Accelerator and Misaka Worst finished shopping and left the supermarket.
They had one item that was not marked on the flyer: the furikake.
"Ahh, Misaka encountered something unknown that she did not imagine would happen. Peaceful days are much more tiring than Misaka predicted."
"…"
Accelerator couldn't just laugh off Misaka Worst's words.
Was this really okay?
A simple shopping trip had worn him out this much, so could he really get along with this world?
It was easy to write off this lukewarm peacefulness as something that just wasn't for him. He had once subconsciously glorified that method of dealing with it as making him really cool.
But what was he supposed to do after that?
If he turned his back on it, was there something that shined even brighter waiting for him elsewhere?
If he wanted to become a monster that had no value beyond killing, he should just continue on down that path. But that was not where Accelerator wanted to end up. The more he wrote off peace as not for him, the farther he became from what he wished for.
Could he really do it?
(…What is he doing?)
A certain Level 0 boy came to his mind.
That boy had most likely been fighting in an even deeper part of the world than Accelerator who held the title of Academy City's strongest. And of course, that boy had his own place. Had he returned to that place? Did he feel out of place?
If he was constantly switching between the farthest limits of the battlefield and calm, peaceful days, he would be much more amazing than Accelerator who continued to be stuck in the darkness.
For a bit, Accelerator surrendered his body to the fatigue, but then Misaka Worst began tugging on his sleeve.
He looked up with a puzzled expression.
"What?"
"Let's go buy some sweets and then eat them right away. Misaka has heard that that is the foundation of being bad."
"…You certainly get negative aspects from a lot of different places, don't you?"
Well, she gathered up the negative aspects of the entire Misaka Network, so Last Order's desires would be in there too.
And so, mostly at the insistence of Misaka Worst, the two of them bought ice cream at a stand made from a van.
"Should Misaka use her tongue seductively as she licks it?"
"Who are you trying to please by doing that? Yourself?"
"Well, there is that. If it would be devastating to your relationship with Last Order, Misaka will let you touch her tits and ass, but doing it now would seem rather pointless."
"Say what you like, I'm not fucking listening," responded Accelerator fed up with how she was acting.
Ice cream in hand, he casually looked over at the crowd of people and suddenly froze.
He saw a silver-haired nun wearing a white nun's habit.
Fatigue and impatience could be seen in her face and it looked as if vitality had been scraped from her well-featured face.
(Her…?)
Accelerator recognized that face.
However, her atmosphere was quite different from when he had met her before.
A few seconds later, she had disappeared into the crowd.
(Lost sight of her. Well, I have no reason to frantically go searching for her. And getting her involved with me could even send her life in a much worse direction.)
The girl with an unfriendly look in her eyes sitting next to the #1 didn't seem to notice.
"Misaka just can't get used to it." Misaka Worst's candid feelings slipped out as she licked the surface of the vanilla ice cream. "Misaka can't get used to the two of us walking home in the sunlight licking ice cream. It just isn't right; it isn't normal. Don't you feel uneasy because nothing is happening? It just feels like the harbinger of some huge event."
"Do you want something to happen?"
"Who knows. Perhaps. Perhaps not. Misaka doesn't think anyone accurately knows their own mind. Even when a psychologist does his own test, he gives a softer estimate on himself. If there was someone who could fully and perfectly understand their own mind, that person would be crazy in their own way."
Misaka Worst smiled.
"How about you?"
"I don't care," responded Accelerator halfheartedly. "I took back everything I needed from that war. I now have everything I need. And if it's needed to keep those things, I'm willing to do things I'm not used to."
"Misaka thinks that finding out what exactly it is we can't seem to get used to is at the center of it all."
"Ahn?"
"Is it the peaceful atmosphere itself or is it being stuck inside boundaries laid out by someone else."
"…What are you? Some little brat?"
"Misaka feels this isn't something to laugh at. Misaka thinks that we should experience just how inadequate it is to be trapped in boundaries laid out by some else. Then we should tear away everything that isn't necessary. Aren't our personalities at odds with the mere idea of being trapped within boundaries laid out by someone else?"
"Just change the way you think." There was no turmoil in Accelerator's feelings. "Someone is thinking that we can't do that. Someone is thinking that beasts like us can only live within a sea of blood. In that case, isn't successfully living inside the boundaries laid out by them a way of showing our defiance to them?"
"Ah-ha. Misaka likes that." Misaka Worst continued licking away her vanilla ice cream and chomped at the unneeded portions of the cone. "But don't you smell something bad around here?"
"?"
"Misaka would even say it's a nostalgic smell."
"…"
Hearing her words, Accelerator narrowed his eyes.
Holding his cane, he looked around the area again.
A tranquil and casual cityscape stretched out around him.
For that reason, something seemed out of place. Its color and form perfectly blended in, but it was still clearly different. It was an unexplainable intuitive differentiation like seeing an alien wearing human skin.
At the other end of his gaze was…
"That tourist bus."
"Yes, it could be a disguised undercover vehicle," said Misaka Worst smiling. "Academy City is the same as ever. Oh? But this is odd. Misaka thought a certain someone had gotten rid of the city's dark organizations by having them do away with the dirty jobs they forced people to do by using people and objects as shields."
"…"
"We have two paths we can take here." Misaka Worst presented her fluttering index and middle fingers in front of Accelerator. "To eliminate them accepting the danger that brings in order to ensure our safety or to safely overlook them here in order to avoid danger."
"The answer is obvious," spat Accelerator in response. "We take them out here. They broke their end of the agreement. I need to give them a warning about that darkness that's still hanging around. I don't like sticking my nose in other people's business, but it's a completely different story when it involves the dark side of the city."
Misaka Worst whistled.
"Well, now that the darkness has begun moving, a certain someone would surely get hurt and her life would be in danger. It seems #1 is a good little boy who just wants to help out others."
"…Don't act like you know what you're talking about. So what are you going to do?"
"Misaka will of course choose the more dangerous route. It sounds more fun."