Esther Rinju

Esther Rinju is a Puella Magi living in Mitakihara with her little sister Alice. At the beginning of Mitakihara Original, Esther is the initial protagonist, and a senior at Mitakihara High. She has a strong sense of justice and a big heart, and plays an integral role in Act I of Mitakihara Original.
== Appearance ==
Esther is a pretty teenage girl, giving off an aura of maturity. She usually wears her bob of pale blonde hair in two thin ponytails or in a single side braid, depending of its length. Esther often decorates her hairdo with some plain accessories, such as white ribbons or hairpins. Esther has brown eyes and a thin build, similar to her little sister. Unlike her sister, however, Esther is very wary of her clothes, willing to express welcoming feelings through her looks.
In her dress sense, Esther is often neat, mature and rather conservative, paying enough attention to her wardrobe to not be called a slob like her sister, at least in public. She is usually seen in jeans or long skirts, shirts, sweaters and cardigans. Esther prefers wearing whites or other pale, light colours to complement her fair looks.
== Personality ==
Esther shows off her most mature side in the nurturing attitude she takes towards her less mature sister. Gentle, caring and motherly, Esther has the patience of a saint and often knows when it would be set aside to neglect her own opinions and desires. Despite this, she is also a very independent person who will not hesitate to berate or speak harshly to her loved ones when she feels they have crossed a line, as evidenced by going so far as to avoid Hiroko completely when she felt she was being too clingy.
Her moods can be characterized as 'complicated,' and even her own family has significant trouble understanding her mindset. While Esther is usually polite and diligent when she needs to, and brave and pragmatic in fights, when she is at home she can be a bit of an giddy, girly girl, an airhead and a slob, and she is not above breaking school rules in order to help out her sister. She is also prone to violent and hysterical outbursts, which can result in her endangering other people. Nevertheless, Esther wishes the best for everyone she holds dear, a group of people which keeps growing as she is a social expert, adept at befriending people.
Her frequent mood swings reveal a darker side underneath Esther's motherly demeanour. Disgusted by the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father, she makes a selfish wish to never see him again, which kickstarts the events of Mitakihara Original once Alice and Hiroko are dragged into it. Esther seems to regret her decision to make a contract with Kyubey deeply, which causes her to become more and more bitter, introverted and even scheming. Her morality becomes greyer and greyer when she starts cutting out many of her loved ones, keeping secrets from them on purpose and mysteriously leaving for weeks on end without telling anyone where she is going. Her increasingly enigmatic behaviour leaves the final days of her life shrouded in mystery.
== History ==
===Act I===
====Introduction ====
Esther was born on the 27th of July, 1993 to Tomokazu and Marian Rinju. She grew up in the very centre of Mitakihara, living the eventful life of an urban teenager. However, behind the scenes, she suffered lifelong physical, emotional and even sexual abuse at the hands of her father. When this eventually leads to her having an abortion, Esther decides to contract with Kyubey so that she would never see him again. Tomokazu disappeared from the Rinju household, and Marian's and Alice's memories were altered to make them believe he was away for business.
This leaves Esther and her sister often home alone. In the wake of her contract, Esther manages to strike a perfect balance between taking care of her sister, working for school and fighting witches. She often hangs out with her best friend, the meek Hiroko Mitsuhoshi, helping her study and cheering her up whenever she needs it. While keeping her nightly escapades a secret from her loved ones, Esther also takes her duties as Puella Magi very seriously, going so far as to set up camera feeds all around the city that she could view remotely. 
When Alice finds the camera footage, Esther reveals her true nature to her sister and takes her out on a Witch hunt to relieve her worries. In a sick turn of irony, however, Esther is killed in battle by a surprise attack from the witch Claudia. As her body was dragged off by the witch, Alice managed to escape the Witch's Labyrinth with some help from Kyubey and Yuzuki Tokai. Esther's death was one of the major events prompting Yuzuki to start fighting witches, as she would later avenge her senior by killing Claudia.
====Rinju Arc ====
As soon as Alice and Kyubey make it out of the Barrier, Kyubey proposes Alice to make a contract with him, which would be the only means of bringing her sister back. Now knowing the repercussions and dangers of being a Puella Magi however, Alice refuses and tells Kyubey she promised her sister she would never make a contract with him, no matter the circumstances. However, Kyubey then approaches the other person who would be willing to bet their soul on getting to see Esther again: Hiroko Mitsuhoshi. Uninformed about the dangers and repercussions of becoming a Puella Magi, Hiroko decides to make a contract with Kyubey, wishing for Esther's resurrection.
Esther wakes up in the hospital morgue and manages to sneak out, but too scared to return home, she seeks shelter for the night at Yuzuki's apartment, where she is introduced to Yuzuki's cheerful childhood friend, Emiri Kanashimi. Having lost her older sister Toi to a car accident three years prior, the homeschooled Emiri makes in Esther the very second friend she has ever made, which leaves her pondering whether to attend school like other children her age.
Prompted by Yuzuki, Esther reunites with Alice and Hiroko, though she starts being very suspicious of the latter. At her sister's request, Esther decides to returns home, where she is quickly confronted with the reason why she did not want to return: Her death has canceled the effects of her wish and brought her father back into he life. Tomokazu demands to know where Esther has been and berates her for faking her own death, which Esther steadfastly refuses. When the argument escalates, Esther retorts by breaking her father's nose, after which he promtly kicks her out of the house, alongside her sister.
With nowhere else to go, Esther and Alice seek refuge at Kanashimi Florist and Nursery, where they are allowed to stay for a while. When she returns to school, Esther starts actively avoiding Hiroko, finding her nearly obsessive clinginess to be disconcerting. Alice figures out that ever since her suppposed ressurection, Esther has been behaving very strangely, and desperately tries to rekindle their close relationship, only to drive her sister further away. Desperate to talk to her mother, she returns home, only to find out Marian is in the hospital and her father has been persecuted for domestic abuse.
Esther is too scared to visit the hospital and talk to her mother, but Marian is all too happy to see her daughters again. She tells Alice that their father’s sister Mikoto has offered to take her in for a while, and asks the sisters to help move her belongings to Mikoto's residence. Esther’s emotions get the best of her and she bolts out of the hospital room, however as soon as she has made her way out of the facility, she is cornered by a gang of thugs and saved by Shizuko Kamitsuki. 
====Witches Awakening Arc ====
After brushing off Yuzuki, who demands further explanation on her strange behaviour, Esther decides to at least keep the promise her sister made to their mother and rendezvouses with her aunt. As they are driving to Mikoto's house, however, Mikoto thelepatically reveals to Esther that she knows her secret because she is a Puella Magi herself. After distracting Alice, Mikoto reveals to Esther the secret of the Rinju curse and the wole truth behind Kyubey and the Puella Magi, however as soon as she is about to make any further revelations, Kyubey steps in, and, in an unexpected move, damages Mikoto's Soul Gem in order to shut her up. With her aunt in excruciating pain, Esther is forced to put her out of her misery.
Traumatized, disillusioned and angry with the events she was forced to witness, Esther goes more and more bitter over the days after. When Mikoto's will is read, she recieves a luxuriously decorated sword, which Mikoto probably used when fighting as a Puella Magi, as well as her diary that chronicles her exploits. Scared of further endagering the people she loves, she finds a page in Mikoto's diary that reveals Mikoto went to the National Archives in Tokyo to look up the Rinju family history and hopefully find out something about the curse. Without telling anyone, Esther leaves Mitakihara and heads to Tokyo, where she finds out a detective named Ryonosuke Damon had known her grandfather in college and has been researching the Rinju family ever since. After a short talk with Ryonosuke about his findings, the detective recieved a phone call and left, telling Esther and his grandson, Hikaru, he would return shortly.
Ryonosuke, however, never returned. Knowing Alice would be safe in the hands of her mother and the friends she had recently made, Esther decided to stay behind and take care of the now-orphaned Hikaru, serving as his surrogate mother. One night, however, Kyubey visits her in Tokyo to inform her that Walpurgisnacht would be coming to Mitakihara soon.
Torn between saving the city she was born in and taking care of the boy who could be the only link to the dark history of her family she had left, Esther rushed back to Mitakihara, where she saved Emiri and Yuzuki from the Toy Shop Witch, knowing this would probably help Yuzuki decide to become a Puella Magi herself. She briefly visits Alice and Hiroko, making sure the latter is in fine enough state to battle Walpurgisnacht and giving her the idea to use her powers of necromancy to ressurect an army fallen Puellae Magi who can take on the Witch, providing her with all the Grief Seeds she collected in Tokyo in order to charge up the mana required for such a feat. Esther then returns home and hides the page of Mikoto's diary she removed inside one of her personal belongings, as well as a series of clues that would lead Alice to follow in her footsteps when the time was right. She returns to Tokyo afterwards, leaving Alice on her own once more.
====Anisa Arc====
Back in Tokyo, Esther begins suffering from mood changes and nightmares, caused by her feelings of guilt over leaving Mitakihara beyond and the pressure caused by the incoming Walpurgisnacht attack. One night, Esther trashes her room and uses her own blood to write "THE CATALYST IS COMING" on the walls in a fit of rage similar to those her sister would later have. The next morning, she fails to remember why she did this and tells Hikaru he cannot ever enter the room again. 
With Walpurgisnacht on its way to Mitakihara, Esther hurries back to her hometown to battle the witch alongside her friends, yet is attacked by none other than Anisa Nobunaga. Confused and weakened by her earlier breakdown, Esther manages to hold out pretty well against the deranged Angel, yet Anisa manages to overpower her. Frustrated with the fight the older Rinju put up, Anisa mercilessly finishes Esther off and drags her dead body back to MItakihara, where she uses it to psychologically torture Alice.
A week after Walpurgisnacht, Alice saw to it that Esther is given a proper burial at the Cherry Blossom Cemetery.
===Legacy===
Fours years after her sister's death, Alice claims to feel her presence when bathing in Lake Lacrima. This implies Esther is currently residing in the Afterlife, yet cannot communicate with Alice due to the wall set between the worlds as a result of Toi Kanashimi's disobedience. This causes Alice to muster up the courage to rummage through the personal belongings Esther left behind, alongside her now-stepsister Yuzuki. Not only do they find the sword Mikoto  left her, which Alice promptly donates to Yuzuki, they also find the first clue of the trail Esther left behind. With most of the clues set up around lyrics, in order to make sure only Alice would be able to figure them out, the two quickly track down the missing page, and decide to head to the National Archives in Esther's footsteps.
Just like Esther, Alice and Yuzuki also end up at the Damon residence, where the now-once-again-lonely Hikaru reveals the truth about Esther's disappearance to them. Being confronted with the fact that her sister left her to go take care of someone else enrages Esther, yet her dissappointment dwindles as soon as she finds the room Esther used to stay in. Now knowing that Esther left her to look into a problem that far outshines even the Walpurgisnacht crisis, and one Alice would soon be dragged into herself, she decides the quest her sister failed to see through to the end.
== Relationships ==
====Alice Rinju ====
The Rinju sisters have a stronger bond than sisters usually have, as Esther often serves as a surrogate mother for Alice. Loving and caring, Esther fully dedicates most of her time to her sister without complaining, only berating Alice when she feels she is going too far. Because their parents are hardly ever there, the sisters do everything together to the point where Yuzuki can tell there is something wrong when they are not together. Esther's dedication to her sister has caused Alice to confuse her sisterly love for romantic love more often than once and while Esther does not reciprocate these feelings, she respects them, telling Alice she'll be able to figure out her true feelings when she's older.
However, after the Mikoto incident, Esther starts locking out her friends and loved ones, including Alice. Afraid of dragging Alice into the world of Puellae and Witches any further, she starts keeping secrets and operating behind the scenes, eventually trying to disappear from Alice's life entirely. However, the charming trail of clues left behind before her death still shows that Esther deeply cared for her sister until the very end.
====Hiroko Mitsuhoshi ====
Hiroko and Esther initially started out as best friends, often studying and occasionally doing other things together. Esther served as a perfect foil to her often meek and studious classmate, yet eventually Hiroko's dependent nature started to alienate her. After Hiroko wishing for her death to be undone, Esther, freaked out by her best friend's obsession with her started to avoid her, which only drove Hiroko further into depression. When Esther's ignorance starts to borderline on the abusive, even Alice, who was initially jealous of Hiroko, starts to question her sister's morality. Hiroko tells Alice she's been in love with Esther for a long time, but despite this, Esther only talks to Hiroko once more, to tell her about Walpurgisnacht. 
====Other characters====
Esther got along with pretty much everyone, alwasy excited to make new friends. She got particularly close to Hikaru Damon in the final weeks of her life, serving as his surrogate mother. Responsible and occasionally mature, Esther often takes the role of the older sister for most of the characters that are younger than her, especially Shizuko, though her odd behaviour after the Mikoto incident is evident to all.
Esther's relationship with her parents, however, is extremely strained. She is afraid of dealing with her mother, often not knowing how to talk to her. It is implied Esther resents Marian for picking a job that causes her to be away for too long. Due to the lifelong abuse she suffered by her father, Tomokazu is obviously the one man she hates the most.
== Abilities ==
As a Puella Magi, Esther is able to use magic and transform to fight Witches. Little is known about her specific powers, as her transformation has never been fully shown in the story. It has been confirmed, however, that Esther did not use a weapon when fighting Witches, relying on her bare hands. As the only active Puella Magi at the beginning of the story, Esther was able to keep the city safe on her own, which implies she was a very powerful magic user. Nevertheless, her powers were not enough to beat Anisa. Given the aftermath of the Toy Shop Witch, it is possible her powers have to do with explosives or fire.
Esther is also a very talented schemer, even in her earlier days already setting up camera feeds all over town. She later indirectly assisted Hiroko in beating Walpurgisnacht and set up an elaborate gambit to help her sister Alice pick up the trail towards the truth behind the Rinju family where she had to leave off.
Category:Characters
Category:Humans
Category:Puella Magi
Category:Dead
Category:Main Characters
Category:Characters
Category:Humans
Category:Puella Magi
Category:Dead
Category:Main Characters