In coming to this school, Veritas had two objectives. He'd identified the first already: That guy over there was Touma. The other objective was, shall we say simpler and more short term: Spreading the gospel, as it were. There were certainly plenty of cute girls around, and more than enough boys who would probably enjoy what he was preaching. Of course, it would take some time to make some converts and to be truly successful he would have to maintain a low profile until it was far, far too late to stop him.
"Oh! Veritas! Is that you?"
Or he could get spotted and recognised by Aisa even in spite of changing up his hairstyle today, that works too! He cursed internally, but put on his biggest smile. His plan had been to find her and discretely chat about things, push her along the path to Eros that all in the city would now be walking, knowing or not.
"H-Hello there Aisa! Feeling better I see," Touma smiled. Ah. There appeared to be a scowling girl with a large forehead and a nice bust glowering at him. "Uh... Your friend seems to be studying me quite intensely. Is she usually that intimidating to new students?"
"Veritas," the girl said with a slight haughty sniff. "That's an odd name. Is that not Latin for 'truth'?"
"So I hear. My name is Naoto Veritas. My parents had a sense of humour."
"Honesty Truth," the girl said. "My, my! How delightfully normal."
"Fukiyose," Aisa whined. "Please don't be mean to my friend. He visited me in the hospital and made me laugh!"
"Ohhhh, did he now? How <i>nice</I> of him! Visiting a girl you don't even know in the hospital, do you make a habit of doing that, Mister Truth?"
Well, if he had been hoping to avoid Aisa's odd behaviour being noticed by her friends: Mission failed, it seemed! Time to enter damage control mode. Veritas began by relaxing. Only people who have done something wrong panic at a time like this. Not that he thought he'd done anything <i>wrong</i> per se, but he could see how others might think it was. They'd come around in time, but for now...
"Sometimes I do," Veritas said with a smile. "I feel that a genuine act of charity helps the world move forward, like grease in an engine. I could sense that Aisa was feeling down, and spent some time with her to help cheer her up."
"How nice! Our new classmate likes to visit the sick! Shall we go together this weekend?"
"Certainly," Veritas said, calling her bluff. Then again, this girl probably wasn't bluffing. "It would be nice to have such an enthusiastic girl accompany me." Though now he would need to prepare for someone to visit, just in case she did take this seriously. How irksome!
"So? What do you talk about?" Fukiyose went on. Not even giving Aisa the chance to speak up. How rude! "You seem like the <i>religious</i> sort. Kind of strange you'd be here, right? Why come to Academy City if you're the religious type?"
"Religious?" Veritas answered, adjusting his glasses. "No, no. Not at all. I think perhaps Aisa misunderstood me."
"I did?" Aisa quietly asked. She frowned in concentration. It was really quite cute.
"All I did was show her some breathing exercises!" Veritas puffed out his chest and took several deep breaths. "In... And out! It's based on old Buddhist meditation techniques, you see. They used to believe some nonsense about cleansing the mind to cleanse the soul, and hence cleanse the body. Actually, these routines were assisting their body's respiration, assisting the immune system and any kind of self repair. Not to mention dulling pain and raising levels of comfort through a potent placebo effect."
"Placebo effect...?" Aisa asked. She suddenly seemed quite woozy, like she might fall over at any moment.
"You see? It's easy to ignore religion and dismiss it as unscientific nonsense... But if you can cut around the parts that are, there might be a kernel of truth buried deep within." he turned away, still feeling her eyes boring a hole in the back of his head. "Aisa... I look forward to conversing with you again one day. And Miss Fukiyose... I do not know what I have done to offend you so much. However, I do hope you will forgive me once you get to know me a little better."
A quick glance around, and it was obvious they were the centre of attention. Touma was watching too, but his expression was unreadable. Blast it! Too much attention too quickly. He had to enact far too much damage control just now, and his first impression was totally ruined!
Worse yet, he was entirely unsure what Touma thought about him now. What were you thinking, oh Invisible Demon?
<hr>
Right now, Kamijou Touma was thinking 'Ugh! Such misfortune!' It was kind of his catchphrase, but only because it applied to so much of his life. He attracted so much trouble that he might actually be a magnet for it. Why not when he'd seen stranger esper powers!
Well, there was a pretty good reason why not; His right hand which Index had theorized to negate his own luck.
"Tsk, how disappointing," said the unwelcome voice of Aogami Pierce, leaning on Touma's desk and grinning knowingly. "Our new classmate is a boy... And a boy who appears to be able to steal the attention of your woman Kami-yan."
"Who said either of them were my women?" Touma quietly replied. "Ugh, I can do without the playboy reputation you know. Yet another unneeded complication."
"Still, it is a little strange..." added Tsuchimikado Motoharu. "I've already looked for information about him, but there's none anywhere. Oh well! I'll find out sooner or later! Haha!"
Wait, really? Motoharu not knowing anything about someone? That got Touma giving him a second glance, then a third. He seemed so... nondescript. Normal. That was so shocking it almost completely distracted Touma from why exactly he was in such a foul mood today. Actually, it made him extremely concerned. If this boy could keep anything hidden from Motoharu, it was likely he was Up To Something. Or had an element from his past that would bring Much Misfortune when it inevitably caught up to him within, oh let's say a week.
"Keep looking," he instructed to Motoharu. "Tell me if you find anything please."
"Haha! It'll cost you the usual!" Motoharu remarked.
"Keh... More interested in finding out about the new boy than the girls throwing themselves at you, that's how rumours get started," Pierce remarked, and for his trouble got a fist in the face. Not that Touma had punched him, just rapidly grabbed hold of the pervert's nose.
"Oy. I'm not in the mood to deal with this today," Touma stated. "Remember, I've got to deal with that girl's stupid wager outcome today. I don't want to even think about what she'll do."
"Again, that's how rumours - ooooh! My noooooose!"
Yeah, he was perfectly aware of the rumours. Not like he could stop them if he tried, so why bother? Sometimes Touma felt like one of those plate jugglers, rushing between the spinning crockery and trying to keep them all going so none of them crash to the ground.
At the very least he hoped he was wrong about this new guy. The last thing he needed was yet another plate to worry about spinning.
"maybe if I'm lucky, she forgot about it?" Touma said aloud, then let out a resigned sigh. Wonderful" Now he'd just guaranteed that she hadn't!
<hr>
Gosh but that teacher was young. Wasn't she? Academy City was a truly weird place letting little kids teach classes. Veritas slouched on his way out of the building, eyes half lidded and stifling a yawn. Ooh, he had forgotten how boring school could be. He'd already studied all this material in his own time, and now he was paying the price. The teacher was by far the most interesting thing going on today.
Still! Suffer now, payoff later. And oh, the payoff would be grand! The day had not been a total waste either. He'd been able to get a look in at the people surrounding his biggest likely threat, the girls were cute, he'd begun to dig the foundation of his future work. More importantly he had a clearer goal in mind for tomorrow, when he would really start to lay down his budding friendship with members of his class.
Patience was not an easy thing to come to a lustful boy like him. But patience... Oh, the patience would make the reward all the sweeter in the end.
"Veritas!" he heard for the second time that day. Sure enough, there she was: His first disciple, even if she didn't know it yet. Veritas smiled at Aisa: This was an ideal chance to finalise things with her -
Except that over Aisa's shoulder he could also see a bright shining frowning forehead charging his way, full pelt! Oh no. So this was what mortal terror felt like?! As soon as his disciple was close he grabbed her hand and dashed off around the corner with her in tow, but he could feel it. With each passing step, the forehead was bearing down on them both!
Ah, but just at the moment he was about to give up and accept his fate, Aisa squeezed his hand. A little burst of reassurance like that was all he needed! Time for his emergency spell! And he could see just the perfect target up ahead: Touma himself! Talking with... Railgun?! All of a sudden he felt like a plate juggler dashing between spinning plates and - Huh, weird, it felt like he was stepping on someone else's toes just now.
Regardless: Veritas was not foolish enough to think he could simply walk into Academy City and hang around someone like Touma without encountering trouble. So, he'd purchased one or two relatively mundane artefacts. A little harmless magic, the kind of stuff kids could use without hurting anyone. In this case, he ran by Touma and the Railgun, then watched over his shoulder as Fukiyose came up close to them - gaining moment by moment - and then sprung his trap.
The one use only spell: Mountain Child’s Voice! It would let him throw his voice to anywhere within his line of sight, but only one time. And what he had to say, he would say in a close approximation of Touma's voice.
"Is it my imagination, or has Fukiyose put on weight recently?"
In that moment, as soon as he heard it, Touma knew that the hand of death had just lain upon his shoulder. Before he could utter a syllable of protest, he was double clotheslined by Fukiyose and the Railgun, one hitting from the front and the other behind. The perfect distraction!
"What kind of misfortune do you call thiiiiiiis?!"
"My commiserations for your suffering." Veritas allowed himself a triumphant smirk. Ah, Touma... Maybe this was the way to deal with you after all? Have the girls deal with you, keep you too busy to deal with my plans. How fun! Maybe you'd even come around to join up with the winning perverted team?
Now that they were free of the furious forehead he could concentrate his full attention on the lovely Aisa. The two of them slowed down, still holding hands. How perfect, how serene!
Then both of their stomachs rumbled quite violently.
"Maybe we should get something to eat?" Veritas suggested.
"I know just the place!" Aisa beamed. She pointed at a cafe across the street. Perfect. To all appearances it would be a date, they would be largely ignored as people gave them privacy in a totally public place. There were other tactical advantages of course, but chief among them was his still rumbling tummy.
What he didn't expect was for his 'date' to almost immediately disappear behind a veritable mountain of hamburgers. "Uh..." Veritas intelligently said. "I think the server misheard you."
"He sure did!" Aisa said behind the wall of meat and bread, which seemed to move and shake in time with her speaking. "I ordered 35 burgers! This is only 25!"
At which time Veritas made a quite sincere sign of the cross. Oh boy, he was in for a fun time tonight! How the hell was he supposed to talk to someone when he couldn't even see their - Oh, she'd already eaten enough of them that her eyes were now visible. Then the rest of her face, then her upper torso, her lower torso... And gone, just like that.
He repeated the sign of the cross and offered up a small prayer to his fictional, invented god.
"So you are religious, then?" Aisa asked, dabbing at her mouth with a napkin. "It's kind of strange, isn't it? Why did you tell Fukiyose earlier that you weren't religious?"
Oh! That was why he was here, wasn't it? Alright. Compose yourself, then address the situation at hand.
"Well, I am... But I'm trying not to advertise the fact," Veritas admitted. In a hushed whisper, leaning across the table, he continued. "Academy City doesn't exactly have a good view on the Godly, does it? I'm sorry. I should have told you to keep it in strictest confidence before, but I am a very and truly devout believer in the Will of Eros."
Aisa blinked, then leaned on the table herself. "Go on. It sounds so interesting. Tell me more, please!"
To that, he responded by reaching inside his bag and pulling out a leaflet. "In your own time," he advised. "In essence, we believe that this life is all there truly is, and that as caretakers of the Earth we must take care of it, and each other."
"Sounds a little hippy-ish."
"All good religions sound a little hippy-ish... Until the authoritative types get in control. If it helps think of it as stages of enlightenment. The further up you go, the closer you get to Eros. There are fourteen in total. All start at the first level, and then move up as they perform deeds that demonstrate their devotion to Eros."
That was perfectly true, and he gave a quick rundown of the rest of the stages for her, keeping it brief. In essence, he explained it as follows.
- Default state that all people are at.
- Understand your own wants and desires.
- Have the will to give your body what it wants.
- Enjoy yourself, wherever you go.
- Dress to suit your needs
- Appreciate the beauty in nature
- Understand that you, too, are beautiful
- Become open to the wonderful possibilities within the world.
- Engage with those you care for, and spend time with your loved ones.
- Be proud of what nature has granted you, and share that talent with the world.
- Put the needs of your body above your own pride.
- Help others to understand the truth of things.
- Show love for others, even those you may call strangers or enemies.
- Clear the doubt from the mind of one who does not believe, and help them on the path to enlightenment.
But that wasn't quite the whole truth. The actual stations were more... risque, at least for the fairer sex.
- Default state that all people are at.
- Engage in erotic dreams.
- Engage in wide awake masturbation
- Wear erotic undergarments
- Wearing revealing clothing in public.
- Openly lusting after others
- Enjoy being lusted after by another
- Bisexuality
- Having regular sex.
- Public nudity
- Masturbation in public
- Helping to raise another's station.
- Extremely casual sex
- Converting an unbeliever. Or should that be corrupting?
"I see..." Aisa said breathlessly, squirming in her seat. All of a sudden the girl seemed quite flush, and - aha, her foot was now rubbing along the inside of Veritas' leg. "it all sounds quite exciting."
"Indeed," Veritas admitted. "It's a bit of a fledgeling religion, but so far we've seen some spectacular results. Ah, but it might be wise if you tried to keep things quiet. Be mindful of your behaviour for now. I am sure that in time others shall come onto our righteous path, but... Well. Give it time."
He smiled at the girl and she looked like she might melt on the spot. By now her foot had reached his thigh, and when he grabbed hold of it to give it an under the table rub she very nearly jumped clear up to the ceiling in surprise, as though she hadn't even noticed what she'd been doing just now.
"After all, patience is a virtue within our faith as well."
- Veritas heads home with Aisa, to help further her faith.
- Somehow, Fukiyose tracks them down. Time to plant a little seed in her brain too.
- Index interrupts. She's hungry!
- Meanwhile Touma and Misaka deal with their punishment game.
- Something else
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