Following her lead, Todoroki and Midoriya found themselves rushing through Academy City. More urban than Musutafu, the looming buildings gave a menacing vibe as Sumire led them to the only hospital she would expect Accelerator to be. Just as they approached the front door, Sumire recognized a familiar face.

"Touma! How did you know?"

Waving his phone, Touma beckoned the group to follow him into the hospital lobby. "I was given a heads up to expect you. He's still in high security, but I was able to find a way to get you guys in. The doctor with the frog face said that you could visit him, Sumire, but it'll have to be brief. He's still asleep, but he's stable."

Winding through hallways, they walked through several sets of doors until they reached the area marked as the High-Security Wing. Touma led them to the end of the hall, with only one of the doors closed. "This is his room. Go in whenever you're ready."

"Will you be alright on your own?" Todoroki asked as he watched Sumire step to the door and grab the handle.

She only nodded affirmatively before walking through, shutting it behind her. She was surprised to find the room had two occupants. A young girl with brown hair was sleeping in the bed nearest the door. Her bright blue polka-dot dress brought some color to the dreary hospital room.

Accelerator was in the other bed next to the window, the curtains were pulled yet still let enough light into the room. He was barely recognizable with the thick bandages around his forehead. She approached him, doing her best to choke down the sobs that were aching to burst forth at the sight of him. She hadn't seen him injured like this since his fight with Kihara.

Sitting down beside his bed, Sumire grasped the sleeve of his hospital gown as she finally gave in to her tears. She leaned over, her arm taking up the free space on the bed as she rested her head on her forearm. She laced her gloved fingers into Accelerator's hand and squeezed gently.

"Why?! Why did you have to come back to this horrible place? Look what it's done to you! There's nothing worth saving here if this is the result. All this city will ever do is hurt us!" She let herself cry, with no concern about whether he'll wake up to see her in such a state.

"Misaka Misaka wonders why you're being so loud when Misaka is trying to sleep."

Surprised, Sumire picked her head up and turned, noticing the small girl sitting up in her bed. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I just… It's hard to see him in this condition," she said as she wiped her sleeves across her face. "How could this have happened? I don't understand."

The little girl swung her short legs over the side of the bed, clutching a pillow against her chest. "Misaka Misaka was hurt. A bad guy was planning to make Misaka do something terrible, but Accelerator stopped him and fixed Misaka, Misaka explains as the story reaches its climax." The girl described how Accelerator had used his ability to destroy the virus code, though it had left him defenseless when the bad man had a gun.

The pieces of the puzzle weren't all there, but Sumire now understood how Accelerator had been injured so severely. He'd hardly been back in Academy City a day and had already begun his mission of fixing the wrongs here. In her sorrow, she couldn't help the smile that briefly visited her face.

"He thinks that he isn't a hero, but Misaka wouldn't be here to have her sleep interrupted if he hadn't acted like one, Misaka Misaka says as she rubs at her eyes to sweep away the fatigue."

Sumire gave Accelerator's hand one last squeeze before rising from her chair. She walked back to the door, then turned to face the little girl. "He is a hero, but heroes shouldn't have to feel like the whole world rests on their shoulders. Sometimes the heroes deserve their own peace. Sorry again for disturbing you, Misaka."

"What a strange person, Misaka Misaka thinks as she ponders the relationship between those two while settling down for a nap." She looked over to the young man in the bed beside her, oblivious to the scene that just occurred. "Misaka Misaka will let him know when he wakes up."

Closing the door behind her, Sumire wiped away the tears on her face as Todoroki and Midoriya approached.

"Are you okay, Sumire? We should probably go, you look like you could use some rest," Todoroki said. She looked up briefly, nodding in agreement. Midoriya rested a hand on her shoulder, a move that would have brought on a panic attack only weeks ago now brought the sense of comfort she needed.

"He's not awake. I don't want to leave him like this, but I can't stay here. I know that. But… I think he'll be okay. Somehow he isn't completely alone," Sumire said as she told the boys about the young girl with the strange pattern of speech.

Briefly wondering if Sumire was describing one of the Sisters, Touma considered looking into the room himself, then decided against it. There was no way a Sister would willingly stay with Accelerator after his involvement in the Level 6 Shift Project.

"I'll do what I can to keep you guys informed on his progress, though I'm not sure how that'll go since he kinda hates my guts," Touma said with a brief laugh. He led the group back out to the hospital lobby.

"We appreciate your help, Touma. Please keep in touch," Todoroki said as he extended a hand to the young esper. Sumire remained reserved, briefly bowing in gratitude to Touma before the trio left for the train station. Hardly speaking on their long ride back to Musutafu, she gazed out the window and watched the landscape change from the cold asphalt and concrete of the city to the expansive countryside.

Seated across from her, Midoriya watched from his window as Todoroki napped in the seat next to him. "It's not often we get to see what's beyond the city. All the green grass and small houses. It makes you think that there are places where life can be simple and relaxed. Maybe one day we can take a trip out of Musutafu and just visit a place like this. Oh wow, look, there's a field full of flowers, Sumire!"

She saw the flowers in their variety of colors, growing wild yet still maintaining their grace and beauty. Touching her fingertips together, she wished she could forget her current situation and run through that field. She longed to feel the grass brush against her legs and feel the flower petals as she carelessly touched them without hesitation. So much of her life revolved around touch, or the lack of it.

"Midoriya, I've been thinking about something, and I'd like to hear your opinion on it."

"Sure, what's up?" Midoriya said, his attention still on the colorful fields outside of the train window.

"Do you think it's possible for someone to get rid of their Quirk?"

Midoriya was caught off guard by her question, finally turning his head back to her, "What?!"

"Shh, don't wake Todoroki up, he has enough to worry about without this coming up. I just… I don't see how my Quirk could ever be useful for a hero. Taking away dangerous abilities from villains can be seen as heroic, I suppose. But I'd still be destroying what makes a person who they are."

"But Sumire, for you to think about taking your own Quirk away would leave you with the same issue if you believe that a person's Quirk is a part of their identity. Would you feel like you'd be left incomplete if you didn't have your ability? I know of a person that has the ability to remove Quirks, but they've only used it to create more evil in the world. In theory, I guess it's possible, but you have so much potential with your power."

Todoroki began to stir, his mismatched eyes blinking in rapid succession before focusing on Sumire. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep. Did I miss anything?"

A half-smile crooked at the edge of Sumire's face as she watched the young man stretch and rub at his eyes. "There was a beautiful field of flowers earlier, you should have seen it. Maybe there'll be another one further ahead."

…

Dull pain coursed through his body as Accelerator regained consciousness for the first time since he had been shot. The dim light still overwhelmed him, he groaned as he carefully lifted his arm to lay it across his face. He felt the edge of the gauze bandaging against his forearm. His hand that rested against the side of his head brushed against what felt like a wire.

"What's this?" Accelerator said in no more than a dry whisper.

"Misaka Misaka was waiting for you to wake up. You slept a lot more than Misaka, though the reason is understandable, Misaka admits with a slight nod of her head."

Before he could protest her presence, a door opened with footsteps following into the room. "Ah, I see you've woken up, Accelerator. If you're feeling up to it, now's a good time to explain your situation."

"Well if it isn't the frog-faced doctor," Accelerator said, "Is the girl okay? I can hear her rambling on, but that only tells me her mouth is working."

"Yes, Last Order is recovering just fine thanks to your efforts, as is Yoshikawa, who subdued Amai after you had passed out. Your ability to keep her alive even after you lost consciousness was astounding."

"I didn't ask for a pat on the back, doc. So what's the damage, anyway. My head feels different, but I guess a gunshot to the head will do that."

Clearing his throat, the frog-faced doctor explained his injuries. "You've had significant damage to the areas of your brain that control computation, language, and mobility. We found a way to assist you in regaining most of your lost brain function, though it could be considered unconventional."

"So you put a band-aid on my brain damage?"

"There are wires surgically implanted behind your ears that are connected to an electrode. This is in constant connection to the Misaka Network that the Sisters employ. They are able to compensate for the processing ability that you now lack. With that many minds working together, it still may not be enough to match your original abilities. But with this, you'll be able to walk, understand speech, and use your ability on a limited scale."

His eyes narrowing down again, Accelerator grumbled, "So my life and esper abilities are connected to the same Sisters I was systematically exterminating only a week or so ago. I'd laugh at the irony but I think I'd just wind up in more pain." He felt for the wire again, feeding it through his fingers until he found the small rectangular box it was connected to pressed against the side of his neck.

"We can go over the details on how it works once you've had more time to process it and rest. Last Order, we have another check-up to do on you if you'd please follow me."

"Aww, Misaka Misaka had something to share with him when he woke up. Misaka will have to tell him about his visitor once Misaka returns from her appointment."

His eyes snapped open at her words. "Visitor? What visitor?"

Author's Note: As you may have noticed, I changed up the location/flow of Sumire's posed question to Midoriya from the teaser I left at the end of Chapter 27. It seemed to be a better place and time for her to ask that of him.

Also, I'm not going over the canon events in ACMI in too much detail (specifically with Accelerator's situation with Last Order) to give the non-canon parts of the story more depth and attention. I feel those who have seen/read both fandoms will have that information already. For those readers that are unfamiliar with one of the fandom canon events, please feel free to ask questions. I'd love to go into further detail about anything relating to the story to give you a better understanding of what's going on!

Thanks again for reading, and again for your patience as I finally return to this story.