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.
Well… The room smells like a full ashtray in the middle of a fire place… Touka's panties are scattered everywhere… and I am almost certain that several of Touka's most private secrets have been exposed, and perhaps maybe some of her basic human rights have been infringed upon…. But at the very least, Negi-san has finally left.
Index could only sigh in a mixture of exhaustion and relief as he concluded his thoughts, his gaze turning towards the room that smelled of cigarette smoke, and had a drawer's worth of the owner's undergarments scattered over the floor. As Index looked over the mess that the teacher had left in his wake, he could not help but ponder what the man's purpose was in coming to visit his student's room.
If I recall correctly… I was sitting here minding my own business, when I heard a knock on the door, and Negi-san's voice saying that it was Negi-san. After checking through the peep hole to see if it was Negi-san, I began to open the door, and by the time I had opened the door enough to look outside, Negi-san was already in the room and causing havoc. I would at the very least expect someone to have the common courtesy to wait to be invited into a room before entering!
Index sighed in annoyance in remembrance of the person who had been there only a few moments ago, the anger he felt towards the teacher for multiple things being fed just by thinking about the man.
In an attempt to try and get his mind off the rage, Index looked down at the sheet of papers that Negi had brought in with him and unceremoniously dumped onto the table in the center of the room before launching into his insanity.
Now them… Let me see here…? What in the world is this?! Are these… some sort of problems that need to be solved? What in the world is the point of all of these?!
The second Index began looking over the paperwork in front of him, an almost head splitting migraine sprung up in his brain, his body somehow physically rejecting everything that was presented to him on the pages in front of him.
Index tossed the papers across the table, throwing himself to the ground in an attempt to escape from the information that was present on the pages. After a few moments of head splitting pain going through his head, Index felt the migraine subside, and be replaced with an intense sense of curiosity.
What in the world was all of that!? I have never had a problem looking at print before, so why did I suddenly have a problem with that?
Index peeked his head up from over the table, looking at the papers that were now scattered over the table with a wary look in his eyes. The boy priest reached over to the nearest papers with an almost terrified shake to his hands, finally grabbing it and looking at it, fully expecting a migraine to hit once again.
The second Index looked at the paper in front of him for a few seconds before tilting his head in confusion.
The paper in front of the boy priest had a very simple prompt for the solver to follow in order to do the problem. The prompt asked the reader to both research and then write an essay, using one of the provided questions as inspiration. Index briefly read some of the questions, and found that half of those he read he had absolutely no idea about, mostly due to the fact that they were in no way related to magic.
Hmmm… I might want to ask Touka about some of this stuff once she gets back, but this isn't what gave that headache from earlier. What in the world could that have been?
While Index pondered that question to himself, he reached out to yet another page from the pack that Negi had brought by, looking at it with both fear and curiosity.
Upon looking at the second paper, Index instantly was able to grasp the idea behind it. On one side of the page was a selection of English words, phrases, and even a paragraph, while on the other side of the page, written out in bold script was the word translation.
"…"
Having nothing to say about the page one way or the other, Index promptly set it down, and reached out to another, earlier trepidation forgotten and replaced with an unquenchable curiosity.
The third page the boy priest had managed to pick up was one that Index could not get his head around no matter how much he tried. It wasn't the case that the page utilized poor grammar or did not explain their directions properly, as it was clear that the rules of the Japanese language were being followed properly. The problem was that Index could not understand the words that were used throughout the page, such as 'molecule' or 'sub-atomic particle'.
Index continued to look at the page, his confusion growing more and more as he read each problem and not understanding what was being said. After a few moments of this, the boy priest casually glanced up to the top of the page and saw the word 'Chemistry' listed out in bold script.
Recognizing the word, Index could do nothing but sigh and place the page back down onto the table, a mixture of relief and frustration washing over him.
Well at least that explains why I can't make heads or tails of this page, it's all science speak! Are these problems all things that Touka is supposed to do? If so then I haven't been giving her much credit. I can only recognize two of the three pages I've pulled up so far, and of those I only think I can do one of them to completion! Is this… the ability of someone who lives inside a city dedicated to learning?
Index sighed again as he concluded his thoughts, reaching out again to yet another page, picking it up absentmindedly, and looking directly at it.
The moment the boy priest did that, he received another almost head splitting migraine, this time bringing him to the ground, holding his head as tears began streaming from his eyes.
What… In… God's… Name… Is… Going…On!?
Forcing his eyes open despite the pain that he was feeling, Index looked through tear shot eyes at the page in front of him, desperately trying his hardest to figure out what it was that was giving him a migraine for looking at this page.
At the very top of the page, the word mathematics was displayed in bold lettering, one of the few things on the page that Index could look at without having the migraine. From the top down, Index had a harder and harder time understanding as he went on, getting completely lost when unknown symbols were introduced into the problems.
Index struggled like this for a few more seconds, before slamming the page down and burying it underneath a the other stack of papers, a haggard look on his face as the migraine dissipated once again.
So… It was the mathematics paper that was giving me the headache earlier and not any of the other pages at all. Normally I would say that I am good at math, but some of the things on that page went beyond what I know.
As Index regained the full functionality of his brain, the boy priest also recovered his unquenchable curiosity, which was at that moment telling him to drag the page back out and read it, despite knowing the consequences of doing so. Already, almost against his wishes, his hand was reaching out to the location of the tossed away page, as if his body wanted to experience the pain yet again.
Index grabbed the hand that wanted to give him another migraine with his other hand and forcing back to his side before sighing in a dejected way.
Perhaps… I should just leave that alone until Touka gets back. As things stand right now, I'll probably just tire myself out without gaining any sort of insight in what is on that page… Yeah I'll just wait for Touka to get back, and then hopefully she'll teach me a thing or two about this stuff…
Somehow, as Index came to the end of that thought, somehow became depressed, suddenly sighing and feeling horrible about his lack of knowledge. It was a lack of knowledge that was relevant to the information interred within him, but still the fact that he was lacking in knowledge did not sit right with him.
With a dejected look on his face, Index turned his gaze away from the table in front of him towards the futon that he had been using for the past few days to sleep on.
"Hey… Sphinx… Do you think that it is important for someone to know these things? I can see how normal people might need to but…"
Being called by its currently given name, the white creature that Index had picked up off the street earlier raised its sleeping head and opened one of its red bead like eyes to stare at Index with an annoyed look.
Before Kamijou had left to take care of her friend's problem, the owner of the room focused a majority of her time into cleaning up the creature, which included a thorough bath to get all of the dirt and grime out of its pure white fur, along with an extensive brushing to fix it's drowned rat look.
The creature had barely managed to curl up in a ball on Index's futon when Kamijou had left a few hours ago, and Index's question seemed to do nothing but annoy it.
Index suffered the annoyed gaze of the creature for a few moments, staring at it as if he was expecting some sort of answer from the white animal. He then tilted his head with a confused look on his face, a sudden thought striking him while he sat.
"You know… now that I think about it… perhaps Sphinx wasn't the best name for you, everything considered. A sphinx is a creature that in most cases protects treasures and presents riddles to those who would steal what they are guarding. So while you can protect the house by simply being here, not being able to talk fails the second requirement behind the name."
The creature opened both of its eyes, rolling them in a way that gave off the feeling of 'really now?" Index could only respond to the look with a sigh as the creature began to stretch itself out on the boy priest's futon.
"Yeah… I was guessing that the name wasn't going to stick for too long anyway. Touka was bound to notice that inconsistency and call me on it. Well… the name was really just a way for Touka to become even slightly attached to you, so it has already served its purpose. Now it is time to seriously think about you permanent name."
The creature lazily nodded in response to Index's explanation, using one of its hind legs to reach up behind its ear and scratching, causing the white extension coming from its ear to shake sporadically. Index paid no attention to this and quickly began brainstorming a number of possible names he could name the creature.
Hmmm… Cerberus might be a good name for him, considering that it is also the name of a guardian animal like the sphinx. Though… The problem with that is that Cerberus is a guardian of the gates of the underworld… And this place, no matter how messy, can't possibly be considered the underworld.
As Index thought this, the now unnamed creature performed one final stretch on Index's futon before jumping off of it and onto Kamijou's bed, giving Index a good view of the red ring like mark on its back. Index continued to stare at the creature, his mind still racing to find a name for the creature.
... Perhaps it doesn't have to be a guardian creature's name… Maybe I should go for something that doesn't have such strict requirements… Griffon might work, considering that they look to be made of various different creatures. Though there is a problem with the fact that he doesn't have anything resembling a hawk in his features, which is a bit of a problem…
By the time Index had finished that thought the creature had fallen asleep yet again, curling up on the softness of Kamijou's bed. Even though he had little experience with bedding since he had been on the run for the past year, Index could not help but feel that the futon was infinitely more uncomfortable than the bed.
The reason for this was that the futon was not owned by Kamijou and Index, but rather it was something that the two had borrowed from Negi. The teacher had given the two his spare futon after hearing that they needed an extra set of bedding, acting like it was an act of charity.
However, what the smoking addict had failed to mention was that the futon had somehow absorbed the smell of cigarette smoke, to the point where washing out the futon did nothing about the smell.
Since his brain was again focusing on reasons why he should be angry with Negi, Index could only sigh, looking over at the creature that was now curled up on the bed, its overly fluffy tail hiding its features from view. Index shrugged his shoulders and leaned himself against the frame of the bed.
"Well… I guess you name really doesn't matter right now I guess, seeing as how you wouldn't care about whatever name I gave you anyway. We can just wait for Touka to get back, and then we'll go about the process of picking a name."
Once again, Index could not help but feel an onset of depression upon concluding his thoughts, as if he had somehow lost something by getting to his conclusion.
The boy priest sighed and reached out for the television remote, one of the few electronic devices he had managed to gain a basic understanding of, and turn the T.V. on before flipping through the channels before arriving at what he was searching for.
"****-san! You aren't seriously considering going after that giant alone, are you?! You of all people should know that you stand no chance without help from the others!"
On the screen in front of Index, a female actor dressed in obviously fine clothing stood in front of a male actor dressed in what looked to be a skin tight blue spandex costume, with what seemed to be a color coordinated butler's uniform over it.
In the background behind the two actors, an obviously fake creature was destroying a city, shooting out a fake beam of energy, and firing pieces of itself as missiles.
The male actor watched as the creature stomped through the city, before he turned to look at the female actor, what was supposed to be a serious gaze on his face.
"****-sama… Of course I understand what my chances of winning are… but… You of all people should know… That I cannot sit by quietly while people are in danger… I-… I hope… you can at least forgive me for being so selfish."
The male actor turned his back to the female actor, and, raising some sort of device into the air, transformed into a ball of blue energy and flashing away, leaving the female actor standing there in silence.
The next moment, a fake humanoid robot fell from the sky in front of the creature, though the humanoid robot was much smaller than the creature, giving the scene of an overwhelming disadvantage.
Index, who had a fairly bored expression on his as he watched the program, yawned as the program went into a commercial.
This is… what was the term that Touka used for it? A… rerun? I don't understand why people would waste time showing things that have already aired, but at the very least I am glad they do it, otherwise I wouldn't be able to understand what is going on in this show.
The show that Index was currently watching was called 'Servant Sentai Guardians' which was based off a long running genre of shows that Kamijou had called 'super sentai'. Index had initially been put off by the strangeness of the show, but after only a few episodes, he was a won over fan.
The story of the show followed a group of five youths who were the servants of a high class family, the head butler, cook, gardener, driver, and butler in training. By using devices that gave them incredible power, the group fought against an evil group that sought to steal some ancient secret from the family that the group served.
The episode that was on right now was focused around the head butler, a person who had been taken in by the high class family at a very young age, and the eldest daughter of the family, a person who was the obvious romantic interest of the head butler and the butler in training, who was considered to be the main character.
On the screen at the moment the female actor who played the eldest daughter watched as the head butler's robot put up a valiant fight against the giant creature, though ultimately it was sent sprawling to the ground from the power of the creature.
The female actor began shedding what was obviously actor tears as she watched the head butler's robot get repeatedly pummeled by the giant creature, and expression of anger and fear on her face.
"…Why…Why in the world do you have to try so hard when you don't need to?! Why are you so stubborn at the worst possible moments!? Why… Why can't I ever seem to help you when you need it?!"
The second that Index heard the line spouted by the female actor, the boy priest was instantly compelled to turn off the television, as if that would keep him from feeling anything from the scene. However, the moment that the television turned off, Index felt a wave of depression hit him like a truck, this time with a clear indication of why he had been hit by depression now and before.
… Am I just a completely useless entity in Touka's life right now? Ever since I entered her life I have done nothing but cause her one problem after another, and I have yet to do a single thing to repay her. Isn't there absolutely anything that I can do to at least start the process of paying her back?
Index turned his gaze to the room around him, a room that still smelled of cigarette smoke, and still had sensitive pieces of Kamijou's wardrobe lying around. Beside the damage that Negi had caused, there were also several simple tasks that Kamijou had complained about earlier in the week that she had yet to get to, due to more pressing concerns.
Looking at the messy room while under the effects of his depression, Index felt a sudden surge of resolve fill him in such a way that made him stand up, psyching himself up as he did so.
"Ok then! I've decided! While Touka is out, I might as well try and get this place sorted out to the best of my ability. It might not pay back Touka fully for all she has done, but at least it's a start!"
The creature that was sleeping curled up on Kamijou's bed twitched slightly at the sound of Index's voice, but other than that remained motionless. Index began looking around the room, a massive grin on his face as he did so.
"Now then… Where in the world should I start fr-"
Just as Index was about to finish speaking, the boys stomach let out a loud gurgle, announcing to the world that he was now hungry.
Index looked down at his stomach in a surprised daze, before turning to look at the creature that was on the bed, which had woken up with a spooked look across its face.
"Ahhhh… Well… I'm guessing that the first thing that I should do right now is to make something to eat, shouldn't I?"
Index playfully chuckled to himself as he turned around to look towards the kitchen, taking a giant step forward, fully prepared to make something to eat. However, the moment that the boy priest laid eyes of the kitchen, the boy priest was overcome with a clear sense of dread.
Looming on its perch inside of the kitchen, the microwave silently loomed out of the darkness, leaking out a black miasma that was only visible to Index. Even in its dormant state Index could not help but feel afraid of the possibilities that touching that machine would bring.
Index shivered in trepidation for a few moments, but then he grited his teeth and began to strengthen his resolve.
Ok then! If I can do even on thing tonight while Touka is out, it's going to be getting over stupid fear of the microwave! It will at the very least allow me to assist Touka whenever there is a problem with a microwave.
Index took a deep breath in to strengthen his resolve, he then continued into the kitchen, and began preparations to use the microwave.
Unseen by the boy priest, the pure white creature gained a shocked look in his eyes, and quickly jumped off of the bed and ran towards the open bathroom door, diving inside of it for safety.
A few minutes later, out in the hallway in front of Kamijou's room, Index leaned over the railing looking down at the ground several stories below, letting the near night air hit his overly depressed face in an effort to reinvigorate himself. His white and gold robes were now covered in black soot, and behind him the door to Kamijou's room was open as black smoke was billowing out and into the sky.
Index sighed into the evening, his depression now ingrained in his brain, and the boy priest did nothing to fix it, all of his thoughts turning to his faults.
"I am… a complete and total waste of air and space… No matter what I try to do, I only fail at it and cause problems for those around me… Why do I even bother to try and do anything…?"
Index hung his head even lower in his depression, looking down at the ground as tears began to well up in his eyes. The boy priest turned to look towards his side, where he saw the once pure white creature now covered in black soot, giving him a gray look. The gray creature was playing with something, not paying any attention to the boy's problems, causing Index to become even more depressed. Index glared over at the creature, as a slight bit of annoyance tinged his depression.
"… Hey… I don't mean to sound demanding or anything… But… Could you at the very least be a little sympathetic? I know you probably can't even wrap your head around the concept of sympathy, but still…"
The now gray creature stopped playing with whatever it was that he had found, turning his head to look up at the boy priest with an overly annoyed look, as if it was saying 'are you serious?' directly to Index's face. Index felt as if he had been utterly defeated by that on annoyed glare, and sighed as his depression grew deeper.
"Please don't look at me like that… I know it might be asking a lot of you to feel sorry for me, considering that everything that happened spawned from the fact that I am horrible with technology… But is it too much to ask for someone to feel sympathetic for me?"
The creature stared at Index for a few more moments, its annoyance clear in its glare. The creature then turned back to playing around with whatever item he had found on Kamijou's balcony, clearly bored with dealing with Index. Index, now on the verge of tears again, slumped his shoulders forward in defeat, completely at a loss for what to do.
The creature then spun around with the item it was playing with in its mouth, suddenly launching it directly at Index's face. The item hit Index squarely in the nose, instantly causing the boy priest's nose to bleed.
Index grabbed ahold of the item as anger quickly replaced depression, and began to yell out at the top of his lungs at the creature.
"Do you have any idea on how to read a situation!? Why in the world do you want to make me…?"
Index's anger quickly dissipated, replaced by curiosity as to what he held in his hands. And that curiosity was quickly replaced with fury, as Index realized what it was that he held.
"How… How in the world could I have been so oblivious that I didn't notice these? I really must be useless if I can't even recognize when these are near."
In Index's hands, bound up by a spare rubber band, was a deck cards, all of which had the same elements of design on them, that being the use of Germanic runes.
Index began flipping through the cards with a focused look on his face, trying to find all of the types of cards that made up the deck.
Fire… House… Chain… Spirit… Mask… All of these runes all seem to be part of a temple made to house a fire spirit, and one that is meant to be hidden. Knowing that it is a fire spirit is helpful… but I would like to know more about what type of spirit it is. And I can't figure that out without…
As Index's thoughts trailed off as he turned to look at the area surrounding him on the balcony, searching for what he knew to be an invisible clue. Almost instantly Index found the former site of the temple, traced down by the trace amount of magic that remained in the space.
Index put his hand on the wall just outside of the former perimeter of the temple, looking directly at the spot where the magic was located. Letting the feeling of the magic wash over him as he looked at the site of the temple, Index slowly was able to piece together what sort of spell was placed there.
… This was… The temple of a greater flame spirit… with the abilities to regenerate after its destruction, to be activated automatically without command from its owner… and it is also limited from moving away from this spot, and was supposed to have a severely masked presence. So it's no wonder that I didn't sense the spell, the entire temple was hidden by these mask rune cards… As for how the spell got destroyed…
Index looked to the ground directly in front of where the temple had been placed, and instantly felt the slight flare of magic from where a fire rune card had been haphazardly set up. Index grew slightly annoyed at finding this information.
"Well… this looks like how Negi was able to destroy the temple. By sending his own magic up through this card, he was able to overload the temple, breaking the spell completely… That bastard… He could have at least said something about destroying a spell on the front porch…"
Index grit his teeth in a mild rage as his thoughts turned towards Negi, but most of the anger that he felt was more towards himself due to not even noticing the fact that there was a magic spell just outside the door. Index sighed off a majority of his rage as he looked down at the deck of rune cards, a bad taste in his mouth as he did so.
"Well… At the very least… I was able to figure out who was behind those Ophelia runes from earlier… I had just chopped it up as just some wandering magician who wanted to have a bit of fun… But with this…"
The image of a smug faced, red haired girl, wielding a plethora of deadly flames took root in Index's mind, deepening both the bad taste in his mouth, and his smoldering rage. Index began to clench his fist in anger, bending and twisting the cards out of shape just from the force of his fury.
Index then sighed, trying to relax himself before he did something he regretted. At a loss for things to think about, Index's mind turned to Kamijou.
"… I'm guessing that Touka is currently with that girl… and that girl is the 'friend' that Touka wanted to help out earlier… seeing that she would have a hard time missing this spell once she had left…"
Index could only think back to the conversation that he and Kamijou had earlier in the day, where the schoolgirl had said that she didn't require his help where she was going. Index gritted his teeth in annoyance and put a hand over his face.
"'There is no way that you could help me out', huh? What a boldfaced lie. If you knew that magic was going to be involved, then my one positive feature would have been the something you desperately needed."
Index turned his gaze to the Academy City skyline, stretching his basic magical senses to their limits as he sought for even a trace of magic on the winds. After a moment, Index caught a whiff of a familiar magic, and a frown crossed the boy priest's face.
"So that is where you are, huh? Well… I guess that is where I'm going to have to go, isn't it?"
The creature, which had been silently watching the boy priest since he had started investigating the cards, took this opportunity to jump onto Index's shoulder, looking over with a smile. Index looked over at the Creature with a bemused look on his face.
"Do you want to come along with me to find Touka? That… Isn't something that I would recommend you doing. Considering the type of person that Touka is with… I can't say with one hundred percent certainty that you will be safe if you chose to accompany me."
The creature looked over at Index with what looked to be a sly smile on its face, and it remained perched on Index's shoulder, driving its point home to the boy priest. Faced with this, Index could only shrug in defeat, and then grin in an exited manner.
"Well… I guess it will certainly be a much more interesting time than sitting around the house like we have been doing… Fine then let's get going then!"
After going through the motions of cleaning up the house the best he could and locking up, Index and the yet to be named creature set off into the in the direction of the overly familiar magic, and, more importantly, Touka.
