Chapter 4: Stop Sign. Beast_Body,_Human_Heart.[Part 1]

Compared to the dark underground, the scorching heat on the white surface was unbearable while they were under the bright white glare of the sun.

Index and Misaka Mikoto were on the street. Shirai Kuroko was busy saving the students trapped underground.

Kamijou and company hadn't arrived back yet, and it was a bit cruel to go home first. However, both of them didn't really have anything to talk about. Under the blue sky that was raining sunlight down, both of them could only maintain this intricate silence.

"Ah, really. This is all Kuroko's fault…"

Deep inside, Mikoto was cursing her kouhai who was not around. With the power of the Railgun, it was not impossible to destroy the walls in the underground streets, but she feared that this would allow the terrorist to escape, so she didn't dare to take action.

Maybe it couldn't endure the intense heat, as the calico cat struggled in Index's arms.

After a while, Index muttered,

"…It's so hot."

"Yeah."

Mikoto nodded her head in agreement.

"But what's with your clothes anyway? Wearing long sleeves even in such hot weather…ah, are you afraid of your skin getting sunburned? I seem to have seen on the television before that people with skin with less pigment would get their skin all red and painful once their skin touch sunlight."

"I'm not really mindful, and right now, these clothes are really airy."

"Hm? Wha…your clothes are all full of safety pins! Why are you wearing such hot clothing?"

"Ugh…that brings up some old scars, so please don't pursue this issue any further."

Index interrupted the conversation, and so, the conversation was stopped again. But Mikoto, who tried to start the conversation once, was unable to hold on for long, and said,

"But they sure are slow."

"…Hm. What to do. That magician seemed to be targeting Hyouka, and her spells have some indications of the London style. I hope she's okay…"

"!?"

The rare term called 'magician' made Mikoto suspicious.

When Shirai Kuroko had teleported Index to the surface, Index didn't say any thanks, but had quarreled with Shirai Kuroko, saying such words like 'why did you bring me in first', 'hurry up and send me back inside'. At that time, Index did seem to mention this strange term called 'magician'.

After thinking about it for a while, Mikoto decided not to pursue further. From Index's clothing, it was obvious that she was a religious person. Maybe to the people without any scientific knowledge, powers were just like magic.

"Hyouka…is that the girl who was with you?"

"Mm. Ah, but this time it wasn't Touma who found her first, I found her first."

"…'not this time' huh? Ho ho."

Mikoto turned her head around and revealed a sinister smile. The innocent Index completely did not realize it at all, she just continued to hug Sphinx, shake her body left and right, and said,

"Uu, I'm a little worried here. Whether it's because a girl is in such a dangerous place, or it's because Touma's alone with a girl, it's still worrying."

"…For some reason, I feel that we both agree on this point."

Mikoto remained silent for a while, before continuing,

"Speaking of which, aren't you worried about that guy's safety?"

In a short instant, Index stopped what she was doing.

"Hm? Touma? There's no need to worry about him. No matter what happens, Touma will always come back."

Index said this, but there was a huge contradiction within it. If she was really not worried, why would she be waiting around in the hot sun?

(Sigh. Who wouldn't be worried in this situation?)

Mikoto reflected on those words, causing the conversation to cease as she thought

(Did she just say 'come back'?)

When she said 'come back', who did she mean he would 'come back' to? There was no need to question about it. Maybe this silver-haired girl didn't mean much when she said it. However, this caused quite a shock to Mikoto because it implied that this thinking was due to the common understanding they had in their daily lives together, so there wasn't much need to think about it.

Mikoto played with her bangs and thought,

(Why do I feel so uncomfortable about hearing this?)

The feeling created within Mikoto made her frown inadvertently.

At this moment, the calico cat suddenly meowed loudly and struggled out of Index's arms.

Index let out a shout, and Mikoto inadvertently turned over to look, and saw the calico cat struggle out of Index's arms and land on the floor. Seemed like the cat couldn't endure the heat as it ran away.

Index wanted to chase after the little escapee, but stopped halfway through. She frantically watched the cat run away, before looking back at Mikoto. Maybe she wanted to chase after the calico cat, but she was in a fix because she didn't dare to leave the scene.

"No problem. I'll stay here, you go get the cat back. My body's nature causes cats to get irritated around me easily, so I can't help you chase after it."

"Thanks, if you were willing to help out, I'd be grate…hey, Sphinx!"

Index nodded at Mikoto thankfully before rushing towards the calico cat that had moved into the back alley behind a convenience store, soon disappearing behind it. So that cat was called Sphinx? Mikoto was speechless in regards to that strange name.

Suddenly, Mikoto felt the manhole beside her clattering slightly.

"Eh?"

Mikoto sounded puzzled as she let out an intrigued sound. After that, the neighboring juice vending machines started to sway about slightly as well. There was obviously no wind, yet the leaves were rustling.

This was some intriguing tremor. It didn't feel like an earthquake, but more like a huge monster walking.

Mikoto wondered if the calico cat had used its sharp animal instincts to detect the tremor and thus ran away.