Kamijou swayed about with his extremely sleepy head as he made breakfast for two. That said, it was just toast, bacon and eggs and vegetable salad and milk, four items.
On seeing breakfast, Index (and the calico cat) rushed towards the glass table. Kamijou however just bit into the toast as he moved through the room, dumping all the things he needed for the opening ceremony into his school bag.
"…Mm…slippers…stationery…got to hand in my holiday homework, right? It's today alright…sigh, never finished it in the end…and…a contact directory? Why don't they use emails?"
Maybe it was to prevent hackers, Kamijou casually thought of an answer as he tossed the contact directory that was made from a thick piece of paper into his bag.
At that moment, Index, who was sitting in front of the glass table alone, stared at Kamijou unhappily.
"Touma, are you really going to school?"
"Hm?"
Kamijou casually tossed the bag that was full of stuff onto the floor, finished off the remainder of his breakfast and placed his own cutlery back onto a rack.
"Ah…yeah. Once school term starts, you'll have to be alone at home."
"Humph…well…Touma…I'm not saying that I'm afraid of being lonely."
Truthfully, Kamijou himself felt that it was dangerous to leave her alone at home like this, but he didn't dare to say that.
Of course, Kamijou didn't forbid Index from leaving the room. However, it seemed rather dangerous to leave Index on the streets like that when she didn't know of the 'common sense' of Academy City. It had been almost a month since Index had arrived in Academy City, but she didn't look like she had adapted to this city. It seemed like he couldn't just verbally teach her the common trivia.
Based on past experiences, the fastest way was for Kamijou to continue to move with Index, but the problem was that he couldn't possibly let Index transfer into his own school. The magic side and the science side didn't really have good relations, Kamijou understood that. As an important person of the magic side, if Index was to have the same lessons as Kamijou and become an esper on the science side, there was going to be trouble.
"As for that, I really have to think it through. Sorry Index, please stay at home for today. Just put the cutlery into the basin and rinse it with water."
Kamijou said hurriedly as he looked at his watch.
Kamijou decided to head into the bathroom that had become his bedroom to brush his teeth, wash his face and then change into summer uniform. He really wanted to take a shower, but unfortunately, there was no time.
After roughly finishing up, Kamijou opened the bathroom door, only to see Index waiting in front of the door. Index stared at Kamijou with some rather deep thoughts.
"Touma, will you come back earlier today?"
"Mm, okay. Once I come back, we'll go out to play."
On hearing this, Index smiled happily.
Though Kamijou was happy to see Index smile so happily, he was feeling rather complicated. Right now, Index's interactions with the outside world were all through Kamijou. Maybe it would be good to build Index's relationships through 'Kamijou's friends'.
On one hand, this really was something lonely.
But regarding this, Kamijou couldn't really chip in to help out, since if he wanted to settle the problem, Index would have to build human relations on her own and not through Kamijou.
"Alright, I'm going."
Unable to help at all, Kamijou could only leave the problem aside for now.
"Mm, be careful on the way."
Index said to Kamijou and smiled.
Less than 5 minutes after Kamijou had left the house, Index started to feel bored.
Though she had been asked to watch the house a few times, it didn't mean that Index was unhappy. For her lively personality, it was not hard to imagine how uncomfortable it was for her to do this.
The TV was switched on, but Index was not looking at it, instead lying on the floor as she played with the calico cat. After a while, Index stopped.
(So bored. I really want to go outside. I want to go find Touma.)
Index was filled with the impulse, but she immediately shook her head. She couldn't cause trouble for others just because of her own selfish reasons. It was easy to think of it the other way, what if Index was ordered to be recalled back to St. George Cathedral and Kamijou Touma came chasing because 'he got bored'…
Though she may have been happy, she would feel troubled.
For the magic expert Index, she definitely didn't want to expose her image at her workplace to Kamijou. It was rather embarrassing to show others one's other side.
The same thing applied, if Index was to look for Kamijou, Kamijou may have been bothered. Thinking about it, Index didn't dare to chase after Kamijou.
(Touma also said before that he'll bring me out to play when he comes back.)
Index again played with the calico cat and rolled on the floor. Though boring, I should endure, Index thought.
At this moment, she stopped again.
"…Eh? Touma, where's my lunch?"
Index turned pale as she muttered to herself.
She didn't have any culinary skills, and the snacks, like biscuits and stuff, had been ripped and eaten by the calico cat a long time ago, and they hadn't stocked up.
"What…what do I do now? This seems like the greatest calamity that I never had before."
Muttering to herself, she inadvertently gazed at the door.
On the outside of the door lay the wide world with Kamijou Touma.