Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:Item3 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 3===

The four members of Item moved to District 7.

Their support team had been completely wiped out, but they had needed to move away from the scene. So now they were gathered in a laundromat. However, this was not a cheap place full of industrial washing machines meant for baseball uniforms stained by sweat and dirt. It was a new rest spot that included a clean and trendy cafe.

Item was in the cafe space that had a thick glass wall between it and the laundromat space lined with industrial washing machines. The only thing that really differentiated it form an ordinary cafe was the LCD monitors hanging from the ceiling displaying the customer numbers whose laundry had recently finished.

The “women only” sign out front may have helped explain the sweet aroma filling the cafe-style waiting area as well as the fairly risque underwear and negligees spinning within the industrial washing machines. Some people were even washing a maid uniform with an exceptionally short skirt (perhaps for handing out tissues on the street corner) and a strange combination of a school swimsuit and an apron.

However…

“Mugino, no falling asleep.”

“Why the hell not!? What, do you want attention!? I’m sleeping! It takes 80 minutes for the full washing and drying cycle!”

Thanks to dealing with the overtime stalkers known as the Frees, Item had been out working at four in the morning. The dark side wasn’t supposed to be so hard working. It didn’t take a Mugino to be sleepy and irritable and she was even more irritable than that.

August 30 had still only just begun.

Kinuhata was resting her head on a makeshift pillow made by balling up a track suit she borrowed from Takitsubo. Mugino wasn’t wearing any shoes as her legs swayed below the table. The girls were more than ready to get some sleep.

But.

“If we don’t collect our laundry within half an hour after it’s done, the people in charge will take it out to free up the limited number of machines. If we all oversleep, we could lose the rest of our clothes.”

Silence fell.

A new source of conflict had presented itself.

“Sounds to me like one of us needs to stay awake.”

“Yeah, but which one?”

The girls at the table glared at each other. They all wanted some sleep. They might as well have been choosing their human sacrifice.

“I say we decide based on how much help we were today! Takitsubo and I fought the Frees outside that convenience store. Now, Kinuhata, what were you doing then? Oh, right. You were wasting your time at the eat-in section, so you’re it. I’m sleeping!!”

“Super wait! This District 7 laundromat was my hideout to begin with. If we’re talking about being helpful, you should be super thanking me!!”

“Kinuhata, I took the number up and carried the curry rice back from the counter.”

“In what world is that equivalent!? Besides, that was super your own curry, Takitsubo-san! Super why are you eating curry so early in the morning anyway!?”

“Hm? It’s standard fare for hotel breakfasts.”

With that expressionless comment, Takitsubo got to work with her silver spoon. And she had a reason for that choice. While this was a cafe, they couldn’t pass the time drinking coffee or tea. They all wanted to get some sleep right away, so ingesting anything with caffeine would be like a death sentence.

“I-I’m going to fall asleep like this! My head feels so heavy! Super someone talk to me! If you don’t give me an endless topic to focus on, our laundry is doomed!”

“Shut up. You and Takitsubo can play that rock-paper-scissors impressions game or…oh.”

“Mugino?”

Mugino had trailed off oddly.

She must have remembered who had taught her that game. And that girl being from her school was no longer a reason to trust her.

Detective Shiratori Okibi.

After some silence with an unreadable expression, Mugino collapsed down onto the table.

“…I’m sleeping.”

“This tyrant just super changed the rules on us.”

“Mugino is conflicted about a lot of things.”

“That solemn mood super isn’t fooling me. You don’t get to just declare the rules don’t apply to you!”

Item had no choice but to choose from the overpriced orange juice and light meals on the menu. The cafe didn’t even try to hide the 2-liter paper packages in the freezer behind the counter. Mugino had expensive tastes but wasn’t the type to spend money on just anything, so her bitter mood was only getting worse. And at this point, she just wanted to go to sleep.

Suddenly, Kinuhata realized one person hadn’t been a part of all this commotion.

“Huh? Super where is Frenda-san?”

“She’s probably experiencing her own hell in the sunny side of the world.”