"Ohh! Touma, is this the famous underground world?"
"It's not an underground world, it's an underground street."
Index said this in an excited manner, and the sleep deprived Kamijou slowly made a snarky comment.
There were many underground streets in Academy City. With the train station at center, there were many underground levels linking to many department stores; it was just like a maze. The crowd there wasn't as packed as the road in front of the station, but there were a lot of students moving about.
Like the security robots and the wind generators, the underground street was one of Academy City's experiments. As Japan had limited land and was earthquake prone, it had a natural desire for the world's greatest underground construction technology. Academy City was used as an experimental site for this, so various areas around Academy City had been dug up.
There was no special reason as to why they would choose this video arcade, it was just that Index had never been into the underground.
"Anyway, let's go eat. What do you want to eat, Index? Don't choose those that are too expensive or have a long waiting queue."
"It's alright not to go to those shops. It's alright if it's cheap, delicious, plentiful, and not many people know about it."
"…It's already tough to find such a shop. What about you, Kazakiri?"
Kamijou said this as he turned to Kazakiri. For some reason, Kazakiri's shoulders jerked; and she hid behind Index.
(What did I do now?) Kamijou wondered to himself.
"…Ah…no…I'm…sorry…I'm not…afraid…"
Kazakiri stood behind Index as she said cautiously,
"…It's just that…you saw me naked just now…"
"What?"
Kamijou couldn't hear the last sentence.
"Ah…eh…it's nothing…it's just…it's just that you definitely saw me naked…so why aren't you mindful…eh…"
Kazakiri was muttering to herself, and Kamijou couldn't understand a single bit. Kamijou thought, since she promised to come along, Kazakiri shouldn't have found Kamijou irritating or been afraid of him or something, but what was with this stranger-like vigilance?
Index looked like she understood Kazakiri as she coldly said to Kamijou,
"Really, Touma's expression is too scary."
"What? What's so scary about it?"
"It looks just like a beast! The eyes of one eyeing a weak girl! Silently telling her with that 'don't see me as being friendly, there's no prey that'll escape from me' expression! It's really scary!"
"Then aren't those some strange ideas that you instilled in her that made her all scared?"
Kazakiri shoulders seemed to react to Kamijou's shout as they trembled again. She hid behind Index, trembling as she said timidly,
"…That…that…"
"Look, Touma! Your shouting made Hyouka even more afraid!"
"Ahh…alright, alright! I understand, treat me like a beast! Since I'm a beast, I'll show you a beast! LET ME SHOW YOU WHAT AN EVIL KAMIJOU IS REALLY LIKE!!"
"…Well…I'm not…afraid…it's just that I want to propose…lunch…"
Kazakiri said in a barely audible voice. The duo who was arguing and almost giving up immediately shut up on hearing her, turning towards her at the same time.
Kazakiri Hyouka pointed a finger.
Following where she was pointing, they saw a restaurant.