Chapter 1: The Magician Lands on the Tower. Part 4

Apparently, the girl naming herself Index had a habit of biting people when angered.

"Oww… You bit me all over. What are you, a camp mosquito?"

"…"

He received no response.

Index was naked and wrapped in a blanket. She sat with her legs bent back to the sides while attempting, futilely, to return her clothes to their original form by applying safety pins into the pieces of the nun's habit.

The sound effect 'dohhn' seemed to dominate the room.

It was not that a new Stand user had attacked.

"…Um, princess? This may be presumptuous of me, but I have a button-down shirt and pants you can wear."

"…"

She stared at him with snake-like eyes.

"…Um, princess?"

What kind of character is this she's playing? He worriedly thought.

"…What?" she replied when he called out once more.

"I was completely the one at fault there."

The only response he received was an alarm clock flying at him.

"Ee!" Kamijou shrieked just as a giant pillow was thrown as well.

To make matters ever more ridiculous, a video game system and small radio came went his way as well.

"How can you talk to me so normally after something like that!?"

"Ahh, no! It was quite the life-changing event for this old man as well. But that's youth for you!"

"You're making fun of me… Uuuuuuuuhhhhhh!!"

"Okay... I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Don't bite that rented video like a handkerchief, you idiot!"

Kamijou Touma bowed down to the ground with both his hands straight forward like it was a part of some kind of joke.

Deep down, Kamijou felt like a grip was crushing his heart after having seen a girl naked for the first time.

However, Kamijou Touma was not the type to show it.

…Or so he had thought, but he would have been quite surprised at what he saw had he looked in a mirror.

"Finished."

While triumphantly blowing air from her nose, Index spread out the pure white nun's habit that had somehow regained its original form from that hellish do-it-yourself job.

Dozens of safety pins glittered across the nun's habit.

"…" Sweat.

"Um, are you going to wear that?"

"…" Silence.

"You're going to wear that iron maiden?"

"…" Tears.

"In Japanese, we call it a bed of needles."

"…Uuuuuuhhhhhh!!"

"I get it!" Kamijou apologized as he head-butted the floor with all his might.

Meanwhile, Index stared at him like a bullied child and was about to bite through the television's power cord. Was she a naughty cat?

"I'll wear it! I'm a nun!!"

Though Kamijou was unsure whether that made sense, Index began to change by squirming inside the blanket wrapped around her, much like a caterpillar. Her head was the only thing visible and was as red as a bomb.

"Ahh, this reminds me of when we had to change at school for swimming."

"…Why are you looking at me? At least look the other way."

"What does it matter? Compared to what happened before, just changing isn't all that arousing."

"… … …"

Index suddenly stopped moving, but since Kamijou did not seem to notice, she gave up and started once more inside the blanket. She was so focused on what was going on inside that she did not notice when her hood-like hat slipped off of her head.

The room took an awkward atmosphere like the inside of a silent elevator.

Kamijou's mind began to flee from reality, but the term "supplementary lessons" floated in.

"Wah! That's right! I have supplementary lessons!" Kamijou glanced at the clock on his cell phone. "Um… I have to go to school, what are you going to do? If you're going to stay here, I can give you a key."

The option of simply kicking her out had disappeared from his mind. Since Index's nun habit, the Walking Church, had reacted to Imagine Breaker, she clearly had some connection to the supernatural. That meant that not everything she had been telling him was a lie.

It was possible that she had really fallen from the roof because she was chased by magicians. It was possible that she really would have to continue playing a deadly game of tag.

It was possible that wizards from a picture book or something similarly crazy really were running amok in that city of science where established theories of espers and psychics existed.

And, even if those were false, he did not want to just abandon Index.

"…That's okay. I'll leave."

However, Index stood straight up and made a dramatic announcement. She then slipped past Kamijou's side like a ghost and showed no sign of noticing that her hood fell. But, if he tried to pick it up, it would likely fall to pieces.

"U-umm…"

"Hm? No, it's not that." Index turned around. "If I stay, they'll likely come here. You don't want your room blown up, do you?"

That smoothly delivered response left him speechless.

As Index slowly exited the front door, Kamijou frantically ran after her. He wanted to do something, so he checked his wallet and found he had only 320 yen left. He ran after Index to give her what little he had, but his small toe struck the door frame at the speed of sound as he tried to exit the front door.

"Bh… myah! Myaahhh!!"

As Kamijou held his foot and let out that strange cry, Index turned around in shock. As Kamijou writhed around in great pain, his cell phone fell from his pocket. The moment he realized it, the LCD screen struck the hard floor and he heard the crack of a fatal blow.

"Uuuuhhhh! S-such misfortune."

"I'd say that was clumsiness, not misfortune," said Index with a slight smile. "But if this Imagine Breaker is real, it may be inevitable."

"…What do you mean?"

"This is related to the world of magic, so I doubt you'll believe me," said Index with a giggle. "But if the divine protection of God and the red string of fate actually exist, then wouldn't your right hand negate all of those?" Index shook her safety pin-covered nun's habit and added, "The power of this Walking Church was a blessing of God after all."

"Wait. What we call fortune and misfortune are just matters of probability and statistics. What you're talking about is completely—…!"

As he said that, Kamijou's finger touched the doorknob and was shocked by static electricity.

"Wha-!?" he cried out as his body twitched reflexively.

The odd way his muscles moved caused a cramp in his right calf.

"…!!"

The agony left him incapacitated for about 600 seconds.

"…Um, sister?"

"Yes?"

"…Please explain."

"There isn't much to explain," said Index as if it were obvious. "If what you said about your right hand is true, then merely having it is enough to be continually negating the power of fortune."

"…Do you mean what I think you mean?"

"Just by touching the air, your right hand is giving you more and more misfortune?."

"Gyaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!! S-such misfortuuuuuuuunnnneeeee!!" Kamijou did not believe in the occult, but things were misfortune related matters were different. At any rate, Kamijou was the type of person for whom any venture he took never ended well. It was to the point that he felt that the entire universe conspired against him.

Meanwhile, a pure white nun gazed upon him with the smile of Virgin Mary. In her eyes was what people called an inviting look.

"Wouldn't the real misfortune be having been born with that power??" The smiling nun brought tears to Kamijou's eyes and he finally realized the conversation had gotten off track.

"W-wait, that's not it! Do you have somewhere to go once you leave? I don't know what situation you're in, but you can hide here if those magicians or whatever are nearby."

"If I stay here, the enemies will come."

"How can you be sure? If you just stay in my room and don't draw any attention to yourself, there shouldn't be a problem."

"That's not true." Index pinched at the chest of her clothes. "This Walking Church functions using magical power. The church seems to call it 'divine power', but it's the same mana. Simply put, the enemy seems to be searching for the magic power in the Walking Church."

"Why do you wear tracking device clothes!?"

"I told you, its defensive power is Pope-class, remember? You're right hand tore it to pieces, though."

"…"

"You tore it to pieces, though."

"I said I was sorry, so don't look so tearfully. …But, Imagine Breaker destroyed that Walking Church, right? So shouldn't the tracking device-like functionality be gone too?"

"Even if it were, they'll know the Walking Church was destroyed. As I said before, its defensive power is Pope-class. Simply put, it's like a fortress. If I were the enemy, I would make an appearance when that fortress was destroyed whatever the reason might be."

"Wait a second. That's all the more reason I can't just let you go. I still don't believe in the occult, but if someone's after you, I can't let you just leave." Index stared at him blankly. With just that look, she truly, truly seemed like nothing more than a normal girl.

"…Then, will you follow me to the depths of hell?"

She smiled a heartbreaking smile that left Kamijou speechless for an instant. Index had used kind words to implicitly say, "Do not come with me."

"Don't worry. I'm not alone. If I can escape to the church, they will shelter me."

"…Hmm. So where is this church?"

"In London."

"That's a long ways away! How far do you planning to run!?"

"Hm? Oh, don't worry. I think there are a few branches in Japan," She replied as her nun's habit, which looked like the result of a bullied wife, fluttered.

"A church, hm? There might be one in the city."

The term "church" brought to mind a giant wedding hall, but the examples in Japan were pretty shabby. First of all, the culture had little to do with Christianity. Also, a country with frequent earthquakes lacked historical buildings. The churches that Kamijou had seen out of train windows had all been small prefabricated buildings with crosses on top. He had a feeling he was mistaken to think that those were nouveau riche churches, though.

"Oh, but it can't just be any church. It has to be the British rendition I belong to."

"?"

"Um, there are any kinds of Christianity," said Index with a bitter smile. "First, there is the distinction between the old style Catholics and the new style Protestants. Also, while I belong to the Catholics, there are various versions of them as well. For example: the Roman Catholic Church centered in the Vatican, the Russian Orthodox Church with its headquarters in Russia, and the Anglican Church with its core at St. George's Cathedral."

"…What happens if you accidentally go to the wrong church?"

"They would turn me away," said Index with the same bitter smile. "The Russian Orthodox Church and the Anglican Church primarily exist within their respective countries. Anglican churches are rare in Japan."

"…"

Things were looking gloomy.

Was it possible Index had tried going to church after church before she collapsed from hunger? How had she felt as she fled and fled while being turned away at each church she went to?

"Don't worry. I just have to keep at it until I find a British church."

"…"

For just an instant, Kamijou thought about the power in his right hand.

"Hey! …If you're ever in any trouble, you can stop by here again."

That was all he could say.

He had the power to kill even God and yet that was all he could say.

"Sure. I'll stop by if I'm hungry."

Her sunflower-like smile was so perfect that Kamijou could say nothing in response.

Then, a cleaning robot passed by, having gone out of its way to avoid Index.

"Hyah!?"

That perfect smile was blown away in an instant. Index jumped as if she had a cramp in her leg and then tripped backwards. With a horrible sounding thud, her head struck the wall behind her.

"!! S-some weird thing just showed up like it's nothing!"

Index had tears in her eyes, but completely forgot to even hold the back of her head as she shouted out.

"Don't point at it and call it weird. It's just a cleaning robot."

Kamijou sighed.

Its size and shape were similar to a drum container (large trashcan). It had small tires on the bottom and a circular rotating mop similar to those on a street cleaner. It had cameras in order to avoid people and other obstacles. They were quite hated by girls in miniskirts.

"…I see. I had heard Japan was a leading nation in technology, but I didn't know you had made mechanized Agathions."

"Hello?" Kamijou was a bit frightened by how impressed Index seemed. "This is Academy City. You can find those things all over the city."

"Academy City?"

"Yes. It's a city made by buying up the entire western area of Tokyo where development had slowed. The name comes from how it has dozens of universities and hundreds of elementary, middle, and high schools in it." Kamijou sighed. "Eighty percent of the residents are students; all the apartment buildings you see are dorms."

He omitted the fact that it had a hidden face where powers and bodies were developed alongside the studying.

"That's why this city is a bit odd. The city is overflowing with university experiments like the automated disposal of kitchen waste, the wind turbines that function well enough to be practical, and the cleaning robots like this one. Thanks to all that, our level of technological culture is about 20 years ahead of anywhere else."

"Hmm." Index carefully examined the cleaning robot. "So are all the buildings here part of Academy City?"

"Yup. I guess it might be best to leave the city if you're looking for an Anglican church. All the churches here are probably teaching institutions for theology or Jungian psychology."

"Hm."

Index nodded and then finally brought a hand up to the back of her head where she had hit the wall.

"Hyah!? H-huh? My hood is gone!?"

"Oh, you finally noticed? It fell off earlier."

"Hyah?"

By "earlier", Kamijou had meant when she was changing in the blanket, but Index seemed to mistake it for when she had tripped backwards in shock because of the cleaning robot. She started looking around on the floor and a question mark appeared over her head.

"Oh, I know! That electric Agathion!" Still mistaken, she made a dash after the cleaning robot and disappeared around a corner of the hallway.

"…Ahh, what's going on?"

Kamijou look at the door to his room where Index's hood was and then down the passageway. Index was nowhere to be seen. There had been no farewell, tearful or otherwise.

From the looks of her, I get the feeling she'll live on even if the world is destroyed, he analyzed.

He had no proof of it, but nevertheless was the thought he had.