Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume16 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 2===

Thanks to this, Kamijou’s reclaimed school life was an unusually busy one.



“The chemistry lab is being used for the exams, so next period we will be running chemical change simulations in the computer lab. Don’t even think about ‘forgetting’ and trying to spy on the fresh young middle school girls nervous about their exams, you silly boys!!”

“Where are we supposed to carry these desks?”

“The exam takers get priority in the cafeteria and school store. The trains are also running outside their usual schedule for the exam takers, so just shut up and deal with it. You’re going to be their upperclassmen, so you can put up with an empty stomach for now!!”



It felt unfair to the third year middle schoolers attempting the life-or-death challenge of the entrance exam, but the energy in the school felt a lot like during the cultural festival. …Although the occasional Anti-Skill or Judgment members rushing down the hallway suggested there was a fairly serious cat-and-mouse game over cheating attempts going on behind the scenes.

Kamijou sighed softly.

(Smart cheating using electronics and substitute exam-takers using forged passports, huh? I’d get it with one of the actual good schools, but why would you bother cheating to get into an average school like this?)

Kamijou had lost his bitter exam memories along with the rest of his memories, so these difficulties were a foreign thing to him. …The fear of his memory loss remained like an indelible scar deep in his mind, but maybe there were some things he was better off having forgotten?

“That concludes today’s lessons.”

During the final homeroom, Komoe-sensei had a big smile on her face.

This time, it wasn’t a dark one.

…That had to be the smile of someone who had had a rough day but was about to go drinking. Bird droppings would eat through a car’s waterproofing if they weren’t washed off, but surely she wasn’t just going to ignore it? The desperation radiating from her 135cm body made it very hard to ask for details.

“Keep in mind that clubs and committees are on a reduced schedule during the exam period. For details, check the schedule in the individual social media groups. And I will be using homework to make up for the shortened class schedule, so be warned. This trial is for your own good, so enjoy your studies, students!! Bye bye☆”

Now Kamijou was feeling blue.

He felt like he had been thrown outside while chained up.

With the tri-blade wind turbines spinning and the drum-shaped security robots trundling along, the way home was peaceful.

Kamijou found himself drawn to the 100-yen shops and drug stores on the way. The girls dorm had no kitchen, so any food that only needed hot water to cook was extremely attractive right now. His eyes shined each time he saw cup noodles or miso soup…but wait.

(I could buy a big value multipack, but I have Index in my room.)

He could easily imagine a paranormal phenomenon in which it all vanished in a single night.

Also, all the cup noodle lids had puns on them. Apparently everyone thought they could attract exam takers by hinting at exam success like that. The stock of energy drinks and health drinks seemed unusually plentiful. Instead of individual bottles in the refrigerated section like in a convenience store, they were being sold in big cardboard boxes. Apparently that too was pandering to exam takers. But was it really safe for elementary and middle schoolers to drink so many of those?

A loud voice spoke from the next aisle over.

“Hurry up, Uiharu. Get this and this and this too. We need to bring some supplies to the upperclassmen and we can show how much we care by how much we bring!”

“Eh? By the box!? D-do they really need this many energy drinks, Shirai-san?”

“Get it together. Entrance exams are a war. Better to buy these now than run into trouble during the exams and find out they’re already sold out. Even Judgment has to take this seriously. Okay, today we can buy these super expensive health drinks! The bright gold ones in the small brown bottles! Wait for us, weary Konori-senpai!!”

“Eek! I’m starting to think school committees are the worst kind of exploitative job, not governed by the Labor Standards Act or the National Public Service Act…”

…Apparently some Judgment members drank them, but Kamijou had a feeling that wasn’t a good example. Mimicking them would leave you rotten to the core.

(Is this like all those puns I saw at the other convenience store? Is this one a pentagon because pentagon sounds like the word for passing an exam in Japanese? Are they selling these floats because float sounds like the word for being accepted into a school?)

It seemed weird for products like that to sell in a city of science. Then again, maybe it was like how everyone celebrated Valentine’s Day without thinking much about the legend it was based on.

He ended up leaving without buying anything.

The entrance exam frenzy was in full swing outside too. Because eating fish was supposed to make you smarter – because of DHA? – a restaurant had so many banners out there was barely room to walk on the sidewalk. The unusual number of fliers being handed out were for a sketchy one-night cram school in a multi-tenant building. Were the small groups clustered together on their way to karaoke trying to blow off some steam, or were they hoping to study English with Western music? Even his phone kept giving him messages advertising “life hacks” for exams. Those were entirely wasted on Kamijou since he wasn’t an exam taker, but the poor targeting was actually a little reassuring because it meant they had gathered less data on him than he had thought.

Kamijou passed by some middle schoolers as he walked.



“Oh, ohhhh. Ohhhhhhh. Qu-Queen… Why must the world be so cruel and heartless?”

“Remind me who it was who happily gave into that Kotatsu Syndrome nonsense and failed to study at all during the lead-up to the January exams? You need to get back to the dorm and start demonstrating your cramming ability!!”



He heard a meow of surprise just before a black cat ran off. The Misaka Sister was left with an expressionless but somehow dazed looking face, crouched down with some katsuoboshi (probably a limited time product related to the brain-boosting powers of DHA) still held between her fingers.

For a city full of countless schools, this could be seen as the greatest battle of the year. …But as a first year high schooler, Kamijou Touma didn’t have to worry about it himself.

Habit set him down the usual path, so he had to quickly stop himself.

Returning to the collapsed boys dorm wouldn’t accomplish much.

“Oops.”

He made sure to check his phone’s map app for the best route before turning onto a different street.

It would have been faster to take the train to the next station, but a poor student was going to walk. Each ride cost 150 yen and he had to go there and back, so how much would that cost for a full month’s worth of weekdays? It barely felt like paying money when using your train card, but it wasn’t an expense he could just ignore.

The girls dorm was up ahead.

Kamijou looked up at the stylish building.

“Hard to believe… This place was built for the girls, but it’s already starting to feel like home to me.”

Saying you could get used to living anywhere would be rude to the dorm, but it was scary what you could grow acclimated to.

The glass door auto-locked, but when Kamijou nervously operated it, it opened for him just fine.

“Ohhh…”

He had gone in and out of this door a few times now, but he still voiced his amazement. This was the girls dorm. It was holy ground. Was he really allowed in here? He still couldn’t rid himself of that small anxiety. And the entrance auto-locked! The entrance to the former boys dorm in the same district was always open, so weird smoker priests could just walk in!!

A small crowd had formed near the elevator hall.

Mostly boys.

…He was truly thankful there were so many other boys here. He thought his heart would have given out if he had to exist as the only boy in a girls-only world.

He didn’t recognize most of them.

They had been shoved into whatever rooms were available, so the boys had been split into a few groups and then placed in areas spread out across the girls dorm. Those boys were apparently a group on a different floor from Kamijou.

Also, this building only housed first years.

That meant he couldn’t see some of his female friends like Kumokawa-senpai here, which made him a little sad.

Speaking of the elevator, he remembered it had big mirrors inside.

Apparently those weren’t meant for one last check of one’s appearance on the way out. They were to ensure there wasn’t anyone unwanted on the elevator. …The entire building was protected by the auto-locking entrance, so who did they think would be hiding inside the elevator?

And despite that, there were no security cameras in the hallways or elevator hall. Was that for privacy reasons? Anything that would leave a record appeared to be centered around the auto-locking entrance. For Kamijou, the weird balance of the girls dorm felt like something from another dimension.

As a school dorm, most everyone returned home at the same time. That meant the elevator was crowded. Not everyone could board when the elevator arrived on the first floor. Kamijou debated whether he would wait here or take the stairs, but he ended up moving away from the line.

He heard some excited voices.

There was a small rest area with a bench and a vending machine partway down the long hallway and a few girls in a combination of their school uniform and a track suit were laughing there holding cold drinks in plastic bottles. When they noticed Kamijou’s hesitant gaze from a distance, they shrieked and ran off somewhere. …Apparently that was a forbidden outfit boys weren’t supposed to see. Even though Misaka Mikoto, who was from a much fancier school, wore shorts below her uniform skirt year round.

(That happens sometimes here. Like stepping out at night and running across a girl who just took a bath so she’s walking down the hallway in only her underwear and holding a coffee milk.)

Maybe that had been normal in this girls only world, but he really wished they would do a better job of remembering that the emergency arrival of the boys had transformed it into a real-world environment. It seemed especially cruel that he was treated like the bad guy when it happened.

“Surprise! Time for an inspection!! Pets are against the rules, so I sure hope none of you are keeping any in your rooms!”

“Whoa, Sensei!?”

“Yomikawa-sensei, you just want an excuse to eat the cheap food in the dining hall here, don’t you!?”

Kamijou heard a commotion in the distance.

Apparently that busty track suit gym teacher did irregular patrols of the girls dorm.

The irregularity was the problem there.

They were hard to predict. Without a set routine, you couldn’t prepare in advance.

Index and Othinus (plus the calico cat) were staying in Kamijou’s room. Without paying rent. And either way, he was sure to get in trouble if the teachers found out he had snuck a nun and a god in through the auto-locking entrance by hiding them in the collapsible containers he had used when moving in. He had to make a mental note of this.

Anyway, the track suit teacher’s surprise inspection didn’t seem to be the only cause of commotion. Some athlete girls were using the emergency stairs for some after-practice training. He also heard some wind instruments playing from upstairs, but he didn’t know what the local rules were for how late you could do that. Maybe they were gathered on the roof practicing.

It felt like an extension of being at school after classes let out.

That was the best way of describing the mood.

That mood seemed to change again after dinner, though.

(It would probably be faster to just use the stairs.)

“Huh, did you just get back? How did it take you this long when you’re not in a club?”

A familiar face appeared in this strange world: his classmate Fukiyose Seiri. What was she, the student dorm leader?

“Seven o’clock. Don’t forget,” said Fukiyose like it wasn’t a big deal. “Be in the dining hall by then. All the popular foods are often sold out if you’re even ten minutes late. And complaining won’t make more food appear.”