Esther Rosenthal
Today had been so much fun. Or at least, that's the current thought of one Esther Rosenthal. Who had just left a certain apartment where she had hung around with her master and his girlfriend.
'Girlfriend huh.' For a moment, the girl stopped for a second as he mind wandered to the silver haired girl. She wasn't sure why, but she felt off when she hung around her master. A confusing feeling. Perhaps she was sick.
"Boys, look at the babe over there, huh." Sighing, Esther could feel a headache upon hearing the giggles and chuckles of the local delinquents that have come near her. When 2.3 million of the population is just students, it's only natural that there would be numerous jerks and ditchers here. This city sure had a lot of them.
Esther continued walking ignoring the lecherous gazes and calls at her. Not knowing why they even bothered, a part of her also wishing she had Huotou with her. To bad her master had told her not to bring her until she had proper clothes on. Strange, what was wrong with the cloak she gave her.
"Hey babe, we are talking to you." One of the delinquents then said having gotten upset at being ignored. He then grabbed her shoulder and made her face him. "You gonna keep ignoring us, or we gotta-Guh!"
A bit tired from dealing with them, Esther then decided to pick up a tactic her master once told her to use on persistent men. A good kick between the legs. He said it's very effective, and effective it is. The man who tried grabbing her falling onto the ground painfully holding his hurt spot.
"Sorry, but I have to go." She then said leaving the baffled men, quickly entering an alley. A few seconds later, angered expressions came on the rest and decided to teach that girl a lesson. They instantly tried to follow her to take their unjustified revenge, entering the alley.
"What the!" Only to find nobody there at all. The girl had just vanished. They entered inside to see where she went. None of them aware that Esther had used a magic talisman to allow her limited invisibility for a short while, and left them behind. While her powers resolved around mainly necromancy, that didn't mean she didn't know a few other tricks. Master always did teach her to be prepared.
"In fact." Esther then realized with a small smile on her face. "Maybe I can get him a gift." Her master has done so much for her, so it's only fair she did something nice for him. The only question she was left is what exactly should she get him. Because knowing master, the only thing he seemed to like is silence and black coffee.
"Hm. Maybe I should ask one of his friends." Her master may not admit it, but Esther knew well enough he indeed has friends. He just happened to be shy to say it. How cute. 'Oh, better not say that to his face though.' She then thought knowing master isn't the type to hold back, even against girls.
In any case, if she wanted to find a gift for her master, then she should meet up with someone close to him. But who exactly should she talk to. Last Order perhaps, as she is the closest to him, though she would probably blab her surprise gift to him by accident, so that's a no. Worst? Even worse-no pun intended. His girlfriend?
"..." ...No?
Sighing, she then tried to review which people she knew were his friends. The girl called third rate, Index, Saten, those people called the Level fives, and some other names she heard but has never met them before. Uh, she actually didn't know much about them, let aside knew who they were or where they are. Such misfortune.
"Oh!" Esther then said in realization, recalling someone who used that phrase. What was he called again, 'Hero'? No, it was 'Savior'. Double no. Uh, concentrating a bit, Esther soon remembered that the person she is thinking of is one of masters bestest friends. Kamijou Touma. A guy who beat up other men, is brave, hung out with a lot of women and saved the day with his-as her master says, 'Bullshit right hand'. Or something along those lines.
"Yes, he's perfect." Surely someone like him would know what her master would like as a gift. She knew for a fact that they sometimes hung out as best buddies. Last Order commenting they were besties, with Worst saying they were closer than that. Saying they were in a BL relationship of the sorts. Master got mad at that, but he never explained why.
Either way, Esther now knew who to search for. Best part of all, she also had a good guess where he could be. According to her master, if she ever wanted to find 'that idiot', all she had to do was one thing.
Hear the screams of a boy being chased by thugs while yelling, "Such mistfortuuuuunnnnneee!"
Meanwhile, while Esther was doing that, Touya is currently reading a nice book about a person exploring cyberspace. A grown man he may be, but reading fun stories was nice now and then, especially with all the work he had to do recently. Uh, paperwork. The bane of all grown-ups. Whoever created such a thing must have been pure evil.
'On the bright side, at least I finished dealing with that batch.' Who knew making a deal with Academy City could be so stressful. That isn't even mentioning the number of times he ran into delinquents. Seriously, this city had a problem with them. Were it not for the fact that he had Sara to help deal with them, then he'd probably have been beaten up by now.
'I feel sorry for the parents.' Touya thought thinking of those delinquents. To think so many turned to a life of crime. It made him wonder how they turned out this way, certain circumstances caused them to be like this. Guess even if Academy City is the most advanced place in the world, it didn't stop any form of crime at all. With schools always having bullies. So one can say Academy City had similarities to other cities after all.
Either way, Touya decided to resume his reading while eating a nice muffin from the open cafe he's at. Sara happened to be at school, and Touya had free time so he figured to read a nice book. Maybe call Shinna later, as he noticed her tone sounded rather angry. Strange since she only used that tone when he happened to talk to, well, other woman.
Before he could ponder that meaning any further, he then heard a voice calling out to him. "Ah, Kamijou Touma if I'm correct. A pleasure to meet you!"
Looks like somebody else mistook his identity, again.
'I know Touma and I look alike in some ways, but come on.' He was taller, had grown en's clothing, and his hair wasn't spikey at all. You'd think people would realize that by now. Turning around, he then met whoever happened to be talking to him. Where he met a foreigner - or someone not from the city - like him.
A rather well-endowed girl with blonde hair and green eyes. She has a mole under her left eye while sporting a black cloak over a sleeveless white blouse, which is open on the back, with a red skirt under a large belt. She wears two black ribbons on her temples. Her forearms are covered in bandages and she wears gloves. She wears black thigh-high socks, her legs have leather straps, and her ankles are bound with metal rings.
'Eh, not the strangest dressed person I've seen.' A certain nun or woman who showed her midriff came to mind. "Sorry miss, but I'm not the person your searching for." Best to tell her that he isn't Touma.
"Eh, you aren't." Esther said rather disappointingly. "B-but you look almost like him."
"I know, people say that all the time." Many people popped up in his mind when he said that. "Unfortunately your thinking of my son."
"Oh." Esther said now realizing she had the wrong person. She should have known, after all, this person doesn't even have spiky hair. What blunder. "I'm sorry. And here I thought I found masters BL friend."
"Kuku-ka!" Touya instantly choked on his muffin. BL!
Don't tell him...that his son was finding interest on the other side!?
'N-Now Touya, calm down for a second.' Touya tried as he took a nice sip. 'I'm sure this is all just a misunderstanding. I mean, kids always make up different acronyms for letters. BL could mean anything. Like..uh..Balloon...Lovers…?'
Sadly, any hope he had went away when Esther pulled out her phone and tapped on it.
"See, look." She then showed Touya a picture she took at a recent festival involving the eight Level 5 Kami. Finding an artist who put the Number 1 and 8 together, but sadly was put in the hospital through unknown means. It showed Accelerator and Kami together, and unfortunately enough for Touya, he recognized who 'Kami' really was.
"Huh?" Somewhere inside her home, Shinna had been organizing some photos of her family, when she just suddenly stopped. She then looked at a photo of her son Touma, then at her photo of her and Touya's wedding. A part of her hopes that Touma would find a nice wife, well aware her son had many female admirers - to her slight annoyance.
When suddenly, she wondered why is it that instead of a bride, she thought of Touma being with...a groom!?
"Oh my, what's wrong sir?" Esther asked the poor man who had been choking a bit.
"N-nothing, nothing." Touya sputtered out drinking some water to get rid of the chunks of bread stuck in his throat. Forcing himself to calm down, Touya then grabbed the girls phone ignoring her protests. Just to make certain that it really is Touma and not some other dude.
'Now that I think about it,' Touya realized. 'Shinna did seem to find something funny when she came here some months ago.' He wondered if it was this, or maybe something else entirely. Whatever the case, it seems now he knows, or at the least has suspicions, that Touma might be in a relationship with another boy.
Thinking on it...Touma never did enter a relationship with a girl. So the possibility that he's with a boy is...rather high. Not that he wouldn't think any different of his son. If he wishes to find love with a boy, this girls master...Then so be it!
"Achoo!" A certain boy with a special right hand suddenly sneezed while also feeling a chill around him. That couldn't be good.
Another boy who's considered the number 1 also felt that same chill. With his small companion then complaining to him that he had to be with her which annoyed him.
Around the city, and even beyond it, multiple girls felt the chill that the man they loved would be taken away by...Another boy!? They had to work harder!
"Um sir, can I have my phone back." Hearing that, Touya saw he still had the girls phone and gave it back while giving an apology which the girl accepted.
He then sat back deciding he'll have to talk to Touma later if he really is...into the other side. He then noted the girl was still looking at him, which confused him for a bit.
"Is something wrong?" He asked.
"Oh, nothing really." Esther replied scratching her chin a bit. "I just feel a bit disappointed that I didn't mean Kamijou, since I figured he could help me find the perfect gift for master. Those two do have a special relationship after all." She had no idea how those words affected the father.
"...Right, right." Touya says nervously, really pondering how this 'relationship' even started. Then decided to forget about it for the time being and maybe help the girl out. "Um, so you say your trying to meet my so, since he might know what this master of yours like."
"Correct!" Esther gushed. "Master has done so much for me, so I figured the least I can do is get him something nice. Figuring I ask one of his friends for help."
"Alright, but, aren't you a friend of his?"
"Eh!" Esther went before changing her answer. "I-I mean, yes. Granted, I'm more of an apprentice and all, b-but I do consider myself a friends. I think." She never really asked her master what their relationship is, but surely they must be friends. Or maybe...mmm, something more. She blushed a little at that part.
"In that case, why ask somebody else, when you can just find something suitable for him." Touya told her. "If your his friend like you said, then I'm sure he'll like whatever gift you get him."
"You, you really think so." Honestly, a part of the reason she wanted someone else's opinion is because she feared if she did it herself, Accelerator wouldn't like it. Just the thought of his disapproval gave her a rather uncomfortable feeling. A feeling she didn't like. A lot worse when she saw that silver haired girl with Accelerator.
"Sure." Touya supported. "After all, if you seem this happy getting a gift for this master of yours, then I'm sure he'll appreciate whatever you get." Okay, he didn't actually know 100%, but hey, he might as well give the girl some good old confidence. Confidence she's now gaining as she smiled brighter.
"Your right. Your right!" She said out loud. "I'm certain I can get master a wonderful gift. Thank you very much mister. Your a kind man. Bye!" Esther soon left ready to find the perfect gift for her master. She wasn't sure why, but she imagined getting him an outfit a singing idol would wear. Perfect.
"You did good Touya." Touya said to himself, resuming his reading. "You did good."
When one thinks about it, Touma's aversion from girls does make it seem like he's into something else. I read an old fanfiction on the sight which inspired me to make something like this. Girls better beware, Touma may not be taken by another female opponent, but by a man. That has to leave a mark, until next time.