The morning sun greeted Accelerator with rays of sunlight dancing across his closed eyes. Sensing the light, he shielded his eyes with his arm and sat up on the couch. To his surprise, the clock read 9:00 AM. He didn't hear any other movement in the apartment, and guessed everyone else was still sleeping. Standing up, he began to make his way to the kitchen to grab a refrigerated can of coffee from the pack he had bought without the adults's permission during his last trip to the grocery store. After he closed the fridge door, he noticed a piece of paper stuck to the counter table. His name was on the paper, in Yomikawa's writing. Grabbing that as well, he made his way back to the couch and sat down, opening the folded up note.
Well, looks like you came home in the middle of the night. And don't think I don't know what happened. Komoe told me. By the way, I didn't tell Kikyou. Still, I'm glad you made it out safe. Anyways, tell the others I won't be back until at least 7, unless we're let off duty early. I'm part of the Anti-Skill squads that are going with Judgment to raid the lab Hakutsuki was in. I may call her with your cellphone to tell her if we found anything of importance. And don't ask me how I knew you would wake up before the others. Happy early birthday, Accelerator.
Yomikawa
The note tore in half from Accelerator's crushing grip. Yomikawa knew he nearly got killed last night. But why didn't she tell Yoshikawa?
Damn that child teacher. I told her not to tell.
"My, my, looks like you're the early bird today." Yoshikawa walked into the room, causing Accelerator to quickly hide the note behind him. She didn't notice though, and made her way to the kitchen. "Oh well, Aiho left pretty early. I don't know when she'll be back though."
"Seven o'clock."
"Eh? How do you know?"
"She wrote a note. Said she wouldn't be back until 7 unless she's let off duty early."
"I see. Well, what do you want for breakfast?"
Accelerator gestured to his unopened can of coffee. Yoshikawa sighed. "I've told you so many times to eat something more nutritious."
"Tch, whatever. As long as I get through the day, I'll be fine."
"You may be the most powerful esper, but you are not superhuman. You need other kinds of food to stay healthy."
"Give it up, Yoshikawa. I doubt he'll ever eat a healthy meal voluntarily until hell freezes over." Letting out a yawn, Haruka entered the room, dressed in a light blue t-shirt with silver designs and a denim miniskirt.
"You don't have to make it sound so detailed," Accelerator grumbled.
"It sounds better than just saying never."
"How was your sleep, Hakutsuki?"
"Not bad. Thanks for asking. What's for breakfast? Not counting the coffee."
"Well, we still have food from the trip two days ago." Entering the kitchen, Yoshikawa opened the fridge door. "There's a choice of cereal, or I can make scrambled eggs. There's also—Accelerator is that a whole pack of coffee?!"
Accelerator had a smirk on his face. "Damn, I didn't hide it well enough."
"I told you not to buy that much! Just one or two cans!"
Accelerator feigned a look of surprise. "I didn't hear you say that."
"I will never understand how you're still alive when you're only living on coffee."
"I just do."
"Hey, what type of coffee is it?" Haruka plucked the can out of Accelerator's hand and read the label, ignoring his attempts to snatch it back.
"No sugar, no cream, zero essential nutrients. Pure black coffee."
"Don't question my tastes. And give it back!"
"Nope." Opening the can, Haruka took a sip. "Hm, not too bad. I like it."
Muttering incoherent words under his breath, Accelerator stalked to the kitchen and got another can. Yoshikawa had gotten a box of eggs out of the fridge and started to heat up the pan for scrambled eggs.
"'Eh? What smells so good?' Says MISAKA as MISAKA comes in the room."
"It's breakfast, Last Order."
Last Order caught sight of Accelerator casually sipping his coffee and her eyes lit up. She ran over and hugged him hard, causing him to spill his coffee all over his clothing.
"'Accelerator-san! You're back! MISAKA was so worried!' Says MISAKA as MISAKA hugs him tightly."
"I came back, didn't I, brat? Now get off me." Accelerator pushed the little girl off him and drank down the last drops of liquid in his can. Looking down at his clothing, his once-white shirt had been stained with dark brown coffee.
"Great, another shirt ruined. Does coffee even wash off?"
"I don't think so. You could probably wash the coffee away, but there will still be a stain once it dries."
Accelerator let out another string of mumbled curses and got up, going into his bedroom.
"I heard him say that he ruined another shirt. What happened to the one he wore last night?" Yoshikawa came out of the kitchen with plates of food. Haruka and Last Order eagerly dug in once she set the plates on the table.
"Slipped into some mud when I was outside." Accelerator had reentered the room with a new white long-sleeved T-shirt, a look on his face that said Ask any more questions and I'll kill you.
"Well, how about you stick them in the laundry then?"
"Tch, no. I doubt numerous washings will get the stains off."
"You should really wear more colours. The only colour I see anywhere on you is in your red eyes. Other than that, it's black and white."
"Whatever."
"I wonder what you'd look like if you didn't have that deflection ability." Haruka looked at Accelerator hard, trying to imagine him with different features.
"Stop staring at me. And I have no idea."
The telephone started ringing, and Yoshikawa picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Is that you, Yoshikawa-san?"
"Yes, who is it?"
"It's me, Komoe. Is Yomikawa-san by any chance here?"
"No, she has Anti-Skill work. She won't be back until late."
"I see. Would you mind if I came over with some people I know? They want to talk to Accelerator-chan."
"Who are they?"
"He should know. Can you put him on the phone?"
"Okay." Yoshikawa handed the phone over to Accelerator. "It's Komoe."
"What do you want, child teacher?"
"Is that any way to greet the person who let the others use her home to save you?"
"Whatever. What do you want with me?"
"The magicians from last night want to talk to you."
"Which ones?"
"Me and Kanzaki. I might bring Index and Kamijou as well." A male voice, namely Stiyl's voice, had cut in.
"If you're bringing that level 0, no way in hell."
"I have a name!" Accelerator faintly heard Touma yell in the distance.
"Deal with it, I'm bringing him."
"Fine."
"Anyways, Accelerator-chan, just tell Yoshikawa-san to let us over." Komoe had snatched the phone back.
"Fine." Accelerator hung up.
"What was that about, Accelerator?"
"Apparently that child teacher knows a couple magicians who want to speak with me. She told me to tell you to let them in."
Yoshikawa looked startled. "Magicians?"
"Yeah."
"Did they say which church they're from? And how does Komoe know about magic?"
"They're from Necessarius, some English Anglican church. And don't ask me about that, I have no idea how the child teacher knows."
"Did Komoe say when they were coming?"
"Nope." The phone rang again. Accelerator picked up, missing the look of shock on Yoshikawa's face.
"We'll be here in the afternoon." Stiyl's voice said through the phone, and then the call was cut off.
"There's your answer. The afternoon."
"Well, what should are you going to do then?"
"Don't ask me."
"'Can we go to the park?' Asks MISAKA as MISAKA states an idea."
"Why not? What do you think, Hakutsuki? Hakutsuki?"
Haruka was thinking about the dream she had last night, and had zoned out, her eyes glazing over.
***
Haruka stood in a park, identical to the one she saw in Accelerator's memories. Involuntarily, she floated over to the swing set, where a little white-haired boy was sitting on a swing, staring at the ground.
Oh gods, is that Accelerator as a little kid? She thought.
A much larger boy rushed him and tried to punch him, but before the fist could connect, it was deflected and the boy went flying. The little boy didn't even look up from the ground.
"Hey, are you even going to use the swing?" Haruka saw a little red-haired girl with a blue dress on. Startled, the young boy looked up, surprised at the fact someone would talk to him, but then his face hardened.
"There are two swings, aren't there? Use the other one and leave me alone."
"Well, if all you're going to do is sit on the swing and think, you should sit and think somewhere else. You're hogging the swing."
"What's it to you? Leave me alone." The boy replied rather rudely.
"How about this? Let's have a swinging contest. Whoever swings higher is the winner. If you win, I'll leave you alone. If I win, you have to tell me your name and talk to me."
"It's on."
The two children started swinging back and forth, pumping their legs to go higher. For a while, it looked like a tie. Then the boy started to go higher. When Haruka took a closer look, she literally saw the chains moving, and realized the boy Accelerator was lengthening the chains with his ability so he could go higher.
The girl looked over, surprised. After a second, a devious smile crossed her face and a sudden gust of wind blew directly behind her, pushing her high up in the air. "Yay!"
"A wind elementalist? That's so not fair!"
The little girl grinned at Accelerator. "You agreed, didn't you?" Another gust of wind pushed the boy's swing back, causing the swing to stop.
"Hey!"
"You were using your abilities too!" The little girl stopped her swing and smiled deviously again. "I won! Now you have to talk to me."
"…Fine."
The two children stayed on the swings. The boy stared at the girl. "What do you want to know?"
"What's your ability?"
"I don't really have a name for it. It's good to keep bullies away though."
"Well, I can control all the elements!"
The boy looked interested. "Show me."
Haruka realized it was her younger self. The little girl held out her hand and a ball of water materialized, and then a ball of fire appeared on the same hand. The boy looked on, entranced.
"I'm not too good with earth. I can only create small earthquakes. And you already saw me using air." The fire and water disappeared.
"Why did your ability come to you so quickly?"
"I don't know. What about you?"
"I don't know either. It just feels like I've had it all my life."
"Same for me. So if I try poking you, I'll get blown away?"
"Don't try it."
"Okay."
"What's your name?"
"I'm Haruka. Nice to meet you! What's your name?"
"I'm—"
The young boy's voice was cut off abruptly by another voice.
I'm sorry, Haruka, but this is the most I can show you before your actual birthday.
Who are you? Haruka asked.
But before she could hear the voice's answer, she felt herself waking up.
***
"Oi, Hakutsuki. Snap out of it!" A hand waved in front of her face, causing Haruka to blink.
"Huh? What's going on?"
"You've zoned out for nearly 10 minutes without responding. What happened to you?"
"Oh, sorry. I was thinking about last night's dream."
"That was enough to keep you zoned out for 10 minutes?" Accelerator had a mild look of disbelief on his face, which he quickly hid under an expressionless mask.
"I guess. Anyways, what were we talking about?"
"Can you and Accelerator take Last Order to the park?"
"Sure, why not?"
"You guys can stay outside until 12.
"What are you going to do, Yoshikawa?"
"Nothing in particular."
"'Let's go!' Says MISAKA as MISAKA tugs at Hakutsuki-san's hand."
Haruka laughed. "Come on, Accelerator. Let's go."
The trio walked out of the apartment and into the warm summer day.