Chapter 92

PROLOGUE The Greatest Question Question_01. It happened under blue November skies. The season of autumnal colors had just about wrapped up, and while it was comfortably cool in the sunlight, the mornings of these mid-month days could still be quite chilly. Many trees had been planted along the road in this Academy City School District 7 plaza, and there were still a few yellow ginkgo leaves clinging to the branches. Add in the ongoing Ichihanaran Festival, a cultural celebration of massive proportions in which every school in Academy City participated, and the streets were filled with even more people buzzing about than on a holiday. Of course, this plaza was not the destination of the majority of these passersby; it was a connecting route to get from one place to the next, and it also tended to work as a spot for people to meet up before continuing to their destinations. It happened one bright, sunny afternoon. It happened under perfectly clear skies, where you could see high, high above, a sight perfectly complementing the brisk outdoor air. “And just what have you been doing this whole time, Touma?” Under that sky stood Index, drawn up to her full height. Her gaze was leveled on a spiky-haired young man named Touma Kamijou, who sat seiza in the middle of the public plaza. A strange sweat flowed from his every pore, and his eyes wandered to and fro, never meeting hers. “…Um, well, you see. Your good friend Kamijou had some things to take care of. I went from Hawaii to Baggage City, which is in Eastern Europe; got into a bind or two there; and I ran into a magic god, or someone saying they should have become a magic god, or something. It was awful, I tell you…” “Really.” The girl’s tone was completely flat. The very concept of modulation was nonexistent. A tension was in the air, like when two gunmen face off in a Western. It built in intensity, seeming to physically needle at him. Even a single tiny noise could trigger a bloodbath. And here, he knew it could. “You can tell me all about it later. Right now, though, I have just one question for you. An inquiry, if you will. Would you be so kind as to let me ask it?” Kamijou nodded. “And, um, what would that be, Miss Index?” The girl named Index pointed at his face. Well, not exactly. Strictly speaking, she pointed at someone right behind him. “Who on earth is that girl clinging to your back?!” An explanation was in order. An explanation of what in God’s name actually took place during the Ichihanaran Festival!!!!!!