Accelerator opened his eyes slightly as he lay on top of the sofa.
He clicked his tongue.
"…I fell asleep."
He checked the clock, but he had only been out for about 15 minutes.
Since the TV was still on, it had likely been what woke him. He had a feeling he had been sleeping lightly lately so that any sudden stimulus would wake him.
Accelerator shook his head a bit in the otherwise deserted living room.
(You're getting too relaxed, you damn idiot.)
His own annoyed voice entered his mind.
Accelerator had originally been the type to get sleep at his own pace. Whether an alarm clock went off right next to his ear, a brat was screaming at him, or a bomb exploded on top of his stomach, he would just continue sleeping soundly.
This was because he had the power to alter all types of vectors, so he normally reflected all vectors except for the bare minimum he needed such as oxygen and gravity.
While in that state, Accelerator would remain unscathed even if he was directly hit by a nuclear bomb.
That was why Accelerator did not hesitate to enter that horribly defenseless state of sleep even with the huge number of enemies he had.
But that was when his power had been fully functioning.
Accelerator reached up to his neck.
An electrode that looked like a black choker was located there. The device linked to the brains of the almost 10,000 Sisters who were scattered around the world. It allowed him to borrow their massive parallel processing ability.
Accelerator's brain had been injured on August 31st.
He required that calculation assistance device to live an ordinary life as an esper. The normal mode that allowed him to walk, talk, count, etc. could last for 48 hours. However, the esper mode that allowed him full use of his vector control power would drain the battery in only about 15 minutes due to the massive amount of calculations that needed to be carried out every instant. It was quite a restrictive item.
That meant he effectively had only 15 minutes of safe time.
Other than during those 15 minutes, he was a weakling who could not even walk without recharging that battery once every 48 hours.
That condition robbed him of the luxury of obtaining his sleep in that shelter provided by his powers.
"…"
Accelerator looked over at the giant flat-screen TV with suspicious eyes.
The most popular afternoon talk show was playing on a cable channel that required a ridiculously expensive contract. The deck placed below the TV was in recording mode, so Yomikawa may have been a fan of the entertainer who was on the show as a guest.
"Hitotsui Hajime-san, you played the leading role in the movie. What was it like? It seems to me having a Japanese actor play the lead role in a foreign film is fairly rare. Did it feel especially different to you?"
The moderator and guest faced each other on either side of a small table.
While watching the screen, Accelerator reached up to the switch on the side of his choker-style electrode.
And he turned it off.
"Well, the most characteristic instruction next to the plot was to appropriately function as Japanese. He did not have Even, and did the other people appropriately understand as Japanese today?"
The words were all jumbled up.
The guest had actually said "Let's see, the most peculiar instruction from the director was to behave like a Japanese person. But do we even know what it means to be Japanese nowadays?", but Accelerator's head was unable to properly process the meaning of the words that entered his ears.
He wavered as he lost his balance.
Before he even realized it, he had collapsed down into the sofa. He could see the digital numbers on the video recording deck, but he could not discern what they meant. His head seemed to be missing a gear. He felt like he was looking at a question from a state examination after going 100 hours straight without any sleep.
(Kh…)
Accelerator brought his hand to his neck.
His entire body was unsteady and it took him several seconds just to flip the small switch. He fumbled with it several times before finally touching the protrusion of the switch with his thumb.
It made a small click.
With the electrode switched back to normal mode, Accelerator finally returned to the normal world.
"I had to speak in the native American English, but I was told to keep my gestures, manners, and overall behavior noticeably 'Japanese', so I had to think over what that meant."
The entertainer's obvious bragging continued in Accelerator's field of vision as he lay on his side.
He had once been known as Academy City's strongest esper, but now he was stuck in this condition.
Without Last Order and the rest of Sisters performing calculations for him, he could not use his powers or even speak, walk, or count normally. He needed that choker-style electrode around his neck for those proxy calculations, and its battery only lasted 48 hours at the absolute most.
If the battery died, if he went deep underground, or if a jamming signal was used, he could no longer use those proxy calculations.
And that was just for normal mode.
When he used esper mode, such a massive number of calculations had to be made that the time limit suddenly dropped to just under 15 minutes. The electrode was meant to be a medical device, so it was not made to withstand a military environment like an esper battle. And the battery was a special model created by the frog-faced doctor, so he could not swap it out for a commercial battery. That meant he could not stock up on batteries to extend that time limit.
In other words, his time limit truly was 15 minutes.
But when in that mode, he did not need to use his cane.
(Learning all these damn rules is a pain in the ass. Honestly, I'm not Cinderella. Having a time limit for being the strongest is no laughing matter.)
"…"
Having decided to take a shower, Accelerator got up from the couch.
He hoped it would help improve his mood.
He already knew Last Order eternally had no defenses, but Accelerator was annoyed at how casually Yomikawa and Yoshikawa were taking everything. They were all being too trusting of Academy City's strongest esper. He had never said he would lift a finger to live up to their expectations. Yomikawa and Yoshikawa did not properly understand how frightening a being he was. Accelerator was used to destroying, but he was not at all used to protecting. There was a very real risk of him causing a great disaster for everything and everyone around him when he was only intending to strike in defense.
(Come to think of it, there's no one else here. Are those idiots out shopping?)
With that offhand thought, Accelerator opened the door to the changing room.
And there he found a naked Last Order having her brown hair dried with a bath towel.
Yomikawa and Yoshikawa were also naked and doing the drying from either side of the girl.
Last Order was the first one to react.
"Wh-why did you suddenly appear with no warning whatsoever!? says Misaka as Misaka reaches out for a bath towel but cannot reach it!!"
Accelerator ignored Last Order's shouting and looked toward Yomikawa and Yoshikawa with a blank look.
"…Why didn't you lock the door?"
"Oh, sorry, sorry. I've lived alone for so long I forget you could do that. My bad, my bad."
"Aiho, at least cover yourself with a towel."
Having already covered her own body with a towel, Yoshikawa sighed and handed Yomikawa a towel. Looking annoyed, Yomikawa wrapped the towel around herself. While this did cover her, it left as much of her thighs exposed as a miniskirt. And she must not have finished drying herself yet because the towel stuck to her and made the lines of her body perfectly visible.
(…What the hell is this?)
This was not a normal part of Accelerator's everyday life. In fact, if anyone had a problem with finding a girl changing every time he opened a door, he would probably split his sides with laughter.
Last Order realized there were not enough towels for her, so she frantically hid behind Yoshikawa.
With tears in her eyes, she said, "Why are you two able to just look annoyed and grab a towel rather than panic? says Misaka as Misaka asks a simple question."
"What?" said Yomikawa as she gave Last Order a puzzled look. "There's no real reason. It's just that he's a kid and we're adults."
"Misaka thinks not caring about this is more of an old lady thing than an adult thing, says Misaka as Misa-…ow ow ow ow ow!! Don't start working together to scrape Misaka's head like that! says Misaka as Misaka protests resolutely!!"
While attacking the top of Last Order's head, Yoshikawa said, "We are adults, not old ladies, right?"
"What kind of an adult gets so mad at a child like this, says Misaka as-…Owww!! You over there, help me and give me a towel! says Misaka as Misaka looks up at you with puppy dog eyes to stimulate your desire to protect me!!"
The tiny brat was shouting about something or other, but Accelerator ignored her and closed the door to the changing room.
He sighed once.
"…I thought I told you to stay on your guard."