Accelerator casually made his way down the hall towards his dorm room, if you could call it that, anyway. It wasn't the coziest of accommodations, but he didn't dwell on the lack of space or cheerful decor. He had been a "student" at the Special Abilities Institute for the last four of the eight years of his life. He didn't know much about his past, not even his real name, but he didn't dwell on that either. The name they gave him after his Esper ability was discovered seemed to suit him just fine. Accelerator. One-Way-Road. The more he trained his vector control ability, the more he felt that his past was irrelevant. The scientists had told him that his power was approaching Level 5, and would likely lead to him being the strongest in Academy City. The want for strength and power isn't what was driving him though. It was the desire to be acknowledged.

If no one remembers my real name, I'll make sure they all know my new one! He thought to himself as he turned a corner and suddenly stopped. He saw a girl crouched down against the wall trying to stay hidden from view. He didn't recognize her as any of the other children in the Institute, and she wasn't wearing the typical uniform the students wear either. She looked older than him, around twelve years old, at least. Despite the warm environment, she wore a two shaded gray full body suit that had to be as uncomfortable as it looked. She wore gloves on her hands and kept lacing and unlacing her fingers as she crept down the hall. Accelerator, still surprised to find someone new in a place he felt he knew every inch of, couldn't help but continue following her, passing the door to his room as he did.

The girl crept up to the end of the corridor and carefully took a peek around the corner. Accelerator came to a stop and waited for her next move. That way leads towards the back offices and loading docks. I wonder if she's thinking of escaping. She must be new, anyone that's been here long enough knows there's no point in running. The girl must have felt the area was clear and proceeded with caution. The boy gave her a few seconds before following. The girl was heading right towards the docks like he had predicted, which would stand to say that she knew the layout of the building well. Was she a new student? Accelerator questioned himself as he pursued her, wondering if there could be people or places he hadn't known existed in the only home he ever remembered having. His gaze drifted downward as his mind thought of that possibility and didn't notice when the girl stopped in front of him. He looked up just as she turned around to see him nearly collide with her. His ability reacted immediately, repelling her away from him and knocking her off her feet. She sat up, brushed the long strands of violet hair back from her face and looked at Accelerator. A faint glimpse of recognition grew in her eyes before it faded to a more anxious and panicked look.

"What the... What are you doing following me? And why did you push me like that? Did you use your hand? I don't think you touched me; you couldn't have touched... Who are you?" she said, rambling through her questions and observations quickly.

"I didn't touch you, calm down. I'm not some jerk trying to make cheap moves on clueless girls. I was only following you because your behavior intrigued me. That doesn't often happen in this dull place, so I wanted to see how your actions would play out. Were you thinking of running away? Not that I'd say that's a bad idea, this place can bring out the worst in people. But unless you're new here, you'd realize escaping is pointless."

Her worried look gave way to embarrassment. "I-I wasn't saying you were trying to touch me like that... That wasn't what I meant at all! But if you just considered me nothing more than entertainment for the evening, then that does make you a jerk. The fact that you think I'm new here is amusing though. I was one of the first subjects admitted to this institute. Out of the 47 inaugural students that started here, I'm the only original member left. Unfortunately, they don't think highly enough of me to give me a name. I was given the designation "Subject 37". And you still haven't told me who you are yet."

He decided to let the jerk comment slide. As much as he wanted to keep his calm, uncaring attitude in check, he couldn't help but want to hear more about this girl's story. "I'm Accelerator. So you don't have a name? Not even a code name or anything like that? I've been here as long as I can remember, and I don't recall ever seeing you."

Her nerves had settled and gave her a chance to look at the young boy in front of her more closely. She was reassured by her earlier feeling of recognition now that she saw his albino appearance. "Accelerator, so that's what they call you now." She nodded her head and paused for a moment before continuing. "That's funny. I remember when you first came here. You were pretty young back then, five years old at least..."

"Wait... You remember the day I arrived here? What else do you remember? I mean... I don't care either way about my past," he said casually after remembering his earlier thoughts on the subject of his past. "But just for curiosity's sake, what do you know?"

Just as she began to speak, a door creaked open from one of the nearby offices. Her face changed back to the panicked look, and she jumped up quickly. "We need to go, now!" she whispered as she gestured for them to go back the way they came. Before he could stand up, the person turned the corner and saw the two of them.

Oh shit, it's Kihara. Of all the people to catch us out past curfew, it's that bastard... Accelerator rose to his feet, maintaining his relaxed and calm attitude, hoping he could smooth talk his way out of the trouble in which they found themselves.

"Well well well, who do we have here? Mr. Accelerator himself thinking the halls are his to roam even after curfew begins. And this is truly a surprise. 37, what are you doing, trying to escape? Did you finally realize what's going down? That's pretty funny because I was just on my way to collect you from your cell. Thanks for saving me the trouble and meeting me halfway. Your time's up, bitch."

Accelerator couldn't believe what he was hearing. What did he mean by 37's time being up? He saw she had backed herself up against the wall, her face reflecting a disturbing image of hatred and fear. "Kihara, look we were just out walking for a little bit, she was just telling me..."

"Save it vector boy; I'll deal with you later. You don't realize who this is, so I'll excuse your ignorance. May I introduce you to the SAI's biggest failure, Subject 37. Unlike you, who is proving to be valuable enough to warrant an awesome nickname, she is useless and barely deserving of her designated number."

"I'm not useless!" 37 shouted, venting her anger towards him. "You know as well as I do what happens when I use that ability. Why would I purposely do that to myself? Why try to raise my level if it'll destroy me?! If anyone is a failure, it's you for not stopping the experiments when you discovered what was happening! Instead, you pushed for more of them. You're a heartless monster, barely deserving to be recognized as a human being!" She ended her tirade by spitting what saliva she had in her mouth at his feet.

Kihara looked down at the spit that had spattered onto his shoes and shook his head. "Now that's not very ladylike... After all these years, I would have figured you would have learned your place by now!" He drew back his arm intending to strike her. Just as his arm came down, Accelerator slid between Kihara and 37, surprising both of them. "Get outta the way kid. This situation is none of your business."

Accelerator stood his ground, raising his arm up in a guarding gesture in front of her. "You're right, it isn't any of my business, and none of what you two are saying makes any sense to me. Not that I care enough to want to know anyway. But this girl and I were in the middle of a conversation. One that I intend to finish. It would be hard for her to do so after getting beaten down by a coward twice her size, however. So no, I won't move out of the way."

Kihara glared at Accelerator for a few moments before relaxing his arm and stepping back a couple of feet. "Now now, no need to get aggressive here. But don't forget your place here either, vector boy. I'm the head advisor and scientist in your testing group. I know you just as well as you know yourself. Don't think I can't flatten you beneath my boot rubber and throw you away like we're doing to her." He looked past the two students and saw his reinforcements approaching. "Go ahead and take her away, boys. Rough or gentle, I don't give a shit."

"Throwing her away? Why? Actually, I don't want to know. It's not my concern, but it's not happening now. Not while I still have business with 37." He swung his arm backward, intending to make contact with her to make sure she was okay. The movement, however, caused her to panic. She dodged his arm and ducked out from behind his protective stance.

"NO! Don't touch! I can't... It'd be too much!" She yelled as she tried to run from the two security officers Kihara had sent after her. Accelerator stood in shocked silence as the two men chased her down and subdued her.

"Her ability, which despite your 'I could care less' attitude I'm sure you're at least a little curious about, is an ability to mimic other Esper abilities for short periods of time. Which you'd think would be a pretty badass trick to have, right? Apparently, whenever she gains an ability, through skin-to-skin contact, by the way, she suffers pain and physical injuries. So she refuses to use it. Refuses to develop it or raise her Esper level. She's been here the longest out of all our subjects and has had zero progress. If she doesn't desire to gain more power, she's just a useless piece of shit wasting our time and resources. We gave her plenty of chances too. But the decision just came down the line to dispose of her."

For the first time in a long while, Accelerator felt anger and sadness. Emotions he hadn't felt since he had finally realized he was alone in the world. All she wanted was to live a pain-free existence. And for her ability to be activated by touch... No wonder she was completely covered up and paranoid about him touching her. He had resigned to only look out for himself since he couldn't trust others. Why now though... Why does he feel sorry for a girl he just met? Is it only because she knows things about his past, or is this genuine concern for another human being? Kihara could read his expressions and knew Accelerator grew conflicted with the situation.

"Hey kid look, don't worry about it. It'll be like nothing happened. Just look away." Kihara said as the men took her away.

Accelerator's face twisted in conflicting emotions as he clenched his fists and let them fall to his sides. What could he do anyway? His path was a One-Way-Road after all. He hung his head down and looked away as the men reached the door at the end of the hall. As the doors closed behind them, he heard one last shout from the girl he barely knew.

"I WON'T FORGET YOU! I'LL BE BACK, I HAVE A STORY TO FINISH! YOUR STORY, SEIJI ROISIN!"