novelAfter School. Break_Time
| ← Ch.044 | Ch.046 → |
Part 1
"Ohh! Touma, is this the famous underground world?"
"It's not an underground world, it's an underground street."
Index said this in an excited manner, and the sleep deprived Kamijou slowly made a snarky comment.
There were many underground streets in Academy City. With the train station at centre, there were many underground levels linking to many department stores; it was just like a maze. The crowd there wasn't as packed as the road in front of the station, but there were a lot of students moving about.
Like the security robots and the wind generators, the underground street was one of Academy City's experiments. As Japan had limited land and was earthquake prone, it had a natural desire for the world's greatest underground construction technology. Academy City was used as an experimental site for this, so various areas around Academy City had been dug up.
There was no special reason as to why they would choose this video arcade, it was just that Index had never been into the underground.
"Anyway, let's go eat. What do you want to eat, Index? Don't choose those that are too expensive or have a long waiting queue."
"It's alright not to go to those shops. It's alright if it's cheap, delicious, plentiful, and not many people know about it."
"... It's already tough to find such a shop. What about you, Kazakiri?"
Kamijou said this as he turned to Kazakiri. For some reason, Kazakiri's shoulders jerked; and she hid behind Index.
(What did I do now?) Kamijou wondered to himself.
"... Ah... no... I'm... sorry... I'm not... afraid..."
Kazakiri stood behind Index as she said cautiously,
"... It's just that... you saw me naked just now..."
"What?"
Kamijou couldn't hear the last sentence.
"Ah... eh... it's nothing... it's just... it's just that you definitely saw me naked... so why aren't you mindful... eh..."
Kazakiri was muttering to herself, and Kamijou couldn't understand a single bit. Kamijou thought, since she promised to come along, Kazakiri shouldn't have found Kamijou irritating or been afraid of him or something, but what was with this stranger-like vigilance?
Index looked like she understood Kazakiri as she coldly said to Kamijou,
"Really, Touma's expression is too scary."
"What? What's so scary about it?"
"It looks just like a beast! The eyes of one eyeing a weak girl! Silently telling her with that 'don't see me as being friendly, there's no prey that'll escape from me' expression! It's really scary!"
"Then aren't those some strange ideas that you instilled in her that made her all scared?"
Kazakiri shoulders seemed to react to Kamijou's shout as they trembled again. She hid behind Index, trembling as she said timidly,
"... That... that..."
"Look, Touma! Your shouting made Hyouka even more afraid!"
"Ahh... alright, alright! I understand, treat me like a beast! Since I'm a beast, I'll show you a beast! LET ME SHOW YOU WHAT AN EVIL KAMIJOU IS REALLY LIKE!!"
"... Well... I'm not... afraid... it's just that I want to propose... lunch..."
Kazakiri said in a barely audible voice. The duo who was arguing and almost giving up immediately shut up on hearing her, turning towards her at the same time.
Kazakiri Hyouka pointed a finger.
Following where she was pointing, they saw a restaurant.
Part 2
"School canteen?"
"Yes, a school canteen."
Like the time when they had entered the underground street, Kamijou explained it to a thoroughly confused Index.
The Kamijou trio walked into what looked like an ordinary popular chain restaurant. They were seated at a 4-seater table, Kamijou and Index were facing each other, and Kazakiri was sitting beside Index.
On a side note, the calico cat was resting on Index's lap. They had originally thought that it would be illegal for them to bring pets in, but unexpectedly, cats were acceptable. Looking closely, the company that owned the restaurant was the same as the one that operated the chain of restaurants that allowed pets in.
"There're too many schools here in Academy City, so one can already form a restaurant by choosing the best from all the canteens. Even though it's a school canteen, it does have diet value. Once you arrive here, you'll be able to tell what the other schools are eating."
"Oh, but Touma, what's the meaning of a diet lunch in a school canteen?"
asked Index, as she stared at the huge drawing board-like menu with a taunting look.
Truthfully, as Kamijou had lost his memory, he didn't remember what a diet lunch for compulsory education was. However, there were still some remains of knowledge inside him, so he roughly knew what that was.
"Basically, that's just food that can only be obtained from school."
"So... so cool! Is this the so-called limited edition?"
"... Ah, whatever, I'm too lazy to explain. That's right, it's really rare!"
"Erm... since you ignored it... because you're too lazy... I don't think that it's really..."
Kamijou was too lazy to retort since he was sleep deprived, and Kazakiri could only mutter two sentences back, but these words didn't seem to reach Index's ears. Index's face was blocked by the huge menu like a father who only read newspapers. Then, Index peeked her eyes out from above the menu and said to Kamijou,
"Touma, I can choose anything?"
"Ah—don't choose one that's too expensive."
Kamijou said casually, but deep inside, he was not really nervous. That was because all the dishes in the shop were either those that originated from school canteens or diet lunches, so logically, they shouldn't be too expensive.
'PA!' Index slammed the menu onto the table, pointed at a photo in an angle such that Kamijou was able to see it, and said,
"I want this."
"Hm? Which one?"
Kamijou looked at where Index's slender white finger was pointing. On the menu, it read:
'Tokiwadai Middle School Diet Meal—4, 000 yen'
Without saying anything else, Kamijou closed the menu and knocked Index on the head with the corner of the menu.
"It hurts! Why did you suddenly hit me!?"
"Didn't I say that you can't choose those that are too expensive? Are you intending to ignore me like that?"
That electric Middle-schooler was actually eating such delicious food? Kamijou inadvertently wondered. He gingerly opened the menu again and took a look. The photographs of dishes looked like a deluxe meal that could only be eaten in a highly decorated restaurant, seemingly shining.
"... Ah... then... I want this..."
Sitting beside Kamijou and Index, who ware making a ruckus, Kazakiri Hyouka pointed her finger at a certain dish on the same page.
The photo of this diet lunch looked ordinary, a simple French loaf and milk.
Kamijou was looking somewhat touched, maybe because there was finally an example for Index to learn from.
"Watch and learn, Index, this is a good student's answer."
"Wah, Hyouka's tastes are so bland. I prefer to eat something fancy."
Facing Index, who was still arguing, Kamijou sighed.
"When you choose food, you should go by taste and not appearance, Index. Also, DON'T TRY TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO RECOMMEND KAZAKIRI THE TOKIWADAI MIDDLE SCHOOL DIET MEAL, IDIOT! KAZAKIRI'S ALL DEJECTED BECAUSE SHE GOT LABELED AS BLAND AND WONDERING WHETHER SHE SHOULD CHANGE ORDERS NOW!"
Kamijou couldn't help but shout out. On hearing this, Kazakiri seemed like she got shocked as she quickly grabbed the huge menu and blocked her face. It seemed like her relationship value with Kamijou just got so little that it was impossible to drop any further. It seemed like trying to get it back was harder than trying to ascend into Heaven.
After a while, the trio's serving of meals was served.
The contents included paper-carton milk, French loaves (one can choose to spread margarine), meat and potato stew, salad, fried chicken, and cup-sized yoghurt for dessert. According to the waitress who was dressed like a diet lunch server, the characteristics of the diet lunch was that it mixed both Japanese and Western cuisines, ignoring international diversity. The price was slightly higher than an original diet lunch because the ingredients used were different even though the dishes were the same, and they couldn't mass produce to lower the cost.
"Alright, everyone, let's tuck in. Oh yeah, Kazakiri, why did you choose this? Is it because you like yogurt?"
The dishes of this shop were sorted by schools, so besides the contents of the dishes, there were other reasons why these were chosen. For example, one wanted to get into a school but couldn't make it, and so they wanted to eat the food that the school offered.
However, Kazakiri didn't seem to have these thoughts. She shook her head and said,
"... That... that's... because I haven't eaten... this kind of meal before..."
"Oh? Your school never provided you with meals ever since young?"
"Erm... yeah."
For some reason, Kazakiri looked guilty, and right now, Kamijou was thinking...
(She never had a diet lunch, so that means that she had bentos for lunch all the while? In other words, it's not that she made her own bento, but that her dorm provides bentos? I'm so envious, I want a bento for lunch as well. No need to fight with others over food, I can eat in a refined manner. Hai, that dorm of mine doesn't provide breakfast nor bentos for lunch. Hold on, don't I have someone who's eating free meals at home? If I ask Index to make a bento... nonono, don't even think about that, how can that girl even cook when she can't even use a microwave?)
"Hehhehhehhehhehheh..."
Kamijou showed a sinister smile, releasing negative energy at the same time.
"... Erm... may I know... why... are your eyes so terrifying..."
"Hyouka, this is Touma's old habit. Just forgive him with regards to this, please?"
Part 3
A lady in black dress was walking on a street.
Her name was Sherry Cromwell. She was a member of the English Anglican anti-magic group 'Necessarius', and was also well versed in Kabbalah idols. She smiled as she walked through the crowd.
She had originally thought that the tattered and frilly dress of hers would attract a lot of attention, but unexpectedly, the students didn't really react much. In this city, it seemed like age factors were a lot more obvious than clothing. As 80% of the population here were students, it was rare to find anyone above 25, and a Gothic girl like her being here wasn't rare.
"—Originally as dirt—"
Sherry walked along and recited, seemingly muttering to herself.
She pulled out something similar to white chalk from her tattered sleeve. It was an oil pastel that was meant to draw a magic array, made from Holy salt and oil.
"—God shaped the Earth, gave Life to it, and named them humans—"
Sherry sang as she held onto the oil pastel and drew on the vending machines beside her at a sword-draw speed, forming lines that looked like words and yet looked like lines.
"—And the mortals learnt the secrets from the mouths of the Fallen Angels—"
The road guardrail, trees on the pedestrian pathways, cleaning robots and pillars of the wind generators... Sherry's oil pastel covered them all.
"—But the mortals couldn't understand the Holy language, and the Fallen Angels couldn't pass their words correctly—"
After drawing nearly 72 markings, she raised the oil pastel and drew in the air.
"—With this, the life created by human hands will end up as mulch puppets—the time has around, the stone golem with the stench of dirt, Ellis, be loyal to me till the end!"
Finally, Sherry clapped once.
The next moment.
The cracking sound similar to that of a pus bag being burst echoed throughout. It was not once or twice, but numerous. As the sound was rather soft, the students' chatter and footsteps drowned it out, and so no one could hear it.
However, there truly was a change.
The beverage vending machines, road guardrail, trees on the pedestrian pathways, cleaning robots and pillars of the wind generators... ping-pong ball-sized objects bulged out like bubbles from a swamp from all the places that Sherry had drawn on. Her magic wasn't limited to materials, anything in her hand could be used as a weapon.
A crack formed on the ping-pong ball's surface, forming a horizontal crack.
Like a peeled grape, what appeared from the cracks were white muddy eyeballs.
Sherry took out a black piece of paper that was as big as a postcard.
"Automatic library. The target is this, right... Kaza... kiri... how do I pronounce this? Are the standard text of this country all pictures?"
The white oil pastel danced, quickly writing the words on the black piece of paper. Sherry didn't really know how to read kanji, and could only process the words in her brain into a 'picture', and copy the 'words' onto the paper.
Then, Sherry flicked a finger, and the postcard-sized black paper flew out, landing on the ground like a Frisbee.
The words on the paper read: Kazakiri Hyouka.
The black paper with white wording looked like a reverse-coloured pencil written piece of paper, causing the numerous eyeballs to be absorbed over.
The eyeballs gobbled up the piece of paper, ripped it and absorbed it into their mud-like bodies. Several seconds later, the black piece of paper disappeared.
The numerous eyeballs that ate up the scraps of paper scattered away like a crowd of cockroaches, moving in all directions. Some moved along the floor, some dove underground, all the eyeballs were moving.
"Don't make me wait too long, Ellis."
Sherry smiled as she said this, and disappeared into the crowd.
Part 4
After finishing their meal, the Kamijou trio walked out of the shop.
Index recalled the taste of eating a diet lunch for once and tilted her head as she said,
"It's not unpalatable, but not really good. Mm, how should I describe it? My chest feels a bit weird, there seems to remain a bit of dissatisfaction..."
"These are dishes that were designed for everyday, it's more important that people don't get sick of eating it instead of whether it's delicious. If one's to eat a deluxe meal everyday, anyone will want to puke after one week already, right?"
Index placed her thumb under her chin and looked up. She pondered for a while and then said,
"If it's a deluxe meal, it's also good to eat till I puke."
"... I understand, I understand."
Kamijou answered in self-defeat.
It was now 1 plus in the afternoon, and right now, the surface should be a scorching hell. It was thanks to the air-conditioning that the underground street was at a temperature suitable for humans. He definitely didn't want to leave the underground before the sun set.
Kazakiri Hyouka noticed their looks, and cautiously asked,
"... Erm... excuse me... then... where're we going to play next... ?"
There was not a hint of respect in the tone, so it seemed like she was talking to Index.
"I don't know either. Touma, is there somewhere nice to play?"
To Index, just being in the underground street was already something new to her. Since she didn't feel a sense of dissatisfaction, she decided to give Kamijou the lead.
"Mm... if it's the underground street, there's only the video arcade."
Most of the gaming lands in Academy City were gathered underground, most likely to prevent noise from spreading outside.
Kamijou thought this as he headed outside, and just so passed through the entrance of a video arcade.
The electronic sounds rushed out of the shop like a flood, stunning Index.
"WAH! WAH! What's that? They have so many TVs inside!"
"Oh, that isn't a TV... alright, that is. I'll lose if I go serious. That's a TV, a TV."
"Erm... I have to say... this 'close-one-eye' method is a little..."
Basically, the video arcade shops in Academy City could be classified under two types.
'External shop' and 'internal shop'.
The game consoles of the external shops were imported from outside Academy City, and the internal shops specialised in games developed by Academy City.
Academy City's technology was 20, 30 years more advanced than the outside world, this was apparent from the gaming consoles. However, since the companies from the outside world couldn't match Academy City's advanced technology (since the technology was not released to the outside world), it was easy to have inadequate software when Academy City released their latest games.
Kamijou and company were seeing an 'internal shop'. It was more like an indoor playground than a video arcade. The shop included large sensor pads that were developed through the latest technology, it was basically not much different from a science exhibition.
"So... so cool! It's all shining everywhere, and there's DING DING noises all over the place! To... Touma! I want to go in! I want to try that walala thing!"
Being prompted by Index, the trio walked into the shop. The moment they passed the automatic door, the level of the noises increased by 2, 3 times.
There were many unique large-scale gaming platforms inside the shop. Besides the high-resolution screens and the virtual-reality games that utilized 3D goggles, there were other weird games like rail shooters that tested the 'scaredy-catness' of a person through pulse and brainwaves.
"What do you want to play, Index?"
Kamijou casually asked, but he didn't get a response.
Feeling puzzled, he turned around, only to see Index completely stoned, her eyes emitting a glow of happiness.
"Ah, damn it..."
Kamijou inadvertently muttered.
That abnormally excited look was like the time when she had first seen the calico cat. Index forcefully turned her head around and said to Kamijou,
"All of them! I want to play all of them! Touma, Touma! That first!"
Unable to wait any longer, Index tugged forcefully at Kamijou's wrist as she moved forward. The target was similar to those bumper cars in the oval stadiums, it was just that the bumper cars were replaced with walking robots that had two legs below the chair.
In this scenario, Index was invincible.
Kamijou was worried about his wallet as he sighed deeply. Coincidentally turning around to look, Kazakiri gave a smile of compassion and pity.
Part 5
"HAHA! Hm, this Kamijou Touma. To think that Tsukuyomi-sensei's class actually has such interesting students, I'm so envious! My class has only elite students, it's so boring!"
After class in the empty teachers' restroom, Yomikawa Aiho laughed heartily.
Leaving her black hair tied behind her head, Yomikawa Aiho had the sexy allure of a mature adult. Just wearing a strict looking grey suit made her look like an English teacher in an A film. It was too bad that her subject was P. E. that she was always wearing a green sports jacket. In all sorts of way, there was always an imperfection.
Yomikawa placed both hands on her hips and lifted her chest that was bigger than Komoe-sensei, and said,
"Speaking of which, to actually bring a girl from outside, that sure looks interesting! Those brats in my class wouldn't even think of doing such a thing. If I could have such a person, I'd love that person without any reservations."
On a side note, she was a member of Anti-Skill, and her 'love' more or less encompassed violence that an old generation PE teacher would execute. Even though her philosophy was 'not to use weapons against students, even if they were Level 4', when there was a berserking esper, she would recklessly mobilize all sorts of special material helmet or enhanced transparent plastic riot shield that riot forces use and slam it hard. As she herself said, "This is a tool of defence, so it's alright". Because of that, her nickname was 'the woman who uses a comical way to solve a tragedy'.
On hearing this, Komoe-sensei, who promoted peace, stared at the violent teacher in front of her soullessly, and said,
"What, someone outside comes running into our school, shouldn't Anti-Skill bear some responsibility? What would happen if it were dangerous people who came in instead of those children? And don't you dare do anything bad to Kamijou! It'll be troublesome if you continue to hit him on the head and make him so idiotic that it's irreparable."
"Ah, alright, alright, I was only joking. Either way, I know the difference between a good fool and a bad fool. Really, your personality hasn't changed at all, always speaking up for your own students."
"I... I'm not speaking up for my own students! I just feel that, as a teacher, since the parents have sent their precious children to me... !"
"Alright alright, don't cry already. Seems like you're going to cry out a mess at their graduation ceremony."
"Uuu... uuuuu! What... what has it got to do with crying! My tears always come out every year, I can't do anything about it!"
"Haha! Here, here."
Yomikawa patted Komoe-sensei's head, and Komoe-sensei swung her arms forcefully to push Yomikawa's hand away.
"Oh yes, sensei. Didn't you mention that there were two outsiders who came in?"
On hearing Yomikawa's words, Komoe-sensei was stunned for a while.
Recently, many schools had installed surveillance cameras near school grounds. If there were any suspicious people around, it was rather normal for them to be investigated.
However, Komoe-sensei had already reported to the other teachers in the teachers' restroom that there was no need to investigate Index further. That white nun had had quite a few meetings with Komoe-sensei, so she was not considered an 'outsider', and there was something awkward about saying it out.
"What's the problem—?"
"Nothing, I just want to check, is it really two people?"
"???"
Just as Komoe-sensei was wondering about this puzzling question and tilting her head, a knocking on the door could be heard, followed by the door opening. Yomikawa closed one eye and said,
"This is a bit problematic, so please keep it from the students for now. I'll talk about the details next time. Mm, just so happened to have not enough time now."
"Ah, you have something to deal with now?"
"Oh, this is to be kept a secret from the students. Well, it's Anti-Skill work. Later on, we'll be heading out to hunt a huge prey. For this, I've got to take a walk underground. Bye bye."
After saying that, Yomikawa exited the room, passing by the female student who entered the teachers' restroom.
Komoe-sensei was puzzled as she recalled this for a while, and then turned over to focus on the student.
"I brought the thing back."
"Ah, Himegami! Sorry to bother you."
In the empty restroom, Komoe-sensei, who was sitting on the chair, waved her arms happily.
It was the opening ceremony today, and so school was dismissed at noon. Right now, the only ones in school were the students involved in club programmes and teachers in charge of providing consultation. Komoe-sensei was an exception, she was staying behind in school to help her friend finish a report.
(Only the school has the teaching staff's specialized access use 'Level B' connection, how troublesome. If my house had connection, it would be a lot more convenient for me to work. )
There were different levels of networking in Academy City, and the amount of information each level could get was different. To someone who wished to work from home, it wasn't something that she would be rather happy about.
"I'm really sorry—I shouldn't be asking students to do this, but sensei really can't get away—"
"It's alright. But it's this book right? I found a large number of specialized books in the room, and they all looked the same, so I couldn't be certain."
"Mm, mm, it's this book alright."
Komoe-sensei received the thick leather cover book that Himegami brought over and placed her hand on her face as she dawdled. The cover had large gold words 'AIM dispersal fields and their possibilities' on it.
"AIM... what is that?"
"Hahaha, you asked the same question that Kamijou asked."
Komoe-sensei said happily,
"An AIM dispersal field refers to the weak energy that an esper involuntarily produces in all aspects."
Himegami remained silent.
Involuntarily giving off an energy, Himegami's 'presence that attracts vampires' was probably considered one of those.
Komoe-sensei didn't notice the delicately frozen expression on Himegami's face as she leaned back onto her chair.
"Ah... Himegami, I'm sorry for what happened today. Sensei wanted to lecture that Kamijou who skipped through the opening ceremony and had to get another teacher to host the homeroom lesson. You must have felt uneasy with being tossed into a place full of classmates that you're unfamiliar with, right?"
"There's no problem, no need to worry at all. Oh yeah, what did Kamijou Touma do?"
"Speaking of which, Himegami, sensei must say this to you. To sensei, if Kamijou just went off to look for that nun, at least it can be excused, but to think that he would bring another girl into the school as well, and even talk with her in the canteen."
On hearing the phrase 'another girl', Himegami's eyes became sharp.
The image of the girl who was standing together with Index at the school gate appeared in her mind.
"Excuse me, how does the girl look like?"
"You're mindful of it? Oh hoho."
Himegami responded with silence, and Komoe-sensei's smile inadvertently froze. She then said,
"Erm... mm, the biggest features are the spectacles that always slide down and the long handful of hair popping out from beside her ears. Also, her uniform's different from ours; it's a short-sleeved blouse with a red tie to match the dark blue skirt. She seems like a fine girl, always facing everything around her carefully, it's this sort of a feeling."
After hearing this, Himegami sunk into deep thoughts alone.
What's that girl's name?
"Komoe-sensei?"
"Ah, what is it?"
"Do we have a student called Kazakiri Hyouka here?"
Part 6
They had already spent 8, 000 yen just by making a round of the shops.
"Ho... ah, so interesting. I'm satisfied already, Touma."
"... Ah, Mr Kamijou's all satisfied as well. Oi, calico cat, we'll eat bread crusts for our meals from today onwards, is that alright?"
Kamijou said wearily. Like a snake, the calico cat let out a 'woah! Meow!' threatening cry as he refused this proposal.
"Touma, Touma, what will we play next?"
"... Let me rest for a while."
"Touma, how about another round?"
"PLEASE DON'T! I'LL GO BANKRUPT FOR SURE!"
Kamijou cried out in agony.
At this moment, as if grabbing the opportune time, Kamijou's cellphone let out a voice breaking hoarse ringing. It was not because the features weren't adequate, but because he had mistreated it badly in the past, causing the speakers to have some problems. However, to this Kamijou who passed through such a joyous summer, it was a miracle that the cellphone still worked.
Kamijou picked up his phone and looked, it seemed to be a phone call instead of a message. The screen displayed a number that he had never seen before. He turned his back on Index and Kazakiri and pressed the button on the cellphone. Seeing this, the acutely sharp Kazakiri said,
"... How about... we go get a drink?"
"Hm? Then let's get Touma along..."
"We'll buy his at the same time..."
After saying that, Kazakiri grabbed Index's hand and left Kamijou. Kamijou raised his empty hand, gently gave a 'thank you' hand signal, and used his other hand to agilely reach inside his wallet, take out some spare change and toss it at Kazakiri. Kazakiri was somewhat shocked by this as she frantically reached out to receive it.
After seeing both of them leave, Kamijou focused on his cellphone.
Unexpectedly, even though he specially created a space when Index and Kazakiri weren't around, the noise within the cellphone was rather serious, he couldn't hear clearly at all.
"... pssstt... hello... hello... bsssstttt... hear... bsssttt... this is Hime... bssttt..."
And also, this was the inside of a video arcade, there were electronic sounds overpowering everything else.
"... bsssttt... where's... bsssstt... Ka... Hyouka... ? Bsssttt... I heard... bsssttt... incredi... bsssttt... bbbsssssssttttt!"
Hua! The call suddenly cut off.
He could barely hear that it was the voice of a female, but he couldn't hear the contents. Though the voice seemed somewhat familiar, there was too much excessive noise, so he couldn't tell.
"Can't be helped. This is an underground street..."
There were cellphone communication centers in the underground, but once he was too far away from it, he wouldn't be able to receive the signal.
"What's going on?"
Feeling puzzled, Kamijou folded his cellphone back together and put it back into his pocket.
"Touma's not scary at all."
Inside the vending machine and smoking area deep inside the arcade, Index said this. Kazakiri Hyouka stared back at her through the spectacles, and replied,
"... Eh?"
"So Hyouka doesn't need to be so afraid. Touma won't do anything bad to you."
"Ah... mm."
Kazakiri slightly lowered her head and said,
"... It's not... that I'm... afraid or hate him... no..."
"???"
"... I don't really understand myself... it's like... I don't dare to touch... a woolen sweater with lots of static electricity gathered on it..."
"Oh..."
Index blankly nodded her head. In all truthfulness, she didn't understand what static electricity was. Seeing Index reveal such a puzzled look, Kazakiri said,
"... Maybe this is because... this is... my first time talking to a guy..."
After that, both of them remained silent for a while.
After a while, Kazakiri changed the topic and said,
"Speaking of which... those games were really interesting... I saw you being quite happy..."
"You too, Hyouka. Do you come here often?"
"No... this is my first time as well."
Kazakiri forced a smile, pulled out some 100-yen coins and placed them on her palm.
"What... do you want to buy?"
"Uu... I don't want to touch a vending machine again. I've no idea of how to use that thing properly. You do it, Hyouka."
Index puffed her cheeks as she said this, and Kazakiri forced a smile. Seemed like the incident involving the school canteen's coupon vending machine had affected her really badly.
"... This is my first time... I don't know what's nicer... I'll press, you choose."
"Eh, Hyouka, you never drank before?"
Index casually asked. Index didn't have any knowledge regarding modern times at all, so she didn't understand what was wrong with it.
And Kazakiri Hyouka again said in a tone that was no different from before,
"Mm, today's my first time."
Part 7
Who in the world called? Kamijou pondered over that question for quite a while. However, he suddenly remembered, even after so long, Index and Kazakiri weren't back yet?
(Don't tell me... they got lost?)
Based on common knowledge, the possibility wasn't great, but thinking about it calmly, common sense didn't really apply to Index and Kazakiri. For assurance, Kamijou decided to look for both of them.
"Oi—! Index! Kazakiri!"
Kamijou looked around and headed inside the shop. All the gaming platforms inside the arcade were rather huge, almost as big as a car, and these would form plenty of blind spots when arranged. He peered into the gaps between the large gaming platforms as he moved around. Even though he would occasionally be stared at by students who were queuing up, he ignored them as he continued to look.
Soon, he arrived at a rest area. There were three vending machines there.
(Eh? Didn't Kazakiri say that she wanted to buy some drinks... ? Did she miss it along the way?)
Kamijou brought a slightly puzzled look as he looked around.
At that moment, 5 girls dressed in bunny suits passed by Kamijou.
"What?"
This scene shocked Kamijou. The bunny girls casually walked into the shop, and after a while, they were all gathered at a rather old sticker photo taker, smiling as they took the photo.
(???That... what was that? Does this shop provide this clothing service?)
Looking closely, the bunny suits that the girls were wearing had many butterfly knots and shoulder decorations. Though he hadn't seen it before, it should be of some anime figurine. From the original concept of design and the large amount of skin exposed, it seemed to be a certain female character from a shoujo anime.
Anyway, the most important thing was that they were happy. Thinking about this, Kamijou wanted to look away. Index and Kazakiri didn't seem to be around here either. Kamijou thus turned around and decided to check the exit or counter, however...
Suddenly, he could hear the familiar female voices.
"... Erm... well... may I check again... are we really wearing this... ?"
"We have to, we have to! WAH, so cool! They have Magical Powered Kanamin clothing!"
"Are you... really going... to wear that?"
Those were definitely Index and Kazakiri's voices. Where? Where were they? Kamijou frantically moved his head as he looked around. The voices seemed to come from the other side of the three vending machines.
Kamijou frowned as he moved to the rear of the vending machines. There was a changing room surrounded by a curtain behind the vending machines. The bar hanging the curtain was tilted, and the cloth was a little dirty, it seemed like this wasn't a well-maintained facility.
The voice came from inside.
"But this is too small, I can't wear it. Are all these clothes for babies to wear?"
"Ah, about that... if you adjust the slider near the waist... you should be able to change the size."
"Eh? Ah... WAHH! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? THE CLOTHES JUST EXPANDED!"
"Eh... it shouldn't be made by some shape memory alloy... but air. The fibers used to make the cloth are tube-like, so letting air in will cause the fibers to expand, allowing easy adjustments to the sizing... that should be the way how this works..."
(Eh, hold on, I seem to have seen something similar before. )
Kamijou's basic instincts caused him to search his memory. There seemed to have been something similar in the school's infirmary. Yes, very similar. When he had gone to look for Index who went missing for so long, he had opened the door to look; only to see her exposed. Kamijou arrived in front of the changing room and stood in front of the curtain. The people inside should be Index and Kazakiri alright, but he was a little worried that he may get the wrong person. Kamijou carefully asked,
"Are you inside, Index?"
The next moment, there were short prompting sounds of 'YAH!' and 'AHH!'; it was as if someone had poured ice inside their clothes.
"To... Totototototouma! Why are you outside?"
"Erm... ah... if you open it now, I'll be very troubled... really troubled!"
The voices sounded anxious. Even though they were separated by a curtain, any girl would be anxious about suddenly hearing a guy's voice while they were changing. Even Kazakiri, who was only as audible as a mosquito, was screaming. Seemed like she was completely naked now.
"OK, this Kamijou won't repeat the same mistake he made at the infirmary! I will definitely not pull the curtain aside, and will not trip inside. I get it, I get it, anyway, Mr Kamijou will leave this place for now."
"Ah, mm, okay, see you later, Touma."
"... Erm... if possible... please don't look at me... even after I changed clothes..."
On hearing their voices, Kamijou slowly backed away, maintaining a distance of about 3m from the curtain. There was no anomaly. The curtain of the changing room was like a bronze wall protecting Index and Kazakiri. Very good, very good, nothing happened. Just as Kamijou relaxed and was about to turn away...
PA!
Without warning, the curtain suddenly collapsed.
"Eh... ?"
As the slanted bar had been roughly abused for a long time, the curtain wasn't hooked tightly. Like a deluxe shopping item that was covered finally being revealed, the entire changing room was exposed.
The next moment, all the voices inside Kamijou's head vanished.
The two girls froze.
Index was wearing the Magical Powered Kanamin clothing that she had seen broadcasted yesterday. The white-based clothing looked fluffy.
The problem though was that her skirt wasn't buttoned, and there were some parts that were exposed, only that they couldn't be written here.
Kazakiri Hyouka was even worse off. She had chosen the clothing of the female antagonist (who would end up joining the protagonist midway through the series)... no, thinking about it, it was most likely a forced choice. The most problematic thing was that it was no different from a blank bikini, a sexy armour that didn't look like it had any defensive capabilities (though there was a detachable skirt underneath, the front of the skirt was split in half, so it had no significance other than being a decoration). As there was a need to show lots of skin, it seemed like she couldn't wear any underwear underneath. At that moment, she hadn't yet buttoned her breastplate up, and she was frozen like that while bending herself down until her bottom armour was pulled to a delicate position.
After several seconds of eternal silence, time finally started again.
Index bared her fangs, her eyes letting out killing intent. In contrast, Kazakiri was blushing and trembling, her eyes looking like she was about to cry.
"Erm, hold... hold on a minute! This is preposterous! Alright, let's calm down and analyse this. I was 3m away from the changing room, so my hand can't touch it, and I don't have an esper ability to pull down the curtain, so this isn't my fault... sort of... right..."
"Touma, you're looking here when the curtain dropped, right?"
"It... it wouldn't be so bad... if... you had looked away."
Kazakiri still was giving an embarrassed look even when tears were forming in her eyes, this was interesting. Kamijou thought as he tried to escape from reality.
"Erm, in other words, are we still doing that, Miss Index?"
Index nodded her head as she buttoned up, and said,
"It's useless to talk further, Touma."
At the far end of his consciousness, there were the sounds of girls laughing.
"A photo taker... Hyouka, Hyouka! How do you use this machine?"
"Erm... you slot the coin in... and press the button, it'll start taking in 5 minutes..."
"Oo... Hyouka, why do you look so down? Is there anything bothering you?"
"Erm... well... do we really have to take this? I... eh... ah, please wait! Don't press the button! I... I'm still..."
"We're taking it! Don't move, Hyouka, or your face will be all weird!"
"Ah... uuu... please listen to me..."
And on the other side, in a dark corner 3m away from this joyous scene, Kamijou was sprawled on the floor like a torn rag cloth.
Part 8
Having changed back into their usual clothing, Index and Kazakiri's moods were completely different. Index was jumping around in excitement after seeing the huge poster, and Kazakiri was in complete despair, with the depressive sound effect of a New Year's Eve bell. Being seen naked and having an embarrassing photo taken, that double whammy was quite a hit to her.
"Here, Hyouka, each one takes half."
Index didn't care about Kazakiri's response as she folded the group of 16 photo stickers in half along the fold crease, and handed 8 of them to Kazakiri. To Kazakiri, the photos of her were so embarrassing that she wanted to slam her head against the wall and die. However, she also wanted to treasure the photos that she took together with her friend like a precious gift; her face revealing a complicated expression.
"It sure feels like a day passed by really quickly."
Index stared at the half portion of photo stickers that she had, and lamented,
"Is this school life? Hm... so good."
"No no no. School is never fun. School is boring classes and hellish exams."
Truthfully, having lost his memory, Kamijou didn't remember anything, but he still managed to say it in a convincing manner.
Index showed a delighted look to Kamijou, and said,
"Being able to think that such a life is boring is already a blessing."
"... You're right."
After thinking for a while, Kamijou nodded his head.
The world that Index originally lived in was completely different from the world that Kamijou lived in, this was undeniable. Though it was unknown whether that world had school education, any future planning like 'getting into a good school and getting a good job in a good company' was probably just daydreaming.
To her, an ordinary school life was like a treasure that she could never ever get. Among it contained a peaceful world without war, and the warm times that were criticised as boring.
If they continued to stay inside the playground, the coins would continue to disappear at an amazingly fast rate, so Kamijou and the rest decided to move out first.
It had been a while since they had walked into the shop, but the warmth of the underground street didn't look like it was going to subside anytime soon. However, there was gradually an increase in number of students wearing plainclothes as compared to uniforms as they were walking on the path. Seemed like they went back to their dorms before coming back out to play. There was no sunlight in the underground street, and the lights were always set at a certain brightness, so they could only use that to experience the passing of time. In order to prevent themselves from blocking other people's path, Kamijou leaned against the wall as he talked to Index and Kazakiri. At that moment, a high school student-looking girl ran past them. The girl was wearing a 'Judgement' armband.
"... hm?"
Kamijou casually looked away, only to find the 'Judgement' member stopping and glaring at him. Kamijou was shocked as the girl angrily stormed forward at him in large steps.
Then, the girl mightily stood right in front of Kamijou, and said,
"Hey, how many times have I told you already? Why are you still standing around casually? Hurry up and escape! HURRY!"
Suddenly being scolded, not just Kamijou, even Index and Kazakiri were shocked.
(Eh... hold on, did she talk to me just now?)
The first thing that this stranger said to him made Kamijou all confused. On seeing this, the 'Judgement' member frowned and said,
"Telepathy! Couldn't you hear it!?"
The girl was so nervous that her face was becoming red with anxiety. Index and Kazakiri let out a 'WAH!' and 'KYAH!' at the same time. Both of them frantically looked around, saying,
"Ah... that's strange... I seemed to have heard... it came from nowhere..."
"Uu... I seemed to have heard a voice in my mind..."
Index and Kazakiri let out an incredulous look, with Kamijou being the only one with no response at all.
"Ah... telepathy, it's that ability to talk to others from far away, right? Komoe-sensei seemed to have said it before during remedial that there are many types of information transfer abilities, like reading body currents, hearing low frequency sounds from outside a domain... but this is like a wired telephone, isn't it?"
Kamijou raised his right hand and placed it in front of Index, and Index revealed a surprised look. Seemed like the telepathy ability was cut off, so Index couldn't hear the 'voice' in her mind.
A wired call.
Like what the name implied, it manipulated air vibration to create a frequency, an invisible 'wire'. That was also one of the information transfer abilities. The 'wire' was like an acoustic tube, able to pass the vibrations created by the 'sound', and passing it out through a 'connected circuit' in mid-air, ending up with the ones standing at the exit being the only ones able to hear it. As the 'wire' was invisible, Kamijou didn't understand the path, but it was likely that Kamijou's right hand touched the telepathy 'wire' between him and the girl, so only Kamijou couldn't hear it.
"Speaking of which, is the research on telepathy still ongoing? Didn't I hear that with the prevalence of handphones, it's becoming obsolete together with pagers?"
"... You."
The Judgement girl was popping blue veins out of her forehead, and said,
"Why can't my 'voice' reach you? Never mind, I'll just say it to you then."
The girl stepped towards Kamijou.
"Eh?"
"Right now, there're terrorists in this underground street. A red alert was issued from above, and the arrest operation shall start in... 902 seconds. At that time, we'll lower the separation wall and seal off the entire underground street, and there'll be a gunfight. Thus, I was ordered to instruct everyone to escape as soon as possible, do you understand me now?"
On hearing that, Kamijou couldn't help but be shocked.
Index didn't understand what a red alert was at all, and though Kazakiri did, she was revealing a look of utter disbelief, and both of them could only stand around blankly after hearing the Judgement member's words.
"If the terrorist knows of the arrest operation, the terrorist may try to escape, so we can't broadcast it outside, and can only use my telepathy. You people also need to remain natural as you escape, don't make too much noise."
"Oh... giving telepathy to people other than the terrorist? Eh? So that means you people know how the terrorist looks?"
"As an ordinary civilian, you don't have to worry about this. The warrant we have has a photo, so there's no need to worry."
The Judgement member pulled out a foldable mobile phone and flipped it open. The screen displayed a photo, and thinking logically, one would assume that it was the photo of the terrorist. Kamijou got close as he tried to take a look, but the girl had already folded the photo back with one hand.
"Alright, alright, since you understand, hurry up and leave. There's about 800 seconds till the sealing of the underground street."
The Judgement girl said these words before leaving.
Kamijou again looked around. The students who heard the 'voice' were obviously looking panicky, but they still followed the instructions of moving towards the exit in a natural way. However, to an outsider, it was like they were taking a stroll, doing an evacuation drill as if it was just practice.
"Oi oi, this is troublesome... let's get out of here first, Index."
There was no need to attract trouble. Kamijou decided to take Index and Kazakiri along and quickly leave the place.
However...
(... Ah, hold on, this is bad. )
While arriving in front of the staircase exit of a certain department store, Kamijou inadvertently stopped in his tracks. The two girls stared at Kamijou suspiciously.
There were 4, 5 fully-armed male Anti-Skill member standing near the exit. They were all clad in black, wearing safety helmets and goggles on their heads, looking like robots. Each of them was holding a rifle that Kamijou had never seen before.
Index wasn't a resident of this city. Even though it was unknown who had issued her temporary ID, her real identity was still of an illegal immigrant.
If she was investigated... she may be arrested.
Normally, they wouldn't be so mindful, there was no problem for Index to walk around like an ordinary person. However, it was now an emergency, Anti-Skill had set up a checkpoint, and any suspicious personnel would be thoroughly investigated. If so, they may discover that Index was an outsider.
Truthfully, during events like the Olympics or the World Cup, due to the heightened security, even drunks who weren't affecting the operations of the event would be arrested. Right now, the security situation with Index was similar to that.
Though he didn't know who was the terrorist who had snuck in, because of this, Kamijou and company were in a dilemma now. If they were to casually approach the exit, they may be arrested by Anti-Skill, but if they were to stay in the underground street, they may end up involved in a gunfight.
(Sigh, looks like we can only move in head on. Being arrested by Anti-Skill and getting involved in a gunfight, at least the former's a bit better. Damn it, it's irritating to have to make such a rough decision. )
Though there was an element of danger to this, Kamijou decided to leave first.
However, he was unable to finish this idea.
An anomaly in this everyday life blocked his exit.
"—Found you."
They could hear a woman's voice.
The problem came from within the wall that's empty.
Kamijou turned around, and was momentarily stunned. At approximately his eyes' height, there was tea-coloured mud that was as big as a palm. It looked like chewing gum that had been spit on the wall.
And right in the middle of the mud was a human eyeball.
The eyeball acted like a camera lens, moving continuously.
On seeing the eyeball, Kazakiri was stunned. Maybe it was because she couldn't believe what she had just seen, she just treated it like a fake eyeball that was made of glass. Truthfully, Kamijou was almost the same. The back of his brain felt numb, making him unable to process the information in front of him.
Only Index didn't seem to be surprised, as she inspected the eyeball calmly.
The surface of the mud trembled slightly like ripples, making a 'sound'.
"Hoho... hohoho... hohohohoho. The Index, Imagine Breaker, key to the Imaginary District. Which should I choose? I can choose anyone of them? Hoho, how troublesome. Too many options can also be quite a bother."
The woman's voice was rather bewitching, yet ridiculously heavy, such that it made one think of a songstress who's vocal cords were damaged from smoking.
But that dispirited tone suddenly changed drastically.
"—Never mind, I just need to kill you all anyway."
It became an overly rough voice even if it was from a pub in the suburbs.
Kamijou was unable to tell where the mysterious invader was, and he had no idea whether the mysterious block of mud was of esper power or magic.
But Index said without hesitation,
"A human image that's made from dirt—this spell that's interpreted from the Kabbalah is similar to those that we English Anglicans use, especially the Jewish guardian stone golem that was forced to be a guardian Angel of England."
Facing Index's sudden change, Kamijou was unable to respond quickly. Even though he was about to ask her for an explanation, he didn't understand anything at all.
So, Kamijou decided to ask this first.
"Stone golem... you mean this eyeball?"
He inadvertently pointed towards the mud and eyeball that was on the wall. Though he wanted to puke at such a disgusting thing, at least it was not life-threatening. Besides, in Kamijou's mind, a 'stone golem' was one of those huge stupid stone puppets that appeared in games.
However, Index continued to stare at the eyeball, and said,
"It was said that God created humans through dirt. The stone golem is the end product of this theory. This magician must have created a stone golem that focuses on the eyeballs in order to search and monitor. Normally, the caster can only create one such stone golem, but if there's only one eyeball, the composition to create a stone golem will drastically decrease, allowing the caster to create even more of it."
After Index finished, the eyeball started to shake the surface and let out a bewitching laugh.
Kamijou didn't understand the secret behind this, but at least he managed to understand that the mud and eyeball were like a remote control, there was someone controlling it.
"If so... this magician is the terrorist?"
"Hoho."
The mud laughed.
"A terrorist? A terrorist!? Hoho, this so-called terrorist, are you talking about someone who does this?"
PAM! With this sound, the mud and eyeball exploded, melted into the wall and disappeared.
The next moment,
BOOM! The entire underground street trembled violently.
"What... ?"
Kamijou felt like he was sitting on a boat in the midst of a storm as he started to tumble around. From the corner of his vision, he saw Kazakiri holding tightly onto Index, who almost fell down.
The tremendous tremor again struck the underground street as if it had been hit by a direct cannon hit. The centre of the attack seemed to be far away, but it instantly spread throughout the entire underground.
Copious amounts of dust scattered down from the ceiling.
After the lights flicker twice, all the lights disappeared at the same time. Several seconds later, the emergency red lights were lit, vaguely illuminating the surroundings.
The crowd that had been slowly walking towards the exit as if it were an evacuation drill instantly collapsed into chaos. The sound of wild bull-like footsteps could be heard.
After that, a low, heavy sound echoed throughout.
Anti-Skill lowered the separation wall a lot sooner than expected.
It was unknown why the separation wall was abnormally thick, maybe it was used to prevent flooding in the underground street during a flood, or maybe it was meant to be an air-raid shelter. The steel doors descended down from the ceiling, slowly sealing the exit. The rear end of the escaping crowd got cut off, and the separation wall touched the floor just like that. The students that were nearly crushed and the students that didn't manage to escape were in a frenzy as they continued to hit the thick and heavy steel wall. Some of them rushed over to the Anti-Skill personnel who were at the checkpoint.
They were shut in.
The crowd was squeezed in at the narrow exit, forming a human wall, so Kamijou and company were unable to get near. If this situation was already anticipated by the enemy, it seemed like the enemy had already confirmed Kamijou and company's location, the layout and the crowd flow. Had the enemy collected all this information through the mud eyeballs scattered all over the place?
"Come on, let the party begin—"
From the corroded mud, a woman's voice could be heard. It was like a pre-mortem cry made by the 'destroyed eye', yet also sounds like a broken trumpet.
"—continue to scream in this foul smelling grave of dirt."
Again, a larger impact shook the entire underground street.
Part 9
Not giving up, Kamijou tried to look for another exit, but it was useless. The stairs and lift were sealed off by the wall, and the air vents weren't large enough for people to pass through.
The temperature underground started to rise, maybe because the air-conditioning system wasn't working any longer. Under the shining emergency red lights, the entire underground seemed like it had become an oven. He knew that it was a psychological effect, but there was the feeling of air becoming less. The uneasy feeling of being buried in a large space continued to build up within his heart.
Kamijou stared at the far end of the dark corridor, gritted his teeth, and said,
"... The one who attacked us seems to be clear about our appearances, seems like we can only fight back. Index, go find a place to hide with Kazakiri."
The enemy knew where they were. Though the enclosed space was spacious, once the enemy did a thorough search, they would be found out no matter where they hid.
The enemy's objective was to kill all three of them, and there was no way to escape. There was only one thing to do.
(Before the enemy can attack Kazakiri, I have to take the initiative and fight back. Damn it, if I knew how many enemies there are, at least I could come up with some sort of strategy... )
Just as Kamijou was thinking about this, Index, who was carrying the calico cat, puffed her cheeks and said,
"Touma, you should go ahead and hide with Hyouka. Since the enemy's a magician, I should handle this."
"Idiot, you're so skinny and frail, how can you fight? If you punch someone with your fist, the one likely to be injured is your own fist. Enough talk, hurry up and go hide with Kazakiri."
"Humph, Touma. Did you think that those past lucky breaks of yours were of your own ability? Even if you have an inexplicable power, you're still an amateur to magic. Since you're an amateur, you should go and hide with Hyouka."
"HA! What nonsense are you spouting!? This Kamijou is the incarnate of misfortune, there's no such thing as being lucky in my dictionary... uu, I made myself unhappy by saying that."
At that moment, Kazakiri timidly asked the boy who was wallowing in extreme self-inferiority,
"... Excuse me... I don't know what's going on... but... is there an option involving me helping out... ?"
"None."
Kamijou and Index immediately responded in unison. Kazakiri lowered her head dejectedly.
At that moment, the sound of footsteps could be heard nearby.
"..."
Kamijou rushed forward, intending to protect Index and Kazakiri, and Index rushed forward to protect Kamijou and Kazakiri—in the end, both Kamijou and Index crashed into each other and fell to the ground. Only Kazakiri was left standing, not hurt at all, timidly putting both hands in front of her and not daring to do anything. The footsteps were approaching closer, and the calico cat that was almost being flattened in Index's chest purred, struggling by moving its front paws.
Clack, clack, clack... the footsteps echoed like an old mechanical clock.
From the other side of the corner, there was the voice of a girl.
"Eh? There seems to be a cat meowing."
"Aren't you not interested in animals, Kuroko?"
"Onee-sama's unexpectedly interested in them though."
"I... I'm not..."
"Ho, you can't fool my eyes. Onee-sama will go off to feed the stray cats that gather behind the dorm. The problem is that onee-sama's body always gives off weak static electricity, causing the stray cats to run away, leaving onee-sama alone with the can of cat food in her hand."
"How did you... ? Kuroko! Were you tailing me!?"
The two girls who had appeared from around the corner saw Kamijou and Index on the floor, and stopped. These two people—Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko were definitely not enemies.
I got worried over nothing... Kamijou thought as he relaxed his body, his entire body collapsed onto the floor. Mikoto stared at him with an intrigued look, and asked,
"Why are you here? Why are you tripped by a girl in this situation?"
"... Ara ara, so daring, in broad daylight."
Shirai coldly remarked. For some reason, Mikoto started to let out sparks from her fringe.
On seeing the two girls, Index still had no intention of getting up from Kamijou, and said,
"Touma, who're these two classless women? Do you know them? What's their relationship with you? That short hair looks like that ice queen I met the last time, are they the same person?"
"What..."
On hearing this, Shirai was utterly speechless. In response to Index, who was clearly taunting them, Mikoto revealed a seemingly friendly but dangerous smile.
(Ah... speaking of which, Index did meet Misaka Imouto before. )
Trying to escape from reality, Kamijou thought.
(Eh? But why is it that the atmosphere between these people's rather explosive?)
After a long while, Kamijou dared to drag his thoughts back to reality.
Index and Mikoto exchanged looks.
"From the looks of things, are you Touma's friend?"
"Sort of... ? Hold on, then you're also... ?"
"... Eh, don't tell me Touma's your saviour?"
"Ah... don't tell me you're another 'I didn't ask to be saved but he saved me anyway'?"
"..."
Both of them remained silent for a while, and then sighed. Kamijou was happily thinking that the tense atmosphere between those two had been resolved, only to hear them shout at the same time,
"TOUMA (YOU)!! WHAT ELSE WERE YOU DOING BEHIND MY BACK!?"
They had actually turned from being enemies to having a common enemy.
"WAAAHH!!"
Kamijou quickly closed his originally opened heart.
Seeing Kamijou bombed from two sides, Kazakiri couldn't help but cover her wide open mouth.
Though she felt that Kamijou was rather pitiful, she didn't dare to enter the battlefield. Kazakiri guiltily looked around for a while before finally spotting Shirai Kuroko, who was one step away from them. She decided to muster up courage and ask the only neutral party to mediate; but on closer look, Shirai Kuroko seemed to be muttering to herself.
"(... Really, what saviour? I already noticed that something's amiss, that day this boy came to onee-sama's room, something definitely happened. However, does this mean that onee-sama, who doesn't tell me anything, would tell all her secrets to him? Hoho, really interesting, hohohohoho. )"
Hearing this terrifyingly calm muttering, the spectacles on Kazakiri's face slid down even lower.
So the twin pigtailed girl wasn't a neutral, but a third party. Isolated, Kazakiri could only stand aside, not knowing what to do. To her, barging into this complicated conflict was thoroughly impossible.
After a long lecture, Kamijou was finally let off as he crawled up from below Index. After that, he gave a brief explanation to Mikoto and Shirai. Of course, they wouldn't believe anything about magic, so he avoided it.
"Oo... I'm a little confused here, but anyway, you got involved in something troublesome again? It's a terrorist this time? Hm... Kuroko, speaking of terrorist, is it possibly related to that crazy woman in that gothic dress?"
Mikoto asked Shirai in helplessness.
"Yeah. According to the features of the sounds, there should be a relationship, right? However, I didn't think that there would be an esper who would attack Academy City from the 'outside'... of course, it's not impossible for natural espers to exist, however..."
"Maybe there are other esper development groups other than Academy City. However, in regards to the rumours of espers 'outside', these are as baseless as government conspiracies."
It seemed like since Shirai and Mikoto didn't know about the existence of magic, they tried to explain the current scenario through espers. From the corner of his eye, Kamijou glanced at Index, who was giving an unhappy expression. In order to prevent this from getting complicated, he immediately reached his hand out to prevent her from talking.
Shirai sighed, the 'Judgement' armband on her arm swayed slightly.
"Really, we actually let a terrorist enter. Looks like I've to motivate myself. I heard that there were two groups of intruders today. One group alone created quite the commotion, I'm really worried about what the second group will do."
"Hm?"
On hearing Shirai Kuroko's words, Kamijou felt that something was not right.
"What now, Kuroko? Are there other factors that are causing problems?"
"Yeah. According to the information that I got from Anti-Skill, there are two groups of intruders. As the paths they took were completely different, it's likely that they're not the same group of people. However, we can't confirm that right now."
"Hm... ?"
Shirai Kuroko's words caused Kamijou to start sweating.
Index was the first to realise that something was wrong with Kamijou as she reached out both hands to tug at Kamijou's shirt, asking,
"Touma, why is your body trembling? What's wrong?"
Mikoto smiled slightly at Index,
"Hoho... maybe he finds you to be too irritating?"
"I'M NOT IRRITATING!"
Index shouted, but Kamijou ignored them, saying to everyone,
"Erm... everyone... please don't get angry... but the other group of intruders... may be me."
Everyone present stared at Kamijou in surprise.
Kamijou skillfully avoided all the stares and said,
"Erm, it was like this, I met a foolish man called Yamisaka yesterday. In order to save his friend, I went out of Academy City and only came back this morning. In the end... erm... what? Misaka, Shirai, why are you two giving me that 'I got it, I got it, your old habit's at it again' expression?"
Kamijou's basic instincts told him to quickly change the topic as he managed to quickly think of something and said,
"Oh yeah, why are you two here?"
"I'm a member of Judgement, I'm here to help the people who're trapped here. Don't look at me like that, I do have the 'instant teleport' ability."
"Oh, then Mikoto?"
"Me? Ah, it's nothing..."
"?"
"S... so what!? Why bother about why I'm here!?"
For some reason, Mikoto blushed as she shouted, making Kamijou confused. Standing beside Kamijou, Shirai closed one eye as she didn't even hide the slight dissatisfaction on her face, muttering to herself,
"... (Hai, onee-sama was working with me, but just so happened to spot you on the guard room's red alert surveillance camera, and came running over because she was worried. Of course it's embarrassing for her to say that. )"
Kamijou turned towards Shirai, who in turn turned her head away and ignored him.
Not understanding what games these two were playing, Kamijou started to seriously consider Shirai's teleport ability.
Truly, as long as they used that ability, it was not hard to escape from the sealed underground street.
"As a member of Judgement, I can't just leave the terrorist alone."
Shirai glared at the far end of the dim passage, and then said,
"However, human safety is more important. If Anti-Skill's decision to lower the wall is correct, it means that we don't have much time left. There's going to be a large scale battle here, I have to let everyone escape first."
There were numerous students still stuck behind the wall, unable to escape. They knew that they were just wasting their effort, but they were still trying to push the steel wall aside.
"I understand, Shirai. I'll go buy some time before you save those people who're trapped. You just need to bring those people out."
After saying that, Kamijou was slapped by Shirai, Mikoto and Index from three directions, all at the same time. Mikoto and Index stared at each other bitterly, the meaning seemed to have been 'we have the same idea in regards to such a useless thing'. Only Kazakiri wanted to say something, but didn't dare to, the hand that she had raised didn't seem to know where it should go.
After that, Mikoto seemed to be representing everyone as she said,
"You're the one who should leave. Aren't you people the enemy's targets? How can we leave the people in most danger on the battlefield?"
"... The problem is..."
Kamijou scratched his head, and said,
"My right hand can negate all supernatural powers, including Shirai's."
"Speaking of that... that day when you came over to the girls' dorm, I did fail once."
Recalling this, Shirai muttered to herself. At that moment, Mikoto's eyes became sharp. Kamijou panicked as he took a step back. Because of several circumstances, Kamijou had once entered Mikoto's room.
"An... anyway, Shirai's power isn't going to take me out of here. If so, I can only stay behind and fight the enemy."
On hearing that, Index grabbed onto Kamijou's wrist, and said,
"Then I'm staying too!"
This time, Index was slapped by Kamijou, Mikoto, Shirai and Kazakiri at the same time. Even the frail Kazakiri mustered up courage as she closed her eyes and aimed at the back of Index's back before attacking.
Shirai then placed both hands on her hips and said,
"My power does have its limits... I can at most get two people out. If the kid's heavier than what I expected, it's another case altogether."
"Humph! Do you have any right to call me that when you're the one who most looks like a kid!?"
"What... what did you say? As a piece of washboard, you dare to be so cheeky... !"
Seeing the agitated Shirai Kuroko, Mikoto sighed, and said,
"Alright alright, is there any point in arguing about this? To me, you're all kids."
To a high school student, everyone was a kid, including Mikoto. However, Kamijou didn't say that, only showing a slight smile. This was Kamijou Touma's gentle side.
However, Kamijou didn't realise that Kazakiri, who was standing slightly further away, was now giving a 'babysitter watching over a bunch of immature brats' look at everyone else, including Kamijou.
"However, since you can send only two people at one go... bring Index and Kazakiri away first."
"Touma, you're saying that you want to stay behind with this shorthair?"
Index said in a rather calm tone. She was revealing her fangs, looking like she was ready to strike anytime and bite Kamijou's head.
"... Erm... then Mikoto and Kazakiri."
"Ho, so you're saying that you're going to stay with the brat? Hoho..."
This time, Mikoto's tea-coloured hair started to float in the air due to the static electricity. Bluish-white sparks continued to be emitted in this darkness.
"AAHHH! DAMN IT! THEN INDEX AND MIKOTO!"
Kamijou grabbed onto his head with both hands as he shouted. Shirai sighed and said,
"Alright, I'll bring onee-sama and that brat away, I'll be going with them."
"What? Wouldn't it be tiring for you to teleport here and there? Why can't you just stay here and teleport them one by one?"
"With me around, it's easier to make minor adjustments. If I'm to randomly teleport them out, what would happen if they're buried inside a building? I don't want to end up creating a weird human pillar[1]—alright, let's go."
As if she was rounding it off, Shirai placed both hands on Index and Mikoto's shoulders, who were glaring at each other.
The next moment.
'Shua!' A sound similar to that of a bird opening its wings could be heard, as Index, Mikoto and Shirai disappeared into thin air just like that. Before they vanished, Kamijou seemed to hear Mikoto shout "EH!? WAIT, KUROKO! I WANT TO STAY!" Kamijou thought, maybe Mikoto was uneasy about leaving her kouhai Shirai alone to stay inside the battlefield and carry out her duty.
Kamijou and Kazakiri unknowingly stared towards the surface. Had they arrived at the surface safely?
"Sent those two away first... sorry to leave you for last."
"... Ah, it's okay... it's okay for me to be last... as for you..."
Kazakiri was interrupted before she could finish.
BOOM! The entire ground trembled again.
But unlike before, the impact seemed to be closer. Along the dim passage, they seemed to hear sounds like the explosive sounds of gunfire, roars and screams.
(The big bad's about to arrive... why can't he wait a while longer!)
The enemy had already used the eyeballs to scan through the entire underground street, and right now, it was obvious for the enemy to come at where Kamijou and Kazakiri were.
On hearing the sounds of fighting far away, the students who were gathered beside the wall sank into commotion once again. Even with special abilities, they were just ordinary students. In order to get away as far as possible from the danger, they started to stick together and run forward. However, due to the emergency red light being too weak, one person tripped, followed by the rest in a domino-like effect.
Kamijou glared at the far end of the passage.
There was no time to slowly think.
If there was a battle in this place with numerous people gathered, there would be victims. Though Kamijou's right hand could erase all supernatural powers, he couldn't protect so many people at once.
(Since a battle's inevitable... )
Kamijou made a quick decision
"Sorry, Kazakiri, wait for Shirai to pick you up here."
"Eh? Then... what about you... ?"
Before Kazakiri could finish, another tremor occurred underground. It was extremely close this time. The air leading inside seemed to be completely compressed as he could feel some wind coming at him.
The interrupting sounds of gunfire and roars seemed even clearer now. The enemy was now within close proximity.
Kamijou was not looking at Kazakiri at all, only staring at the darkness in front of him as he said,
"I'll go over... and stop that thing!"
After saying that, without waiting for Kazakiri's response, Kamijou dashed into the darkness.
Kamijou was completely clueless about the enemy's speciality and strength; he was trembling at the sound of battle. But if the enemy reached here, numerous lives would be lost, including Kazakiri Hyouka.
Kamijou definitely couldn't allow that to happen.
Clenching his right fist, Kamijou sprinted madly into the darkness.
References
1. ↑ In Ancient Japanese tradition, when there was difficulty in the development of a bridge, embankment or fortification, the people would carry out this ritual of burying people alive in it to appease the gods
| ← Ch. 044 | Ch. 046 → |