Chapter Nineteenth: An Indistinct Premonition

  Finally, after a confusing conversation, Kamijou Touma moved into Index's room with an exhausted expression. He felt that the energy spent on this conversation was even more than when he fought against that red-haired magician, and now he felt like a torch about to burn out its existence.

  Kazuki sent off Little Moé at the entrance and then rummaged through his closet to find some old school uniforms he had worn before, tossing them to Kamijou Touma, indicating for him to go wash up in the bathroom and take care of the bloodstained clothes. If the security guards were to discover these clothes, they would likely be treated as criminal suspects and taken away.

  After washing up and doing laundry, Jia Lu Xun Yu sat back in front of the computer to continue watching anime. As the saying goes: "If you can't resist, then just enjoy it." Although this sentence is extremely pessimistic, it can now be applied to Jia Lu Xun Yu's situation.

  No matter how much he tried to be frugal, there was a limit to his ruthlessness, and he couldn't bring himself to ignore Little Sprout's request outright. After all, it was just letting Kamijou Touma stay here for a while, as long as he was careful, nothing major would happen... probably.

  Just finished watching an episode of anime, Kamijou Touma already had water droplets on his head as he walked out of the bathroom; after sitting silently on the tatami for a while, seemingly feeling that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, he started to make small talk and said: "My name is Kamijou Touma, I think we've met a few times before..."

  As soon as the words left his mouth, Kamijou Touma suddenly realized that neither of their previous two meetings had left a particularly good impression; and in an instant, he felt the atmosphere not only hadn't returned to normal but seemed even more awkward. As a result, he fell into a self-loathing mood, thinking "Anyway, I don't have any friends, so I won't say anything that would make things worse."

  "Ah, about the atmosphere and all that, you don't need to say anything." Makoto Naegi continued staring at the LCD screen playing the anime without turning around, explaining to Kamichika with a puzzled expression: "Because as a great otaku, I have no concept of such things; as long as you don't disturb me from watching anime, that's already good enough for me."

  Kamijou Touma felt that the atmosphere on the scene became even more awkward after hearing Kinoto's explanation! What kind of personality is it to be able to proudly admit in front of others that they are an otaku and take pride in it?! (Although Akihabara is now the birthplace of anime, ordinary people there still have a lot of prejudice against otakus.)

  "Hey, about that Seventh Mist incident, the 'Void Explosion' event... how did you manage to do it? You actually reduced the explosive force to that extent? Is that your ability?" Kamijou Touma hesitated for a moment, but in the end he thought it would be better to say something. If they continued to sit there in this awkward atmosphere, he'd rather go cover himself with a newspaper and sleep on the corridor outside than stay here any longer.

  Ji Lu let out a long sigh with her nose, it seemed that she really couldn't get along with him anymore.

  "It just so happens that I have the same ability as that criminal. Although I was being disrupted by that electricity girl at the time, in a situation where the distance of ability control is closer, all I need to do is reverse the heavy particles and stabilize them when I come into contact with the explosive material. The criminal who felt his ability being disrupted would definitely stop doing useless work. Unfortunately, I was knocked down by that electricity girl before I could even do that, and I don't know if the criminal was caught in the end..." Aizawa said slowly as he turned his rotating chair towards Kamijou Touma, one hand on the computer desk and the other holding an ice-cold Coke.

  "Ah, in the end, you were caught by the student council, there was a special report on last night's news." Kamijou Touma recalled the news he saw yesterday and replied; then asked somewhat gossipingly: "From what happened that day, did that troublesome Electromaster girl also bother you?"

  "Hmm, well, there was this one time when I beat her at a game of Fist of the North Star at an arcade, and then due to various coincidences and misunderstandings, we ended up with a deep-seated grudge. If I recall correctly, we've only met a few times...” Kaito Minamoto thought that kind of encounter was simply an unmentionable dark history.

  "That's indeed a troublesome person, every time she sees me, she'll shout 'Duel, duel' and chase after me non-stop. I really don't understand why as a girl, her personality is so competitive." Misaka Mikoto also finds Kamijou Touma to be a headache, but feels that she has finally found common ground with this dead-fish-eyed high school student.

  "Although there are many shortcomings, it should also be considered a relatively kind and gentle child?" Kaito thought of that adorable little face pressed against the bedside, which was slightly red and swollen, and the previous duel where he had held back.

  "It's true, isn't it?" Kamijou Touma then recalled the time he saw Misaka Mikoto being mistaken for a student council member and said: "No wonder you were electrocuted and squirming like an eel back then, and even used your body to shield her from the blast. Do you have feelings for this type of middle school girl?"

  Kamijou Touma said, looking at Index's face as her expression gradually turned into a lewd cat-like state.

  "Huh? Do you think a qualified otaku like me would be interested in 3D women?" Kirito was surprised at the conclusion that Kamachi Kazuma had come to; didn't he already have a fully otaku image in the eyes of strangers? It seemed his otaku aura wasn't thick enough yet! Next time I go out, I'll definitely wear some otaku-style clothes!"

  "How do you explain using your body to shield her from the explosion's shockwave?" Kamijou Touma thought this was just a haughty excuse for Index, and he pointed out the opening she had revealed.

  "That's just the subconscious using its spine to withstand the shockwave under crisis conditions; but what's with this eight-point melodrama logic? Is it really because of watching Korean dramas that he has such a hot-blooded personality that likes to meddle in other people's business? How many more people will be harmed by this thing?! This brainless, melodramatic nonsense should be completely banned from TV and replaced with anime!"

  "Who would go see something so brainless and cheesy?" Kamijou Touma denied Kihara Amata's judgment.

  "Who knows, I'm not following you 24 hours a day..."

  "Hmph, you think that's enough to knock down Kamijou Touma? Let me tell you, as an unfortunate person, the electronics in my house have never lasted more than three days without breaking, so I couldn't even watch those Korean dramas! How about that?"

  "In the past, you've had a hard time, and in the days to come, you must continue to live strongly." Jia Lu patted the shoulder of Touma, expressing condolences. If it were him, he really couldn't imagine being unable to use PFP and computers to interact with 2D girls for three days straight - if that's what it came to, he'd rather die early and reincarnate early.

  "Huh? Why did you believe it so easily that such misfortune would really happen to me? Wouldn't a normal person first question the likelihood of such an event occurring?" Kamijou Touma was puzzled by Kazakiri Hyouka's easy acceptance of his words, this kind of being surrounded by misfortune wasn't something an acquaintance could understand.

  "Because your name is Kamijou Touma……" Did I ever tell you that, a long, long time ago, I knew about the things that made me envy and resent you for having a sister like Misaka Mikoto? As for your misfortune, it's just the negative aura of grudges from the Necessarius-born FFF group that's been cast upon you.

  "Does it mean that people with names like this will have all sorts of misfortunes happen to them?" Kamijou Touma, ORZ, can't get up again...

  "My name is Kaiji, nice to meet you."

  As he was about to introduce himself, he saw Kamijou Touma and suddenly had a bad premonition in his heart. Probably, his peaceful daily life wouldn't last much longer.

  "Ah? Oh, oh, thank you for your guidance in the future!"