"Welcome, is it just the two of you?"
In the end, the waitress smiled as she invited the towel girl in. Of course, there was a somewhat stiff look on her smiling face. It seemed like this person was a part-time worker, and she couldn't handle something that wasn't mentioned in the manual.
Accelerator and Last Order chose to sit near the window. In Academy City, 80% of the population were students, and normally, August 31st was a day where people were normally stuck in their houses finishing up their holiday homework. There might have been crowds during lunchtime, but it was already past lunchtime now.
Accelerator casually looked outside a window. At that moment, he saw a white-cloaked person keeping his body down as he walked on the road.
"Ah?"
The moment the man noticed Accelerator looking at him, he acted like he had gotten an electric shock, and he scurried into a parked sports-car in the parking lot.
"That guy...isn't that Amai Ao?"
Accelerator muttered. Last Order looked puzzled as she lifted her eyes away from the menu.
Amai Ao was a researcher who was about thirty years old. He was a long-term assistant in the Level 6 research. The experiment that had been calculated and simulated through a supercomputer was deemed to be flawed, and was now in temporary limbo. The researchers of the experiment should be going through the vast amount of information now, trying to find out where the problem occurred...
"That guy...what's he doing here...?"
"What are you looking at? What are you thinking of? What are you talking about? asks Misaka as Misaka tries to inquire."
"Stop spouting nonsense. Think of it, what is the most important thing to you now?"
"Eh? Eating, replies Misaka as Misaka doesn't even think about it. Ah, are you saying that Misaka can order anything today no matter what? says Misaka as Misaka feels really excited about it."
"Hm, I don't really care about it all of a sudden."
What happened to the initial idea of contacting the researchers? Accelerator couldn't help but lament. Right now, Amai's sports-car had already vanished onto the roads, and Last Order hadn't noticed this at all as she rubbed below her eyes, her body swaying about.
"Uuu...no matter what I do recently, Misaka feels rather tired."
"Not my problem."
Accelerator randomly ordered some food from the waitress who served some plain water, only to find that Last Order, who was sitting directly opposite him, was staring at him strangely.
"Ah...says Misaka as Misaka is carefully trying to choose how Misaka should say it...what should I say...so you can order food and pay like an ordinary person. This really makes Misaka feel touched."
"What?"
"Hm, Misaka originally felt that you're the kind that will kick the restaurant door down, finish up a king's meal and then break the windows to casually escape, trembles Misaka as Misaka says this honestly."
"Oh, so you're talking about that."
Accelerator nodded away lethargically.
"It's not that I can't do that, but now that the experiment is halted, I don't have any groups supporting me from behind, and I'll warrant too much unwanted attention if I exaggerate my movements."
"Misaka already feels weird when you say it, says Misaka as Misaka can't help but butt in. Including Anti-Skill and Judgment, nobody can beat you, says Misaka as Misaka honestly says her thoughts. Speaking of which, it's really unbelievable that you would follow the orders of the researchers in the experiment, says Misaka as Misaka tilts her head."
"I say..."
Accelerator sighed, and then continued.
"Do I need to explain it? Okay, let's assume that I create a ruckus in this restaurant. Okay, let's assume that I ate a king's meal. Now, who's my first enemy?"
"Eh, should be the worker, says Misaka as Misaka tries to answer."
"That's right, so I killed the worker instantly. Just an instant. Who's next? The boss? I only need a moment just to kill him. Anti-Skill next? Or Judgment? Those people are easier to handle; the more powerful the enemy's equipment, the stronger the reflection. Then...what next? It'll become something that Academy City can't handle, so they will ask for help from outside? But that's nothing, just some police, assault squads or armored squads. Thus, Japan couldn't handle it, foreign forces, special forces, assassination squads appear, and they couldn't handle me. Will it be an air raid? Will it end up with nuclear missiles all over the place?"
Accelerator then continued.
"How does that benefit me?"
Even if he won in a world war with nuclear missiles flying everywhere, if all the humans in the world died, Accelerator could only live on like a primitive person. If he wanted to live like a human, he had to live among humans.
That was the problem for a person with the power to destroy. Accelerator thought, maybe it was the same feeling as a president with his hand on a nuclear missile launch button.
"UU...do you normally talk like a machine gun? asks Misaka as Misaka is surprised."
"Same as you."
"No no, according to the information that was forced into my head, the world should have some sort of place like school, says Misaka as Misaka tilts her head and ponders. Can someone like you who has zero communication skills mix around in a class? says Misaka as Misaka again tries to ask."
"Oh, that isn't a problem, I don't have classmates anyway."
"?"
"I'm a student in a special class, even though I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing," Accelerator casually said.
Ever since the power development course had caused his ability to awaken, he was drafted into a special class. He was the only one in the class. He didn't need to attend a sports meet, nor did he need to attend a culture festival. Though there were almost two thousand students in his school, the cramped class he attended had only a table.
Accelerator wasn't really unhappy about it.
A long time ago, a researcher said this to Accelerator: because you're the strongest Level 5, this class is a special class for you to evolve into a Level 6. At that moment, Accelerator wondered: What will change when I'm no longer just the strongest? Will anything change after I evolve into an invincible person?
"Are you lonely? asks Misaka as Misaka wonders."
"Ah?"
"Misaka is definitely unable to understand the loneliness of a strong person, and other people will definitely be unable to understand that, says Misaka as Misaka guesses, so—"
"Such a ridiculous question. What if I say yes? Are you going to pat my head and comfort me?"
Accelerator casually said that, and after he finished, what was left was an icy silence.
Accelerator was a killer who massacred more than ten thousand people, this was a fact that wouldn't change. Since he already made it till here, what 'nobody can understand his loneliness', what darkness, what comforting words, these didn't hold any meaning. Besides, his motive for participating in the experiment was probably that he wanted to find a way to vent his stress.
"—"
Was that so?
Accelerator frowned and tried to recall, was that really so?
If that were the case, it would have been too illogical, Accelerator thought. Something was not right, but Accelerator couldn't understand what was wrong. He recalled the events related to that experiment, and finally remembered the reason why he felt that something was wrong.
"—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."
Yes, that was where it felt wrong.
If he really wanted to vent, if he really had wanted to massacre the Sisters like a punching bag, why had he tried to communicate with the Sisters?
In that experiment, the one who had continued to do such unnecessary things was Accelerator.
Though he hadn't been able to get through to them, it didn't mean that the Sisters weren't following their orders. The Sisters had just been flawlessly carrying out the experiment that was predicted, simulated and planned by the supercomputer.
If one viewed it from an experimental standpoint, Accelerator, who had gone against the rules to talk to the Sisters, was the one who had gone out of hand. In fact, during the experiment, no matter whether it was the Sisters or the researchers, none of them had talked with others.
If so, why had Accelerator done such a needless thing?
This was where it was illogical. If Accelerator and the Sisters' relationship was just to kill and to vent stress, why had he tried to talk to them?
The reason one communicated with others was because they normally wanted to become friends with someone. Accelerator thought that this wasn't logical. He was the one who had mocked, hurt, and massacred the Sisters.
"Ah, it's here, finally here, Misaka points at the waitress with her finger. Wah, says Misaka as Misaka's food is here."
The waitress placed the food in front of Last Order; Accelerator's food seemed like it needed a longer time to prepare.
"Ohh, this is the first time Misaka's eating such a hot meal, says Misaka as Misaka feels really excited. This is great, the entire plate is giving off hot air, says Misaka as Misaka continues to stare at it."
It had been several days since the experiment had been interrupted. If Last Order had left the research facility immediately after the experiment ended, during this time, her life...
"...Whatever."
Accelerator casually said, not bothered at all.
He turned away from Last Order, who was in front of him, to outside the window. After a while, he couldn't hear Last Order eating at all. Accelerator started to feel puzzled and turned back to look. He saw Last Order sitting upright in front of the piping hot dish, looking back at his face, and not looking like she was intending to eat anytime soon. However, Last Order was just faking her calmness; anyone could see that she was ready to gobble up the food.
"What are you doing? Didn't you say that this is the first time you're eating hot food?"
"But it's Misaka's first time to be eating with someone, says Misaka as Misaka answers. Misaka recalls that everyone should say 'itadakimasu' before everyone starts eating, and Misaka wants to try that, says Misaka as Misaka tries to mention what she wishes for."
Fifteen minutes later, Accelerator's food arrived.
The food in front of Last Order was no longer giving off hot air.
But the girl was still smiling.
Smiling really happily.