Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 16/Chapter 1

Synopsis
After a History class extended by his random question, Touma finds himself without any lunch to eat with the food in the cafeteria running out before he could buy one for himself. Twenty of his classmates share his fate, but they decide to send out someone to buy convenience store lunches. Fukiyose Seiri leads Touma, Aogami Pierce and Tsuchimikado Motoharu on this mission, but only Seiri, Touma and Motoharu were able to break out of school premises, with Aogami taken in by the guidance counselor Saigo as a sacrifice.

Meanwhile, Itsuwa visits Academy City with a mission to act as Kamijou Touma's bodyguard. She was sent there as a response to a challenge letter sent by Acqua of the Back about killing Touma due to his actions against God's Right Seat. In a chance encounter, she sees Touma being pursued by a man with a large build and swiftly knocks him out, only to find out that the man is a teacher in Touma's school. Regardless, Itsuwa warns Touma that he is Acqua's next target and she declares that she will protect him at all costs.

Due to the conversation she overheard during the C-Document incident, Misaka Mikoto is in a daze, still thinking about Touma's memory loss. She quickly throws away the possibility of working with the Queen of Tokiwadai to know more about Touma's condition and spends some time sorting out her thoughts. There, she sees a suspicious man sending a soccer ball flying towards Touma's head, causing him to land on Itsuwa's breasts. An enraged Mikoto then spends the rest of the afternoon chasing Touma while he tries to keep Itsuwa from dealing a counterattack.

Touma returns home with Itsuwa afterwards, and before Index could sniff out about his problem with God's Right Seat, Itsuwa prepares a meal for him and Touma. Apparently, the meal was so good that the maid Tsuchimikado Maika sees Itsuwa as a rival for her cooking skills. After the hearty meal, Touma, Index and Itsuwa head to an underground public bath in the third level of District 22 after Index destroys Touma's bathtub in an attempt to do house chores. By coincidence though, Mikoto also visited the high-class public bath due to a Gekota-themed promotion inside. There, Index and Mikoto meet once more, and Mikoto stumbles upon the flustered girl whose breasts became Touma's cushion in an earlier incident.

After having a relaxing bath, Touma recollects about the issue with Acqua of the Back. Itsuwa later joins him and they spend the night strolling across District 22, talking about the new life of the Amakusa in England. Nearby, Tatemiya Saiji and other members of the Amakusa continue stalking their fellow member Itsuwa. As they ponder on the unsettling feeling of peace in District 22, Acqua of the Back appears before Itsuwa and Touma in a nearby iron bridge and delivered an attack that left both of them staggering. With Touma at the brink of dying and Itsuwa's healing spell failing before Touma's right hand, Itsuwa prepares to take on Acqua alone. However, Touma once more stands up in spite of his wounds and charges towards Acqua, only to be struck once more by Acqua. Before Touma is hurled aside into the waters below, Acqua gives a one-day ultimatum for Touma to surrender his right arm.

Between the Lines
A story is told by an old man about an exodus made by several men to elude the Russian Orthodox Church. As they battle the bitter cold of the Russian landscape and the pursuit of the Russian enemies, they are saved by a man named William Orville.

Characters
By order of appearance
 * Kamijou Touma
 * Aogami Pierce
 * Tsuchimikado Motoharu
 * Himegami Aisa
 * Fukiyose Seiri
 * Saigo
 * Itsuwa
 * Tatemiya Saiji
 * Misaka Mikoto
 * Index
 * Sphynx
 * Tsuchimikado Maika
 * Acqua of the Back

New Characters

 * Ushibuka
 * Kouyagi
 * Isahaya
 * Nomozaki
 * Tsushima

Locations

 * A Certain High School
 * Kamijou Family's 2nd Residence

New Locations

 * Academy City, School District 22
 * Spa Resort Serene Springs

Cultural References

 * Saigo's appearance is compared in the narrative to "the polygonal villain in a unique western video game", probably referring to.

Quotes

 * Acqua: “I’m coming, my prey.”