—12th September 1:28p.m.—
"(The doctor worked me hard. I'm so tired and that princess decides to call me out after the surgery. Are they trying to kill me?)"
Accelerator yawned as he walks over to a bench outside the hospital. His eye bags were heavy, and they were so dark that they were like shadows under his eyes.
He was sitting on a bench under a tree. The leaves from the tree provided shade for him. The area was pretty clean, and the air was warm and breezy. Perfect day for a nap.
Then he heard someone walking over as the sounds of leaves being crushed gets closer.
He looks up at the leaves, and saw a can of black coffee in front of his face.
"I heard you like this."
The person who said that was Himegi as she stood behind him.
"Who told you that?"
"Last Order."
"Then I'll gladly take it."
Accelerator takes the can of black coffee from her hands as she sits beside him. She had his back towards him when she sat down.
Before he could pop open the can of black coffee, she asked him a question.
"You saw my boobs, didn't you?"
It was such a random question, but yes he did see them. Each one of those patients had to be naked in order to have the surgery performed.
Accelerator bent forward and answered without hesitation.
"Who cares if I saw some sacks of fat?"
"Seriously?! Couldn't you find a better way to phrase it?! Do you even have any friends?!"
"Tch, whatever..."
Before he could say anymore, Himegi was tackled by several other children, with two of them being slightly recognizable.
Tobio Yumi, and Tobio Mami. The twin sisters. Mami had removed her eyepatch, and had the hole in her eye socket replaced with a prosthetic eye. The prosthetic eye didn't look that different from her normal eyes, but the difference was still apparent. The different shades of color were almost similar, but not the same. It still moved accordingly with her eye movements rather than staying in place. But it didn't mean that her vision was back. She was still a cyclops.
All the children who were in those pods managed to survive the operation, and they were in healthy conditions.
They were in high spirits as they berated Himegi for her mess up.
"Hime! What kind of lame attempt was that?!"
"That's right, Hime! I want to thank him as a sister."
"But my boobs!"
"You don't have any!"
"Eh? She messed it up?"
"She couldn't do it!"
Then Yumi told them all,"Original plan it is. Line up, everyone!"
They all lined up in front of him and Mami gave the countdown.
"3, 2, 1..."
Harmoniously, they all said it at the same time.
"Thank you very much!"
Accelerator just clicked his tongue as he holds his unopened can of black coffee. They all gave him a warm smile. Something he was still not familiar with. It was always cold and fear for him. He didn't fear anyone, but people feared him.
They all turned back to the plain field behind them and played catching. Where Himegi was the 'it'.
"*sigh* Can I finally rest now?"
Then he heard a few more footsteps behind him. It sounded like they were approaching him, and he braced himself for whoever it was. Because from experience, whatever he heard, it would always affect him.
"Who is it now?"
"Master."
Accelerator paused for a moment, surprised that this person was the one to come and find him.
It was his blonde haired companion, Ester.
"Tch, I'm not your master."
She didn't respond to what he said, and just sat down beside him.
"I've been thinking about what happened lately."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, and I came here to apologize to you, master."
"..."
"I guess I let my feelings get a hold of me."
Then she places her left hand on his right hand. His left hand was still holding on to the black coffee.
"Master, I'm sorry."
"Tch. For what? Are you sure you're the one at fault here?"
"Huh?...Umm...I'm very sure that I was—"
"Personally, I'd blame those magicians back then for dragging us into their problems. If they hadn't done that, none of this would've happened."
Ester looked at Accelerator, confused at what he was saying. He popped open his can of black coffee, and was about to sip it.
But just as his lips were on the opening of the can, a judgement member teleported out of nowhere and missile dropkicked him in the back of the head, forcing him to release the can of black coffee and spilling it.
The black coffee inside the can poured out onto the grass, watering the grass as it seeped into the soil.
"Hey, where's Onee-Sama?"
The person who would dare to missile dropkick the #1 was Shirai Kuroko.
"Uh...Master, are you okay?"
"Tch, why do you always do that?!" Accelerator asks Kuroko as he rubs the back of his head.
"Hmph! You ruined my poor Onee-Sama and gave me a replica of her. How do you think I feel?!"
"...Whatever. If there's nothing else, I'm going back in."
He got up from the bench and started walking off.
"If you want to see the original, she's probably with the doctor."
Then, Kuroko sniffs the air for a bit, and then tells him something only a pervert would say.
"No, she's very close by."
"Ahn?"
At that instant, he heard someone calling out "papa!", right before being speared to the ground by a human being smaller than him. This wasn't any of the kids.
This was Misaka Mikoto. The hero who he 'killed'.
"Papa! Look! I can shpeak now!" Misaka says as she shows him a wide and bright smile.
"Tch, if you can speak and understand me now, get off of me!"
"No! I missed papa sho much! Why do you not like me sho much?"
"Because you're annoying!"
He pushes her face away from him as he struggles onto the ground and Kuroko teleports in front of them. She places her hand on Misaka's back and teleported her away from Accelerator. Accelerator used that opportunity to get up from the ground and pat the dirt off his clothes.
"Onee-Sama, you must not go near him. He will capture you and eat you alive like an animal!"
"Eeeekk!!"
Misaka did not react positively to Kuroko's lecture as she tackles Accelerator back down to the ground again.
"Ughhh...Why can't I live peacefully...?"
Accelerator had his head facing the sky. Truly, it was an unfortunate day for him.
—12th September 4:23p.m.—
Accelerator was back in his ward again, as he finally set Misaka to sleep. What happened back there, was that Kuroko could not stand Misaka being near Accelerator, so she left in a fit of rage.
Ester followed Accelerator back to his ward, and Last Order was with Yomikawa and Heaven Canceller as they watched the whole scene unfold.
The Tobio sisters, Himegi, and the kids all went back to their wards. Leaving Accelerator and Ester alone with Misaka.
"Master, I have a few questions."
"What?"
Misaka rested her head on his chest, as they both laid down on the bed. Ester was sitting on a chair beside the bed.
"I was just wondering about that girl who calls you 'papa'. Is she your daughter?"
"...Ha?"
It seems like she was being serious. Her face showed no signs of playing around. She was seriously wondering about that.
"If that's the case, you really are respectable, master. Oh, that would explain why you have white hair! You're old, and she's actually your granddaughter! I know I may be a bit late on this, but congratulations to you and mistress for producing such wonderful children!"
She goes onto one knee and tilts her head down, as if she was a knight greeting a king. Accelerator lifts up his left hand, and chops her head once.
"Ouch...what was that for, master?" Ester asks as she rubs the top of her head.
"You're overthinking this. My power redirected the UV rays from the sunlight, and my body eventually stopped producing melanin, which turned my hair white."
Accelerator says as he pulls a single strand of hair down. His hair was getting long. It reached down to the level of his eyes, and just barely touched his shoulder.
"Then why didn't you stop using your powers? Did you fight with so many people that often that you had to leave your battery turned on all the time?"
She places her hands on his left hand, and he pulls it away instantly.
"I wasn't like this before. I didn't have this battery to determine my life back then."
"What happened?"
"A lot happened."
He says as he sinks deeper down into his blanket. Ester wanted to pry into his life even more, but before she could, he quickly dismissed her.
"I'm tired, so if you'd be so kind as to go away." He says as he closes his eyes.
She curled her lips in, as she shows a face of uneasiness. But she soon relaxes, and smiled at him.
She got up from the chair and leans in closer to him. She lifted his fringe up, and he opened his eyes.
"Oi, what are you—"
Ester plants a kiss on his forehead. He used his left hand and pushed her away immediately.
"Oi, you sure are getting very comfortable for someone who never listens to me."
She continued smiling at him even though he was fuming-mad. Seeing her gentle smile made him feel uncomfortable, and he clicked his tongue.
"Goodnight, master. I hope you'll have a sweet dream."
"Tch, get out."
Not long after, she got out. He used his left forearm and wiped his forehead as he cursed under his breath.
"(Why is this happening to me?! I don't even want this.)"
Then he heard his door slid open again.
"(TCH, WHY IS EVERYONE BOTHERING ME TODAY?!)"
He was slowly becoming insane. He just wanted to rest, but he couldn't. Resting was not an option for him yet.
"(I wonder which idiot came in.)"
Then a head popped out through the corner. She had a yellow ribbon on her head, and her pupils had a different shade of blue. They were abnormal to say the least. She was wearing a green hospital gown like the one Accelerator was wearing.
"*Sigh* What do you want now? Everything has been settled already."
She awkwardly comes in and sits down on the chair. She twirled her fingers around her hair, as a few droplets of sweat appeared on her face.
"If you have something to tell me, make it quick or else I'm going to sleep."
"Hnngghh...I-Is your left hand okay? Or actually, your whole body in general."
She explored his body as her hands shifted everywhere. She moves her hands along the outlines of his thin body.
"Y-You're actually very skinny. You should eat more!"
Accelerator felt irritated as he looks at her dead in the eyes.
"Is that all you came here for?"
"W-Well...I just wanted to check in on you. You know...as a...as a..."
"...Ahn?"
"...as a 'thank you' for providing me with a future!"
She pulled her hands away as she closes her eyes.
"...Oi, not so loud. The brat might wake up."
He says as his right arm pulls Misaka closer to him.
"O-Oh, sorry..."
He checks on Misaka to make sure that she was not awake before answering Mami.
"If you're wondering about my left arm, it's actually fixed. My whole body feels sore, but other than that, I think I'm still fine."
"That's a relief..."
She places her hand on her chest as she heaves a sigh of relief.
"So you have a prosthetic arm now?"
"...No."
She looked puzzled for a second as she releases a "Huh?"
"I don't know the details, but after the operation was finished, my arm suddenly felt great. I had the doctor check on my left arm, and there were no fractures."
"H-How is that possible?! What...?"
"Tch, don't ask me. I really have no clue what happened. Now, if you're done, can you please leave now?"
Upon hearing that, she looks away from him as she rubs her knees together. Seems like she had something else to tell him.
"Umm...tomorrow..."
She hesitated to speak.
"...tomorrow...my sister and I are heading back to see our mother...and I don't know how I should face her. My sister told me that mom was fine with Yumi alone, and I don't know how I should react to it."
She held his bedsheets tightly, and pulled them closer to her.
"On one hand, I want to show my face to our mother. But on the other, I'm scared to show her my face. I made her worried so much, I bet she hates me more than anything in this world..."
She was starting to tear up. The veins in her eyes were stretching out into her retina even more.
"I'm so...scared..."
She was sobbing as she drops her head down onto his bed. He kept silent as he thought of his answers.
"(...Hatred, huh?)" Accelerator thought as he looked at the back of her head. But he knew what he had to do. He wasn't a hero, but once in a while, he could be kind.
He lifts his left hand up and puts it on the back of her head. He pats her on the head as he looked at the window on his right.
"Who cares if she hates you? If she accepts you, then she accepts you. If she decides to disown you, so be it. Can anything really be done?"
"Huh?"
She looks up at him and snorts the snot coming out of her nose back up, as she tries to understand what his point was.
"Tch, what I'm trying to say is, just because one person hates you, doesn't mean the whole world will hate you. There will always be someone out there who cares about you."
The tears in her eyes stopped momentarily. Her eyes gawked at him.
And then she started crying again, this time she got up and hugged him.
"You're...you're sho kind!! Bweheheheh..."
"Tch! You're too loud!" He whispers as he tries to push her away from him.
"But I can't help it!! Weheheheheh..."
Accelerator sighs as he looks away from her, his hands fell down, signaling his defeat.
"Oh? You're not fighting back anymore?"
"Ha? Do you want me to?"
She looks down at him as her smile grows weaker, but she was rather glad than elated. She pulled him closer to her, where he could feel her heartbeat now.
"Your hands felt very...comforting."
"Are you kidding me? The human hands can only be warm or cold, depending on the amount of fats in your body. There's no such thing as comforting."
She pulls his head away and frowns at him.
"Seriously? Must you ruin the moment?"
"Seriously? Does it even matter? Can you get out now?"
"Don't answer my question with another question!"
"It's not a question if it answers the question. Now get out."
She lightly facepalms herself as she shook her head.
"*sigh* Whatever, but I just want to thank you for saving me. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably never the light of day anymore."
Then she bows down in front of him.
"Thank you."
"Tch, you're not that special to me. Just because I promised you something, it doesn't make you special. It just means I have more things to do."
Then her face had a blank expression.
"You really love to kill the mood, don't you?"
"Just get out already."
With that she leaves his ward feeling sour.
"Finally, some peace and quiet..." He rests his head back with one hand behind his head, and closes his eyes.
.
.
.
Then the door slides open again.
"...Who is it now...?"
The person in question pokes his or her head out, and he sees a familiar ribbon poking out. But instead of a bright ribbon, it was a black-colored ribbon. Her eyes looked real, and she raggedy-looking sleeveless shirt that stops above her belly button. She wore shorts that were so short that it reached down to half of her thigh. Moreover, even though she already had a belt around her waist, she had another bigger belt wrapped diagonally around her waist.
"Are you asleep?"
"What does it look like to you?" There was menace in his voice as he said that. His dark eye bags made it look like he was a devil instead.
"Oh...ummm right...eheheh..." She nervously laughed as sweat drips down her forehead.
"What do you want now? State your business quickly and go away."
He laid back down, and closed his eyes as he said that.
"Umm...I was wondering if you could visit our shop tomorrow."
Accelerator took a second to process that, and then he opens his eyes and stares at her.
"Ha?"
"I mean if you don't mind that is. You don't have to force yourself."
"Well of course."
"So you're going?!"
She shouted as her eyes sparkled with hope and a wide smile appeared on her face, showing her rows of teeth.
"No. And don't shout. I don't want to waste any more energy trying to put her to sleep."
He tilted his head down and nodded towards Misaka who was still asleep.
"Oh, sorry..."
Then she lowered her voice and went closer to him. Then he could smell something foul coming from her. It smelled like oil. He pinches the bridge of his nose and looked at her in disgust.
"What the hell is that smell?"
He asks her and she stared at him blankly. She looked around before smelling her armpits and then slammed the bottom of her fist on her hand.
"Ah! Yes, that's right. I went back to the shop just now to assure my mother that everything is okay."
"Ehh...then can you at least back off?" Accelerator asks as he pulls away from her.
"Hm? Then how am I supposed to talk to you?"
He grinds his teeth for a while, and answers her,"Get on with it. What do you want now?"
"Oh, right! Why won't you go?"
"Because I'm a patient at a hospital and I need rest?"
"Well...yeah, but you still went out of your way to help my sister. Why can't you do it again?"
"Because the doctor won't be too happy and he'll have more nurses to watch me when I sleep. Do you think I actually like that?"
She looks away from him for a bit and then she hesitantly answers,"...Maybe?"
*Tak!*
"Owwww!!!"
Accelerator flicked her forehead and she placed her hands on her forehead to try and numb the pain.
"You must be insane. Just get out of here."
"Hnnghh...okay, I won't force you to come."
Then she turns around and starts to walk away in disappointment.
"Maybe I'll invite the little angel. She really likes the food there."
Then her head rises up once again, and she faces him once more.
"I haven't introduced myself, have I?"
"You don't have to."
"Do you really have to say that?"
"..."
"Well, whatever. I'm Tobio Yumi, nice to meet you."
"Yeah we'll never see each other again, goodbye."
"Stop killing the mood like that!!!" She shouts as she pulls strands of her hair out.
Then, Accelerator felt something moving next to him.
"I told you not to shout!"
"I'm frustrated!!!"
He felt something warm stroking his body, and he heard the moans of a girl beside him. When he looked beside him, Misaka was rubbing her eyes.
"Pa...pa...?"
"Oh crap..."
Then he heard the door to his ward slide open and close, and Yumi was gone.
"Damn you!!!"
"Papa play with meeee!!!"
"Just let me rest!!"
—13th September 3:05p.m.—
Accelerator, Last Order, Ester, Himegi, Misaka, and the Tobio sisters were in a small shop at District 4.
"How did I end up here?" Accelerator laments as he sat around a table with Misaka, Himegi, Ester and Last Order.
What happened yesterday was that Misaka kept him up all afternoon and at night. Pestering him, and eventually he gave in. He was forced to walk around while playing catching with her. Needless to say, he was walking for hours. Ester couldn't take Misaka away from him as she would cry afterwards, and when she started crying, she wouldn't stop until Accelerator comforted her.
By the time he could sleep, which was at about 12p.m , he was woken up afterwards by the nurses reminding him to go for a checkup. After the checkup, Last Order was in his room, and the following conversation took place:
"I'm going to their shop today."
"Ha?"
"Misaka really really wants to go back and eat their rice again, says Misaka as Misaka can't resist the urges of her stomach."
"Well isn't that good for you."
"Hmmm...you're not going to follow?"
"Why would I? I have everything I need in this hospital."
"But the food there is really good!"
"I don't care."
"But it's ten times better than what the hospital serves, says Misaka as Misaka tries to tempt you into following her."
"Like I said, there's everything here."
"Hnnggghh...fine! Fine! Misaka will admit it. Misaka is scared of going there alone with the pervert!"
"Aren't both sisters going there?"
"Yeah, but still! Who knows whether the other one is secretly a pervert!"
"...*sigh* Fine. But once I'm done with the food I'm leaving."
"Yayyyy!! Screams Misaka as Misaka jumps excitedly."
———————————————
"Right, because of that brat..."
In front of him was a family reunion scene. A middle aged lady who had eye bags darker than his, no makeup at all, with wrinkles covering her entire face. The veins in her eyeballs were red as they stretched out from underneath her eye bags.
She was wearing a sweater with a dress that reached below her knees, her brown hair reached all the way down to her hip level. It seems like she had been stuck in that shop crying for many years already.
And when she saw her two daughters in front of her, she was in a daze. She thoroughly rubbed her eyes, and blinked excessively.
"Hey Mom...I'm home..." Mami said as tears appeared from her eyes. The reflection of her own mother becoming clearer.
Their mother walked forward and hugged the both of them. Tears flowed down from her eyes as she tries to muster up the words to communicate with them.
"...I'm...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." Their mother was the one apologizing to them.
"Mom..." They both whispered.
"I...I'm so sorry that I didn't try hard enough to find you...I thought that...Yumi was all I ever needed...I thought I would never find you again..."
They both kept silent as they hugged their mother back. The only two people who were crying were Mami and their mother.
"Mommy...I missed you so much!"
While they were hugging it out and exchanging their happiness, Ester had a piece of tissue paper in her hands as she wiped a single tear in her eye.
"It's so touching to see a family reuniting with each other after so long."
"Yes indeed, says Misaka as Misaka empathizes with you."
Now Last Order was the one with the tissue paper.
"(And I thought I was supposed to ruin the mood...)" Accelerator thought as he looks at the two of them.
The only person not interested in the family reunion was Misaka as she was only following Accelerator.
"Papa...me is bored!!"
"*sigh* Stop thinking about playing all the time."
"...Okay..."
After the Tobio family were done exchanging words, their mother came forward to the four of them and bowed down.
"Thank you for finding my precious daughter!"
Ester was the first to respond.
"O-Oh I didn't do anything! It was just master who did it." Ester said as she points at Accelerator.
"Oh, then thank you young man."
Accelerator did not look at her as he dug his ears and blew the dirt off his fingers.
"Tch, I didn't do anything. All I did was go there and wrecked things up."
"...???"
Their mother was confused as who she should thank, but fortunately for her, her daughters strayed her away from that thought.
"U-Umm...you guys must be hungry, right? Come on mom, let's go and cook something for them!"
"Y-Yeah...indeed...?"
With that, the three of them left to the kitchen.
"Master, don't you think you're being too modest?" Ester asks him.
"Ha? What I said was true. I don't think I saved anyone. All I did was go there and punished a bunch of disgusting freaks."
He looked down at the table as he said that. He remembered the scene that he saw, the tubes that were attached to the children. Inside their eyes, not even a sign of development. They were like fetuses, except they had lived out their lives already. They just stopped growing.
Accelerator clicked his tongue as he recalls what had happened.
"...Master...you push yourself too hard."
"You think so too? Yeah, I shouldn't have came here huh?" Accelerator got up and started walking towards the door.
"H-Huh? No! That's not what I meant! But I mean...well, you're not wrong...but at the same time...uhhhh..."
Ester panicked as she spouts the words out from her mouth.
But before he could open the door, a small hand grabbed his hand.
"Misaka won't let you leave! Misaka will be looking after you hue hue hue, says Misaka as Misaka pretends to act like your guardian while also hiding the fact that she doesn't want to eat without you."
Accelerator looked back at her and clicked his tongue. He went back to his seat and sat down.
"I was just kidding."
"E-Eh?! Master, please don't joke around like that. It scares me sometimes..."
Then, the sweet aroma of eggs accompanied with the smell of gravy filled the air. The mix of emotions flowed within the girls. It was a relaxing yet exhilarating feeling. It got them all sitting straight up, their hearts pounding with excitement as Mami delivered the food to them.
"Sorry for the wait!" She shouts as she approaches them with two plates of food on each of her arm, one plate in each of her hands.
She lined the plates of food in front of them. The girls were drooling as the food were placed in front of them.
There was steak with gravy on it. Various herbs were added on it as well. The colors of green and red were sprinkled inside the brown gravy sauce. Dots of black were barely visible on the steak as well.
Each of them were served with rice, each had an egg sunny side up on them, and a serving of limp cabbages at the side of the plate. A plate of spinach with signs of garlic inside them were present as well. There were also carrots mixed in with the spinach.
"Hawhhh...!! Misaka is so excited to try this! Says Misaka as Misaka tries to resist her urges to swallow everything!"
"Yes! I too am very excited to try these! They look very very delicious!"
"I am vewy hungwy now!"
Each of the girls spoke as they lay their gaze onto the plates. Then, Yumi came out with a pot that had many different ingredients mixed in.
Inside the pot were fishes that had their skin peeled off, they were left in the pot to go through stewing. The nutrients now didn't lie mainly in the fish, but in the soup as well.
They also added in enokitake into the soup as well. Carrots, and other vegetables were added in as well. A mix of orange, green and white filled the pot.
"Please dig in!" Yumi says as she presents the buffet to them.
"Hawhhh...Misaka is glad that you did something great! Misaka will praise you now! Says Misaka as Misaka gives you a thumbs up!"
Accelerator just sighs as he sits back.
"Well, it's better than a family restaurant. I'm tired of that shit already."
Then, they feasted like a hungry pack of wolves after they finished off their prey.
"Mmmmm...Misaka can taste the sweetness of the eggs with the rice...the rice was flavored with a bit of seaweed as well! This...this is...unexplainable!!! Says Misaka as Misaka tries to make an analysis!"
"Mmmm this is very delicious! This tastes like the food I eat back at home! Master, what do you think?" She asks as she looks at him, her eyes brimming with excitement.
"Hm? Yeah, it's good I guess."
"Hehhh...what's with that bland response, questions Misaka as Misaka doubts your brain of a level 5."
Last Order shrugged arrogantly as if she was a professional judging a rookie.
"...Tell me that when you aren't relying on the help of the Misaka network."
"Ha!? How...How can you say that to Misaka?! You're relying on the Misaka network too! Shouts Misaka as Misaka tries to argue with you!"
"...*sigh* Whatever."
—13th September 3:46p.m.—
"Woo...Misaka is so stuffed, says Misaka as Misaka pats her bloated stomach."
"Me too. The food here is really amazing!" Ester says as she lays back on her chair.
"Are we done here?" Accelerator asks as he looks at the two of them. Misaka slept on the table right after eating.
Before any of them could answer, the mother of the twins stepped out of the kitchen holding a bottle of saké.
"Let's drink till we pass out!"
Accelerator, Last Order, Ester and the Tobio twins stared at her with a blank expression.
"M-Mom...it's only 3 in the afternoon..." Yumi explains to her mother.
"Who cares?! Today is a happy occasion! We should celebrate as much as possible!"
"Sorry, but we're underage. We'll be going now." Accelerator says as he leaves with Ester carrying Misaka, and Last Order.
"Oh come on! Don't be like that now! Is a little boy too afraid of drinking?"
She put her arms around his shoulder and pulled him back into the shop.
"Tch, go away." Accelerator menacingly says as he looks at her from the corner of his eye. His red pupils staring her down.
But that did not faze her.
"Eh? Was I right? Has the little boy not matured into a man yet?"
"If you're trying to annoy me, you're doing a damn good job at it that I could kill you anytime."
At that moment he could feel a tug on his shirt. When he looked to his right, he could see Yumi's face nervously shaking.
"...Tch, fine then. Just a few sips and I'm out."
Then he turns his attention to Ester and tells her,"Bring them back to the hospital."
She reluctantly nods her head and starts walking back.
The two of them sat down and Yumi brought two shot glasses for them.
"Thanks Yumi." Her mother thanked her as Yumi collects the empty plates on the table.
Their mother poured the saké into both of their shot glasses and he immediately takes a shot.
"E-Eh? Wait, you're not supposed to drink it in one shot!"
"Does it matter? I'm done drinking. I'm leaving now."
"*sigh* This is why you are so inexperienced. For saving my dear daughters, I'll teach you how to properly enjoy saké."
"It's not like I saved them. I merely walked in and cleaned the trash off the floor."
She poured another shot for him.
"First, you take a small sip from the glass and savor the sweetness of the saké and the alcohol."
She gave him a demonstration and he followed along.
"Ahhh...that tastes good, doesn't it?"
"..."
"I'm sorry that I forced you to drink with me. But I'm just so happy that both of my daughters are back."
They took another sip, and she refilled the shot glasses.
"To me, my daughters mean everything to me."
Another sip.
"Before we moved here, we were randomly selected by a lottery ticket to come to Academy City. But when my husband heard about it, he didn't like the idea of moving here."
Another sip, another refill.
"So we divorced. I managed to win custody over my daughters, which I am glad about. So they've been living without a father for the past 10 years."
They took another sip.
"Their grandfather passed away before we even moved here, and grandmother recently passed away because of me. Because of me, we weren't able to earn much money."
They took another sip, and she tightened the grip on her shot glass. She refilled the shot glasses afterwards.
"Whatever savings we had, she used it to feed me and Yumi. Everyday she was getting skinnier. But by the time I had realized it, she was already dead."
This time it was her who drank everything down.
"If only I had listened to my husband, none of this would've happened. They wouldn't have felt so sad. I hate myself the most. I even foolishly gave Mami away to an organization that didn't exist! Ridiculous!"
She took the bottle of saké and drank down half of what was left. The twin sisters were behind a wall listening to her. After she had drunk down a copious amount of saké, she continued speaking.
"But thanks to you, my daughters are safe and sound. I don't want to lose them ever again. I don't know what I'll do if I lose one of them again. This place is going to get remodeled, and before that, we're moving out of Academy City."
She refilled his shot glass, but he was done drinking. He finally spoke up.
"...Did...Did ya think anyone can...hic...leave...Academy Cidy?"
"Hm?"
He was drunk already. Not entirely, but he was still drunk. He could barely catch his consciousness.
"Academy Cidy...is uhhh...ahem...a place where powerful people live in...did ya think ze people at the tawp...ummm will let you guys leave...?"
She could understand what he was trying to say, but she was confused.
"What do you mean?"
"Sink about it, you have people...umm...like me who can turn the tides of a war with a snap of a finger. If I were to be let loose...mm...ze whole world will die."
"But they can't keep us in here forever, right?"
Accelerator stopped for a moment and turned his battery on. He placed his finger in his mouth and bit the tip of his finger open. Blood oozed out from his wound, but he shook his head to clear his head. He then clotted his wound and turned his battery back to 'normal'.
Their mother was shocked by what he just did, but he brushed it off by answering her question.
"You asked that they can't keep you guys in here forever, right? Well, bad news for you. The Board of Directors will kill anyone who leaves. They won't do it directly, but they'll hire someone to do their dirty work. I'm sure you're aware of it. Academy City is a sketchy place in its own rights. Your whole family will be assassinated without a single trace of your existence."
At that moment, her face froze up.
"Th-Then what are we supposed to do?"
"Give it up and embrace life in Academy City.
"...No way..."
She frowned as she said that. She thought hard about her options, but when she looked at him, her face eased up.
"By the way, I heard you did some things with my dear daughter Mami when you went to rescue her."
"Ha?"
"Oh you don't have to be so shy! Yumi has already told me everything! So how about it? I can make her your fiancé. Or maybe I can have my hardworking Yumi to help you? Or would you like the both of them? I'm sure they wouldn't mind it as well!"
"..."
For the twins who were secretly listening in on them, they were both blushing.
"Come on, take your pick. Do you want my absolutely adorable and hardworking Yumi? She can cook for you, you know? Or do you want both? Because seeing from the people you hang out with, you are either homosexual, or you are just a playboy."
Accelerator paid attention to her words. He didn't care about what she was offering him, but instead how she positioned her words.
She didn't know much about Mami, so she couldn't really describe her well.
"...Tch, maybe you should spend some time with your daughters. They did everything for your happiness. They got caught up in dangerous situations just so they could make you happy."
Accelerator got up from his seat before crashing down.
Was his battery dead?
No.
He had lost quite a bit of blood and the saké was getting to his head.
Their mother looked down at him and smiled.
"It seems I was wrong about you."