Chapter 4

Once they stepped into the apartment, they were greeted with the sight of Last Order watching TV and Yoshikawa preparing food in the kitchen. Accelerator was nowhere to be found.

"Wow, your apartment is so clean!"

"Aiho is always cleaning the place up." Yoshikawa stepped out of the kitchen and smiled at Haruka and Yomikawa. "You should show Hakutsuki her bedroom."

Yomikawa led Haruka around the TV and to the hallway. "First door to the left is the room I share with Kikyou, second is the bathroom. The first bedroom on the right is Accelerator's room which he shares with Last Order, and the last bedroom is yours. Haruka entered her new room to find a very clean, but unadorned room. Besides a bed with blue bedspreads, there was a closet and a chest-of-drawers. There was a table and a chair. A clock was on the wall opposite the bed.

Yomikawa looked at the room over Haruka's shoulder. "It's plain, but we can decorate it later."

"Thanks a lot."

"No problem. Speaking of which, where is Accelerator? I didn't see him in the living room."

On a hunch, Haruka opened the door to Accelerator's room. He was apparently sleeping, his lanky body stretched out on the bed.

Yomikawa sighed when she looked at the sleeping teen. "It's barely 1:00 in the afternoon and he somehow manages to fall asleep. Mind waking him up, Haruka?"

"Is there any reason?"

As if on cue, Yoshikawa called, "Lunchtime!"

Yomikawa grinned. "That's your reason."

Haruka stepped lightly into the darkened room, making sure not to bump into anything. She quietly approached the bed, making no sound. Once she reached the bed, she placed her hands on his shoulders and shook him hard. "Time to wake up, sleepyhead."

Accelerator woke to the sight of Haruka leaning over him with a smirk on her face. "About time you woke up. It's lunchtime."

"Did you have to shake me that hard? You nearly dislocated my shoulders."

"Oh, stop whining. It was either that or me dropping a ball of water on your face." As if to prove her point, a ball of water formed in her right hand.

"I get it, I get it. I'm up."

The water disappeared from Haruka's hand. "We'll wait for you."

"Tch. Give me a few minutes. You guys can eat without me."

As Haruka went out of the room, she heard Accelerator mumbling under his breath. "I really have no idea which ability of hers I should watch out for more." She smirked and closed the door behind her.

As soon as she left, Accelerator let out a long sigh and lay back down. From the moment he had rescued her, he knew she was the girl in his dreams. But he had no idea why she appeared in his dreams. Was there even any relevance to his dreams? In a short burst of rage, he punched the pillow hard. What was Yoshikawa hiding about his past? Despite what he told Last Order, he really didn't remember anything from his past, except for all the times at school when he was bullied constantly. Not like the attacks ever hit him.

"I give up; I'm not going to find out anything like this." With that, he swung his legs over the bed and onto the ground and picked up his crutch, striding to the living room.

The girls had already started to eat. Yoshikawa had quickly prepared some instant ramen. At the sound of the crutch clicking on the floor, they all looked up at the boy esper, who promptly looked away.

"Stop staring at me."

"Alright, alright. There's extra ramen in the kitchen for you if you're hungry."

Accelerator went into the kitchen and came out with a bowl half full with ramen. He sat in the empty spot next to Last Order and chewed methodically, not bothering to look up at the others from his bowl. An awkward silence had settled over the table. After everybody had finished, they stuck the bowls in the dishwasher and resumed staring at each other in the living room. The silence was broken by a cell phone ringing. Glad to have an interruption, Yoshikawa pulled the phone out of her pocket and went into the hallway.

"Hello?"

"Actually, we shouldn't be communicating via cell phone. Why don't you use the resources I gave you so many years ago?"

Yoshikawa gave a start. The last time she heard that voice, it was when Accelerator had been taken into the Special Abilities Institute. That voice had requested her to not do what they did with Accelerator, but she had no authority to stop the others. The voice had warned her horrible things would happen and twist the memories and very emotions of the young esper, and the predictions were true.

Yoshikawa went into her bedroom and pulled out the box that contained the things the owner of the voice had given to her. She pulled out a piece of paper and folded it in half, before opening it.

"You sound older. Why do you need to use this and not a phone?"

"I thought you knew Aleister Crowley could eavesdrop on any cell phone conversation, and you know that the things I talk about to you must be kept secret even from him, which is extremely hard. Besides, it has been a few years. Of course my voice would change over the years."

"What are you going to tell me about this time, then?"

"You know Accelerator's eighteenth birthday is coming up soon. So is Haruka's. I thought to give you a word of warning before their birthdays dawn."

"They share a birthday?"

"Yes." The voice emanating from the paper held just a bit of amusement amid the usual monotony.

"What am I supposed to expect?"

"Hmm… a coma-like sleep, maybe convulsions, and if their minds can't take it, death. After all, their minds will have to adjust under the influx of so many memories." The voice sounded extremely amused now.

"You sound like you want them to die. I didn't think you would be this amused at them dying."

"Eh, stop overreacting. I was messing with you. They're strong enough. One last warning: do not touch Accelerator or Haruka. Accelerator in particular. The result would not be nice."

"Is that all you have to say?"

"You might as well alert Yomikawa. Plus you should tell the two what would happen. They've been in the dark for far too long."

"You're the one who told me not to tell Accelerator anything!"

"I changed my mind. The least both teens can know is what will happen."

Yoshikawa had a sudden thought. "Won't Aleister Crowley sense our conversation? I may have switched from my cell but he can still sense things like this."

"There are methods that can keep even him from listening in on conversations, whether through phone or other means. And this is very subtle; he won't even sense it. Goodbye, Yoshikawa Kikyou. The truth is approaching the light."

Without warning, the paper turned to dust and floated off into the air. Incredibly shaken now, Yoshikawa took a few deep breaths and sat down at the edge of the bed. The first time she met that person, that person had told her what Accelerator was and the role he would play. The person had appeared to her shortly after Accelerator was born, and asked her to watch over the boy, also giving her the resources needed for contact in case cell phones couldn't be used.

"Oi, Kikyou. Who was it?" Yomikawa came into the room and suddenly stopped, seeing the look on Yoshikawa's face. "Was it…"

"Yes." Ever since they moved in, Yoshikawa had told Yomikawa about the mysterious person so she could have somebody to talk to about everything.

Yomikawa also saw the box on the ground. "Secret conversation?"

"Yes."

"Tell me what happened."

"Not now. Tonight when they're all asleep."

"Fine. Hey, what are we supposed to do for the entire afternoon then?"

"You have the entire day off, right?"

"Yeah."

"We should entertain the kids a bit. Amusement park?"

"Sure, but what if the scientists find Hakutsuki again? She may not have a tracker on her, but there are still other ways to track her. Her AIM field is very distinctive."

"We can get Accelerator to keep an eye on her and out for scientists."

"Okay then."

The adults went back to the living room, where Last Order had gone back to watching TV. Accelerator was watching Haruka make an elaborately detailed miniature ice castle on the table. She had added turrets, a drawbridge, and even tiny arrow slits. They didn't notice the adults until Yoshikawa started speaking.

"Since there's nothing for us to do here, we're taking you guys to an amusement park."

Last Order looked at the women. "'We're going to an amusement park?' Asks MISAKA as MISAKA tries to hide her excitement."

"Yeah."

"Won't the scientists track me with my AIM field? They probably know where I am already." Haruka turned the ice back to liquid, and let the water splash back into the cup that was on the table.

"Accelerator will keep an eye out, won't you Accelerator?" Yoshikawa directed the question towards the lanky figure that was looking on with a bored look on his face.

"Tch, whatever."

"I'm only asking you to keep an eye out, not go on kiddie rides or something."

"Fine."

"Come on then, let's go!"