——15th September 5:20p.m——
"20!!!"
A loud cry came from the sand as a boy with white hair rose up.
It was Accelerator, as the joy of finishing 20 push ups rushed to him. He quickly got up and swept the sand off his pants and hands.
"Ha! What'd ya think about that?! I did it, no sweat."
Though he said that, he was still desperately panting for air. The woman beside him had already finished 200 and was stretching her muscles in the meantime.
"Well done! I'm surprised. I thought you would've given up after doing 10 of it."
Yomikawa gave him a cheerful yet sarcastic applause. He too knew that Yomikawa was being sarcastic, but he was too tired to even bother with her sarcasm.
All he knew was that he had finished what she wanted him to do, and he could finally rest in…
"Wait a second, young man."
He felt a forceful tug on his back and he was pulled back to the sandy floor with a loud thud.
"Oi! What was that for?! I did what you asked of me, what else do you want?!"
"I hope you didn't think that was the end."
"Ha?! There's still more?!"
"Yes. I want you to do 20 sit-ups, run 1km within 3 minutes, and hold your breath underwater for 1 minute."
"...You've gone fucking mad."
Yomikawa ignored his curses as she blew a whistle at him.
"Quickly! Down now and give me 20!!"
As if on impulse, Accelerator quickly went down flat on his back with Yomikawa holding his toes and he quickly started pulling his body up.
"Why the fuck am I even doing this?! I'm a damn handicap for fucks sake!!!!!!"
As Accelerator was exercising, Ester and Last Order looked on in the distance with pity for the poor boy. They were actually waiting for him to come back so that they could start a game of beach volleyball.
Well not that he could even play it in the beginning, but it was more for the experience and joy of doing things together.
In the meantime they had just been spending the time building sandcastles using scripts that the Misaka Network had sent to Last Order.
"So...we do this...and this...and...voila!! The sandcastle is done!! Exclaims Misaka as Misaka hides her boredom yet again after building the same sandcastle 5 times in a row!!"
"Hmmm...he's taking too long..."
"Misaka is starting to think that we should just start without him, Misaka proposes as Misaka yawns her tiredness away."
"..."
However, before they started on their 6th sandcastle for the day, they heard a cheery voice in the distance slowly approaching them.
"Yoohoo☆ Are you girls looking for a bit of fun?"
The both of them turned around to find the blonde-haired Level 5, Shokuhou Misaki with her purple haired friend.
"Hello girls☆ I see you're just playing around in the sand. You wouldn't mind if we play a small game of beach volleyball with you, would you?☆" Misaki says as she eyed the volleyball next to them.
Last Order disappeared from their sight for a split second before appearing behind Misaki.
"Gah?! Misaka cannot believe the size of the volleyballs that SHE possesses!! Misaka says as Misaka starts to fondle them in admiration!!"
"Hhk?! W-What are you doing?! Th-This is not the volleyball!! AND WHY IS A SMALL CHILD DOING THIS?!?!"
Misaki started panicking as she tried to squirm around just to remove the troublesome girl off her back, but the girl didn't give in so easily as she manoeuvred her way to stay on top...or otherwise, behind.
The two other girls simply stared in awe as the powerless girl just outplayed one of the Level 5's in Academy City.
"Kouzaku Mitori-san, instead of watching me get tortured by this little girl, HOW ABOUT YOU GET OVER HERE AND HELP ME!!!"
Mitori was promptly brought back to earth and she quickly ran over to unplug Last Order from her.
Ester was quick to help as well as she tried plucking Last Order as well, as if she was a big white stubborn radish.
While all that was occurring, Accelerator was watching in the distance as he continued with his sit-ups, but slowly this time.
"What the hell are they doing over there?"
"Seems like they're having fun, haha."
"...Guess so."
"You could have joined them if you finish this fast enough."
"I don't need to. I'd rather just go back to the room and rest in peace."
Suddenly, a loud smack could be heard across the beach and Yomikawa's hand looked like it was bleeding as the blood slowly flowed back down to her entire body with Accelerator's head looking like there was smoke coming off of it.
"If you say that one more time while we're on this trip, I'll make sure my foot is the next thing that will hit your head." Yomikawa said with a sinister smile.
But that didn't faze Accelerator.
"At this rate you're going to make me bleed again..."
"You were asking for it."
"I'm going to sue you for child abuse."
Even though it seemed like they were having an argument, both parties did not take it to heart.
After that gruesome smack however, the four girls looked at each other and nodded in agreement to one another to keep their voice down and just get on with the game.
"I guess we should start the game..."
Ester picked up the ball beside them and drew a line between the two teams. There wasn't a stick or a net for them to use so they had to assume there was a net in between them. But the game did not feel the same for them.
The meaning was there but the effect felt different.
"Uhhhh...how do we do this..." Ester wondered, but Mitori had other plans.
"Guys! Look at the sea!!"
Ester's and Last Order's attention was drawn to the sea alongside Yomikawa and Accelerator but there was nothing for them to see. However, when they turned back, there was a net separating the two groups.
The Ester and Last Order duo against the Misaki and Mitori duo.
"Huh? How did this get here?"
"'I don't know, it just suddenly appeared says Misaka as Misaka is still looking for whatever was in the water."
Mitori and Misaki didn't look the least bit shocked that there was a net that just appeared out of thin air.
"Alrighty girls☆ Shall we start?"
"Yeah!!" The 3 other girls shouted in unison.
However, before they start, Misaki had one last proposition.
"I will not be playing this match unfortunately."
"Huh? Why is that so?" Ester asked her as she tilted her head to the side.
"Because HE will be playing for me☆"
In her hand was one of her many controllers and she pointed it towards Accelerator. And when Accelerator saw her doing that, he immediately sat up and narrowed his eyelids.
"(Something tells me they're plotting something only the devil would think of...)"
"(Of course☆ You'll be playing this game of volleyball for me☆)"
Accelerator started to beat the side of his head with his right hand because the thought of having an unfamiliar voice in his head annoyed him.
"(Get the fuck out of my head!!)"
"(No can do. And if you won't do it, I'll brainwash everyone here to hate you☆)"
"(...)"
"(They'll all leave you, betray you, and you'll be all alone. Just like the rest of us again.)"
"(I'll tear your lips out if you say anymore.)"
All this while, Misaki was peering at him from the corner of her eye while he did the same.
He stood up from the sand and slowly limped towards her after grabbing his cane.
Yomikawa didn't scold him for walking away because she was happy that he was finally ready to spend his time on the beach wisely.
The moment he stood face-to-face with her, she just gave him a cheeky smile with a peace sign and leaped away from the battlefield.
As he stood there facing Last Order and Ester, he glanced at his partner who was clearly sweating just a bit too much before the match had even started.
"(Is today's weather that hot?)"
"(No, she's just nervous☆)"
"(Why the fuck are you still in my head?!)"
"(Oops, I'm sorry, it seems like I accidentally stumbled into your head☆)"
"(...)"
"(Anyway, being with the strongest esper in Academy City is pretty scary to some people. You never know when you'll be killed.)"
"(Tch, I'm surprised you would still consider me the strongest.")
"(Of course. If you wanted to, you could have probably kicked me out of your head by now with your ability.)"
Accelerator didn't respond to her as Ester prepared to serve the ball. The moment the ball crossed the net, it was flying towards Mitori. Mitori easily bounced and passed the ball towards Accelerator. Accelerator marked the ball like a target.
With his eagle eye locked on to his target and his quick calculation of where it was about to land, he was ready to take off.
He threw his cane to the floor in a bold move to clear his way and make space for himself to launch himself off his feet.
The ball lingered in the air for what felt like eternity. When the moment was right, he jumped up with whatever remaining power left in his legs and he spiked the ball as hard as he could in the middle of Ester and Last Order.
Is what I would like to say, however fate played it out much differently.
The moment the ball flew above him, he most definitely threw his cane away but when he tried to jump, he only tripped forward and had a mouthful of sand.
And the ball flew past their court.
There was an awkward moment between both teams, but once the ball landed, they all laughed simultaneously at how the number one esper tried to spike the ball.
"(And you call yourself the strongest. Pfft hahaha... I bet even the kid could spike harder than you. And she's not even as tall as the net!! How pathetic.)"
That teasing voice of Misaki echoed through his head as he smacked his head with the palm of his hand.
"(Shut the fuck up! Why don't you get on the other team so I can show you what happens when I'm pissed, you fucking bitch!!)"
"(Oooo such foul language. Looks like someone did not learn any sort of manners when they were young.)"
Accelerator lifted his face out of the sand to glare at the 5th ranked esper who was silently giggling in the background.
"Why that little..."
Once everyone settled down, Ester was the first to rush to his aid, followed by Last Order.
"Accelerator! Are you okay?"
They knelt down beside him as Ester reached out a hand to him.
The brightest smile he had ever seen in his life since meeting Yomikawa or Yoshikawa.
It was a sight to behold.
It had been so long since someone provided this amount of care and concern as she did.
But he wasn't going to take it.
"Tch, I'm fine. Lets continue. This is a battlefield, it isn't a game."
He rubbed the sand out of his face as he stood on his side again.
"Get ready. Cause' I'm not holding back anymore."
With a press of a button, the sand on the ground was slightly lifted up and Accelerator served the ball towards Last Order.
Of course, it was a gentle serve. Last Order passed it towards Ester effortlessly and she was ready to spike the ball. She jumped up and it felt like she had some spiritual energy gathered in her hand as she smacked the ball towards Mitori. However, the purple haired girl was prepared as she faced it head on and a loud thud was heard as she hit the ball backwards towards Accelerator.
The speed of the ball flew back quickly as the impact was immense between the two, however, it was no problem for Accelerator as he jumped up five feet above the air and slapped it back down towards them.
Flying towards the opposing two was a meteor as the ball looked like it caught fire. Ester grabbed Last Order as she carried her away to safety. The ball hit the ground with a hard but at the same time soft impact. The impact didn't cause much commotion but it did cause a lot of damage.
It created a crater inside the sand so deep that the water started to seep in from the sea.
"WAAAAHHH!!! THE BALL!!! YOU MONSTER WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO BALL-KUN!!!! Says Misaka as Misaka looks at the culprit in shock!!!!"
"Tch, shut up! If I had let that ball land, we would've lost a point! This is something called sportsmanship. It's giving it your all so that you do not insult your opponents."
"(Liar.)"
"(Goddamn it!! GET OUT OF MY FUCKING HEAD!!)"
"(Your thoughts are interesting...I thought I might dig a little deeper☆)"
Accelerator rolled his eyes as he touched his brain with his right hand to find the source of her power in his mind. It was a delicate procedure and with his half broken brain it required more work. But when he found it...
A small shock traced itself back to Misaki as it hit her in the head as well.
"Ahh..."
A small groan came out from Misaki, but the group couldn't catch it and a smirk formed on Accelerator's face.
"Better luck next time, third rate."
Accelerator grabbed his cane and turned off his power as he started walking back to his room. Unfortunately, fate had something else planned for him.
"Where do you think you're going, Mister?"
"..."
Yomikawa had him by the back of his collar. He didn't even bother turning back because he knew what was coming.
"Oh take me away police officer."
And it was back to training camp for him.
-15th September 7:20p.m.-
"I can't...anymore!! HAAA HAAA HAAA..."
"COME ON!! IS THIS ALL YOU'VE GOT?!?!?!"
"YES!! THAT IS ALL I HAVE NOW LET ME LIVE!!!"
This was the first time the Accelerator had begged for mercy. Yomikawa was too fierce of a force to be reckoned with. It was simply frightening.
"YOU ONLY DID 4 SETS!!! EVEN A 10 YEAR OLD COULD DO IT!!!"
"Urk!?"
Accelerator knew the more he said the more she would drag him back so he knew there was only one solution. He grabbed his cane and immediately pressed a single button by his neck. Unsurprisingly, Yomikawa predicted something like that would happen, so she quickly reached in for him, however, he lifted whatever muscle that was still capable in his body and slammed it straight down, causing a sandstorm around him and pushing her away.
Immediately after that, he took the opportunity to fly out of there.
"Fuck...it's finally over. I might get an earful, but fuck it. It's better than putting my already disabled body through hell."
Getting away was a good thing for him, but now the question was where should he head to?
"(The room would be great...but she would probably be there. Maybe the onsen would be nice.)"
Since he was at the beach area, it did not take him long to reach the entrance of the hotel by flying. He landed by the side of the alley just to readjust himself and make sure he had enough space and leisure to walk around.
He limped back inside the hotel where he just walked past reception and into the looming hallways of the hotel. It took him a while to navigate through the place as he had not yet familiarized himself with the place but when he reached a quiet room where the entire furnishing were made out of wood and there were shelves where he could store his clothes in, he went in to the one closest to him and took out his clothing without a single care in the world and placed it inside the basket.
With his eyes closed, towel wrapped around his waistline, he casually slid the door open while closing it on the way in.
He felt the fresh warm air around him and the aromatic smell of flowers(?) when he opened his eyes, he saw something which he should not have.
There were definitely flowers.
A bouquet of flowers with him as the thorn.
Mitori, Ester, Last Order and Misaki looked at him with confusion in their faces.
That was the moment that Accelerator knew he was going to be dead in the next second.
"Accelerator..." Last Order curled her hand up into a ball as the fury within her accumulated.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING YOU PERVERT!!! Misaka shouts as Misaka prepares to give you a good scolding!!! YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO LOOK AT OTHER GIRLS BESIDES MEEEEE!!!!"
Last Order stomped towards him as she slammed the sole of her feet as his stomach.
"Accelerator-kun...I know we have familiarized ourselves with each other...but don't you think this is pushing it?!?!?!!?!" Misaki was the next one to unleash her fury upon him as she went to stomp on his chest area.
Short breaths of air escaped his mouth as every stomp on him felt like a hammer to his soul. He endured the pain until it finally stopped with this one sentence.
"You know...even if you do beat me up like this...I can still see what's underneath."
Immediately both of their faces flushed with redness redder than a tomato.
Last Order quickly put him in a chokehold and started strangling him while Misaki resorted to using her fists to punch his stomach.
"CLEANSE YOUR EYES WITH BLEACH AND NEVER LOOK AT ME WITH THOSE FERAL EYES OF YOURS EVER AGAIN!!!!!!" Misaki said as every word landed on his stomach.
The pain lasted him a good five minutes before the both of them threw him out with whatever strength they had left.
With the onsen occupied and leaving him with a very scarring experience, he limped back to his room to resort using the shower head.
"Goddamn it...Why is this happening to me..."
Accelerator said with an annoyed voice as he stressfully scratched his head. When he opened the door to his bathroom, he saw what appeared to be a middle aged woman with great assets showering. The woman heard the door opening and turned to face him.
"Oh, it's you. Geez you should knock on the door when you're entering a place like this."
It was Yomikawa who took this in a different perspective.
"I wish you had told me that 20 minutes ago. I'll pretend I see nothing, so hurry up and finish."
Just as he was about to close the door on her, she grabbed his hand to stop him.
"Hey, it's okay, we can shower together. Besides, there's only one bathroom, and you look like you're in a mess."
"And you look like danger to me if a certain someone were to see us coming out of the bathroom together."
"It's okay, I'll just tell Last Order that I was helping you wash up. I'm sure she'll understand it from an adult perspective."
"Tch, that's what you think."
Accelerator tried to let go, but she held on.
"Come on, it can't be THAT bad right?"
"You are poorly mistaken."
"But I can't just leave you looking like that."
"Then hurry up and finish!! You're being annoying now!!"
Yomikawa frowned and she didn't hesitate to pull him in with all her strength.
"Come on, you're just a child. It's okay for a parent to bathe with their child."
"NOT WHEN THEY ARE 16 YEARS OLD!!! I can take care of myself!!"
Yomikawa proceeded to forcefully strip him of his clothes.
"STOP!!!"
"Come on, don't be shy."
Accelerator clicked his tongue, but he finally admitted defeat and allowed it to happen.
Yomikawa put him in front as she washed his back, using this time to converse with him for a bit.
"Anything bothering you, kid?"
"...No, why?"
"I don't know, you seem quite angsty all the time. May I know why?"
She rubbed his back with her rough but soft hands that have gone through quite the aging and hard work over the time that she had been living on this earth.
Accelerator clicked his tongue in annoyance as he nonchalantly answers.
"I was just made this way."
"Made?"
"You heard me. Made by the people of this damned city who didn't want to be around this boy who could kill them with the touch of his hand even if it was unintentional. They could never understand me. Isolated and lost."
Yomikawa had nothing to say to him. I mean, what could she have even said at that point?
She didn't need to say anything in fact.
A simple gesture was all she did to comfort him, to make his shoulders relax and to make him calm down.
A hug.
"Oi!! What do you think you're doing?!"
"I'm sorry you were deprived of a family for so long. I promise you that, as long as I live, I won't let you feel abandoned anymore. I won't let you feel that way again. I'll make sure you'll never have to kill ever again."
"...The way you're saying it, makes it sound like you're gonna kill someone."
"Huh?! I would never do that! I'm a member of the law, I wouldn't dare pull the trigger to take someone's life."
"Heh, whatever."
"W-Wipe that smirk off your face right this instant, young man!!"
But he persisted.
"I'll double your workout starting from tomorrow onwards!!"
"W-wait...that's not what you're supposed to do..."
And soon, they were out of the shower, refreshed and energized for the rest of the night. However, the moment the both of them got out, they saw their roommates in the middle of the room, seemingly waiting for the both of them to get out as they crossed their arms in disapproval.
Last Order puffed her small chest out as she slowly stomped towards the white haired boy, and she gave him another headlock from the back.
"You damn cheater!!!! Misaka thought she could let you off that one time and this is what happens next?!?!?! Misaka says as Misaka tries not to use her full strength to strangle you even though Misaka is very tempted to!!"
Yomikawa stepped in to try and minimize any sort of damage that could be caused next by pulling Last Order off of him. Ester could only press her finger towards her temple as she shook her head in disappointment.
"Now now Last Order, I was only having a conversation with him in the shower."
"HA?! Yo-Yomikawa is trying to defend herself?! You could have talked to him outside of the one place that people get naked in!!! Misaka says as Misaka starts to feel betrayed by the one person she trusts the most..."
"Eeeerr...."
The one thing that stopped the chaos from continuing was the growling from all of their stomachs, signaling the need for all of them to just take a break and satisfy their stomachs.
"How-How about we go get something to eat first at the buffet before it closes, shall we?"
They simultaneously nodded in agreement and called a truce at that moment.
--15th September 8:30p.m.--
"Wow!! Look at all these food lined for Misaka!! Misaka says as Misaka wonders what she should eat first!!!"
"Tch, these are not for you only brat. It's called a buffet for a reason. Other people will be eating it as well. That's why..."
Accelerator frowned as he showed a serious expression in his eyes.
"We should take as much of the good food as we can get."
The both of them rushed in to get the expensive things that only rich people would eat while Ester and Yomikawa smiled watching the two of them enjoy their time.
"These kids..."
"They are a good pair." Ester says as they slowly approached the food lined up for them.
Elsewhere in the dining hall, a certain pair of girls were watching them from afar as one of them with golden hair tried to hide her face from them.
"They didn't see me, did they?"
"Not yet."
"Good, if that group were to come here, I would lose my sense of peace, I wouldn't even be able to enjoy my food."
"You know...as much as I understand how much you want to enjoy your food, are you sure you can enjoy it with this little?!"
On Misaki's plate, was a portion of food fit for any sort of adolescence. It was simply meat and rice, and there was only so little.
"Hey, it's a woman's job to only eat what she needs to grow. Anymore and I would be gaining excessive weight."
"...Right...I think I know what is causing you to be mislead by your weight."
Mitori says as she stares right at her robust chest that had already gained a few stares from the crowd.
"Hey, as much as you want to lecture me about my diet, maybe you should worry about yours first." Misaki says as she takes a bite followed by pointing her fork at the girl in front of her.
"I think I'm eating adequately, thank you very much."
As they both had a silent moment while chewing on their food, Mitori had something else to add on.
"...What do you think she likes to eat?"
It didn't take long for Misaki to know who she was talking about.
"I don't know. Maybe she likes something with a bit of flavor..."
"But nothing here tastes good..."
"Nnnghh..."
They had one more friend who coerced them into coming here in the first place.
"Lets just bring plates of everything here to her."
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Mitori questions the mind-reading Level 5.
"With my ability, silly☆"
"Are you strong enough to control EVERYONE here?"
"Maybe not the strongest Level 5, but definitely enough to mind control everyone here☆"
"Uhhhhhh...sure..."
-------------------------------------
"Bleh, the food here tastes like utter shit!! For such a fancy place, you would expect them to at least have some decent fucking food!!"
Expecting some sort of dumb response from Last Order, Accelerator continued chewing on his food, but nothing came out.
He took a little peek at the small girl, but he was shocked to find her asleep.
"Oi, brat wake up."
However, to his shock, everyone around him collapsed on their table, floor or worse, their food.
He immediately turned his battery on as he looked around him for the culprit only to find the two girls standing behind him.
"Good evening, Accelerator-kun☆ We're just about to head on to our rooms to do some delivery service. Would you like to follow☆"
Misaki gave him a wink as she put up her signature peace sign at him.
"Should I? It doesn't really concern me now, does it? But having said that..."
Accelerator glared at her with intent of harming her.
"If you had to put everyone to sleep, I have reasons to believe it is just to sneak food back for a late night binging."
"Urk?!"
"Ya don't have to be ashamed of yourself. Eating anymore won't even make that much of a significant difference to your weight."
"Why you!!! I wish I can take over your mind now and have you walk around this dining hall naked as everyone takes a picture of you!!"
"Heh, too bad for you."
Accelerator stood up and turned his battery off, signifying the amount of trust he has in her to let his guard down in the next moment.
Misaki already had the waiters ready to pick up the tray of food from the line of tables and ready to go.
"Come on, follow me."
--15th September 9:07p.m.--
"What the hell is this?!"
In front of him was a girl with the same brown hair that Misaka had, the same face, the same height and everything. The only thing separating her from the original was the fact that her hair was much longer and her choice of clothes were different.
"This is Dolly. She was a prototype of the clones that you see walking around now. They did tests on her to try and see if she could become a Level 5, but it failed, and so she was kept captive but her link with the rest of the Sisters are weaker than the rest. You could also say she is almost separated from the rest of them."
Dolly hid behind Mitori's back out of fear of the man who stood in front of her.
"This scary man...I saw him in my dreams...he was doing a lot of scary things to me..."
Accelerator could not help but pull back as the memories started flowing back to him of that time. Except if it was her instead.
The emotions he wanted to provoke into them, she had it all.
"She..." Accelerator mumbled.
"Yes, shocking right? We found her right after defeating Gensei. Apparently he was still keeping her captive for god knows what."
Accelerator took a small step forward with his cane in hand but immediately, Dolly held a pair of scissors in front of his neck with her hair, in a way controlling her hair using electricity.
"Don't come any closer to us!!"
"Now now, Dolly...This scary man is not the same person that you saw in your dreams. Dreams are dreams, now he is really here and he is a...errrr" Misaki hesitated on her choice of words but then she finally said it. "He is a decent person☆"
Accelerator glared at her after saying that and she immediately shook.
"Hey, you're not very nice as well, okay!?"
"What's the meaning of this."
Misaki stood firm as she got up close and personal with him.
"If you really do want to redeem yourself and be called an actual nice person, you can start by treating THEM right."
Misaki points to the two other girls in the room.
"And how do you want me to do that when we are so far apart from each other? You live in an area where boys are forbidden from entering. How am I supposed to help when trouble goes to them?"
With a little smirk on Misaki's face, she replied confidently to his question.
"Heh, I knew you would say that. So, my team is already preparing to buy out your neighbor's house."
Accelerator tilted his head in confusion, but then it hit him.
"You can't be serious right?"
"Of course I am. I have my own place to stay at besides the dorm. What makes you think I don't have enough money to buy out another place?"
Misaki said as she proudly flipped her hair behind her back.
Accelerator only stared at her in disbelief.
"...Tch, but I'm no hero."
"You say that, but I can see you trying to be one. Especially with your Imagine Breaker."
"?"
Accelerator had heard that name before but he didn't know what it was.
"Don't look at me like you don't know what it is!! Your right hand that can negate any ability it touches! Gensei mentioned it to me. He said that you have it!"
"Right hand? I have it on my left."
"What?!"
Misaki was stunned to find out it was in his hand that was free from the cane.
"Let me see that."
The moment Misaki reached for his hand, she accidentally tripped and landed on him.
She got up on top of him but wasted no time to look at his left hand.
"But it was on the right hand for Touma, how could it be on the left for you? How did you get it?"
"Tch, get off of me!!"
Accelerator out of instinct and having no experience with advanced hand-to-hand combat, groped Misaki using his right hand and she immediately leaned towards him to prevent his hand from getting any closer while still gripping on to his left hand.
"D-Don't touch me there!!"
"You're crushing me with your goddamn fat ass!!"
Mitori and Dolly were both looking at them, but only Dolly was having ideas.
"Oooo that looks interesting, Mi-chan! Let's try it as well!!"
Mitori only looked back at her with a shocked expression as she was simultaneously pushed down.
"W-What is with this situation?!?!?!?!? Shokuhouuuuu!!!!"
However, her cries were ignored as she kept inspecting his hand.
"His hand was warm and big, while yours is lean and cold..."
"Whatever!! Who cares about a stupid hand!!! It's just a hand, no one remembers someone by their hand!!"
Immediately after that, Misaki straightened her back and a loud smack could be heard.
She delivered a firm slap to his face as beads of water slowly appeared in her eyes.
Clearly, she was one of the people that HE had saved as well.
"Don't you dare say that about him! He was my hero and with his right hand, he would even risk his life for a Level 5 like me!!"
"..."
Accelerator couldn't fight back and he also felt bad.
Because he was the one who took her hero away from her.
"Imagine a Level 0 saving a Level 5 from danger. He would sacrifice so much for me, even if it meant he couldn't remember my face or my name! He was hurt so badly that all the time he spent with me, he had forgotten about it because he lost the ability to remember only me."
The whole room went silent and Accelerator tried to look for an escape out of this situation by looking at Dolly and Mitori. However, they were only glaring at him while mimicking them as Mitori simulated what Accelerator should do.
When he looked at what they instructed him to do, he immediately turned his head away from them. But when Misaki laid down on his lean body. He knew this was getting out of hand and he could not even reach for his battery with his left hand occupied by Misaki's grip.
He finally gave in and reached for the back of Misaki's head with his right hand and for once, gently stroking her hair to comfort her.
That action finally woke her up as she hurriedly got up from him, dusting herself off as her face was flushed with redness.
"A-Ahem...A-Anyway, I went overboard with my emotions. I'm sorry for killing the mood. Shall we start eating?"
Accelerator sat his body up as he clicked his tongue.
All of them sat around the kotatsu in the middle of the room with each of their plates filled to the brim with every food on the tray.
Accelerator and Misaki had the same reaction where they were both disgusted with the amount of food they have on their plates.
"The food here tastes fucking bad."
"For once, we have come to an agreement." Misaki says as they both nodded their heads in agreement.
Meanwhile, Dolly had sparkles in her eyes as she looks at the food.
"Wowwww!!! This looks amazing!!!"
Without any hesitation, she ate bite after bite of the food there and her reaction was wholesome to say the least.
"Vwow!! I have nefer tashted shuch gootch foodsh like thish!!"
"Dolly...swallow your food before taking another bite."
Mitori takes her plate as she holds a spoon facing Dolly.
"Here, I'll feed you. Ah..."
Without hesitation, Dolly opened her mouth wide for Mitori to feed her.
"Nom...Thanks, Mi-chan!"
Dolly smiled at Mitori with such elation that it made Accelerator rethink about his life.
However, his train of thoughts were interrupted by Misaki as she bumped his shoulder.
"(Hey...umm, sorry about what happened just now. I was so caught up by the Imagine Breaker that I forgot who you were.)"
"(Tch, whatever. If you want forgiveness, GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HEAD!)"
"(Heheh, unfortunately I won't do that☆)"
Accelerator glared at her, however she quickly took a spoonful of meat and shoved it in his mouth.
"So? How does it taste?"
After he swallowed it, he answered back feeling annoyed by what she had just done.
"It still tastes like absolute shit. Having someone feed it to me like some dog makes it taste even worse."
"Hmph! I thought if Dolly thought it was good, you would think it was good as well."
A small smirk could be seen on her face as she looked away from him shrugging her shoulders.
Accelerator clicked his tongue as he rethought about his decision coming here in the first place.
"Mmm, it was the aftertaste that tasted good. Yeah, this stuff's pretty good."
Accelerator said as he tried his best to look like he was enjoying it but it just made his face look like a contorted mess.
"I think you should try it now, 5th ranked."
"Ghk?!"
Accelerator snatched the plate off her hands as he forcefully shoved the spoon inside her mouth. Clearly they were both liking the food for having the other try it.
"Mm...mmm!! It really tastes very delicious, Dolly! But I think you should have more because you're still growing☆"
Misaki lightly pushed the trays of food towards Dolly as her face twinkled. However, Dolly felt dithered about the whole situation and instead offered something only she would ever think of.
"If it's very good, I think we should all eat it together!"
Dolly had a gleeful look on her face while the three of them were extremely devastated by what she had said. It was like a bullet had struck them all in the head, not to make fun of the Accelerator.
However, before anyone could say anything else, a phone from Accelerator's pocket rang and the caller ID was none other than his guardian, Yomikawa.
"What do you want?"
"Accelerator, is Last Order with you?"
When he heard that short and simple sentence, he immediately understood what the situation was already.
"She disappeared?!"
"So she's not with you huh? I lost her in the crowd of people around me. I don't want to think about the worst case scenario right now."
"Say no more."
Accelerator hung up the phone and immediately got back on his feet with his cane. When he glanced at the three girls in the room, Misaki and Mitori had understood the situation he was in and simply nodded their heads for him to go.
They could've helped him but because of the situation they were in and the events that happened yesterday, they could not leave Dolly alone in the event there was a perpetrator lurking around trying to recreate the exact situation yesterday.
As Accelerator was walking down the hallway, he was sweating profusely from the nervousness of Last Order disappearing. Losing her would mean he will never be able to move again and most importantly, losing her would means losing the one thing he could ever redeem himself for.
"(Fuck! Every fucking time I'm away from her something bad always happens.)"
Accelerator walked around the resort, the onsen, the hallways, the room, the dining hall, the kitchen, and finally, the beach.
As he limped across the beach one step at a time, his shirt was wet from all the walking he had been doing. It had been 45 minutes since he started his search but he could not find her and he could only clench his fist in frustration because he could not protect her.
"FUCK!!"
He shouted at the top of his lungs at the ocean with the moon resting above the sky. His rage was building up, had they escaped with her on foot? However, as he was thinking about the possible ways the enemy could have escaped with Last Order, he saw one place that he had not explored yet.
A small hill that could be easily climbed up from a flight of stairs.
He saw a small figure standing at the hilltop.
And he finally solved the mystery.
---15th September 10:04p.m.---
Last Order stood on a hilltop, looking at the stars and the single moon in the sky. She was at peace with herself, she felt very comfortable to just be there. Her eyes were sparkling more than they usually do.
However...
One boy came up to destroy that peace.
"Oi! Last Order!!"
Accelerator shouted as he jumped to the top of the hill.
"What do you think you're doing here?!" Accelerator yelled at her as he landed on his feet.
"Ah! You're here as well!" Last Order excitedly went over to him with her arms behind her back.
"I was just looking at the moon and the stars, says Misaka as Misaka continues to admire the sky.
"Tch, and you didn't tell anyone?!"
"Hm?"
"Everyone was looking for you, and they even called me to annoy me. Do you know how much trouble you caused for everyone just because you didn't tell anyone? We all thought some big organization came to abduct you, goddammit!!"
Last Order looked down in guilt as she twirled her fingers around.
"I'm sorry..."
Accelerator felt bad for shouting at her, but that was him letting his emotions out.
"Misaka just wanted to see the moon and the stars up close because Misaka never got a good look at it before...but that caused everyone trouble. So Misaka is sorry, says Misaka as Misaka apologizes for making you look for her."
At that moment, he realized that he was wrong for shouting at her right away. She never got the chance to go out of the lab just to see it for herself. Even though there were many opportunities to see the moon, she had never had a good look at it because she was spending her time with him.
Accelerator clicked his tongue as he looked up at the moon and the stars.
"I guess we should head home now, says Misaka as Misaka walks back disheartened."
"Hold up." Accelerator says as he holds her back.
"I guess we can stay here for a bit longer if you want. I'll just text Yomikawa that I already found you."
"Ho! Really?! asks Misaka as Misaka jumps up in the air joyfully."
"Tch, shut up or I'll make you go back now."
Last Order placed her hand on her mouth as she looked back.
"The moon looks so pretty...don't you think so? Asks Misaka as Misaka looks for your approval."
"Yeah yeah, it looks good." Accelerator never thought about how good the moon was. To him, the moon was just an indication for him to kill in the night.
But right now, everything changed, and he looked at the girl in front of him and back at the moon.
"It looks real beautiful alright."
"I hope this moon will last forever."
Accelerator stood beside her and smiles for once, however he smiled while facing the opposite way.
"Yeah, hopefully."
-------------------------
When they got back, Ester had not returned yet. It was only when Last Order and Accelerator had settled down that she came back running to the room.
"Oh! The two of you are back!"
"Ester, you got back pretty late."
"Oh, I went quite far from here heheh... I thought she went very far so I walked around the district looking for her."
"Huh...well good that everyone is back. I am tired for the day, lets just go straight to bed!!"
"Mmm yes!"