Chapter 2: After School. Break_Time.[Part 7]

Who in the world called? Kamijou pondered over that question for quite a while. However, he suddenly remembered, even after so long, Index and Kazakiri weren't back yet?

(Don't tell me…they got lost?)

Based on common knowledge, the possibility wasn't great, but thinking about it calmly, common sense didn't really apply to Index and Kazakiri. For assurance, Kamijou decided to look for both of them.

"Oi—! Index! Kazakiri!"

Kamijou looked around and headed inside the shop. All the gaming platforms inside the arcade were rather huge, almost as big as a car, and these would form plenty of blind spots when arranged. He peered into the gaps between the large gaming platforms as he moved around. Even though he would occasionally be stared at by students who were queuing up, he ignored them as he continued to look.

Soon, he arrived at a rest area. There were three vending machines there.

(Eh? Didn't Kazakiri say that she wanted to buy some drinks…? Did she miss it along the way?)

Kamijou brought a slightly puzzled look as he looked around.

At that moment, 5 girls dressed in bunny suits passed by Kamijou.

"What?"

This scene shocked Kamijou. The bunny girls casually walked into the shop, and after a while, they were all gathered at a rather old sticker photo taker, smiling as they took the photo.

(???That…what was that? Does this shop provide this clothing service?)

Looking closely, the bunny suits that the girls were wearing had many butterfly knots and shoulder decorations. Though he hadn't seen it before, it should be of some anime figurine. From the original concept of design and the large amount of skin exposed, it seemed to be a certain female character from a shoujo anime.

Anyway, the most important thing was that they were happy. Thinking about this, Kamijou wanted to look away. Index and Kazakiri didn't seem to be around here either. Kamijou thus turned around and decided to check the exit or counter, however…

Suddenly, he could hear the familiar female voices.

"…Erm…well…may I check again…are we really wearing this…?"

"We have to, we have to! WAH, so cool! They have Magical Powered Kanamin clothing!"

"Are you…really going…to wear that?"

Those were definitely Index and Kazakiri's voices. Where? Where were they? Kamijou frantically moved his head as he looked around. The voices seemed to come from the other side of the three vending machines.

Kamijou frowned as he moved to the rear of the vending machines. There was a changing room surrounded by a curtain behind the vending machines. The bar hanging the curtain was tilted, and the cloth was a little dirty, it seemed like this wasn't a well-maintained facility.

The voice came from inside.

"But this is too small, I can't wear it. Are all these clothes for babies to wear?"

"Ah, about that…if you adjust the slider near the waist…you should be able to change the size."

"Eh? Ah…WAHH! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? THE CLOTHES JUST EXPANDED!"

"Eh…it shouldn't be made by some shape memory alloy…but air. The fibers used to make the cloth are tube-like, so letting air in will cause the fibers to expand, allowing easy adjustments to the sizing…that should be the way how this works…"

(Eh, hold on, I seem to have seen something similar before.)

Kamijou's basic instincts caused him to search his memory. There seemed to have been something similar in the school's infirmary. Yes, very similar. When he had gone to look for Index who went missing for so long, he had opened the door to look; only to see her exposed. Kamijou arrived in front of the changing room and stood in front of the curtain. The people inside should be Index and Kazakiri alright, but he was a little worried that he may get the wrong person. Kamijou carefully asked,

"Are you inside, Index?"

The next moment, there were short prompting sounds of 'YAH!' and 'AHH!'; it was as if someone had poured ice inside their clothes.

"To…Totototototouma! Why are you outside?"

"Erm…ah…if you open it now, I'll be very troubled…really troubled!"

The voices sounded anxious. Even though they were separated by a curtain, any girl would be anxious about suddenly hearing a guy's voice while they were changing. Even Kazakiri, who was only as audible as a mosquito, was screaming. Seemed like she was completely naked now.

"OK, this Kamijou won't repeat the same mistake he made at the infirmary! I will definitely not pull the curtain aside, and will not trip inside. I get it, I get it, anyway, Mr Kamijou will leave this place for now."

"Ah, mm, okay, see you later, Touma."

"…Erm…if possible…please don't look at me…even after I changed clothes…"

On hearing their voices, Kamijou slowly backed away, maintaining a distance of about 3m from the curtain. There was no anomaly. The curtain of the changing room was like a bronze wall protecting Index and Kazakiri. Very good, very good, nothing happened. Just as Kamijou relaxed and was about to turn away…

PA!

Without warning, the curtain suddenly collapsed.

"Eh…?"

As the slanted bar had been roughly abused for a long time, the curtain wasn't hooked tightly. Like a deluxe shopping item that was covered finally being revealed, the entire changing room was exposed.

The next moment, all the voices inside Kamijou's head vanished.

The two girls froze.

Index was wearing the Magical Powered Kanamin clothing that she had seen broadcasted yesterday. The white-based clothing looked fluffy.

The problem though was that her skirt wasn't buttoned, and there were some parts that were exposed, only that they couldn't be written here.

Kazakiri Hyouka was even worse off. She had chosen the clothing of the female antagonist (who would end up joining the protagonist midway through the series)…no, thinking about it, it was most likely a forced choice. The most problematic thing was that it was no different from a blank bikini, a sexy armor that didn't look like it had any defensive capabilities (though there was a detachable skirt underneath, the front of the skirt was split in half, so it had no significance other than being a decoration). As there was a need to show lots of skin, it seemed like she couldn't wear any underwear underneath. At that moment, she hadn't yet buttoned her breastplate up, and she was frozen like that while bending herself down until her bottom armor was pulled to a delicate position.

After several seconds of eternal silence, time finally started again.

Index bared her fangs, her eyes letting out killing intent. In contrast, Kazakiri was blushing and trembling, her eyes looking like she was about to cry.

"Erm, hold…hold on a minute! This is preposterous! Alright, let's calm down and analyze this. I was 3m away from the changing room, so my hand can't touch it, and I don't have an esper ability to pull down the curtain, so this isn't my fault…sort of…right…"

"Touma, you're looking here when the curtain dropped, right?"

"It…it wouldn't be so bad…if…you had looked away."

Kazakiri still was giving an embarrassed look even when tears were forming in her eyes, this was interesting. Kamijou thought as he tried to escape from reality.

"Erm, in other words, are we still doing that, Miss Index?"

Index nodded her head as she buttoned up, and said,

"It's useless to talk further, Touma."

At the far end of his consciousness, there were the sounds of girls laughing.

"A photo taker…Hyouka, Hyouka! How do you use this machine?"

"Erm…you slot the coin in…and press the button, it'll start taking in 5 minutes…"

"Oo…Hyouka, why do you look so down? Is there anything bothering you?"

"Erm…well…do we really have to take this? I…eh…ah, please wait! Don't press the button! I…I'm still…"

"We're taking it! Don't move, Hyouka, or your face will be all weird!"

"Ah…uuu…please listen to me…"

And on the other side, in a dark corner 3m away from this joyous scene, Kamijou was sprawled on the floor like a torn rag cloth.