A/N: Saten may be one of my all time favorite female anime characters, so writing a story about her was definitely in my to-do list.
Since Saten and Accelerator have yet to actually meet in the anime/manga/novel, I took this as a fun challenge.
I hope you'll enjoy this short oneshot. :)
FAMILY
"Ah, crap. I knew I forgot something." A long and dark-haired girl said to herself as she stopped her walking all at once upon her realization. She lowered her cerulean eyes to the plastic bag she was holding in her right hand and raised it up to her chest, using her free one to grab one of its handles and open it so she could peek inside it.
Her eyes wandered between the milk, eggs, bread and various snacks.
She let out a deep, disappointed sigh as she confirmed that she indeed forgot to buy her most favorite tea.
Turning her head back to look in the direction she had just came from, the girl narrowed her eyes at the long way she now had to walk in order to return to the store and buy the forgotten item.
"Great, Saten, just great." She told herself, shaking her head at her own absent-mindedness.
To make it even worse, It was late, and cold.
Walking fast in order to keep herself warm, the girl let out a loud grunt.
"It's so cold!" She complained, clenching her gloved hand on the plastic handles of the bag she was holding.
She then slowed her pace a bit as something caught her eye.
It was a red vending machine in the middle of a park.
The girl chuckled to herself as she remembered her friend, Misaka Mikoto, and her various ways of exploiting her electric abilities in order to earn a few free drinks out of basically every kind of those she could find.
She stopped to think for a few moments.
"Well, Why not. It's super cold, anyway." She shrugged and shifted the direction of her walk to the big, electric machine, standing in the middle of the completely empty park.
Finding some spare change in her pocket, she quickly shoved the coins inside and pressed on one of the warm, canned drinks the machine had to offer, the mechanics inside it shifting and eventually spitting out the can before her, making an incredibly loud noise that echoed through the whole area.
"It's almost curfew, be quiet." The girl hissed at the machine as she knelt to pick out the warm drink from inside it, then quickly opened it, smiling at the warmth that was now spreading through her body, "Ahh.. That's the stuff." She let out a deep breath that could be seen through the cold air before her.
"LAST ORDER!" Her quiet moment of relaxation was suddenly interrupted by a loud yell coming from behind her, causing her eyes to widen as she turned around to its source all at once.
It was a pale, slender young man with white hair and an incredibly displeased look on his face.
Saten didn't say anything, and she simply stared at the guy standing not that much far behind her. Her gaze shifted down and she realized he was using a rather odd-looking walking cane. Their eyes quickly met as he noticed her presence.
She raised an eyebrow at him.
'What in the world is this guy yelling about at this hour? And what's a 'last order'? A person? His dog?' She thought to herself, still completely silent.
Neither of them said anything for a few moments, then he turned on his heel and simply continued yelling the bizarre phrase to the air.
The girl simply let out a sigh as she watched him.
'He seems to be looking for whatever that is..' She thought to herself as she took another sip from the warm drink.
Weirdos in Academy City were nothing new, and Saten already knew that too well, yet this guy seemed kinda desperate to her.
She couldn't just leave him like that without checking if there was anything she could do to help, could she..?
"Um." She called to him, making him turn his head at her direction, "Are you.. looking for someone?" She asked, her expression confused.
The white-haired boy stepped closer to her.
"Yeah. I'm looking for a damn brat about this high, have you seen one?" He asked, raising his free hand to his waist and making her eyes widen at how rude his tone of voice was.
'Is this maybe a case of bullying..?' Red flags shot through her mind as her brow furrowed at the boy standing before her.
"Well, Have you tried maybe not calling them a 'damn brat'? That may be the reason they ran away, you know." She said, taking another sip.
The white-haired boy glared at her for a few moments.
"Tch. She didn't run away, she made me play hide and seek with her and then she disappeared on me." He explained with an annoyed voice.
Saten simply stared at him.
'Not bullying then, that's good.' She thought to herself.
"Well, you're no help, so I'm leaving." He suddenly said, then started walking away, his metal cane hitting against the concrete as he moved forward.
She blinked.
"Ah, wait!" She called to him, stepping closer.
The boy turned to her.
"What?" He asked, irritated.
The girl smiled.
"Can I help you find her? I bet she's cold and lonely right now, not knowing where you are." She asked.
'She's just a little kid, after all.' Saten thought to herself.
The boy stared at her for a few moments then turned around at her direction once again.
"You wanna help? Then go home. I don't need you getting lost too, kid." He said, mocking her.
Saten's eyes widened at his words.
"Well, that's rude." She said, "I mean, I'm worried about that little girl and I wanna help you, but if you wanna keep looking for her on your own.. Then I guess I won't bother you." She said, raising an eyebrow at him.
'Not to mention this guy isn't that much older than me, and yet he calls me a 'kid'..' She thought to herself.
He stared at her for a few moments in silence.
"Fine, you can help." He let out an annoyed sigh as he ruffled his white hair with his free hand.
Saten smiled wide at his approval.
"Okay! So what does she look like?" She asked, excited.
Saten listened carefully as the white-haired boy described the little girl's features to her. They were looking for a short 10 years old, with short light brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a blue dress with a black coat on top of it and black boots. Her name was Last Order, and apparently, she talks funny.
"So is she your little sister?" Saten asked as both of them were walking in a random direction.
"Tch." He spat, "Nah, she's a brat I'm living with. She always drags me into these stupid games of her."
The girl chuckled.
"That's because she loves you. Kids would always want to play with their most favorite person." She explained.
The boy kept silent for a while.
"Yeah, too bad she gets lost and makes me go around looking for her." He complained.
Saten shifted her eyes to the sky.
"I wish I could play with my little brother right now. He's around her age and I haven't seen him in a while." She said.
The white-haired boy stared at her in silence for a few moments.
"That's because you're a brat yourself." He said, raising an eyebrow at her.
Saten's expression turned annoyed as she shifted her gaze to him.
"Hey! I may be 13, but I don't see myself as a 'brat'. If you have to call me something, how about you try my name? It's Saten." She said, smiling.
He kept silent.
"Whatever." He said.
'Good, looks like he'll consider that.' She thought to herself, shaking her head at the odd guy walking next to her.
"Say." His voice suddenly grabbed her attention, "That brother of yours, what do you do when he gets too annoying?" He asked, his gaze fixed on the distance.
Saten only smiled at his question.
"We used to fight sometimes back when I still lived at home, but I also loved playing with him. Now I miss him so much that I don't even remember our fights as a bad thing."
He kept quiet as she continued;
"I bet you miss her and worry about her a lot right now." She said.
The boy turned to glare at her.
"Tch, that shitty brat is gonna wish she was still lost after I finally find her." He said, his expression irritated.
Saten chuckled nervously.
She hoped he wasn't serious. It was hard to tell.
"So.. What's your name?" She quickly changed the subject, staring at him.
Usually when a person introduces themselves to someone, the other one quickly follows and does the same, yet she had already guessed that this guy's little strange.
"My name doesn't matter." He suddenly said.
Her brow furrowed at his words.
"Why not?" She asked, her expression confused.
Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a loud ringing coming out of his pocket.
The boy reached his free hand and pulled a black cell phone out of it.
"What?" He demanded, answering the call.
Saten couldn't make out the other person's words, but the voice sounded like a woman.
'His mom..?' She thought to herself.
"What?!" His sudden yell surprised her, as they both stopped in their tracks, "Damn brat! Just wait until I get there." And with that, he closed the conversation.
Saten only stared at him.
"Is everything alright..?" She asked, confused by his sudden yelling.
The boy turned to her.
"Yeah, that brat just walked back home like an idiot after she lost me. She's there right now, so we can stop searching for her." He said, glaring at the phone in his hand.
The girl let out a deep, relieved sigh.
"Oh! Thank god." She said, "That's actually pretty smart of her."
He turned his glare to her.
"Smart? Give me a break." He scoffed.
Saten smiled.
"Well! You must be relieved to know she's okay, right?" She asked.
His expression suddenly softened.
"I guess." He said, ruffling his white hair while looking away.
He then shifted his eyes down and noticed the plastic bag she was holding.
"Go home and put that in a fridge or something." He told her, raising an eyebrow at the fact that she was carrying her groceries all this time.
Saten blinked at his words.
"Ahhh! Crap!" Her expression turned into pure horror as she realized she completely forgot about going back to the store and buying her tea.
But it was too late now, and the establishment was long closed.
"What is it?" He asked, confused by her reaction.
"I forgot to buy something and now the store's closed.." She murmured as she grabbed her forehead with her free hand, then let out a deep sigh, "Well.. at least we know that she's safe.." She tried to at least look at the positive side of this whole experience.
The boy simply stared at her as she continued;
"I guess I'll be off then." She smiled at him, "Don't be mean to her, alright? She's part of your house, so she's part of your family."
The boy narrowed his eyes at her.
"Tch, Don't lecture me." He said, then turned on his heel and started walking away.
Saten simply smiled and began walking on her way home as well.
She still didn't know his name, but she had a feeling that white-haired person was probably not as bad as he makes himself to be.