The Tree Diagram

—14th September 9:01p.m.—

"Go away, I don't have the time to talk to you."

There were two people in this ward.

Kuroko and Accelerator.

The nurses were out dealing with other patients. The doctor was busy tending to other patients. Which meant that no one would disturb them, and no one would go near them.

"If you want to know what happened to me, I got beaten by a bunch of Skill-Outs. They snuck up on me, hit me on the back of my head and beat me up. You saw my shirt, didn't you? I'm from Tokiwadai. The Skill-Outs hate high level espers, so it's obvious that they'd do a sneak attack on me."

Kuroko was on the bed with her arms crossed, acting rebellious against Accelerator who was just questioning her while leaning against the wall.

"Is that so? Well, from what I know, if you were really attacked, they would have been more rougher on you. A few stabbings using your own needles doesn't seem to be rough."

"Shut up. How could you even see that?!"

She broke her arms-crossed position as she leans towards him.

"Do you take me for a fool? Your only wounds are the holes in your body. The rest of your body seems fine."

She falls back as she puts her hands up beside her petite frame.

"Gck?! D-Did you see me naked?!"

"You're going off-topic."

"So you did see it! I'll have you know that I'm only 13 years old!"

"Uh huh. Then? Are you done?"

"No! Are YOU done?"

"Tch, I don't know what you're trying to hide, but it's obvious you're trying to hide something."

Accelerator pushes his back off the wall, and limps to her with his cane in his right hand.

"Academy City was too quiet tonight. For a Judgement member like you to be this injured, it seems like you stumbled into the wrong place."

"Ah,that's right! I went to the wrong place, and they caught me off guard. That's how I got these injuries."

"...Tch, if you don't feel like saying it then I'm leaving."

"Yeah that's right! Leave!"

Accelerator rolled his eyes as he turned his back on her. She kept screaming nonsensical words at him as he walked to the door, slid it open, walked out and politely slid it shut.

Then there was silence.

She waited a few more minutes before thinking.

"(Now that he's out of the way, I can finally contact Uiharu. But how?)"

Her equipment was all gone. Her portable computer, her cellphone. Hell, she was even wearing a change of panties.

She was thinking of the possibilities.

She could teleport to Uiharu, or contact her using someone else's phone.

But who would be willing to do it?

"This is Academy City, everyone will always help one another. I'm sure they'll let me borrow their phones."

But when she thought about it, if she, who is a patient, doesn't have her phone. What about the others?

"Ahhhh!!!! This is too frustrating!!! I want to find that girl and teach her a lesson, and to make her pay for using Onee-sama's name in vain!!!"

Kuroko was furiously scratching her hair as she said that. However, one thing that didn't leave her mind was...

"Why does he even care about Onee-sama that much? Why does he keep pestering me about what happened? What do I even mean to him? He's a disgusting villain that should have been captured by Anti-Skill for his crimes, yet he's still roaming around freely. How is this fair?"

Kuroko was thinking out loud as she hugged her knees close to her almost non-existent breasts while lying back on her pillow.

"It's just not fair."

—14th September 9:06p.m.—

Ester was running. But running to where?

She had been asked to do something for the Sisters; Misaka's clones.

The Sisters had to stop the traffic in Academy City individually. Well, at least those that were going to District 23. Due to that, they created a major traffic jam.

Now, they had to link their sight with the cameras in Academy City to find out where the girl was heading to.

The Sisters couldn't ask anyone for help but her.

They didn't want to ask Accelerator for help out of fear that he could possibly fix back the Tree Diagram to grow his powers again.

The Tree Diagram was so powerful that it could precisely call when the rain would come and when it would end. It had very precise calculations, and could possibly find a way to cure Accelerator, or maybe even find a way to adapt to his broken state, and make him a level 6.

They didn't want to test the waters here. So they sought out the only possible help.

Ester Rosenthal.

"(I know how much pain and guilt he feels towards himself for killing those girls.)"

Then she sped up even more.

"(That's why...)"

And then she stopped in her own tracks. She was now at a certain construction site. It was one that Himegi could easily identify.

"(...I have to do this. So that he doesn't have to suffer again. I'll make sure that he can be happy. No, he will be happy as long as I'm here!)"

There were several people in front of her. They were wearing black suits and aviators, making them look awfully suspicious. However, Ester did not stop for them. She stopped for the person behind them.

"Oh! How unfortunate. I've come face to face with a level 5! I'm so scared~!"

The girl behind the men sarcastically said as she spun her signature flashlight around.

"The look in your eyes...they tell me that you've got a problem with me. Is that right?" The girl asked Ester.

"That's right. That briefcase in your hand...I want it."

Then, the sound of clicking could be heard from the men as they pulled out a jet-black pistol from their hands. Their index fingers on the trigger. They were clearly shaken up as beads of sweat fall from their foreheads.

"You want this briefcase? What for? So you can protect that boy? How romantic~" The girl set the briefcase vertically up and she sat on it.

"However...do you really have the power to do so?"

Right now, Ester was at a place where there were no cameras at all. Which means...

"If you were to die here, who would know? Besides..."

Then, a smug expression appeared on her face as she points her flashlight at Ester.

"...you're not even an esper. You don't have power! I know what happened on that day. You're in the same world as the Chairman of the Board of Directors. But you aren't as strong as him! Ahahaha!!!!"

When she said that, all the men looked at her with confused expressions. Ester didn't look at her in the eyes. Instead, she stared at the floor.

"What's wrong? Realized how helpless you are? That's the way it should be. Kill her!"

However, Ester did not budge. She wasn't scared. She took a single step, her eyes roaring with fierce intensity.

From her pocket, she pulled out a single kitchen knife that could be found in any hospital. The hilt was made out of silver, the back of the blade was dull, and the edge of it was spiky. Perfect for cutting through meat.

"I was never scared. If someone is hurt, I'll lend a hand to them. That's the type of person I want to be!"

Gunshots filled the whole construction site, and it could be vaguely heard throughout the entire District 7.

The men had aimed low, but the aviators and the night had deteriorated their vision. Their shots missed as Ester charged at them while bending her back low, with the knife in her right hand.

There were ten of those men.

Ester let go of the knife and held the bottom of the blade in her right hand, leaving the bottom of the hilt exposed.

Before she could take one of them down, a bullet had pierced her left shoulder and left knee.

She raised her right hand up and slammed the hilt of the knife onto the man on her right. Then she turned to the person on the left and used her head to knock him down. She continued running forward and used her right leg to sweep one of the men off his feet.

"(Seven more...)" Ester thought as she lets out heavy breaths of air.

"Hey, what are you all doing?! Stop standing there and take her down! Use your hands!"

When Ester heard that command, she panicked. She threw her knife at one of the men with the tip of the blade hitting his aviators. He flinched and fell back.

She then proceeded to take one of the guns on the floor and pointed it at them.

With her index finger on the trigger, she pulled it.

The men all fell back and used their hands to cover their face.

*Chink* *Chink* *Chink*

"Huh?"

The pistol had no ammo.

When the seven remaining men realized that she had no bullets, they all got back up and charged at her.

"Crap!"

She threw the gun at them as she quickly looked around to find a replacement.

She could hear the plentiful footsteps behind her as she crawled to the next pistol. She dragged her knees through the rocky concrete and reached her arm for the gun.

But then...

It disappeared in front of her. It vanished into thin air.

"No way..."

There was only one explanation for this.

Ester turned back to the girl sitting on the briefcase and there she saw it. The black pistol.

The girl had her finger through the handle as she circled it around. She made sure to hug her index finger away from the trigger in order not to shoot herself with it.

She smiled as she looked at Ester who was helplessly lying on the ground.

"Oh, what's wrong?...Hm? You're looking at my gun? Oh, I'm so sorry! I had to make sure it wasn't in the wrong hands! My bad."

She was so apologetic, yet her face didn't say that at all.

The men tackled Ester, and then they lifted her up. One man on each of her arms. Two of the men placed their feet on the back of her shin and held it down. The others had their pistols pointed at her from all directions.

The girl hopped down from the briefcase and pulled it closer to Ester.

"Whew, we finally did it. The dog has been put down. Good work, you useless bodyguards."

The girl bent her back and leaned in towards Ester.

"Now what to do with you? Should we have a game of Russian roulette with this pistol? That sure sounds fun! Here, how about you start first?"

She sticks the barrel of the gun into Ester's mouth and pushes it deeper inside until it touched the back of her throat.

"Gck...?!"

The girl had a wide smile on her face as she slowly pushes the trigger in.

"Bye...bye!!!"

"WAIT A MOMENT!"

"...Huh?"

An obnoxious female voice called out to the small group. She had blonde short hair with curls at the sides, her outfit was rather dazzling, and it showed everyone what kind of position she holds.

A princess.

But that princess was not your ordinary princess living in royalty. It was more like she was living in debt.

"My name is Himegi Matsuri! Stop what you are doing to my servant right now!"

"Huh?"

All the guys and the girl holding a flashlight blankly stared at her as they wonder what business she had with them.

"Only I'm allowed to treat my servant like that."

"Mistress!"

"Hmph, be glad that I've come to your rescue. I was wondering why my servant was rushing, but it seems like she's gotten herself into some big trouble. Now then..."

Himegi stomps all the way to the group, and takes one of the men's guns out from their pockets. Then she points it at them proudly.

"Release her and I won't have to punish you."

The men just hung their jaw low as they released their grip on Ester. Himegi quickly took Ester's hands and turned her back on them.

"Now, if you don't mind, I'll be taking her away now."

They took a few steps forward before someone realized what had just happened.

"Wait a minute...WHAT ARE ALL OF YOU DOING?! KILL THEM!" The girl holding the flashlight ordered her men as she points her flashlight towards them.

The bodyguards all chased after them. But she remained rooted to the ground as she watched from behind.

"Well, there's no need for me to move. I just need to focus on getting this out of Academy City." She said as she takes a glance towards the briefcase in her hands.

*Chk*

The sound of meat being pierced through was heard. But this wasn't some restaurant trying to cook a good meal for their customers. This was meat getting stabbed just for the sake of getting stabbed.

"?!"

The girl looked at her right shoulder, and she saw a familiar metal knife that was used by Ester just now.

Did she throw it?

No, it was too sudden.

Then it finally struck her.

"Teleportation...Cheh!"

She looked around to try and find the culprit, but she could see nothing. Then, a voice echoed out to her in that empty space.

"An unexpected attack. Served by yours truly."

"Cheh, where are you, Shirai Kuroko?"

The whole construction site had barely any place to hide. There were only steel beams and exposed areas in the construction site.

Then, a heavy boot hit the girl on the back of her head.

"Right behind you." Kuroko said as she landed her missile dropkick on her.

"Rrrgghh..."

Kuroko had three of those knives in her hands. She placed them in between her fingers as if she was performing some kind of magic trick for her.

Kuroko teleported the knives into the girl's shins and the last knife into her other arm.

"Ack!"

"Hmph. Now let's talk. Who are you?"

"..."

The girl looked at Kuroko fiercely as she clenched her teeth to endure the pain.

"Oh? Hurts, doesn't it? That was how I felt. I'm not so kind as to call a doctor to help you. Now tell me. Who are you?"

Kuroko wasn't in glee that she defeated her enemy, she was rather proud that her enemy was on her knees. Kuroko looked down at her as if she was much much more inferior to her.

Having no other options, and feeling backed up, the girl agreed to talk.

"Fine. I'll introduce myself. I'm Musujime Awaki. I'm a teleportation type esper like you."

"That's better. See? That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Shut up."

Kuroko taunted Awaki the same way that Awaki had done earlier.

"Now tell me. Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to bring that thing out of Academy City."Kuroko said as she turned her head towards the briefcase beside Awaki.

"Heh, then let me ask you. Why do you think we were given powers?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean think about it. You and me, we're almost the same person. We are both teleportation espers. We can't even teleport each other because we have the same AIM diffusion field. And what can we do with our powers?"

Awaki confidently smiled at Kuroko as she slowly pulls the knives out of her body.

"There was this experiment that was meant to duplicate a power level of a level 5. Academy City knows a lot about neurosciences, and so they wanted to create clones of a level 5."

Awaki took in a deep breath as she tilted her head downwards.

"But those clones could never reach the power of the same exact level 5."

"So? What are you trying to say?"

With the blood oozing out of Awaki, she couldn't think straight. But still, she tried to get her point out.

"My point is...those clones still managed to attain power. How we espers attain our power is through the Power Curriculum Program, where we get power through our way of thinking. We don't need common sense, we don't need any of our senses. We just need to have special processing capabilities."

Awaki horizontally tore off a portion of her skirt and split it into half so she could cover the wounds on her shins.

"So what if, there are other organisms that could attain power? As long as they have a brain, can't they have powers as well?"

Kuroko couldn't believed what Awaki had said. Awaki was probably way older than Kuroko, yet her way of thinking was weird.

"Why would you want to give power to animals?" Kuroko rebutted.

"Because I don't want it. I never wished for my powers."

Then she looked at Kuroko with eyes that made almost anyone want to pity her.

"Let me ask you, Shirai Kuroko...Have you ever feared your own powers?"

"No. Why would I?"

"Because I fear my own powers."

That was the most genuine Awaki has been since she started fighting Kuroko. She revealed a gentle smile as she looked down.

"I'm scared of the power that I possess. I've always wondered when I will hurt someone. How I'll hurt them, and how major the injuries will be. Why must I have power if I can only use it to hurt others?"

Awaki wasn't insane, she wasn't delusional. She was perfectly normal. Yet her words sounded crazy.

"Every esper wondered that. They unintentionally hurt others. They don't mean it. Just because they can't control it, why is it that they are always blamed? Let me ask you something else. Have you ever heard of the boy who was so powerful that he could kill anyone without touching them?"

Awaki took a long deep breath before she continued, while Kuroko just stood in front of her just listening to what she has to say.

"That boy wasn't met with kindness, he was abandoned. He never meant to kill anyone. He couldn't control his powers, he cried day and night because he was lonely. And do you know what the adults did?"

"..."

"They pointed their guns at him. Every single one of them resorted to using force on him. It didn't work as well. He destroyed everything around him, his whole world was falling apart."

Awaki used the bandages around her upper body to wrap her wound on her shoulder.

"But do you know who actually came to help? A family that was so crazy that they used Child Errors for their experiments."

After bandaging herself, she looked at Kuroko again.

"The Kiharas. The Kiharas took him in, and taught him how to control his powers. But they weren't so loving to him as a family as you might think. They didn't give him kindness, they didn't give him anything. They only took away his heart and freedom. He had nothing left."

"...What are you trying to say?"

Awaki stood up from the ground, as she tried to make her point clear.

"Right now, I'm fighting for the espers who were wrongly accused! The ones who weren't as privileged as that boy were sent to the reformatory. And when they enter that place, they might not even make it out alive. Their brains will be broken to the point of no return! I'm fighting for them, I'm doing this for them!"

She took her flashlight and pointed it at Kuroko.

"Shirai Kuroko...will you join me? If our powers are combined, we can change the world together. Abandon your precious Onee-Sama and join me."

If this was any normal esper, they would have joined her. Her speech was like a commander hyping his or her troops up for war. Anyone would have joined her. Anyone who had been beaten up and left with no hope would have joined Awaki. However, Kuroko was not normal.

"...I'm sorry, but I have to refuse. If you were talking about saving the future generations, I'd actually consider following you. But after you repair the Tree Diagram, what are you going to do? You're going to make a new generation of animals that can potentially take over the world? Even if you fix the Tree Diagram, it doesn't change the fact that you're still an esper!"

Awaki was pushed aback by Kuroko's words. Her eyes widened as Kuroko started to give her a lecture. A very long lecture.

"You fear your powers hurting others? Don't give me that bullshit! You chose to do it. What you do with your power is up to you. And look at me! I was sent to the hospital because of you! The boy who unintentionally hurt others...he should've just backed off from everyone in the first place if he knew he could kill anyone without touching them. I can think of many ways where my power can help someone. I can teleport people out of a burning car, I can teleport people out of an underground mall that has been blocked. I can use my powers to weaken people before restraining them. Don't lump your dumb ideals in with that boy. As much as I hate to admit it, that boy is a kind person. He lost his way while walking, and ended up in the wrong territory. And now he has been accustomed to it. But since he was so accustomed to it, he knew the way out, and the way in, but he never wanted to persuade anyone to come with him. I hate him for what he did to Onee-Sama. I hate him so much that I want to tear his throat out. But at the same time, I still want to believe in him. I want him to suffer, and I want him to overcome his suffering. But more than ever, I want to save him. Because I want to live up to Onee-Sama's expectations. She probably won't be happy that I'm helping a guy like him, but that's what makes Onee-Sama lovable. She won't forgive him, she will always want him to suffer, but she will lend a helping hand to anyone who ever needs it. That's what Academy City is here for. And that's what I want to protect!"

Awaki was dumbfounded by what Kuroko had just said. Kuroko was panting hard after saying that. Awaki couldn't even tell what points Kuroko was tackling. The only thing that came across to her was "I'm not joining you".

"Musujime Awaki. I'll drag you out of this world that you are in. I'll save you, because I'm from Judgement, and because Onee-Sama would have done the same thing if she was around."

Awaki just stared at her, frightened of the girl in front of her. Or rather, he mental health was slowly deteriorating.

"Rrrrggghhh...AHHHH!!! I'll kill you! Who do you think you are?!"

She pointed the flashlight at Kuroko. On instinct, Kuroko teleported away from her original position. And fortunately for her, she had managed to escape being cut into half by one of the steel beams. However, what Awaki did was according to Awaki's plan.

Soon after, creaking noises could be heard beside them, and Kuroko was the only person who turned to look.

That was when she realized that the creaking noises were coming from the steel beams grinding against one another. They were about to fall on Kuroko.

She wasted no time in teleporting away from the expected area where the steel beams would land.

Once she was in the clear, she exhaled a sigh of relief. But what about Awaki? This whole time while they were talking and fighting, she had never seen her teleport herself once. Despite having a much more powerful teleportation, she didn't pull off anything flashy. It was too strange.

When Kuroko looked at the spot where Awaki was previously at, she was still standing there.

"Watch o—Ack?!"

Kuroko felt something heavy behind her. A heavy pressure was applied on her back, and it wasn't a massage. It was way too firm for her petite body.

The steel beams that were falling was now behind her. Knowing this, Kuroko clicked her tongue.

The weight behind her was too much, her calculations were everywhere.

Kuroko fell with the steel beams and they both simultaneously crashed into the ground. Her fall was only cushioned by the soft dirt on the ground. Her green hospital clothes were dirtied, but that was the least of her concerns.

The thing she was most concerned with was the fact that she couldn't feel her legs anymore. The only area on her body that was safe from the steel beams, was the upper half of her body.

"Ah! Shit!" Kuroko cursed out loud as she tried to pull herself out of the pressure from the steel beams. But it was useless. Her small body couldn't handle it.

"Looks like you've lost, Shirai Kuroko." Awaki teased her as she circled the flashlight around in her hands.

"Shut up!"

"Seriously...what can you even do in that situation, Ku-ro-ko!"

"Don't use my name so casually, Musujime Awaki!"

"Look who's talking."

Awaki took a step forward, but before she knew it, something went into her eye.

"Ack?! What the?!" Awaki shouted as she used both of her hands to cover her eyes. In the process of doing so, she dropped her flashlight. When her flashlight dropped, she panicked and went on her knees feeling the ground for her flashlight while she was still blind.

Awaki kept whimpering like a dog as she tried to search for her flashlight. She was scared. She couldn't control her powers without her flashlight. Moreover, she couldn't even see anything, which made it worse.

"Shit! Fuck! Where is it?!"

But she couldn't make it in time.

She failed.

Awaki stopped moving as she tried to hear the faintest of sounds. She could heart dirt falling down on to the ground, and dirt blowing up from the ground. Everything was everywhere.

She accidentally teleported a bit of dirt at the steel beams that Kuroko was under, and they snapped in half.

However, despite the steel beams being snapped in half, Kuroko still couldn't get up.

"Musujime Awaki, calm down! The only reason you can't control your power is because you're not—"

"SHUT UP! What do you even know about me?"

She barely managed to open her eyes as she slowly got up from the ground. The area still having multiple objects being teleported around them.

"I'll kill you..."

Awaki was in no rush to kill Kuroko as she knew that Misaka was already long gone. She wasn't going to chase her. In fact, no one was.

"I...I have to get the remnants back. If I do...those children can be saved...yes..."

"Musujime, stop!"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! I really liked you. I had no intention of killing you, since we both have the same powers. I thought you could sympathize with me, but you had to go and shoot me down.

Awaki looked at one of the steel beams at the side and teleported it on top of Kuroko. Kuroko was crushed again.

"Don't worry, I'll make your death painless. Hehehehe...hahahahahaha!!"

Musujime teleports out of the construction site to watch from afar, but not after barfing up. She looked like a total psycho as she rested her hands and knees on the ground.

"The researchers said that the maximum amount of weight that I can lift is 4520 kilograms, and if I teleport something more than a thousand grams, my body would break. But I don't care anymore! As long as you live, I'll keep suffering. That's why..."

Suddenly, a large building overshadowed Kuroko. It was lifted vertically up, a bubble-like figure surrounded it. The bubble refracted all light as it slowly drops down onto Kuroko.

Awaki didn't care about the people sleeping inside the 40 storey building. They probably couldn't even tell that they had been teleported and their precious homes were about to be shattered.

Kuroko couldn't go anywhere. But she didn't mind.

"(Onee...Sama...even though I only met you during April of this year, we had a lot of fun times together. I also learnt many things from you. Like how the level of an esper doesn't determine the type of person they are. I used to think..."All level 5's are arrogant and they'll treat us all who are not on their level as trash." But you weren't like that, onee-sama.)"

Tears started welling up in her eyes, this was how her story was going to go.

"(Ah...Uiharu don't be useless when I'm not around. And don't eat too much sweet, you'll get a toothache. Saten, please always try your best as a level 0. Don't give up, keep fighting to protect Uiharu. Ha...my body feels heavy. Thank you, onee-sama.)"

There were many things that shaped Kuroko to like Misaka. Kuroko was once straight, but she turned into a teleporting lesbian after meeting Misaka.

Misaka taught her a lot of things, despite knowing each other for a few months. But those months were well spent.

Mannerism wasn't about decorating yourself, but to make the other person feel comfortable.

Courtesy shouldn't be forced on others, but to be used as a guide.

Helping others wasn't a form of pride, but listening to the problems of others was.

Dignity couldn't be obtained by protecting oneself, it should be obtained after protecting others.

Misaka had never nagged about that to Kuroko, but she displayed it through her actions.

Like a role model should.

"I...want to die." Kuroko whispered under her dying breath while smiling.

It was no world to her without Onee-Sama. To her, Misaka was one of the people most important to her.

"I only wish that I could have saved her..."

She heard the sound of a jet plane taking off, and soon...

The building disappeared, and Kuroko was still alive.

"Huh?"

She opened her eyes and look up to see an unlikeable person in front of her.

"*sigh* I wondered what the fuss was all about, but it turns out that this was it? THIS?"

The person was lithe, had white hair and red eyes. Weird electrodes were stuck on his forehead, temples and neck, while his right hand was holding a crutch. The crutch had a rather modernistic design, a long stick with a handle attached to it. He had his left hand extended out to the sky.

Awaki's eyes opened wide, as she realizes the monster in front of her.

However, Accelerator didn't pay her any attention. He only moved his eyeballs to look at the girl below him.

Shirai Kuroko.

"Oi, stop sleeping on the ground. There's a bed in the hospital."

"Shut up, why do you think I'm here in the first place."

"Seriously...the two of you were making such a huge racket that I couldn't even sleep. If you're gonna fight, do it elsewhere. Don't do it near the damn hospital!"

Kuroko looked down as she chuckled.

"Heh heh...I really hate you."

"Think what you like, but I have another business I have to attend to."

Then, he turns his attention to Musujime Awaki, who was trembling in fear.

"Y-Y-Y-You...You shouldn't have gotten your powers back! You should be powerless! I've been next to "that person", and on August 30, you lost your powers! There should be no possible explanation for you to do that!"

Accelerator sighed as he processed her words, and he was disappointed to say the least.

"You're so pitiful that it makes me want to hug you to death. Well it's true that I lost my power on that day, and I have to rely on this piece of shit device on my neck to let the clones do the calculations for me."

He didn't want to break Musujime Awaki in front of Kuroko. So he walked all the way to Awaki with the support of his cane.

Awaki could only stare in disbelief as the monster slowly walked towards her.

*Clik* *Clak* *Clik* *Clak*

Those were the only sounds that filled the night.

"Don't kill her!" Kuroko weakly shouted as she raised her hand out.

"Hmph, who do you think I am?"

Once he reached all the way in front of Awaki, he raised his cane up, and tapped the ground with it.

Suddenly, a burst of air hit Musujime Awaki from underneath, and she was lifted up. Her mind was blank. The only thing floating in the sky with her was the remnants of the Tree Diagram.

"What? Is he letting me escape because of what Kuroko said?"

Awaki grinned as she realized that Accelerator might secretly be working with her.

"Yes! I can do it. Now all I have to do is find a safe place to teleport to, then I can—"

Before she could say anything more, she looked down and realized that a winged figure was approaching her fast, like an eagle.

But a closer look will show her that eagles don't have two arms. It was Accelerator that was approaching her.

"Geez, if you're gonna be a villain, then commit to it. Don't just act like a villain just to be a good person, it's too disgraceful for the role of a hero."

Then he flew up to her level and uninterestingly looked at her.

"By the way, I noticed how much you love that briefcase and it's contents. But to be honest with you, everything has its flaws. No one is perfect. You're blind to think that it's perfect. That's why..."

Then he raised his right fist and it smashed onto Awaki's face. Her face was met with the luggage bag and he shot her back down.

"...you should take a closer look!"

He slowly descended onto the ground and his feet gracefully touched the soil on the ground. He walked past the fallen Awaki and the broken remains of the luggage bag, all the way to Kuroko and reached a hand out to her.

Kuroko looked at his hand then to his face. The moon behind his back complemented with the whiteness of his hair. His hair that was growing fast swaying with the direction of the wind.

"I...I don't need your help." Kuroko said as she places both of her hands on the ground and pushes herself up. However, once she got up, she immediately fell back down. Her legs were still severely injured from the fights that occurred in one night.

Accelerator's hand was still stretched out when she fell down, so instead of waiting for her to grab his hand, he grabbed hers instead and pulled her up.

"I don't have time to waste with you."

"Can't you be a bit more polite?"

"..."

He kept quiet as he looked at her. He thought about what he should say next. He hugged her with his right arm, and jumped to the direction of the hospital.

"...You asked about why I cared so much about you. This is my answer."

Her eyes widened as he said that. She didn't think anyone was listening in on her.

"I don't care about you. However, I intend to take responsibility for taking something precious from you."

As he jumped and talked, she did not make a single eye contact with him.

"You...it's going to cost you everything to pay me back."

"Tell me something I don't know."

He didn't smile once, instead he had this plain look on his face. However, she could that tell he was happy?

"By the way, what happened to the girls?"

He didn't respond.

"...Hey..."

Not a single sound from his mouth.

"Hey! I'm asking you a question!"

He didn't respond again.

"Heyyyy!!!"

Then he dropped her on to the ground and walked away.

"God, you're so noisy. Just shut up!"

Then he leaves her on the cold, hard ground.

"Seriously? You're going to just leave me like that after making such a bold statement?!"

She crosses her arms and sat upright and sternly says,"Apes will always be apes no matter what they do!"

Then, she heard a very cheerful voice heading her way. A voice which she recently just identified.

"Senpai~~!!!! Or maybe...Kuroko?"

Kuroko turned around and saw her kouhai...well in Judgement anyway.

Tobio Yumi.

"Ha?"

Then she saw two people beside her. A blonde haired girl with a chest size that could be considered slightly bigger than average, and a hourglass figure. The other was blonde as well, however, she had absolutely none of the dominating traits the other had. She was flat, and hips that were pretty normal.

She had seen them before. She saw them at the construction site earlier.

Ester Rosenthal and Himegi Matsuri. The two females who helped Kuroko just now.

"What are you doing here?" Kuroko asked.

"I heard gunshots in the vicinity, and I came to investigate alone since Uiharu had to lock up the Judgement office." Yumi replied.

"You sure she isn't eating any sweets right now?"

"Uhhh...that...I don't know."

Yumi laughed it off while they walked towards Kuroko, and then she asks her,"Anyway, what are you doing outside the hospital?"

"Huh?"

Kuroko then turned around to see a massive building with multiple windows stretching across, some of which were lit up by the lights inside. The insides of the places were white.

"...Some ape just decided to drop me here and leave me to die. Help me, kouhai! I can't feel my legs!"

"Huh? What happened?"

"The ape and I had a pretty big fight, but in the end, I won."

Yumi's body shuddered unexpectedly, and she wrapped her arms around herself.

"Why do I feel like I know who you're talking about..."

Then she reaches her hand out to Kuroko.

"Well, let's just get you into the hospital. I'm sure they'll do something about it."

Kuroko looks at her hand and smiles.

"...Yeah, thanks."

——15th September 11:34a.m.——

"Shirai! What happened?"

"Oh shut up, Uiharu. A kouhai had to come looking for me instead of my best friend. How dare you still ask me what happened."

"Eh heh heh...ow!"

Kuroko knocked her fist onto Uiharu's head.

"Don't "Eh heh" me. Geez, please do your part as a member of Judgement."

Kuroko was just joking around with Uiharu as they talked. With a bond that close to each other, they are able to joke around to an extent where nothing is taken seriously.

————————————

"Misaka wants to go to the Daihasei Festival!!! Says Misaka as Misaka thrashes around."

"Tch, shut up! You're annoying! I just want to rest. If you want to play, go and play by yourself."

"Huhhhhh...Misaka thought you were all like "I will protect these brats with my life!" and then now you're going to throw us away?!"

"If you don't shut up about that, I'll seriously murder you."

Accelerator was in his ward trying his best to get some sleep. But Last Order was sitting on a mini table used for dining, for patients on the bed. So her whining was even louder than usual.

She got her information about the Daihasei Festival from Misaka 10042, who is attending Tokiwadai Middle School in place of Misaka Mikoto.

For Misaka's training, she couldn't pull off a railgun, and the teachers dubbed it as a "Tired Mikoto unable to focus".

"The Daihasei Festival looks fun! Says Misaka as Misaka tries to persuade you into joining as well."

"Oi, does it look like I'm a student? Look at the clothes I wear. Do you think I'm still attending school?"

"Yes! Says Misaka as Misaka insists on bringing you along."

"*Sigh* I can't deal with this bullshit anymore..."

Then, the door to his ward slides open, and Ester came in.

"It sure is loud in here. What are the two of you talking about?"

Simultaneously, both of them answered.

"Nothing."

"A festival!"

Ester's eyes opened wider as she rushes up to Last Order and their hands connect with each other.

"A festival?! That sounds fun!"

"Yes! A festival! Says Misaka as Misaka preaches it to you."

"Master, can we go?"

Accelerator looked away from her by facing the window in his ward and clicks his tongue.

"Whatever, do what you want. I have no control over your lives."

"Yayyyy!! That means he's coming with us! Says Misaka as Misaka cheers!"

"Huh?"