Toaru Majutsu no Index II Episode 17

Synopsis
The day of the Punishment Game approaches.

In Tokiwadai's Dormitory outside the School Garden, Kuroko endures a sleepless night. Insomnia has haunted her ever since the Daihasei Festival ended, particularly the sudden change of mood that roommate Misaka Mikoto has displayed. What's worse for her is that she suspects a certain someone responsible for her anticipation on the day of the Punishment Game.

Meanwhile, Last Order steps out into the outside world after a long time, with Accelerator and Yoshikawa Kikyou to take them to a new home. As the Rank 1 Level 5 esper becomes Last Order's babysitter, Kikyou explains that since he will abandon the task of reaching Level 6, someone who is not involved in the Level 6 Shift should be a viable refuge to him.

Touma, on the other hand, gets his daily share of misfortune at school. He gets punched in the face by friends Tsuchimikado and Aogami, who felt mocked by Touma's wishes to meet someone, and he has to watch the two arguing about their lack of contact with girls (which arose from Aogami's complaints of a stiff shoulder).

Touma then gets an idea: "How about talking to the girl who is addicted to shopping on the TV for opinions?" However, that didn't work well for the three. Upon their charge towards Fukiyose, Tsuchimikado and Aogami received a hard fist on their stomachs while Touma is hit by Fukiyose's forehead, knocking the three at the same time. Komoe then comes in to start chemistry class, only to be frightened by the bodies of three unfortunate guys.

The Frog-faced Doctor meets up with four of the remaining 9,968 clones of Misaka Mikoto (Serial Numbers 10032, 13577, 10339 and 19090). Since it's winter, the doctor hands over the winter uniform of Tokiwadai to change them into, and there, the clones open the topic about dress sizes. As the other three accept the clothes without any concerns, 19090 seems embarrassed.

Soon, 10032 notices something: 19090's clothes seem more loose than hers, considering that they possess exactly the same dress sizes. The other clones are shocked at this as well, and 10032 suspects that 19090 is dieting. Also, 10339 reports that she saw 19090 reading a women's magazine and might have received the idea that a girl who receives a ring on her finger from a boy will lose all her problems.

This infuriated the clones, who suspect 19090 for moving without her knowledge.

Later, Mikoto stumbles upon Touma and there, Touma expresses his relative lack of interest to the Punishment Game, much to Mikoto's annoyance. Although she felt somewhat taunted by Touma's actions, she proudly tanuts him back by belittling his lack of interest to do the dare. However, it is not the case, and Touma shows his "sincerity" to play the Punishment Game by fanning wind to Mikoto using a plastic fan. What's worse for Mikoto is that Kuroko is there as well and has witnessed Touma's gesture, causing her to do the same.

As students gather to watch Mikoto being served by two other students, she blurts out what kind of leader she is to deserve such service.

Meanwhile, Accelerator finally reaches the meeting place with Last Order and Yoshikawa Kikyou. There, she introduces Accelerator to Yomikawa Aiho and Tsukuyomi Komoe. Accelerator then expresses his shock at Komoe's petite figure, then assumes that she is part of an experiment that involves stopping cellular aging. Komoe protests at his idea of her as a guinea pig, and soon, Aiho invites them to her car to take them to her apartment.

There, Accelerator wants to confirm if Aiho is determined to take them into custody, considering his contact with the dark side of Academy City. Aiho proudly tells him that her job will keep her safe at best. Accelerator continues to point out the risks of taking him in, but Aiho smiles and instead, pertains what he has been blurting out as his declaration that he will protect them, much to the Level 5's annoyance.

On Seventh Mist, Mikoto waits impatiently for Touma. After frying Kuroko using her electricity, she tells Touma to meet her at 1 on the said location, but he has been 5 minutes late.

As it turns out, Touma is preoccupied with feeding Index, who longs for pasta ever since their departure from Chioggia and is sick of somen noodles Touma has been receiving. Then, Tsuchimikado Maika appears with a very good mood, boasting the sleeves on her uniform that she has added lace to. Touma and Index then takes this time to ask Maika on recipes on somen noodles.

Accelerator and Last Order arrive at their new home with Aiho and Kikyou. Aiho explains to them that she received the house as part of the project of the engineering sector, and thus pays significantly less. As the two new additions to Aiho's home make themselves comfortable, Aiho and Kikyou argue due to the latter leaking some personal info about Aiho, particularly her habit of cleaning her house when feeling tense.

It is 25 minutes after 1:00, and Mikoto is still waiting for Touma to arrive. She then sees Uiharu come her way. With her plans of seeing Mikoto on her mind, Uiharu starts to talk to Mikoto, especially her ability to play the violin. Uiharu manages to let Mikoto teach her on how to play, but Kuroko's ominous aura interrupted the tutorial (it seems that Uiharu skipped her duties at that time).

As Uiharu is dragged by Kuroko back to their duties, Touma arrives.

Touma soon reveals that Mikoto is actually an hour early, and he suspects that Mikoto is getting too excited on the Punishment Game, much to Mikoto's embarrassment. With that, Mikoto pulls Touma into the start of the Punishment Game.

Mikoto asks Touma to sign up for an antenna relay service and the pair contract with her, with aims to get a Gekota phone strap. Touma is hesitant, thinking that the pair contract is designed for couples, and this causes Mikoto to make alibis. However, Mikoto is getting impatient, so she pushes through nonetheless...

...only to realize that in signing up, they need to surrender a couple picture.

Outside, Touma pulls out his camera phone and prepares to take a shot. However, Mikoto is indeed too shy for the picture. Touma reminds her that it is her fault that she must have her picture taken with him. With that, they try to get some "valid proof" that they are "couples", and it took them a few tries before getting to that perfect shot - only to be interrupted by a back kick on Touma's head by Kuroko.

Accelerator soon wakes up, realizing that he has rested for two hours, and he focuses on the device that keeps his ability usable. According to him, he can only use his ability for 15 minutes at a time, and turning it off drastically cripples his ability to understand sounds.

He decides to take a shower, thinking that there is no one home. However, as he opens the door to the shower room, he finds Aiho and Last Order naked, with Kikyou only draped with a bath towel. Aiho tells them that she forgot that they have Accelerator at home, and Last Order is shocked to find out that Accelerator does not react to the sight of scantily clad females.

Last Order later goes outside and talks to MISAKA 10032; meanwhile, Accelerator has just finished his shower and looks for Last Order, who is not around. It turns out that Last Order develops an urge to get 10032's goggles, which the clone refuses to. Last Order, however, manages to trick 10032 into following her and takes the goggles before running away.

With that, 10032 prepares her gun and declares that she will take her goggles back.

Adapted From
Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 12

Major events

 * Touma begins to fulfill his promise to Mikoto for the Penalty Game.
 * Accelerator is released from a certain hospital.
 * Accelerator meets Tsukuyomi Komoe.

Characters
By order of appearance:
 * Misaka Mikoto
 * Shirai Kuroko
 * Last Order
 * Accelerator
 * Yoshikawa Kikyou
 * Kamijou Touma
 * Tsuchimikado Motoharu
 * Aogami Pierce
 * Fukiyose Seiri
 * Himegami Aisa
 * Tsukuyomi Komoe
 * Heaven Canceler
 * Radio Noise clones
 * Misaka 10032
 * Misaka 13577
 * Misaka 10039
 * Misaka 19090
 * Yomikawa Aiho
 * Index
 * Tsuchimikado Maika
 * Uiharu Kazari
 * Hitotsui Hajime

New Characters

 * Misaka 13577
 * Misaka 10039
 * Misaka 19090

Abilities

 * Teleportation - Shirai Kuroko, Level 4
 * Electrical attack - Misaka Mikoto, Level 5
 * Imagine Breaker - Kamijou Touma, Level 0

New Abilities
No new abilities were introduced during this episode.

Locations

 * Academy City
 * Tokiwadai Middle School
 * A Certain High School
 * The hospital Heaven Canceler works in
 * Seventh Mist
 * Underground Mall

New Locations

 * Yomikawa Residence

Trivia

 * The episode features a new opening theme, replacing the old one.
 * The episode marks the debut of A Certain High School and Tokiwadai Middle School's winter uniforms in the Toaru Majutsu no Index anime adaptation.
 * Yoshikawa Kikyou is driving Accelerator and Last Order to A Certain High School in a car (in the light novel, the three of them take a taxi).
 * The episode references Komoe's age and looks for the first time in the anime adaptation.
 * The episode marks the official debut of Maika's long sleeved maid uniform, which hitherto has been only been featured in PSI-Missing and Masterpiece.
 * This is the 2nd animated appearance of Mikoto's violin, the first being from episode 19 of the Toaru Kagaku no Railgun anime.

Referbacks

 * The Penalty game that Misaka Mikoto has reiterated several times in various episodes is finally featured in the episode.

Cultural References

 * Somen noodles are featured during this episode.

Animation Trivia
No notable animation trivia is featured during this episode.

Unanswered Questions

 * Why was Misaka 19090 dieting?
 * What exactly is the truth behind Komoe's age and appearance?

Quotes

 * Kuroko: "Who is it? Ever since Daihaseisai, she's been acting like this.. Oneesama! Who is alluring you to dream up such sweet, yet scary schemes?" -Kuroko regarding Mikoto's very loud dreaming.
 * Aogami: "When you say things like that, girls always just pop into your life out of nowhere. That's right. You always seem to attract anyone, whether it be a super electronic robot girl or spirit maiden of a fountain." -Aogami Pierce regarding Touma's unusual fortune with women.
 * Misaka 19090: ""MI-MISAKA will acknowledge her sense of danger and run away..." says MISAKA as..." -said before running away from the other clones
 * Touma: "Oh... right. Such misfortune." -Touma's detached response to Mikoto finding him again.