Work Text:
Title: A Certain Family's Christmas Story
Category: Anime/Manga » Toaru Majutsu no Index/とある魔術の禁書目録
Author: HyperKey
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T
Genre: Family/Friendship
Published: 12-01-14, Updated: 12-25-14
Chapters: 25, Words: 38,020
Chapter 1: December 1
Hello Peeps! This is my first time confidently writing about this fandom, and I start it with a set of one shots. (I must be crazy..) This is supposed to work like an Advent calendar. One story a day. I know the look you're giving me right now. Don't worry, I did it before with another fandom.
I am not into the fandom for too long, so I don't know as much as other people might. (Most of my knowledge comes from the wiki) If there is anything wrong with how I portray events, I apologize for that in advance. Also; I love to make up things. I will try to make these one shots happy and light hearted, but past experiences showed me that it's hard for me to pull off happy stories. Don't judge too hard!
Also, since To Aru Majutsu no index is taking place mainly in Japan, I will try to make it seem more authentic by actually going into weaboo territory and adding the honorifics to names, etc. I usually hate doing this, however this time it's a story that really takes place in Japan, so it should be alright.
One more thing: English is not my native language, please look over my terrible grammar and the constant typos :3 (I'm trying my best.)
I love reviews and would like to hear what you liked about the story and what you think I could improve!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own To Aru Majutsu No Index or Any of the characters. I just borrowed them and played around with them.
Something about the warm and comfy feeling surrounding him felt off by a lot. He had been sleeping on the couch again, exhausted from the walk to the grocery store and back to the apartment and had hoped to be left alone at least for a few hours. When faint wind brushed over his head he woke up. Someone had bothered to put a blanket over him, the TV had been turned off and loud, trampling footsteps could be heard as a high pitched and awfully annoying voice echoed in his hears.
"It's snowing! Misaka exclaims as Misaka rushes up to the window to take a look!"
He sighed deeply and opened his eyes. There was no way he would be getting any more sleep now so he sat up and shoved the blanket away. It was a light shade of rose and had simplistic bunny shapes printed all over it. This was obviously Last Order's blanket. A look around told him that he was currently alone with the girl. Yomikawa usually sat at the dining table and read a book or had paperwork to go through when she was there.
"What are you getting excited about, It's just snow." He growled into the direction of the brown haired girl as he turned and looked over the backrest.
The girl instantly turned towards him and pursed her lips while she crossed her arms. "Misaka has never seen snow before! Misaka explains as Misaka tries to hide the truth that she has seen more snow than she could comprehend."
He clicked his tongue and turned back towards the coffee table. "It's just frozen water. Besides, you've seen so much of it already, why aren't you bored of it yet?" He muttered as he tried hard to make it sound as boring as possible.
"Misaka wants to go out and take a better look, Misaka says as Misaka completely ignores you."
He lifted an eyebrow at that and turned to look outside the window again. "It's melting right away."
"Misaka wants to go out anyway! Misaka complains as Misaka tries to sound angry." To emphasize her words she stomped a foot on the ground.
Her pink slippers somehow didn't fit with the rest of her outfit that consisted of gray sweatpants and an oversized white pullover. Her hair was parted into two mismatched ponytails and decorated by colorful hairclips.
"What's with that outfit, shitty brat?" he spat and completely ignored her protest.
The girl seemed insecure for a moment but quickly reverted back to her cheerful self and pouted even more. "Yomikawa-san bought hairclips for Misaka, but Misaka didn't want the other hairclips to feel lonely so she put in all of them, Misaka tries to explain as Misaka feels sorry for the left behind hairclips."
He stared blankly at her for a second, then he shook his head and rubbed his temples.
"Does your head hurt? Misaka asks as Misaka rushes over to you." The girl quickly appeared by his side and looked awfully worried.
"Yeah, you're making it hurt with your shitty logic." He growled at her and finally stood after he had located his crutch on the floor.
They had spent so much time together now, yet he still couldn't understand her at times. The things they had said to each other, the stuff he did, it seemed meaningless now. Words uttered in desperation while both of them were at their limits.
"Nee, can we go out and watch the snow? Misaka asks as Misaka clings to your arm."
As said, the girl clutched the sleeve of his free arm and used all of her weight to keep him from going any further. That resulted in him losing balance and he crashed into the floor, barely able to evade the girl. He cursed under his breath as he sat up again.
"How many times have I told you to stop that, Shitty brat?!" He yelled at her, his face full of anger that would make anyone back away in fear. Anyone but this girl, who didn't seem to be bothered by it in the slightest.
Last Order simply walked past him and threw a jacket onto him. "Get dressed, we're going out. Says Misaka as Misaka tries to impersonate Yomikawa-san."
That kind of behavior didn't help his mood at all. "Like hell." He hissed and got back to his feet, ignored the white jacket and headed to his room.
Sitting on his bed he ran a hand through his hair and got his hand stuck on something. Frowning he tried to get it out, glaring at the oversized flower hairclip that had somehow found its way into his hair. Last Order probably had a lot of fun sneaking up to his sleeping form and putting the clip into his hair without him noticing. He shook his head as he put it on the nightstand and threw himself into the pillows.
He was dozing off again when he suddenly heard music. It was the terribly cheesy music that Last Order had found a liking to. At least it weren't Christmas songs- He cursed when the music stopped and started again with a loud blaring Christmas hit that he had heard so often that he could sing along if he wanted. He couldn't understand what the girl found so interesting about that holiday. He couldn't even remember if he had ever celebrated it. Who was there to celebrate it with anyway?
He flinched when the door to his room suddenly flew open. "Accelerator!" Last Order yelled at him, her face angry. She had a book in her hand, upon closer look it appeared to be one about complex mathematics. "Misaka does not understand this book at all! Misaka complains as Misaka tries to hide her anger!"
The Christmas song was still blaring, the girl was still wearing this terrible hairstyle and she waved the book around impatiently.
"So what?" he growled back at her. "Go back to whatever you have been doing and leave me alone."
She crossed her arms. "Misaka will not leave until you explain this book, Misaka says as Misaka tries to bargain."
He sat up. "Why do you want to read that book anyway?"
Her cheeks turned red in embarrassment. "Yoshikawa-san said it's too difficult, So Misaka wants to read it and show her that she has been wrong! Misaka says as she tried to laugh evilly." The girl pretended to laugh in a manic matter and made the level 5 in front of her shake his head. Slowly he got up again and took the book out of her hands when he passed her.
He truly had considered to explain the book to her, until he saw the mess the living room had become. Paper was sprawled over the floor, a cup with cocoa was lying on the coffee table, the brown liquid spreading over it. Cookies were lying on the floor and colored pencils could be found everywhere in the room.
"Yomikawa is going to kill you." Accelerator hissed when he eyed the mess.
"Nope. Misaka says as Misaka grins. She will kill you for not looking after me."
He lightly hit her head with the side of his hand. "Clean that up!" he ordered.
After the girl had finally removed the mess while pretending to cry, she sat down next to him on the couch and shoved the book over to him.
"How come you don't understand this shit anyway?" he asked her after a while of uselessly trying to explain something that seemed incredibly easy to him.
She glared at him but stayed quiet, until he made the next remark. "Even a brainless idiot could do that." He sighed deeply.
"Oh yeah?! Misaka yells as Misaka has an evil plan entering forming in her mind" Her glare got more intense when she suddenly jumped on the couch and disconnected him from the MISAKA network. The book dropped out of his hands and he glared back at her.
'Asshole, brat!'
He could only continue to glare while Last Order smiled cheerfully and leaned against him.
WORST seemed to have more of an impact than he would have dared to believe.
Chapter 2: December 2
Getting groceries had become some sort of routine for him by now. Almost every day Yomikawa asked him to go out and buy something or other. By now he had gotten used to it more or less, there was no way around it and he didn't hate the occasional company by a certain little girl as much as he tried to make it seem. Today he was alone though, the girl too busy to play video games with her Sister to even note that he asked if she wanted to tag along. Even Yomikawa had been surprised by the lack of reaction.
So here he was on the way home from the grocery store, alone, freezing. It had gotten awfully cold in a matter of days and even though he thought he would get used to it sooner or later it just seemed to get worse. Even the warm jacket wasn't helping that much. The plastic bag was awfully heavy too and the ground frozen and slippery. Once he reached the elevator he was almost glad that he didn't slip, but when he heard familiar voices raging behind the apartment door, he thought about turning around and going back. When he decided the it was too cold to go back out he wanted to open the door.
The moment he reached for it, it flew open and he barely managed to drop the bag and catch the door before it hit his face. His annoyed glare didn't seem to bother the sinister looking teenager in front of him at all. She seemed angry herself.
"Get out of the way or Misaka kills you!" she yelled at him.
He was too annoyed to put up with her and snapped. "You have no chance against me!"
"You can't kill a Misaka." She growled at him with a twisted smile.
"That doesn't mean i can't hurt them." He growled back, but both of them knew that his words were empty.
"Shall Misaka make you hurt them?" She snickered.
He stared at her with a blank face, hiding the sting her words had caused. He couldn't tell if she was joking or not, and for a moment he was afraid that certain events would repeat.
"But Misaka has to leave now."
Worst shoved past him and rushed out of the apartment complex sooner than Accelerator even understood why she was so eager to leave. She continues to cackle as she headed downstairs and he only released the breath he had been holding, when he couldn't hear her anymore. What had that been about? Why was she rubbing salt into that wound?
Slowly he picked the bag up, noticed that an egg had shattered, but he didn't feel anything about it. He felt cold inside, almost as if someone had taken all his emotions from him and locked them away. He couldn't even laugh about it anymore. With a deep sigh he took off his shoes and the jacket.
"You're back! Yells Misaka as Misaka runs over to greet you!" Last Order dashed through the corridor and stopped abruptly when she saw his face that was still devoid of any emotion. Her socks however didn't like the sudden stop and caused her to slide over the wooden floor.
It took less than a second for the level 5 to jump at her and catch her before she fell. That in turn caused him to fall and crash head first into the wall. He clicked his tongue in annoyance at the pain and rubbed his head.
"Get off..." he muttered weakly at the girl who was clinging to him with a worried face. "Don't run around here."
"Did you get hurt? Misaka asks as Misaka feels sorry for disregarding the rules again."
"I'm fine." He muttered towards her and got back to his feet.
Last Order frowned and nodded silently while she grabbed the bag with the groceries. "There was a big fat spider in the bathroom today!" She suddenly exclaimed when she entered the kitchen together with the white haired teen in an attempt to cheer him up.
"So what?" he asked while he filled the fridge with the things he had just bought and threw the broken egg away.
"Misaka tried to be friendly with it, but got scared. Misaka sigh as Misaka regrets that she failed to make a friend."
A deep sigh of the taller male followed. He chose not to answer and headed over to the couch where he spotted a mess of green fabric and filled with white stuffing all over the living room. Upon closer inspection he realized that it was one of the plush animals Last Order loved. Used to be one of them.
"Hey, Last Order. What's up with the mess here?" He asked as he slumped on the couch that had the least bit of stuffing on it.
"Misaka tried to steal it! Misaka didn't want to give it to her and then she shredded it! Misaka exclaims as Misaka gets sad again."
Accelerator closed his eyes and tried to forget the words the other teen had said to him. "Worst did that?"
Last order nodded and sniffed away some tears when she slowly picked up what appeared to be the head of the oversized frog plush toy. Accelerator opened his eyes again and watched her for a while, then sighed once more.
"There's no way to fix this thing. Throw it away."
The girl pouted and shook her head. "Misaka has hoped that you would fix it for her..."
"Ha?!" He exclaimed in annoyance and surprise. "What makes you think that I would do that?"
"Misaka says lovers do everything for each other, Says Misaka-"
He froze for a second before he was able to reply. "Stop believing everything she says! She's Evil!" he yelled back at her. He regretted the words the moment he had said them. It wasn't her fault that she was like that.
Last Order stared at him for a long time before she wordlessly left the room with the ripped off head of the toy and shut the door of her room rather loudly. The level 5 shook his head and rubbed his temples when he got the urge to punch something. Anything would do.
"What's going on here, jan?" Yomikawa's voice pierced through the silence like a gentle touch after being covered in needles.
The white haired esper on the couch didn't look up or move. He just stared at the floor and regretted every word he had said in the past ten minutes.
"Accelerator?" She asked when she slowly entered the living room while drying her long hair with a towel.
He merely shook his head and grabbed the crutch. Only then he realized that his hands and legs were trembling and put the crutch back on the floor as he lied down and turned towards the backrest.
"My, look at this mess. The girls were rather loud, but who would have thought that they would turn the living room into a battlefield..."
The footsteps came closer and a second later Accelerator felt the couch move. He turned his head to see what was going on and slumped back against the pillow when he saw Yomikawa sitting next to him.
"Did something happen?"
"None of your business." He growled back at her.
"You're sulking on my couch, of course it's my business." She smiled and unfolded a blanket. "If you're going to sleep here at least make sure you're not freezing."
He wanted to snap something back at her, but when she moved the blanket over him it only made him feel even more guilty. He hadn't deserved this kindness, especially not after what he had said. Last Order would likely calm down in a few hours, but he wasn't too sure if he would remain calm when Worst came back.
He heard Yomikawa roaming around the room, probably cleaning up the mess the girls had made and drifted into sleep.
He woke when a shadow fell on his face. Two girls were staring down at him, the smaller one had a wide smile in her face, the other too, but it looked somehow wicked and twisted.
"Ha! He woke up! Misaka exclaims in excitement as Misaka hops around."
"Girls, stop staring at him." Came Yomikawa's voice. "You promised you'd help me with this."
Both girls scattered away and when they were out of sight, Accelerator sat up to look at what the girls were doing. They were sitting at the dining table with Yomikawa and eagerly watched as the tall woman showed them how to sew the broken plush toy back together.
"You wanna help too?" She smiled towards him, but he just fell back onto the couch and yawned loudly.
The girls were good again, so there was no reason to apologize now, was there? The timing would have been really bad too.
Maybe later.
Chapter 3: December 3
Snow. Snow everywhere, covering the streets, cars, benches, stairs, pavement. It was everywhere. And it continued to snow. It had started to snow at some point last night and this time it stayed on the ground, covering everything that wasn't protected from it in some way or other.
Last Order was squealing and jumping around in the cold mess, left her tracks everywhere and made snow angels. The teen that was with her just sat on a bench with a can of coffee in his hand. He briefly considered to just activate the electrode so he could block the cold, but quickly dismissed that idea. In this city no one ever knew when someone decided that they wanted to attack. And be it stupid kids that thought they could rob a disabled person. He scoffed. Disabled. How he hated that word.
"Accelerator! Misaka yells as Misaka waves her arms to get her attention!" Last Order's voice echoed over the area in front of the apartment complex where quite a bit of snow had gathered.
He looked up, lifted an eyebrow and quickly moved to the side when he noticed the snowball that was obviously aimed for his face. It shattered at a lamppost behind him.
"You missed." He dryly stated and sipped his coffee.
"Misaka will not miss the second time! Misaka declares as Misaka expects you to prepare for war!" The girl giggled and quickly started to make more snowballs, while the white haired teen just sighed.
"Aren't you sick of snow yet?"
His question remained unanswered as snowballs kept flying at him. It was easy for him to dodge them without moving much, yet he quickly got fed up at the stupid game and set his can of coffee next to the bench into the snow and grabbed a bit of snow. He shivered when the cold stung in his hands and regretted not taking gloves.
"Why can't Worst play with you, by the way?" he casually asked while he continued to add snow to the small snowball.
"Misaka said that she hates snow after 'that incidence', Misaka answers the question truthfully as Misaka continues to throw snowballs at you."
"Incidence? You mean-" That snowball hit his head.
He glared at the girl and fired the snowball he had been making, effectively hitting the girls warm jacket.
Last Order almost fell over with laughter. "Your hair got wet! Says Misaka as Misaka admired the sight."
"The hell?" He fired a second snowball at her, this time he missed. Much to the girls amusement.
"You missed! Misaka teases as Misaka jumps around."
The girl was hopping around in the snow like a squirrel, squealing and giggling. The last time they had seen snow it hadn't been fun at all. The girl didn't seem to care much, probably because she didn't remember much of it. However, he remembered clearly.
A second snowball hit his head and snapped him out of his thoughts. "Let's build a snowman! Misaka exclaims as Misaka tries to sound confident even though she has no idea how to build a snowman!"
Accelerator smirked. "Then you can't build a snowman."
She rushed over to him and grabbed his arm. "Misaka knows that you know how to build one!"
"What makes you so sure?"
"You smirked. Misaka concludes as Misaka recalls that you do that all the time when you try to tell Misaka to stop something."
He sighed and crouched down on the ground to pick up some more snow. His fingers were numb already so he didn't care much when he formed a snowball at the size of someone's head. He showed her how to roll it around so it would get bigger and sat back on the bench when she understood it.
"That is a smart technique Misaka praises as Misaka wonders how many snowmen she can make with all this snow..."
He watched her for a while, trying to remember if he had ever done this before. He must have, why would he know how to build a snowman if he didn't?
The girl rushed back to him after a while, tugging his sleeve. "Misaka doesn't know what to do now. Misaka says as Misaka is sad about her lack of knowledge."
The white haired teen looked past her and saw two quite huge snowballs, one slightly bigger than the other.
"You put the smaller one on top of the other." He sighed.
"Misaka can't do that. They're too heavy. Misaka says as Misaka hopes that you would do it for her."
"You made them too big."
"You can do it! Misaka encourages you as Misaka runs back to the half finished snowman."
There was no getting around. Annoyed he grabbed the cane and walked over to the girl, shaking his head. He would lose balance if he tried to lift the giant snowball and the Girl wouldn't let him hear the end of it if he didn't even try. Using his ability simply for being able to stand without the cane was a waste too.
Last Order was jumping up and down, obviously excited. This couldn't be that hard, right?
"You think I'd do all of this alone, lazy brat?" he hissed at her.
Without a word she rushed over to the snowball he was standing at and tried to lift it. "Misaka can't help, it's too heavy. Says Misaka as Misaka demonstrates her lack of strength."
He sighed once more and flicked the switch of the electrode and picked up the snowball. Once it was in place on top of the other ball, he flicked the switch again and headed back to the bench.
"You cheated! Misaka complains as Misaka yells at you."
"You never mentioned any rules." He smirked back at her. Despite the shivering cold he somehow felt satisfied.
"Now that the snowman is finished Misaka got bored, says Misaka as Misaka thinks of something else she could do."
Accelerator hoped that she wouldn't suggest making more snowmen, when a familiar person suddenly walked over the snow covered place.
"Aren't you two cold?" The tall woman asked with a smile.
"Not at all! Says Misaka as Misaka takes off her gloves and holds out her hands for you to feel that her hands are really warm."
Yomikawa smiled warmly at her and turned her attention towards the teen on the bench. "What about you?"
"I'm freezing." he complained.
"You could use your power to reflect the cold! Misaka suggests as Misaka tries to figure out why you didn't."
He stared at her as if he didn't believe her words. "Why should I waste the time, when I could just go back inside?"
"Let's all go back inside." Yomikawa suggested. "I have hot chocolate waiting for you."
At that Last Order already ran over to the entrance of the apartment building and impatiently hopped on the same spot. As soon as Accelerator and Yomikawa came in sight she opened the door, barely got a glance of the teen slipping on the icy ground.
Yomikawa reached out and grabbed the teen's jacket before he could hit the floor, then helped him back to his feet, despite his complaints and cursing. None of that was directed at her after all.
"You really need to be more careful. Misaka says as Misaka tries to hide her worry about your condition."
"I'm fine, stupid brat!" he hissed at her. "My legs got numb because you made me sit around in the cold for so long!"
At that the girl got silent and rushed upstairs while the teen headed for the elevator.
"You could have went back inside." Yomikawa told him when she joined him in the metal box.
"And then she gets kidnapped again because i took my eyes off her for a second." He growled back and leaned against the wall as the elevator started to move.
"You're going to take a bath." The woman stated while she looked at him.
"Huh?!"
She smiled, but he knew that look on her face. She wouldn't allow any back talk. "You'll get a cold if you keep freezing like that."
He sighed deeply and exited the Elevator after it had stopped at the correct floor, surprised that Last Order was already waiting for them.
"You're slow! Misaka says as Misaka points at the elevator accusingly."
"And you're noisy." Accelerator muttered as he walked past her with a smirk.
Last Order was impatiently heading into the apartment after she took her shoes and jacket off and stuffed the gloves, the hat and the scarf into a sleeve of it. As said, on the dining table where four steaming cups filled with hot chocolate, Misaka Worst was sitting in front of one of them and stared into it was if it was something incredibly interesting.
"We're back! Misaka exclaims as Misaka rushes up to the hot chocolate!" As said, the girl quickly seated herself next to the other girl and squealed in joy.
Yomikawa and Accelerator soon joined them, the white haired teen didn't seem happy at all. Once he sat down he moved his hands around the steaming cup and closed his eyes.
"Wuah! Look at that! You're hands are really red!" Worst exclaimed and almost doubled over with laughter.
The older teen removed one hand from the cup and leaned over to the other, he quickly slid his hand into her shirt and touched her back.
The girl screamed and batted his hand away. "Are you trying to sexually harass Misaka?!"
"What?!" the white haired teen was surprised and slightly shocked. He didn't have any intention like that.
"Tone it down." Yomikawa said when she sat down as well.
Her eyes kept wandering to the white haired teen as if she was worried, it annoyed him to no end, so he stood and went to take a bath.
The other three remained seated, one of them still glaring at the now abandoned cup.
"You brought this upon yourself." Yomikawa told her with a smile.
Chapter 4: December 4
This is a little OOC but... I wanted to write weird fluff. Haha. Forgive me.
It was cold. So cold that the small girl was reminded of a rather unpleasant experience not too long ago. However, this was neither a train nor a snow covered landscape but the apartment of the tall woman who had taken her in. No one seemed to be awake yet, but it was simply too cold for the small girl to continue sleeping in her own room. The whole apartment was icy.
She silently turned on the lights in the corridor and rushed into the room at the far end. The door was slightly ajar, as always. Accelerator never explained to anyone why he always left the door open when he went to sleep and he would never answer any questions regarding that. On tiptoes the girl slipped in and quickly made her way towards the bed. The lamp in the nightstand was on, likely because the owner of the room had forgotten to turn it off before falling asleep. It helped the girl to navigate through the mess of clothing that had been carelessly thrown to the ground.
She knew the teen would get angry at her if she woke him so she tried to be as careful as possible when she crawled into the bed. The teen usually slept like a rock anyone, but the girl didn't want to take any risks so she carefully crawled under his blanket and inched as close as possible to the warm body without waking him.
He made a displeased sound and watched her with his red eyes but didn't move otherwise. The girl was surprised at the lack of reaction, but quickly understood why when she saw the choker around his neck. The battery was charging, that was why he had left the lights on. It was to help him find it the next morning.
"Misaka was hoping you could warm her, Misaka whispers as Misaka is sorry for waking you." She told him with a smile. She knew he wouldn't understand her, but the girl wasn't bothered by it in the slightest when she lied down next to him and moved her small arms around him.
A few seconds later he moved his arm around her and slowly pulled her closer. Last Order smiled and sighed comfortably as she was finally starting to warm up a little. While she wondered why the apartment had gotten so cold she drifted back into sleep.
"Hey, get up stupid brat."
A voice startled her in her peaceful dreams and she slowly opened her eyes with a yawn. "Huh?" The darkness of the night was just starting to fade away and Last Order found that it was a tiny bit too early to get up.
"Get dressed." She could see the white haired esper sitting on the bed as he put on his shirt. "The heater broke." He stated dryly. His hair was messy and it seemed that he also had just woken up a few minutes ago.
"What?! Misaka exclaims as Misaka jumps up." She did as said, jumping on the bed. It almost made the teen fall off the bed.
"Stop that!" he yelled.
"Why would the heater break at a time like this? It's so cold outside, do we all have to freeze to death now?!"
The teen couldn't tell if she was getting hysterical or just played around. Either way, it bugged him. "Shut up! You're noisy!"
"But it's cold! Misaka complains as Misaka jumps off the bed." She landed in front of him and leaned in, demanding an answer.
"We didn't freeze to death back there, we'll be fine."
"But that was only because you were looking after Misaka! Misaka nods as Misaka is grateful for your concern and wishes you would show a little more of it again now that we're back home."
He glared at her. Last Order raised her little hands in defense. "Misaka didn't mean to say that. Misaka apologizes as Misaka is sorry for her mistake."
After the girl had dressed, Yomikawa was already waiting for them in the hallway. "Good morning you two." She greeted them. "The heater will be fixed in the evening so i decided to take you out."
Instantly Accelerator wanted to return to his room. He didn't like the idea of having to walk around in the cold for no reason. Last Order thought otherwise and grabbed his sleeve. "That sounds fun! Misaka exclaims as Misaka was already getting bored."
Yomikawa only laughed and put on her jacket when Misaka Worst appeared in the hallway as well. Apparently it was cold enough that she ditched the clothing she was usually wearing and had changed into a thick sweater and some jeans.
"Where are we going? Misaka doesn't want to head to any cold places."
Yomikawa only continued to smile. "I am sure you will love it."
Ten minutes later they were sitting in Yomikawa's car while the tall woman navigated through the streets, knowing exactly where she wanted to go. Accelerator fell back asleep with his head leaned against the window while Last Order tried to poke him awake again.
"He's sleeping like a rock. Misaka complains as her attempts on waking him have failed."
"Try to grope him a little, that might wake him up." Worst snickered.
Last Order frowned at the strange reply and flinched when Yomikawa loudly cleared her throat. "I thought we agreed on leaving that kind of behavior at home, Misaka."
"Fine, Fine. Whatever." The brown haired teen didn't seem interested in the scolding.
After a few more minutes a giant hall came in sight. The girls instantly noticed it, but couldn't quite decide on what it would be. It looked fairly new and crowded.
"Where are we? Misaka wants to know as Misaka feels suspicious about the huge building."
"It's a surprise." Yomikawa smiled when she flicked Accelerators forehead to wake him up.
The red eyes instantly shot open as he backed away and hit his head at the window. "What the fuck, woman?!"
"We're there." Yomikawa told him and exited the car, followed by the two girls and a very annoyed level 5 who really wanted to return home no matter how cold it was there. He had no choice but to follow them though, unless he wanted to walk home.
"Ice-skating?" Accelerator asked in disbelief when he finally saw a sign where information of the building had been displayed. By then it was too late to turn away as Yomikawa had already paid and shoved the girls and him into the building.
"It'll be fun." The woman reassured.
"You're forgetting a small detail." The white haired teen hissed but was ignored when Last Order began to squeal.
"Misaka always wanted to try this!" She jumped up and down and kept squealing. Worst didn't look too unimpressed either.
"Looks like you'll freeze on a bench." The taller teen smirked into Accelerators direction.
He glared back at her, unable to reply when Yomikawa game back with four pairs of ice skates. The girls instantly darted for a bench and put on the shoes, while the white haired teen stood there, dumbfounded that Yomikawa even got the ridiculous idea of giving him ice-skates.
"Why aren't you changing?" she asked him with a smile. She was already sitting on a bench next to him and changed into the ice skates.
"Are you stupid?"
"How so?"
"Do you honestly think that I could-"
She interrupted before he finished. "You won't know until you tried."
"I don't need to try to know that it won't work!" he snapped.
Yomikawa put on the face that allowed to back talk and stared at him until he sat down. "You're just afraid of falling."
"I'm not!"
"Then why are you hesitating?"
He took a deep breath in order to calm himself before he destroyed anything and reluctantly put on the ice skates. Yomikawa took the cane and his shoes away and put them in a locker along with the shoes of the girls. Then she came back to him who was still sitting on the bench, feeling utterly useless.
"Not getting up?"
His glared got more intense. "You really don't get it, do you?"
She smiled and nodded over to the girls who were already on the ice and seemed to enjoy themselves. Last Order was struggling to stand on the ice-skates and Worst was sitting on the ground, but both looked like they had a lot of fun.
Yomikawa then reached a hand out to him. "It won't hurt to try and have some fun."
"This isn't even about fun!" He hissed back at her. "I can't hold my fucking balance!" his voice echoed over the place but no one seemed to be interested.
Last Order seemed to have figured out how to use ice skates by then and headed over to them. It was a huge hall, the skate ring surrounded by a fence made of shatterproof glass and colorful lights illuminating the ice surface.
"Why are you taking so long? Misaka asks as Misaka wonders why anyone can stand staring at the ice for so long and not wants to try to walk on it."
"See? She wants you there too."
"You don't fucking get it. Alright, I'll show you." Growling he too Yomikawa's hand and used it to pull himself to his feet. As expected he almost fell over due to the missing cane and the terribly unforgiving shoes he was wearing but Yomikawa moved her hand under his arms and held him up.
"See?" she laughed.
"This is ridiculous!" he spat back at her, but she was unimpressed.
Worst then joined them as well and snickered loudly at the sight. She shut up quickly when Yomikawa shot her a glare and helped the white haired esper over to the skate ring.
"If you let go of me I kill you." He hissed at the tall woman who was still holding him, now with one arm around his waist and the other under his arm.
"You could activate the esper mode, Misaka suggest as Misaka feels bad to see you in that state."
"I didn't even agree on this, why the fuck should I waste the battery here?!"
"A few minutes won't hurt, hm?" Yomikawa tried to encourage him.
"And what if we get attacked?! What if i have to protect you?!"
"Relax. It was just a suggestion."
When a stupid first grader decided to make fun of him he had enough and flicked the switch of his electrode. When Yomikawa let go of him he still slipped and landed on his butt. It took a lot of his willpower to not destroy anything.
"You never did this before eh?" she smiled and helped him back to his feet.
He had calmed down already when he saw Last Order gliding over the ice as if she was flying. She always seemed to have fun, but it was rare to see her as happy as in that moment. It stopped his rage in an instant.
He still was annoyed at having to use his esper mode to do something as stupid as this but maybe it wasn't that bad.
The brown haired girl had finished a full round and stopped next to him. She took his hand without asking and pulled him along. "It's not as hard as it looks, Misaka tries to explain as Misaka shows you how to do it."
He forgot that there were other people, didn't care about the laughter and the stupid accusations. The girl was what mattered. She was important, and making her happy was all he could do for her.
He cursed the time limit for more than one reason, wished he could have that moment for longer than just thirty minutes.
Chapter 5: December 5
The next Morning was spent in absolute silence. The children had been so exhausted after the short trip that all three of them had went to bed after eating dinner and none of them had appeared yet, despite it being almost noon. Yomikawa was smiling to herself when she realized that and silently went to each room to see if they were alright. Last Order and Accelerator were sleeping peacefully in their own beds although both of them looked as if they hadn't slept in weeks. Misaka Worst however was not in her room and even after looking in the bathroom and everywhere else, Yomikawa couldn't find the teen.
For a moment she was confused and wondered if the girl had left the apartment, but her shoes where there and her jacket too. She had to be somewhere. After a few more minutes of searching there was only one room she hadn't looked in. Her own bedroom. She shared it with Yoshikawa when the former researcher decided to stay for the night, but currently it was empty. Shrugging the tall woman headed to the closet and opened it to get a new set of clothing, when two big brown eyes stared at her from the ground of the closet.
"What are you doing in my closet?" Yomikawa asked with a calm voice while she took a step backwards to let the girl out.
Misaka Worst only slowly exited the closet and stood with an expression Yomikawa couldn't quite place.
The teen was stating there with a piece of clothing that could have been a short nightgown if it hadn't been see-through and made of lace. It clearly wasn't a piece of clothing that should have been worn to bed, especially not by a teen who shouldn't have dressed in it in the first place.
"Misaka wanted to dress like a real woman." The teen apologized but her sinister smile didn't make it sound honest.
"And that's why you dress in lingerie that doesn't belong to you?"
"It's too big anyway." The teen retorted and tried to get out of the piece of clothing. It got caught in her hair and she struggled to get it off, when Yomikawa firmly grabbed her arms to stop her from moving.
"You will break it if you do it like this." She explained calmly. "Let me help you out of it."
While the tall woman carefully removed the strands of hair from the delicate piece of clothing, two other people had awoken.
Accelerator threw a pillow at Last Order who was standing at the door and yelled at him to get up. The girl was worse than any alarm clock and he wished she would just let him sleep. After the previous days his whole body was hurting from the unusual movements and the many times he had fallen onto the ice.
"Get out, stupid brat." He growled.
"But Misaka can't find Misaka! Misaka complains as Misaka reports that she has looked through the whole apartment already."
"Go look under a rock." The teen spat back and turned around. He didn't even bother to open his eyes.
"Misaka doesn't fit under a rock, Misaka corrects you as Misaka wonders why you would suggest such a ridiculous theory."
"How am I supposed to know where she is?!"
The pillow flew back at him and hit his head. Without another word he grabbed it and put it over his head.
"What is Misaka went outside? Misaka as Misaka tries not to worry."
"She'll be fine on her own."
"But-"
"Get lost!"
The door closed. The teen was just about to drift back into sleep when something suddenly jumped at him. Last Order crawled on top of him and tugged at the pillow until she could see the white strands of hair and continued to pull at them. Red eyes focused on her.
"Get off of me." He hissed.
"Nuh uh! Misaka refuses as Misaka shakes her head."
"What the hell do you want?!"
"Misaka wants you to help with the search of Misaka Worst. Misaka explains as Misaka tries to get you out of bed."
He sighed and shoved her off, then stared at the alarm clock that had its number facing away from him. Last Order tilted her head when she noticed that. Accelerator grabbed the clock and turned it around, then groaned in an resignation. "It's not even noon yet."
"This is not time to complain! We have to find Misaka! Misaka shouts as Misaka hops on the bed."
"You're not even dressed yet."
"Misaka's shoes are there, so she has to be inside this apartment-"
"Then find her on your own."
"Nooo!" the girl grabbed his arm and uselessly tried to pull him out of the bed. When that failed she took his blanket and rushed out of the room.
The teen didn't want to follow her but the missing blanket made him feel cold so he got up with a sigh and followed the girl through the corridor. She was standing at Yomikawa's bedroom door, his blanket on the ground and the girl frozen to the spot.
He frowned and got closer, sighed deeply when he saw Yomikawa in her sleeping clothing and Worst in some sort of nightgown that revealed way too much of her skin. Trying to spare Last Order of having any bad memories of this moment he covered her eyes and glared at the two female beings standing in the room.
Both didn't seem to be bothered by the intruders.
"The hell are you doing there?!"
"Misaka tried on my clothing, what's wrong with that?" Yomikawa smiled.
He chose not to answer and pulled Last Order backwards, not surprised that the girl refused and freed herself.
Yomikawa then left the room.
"Misaka wants too! Misaka exclaims as Misaka is excited about the idea."
Accelerator then just picked up his blanket and was about to head back to his room when Last Order grabbed his sleeve. "You too! Misaka declares as Misaka tries to hide her evil intentions."
"I'll blow up the whole place if you force me to wear anything that doesn't belong to me." He threatened.
His legs gave in when Last Order disconnected him from the Misaka Network.
Worst laughed. Her laugh sounded evil and sent shivers down his spine. There wasn't much he could do when he could barely move.
After a while of trying to comprehend what exactly was happening, Last Order removed the block and grinned at him with a bright face, admiring her work.
He had noticed that they were doing something, but he hadn't realized that they had forced him into a blouse and a skirt.
"You really look like a girl now." Worst snickered.
Last Order nodded frantically and pinned a huge flower hairclip into his hair before he could do something about it.
"A very angry girl... Misaka mutters as Misaka realizes that it was a bad idea to do this to you."
"You have to watch every single horror movie in this apartment now." Accelerator threatened, gaining a frightened squeak of Last Order and a snicker of Misaka Worst.
He ripped the flower hairclip out of his hair and returned to his room to get dressed in his own clothing while he tried to remember how many horror movies Yomikawa owned. He did know that it weren't many.
Chapter 6: December 6
Watching a gory horror movie in the middle of the night was nothing to disturb the two teens sitting on the couch in the dark living room. They both had seen more than just bodies being torn apart and devoured by ridiculous monsters which didn't even look frightening. They both knew how true monsters looked like and that there was no way to tell them apart from normal people on first sight.
The female of the two yawned in an exaggerated way and stretched when one more of the main characters in the movie got shredded to pieces. "This is boring. Is this really all Yomikawa has?"
The woman in question had already went to bed an hour ago, just before the teens had started to watch the movie. They had let Last Order off the hook when the girl started to get annoying with all her screaming and hiding. The male of the teens felt slightly guilty for forcing the girl to watch the movie, yet he couldn't understand why she got frightened anyway. She also had seen and experienced the work of true monsters. She had all the memories the SISTERs had, there was no way a stupid movie should have frightened her.
He shrugged in response to the other teen's question and yawned as well. "This isn't even interesting."
"Maybe she has a better movie lying around." Misaka Worst leaned over to the coffee table and raided through the stack of roughly 25 DVD cases. Those were all the movies they could find and most of them were romance stories.
"Currently the creepiest movie is a sickening love story about two people that spend all day with each other and live a perfect life." She scoffed.
"You confused it with torture." Accelerator corrected her. "What about the books?" He nodded towards the shelf with neatly arranged books in all sizes and shapes.
"What? Books?" The brown haired girl grimaced and lifted an eyebrow. "Who reads books?"
"People more intelligent than you." He muttered, the still running movie completely forgotten.
"So you're not part of them." She retorted. "Since you can't even calculate 1+1."
The glare he shot her made her laugh. "Come on, Misaka made a joke."
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes in order to calm himself. It wasn't her fault that she was acting like that, so he tried to ignore it whenever possible. Sometimes she just went too far though.
"Oh, the movie is over." Misaka Worst commented when she saw the credits rolling.
"Thank goodness." He stood and left the living room to head to bed. Yomikawa would get annoyed at the mess they had left the living room in, but he was too tired to care.
Once he reached his room he immediately noticed that someone was in his bed. And that certain someone was 120cm tall, hidden under the blanket and obviously crying. He flinched and quickly closed the door after he entered the room.
"Last Order?" He tried not to sound angry or upset, but it wasn't as easy as he wished. He always made the mistake of putting too much force into his voice when he tried not to.
The being under the blanket sat completely still. The sniffling was still audible though.
"What are you doing in my room?" he asked casually.
The blanket moved and her brown haired head was revealed. The big brown eyes were filled with tears that continued to flow over her cheeks without end. He hated to see her cry.
"What are you crying for?"
She wiped her face with the sleeves of her pajamas and stared at him for a full minute before she finally found her voice.
"The move was scary! And then you never came back! Misaka cries as Misaka tries to hide that she is terribly scared."
"Why does a shitty movie scare you like that?" He asked, to his surprise he wasn't getting angry at all.
When he set down on the bed and was about to change into sleeping clothing the small girl crawled over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Are there really monsters living under people's beds? Misaka asks even though Misaka is actually too frightened of the answer."
Accelerator shrugged. "There might be monsters living under evil people's beds."
Last Order froze. "So they would hide under Misaka Worst's bed?"
"If there are monsters in this apartment, they would be in this room." He tried to explain.
The girl shook her head. "That can't be, you're not evil. Misaka states because Misaka is absolutely sure about that fact."
"What when I am the monster?" It was a fact that had been proven long ago. Who cared about it?
The girl hugged him tighter. "Then you would be the beast. Misaka says as Misaka smiles."
He frowned. "What?"
"There is a book about a pretty girl that got kidnapped by a really ugly monster. She hated him and he was really creepy and scary but then she fell in love with him and he was not scary anymore. Misaka explains as Misaka is surprised that you don't know the story."
"How does that apply to me?"
Last Order thought for a while. "On second thought you might not be like the beast. Misaka mutters as Misaka tries to find a better comparison."
He shook his head and pried her arms off of him, then changed into sleeping clothing and crawled into the bed.
"Are you planning to sleep here?" He asked her with a glare.
The girl pouted and crossed her arms. "Misaka refuses to sleep in her own bed. Misaka declares as Misaka tried to make you feel guilty for forcing Misaka to watch the movie."
He sighed and turned off the lamp on the nightstand after he faced his back towards her.
"Can we watch a better movie tomorrow? Misaka whispers as Misaka thinks that watching a good movie with everyone would be much more fun."
She leaned over to him to look at his face, even though it was hard to see anything in the dark.
"I have enough of shitty movies for the rest of the year."
He heard the girl huff, but she didn't say anything more. She still continued to lean over him, however her body got heavier after a while and she had fallen asleep on top of him. He growled in annoyance and shoved her off of him.
"Shitty brat." He hissed while he turned towards her and covered her with the blanket.
"Good night."
Chapter 7: December 7
He flinched before he even realized what he had seen. While wondering why he had even wanted to go to the convenience store without a real reason except coffee, he wished he hadn't left the apartment. A brown haired girl was standing there, dressed in Tokiwadai's winter uniform. That in itself wasn't so strange. If he hadn't been Accelerator.
The girl turned towards him and spoke to him with the monotone voice he knew better than he wanted to admit.
"Do you want to get a drink here? Sorry, I'll make room. Apologizes Misaka #10032 as she steps aside."
The girl moved away from the shelf but didn't walk away. He didn't move.
"Are you alright? Misaka asks as she worries about your well being."
He opened his mouth but no sound came out and he closed it again. Wordlessly he turned to the shelf and grabbed a can of coffee.
#10032. The first Misaka he didn't kill. What was she doing here?
"Why the fuck do you care?" he asked.
The clone was silent for a moment. "Misaka thinks it is normal to be concerned about other people. Explains Misaka silently."
He turned towards her, glared at her, but the girl didn't move a hair. "Cut the crap, you know who I am!"
"Yes. Misaka confirms. You are the person who eliminated 10031 Misakas during the Level-6 shift Project. Accelerator."
The words stung. "Why aren't you running away then?!" He remembered the fight.
The girl smiled. It was a small smile, barely notable, but it was honest. "You have tried to save every single remaining Misaka. Misaka confirms." The girl spoke silently.
"What are you doing here anyway?"
"Misaka has lost her companions in a crowd. Misaka then got thirsty and went into a convenience store. She then noticed that she had no money on her and decided to wait."
"Wait for what?" He asked when he grabbed a second coffee can.
"Misaka waited for someone she knew to come by and help her out of this situation. Misaka explains."
"You can just walk out again if you're not buying anything." He shook his head, surprised that it was so easy to hold a conversation with the girl.
"Misaka didn't think that this would be alright. Misaka concluded after she has noted that everyone who entered has also bought something."
He noticed that the Girl was staring at a pink can with some strawberry flavored tea inside. He took the can and put it to the others into the basket.
"Are you going to buy this for Misaka? Misaka asks bluntly." The girl followed him when he walked further through the store.
"You're not going to leave unless you buy something, right?"
"Correct. Misaka confirms."
"Then I have no choice but to buy this for you."
After the cans were paid for the clone followed him out of the store with a strange smile on her face as she sipped the liquid inside the can. They walked in silence for a while, neither of them knowing what to talk about. The white haired teen could only describe the situations as 'awkward'.
"Why are you following me?"
"Misaka has lost her companions and decided to follow you for the time being. Misaka explains."
"Who were your companions?"
"Kamjou Touma and Misaka Mikoto. Misaka says as she recalls that she was supposed to stay with them."
"Those two?" Accelerator growled. He knew that at least one of them would start to yell if they found out about the current situation. It was better if the clone went back to where she came from as soon as possible. He didn't want this to end up in a misunderstanding.
Sooner than expected they had reached the apartment complex he lived in. The clone was still following him around and didn't show any signs of getting bored any time soon.
"You should go back home." Accelerator told her with a sigh when the automatic doors opened.
"Misaka has decided to stay with you for a bit longer. Misaka explains as she tries to hide her curiosity about this apartment building."
"...You do remember what I did to you, right?"
"Misaka knows that you will not do it again. Misaka firmly states to ban any doubt."
He sighed and entered the elevator, still followed by the girl. He stopped trying to get her to leave and just opened the door to the apartment. Last Order immediately rushed up to the door, her eyes wide and a grin plastered on her face.
"#10032!" The girl rushed past Accelerator and jumped at the brown haired girl behind him.
Misaka worst then peek around a corner as well.
"Ah, Misaka senses a love triangle forming. Is she your girlfriend?" Worst was obviously fun of him but while Accelerator was just frowning at the question he heard the girl behind him reply.
"Yes. Misaka #10032 states as she denies the truth."
"Wait, what?!" He snapped.
Last Order let go of the girl and grabbed his sleeve. Her big eyes stared up to him as they filled with tears. "But you said you will always stay with Misaka. Misaka cries as Misaka is disappointed and really, really sad."
"Technically, that is still a Misaka." Worst snickered.
The white haired teen had no idea what to say. They would use anything against him now. He didn't want to see Last Order cry though.
"Don't you feel guilty?!" he snapped at the clone behind him.
A strange grin spread over her face. It didn't look as scary as when Misaka Worst did it, but it was enough reason to feel a bit disturbed.
"Not at all. Misaka confirms as Misaka senses that it is time for her to leave."
Chapter 8: December 8
Something a little more serious. It can't always be happy, not even in a family.
Yomikawa was shaking her head at the mess the children had left behind. Books and paper was lying around. Someone had taken notes on the paper, someone else had drawn flowers below. She smiled and picked the paper up. This was almost like a real family. It didn't matter that they weren't related by blood. The note had two different handwritings on it. One of them was neat and easy to read, the other was neat too, but someone had decorated the kanji. That could only be Last Order's handwriting then.
Laughing silently she put the paper on the coffee table and began to clean up. She found a few more notes, some of them in books acting as bookmarks so she put those books on the table as well. The notes were random and didn't make sense to her, but maybe that was Last Order's way of how to research. She could have used the network for it, but it seemed that she didn't want the other SISTERs to know.
The other handwriting appeared on different notes. Only the most important information was written down, sometimes words were circled, others underlined. Yomikawa but those to the other notes, surprised that she then found books that didn't belong to her. They were new, recently bought. There was a picture book, a thick book about fairytales and one about dreams and nightmares. She also found a new toy frog on top of a DVD case. This one was new too.
"Beauty and the beast?" Yomikawa read aloud.
She knew that Last Order liked fairytales and wouldn't hesitate to retell it in a different way when she wasn't satisfied with how the story went. She had done so with 'The ugly Duckling', and with a few other fairytales. The girl seemed to subconsciously know what was right and what was not.
When she put the last few books away a scream rang through the apartment. She frowned and put the book on top of the shelf. It had been a male voice and the only male person in this apartment was still asleep. It had gotten silent again as well, but the tall woman decided to take a look. Who knew what could have happened. It wasn't like the teen to scream out of nowhere. He often shouted when he was angry, but that scream was different. It had sounded pained, maybe frightened.
When he didn't reply to the knocking on his door, Yomikawa silently opened the door and stuck her head in. A pillow flew in her direction.
"Get out!" the teen growled at her.
Something about his voice made the woman frown. It was trembling. She caught the pillow and entered the room. In response the white haired teen turned away from her.
"Get out!" he repeated.
"You can't expect me to leave like that without knowing what happened."
"Nothing happened!"
By now she knew when he lied. It had taken a bit of practice, but now she immediately realized when he wasn't telling the truth. She thought that it was necessary to know when he lied. After all, he had that talent of getting into trouble without even wanting it, because he was the strongest Level 5.
"I know you don't like to burden others with your problems, but in a family everyone supports everyone, no matter the problems." She tried to explain while she sat down on the bed.
"Family, huh?" He scoffed.
"This is like a family."
"I wouldn't know." He muttered.
Yomikawa smiled sadly. "I don't know either."
Silence engulfed them for a while, neither of them moving or saying anything until Accelerator dared to speak.
"You would probably be the mother."
A wide smile appeared on the woman's face when she heard that. It made her proud. "What would you be then?" She asked.
He went silent for a long time, before he finally answered. "Everything I get involved in gets destroyed sooner or later, someone like that doesn't belong in a family."
"Nonsense." Yomikawa replied and turned towards him. "You're doing a good job of being a brat that just hit puberty." She laughed.
He glared at her. "That's not what I want!"
"You want a place in a family, isn't that right?"
His silence gave her the answer. "I'd say you're like a father for the girls." She moved her arms around him to give him a light hug. "And something similar to a son to me."
He froze.
"Don't say things you don't mean."
"Have I ever lied to you?"
Chapter 9: December 9
I feel like it's time to thank everyone for the nice reviews! This is the first time that a story of mine got so much attention in such little time. I am really greateful for that.
Writing these oneshots is a lot of fun for me, but getting revies makes it even more fun. It's motivating :3
Thank you!
Getting stuck in a high-tech elevator maybe wasn't the most terrible situation to be in, however it wasn't very comfortable either way. Especially since this had happened to him thrice now and this time it was due to a blackout in the whole building. He didn't have either of the girls with him to get the thing running again either. His cell-phone had died on the way home and now he was probably forced to stay in that infernal thing until power came back. What was wrong with the building anyway? First the heater broke, now there was a black out in Academy City of all places.
On top of that he was running low on battery and had less than two hours left. His Esper-mode would use all of that in a few seconds. He didn't need more than a few seconds to break down the elevator, but he really didn't want to end up getting stuck somewhere or have Yomikawa scold him. So he had to wait.
Glaring into the darkness he sat down on the ground and listened. It was silent enough to make him think that something was wrong in the building. Then again he always thought that something was going on. He had planned to charge the battery when he got home, and that would have been possible if not for this situation.
He sighed deeply. Didn't this building have a generator or something? He couldn't possibly be the only one stuck in an elevator. Was this some attack? What if someone attacked Last Order and the other right now? Dread spread through him. He couldn't do anything in this situation! He was stuck somewhere between the 10th and 11th floor and hoped that he didn't have to walk up the rest if the power came back.
A few more minutes passed in silence when a knock suddenly got his full attention. It sounded as if someone slammed their fists against a metal wall. A voice too, but it was too silent to understand it. The knocking itself was almost too quiet to hear it.
He slammed a fists against the wall, mostly to make the annoying sound stop. It did stop after a while and suddenly the lights were back on. When he got up he tried to press any of the buttons but the infernal thing didn't react and slowly crawled its way down to the first floor. The doors did open so he exited the elevator. He didn't feel comfortable to step in again when he noticed that all the other lights were still out. Someone had given electricity only to the elevator.
"Last Order, huh?" He muttered to himself and slowly made his way upstairs. It was dark and he could barely see anything. The plastic bag with groceries was getting heavier with each step and he really hated all the effort he had to put into getting up the stairs. He usually avoided that whenever he could.
"Are you alright?! Misaka asks as Misaka rushes downstairs!" Last Order yelled before he could even see her.
"Of course!" he spat back. This was nothing that would bother him for too long.
When she came in sight he noticed that she was running towards him on socks, obviously worried enough that she didn't bother to think about shoes. She also triggered the lights wherever she passed. That was sort of useful.
"What are you doing? You'll get a cold." He scolded her.
"Misaka will be fine! Misaka remarks as Misaka states that a short trip like that won't get her feet cold."
The girl stopped in front of him and pried the heavy bag out of his hand. "I'll take that. Misaka declares as Misaka takes the bag."
"Isn't that too heavy?" He asked when the girl had already taken the bag and walked towards the next set of stairs.
"Not at all!"
He shook his head and followed her. Relieved when they finally reached the 13th floor.
"Where did the blackout come from though? Misaka wonders as Misaka unlocks the door."
They both stepped into the dark apartment and Last Order took off her socks before stepping onto the wooden floor.
"Maybe the higher ups are messing with us again." He growled angrily.
"Yomikawa-san will be the biggest threat, Misaka truthfully states as Misaka remembers that you were supposed to cook dinner tonight because Yomikawa and Misaka Worst are buying Christmas presents."
"We can't do that without electricity."
"I can make it run for long enough."
"You get distracted way to easy." He teased her with a smirk. Without electricity there would be another problem in less than an hour too.
"But Misaka is hungry!"
They walked into the living room, both heading for the couch. "So what, I'm hungry too!"
Last Order giggled at that and sat down on the couch, followed by him who sat away as far as possible and yawned loudly.
"Didn't you buy anything to eat? Misaka asks as Misaka rummages through the bag." The found a can of coffee and vegetables that were supposed to be used for tonight's dinner.
The girl sighed in defeat. "Can't you do something? Misaka asks as Misaka still tries to think about something."
"There is no electricity running through this building right now. So even if I tried I couldn't manipulate it. Also, The battery is going to die."Accelerator muttered through the darkness.
She made a shocked sound. "You have to charge it!"
"There's no power in this building at the moment." He repeated with a sigh.
"I have an idea! Misaka mutters as Misaka has found a solution." She was already about to run away but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
"You'll probably fry the charger if you try to do that and then I'd be royally screwed." He smirked when the girl huffed.
A few more minutes were spent in silence, precious time being wasted. The girl then slipped off the couch and rushed out of the room. She came back with a pillow and a blanket and threw both at him.
"Misaka is upset that you don't trust her. Misaka says as Misaka tries to sound disappointed."
He caught the blanket and the pillow and glared at her. "You can try to get one of the rice cookers running. If one of them breaks it won't cause a catastrophe."
Last Order ran to the kitchen and tries her best with the rice cooker, yet as predicted, the girl was unable to channel the electricity long enough to keep the device running. When she tried again the rice cooker suddenly began to smoke and she quickly pulled the plug of the device.
"You were right... Misaka mutters as Misaka silently walks back to you."
The girl sat next to him and pouted when she grabbed the blanket and hid under it. He lied down on the couch, the girl next to him in an instant as she used the small space that was left and covered them both with her blanket.
"Will you be alright? Misaka whispers as Misaka feels sorry that she can't do anything." she asked silently when her small arms found their way around his waist.
He rested a hand on her hair and sighed once more. "Who knows. As long as no one attacks it should be alright."
"Are you scared?"
He laughed loudly. "I'm the strongest, remember? Nothing scares me."
She whispered something he couldn't understand.
"Speak louder, brat."
"Misaka was talking to herself. Misaka mutters as Misaka relayed the current situation through the network."
"Tell Worst that."
"Already done. Misaka smiles that Misaka had a good idea."
"For once." He teased.
She pouted. "How much time is left?"
"Not much." He replied.
Last Order pulled the blanket a bit more. "Maybe Yomikawa and Misaka worst have already had dinner without us!"
He sat up a little and hit her head lightly, could see the girl pout in the dim light of the streetlights from outside.
"Why would you hit Misaka? Misaka complains as Misaka tries to sound angry."
"You're sprouting nonse-" His balance slipped and with it the ability to finish his sentence or understand the girls reply.
When he hit the pillows he felt the girl inch closer and hug him tightly. She whispered something and giggled lightly when she closed her eyes and tried to sleep. That was the best solution for this situation. They would be safe in this apartment, no one would attack them.
That was what she wished for. That no one would ever attack them again.
Chapter 10: December 10
Oh dear... I am not very fond of Yoshikawa despite her significant role and all the things she was important for... It's probably because I don't understand her way of thinking and have a hard time to get used to her. afer all She isn't a "kind person" ... and that way of thinking makes it hard for me to relate to her. I dare say i understand Accelerator way better than her.
BUT I tried to mention her and will try to put her into future stories :3
Malls had a bitter aftertaste for him lately. On top of Last Order constantly getting lost, he also didn't have any fond memories of any of the trips back home. Especially that one time. And today it was raining too. When he took Last Order's hand he scolded himself as overprotective, but decided that this was better than having her run off again. Also Yoshikawa had finally returned from the trip she had been on. He didn't really know where she was or why she was doing it, but she looked a lot more relaxed now that the was back. Right now she walked alongside Yomikawa and Misaka Worst, all three of them staring into various stores.
He didn't even know what they were doing here.
Suddenly Last Order pulled him to the side. The unexpected movement left him stumbling and struggling to find his balance again. Last Order was almost glued to a shop window where various toys were displayed. A second later Worst joined and out of nowhere two other people pushed and shoved to get a better look. He found himself in the middle of four girls who all kind of looked the same. And all of them were staring at the frogs displayed behind the glass. Upon further inspection he noticed that the two unknown girls were clones. Their numbers unknown to him but that didn't mean that he felt at ease seeing them here.
A fifth girl joined after a moment. She also looked like the other girls, there was just one difference about her.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" the familiar voice of Misaka Mikoto echoed through the mall. It caused several bystanders to turn their heads, but they quickly continued to do whatever they were doing after they passed of the loud voice as a quarrel between siblings.
Accelerator glared at the younger teen ager while he tried to find an explanation. "This is a public place, I can be wherever I want."
The Railgun glared at him. She knew that he was right, but that didn't make her any less upset.
Yomikawa and Yoshikawa had now also noticed the commotion and walked over to the small group of girls that all looked the same. Except for their more casual clothing and one of them dressed in Tokiwadai's uniform.
"What's going on here?" Yomikawa asked with a small frown.
Mikoto turned towards the tall woman, surprised to meet her there as well, but she quickly pushed the confusion away and pointed a finger accusingly at Accelerator.
"What's that guy doing here?! Why are they surrounding him?!" The girl's voice had a small hint of panic in it.
While the two Adults needed a moment to understand what the girl meant, Accelerator had already figured it out and sighed in annoyance. He was about to reply when Last Order pushed through the group of girls and stood in front of the Original.
"I relayed the news of the new discovery to the Misakas in the area, Misaka explains as Misaka tries to explain the discovery of toy-frogs behind the glass window."
The taller girl was speechless for a moment. "You dare to get close to him because of some toys?!"
Yomikawa cleared her throat loudly and was about to say something when Accelerator grabbed the collar of the Railgun and pulled her close. Of course she immediately felt threatened and released quite a bit of electricity onto the defenseless Esper. She was surprised when the teen in front of her suddenly let go of her and fell to his knees without even trying to fight back.
Mikoto was pushed away by Yoshikawa while Yomikawa glared at her and Last Order stared at her with tears in her eyes. "Why would you do that?! Misaka shouts as Misaka can't believe that you would hurt him like that!"
"He could have just shocked me in return!" the brown haired girl shouted back and crossed her arms.
"He didn't even activate the esper mode!" Last Order kept shouting. "You hurt him even though he had no intention of hurting you! Misaka accuses as Misaka is very angry." The girl's small face was red with anger as she shouted and pushed Mikoto backwards.
The taller girl stumbled backwards in confusion, not understanding why any of the SISTERS would dare to protect the person that had murdered so many of them without even a tinge of guilt.
"Why are you defending him?!"
The small girl in front of her was pushed away by the tallest girl of the group and continued to cry.
"You sure are a dense person. Misaka is impressed." The sinister looking teenager muttered. "It might be in our interest to get angry at you. Original."
Mikoto had decided not to feel guilty for the SISTERS existence long ago, she wouldn't back down now. "That guy doesn't deserve to have a peaceful life!"
The sinister looking teenager slapped the face of her original so hard that she stumbled to the side and almost lost balance.
"We don't hate him!" Last Order then shouted. "We all know what he did, but that is in the past. Misaka tries to explain as Misaka tries to stop crying."
Mikoto was silent for a moment, long enough for Last Order to speak again. The small girl clutched the shirt of the Railgun and pulled it lightly while tears continued to stream over her face.
"H-He saved Misaka. He saved all of the remaining SISTERS. Don't take him away... Misaka begs as Misaka continues to cry." By now the girl was sobbing and Mikoto still had no idea what to do. She felt like she had to comfort the younger version of her, but she was utterly confused as to why anyone would defend the white haired guy that was still crouching on the ground. He seemed to be alright, though.
After a moment the sinister looking teenager began to cry as well and cussed at it, stating something that it wasn't her own will to do that. When Mikoto was already trying to find some words of comfort she saw the number 1 rising to his full height. He took the few steps towards Last Order and pulled her into a tight hug. That action even surprised Yomikawa and Yoshikawa, but they both felt proud about it.
"Is this for real?..." Mikoto muttered silently as if talking to herself after she had watched the scene playing in front of her. This had to be the most surreal thing she had ever seen. The strongest of Academy city, the person who had killed over 10000 SISTERS, was hugging one of them in the middle of a mall while three others were ready to defend him if they had to. "This has to be some messed up dream..." She concluded.
"Forgive and forget might not be the right phrase for the situation," Yomikawa then muttered, the cheerful mood from just minutes ago completely gone. "But there are things that can't be changed no matter how guilty one feels."
Crimson eyes stared up at the Railgun as Accelerator slowly stood again. Last Order was still sniffling but had calmed down by now. He didn't say anything, could tell that she still hated him. He didn't blame her for that, after all he still couldn't even believe that all the SISTERS did not hate him, but he felt a weird urge inside him. He wanted to make up for it, apologize. Yet there was nothing to excuse. A life couldn't be brought back by an excuse. But what else was there to do?
Slowly he took Last Order's hand and walked past the Railgun, not bothering to look back at her.
"You said you will stay with Misaka. Misaka remembers as Misaka holds your hand tighter."
"Who else would put up with you, noisy brat?" He smirked at her and turned around. "Worst, we're going home." He decided. Not caring about the plans Yoshikawa and Yomikawa had. He had enough of the Mall for the next months. Every time he entered it, he got in trouble.
Misaka Worst soon caught up to them, leaving Misaka Mikoto standing at the window decorated with green frogs, utterly confused as to what had just happened. She decided to call it a weird dream and tried to forget about it.
Chapter 11: December 11
This day was started with a very annoying voice and a sudden weight on top of him.
"Wake up! The sun is back! Misaka exclaims as Misaka tries to wake you!"
"Shut up, brat!" he spat at her and turned around, effectively shoving her off of him. The girl didn't seem to care much when she latched onto the blanket and pulled it away from him.
"Get up! Misaka wants to take a walk!"
"Are you a dog? Go alone!" he opened his eyes long enough to locate the blanket and pried it out of the girls hands.
The girl didn't want to give up that easily and jumped on top of him. He made a grunt and shoved her off again, then fell out of the bed as she pushed him.
"What was that for, fucking brat?!" He yelled at her as he got up and sat on the bed again, immediately having to feet on his back that tried to push him off again.
"I'm awake, now stop that shit!"
"Victory! Misaka yells as Misaka jumps on the bed." The girl grabbed his shoulders and jumped on the bed like a squirrel, squealing and giggling until he reached out and hit her head with his hand.
"You're noisy!"
"And you're violent, Misaka pouts as Misaka rubs her head." The girl huffed and hopped off the bed, then made her way out of the room. "Misaka will use the bathroom first!"
"You will not!" he yelled at her and rushed after her as fast as his body allowed.
He barely managed to stick the cane through the almost closed door and pried it open while Last Order was pressing against it from the other side.
"Let me in you fucking brat!" He yelled and threw himself against the door, right at the moment Last Order moved away.
The door swung open and with it a teenager came falling in. His shirt got caught in the door handle and ripped at the sudden force when he landed hard on the ground. For a moment he didn't move, then he sat up and glared angrily at the small girl that stared at him with a mix of worry and amusement in her face.
"Get the hell out!" He shouted at her and almost felt guilty when she rushed out of the bathroom.
Not for long because she decided to bother him again. The girl was standing in the doorway, grinning at him.
"I said get out!"
"Misaka is not in the bathroom, Misaka states at Misaka points to the floor." She was indeed standing in the hallway. That didn't change the fact that she was annoying the hell out of him and so he kicked the door shut.
Last Order kept complaining for a while, but then she was suddenly silent. Frowning about that he opened the door and peeked into the hallway. The girl wasn't in sight.
"Hey, brat!" he yelled, but no reply came. Usually the girl would complain about that.
"Kikyou took her with her. They should be back soon." Yomikawa answered from the kitchen.
Yoshikawa had taken the girl? "Where did they go?" He barked and left the bathroom.
"Just getting a few pastries."
"What are you planning?"
The woman's smile fell. "I'm not planning anything."
The white haired esper scoffed and returned to the bathroom. After showering he headed back to his room, about to lie down again when his door suddenly flew open and Last Order jumped inside.
"We're back!"
He just shrugged. "You shouldn't tag along with that woman so easily."
"Why not? Misaka asks as Misaka wonders why you would say such a thing." The girl pulled out her cell phone and showed him a new strap that was attached to it. It had replaced the frog one he had bought for her a while back. He wondered where it went to, and suddenly got angry that it was gone. Would she replace him too once he found someone better?
"I got a new strap!"
"Where'd your old one go?" he tried so sound casual but his town was clearly showing his anger.
"I put it on the zipper of my jacket. Misaka explains as Misaka thought that this way others would see the gift you bought for her."
His anger vanished into thin air.
"Yoshikawa bought one for you too! Misaka says as Misaka shows you the strap." She dug into her pocket and pulled out a cell-phone strap. The band was black and a small sign was attacked to it.
A smirk crept on his face when he recognized the street sign and shook his head in disbelief. "This is ridiculous."
"No! Misaka refuses as Misaka tries to correct you. This is a street sign. It means 'one-way road'."
"I know what it means, idiot! That's not the point."
The girl stared up at him, confusion clear on her face. "Yoshikawa picked it. I knew Misakas choice was better. Do you want to switch?"
"A street sign or a pink heart?" he mused loudly, even though the answer was clear already. "Forget it brat, I'll take the sign."
"But you complained about it"
He sighed. "You know that the Kanji in my name can be read like that?"
"Oh!" the girl exclaimed and suddenly giggled loudly. "Put it on your cell-phone! Misaka yells as Misaka is excited about the meaning behind the strap."
He shook his head and pulled his cell-phone out of his pocket. Up until now he hadn't even realized that it was possible to attach straps to that model. But Last Order quickly pulled the cell-phone out of his hand and attached the strap herself.
"There!" She said when she was done and grinned. "Yoshikawa was really happy when she saw the strap. Misaka whispers as Misaka shares a secret with you."
He sighed once more.
"He need to get a cell-phone strap for her too! Misaka suggest as Misaka wonders if it is possible to find one that relates to Yoshikawa. But Yomikawa needs one too!"
The white haired teen shrugged. "I think Yomikawa needs a new rice cooker more than a cell-phone strap."
He smirked when the girl got red in embarrassment about the rice cooker she had broken a few days ago.
Chapter 12: December 12
The girls had been giggling for quite a while now. He could hear them through the closed door of his room and hoped they would shut up soon before he completely snapped. He heard Yomikawa's voice a few times as well, yet she didn't sound upset, so whatever the girls were doing seemed to be okay for her. That didn't change the fact that they where disturbing the silence he had wanted to finish reading the stupid book with fairy tales Last Order had forced him to buy a few days ago.
All of these fairytales ended in some sort of tragedy. He even recognized some of the stories because Last Order had told him about them. Usually there was one fact that differed from what the girl had said. He wondered if she had forgotten the stories or purposely changed some facts. Right now he used the book to slam it against the door.
"Shut the hell up!" He shouted at the door.
The girls were silent for a moment, then his door flew open. Worst. "So you were awake after all! Misaka knew that you wouldn't sleep with your door closed." She teased with a grin and dodged another book flying into her direction.
"What the fuck are you two doing there?!"
"A surprise." A smirk crept on her face.
"I hate surprises."
"Misaka knows." A giggle. "But this one is good. Misaka is sure that you will like it."
He sighed and climbed out of the bed. Once he grabbed the cane the girl walked over to him and but her hands over his eyes. "You can't look."
"This isn't going to work." He growled. "Let go!" The white haired esper struggled against her grip, but she didn't have any intention of letting go.
"Nope. You have to walk now."
"I'll kill you."
"You caaaan't." She snickered.
A moment of bickering later Misaka Worst had managed to lead Accelerator into the hallway and towards the Living room. Before they entered it she stopped.
"We're there." She grinned.
Angrily he grabbed her hands and pushed her away. The living room hadn't changed at all. Was her surprise to make fun of him and laugh at how trusting he had been? He really wanted to punch something for being so stupid. The girls had gotten sneaky and mean. Last Order too, but he was sure that this was because of Worst's influence on her.
"What are you making that face for?" Yomikawa asked from the kitchen. "You look like you're about to cry." The grin told him that she was joking too. Why was everyone making fun of him? And where was Last Order?
Misaka Worst tugged his sleeve and pointed upwards. Once he lifted his head he saw a small object with green leafs and red berries on it. A golden ribbon held it together and transparent thread was used to attach it to the ceiling right in the doorway.
"Why would you hang plants from the ceiling?" he asked in confusion. Was that why the girls had giggled so much?
"Misaka read about it in a book." Last Order explained when she rounded the corner with a box filled with Christmas decorations. "When a plant like that hands in a door way and two people pass it at the same time, they have to kiss. Misaka explains truthfully as Misaka recalls what she has read."
Worst's sinister snicker had turned a tune lower and her face seemed as if it had a shadow over it. Accelerator stared at her and the plant and didn't quite understand what was going on until he realized that He and Worst were standing under the plant.
The girl came closer and he shoved her away with his free hand. "Don't even think about it, fucking pervert!" he growled and ducked away from her.
"But Misaka really wanted a kiss from you!" Worst complained as she pouted. That kind of expression on her face made it even more terrifying than the situation itself.
"Misaka wants a kiss too! Misaka states as Misaka rushes over to tug on your other sleeve."
By then he had two girls clinging to his arms and tried to escape both of them. "Get the fuck away from me!" he shouted. "I'm not kissing anyone!"
The look Last Order gave him was heartbreaking. He just couldn't withstand her big puppy eyes when she pouted like that. He decided not to give in though. After all if he kissed any of them now, they would ask for more and soon he would lose the role as a fearful being. He wouldn't give in.
"Girls, leave him. A forced kiss has no meaning." Yomikawa then said. "Lunch is ready, come eat."
Lunch itself was spent in silence. Yomikawa had tried to start a conversation a few times but the girls just stared at their plates and silently ate while Accelerator looked out of the window and neglected food altogether. Again.
"You're not going to eat anything?" Yoshikawa asked when she entered the kitchen with a plastic bag. She had been outside to buy a small Christmas-tree as Last Order had insisted on having one.
"I'm not hungry." The white haired teen replied and kept staring out of the window. It was snowing again.
Yoshikawa sat down with them and took Accelerators plate.
"Hey!" he complained.
The former researcher shrugged. "You said you're not hungry. Would be a waste to throw this away, wouldn't it be?"
He couldn't argue with that logic. "You could have just filled your own plate."
The older woman lifted an eyebrow. "My feet hurt from walking the whole way." She stated. As always it was impossible to tell if she was making fun or was dead serious.
"Whatever." The teen replied and stood, immediately had Last Order clinging to his sleeve. "Don't go away! Misaka begs as Misaka wants to set up the Christmas-tree together with you!"
"It's just a fake piece of plastic anyway, what's so great about it?"
"Misaka has never celebrated Christmas before, Misaka explains as Misaka as always wished to experience it just once."
A simple sentence like that made him freeze to the spot. He really never put much thought into holidays, Christmas wasn't that big of a holiday anyway. He knew other countries made a huge fuss about it, but here it wasn't very important. Still, how many Christmases had he spent killing people while others had fun with their loved ones, while the whole city was oblivious as to what he was doing?
He suddenly felt sick as he thought about it.
It would always be something that followed him, something that couldn't be forgotten or forgiven with pretty words.
Slowly he pried the hand of the girl off his sleeve and headed to his room. Until now he didn't really care about the holiday, yet somehow it suddenly had a different meaning to him. He didn't care about presents and the dead wouldn't care either.
A knock made him spin around. Last Order was standing there, her big eyes sad. "Are you alright, Misaka wants to know as Misaka came to the conclusion that she did something wrong." The girl muttered.
"You didn-" His voice cracked. He cleared his throat and sighed. "You didn't do anything. I just remembered something I need to do."
The girl's sad face was gone in an instant. "What do you have to do? Misaka asks as Misaka is curious about your plans and wants to help if possible."
"It's nothing for small brats."
"Misaka is not small!" the girl argued.
He smiled at her and walked past her after he had shoved her out of the way. "I'll be back later." He told her after he had put his jacket and shoes on and left the apartment. It was silent, thick snowflakes falling to the ground while he wondered how he was supposed to hide 10031 tea lights in his room without anyone noticing. How heavy would they be? He didn't want anyone else to notice. It felt strange enough to him that he got an idea like that. It wouldn't change a single thing about the fact that they wouldn't come back.
But maybe he didn't mind the idea as much as he wanted to.
Chapter 13: December 13
This one is rather random... There was a bit of trouble with some friends. I'm a little upset and out of it. Just wanted to tell you guys, in case the quality of the stories has dropped too low. I still try my best. Thank you.
He woke up because it was terribly warm. For a moment he thought the heater was malfunctioning, then he noticed that the person next to him was giving off the incredible heat. In an instant he sat up, eyes wide as his face got white as a sheet. The girl next to him was lying limply on the pillow she had brought, her face flushed and covered in a thin layer of sweat. He held his breath for a moment.
"...Not again..." he silently begged as fear spread through him. "Please, not again!"
Angrily he grabbed his cane, not bothering to change as he made his way through the corridor in his sleep wear. He noticed that he had more trouble than usual to hold his balance and his head felt as if someone had hit him. What was going on?
When he reached the living room, Yoshikawa was hunched over a stack of paper while Yomikawa was sitting on the couch with a book. She briefly looked up when she noticed the movement at the door.
"W-What did you do..." The teen muttered with a hoarse voice. He cleared his throat and frowned for a moment. "Last Order..." he tried to explain.
He stumbled a bit, grabbed the doorframe to hold his balance when he felt it slipping. Yomikawa tossed the book on the coffee table and rushed over to him.
"What's with her?"
He stared at her with glassy eyes, his face red as he was panting and struggling to stand on his legs. "Last Order...-"
He felt dizzy all of sudden and finally lost the fight with his balance. Yomikawa immediately reached out to catch him and pressed her free hand against his forehead.
"My, that's some fever you got there..." She muttered dryly when she picked him up and slumped him over her shoulder. To her surprise he didn't even protest. He had to feel quite bad if he didn't bother to argue.
When she reached his room, she also noticed the girl in the bed who didn't look too different from the teen she was currently carrying. Yomikawa laughed. "So you caught the cold she was sprouting, hm?"
"Cold?" he asked silently, but sounded awfully relieved.
"Looks like a cold to me, yep." The woman laughed and carefully sat him onto his bed.
He almost fell backwards when he realized that it was just a stupid cold that would go away in a few days. It was nothing to get worried about. Last Order was fine.
"I'll have Kikyou buy some medicine for both of you. You stay in bed for today."
"It's just a cold." He tried to argue but his head felt like it was about to burst so he just crawled back under the blanket and tried to sleep.
"Sleep is the best way to get rid of it." Yomikawa explained while she took a look at Last Order and smiled.
"Don't worry too much, she'll probably jump around and annoy you sooner than you'd like."
Right now he couldn't care less as he slowly drifted back into sleep.
A few hours later he blinked in surprise. The headache was still present and he felt cold. Last Order was gone too and although he really didn't want to get up, he knew he wouldn't feel at ease until he knew where the girl was.
When he entered the living room he saw Last Order curled up in a blanket on the sofa with a steaming mug in her hands. She was watching some sort of movie and seemed quite excited about it. Yoshikawa was still sorting through papers, Yomikawa and Worst in the kitchen.
Slowly he made his way over to the couch and slumped down next to Last Order. The girl then noticed him and almost dropped her cup.
"Wah! You surprised me! Misaka says as Misaka didn't think you would show up at all today."
He frowned at the girl, her fever seemed to be mostly gone. She didn't look weak and helpless anymore either. The simple thought of the girl lying there like that stung. He didn't want to see her like that ever again.
"Misaka is alright, Misaka explains as Misaka tries to chase your worry away."
"Why should I worry about you, stupid brat?" His voice was still hoarse and he was freezing. Seemed like he needed a few more days to get rid of this cold.
Last Order stayed silent and leaned against him after she tried to cover him with her blanket. "Yomikawa makes really nice tea. Misaka whispers as Misaka holds the mug out to let you taste it."
"I don't need tea." He growled and turned away, then he caught a glimpse of the TV and saw how a person that looked more like an animal was sitting at a table and tried to eat dinner with girl in a dress.
"That's Beauty and The Beast. Misaka explains as Misaka thought you might wanted to know."
"You really like that story, huh?"
Last Order nodded. "But Misaka doesn't like the ending."
He scoffed. "Then change it. You changed so many fairytales already, one more won't hurt, huh?"
The girl's eyes widened. "You noticed? Misaka says in shock as Misaka had hoped that you wouldn't notice."
"You forced me to buy that book, so I took a look into it."
The girl hid her face in the blanket for a moment, then put the mug on the table and stood on the couch. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek. "Misaka didn't want to tell you mean stories-"
She stopped when he glared at her. "What was that for?!" he yelled. "I don't need your cold!" Disgusted he wiped his cheek, and met the pouting face of a brown haired girl.
"You got it already anyway and you can't wipe a kiss off!"
"I just did- Go away!" The girl had gotten closer again, about to repeat her action when he pushed her aside and tried to keep her away.
"But if you wipe it off it doesn't count! Misaka complains as Misaka tries to do it again!"
The white haired esper was about to get up and walk back into his room when two arms of another person wrapped around his neck. Worst.
"What the fuck is wrong with you two today?!" Accelerator shouted.
"Misaka wants a kiss too." Worst smirked at him.
"I'm not kissing anyone, go away!"
While he tried to push her away Last Order had succeeded in kissing his cheek once more. Misaka Worst used the moment of confusion and kisses his other cheek.
"Victory!" Last Order squealed while Misaka Worst snickered for a moment.
Accelerator was sitting on the couch with a disgusted face and stared at the TV without really watching the move while two girls were clinging to him, both grinning as they had succeeded.
"I'll punish you for that." He growled angrily.
"Oh yes please, Misaka would love to be punished." Worst grinned.
The white haired teen sighed deeply and tried to ignore the girls.
"Why would you punish us for a kiss? Misaka asks as Misaka can't understand the meaning of your action."
"It's not a kiss if you force it, fucking brat."
"Hoho." Worst laughed. "Misaka didn't know that you were so old fashioned."
"Gah! Shut the hell up!" with that Accelerator pushed both girls away and went back to his room.
The girls began to giggle loudly once they were seated on the couch next to each other and stared at the TV.
"You really pushed him too far." Yoshikawa commented when she put away the stack of paper.
"Sometimes you have to force people to make them realize what they're missing, Misaka states as Misaka remembers the lines of a book."
Chapter 14: December 14
It was rare to see Yomikawa staring at the ground and lost in thought. She didn't even seem to notice that she wasn't alone in the living room anymore. The white haired teen frowned when he saw her. The cold had taken its toll on him, but so far he was managing and the headache could be ignored. What bothered him currently was that stack of crumbled up tissues lying all around the living room and the big blanket the tall woman was wrapped in. If he wouldn't have known it, he would have thought that this wasn't Yomikawa. It shocked him to see her like that. Usually he wasn't even the first to be awake, but the headache had forced him out of his sleep.
He knew that he was supposed to say something, ask what was wrong, but he could only stare at the woman that usually was so strong and never lost her temper. Maybe he even admired her, admired her for taking them in without any second thoughts, without fear, without prejudices. There weren't many people that accepted him for who he was and even less weren't scared of his incredible power. Once people found out he could kill them in less than a second, they usually got weary of him. Yomikawa wasn't. She wasn't even careful, constantly stepped over the line and he couldn't even find the courage to do something to her. She was an incredibly intimidating person if she wanted to be.
And now she was on the couch, her head in her knees and her arms around them. He wanted to think that he had gotten a cold too, but this wasn't the case. The woman was depressed about something and when he realized that it sent his thoughts spiraling down a path he didn't want them to take.
What if she had suddenly realized that taking him in was a bad idea?
What if she had gotten scared of him?
What if she didn't want him here anymore?
His legs began to tremble as he thought about it. He knew that it was wrong, that the woman never lied and that she would never do something she wasn't sure of. Yet he couldn't stop his thoughts and stumbled backwards against the wall. The soft thud made the woman look up as she now had finally realized that someone had entered the living room.
She dried her tears with a tissue and looked up at him with a smile. "My you're awake early." She commented.
"Cut the crap, what's going on?" he spat back at her.
Yomikawa sighed deeply and tied her hair back into a ponytail when she stood and unwrapped the blanket from her body. When she collected all the crumbled tissues she sighed once more.
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with." She smiled. "A friend of mine died last night."
He flinched. Almost envied her for being able to cry freely without any worried that someone would see her like that. When was the last time he had cried? He couldn't remember, but he knew that it had been long ago.
"Don't worry." Yomikawa said. "He didn't get killed."
"Why should I care?" He regretted the words the moment he had spoken them.
She laughed. "You always care, I can see it in your eyes."
He frowned at that. The woman was an Anti-Skill member, of course she had learned how to read people's expressions, but he had never realized that it had been that easy to read his. He scoffed.
"See?" Yomikawa chuckled. "You know I'm right."
"Who cares." He growled and headed for the couch when the woman walked into the kitchen to throw the tissues away.
"Was he family?" he silently asked, not because he was really curious, but whenever Last Order was depressed she wanted to talk about it. After that she would return to being normal. He wondered if that worked with Yomikawa too. The woman had probably figured out his plans already anyway so it probably had no effect on her.
"Nah, just a good friend. He was really old already, it wasn't surprising." Yomikawa muttered when she walked back into the living room. She put two mugs on the table, both filled with coffee.
"Why did you cry then?"
"That's just a normal reaction when someone died, isn't it?"
Silently he grabbed the mug and took a sip, didn't care about the taste or that it burned his tongue. The heath of the mug stung into his fingers but he didn't care either. Had she turned the conversation into that way on purpose?
"I wouldn't know. I killed ten thousand human beings and I didn't even feel guilty about it." He laughed. A laugh that split his mouth in a twisted way. The laugh that even worst couldn't replicate. It was so unique that it sent shivers down people's spines. They usually were facing death when he laughed. And they knew.
Yomikawa's face remained firm. She didn't focus on the laugh, she focused on his eyes. That laugh had never sounded amused to her. By now she was thinking that whenever he laughed like that he secretly wanted to cry. She didn't know what would happen if he would cry someday. In her mind she had played through this a few times, hoped to be prepared if it happened. If it ever happened. Maybe he was fine with how things were going, maybe he didn't need that sort of relief. He was incredibly different from most people she knew, after all. Maybe it was her selfish wish to see him share his pain with someone else. She couldn't do anything but being supportive if he didn't open up on his own.
"Why are you laughing like that? Asks Misaka as Misaka wants to laugh too." Last Order muttered when she appeared in the living room, rubbing her eyes while she dragged her blanket after.
Accelerator went silent and looked at her for a moment. "It wasn't funny." He hissed.
The girl's eyes widened as if she knew something Yomikawa didn't and rushed over to the couch Accelerator was sitting on. Quickly she climbed on the couch and wrapped her blanket around him. Before she sat down she put her hand on his forehead.
"Misaka's fever is gone already. Misaka states as Misaka wonder why you're still sick." The girl looked at Yomikawa as if waiting for a reply from her.
"Well, some people need longer to get rid of colds than others." With a smirk she added, "Look out that I don't get a cold. I'd be bedridden and then you'd have to cook dinner all the time."
"Yay! Misaka always wanted to make dinner on her own! Misaka yells as Misaka is excited about the idea.!"
"And then we'll all die of food poisoning." Accelerator sighed when the girl pouted at him.
"Misaka is disappointed that you don't trust her abilities. Again. Misaka muttered with fake disappointment.
"I bet even Worst can cook better than you."
The girl began to rage and rant, but Accelerator ignored her and grabbed the blanket when he started to feel cold. The girl soon calmed down again too and curled up next to him to continue sleeping.
"Oi, go to bed if you're tired, shitty brat!"
"But you're much more comfortable than the bed. And Warmer. Says Misaka as Misaka giggles silently."
He wondered about that. He was freezing terribly despite the blanket and the girl next to him. He hoped that this was really just and effect of the cold.
Chapter 15: December 15
He didn't know why he had agreed on taking a walk with the girls in the shivering cold. He still felt a bit out of it but at least the fever was gone. Misaka Worst Was walking in front of them and tried to hit children playing at the lake with snowballs.
Last Order soon picked up on that and tried it as well. The children played along once they noticed the attackers and the girls ran down to them. The laughs and giggles were carried away by the wind. The white haired teen who watched them play sighed in annoyance. He hoped that they would return home as soon as possible, yet it seemed that the girls would likely play forever. He also realized that two of the children playing down there were esper. It didn't worry him too much, most children had lower levels. Not that any of them would be a match for him anyway. He scoffed.
One of the children used some form of force field around him as all snowballs that flew into his direction shattered before they touched him the other seemed to be a teleporter. Both troublesome abilities, but neither of them seemed to use them in a violent way. They just kept tossing snowballs around, oblivious to the teen watching them. Misaka Worst seemed to have enough after a while and walked back to him.
"You look cold, shall Misaka warm you up?" The teen snickered as she moved closer to him and latched onto his free arm.
He pushed her away. "I'm fine, fricking pervert."
The yell of one of the kids snapped both of them out of their argument.
"Ah! Misaka didn't mean to do that! Misaka apologizes as Misaka runs over to help!"
The boy with the force field had gotten a snowball straight into his face and was left with a bloody nose. That wasn't anything to be too worried about, if the boy hadn't gotten angry about it.
"Why did you do that?!" The boy yelled at Last Order as he wiped the blood off his face.
The girl stopped in front of him and looked even more worried than she did before. "Misaka didn't mean to do that. Misaka repeats as she isn't sure if you heard her apology."
"You're weird! You're talking like a baby!" He yelled at her and pushed her away, causing her to land on her butt. The blonde boy was about to punch her when she threw another snowball at him to keep him away. The snowball shattered and small snowflakes rained down on the girl.
"Misaka thinks that you shouldn't attack her! Says Misaka as Misaka reminds you that she has apologized already."
"You hit my nose!" the boy yelled angrily and tackled the girl but he never reached her. He needed a moment to realized that someone had grabbed his collar and lifted him off the ground.
That someone was the white haired teenager that had been watching the children for a while. "If you hurt her, I'll hurt you." He growled in a low voice.
The boy growled at him. "You can't do that, I'm an esper!"
Accelerator laughed loudly at that. "So, what?"
"My force-field is strong!"
"That way of thinking gets you killed someday." He muttered. Last Order was tugging on his jacket as if trying to tell him that he should stop. The boy didn't seem afraid in the slightest, Accelerator almost wanted to show him what fear felt like. Underestimating others was a terrible thing. He had learned that the hard way too. More than once.
"I can show you!" the boy insisted as he struggled out of the grip of the teen.
The white haired esper let go of the boy and sighed deeply. "I don't care about that."
"Nothing can hit me."
The teen scoffed and threw a snowball at the boy. It did shatter without hitting the boy. "How boring." He commented as he walked back.
"You're just jealous that I can do something you can't!"
Last Order then frantically looked form one to the other, almost as if scared that one of them would snap before long. Worst was sitting on a rock and watched the scene playing in front of her with amusement. She wouldn't have minded a little fight.
"Why should I be jealous of such a stupid ability?"
"It's useful!"
"Like hell it is."
"Uhm... Misaka says as Misaka tries to-" Last Order was Mercilessly ignored when the boy threw snowballs at Accelerator. Two it him, the third flew into a different direction and shattered at the rock Worst was sitting on. The teen jumped to her feet with a yelp.
"Hey! You almost hit Misaka!"
He didn't comment on that when the boy ran in front of him. "You can use a force field too?!"
"it's not a force-field." Accelerator sighed and switched the electrode back to normal mode. "Go home, you're annoying."
"How did you do that?!"
"You can't learn it."
"Why? They said tha-"
The white haired teen growled loudly in annoyance. "it's unique. No one else possesses this ability. You can't learn it."
The boy seemed disappointed for a second, then grabbed the hand of his friend and decided to go home.
"Ah.. You chased them away, Says Misaka as Misaka is sad that the boys left already."
"He almost hit you." Accelerator reminded the girl.
"But Misaka hit him too, Misaka says as Misaka is sorry for having thrown a snowball at him."
"Hey he's got that force field. If he can't keep it up when it matters, that's his own problem."
"You were mean to him."
"Mean would have been if i had redirected that snowball at him."
"You purposely missed him? Misaka asks as Misaka is surprised."
The teen sighed once more. "It doesn't miss unless i want it to, stupid brat."
The girls sadness was suddenly washed away and replaced with a bright smile. "Let's all go and eat ice cream! Misaka suggest as Misaka jumped around in the snow!"
Last Order hopped around in the snow as if her life depended on it.
"isn't it too cold for ice cream?" He muttered.
"Misaka wants ice cream too!" Worst interrupted as she latched onto his arm again. "Ice cream! Ice Cream!"
"Ice Cream!" Last Order joined, yelling loudly. The girls soon made a yelling contest out of it that brought him very close to losing his temper.
"Shut the hell up!" he shouted at both of them.
However, the girls continued and ran away from him as he tried to chase them. They outran him pretty soon, but at least that meant that they couldn't yell directly into his ears.
"Idiots." He growled.
Chapter 16: December 16
There were times when the peaceful life got extremely boring. He might have wished for it, but now that daily life had turned into a routine it was nothing interesting anymore. At first he had been surprised at how normal people could act, that not everyone was out to cause trouble. But by now walking to the grocery store daily, keeping the girls happy and playing along with their stupid games had gotten tiresome. He wasn't even sure what he missed, this had always been what he wanted. A place in the light, even thought he was convinced that it had been impossible. Now that he had seen how boring this life could be he wasn't sure anymore if he liked it or not. His idea of fun was different from what the girls did. Then again, he had probably never learned how fun it was to have a normal life.
It had once been a wish to do stupid things, playing on a playground with friends without being afraid that his power would harm anyone. Now it was way too late for that. He didn't even know if he had someone he could call a friend. The girls just followed him. Maybe Last Order was a friend. But had that attachment really been out of her own free will? In the beginning she just wanted to use him to get back to the researchers. Why was she still around him? Her sugar coated words always calmed him down, he couldn't bring himself to hate this girl even if he wanted it. But why?
When she wasn't around he got nervous and when she was with him he got annoyed. It was the same with Worst, but on a different level. He didn't get worried about Worst that easily. The teen had enough power to take out people that attacked her. Last Order too, but she was simply too friendly. Would she be naive enough to go along with a stranger if they just said the right words to her or was he trusting her too little? What if she really did hate him deep inside? Even though Worst was still there too. She could leave at any time, no one would hold her back. But she stayed. Was it because she had no other place to go to? Would either of them just leave if they found something better?
His own thoughts hurt. He still thought that he didn't deserve any of this. He had murdered people, people that technically didn't exist. No one would do anything about it.
A suddenly weight around his shoulders made him flinch violently. "Sorry." Yomikawa laughed. "I didn't mean to surprise you."
She had put a blanket around his shoulders, probably because she had noticed that he was freezing. He was freezing a lot lately, but it seemed that the cold didn't come from outside. It was a feeling deep within and he didn't like it in the slightest. He was sitting in the cold living room, the TV wasn't on, silent music could be heard from the hallway. The girls were probably playing something.
"You're awfully quiet lately." Yomikawa commented. "Something bothering you?" She was leaning over the backrest of the couch he was sitting on and watched him closely.
"Not really." He lied. In fact there was enough to bother him that he could write a book about if he wanted to.
The tall woman smirked. "You're lying."
He turned away. "So what?"
She sighed. "I was thinking of taking you and the girls out for a short trip again."
He growled in annoyance. It was true that he had wanted some change in the routine, but he was sure that the woman was planning on something weird again that would bother him to no end and leave him with bruises and all that stuff. Like the ice skating. He didn't dare to admit that it had been a little fun. After all he had to use the esper mode to enjoy it. Wasn't there anything he could enjoy even in the state he was in? He was having a pretty normal life now, he had gotten used to it. Used to the electrode, used to the cane. By now it was a part of him. Something that would have never happened if he had decided to just kill the girl back then. But he wanted to prove the dark side that he could do something good. And had almost lost his life in the process. The electrode was a small thing compared to how bad everything could have gotten. Without him the SISTERS would have went on a rampage. But a war had happened anyway, for different reasons though.
"Are you listening?" Yomikawa asked and ripped him out of his thoughts.
"What?" he asked in confusion. Had she been talking to him?
"I was asking if you would be interested in helping with something for Christmas."
He glared at her for a long time. "No." Was his short answer.
Yomikawa exaggerated a sigh. "Komoe-sensei was really excited about it. It would be a shame to disappoint her."
"Komoe-Sensei?"
"Ah you met her once. Pink hair, about Last Order's height. Teacher at a school. Friend of mine."
He nodded when he remembered.
"There is something she wanted to do, but can't because of work. So she asked me."
"And what is it?"
Yomikawa grinned. "I'll show you when you agree to come with me."
He didn't really want to, but he was sure he would die of boredom if he stayed in the apartment any longer. So he agreed and found himself in Yomikawa's car, surrounded by two girls and tons of packages with various pictures on them. Presents? For whom? What person in the world got so many presents other than a rich, spoiled brat that had no manners?
Last Order eyes the presents with big eyes and kept wondering aloud about the same thing. The drive was spent mostly in silence, except Last Order's whining about how long she had to stay in the car. Once Yomikawa pulled into the parking lot, the girl was out of the car before Yomikawa even turned off the engine.
When everyone was out of the car Last Order suddenly grabbed Accelerators sleeve and refused to let go. "Misaka has a bad feeling about this place, says Misaka as Misaka can't tell why she would feel that way."
"Misaka doesn't like this place either." Worst commented.
"That makes three." He growled silently. He had a strange feeling as well. Something he couldn't quite place, but it bugged him to no end. It seemed dangerous and set him on edge.
"What are you making the long faces for?" Yomikawa laughed when she unloaded the bags from the car. "We're just helping Komoe-Sensei."
Neither of the three seemed interested in that, upon closer look one would think that all three just waited for a chance to escape from the place. Yomikawa didn't give them a chance to run though when she forced a bag on each of them and told them to follow her. Once the building came in sight Accelerator stopped in his tracks and refused to take another step. It was an orphanage.
"What's wrong?" Yomikawa asked. "We're just delivering the presents. We can leave after that."
"I'm not going in there." He growled.
Yomikawa frowned at him for a moment, then shrugged and took the back he was carrying before she entered the building.
Accelerator wasn't quite sure why he didn't like the place. Maybe it reminded him of experiments and other terrible things. He felt as if his legs were frozen to the ground. These children had nothing but themselves, some of them were espers and all of them had been abandoned by their parents.
"Are you hurt?" a child like voice suddenly sounded next to him. It was a small girl dressed in a thick winter coat. She was wearing a hat and gloves and tilted her head slightly.
"No." He growled at her.
The girl frowned, her brown eyes piercing into his. Black strands of hair peeked out from under her hat.
"Are you listening to music?" someone else asked. A boy had appeared next to the girl. They seemed to be siblings.
"Hah?"
"What are you listening to?" The girl asked.
"I'm not listening to music..." He was confused but didn't feel as uncomfortable as he had thought he would. Maybe he had gotten used to the stupid behavior of kids ever since he had met Last Order. They didn't seem to bother him as much as they used to.
"Can you play with us?" a third child asked. Another girl who looked different from the other two.
"I'm not playing with any of you." He growled.
"Because you're hurt?" The first girl asked.
"I'm not hurt for fucks sake!"
"But you're using a cane!" the boy added.
"So what?!" he spat back."
"You're not supposed to use bad words." The third girl muttered.
He growled in annoyance and sat down on the steps to the front door of the building. The children immediately surrounded him and bombarded him with questions. He didn't bother to answer any of them but he considered reflecting the sound for a moment. That was until the boy grabbed the wire of the electrode and tried to pull it, probably thinking that it was some sort of headphones. Instantly Accelerator grabbed the hand of the boy and glared daggers at him.
"Let go of that, you fucking brat!" He hissed.
"We want to hear music too." One of the girls mumbled.
The boy let go of the wire and looked like he was about to cry.
"It doesn't play music!" The teen yelled at the three, hoping to scare them away but they were unimpressed at the outburst.
"But what else does it do?"
Frantically he searched for words that kids could understand. Showing them would be easier but he had no intention of lowering his defenses that much in an open area. Being here alone was probably dangerous enough.
In the end he gave up and entered the building after all. Closely followed by the three children that seemed eager to show him everything. They didn't seem to be bothered by him in the slightest. After a while he spotted Last Order who was sitting in the middle of some building made with wooden boxes.
"Accelerator!" She yelled when she saw him. "Misaka is building a castle with the children, Misaka comments as Misaka wants you to help."
Considering that playing with Last Order would cause the least amount of stress he gave in and sat down next to the girl. Inside the room were a few more children, all happily playing with each other. Something about it felt familiar to him, but he couldn't place it.
"Misaka thinks that they really wanted someone to play with. Says Misaka as Misaka feels sorry for all these children."
"So what, technically you have no parents either." He growled back at her and tipped over a tower the girl had been building.
"Hey! Don't break it! Yells Misaka as Misaka pouts at you." She did as told, but the expression didn't stay for long. "Misaka doesn't need parents because Misaka has Yomikawa and Onee-san and You and Yoshikawa and Misaka Worst and the SISTERS. Says Misaka as Misaka mentions every person that is important to her."
He sighed and rebuilt the tower he had tipped over. Now the children had noticed that teen and headed over to him. This time a girl reached for the wire of the electrode. He batted her hand away before she could touch it.
"Keep your freaking hands away from that thing!" he shouted, causing the children to go quiet immediately.
The girl who had reached for it started to cry.
"You made her cry... Misaka mutters as Misaka isn't sure if it was okay to yell or not. It would be inconvenient if the wire broke..."
"You can just buy a new one!" another child yelled. "You didn't have to hit her!"
He knew he had overreacted, but that didn't give the girl the right to touch it.
"But it's a special wire, Misaka explains as Misaka tries to prevent a fight."
Accelerator finally had enough of the annoying children and left the room. He ran into Yomikawa, who was surprised to see him inside the building.
"Were you playing with them?" The tall woman smiled.
"Like hell I would." He growled and went to look for Worst. The girl had to be somewhere too. Maybe she would have some weird ideas to save the day from reaching the bottomless pit of anger.
After all, she always had strange ideas.
Chapter 17: December 17
Alright. Today it's been a year since a person I really loved left this world. I knew her all my life and she's been like a mother to me. It's not easy to lose a family member, I'm sure some of you know that feeling too.
I've been thinking about this chapter ever since I started the one-shots, I didn't know what to write or how to write it. This one is probably the most difficult of them all, mostly because I didn't want to influence the characters too much. They all have a set personality, unlike the other fandoms I write for. This is the first time I am working with characters that have fixed personalities, that is probably why some actions seem OOC or weird.
So... Like i said, this one-shot is difficult for me. And I am sort of sorry for doing this, but i think i foreshadowed it quite a bit, don't be surprised. I'll try to make the next one-shots light hearted again. Also I now finished reading the first 22 volumes of the Novel. What I learned: Worst is extremely funny and scary at the same time. (Looks like I caught her personality even without knowing that much ). Accelerator is the most badass character i have ever seen. And Touma... is Touma. (I can't bond with him... Then again i always had a knack for these eccentric characters that don't give a shit about others until someone breaks their shell.)
That night a girl died. She died over and over again in different ways and various situations. The girls face was always the same, her big eyes wide in fear, her terrified screams audible through the whole city. The ground was dyed red, goggles lying around, various parts of bodies ripped apart and tossed away. Torn school uniforms were lying around and girls. School girls appearing to be about fourteen years old. They all looked the same, spoke in the same voice. And their eyes were all focused on one person.
A young man about sixteen was standing in the middle of it all, surrounded by dead bodies and covered in blood. There was a wide grin on his face but he seemed terrified as he looked over the area. There was nothing but blood, no buildings, no lights. Just blood and dead bodies. Too many to count. He had sworn to never do that again. Why was he standing there?
Suddenly hands from all directions grabbed his arms and legs, surrounded him and voices merged into each other. He couldn't understand any of it, felt his heart racing as fear spread through his body. What was happening?! Why was it happening?!
Something touched his face and two brown eyes stared at him. Big eyes. Childlike eyes. The girl had a reassuring smile on her face when she reached out to him and grabbed his throat, making it hard for him to breathe. A girl so young couldn't have strength like that... but she did. And then her calm smile twisted into a grin as she cackled loudly.
"Misaka hates you. Misaka wants you to die like they have died. Says Misaka as Misaka is finally able to show her immense hatred for you."
And then she tore apart and hot blood covered him once more. The blood of the girl he would have died for to protect.
With a yell he sat up, panting he looked around, his heart hammering against his chest as if it wanted to flee. The room was illuminated by a lamp on the nightstand, the door slightly ajar. His damp clothing was glued against his skin and left him shivering. This nightmare had been different form the others, not just because he could remember it clearly. It had been more horrifying than any nightmares he had ever had.
It had been a nightmare, right? Last order was sleeping peacefully in her bed and was dreaming about stupid things like frogs. He wouldn't be sure of that until he saw it, but his body was trembling so badly that he couldn't even find the strength to get out of bed. As he tried it anyway, the door opened and a small girl appeared. He involuntarily flinched when he recognized her. The girl from his nightmare. She was alive. Without wanting it he moved away from her, knew it was ridiculous to be afraid of her. Yet she held the power to actually kill him. All it took was a simple command to disconnect him from the network, the rest would be easy for her. It was her right, wasn't it?
"Accelerator?" She asked silently, blanket and pillow in her hands as her bare feet slowly made their way over to the bed.
"Are you alright? Asks Misaka as Misaka heard you call her and wondered what was wrong."
'Of course!' he wanted to say but he couldn't get the words out. All he could do was stare at the girl as he trembled in fear. He had always found the strength he needed to fight even if he was scared. Why not now? Why could he barely move? Had he yelled her name?
His eyes were fixed on the girl, didn't leave her for even a second, watched every step, every breath, even how often she blinked while she frowned at him with her big eyes.
"Just nightmares." He finally managed to say. And memories too, but he kept quiet about that.
She crawled onto the bed before he could protest, had the blanket placed around his shoulder before he could move. He could only stare at her while she smiled and moved her warm arms around him.
"Misaka sometimes has nightmares too. Misaka mutters as Misaka shares a secret with you."
"About what?" he whispered silently, his voice hoarse.
Last Order was silent for a long time as if unsure if she should share the information or not. "The nightmares are memories from other Misakas." The girl whispered almost inaudibly.
"You have nightmares about what they experienced?" The Network was still something he couldn't quite understand despite having to rely on it.
"The nightmares... are Memories from those that aren't alive anymore. Misaka whispers as Misaka hopes that you didn't hear her..."
The flinch made it obvious to the girl that he had heard her. But instead of pushing her away like she had expected he moved his arms around her and held her tightly. Last Order had kept it a secret form anyone and thought that she would never share it.
"Misaka... " She sniffed. "Misaka didn't want you to know. Cries Misaka as Misaka tried hard to stop the flood of tears rushing down her face."
"They would hate me if they could." He whispered, surprised that his voice was trembling too now. His chest felt tight and his eyes burned.
She sniffed once more. "Do you want them to hate you? Asks Misaka as Misaka tries to cheer you up."
He scoffed silently and rested his chin on her shoulder. "That's not going to cheer me up." He whispered with his trembling voice.
"So you're finally admitting it?" a different voice suddenly asked.
The two people on the bed looked up to see Yomikawa leaning in the doorway with a nightgown on and a blanket over it.
"Admitting what?" Accelerator asked. He couldn't even find the strength to snap at her for intruding and listening to the conversation.
"That you are not 'fine'."
"What's that supposed to mean?" He wanted to know.
Yomikawa sighed and walked over to them. "You've been having nightmares a lot lately. Don't think I didn't notice."
"Tch." He pushed Last Order away when Yomikawa sat on the bed and turned around.
The girl wiped her face and curled up in her blanket. Silently she grabbed his shirt and watched them while she drifted back into sleep. He wanted to stroke her hair but he couldn't find the courage to touch her.
"Let's talk in the living room."
"I don't want to talk." The teen growled back at her.
The tall woman shot him the 'i-don't-care' glare and pulled him to his feet. He silently followed her to the living room and slumped on the couch when she headed to the kitchen. He glared at the small plastic Christmas-tree, decorated with all kinds of girly things and glittering so much that it hurt his eyes.
"What are the nightmares about?" Yomikawa asked as she put a cup with tea on the table and sat down next to him, mindful to keep a gap between them.
He shrugged and stared out of the window into the night sky. It was a clear night, countless stars to be seen. He looked past it. "Nothing."
"I get nightmares too, sometimes." Yomikawa muttered while she stirred the fluid in the cup.
He scoffed and grabbed the warm blanket on the couch. Once he was finished wrapping himself into it he noticed how tired he was. Sleeping hadn't been easy in the past days. He often woke up and was glad when no one came to his room.
"I had one yesterday." She smiled. It was a sad smile. "It involved murder of someone very dear to me. I had to make sure that the person was still there before i went back to bed."
"So what?" the teen growled.
"I'm just sharing a secret with you. I didn't even tell Kikyou."
The teen growled in annoyance and kept staring out of the window. "The SISTERS." He whispered with a smirk. "Taking revenge." His smirk turned into a silent laugh. "I deserve to feel all the fear and sorrow they couldn't."
Yomikawa reached out and grabbed his shoulders to turn him back towards her. His shoulders were trembling as he kept laughing at how ridiculous everything was. He tried to struggle out of the woman's grip, but she refused to let go and pulled him into a tight hug. The laughing had stopped and his voice was muffled by the blanket Yomikawa had wrapped around herself.
Yomikawa let him talk to himself for a while, not sure how to solve the issue at hand. At that moment she realized that she wasn't used to situations like these. She decided to stay calm and just listen to him. He was a child too, one that had seen too much and now he was gripping the blanket around her and trembled uncontrollably. She wasn't afraid in the slightest. The boy could kill without wasting a second, but she just couldn't think of him as dangerous or frightening. He was just a child like all other children.
"They don't hate you." Yomikawa finally said.
"Because they don't understand! They would hate me if they could! They should hate me! That's better than meeting them on the streets and..." he swallowed hard. "They treat me like this... even though they know what I did..."
"Maybe they want to forget." Yomikawa then said with a firm voice when she grabbed his shoulders once more.
He stared at her for a long time, then scoffed once again. He didn't struggle against the tight grip the woman had, didn't want to push her away. It was a strange feeling, different from what he got when Last Order was hugging him. Yomikawa gave off a feeling he couldn't place, but he thought that this would be the feeling of being comforted by a mother. She gently ran a hand over his back and kissed his hair on a whim.
"It's late." The woman then whispered. "Try to get some sleep."
"And see her getting killed by my own power again?!" As he yelled he moved away from the woman and glared at her.
"Just a nightmare. You said so yourself."
"I don't understand you, woman." He growled.
"I don't understand you either. If you're hurting that much, just let it out."
He clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"You saved her and almost lost your life in the process. More than once." She tapped her forehead to hint at a certain event at the end auf august.
He growled. "So what? I'm still alive."
"Haa..." Yomikawa sighed with a smile and stretched. "You're a harder to crack than i thought."
Immediately he went defensive and moved a hand up to his neck.
The woman laughed loudly. "I just thought that if I can make you cry, you would loosen up a bit. But, that plan ultimately failed. You're a lot stronger than I thought."
He took his hand down and rolled his eyes. "You make a bad villain." He joked. " Revealing everything about your plans right away."
Yomikawa laughed at that, not taking him seriously. "I think i just needed to reassure myself that you are okay. I don't know what happened in Russia except what the girls told me."
"It's better that you don't know."
"Last Order said you turned into an Angel."
He got pale at that. "The fucking brat was delusional. She probably got snow in her eyes and didn't realize!"
Yomikawa laughed. "Worst suggested that we put you on the Christmas-tree."
He wasn't sure how the conversation had taken that turn, but he felt a lot better than before. Nightmares were nightmares, fears, thoughts, everything mixed together.
Nothing else.
Chapter 18: December 18
That afternoon Last Order face planted over a package that blocked her door. She went back to her room to get dressed after the bath and rubbed her face as she frowned at the strange object. There was a small card attached to it but it didn't state whom it was from.
All the card said was: "You tripped over it, didn't you? Stupid brat."
Getting a good idea who had placed the package at the door carried it into her room and closed the door.
"Misaka is really curious. Misaka wonders aloud as Misaka eyes the package." She walked around the package a few times, pursed her lip and eyed it from all angles while guessing what could be inside of it.
"Misaka isn't sure if she is supposed to open it yet. Mutters Misaka as Misaka opens it anyway."
Whoever had left it in front of her door had known that she would open it right away. Curiously she sat to work, got tangled in the big bow around it and struggled it off while she ripped the wrapping paper apart. On top of a plastic bag was another card.
"Knew you wouldn't hold back. Don't squeeze in if it doesn't fit."
Last Order pouted at the words on the card. She knew the neat writing, but she had expected something more lively. After she had carefully set aside the card she opened the plastic bag and pulled out a teal colored dress.
"Wuaaah! Misaka exclaims as Misaka cannot believe her eyes!"
The skirt of the dress was decorated with small flowers and there was a big boy around the waist that had flowers attached as well. The girl gaped at the dress for a long time before she quickly removed her sleeping wear and put on the dress. She struggled to get the zipper closed but eventually managed to do so and stared into the mirror next to the door. Quickly she pulled out white tights and put them on as well before she rushed out of her room and dashed into the living room in a dead run, proud of how the skirt of the dress was flying behind her.
"Thank you! Misaka yells as Misaka shows off her new dress!" The girl instantly jumped at the sleeping teen on the couch, who sat up in surprise and pushed her away when he recognized her. Mumbling something he turned around and slumped back into the pillows with a yawn.
"You're ready?" Yomikawa asked from the kitchen with a smile.
"Misaka is always ready! Says Misaka as Misaka wonders what she needs to be ready for."
"You'll find out, brat..." was the yawning reply from the couch.
Yomikawa entered the living room and Last Order tilted her head in confusion. "You're wearing a dress too! Misaka notes as Misaka stares at the elegant dress that really caresses your curves."
"The heck are you talking about?!" Accelerator yelled at her when he sat up. Yomikawa was wearing a short black dress with a flower attacked at the side of it.
"Ha! You dressed up too! Says Misaka as Misaka inspects the strange clothing."
The white haired teen growled silently. "They forced me!"
"Misaka thinks you look sexy in a suit." Worst snickered when she peeked into the living room. It earned her a pillow thrown at her face. "With a better haircut it would look even more sexy."
A second pillow flew at her.
"She is right." Yomikawa muttered while she tilted her head and pretended to be thinking. "Your hair has gotten really long."
"Who cares?!" he growled angrily.
"Misaka likes your hair. Says Misaka as Misaka thinks about how your hair looked when she first met you."
"You really need a haircut." Yomikawa then concluded.
The white haired teen glared at the three female beings that were staring at him, each of them with a different idea in their mind and none of them particularly likeable.
"I can cut it." Yomikawa suggested while rummaging through a drawer, probably in search for scissors.
"It's fine!" the teen protested and ducked away when the tall woman threw something at him. It landed on the couch and seemed to be a package of hair bands. Of course she had a stack of that somewhere, she had fairly long hair herself.
"If you're not going to cut it at least tie it together."
He glared at her, but soon realized that the woman was going to shave his head bald if he didn't do what she said.
While he struggled with the hair band, Last Order shifted the center of attention to herself.
"Where are we going?! Asks Misaka in excitement as Misaka wants to know it too!"
"First we're going to pick up Kikyou." Yomikawa smiled. "And then we're visiting the Christmas banquet Anti-Skill is holding every year."
"Waaah!" Last Order exclaimed. "Free food!"
A hand landed on her head. "Is that all you think about, fucking brat?!"
Last Order Flashed him one of her Puppy-eyed smiles and ducked away when he was about to hit her head again.
"Haha! You missed! Says Misaka as Misaka crosses her arms with a mischievous look."
"We need to get going or we'll be late." Yomikawa reminded them.
The headquarter of Anti-Skill was subtly decorated, a simple sign showing whoever was invited where they had to go. There were a few Christmas lights hanging over the doors, but one could easily ignore that.
What couldn't be ignored was the crowd that was standing on front of the doors, consisting mostly of people that seemed to know each other. Yomikawa immediately greeted them and a young and shy looking woman with glasses beamed happily when she noticed the tall woman.
Last Order could tell that someone next to her was about to snap. She tugged on his sleeve and then pointed at someone standing at the wall of a building.
Accelerator could see Two judgment girls, another girl with black hair and the Railgun.
"What are they doing here?" he growled silently.
"Misaka thinks they might want to have some fun." Worst commented and was about to head over to them when Accelerator grabbed her arm and pulled her backwards.
"Just ignore them."
"Misaka thinks that it would be fun to mix things up a bit."
"Yomikawa is going to kill us if we do that."
Worst snickered. "You just don't want to."
"Yes. I don't want to fight."
The teen blinked at him for a moment, then laughed loudly.
"We're surrounded by anti-skill members." Accelerator reminded her.
The teen sighed in defeat. "Alright. But This isn't over. Misaka really wants to have some fun."
"Play a video game then."
After Yoshikawa had joined them they entered the huge building. It was so crowded that neither of them could get a glimpse of the building itself until everyone had found something to do. Worst instantly headed for the buffet, accompanied by Yoshikawa who seemed as if she felt out of place. Yomikawa was talking to the judgment girls until she noticed the white haired teen not too far away suddenly moving around frantically. His eyes scanned the area, darting around as if looking for something. Thinking that something might be going on she paused the conversation with the girls and waved the white haired teen over.
"What's wrong?"
"This fucking brat..." The teen growled, he tried to sound angry but to Yomikawa it sounded as if he was on the verge of panicking.
"She should be somewhere in this building." Yomikawa sighed. "Don't worry, someone will find her sooner or later."
"I don't like this." Accelerator growled. "I'll look for her."
"A child got lost?" the twin-tailed girl next to the Railgun asked as Accelerator was already walking through the building.
He almost flinched when he heard footsteps next to him. "It'll be bad if Kuroko finds out about her. Why did you even bring her?!" the Railgun yelled at him.
"It's not like you're her guardian or anything." He spat back at her.
"But you are or what?" She scoffed.
"I'll protect her." He growled and sped up a little.
The girl had no trouble to keep up with him. "Well you're doing a shitty job." She smirked.
The teen grabbed her collar and pushed her against a wall. Even without his ability on he had more strength than the girl had expected. "You don't know anything, fucking idiot." He hissed silently. His face was twisted, but the grin on his face didn't intimidate the girl anymore.
"Let go or I'll fry you for real this time." She growled back at him, sparks emitting from her forehead.
The older teen tossed her aside and continued to walk through the building. He frantically called the girl's cell-phone too, but she didn't pick up.
The other teen kept following him around.
"Hey, how do you call that kid? She's referring to herself as Misaka as well so-"
"Last Order." He interrupted her.
"Did you give her that name?"
The taller teen was silent for a second. "I didn't."
"Where are we supposed to loo-"
The other teen stopped. "Can't you shut up for fucking five minutes?! I'm trying to think!"
"I wonder if that even works with that brain." The girl scoffed.
Accelerator took in a deep breath and closed his eyes in order to calm himself. This wasn't the right time to fight the Railgun. He had to find Last Order first.
"You should be grateful for the sisters to support your calculations even though you murdered so many of them. I really hate you, you're the lowest of the low. You're a monster, like they all say."
He tried really hard not to punch her. She was stupid, she had no idea.
"Did it ever occur to you that I am human too?" he said silently and kept walking on even when the girl stopped in her tracks as if she had just realized it.
He couldn't care less as he entered an elevator, growled in annoyance when the Railgun jumped in as well. Awkward silence surrounded them. The taller teen was leaning against the wall, red eyes glaring at the girl but she couldn't get the feeling from it that she got when she had seen him for the first time. He didn't seem intimidating at all.
"Were could the girl be?" Mikoto asked silently to break the terribly uncomfortable silence.
"She's either wandering around the hallways or on the roof and enjoys the sight. She probably doesn't even realize that she is alone."
"You seem to know her well..."
He lifted an eyebrow at that.
"I-I mean you can tell where she could be and what she could be doing!"
Accelerator shrugged and excited the elevator once it had stopped at the top floor. Immediately after that he saw a girl in a dress sitting on a bench, obviously crying.
"Last Order!" he yelled, his voice echoing through the hallway.
The girl lifted her head and jumped to her feet. Once she saw him after wiping the tears away she came running towards him and jumped at him. Expecting that she would do that he had already adjusted the positioning of his legs so he wouldn't fall backwards.
"Misaka got lost! Cries Misaka as Misaka is happy to see you again."
He moved his free arm around her and gave her a short hug before he realized that the Railgun was watching, dumbfounded.
"You're... hugging... him of all people?!"
Last Order frowned. "Is it wrong to hug someone you like? Asks Misaka as Misaka doesn't understand the question."
"No..." Mikoto muttered silently and stumbled backward against a wall.
"We need to get back to the others! Says Misaka as Misaka remembers all the free food she has seen."
Once the girl was standing on the ground again she took the hand of the white haired teen and smiled brightly.
"Misaka also wants to show off the dress you bought for her. Says Misaka as Misaka reveals her true intentions."
"You bought her a dress?!" sounded a voice behind them.
"He also bought Gekota plushies for Misaka, says Misaka as Misaka tries to make the original jealous."
The Railgun was once again dumbfounded and could only stare at the scene playing in front of her. This looked like a father and a child, not like a monster with an innocent girl that had no idea. The girl had to know what he did. Every Misaka knew. And yet she was acting as if she was in a Lion's cage and walked towards it without realizing the danger.
"Get over it, Railgun." The white haired teen muttered. "I can't change what I did."
"Do you at least feel guilty for it?!"
"He does. Answers Misaka as Misaka senses that he wouldn't give a honest reply."
Chapter 19: December 19
„Misaka thinks that she needs a Boyfriend. Comments Misaka after watching the romance movie with Misaka Worst."
That was what Last Order had said before the white haired teen almost choked on his coffee and stared blankly at the girl.
"A boyfriend?" he coughed. "Why would you need one?"
"Now that you mention it, Misaka wants a boyfriend too." Worst grinned brightly as she sat down next to the white haired teen on the couch and leaned against him. "And she already has someone interesting next to her~"
"Get off of me, fucking pervert!" Accelerator shouted while he pushed the other teen away. "You wouldn't get a boyfriend even if you paid them."
Worst made grimace of mock disappointment and stared at him for a moment. "You're just jealous that Misaka has a chance with guys while you will never get a girlfriend."
"I don't even want one! Now get off before i throw you out the window!"
Worst only grinned at the and tried to get even closer. "You wouldn't dare~" she whispered with a sinister grin.
He was about to yell at her when suddenly the doorbell rang. Before either of the two could react Last Order had already dashed for the door and opened it.
"Don't open the door before asking who's there!" Accelerator shouted at her and finally managed to push Worst away.
"But Misaka knows who's there already! Explains Misaka as Misaka eagerly opens the door to welcome Misaka #10032 and The Original."
Silence settled over the living room, Worst and Accelerator shared a confused look and got up from the couch. When they headed over to the front door, Last Oder was already standing in the he hall to welcome the guests.
Mikoto was stunned at the huge building. Everything was modern and fairly new. She didn't know what she had expected, but she wasn't sure that the apartment where Accelerator lived should have been in such a building.
"Is this for real?" She asked herself when she exited the Elevator and was immediately greeted by the mini-version of her. "Welcome! Greets Misaka as Misaka rushes up to you to show you the apartment!" Last Order shouted once she saw the two girls.
"Misaka has already explained that she knows where the command tower resides, repeats Misaka as she tries to sound bored."
"Don't get cocky now. I only wanted to give this back and leave again." Mikoto growled silently and showed a paper bag to her look alike.
"Onee-Sama was just looking for an excuse to visit this apartment, thinks Misaka as this was her only conclusion as to why you would drag me along and buy cookies." The clone grinned in a subtle yet unnerving way.
Once Last Order had guided them to the apartment, Misaka Worst and Accelerator were already waiting for the guest. Both didn't seem too impressed.
"The original." Misaka Worst commented with a strange grin.
"What the fuck are you doing here?!"
Mikoto laughed nervously at the defensive greeting of academy city's #1, but wasn't too surprised that he reacted this way. After all, she had been the one who had said quite unnecessary things to him the previous day.
"I...Thought about what you said yesterday." She muttered silently, her face red in embarrassment as she held out the bag she was holding.
Accelerator glared at her for a moment, then leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms. "Do you really think you can fool me with this?"
"H-huh?" The teen looked shocked, then sighed and let her arms sink. "W-well... what I said yesterday wasn't... exactly..." She struggled to find the right words for a second then closed her eyes. "I'm sorry!" she yelled loudly without looking at him.
Awkward silence spread around them until Accelerator took is cane again and headed inside the apartment. "Don't touch anything."
Mikoto was shocked. Did he just invite her into the apartment? She must have been right because Last Order took her hand and pulled her into the apartment. Slowly she took off her shoes and felt awfully out of place when the small girl showed her the living room. Accelerator was sitting on one of the two couches with his arms crossed and a glare on his face that couldn't mean anything good. She was sure that he would attack her if she made one wrong move.
"What do you want?" He growled at her.
"W-well if you don't want me here, I'll leave." The girl muttered, not sure where to put her hands and just hid them behind her back and scolded herself for presenting such an opening to a killer.
"You went to the trouble to get here, so there has to be something you want."
"Uhm..." nervously she came closer and put the paper bag on the table. "I...couldn't sleep last night because of the things I said... and you were so nice to Last Order... and-" She squeaked and reeled back when he moved forward and glared at her.
He smirked. "This isn't some shitty fairy tale, Railgun."
She took a deep breath and all her nervousness seemed to have disappeared. "I know." She stated firmly. "I wanted to apologize for being a jerk. I said things I shouldn't have said..."
"You're repeating yourself." He growled back at her.
Sensing that she wouldn't be able to say what she actually wanted to say she reached into the paper bag and pulled out two small packages. One had colorful wrapper around it, the other was just a cardboard box.
"C-can i give this to the girl?" She held up the colorful box. "...You said you protect her, so... I wanted to make sure that you won't attack me if i get too close to her."
The look her shot her made her gulp. Whatever she had thought about him the previous day, it was gone. Right now he looked as if he could kill her on the spot.
"Uhm..."
"Last Order!" Accelerator suddenly yelled, making the Railgun flinch badly.
The small girl soon ran back into the living room with both of the other clones in two. "What's wrong? Asks Misaka as Misaka is slightly worried that something might have happened."
"I wasn't even sleeping, stupid brat." He growled back at her.
"Sh-shouldn't you talk a little more nicely to her?" Mikoto muttered silently. She was surprised at the fact that a person like him could act so normal. Then she reminded herself again that he was indeed human.
"He's always talking like this. Explains Misaka as Misaka doesn't feel offended by it in the slightest."
"Some people can only express their love through violence." Worst added. A pillow flew at her. She caught it with a grin. "Hoho~ See?"
Mikoto laughed nervously and handed the package she was holding to Last Order. "I saw this and thought you might like it..."
"A present? Asks Misaka as Misaka gets suspicious of your intentions." A sneaky grin formed on her small face. "Did you buy this to bribe Misaka?"
"What?" The Railgun asked in shock. "I didn't think about that at all!" Angrily she glared at Accelerator, likely assuming that she had picked up that sort of behavior form him.
"You can't bribe Misaka. Says Misaka as Misaka opens the-" While she spoke she had already ripped the wrapper and revealed a small plush toy of Gekota with a Christmas outfit.
"Hoho~ You did bribe her after all~ Misaka thinks that this gift is way too good for the command tower."
"I... have something for you too." Mikoto muttered silently and handed the slightly taller teen the other package.
"Cookies for Misaka?" Worst asked in disbelief.
"Well... I didn't know what you liked so-" The Railgun stopped talking once she had both clones hugging her.
"Misaka wants to try that too. Says Misaka as she hugs Onee-sama as well." The third clone joined the hug and now the four girls looked like a set of actual siblings rather than clones.
"Take a picture, a picture! Urges Misaka as Misaka wants to keep this memory!" Last Order grinned at Accelerator who reluctantly pulled out his cell-phone, knowing that the girl wouldn't stop nagging until he did it.
He took a picture, then put his cell-phone away again.
"I think you should join the hug too." Worst suggested.
"Like hell!" both Mikoto and Accelerator shouted at the same time.
"Onee-Sama, didn't you buy a third gift? Asks Misaka as she remembers the third package in the paper bag." Misaka #10032 stated with her monotone voice and let go of the original. "You even had Misaka chose it."
Mikoto blushed brightly. "I-I decided against it! It was a ridiculous idea!"
Before she could react Last Order had darted for the paper bag and pulled another package out of it. "What could that be? Asks Misaka as Misaka tries to figure out what's inside of it."
"No!" Mikoto protested and grabbed the package. Last Order held on to it, but her small hands slipped and she stumbled backwards, about to hit the table behind her. Accelerator lunged forward and caught her but fell to his knees immediately after that.
Mikoto blinked in surprise, not quite sure what had happened. Last Order stood up again and Accelerator scrambled back to the couch, glaring at the Railgun.
"A-are you alright? Y-you fell down like that..." She asked nervously.
Thankfully worst answered before he snapped entirely. "Haha you're dense, so dense! Misaka thinks you better leave before a bloodbath is created."
"Who's going to create a bloodbath?" Came Yomikawa's voice from the hallway. "Oh, Mikoto-Chan. What a nice surprise to see you here."
"Y-Yomikawa...-san..." The girl muttered in shock. "Why are you here?"
"Well that's my apartment after all." She laughed.
"I... was about to leave... sorry for the intrusion." Mikoto quickly said and was about to turn away when Last Order grabbed her hand. "Misaka wants you to stay for dinner, says Misaka as she makes a selfish request."
"W-well... I'd rather... not." Nervously she looked at Accelerator who in turn glared at Yomikawa in hopes of her refusing, but both of them knew that Yomikawa wouldn't mind her staying for dinner.
"It's fine, jan. We can all eat together."
"And then what?!" Accelerator yelled. "Acting like nothing happened?!"
Yomikawa sighed. "She went to the trouble of actually coming here, be nice."
The teen scoffed, took the cane and headed to his room. He slammed the door shut and hoped neither of the girls would bother him anymore.
"Don't mind him." Yomikawa smiled.
"A-actually I'm surprised... he hasn't even tried to attack me."
"Was there a reason for it?" The taller woman asked as she headed into the kitchen.
"...Who knows. I don't understand him." Mikoto shrugged. She looked at the three girls that now sat on the floor in the living room and placed a video game.
"I... really shouldn't have come here." She whispered to herself.
While she thought about actually leaving despite being invited for dinner she walked through the hallway and passed two doors with name tags on it. A third didn't have one so she assumed that it was Accelerator's room. She really had been surprised to find out that this was actually Yomikawa's apartment.
Taking a deep breath she knocked at the door.
"Leave me alone, shitty brat!" was the immediate reply.
"So you always call her that?" Mikoto asked through the closed door.
"You can get lost too!"
"Fine... but before that..." silently she opened the door and threw the package she was holding onto his bed. "I'm sorry for what I said... and for how I acted. I won't forgive you for what you did, but you were right yesterday. It can't be changed... but you... you killed them!" she sobbed. "As if they were worthless... an..." she bit her lip when tears filled her eyes. "I saw how you murdered them... as if it was fun! As if you liked it! I can't forget that!" The tears now ran over her cheeks. "You enjoyed it didn't you?!"
He looked away, trying to hide how much her words stung. He couldn't get angry at her but his chest felt tight and his eyes burned. Her words were true. He had enjoyed it back then, but by now he was disgusted by it, hated himself for it. Her words didn't help.
"Get out..." he muttered silently, surprised at his cracking voice.
"I'm not done yet-" The girl went quiet when she stared at the two crimson eyes that were filled with tears. This felt strange to her, this person shouldn't have feelings like that.
"Leave." He whispered as he stared at her.
Mikoto slowly took a step backwards and silently closed the door, utterly shocked at what she had seen. Had she imagined it? She was tempted to look again, but she didn't want to at the same time.
This was just too absurd. Way too absurd to be true.
Chapter 20: December 20
Randomness... i never really wrote Touma before... I hope i didn't mess up too badly... After the chapter yesterday, about I have to admit that i am terrible embarrassed at it, i wanted something funny... But i don't do well with humor. I think you noticed that already. Haha. Thank you for all the nice reviews again. They really cheer me up and make me feel less terrible about the one shots. Sometimes i get really anxious about submitting them.
It took quite a bit to make Yomikawa worry, she just wasn't the type to get easily worried. Yet somehow she got a little concerned about a certain teen in the household. He had skipped dinner, most likely because he didn't want to get annoyed by the guest again. Yomikawa had put his food into the fridge but he hadn't left his room at all. He didn't show up for breakfast either. Now it was past lunch and there was still no sign of the teen.
Yoshikawa had taken the girls out for shopping after the teen had loudly refused to accompany them. It was a strange reaction after knowing him for so long. He usually gave in when Last Order nagged long enough, yet this time he gave the impression of actually smashing something if they kept going so they stopped and left without him. That left Yomikawa wondering what had been going on.
Of course she had heard the argument between Mikoto and him, but she had no idea why Mikoto had suddenly gone very quiet. She hadn't spoken much even while she was having dinner and quickly left after that. The tall woman was sure that something had happened, but she had no idea what.
Giving in to her concern she eventually knocked at the door of the teen's room. The door was locked, no one had seen him, just heard his voice and it was angry all the time.
"Aren't you hungry, jan?"
"Go away." The reply was loud and angry.
Yomikawa sighed. "You can't stay in there all day."
"Why do you care, Fucking woman?!"
She lifted her eyebrows at that. He hadn't called her like that in quite a while. By now it seemed to her that Mikoto had touched on something she shouldn't have, and the tall woman got a pretty good idea about what. There was only one thing these two could have been talking about so casually and turned it into an argument in a matter of seconds.
"Mikoto is a nice girl, she's just a bit, how do you kids call it? Tsundere?"
"I don't fucking care what she is!"
"Coming to think of it, you're a bit tsundere too." Something crashed against the door. It sounded a lot like something made of plastic. The alarm clock maybe. The teen had broken at least three of them in the past months. Some times out of pure anger, other times out of frustration.
"Throwing things won't help."
"It's either that or blowing the whole building up, what do you prefer?!"
The woman massaged her temples. "You really need an outlet for your anger... I'd send you running around the track field." She knew that was impossible, yet there were various other things he could do to let his anger out that didn't include destroying anything.
"Go away." The teen repeated. This time he sounded awfully defeated.
"You know what, I'll take you with me today. And if you make me break this door, you'll pay it." Knowing she had won the argument, a triumphant smile crept on her lips.
"Where to?" The teen growled when he opened the door.
Yomikawa lifted an eyebrow at how he looked. He seemed tired, the room was pitch black, his hair a mess and he was still dressed in sleepwear.
"Just get ready. I'll tell you when were done."
"No more public places..." he growled and headed for the bathroom.
Once we was done the apartment almost sparkled. It seemed that he had upset her quite a bit if it was enough to make her go on a cleaning spree.
"Where are we going?" He asked again.
To her he seemed to have calmed down a little after the shower so she greeted him with a warm smile. "School."
"Hah?!"
"I'm a teacher, remember?"
He tended to forget that. All the woman ever talked about was the work at Anti-Skill. "What am I supposed to do there?!"
Yomikawa just smiled and headed to the front door. "We'll see."
"If i destroy something don't blame me."
"You'll pay for that of course." She smiled at him.
The teen growled and gave in, followed the woman after putting his shoes and jacket on. Yomikawa smiled to herself, relieved that she managed to get the teen out of his room.
"You hungry?" She asked casually when he climbed into the car and shivered at the cold.
"No."
"Incredible. I'd be starving after that long time without food."
The teen chose not to answer and crossed his arms when the woman started the engine and drove through the streets.
"Say, what did you talk about with Mikoto-Chan yesterday?" She asked. She could see him flinch at the question and turn his head away.
"Nothing."
"She won't forgive you, huh?"
"It's not like I'd want her to." He scoffed.
"But it would feel better if she did, hm?"
"Tsk."
Yomikawa realized that this conversation would only run into a dead end so she shifted it somewhere else. "Last Order really likes the gift she got from her."
"She gets fooled too easily... damn senseless brat."
They soon reached the school and entered the building. The pink haired teacher Yomikawa was friends with was running through the hallway with a stack of books in her hands.
"Let me help you with that." Yomikawa laughed and picked a few books from the stack the other woman was carrying.
"The children made a mess out of the classroom... I didn't think I'd actually witness a food-fight in a school." The teacher sighed.
"Sounds like they have way too much energy." Yomikawa laughed. She then took a book and placed the rest on a table inside the room they had been standing in front of.
"Let's go!" She cheered, gently patting Accelerator on the back in order to make him follow her.
Reluctantly he began to walk behind her, not quite knowing what he was supposed to do at a school. It wasn't that he never went to school himself, but he had never attended a class where someone else was with him, or was he just forgetting things again?
They soon reached a huge building that appeared to be the gym. In front of it various people were waiting, some obviously freezing.
"Yomikawa-sensei! It's cold!" one of them complained.
"Run a few rounds, then you'll be warm."
Accelerator didn't bother to look at the girl when he spotted a familiar face, none he wanted to see.
"That damned level 0... what the hell is he doing here...?" He asked himself and tried to hide behind Yomikawa. He was completely displayed in the open, it was only a matter of seconds until someone noticed him.
"Uhm Excuse me Yomikawa-Sensei..." Said level 0 muttered and pointed into his direction. "What is he doing here?"
"Oh don't mind him, he's in a terrible mood today. Just pretend that he isn't there."
Touma nervously scratched his head and stared at the other teen for a few seconds more. "Is that really alright... ? Last time I've seen him he was... pretty angry."
Yomikawa sighed. "Come on, get inside." She rushed, then waited until everyone had entered the building and turned to the white haired teen who hadn't move a hair.
"You too."
"No." He growled.
"A little venting will do wonders."
"If you want me to vent, give me something i can destroy." He hissed through his clenched teeth.
"Well. If you want to freeze there, be my guest, jan." With that Yomikawa turned around and headed inside. The teen followed her with a deep sigh not quite sure what he was supposed to do there anyway.
He didn't bother to take off his jacket when he entered a giant hall where even the students looked as if they were ants. They were playing stupid ball games and were running around like idiots. He found a bench and sat down, glaring at the kids that only made him more upset. They were loud, they yelled and they were incredibly stupid. If they had noticed him they didn't seem to care. He noticed that Touma was staring at him on occasion though and he briefly thought that it might be fun to scare the hell out of these people. But he also knew that this level 0 wouldn't like that at all and he wasn't in the mood to fight this guy again.
While he stared outside he noticed that it was snowing again, wondered what Last Order was doing and if she had fun. He was so lost in thoughts that he didn't notice a ball flying into his direction. He could year someone yell but the moment he reacted to that the ball hit his head and his head in turn slammed at the wall behind him. He felt dizzy for a moment and anger swamped over him, it got only worse when that level 0 began to laugh nervously.
"S-sorry. I threw that one..."
"Fucking level 0!" Accelerator shouted and fired the ball back at him, hitting his head as well. The other teen didn't seem too impressed by that and just sighed deeply as he went to pick the ball up. The white haired teen heard him mutter something about misfortune and both went back to what they were doing.
"You okay?" Yomikawa silently asked. She was standing next to him but watched she children play.
"Why am I here, again?" he growled back.
"To have some fun." She smirked. "There are plenty of games that don't use the legs."
"You actually want me to do this shit?!"
"It'll be fun. At least try to enjoy it."
"No. I'm going home."
With that the teen stood, sensed another ball flying at him and caught it this time. A girl was staring at him with wide eyes and a red face.
"I-I didn't mean-"
He fired the ball back, aiming at Touma who promptly got hit again. A smirk spread over his face. "Hey, Yomikawa. If that guy is the target it might actually be fun."
"Well then, take off your jacket." The woman muttered and whistled loudly. The teens in the hall stopped doing what they did and turned around to look at her.
"Some of you have noticed already that I brought someone with me today." She started. "He'd like to play with you, but he can't walk without a cane, so you have to figure out a game that he can play without having a disadvantage."
The teen in question turned away in embarrassment when everyone started to look at him with pity. He really didn't need that, he was the strongest, why was there no one here who actually recognized him?!
"Won't it be dangerous for him?" A girl asked.
"...Maybe... this isn't such a good idea." Touma then interrupted. "He's got a pretty short fuse, what if he snaps? I kind of didn't want to spent Christmas in hospital..."
"Kamijou-Kun that was really rude." Another girl.
"You don't know-"
In an instant Accelerator was in front of him, causing several girls to squeak in surprise. "Shut the fuck up or I'll tear you to shreds for real this time."
"Boys..." Yomikawa yelled, clapping her hands loudly. "You're not the only ones here. Make groups of four and stop the arguing."
"Forget it. I'm leaving." The white haired teen hissed and switched the electrode back to normal.
"I don't get along with 'normal' people." With the he left the hall.
He thought he heard the woman say 'because you're not even trying.' , but that could have been his mind playing tricks on him.
Strangely though, he didn't feel that angry anmore.
Chapter 21: December 21
Last Order stopped moving for a moment, as if she was communicating with someone in the network. She often just stopped what she was doing to listen to whoever had said something. Usually she would respond right away and continue what she was doing. After a few more seconds Last Order slipped her hand into Accelerators again and continued skipping next to him.
"Misaka got a request to buy a special version Gekota from that shop. Says Misaka as Misaka points the way."
Accelerator sighed deeply and glared at the girl. "You realize that you're using my money for that, right?"
The grin she gave her made him sigh once more. "Of course. Says Misaka as Misaka knows that would can't reject her request because you're way too kind."
"Cut the crap, brat."
He handed her a 1000 yen bill and waited for her to exit the shop after she rushed into it with a bright smile. The girl really took over his life. Everything he did revolved around her. Was this what it meant to care for someone? That he had to look after her until she grew up? Would she ever grow up? Honestly he didn't want her to leave him. It was a promise they had made without even saying it. They wouldn't leave each other. Accelerator didn't care how she thought of him, whether as a friend or a parent, or even a lover, he wouldn't leave her.
"What are you thinking about? Says Misaka as Misaka hands you the change."
Last order was holding a colorful paper bag, likely filled with the toy she had wanted to buy. He put the money back in his wallet and headed through the mall.
"No more requests. We're just here to buy what Yomikawa wanted." He reminded her when she took his hand again.
Last Order nodded with a bright smile.
It was a second both didn't pay attention, a mere heartbeat. Her hand slipped out of his and she was knocked down by someone who had run into her. The girl crashed to the floor and hit her head on the hard tiles after she helplessly tried to block her fall with her hands. Accelerator was torn between chasing the man who was obviously in a hurry and helping the girl. The man had disappeared into the crowd already, making pursuit more or less impossible.
A strange feeling spread inside the white haired teen when he crouched down next to the girl on the floor. A few bystanders had noticed the commotion but neither seemed to care too much about the girl.
"Hey, brat. Get up." Accelerator's voice had a gentle tinge to it that surprised even himself.
The girl sniffed away some tears and slowly sat up. Her hands and knees had scratches the new tights Yoshikawa had bought her with flowers and dots were ruined. Her chin was bleeding a bit too but wasn't anything too bad. The teenager boiled with anger anyway.
"Misaka is alright. Confirms Misaka after she checked her body for serious damage." She sniffed again. "It hurts though..." her voice was silent and the tears in her eyes threatened to fall.
Reminded of a different situation, Accelerator held his hand out and pulled her back to her feet. She winced a bit, but it seemed bearable. She grabbed the sleeve of his jacket as if afraid that he would go away.
"Misaka remembers a similar event... mutters Misaka as Misaka tries not to think about it."
The teen next to her flinched slightly. He had been thinking about it too. Without a word he picked her up, carried her with his free arm while she was clinging to him and refused to let go. Accelerator then pulled out his cell-phone and called Yomikawa, asking her to pick them up. The woman agreed after a bit of arguing and the white haired esper was on the way to the main entrance.
"Won't she be angry when we go home without buying what she needed? Asks Misaka as Misaka tries to hide that she doesn't want to do any more shopping today."
"I don't fucking care." He growled angrily. "We're going home now."
It was raining heavily outside the snow half molten, half frozen, making the roads and pavements dangerously slipper. In order to avoid any more accidents, he sat the girl back on the ground and tightly gripped her hand as they waited for Yomikawa's car to pass by.
After a few minutes they saw a familiar woman with long hair running up to them. She was holding and umbrella and stopped in front of the two.
"What happened?" was the first thing she asked after she had reached them. Both had thought that she might scold them for not doing what she had asked them to do, yet they must have looked so disturbed that the woman couldn't bring herself to get angry.
"A man ran into Misaka. Explains Misaka as she tries not to cry again."
"That doesn't look too bad though. It'll heal soon." The tall woman reassured her and glanced at the teen. He seemed pale, was trembling slightly. Was he afraid?
"Let's get you two home. Worst is already complaining about being Bored." She had hoped that at least one of them would say anything, but both were just following her silently to the parked car. Neither of them spoke a word until they had reached an apartment and Last Orders scratches were treated.
The girl then climbed into the couch Accelerator was lying on and curled up next to him. He didn't say anything when he wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes.
"Thank you. Whispers Misaka as Misaka is grateful that you didn't leave her alone this time."
"Hmm." The teen grumbled and slowly drifted into sleep.
Yomikawa watched them for a moment before she covered them with a blanket and tried to figure out why both of them were so out of it after something that happened to pretty much everyone sometimes.
"Since they didn't get to buy what I needed for dinner tonight, I'll take you with me." Yomikawa then said to Misaka Worst who was jealously eying the two on the couch.
"let them sleep, they looked like they need it."
Chapter 22: December 22
Walking into the living room at morning had a strange feeling to it these days. Every morning there would be something different. More decorations, the scent of freshly baked cookies, Worst and Last Order battling each other in a video game. Today it was Last Order who was jumping around on the wooden floor to some strange sound that couldn't even be called music.
"What are you doing, brat?" Accelerator asked her in confusion. The girl was still wearing her sleep wear. She couldn't have been up for too long. Worst was nowhere to be seen and neither Yomikawa nor Yoshikawa seemed to be home.
"Misaka is dancing, says Misaka as Misaka explains." Last Order smiled at him and continued to jump around.
"Don't make a mess..." He muttered and was about to go back to his room when Last Order grabbed his hand.
"Misaka wants you to dance too, says Misaka as she wants to mimic what she has seen on the TV earlier."
"Hah?!" He glared at her for a second. "Why should I do this shitty stuff?" He growled, but she pulled his sleeve and refused to let go.
"Misaka really wants to try! Yells Misaka as Misaka refuses to give up." The girl was pouting at him with her scratched face, reminding him of the previous day.
"Dance on your own."
"But that's boring! In the movie they danced together! Says Misaka as Misaka tries to prove her point!" The girl stared at him with her big puppy eyes. "Misaka Worst Refused too... She even locked the door. The other SISTERS in the area are busy too. You're the only one left."
He shrugged. "I can't dance."
"But-"
"No."
The girl huffed and let go of his sleeve, then turned off the music and stormed through the hallway. "Misaka refuses to talk to you until you agreed to her terms. Says Misaka as Misaka rushes to her room and slams the door shut."
She did as said and the teen was left alone in the living room, confused and slightly annoyed. Worst really had more of an effect on the girl than he liked to admit. She would calm down sooner or later anyway so he sat on the couch and turned on the TV. After zapping through almost every channel he noticed that there was nothing decent to watch so he rummaged through the collection of DVD's that had significantly increased, yet almost all movies where fairy tales or romance stories. Movies in particular were incredibly boring to him.
It was still raining outside and without the lights on it would have been too dark to even read, and yet it wasn't even noon. Watching a movie or reading a book was the only thing that should have been done on a day like that.
After he looked at the bookshelf he decided that he wouldn't find anything interesting there either so he went back to his room and continued to read the book he had started a while ago. He didn't like the story in particular but at least reading was a better way to waste time than sleeping all day, although he had to admit that the thought of sleeping all day seemed strangely appealing to him. Lately he seemed to be tired faster than usual.
The book bored him and he soon placed it aside and tried to find something else to do. A few months ago he had gotten bored at other things, and soon after that there had been a lot of changes, never a dull moment, barely time to do anything other than fighting. Now that he didn't have to fight every day anymore anything else seemed extremely stupid and boring. Living a normal life while knowing that it could stop every second was rather annoying too.
He thought for a while about what to do, then decided to try one of these video games the girls loved so much. He couldn't remember if he had ever tried them before.
He went back to the living room and played for a while but soon got a headache at the bright colors and the flashing lights. How could anyone stand that? He shut it down and rubbed his temples, then realized that the headache came from something else. It was a dull pain, not really notable but it bugged him that he didn't know where it came from.
It passed after a few minutes, but he kept brooding over why that could have happened. Worst then walked into the living room, carefully sneaking a glance before entering it completely with a satisfied grin. "Misaka is glad that she finally left."
"You want to get rid of her?"
"No, no." Worst laughed. "But she was really annoying Misaka because Misaka wanted to play a video game."
The teen walked over to the remote and turned the game station back on before she seated herself on the floor and began to battle her opponents. She seemed to have a lot of fun and snickered on occasion.
"Hey Worst, did you have a headache a few minutes ago?"
The teen paused the game and looked over to him. "Nope, Misaka's head is fine. Why do you ask?"
He shook his head. "Nothing."
"Do you wanna play with Misaka?"
He sighed and grabbed the second gamepad. "Fine, but this is really dull compared to the real thing."
"Oh you can fight Misaka anytime." The teen smirked. "Maybe you also go full force. Misaka only has information of it, she'd like to see it for real~."
The teen sighed once more and closed his eyes. "You already saw it."
"But you weren't at 100% then."
He glared at her. "It'll never be 100% again. I used to be stronger than this..."
Worst turned around. "You could train more?"
"This is nothing that can be changed with training."
"And if you tried?"
He fired a pillow at her. "My brain is fried. Without the network I'd just be a drooling idiot that can't even speak or think properly."
The teen held onto the pillow and tilted her head. "I've never seen you drooling even when you were disconnected."
"That's not the point!" he yelled. "I don't think anyone will understand how it's like to be unable to comprehend what's going on around you..." Growling to himself he started the game but Worst seemed to be more interested in the conversation now.
"Could you play the game if you were disconnected?"
He scoffed. "You know the answer, why do you even ask?"
"Because Misaka wants to hear it from you." She smirked.
He was about to reply when the strange headache came back. For a moment he forgot what the conversation had even been about. When the headache went away again he remembered, yet something about it made him feel uncomfortable. Was something interfering with the network? But that should have been blocked. And why the headache? He also started to feel a bit nauseous. Was he getting sick again?
"You're no fun today." Worst pouted and crossed her arms. "You're so lost in thoughts."
He looked at her, with a firm and serious face. "Check if something is interfering with the network."
"But Misaka-"
"Do it!" The white haired teen was back on his feet in an instant and went to Last Order's room. He knocked, knowing that she had locked the door.
"Hey brat, there might be someone playing around with the network. Try to find out what it could be."
A few seconds later a piece of paper was shoved under the door from the inside. He picked it up.
"Misaka does not notice anything unusual in the network. Writes Misaka as Misaka refuses to speak with you."
He sighed. "Are you absolutely sure?"
Another paper. "Why don't you trust the command tower? Asks Misaka as Misaka wonders why you would asks such a question."
"Any interfering wavelength should have been blocked the second time..." He muttered to himself. "That can only mean that either someone is changing the wavelength or that something in the network is going on."
"Misaka doesn't know." Was written on a third sheet of paper.
"...We need to be careful. If you notice anything strange in the network, tell me right away."
"Will someone attack us again? Asks Misaka as Misaka gets worried that the peaceful days are over.
"Who knows." The teen answered. "It's better to assume the worst."
"Misaka will look for any errors now, says Misaka as Misaka unlocks the door and sits down next to you."
The girl leaned against him and flashed him a sad smile.
"Don't worry brat." He smiled weakly at her. "We fought against angels. We can deal with a few idiots."
"You fought against angels." Last Order corrected him but then she squealed in joy and hugged him. "You should be like this more often, says Misaka as Misaka likes when you speak like this. It makes Misaka feel warm inside."
He frowned at her and hit her head.
"Don't get ideas, shitty brat."
Chapter 23: December 23
This time i tried to start a bit angst-y and let it turn into something harmless... it worked pretty well :3
Only 2 stories left now :3 I'm a bit sad, but also glad that it's over soon. :3
Thank you for all the nice reviews again ^-^
The teen barely remembered anything of the previous day. He couldn't remember how he had gotten to bed nor if it was day or night. He had a searing headache that refused to go away and painkillers didn't help either. He somehow knew that the headache had been caused by an external source, but he could barely think because of the pain. It was unlike any pain he had ever been in and he couldn't get rid of it.
When the pain increased all he could do was grab his head in hopes it would stop this terrible pain. He couldn't keep quiet anymore, his head felt like it was literally going to burst. He even considered that being shot in the head hurt less than this. The pain made him feel sick, he was panting and tried to block the pain out somehow. He heard himself saying words, things that made no sense, it was as if the electrode was disconnected, but he knew it was on.
Whimpering he wished for the pain to stop. It just got worse and worse and by now he felt his eyes burning with tears. That was when the door to his room opened. He couldn't even move his head to see who was there.
"Accelerator?" Yomikawa asked with a frown. It was obvious to her now that the pained whimpers were coming from the teen, but she couldn't believe her eyes.
Something was definitely wrong here. She rushed over to him, sat on the bed with worry spread all over her face.
"What's wrong?" She asked, her voice gentle and calm even though she was concerned to the point of panicking. She was a trained professional, she couldn't panic in a situation like this.
The teen answered her question with the desperate try to suppress a scream. That was when Yomikawa finally decided that something was definitely wrong.
"Kikyou!" Yomikawa yelled while she placed a hand and the teen's back in hopes to calm him a little. It had no effect on him.
Yoshikawa rushed into the room after a moment, her face was firm but worry clear on it. "What's going on?" she asked in confusion.
Yomikawa shrugged in helplessness. "Call an ambulance... This is something serious..."
Yoshikawa immediately pulled out her cell-phone, she wasn't going to questions the judgment of her friend. After all, they knew each other for a very long time. Also, Accelerator wasn't the type of person to be affected by pain this easily. While she made the phone call she watched her friend and tried to think of an answer. Judging by Aiho's gaze she was trying to do the same.
The tall woman gently rubbed the back of the teen. He was trembling and seemed unable to comprehend anything around him. But the electrode was on, she could see the light glowing. What was going on?
"Do you have any idea what the cause could be?" Yomikawa asked silently.
Yoshikawa shook her head after she ended the call. "No." was the short answer. "My first guess would be some sort of AIM-Scrambler but then the girls would have been affected too."
"Then what could it be?"
"I don't know, but I'll look into it." With that the woman left the room to head for her laptop.
Yomikawa realized how much she disliked hospitals when she was sitting on a chair in a white room with a teen that was squirming in pain despite all the drugs they had given him. Last Order was in the hallway, held by Yoshikawa despite her protests and tears.
"I can't find what's causing this." Heaven Canceller muttered towards the tall woman. "There's nothing wrong with his body or his brain."
Yomikawa clenched her fists. "Then why is he in so much pain?!" She was starting to lose her cool now.
The frog faced doctor sighed deeply and continued to examine the teen. "If this continues it will likely have an effect on his health."
Yomikawa wanted to punch someone, preferably whoever was the cause for this. It was almost Christmas, so far everything had been peaceful and now this happened. She wanted to tear whoever was responsible to shreds. How could they dare to hurt a child?!
"There is one more thing I could try..." The short man muttered. He seemed as concerned as Yomikawa but he was able to hide it better.
Carefully he reached for the neck of the teen and turned the electrode off. The next second Accelerator grew limp. His hands dropped onto the sheets and only his panting breath could be heard.
"The network..." Yomikawa realized in shock. "That was the cause?"
The doctor shook his head. "I don't know. The electrode itself might be malfunctioning. I'll take a look at it."
He removed the electrode from the teen's neck and left the room. Immediately after, Last Order rushed in. She was white as a sheet, trembling in fear when she climbed onto the bed and grabbed the teen's hand.
"Will he be alright? Asks Misaka as Misaka worries."
Yomikawa nodded. Be it a lie or not, she didn't want to believe that the teen wasn't alright.
"The electrode is gone. Says Misaka as Misaka notices that the device is missing."
"Heaven Canceller is taking a look at it."
The girl nodded and went silent as she looked at the teen who was starting to calm down bit by bit. His red eyes were staring at the people around him. When he reached for Last Order's hand the girl began to sob.
Yoshikawa then entered the room. "We should check the network anyway."
Last Order flinched at that. "Misaka will run a checkup. Says Misaka as Misaka tries to stop crying."
"He'll be fine." Yoshikawa tried to reassure the girl but it seemed that this plan wasn't going to work.
"Neither Misaka nor the Sisters can find an error. Says Misaka after checking every single data of the network." The girl muttered after a few minutes.
"Is someone interfering with it then?"
Yoshikawa paced through the room while thinking. "It could be a virus... That way they wouldn't be able to detect it. But when... Last Order was with us all the time."
"Why would it effect Accelerator?" Yomikawa asked. "I thought that they always wanted to use the girl for something big."
Yoshikawa shrugged. "The electrode is also used to channel the brainwaves of the SISTERS. Without that, the connection would hurt him. Maybe that was exactly what happened."
Last Order obviously disliked the conversation now. More tears ran down her cheeks. "Is it Misakas fault then? Asks Misaka as Misaka feels guilty about being the cause for this problem."
Yomikawa smiled at the girl. "I don't think so."
Just then the door opened without anyone even knocking. A brown haired girl in casual clothing entered the room, then blushed in embarrassment and was about to head out again. "I'm sorry, wrong room!"
"Onee-san!" Last Order cried and dashed over to the Railgun. "Why are you here asks Misaka as Misaka wipes her face."
"...Actually A friend of mine got injured.. so I'm visiting her. I must have read the room number wrong.." The girl bowed deeply to apologize and quickly left the room with the small girl tailing her.
Mikoto soon noticed and tried to find a way to make her go away so Kuroko wouldn't ask any stupid questions.
"Uhm... What are you doing here?" The original asked.
It took a moment for the small girl to answer. "Something happened to him... whispers Misaka as Misaka wants to forget about it."
For a moment Mikoto felt seriously concerned, but it soon passed. Then again, who would look after the girl if he wasn't doing it? She probably could have but that would have needed a lot of explaining and trouble.
"Is it bad?"
"Misaka doesn't know... it might have been the SISTERS fault... says Misaka as Misaka tries to think about a solution to the problem."
Mikoto flinched. "So they finally got angry at him?"
The small girl who had just looked sad a second ago was now glaring at the teenager and seemed seriously upset. "The Sisters can't take hostile actions like that! Yells Misaka as Misaka crosses her arms and glares at you."
The teen held up her hands. "Alright... Listen. My friend doesn't know about your existence and it would be bad if she finds out, so-"
"What would be bad if I found it out?" Kuroko asked behind the teen.
"Oh! K-Kuroko!"
The girl who was usually wearing twin-tails had her hair down and was dressed in Hospital attire. She had her arm in a cast and tilted her head at the small girl next to her best friend.
"Onee-Sama, you never told me that you had a little sister."
"Oh...t-that..." Mikoto laughed nervously. "S-she's not my sister..."
Both girls seemed shocked now. "Onee-Sama, who is the father then?!"
"She's a cousin. A cousin!" The brown haired teen insisted.
Kuroko seemed relieved, Last Order pouted at that. "But Misaka-"
Mikoto held the mouth of the girl shut and laughed nervously. "She likes to tell nonsense..."
"I see..." Kuroko muttered silently. "Say Onee-Sama, why have you brought her though?"
"Uhm-"
Last Order finally managed to free herself and crossed her arms again. "Misaka is not here with the original. Says Misaka as Misaka remembers that she should return to him"
"That's an odd way of speaking..." Kuroko commented with a frown. "So you're visiting your parents?"
Last Order shook her head. "He act like a parent though. Smiles Misaka as Misaka remembers fun things."
Kuroko seemed concerned for a moment. "Will she be alright on her own?"
Mikoto shrugged. "I think we might... keep an eye on her?" the teen laughed nervously and scratched her head. "He might ... kill us if she gets lost and he finds out that we saw her..."
"Onee-Sama, that must be a joke."
Mikoto sighed. "If you knew who's looking after her you'd probably understand."
"Who's looking after her then?"
Mikoto tried to find an excuse but Last Order blurted it out with a proud smile. "Accelerator looks after Misaka, explains Misaka as Misaka is happy that he does."
"The #1 Level 5?! That psycho?!" Kuroko was outraged at that.
"It's a long story..." Mikoto muttered with a sad smile.
"Will the girl be alright?"
Mikoto was too busy trying to find an answer that she didn't notice the person appearing behind her.
"Of course she'll be alright, fucking idiots." A male voice sounded behind her, one she didn't want to hear.
"Accelerator!" Last Order yelled and rushed over to him to hug him. "Are you alright now? Asks Misaka as Misaka was really worried."
He shrugged. "Some connection came lose... it's fixed for now." The white haired teen explained and glared at the girls. Mikoto squeaked in fear while Kuroko firmly glared at the taller teen.
"K-Kuroko! Let's go somewhere else!" Mikoto tried to pull her friend away but the girl kept standing where she was.
"You better do a good job of looking after her. It would be a shame to have someone with that face ending up like you."
The white haired teen glared at her, about to charge when Yomikawa suddenly grabbed his arms. "Stop. The doctor said you should rest for today."
The girls used the moment of distraction to escape and Accelerator glared at the woman who was still holding his arms.
"I'm fine! Let go!"
Yomikawa sighed deeply. "We're going home now. You sure know how to worry someone..."
The teen growled angrily, but had to admit that it was better to take it easy for the rest of the day, his head was still hurting even though it was bearable now. He really didn't want to make it worse.
"Misaka wants a fancy dinner now, declares Misaka as Misaka think about all the nice food."
"We still need to buy a few Christmas presents." Yoshikawa muttered as she joined the three in the hallway. "We could eat dinner in a restaurant."
"Yay! Yells Misaka as Misaka jumps around in joy."
Accelerator scoffed. "I'm going home." He was tired and exhausted, also upset about how the Railgun and her friend had behaved. Then again, the girls didn't know what he had done to save the brat and he had no intention of ever telling them.
Chapter 24: December 24
Random Fluff ahead :3 I had a really bad day despite Christmas and all... so I felt like writing fluff. It's probably a little OOC... but I hope you like it anyway. :3
He woke up to a girl curled up on top of him. He hadn't noticed that Last Order had snuck into his bed at night, probably because he was too exhausted to care. Right now the girl was lying there with her arms wrapped around him and gripped his shirt so tightly that it was impossible to shove her off without waking her.
For a while he stared at her, once more surprised that she always got so close to him without a single hint of fear. Even Worst backed away when he snapped, yet the girl always ran up to him, knowing full well how dangerous it was, but she had never shown fear.
"Oi, brat..." the white haired teen muttered in a failing attempt to wake the girl up. She didn't even stir and continued to peacefully dream about whatever her dream-world had presented her with. He didn't want to know.
"Hey..." he growled, but when she stirred he suddenly felt guilty. Remembering her crying face from the previous day he decided to just let her sleep. That way she was silent at least. It was somehow reassuring to see her so peaceful. He watched her for a while, noticed how cold the girl felt. He then also noticed that the blanket had fallen out of the bed.
Slowly he grabbed it and covered the girl, a little surprised when he big eyes opened.
"Hmm?" she mumbled still half asleep.
"Go back to sleep brat..." He muttered, hoped that he'd finally be able to get her off of him but she just grabbed him tighter and used his chest as a pillow.
"Misaka can hear your heartbeat. Says Misaka as Misaka smiles."
He scoffed. "If it bothers you get off already."
The girl shook her head. "It's calming, says Misaka as Misaka refuses to get up."
"What are you talking about?"
"Misaka had a nightmare... But you were asleep already and I didn't want to wake you... mumbles Misaka as Misaka tries to forget the nightmare."
"Why do you keep going in my room when you can't sleep?" Accelerator sighed.
The girl lifted her head and smiled at him. "Because you don't push Misaka out of the bed. When you notice me you always hug me. Giggles Misaka as Misaka tries to hide that she likes it."
"Hah? Worst throws you out?"
The girl nodded.
"Why are you on top of me though?" He then wanted to know.
Last Order tilted her head. "Because Misaka wanted to try cuddling you too. Whispers Misaka as Misaka tries to sound mysterious."
He sighed in annoyance. "Now get off, it's morning already, isn't it?"
"Misaka wants to stay like this for a little longer mutters Misaka as Misaka silently begs."
the white haired teenager slowly wrapped his arms around her and turned to the side. The girl made a surprised sound, but smiled.
"Accelerator?"
"Hm?"
"If Misaka grows up someday... would you still like her? Asks Misaka as Misaka remembers how you treat the original."
He scoffed and pulled her closer. "The original can't beat you."
When the girl went incredibly quiet he realized what he had said and realized that his cheek heated up. he hadn't meant to say it in that way.
"What about Misaka Worst?"
Thinking carefully about a decent reply he sighed. "No one can beat you, brat."
"How so? Misaka is only level 4."
He smiled. "You didn't leave me no matter how scary I acted. You're stronger than all the researchers and stronger than I am."
"But Misaka can't become level 5."
"You don't have to." he whispered. "The level is just a number... something people care way too much about... You managed to beat me without moving a finger." He smirked. "not even that stupid level 0 managed that.
"When did Misaka beat you? Asks Misaka as Misaka is confused." The girl sat up and tilted her head.
"You know, when that asshole attacked Yomikawa?"
The girl's eyes widened as she realized what he was hinting at. Then she suddenly tackled him and hugged him as tightly as she could.
"I love you! Shouts Misaka as Misaka blurts out the words she couldn't keep to herself any longer."
He froze. "Brat do you know what you're saying?!"
"Isn't it normal to tell family members that you love them?"
"...Oh, that's how you meant it..."
The girl tilted her head. "Is there any other form of love?"
He shrugged and kissed her forehead. It was an action that surprised both of them, but neither said anything. Last Order pulled away after a moment and stared at the white haired teen with bright red cheeks. Then she leaned in and kissed his forehead as well. After she pulled away she carefully placed her hand on the spot she had just kissed.
"if... if Misaka could-"
He shook his head. "If I hadn't saved you back then, none of this would have happened..." he muttered.
"And I would still be trapped in the darkness."
"But it was a terrible prize to pay... says Misaka as Misaka whishes she could do something."
He shrugged once more. "Hey, brat?"
"Yes?"
The white haired teen pulled her close and kissed her cheek. "I got what I always wanted... so the prize I had to pay for it was worth it."
"What did you want? Asks Misaka as Misaka tried to figure it out."
"A family."
Chapter 25: December 25
And that's it. Last Story. I hope you have enjoyed these oneshots, even though they got random and weird and sometimes quite OOC especially towards the end.
It was fun, but I am glad that it's over :3
THANK YOU for all the favorites, follows and Reviews *-* I am so happy that you guys liked it enough to display it like that. I want to hug all of you ^-^
Merry Christmas and a happy new year.
I hope you enjoy the last story. I enjoy this fandom a lot, so I might stay for a little longer with a bigger fic, but i still have 2 others to finish.
Thanks again ^-^
Christmas. Last Order couldn't believe that it was finally there. She had waited so long for this day, noticed how everything changed, wow people stopped being hostile and were nice to each other. She secretly wished that every day should be Christmas.
While she was sitting next to the small Christmas tree, eagerly ripping the paper off the gifts the others got for her, she kept glancing at the white haired teen on the couch who threatened to fall asleep any second.
The girl eyed the new dress and the stuffed Gekota she had gotten and grinned brightly at Yomikawa and Yoshikawa.
Misaka Worst wasn't so eager to see her presents. She too had gotten a dress and a Gekota toy. She was about to complain when Accelerator's gaze hit her. She knew that he'd snap if she sad anything wrong so she kept quiet for the sake of having a peaceful Christmas, like Last Order had wanted. The brown haired teen also had a small surprise for the two women.
"Misaka has done research about Christmas." she said as she pulled two poorly wrapped packages out of her sleeves. "Christmas is about spending time with loved ones."
She handed the packages over to Yomikawa and Yoshikawa and snickered when they unwrapped them. both had gotten a small bottle of soap with different scents. They seemed surprised at the gift, but since they didn't complain Misaka Worst was sure that they accepted it.
Silence settled over them when Accelerator threw a package at Last Order. "Merry Christmas, fucking brat..."
The girl squealed in joy and tore the paper apart only to squeal more when she revealed the game she had wanted for a while now. Without thinking twice she rushed up to the game station and was about to start the game when Yomikawa held her back.
"There's still something you wanted to do, isn't there?"
"Oh! Right. Says Misaka as Misaka remembers what she had planned the whole time."
"Planned?" Yoshikawa asked in confusion.
"It only works when it's dark, but it still needs preparation. Explains Misaka as Misaka is eager to show her surprise in the evening."
Yomikawa laughed and balanced a small package on Accelerator's head before the teen noticed and grabbed it.
"What the fuck?!"
"Open it already." the woman grinned.
He shook his head and slowly tore the paper, annoyed about the simple gesture. Why would they give him anything?
It was a framed picture with all of them on it. He had no idea when they had taken it, but it really looked like a family. An odd one at that, but definitely a family. He scoffed in irritation and put the picture on the table, before he picked up two paper bags he had hidden under the table and handed them to the two women.
"The brat forced me." he growled, but Yomikawa instantly knew that it was a lie.
With a proud smile she took a look at the contents of the paper bag. Both her and Yoshikawa had books in there, a cooking book for the former researcher and one about complex mathematics.
Yomikawa lifted an eyebrow.
"That one might be easier to understand for you..." the teen shrugged.
The woman smiled and nodded while Accelerator threw a cell-phone strap at Misaka Worst. The other teen caught it and her eyes seemed to sparkle when she noticed the Gekota figurine dangling from it.
"Hoho~ Misaka wants to give you a really tight hug now."
"Don't." Accelerator sighed. "Are we done now?"
"Wait! interrupts Misaka as Misaka jumps to her feet!" Last Order yelled. "You get a present from me too! But that has to wait until it's dark!"
The white haired teen started blankly at the girl, tons of thoughts racing through his head.
"Heh~ Maybe Misaka wants to wait naked in your bed with only a ribbon wrapped around her." Worst Suggested.
Accelerator grabbed the closest pillow and fired it at the teen. "Fucking pervert!" With that he disappeared into his room and decided to go back to sleep.
when it started to get dark Last Order barged into his room and pulled the blanket away before he even realized that she was shaking him awake.
"It's getting dark! Hurry! Yells Misaka as Misaka rushes you to get dressed."
The teen was still half asleep when he grabbed the cane and followed the girl to the front door. "What's this about, brat?"
"This is Misaka's surprise! But we have to go to the roof!" the girl rushed.
The teen sighed deeply and put on his jacket and shoes, then continued to follow the girl to the roof. Yomikawa and Yoshikawa were already waiting there, even Worst was standing there in the cold.
"So you all know what's going on?" Accelerator asked once he had reached them.
"You don't know how hard it was for Misaka to keep quiet!" Misaka Worst complained. "Can we start now?"
Last Order took Accelerators hand and pulled him closer to the fence. Academy City did look interesting at night, but he didn't think that this was what the girl had wanted him to see.
"Just a moment. Says Misaka as Misaka gives the command to the SISTERS."
She felt the teen next to her flinch. "This is mine and all the sisters Christmas present. explains Misaka as Misaka holds your hand tighter."
For a moment he didn't notice anything changing, then one after the other the roofs of the close by buildings lit up. It looked like someone had lit stars on them, and it got more and more. He stared at it in confusion and couldn't quite understand what was happening, but deep inside him he seemed to know what was going on.
"It was Misaka #19090's idea. Whispers Misaka as Misaka watches in awe."
"What's going on..." the teen next to her asked as his voice cracked. "What are they doing...?"
"They're lighting candles. " The small girl explained. "For every Misaka that died."
Accelerator swallowed hard and was about to pull away from the girl when a voice sounded behind him.
"They're also lighting them for you. For the person who guards the command tower and would give his life for her."
He turned around, shocked to see the Railgun standing there. She as carrying a glass with a candle inside and smiled at him.
"My little sister explained it to me..." Mikoto whispered.
Accelerator then noticed the girl behind her who was also carrying a candle. It had to be #10032, she was always hanging around with the original.
The white haired teen scoffed. "And what do you expect from me now?" he cursed himself for his trembling voice.
"Nothing." Mikoto muttered. "The SISTERS wanted to do this for you."
"Misaka only informed Onee-san about it. It was her own choice to accompany me and light a candle as well. Explains Misaka."
Silence settled over the small group until Mikoto dared to speak again. She firmly stared into the red eyes of the teen in front of her.
"I forgive you." she said clearly and honestly. "It can't be changed, and I ran into you so often that I noticed that you aren't as bad of a person as everyone says."
He scoffed at her. "I'm not going to hug you." he growled and turned back to the lights on the roofs.
The sudden weight behind him made him stumble backwards. "Then I do it." the Railgun whispered as she wrapped her arms around him.
"Get off of me, fucking idiot!"
Last Order quickly joined the hug and Worst and Mikoto's little sister followed.
"Get off!" Accelerator yelled.
"Misaka is happy that the surprise worked! Says Misaka as Misaka wants to cry in joy."
The white haired teen threatened to throw everyone off the roof but the girls were holding him so tightly that he could barely move.
"Thank you for taking care of them." Mikoto then whispered into his ear before she pulled away.
"I'll fucking kill you!" he shouted but the teen was just grinning at him.
"Merry Christmas." She laughed.
