A/N I'm really sorry this one is so late. I had to restart as my initial idea could be better when I finish catching up with the light novels. Uni started up this week as well so yey, more lecture zoom calls! sigh, the sooner we get back into lecture halls, the better. I also wanted to get a few chapters ahead so that if I'm not able to write one week, I can still upload a chapter meaning chapters 2 and 3 have already been written, they just need to be proof read. I can still edit them as well for any feedback I get from this chapter. Enjoy.
"Damn, I hate these. Why do we have to get them again?"
Ruiko Saten was standing next to Kazari Uiharu in the middle of the airport in school district 23, complaining about the tracking chips they just had put into their shoulders about ten minutes ago.
"It's so we don't get kidnapped, Saten. We were told this. Weren't you listening?" Uiharu replied.
"I couldn't help it. Your panties were too distracting. I like those polka dot ones by the way."
"Why were you looking?!" screamed Uiharu enraged by Saten's antics.
The two continued to bicker whilst Touma and Misaka checked in their luggage. The two couples were on their way to Paris for a weeklong holiday. Misaka and Touma had been talking about it for a while and when Misaka had overheard Saten talking about how she'd love to go to Paris at some point, Misaka had asked if they wanted to join them. It took a little convincing from Touma and Misaka but after the electromaster offered to pay for them, the two accepted her offer. Shirai had also been offered but Komaki was having none of it as the pile of work at the Third Judgement Branch had been getting larger by the day and she was getting sick of Shirai avoiding it.
When Touma and Misaka returned, the group started to make their way through airport security and towards the waiting lounge. Touma ended up setting off the metal detector and having his bag searched whilst the girls could do nothing but laugh as his rotten luck decided he was having too good of a day. After making it to the departure lounge, the four teens had to wait for another hour and a half before the flight and so decided to discuss the trip and what they would be doing.
"First, we need to meet up with my parents. They should already be there, and they'll meet us at the airport. Then, we'll drop off all our stuff at the hotel and go for a little sightseeing. Sound good?" explained Touma.
"There's the Paris Summer Arts Festival every day so we might as well check that out first. Apparently, it's just a ton of different acts and stuff throughout the streets. And most of it is free as well" suggested Misaka.
"And there's also all the regular sights like the Eifel tower and stuff so we should make time to see those at some point during the week." continued Touma.
They continued to talk about their trip for the next hour until their flight was called. They were clearly excited for the week, especially Saten and Uiharu who hadn't been given the chance to travel outside of Japan like this before. Both of them had massive grins on their faces throughout the entire day, excited to be travelling to foreign lands. Touma and Misaka were happy for another reason. They could finally go abroad and not have to deal with sorcerers or some end of the world event. They could just enjoy themselves for once.
They got onto the plane and took their seats with Saten making sure she got a window seat and Touma being the unlucky one and having to sit on his own. The flight was 12 hours long and so most of it was spent sleeping with Uiharu using Saten's shoulder as a pillow. Misaka thought they looked adorable like that and took several pictures. She then got out a marker pen and was about to take revenge on Saten for an incident a few months back when she fell asleep at her dorm one night. She had woken up to cat whiskers and a love heart on each cheek with Touma's name written on it.
Her revenge was cut short though when Touma plucked the pen from her grip.
"Oh, come on. This is the perfect time for my revenge." whispered Misaka.
"I never thought an ex-Tokiwadai student, much less their 'ace' could be so childish." retorted Touma. He started moving back to his seat so he could try to sleep a little, not that he was expecting to get much. He was sat next to a girl about his age with long, bright red hair. She was well-built and extremely intimidating but still attractive. However, there were two problems. One, he had a girlfriend that was two rows behind him and when she saw who was sitting next to him, she was giving him warning glares whenever he looked back. And two, the girl was snoring louder than one of Academy City's fighter jets. He was surprised she wasn't keeping anyone else awake.
When they touched down in France, it was three o'clock and Touma wanted to get to a bed as soon as humanly possible, but he knew he wouldn't get that opportunity as the three girls in front of him were well-rested and excited to start exploring the city. The only thing he could do was recite his usual catchphrase.
"Rotten Luck."
They made their way through customs and to the arrival lounge where Touma's parents were nowhere to be seen.
"Huh? I don't see them anywhere. Could they be late?" asked Misaka.
"I told them we were meant to arrive at three, so they should be here. I hope nothing happened."
Touma pulled out his phone to call them but he couldn't get through to them so he sent them a quick text asking them where they were. Whilst they waited for a reply, they decided to get a drink and something to eat at a nearby café. After getting a seat, they all told Misaka what they wanted. She was the only one there who could speak French, so she had to order. They had a feeling this may end up being a common theme throughout this trip.
Whilst they were waiting, Touma got an answer. It turned out, they had gone to Orly whilst they were in Charles de Gaulle, an airport an hour away from them.
"So, Kamijou. What are your parents like?" asked Saten.
"You can just call me Touma, Saten. You too, Uiharu. You are meeting my parents today so it would just get confusing if you had to refer to all of us as Kamijou."
"Oh, okay. Sure, no problem. Can we call Misaka 'Mikoto' since she will be a Kamijou one day as well?" Saten knew it was a bit rude to ask but she saw an opportunity to tease Misaka and there was no way she was going to let it pass.
For her part, Misaka spat out her drink in surprise. Of course, with Touma Kamijou at the table, there was only one place that drink was going. Misaka didn't seem to realise the fate of her drink and decided to go on the offensive. She wasn't going to let that one slide.
"Does that mean I can call you two 'Ruiko' and 'Kazari' seeing as you two will both be Satens one day?" Both Saten and Uiharu had the same reaction as Misaka and before he could even wipe one drink off, Touma had two more spat on his face.
"Rotten Luck."
"Whoops. Sorry, Kamijou. I mean Touma." Apologised Saten.
Misaka meanwhile having just noticed what had happened was trying and failing to hold in her laughter.
Eventually, both of Kamijous parents arrived at the airport, the correct one this time, and they introduced themselves to the two new girls that they hadn't met.
"Hey Touma. Sorry we're late. I was sure you said Orly." explained Touya.
"How? I texted it to you."
"Well, you see. I don't actually have that text anymore. So, I had to just go by memory." said Touya innocently.
"You don't have it anymore? What happened to it?"
"I may have accidentally deleted it."
"How do you manage to 'accidentally' delete a text?"
"I have no idea."
Touma sighed and turned to the girls.
"This is Ruiko Saten and Kazari Uiharu, friends of Mikoto." Explained Touma.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Touya Kamijou, Touma's father. This is my wife, Shiina."
"Pleased to meet you Mr and Mrs Kamijou."
"Oh, please just Touya and Shiina is fine. It would get a bit confusing if you had to keep calling us Kamijou."
The four of them bowed to each other in greeting before heading towards the exit. When they got to the airport car pack, Misaka froze.
"Wait, you rented a car? In Paris?"
"Yes. Is that a problem? We thought it would be a good idea so we can go wherever we want, when we want." replied Touya.
"Have you ever tried to drive in Paris? It's hell."
"It's not that bad. We got here just fine."
"You must have gotten really lucky. We've got Touma now. There's no way that luck will last."
The car itself wasn't a good choice either. It was a small French car that could barely fit the six people that were present. The front two seats were occupied by Touma's parents and the four students were stuffed into the back. Or at least they tried to. When getting into the car, Misaka and Uiharu tried to sit in the middle with Touma next to Misaka and Saten next to Uiharu but when they tried to close the door, Touma's shoulder was in the way, not fitting into the car. And so Touya kept slamming the door into his son's shoulder over and over again. Eventually they decided to give up and they managed to stuff Touma into the boot with the suitcases much to his protests.
For the next hour and a half, the car was filled with screaming as Touya attempted to navigate the chaotic traffic in Paris. The other drivers on the road acted like they planned to kill them, speeding at ridiculous speeds, cutting across them and generally driving like lunatics. The car also spent twenty minutes trying to escape a roundabout but kept getting cut off by other drivers joining at the worst possible time. Eventually they arrived at the hotel they were staying at and all of them could finally stop screaming.
"We're alive. We actually managed to survive. How?" Saten asked, surprised that they hadn't ended up as a burning wreck in the middle of the road.
"Ha ha. Well would you look at that. We're here. Who could have guessed traffic in Paris could be so crazy?" asked Touya.
"Me. I could have guessed. And I did!" replied Misaka.
"Are we there yet!" screamed a voice from the boot. "If so, then let me out of here!"
Everyone got out of the car and as soon as Touya opened the boot door, Touma sprang out wrapping his fingers round his dad's throat and started strangling him.
"What the hell was that! Are you trying to kill me?!"
It took all four of the girls nearly three minutes to get Touma to stop trying to kill Touya. When they did, they decided it might be a good idea to keep them separate for now. They made their way into the hotel to check in and made their way to their rooms. There were three rooms, each of them with a single double bed in them. Touya and Shiina had tried to object when they found out about the double beds but their arguments were cut short when they realised that they'd just try to squeeze into a single bed anyway so they figured it would be best just to let them have double beds.
By the time they had finished unpacking, the sun had started to go down and as the light from the sky started to fade and the lights from the festival started to overtake it, the group made their way out of the hotel and towards the stalls and the music.
The man watched the group as they made their way towards the stalls and music. Any of the four from Academy City would do, he just needed an esper. He didn't want to have to kidnap children, but they were his orders and even with all of his talents, he wouldn't be able to escape the boss, no matter what he tried. And so, he followed them into the crowd, waiting for his chance.
A/N And there we have it. What worked? What didn't? Any and all constructive criticism is fully appreciated. Next chapter introduces some OCs and I have had so much fun writing them so I hope you guys like them. I'm also thinking of moving all of my one-shots into one story so I can just update that story instead of making a new one each time. Should I just add them all to my first one-shot? Or should I create a new story with all the one shots so that I can keep all the feedback I get in them? As for this one. I may make this a multi arc story but I'd be taking each arc one at a time so that I can come up with stories for each arc and I'll need to have a proper overall story as well. But I'll get to that when I get to that. I hope everyone has a good week and I'll talk to yous next week. Take care.