2_Chapter 1_ A Certain Scientific Accelerator

CHAPTER 1 A Certain Scientific AcceleratorLast_Order. 1 (Aug.31_AM00:00) It was the middle of the night, and the sounds of shrieks, screams, and things breaking pierced the air. It was a straight, narrow area, fenced in on both sides by concrete. Both were probably student dormitories. About seven enraged young men were there, and casting one’s gaze lower would reveal three more lying on the ground, floating in pools of blood. The seven were holding such weapons as jackknives, truncheons, and tear sprays. They were all powerful, to be sure, but the men didn’t appear to be familiar with their usage. They looked more like brand-new purchases, just taken out of their plastic packaging. Nevertheless, any one of them could be used by a killer, and in reality, the novices’ ignorance of the force of their own weapons presented its own sort of danger. They surrounded a single person. Their eyes were all bloodshot. And yet the one person they surrounded didn’t move. In fact, he wasn’t even thinking about the seven armed men. He stared up at the night sky, narrowly cropped by the tops of the buildings, seeming deep in thought. A store-branded plastic bag dangled from his hands—he might have been just returning from a trip to the convenience store. Its contents appeared to be cans of coffee. There were more than ten of them bulging from the bag. Anyone who looked at him would see nothing but white. And they would know. Oh, they would know that he was the strongest Level Five in Academy City. He had a sudden thought. What did this battle with these Level Zeroes mean? Did it mean anything? This person known as Accelerator pondered this, bored. “Graah!” came a yell from behind him. One of the encircling ruffians dove at his back with a knife in his hand. Accelerator didn’t turn around, though. He wasn’t even paying attention. The ruffian lunged at him, putting all of his body weight into the tip of his knife, about to stab his defenseless, even delicate-looking back. The experiment that used twenty thousand of the Sisters to evolve him into a Level Six, an Absolute—it had ended. Had his defeat changed the world? If it did, then how? There was the criiick of bones breaking behind Accelerator. Of course, they didn’t belong to him. They belonged to the scoundrel who tried to stab him in the back with his knife. His wrist was broken. The force vector of all his body weight behind the knife had been reflected…and his slender wrist couldn’t endure the strength of the rest of his body. “Gyaaahhh” came a new shout from the thug. He fell to the filthy ground and rolled around, holding his wrist. It was a comical sight. It seemed that after the experiment…he was no longer Academy City’s strongest. Nothing had even changed, though—he was still one of only seven Level Fives in the city, and he could still freely alter the vector of any force that came into contact with his skin, whether kinetic, heat, or electric. Spurred on by their comrade’s mad shrieking, the remaining six young men came at him all at once. But how many of them believed that they could win, in the true meaning of the word? Their eyes were certainly bloodshot. But that also seemed like the result of hyper-anxiety, or unease, or terror, or exhaustion. A great number of people had begun to attack him regularly at all hours of the day after that battle. Unfortunately for them, they really did think that his wall—the title of Academy City’s strongest—had been torn down. They shouted and brandished their blades and nightsticks, but Accelerator couldn’t have cared less. He left his hands hanging lazily at his sides. They would defeat themselves without him doing a thing. The vectors of their attacks would all be reflected and concentrated back into their complex and frail wristbones. But every single one of those people, without exception, immediately knew as soon as their first shot had failed. The strongest esper in Academy City was indeed alive and well. He heard the biting crunches of thug bones breaking, one after the other. They screamed and they writhed, and yet Accelerator simply ignored them. Finally, someone attempted to use an ability against him—either they had reached the conclusion that physical attacks were too dangerous, or they had been displaying what incredibly little goodwill they had from the start. And yet the attempts wouldn’t stop. It didn’t matter how many he crushed, or how many he defeated, or how much he proved himself. Not one of the idiots could seem to tear off the mark of a Level Zero. Accelerator couldn’t tell what sort of esper this particular one was. He didn’t quite catch what kind of power was coming at him. He just reflected it. The esper’s eyes ballooned as his confidently loosed attack whipped back toward him and knocked him to the ground. Seeing as he was still alive, he couldn’t have been any more than a Level Two, an Adept. Now, then, he mused. The battle with the Sisters and Railgun was over. Could he say that he had changed for it? Had he grown weaker? Had he grown stronger? Or was it that nameless Level Zero? Had he grown stronger? Had he grown weaker? “Huh?” Suddenly, he realized that the clamor around him had quieted. At last, he tore his gaze from his view of the sky, demarcated by the ground, and glanced around. The punks who had surrounded him of their own accord were now sprawled out on the filthy ground of their own accord. Perhaps a relaxed expression like sprawled out wasn’t enough to convey how much blood was in the scene, but at least nobody was dead. They had exchanged blows with none other than Accelerator fair and square—it was a miraculous outcome considering they were still all breathing. As he turned around, he saw ten of the rats knocked out on the pavement, but he hadn’t done anything. This hadn’t even felt like a battle to him. For him, he just happened on his way home with some coffee after a late-night run to the store. He didn’t consider finishing any of them off, either. Anyone who could be killed today could be killed tomorrow, and anyone he could kill tomorrow he could kill at any time next year. Letting it get to him would be stupid. He could get as excited as he wanted, but he had no goal, unlike the experiment did. And an eternity without a goal was equivalent to drowning. “Ah, somethin’s wrong. It ain’t like me to let idiots like these snap at me and get away with it. Something’s definitely changed. But what? What’s up? Whaaat iiisss thiiisss?” Accelerator cocked his head to the side, perplexed. He had discovered firsthand a kind of battle where it was possible for him to lose. Was he now caught up in the glorified idea that he couldn’t be satisfied with anything less than an overwhelming, one-sided victory in such a fight? After all, if a person were to look back on a time where they had been beaten to a pulp and smile about it, then that person would surely be a masochist. He groaned and folded his arms. The coffee inside the bag clattered around. There were more than ten cans, all of the same brand. He was trapped in this cycle—whenever he found a brand he took a fancy to, he’d drink it for days on end. Then, within a week, he’d just get bored of it and go looking for a new kind. Man, what the hell? I don’t feel like doin’ shit. He gazed up into the night sky once more, his view of it enclosed by the tops of the buildings, far up high—and then he heard what seemed like a girl’s voice. “Nothing? What donothing?! You knowa girlshock mefeel that way” It was midnight, so her voice was oddly shrill. Just some arguing couple, he dismissed, reflecting on the meaningless voice floating down toward him—more precisely, all air vibrations. If he had been a few seconds later in doing so, he would have heard the cry of a certain Level Zero he knew quite well. He could reflect things unconsciously and doing this only required some simple measurements. First, he would calculate the minimum amount of force that he needed (gravity, pressure, radiation, oxygen, heat, voices), then he would formulate an equation that would let him reflect all other forces aside from that. If he did actually reflect everything, gravity would lose its grip on him and he’d soar out of the atmosphere. Accelerator again added a reflection setting for the sounds descending upon him, then crossed through the alley and exited onto the street. He walked along, looking up at the sky for no reason in particular. He wasn’t looking ahead of himself, but then, he really didn’t need to pay attention to obstacles anyway. His reflection kept his body impervious to pain. But that’s why he had realized it so late: Somebody had gotten right up behind him and was moving their throat hoarsely, desperately trying to shout something. “Eh?” He turned his head to look over his shoulder, still walking. The person he saw was…rather odd. First of all, they were dressed strangely. All he saw was a dirty blanket draped over their head. The makeshift mantle, made of a sky-blue cloth that almost looked like part of a secret-society uniform or cultist garb, entirely covered their face and body. He couldn’t even tell their gender, nor what type of clothing they were wearing underneath it. On top of that, they were extremely short. Accelerator wasn’t very big himself, of course, but they only stood up to his stomach. Must be a little kid. Like ten years old maybe. They were clearly too young for the average homeless person. Though given that 80 percent of the population of Academy City was comprised of students, there were still a few similar instances he could think of. The little monster blanket was shouting something at him. “, ?!” Unfortunately, it didn’t reach his ears, since he was reflecting the sound. He looked up, relaxed, and stopped the reflection just for a moment as a test. What he heard was a piercing, yet somehow plain and clear, female voice. “and, well, how should I put this—the fact that you’re so utterly and completely ignoring me is actually kinda refreshing in a way, and you’re walking too slowly to be angry at me or anything, so maybe you’re just the world’s ultimate airhead, hmm? says Misaka says Misaka, all confused and stuff.” The girl was standing not ten centimeters away from him. If anyone who knew who he was were to witness this, they’d stop at nothing to pry the girl away from him. Or maybe they would just give up, assuming that it was already too late. He could kill someone just by touching them with one finger. The girl might as well have been peering into the mouth of a yawning lion. However, the bloody tragedy never came to pass. She just stood there, looking carefree. Accelerator grimaced a bit. His ability was that he could change any vector he pleased. That meant that no matter how close she got, as long as she didn’t lunge at him, she wouldn’t get hurt. His reflection was a defensive ability—he only directed its fangs at those who meant him harm. He would never injure someone who bore him no ill will in the first place, at least. “…What a friggin’ joke.” “You keep walking away while muttering under your breath, can’t you see me, or are you just treating me like a fairy, hey, Misaka’s right here, you know! says Misaka says Misaka fervently, like, appealing to her own existence, and yet you’re totally denying it?” Accelerator cracked the muscles in his neck and continued walking back home. Then, as if the girl had gotten a little flustered at being left behind, she called out, “Hey, I said, Misaka is Misaka is right here—or wait, are you pretending that this isn’t happening right now? says Misaka says Misaka, tilting Misaka’s head in confusion in a very Misaka-like way…huh? Wait, how many times did I just say Misaka, wonders Misaka wonders Misaka as her thoughts get all muddy and stuff.” “Wait…Misaka?” His feet came to an abrupt halt. What’s she so happy about, anyway? That was all it took for the blanket girl to come jogging up to him. He didn’t know for sure, though, since her face wasn’t visible. “Oh, you finally admitted that Misaka exists, yay! cheers Misaka cheers Misaka, delighting in self-praise and stuff. That whole ‘I think, therefore I am’ sounds like total lies, huh, since you can’t really have a self just by yourself, you need someone else there to acknowledge that you exist, I guess, says Misaka says Misaka, like, rejecting the cogito, ergo sum philosophy with mistaken knowledge that she’s only pretending to know, and stuff.” “Hold on, wait, shut up for a second! Take that damn blanket off your head and show me your face.” “Uh, huh? Um, err, ummm, wow I can’t believe you’re asking a girl to take off her clothes after just meeting her, that’s being a little bit too forward, don’t you think, and I mean, there’s a line for what you can ask someone to do and what— Hey, excuse me! asks Misaka asks Misaka. Were you serious?” “…” “Ack, he went quiet. His eyes say he’s serious, they say he’s for real, but please, you, don’t pull on my blanket! There’s no telling what you may find underneath, says Misaka says Misaka, and yet—gyaaahhh…?!” Her clear and unaffected voice trailed off near the end, but that wasn’t going to help, as the blanket on her head was already falling down, down, down to the ground. The first thing he saw was her face. It was the exact same face as all those mass-produced electric users, the Sisters, also known as Radio Noise, who he knew well. While the Sisters’ age was set to fourteen, however, this girl didn’t look more than ten or so. Her eyes widened, surprised at something. That motion wasn’t very much like the Sisters, either. The next things he saw were her shoulders. Perhaps she was wearing clothes that exposed her skin. Her build was certainly that of a ten-year-old, her shoulders looking like they would snap if someone were to even touch one, betraying her delicacy. In addition, he saw her bare chest. On top of that, he saw her naked waist. The last things he saw were her unclothed feet. “Eh? What on earth— Wait, what the hell?” Accelerator’s face drew back, his hand still on the blanket. If anyone who understood his personality had seen this, then (aside from getting a chill of fear) they would have started laughing uncontrollably. The conclusion that needs to be stated here is that she wasn’t wearing anything under the blanket. She stood there vacantly, as if forgetting to react, her mind not having caught up to the situation yet. When all was said and done, there was a completely and utterly naked girl in front of him. 2 (Aug.31_AM00:25) The girl started demanding that he “give back give back the blanket the blanket” with tears in her eyes, so he hurled the filthy rag back onto her head. She took it, then squirmed around, wrapping herself in it again. Then she launched into an explanation he didn’t really ask for. “Misaka’s serial number is 20001. I was created as part of the final lot of Sisters, says Misaka says Misaka, beginning her explanation and stuff. My code name was left as Last Order, for being the last one, and I was supposed to be used in the experiment, says Misaka says Misaka, like, complaining about it and stuff.” “Uh-huh,” muttered Accelerator inattentively as he trudged down the road. Last Order frantically caught back up to him and went on. “By the way, hey wait a minute, as you know, the experiment ended prematurely, so Misaka’s body hasn’t been adjusted all the way, says Misaka says Misaka, giving even more explanation. I got kicked out of my incubator when I wasn’t finished yet, so I’m all compact and stuff, says Misaka says Misaka…Are you listening to me?” “And whaddaya want me to do about it?” Accelerator asked, still walking. He’d heard that all of the remaining Sisters had been entrusted to different organizations after the experiment ended. There were almost ten thousand of them, though, so it was more than possible they couldn’t get a handle on all of them. Maybe that’s why one slipped away from their oversight and started wandering around the city without a guardian. The seemingly ten-year-old homeless girl pulled on her blanket. “You were the whole point of the experiment, so you can probably get in touch with the scientists, right? If you can, it would be great if you did, wonders Misaka wonders Misaka. Misaka’s body and mind right now are in an incomplete, unstable state, so if you tell them you want it, they can put me back in the incubator and get me completed, suggests Misaka suggests Misaka, like, putting her hands together and tilting her head in a cute way.” “Ask someone else.” “Wowie! An immediate answer—a swift and utter denial! cries Misaka cries Misaka in despair. But I don’t have anywhere else to go, so Misaka won’t Misaka won’t give up!” “…” What the hell is with her? Accelerator sighed. He was a murderer. He’d already killed more than ten thousand of the Sisters, those somatic cell clones of Mikoto Misaka. All of them shared memories via a brain-wave connection, so Last Order should be well aware of that fact, too. Or could the incomplete Last Order not possess the functionality to hook up to that connection yet? Her personality data, which should have been input from a Testament, did seem different than the normal Sisters’ personality, too. Although in this case, it was a little blurry as to which one was more “incomplete”… He was fed up with how familiar this girl was getting with him, but when he thought about it, he figured that her lack of a danger sense was pretty much the same as all the other ones. 3 (Aug.31_AM00:51) They veered off the main road onto a side one, then passed through a handful of narrow streets. A five-story dormitory building rose up to meet them. All the buildings around it stood at a proud ten stories tall, so it seemed enveloped in a pensive, humid darkness. It was as if melancholy itself permeated the concrete walls to their very core. “Whoa! You sure do live in an amazing place, says Misaka says Misaka, all impressed and stuff.” “The hell? Was that sarcasm?” “It’s a wonderful thing to have your own room and a space all to yourself, says Misaka says Misaka, her eyes all glittery as she explains.” Last Order was still trying to patter up behind him in her bare feet. She harbored no ill will. Accelerator ignored her, entered the building, and started up the unfaced concrete staircase. He could still hear the sound of her blanket dragging across the floor behind him. He turned around as he climbed the stairs and spoke up. “Hey, how long are ya gonna follow—” “Thanks for letting me stay with you, says Misaka says Misaka, striking preemptively.” “…” “Thanks for letting me eat with you, says Misaka says Misaka, hoping for three meals a day, naps, and snacks.” I think she wants me to make sure she’s got shelter until I can get in touch with the researchers in charge of that experiment. What a pain, sighed Accelerator, shaking his head. “Listen here. Either you walk back down these stairs or you go flying off the railing, got it?” “Wowzers! Looks like I was wrong to think you’d gotten any friendlier, says Misaka says Misaka, knocking herself in the head. But if we split up here, I don’t think I’ll be able to get in touch with anyone. More importantly, it’s way too dangerous for a girl to be living on the streets, so I can’t back down, says Misaka says Misaka, like, clearly stating her intentions.” Accelerator reached the third-floor hallway, and there Last Order passed by him. He watched as she spun around to face him. She spread her arms, evidently in an attempt to block his passage. “Where’s your room? asks Misaka asks Misaka.” “I’m ignoring you.” “What number is it? C’mon, you can tell me, what number? insists Misaka insists Misaka, like, trying repeatedly to deliver a message to you, who has no communication ability whatsoever.” “Do I need to kill you for you to shut up or what?” Accelerator retorted needlessly. Last Order, however, didn’t respond. She wasn’t at a loss as to what she should say—it was more like she was creating a distance between them with her quietude. An odd, heavy silence fell upon them. At last, she spoke—quietly and slowly, while narrowing her eyes. “Activating EM sonar. Oscillating at a frequency of 3,200 megahertz. A group of five people who have acquired suspicious items has been confirmed to be present on this floor, reports Misaka reports Misaka. That could be your room, adds Misaka adds Misaka.” “…What?” Accelerator thinned his eyes slightly. He’d been under constant attack by thugs, as could be seen by the happening in that alley. Getting ambushed here wasn’t out of the question. “C’mon, let’s go, tell me, okay? What number’s your room? presses Misaka presses Misaka.” Hmm. He thought for a moment. “Room 304.” “Oh, I think that’s right here, says Misaka says Misaka, pointing out the door. Let’s see…thank you for letting me in! says Misaka says Misaka, deeming politeness necessary.” Last Order approached the door to room 304 as she spoke. For someone going on about intruders, she sure didn’t have much caution. She grabbed the doorknob and opened it. She must have used her ability in order to undo the electric lock. Satisfied at her own skill, she flung the door open and went in. Accelerator watched out of the corner of his eye, then put her out of his mind and began walking briskly toward his actual room. Directly after, from out of the opened door behind him, he heard both the yell of the room’s occupant—who was apparently watching late-night television—and Last Order’s shouted, yet somehow quiet, apology. Then, he heard the door fly back closed with a bang and her frantic footsteps came toward him. “That was a completely different person’s room, you know, says Misaka says Misaka, kind of indignant. I didn’t know you had this kind of mean streak, protests Misaka protests Misaka, her eyes welling up with tears, but you’re not listening to me anyway.” “Put a sock in it, will you? Tryin’ some stupid bluff on me like that…And what are you talking about anyway? Three thousand two hundred megahertz is microwaves!” “Urk. Your point is moot because microwaves are used in radar and super-multiplexing communication anyway, contends Misaka contends Misaka stubbornly.” She didn’t deny that she’d lied about detecting people. Accelerator clicked his tongue, uninterested. “Besides, 304 can’t be my room. All you had to do was look at the nameplate on the door, idiot.” “I don’t know your real name, argues Misaka argues Misaka.” “I don’t know yours, either.” “It’s a miracle! Houston, we have conversation! says Misaka says Misaka, not letting this chance out of her grasp. O-okay, so this time for real: Which room is yours? asks Misaka asks Misaka.” “Three-oh-seven.” “Got it!” she replied in a somewhat quiet voice. Ten seconds after she threw open the door, she realized it was someone else’s room again and walked back after Accelerator, positively crestfallen. “Why are you being so mean to meee? asks Misaka asks Misaka, her shoulders drooping. Misaka doesn’t mind even if your room is a mess, offers Misaka offers Misaka.” Accelerator settled on ignoring her outright and came to his room, 311. There he stopped. Something was…a little odd. “Hey, wait, what the hell?” First off, there wasn’t a door. And beyond the gaping entrance, there was nothing that could properly be called furniture or belongings. Only a handful of muddy footprints remained on the floor—everything else was destroyed. The wallpaper and the floorboards were both torn up, his shoe box was broken, there were traces of a fire in the kitchen, the television was in two pieces, his bed was flipped over, and the cotton that was once in the sofa was now all over the place. He really had been raided while he was out at the store. The sad state of his room was doubtlessly the raiders’ revenge after finding him absent. “Whoa, it really is a big mess in here, says Misaka says Misaka, at a loss for words and stuff.” The corners of Accelerator’s lips turned down at the understatement. “Looks like your bluff was actually on the spot.” For a moment, for the slightest split second, he caught his breath at the sight. This, in the end, was his essence. His power could thoroughly defend himself, but it couldn’t protect a single thing besides. “…What a damn pain.” Accelerator stepped into his apartment without bothering to take his shoes off. He heard a crack as his heel crushed something plastic. No particularly strong feelings came to him as he looked at his utterly devastated room. He flopped down on the cottonless sofa, ready to sleep. “Um, err, ummmm. Shouldn’t you report this to Anti-Skills or Judgment or something? says Misaka says Misaka, poking her nose in someone else’s business and stuff.” “What good would that do?” sighed Accelerator. They might catch the criminals responsible, but it wouldn’t stop the constant attacks he was going through. Tomorrow a different person would come to strike and a different one still the day after that. “So, what’re you doin’? If you wanna stay over, then that’s your business, but you’ll end up the same as that smashed TV. Seriously, you might be better off laying in the middle of a slum to go to sleep,” he told her, offering a dispassionate evaluation of his own living space. “And there’s all sorts of glass and whatnot all over the floor. Kinda makes walking barefoot a challenge in itself, eh? Hah. You’d be safer sleeping out in the hallway than you would in here.” “Hmmm. Misaka thinks she’ll still stay in here anyway, Misaka requests Misaka requests.” “Eh? What for?” “Because I want to be with someone, answers Misaka answers Misaka immediately.” “…” Accelerator fell silent, still on the couch. He stared dumbly at the ceiling. “Okay, then if you don’t mind…Oh, it must be a miracle! That table looks safe, says Misaka says Misaka, pointing it out. Misaka will try to sleep on the table, then…Wait, I’m warning you, don’t you dare do anything to me while I’m asleep, says Misaka says Misa—” “Go to sleep.” “Wowie! I’ve made sure it’s safe, but it’s a little bit unbearable, says Misaka says Misaka.” He shut his eyes. From the darkness he heard Last Order squirming around. He also heard her coughing repeatedly, like she wasn’t used to dusty places. He felt his entire body’s pent-up exhaustion wash over him. He thought about why and finally came up with one answer. What the hell… Embraced in his gentle, dark slumber, like a small, sleepy child, he may have thought,…Now that I think of it, how long’s it been since I talked to someone who didn’t have it in for me? 4 (Aug.31_AM11:35) The strength of the sunlight shining into the room woke Accelerator. This dorm was surrounded by many taller buildings in the neighborhood, so light only got into the room during a certain time of day. He hazily realized that morning was nearly past—and then noticed the person hovering over him, looking at him. It was Last Order, brimming with curiosity. “Wow! Ya really have a meek face when you’re sleeping, don’cha, says Misaka says Misaka, trying out a fake Kyoto accent. Yes! You’ve got that mean old look on your face the rest of the time. Your sleepy face is totally different, and that’s okay! says Misaka says Misa—” “…” Accelerator, on the other hand, his face looking none too pretty, was completely reflecting Last Order’s entire voice. “—ike, smiling and stuff whoaah?! Misaka’s voice Misaka’s voice got really loud?” Last Order nearly toppled over. Her own voice struck her like a megaphone right next to her ear. She shook her tiny head back and forth, but then, without hesitation, addressed Accelerator again. “…” Slowly and without haste, Accelerator rubbed under his eyes. It wasn’t so much that he was moving slowly than it was that he didn’t have any energy. He stared blankly at Last Order, who was peering at his face. “Blanket…” “Huh? Are you still half-asleep? asks Misaka asks Misa—gyaah?! Stop, wait, don’t pull on Misaka’s blanket, it’s my treasure, I’m telling you…!” “…So tired.” Blanket in hand, he rolled himself up in it like a moth in a cocoon and gave himself over to sleep again. 5 (Aug.31_PM02:05) Accelerator awoke to an empty stomach. He looked at the clock—just barely hanging on the wall—and saw that it was past two o’clock, meaning it was already past lunchtime. As he figured he should probably get up and eat something, Accelerator suddenly noticed the dirty blanket covering him. “What, what’s this…wait, why are you still here?…You look kinda grumpy. Why d’you have a tablecloth hanging from you?” “…I yelled at you and I hit you and you didn’t respond at all and you’re really sleepy, could that be your weak point? says Misaka says Misaka, all stricken by her own powerlessness and stuff.” Her body mostly wrapped in a torn tablecloth, she dropped to the floor, as if she’d used all her savings on lottery tickets and lost every single one of them. His reflection worked while he slept, too. And to be even more undisturbed, he made it impossible to be woken up from outside stimulation by reflecting sounds as well. She sniffled. “Give back give back my blanket my blanket, demands Misaka demands Misaka. That blue blanket has been with me sharing my joys and sorrows all throughout life, so it can’t be replaced, says Misaka says Misaka, trying out a bluff to make you cry.” Accelerator didn’t really need the filthy rag anymore, so he tossed it on her head. Then he stared toward the kitchen, still slightly dazed. He never cooked anything. There should have still been some food in reserve in the fridge, but when he looked into the kitchen from his position, he sullenly dropped back onto the sofa again. The fridge was on its side. The food had been flung out of it, and the vinyl packaging was torn and strewn about the floor. Last Order, after her equipment swap from tablecloth to blanket, seemed to have regained her upbeat mood. “Good morning, even though it’s pretty late already, says Misaka says Misaka, like, bowing. I’m hungry so if you would make me some food some food Misaka’s happiness level will go up by about thirty points—” “Go to sleep.” “Holy cow, both your hospitality and calorie intake are perfectly zero, cheers Misaka cheers Misaka. Also, that was not an expression of happiness, but a gesture of surrender, so please take it as such, says Misaka says Misaka, like, giving a polite and succinct explanation. Anyway, it’s morning! Morning, morning, morning, morning—” “…Shit, it’s two already?!” That was enough to open even Accelerator’s eyes, terrible at waking up though he may have been. He was, in fact, hungry, but his sleep being disturbed was mostly Last Order’s fault. He could have just reflected her voice, but that would be like covering one’s eyes when there were bugs flying around their face. It wouldn’t feel very good. He decided to throw the brat away somewhere and lifted himself off the sofa. I’ll grab a bite to eat on the way, he thought, making his way toward the door. “Huh? That’s not the way to the kitchen, Misaka says Misaka says, pointing in the correct direction.” “Why do I gotta make food? Do I look like I cook?” “Aww, I wanted to see Accelerator making home cooking in an apron for the surprise factor, complains Misaka complains Misaka. Huh? Wait, wait! You didn’t even bother with a comeback! You just ignore me by default, don’t you? cries Misaka cries Misaka, but you’re still ignoring me, huh?!” Accelerator silently left the apartment. Last Order went after him, mumbling away. 6 (Aug.31_PM02:35) There was nobody to be found on the streets on August 31. Given that 80 percent of the residents here were students, most of the population must have been holed up in their rooms finishing their homework. That didn’t have anything to do with Accelerator or Last Order, though. He walked through the near-deserted city, the young girl in tow. She pulled along her blue blanket and tried to walk up next to the boy of white. “Is that hair natural? asks Misaka asks Misaka,” asked Misaka as they neared a family restaurant chain. “Eh?” “Your hair! says Misaka says Misaka. White hair isn’t normal, points out Misaka and stuff. And how do you biologically even have red eyes, too? asks Misaka asks Misaka, all confused.” He should have ignored her, but if he did, she would probably start to get noisy again, so he decided to give a noncommittal answer. He’d grab a late lunch, and then it didn’t matter to him if he gave her to the researchers or if he left her on the side of the road. Thinking of this as the last time, he was able to put up with the slight annoyance. “This isn’t natural. It’s a side effect of my power or somethin’. I don’t know. The pigments in your skin and hair and eyes protect your body from UV rays, but I always just reflect all the extra shit anyway, so my body doesn’t need color. Somethin’ like that.” Unexpectedly, he found himself feeling rather loquacious. He was always arguing needlessly during the experiment too. Maybe he liked to talk more than he thought. “Wow, that’s, like, kinda logical and stuff, says Misaka says Misaka, surprised. It’s like, you’re Accelerator, so anything goes, says Misaka says Misaka, giving up.” “Why the hell you sayin’ you’re givin’ up? It’s just that my power’s too strong. My hormones are out of balance or somethin’ because there’s barely any outside influence, so now I’ve got this body that you can’t even tell if it’s a girl’s or a guy’s.” “Wait, then which are you? says Misaka says Misaka, straight up asking.” “What, can’t ya tell by lookin’?” he responded, a bit confused at his own words. His normal thought processes didn’t seem to be aligned properly with this thread of conversation. He, too, lived in a society of humans…but he didn’t kill everyone he laid eyes on or anything. Yet the fact that he could make conversation with a mass-produced Sister, of all things, was something that had never happened before. The conversation he’d had with the one of them during the experiment… “Yes, Misaka’s serial number is 10032, responds Misaka. But would it not be proper to first confirm the password just to be sure you are a participant in the experiment? suggests Misaka. “I am having difficulty understanding the vague word stuff, answers Misaka. There are three minutes and twenty seconds remaining before the start of the experiment. Have you completed your preparations? confirms Misaka.” …That, of course, didn’t feel at all like a conversation between two people. It was just an exchange with a machine built to immediately answer any of his questions. From Accelerator’s point of view anyway. “Seriously, after doing this ten thousand times a guy gets bored, so I was just thinkin’ we could kill a little time or somethin’, but I guess not. You’re impossible to talk to, you know that?” He never thought they were actually talking to each other from the start, and they never actually had a conversation at all. And yet… Then did somethin’ about me really change? he thought. If something did change, then what? What in the world was the reason for it? And what in the universe had changed? “Hello? Hello hello hello hello hello, says Misaka says Misaka, making sure you heard her. Are you thinking about something? asks Misaka asks Misaka, looking at your face.” “What? Uh, I was just thinking, are you seriously gonna walk into a store with just a blanket on?” “…Waah. Are you asking what Misaka will do if she’s refused service? asks Misaka asks Misaka, slowly and nervously.” “Go to sleep.” “Yahoo, that’s turning into your favorite phrase, says Misaka says Misaka, getting kinda desperate.” Last Order, face completely straight, started waving around her arms. Accelerator looked away from her and into the afternoon sky. They were making conversation. Somewhere he couldn’t see, something was changing. 7 (Aug.31_PM03:15) “Welcome! Will it be the two guests, then?” It ended up that the waitress smiled at the girl in the blanket and allowed her entrance. But her face was a little strained. She must have been a part-timer, so she probably didn’t know how to deal with incidents that weren’t in the customer service manual. Accelerator and Last Order took a seat by the window. Eighty percent of Academy City’s population was in school, so August 31 seemed like the day everyone stayed inside to finish their remaining homework. If it were actually lunchtime, there would have been many more people here, but it was off-hours at the moment. As he stared out the window vacantly, he caught sight of a hunched man in white clothing walking down the road. “Huh?” When the man noticed his gaze, he scrambled into a parked sports car and left as if he were being chased by a stampede. “Was that…Ao Amai?” muttered Accelerator. Last Order made a “Huh?” noise and looked up from her menu. Ao Amai. A researcher in his twenties, and one of those who pushed ahead with the Level Six shift experiment until the very end. It was planned around the predictive calculations of a supercomputer, but the results of those calculations had been found incorrect, so the entire experiment was frozen semipermanently. The faction that wanted to continue it would have been searching night and day for the bugs in the mountains of data they possessed, but… “Him?…What the hell is he doing around here…?” “What do you see what are you thinking what are you saying? asks Misaka asks Misaka.” “Would you be quiet? Don’t you remember what you set out to do in the first place?” “It was to eat lunch, right? replies Misaka replies Misaka instantly. Oh! Wait, is this the plot development where you say I can ask for anything I want, just for today? hopes Misaka hopes Misaka.” He sighed. “No, forget it. I don’t care anymore.” What happened to her original objective to contact the scientists? He watched Amai’s car disappear down the road as he contemplated that. Last Order didn’t notice. She rubbed her eyes and started wobbling left and right. “Umm. Lately no matter how much I sleep I don’t get less tired, says Misaka says Misaka, kinda confused.” “That so.” The waitress came to give them glasses of water. Accelerator ordered something at random off the menu. Suddenly, he noticed Last Order giving him a strange look from across the table. “Oh! Also, begins Misaka begins Misaka, choosing her words carefully. Well, I guess you can order food and pay like a normal person, huh? says Misaka says Misaka in admiration.” “Eh?” “Yes. I imagined you as someone who would just kick down the front door, eat all the food, then leap out of the window and calmly run away without paying, answers Misaka answers Misaka frankly, even though she’s trembling.” “Oh, right,” nodded Accelerator, yawning. “I mean, I could do that, too, but…the experiment is frozen—there’s no organization backing it at this point, is there? If I make a show of myself, shit’ll probably hit the fan.” “But that’s already weird, interrupts Misaka interrupts Misaka. I don’t think anyone can stand up to you, whether it’s Anti-Skills or Judgment, says Misaka says Misaka, offering her candid opinion. And if we go that far, it’s strange that you went along with the scientists in the first place, says Misaka says Misaka, confused.” “I’m telling you…” Accelerator sighed. “It ain’t worth thinkin’ about. Let’s say I caused some trouble here in this shop. Then we just ran away without paying. Who’d come after me first?” “Umm, I guess the employees and stuff, answers Misaka answers Misaka.” “Yeah. I’d kill them in no time flat. Like, seriously, you wouldn’t be able to blink. Then who would come next? The manager? Another blink and down he goes. Anti-Skills next? Judgment? Those ones are actually easier. The stronger their weapons, the more potent my reflection becomes. After that…I mean, if Academy City couldn’t rein me in, then the outside would get involved, right? But so what? Police forces, riot squads, the SDF…Not even the military, or special forces, or assassination groups would be able to do anything. Would they start to drop bombs on me? It could all just end in a torrent of nukes. “But what would that accomplish?” he declared. If nuclear warheads did start flying around, he’d win the full-scale, international war against him. The only thing left after humanity was destroyed would be life in a cave, like primal humans lived. In order to live with the minimum requirements to be human, he ultimately needed to live within a society. This was actually only a problem for those who had the power to destroy. He vaguely wondered if a president holding the firing code for nuclear missiles felt the same way. “Oogh…Do you always talk in such a ridiculous, crazy way? asks Misaka asks Misaka.” “You’re one to talk.” “Hmm. The information installed in my mind states that there is a thing called school, says Misaka says Misaka, wondering. How do you mesh with your class with zero communication ability? asks Misaka asks Misaka again.” “Oh, that’s not a problem. I don’t got any classmates.” “?” “I’m in a special class. Though I’m not sure if it’s good-special or bad-special,” said Accelerator casually. After his powers had been awakened via a Curriculum, he was moved into a special class. He was the only student. He had no classmates. He didn’t participate in any athletic meets or culture festivals. He just sat there at his desk, by himself, in a cramped classroom. In a school with two thousand students. It wasn’t like he’d ever felt dissatisfied by it. But long ago, the scientists had told him it was because he was the strongest Level Five. The class was to have him shift to Level Six. He remembered thinking about what would happen if he was no longer the strongest, if he evolved into something invincible. What would change? “Are you lonely? asks Misaka asks Misaka.” “Eh?” “Power comes with isolation, but Misaka probably wouldn’t understand that feeling and neither would anyone else, I think, predicts Misaka predicts Misaka. So—” “I don’t even understand what you just asked. What? If I said yes, you gonna come over here and pat me on the head to console me or somethin’?” he said in a low voice. Only a cold silence followed. No matter what anyone else said, Accelerator was a cold-blooded butcher responsible for the deaths of more than ten thousand. It would be pointless, meaningless, for someone to comfort him with all the dark solitude within him that nobody could understand. And to think—he might have been driven into the experiment in the first place just because he needed a place to vent all that. “” Was that it? Is that really the case? He frowned. Vaguely, he decided that if it was true, then something else was wrong. Yeah, something was certainly strange. But he couldn’t figure out what he was so hung up on. Accelerator thought back one more time to the experiment…and then realized what it was. “Seriously, after doing this ten thousand times a guy gets bored, so I was just thinkin’ we could kill a little time or somethin’, but I guess not. You’re impossible to talk to, you know that?” That was strange. If everything really was just him venting, if he had just been killing the Sisters like they were no more than stuffed animals made to be beaten, then why did he even consider talking to them? The only one acting irregularly during the experiment had been him. Maybe they didn’t make any actual conversation, but that just meant that the Sisters were performing to specifications. They were being practical. They were obeying all the supercomputer’s predictions, calculations, plans, and programs for the sake of the experiment. If he limited his scope to just the experiment, then he was the irregular one—he had broken the rules and talked to one of the Sisters. In actuality, none of the scientists nor the Sisters had tried to talk to him at all. Then what had spurred him to such irrational actions? That was the strange part. If he had approached the Sisters just to kill them or blow off stress, then the idea of talking to one should have never even crossed his mind. People generally talked to other people because they wanted to get along and to make friends with them, right? He felt like that wasn’t the case, either. He was the one disparaging, maiming, and killing all the Sisters, after all. “Ah, she’s here she’s here finally! says Misaka says Misaka, pointing to the waitress. Yay! Misaka’s food came first!” The waitress placed Last Order’s food in front of her. It seemed like Accelerator’s would take a little longer. “Wow, this is the first time I’ve had a hot meal, like, ever! exclaims Misaka exclaims Misaka. Some really hot steam is coming off the plate and stuff, says Misaka says Misaka, eyeing the food carefully.” A few days had passed since the experiment was suspended. If she had been chased out of the lab right after that, then she’d have been wandering around for… “…What a damn pain,” he muttered under his breath. He turned his gaze from the girl back to the window. He waited a moment but didn’t hear her start eating. Thinking it odd, he looked back to see her politely sitting behind her piping-hot plate of food, looking at him. She wasn’t even trying to eat or anything. Anyone looking at her would have seen through her facade, though. She was just itching to dive into the food. “? What are you doin’? This is the first hot meal you’ve eaten, ‘like, ever,’ right?” “But this is also the first time I’m eating with somebody else, answers Misaka answers Misaka. I’ve heard that people give thanks for their food before eating it, recalls Misaka recalls Misaka. I wanna do that! says Misaka says Misaka, ever hopeful.” “…” It took fifteen minutes for Accelerator’s food to be brought out. Her food was no longer steaming in the slightest. She was still smiling, though. Grinning happily. 8 (Aug.31_PM03:43) After quite some time had passed since entering the restaurant, Accelerator and Last Order began eating their meals. Last Order didn’t seem used to utensils—forks and knives were one thing, but she didn’t even seem to know how to use spoons or chopsticks. For some reason, she stuck a fork into her white rice, looking confused. Accelerator’s meal was mostly meat. It was tough, though. The wooden palette and small hot plate under his dish weren’t quite the right size, so everything kept shaking around, making the meat difficult to cut. He stopped for just a second, then firmly held the burning-hot hot plate steady. A waitress walking past looked extremely surprised, but Accelerator reflected all unnecessary heat anyway, so he wouldn’t get burned by it. The scene of them eating would have stood out enormously. “This is good! This is great! praises Misaka praises Misaka.” “This is a freakin’ parade of freeze-dried microwavable meals. We don’t even know how many weeks these ingredients have been stuffed in a warehouse for!” “But what’s good is good! says Misaka says Misaka, satisfied. And it feels different when you eat with someone else, says Misaka says Misaka, offering a psychological explanation.” “…You know what?” Accelerator removed his hand from the heated hot plate. “I shoulda probably asked yesterday, but you’ve got nerves of steel, you know that? Don’t you know what I did to all of you? Wasn’t it painful? Distressing? Brutal? Humiliating?” Just before the experiment ended, after the Level Zero had intervened in the fight at the switchyard, he thought he could feel the one Sister (whom he seemed to be calling Little Misaka) glaring at him with hostility. Did they not acquire actual human fear and emotion at that time? Or was that limited only to Little Misaka herself? “Weeelll, Misaka has Misaka has a brain-wave link with all 9,969 other Misakas, so she’s mentally connected with them.” “Yeah? And?” “There’s this mental network that creates those brain-wave links, explains Misaka explains Misaka.” “You mean like a collective unconsciousness or whatever?” “Well, it’s a little different, corrects Misaka corrects Misaka. The link and individual Misaka’s relationship is like that of synapses and brain cells, Misaka says Misaka says, offering an example. It would be correct to say that there is a giant brain called the Misaka network and that it controls all of the Misakas, says Misaka says Misaka.” Accelerator fell silent. Last Order, however, continued on with her explanation. “When an individual Misaka dies, the Misaka network itself doesn’t disappear, explains Misaka explains Misaka. Going with the brain analogy, Misakas are the cells, and the brain-wave links are like the synapses that convey information between cells. If a cell is destroyed, then the memories experienced go away, so it does hurt, but the Misaka network can’t be completely destroyed until the very last Misaka goes away—” Accelerator was overcome with a sense of hatred, like the kind one would get if a giant spider was looking at them. Not because this person was scary, of course. He could kill her instantly. Right at this moment. He’d killed ten thousand of them, after all. Given time, he could hunt the rest down. But that wasn’t it. There was something more fundamentally different. This girl, wrestling with the food on her plate—it was like she was built entirely differently from humans, like an alien… “—thought Misaka thought Misaka, but I think I changed my mind.” “?” “Misaka taught me—Misaka taught Misaka of her worth, she declares. She said that there is value in each individual Misaka’s life and not the whole Misaka, and she told me that if I, the Misaka here right now, were to die, then there would be people who would cry for me, asserts Misaka asserts Misaka proudly. So Misaka won’t die anymore. Not even one more can die, thinks Misaka thinks Misaka.” So she said, in a human way, looking into Accelerator’s eyes with human directness. She had declared one thing: that she would never forgive what Accelerator did. It was a proclamation of hatred. An announcement that Last Order would never forget about that time as long as she lived. “Haah…” Accelerator unconsciously slumped deep down into the back of his chair and, looking up at the ceiling, breathed a sigh. He didn’t know. He had known that they had emotions this whole time, but…no one had ever come face-to-face with him and denounced him on the spot. That’s why Accelerator didn’t understand their pain. And those Sisters, whom he’d treated as puppets until now, were humans. They could feel that sort of pain—and he hadn’t realized that until everything was over. “” Accelerator opened his mouth. He moved his mouth. But no words came out of his mouth. He had none to say. “But Misaka is grateful to you, says Misaka says Misaka. If you weren’t around, the experiment would have never formed and the declining Radio Noise project wouldn’t have been picked up again by someone else, explains Misaka explains Misaka. You were savior and killer, Eros and Thanatos, life and death—I have no doubt that you’re the one to thank for the lifeless Misakas gaining souls, says Misaka says Misaka, all grateful and stuff.” So she said. Her voice was soft, as if welcoming him. That irritated him. For some reason, it really ticked him off. “The hell?” began Accelerator in a low voice. “That makes absolutely no logical sense. You’d need a shit-ton of apathy to accept that life is just a zero-sum game where people are born and people die, and that’s it. Either way, it doesn’t change that I was killing all of you. I had fun. I was happy about it. I wanted to do it!” “That’s a lie, denies Misaka denies Misaka. I don’t think you wanted to be in the experiment at all, surmises Misaka surmises Misaka.” That messed with his thoughts even more. He’d understand it if she started crying and hitting him and telling him off. Last Order shouldn’t have had any reason whatsoever to defend him at this point. The inexplicable situation began to put him on edge. “Wait a second. You’ve gotta be modifying your memories so it’s more convenient or somethin’. You can’t say stuff like that without glorifying some part of it somewhere. Besides, did it look like they were making me do anything against my will? Your life meant shit to me as long as I could keep going on with the experiment. End of story,” he finished in an almost admonishing tone of voice. Meanwhile, he was confused about why he seemed to want to look down upon himself like that. “That isn’t true, argues Misaka argues Misaka. If it was, why’d you start talking to the Misakas during the experiment? asks Misaka asks Misaka.” Last Order was not to be dismayed. Her words continued coming at him. She was like a sweet older sister giving him a talk. “Think back and remember what happened, pleads Misaka pleads Misaka. You talked to Misaka a whole bunch of times, but why? asks Misaka asks Misaka, even though she already knows.” Accelerator didn’t have anything to say for a moment. The reason he talked to the Sisters…He didn’t know it, either. “Hah-hah! Why ya runnin’ away? You tryin’ to seduce me by shakin’ your ass all happy like that?!” “Whatever. I don’t got the right to say anything to someone tagging along, since this whole ‘experiment’ is to make me stronger. But you sure do seem calm. Don’t you think about stuff in this kinda situation or anythin’?” “Seriously, after doing this ten thousand times a guy gets bored, so I was just thinkin’ we could kill a little time or somethin’, but I guess not. You’re impossible to talk to, you know that?” “Hah! Why’re ya walkin’ around like it’s nothin’? No plan? If you wanna feel the pain that bad, then I’ll make you cry! Maybe suck on a cough drop or somethin’!” “Okay, then! Got a question for ya. How many freakin’ times have you died already?!” “If you think about it calmly, all of it sounded strange, analyzes Misaka analyzes Misaka. The reason people want to talk to others is because they want to understand them or to be understood—basically you want to connect with them, and if you just wanted to kill us so that the experiment worked out, then you wouldn’t have decided to talk to us, deduces Misaka deduces Misaka.” “…Eh? What part of what I said sounds at all like I wanted to connect with anyone?!” “Yes, that’s the second strange part, says Misaka says Misaka, putting up a second finger. Every single thing you said was completely abusive toward Misaka, so it ends up being far away from wanting to connect with them, continues Misaka continues Misaka. “But…,” she said. “…What if you said those words in the hope that she’d deny them?” “What?” Accelerator stopped. “You always asserted yourself before the experiments…before battle, recalls Misaka recalls Misaka. Almost like you were trying to scare Misaka and almost like you wanted to make her say she didn’t want to fight anymore, suggests Misaka suggests Misaka.” “Huh?” He caught his breath. “The Misakas didn’t catch on to those signs—they didn’t notice them even one time, says Misaka says Misaka regretfully. But what if, hypothetically, Misaka had said she didn’t want to fight? says Misaka says Misaka, talking about a choice for something that’s already over.” “…” His heart felt like it would stop. Yes, what if… What if that day, at that time, the Sister had said she didn’t want to be a part of the experiment anymore? That she didn’t want to die? Would Accelerator have been helpless then? Of course not. There’s no way. The experiment itself was to get him to shift to Level Six, and its core was Accelerator himself. If he had refused to cooperate, it would have ended. They couldn’t just get another esper and use them instead. And even if the scientists had wanted to restrain him, there’s no way they would have been able to. Because he was the strongest esper in Academy City. Of course he was the strongest. What if… What if, at the very beginning, when the experiment was just starting… At the very beginning of everything, before a single one of the Sisters was sacrificed… What if all twenty thousand Sisters had come to beg, with fear in their eyes, that none of them wanted a part of this? What would he have done then? He probably wanted that all along. That’s why he questioned them. Over and over. And they never gave an answer, so his questions steadily escalated, eventually turning into an unbearable whirlwind of cruelty and abuse. He wanted someone who would stop him. He wanted something that would make him stand up to it. Accelerator thought back. Ever since the experiment, ever since that one battle in the switchyard, after his fight with the Level Zero, what about him had changed? It was the first question he asked. The answer was right there. He remembered that battle in the switchyard and the Level Zero who stood up over and over again. He knew he was glorifying his own memories to the extreme. And yet, despite that, he thought… That one moment, at the very end, where a totally normal fist took him down… What was he thinking at that moment? What? “…Fuckin’ hell,” he cursed, closing his eyes and turning his head toward the ceiling. That was all he had to say. He could whitewash it all he wanted—he was by no means a good person. He just had to think over what happened at the switchyard. The Sister saved by that Level Zero would have refused to die for the experiment, but Accelerator tried to kill her anyway. He couldn’t deny that. Nobody could. There was nothing from Last Order. He wondered what sort of face she was making right now. His eyes remained closed, still closed, still closed…and he realized something was off. No matter how long he waited, Last Order didn’t say anything. The moment he opened his eyes in doubt, he heard a dull tonk. Last Order had collapsed onto the table in front of them. Not on her food or anything, but her spoon was stuck between her forehead and the table. He could tell at a glance it wasn’t just because she was sleepy or tired. The strength in her body seemed like it was all gone. Her muted breath sounded to his ears like the panting of a stray dog. It was as though she’d come down with a fever. “Hey?” “Ah-ha-ha…,” laughed Last Order in a voice that sounded exhausted. “Well, I wanted to get in contact with the scientists before I got to this point, says Misaka says Misaka, forcing a dizzy smile.” “…” “Misaka’s serial number is 20001, the last one, explains Misaka explains Misaka. Misaka’s body is still in an incomplete state, so I really shouldn’t have been let out of the incubator, sighs Misaka sighs Misaka.” “…” “But somehow, some way, I’m using every trick in the book to get through it, so I think I’m okay, thinks Misaka thinks Misaka. I wonder why?” she said in an extremely unhurried tone, seeming to be on the verge of fainting. It almost looked like if she lost consciousness like this, she wouldn’t ever open her eyes again. “Hey!” “Hm? What, what, what is it? asks Misaka asks Misaka.” There were three seconds before she gave her response. She just kept smiling. She started to sweat profusely like she was sick, but she was still smiling at him. Accelerator’s face began to lose its expression, his emotion steadily draining away. Despite their encounter, it wasn’t as if he could do anything. He had the strongest power in Academy City, but that’s all it was. He couldn’t protect anyone with it. Even if someone begged him for help, all he could do with his power was shut himself in, alone, trembling miserably, in what amounted to a nuclear shelter. He couldn’t protect. He couldn’t save. He’d always survive alone at the end. He could only watch as everything around him was destroyed. Just like when his room was ravaged. Just like how this girl was now collapsed before him. “…” Accelerator stood up from his seat without a word. Last Order looked at him without moving. “Huh? Where are you going? asks Misaka asks Misaka. We still have food left.” “Yeah, I think I lost my appetite.” “Okay…I wanted to thank them for the food, though, sighs Misaka sighs Misaka.” “Yeah? That’s too bad.” Accelerator grabbed the bill, his expression cold as ice, and walked toward the register. Leaving Last Order behind him. 9 (Aug.31_PM04:11) Accelerator walked down the road alone. Last Order’s face as he left her in the restaurant came to mind for a moment, but there wasn’t anything he could do back there. He wasn’t some hero who could do anything anyone needed him to. He wasn’t some famous detective from a mystery novel. He didn’t immediately analyze every possibility in a certain situation with a few seconds’ thought. There was nothing he could do. So he left without doing anything. That’s it, he thought vaguely as he walked. Besides, doing that kind of thing doesn’t really suit me. It’s like a totally different world. Not mine. It was a job better suited for someone like that Level Zero who stood in his way at the switchyard. “Wow, this is the first time I’ve had a hot meal, like, ever! exclaims Misaka exclaims Misaka. Some really hot steam is coming off the plate and stuff, says Misaka says Misaka, eyeing the food carefully.” Besides, what could he do at this point? Did he even have the right to do anything? It was his fault the Sisters got dragged into the experiment. It was also his fault that Last Order got chased out of the laboratory mid-development when the experiment got frozen. Whichever way the cookie crumbled, it would be weird to even think about wanting to save someone at this point. “But this is also the first time I’ve eaten with somebody else, answers Misaka answers Misaka. I’ve heard that people give thanks for their food before eating it, recalls Misaka recalls Misaka. I wanna do that! says Misaka says Misaka, ever hopeful.” He walked down the street, crossed a bridge, went past a convenience store, walked by a department store, went into a dark alley, passed by a dormitory, and walked, walked, walked, walked, walked… “Okay…I wanted to thank them for the food, though, sighs Misaka sighs Misaka.” There, his feet stopped. He lifted his gaze. “What in the hell did I come here for?” A single laboratory stood towering over him. It was the one that planned the experiment and produced all those Sisters. He wondered if there were still any incubators left for creating Radio Noise. He wondered if he could make the necessary adjustments to finish Last Order’s physical development if he used one. There was nothing he could do, so he’d left. He came here in search of something he could do. Accelerator set foot into the building lot. He knew that any of his wishes being granted was pure fantasy. But he did it anyway—in order to save her. Aug.31_PM05:15 End