Toaru Majutsu no Index SS

Volume 2, Chapter 17: B Movies and Unpolished Gemstones. The First Friday of October.

Due to various circumstances, Hamazura Shiage had quit Skill-Out and begun doing subordinate work for a small organization from the dark side of Academy City known as ITEM. ITEM had only four members, but those four were powerful enough that they received a large budget that came from somewhere or other.

This story begins with a request from Kinuhata Saiai, a girl of about twelve who was a member of that mysterious organization.

“Hamazura, Hamazura. Can you get me an ID super fast?”

“It may have been temporary, but I once led a Skill-Out group of over 100 people. Why are you giving me odd jobs like that?”

“Quit complaining. I super need an ID.”

“Damn it. So you’re asking me to make one? I suppose it depends on the kind you want. I can get you an IC card right away, but a passport will take some time.”

Hamazura was quite an outlaw, and he didn’t deny that he could do it.

Kinuhata waved her small hands quickly.

“I don’t need something as super elaborate as that. I just need to fake my age, so I’m super okay with a student ID from some high school.”

“??? What kind of job do you need that for?”

“It’s an extremely super important mission,” Kinuhata responded to Hamazura’s simple question. “I super need to see a movie rated R18 that’s opening this week!!”

And that was how the first job of Hamazura’s second life was decided.

Kinuhata Saiai’s hobby was watching movies.

The term “movies” could refer to a large number of genres and ranks, but she was a movie enthusiast who was drawn in by very obscure ones. If you told someone the title of the movies she watched, their reaction wouldn’t even be “Never heard of it”; it would be “What?”.

“...Is there really a movie theater here?”

“We’re only going to a B movie this time. This place is super good for B movies. If you wanted to go to a C movie, you’d super have to go even deeper.”

“Uehh...” Hamazura groaned.

They moved from the main road into a back lane, then into an even smaller path that branched off, and they continued on and on down narrower and narrower paths until they reached a place that seemed like no more than a small gap. There, they found a building that looked like it was being crushed by all the multi-tenant buildings above it.

The theater was in an area so thick with buildings that it would be hard to check on that place with a satellite. It seemed to be Kinuhata Saiai’s secret spot. Of course, since it was a theater for specialty films, it only showed minor films that you couldn’t catch somewhere else if you missed it. It held an aura that just told amateurs to go to sleep.

Kinuhata put her hands on her hips and snorted in excitement.

“You did get the ID for me, but I wanted something else to reinforce my appearance. If two people with IDs buy a ticket at once, it’ll super trick the lady selling the tickets.”

And so, the two of them managed to make it past the cautious gaze of the ticket seller who seemed like a bookworm of a librarian, and entered the theater building. They walked down a dirty Western-style hallway that felt right out of a horror game, and opened the double doors to the actual theater.

The building itself was small, but the theater was even smaller; it was like a slightly bigger school AV room, and the multi-level seats reminded Hamazura of the university lecture rooms he'd occasionally see on TV.

But something else caught his attention.

“...Hey. I thought you said this was the only place in Japan you could see this movie. So, why is there no one here fifteen minutes before it starts?”

“Ahhn☆”

Hamazura looked over in shock after hearing a heavy breath in response to his question. He saw Kinuhata Saiai looking like she was about to faint with her folded hands on her cheek.

“I’m the first guest at an exclusive screening. That means I’m the only one that understands how super wonderful this film is!! Yes, yes, I know it’s only a delusion, but right now, what the director is trying to get across super only belongs to meeeeee!!”

While the idiot went off in an odd direction on her own, Hamazura went to buy some popcorn. When he returned to the seats right in the middle of the theater, Kinuhata laughed scornfully at the popcorn.

“Hah. Caramel popcorn will make you super thirsty, so it’s a horrible choice for the theater. You super don’t understand, do you, Hamazura?”

“Then quit reaching over and munching on it even more than I am. Here, I got a drink, too.”

“Oh, is that supposed to be a counter-measure for the thirst? A drink, especially a large carbonated one like that, will just make you need to use the bathroom during the movie. Hamazura, in the end, you’re just super Hamazura-y.”

“I don’t want to hear that from a girl who took the drink from me and is now swinging her feet around under the seat.”

Eventually, the theater’s lights lowered. A commonplace electronic buzzer sounded, and the screen lit up. Usually, the first ten minutes would drag on with all the previews from the distribution company, but here, the movie started right away. Apparently, they weren’t even able to introduce other films.

It was the golden age of CG, yet the caption for the title looked like it had been cut out with scissors and directly placed on the film. Hamazura decided to ask a simple question.

“Hey.”

“What is it that requires interrupting the super greatest moment of my life, Hamazura?”

“...We’re only thirty seconds in, and there are a whole bunch of youthful zombies who've only had their faces made blue with make-up. How am I supposed to react to that?”

“You super don’t know how to enjoy a B movie, do you?

“Normally, talking during a movie is strictly prohibited, but whatever,” started Kinuhata as she munched on the popcorn Hamazura had bought. “It’s expected for a B movie to not look so good; it’s a film people super desperately made with no money or personnel. It isn’t going to look polished without a lot put into it.”

“Then what are we doing in these tiny economy class-like seats in this small theater? We should just go to a huge theater and watch a huge hit from Hollywood.”

“Really? The huge hits may break records again and again, but finding a shining treasure of a B or C movie sticks with you more. It may seem stupid at first, but before you know it, you’re super enjoying it.”

“Sigh. I just don’t get it.”

Hamazura decided that it was no use asking someone who was enjoying something from the start what was so good about it. It was like having the appeal of a band you had no interest in explained to you at length.

So a surprisingly good B or C movie shines more than a shitty blockbuster, huh?

He felt like the same could be said for them.

Some people in the world had all sorts of abilities, but how many people were actually given a situation to display those abilities? How many people had undisplayed abilities that were hidden because they lacked a large budget, an excellent staff, or the proper facilities and equipment?

It had been determined that Hamazura Shiage was a Level 0, but it was possible that was just due to a problem in how the teachers had tried to bring out his ability. If Kinuhata Saiai went somewhere with more sunshine, perhaps her power would display itself in a healthier way. There were only seven Level 5s in Academy City, but was that really all? Perhaps in the large world stretching out beyond Academy City, there were people that possessed the qualities to become an eighth or a ninth, but no one knew it and they ended up selling flowers by the roadside.

Thinking like that, maybe the magnum-toting police officer shooting the blue zombies displayed on the screen of that tiny theater was a challenge to that unfair world. Maybe the message was, “Fate may have kept me from fully displaying my ability, but I’m still going to enjoy my life more than anyone else in the world.”

“...”

The information on the screen became a moving scene inside Hamazura.

Once he had started letting those emotions enter him, he felt that the way he viewed the film changed. He wasn’t feeling sympathy, but an odd sense of understanding. He couldn’t say that it was a good film, but he felt like he could expect it to get good. It was a mysterious feeling that wasn’t really trust and wasn’t really uplifting. It was a continuous feeling that made him want to search out this director’s work.

This must be what Kinuhata is so drawn to.

Hamazura casually looked to the side. Kinuhata didn’t notice his gaze while her face was covered in the reflected light from the screen. As she focused on the screen, her expression was one that could be seen as a type of earnestness.

Then, she suddenly opened her mouth.

“Ahh. This is super boring.”

Hamazura Shiage fell out of his seat, scattering caramel popcorn everywhere.

“Heeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyy!! You had me fake an ID and come with you to this minor movie!! You’re the one that was going on excitedly about how much you love movies, so can’t you at least look like you’re enjoying yourself!?”

“This is weird. When I read the pamphlet, it sounded super good, but about ten minutes in, I lost interest. I guess movies really are something you have to see before you can tell how good they are. Very deep, very deep...”

“Wait a second. Then what was that feeling of understanding B movies and sense of identifying with the movie that was growing within me!?”

“What? What kind of understanding could you get from a super crappy movie like this? I at least know you definitely can’t learn how to enjoy B movies here.”

“...!?”

After having his question dodged, the door to Hamazura Shiage’s heart slammed shut for the movie. As if to kick him while he was down, Kinuhata continued to speak while yawning.

“Yawwwn... Ah, the heroine is super definitely going to die in twenty minutes; the staff's been giving all sorts of signs that they want to just kill her off.”

“Have you already cut off all empathy for her!? I-I say she won’t die!! The heroine will survive this zombie hell and see the morning sun with the protagonist!!”

“Then let’s make this a super bet. I wager a pack of gum she dies.”

“She won’t die!! After all, a brave heroine that doesn’t speak much like that matches my tastes perfectly!!”

As he spoke, a portion of the screen turned crimson as she was eaten. Instead of dying instantly, her skin turned paler and paler.

Hamazura buried his head in his hands, and Kinuhata Saiai’s unmotivated voice rang out through the theater.

“I super got some gum!”

When going to a movie, go with someone who won’t give up on it halfway through.