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.
"… Such misfortune…"
Holding a cheap plastic tray on which was balanced three milkshakes, Kamijou looked around herself as if she was in a daze.
After a few minutes of frantic searching on her part, Kamijou had finally found a place where Index could rest and recover. It was a fast food chain restaurant with decent air conditioning in it, yet because of that fact, the shop was crowded with people, from one side of the building to the other.
As Kamijou looked around the room with a grimace on her face, some of the other guest bumped into her, almost causing her to spill the milkshakes.
Why did I have buy three of these fucking things? Two was all I should have gotten, but that blue haired idiot practically twisted my arm in telling me to get her one.
Kamijou sighed as she thought this, and, balancing the three shakes on the tray, began to brave the crowd that stood between her and the seating are where Index and the blue haired girl were waiting.
As she fought her way through the crowd, a group of high schoolgirls sat around their table, chatting to each other as if they didn't have a care in the world.
"Hey, Hey! Did you hear? Apparently Anzai went and used her telepathy to cheat on the last exam."
One of the girl sighed as she lowered her drink to the table.
"Yeah I heard. I was there when they took her in to question her. Afterwards I heard that they even organized a teachers' meeting to figure out what to do."
A third girl took a bite of her hamburger before speaking.
"So she must have really gotten in trouble if all the teachers got involved. What happened to her?"
The second girl wrinkled her nose a bit before continuing.
"Well get this. Apparently all the teachers' at the meeting agreed that since developing esper powers is the core of the curriculum, not grades in general education, that using an esper power in a test isn't considered cheating."
"WHAT?!"
The girl with the hamburger slammed her fist down on to table in front of her, causing it to shake and for several of the people surrounding the table, Kamijou included, to look at them.
"THAT'S SO UNFAIR! HOW COME SHE GETS TO USE HER POWERS BUT WE CAN'T?! I WANT TO USE MY POWER ON AN EXAM AS WELL!"
The first girl, who had covered her ears when the hamburger yelled, lowered her hands and looked at the hamburger girl with questioning tilt to her head.
"Hold on a minute. Isn't your power pyro kinesis though? How in the world are you going to use pyro kinesis to cheat?"
The girl with the hamburger looked slightly confused, scratching her head as she thought of an answer."
"Well… Couldn't I just threaten the teacher with fire and force him to give me the answers to the test?"
As the girl's conversation degraded into how they would use their various powers to cheat on a test, Kamijou sighed to herself as she heard it.
Only here in this city would you here such bullshit conversations.
Academy City was indeed a city that existed outside of the ordinary everyday logic that governed the world. Many of the 2.3 million "students" in this city had some sort extra sensory power, ESP for short, so it was more fitting to call Academy City on large-scale "power development group".
Kamijou was no exception to this, but she didn't have such a clear idea about what her power could do. All she knew about her power was that it was called "Imagine Breaker" in the Academy City Power Catalog, and that it was located in her left hand.
Kamijou looked down at said left hand and shook her head.
I don't know what the hell you do, but I'm not in a hurry to find out. Considering all the strange powers in the catalog, you could create black holes for all I know.
Sighing to herself again, Kamijou continued to shove her way through the crowd of people, carefully moving in such a way as to not spill the milkshakes. Because Kamijou had been forced to buy the three milkshakes for the group, she had unwillingly left it up to the blue haired girl to find a table for the three of them. As she ducked under another stray arm, Kamijou grit her teeth.
With all these people here, I would be surprised to find a place to stand, much less a place to sit. Hopefully Index will be fine either way.
Kamijou saw a sudden break in the crowd, and pooling what remained of her flagging strength, she pushed through the crowd to a fairly open area. Not many people ventured forth into that area, and when they did they quickly popped back into the crowd. After taking a look around at this, Kamijou tilted her head in confusion.
Why is this part so deserted?
"Oi… Kami-chan! Over here!"
Kamijou turned to look at the voice, and once she saw where it was coming from she got an answer to her question.
There was a single table in the area, and standing up, waving Kamijou over was the blue haired girl. The girl's shirt was still fairly see through, giving the entire store a clear view of her upper body, but she still standing up and waving without a shred of embarrassment.
Sitting in the chair next to the blue haired girl, was a barely conscious Index. Sweat was still pouring down his face, and it looked like it was a struggle just to keep his head up.
With those two alone Kamijou could understand why people would stay away from this area of the shop. However, the strangeness did not end with those two.
Sitting on the other side of the table, was a boy who had his feet on the table, and leaning back on the hind two legs of his chair. The boy had spiky, bone white hair, and dressed in a black long sleeve button up shirt, with black slacks. His hands were hanging limp at his sides, with his left hand covered with a single black glove.
The boy's face was the picture of despair. His silver eyes were giving off a blank stare into the ceiling, while his mouth hung open without a care. His pale skin, which gave him away to be a foreigner, was relaxed in utter surrender. On the left side of his face was a strange looking tattoo, starting with a red star on his forehead, just above his left eye, before running down his face to end at the left side of his jaw.
The moment Kamijou saw this boy; something in her brain seemed to go off in warning.
This guy… Is bad news isn't he?
It was as if Kamijou had some sort of misfortune detector in her brain, telling her that the white haired boy would bring her nothing but trouble if she interacted with them. She had no concrete evidence to base the feeling on, but she had the feeling all the same.
Kamijou stealthily approached the table and began to whisper to the blue haired girl, always keeping an eye on the white haired boy.
"Hey… Why did you have to pick this table? Was that guy here when you chose this table, or did he just walk up and sit here like some weirdo?"
The blue haired girl grabbed one of the milkshakes off the tray in Kamijou's hands and gestured for the black haired girl to sit down.
"Does it really matter whether or not this guy is here? Your friend here looked like he would have collapsed from the effort of standing up in here, so I didn't really have a choice then did I?"
Kamijou sighed and looked at Index, who was swaying side to side while he was barely conscious. Kamijou set a milkshake in front of the mini priest and smiled.
Well… At least this girl choose to sit near this weirdo for a good reason, and not some-
The blue haired girl lowered the milkshake straw from her mouth and grinned up at Kamijou.
"Besides, how often do you get a chance to sit with two foreign hunks like I am now? I was hoping that if he wanted to talk, I could get a 'friend' like yours."
Kamijou almost fell flat on her face, but she managed, through sheer force of will, to stay standing and glare at the blue haired girl. The blue haired girl had decided that Kamijou was no longer worth her attention, and had started to ogle the white haired boy across from her. Kamijou also took the time to look at the boy and sighed.
I still feel that nothing but trouble will come from this, but Index does need to rest, and this is the only table available.
With that Kamijou sat down and thought some famous last words.
Besides, nothing that bad could happen, could it?
As soon as she was in a comfortable sitting positon, Kamijou started to take a drink from her own milkshake. It was at that moment that the blue haired girl decided to take interest again and look at Kamijou.
"So… Kami-chan. How far have you gotten with your 'friend' here?"
Kamijou nearly spit out her milkshake in surprise, remembering the girls earlier comments, and with a shocked look on her face she looked at the blue haired girl who was grinning at her with an innocent air about her.
"Do… Do you possibly mean…?"
The blue haired girl gave Kamijou a rather toothy grin and nodded.
"Of course. I'm asking how far you two are along sexually."
This time someone did spit out milkshake, but it was neither the blue haired girl nor Kamijou. Index, who had absent mindedly been drinking from his milkshake, was now focused on the conversation and staring at the blue haired girl with an expression of shock.
"H-H-H-How can a lady a-a-ask such a question?! Why would you ask such a question!?"
The blue haired girl turned her attention to Index and grinned at him.
"So, you're one of the shy types I see."
Before either Index or Kamijou could react, the blue haired girl had thrown her arm around Index and had dragged his face down to her chest.
"Well… that is attractive in its own way, I suppose. A cute foreign kid that gets beet red whenever perverted stuff is brought up… Ah! Like right now."
Index's face had indeed gone bright, seeing as how his face was resting against the fantasy of all teenage boys. He struggled to break free of the blue haired girls grip, and, failing that, looked to Kamijou for help with pleading eyes.
The blue haired girl also returned her attention to Kamijou, still holding Index against her chest.
"So Kami-chan… What's your answer?"
Kamijou clicked her tongue in annoyance.
Listen girl. I know you are playing around right now, but answering a question like that is something that I don't want to do. If I just say one thing off, then Index will get suspicious. How the hell am I supposed to explain this-
"Are you a fucking idiot, or do you just play one on days like today?"
Kamijou nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise as she heard the new voice enter the conversation. She turned to look at the speaker, and found that the white haired boy had gotten into a proper sitting position, lowering both the feet of his chair, and his own, to the floor. He glared over at the blue haired girl with a sneer on his face as he pointed at Index who was trapped in her grip, who both also looked surprised at the white haired boy talking as well.
There was a silence at the table as no one worked up the courage to talk. After a few moments of this, a vein on the white haired boy's forehead began to bulge out as he grew annoyed.
"Did you hear me or not? Are you pretending to be an idiot, or are you really one?"
The blue haired girl snapped out of her daze to point at herself, wordlessly asking whether or not the white haired boy was talking about her. The white haired boy sighed and nodded his head.
"Yes, Yes. You. So are you an idiot or not? Because if you are asking such a stupid question, then you must either be an idiot, or pretending to be one."
The blue haired girl tilted her head in confusion, and gesture at Index and Kamijou.
"Do you mean how far Kami-chan and her boyfriend here have gotten sexually? How is that a stupid question?"
Kamijou felt her face light bright red after the blue haired girl asked the question a second time, and she saw Index grow red in embarrassment as well. Kamijou shot the blue haired girl a glare as the white haired boy sighed.
"You don't know anything do you? It's a stupid question due to the fact that the kid is wearing an Anglican priest's robes, the Walking Church version no less. The only group of people who wear that are high ranking members of the church, people who would rather die than commit a sin such as pre-marital sex."
Walking Church… That's what Index kept calling that outfit whenever I asked him about it. Is it a type of style that is popular amongst priests?
The blue haired girl looked down and began to examine Index's clothes with a critical gaze.
"So… this kid's outfit isn't just some random cosplay? Here I had thought it was just some strange outfit that fit Kami-chan's tastes."
Kamijou felt her anger boil over and slammed her hands down onto the table in front of her, glaring at the blue haired girl with a white hot gaze.
"Now wait just a minute! How in the world did you get the idea that I have a fetish for priest outfits? Did you think I was forcing him to wear that outfit?"
The blue haired girl looked up at Kamijou with a grin on her face and began to giggle at the raging black haired girl in a teasing manner.
"Well Kami-chan, considering all your other fetishes, I wouldn't be surprised. Some of the things you have told me you were into…"
Kamijou recoiled in fear.
Wait, I have fetishes? I haven't found a single thing relating to something like that, but then again I haven't really been looking. What sort of things was I into?!
Kamijou's gaze drifted down to Index, who was still trapped in the grip of the blue haired girl, and suddenly all thought of fetishes left her mind.
Index, who had an embarrassed flush to his face and struggling only seconds before against the blue haired girl's vice like grip, now had a skin tone that was as pale freshly fallen snow and was now sitting shocked still, the expression of fear crystal clear as he stared at the white haired boy intently.
The white haired boy instantly noticed Index's gaze, and glared back at the young priest with a perplexed tilt to his head and a grimace.
"Oi… Anglican. Is there something you want from me, or is my face captivating to you? Because the way you're looking at me makes think that you might have a problem."
Index nearly jumped in fear as the white haired boy spoke to him, and he quickly shoved his way out of the blue haired girl's grip, keeping his eyes on the white haired boy all the time. Swallowing dryly Index composed himself before speaking to the white haired boy.
"I'm sorry about that, you just… peaked my interest a bit. Forgive me if I am wrong, but… You referred to my outfit as the Walking Church, didn't you? I was just wondering… How do you happen to know that name?"
Index did his best to look bravely at the white haired boy as he finished speaking, but Kamijou saw through it extremely easily. A few beads of fear sweat began to form on Index's forehead as he attempted a calm smile, which turned into an uneven grimace.
The white haired boy looked across at the current state of Index, and, seeing through the boy's façade, sighed to himself as if he was tired of something. After a few moments of annoyed silence, the boy finally chose to acknowledge Index's question.
"If you are asking that question… does that mean that you really do have a problem with me? I don't see why someone would ask something that is so obviously answered."
Kamijou could not help but dryly swallow as she looked between the annoyed white haired boy, and the quivering in fear Index.
I might just be imagining things, but isn't the mood around here getting a bit… tense? Am I missing something here?
As Kamijou pondered this, the blue haired girl, who was now pouting because she had been ignored, chose to speak out in boredom.
"So then… Mister. May I ask what the two of ya are talkin' about? Cause from a person on the outside of it, I understand what the two of ya are sayin'."
Index nearly jumped up in surprise when the blue haired girl asked that question, but the white haired boy simply looked over at the girl with a confused look on his face.
"Excuse me, but what did you just ask about?"
The blue haired girl gestured towards the air in between Index and the white haired boy.
"Well… I asked what the two of ya were talkin' about. I've just been sittin' here listenin' to ya two talk, so I just got curious. It's obvious that it might be interesting."
Index began to look back and forth between the blue haired girl and the white haired boy, a worried look on his face as he did this. The white haired boy did not seem as distressed, his only response to the girl being another sigh as if he were tired of something.
"You are quite the nosy person aren't you? People like you are called, by some, the worst kind of trash imaginable."
The blue haired girl smiled at the white haired boy, though Kamijou could see a faint flush of her cheeks as she did so.
"Ya'll have to try harder than that to dissuade me like that mister. I'm quite the masochist I'll have ya know."
Kamijou glare at the blue haired girl with a heated stare.
"You idiot, who in the world would-"
"AHHHHHH!"
The blue haired curled up as her face became a deep red, and sweat began to form on her body. After a few seconds of obvious clenching, the blue haired girl relaxed and sighed in a satisfied sort of way.
"Ah… Kami-chan… Ya can't do that to me when I'm on the edge. I might be used to your voice, but when I'm on the edge like that… it really isn't good."
Kamijou's mouth hung open in shocked silence, completely numb to the world after what she had just seen. Index, who had been shifting his focus between the white haired boy and the blue haired girl, now stared at the blue haired girl, his mouth completely agape and his eyes dull as if his mind had taken leave of his body.
The white haired boy sighed in a defeated manner, his shoulders sagging as he did so. He sat there as if he were pondering something important, before he grinned as a mischievous way.
"Well… I guess a little bit of an explanation won't hurt. I'm not really doing anything anyway, so I could use a little excitement. Of course I must ask if the priest here is fine with me talking about this."
Index did not respond, his face still looking like his mind was absent. The white haired boy clicked his tongue in disappointment at this, but continued to grin in a mischievous way regardless.
"Since the priest is out of it right now, I guess it is fine to talk about this. Though, with that being said, I need to figure out where to start the explanation."
The white haired boy looked like he was pondering something again. Kamijou looked at the pondering boy and silently sighed to herself.
Am I the only one who thinks that will be a huge lead up to nothing?
The white haired boy seemed to reach a decision.
"Well, the ideal starting point would be to say that I was an exorcist."
"… An… exorcist?"
As Kamijou said this, the white haired boy leaned in to stare at her. His expression was one of scrutiny and interest.
"Hmmm… skepticism… Not what I had expected, but that itself is interesting."
Kamijou leaned back from the boy's scrutinizing face, and sighed to compose herself.
"What in the world are you talking about? Did you really expect me to give a different answer to something that sounds so bizarre?"
The self-proclaimed former exorcist tilted his head in an interested confusion as he looked at Kamijou, eventually nodding in agreement to Kamijou's comment.
"Well I had thought that since you seemed to be friends with the priest here, I had thought that you would have at least given me the benefit of the doubt, not skepticism. Do you actually know about the world where your friend comes from?"
Kamijou wanted to shout out in rage as another heart attack situation appeared before her.
Can I not catch a break around here?! Why does every person and their mother ask me such dangerous questions?!
Kamijou sighed and looked over at Index, who was now slightly in tune with his surroundings. He had not been paying attention to the conversation, so he was looking back and forth between Kamijou and the former exorcist with a confused raise of his eyebrow.
Kamijou sighed and began to answer the question.
"Well… You see the thing is-…"
It was at that moment that the blue haired girl sighed and nodded her head as if she were agreeing with something.
"I finally see what is going on here Kami-chan. Ya accidental meeting with me today was all cunning ploy to convince me to join this little role-play group of ya's wasn't it?"
Index, who had been attempting to recover from the earlier obscenities of the blue haired girl, collapsed into a blank faced quivering mass. The former exorcist rubbed his chin and raised his eyebrow in surprise.
"Well… That is certainly a response I wasn't expecting."
Kamijou felt something in her brain snap, and she reached across the table to grab the blue haired girl by her shoulders, lifting her up while glaring into her eyes with a hot gaze.
"Listen here you lewd idiot! How many obscenities are you going to spout before you are satisfied!?"
The blue haired girl did not seem at all angered to be man handled by Kamijou, and in fact seemed to be used to it as she raised her finger and waved it back and forth at the black haired girl.
"Now, now Kami-chan, no need to be embarrassed. If you had wanted me to join your role play so badly, you could have just been straight forward and asked me. Let me see here… since we have a priest and an exorcist, does that make you the naughty witch?"
Kamijou was seconds away from choking the blue haired girl she was holding as the former exorcist laughed from behind her.
"Now that! That was quite interesting! What in the world was I doing, sitting here boring myself to death for?"
"Shall I remind you, or would you rather continue goofing around with your new… acquaintances?"
Kamijou, the blue haired girl, and the former exorcist turned to look at the source of the new voice interjecting themselves into the conversation, their reactions to it ranging from utter annoyance to mild interest.
The source of the voice was a man with red hair tied back into a simple, unkempt ponytail, who had features that clearly marked him as a half Japanese. He was a tall man, standing a full head taller that Kamijou, and he had a look of being fairly fit individual from his build. The man had on a white undershirt, with a black leather jacket over it, and a strange gold and ruby cross necklace hanging from his neck. He had on a pair of simple blue jeans and normal black boots, with a set of simple rings on his hands.
The man looked around the group with a thinly veiled look of disinterest, taking a few seconds to take in each member's details, with particular interest on Index, who was still had a vacancy in his head, and the former exorcist, who had a confused raise to his eyebrow as he looked at the red haired man. When he had finally examined everyone, the red haired man sighed as if he was tired.
"In a normal situation… I would have to say sorry for being late, but there were several exonerating circumstances that caused me to be late. I'm sure a person of your… disposition, can understand."
Kamijou tilted her head in a confused manner.
"Uhmm… Are you-?"
"I would be quiet if I were you."
The voice was extremely level in tone, but Kamijou could feel the killing intent from the red haired man's simple response. Every nerve in Kamijou's body went on edge, telling her to run away and preserve her life. The attack lasted a single second, after which control of Kamijou's returned to her, but the effect of it left Kamijou quivering in fear.
Wha-What the hell was that?! Is this guy… Is this guy really dangerous?!
"Calm down now, you bloody idiot. That guy is here for me, not you, so your heart can rest easy. He probably won't kill you just for existing, but then again this is my first time meeting him."
Kamijou looked to see the former exorcist stand up with a fairly weary look in his eyes, but a sly grin on his face. With a sigh, the former exorcist walked up to the red haired man and extended his gloved hand for a handshake.
"I'm certain that you have heard many things about me, and I'm certain that you have already formed your opinions about me, but I'm hoping we can get along for the brief amount of time we spend together."
The red haired man looked down at the outstretched hand with a disinterested gaze, before he sighed in a tired way.
"Shall we go to a more secure area before we continue this dialogue? Discussions of this nature are fairly… sensitive, and it would be best to leave out the general public from them."
The former exorcist continued to smile, but retracted his gloved hand with a sigh as he nodded.
"Certainly, I can understand that sentiment completely. Do you know of a good spot, or-?"
"Uhmm…?"
Kamijou was not at all certain as to why she spoke up, but once the sound had left her mouth, she felt both of the men's gazes fall on her. For a brief second, Kamijou felt the wave of killing intent wash over her, causing her body to freeze again, but with a dry swallow, she powered through it.
"Are… Are you certain that this is okay? I mean you just said that you have never-…"
Kamijou was cut off as the former exorcist reached up with his gloved hand, and flicked her in her forehead. Reaching up to the flicked area, Kamijou took a step back and gave the former exorcist and angry glare.
"What the hell was that for? Do you always flick people who want to ask you a simple question?!"
The former exorcist chuckled at Kamijou with a grin on his face.
"Don't go worrying about small stuff now. While I had a nice little diversion with you here, I wouldn't consider it enough for you to make yourself concerned with me. Just go back to your day and enjoy it. If you are lucky, you might not meet me ever again."
Then that will mean that I will meet you again in an instant.
As Kamijou was thinking this the red haired man and the former exorcist nodded to each other and began to push their way through the crowd. Kamijou started to reach out to stop them, but she stopped halfway when she realized that they wouldn't stop even if she said anything. As the two men disappeared into the crowd, Kamijou sighed in frustration.
Should I have really let that happen? I know it's none of my business but… something just didn't feel right there. Should I-
The blue haired girl looked up at Kamijou and a grin began to form on her face.
"So your role-play group also accepts bi-sexuals, huh? That's very good news for me."
Kamijou heard something snap again, and, in an instant, dove at the manically giggling blue haired girl.
