Right now, Kamijou Touma was extremely angry.
He should be the one who was grumbling, but for some reason, he had witnessed two girls changing clothes, which meant he should apologize. However, because of this alone, he got scolded by Index and even got bitten on to such an extent that there were bite marks on his head, and Kamijou really couldn't explain why this had happened.
However, Kamijou still brought the two girls who had changed back into their own clothes to the cafeteria. Kamijou and Index ended up quarrelling with each other, while the stranger just stared at both of them and looked like she didn't know what to do. The calico cat curled itself up, not caring about what was going on.
Sleep-deprived and unhappy, Kamijou said in a deep voice,
"Oh yea, who's she, Index?"
Once Kamijou asked, the girl jerked her shoulders for some reason. In contrast, Index continued to remain unhappy as she said,
"I don't know, but she's a friend."
"You don't know? How can you not know who she is?"
"I don't know, but Hyouka's a friend!"
While both of them were shouting, the girl called 'Hyouka' was trembling like an animal. She then inhaled deeply and said cautiously, "O…okay, okay…", wanting to help them settle their dispute.
"My…my name is…Kazakiri Hyouka…what's yours?"
"Hm? Mm, Kamijou Touma."
Kamijou just answered, but for some reason, Kazakiri's shoulders jerked again.
Seeing this, Index grumbled,
"Touma! Stop scaring Hyouka! Don't worry…Hyouka, Touma's hot-blooded, indecisive, and a rare specimen of one who'll help every girl he sees, but he's a good guy."
"…Ah…eh…I don't know how to 'don't worry' in this situation…"
Hearing Kazakiri's solemn thoughts, Kamijou's lips turned slightly numb.
Probably seeing that Kazakiri was nervous, in order to calm her down Index said,
"Here, Hyouka. I'll lend you Sphinx. Carry it, and you won't be so stiff."
"Erm…is Sphinx…the name of this cat?"
The calico cat lay on the round table without any restraint as it revealed its stomach, making a 'here, Missy, I'll let you pat my chest' gentlemanly gesture and raising its front paw to do a banzai pose.
Kazakiri was a little hesitant from the start, as she only dared to let her hand swim slightly in the air before stroking the soft abdomen of the cat gently.
Then, Kazakiri said,
"Ah…how warm."
Kazakiri's face unknowingly revealed a smile, and on the other hand, the calico cat trembled as if someone had grabbed its paw, as it was gritting its teeth, enduring it and saying "Don't…don't worry, Missy…this…won't stump me…haa!". As for Kamijou, he was completely ignored.
"Mm…mm. do you want to hug Sphinx? Though there might be a bit of fur, it's comfortable to hug it."
"Uu…erm…eh, like this?"
Kazakiri imitated Index as she carried the calico cat slightly and stuck into at her chest. It wasn't any different from what Index did.
But the calico cat's head was buried within Kazakiri's chest.
Kamijou, who was staring coldly at this, immediately blushed and turned his head away from the completely defenseless Kazakiri. The calico cat also tried to struggle, as if saying, "Uu…oo, M…Missy! Even I can suffocate!" Kazakiri also started to panic, and the calico cat jumped out from it. It landed onto the round table and shook its head.
However, the two girls didn't seem to understand why the calico cat would do such a thing.
"Eh…an animal's five senses are sharper than a human's…maybe my smell is different from yours…"
"Don't feel bad Hyouka. If that's the case, you just need to build a relationship with Index…Touma? Why did you turn your head away?"
"Nothing." Kamijou replied.
Kamijou turned to look at the calico cat who was the only other being that knew the truth. The calico cat merely purred twice, as if telling Kamijou, "There're some things in this world that's better off left unsaid."
Feeling rather awkward, Kamijou tried to change the topic, but he was afraid that Kazakiri may have been fearful of men, so he directed it at Index.
"Oh ya, why did you come to school?"
"Uu, yeah, Touma. Lunch, lunch. You went out without preparing anything. I may have died if I remained at home."
"Today's the opening ceremony, I would be back before lunch!"
"How…how would I know if you didn't say that?"
"How do you not know? That's common knowledge!"
"This is Touma's common knowledge, not mine! Then do you know, Touma? In English rituals, if you want to activate an Idol creation spell by using the Telesma that's infused into a Cross, the interior positioning of the Church is directly related to the caster's position! In fact, the defensive magic array is used to protect the body from getting involved in the aftermath of the main spell, and it has a strict rule of thumb. Once the position is change, the secondary defensive spell may be unable to work normally. Touma, do you know the Golden ratio? Say it, that's common knowledge."
"O…okay okay…"
Just like that, Kamijou continued to argue with Index, and Kazakiri Hyouka had to interrupt them every 20 seconds.
And on the other hand, Komoe-sensei was infuriated.
(Where—is—Ka—mi—jou--? To skip lessons on the first day of school, he actually has quite some guts. Hoho…hohoho…hohohohoho…)
Having realized that Kamijou wasn't inside the gym, Komoe-sensei revealed a dark smile that was rarely seen as she started to look for Kamijou…
(Uu…however, maybe he's feeling unwell or injured, so he had to absent himself…is Kamijou alright?)
Burning inside as she was looking for the student who had skipped class, Komoe-sensei was thinking about this seemed like she was still a gentle teacher.
At this moment,
Komoe-sensei heard a conversation near the cafeteria. All the staff and students should be gathered at the gym.
"Don't tell me…"
Komoe-sensei carried a suspicious feeling as she approached. It was Kamijou Touma.
And there were two girls beside him.
Though they were quarrelling, there was a weird jolly vibe.
(Ha…haaa…)
Having worried for nothing, Komoe-sensei's anger broke the limit.
She let all the air enter her lungs before shouting,
"KA…KAMIJOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?"
Komoe-sensei shout caused the calico cat that was curled up on the round table to jump up in shock and nearly fall off the table.
Kamijou and company stopped talking as well as they turned their heads over.
The female teacher who was 135cm tall and looked like she was 12 stormed into the cafeteria. Maybe it was because she was too angry and the blood was rushing up that even her ears were all red.
"Ah…eh? Komoe-sensei? Why are you here? Isn't it the opening ceremony now…"
"Are you even allowed to say that, Kamijou? Sensei was worried that you weren't in the gym and came out to look for you! And yet you're here having quite the sweet school life! If you're going to continue flirting over here, sensei will have to lecture you on the basis of impure opposite gender interaction!"
"What flirting…sensei, can't you see that we're arguing here?"
"Arguing with a casual look on your face is called flirting! And… and why is it that Kamijou always has a girl appear beside him? Does Kamijou have some sort of weird AIM diffusion field?"
"Wha…what do these two things have to do with each other? Do we have to talk about it right now?"
Just like that, Kamijou started to quarrel with Komoe-sensei—
—5 minutes later, the conversation was getting weird.
"Tsuchimikado never came to school and yet Sister-san came to school, sensei's already having a headache over that, so please stop creating so many problems! Sensei really can't stand your casual attitude towards girls!"
"What Tsuchimikado and Index do has nothing to do with me! And just to be clear, Kamijou-san is very straight-laced about this kind of thing! The only flags I ever get are the meaningless ones that don't activate any events!!"
"Ka…Kamijou! You're living such a romantic school life and you dare call yourself hardcore?"
—Ten minutes later, and the conversation got even weirder.
"Why is it that when it comes to girls, Kamijou's movements and thinking ability will improve by multi-fold times? Sensei hopes that you can use that on your studies!"
"Hold…hold on a minute. Are you thinking that 'I'm a guy who likes to do weird things in order to get girls close to me', sensei?"
"…Actually, it's the opposite. It's that you betting on your own life will cause girls to become closer to you. Haven't you realised that, Touma?"
"Damn it! Even Index is saying this…?"
—15 minutes later, and the conversation was completely out of point.
"An…anyway, sensei will lecture Kamijou thoroughly in the counseling room!"
"Touma, Touma, you still have to apologize to me."
"Ahhh…that's enough! I'm already having a headache due to sleep-deprivity, so stop saying such ridiculous things with such high decibels! Oi, Kazakiri, help me talk them out of it! You're the only kind one here…eh?"
Kamijou looked puzzled; Index and Komoe-sensei turned their eyes over.
Kazakiri Hyouka, who should have been sitting at the same table, was now completely gone. The place she had been was now an empty metal chair.
"…Ah…don't tell me she couldn't take it any longer and left?"
Kamijou asked, but obviously, he couldn't get an answer.