章 10: Chapter 10
"I'm so sorry!!!" she exclaimed, looking at him in bewilderment as she bowed frantically in apology. "It was reckless of me to swing the door like that so recklessly, I'M SO SORRY!!"
"I get it! You're good," Accelerator winced at her loud voice. The girl stood tall, about to continue—
"Pshsh! HAHAHA!" Scornful laughter came from behind Accelerator. The group of girls who had passed him were laughing, pointing at the girl, making her flush with embarrassment. "Seriously! It's like you're not even trying!" a blonde girl sneered. "What a loser!" The giggling girls walked off, never looking back, while the girl stared at her feet silently. As the group disappeared from sight, the girl let out a dry chuckle, "Sorry about that!" She walked past Accelerator in a rush. "Just forget about it, and once again… I'm sorry!"
Accelerator watched as the girl ran off, clearly embarrassed. 'Fuck!' he thought to himself. 'Why the fuck am I always getting involved in shit like this?' He growled lowly before letting out a sigh of surrender.
"Guess I better catch the brat. What a pain."
She ran. She felt like all she could do was run. It wasn't the first time she'd been embarrassed like that in front of someone. The only thing she could be grateful for was the fact that the guy was a stranger, someone she'd likely never meet again.
She finally stopped running, realizing she was outside her school, in the backyard where she would usually meet him, her only solace in the cruel, cold life she was living. She could still remember how it all started, how she became obsolete in this merciless world where worth was dictated by one's quirk.
"Let's go! We have to hurry, otherwise we'll miss it!"
She grabbed her mother's hand in her own tiny one, dragging her mother to the best of her ability towards the door. "Hahaha," her mother's laugh was sweet to her ears, ringing like Christmas bells, making a smile form on her childish face. "Let's hurry, Mommy!"
Her eager eyes were wide in awe as she watched heroes march forward, not realizing that her mother's attention was on something else or someone else. Three days later, her mother returned home from work, clinging to the arm of a strange man.
"Yuki! Say hello!" the man smiled widely at her. "This is your new daddy!" The little girl was quiet, a stuffed bunny in her arms, looking at the man innocently and uncertainly.
It was when he came that everything started to fall apart. Her relationship with her mother, her friends, and even her innocence began to break to an irreparable extent.
"Yuki!" he smiled at her, a smile that would haunt her for the rest of her life. "Come here, sweetie," he cooed. Still a child, unaware and eager to behave well for the adults in her life, she foolishly complied and did little to resist, as if her tiny arms could have done much.
"Mommy," she whispered, "there's… something I need to tell you." Desperate and finally having enough of her treatment, she'd gone to her mother, who smiled at her. "Yes, dear! You know you can tell me anything." And so… she did.
Her mother was quiet for a second before she frantically ran to their bathroom, throwing up, with tears pouring down her eyes. "No… why… why would he… do this?" Muttering incoherent nonsense, she retreated into her bedroom, leaving her daughter ashamed and frightened, but yet hopeful. That was until she was called to her mother's side.
On her knees, her mother smiled at her as she struggled not to cry. "Yuki, my precious little Yuki, you love your mommy, right?" she asked, to which her daughter responded with an eager nod. "Good girl," her mother praised with a smile. "Yuki… I know it's tough, but… I need you to bear with it. Can you do that? For mommy?"
Everything the little girl had ever believed in shifted at her mother's words.
"…Okay, Mommy."
That was when she learned to be quiet, how she learned to tolerate people and the horrible things they were capable of.
That was at least until she became thirteen.
It was strange how a stranger could get her to open up when she was so quiet with even her own family. She never meant for anything to happen; she just needed a way to get it off her chest. Nobody ever did anything about it, so she never thought anyone would—not her mother, not her family, and most certainly not a stranger who wasn't even a hero.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!"
The little girl's tears flowed down her cheeks as she curled in on herself, her cheek stinging from the sharp slap her mother had cruelly delivered. "Mommy," she whimpered, "I—"
"How could you! To your own father!"
She couldn't properly remember what happened after that. All she could remember was her mother's horror-stricken eyes glaring down at her hatefully as she spat, "Every horrible thing that comes your way… you deserve it all! If only you had just died!"
Her eyes stung with unshed tears. Things just got worse after that.
Standing alone at the entrance of her new school, as children walked past her, eyeing her. The whispers of them and their parents: "That child… be sure not to get too close to her."
"Isn't that the girl?"
"Why didn't she just tell a hero? Isn't it her own fault?"
"Right! Especially with that quirk of hers."
The cold breeze brushed against her skin. She had always felt like this, and it was starting to tire her—always feeling so lost. It seemed that the more she tried to find her way, the more the world around her turned into a labyrinth of confusion and loneliness. The trees swayed gently in the wind, their rustling leaves whispering secrets she couldn't decipher. She wrapped her arms around herself, seeking warmth and comfort that seemed perpetually out of reach.
She wanted to wait here until he showed up rather than meet him after her classes ended. She didn't want to go back. 'I don't ever want to go back,' she thought to herself, tears welling up in her eyes as they began to fall like delicate raindrops. She could still hear the echo of laughter, cruel and mocking, from earlier that day. The hallways of her school had become a gauntlet she dreaded facing, filled with sneering faces and harsh words.
The shuffling of feet caught her attention, making her look back. Surprise colored her face as she recognized the man standing in front of her. "It's you!" she exclaimed, bewildered.
With a gruff demeanor, Accelerator approached the teary girl. He looked out of place in the serene setting, like a shadow from another world, with his stark white hair and piercing red eyes.
Accelerator had no idea what to do now. Personally, he wanted to just knock her out and carry her unconscious body to Asphalt but… 'inconspicuous… I need to be inconspicuous,' he chanted in his mind, before letting out a sigh. 'Where is that shitty geezer? He should've gotten my message by now.' He looked at the girl in front of him, he hadn't realized it earlier, but now he could tell that her clothes were wrinkled and wet. He'd never gone to a school before, or if he had, then he certainly had no memory of it. But watching enough of Saki's romance and drama movies gave him a pretty good idea of some bullying tactics used.
With another sigh, he asked, "You good?"
She looked at him, startled by what he said, before realizing he was waiting for her answer. "Oh! Yes, yes, I'm fine… thank you!" she replied, feeling somewhat flustered. "Uh… sorry, did you need something?"
He looked at her strangely before answering, "I was looking for someone."
"Oh, a student?" she asked curiously. She had never seen anyone with features resembling his in her school, or maybe it was just his quirk. Accelerator shrugged his shoulders, his red eyes wandering around. "Sort of," he answered. Yuki let out a small smile, sniffing, she asked, "Is it a teacher?"
Accelerator looked back at her. "…Yeah," he answered. He needed her to lower her guard, to think of him as a friend, so that she would talk to him more openly, hopefully about Jason Olas and her relationship with the guy. "He's a bit of a drifter, comes and goes as he pleases… taught me a lot… knows a lot too… know anyone like that?"
Yuki tilted her head, considering his words. "He sounds interesting. I don't think I know anyone like that," she answered. Her mind wandered briefly, trying to match his description to any teacher or mentor she had come across, but no one seemed to fit the bill. Accelerator let out a faux sad sigh, hoping to elicit more empathy and perhaps loosen her tongue. "Oh well, I really need to find him. He's… the only person in the world who… understands me."
Yuki looked at him with furrowed brows, her curiosity piqued. "Understands you?" she almost whispered. There was something about his eyes, a haunted look that spoke of battles fought and lost, of wounds that went deeper than the surface. She felt a strange connection to this mysterious man, an unspoken bond formed by shared pain. "Why does he understand you?" she asked softly, her voice filled with genuine concern and interest.
Accelerator's gaze grew distant for a moment, as if he were looking into a past that haunted him. "He just does," he said quietly. "We're both... outcasts in our own ways. He taught me how to survive, how to harness my power. Without him, I wouldn't be here." He hesitated, wondering how much he should reveal. "Life hasn't been easy for either of us. He was the first person who saw me for who I really am, not just what I can do."
Yuki felt a pang of empathy. "I wish I had someone like that," she admitted, her voice barely audible over the wind. "Someone who could understand me... someone who could make this feeling of being lost go away." She thought about her own life, about the isolation she felt despite being surrounded by people every day.
The wind picked up, and Yuki shivered, pulling her jacket tighter around herself. Accelerator noticed and, after a moment's hesitation, took off his hoodie and draped it over her shoulders. "Here," he said gruffly. "You look like you need it more than I do."
Yuki looked up at him, surprised by the gesture. "Thank you," she said, her voice trembling with gratitude and surprise. "Why are you being so kind to me?"
Accelerator shrugged, looking away. "Maybe I see a bit of myself in you," he admitted. "Or maybe I just don't want to see someone else suffer when I can do something about it." He watched her for a moment, gauging her reaction, hoping she would open up more.
They stood in silence for a while, the only sound being the rustling of leaves and the distant hum of the city. Yuki felt a strange sense of peace, as if, for the first time in a long while, she wasn't completely alone. She glanced at Accelerator, wondering about the life he led and the battles he fought, both within himself and against the world.
"Do you think you'll find him?" she asked eventually, her voice breaking the silence. She wanted to help him, to repay his kindness somehow.
"I have to," Accelerator replied with determination. "He's the only lead I have. And if I don't find him… I don't know what I'll do." He paused, then added, "But I'll keep looking, no matter what. I owe him that much."
Yuki nodded, understanding the desperation in his voice. "I hope you find him," she said sincerely. "And I hope… I hope you find whatever it is you're looking for." Her mind wandered to Jason Olas, the person she had been thinking about before Accelerator arrived. She wondered if he had any connection to this mysterious mentor of his.
Accelerator looked at her, his expression softening for a brief moment. His eyes, usually hard and unyielding, seemed to hold a flicker of empathy. "Thanks," he said, his voice unexpectedly gentle. "And I hope you find your way too. Don't let this place break you." His words carried a weight of experience, a warning born from his own struggles and the harsh lessons life had forced upon him.
Yuki let out a small smile, something she had never done unless it was with Jason. It felt strange, almost foreign, to show this kind of emotion to someone else. Her usual guarded demeanor momentarily cracked, revealing a hint of vulnerability. After a moment of hesitation, she decided to mention her own mentor, a man who wasn't even a teacher in her school. She took a breath to speak, but just as she opened her mouth, the school bell rang, its shrill sound cutting through the air and signaling the end of the school day.
"Ah!" she gasped in surprise, her eyes widening as she realized how much time had passed while she was talking to him. "Oh, that's right!" she exclaimed, a mix of shock and realization in her voice. Her exclamation garnered Accelerator's attention, and he gave her a questioning look, his eyes narrowing slightly. "What?" he asked, his tone curious and slightly wary.
"I'm sorry, but I didn't get your name," Yuki said, reaching her hand out for a handshake. "My name's Yuki. It's nice to meet you—?"
"…Accelerator," he answered, his voice low and measured. He raised his own hand to meet hers, but just as their hands were about to touch, Yuki withdrew at the last moment. She looked up, her expression a mix of recognition and fear. Accelerator's red eyes gleamed as he understood the look on her face. She knew who he was, and the only one who could have told her was Jason Olas. This meant that their target knew who he, and most likely Asphalt, was.
'This changes things,' Accelerator thought to himself as he watched Yuki slowly back away from him, her movements hesitant and unsure. 'I was trying to go about this nicely, but—'
"I'm s-sorry," she stammered nervously, her words tumbling over each other. "But I need to get home now. Thanks for—for everything." Shuffling for a second, she turned and began to run past Accelerator, making her way towards the school building. Accelerator watched her retreat with indifferent, yet deadly eyes.
Yuki speed walked towards an empty classroom, her heart pounding in her chest like a drum. She collapsed to her knees, letting out a shaky breath. "That was him?" she muttered to herself, bewildered and scared. "That's the person trying to hurt Jason!" She ruffled through her coat pockets frantically. 'I need to call Jason, he needs to know that—'
Just as she was about to send the text, her phone was ripped out of her shaky hands. She let out a gasp, turning to face none other than Accelerator. He stood there, looming over her with an imposing presence, staring at her phone screen with an unreadable expression. "So, the bastard gave you his number," he said, looking down at her from the corner of his eye. "Must mean you're important."
Yuki shivered as his red eyes bore into her, making her skin crawl. Accelerator let out a sigh, a sound filled with frustration and resignation. 'She gave no indication that she knew who Jason Olas really was, but it's clear that he gave her some sort of warning…' He watched as the girl looked at him in fear. It didn't particularly bother him; he was used to people's fear, hate, and envy, being the strongest Esper of Academy City. But that didn't mean he was enjoying himself. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. 'She's clearly a manipulated victim in all this… but why her, of all people? Why did Jason Olas maintain close contact with this kid?'
"Whatever," he muttered, loud enough for Yuki to hear. "I'll just have to take you to the geezer and let him decide what to do with you."
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