Disclaimer: For the fight between Accelerator and Touma, I have taken and modified some parts of the description from the original series novel. After all, the original novel is really good at that part and I feel I can't surpass it without referring to it somewhat. I cut away the unnecessary conversations and redundant words and moderated some of Accelerator's language.

Nevertheless, my biggest thanks go to the Japanese author of Toaru Majutsu no Index original novel, and those who translated it to allow me to adapt the novel with so much ease.

Have you ever experienced something that suddenly energizes you and drives all drowsiness away? It can be anything. A flash of light on your eyes, a sudden loud sound and a sight of something out of place all can do that.

But what happens if you experience all three of them at the same time?

Like Kuroko did.

Yeah. The first sensation that entered Kuroko's blank, black mind was blinding brightness which yanked Kuroko's consciousness back. The second sensation which followed immediately after the first was a piercing sound threatening to rip her eardrums apart, which shocked her eyes open. The re-vitalized sight function allowed the third sensation, the confusion from the sight of fire everywhere, to strike Kuroko.

Kuroko had fallen asleep on the ground from fatigue, but now her drowsiness was swept away as she was suddenly confronted with... this.

Initially, she could not process the situation as she needed time to rewire her brain circuit. Once it was done, though, Kuroko was struck and overwhelmed by one thought alone: Touma.

'Hoon!'

A sound similar to a distant thunder could be heard by Misaka Mikoto, who was on a bridge rushing to the train switchyard.

She knew it was not thunder because the sky was clear. She could detect that the charge in the sky was too low to induce thunder.

Therefore, Mikoto turned to see where the sound came from, and she saw the bright red colour that lit up the horizon.

She knew it was a fire.

She instantaneously understood that it was due to an explosion.

And combined with her geographical gauge, she quickly confirmed that it was precisely the place she was heading for.

The train switchyard!

Looking down at the cat in her arms, Mikoto smiled and gently put it onto the floor.

'Sorry, I can't drag you into something like this.'

Mikoto dashed off, leaving the cat on the bridge staring at her back with round eyes.

I must help Touma.

I must save Touma.

Please wait till I reach... Please!

Mikoto wished that her feelings could pass through the vast abyss of the night sky. She hoped that Touma would wait for her. She wanted to believe that she wasn't late.

Mikoto wanted Touma's dream to be fulfilled.

Touma saved Kuroko. Touma was fighting Accelerator. Touma was injured but managed to stand up...

Touma promised to return safely. Touma reassured thus...

But Touma must have been hurt.

Touma was hurt because of Kuroko. Touma was hurt because Kuroko could not defeat Accelerator. Touma was hurt because Kuroko could not stand up for him. Touma was hurt because Kuroko cannot be of help for him.

Touma might die because of Kuroko...

And he would die from the explosion, because of Kuroko...

Or he might have been killed by the explosion, because of Kuroko...

Kuroko was so naive. She should know she should not have believed in miracles.

Kuroko should not believe in the miracle that Touma would defeat Accelerator, the monster.

Kuroko must stop thinking that way and resolve the issue... with her death and Touma's continued life.

Finally standing up and stabilizing her breath, Kuroko managed to do her first teleportation after her awakening. With tremendous pain that Kuroko could not care less about, she teleported towards where the explosion occurred.

She wanted to put an end to the fight and save Touma.

If Kuroko couldn't hold on to her promise to have no one die on her watch, she would make the one who would die herself.

For there're no miracles in this world.

For Kuroko knew the outcomes of relying on miracles, from what happened when she was eight.

The hospital wall was blank and bleak, but not more so than her mind.

Sitting beside her parents, staring at the hospital wall, Kuroko had hollow eyes.

Why... why did he end up this way?

She wondered why.

Kuroko did see a truck coming her friend's way. Kuroko did alert him, who was picking up the ball that fell into the street, to dodge. But her friend just froze at the spot when he turned to see the monster approaching him at 80 km/h, and the truck roamed at him due to irresistible inertia.

If Kuroko was level 4 back then, she would have stopped the accident with her power. But she was only a level 2 and barely able to teleport something below 5 kg of weight.

Hit. Knocked down. Blood splashed. Ambulance called. Petrified Kuroko.

On the ambulance, as she accompanied her friends to the hospital, she only could indulge in agony. For she was powerless and unable to do anything to help her friend.

'Bee- Bee- Bee- Bee-'

That was the sound with which the medical equipment around him continually updated the profound danger facing her friend's life.

'Breathing and heart-beat weakening!'

'Blood flow abnormal!'

'Multiple organ deteriorations detected!'

'Apply CPR now!' (CPR: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. Author's note.)

'Hormone level dropping uncontrollably!'

'Apply stimulant injection now!'

'Dangerous bleeding in lung and liver!'

...

...

The medical staff on the ambulance began resuscitation work immediately. Kuroko cared less about that than her friend's convulsion of the body and his pained expression.

Kuroko knew she didn't cause the accident, but she felt she was indirectly linked to her friend's suffering.

What if I was a more powerful teleporter?

What if I was stronger?

What if I could protect her friend?

What if...

Kuroko felt her heart convulsed, legs shaking and mind messed up. Her knees feel onto the floor at the side of her friend, oblivious of the doctors' intense work at just her side.

She felt her cheeks were heating up, and her eyes were becoming humid with the collection of liquids.

Please...

To whichever one among the gods who may exist... Please...

Torrents of tears began flowing down Kuroko's cheeks and gathering a pond on the ground, as Kuroko closed her eyes in agony and clenched her hands onto the bedside.

Please forgive Kuroko's weakness...

Please save my friend...

Please... make miracles happen...

Save him...

Please save him...

Kuroko begs you... Please...

...

...

They didn't save him.

Miracles didn't happen.

Her friend didn't keep it up to reach the hospital.

Kuroko fell silent, ignoring her friend's parents' hysterical cries and her parents' patting hands that were trying to comfort her on her head.

Kuroko was no longer capable of crying; her eyes felt as dry and dead as her heart.

She stared at the hospital wall in which her gaze could drill two holes.

I understand now...

I now understand that there are no miracles in this world.

Everything either can or cannot be done. Kuroko could not help his friend, so he died.

Even if I cry, there will be no miracles to save me.

There're no miracles.

There are no miracles...

I have to do things myself instead of relying on miracles.

That's why Kuroko decided to work on her power, for power grants her the strength to protect.

That's why Kuroko decided to join Judgement, for it gave her the platform to protect.

That's why Kuroko would no longer believe in miracles, for they do not protect.

That's right. Kuroko must resolve this issue with her own hands.

If no miracles happened when Kuroko was eight years old, no miracles would happen when Kuroko was thirteen years old.

Her naivety had already failed to save a friend of hers; she cannot lose Touma because of her naive belief in miracles and kill him due to her inaction.

She should never have allowed Touma to fight; she should have known that no miracles will happen to grant Touma a victory against Accelerator.

Why did I even permit him to go ahead? Why did Kuroko not force him to leave so that Touma could live and he would not need to die in Kuroko's place?

Kuroko clenched her teeth.

I'm so useless...

She knew now that she had to save Touma with...

Her own death.

I'm sorry, Touma, but right now, I'm going to correct my mistake by doing the right thing.

With that conviction, Kuroko hastened her teleportation towards where Touma and Accelerator was.

For Kuroko simply wanted Touma to live and just feared that she was too late.

"Gah…Ahh…!"

Kamijou moved his battered body and barely managed to stand up. The sea of flames lit the switchyard up as if it were the middle of the day. He turned around to see the pile of containers he had fled from.

Accelerator was walking there, with such a calm gait that you would mistake him as a night stroller if he were in a city street.

"God damn it. I'm sure you just experienced it yourself, but the lack of oxygen was tough on me, too. Man, I thought I was gonna die. You should be glad. I think you're the first in the world to make me, Accelerator, think he was gonna die."

His voice was light as if he was in a casual conversation.

"Heh heh. I guess I can't say I can survive in a nuclear explosion anymore, can I?"

Accelerator's cheerfulness while within that hell of flames scared Kamijou.

Kamijou immediately tried to put himself on guard, but the damage had permeated his legs, making them tremble uncontrollably.

"…Well? What are you even trying to do? All your efforts got you nowhere closer to me. And what do you even think you can do if you were somehow able to get near me?" Accelerator refreshingly spread his arms open amid the hellfire. "I can manipulate every vector that touches my body. That includes... your bioelectricity, you know? Hehe! That will be fun for me, but... have you even grasped that fact yet? The fact that you stand no chance before me."

"..."

Kamijou's trembling legs froze up.

'My role here is to fight you and stop you because... I want to protect Misaka Sisters, Mikoto, Kuroko from you... No matter what difficulties I may be faced with, I will not lose heart and fight you no matter what!'

Accelerator laughed, in a hypocritically friendly manner, as Kamijou stood frozen in place.

"Well, I guess you are just stubborn. But to be fair, you have put up a nice effort. It's a miracle that you're even breathing in front of me. You are lucky that your potential was so low. You're so weak that I couldn't use my reflection on you properly."

Accelerator clapped his hands in applause within the sea of flames. Definitely not affirmatively.

He sounded like he was thanking his opponent from the bottom of his heart. But only sounded like.

"However... It'd be rather greedy to want more, don't you think? Choose whichever hand you want, and it will reverse your blood flow and bioelectricity."

Moving slowly towards Touma, Accelerator's smirk widened as he got closer.

"So, the left hand? Or the right hand?"

Accelerator's body sank slightly amid the flames.

'What about both?!'

With a roar, the white boy shot like a bullet toward Touma blowing away even the flames as he went. There were a few dozen metres between them, but he brought that to zero in two or three steps. Accelerator made his way right up to Touma with motions like a rock skipping on the water.

Touma immediately tried to move back, but his trembling legs would not move properly.

Those hands that could crush one's soul approached before Touma's eyes.

Prepared for the worst, Touma reflexively shut his eyes and swung his right hand. As he had cut off his own vision, he had no idea where he was aiming his fist.

'Ahhhh!'

With a dull sensation, his right hand punched Accelerator in the face.

"Eh?"

The first one to express his surprise at that result was Touma, not Accelerator. He did not expect to hit, and he did not expect his battered fist to actually do any damage even if it did hit.

However, Accelerator flew backwards and fell onto the floor.

The... Moon?

What am I doing looking at the moon? Am I facing upwards? Why am I on the ground then?

Accelerator looked in front to see Touma standing in front of him.

Ah? That guy... He was right in front of me. Did he land a punch on me? Wait. More importantly, how is he still standing with his limbs intact in the first place?

What the? Pain? Is this... pain?

'Ghhh...'

'What the hell is this?!'

He hit me... Me? Impossible! His arms should have been broken. He shouldn't even be able to touch me.

He saw Touma coming to him even closer.

'Hehe...'

Is it because I focused too much on my hands, that I subconsciously shut down my reflection elsewhere? Well, that's as idiotic a move as ever!

"Oh, wow. Hahaha. Dammit. Excellent, excellent! That was great! That was wonderful! Now you've done it!"

The white boy insanely laughed as he crouched on the ground like a demon about to grow wings.

Standing up, and Accelerator again charged.

His right hand that could kill with a touch was aimed straight for Kamijou's face.

Touma avoided it just by swinging his head to the side.

Misaka held onto the wired fence. Kuroko teleported just beside a container not far from where Touma and Accelerator were.

The Tokiwadai roommates are at different locations, but they were looking at the same spectacle. A dramatic one.

As both of them managed to get a distinct look of the fighting duo, their eyes widened.

Touma clenched his right fist.

He moved in toward Accelerator to counter Accelerator's missed attack.

(Is he actually…really weak?)

"Gah!?"

Kamijou's fist ploughed into Accelerator's face once again.

Due to momentum, Accelerator fell onto the floor.

...

...

What?!

A pair of eyes widened. Two brown pupils contracted.

No way...

He's fighting the Accelerator...

And he's on the offensive? That's the rank 1 level 5 esper in Academy City.

Even though he is a stranger, even though he has nothing to do with this, even though no one would blame him for running away...

He's really...

'I will bring Misaka Sister back safe and sound. That is my promise.'

He's really... keeping his promise!

Kuroko didn't know whether it was her incomplete recovery or shock that enfeebled her legs. She tilted her body to prop against the container next to her.

She thought that she was seeing things, that whatever she witnessed was a hallucination.

She closed her eyes, rubbed them with her hands and violently shook her head. She then opened them.

Looking in front, she saw Accelerator struggling to stand up, and Touma just in front.

Millions of thoughts ran through Kuroko's mind at one time.

I need to resolve this myself.

Touma can't beat that monster.

There's no use in pleading to gods.

Kuroko's inaction would kill Touma.

There're no miracles in this world.

There are... no miracles.

Kuroko felt that her legs were no longer able to support herself and fell onto the ground; she was too exhilarated to stand straight.

A warm stream flowed down Kuroko's cheeks and into Kuroko's heart, as she smiled gratefully and thought to herself:

Is this... a miracle?

Touma... Did you actually...

Created what I deemed non-existent?

You are... really someone...

As Kuroko stood up once again while wiping away her tears, she knew that, maybe, it was worth relying on this boy for once.

Maybe, no one would die because of Touma.

Kuroko was glad.

Turning in a circle were Touma and Accelerator. Accelerator was almost fanatic as he kept stomping his feet and swinging his arms around but not hitting Touma at all. Every time, Touma managed to dodge Accelerator's attacks. This only made Accelerator more irritated.

'Damn it, quit dodging! Gah...'

A punch landed on Accelerator's right cheek, and a shoot of intensive pain reverberated in Accelerator's mind and shocked him into a blank state.

'What the hell is wrong with your right hand? Wah...'

That was Accelerator's wince when Touma punched him in his belly. Acceelerator felt an urge to vomit and spat.

'Don't get too carried away with yourself, third-string!'

Accelerator stomped the ground to fire a shoot of stones at Touma.

'Hehe!'

But Touma didn't fly back. Instead, to Accelerator's surprise, he went head-on through the stones and dashed at Accelerator with his right fist forward.

'Ah... Ahh!'

Touma aimed for the chin, and his hit caused Accelerator to bleed on his mouth and fall onto his back.

'You chose to get involved in something you shouldn't. The Sisters were living the best as they could! They're ding everything they possibly to live! Why, why do they have to be fodder for someone like you?'

With his right fist high up, Touma pronounced his solemn condemnation.

Living...?

What the hell was he saying?

'They are just some chemical products, so you shouldn't have any mental burden when carrying out the experiments.' pronounced the voice of the professional in Accelerator's mind.

They are... just puppets...

That's what they told me...

He recalled when he was fought by gangsters after gangsters who dared to mock him.

I need power.

He knew how to make people shut up: break their bodies, and thus their wills.

Power... to shut him up...

No...

He knew he didn't participate in this just for that.

Rather...

The power to control all logic and reason!

Absolute power!

Accelerator's eyes shot open. With his right arm held straight up for the sky, Accelerator began manipulating the vectors of the gas particles.

He did learn Astrological Physics: stars are formed by compressing gas substances together to force nuclear reaction.

He was going to do the same thing: forcing the air of all of this planet into one point, thus creating a...

Plasma.

If Accelerator has the power to wipe this world away, he is the rule, he is the reason.

Touma was totally unprepared for this. He was blown up, hit the metal structure of a turbine, and fell to the ground.

Similarly unprepared was Kuroko.

'What on earth!' were the first words Kuroko said when she saw the white-haired monster started gathering wind.

She saw Touma lifted from the ground, hit the metal and fell.

She only had moments to agonize. The bluster of wind rendered her teleportation power useless as she could not focus at all. She tried to hold on to the container but failed.

As Kuroko travelled in the air at a fantastic speed and with haphazardness, she had one thought alone.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Touma.

She didn't know how far she travelled before hitting the floor.

The impact when she fell onto the floor rendered Kuroko unconscious.

Misaka was totally taken off guard. Luckily for her though, she could use magnetism to stick herself onto the wired fence so that she wouldn't get blown away by the wind.

As she managed to open her eyes despite the wind, she noticed two things of the same sort.

Two bodies. Two flying human bodies.

The first was a male with spiked hair. He hit a turbine and fell.

Misaka's heart twitched.

But just before Misaka got the time to express remorse or any emotion, she saw the other one.

A female who... was apparently in Tokiwadai's uniform.

Tokiwadai? Why would any Tokiwadai student be out here?

Wait...

WAIT!

She saw them: twin-tails that almost glow red in the night sky, thin body and legs, and a Judgement armband.

Typical of Kuroko.

'No... It mustn't be Kuroko... She wouldn't be here...'

In a bang, the body fell next to her onto the street. As Misaka's gaze froze and eyes widened, she confirmed that she is Kuroko.

'NOOOO!'