A Certain Magical Index (とある魔術の禁書目録)

That's my rotten luck for you!

Get back here, you scrawny punk!

Running won't save you kid!

My name is Toma Kamijo...

And this little chase scene

is just another event in an adolescence riddled

with nothing but rotten luck.

It was July 19th...

I entered the restaurant,

excited that summer break was beginning the next day...

I intended to order myself a nice big meal

to celebrate the start of the vacation...

but that's when I saw it.

I could tell that sleazebag was up to no good...

I had to step in and help the poor girl...

What else could I do, really?

Well, honey...? Let's go.

Excuse me...

You should go...

You're bothering the young lady.

-I'm starving. -Tell me about it.

Want something, kid?

A beating, maybe...?

Well?

Man, what was I thinking...?

With my luck, I should've known this would happen!

Finally...! They got tired of running.

What was all that about?

Playing the hero by protecting some dimwitted thugs...?

What, are you a teacher or something?

So they only stopped running after me because...

You got it...

They were starting to annoy me,

so I dealt with them.

Yeah, it figures.

Hey, hero...

you ever heard of...

a railgun?

Railgun...? Um...

A super-electromagnetic gun...

It's an application of Fleming's kinetic momentum theory...

You use it to launch projectiles

with a little extra oomph.

Allow me to demonstrate it for you...

Catch!

When it's launched at three times the speed of sound...

Even something small packs a big punch.

Is that what you used to take care of those guys?

Don't be such a moron.

There are easier ways

to take care of a bunch of level zeroes...

And I know them all.

Yep. As it turned out,

it wasn't her that needed saving...

It was those poor saps

who were careless enough to get on her bad side.

So, you're one of the seven Level 5 espers in Academy City.

Tell me, are the other six this rude,

or are you just special?

You could stand to be less condescending...

Humility's a virtue you know.

Y' must be good...

or you wouldn't talk to me that way.

Wa-wa-wa-wait...!

I'm just a Level Zero.

So... If you're really a Level Zero like you say...

Explain how you don't have a scratch on you.

I don't know what to tell you.

Maybe it's coincidence...

or just plain bad luck.

Either way...

this really isn't your night.

Last night's lightning caused a power outage...

which turned my place into a sweltering cesspool.

Hot...

It also meant that everything in my refrigerator

had become toxic.

On top of that, I lost my emergency rations

when they fell in the sink...

I crushed my cash card

when I was looking for my wallet...

And then someone called to inform me

that I'm such an idiot,

I need to take a remedial class.

Just my luck.

All right, it's a nice day outside...

Maybe airing the mattress out will improve my mood.

Yep, my future might be dark and gloomy...

but at least it's a beautiful, sunny day!

Then again...

now that I said that, it'll probably start pouring rain.

Huh?

I already hung something...?

That's strange...

That's... a girl...

What's she doing on my balcony?

That clothing...

she looks like a Sister!

I'm guessing she's not from around here....

I'm so...

I'm so very... hungry.

Very, very hungry.

What was that?

I said I'm hungry.

What... the...

Are you listening to me?

I told you, I'm hungry.

So, uh... just out of curiosity...

Is this something you make a habit of?

Randomly appearing draped over people's balconies?

It's also called curb-croaking.

So... Do you have any food in there?

I'm really starving...

Please feed me!

I think she'd be better off some place

far, far away from here.

Do you think this'll do the trick?

Yes, thank you...!

Sandwiches are my favorite!

Wonderful...! This tastes fantastic!

Oh... Really, it does?

That's a surprise,

considering it's a stir-fry made of spoiled ingredients

from a dead refrigerator.

I know what it is...!

There's some sour flavor in here

that's really waking up my taste buds.

What a great idea!

It's sour?

Don't feel like you have to eat it all...

It's bachelor cooking--nothing exciting.

You don't need to be so modest...

It was very kind of you to go to the trouble

of making it for me at all...

So I'm going to finish every last morsel!

I give! I can't do it!

So, uh... Do you mind telling me

why you were hanging out on my balcony?

Oh, I fell...

What I was actually trying to do

was jump from one roof onto the next over.

Huh...? But this building is eight stories high!

I didn't exactly have many options...

I was being pursued...

Whoops, I never introduced myself, did I?

Well, how rude of me...!

I'm Index. Nice to meet you!

Index? That's your name?

That sounds like an alias to me...

You can't tell me you're named after part of a book.

Yes the Index Librorum Prohibitorum...

Oh... and my magic name is Dedicatus Five-Four-Five...

It translates as "the consecrated lamb

who safeguards the wisdom of the mighty."

Okay, Index, why exactly would somebody be chasing

a Sister like you?

I believe they seek

the one hundred and three thousand grimoires

that I carry with me.

Grim... wha?

Well...

The Book of Eibon...

The Lemegeton...

The Book of the Dead...

Those are a just few typical examples of grimoires.

So where are they...?

It's hard to believe

you're hiding a whole library under that dress.

I'm carrying all one hundred and three thousand volumes!

That's more books than I've even seen before...

What...? Y'mean you got a key to a warehouse or something?

Mm-mm.

Is this some kind of joke...?

Next, are you gonna say,

"Well, stupid people can't see them."

It isn't just stupid people who can't...

The whole point is for them not to be visible.

Okay, so who is it that's chasing you?

A sorcery society.

Huh...? Sorcery?

Surely you've heard of sorcerers before...

People who do magic...

a magic cabal.

Uh, do you belong to one of those

new-age religions or something?

Wait, are you making fun of me?

You are, aren't you?

You're making fun of me!

I'm sorry.

It's too much.

I know there are plenty of unusual powers

being used out in the world.

but I just can't buy magic.

This is Academy City...

Supernatural abilities

aren't really anything new and different here...

Anybody can develop them if they use science, not magic.

You believe in supernatural, psychic powers,

but the idea of sorcery is "too much" for you?

Well, okay...