Rainy Days: A Certain Magical Index Story

Chapter 4: Runaway

A crack of thunder rattled the walls of his apartment, waking Touma up from his restless night of sleep in the bathtub. He stared directly at the ceiling, a slight headache behind his eyes.

"Great. Just what I needed. A wake-up call this early in the morning..."

He shuffled to a more comfortable position (as if that were possible), and as he took a deep, lazy breath, Touma rolled onto his side, trying his hardest to find sleep once more. But when his eyes squeezed shut, another noise caught his attention, one far quieter than the thunder which had just rumbled through the city: it was the sound of his apartment door squeaking open, then shutting softly, as if someone were sneaking out—or, perhaps, in.

Like a father dashing to the rescue of his children, Touma leapt up from the tub and darted to the bathroom door, shoving aside all fear as he stepped out and faced whoever might have just entered his home. But instead, no one was there. The front door was closed and Misaka's shoes were missing, and when Touma checked the bed where she and Index sleep, Misaka 10032 was indeed gone.

"What the hell?" he whispered. "Where is she going?"

Seeing how rain was coming down in torrents, that it was the middle of the night, and that she had not taken the umbrella, Touma grabbed it and quickly left his apartment, hoping to catch up with her and find out what was going on.

"Just my luck..."

Beyond the shelter of his apartment, Poseidon laid waste to the realm of dry land, casting gusts of rain, waves of mist, at every building and street in the city. Misaka knew better than to leave during weather like that. It was dangerous. If something happened to her, Touma and Index wouldn't have known until morning that she was even missing, let alone hurt. And when he reached the bottom floor of the building, Touma cursed under his breath, searching through the torrential showers with squinted eyes:

"Damn it. She shouldn't be out in this. Nobody should be. I'll never find her if I don't even know what direction she went."

All he could do was pick a sidewalk and follow it, so he turned right and darted through the rain, hoping to find her at some point.

The city itself was vacant; like usual, everyone was trapped indoors and hiding from showers that had no end. Touma liked the rain, but it was always possible to have too much of a good thing, and especially with Misaka wandering alone.

"She really ought to be more considerate of her roommates..." he sighed.

He scoured the dark streets for at least an hour, until, from the corner of his eye, he swore he caught Misaka darting into an alleyway. It had to have been her. No one else would be out in like that so late at night.

"Misaka!" he shouted, dashing in the alley's direction. When he reached it, he gazed down the thin corridor and once again saw her slip away and turn another corner. "Please, just hang on a second! Let's go back to the apartment and talk!"

When she didn't respond, he rushed into the alley, splashing through puddles and getting his clothing soaked as he trailed behind her. It didn't make any sense. She was just fine the day before. Or...mostly fine. The cheer she built up while staying at his apartment disappeared somehow after their trip to the museum, but still, this was just reckless and stupid.

Touma followed her from the alley and onto another street, where she sprinted through the rain as if trying to get away from him. Seeing that made him push harder, and in the black of night, beneath a sky where not a single star lit the heavens, he dashed under the streetlamps, through a crosswalk, and up the steps of a large shopping mall where Misaka hacked the electronic locks to get inside. She slipped through the front doors and continued running away.