Toaru Majutsu no Index:Toaru Jihanki no Fanfare

Illustrations

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  Cover

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  Page 021

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  Page 029

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  Back Cover

Story

Prologue

A certain pirated broadcast A.

On a certain day in July.

Do you know about Level 5 espers? My, my, this isn't some gaming production thing; they're the people who stand at the top of the six-tier hiearchy amongst our 2.3 million residents! The pyramid in the vast desert of Level 0s!

So, are the Level 5s standing at the pinnacle of the pyramid? That's just a wrong conclusion that you made. Those who stand at the pinnacle of the pyramid are Level 3s! The birds who are gracefully flying through the sky are Level 4s, and though they fly through the air freely most of the time, there are situations where they fall into a sandstorm when wind blows. Far above this chaotic situation that can't be seen, located high up in the sky, are the Level 5s.

"Accelerator", "Dark Matter", "Railgun", "Meltdowner", "Mental Out", "Eh, who's that Number Six...? Well, forget about it", "Hm, that Number Seven who's said to be really powerful"... Such a group of people are like the stars in the Big Dipper: so high above that we can't reach them.

Amongst them, there seem to be guys who've worked their way up the pyramid and to the stars, but they started off as Level 1s and not 0s. That's right, a sandstorm can't become a bird even if it can clip one.

What's there to talk about a bunch of pitiful people who've had drugs and electric signals injected into their bodies and still can't even bend a spoon? They're just defeated mongrels.

But even mongrels can become a pack of wolves when gathered today. Today, let's talk about the legendary man who led the pack of wolves with their fangs pulled out, Kurozuma Wataru...

Hearing such a network broadcast, the youth with a nose ring on him, Hamazura Shiage clicked his tongue and said,

"What 'Kurozuma', damn it? It's Ritoku-san's age now."

This pirated broadcast was directly aired through all sorts of channels in all sorts of places like a cat-and-mouse game, and even in Academy City, it can be considered a form of entertainment.

The Skill-Outs were divided into many groups, and though Hamazura's a member of a larger group, he didn't even have a bit of power at all. Though he had the indecent talent of stealing cars, in Academy City, he- rather, they were just treated completely as Level 0s.

Hamazura cut off the broadcast link as he praised his leader's name. As he said that, the surrounding Level 0s all nodded their heads and laughed as they agreed with Hamazura.

The bits of sand who'll knock the stars down kept being fearful of the existence of these beings that were treated as heroes as they continued to think that they were unable to be heroes, giving up on themselves.

Rewind to ten seconds back... In a certain dorm, a girl was listening to this same pirated broadcast, and clicked her tongue in disgust.

What's there to talk about a bunch of pitiful people who've had drugs and electric signals injected into their bodies and still can't even bend a spoon? They're just-

The girl cut the broadcast here, and inside the dark dormitory room, one can only hear the sound of the computer being used.

"Damn it, why are they describing people as stars?"

Sighing at the "star" comparison the broadcast raised, one of the seven Level 5 espers that Academy City's so proud of, Misaka Mikoto was grumbling softly about this stupid behaviour.

Behind her, another girl's growling angrily.

"That's really unbelievable, Onee-sama! Onee-sama's not just a star! Onee-sama's a sun that shines warmly on the Earth and brings forth the seeds of hope for the life of tomorrow! And I'm the moon that accepts this radiance of the sky. Right now, this is a mysterious celestial performance of two, forming together like an eclipse- GUAH HAHAHA!?"

"INSTEAD OF CALLING YOURSELF A CELESTIAL BODY, YOU MIGHT AS WELL CALL YOURSELF A PERVERT!"

Speaking midway through, Mikoto tucked the opponent's head underneath her armpit and performed a wrestling move. Shirai Kuroko's arms and legs were still twitching as she showed a happy expression while continuing to scream.

"AHH, AHHH! I CAN FEEL ONEE-SAMA'S TENDER ARMS, WAHH!"

Now increasing the force in her arms, Mikoto casually said what she thought.

"Speaking of which, even espers will feel uncomfortable about the last part of the broadcast."

Saying up until here, she suddenly remembered a boy who calls himself a Level 0.

"But maybe I can use that as a taunt."

While thinking of this as she continued to use the wrestling technique, while Kuroko's head started to go purple,

Mikoto's head got grabbed onto by a certain small hand.

"Huh?"

Though she thought that Kuroko had used teleport, she still continued to remain in that position as she fearfully turned around to look.

Over there was a person who had walked in, looking over without any expression. The sophisicated lady with a round face was standing there.

"Lights out was twenty-five seconds ago, yet you're still here practising your wrestling techniques. How passionate, Misaka."

"Dorm mother."

The needles of ice that had pierced throught Mikoto's back melted, causing cold sweat to come out.

"Hm, while you're training, let me remind you of the dorm rules and show you what real wrestling techniques are like."

"No, but this..."

And several seconds later,

In the girls' dorm room, the girls' tragic cries of despair replaced the broadcast as it aired throughout.

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