A Certain Magical Index Volume 8

The conversation’s rhythm came to an abrupt halt.
There was a short silence.
The warm air in the room started to cool down.
It took more strength than she thought it would to reopen the closed window.
Mikoto knew exactly why.
There were several stab wounds on her underclassman’s body.
After all was said and done, she’d gotten another person mixed up in this.
First the Sisters, then that boy, and now her simple underclassman.
“You know, I…,” began Shirai from the bed, interrupting her thoughts.
Mikoto gave her a slightly confused look.
Shirai smiled and continued, “I suppose that I realize it now. The place you were that
night—it was the world you’re fighting in. Nothing about it made the least bit of sense to
me. And after you came running up to me at the end, I stopped thinking a few times, as
absurd as that sounds.” She laughed just a little bit and loosened slightly. “I don’t think I
can stand there as I am now. I forced myself into that world once, and this is how it
turned out.”
“Kuroko…”
Mikoto’s expression betrayed her pain at the thought—but a new one immediately hid it.
She was the sort to hide that kind of feeling. Shirai knew that was exactly the reason
Mikoto was so fragile, though.
“Onee-sama, if you are thinking that it is your fault for getting me mixed up in this
incident, I’m afraid you are entirely mistaken.”
“Huh?”
“What did you expect? My weakness is my own fault. What do you have to do with that,
Onee-sama? I would much rather you not make fun of me. I am able to carry out my
own responsibilities by myself. Making you shoulder those burdens rips my pride to
pieces,” she said dully. “I would much rather you smile, Onee-sama. Your
underclassman failed but still returned safely—you should be laughing uproariously at
me, pointing and asking me how I screwed up so badly. With that sort of amusing
memory to nourish me, I would be able to stand back up again.”
And one more thing, she added to herself.

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(This only goes for me as I am now. Not a hair on Shirai Kuroko’s head wishes to stop
where she is. I will not make you wait long, Onee-sama. When Kuroko has a destination
in mind, she gets there fast.)
Now that she knew how good it felt here, she could resolve herself to return from any
battlefield.
Quietly, so that the girl at her side would never know.
This was how Shirai Kuroko learned where she stood.
And how she realized there was a world her hands couldn’t reach.
However, that was why she wouldn’t give up—she would reach her hands higher and
higher.
But not at all because she wanted to feel that she was above anyone.
Only because she wanted to protect the one place she was in right now.

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AFTERWORD

To those who have been buying each volume one at a time: welcome back.
To those who bought all eight volumes at once: welcome.
I’m Kamachi Kazuma.
On to the eighth volume! The theme this time was supernatural abilities, once and for all.
In a curveball from other volumes, the only clearly male character to appear is Kamijou
Touma. For those of you suspicious of that, I’d ask you to defer your judgment for now.
It’s nothing to be dealt with lightly.
This volume picks up on a few of the unsolved problems from volumes 3 and 5. It may
have seemed at first to be unrelated to anything magic, but I think that the villain
Musujime Awaki’s doubts had some factors related to magic in them.
Why was there a difference in power between Misaka Mikoto and Misaka Imouto?
Could other animals or plants measure and analyze phenomena and drive their own
abilities? Just what is phenomenon measurement and analysis, anyway? These
questions weren’t answered in this volume because of how the story is put together and
the viewpoint of the main character, but that means we can leave the mystery to stew.
I’d like to give an immense thank-you to my illustrator, Haimura-san, and my editor,
Miki-san. It’s thanks to the two of you that this book safely made its way to store
bookshelves.
And I’d like to give an unconditional thank-you to everyone who purchased this book.
It’s thanks to you that this book safely made its way to your bookshelves.
Now then, I give thanks for the fact that this book is now somewhere in the corner of
your mind.
I consider it an honor if you could continue to put future volumes back there as well.
And I lay my pen down for now.
…Misaka Mikoto. She was supposed to be in this a whole lot more…
-Kamachi Kazuma

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