Accelerator walked into the somewhat lucrative living room. A blue haired woman in a lab coat lazily sat at a table. A steamy cup of coffee was in front of her. Yoshikawa Aiho lightly blew the steam away from the top of the cup. She then took a light sip for about three seconds.
"Ah…" she whispered to herself. She heard the sound a mechanical cane hitting floor. A gentle smile grew on her lips. "Good morning Accel…" She turned to witness Accelerator slightly hunched over and sweating. The smile vanished "Accelerator? You're looking pale...Well, paler than usual."
"Are you fucking kidding me? Haa..." he spat. He dragged his feet and panted for a foot before Yoshikawa walked over. She wrapped his free arm over her shoulders and guided him to the couch. "Coffee...I need...coffee."
Yoshikawa placed the back of her palm against his forehead.
"You need medicine. You're burning up. Why are you burning up?"
"COFFEE."
"Right…"
Yoshikawa walked to a kitchen cabinet and grabbed a captioned coffee mug. In black letters, it read "#1 Esper." It wasn't custom made. It was just another one of those captioned products to make people feel important or better than others. She returned to the living space and tried to pour Accelerator a full cup. But he grabbed the mug part way and gulped it down. He let out a long gasp.
"Aaargha!"
Accelerator recoiled from the heat of the coffee but he persisted through about half of it. With light tears in his eyes, he gasped a few times as Yoshikawa watched, stunned. Her expression was a mix of awe and terror.
"Hey," she said, worried. "Accelerator… What's going on? Why didn't you just use your vector manipulation to reflect the thermal energy of the coffee if you knew it was too hot?"
Accelerator hacked.
"Because," he said following and exhausted and exasperated sigh. "My calculations are messed up…"
Yoshikawa's eyes widened to their extremes.
"...W-what…? But that shouldn't be possible. Your electrode connects you directly to the Misaka Network. You should have more than enough brain power to perform a few simple calculations… Especially someone as brilliant as you."
"Spare me the flattery. This is…" He gasped then swallowed. "This is just to help me concentrate..." Accelerator massaged his temples in a circular motion with his index and middle fingers. Yoshikawa moved the conversation forward. Despite him being mentally tired, she spoke as if nothing were wrong.
"Ever since the Amai incident, you've been reliant If your connection to the Misaka Network to compensate for your lack of brain activity. Only a select amount of people know more than that…Somebody's out to get you…"
"Tell me something I don't know."
"If your connection is severed even by a small percentage, then we have one of two possibilities. Firstly…"
She paused and looked off to the wide. Accelerator started at her impatiently.
"This isn't a novel. Get to the point."
"Firstly, somebody is killing off the Misakas."
Accelerator's pupils dilated and his back stiffened. Yoshikawa quickly glanced at him before continuing. "Whoever is doing this sees your abilities as a threat and wants to incapacitate you."
"Somebody thinks they can deliver penance onto me. What else is new?"
"I say "incapacitate" for a reason. Assuming they're remnants from Academy City's dark side, it's likely they have an information network that isn't accessible through mainstream methods. Worst case a scenario, they assumed you'd want to investigate the situation. They, whoever they are, could be in the position to control the flow of knowledge pertaining to your unique situation. It's very possible they're already spoon feeding you hints that could lead you to your sterilization."
"It wouldn't be the first time somebody's knew of a method around my ability. And someone trying to kill me is no headliner either."
"..."
"Don't give me that look. This isn't some guidance counselor meeting. I'm a weapon with no wielder. A means to an end that's too powerful for anyone's comfort. You of all people don't have the right to make such a pitiful face."
"I know. I was one of the scientists that worked on Project Level 6 Shift. I'm the last person who has any right to cast pity on you. Even so, I still believe in a future where you don't have to be the walking WMD you were made to be. Where you and Last Order and Worst can live like any normal person, without anybody trying to manipulate or take vengeance on you."
The identical faces of reminiscent of a child and large breasted Misaka clouded Accelerator's thoughts.
"... … … How's the kid?"
"Last Order hasn't woken up yet. It's 8:47 on a Tuesday morning and she doesn't go to school. Naturally, she would want to sleep in, despite my protests."
"Don't tell her what I'm about to do."
"...Children are more perceptive than adults give them credit for. As the control tower to the Sisters, she'd naturally find out and make the connection between the missing Sisters and your investigation. Actually, it would be advantageous for us if we just asked her what happened to-"
"Do you have shit between your ears? I said she's off limits. If these insects have intimate knowledge about me, then they'd know about my connection to Last Order. The munchkin is gonna wanna help in anyway she can, even if it means leaving the house. And there's also the risk of another virus being transmitted to her. The less she knows, the safer she'll be."
"Right. And she's also your main bridge to the mental capacity afforded to you by the combined brain power of the Misaka Network. If anything were to happen to her-"
"The information network stops at a certain level. If they knew where we lived, they'd have attacked me in my sleep. If they had any chance of facing me head on, they wouldn't have targeted the Sisters. An indirect assault is their best chance at facing me. We don't know when or how many Sisters they'll keep slaughtering, but I'm not waiting to find out.
"Hold on. That's only one of two possibilities. The only other possible explanation is-"
Accelerator turned his head to the side. Whatever caught his attention was enough to demand a reaction in this dire situation but he looked on with a neutral expression. Yoshikawa raised an eyebrow then starred in the same direction. She had the same non reaction as Accelerator.
At the kitchen area was Last Order, the splitting image of an eight year old Misaka Mikoto, rubbed her eye with the knuckle of her index finger. With halfway open eyes, she looked at her elders. Neither Yoshinawa nor Accelerator reacted. They continued to gaze at the midwake child.
"'Misaka has awoken from her slumber with disappointment,' says Misaka as she rubs eyes gently with her small fingers. My expectations were low…" Last Order covered her mouth as she yawned. "...but she did not expect a table completely devoid of her most important meal of the day, or so they say. Misaka much rather prefers dessert…"
Yoshikawa slightly opened her mouth but soon lightly bit her lower lip.
"Hey kid," said Accelerator. "How did you sleep?"
"'What's wrong?' asks Misaka, now fully alert."
"I'm just asking, you brat."
"'But you never ask me how I slept, so I can only surmise that prior to my awakening, something concerning the functioning of me and the Misaka Network has been brought to your attention. And the fact that you just lied about it means you don't want Misaka to be involved in the matter' says Misaka displaying what she feels to be true."
A pause…
"'Misaka interprets your silence as a confirmation to her findings,' says Misaka."
"Last Order…" said Yoshikawa.
The young girl frowned.
"'Is Misaka in danger…?' asks Misaka as she lowers her voice to signify her basic survival instincts…"
Accelerator slowly stood up. Last Order and Yoshikawa blankly stared at him as he paced toward the small girl. When he reached her, he got on one knee and slide his hand down his cane. His free hand gently landed on her delicate shoulder.
"Last Order," he calmly said in a low voice. "You're annoying."
Last Order remained quiet.
"'Huuuuuuuuuh?!' exclaims Misaka as she waves her arms in protest and confusion at the sudden tonal shift!"
"You're annoying, a pain in the ass to look after, and in many ways the bane of my existence." Accelerator briefly paused as Last Order cutely pouted while on the verge of tears. "Even someone like me needs some down time to recharge their batteries every once in a while. And you're like an electric tick that just I just can't seem to scratch off. So I'm going out for a walk to forget about you for a while. Later. Ya brat."
On that last sentence, Accelerator flicked Last Order's nose, who flinched and covered it with her hands. Then he stood up and started towards the living room door. While doing so, he slightly turned to Yoshikawa. The scientist was bewildered at first, but she looked down and smiled to herself.
"Hey, Yoshikawa," said Accelerator. "Keep a close eye on her. Kids can extremely be unpredictable and bothersome."
"Preaching to the choir, kid," said Yoshikawa with a smile as she held Last Order by the shoulders.
"'I'll have you know that was extremely rude and uncalled for! Misaka won't forgive you until you come crawling back on your knees groveling for forgiveness,' says Misaka as she asserts puffs her chest and flails her arms to assert herself!"
"Shut uuuuuuup," said Accelerator as he casually left the well built and decorated apartment.
The thin albino stood still at the entrance to his guardian's apartment. He had a far off look as he starred forward at nothing in particular. At the time, not even the slightest sound could be heard in the hallway.
An image of Last Order flashed before him. Then of Yoshikawa and Yoshikawa and a bustier, teenaged Mikoto with messy hair and a mischievous look.
(Yeah. You're annoying,) he thought. (You're all so Goddamn annoying. But even so…)
He turned and walked to the elevator. He pressed the white circular "1" button and it glew a bright red. The white up arrow above the doors did the same thing.
(Even so…)
In about ten seconds, a the doors opened with the sound of a bell. He stepped in and pressed the "CLOSE DOORS" button located under all the numbered buttons. Following another bell, the doors closed. A feint mechanical sound could be heard as the small rectangular room moved. Accelerator detected the downward shift in momentum as his body felt lighter. He looked up at the descending numbers displayed above the doors in red lights. 3...2...1…
(Even so…)
Another bell resounded. The doors slowly opened. Then he took a step. Then several more. The sound of his sneakers and cane hitting the floor filled the empty lobby.
(These are the feelings that make up a normal life. The mundane emotions that bring us comfort and compassion in such a shitty existence.)
He left the apartment. The mild winter wind splashed against his face.
He took another step.
(And I'd do anything to preserve those feelings.)
He pulled a flip phone out of his pocket. He went through the contacts and highlighted a name that read "Annoying." He pressed the green phone icon and brought the phone to his ear. After a too long pause, he spoke.
"Hey you. You're in trouble. Let's talk over coffee."
