August 31, 10:45 AM.
In the end, Kamijou and Mikoto decided to sit there and chat.
However, most students were focused on finishing their summer homework, so the place was empty of people. The only one that could see the two of them talking was probably the hotdog vendor. The "let as many people see us as possible" part of the plan was failing miserably from what Kamijou could see.
"So yeah, after the experiment, there's less than ten Sisters left in Academy City; the rest of them got sent off to 'outside' facilities to adjust their bodies."
"What? Sent to outside facilities, is that alright? If the people outside examine the Sisters, wouldn't the contents of the psychic powers development program be leaked out?"
"Some of the other companies and research facilities outside are also on the side of Academy City. Academy City can't survive by itself; things such as allocating resources, obtaining various information, dealing with legal issues… there are plenty of links that aren't seen on the surface."
"Oh, so I guess that means they should be doing alright. That's good, that's good."
At this point, Mikoto went silent for a moment, as if displeased with something, with a somewhat unhappy look on her face. Kamijou didn't know the reason for that, but he followed suit and also fell silent.
"Wait, this doesn't seem like what couples talk about, right?"
"Hmm, you're right. Research facilities, Academy City's influences, body adjustments, the things we're talking about are pretty weird."
"…(I meant we shouldn't be talking about other girls.)"
"What?"
Kamijou didn't quite hear her, but Mikoto only replied with a "Nothing".
Mikoto snuck a glance at Kamijou, only to see Kamijou take out a pile of folded paper from his pockets with a bored look on his face. On closer inspection, it seemed to be a paper on old Japanese. Kamijou then took out an automatic pencil and started doing the questions.
"…Oi, do you understand the situation right now? How do we look like a couple right now? Just studying and leaving the girl at the side, do you think this is male-dominant medieval Europe or something?"
"Sigh, alright, alright, the Irewa Mikoto's so moe~"[7]
"So by Irewa, you mean you never took me as a human?!"
"Uwaa! Alright, treat this as a study session between couples, then! Honestly speaking, I haven't even finished one section of my summer homework, this next 24-hour period is like a homework hell for me!"
"What's summer homework?"
"…Eh, Misaka Mikoto ojou-sama, you don't know what summer homework is?"
"Ah… come to think of it, I think I've heard of it before; it's something for students so that they won't slack off during the holidays and end up doing worse in their studies, right? Though even without these things, people shouldn't slack off or get worse in their studies, right?"
Kamijou was speechless. Tokiwadai Middle School actually didn't have a thing like summer homework?
"Uu, that's not fair, why does Tokiwadai have such freedom?"
"How should I know?" Mikoto shrugged off all responsibility with that one sentence.
"What kind of stuff do you get for summer homework?"
"Eh? You can have a look if you want, but these are questions for a high school student; a middle school student like you won't understand it."
"Just let me see already!"
Kamijou offhandedly looked to the side at Mikoto before hurriedly leaning back from her. Mikoto, who had leaned over to try and see his homework, was almost touching him cheek-to-cheek.
"Oh, is this for old Japanese? Though it looks like it's only simple revision."
Mikoto didn't seem to realize this. She then took the pencil from Kamijou and started writing down the answers, almost completely leaning on Kamijou while doing so. Kamijou could smell a slight faint scent of shampoo from her.
(Uwaa… Not… Not good! I don't know why, but this isn't good!)
No matter which part of his body he moved, he'd end up in contact with Mikoto's body. Kamijou stiffened up to the point where he couldn't move. After a while, he finally noticed something.
"…Eh? How come you know how to do this?"
"How come you don't?"
Mikoto answered as if it was only natural, without any negative overtones in her comment. Kamijou had a sudden urge to run away from her.
Mikoto put her hands on Kamijou's shoulders, smiled gently and said, "Don't worry, everyone has something they're not good at. Ah, right, I'll finish these questions for you in return for dragging you into this."
"As a high school student, I'm getting tutored by a middle school student…"
"Ah… ahaha, uwa, you're looking really sad about it. Do you want a drink to change the pace? I'll go get some, and after that, we can keep going with the homework."
"Ah? If we're going to buy some drinks, shouldn't I be the one that goes? Let me go walk around a bit to change the pace—not to mention I still owe you two thousand yen."
"If I said I'll go, then I'll go; if these small matters get refused, it gets kind of awkward, right?"
Mikoto smiled half-heartedly while getting up from the bench, and ran off, leaving Kamijou alone. It didn't look like there were vending machines nearby, so maybe she was going to the nearest general store or something.
(We're basically just eating and drinking constantly, huh…?)
Kamijou looked in the direction Mikoto had ran off to before lowering his head and staring at the old Japanese homework again. To be honest, in Kamijou's eyes, the Japanese on the paper looked no different from English.
"…Sigh…"
Kamijou shook his head tiredly, and moved his gaze away from the paper.
All of a sudden, a small dog ran past Kamijou, and on its collar was a leash. Apparently, it had just ran away from its owner.
Kamijou was slightly surprised, looking at the escaping dog. At this point, a cool-type boy ran across Kamijou's view and went chasing after the dog. Kamijou still remembered that face; that person was Unabara Mitsuki. Not long after, he caught up with the dog, and held onto the leash.
A few moments later, a boy who looked to be still in primary school caught up to Unabara. Apparently, this boy was the dog's owner. Unabara handed the leash over to the boy, and also said a few things to him. This sight was almost like the cliché where one returned a balloon that was stuck in a tree to a child.
(That was so cool, so elegant. So these people actually exist. In terms of rarity, it should be as rare as a girl that runs away from home and ends up sitting on the swings at a park while crying.)
Kamijou thought, half-amazed and half-impressed. Truth be told, he was also one of those extremely rare people, the kind who saved girls being harassed from delinquents.
Kamijou and Unabara's eyes met.
Unabara apparently remembered Kamijou's face, too. After showing a slight amount of surprise, he smiled something that appeared similar to a grimace.
"Hello, may I ask what your name is?"
"Ah? I'm Kamijou Touma. You're Unabara Mitsuki right?"
"Eh? I am Unabara Mitsuki, indeed, but how did you know my name?"
Unabara showed an astonished look. He didn't know that Kamijou had already heard about him from Mikoto. Truth be told, Kamijou, who was busy with his homework, had been dragged into this mess because of him.
"Does Unabara Mitsuki have any business with me, Kamijou Touma?"
"Ah, no, there isn't really anything urgent." Unabara seemed a bit unbalanced, and said, "Uh, if you don't mind, can you tell me what your relationship with Misaka-san is?"
"Does it bother you?"
"…Yes; when a guy appears next to a girl I like, it obviously bothers me."
"Ooh…" Kamijou had a better opinion of Unabara after that.
That man was indeed really likable. Surprisingly, he was someone who spoke his mind. Kamijou respected that kind of person.
(Hmm…)
Kamijou thought a bit more, as he only just got asked by Mikoto to act out a scenario to make Unabara completely give up.
"What kind of answer do you want to hear: the answer that's expected or the answer that's unexpected?"
"No answer you give would change what I have decided," Unabara said without any hesitation.
From this, Unabara's resolve could be seen. He planned to increase his own worth in Misaka's eyes to gain the advantage rather than defeat his opponent. Maybe this perspective held some amount of stubbornness and recklessness, but Unabara amazingly did not give off the negative feelings normally associated with that kind of act; maybe this was because he didn't act hostilely to Kamijou or hold resentment towards Mikoto.