//------------------------------// // A Certain Magical Sunset - Act 2 - 06 - Sunset - Meetings With Friends // Story: A Certain Magical Sunset // by Babroniedad //------------------------------// Sunset - Meetings With Friends Monday, August 25, 4:30 PM Tokyo time When they got to their apartment they were surprised to see Kanzaki Kaori leaning against the wall by their door. “How’d it go?” she asked with a smile. “Hi! Didn’t expect to see you here!” greeted Sunset. Sunset keyed in her code and they all entered, then headed for the living area. Kanzaki took a seat on the couch by the window, while Twilight sat next to her facing Sunset in her chair. “So! How soon until you get your results?” asked Kanzaki. “Not sure, but he said it would be soon,” answered Twilight. “They’ll contact us to review the results when they’re ready.” “It was odd that we were the only two in that exam room. There were clearly tons of people there taking their exams,” noted Sunset. “That’s actually typical when they get candidates they suspect might have higher level psychic abilities. Typically, you run through your exams in a full classroom with 30 or so other candidates, but if they think you might be a level 3 or higher, they’ll pull you out for more extensive testing. They keep hoping to find more 5s,” Kanzaki explained. While they were talking, both Sunset’s and Twilight’s phones alerted them to new messages. Opening the message, Twilight spoke up. “Wow! That was quick. They sent a link to review the exam, with a follow up appointment tomorrow morning to discuss my placement at the academy.” On her phone, Sunset opened a similar message. Both girls accepted the appointment, then opened the attached links to read the results. “If you want, we can go over them together now,” Kanzaki offered. “I’m not an expert on psychic powers, but I’ve been here long enough that I might be able to answer some of your questions. Why don't you cast them to the screen here so we can go through them.'' “Sounds good to me,” agreed Sunset. She found the TV as an available device then cast her display. The screen lit up with the summary of her exam results. “I guess I’ll go first,” she smiled at Twilight. “Go ahead, Sunny,” Twilight welcomed. Kanzaki looked over the scores and comments. “That’s actually quite impressive. They’ve rated you a solid 3.” She looked over to the girls. “You were holding back, weren't you?” “Kind of?” agreed Sunset. “We didn't use our transformations or any magic. We tried to keep it as low-key as possible.” Twilight nodded in agreement. “A very good plan. If they thought you were anything close to their precious level 6, they would probably lock you away somewhere until they figured out how to clone you and make their own army.” Kanzaki laughed. “They do that?!” gasped Twilight. “That’s unethical! That’s immoral! That’s… That’s…” she trailed off. “You would be surprised what some people will do to get what they want,” sighed Kanzaki. They reviewed Twilight's results as well. To her surprise, Twilight scored higher than Sunset, placing her solidly at the top of level 3. This was primarily due to her telekinesis. Sunset's scores were primarily based on her empathic and telepathic powers. “I’m definitely interested in how they rate some of these other powers,” noted Twilight. “They have categories here I haven't even thought of testing for.” “Always the scientist! That’s my Sparky,” laughed Sunset. “For Science!” Twilight cheered with a laugh. “For Science!” nodded Sunset with a grin. Kanzaki noted the time. “It’s almost time for dinner. I’ve arranged for us to meet Tōma and Index. I’d like for you to get to know each other. I think you’ll like them!” “Sounds good to me!” agreed Sunset, rolling towards the door. They left, headed for restaurant row to meet their new friends. Kanzaki brought them to a meat shop. Squid and other seafood sizzled on an open grill, filling the shop with the delicious smells of the cooking meats. Kanzaki spied her friends in the back of the shop sitting at a traditional Japanese table. A young nun in a white habit, complete with a gold-trimmed headdress was at the table, climbing all over a slightly older young man in his Academy uniform. He was holding his skewer of cooked meat away from her. “Toma!” the young nun shouted as she reached and thrashed around in an attempt to get the meat. “I’m hungry, Toma!” “Index! This one’s mine!” he said, blocking her and shifting around in order to protect his dinner. Kanzaki grinned, shaking her head as she led Twilight and Sunset over to the table. “Toma, you need to share!” growled Index, biting his hand. He dropped the skewer, which she caught. “Yes!” she called out, devouring the meat. “Index, that was mine!” groaned Toma, shaking his hand. Kanzaki held her hand to her face, laughing quietly. “Index, you’re such a child sometimes!” “I am not!” Index replied. “I wouldn’t be so hungry if Toma bothered to keep food in the apartment!” “Index, you eat all the food!” Toma shot back, reaching for another skewer. “This one is mine,” he said, taking a bite from it. Sunset and Twilight watched with their mouths agape. “What? You two don’t clown around?” Kanzaki asked with a smirk. Twilight blushed. Sunset snickered. “She’s got us there, Sparky!” Sunset grinned and waggled eyebrows. Twilight rolled her eyes, smacking her BFFs arm. Kanzaki laughed as they joined Toma and Index at the table. “Hi, Kanzaki!” greeted Tōma. “We kind of started without you. Index was hungry.” “Only because you’re starving me!” pouted Index. “Order more food, Toma, I’m still hungry!” Kanzaki laughed. “Don’t worry about it, Index. We’ll order more food!” “Thank you, Kanzaki,” Index said primly, glaring at Toma. “See, some people know how to treat their friends. Not starve them!” The girls sat at the table, Sunset a bit higher due to her chair. “Do they serve noodles here?” Sunset checked. “We had noodles yesterday and they were fantastic!” “Sure, as long as you have meat with them!” laughed Tōma. Index was pouting, waiting for the food. “Make that tofu and I’m good,” agreed Sunset. Kanzaki waved over the shop's custodian. An older man with an apron soon approached them, taking their orders, including another platter of meat for Index. “Index, Toma? These are the friends I was telling you about from the States. They just took their exams today and will be placed tomorrow. I’ve pulled some strings to get them placed in Tokiwadai. I see they already gave you the uniforms so a safe bet that’s where you’ll end up.” “Tokiwadai? That’s great! That’s where Misaka goes,” Tōma realized. “Yes, but she’s in middle school. They’re university level so they likely won’t see much of each other,” said Kanzaki. Toma turned to Twilight and Sunset. “Kanzaki says you two are actually really powerful mages. Can you please look out for her? Misaka Mikoto, she’s one of the seven level five espers, but she could use some help. Watch out for her, please?” “We’ll keep an eye out for her and introduce ourselves when we see her. Any friend of yours is a friend of ours,” assured Sunset. “Thanks for that,” smiled Toma. “She’s a battleship in shorts, but she attracts trouble like a magnet.” Kanzaki facepalmed. Toma deadpanned, remaining oblivious. “I get the feeling trouble is something never in short supply here,” noted Sunset. “That’s the truth,” agreed Toma. “With all the different factions fighting here for control while the idiots try desperately to make a new god? Yes, things get fairly insane.” “New god? What’s that all about?” asked Sunset, surprised. The old man returned with their dinners. Index tore into her meat skewers, happy as a baby with a bottle. Twilight and Sunset enjoyed their noodles with grilled tofu. Kanzaki groaned. “That would be what I was talking about earlier. Long story. The short version is that certain groups were trying to use Toma’s friend Misaka sisters to ascend the number one ranked esper Accelerator into a god.” “We put a stop to that,” nodded Toma. “Now she and her sisters are safe. Well, relatively safe.” “Wow! That’s insane. So sisters? Do they go to the Academy too?” asked Twilight. “It’s complicated,” Kanzaki sighed. Twilight raised an eyebrow in question. “She calls them her sisters. They’re her clones. They cloned Misaka,” answered Toma as he picked at his meat skewer. “Clones? What? That’s a thing?” asked Sunset, surprised. “She has clones?” “Yeah,” answered Tōma. “20,001 of them. Well, she had 20,001 of them but Accelerator killed about 10,000 of them as part of the plan to raise him to a level 6, so there aren’t as many now.” “What. The. FUCK!!” yelled Sunset. “How in the Maker’s name did something so evil even happen!” she raged. “Like I said before, you would be shocked at what people will do for power,” sighed Kanzaki. “I thought you meant stealing or cheating or something. Creating an ARMY of people just to kill them off?! I want to rip some heads off just hearing it!” Sunset steamed. “You and I both,” agreed Toma. “Like I said, we stopped it. If anyone messes with them or her, we’ll find a way to stop them too.” Sunset just shook her head. “What madness have we gotten into?” she asked incredulously. “It’s the same madness as always,” said the saint, taking her hand. “We’re fighting those who’ve sold out their humanity, who destroy themselves and others in their mad quests for power. That’s why I asked you here. Help us protect Index. Help Toma protect Misaka and her sisters. Help us stop these evil people using others for their own purposes and ends.” Sunset looked downcast. Twilight looked like she wanted to cry. “How can anyone be so evil?” she whispered. “Because they’ve lost their souls, given them up for their pursuit of power,” answered Kanzaki. Sunset looked up. “Then we help them get them back,” she said with a determined look. They finished their dinner in a more somber mood. The girls exchanged contact information with Toma and Index. They parted with hugs, then the girls and Kanzaki walked back to the apartments. “We’re happy to have you with us, but you don’t have to drop us off,” said Sunset. “We can make our own way home if you need to be somewhere else.” “No. I’ll come with you. I imagine you’ve got more than a few questions. Besides, I’m staying in a dorm room a few floors below you while I’m here,” answered the saint. They settled onto the couch looking out over the nighttime cityscape below. “I’m slightly jealous,” admitted Kanzaki as she sipped her drink, looking out over the city. “My dorm room window just looks out over the quad.” “You’re welcome to stay in our spare room if you want,” offered Twilight. “Thanks, but no, I’m fine. Though I do appreciate the offer,” she smiled. Sunset turned to Kanzaki. “So … you asked if we had questions. I have a few.” Kanzaki nodded in encouragement. “Okay. First, on the way over here, Twilight and I were attacked on the plane. They knocked out one of the stewardesses and tried to use some type of magic on us. I sent them away before they could cast it, so I didn’t find out what the spell was.” “Away?” asked Kanzaki, an eyebrow raised. “Not a euphemism. I actually sent them halfway around the world and off the face of a cliff by Canterlot, though I’m sure they’re fine. I just wanted them somewhere they would have a loooong journey back before they could mess with us again.'' Sunset clarified. “It was a shock. We weren’t expecting anyone to just come out and attack us. Especially not that soon.” “Remind me not to piss you off,” smirked the saint. “Good instincts! Glad to hear you were able to take care of yourselves.” “Thanks,” said Sunset. “But it does beg the question. Who’d be trying to take us out already? We haven’t even done anything yet.” “One of the magic covens must have gotten wind of you, possibly when we reached out to our friends to get you set up. Honestly, I’m surprised as well. I didn’t think they had that kind of intel into the Academy,” Kanzaki frowned. “We’ll look into it.” “My second question,” continued Sunset. “What’s going on with Toma?” “What do you mean?” asked Kanzaki. “I’m not sure I should mention it, as I want to respect his privacy. But,” Sunset thought for a moment then continued. “No other way to put it. He’s broken. When we said goodbye and we hugged, I got a flash into his memories. He has them back to some kind of fight with Index then nothing past that. Gone. Like his mind was magically wiped.” “His mind was magically wiped. He triggered a protective spell on Index, then he tried to protect her from it. The spell was supposed to wipe her memory clean but he caught a piece of it and it wiped him instead,” answered Kanzaki. “He hasn’t told anyone about it. He’s been acting like everything is fine, and mostly doing okay with that.” “Damn! What is it with everyone here using dark forbidden magics?” asked Sunset. “Seriously! Mindwipe? Where I come from using that would land you an extended stay in our eternal prison.” “When we first found out what had been done to Index, both Stiyl and I were furious,” agreed Kanzaki. “But it can’t be undone. So we do our best to protect her.” “Some good news for Toma. His soul still has everything, so his instincts and reactions are all fine. From what I saw, he has a good heart and really cares for Index and his friends, yourself included,” continued Sunset. “Oddly, he also has epic levels of chaos and harmonic magic in his soul. Clearly, there’s more to him than he lets on.” “That was probably his ‘Imagine Breaker’. Honestly, the only reason the Academy has him ranked at level zero is they refuse to or can’t acknowledge its magical component,” commented Kanzaki. Sunset nodded. “Okay. That makes sense. I haven’t seen that mix and levels of power since I dealt with dragons.” “When did you have to deal with dragons?” asked Twilight, confused. “We never had any of those attack the school.” “No, thank Harmony!” agreed Sunset. “I was still the personal protege of Princess Celestia at that time. I was a battle mage, dealing with them as her student long before I came here.” Twilight nodded, understanding. They chatted for a while longer, discussing possible ideas on how best to protect Index and Toma. As they were chatting, Twilight had a great idea. “We should give Toma and Index each one of the TACIT fobs so we can reach and rescue them if we need,” proposed Twilight. “That actually sounds like a great idea,” agreed Kanzaki. “Though if it’s magical, Toma’s Imagine Breaker would interfere with its operation. But if it’s purely scientific, it should work just fine, even for him.” “I am tagging them with a magical marker,” replied Twilight. “But if he knocks that out, no worries. It’s also tagged electronically, so he should still be fine. Just more of a pain if we can’t use the magical marking. Not a deal breaker.” “Good to know,” agreed Kanzaki. “How soon can they have them?” “I’ll get them now,” answered Twilight, leaving to enter their bedroom. She came back with two fobs, which Kanzaki affixed to necklaces. “Knowing those two, it's better if they are wearing them. Especially Toma. He tends to break everything he owns due to his bad luck. If he’s actually wearing it, he might actually keep it working longer,” mused Kanzaki. She tucked the two necklaces away. “Thank you, girls.” “You’re welcome,” smiled Twilight. Sunset smiled and nodded. “So when will you see them?” she asked. “I’ll catch him on his way to school in the morning. He can wear his and give Index hers when he sees her later,” answered Kanzaki. “Speaking of which, I really want you and them to bond. Can we have dinner again Wednesday night? The more time you spend together the better.” “Sure,” agreed Sunset. “We can just have dinner here this time.” “That sounds perfect. Thank you, Sunset,” agreed Kanzaki. “Just make sure you have lots of food. Especially meat. You saw how Index can pack a meal away,” she grinned. “That she can,” agreed Twilight. “No worries, we’ll have plenty of food. So she won’t have to try to eat Toma,” she grinned. Sunset facepalmed. “I don’t think that came out the way you intended,” she laughed. “What, she bit him like five times just while we were eating,” laughed Twilight. “Just like a spoiled little sister.” “Okay, maybe it’s me. I’ve been here too long,” agreed Sunset. “Aunty Luna has opened my eyes to some things that she probably shouldn’t have,” she laughed. “Just saying that’s not the best phrase to use.” “Okaaayyyy… moving on,” noted Twilight, confused. “It’s getting kind of late, and I for one am getting tired. Do you mind if I bow out and call it a night?” “Honestly, that’s fine with me,” agreed Kanzaki. “I’m going to head out and get some rest too. I’ll see you both Wednesday for dinner. Thanks!” She stretched, getting up from the couch. “I’ll show you out,” agreed Twilight, rising also and leading Kanzaki to the front door. “Thank you for everything, Kaori-san,” she said, bowing to her at the door. “We really appreciate it. Have a good night.” She opened the door for her. “You too, Twilight. Goodnight Sunset!” she called out as she left. “Good night, Kaori-san!” Sunset called back, looking up from her phone. “See you Wednesday!” Kanzaki bowed, then headed down the hall for the elevator as Twilight closed and locked the door. “That was fun,” sighed Twilight as she sat back down next to Sunset, still working on her phone. “Watcha doing?” she asked. “Looking up Misaka Mikoto, like I promised,” answered Sunset without looking up. “There’s certainly a lot on her. I guess being one of the top ranked espers’ gets you noticed,” she laughed, still reading. “So what did you find?” asked Twilight, leaning over to read the phone over Sunset’s shoulder. “Anything I should know?” “Absolutely,” agreed Sunset. Looking up, she showed the phone to Twilight. “She’s the third ranked of the seven level 5 espers in the Academy. Here’s a picture of her. If I see her, I plan on introducing myself and inviting her over for dinner.” Twilight looked at the phone, nodding. “Good plan. Wow, she’s just a kid. Must be something to have all that attention heaped on you at that age,” Twilight noted, loading the site up on her own phone adding it to her reading list. “If I see her, I’ll offer the same invitation,” she agreed. “Sounds like a plan,” yawned Sunset. “Wow, long day. I’m with you, Sparky. Time to call it an evening and get some rest.” She rolled away into the bedroom, returning with her bathroom bag. “Be right out, just need to do my nightly ablutions,” she commented, heading into the bathroom. Twilight nodded, heading into the bedroom to get ready for bed herself. She changed into her pajamas, then waited by the bathroom. “You can just come in, Sparky. We’re all girls here, no need to wait,” called out Sunset from the bathroom. “You sure?” asked Twilight, poking her head into the bathroom. “Yes, Sparky. I’m sure we are both girls,” snarked Sunset, sitting on her chair while she pulled on her pajamas. “Oh har har har. Not what I meant,” grinned Twilight, opening the door and heading in. She went to the sink, and washed her face and brushed her teeth while Sunset finished getting her night clothes on. “Trade?” asked Sunset, finished getting dressed. Twilight rinsed out her mouth and nodded. They swapped places, with Twilight using that side of the bathroom to finish getting ready while Sunset washed up and brushed her teeth. When they were both ready, Twilight washed her hands a final time and they both retired to their bedroom. Sunset rolled up next to the bed and transferred into it, taking her phone with her. Twilight got in on the other side, and snuggled up to her friend. “Looking forward to our classes,” Twilight smiled, arm around her BFF. “I really can’t wait to get started.” “Right there with you,” agreed Sunset, clearing the window so they could look out over the city. “I can’t believe we are finally in college together. It’s like a dream come true,” she sighed. She put the phone on her nightstand and snuggled up to her BFF. “Thank you for coming with me, Sparky.” “No where else I would want to be,” agreed her friend sleepily. “G’nite Sunset.” “Good night, Sparky,” agreed Sunset, falling asleep as well. Kanzaki Kaori watched the students passing by and she sipped her tea, sitting at the table outside the cafe. Spying her quarry, she waved and called out. “Toma! Over here!” Toma, passing by on his way to his classes at A Certain High School, waved and came over. “Hi Kaori-sama. Did you need something?” he asked, taking a seat at the table with her. “Yes. Twilight and Sunset asked me to pass these on to you and Index. These are necklaces they can use to help you if you ever need it. They asked that you wear them at all times so they can protect you if you ever get into trouble. Which, knowing the two of you, should only happen three of four times a day,” she grinned, handing them over. Toma took them, careful to only hold it in his left hand. “Does it matter which one is which?” he asked as he placed them both over his head and tucked them into his shirt. “They didn’t say anything about that, so probably not. That said, one of them is pink, so your preference.” Kanzaki grinned. “Yeah, okay.that one goes to Index then,” he laughed. “Need anything else? I need to get going. I don’t want to be late or keep Komoe-sama waiting.” That got a grin from Kanzaki. “No, don’t keep your crush waiting,” she agreed with a grin. “What? It’s not like that. She just hands out detention freely if you’re late, and I already have to get back to my dorm to take care of Index,” frowned Toma. “Sure… Oh, and let Index know. The two of you are invited over to the girls’ apartment Wednesday night for dinner. I really hope to see the two of you there,” noted Kanzaki as he got up to leave. “Free dinner? And they’ll feed Index? Yeah, you bet we’ll be there,” grinned Toma. “See you, Kaori-san!” He left, headed for his class. Smiling, Kanzaki finished her tea.. Harmony takes, replacing the lost with something better - The Celestial Teachings