That was the beginning of our misfortune.
Since that incident, I took the following lesson to heart: It isn't a good thing to team up with someone who has the same attributes.
We chatted for a while.
"Say, Kamijou, what do you usually do?"
"Hospitalized."
"...What?"
"It is always like that—have a fight, get seriously injured, get sent to the hospital—that is my normal life."
Kamijou hung his shoulders, like he had just done something very tiresome.
"...Ah, ha..."
Not good, did I just step on a land mine?
That meant this guy was the protagonist of a fighting series.
"Especially in August and September, it was the worst. I felt like I had to fight new enemies regularly. The anime also focused on unexpected events in September, during which I had a series of desperate fights. My schedule was so messed up! The author overdid it!"
"You seem to have it hard."
"Ah, it's fine. However, before I came here, by coincidence I saw the 'My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute' anime, you were sent flying quite a distance with a roundhouse kick."
"...Ah, that is..."
"What a fearsome enemy. It reminds me of a saint who can use an angel's power. Who would be stronger between them...?"
"...No no. It's true that Ayase is the boss of the second volume, but she is not an esper or a magician or anything."
Although I don't know who he was comparing Ayase to, hearing the word 'angel' made me think of a super charming girl.
In that case, I would like to meet her someday.
"Back to the topic just now, well, although hospitalization is a bad thing, Kamijou-san should be popular with girls, right?"
I heard that in fighting novels, each time the protagonist fought, they would raise a flag, thus they frequently ended up with an uncountable harem. [2]. Since I'm not popular with girls, I should try asking for his advice.
But unexpectedly, Kamijou waved his hand:
"No no, totally not. Not a si—ingle bit popular!"
"For real?"
"Yes, for real. True, I frequently meet girls, but nothing like that happens between me and them! Otherwise, 'such misfortune' wouldn't be my catchphrase!"
Kamijou denied with all of his strength.
I asked him again just to confirm:
"But aren't you surrounded by a lot of girls? Even if you aren't popular, at least you live under the same roof with a beautiful girl, don't you?"
"...Yeah, I had a freeloader at my place. Index is the incarnation of appetite..."
His face darkened, he replied in anger.
Such a poor boy...He really fought hard side by side with so many beautiful girls, yet he didn't manage to raise a single flag.
"Forget it, I was able to save people because of my misfortune, so it's not an entirely bad thing."
Kamijou said with a proud smile. So cool! When I was thinking that—
"Ah—! But I want something to happen too! Even once is fine, I want something good to happen between me and a girl!"
—My admiration for him was instantly crushed.
Aha...well, this was normal for any high school student.
Did this guy really walk along the edge of death countless times?
"Ah—, you are so lucky to have such a cute little sister! Please introduce her to me!"
"I refuse."
"An instant answer?"
"I definitely will not give my little sister to someone with horrible luck like you."
"Kuh...what a righteous response...If I were you I would have said the same thing..."
Looking at the depressed Kamijou, I tried to cheer him up:
"But Mikoto-san likes you, right?"
Kamijou's eyebrows wrinkled.
"Are your eyes okay? Didn't you see our quarrel just now? How could you come to that conclusion?"
"In my eyes, you guys have a pretty good relationship."
How should I put it, they seemed like they were flirting.
"If she liked me, shouldn't she stop trying to greet me with an electric shock?"
Ah, you have a point here. However...based on my own experience...I feel like...it's not just that...
"So, what exactly is your relationship with her?"
"...Uhm, I'm not sure myself, it's quite complicated."
Kamijou thought about it and said:
"I think that she is as cool as a boy, and she is someone reliable."
"...Even if I misunderstood, you must never, ever tell her that!"
In Mikoto's ears, those words would have had different meaning.
"Why not?"
Kamijou showed a confused look.
This...seemed like he had a hard time in front of him.
"About that TV, what do you think it is for?"
Kamijou pointed at the LCD TV in the room. It looked like something to view a live Nico program.
"Without a doubt, I bet we could use that to see Kirino and Mikoto's talk."
"I see. However...will they know that we are looking at them?"
"...I'm not sure."
If they didn't, what would we do?
"...Let's forget it."
"Agreed."
It wasn't something we could control anymore.
We continued chatting for a while, while I was asking Kamijou about 'how a boy living alone cooks for himself,' a sound came from the TV—
"The next program is 'My Little Sister' X 'Railgun' Crossover – Girls' Talk! The program guests are two of Dengeki Bunko's prided super-popular heroines, Misaka Mikoto-san and Kousaka Kirino-san! They will have a live talk right now!"
"It's starting!"
"Ha ~~ the bad feeling is getting closer, but I don't have a choice."
"Yeah."
We lifelessly looked at the TV.
"Please come in ~~ ♪"
And then, my little sister and Misaka Mikoto's live talk started.
"Good morning everyone, I'm Kousaka Kirino!"
"Good morning, everyone...I'm Misaka Mikoto."
"Please take care of me today, Mikoto-san!"
"Please take care of me too...you seem to be familiar with this stuff."
"You could say that, I have taken part in something similar a few times before. Mikoto-san only needs about ten shows to get used to it."
"No no, I'm not planning to get into so many shows."
It looked like they were having a small talk.
The moderator was waiting...Kirino, you should talk about the main topic now.
Their relationship had gotten better in such a short time. Compared to before, they talked with each other more naturally now.
"Then, today two of Dengeki Bunko's prided beautiful girls are going to have a talk. The program is starting now!"
"Beautiful girls...are they talking about us?"
"That is the truth, isn't it?"
"Ah, although it's the truth..."
Seeing that, both Kamijou and I whispered to each other.
"What an annoying combination."
"Yeah."
On the other side of the screen, Mikoto said:
"So, what are we going to talk about?"
"Directly to the main topic. Of course, we are going to talk about love!"
"...Hah?"
"That's what's written in the title, right? 'Dengeki Bunko Girls's Talk.' A girls's talk is, without a doubt, about love! So let's talk about love!"
"About love? Are you...with me?"
"No no ~"
Kirino pointed at Mikoto—
"Mikoto-san will talk with me about love."
—Then she pointed to herself.
Mikoto's eyes followed Kirino's finger, then, as if suddenly startled, her face started twitching.
"Haaaaaaa—? I, I, I I I...I'm going to talk with you about love!?"
"Yes. Mikoto-san, do you have someone you like?"
"—————————!"
Mikoto's entire face and her ears reddened.
What a cute and clear reaction. Even someone as dense as me understood with just a glance.
".........Hey, Kamijou?"
As 'the one Mikoto likes,' what would his reaction be? I turned to him—
"Ha—so Mikoto has someone she likes!"
"......You, you......!"
You are so dense that even I am surprised! You should say goodbye to your love life!
On the other side of the TV, Kirino and Mikoto kept talking.
"Mikoto-san, you should admit it. Don't use tsundere words to deceive me, I have read the entire book!"
"Kuh...! About that...let's say that I have 'someone I'm interested in'!"
"What 'let's say', you clearly have one."
"'Let's say'!"
Mikoto slammed on the table.
Biri biri biri...electric shocks began to appear
"Don't do that! I'm starting to feel tingling! —Alright, alright, then 'let's say.' Is that okay now?"
"Even if I have 'someone I'm interested in'...why do you look at me with such condescending eyes...? Aren't we supposed to be equal in a talk about love?"
Facing Mikoto's question, Kirino calmly answered without changing her expression.
"Ah? Maybe because I'm more proficient in love?"
"What?"
"Ah ~ could it be ~ you feel that you should be more proficient? If that is the case, allow me to apologize ~"
What are you doing, teasing her like that, brat!
Sure enough, my little sister didn't have the personality to get along with strangers.
Despite that Mikoto was emitting shocks, her face relaxed. She said,
"Ah—it's fine even if you don't apologize. But Kirino, no matter if it's about fighting or love, I'm better than you."
Although it is true in the fighting aspect...
"Among Dengeki Bunko's heroines, I'm your senpai. Wouldn't it be better if I was the one giving you advice for love?"
"No no, I'd rather ask an elementary-school kid for love advice than Mikoto-senpai."
"You...!"
Although it's true, you shouldn't say it out loud, Kirino.
You were facing an esper who could turn you into ash in the blink of an eye, yet you were calmly quarreling with her. Unbelievable.
"...You say that...does that mean you have much love experience?"
"That's for sure. We have been living together for 15 years."
"!!!!"
"We had a confession long long ago—about at the end of volume 2 or something like that."
"So soon...!"
"During volume 3, we even entered a love hotel together ♪"
"Love hotel ......!!!!!????"
Mikoto turned stiff, she barely managed to ask:
"...Is, is that true?"
"It's true. If I lied here, that would mean I deceived the audience, right?"
Saying that, Kirino covered her lips with her fingertips and made a 'shhh—' action toward the camera, signaling the audience to be quiet.
Since Mikoto hadn't read our story, this girl could say whatever she wanted!
However, what she said was completely true...
"I have only 12 volumes, but it has developed to this stage. While you have 22 volumes, 2 gaiden books, 7 New Testament volumes, 1 additional side story book, 3 anime seasons, 8 new gaiden volumes. Yet, where are you now?"
Her entire face reddened, Mikoto trembled and gathered her courage to reply:
"We had first contact in volume 1 of the Railgun series!"
"Liar. You only tried to shock him."
"We had an overseas trip! Hawaii!"
"That was just a terrorist attack, wasn't it?"
"!!!!!"
"You didn't even manage to give him the ring, did you?"
"!!!!!!!!!"
"Still want to continue?"
"......"
She didn't seem like she would let it go.
".........Yes, there is something!"
On the verge of utter depression, Mikoto suddenly came back to life.
"Really?"
"Yes, really!"
"Then I will ask a question. The most recent chance you had to speak with him, did you have a good talk?"
"...About that...time..."
"What were you doing at that time, Mikoto-san?"
Sweat appeared on Mikoto's forehead.
"...About that...we fought together against a Saint..."
"Ha...so that's what you meant..."
"Why did you sigh!? What do you mean by that!?"
Mikoto couldn't take it anymore, she stood up and pointed her finger at Kirino.
Kirino returned an arrogant look:
"Actually, back then Mikoto-san was cool. The decisive battle scenes and victory lines were both awesome. Yet..."
"Yet?"
"You still weren't able to convey your feelings to him."
"Kuh...!"
Mikoto gritted her teeth. Looked like Kirino hit the bullseye.
"But even just counting 'A Certain Magical Index' there are 36 volumes, up until now, what have you done?"
"Don't say it like a manager speaking to a jobless man!"
Although you seem great when lecturing others, Kirino, you also don't have the right to do that.
"So, this is a bit of my advice..."
Kirino pointed at Mikoto's legs.
"Mikoto-san, how long are you going to keep wearing loose socks? They're way too outdated!"
"Don't speak about that now—————!!!!!"
Biribiribiribiribiribiribiribiribiribiribiribiribiribiri——!!
The sounds of electric shocks appeared, then the TV screen distorted.
Seeing the black TV screen, Kamijou muttered:
"...She stepped on Misaka's land mine..."
Later, I was informed that during winter, they had dark blue uniform socks.
A long series surely was not an easy work.
When the image on the TV screen came back, we saw Mikoto standing, gasping for air, and the paled Kirino.
"Ha...ha...ha..."
"So dangerous...I thought that I was about to die..."
They were sitting face to face, the chairs and the table showed signs of damage, some places had been destroyed.
"I understand what you meant. I admit that in this aspect, I'm not very good. So..."
"So?"
"—I want to have a life counseling session with you."
Unexpectedly, those were the same words that Kirino first spoke to me long ago.
Unconsciously, Kirino acted like me, she raised her head, straightened her chest and announced—
"Mikoto-san, leave it to me!"
And that is the main topic...