Whatever became of her?

[ACSR: Desire]

They'd calmed down properly now that they'd managed to get Frenda to the hospital. There, they talked to Heaven Canceller about what Frenda had said before.

"So we're worried." Uiharu had finished "Is she still in danger?"

The doctor took a moment to think about it before nodding.

"She is. Even this hospital might not be entirely safe, people have broken in to go after patients here before. Your best bet would likely to be getting her out of the city like miss Nunotaba."

"But where could she go?" Joule worried "Shinobu was able to go to a research instatute because she was acting as the caretaker to the twins, she also had... well. Misaka and Shokuhou covering her trail."

Frenda wouldn't have that help. She had apparently undergone ability development (though she was still level zero) and that meant she was valuable to Academy City, they wouldn't let her leave easily.

"We could ask Shokuhou..." Joule mumbled but then shook her head. Shokuhou's ability to alter memories on a mass scale was reduced now she didn't have Exterior. She could still do it but there might be gaps.

Heaven Canceller read her expression and nodded "She has my protection while she's here. Otherwise you might be able to ask someone else to keep an eye on her. Not one of the big groups but..." he turned to his desk and began searching for something. As he did, Joule thought about who they could ask. GV came to mind but it would mean he couldn't do any work. They still got a stipend from Academy City itself so that could tide them over though.

"Here we go." Heaven Canceller pulled out a piece of paper from his desk with some hastily scrawled writing on it "Here, this woman would probably be willing to lend an ear at least if you can't find anyone else."

Joule looked at the piece of paper and read it out.

"Esther Rosenthal, there's a phone number here."

"She's a magician, not connected to any major faction and she's been hanging around Academy City for a while. She went completely freelance a month or so ago."

Freelance magicians brought to mind people like Oriana Thomson but...

"Can she be trusted?" Joule asked.

Heaven Canceller offered a short nod "I think she's got a good heart, and she's friendly with Accelerator."

Last Order, who had been sitting on a chair a little away from them perked up at that "Miss Esther? We've met her, Misaka explains refering to some of her sisters. She's nice."

Well, if Last Order thought she was trustworthy...

[ACSA: Thoughts of Esther]

"Okay." Joule nodded, looking at Uiharu "I'm fine with that."

Uiharu agreed and looked to Heaven Canceller "Will she be safe here in the short term?"

He nodded "It'll take a while for Academy City's Dark Side to move."

With that confirmed, the team left with Last Order wandering behind. They weren't really looking for Accelerator right now but Last Order was invested in what was going on right now. They could try and find Accelerator later.

Uiharu was the one to actually call Esther.

"Hello, am I talking to Esther Rosenthal?"

There was a pause as the person on the other side answered.

"I'm looking for someone to do some bodyguarding and was advised to ask you."

Another pause.

"Yes. I've been told you have powers."

Pause.

"Where do you want to meet?"

Pause.

"We're on her way."

At the end of the phone call, Uiharu just quickly went over the answers. Esther was willing to accept the job but she wanted more information. She had also wanted to know if Uiharu knew what she was a magician. Neither of them had said the word itself though.

Esther had asked that they meet her in a specific cafe so now they just needed to head over there.

They took the train there and arrived just as the sunlight was begining to dip. It was now sometime in the late afternoon.

At the Cafe they'd been told to go to, they saw a young girl (though older than either of them) sitting at a table. Even though the day had been fairly sunny, she was wearing a hooded coat, the sign that Uiharu had been told to look out for.

As they approached, the girl looked up at them and pulled her hood down and allowed her blond hair to show.

"Are you the clients?" She asked in a way that made it sound like she was forcing herself to be professional.

"Are you Miss Rosenthal?" Joule started saying but Last Order stepped forward and Esther blinked "One of the sisters?"

Well, after they confirmed her identity with Last Order, they all sat down and explained the problem for her.

"So, the details of the job." Esther noted "Who am I to guard and why are they a target?"

Joule took out her phone and showed her a picture of Frenda "This girl," she explained "is a member of the dark side of academy city. She also recently betrayed her team on pain of death. She's also a friend so we'd rather not see her die."

Esther looked at the picture and nodded "Okay, I don't mind this job so far. Who was in her team though, facing an entire group of Espers without preperation normally goes poorly." It sounded like she was talking from experience.

"We only know of of their members." Joule noted "Meltdowner, one of the level 5s."

At that Esther paused "You're asking me to fight a level 5?"

Uiharu shook her head "It would be better for you to try and flee with Frenda if Meltdowner were to come after her."

There were a few more details to shift through so as Uiharu and Esther hashed them out (Along with the method of payment) Joule took Last Order to get a cute toy she'd seen on the bag of a passing student.

They headed down the street to try and catch up with the student so they could ask her directly, but as they did so, they heard a crash from behind them. It was in the direction of the Cafe. Something was very wrong.

End of chapter.

No guesses as to where we are in the arc, but I will enjoy your wonderings about why I brought Esther in. I do have a specific reason for bringing her in and I wonder if you can guess what it is.

And no, it's not just because having Accelerator mention her name wasn't enough of a cameo for my liking.

I headcanon that Esther never left Academy City after the end of her arc but I couldn't really find anything about if she did or didn't leave.