A Rare Day Off

Chapter 3: Shall We Dine?

Standard Disclaimer applies: Not my characters, not my Anime. Purely a work of fanfiction, I don't own these characters.

This was my first try at writing a FanFic. This will touch upon the traumas of the past for Index and RailGun, but should be safe for most people to read, so no real warnings there.

FYI, [Things in brackets like these are author notes]

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"C'mon, let's go eat!" said Misaka as she got up from her knees. She stretched out her hand to Index to help her up from the bench.

"Is it ok for me to reach out to you or touch you, Index-san? I've never dealt up close with a Nun before, so I don't want to cause offense," asked Misaka.

"Treat me like you would any other person, please. I can explain more once we are a little more private. And please, just call me 'Index'".

"And please call me Misaka. Ah, here we are. I hope you like this restaurant!"

The two girls entered the Shabu Shabu restaurant where they were greeted by the wonderful scent of cooking foods coming from the different tables and rooms. They were taken to a private room at the back of the restaurant, at Misaka's request, where she confided in the manager that Index had quite an appetite for such a petite person and to be prepared to bring a larger than usual quantity of food for the two of them.

[If you've never had Shabu Shabu, you don't know what you are missing]

A large pot of steaming broth was brought and set on the burner on the table between the two. Large platters of thinly sliced different cuts of beef and pork, several varieties of mushrooms, cabbages leaves, sprouts, etc. were placed on the table, along with steamed rice, glasses of water and two pots of tea. A small bell was placed on the table to be rung if any refills were required.

Misaka thought Index's eyes were going to bulge out of her head at the sight of the feast. She literally looked stunned.

Both of them clasped their hands and said, "Itadakimasu" and for poor, starving Index, her feast began. They each selected the meats and veggies they wished to enjoy and placed them in the pot for a few moments to cook. Then, dipping them in Ponzu sauce savored every bite.

"So good!" exclaimed Index as she ate. Her chopsticks were almost a blur of action, cooking, dipping eating then repeating.

Misaka, while hungry, was stunned at the sheer volume of food that the petite Nun was able to put away in such a short amount of time. She realized that, if anything, Kamijou had been understating her hunger.

After the first twenty minutes, the feeding frenzy slowed down to a much more normal pace and Misaka and Index were able to resume their conversation. Naturally it began with...

"Index, you are obviously not a student here, how did you meet Kamijou? Are you related?"

Index looked really nervous and couldn't, or wouldn't, meet Misaka's eyes. She actually stopped eating. There was an uncomfortable silence.

Then, in a small voice, Index almost whispered, "Touma said I'm not supposed to talk about that. It's not safe. But I know you know about magic and have helped Touma in the past. I looked in your eyes earlier. You have a good soul, but it has seen so much evil..." And her voice trailed off.

Misaka sat stunned, her eyes open wide. "What has he told you about me?"

"Nothing," replied Index, "Only that he wishes that he could bring back the smile to your face again that he has seen in the past. I know something happened. Something horrible. Something so horrible that it disturbed his sleep for days, but he never talked of it."