"That is to say, killing twenty thousand Railgun clones..."
Haruto calmly explained the content of the plan.
At that moment, both Misaki and Accelerator wore expressions of shock.
Misaki instinctively looked at the injured girl in the middle of the scene. Even though Haruto said she was a clone—
To anyone watching, that was still a living, breathing girl.
Especially since the child looked to be around Misaki's age. And now, twenty thousand such children were to be killed.
Just imagining this made Misaki feel like she couldn't breathe.
Even Accelerator was no longer acting casually—his gaze was locked tightly on Haruto.
"You... who the hell are you, and how do you know the details of the plan?"
But in the face of questioning, Haruto remained silent. As if he treated Accelerator like thin air.
That made Accelerator completely lose his patience.
"You bastard! You dare ignore me?!"
He kicked a rock lying in the alley.
In the next instant, a strange sound echoed.
The rock shot through the air like a cannonball, breaking the sound barrier as it flew straight at Haruto.
"Wa–"
Before Shokuhou could even finish the word, Haruto calmly extended his hand and caught the rock as if it were nothing.
The scene fell into silence once again.
Haruto casually tossed the stone aside, then looked at Misaki and continued,
"These kinds of shady, underhanded plans are actually quite common in this city. Misaki, you underwent special development and gained the strongest mental ability, reaching Level 5."
"But there's no record of your development process. Most likely, it was through something equally dark and unspeakable."
"The memory you chose to lose back then... should be related to that darkness."
"So I'm telling you, if you want to recover your memory, you have to be prepared to face it."
After his words, Misaki fell completely silent, her pupils trembling.
As the saying goes: See the whole from a part, or autumn's chill from a single leaf.
Even if she didn't know exactly what had happened to her—
After seeing something so dark, Misaki could imagine it clearly. How desperate must she have been back then, to choose to erase her memory?
Does she... really have the courage to take them back?
Having said his piece, Haruto didn't look at her anymore.
Since they happened to run into each other, he figured he'd give her a warning. If he wanted Misaki to join the Foundation...
Then nurturing her properly was something that needed serious thought.
Especially her mental development.
But that was something she'd need to think about on her own.
Now, Haruto had to deal with the situation at hand.
Accelerator continued staring at him, his arrogance unshaken even after his failed attack.
"I don't know where you came from, but you seem kinda interesting. This great me—"
Before he could finish, Haruto interrupted,
"By the way, what number is this Misaka?"
Railgun was the name of a Level 5 ability.
And the person with that ability was a girl named Mikoto Misaka. The mass-produced versions were simply named Misaka, which made sense.
Accelerator was caught off guard.
He was the Level 5 top-tier Accelerator! When had anyone dared ignore him like this?
"Misaka One reporting. May I ask why you are inquiring about Misaka's number? Misaka asks, puzzled."
The nearby Misaka sister spoke up first.
Upon hearing "Misaka One," Haruto smiled.
Looks like he found her just in time.
"You're really lucky. You won't have to be a D-Class."
Haruto grinned at Accelerator.
Accelerator let out a confused "Huh?"
The next second, he stomped the ground and charged at Haruto.
"Who the hell do you think you are, talking like you run this place?! This great me doesn't need orders from trash like you!"
Accelerator moved fast.
But it wasn't because his body was physically strong. In fact, it was the opposite—Accelerator's body was extremely fragile. The strength he displayed came entirely from his ability.
A power called "Vector Manipulation."
It allowed him to alter the direction of any vector he touched.
For example, kinetic energy was a type of vector. If a bullet flew toward Accelerator, the moment it touched him, he could redirect it elsewhere using his power.
He could even amplify the vector.
Like that rock he kicked earlier.
Meaning—physical attacks were useless on Accelerator, and could even harm the attacker.
Anyone he touched could be struck with terrifying physical or energy force.
As the top Level 5.
Accelerator was essentially invincible—closest to reaching Level 6.
But—
What did any of that have to do with Haruto?
Seeing him charge in, Haruto simply moved to grab him.
And just like that, Accelerator was pinned face-down to the ground—his face kissing the dusty alley floor for the first time in his life.
Accelerator: ????
"What the hell?! What trick did you pull?! There's no way my power failed! Impossible! I'm invincible!"
Haruto felt like mocking him.
You just said invincible, didn't you?
Dude, you're getting ground-pounded into the pavement and still yapping on. You clearly haven't been properly humbled by the world.
"By the way, I've been wondering… are you a guy or a girl?"
Haruto's question left the struggling Accelerator stunned.
In Academy City, there had always been rumors that Accelerator's real name was Suzushina Yuriko.
After all, this guy's gender was completely ambiguous.
From birth, Accelerator had been able to repel all external vectors.
His hair never touched ultraviolet light—hence it stayed white, and his eyes were blood-red.
Those were the most primitive human colors.
On top of that, his frail body and strange voice made his gender hard to determine.
It was only because he referred to himself as "ore-sama" (a pompous masculine way to say "I") that people assumed he was male.
"What do you think you're doing?! Let go of me!"
Feeling a sudden chill, Accelerator dropped the "ore-sama" act and started yelling, almost hysterical.
The scene turned chaotic again.
Misaki stared blankly at Haruto.
This guy just pinned Accelerator, the top Level 5, with one hold?
Wait—what happened to his vector manipulation?
She also remembered that bizarre scene from the hospital before...
So just who was this mysterious boy she'd gotten herself entangled with?
Meanwhile, Haruto was kind of tempted to pull down Accelerator's pants. But considering the public setting—with Megumi and Misaki right there...
He decided to stay civilized.
At that moment, the Misaka sister who'd been standing silently began to sway.
Megumi quickly rushed over to support her.
This Misaka clone was starting to go into shock from blood loss.
But even as she was supported, she spoke,
"Please don't mind me. My existence is very cheap. A unit can be mass-produced for just 180,000 yen. Feel free to discard me," Misaka said calmly.
Upon hearing that, both Kato and Misaki felt a pang in their hearts.
A living, breathing girl—with no fear of death.
Instead, she was comforting them not to care.
Calling herself "cheap."
Just hearing her say that was painful.
"Get her to a hospital, quickly…"
Misaki said urgently.
Megumi looked toward Haruto.
Haruto tossed her a syringe containing Ghoul-3 solution.
Migumi swiftly injected the Misaka sister.
As the solution took effect, her condition visibly improved.
The wounds on her arm and thigh began healing at a pace visible to the naked eye. The pale complexion from blood loss slowly regained color.
Seeing this, Misaki let out a sigh of relief—and was also amazed.
Even Academy City's medical technology couldn't match this kind of recovery.
"Just who are you people? Are you here specifically to save these mass-produ—"
SMACK!
Before he could finish, Haruto gave Accelerator a slap to the back of the head.
"If someone wants to self-deprecate, that's up to them. But if you take it seriously, then that's on you."
Accelerator: ???