Chapter 1: A Tower of Glass. Part 2

In his heart, Kamijou Touma shouted: What the heck!

On the second floor of the fast food restaurant, a no-smoking zone was packed. At completely full four-seating table, Kamijou, Index and Aogami Pierce sat there.

Hm, it was okay up here but—

"—Spent all my money and ruined myself."

—why is there a miko in this crude shop lying on a table and saying such insanity?!

Her age was similar to that of Kamijou's and her waist length her seem like a textbook example of a miko

"..."

"..."

The heavy presence was like they were in an elevator.

What should I do? Kamijou wondered.

At that moment, he noticed Index and Aogami Pierce staring at him.

"...Wha-What's up?"

"...Kami-yan, when someone talks to ya, ya should oblige and reply, right?"

"...That's right, that's right! Touma, you can't just back out after seeing the appearance. You must follow God's teachings and reach out, amen!"

"...Oi, are you kidding!? We should at least settle this by rock, paper, scissors to make it fair! Oi, Index! You think I'll lose, huh!? Oi! Why're you making a cross over your chest!?"

In the end, the trio had decided to play rock, paper, scissors to determine the martyr.

Rock, rock ...and scissors. Kamijou lost. Overall, Kamijou Touma was simply unlucky.

"Erm, excuse me?"

Kamijou, the only one who chose scissors, in confusion, could only speak to the miko. Her shoulders jerked.

"Ah... Erm... What did you mean by spent all your money and ruined yourself?"

Well, it's better to have a normal conversation, Kamijou thought. The miko did say it herself and was likely hoping for others to ask her why.

"As I had a lot of free coupons and a hamburger costs 580 yen (a. $7.04)—"

"Uh huh." Kamijou, as a result of his amnesia, had forgotten how a hamburger tasted. However, he knew that hamburgers were simply a meat patty with rotten lettuce, an impoverished person's vile friend.

"—I went ahead and ordered 30 of them."

"You ordered too many, stupid girl." As Kamijou retorted on reflex, he had noticed the miko was unmoving. Because of her silence, one could tell that she gave off an aura of emotional hurt.

It was an uncomfortable atmosphere. He had not expected for her to respond so seriously. Truly, the atmosphere was uncomfortable.

"Ah! I didn't mean it like that! I didn't finish! I actually wanted to say 'stupid girl, why did you order so many?' I just meant to make the conversation go smoothly. I might be blunt, but it's a proof of my friendless, I don't have bad intentions! OI! THE NUN AND BLUE-HAIRED DUDE OVER THERE, WHY ARE YOU STARING AT ME LIKE THAT?!? JUST WAIT TILL WE TALK OUTSIDE!!"

Unable to withstand the pressure, Kamijou began to shout madly.

"Meal of frustration. The stationary miko that was approximately half-dead finally spoke.

"Ha?"

"Train fare back home: 400 yen."

Facing such suspicious words from the miko, Kamijou could only swallow his saliva. He had no memories of riding a train but he knew that riding a train or bus in Academy City was extremely pricey.

"What does 400 yen for a train ride have to do with a frustration meal?"

"My total fortune: 300 yen."

"...And you're telling me because?"

"Overspending... lack of planning..."

"..."

"...So I'm having a frustration meal."

Kamijou had barely managed to swallow the words "you idiot" that were rising from his throat.

After careful consideration, he spoke. "But, why don't you use that 300 yen for the train ride? If you can't pay for one, you can just walk the 100 yen difference. And if you can't do that, why don't you just borrow 100 yen from someone?

"...That idea's good."

"Why are you staring at me like that? What's with the expectant look?"

Kamijou frantically backed away from the miko as much as possible. He had already spent 3600 yen on a reference book (meaninglessly at that) and had even bought three shakes to calm down Index. So, even if it were 100 yen, it was a heavy burden to bear.

On that topic...

The miko, who had lifted her face up, was unexpectedly beautiful.

She was differed slightly from the foreign Index; she had skin as white as the Japanese that contrasted with her black hair and eyes. Though her eyes lacked emotion, they also lacked aggression. Even if she did not want someone around, she emanated a comforting feeling. It was an encompassing nature.

"..."

Index scowled and glared at Kamijou.

"Th-That's impossible! Kami-yan's actually talking to a gal... to actually be talking to a girl he just met, it's impossible!" Aogami Pierce grumbled angrily, truly attempting to ruin Kamijou's reputation.

"SHUT UP! YOU, TWO-DIMENSIONAL ALIEN! CLIENT, GET BACK TO THE BACK OF THE GYM LATER! AND, YOU MIKO, FIND A WAY TO GET 100 YEN BY YOURSELF AND GO HOME! TRANSMISSION COMPLETE!"

"What? It's not over yet Kami-yan! Ya were a good man for 16 years, how did ya get so many unique girls like a nun and a miko within 2 weeks!? Is this a gal game?" Aogami Pierce cried out in confusion and Kamijou truly desired to reward him with a punch. However, as they sat diagonally, he could not do so. Just examining the positions of their seats was enough to see how misfortunate Kamijou was.

"100 yen please." The miko lifted her head and stared with a complicatedly pained expression. She continued. "Will you lend to me?"

"Nope. No money here."

"..." The miko pondered for a while and spoke. "...So stingy. Won't even let me borrow a mere 100 yen."

"...Who's the idiot who doesn't even have a stupid 100 yen!?" Kamijou inadvertently retorted back.

"Kami-yan! How can ya respond like that so naturally!? As a good man, shouldn't ya stutter in front of a beauty!?" Aogami Pierce shouted out with a Hellish voice.

"...Beauty." The miko's eyes waved, causing one to wonder what she was thinking about. "Lend me 100 yen since I'm beautiful."

"Shut up! You terrible woman! A woman who uses her looks to get money can't be called a beauty! And you know what? I just bought three shakes so I don't have any money left!"

"That's-That's great Kami-yan! Ya still think that a beauty's heart must be kind and pure, it seems like ya haven't left the 2-D world!"

"...Hold on Touma. You're saying that you'd give her 100 yen if you didn't help me buy shakes? Humph!"

The stares and cries of outrage began to surface and they far surpassed Kamijou's computing abilities. Kamijou grabbed his head, wondering which point he should settle first. At that point, Index, slurping the shake with a straw, was glaring at the miko with hostility.

"Humph. Seeing as you're wearing red pants, I suppose you make divinations, right? So divining mikos will also sell their faces, right? I've even heard that the term 'miko' was a secretive way of calling someone a 'whore' in the Heian period, right?"

Kamijou jumped and shouted at the words while Aogami Pierce's voice raised pitch for some unknown reason shouting, "Hahaha, a nun and miko are going at it!"

As Kamijou prepared to force Aogami Pierce to remain silent, the miko spoke. "I'm not a miko."

"What?"

The black-haired girl who looked exactly like a miko, whose picture could have been used in an encyclopedia entry on mikos, caused the present company to stare at her.

"Eh... If you're not a miko, what are you?" Kamijou asked, having somehow become the group's representative.

"I'm a spell caster."

"..."

Completely silent. The sounds of the shop's cable broadcast seemed distant. For some reason, despite his amnesia, Kamijou felt that he had experienced it before. But, of more importance, why was Index trembling? Kamijou cried in his heart.

BAM! Index slammed the table with both hands. Before the shakes on the tray could even jump up, Index roared. "What kind of spell caster? Kabbalah? Knoch? Hermes? McCue's idol or Modern Astrology? Don't just give us something that vague and tell us your specialty, school, magic name and order name, idiot!"

"???"

"You dare to call yourself this even without knowing all of these? Since you're a divination miko, you should at least pretend to be an oriental-style astrologist or something!"

"Alright. I'll be that."

"You'll 'be that'!? Did you really just say that!?!"

Index continued to slam her hands and Kamijou sighed while he looked around him. Though the shop was rather noisy, Index's flailing was too much. He had to quiet her soon.

"Alright. Alright. We understand that this miko isn't a miko but a spell caster. But so what? Calm down."

"Touma! Your attitude is completely different from when you first met me!"

Index glared at Kamijou as if to bite him but the reality was that Kamijou had truly forgotten. Of course, simply telling her "sorry, I lost my memories" was not an option.

"If she thinks she's a spell caster, leave her be. Since she's not trying to harm or trick anyone, ignore it."

"...Uu. When I wanted to prove that magic was real, my clothes were stripped."

"Ha?"

"Nothing! I said and thought about nothing!" Index angrily looked away and, underneath the table, Kamijou's foot was repeatedly stomped. It seemed there could have been only one culprit

"Ah." Index, who had turned her head aside, seemed to notice something.

Kamijou wondered whether the shop attendants would chase them out for their riotousness.

At that moment, Nh... people?

As he felt that something was amiss, Kamijou realized that the table the four of them sat at was surrounded by about ten people.

"..."

Why didn't we notice? Kamijou wondered.

It was perhaps the same distance as the space between customers and attendants waiting for orders. The group of ten looked over in that direction, seemingly desiring to surround the table. It was incredible that no one had noticed.

Also, though shop was crowded, no one had noticed the anomaly. Essentially, these individuals could erase their presences like professional assassins.

"..."

All of them, in their 20s and 30s, were dressed in the same Western suit

If they were squeezed together in a train station, they could cause those around them to not remember their faces and names. However, their expressions lacked emotions completely. And, because of that, they contrasted from their surroundings.

Emotionless expressions...?

Kamijou wondered where had seen the expression before and looked back around the table.

...The anonymous miko...

Her expression was still deadpan even with ten men surrounding the teenagers.

"100 yen more." She spoke as she silently stood. Her attitude was as casual as meeting someone for a planned arrangement, showing her unwariness of them.

One of them backed away and made a path while another respectfully handed over a 100 yen coin to the palm of the miko without a word.

"Eh? Ah? So you know these people?" Oblivious of the situation, Kamijou spoke.

"..." She looked around herself, seemingly pondering something. "Nn. They're cram school teachers."

A nonchalant tone. The miko walked down to the first floor and the ten men silently followed behind like bodyguards or even shadows.

The familiar buzzing and wired music seemed far away as the volume softened. When everyone had left, Aogami Pierce finally spoke. "Hold on, why did cram school teachers bring her back? They're not elementary school disciplinary officers."