At the restaurant, Shirai and Uiharu explained what their Judgement-Operation from before was all about.
"So, a passerby saw some child being abducted and called Anti-Skill as well as Judgement. We were after them, Uiharu through the cameras, while I pursued them in the air making use of her as my navigator."
Shirai started.
"Then just as Shirai had forced them into an Anti-Skill roadblock, the small child ran out of the van, shortly after that, the complete vehicle burst in an almost colorless fire. It's a real mystery, what happened there, but I'm glad the little boy was saved! The vehicle was empty, according to the investigators of Anti-Skill."
Uiharu added.
"What sense does that make? Snatch a kid and then just releasing it and burning yourself up. I feel there is something fishy!"
The Level 5 girl eating with them surmised.
"It could be someone wanted to draw our attention away from the rest of the district. I got word, someone blew up a portion of the street leading to District 19, luckily, there were no injuries or fatalities. We should check the camera footage later at the branch-office Uiharu!"
That concluded the report.
"Have you heard the new song from Hitotsui Hajime?" Saten grabbed the steering wheel of this conversation.
After some more fooling around, the four girls finished their Dinner and headed out, Uiharu and Shirai to their Judgement Office, Misaka and Saten to their respective dorms.
"Man, I hope the rain won't come pouring down while I am still out, I think it might even be a thunderstorm approaching."
"Yeah Saten, you could be right, I can already feel how the clouds are charging up electric current…! We should hurry!"
"Wow, that's convenient!"
"Not really, I also get headache and can't rest with all the EM-Waves a thundercloud gives off around."
"Oh, well, there is good and bad in anything Misaka, isn't it?"
"You're right! But we should hurry now, or we will be drenched on our way home. See you tomorrow Saten! Bye!"
"Bye Misaka!"
Saten was on her way home, she felt the sensation of the slowly starting rainfall on her skin.
"Guess, I should hurry up! I will take some shortcuts through the back alleys."
While walking, her mind was not fully occupied, so her thoughts went into the direction of a certain white-haired boy, where they went every time lately.
Hmm, what is he up to right now, I wonder. I can't even imagine, Misaka is so strong, but that boy, according to her, he is hundreds or maybe thousands of times stronger than her. What should I even do, if I met him again? I can't just ask "Hey Accelerator, I heard you were a mass-murderer, what's that all about?" can I? It's totally unreasonable, but when I looked into his eyes, they didn't seem like the eyes of a monster or a cold-blooded killer, more like a really caring guy, being clouded over by that. Or so I think, at least. C'mon Saten, you sound like Misaka, once she's talking about that spiky-haired Touma-guy… Wait! Could it be? Does that happen just like that? I always thought you had to be really close before you fall for someone that hard… We barely know each other! In fact, we DON'T know each other. We bumped into one another and I heard the story about him from a friend! That's it! But somehow it isn't.
Her thoughts going on about this matter showed, how deeply influenced Saten was by that encounter. Meanwhile, the light rainfall had turned into a heavy downpour. The girl, completely absorbed into her thoughts, didn't care.
She was ripped out of her contemplating, by someone around the corner groaning in pain.
Saten went after the sound, what she saw was a complete mess!
The ground looked, as if someone had ploughed through it like a field. The plaster on the walls was destroyed, and every garbage bin was overturned and dented.
What she saw next was the worst of it all. Back at the alley's end, there was a huge crater in the wall made of bricks, it looked as if an asteroid had impacted. Below lay a white haired slender boy, he looked barely conscious.
The girl ran up to him.
She asked "What happened, are you all right, let me call an ambulance!"
He sat up against the wall. And spoke in a coarse voice.
"Stop, I can't go to the frigging hospital now. I need to save her! That bastard took her away! Aaargh!"
"You are injured, I can see some cuts, who knows what bones you may have had broken!"
"It doesn't fucking matter! I must go!"
"What do you think would that person say, if you were killed, while rushing to safe her! Even if you set her set free first, she would eternally blame herself for that! Take your time! Do you know where they went? Maybe Anti-Skill can help!" She angrily stared into his red eyes, while talking with a kind strictness.
"Shut it woman, I need to…" He ran his hands through his wet hair while the echo of the yell he had started disappeared into the dark alley. His composure returned.
"Sorry, you are right, you somehow cooled my temper, it gets the better of me from time to time. They told me a location to meet up, I don't think Anti-Skill could handle him. Wait, aren't you that girl from yesterday?"
"Ehm, yes. We haven't introduced ourselves then…"
Her sentence was interrupted by the boy slipping away to the side.
She caught him, before his head could hit the floor again.
Accelerator felt the soft sensation of her palm on his cheek, while she sat him up again.
Saten slightly blushed, when she thought about it.
"Are you sure, you don't need an ambulance?"
"Look at this place, if you called the damn emergency services now, they would think I did all of this and lock me up. We have a history together to say the least."
"What can we do instead?" wait we?!
"Not we, I will hunt them down and beat them to a pulp on my own. I can manage somehow, do me a favor and search for my crutch, it should be here somewhere."
Tsk, fucking polite Accelerator again, what is it tempering my mind with this girl?!
Saten quickly found the item in question and handed it to the boy.
He slowly rose, determined to save that person he was talking about.
His legs wouldn't follow his commands, so he leaned against the wall, unable to move on.
"Damnit, why can't I move!"
The girl looked at the place Accelerator had sat; a red liquid was slowly washed away by the rainwater.
"Your injuries need to be treated, at least with first aid and you need to rest for a while! I may not look like it, but I'm actually the school-paramedic of my class! I sometimes help out our nurse at the infirmary."
He looked at her.
"You would do that for a complete stranger? A stranger who could have done, who knows what in his past?"
She gazed deep into his eyes and made a decision.
"Off course, when somebody needs help and you have the ability needed, it's the only right thing to do!"
I made my decision! I will let the past be the past and get my own impression!
Filled with determination and another emotion he couldn't comprehend, water running down her cute face and slightly blushed, Saten gazed at Accelerator.
Wow, that girl really is something… What a beautiful sight. I begin to grasp, why my fucking mind won't let me rest about her. Accelerator, where is this train of thought headed?
"Hmm, I can't treat you here, my apartment is just a couple of minutes away, there I've got supplies, light and it's dry."
Saten shyly suggested, after all, she just invited a boy into her home.
Accelerator had no objection, but he couldn't move that well.
"Wait, let me help you!"
The girl slipped under his arm while putting her own around his back and supported him while walking along his side. Needless to say, the whole situation had them holding onto each other quite closely. Their drenched clothes sticking together and to their bodies, did not make it any better.
"I haven't introduced myself to you, haven't I?" Argh, there we go again, complete loss of control over my vocal cords! Damnit all!
"I haven't either! My name is Saten Ruiko! It's a pleasure meeting you, would the occasion be better at least…"
"Saten huh? Well you said it, but you can't choose those things. The pathetic lump of useless you are supporting here is called Accelerator, I'm the #1 Level 5 of this city, but right now I'm just another third-string…" What am I talking? I shouldn't listen to myself in that state... Is this what being drunk to blackout feels like?
"Don't be so hard on yourself…"
Suddenly a bright flash of light, followed by a deafening roar interrupted the conversation, lightning and thunder, it sounded, like the source was directly over their heads.
Misaka Mikoto was caught up in the heavy rain, as she rushed toward her dorm using every shortcut available. She took a rest at a nearby bus station. The public transport was timed to the last classes of the day, so today's final bus was long gone. However, the stop had a roof and was a relatively dry place to rest for a moment.
"Jeez, I'm drenched already? C'mon couldn't that cloudburst have waited for ten more minutes? Agh, I feel it, the thunderstorm is coming… I should move on!"
She was about to depart from her little Island of dry ground, when she saw herself standing on the opposite side of the road wearing military goggles.
The girl crossed the street, meeting up with herself.
"Hello big sister. Says Misaka as she approaches the Original." The clone spoke in a calm emotionless voice.
"Oh hello, ah it's you, the one that idiot always calls Misaka Imouto! Misaka 10032, wasn't it?"
"How did you figure that out? Inquires Misaka, while tilting her head."
"Piece of cake, after all he gave you that heart necklace for exactly that purpose."
"I see! Misaka acknowledges, as she moves on. Big sister, we require your assistance."
"I'm glad to help, is it a problem with Accelerator again?"
"Negative, denies Misaka, we received a formal report from the rogue outsider element Misaka accompanying Accelerator. Start of direct quote: `This Misaka doesn't send anything to the network normally, but the annoying command tower has been captured. It would be a shame if Accelerator was broken, before I have the chance to do it myself, explains Misaka to her annoying older sisters, knowing full well they will go after Unit 20001. Last Orders abductors seem to have moved toward District 19 concludes Misaka. ´ End of direct quote."
"That doesn't sound good, at all! What are you planning to do?"
"The Misaka units 10039, 13577 and 19090 are already searching for clues, This Misaka was tasked with finding and persuading the Original to help us. Misaka even brought an umbrella as a bargaining chip."
"How nice of you, I also would have helped you without an umbrella, off course. Lead the way, big sister Mikoto will help you find the lost child!"
"Just follow me to the meeting point, suggests Misaka while being glad, that her mission turned out to be a great success."
A lightning lit up the nightly Sky, seconds later the roar of thunder drowned out all other noises.
The storm was getting worse by the moment, Saten and Accelerator took almost 15 Minutes to get to her place due to him being quite unsteady while walking.
The door was opened and immediately after he removed his shoes, Accelerator collapsed onto a stool the girl had prepared in the meantime.
Saten gathered up her first aid supplies, disinfectant, sterile swabs of cloth, Academy City's special wound-sealing glue and bandages.
"Please remove your shirt, so I can treat your injuries!" the girl commanded with a noticeable blush on her face.
It's only first aid, right?
He complied, his slender upper body was scratched in every direction, sometimes it was a fairly deep cut, you'd have to sew everywhere else on the world, sometimes a small scratch, barely tearing through the skin.
"What happened to you, Accelerator?"
Here we go again Accelerator, that strange feeling and loss of reasoning and control, goddamnit all!
"You wouldn't believe, it's something like Esper-abilities. Let's say a thousand blades of wind."
He winced, when Saten started to disinfect his wounds, while telling him to go on.
I somehow have the strange feeling, that I can tell her everything about it and she would accept it. Why? We barely know each other for crying out loud. Would that bring danger over her? Why am I even concerned? I'll just do it, but keep it a bit vague.
Jerking every time the girl touched his injuries with the disinfectant, he began from the start.
"Okay, I'll tell you everything!"
She perked up, as he said that line.
"The small girl from yesterday was captured by some strange people. I don't know much, except them wanting me to confront them in District 19. Also, Magic is a real thing!"
"What?"
"Exactly that was my reaction when I found out about it. The brat explaining it to me went like this: `Those without talent wanted to replicate the powers of those known as Gemstones, natural born Espers. That means an Esper can't use Magic at all, they would die. ´ The Occult is a way to gain abilities like us, but is not limited to one skill per person, while also being way more complicated."
"Are you really serious?" she asked in disbelieve.
"I wouldn't believe either If I hadn't used magic myself, once, to save that girl and almost kicked the bucket in the process. Yes, I am dead serious! I use this device on my neck to calculate for my powers, that guy disabled it with his magic, then he tore up the ground and used vacuum blades to toss me into that wall. Luckily, my ability reactivated at the time of the impact, so I got away relatively unscathed, I don't think any bones have broken. The other girl I was with yesterday, the tall one, pursued the attackers, but I'm unable to contact her, my shitty phone got wrecked when that damn wall struck me."
Saten's first aid continued, she was about to glue together the numerous cuts using the specially formulated artificial skin wound-sealing glue.
"So, what are you planning to do to save Last Order."
His expression changed to one of anger.
"How the fuck do you know her name?!"
Oh, dammit it slipped out! What do I do now?! I-I'll try to be completely honest, I can't think of an alternative…
He was trying to stand up, but Saten held him down.
"Easy Accelerator, I wasn't completely honest with you, sorry for that, but I was scared how you would react!" the girl felt like tears would run down from her eyes any moment now. Her ears were tingling, when she thought about what he would do to her, she was scared all of the sudden.
He sat back down.
Accelerator, normally you'd beat any information out of people like that. Somehow even thinking about doing that to this girl makes my heart ache? I think it's hopeless, I will not understand what is happening here.
Saten continued treating his back.
"I'm a friend of Misaka Mikoto and I persuaded her to tell me about you, because I wanted to meet up with you again, Accelerator. I know about the Level 6 shift experiment, about the Sisters, about Last Order, about everything!"
"So you know my past, what a monster I was, I enjoyed killing those over 10000 people. What do you think about me now? Are you scared of what I could do to you now?"
She was proceeding to bandage him.
"I don't know what it is, but when we ran into each other, I saw something in your eyes, I wasn't sure what, but it didn't feel like staring into the eyes of a monster, you know. I felt something, I can't explain, but I think you are not the kind of person to enjoy things like that. I felt you are a nice person on the Inside, a caring and supporting guy." the girl shyly answered, her words were flooding out.
What?! What is this feeling inside of me. Is she an Esper and reading my soul? How would that even work, it's true, I did enjoy killing Windup-Dolls, but once I realized they were people, that changed. I tried to pay for my crimes by protecting the surviving girls, knowing full well, that my actions were unforgivable.
"I think you had a change of heart when that Level 0 boy defeated you, why else would you protect them to such an extend? Now you are trying to make up for the past!"
That girl's intimate knowledge is scary as fuck, but somehow it feels great to talk to someone, about it. No especially to her, who seems to accept me and was not involved at all. Why do I feel so hot right now?
The girl finished treating the open injuries and picked up a small flashlight, she shone it into his eyes, while watching closely over the dilation of his pupils, his concussion has lessened significantly. She had put her hand on his cheek, for better control of his movements. Accelerator thought her softness felt ecstatic.
"Is that your final answer?"
"Yes, I don't want to judge you, I can't. I wasn't part of all that, so how could I know? Just wallowing in the past and hating yourself won't do those girls any good now. All you can do now is to live with what you did. Stopping won't bring them back to life, either. The whole world may never forgive you for the terrible things you did in the past, but if you try to protect others, the world itself sure will become a better place. That's all there is for you to do now. You may have been deceived to go along with that experiment, but I don't think you actually enjoyed it. Accelerator, I think you have buried that nice side deep under your anger, so it won't get hurt anymore, let me help you wake it up again!" she spoke in a kind and caring tone.
In that moment Accelerator had decided to tell her everything. What happened to him in the darkness of that city, what he did to others and how he felt about it. He knew, she would understand and help him cope with all the events.
They faced each other closely now, Accelerator was flabbergasted, her words felt so familiar.
What, that's what that voice in my dream tonight said? Have I wished for that all this time? Where are you, normal Accelerator? Come out, say something!
He stood up, the boy was almost a head taller than the black-haired girl. Still holding eye contact with each other, Satens other hand had moved toward Accelerator's face. Their movements natural and from their sub-consciousness had led them into a tight embrace. His arms were wrapped around her waist, while her arms lay closed around his neck.
Their faces slowly moved together, both of them closed their eyes.
Then, their lips met, it was a passionate kiss. Both didn't have much experience in that department, but for a long moment all insecurities were swept away, they just followed their hearts. All that mattered were those two souls, meant for each other, finally sharing this moment.
Even the thoughts of those two synchronized.
Somehow this feels just right, as if my whole life led me to enjoy this moment!
After their first kiss, Accelerator and Saten held eye contact from close up once more.
The look in her eyes is just magical, I think I just fell in love. You can get out of my head angry Accelerator, I'm the #1 now!
His eyes have changed, it looks as if a long conflict has ended, now all I see is a caring and loving boy, the boy I fell in love with. I'm such a lucky girl!
Saten embraced him again and put her head to jis chest, he didn't have time to put his shirt back on again, so her cheek touched his bare skin, while she listened to the boy's excited heartbeat. Accelerator tightly wrapped his arms around her, he thought, she felt like heaven itself.
He had a new person to protect with his life, no with all of his existence!
The pair held their tight embrace for a long, long time, neither of them wanted it to ever end.
"Agh! This one is all static too!" a frustrated Shirai collapsed on her desk.
She and Uiharu were still at the 177th branch office of Judgement and checking on the strange kidnapping earlier today.
"It's interesting, how all cameras around those three areas show nothing but static."
They checked trough security footage of the places where the boy had been kidnapped, where the van caught fire and where a part of the highway was blown up. All they could find around those areas were security cameras suddenly loosing connection and only recording static for the next 25 minutes.
"How could one disable all those cameras without being noticed?"
"Maybe they jammed the signal?"
"The attacker would have to be an Electromaster on the level of Onee-sama to cause such an outage. First you need to identify the wavelength the data are uploaded on, then you would have to jam only this particular band of frequencies to not be noticed."
"That leaves only a technical source, Misaka was with Saten all the time, so she couldn't have caused it. Also, why would she?"
"I can't wrap my head around it Uiharu!"
"You two have been sitting over this incident for a long time now, I think you should stop for now and clear your thoughts. Go back to your dorms and continue tomorrow, that's an order!" their chief officer, a high-school girl by the name of Konori Mii commanded them to leave it for the day.
"You are right Senpai, we should restart tomorrow…"
The two girls went on to follow their upperclassman's advice.
What none of them noticed was that the disabled security cameras encompassed a huge area stretching from District 7 up to District 19, it was almost 10% of Academy City's area.
Saten and Accelerator held their embrace for a long time. In fact, the date had already changed.
The boy was the first to say something:
"I would like to stay here with you forever." he whispered the first part, then he continued in a more forceful tone "But Last Order is still in danger. I must save her, her live must not be consumed by the darkness of this world like mine was for a long time. I will come back to you!"
"Are you crazy? You might be a Level 5, you might be the strongest Level 5, but that terrible person has a way to disable your power, can you really promise me to come back?"
He remained silent, his considerate side was in full control.
"You need someone to help you! Someone that can't be affected by that magic you're talking about. Maybe a Level 0 like me can be of use after all! I want to stay by your side, Accelerator! Please let me!"
The girl was determined to help.
"I don't want you to be hurt! Please, stay out of this Ruiko."
"I can't, I don't want to be without you anymore."
Her tears welled up as she stared at him, her blue eyes looked like a crystal-clear lake in the mountains. Accelerator wiped those drops of water away and just held her in his arms for some more time.
"Okay, if we are to do this, we will need some equipment! I will protect you with all I have!"
Saten looked happy, even though she was heading into a world full of danger.
She tried calling Misaka, a second Level 5 would be a real bonus in this situation, but was unable to reach her.
Misaka Mikoto and her clones, serial numbers 10032, 10039, 13577 and 19090 had almost localized the place where Last Order was held hostage using Academy City's surveillance system. The cameras only showed static, but as Electromasters, they could use the public internet to connect to just about any device, for example from a hotel rooms terminal.
The cellphone relays were their target.
"We know from the report, that the perpetrator used EMP to disable the target, explains Misaka. Since along his path all cameras were shut down…"
"and we know into which District he headed, we can cross-reference our data with signal outages along the way, continues Misaka."
"Could you please stop finishing each other's sentences? I still can't get used to it!"
"We were getting to the last point, the small area, where we concluded the target has to hide has only one viable option. It is the Special Ability Institute's branch in District 19's lower area, reveals Misaka."
"Great, let's head there and free Last Order!"
The clones geared up and left their hideout.
