Accelerator could hear the sound of a taxi driving away behind him.
He did not turn around to look at it.
Last Order was saying something next to him, but he did not look in her direction either.
His eyes were fixated on the mysterious sight before him.
He was near the main gate to a certain high school. He could see a reinforced concrete school building that, as far as he could tell from that distance, seemed completely normal and average with nothing unusual about it.
But that was not the issue at hand.
Accelerator was not looking at the school building.
He was looking at the two women standing before him who worked as teachers at that school.
He recognized one of them.
She had long hair tied back and wore a green track suit. Her name was Yomikawa Aiho and she also worked in Academy City's Anti-Skill. She did not like aiming a weapon at children, so that crazy PE teacher was known to take on anyone up to a Level 3 with nothing but a shield.
But she was not the issue at hand either.
Accelerator was staring at the other woman.
"I-is something the matter…?"
The woman had said she was named Tsukuyomi Komoe…but she might have been even smaller than Last Order who had once more started sitting seiza-style on Accelerator's sports bag.
Accelerator thought for a bit, gave one more glance at the short woman, and asked, "What kind of unexplainable creature is this? Where the hell did she come from?"
"No, that's not it at all. I came to Academy City after graduating from college like normal."
Accelerator narrowed his eyes at that comment that only confused the situation further.
And then…
"So they've completed research into stopping cellular aging, hm? Fucking hell, is this one of those 250 year methods I heard whispered about during the experiment? I thought I knew how deep all this went, but how much further does Academy City's technology go!?"
"U-um…You are mistaken."
"The research might be incomplete and she was captured as a living sample to analyze, says Misaka as Misaka puts on a fairly serious expression. …Poor thing. She must have so many experiments done on her she has no free time, says Misaka as Misaka readies a handkerchief in hand."
"Um! Why did this have to take such a serious turn from nothing but my introduction!? Yomikawa-sensei, stop laughing and do something!!"
As the mini-teacher grew flustered, the track suit woman laughed so hard she had to hold her sides. Yoshikawa Kikyou, the one who had brought Accelerator and Last Order there, did not seem to have expected Yomikawa to bring that companion. She smiled, but it was a slightly dangerous-looking smile representing her researcher's spirit flaming to life once more.
As she continued to laugh, Yomikawa looked over toward Accelerator and said, "Anyway, I will be looking after you two from now on. I have some extra rooms, so feel free to just stay as freeloaders."
"…This will only be for the time being," said Accelerator in a disinterested tone.
"H-has the misunderstanding been resolved?" asked Komoe-sensei, but Yomikawa only repeatedly slapped her on the top of the head and laughed.
"Are you sure you want me there?" said Accelerator in a completely normal tone. "You know what circumstances I'm coming from, right? If you only think this will only lead to getting a Molotov cocktail thrown at the place in the dead of night, you're underestimating this. Sheltering me is the same as taking on the entire goddamn dark side of Academy City."
"That's exactly why I'm taking you in." Yomikawa also spoke like this was a completely normal conversation. "Have you forgotten what my job is? It's easier to deal with that kind of thing as a member of Anti-Skill. Plus, I doubt there are many people who are going to straight-out attack an Anti-Skill member's home. This city's darkness operates in the areas we can't see. If they actually declared war on us, who knows which side would crush the other."
"…"
Accelerator fell silent as he contemplated what Yomikawa had said. Meanwhile Komoe-sensei looked around and said, "Huh? When did the atmosphere grow so heavy?"
"Well, don't come crying to me if you get killed," he finally said.
"You don't have to worry about that."
"They might add your name to their list."
"It's my job to rehabilitate those delinquent groups. If I let myself be scared by the kids I'm supposed to be helping, I can't even take the first step."
Accelerator clicked his tongue.
First it was Last Order and now this woman. That kind of idiot kept popping up around him. He felt all alone and completely out of place standing there.
While Accelerator reflected on those bitter thoughts, Yomikawa gave a smile that did not belong on an adult woman's face.
"I'm relieved. It looks like you'll be a lot easier to save than I had heard."
"Are you fucking serious?"
She was talking about whether she could rehabilitate him or not.
She had no way of knowing, but Accelerator had already killed over 10,000 human beings with his own hands. With that fact in mind, it was obvious why Yomikawa's words seemed so out of touch with reality to Accelerator.
But…
Unaware of that, Yomikawa Aiho continued speaking.
"I am. Whatever you might say, when you heard you were going to live with me, you started going through a checklist to get rid of all the possible blind spots. You wanted to close up even the smallest hole to prevent a real attack. That means you have a real intention of protecting us, right?"
"…"
Accelerator wrinkled his brow.
"That's why I can't stand you idiots who don't even check over the situation properly," he muttered under his breath.