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V.

As all get out

There should be a limit on how often people could come at him without warnings, Accelerator thought in utter disdain as he found himself lying flat on the sidewalk, staring up at the sky with great annoyance – a woman clinging to his legs and babbling nonsense all the way.

But what was much more troublesome then, was the baffled girl in his mind.

"So this is your mom?"

"Right now, yes. Unfortunately,"

Mikoto sighed, staring out in exasperation at the scene playing out in front of her. This was the last thing she expected to be happening at this time of the day, although the fact that her mother would be drunk, helpless, and talking to herself on a side of the street at 9 in the night was quite true. It was just her luck that the last person she would ever want Misuzu to meet was also present – and seemingly, getting harassed by her.

"Well then how the hell do you get her off?"

"Uuuhhh…"

"My hobby is studying number theory, I'm good at swimming and my boobs are 91 centimeters!...Oh, wait. I'm married."

The older woman grinned, cutting off the two and still stubbornly straddling at his legs with a thoughtful look on her flushed face. Accelerator glared, but he was barely able to reply anything before a hand suddenly came up and smacked right into his face, dragging down. Inside his mind, Misaka Mikoto sizzled and squeaked.

"C'mon, Daaaaddy will be mad so don't touch me!" Misuzu moaned, blissfully unaware of the death aura tainting the air as she pushed herself up. The boy in front of her quickly scrambled away, a completely murderous look on his face, not that the latter noticed. "Are…Do you know where Dangai University's database center is? Hey…Hey, white-haired, do you know anything about it? Heeeeyyy, heyyyyy! Don't ignore me!"

Accelerator cursed, just in time a hand shot out to grab at his ankle again, and next thing he knew his face was against the ground, the Railgun choking and sputtering inside his head.

"Are you fucking serious right now?" the albino blew on his bangs, frowning when he felt hands suddenly crawling up his legs. He swiveled back just in time to meet face to face with busty breasts and misty, dark brown eyes.

"Miiisuzu-san has to go study there."

The woman groaned, all up in his face and straddling his body immobile. Her breath reeked of alcohol, and the Esper felt the veins on his temples popping out.

"How the hell should I know? Go call a bloody taxi or something!" he barked, wiggling but stopping when the air suddenly grew quiet. He looked up just in time to see the woman advancing closer at an alarming speed, lips pouting and jutting out readily.

"You know white-haired, I kiss everyone as long as they're younger, man or woman!"

Inside his mind, Mikoto screamed in utter horror. Accelerator could only reach up to switch on his choker, and feel his loathing at the world multiplying in strides.

At this rate, the MISAKAs should might as well just zap him in the head and end this cycle of misery for good.

x

x

x

"I…I have no idea what to say."

Misaka Mikoto announced, a fading blush tainting her cheeks and her sigh resounding in his head. Accelerator only scoffed in reply, looking on as the taxi drove out into the road, carrying the intoxicated woman in it. Thankfully, his reflex was timed perfectly, and the top Esper was just a tad bit grateful for it – having successfully peeled the woman off of him before any inch of their faces could physically touch each other. He was certain both he and the Railgun had enough of their fair share of horrors to live by after today. Her careless, fucking crazy mother had no need to add her part into their secret little mess.

"Then show your regret in the form of silence."

He replied with a mutter, frowning when the phone in his pants' pocket suddenly rang. The pale boy stared at the caller's ID in contemplating, before picking it up.

"Accelerator, how perfect. I have something I want to talk to you about," a familiar, and very flat voice of a man spoke on the other line. "Oh, it's happening now, actually."

"What?"

He said with a frown, turning around when the familiar sound of an explosion could be heard. He looked out at the opposite street to see faint traits of smoke starting to appear behind the tall, bright skyscrapers.

"That Misaka Misuzu-sama applied for permission to use the Dangai University database center," the other line replied breezily, "so we have attacked it."

No shit, the Esper thought to himself, looking on at the scene in contemplation. Inwardly, he knew the Railgun was also observing the view, and the pale Esper did not need to look further to know they were thinking of the same thing.

"She is the mother of Ms. Misaka Mikoto, the third-rate Esper as you probably already know," the voice continued, flat and blank. "Do you know the Recovery Movement?"

Inside his mind, Accelerator felt the girl gasp in realization. The pale Esper only sighed in contempt, already knowing what direction this talk was heading to. "Is it about parents taking their kids elsewhere before the war breaks out?"

"Yes! So you see, having a great number of students leave Academy City is an issue. Mrs. Misaka-san here is acting as a representative for the parents of the students in this case, or more specifically, for her daughter, which is not surprising, considering the state our infamous Railgun is in right now."

He didn't ask how they came to know of the girl's coma, judging on the fact that they were talking to the head of GROUP and all. Accelerator was much more focused on what the man had to say next, even though he already knew neither of them was going to like it.

"So, we have decided to stop her short. Will you help us, Accelerator?"

"You wouldn't."

Mikoto said, glaring up at him, hands curling tight against her sides. "I won't let you."

"Give me a fucking break, wench. Like I ever give a damn."

He thought back in annoyance, gripping tighter on the phone against his ear.

"Originally, Skill-Out was hired to take care of it, but…Well," the man sighed in exasperation. Accelerator could practically imagine him shrugging his shoulders on the other side. "They're rather bad at stuff like this. But if you help us out, then – "

"No thanks," the boy muttered, cutting off the latter as he glared up at the smoke blurring at the skies. "I have my own shit to deal with. What you're planning over there has nothing to do with me."

There was a beat of silence on the other line.

"I see," the man finally said, albeit with no less disdain. "Then please hurry home. I'll take care of your power until then."

There was only one thing he meant then, and Accelerator snarled into the line. "Wait what – No, you bastard…"

"I'll be taking my leave then. Good night, Accelerator-san."

The voice abruptly hung up before he could finish. The pale Esper lowered his phone, looking down at the device in utter disdain.

"Fucking asshole."

"They're coming for my mom now?"

Mikoto huffed, cutting him off. Accelerator looked inside to see her standing with arms crossing in front of her, a deep frown marring the tanned face. She looked up when she finally noticed his presence, and the big, hazelnut eyes staring up at him then were quickly fading into a dark shade of focus.

"I can't let them do that."

"Obviously," the latter clicked his tongue, shoving his phone back into his pocket as he picked up the crutch from laying on the ground. "Whatever. Fucker is tampering with my powers again anyways. I'm gonna show him exactly who he's messing with. Let's do this."

"Then great. C'mon quick, we must get there before the – "

The girl said, before suddenly cutting herself off with a surprised yelp. Accelerator frowned, looking up just in time to hear running footsteps approaching. A figure quickly zoomed past right in front of them, and the top Esper felt his irritation immediately spike at the sight of a familiar mop of black, messy hair.

Kamijou Touma was running across the street, talking with a phone pressed against his ear and looking very urgent. Accelerator felt his hand tightening on the cane handle.

The memory of the awakening punch was still very fresh in his mind, painful and fucking stinging. It was still the biggest and most humiliating blow of his life so far, and the bitter, raging loathe the Esper bore towards the Level 0 still burned deep inside. Accelerator had to physically calm himself down before his turbulent emotions could get a better hold of him, loosening the tight grip against the crutch. Sure he would always love to shove a fist against pretty boy's face in revenge, but there was more important stuff to deal with right now. Touma and his overbearing, heroic ass could go and rot for all he cared.

"What is he doing here…?"

Mikoto mumbled as she watched the boy's figure quickly disappearing down the street, seemingly uncaring of the other Esper's reaction.

"Who the hell cares?" Accelerator muttered in response, ignoring her indignant huff. "You wanna go save your mom or not?"

"Jerk."

The girl said under her breath, not like he gave a damn. Accelerator simply ignored her instead, and fixed back the choker against his neck. Mikoto felt the air around her started thickening with familiar pressure, the latter's turbulent powers settling in, and quickly gathered herself back to focus again.

"Let's go then!"

x

x

x

"Amateurs,"

Accelerator grumbled, putting his gun away as he wrenched the phone from one of the guys' unconscious grip. Skill-Out had managed to come before them, but luckily they still made it in time. The other line was still waiting, and the Esper wasted no time in putting the speaker on.

"What's up, you little bastards," he said into the phone as he started walking away, leaving behind just a group of men blacked out on the floor, numb and unmoving. "I'm going to reward you guys with a one-day round trip to Heaven today. And careful, you might enjoy it so much you won't feel like coming back."

"Knock it off with the stupid threats already," Mikoto mumbled as she looked around him, brows furrowing tightly together in concentration. "Where is she?"

Accelerator left her to dwell on herself, and instead focused on everything else around as he walked along the dark hallway. It didn't take long for him to hear the battling noises, and the overlapping sounds of many voices echoing near. He stopped right in front of a closed door where they were coming from, and pulled out his gun, snapping the loaded barrel ready with a resounding click.

"She's in there!" Mikoto said out loud, relief pooling at her face. "C'mon!"

"Yeah yeah."

He grouched in reply, kicking the door open and quickly firing a few shoots at the scurrying men before hiding behind the wall again. Gunshots echoed around the lecture room as Accelerator felt the bullets' force hitting his concrete shield. He turned back again and redirected his aim, this time making a shoot straight at one of the guys before he noticed a woman figure escaping through one of the exits.

"Oh thank God." Mikoto breathed, shoulders finally drooping down. "Quick! Follow her – "

Accelerator barely had time to reply when more stomping was heard outside.

"Not yet, brat."

He clicked his tongue, pulling the barrel for another reload as he turned around, just in time for a new flock of men to come flowing in the outside hallway, guns and arms out and ready.

"And don't kill them."

She added in, this time sitting back as she let the guy recharging his firearm. "Shove it" was her only response, and Mikoto sighed in annoyance, but decided against talking back anymore. Her mom was gone and out of the rebels' reach, and that was all that mattered for now. There were still many questions left unanswered yet, but they would have to wait, at least until after she could finish watching over the guy from doing anything too murderous and psychotic to other people.

Another gunshot bounced off the roof, and Mikoto winced at the damage the bullet did to the unfortunate guy, who was in perfect shooting range for the other Level 5. He only dropped his gun and gripped at one side of his shoulder, howling in pain along with the few others.

"You almost shot him in the face!"

"That was the fucking goal, genius. Now shut up and let me do my work."

x

x

x

It was well into midnight by the time they were done clearing up the building. Police cars could be seen parking outside, with headlights and horns on in warning for the civilians, blocking at the entrance. It took a bit of a detour for them to escape, and as soon as they stepped out of the door, Accelerator finally called it a day.

"You want to go home?"

"What does it look like?" the boy muttered, following her range of sight. At the distance, standing next to an ambulance and with a thin blanket draped around her shoulders was Misaka Misuzu, seemingly safe and unscathed. She was nodding along and holding the hand of someone lying inside the vehicle, and Accelerator knew both he and the Railgun had a pretty good idea of whom she was talking to. Kamijou's trademark mop of black hair and grating voice were quite unmistakable amidst the chaos inside that lecture room.

"Well, I suppose it has been a long day."

Mikoto nodded, looking on at the scene in front of her. It had been a long time since she saw her mother, and the fact that Misuzu came back for her well-being was a warm and reassuring thought, despite all the troubles.

"But I think she's going to see me at the hospital right now, though."

He snorted at the train of thought. "You wanna come there to see her?"

There was a short pause. "Uuhh, maybe not with you."

"Yeah. Good call."

Accelerator said, watching as the married woman climbed inside the ambulance and the car door shut close. The siren sang into the night as it drove off, blinking red and blue lights down the highway. The gun was starting to turn heavy in his grip, and he put it away with a grimace, the choker's batteries slowly dying against his neck. A long night wasn't even enough to cover the soreness boring down to his bones and the aching ringing in his head then.

"I'm going home."

He told the girl for the last time, pulling up the hood of his jacket. There was no more words to be said between them, no indignant huffs or soft sighs from the latter, and Accelerator turned away, disappearing down the street in the fading darkness.

x

x

x

Dreams were fickle, fleeting worlds.

But his dreams, even though short-lived, had never been light, or pleasant. Back then, it was the blood and fresh of people in white robes, in guns and masks armed to the teeth, tools on their hands and horrors in their eyes as they stood around and tore every piece of him apart. He'd watch himself burst their veins open and claw their faces out, the hatred boring down to his bones and the sick satisfaction as they fell under his feet sinking into his heart. It was a restless circle, that dwelt and dwelt and tore at the deepest routes and brought out every time he looked at the world he was thrown into right then.

It was so much different these days. Different people, different places, and for once he was the one letting himself go. The girls always looked the same. Dark hair, dark eyes, cold skin. They bled blood on his hands and clawed their fingers into his heart and he just laid there and waited to die every time. He wanted to die every time.

Accelerator woke with a start.

His eyes snapped open and went wide, red, alarmed irises darting around the room in reflex. It was still dark and quiet, the clock ticking at half past 2 into the night. The albino in bed just sucked in a short groan and covered his face with a palm, swallowing back the bile in his throat. It wasn't the first time he woke up in this kind of state, but the sights lingering back never made it any easier to bear.

"Bad dream?"

Accelerator blinked, skin prickling in a jump at the voice. He quickly made a scan around the room in reflex before the realization sank in.

"Why asked when you already know the answer?"

He said instead, deep voice rough and hoarse with sleep, as little as there was. His eyelids were still heavy, and he had to shut his eyes in order to summon the power to not get up and get the hell out. There was no point of leaving the house anymore. The words were pushed out into the silent air, but the reply he got was only in his head.

Under the shadow, Misaka Mikoto looked even ashier than usual, dark crescents brimming under the girl's eyes and knotted curls framing her face. There was too much torture on her lines of skin. The girl looked like a tracing-paper version of herself, paler and almost translucent, like frosted glass. His stomach didn't twist anymore, but everything inside still burned every time he looked at dark brown, and the color was painted all over her form. Like a bleeding, never-ending trail.

Her eyes hardened at the sight of him. "You're a real hypocrite, you know that?"

The sleeping daze left Accelerator's side in an instant. "What the fuck – "

"You kill people for a living. And now you're thinking about them? Like you would actually feel for them?" she sneered, words spitting out with an angry curl on her mouth.

The horrors were finally breaking out of her, like an over-bursting dam, and Mikoto let them sink in. It was pure poison watching the past SISTERS in the guy's head whilst in his sleep, and their dead eyes lingered on and on, sweeping into every nook and crane in the darkness obscuring them both.

"Why do you do that, huh?" she said, plunging on. It was the first in a long time his bloody, red eyes were entirely on her, and she planned on taking full advantage of it. The contempt was fresh and ready on her tongue, and Mikoto let everything fall freely. "Why do you go and just kill and come back acting like nothing's happened but let them haunt after you at night? Are you that miserable with yourself? Is everything just a new form of distraction for torture you make for you?"

For a moment, Accelerator just stared at the girl, hot, angry confusion pouring out of himself. "What kind of a fucking point are you trying to make here, wench?"

"I'm saying, that you're a sick excuse of a human being. You are, okay. You just went on and killed and even when you regretted it you still kept doing it. Why can't you just stop?!"

The addressed guy almost laughed at the notion. Stop? The miserable bitch really did not know anything about where they were, even when staying in his head and having seen everything he had to live with.

"Are you really that dense, huh?" he said instead, and pushed himself up in his head. There was no cane to support him here, and he stood steadily, hovering over her smaller form. "Are you really that fucking naïve? Did you even understand everything I did today? What is it here, huh? Little princess can't handle a little blood on her hands?"

"I...I'm not a little – "

"Shut the hell up," he snapped, stepping closer. "You may have seen everything of my life, but you don't know what they've done to me. It's not up to you, or fuck, anyone to decide how I live anymore."

Mikoto flinched at the sudden proximity, and felt her back hitting against the wall. This was all just part of his scheme to freak her out, she was sure, and tried to hold herself steady. Letting him scare her off once was more than enough times. "The SISTERS – "

"Last Order came to me," he cut her off immediately, and narrowed his eyes even tighter. "I can't bring the others back, but I won't let the rest to ever suffer the same fate again, if that's what your stubborn ass is worried about. They're my choice of redemption. They're mine to save. And I'll do whatever it takes to keep it that way."

A blink. A breath. Mikoto stared up at the guy in utter shock. He was close, much too close. They weren't even touching anywhere yet it felt like her skin was being peeled open and unraveling her piece by piece. Her heart thrummed painfully against her ribcage. Only two days of being trapped inside this endless, empty void with nothing but his snarls and insults to hear and watching her body fraying away in a hospital bed and everything was starting to not make sense anymore.

"But you killed them." She whispered, her choked voice cracking at every syllable. "You – you kill people to survive. Even when you want to save the rest now you'd still dirty your hands to do it…"

Something snapped in him. She actually saw it, the familiar flicker of something dark in his bloody eyes, something almost feral. And next thing she knew a palm was pounded right next to her head against the wall with a resounding slam that echoed all the way in her ears, rattling at her bones.

"Because no one can do what I can. You think I can stop it?" he murmured, leaning down close enough for their breaths to intertwine. "You think just because I want to save the SISTERS now I'd stop the killing? That the world will stop being bad and people will stop being twisted?"

Everything was closing down on her, but before the panic could settle in his weight was gone. The hand next to her head slipped away as Mikoto opened her eyes again, this time the guy was finally stepping back and putting space between them. But the red irises never strayed away from hers, sharp and piercing to the bones.

"I'll never be you, or that miserable asshole Kamijou," he said, matter-of-factly. "If I have to kill to get what I need, I will, no matter what. My head, my rules. So shove it with that goody-two-shoes lecture."

He was turning away now, leaving her again like that same night at the railroad. He smeared his hands with blood and left her there to weep for the loss like it was the easiest thing to do in the world. Even when she had gritted her teeth and swallowed her pride and told him thanks he'd still leave. Her body was quaking more violently now, her muscles seizing up, and her erratic breaths leaving her mouth in loud bursts. The former hatred was surging up in waves and drowning all her other thoughts away, and Mikoto felt them clawing up at her throat.

"Then you deserve this, you know."

The boy faltered on his steps, but he didn't turn around. His knuckles were turning white in his fists again, and Mikoto tried to focus her gaze on them.

"All these nightmares, and – and torments. You won't stop and neither will they ever do – "

"– You'll forever be a monster."

It took a moment, but then he was turning half-way around. There was a weird look on his face, kind of a lack of a look, like all expressions just dropped right off his face. There was something salty at the corners of her mouth, and Mikoto reached up to feel the wet, burning streaks against her cheeks.

"Only because no one else can."

He finally said, before disappearing into the dark.

(TBC)

Note: I was thinking of a grumpy, pissed-off Accelerator with his husky voice still thick with sleep and now I'm just a mess. Nobuhiko Okamoto is pure class _:(´ཀ`」 ∠):

Welp, I legit had a week off before summer class starts, which is tomorrow by the way. Yep. Pray for me guys.

Err, but it was a good week anyways. A good do-nothing week, besides finishing this piece right here. It was so dark and ansty I love it. Of course I'm gonna write some sad, depressing crap before school starts again. It matches the mood and all, y'know.

There is sooo much work to do, it's gonna be a busy summer this year for me! Small heads' up though, the update might or might not be slower than usual but if it is don't mind me I'll probably just be decaying away under my pile of work.

Read and review awaaaay~~ I'll see you lovelies again soon.