lend you Aihana Etsu.''”

“…”

“For example.” The person with the unseeable face pointed at the center of Kamijou Touma’s chest with their index finger. “Would you like to know what meaning that whistle holds? Are you at all interested in restoring your lost memories? You can do it, as long as you arrange the necessary conditions in this city.”

The #6 was smiling.

That much Kamijou could tell.

“I generally do not give this sort of hint because my suggestions will only narrow people’s imaginations. But, well, I do promise you this power is more convenient than that Rensa’s was. And you must feel lacking in more areas than that. You must have realized by now that your right hand alone is not enough to keep up here. You must know that rushing in as you are will only get you killed.”

Anyone could be instantly transformed into a protagonist, no annoying training or leveling up required.

Kamijou Touma held his breath and shook his head.

“I don’t want it.”

“Why not?”

“This is none of your business.”

“This is my decision. What makes you think you have the right to refuse it?”

Kamijou just about smiled bitterly at that one.

This really was one of the chosen Level 5s. They were always so arrogant ''when they were doing the right thing.'' Just like the #3 had destroyed so many labs to protect her clones and just like the #1 had decided on his own to get rid of the dark side.

“Hey,” said Kamijou.

“Yes?”

“You aren’t Maidono Hoshimi who was driven to the edge by someone else. You seem to be enjoying your life well enough, so maybe it’s wrong of me to worry about you getting caught up in my business,” spat out Kamijou with a look he had not shown to that uncertain girl. “''But you’re starting to piss me off.'' I don’t like how you reject all my own possibilities by just saying from the start I can’t solve this on my own. It’s like you’re looking down on us all as no more than dolls you can play with. …You’re the perfect example of what a Level 5 shouldn’t be. And the fact that you honestly think you’re acting in our best interest makes it all the worse.”

“…”

“This is our issue. We’re not fighting for your amusement.”

This was the opposite.

It was the same thing he had said to Maidono Hoshimi, but viewed from the opposite direction.

He was providing an example of the anger you were supposed to feel when you learned your life was being used for someone else’s purposes. It was because Kamijou Touma felt this way that he had refused Maidono’s help. It was because he felt this way that he had decided to cut all ties with her despite knowing her help would be more and more convenient each time he used it.

“Stop setting up a camera, stepping in to help, and posting a nice edited version of the story to some video site to make you look like a success, you peeping tom. You’ll lend me Aihana Etsu? Don’t make me laugh. If you want to change the world, then put in the work yourself. What your power is doesn’t matter. Whether you’re a Level 0 or a Level-less teacher, everyone still does what they can to fight the cruelties they see in their life. Changing the world requires someone who isn’t afraid to get hurt, but that ain’t you.”

He was unsteady on his feet.

He would have fallen if someone pushed at him with their finger. In fact, he could barely stay standing without anything to prop him up. And even if he was in top form, clashing head-on with one of Academy City’s Level 5s would seem like suicide.

But he still said it.

Kamijou Touma made his point while holding out his right fist.

“And if you still don’t get it, then you’re just an obstacle to overcome. I will keep moving, Aihana Etsu, even if it means breaking through you.”

“You will die.”

“I know that,” mouthed Kamijou Touma.

For some reason, the #6’s voice had changed slightly here.

Almost like they were recalling a history of repeated failure.

“If you keep going like this, you will surely die. Whether you rush to the battlefield or you curl up here, you will not last long. No matter what you choose, the villain will have the last laugh. Your destruction has been predetermined here.”

“So what?”

He was afraid of dying. So terribly afraid.

He kept smiling so the others would not notice and he had avoided confiding in any of them, but those words he had revealed to the doctor were not a lie. It was him who had said he was scared.

But.

This was a separate issue.

“I made a choice here I never should have made,” said the #6. “To be blunt, ''I should never have anything to do with a hypocrite like you who refuses to take a side,'' but I am here anyway because I have reason to believe I must act here even it means violating my principles. Yet you are insisting on remaining your usual self. You insist on walking your extremely contradictory path where you talk endlessly about the goodness of human nature yet cannot abandon the violence of your fist. You are like someone who refuses to evacuate as the lava of a volcanic eruption approaches their city at the foot of the mountain and instead stares at the clock, waiting to walk to school according to their usual schedule. And that is why you will die. You are simply repeating the same pattern over and over.”

“If you want to take control of my life, then clench your fist, Aihana Etsu. Your words won’t reach anyone if you refuse to take even a single step out of your safe zone.”

He heard a quiet tongue click.

The #6 must have realized neither side was budging here.

The genderless soprano voice suddenly dropped to something terrifyingly deep.

And he(?) clenched his(?) fist.

“How stubborn can you be? If you want misfortunate that badly, then go ahead and die.”

After a dull thud, one of the two crumpled down and the other one slowly descended the stairs. The endlessly spiraling stairs were gone now. They arrived on the ground floor surprisingly quickly as they counted the flights they walked down.

The victor let out a breath and spoke all alone.

“See, Aihana Etsu? Was that so hard?”

The #6 had known no one would remain to stop Kamijou Touma if they lost here.

Yet they had still clenched their fist in order to “convince” him.

It had been a sort of ritual.

Fighting a battle they knew they would lose had been a ritual to allow Kamijou to continue onward. That elite ensconced in their safe zone had actually taken a single step outside of their usual way. It was Aihana who had said their #6 Level 5 power was not suited for direct combat.

Kamijou Touma could only smile as he stepped outside after rejecting someone else’s methods and trampling on their concern for him.

He felt the biting chill and the white curtain of snow blocked his view. The professional doctors with specialized knowledge had shaken their heads and said they could not support him in this outside field, but this was the freedom he had chosen for himself.

This was his life.

So now he had only one option left: to win.