One-way traffic

Page 704

Judging from the girl's reaction, she was definitely completely unaware of the situation.

To her, she was just an ordinary person without abilities... or even just an ordinary girl.

Furthermore, this incident should have nothing to do with those magicians.

Why is this situation suddenly happening in Academy City...?

"Well--?"

He was thinking continuously when suddenly he felt a certain sensation on his waist.

The girl with the red hairband suddenly hugged herself.

"Hello…!"

Accelerator subconsciously became displeased.

If the reflection failed to work, it means that the other party's behavior was not malicious.

Despite this situation, the girl hugged him and immediately started sobbing, even tightening her grip on him.

"Thank you... thank you!! Thank you so much... ah... ugh—!!"

This is troublesome.

Although he had anticipated this situation, Accelerator hadn't expected the guy to react so strongly.

It seems the doll attack earlier really scared her.

"No matter what, you shouldn't keep saying thank you in a place like this."

"what…"

"Get up. I have no obligation to take care of you if you catch a cold."

He pursed his lips unhappily, but still intentionally or unintentionally manipulated the raindrops all over the girl's body to reflect them away, and briefly improved her blood circulation so that she wouldn't catch a cold or fever in the heavy rain.

The girl finally realized this.

"I'm so sorry, so sorry, so sorry...!! Um, I'm really sorry, I... I just... lost control..."

The more she talked, the more familiar the person in front of her seemed.

A few seconds later, she finally managed to make out the face through the heavy rain.

"Eh?"

Just as the girl was about to say something...

Snap—and then another sound came from afar.

"Oh, I found it."

"Mikoto! Are you alright?!"

The voices of other girls could be heard from afar.

As soon as Mikoto Himeno turned her head to look, she was tackled to the ground by another figure.

The other person immediately hugged her, speaking in a tearful voice.

"Are you alright? I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry, I'm really so sorry!!"

"Yuka...?"

Accelerator frowned, just as he was about to ask another question.

"One party...?"

The sound of footsteps came.

Then, the sound of footsteps, accompanied by rapid breathing, completely transformed into a scene of him lunging forward.

"Hello--!!"

Accelerator was tackled to the ground by another figure, just like Mikoto Himeno had been.

"Accelerator...!! It really is Accelerator—!! This is great...this is great, this is great, this is great—!!!"

The girl's body fragrance mingled with the scent of rainwater and entered his nasal cavity.

Accelerator was pinned down by a figure with long, azure hair, who was also sobbing and burying her head in his chest.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on here?!"

The only extra character who arrived at the scene stood there blankly.

She looked at the four people hugging each other with disbelief and a trembling smile.

"You guys conspired to mess with Misaka, didn't you? Are you kidding me! Don't underestimate me!!"

——————————————————————————————————————————

The security personnel have been notified.

Although the call was made at nearly 2 a.m., the police always respond as quickly as possible, no matter the time, and the same applies to Academy City.

While waiting for the security guards to arrive, the group first went to the nearest residence in the vicinity.

That is, in Mikoto Himeno's apartment.

"Urban Tales?"

"In other words, 'a one-person hide-and-seek'...all of this happened after Ms. Yuka played this psychic game, right?"

"…Yes."

The group sat together in the brightly lit, tidy living room, while Yuka Kamishiro explained the actual situation.

"But actually, I certainly don't want to play with this weird stuff... It's not my mind at all."

"what?"

"Well, I accidentally opened a website online, and suddenly a related link popped up."

Recalling that scene, Yuka's expression became even more ominous.

"The moment I saw the website, I suddenly felt very disoriented and didn't even know what I was doing."

"When you come to your senses... by the time you come to your senses, everything has already begun."

"The instant I regained consciousness, 'a game of hide-and-seek alone'... had already been prepared by me on my own, and it had already begun..."

Accelerator and the extra character exchanged a glance.

The descriptions are too bizarre, both of the game itself and the cause of this event.

"A cyber hacker who manipulates others through website links? Or some kind of tool for committing crimes?"

"Perhaps. I've heard of something called 'Imagine Master' in this city. It's said that it uses sound to influence people's perception and senses, creating all sorts of effects."

"But even so, who are the guys doing these things? And why are they doing them?"

The extra character slumped onto the sofa and clicked his tongue.

"And then again, even if the cause of this supernatural game could be human manipulation... the content of the game is completely beyond the explanation of science, isn't it?"

"You've seen plenty of unscientific things, haven't you? Like the Hawaiian Islands last time, and the end of World War III."

“Those things are different! In the end, magic and stuff can be seen as another kind of ability, but this thing is a real ghost! Just think about it, in Academy City, a place that believes in science, to actually summon a ghost is a bit ridiculous!”

Even after recounting everything, they still couldn't piece together the clues.

However, Hatsune Miku had been sitting there silently since the beginning.

I have no idea what she's thinking.

"Um, I don't have much tea at home... so I only prepared hot cocoa..."

"That's enough! Misaka hasn't had any sugar in ages, she's going to drink to her heart's content this time—ouch! First person, what are you doing?!"

Before the extra character could greedily reach for all the hot cocoa, Accelerator slapped her hand.

This immediately caused the girl, who often had a penchant for malicious behavior, to glare at him unhappily.

"Fine, it would be better if you just disappeared anyway. Seriously... why did you suddenly come back, you bastard?"

"If I weren't around, you'd probably become even more outrageous."

"Haha! Looks like you do have some self-awareness after all!"

While Accelerator was speaking, the extra character quickly grabbed a cup of hot cocoa and gulped it down.

"Ah! Well, we'll have to wait a bit before drinking that—"

"It's so hot—!!!"

"...Serves him right."

Accelerator was too lazy to bother with the side character who was flapping his tongue like a cat.

“I know a security guard here. He said he should be here in a few minutes.”

"You two will definitely be questioned, but don't worry. As victims, the security guards won't target you. Rest assured."

"Thank you... I'm so grateful for everyone's help today... Otherwise, I might already be..."

He didn't say anything in response to Yuka Kamishiro's thanks.

Accelerator got up and went outside for some fresh air.

"Well, that..."

Before that, Mikoto Himeno suddenly looked at herself.

I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I always feel...

Her gaze towards herself held a hint of excitement and anticipation.

"Excuse me, are you really Accelerator?!"

The sudden remark startled the first person.

He then realized a possibility.

"That's right, that... the idol who held a live concert in Hawaii before, the number one of the seven Level 5 espers among the new students of Academy City—"

"Yes, yes, that's him! No need to think too much, the guy standing in front of you may seem arrogant and annoying, but he is indeed number one! Well, to be honest, Misaka never imagined that he would actually become such a silly idol."

The extra character took it upon himself to answer all of this for him.

As a result, Mikoto Himeno froze on the spot, much to her dismay.

Then——

"Thank you, thank you so much—um, um! Please wait a moment, please, please let me get my things first—!!"

"what?"

Under the astonished gazes of the others, the girl quickly ran back to her room and then ran back again.

She was holding an album in her hand.

That was Accelerator's latest album disc.

"If possible, could you... sign your name on this?"

Now everything is completely clear.

Accelerator remained silent, watching the girl's expectant eyes and the disc in her hand.

"Wow, she's really popular, the number one idol~!"