Sorry for being late. I've been very busy the whole time. Now I also get some time off to write chapters. I should have finished this chapter half a month ago but was too busy. Now let's get into the story
Note: I do not own Kamachi's Toaru and Zun .'s Touhou
"Time to start the story!!!" A flick of the finger and the screen was brighter than ever and the scene opened up to Academy City in the morning.
If you're an Aquarius, born between January 20th and February 18th, you will have extremely good fortune in love, money, and business! No matter how improbable the circumstances, only good things are headed your way! Go buy a lottery ticket! Just don't get carried away with your newfound popularity with the opposite sex—no two- or three-timing, now.
"Ask a previous question. Does anyone want to confirm that?"
"The answer remains the same Both true and false"
The display then continued with the scene of Academy City but Touma's residence
"Man…I knew this would happen…I knew it, but still…"
It was July 20th, the first day of summer vacation.
"Doesn't it look so lifeless?"
A girl that Touma has never met speaks for itself
Kamijou Touma was at a loss for words. His dorm room in Academy City was sweltering because his air conditioner was broken. Lightning had apparently struck in the middle of the night and blown out 80 percent of his appliances. That included his refrigerator, the food in which was now all spoiled. When he went to open his emergency rations—a cup of yakisoba—he accidentally dumped all the noodles down the sink. Then, having no alternative but to go out to eat, he stepped on his credit card while searching for his wallet, crushing it. After that, he decided to sulk back into bed and cry himself to sleep, only to be awakened by his ringing phone. It was his homeroom teacher conveying a heartfelt message:
"Good morning, Kamijou! You're dumb, so you need to come and take your makeup classes. "
"Heh, that sounds really frustrating"
Sanae put on a smiling face as if she was not smiling because she was also a student like Touma so she understood how Touma felt right now. She herself doesn't like supplementary and summer school very much
The horoscopes on TV were being broadcast like a weather report. He'd known they'd sound like this, but they were so far off it wasn't even funny.
"…I know this is how it is. I've always known, but I can't process it unless I say it out loud…"
Fortune-telling was always wrong, and good luck charms were no better. This was Touma Kamijou's life. Luck had long since turned its back on him. You'd think it would be genetic, but his father had won the fourth place in the lottery (about 100,000 yen) once, while his mother had scored free drinks from the vending machine jackpot multiple times.
"Sounds like a mother with big breasts but when she gave birth to a girl, she had flat breasts"
Stab n*
Some of the girls were stabbed in the chest by that word, for example Sakuya and Marisa, the one who said it was Cirno, whose words accidentally stabbed them in the chest mercilessly.
"Are you out of examples, why are you saying that, Cirno?"
"What do you mean Yuuka?"
Yuuka was glancing at some people lying in a corner crying and self-deprecating, Cirno knew why Yuuka asked that, after seeing it, she could only say
"Sorry"
It was enough to make him wonder if they were even related by blood. But as he wasn't harboring a crush on his little sister and wasn't in line for royal succession, no good would've come of discovering that he wasn't his parents' son. It just boiled down to the fact that he had bad luck.
Like, so bad it was almost a joke. But he wasn't going to sulk about it forever.
Kamijou Touma didn't rely on luck, and that enhanced his ability to act.
"It's his character."
Reimu had been with Touma for half a year, so he knew what he was like. The screen is continued
"…All right, then. The main problems right now are my card and the refrigerator."
Scratching his head quizzically, he looked around his room. As long as he had his bankbook, it wouldn't be difficult to get a new card. The bigger problem was his refrigerator—in particular, his breakfast. For his summer Ability Development makeup classes, he'd need to take medicine like Metoserin pills or Elbrase for sure, so he definitely didn't want to go in there on an empty stomach.
He figured he'd stop by the convenience store on his way to school. He pulled off the T-shirt in which he'd been sleeping and changed into his summer outfit. As stupid students are prone to doing, Kamijou had for no good reason gotten all excited about summer vacation finally arriving, stayed up really late, and now his head throbbed with sleep deprivation. Making up for four months' worth of cut classes in a single week is a pretty sweet deal, though, he thought with forced optimism.
"And later on he stayed up so much that he didn't have any of those signs anymore."
"Yes but his health is still affected a lot, he even fainted once"
Marisa was the first to speak and then Eirin added something about Touma's health. Reimu already knew that, so he just sighed and scolded Touma for being an overworked idiot
Cheering himself up, he declared,
"And it's so nice outside that maybe I'll air out the futon today."
He opened the screen door that led to the balcony. When he got back from his class later, his bedding would be all fresh and cozy. From his balcony, he could see the side of the neighboring building a mere two meters away.
"The sky's so blue, and yet I can't see the light!"
"Sounds so pessimistic? Another Shion?"
Marisa spoke her mind and she made someone she knew an example of pessimism
"Don't use me as a measure of pessimism"
"Accept the truth Shion, you've always been pessimistic even though you've gotten a little better now"
That person is Shion, a poverty god. She wanted to refute but she had to give up because before meeting Touma she was always pessimistic. Now she is much better than before. The screen is continued
A sudden depression washed over him. He'd said it in a bright, jocular tone, but doing so had the complete opposite effect on his mood.
Tortured by the isolation that left him without a straight man, Kamijou hoisted the futon off his bed. He wouldn't be able to die in peace if his futon wasn't at least soft. Bringing down his foot, he felt a disquieting squish as he stepped in something spongy. Investigating the cause, he found a piece of yakisoba bread in its clear wrapper. It had been shoved into the back of the aforementioned annihilated refrigerator, so it was probably already sour.
"…Hope we don't have any summer showers today."
What was sadly most likely a premonition spilled out of his mouth. He turned again to the open screen door that opened onto his balcony, only to discover that a white futon was already draped over the railing, airing out.
"?"
Even though these were student dorms, they were basically set up the same way as studio apartments, so Kamijou lived by himself. That being the case, there was nobody but him to go hanging futons from his terrace. It was only upon closer examination that he realized it wasn't a futon at all.
Hanging over the ledge was a girl wearing white clothes.
"Looks like it was when he met Index."
Reimu also vaguely guessed because she had been told by Index to her and she was waiting for the next scene to be correct.
"Huh?!"
His mattress fell to the floor with a thump.
The scene was baffling; it made no sense. Some girl was dangling from his balcony as if slung over a metal clothesline, limp and exhausted. Her body was doubled over the rail at her hips so that her arms and legs all drooped, suspended straight down.
She was…fourteen, maybe fifteen? She looked a year or two younger than Kamijou and appeared to be a foreigner, given her fair complexion and white hair. No, not white. Silver…probably? Either way, it was long and obstructed her inverted face from his sight. It most likely reached to her waist.
As for her clothing…
"Whoa. It's a real-life sister…but not the sibling kind."
And just as she predicted, it was Index.
A habit? You know, the kind of things nuns and sisters in churches wear
Her clothing looked to be all one piece and went down to her feet. A hat perched on her head—or rather, a hood made of a single piece of cloth. In direct contrast to the standard black pigmentation one usually saw with habits, the one the girl wore was pure white. He guessed the fabric was silk. Moreover, points on it were embroidered in gold. Despite the fact that the basic design was typical of a nun's habit, the unusual color completely changed its impression. She looked like some kind of gaudy teacup.
Suddenly, the girl's delicate fingers twitched.
Her head began rising unsteadily from its drooping orientation. Her long, flowing hair smoothly parted to either side to reveal her face, as if a curtain were being opened.
Whoa, whoa…!
"This expression is rare"
The one who said it was Alice, who had just enough contact with Touma. She accompanied him for a short time at several events.
The little lady had a relatively cute face. Kamijou, who had exactly zero experience overseas, saw a freshness in her pale skin and green eyes. All things being equal, she looked rather like a doll.
But that's not what had him flustered.
First and foremost, she was a foreigner. He'd once had an English teacher advise him to steer well clear of the wider world for the rest of his life. If somebody from God knows where ever started babbling at him, he'd just buy a down comforter or some other random thing to extract himself from the situation.
"Ai…"
The girl's pretty—though slightly dry—lips parted slowly.
Kamijou retreated one step, and then another. At which point, his foot revisited the yakisoba bread still on his floor with another squish.
"I'm hungry."
"Yeah, of course it's Index. Always hungry"
Reimu just smiled happily but Remilia was crying while hugging her face
"I regret inviting her to eat, remembering the first time she came to my mansion. The food supply was almost exhausted for her"
"You should be glad she didn't cook in your kitchen. Don't whine about it."
Yukari next to her was also listening and couldn't help but shiver as she recalled the time she asked Index to do the housework for her. It blew up for unknown reasons. It's a mystery she still hasn't solved. Reimu was the first to experience it so she stopped letting Index cook for her.
In that moment, Kamijou imagined that his feeble brain had substituted the unfamiliar language she was speaking with Japanese, like when dumb elementary schoolers make up silly lyrics to foreign songs.
"Hungry."
"…"
"I'm hungry."
"……"
"Didn't you hear me? I said I'm hungry."
The silver-haired girl slightly impatiently addressed the calcified Kamijou.
This is no good. Clearly this is very not good. This…This just sounds like Japanese
"Err, umm…"
He stared at the girl hanging out to dry on his balcony and inquired,
"So, uhh…Are you about to say you just happened to collapse here on your way somewhere?"
"You could say I collapsed here and am dying."
"…"
The girl was perfectly fluent in Japanese.
"I'd be very happy if you gave me some food to fill me up."
"It was so sudden that he must be trying to 'load' everything"
Cirno was joking while talking seriously about the current situation. And Sanae, Kanako, Suwako, Kaguya, Renko and Maribel were all surprised by Cirno's way of speaking.
"Did she just say outsider style and it's very mature?"
"What?"
Cirno wonders why some people see her as a strange being. She didn't care after that and continued to look at the screen.
Kamijou looked down at the prepackaged yakisoba bread, still under his foot and making squishy noises.
"He said it was overdue earlier, didn't he?"
It looked spoiled. I don't know what the hell is going on, but it's definitely better not to get involved. I'll let this kid be happy somewhere far away from here, he thought, taking the plastic-wrapped, sour yakisoba bread and thrusting it into the girl's mouth.
Once she smells how rotten it is, she has to run away. In Kyoto, giving someone rice with hot tea is like telling them to go home, he thought.
"Thank you, I should like that."
She chomped down on the entire thing, wrapper and all. Also her benefactor's hand.
And just like that, Kamijou's day once again began with a shriek and a stroke of bad luck.
"That's too bad, young man."
Byakuren commented on Touma giving food to Index
"Isn't it nice that she ate without any problems? Usually, stomach ache is a sure thing."
Sanae commented on Index's stomach. When people eat expired food, the stomach pain is quite high.
"First, I should introduce myself."
"…Uhh, first, why were you even hanging there—?"
"My name? It's Index."
"That's a fake name no matter how you look at it! You're an 'index'? Like from the back of a book?!"
"As you can see, I'm a member of the Church. That's important. Oh, not the one in the Vatican, but the Puritans of England."
"Oh~ another religion"
"Sounds interesting, I thought I'd meet her and ask some things"
The people involved in the so-called faith and worship of a certain religion were interested in meeting Index to ask some things, maybe they would get along?
"I have no idea what any of that means, and are you ignoring my question?!"
"Hmm, I'm talking about Index…Oh, if you want my magic name, it's Dedicatus545."
"Hello? Heeelloooo? What kind of alien is speaking on this frequency?"
"With my slowness and stupidity, with such a rush, only God can understand it immediately"
"Huh ?"
"What ??"
"Sorry, what do you mean???"
Reimu was the one who said that sentence that made many people wonder and they felt a little tickled inside. Reimu's statement just now was a bit ironic in a way
Kamijou had no patience left for listening to this girl and picked at his ear with his pinkie finger. She started gnawing on her thumbnail. Maybe a nervous habit?
Why exactly are we sitting politely around my glass table like this is some kind of job interview?
He needed to leave for school soon, or he'd be late for his summer makeup classes. But he obviously couldn't just leave this lunatic in his room by herself. The worst part of it was that this mysterious silver-haired girl calling herself Index looked like she'd taken such a liking to the place that she was rolling around on the floor.
Was this yet another expression of Kamijou's misfortune? If so, this had gone too far.
"Also, I would be very grateful if you filled up this 'index' with food."
"Why?! Why bother raising your parameters?! If I tripped some strange flag and ended up going straight into the Index route, then just kill me now!"
"Umm…is that slang? I'm sorry. I don't think I understand what you mean."
"He is following the Harem Route, not a person"
"Even though he didn't actively do it. I'm sure it can't be less than 10 people
Kaguya and Reimu both commented on the matter. Some girls blush and try to hide it
She was a foreigner, of course. She didn't seem to understand Japan's geek culture.
"If I take three steps out that door, I'll die of malnourishment."
"…Um, and I care about that why…?"
"When that happens, I'll be sure to scrawl a message next to my corpse with my last bit of strength. A sketch of your face."
"What…?!"
"If someone actually comes to my aid before I've expired, I might tell them I was held captive in this room and abused until all that was left was this husk of a person…and I'll tell them you forced me to cosplay in this outfit, too."
"Heh, that's smart"
"You might say what?! You seem to know a lot about otaku culture over here after all, don't you?!"
"?"
She tilted her head as if she were a kitten seeing herself in a mirror for the first time.
How mortifying. She's playing dumb. I feel like I'm the only one who's been tainted.
Kamijou stomped into the kitchen. I'll do it! Okay, I'll do it! The contents of the refrigerator had been ruined anyway, leaving only garbage. Even if I let her eat this stuff, it's not like it's putting a dent in my wallet. It'll be fine if I heat it up. He plopped the remains of what had once been food into a frying pan and started cooking something like a stir-fry.
Now that I think of it, where exactly did she come from?
There were foreigners living in Academy City, too, of course. But she didn't have that particular "scent" residents had. However, it would be very odd if she was an outsider.
"Sounds like Gensokyo's kind of isolation from the outside world, doesn't it?"
"Exactly so, according to him, it completely separates the outside world from the surrounding walls as far as I remember."
Reimu gave an answer to the girl who just asked, she was Kosuzu Motoori. A part-timer at Suzunaan.
The next scene and information was said to confirm Reimu.'s words
Academy City was known as a "city of hundreds of schools," but it was easier to think of it more like a "city-sized boarding school." It sprawled across a third of Tokyo, but a Great Wall of China–like partition surrounded the whole thing at the moment. It wasn't as strict as a prison, but it wasn't somewhere you could just accidentally wander into and get lost.
At least, that was how it looked to the outside world. In point of fact, engineering universities had launched three satellites into space for research purposes, and they constantly had their shining, watchful eyes on the city. Anyone leaving or entering was comprehensively scanned. Anyone arousing suspicion who didn't match up with the Gate's records would activate Anti-Skills or members of Judgment from all the schools, either of which would be all over them in seconds. Although…
Yesterday, electro girl conjured up a bunch of storm clouds. Maybe that's how she managed to evade their "eyes," Kamijou thought.
"That's smart even if it's hypothetical, but I don't understand why people who know Touma think he's stupid?"
The one who asked the question was the person sitting next to Byakuren, she was Toyosatomimi no Miko. The girls who knew Touma all said in unison
"Meet him and you'll understand why. We'll give you a chance to take that back after meeting him."
"Ah huh???"
Miko was surprised by their evenness. The screen is continued
"Umm, so why were you hanging out to dry on my balcony, then?"
Kamijou tried again, splashing soy sauce into the malicious vegetable stir-fry.
"I wasn't hanging out to dry, okay?"
"Then what happened? Did the wind blow you here or something?"
"…Maybe something like that."
He'd only been joking. He stopped moving the frying pan and turned back to the girl.
"I fell. I was actually trying to jump from rooftop to rooftop."
Rooftop? he thought, looking up at the ceiling.
This neighborhood was chock-full of cheap student dorms. Slender, identical eight-story buildings were lined up one next to the other. As one could see from the view from the balcony, there were only about two meters between each building. It would probably be possible to jump from one rooftop to the next with a good running start, but…
"But the buildings are eight stories tall. One wrong step and you'd fall straight to hell."
"Yeah. You know what they say—they don't put up headstones for suicides,"
Index declared. Kamijou didn't really know what she meant by that.
"I didn't have any choice, though. There was nowhere else for me to run at the time."
"To…run?"
Kamijou frowned unwittingly while Index replied simply, "Yup."
"A fairly new episode at the beginning, maybe I'll write it like that"
The girl named Hieda no Akyuu was taking notes on something. And Sanae could only laugh dryly because she had read so much about this situation.
"I was being chased."
"…"
His hand stopped rocking the hot pan.
"I was actually jumping between buildings just fine, but in the middle of one leap, I got shot in the back." The Index girl looked like she was laughing.
"Sorry. It looks like I got caught on your railing while I was falling."
There was no embarrassment or sarcasm in her voice at all. She smiled at him as if it were perfectly normal.
"You got shot…?"
"Yes? Oh, don't worry, I'm not hurt. These clothes also have a defensive barrier on them."
What's a "defensive barrier"? A bulletproof vest?
The girl spun around to show off her clothes. She certainly didn't look like she was wounded. Was she actually shot? He found it much more probable that everything she had said was just a pile of lies, half-truths, and delusions. However… At the very least, she really had been hanging on his seventh-story balcony. Hypothetically, if everything this girl was saying was true…
Then who would have shot her?
"As expected, he had been in contact with supernatural forces before, why did he feel normal at that time to talk about supernatural matters?"
Rinnosuke said to himself, he had been in contact with and talked to Touma, so he also suspected that this boy had been exposed to supernatural matters before.
"so that outfit can resist all attacks, including magic"
Marisa wants to try using Index's priestess clothes after meeting Index again
"Heh, I think you should drop that thought Marisa"
Mumei immediately gave an idea to Marisa and couldn't help but wonder
Kamijou contemplated. He considered how much resolve it would take to vault across the rooftops of eight-story buildings. How a balcony on the seventh floor had fortunately interrupted her descent. What had she meant by her claim that she'd "collapsed"?
"I was being chased," she said.
He considered the smile plastered on her face when she'd said that. He didn't know what kind of circumstances Index was caught up in, and he didn't understand much of what she was saying. Even if she'd explained everything to him from start to finish, he probably wouldn't have understood half of it. He also probably wouldn't have wanted to bother understanding half of it. But one thing was true. She'd been dangling on his balcony on the seventh floor. If she'd taken one wrong step, she could have slammed into the pavement instead. The deadly reality of that fact struck Kamijou so vividly that he felt his chest tighten.
"Food."
"………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Uhh."
Something like a (toxic) vegetable stir-fry comprised of compost simmered in the frying pan. Hmm. Looking at the hungry girl before his eyes, he could feel Angel Kamijou (normally paired with Devil Kamijou) writhing in agony inside him.
"Uhh, ahh! B-but, you know, if you're that hungry, rather than this gross bachelor chow I threw together, we should do it right and go to a restaurant or order takeout or something!"
"I can't wait that long, okay?"
"…Uhh, ugh!"
"And besides, it doesn't look gross at all. You cooked it for me without expecting anything in return. It can't possibly be bad, okay?"
This time she smiled even more widely and more brightly, in a manner befitting an actual nun. Kamijou's stomach felt like it was being wrung out like a mop. Index ignored him, taking the chopsticks in her fist and scooping the contents of the pan into her mouth.
"I will definitely lecture him on the matter, dare to let such a poor girl eat spoiled food"
It was Shiki Eiki who made that opinion and it was agreed by some people, especially those with a passion for justice.
Munch munch.
"See? It's not bad at all."
Chew chew.
"…Ah, is that so."
"I can taste that you gave it a bit of a sour tang to help revitalize me. Well done."
"Egck! Sour?!"
Gobble gobble.
"Yeah. But I'm fine with sour. Thanks. You know, you're kind of like a big brother."
She grinned. She'd been eating so ravenously that she had a bean sprout stuck to her cheek.
"…Uhh…Whooooooaaaaaahhh!"
Vwapp!! He snatched the frying pan out of her hands at supersonic speed, and Index's expression became the very picture of disappointment. Kamijou made himself a vow. I will be the only one to go to hell for this.
"Were you hungry, too?"
"…Huh?"
"If you're not, then I think you shouldn't play games and just let me eat it."
Index chomped at the tips of her chopsticks and watched him with upturned eyes. Kamijou had a revelation.
God spoke to him: "You must take responsibility and eat this."
His rotten luck hadn't been the problem this time. He'd brought this entirely on himself.
"Very well deserved"
Some people agreed that he deserved it, Reimu defended Touma
"At least he knows how to apologize early, better than some people who need a 'short' time to realize"
"..."
Reimu's statement hit a few people and they didn't really want to refute it.
Touma Kamijou smiled, his mouth filled with stir-fried garbage. The girl munched on a biscuit, looking dissatisfied. Holding the biscuit two-handed and gnawing away, she reminded him of a squirrel.
"…So, you said you're being chased. Who's after you?"
Having returned to his senses in the wake of his holy visitation, Kamijou put this question forward as the primary matter at hand. He'd only met her thirty minutes ago and certainly had no intention of diving to the depths of hell with her. But it probably wasn't possible to forget the whole thing.
So, in the end, I'm just a hypocrite. A fraud. I just want to say I did something to ease my conscience, but there's no way I can help resolve this.
"Yeah…," she responded somewhat drily. "I wonder? Maybe Rozenkreuz or Stella Matitina…I think it's an organization like that, but I don't know its name, since they're not the kind of people who place much value in names."
"'They'?"
Kamijou treaded carefully. This meant some kind of group was chasing her.
"Yeah," Index answered calmly, despite her situation.
"A sorcerers' society."
"………………"
"Oh, I want to join"
Marisa was excited to hear that, Alice and Patchouli were also interested even though they didn't show it.
"I see. Magic, huh…? Umm. What the hell?! You're insane!"
"Ah, er, what? Umm, was that not the correct term in Japanese? Sorcery, like, magic. A magic cabal."
"…" The word cabal confused him even more. "What? Is that some sort of hip new cult that forces you to believe in its founder, or else 'thou shalt be divinely punished'? And uses LSD to brainwash you? That would be dangerous in more ways than one…"
"…You're kind of making fun of me, aren't you?"
"Uhh."
"…You're kind of making fun of me, aren't you?"
"…I'm sorry. I can't. I can't do this whole 'magic' business. I know about all sorts of abnormal abilities, like pyrokinesis and clairvoyance, but I can't handle this 'magic' thing."
"…?"
Index tilted her little head confusedly.
She probably assumed that someone who believed in the omnipotent power of science would have just rejected what she said outright, claiming that there was nothing unexplainable in this world.
"Why does he look like he thinks magic exists???"
Marisa was quite annoyed by Touma's expression and Mumei immediately said
"Academy city is a gathering place for people who don't believe in what Index just said, so such a sign is normal. Honestly, if it were me, I would have made the same expression and called the police or Psychiatric hospital to pick up the person immediately"
"You then "
Sanae also agreed with Mumei, there were also others, including 4 savant girls, 1 girl dressed as a witch and two girls with black and blonde hair.
However, a supernatural power resided in Kamijou's right hand. It was called the Imagine Breaker, and no matter what nonsensical, preternatural force he was up against, his Imagine Breaker could dispel it. It could even negate miracles.
"Supernatural abilities aren't uncommon here in Academy City. Anyone can open 'circuits' and 'develop' by injecting Esperin into your brain, sticking electrodes on your head, and playing some rhythms in headphones. If every facet of something can be explained scientifically, then obviously everyone will accept it as fact, right?"
"…I don't really get it."
"It's obvious! Very obvious, so obvious! Obvious times three!"
"…Well then, what about magic? Magic is obvious, too, right?"
Index grew petulant, as if someone had just told her that her pet cat was stupid.
"Umm…okay, for example, you know janken, right? Wait, was that game played in the rest of the world?"
"…I think it's called rock-paper-scissors where I come from, but I know it."
"Okay, then say I played janken and lost ten times in a row. Would you think there's a reason for it?"
"…Mgh."
"There are actually a few tricks to win that game, so it's not good to take this as an example."
"There isn't, though, is there? But it's human nature to start thinking that there is something behind it," explained Kamijou, bored.
"You start thinking that there's no way you could lose ten times in a row and that there must be some kind of hidden rules working against you. What do you think would happen to those people if you threw some astrology into the mix?"
"…Like, if you're a Cancer, then you're unlucky, so you should stay away from competition?"
"Exactly. Around here, that's what 'occult' really means. The moment we start thinking that hidden forces like 'luck' or 'fortune' really exist, our minds mistake simple coincidences for predetermination. It's illusory."
Index displayed a momentary, almost feline annoyance before saying:
"…So you're not just rejecting what I said without thinking about it first."
"Nope. I can't do this whole worn-out fairy-tale thing specifically because I've thought about it seriously. I don't believe in wizards like the ones from picture books. Nobody would develop their brains if you could just use some MP and raise someone from the dead. Even I couldn't believe in any of that occult stuff. It has nothing to do with reality or science."
"Hey, does anyone want to come perform for him at this point?"
Marisa looked at Touma's stubbornness and wanted to prove to him that what Index said was absolutely true.
"Are you 'Toxic' young lady? Come on, it looks so childish"
Cirno immediately commented on Marisa's childishness, Marisa didn't want to argue with Cirno because she was in her original form before. If it's the stupid version of Cirno, she'll win a fight of the mouth. But with Cirno's form and intelligence, you will surely lose
As for the group of scientists, they quite liked his statement
Supernatural abilities only appear to be "mysterious" because human brains are stupid. It was common sense that they could be explained away by science here.
"…But magic is real."
Index made her declaration, the corners of her mouth lowering in dismay. This statement was likely the pillar of her convictions, not unlike Kamijou's Imagine Breaker.
"Well, whatever. But why are those people chasing y—"
"Magic is real."
"…"
"Magic is real!"
Looks like she wants me to admit it no matter what.
"B-but what the heck is magic? Can you shoot fireballs from your hands? Can you do it without going through an esper's Curriculum? If you can, then why don't you show me? Then I might be able to believe you."
"I don't have any magic power, so I can't use it."
"…"
It's like she's one of those useless espers who claim they can't bend spoons when cameras are rolling because it distracts them. But it was true that his feelings on the matter were complicated.
"So it's pointless if you don't prove it to him."
Alice is calmer than Marisa but analyzes and thinks while looking at the screen
Even though he'd said that the occult was implausible and that magic couldn't exist, the fact was that he knew almost nothing about the Imagine Breaker in his right hand. How did it work? What kind of principles did it operate under? Not even Academy City's System Scan, the world's most cutting-edge program of supernatural ability development, could see through his Imagine Breaker. That's why he carried the stigma of an Impotent, a Level Zero.
It was a power he had possessed since birth, not one he'd obtained through a scientific Curriculum.
He claimed that mysticism was unrealistic, but he himself wielded something of the "occult" that defied the rules of reality.
Still, he couldn't just tell himself something nonsensical like, "Well, there are plenty of mysterious things in the world, so it wouldn't be weird if magic did exist!"
"…Magic is real."
Kamijou sighed.
"Okay. If magic does exist…"
"If?"
"If it exists," Kamijou continued, ignoring her, "why are people chasing you around? Does it have something to do with those clothes or something?"
"The thing called Imagine breaker is really mysterious."
"I wonder if I should kidnap him to the moon for experiments--"
A rabbit girl was about to give an opinion when immediately countless killing intents were aimed at that rabbit girl, especially Reimu who was exploding with black power, it was dangerous and terrifying. There was even the roar of something. Reimu warned
"It's best to drop that opinion if you want to live, I won't forgive anyone who touches Touma."
"I...I know...please forgive me"
"So are the others."
Reimu immediately glanced sideways at the others and they remained silent. Mumei immediately intervened
"Okay, no fighting here."
Reimu immediately stopped using his power and returned to his seat. Some people are still shivering
"If someone says Reimu is Yandere, I believe it immediately."
Even though Sanae wasn't scared, she still had a bit of fear in her body. After all, she was one of the people who took a hit from Reimu in her state just now
He was referring, of course, to her overly extravagant habit, sewn of white silk and gold embroidery. He meant to inquire if it was somehow "religiously motivated."
"…Because I'm Index, the archive of forbidden books."
"Huh?"
"I carry 103,000 grimoires. Those people probably want them."
………………………………………………………………………………………………
"This conversation just stopped making sense again."
"Hey, how come whenever I explain something, all of your verve just vanishes? Do you have a short attention span?"
"Umm, I'm trying to organize my thoughts, but I don't really understand what a grimoire is. It's a book, right? Like a dictionary?"
"Yep. The Book of Eibon, the Lesser Key of Solomon, Nameless, Cultes des Goules, the Book of the Dead…Those are some famous ones. The Necronomicon is really famous too, so there's a lot of forgeries and imitations of it, I think."
"Okay, what's in the book doesn't matter."
Swallowing his urge to just call them chicken scratch, he asked:
"So, these 103,000 books…where are they?"
"I want to talk more with Index now."
Patchouli was interested in what Index mentioned
He would absolutely not budge on this one. A hundred thousand books were enough to take up an entire library.
"Does this mean you have a key to a warehouse somewhere or something?"
"No." Index shook her head back and forth. "I have all 103,000 right here with me, and not one less, okay?"
Huh? He frowned. "Can stupid people just not see them or something?"
"Even if you weren't stupid, you wouldn't be able to see them. What would be the point if you could just look at them whenever you wanted?"
Index's words hung in the air between them. Kamijou started to get the feeling she was teasing him. He took a look around, but there wasn't a single moldy grimoire or anything—just his gaming magazines and manga, and his crumpled summer homework sitting in the corner of the room.
"…Ack!"
He'd been listening patiently until now. But he just couldn't take any more, and his words caught in his throat.
This whole "being chased by someone" might be a delusion, he thought. But if that is the case, then she was hopping between eight-story buildings for no good reason. And then she messed up and ended up splayed over my balcony…I wouldn't be able to keep up with someone like her.
"Hah, the speed he has is even faster than thunder, or even more"
"I'm not sure, but let's just ignore that."
A short conversation between Reimu and Renko
"…It's really weird that you believe in supernatural abilities but not magic." Index scowled again, irked. "Are supernatural abilities really that amazing? Having some kind of special power doesn't make it okay to treat people like dirt, you know."
…
"Well, you got me there."
He sighed to himself. "That's right. You're right. It's wrong to think that having a funny trick gives you the right to lord yourself over other people."
His gaze fell to his right hand. It could produce neither flame nor electricity. It couldn't shine, or make loud noises, or evoke strange patterns on his wrist. However, his right hand could nullify any and all abnormal powers—regardless of whether the power in question was good or evil, and even if it was a divine miracle like from the legends.
"For the people who live here, having an ability is part of their personality; it's their moral support. So it'd be nice if you could just overlook that part. In the end, I guess I'm one of those people, too."
"That's right, stupid. Hmph. Even if you didn't mess with the inside of your head, you could just bend spoons with your hands."
"There are actually some methods of breaking spoons without being an esper. But I don't have time to do that."
"Pretty pointless because it's so simple"
It was a conversation between scientists, they looked odd compared to others but those who understood what they were saying didn't think so, typically Sanae and a Kappa girl named Kawashiro Nitori.
"…"
"Hmph. What's so great about some artificial man who abandoned the natural world? Hmph."
"Would you mind if I taped that mouth of yours shut and your pride along with it?"
"I-I will not bow to intimidation!" Index glowered at him like an irritated cat. "B-besides, you keep saying supernatural powers, but what exactly can you do, mister?"
"…Err, well, I can…"
He hesitated for a moment.
Opportunities to explain his Imagine Breaker didn't come along very often. And the fact that it only reacted to "abnormal powers" necessitated an understanding of "abnormal" and "supernatural" powers first.
"Well, you see, my right hand…Oh, by the way, I didn't get this through drugs; I'm a natural from birth."
"Uh-huh."
"If something touches my hand…If it's an abnormal power, even if it's like a nuclear blast, or a tactical Railgun, or even a miracle, it gets canceled out."
"Huh?"
"…Wait, what's with that reaction? You look like someone showed you a rock that got passed off as a good luck charm on TV."
"Obviously she's looking at him sarcastically and there's some suspicion in that."
"Yeah, like the time when we looked at some old woman sarcastically who called herself a beautiful and fragile young maiden. But there was disdain in that."
"Cough cough"
Reimu and Marisa both looked at the same person and she was hiding in the crowd.
"Well, I mean, I was just told that someone could dispel miracles even though that someone doesn't even know God's name."
Surprisingly, Index smirked at him and stuck her pinkie finger in her ear.
"…Ugh. H-how annoying. I can't believe how annoying it is to be mocked by some fake magical girl who claims magic is real but can't even show me any."
He'd been muttering to himself, but his grumbling instantly set her off:
"I-I'm not a fake! Magic really does exist!"
"Then show me something, you Halloween reject! I'll jam my right hand into it, and then you'll believe my Imagine Breaker is real! How's that, Fantasia?"
"Fine, I'll show you!" Index raised her hands, smoke seemingly about to pour from her ears, and cried, "This! My outfit! This is the strongest holy shield you could get, the Walking Church!"
Index emphasized her teacup-like habit with outstretched arms.
"What the hell is a Walking Church?! You're making no sense! Quit throwing around gibberish like holy shield and index of forbidden books, you inconsiderate jerk! Do you even know what the word explain means? You're supposed to break it down for people who don't get it. Don't you even understand that?!"
"I admit it sounds like some kind of walking worship when I hear the name."
"But that's healthy, isn't it?"
"You then"
"Wha—?! Says the person who isn't even trying to understand!"
Index waved her arms furiously. "I'll show you some proof! Go get a knife out of the kitchen and try stabbing me in the stomach!"
"All right, why don't I?!…Wait, you're trying to entrap me, aren't you?!"
"Oh, so you don't believe me!" Index's shoulders were bobbing up and down in time with her ragged breathing. "This is a church in the form of clothing, with all the essential elements of a church crammed inside. The weaving of the fabric, the stitching, the decorative embroidery…All of it was calculated! A simple knife won't hurt me a bit, okay?"
"It won't hurt you…Hey, on what planet would some idiot just say, 'Sure, I'll stab you'? That would be a remarkably new twist on juvenile delinquency."
"I've had enough of you making fun of me…This fabric is a perfect copy of the Shroud of Turin, worn by the saint who was pierced by the Lance of Longinus, so its strength is Papal class, okay? In your words…yeah, I guess it would be like a fallout shelter. It can repel any attack, physical or magical, and parry or completely absorb it…Before, I said I was shot in the back, fell, and got caught on your balcony, right? If I hadn't been wearing the Walking Church, I'd have a bullet hole in me. Don't you even understand that?"
"If he did, I'd like to hypothesize that if something went wrong with the suit, she might have been stabbed to death?"
"Sounds creepy Sanae, stop talking about bad luck"
Reimu got a vein mark on his head after hearing Sanae declare his theory.
Shut up, moron.
Kamijou, his affection gauge toward Index quickly decreasing, regarded her through narrowed eyes.
"…Huh. So, in other words, if your little skirt really is some kind of abnormal power, then it should get blown to smithereens if I just touch it with my right hand, right?"
"If your power is actually real! Ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Fine, then! Kamijou reached forward and grabbed Index's shoulder firmly. It actually felt as if he were grabbing a cloud. The texture was weird, like a soft sponge was absorbing the pressure.
"Wait…huh?"
Now that he'd calmed down a bit, he played through the scenario. If hypothetically…if what Index was saying was all true—though he still thought it was impossible—then what would happen if her Walking Church had actually been constructed employing some preternatural means? If his hand erased all aberrant forces, wouldn't her clothes be destroyed?
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—"
Kamijou shrieked automatically in
anticipation of the completely unintentional and M-rated situation into which he'd been maneuvered.
…
…
…?
"wait if her outfit is made of magic then that arm will disappear when she denies it? So she's about to get naked!!!"
"ah...hah?"
"Yup!!!!!"
The rabbit girl Reisen's words caught the attention of many people and just like she said, the next scene was exactly what Reisen said.
"—aaaaaaat, wait…huh?"
Nothing was happening. Nothing at all.
What the hell, man? Don't scare me like that! he thought, though in fact he did feel on some level slightly disappointed.
"See, look! Imagine Breaker? That's nothing! See, nothing happened, did it?"
She beamed at him triumphantly, placed her hands on her hips, and puffed out her chest. The next instant, like an unbound ribbon on a gift box, all of Index's clothes fell off. The threads woven into her habit severed cleanly, and the outfit collapsed into a simple piece of fabric. One piece, however, remained. The hood resting atop her head seemed to be isolated from the rest of the ensemble. It stayed where it was, looking awfully lonely. Still grinning with pride, her hands on her hips and her chest puffed out, Index froze.
To put it simply, she was stark-naked.
"See, I told you!!!!"
"So the first girl Touma saw naked was Index!!!!!"
"Why are you acting like you're a loser Reimu??? Do you really want to do that???"
"Do...do nothing. Go and say that to those lewd girls, Marisa"
Marisa looked over and saw that there were some girls who had fallen into their delusions. But there were a few people who exuded fear in front of Touma. After a while, everything was back to normal.
This girl named Index apparently had a habit of biting people when she got angry.
"Ow…you bit me all over the place. What are you, the mosquito at summer camp?"
"…"
No answer.
Index, naked as the day she was born with only a blanket to hide her shame, sat on the floor on her knees. She was busily sticking safety pins into the fabric of her habit in a (futile) effort to somehow return her clothes to a wearable state.An aura of doom dominated the room. It's not like somebody from the JoJo manga had shown up and used his Stand.
"…Uh, princess?"
Kamijou tried again to rouse her, wondering as to the nature of her actual personality.
"…What?"
"I was one hundred percent at fault here, right?"
His alarm clock flew at him in reply, eliciting a yelp. His pillow followed directly after, and then a steady stream of his game systems and cassettes. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"If they didn't challenge each other and believe in each other, maybe such trouble wouldn't have happened"
"Can't blame them, the two of them right now are like two people from different worlds who see each other and talk about what the next person doesn't understand at all"
"You're just going to casually chat with me after that?!"
"Ah no, I'm not! I was bewildered, too, and, uhh, how youthful of us!"
"Stop making fun of me…Grrrrrr!!"
"I underst— Okay, okay, I apologize! That video is a rental, so stop biting it like it's some kind of handkerchief, stupid!"
He comedically put his head down on the ground. Deep down, though, seeing a naked girl for the first time made his heart feel like it would be squeezed to death. Kamijou Touma, however, didn't let it show on his face because he was an adult…That's what he thought, anyway, but if Touma Kamijou had looked in a mirror, he'd have been pretty surprised at what he saw.
"Lolicon???"
"Does he like small breasts?"
"Is that important right now???"
The three people talking together are Kaguya, Mokou and Reimu
"I'm done," Index muttered with a sniffle. She spread out her pure white habit. She had returned it to some semblance of normalcy through her sweatshop effort.
Dozens of safety pins gleamed brightly on the salvaged habit.
"………………………………………………………………………………………*sweat*"
"Umm, are you going to wear it?"
"………………………………………………………………………………………*silent*"
"Are you going to wear that iron maiden?"
"………………………………………………………………………………………*sob*"
"In Japanese, we call that a 'bed of needles.'"
"…Urgh, grrr!!"
"I get it!" He buried his head in the floor and apologized unreservedly. Index's expression was that of a bullied child, and she was currently gnawing through his television's power cable like a naughty cat.
"I'll wear it! I'm a nun, after all!"
With a cry that he didn't really understand, she curled herself up underneath the blanket and started squirming around like a caterpillar to put it on. The only thing visible outside the blanket was her face, which was so red it looked as if it might explode.
"…Huh. Somehow, this reminds me of my swimming lessons."
"…Why are you watching? I think you should at least turn away."
"Oh, whatever. It's no big deal. Unlike before, you changing isn't sexy at all."
"…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………"
"Your mouth is too perverted."
"Oh Stupid Boy Touma, it's not okay to talk like that"
Cirno showed a depressed expression and had some sympathy for Index.
Index's motions ground to a halt, but when Kamijou didn't appear to notice, she gave up and squirmed around some more, dressing herself. Her hood toppled to the floor, but she didn't notice; maybe she was concentrating too hard. It was kind of like being in an elevator, what with the awkward silence. Kamijou's mind had been steadily drifting away from reality, but the words summer makeup classes finally came crashing back to the forefront of his brain.
"Ack! That's right, I have makeup classes!" He looked at the time on his cell phone. "Let's see, umm…Hey, I have to go to school now. What are you going to do? If you're staying here, I can give you the key."
The "kick her out" option had already been abandoned. Since her habit, the Walking Church, had reacted to his Imagine Breaker, there was no doubt that she was somehow involved with abnormal forces. That would mean that not everything she said was a lie. For example—that she had been pursued by sorcerers and had fallen from the roof of a building.For example—that she was going to continue her life-or-death game of tag after this.
"So he trusted Index even a little."
And, for example—that sorcerers straight out of fantasy novels were running around a city where they'd formulated even ESP and PSY.
…Despite all that, though, he still felt like he should give the depressed Index some space.
"…That's okay. I'm leaving."
She leaped to her feet, still ensconced in the doom aura. She passed by Kamijou's side like a ghost. She didn't seem to notice that her hood was still on the floor. If he picked it up carelessly, he'd probably break that, too.
"Ah, uhh…"
"Hm? Oh no, you don't get it." Index turned back to look at him. "If I'm here too long, they'll probably come this way. You don't want to be blown up with the rest of your room, do you?"
She posed the question unflinchingly, leaving Kamijou at a loss for words.
She sluggishly drifted out through the door that was the entrance to his studio. Kamijou chased after her in a panic. He checked his wallet, thinking maybe he could do something. He only had 320 yen left. In spite of that, he energetically burst through the door in an effort to keep Index there. Unfortunately, as he walked out, his pinkie finger slammed at Mach speed into the doorframe.
"Gah, mah! Yaaahh!"
"It hurts"
"Unlucky"
"It hurts for him"
He squealed unintelligibly, bracing his finger against his leg. Index turned back, startled. As he writhed at the intense pain, his cell phone slid out of his pocket. Ah. Before he could stop it, it hit the floor, its liquid-crystal display made a criiiick noise, and he knew it had suffered a mortal wound.
"Ugh, no…! What rotten luck!"
"It's not rotten luck. I think you're just clumsy." Index giggled. "But if you really do have this Imagine Breaker, then I guess you can't do much about it."
"…What do you mean?"
"Right. Well, you might not believe any stories of the magical world I come from, but…" She smiled at him. "You know things like divine protection or the red thread of fate? If things like that do really exist, then I think your right hand is canceling them out, too."
Index swayed her safety pin–covered habit from side to side and said, "The power in this Walking Church is that of providence—divine favor—after all."
"Hang on. Fortune and misfortune just refer to probabilities and statistics. That can't be righ—"
At that exact moment, his finger touched the doorknob and was beset by a brilliant static shock. What?! His reflexes kicked in, his body flinched, and his right calf cramped in a sudden muscle spasm.
He cried out in silent agony for approximately six hundred seconds.
"……………………………………………………………………………………………Excuse me, Miss Nun?"
"What is it?"
"……………………………………………………………………………………………I'd like an explanation."
"Well, it's not much of an explanation," declared Index in a matter-of-fact tone, "but if the story about your right hand is true, then I think just by having it, you're erasing the power of luck altogether?"
"……………………………………………………………………………………………I see…so you mean…"
"So the very fact that your right hand is touching the air is making you totally unlucky. "
"Gyaaahhh!! What rotten luck!!"
Kamijou didn't actually believe in the occult, but he had a separate stomach when it came to the concept of bad luck. In any case, nothing ever went right for him, fostering a deep impression that the universe bore him a particular ill will. A lone nun clad in pure white gazed upon him with the benign smile of the Holy Mother herself. People would say that those were inviting.
"So it negates God's blessing too, formidable to the gods."
"It's really scary"
"Even if I give money, I don't dare to use that power, I need luck"
"Rotten luck, huh. The fact that you were born with that power in the first place was pretty rotten luck in and of itself, wouldn't you agree? "
Kamijou had started crying at the warmth of her smile without realizing it, but then it finally occurred to him just how far they'd actually strayed from the conversation he'd intended.
"N-no, wait! Where on earth do you plan on going? I don't know what's going on, but if there are sorcerers prowling around nearby, then shouldn't you just hide in my room?"
"No, because if I'm here, then the enemy will come here, too."
"How can you know that for sure? If you don't go around drawing attention to yourself and just stay put in my room, then there's no problem, right?"
"But there is, okay?" Index pinched her clothes. "My Walking Church uses magical power. Well, the Church wants me to call it divine power, but it's all the same mana anyway. Anyway, to put it simply, enemies seem to be tracking magical power."
"Then why the hell are you wearing that transmitter?!"
"Because it has absolute defensive capabilities, okay? Though your right hand did smash it to pieces…"
"…"
"To pieces…"
"She repeats it again, if I was there I would definitely rip his head off."
"I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry, so stop looking at me with tears in your eyes like that! But if my Imagine Breaker broke it, doesn't that mean it isn't transmitting anymore?"
"Even if it didn't, they still would have detected its destruction. Like I said before, the Walking Church's defensive capability is Papal class. It's basically like a fortress. If I were the enemy and I got word that a fortress had been broken, I'd head straight for it in an instant."
"Wait a second. Then that's all the more reason I can't leave you. I still don't believe in the occult, but…how can I leave you when I know someone's after you?"
She gave him a blank, stupefied look. He really, really could only see the face of a normal girl when he saw that expression.
"…All right, then are you willing to follow me into the depths of hell?"
"This sentence..."
"In the title it appeared..."
"Even so, he will definitely join this battle."
"Exactly, Touma is always ready to help everyone"
Some people can guess where this is going because they've been around long enough to understand what Touma is like, especially the people he's saved.
She smiled sweetly. That smile was so ripe with pain, it robbed Kamijou of his words.
Index was telling him gently…
…to stay away.
"I'll be okay; I'm not alone. If I can flee to the Church, they'll give me shelter."
"…Hmm. And where is this Church?"
"London."
"So far!!!"
"I'll show it to those who don't know how far it is"
Mumei snapped her fingers for the map to appear and as the map showed they could see that it was far away from where they were now. And how stupid would it be to walk there
"That's really far! Just how far do you plan on running?!"
"Huh? Oh, it's all right. I think there is a handful of dioceses in this country."
Seeing Index standing there with her safety pin–speckled habit fluttering in the breeze gave the impression of a battered woman fleeing an abusive husband.
"A church, huh…I think there might be one here in the city."
The word church evoked images of the setting for a giant wedding ceremony, but Japan's churches were, frankly, dull. The culture of the cross had never been particularly thick here, and given that it was a nation prone to earthquakes, there weren't a lot of buildings still standing with long histories. The church Kamijou had seen from the window of a train was just a prefabricated house with a cross on top…Though, on the other hand, an ostentatious church seemed wrong, too.
"Hmm. It can't be any old church, though, since I belong to the Church of England."
"???"
"Umm, well, Crossism is one thing, but there are a lot of different kinds." Index smiled wryly. "First, you have Catholicism, the old way, and Protestantism, the new way. And even the old way, which I'm a part of, is split up into Roman Orthodoxism, centered on the Vatican; Russian Catholic, based in Russia; and English Puritanism, with its headquarters at St. George's Cathedral. There's more like that, too."
"Does anyone understand what she's saying? I've got a bit of a headache"
"You should read more books about religion, or you should join our religion and you will understand"
"You know how to take advantage of the opportunity, Miko"
"Fufu, thanks for the advice Byakuren"
Both of them smiled smugly, Reimu was quite annoyed with it, thanks to these people she was always in a state of poverty before meeting Touma. Just remembering made her even more annoyed, so Reimu continued watching what happened next
"…If you went to the wrong church by mistake, what would happen?"
"I'd be turned away," said Index, still wearing a cynical smile. "Russian Catholic and English Puritanism only really exist in their respective countries, after all. English Puritan churches in Japan are rare."
"…"
The direction of the conversation was not looking good. Maybe Index had visited a ton of churches before collapsing out of hunger. If she was turned away at the entrance every time and kept on running, how would that have made her feel?
"It's all right. It'll only be like this until I find a Church of England–style church."
"…"
Kamijou thought for a moment about the power in his right hand, then called after her, "Hey!…If you're ever in trouble, you can feel free to visit again."
That was all he could say. Despite being the man who could kill even God.
"Okay. If I get hungry, I'll come over again."
Her smile was like a sunflower, and so perfect that Kamijou couldn't say another word. A cleaning robot passed by Index, diverting from its path to avoid her.
"Uhh, hello?" The weirdly impressed Index scared Kamijou. "This is Academy City. We've got stuff like this all over the place."
"Academy City?"
"Yeah. Basically, the western districts of Tokyo were developing more slowly than the rest of it, so someone bought up all this land and built this city. We've got dozens of universities and hundreds of primary schools, all crowded together. It's a city of schools."
Kamijou sighed. "An eighth of the city's residents are students, and the buildings that look like apartments are all student dorms."
Though, on its underside, the city necessitated Ability Development for its students.
"That's why the city seems so strange. The automated garbage collection, the wind-powered generators, and that cleaning robot were all originally college lab experiments, and they're all over the city. Our tech level has advanced about twenty years ahead of the rest of the world."
"I see."
Index stared intently at the cleaning robot. "So does that mean that all the buildings in this city are affiliated with this Academy City itself?"
"I want a robot like that too, so I don't have to work hard to clean the temple"
"There's a degree of laziness, Reimu"
"If you sell those machines, you'll make a lot of money."
"Oh, not a bad idea"
"Yeah…I mean, if you're looking for something affiliated with the Church of England, it might be a better idea to leave the city. The churches around here are all probably just places you go to learn about theology and Jungian psychology."
"I see."
Index nodded, finally remembering that her head was in extreme pain and cradling it in her hands. "Ow?! Ah, wait? Where did my wimple and veil go?!"
"What, you just realized now? You dropped it earlier."
"Huh?"
What Kamijou meant was, You dropped it when you were changing inside the blanket. What Index thought he meant, though, was, You dropped it when you fell over when the cleaning robot surprised you. She searched around the floor of the hallway for a few moments, looking confused.
"Ah, I get it! That electric Agathion!"
Having entirely misunderstood him, she dashed off to chase the cleaning robot that had already disappeared around the corner.
"…Hah. She's off."
He looked back at the door. Index's hood was still in there. He looked back down the hallway again, but the girl was no longer in sight. Their parting certainly hadn't been the teary sort.
She seems like the kind of person who'd survive the apocalypse, he thought for some reason.
End of scene 1
"So what do you guys think?"
Mumei turned to the people watching
"It's also interesting even just the beginning, I guess the ending will be Happy Ending right?"
"..."
Yukari immediately guessed the ending and many people followed her point of view and Mumei just kept silent. That didn't stop Yukari from wondering
"Right?"
"..."
"You scared me."
"Oh nothing, watching you guys follow this judgment reminds me of myself when I saw this scene"
Mumei regained her senses for a bit and then said
"Let's rest for a bit and then we will continue the scene of this incident"
"Ok"
End of Chapter 4
It's been over 2 months, sorry for making you wait so long. Now I will continue with Life in Gensokyo