Kamijou Touma/Chronology (Souyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index)

Following the successive events and conflicts he has been involved in since the start of December, culminating in the decisive battle in the United Kingdom which saw long-time masterminds Aleister Crowley and Lola Stuart leave the stage and an unexpected struggle against something from within himself, Kamijou Touma has returned to Academy City as a new era has begun.

Unfortunately, having missed much of his studies, Touma is in danger of being held back a year and forced to have supplementary lessons during the Christmas break. His misfortune continues, as in addition to being hampered in trying to avoid repeating a year, Touma gets caught up in new battles connected to the changes in Academy City and the emergence of a new threat, R&C Occultics.

Christmas Eve Arc
Shortly after midnight on the morning of December 24th, while visiting the local convenience store, Touma spotted a naked girl (actually Anna Sprengel) filming some delinquents robbing an ATM and ended up carrying her while being pursued by the delinquents after they spotted her. The chase ended with an encounter with Misaka Mikoto, who had just escaped from Tokiwadai's strict Christmas oversight.

Later that morning, after having his remote remedial lessons scuppered by a technical failure and not knowing Tsukuyomi Komoe's location, Touma decided to spend his Christmas Eve in the city, being joined by Index and then Mikoto, who ran into him while fleeing from a group of Tokiwadai teachers and students. After wondering how to spend the time, they ended up having a game of darts in a bar, with penalties.

Following the game's conclusion, the group encountered Misaka 10032 and Last Order, shortly before getting caught up in an attempt to kidnap the latter by individuals seeking to thwart Accelerator's Operation Handcuffs, a plan to eliminate the Dark Side of Academy City. After Touma defeated Maidono Hoshimi and the kidnapping was thwarted, the group learnt of Accelerator's endeavour and decided to face the mastermind behind the resistance, Director Neoka Norito.

Arriving in the evening as Anti-Skill was about to move in, the group witnessed an explosion at Neoka's home, set off by Neoka himself as part of a ploy to fabricate injuries and blame Anti-Skill to impede their investigation and buy time to destroy evidence. With Mikoto's ability, they scaled the building and got to the roof before Neoka could have himself injured and escape via air ambulance, forcing the director to try to eliminate them himself. While Neoka initially held the upper hand due to unexpected use of magic acquired from R&C Occultics, Touma and Index soon recognized what he was doing, and with Othinus's help, Touma was able to turn the tables and managed to defeat Neoka in a final physical clash before collapsing himself due to his accumulated injuries.

After the group left the scene and returned to street level, Touma was suddenly approached by Anna Sprengel, the one behind R&C Occultics, who swiftly moved in before the others' eyes and kissed him, exposing him to the contents of a black pill in her mouth.