Resurgence Of The Nightmare

—14th September 7:30p.m.—

In the 177th Judgement Branch, there were three figures standing inside.

"And so you were transferred here?"

The person who asked this was Kuroko. She was speaking to the new person who was transferred from another Judgement Branch.

"Ah, yes. For convenience sake, I requested to be transferred here."

"Hm...okay. I won't question your reasons, so let's get on with the mission at hand. From your résumé, it says that you were involved with an incident that dealt with exotic animal trafficking and...cannibals?" Kuroko was confused by this person's missions. The person she was talking to had a dark ribbon tying her hair up in a ponytail. She had a massive belt that wrapped around her waist. Her shorts were extremely short that they revealed three-quarters of her thighs.

This girl's name was Tobio Yumi.

"Ah, your uniform. That's from Tokiwadai Middle School, isn't it?" Yumi asks Kuroko as she pulls on her brown vest. Upon going closer, Kuroko punches the bridge of her nose immediately.

"What?! This smell...it smells like a filthy stinking old man!"

"Hm?" Yumi didn't mind her comments as she backs off and lightly laughs it off.

"Ah haha...yea, sorry. I had to do some cooking just now at A Certain Hospital."

"Do you work at the hospital?"

"Uh...no. It was just for my friends."

At that answer, Kuroko shivered a little as she remembers the pale boy in the hospital.

"(I hope she's not talking about that demon...)" Kuroko thought as she turns to the computer in front of Uiharu.

At this time, the Judgement Branch Office should have been closed after school was over. However, today was an exception and they opened it up. All of the Judgement members of Branch 177 was free, but Uiharu decided to call Kuroko. And Yumi just happened to be transferred and entered the office to find them.

The computer screen displayed the map of District 7, and in a corner on the road in front of a bus station, there was an 'X'. On the road nearby, there were some colored arrowheads, which probably indicated where the robbers ran.

Kuroko showed an intrigued look.

"We shouldn't be dealing with this, should we?"

"But it's a weird case because the only thing stolen from this case was a luggage bag."

"A luggage bag?"

"Yeah, and apparently there's an invitation slip attached to it."

"Okay, then what's so strange about that luggage bag?"

Yumi and Kuroko stood beside Uiharu, who was sitting in a chair that was declared to reduce fatigue to the minimum.

"Take a look at this. The bag was going to be delivered to District 23, meaning that it most likely came from an outside source."

Uiharu typed in a few letters, and a new window popped up. On it, one could see the serial number, owner and destination on the slip. When Kuroko saw the destination, she couldn't help but frown.

"Subsidiary calculus facility of Tokiwadai Middle School...? I've never heard of this before."

"Ah, so there's no such thing as that, is there? It was difficult trying to contact School Garden, so we couldn't confirm it. I've checked the serial number on the slip, and it doesn't seem right. I checked the contents of the luggage bag, and there seems to be a cooling device that's supposed to be installed in a computer monitor. No matter how you look at it, it could never fit inside that luggage bag."

"Hm...that's strange indeed. I've never heard of School Garden using technology from the outside world."

Then Kuroko asked her a very simple question.

"Why are we looking at these from the camera angles? Why don't we just ask the victim for the details itself?"

"The thing is...the victim is missing."

"Ha?"

"The victim called someone and then he took chase. Here's the footage: Ten culprits and one victim."

Uiharu pressed in a few buttons and more windows popped up on the screen. The location seems to be in front of a bus stop, as a man wearing a classy Western outfit looked around before making a call urgently. He was not using a phone, but a radio equipment

"The victim is pretty suspicious as well."

Uiharu nodded her head in response. A victim who acted on his own, a luggage bag that was related to Tokiwadai Middle School, clothes that looked extremely professional.

"Also, Shirai please be careful. The robbers seemed to be armed with handguns."

"Handguns? In that case, I might have to deal with this situation myself. It's much more effective that way."

"By the way, the robbers were aware of where they were going. They ran away on foot instead of taking a vehicle. They went underground and were moving through the heavy crowds, and they went by the cameras's blind spots. It seems that the electricity in Academy City isn't working anymore. There's a huge traffic jam around the crime scene."

"I see."

In that situation, Uiharu had contacted Anti-Skill, but because of the heavy traffic, their investigations would have been delayed. And by the time they actually got updated on the whereabouts of the robbers, the robbers would have most likely gotten away with the goods.

"*sigh* Yeah, seems like going there to personally deal with it would be easier. Uiharu, please locate the robbers for me. New recruit, I'm sorry but this seems like a job for me."

"O-Oh it's fine." Yumi nervously replied.

With that, Kuroko set off on her journey to find those robbers.

————————————

Kuroko's power is called Teleport. However, as convenient as her power is, she could only teleport a maximum mass of 130.7 kilograms, and travel no longer than 81.5 meters. Moreover, she could only teleport the things she comes into contact with.

Right now, she was teleporting from one place to another, making use of the handrails, sidewalks and vending machines as a stepping platform.

Even though people should be afraid that someone was suddenly appearing out of thin air and then disappearing, everyone there was an esper, so it was natural for them not to fear the person teleporting around. Additionally, she had a Judgement armband around her arm, so no one questioned her.

Despite the robbers being underground, Kuroko was above the ground. This was to ensure that the robbers didn't feel pressurized to the point where they would hold someone hostage. Plus, there are very limited exits to where the robbers could run off to.

She had everything planned out as her phone rang. She picked up her phone, but did not stop teleporting, so the voice was cut off at some parts due to the positioning of the electro-waves changing.

"Shirai, I located...the robbers...from the underground mall at Area Sale, exit AO3...they're exiting the underground...seems like their intention is to run to the end of an underground mall...and then run off to another..."

"I see them."

Kuroko simply replied as she hangs up the phone and slides it into her pocket. The eight robbers in their tuxedo and black tie with sunglasses ran off into an alleyway after crossing a road. They were pulling the white luggage bag behind them as they entered the alleyway. Kuroko teleported into the alleyway, and was directly right in the middle of them.

She places one of her hands on the white luggage bag and teleported in front of all of them. She places one hand on her waist, Kuroko touched the luggage bag on the ground with the other and said,"Excuse me, I'm from Judgement. Why I'm here, I believe there's no need for an explanation, is there?"

The men were immediately on their guard as they reached into their coats and pulled out a jet-black handgun and points it at her.

"(Peh, as I thought. This isn't a normal robbery.)"

With barely any time to think, Kuroko reached down to her thighs and exposed them. There were belts strapped onto her thighs that contained needles. With a single touch, she brushed through her right thigh and sent all the needles horizontally through the men's gun barrel.

When they realized what she had done, they panicked and quickly dropped the gun. With that window of opportunity, she touches the luggage bag and teleports next to them.

In mid-air, she swings the luggage bag towards one of them and he gets knocked back into the others, causing them to fall like dominoes.

She then teleports above them and slams the luggage bag down on them. The luggage bag itself wasn't very heavy, but it was heavy enough for Kuroko to use almost all her strength to try and carry it.

For safety measures, she slammed the luggage bag onto them a few more times until they were unconscious.

"Heh, too easy. Now then...what do we have here?"

She left the luggage bag on top of them as she inspected it. The luggage bag was extremely large. It was like an ordinary one, rectangular, and it seemed like it could fit her in. The color was white, and it seemed to be made out of some special material, with some sort of wax covering it.

There was a ring on the luggage bag, indicating that it was locked. She simply teleported the lock away, but then she realized that the luggage bag had no gaps on it.

"What the?"

She was confused as she looked at the luggage bag. It felt like the luggage bag was airtight.

As she continued examining it closely, she realized there was a logo on the luggage bag.

"This logo is...what was it...? I can't remember...ughhh...I'll just ask Uiharu."

Kuroko took out her phone, snapped a photo of the luggage bag with the logo, and sent it to Uiharu.

The logo was made in a way that there was a circle, and in that circle had many squares inside. It was such a simple yet professional logo.

Two minutes later, Uiharu called Kuroko, and the following conversation took place:

"Shirai? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, I can. What did you manage to find?"

Uiharu cleared her throat as she reports the results.

"That luggage bag is a highly airtight one, it can reflect away any cosmic rays. Do you see that the surface is rather shiny?"

"Yeah."

"You can treat it as a deluxe version of an astronaut suit or space shuttle surface. Such technology is obviously made in Academy City."

"But why must it be made this way?"

"My guess is that this luggage bag was never supposed to be used on earth. It was probably sent out into space."

This stunned Kuroko. Something from space? Then Uiharu continued.

"Apparently that luggage bag was supposed to be sent to School Garden. But this doesn't add up. There's something wrong here. It's supposed to be sent to District 23, and then to School Garden?"

"Hm...I'll call Anti-Skill and have them confiscate this. Thanks, Uiharu. You're a big help."

She hung up the phone line and slid her phone back into her pocket.

"All this doesn't add up...what was happening? Where is it supposed to be sent to?...AHHHH!!! THIS IS SO CONFUSING!!!! I NEED ONEE-SAMA TO COMFORT ME!!!!!!!"

She pulled her hair in frustration as she sat down on the luggage bag and the men like some alpha-princess.

"*Sigh* Speaking of Onee-Sama, I wonder what she's doing. Or rather...what is that fiend doing to my dear onee-sama..."

Kuroko trembled as she wraps her arms around her waists.

"The horror...! I don't want to think about it anymore. Just that man touching onee-sama at places where...WHERE I HAVEN'T EVEN TOUCHED?! PREPOSTEROUS!!!! I SHOULD BE THE ONE WHO KNOWS ONEE-SAMA THE BEST!!!"

Kuroko was lucky that there were barely anyone out tonight. If there was actually someone out there right now, they could have probably heard her.

Just then, her phone buzzed. When she took out her phone, she saw a message from an unknown number. But the sender soon identified themselves.

"Hi, this is Tobio Yumi, the transferred member. （＾ν＾）Uiharu gave me your number and told me if I have any troubles, I can seek your help. I hope we can get along! （╹◡╹）"

"...(-_-)"

"?"

"Yeah, hope we can get along as well."

Kuroko called Anti-Skill after she exited the messenger app. She dialed in the numbers for Anti-Skill and pressed the phone to her right ear.

"Hello, this is Shirai Kuroko of Judgement. I have something to report right now. It's a serious matter. There are eight armed robbers here...yes, I've put them down temporarily...No, they're not students for sure...Yes...I'm at..."

Just as she was about to tell them where she was, she felt her butt land on something soft. She lost her balance and her hands were touching soft flesh as well.

Kuroko dropped her phone and she looked down in confusion.

The luggage bag was gone.

"What...?"

Just then, she felt something sharp piercing her right shoulder.

"Gaaack?!"

Looking down, a sharp metal object pierced through her short-sleeved shirt, nailed into her flesh. It was like a heavy piece of wire. However, the front continued to swirl around like a spring, and there was a white ceramic handle attached to it.

"(A bottle opener?)"

She tried to calm herself down from the erratic pain that flooded her mind and activate her teleport. She teleported away from the men and was now standing up with the men behind her. There was no one in front of her, so she turned around.

The thick red liquid flowed down her arm and dripped onto the ground.

Someone was looking at her, clearly enjoying all of this.

That person who was in front of her was taller than her. Her red hair was tied in two ponytails, and she was wearing a Western school uniform. However, it was a winter uniform. The Western-style coat wasn't worn, but draped over her back, unbuttoned. She was not wearing any shirt underneath, her upper body exposed, with only a light pink cloth wrapped around her chest like underwear or bandages. There was a belt hung around her waist, but it didn't seem to fix the belt in place, it was more like a decoration.

The belt wasn't made of leather, but rather, many pieces of metal. There was a ring on it, with a black metal cylinder that was longer than forty centimeters and three centimeters in diameter placed through it. It was a military flashlight that could be used as a baton.

Kuroko couldn't tell the age of that girl, and she didn't want to assume her age as the age of a person doesn't reflect how they look in Academy City. That was seldom though.

The girl in front of Kuroko was sitting on top of the luggage bag that was previously beneath her.

"(As expected. It's teleportation, but how? Did she touch it when I had my back towards her? No, but that would make her too fast? Yet...)"

The look that Kuroko gave that girl told her all she needed to know.

"Heh, as expected. What do you think of my teleportation?"

On hearing that, Kuroko frowned.

"Instead of that, how about you ask yourself whether attacking a Judgement member would be wise."

When that girl heard that, she just meekly smirked at Kuroko. As if, she knew what she was doing.

"Of course I do! You're Shirai Kuroko of Judgement. That armband you're wearing tells me how much of a goody two shoes you are!"

Kuroko growled as she places her fingertips on her needles. The girl in front of her did her trick as well. However, she spun her flashlight around and pointed it at Kuroko. Then, she tilted it upwards.

Suddenly, the men that Kuroko had previously beaten up were in front of her floating for a split second. They were blocking Kuroko's vision of that girl.

"Too naïve!"

Kuroko had already locked onto her target. She made sure not to aim that girl's vital points. Her power was a point-to-point movement. Not a single line movement, so the people blocking her wouldn't have been targeted.

Yet...

The girl in front of her was unscathed.

It seemed like she pushed herself off the ground while on the luggage bag to move back a few paces. Kuroko's needles just dropped onto the floor like nothing. Since it was a point-to-point movement, if the target was to move back from the original position, they wouldn't have been hit.

The girl raised her flashlight and pointed it upwards. One of the needles, that Kuroko tried to stab the girl with, appeared in the girl's hand and she threw it at Kuroko like it was some sort of kunai.

"(Crap...distancing myself from her won't help, and I do know how to take people down from close range, so I'll go forward!)" Kuroko thought as she teleports herself past the needle, but then a sudden pain ached her back.

A sudden sting to be precise.

"Gah?!"

Due to the intense pain, Kuroko felt her energy being sapped away and her mind being left in a daze. Kuroko trembled as she drops to her knees in front of the girl.

"Hahahahaha! Can't you figure it out? I don't NEED to touch objects just to teleport them. I can simply just look at it, and teleport it. It's as simple as that!"

Kuroko couldn't lift her head up. The girl had a much more powerful teleportation than Kuroko, yet she wasn't even classified as a Level 5? Or was she?

Level 5's are treated with much, much more better than anyone from the lower levels. Simply because Level 5's were hard to produce. You have Accelerator, someone who doesn't have to go to school and was paid a huge sum of money to partake in an experiment. Kuroko didn't know about the situation with the #2, but she was certain that the #3 and #5 were privileged enough to attend a famous school in School Garden.

The rest of the Level 5's were unknown to her.

The girl held the other needles that were previously on the ground in her hand. With Kuroko's energy deteriorating, that girl took her time tormenting Kuroko.

"Ah...so much for Judgement, right? Oh yeah, I also heard that the Ace of Tokiwadai isn't attending school already. Pffffttt...hahaha! Poor girl had her memories wiped, right?"

Kuroko gritted her teeth as she leaned in closer, her pain starting to numb her senses.

"H-How...do you know...that?"

The girl looks down at Kuroko and smirks at her, as if playing with Kuroko's feelings.

"I'm a very well informed person, you know? If you know that, then you should also know who the person looking after her is."

"...That demon..."

"Ding ding ding, that's correct! Accelerator, the scariest person to live in Academy City. From what I've heard, he's never lost a single battle! Amazing, isn't it?"

Then she teleports one of the two needles in her hands, into Kuroko's other arm.

"...But, on August 30th, he lost his powers from a gunshot wound. He's nothing more than a useless normal human! Bwahahaha! How hilarious! The one person who was the most feared in Academy City being taken down!"

That girl kept laughing as she wrapped her arms around her stomach, and wipes off a single tear in her eyes.

"Ah...that's pretty funny. Now, the only Level 5's to worry about are Kakine Teitoku, the #2. Mugino Shizuri, the #4. Shokuhou Misaki, the #5. Sogiita Gunha, the #7."

"...What about the #6?"

"Hm? Who knows? No one can find the #6. Oh yeah, there's also the new Level 5, right? Uhhh...hmm...it was that girl that managed to beat the Accelerator. I can't remember her name...but whatever."

She shrugged her shoulders casually, and then tapped the white luggage bag with her flashlight.

"Do you know what this is?"

"...No. Care to enlighten me?"

That girl had a look of annoyance as she stared at Kuroko. She stretched her leg out and smeared the dirt on her soles of her shoes onto Kuroko's face.

"Don't you dare look at me like that when you're on the ground. Hmph, but I guess that's all you're left with. After your precious Misaka disappeared, you've lost everything, huh?"

Kuroko's eyes had a deeper meaning to them as she gazed at the girl. She had an intense stare as she tried to get up. But the girl simply jabbed another needle into Kuroko's left thigh. Kuroko let out a faint scream as she went back down to the ground kneeling.

"Ha! Fine, my time's almost up anyway. I'll tell you what this is."

She spun her flashlight and tapped the luggage bag once more and told her,"This is the remnants of the Tree Diagram."

"What?! Isn't the Tree Diagram floating in the orbit?"

The girl pulled out a photo from a pocket in her skirt and flung it forward with her fingers. The photo landed on the floor, and Kuroko could see it all.

The black outer space and a large earth. In the middle of the photo, there was the debris of a satellite. Kuroko had seen that certain satellite before on the news and the guide.

"That's the remnants of the Tree Diagram. Such a poor girl. Misaka Mikoto's nightmare is about to return. The experiment she tried to stop will resume, only this time, they'll probably use the #2 instead."

The photo that was in front of Kuroko disappeared and reappeared in the girl's hand. Kuroko couldn't believe what she had just seen.

"She was lucky that the Tree Diagram was destroyed, but how unfortunate. Everyone wants it to be repaired."

Kuroko was done playing games, she wanted to destroy that luggage bag in front of her, but she couldn't. She didn't have the strength left. The blood on her body was drying up, she had bled a lot.

She didn't want to give up, but her body was telling her otherwise.

"Pl...please...stop..."

Kuroko grabbed onto the girl's legs as she looked up with her eyes barely being able to open themselves.

"...Pitiful. Oh, how pitiful! Little girl has finally given up on fighting? Maybe you should stop being a Judgement member. That will make it allllll the more better."

The girl used the back of her flashlight to hit Kuroko on the side of her head. She got down from the luggage bag and stuck the tip of her shoe into Kuroko's mouth.

"Lick it and I might consider. I don't like to be mean, but just this once is fine. Making someone from a prestigious school like Tokiwadai do this feels so good. Is this what they call the mouth of a royalty?"

Her words were mocking Kuroko as she circled the tip of her shoe around her mouth.

"Ack! Now look what you've done! You got your dirty blood all over my shoes."

She wiped her shoes using Kuroko's Tokiwadai vest. Her brown leather vest was stained with red, and Kuroko could do nothing but move her eyeballs and painfully watch as she gets humiliated by that shameless girl.

"(Onee-sama...I'm sorry...I...couldn't protect you after all...)"

A faint smile appeared on Kuroko's face as she hears the wheels of the luggage bag stroll further away from her, and the sounds of footsteps becoming more distant.

"(Ahhhh...I wonder if I'll be able to see the real Onee-sama...I really want to tell her that I love her so very very much...I want to snuggle with her and do some...ehehehe...some very nice things to her...)"

——14th September 7:45p.m.——

"Wahhhh...the food that the pervert made was so amazing! Reports Misaka as Misaka sinks into the water to relax herself."

"Pervert?...Are you perhaps talking about Yumi?"

"Does it matter? They are both the same things."

"Uhh...okay, if you say so..."

Right now, these two people were in a Certain Hospital in District 7. And they were currently showering.

These two people are, Ester, and Last Order.

Accelerator was in his room resting with Misaka next to him.

"Ha...But that's true. Bathing after eating a delicious meal is amazing~!"

Then another voice from outside came in.

"I'm going off now! Bye, girls!"

"Okayyyy. See you later, Yomikawa! Says Misaka as Misaka sends you off warmly."

They both settled into the bathtub with no troubles, and Last Order kept staring at Ester's breasts.

"Hmmmm...Misaka feels like you're trying to provoke Misaka in some way, says Misaka as Misaka looks at your assets."

"Hm? What are you talking about?" Ester asks as she looks at Last Order with a pure and innocent face. She was unaware that to others, she looked very gorgeous. She saw herself as a normal girl living a relatively normal life.

Well...except dealing with magic isn't really all that ordinary for the students in Academy City.

"...Yomikawa sure is busy huh?"

"Well of course! Yomikawa is from Anti-Skill after all, and they deal with the bad people in Academy City! Says Misaka as Misaka shows off her wonderful intellect."

"Wow. That's amazing!"

Last Order couldn't tell if Ester was being sarcastic, or whether she was just acknowledging Anti-Skill's work. Nonetheless, she understood both statements.

"I wish I can be helpful. I have many ways to go, but I want to repay Master for all the things he had helped me with."

"Uegggh...why do you call him Master? Is it some sort of kink that he likes? Asks Misaka as Misaka gets suspicious of that man."

"Uhh...well...I want to be as strong as him, so I'm trying to learn how he does things."

"Hmm...Is that all?"

"Uhhh...yes...?"

"Are you sure?"

"...Yes..."

"Are you very very very very very extremely very sure?"

"Hnngh...okay, maybe not..."

"Mayyyybe?"

"Okay! It's not at all! I...I actually really like Master..."

She sunk her head into the water, to the point where the water level was just below her nose. Her face was red, either from saying all that, or from staying in the bathtub filled with hot water.

"Hm...Misaka really doesn't approve of this. Since he is mine! He dedicated his life to protecting Misaka! Exclaims Misaka as Misaka shows how much better she is compared to you!"

Upon hearing that, Ester sprung up from the bathtub and went in front of Last Order's face.

"Huh? How did you make him dedicate his life to you? Please teach me!"

"Heh heh...Are you sure you want to know? It's not going to be easy."

"Please!"

"Heh, if that's the case..."

Last Order stood up and pointed her index finger at Ester's forehead.

"First of all, you must have a good heart-to-heart talk with him!"

"Okay, I can do that!"

"Next, you must leave his side!"

"Why?"

"Heh, only amateurs don't know the answer to this. Says Misaka as Misaka proves her high intellect once more." Then she continues by saying,"When you leave his side, he'll come running to you!"

"Really?"

"Don't interrupt me!"

"I'm sorry!"

Ester bowed her head down to the point where her forehead almost touched the surface of the water.

"Then, you'll have to get into some serious trouble! Or have a virus inside you! And you might be asking, 'why?'. Well, that's simple!"

A nuke was about to be dropped.

"Then, he'll come and save you! And do you know what he'll say?"

"What will he say?!"

"Ahem..."

It was like Last Order was preparing for a talk show, or trying to catch her breath.

She inhaled a large amount of air and spoke.

"What the fuck has that brat done to deserve this? Nothing! That's all the more of a reason I want to save her! They were never intended to be in the darkness. People like us should just shut up and not involve others! It is true that I've killed over ten thousand Sisters, but this doesn't mean I should leave the rest of them to die! I know what I'm saying right now is hypocritical, but no matter how much of an asshole we are, no matter how much of a fucking scum we are, that can't be the reason to harm these fucking brats!"

She then took in a deep breath and exhaled it out and gave Ester a thumbs-up.

"That's what he'll say! Says Misaka as Misaka teaches you the way of capturing a man's heart."

"Ah...wow. Master's really an amazing person...(Although should a child like her be saying those kinds of words?)"

Ester was baffled by what Last Order just said. It was a lot to take in, and more confusing that a child can even say those words.

"...I would really like it if he could say that to me as well."

Ester smiled as she laid back into the bathtub with Last Order.

"...But that goes against my goals. I want him to see the strong side of me. I don't want him to save me, but I want him to know that I can at least be useful to him."

"*sigh* This is why you'll never win his heart, says Misaka as Misaka shakes her head in disappointment."

"Hm...I wonder what Yomikawa is dealing with right now."

"Ah, about that...Misaka may be able to predict what she's going to do."

"Huh? How?"

"Intel from the Misaka Network. And it could possibly affect him."

——14th September 8:06p.m.———

Ester was already out of the bathroom, but she was soaking wet.

"...What the hell is up with that get-up?"

"Um...well...I uhhh...well..."

"If you have something to say just spit it out."

"Well...there's not much reason for this."

Ester was currently talking to Accelerator who was still lying down on his bed.

"You're gonna catch a cold if you don't wipe yourself properly. You do know that, right?"

"Hnnghh..."

Accelerator carefully got up from his bed, to make sure that he didn't wake Misaka up, and he took his own folded towel that was lying on his bed to wipe her hair and body.

Ester was wearing clothes, of course. She was wearing the nurse's uniform, which became her usual get-up. Her hair was soaking wet, that a trail of water droplets were following behind her. Her purple bra was barely visible from the front and back, and water droplets were dripping down her skirt.

Accelerator dried her hair by thoroughly rubbing the towel against her hair.

"Master...not so rough...you're messing me up."

"Not my problem. You can't even dry yourself properly after a bath. Why should I ease up for you?"

Ester bit her lip as she looked away, feeling slightly embarrassed that her plan was going all too wrong.

Yes, her plan was to follow what Last Order had instructed her to do.

By having the water dry up naturally on her body, her temperature would go down, and she'd eventually catch a cold.

Then, everything would unfold and she'd catch him in her grasp.

But...it was backfiring on her.

"(Master probably thinks that I'm too irresponsible to even dry myself up properly...why isn't it working? Is it because of the age gap? Last Order looks like a ten year old, so maybe he fancies her more?)"

As she thought about that, she realized that he was being gentler with her.

Previously, he was roughing her up to the point where it felt like her hair was about to be pulled off. But now, it feels like a dog was comforting her.

"Master...that feels really good."

"Weren't you complaining about how rough I was?"

"Well, yeah. But you became gentle for me, right?"

"Tch, just shut up. This is happening because of you."

He finished drying up her blonde, smooth and silky hair, and he was going further below to her face. He wipes her face, her ears, and then to her neck, where he wrings the towel around her neck temporarily before releasing it.

Ester was preparing for it. For the moment he would go further down. When he does, she was about to let their hearts talk.

He wipes her shoulders and moved his hand up and down, as if he was giving her a massage.

"Mmm...that feels so good..."

"Does it?"

"Yes...can you go further below?"

She gave him her unintentional puppy eyes. She didn't mean to do it, but it felt more like an instinct to her.

He squeezes her shoulders.

Slowly.

Gently.

He was going to do it.

He was going to mess her up.

He felt like doing it.

He was given the opportunity to.

This was it.

He couldn't hold back anymore.

He...

He...

He lets go of the towel and walks off.

"Huh?"

"What? You expect me to wipe the water out of your shirt? Don't be ridiculous. I'd just be wasting my time doing that. Just take off your clothes and wipe yourself off. If you don't, you're going to catch a cold."

"M-Master...what about your towel?"

"I'll just request another one from the doctor."

"Huh?"

"Don't 'Huh?' me. I'm not your butler. Don't expect me to do everything for you."

Ester stood there, listless. She had nothing to say to him. He had just ruined the mood.

"(As expected...it's the age difference...)"

Ester hung her head low as she dropped to her knees.

"Oi, how long you gonna keep sulking for? Hurry up and change already. If you have nothing else after that, then leave."

Accelerator slid the door to his ward open and simply walked out on her.

"Ah...have I been indirectly rejected?" Ester whispers to herself as she continues looking at the floor.

——14th September 8:17p.m.——

"Alrighty! I've finished changing to a set of new clothes. Now, time to ask her what's this all about."

When Ester got out of the ward, a certain girl on a stretcher passed by her. When she looked back, Accelerator was behind her as well.

"Oh hi, Mas...ter...?"

Ester held back on saying anymore as she realized the look on his face when he saw the girl on the stretcher. She could tell he was in shock as he stood there rooted to the ground.

He made no eye contact with her as he turned his head back to continue looking at the girl on the stretcher.

"(What?)"

Ester could only wonder about how much that girl meant to him. It couldn't be possible that he would suddenly like a girl that passes him. After all, he didn't accept the fact that she should like him after knowing each other for less than a week.

So what was the reason?