This work is based (mostly) on the work of Kazuma Kamachi and other writers. A translation from Baka Tsuki was used in its creation and I claim no ownership over their work. Please Read, Review, and Enjoy.
"Ah-Ahcoo!"
Kamijou Touka wiped her nose after she had sneezed and sighed.
"How many times am I going to sneeze today? Am I coming down with a summer cold?... Such misfortune…"
Kamijou sighed again as the heat from the summer sun beat down on Kamijou as she walked down the street. The date was August the 8th so the time was rapidly approaching the tail end of summer, yet the heat of the day made it feel like summer had just started. Just walking around outside in the heat caused Kamijou to sweat profusely, and she could only sigh in dismay at the fact.
Why did I have to choose today to walk around town like an idiot? I should have just sat around in the nice air con of my room and relaxed, but no, I had to go out and buy a book I don't even need.
Kamijou looked down at the item which had caused her to go out into the summer heat, a general reference book, and sighed yet again.
To think that one simple reference book would cause 3,600 yen and a few hours of headaches… such misfortune…
Several hours ago, it had been morning and Kamijou had been wandering around her room, cleaning and organizing all the junk that was in her room. It was a very simple task, seeing as she had been doing for the past week. Over that time, as she went through all the books she owned, Kamijou had found a disturbing trend amongst them.
There was not a single book amongst Kamijou's entire collection that related to studying in anyway. She had several manga books from different series, light novels, and the occasional magazine with stupid articles such as "How to pick up a foreign guy without speaking his language" or "How to know your partner is cheating on you", but not a single textbook or book of notes.
Kamijou had, at the time of discovering this fact, decided that she should have one or two books on her shelves that related to studying, just so she could give off the illusion that she cared about studying. With that in mind, she decided to head to one of the nearby bookstores in order to purchase the books.
Once she reached the nearest bookstore, however, she found it to be nearly torn apart, and the only attendant who was still able to talk told her that because of the rapidly approaching summer exams, many of the bookstores around the city had begun offering nearly every reference book at half price.
Needless to be said, the resulting panic was beyond what the shops were expecting. Combining the stress from approaching exams, the lure of cheap study tools, and espers was an obviously bad combination from the destruction that Kamijou had seen in that bookstore, and the smart thing to do at that time would have been to abandon the idea of buying a reference book. Kamijou however did not think about that at all, instead choosing to continue looking for a store that could sell her a book.
20 warzone of bookstores later, Kamijou had finally found a store that was in a condition where it could sell her a reference book. This bookstore was not participating in the promotion, so the number of students there were much smaller than the other stores, so Kamijou was able to quickly pick up the reference book for her grade level and buy it without thinking twice.
It was only after all of that when she thought about whether or not she actually should buy the reference book. She hadn't checked whether or not her budget would have allowed for this purchase, and the time wasted just to get it was costly enough as it was.
There are still a ton of things I have to learn about this place, and my past self wasn't diligent enough to leave a diary. You shouldn't expect to lose all your memories, but there should at least be some sort of picture or note!
Kamijou sighed yet again. Two weeks ago, the student had lost all her memories prior to waking up in a hospital bed. She had lost her memories of events, rather than her knowledge of how things work, so she could still use of phone without a problem, but she could not remember where in the world she got the phone to begin with.
If I could only figure out how I acted before I lost my memories that would make my life so much easier. I might not have enjoyed studying before I lost my memories, but I can't remember what we were studying in class before we went on break, no idea about what homework we might have to do over the vacation, and …
As Kamijou's thoughts raced with all the things she could not remember, she sighed yet again. As she did, a tired sounding voice spoke out from her side.
"Touka…? What's the matter…?"
Kamijou turned her head to look at the half-dead Index, who had been walking beside her this entire time.
Index looked like he was around 13 or 14 years old, and one could instantly tell from his features that he was, without a doubt, foreign. He had extremely short silver hair that had barely managed to poke out from under his priest's cap. He had skin that was pure white from what Kamijou could see of it, as most of his body was hidden under a white Christian priest's robe, which appeared to be held together by safety pins. Index's emerald eyes were half open due to the boy being exhausted by a combination of the summer heat and his heavy outfit.
Kamijou had met Index two weeks ago in a hospital, mere moments after she had woken up for the first time in her eyes. From the way that the boy interacted with her, Kamijou figured that the two must have had a strong bond prior to that meeting. Since Kamijou had lost all her memories, however, she could not remember who Index was, or what the bond they had formed was.
The day Kamijou had meet Index in that hospital, the boy had cried tears when Kamijou had "pretended" to forget about him. These tears were shed for the Kamijou who had existed prior to two weeks ago, a Kamijou that the current Kamijou could not begin to understand. However, those tears had somehow moved Kamijou's heart, so instead of telling Index the truth, she decided to protect the boys fragile hopes and chose to don a façade of the Kamijou who had not lost her memories.
Doing this did not make her feel right; in fact she felt a tremendous sense of guilt every time she looked at the boy. She wanted more than anything to tell the boy the truth, yet the fear of seeing that tearful expression again, and joy of seeing that boy's smile every day, made her able to bear with the guilt. So the façade continued, unabated.
However, regardless of the façade, Kamijou could not help but feel guilty at the current sight of the boy. She had said it was just going to be a quick walk outside down to the store, yet Index had stoutheartedly said that he would walk around with Kamijou to protect her. Now, hours of summer heat later, the boy looked like he was going to fall over if a gust of wind hit him the wrong way.
Any more than this will be bad. Maybe…
"H-Hey Index…"
The foreign priest looked over at Kamijou, his entire body shaking from the motion of just turning his head.
Kamijou did her best to look innocent by reaching up and scratching her cheek.
"Y-You know that… if you want… we could stop somewhere and get out of the heat."
Index looked at Kamijou with an initially confused look, but then he smiled weakly at her.
"You don't… have to worry about me… Touka… A little heat… won't kill me…"
Kamijou looked at the sweat that was practically flowing down Index's face, and the glazed over look to the boy's emerald eyes gave off before tilting her head in confusion.
You look like you're about collapse from a heat stroke, and you are choosing to say that I shouldn't worry about you? I really don't understand what this boy is thinking.
Kamijou refocused on the dazed looking boy, and found that he was focusing on something that was behind her. Curious as to what he was looking at, Kamijou turned and saw the focus of the boy's attention. It was an ice cream shop, with all the gaudy colors and pictures of the item plastered on the street facing windows. When Kamijou saw this, she couldn't help but smile.
So you are feeling it, huh?
Kamijou turned back to look at Index, who had noticed that Kamijou noticed his fascination with the ice cream shop. He was doing his best to look away from the direction of the ice cream shop and whistle, failing at both.
Kamijou smiled at the boy.
"You know Index… If you want, we could go get some ice cream. I'm sure the air con and the ice cream should help you recover."
Index tried to smile and look away from Kamijou in order to dissuade any further talk about the subject. When that failed, he resorted to alternate tactics.
"W-Well… Touka, didn't you just spend a lot of money on that book? Wouldn't it be a waste of money to buy ice cream so soon after making such a purchase?"
Kamijou looked down at the reference book and sighed.
"Oh yeah… this fucking thing…"
Kamijou said it in the most deadpan way before sighing again.
"Well, I've already spent a bunch of money on this thing, so why don't we go all out, shall we?"
As she said that, Kamijou instantly began to inwardly panic.
What am I going to do?! I don't even know if my budget will allow for buying this stupid book and food for the week! Index needs this, but still this sucks!
Index lowered his head and sighed as Kamijou thought this, and began to gesture in another attempt to dissuade Kamijou.
"Well Touka… Even if I wanted to waste your money, I'm a priest in training. Besides certain cigarettes and wine, I can't consume any sort of luxury good in order to strengthen my faith in god. That means things like coffee, tea, or, unfortunately, sweets. So I can't eat any ice cream today."
Kamijou sighed once she heard that.
I know that there are some strange religious practices out there, but did you have to try and bring that up? I just want you to take a rest, not hurt you in any way.
Kamijou bit her lower lip as she went over her option as to how to convince Index to rest.
I could just walk in there and order something for me and him, but I don't feel like eating Ice cream…
"Ah… Kami-chan, is that ya'?"
Kamijou was surprised to hear such an obviously fake Kansai accent say her name, and, out of sheer curiosity, she turned her head to look at the person who had said it.
The speaker was a girl who was around Kamijou's height and age, with long and straight blue hair that flowed down her head to her waist. The girl had on a cropped white tank top that did very little to hide her body due to the amount of sweat the girl was giving off due to the heat. Kamijou could clearly see the black bra that blue haired girl had on under the tank top, and her uncovered stomach. The girl also had on some black cargo pants and sandals.
"…"
… Who the hell is this?
The blue haired girl stared at Kamijou as if she was expecting a response from Kamijou, but Kamijou could not bring herself to speak for some weird reason. It was like a fear was gripping her mouth, keeping her from speaking. Finally before Kamijou could even speak, the blue haired girl decided to move closer to Kamijou and Index.
"Uh… Kami-chan? Did I say sumtin' weird? Ya're looking at me like I'm some sort of stranger. Did the summer heat get ta ya head or sumtin' and make ya forget about me?"
"… What…?"
Kamijou finally managed to regain control of her mouth, only to sputter out that one word question. This only caused the blue haired girl to laugh in Kamijou's face.
"I'm just joking, Kami-chan. Ya should know that the memory loss flag is only a special privilege reserved for those who have interesting lives… In other words, not someone like you."
The blue haired girl threw her arm around Kamijou before she could even react. The girl squeezed Kamijou's body close to hers, even though it was way too hot for two people to share any form of body heat. The blue haired girl did not seem at all phased by the closeness, and simply began looking between Kamijou and Index. The Girl then cupped her hand over Kamijou's ear before whispering to her.
"By the way Kami-chan… Who's the stud with ya? How in the world did a normally unlucky girl like ya get to know such a hottie? Is he ya cousin or sometin'? … On second thought, I doubt that, since I don't think silver hair would run in ya gene pool."
"…"
Did I… Was I really friends with such a weirdo?
Before Kamijou could do anything to get away from the weirdo in front of her, the potential former friend of her pulled her closer to whisper more.
"Ok Kami-chan, I've figured out how everything went down here. That guy over there asked you for directions, yet because ya always have a constant F in English, ya couldn't do anything to answer him. So ya were having problems talking to him until I came along to bail ya out. I'm right, ain't I?"
"…"
Kamijou looked over at Index in the vague hope that he could help her out, but she saw that the boy was swaying from side to side in the nonexistent wind. The student could see beads of sweat flowing down the boy's forehead, and the priest had a small grin on his face, showing he was blissfully unaware of what was going on around him.
Kamijou attempted to sigh when she saw this, but the blue haired girl pulled Kamijou even closer, so that their faces were barely a centimeter apart.
"But really now Kami-chan, ya're really lucky to have met me before things got bad. Ya always have to be wary around these foreign guys, ya know? They all look nice and pretty on the outside, but hidden underneath those masks of theirs are beasts with gigantic sexual appetites. If I hadn't come along, ya might have been assaulted."
"… You… You're joking… right? Please don't tell me that there is someone on earth that would actually think that way?!"
Kamijou roughly shoved the blue haired girl away as her cheeks began to flush in a mixture of rage and embarrassment. She then began to gesture at the half conscious Index.
"Does this guy look like he has the ability to assault anyone?! Don't you dare try to apply you're strange delusions to real life!"
Even though Kamijou was verbally abusing that blue haired girl, the blue haired girl smiled at her and began to rub the back of her head.
"Hmmm… Well ya might be right there. Looking at him now, he doesn't look like that type to assault 'poor defenseless' girls like us. But ya still have to be worried about foreigners, ya know? Ya always hear stories on the net about nice, wholesome innocent girls like us meeting a dreamy foreigner, only to be turned into their little sluts."
Kamijou could do very little but sigh once she heard that.
"Those delusions of yours are just too fantastic for me to handle. In the future, could you make sure I never have one like yours?"
The blue haired girl chuckled before putting on an expression of amused interest.
"So then, Kami-chan, if the boy isn't ya cousin, or some foreigner out to rape ya, who the heck is he to ya?"
Kamijou felt her stomach do a twist in fear.
Shit why did you have to ask me that?! I don't even really know!
Kamijou felt the expectant gaze of the blue haired girl almost burn into her skin, and she could also feel the focus of Index return to the conversation going on around him. Feeling both of those, she sighed.
"He… Index… Is an… acquaintance of mine. We met a little while ago, and we were just-"
"I know that's all BS Kami-chan."
Kamijou felt every hair on her body stand up on end as she looked at the smiling blue haired girl. The blue haired girl began to nod while still smiling, and then pointed an accusing finger at Kamijou.
"Admit it Kami-chan! That silver haired stud is your boyfriend isn't he!"
"…"
Kamijou stood there in silence for a few moments, before she sighed in relief. This relief was short lived as the blue haired girl caught Kamijou in another vice like grip as they ground their teeth in fake rage.
"Damn ya Kami-chan! How dare ya leave me and Tsuki-chan in the dust and go get yourself a boyfriend! Not only that, but ya had to go and get a hot boyfriend as well! Ya sneaky gal ya!"
The blue haired girl began ruffling Kamijou's already messy hair, while Kamijou attempted to break from the vice like grip holding her. When she failed to do that, Kamijou attempted to calm the girl down.
"Okay, Okay Calm down now. This guy isn't my boyfriend or anything, he's just a freeloader who-"
The grip around Kamijou tightened almost to the point of having her ribs breaking. The blue haired girl turned to look at Kamijou with star in her eyes.
"Kamijou… did you just refer to that boy with that all powerful word of 'freeloader'?"
Kamijou tilted her head in confusion as she continued to break free of the grip holding her.
"… Yeah…? That is what he is. All he does is sit around all day, so that makes him a freeloader, right?"
The blue haired did not respond to Kamijou's question, already lost to her delusions. Drool was slowly falling from her mouth as more and more stars lit up in her eyes.
"Ahhh… Kami-chan… Alone with a freeloader… sharing every moment of every day together… all the situations they get into…"
Kamijou tilted her head in confusion as she heard the depths of the blue haired girl's delusions.
"Hold up a second! Earth to miss delusional! Didn't I just say that he was a freeloader?! A Free-Load-Er! There is nothing going on between me and him!"
The blue haired girl briefly snapped out of her delusion and nodded.
"Yeah, Yeah. I heard you."
No you didn't, you fucking idiot!
Kamijou continued to struggle against the grip she was in, failing miserably. The blue haired girl leaned in and whispered in Kamijou's ear.
"Hey… Kami-chan… Do you want some of those condoms I keep around just cause? We both know I'm not going to be using them any time soon, and it sounds to me that you will need them more than me."
Kamijou finally felt something snap, and with a strength she did not think she had, she through the blue haired girl off of her as her face lit up to the deepest crimson.
"Y-Y-Y-You! You lewd, scatterbrained little-!"
"…Kami… sama… It has been 14 short year… but I shall be returning to you now…"
As Index interrupted Kamijou's soon to be rant, the girl turned to look as the priest fell forward on to his face. It took Kamijou less than a second to figure out what had happened.
"Index!"
Kamijou kneeled down next to the boy priest to examine him. Index was sweating profusely, the entire front of his robe being weighed down with sweat, and his body shaking from heat exhaustion. The boy reached out with his quivering hand and grabbed ahold of Kamijou's sleeve.
"Touka… please… hear my dying confession… I don't feel like… I will last much longer…"
Kamijou immediately began to panic.
What the hell do I do?! Should I carry him to a store? Call an ambulance? What do I do?!
From behind her, Kamijou could hear the blue haired girl chuckle as she saw Index shiver on the ground.
"What, is he not used to the heat around here? He must have a real weakness to heat then if this is enough to make him nearly pass out."
Kamijou turned to look at the blue haired girl, and began to gesture at the nearly dead boy.
"Are you and idiot or something?! There is a person dying here, and you want to comment on how weak he is to heat?! Help me do something about this!"
The blue haired girl looked at Kamijou with a confused look on her face, but she then shrugged and moved to pick up Index.
"Why not? I didn't have much to do today anyway, so hanging out with you might be a good waste of time."
Kamijou ignored the blue haired girl, and moved toward the nearest building, the ice cream parlor, and approached the door. Once she got to the front door, however, she found that it was locked with a piece of paper taped on it. It read:
To our beloved customers,
We regret to inform you that due to interior renovations,
we will be suspending our business for the immediate future.
We apologize for any inconveniences this might cause.
From the depths of his heat stroke, Index reached out with one hand in a repenting gesture and finally managed to speak out.
"Oh Kami-sama, please forgive me for my sins are myriad and black. First among them is my sin of seeing Touka naked."
The blue haired girl looked at Index with a fully surprised look on her face, before she turned to look at Kamijou with a serious expression on her face.
"Yo Kami-chan, are you sure you don't want those condoms? I sound like you really need them."
Kamijou's face was so red that a random passerby would have said that the red had to have been painted on. Kamijou looked up to the sky in a defeated manner and yelled.
"Such Misfortune!"
