District 7 of Academy City.
In a corner of District 7, there was a student dorm where Kamijou Touma was staying. Although it was in the same school district as the School Garden, it was ordinary and low profile.
Of course, this place was a boys' dormitory, but one of the rooms was an exception. There was a silver-haired, emerald- eyed, idle 14–15 year old girl wearing a white nun's habit.
The idle girl, Index, was now occupying the space in front of the television.
The television was currently airing the weather report, and in the background was a large map of Japan. The nee-chan in a suit was smiling as the humidity was reported. A while back, it was the UV rays report, and now it was a new gimmick. Ordinary high school student Kamijou Touma could feel that the season was changing from this minor change (though the weather was still hot).
"Touma, Touma. They're just drawing rings on the map of Japan, how can they tell tomorrow's weather like this?"
Index asked without turning her head around. Kamijou's frustrated voice came back from the preparation table. Tonight's dinner was deep-fried chicken cutlets, and he was about to toss the marinated chicken into the wok.
"Index, stay away from the TV when you're watching it. Also, those ring things are called isobars. By knowing the rise and fall in air pressure, you can guess whether there would be rain-producing clouds. However, it might rain when the clouds hit a mountain, so we can't always use air pressure to judge this."
"Wooahh…eh? Wait…using the landscape to predict the changes in weather…ah! So Academy City has learnt how to use artificial methods to measure fengshui?"
"Seems like you're getting too excited, so I'm not going to curb your enthusiasm. I'll let the calico cat eat it."
Kamijou used a pair of metal chopsticks that were used for frying to pick a piece of well-fried chicken from the wok, and placed it on a plate before putting the plate on the ground. The calico cat that was curled up beside Index immediately reacted, and with the speed of a flying arrow, rushed toward the plate. It nibbled at the chicken before rolling on the ground, as if it was saying, "It's hot! But I must eat it! It's really hot!" Kamijou then took another plate, filled it with water and placed it on the ground. The calico cat didn't seem to be a natural wildcat, or maybe it had been domesticated before, as even with the crackling sound from the pot, it was not afraid.
Index, who was sitting in front of the television, saw this and immediately jumped up.
"So…so mean! Touma would be angry every time I eat it when you're not looking! Why is Touma only good to Sphinx?"
"Ah? It's not that I'm not letting you eat. It's because you'll always eat everything up when I'm not looking…STOP IT STOP IT!! That one is still raw, it's just marinated—!!"
Kamijou skillfully used the metal chopsticks to block the gluttonous girl who was attacking at full force, protecting today's dinner. During this tumult, there were already two pieces of metal burnt black.
A really hungry Index was unable to eat the meat, and ended up biting the back of Kamijou's head. All of a sudden, she tilted her head and asked like an innocent child,
"However, Touma, why is the weather report nee-chan often wrong? Does stupidity look like a profitable thing?"
"To be said that by someone who's like that, the weather reporter nee-chan is also pitiful…OWOWOW!"
The boy's scream accompanied the sound of sharp teeth biting.
"Be… because the weather report isn't 100% accurate! It used to be, but it seems that the calculating device is broken."
There seemed to be many doubts in Index's head, but Kamijou didn't intend to explain further.
Tree Diagram.
One of the three satellites that Academy City possessed, a supercomputer that could accurately predict where all the air molecules would move. However, it didn't exist anymore.
Kamijou stared at the screen.
The weather report that had lost its perfect instrument was over, and what replaced it was the traffic report within Academy City.