Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume7 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 6===

Meanwhile, Yomikawa Aiho had business beyond giving a New Year’s greeting to her former roommate. And that business required visiting the same location two days in a row.

It could be confusing since Board Chairman Accelerator had adopted it as his new base, but the place was originally a District 10 prison for adult criminals.

Working for Anti-Skill naturally led to knowing a fair number of convicts, but this particular one was a special case.

Because…

“Hi, Ultimate Evil Demon King Tessou Tsuzuri who’s awoken to the thrill of the dark voltage. Care to share some of your genius inspiration that us ordinary and peaceful Anti-Skill officers could never hope to think up?”

“Eeek!! P-please stop this, Senpai!! Why are you harassing me like this!? You’re teasing me on purpose, aren’t you!? Oh, god, it’s so embarrassing!!!”

[[Image:GT_Index_v07_BW3.png|thumb]]


Trembling on the other side of the visiting room’s thick bulletproof glass was a timid teacher with glasses and curly black hair. She had wounds all over. It was kind of scary that the AI-supported speed trial had her thrown in prison so fast her teaching license hadn’t even officially revoked yet.

(Well, that government paperwork is going to be slow during the holiday anyway.)

In that sense, Yomikawa was a little impressed that the prison was working so fast at the end of the year.

What had happened to the version of Tessou who had strutted through Academy City’s darkness as an Anti-Skill Negotiator? The usual tearful glasses woman was back like she had woken from a dream.

Tessou lay her head on the desk and placed her hands on top of her head.

“Why? Whyyyyy did I do that? I wasn’t wrong to want to protect the children, but why would I choose to do it like that? Am I secretly a sadistic jerk deep down? If I just wanted to feel fear, I should have gone to an amusement park haunted house, but I got fixated on doing everything with violence and I feel like that’s kind of your fault really.”

“(Wow. It’s hard to imagine, but what if Accelerator is like this deep down and he’s just better at hiding it from us?)”

“Umm, Yomikawa-senpai?”

Tessou Tsuzuri tilted her head in confusion.

It at least sounded like she had never stopped wanting to protect the students, but she should have come asked her colleague for advice before doing all that. Yomikawa sighed.

“Whatever. The point is I need to pick your brains, Tessou. It was temporary, but you managed to synchronize with – or even outdo – the dark side, so I want some help thinking like they do.”

“I-I won’t do it. I decided I wasn’t touching that dangerous dark side ever again. I will pay my debt to society, but don’t make me get involved with that again. I don’t even work for you anymore, so you can’t make me.”

“Oh, really?”

“Um, you’re scaring me. Scaring me a lot. Why do I sense an obsession behind that ‘oh, really’? It feels every bit as strong as someone’s unrequited love!!”

“So, Tessou? Care to remind me who it was that put my arm in this sling? Ow, ow, ow, ow. Man the winter chill sure does a number on a broken arm.”

“Kh!? Y-your guilt trip won’t work on me!!”

“Suit yourself. Now, the solitary confinement area is split up by gender, age, and occupation, isn’t it? That means you’re in the teacher section. And if my memory serves, isn’t your cell neighbor named Therestina?”

“Bff!? Why do you know the layout of the cells? And what are you suggesting!? I really don’t like where this is headed! Do you know how creepy it is that she spends all her time cackling in her solitary cell!? She doesn’t even need to snort any white powder!! The brain chemicals produced by her own love, courage, and derangement have completely broken her brain!!!”

“Did you know, Tessou, that this prison can reward model prisoners by transferring them from a solitary cell to a shared cell? Lucky for you, your good friend has your back. Your lonely days will soon be over and you can share a cell with another lewd glasses teacher with a screw loose.”

“You’ve made your point, so please give me a job to do!! What was it you wanted to ask me, you lowly scum!?”

There. Tessou’s cooperation acquired.

Yomikawa Aiho lazily rested her head in her hand and organized her thoughts.

She had more than one thing she wanted to ask.

Fortunately, she knew which one she wanted to get out of the way first.

“''Kumokawa Seria.''”

“…”

“On December 31, the Board’s brain was sighted outside the city in Shibuya. She was focused on, but ultimately never visited, the Miyashita Ark. It’s basically an enormous mall, but I doubt she was there to go shopping. Any ideas?”

“What were you thinking?”

“That girl is the type to pursue something that has already happened, not start something herself. That would mean something was already underway at the Miyashita Ark and she was there to put a stop to-”

“I think you’re wrong.”

Yomikawa’s idea was swiftly shot down.

Tessou Tsuzuri giggled at the way Yomikawa’s eyes widened. Her situation had greatly changed, but it was still amusing to see that look on her former superior’s face.

''Or maybe she had switched modes.

The (supposedly) timid teacher held a hand over her mouth as she laughed and then explained her reasoning.

“You said Kumokawa Seria never actually went there, didn’t you? If she was there to stop something, I would expect her to pay a visit even if she screwed it up. No matter how risky it would be. If the person who called for Anti-Skill is attacked by a criminal before you can get there, you can’t just turn around and head back even if you know it’s too late for them, right?”

There was always a miniscule chance you could save them. Getting the injured caller medical care could at least save their life. And even if they were already dead, you had to search for evidence that could lead to the culprit. A defender would change their objective but still act if they learned it was too late. You could not work law enforcement if you would stop just because the best case scenario was no longer an option.

Which meant…

“So you’re saying Kumokawa ''wasn’t'' going to the Miyashita Ark to stop something?”

“On the other hand, I would feel bad if I used that reasoning to conclude she was the one who set it all up.”

“…Hm.”

“But I could see her wanting to interfere with something already underway ''in order to steer it where she wants it''. So just imagine what would have happened if there had been no accident and she had arrived at the Miyashita Ark as planned. Maybe she couldn’t have done anything herself, but ''someone with her'' may have accomplished something if she had guided them there.”

“But what for?”

“Don’t ask me. Maybe she wanted to eliminate something she was afraid that new board chairman couldn’t handle on his own. Academy City has been on a losing streak of late, so it wouldn’t surprise me to find some people are doubting that new board chairman’s abilities. ''I know I am''.”

“…”

“That said, she isn’t as impatient as me, so she wouldn’t gather the people she needs using blackmail material. I bet she would lay out the rails to guide some great power where she wants it, all while staying just barely within the bounds of legality. Maybe she sees the world differently. If you rely ''solely'' on science, I don’t think you would place your hopes in anything outside of Academy City.”

But then who was it?

The new board chairman was Academy City’s strongest Level 5.

What game piece could be so powerful even he paled in comparison?