Mikoto dropped her violin off at a cloakroom and dragged Kamijou into an underground mall.
The location had taken quite a bit of damage on September 1st when the magician Sherry Cromwell had come from England with her golem Ellis, but none of the scars caused by the destruction could be seen anymore. The shattered floors and pillars had been repaired and the café windows and the like had been replaced with new ones. Unless you looked very closely, you would never notice anything had changed.
The construction had been completed at such a quick pace because of the Daihaseisai coming up so soon afterwards. Around half of the reason Academy City was opened up to the public was to act as propaganda to improve the city's image, so they could hardly allow parts of it to be destroyed at the time. (It still ended up getting destroyed a fair bit on the first day of the festival, though.)
The area did not have the dark image one expected of being underground. The floors and walls were polished to a shine and it was lit up as bright as midday with fluorescent lights and LED light bulbs. The cafes, clothing stores, and the like lining the passageway used a lot of glass to give an open feeling despite the low surface area.
Kamijou looked around and said, "Oh, they're keeping the air conditioning a lot lower than they used to."
"In another 2 weeks, they'll probably switch over to heating." Mikoto walked along step by step. "Oh, there it is. Over here."
She pointed at one store with a slender finger.
Due to the advantages of being underground, the area gathered a lot of recreational facilities that made a lot of noise like arcades, karaoke boxes, and live music clubs. That was why Kamijou had assumed he was going to be ordered to complete an extremely difficult game with a single coin and have to bow down to her if he failed. But it turned out his guess was way off.
She was pointing at a cell phone service store.
It was only about half as big as a convenience store. All that he could see inside through the large glass window was a counter and chairs lined up horizontally and a magazine rack filled with thin catalogues of cell phone models. The vertical advertisement banner hanging in front of the entrance divided the models up between the major companies and Academy City's originals.
Academy City's technology was said to be 20 to 30 years more advanced than that outside the city. The outside models and inside models each had their own advantages and disadvantages, but you never knew which service would recover first in an emergency, so some students struggled for over a week to decide which one to go with.
Mikoto walked toward the service store.
"Have you heard of the Handy Antenna service?"
"Hm? Oh, that. You mean the service that allows each individual cell phone to act in the place of a cell phone tower to let you call even when there isn't a tower nearby?"
Basically, the cell phones of everyone walking around the city would act as relay antennae. Even if there was no cell phone tower near Kamijou, he could connect via Person 1, Person 2, Person 3, etc. and eventually connect to Person X who was near a cell phone tower. And it connected using a route that went through several people in something like a net, so the connection would not be easily dropped. The technology had apparently developed to create an emergency air communications network through a few antennae installed on blimps that could be sent out if the normal towers were brought down in a disaster. For that reason, not much had been done to ensure sound quality when the method was used.
On the plus side, a university was helping pay to have it tested, so the service fees were supposed to be incredibly cheap.
"I was thinking of signing up for that."
"Eh? But that extremely minor system only works if its users all walk around with their cell phones constantly on to act as relay antennae. I heard it drains your battery like crazy. And I heard so few people are signed up for it that it really doesn't help much."
"That's why they're working to get more people to join the service. If you sign up for a pair contract, even the fees unrelated to the Handy Antenna are mostly covered for you."
"A pair contract…? You mean that thing where you take two people who already have contracts and make it so calls and packets between the two phones don't cost anything?"
"Yes, that. And right now, if you sign up for a package deal for both the Handy Antenna service and a pair contract, they give you a Lovely Mitten Gekota strap. It's a frog mascot."
"…Wait."
"They give it to you right away, so sign up for it with me."
"So you're just after the strap!? I'm not changing my phone no matter what you say! I'm going to use this beat-up cell phone for at least another 6 months!!"
And then Kamijou pointed at Mikoto's school bag. He was glaring at the green frog mascot hanging from it.
"And you already have a frog!"
"Gekota and this one are not the same thing!!" shouted Mikoto. "Gekota is the old man who lives next to this one and he is called Gekota because he goes 'geko geko' when he gets carsick! Are you really so old that you don't know even a basic difference like that!?"
"…What about that old man Gekota character is 'lovely'?" muttered Kamijou in a disheartened tone, but Mikoto only gave him the scornful look children gave the elderly when they could not keep up with the current trends. She seemed to have been a bit disillusioned.
"Hmph. You don't need to worry about having to change your phone. The Handy Antenna just needs to add a chip to your phone and the pair contract will work with any of this company's services, so you should be able to use your current phone without changing much of anything."
"Oh, so you really just need to put my number and address on the paperwork?"
"Well, yes." Mikoto squeezed the small frog on her school bag between her fingertips. "It isn't easy finding someone who is willing to come down to the store with me, fill out a ton of paperwork, and wait for who knows how many hours. But it shouldn't take more than half a day, so just bear with it."
"Hmm," muttered Kamijou as he thought while looking at the store's banner.
(I guess she called me out here because it has to be a guy and girl pair.)
"? What is it?" asked Mikoto.
"Well, just going with you to register for this is fine, but a pair contract is usually only made between a boyfriend and girlfriend, right? It says it has to be a guy and a girl."
"…!?"
Mikoto's shoulders gave a large jump.
Her fingers squeezed tightly around the frog mascot on her bag.
"N-n-n-n-no, you idiot! What are you saying!? J-just because it says it has to be a guy and a girl doesn't mean it has to be a boyfriend and girlfriend! It could easily be a married couple!!"
"Um, hello? That's taking things a step further from boyfriend and girlfriend, Misaka-san."
He had only meant to give a calm rebuttal, but he ended up having a lightning spear fly his way. Kamijou frantically held up his right hand to repel the strike that flew from Mikoto's bangs.
"What is with you today!?"
"Y-you're the one that isn't making any sense! C'mon, let's just get this over with!!"
"Eh? We're actually going to do it!?"
"This is your punishment, so quit complaining and come with me!!"
Mikoto grabbed Kamijou's arm and dragged him into the service store.
The air conditioning was more comfortable in the store than in the underground mall's passageway. Kamijou was not sure if it really made sense, but it felt like the ventilation route was calculated out to provide the perfect temperature where you did not feel cold or get sweaty.
The young female worker sitting behind the counter had her smile crumble a bit when she saw Mikoto dragging Kamijou into the store, but she did not forget her training.
After a few comments from Mikoto including "I want to register a pair contract with this idiot" and "Do you have any of the Gekota straps left?", the worker gathered a ton of paperwork on the counter.
"The paperwork requires a photograph. Do you have one?"
"Hm?" said Mikoto with her eyes opened wide. She then asked, "Will a photo from an ID photo booth be enough? How many do you need and what size do you need?"
"No, no. It does not have to be anything that formal," said the worker with a smile. "This is a pair contract, so we just need something that proves that the two of you are a 'pair'. As long as it is a two shot of the two of you, it can just be with a cell phone camera. We also provide you with a pair picture frame charger cradle, so you can use it for that as well. It fits the standards for the four major companies, so you should be able to use it regardless of model."
"Bh!?" Mikoto very nearly did a spit take. "…A-a two shot?"
"Oh, do you not normally do those? Then this is a perfect opportunity. We just need the photo in the 20 minutes it takes to complete the registration, so please take the photo while you wait."
After quickly filling out the huge amount of paperwork with ballpoint pens, Kamijou and Mikoto left the service store. They were going to take the photo in question.
Kamijou pulled out his fairly durable cell phone that had survived being damaged in battles with magicians and falling into the Adriatic Sea.
"I don't feel like hunting down an ID photo booth, so let's just snap a photo with my cell phone. Unless you have another digital camera, Misaka."
"Eh? No…I left my phone at the counter."
Mikoto's mind seemed to be somewhere else, but Kamijou did not notice. While looking at the screen, he pressed a few buttons with his thumb to switch over to camera mode. Then he stretched his arm out as far as he could.
Still looking at the screen, he said, "Okay, here goes…wait."
"Wh-what?"
When Mikoto let out that flustered voice, a displeased expression appeared on Kamijou's face.
At some point, Mikoto had moved away from him. It was as if she was saying, "How about you just take it in panorama mode? I really don't care."
Mikoto's desire to flee from him made Kamijou's shoulders droop.
"…You were the one that wanted to do this, right?"
"Y-yes, I was!!"
Mikoto's face was a bit red and her hands holding her school bag were fidgeting nervously, but Kamijou did not interpret any of it in a favorable light.
After hesitating over whether to move closer to or farther away from Kamijou, Mikoto shouted out in desperation.
"~ ~ ~! Wait for me, Gekota!!"
She approached in one go so that her shoulder bumped into Kamijou's. Their shoulders brushed together and Mikoto tilted her head slightly so it rested on Kamijou's shoulder. That allowed both their faces to fit cleanly inside the cell phone's screen.
Meanwhile, Kamijou started to wonder why she had gotten closer than necessary and his body tensed up slightly at the scent of her hair.
"H-here goes."
"Okay, I'm ready when you are!!"
With an electronic tone, the phone took the picture.
Kamijou brought the cell phone back towards himself and displayed the picture he had just taken.
…
"Your face is a bit stiff, Misaka."
"Why are you averting your gaze away from me?"
Kamijou and Mikoto exchanged a glance.
"This doesn't look like a pair to me."
"L-let's take another one."
The electronic tone sounded once more.
Kamijou and Mikoto looked at the screen.
"Again, why is your expression so stiff, Misaka!?"
"Why are you shifting your weight away from me!?"
Kamijou and Mikoto glared at each other at such close range that it almost looked like they were about to headbutt each other, but nothing would get done at that rate. In the worst case, their registration would be cancelled without a photo and all their time and effort would end up being for nothing. That would be a problem for Kamijou and Mikoto, but it would also be trouble for the worker.
And so in a bit of desperation, Kamijou said, "Anyway, we just have to take a two shot that makes us look like boyfriend and girlfriend, right!? C'mere, Misaka! Let's get this done!!"
"Eh? What? Kyahh!!"
When Mikoto had an arm suddenly wrapped around her slender shoulders, her face rapidly grew red.
In his high of desperation, Kamijou did not notice at all.
"Smile, Misaka! I don't want to retake this again! We just need something that we can use for the paperwork! There's no real issue here if we don't get fixated over it!!"
"Eh? Y-yeah, that's right. Ah ha ha! We're just faking a photo that looks like that. Yes, it's just a photo! Okay, let's do this!!"
Mikoto wanted to know what he meant by "get fixated over it", but she forced herself into a high regardless. For her, it was less out of desperation and more an attempt to keep him from noticing how red her face was. To match the arm Kamijou had wrapped around her shoulders, Mikoto wrapped an arm around Kamijou's back and moved closer. Passersby looked at the two of them (or rather, at Mikoto) with jealous eyes, but they were in such a high that neither of them noticed.
Kamijou held his cell phone away from them again.
"Here I go!"
"Yes!!"
But before the clear electronic tone could sound…
Shirai Kuroko rapidly approached via teleportation and drop kicked Kamijou Touma in the back of the head.
With a cracking noise, the cell phone left Kamijou's hand, his body flew forward, and the cell phone took a photo an instant too late.
As it lay on the floor, the cell phone displayed an extreme three shot of Kamijou's horribly blurred head, Mikoto shocked face, and Shirai's panties.
Kamijou rolled along the floor and came to a stop.
"Wh-what the hell was that!?"
"Wh-what do you think you are doing behind my back?" asked the pigtailed girl named Shirai Kuroko in a flat voice.
She landed from her drop kick and took up a position right next to Mikoto. Her body language was saying that was her spot.
"After the half day of school, I had odd jobs for Judgment forced onto me by Uiharu. After I finished all that, I headed out to find you, onee-sama, but what I found was Uiharu's violin attack. After that I worked hard to finish the additional work she forced onto me, but then I find this. …Honestly, it was a mistake to take you as nothing but a newcomer slave. It looks like you and onee-sama have been going around having a wonderful time…"
"Wait, make no mistake, Kuroko!" Mikoto waved her hands in front of her. "I'm not doing this because I want to! I only asked him to sign up for a pair contract because I wanted the Gekota strap and we were only taking that photo because we need it for the contract!!"
Her explanation sounded more like it was meant to convince herself than it was to convince Shirai. Either way, Kamijou had still been kicked and forced to go through with the contract.
Then again, he had lost a punishment game.
Meanwhile, Shirai was clearly unable to hide her shock at what Mikoto had said.
"Th-then you did not need to bow your head to this gentleman! You could have just made a pair with me, onee-sama! Now, let us take a photo nice and quick! We can make a lifelong memory right now!!"
Shirai fell into such a high that it looked like she was about to boil over and Mikoto's face twitched, but Kamijou suddenly raised his head from the ground and spoke.
"Eh? In that case, can I go home now?"
"It has to be a pair between a guy and a girl!!"
That honest question caused Mikoto to fire a lightning spear with all her might.