The Gate Beyond Gates

Opening of the First Gate

School District 7, Underground Shopping Center
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"Haah, at this rate, I'm gonna go broke!"

History aside, the underground shopping center of district 7 is a lively and bright place. People from all over the city come here for various tasks. Department stores, game arcades, karaoke boxes, and even live houses, there is at least something to attract people of all ages. It is a large place and even has a train station.
Being a shopping center, and underground, there are lots of lights. From store decorations to street lights. It is so well lit that people won't be able to tell day and night apart without looking at the time.

But, even with all the lights, there was one particular boy who looked like he was covered in darkness. With an expression similar to that of a tired rabbit, the spiky haired boy sat on a bench and was looking at his wallet over and over again.

"I... *sigh*...I even missed the discount hour on the meat."

The worn-out wallet made of some kind of fabric was occupied by a couple of notes and a few coins. This was probably the boy's last remaining possession of money for this month.

While he continued to sigh and curse his bad luck, he caught the attention of a few visitors.

"Oh, would you look at that, if it isn't Kamijou-san!"

A blonde girl with starry eyes greeted him, looking as bright as the artificial lights of the shopping center. She was well endowed, very well indeed.

"W-what are you doing here?!"

Another girl of similar age and height, not so well endowed, was standing beside her, with a hint of blush on her cheeks. She also greeted the boy, albeit in a weird way.
Both of them were wearing the same dress, or rather, uniform. Although the blonde girl was wearing a pair of hand gloves, too.

"Ah, biribiri and, Shokuhou-san, was it? What are you guys doing here?"

"We were just looking to buy some stuff. What about you?"

The girls were none other than the two aces of Tokiwadai. They also were the #3 and #4 level 5 of Academy City, Mikoto Misaka, and Misaki Shokuhou.

"Well, I was hoping to buy some ingredients for dinner. But my luck! Anyways, it's pretty rare to see you two together."

"Is that so? Well, you'd be surprised. We get along very well, actually. Right, biribiri-san?"

"H-hey, don't you go calling me that!"

"Oh? But Kamijou-san was calling you that?"

"That's because he is an idiot! Anyway, you don't get to call me that!"

"Hmm? I see. So that's how it is, I see."

"W-what?"

"No. Nothing."

"What do you mean nothing?! That's why I-"

"W-well, let's calm down, shall we? Remember, we're in the shopping center, right?"

The boy tried his best to calm the situation. He already has plenty of worries on his plate to handle. Adding an angry biribiri there wouldn't be the best of choices. He still hasn't even managed to achieve the primary goal of his visit to the underground shopping center. That is, to buy some meats. He even missed the lucky sale of 40 percent. He doesn't even have enough money to buy them on retail price at the moment.

So he decided to postpone buying meats till the next sale. He'll probably manage to add some extra cash then, as well.
But the real problem is, how he would explain this to the ever hungry Index-san. Just thinking about her reaction watching him return empty handed after promising to feed her some meat is enough to send shivers down his spines.