30 Trouble In Paradise
-13th September 2:00p.m.-
"Nnnghh...This is so annoying..."
The person who was groaning in agony was none other than Accelerator, who was currently on top of a high-rise building still in the midst of his 'scouting' mission for the 'rat' in Academy City. Though he wasn't making any progress at all, he just had to make sure she doesn't get close to the stadium.
While he could oversee the food stalls in the Daihasei Festival, he couldn't see the inside to the stadium and while he could see the food stalls available, it was only half of it. The other half was on the other side of the festival, at the entrance to the stadium.
There was a reasoning to how he chose his location.
"(If the rat was scurrying around in the sewer, she would be stinky, so everyone around her would isolate her, and with her goldilocks hair, I'd be colorblind not to spot her."
Accelerator stood on the edge of the roof, more specifically, he placed his foot on top of the cement step and watched the crowd below like a proud lion.
"I really don't care whether that rat will attack Academy City or not, as long as she doesn't get near the arena, I'll leave her be."
"The only reason why she would go to a school in the first place is because she's a normal person, while I'm a lunatic."
Accelerator then turned his head to the stadium and pondered about one very important question.
"...Speaking of which, which idiot decided that rolling a ball was difficult? I know it's supposed to be a competition to prove one's athleticism, but how is that event effective?"
Right now, Ester's ball rolling contest should have started already. It was just two teams rolling a ball, bigger than an average Japanese teenager, over to the other side of the field.
"What the hell's so difficult about that?"
Accelerator also had his battery turned to 'normal' mode. He wanted to preserve as much energy as he could.
"If I were to go back, the doctor would just nag at me for not staying in bed. I told him I was going for a rehabilitation walk, but I didn't think a rat would suddenly block my route."
Accelerator clicked his tongue as he looked back down at the ant-like people below him.
-13th September 2:29p.m.-
Accelerator was in a relaxed position, with his body stretched out horizontally on the ledge of the roof, with his right arm supporting his head and his left knee raised up high.
There was absolutely nothing to see. No one with golden hair. No one that looked suspicious. He cannot tell if that was a good thing or not, but peace was still maintained, apart from the chaotic commentators in the stadium screaming their lungs out. Everything seemed to be perfect.
Then, he got a phone call from a certain girl.
This girl took one foot into the dark side, but managed to get out before further harm could be done.
She was Tobio Yumi.
Accelerator thought of hanging up...
...and he did.
"(What the hell does she want? If it's just to chat, she can forget about it. I got more important things to attend to.)"
Just as he kept his phone in his pocket, his phone's ringtone sounded again.
And he hung up yet again.
Then, another time. And he just decided that muting his phone was the better idea. However, the ringing on the phone was just converted to vibrations on his thighs, and he could not handle it anymore.
He slammed the 'answer call' on his phone with his thumb as hard as he could with his slim hands and placed the phone at his ear.
Before he could even shout into his phone, the caller on the other end shouted faster than him. And it was not Yumi's voice. It was a voice he was oh so familiar with. It was the voice of the woman who had been harassing him for 2 weeks now.
Ester Rosenthal.
"MASTER! PLEASE COME HERE NOW!"
"Tch, don't shout into the phone!" Accelerator answered with obvious irritation in his voice, however Ester still could not catch it.
"THIS IS URGENT, PLEASE! Yumi...Yumi I think she's suffering from a heat stroke!"
"What? What do you mean?"
"She suddenly fell to the floor, and when I tried to talk to her, she wouldn't respond! Please come now! We're at my team's preparation area."
At that instance, Accelerator's phone slipped out of his smooth hands, and he pressed the switch on his battery. He could have caught his phone and then jumped to the prep area, but time was of the essence. And his heart was racing. But why?
-13th September 1:41p.m.-
Ester's class had won the ball rolling contest, and they left the field with their hopes and heads up high.
"We haven't lost once, guys! Let's keep this momentum up!"
The person leading the group was none other than their hardworking and charismatic class representative, Fukiyose Seiri.
"Booyaaa--" The whole class cheered with such a monotonous tone that it was hard to believe it came from them. Ester was tired from the chasing earlier, rather than the competition itself. But the competition still did not ease her fatigue.
Still feeling bad about what happened between her and Fukiyose, Ester dared not approach her at all.
"Everyone! This is not the energy we need! More enthusiasm!!"
"Y-Yeahhhh--"
Fukiyose twisted her lips as she pondered about how she should raise the spirits of the class. The answer was obvious, not much thinking needed. Hydration, and electrolytes to boost their energy levels again. Knowing that, she ran off as the class limped back towards their prep area.
"I knew we shouldn't have been so excited before the competition." The blue-haired boy, Aogami said as his body struggled to stay up.
Adrenaline mixed in with a boring activity is always a killer move to anyone's energy level. And they had to find it out the hard way.
Ester was the most exhausted out of the whole class, having chased after a woman for ten to fifteen minutes straight, and then had to rush back to the preparation area after an unsuccessful chase. It was such a hassle for her.
When they reached their designated location, the whole class fell to the floor yet again. Ester leaned against a concrete wall and slowly slid to the floor.
"*Sigh* What can I do to make Fukiyose feel better?"
She thought hard, maybe she should buy Fukiyose something. But she doesn't have any money.
"I should really find a job..."
As she tried thinking of a solution to fix her relationship with Fukiyose, Aogami sat right next to her.
"Yo! You looking for a job?"
"Hm?" Ester twisted her head to face Aogami. She found his presence very weird as he was always accompanied by that blonde haired boy, but right now, that boy was missing.
"I can introduce you to a few jobs if you want. I've worked in a few jobs during the holidays, and do a bit here and there to earn some quick cash during the weekends."
"Ah, maybe. I'll think about it. Thanks, Aogami." Ester forced herself to smile, but really she couldn't as she was tired out. Her energy was drained out from her. And after a hard activity, letting her body rest only made her eyebags slightly more visible.
Aogami noticed how tired she was and so he placed a bottle of energy drink beside her while holding it from the cover.
"Here, I'll give this energy drink to you."
"Hm? Oh, but Fukiyose was about to get some, no?"
"Haha, by the time she gets here, I think you would have fallen asleep. Besides, someone told me to pass this to you."
"Oh? Who might it be?"
"O-Oh, that I don't know. But it was a blonde haired lady with extremely BIG B... I'm not going to finish that."
Ester tilted her head as she repeated his words,"Big buh??"
"Ah! Don't need to concern yourself with those details! Ah ha... You're pretty big yourself!"
Ester's eyelids curved down as she looked at the floor.
"Is that a problem? (Could this be the reason why he doesn't like me?)"
"Ah? Of course, not at all! Guys love BIG girls and I think you should stick your chest out proudly."
Ester's eyes lit up immediately as she went forward a little.
"Guys love big girls?!"
"Yes! As an avid MOE game player, I know that guys love BIG--"
As he was about to finish, he was interrupted by another girl's voice.
"Yo Ester, what are you up to right now?"
Ester turned her head back in front and saw a girl with a Judgement armband around her right arm. A black colour ribbon extended out from her head as she donned a very light singlet with extra clothing beneath it. A rather large belt hung low on one side as it wrapped around her small waist, accompanied by shorts that revealed her thighs.
"Oh, Yumi! How are you?" Ester asked as Yumi approached the two of them.
"Eek, that girl is small." Aogami whispered under his breath as he turned the other direction.
"I'm doing pretty well. What are you two talking about?"
Aogami immediately had chills down his spine as he slowly turned to Ester.
"Oh, Aogami and I were just talking about big..."
"...Big grills!"
"Yeah! Big...wait a minute. That's not what we were..."
"Oh, would you look at that, my competition is about to start soon! Bye Ester! See you next time!" Aogami exclaimed as he took off to the food stalls outside the stadium. It was just Yumi and Ester left alone.
"What a strange guy." Yumi commented. "Anyway, what about you? You don't look too good."
Yumi sat down next to her and they both stared up at the sky. Yumi placed her left hand on Ester's right hand and asked her," Did something happen between the two of you?"
"Huh? W-What do you mean?"
"You know what I'm talking about. You and him."
Ester's cheeks flushed red as she thought about what had happened earlier after her first event. She had practically told him to stay away from her even though she was the one asking for help.
"..."
Ester did not give an answer but Yumi could tell something was up because of that silence.
"So something did happen, huh?"
"...Yea." Ester said in a low voice.
"Want to talk about it? I mean, if you don't want to, you don't have to force yourself to. But I'm just telling you, hiding your problems from others won't solve your problem. I know from experience."
"..."
Ester dared not look Yumi in her eyes. She did not know Yumi's situation before meeting her. But she was about to find out.
"When my sister, Mami, went missing. My mother wept for nights on end. I could've done the same thing as well. Except..."
A gentle smile formed on Yumi's face as she continued,"...she was my sister. She meant the world to my family and I. That's why I joined Judgement, so I could search for her."
Ester finally turned her head to look at Yumi, and she looked back at her as well.
"But along the way, I really felt like giving up. I took months to locate her, and once I did, I realized that I couldn't do it alone. I wasn't strong enough. And I was really...really broken to pieces."
Yumi still maintained her smile for Ester, there was nothing to mourn about after all. The situation was still resolved. What was there to cry about.
"I needed a bit of emotional support from someone, but no one came. In the end, I couldn't find the strength to move. The hopelessness and helplessness of that situation back then still haunts me because if I had managed to save her earlier, her arms and eye would have still been attached to her body."
"...I'm sorry."
"What is there to apologize for? In the end, he went in and cleared it all up for me. I'm really grateful for what he has done for my sister and I. Without him, I would not be as happy as I am right now."
"But still...to have you say all that must have been difficult."
Yumi chuckled as she held Ester's right hand up.
"Those were all my regrets. The regrets which I didn't have the chance to ease. Thank you for listening to my concerns as well, Ester."
"I don't deserve your thanks. I didn't do anything for you." Ester looked back down at the concrete floor with her right hand still held at her shoulder level.
"Awww come on! Don't be so pessimistic! You're starting to sound like him now heheh. Acts of kindness doesn't have to always be done with the arms or legs. In Judgement, we don't always act violently. We talk to the culprits to try and persuade them not to repeat their wrongdoings. Listening to others is also a form of kindness."
"Yumi..."
Yumi released her hand and tugged at Ester's cheeks, stretching them out and forcing her to smile.
"O-Ow ow ow! Jat hurchs, Yubi!!"
"Heheh that's what you get for not smiling. Are you gonna smile now?"
"Okeh okeh!! I'll smbile!!"
Upon hearing that, Yumi released Ester's cheeks and settled both of her hands on the concrete floor. Ester tapped her cheeks and pushed them in before looking at Yumi and they both burst out laughing.
They held their tummies in with their hands and bent their bodies so low, that their heads almost touched the floor. Once they were done laughing, Yumi asked Ester the same question again.
"So, what's bothering you?"
"...It's just my helplessness to do anything for him. Every time I try to do something for him, it always ends badly. Somehow the results always have a negative impact on him."
"Hmmm...so it's just like mine."
"..."
"It's okay, Ester! I don't think you really have to repay him."
"Huh?! B-But he's done so much for me! And he really changed my life, I can't just not repay him!"
"Ester, you want to know something?"
"What is it?"
"Did you know that I saw Accelerator just now?"
"H-Huh?! D-D-D-Did he tell you anything?!"
"Not about the two of you. But I could tell that he was really sad. Sadder than usual. I think it was because of you."
"S-Sad? But he looked really happy when I told him to leave me alone."
"Just because he looks happy, doesn't mean that he's actually happy. The facial expression of someone doesn't always reflect how they really feel."
"Yumi..."
"I think you being around him makes him happy."
"Are you sure?"
"No doubt about it! If you keep being pessimistic, I'll squeeze your cheeks again!"
"..."
Ester wasn't worried about the cheek squeezing that she would receive, but rather whether what Yumi said was true.
That he needed Ester.
"Honestly speaking, I'm jealous of what the two of you have with each other. I don't want to get in between the two of you."
"...What we have?"
"Don't act dumb with me. You guys are practically a couple!"
"..."
It took Ester a few seconds to process what Yumi had just said, and after it went through her brain, she was practically burning in her own blush, her eyes didn't know where to look so she tilted her head to the floor.
"W-W-W-What are you talking a-about?! We only have a Master-Disciple relationship!"
"Hm? Is that so? If that's the case...I'll take him for myself then!"
Ester suddenly bent her back closer to Yumi and shouted at the top of her lungs.
"B-But I thought!"
"I'm just kidding!" Yumi shouted back to try and overpower Ester's voice to make sure that she hears her correctly.
"Oh..."
Ester settled back down in her place and an awkward air lingered around them. But after a minute, Yumi spoke up once more.
"Well, I better get going. I'm sure my senpai would have been waiting long. I actually came here to get a drink but I found you instead."
"O-Oh I'm sorry..."
"No no no! It's fine, really! I really enjoyed talking to you."
"I-If you don't mind...would you be willing to accept this?"
Ester grabs the bottle from the bottom and hands it over to Yumi. But as she slowly hands it over to Yumi, she noticed a small brown sticker which contradicted with the rather blue bottle.
"(Hm, what a weird coloring...)" Ester thought.
"Oh, thanks! Man, I'm thirsty from all the walking and pushing that I've been doing for my senpai."
Yumi reached her hand out for the bottle and grabbed it by the body above Ester's hand. However, when she did, her whole body froze up immediately.
She stared at Ester for a second before her body went limp and the half of her body slid down to the concrete floor, leaving her body laid out on the ground.
Ester stared blankly at her almost lifeless body, Yumi was barely breathing. Ester's heart rate could've been compared to a patient with hypertension. She didn't know what to do. She didn't even think about what she should do. She could only think about what just happened.
Yumi was hanging on by a thread, but she still wanted to convey a message to Ester. She pulled out her cellphone with such little energy, that it had to slip out of her pocket. And when it came out, she weakly pushed it towards Ester. Although it hardly travelled an inch, Ester still got the message.
Call for help.
Ester picked up Yumi's phone and accidentally went through her contacts list. Surprisingly, she had very few contacts in her contacts list.
However, the first name in her contacts list caught her attention the most.
"Accelerator."
That was the name which appeared first. And out of instinct, she pressed his name and called him. She didn't even think about whether she was interrupting whatever he was doing. All she could think about was saving her friend from death.
-13th September 2:02p.m.-
Accelerator landed as quickly as he could, but in the process, he created a small crater on the ground. His landing was just about a few meters away from Yumi's hot body. Ester laid Yumi out in a supine position and took off the singlet she wore on the outside, leaving a black singlet which barely covered the base of her stomach.
Ester was performing her magic for Yumi to check her vital signs.
"What the hell happened here?" Accelerator knelt down on one knee beside Ester.
"Master, this is bad! Yumi is about to die! She's close to death! Please do something!"
Accelerator shoved Ester away as he went to check her neck with his left hand. When he did, the sound of glass shattering could be heard. And his eyes were in disbelief.
"(So she had managed to get through...)"
Accelerator hadn't turned his battery back to 'normal' mode yet, so he placed his right hand on her chin, while sticking his thumb into her mouth.
"You, call the ambulance. I'll stabilize her."
"R-Right!"
Ester uses Yumi's phone to make the call, but before she did, she turned to Accelerator, her whole body shaking.
"Please, don't let her die."
When he turned to look at her, he could tell that she was really feeling fear for the first time. Tears were practically welling up inside her.
"Tch, that goes without saying. I'm the #1 for a reason. Don't waste anymore time, get the ambulance here."
"Thank you so much..." With that, Ester proceeded on with the phone call.
"(Her body is in heat, and not in a good way.)"
Her body was sweating profusely, and her clothes were like sticking to her.
"(I can barely feel her breath...fuck. This'll be a pain in the ass. I'll have to manually bind the oxygen to her haemoglobin. This'll take me some time. Will my battery even last?)"
Accelerator was about to use his power to a cellular level. If he was still the him back then, he could have easily done it without much thought, but now, he was being restricted by the collar around his neck.
5 minutes at max.
"(Just focus...)"
The air around them was being sucked into her mouth slowly, and he heart was starting to beat again.
"(If I rush the process, her heart would beat too fast and she'd die. I have to take my time...FUCK!)"
Accelerator thought of what Oriana could be doing currently. Was she running? Was she hiding? Or was she hunting down other victims? But he could not spare too much thought for her as he had to focus on Yumi.
Ester finally finished the phone call and knelt down on the opposite side of Accelerator.
"Master, bad news! The ambulance said they'll take about twenty minutes to arrive because of the heavy traffic in Academy City right now."
"Seriously?" Accelerator continued looking at Yumi. He could not distract himself right now.
"Check...her vital...signs." Accelerator struggled to speak as he had to use all of his calculation prowess into stabilizing Yumi's body.
Ester placed her two hands above Yumi's body and a magic circle appeared above her body. Accelerator felt slightly surprised to see that yet again, but he still did not lose focus.
"Master, her vital signs are slowly stabilizing! It's working! At this rate, she'll be fine before the ambulance arrives!"
"...Alright."
Accelerator pulled his thumb out of her mouth and carried her in his arms.
"W-What are you doing, Master?"
"I'll be the one bringing her to the hospital. It's faster on foot anyway, and it's not too far away from here."
"But wait! Can't you..."
Accelerator turned away from her with his left side facing her. And that was when she saw his battery blinking red.
He was running out of time.
"...Please go ahead...I'll inform the paramedics about the situation."
Without acknowledging her, Accelerator jumped up and travelled into the distance. Ester brought her knees to her chest as she laid her head down.
"(How did this happen...)" Ester thought. And then she remembered the unusual sticker pasted on the bottle that Aogami gave her.
She grabbed it by the cap and spun the sticker side to face her. What she saw shocked the life out of her. Written in cursive writing, were the words," Wind symbol".
"A magician? Is Aogami a magician? Was he trying to kill me?" Ester whispered under her breath. While he did give her the bottle, he is also just a teenager. But as Ester pondered about it, she is also a student and a magician.
"I'll have to find him."
But then she thought of the ambulance that was coming. How is she supposed to deal with them?
She bit her lips as she looked into the distance at the multiple stalls outside the stadium. But as if fate had heard her, Fukiyose arrived with a bottle of energy drink. "Here's yours, Ester."
"O-Oh, th-thanks!" Ester was still embarrassed about what happened earlier before their event. Fukiyose could tell that it had been bothering her for some time, so she decided to speak up. But at the same time, Ester needed her help.
"Umm..."
"Umm..."
They simultaneously interrupted each other. But instead of backing off, Ester straightened up her back and bowed down in front of Fukiyose.
"W-What are you doing?! P-Please get up. People might think that I'm bullying you!"
"Fukiyose, I have a request! Please forgive me for earlier and hear me out!"
Fukiyose looked around anxiously to see if there were anyone looking at them. Fortunately, it seemed like no one was looking, and Fukiyose had to push her body back up.
"W-What do you need help with?"
"I called for an ambulance earlier, however, I don't require them now. If they were to arrive here, could you tell them that there's no problem here?"
Fukiyose raised her brow as she placed her hands beside her hips.
"Why did you call for an ambulance?"
"Oh, uhhh, someone was injured, but they're fine now."
"Hm? Someone was hurt? Who was it? If someone got hurt, I have to report it to the committee so we can prevent such accidents from happening again."
"Ah! It-It's not that big of a deal. Really! It was just like a small scratch."
Fukiyose narrowed her eyelids as she stared intensely at Ester. There was a good reason for why she had to really check whether Ester was telling the truth or not. If the issue is not resolved, other people could get hurt as well.
"A-Anyway, I gotta get going now. See you later!" Ester said as she ran off to the stalls ahead with the bottle of water in her hands. She had to make sure she got rid of it and then find Aogami quickly.
Ester knew how a bit of magic works since she specializes in creating talismans. But it was only necromancing and support spells to reinforce her golems. She wasn't exposed to the other ways of using magic. She had to go back to the hospital and prepare for an inevitable battle.
-13th September 2:09p.m.-
Accelerator had very little time to get back. His time was nearing, or actually...
It came.
As he jumped one more step, his whole body lost all of its feelings. He could only look ahead, then down as the twenty meter drop down awaited him. Out of instinct, he hugged Yumi as close as he could closer to his body, and nudged his body sideways until the side of his body was facing the surface.
He could only curse at himself. A few more hundred meters and he would have reached the hospital. Fortunately for himself, he took a safer route that had little to no traffic at all just in case if this situation ever occurred. And he dropped into an alleyway.
The wind around him swished past his hair and ears as he continued on his descent, and then he finally crashed to the floor. His head was throbbing with pain and it felt like his forehead was about to burst open. When he crashed, Yumi left his grasp and the both of them rolled across the ground for a short distance.
Accelerator looked at Yumi's body and could not help but reach for it. In his mind, he had the image of him at the top. The people at the top have expectations, and he would meet them. He was given a 'new' life. There are people he wants to protect, but not physically. He wants to protect the part of them that made them who they are.
Ester's fear stuck to him. It was so convincing that it made him quiver, but he managed to hide it.
"I get want what I'll!"
He dug his fingers into the concrete floor, and although it seemed impossible for him, when he can't even feel pain, nothing mattered to him. He was smiling like a maniac for a second and then became depressed for another second. He couldn't control his emotions.
He pulled himself closer to her body, inch by inch. He had to get her to the hospital at any cost, even if it meant hurting himself. Suddenly...
"Okay, I see you there, boy."
A silhouette appeared behind Yumi's fallen body.
When had that person gotten there? Was he too focused on Yumi that he didn't see her surroundings?
Then, even more people appeared behind that silhouette. And when that silhouette made him or her identity clear, Accelerator immediately recognized that person.
From his outdated looks and pointy hairstyle, Accelerator could finally rest.
"How ya doing, boy? You look like you need a bit of help."
It was Tatemiya Saiji. The enemy who became an ally.
"Grab them, guys. What are we waiting for?!" Tatemiya yelled, and the people behind him stepped out and lifted Yumi and Accelerator over their shoulders. To make sure no one had any wrong ideas, the guys carried Accelerator and the girls carried Yumi and they headed off to the hospital.
-13th September 2:39p.m.-
"Tch, what the hell are you guys doing here?" Accelerator crossed his arms as he leaned against his pillows.
He had his battery fully charged thanks to the nurses who helped him place it in the charger. And the Amakusa Church assisted in putting it back.
Tatemiya was the only one in the room with Accelerator and he had a massive 'kendo stick' leaned against the wall.
"Oh come on! Is this how you thank me for helping you, after you were practically crawling on the floor. And what's more, it was all useless!"
Accelerator felt like exploding as he reached his left hand at his battery.
"You wanna go?!"
"I don't mind!"
The two of them growled at each other like dogs but were interrupted when the ward's door slid open. The big-sized frog-faced doctor walked out of the small corridor in his room and stood in front of his bed.
"So from what I analyzed, Yumi will be fine. We almost lost her, but she's going to recover just fine. Her family is beside her right now, but she's still unconscious."
"Thanks for the help, doc. Sorry about this."
"No need to thank me, because I have to deal with you right now."
"Ha? What do you mean?"
"Mr Saiji, if you don't mind, could you leave this room for a while. I need to have a serious conversation with my patient."
Tatemiya immediately backed off. Something about the doctor's tone made Tatemiya leave the ward. Needless to say, Accelerator was about to receive an earful.
"You told me that you were going to view the festivities for a bit and then return quickly. I would've expected a 30 minutes return, since knowing you, you can move pretty fast. But I got more than an hour. What's more, one of the nurses reported to me that your wound was almost opening up. I'll have to stitch that back up again. Speaking of which, you had your wound stitched back up recently as well. How much troubles do you want to give me?"
"Oh please. Spare me from this lecture. I got it, I got it. I won't do it ever again." Accelerator relaxed his arms as he set them behind his head and laid down on the bed.
"If you understand, you don't mind if I tie your hand to the underside of the bed, do you?"
"...Ha?"
Accelerator opened one of his eyes to look at Heaven Canceller and what he saw was terrifying.
In the doctor's hands were a pair of restraints for both of his hands. And he slowly approached Accelerator.
"O-Oi...I'm a damn patient, you know?"
"And I'm a doctor who just wants the best for his patients." Heaven Canceller said with a rather sinister smile.
-13th September 2:45p.m.-
"Gyahahahahahah!! Oh my god! Look at you!" Tatemiya laughed as he wrapped his arms around his stomach. He was laughing so hard that it was like he was almost hyperventilating.
"You're lucky I'm tied down right now. If not I would rip the guts out of your mouth."
Tatemiya was still laughing to even respond to Accelerator and frankly, it was annoying him. But after Tatemiya calmed down, they got down to business.
"So, how can we be of service to you?"
"Why are you guys even here?"
"We were just sightseeing around in Academy City when we stumbled upon you."
"...Seriously?"
"Yup."
Accelerator could see that Tatemiya was sweating a bit. Was it because he laughed so hard that he ended up sweating in an air conditioned room? Or was it because he was lying? It was too much of a coincidence for him to be around the spot which Accelerator had fallen.
"A-Anyway, do you need any help?"
"...*Sigh* Usually I would say no...but only for now, yes."
"Great! So what do you need help with?"
"I'm searching for someone. A blonde woman."
"And?"
"If she attracts your attention, then it's her, given that your standards aren't that low."
"You're not providing much information here, you know?"
"*Sigh* She wears a brown working uniform and was seen holding a long painting of some sort. That's all I can provide."
"Hm, okay. Are you planning on following?"
Suddenly, a nurse pops out from the corner and Tatemiya jumped.
"Ah?!"
This nurse was a rather special nurse that only started working recently, and one that Accelerator was familiar with.
It was one of the Misaka clones. Specifically, Misaka 10046.
"Misaka couldn't help but overhear your conversation which could lead to the patient breaking out. Says Misaka as she tries to stop you from doing so."
"Tch, we're not doing anything of that sort."
The Misaka clone looked at the two of them with her ever-basic emotionless face and then took the stool in his room to sit down.
"Understood. Misaka will sit here and watch over you. These are orders from the doctors, Misaka is just doing her job. Says Misaka as she vividly watch over you to make sure you don't run away."
"Tch, what a pain in the ass."
Tatemiya lingered around in the silence for a while, but after feeling out of place, he casually told Accelerator.
"Well, if that's all then I'll be taking my leave."
Accelerator nodded his head, despite having slight difficulties due to the restraints. It had irritated his neck a bit. Right now, he was pretty calm since Yumi is fine, so he was not in a rush to find the rat. But if someone like her was easily a victim of that rat, who knows who else might be her target.
He also felt aggrieved that he let her get the better of him. He clenched his fist in frustration.
"Misaka notices how angry you are. Are you okay? Asks Misaka as she does her best at doing her job."
"It doesn't really matter you, does it?"
"Misaka still has to do her job as a nurse, if not the doctor will end up scolding her. Says Misaka as she recalls the intense lessons that she had to take to become a nurse."
"..."
"Do you want to tell Misaka your problems?"
"No. Who the hell has interests to talk to someone when they're being tied down?"
"I don't know. You are a weird person after all, says Misaka as she tries to hide the fact that the Sisters have been watching you through Last Order's perspective."
"...*Sigh*" Accelerator let out an exasperated sigh as he rests his head back to look at the ceiling.
"By the way, is it okay for Misaka to ask you a question? Asks Misaka, requesting for permission."
"As long as it's not dumb and time wasting then go ahead."
"Is Ester done with all her events for the Daihasei Festival?"
That question immediately piqued Accelerator's interest that he tilted his head down to look at her again. Accelerator had not said anything yet, but the Sister continued talking.
"Because Misaka remembered Last Order scanning through the activity pamphlet, and it said that Ester's next event should be nearing soon."
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Then why did Ester change out of her gym attire?"
Accelerator tilted his back a bit, but could not reach the 45° mark because of the restrainers holding him back.
"What do you mean?" Accelerator calmly asked her.
"She wore an outfit that Misaka had never seen before and she looked like she was in a rush, says Misaka as she answers your question."
"...Tch." Accelerator clicked his tongue and laid back down in a supine position. "She probably forgot something when she went shopping for those clothes. Maybe she left her phone or wallet there. I could really care less."
"...You don't seem to be that worried. Says Misaka as she secretly worries for her friend."
"Why should I be worried? In the end, whatever she does is up to her. If she messes up, then she is responsible for it."
Misaka 10046 looked at the floor as she played with her fingers by twirling them around each other. She was preoccupied with thinking about what trouble Ester had gotten herself into, her priorities were all over the place.
"...I'm hungry. Can you get me something to eat?" Accelerator said with his head still facing the ceiling. The Sister kept quiet for a while as she looked at Accelerator. It seemed like he had no intention of getting out of bed.
"Misaka will check with the doctor to see whether it is time for you to consume anything, says Misaka as she prepares to go to the doctor."
She got up from the stool and placed it back where she took it. But before leaving the ward, she peeks her head out from the corner.
"Don't try to escape."
"I'm not going to. What reason do I have to try and escape from this paradise?"
The Sister took sometime to assess whether he will attempt an escape or not. But when it didn't seem like it, due to his relaxed behavior, she left almost immediately.
When he heard the door to the ward slide close, he got up and wriggled his hands around.
"Like hell I'm staying here."
It was time to breakout.
