"That damn brat disappeared?"
Accelerator's voice echoed through the living room.
He had assumed Last Order was napping in the room she had been assigned, but Yomikawa said she was no longer inside the apartment.
Wearing a track suit as always, Yomikawa lightly shook her head and said, "The door to the apartment locks itself just like a hotel, so you don't need a key to leave. It's possible she went off somewhere to play."
"This apartment building is pretty big. She could be playing in the elevator, the stairway, or a hallway," said Yoshikawa, but Accelerator had a very bad feeling about what this meant.
He could not bring himself to optimistically trust the goodness of the world. He had seen too much evil for that.
(When did I last see that brat?)
Accelerator looked over at the clock on the wall.
It was currently 4:30 PM. When he had eaten lunch, taken a nap, and tried to take a shower, it had been either 1 or 2 PM.
(It's at least been over 2 hours. With that much time, a pro could have killed her, buried the body, and disappeared without a trace.)
Accelerator and Last Order were both seen as incredibly valuable research material. The experiment they had been involved in had ended, but it would still come as no surprise if someone showed up hoping to make a fortune researching them.
In fact, nothing that calculated or greed-driven was even needed. The mere fact that she was an acquaintance of Accelerator's could be enough to pinpoint her as a target for attack. Now that he had lost his title as Academy City's strongest, he was nothing more than another target.
Accelerator clicked his tongue as if he was spitting the sound out and adjusted his grip on the modern cane that was supporting his weight.
"I'm heading out."
"She's probably just playing somewhere nearby," said Yomikawa, sounding horribly carefree. Accelerator gave her an irritated look, but she continued, "After all, she left this on the answering machine."
"…"
Accelerator fell silent before pressing the play button for the answering machine of the large appliance that was a combination of a phone, a fax machine, and a copier.
After a high pitched beep, he heard, "Um… Misaka is currently being chased by a lower model Misaka, says Misaka as Misaka reports on her situation. Misaka cannot go home right away, but she wants you to make some dinner for her, says Misaka as Misaka makes a request."
Accelerator very nearly beat the phone with his cane, but Yomikawa and Yoshikawa stopped him. Without his powers, he could only struggle in vain.
Accelerator panted with his hair and clothes in disarray.
"…That brat pisses me off to the very bottom of my heart."
"Ah ha ha. That's just how relationships work."
Yomikawa laughed with her arms still wrapped tightly around Accelerator's body for fear he would destroy her phone. This meant she was pressing her large breasts against him, but she did not seem to care.
"There is no such thing as a relationship where everything always goes your way. True freedom where no one ever bothers you is the same as having no one around to notice the things you do." Yomikawa removed her arms from around Accelerator's waist. "That's what happens when you take root. The two of you get so entangled together that it gets hard to move. But it makes you stronger for the rainy days."
"…"
Listening to what the adults had to say was annoying, too.
Whether they were dead on or not, he would rather not be given lessons that he had no idea how to interpret.
At any rate, Accelerator wanted to find Last Order and keep her where he could see her. He was only free to act as he wished while sending and receiving weak electromagnetic waves via the electrode on his neck, and Last Order was at the center of the Sister's activities. Accelerator still only had a vague idea of how the Misaka Network worked, but he had a feeling any harm to that model could have an effect on him. In his mind, he was acting solely for himself.
Meanwhile, Yomikawa must have been convinced she had said something profound because she had a triumphant look on her face.
"Okay, Kikyou and I will help out."
"I have to help too?"
"If you don't want to, you need to abandon the name Kikyou."
Yoshikawa, who did not look very athletically inclined, was staring out the window while muttering, "If I walk around outside for more than an hour in one day, I'll collapse."
Accelerator frowned and said, "What are you doing?"
"We're going to look for that girl too," said Yomikawa as if it should be obvious.
Accelerator fell silent.
The track suit wearing woman pulled out the USB memory for the answering machine.
"It sounded like she was outside. I should be able to find the location by analyzing the background noises. At any rate, just leave this to Yomikawa of Anti-Skill."
"Aiho, isn't that a misuse of your authority?"
"Finding lost children is one of my duties. I see no problem with this."
(Why does she look so delighted?)
Yomikawa grinned at him with the USB memory in one hand.
"Do you know what this kind of mutual relationship is called?"
"Tripping each other up?"
"Give and take."
With Yoshikawa's exasperated correction, the search for Last Order began.