Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume12 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 5===

“Okay, teacher. Say ‘ah’.”

“…”

Should he really be doing this?

In a back alley, a beaming Alice fed Kamijou Touma the snack she held between her fingers. Because if he didn’t let her, he got the feeling she would never move a step from this spot.

The crunchy textured snack was not a potato chip. It was…

“Fried squid!! Japan has so many weird snacks there’s always something new to try.”

“Hm? Alice, I thought your culture didn’t like eating wriggly things.”

“It’s squid but it’s crunchy☆”

Alice Anotherbible may have been the type to enjoy the texture of her food. Whether it was plastic or metal, the water-repellent snack bag meant the cold rain couldn’t ruin the flavor.

And Kamijou felt the salt and oil soaking into his body.

No matter what anyone might claim, he was hungry back here in reality. And come to think of it, he hadn’t eaten anything after dying, had he?

(I guess this is better than being unable to produce stomach acid and puking it back up.)

Kamijou nearly dozed off in the forced comfort.

But then he realized something.

“Actually, hold on, Alice. Where did you get that fried squid?”

“The girl made sure to pay for it with money she found on the ground!”

“You can’t do that.”

“?”

Alice Anotherbible tilted her head in confusion, suggesting she still needed a bit more social studies. Still, it was adorable how she was taking steps toward living in human society.

(Academy City has been through a lot recently. There probably were a lot of people who dropped their wallets.)

He was with Alice.

They walked through the January streets as the chilly rain fell.

Not being alone was a wonderful thing.

He realized how much those around him had supported him throughout his life. Even when he wound up in hell, Kingsford had been there for him.

He could not forget that appreciation.

He never could.

“Pant, brr, it’s cold. I feel like I’ve been swimming through cold water. Maybe I should have dug through a dumpster for an umbrella or something.”

“Hm? You can do that, but the girl isn’t allowed to use money she found?”

They had arrived at some District 7 student dorms.

They entered one of many identical buildings and rode the elevator up to the seventh floor. It was quiet in the area, and, luckily, none of the residents from his school were around. They were probably all at school still.

(No, wait. They would have been at my funeral. I feel kind of bad having them do that when I’m alive.)

Alice tilted her head as they walked down the long hallway.

She seemed puzzled rather than surprised.

Come to think of it, this wasn’t her first time at his dorm. When they first met, she had snuck into his bathroom, hadn’t she?

“But, teacher, do you have a key to your room?”

“…”

Oh, right. He was wearing burial clothes.

Thinking back, it had been weird for his phone to be in the coffin with him. More than just his wallet, he didn’t even have any underwear right now. Come to think of it, this was a really lewd outfit! And now the adolescent boy was slightly curious who had put it on him!!

“Eh heh heh. Maybe it was a young woman with a gentle dorm manager vibe.”

“?”

Anyway, Kamijou Touma opened the door on the water heater attached to the outside wall and snagged the spare key hidden there.

For some reason, Alice was amused.

“Teacher, that’s so unsafe.”

“Listen, Alice. There was a time when I had less than 100 yen to my name. Not having anything worth stealing is the world’s greatest security.”

That aside, the cheap locks on the doors at a boys dorm weren’t too trustworthy to begin with. Someone could probably snap a photo of the key from a distance and duplicate it with a 3D printer.

He unlocked and opened the door.

Unpleasantly chilly air blew out into his face. It was colder inside than out.

“Huh?”

No one was there.

The air was horribly cold.

“Index and Othinus are out too. Where are they in this rain?”

He questioned it, but he would die if he didn’t warm up his soaked and shivering body.

He didn’t have time to spend on each and every action.

Once inside the room, he switched on the electric water boiler to heat some water. In the time it took to boil, he reached for the door to the closet in the small room. A poor student didn’t own many clothes. That his warmest outfit was the school-designated winter uniform showed just how extreme his poverty was.

(I can’t just change clothes. Ugh, I need to warm up more directly.)

It wasn’t even nighttime yet, but he went to the bathroom and began filling the tub with hot water. That was the greatest luxury for a poor student.

He thought he would freeze to death in the 15 minutes it would take for the hot bath to be ready, so he grabbed a towel that was sitting out. He tossed another to Alice and began drying himself off.

(Wait, what do I do about a change of clothes for Alice?)

His dorm was not equipped with clothing for a 130cm girl. Having her wear a one-size-fits-all track suit or something until her wet clothes dried would probably be best. …Oh, the dryer function. Kamijou Touma stared into the distance. That cost more in power than using an iron or hair drier, so he ordinarily never used it.

The poverty he had very nearly escaped was creeping up behind Mr. Misfortune once more.

At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before it was tapping on his shoulder.