Aug 31st 2:35 PM
On August 31st, there was almost no one on the roads.
As 80% of the population were students, most of the people were holed up in their dorms, frantically trying to wrestle with their holiday homework. However, Accelerator and Last Order didn't have those issues to deal with.
He brought the young girl down the almost empty streets.
The girl was dragging the light blue towel along as she walked beside the white haired boy.
"Is your hair color natural? asks Misaka as Misaka tries to ask."
Last Order asked Accelerator that just as they approached a certain restaurant-chain shop.
"What?"
"Your hair, Misaka points her finger at the hair. A normal person's hair can't be purely white, says Misaka as Misaka raises her suspicions. And your red eyes don't seem normal in a biological sense, says Misaka as Misaka tilts her head, feeling extremely puzzled."
Though he could just ignore her question, she may continue to rattle on if he did that, so Accelerator decided to answer her question. After eating, he could just send that girl to the researchers or leave her on the streets. Thinking that he only needed to endure for a little longer, he could at least endure that trivial thing.
"This isn't natural. Maybe this is a side effect of my powers. I don't really understand it though. Whether it's my skin, hair or eyes, all the pigments on my body exist to protect my body from UV rays, but my powers can redirect any unwanted UV rays, so my body itself doesn't need pigments."
Even Accelerator was feeling rather surprised that he could be so talkative. He often said some mocking words in the experiment; seemed like he could really be quite talkative.
"Oh, I see. So Misaka finds that Accelerator can still be talked with, says Misaka as Misaka is somewhat surprised."
"What in the world do you mean by that? Speaking of which, it's not a good thing to have powers that are too strong. The outside influence is too little, it seems to cause a loss of balance in the hormones, causing me to have this androgynous appearance."
"So are you a guy or a girl? asks Misaka as Misaka tries to uncover the truth."
"Can't you tell?"
As Accelerator said that, he started to feel disbelief in regards to his own actions.
Looking at his past thought process now, the conversation he was having with Last Order was already an anomaly in itself. Of course, Accelerator was a member of this society, and he was not so savage that he would kill everyone he met, but he never had the experience of talking to the Sisters so successfully.
Normally, a conversation in the experiment often went like this:
"—Yes, Misaka is Serial Number 10032, responds Misaka. However, shouldn't you check using the passcode to ensure that Misaka is part of the experiment? suggests Misaka."
"—It is difficult to understand what you mean when you use vague terms such as 'anything', replies Misaka. The experiment begins in three minutes and twenty seconds. Are you prepared? asks Misaka to make sure."
That couldn't be a conversation with an ordinary person. It was like they were emotionless robots who were just answering the questions. And Accelerator himself just said this:
"—Dammit, after ten thousand times, this is getting really fucking old. I was hoping to kill some time, but no. There's just no having a conversation with any of you."
From the beginning, he never felt that he could communicate successfully with the Sisters. Even up to the end, he really never managed to do so.
However...
It seemed like that battle did really change him, Accelerator thought.
The problem was, what changed?
Why?
What did it change?
"Hello? Hello hello hello? asks Misaka as Misaka tries to say hello to you. Your eyes are blank, are you thinking of anything? asks Misaka as Misaka stares intently at your face."
"AH? I'm just wondering whether you could enter the restaurant with just a towel around you."
"...Uuu, if Misaka's the only one left outside, what should Misaka do? asks Misaka as Misaka feels extremely worried."
"GO sleep."
"Wah! That almost became your catchphrase, exclaims Misaka as Misaka starts to feel like she should give up."
Last Order raised her arms and swung them around wildly while remaining expressionless, and Accelerator ignored her as he lifted his head up to look at the afternoon sky.
He finally managed to communicate.
Something invisible was changing.