The orange sky had turned to purple.
Kamijou walked along a main road while looking down at the black cat in his arms.
If they were really going to raise an animal, they needed to know how.
(Well, I know how to well enough. Index on the other hand…)
Kamijou sighed as he walked along the street as it started to look more like night. If it was just a cruel prank, you just had to get rid of that cruelty, but Index was acting completely out of the goodness of her heart, so doing that would have the reverse effect. As she was doing it out of the goodness of her heart, she would feel it was the right thing to do and would not hesitate to continue. If he didn't hurry to a bookstore and buy a book on raising cats, that smiling pure-white nun might end up with the nickname Death End.
"This is a different route from yesterday, points out Misaka," Misaka Imouto said while walking next to him.
Every time she glanced over at the black cat in Kamijou's arms, she looked like she was barely holding herself back. It seemed she really, really wanted to pet the cat, but she was giving its feelings of dislike toward her magnetic field priority and holding back.
"Oh, I'm just dropping by somewhere on the way home. There's a book I kind of want."
"Are you headed for a bookstore? asks Misaka. Geographically, taking a right at that last intersection would have been the shortest route, says Misaka as she turns around."
"No, I don't want a new book. I'm headed to that used bookstore up ahead. How you raise a cat doesn't change. Only 100 yen a book is ideal."
Kamijou had no way of knowing, but knowledge and information related to living beings would change from time to time. Let's use baseball training as an example. A ten year old book would tell someone to throw and throw and just use some guts to bear with the pain in order to pitch faster. However, that person would actually destroy their shoulder if they did that.
"Do you want a book on raising a cat? asks Misaka to make sure."
"It's not so much the book but the knowledge within. You saw those girls in the nun's habit and the shrine maiden outfit, right?"
"…" Misaka Imouto looked at Kamijou's face with her emotionless eyes. "To repeat, carelessly handling a cat's life falls under the crime of property damage, warns Misaka."
"Ah…Eh? What, are you mad?"
"Misaka is not angry. This is not a situation where everything is fine as long as you are not directly involved, cautions Misaka. If you leave those two alone knowing what they will do, you are responsible as well, says Misaka giving her objective opinion."
"…Sorry. Are you mad, Misaka Imouto?"
"Misaka is not angry. And not everything is okay just because it is not legally restricted, says Misaka as she admonishes you. Just think using common sense and…"
"Ah, I've had enough of this." Kamijou said as if it were a type of magic spell. "But don't worry. Index and Himegami were only doing that because they thought it would be good for the cat. They won't do anything clearly bad for the cat like beating or abusing it."
"From what Misaka saw yesterday, that statement has close to zero credibility, responds Misaka. And how do you plan to deal with the situation if the book has incorrect information in it? Misaka knows how to deal with cats, so you should get her advice on how to-…"
"Ahhh!" Kamijou didn't let her finish. "I said not to worry! Index and Himegami were only doing what they thought was good for the cat! They won't do anything clearly bad for the cat! Like beating it! Or abusing it!"
"…Misaka thinks you are just saying the same thing again verbatim just with more energy behind it, says Misaka expressing her thoughts. That is not Misaka's main point. She is saying that you should get her to-…"
"Abhah!" Kamijou became completely nonsensical. "Bi said bot to borry! Bindex and Bimegami were bonly doing what they bhought was bood bor the bat! Bey won't bo anything blearly bad bor the bat! Bike beating bit! Bor abusing bit!"
"…(anger)"
"Pant pant…! Ah, here's the bookstore."
They were standing in front of a large used bookstore that belonged to a chain. Kamijou looked down at the black cat in his arms and thought for a bit.
"Mh. Come to think of it, I'm probably not supposed to enter the store holding a cat."
"…That was an extremely expository statement, but please do not leave it with Misaka, says Misaka in a preemptive denial."
"…Because your magnetic field will make the cat dislike you? Well, if you can overcome that obstacle, true friendship will blossom. Take this! Ultimate Cat Bomb!"
Kamijou lightly tossed the cat toward Misaka Imouto who was standing next him (on the assumption she would catch it). Of course, it was clear the cat's reflexes would allow it to land nicely even if no one caught it. However, Misaka Imouto reflexively reached out for it (just as Kamijou had predicted). It was the sad habit of one who loved animals.
Misaka Imouto was about to complain, but Kamijou had already entered the used bookstore.
"…Really. What is wrong with him to think it is okay to throw a kitten? asks Misaka as she mutters to herself."
Misaka Imouto was now alone on a twilight-colored street of Academy City.
The black cat reacted to the electromagnetic waves emitted by her body and looked up to her with trembling eyes. She thought of lowering the cat to the ground, but it had not yet recognized Kamijou or her as its owner. If she let go of it there, she had a feeling it would simply run away.
Even if it was only a kitten, there was no way for a human to catch up on foot to a cat that was truly trying to flee. The first thing an owner had to do was to feed the cat and give it a place to sleep, so the cat would feel secure and not feel the need to run away.
"…And yet he threw it, says Misaka with a sigh."
She spoke with a completely expressionless face. Luckily, the cat she was holding did not stick out its claws or struggle. This was more due to cowardice than obedience. It was true that she had wanted to touch the cat, but she sighed again at the fact that resisting was better than seeing it so frightened.
And then she noticed something.
It was summer break, so on that evening in Academy City, the street was filled with boys and girls wearing casual clothes. As Misaka Imouto was wearing a school uniform, she stood out quite a bit.
However, she did not stand out nearly as much as the boy she had spotted.
The boy's hair and skin were dreadfully white. They were white, but they were the opposite of the image of purity white often gave. This white was a very dirty white. That rotten white was accentuated by the fact that his clothes were all black.
And there were his eyes.
Those eyes were red like fresh blood, crimson like burning flames, and scarlet like the depths of hell.
He was amid a distant crowd, but the boy's presence was simply too vivid. The special boy was not doing anything in particular. The exceptional boy really was not doing much of anything.
Yet the mere fact that hellish boy was standing on that peaceful street was abnormal.
He was Accelerator.
He was the strongest Level 5 in Academy City…no, probably in the entire world.
He stared at Misaka Imouto and silently smiled.
"…"
Misaka Imouto silently lowered the black cat to the ground.
It would be killed. If it stayed with her, that black cat would get caught up in the conflict and would be killed. She knew that, but the cat refused to leave her side. As it trembled, it merely looked up at her face mewing.
Accelerator continued to look at Misaka Imouto and smile. That distant white smile was warped, twisted, and perverted. The white was incandescent, dirtied, and insane.
A single image passed through Misaka Imouto's mind.
It was the image of a girl's right arm being torn off late at night due to her Metal Eater exploding.
In that instant, Misaka Imouto's everyday life ended.
In that instant, her hell began.