Toaru Majutsu no Index II Episode 10

"Shorthand" (速記原典 (ショートハンド) ) is the tenth episode of the second season of the Toaru Majutsu no Index anime adaptation, and the thirty-fourth episode overall. It was first aired on December 10, 2010.

Synopsis
Meanwhile, Touma's parents Shiina and Touya meet Misaka Misuzu once again; this time, she is accompanied by her daughter Mikoto. Misuzu wants to introduce Mikoto to the "family of the one she likes", much to Mikoto's shock, and invites them to lunch together. Soon, a certain scantily-clothed blonde lady bumps into Touya, and after the lady leaves an apology, Touya has to apologize to Shiina for fixing his eyes too much on the lady.

Soon, the Misakas and the Kamijous meet up at a nearby restaurant; Touma and Index also arrive as well. Mikoto displays an outburst for not being able to find Touma anywhere, and even drags Index into the discussion. Touya soon exposes that Index has accompanied Touma in a beach one time, much to Mikoto's shock. Index soon becomes curious about Mikoto, asking her if she is Touma's girlfriend, and before a commotion could start, Misuzu invites everyone for lunch to start.

Touma soon wonders if Misuzu is Mikoto's sister; Misuzu introduces herself as Mikoto's mother, which shocks both Index and Touma.

Adapted from

 * Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 09
 * Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 10

Major events

 * Touma and Motoharu confront Oriana Thomson, with successfully engaging her in combat long enough for her to abandon her package, the Stab Sword, which is fake.
 * The Stab Sword is revealed to be non-existent, to cover the identity of St. Peter's Cross.
 * Lidvia's true plans are revealed; which is to use St. Peter's Cross to take control of Academy City.
 * Touma meets Misaka Misuzu, while Mikoto meets Touma's parents.

Characters
By order of appearance
 * Fukiyose Seiri
 * Kamijou Touma
 * Tsuchimikado Motoharu
 * Misaka Mikoto
 * Heaven Canceler
 * Stiyl Magnus
 * Oriana Thomson
 * Lidvia Lorenzetti (voice-only)
 * Laura Stuart
 * Index
 * Sphynx
 * Kamijou Touya
 * Kamijou Shiina
 * Misaka Misuzu

New Characters

 * Charles Conder

Abilities

 * All-around Reality Circle - Tsuchimikado Motoharu, Stiyl Magnus
 * Fire magic - Stiyl Magnus
 * Rune magic - Stiyl Magnus
 * Shorthand - Oriana Thomson
 * Shadow Sword
 * Blade Crater
 * Drop Rest
 * Several unnamed spells

New Abilities
No new abilities were introduced during this episode.

Locations

 * Academy City
 * Minamizawa Middle School (flashback-only)
 * The hospital Heaven Canceler works in
 * Automated Bus Maintenance Terminal
 * St. George's Cathedral

New Locations

 * Futsuka Station

Trivia

 * Oriana wears her signature clothes for the first time in this episode.
 * Oriana cannot use the same spell twice in her lifetime, due to the nature of her Shorthand grimoires. This explanation was excluded in the anime adaption but was included in the Light Novels.

Referbacks

 * Seiri's flashback references Touma's worried look from the previous episode.
 * Touma references the scene back in episode 8 where Touma sees Index with her cheerleading outfit for the first time.
 * Touma's parents references Index being with Touma at the beach, which happened back in episode 15 of the first season.

Cultural References

 * The episode references St. Peter, one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, and is central in the establishment of Roman Catholicism, and is often considered the first Pope of the Church.
 * St. Peter's Cross is an inverted Latin cross. According to tradition, Peter requested for him to be crucified in an inverted manner during his crucifixion, as he was unworthy of being crucified in the same manner as of Jesus Christ (upright).

Animation Trivia

 * Touma's cut on his face, changes size, position as well as angle, several times during the course of the episode.
 * The scene where Stiyl is walking and talking to Touma for the first time, after acquiring the covered-up billboard from Oriana, has the phone that Stiyl is supposedly using during that scene is clearly missing.
 * During the scene where Stiyl, Touma and Motoharu are resting at a cafe, there is a sign written in english on a chalkboard, though the last word is misspelled.
 * During the scenes of jealousy for both, Index and Shiina, a dark aura animation effect is used on them.
 * The scene where Touma meets up with his parents in the restaurant, Touya and Shiina's legs are notably missing under the table. Another scene where Mikoto argues with Touma, a female background character can be seen sporting a sports uniform, however, when the scene is revisited where Index argues with Mikoto, the girl sports a totally different attire altogether; in fact, it was the original attire worn by the girl when Touma entered the restaurant.

Unanswered Questions

 * Where is the true St. Peter's Cross?
 * What is the power of St. Peter's Cross?
 * What do the Roman Catholics gain from using the St.Peter's Cross?

Quotes

 * Seiri: "Can you help me?" -said to the Heaven Canceler.
 * Heaven Canceler: "Just who do you think I am?" -response to Seiri's question.
 * Touma: "Damn you. I don't know what that Stab Sword is worth to you. I don't know if it's going to change history or alter the world in some grand way. But hurting people just to get your hands on it is wrong! If it does nothing more than cause meaningless violence, then I will destroy it with this hand!" -said to Oriana.
 * Touma: "Who the hell cares about something like that? All the effort Fukiyose put into making Daihasei Festival a success is being rendered meaningless! Do you think I'll just sit idly and let you do this? That isn't good enough for Kamijou Touma!" -said to Oriana.
 * Oriana: "Don't think our little game is over just yet. I'll be turning up the heat from now on." -said to Oriana.
 * Oriana: "I won't let anyway get in our way, not like anyone can."''- said to Lidvia