The doctor was waiting at the front door alone. Yoshikawa and Nagato got out of the car, greeting him. Accelerator stayed in the car, watching the scene unfold. Behind the doctor, the door opened and 4 clones came out. The last one, MISAKA-10032, was attempting to tug a smaller girl out of the house. Eventually, the clone gave up and went to stand with her other sisters. Accelerator could dimly see Last Order inside, turning her head from side to side, trying to spot someone. Finally, the little girl came out and immediately ran over to Yoshikawa, apparently asking a question.
Yoshikawa smiled at the clone and motioned her towards the car, where Accelerator was barely visible through the tinted windows. Last Order's face lit up and she ran towards the car. When she was halfway there, she tripped and nearly fell, but she suddenly found arms supporting her. Accelerator set her back on her feet with his trademark scowl on his face.
"Watch your step, brat. Have you gotten more clumsy in these 3 days?" As an afterthought, he turned off the automatic reflection shield around him.
Ignoring his jab, Last Order threw her arms around Accelerator's waist and hugged him hard. "'Accelerator! You're awake! MISAKA missed you so much,' says MISAKA as MISAKA holds in her tears of joy."
"Don't cry, brat. It was only 3 days. I'm here now, aren't I?"
Last Order chose not to respond, but held on tighter. Accelerator winced with the increasing pressure. "Yoshikawa, get the brat off me!"
"Aw, but I think this is rather endearing. Don't you think so, Nagato?"
"I agree. Just bear with it, Accelerator."
The frog-faced doctor, Heaven Canceller, cleared his throat, causing Nagato to snap his head back to the doctor. "There is one more thing I must tell you."
"Yes?"
"You have heard about how magic and science cannot mix in a body?"
"You are referring to Tsuchimikado Motoharu, are you not?"
"Yes. In truth, I am rather surprised Accelerator and Haruka are unaffected."
"That's probably due to my interference on Haruka's part. As for Accelerator, it's in his blood."
"I see. I do not know all the details, but it seems like that kid must step out onto another battlefield again."
"He plays an important role. You are right, though. He has been rescued from a battlefield months ago, but he must step into another one."
"This one is physical, is it not?"
"Yes."
"Has he been properly taught to use his full powers?"
Nagato winced. "Not yet."
"That is far beyond your expertise, Nagato, and you know it. Perhaps if Yahiko were still alive—"
"That's not possible and you know it."
"You still have not gotten over their deaths, have you?"
"Don't ask."
"I can see it clearly in your eyes. To this day, I regret not having enough power to save him and Luna."
"There wasn't much you could do anyways," Nagato said bleakly. "You tried."
"Even if my name suggests I can cancel out Heaven, I simply do not have enough power to save people who were affected by strong supernatural power directly."
"Stop dwelling on that. At least you saved Accelerator."
"Only because his ability was triggered. He made it out with minor injuries. I sometimes consider if that was the reason for his near-insanity: watching his parents die when he was only 4."
"You do know said kid is here right now and could be listening."
"He's still preoccupied with Last Order." As the two watched, Accelerator was still trying to pry Last Order off him while Yoshikawa just stood there and laughed, occasionally trying to coax Last Order off to no avail.
"Well, I have two things to tell all of you. One, please be careful. Two, I will always be here to save you if you are alive."
"Good to know, Doc. We should go. Bye."
Heaven Canceller turned and walked back into the house, MISAKAs 10032, 10039, 13577, and 19090 following him. Last Order stepped away temporarily from Accelerator to wave goodbye to her sisters, and promptly latched back onto Accelerator, much to his dismay. However, he gave up trying to pry her off him and let her hold onto his arm.
"Let's go back, Kikyou."
"Okay. Come on, Last Order."
"'Okay!' Says MISAKA as MISAKA gets in the car."
"One thing, brat: don't go in my room since Haruka's still asleep. Stay out of there at all times until she wakes up, do you hear me?" Accelerator had a scary glare on his face, but Last Order was used to it. She nodded.
"Good."
"Well, now that's out of the way, what should we do tonight?" Yoshikawa switched gears and drove towards the main streets.
"Accelerator's done enough training for one day. Maybe just relax then."
"Hard to do when Haruka's sleeping."
"When's Aiho coming back?"
"She should be back already. I'm not too sure, since she was complaining about her crazy schedule these days."
"Isn't school starting soon?"
"September 1. That's in 10 days. Forget Anti-Skill work, she's probably preparing early for school."
"Does Accelerator go to school?"
"Hell no. Don't even try dragging me to one of these schools, Nagato."
"Dropout, huh? Can't blame you. School's boring. Besides, your ability and calculations should already make you an expert at math and science. Out of curiosity, what about the other Level Fives?"
"Kakine Teitoku, no idea. Railgun goes to Tokiwadai. Mugino Shizuri, no idea. Mental Out, Tokiwadai. Number six, no one knows, and I think Sogiita Gunha goes to Nagatenjouki. Nobody knows for sure."
"Hmph, you guys are setting bad examples for the lower levels." Nagato smirked. "Just kidding."
"Not like I care."
***
"We're back."
"'Yay!' Exclaims MISAKA as MISAKA jumps off the car."
Yoshikawa unlocked the door to find a neater apartment than when they had left. Index and Touma were on the couch, watching TV.
"We're back!" Yoshikawa called.
"Welcome back, Kikyou." Yomikawa stepped out of her room, waving to the four. She smiled at Last Order. "How was the three days?"
"'MISAKA felt homesick, but it was okay,' says MISAKA as MISAKA reports her previous situation."
"Well, how about you go rest for a while? You should take a break."
Last Order nodded and went off to her makeshift room—well, Haruka's actual bedroom, letting go of Accelerator's hand. Accelerator let out a mental sigh of relief, but his relief was interrupted when Yoshikawa pointed him to Last Order's bedroom.
"Keep an eye on her."
"I already told her not to go in my bedroom," he grumbled.
"Just making sure. You know she disobeys orders often."
"Tch, fine." Accelerator stalked off to Last Order's bedroom, muttering complaints under his breath.
Nagato turned to Index and Touma. Without any greeting, he asked: "How's Haruka? Any change?"
"She's getting closer to waking up. The magic circles in the other rooms have faded, and the ones in Haruka's room are close to fading," Index reported.
"Well, that's better for us. Thanks again."
"Do you two want to stay for a while? I'm making dinner," Yomikawa offered.
"Thank you! Your food is so much better than Touma's."
"I take offense to that comment," Touma muttered.
Yomikawa smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head. "Can't be perfect at everything."
"Were you cleaning again, Aiho?"
"Eh, yeah. Something came up."
"Well, looks like we don't have to clean the place for another few weeks."
"Anyways, what time is it now?"
"5:15."
"I'm taking a nap." Nagato stretched out on the empty couch and closed his eyes.
Yomikawa raised an eyebrow. "You're not gonna be sleeping tonight then."
"I have no intention to. Besides, I still haven't slept off 6 hours of training Accelerator."
"So that's what you've been doing the entire time when you got back?"
"So? What about it?" Nagato turned his face to the back of the couch, saying nothing else.
A minute later, the sound of a phone ringing cut through the air. Quickly taking out his phone, Touma answered.
"Kami-yan, are you available?"
"Tsuchimikado? What's going on?"
"Stiyl ran into some trouble, and the stubborn guy needs help. I can't do much, unfortunately. You should go help him, Kami-yan."
"What's happening?"
"He got ambushed by someone from the Roman Catholic Church. She's working independently, however. Her name is Nathalia Pyxia."
"Where is he?"
"They're around District 23. Oh, and bring Nagato-san with you."
"Uh, okay."
"Hurry up."
Touma flipped his phone shut and turned to Nagato, but Nagato was already sitting up, an annoyed look on his face.
"Who are we up against? It better be important or else I'm going back to sleep."
"Some girl from the Roman Catholic Church working independently for some reason. Her name's Nathalia Pyxia."
Nagato groaned irritably. "Oh, no. Not her. Anyone but her. Well, I'm surprised she didn't show up sooner."
"Who is she?"
"The girlfriend of the lightning mage Stiyl rescued Accelerator from. I bet she's here for revenge. She's extremely annoying."
"Seems like you've ran into her a couple times," Index observed.
"Typical cliché high school girl type you see in whatever anime or manga that's popular these days. Super shallow and whiny and annoying. Except she's in her mid-twenties. She's like her boyfriend: a powerful lightning mage, but I guess she broke away from the church when he got killed."
"And she's fighting against Stiyl right now."
"We should hurry up," Nagato yawned. "Fire and lightning don't mix. And in the condition you're in, Imagine Breaker, I doubt you can do much. Maybe I'll bring Accelerator to observe."
"I heard my name. What the hell is going on? By the way, the brat fell asleep."
Quickly explaining the situation, Nagato watched Accelerator's expression change from half-annoyed to gleeful. "Finally I get to see some action."
"We should hurry."
"True. Let's go."
The three guys ran out the door, the sounds of their footsteps trailing off into the distance.