All I want for Christmas...
Index quietly sighed to herself.
It was Christmas Day, Touma had of course made a huge fuss over her on Christmas Eve and made a real effort to get into the spirit of the session... but he wasn't a Christian, he never been brought up in western traditions and try as he might, he was only one man, one strong caring man, but one man none the less.
Christmas was not a time of one man, even if it was celebration of one man who changed the world to something so much better. It was a time of family, it was a time of peace and hope.
Touma was a normal High School Student who lived in Academy City in Japan. Admittedly he had been cursed with misfortune, that resided in his right hand and that was so potent it could negate any supernatural power it touched.. but other than that he was normal.
Also for some reason that that Touma had never really been able to put together logically (maybe misfortune?), he seemed to attract the company of girls, and not any sort of girls either, no he attracted girls like Academy City's Number Three Level Five Misaka 'Railgun' Mikoto (Tomboyish, immature, short temped and way way too keen to use her power) Kanzaki Kaori (a 'Saint' with the enough raw power to pick up a car and a weird habit of appearing before Touma in rather adult cosplay) and Leivinia Birdway (the megalomaniac head of a magical cabal and a seriously immature brat).
Sometime Touma wished he could meet a nice girl who just cuddle up to him and not drag him on a mission to save the world every five minutes... but misfortune followed him everywhere, love life included.
"Hey you spiky haired freak!" Screamed one Misaka Mikoto as she shot electricity in Touma's general direction.
"What was that for Bri Bri!" Touma screamed back as he raised his right hand to protect himself out of reflex. It was a reflex born of countless battles against supernatural forces... which probably wasn't that normal a thing to do come to think of it.
"Well I did shout your name like six times!" Mikoto explained angrily as she stomped towards him. "And call me Misaka Mikoto!"
Touma had a sudden premonition that he was going to be dragged onto some crazy adventure again, either that or be chased around the back streets of the city by a crazed electromaster. However he had a plan to escape this fate!
"Hey Mikoto, your well educated on foreign customs and such right?" He asked quickly. "What you know about Christmas in the West?"
She calmed down a bit and looked thoughtful at his question (as planned).
"It's a much bigger deal over their." She explained. "More so it's typically a lot less about romance and more about family. My dad spent a lot of time in the West because of business and found that asking anyone to work on Christmas Day over there is a pretty tall and cruel order... everyone wants to be with their nearest and dearest."
It had been a semi random question, he already done the card swapping thing with Index (it had made her rather happy, so why not?) but he never realised today was a day when she would want to be with her nearest and dearest (Stiyl and Kanzaki faces came to mind) the most out of the whole year.
"Your asking because that nun aren't you?" Mikoto asked with a concerned expression. "And your thinking about how to make her feel happy despite being so far from home right? That's why you were so zoned out."
The truth was he hadn't, the truth he been thinking about his love life... but now he very much thinking about Index, specifically he now had a image in his head of Index looking at a picture of Stiyl and Kanzaki going 'I wish we could be together at Christmas' with a really sad expression.
"Please please don't make that face!" Mikoto exclaimed. "I'm sure we can make her feel at home if we try!"
"But the people she will want to be with are on the other side of the planet, even your friend can't move us that far!" Touma explained the terrible misfortunate situation.
"But their something we can do!" Mikoto replied. "We can make her Christmas Dinner!"
"Christmas Dinner?" Touma responded. Index stomach was bottomless, but food did tend to please her...
"Some of the ingredients might be tricky to get, but Academy City has a large enough foreigner population that someone must be selling them somewhere!" And with that Mikoto grab Touma by the hand.
"So first thing we need is some Brussels Sprouts!" Mikoto shouted as they raced along the street. She had a slightly red face which was also kind of scary looking, Touma wasn't quiet sure what was going through her head, but he knew the morning would be over soon enough and he needed someone who knew what Christmas Dinner looked like...
"Maybe in that store over there?" Touma suggested as he pointed toward a shop with English words and unfamiliar vegetables in the window.
"Yes of course!" Mikoto shouted as she dragged them towards the store. As they got closer, Touma heard a pair of familiar voices...
"So essentially Brussels are nothing like peas." Explained Furemea Seiverun.
"But they have same coloration, points out Misaka as Misaka points to the very green vegetable." Replied Last Order.
"Nyaa, they taste far more bitter than peas." Furemea pointed out "They are also traditional for Christmas Dinner!"
Touma and Mikoto walked in on the pair of young girls, Furemea seem to be carrying several large mesh bags full of small green vegetables.
"But why buy so many, says Misaka as Misaka asks why Furemea has bought the entire shops supply of Brussels Sprouts?"
"I don't want to run out!" Furemea explained in a defensive tone.
"Such misfortune." Touma said sigh, it was typical of his luck that something like this would happen. Last Order turned in recognition of his voice.
"Oh it's the Touma and Original too, says Misaka as Misaka waves in greeting!" said Last Order as she waved. "What brings you here, has the Original managed to imitated you into another date again, ask Misaka as Misaka makes fun of the Originals seduction methods?"
Mikoto blushed as red as a beetroot.
"This isn't.. isn't a da-date!" She stuttered in response. "I'm helping Touma get Christmas Dinner for his friend Index!"
This caused the two young girls to giggle.
"So essentially she's too shy to admit she want him to be her boyfriend!" Furemea shouted out while pointing at the blushing electromaster, Touma felt a certain heat start to rise in his checks as mutual embarrassment started to kick in.
"The Original has great difficulty in admitting what she likes with anything, explains Misaka as Misaka also shouts and points in a public place!"
Touma looked towards Mikoto and remembered her words "More so it's typically a lot less about romance and more about family.." Furemea blond hair and name were clearly not of Japanese origin, he wasn't sure how long she been in Academy City, but even if she only had vague rose tinted memories, Touma could make her modest dream could true...
"Ok ok girls!" Touma said as he waved the pair of troublemakers towards him. "You seem to overbought and we need some Brussels Sprouts too.. so why don't we all have Christmas Dinner together?"
This caused Furemea some delight.
"Like back in old days before me and Frenda came to Academy City and Christmas Dinner always had loads of familiar faces around!?" She asked in a excited tone.
"Absolutely you can bring all of ITEM and..." He looked towards Last Order. "Why don't you bring Accelerator and WORSE along, we have no lack of vegetables at least!"
"Sure!" The girls shouted in unison (through Last Order added her little third person verbal tick after).
"So what next on the list?" He asked as he turned to Mikoto
"Well a selection of meats on the plate is expected..." She explained with a thoughtful look.
Leivinia Birdway was currently trying to hunt down some Brussels Sprouts. For some reason the normal shop she went to for vegetables from home, had completely run out. It was surprising really, she didn't think their were that many people with a taste for them in the city, but now she was going to have to figure out a suitable replacement for it on Christmas Dinner, and figure out how to break the news to Patricia, who for some reason that Leivinia had never been able to grasp, adored them.
"Least we got the turkey and stuffing." Her assistant Mark Space explained. "Not many turkeys for sale in this city, and were lucky we got one at such short notice."
"Well I was originally planning to be back in England by now, but Necessarius is watching the borders a bit to closely at the moment... so were stuck here till things ease up."
"Well lets go back to Patricia, its getting close to midday and the other vegetables shouldn't be to tricky to get hold of.
"Bah humbug" Leivinia said with sigh. Despite being the boss of a powerful magical cabal, she couldn't make her sister happy at Christmas. Part of her hoped some hero would come along and save her, but she had really upset all of them...
Himegami Aisa was, as expected, all alone on Christmas Day. It wasn't that she was ugly or a unpleasant person to be around, it was just that she tendered to blend into the background and be forgotten... which likely explained why her Christmas Eve had been dateless and her Christmas Day schedule involved watching TV and catching up with some homework.
But as she looked towards the horizon, she saw a group of four figures led by a familiar spiky haired boy... as they came closer and closer, it became clear that he was running towards -her-. She had many dreams where he ran towards her, romantic dreams and sometimes well... other dreams linked to romantic thoughts. But here he was in the flesh, running towards her with all his effort.
"Himegami we doing a big Christmas Dinner for Index and everyone." He explained after catching his breath somewhat. "Your really good with meat, can you bring some and have Christmas Dinner with us?"
It wasn't quiet how it went in her dreams, but the boy was certainly her friend and certainly cared about her.
"Sure, let me pick some stuff up." She simply replied as her heart jumped for joy.
Thanks to Himegami they now had a large selection of meats to go with all the vegetables they had picked up, through Touma was sure there was a large bird that was suppose to go with it all...
"Now we need to find a turkey and it essentially be perfect!" Furemea shouted happily.
So they went turkey hunting. Problem was that it wasn't exactly a common dish in Academy City, and being increasingly close to Christmas Dinner time, those who would have bought turkey, had already bought turkey.
Shop after shop was out of stock, it seemed Touma's quest to make Index's Christmas special was going to fail...
"We will find those Brussels Sprouts!" Screamed a defiant and frustrated sounding Birdway.
Touma looked towards the sound of her voice, and saw her and Mark Space coming out of fruit and vegetable store. They carried a large bag with them (well Mark did), large enough to hold turkey in fact.
"Leivinia." Mark said in a tired voice. "I know its not easy for you, but were going to have to admit defeat, there's none left in the city, we will just have to improvise."
"But there her favourite and its Christmas!" Birdway screamed in a clearly frustrated tone.
She wasn't his favourite person, she hurt him and hurt him bad. She had used and abused him and was trying to take over the world.
"Birdway!" Touma shouted. "Why don't you and nearest and dearest join us for Christmas Dinner?"
She looked at him with disbelieving eyes and she looked close to tears.
"We've had trouble tracking down the turkey." Touma explained. "But as you can see we've got no lack of Brussels Sprouts."
On cue Furemea held up one of the large mesh bags full of the small green vegetables.
Birdway looked at Touma, then the bag and then Touma again. There was a few moments of awkward silence... then she charged at him!
"Stupid stupid stupid!" She shouted as she pounded on his chest with her small fists. "After everything I done to you, your being kind to me! Don't you learn, do you like being abused, do you like being hurt?!"
"No." Touma replied. "But I'm not the sort of man who walk away from someone in pain, I'm not the sort of person who will walk on by when another soul suffers. So you done bad things, I don't care a dam. If I started asking myself if I should save a person based on what that's person has done, I spend more time thinking, then saving people... and that mean that there be people suffering because my inaction. So maybe I get used, maybe I get things wrong, but I rather be the man who got things wrong while trying to do right, than the man who did wrong by doing nothing.. that's the kind of man I am!"
She stopped pounding on his chest with her fists, she looked up at him, there was a rare glint of innocence in her eyes, and a look of hope. Then much to Touma surprise (and he suspected everyone else's, perhaps even Birdway herself) She jumped up, grab the back of his neck with her hands and snogged him senseless!
"Such misfortune!" Touma shouted after he finally managed to pry Birdway of him.
Index looked at the clock, it was getting pretty far into afternoon. Index hadn't expected Touma would do anything really special for Christmas Dinner, but she thought she be eating something nice by 2 o'clock at least.
"Touma Touma Touma... were are you?" She sighed.
It was Christmas, a time for family, and all Index had with her, was Sphinx, her ever loyal kitten. She felt so down, so felt so miserable, She wanted her Touma, even if was just to bite his spiky head! She also wanted Stiyl and Kanzaki close by, she wanted to pull crackers, and share bad jokes with them... but she didn't even have Touma.
Then she heard a large amount of noise coming from outside the door.
"Hum?" Index muttered as she walked slowly toward the door. "What is all that racket?"
Then the door was pushed open and before her stood Touma, who was far from alone, in fact he had small mob with him of familiar faces, including much to her surprise Birdway's, but also Tsuchimikado Motoharu and Maika, Short Hair, Short Hairs friend with the pigtails, Accelerator, Furemea, Komoe and whole big bunch of other people, most who seemed to be carrying food of some description, but there were also crackers and other festive things!
"Forgive me for being late, but were taking you to Christmas Dinner!" Touma shouted proudly.
It was late now, but the look on Index's face when he had told her she was going to have Christmas Dinner had been priceless. It surprised him how much people had been willing to pull together for sake of others. Mugino had managed to get a room for the dinner, Touma was sure she was doing it mostly for Furemea, but because they had that room, it meant Maika had somewhere where she could cook and everyone could eat.
Hatchets had been buried too. If only for one day Mikoto and Accelerator had made a effort to get along, through Touma got nervous every time Last Order wasn't in the room. Birdway had gone rather shy on him after that unexpected show of affection, but it was clear that she had enjoyed having all the people around her... and even more obvious that she had been glad that her sister was happy.
But now Touma was trying to get to sleep in the bath, while Index slumbered in his bed as per normal. He was starting to drift off when he heard a knocking at the door.
"Touma?" Index said softly through the door. "Are you still awake?"
"Just." Touma replied. "What is it?"
Index didn't instantly reply in words, instead she pushed open the door and walked into the room and with a soft thoughtful expression on her face, then wandered over to the bath and leaned down before speaking.
"Touma." Index said simply. "Touma, Touma, Touma."
"Index..." Touma muttered tiredly. "What are you doing in here?"
"I stole your bed, you always feed me, you always protect me..." Index spoke softly as her small hand went under Touma's blanket and reached for his hand...he felt a blush cross his face.
"Index, I'm just in my boxers under here.." Touma said with deep worry.
"And?" Index replied with a hint of mischief. " Maybe I don't mind seeing you like that."
She pulled him out of the bath, and Touma blush increased in size dramatically.
"Your a girl and..." He stuttered out as she dragged him out of the bathroom and towards the bedroom. "Index what are you doing!"
Touma shouted as pushed him onto the bed and pounced on top of him.
"Showing my appreciation." Index whispered as she snuggled her head between his neck and shoulder. "So try and relax a bit."
Index seem to be content to lay there a while, and talk instead of going further, through the heat in Touma's checks wasn't going to go away any time soon.
"This is so typically you." She continued in a gentle and mischievous voice. "Touma, a boy who rescues all the girls from great danger. Touma who saves everyone... even the bad people from themselves. Touma who suffers so much, but always has time to ease someone else's suffering."
"Index..." Touma muttered as he hugged her tight.
"Don't think I don't pay attention, don't think I don't notice." Index whisper softly, the mischief being replaced being replaced by a sincere affection. " You lost all those memories, you had no idea who you were... but you fought for those in need anyway, you stood for justice, kindness and fairness in a world were it seems half the people that claim to do so just create more suffering..."
She paused and Touma felt a soft pair of lips kiss his cheek softly.
"I know sometimes I get really jealous and bite you on the head." Index whispered. "But I'm going to be brave and tell you that I love you, I love everything from the sound of your name to the smile on those little girls face's when you brought the true spirit of Christmas to there life's."
Then she leaned back and her expression was a soft one, but a desire burned in her eyes, and she was waiting.. waiting for Touma to reply.
Touma looked at Index, often she was aggressive, often she was moody and she was always hungry. Maybe it was all the time she spent on the run, but she always seemed to want reach out to people, to be there friend, to help them out. And while yes she was aggressive, there was also a softer more gentle side underneath and a trust in her eyes that was so strong...
"Index." Touma said softly as he reach forwards with his hand and caressed her check, she blushed at the motion. "I wanted to bring Christmas to you, I wanted to make you happy when you so far from your loved ones. Then I found a few other people who seemed to be having a hard time and thought, well why not invite them too? If that's the true spirit of Christmas, then I guess I found it."
Index smiled very brightly.
"And I guess when it all gets down to it..." Touma said as he pull her face towards her own. " I can't think of my life without you, I get dragged all over the place, but I always want to come back to you..."
Index got his message, she understood her words...
"I love you too Index." And with that, Touma and Index shared there first kiss.