238. Go Outside Then Befriend Kamijou Touma and Frenda Seivelun.

When Kaito woke up, the sky had become yellow-ish (evening), and the whole apartment was still empty. Remember, the group of women was shopping together, and Kaito quickly joined the chat group to ask when they would return. Unfortunately, the answer he received was that they couldn't come back for at least an hour, and they suggested that Kaito should find dinner on his own (or just eat a dish from Erina's inventory).

"Should I play some game, or maybe I should stroll outside..."

One or two hours isn't a long time to wait, but Kaito feels he'd be wasting his time here if he just shut himself in. As for why she didn't visit Misaka, that's because she's currently busy taking care of the remaining sisters, and Kaito would feel bad if he disturbed her (and chat group members would condemn him, too).

After contemplating his choice for a while, Kaito decided to take a stroll in the evening alone... since it would be wasteful if he just stayed at home in this world. Wearing a gray hoodie jacket to make people recognize him from afar, Kaito is ready to walk a little bit.

"So unfortunate!"

"..."

However, the moment Kaito took a step outside of his apartment building, he found someone very important from this world... that voice and iconic spiky black hair teenageris just too easy to be recognized.

It was naturally the protagonist of this world.

The moment Kaito came down the stairs, he found Kamijou Touma slumped on the floor with a sad, resigned face; his school uniform was dirty, and the groceries that he probably just bought were scattered all over the ground.

From what he saw on the scene, Kaito easily guessed that Touma was probably just shopping outside buying ingredients for dinner, but then he accidentally fell and ruined all his groceries... it must be because of his bad luck.

...

"Oh my satan..."

Kaito twitched his mouth, as he didn't expect to meet the protagonist right now. He should have guessed that Sakuya would pick the same apartment as the protagonist, since he has a history of trying to befriend every protagonist of the world he has visited.

However, Kaito wouldn't be surprised that his meeting with the protagonist might be part of Aleister's manipulation behind the scenes. Even so, Kaito didn't mind much as he would also like to befriend the protagonist of this world... the only other Imagine Breaker user he knew of.

"Umm... Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Surprised a stranger asked about his well-being, Touma quickly shook his head with a resigned face, "I am okay... It's just my groceries are ruined."

"What happened?"

"I just slipped on the floor, and my groceries also fell with me. Fortunately, the veggies just got dirty and can be cleaned, but all the eggs are broken..." Touma muttered helplessly, seeing that none of the eggs he bought had survived the fall.

"That's very unfortunate." Kaito feels sympathetic to him (from the same bad luck person), and then he offered, "How about I treat you to dinner outside? I am just a new resident in this city, and I would like to know my neighbors."

"Huh?" Touma was surprised by Kaito's invitation and even grateful since it was literally a godsend for his current situation, "Are you sure?!"

From Touma's perspective, Kaito looks the same age as him, so he's not feeling nervous while facing him, despite him being a stranger. Though Touma wonders if he has met him since those sympathetic eyes mean that Kaito should have known his circumstances.

...

"Yeah." Kaito nods, "You can tell me a good place to have dinner. Money would be no issue."

"No, no, this Mr. Kamijou isn't a person who likes to rip off the new neighbor." Touma shook his head again and then introduced himself while offering her hand, "By the way, my name is Kamijou Touma. I am 15 years old and in the first year of a certain high school. Nice to meet you!"

"My name is Kaito. No surname. Also, 15 years old." Kaito quickly accepted Touma's hand with his right hand, and surprisingly, nothing happened. "Well, I think you should bring your groceries first to your room and clean them up."

"Let me help you, Kamijou-san."

"Ah, yeah!"

Kaito quickly gathered the veggies that were scattered on the floor, and soon, both of them were able to gather everything back.

"Thank you, Kaito!" Touma felt really grateful with his neighbor and then excitedly invited him. "My room was on the 7th floor, please follow me."

"Sure. So you live below my apartment room."

After that, Kaito followed Kamijou Touma to his apartment, helping and befriending him. Along the way, Kaito witnessed several bad luck accidents befallen the protagonist, such as 2 times slipping on the floor, the apartment key was lost (quickly found at the entrance of the apartment), and even a passing cat scratched Touma's leg and accidentally ripped his grocery bag-- scattering the groceries all over again.

Kaito admits that, at least, his bad luck was much better than this protagonist's, as it doesn't affect him all the time. However, remembering what kind of curse was residing inside him, Kaito quickly took his word back. At least Kamijou Touma doesn't need to deal with whatever is inside him, and this guy also has good luck with women.

Though his luck with women wasn't bad either... most of them are little girls for some reason, which made Kaito feel a pang in his chest.

>>>>>

After helping the protagonist and visiting his apartment briefly, Kamijou Touma then takes Kaito to the cheapest dining spot in District 7, which has only a few people inside. Thinking about his new friend's identity, Touma also took him to a table far away from other customers, so they could talk leisurely with each other without being concerned about people coming to them.

Even though Kaito already told him that money wasn't an issue and that he's now the new number 1 Esper, Kamijou Touma still refuses to take him to an expensive place. This kind of selfishness and thoughtfulness made Kaito quite admire him a lot, and no wonder this guy has a lot of friends.

...

"So, Kaito... you are actually the new number 1 with that creation esper power... can't believe my new neighbor is such an amazing person," Touma asked curiously.

Right now, both Kaito and he already sat down, ordered from the menu, and are waiting for their dinner to arrive.

"Eh, I am not that amazing." Kaito shrugged and then replied, "But I am glad that my creation can help you."

Earlier, to replace all of his broken eggs, Kaito created a new set of eggs in front of Touma, which really amazed him. For Kaito, who has experience in making a lot of magical objects, a normal ingredient was one of the easiest for him to create.

"Are you sure your creation can stay permanently and be safe to consume?"

"Of course, don't underestimate my ability! For food and construction matters, I already mastered it." Kaito boasted and then added, "Well, considering your luck, if something happens, you can find me below youroom. You literally live above me, Touma."

To have such a coincidence happen with Touma living above them, Kaito wanted to believe it was part of Aleister's manipulation.

But Kaito doesn't mind it either.

In fact, Kaito thinks it would be great if Kaito were able to learn some knowledge about the magic of this world later from Index, which may come to Touma's balcony anytime soon.

...

"Thank you!" Touma nods in agreement, "I am sorry if my situation may give you trouble."

"It's okay. In fact, I am also a person with bad luck." Kaito replied.

"Really?!" Touma opened his eyes wide, looking at him with doubt,  "But you seem to be okay all the way with me."

Kaito nodded again and explained, "That's because my bad luck doesn't happen as often as you do; though the moment it does, it usually puts me in a desperate situation."

"Is that so?" Touma expressed his doubt.

"Yeah..." Kaito just smiled, "Anyway, it seems someone recognized me here. It seems this restaurant isn't as deserted as you thought."

"Ah, I am sorry?" Touma quickly recognized that a blonde woman, wearing a school uniform, was on their way to their table, "Should we change then?"

"It's okay~ It's only one anyway." Kaito reassured his new friend, "Besides, she looks quite pretty, too."

....

For a while, Kaito has actually detected several people observing him (using haki), even on the road where he walks together with Touma. It seems that the dark side really pays attention to him now, and Kaito easily guesses that it must be because of his 'amazing' ability. As for why Kaito was sure about the dark side of the academy, one of those observers happened to be a person he recognized and target for future employment-- Frenda Seivelun.

As one of the ITEM members who would die later, Kaito naturally remembered her. Her dying accident would be a major breakup for both ITEM and SCHOOL later, and right now, Kaito wonders if he should try to help her.

She's even on the way to walk to their table as her sight was set on him. Kaito easily guessed that she probably would disguise herself as one of his fans and gather information about him.

Kaito wouldn't mind, though, with his current ability; he doesn't need to be afraid of anyone except Aleister himself and maybe the future Accelerator (but for the future).

...

Surely, the moment Frenda arrived at their table, she immediately clapped her hands with a surprised face (pretended) and greeted Kaito, "Excuse me! You are... You should be the new number 1 Esper, right, right?!"

"Yes." Kaito nods calmly and then smiles at him, "Excuse me, pretty young millady, do you need my help?"

"Pffft... you are not that older than I, after all. No need to call me with the lady." Frenda giggled at Kaito's reaction and then said, "But... I just want to know the new handsome number 1 Esper, you know?"

"Is that so? I am glad such a pretty young lady have interest in me."

"Pffft... you are pretty funny! My name is Frenda Seivelun, by the way. Just call me Frenda~."

As Kaito had guessed, Frenda indeed had been observing and following him for a while, being the target of their next mission.

Surprisingly, from Frenda's observation so far, Kaito looks very kind, calm, and composed, albeit also a bit frivolous... unlike many top strong Esper in the city. He acts very kindly to anyone around him, despite his number 1 position, and even helped his neighbor without hesitation. Because of Kaito's good behavior so far, Frenda decided to bite the bullet and approach him directly to get to know him closely.

...

"Oh, then you can join us in dining, Miss Frenda~" Kaito invited her, shifted his sitting to the side, "Touma, you didn't mind if this lady joined us, right?"

"Y-Yeah! Anyway, I was here because you treat, anyway!" Touma nodded nervously, suddenly feeling like he was a third wheel here after Frenda came to their table.

"Yay! Thank you!" Frenda sat down beside Kaito with an excited look, "You didn't mind if I sit beside you, right? Handsome number 1?"

"No. I would be honored to sit with a pretty young lady like you~"

Listening to Kaito's polite answer, Frenda thought she made the right choice; Kaito didn't mind her approach and even invited her to sit with them. Frenda wonders if his lack of caution resulted from his self-confidence or ignorance, but considering Kaito was still new in this city, Frenda guessed it was probably the latter.

She's even considering seriously whether to take the step further, remembering the bet she got with Mugino to make Kaito fall on her. After all, in her opinion, Kaito is quite handsome, kind, rich, and cool... which is literally her check all of her preferences when it comes to the person she would date.

>>>>>

After that, three of them talked together about many different topics while waiting for their order. They quickly get along, since neither Kaito, Touma, nor Frenda has bad social skills.

When Frenda asked Kaito about his ability, he didn't hesitate to answer and explain what his creation ability can do, even though he already guessed that this should be her main purpose.

Kaito didn't intend to hide it because he knew there was nothing that could threaten them except Aleister here. Now that Aleister had accepted their presence in this city, Kaito would bet Aleister wanted to see more of their ability anyway.

>>>>>

After their great session of dinner, Kaito, Touma, and Frenda decide to establish a friendship and add each other's contact information (Frenda's suggestion). There's no reason for them to refuse her suggestion, so both of them quickly agreed and even decided to meet again sometime in the future.

Kaito knows her true personality is a bit sadistic and even crooked, yet he is still willing to befriend her. After all, Kaito has a lot of 'not-so-good' people around him. Compared to someone like Manaka and Esdeath, what Frenda does isn't even comparable.

As he gets more comfortable talking with this pretentious lady, Kaito also secretly decides to help Frenda later on. As someone with a sister (Est and Midori), Kaito can sympathize with Frenda's sacrifice to let her sister live comfortably, even though she needs to be in constant danger as a result.

"Ano... I have a good chat with you all! Thanks for the dinner treat!" Frenda bowed her head politely and gave the boys a cheeky smile.

"Sure!" Touma scratched his head, being embarrassed but nodding enthusiastically.

"Sure, just call me when you need something from me." Kaito waved his hand back at her.

"Yeah! Let's meet again later, Kaito, Touma-san!"

With her management to establish a good friendship with Kaito and learned a lot about him, Frenda feels really excited. She even managed to figure out how strong Kaito's creation was, which is something they need to take care of if they want to attempt to capture him later on. The fact that Kaito is actually capable of creating nuclear bombs and has some of them in his space storage scared her, but the good news she learn was that it took time for Kaito to create props, and the more complex the creation, the longer time and energy he needed to spend.

As for the secondary mission to collect Kaito DNA with a reward of 20 million yen, Frenda has done it... which is the main reason why she's so excited. After all, it wasn't that hard for Frenda, a professional, to take and secure Kaito's hair during their enthusiastic talks.

...

What he didn't know, Kaito actually knew Frenda little action all along and could guess the purpose of it, but he let her do whatever she wanted. In his opinion, with the chat group system, there's no way they were able to clone him, including his ability, so he's not afraid of getting 'Misaka' treatment in the Academy City.

He's more concerned about Frenda's safety if anything, so before she left them far away, Kaito decided to call her out one last time.

"By the way, Frenda-san!" 

"Umm?" Frenda turned around and was kinda surprised to see Kaito looking at her, seriously concerned, "What's wrong, Kaito-san?"

"Don't hesitate to call me if you need my help. Believe me, I can help you!" 

"???"

Both Frenda and Touma were confused by what Kaito said, but Touma, being a good guy himself, quickly followed Kaito,  "Ah, me too! I can also help you!"

"Yeah, this guy should be able to help you, too," Kaito added.

Obviously, being the protagonist of this world, Kamijou Touma should be able to save Frenda if he wanted to do so (with plot armor)... ence Kaito quickly supports him. 

As for Frenda, she just gives them a nod before reacting enthusiastically, "Umm! I will keep in mind!"

Frenda wanted to joke about why Kaito said that, but after seeing his honest and serious eyes, she realized that Kaito probably knew her purpose all along and was not as naive as she had thought. Being number 1 Esper in the Academy means Kaito isn't dumb, yet he still lets Frenda get close to her.

Although she should be wary now that her cover has been blown, Frenda also took Kaito suggestion sseriously.

Like many other people in the Academy City darkside, Frenda also wanted to leave the darkside of the Academy City safely if it was possible to escape easily. Unfortunately, she's trapped in; she knows that with Mugino's temper, there's no way she could leave ITEM just like that.

Frenda decides to meet and gather more information about Kaito later on, and if he is really capable of what he said, then Frenda doesn't mind changing sides at all as long as Kaito can guarantee her safety all along.

>>>>>

After Frenda left them, Touma, who got curious about the 'nonsense' Kaito was talking about to Frenda, couldn't help but ask, "Kaito, why did you say that?"

"Did she need help?"

"I think she does."

"Do you know what she needs help with?"

"I don't know, but it's not hard to guess, Touma." Kaito just shrugged and explained, "Because she must be sent by someone to gather information about me. Don't you find it weird that she comes to befriend me out of nowhere?"

"And she asked a lot about my ability, the new number 1 Esper, during our great dinner. Being new in this city and recently rising in rank, there's naturally not much information about me."

"Maybe there's someone who targets me and wants my information. After all, my ability is really good and versatile."

Hearing his explanation, Touma was stunned, but recalling how Frenda acted and clearly had more interest in Kaito, Touma indeed can't refute his guess. After processing what he said, Touma quickly accepted and frowned, "Then, does it mean you just exposed yourself to danger?"

"Should we ask Frenda-san back and tell her to explain?"

"No need." Kaito shook his head, "I did it on purpose. Besides, after talking with her for a long time, I feel like she is not a bad person."

"Ah, yeah." Touma quickly agreed with Kaito's opinion, "She seems to be a nice person. But if you need my help, just call me, Kaito."

"Samewise. We are already friends after all." Kaito nods in agreement.

...

After that, Kaito and Touma continued to walk back to their apartment together and got closer as friends. Like Frenda, Kaito is also determined to help Touma later on. Despite their short meeting, Kaito already sees Touma as a very good friend. He remembers the event in the original where Touma would get his memory erased after trying to help Index later on... and considering the timeline, the fateful meeting between Index and Touma should have happened soon.

But now that he has befriended him, there's no way for Kaito to let such a tragedy happen to his good friend.

Regardless of Touma's situation, Kaito is also curious about the magic side of this world. Now that Aleister got the technological side covered, Kaito wonders if he could get something from the magic side of this world when Index arrived in the city.