Outside of their story

[ACSA: One-Way Trouble]

Lumen flutttered over to the window, there was no way a butterfly would be able to blend in if she went inside the diner so she settled on one of the plants outside and looked in.

No, she was too low to be able to see him through the window. She would have to land on the window or something and that could easily be noticed. Normally she wouldn't care much as people tended not to notice her butterfly form. Either due to lack of powers or there being a few others about.

Unfortunately Accelerator would be able to see her, with certainty. It was also nearly autumn so most butterflies were looking for places to hibernate. That didn't mean there were no others about but there were a lot less than a few weeks ago.

She would just have to pray that he didn't notice her. She flapped her wings and travelled to the window to look inside.

Accelerator was sitting facing the window she now sat on and there was someone else sat across from him. This other figure had brown hair (with part of it sticking up in a way that reminded Lumen of an antenna) and was the only one of the two of them eating. She had plates of food set out in front of her while Accelerator only had a glass of water.

She couldn't make out what they were talking about but she could read Accelerator's lips to get half of the conversation.

"-looking so calm?"

[ACMI: The Thing You Wanted]

The girl said something to answer him to which he responded with some form of grunt.

After another few sentences he was forced to grunt again. Lumen now realised the trouble of figuring out what was being said while the only person she could lipread was only grunting in responce to answers. Maybe if she was stealthy enough she could listen in?

She flapped to the door and after waiting for someone to open it she entered the diner. She made it to the ceiling above the two speakers just as Accelerator slammed his hand onto the table and responded to something the girl said angrily "Oh come on, you must be seriously twisting the facts to come up with that idea! I was perfectly happy to keep on killing you people for as long as the experiment was active. I don't know why you would think differently."

Experiment? Killing 'you people'? Lumen took a closer look at the girl he was talking to. It only struck her when she saw the face. He was talking to a Misaka sister. A much smaller one than the others.

"Think back to all those battles." The girl began to explain "You spoke to Misaka many times during them. So? Why would you do that? Misaka Misaka says, asking the obvious question."

Accelerator made a face that look like she had struck on something with that question.

"In Misaka Misaka's estimation, you picked rather strange times to make conversation. Generally speaking, the main reason you draw someone into conversation with you is to establish some sort of connection with them. If you were really only concerned with the success of the experiment then there would be no reason for you to converse, Misaka Misaka states reasonably."

"I was trash talking," Accelerator answered "I don't see how that makes you think I was trying to establish a connection with you."

"Yes, that is the second odd thing about your behavior, Misaka Misaka agrees holding up two fingers to illustrate." As she said that she did indeed raise two fingers "You were constantly arrogant and rude, everything you said was abusive towards Misaka. That suggests that your motivation went beyond merely making a connection. However, the fact that your words were cruel does not mean that they were intended maliciously."

Again Accelerator reacted. Honestly, Lumen thought that his tells were quite obvious. But still it did seem strange to her. It annoyed her that she had missed the start of the conversation as it meant she missed the context of what the girl was saying.

On the subject of the girl, Lumen had noticed how her method of speaking differed from most sisters. While they all spoke in the third person, this one refered to herself as Misaka Misaka purely to differentiate herself from the sisters that Accelerator had fought who she described with just 'Misaka' in the same way that someone might say Me or Them. Was she here then to speak as a collective of the sisters to speak with Accelerator?

"In this analysis we must also consider the timing. As far as Misaka Misaka can recall, you always initiated conversation before the battles began. It was almost like you were trying to intimidate Misaka into backing down, like you wanted Misaka to say she did not want to fight you, Misaka Misaka observes. Of course it didn't work, the Misakas couldn't understand what you were attempting to do. But what would you have done if Misaka had told you she didn't wish to continue? Misaka Misaka believes things would have turned out very differently."

Oh. Lumen got what she was saying now. Her idea was that Accelerator had wanted them to give up so he could stop killing them. Had they asked for mercy would he have given it?

After a moment, Accelerator stood up.

"I'm getting tired of listening to this crap." he spoke as he turned and walked away.

There was a clattering of cutlery as 'Misaka Misaka' collapsed onto the table.

She gave a soft laugh as Accelerator turned to look before she spoke quietly "Misaka Misaka's body isn't complete yet. Her physical condition is still less than perfect. Normally she wouldn't even be out of the incubator at this point, Misaka Misaka clarifies the reason for her collapse."

Accelerator walked back over to her as she continued "Up until now, she has been able to manage so she assumed she would be alright, perhaps she was mistaken Misaka misa-" she appeared to fall unconscious and started breathing heavily. She had a blush to her cheeks like Febrie had while she didn't have her lolipops.

She was still awake however as she looked up at Accelerator who had returned to the table and asked "Hey?"

"What is it? Why are you still standing? You're not leaving already are you? Misaka Misaka asks pleadingly." Her head fell to the table again but she continued "There is still a lot of food left."

Accelerator looked to the side "Yeah well after all this talk, I've kind of lost my appetite."

"Oh, okay." the girl mumbled "Misaka Misaka is disappointed though. She had hoped you would finish the meal together. She didn't even get to order dessert."

Accelerator took the receipt for the meal she had ordered and began to walk away "Yeah well, life's tough kid. You should get used to it."

He took the receipt to the till where he payed for the meal and left. Lumen watched the sleeping girl for a moment before heading to the door to leave. When someone opened the door she left in the same moment.

She had quite a lot to tell Joule on the way back.

End of chapter.

Last order's speech was longer than I remembered it meaning that yes, the three stories chapters will go on for a little bit longer than planned.