W/n: Minor spoilers in this chapter.
Hope is the parent of despair, after all.
Chapter 3:
"Oi, brat."
Accelerator called out to the little girl, who was having the time of her life playing with her bunch of stuff animals. Last Order looked up from her teddy bear and flashed him a grin.
He walked into the room and plopped himself in her tiny bed. "What do you know about Misaka Mikoto?"
"'Onee-sama?' MISAKA says as MISAKA tries to remember. Nee, MISAKA never met Onee-sama before but MISAKA 10032 said Onee-sama gets shy easily and…"
"Not that," he groaned, smacking an arm across his eyes. "I mean like what's she been up to? Can't you send like some brain signal to the other Sisters and collect info?"
"'But what is this for?' MISAKA asks as MISAKA wonders."
The little girl crawled across the bed and plopped down next to him, her knees nudging at his arm. Accelerator chose to remain silent with his eyes closed.
"…Research."
"'Really?' MISAKA nods as MISAKA thinks about it. Nee, there's not a lot to talk about Onee-sama. MISAKA doesn't know anything right now, but MISAKA can ask one of the Sisters later, MISAKA MISAKA suggests to Accelerator."
"Yeah. Yeah. Do that. And tell me as soon as possible."
"'Okay,' MISAKA says as MISAKA agrees. But for now…"
Accelerator peeked out from under his arm, and swallowed a curse back in his throat. The girl was holding a black hair tie in her hand, and the gleaming glint in the doe eyes reminded him horribly of another Misaka clone living in their household.
"'Let me braid your hair, Accelerator!' MISAKA cheers as MISAKA looks on hopefully."
The hospital was an odd place.
Well, not really odd. But there was always something that always set Mikoto on edge in it.
The corridor she's walking through was quiet and overwhelming of antiseptic smell. Academy City's hospital is the biggest medical facility of the city and takes in about hundreds of patients every day, yet Misaka Mikoto has never felt emptier trailing through the long hallway, one hand tracing on the white-washed wall as she looked on for the room number. She stilled her steps at 407. The sign on the door had a plate hung on it with a scribbled note: Misaka 10032.
The girl was still soundly asleep when Misaka gave the door a slight knock and walked in. There's a tube connected on the front side of her hand and a white blanket was draped across her frail body. The room was empty and silent minus the sound of the heartbeat detector beeping steadily.
For a while, Mikoto just stood there and stared at the sleeping girl. It has taken a while to get accustomed to even staring at them without feeling like looking at a mirror. And even then it's still hard not to feel that way sometimes. 10032 was not wearing her familiar pair of googles – the device was placed on the desk next to the bed. The brownish hair was splayed on the white pillow, thin bangs fraying on her forehead, her chest heaving up and down slowly. Mikoto remembered the last time she saw the other girl like this, albeit with more scratches and bandages.
The sight was so painfully familiar. And this time the fury twisting in her stomach was not directed at a guy.
"She's fine, you know."
The esper turned around to see another acquainted face. "Worst?"
The girl gave her a smirk as she walked inside, clicking the door closed. She directed her look back at the unconscious girl when she spoke.
"It was just a panic attack. She didn't see that coming so she was caught off-guard."
"Panic attack…" Mikoto mumbled, staring at 10032. She didn't need to turn to see the older clone's eyes on her now.
"You know why, don't you Onee-sama?"
She shook her head. "You know the reply to that already, Worst. Why even bother asking?"
The clone pretended not to notice the tight fist pressing to the side of the girl. Shaking.
"So you've seen it too? My dreams?"
She looked up, nodding.
Mikoto suddenly snapped her head to face the girl, brown eyes fierce and sharp. "And you informed Accelerator about them?"
The laugh emitted from the sister then speaks nothing of humor and mischief. "He doesn't need to be told, Onee-sama."
So it was the truth, then.
"Worst, then what…" she stopped before sucking in a breath she didn't realize she was holding, then turned to look intently at the golden-eyed girl. "What is this network that connects all of you and him together?"
Silence. Mikoto stood and waited, eyes never leaving the older one of the Sisters. The heart detector made quiet beeps between the seconds ticking by. Misaka Worst was still gazing at the sleeping girl's direction, but Mikoto didn't need to look close to know it's not 10032 she's seeing.
"You might wanna sit down for this, Onee-sama."
That night, Mikoto dreamed again.
But it's not their blood she's seeing anymore. Her surrounding was pitch black, atoms floating in thick air and electric sparks scintillating around, and it's trying to melt into her, running from her toes up and peeling her skin open until sinking into flesh and bone, never stopping on its path no matter how much she clawed and scratched at it. Her hair spiked up from static shocks, her clothes ripped and torn and her eyes were bleeding out black. Something was tearing her apart from inside out, and it's screaming for murder.
Kill them – it growled. All the scum and dirt of the world. Destroy them.
Make them gone.
Mikoto woke up with a jerk.
The sheets were twisted around her and everything felt sticky and gross. There's two iron weights pressing down on her chest while her lungs were leeching out fitful gasps of air and her throat felt raw and burned. Her eyes stung.
"Uhmm, Onee-sama?"
She turned to see Kuroko shifting under her covers, voice raspy and thick of sleep. The younger girl didn't try to sit up to face her, and Mikoto was silently grateful.
"It's alright, Kuroko. I just dreamed about going to class naked", she told the teleporter. The humor was void and detached in her voice despite her attempt of the opposite.
"I'm fine." No you're not.
You need help.
"Onee-sama?"
"Ne Kuroko, do you remember what I've told you before? A while back."
Kuroko decided that enough is enough, and twisted her body around to rise up from the covers.
"Onee-sama, what is this all ab…"
"If I were to cause a great calamity in this city, what would you do, Kuroko?"
Kuroko has expected that this would be coming back, but it did not soothe the sting in her chest any better. But nevertheless, she stared on ahead at the older girl. Mikoto's eyes were dark and hidden behind the shadow of their room.
"If you're still asking the same question then my answer will also be the same Onee-sama. I have a responsibility to Judgement and our city and I will uphold it," she said, loud and clear in the empty silence.
"But," she added, swallowing. Please. "Please know…I will also always support you no matter what. And…and if ever, ever you nee…I'll always be by your side, Onee-sama. That will never change."
For a while, the older girl just stayed quiet. Kuroko was almost scared to breathe. Suddenly it felt like the distance between them was beyond just a bed to a bed.
But then, Mikoto moved - sliding out of the covers and padding across the room to reach Kuroko's bedside. Carefully, she leaned down and placed her hand on the surprised girl's head, ruffling the pinkish hair. Soothing. Comforting.
"Of course I know. Thank you, Kuroko."
The urge to cry and bury into the older girl's arms was overwhelming, but Kuroko steadied herself. There's an unspoken 'but' hanging in the air between them, and she knew she's right when the warm, comforting hand slowly slipped away from her head and Mikoto fixed herself straight again.
"I…I have to go out for a moment. Do you mind covering for me today?"
She smiled then, more to herself than the older girl.
"Not at all, Onee-sama."
Not ever.
There's no more response then. And Kuroko settled with watching the other Esper get dressed to leave. The clock ticked five in the morning. It's getting a little bit chilly as fall was coming. The air was crispy and clean in their room, yet Kuroko has never felt heavier.
Mikoto slipped on her beanie and put on a hoodie jacket with zipper. Her mind was buzzing and her hands were sweating but she pushed on. She reached for the door handle before stopping midway, turning back a bit to the younger girl.
"I'll be back, Kuroko. I promise."
The girl only nodded. Mikoto tried not to notice the fists curling tightly at the covers and stepped out to the empty hallway, closing the door from behind. Inside her, the monster rumbled.
You know you want this.
You know you want to kill them too.
Her mouth tasted like death.
He's finally seen it.
Accelerator did not go to bed that night. Instead, after making sure Last Order was soundly asleep, Yoshikawa was resting in her room and Worst has come back from wherever the hell she had been, he returned to his ward and laid awake in his bed.
It came after a long while of waiting – raw, powerful and paralyzing. It seeped into everything around him and clung to his skin. It felt both familiar and alien at the same time, then Accelerator realized. So this is her monster.
He can almost feel them. The searing pain of the scratches and claw marks she's scarring at her own skin in frantic attempts to reject the powers it's offering. The desperation was thick in both his and her throat. There's no barrier between his and the Railgun's mind in these drifts of clashing consciousness. He's her here. And their cries are unheard in the darkness. Their skin leaked blood and their eyes bled black.
He woke up to the sound of a knock on the door.
Accelerator left his room and padded across the apartment, and wished that he could be surprised upon seeing Misaka Mikoto standing in front of him as he unlocked and clicked the door open.
She stared at him straight in the eyes this time.
"I need your help."
(TBC)
A/N: Did I just spend the whole day writing this instead of studying? Yes. Do I regret it? Err, no.
Short chapter I know I know I'm sorry! I'll try to make up for it in the next one. When is it coming? Hmm, next weekend hopefully because I'll be done with school stuff by then. Urgh, I hate college. Did I say I hate college?
Anyhow, thanks for all the lovely favorites and following and reviews. You guys sure know how to feed my pitiful, dying soul. Keep 'em coming!