Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index
The Trinity of Tokiwadai
Chapter Twenty Seven: Histoire D'amour Un
Beta:
Closing the door to Janie and Febrie's room after making sure the two girls were asleep, Ruiko walked to her own room with a pleased smile on her face.
"The girls asleep?" Kaa-san asked from where she leaning against the wall down the hall.
"Yes, Kaa-san." The Level 5 confirmed, her smile growing even wider as the mere thought of the twins sleeping safe and sound just meters away. That after having spent a whole day enjoying themselves, something that would have been impossible for the Chemicaloids just weeks ago. It filled her with pride and joy at the small part she'd played in making that possible.
"Good. I feel like I'm growing grey hair from all you kids running around." The tired looking woman jested with a small smirk. "So are you going out again?"
"You knew?" Ruiko asked, genuinely surprised. She'd thought she had been discrete enough to escape notice when she'd snuck out the last few times.
Her mother shrugged, "I do check on you sometimes when I feel the need for a late night drink or some such. You weren't in bed the last few times I did."
"Sorry about that. I should have left a note or something."
"Mmhm." The scientist agreed. "So where have you been going?"
Ruiko couldn't help but bite her bottom lip nervously, before hesitantly answering. "Accel's dorm."
The mother's eyes narrowed.
"...I see."
Ruiko withheld a flinch as she could hear the disapproval from that statement alone.
"You're going to a boy's dormitory? In the middle of the night?" Kiyama asked with the authoritative tone that only mothers seemed able to pull off.
Maybe she should learn that.
"Yes?"
Kiyama sighed in resignation.
"Alright, I'm confident that you're not making me more of a grandmother, but I would really like to know what exactly you're doing with him late at night?"
"Kaa-san!" Ruiko hissed, scandalized at what her mother was insinuating. "I'm twelve!"
"That hasn't stopped you so far." The mother said nodding towards the twins' room.
"T-That doesn't count?! Right?" Ruiko had to ask.
"Oh, it does. Remember, hands to yourself young lady and make sure your boyfriend does the same."
"It's not like that! And he's not my boyfriend!"
"Yet," Kaa-san said with a knowing smirk.
"Kaa-san!"
Ignoring her daughter's indignation at her teasing, the scientist turned away and headed off to bed. Calling over her shoulder, she offered a parting comment.
"Don't be home too late, Ruiko. See you in the morning. Good night."
"Good night, Kaa-san." Ruiko said even as she felt her face heat up.
Stupid Kaa-san, being weird.
Ruiko teleported into Accel's dorm to find it trashed, which was not much of a surprise. Considering her friend's reputation and the many enemies it had engendered for him, his room tended to be the target of retaliation every other day.
"Sorry for being late, I got caught up with Kaa-san before… leaving…"
Her excuse died in her throat at what she saw before her. Sitting on his ruined mattress was a 10-year old version of Mikoto-sempai with one unusual strand of hair that stood up in a stereotypical ahoge and who was wearing nothing but a ragged scrap of a blanket.
Seeing the chibified version of her Sempai, in nothing but rags no less, she sent a flinty stare to Accel.
"Accel… what is going on?"
"First off, it ain't my fault." The albino grunted, looking annoyed that he was subject to her accusatory stare.
"Then how is it that there's a naked little girl in your dorm?" Ruiko asked, as her blood boiled at the possibilities. Was Accel a pedo? Did he have designs on Febrie and Janie? Was she not good enough? Would she need to change her mannerisms to appear younger to appeal to him? Maybe there was a method where she could change her biological makeup to lower her age?
"She followed me home!" The Number 1 said hastily. "Supposedly she's desperate for my help with something."
"Do you really expect me to believe that?" Ruiko asked as her body was engulfed in her rainbow aura as her thoughts drifted away from how to attract her love interest and to the desire to protect Febrie and Janie from a potential pedophile. The mere prospect of the twins being exposed to a predator like that made her want to lash out, despite everything that she knew and felt about the young man in front of her.
"Actually, Saten-sama, Misaka Misaka says hesitantly, Accelerator-sama is telling the truth." The chibi version of Mikoto-sempai said in the way typical of the Sisters clones of the [Railgun].
"You're one of the Sisters?"
"Yes, Saten-sama, Misaka Misaka confirms while nodding vigorously."
"What are you doing here?"
"Didn't I just explain that?" Accel said, annoyed at being ignored. Ruiko just shot him a look and he shut up.
Good. At least he knows that he's not completely off the hook yet.
"Misaka Misaka's body is incomplete, Misaka Misaka says, she thought Accelerator-sama would be able to help her by getting in touch with a researcher to get help in fixing that. Misaka Misaka… doesn't want to die."
Seeing those large eyes looking scared and terrified, Ruiko's budding mama bear instincts took over.
"Don't worry, we'll take care of it." Ruiko assured as she pulled the girl into a hug.
"We?" Accel asked, looking at her as if she had grown a second head.
The Number 3 glared at him, "Yes, we."
"Why don't you take care of her? You seem to love kids all of a sudden, right?"
"My plate is full at the moment."
"Huh? You've got those siblings of yours, have them do it or something. I've got better shit to do." The Number 1 grunted and looked away, radiating annoyance.
"Like what exactly?" Ruiko asked, crossing her arms over her chest and smirking at her friend.
"Stuff. Does it matter what it is?"
"When you're trying to be lazy. Yes, it is."
"Lazy!?" Accel shouted, scandalized at the accusation and shooting to his feet in a confrontational manner.
"Yes, lazy. How else would you describe refusing to help a little girl in need when you have nothing better to do?"
The young clone stared at the two, her chestnut brown eyes bouncing between them as they argued back and forth in what seemed like fascination.
"And why should I do anything just because you forced me to do so?"
"I'm not forcing you to do anything! I'm just asking you to do what's right."
"Why do you even care, you busybody? Heck, what are you doing here anyways?" The pseudo albino said with a growl. "You've been visiting me every day since the end of the Level 6 Shift! Are you really that free?"
"Can't I just check in with you? After all, as your friend, I'm concerned for you."
Ruiko marched up to him, getting right in his face and refused to back down just because he was in some, some mood!
"Misaka Misaka wonders in a whisper if they will kiss due to their close proximity."
The two snapped their heads to stare at the tiny clone, who had stars in her eyes but who quickly covered her head in the rag at the attention.
"...Misaka Misaka thinks she said that out loud."
She's as subtle Mikoto-Sempai. Ruiko thought dryly. That said, there was another major concern for young children like the clone.
"It's getting late, why don't you go to bed." Ruiko urged the clone kindly as she kneeled down to look the girl in the eye.
"I'm not tired, Misaka," she yawned adorably, "Misaka argues."
Was Mikoto-Sempai this cute as a child? Geez, I just want to hug her even more!
"Bed, young lady. Accel will sleep on the couch."
"Says you!" The Number 1 snarled.
"Would you rather I made a call to Anti-Skill about you having a naked child sleeping in the same dorm as you?" Ruiko asked with deceptive sweetness.
"Urgh. Fine," Accel said unhappily.
"Okay, then I'll see the both of you tomorrow morning."
"Bye bye, Saten-sama, Misaka Misaka says as she waved tiredly in goodbye." The little girl said as she curled up into a fetal ball and dozed off.
Note to self, grab some of Janie and Febrie's clothes. She must be cold in that rag!
"You better be back tomorrow," Accel demanded in a whisper. "Or I'll drop her off on your doorstep."
"Don't worry, Accel." Ruiko assured her friend. "I'll be here bright and early tomorrow."
The vector manipulator accepted the promise with a nod and turned towards his wrecked couch to catch whatever sleep he could manage.
Shaking her head at how much of a tsundere her friend was being, Saten teleported home for the night.
The next morning, Accelerator followed after Ruiko and the brat as they headed out to a nearby restaurant for breakfast.
"Julian's breakfast is very good, you'll like it." The Number 3 informed the brat.
"I'm more thankful for the clothes, Misaka Misaka says appreciatively. While hugging the stuffed bear, Misaka Misaka adds that Misaka Misaka is also happy to have a teddy bear."
The small clone held the bear close to her while sporting actual clothes. Said clothes was a red gothic lolita dress that Ruiko had brought over, probably a spare from those twins that she'd adopted recently.
The bear though, that got Accel curious.
"So what's with the damn bear? You buy them in bulk for the twins or something? Or did you just have an extra just laying around?"
A grimace crossed her face as his friend replied, "Kaa-san started to show them how to properly perform dissections. If she used one of Febrie's Gekota plushies, she would have gone berserk. So teddies are a safer option."
At that revelation, the clone looked down at the stuffed toy she was clutching tightly with a worried look in her eyes.
"Don't worry Misaka-chan," Ruiko offered with a gentle pat on top of her head. "No one will hurt your bear."
"Last Order, Misaka Misaka said shyly, that's my name."
"Stupid name." Accel said with a snort.
The brat's face looked angry, or pouty? He didn't know. Kids were weird.
"If you don't have anything good to say, Accel, then keep your mouth shut." Ruiko said with a glare.
"Tch," The ash haired boy clicked his tongue. He would have just plugged in his headphones and ignored the two girls, but somehow - Ruiko's doing, he was sure - they had combusted. "Yeah, yeah, I'll behave."
"Good, now let's take a seat and place our orders." Ruiko said with a satisfied smile and called a waitress over as the three of them took a seat. "I'm paying."
"Heard that brat?" Accel said with an amused smirk. "Better leech as much you can from Ruiko. She's usually a penny pincher."
The fact that Ruiko was paying was the only reason that he had agreed to come along anyways.
"I'll not be ungrateful and will be reasonable with my order, Misaka Misaka says with a grateful nod to Saten-sama."
Ass kisser. He thought with a roll of his eyes as he scanned over a menu. The waitress arrived a few moments later with a pen and pad in hand. She glanced at the two Level 5s, a nervous smile on her face.
"Good morning, Saten-sama," The waitress said a little stiffly as she repeatedly looked between Ruiko and Accel. "Out on a date?"
"I'm here too, Misaka Misaka says with a pout."
"Oh, sorry. Who's that Saten-sama?"
"That's one of Mikoto-sempai's clones. Accel and I ran into her last night and are taking care of her for the moment."
Accel shot Ruiko an incredulous look. Yeah, sure it wasn't exactly hard to figure things out but should she just be going around telling everyone about it? That was a little too blatant, even for him.
"O-Oh, a clone? Wow, Academy City gets more advanced every day!"
"It does." Ruiko agreed. "I'll have Set A today. Accel, Order-chan?"
"Set C please, Misaka Misaka affirms happily."
"Set B." Accel said gruffly.
"Right, that's a Set A, one Set B and a Set C?"
"That's correct." Ruiko confirmed.
"Your orders will be delivered in five to eight minutes." The waitress informed them with a smile, before bowing and rushing off to prepare their food.
"You eat here often?" Accel asks with a raised eyebrow. "You seemed pretty familiar with that waitress just now."
"It's a bit of a group gathering place for the Trinity."
"Talking about your girlfriends," Accel said with annoyance. "Why don't you call the Number 5 to take the brat? I'm sure you don't want her living in my apartment any longer than you can."
"Misaka doesn't want to involve Onee-sama, Misaka Misaka says in a small, nervous voice. Onee-sama has been troubled enough by the Sisters already, Misaka Misaka reasons."
"You're still her responsibility." Accel insisted with an annoyed look.
"Like she isn't yours?" Ruiko shot back, her eyes narrowed as if he was in the wrong. "After all, the Sisters' creation was justified by the Level 6 Shift experiment, which was entirely about you. Doesn't that make Order-chan your responsibility too?"
"Please, it was just an excuse for those techs thinking they could pull it off. Hey, brat, wasn't it thrown off the second the Number 5 fought me?"
"Um, uh, Misaka agrees that the entire mathematical foundation underpinning the project was disrupted by Onee-sama's brief battle with you, says Misaka Misaka with a bit of confusion. The Level 6 Shift should have been shelved at that point, but was… continued? Misaka Misaka is flummoxed as she thinks about this now."
"I really don't want to waste time on deciphering the Superintendent's motives. It would be a waste of our time considering how little we know of his plans." Ruiko said with finality.
"Then call up his pet rabbit. Doesn't she actually talk with the guy?" Accel grunted as he boredly played with the knife on the table.
"I've discussed this with her and he's not told her anything useful." Ruiko said firmly. "So like I said, change the topic."
"Fine," Accel conceded unhappily.
He really wanted to figure out why the Superintendent decided it would be a good idea to play him for a fool, because he fully intended to pay the man back for that and the best way to do that was to mess up his plan. Or was it plans? Who knew what was going on in that stupid windowless building. To do that though, he needed to figure out what they were first.
That said, he didn't want to upset his meal ticket either. Ruiko was prickly today for some reason, and he'd stepped on enough of her toes already.
I wonder why. She usually plays along with my talk without a problem.
"So whatcha wanna talk about instead?" Accel asked, playing up his bored drawl. He might not want to piss Ruiko off, but he definitely wanted to push her buttons. Considering how robotic she was for most of the time he'd known her, he was intensely curious about this new more expressive side of her.
"I want to affirm your intentions for Last Order… you aren't, you know, interested in her?" Ruiko asked in a whisper.
Accel just shot his friend an annoyed look.
"I already said I wasn't a pedo!" The Number 1 hissed back.
"How do I know that? You haven't shown interest in girls your age. Heck, even older woman. It says something, Accel."
"Saten-sama, please calm down, Accelerator-sama was the perfect gentleman last night, Misaka Misaka assures."
Ruiko shot the clone a searching look even as the brat nodded sincerely. It seemed to clear up whatever doubts the [AIM Sovereign] had because after a moment, she heaved a relieved sigh.
The look she sent him though clearly said she had her eye on him.
"Hey! What's with all the doubt!? Don't you trust your friend?"
"You did try to tear me apart a couple of weeks back."
"That's par for the course for our training sessions." Accel shot back defensively.
"Repeatedly?"
"Okay, so I might have gone overboard there." Accel reluctantly admitted. "But you were pissing me off."
"And you were being an idiot."
"I apologized." Accel insisted.
"You two are such good friends, Misaka Misaka notes with happy smile." The clone said suddenly.
"Of course we are, we've been friends for years." Accel told the brat. "Right, Ruiko?"
The girl just nodded with a blush.
"Oi, what's with the blush?"
Ruiko's reply was interrupted by the arrival of their food, but Accel would've sworn he heard her muttering under her breath something that sounded vaguely like "Bakaccel".
What the hell did I do now!? The Number 1 asked himself, totally confused by his friend's reaction.
Thankfully, Ruiko didn't continue her odd behavior and quickly turned her attention to the kid.
"How is it? Not too hot?" Ruiko asked the brat as they started eating.
"It's wonderful, Misaka Misaka says as she cheerfully waves her fork in the air!"
"Easy, you could take out someone's eye."
Whose? Her own? Accel snorted at the thought. He knew better than to say it out loud though. He might be a gruff asshole, but that was by choice not because he was ignorant of social mores. And like he said earlier, he didn't want to upset Ruiko.
Why do I care so much about that anyways? Accel mused as he suddenly realized how much he'd been thinking that. Am I still feeling guilty over what I did to her during the Level 6 Shift?
That was part of it, surely, but he knew that it wasn't the only reason. Though what the other reasons were eluded him.
"What's with the look on your face? You're acting like a sourpuss." Ruiko told him bluntly.
"Just thinking about stuff, so mind your own damn business." Accel shot back without thinking, even as he inwardly grimaced at his harsh tone.
"I would, but seeing that face of yours makes me want to see if you can smile a little more."
What the hell!?
"What in the world are you talking about!?" Accel asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I think Accelerator-sama would look very handsome if he smiles, Misaka Misaka offered in agreement." The clone chimed in unnecessarily.
"Both of you are crazy. Just eat your damn food." Accel demanded.
"Right, sorry." Ruiko said with that same out of place blush on her face. In contrast, the clone just pouted at having her fun cut short.
They continued eating with Ruiko chatting away with the clone about all kinds of mundane things as she mined the younger girl on her preferences about clothes, food and what not. The brat's answers weren't exactly enlightening thanks to her limited frame of reference as a clone but Ruiko persisted.
Accel totally could see his friend going out and buying up tons of stuff the girl liked and literally drowning her in goodies.
For his part though, Accel just sat back and tried to muddle through his uncharacteristic thoughts about Ruiko. He'd been close to her for years, but he had never felt the need to worry so much about her feelings before. So why the sudden change? Was it really entirely because of his guilt over the way he treated her during the Level 6 Shift?
A little soul searching told him no. As much as he was finding it uncomfortable to realize it, he'd been conscious and concerned about her feelings for a long time. He'd just never really acted on it. At least not while being as aware of doing so as he was now.
He was drawn out of his thoughts by the sound of a ringing cell phone.
"It's mine." Ruiko confirmed, as she pulled her phone out of her pocket.
"Just one minute." She said as she pressed a button, "Yes, Kaa-san? What's going on?"
He and the brat shared a small look and turned back to Ruiko.
"Eh? Really, but… no, I'll be right there. Yes, just give me a minute to say goodbye. Love you."
"What's up?" Accel cocked a brow her way. "Problems at home?"
"Just something I need to take care of." Ruiko quickly said as she grabbed a napkin and started scribbling on it with a pen she made from Dark Matter. "Here, and be careful, you loose cannon."
He growled at the term and grabbed the napkin from her hand.
Shooting him an amused smile and giving the brat a reassuring pat on her head, Ruiko walked over to the counter to pay their bill before teleporting away.
Accel and the clone sat there in a tense silence for a few minutes. He was dutifully ignoring the note Ruiko had passed him, sure that she had likely just written down something teasing to annoy him.
The Number 1 didn't really mind silence normally, but seated there with one of the clones of whom he'd killed 10,000 plus copies of, it made him uncomfortable.
Turning to the brat, he asked the question that had been bugging him since he first met her last night.
"How the hell can you stand being around me, much less talk to me? I murdered more than 10,000 of your sisters. Don't you know that?"
To his surprise, the clone looked him in the eyes with a comforting look.
Was she trying to comfort me? The one responsible for so many of her sisters' deaths?
"Last Order was connected to all the other clones, so of course Last Order knows, Misaka Misaka confirms."
"Then how-"
"Misaka says Misaka was told that each Misaka's life has its own meaning. That there would be always be someone who would shed tears if a Misaka died. That's why Misaka won't die anymore, from now on none of us will die."
Accel rocked back in his seat at this. In his mind's eyes, he flashbacked to the many, many clones he killed. However, the brat didn't give him the time to gather his bearings and instead pushed on.
"Our lives are precious, Misaka Misaka saves with feeling. So how can we hate the person who is responsible for our existence, Misaka Misaka asked sincerely. Without Accelerator-sama, the Level 6 Shift experiment would never have been proposed and we would never have come into being, Misaka Misaka explains. So thank you Accelerator-sama, Misaka Misaka says with a genuine bow."
Accel couldn't believe it, was the clone insane?
"Are you joking?" The Number 1 said with a forced smirk. "You do realize that I enjoyed killing you clones, right?
Tilting her head to the side, the brat shook her head, "No you did not, Misaka Misaka says, catching Accelerator-sama's lie easily. You didn't want to be part of the experiment in the first place, Misaka Misaka says with firm conviction."
"What do you know!?" Accel shot back. "I continued with the experiment didn't I? Even when it meant that I had to keep killing you clones? Doesn't it mean that I didn't bloody care about your lives?"
"Misaka Misaka ponders, if that is the case, then why did you bother talking to the Misakas during the experiments? Many times... many times, even though there weren't many conversations. Misaka Misaka says as Misaka regrets that she couldn't notice your signs. If Misaka told you: 'I don't want to fight anymore', would you have stopped?"
Accel felt himself rooted in his seat at that.
"You were trying to establish communication with us, Misaka Misaka posited."
"You're delusional. How the hell were my insults supposed to establish any kind of communication?"
"Misaka refuses to believe that, Misaka Misaka says. Yes, your words to us were unreserved and were abusive, and actually diverges from wanting to establish contact with others, Misaka Misaka agrees. However, Misaka Misaka insists, that if one assumes that those words were used in order to get a negative response and the fact that all the insults were stated before an experiment began, then one can conclude that the words were used in order to scare the clones. You were trying to make the Misakas scared enough so the clones would not want to fight anymore, Misaka Misaka concluded. The Misakas were simply unable to understand your intentions, Misaka Misaka insisted. Again, Misaka Misaka asks you again, would you have have stopped if Misaka told you: 'I don't want to fight anymore'?"
Accel had no answer. He honestly didn't know what he'd have done if confronted with such a situation. What he did know was that he didn't want to listen to this brat running her mouth off anymore.
Jumping to his feet, the Number 1 marched out of the restaurant with his fists clenched in anger.
He'd marched half a block down the street when he remembered the note that Ruiko had handed him earlier and which he was still clutching in his clenched fist. Looking at the napkin, his eyes narrowed dangerously as he read it.
We're being tailed. Possibly someone involved in the Level Six Shift. Or targeting you. Keep her safe.
Yeah, thanks Ruiko. Real helpful now. He screamed in his mind.
Turning around, he sprinted back to the restaurant hoping that the brat was still there. Bursting into the building, his expectations and fear was met when he saw that the girl was gone.
"How? I thought we've gone over the cooking safety protocols…"
"There were protocols?" Nunotaba-san asked with an arched eyebrow as she put down the fire extinguisher she'd used to put out the fire that had been the emergency that Kaa-san had called her home to help deal with it.
"Yes," Ruiko confirmed. "It was necessary after Kaa-san nearly set the house on fire for the fifth time."
"Oba-san made boom." Febrie giggled from a distance.
"A big boom!" Janie nodded happily in agreement.
Are they budding pyromaniacs? Oh I really hope not! I have enough trouble coping with Kaa-san and her antics! Ruiko fretted as she looked at her girls.
The teenage scientist that doubled as their household's live in nanny just sighed in resignation. "What are these protocols and where can I find them?"
"Kaa-san has it memorized. Though clearly she doesn't remember to apply them or think with logic when it counts."
"Someone's sassy today. The date not go over well?"
"Do not deflect right now, Kaa-san."
"Ah, that bad?"
Ruiko gave her mother the most stern glare she could muster.
"Kiyama-sensei, you will write down those protocols for me. By tonight. Agreed?" Nunotaba-san insisted.
Kaa-san just sighed and nodded.
"No more booms?" Febrie pouted. Sweet Science, what was going on in her cherubic head?!
"Not for now, if we can help it." Ruiko reassured the twins. Turning back to her mother, the Number 3 gave her an exasperated look. "I'll call the contractor to fix the kitchen."
As if these distractions from Last Order's situation wasn't enough, the doorbell rang.
"Kaa-san are we expecting visitors?" Ruiko asked even as her mother walked over to open the door.
"Yes, actually, Khulan-chan and Maki-chan are dropping by for a visit today."
"Ah, but I have to head back soon…" Ruiko frown, still feeling antsy with leaving Last Order with Accel.
"You don't want to spend time with your sisters?" Her mother asked with a stern look on her face.
"No, no! I do, just, time conflicts."
"Well, you can make time now."
"Y-Yes, Kaa-san."
This is going to be a long day. Ruiko thought to herself with a sigh as she put on a smile to welcome her siblings. Hopefully Accel will be able to keep Order-chan safe without me.
Her sisters were just leaving, Nunotaba-san was tucking the twins into bed after having had a lovely time playing with their aunties the whole day, and Kaa-san had retreated down into the labs to work on some project or other, so at last Ruiko was finally able to get back to Accel and Order-chan.
She grabbed a quick shower, to make sure she was presentable. She wasn't about to interact with Accel while stinking thanks to a whole day playing with little kids. Not if she could help it.
She had also changed into a casual outfit, a cute little blouse and skirt combo she hoped would appeal to Accel. One which was in a slightly more childish style than she would have normally favored. A change that was purely for experimental reasons of course.
She was just checking how she looked in her bathroom mirror when she received a call from an unknown number on her phone.
Cycling through her database, Ruiko came to a quick conclusion.
"Hello, Yoshikawa-san. How did you get this number?" The Number 3 asked the former researcher for the Level 6 Shift.
"Good evening, Saten-san. Accelerator gave it to me, while telling me to call 'the annoying busybody' and tell her what's going on."
"And what exactly has happened?"
"I'm surprised you don't already know, but I suppose you were distracted."
"Yes, I was. Now just tell me."
"That moron, Amai Ao, abducted Last Order. He was one of the former lead researchers of the Sisters Project."
"He targeted Order-chan because of her status as the Administrator of the Misaka Network."
"On the nose. Accelerator is out there looking for her. Hopefully he manages to find her in time because things aren't looking good from what I can figure out."
"What are Amai's intentions?"
"Revenge. When the Level 6 Shift experiment was frozen, Amai was ruined. So he's decided to get revenge. He's uploaded a virus into the Network via Last Order that will make the clones go berserk and has kidnapped Last Order to stop anyone from interfering."
"And Accel is out trying to rescue Last Order?" Ruiko asked with a smile at her friend finally demonstrating the heroic tendencies she knew were buried in his deeply wounded soul. "I knew he could do it."
"He hasn't yet," Yoshikawa said, clearly misunderstanding what exactly Ruiko meant. "But that's the general gist of it."
"Don't worry, I'll be helping too."
"Good. Teleport to my lab so we can deal with that bastard."
Ruiko soon found herself walking through the halls of Yoshikawa's lab or what was left it. With the Level 6 Shift experiment being wound up, the lab was slowly being shut down. The process was not complete yet, but was well underway as exemplified by the stripped out computers and even electrical wiring throughout the building.
Not that Ruiko paid attention to this fact. Instead, the bulk of her awareness was focused on trying to track down Accel, Amai and Last Order. And failing to do so.
This reeked of Crowley's interference. She highly doubted that either men were going out of the way to hide from her surveillance so the only logical conclusion was that a third party had hid them from her on their behalf. Considering she had access to the City's vast array of cameras and other electronic networks, it would require a truly impressive level of influence to blindside her in this way. There weren't many people with the ability to do so and Crowley seemed the most likely in this case. And once her AIM sense was taken into account, there was no doubt of who was responsible for her inability to do something that should have been trivial.
Though what exactly does he want from this? What's his stake in this?
With a resigned sigh, she gave a helpless shrug. The Superintendent's plans were unfathomable, and she was not about to waste time trying to decipher what it was that he wanted this time. Not when she had more pressing concerns.
"Yoshikawa-san, I've arrived." The Number 3 said as she stepped into the room where the scientist was hard at work.
The researcher looked up from where she was typing away on her personal laptop and quirked a brow at the Level 5 that left Ruiko confused. Shaking her head, the scientist said, "Alright, in order to find our wayward little clone, I'm working on a means to ping her on the Misaka Network."
Walking over, Ruiko looked over the code for the program the older woman was working on. Her blue eyes scanned it up and down, trying to see any errors. To her slight surprise, it looked sound.
"It should work." The AIM manipulator said, doing her best to express clearly how impressed she was with the scientist's work.
"Heh, glad you approve." The scientist offered a lazy smile. Looking over her laptop, her brow knitted as she activated her program. "Wait, what's with this data? I can't make sense of this."
On the screen were a series of red dots that were floating around each other without any point of reference. It seemed that while the scientist had managed to create a well designed program that allowed her to access the Misaka Network and locate Last Order's location in relation to other Sisters, she'd failed to remember to, or realize the need to, overlay that on a map of the City to allow them to make sense of the data.
Ruiko gently nudged the woman, "Let me see that."
The older woman promptly handed her laptop over and Ruiko promptly got to work. "Just trying to ascertain her position by pinging her alone isn't going to work. We need to use the other Sisters as references and triangulate where she is based on her relative distance from their own location."
"But how would we kno-"
Ignoring the scientist, Ruiko just kept typing. Quickly, improving the program dramatically.
"Crowley isn't blocking my ability to track them, so if I input their locations into this map of the City and then triangulate her location. There! She's in District 19 near the old Iesada research facility."
Panic rose in Ruiko's chest. If Last Order is there, then what's Accel doing? Does he know where she is too?
"Call Accel," she said showing none of her unease. "Get him to meet us th-"
Her words died in her throat as suddenly her attempts to track Accel bore fruit and she found him. She should have been ecstatic to have finally found him, except the scene that she saw via the street camera she'd just gained access to horrified her.
She could only look on in helpless shock as she saw him fall to the ground from a shot to the head.
Ruiko felt something snap inside of her. She couldn't even comprehend what it was but a scream ripped from her throat.
She didn't even notice as she teleported to Accel's side, not even that Yoshikawa had grabbed onto her and thus managed to tag along.
All that was on her mind now was the filth that had shot Accel, Amai Ao and how she was going to destroy him!
"Number 3!" The disgraced scientist screamed in panic as he leveled his gun against Last Order's head where she sat in the shotgun seat of his sports car. "Stay back or I'll-"
He never got the chance to finish the threat before a dozen of her tentacle like wings slammed into him and sent him flying. She could sense her Angel Mode coalescing around her and she should have been alarmed that it was manifesting seemingly without her conscious will, but right now that was not a concern. The only thing that mattered to her in the moment was revenge.
Amai wasn't dead though. No. Not yet. Ruiko was not going to let him die that easily.
"DdDIiiiEeeeE!" She roared, her voice distorted.
"Well shit," Yoshikawa said in shock. "Saten-san! Don't go overboard! We need to focus on saving Accel and Last Order."
Ruiko didn't pay her any heed. She was so deep in her anger, the middle schooler could think of nothing else but killing the target of her rage.
As her rainbow wings wrapped around the worm, they released a blinding light. Slowly, starting from his feet, Amai started to disintegrate.
"Ah! Stop! Stop!" The leech screamed as his feet vanished, followed quickly by his calves.
"DELETE!" Ruiko screamed, unleashing a shockwave of pure power that tore the remainder of Amai's body apart down to its constituent molecules.
The man didn't even get a chance to scream as he was torn asunder.
"Saten-san! Enough! The ambulances are on the way! Calm down!"
Calm down? Calm down!? What madness? Her anger was hardly quenched! Ruiko screamed in her mind even as she pushed through the scattering cloud of dust that was the remains of Amai's body. Fury still coursed through her veins and she needed to vent it.
And there in the distance was a target that would serve as a perfect punching bag. Looking into the heart of the City, she spotted it. The infamous and mysterious Windowless Building, the home of Crowley. The man who she was certain had set in motion the events that had led to the death of the man she loved.
Yes, he'll do for a perfect punching bag.
She felt invincible. Not even Crowley could stop her. She could put an end to all his schemes! He wouldn't be able to use them as pawns anymore! Peace, she could be at peace once and for all with him gone.
Gathering together a large mass of charged particles in front of her body. Ruiko prepared to send a deadly particle beam streaking into the heart of District 7 and the Windowless Building that stood mockingly there.
"N-No! Misaka Misaka pleads!"
Last Order's pained, soft voice caused Ruiko to freeze.
Turning within the bubble where her biological body resided when she was in Angel Mode, she faced the clone.
The small girl was struggling to crawl out of the car, her body shaking with every move she made. As she leaned out of the car door, she lost her balance and began to fall onto the street. Acting immediately, one of Ruiko's wings shot out as quickly as she could and caught her. Bringing the little girl closer, the Number 3 noticed that her chestnut eyes were brimming with tears.
"Save him, Misaka Misaka screams as loud as she can! S-Save him, Misaka Misaka says as Misaka tries to have Number 3 see reason!"
"SaVe hiM?"
"Accelerator is not dead, Misaka Misaka confirms. But he needs help now, Misaka Misaka insists."
Her eyes swiveled to Accel's body.
He was still alive? Alive!? Some part had known it all along, but she'd been too lost in her rage to really appreciate it. Thankfully, Last Order had reminded her of the fact. There was just one problem...
Accel's literally on death's door! Who could possibly sav- Ruiko thought, cutting herself off as she realized what needed to be done. Heaven's Canceler!
Wrapping another of her wings around Accel, she teleported away to seek the assistance of the one man in the whole world who might be able to save her friend.
After calming down, thanks in no small part to Last Order's constant reminders, Ruiko impatiently waited outside the operating room of Heaven's Canceller hospital. After having been treated by Heaven Canceller for her encounter with Amai's hostile programming, the little girl had refused to rest in her own ward room and instead insisted on sticking by Ruiko to make sure she wouldn't fall back into her anger induced Angel Mode. Unfortunately for the tiny clone, she was exhausted and had quickly fallen asleep.
Ruiko had laid her down on the seats outside the operating theater and covered her with a blanket she'd created using Dark Matter. This left her alone with a recently arrived Yoshikawa. There was no conversation though, not even an attempt at such. Both women were far too worried about the young man undergoing surgery to chat.
Patting the little girl distractedly while her leg bounced nervously, Ruiko attempted to use her glare and sheer will to command the clock to go faster. The brunette's heart felt like it was ready to burst with worry. Already her mind was wondering how a gunshot to the head would affect Accel.
Each scenario she envisioned was more nightmarish than the last. Thankfully for her sanity, she didn't have long to fantasize about worst case scenarios.
Her head snapped to the double doors as the operation light turned off. A second later, the frog faced lifesaver walked out, his face looking haggard. Much to her relief however, he was sporting a small smile.
"He'll live." He assured Ruiko and Yoshikawa.
Ruiko felt her heart break out in joy, though she paused when she saw a sad glimmer in the old doctor's eyes.
"He will however be crippled. The bullet did touch his brain and caused quite a bit of injury, which would undoubtedly affect his computational ability."
Shock ran through her system as she heard this. Accel… he would rather die than live like that. To him, his strength was everything.
"Can't you help him?" Yoshikawa demanded of the legendary physician.
"Did you forget who I am?" The frog faced doctor snorted in annoyance. "I've already helped him. I saved him, didn't I? He is still breathing."
"I can lend Accel a portion of my computational abilities." Ruiko offered.
Heaven Canceller turned to her and offered her a smile but shook his head. "I'm sorry but it wouldn't work. Even the AIM mass that you use to supplement your brain's computational capacity and is the source of your immense prowess would not be enough. If you shared it with the boy, you would need to maintain both your powers and his at the same time. Would you be able to manage that? And if you cannot, you would lose your power wouldn't you? If that were the case, without your power would you be able to even maintain your AIM mass?"
"I-I can expand it somehow." The brunette rebutted.
If I create a Level Upper Network…
"If I try-"
"I have a good idea of what you'd try, young lady." The doctor said with a chiding look. "And let me just say that there's no need for that. Not when there already exists a much safer solution."
What does he-
Ruiko's unfinished question was answered when the elderly man turned to face Yoshikawa.
Oh!
"I'll be putting that creation of yours to good use." The man said with an amused smirk before he pushed past the two ladies and began walking off.
Yes, the Misaka Network would be a perfect supplement for Accel to make up for the loss in his computational power.
"Can I see him?" Ruiko asked him quietly before he got out of earshot.
"Yes, he's resting but I'm sure a friend there would be appreciated." He told her, offering her a kind smile over his shoulder.
Done and done!
Thanks to the Team of Nameless as always.
Alright, so here it is, the three stories of our heroines. Starting off, Ruiko and Accel! What a fantastic date it was. There was even a child there! And of course Accel being accused of being a lolicon. Despite his fervent denials, Ruiko still fears that it is true of course. Man, Naru is going to have a field day with this, hehe.
Nameless: Poor Ruiko, it's tough sometimes being the most 'developed' one in your group of friends. XD More seriously, finding Accel with a girl just shook her confidence a little. She's been throwing herself at him, by her admittedly wrapped standards, for weeks and he's not shown the slightest hint of attraction and now he lets a strange chibi Sister follow him home? What's a poor girl to think?
So yeah, Ruiko flipped out and went Angel Mode and… Deleted a man from existence. So yeah, fun times by all. Now to figure out what happens to Last Order. Or LO-chan. Huh, I like that.
Nameless: Considering how much Ruiko loves kids and how LO-chan talked her down from her rampage, I'd think what she'll do is obvious. On another note, LO-chan is an adorable nickname for Last Order. Misaka Misaka would approve I think. I know Naru definitely would.
Oh, last thing before we sign off. The chapter title, according to Google!French, translates as Love Story One. Basically it's a nod to the canon Three Stories Arc and the direction our take on it will go. Why the use of French? Well… it is called the language of love.
E4E: You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!