"Ehehe, this is so yummy!"
"This price... I'd never be able to afford this normally!"
"Yup, eat up. It's all on me today."
Four girls—Misaka Mikoto, Shirai Kuroko, Uiharu Kazari, and Saten Ruiko—were at a stylish cafe inside 'Academia'. A place where anyone from the outside would feel completely out of place.
The table was filled with all sorts of sweets, a spread so expensive it could make your eyes pop out.
'Academia' is an area run by five elite schools, including Tokiwadai Middle School. While small, it's a city in its own right, like a foreign land on an island.
Normally, only students and faculty from these five schools are allowed inside. It's a place of longing for girls, a dream destination only accessible to the elite.
Everything within the grounds—the high-end sweets, the boutiques—is usually reserved for these students.
However, for one month in August, it's opened to the public. More specifically, public admission tickets are distributed.
The distribution methods vary, from lotteries to connections to resales, but no matter the means, the tickets are incredibly rare.
Using such tickets, Mikoto and Kuroko had invited their two friends.
"Thank you so much today! To be able to enter Academia... I could just die happy!"
"Hey, hey, don't go trying to ascend to heaven just because you're happy."
Saten roused a melting Uiharu, who seemed to be dissolving with the sweet treats.
Misaka smiled at this rare sight—the reverse of their usual dynamic, with Saten cautioning Uiharu.
"Well, I guess I worried you all a lot. This is the least I can do."
"..."
Her three closest friends had all noticed Mikoto's strange behavior in July. Naturally, it was due to the Sisters incident.
Mikoto had consistently said it was "a top-secret job." While Uiharu and Saten had been convinced, it wasn't so easy for her roommate, who lived with her.
"And, has that 'job' been completed?"
"Yeah, well, more or less. It was the toughest mission I've ever had. I might have shown you a side of me you're not used to, Kuroko."
"Not at all! No matter what kind of Onee-sama you are, to Kuroko, you are the absolute best—"
"Ah, yeah, yeah. I get it. Thanks."
She held off her junior, who was trying to leap at her.
The other ladies around them glanced at the four noisy customers, a rare sight in this place, but the girls didn't mind at all.
For Mikoto and Kuroko, their close friends mattered more than the strangers around them.
This was also meant to be an apology for all the worry she had caused.
(Now that I think about it...) Mikoto suddenly mused.
(That thanks to him... was that really enough?)
The "him" was, of course, the boy who stopped the Sisters experiment: Yozuki Sho.
Both of them had been busy, so they hadn't contacted each other since their conversation in the hospital room that day. And as the days passed, her desire to contact him faded.
It wasn't that the debt of gratitude disappeared. It was just that, as a second-year middle schooler with Mikoto's personality, a feeling of embarrassment grew.
If it were a girl, it would be one thing, but he was a boy. What's more, she didn't really know him that well. They had only met a few times. She had thought he was no ordinary person from the first time they met.
(To think he could even beat Accelerator...)
In front of her, a now calm Kuroko was talking with Uiharu.
(And he apparently did a bunch of stuff after fighting Accelerator too? I wonder how deep his roots go?)
Her thoughts had strayed.
(I did give him some cookies as a get-well gift... but it feels like that's not the end of it.)
Of course, Sho wasn't expecting a reward, but she felt that what she gave him wasn't enough.
It was a feeling similar to guilt. An inexplicable, murky feeling that she couldn't shake.
(Helping people and then just disappearing... It's not like he's a children's hero...)
While Mikoto was lost in thought, the conversation continued.
"Speaking of which, Mikoto and Shirai, you're both in your gym clothes, huh?"
"Yes. Tokiwadai is a school that always places high in the Daihasei Festival. Participation is mandatory for first-year students and up. I have a competition coming up after this."
Kuroko said, sounding annoyed.
The Daihasei Festival. In the original story, it's an Academy City-wide sports festival with the stated purpose of "collecting data on large-scale interactions between espers."
On this island, it's a sports festival where armed detectives from various schools compete against each other. While the bloody parts are largely eliminated, it still has a different kind of intensity than a regular school sports day.
The use of abilities is encouraged, so in direct combat events, you can witness an impressive sci-fi battle with paintballs and abilities flying everywhere.
However, for ordinary, non-powered students, the Daihasei Festival is a difficult event.
"Whoa! As expected, Tokiwadai is different!"
"Our school doesn't have anything like that~"
"I'd be in a panic if I had to go. Though I guess you can't really not participate in any events."
"If I had to fight someone from Tokiwadai, I'd probably get blown away like a flower petal!"
Uiharu, with the flowers on her head, said so nonchalantly.
"Don't worry, those match-ups are considered. There won't be any competitions between schools with too large of a level difference."
"But that means you might have to compete against Mikoto-san, right? Someone's gonna die..."
"It's okay, Saten-san. There are various safety features in events where abilities are used directly."
"More than that! My Onee-sama understands how to control her strength perfectly... Onee-sama?"
"Hmm, what? What is it?"
"What's wrong? You're spacing out."
"Hmm... oh... yeah, I wanted to ask you all for some advice."
She said it on a whim.
"There's someone I owe a favor to from a mission the other day, and I wanted to do something to thank them—..."
Mikoto noticed everyone was looking at her with a blank expression.
"That's..." Saten began.
"You don't need to worry about it, do you? The First Article of the Armed Detective Charter is 'Trust your comrades and help your comrades.' Helping or being helped isn't something you need to be concerned with."
"Besides, what kind of 'favor' is it? I don't think there are many people who could put Onee-sama in their debt..."
"Ah, well, that's true... but..."
Mikoto was met with a perfectly reasonable response and couldn't retort. She concluded that it was difficult for them to give proper advice since they didn't know the full story.
Mikoto was about to change the subject, but...
"...I just have to confirm something. Is that person you owe a favor to... a woman?"
Uiharu said casually, with a spoonful of parfait in her mouth.
"Huh?"
"Uiharu? What are you saying?"
"Well, you normally don't think about thanking someone like that. Especially you, Mikoto, who rarely gets into a situation where you owe a favor to anyone."
Uiharu had come to a certain conclusion from Mikoto's unnatural behavior.
"So that means you want to repay a favor that doesn't need to be repaid, right? ...In other words..."
"Ah, well..."
"Mikoto... could it be that you like that person?"
"No! That's totally wrong!"
"Doesn't that make the most sense? It explains everything, I think."
"Yeah, that's it. It's an excuse to give them a gift!"
"Oh, yeah, you're right. You don't have to repay favors among armed detectives! I'd never had a favor to repay, so I didn't get it!"
Mikoto tried to interrupt loudly, but the two girls, just entering puberty, had found the ultimate gossip—a close friend's love life—and couldn't be stopped.
And there was one more girl on the verge of going berserk.
"O-o-on-one-onee...!! Onee-sama and a m-m-man...!"
"Kuroko! Are you okay? You're shaking so much!"
In the end, this commotion continued until it was time for Mikoto to go to her competition.
The scene changes to the hospital where Sho is always hospitalized. Even when the island is bustling, the hospital isn't as quiet as usual.
With so many people around, there are more emergency patients, especially those suffering from heatstroke due to the strong sun.
For that reason, the ambulance traffic is heavy, which excites a little girl. She's Mikoto, but smaller, somewhere between a kindergartener and an elementary schooler.
Her antenna hair bounces up and down with every jump.
"You're full of energy, aren't you?"
The boy lying on the bed turned his back on the gleeful little girl with a look of annoyance.
He was a slender person whose white hair blended in with the bandages on his head. It was Accelerator.
He had been shot in the head about two weeks ago and was in the ICU, but he had regained consciousness five days ago and had been confined to his bed ever since.
"Besides, why are you here? You should be at that guy's house."
"Mmm, he seems busy. And there are a lot of people around him. You, on the other hand, are just lying in bed all day and look lonely!"
"Don't call me a slacker. I'm a patient here... And don't call me lonely."
The little girl, Last Order, who had completely recovered, bounced happily, coming closer.
"Ahahaha!"
Last Order laughed and ran to the window again.
"Well. I was wondering what would happen, but you two seem to be getting along surprisingly well, huh?"
"What makes you say that?"
The frog-faced doctor who entered the room kept his hands in his lab coat pockets and maintained his usual nonchalant expression.
"But are you sure you want to turn down his offer? If you asked him now, I'm sure you'd get better right away."
"...Don't bring that up again."
A black choker was attached to Accelerator's neck. It wasn't just an accessory; it was a device to receive a certain signal. An electrode extended from it to his head.
This was a device to receive the Misaka Network.
Accelerator's brain had been damaged by the bullet. The damage was so severe that it affected the parts of his brain essential for his ability, making even normal life difficult.
To compensate for that, he was borrowing the power of the remaining 10,000 Misaka Network clones.
Without it, Accelerator couldn't even use his ability, let alone speak properly or walk on two feet.
As for his ability, the battery consumption was so high that he could only use it for 15 minutes.
It was the complete opposite of before—the Sisters now held the power of life and death over him. The strongest power now came with a time limit and would become unusable if the signal was blocked.
"I don't think that's something you need to be stubborn about."
"Shut up. It's the only way I can think of."
"An act of atonement, a repentance, is that it?"
The frog-faced doctor asked without changing his tone.
Even with the scientific capabilities of this island, the brain damage couldn't be completely healed. Even with a healing ability, no one could perfectly heal a delicate brain, especially that of the strongest Level 5.
However, there was one exception, a person who could perfectly heal, or rather, rewind him to his original state.
"Tokisaki Kurumi. Her ability was off the charts. It's not healing; it's rewinding time. That would certainly be able to return you to your perfect state."
"...I refused. Enough already."
Sho had already brought Kurumi to meet Accelerator.
Sho had thought that Kurumi's ability, the 'Fourth Bullet: Dalet,' which rewinds the time of an object, could heal Accelerator.
Since Kurumi herself used this ability for her own healing, she was able to heal Accelerator's injury.
Unlike Mikoto, Kurumi had no particular feelings about Accelerator and readily agreed to Sho's request.
And so, the two of them came to the hospital two days ago.
Despite having tried to kill each other just over ten days prior, Sho visited as if he were a friend, and Accelerator twitched his eye as he greeted him.
If esper powers could be felt by others like magic, a request for a dispatch from the Bureau of Administration would have been made.
That's how intense the exchange between Sho and Accelerator was. If Last Order hadn't been there, the atmosphere was such that they could have easily come to blows.
It was in this situation that the explanation was given.
After hearing the circumstances, Accelerator refused the treatment himself.
Of course, he didn't refuse out of pure emotion, that he simply disliked the idea of accepting Sho's offer. No, it wasn't just that, but his emotions were certainly a major factor.
"Well, that's a shame."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Accelerator frowned at the abrupt comment.
"August. It's a festival for the whole island, but you have to rest in bed. Isn't that a shame?"
"Do you think I'd be in a crowd and having a good time? Every year around this time, I stay in my room and sleep with the sound fully reflected."
"You never know. Maybe next year you'll be holding hands with Last Order and playing around together?"
"No way..."
The frog-faced doctor spoke over Accelerator as he tried to deny it.
"You never know. After all, a month ago, you never would have dreamed of the situation you're in now, would you?"
"..."
"Well, then. I seem to have been called. See you later."
With that, the frog-faced doctor left the room.
Accelerator couldn't retort.
--------------------------------------------
🚀 Want Early Access (80+Chapters ahead ) & Bonus Content?
"Loving this story so far? You can read ALL chapters RIGHT NOW by joining my P4tr3on!
✨ Unlock instant access to the full completed novel
✨ No waiting for daily updates
✨ Support your favorite degenerate author (that's me!)
Only $5.99 for the full experience!
🔗 Check my profile for the Link!!