One-way traffic

"That was just now..."

Accelerator, following the force of gravity, slowly descended to the ground.

But the scene from before still lingered in his mind.

The girl appeared after he shattered the illusory membrane.

Standing still, looking at the first person in mid-air, I couldn't help but squint.

"The water in this godforsaken place doesn't seem to be shallow at all."

Chapter 333 Itsuka Shido - An Ordinary High School Student

Upon opening his eyes, Accelerator sat up directly from the bed.

However, he didn't wake up naturally; he was woken up by noise.

A series of noisy sounds could be heard coming from the neighbor's house next door, just outside the window.

"Quick, get out of Kotori's clutches...!!"

"Hey? What's wrong, brother?!"

"I... I think I've contracted a deadly virus, a terrifying virus called the 'If I don't sleep for ten minutes longer, I'll subject my sister to hellish tickling torture' virus..."

"How...how could this be! Brother...!!"

"Run! Run while I'm still conscious!!!"

"No, no, brother!!"

"...Kotori, your brother is gone. Now I'm just a tickling demon king, waaaaaah!"

“Aaaaaaaa——!!!”

What the hell is going on?

Awakened early in the morning, Accelerator looked out the window with displeasure. It was his next-door neighbor, probably a brother and sister.

"Let the boring sounds be reflected away."

Normally, Accelerator would set his ability to a sleep mode that allows him to reflect all sounds while asleep. However, last night was different. Due to some unexpected circumstances, he went to bed very late and didn't have time to adjust his reflection.

After resetting the whitelist for reflection, the sounds of the brother and sister next door playing and fooling around could no longer reach his ears.

After getting up and putting on his white coat, Accelerator walked out of the room. He was on the third floor of the building.

Although there are master bedrooms on the first and second floors, he stayed in a room on the third floor last night because he was looking up information in the study, and eventually chose to sleep there.

But as soon as he stepped out of the room, the scene before him immediately caught his eye.

One side of the wall, which should have been decorated in a magnificent manner, was actually quite dilapidated.

The walls looked like they could collapse at any moment; they were clearly made on a temporary basis.

That's indeed the case; the wall was temporarily erected by Accord last night.

Because of the battle with that indistinct phantom, the surrounding area was also affected to some extent.

There's not much to worry about on the streets outside, but one's own house can't be left in such a sorry state; such a dilapidated condition increases the likelihood of being attacked.

"This is such a hassle, I might as well just find someone to fix it."

If it were Accelerator himself, he wouldn't care about these issues. He could sleep on the street without any problem. But there's another unconscious girl at home.

Thinking back on what happened last night, he couldn't help but ponder for a moment.

The phantom's target seemed to be Hatsune Miku.

And it seems that Tokisaki Kurumi's target is also Hatsune Miku.

Although they are two completely different beings, all of these people are focused on the girl beside them.

Do these share some commonalities?

If that's the case, that phantom might find another opportunity to come knocking.

Accelerator walked down to the first floor while thinking about these complicated matters.

As soon as I came downstairs, a fragrant aroma tantalized my nose.

"Ah~! I got up so early today!"

What came into view was a girl who had already prepared breakfast and was standing in the living room.

Hatsune Miku was wearing an apron, and the table was full of healthy and hearty breakfasts, probably made with leftover frozen ingredients from the refrigerator.

Accelerator gave the other person a strange look.

"...Um, what's wrong?"

"Don't you remember what happened last night?"

"But, even so, you still have to prepare a proper breakfast!"

He couldn't help but click his tongue, and then sat down in the chair.

"However, I really didn't expect that you, Yifang, would intervene in such a crucial moment... Wow, you're amazing! You can even interfere with the world of mental illusions?"

"If you wanted to do it, you could do it too, right? You should be more proficient in this area than I am."

Today's breakfast consisted of miso soup with eggs, tuna rice rolls, tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelet) with shrimp, and some other side dishes.

Accelerator simply picked up a rice ball and took a bite. Although it wasn't pork or chicken, he could accept anything as long as it was meat.

However, he immediately turned his gaze to Hatsune Miku, who was sitting next to him.

“Those guys have always been targeting you… Don’t you feel like there’s something unusual about you?”

"Hmm...not at all."

Hatsune Miku took a bite of the rice ball and blinked in confusion.

"But why...? Why are those two targeting me...?"

"In the end, we still haven't figured out who those two guys are. A whole day has passed, and we still have no clue what the state of this world is like."

Accelerator, clicking his tongue in amazement, turned on the television.

Just like yesterday, the news was mostly about spacequakes, and it was all stuff that had already been mentioned many times yesterday.

The Eurasian space disaster thirty years ago caused a horrific catastrophe that killed 150 million people in history. Since then, countless spacequakes have continued to occur.

Even without any clues, Accelerator could vaguely sense that all of this must be related to the two people he had encountered before.

And, the girls in combat suits that I encountered when I first came to this world.

I'll be going out for a little while.

"Ok?"

"It's about gathering intelligence. In any case, we can no longer capture any useful information just by relying on superficial details."

Therefore, we need to explore deeper areas.

Accelerator believes that since a spacequake has occurred in this world, there must be organizations that specialize in researching this topic, just like the Ability User Organization in Academy City.

Once you find those organizations and extract useful information, you can make a preliminary conclusion about what you need to do in this world.

"Hey... I'm going out for a trip later too."

"what?"

"Because we still don't have enough stuff at home."

Upon closer inspection, this is indeed the case.

The refrigerator only contained some simple refrigerated food. After this breakfast, there probably wouldn't be any ingredients left for the next meal. There weren't many household items either. Apart from the essential sofa, bed, and TV, there wasn't much else left.

"And... I have a lot of things to buy..."

"Is there anything else that is absolutely necessary for you?"

"Yes, it's... those everyday items that girls need! Do I really have to say it out loud... Waaah..."

…This is indeed a problem.

While this was the idea behind Accelerator, other issues were also taken into consideration.

"No, I'll go with you later."

"Eh…?"

Upon hearing this, Hatsune Miku's expression immediately turned somewhat surprised.

"Yi, Yi Fang, will you come with me to... go shopping?!"

"Just to avoid unnecessary trouble."

Seemingly afraid that Hatsune Miku might overthink things, Accelerator explained without hesitation.

“That mosaic bastard from last night is still alive, and there’s a possibility he’ll come after you again today… That’s why I’ll stay by your side, to prevent any unnecessary trouble from happening.”

That's what they say, but Hatsune Miku interprets it differently.

"So...you're worried about me...?"

"...It's just to avoid unnecessary trouble."

"To put it bluntly, you're just doing this because you're worried about others, right?"

"I already said it's just to avoid trouble!!"

"Hehehe~ No matter what, we made this decision to protect them, right?"

All of this immediately left Accelerator feeling helpless.

He has changed so much compared to the past.

But it is precisely this roundness that allows the monster to blend perfectly into the world around it, instead of being confined to a cold and bloody dark world.

"Hurry up and finish your meal, then head out and buy what you need."

"Okay~!!"

————————————————————————————————————

It was around eight o'clock.

After finishing breakfast, the two left their home and went straight to the streets of Tengu City.

As soon as they stepped out of their home, their situation immediately attracted the attention of those around them.

"Wow, those two people have such unique looks, they seem really strange..."

"Hey, isn't it inappropriate to judge someone like that?"

"Speaking of which, is that white hair really natural? Or is it cosplay?"

"No, no, isn't Tobiichi from the next class also born with silver hair? There shouldn't be any problem with that, right?"

"But the blue-haired girl is so elegant, she's like a high-class idol singer, I'm a little tempted...!"

"Could she be a transfer student?"

"...That white-haired guy looks kind of scary..."

When Accelerator and Hatsune Miku walk together on the street, you often hear similar comments around you.

Moreover, it was all said by a group of high school students in school uniforms.

"...Is today the day the kids go to school?"

"It seems so. I just heard it on the news. It seems that all the school campuses in Tiangong City will start school on April 10th, which is today."

The two individuals, with their distinctive appearances, stood out remarkably among the student body.

However, they had long since gotten used to all of this.

"Oh, this is so nice!"

"What's attracting you now?"

Faced with Accelerator's bland and powerless words, Hatsune Miku excitedly raised her hands above her head and clasped them together.

An excited expression couldn't help but appear on the girl's face.

"I'd like to experience high school life myself."