A Certain Magical Keyblade Wielder

Chapter 16: Rising Tensions

*Disclaimer* - I do not own the copyright to Kingdom Hearts or Toaru Majutsu no Index. Nor do I own the copyright to any other series/characters/stories featured in this story.

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*A/N* - You know that old saying about wishing that you had more time in a day? I seriously wish I had more time lol. Just not enough time in the day to do what you want. This chapter has been sitting in the over for quite some time now. My original plans of wanting to update it within a time frame of at least every other month or every 2 months went to crap. October caused me some time management issues. I sincerely apologize for the chapter delay. I saw the comments and understood your pain.

Either way, thanks for stopping by again and seeing how Academy City and the world of Toaru are going to affect Sora and how the ever-positive Keyblade wielder will find himself involved in a plethora of events both on the Magic and Science Sides of this world. In addition, this chapter is going to be the start of me mentioning other franchises that are related to Kingdom Hearts, and that's... going to be quite the variety lol. Again, thanks for stopping by to check out this crazy and unusual crossover between these two series along with the gradual inclusion of other series to be sure. All the reviews are great to read and fun to see people's reactions to this strange story. Thanks for the support and I hope you'll enjoy this next tale of Sora's time in the world of Toaru. Along with the many more... shall I say 'supernatural' problems that will be showing up. Hope you enjoy it.

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*P.S.* - Holy crap! As of the time this chapter is coming out there is the beating pulse of Kingdom Hearts Missing Link. That new trailer has me hyped. Obviously. But I'm also very curious about any new information regarding the Keyblade and its secrets. Who knows what's to come. Also, with GT9 coming soon. Things are getting exciting!

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September 10, 20XX

The morning atmosphere was a breath of fresh air for those who managed to wake up before the day truly began. At least, that was what Sora was thinking right now.

In a frantic rush to get himself prepared and ready for the day, he had just jumped into the shower and conducted the fastest shower he'd ever had along with toasting himself a bagel and trying to get himself ready. The notification from his Gummiphone about Moogla managing to get a hit had caused him to jump into action and get a head start on the problem. She did not say anything more which caused the boy to ponder what she might have gotten, but still, it was better to have something rather than nothing.

Now set for the day, he bolted right out of the dorm room and leaped right into the open air. While free-falling, he locked his gaze with a streetlamp not that far away and immediately activated his Flowmotion by letting a blue glow appear around his body and cause him to shoot straight at the pole. Before making impact with the pole, he summoned his Keyblade and began spinning around at a ridiculous speed until he went flying forward and soon landed gracefully on his feet. He had managed to do all that without breaking a sweat.

Moreover, he set his sights on Moogla's workshop while beginning to ponder once again what she could have gotten to result in sending him a text this morning. Whatever it may be, he'd be ready to jump into action.

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Sometime later...

Now standing in front of the workshop, Sora was about to start knocking where he entered the last time but was met by a cleaner robot gesturing for him to follow it. The two then made it further into the workshop where the spiky-haired boy now saw his Moogle friend floating there while holding a tablet and messing with several other bots.

"Hey, Moogla, I'm here!"

"Sora! It's good to see you. We have a lot to talk about, kupo."

Pulling up a chair and sitting next to Moogla, Sora watches as she lays the tablet in the middle of a workbench and pretty soon the entire bench starts transforming into a huge holographic map of the city.

"Whoa! What the... I didn't know you had something like this!" he excitedly said.

"It was another piece of technology part of my vast workshop that I didn't get around to showing you, kupo. There's still a whole lot of other stuff that I need to show you but that can wait, kupo."

Making a few more adjustments on her side, Moogla then beckoned Sora to look at the map.

"Last night I got a distress signal from one of my cleaner bots that's located over in District 14 which is primarily focused on accommodating other facilities for overseas students, kupo. The feed I got showcased two things, kupo."

Sora was now sitting upright and focused on listening to everything his friend and partner had to say.

"First, the cleaner bot picked up some feed of several Heartless around the district's perimeter. Based on what was clearly shown, it appeared to be only Shadows that were spotted, kupo."

"Did the cleaner bots keep a close eye on them?"

"Unfortunately, the robots lost track of the Heartless as soon as they crossed the district border into District 19, kupo."

"District 19. That place again huh?"

The sudden memory of heading toward District 19 on the first real night he spent staying in Academy City where he encountered Mugino, and the other girls of ITEM filled his head. Though he was only there for a little bit, he could easily see how that district was prone to be a Heartless rendezvous. It was practically considered emptied compared to all the other districts in this city and would be his go-to spot when guessing where the Heartless originated. Moreover, he wondered if he should pay that place another visit.

"And you said there was another thing you were alerted to?"

There was no response coming from the Gummiphone for a good whole moment until Moogla's voice came playing out.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure what it could be... maybe I'm being extra cautious from everything you've told me, kupo."

Saying this, the ball on top of Moogla's head lowered a bit showcasing how she was feeling a bit distraught about this situation.

"I'm sorry I frantically called you over here for nothing, kupo."

"Hey now. I'm not mad at all. You did the one thing that I asked and that was to keep me updated on whatever might be going on related to the Heartless or Darkness. And you did." Sora then looked down at the map once more and took a second to analyze it. "Besides, you gave me some important information about what the Heartless are up to. Now I know for sure something is up with District 19."

"Aww... when you put it like that it really does sound like I helped, kupo" Moogla said with a bit of excitement in her voice.

Sora couldn't help but have a dorky smile on his face while nodding.

"That does leave me with a bit of information to think about. But for now, I think I can cool my jets and not go rushing into anything."

"Huh. That's quite the responsible thing to say and do, kupo."

"Is it? I'm just speaking from experience." Sora replied but after processing it a moment longer, he folded his arms across his chest. "Since it's just me and no Donald or Goofy to watch my back, I have to be more careful with my actions and what's going on around me. Maybe it's because of my encounter with Darkness or that I don't completely know everything about the Science or Magic Sides. I just want to be careful."

The two seemed to share a moment of understanding as Moogla nodded her head, including her ball, and floated over to the map. Her attention was now focused on the area of District 19.

"So, what now, kupo?"

Gathering his thoughts about what he should do next, Sora wasn't sure what to say. Hence, he decided to give a straightforward answer from his heart.

"I think... the best thing I can do now is go to school and try to have a normal day. It'll be hard but we don't have anything to go from now. What will you do, Moogla?"

"Hmmm. I think I'll work on the production process for some of my cleaner robots, kupo." The helpful Moogle then floated over to another workbench and picked up what could be described as a glowing gem. "I'll also keep my eyes on anything that might be happening and let you know if it's super important, kupo."

"Got it. Thanks, Moogla. I wouldn't have gotten this far without you."

This comment got the Moogle to let out a small little giggle and began floating around in a circle.

"You're too kind, kupo."

A flare of happiness swelled from the spiky-haired boy's heart as he felt that-

"Oh! I almost forgot something, kupo!"

Confusion was now featured on Sora's face.

"Huh? What did you forget?"

Floating over to a tablet that was sitting on a stand, Moogla started rapidly tapping away and brought up a video for Sora to see. Upon closer inspection, he was a bit amazed at what he was seeing.

"Hey, that's me..."

"Yep. I managed to find this while doing a bit of scouring across the dark side web network, kupo. It was only on there for a few minutes before being taken down so it's not in clear quality but it's still something, kupo."

Processing what she said, Sora had many thoughts swirling around in his head about this new discovery.

"This might be a dumb question to ask but why was it taken down so fast?"

A look that held many thoughts in one's head was displayed on the Moogle's face before she seemingly nodded her head and... ball at the same time.

"The only reason that makes valid sense is that the higher-ups in Academy City want to make sure that nobody sees all the craziness happening, kupo" Moogla explained.

"That does make sense."

"I also think that there are things that might be causing headaches with the higher-ups, especially since you deal with enemies that wield magic and dark powers that are foreign to this world, kupo."

This sounded like a reasonable and realistic take on why the video of him was taken down so fast.

"I can only imagine someone from this world trying to explain what happened that night. Seeing a giant Heartless monster causing mayhem and then seeing a hooded figure using different weapons and whatnot" Sora replied, rubbing the back of his head.

Anyone who was trying to understand what was going on without having any knowledge would probably be having a tough time.

Nevertheless, Sora wondered if there was another reason for Moogla showing him this footage.

"Was there another reason you're showing me this, Moogla? Or was it just to let me know that you have been watching my back even more?"

"Well... it was a bit of both really, kupo." Moogla then floated down and played the video showcasing a different point of view of Sora during his fight against Larxene. "I was watching the fights and had some thoughts about it."

Tilting his head to the side, Sora wondered what she had to say.

"Oh? Tips about what I could have done better?"

"No, no. Nothing like that, kupo. There's no way I could comment about your fighting since I'm not a fighter, kupo."

Moogla then did a little twirl in the air before floating closer to Sora.

"I'm a lover, not a fighter, kupo!" she yelled in a high-pitched tone.

"Haha! Nothing wrong with that. But it sounds like you had some thoughts. I want to hear them" the Keyblade wielder enthusiastically asked.

Clearing her throat, the supportive Moogle decided to get right to business.

"Well, first of all, your fighting is amazing that much should be obvious, kupo."

Swiping his thumb under his nose, Sora couldn't help but smirk with the praise. It was a human reaction. He couldn't help it.

"Ahaha! Thanks, Moogla."

"Of course, kupo! But that also got me thinking since it seems that you have different weapons and abilities in your arsenal... how are you in terms of fighting without any weapons, kupo?"

This question threw the spiky-haired teen off his feet as he had to give it some thought.

'Fighting without the Keyblade... I can't say that I've ever really thought of fighting without before. No. That's a lie. There was that time when Riku took back the Keyblade... or in the Caribbean with Davy Jones and Will... and back with my encounter with Yozora when he stole the Keyblade. But...' Sora's thoughts dwelled deep in his heart now.

The simple answer was this.

"I'll be honest, Moogla, if I had to fight without the Keyblade... I'd be in some serious trouble."

"I see... sorry that it's a strange question, kupo."

"Not at all! It's a question that I should've thought about a while back. And to be honest, with me getting a lot more attention in Academy City... who knows the kinds of people and monsters I might end up encountering. I think I need to start working on expanding my fighting style" Sora replied, nodding to himself about this sudden plan.

Holding a look of contemplation, Moogla then glanced back at the video playing and figured she'd ask the overall question.

"So, do you know anyone who can help with your hand-to-hand combat, kupo?"

Letting out a whistle, Sora had to give that question some thought. Who could help him improve his hand-to-hand fighting skills? The list of people within Academy City wasn't that large. The few that he knew for sure could help him were Yomikawa and Mugino. Yomikawa was self-explanatory and the same could be said for Mugino. Also, there was another person who came to mind. A certain black spiky-haired boy who dealt with the Magical side of things in this world.

However, another thought soon came to pass as he subconsciously reached down into his pants pocket and pulled out the special Heartbinder he had come to learn a bit about. This caused the gears in his head to start moving.

"I think... I might have someone in mind. Well, actually, there are a few people I have in mind..."

"Really? That's great to hear, kupo!" Moogla then out of curiosity wondered who he was referring to. "And who might they be, kupo?"

Several figures popped into the spiky-haired boy's head. Individuals whom he knew packed a punch with their hands and even legs. They were the first people to come to mind.

"Well, one person that I'm thinking of has quite the mean right hook and knows how to infuse a bit of magic into her fighting style. Plus, based on what Cloud has told me about her during our time together in Smash, she's quite good at quick thinking and moving against an opponent."

"Oh? Who is that, kupo?"

"Her name is Tifa. I met her back in Hollow Bastion before it was saved and turned into Radiant Garden. I did see... well, someone dressed as her back in Smash, but it wasn't her. Heh, I still remember seeing Cloud's confused face at seeing people wearing Tifa and Aerith's outfits" Sora explained while having a grin appear on his face.

"Hmm. The name Cloud does sound familiar, kupo... Either way, you said you had a few others in mind, kupo?" Moogla questioned Sora while sounding eager to learn more.

"The next person to come to mind is a guy named Terry. He's more adverse in fighting with his fists which can be infused with flames. I met him in Smash for the first time and even took a few punches to the face from him... ha..."

When saying this, Sora immediately recalled a match he had with Terry where the cap-wearing man landed a few jabs at his face before using his Final Smash to send him flying with a burst of fire and then an explosive punch to the gut. He lost that match but managed to make a new friend in the process.

"Whoa... that sounds kind of... not normal, kupo?"

An expressive smile appeared on the teen's face as he patted the side of his head with his hand.

"Yeah. I tend to make friends in some of the strangest ways."

Moogla could only wave her small hands in the air and appeared to be holding back a chuckle before composing herself and getting back to the topic.

"Was that all you had in mind, kupo?"

"No, there are two other guys that I have in mind. There's also another person but... I don't think he'd be all that friendly if I summoned him here with my Heartbinder" the teen replied while letting out a sigh.

The person he was referring to was someone who kind of intimidated him with how crazy his fighting techniques were. Hence, he was more interested in asking two other people he met in Smash.

"This guy you're talking about sounds... intense, kupo."

"You have no idea. But the other two I mentioned are named Ryu and Ken. They are more friendly and willing to teach me a few things about hand-to-hand fighting. Their abilities also incorporate a bit of magic or elemental powers I'm not quite sure. But as of now, these are the people I'm thinking about that could help me learn a bit more about fighting without the Keyblade."

"I see, do you think you'll need a gym to train in, kupo?"

Showcasing a puzzled look, Sora had not thought about that. Honestly, he hadn't given this whole hand-to-hand training much more thought other than thinking of who could help him.

"I... I don't have an obvious plan in mind. That's going to need to be something I think about more clearly. I didn't put much thinking into this..." he responded.

"Well, if you need a place to train then why not use this space, kupo?"

"I-I couldn't do that. You've already done so much for me. This would be adding even more- "

"Sora. It's alright, kupo." At this point, Moogla floated right up to the boy and tapped her small paws on his nose. "Besides, you said it yourself. You have no idea what kind of trouble you might encounter in Academy City on either the Science or Magic Sides, kupo."

Letting out a defeated sigh, Sora couldn't help but feel even more grateful to this wonderful Moogle standing- well, floating in front of him. He seriously would not have made it this far without her.

"*Sigh* Thanks, Moogla. I owe you."

"Nope. You don't, kupo."

"... I know. Still, thank you."

Nodding her head, the Moogle started pressing some buttons on her tablet to close the video. This peaceful moment caused Sora to turn his attention back to everything that was happening now. With the Heartless being in District 19 and Darkness's warning, Sora knew that he would need to be alert to everything happening. Alas, seeing that there wasn't anything to do now, he figured that he should go back to his ordinary day. At least, until something happened.

"Moogla, I think I'm going to head to school now. If the Heartless are moving toward District 19, then maybe I should try and learn a bit more about that District. Maybe there's some secret hidden there that someone who has been in the city for a long time would know."

"Mm. I think that's a good idea, kupo. I'll keep you posted if my cleaner bots spot anything suspicious going on that they capture, kupo."

Smiling at the support he was receiving from his friend; Sora truly did have the best support ever. He wondered what kind of power team he would have if Donald and Goofy were here. The four of them would be an unstoppable force. Would that make Moogla half of a half pint though?

"Right! Thanks again, Moogla, see you later."

"Bye Sora! Take care, kupo."

Thus, the Guardian of Light made his way out of the cleaner bot warehouse and set off to have a regular school day. Or at least... that's what he thought he'd do.

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Sometime later...

Having come into an open area, Sora was minding his own business on his way to school when he spotted three individuals that he did not expect to see together. It shouldn't have been such a shock, but he seriously did not expect to see his friends with each other.

"Huh? Isn't that... Misaka? And Touma? And... Index?"

The scene in front of him could be described as confusing with three of his friends chatting with one another, however, it looked like Touma was arguing with Index while Misaka stood there looking utterly puzzled.

Wanting to catch up with them, especially Misaka, Sora now went wide-eyed when he saw Misaka start casting lighting off her body and having it fly in all sorts of directions. Worried that it would hurt Index, the spiky-haired brunette rushed forward but saw that Touma casually waved his hand in the air and negated some of the electricity without breaking a sweat. There was also that glass-breaking sound effect playing out again from Touma's ability.

"Hey, you guys are- "

But before the Keyblade wielder could finish what he was saying, the black spiky-haired boy took off without wasting another moment leaving Index and Misaka standing there and gawking at the teen.

"He left!"

"It's all your fault."

"How is it my fault?! It's that idiot's fault in the first place."

"Hm... maybe this time it is. Touma did forget to prepare me lunch..." Index muttered while folding her arms across her chest.

Coincidently, Misaka was about to question the sister about why it really did sound like that idiot prepared her meals and looked after her but felt someone behind her. Turning around, she was now in the presence of another spiky-haired boy, only this time she didn't consider him an idiot.

"Sora? When did you get here?"

"Just now. I uh... saw your... well, I saw what happened" the brunette cautiously replied.

Hearing this from the teen, Misaka felt her entire face warm up and a small whimper could be heard. She tried to get her face color back to normal but there was no use. She was as red as an apple.

Off to the side, Index had now registered the presence of a more sensible person.

"Sora! This is a nice surprise."

"Index? For some reason, it's weird to see you out and about haha" Sora commented.

"Yep. Touma forgot to make me lunch again!" the young nun roared out in fury.

Not sure what he could say in defense of his fellow spiky-haired friend, Sora decided to give a more reasonable response in his defense.

"W-Well, maybe he was running late today?"

"That's true... Touma did slam his head on the bathtub this morning."

"H-H-He did what now?" Misaka stammered to say. "A-And how would you know about him doing such a thing!?"

Before Sora could respond and say that Touma and Index lived together, Index had beaten him to saying something.

"But that still doesn't excuse Touma for forgetting my lunch! He could have at the very least made me a sandwich."

"I'm not sure Touma had the right... uh... ingredients to make you lunch... maybe?"

Puffing her chest out, Index was now of one train of thought.

"Hmph! That's fine. I'll make Touma make me something extra tonight!"

And with that, the sister nun started walking away all while slamming her feet down on the ground in an annoyed manner, but due to her size and posture, it came off as being quite comical.

This now left Misaka and Sora to just stare in bewilderment at what just happened.

"I... that was unexpected."

"Grr... Just thinking about that idiot again is making me pissed!" Misaka yelled while closing her eyes and having a tint of red on her cheeks.

Worried that he would now be hit with electricity coming from the brunette girl, the Keyblade wielder spoke fast.

"H-Hey, Misaka, friendly fire here!" Sora said while waving his hands in the air.

Based on how her Esper powers might work, he figured that she acted a bit irrational whenever annoyed greatly. Of course, this was all based on an assumption since he only saw her shoot sparks from a distance.

Still left with a red face, Misaka soon calmed herself down and had an embarrassed look on her face.

"Sorry about that. *sigh* That idiot really does know how to push my buttons."

"I can see that. Do you always shoot sparks of electricity when annoyed?" the Keyblade wielder bluntly asked.

Beginning to twirl part of her hair, Misaka gave a frank reply, "N-Not always. It's only whenever that idiot is involved..."

"I see..."

There was a lot that Sora could say in this moment but instead of going further into this topic, he suddenly realized something obvious. He was now in the presence of Misaka. The last time he and her had a conversation it revolved around the two planning a time to get together with her friends. Including the friend that he saved during the first Heartless attack on the city.

"Hey, wait a minute. Where have you been for the past week? The last time we talked, we were planning on a time for me to stop by and say hi to your friend that I saved. Even though I told you that wasn't necessary."

Sporting a shrugging expression, Misaka instantaneously recalled the past week's events and decided to give a simple answer instead of making it more complex.

"I was- well, my friends and I were all out of town on a field trip. But now we're back."

"I see, hope it went well."

"Y-Yeah... anyway why don't I call my friends now and see if they can meet? That'll be a nice turn of events."

Nodding his head, Sora figured it would cross another off the list of things he had to do.

"Sure, I'm game."

"Great! Let me call them..."

Hence, Misaka was now on the phone leaving Sora to look around his surroundings as he hadn't been to this part of the city. Granted, he probably had but at this point, he had only seen a very small percentage of the entire Academy City. If he had to guess, it rivaled that of San Fransokyo but that was only an estimated guess, and even then, he didn't explore the entirety of that city as well. Only the parts that he and Big Hero 6 roamed around.

Coming back to his senses, Sora could see Misaka nodding her head and powering down her phone.

"Alright, they said they are good to meet you now. Shall we get going?"

"Yep. Lead the way."

The duo was now walking down the sidewalk and making a bit of small talk about how the day had been so far. It was feared that it would be an awkward walk but due to Sora's open-hearted friendliness, he managed to make it a fun time.

"So, you haven't been in Academy City for almost a whole week?" Sora asked the Level 5.

"No, we haven't. Why? Has there been much action in the city? Are those small creatures still running around?" Misaka replied, tilting her head in curiosity. "Oh, right. Weren't they called Heartless?"

"Yeah, they are called that and... I think it's best I tell you when everyone's together. It's... it's a long story."

Hearing the spiky-haired boy say this, Misaka couldn't help but wonder just what he meant by those words.

'What does that mean?'

She had this thought with her as the two of them continued making their way to the location that Misaka had in mind for letting Sora finally meet her friends.

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After walking for some time

Coming up on what could be described as a five-story building, Sora tilted his head and spoke out what he was thinking.

"So, this is where we will be meeting your friends?" the brunette boy asked.

"Yep. Saten and the others are on the second floor. This building here is in use by Judgment. Judgment 177 Branch Office. My friends Shirai Kuroko and Uiharu Kazari work here along with our friend Konori Mii who is the head of this branch" Misaka explained. "Though Kuroko does tend to move around the different branches at times. She has a teleporting ability that lets her traverse at incredible speeds."

"Whoa... that's so cool! I can't wait to meet her. Shall we get going?"

Nodding her head, Misaka replied by opening the front door and holding it open for him.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Though, I think Kuroko will be late. She said she had to make her rounds around the district."

"That's fair. This is a bit of a sudden get-together."

The two were now moving through the building and were on the second floor which had a closed door to what Sora suspected to be the room where her friends were at.

"Ready?"

"Yep. Let's do this."

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"Come in!" a girl's voice called out to them.

Doing just that, Misaka and Sora entered the office and could see that it was in the form of a comfortable office structure with one area containing a few couches to relax and the rest looked to be what you'd expect. Sitting on one of the couches was a girl with black hair wearing a sailor uniform who was reading a magazine. Another girl with dark hair and what looked to be a flower headband on her head was sitting at a computer typing away, and then another older girl with dark hair and glasses was holding onto a coffee mug and was ready to greet them once they entered the room.

"Hey, Saten, here he is," the Level 5 said while referring to Sora.

Coming into the room and now having three sets of eyes on him, the Keyblade wielder awkwardly waved his hand in the air and replied with a dorky smile.

"Uh... Hi there."

This was followed by him chuckling a little bit while ruffling the back of his hair.

Jumping up from the couch, Saten couldn't help but feel her face get warm but not in the sense of having a crush on the boy, but more in the sense that she was now in the presence of the boy who saved her during that monster attack. She already had a plan on what she was going to say, however, she was now stuck with her mouth shut and only small murmurings were heard.

"I...I... H-Hi..."

Turning his head to look at her, Sora had a warm smile on his face.

"Hey there, I'm guessing you're Misaka's friend that I saved?"

"Y-Yeah! That's me. My name's Saten Ruiko. Nice to meet you, Sora."

"Same here. It's nice meeting you for the first- well, the second time, I guess haha."

At this point, the girl with the flower headband got up from her seat and started introducing herself.

"Hello there, it's nice to finally meet you. Misaka has talked about you to us for quite a bit. My name is Uiharu Kazari."

"Hey there, Uiharu, nice to meet you too. I hope nothing bad was said about me" he comedically muttered.

"Not at all! Nothing but praises really. And it's also really great meeting the hero for that monster event. That was seriously.... Something else" Uiharu added.

The next girl to make her presence known was the girl with black hair, glasses, and a... considerably sized chest.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Sora. Again, thank you for the help you provided during that monster attack. Judgment happily thanks you for your support" the glasses girl said while slightly bowing her head.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Sora felt a bit awkward at the way she was showing her thanks.

"H-Hey, it's alright. You don't have to bow, you know?"

Shaking her head, the dark-haired girl held a smile on her face, "It's simply a showing of my thanks. You really did help on that day. Both Anti-Skill and Judgment were completely blindsided by what was going on."

Sora could understand what she was getting at. That day marked the beginning of things to change for this world as it truly did seem like this was the first time that the Heartless appeared in Academy City. Everyone was surprised and unsure of what was going on.

"Ah, where are my manners... My name is Konori Mii. I'm the head of this branch."

"It's nice to meet you, Konori."

"Likewise. You also look to be around the same age as me. How old are you?"

"I'm- "

Sora suddenly stopped himself and had to give that question some real thought. Just how old was he really? This sudden thought got him thinking about everything that had happened to him ranging from his time waking up in Twilight Town, to finding Riku and Kairi for a second time, to dealing with the Mark of Mastery, and fighting in the Keyblade War. There was however an answer on the tip of his tongue but rather than voice out his supposed answer, he decided to switch it up at the last minute.

"I-I'm a student at A Certain High."

"Yep. I was right with my assumption" Konori said, feeling a bit happy to be talking with someone her age as she's usually hanging around the girls who are younger than her.

On that note, Konori did push her glasses up with one hand while a thought lingered in her mind.

"Sora, I would also like to thank you for your help the other night as well. I wasn't in the district but based on what I was hearing from my superiors and colleagues alike, things were quite hectic."

Confusion was now evident on Misaka, Saten, and Uiharu's faces.

"Huh? The other night? What are you talking about?" Misaka questioned, looking between the two.

"The other night... we were still out of Academy City, right?" Saten murmured.

"Yeah, we were still outside the city. But what happened?" Uiharu asked the two.

Sending a look to Konori, Sora began to sweat drop and let out an awkward chuckle.

"Ahaha... you think I should start from the beginning?" he asked the girl around his age.

"I think that would be wise. Plus, I'm also not aware of everything that took place that night. Only the... uh... more obvious facts about it all."

"Ok. Seriously. What are you two talking about? You barely met each other and yet it feels like you're all close with your secrets."

A small smile appeared on Konori's face as she glanced over at Sora who merely shook his head with a sly smile also appearing on his face.

"Heh, I hope you guys are sitting down. What I have to tell you will... be quite a bit."

This comment made all the girls quickly look at each other before seemingly nodding altogether and finding a comfy position while they waited for the spiky-haired boy to tell his tale.

"Well, I guess I should start from the beginning of what happened. I'll be cutting some things out if that's alright. Otherwise, we might be here for... "

Sora quickly calculated the time that it would take to hypothetically explain everything to Misaka and her friends and figured that it would take more than a week... maybe even longer.

"Uh... It'll just take a lot longer to explain everything so, I'll be trimming things down. Sound good?"

The response he got was head nodding from the four girls.

"Alright so here's how it all started..."

________________________________________________________________________________

Several long minutes later

"And that's how I ended the night. Any questions?"

The mouths of Misaka, Uiharu, and Saten were left open as they did not have the right words to explain what their thoughts were after hearing everything they did. It was nothing like what they were expecting. Any of their expectations for what they thought Sora would say were thrown right out the window and replaced with utter awe.

"...What..."

That was the only audible thing to be said by Saten.

"I... I... How are we only hearing about this now!?" Misaka practically yelled out.

"I think I might have an idea. Granted, I already knew about a few things from that night based on the information my colleagues and friends were sending me, but to hear what actually went down is... I have no words really" Konori explained to the group.

"W-What's your idea?" Uiharu, snapping out of her shock asked.

"Well, it might have to do with how this whole monster situation has been playing out across the city. This is based on assumptions, but the higher-ups of Academy City might not want this dilemma to be spread out and be widely known. The first attack came out of nowhere so there wasn't much they could do about it being captured and viewed by everyone. However, now that they are aware of these creatures- "

"They're called the Heartless. Figured you'd like a name for them instead of just calling them monsters repeatedly" Sora added.

"Right...Heartless. The higher-ups are probably making sure that the public doesn't worry about the Heartless roaming around the city. Judgment reports have come in the past few days about more and more sightings of these creatures in various districts."

A frown appeared on Sora's face.

"I'm sorry about that."

"Huh? What are you sorry for, Sora?" Misaka was perplexed by hearing the boy apologize. "You didn't know where they would show up."

"No. But that still makes it a problem. The Heartless are- "

It was at this point that Sora decided to use a bit of knowledge he'd come to familiarize himself with that would help him explain the point of origin for the Heartless. Of course, the Heartless were born from manifestations of the heart but they were also experimented on by Ansem meaning that he could use that in his favor. Avoiding any talk about other worlds or how the Heartless were a magical enemy and whatnot. There was no way he could have that conversation here.

"They were created from an experiment driven by a mad scientist who was researching more into the heart."

"The heart? As in, the organ?" Saten questioned while tilting her head to the side.

"Not exactly. More like human emotions and the feelings that are inside of us."

The look on Uiharu's face could be conveyed as one trying to overanalyze the things she just heard.

"But... So... the heart is what was being experimented on, correct?"

"Yeah, all kinds of experiments were done. And some of them that I'm aware of don't make any sense at all."

"I've never heard of an experiment like this before. Sure, I've heard of some cardiology research evolving thanks to Academy City's technology making it easier to keep a beating heart alive way longer than anywhere else in the world, or I've also heard that some scientists were working on a machine to simulate a beating heart while an individual didn't even have a heart inside them but... this is something I've never heard of before..."

The flower band girl's head looked to be spinning with all sorts of ideas about what Sora had told her. This resulted in her friends merely smiling at her and even Saten murmured under her breath.

"Looks like Uiharu's got some homework to do haha."

"It might be a bit hard to find anything regarding the heart research I'm talking about, Uiharu" Sora confided to her.

"H-Huh? How so?"

"The heart research I'm talking about was classified as some top-secret stuff and was even forbidden to be pursued but the scientist behind it all, a man named Ansem, continued to pursue this topic. The result he ended up with was the revelation of the Heartless."

Processing this information, Misaka couldn't help but recall a bit of her own experiences with scientists pursuing research that was not ethically correct. The entire ordeal with the Sister Clones and the process it would take to reach Level 6 was something that stayed in the back of her mind all the time. She recalled how Academy City used her to create something that she now saw as a troublesome set piece along with one of the best things to ever happen in her life.

The inclusion of her now having a much bigger family than she ever thought possible... literally.

Before anyone could say anything, Konori spoke up wanting to ask a question.

"Sora, how is that you seem to know a great deal about the Heartless?"

Hearing this, Sora couldn't help but fold his arms across his chest and sigh.

"For a few years now, I've been tasked with getting rid of the Heartless and making sure they don't continue to grow and steal more hearts."

"You were tasked? You make it sound like you got caught up in something big" Saten added.

Another road to cross with how he was explaining things. Sora would once again need to twist the truth to fit what he was trying to say.

"I happened to get involved with the Heartless a few years ago after they invaded my home. I grew up on a set of islands called Destiny Islands."

"Destiny Islands? Never heard of them. Where are they located?" Misaka asked.

A weak smile appeared on Sora's face.

"You won't be able to find it on any regular map. Plus, the islands were attacked by the Heartless a while ago. That's kind of where my journey dealing with the Heartless started. I lost my best friends, Riku and Kairi, and went on a bit of an adventure to find them."

"That's... that's horrible" Konori mumbled.

"It's a long story but eventually I managed to find my friends but the Heartless showed no signs of stopping. That's also where... "Sora then looked down at his hand and summoned his Keyblade for everyone to see.

The reactions from everyone's faces were that of absolute shock. Even Saten felt herself jump back on the couch from the unexpected sighting of a giant... housekey?

"What in the world- "

"That's the thing I saw you use when you saved me!"

"I've never seen anything like that before... ever."

The only girl to have a somewhat calm expression was Misaka as she quietly observed the strange-looking weapon in front of her. Just how did it appear out of nowhere?

"Sora. What's your esper ability?" the Level 5 asked.

"My power has to do with Light Manipulation. It's... very complicated to explain but my Keyblade helps me with the heavy work. It lets me create all sorts of things as well as do things that don't make any sense at all haha" he said while chuckling a bit.

Curiosity was written all over Saten's face as she began to have a big head at all the cool things that were coming to her mind.

"Ooh! You said you can create anything, right?"

"Err... yeah?"

"Then have you ever created a weapon before? You know, you said you can create stuff. Anything super awesome you've created before?" Saten excitedly asked.

There was a glint of light appearing around the girl's eyes that Sora couldn't help but chuckle at.

"Well, for a good number of the weapons I'm able to create I need to have a little keychain charm that will help me... uh... get a feel for it. There are times that I don't even know what kind of weapon I'll be creating."

The Keyblade wielder's response to her question was the truth. He really had no idea how he was able to use all the crazy weapons he could in his different Formchanges. From giant hammers to arm drills to ice skates to staffs to even yo-yos, he had no idea how it worked. It just did.

"Huh... that's not the kind of answer I was expecting," the black-haired girl said aloud.

"Saten!"

"I-I didn't mean it in a bad way. It's just surprising is all." Saten then scratched the side of her cheek and glanced over at Misaka. "I mean, I'm sure Misaka can create all kinds of things since she's a Level 5 and whatnot."

Listening to her friend's words, the brunette-haired middle schooler couldn't help but think to herself about all the various things she was able to do with her Esper ability. During the regularly scheduled routine checkups that she had to come in for, Misaka was tasked with furthering the development of her Electromaster abilities. That train of thought made her consider just what she was able to do with her power.

"Saten... I don't think it's fair to make assumptions about how Sora or Misaka use their Esper abilities" Uiharu noted.

"I know. I know. Can't blame a girl for guessing, you know?"

A thoughtful look then appeared on the teen's face as he could see what Saten was going for.

"I didn't mind her guessing. Honestly, it feels like at times I'm not even sure how my power even works" Sora casually said.

"I don't think I've ever heard an esper say that before. On that note, what level are you, Sora?" the spectacles-wearing girl asked.

That question was bound to have an answer that would throw the girls for a loop.

"I'm classified as a Level 0."

"..."

A moment of silence quickly washed over the girls before Saten was the first to break the quietness.

"You're joking...? Oh. Ahahaha. I get it. Nice joke Sora."

The boy's face held a simple yet strained smile as he did not correct himself or counter Saten's comment.

"...Wait. You're not kidding..."

"There's no way... First that idiot and now you?" Misaka whispered under her breath.

"That can't be right. I-I saw the footage of your encounter with the Heartless. You have battle experience that's for sure, but the way you were able to- "

"And what you said about the other night when you faced that mutated Heartless lion and guy in the hood" Uiharu added.

Doing what he could to find the right response to their words, Sora slowly brought his free hand up to his chest while still holding his Keyblade in his right hand. It seemed like the more people he met in this city, the more their view of levels was at an all-time high.

"You're all correct. However, that doesn't mean I have to be classified as someone at a high level. Anyone can do the work I did. Just in their own unique way."

"What do you mean by that?" Saten asked while leaning forward in her seat. "You're saying that someone with a low level could... beat the bad guys you faced?"

"You can think that, but that's not exactly what I'm getting at. I'm saying that no matter what level you are classified at. If you're willing to follow your heart and do what you think is right in a situation that requires someone to stand up, then you're already stronger than you think. You don't need to be a Level 5 to help. You don't even need to be a Level 0. You just have to be yourself."

As Sora said these words, the four girls seemed to have somewhat shocking reactions. Granted, they weren't falling out of their seat, but they were glancing at one another with looks that could convey a thousand words. Particularly, Saten and Uiharu were glancing over at Misaka who seemed to be glancing down at the floor. The boy's words seemed to have settled into her mind and left her in deep thought. That much was evident.

Alas, in the Level 5's mind, she was seriously considering and breaking down the boy's words. A plethora of memories began playing out in her mind and all the experiences she went through to become a Level 5. She even recalled her old self thinking that her level status was so much better than everyone else's and how they presented her thoughts differently. She hated thinking about this but at the same time, she knew that it was a sour feeling she had to accept and move past. Besides, the thought of a certain spiky-haired boy popped into her mind, and how his claim of being a Level 0 with a strange power in his right hand made her face warm up.

"I... Have you ever seen someone do what you just said, Sora...?" Saten cautiously asked.

This whole startling statement about how anyone could be a hero got the black-haired girl thinking.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I have. I have a ton of friends who have done such things. There is this one friend of mine named Mulan and she decided to take a stand in a... certain conflict. I managed to meet her when everyone around her was either stronger or wiser, but she still held onto her beliefs and gave it her all to help so many people."

Sora's words about Mulan were trimmed down from the actual conflict that she had dealt with. But it didn't seem like a good idea to mention that she and him were pretty much involved with an army going to fight against a bad guy who was looking to take over with Heartless at his side. That would have led to the Keyblade wielder coming up with some extravagant excuses and made-up explanations.

"Her name was Mulan?"

"Yep. And she didn't have any sort of power at her side. Just her wit and determination to make a change and pitch in to give some help" Sora replied, allowing a bright smile to appear on his face as he remembered his friend.

"Wow... I wish I could meet her."

"Heh. It's been a minute since I've last talked to her. I'm sure she's alright" the teen muttered to himself.

"Who else comes to mind regarding this question, Sora?" the flower headband girl asked while leaning forward in her desk chair.

Before he could give the name of one of his friends, Sora figured he would get to learn a bit more about the girls rather than do all the talking.

"Why don't I flip the table question around and ask you that? Is there a friend of yours that fits what I mentioned? And it doesn't necessarily have to deal with their level status. It could just be a time that they helped when things were looking bad. Their support meant a lot in ways that you still remember."

Taking a second to glance over at each other, Misaka, Uiharu, and Saten could think of over a dozen names of their friends who helped them in peculiar situations. There was no doubt that the brunette boy's words had rang a bit of truth to them. It wasn't just all about what level status you were. It was about the support and initiative taken to help reach a happy end goal. Being there for your friends.

"I think I understand you a bit more, Sora" Misaka expressed while having a small smile traced across her lips.

Sora's response to this was a simple head nod while conveying a positive bubble around him.

"Something so small can lead to something much greater."

Konori had been quiet for a bit but was internally assessing a sort of understanding around the boy known as Sora. For someone around her age, the boy standing before her spoke with a sense of experience and wisdom that you would expect from someone much older. Yet, the way that he viewed someone beyond their level status and actually cared to get to know them was drawing her to want to know more about him. It wasn't every day that someone you just met would outwardly say these kinds of things.

"It sounds like you have a lot of knowledge when it comes to talking about people."

"Yep. I can assuredly say that I've met a lot of people in my life. Different views of life and getting to know more about a person's qualities. Along with becoming close to them with my heart" the Keyblade wielder replied, sporting a happy look.

"I wish everyone had your enthusiasm" Saten mumbled. "It's a bit rough at times for us lower levels hahaha..."

A frown appeared on everyone's faces, especially on Sora and Misaka's. Each had their own thoughts about what she said.

"Does it happen often? People looking down on you for your level?" Sora asked before taking on a thinking pose and asking another question. "What is your level? I don't think you or anyone else ever mentioned it."

Clutching at her left arm while feeling a wave of awkwardness hit her as she was now the center of attention, Saten let out a small chuckle.

"It doesn't happen all the time, but it still happens. And my power level status is zero."

"I see, that's not right though. People ridiculing you just because you're classified as a Level 0."

Saten simply nodded her head agreeing with Sora's statement. Although she had only experienced this kind of bullying a few times, she had borne witness to many other incidents across the city with Level 0 students being picked on by higher-level students. Seeing how easy it was for someone to be bullied and treated like nothing more than a bug in the way left her feeling upset. Of course, she had become apathetic and done something stupid with the drug known as Level Upper, but she then learned her lesson and grew to accept herself. Now, she wanted nothing more than to develop her abilities through her own work.

"It's not fair and there's only so much Anti-Skill and Judgement can do. I mean, there are over two million people within the city" Konori responded while letting out a sigh.

"*cough* *cough* T-Two million!?" Sora yelled out in utter shock.

"Yeah, it's crazy to think about that many people in the city" Misaka casually stated.

The spiky-haired brunette teen was left muttering to himself about this massive revelation. It was seriously crazy to think about. Hearing that number out loud like it was nothing.

"I-I... That's... The only place that..."

Sora was trying to find the right words but couldn't exactly finish a sentence. In his head, the only world that he visited that fit the bill for having that many people would be Hiro's world with Big Hero 6. San Fransokyo was a whole new ballpark among the other large worlds.

"I'm surprised that you're surprised, Sora" Uiharu commented, observing the boy looking bewildered.

Ruffling the back of his hair, the spiky-haired teen could only shrug his shoulders for how he would go about giving a proper explanation for his apparent surprise.

"I think it's just the overall way you casually said that there were around two million people here in Academy City."

"You get used to it."

Figuring that this conversation would keep on going in this direction, Sora quickly spotted something sitting on a table next to Misaka that would likely turn the tables and bring about another completely different conversation.

"Hey... isn't that the frog I've seen around? What was its name again..."

At that moment, the Level 5 known as Railgun turned her head so fast that one would've thought gotten whiplash. The speed that she displayed was something that shocked Sora greatly but not the other girls.

"That. Frog. Has. A. Name. And. It. Is. Gekota."

Waving his hands in the air, Sora quickly set to not get on her bad side, "Sorry! Sorry! I forgot- the name slipped my mind ahaha...ha..."

Deciding that the boy learned his lesson, Misaka's total personality went back to being relaxed and calm while also displaying a head nod of approval.

"That's fine. Just don't ever forget it again."

"Understood!" he loudly said while nodding his head.

Clearing her throat, Saten decided to step in and save the teen from the middle school girl's wrath.

"So, Sora, why did you take an interest in Misaka's Gekota?"

"Well, it just reminded me of another frog that I've encountered... in the past. You know?" Sora relayed to the girl in a somewhat casual manner.

Hearing this, the girls all seemed to raise their eyebrows and wonder if the frog that Sora was talking about was just another version of a Gekota. Uiharu and Saten could specifically recall the many times that Misaka had mentioned all the various kinds of shapes and sizes that Gekota merchandise came in.

"Hmm. Was it just another version of Gekota?"

"I'm not sure. It had- "

Suddenly, an idea popped into the teen's mind as he now sported a giant grin on his face and was rummaging through his pocket for a certain object.

"How about I just show you?"

This greatly confused the girls as they all looked at Sora like he had grown a second head.

"Uh... what do you mean by that, Sora? Do you have a picture of the frog?" Saten asked.

Obviously, the Level 5 shot a look over at her friend.

"Even better! Watch this!"

With the Heartbinder resting in his hand, the Keyblade wielder held onto it tightly and brought it close to his lips as he whispered into it.

"Please come on out. Lord Kyroo" he spoke into the item.

In a flash, the object in Sora's hand glowed a bright green color before causing everyone to cover their eyes as the light grew and grew to the point that the entire Judgment room was covered in light. Once the brightness was dimming down, another figure now stood in the room with the girls and boy. A figure that was of short height and looked to be... green? And wearing a crown on its head.

"H-Huh!? What the- How did you- "Saten was at a total loss.

"Who is that?!" Uiharu shouted while pointing at the strange-looking figure.

"I... What's going on, Sora?" Konori asked the boy while cautiously looking at the strange figure.

Misaka, however, had her eyes widened and was staring right at the figure with what could only be described as utter amazement and shock. Standing there was a frog-like creature that had a green, orange, and yellow color scheme with a hint of pink all over its body. On its chest was a strange symbol that none of the girls had ever seen before along with its weird eyes. But to add to the frog's character there appeared to be a crown on its head, and it was holding a rapier in one hand and the other held a small shield. Additionally, there seemed to be a hint of cuteness to this little creature.

"W-W-What... who is this...?" Misaka mumbled out of her stunned state.

"This is Lord Kyroo. He's what's called a Dream Eater. They are... creatures that I'm able to summon through my ability thanks to this object in my hand called a Heartbinder" Sora briefly explained.

His way of going about explaining how the Dream Eaters were a thing would be reliant on his made-up Esper ability. It was going to take a bit of imaginative explaining for something like this. Alas, Sora could bring up a point that his magical ability really did allow his heart to call upon his friends for help thanks to how the Heartbinder worked. Now, the real question of how and why the Heartbinder worked was something that he had no clue at all.

"A Dream Eater? I've never heard that before" Saten muttered.

"Me neither."

"What does the symbol on his chest- "

While the other three girls were chatting away about this strange and unusual creature standing before them along with the ability showcased by the high school boy. One specific middle school girl was left in a hypnotic daze as she continued to closely watch the frog creature as it tilted its head while looking back at her. Misaka could feel goosebumps running across her arms and neck and the excitement bubbling in her chest was at an all-time high.

Standing right before her was a creature that identically reminded her of a certain mascot that she held near and dear to her heart. Even if this wasn't outright the appearance that she was familiar with, her heart told her only one thing that mattered.

'It's... It's a real-life Gekota... Not just a copy or cheap-looking knock-off. It's a different style... I-I don't even know anymore... His name is Lord Kyroo... I've never heard of that name before... With his stylish appearance and guardian-like form... he looks to be a Gekota that stands up to evil. *gasp* Maybe he protects the other Gekotas!? I just... I just... I...'

Misaka's head was churning with dramatic thoughts at this point. Never in her life did she think that she'd meet a Gekota of this kind before. Obviously, Gekota came in various shapes and sizes along with their appearances matching themes or special events going on, but this Gekota standing before her was a totally new design. She couldn't help but feel an itch inside her ever-devoted Gekota-loving heart.

Alas, while the Level 5 was slowly getting the gears in her head to calm down, the others were still asking Sora questions.

"Is this something only you can do, Sora? You mentioned that this happened due to your ability" Konori summarized, trying to get an idea of what was going on.

"That I know of, yeah. It's been something that I've been able to do for quite a while." Sora replied while smiling to himself and remembering all the other times he used his summon ability. "You should see when I summon all of my- "

"I want him."

The brunette Level 5 said this aloud and enough for everyone to hear.

"All... of... my... what?"

Everyone's attention had now shifted over to Misaka who had a darkened expression cast over her face. A better description of her appearance would be that some of her hair was covering her eyes which held a flame within them. Ultimate determination and conviction were written all over her face.

"Misaka?" Uiharu voiced out in concern. "What did you just say?"

"What do you mean you want him?" Konori weakly asked.

"I want him."

Sora couldn't help but wonder if he didn't hear her correctly or if he missed something that she said because he was utterly confused.

"Um... Misaka, what do you mean? I'm a bit confused."

To add to the scene being played out, the Dream Eater, Lord Kyroo, seemed to let out a croak, dipped its head to the side, and seemingly lowered its rapier while at the same time raising its shield all while taking a step away from Misaka. This caused the brunette girl to look worried.

"H-Hey... what was that for? I-I didn't mean..."

"*Croak*," said the Dream Eater as it took another step away from Misaka.

Another critical hit was taken from the Level 5 as she realized just what was going on.

"N-No! Please. Wait! Geko- I mean, Lord Kyroo. That's your name, right? I'm sorry for saying that I want you. I should have considered your feelings. I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry. I... Please don't leave me... I..."

Misaka was on the verge of crying with how her posture was leaning more and more toward a full-blown bow of forgiveness. Everyone else just watched as the Level 5 was pleading with the strange frog for forgiveness. Even Sora was bewildered by what he was seeing. This was a reaction from the Dream Eater that he never dealt with... let's just say they weren't buddy-buddy, but they weren't also enemies. The middle ground was met between the Keyblade wielder and Dream Eater.

Observing the girl's actions, the frog Dream Eater seemed to lower its shield and take another step toward the girl watching her for a minute. Once done, the frog let out another croak and stood in front of Misaka seemingly accepting her apology.

"T-Thank you! I promise I will protect you with my life now. Your battles are now my battles!" Misaka roared out while sporting a boost of confidence in her self-esteem.

"*Croak*"

The frog merely nodded its head before flashing away leaving the room empty of any living frog.

"Huh? Where did- Where did it go?" Saten questioned, searching around the room.

"He returned to... wherever he came from. I'm not so sure where that is actually..." the spiky-haired teen muttered.

Taking a seat, Misaka held her hands up and could feel the smile making itself apparent on her face.

"I can't believe it... I can't believe it. I met a real-life Gekota. He... Lord Kyroo... I will never forget him..."

The Keyblade wielder could only keep to himself now. If this was her reaction to seeing Lord Kyroo, then how would she react if she met Chef Kyroo? Also, what would her reaction be if he told her that he could change the color of Kyroo's appearance? Perhaps that should wait for another day...

"You good, Misaka?"

Nodding her head rapidly, the middle school girl looked to be in a complete daze. Even to the point that it looked like her eyes were watering up.

"I'm more than ok. I met an actual moving and talking Gekota. Even if he wasn't a Gekota... he was still a Gekota variant."

Saten and Uiharu could only shake their heads at their friend's antics. This must have been a somewhat regular thing for them to endure based on Misaka's Gekota fanaticism.

"You might want to give her a minute" Saten lightly said to Sora.

It would be a full solid minute until Misaka seemed to come back to her senses. It was honestly quite comedic to see a Level 5 act like this. Granted, he hadn't met all the Level 5's yet only Mugino, Misaka, and Shokuhou. However, based on his experiences with the girls, he figured that while they did appear to be at the top of Academy City's power structure, they were still girls with their own thoughts and feelings.

"Ah... I will never forget you, Lord Kyroo." Misaka said before shaking her head and coming back to her senses. "Huh? Why is everyone staring at me?"

"See what I mean?" the black-haired girl said to the teen boy who was chuckling at the scene.

"Anyone with a passion or hobby is sure to react like this. Maybe... in a different way...?" Sora reasoned.

Before either of the two could say another word, Misaka confronted the two with a very noticeable blush covering her face.

"I-I... You can't blame me for how I'm acting! I've never seen a Gekota like that before." She then directly marched up to the spiky-haired teen and had a fiery look in her eyes. "Sora. How and where did you manage to meet Lord Kyroo? And how did he even appear out of nowhere?"

These questions were somewhat answered by the Keyblade wielder already, but he figured he could spend some time clarifying them for Misaka.

"Lord Kyroo is known as a Dream Eater which are creatures that I've managed to summon and have helped me in many of the battles I've experienced. They're a special kind of creature that I'm able to summon through the help of my ability and this object is known as a Heartbinder. It helps me focus on channeling my energy and... yeah, it's kind of complicated to understand at first."

Saten simply nodded at that assessment as she kind of understood what Sora was talking about but still didn't get it all.

"Dream Eater... Heartbinder... your ability is a strange one..." Misaka muttered under her breath.

Scratching his cheek, Sora let out an awkward chuckle, "Yeah, I get that a lot. That adds to the realization that Academy City has labeled me as a Level 0 due to my power being unreadable and hard to grasp..."

Another quick made-up explanation was Sora's go-to answer, but to be honest, it wasn't that far from the truth. Just... not the whole truth.

"Ahaha. Yeah, you have no idea. But tell me, what about your ability, Misaka? I know that you're a Level 5 and you use electricity, but what else can you do?" Sora then looked over at everyone else. "And that goes for all of you guys. I want to get to know you better and that includes your Espser ability. Doesn't matter if you're a Level 0 or a Level 5. I want to know it all."

All at once, everyone grew to have a bright smile on their face at how friendly the spiky-haired boy was. Consequently, it was also dawning on the girls how easy it was to talk with Sora and how he could get along with anyone easily.

Not to mention, his gratitude and respect to Espers of any level and not really judging a person based on their power, but by how they were as a person. It would be quite a while for the group of students to spend talking to one another about a variety of topics.

At one point, Konori alluded to the idea of Sora joining Judgment and helping them out due to his versatile movement and quick thinking, but the Keyblade wielder knew better than to try and tie himself to an organization now. His reason went something along these lines...

"That's awfully nice of you to offer, Konori, but... I don't think that's a great idea."

"Oh? That's not the reaction I was expecting. Mind telling me why? I'm not mad or anything like that. But you're answering suggests there's more to be said."

Nodding his head, the spiky-haired teen began to explain, "My reasoning is that... if I were to join Judgment and I was assigned somewhere and the Heartless were attacking another location, then I couldn't exactly just up and leave. At least, that's what I'm thinking but deep down in my heart, I know for a fact that I would be gone within seconds of learning about the Heartless causing trouble. It's the restrictions in place that I know Anti-Skill and probably Judgment follow that would prevent me from acting in time."

Processing his answer, the spectacle-wearing girl couldn't argue his reasoning one bit. Even in this hypothetical, Sora was right. Judgment and most certainly Anti-Skill had rules to follow. Nobody could just come and go as they pleased. And it's like Sora said if something were happening and the superiors within Judgment assigned him to monitor one location instead of dealing with the monsters, Heartless, directly then... more lives would be lost.

"I understand. That is one dilemma with joining Judgment. You're not exactly allowed to act on behalf of your own actions. Of course, you could. But that also brings about the problem of putting your team in trouble or causing a disruption in the chain of command" Konori clarified with earnestness.

"Don't forget, there are many students who have Esper abilities that don't exactly fit right in with combat scenarios. Some have supportive powers while others might be search and rescue or even medical oriented" Uiharu added.

"Plus, you seem to have a bit of combat experience under your belt, Sora. I mean, I've seen firsthand how calm and collected you were in a tense situation" Saten proposed while recalling the Heartless attack and seeing Sora in action.

Seeing his new friends understanding his viewpoint on joining Judgment, Sora could only nod but have a content smile on his face.

"Thanks, guys. And don't sell yourself short. Even if you might not be used to fighting or have any combat experience, there are things that you're better at that I'm not. Everyone is special in that kind of way. That's what makes hearts so special. The bonds that we create to meet new people... new people that soon turn into close friends."

"Bonds that will never hurt us but only keep on building us up" Misaka reasoned with a firm nod of her head.

None of the girls could disagree with that sentimental note. The friendship they had formed with Sora after meeting him for the first time would be one that they could see being a long-lasting one. Just what else could the spiky-haired boy get himself involved in?

________________________________________________________________________________

A few hours later

After having spent a great deal of time chatting with Misaka and the others, it was finally time for him to bounce. The variety of topics that were talked about ranged from small details regarding the Heartless to information and tips that Judgment and essentially Anti-Skill could use to their advantage. Uiharu and Konori thanked him greatly for that.

Saten and Misaka also asked him a bit more about his Esper ability and what kinds of things he was able to do with it. Relying on the façade that he'd been using since waking up in the city, Sora explained a bit about his Light Manipulation and how he could expand it to do many other things. One example was his Flowmotion and how his ability allowed him to manipulate light to course through his body and perform amazing acrobatic feats. Or the usage of different elemental abilities in his arsenal while using the Keyblade as a conduit.

All this fake information was something that he was starting to get used to saying and could honestly see himself believing that it was true. However, that probably wouldn't be the case as he still had the Magic Side to remember and how this world had a different interpretation and usage of magic in general. He still needed to be wary of that side. Who knows what they might be capable of?

Alas, here he was walking back to his dorm after realizing that he skipped the classes he had today. Part of him felt guilty but another part reminded him that he was able to make some new friends in the form of Saten, Uiharu, and Konori. Along with sharing information that could help later down the line thanks to the flower headband girl.

During his time with the girls, he had exchanged numbers with them in the event that something related to the Heartless was going on. This elated Sora as he now had more eyes in the city watching out for Heartless. Making his job a bit easier. It was also surprising to hear that Uiharu was a great hacker who could help find information that was kept secret from the public. His viewpoint of the girl was that of his friend Tron and how he was well-versed with computers and getting things done. Granted, Tron was a program inside a computer but... that was neither here nor there.

Therefore, the Keyblade wielder was heading back home when he spotted two familiar faces that he managed to see earlier in the day.

"Touma? Index?"

Hearing their names being called out, the two looked over and saw Sora standing there.

"Sora? What are you doing here?"

"I'm heading back home now. I uh... had something going on which is why I missed class today."

A small smirk appeared on Touma's face.

"You should have seen Komoe Sensei. She was devastated that you weren't in class today. Everyone was honestly surprised. You didn't seem like the type to miss class. Most of the time it's me..." he replied while letting that last part be said quietly.

"Ehehe... yeah..." Sora mumbled.

'Sorry to disappoint everyone. I doubt this will be the last time I ditch class. If a Heartless outbreak happens again, then I'm going to be there' Sora said within his head.

Clearing his throat, he figured he'd move the conversation back to his friends.

"So, what are you guys doing?"

Index puffed her cheek and pointed at her guardian.

"Touma is arguing with me about food. Food is an important thing to worry about."

"Which is why you should learn how to cook!"

"Hmph! Maybe if you expanded your grocery list, then we wouldn't be having this conversation in the first place."

"That's beside the point! This Kamijou's wallet can only take so much of a beating. The groceries that I get are enough to make sure I'm not dying of starvation in the middle of the day. Just like that udon, I have. We need to eat it before it goes to waste. I'll just add a few things to give it some flavor and..."

A distraught expression appeared on the nun's young face as she narrowed her gaze on the spiky-haired black boy.

"Touma! We already had udon a few days ago!"

"Then I'll mix it up. Peppered udon? Spicy udon? Hmm. What would go with it? Chilled- "

"We had all those things within the last two weeks already!" the white-haired girl argued.

With a groan, Kamijou rested his right hand on his head, "Quit using your perfect memory! The more you do that, then the more you'll realize that you're eating the same thing repeatedly."

Sora, watching the two bicker about food, wanted to say something along the lines of eating the same food repeatedly wasn't a bad thing, but that might in some way come back to bite the misfortunate high schooler. Hence, he decided to keep his mouth quiet this time and wait for the heat to die down.

"If you remember all the meals you've had, then why don't you remember the steps needed to learn how to cook!?" Touma shouted at the nun.

"Because... Because... Because I need to keep my memory intact to learn other more important things!" Index blurted out as a weak defense.

Touma knew this to be an utter lie as Index had the magical ability to remember anything that was to be taught to her. From the simplest thing to more complex magic that would leave the common person with a migraine for days. While she acted as a library of grimoire books, one could also see her as a walking encyclopedia.

"That's a bluff if I've ever seen one. Couldn't you substitute the memory of having something delicious in place of udon and be content in your head? That would surely make things taste better."

"That's a terrible way of living Touma! That would be lying to myself and my stomach!" Index argued.

"Pfft..." Sora was on the side chuckling to himself.

Taking on a thinking pose, Touma had one thought come to him on the topic of memory. One that should be considered a benefit of the doubt.

"Wouldn't it also be possible to remember a time when you were full? I mean, the fullest you've ever been. Couldn't that memory be enough to sustain you into thinking that you are full?"

This was some next-level thinking. Kamijou was also starting to wonder if there was such a method of replacing food as thought. Perhaps he'd have to confide in his friends for such life-changing information.

"I think I've heard of something like this..." Sora muttered, making it known that he was still here. "I'm not sure where I recall hearing it, but don't some people substitute the thought of food as a source of power? Or is it a training method of some kind?"

"Hmph! You two are missing the point! Thinking about a happy time to fill in for an empty stomach will only work for so long. What if a sad person was thinking about something that made them happy? Wouldn't it be reasonable for that sad person to then go out and seek that happiness only to find out that- "

Suddenly, a bright light caused the nun to stop what she was saying and look up in the sky a good distance from where the three of them were standing. The light had gone up in a vertical manner making it very noticeable to anyone paying attention.

"Gah! Why!? That's... that's happened more than once today. What is it!?" Index asked frantically.

A deadpan expression played out on Kamijou's face.

"That was a rocket. There's a contest going on. Although, you'd think that they were being launched around District 23 with how bright and noticeable the light appears."

'Huh... rockets?' Sora wondered to himself, watching the light in the distance.

"And it doesn't bother anyone!?" Index yelled.

"Everyone in the city has known about the Venus Probe Contest going on. It's not like this is a new random thing. Besides, from what I understand it's not just Academy City launching rockets. It's happening all around the world" Touma explained.

"It is!?" Sora excitedly asked.

"It is?!" Index screeched.

"Yeah. There's been an entry page for the race. Make a right guess and you get entered into a lottery for the right to name the discovery."

A somewhat gleeful look appeared on the Keyblade wielder's face as he was starting to understand Touma's interest.

"Heh. So, you want to name something?"

"Are you kidding? Do you know how awesome that would be!?" the black spiky-haired boy excitedly replied. "Naming something like a comet or asteroid or even a constellation after you is something nobody else can really claim to have done. Imagine if I won, I'd be able to show off in front of everyone. Biri-Biri, Tsuchimikado, everyone. I'd even get a little card lamented that shows I officially got something named after me."

Sora couldn't help but wear a giant goofy grin on his face. Just the thought of Touma walking around school and slapping a card on anyone's desk to show them that he did have something space-related named after him.

This also led to another thought to appear in the Keyblade wielder's mind. This world's technology and presence were something to marvel at. While obviously more technologically advanced than other worlds that he's visited, Sora couldn't help but wonder how much more advanced Academy City was compared to Hiro's world and San Fransokyo. In addition, hearing that this world was starting to reach the stars had him wondering just how space looked given that he was familiar with traveling the stars in his Gummiship.

Thinking about it some more, Sora had to step back and realize just how crazy his life has been. From living on a small island in the middle of an ocean to then traveling through different worlds and wielding a magical weapon while stopping the darkness from taking over people's hearts and even worlds. And then getting pulled into so many more adventures to the point that he has to fight in a war between light and darkness. Along the way, there was the involvement of magic and science that let him know that there was so much more to learn in life. With all this in mind, the brunette teen couldn't help but smile warmly.

However, while Sora was having his moment, the nun standing next to him was having an existential crisis right now after processing everything she heard.

"I-I-I... You're telling me that- the Science Side has started to reach the stars!? Th-That would mean that the composition of the planet is vulnerable and... if the planet moved an inch away from its original position, then magical foundations and instruction would be destroyed... Will the Magic Side need to change their way of thinking? Their way of operation? Will we have to... reach the stars as well? A magician in space..."

Index was now lost in thought with her eyes darting everywhere while trying to wrap her head around this revelation.

Sora let out a little whistle at her comment about a magician in space. Coincidentally, with him wielding magic, wouldn't that technically make him an example of her comment?

"Index? Come back to Earth. Index?"

Touma was trying to bring the girl back to Earth, however, it seemed that Index was lost in orbit with no signs of coming back down.

"Should we bring her back down?" Sora joked.

"Eh. She'll fall back to Earth sooner or later."

Deciding to take his word for Index, Sora looked up to where the rocket was now and could see it reaching closer and closer to the stars.

"You said that rockets were being launched all around the planet, right?"

"Yeah. I did."

A curious look was now displayed on Sora's face.

"That's a lot of rockets..."

Touma, seemingly picking up what he was getting at added his own two cents.

"I get what you mean. Space debris seems like a big problem. I'm sure Academy City has safety protocols for such a thing so that nothing really happens, but I doubt the rest of the world has taken that into account."

"Yeah..."

The three friends were now left staring right up at the clear sky watching as the rocket moved further and further away from them. Into an area that none of them could safely traverse...

________________________________________________________________________________

Later...

Suffice it to say, the issue with rockets being shot into the sky appeared to fizzle out of Index's mind as she was now walking calmly and chatting away with Sora and Touma. The trio were now on a mission to deal with the dreadful problem that sat right at their feet.

Dinner.

"How are you able to tell which stores have the ingredients you need?" Sora asked while ruffling his hair. "Don't you ever find yourself having to go to more than one store for something?"

"Thanks to the marvels of this day and age, stores, and supermarkets all around Academy City are bound to have the same kind of stock. Of course, if you're looking to get a certain kind of food from say a store, then you might run into the problem of that store running out of inventory. Which will then require you to run to a supermarket. Or it could all be vice versa, and you have to go to a store rather than a supermarket. I know I've run into that situation..." Touma explained while muttering that last part.

One example of this exact situation happening to him was when there was a once-in-blue moon limited sale going on at a supermarket with eggs being discounted at a resounding 29% off. The deal seemed too good to be true, and thanks to misfortune investing in his life, Touma missed out on the deal by a five-minute gap. This led to him having to go back to the usual routine of visiting the grocery store instead of stepping foot inside the expensive terror known as a supermarket.

At the same time, Sora couldn't help but recall a situation that happened to him recently. Granted, it wasn't him who had to go through this food treasure hunt but a certain blonde friend of his, Frenda. Her fascination with Mackerel had landed her to visit a store that she said herself that she didn't frequent. Mackerel must either be a super popular food or... one that's not popular and has a small stock in stores.

"You know, Touma, you wouldn't have to worry about food expenses if- "

"I don't want to hear that from you! Anytime I try to save up or buy in bulk, you show up minutes later eating everything I have. I still haven't forgotten the fish I had stored in the fridge" the high school boy shot back.

This comment seemed to hit the nun as she wore a slightly awkward grin on her face.

"It was good..."

"Yeah. I know! That fish was supposed to feed us for two nights. I had it all planned. Mix it one night, then eat it with seasoned sauce another night. But nope. One minute I turn my head, the next it's gone... in your mouth."

Sora didn't have any real comment, so he stayed quiet and just watched the nun don an expression of somewhat embarrassment.

"That's why I have to buy ingredients for what I'm going to eat that day on said day."

The conversation continued as the trio entered a supermarket, at the displeasure of Kamijou. Sora also caught the name of said supermarket and had to blink a few times at the name.

Nevertheless, before Sora could walk fully in with them, his Gummiphone started ringing resulting in him having to excuse himself while he took it. This left Kamijou and Index to enter while Sora exited.

"Hello?"

"Sora! Can you hear me, kupo?"

"Hey, Moogla, yeah, I can hear you. What's up?"

"I wanted to fill you in on the latest that's been going on across the city, kupo."

Widening his eyes, Sora now paid extra close attention to what his moogle partner had to say.

"I'm listening."

"Mm. There have not been any reports of Heartless wandering around the streets, however, a few robots I sent over to District 19 have spotted small groups of Shadows roaming around the area, kupo" Moogla reported to the boy.

Again, District 19 seemed to have some reason for the Heartless appearing there. It was starting to be an obvious choice as to where to find any of the dark creatures.

"District 19... Is there anything else you can tell me about what your robots have seen?" he asked on the phone.

"Nothing else has happened yet, kupo," Moogla replied. "I just thought it would be good to tell you, kupo."

"And I'm really glad you did. Thank you, Moogla. I'll need to start thinking about what to do with that District. I might take a stroll over there tonight, but... I also want to make sure I know what I'm getting myself into."

"Good plan, kupo. Well, I'll let you go now, kupo."

"Alright. Take care and thanks again, Moogla."

And with that, the phone call ended between the two. There was a lot to consider within the Keyblade wielder's mind about the numerous sightings of Heartless around District 19. Moreover, he would normally go right ahead to check the place out, but since he was alone without his friends to back him up, he would need to be extra careful.

Alas, before he could think about this any longer, he spotted Touma and Index exiting the supermarket making him realize that he had been on the phone and contemplating things longer than he thought.

"You guys done?" Sora asked the two.

"Yep. But..."

Tilting his head, Sora had to wonder what was bothering the nun, "But...?"

Sporting a disinterested look, Index looked like she wanted to say something but was stopped abruptly by someone else speaking up first.

"What the- What are you guys doing here?"

Turning their heads to the side, Sora, Index, and Touma all spotted a familiar-looking middle school girl. She happened to also be the girl whom the Keyblade wielder had gone with to meet with her friends for the first time, and coincidentally he managed to make some new friends.

"Misaka?"

Said girl happened to have one hand on her hip while the other was pointing at Touma and Index.

"Hello again, Sora." The Level 5 happily greeted the spiky-haired boy before turning her attention to the other spiky-haired teen. "And idiot, what are you doing? You're still with that nun?"

A bland look appeared on Kamijou's face as he wasn't sure what the big idea was.

"Uh... what does it look like?" he said while wagging his grocery bag.

"Excusing Sora, you were with her- "Misaka then pointed her finger at Index who simply blinked. "This morning as well as now!"

Sora was starting to wonder if Misaka had a vendetta against Index or was presented with the wrong idea. He didn't know much about what her and the others' relationship was like, but perhaps miscommunication was present.

"If you must know what we are doing, then know that we're getting groceries and talking about the idea of vegetables being able to grow in space. Along with the idea that all food might be better to eat. Hmph!"

A stumped look appeared on Misaka's face as she wasn't sure what to make of this information. She then glanced over at Sora who simply shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

"O-Oh... Wait. So, like a project for school? Then are you aware about- "

As Misaka began to delve into a thorough explanation regarding the topic of space food, Sora allowed his mind to wander and think about this entire ordeal. Given that he had been to space, he started to wonder what it was like while eating. He recalled several times when Donald would cook something delicious and that it tasted amazing. But he hadn't really given it thought like Index and Touma were.

However, the only reason Sora might have not had any problem with eating in space was because of the Gummiship along with magic. Either way, it seemed all too complicated to worry about, and would just let that complex thought sit in the back of his mind.

Therefore, snapping out of his senses, Sora noticed Misaka suddenly stop talking to the duo and reach for her phone.

"Ahh! I have to go!"

"Huh? What happened?"

"Short hair?"

"Misaka?"

With a frantic look, she turned her attention to Sora and Kamijou.

"Curfew is nearly here. I need to get back. Same goes for all of you!"

A chuckle was heard in the Guardian of Light's head.

'Curfew. Ahahaha... I've broken that like... a bunch already.'

"Look, just get back to your room. Dealing with breaking curfew is a pain!" Misaka said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Before anyone could say anything, the sight of the Level 5 rushing away was the only thing they could see. Kamijou simply scratched the back of his head.

"That girl... *sigh* just another day of her being weird." He then looked over at Index and Sora. "We should probably head back."

Nodding at Touma's suggestion, Sora did not mind returning home at all. However, Index seemed to not respond and had her attention elsewhere.

"Index? What is it?"

"I... I thought I noticed something... the thing from earlier..."

"The rockets? Turbines?"

"No. It was... Err... I don't know. It's that wind-spinning thing or a rocket, but it's... almost like I'm familiar with it..."

Confusion was evident on the two spiky-haired boys' faces.

"Familiar? What does that mean?"

Sora then had a thought come to him, "Is it magic-related?"

This got Kamjou nodding as he was starting to think that something magical was at hand. Given that Index was able to sense magic in a strange sense.

"I won't know unless I check it out. Touma! I'll catch up with you later!" Index replied before starting to run off.

"Hey! Wait! Index!"

"You can eat everything tonight! My treat!"

"Your treat!? What the hell does that mean!? I bought it! Hey!"

"Index! Wait. It's not safe to- "Sora tried saying to the nun moving away.

The young girl kept running away from the two without really giving a thought-out plan as to what she was doing.

"Dammit! Sora we can't let her go alone."

"I'm with you on that. Heartless are still around the city" the Keyblade wielder added.

"And the curfew. If Index gets caught by Anti-Skill or Judgment, then that's going to be an even bigger headache."

With a nod, Sora was on board to help his friend.

As if by chance, the black spiky-haired boy spotted a locker that could store his grocery bags. That would be good enough for him now. Running up to the locker, he quickly put his bags in there before turning to Sora and giving him a look to signify that he was ready to catch up to the nun.

This led the two teens to chase after the nun but were met with a strange sight before them. Given that he had become familiar with a multitude of strange things within the past... well, ever since... circumstances, the spiky-haired boy had come to recognize bizarre things that dealt with magic. And right now, there appeared to be something ahead on the base of a turbine's pillar. A sort of transparent film in a rectangular filter about the size of what he'd suspect to be a magazine from his point of view. However, upon getting closer, he could see that it had a pattern of some kind that spelled out a few topics in his head.

Sora, on the other hand, was utterly confused at what he was seeing on the wind turbine, but based on Touma's reaction, he figured it was something supernatural. As stated, many times now, the Keyblade wielder had familiarized himself with a bit of the Scientific Side of this world and how Esper's abilities were extraordinary. Alas, there was still much to learn about the Magic Side of things. This must be where he confronts said side.

'No doubt about it. That's magic side related!'

Touma thought to himself while continuing to identify the object on the turbine.

"Uh... Touma, what is this thing?" Sora asked, getting closer to the strange object.

"I'm not sure..." Kamijou then slowly stretched his right hand forward and inched closer to the object. "But if my guess is any good then- "

The sound of glass breaking caused both boys to go wide-eyed immediately.

"*Glass Break*"

"What the- Does that mean it was- "Sora started saying while examining Touma's hand and the base of the turbine where the object was just at.

Touma, meanwhile, was looking down at his hand and realized that something had been destroyed. Some kind of magic was at play here which meant that things were not normal.

However, before either of the two boys could react, several pillars of fire shot up from the ground around them.

"Huh!?"

"What!?" Sora shouted while instantly summoning his Keyblade at the ready.

'Dammit! Could that have been a trap!?'

The situation looked uncertain as the flame pillars began to enclose around the two leaving Sora ready to bust out of there.

"How should we get out of there? Using your hand? Or me using my magic? Do we even know who planted this trap!?" Sora rapidly questioned while eyeing his surroundings.

"No idea. But..." With a quick look at his hand, Touma had a plan come to mind. "Sora! Get behind me and get ready. I'll cancel the flames and bust us out, but I have no idea who set this trap."

"Got it. Let's do this!"

At this point, the flames had completely surrounded the two engulfing their bodies with no signs of any-

"*Glass break*"

The two spiky-haired teens burst right out of the flames with Touma keeping a crouched stance while Sora had his Keyblade right to go on defense or offense at whoever would be attempting to get rid of them.

They had thwarted whoever planned this trap.

________________________________________________________________________________

Consequently, above them, a helicopter had appeared out of nowhere while coming to a landing that the two boys knew for sure wasn't a legal thing to happen. The first individual to appear from the helicopter appeared to be a tall man with red hair as well as dressed in dark clothes.

This man was someone that Kamijou knew and could scarcely call a friend. Furthermore, that man happened to be younger than either Kamijou or Sora. His name was Stiyl Magnus, a magician from Necessarius.

"Stiyl!? What the hell?! Was this your doing?" Touma yelled at the redhead.

Eyeing the guy named Stiyl, Sora kept his senses on high alert. Even if Touma knew this guy... that didn't mean he would be friendly off the bat. The Keyblade wielder could recall several times the Organization tried to come off peacefully only for things to get chaotic.

Besides, this red-haired man was giving Sora some slight déjà vu for another one of his friends. Perhaps it was the dark clothing, or the red hair, or a mix of both, but this guy was reminding of him a certain Organization member turned Guardian of Light, Lea. A name he now had memorized.

"You'll get no apology from me. However, do know that you weren't the target this time around. Now then, what are you going Kamijou?" Stiyl then looked over at Sora and observed him intently for a whole second before speaking up. "And who the hell are you?"

Frowning at the redhead's tone, Sora answered, "My name is Sora... I'm pretty sure you've already heard of me."

No immediate response was given from the mysterious male figure. Only a simple glare before he started speaking to Kamijou again.

"What did you know about the thing you destroyed?"

A slight tilt of the head was Touma's first reaction before replying to Styil, "Wait... you mean that clear filter? Ind- "

"That wasn't the only thing there. I used that 'filter' as a new magical circle to analyze the magic that was already installed there."

"What? That was... something was already there?" Touma muttered.

Not really having anything to say just yet, Sora was trying to rack his head around what was being said. He understood that something magical was on the wind turbine base due to Touma's Imagine Breaker being activated. However, hearing that magic was being used to check on magic... this was starting to sound like something complex.

"You seriously don't see it? You're undoubtedly an idiot." Styil said while leaving the two spiky-haired boys even more confused. "To your naked eye, it would be difficult to make out. But this is you, we are talking about Kamijou. I can't say much about you, Sora, but you're probably not that far off from him. Having said that, the perpetrator probably used ultraviolet light hiding it effectively. This is a clear violation against the treaty directed between Science and Magic" the red-headed magician explained.

An annoyed frown was expressed on Sora's face and knew immediately that he and Stiyl would not get along so easily.

Taking this information at face value, Touma took a few steps to get closer to the turbine to try and see what Styil was describing, but unfortunately, he still couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"And by your actions, you managed to interfere with my magical circle which was to overwrite the original magical script. I could have altered the original caster's pattern which would have changed the effect of the spell. This plan of mine would have then allowed my trap to capture this perpetrator. Well, it should have... were it not thanks to you."

Sora was starting to get an idea of what was going on. Whatever magical spell was cast on the turbine was meant to be tampered with by Styil's own magic which would then allow for his mysterious individual to be caught. But due to Touma's Imagine Breaker... that plan went out the window.

"I... Err... "

"Your idiocrasy knows no bounds, Kamijou."

"*sigh* But putting that aside, doesn't that mean the original caster is now aware of the turbine trap?"

"I feel like I'm talking to a damn wall. I've met children who had more literacy and common sense than you" Styil muttered.

To add to the redhead's frustrated state, he then pulled what looked to be a cigarette from his pocket and placed it into his mouth before waving his hand next and causing a flame to ignite the cigar.

This man's attitude was starting to rub the Guardian of Light wrongly. Sora had dealt with a variety of people throughout his adventures which allowed him to have a good idea about a person's character, and Styil was someone that-

Suddenly, before Sora could finish that train of thought, he and Touma watched as Styil finished taking a whiff of his cigar before flicking it away with his finger. However, instead of the cigar just staying on the ground and burning away, a large flame sword shot up from the ground.

"Alas, it was my own hubris and neglect that allowed for something like this to happen. I should have given more of a damn about the consequences of letting some amateur screw things up. Now it's made this whole mission complicated."

Senses were triggered as Sora had a bad feeling about what was happening.

"What? Stiyl...!?"

With the flame sword still visible and holding a menacing appearance, the red-headed magician shifted his gaze from Sora to Touma. It appeared that he had already made his decision.

"Circumstances are already bad... Nevertheless, with your idiotic actions' things have definitely become even more troublesome for me to deal with. I don't have the time to deal with any more outliers. And anyone with a sensible mind knows for a fact that you're the biggest outlier to any plan. Someone needs to beat some sense into that empty head of yours. I'll gladly be the one to do that."

Not about to let that happen, Sora took a step forward with his Keyblade brandished in his hands and now pointed at the magician. If he was looking for a fight, then he would gladly give it to him.

"You might want to change your way of thinking" Sora proclaimed right to Styil.

"...No need to tell me that. I've heard enough about you to make my own assumptions. Kamijou will always be outlier number one. Due to our misfortunate encounters together."

A frown appeared on Touma's face that spelled irritation.

"But that doesn't mean I won't count you as another outlier. Even if you claim to be neither against nor for the Science Side... you're a threat."

"The same can be said about you." Sora shot back. "How about the decency to let Touma know what's going on? The only reason he's even involved in the first place was thanks to Index realizing that something was wrong. If you had any sense, then you should have told him to avoid the turbine or asked him to help in another way."

"What are you doing? Picking fights for this moron."

Sora now wore an irritated expression on his face. This guy was seriously starting to be a pain.

"Not at all! I'm not speaking on behalf of Touma completely... You've been eyeing me from the first moment we met. I just figured that you'd be acting sooner or later. You're not the first weirdo to plan a backstab against me or my friends" the spiky-haired brunette reasoned.

Touma's first instinct was to try and bring this situation to a calm point but based on his encounters with Styil after having his memory... issue. It seemed that the only way to get Styil to see reason was to show him reasoning. In the form of action that is.

"You're wasting time, Stiyl! The longer you bicker with us, the longer you're giving the true culprit time to escape or plant more magical traps around the city" Kamijou implied to the redhead.

"That may be so, however, allowing you to simply get off the hook without facing any sort of punishment would be too good of me. Besides, beating some sense into you might be a good thing."

"Then you're going to have to deal with me as well" the Keyblade wielder countered.

"Good. Taking out two birds with a stone ought to be how this plays out. I know better than to get up close with you, Kamijou. Sora on the other hand... this will be interesting."

Before anyone else could say anything, the flame sword that had been standing by immediately swung down to the ground causing shockwaves to scatter around the area. With instincts kicking in, Touma raised his right hand forward in the event he would need to block an incoming attack while Sora dashed and dodged to the side with his Keyblade defensively raised in front of him.

A plethora of thoughts came spiraling out of Touma's head as he began to quickly scan the area before him. Knowing how Stiyl fought in combat, through past experiences, he began looking for any rune cards that amplified his spells' powers.

'Crap. The area is too thorough to look over everything. He could have placed rune cards everywhere!'

"You're quite the planner, you emo buffoon! Did you seriously plant rune cards all around the turbine?! When did you even do that?" Touma shouted to the Necessarius member.

"Do I even need to respond? The trap would have been meaningless if I didn't do such a thing. Everything was set and positioned to operate in stages. One stage to entangle the target which would have given me enough time to arrive, then the next stage would be me finishing them off. But thanks to you and that damn right hand, you've yet again managed to make my life complicated."

Processing this new bit of information, Touma now realized just how thought out this plan of Stiyl's actually was. Alas, this also meant that Stiyl was still operating by that original strategy which meant that his position would also have importance.

Verily, as Kamijou was rapidly thinking of a plan, a fireball appeared to be coming straight for him as Stiyl had acted in this moment of opportunity. However, what the magician failed to realize was just how fast the Keyblade wielder moved.

*Swish*

The fireball was now cut in half by the Keyblade wielder's weapon. Furthermore, the tip of the boy's weapon had glowed with blue light before a sphere of water was summoned out of thin air and launched directly at the red-headed magician.

Such an attack was meant to merely coat him in cold water to break his train of thought but due to the unexpectedness of the spell, Stiyl was pushed back a few feet and rolled to the ground before rising back to his feet. An annoyed and somewhat shocked expression appeared on his face.

"So, it's true."

"What's true?" Sora asked with a confused look on his face. "What are you talking about?"

Moving his hands into his jacket and pulling out a stack of rune cards, Stiyl quickly narrowed his gaze on the two boys.

"I've received nothing but reports about you and your deeds. Information spread by word of mouth indicated that you were a magician, but that you were able to cast magic at the flick of your wrist. Your spell just proved all that true."

Sora knew that his actions in Academy City were being watched carefully by the two sides. Hence, it didn't come off as too much of a shock to heart Stiyl's words. Moreover, it just meant that the Magic Side was veiled in even more mystery.

"I'm guessing you also know about the Heartless and how Sora's stepped in to deal with them" Touma added to the conversation.

"I know enough to view him as a mundane ally. However, that doesn't mean he's not also viewed as a threat. Perhaps I should test that theory now. Which side of the line you teeter towards?"

Frowning once again at the man's words, Sora knew that he would not only be getting involved in a fight but that he was also going to be judged for his actions.

This day just seemed to get even more strange now.

________________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Academy City

Standing on the top of a train station located in District 22, a dirty blonde-haired man wearing a dark maroon-colored suit with a white collared shirt stood there. He was better known as Dark Matter. Or to the few he worked with he was known as Kakine Teitoku.

Alas, Kakine stood there with his hands in his pocket while appearing to wait for someone to arrive. An annoyed expression was present on the boy's face.

'Waste of my damn time.'

Deciding not to waste his time any longer, the teen was about to leave the train station when suddenly, a dark portal appeared right behind him with a dark figure stepping out while not having a complete form.

"You're a hard person to find" Kakine commented with a cold stare.

A steady chuckle escaped from the formless figure.

"Not entirely. All you had to do was wait and I'd get to you as soon as I could. Do keep in mind, that I'm busy as well. So much to do... so little time."

The mysterious figure known as Darkness said all this in a tone of voice that seemed to convey a sense of... purpose.

"Tsk. Wasting my damn time- "

"Oh, really? And what was it that you so importantly had to do? Sit in a sandbox and twiddle your fingers about. No real purpose going on right now."

"I'm not interested in your bullshit. You know exactly why I'm here" the second-ranked Level 5 stated.

A moment of silence passed between the two before Darkness let out a humming sound. Things were going to plan.

"About time. I've already lent some of my... wisdom to another in this city. And they took it with the utmost respect. I truly can't wait to see what they have in store..."

"Wait. Who did you- "

"Nope. Client confidentiality is something that I keep only between me and the client."

Kakine kept his eyes carefully on the dark figure as he couldn't help but ponder who the mysterious figure encountered. If true, then that meant his power truly was...

"Fine. I don't give a damn."

"Yes, you do."

"Shut up. You know why I'm here."

"I do. And I'm glad you finally came to a decision. Trust me, you won't regret it" Darkness ominously said.

Clasping his fist tightly, Kakine had made up his mind. This was something that he would go through with. The access to a newfound power given away by this mysterious figure seemed like a sketchy kind of deal. However, at the current pace, he was going with evolving his power... it would be years until he managed to knock the first-ranked off his ass. Showing him and the damn higher-ups of this city who the true Level 5 was.

"...Now what? Do I sign a contract? Offer you, my services? What sort of bullshit do you have for me?"

"Nothing. You only have to do one thing."

A sour feeling was now felt in his body. Would he regret this? Possibly. But was it worth it? Absolutely.

"What is that one thing?"

Darkness then took a step toward Dark Matter before seemingly holding up what appeared to be his hand and pointing it at him. A pulsating sound was soon heard followed by wind picking up. Within seconds, a purple dark orb appeared to float in the mysterious figure's hand.

"Open your heart."

Before he could say anything, Kakine was then hit by the dark orb landing right into his chest and causing his eyes to wide and clutch his chest.

"Gah... ha...ha... what the hell... did you do!?"

"I did what I said I would. Give you the edge you need to become stronger. Help you to see that there is much more out there... you're now on the path of true power..."

Feeling a reassortment of anger flair up in his body, Kakine raised his right hand and intended to create a sphere of energy and hurl it right at the formless figure, but he was met with total surprise.

Once he raised his arm and glanced at it, he was left with his mouth agape. On his fingertips were dark swirls of mist and energy was present. It did not affect him in a bad way, rather, he felt good. Better even.

Unsure of what this was, he raised his arm into the air and felt that by doing this... he was doing something right. He then decided to imagine a blast of energy being shot out of his hand expecting this all to be in his head and-

*Boom*

*Pwwwwwiissssshhh*

A blast of energy shot up to the sky as quick as lightning leaving him to go wide-eyed at this strange new display of power.

"That... my calculations weren't even done... I just did that. What the hell did you do to me?!" Kakine roared at the figure.

Taking a few steps to the side, Darkness kept quiet until an approving humming sound came from their voice.

"That'll do. You're on the right path now."

"Hey! You heard me! What the hell did you do to- "

"I gave you power. A boost of power if you will. Now it's up to you to solve the rest. With great power comes... well, even more power to be had."

Out of nowhere, a dark portal appeared behind Darkness creating a dramatic scene to play out. The dark misty figure was slowly walking toward the portal while the second-ranked reached his hand out in anger.

"Wait! We're not done here!"

"I'm afraid so. I have things to do and places to be. But don't you worry, I'll be back to check up on you given some time." Darkness said all this while getting closer to the dark portal. "Besides, won't it be more worth it to harness this newfound power all by yourself without needing any baby steps?"

A growling sound could be heard coming from Kakine with how pissed he was getting to be. However, what he didn't realize was that around his entire body was what could be described as dark swirls of mist coming off his body. The correct assumption for what was going on was that the essences of darkness were being excreted from him. A show of his newly gained power.

"Oh... before I forget, do take note about something. That power I gave you was merely a push through the door. You've always had great power within yourself. You just never realize the potential you hold. You should be proud of yourself, second-ranked."

Nothing was said from the dirty blonde-haired teen as he simply glared at Darkness. Many thoughts were swirling around his head. Nothing was making sense and yet... it was making more sense than ever.

"Well then, take care. I can't wait to see you next time we meet."

And with that, Darkness walked through the portal and disappeared along with the portal into thin air. This left the Level 5 alone where he simply raised both of his hands and started gathering his thoughts about all that just happened. Out of curiosity, he thought of the molecular makeup of a spear made of material not known to this world and did so, however, once the spear was created, Kakine noticed that there was a sentient yet alien feeling to it.

Raising the spear, he could see that the spear had a different color than expected and that it felt heavier than he thought. There was something more to the spear than what he could see. Therefore, he decided to see how different this weapon was by leveling his gaze toward what appeared to be an empty bus on the road with not that many people around.

In one fell swoop, he threw the spear expecting it to easily pierce through the large vehicle and nothing more.

But that... was not the only thing to happen.

*Wooooooooooosssssshhhhhhh*

*KA-BOOM*

Immediately upon impact, the spear caused a massive explosion of purple light followed by ripping the bus apart with ease and still managing to pierce through the vehicle. Once the smoke died down from the explosion, Kakine had a giant grin on his face as he as the spear still intact and heavily lodged into the ground with no damage done to it. Alas, within seconds later the spear began to fade away into nothingness leaving Dark Matter pleased and surprised with the result.

"Interesting. Hahaha!" Kakine continued laughing to his heart's intent before staring up at the city. "Maybe I judged you wrong... I'll break any expectations you had of me, Darkness!"

Upon yelling that to nobody but himself, Kakine held his head up high while letting a menacing grin appear on his face.

"I'm coming for that top spot... first ranked."

________________________________________________________________________________

*A/N* - ...*cough* *cough* So... yeah... hey there. Apologies yet again. This chapter has been in the works for quite some time now. I'd say I originally had this planned to be released by the end of October but... well, it's now November. Almost December if you can believe it. Nevertheless, I apologize for the long wait, and I could see the mention of wanting a new chapter. Life got complicated, to say the least. I'll spare you the boring details. But now we come to this chapter and the events that will push it forward.

As I've mentioned before in the previous chapter, I want to get into the Magic Side of things as I feel like there's a whole other can of worms to get to. With Sora's magical abilities mixing with Toaru's magic, things are surely going to get interesting. Expect a whole lot of confusion on both parties trying to understand each other's way of using magic. Furthermore, the story is now entering the Road to Endymion arc where things will then connect to the Daihasei Festival. I want to strike for an even ground where things seem to follow with the mainline story but also splinter into newfound areas involving Sora. A bit of both is what I'm striving for as it adds unique perceptions of things.

In addition, with Darkness messing around the city and giving people unknown powers, things are surely going to get more complicated. Do note though that it's not just Science Side people that will have access to darkness but also Magic Side characters. That's going to be a lot of fun to see. Either way, thanks again for checking this story out and continuing to follow up on it. I really enjoy seeing the reviews whether they are to bash, praise, compliment, or critique the story. Adds interest to it so that it can be better. I mean, honestly, I know it could be better but... I'm enjoying what's happening so far. I also have an endpoint in mind that I'd like to reach but... oof. It's nowhere in sight lol.

Once again, thanks for checking this story out, and until next time. Take care.

________________________________________________________________________________

*Special Author's Note*

Yeah, this format is a bit weird but hear me out. So, while slowly working on finishing this chapter, I sort of got the fun idea to come up with two sorts of Omake shots that somewhat go along with this story. The first one has to do with the fact that the girls from Item will be having a bit of a hangout with our ever-positive Keyblade wielder. Only... it does involve a bit of playing games together.

The other omake involves a Halloween shot with Sora hanging out with Touma and Index going through Academy City with some shenanigans followed by the Keyblade wielder meeting up with the girls from Item who are having a small little hangout. The Item girls' outfits will be a bit based on some of the promotional art that came out around A Certain Scientific Railgun S. Of course, our hero will be decked out in one of his otherworldly attires. Specifically, his Halloween outfit. Touma and Index's outfits will be from their Imaginary Fest event outfits for visual appeal.

These chapters aren't really connected to the mainline story as they would not make sense and are just for fun. Feedback on these bits will determine if I'll do it again. I understand that it might be weird to go from an intense moment in the main story to the fun, ridiculousness going on with the characters, but I couldn't help it. Either way, thanks for checking the story out, and hope you'll enjoy the shots.

*Further Note * - I do not own the characters, stories, copyright, etc. for Toaru Majutsu no Index, Kingdom Hearts, Nintendo properties, and everything else mentioned and used.

Just throwing that out there... I don't know why lol.

________________________________________________________________________________

Omake 1 – Finding Your Main.

"He's late."

"I'm super sure that he knows that he's late."

"Doesn't matter. Jackass is late."

"Ouch. Mugino's being super hard on her crus- "

"Say one more word Kinuhata and I'll make sure you have to spend the next month eating through a straw" fired the tea-color-haired beauty.

Off to the side, Takitsubo and Frenda merely looked at each other with looks that conveyed the same wavelength message.

'Kinuhata was screwed. And she was on her own.'

However, with the high school girl towering over her like a lioness getting ready to go in for the kill, Kinuhata couldn't help but realize that Mugino was just adding sprinkles to her thought-out plan to get the brunette girl to break.

A smug grin then appeared on the Level 4's face as she realized that she had just stepped on a landmine. Now, the next trick was to see if the landmine would be a dud or if it would go off leading to her supposedly eating through a straw for the next month.

"...I'm not super sure your hero would like- "

Mugino's face shifted to one that would scare the life out of anyone and leave them in fear for the rest of their lives. A murderous aura was emanating off the Level 5. She was not going to let that comment get away so easily.

"You little shi- "

*Ding-Dong*

The apartment doorbell had rung. All the girls immediately knew who was at the door.

"I'll get it!" Frenda shouted while rushing over to the door and opening it to see her and the other girls' savoir.

The girls of Item had planned a sort of hangout with a certain someone based on a conversation that revolved around video games and how it was better to play as a group than alone. Hence their guest was late. It was due to him picking up the necessary equipment to make this hangout even more entertaining.

"Basically, it's about time you got here."

The blonde girl said while putting her hands on her hips and giving a frown to the spiky-haired boy standing at the door.

"Ehehe. Sorry, I'm late. I had to stop by my dorm and pick it up. I'm honestly surprised you guys don't have the game and console" replied a certain teen who wielded a giant key as a weapon.

"We've been over this before you idiot. Even if we did go out and buy a hundred Switches, we wouldn't have the version of the game that you have" Mugino replied, taking her intimidating glare off Kinuhata.

This allowed the short-haired girl to let out a quick breath of relief as she was mere moments away from being put in the hospital and having to live through a month of eating through a straw. That didn't sound like a super-efficient way to spend her time. Although, it would allow her to sit in a hospital room... sometimes the rooms had televisions in them... she could hook up a console to play some of the bad movies she had on her list... this idea was starting to sound more and more pleasing.

"Right. Well, I'm here. Does one of you wanna help me set it up?" Sora asked the girls of Item.

"I'll do it!" Frenda jumped at the chance.

"Thanks, Frenda!"

"You're welcome!"

A vein was starting to show on Mugino's face as she glared at the blonde girl. Frenda was doing a lot of kissing ass now. Something was up with that.

Takistubo on the other hand just pressed herself onto the couch and lazily sat there watching the events before her playout. She had no interest in getting involved with what appeared to be the calm before the storm. Once they all started playing... who knows how that would go.

"I still have to say, I know you girls are... rich... but none of you have a Switch?" Sora questioned.

Takitsubo simply shook her head as a form of giving a response.

"Nope. Which is super surprising. Mugino is always gaming on the down low but doesn't want anybody to know that her battle-fanatic side can also dip into gaming. Leading her to be- "

"Kinuhata. How about you shut the fu- "

"That's not all that surprising" Sora quickly commented.

A moment of silence passed before Mugino spoke up.

"...It's not?" the tea-color-haired girl asked, feeling her cheeks warm up but doing her best to have a stone-cold expression.

Shaking his head, the Keyblade wielder offered her a bright and friendly smile.

"Not at all. I knew about your desire to win all the time and when you think about it, games offer a sense of relaxation as well as fulfillment when it comes to striving for a win. I'm not that good at them but the times I have played left me wanting to be the best. Your personality is just more suited to being number one all the time."

The four girls listened to the teen's words and couldn't help but see that he made some good points. Hence, the girls of Item all glanced over at Mugino who seemed to be fighting back the urge to break out into a smile or even a grin which left her making a sour expression on her face. Kinuhata had a shit-eating grin on her face and wanted to say something but stopped herself... for now that is.

"I... You make a fair point, Sora."

"Yeah. Well, let's get this going!" He then turned to Frenda and handed her the Switch deck and cords needed to set up the console. "Mind plugging this in the back of the... large... screen..."

Sora had to wonder just how big the television screen he was staring at really was. He'd seen big screens before but having this big of a screen just sitting in an apartment was... something else.

"You got it!" Frenda happily sang aloud.

A moment later, the Nintendo Switch was hooked up and ready to play games. The game in question that the group had been discussing happened to be a game that Sora himself was involved in. A certain... party and fighting game.

"Alright! I've got four sets of controllers. So how are we doing this? Have you guys played Sma- "

"Pff. Of course, we've all played this game before. Don't you dare hold back on us!" Mugino shouted.

"Ok. Ok. Just making sure. It wouldn't be fair to play against someone that's new and hasn't played before" the teen boy reasoned.

With that said, a silent debate was going on inside the tracksuit-wearing girl better known as AIM Stalker. She had played this kind of game before. Only... it was back on the Nintendo Wii which was years ago. Which made her fall under the category of being rusty.

"...Sora."

"Huh? Yeah, Takitsubo? What's up?"

"Could I get a quick training session in before we really start playing?"

"Sure! I don't mind. I don't think anyone else will mind."

Both Frenda and Kinuhata did not mind at all. It would serve to help them as well. Unfortunately, a certain girl with features that beat out any model currently had a scowl on her face. She had prepared in private for this occasion ever since it was brought up between her and Sora. She spent the night prior watching videos on how to play as certain characters so that she could ensure total victory. Showing those bitches that she would always be number one.

It was also not because she wanted to impress a certain someone who was actually in the game... not at all. She just wanted to be good and win during every battle she took part in.

"...Tch. Fine. Take your damn time" Mugino replied while saying some things under her breath that couldn't really be heard.

With everyone agreeing to Takitsubo's request, Sora booted up his switch and started the game that everyone had agreed to play.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate.

"Alright, let me just go here and... done. Alright Takitsubo, you're up" Sora happily commented.

Now on the screen to choose her character, the other girls all spent a moment looking over the large variety of characters to play as. Some of the characters are obvious picks. While some were out of recognition or familiarity. Others were not so known about. Frenda already had a pick in mind that suited her play style which revolved around using items to her advantage while Kinuhata went for a more physical striking character that used their fists given that she was also one to fight hand-to-hand.

That left Mugino who... for simplistic and obvious reasons had her eyes glued to one character. A special kind of character that just so happened to be stan-

"Ok. I'll play as Jigglypuff" Takitsubo suddenly said while picking the pink Pokémon and progressing to the next stage of training.

"Hah. Any particular reason why?" Sora curiously asked.

The dark-haired girl simply looked at him.

"Jigglypuff is cute."

"Fair enough."

Sora seemed content with that answer while Kinuhata was watching the screen to see how rusty her ally was. Along with making some assumptions that she would be easy prey to get a win from. Mugino on the other hand didn't really care and had begun reading a magazine that she kept next to her on the couch and tried to start reading it but couldn't keep her mind on it. The teen girl's attention was being directed toward the spiky-haired boy standing not that far away from her. She had made plans for how the seating arrangement would go.

Frenda had taken a spot on a single-person seat while Kinuhata was chilling on what appeared to be a specially made bean bag that had a cup holder installed in it which already held whatever the hell she was drinking. And Takitsubo was slouching along the couch that she was stationed at and had no means of moving. This left the tea-color-haired girl with a wide-open spot right next to her that Sora would undoubtedly take once he got tired of standing. Everything was going according to plan.

After a few minutes of seeing Takitsubo practice Jigglypuff against Mario, everyone decided that they should start right off the back with Tournament rules. Frenda was the only one to argue against this plan, but her complaints fell on deaf ears leaving the blonde pouting. Furthermore, the first match-up would be Kinuhata versus Frenda. A battle that would be quite interesting given that nobody had said who they would be picking.

"This is going to be awesome! Hey, Mugino, would it be alright if I use your restroom really quick?" Sora asked his host.

"That's fine. It's the first door on the left. Can't miss it."

"Thanks."

With Sora stepping out for a moment, the girls were going to continue with their first match, but this did lead to another entertaining moment for the Level 4 girl known as Offense Armor. The character select screen.

"Alright, tourney rules are tourney rules. No bullshit. No items. No final smashes."

"Jeez. Sounds like someone is trying to super impress someone with their technique" Kinuhata commented while eyeing the older, bustier girl.

"How about you shut the hell up and choose your character already."

An even bigger shit-eating grin was plastered on Kinuhata's face as she was bound to get the Level 5 riled up.

"Oh, lighten up, Mugino. We're super getting there. But first, who are all your mains?" she asked the three other girls.

"Basically, I'm thinking of going Banjo & Kazooie for my first game and seeing if it all works out. If not, then I'll switch it up to Bowser Jr. or Mii Gunner. I've got a few other characters in mind" Frenda explained.

A dull look appeared on Kinuhata's face.

"That's super lame. You're only going for characters that have projectiles. That's weak sauce."

"It's not weak at all! I'll have you know playing the range game is what works in high-intensity matches."

The detail that Frenda would not voice out to her teammates was that she played Smash Bros. before but it was only with her little sister which... wasn't exactly a fair fight. Hence, she favored projectile characters as it made her winning seem fairer than clobbering Fremea and making her sad. Plus, projectiles fit with her personality given that she dealt with explosives and guns and whatnot.

"Hmm. Takitsubo. What about you? Do you have any super cool characters to play as? Anything will be better than Frenda's picks."

"Hey!"

Lazily moving her head to the side, Takitsubo stared at the screen once more while thinking to herself about her choices. She then had her picks ready.

"I'll stick with Jigglypuff for my first match, then I might go with Rosalina."

"Oh? Super interesting pick. Anyone else?"

"...Maybe Hero?"

Excitement appeared on the younger girl's face.

"Now there's a super complex character! See Frenda, why can't you have complex picks?"

"I do have complex picks. You'll be eating those words when I wipe the floor with you."

"Ha-Ha. I super can't wait to see you try it. It'll be taking candy from a- "

"Would you two shut the hell up and pick already!?" Mugino shouted.

The time had now come. Kinuhata was ready for this opportunity which is why she shot a glance over at Frenda who seemed to be somewhat picking up on the Level 4's plan. Offense Armor then stared comedically at Takitsubo who gave her a deadpan stare knowing full well that there would soon be property damage done to the apartment... again thanks to Mugino's Meltdowner.

"Heh... Tell me, Mugino, who are your super picks?"

"I'm not telling you shit. You'll just have to wait and- "

"Nah. It's super fine. We already know who you're main is going to be. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if you played him the entire time" Kinuhata cheekily said.

A cracking of knuckles was heard as Mugino balled up her fist and was ready to throttle the younger girl to teach her a lesson and shut her up. However, before she could do anything, the sound of Sora coming back prevented her from harming her ally who had a smug grin on her face.

"Hey, you guys haven't started yet? Is something up?" Sora voiced out.

"No, no. We were just super discussing our mains."

"Not to mention, we basically wanted to learn everyone's main picks and were just about to hear what Mugino's picks were" Frenda replied, earning a nod from her teammate.

A look of surprise appeared on the Keyblade wielder's face as he was now curious to hear who Mugino might main.

"Mugino. Who are you going with?"

Biting her tongue and wanting to give a half-ass answer, she decided to say one or two names that popped into her head while observing the screen.

"...I'll go with R.O.B. and Dark Samus."

"Of course, she would" Frenda muttered out.

The blonde's reasoning for saying that was because those characters specialized in shooting lasers. Something the tea-color-haired girl did on a daily.

"What was that, Frenda?" the long-haired girl threatened.

Before the blonde-haired girl could say anything, another girl beat her to it.

"Is that your main pick...?" Takitsubo suddenly questioned.

Frenda and Kinuhata couldn't help but realize that perhaps their tracksuit-wearing friend would help them in their assault against the girl known and feared as Meltdowner.

"Takitsubo. You're walking a thin line now. I don't need to tell you- "

"Yeah. I can see those two being your picks. Fighting against them can be a bit tricky if you're going against someone extremely familiar with their move sets" Sora said out of nowhere.

Everyone went quiet as they processed what the boy had said and could agree with his statement.

"Right... thank you, Sora."

"No problem. Now then, let's get this show on the road!"

With that being said, the girls now chose their characters for the first match which would be Jigglypuff versus Little Mac. Kinuhata's pick seemed to align with how she viewed herself and her physical combat technique. It would be an interesting match.

________________________________________________________________________________

And as anyone might guess... it was an interesting match with Kinuhata walking away as the victor. On the bright side, Takitsubo put up a fair fight and did better than everyone expected. Now, the next match was Mugino versus Frenda which got the blonde-haired girl to feel a bit nervous at the ass whopping that was heading her way.

Mugino had put on her game face, and it did not look like she was going to let up.

With Frenda picking Banjo & Kazooie right off the bat, this left the brunette girl with everyone's eyes on her. Most people would be nervous with all the attention, but Mugino was not like most people. She was a girl that made is abundantly aware of what she wanted along with not giving a shit about what people thought. This mentality led to her deciding to make it completely aware of who she wanted to pick as her character of choice. Plus, her actions would shut everyone up.

With her cursor moving down the screen, the announcer called out the character of her choice.

"Sora!"

The relative shock was evident on the girls' faces while Sora looked a bit surprised. He then took a seat next to Mugino while looking happy at her choice.

"Oh? You're going to be playing as me. Thanks!"

"You do realize how weird that sounds?" Mugino sneered. "Aren't you even weirded out at all?"

Shaking his spiky hair, Sora had a goofy smile on his face.

"Nope. This isn't my first time being in a video game and being a playable character" he responded while recalling the games he had on his Gummiphone.

Eyebrows were raised at the claim that Sora said aloud. Each one of the girls had their thoughts about it all.

"I see... well then, prepared to be amazed then" Mugino countered with a glint in her eyes.

"I can't wait to see you in action. Which version of me are you going to use?"

Kinuhata and Frenda eyed each other with how weird that sounded.

"Hmm... let's see..."

Mugino then went through all the outfits and had some thoughts about his second outfit along with the outfit he was wearing right now. But she couldn't hold her tongue when she went back to his first outfit.

"What the fuck are you wearing!?" the tea-color-haired girl blurted out.

Staring hard at the spiky-haired boy's first default outfit all the girls narrowed their eyes and glanced at the outfit before looking at Sora closely.

"Hey! That was before I got all my other outfits" the Guardian of Light argued. "Besides, I liked that outfit."

"Dear god... whoever let you walk out of the house wearing that... "

A tint of red appeared on Sora's face as he glanced at his first adventure outfit and... could see what she meant. Still, that outfit resonated on a deep level within his heart. That outfit is where everything started.

"I... I mean, looking back... I... To be fair, it's more fitted with- "

"But this outfit is very nice" Mugino immediately said while having picked his Valor form outfit. "And the blue one I also like. The white one is very nice as well."

"Thanks..." Sora replied while grateful she moved past his first outfit so fast.

"Hmm. I'll say that your black and white outfit is cool" Frenda commented.

"I agree" Takitsubo added.

"Nah. His second outfit is super cool. It has this sort of emo thing about it."

"Emo? What are you talking about?"

"You think?"

"You're just making shit up, Kinuhata."

The Level 4's only response was to shrug her shoulders.

"So, Mugino, which super outfit are you going with?"

Taking another glance over his current outfit, the chestnut-haired girl bit her lip and chose Sora's current outfit making it a bit weird that the outfit being displayed on screen was the same one he was wearing while sitting right next to her.

"Alright! You've spent enough time ogling Sora, Mugino. It's time for you to taste defeat!" Frenda declared which earned her a death glare.

This comment would enrage the tea-color-haired girl to the point that she became tunnel-visioned and would not pay any attention at all to the commentary made throughout the match. It ended in an utter bloodbath with Frenda having taken no stocks at all from Mugino and leaving her utterly defeated. It was almost embarrassing at how badly the ass-kicking was done to the beret-wearing girl.

Frenda was now sitting in her seat frowning with a blush spread across her cheeks. It was a defeat bad enough to hurt one's ego. Kinuhata and Takitsubo didn't say anything and just focused on the next match would was set to be Sora versus Kinuhata.

Deciding to throw the girls off, the spiky-haired teen would not be playing as himself now and instead as some random choices since he knew first-hand how many of his friends' move sets worked.

"Ha, let's see what you got, Kinuhata!"

"Those are some super-fighting words, Sora. Bring it on porcupine!"

"Porcupine?"

Unsure of what to say back, Sora stayed quiet and chose his fighter.

"Joker!"

"Huh? I did not expect that. I super thought you'd pick yourself."

A grin appeared on his face.

"Nope. I'm not going to play as myself right off the bat. That wouldn't be fair."

Hearing the cocky attitude coming from Sora, Mugino couldn't help the delightful smile that appeared on her face. She liked where this was going. Competition was something that she loved.

"Oh? That's quite the pedestal you're putting yourself on."

"I know all the moves used in the game. Everything from how long an attack goes on to how it can be used in combination with another move. It wouldn't be fair to start playing like that."

"Basically, you're calling us weak."

"No! I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that- "

A sly grin appeared on Mugino's face highlighting her beautiful brown eyes and pearly white teeth. This was starting to turn into quite the leadup to a hearty competition. Her interest was through the roof now.

"You're just saying that you're better than us because you have a huge advantage over us. But let me tell you, hero, I'm ready to kick your ass. So don't you dare hold back on me."

Letting out a sigh, Sora knew that there was no arguing with Mugino out of this situation. He would just have to give it his all.

"*sigh* Alright, fine. You want me to go all out? I'll go all out."

Mugino quickly bit her lip and had an excited look on her face.

"Excellent! Now then, Kinuhata, hurry up and lose so that I can fight him."

"Whoa now. Hold your super horses! I'm not losing this fight. I'm walking away with a win on my card. And I know just who to use."

The announcer then rang out the Level 4's choice.

"Little Mac!"

"Haven't you already played as him?" Frenda commented.

"Yeah. And? It's not like we made up some super rule about having to play as different characters. If Mac works for me, then I'll keep playing him. That's the way of the ring."

A deadpan expression appeared on Frenda's face as she could not believe how cringe that comment was. She had never heard of something so stupid before. It honestly surprised her.

"Basically, I can't believe you said that. And you still happen to show your face in public."

"I super don't want to hear that from you. Pudgy thighs."

"Pudgy thighs!?"

A look of bewilderment was cast onto the blonde's face as she was trying to come up with a good comeback.

"I think you must have hit your head on our last job because you don't know what you're even talking about."

Kinuhata now had a cocky grin on her face, "I know full well the super comment I just made was true. Your thighs are starting to sag a little."

"That's a baseless lie! You're just talking out of your ass now. And even if that was true, then you'd also have pudgy thighs as well, you cutting board." Frenda shot back. "That takeout dinner you suggested we try would have also caused you to have saggy thighs."

Before Kinuhata could return fire with another comment about the blonde's body, a sudden thought seemed to resonate with her. One that... caused her eyes to go wide with worry. Even Takitsubo who had barely been staying awake listened closely to what Frenda said and realized that she might have just caused their inevitable deaths.

"What? Why are you all looking at me like- "

A malevolent aura seemed to be emanating from the living room and it came from a certain source. That source came from a high school girl with tea-color hair and her hand raised into a bone-crushing fist. When it came to the female body and sensitive topics such as saggy thighs, Mugino was a worry wort with how she examined her body. She had become rather concerned as of late due to how she viewed her body. Given her expectations for perfection and a watchful eye toward calorie intake, Meltdowner was somewhat sensitive to her body. Especially given that... she had even more reason to seek perfection.

Therefore, hearing Frenda's comment and how Kinuhata's food that she had the other day was cause for concern toward thighs... let's just say, Mugino was not in a joking mood.

"Frenda..."

"..." the beret-wearing girl went silent.

Mugino was only seconds away from causing a Meltdowner orb to appear right next to her when the sound of a certain someone caused her to lose focus.

"You're worried about what you ate? Why? You look great!" Sora easily commented.

A stark moment of quietness echoed throughout the room.

"What? Did I say something not right?" He then scratched his cheek. "You guys are worried about what you ate, right?"

A response would be given from AIM Stalker in this case.

"You wouldn't understand" Takitsubo muttered.

"True. But I don't think what Frenda said deserves... whatever you're planning on doing, Mugino."

A glare was sent to the boy who simply waved it off as nothing.

"Tsk. Coming from you that's rich."

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing! Just get on with the damn match. I'm pissed and want to kick someone's ass" roared the tea-color-haired girl.

Coincidentally, as she said this, she tilted her head to the side and brushed some hair out of her face while making sure that her hand covered a good part of her face. Hiding the fact that her cheeks had taken on a pink tint.

Additionally, Frenda and Kinuhata glanced over at each other and gave silent nods. Both were thinking the same thing right now.

'Thank you, Sora, for saving us from the Kaiju known as Mugino.'

Now that the matches had started back up, it was turning into quite the spectacle with how Sora, who played Joker, managed to leave Kinuahta, who was playing Little Mac, in the dust. Knocking the boxer up into the air before bringing him back to the ground into a devastating combo attack followed by Joker casting his Persona to battle and amplifying the attack damage being done. The last-minute had been brutal for Kinuhata as the Keyblade wielder's input combos were quick and efficient with how he merely threw her character side-to-side.

It was a total massacre.

"Game!"

"I call that super crap."

Wiping his thumb under his nose, Sora couldn't help but grin widely.

"That was a good game, Kinuhata."

"Oh please. Don't give me that super sappy friendship crap. You destroyed me and my ego. Don't make it any worse."

Deciding not to say anything else, Sora figured he'd take a win and get ready for his next opponent.

Mugino on the other hand couldn't help but have a shit-eating grin on her face from watching Kinuhata get demolished by the boy. On one hand, it was nice seeing the Level 4 get her teeth kicked in with how badly she got beat. However, on the other hand, it did show her that Sora was skilled in this game and would be a tough opponent.

Nevertheless, the tea-color-haired girl would not back down from a competition.

________________________________________________________________________________

Sometime later

It was finally time. The explosive match-up was finally here with Sora versus Mugino. After many battles being won by the two, it was finally time for them to battle. Frenda, Kinuhata, and Takitsubo merely watched from the sidelines as the build-up to this event was one for the books. After having their behinds handed to them by the battle-hardened girl and experienced player/fighter, it was now time to see them duke it out.

"Hoo boy! This is going to be super good. Frenda! Get the popcorn ready. I'll get the snacks" Kinuhata declared.

"I'm way ahead of it! You two should start the trash-talking while we get ready!" Frenda shouted while bolting to the kitchen with Kinuhata on her tail.

Takitsubo simply sank herself onto the couch and looked at the high school teens sitting next to each other having dumbfounded expressions on their faces from the others' behavior.

"So... you guys gonna trash talk?"

Hearing her comment, Sora glanced over at Mugino and kept his eyes on her for a moment longer before saying the only thing that could come to mind.

"Uh... You're gonna lose...?"

The delivery was so weak that the tea-color-haired girl simply looked disappointed.

"Seriously? What the hell was that?"

"What? I don't exactly have anything to say regarding trash-talking."

A frown was plastered onto Meltdowner's face.

"Grow some balls! Come on. Say something. Anything. I know there's bound to be some kind of competition in that head of yours."

Letting a small humming sound out, Sora did have one thought in mind. When Mugino mentioned competition, he couldn't help but recall his best friend who he always competed against growing up. Riku and he would get into all sorts of challenges against one another. If Mugino wanted this to get serious, then... he wouldn't hold back.

"Heh... I don't need to say anything competitive. It's not like our match is going to last long" Sora said with a smug, confident look on his face.

The reaction on Mugino's face would be one for the books as the bored expression on her face immediately shifted to a bright grin. One that conveyed the sense that her intrigue and overall interest had been caught.

"Oh? That's quite the statement, but I'll let you know I'm not going to be button-mashing my way out of this. I'm going to enjoy demolishing you and claiming victory" the mature-looking girl said with her eyes never leaving his.

"Actions speak louder than words, Mugino, and based on how I've seen you play... I don't have anything to worry about."

A somewhat playful grin appeared on the Level 5's face.

"Really? So far from you, I'm not impressed. Sure, you know the move sets of the characters you've played, but I haven't seen anything outlandish. Nothing to make me jump out of my seat. Besides, you're playing against complete rookies. Idiots that are barely familiar with the game."

"Hey!" came the yell from Kinuhata in the kitchen.

Takitsubo simply moved her head and gave the laziest nod anyone had ever seen.

Ignoring her teammates' reactions, Mugino was now looking at Sora with an unimpressed expression.

"You're not all that intimidating, Sora. Honestly, I doubt this match will be difficult to win. Hell, I don't even think I'll have to break a sweat."

"Getting comfy there, Mugino" Sora replied, shooting her a not impressed look.

"Why wouldn't I?" Mugino then brushed some of her hair off her shoulder. "You're not exactly a menacing foe that I'm going to have to give my all."

The Keyblade wielder simply held a smug look on his face. Hearing Mugino's claim that he wouldn't be much of an opponent just made him even more eager to duel with her. He had to admit... on a certain level he was holding back while fighting the others. It wasn't like he was completely holding back. But it was like he said before. He had a ginormous advantage over everyone here. Given... well, the obvious.

He was involved with the game.

Alas, before he could say anything else, Frenda and Kinuhata came back into the living room, but both girls looked like the mobile vendors you would find at any sporting event selling candy, food, and drinks.

"Come one! Come all! We got snacks. We got drinks. We got food. Get your treats right here!" Frenda happily cheered.

"This is one event that you can't miss. The ever-rising hero with a house key, Sora! Taking on the kaiju known to destroy buildings, labs, cars, and even people, Mugino!" Kinuhata joking said.

The look on Mugino's face could be conveyed in one singular word.

Murder.

"Once I'm done kicking his ass..." Mugino did the usual two fingers pointed at her then the two girls. "I'm coming for you two next. Takitsubo will just be easy prey."

The tracksuit-wearing girl tiredly moved her head to just stare at Mugino. The look of fear... was not present. Truth be told, she just looked... unbothered.

Nevertheless, none of the girls cared much for the Level 5's words as the main event was right underway. The boy with the key versus the laser-firing girl. Who would win?

"Frenda, mind super handing me the popcorn."

"Sure thing! Takitsubo, care for anything before the match starts?"

"I'll take a soda."

"You got it." Frenda then looked over at the two players. "You players all ready? No last-minute reservations?"

Irritation was written all over the brunette girl's face.

"What the fuck are you saying? And why do you two sound like- "

Sora could only chuckle as he understood what Frenda and Kinuhata were doing. Honestly, he was not about to let the girls down and go easy. He would make this a fight to be watched.

"How about less talking and more fighting? What do you say, Mugino?"

Glaring at the boy, Mugino hit the button to progress the match to where they would choose who they would play as. The time for talk was over. The time for action was nigh.

"Ooh! Who will you guys pick?"

"I'm super betting that Sora will pick- "

"Sora!"

The image of Sora in his Kingdom Hearts 3 outfit was displayed on the screen. Sora had picked himself and was ready to do battle.

"Yep. Super called it."

"Then who is Mugino going to- "

"Sora!"

Bewilderment was now evident on the two girls' faces while Takitsubo simply tilted her head to the side.

"HUH!? That's not..."

"I am super shocked. I didn't think she would do that."

Mugino simply didn't say anything and kept her eyes trained on the screen. Sora followed suit but had a more relaxed expression on his face. It was evident between the two that Meltdowner was taking this very seriously which was in character for as she was a battle fanatic who strived for victory. There was no way she would mess this up now.

"Ready?" Sora questioned.

"To kick your ass? Definitely."

That marked the moment for the match to start as they confirmed their picks and started loading into the match. Since Sora chose his current form as a player, Mugino decided to go for his white Ultimate form leaving this to be a mirror match. No more words were needed as things had quieted down with the players and spectators watching the screen load up.

The time to fight was now.

"3"

"2"

"1"

"Go!"

To say that the match was boring would be a total lie. However, to say that it was turning out to be a total blood bath would be the truth. But not in the way one would perceive.

Mugino was relentless with her button inputs which were on the boarder of being button mashing. However, her movements were quick and right to the point. Alas, her opponent had a clear advantage over her. And it didn't help that he was the one commencing said blood bath in a very different kind of way. Sora's way of dealing with the battle-fanatic girl was a simple one that left quite an impact on her.

"*Block*"

"*Block*"

"*Block*"

"QUIT BLOCKING EVERYTHING YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

The tea-color-haired girl's scream was a showcase of how things had been going for her this entire match. Everything that she tried to accomplish against the spiky-haired boy was met with utter demolishment. The best way to explain what was happening would be like this...

When a younger sibling tries to surpass their older sibling at a game that the older sibling has played for years. The result is an absolute sweep leaving the younger sibling defeated no matter what kinds of tricks are being used. Knowledge and experience were some of the attributes to help seal the deal.

Hence, every move that Mugino tried to throw against Sora was met with a perfect parry. The sound effect for a parry was heard countless times by the girls of Item as they watched the match and could see that their leader was getting toyed with.

And the best part... Sora didn't even look like he was breaking a sweat.

"Nice try there. You almost hit me."

"Shut up."

"That move also has a big hitbox. Especially for characters hanging off the edge."

"Shut up."

"And when you manage to throw someone, make sure that- "

"I SAID SHUT UP!" roared Mugino.

At the same time, her "Sora" was thrown off the stage by Sora's... well, "Sora" followed by him taunting by spinning his Keyblade.

"Oof" was murmured by Takitsubo who could see her friend and leader starting to lose it.

"Mugino's only got one more stock" Frenda muttered.

"She's super screwed. Sora hasn't lost a single stock."

Normally, the mature-looking girl would have sent them a murderous glare or thrown deathly threats at them for saying such shit. However, right now she was trying to get her wits about her. All that trash talk said before the match rang in her head while she glanced over at the blue-eyed teen boy. It didn't help that when he saw her staring at him, he quickly flashed a friendly smile to her before drawing his eyes back to the screen.

She was starting to see red and could now rely on a more aggressive playstyle. The only way she could see herself winning now was to try and change up her play style. Alas, she was also in a tricky situation as Frenda's comment was true. Sora had not lost a single life and practically sat there as himself untouched.

Suddenly, Mugino was pulled out of her thought space as she heard Sora say something.

"Ready to end this?"

If looks could kill, then Sora would be dead already... or he'd be dead again... or dead-dead...

"Don't beat yourself up, Mugino." The Keyblade wielder said while letting his left hand leave the controller and be placed on his heart. "You are a tough opponent. I'm sure if you attended a tournament, then you'd be the obvious winner. However, realize that you are going up against someone who is in the game. Think about that. I'm in Super Smash Bros Ultimate. It was obvious that I would know all of my own moves. Along with every little detail about my move set. If we had rules in place for who we could play as then I wouldn't be sitting at this much of an advantage over you. Don't feel down on yourself. I'm having a lot of fun being here and playing with you. Thank you for making this happen."

Listening to Sora's speech, Mugino couldn't help but bite her tongue and keep quiet while she let her head process everything that was said. This had been the umpteenth time she heard Sora give a sappy ass speech, but even still, she could understand what he was saying. She understood the depth of his words and how true they were.

Hence, she quickly brushed a strand of hair out of her face and simply nodded. This was a fight that she would not win. No matter what she tried to do. It was better to admit defeat instead of working herself to a migraine trying to beat someone who has a drastic advantage on his side.

"...*sigh* fine. You win."

"Nuh-uh. I don't win."

A surprised look appeared on her face as well as the other girls who were watching this scene play out in front of them.

"What? What do you mean?'

A smug expression appeared on Sora's face.

"I win right..."

Immediately as he said this, Sora began to perform an astonishing combo on Mugino's "Sora" and managed to leave all the girls in awe at how precise his movements were. From the tilt attack to the combo performed to then the grab and slamming of said "Sora" into the ground and then performing a rising spiral attack and Sonic Blade combo that would end the match. This all happened within the span of a few seconds and left the girls realizing that Sora was going easy on them.

"Now."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...What the fuck?"

"THE WINNER IS... SORA!"

Swiping his thumb under his nose, the Guardian of Light had a bright smile on his face.

"Good game, Mugino. And I mean that."

Letting out a sigh, the teen girl simply shook her head before agreeing.

"Yeah, it was." She then let herself chuckle. "You know what this means right?"

"Huh? Uh... no. I don't. Care to explain?"

A mischievous grin appeared on her face now.

"We're playing again. And this time, you can't pull a bitch move and play as yourself and any of your best characters!" Mugino said with a growing grin on her face with her eyes locked onto his.

Sora could only laugh and ruffle the back of his hair. This was going to be a long hangout of Mugino trying to best him at Smash. In addition, the other girls from Item would get a kick out of seeing their leader losing her cool and getting shut out the entire time.

Overall, the hangout between the Keyblade wielder and the girls of Item managed to turn into an experience that was enjoyed by everyone. It would also be the startup to many more hangouts involving games that Sora had at his disposal. Besides, the topic of party games was something brought up and Sora knew one party game in particular that was sure to get everyone involved... along with the destruction of said host's apartment as she would lose her temper.

________________________________________________________________________________

Omake 2 – Spooky Encounters

Halloween in Academy City was... unique to say the least. Everywhere you looked, you would find students dressed in costumes and outfits that you wouldn't normally see them in. Or you'd see students and adults call the holiday a joke and go about their day like it was nothing. But the one thing that everyone could agree upon was the usual holiday delight of receiving candy from the adults who continued to uphold the tradition.

Hence, a certain spiky-haired brunette teen was walking along the street with two of his friends. One who was usually in a nun outfit now had... well, her habit still on but this time around she had cat ears attached to the top of her hood. Followed by what appeared to be a cat tail that was attached to her back... at least that's what Sora figured. She also wore large cat gloves that were decorated with a pink bow. Index's costume fit her just right.

His other friend, however, was dressed in a purple plaid long-sleeve while wearing regular jeans and shoes. Not that much different from a usual outfit. But the thing that made his outfit special was that he had donned a set of gray wolf ears and what appeared to be arm-length hairy gloves along with a patch of fur around his chest that was held by a spiky collar around his neck. Touma's costume was definitely one that was surprising.

"Touma! Sora! Hurry! They're going to run out of candy!" Index shouted while holding what appeared to be a large basket holding some other candy.

"Index! Wait! My bag is going to rip!" Touma cried out while holding a torn-apart bag that was moments away from spilling the candy he had gotten.

Sora who had been decked out in his own Halloween costume simply laughed a bit at the sight of the cat girl hurrying up the wolf boy. Seeing his two friends having a great time was something that brought him joy.

Speaking of his outfit, Sora was wearing his dark stylish Halloween Town outfit that featured his black wings sprouting from his back and a creepy pumpkin headpiece that was covering the side of his right eye. He'd come to really enjoy wearing this outfit anytime he visited Halloween Town. Plus, with his new hairstyle, the pumpkin headpiece still sat comfortably on his head.

"Sora! That means you too! You've been just standing there watching as me and Touma are getting all the candy."

"Ahaha. I know. I know. Don't worry. I'm just letting you guys get a head start. Once I think you've gotten enough candy, then I'll catch up and surpass you two" Sora happily replied.

"Oh? Those are some fighting words I hear. Well, this Kamijou is not going to let you one-up me. Especially on this holiday. Getting all of this free food... there's no way that I'm going to lose!" Touma excitedly said.

Grinning like crazy, Sora was down to have a bit of competition for getting candy.

"Alright then, where are we heading next?"

"Hmm... How about the hospital?" Index questioned.

Touma's face had gone pale at the thought of visiting his second home. He hadn't been there in the past... 48 hours. He also had a feeling that he would be back there soon.

"I... If that's what you want... Hmm... Now that I think about it... Index! You're right! Let's go to the hospital!"

Surprised by the sudden 180 by Touma, Sora, and Index looked at each other before shrugging and beginning to walk forward. They now had a plan of action.

The misfortunate high schooler's reasoning for wanting to go to the hospital was a simple one. The chance that the nurses would actually be dressed as 'nurses' was something that he could not dismiss so easily. His teenage mind went somewhere that made him consider actually injuring himself and being admitted to the hospital... only for today though. It was a special day.

Hence, the trio began walking to the hospital with a little prep in their step. Ready to take on whatever awaited them.

Upon arriving at the hospital, the trio were met with an odd and somewhat worrying sight before them.

"W-W-What are you doing here idiot!?" yelled Misaka Mikoto who was also present.

"Short hair? You're here as well?" Index asked.

Annoyed with that nickname, Misaka simply let out a huff of air before changing her target direction to Touma.

"Hey, you're dressed as... as a... I have no idea what you're dressed as" Touma admitted.

"Hmm. I think she's dressed as an angel. Fallen angel? Is that right?" Sora questioned.

An appeased nod was received by the Level 5.

"At least one of you can see well. Thank you, Sora."

"No problem. I saw the wings and the headpiece halo. It was kind of a shot in the dark. Plus, with your black and purple dress, I just thought that."

"Ooh! Now I can see it."

A tint of pink appeared on Misaka's face as she heard the idiot say this. Even if he didn't notice what she was at first, he still acknowledged her outfit.

"So, are you here by yourself?" the Keyblade wielder asked.

"Nope. I'm here with my friends. I think they are waiting in line over there." Misaka said while nudging her head to the side. "They should be out soon."

"Huh? So, is there a line to get into the hospital? Ah! Touma! Let's go. Let's go. We need to hurry!"

Before anyone could say anything, Index sprinted right toward where the line was and stood there with a giant grin on her face. This left the two spiky-haired boys to awkwardly laugh at the nun's actions.

"Well, have you already been inside the hospital?" Touma suddenly asked Misaka.

"H-Huh?! Uh... n-no I haven't" Misaka replied with a blush evident on her face.

"Wanna go?"

"HUH!? I-I..." Misaka was looking everywhere but at the black spiky-haired boy. "I...sure."

"Great! Let's go. I can't miss out on the candy. I think I'll be saved this week. Ah... I've never looked so forward to Halloween candy before" Touma dreamily said.

Tilting her head at what she just heard, Misaka was tempted to ask him what he meant but decided not to. Instead, she glanced over at Sora and quickly spoke to him.

"Are you going to come with us, Sora?"

Taking on a thinking pose, the Guardian of Light recalled what she said about her friends getting done with the hospital and figured he could go talk to them.

"I don't think so. I might actually go and see if your friends are finishing up with the hospital. Maybe even take a walk around the place? It seems like they have a Halloween theme going on around the area."

Nodding her head at that suggestion, Misaka began to walk in line with the idiot.

"Tell Saten and Uiharu that I'm in line now and will catch up with them later."

"Got it. See you guys soon."

The sight of his two friends leaving to get in line made the spiky-haired teen wonder just who else he would see here. The hospital did appear to be a hotspot for students and adults. Halloween was in full swing.

________________________________________________________________________________

Departing from those three, Sora was now walking to the front of the hospital waiting to see if he'd see anyone familiar. To his surprise, it didn't take too long for him to see someone familiar.

"Last Order?"

The appearance of a younger-looking Misaka caught his attention, especially with how her outfit was hard to miss given its appearance.

"Oh! It's you! Sora! The Hero says Misaka Misaka as she realizes that it's been a minute since we've seen each other."

The young girl known as Last Order happily said as she kept a bright and cheerful smile on her face.

"Hey there, it's good to see you too. I like your pumpkin outfit a lot. It suits you well."

"Thanks a bunch! Says Misaka Misaka as she is happy to hear positive feedback from a friend."

A smirk appeared on the Keyblade wielder's face as he suddenly recalled an old friend of his.

"Is your costume going for royalty involving pumpkins? You remind me of a certain friend of mine who claimed that he was the Pumpkin King."

The image of Jack Skellington popped into Sora's head as he remembered his adventures in Halloween Town both times.

"Hmm... Misaka was not quite sure what she should be positioned as. Says Misaka Misaka as she did not think this fully through."

"Why not Pumpkin Princess?" Sora suggested.

A look of utter happiness was plastered all over Last Order's face which had then turned into one of the brightest smiles he'd ever seen on her.

"That's an excellent title! Says Misaka Misaka with so much happiness!"

"Hahaha. Well, are you here alone? Or are you with your sister?"

"Misaka is with her sister. Although, her sister must be fascinated with something around here. Says Misaka Misaka as she is now keeping an eye out for her."

"I see. Well, I'm glad that you're here with someone. I'm also surprised that you aren't wearing a Gekota costume" Sora reasoned.

Placing her hands on her hips while still holding her bag of candy, Last Order had an accomplished look on her face.

"Yep! Misaka considered it at first but realized that she could wear a Gekota costume any time of the year. Says Misaka Misaka as she secretly hides the fact that she and her sisters already have Gekota pajamas."

A chuckle escaped Sora's lips as he looked around the hospital grounds and could see so many people around.

"Well, I'm going to look around. Are you going to be alright?"

"Of course! Misaka also has her guardian around here somewhere. It took some time, but he managed to finally put on his costume. Says Misaka Misaka as she's super happy to have gotten to dress up."

Smiling at her happiness, Sora figured that she'd be alright. Besides, Touma, Mikoto, her sister, and her guardian were all in the area. She would be alright.

"Ok. Well, I'll see you later Last Order. Have fun!"

"Goodbye, Sora! Hope to see you later. Says Misaka Misaka as she's happy to have seen you again."

Now in an even happier mood, Sora was coming up to the front hospital doors observing as the line was continuing to grow when he spotted two familiar girls walking by.

"Saten? Uiharu?"

Hearing their names called out, the two girls turned around and spotted the familiar spiky-haired brunette.

"Oh! Sora! Didn't expect to see you here" Saten cheerfully commented.

"Yeah. I was with some other friends and happened to come here. I still have to check out the rest of the city. There are too many areas to cover hahaha!"

"No kidding. We still have to stop by all the Judgment branch offices as they are also giving out candy. Ahh... I hope branch 13 is giving out homecooked cheesecake like last year..." Uiharu said light tone.

Saten could only chuckle at her friend's antics. Although, cheesecake did sound pretty good right about now.

"So, Sora, get any candy yet?"

"Not yet."

"Whaaaaat? That's surprising. I thought you'd be all over Halloween and candy."

"Oh, make no mistake. I'll be making my rounds soon. I'm just having a little competition with a few friends of mine. I'm giving them a head start on getting candy. Once I'm given the go..." A giant smirk appeared on the Keyblade wielder's face. "You can't stop me. I'm getting all the candy in the city!"

Both middle school girls kept their eyes on the boy as they were startled by his claim. The teen immediately started blushing a bit and laughing while patting the back of his head.

"That's... that might be a bit too much for me alone. I mean, I could cover at least three or four districts but... the entire city? No way!"

Laughter was shared by the three friends as they realized how crazy one would have to be to do such a thing. It was at this point that Sora noticed his friends' costumes and had to say something about them.

"Your guys' costumes look great!"

"Aww, thanks Sora!"

"I still think Saten's is on the nose though" Uiharu muttered.

Tilting his head in confusion, Sora gave Saten's costume another look over. She appeared to be wearing black boots with black tights that had a design on them followed by a red corset with pink fur around certain parts of her body. On the top of her head were what appeared to be two red horns along with two wings on her back. She also wore black gloves that went up her arm while also holding a cute little bag for her candy.

From what he could guess, she appeared to take the appearance of a devil of some kind. He knew that there was a name for this kind of devil but couldn't place his finger on it.

Uiharu's outfit consisted of what appeared to be an angel with the white dress she wore followed by white knee-high socks and shoes. She also had white wings sprouting from her back and a small white bag on her arm for candy. The black-haired girl also still had on her headband of flowers.

"On the nose? What does that mean?"

A sly smirk appeared on Saten's face.

"Uiharu is just upset that I haven't flipped her skirt at all today. That's all."

"That's not all! And that's what I mean. She's evil!"

"Evil?" Sora repeated.

"Evil!"

"Nah. She's just complaining. Besides, my original plans for a costume were going to be a baseball player, but I changed it at the last minute. Plus, I think the succubus look goes well with me don't you think?" Saten said while striking a cheerful pose.

"Ahaha! Yeah, you look great! I'm guessing you all helped with Misaka's outfit as well?"

"She came up with that costume on her own. We just provided a little feedback on it. That's all."

"That's so cool! You guys all have a theme going on with devils and angles."

Uiharu and Saten both looked at each other with comedic sweat beads running down their faces.

"Not exactly. We're missing one other person, and she's dressed as a... well, she's dressed as a lewd nurse."

"...Oh."

Sora did not know how to exactly respond.

"I see, well, where is she?"

"Shirai had to run back to our Judgment branch office. She was helping Konori with the homemade cookies she was making."

"Nice! Cookies sound really good now."

"Hoo boy. You're making me hungry, Sora" Saten complained.

"Ahahaha. Well, before I forget, Misaka said that she was now getting in line. I think she should be coming up shortly."

As he said this, he began looking around the line to see if Touma, Index, or Misaka were getting closer to the front.

"I see. Well, should we go and catch up with her?" Uiharu asked.

"Yep. But first- "Saten then gave Sora's outfit a look over. "What are you supposed to be, Sora? I'm not sure what your outfit resembles."

A bright smile appeared on Sora's face as he brought both of his hands behind his head.

"I'm a vampire. Can't you tell now?"

Sora then began pointing to things about his costume. The teeth. The bat wings. The dark overall appearance.

"Oooh! I get it now. Yeah, I really like your outfit. It has originality to it" Saten said while giving a thumbs up.

"I also like the pumpkin hanging on your face. It adds some fun to the overall costume" Uiharu added.

"Thanks, guys!" Sora said before looking around the area and making his decision to leave. "Well, I'm gonna keep checking around the place. I'll see you later."

"Mm hm. See you Sora!"

"Bye!"

And with that, the Keyblade wielder parted from his friends and continued to explore the rest of the area. Taking in all that he could with the Halloween spirit in full throttle.

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A few minutes later

After having done a bit more exploring of the area, Sora pulled out his Gummiphone and was about to call Touma and ask him where he and Index were when all of a sudden, he started getting a call. Taking a look at who was calling him, the teen had a somewhat surprised expression glossed over on his face.

"Hello? Mugino? What's- "

"Come to the apartment. Now."

"Huh? What do you- "

"Don't ask stupid questions. Get here now."

The line then went dead with Mugino Shizuri having ended the call before he could say anything.

Left with utter confusion on his face, the spiky-haired teen wasn't sure what she meant by coming over to the Item apartment, but he figured that it must be important enough to warrant a call. He then sent out a text to Touma about meeting up with another group of friends really quick and that he'd catch up with them later.

Whatever it was that Mugino needed him for must have been important. Which is why he immediately started running through the hospital area managing to pass many students who were dressed up in their Halloween costumes. Hopefully, it was nothing too bad.

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Having finally made it to her apartment, Sora was now at her front door to the luxurious living space of the group known as Item. He was about to knock on the door when it opened automatically due to a short blonde-haired girl's influence. She also appeared to be dressed up in the Halloween theme.

"Frenda?"

"Hey, you're here! Basically, you got here faster than we all thought you would" claimed the beret-wearing girl.

Taking a look at her outfit, Sora could see that Frenda was wearing a red skirt with black tights and red slip-on shoes with her beret matching her skirt color. She was also wearing a white shirt and... two horns that sat comfortably in her hair along with two small red wings on her back. He could also see a small tail appearing to come from her back.

"What's going on? Are you guys in trouble?"

"Trouble? What gave you that idea?"

Confusion was now evident on the Keyblade wielder's face as he wasn't sure what was going on.

"I... Mugino's tone made it seem like something important was happening."

A look of realization appeared on Frenda's face as soon as she heard what Sora said.

'Mugino... you really are bad at conveying your feelings. Worrying Sora for nothing. *sigh* What are we going to do with you? You can melt people into a puddle without blinking an eye, but when it comes to talking with him... you fumble and fold so easily. Wait till Kinuhata hears about this.'

With these thoughts swimming around her head, Frenda quickly shook her head and put on a truly happy smile at seeing her friend. It was strange. Considering someone of Sora's status as her friend. Someone whom many people considered to be a hero was simply staring at her with a worried and confused expression on his face.

"Well, come on in! Oh. And don't worry. There's nothing wrong."

"There's not?" Sora cautiously asked.

"Nope. It was all a bit of miscommunication. Basically, Mugino sucks at- "

"Say another word and I'll make sure you wear a black eye for Halloween!" shouted a familiar girl's voice.

Turning to the side, Sora was able to see tea-colored hair and smiled. It also appeared that she was in favor of the spooky holiday as she was also wearing a costume.

Mugino's costume consisted of black boots that went just below her knee followed by a very short black mini skirt. She was also wearing a black tank top with a yellow design that was also quite short. On her back were two large wings with a white top, and on her head were two large and pointy horns extruding from her head. They might have been part of a headband hidden under her soft hair.

"Uhm... Hey, Mugino. Is everything alright?" the teen boy asked with sincere concern.

"Everything's fine. You're the one who misinterpreted what I was saying" Mugino replied while brushing some hair from her shoulder.

"A-Ah... right. That's my bad. You look great in your costume!" He then looked over at Frenda. "And so do you, Frenda. Going for the devilish look this year?"

"Yep! Thanks for noticing!" Frenda happily replied.

Shifting her head to the side so that she wouldn't show her entire face, Mugino's face had a bit of red to it which resulted in her raising her hand and beginning to adjust her horns. This was done to hide the blush she held along with the smile beginning to break out on her lips.

"Thanks. You also look... good."

Swiping his thumb under his nose, Sora had a bright smile on his face.

"Thanks, Mugino! This has always been one of my favorite outfits for Halloween. Taking on a vampire appearance is nice. Plus, I only wear it during the holiday."

A humming sound was all that came from the Level 5. Frenda, meanwhile, had a smug look on her face. She could egg on her leader but decided to stay alive a bit longer.

"Well, I'm sure the others would like to see your outfit as well. Also, what were you doing before you came here, Sora?"

"I was over at the hospital where they were giving out candy. I went with a few friends and then managed to find even more of my friends there. I was hanging out there when Mugino called me."

"I see, well, now that you're here, stay for a while," Mugino said this before making her way to the kitchen and grabbing a few glasses.

She then reached into a special cabinet and pulled out what appeared to be a large glass of wine. The smug look she had on her face made both Sora and Frenda glance over at each other.

"Care for a glass of wine?"

"Uh... I'm good thank you."

A disappointed expression was covering the mature-looking girl's face.

"What's wrong? Scared of letting go for a bit?" Mugino tempted the Keyblade wielder. "Didn't think you would fold so easily."

Unbeknownst to the beautiful girl was that Sora had drunk stuff that hit way harder than wine could. Along with that, he had also grown to have a strong resistance to alcohol. This was discovered on his latest voyage to The Caribbean where Jack offered him some rum, and out of curiosity about the drink, he gave it a try to which he found that there was no effect on him. This was likely due to his common usage of potions and the effects given to him. It had ultimately made him resistant to such drinks.

"*sigh* I think I'm more worried about you, Mugino."

"The hell does that mean!? Do you think I can't handle my alcohol intake? That I can easily get tipsy from wine?"

"Frenda. Does Mugino get tipsy easily?" he asked the blonde.

Knowing that she was in a hard place, Frenda decided to give an answer that would allow her to be in good standing with both Sora and Mugino.

"I... I cannot say. Basically, that's not my business to share."

An appreciative hum was heard from her leader.

"Good answer."

Sora simply shook his head and figured that he could drink the wine but also keep an eye on the high school girl.

"...Fine. Pour me a glass please."

A beautiful yet devilish grin appeared on the chestnut-haired girl's face. She had gotten what she wanted.

"I always get what I want" she murmured to herself while pouring the drinks.

As she was doing this, Sora began to wonder where the other members of Item were.

"Hey, where's Kinuhata and Takitsubo?"

"Right behind you."

Surprised by the sudden voice, Sora jumped back a bit and looked around only to find the two girls chilling on the couch. Kinuhata had her legs kicked up on the couch and was holding what appeared to be a pitchfork. Her hoodie was also over her head and appeared to have two devil horns protruding from the clothing. Takitsubo on the other hand was dressed in all black with what appeared to be a black dress and black hoodie that was resting over her head as well. The Level 4 girl also had two large wings resting on her back.

"Oh. There you guys are. Have you just been- "

"Yep. We've been super listening to your chit-chat."

"Gotcha... well, good to see you again."

"Likewise. Sora" Takitsubo lazily responded.

Now having met the entirety of Item, the Guardian of Light glanced over at Mugino and could see that she was about ready to serve the wine to him. This got him thinking.

"Hey, so are you guys going to go trick-or-treating?"

"Huh? Are you trick-or-treating?"

"Yep! Ok, well not exactly. I was with my friends while they were there, but that's only because we had a bit of a competition going on with whoever could get the most candy. I was just giving them a bit of a head start. Once they get far enough, then I'll jump in and blast past them. There's no way I'm missing out on that!" Sora excitedly said while fist pumping.

Hearing the word competition got Mugino to lift her eyebrow in interest.

"That's intriguing. But for now, here's your wine, Sora."

"Thank you." He then lifted the wine and gestured to the tea-color-haired girl to share a moment with him. "To friends!"

"...To friends."

*Cling*

Mugino annoyingly replied to what he said out of her desire to not ruin this moment. And now having clinked glasses together, she enjoyed her wine even more. The taste of good wine with good company was everything she could ever ask for at this moment.

Sora on the other hand had sipped away his wine like it was water and gently placed the glass on the table. He then figured that he'd spend some time with the girls and chat with them before leaving. This also brought him to think about the whole reason for being here.

"Say, Mugino, why did you tell me to come over?"

Coming up with the first thing on her mind, Mugino answered his question.

"Why not? It's a holiday. Aren't you supposed to be surrounded by friends..."

As soon as she said this, the other three girls immediately looked at her with a deadpan expression. No other words needed to be said to know that what she was saying was complete and utter bull-

"You're right!"

"She is!?"

This was repeated two times by the girls as one girl obviously stayed quiet but tilted her head to the side.

Scratching the side of his head, Sora gave an honest response.

"Yeah, Mugino's right. Holidays are meant to be shared with friends and loved ones. That's what makes holidays so special. Being with the people you care about... people who give your heart light. Plus, you might be able to meet even more people during the holidays. It's the time when we can put our differences aside and just enjoy the day. That's how I see things."

Mugino had slowly taken another sip of her wine as she tried so dearly to hide the smile appearing on her face. Moreover, she was now on her third glass of wine. Her mood was greatly rising.

"You always manage to see things so positively, Sora?" Frenda asked.

A somewhat sad smile appeared on his face now.

"Not all the time. Even I have moments where I've been brought down. But after managing to get through all the tough times... I've come to realize that by listening to my heart, I'll find the drive to reach happiness again. Hurting is just part of caring."

The girls all seemed to take his words, well, to heart.

"...You always have something super heartfelt to say."

"Heh. I try."

The mood was heightened when everyone let out a chuckle. Even Takitsubo with her quiet and lazy attitude allowed a small bit of laughter to be heard. Mugino had thankfully been sipping on her wine which prevented her from laughing. To her benefit at least.

This left the Keyblade wielder to enjoy a bit of time with his friends within Item and chat with them about what he thought about the Halloween holiday. Everything seemed to be at peace.

Which is exactly what he needed... before Sora began his hunt. Hunt for candy that is.

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*Special Author's Note* - Thanks again for checking this story out and until next time. See ya.