Toaru Majutsu no Index:Volume SP Chapter3

Kamijou Touma

“…Ksshh…Can you…hear this? …Is this…ksshh…language…you…ksshh…speak? My…ksshh…from Earth to Mars…ksshh…”

A normal high school student named Kamijou Touma leaned against the wall and looked down at his cell phone. He was watching the evening news on it.

“That is the result gained from analysis of the signal coming from the direction of Mars. No official announcement has been made by the special committee in Academy City’s District 23 and speculation is rampant.”

A girl stood next to Kamijou.

The girl peering at his cell phone had the odd name of Index. She had white skin, a short build, long silver hair that reached her waist, and green eyes. She also wore a showy white nun’s habit with gold embroidery that was reminiscent of a nouveau riche teacup. She would have stood out anywhere.

She trembled while watching the news.

“Aliens… There really are octopus-like aliens!!”

“Ehh…?” said Kamijou (an alien denier) in an exhausted voice within a pristine, white corridor.

Index (an alien believer) had been acting like that ever since that news had first come out a few days prior. UFOs and aliens may have seemed scientific, but it seemed wrong to seriously say that octopus-like aliens or silver aliens with huge heads were part of the science side.

Even if it was from a proper news organization, things were often reported before credible proof had been obtained. There were all sorts of stories about UFO photos being faked.

However, Index’s green eyes were opened wide.

“Since the message was in Japanese, they might be coming here soon. O-oh, no. There’s nothing in my 103,000 grimoires about what to say when you meet an octopus alien!!”

“Ehh…?” said Kamijou in a disheartened voice.

Index may have been able to use her knowledge from over 100,000 grimoires to defeat nasty magicians, but she did not know much when it came to aerospace concepts.

(She isn’t going to start saying something about nearby crop circles being linked to the sinking of Atlantis, is she?)

Kamijou looked down at the digital clock displayed at the edge of his cell phone’s screen.

It was 8:10 PM.

(She’s late. How long do those preparations take?)

Just as he thought that, he heard footsteps from further back in the building. Kamijou and Index looked over and saw a woman of about 20 approaching.

She was out of breath.

“Sorry, young Kamijou. The preparations took longer than I expected!”

“So you got the car ready, Fleiss-san?”

“Yes, somehow or other. The engine’s already started. C’mon, we need to get out of here!!”

Kamijou and Index followed the older Fleiss down the dark passageway. On the way, Kamijou glanced out a window. What he saw was not the normal nighttime scenery of the city.

He saw special vehicles arranged to surround the building. Lights much brighter than the ones used in theatres were pointed toward the building, making it difficult to see out, but he could see people moving about and watching the building through the gaps in the light.

(…Can we really escape from this?)

Kamijou was half in shock.

The three of them were currently on the run from Academy City.