Index was having a good day so far.
Recently, she's been able to piece together memories from before the memory wipes. The two Magicians, Stiyl and Kaori, had been in a lot of them. She had yet to come across a bad memory that contained them.
It was odd, like watching a movie of yourself that you don't remember. Though the feelings she felt and shared with her friends were transmitted, she was genuinely happy when she was with them.
And now, they were here again. Stiyl had been idly chatting with her after he decided to stop his 'work mode' and they sat with Touma as they watched Alex and Kaori spar. Though it was more like Alex giving her lessons.
If she didn't know the mans identity, she would probably be just as taken back by the whole situation as Stiyl.
It was like the stories she read when she was younger; a literal knight in shining armor, THE KNIGHT, came and rescued her.
She recalled the conversation she overheard between Touma and Alex. When Touma said with such determination that he wanted to protect her. Her heart beat faster and she got all flushed just thinking about it though she didn't know why.
She hoped that they could stay like this forever.
She was broken from her thoughts as the two fighters were walking over.
"You know I've been meaning to ask, how did you even walk around with that giant blade without getting in trouble?" Alex asked towards the saint.
Everyone just stopped to stare at Alex then at Kaori.
"I....i didn't even realize before you mentioned it." Stiyl said with surprise.
Academy city is HEAVILY monitored, not just by Aleister, but by several governing bodies. A woman walking around with a blade taller than her would have definitely raised some flags somewhere along the line.
"Whatever, if anyone asks just say you have permission from Aleister." Alex said, waiving off the concern.
Stiyl sighed again, he didn't know any other person who would openly take jabs at Aleister Crowley like Alex.
The man held quite a bit of weight in the world as a whole. He was the defacto leader of the Science side yet even the magic side held him to high esteem even if many considered him a heretic and enemy of their views.
His influence aside, the rumors of the man's strength was also quite intimidating. Frankly, not many knew just how powerful the man was, his history was fragmented and legend except for those much higher up in powerful organizations.
Stiyl had a lot of things to think about from the last couple days. Kaori never liked to deal with the political side of things, the meetings, the information gathering and reporting. Stiyl was fine to take over that role as Kaori was often the one that did the heavy lifting in the field.
As Kaori sat down next to index, the group watched as Touma began his 'training'.
Stiyl wouldn't admit it, but he got a small satisfaction watching Touma get pummeled after how easily the boy destroyed his strongest magic the day they met. The magician's pride had suffered considerably since coming in contact with these anomalies.
Alex had set up two points for Touma to run between and there were various golden ripples placed all around that would shoot a random object at him at random intervals that Touma had to dodge.
It was a valid training strategy for what the man wished to accomplish. It really just showed the insights into combat the man possessed. Most people would probably try to force their own teachings and thoughts onto someone who came under their tutelage. But the man had opted to just develop the boy's own abilities and have him come into his own style of combat.
The magician glanced over at his partner and his friend.
Kaori had wrapped herself around index and was refusing to let go. Not that index was resisting really, the saint had shut herself emotionally off from most people, it was genuinely rare for her to display this much affection. Index was probably the only one who could elicit this response from her.
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Alex was rather bored all things considered. Though that wouldn't stop him from performing the duties he took up, like helping Touma. But even pelting him with various objects lost its novelty eventually.
The boy had definitely improved in just over a weeks time. Its not like he could take Kaori or anything like that, but there was a distinct difference between when he started and where he was now.
His stamina and endurance was a bit harder to gauge but it was satisfactory for how short they had been going at it. His instinct though was honestly astonishing. His 'sixth sense' as most people called it, was already absurd before Alex even began trying to develop it, something Alex had dubbed 'plot armor'.
If the boy ever became a servant, his instinct would definitely be [EX] rank by the time he died.
Every so often Alex would weave in something harder or sharper than the normal items that would be shot at him, and the boy would dodge or mitigate the damage without fail even if he didn't see it coming.
It was equal parts astonishing and infuriating at how gifted he was in this aspect. The only solace Alex had was that he was almost at the point where they would engage in combat instead of this game.
There really wasn't much Alex did in a situation like this, the Gate was basically on auto pilot and he became numb to the whole situation. He had taken glances back at the bench where the others were and decided not to invite himself into their little world.
It seemed like the group were catching up and he didn't want to spoil that.
He let out a sigh as his mind began to wander again.
He began to wonder if he should take up another hobby. Cooking was fun and fulfilling in its own way, but its not like he could do it whenever he was bored.
What did he do when he was bored in his previous lives? In his first...he basically trained and did king stuff....
He did have the occasional respite when Kay or Merlin wished to cause mischief. Though that mostly changed when Kay began to stop treating him like his brother and more of a king.
Now that he thought about it, his first life was almost all work.
He could always just check out the games and books in this world. This city is much more advanced that his previous home, they are sure to have things he's never seen before.
Medusa also loved to read, he could pick up a bunch of books for her too.
"Alright that's enough." He said abruptly as all the portals closed.
Touma collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.
"Not bad again, you are improving with each session." Alex Praised.
"Anyways, that's all for today. Get some rest and we'll do some more tomorrow." Alex said as he began to walk away.
"Oi, where are you going?" Stiyl called out from the bench.
"Shopping." Alex replied.
The magician raised an eyebrow at his response.
"Don't look at me like that, its not some kind of code or me being coy, I'm literally going shopping." Alex stated.
Stiyl looked at the man the back at index.
Alex could tell what he was thinking, he was supposed to 'watch' him, but at the same time the kid wanted to stay with his friend that he had missed for so long.
"I'm not going to do anything, just stay with Index for the day." Alex said.
Stiyl just sighed as he sat back down. Its not like he could force the man to do anything he didn't want to. The fact that he was putting up with two 'spies' basically following him around already was a bit odd.
While the magician was lost in thought, Alex quickly made himself scarce.
He wasn't lying, he was just going shopping. He really hadn't a chance to actually check out the city. It was quite the technological marvel compared to anywhere else he'd been. It didn't stand up to the grandeur that Camelot held at its prime, but it still quite beautiful.
It was a bit sad really, with how amazing the city is, it was still a cesspool for crime and wickedness that slept below the surface. If there were no innocents in the city, he would have no issue with demolishing it.
Though this entire world pretty much mimicked the current state of the city. Even the magic side wasn't much better. Both were actually keeping the other in check and stopping them from truly descending into darkness.
"GET BACK HERE YOU BASTARD" a voice was heard being shouted across the block.
The scene was almost unbelievable with how cliché it was.
A man was riding away on a motorcycle with a stolen purse with a little girl with super powers running after him.
Alex smiled as he opened a couple ripples from the gate that were facing each other, a chain shot across that intercepted the rider's head and knocked him off the bike.
The familiar girl ran up and angrily kicked the man in the head after he had recovered from the initial crash.
The girl looked at the chain and the golden ripples in confusion as a figure walked over towards her.
"Well, if it isn't Touma's girlfriend. How have you been?" Alex asked with a smile.
"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND." The girl yelled in rage.
"Riiiiiiiiiiiiight" Alex replied.
The girl growled as she shot lightning at the biker who was trying to crawl away.
Alex couldn't help but do this every time they met, Misaka Mikoto was just too fun to rile up.
Alex waived his hand and the chain retracted and the portals disappeared.
"Is that your ability?" She asked. She had never seen something like it before it was pretty neat.
"Something like that." He replied.
"I didn't know that the lvl. 5 Railgun goes around stopping purse snatchers." Alex said.
"....It's not wrong to help others." She said with a bit of embarrassment.
"Good response, shall we return the purse to its rightful owner?" Alex asked as he motioned down the street from where they came.
"Let me call this in first." She said as she brought out her phone and made a call.
It wasn't much, just a location, the description of the criminal and the proper authorities were dispatched.
The duo quietly walked back to the older lady who had her purse stolen. She had been very grateful to Misaka who had gone to retrieve it.
"That was sweet." Alex said as Misaka walked back over.
"Where's Touma, he's usually around you since you've shown up?" Misaka asked.
"He's at home right now, should be resting after the training from earlier. I can give you his address, he would probably be excited to see his girlfriend." Alex replied.
A few arcs of electricity were discharged from her as her expression turned both angry and flustered.
"In all seriousness though, if you like him you are going to have to be blunt about it. Take it from someone who was probably just as dense as he is with matters of love." Alex said with a genuine smile.
She was expecting him to say something to rile her up...but he said it with sincerity in his voice. She couldn't help but blush at the thought.
They hadn't spent THAT much time together...and it was mostly just her shooting him with lightning. But she couldn't lie to herself and say that she didn't enjoy his company and that being around him made her happy...
"...…how did it work out for you? She asked hesitantly, her face heating up at the previous thoughts.
"In my case....she literally threw me on the bed, I'll spare you the details. I'm not going to say to go that far....but just be blunt about your affections if you do harbor them for the kid." Alex replied.
Misaka took a moment to process what he just said and began to light up like a tomato at the thought.
"You're also young, you don't have to rush anything either. If you need time to understand your feelings then that's fine. He's not going anywhere for the foreseeable future so you will have more time to interact with him." Alex said again.
The girl became lost in thought after his last words.
Alex just smiled as he began to walk away.
"Don't worry, I wont mention anything we talked about." He said as he began to leave.
As Alex got a short distance away he heard her slightly mumble something.
"…..thank you."
///////////////Omake\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Far into the future a group of of heroes have gathered to stop the destruction of humanity, they are Chaldea.
Though between each Singularity they need something to do, entertainment and fun. It started out slow, games, books, anime ect. It quickly delved into something more as competitions started.
No one remembered how it happened but it suddenly became Men vs Women in almost every competition. They went through everything they had available but it always left a unsatisfactory feeling in the group's eyes. They wanted something skillfull they could compete in without actually fighting one another.
It was one of the 'future' heroes that suggested the medium of competition. He called it 'dodge ball'.
The heroes had taken to the game almost immediately and they made their ideal teams. They even began to bet on the matches.
The first game, the girls completely destroyed the men. This competed until the men were almost completely broke. They bet the only valuable resource in Chaldea, Saint Quartz and the men were dangerously low on it.
They were desperate so they decided on trying to summon a new servant to their aid. One that would be able to bring them victory. They had the ingenious idea to use a dodgeball as a catalyst to ensure what they are looking for.
Many of the male faction where watching the summoning with anticipation, they had alot riding on this. Alot of them were not used to being 'broke' as some put it and wished to reclaim their wallets.
A flash of light and he appeared.
"As per your summons I have come forth. I ask of you, are you my master?" The figure asked.
"Yes, can i have your name?" The male master of Chaldea asked.
"You can call me Alex" He said with a smirk.
Again, just taking it slow and exploring the world and characters a bit before just jumping straight into every plot point.