--13th September 8:20p.m.--
It was that time of night again. At this hour, there were still people celebrating the events the Daihasei Festival had to offer.
Moreover, it was past the students' curfews, but the higher-ups decided that for the whole duration of the event, students were allowed to stay up before 10.
While people were spending time with their families, a certain girl was sitting at the bottom of the slide by herself in the playground outside A Certain Hospital.
"..."
She was thinking about something.
Why did she run out?
Should she have listened to her parents?
Was it that bad being an esper?
Her thoughts were filled with questions that she couldn't find an answer to. Especially when she was only 6 years old and had just gone through a rough yet smooth-sailing surgery thanks to a certain white haired boy and a frog-faced doctor.
"I just don't know..."
The girl wrapped her arms around her head as she was stuck at a dead end.
Suddenly, a tapping noise could be heard gradually becoming louder, and when she looked up to see who it was.
She felt slightly disappointed, thinking that it was her father coming to get her. However, it was the stranger who had helped her earlier.
"What are ya doin' here?"
Her face instantly lit up when she saw the pale, white-haired boy approaching her.
"Oh! It's you, nii-chan."
"Tch, don't call me that. It's weird."
"Hm?"
"Anyway, what are you doin' here? You should be restin' in your ward, right?"
She hesitated for a while, before looking at the ground. Her face was back to the sadness she showed before.
"I want to be an esper like you and do all sorts of cool stuff."
Accelerator stood in front of her but she still avoided eye contact with him.
"Cool huh?"
"Yeah! It must be cool having powers like that! It's just like those cartoons that I watch at home!"
"How stupid."
"Huh?"
She finally looked up and gave him a look of confusion.
"Can you really say the same thing once you've been through the curriculum? I can only do those things because I got lucky. Or rather, I should say unlucky. Because of my powers, I destroyed so many people's lives."
"What do you mean? You're such a nice person. How could you be someone who destroys people's lives?"
"Things happened, and I ended up with this."
Accelerator pointed his left forefinger at his throat, and that was when she saw the collar around his neck.
"If you were to go through the curriculum, there's a chance that you might not be higher than a Level 2. The Level 2's and below make up the majority of Academy City so your chances of doing the things that I can do may be low."
"..."
"And even if you do get a high level, someone might come by and say 'Wow, aren't you so gifted.' and might attack you because of jealousy. Can you handle that?"
"..."
It seemed like she got the message as she looked down at the floor. The moment her shoulders dropped, Accelerator felt that it was the right time to continue speaking.
"Now that you understand, let's go back."
He turned his back to her, and limped forward, expecting her to follow him. However, he didn't hear any footsteps.
"Oi, it's time to--"
When he turned to look at her, her face didn't have the look of despair. Rather, it had the look of someone who just saw a fish come out of the sea and started flying into the sky.
"Nii-chan...I don't understand what you just said..."
"Ha?"
There was a brief silence between the two of them as Accelerator tried to digest the situation he was in right now.
"(Did I just waste my time trying to explain life to her?)"
Indeed he did.
"(How the hell do I explain this shit to this brat? Actually, I don't even need to explain this bullshit to her.)"
Just as Accelerator was about to tell her to scram, a peculiar voice in the distant caught both of their attention.
"Ah, there you are. And...you as well?"
It was the voice of a female who he had acquainted himself with.
"You know, I received a call from a couple about a missing child..."
This lady was in her Anti-Skill uniform, with a vest covering the blue clothes she was wearing. Her long ponytail hair was swayed back and forth from the windy night.
"Did you perhaps..."
"No, I did not kidnap her. Get your brain out of the gutters."
"Ah, thank god. I thought you got tired of Last Order."
This lady was none other than Yomikawa.
"What are you implying here?"
"Oh, nothing. Just uhh...go back to your ward and rest. It's pretty late right now as well. You might want to catch some sleep, today was a busy day for you, right?"
Suddenly, he felt a light pressure on his right leg, so he looked down and saw the small brat clinging to him.
"I...I want to stay with Nii-chan! I don't want to go back to them! They're meanies for hitting him!!"
Yomikawa twisted her lips for a bit to think about what to say to the girl, but she knew nothing about what happened earlier. So it was only right to seek for help.
She looked at the white boy with pleading eyes, but he simply avoided her eyes.
She locked her hands together in front of her large assets hoping that her pleading would get to him.
With a simple click of his tongue and a sigh, he pushed the small girl off his leg.
"Just go. There are some things that ya don't take for granted, and that's your parents. But I hate mine for leaving me in this shit hole."
"Hey..."
Yomikawa shouted at him, but it didn't affect him too much.
"But..."
The girl whispered as she looked at the ground, but Accelerator rubbed her hair for a while to comfort her.
"It's fine. It's not safe here either. Just get out of this place."
Without acknowledging her presence any further, Accelerator slowly limped out of the playground. Yomikawa did not waste this opportunity as she approached the small girl while using the radio attached to her shoulder.
"Itou, I found the girl, please come to the playground behind the hospital, over."
"Affirmative, heading over to your location now, over."
Yomikawa let the radio hang on her shoulder as she knelt down beside the girl.
"Hi, how are you feeling?"
"..."
She wasn't interested in talking to Yomikawa one bit since she had made her idol scram.
"Look here, I know you're not happy with them, but think about how worried you made your parents."
The girl didn't want to entertain Yomikawa, but she still had some questions of her own.
"Aunty, that boy... is he okay?"
Even though Yomikawa wasn't fine with being called an aunty, it was still a child that was talking to her so she had to place her feelings aside.
"What do you mean?"
Yomikawa placed her hand on that little girl's head, her hand almost covering the majority of the girl's head.
"He looked very sad."
"Did he?"
The girl looked at the sandy floor and Yomikawa only rubbed her hair to comfort her.
"He's probably just sad because he had to come out of his room at this timing for you. Here, look."
Yomikawa pulled out her phone from her pocket and showed the little girl the time. It was really getting late.
"Ah...I should be in bed right now..."
"That's right, your father and mother are waiting for you. They miss you a lot. When you go back to them, make sure you apologise, okay? If you do that, I'll make sure the boy becomes happy!"
Immediately, her eyes lit up as she looked directly into Yomikawa's eyes.
"Really? Really really?"
"Yes."
"Thank you so much!!"
She immediately went in to give Yomikawa a hug.
Though it surprised Yomikawa a bit, she got herself comfortable and hugged the little girl back. The two of them enjoyed a wholesome moment before being interrupted by someone fake coughing.
"Ahem...Yomikawa, are you done?"
"Ah! Itou, you're here! How long have you been standing there?"
Yomikawa immediately broke away from the hug with the little girl as she patted the sand on her knees off.
"I just got here. Anyway, let's bring the girl back now."
Even though it was a standard procedure that two Anti-Skill officers had to be together while patrolling, right now the situation couldn't be helped. The other Anti-Skill officers had to patrol the city for any loiterers around the dark hallways of Academy City and ensure that no one was causing any further mischief around the city.
"Ah, Itou I'm sorry but could you go on without me? I'll find the culprit in suspect and interrogate them."
"Huh? How would you be able to do that? You got an idea about who it could possibly be?"
"No, but with some digging, I'm sure I'll find something."
"Hmmm..."
Yomikawa gave Itou her best impression of a puppy eyes which did not seem very appealing given how inexperienced she was with that type of thing. But it still made Itou blush.
"F-Fine, I guess we do need to get both sides of the story."
"Thank you very much, Itou!"
However, before she dashed off to find the 'suspect', she looked at the small girl and patted her head.
"Be a good girl and listen to your parents, okay?"
"Mm! Make sure to make the boy happy!"
Yomikawa flashed her a thumbs up before running into the hospital.
--13th September 8:45p.m.--
Accelerator was lying on his bed reading a book as usual. Today was a crazy day for him. Magicians and drama.
He wanted to zone out of all of it by reading a book. Although he couldn't reflect all the noise around him because he didn't want to waste his battery life, reading a book still helped.
He was so focused on reading that he didn't notice the Anti-Skill lady standing in front of him with her arms folded. Or maybe he did, but he chose to ignore her.
Either way, the lady was about to make her presence known.
She sat down on his bed with her legs facing outwards, but she didn't look at him.
"You did a good work today."
"..."
She didn't get any form of acknowledgment and certainly not even a reply which annoyed her just a tad bit.
She placed her index finger on top of the book where the middle part is and hooked her finger inside to pull it down, away from Accelerator's eyes.
"Come on, respect your elders a bit, will you?"
"Tch, what do you want now? Coming to hear my side of the story for your shitty report?"
"..."
This time it was Yomikawa who didn't respond. It wasn't payback or anything, it was just that she felt very annoyed that he wouldn't speak to her nicely.
"O-Ow!! Oi! What the fuck do you think you're doing?! I'll fucking kill you-- Ow!!"
Yomikawa resorted to pulling his ear back so hard that it felt like his ears were about to be ripped apart.
"You're going to speak to me properly without saying a single bad word, understand?"
Yomikawa said that in a frighteningly sweet voice as she smiled and it sent shivers down Accelerator's spine.
"Fine, I understand! Now let go!!"
Without saying a single word, Yomikawa let him off the hook. Accelerator rubbed his ears that have changed from the colour of pure white to the colour of a tomato.
"So, how are you feeling?"
"Other than that ear-pinching that you gave me, I'd say I'm pretty fine."
"For a second after I received that call, I thought that you might've committed a crime."
"You really think so highly of me, don't you?"
"Well, before I even met you, I had to clean up after you, you know? A lot of those children who didn't enter school were constantly hurt. There was even a case which involved 20 people!! They all had broken bones, missing teeth, but they were never so badly injured."
Yomikawa placed her hand on his shoulder as she gave him a genuine smile.
"In those cases, none of them died."
"Tch, I just couldn't be bothered enough to kill them. It'd be a waste of my time and effort. I'd like to believe that my time is worth more than their lives, that's all there is to it."
"Well, I'm glad that no one was killed."
"..."
A look of sadness dawned on Accelerator's face. It was more depressing than usual. But Yomikawa didn't notice it as she dropped her hand beside her lap.
It seemed like she doesn't know the full story.
"Anyway, are your parents coming to visit during this period?"
"Nah, no one's coming."
"Hm? Why not? Are they busy with work or anything?"
"No, it's not like that. They couldn't be bothered to. I was left inside this shit hole because of them. Frankly, I despise them. Life inside here had been more eventful than what they had ever done with me that I forgot what I even did with my parents."
"But you were lecturing that small girl as if parents were needed in a kid's life."
"..."
Accelerator opened his mouth wide as he let out a yawn and placed the book that he was reading on the table beside his bed.
"I do believe that kids need someone to guide them, or at the very least someone who could talk to them. In the unfortunate case that the brat actually gets isolated from school, at least she could talk to her parents."
"..."
"Haha, I don't even know why I find this funny. Maybe I find it ironic that I even said that."
"..."
"Well, it's whatever. I've learned to cope with this already, and plus... I'm not alone right now. I'm starting to think that maybe I can escape the dark side. No one's approaching me about any stupid experiments and no one from the dark side seems to hold any grudges against me."
"...I think I've heard enough."
"Hm?"
"You're going to be living with me the moment you get discharged. Is that understood?!"
"..."
It took him awhile to process what he just heard because it was so new to him.
Yomikawa stood up from the bed and placed her hands beside her hips.
"Is that UNDERSTOOD?!"
"Oi, are you even listening to yourself right now?"
"Listen here, since you didn't have a parental figure in your life, I'll be that figure you need in your life! I'll take Last Order in as well since the both of you came together under the same circumstances. Food and shelter will be provided by me, and all you have to do is listen to me. Is that clear?"
"Oi, isn't this way too sudden?! And no, I don't need you in my life!"
"But just now you mentioned that kids need someone to guide them in their life and someone who could talk to them."
"..."
She went next to him and slapped him on the back since he was sitting upright and a loud smack filled his ward.
"It's fine. I get to learn how to be a responsible adult while keeping you in check. In the end, we're both benefiting from this."
"..."
After looking at her bright blue eyes for a while, fighting her would be pointless. So he clicked his tongue and sunk into the comforts of his own bed.
"Suit yourself, don't blame me if you die."
"If you say it like that, it makes me scared, you know?"
Accelerator didn't respond her as he chose the safest point of exit.
Sleeping.
"Hey! Even I know some people don't sleep that quickly!"
Yomikawa nudged him back and forth for a while to try and get a response from him, but it seemed like he was really asleep.
His breathing was very deep and steady and he didn't seem annoyed by the fact that someone was touching him.
"..."
Yomikawa smiled at the sight of him peacefully sleeping as she headed for the door.
"Good work today. Goodnight."
Truly, it was an eventful day for the both of them.
-14th September 10:01a.m.-
Accelerator was still peacefully sleeping in his bed. No disturbances.
No sunlight alerting him of the day because his curtains were barely blocking the sun rays from penetrating into his room.
It had been a long time since he had let his guard down to this extent. Even he'd be surprised if he was conscious about it.
However, because he had let his guard down to this extent, he had forgotten one factor that could harm him.
"Wake up, wake up!! Are you awake?? Asks Misaka as Misaka checks to see if your eyes are opening."
Last Order barged into his room and immediately jumped on his bed and bounced on his body.
Accelerator let a burst of air out of his mouth as he endured the impact of the small girl on his body. Instinctively, the white haired boy pressed the button around his neck and immediately pushed her back with his body.
"Gah!! What do you want?!"
Accelerator gasped for air as he switched his battery back to 'normal mode' and held his hand to his stomach.
"Are you trying to assassinate me?!"
"Huh?! No! How can Misaka even do that?! Says Misaka as Misaka shows her small and frail body to you."
"Well, with your weight, you could have suffocated me to death!"
"Hey, it's not nice to talk about a girl's weight! Wait, that's not the point here. Says Misaka as Misaka tries to tell you the real reason why she woke you up."
"...Fine, say it now before I kick you out."
Accelerator cautiously laid back against his pillows as he folded his arms.
"Yesterday, this Misaka realized that she lost connection with one other Misaka. To be specific, it was Misaka 10035."
"..."
Accelerator had no response because he didn't even know how he was supposed to respond to that.
It was simply way too sudden.
"Misaka already told Ester about this so she's trying her best to find that Misaka unit, says Misaka as Misaka worries about her missing ally."
"Tch, what can that girl even do?"
"Hm? What do you mean? Asks Misaka as Misaka wonders what you are trying to say."
"Tch, just get out."
"Eh?! But Misaka wants to hear what you have to say!! Says Misaka as Misaka eagerly awaits your response!"
"Just get out!!"
Accelerator turns on his battery, picks up the small girl on his bed and threw her just right outside his ward
"Eh?!"
Then he locks the door.
"Ehhhhh?! Let Misaka back in!!"
However, she got no response from him
"(I don't know which organization would want to do this, nor do I know what idiotic reason they have for doing this, but whatever it is, I'm not partaking in it.)"
Accelerator turned his battery back to 'normal' mode before sitting down on his bed to think of the possibilities of why the culprits would want a Misaka unit.
Then a thought hit him.
"(Since my powers are not the same as before because of my brain damage, they must be searching for someone else.)"
Accelerator clicked his tongue as he grabbed his cane.
"(This plan reeks of Kihara.)"
Accelerator opened his window and jumped down after turning his battery on.
When he was landing, he barely avoided landing on a particular female student. One who he had only recently got himself properly acquainted with, though they were also far from acquaintances.
The petite teleporting girl, Shirai Kuroko.
When she saw a dark shadow beneath her feet, she instinctively teleported backwards to give way to the person landing.
The dark shadow was now visible under the sunlight, and it revealed a white haired boy, with a plain fashion style. His red eyes turned towards her but the moment their eyes met, he turned to the side as he clicked his tongue.
"What the hell is your business being here?"
"I didn't know the hospital had a guard dog."
"Tch, if you have no business here, then get lost."
Kuroko pointed her head up towards the sky, letting her chin point towards the boy in front of her as she strolled through in her wheelchair.
"Hmph, unlike you, I happen to be trying to find a missing person, one by the name of Misaka Mikoto."
When she had mentioned her Onee-sama's name, she had already pushed her wheelchair one feet past him. But the moment she tried to move another feet, the boy touched her shoulder with his right hand to stop her.
Out of reflex, Kuroko flinched and teleported herself further away from him.
"I guess we're "searching buddies" then."
Accelerator said, as his right hand lingered in the air from where he touched her shoulder.
"...What do you mean? Are you trying to say that Onee-sama is not here?"
"...No. I don't even know where that girl went. She can go wherever she wants, I don't care. I'm looking for the OTHER one."
"..."
Kuroko went silent for a bit as she had to think about the situation that this had put them in.
"Wait, so you're telling me that the other 'her' is not here?"
"Yes."
"..."
"From what I heard from the main unit, she lost connection with the whole Misaka network, which means, tracking her won't be easy."
"..."
"Of course, that is if I don't have any help. You're from that dumb organisation called Judgement, right? You should have access to most of the cameras around these parts."
"...That mayyy be true..."
Accelerator slammed the tip of his cane on the ground and raised his voice at her.
"Then what are you waiting for? Stop wasting my time and let's get this over with already."
"Al-Alright!!"
---14th September 10:45a.m.---
As they moved, Accelerator found something strange about all of this. Was it a coincidence that they had decided to abduct her because Accelerator was away? That could have been the case, but that means they should be prepared for him in some way.
"Heh, but they're nothing but trash, I can't lose to them in anyway."
"Why are you talking to yourself? Do you have split personality or something?"
"..."
Accelerator was jumping on the roof of buildings as Kuroko teleported herself forward. However, the difference in speed was shocking. Kuroko couldn't keep up with the strongest esper who was jumping as if he was in a park. There was no sense of rush from him.
Maybe he was just proving how much better he was compared to her, or maybe he was doing it unintentionally. Either way, the fact still remained that he was much faster than her.
But she still couldn't tell him to slow down because this was a case of a missing person. Anything could happen in a span of 24 hours. She didn't even know why anyone would abduct the Sister.
"(Guess I should ask him about it later.)"
"Oi, what's wrong? Don't tell me to slow down after what you said."
"Dream on!! If my legs were any better, I would be in front of you by now!"
---14th September 10:49a.m.---
Kuroko and Accelerator had finally reached the Judgement Branch Office, and they reached there 2 minutes earlier than expected.
"You got lucky."
"Shut up and just go in."
Kuroko twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open, and when they entered, they were greeted by the sight of Tobio Yumi and a short, middle-school girl with a flowerbed on her head.
The two girls were looking at the computer before they came in, and when Accelerator and Kuroko entered the office, they were rather surprised by their appearance.
"Shirai-san that was quick. Did Misaka-san drive you away again? And...who is that beside you?"
The girl beside Yumi is considered by everyone in Judgement to be the best hacker they have in their forces. Her name is Uiharu.
However, just as Kuroko was about to answer her, their junior was faster and more enthusiastic about answering her.
"You don't know him? Well, I'm not surprised. Even I had no idea who he was until-"
"That's enough."
Accelerator raised his voice to stop her from saying anymore as he sat down on the sofa in the middle of the office.
"I came here because I needed support from Judgement, that's all."
"Huh? Why would you-"
Before Yumi could question him, Kuroko rudely interrupted her.
"*Ahem* Please refrain from asking this poor civilian any other questions. If he feels uncomfortable talking about his own problems, then I suggest we stop."
After hearing that, Yumi hung her head low as she slumped her back a bit.
The atmosphere was just a bit too tense, however that did not stop Kuroko from reporting the situation to Uiharu.
"This ape - I mean young man here, is looking for someone. I can't go into the specifics here, but..."
"Show me the surveillance footage of all the cameras around the Daihasei Stadium."
Uiharu and Yumi immediately shot up upon hearing his request.
"I-Isn't this a bit too sudden?" Uiharu questioned Kuroko.
However, the petite girl didn't say anything and only nodded her head as a response.
"But letting a..."
"Uiharu, this is a dire situation, and we can't get ourselves involved in this matter."
Kuroko had a bitter look on her face as she turned away from Uiharu's gaze.
The whole room was quiet as Accelerator waited for the affirmation from Uiharu.
"Um...if it's him, then I think we should trust him with it."
The person who spoke up was Tobio Yumi. She looked at Uiharu and kneeled down in front of her as she pleaded Uiharu.
"Kazari-senpai, please. Can you help him just this once."
Uiharu's cheeks turned red for a moment before she calmed down and smiled at her kouhai.
"*Sigh* I guess there's no choice if everyone is begging for it."
Uiharu turned her chair back to her computer as she prepared to open up the surveillance cameras. Right before she pulled up the footages, she had something to show them.
"Oh right, before the two of you came in, I found something interesting in the internet."
"?"
The three of them crowded around Uiharu as they looked at her screen.
"While I was searching for articles about shadow metal for Saten-san, this showed up."
Uiharu left-clicked on a link that brought up a news article and Accelerator's eyes widened open in shock.
Actually all of them were shocked by what they had seen.
"THE NEW DNA COMPUTER HIDDEN DEEP BEHIND DEFENSIVE LINES THAT CAN GIVE BIRTH TO PSYCHIC POWERS."
"..."
No one knew what to say as Uiharu continued scrolling down the news article.
Then, a picture was shown that made their jaws drop.
The 5th ranked Level 5, Shokuhou Misaki standing inside a parking lot under a building at District 2.
Everyone was speechless as they continued reading the article, however, Accelerator was hardly shocked by what he saw after thinking for a few seconds.
"(Every Level 5 has their own secrets. I'm not surprised to know that even she's involved in some shady business.)"
Despite how composed he was, there was one thing in that article that concerned him.
'Give birth to psychic powers'
"(If others have access to that power, it could be slightly troublesome.)"
When they reached the end of the article, there was a long pause between everyone that it created a very awkward scenario.
However, Uiharu was the first to break the silence.
"W-Well, it's just an urban legend site right?"
"R-Right? It could be a fake. Right, guys?"
Yumi looked at Kuroko and Accelerator whose eyes seemed like they believed every word the article said.
"Eh?"
However, Accelerator wasn't here for news about the 5th ranked Level 5. What he wanted to know was the location of the Sister.
"Tch, enough with this bullcrap! I came here for the surveillance footage, not some news about the Level 5."
"Ah, right...Sorry about that."
Uiharu stood up and walked all the way to one of the drawers by the side and pulled out a thumbdrive.
Next, she connected the thumbdrive to the computer before mashing in a few keys and handed it over to Accelerator.
It all happened so quickly that it caught the #1 by surprise.
"Here you go. Inside this thumbdrive are the surveillance footages around the Daihasei Festival from yesterday. Please take good care of it. You don't have to return it to us, just make sure you don't drop it by accident."
Accelerator snatches it out of her hands and leaves without wasting any more time.
After he left the premise, Uiharu looked at her junior and asked her a simple question.
"Who was that guy?"
Yumi was about to answer her but she felt hesitant to because of how Kuroko stopped her earlier. However, Kuroko sighed and simply waved her hand up and down to give the 'okay' to Yumi.
Once she was assured that it was fine to answer, she answered with enthusiasm.
"He is...the strongest esper in Academy City!!"
---14th September 1:07p.m.---
Accelerator stretched his arms up as he yawned.
He was given permission by the doctor to use the computer in his office and with that, he ran through all the footages.
"So she's the one they're experimenting on, huh?"
Accelerator grabbed his cane and limped all the way back to his ward for his recharge.
"(I don't know what the hell's goin' on here, but once I'm charged up all the way, I'm gonna break 'em all until they can't walk anymore.)"
Once he reached his door, he slid it wide open.
"(Especially that damn Level 5.)"