A/N: I told myself I'll wait a week. I never had finished chapters ahead of time to upload them at my pace. And yet, here we are haha 😅

Originally, I had planned to have this together with the first scene (just so the word count would look bigger). But it'd beat the point of splitting this 5+1 fic into individual chapters. So, this is the second part of the Hate stage in their relationship.

Enjoy~


Animosity

That was him alright.

White hair and pale skin.

The same crimson eyes.

He had replaced his black shirt for one with a gray gradient though. This only made the dark stamps on it more evident. There was no mistaking them anyway. Accelerator wiped the remaining blood from his chin while the burly man next to him greeted the newcomers. His gaze recognized Mikoto for a brief moment before glossing over her to reach Touma.

The blatant disregard offended her. After three months since the Level 6 Shift project was terminated—thanks to a certain Level Zero's right hook—she had given up hope they would meet again. But they did, half a continent away, in Hawaii of all places. And she wasn't worth his time to address her, more so explain why an older-looking clone of hers was following him around.

It made her blood boil.

Then again, more pressing matters needed their attention. The fate of the world was at stake, barely ten days later from the last incident. This ragtag group didn't have time for Mikoto's lingering trauma, but it didn't stop them from roping the two together. Both were part of Academy City's elite; the successful projects which had reached closer to the realm of unimaginable power than every other Esper student in their Curriculum. If someone had to rival a military force, the first and third-ranked Level Fives were their best bet.

Mikoto knew innocent lives were at stake. For their ever-shifting plan to work, they had to rely on everyone present. Her goodwill could extent so far.

"There is a lot I want to say to you." Looking over her shoulder, she cracked her knuckles in preparation for the upcoming fight. "So, I'd rather not get bogged down here."

Accelerator spared a side-glance in her direction. "I intend to repay my debt to the clones. but I have no intention of apologizing to you," he declared. "You aren't conveniently forgetting you were one of those responsible for that experiment too, are you?"

"I will repent to the Sisters for that sin." Her fists trembled from barely restrained rage. "I don't need to hear it from the poster boy of the experiment."

Something akin to a smirk rippled across his face and he pushed forward with his cane. "Let's get this over with so you won't have to, Railgun."

She blinked. What?

His response threw her off, delaying the beginning of her attack. Gunfire already echoed on the beach and Powered Suits were flying around in mini-tornados. Entering the fray with a dash, Mikoto pushed every unrelated thought to the side. She couldn't allow Accelerator to steal her thunder just because he showed some basic human decency for once.

The fight ended a couple of short minutes later. It always did when the adversary couldn't effectively shut down a Level Five's power from the start. Dealing simultaneously with two might have been overkill if the other guys were this weak.

Mikoto dropped her opponent like a trash bag on the sand.

Relieved voices rose higher than the murmur of waves as the hostages were reuniting with their loved ones. This heartwarming scene was a temporary interlude though. Unless they stopped the enemy's real goal, there would be more casualties down the line. It frustrated her that they could only react to the problem instead of finding the source.

Why do we have to leave everything to that idiot? She thought, closing her fist around the rings in her pocket. He's out there risking his life, while I have to deal with small fry.

"Leaving already?" Misaka Worst called, gesturing with her injured arm. "Weren't you gonna have a word with him, Sis?"

He seemed preoccupied. A child was clinging to him in tears while their guardian—the man Accelerator had saved at the beginning of this skirmish—was trying to calm them down. The fact a cold-hearted person like Accelerator endured this sort of situation, as if resigned to his fate, baffled Mikoto even further.

"You'd think kids could spot there's something wrong with him," she said.

"Apparently, not." Worst barked a laugh. "Misaka thinks their undeveloped brain can see past his tough act."

"Act?" Mikoto quirked an eyebrow. "Wasn't he the one who broke your arm?"

They hadn't had the time to discuss this either. But knowing Accelerator's history with the clones, her assessment of their partnership didn't sound off-base. There was only one path on which they could have met each other: violence. Both bared the scars to prove it.

Worst shrugged. "Misaka's brain is fully developed, despite not counting a year of existence. She can't tell if her theory is correct."

"Whatever," Mikoto said, dismissing her with a wave. "If he ever decides to grovel for my forgiveness, he knows where to find me. I don't have time to deal with him."

"Oh, yeah." A wolfish grin spread across the clone's face. "You're busy chasing another boy around in the middle of a battlefield."

She flushed. "What has that to do with anything?"

"Nothing much. Both of you are honest to a fault, except for when it matters. That's all."

This was the most absurd thing Mikoto had heard in a while. "I'm nothing like him!"

"True." The clone tapped her chin in thought. "You walk around pretending there is no blood on your hands."

"Believe what you want." Huffing through her nose, she turned around. "I have a ride to catch."

American fighter planes were approaching the beach, the muffled rumble of their engines permeating the sky. Their trajectory suggested they were headed for the other side of the island. Touma and the rest had to save a little girl from the entire world there. Since Mikoto was done with this battlefield, she could lend them a helping hand in the ordeal.

As soon as the fighters were within reach, she used her magnetism to latch onto one and allowed it to lead her away. Mikoto wasn't running away from the conversation she had started. There was simply no point in forcing Accelerator to talk. He hadn't bothered to acknowledge her presence in the first place, and she wasn't going to sink as low as to beg a murderer for some consideration.

Her pride was more important than being right.


A/N: When I first saw people quoting Mikoto's and Accelerator's next canon meeting, it was always about the "There is a lot I want to say to you" line that Kamachi-sensei apparently never followed through with it (I wonder if it'll be covered in the Railgun manga once it reaches the New Testament timeline. I can only hope T^T). But the highlight of the scene for me was the poster boy segment. I spit water all over my keyboard tbh. Whoever translated that line: Good Job! d(∀)

Also, is it obvious that I love Worst? I have so much fun writing her dialogue because she has no filter whatsover, and that's hilarious.

Next chapter still has some canon elements, but it's pretty much where the divergence really begins. Dunno when that chapter will be uploaded as I'm still struggling with it. Writing winter scenes in 40°C temperature is hard...(;´∀`) But look forward to it!

In the meantime, Thank You all for the spectacular support to this fic so far! It warms my heart whenever people enjoy my humble stories~ ❤️