"Hey, what's with the sudden pride? Hmm... Gathering in such an obvious building, maybe it's to lure potential enemies out."
White hair hanging down to his neck split in the air, his indifferent gaze seeming to look past everything.
"But before any enemies show up, Last Order, upholding an optimistic and positive spirit, is prepared to happily tour this building with everyone. If we moved here, we might get a room this big, says Misaka Misaka, her face full of excitement."
Her arms stretched out wide, Last Order, dressed in a well-fitting blue and white dress, unhesitatingly broke into a light run towards the front of the building, only to be grabbed firmly by a deathly pale arm where veins were clearly visible.
Accelerator's place was a tiny single dorm room, not part of any school's student housing, and sometimes there were even these inexplicable jerks who came to throw paint. No matter how you thought about it, it was just too pathetic.
"Brat, quiet down. I'm the one doing you a favor here."
Holding a bag of the newest canned coffee, the shopping list from the clerk fluttering at the bag's opening in the wind, a slight twitch played at the corner of Accelerator's eye. His arm was being pulled unceremoniously by a certain small hand.
This annoying brat, since when did she think she could order him around so freely? He was...
He sighed inwardly. The fact that he, someone who enjoyed throwing buildings around in fights, couldn't even muster any anger was just downright bizarre.
But this feeling of being relied on... wasn't entirely bad.
"Brat, I'm not here to waste time. Now call out your little helpers. Once we figure out the situation, I'll handle everything. Whether it's the Dark Side or some other vermin, I'll crush them all."
A flicker of irritation passed over Accelerator's face, his mood clearly foul. Still, he'd reined in his temper considerably, waiting for the person in charge to open the door.
The Daihasei Festival had been noisy all day long, and it still had six more days to go. It was seriously disrupting his daily life. And today, he even had to accompany the brat around to look at those ridiculous games.
A few days ago, some laughable guy even had the nerve to ask him to be the Athlete's Oath representative. That guy's fate, naturally, wasn't pleasant; looked like he'd be laid up in the hospital for ten days to half a month.
The most infuriating thing was that this brat had caught someone's eye again.
As the control terminal for the Misaka Network, it was absolutely certain that Last Order would be dragged into anything targeting the Misaka Network.
So, after Last Order asked for his help, he hadn't even put down his coffee before following her to this building.
Even though this brat was stuck to him like glue and clearly leeching off him, Accelerator found himself inexplicably concerned about her. It was like his empty heart had suddenly been filled with something.
Whether it was due to psychological changes from the earlier experiment, or finally grasping a treasure after long loneliness, Accelerator had long since stopped bothering with troublesome thoughts like that. He wasn't some shady character who enjoyed probing and toying with people's hearts.
"Misaka Misaka has already notified everyone, but only the Dorm Supervisor and the others have the access cards for entry and exit, and they aren't home right now, says Misaka Misaka reporting the situation."
Dimples showing on her cheeks, her ahoge bouncing uncontrollably on her forehead, Last Order, having wrested her arm free from the pale grip, placed her hands on her hips and nodded repeatedly, speaking with great seriousness.
"The Dorm Supervisor? That elusive Tokiwadai girl."
Accelerator nodded expressionlessly, not particularly bothered either way.
Aside from those hidden escape methods, what had surprised him most was her immense computational power.
She was the first person he'd seen who could barely keep up with his own computational consumption.
And then there were those things he'd seen on that space elevator last time. He still found them a bit hard to understand. Were those things... magic?
He'd even been looking into stuff about magic lately, like that Magical Powered Kanamin often shown on TV. His long-held worldview was under assault by magic en route.
But this time, it definitely wasn't related to magic. Anything involving the Misaka Sisters and Last Order was surely the work of some bastards hiding in Academy City's shadows.
"Hmph! The Dorm Supervisor is not some 'elusive girl.' She's generous and cute, and she's even going to buy fun holographic equipment for everyone, says Misaka Misaka, firmly pointing out the error in that person's statement."
Last Order's head was held high, a look of dissatisfaction appearing on her face.
"Ehh?"
Her face blushing slightly for some reason, a certain bun-haired girl had heard Last Order's praise from afar and was feeling a little embarrassed.
Splitting her presence in two, an illusory figure of light, controlled by someone, boldly approached the duo of Accelerator and Last Order, while her real body hid stealthily in a corner nearby.
This was Natsume-san's proud 'Bunshin no Jutsu.' It looked just like the real person, but it was actually just the refraction of light—a barely passable, convenient version of a mirage.
A certain bun-haired girl maintained a high degree of wariness towards Accelerator.
Or rather, she was wary of all dangerous individuals. This was a crucial strategy for Natsume-san to reduce, or even avoid, hospital visits.
She had no desire to end up like Shirai-san, who carelessly got ambushed and then spent half a month in the hospital.
Her pain tolerance was even lower than a certain golden-haired upperclassman. In other words, her HP bar was very short. A scrape she could maybe endure, but a real knock and she'd be down for the count.
"They're here to help? Why does that feel a bit unreal to me?"
Natsume-san pondered, staring intently at Accelerator in the distance for a moment, a strange expression inevitably crossing her face.
The Sisters had already received Last Order's message via the Misaka Network, and along with it, even Reiko and Sonoko knew.
Natsume Sonoko was somewhat surprised, but she had some psychological preparation. After all, not long ago, this white-haired guy had intervened in the Remnant of Tree Diagram incident and effortlessly shattered the remnants that Natsume-san had no idea how to handle.
An existence that had slaughtered Sisters was now protecting the victims and had even become friends with them? It left a certain bun-haired girl thoroughly confused.
But a certain Bun-haired Girl was quite stubborn in her views. She still really didn't like this white-haired guy. He was firmly placed as an imaginary enemy.
"It's Little Misaka! Long time no see."
Natsume Sonoko's light figure waved familiarly at Last Order, skillfully ignoring the villainous gaze sweeping over her—because she simply couldn't feel it.
As for the location of a certain someone's real body... She was currently straining her calculations.
If a conflict broke out with this white-haired guy, and assuming she had the initiative, could she seize control of the local air domain within a short period?
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.