This chapter took longer than I expected. I'm grateful for all the reviews, and I apologize that the second chapter took such a long time as I had a lot on my plate. In any case, thanks to botman and anand for beta'ing.
Chapter 2 - A Turn for the Worst 2
"I'm glad homeroom is just starting. Come on now. I'll introduce you to my class." The tiny teacher named Komoe spoke with her usual calm smile as she motioned for the transfer student to come follow her to the front of the class.
The interior of the classroom was not as cold as the hallway thanks to the heater, which Komoe was grateful for because she had been running around through the cold trying to find the transfer student.
"Ahem!" Komoe gathered the attention with her voice once she stepped in front of the class. "I know this is a bit sudden, but a student has transferred to our class and will remain with us for the rest of the semester." She turned to the doorway where the girl was shaking from nervousness. "Come over here and introduce yourself, Hanayagi-chan."
It was one of the greatest known fears every young student shared.
This particular student had heard of the saying: "Your first impressions are always your last."
There was no room to back out now.
The girl named Hanayagi walked forward awkwardly like a broken wind-up toy towards the center. She moved her eyes from the floor and immediately saw the countless faces looking at her. She jumped up like a scared cat and took a moment to compose herself.
"M-My name i-is Hanayagi Ri-Ri-Rinko." She bowed. "I just arrived here in Academy City only recently. Nice to meet you all."
She finally said it. Her attention went back to the homeroom teacher, hoping for a chance to get out of the spotlight as soon as possible. If she were asked to give a description of her interests and hobbies,it would prolong her time as the center of attention.
"Now then…" Komoe clapped her hand and smiled. "Please take that seat behind Kamijou-chan."
The girl felt an enormous weight shuffled her feet in an instant and took her seat beside the absent minded-looking boy with the spiky hair.
The teacher was about to begin her class when the classroom door slid wide open, and a pair of students, Aogami and Fukiyose, stepped inside. Needless to say, the two got a minor scolding from their teacher.
"You must be the transfer student they mentioned." Fukiyose approached the newcomer once the class was over. "Nice to meet you, Hanayagi-san. My name is Fukiyose Seiri."
"O-oh… Nice to me you too, Fukiyose-san. I am Hanayagi Rinko." The girl stood up abruptly and gave a small bow.
"But it is kinda strange that we're getting a transfer so late in the season." Aogami looked on over to Tsuchimikado and Kamijou standing beside him "Don't you guys find it weird? "
The two merely shrugged as if it couldn't be helped.
"Well, this kind of development wouldn't happen without its own reason. You guys don't think she's some kind of agent from a super secret organization?" Aogami's expression drastically changed into something .
"You mean like the one from the manga you were reading? Well if she did have some kind of outrageous power, Academy City will only make her feel at home." The blonde boy wearing sunglasses merely shrugged.
In order to welcome the new student, Fukiyose Seiri made the decision to help her become accustomed to the class. The rest of the students around didn't object and soon joined her.
At some point, meat was mentioned. That was when Kamijou Touma had a bad feeling. Another voice then talked about a new restaurant which just opened up yesterday. It was here that Kamijou decided to stop the growing momentum. But then yakiniku suddenly popped up in the conversation. Yakiniku was expensive.
Kamijou was allergic to that. Therefore he let out another voice of disapproval, but the flow of the conversation became as strong as a raging ravine, and a plan came together. Today, after school, the class was going to eat outside with the new transfer student Hanayagi Rinko.
Kamijou let out a crying wail.
The new student was oblivious and only looked on smiling while hiding her confusion as to was going on.
But later that day, the class did go out, or at least those who could make it. Komoe-sensei still had to do some paperwork and told them that she would catch up.
So, Kamijou, Fukiyose, Tsuchimikado, Aogami, and the others threaded through a snowy street that was blanket by snow on both sides. The freezing temperature posed somewhat as a hindrance.
"I can't believe you guys talked me into this!" yelled out the pointy-haired boy.
"Don't cry into my ears. The climate is bad enough," complained Aogami who was shivering under his thick coat. "I absolutely hate this freaking cold. It'd better if they just canceled school altogether so I can lie inside my kotatsu all day."
"This is rare. I've never seen Aogami-kun hating on something so much." Himegami looked toward Fukiyose.
The girl only shrugged and rewrapped her scarf. "He's been like that since this morning. Apparently, cold is his worst enemy." Himegami and Hanayagi who stood next to them looked on with pity.
Hanayagi rubbed her mitts together and wondered what kind of technologically advanced restaurant they will arrive at. Up until that point, the majority of the places she had seen looked ordinary, not a hint of flying cars or teleportation devices.
Regardless, she was grateful to everyone. They let their feet fend off the snow, making their way towards the restaurant that had red paper lanterns glowing by the entrance, where they will have a fun time, where Fukiyose, Himegami, and Kamijou Touma will make fast friends with her.
Misaka Worst stayed in high school mode the entire day until dinner. The two old women of the household were giving her curious looks while Accelerator didn't look her way at all, cause if he did, some random part of her uniform would be lifted up to show off a portion of skin for that boy.
But the clone delighted on the annoyed expression he made. It was like chocolate pudding to her.
She pranced around the living room, ignoring the sulking child hiding around the corner who wanted to try out a high school uniform too, even though it was fairly cold to be wearing such flimsy clothing.
It did not take long for her to get bored of the act and sit down at the sofa where Kikyou was busy organising her files on the small table at the center in order to prepare for a lecture. Worst remembered the woman was able to land a teaching job at a university.
"Hmmm... I can't decide on the approach I should take." The woman murmured as she glanced around her teaching materials. "It's only the first lesson, so I shouldn't start them with something too complex. They're kids who know nothing about neurology after all."
"Just go with introducing that segment over there with the three main graphs," Worst commented offhandedly as she turned on the TV. "Go work on your foundations one by one or else you'll overload their brains."
Kikyou looked up, slightly impressed. "You're quite knowledgeable."
"Naturally. I've been stuck in this place for a long ass time. Your notes are all over the place, and I've always had to pick them up and take quick glances from them. Also, I get all kinds of unnecessary information from the Misaka Network."
"Hmmm... I see, you'll make a good assistant in this case. Here, take some of these files and organize them please."
Misaka Worst shrugged. "Kind of a hassle, but I've done nothing at all today."
"Are you excited about going to your new high school?"
"Not really. I'm just going along with it cause it's so boring here with that brat. Speaking of which, didn't Number One attend high school before the project ended?"
"He was enrolled at Nagatenjouki, yes, but I can't say for certain if he did attend that school. I think he mentioned to me once a long time ago how he just received a letter of acceptance and their uniform."
Misaka Worst perked up suddenly when she heard that. "He wore something dumb and embarrassing besides that washed out sweater of his? I've gotta see this now! Right now!"
"He probably threw that uniform away the moment he saw it. Well, you can always pester him about it or rummage through his old stuff for it."
The next morning, large bags could be seen underneath Misaka Worst's eyes from staying up all night looking for something to . Her overall stance took a drastic downturn from her obnoxious self yesterday. Accelerator frowned when he noticed this. He instantly remembered how weird she acted last night, going through things she shouldn't have. When they finished their breakfast, Yomikawa went down to prepare the car.
The drive was completely uneventful. Accelerator was yawning in the back seat beside Misaka Worst who looked dejected as her new uniform was hidden by a thick coat due to the cold.
Yomikawa all the while was grinning as she kept glancing at the youngsters at the back, despite the fact that Accelerator stubbornly didn't change his usual clothes. What he wore on the first day was not exactly an issue though. The school was very lax with the student's attire after all.
When they arrived at A Certain High School, the delinquent clone's eyes lit up a little even with it being murky and evil. Once they got off, Yomikawa led them first towards the faculty office for some minor preparations.
It was there that Yomikawa noticed her colleagues, Tsukuyomi Komoe and Oyafune Suama.
"I'm afraid we have a problem, Yomikawa-san." The latter spoke up. She had a troubled expression written all over her face. "There was a problem with the registration." She glanced at the queer boy then retracted herself when his intimidating look stabbed at her.
"What do you mean? I thought the paperwork we sent was processed without a hitch."
Accelerator and Misaka Worst watched her go over to where the rest of the teachers stood. They looked at each other with puzzled glances and quietly waited at the other side of the room.
"What do you suppose they are talking about?" Worst was the first to interrupt the silence. Her finger twiddled with the body of his cane, hoping to unscrew something out by accident and make him stumble, but the boy paid her no mind.
"Who knows," he replied with the same old dispassionate voice and turned his attention away. He cared little for the outcome of what was going to happen. The teachers could handle whatever this issue was, especially Yomikawa. He did not have faith in her. Not even close. But this dilemma was not for him to solve, it was her's. If her plan failed because of her own blunder, then he could do nothing about it and just return to sleeping all day.
They waited for a few minutes before Yomikawa returned.
"Well it looks like Accelerator's admittance ran into some trouble." The lady gave a dry laugh as if it was not at all a big deal. "But it seems that Worst can go on ahead with Suama-sensei."
"Suama-sensei?" The girl repeated as if trying to register an irritating alien code into her brain.
Yomikawa noticed that the white-haired boy was shooting glares at her, not that because he was let down at being able to attend school, but because all the trouble he went through was for nothing, although it was her who did most of the work. In any case, he had resigned himself despite the trouble only to be denied in the end.
However, the situation was far from being over.
"Don't fret over this small thing" She walked on over to the boy. "I'll be able to solve this no time."
"Hmph... I take it that you have something in mind?"
"Of course! There's a place we need to go to first though." She turned to the clone who was chuckling at the poor boy.
"Ahem!" The tiny teacher suddenly interrupted them.
Yomikawa and Accelerator turned their questioning looks at her.
"If I may suggest something," she said as if introducing a nice idea. "Since Yomikawa-sensei needs to teach a lesson soon, why not let the two of them have their first day right now? I see no problem with Accelerator-chan attending even if it's not official yet. He's still a potential student after all."
As expected, the school was without a doubt casual with things as always.
On a different note, Accelerator let out a disgusted look when he heard his name being called out in a cute way.
"I see, that does sound good." Yomikawa grinned. "Well, how about it, you two?"
Misaka Worst, the representation of the terrible side of the Misaka Network, fell back as she was suddenly stricken by that good, motherly vibe of her landlord. She then retreated back to hide behind that troublesome boy. "I am not very confident attending this happy-go-lucky school after all, even with my source of malevolent inspiration next to me, says Misaka. If anything, I'd like to postpone this crazy adventure and go back to the apartment for some mandarin oranges."
"Stop being such an annoying brat already." The irritated boy shoved her hard towards the nervous teacher wearing glasses.
Misaka Worst rarely interacted with normal people. Her sheltered and enclosed life prevented her from making connections to the world beyond the dark side. It was no wonder she was acting like a scared little bunny at this point in time. She nervously glared at that average-looking teacher, who was just about as harmless as a pigeon. "I am Misaka Worst, an existence completely resembling the dark side of the Misaka Network. I am *not* pleased to meet you."
"O-oh... I shall be your homeroom teacher starting today. My name is Oyafune Suama. Nice to meet you?" The teacher looked at her with a dubious face before turning to Yomikawa. "Is she alright on the head? It seems like she's got eighth grade syndrome or something."
"Hahaha! Don't mind her, she's always like that." She gave the other teacher a playful, yet powerful slap on the back, causing her to stumble a little bit, but the teacher who doubled as an Anti-skill officer didn't notice this.
Oyafune and Worst left the office and headed towards the classroom.
"I guess, that's our cue to get going. What a pain this plan of yours turned out to be." Accelerator picked up his cane and lazily followed the other two.
"Hold on, Accelerator," Yomikawa called out. "Let's meet up back here once your lessons are all over."
"Hmm?" The boy took a sidelong glance at her.
"It's about your admission. We should fix it once all of us are free."
He clicked his tongue but made no remarks to object.
"Oh, and by the way, congrats on entering your new school life!" Her voice rang like a melodic chime. "Go out there and have fun!"
This signalled the start of his ordinary school life. Much like how the season switched gears, his days of clashing with threatening enemies were about to be put to rest.
Suama stopped just before entering the classroom. The two eccentric delinquents behind her gave puzzling glances.
"U-uhmm..." She mumbled, trying to devise the right words to say.
"Hey, isn't that what they call the homeroom classroom? Let's just get in already." Misaka Worst said in annoyance.
"W-well... before that, there is something that's been deeply troubling me..."
"What is it?" The two said in unison.
She fiddled with her fingers while hesitating. "Why are you kids using such fake names?"
"They're real names!" Once again, the two said in unison but more pissed.
The teacher made a tiny squeak and finally retreated to her classroom.
The class inside stopped their chatting and acknowledged her.
"So class, we'll be having two transfer students joining us for the rest of the term." She turned her pale face to the entrance. "Please step forward you two and introduce yourselves."
A scary-looking student was good at not letting the others have peace of mind during their lessons.
His crimson red glare was effective in staving off their curious glances.
That part of the classroom had become a small void which they avoided.
In truth, he was just absolutely bored.
A couple of classes in, he was barely awake with his feet resting on his desk. Even the teachers avoided him cause he seemed like a weird anomaly which was on the fence between imagination and reality.
On a side note, Misaka Worst was also asleep, but her existence was completely overshadowed.
However, in one brief period in between classes, a single girl stood up.
This girl had medium-length hair and looked as if she had found a brand new toy to play with.
"Hiya!" She stopped by his side. "I noticed you've been ignored this entire time, so I came to see what's up. Huh? Why aren't you wearing a uniform? Aren't those just your regular clothes?"
"H-Hold on, Mari, that's hell you're walking into!" Another girl sensed what was happening and stood up to intervene.
The girl known as Mari let out a laugh. "Come on, you guys are exaggerating way too much. Sure he may look like a serial killer, but he can't be all that bad right?"
"I can hear you two, you know." The boy in question let out a comment with one eye out.
"You don't know what you're saying, Mari!" The other girl grabbed her friend's shoulder. "Don't you remember the rumors? Just look at his features."
Mari stared at Accelerator with her chestnut eyes.
They were all silent.
"Hmmm..." She looked lost in her thoughts. It seemed she finally understood the gravity of the situation. "No, I don't get it at all. You're weird, Mika."
The people at the scene, apart from the oblivious girl, felt a blunt weight suddenly pull at their heads.
"You've got to be kidding me, Mari! Have you never heard of the white-haired, red-eyed demon of Academy City from all those rumors we heard?!" Mika retorted.
"Eh? But he looks nothing like what I imagined."
"That's because you're mind is a fantasy land!"
While the two were having a lively chat, the troublemaker clone suddenly popped out of the other side of the boy's desk.
"Look at the popular one here." She snickered. "Must be great being popular with high school girls instead of children for a change, huh Number One?"
"All of you are so noisy, I thought some kind of drug was injected into the classroom."
"Anyway..." Mari continued while her friend tried to protest from the back. "My name's Mari. Nice to meet you, Accelerator and... Misaka Worst?"
The clone fell back deeper into the other side of the desk to escape that goody goody smile.
Accelerator finally turned his attention her way. "So? I'm guessing you didn't come here for just some idle chatter."
Mari let out another cheeky smile, complete with tongue sticking out. "You sound like a protagonist from a really dark movie. I'd like to be in one someday though. Wait, wait, that's not why I came here."
"You look awfully chummy. How suspicious." The delinquent clone was relentless in glaring at the ordinary high school girl.
"Hm? I don't see a problem with being friendly, do you? Ah! By the way, I forgot to return the class record to Suama-sensei." She turned towards Accelerator. "You don't mind accompanying me eh, Number One?"
The boy suddenly looked far more awake now than he had ever before on that day.
"Well come on, then." Mari strode forward.
The outside of their classroom was void of disruptions. Frost covered the majority of the windows there from one end of the building to the other.
Mari wrapped herself with her long, red scarf. She wore the same uniform as any other student in this school, a very average navy blue uniform. A blue record book was securely held to her modest chest.
Accelerator shut the classroom door behind him. "I'm not surprised in the least bit. After all, Tsuchimikado is in this school."
"Hmm... I don't know who this Tsuchimikado is. I called out to you cause I just needed someone to come with me to the teacher's room."
"That other girl you were talking with earlier was free, wasn't she?"
"That's true..." She hummed, keeping the book tight against her chest. "But not often can I play with the transfer student. And... it's not often I meet someone who is well versed in my former craft."
"I see, you're quite knowledgeable about this." That boy casually walked alongside her, keeping their language at a safe level.
The girl pouted and puffed her cheeks up. "Oh, honestly. I was so surprised when I saw you two became transfer students. At first, I imagined that the dark side sent hitmen or harriers to bind me back. But I didn't sense anything from you two, so I thought it was only a coincidence."
"Hohh... Well don't you have a story," commented the boy, not the least bit impressed. "A former agent right? Won your freedom by doing the something impossible?"
The girl's eyes widened. "Huh? How do you know that?"
"Idiot. I've seen a glimpse of your records before."
"And I know you, Mr. Honor Student." Mari smiled. "Feels strange living like this doesn't it? Like you are watching someone else's life through their eyes."
Accelerator remained silent. Their walk was very much like the picture of an innocent high school girl and boy. One that was painted over a crude and twisted landscape.
They returned from the staff room. Mari acted as if nothing had happened while Accelerator was the same as usual.
Misaka Worst remained slumped against her desk, flipping over her brand new phone which Kikyou had provided for her since a student needed some way to contact their guardian, or to blend in with the other students. The boy passed by her and returned to his seat, thinking about this was going to be his routine almost every day for the rest of his adolescent life. Did he like it or did he hate it? He couldn't quite make a verdict yet. The school life didn't at all seemed like he imagined. It felt as if he was just in another weird experiment, but in the presence of young adults like him.
Maybe that was going to change as days come by.
That aside, he was the strongest Level 5 in Academy City. It was a good thing none of the students here recognized him as such, or there would be trouble. Although, that rumor Mari's friend mentioned seemed to be concerning. He wasn't sure how much detailed or accurate this rumor was. He'll have to ask that girl tomorrow.
Misaka Worst was grinning when classes were over. Accelerator picked up his cane, but the girl remained orbiting his awkward strides.
"So did that girl give you her number?" She said with the most delinquent smile. "Are you finally going to graduate from your lackluster manhood?"
The boy sighed and put on his usual contemptuous expression. "Yes."
"Wha-wha-whaaaaat?! I didn't expect you would, not in a million years! You've got to be joking! I'll thrash your room if you did!" Tears streaming, the clone let out a childish tantrum he had not seen in her before. She gripped of his shirt before she shaking him a little.
Surprised, Accelerator wound up taking a step back and fell backwards. He wound up pinned on the floor with her "Ouch! You damn clone, I was only fooling you. Now get the hell off me!"
"Is that true?"
Accelerator kicked her to the side and brushed himself off.
"Well fine then, I'll believe you just this one time," she replied sounding relieved. "But know that I won't allow myself to be left out just like that."
He ignored her and started for the staff room, as agreed upon by Yomikawa.
District 1 was where a majority of the city's administrative offices were located.
Misaka Worst went home by herself while Yomikawa Aiho and Accelerator.
"Why are we in this district again?" Accelerator said dryly as he watched the scenery.
Yomikawa peered through the rearview mirror for a moment as she said, "District 1 holds the majority of Academy City's administrative institutions. You know that much, right?"
"Of course, but it mainly focuses on the city's management and logistics. I don't see how going here would resolve our problem in any way," he replied dispassionately.
"District 1 may be focused on the general workings of the city, but that means that it also needs a connection to the education system. How else will they express their governance over the schools and educational facilities here?"
"That's true." Accelerator immediately saw what that meant. The city's land and urban structure was a resource in and of itself. In order for the numerous schools residing in Academy City to share and use the city's resources, it must first work with the city's departments which presides in the central hub of District 1. There was a limit to the influence of each and every school's influence, no matter how big and prestigious it was. Of course there are some with such a large influence that it allowed for a bigger area to be established specifically for their needs. The School Garden was a prime example of this, and mainly due to prestigious schools like Tokiwadai which allowed for such a thing to be constructed.
"The problem we have right now does not fall closely on your previous school's jurisdiction. It is more of an issue with the system connecting to Academy City's own student database and Nagatenjouki. That very system can be found in District 1," said Yomikawa as she continued to drive through the streets.
It was still the middle of winter. Accelerator could hardly see anything from the frost covering the car's windows.
Yet the landscape was changed all of a sudden. Their surroundings were replaced with even taller buildings, all having distinct colors and outer walls.
Although peaceful, much of the activities inside was full of strenuous research in order to stretch the reaches of science. If not, to create another perfect specimen, another Accelerator in a sense.
Much of the place was full of adults that it made Accelerator sick.
They stopped at a lot next to an office building surrounded by a wide concrete walkway.
As they both got off, Accelerator observed the area and scowled. "Why are we at this place?"
"The Nagatenjouki data center?" The woman replied with a grin as she took a coat from the passenger seat in order to put above her tracksuit. "There's no way to access the records of a highly classified esper like you at a mere high school computer like ours, so we must seek the assistance of the administrators themselves. It shouldn't come as a surprise that special permissions must be held in managing your information."
"And you were able to contact the ones with those specific permissions? Here I thought you were just all brawn." He asked in a dispassionate tone.
"Well, it wasn't easy wrestling custodianship from your former scientists. I got hassled by a few shady people for weeks. But once I asked around and pulled some strings, I got them to back down. Don't underestimate the authority of Anti-Skill, remember that." Yomikawa smiled. The victory over that part of his darkness was not just for her, but for the single step of achieving a positive future for him. After all, it was obvious that the previous school, Nagatenjouki Academy, cared little about the boy's welfare and school life. What was essential to them was having the Level 5 in their register, to be recognized as a school housing a Level 5 despite the fact that they were not the ones that produced it. However, the sheer recognition was a great boost to the institute.
Accelerator sighed but was relieved those bastards turned their heels.
He let himself be led by the woman towards the front entrance. A vast floor space greeted them inside. It was a busy place full of adults and students walking about and working behind the desks.
"Where to?" asked the boy.
Yomikawa looked up thoughtfully before answering. "Well first we need to go to the reception, and then we'll head to their office. Usually, there are papers and request forms which need to be filled up, but I had a friend take care of that."
"Great, more walking," he replied with a sarcastic tone.
"Sorry, bare with me for now." Although she wasn't terribly worried.
Their paces did not quite match, and Accelerator found himself trailing away while Yomikawa reached the reception first.
In an instant, he felt something bump against him from behind. He lurched forward, finding the support in his cane until he found stability. He irritatedly glanced back to see who was the bastard trying to pick a fight with him. But what he saw was just a mere woman who looked like a total klutz.
The woman looked shaken. She adjusted her red framed glasses and bowed her head without looking. "O-oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there." Without waiting for a reply, she rushed off towards a corner of the reception.
Accelerator took a moment to adjust his cane and posture. He took a small step and then stopped. His eyes stared straight ahead. Something odd was there, or rather, something which compelled him to look forward. His attention was directed towards that woman who bumped into him, not because he knew her, but because of what she revealed in her panic.
When she glanced back, the boy had made eye contact with her. That brief moment was enough to catch her expression. Her face contorted with fright as if she felt something wrong about him. It was as if she came to realize that she bumped into one of the evils of the world. It was the kind of look he knew all too well.
He narrowed his eyes as he watched her run into the crowds and disappear. He thought for a long moment to chase after her in order to find out what exactly was her issue with him. It was possible if it was him. Yet, there was no real reason to. An incident had not occurred, a fight had not broken out, merely a wordless exchange. It was not something to get worked up over.
He walked up beside Yomikawa and yawned.
"Hm? Are you sleepy even already?" The woman shot him a questioning look as she finished filling up a form at the counter.
He noticed and merely shrugged, discarding the thoughts he had earlier. Although there was one thing that remained stuck in his mind: A rumor of the white-haired, red-eyed Level 5.
END AN:
To answer some of you:
Shining: Yes, getting shot in the head does create problems.
Succesful World: This has always been my mind when watching Index. How come Accel never causes a ruckus when he's out on the streets? Although he does get recognized by the delinquents challenging him early in the series, but not regular students or people the likes of Misaka Mikoto. So my idea is that he keeps a low profile, but people who actively seek him out are able to find out who he is.
Je11yfish: I'm glad you think so, and I hope that I'm able to meet your expectations.
This marks the end for this chapter. Chapter 3 expected date will probably be 2020 lol.