Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Virtual On Chapter3 (section)

===Part 5===

The metal front door was broken from its hinges.

The balcony glass was shattered and a chilly night wind blew through the living area.

There was no sign of life in the dark room.

There was no one there.

Not Index and not Furashina Ririn.

There was no point in asking who had done this. He did not even consider the possibility that the Blue Stalker had not been involved and that Furashina Ririn had harmed Index. In this case, the most likely suspect was the culprit. No other possibility came to mind.

“…”

Kamijou Touma slowly took a breath in the trashed student dorm.

His senses had numbed over.

Furashina Ririn had likely been abducted by the Blue Stalker.

But what about Index?

She had only just met Furashina and had not had much of an opportunity to speak with her, so they would not have been that close. But if Furashina was being taken away before her eyes, would Index have just watched?

And if she had not, what would have happened?

What would the Blue Stalker have done when Index resisted?

This enemy was not a magician, so he would not be fixated on the 103,000 grimoires in her mind. If he had no intention of abducting her and getting information out of her, how would the Blue Stalker have disposed of that nuisance?

The image of that Raiden with a hole through its chest came to mind.

As did the face of Misaka Mikoto who had been lost along with the unit.

Had that happened here too?

Had the Blue Stalker shown no mercy?

“………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………”

For an instant.

Just an instant.

Kamijou felt something colder than the night wind blowing out from his chest.

That was when he heard a quiet mew.

“Sphinx?”

The calico cat stuck its head out from under the broken bed. It alone must have escaped danger. Spotting Kamijou, it trotted over.

This may have been meaningless.

The cat surviving would not bring Index or Furashina Ririn back.

But.

Even so.

That one remaining connection to what he had thought was normal helped Kamijou relax his muscles somewhat.

He felt the truly hopeless blackness inside his chest recede somewhat.

He crouched down, picked up the kitten, and spoke.

“Sorry, Sphinx. It’ll take a while longer to clean up the room. Can you give me just a little bit of time?”

The cat could not understand human language, so he was only making sure his own limiter was in place.

He set the cat back down and left the door-less room.

After leaving the dorm, he found Accelerator waiting while resting on his modern-style cane.

“What’re you going to do?”

“I have even more reason to kick the Blue Stalker’s ass now, so that’s exactly what I’ll do.”

“How exactly?”

“I’ll use everything available to me. …Even if that means help from you.”

“You’re asking me to lend you firepower?”

“No.”

Accelerator frowned a bit when Kamijou immediately cut him off.

Then the spiky-haired boy said it.

“I want you to stop me if I seriously try to kill the Blue Stalker. That’s the help I want.”

He spoke quietly.

But that did not mean there was no emotion behind his voice.

Accelerator had met a variety of monsters and come in contact with many forms of malice.

But he could not ignore the darkness he saw in those eyes.

(…Fine, then.)

“I don’t really care, but where are you going to start? Surely you aren’t going to head back out without knowing where you’re going.”

If Kamijou had no answer, Accelerator intended to punch him out and deal with this on his own, but Kamijou Touma had a surprising answer.

“I have one clue. We just have to hope Anti-Skill hasn’t acted yet.”