Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume1 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 5===

The powerful tremors and gunfire had stopped at some point.

The white-haired and red-eyed monster named Accelerator remained seated on the floor with his back against the secret interrogation room’s thick door. He had one leg stretched out and one bent up with his arms around the knee while he looked up at the ceiling. In that pose, the #1 confirmed something had come to an end.

That monster never had set foot outside that door.

Even though he could have obliterated this pathetic battle in less than a second if he had used his power as Academy City’s #1.

“Ee hee hee. Are you sure that was a good idea?”

“Shut up.”

Nothing was more irritating ''than the temptations of a demon''. And just as he whispered into empty air, he heard something.

It was not quite a creak, but a definite sensation reached his back pressed against the door.

“It’s over, says Misaka as Misaka informs you.”

“…”

“Can you hear Misaka? This is a thick door, so maybe you can’t.”

“Oh, shut up. Do I have to respond to every little thing?”

After a quiet sigh, he finally answered.

The “atmosphere” was not a tangible thing. It would be undetectable even by the Academy City devices that could measure the faint and invisible AIM Diffusion Fields that espers emitted.

But.

This conversation definitely changed something.

“There is no stopping you, is there? says Misaka as Misaka asks despite knowing the answer already.”

“Got a problem with this?”

“If this is what you have decided to do, Misaka will go along with it.”

That obedient statement may not have been a pleasant thing to hear when paired with the path the clones had taken to reach this point, but Accelerator detected a slight difference there.

Laws and morals.

The general public’s definitions of fortune and misfortune.

This had nothing to do with those established values. She was not obeying Accelerator’s words as a command; she had assessed them for herself and decided she agreed. It was a subtle issue and hard to put to words, but the two could not have been more different. Last Order could hear what Accelerator had to say and choose to either agree or disagree with it.

The white monster decided he could not allow anything to change that.

''The demon floating in front of him'' grinned without saying a word.

“This is for the best.” He spoke softly while placing the decisive piece in front of the king. “This incident showed me my will can reach every part of this city to act in my stead. I can see and move through the entire city while remaining behind bars.”

Yes.

Academy City was a den of the worst possible people. All sorts of people went unsaved even when things were successfully resolved and there were countless fools who would remain fools until the day they died.

But there were also people who would give him what he wanted.

They were not all part of a special category like him. Ordinary teachers would gear up in bulletproof armor and rush to the scene as Anti-Skill, EMTs would transport the injured to the hospital, and doctors would fulfill the duties of their job. And it was not limited to those professionals either. Ordinary students and office workers would work to suppress the chaos and wonder if there was anything they could do without relying on some kind of special talent.

Not all of them needed to punch out the villains.

People could demonstrate plenty of strength simply by clearing the path needed for the heroes who would protect people’s ordinary lives and spring to action whenever they saw a problem. There had to be dramatic events playing out everywhere and the people bringing together that great power were not even aware of what they were accomplishing. People who could do the ordinary things were strong in their own way.

He had sensed that here.

Maybe idealism was not enough and maybe reality was cruel, but he had sensed that this city was worth trusting.

“So this is for the best. It’s high time I gave up the title of ‘white monster’. That’s no more than a name that was forced onto me, so it’s time I removed that boring uniform they gave me. How can I call myself the true strongest if I can’t even do that?”

“…”

“You don’t have to stick with me. I’m choosing this path for myself, so you can choose a different path for yourself. As soon as this feels too heavy to bear, you can throw me out.”

“Misaka will come visit you. She can choose for herself and she chooses to come visit you every day! says Misaka as Misaka can’t stop trembling!!”

“You dumbass,” spat out Accelerator.

But the only person who could see the look on his face then was ''the supernatural demon''.

There was a special sort of mirror on the interrogation room wall, but he had zero intention of looking in it.

No one else could understand.

There were as many ways for people to form bonds as there were people. So what was wrong with everyone having their own unique way?

He could not stop the girl’s tears without letting her lean on him, but he could not bind her with his words either.

So that human had just one thing to say.

It was just harsh enough in a way only they would understand.

“I won’t be waiting.”