August 31st 6:15 PM
He recalled something that happened a long, long time back.
This person called Accelerator used to have a normal name. 2 Japanese characters for his family name, 3 Japanese characters for his own name. It was a very Japanese name, a very ordinary name.
He hadn't always been the strongest in Academy City.
At first, everyone thought that he was just stronger than those around him.
However, when it rained, it poured.
And to him, the greatest calamity was that his power was a lot stronger than what he had thought.
The youths of the same age who rushed at him had their bones fractured on a single touch.
The teachers came to stop him, and their bones got broken as well.
The adults came over to surround him, and they were eliminated as well. In the end, Anti-Skill and Judgment, as if they were facing off against a bank robber, launched attack after attack at this boy who was only 10 years old with all sorts of powers and new-age weapons. However, these people were eliminated as well.
And he only felt fear.
Fearing that he would be violently treated, he frantically waved his hands about.
For a 10 year old child, this was a response that was to be expected.
However, it ended up like this.
The unmanned and windowless assault helicopters flew about in the air, and the armored Anti-Skill reinforcements that looked like robots held their ground in order to protect their wounded comrades. It was like a scene in a monster movie shown on the television, except that he was the ugly monster that everyone so feared.
Thus he realized it. His young heart realized it. If he used his fingertip to touch, others will get hurt; if he felt irritated about something, people may die. This commotion would snowball until he ended up fighting against Academy City, the world, and then everything would be destroyed.
In order to prevent 'elimination', he had to seal his 'feelings' in his heart and not show them. Bad emotions were dangerous, and good emotions could bring jealously and bring about attacks.
The way to prevent hurting others was to prevent himself from being moved by anything. If he felt irritated, others may die, so he couldn't let his feelings show. Only when he was like an ice person could he prevent himself from losing control of his powers and endangering others.
But at that moment, the young child made a grave mistake.
It was because his method made him so cold that he became someone 'who doesn't care about whether others are dead or alive', a person who wouldn't grumble no matter how others treated him, a person who seemed uninterested in other people's lives.
Without realizing this mistake, he chose his own path.
Just like that, he barely managed to prevent 'elimination'.
He, who lost interest in others, ended up surrendering fairly easily, resulting in him to be locked in a cell called the special class. However, a gear in a person's heart couldn't be stopped easily. As he continued to waver about without having any determination like a squid, he managed to come up with a solution.
Since he couldn't quarrel with others easily, he should just create an environment where there wouldn't be quarrels.
He just needed to be extremely strong and make others think that fighting with him was a stupid thing to do.
He needed to be not just the 'strongest', but 'invincible'.
Maybe this would prevent others from getting him, and prevent himself from feeling fearful. He would be recognized by others. That was what his weary heart yearned for.
He never realized that such a thought would end up hurting so many people in the days ahead.
"Such stupidity..."
After walking out of the research facility, Accelerator ignored the personality files disk and ran off to the restaurant where he had left Last Order. Though it had been a few hours, he felt that Last Order shouldn't be able to move.
He was running madly on the street.
The fragments of his memory that still remained there stubbornly continued to run.
That was right. He was recognized.
Even though he didn't become 'invincible', even though he was not the 'strongest'.
That girl recognized him.
It was true that this may be too late. Maybe it was too late to want to change anything now. However, he did get recognition. The girl treated him like a human, with a normal, fearless, equal standing attitude.
No matter what, he didn't want to lose a certain feeling in his heart.
And this feeling of not wanting to lose anything delighted him all the more.
It seemed like something was starting to change.
It seemed like something was hoping that it would change.
Even if he knew that it was too late, he didn't care.