Upon reaching northern Italy, the first thing that was requested from Kamijou was the safety pins.
Upon reaching Chioggia, the first memory Kamijou made was being bitten.
"…I can't explain this. What's going on?"
"Touma, what's with you saying this with blood and tears?"
A completely innocent-looking Index looked completely relaxed now.
This was just the road heading towards the hotel. Having moved through it once, one could understand that this place was extremely narrow, such that only 2 people could pass through it. Vehicles couldn't move through freely, thus they were unable to move into the alley and would have to wait at the square.
Kamijou and Index were now heading towards the road. Though there were three lanes, there wasn't a white line on either sides of the road, and there were no lines to distinguish which were roads and which were trails. There were a lot of people walking on the roads, so this place looked somewhat like a haven for jaywalkers. Of course, they normally saw Asians in Academy City, and a lot of Westerns on television.
Light red and yellow buildings were arranged on both sides of the road. Those from 3 stories to 5 stories tall seemed to be cafés or hotels. A tent-like awning extended out from the second level to cover the open-air area of the coffee shop, making the road look like a tunnel.
They were at a corner of a café.
The reason why Index was happy was basically because there was a lot of good food around. Seeing that there was no other reason, Kamijou sighed.
"Let's put our stuff in the hotel before we go out to eat."
"Uu, I know that without you telling me!!"
Index blushed as she frantically shouted, but Kamijou didn't know whether she really knew or not. She was still looking at the café, for one thing.
"Ha, though the food looks nice, the main thing we came for are the tourist attractions. For example, that temple! Though I don't know how it originated, it does look cool!"
"Touma, that's the St Mark's Basilica, it's a magical core built out of water that's meant to preserve the remains of the protector of Venezia—St Mark."
"Forget about those boring explanations; wouldn't it be better for us to go there?"
"Uu! Touma's ignoring my kind explanation?"
"After we check in at the hotel, we'll catch that stupid tour guide and go to Venezia! VENEZIA BANZAI!!"
"Listen, Touma! I'm not always thinking about food!!...Wa, there's no hope now; Touma's now completely consumed by the Italian atmosphere and can't hear anyone!?"
Though Index was saying this as she waved her hands, Kamijou didn't notice her at all. This battle nun had never thought that once someone mentioned "Italy" to a Japanese high school student, they'd only talk about pizza and soccer, and would become so excited upon entering to the streets that they would only see in television.
"Quanto costa?" (Note: How much is it?)
"Posso fare lo sconto del 10%." (Note: I can do a discount of 10%.)
All this Italian, which seemed foreign to Kamijou, echoed around. The tourist atmosphere was abundant here.
"Desidera?" (Note: Do you want it? (This is what the seller is asking.))
"Wa! Is that the local squid ink salad…?"
"Sto solo guardando. Grazie" (Note: I'm just looking, thanks.)
Eh? Isn't that mixed with some Japanese? Kamijou thought, but dismissed it as him hearing it wrongly.
Kamijou, who was in front dragging the luggage bag, said,
"Oh ya, Index. What about lunch…"
He paused halfway.
Kamijou Touma remembered the 'final words' that he said just now.
The reason was simple.
Index, who had still been there three seconds ago, had disappeared.
"SHE'S MISSING!? IN ITALIAN STYLE!!? SO THAT PERSON WHO SAID THAT SHE MISHEARD THAT SALAD WAS INDEX!!"
Shocked, Kamijou looked around, but was unable to find that girl in a nun's habit.
"Damn it! It's the crowd and the alleys' fault that I can't find that gluttonous nun! Damn it, you're only thinking about food alright!!"
No one replied to Kamijou's sighs, and there was no sign of Index around. The wallet was still with Kamijou, so she couldn't possibly have gone too far. Even if he didn't chase after her, she would come back, but…if Kamijou didn't stop her, who knew what kind of trouble she would stir up.
"OI~INDEX!"
Kamijou started to look around, from the roads, and in tenterhooks, back into the alleys. Looking around, he didn't even know where he was now. He panicked as he walked into the alleys, and ended up going back onto the road.
"Wa, I seem to be the one lost!!"
Kamijou broke out in cold sweat as he stood there.
Looks like I have to rely on the handphone!
But,
Obviously, Index's free phone was turned off (very likely, Kamijou had helped her turn it off before they got on the plane and had forgotten to turn it back on). Hearing the conventional synthetic voice (In Japanese, not Italian), Kamijou hung up the phone and dropped it into the luggage bag, completely forgetting to put it into his pocket.
Right now, Kamijou was thinking,
WHAT DO I DO NOOOOWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This voice made everyone who was walking around look at him, but nobody had the time to wonder what Kamijou's problem was. At this moment, a local aunty moved towards Kamijou, who looked like he was bogged down by the luggage bag.
A hearty smile appeared on her face that looked like she was energetic enough to do manual labor,
"Ci sono delle preoccupazioni?" (Note: What's the problem?)
"Ha?"
Kamijou didn't know that she was inquiring what the problem was. On the other hand, the aunty wasn't angry, slowly saying word by word,
"Non puoi parlare l'italiano? Là c'è un ristorante dove un giapponese fa il capo."
You don't know Italian? There's a Japanese restaurant down the road. The aunty was saying this, but Kamijou was still unable to understand. However, there was a friendly feeling in the tone and expression.
(Though I don't know Italian, I'll really be alone if I miss this opportunity! Alright, let's try speaking in Japanese…may be impossible, but at least let's try English. But I don't even know how to say 'please English'! I wouldn't be worrying about this Italian if I knew that!)
Kamijou was troubled. If it was in English, he might be able to say 'please English', but being unaccustomed to foreign languages, Kamijou was unable to catch up. His head was finally starting to heat up.
"Senta." (Note: Listen to me)
He heard a woman's voice.
"Lui è un mio amico. La ringrazia per la Sua gentilezza." (Note: He's my friend. He's thanking you for your kindness.)
On hearing such fluent words, the aunty looked surprised, and said.
"Prego." (Note: No problem, this aunty is mistaken.)
After ending with a happy tone, the aunty left Kamijou and disappeared into the crowd.
On the other hand, Kamijou didn't know what was going on as he was abandoned there.
"Ah! I rejected the aunty unknowingly? Damn it, I thought that I could make friends with that aunty and use two hours of work to go find Index, and make this kind of story! Come to think of it, who's the one who left me here? Damn it, I'll just use Japanese, even if I can't say it, at least I can express it!"
He said out loud.
In this wide world, nobody could hear it even if he shouted. Kamijou's reasoning was almost killed off entirely, but,
"Oh my, that's disrespectful. I'll be troubled if you say that."
He finally heard this language that he was so familiar with.
Besides the language, the lady's voice was also familiar.
"You…"
Kamijou turned around.
At Chioggia, which had an eight hour time difference, the person he met here was…
"On a side note, I just said 'He's my friend; thank you for your kindness,' though saying it so kindly…I'm not so familiar with you to call you a friend."
"Orsola! Why are you here!?"
Kamijou shouted. The nun wearing a black nun's habit smiled.